Category Archives: Music

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs denied bail for a third time over ‘serious risk’ of witness tampering

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Judge rules that the court ‘doubts the sufficiency of any conditions’ that place trust in Combs to follow bail rules

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail for the third time by a judge in New York City who described him as a “serious risk” for witness tampering.

Prosecutors had previously accused Combs of trying to contact prospective witnesses from jail in an attempt to create “narratives” to influence public opinion as well as potential jurors for his impending sex trafficking trial.

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Drake claims UMG and Spotify ‘artificially inflated’ Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us

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Feud escalates as rapper’s lawyers file two petitions alleging Universal Music Group and streaming giant conspired while also accusing them of defamation

Drake has launched two legal actions against Universal Music Group and Spotify, alleging they conspired to artificially inflate interest in Kendrick Lamar’s diss track about him, Not Like Us, while suppressing his own music, as well as accusing them of defamation.

In a petition filed to the New York supreme court on Monday, attorneys for Drake’s company Frozen Moments LLC accused UMG and the streaming service of having “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves”, using various tactics to make Lamar’s song more popular.

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‘Opera should be an unstoppable art form’: Royal Opera announce Netia Jones as associate director

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The Royal Ballet and Opera have created a new role, allowing Jones to drive development and new commissions

The Royal Ballet and Opera today announces that Netia Jones has been appointed to the newly created position of associate director of The Royal Opera.

Over the past two decades the British-born Jones has carved a career spanning opera, theatre, concerts and immersive installation projects as a director, designer and video artist. Recently she directed the Royal Opera’s first ever virtual reality opera Current, Rising, and her staging – as director and designer – of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Garsington Opera this summer was hailed as “stylish and very funny”.

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As Band Aid marks 40th anniversary critics take aim at Africa stereotypes

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Latest version of Do They Know It’s Christmas fundraiser reignites debate about ‘problematic’ lyrics and imagery

Forty years ago this week, a group of pop stars gathered at a west London studio to record a single that would raise millions, inspire further starry projects, and ultimately change charity fundraising in the UK.

Do They Know It’s Christmas, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure’s festive charity behemoth, would go on to raise almost £150m for famine relief and development in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa. To mark the anniversary, on Monday a new version of the single – its fifth – will be released under the name Band Aid 40.

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Malian singer Rokia Traoré to be extradited from Italy to Belgium

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Italy’s highest court rejects musician’s appeal after she was arrested in Rome in June over child custody dispute

Malian musician Rokia Traoré, who was arrested in Rome last June over an international child custody dispute, will be handed over to Belgium in the coming days after Italy’s highest court rejected her appeal, her lawyer said on Wednesday.

Traoré, 50, a former goodwill ambassador for the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR, was arrested on 20 June at Rome’s Fiumicino airport under a European arrest warrant.

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Coachella 2025 lineup: Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott to headline in April

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Other acts include Charli xcx, Megan Thee Stallion, Missy Elliott, Shaboozey and Blackpink members Jennie and Lisa

Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott will headline Coachella 2025.

Scott, whose prominent billing comes with the description “designs the desert”, will reportedly design an immersive experience called CatcusCon, Rolling Stone reported, and will perform after Green Day’s set on the Saturday nights.

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New York priest demoted after Sabrina Carpenter video inquiry reveals $1.9m scandal

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Gigantiello, who let singer film in church, stripped of duties after inquiry shows he sent parish funds to Eric Adams aide

The leader of a New York City church where pop star Sabrina Carpenter filmed provocative scenes for a music video was stripped of his duties on Monday after church officials said an investigation revealed other instances of mismanagement.

Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello was relieved of “any pastoral oversight or governance role” at his church located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, Bishop Robert Brennan said in a statement issued by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.

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Ed Sheeran: I wish I wasn’t on 40th-anniversary version of Band Aid

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Singer says his ‘understanding of the narrative’ around Do They Know It’s Christmas? has changed since 2014 appearance

Ed Sheeran has said he would rather not be on the forthcoming 40th-anniversary version of Band Aid charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas?, aligning himself with criticism of it as dehumanising and damaging to Africans.

Sheeran is one of an all-star cast to be drawn from three previous recordings of the song, in 1984, 2004 and 2014 – he appeared on the latter version. Producer Trevor Horn has mashed up three sets of performances into a new “Ultimate Mix”, which will be released on 25 November, and also features George Michael, Robbie Williams, Sinéad O’Connor and many more.

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The White Stripes drop lawsuit against Trump campaign for unauthorised Seven Nation Army use

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The move follows a bitter Instagram post by Jack White condemning what the US can expect from choosing ‘a known, obvious fascist’

The White Stripes have dropped their federal lawsuit against Donald Trump for unauthorised use of their song Seven Nation Army in a video posted by campaign deputy director of communications Margo Martin in August.

Jack and Meg White are dismissing the case without prejudice and therefore could refile, Pitchfork reports. A lawyer for the band offered the website no comment.

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The Cure score first UK No 1 album in 32 years with Songs of a Lost World

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Robert Smith says getting first chart-topper since 1992’s Wish is ‘enormously uplifting’ and ‘genuinely heartwarming’

The Cure have scored their first UK No 1 album in 32 years, with Songs of a Lost World.

The band’s frontman Robert Smith said: “It is enormously uplifting, genuinely heartwarming to experience such a wonderful reaction to the release of the new Cure album. To everyone who has bought it, listened to it, loved it, believed in us over the years – thank you!”

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Beyoncé leads Grammy award nominations with 11 nods

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The star is out in front with multiple genre recognition for Cowboy Carter while Kendrick Lamar, Charli xcx, Post Malone and Billie Eilish follow

Beyoncé is out in front with the nominations for the 67th Grammy awards in what promises to be another female-heavy year.

The star has scored 11 nods for her country album Cowboy Carter with recognition in the country, pop and Americana categories. It’s the biggest number of nominations she has received in a single year and she now holds the joint record of most-nominated artist ever alongside her husband, Jay-Z.

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Three people charged in connection with Liam Payne’s death in Argentina

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Prosecutors say they charged someone who was close to the singer, a hotel employee and a suspected drug dealer

Three people have been charged in connection with Liam Payne’s death in Argentina for supplying narcotics and the abandonment of a person followed by death.

Toxicology tests found that when he died, Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his body, prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday.

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Drugs and weapons seized in sweep of jail where Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is held

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Brooklyn detention center holding 1,200 has been under scrutiny since two fatal stabbings this summer

Federal authorities have confirmed that they seized drugs, homemade weapons and electronic devices during a sweep of the jail where Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held on sex trafficking conspiracy charges ahead of a trial next year.

The Bureau of Prisons, which headed up the interagency sweep of the Metropolitan detention center (MDC) in Brooklyn that began on Monday, said the action was not related to Combs’s detention but was “preplanned and coordinated to ensure the safety and security” of staff and inmates.

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Nobel and Pulitzer winners denounce ‘dangerous’ Israel cultural boycott

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More than 1,000 well-known figures sign open letter in response to authors pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions over Gaza

More than 1,000 figures from the literary and entertainment industry – including several Nobel laureates, Pulitzer prize, and Booker prize winners – have signed an open letter against “illiberal and dangerous” cultural boycotts.

The letter was released by the nonprofit body Creative Community For Peace [CCFP], which campaigns against cultural boycotts of Israel, after more than 1,000 book industry figures pledged to boycott Israeli cultural institutions that “are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians”.

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Bad Bunny supports Kamala Harris and shares campaign video on Puerto Rico

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Artist shares video with over 45 million Instagram followers as Harris and Trump work to gain ground with Latino voters

The international reggaeton star Bad Bunny is throwing his support behind Kamala Harris in the US presidential race, sharing a video of the Democratic presidential nominee to his more than 45 million followers on Instagram.

Bad Bunny, whose official name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is one of the most famous artists of the moment. His support could be a boost for the Harris campaign as it tries to bolster its support with Latino and Puerto Rican voters.

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John Farnham opens up about his ‘abusive’ and ‘sexually aggressive’ first manager

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In his new memoir The Voice Inside, the Australian singer says Darryl Sambell drugged him, controlled what he ate and punished him for rejecting his advances

John Farnham has opened up for the first time about his “abusive” relationship with his first manager, Darryl Sambell, accusing him of being “sexually aggressive” towards him and controlling what he sang, wore and ate.

In his new memoir, The Voice Inside, published in Australia on Wednesday, the 75-year-old singer reveals the extent of Sambell’s abuse for the first time, writing that he “used me like a piece of meat”.

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Stevie Nicks says Fleetwood Mac would have been ‘done’ without 1977 abortion

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Legendary singer-songwriter tells Rolling Stone new song was inspired by battle to reinstate federal abortion rights

Stevie Nicks thrust herself into the ongoing fight for access to abortion in the US because she had “been there, done that”, the legendary singer-songwriter says in a new interview.

“I tell a good story,” Nicks remarked in an interview conducted by CBS News Sunday Morning, a clip of which was circulated by the network in advance.“So maybe I should try to do something.

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Phil Lesh, bassist for the Grateful Dead, dies at 84

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The musician was a founding member of the influential band and died ‘surrounded by his family and full of love’

Phil Lesh, the influential bassist of the Grateful Dead who powered many of the jam band’s touring incarnations after the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia, has died. He was 84.

Lesh’s death was announced on his Instagram page. “Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning,” the caption reads. “He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.”

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Legal bid for Ecuador forest to be recognised as song co-creator

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Petition to Ecuador’s copyright office is first legal attempt to recognise an ecosystem’s moral authorship

A forest in Ecuador could be recognised as the co-creator of a song under a groundbreaking legal proposal.

A petition is to be submitted to Ecuador’s copyright office to recognise the Los Cedros cloud forest as the co-creator of the composition Song of the Cedars. The action by the More Than Human Life (Moth) project is the first legal attempt to recognise an ecosystem’s moral authorship of a work of art.

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