Songwriting Collaborator Todd Snider on the Pure Magic of Loretta Lynn … and Her Refrigerator Full of Lyrics

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Grammy winning singer and arranger Anita Kerr, whose vocal ensemble the Anita Kerr Singers became a staple of hit pop and country recordings in the 1950s and ’60s, has died at age 94. Her daughter Kelley Kerr confirmed the death in a social media post, writing, “Such sad news and what a great loss for the music industry. Anita was a legend in her time but first and foremost she was my mother. May you rest in peace. I will forever miss you but I am comforted in knowing that you are now singing with angels. You are forever in my heart.” Kerr’s vocal arrangement sound was considered a key component in the “countrypolitan” or “Nashville sound” era of country music, in which the music saw the addition of strings and background vocals, lending lusher elements to recordings by some of the genre’s top stars, perhaps most notably Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves. The smoother take on country lent itself to less rough-hewn crossover hits.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic If Kid Cudi is indeed retiring his rapper persona, as strongly indicated in recent interviews, Monday night might have served as an early farewell party of sorts.  At a special screening at the Netflix Tudum Theater in Hollywood, the star was all smiles as he answered questions and celebrated the release of “Entergalactic,” the new animated Netflix special that serves as a kind of filmic companion piece to Cudi’s new album of the same name.  “I’m just overwhelmed, you know?” Cudi, who created, starred in, and executive-produced the project, said immediately after the screening, sitting next to the film’s director, Fletcher Moules. “The past week has been really exciting to see the reviews, see the response. We’ve been working on this thing for three years, man.” 

Angela Lansbury has died at the age of 96 in her home.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The word “contested” shows up a lot lately in singer-songwriter Elizabeth Chan’s world, as she made headlines this summer for going to court to try to ensure that Mariah Carey is not legally granted sole possession of the “Queen of Christmas” tag, which has also been applied to her. But there’s at least one aspect of what Chan does that will likely continue to go unchallenged. With her 12th album, “12 Months of Christmas,” coming out this week, Chan further breaks her own record for having the most all-original Christmas albums in circulation of any nationally established pop artist. Although “most Christmas albums” is not the sort of record where Santa is keeping an official list and checking it twice — nor the Guinness Book, for that matter — it seems safe to say that no one else is even close when it comes to self-penned, all-new Yuletide collections, thanks to the one-a-year pace established by Chan, the only nationally recognized artist who does nothing but Christmas albums.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The top spots on the respective U.S. album and singles charts remain as they were last week, with Bad Bunny holding the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 for a 13th non-consecutive week and Steve Lacy claiming the top song for a second week in a row. No surprises there, but at least there was some fresh blood in the No. 2 positions. A new album from hard rock veterans Slipknot debuted in second place. And on the Billboard Hot 100, a duet by Sam Smith and Kim Petras, “Unholy,” showed surprising strength in moving up to No. 2 after debuting well one spot behind that last week. Billboard points out that Bad Bunny is within striking distance of a record on the album chart, or at least a recent record. His 13 weeks on top with “Un Verano Sin Ti” have the album tied for the most weeks spent by an album at No. 1 in the last decade; he’s currently on par with Drake’s “Views” and the “Frozen” soundtrack. If he reaches No. 1 next week, he’ll singular own the record for most weeks spent on top over the last 10 years. But if we go back more than a decade, he still has a way to go to surpass Adele’s “21,” which spent 24 nonconsecutive weeks leading the chart in 2011-12.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic California is in the house, and will be for the next three years, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. A major exhibition, “Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock,” has just opened and will run through 2025. The must-see walk-through traces a history of roots music in L.A. rock that expands to include the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and Michael Nesmith in the 1960s; the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris in the ’70s; and Dwight Yoakam, Lone Justice and Los Lobos in the ’80s, among many other influential and sometimes commercially impactful figures. Variety recently visited the museum and spoke with co-curators Michael Gray, the facility’s executive senior director of editorial and interpretation, and Michael McCall, the museum’s senior editor, about why the ’60s through ’80s were a golden age for country-inflected rock in Los Angeles. The two curators also spoke about a number of the artifacts on display, from numerous Nudie’s-tailored jackets that set the visual tone for the era to key musical instruments to handwritten scores and setlists and even band flyers — see the gallery of photos below.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Right Said Fred has officially stirred not just the Beyhive but the Bey. Beyoncé herself, who rarely comments on such matters publicly, has issued a statement vehemently taking issue with the duo’s reported claim that her camp never sought permission to use “I’m Too Sexy” as a part of her recent “Alien Superstar” track. Right Said Fred’s allegations, as reported in the U.K. newspaper the Sun, are “erroneous and incredibly disparaging,” Beyoncé said in a statement issued to E! Entertainment News. Beyoncé pointed out that her track technically does not actually sample theirs, as the duo was quoted as contending, but is an interpolation in which “I’m Too Sexy” is essentially paraphrased through a re-recording of the elements used. Thus, she says, permission only needed to be sought from the songwriting publisher, not the holders of the original “Sexy” recording — and it was asked for and granted.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Although a news report went out Friday morning — and then was pulled — that Joni Mitchell had died, the story was published in error, and the singer-songwriter remains alive and well. “I can confirm all is well so this was done in error,” says a representative for Rhino, which is involved with Mitchell in an ongoing reissue series of her catalog material. The faux report went out from People magazine, with tell-tale signs of a “pre-write” obituary that was published accidentally — every major news organization’s worst nightmare. “Joni Mitchell Dies at TK AGE,” read the headline that was seen on the magazine’s website as well as in a tweet, the “TK” meaning “to come” in journalistic parlance. The story itself also included editorial notes indicating details that needed to be filled in.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift kept the “Midnights” oil burning later than usual late Thursday night and early Friday morning, revealing not just the name of one song at midnight, as has been her custom in the buildup to the Oct. 21 album release, but all five of the remaining mystery track titles, one per hour, until she finally reached a grand finale at 4 a.m. ET. And that final track reveal had — as she promised — “QUITE the twist of an ending,” with Lana Del Rey being revealed as making the only featured appearance by a guest on the album. Del Rey will make her cameo on a song titled “Snow on the Beach,” which will be track 4 on “Midnights.” The other four tracks whose titles were revealed over the course of the wee hours were “Lavender Haze,” set to be the first track on the album; “You’re on Your Own,” track 5; “Labyrinth,” track 10; and “Sweet Nothing,” track 12.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift kept the “Midnights” oil going once again with the late-night revelation of yet another new song, with an explanation of its subject matter to match. But this time, indications are that she may keep going into the wee hours and not just call it a night at 12:02 a.m. The new song Swift revealed and talked about as the clock struck 12 on the east coast is “Lavender Haze.” About the song, Swift said in a video message on Instagram: “Track 1 on ‘Midnights’ is ‘Lavender Haze,’ and I happened upon the phrase ‘lavender haze’ when I was watching ‘Mad Men.’ And I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool, and it turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the fifties where they would just describe being in love. Like, if you were in the lavender haze, you were in that all-encompassing love glow… and I thought that was really beautiful. And I guess theoretically, when you’re in the lavender haze, you’ll do anything to stay there and not let people bring you down off of that cloud. And I think a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like ‘public figures.’ because we live in the era of social media, and if the world finds out that you’re in love with somebody, they’re going to weigh in on it. Like my relationship for six years: we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. So this song is about ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff. I hope you guys like it.”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Feeling like you’re having a hard time keeping up with all the new music that’s coming out? You’re not alone — even if you are, say, a computer and not just a mere mortal. Stats now show that an average of more than 100,000 songs are being uploaded to digital service providers every day. So don’t feel bad about not staying on top of things. If each of those 100K tunes lasted just three minutes (a conservative estimate by most standards), it would take over 30 years for one person to listen through all of the music released to and through DSPs in a day. New Music Friday? It’s more like New Music Nanosecond. The 100,000 daily figure was cited by the CEOs for both Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group at industry events in September, according to Music Business Worldwide, which used the staggering number as its Stat of the Week on Thursday.

Nancy Russell Nancy Russell worked in the music industry in Nashville for decades and was the manager to stars including Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood and — at the time of her Grammy-winning early 2000s comeback with “Van Lear Rose” — the late, great Loretta Lynn. Russell now lives in Southern California, consulting on independent music projects while focusing on screenwriting. She shared her memories of Lynn with Variety. The first time I saw Loretta Lynn in person was at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in 1986, about a year before I moved to Nashville. Dressed in bright turquoise spandex and a white blouse, she sang her hits with warmth and spirit, committing to every single member of that audience. Never could I imagine that 15 years later I’d have the privilege to be her manager.

© RideApart. com Loretta Lynn - RIP That’s before you start to talk about how she played a large part in making American motocross what it is today. The AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship—through which many of the best and brightest stars over the decades have come up—has made Loretta Lynn’s Ranch its heart since 1982.

Jack White says Loretta Lynn was “like a mother figure” to him. The White Stripes star paid tribute to his friend and ‘The Pill’ country legend - who died aged 90 on Tuesday (04. 10.

Loretta Lynn was more than just a musical idol to Jack White, who produced her acclaimed 2004 album Van Lear Rose and counted her as a friend.

Loretta Lynn, the Kentucky coal miner's daughter whose frank songs about life and love as a woman in Appalachia pulled her out of poverty and made her a pillar of country music, has died. She was 90.In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Lynn's family said she died Tuesday at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.Lynn already had four children before launching her career in the early 1960s, and her songs reflected her pride in her rural Kentucky background.Her biggest hits came in the 1960s and '70s, including Coal Mine's Daughter, You Ain't Woman Enough, The Pill, Don't Come Home a Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind), Rated X and You're Looking at Country.She was also portrayed by Sissy Spacek in the 1980 movie Coal Miner's Daughter basked on the singer's best-selling book.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Country singer Lainey Wilson’s very good year is getting just a little bit better, on top of her having the leading number of nominations for the CMA Awards and coming onto “Yellowstone” as a new cast member this season. CMT announced Wednesday that Wilson will be celebrated as Breakout Artist of the Year on the network’s “CMT Artists of the Year” special airing next week. “This past year has been a wild ride,” Wilson said in a statement. “To be considered for this award reinforces that the years of hard work my team and I have put in was all worth it. The team at CMT feels like family, and the way they genuinely support artists on their platform is so special and important for dreamers like me.”

Reba McEntire was one of the many stars who took to Instagram to pay tribute to Loretta Lynn after she died at the age of 90 - but she also took the opportunity to remember her late mother too. The star shared a photo alongside Loretta, in which they were beaming for the camera and looking dressed up to the nines. MORE: Reba McEntire clears up confusion surrounding COVID-19 battle as she reveals what really happenedReba wrote an emotional and lengthy caption which pulled at the heartstrings of her followers. WATCH: Reba McEntire reveals how she met her boyfriend It read: "Mama and Loretta Lynn were four years apart, Mama being the oldest. They always reminded me a lot of each other.

Keith Urban was one of the many famous country stars to pay a public tribute following the death of Loretta Lynn on Tuesday.MORE: Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman to spend rest of year apartAfter the sad news was announced, Keith - who is currently on tour - took to Instagram to share a series of photos of the pair together, including a fond memory of him jumping out of a cake on her 87th birthday.Alongside the photos, he wrote: "There’s unique artists, and I mean truly unique artists, and then there’s the very rare ‘one of one’ unclonable originals. That was THE Miss Loretta Lynn.