Barry Weiss: Last News

Jonathan Cohen As 2021 draws to a close, to say the hits keep on coming for Columbia Records would be an understatement. At press time, Variety’s Hitmakers Label of the Year, led by chairman and CEO Ron Perry (pictured at left) and executive VP-general manager Jenifer Mallory (right), had the top three songs on Mediabase’s Top 40 chart (Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby” featuring Jack Harlow, the Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” and Adele’s “Easy on Me”).

“Bye Bye Bye” before the boy band’s signature song was released 25 years ago on Jan. 17, 2000.After scoring hits such as “I Want You Back” and “Tearin’ Up My Heart” on their self-titled debut album — released in 1997 in Germany and 1998 in the US — the group was locked in a highly publicized legal battle with former manager Lou Pearlman and former label RCA Records.

United States Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will make her Broadway debut – you read that right – with a one-night-only walk-on role in & Juliet, the hit musical comedy in which the female half of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers survives the Bard’s bloody end and takes a newfound control of her own life.

Ty Myers has signed with Records Nashville/ Columbia Records and will release his new song “Let ‘Em Talk” via the label “very soon,” according to the announcement. Myers is managed by Blake Shelton manager Narvel Blackstock of Starstruck Entertainment. He has enjoyed hits with his songs “Tie That Binds” and “Drinkin’ Alone” (which may be written from experience as he is not yet of drinking age).

Britney Spears’ debut single, “…Baby One More Time.”Indeed, the same California high school where John Travolta’s Danny and Olivia Newton-John’s Sandy were “Born to Hand Jive” in the 1978 movie classic set the scene for Spears’ graduation to the top of the pop world.“It was filmed at Venice Beach High School — the same place they filmed ‘Grease,’” Felicia Culotta — who was the then 16-year-old Spears’ assistant/chaperone — told The Post. “And we were just like, ‘Oh my gosh — nothing’s gonna get any better than this!’”The classic clip that premiered on MTV in November 1998 — two months after the single’s release — was the brainchild of the teenager herself.“The video was 100 percent her idea,” said Barry Weiss, who was then president of Spears’ label, Jive Records.“That was a huge, huge vehicle that broke her on a global basis.”Indeed, the timing couldn’t have been better: MTV’s “TRL” premiered just two months before Spears would deliver the video for her army of new fans.“The time that it was on during the day meant that kids would rush home from school and vote for their favorite video,” said Lori Majewski, host of SiriusXM’s “Fierce: Women in Music,” who was Entertainment Editor at Teen People magazine when Spears launched her recording career.And those young fans would become instantly acquainted with Culotta, who made a last-minute appearance in the schoolroom scenes at Spears’ request.“They said, ‘Oh, we don’t have a teacher,’” said Culotta.

Max Martin had written that song for TLC. He wrote it as, like, an R&B record,” Barry Weiss — who was then president of Spears’ label, Jive Records — told The Post.

There’s some serious money to be made when it comes to Storage Wars.

There’s some serious money to be made when it comes to Storage Wars.

The 76th annual Tony Awards preshow is under way before tonight’s televised ceremony tonight in New York, and Deadline is updating the winners list as they are announced. Have a look below to see which shows, stars and crew have taken trophies so far, followed by the list of remaining nominees for productions staged on Broadway during the 2022-23 season. And keep up with all the action with our Tonys liveblog here.

Thania Garcia On the heels of the Band Perry’s hiatus announcement, co-founder Kimberly Perry has signed to Records Nashville/Columbia Records in pursuit of a solo career. “From the moment I met the team at Records, their appreciation for my journey and my vision for the future as a solo artist has been overwhelming,” Perry commented about the signing. “Everything came together so organically, and it felt right from the very start.” Based in Nashville, Perry will release a new body of work that “promises to be her most honest and intimate,” per the press release. 

Barry Weiss, who was missing from the show for months after a bike crash left him with multiple injuries, will be back for the new season.