Grammy Awards Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

This is definitely the most deceptively obvious award. It sounds like it just goes to the best jam of the year, but it's slightly more complicated than that. Song of the Year is actually a songwriter award for the single or track that was released during the eligibility period, which for the 61st Grammy Awards is October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. This year's :

Jaws dropped when it was revealed that the late musical theater titans Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were granted 90% of the songwriting royalties on “7 Rings,” Ariana Grande’s 2019 No. 1 hit. The dominant motif of Grande’s song is taken from “My Favorite Things,” the cornerstone of R&H’s 1959 musical “The Sound of Music”; the eight modern songwriters who created lyrics and other elements split the remaining 10%.

Suspended Recording Academy chief executive and president Deborah Dugan has filed a legal complaint accusing its officials of sexual misconduct and voting corruption.

It all started when former Recording Academy CEO, Deborah Dugan, was removed from her position last Thursday—with only ten days until showtime—with little explanation. Initial reports claimed that Deborah was placed on leave after an allegation of "" was filed, which sounds rather...vague. But then Deborah's attorney, Bryan Freedman, let it be known that there is apparently much more to Dugan's sudden removal than meets the eye.

Rüfüs Du Sol’s profile in America has been steadily on the rise the past five years, thanks in no small part to incessant touring — the trio has played everywhere from Michigan’s Electric Forest to such festivals as San Diego’s CRSSD. Since their 2015 breakthrough single in the United States, “You Were Right,” the act has been winning over not just dance music purists, but increasingly alternative rock fans, with strong songwriting at the root of it all.

Amid the multiple claims in former Recording Academy boss Deborah Dugan’s blockbuster complaint against the organization is a section that is deeply critical of the Grammy Awards nominating processes and essentially accuses it of insider dealing and corruption. Its allegations, if true, suggest worst-case scenarios, many involving the Board of Trustees that ultimately controls the Academy and the Awards, and may explain some of the more unexpected nomination choices over the years.

Let the music play, indeed.

The latest USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study, titled Inclusion in the Recording Studio?, was released today, the third authored by Dr. Stacy L. Smith.

Adele sent fans into a frenzy when she recently uploaded a mysterious new video to her YouTube channel.

UPDATED: As the war of words between the Recording Academy and ousted president/CEO Deborah Dugan continues to escalate, interim boss Harvey Mason Jr. today issued a statement to the Academy’s membership about Dugan’s alleged misconduct and warned about “leaks and misinformation.”

As the war of words between the Recording Academy and ousted president/CEO Deborah Dugan continues to escalate, interim boss Harvey Mason Jr. today issued a statement to the Academy’s membership about Dugan’s alleged misconduct and warned about “leaks and misinformation.”

Among the concerns listed in a memo sent to the Recording Academy’s head of HR by president/CEO Deborah Dugan before she was placed on administrative leave Thursday was an item about the organization’s “exorbitant and unnecessary” legal fees to outside law firms, according to sources familiar with the document.

“Change is afoot,” Deborah Dugan said more than once during interviews with Variety in the weeks before her shocking removal from her post as president/CEO of the Recording Academy after just five months on the job. During those conversations, Dugan spoke of changes she planned to make in the Academy’s staffing organization, its Board of Trustees and its reporting structure.

Chuck D, frontman of Public Enemy — who are receiving the Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Grammys next week — posted a long statement on Instagram criticizing the Recording Academy over its sudden ousting of new president/CEO Deborah Dugan yesterday.

As the music industry reeled in the wake of Deborah Dugan’s sudden removal from her post as president/CEO of the Recording Academy on Thursday — a mere five months after she’d taken charge, and just ten days before the Grammy Awards — even insiders were stunned by the abruptness of the move and perplexed by the purported reasons for it. Whatever the cause, it threw the Academy, which was preparing for its first show under a new boss with big ideas, into chaos.

New Recording Academy head Deborah Dugan has been placed on administrative leave.

Demi Lovato is heading to the 2020 Grammy Awards to stage her first live performance since her near-fatal overdose.

Run-DMC will perform with Aerosmith at the Grammy Awards on January 26, a source close to the situation tells Variety. The duo are not expected to perform with the Boston group for their entire set — which makes it seem likely that the band will perform a career-spanning medley, as artists often do on the show, and Run-DMC will join them for “Walk This Way.”

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani are to perform their duet Nobody But You at the upcoming Grammy Awards.

Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Aerosmith and Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani are the first slate of performers to be announced for the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, taking place Sunday, Jan. 26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show will be hosted by Alicia Keys and will be broadcast on CBS starting at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT. Eilish announced her performance on Twitter late Tuesday night.