Music: Last News

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Is Reba McEntire running a little behind Bob Hope, as an awards-show-hosting perennial… or actually a little bit ahead? It depends how you count. Because this year marks her 17th year hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards, aka the ACMs, and Hope did the Oscars 19 times, so she’s still two years from matching his record, if we compare these gigs. However, McEntire has also hosted a rival program, the CMA Awards, five times over the years.

EXCLUSIVE: Activist Artists Management has signed Chilean actress Renata González Spralja (The Wave) for representation, with Bernie Cahill and Justin Deanda to run point for the new client.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Country music superstar Tim McGraw is adding to his acting resume with a new drama series at Netflix. Variety has learned that McGraw will star in the untitled series, which is set in the world of competitive bull riding.

Benny Blanco has quite the future planned out with Selena Gomez!

The new trailer for Wicked has arrived! And it’s spectacular!

The official trailer for the Wicked movie musical has been released!

Victoria Justice is speaking out for the first time about the Dan Schneider allegations and the Quiet On Set documentary series.

Jazz For Two is one of the big Korean dramas of the year, and we want Just Jared readers to get to know the cast even better!

The new musical comedy Death Becomes Her is officially heading to Broadway!

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer After sharing some strong feelings about being left out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in December, Cher has reversed her stance on the subject following her nomination this year. While on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” late last year, the iconic singer stated that her omission left her with a sour taste and that she would never join the Hall of Fame if they offered.

Channel 4, also showed that a similar disparity is present in the music and performing arts sector, with just 16 per cent coming from working class communities, as opposed to almost 65 per cent from middle or upper class backgrounds.A lack of diversity has also been reported in other categories, with data showing that 90 per cent of those working in the arts are white, and nearly 70 per cent of people in managerial positions are men, with only 1 per cent of those being Black.The study reveals that although such class-based patterns are not new, they actually show a decline in working class people making a living in the entertainment industry.A spokesperson for the UK government responded to the report, saying they are committed to “growing a creative sector with opportunities for all, creating new pathways into the industry through training and education.”Labour, meanwhile, announced last month that they would reform the school accountability framework in an effort to ensure that arts subjects are considered of comparable value to sciences and humanities.Keir Starmer, the party’s leader, vowed to place culture “at the core” of his government if he were to win the forthcoming general election.

Sophie Turner has said she had the "worst few days" of her life following her split from singer Joe Jonas.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter “IF,” a fantasy-comedy from director John Krasinski and star Ryan Reynolds, looks to collect a promising $40 million in its box office debut. Based on projections, “IF” — short for imaginary friends — is tracking to land at least $35 million and as much as $45 million from 4,000 North American theaters. At the higher end of estimates, those ticket sales would mark a solid start for a live-action PG family film that’s not based on an existing property.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Ozians are putting aside their panic for this one day, to celebrate! The cause for commotion? Universal finally unveiled the first full-length trailer for its adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical. The dazzling, more than three-minute-long footage finally captures Ariana Grande‘s Glinda and Cynthia Erivo‘s Elphaba singing two of the show’s anthems, “Popular” and “Defying Gravity.” A prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” “Wicked” recounts the events that happened before Dorothy followed that iconic yellow brick road and Elphaba, ostracized for her green skin, became the Wicked Witch of the West.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Spotify was hit with a cease-and-desist letter from the National Music Publishers Assn. over its use of lyrics in its recently launched video function and podcasts, and its remix feature that enables users to speed up or otherwise edit songs to create derivative works.

Glasgow-based funk and soul band, The McCommitments, are to headline at the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Relay for Life event in Kilmarnock this summer.

HYBE has become the first entertainment company added to South Korea’s conglomerate watchlist.According to reports by South Korean media, HYBE is one of seven business groups that have been added to the watchlist of the East Asian country’s antitrust regulator, the Fair Trade Commission, per The Korea Times. The list currently includes 88 conglomerates in total, with HYBE being the only entertainment company.“The increase in the number of companies on this year’s watchlist came as entertainment, leisure and tourism industries, among others, have grown markedly thanks to the rising popularity of Korean culture and recovering consumer sentiment after the COVID-19 pandemic,” the regulator said.According to The Chosun Daily, conglomerates with assets of 5trillion won or more are classified as “large corporations” and are required to publicly disclose details about interaffiliate transactions, their ownership structure and more.

Anyone who has tried to get through to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will know that it is often a long and arduous experience, but a report today (May 15) has revealed that people filing tax returns, checking National Insurance records, or just making a child benefit query, spent seven million hours on hold.

A small group of villagers are getting ready to rock again as they finalise plans for the fifth running of their very own music festival.

Omnes Films has a goal. “Our mission is to fill a void in modern cinema,” says its website. “Our films are passionate, ambitious works made by friends that favor atmosphere over plot and study the many forms of cultural decay in the 21st Century. Whatever the subject or genre, we seek projects that are original in conception and feel like they’ve never been made before.” It sounds wildly ambitious, and maybe it is, but Cannes audiences will be the judge of that when two of its films — Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point by Tyler Taormino and Eephus by Carson Lund — premiere in Directors’ Fortnight.

Ed Sheeran played a surprise live set at a primary school in Brighton last week – check out the footage and images below.The singer-songwriter visited the Fairlight Primary and Nursery School last Friday (May 10) to meet young students and deliver a three-track acoustic performance in a special assembly.Sheeran’s trip was organised by Create Music – the Music Hub for Brighton & Hove and East Sussex, which aims to “centre the voices of children, young people and adults” in the area (via BBC News).The star donated five of his guitars to the school, and spoke to pupils about his hugely successful career and the importance of music education.Headteacher Damien Jordan told BBC Radio Sussex that none of the children and only a few members of staff knew about Sheeran’s visit beforehand. He found out who the high-profile guest was just the day before.Create Music has since shared a video of Sheeran performing his 2017 single ‘Perfect’ in front of the kids, as well as some photos of him speaking to the youngsters.