Category Archives: Music

Kanye West reportedly no longer a billionaire as companies cut ties

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For years critics have denounced Ye for his rightwing views and comments – but only now are they costing him his career

In the span of two weeks, Kanye West has lost his talent representation, connections to major fashion houses and other lucrative relationships over recent anti-Black and antisemitic comments.

As sports brand Adidas ended its estimated €250m partnership with West on Tuesday, reportedly costing the Black American rapper his billionaire status, many are asking if the fashion and music mogul’s actions have ended his decades-long career.

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Rocketing costs and drop in ticket sales force musicians to pull tour dates

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Animal Collective, Bonobo and Mercury prize winner Little Simz among acts to cancel concerts

Musicians are cancelling concerts and entire tours because the rising costs of staff and materials coupled with a drop off in ticket sales is making them too expensive to run.

Earlier this month, US band Animal Collective cancelled forthcoming European dates as“not sustainable”. Within days, the UK downtempo producer Bonobo called time on future live shows in America, describing them as “exponentially expensive”. Then electronic musician Tourist rescheduled a US stint, saying “sometimes tickets just don’t get sold”.

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Angelina Jolie to play Maria Callas in Spencer director’s next biopic

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The Oscar-winner will play the opera singer in a film that explores the ‘tumultuous, beautiful, and tragic’ story of her life

Angelina Jolie is set to play opera singer Maria Callas in a new drama from Chilean film-maker Pablo Larraín.

Maria will tell “the tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and re-imagined during her final days in 1970s Paris” with a script from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, who last collaborated with Larraín for Princess Diana drama Spencer.

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Man sues Cardi B for $5m for using his back tattoo in lewd cover art

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Kevin Michael Brophy says his back tattoo was superimposed on to a male model who seemingly performs oral sex on the cover of Gangsta Bitch Music Vol 1

A “man of faith” is suing Cardi B for superimposing his back tattoo on to a male model who seemingly performs oral sex on the rapper on the cover of her debut mixtape.

Kevin Michael Brophy is suing the Grammy-winning musician in a copyright-infringement lawsuit in federal court in southern California, seeking $5m in damages. Belcalis Almánzar, the rapper’s real name, was in court and is expected to testify during the trial.

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Trax Records faces lawsuit over alleged unpaid royalties and lack of payment

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Marshall Jefferson and Adonis are among more than a dozen artists suing the pioneering Chicago house label

More than a dozen artists are suing the pioneering Chicago house label Trax Records, the estate of co-founder Larry Sherman, and current owners Screamin’ Rachael Cain and Sandyee Barns, Rolling Stone reports.

The plaintiffs, among them Trax co-founder Vince Lawrence and musicians Marshall Jefferson, Adonis and Maurice Joshua – allege that the label owes them unpaid royalties and in some cases that the label never paid them anything at all, according to a copy of the lawsuit seen by the Guardian.

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BTS members to do military service in South Korea

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Announcement ends long debate over whether K-pop group should get exemption

The seven members of BTS – one of the world’s biggest bands – will perform military service in their native South Korea, their agency has said, ending a long national debate over whether they should receive an exemption.

While many fans of the K-pop sensations were hoping the band members would be given special consideration due to their contribution to the South Korean economy and international prestige, the artists will each serve almost two years in the military.

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Kanye West: bank JP Morgan Chase cuts ties with rapper

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The decision to end the relationship with West and clothing brand Yeezy predates recent controversies and array of antisemitic comments

The US bank JP Morgan Chase has ended its relationship with Kanye West and his clothing brand Yeezy Inc – although the decision predates the rapper and designer’s recent controversies in which he wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt and shared racist conspiracy theories in an unaired interview.

Candace Owens, the conservative US commentator whom West has associated with in recent years, shared a letter from the bank, dated 20 September, on Twitter.

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Steinway, then the highway: national piano competition forced to flee Shepparton floods

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Final round of the competition brought forward to Friday so competitors and others involved could escape imminent inundation

It wasn’t quite the doomed band on the Titanic playing on heroically, but the finalists in this year’s Australian national piano award were faced with an unexpected challenge as the flood water rose around the Riverlinks Eastbank theatre in Shepparton, where the event’s semi-final stage was due to finish on Friday.

“That would be a very dramatic way of putting it,” said Anthony Chen, 27, although he said he had never experienced conditions like it in his musical career.

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Unaired Kanye West-Tucker Carlson material contains more racist conspiracy theories

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Rapper deals in antisemitic tropes in interview after he wore ‘white lives matter’ T-shirt

Unaired segments of an interview between Kanye West and the Fox News host Tucker Carlson document the American rapper airing a series of comments based on racist conspiracy theories, adding to the growing controversy over the interview.

In the segments, first reported by the tech news outlet Motherboard, West, who has changed his legal name to Ye, detailed his belief in an unfounded and antisemitic conspiracy theory that Planned Parenthood was founded “to control the Jew population”.

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Aria awards 2022: Rüfüs Du Sol and Amyl and the Sniffers among top nominees

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Dance group leads with seven nominations, with Flume, the Kid Laroi, Baker Boy and Vance Joy also winning multiple nods

Rüfüs Du Sol has dominated the 2022 Aria award nominations, featuring in a total of seven categories, followed by Amyl and the Sniffers and Flume.

The Sydney electronic trio’s latest album, Surrender, continues to pay dividends for the band, who won best group and best dance song for their track Alive at last year’s Arias. Alive also won them best dance song at this year’s Grammy awards.

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National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine announces UK tour

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Biggest tour in orchestra’s history reflects boom in interest in Ukrainian culture since Russian invasion

The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (NSOU) has announced its first UK tour in more than 20 years, and the biggest in its history, to reflect venues and audiences’ newfound interest in Ukrainian culture since the Russian invasion.

During the three-week tour the orchestra will play works by Ukrainian composers such as Borys Lyatoshynsky alongside classical greats such as Finland’s Jean Sibelius and Germany’s Richard Strauss across 17 venues in October and November 2023. No Russian music will be played.

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Russian pop star who criticised Ukraine war says she is in Israel

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Alla Pugacheva, whose husband has been declared a ‘foreign agent’, denounced invasion three weeks ago

The Russian pop singer Alla Pugacheva has said she is in Israel, three weeks after she publicly criticised Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine when Moscow declared her husband a “foreign agent”.

“I thank my multimillion army of fans for their love and support, for the ability to distinguish truth from lies,” the 73-year-old, known as the “queen of Soviet pop music”, said in an Instagram post on Monday.

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John Farnham cracking jokes with nurses after mouth cancer surgery, sons say

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Singer, 73, is focused on getting better after 12-hour operation in August to remove cancerous growth, sons Robert and James say in TV interview

The Australian singing legend John Farnham is on the long road to recovery after his life-saving cancer surgery, his sons say.

The 73-year-old underwent a 12-hour operation in August to remove a cancerous growth from his mouth.

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Liverpool to host Eurovision song contest on behalf of Ukraine

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City beat 19 others to host 67th contest after Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed staging event in Mariupol was not possible

The Eurovision song contest will be hosted by Liverpool next year after it beat 19 other cites to stage the event on behalf of war-torn Ukraine.

The annual extravaganza will be held in the UK for the first time in 25 years on 13 May as Ukraine is unable to host the event due to the Russian invasion.

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Coldplay postpone shows after Chris Martin contracts ‘serious lung infection’

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Band says 45-year-old singer ‘under strict doctor’s orders’ to rest and eight Brazil shows on world tour will be postponed to next year

Coldplay has announced it is postponing several shows in its latest world tour after singer Chris Martin contracted “a serious lung infection”.

In a statement posted on its social media accounts and its website, the band expressed “deep regret” and said the eight postponed shows, all in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil, would be rescheduled for early 2023.

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Iran arrests musician as anthem for protests goes viral

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The lyrics to Baraye by Shervin Hajipour are taken from ordinary Iranians voicing their anger in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death

As demonstrations against the death of Mahsa Amini enter their third week in Iran, a protest song by one of Iran’s most popular musicians has become the soundtrack to the biggest civil uprising for decades, channelling the rage of Iranians at home and abroad.

The lyrics to Baraye by Shervin Hajipour are taken entirely from messages that Iranians have posted online about why they are protesting. Each begins with the word Baraye – meaning “For …” or “Because of …” in Farsi.

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Bowie’s handwritten Starman lyrics sell for stellar £200,000

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Price five times more than estimate as A4 sheet bought by Tasmanian museum official acting for private collector

David Bowie’s handwritten lyrics to his 1972 song Starman have sold for more than £200,000 at auction, five times their estimated sale price.

The song featured on his fifth album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which propelled the musician to international rock and pop stardom.

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Roger Waters cancels gigs in Poland amid row over Ukraine war comments

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Pink Floyd co-founder's stance on Russia's war against Ukraine has sparked ‘indignation’ in Kraków

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters has cancelled concerts planned in Poland amid outrage over his stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine, Polish media reported on Saturday.

An official with the Tauron Arena in Kraków, where the musician was scheduled to perform two concerts in April 2023, said they would no longer take place.

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Harry Styles stadium show falls foul of football fans in Bogotá

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Bid to move pop star’s Colombian tour date to capital’s biggest venue has united supporters of clubs who play there

Rival Colombian football fans, more used to hurling insults at each other on the terraces, have united against a common enemy: Harry Styles. At stake is what takes place at Bogotá’s football stadium on 27 November: either the Colombian football championship final, or the latest leg of the British pop star’s world tour.

Styles had been scheduled to play in the car park of an amusement park in the capital city, but fans started a social media campaign for the concert to be moved after pop star Dua Lipa’s show there last weekend was plagued by logistical and technical problems.

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