One Liners: Marilyn Manson, Lil Yachty, Christine And The Queens, more

I guess this is allowed?!? Should it not be? Via @itzsergfx 

You’ve saved the date, said yes to the dress and have found the ideal venue – the wedding planning is going surprisingly smoothly. But while the essentials checklist may be getting shorter by the hour, no completed planner or list of ticked-off tasks can stop little worries from rearing their heads at 3am. From sleepless nights over a potential washout (even if the weather forecast says there will be wall-to-wall sunshine) to concerns about guests causing some dreaded drama, planning a wedding can be seriously anxiety-inducing.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In a ruling that could have vast implications in the copyright world, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that images of Prince created by Andy Warhol that were based on photos taken by Lynn Goldsmith violated her copyright, according to CNN and multiple news outlets. The ruling was 7-2. The court rejected arguments made by the late Warhol’s foundation that the work was sufficiently transformative and did not violate copyright laws. While the work was created in the 1980s, Thursday’s ruling arrives against the backdrop of AI, which has created vast copyright implications over what constitutes originality. Warhol coopted many photographs, logos and other forms of artwork — ranging from soap boxes to iconic photographs — into his works.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Sterling K. Brown could be on his way to Broadway. The three-time Emmy winner will star in a reading of a new stage production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” on May 18 in New York City, sources exclusively tell me. Brown will play Randle P. McMurphy, a character famously portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1975 movie adaptation of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel. Sources also tell me that Tony winner Laura Benanti will play Nurse Ratched. The team behind the reading have their hopes set on a Broadway run. The reading is directed by Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah. Scott Delman produces. Delman is also on board as a producer of the “Thelma & Louise” musical, which has been workshopped with Amanda Seyfried and Evan Rachel Wood starring.

APPOINTMENTSUniversal Music’s label services division Virgin Music has announced three promotions in the US. Leslie Cooper is now SVP Artist Development & Special Projects, Marisa Di Frisco becomes VP National Promotion, and Lauren Holman moves up to VP Streaming Marketing.Warner Chappell has promoted Amber Davis to the role of Senior Vice President. “I’m honoured to be stepping into this wider role at Warner Chappell Music”, she says.

Ed Sheeran has successfully defeated a lawsuit that accused him of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote his 2014 song ‘Thinking Out Loud’. And if you think we’re reporting on this two weeks too late you’re forgetting that there were multiple lawsuits making that claim.The first lawsuit to allege that ‘Thinking Out Loud’ infringed the copyright in ‘Let’s Get It On’ was the one filed by the estate of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the Gaye classic.

ANOHNI and The Johnsons have announced a new album, ‘My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross’, along with the single ‘It Must Change’.As per a press release, ANOHNI shared that Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ was heavy on her mind while creating her sixth full-length effort.“That was a really important touchstone in my mind,” the artist explained. “Some of these songs respond from the present day to global and environmental concerns first voiced in popular music over 50 years ago.”ANOHNI began working on ‘My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross’ in 2022 with soul producer Jimmy Hogarth (Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Tina Turner).

Marilyn Manson has teased fans with what may be his first new music since accusations of sexual and physical abuse.Taking to social media yesterday (May 15), the singer – real name Brian Warner – shared a grainy black-and-white photo of himself, singing into a microphone. “I’ve got something for you to hear,” he wrote in the Instagram caption, as well as giving photo credit to his wife Lindsey Elizabeth Warner.The update was Manson’s first post on social media since March 2022.

Ed Sheeran just made his debut at the 58th annual ACM Awards and he delivered a powerful performance with some help from Luke Combs.The «Shape of You» singer hit the stage Thursday night at the Ford Center's The Star in Frisco, Texas, and performed «Life Goes On» while strumming his guitar and rocking an appropriately country denim ensemble.Sheeran turned the number — off his just-released album — into a duet with Combs, who joined the English singer on stage in a surprise appearance that gave the song a fantastic country music flair.After the unexpected pairing, host Garth Brooks took the stage to ask the artists about their collaboration and how they made it come together.«We met like 2018, I'd heard Luke's music through a friend… and we've just been friends for years now,» Sheeran said, smiling, «and it's been great.»Sheeran's performance comes exactly one week after a verdict sided with him in a copyright trial over his «Thinking Out Loud» track. A New York City jury ultimately found that the 32-year-old singer did not copy Marvin Gaye's 1973 hit, «Let's Get It On,' for his 2014 hit track. After the verdict was reached, Sheeran, who was forced to miss his grandmother's funeral in Ireland to attend the trial, publicly released a statement about his win and the case as a whole.»I am obviously very happy with the outcome of the case, and it looks like I'm not going to have to retire from my day job after all — but, at the same time, I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all," Sheeran's statement read.

Ed Sheeran has said that he felt that he “had to take a stand” against claims that he ripped off Marvin Gaye song ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote his 2014 song ‘Thinking Out Loud’, even though doing so meant that he was forced to miss his grandmother’s funeral.“I’m really glad it’s over, man”, he told Howard Stern on his Sirius XM show. Acknowledging the length of time it took for the case to get to trial, he went on: “It was eight years of that.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Tuesday dismissed portions of a defamation lawsuit filed last year by musician Marilyn Manson against his former fiancee, Evan Rachel Wood. The "Westworld" actress accused Manson of "grooming" her when she was a teenager in an Instagram post shared in February 2021.The former couple began dating in 2007 when Wood was 19 and Manson was 39.

Marilyn Manson‘s defamation case against Evan Rachel Wood.Manson — real name Brian Warner — filed a defamation lawsuit against Westworld actor Wood back in March 2022 after she accused him of grooming, manipulation and “horrific abuse”.Part of the lawsuit claimed that Manson’s former fiancee Wood and Illma Gore — the latter of whom was described as Wood’s “on-again, off-again romantic partner” in the lawsuit — “secretly recruited, coordinated, and pressured prospective accusers to emerge simultaneously with allegations of rape and abuse against Warner”.Wood responded at the time that she was “not scared” of Manson’s defamation lawsuit, adding that “this is part of the retaliation that keeps survivors quiet”.Yesterday (May 9), Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Teresa A. Beaudet rejected Manson’s claims that Wood pressured “multiple women to make false accusations” against him and fabricated an FBI letter to back up her allegations (via Los Angeles Times).Beaudet also dismissed a section that alleged Wood and Gore used a checklist for other women to use to make claims of abuse.The court found that Manson had not “demonstrated a probability of prevailing on his claims based on alleged defamation against Wood”.“We are very pleased with the Court’s ruling, which affirms and protects Evan’s exercise of her fundamental First Amendment rights,” Wood’s lead attorney, Michael Kump, told Deadline.

Big win for Evan Rachel Wood!

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson just got a legal shock as a California judge tossed out most of the fading musician’s defamation case against Evan Rachel Wood over the Westworld actress’ claims of abuse during the former couple’s relationship.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In his first interview since his victory in the “Thinking Out Loud” copyright infringement lawsuit last week, Ed Sheeran told “Good Morning America” why he feels the jury believe that he did not copy Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit “Let’s Get It On” for his song. It was “101 songs with the same chord sequence, and that was just, like, scratching the surface,” he said, adding that the jury “was very quick to see that and be like, ‘Oh, yeah.'” (Sheeran seems to have chosen that number randomly to illustrate a multitude.) Sheeran had been steadfast in his denial that he’d taken from Gaye’s song, despite the lawsuit brought by the family of Gaye’s co-writer on the song, the late Ed Townsend. While Sheeran’s song does recall the tempo and chord progression of Gaye’s hit, ultimately his testimony and even performance of the song, solo on acoustic guitar, during the trial helped to lean the jury in his favor. He even mashed it up with other songs that are generally similar.

Ed Sheeran has opened up about the "dreadful" gig which prompted him to quit drinking alcohol before his live shows. The Thinking Out Loud singer, 32, explained how he used to drink tequila shots in between songs at his shows, which would make him "play longer" but after one particular gig, he decided he needed to give it up.

The ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ programme in the US this weekend aired an interview with Ed Sheeran recorded before last week’s ruling in the big song-theft case over his 2014 song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ in which he discussed the legal battle.Sheeran was accused of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote ‘Thinking Out Loud’ by the estate of the former song’s co-writer Ed Townsend. But Sheeran and his lawyers countered that the two songs sound similar simply because they are built out of the same musical building blocks, which are not protected by copyright in isolation.And last week a jury in New York agreed with Team Sheeran, concluding that the musician had not infringed the copyright in ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote ‘Thinking Out Loud’.As part of a feature for CBS to promote his new album ‘-‘, Sheeran was asked about the legal dispute that was still going through the motions when the interview was recorded.

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Ed Sheeran’s victory another high-profile headline-grabbing song-theft legal battle – this time over whether or not he ripped off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote his 2014 song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ – plus two sets of proposals for better regulating the sale of tickets put forward in US Congress late last month and another industry-led campaign launched last week that says it will advocate for “a ticketing experience better than the nightmare many fans and artists currently navigate”.SECTION TIMES01: Ed Sheeran (00:05:36)02: US tickets (00:18:52)(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free automatically each week through any of these services…Acast | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | audioBoom | CastBox | Deezer | Google Podcasts | iHeart | Mixcloud | RSS | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneInSTORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK• Non-idiot (allegedly) Ed Sheeran testifies on first day of Thinking Out Loud song-theft trial• Ed Sheeran gets his guitar out in court as song-theft case continues• Ed Sheeran calls musicologist’s actions “criminal” in Thinking Out Loud song-theft trial• Ed Sheeran losing will remove “an essential element in every songwriter’s toolkit”, argues lawyer in song-theft case• Ed Sheeran did not rip off Let’s Get It On says jury in song-theft case• Live Nation responds to proposed new ticketing regulations in the USALSO MENTIONED• The Great Escape conferenceMORE FROM CMU• Upcoming CMU webinars• Buy MMF and CMU Insights’ Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news

Ed Sheeran is surprising fans in Los Angeles and New York City!

Ed Sheeran debuted songs from new album ‘–’ this weekend at surprise pop-up gigs on the streets of New York and Los Angeles.On Saturday (May 6), the singer appeared in Soho, New York atop a Volvo car to play a number of songs.The next day, he performed from the open top upper deck of a StarLine City Sightseeing bus in Los Angeles. “I have a different vehicle for more fun,” he said of the LA gig.

Ed Sheeran has reflected on his recent high-profile plagiarism trial in a new TV interview.The pop star was found to have not copied Marvin Gaye‘s ‘Let’s Get It On’ for his 2014 Number One hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’, a US court ruled on Thursday (May 4).The case was brought against the pop star in 2016 by Ed Townsend – one of the co-writers on Gaye’s classic 1973 track – who accused Sheeran of copying the song on his 2014 hit.Earlier today (May 7), the singer appeared on CBS Sunday Morning to discuss his new album ‘–’ and the case.Of the controversy around the case, and why he felt it necessary to pursue victory on behalf of all songwriters, and to set a future precedent, Sheeran said: “There’s like four chords that get used in pop songs. And if you just think mathematically the likelihood of this song having the same chords as this song—there’s multiple, multiple songs—it’s all the same four chords … you are going to get this with every single pop song from now on.“Unless it just stops, which I don’t think it does because it’s a big money business to take things to court.