Year: 2024

The music industry is full of stories of near-misses and “almost weres.” It’s the nature of the business — especially for most of its history, when things had to be done without the benefit of advanced computers and high-speed internet — that things get lost, tapes get damaged, calls get missed, and egos clash, resulting in some fascinating projects behing scrapped or forgotten.

In the case of T-Pain missing out on his chance to collaborate with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, the Tallahassee native had a great story for his fans — although it has a miserable ending for Pain himself. During a recent livestream that he clipped and shared to other social media, T-Pain remembered how his opportunity to work with MJ and Usher on a song during his career peak was derailed by an overzealous collaborator.

Before playing a snippet of the song for his viewers, he prefaced it with the story of why it was never released. “We are about to listen to a song that I wrote and produced that was meant for me, Usher, and Michael Jackson,” he said. “And then the person that was in charge of doing the references and the person that sang it got too excited and was like, ‘N****, I’m on a song with Michael Jackson and Usher and T-Pain!’ And then he released it and then Michael Jackson was like, ‘Nah, never mind. I don’t wanna do it anymore.’ Yeah, that pissed me off. Not gonna lie to ya.”

Talk about “pain.” Fortunately, T-Pain’s got a list of collaborators about a mile long — and that’s before you get to all the people he accidentally ghosted that time — so he still did okay. He’s also experiencing something like his fourth career resurgence thanks to a live performance of his 2023 covers album that keeps going viral and drawing attention from artists like Ozzy Osbourne. While it probably doesn’t completely make up for missing out on working with one legend, T-Pain keeps pumping out hits and becoming one in his own right. Check out the video of T-Pain telling the story below.

Grammy season is underway. As the events are rolling out, members of the Recording Academy are looking forward to enriching their minds with music knowledge and creativity.

“I am so excited for this second installment of Grammy House,” Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement (via Billboard). “The response last year from younger fans and artists just starting their relationship with the Recording Academy was overwhelming, and we’re a better organization because of the increased engagement with them. I’m grateful for the amazing artists and partners who are helping make this year’s Grammy House an even bigger success.”

One of the Grammy Week events includes a special Masterclass with singer and actress Halle Bailey. Members of Grammy U will be able to attend the Masterclass in person by invitation only. The good news for non-members is that they will be able to livestream the event on Friday, February 2 at 1 p.m. PT, via the Grammy Awards’ YouTube and Twitch channels.

Over the course of the past year, Halle Bailey, who performs under the stage name Halle, starred in two movie musicals — The Little Mermaid and The Color Purple released her solo debut single, “Angel.” She has proven to be quite successful in both music and film, and while it’s not clear what her Masterclass will be about, she’ll surely have some valuable insight to offer.

Halle’s Masterclass is just one of a handful of Grammy Week events from the Recording Academy, so learn more about what else is going on here.

In a seismic move that signals a significant change in content strategy for HBO, which has long been known for keeping its original shows walled behind a subscription to the premium channel, Sex and the City is coming to Netflix.

All 96 episodes of the iconic series starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon will start streaming sometime in April 2024. However, the show will only be available in the U.S. and select European markets.

The financial details of the landmark deal are not known at this time, but the move does arrive on the heels of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos making an open offer to studios to repeat the recent success of Suits by licensing their content to the streamer.

Via Variety:

“We’ve got a rich history of helping break some of TV’s biggest hits, like ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Walking Dead’ or, even more recently, with ‘Schitt’s Creek,’” Sarandos told analysts. “Because of our recommendation, our reach, we can resurrect a show like ‘Suits’ and turn it into a big pop-culture moment but also generate billions of hours of joy for our members.”

Sex and the City aired from 1998 to 2004 alongside The Sopranos during the Golden Age of HBO originals. It centered on Parker’s character Carrie Bradshaw, a New York City writer who “finds inspiration for her column from the genuine, emotional and often humorous exploits of her friends and lovers.”

(Via Variety)

Uproxx scorched dancefloors around the world in 2023 and, just about a month into the new year, it’s looking like this year will be bigger than ever. With plenty of travel opportunities coming in the year ahead (while always maximizing those miles for points earned), we still find ourselves reminiscing the fleeting moments on the dance floor on the final day of the year.

Very few NYE celebrations can beat Insomniac Events’ longstanding extravaganza, Countdown NYE, which rang in the new year with a two-night blowout on December 30th and December 31st. The year-end party welcomed over 80 global electronic artists across five stages to San Bernardino’s NOS Events Center. As you’ll see, the venue transformed into a cosmic wonderland full of interplanetary art installations and astral performances.

Countdown NYE offered up quite the otherworldly lineup to attendees, who partied on back-to-back evenings soundtracked by Tiësto, The Chainsmokers, deadmau5, FISHER, Gryffin, Alison Wonderland, Adam Beyer, NGHTMRE, Oliver Heldens, Porter Robinson, Seven Lions, Sofi Tukker, Mau P, and more.

Relive the countdown of New Year’s Eve with this captivating photos of Insomniac’s ninth annual intergalactic celebration.

Madonna‘s Celebration Tour has been jam-packed with surprises. Though the tour has not arrived without its controversies, many day-one Madonna fans are enjoying singing and dancing to her several classics. Over the course of the tour, Madge has brought out several celebrity guests to sit on stage with her as she performs her 1990 hit single, “Vogue.”

During the “Vogue” performance, Madonna and her dancers re-enact scenes from the underground ballroom era of the late ’80s and early ’90s. On many a night, she’s brought on a celebrity guest to act as a judge with her. The latest was Amy Schumer at the Madison Square Garden show this past Monday (January 22).

Schumer arrived on the stage, hugging Madonna, then sitting down next to her, getting ready to judge the competition.

At previous shows, Madonna has been joined by designer Stella McCartney and singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers.

Schumer and Madonna have been friends for years. In a 2015 interview with the Associated Press, Madonna praised Schumer for her brand of comedy and representation of women.

“She’s a role model for women, and I am, too, and I think it’s a good match,” Madge said of their friendship.

You can see a clip from the MSG show below.

Madonna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Bob Dylan announced that he’s hitting the road once again, with a new spring tour set to take place across the US. It will serve as a continuation of his shows in support of his 2020 album, Rough And Rowdy Ways.

A presale for the tour will open through Ticketmaster tomorrow, January 25 at 10 a.m. local time. The general sale will then open to the public the following day at the same time. More information about how to purchase tickets can be found here.

Continue scrolling to view Dylan’s newly announced spring tour dates.

Bob Dylan 2024 Tour Dates

03/01 — Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Broward Center for the Performing Arts
03/02 — Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Broward Center for the Performing Arts
03/05 — Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall
03/06 — Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall
03/07 — Fort Myers, FL @ Suncoast Credit Union Arena
03/09 — Orlando, FL @ Walt Disney Theater
03/10 — Orlando, FL @ Walt Disney Theater
03/12 — Jacksonville, FL @ Moran Theater
03/14 — Athens, GA @ The Classic Center
03/15 — Athens, GA @ The Classic Center
03/17 — Charlotte, NC @ Belk Theater
03/18 — Fayetteville, NC @ Crown Theatre
03/20 — Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
03/21 — Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
03/23 — Louisville, KY @ Louisville Palace
03/24 — Louisville, KY @ Louisville Palace
03/26 — Knoxville, TN @ Knoxville Civic Auditorium
03/27 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
03/29 — Memphis, TN @ Orpheum Theatre
03/30 — Memphis, TN @ Orpheum Theatre
04/01 — Springfield, MO @ Juanita K. Hammons Hall
04/02 — Wichita, KS @ Century II Performing Arts Center
04/04 — Dallas, TX @ Music Hall at Fair Park

Travis Kelce is a Hall of Fame-bound tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs who is one game away from being in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five seasons. He’s also the world’s most famous boyfriend. But despite his fame (and the 7,000 commercials he appears in), it turns out everyone has been mispronouncing his last name.

“We all love Kansas City Chiefs tight end and glazed pork shoulder just about ready to come out of the slow cooker, Travis Kelce,” host Stephen Colbert said during Tuesday’s episode of The Late Show. “But apparently we’ve all been pronouncing his name wrong the whole time. We’ve all been saying ‘Kel-see’ when it’s actually pronounced Chalamet.” Colbert was just “joshing,” but the last name thing is real, as pointed out by E! Online.

NFL defensive tackle Chris Jones brought up an important fact about his Kansas City Chiefs teammate — who, you may have heard, is dating Taylor Swift — while on the sidelines of their game against the Miami Dolphins on Jan. 13. Jones turned to two other Chiefs players during the Saturday night game and said, “So y’all know it’s not even Travis Kel-see?” as seen in the Inside the NFL clip.

One of those players did not know, asking, “What is it?”

“It’s Travis Kels,” Jones responded. “F*cking crazy, right?”

Colbert thinks “changing the pronunciation of your last name is the most pretentious thing I’ve ever heard, or my name isn’t Stephen Cole-bert, which it’s not and it never has been” (it has).

You can watch The Late Show clip above.

(Via E! Online)

It appears there’s perhaps a bit of beef brewing, between Dua Lipa and beef expert Liam Gallagher.

A recent Rolling Stone feature notes that Oasis and Blur are among the influences behind Lipa’s upcoming album before continuing:

“I mention that some of those Brit-pop influences — Noel Gallagher and Damon Albarn in particular — haven’t always been very kind to female pop artists (both have taken shots at the likes of Adele and Taylor Swift, for example). I ask her if she’s ever met any of them.

‘I haven’t had any encounters with them, actually,’ she says. ‘Sometimes you have to separate the art from the person.… It’s more like the music element, the aspect of it that I’m really connected to. The way that [some Brit-pop artists] acted, the things that they’ve done, they’re obnoxious for sure. That’s their whole thing.’”

Gallagher, meanwhile, frequently takes time to chat with fans on X (formerly Twitter), and on January 22, one person asked what he thought about Lipa’s comments, particularly the “obnoxious” part. He responded, “She’s just jealous.”

That reply by itself might not seem rooted in reality considering Lipa is currently one of the biggest stars in the world, while bands like Oasis and Blur, who certainly had their time in the sun, aren’t exactly dominating the music landscape today like they once did.

Another user responded, though, “Come off it, Dua Lipa’s one of the biggest pop stars on the planet – she’s not jealous of you and she has a fair point Liam. You and Noel were utterly obnoxious in the ’90s and ’00s, and many other men in Britpop bands were misogynistic pricks.” Gallagher replied, “She’s jealous we can swear and tell people to f*ck off and she can’t.”

Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For the most part, André 3000 has largely stayed out of the public eye since the end of Outkast. He resurfaced in a major way last year, though, with New Blue Sun, his first-ever solo album. He also just announced a tour in support of the project, an album consisting of lengthy, flute-driven instrumentals. André popped up on The Late Show last night, and while the conversation was mostly serious in tone, he did have one particularly funny moment.

Towards the end of the first segment, Stephen Colbert asked if André ever plays more than one flute at the same time. He said no and mentioned another flautist who does, declaring he hasn’t “gotten to that level.” Then, showing off the two-chambered flute he was holding, he continued, “I’m still trying to manage… like, I have two holes, you know, so it’s like…”

André noticed Colbert cracking a subtle smile at “I have two holes,” so he hit the host with, “Pause,” which got a big laugh from Colbert, the studio audience, and himself.

After the interview, André also delivered a ten-minute performance of “That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control … Sh*t Was Wild.” Check out clips of the interview and performance above and below.

Everyone in the basketball world seems to be waiting for the Milwaukee Bucks to officially hire Doc Rivers. After firing Adrian Griffin 43 games into his stint with the team, reports immediately began to pop up indicating Rivers is the frontrunner to fill the vacancy.

Whether or not Rivers actually gets the job remains to be seen, but in a pretty strange turn of events on Tuesday, TNT’s NBA studio show broke the news that the deal is done. Citing CNN Sports, TNT’s Adam Lefkoe told viewers that Rivers accepted the role in Milwaukee.

It was a curious report for a few reasons. The obvious one, of course, is that CNN Sports isn’t exactly considered a place to get breaking news, but the much weirder thing is that none of the usual NBA insider had this one. That included Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, who was one of the first to have the news of Griffin’s ouster and is TNT’s go-to NBA insider. (Bleacher Report, CNN, NBA TV, and TNT all exist under the Warner Brothers Discovery umbrella, and Haynes was part of TNT’s NBA coverage on Tuesday evening.)

This isn’t to say that scooping bigger names is impossible, it’s just not especially common. Add in that there was nothing on the CNN Sports website or Twitter account and something seemed amiss here. And then, Bill Reiter of CBS Sports brought word that the report was false, and a whole lot a red flags started to pop up.

Despite that, CNN stated that the report went through its usual editorial process, which made them comfortable running with the news.

In the aftermath of the game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers that featured Haynes as the sideline reporter, Lefkoe continued to talk on TNT about the deal like it was done, even as Jamal Crawford appeared to express a little skepticism.

Not long after this, we got our weirdest twist of this whole saga: Haynes — who, again, is usually the person TNT goes to for these sorts of things — just flat out refuted the report from CNN, saying that there’s no deal in place as of now.

It’s again worth mentioning that Rivers, a currently in-game analyst for ESPN, appears to be the clear frontrunner here, in part because the Bucks front office had him serve as an “informal consultant” to Griffin earlier in the year. We’ll keep you updated on this one.