R&B Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Danny Ray was James Brown’s (1933–2006) longtime personal valet and emcee, who became an integral part of the singer’s stage show as his “cape man.”Ray and Brown met in 1960, and Brown hired ray to serve as his personal valet. Ray soon became the emcee for Brown’s stage show, introducing the singer at the beginning of each show as his band played energetic intro music to hype up the crowd.

The Weeknd has announced new UK dates as part of his ‘After Hours’ world tour for 2022 – check out the schedule below.The Canadian artist (real name Abel Tesfaye) was initially due to hit the road in support of his latest album last October, but in May he was forced to push the shows back to June 2021 due to the coronavirus crisis.Tesfaye will now touch down in the UK on October 6, 2022 for three consecutive performances at The O2 Arena in London.

Jamaican-born singer Sevana shared the visuals to her latest single, "Set Me On Fire," a personal record that sees the singer reflect on an abusive relationship from her past. The string-heavy track, produced by Protoje, J.L.L., and Paris La Mont Dennis II, appears on Sevana's six-track EP Be Somebody.

Since dropping Heaux Tales at the beginning of January, Jazmine Sullivan has brought the project and its singles to life on NPR Tiny Desk and Fallon. In a new interview, the singer shared that she wasn't exactly sure how fans would respond to its release.

Tyler, The Creator guests on a new song from Brent Faiyaz. Check out "Gravity," produced by DJ Dahi (Kendrick Lemar, Travi$ Scott, Childish Gambino) below.

serpentwithfeet has announced his new album ‘DEACON’, and shared its lead single, ‘Fellowship’.The song was co-written and co-produced by Sampha and Lil Silva, who both join serpent in the song’s chorus.‘Fellowship’ was released alongside a music video directed by Kordae Jatafa Henry.

serpentwithfeet, the musician who blends the traditions of gospel, R&B, and soul into something deeply personal and utterly ethereal, is announcing his sophomore album DEACON with the song and music video for "Devotion." If you're familiar with his work, you're aware of how serpentwithfeet's compositions glide through different dimensions of passion; his new song, a jangly and jubilant celebration of friendship featuring Sampha and Lil Silva, is no different.

Trey Songz was arrested after reportedly getting into a physical altercation with an officer at an NFL game in Kansas City on Sunday, according to TMZ. The singer was reportedly being heckled by other fans at the AFC Championship game and was attempting to calm them down.

SZA reveals she plans to ask Frank Ocean to help remix her latest track ‘Good Days‘.As reported by Billboard, Twitter user @arrington171 posted that they thought a remix of SZA’s hit featuring Frank Ocean would “literally cure corona”.SZA caught wind of the tweet, screenshotted it and posted it on her Instagram story, obtained by PopCrave, writing “Imma ask lol”.Many people online are in support of the idea, including Rico Nasty, who wrote “Omg god please make this happen”.Omg god please make

SZA has launched a new hotline for fans who are struggling with their mental health.The singer-songwriter announced the “apocalypse approved” GoodLine service today (January 21) with a vintage-look Instagram video, which is soundtracked by her recent song ‘Good Days’.“Uhhh random I made a hotline to cry n laugh n talk w chall 2 days outta the week,” SZA wrote. “Put some custom meditations on there too + other resources.

Artists including Alicia Keys, Ty Dolla $ign, Summer Walker, Migos, and more have contributed their voices to a campaign video calling for the launch of a U.S. Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation within the first 100 days of the Biden/Harris administration.

Lizzo, but SZA appears to confirm that it’s on the way with a recent tweet giving her approval.Taking to Twitter, SZA wrote that Lizzo shared a song with her that she liked so much it made her cry.“Lizzo really jus played me the best song I ever heard in my life,” she wrote, “I’m crying lmao like really”.While there’s no confirmation that the song played is one by Lizzo, the two have made no secret of their friendship.

Jorja Smith is hosting a new BBC Radio 3 show that aims to soothe listeners and provide escape through music.The singer’s programme, titled ‘Tearjerker’, is a 12-part series that launched its first two episodes on Saturday night (January 16). The first one-hour part is described as “string-inspired music that just catches you”, and the second is a collection of Smith’s favourite piano pieces.

Bellah might be an expert at crafting the perfect songs to break up to, but on her latest single "Supernova," the London-based artist knew the airy track needed a more positive spin. "I started writing it and a friend of mine is like, you know you can't make this a breakup tune, right?" she explained to The FADER with a laugh.

Kiss vocalist Paul Stanley has shared the first taste of ‘Now And Then’, the debut album by his side project Soul Station.‘O-o-h Child’, a cover of the Five Stairsteps’ 1970 hit, is one of nine covers on the forthcoming album that also comes with five originals. ‘Now And Then’ is released on March 5 via UMe.Paul Stanley’s Soul Station is a 15-piece ensemble band led by Stanley on vocals.

Sonos has announced a new batch of radio stations curated by different artists for the platforms Sonos Radio and Sonos HD. D’Angelo, FKA twigs, Björk, and The Chemical Brothers are the newest additions to the service.

Today, Jazmine Sullivan is back with her first album in over six years, Heaux Tales, a sumptuous 32-minute treatise on sexual politics and self-care, with appearances from Ari Lennox, H.E.R. and Anderson Paak.

The first Throwback Thursday of 2021 was last year, and R&B duo dvsn were its uncontested champions thanks to their cover of "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. Originally released in 2008, "Use Somebody" was a monster hit and quickly secured an eternal spot in the playlists of drug stores around the country, as ever-present as dandruff shampoo and fluorescent light.

The long-awaited new project from the Philly R&B singer is finally here, six years after her third album Reality Show. Heaux Tales features H.E.R., Ari Lennox, and Anderson .Paak. Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Each week, The FADER staff rounds up the songs we can't get enough of. Here they are, in no particular order. Subscribe to Songs You Need In Your Life on Spotify.

Lauryn Hill has spoken about why she never released a follow-up album to her acclaimed debut ‘The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill’.The musician released the record in 1998, but it remains the only solo album in her catalogue to date.In a rare interview, Hill said her label had never chased her to make another album.

With her album Heaux Tales dropping this Friday, Jazmine Sullivan shared a new single from the project, "Girl Like Me" featuring H.E.R. The track sees the two singers reflecting on where their respective relationships went wrong.

SZA has reflected in a new interview about not winning a Grammy in 2018, calling it “old energy”.The singer was perceived by many to have been snubbed by the Recording Academy when she lost the Best New Artist category to Alessia Cara.Speaking to Cosmopolitan, SZA said she had “never had dreams of being nominated for a Grammy” when she was growing up. “I thought I was going to be a gymnast and a fucking business accountant somewhere.

The date of R. Kelly's federal trial in Chicago for child pornography and obstruction charges has been moved due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Associated Press.

SZA has share a brand new song called ‘Good Days’ – scroll down the page to listen to it now.The track is only the star’s second solo release of 2020 following the single ‘Hit Different’, which featured an appearance from Ty Dolla $ign.Released earlier today (December 25), ‘Good Days’ is the b-side to ‘Hit Different’. It was originally teased at the end of the video for that previous single.

Singer-songwriter Dijon is back with a new single, "The Stranger," enlisting Sachi, Dan Reeder, Tobias Jesso Jr., John C. Reilly, Raveena, and Becky and the Birds for additional vocals.

Dutch-Sudanese R&B singer Gaidaa shared her latest EP, COLORS Live in NYC, on Friday. Recorded at COLORSxSTUDIOS' first live event at National Sawdust in New York last year, the singer performed a stripped-back set of songs from her last EP, Overture, "Ride My Way" and "Still Water." She also performed her own spin on Usher's "OMG," and shared its visuals today to coincide with the EP.

Chloe x Halle have shared some impressive virtual performances over the last few months, this time performing from a small, intimate studio stage for their Tiny Desk (Home) Concert for NPR. Performing songs from their Grammy-nominated album Ungodly Hour, the duo sang atop a table flanked by an all-female band, swapping on lead vocals and perfectly blended harmonies.

Jhené Aiko has addressed why she stopped using the N-word in her music.The singer was responding to someone who asked her earlier this week to detail her ethnicity. “Whispers, cat hair, slauson asphalt and sand from venice beach,” Aiko replied on Monday (December 7).In a since-deleted second tweet, she added: “I am less black than someone half black, but also less white that someone half white… and asian is the least thing i am.

coronavirus.The US singer, who last weekend said he was “overwhelmed with gratitude” in a statement, has now updated his Instagram with a photo of him recovering at home.“THANK GOD IM STILL HERE , THANK YA’LL FOR THE

Bad Bunny is no stranger to pulling off the seemingly impossible: he’s released three extremely high-quality albums this year alone, and in the process became the most streamed artist on Spotify in the entire world this year, beating out Drake, J Balvin, and Juice WRLD. Now, he’s broken another record: as Billboard reports and Pitchfork notes, his latest album, last week’s EL ÚLTIMO TOUR DEL MUNDO, has hit No.

Frank Ocean has canceled a 7" vinyl release that's been available for pre-order since late 2019. Initially set to feature his Skepta collaboration "Little Demon," customers who ordered that single last November received an email back in February letting them know the vinyl would actually be an unnamed new song.

Ashanti and Keyshia Cole are set to go head-to-head in the next VERZUZ battle, it has been announced.The series of livestreamed battles between rappers, singers and producers began in March 2020, launched by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz amid the coronavirus pandemic.Now on a second season, next weekend’s match-up will be the 21st battle overall and will see Ashanti and Cole face-off over 20 rounds.Fans can tune into the battle on the @VERZUZTV Instagram page or on Apple Music.

The 2020 Soul Train Awards aired on Sunday night on BET, featuring a bevy of performances from the best in hip-hop, soul, and R&B. Hosted by Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold, artists including Jazmine Sullivan, Moses Sumney, Brandy, Monica, and more took to the stage.

Nile Rogers, Liam Gallagher, FKA Twigs, Florence + The Machine, Nick Cave and more have donated items to raise funds for industry employees hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.Two auctions launched yesterday (November 27): the#ILoveLive prize draw, the proceeds of which go to the Stagehand charity that provides hardship funding for live events industry workers; and a one-off auction for the Music Venue Trust.

For the most part, the nominees for the 2021 Grammy Awards, announced earlier today, seem pretty standard. Beyoncé was the most nominated artist despite not releasing an album in the past year, Taylor Swift's folklore is up for Album of the Year against Post Malone, HAIM, Jacob Collier, and more, and Megan Thee Stallion is set to compete for Best New Artist.