Sphere Studios and Big Sky Camera Systems to Provide the Immersive Visual Content for Las Vegas’ Massive New Dome

Manchester City have paid tribute to Ilkay Gundogan after the midfielder announced his move to Barcelona on a free transfer, saying he leaves with his place in club history secured.

Ilkay Gundogan says he will always be a Blue after his free transfer to Barcelona was confirmed.

Another heatwave is set to sweep the UK, with temperatures of up to 40C predicted next month.

Gorka Marquez joked that their next catch-up will require the 'whole restaurant' and a 'mini bus' as he and Gemma Atkinson spent time with Janette Manrara and Aljaž Škorjanec ahead of both welcoming children into the world.

Erik ten Hag is only just in his second summer in charge of Manchester United but he has ruled with an iron fist.

Coronation Street star Peter Ash has both stunned and delighted fans as he revealed that his real-life mum appeared in the soap. The actor is currently winning praise for her portrayal of Paul Foreman in the ITV soap.

She shot to fame playing Brookside’s Lindsey Corkhill in the 90s, then became a TV presenter, a pop star, a radio DJ, an M&S model and even a West End star. But Claire Sweeney’s new role in Coronation Street as Tyrone Dobbs’ long lost mum Cassandra is Claire’s favourite role to date. Claire’s character Cassandra doesn’t make her debut until Wednesday (28 June), but Claire already thinks she’s done the best work of her career.

Mark Wright has come out fighting in defence of his marriage to Michelle Keegan after he faced more accusations that they’re living separate lives. The TOWIE star-turned-TV presenter was photographed looking loved-up with Michelle on holiday in Ibiza last week, demonstrating that they still make time for each other.

The stars of Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny took over the 2023 Taormina Film Festival for the latest film premiere!

2023 BET Awards gave one of the greatest his flowers.During «culture's biggest night,» Busta Rhymes was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award — presented by Marlon Wayans and Swizz Beatz -- where he shared an inspirational message in his acceptance speech, and got emotional while reflecting on the award.Speaking with ET's Kevin Frazier after the show at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, Rhymes explained what, exactly, brought him to tears during his speech.«I was thinking about everyone that I acknowledged. I was thinking about the ones I couldn't get to because I ain't have enough time,» Rhymes explained.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Multiple gunshot victims were reported as being treated after violence broke out in a campground at the site of the Gorge amphitheater in Washington state Saturday night, while performances were still going on inside the venue as part of the Beyond Wonderland festival. After initial reports of an active shooter, local authorities reported that a suspect had been apprehended. Information on the victims’ condition was not released prior to a scheduled law enforcement press conference set for 11:30 p.m. PT. But at 10:52 p.m., the Grant County Sheriff’s Office tweeted: “We have five confirmed injuries. The suspect is in custody. The scene has been secured.”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic If most people thought of which performer best represents pure, satanic evil in music, Pat Benatar would not be their first go-to. But Sen. Ted Cruz is not most people, as he demonstrated Thursday with a mention of Benatar that seemed intended to cast the well-liked, seemingly benign Rock & Roll Hall of Famer as an emblem of Satan. Appearing on Joe Pagliarulo’s conservative talk show, Cruz was asked if he thought there was any possibility that President Joe Biden could be both impeached and convicted by a supermajority in the Senate, a fantasy scenario openly hoped for by some on the far right. Expressing the unlikeliness of that, Cruz replied, “I don’t think Senate Democrats, if you had video of Joe Biden murdering children dressed as the devil under a full moon while singing Pat Benatar, they still wouldn’t vote to convict.”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic In a move certain to shock Los Angeles theatergoers, the Center Theatre Group (CTG) announced Thursday that it is canceling plans for a 2023-34 season at the Mark Taper Forum, one of the most important homes for new plays in the city, if not the country, due to severe financial concerns. The organization’s two other theaters, the Ahmanson and Kirk Douglas Theatres, will continue with their seasons as usual, with 2023-24 programs to be announced shortly, the announcement said. The programming suspension at the 736-seat Mark Taper will begin after a current world premiere musical, “Transparent,” wraps up its run on June 25. Two other shows that had already been announced will have their runs canceled or postponed. The world premiere of “Fake It Until You Make It,” set to begin Aug. 2, is being called off, although the org said “we plan to feature it) in a future season.” Meanwhile, a touring production of “Cambodian Rock Band” set for the Mark Taper has been canceled outright.  

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic No one could deny that there were star-driven aspects to this past weekend of shows at one of America’s most beloved outdoor venues, the Gorge, all of them headlined or organized by Brandi Carlile. That was apparent soon enough for anyone driving out of Seattle-Takoma Airport to make the three-hour drive to the remote amphitheater in the middle of Washington state, as the freeways were dotted with cars with “Brandi or Bust!” (or messages about the “Bramily”) emblazoned on their rear windshields. And Carlile wasn’t the biggest star appearing over the three nights. No one lords over a cult of personality right now, actively or passively, quite like Joni Mitchell. Not so very long ago, Mitchell was more or less seen as one boomer icon among many, yet she has somehow just in the past few years graduated — with no campaigning on her part, but with valuable microbursts of assistance from Carlile — to being arguably the most revered North American singer-songwriter of any generation. Bob Dylan can only be looking on a little jealously at how his old friend and rival has kind of quietly been pushed ahead of him in the line, even as she did not much more than stay out of sight and work to recover from a debilitating aneurysm.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Joni Mitchell wrote rather presciently about “The Circle Game” 57 years ago, but anyone who’s experienced a little life knows that circles don’t always — or even very often — come back around to allowing people to enjoy some of the most triumphant nights of their lives when they’re reaching the end of their 70s. Yet with a little bit of an assist from Brandi Carlile, aka the Great Enabler, and her wide circle of friends, that’s what was able to happen Saturday night at the Gorge in Washington state, in a nearly three-hour “Joni Jam” echoed a similar but much shorter event that happened last year at the Newport Folk Festival. This more elaborate follow-up — billed as Mitchell’s first ticketed concert in 20 years — was partly a tribute concert and consummate love-fest. But mostly it was a testament to the singer-songwriter’s own willpower in fighting her way back to full performance mode after a debilitating physical setback that went unmentioned but was not far out of mind. However much Mitchell was in “basking” mode, it was understood that this triumph represented a circle that she really had had to close herself.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Jason Isbell has a new album out, “Weathervanes,” and he says, “I’m happy to be talking about it. You know, I’ve been talking about a lot of other stuff lately, and it’s nice to actually discuss the job that I chose for myself.” Nothing against the Other Stuff on his part, mind you. He’s proud of the much-heralded HBO Max documentary that director Sam Jones made about him, “Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed,” even if it did open him and his wife, Amanda Shires, up to a huge amount amount of personal scrutiny. And he’ll sure be spending an even bigger part of the year than he is now talking about his dramatic role in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which he now feels confident did not leave him in the position of “be(ing) the one guy that screws up this $200 million movie.”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Days before he’ll attend the Tony Awards as an original score nominee for “Shucked,” country music hitmaker Shane McAnally has announced that rights to much of his songwriting and producing catalog have been acquired by CTM Outlander, a company that has moved aggressively into publishing deals with a particular eye toward investing in renowned Nashville tunesmiths. Also being picked up by CTM Outlander are songs by four writers in McAnally’s SMACKsongs stable: Josh Osbourne, Matt McGinn and Old Dominion members Matthew Ramsey and Trevor Rosen. Additionally, the company will handle global administration for SMACKsongs and SMACKBlue publishing.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Jack Lee, who co-fronted the influential L.A. band the Nerves in the late 1970s and saw his songs turn into major hits for Blondie and Paul Young, died May 26 in Santa Monica, Calif. at age 71. His death was revealed Wednesday in a press release, which revealed Lee died after battling colon cancer for three years. Although Lee had not had much public visibility in recent years, “he never gave up on his music,” his family said in a statement, “to the very end. His guitar, right by his side. He lived his songs. One by one they told the story of his life. Some dreams die. His never will.” His greatest success as a musician came with a pair of high-profile covers. Blondie recorded an extremely faithful cover of the Nerves’ “Hanging on the Telephone” in 1978 that remains one of the group’s most instantly identifiable signature songs to this day. (Blondie’s version went to No. 5 in the U.K., although, as an FM hit, it never charted in the U.S.) Paul Young found success in 1983 with “Come Back and Stay,” a song the Nerves wrote but never recorded; it first appeared on a Lee solo project a couple of years before Young had the hit. (The cover reached No. 4 in the U.K. and No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.) Young recorded a total of three Lee songs for his Euro-chart-topping debut album that year.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic George Winston, one of the bestselling instrumental pianists in the world during his heyday in the 1980s and ’90s, died Sunday at age 73. The announcement came through his social media and website and said he “painlessly left this world while asleep” following a decade-long battle with cancer. “George courageously managed serious cancers, including having a successful bone marrow transplant for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) in 2013 at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, that gratefully extended his life by 10 years,” said the announcement. “Throughout his cancer treatments, George continued to write and record new music, and he stayed true to his greatest passion: performing for live audiences while raising funds for Feeding America to help fight the national hunger crisis along with donating proceeds from each of his concerts to local food banks.”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Allison Russell had one of the most acclaimed records of 2021 with her solo debut, “Outside Child,” in spite of — or because of — the fact that reviews described just how tough much of the subject material was. But she’s taking a break from “harrowing” with her second release, “The Returner,” which has just been announced as coming out Sept. 8. With its increased twin focus on grooves and celebration, it might not be inaccurate to call the album a party, albeit with the understanding that the celebration is a hard-fought party. “I thought about returning, and what that means to me,” Russell tells Variety, offering a preview of what to expect from the end-of-summer release. “And I thought about survivors’ joy, and how we don’t talk about that enough.”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift revealed the full track list for “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” Monday, including who her duet partners would be on the previously unrecorded “Vault Tracks” — Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Fall Out Boy. Wrote Swift on social media: “I’m VERY excited to show you the back cover of Speak Now (my version) including the vault tracks and collaborations with @yelyahwilliams from @paramore and @falloutboy. Since Speak Now was all about my songwriting, I decided to go to the artists who I feel influenced me most powerfully as a lyricist at that time and ask them to sing on the album. They’re so cool and generous for agreeing to support my version of Speak Now. I recorded this album when I was 32 (and still growing up, now) and can’t wait to unveil it all to you on July 7th.”