County Oakland Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Today, Empire, the independent record label, distributor, and publisher, has named Jennifer Cabalquinto to the post of chief financial officer. Cabalquinto will oversee all day-to-day and long-term financial planning and accounting operations for the music powerhouse, and strategize Empire’s reach beyond music into the sports, videogame, tv/film and live entertainment sectors.  Cabalquinto arrives at Empire with more than 25 years of experience working witn the financial foundations in various entertainment industries. Previously, she held Chief Financial Officer positions at 2K Games, Universal Studios Hollywood, Telemundo and the Golden State Warriors, where she most oversaw the development and financial execution of Chase Center and was one of the few c-suite women executives in the NBA during the Warrior’s five straight NBA Finals appearances and three NBA championships.

BTS member Suga recently brought singer Halsey onstage as a surprise guest at the Los Angeles stop of his ongoing world tour.On the final day of Suga’s three-day concert at the Kia Forum on May 14 in Los Angeles, as part of his ongoing ‘Suga Agust D’ world tour, the rapper surprised fans by inviting American singer-songwriter onstage as a guest.As seen in a clip uploaded by the Kia Forum on Twitter, the pair teamed up for a performance of their 2020 track ‘Suga’s Interlude’, from Halsey’s third studio album ‘Manic’. This marks the first time the two artists have performed ‘Suga’s Interlude’ together.“I’ve been trying all my life / To separate the time / In between the having it all and giving it up, yeah,” Halsey sings in the chorus.

Angelique Jackson On the heels of winning a Peabody Award for the Showtime docuseries “We Need to Talk About Cosby,” W. Kamau Bell has launched a new production company, Who Knows Best, and inked an overall deal with Boardwalk Pictures. Bell, an Emmy-winning producer, director, host and comedian, founded Who Knows Best Productions (WKB), an Oakland-based company, with the mission of “fostering a diverse creative community and telling revolutionary non-fiction stories by any medium necessary.” WKB launches with a multi-year overall deal with Boardwalk Pictures (the award-winning production company behind “Chef’s Table,” “Cheer” and “Welcome to Wrexham”) after the parties partnered on the critically acclaimed four-part documentary “We Need to Talk About Cosby.”

Frameline Film Festival will open with a screening of the Sofia Coppola-produced movie “Fairyland.” The 11-day, LGBTQ-focused festival will return to San Francisco and Oakland from June 14-24. “Fairyland” will be followed by the festival’s Oakland Centerpiece event, which will screen “Cora Bora” on June 15. Its Pride Kickoff screening will be of “God Save the Queens” on June 22.

Suga, one of the members of BTS, is officially on the road with his solo world tour SUGA | Agust D TOUR ‘D-DAY.’

King Krule has announced an extensive tour in support of his upcoming album ‘Space Heavy’.The artist’s new album is due out on June 9 and is set to explore “the space between” two locations he considers home, London and Liverpool.To support the album, King Krule will be playing shows in the UK, Europe and North America. The artist – real name Archy Marshall – has already announced a string of release shows in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Kingston.

Ed Sheeran has shared details of intimate North American tour dates, which take place amid his stadium tour.The pop titan kicks off his ‘+ – = ÷ x Tour’ (‘Mathematics’ tour) in North America next month.He will stage more intimate performances at 14 theatres and auditoriums across the US and Canada during the stadium shows. Ben Kweller will provide support for the majority of the small-scale shows.A Ticketmaster Verified Fan pre-sale is set for this Tuesday (May 2) at 10am local time via Ticketmaster.

Ed Sheeran is going on tour this summer!

03 Greedo has announced his first official tour dates since his January release from prison after serving five years of a 20-year sentence. “Another Purple Summer” tour is a three-date California run that kicks off June 16 at The Novo in Los Angeles, continues at the New Parish in Oakland on the 28th, and concludes at San Diego’s House of Blues 3D on July 14.

Green Day have celebrated the 33rd anniversary of their debut album ’39/Smooth’ with a never-before-seen video and photos.The pop-punk icons shared an Instagram post that featured old throwbacks of the line-up that consisted of frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Durnt and original drummer John Kiffmeyer.They also unveiled a video of them performing the LP’s track ‘Paper Lantern’ in a backyard in their home city of Oakland, California, a couple of weeks before the album’s release.A post shared by Green Day (@greenday)’39/Smooth’ was released on April 13, 1990 via Lookout! Records. It was later reissued in 1991 under the title ‘1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hour’s, which included their earlier EPs ‘1,000 Hours’ and ‘Slappy’.Fans took to the comments section to celebrate the anniversary of the “bloody great album”.

Erykah Badu has announced details her upcoming ‘Unfollow Me’ North American, tour beginning this summer. Check out the dates and ticket information below.The 25-city-run tour will feature support from Yasiin Bey, also known as Mos Def, and according to Badu’s Instagram caption of the tour poster, “other extraordinary guests.”Shows are set to commence on June 11 in San Antonio, Texas.

Future has cancelled the last two dates of his North American ‘One Big Party’ tour, which was scheduled to wrap up in Kansas City and Minneapolis this week.Prior to last night’s (April 6) stop at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indiana, the rapper (whose real name is Nayvadius Cash) told Billboard that he was disappointed to be cancelling the remaining dates: “It breaks my heart that I will no longer be connecting with my fans in Kansas City and Minneapolis,” he said. “I look forward to reconnecting with each of you at another time.

Ticketmaster.MAY31 – Joliet, Illinois – The ForgeJUNE03 – Boston, Massachusetts – Big Night Live04 – New York, New York – Irving Plaza 06 – Charlotte, North Carolina – The Underground 08 – Atlanta, Georgia – Buckhead Theater 10 – Austin, Texas – Emo’s 11 – Dallas, Texas – The Echo Lounge and Music Hall 13 – Denver, Colorado – Marquis Theater 15 – Los Angeles, California – Echoplex 16 – Oakland, California – The New Parish[

Sophia Scorziello editor Leo D. Sullivan, an Emmy-winning pioneer in animation with a career of over 50 years and work on dozens of cartoons, has died. He was 82. Sullivan died March 25 of heart failure at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center. Throughout his career, Sullivan helped bring characters to life through his animation, storyboarding, directing and producing. His work spanned numerous television shows, including “Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “My Little Pony” and “Flash Gordon,” along with companies like Hanna-Barbera, Warner Brothers and Spunbuggy Works. Sullivan contributed to the opening animation on “Soul Train” which premiered in 1971.

GOT7‘s BamBam, soloist Chung Ha, co-ed group KARD and boybands iKON and TFN. In addition girl groups LAPILLUS and VIVIZ will also perform, as well as rapper Sik-K.Notably, two of the newly announced acts – namely BamBam and LAPILLUS – were originally set to perform at KAMP LA 2022, but had to pull out at the last minute due to visa problems.

TWICE have announced six new shows in North America and Australia for their upcoming ‘Ready To Be’ world tour.Today (March 23), the popular K-pop girl group announced on Twitter that they are adding two new shows to the Australian legs of their ‘Ready To Be’ tour. They include a second Sydney show on May 2, as well as a follow-up Melbourne concert on May 7.As for the North American leg of TWICE’s upcoming world tour, it will see the addition of four new stops – three in the US and one in Canada.

Gloria Dea, the first magician to perform on the Las Vegas Strip in the 1940s, has died. She was 100. Dea, who was born Gloria Metzner in Oakland, California, died Saturday in hospice care at her residence in Las Vegas, the director of clinical services for Valley Hospice confirmed with the Associated Press.

Jasmine Cephas-Jones strikes a pose with Jaylen Barron at the season two premiere of Blindspotting during the 2023 SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas on Friday (March 17).

Bauhaus members David J, Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins, will play a sting of US dates this May.Their West Coast tour begins with an appearance at Los Angeles’ Cruel World Festival, with further dates scheduled in Oakland, Salt Lake City, Portland, and Seattle.Love And Rockets were formed in 1984, following Bauhaus’ initial split in 1983. They released seven studio albums, with their 1989 single ‘So Alive’ reaching Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.They broke up in 1999 and reformed briefly in 2007 for a few live shows, before splitting again in 2009.You can view full dates below and buy tickets here.All aboard! pic.twitter.com/VHIk2016jg— David J (@davidjhaskins) March 14, 2023In other news, last year Bauhaus announced their first tour in over 16 years.

MAMAMOO is coming!

MAMAMOO are set to embark on their first-ever tour of the US as part of their wider ‘MY CON’ world tour.Today (March 15), the quartet officially announced that they would be going on their first North American tour, which will comprise shows in nine cities on both coasts, as well as southern and midwestern markets, over two months.MAMAMOO’s US tour will first kick off on May 16 in New York, before heading down the coast to Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. The girl group will then head down south, with shows in Tennessee, Texas and Arizona.

EXCLUSIVE: Christine Horn (The Fallout, Snowfall) and Sule Rimi (Andor, The English) have been tapped to star in Kagiso Lediga’s newly titled Amazon Freevee series Classified (fka Untitled Kagiso Lediga), a coming-of-age drama from Skybound Galactic, a joint venture between Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television, and Johannesburg-based producer Diprente. Horn and Rimi join previously announced lead Imani Pullum. The series will premiere in the U.S. on Amazon Freevee. 

SZA is set to release 10 unheard songs as part of a deluxe version of her chart-topping new album ‘SOS’.The long-awaited album, which was the singer’s first in half a decade and followed 2017’s ‘Ctrl’ upon release in December, was greeted with critical acclaim (including five stars from NME) and broke a seven-year chart record in the US this week by celebrating its ninth week at Number One in the US.SZA recently hinted at a future collaboration with Miley Cyrus, after she teased future “surprises” for fans and hinted at a forthcoming deluxe edition of the new album.Now, Billboard have confirmed that a deluxe edition of the new album is coming, and that it will feature 10 unheard songs.This week, SZA kicked off her North American arena tour this week, debuting ‘SOS’ songs and covering Erykah Badu at gigs in Columbus, Ohio and Chicago.At the first show of the tour in Columbus, SZA gave live debuts to ‘SOS’ tracks ‘PSA’, ‘Seek & Destroy’, ‘Notice Me’, ‘Conceited’, ‘Gone Girl’, ‘Kill Bill’ and more as part of a mammoth 32-song setlist that also saw her cover Badu’s ‘Bag Lady’ and perform her Kendrick Lamar (‘All The Stars’) and Doja Cat (‘Kiss Me More‘) collaborations.See the full list of tour dates and buy your tickets here. Omar Apollo is set to open for SZA on all dates.SZA plays the following:FEBRUARY 202325 – Toronto, ON, Scotiabank Arena27 – Washington, DC, Capital One Arena28 – Boston, MA, TD GardenMARCH 2023 02 – Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center04 – New York, NY, Madison Square Garden07 – Atlanta, GA, State Farm Arena09 – Austin, TX, Moody Center10 – Dallas, TX, American Airlines Center13 – San Diego, CA, Viejas Arena14 – Oakland, CA, Oakland Arena16 – Seattle, WA, Climate Pledge Arena18 – Portland, OR, Moda

Riot grrrl movement will play their first public show on July 2, headlining Mosswood Meltdown in Oakland, California.Their last show was in September 2002. Vocalist Allison Wolfe and drummer Molly Neuman will be joined by Rose Melberg (of Tiger Trap), Audrey Marrs, and Marty Key.Bratmobile will play the Californian festival alongside the reunited Le Tigre and Gravy Train!!!! The band said in a statement via Pitchfork: “Guitarist Erin Smith, unfortunately, has other commitments and won’t be able to join us at this time, but we’re hoping we’ll be able to play together with her again in the near future.“It’s been more than 20 years since our last tour, and life has changed and grown in many ways.

TWICE have announced the ‘Ready To Be’ world tour with stops in South Korea, Australia, Japan and North America.The K-pop girl group will support their upcoming mini-album ‘Ready To Be’ by taking over arenas on the first part of their fifth world tour. It will kick off with two nights in Seoul in April before moving onto Sydney and Melbourne in Australia the following month.

Bebe Rexha is hitting the road!

William Earl A new music venue is coming to Los Angeles courtesy of Teragram and Moroccan Lounge owner Michael Swier, in partnership with Another Planet Entertainment (APE). The Bellwether, billed as a multi-genre live music and nightlife destination, will be located at 333 S. Boylston St. and is scheduled to open this spring. Swier’s credits include co-founding Bowery Presents, and operating venerable downtown New York City venues Mercury Lounge and Bowery Ballroom, and founding The Bowery Presents. Another Planet is a well-respected independent promoter which co-produces the annual Outside Lands and Life Is Beautiful music festival, and operates such venues as the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, the Fox Theater in Oakland, Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and The Independent in San Francisco, Oxbow RiverStage in Downtown Napa and more.

BTS’ Suga is going on his first-ever world tour and plans to hit up dates in the US.

Thania Garcia BTS’ Suga has unveiled a string of tour dates for his first solo trek outside of the K-pop supergroup. The tour has no official title just yet but has been tagged under Suga’s own name, as well as his other stage persona, Agust D. With the U.S. leg set to launch this spring, the tour will kick off with a pair of shows at the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York on April 26 and 27. Suga will then follow up with several performances in New Jersey, Illinois and California, with the U.S. run will closing in Oakland on May 16 and 17. Then the tour will hit Asia in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Japan (with those dates to be announced soon).

BTS Army is in a for a musical treat! Suga announced that he will be the first member of the international K-pop group to embark on a solo tour. Suga is set to take his music from coast to coast this summer. Suga is kicking off his tour on Aug. 26 in Belmont Park, New York, with back to back shows at the UBS Arena.

BTS rapper Suga has become the first member of the K-pop group to announce a solo world tour.The group went on hiatus last year and plan to reconvene in a group around 2025, with separate plans to launch their own solo projects and undertake mandatory military service duties. All able-bodied men in their home country of South Korea are legally required to serve a military term of 18-21 months.Now, Suga has announced a string of tour dates in the US and Asia for later this year.

Starz has set the Season 2 premiere of Blindspotting for April 14 and released first-look images (below).

“It’s a disgrace what they do,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said of Fox News’ primetime programming and coverage of gun violence, according to ABC10, at a briefing related to the mass shooting in Monterey Park that killed 11 people on Saturday. “There’s xenophobia, they’re racial priming. What they have done to perpetuate crime and violence in this country, by scapegoating, and by doing not a damn thing about gun safety, not a damn thing for decades…”

In what amounts to the third mass shooting in California in as many days, seven people were wounded and one killed during what local news reports characterized as a music video shoot on and Oakland street last night. It happened at a Valero gas station where, apparently, there was some sort of production taking place.

A Michigan mother of three was tragically found frozen to death with her young children after suffering a “mental health crisis.”

More than 50 years have passed since Black Panthers Party co-founder Huey Newton entered an Oakland courtroom facing a murder charge, but his trial continues to influence the American legal system.