Brit Beat: BRIT Awards Boss Hopes for ‘Higher Representation of Women’; Wet Leg’s Label Looks at Longue-Term Success

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Odesza, Lana Del Rey, Karol G, the 1975 and Tomorrow X Together are the top-billed artists for the Lollapalooza 2023 festival, taking place at its longtime home of Chicago’s Grant Park from August 3-6.  This year’s lineup also includes Fred again, Noah Kahan, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, J.I.D., Maggie Rogers, Carly Rae Jepsen, Diplo, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Tems, the Rose, Rina Sawayama, Lil Yachty, Rema, Morgan Wade, Lainey Wilson, L’Impératrice, Ivan Cornejo, Sudan Archives, and many others (see the full 170-plus-artist lineup below). The festival, which celebrated its 30 th anniversary in 2021, will take place across nine stages and four days.

Paramount Global is shuffling its board of directors, including the addition of Dawn Ostroff, who will serve as an independent non-executive director, the company announced Friday. The filing also noted that Bob Bakish would be making $31.5 million.Ostoroff’s seat is pending a stockholder vote that will take place at Paramount’s 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders later this year. Bakish, who serves as Paramount Global’s president will be receiving a pay boost to $31.5 million as a result of $16 million stock awards grant.

meeting up with a 16-year-old on the Growlr dating app.According to a memo from the Broward County State Attorney’s Office explaining its decision, the teen’s parents wanted to pursue charges against Parson but did not want to subject their son to be questioned on the stand and were reticent to allow prosecutors to speak with him to help determine the facts of the case.Assistant State Attorney Danielle Lennox, of the office’s sexual battery and child abuse unit, wrote in the memo that a victim advocate from the office had begun reaching out to the family after the charges against Parson were filed.In a May 2022 phone conference with the victim’s parents, Lennox explained what the process of pursuing prosecution would entail, but they were reticent to have their son speak with her.Lennox agreed to give them time to think and scheduled a follow-up meeting with the parents to arrange an in-person interview with the teen, but was unable to reach the family.

Tasha Ghouri proved she has a sense of humour about her and boyfriend Andrew Le Page’s time on Love Island as she treated him to a very cheeky cake for his 28th birthday.The 24 year old model, who has recently been spotted rocking a breastplate, went all out for her beau’s birthday as she treated him to a huge platter of food, a montage of their photos together and a massive number of gold and black balloons.The food on offer included donuts, a chocolate fondue pot with fruit and marshmallows, and popcorn.Tasha also posted a sweet selfie of Andrew kissing her cheek in front of the balloons. But it was the cake that caught fan’s attention, as it appears to be a reference to one of the couple’s most memorable Love Island tiffs.The cake looked to be a chocolate tray cake decorated with biscuits and sweets and with the words “or whatever” spelled out in the middle.

While it's nothing new, and we're certainly not complaining, Harry Styles' name is inescapable right now.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor K-Pop is facing a “very clear slowdown in growth” that has inspired his company’s expansion efforts in the U.S., Bang Si-Hyuk, chairman of HYBE, the company behind bands including BTS and other acts, told CNN’s Richard Quest in an interview published Sunday, as HYBE seeks to expand its holdings in the South Korean music market by acquiring a large stake in competitor SM. The genre, which has boomed globally over the past five years, “is not as hot in the market as you might perceive,” Bang said. “Globally, it’s not occupying much of the market. On the other hand, Latin music and Afrobeat are very rapidly growing. So being where we are, it is more urgent to increase the exposure. … Looking at our export indicators and streaming growth, the slowdown in growth is very clear.”

Women dominated in gender-neutral acting categories in the first year of their institution at the Independent Spirit Awards, claiming four statuettes at Saturday’s ceremony.

While it's nothing new, and we're certainly not complaining, Harry Styles' name is inescapable right now.

Thania Garcia Chuck Jackson, a vocalist of the doo-wop group Del-Vikings and the singer in Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard’s “Any Day Now,” died on Feb. 16 in Atlanta. He was 85. News of his passing was confirmed in a Facebook post by Ady Croasdell of Ace Records’ Kent Records division, a UK label that had been reissuing his recordings. No cause of death was given. “There are confirmed reports that one of the very greatest soul singers of all time, Chuck Jackson, died on February 16th,” Croasdell wrote. “His 60s and 70s recordings are hugely important works, revered as much now as on release…His passing will be deeply felt around the world.”

S Club 7 have discussed the possibility of returning to the studio after announcing a reunion tour in celebration of their 25th anniversary.The pop group have reunited once before, for a UK arena tour in 2015, but haven’t released any new music since their 2003 farewell single ‘Love Ain’t Gonna Wait For You’ / ‘Say Goodbye’.At a press conference in London earlier this week (February 14), band member Jon Lee described the prospect of adding to their discography as “exciting”.“It’s something that we have spoken about and something that we would all be up for, but at the minute we’re just seeing how the tour goes first,” Lee added.During their original run, S Club 7 released four studio albums and scored 11 consecutive UK Top Five hits with bangers including ‘Bring It All Back’, ‘Never Had A Dream Come True’, ‘Don’t Stop Movin”, ‘Natural’ and ‘Reach’.However, the band confirmed this week that there is still space in their setlist for deep cuts. “We had loads of album tracks, B-sides [and] songs that were performed on the TV series that [our fans] have never seen us perform live before, so we’d love to hear via social media if there’s anything they would love to see,” Lee said.Meanwhile, Lee’s bandmate Tina Barrett revealed that she is a fan of Wet Leg after catching their performance at last weekend’s BRIT Awards.

Following their big wins at this year’s BRIT Awards, Harry Styles and Wet Leg have seen massive surges on the Official Singles and Albums Charts. 

EXCLUSIVE: Looking for Jane, the book by Heather Marshall, is getting the small-screen treatment.

Sam Smith‘s inflatable Brit Awards suit, has said that he took inspiration for the silhouette from his dog.Harri (whose full name is Harikrishnan Keezhathil Surendran Pillai) spoke to the BBC about getting the call to design the outfit.“They [Smith] reached out to me on Monday, asking if I could create something custom-made for the Brits,” he said. “I was a bit scared because it’s not enough time.

Salma Hayek looked stunning at her most recent appearance at an awards show. Hayek was a guest and a presenter at the BRIT Awards, wearing an all black and leather ensemble, which she capped off with a leather jacket for the after party.How Salma Hayek overcame fear of marriage on her wedding day: ‘I was nervous’Salma Hayek goes preppy in London: Check out her Gucci lookHayek wore a stunning dress with a leather skirt and some platform heels. She accesorized the look with a stunning necklace and striking make up.

The Brit Awards 2023 has already seen some incredible red carpet looks from celebrity attendees. We had Lizzo show-stopping “opulent” gold gown, Megan McKenna’s cowgirl-inspired ensemble and Talia Storm’s, err, bikini. We’ve also had Leigh-Anne Pinnock in a burnt orange gown.The Little Mix star graced the red carpet in a very daring dress.

This weekend, the 2023 BRIT Awards take place (for the first time ever in the ceremony's history - on a Saturday!) and one of the night's most anticipated moments will be seeing who will win the coveted Song of the Year award. 

The Brit Awards 2023 saw the fashion rule book torn up and thrown away. With huge names performing on the night, from Harry Styles to Stormzy and Lizzo, it’s no surprise the red carpet looks were just as impressive as the performers at the O2. One fashion highlight of the night was Jessie J baring her baby bump on the red carpet hours after revealing that she is expecting a baby boy.The 34 year old Price Tag singer looked phenomenal as she rocked a red jumpsuit which featured a large cut-out at the midsection, so her blossoming baby bump was bared to the world.

It was officially one of 2022's biggest songs in the UK, boasting in excess of 140 million streams to date; and now Lost Frequencies and Calum Scott's Where Are You Now is only up for a bloomin' BRIT Award.

On Saturday (February 11), the 43rd annual BRIT Awards took place at London's The O2. Hosted by Mo Gilligan, the ceremony saw performances from the likes of Harry Styles, Lizzo, Sam Smith and Kim Petras, David Guetta and many more.

Maya Jama has wowed viewers after debuting a new look during her Love Island return. The TV and radio presenter had a busy weekend as she stepped out at the Brit Awards over the weekend but on Sunday night she was back to the day job on Love Island's Aftersun.