Lizzo Returns on August 13 With New Single, ‘Rumors’

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSiriusXM and TikTok launched TikTok Radio (located on channel 4) at noon ET on Friday (August 20), which seems to be a way for people who have satellite radio but can’t figure out TikTok to hear the top songs trending on the wildly popular platform.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA new lead singer is just about the most dramatic change a band can make — even if a main songwriter or instrumentalist leaves, the voice is usually the clearest link to what came before. Although George Clarke, cofounder and lead vocalist of long-running San Francisco avant-metal act Deafheaven, hasn’t gone anywhere, he’s changed up his style so dramatically for the band’s fifth studio album that it actually sounds like they have a different singer.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAn attorney for R. Kelly attempted to discredit one of the accusers leveling allegations of sexual abuse against the singer on Thursday, after she’d claimed he had slapped and choked her during what she described as their final sexual encounter more than 10 years ago.Jerhonda Johnson Pace, the first witness testifying for prosecutors in Kelly’s long-delayed racketeering trial in New York, is among multiple women leveling claims of sexual abuse against Kelly.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFollowing moves by Stevie Nicks, Garth Brooks and others, Nine Inch Nails announced on Thursday that they have cancelled all concert appearances for 2021. The group was scheduled to begin a series of dates in September and November in Cleveland on September 21.“It is with great regret that we are cancelling all NIN appearances for the remainder of the year,” the group said in a statement posted on its social media accounts.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJust weeks before their first-ever tour without drummer Charlie Watts kicks off, the Rolling Stones have announced the 40th anniversary, expanded deluxe editions of their classic 1981 album, “Tattoo You.” The newly remastered set, out on October 22, and available in a variety of formats, will be accompanied by nine previously unreleased studio tracks from the era and a live concert from 1982; the full tracklists can be found below.The first of these, “Living in the

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMore than four years after the release of his blockbuster album “-,” Ed Sheeran has announced that his long-awaited fourth full-length album, called “=,” naturally enough, will be out on October 29.“‘=’ (Equals) is a really personal record and one that means a lot to me,” he said in the announcement. “My life changed greatly over the past few years – I got married, became a father, experienced loss, and I reflect on these topics over the course of the album.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJerhonda Johnson Pace told a federal jury that she began having sex with R. Kelly shortly after she turned 16, as the singer’s racketeering trial got under way in Brooklyn on Wednesday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorKanye West will hold a third public listening session for his still-unreleased “Donda” album at the 60,000-plus-capacity Soldier Field stadium in his hometown of Chicago on Thursday, August 26 at 10 p.m. ET/ 9 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDowntown Music Holdings has announced that its founder and current CEO Justin Kalifowitz will take on a new position as executive chairman, with current COO Andrew Bergman assuming day-to-day responsibilities as the company’s CEO.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFinding talent early is a key component of being a good agent and being a good A&R person, so it’s surprising that more people don’t do both. Matt Galle is one of the few who does.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJust days after Jay-Z and Roc Nation took part in a $325 million investment in the Fanatics sports e-commerce platform, the rapper, along with Fanatics onwer and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin have applied for a New York gaming license to form Fanatics Sportsbook. The news was first reported by TMZ and ESPN and confirmed by Variety.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a major shakeup at the Recording Academy, longtime chief awards officer Bill Freimuth has left the organization, along with VP of communications Lourdes Lopez and chief marketing and innovations officer Lisa Farris, Variety has confirmed. Freimuth had overseen the complex and often controversial nominating and awards process for the Grammy Awards since 2004.Reps for the Recording Academy did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMadonna, the top-selling female artist of all time, will bring her entire catalog of recorded music under the Warner Music umbrella as part of a career-spanning global partnership announced Monday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLegendary singer Tony Bennett — who celebrated his 95th birthday just last week, performing with Lady Gaga at two-sold out shows at New York’s Radio City Music Hall — has canceled his Fall 2021 tour dates.The tour — consisting of pre-pandemic shows dates had been rescheduled — was slated to begin in September. The affected dates include New York, Maryland and Connecticut as well as Oklahoma and Canada.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJustin Bieber and Megan Thee Stallion led the nominations for MTV’s 2021 VMAs, which were unveiled by the network Wednesday.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTwo years after R. Kelly was jailed on multiple sexual assault and misconduct charges, his trial in New York begins with jury selection after months of Covid-related delays.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter unveiling it during a performance at Boston’s Fenway Park on Tuesday, Guns N’ Roses have released “Absurd,” their first official new song since their 2008 album “Chinese Democracy.”However, to call the song “new” is a relative term: The song, formerly called “Silkworms,” has been knocking around for two decades and was reportedly written during the years of sessions for “Chinese Democracy.”The fast-paced track features Axl Rose singing with an almost comical

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter an epic buildup — starting with a cryptic statement about “the dawn,” back in May, then some social media teases, then placement in an ad for the Olympics, and then news that it was banned from IMAX theaters — the Weeknd’s new single and video “Take My Breath” has arrived, and it sounds like another smash.As promised, the mood of the song is lighter, with a pulsing disco beat and a chugging “Another Brick in the Wall” guitar riff, but the video — directed by

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA day after DaBaby was dropped from the Lollapalooza lineup for his homophobic comments last week, New York’s Governors Ball canceled his performance at the festival, which takes place in September.In a tweet labeled “Stay tuned for a lineup addition,” the festival’s promoter wrote in a social media message: “Founders Entertainment does not and will not tolerate hate or discrimination of any kind.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd teased new music early Monday morning in a snippet posted on social media called “The Dawn Is Coming” and talked generally about it in a new GQ article, calling it “the album I’ve always wanted to make.”The song has a heavy electronic dance groove reminiscent of “Alive 2007”-era Daft Punk, but with the Weeknd’s haunting, echo-laden melody soaring over it.The Weeknd teased the song with three days of hints (a wiped Instagram account followed by a new post