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LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British folk-pop phenomenon Ed Sheeran on Monday was named the best-selling artist in the world in 2017 by the global recorded music industry group IFPI. Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) was the best-selling album of last year and “Shape of You” was the best-selling single, London-based IFPI said in its announcement. Sheeran is the fifth recipient of the Global Recording Artist of the Year Award after One Direction (2013), Taylor Swift (2014), […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Rising British pop singer Dua Lipa and grime star Stormzy were the early winners at the Brit Awards on Wednesday as folk-pop hit machine Ed Sheeran missed out at a packed O2 Arena in London. US superstar Justin Timberlake kicked off the show with a stirring performance of hit single “Say Something,” backed by scores of singers. London-born Dua Lipa, who is of Kosovan background, beat off Paloma Faith, Laura […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Quincy Jones, the legendary music producer behind Michael Jackson, says that the late King of Pop plagiarized some of his hits. “I hate to get into this publicly, but Michael stole a lot of stuff. He stole a lot of songs,” Jones said in an interview full of eyebrow-raising comments published Tuesday by Vulture, the culture site of New York magazine. “The notes don’t lie, man. He was […]
by Ilgin Karlidag Agence France-Presse FINSE, Norway (AFP) — Inside a giant igloo in a snowy Norwegian village, the sound of a horn rings out, warming the mood of a freezing audience, huddled together in -24 Celsius. But the four musicians performing are even colder: the instruments they are playing are all made of ice. The xylophone, claves and wind instruments have been painstakingly carved from ice blocks extracted from a frozen lake, and are […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The Spice Girls got back together on Friday for the first time since 2012 and announced plans to explore “incredible new opportunities” in the future. The British 1990s pop phenomenon — Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Horner — reunited at Horner’s house north of London, along with their former manager Simon Fuller. The best-selling female group ever released photographs of the gathering. “We have enjoyed […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The head of Republic Records, one of the biggest music labels whose acts include Ariana Grande, Lorde and The Weeknd, was placed on leave Wednesday after sexual harassment allegations. Republic president Charlie Walk becomes one of the highest profile figures in pop music to be swept up in the rising #MeToo movement against workplace harassment, despite the industry’s notoriously louche reputation. Universal Music Group, the world’s largest label conglomerate […]
by Shaun Tandon Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States | AFP) — New Zealand pop prodigy Lorde has thanked her fans for supporting female musicians, as artists hit back amid controversy that the Grammy Awards neglected women — a spat fueled by comments from the Recording Academy’s president seen as disparaging. The 21-year-old’s “Melodrama” was the only work by a woman nominated for the most prestigious prize of Album of the Year on the music […]
WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — Poland’s Fryderyk Chopin Institute (NIFC) on Tuesday said it would make its entire collection devoted to the 19th-century composer available online for free by 2020. “Chopin will be the first great composer to have all of his musical scores digitised” and openly accessible by all, NIFC deputy director Maciej Janicki told reporters. Nearly 40,000 Chopin items from the UNESCO world heritage collection — including photographs and paintings of the Polish-French romantic […]
by Shaun TANDON Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — After a tumultuous political year, the Grammys took a stand for the rights of women and immigrants — but the top awards went to a singer whose mind is on sex, booze and parties. The surprise sweep by Bruno Mars has renewed criticism in quarters that the music industry’s premier prizes are out of touch with the wider world, but for fans of the […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Gangsta rapper turned entertainment icon Snoop Dogg has joined the cast of long-gestating “Star Trek” parody “Unbelievable!!!!!,” the production announced on Thursday. The West Coast hip-hop legend will co-star as Major LeGrande Bushe opposite co-producer Nichelle Nichols, who played communications officer Nyota Uhura in the original NBC series and six of the movies. Snoop — real name Calvin Broadus — will also serve as an executive producer on the […]
by Shaun Tandon Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Elton John announced Wednesday that he is retiring from touring, with the consummate showman saying he wants to devote himself to his children — but after a final, massive swing around the world. The 70-year-old British entertainer, revealing his plans at a gala New York event, said he planned to “go out with a bang” with a global tour that will open on September […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Pop star Enrique Iglesias on Wednesday accused his former label Universal of short-changing artists while benefiting from the soaring growth of streaming as he filed a lawsuit for breach of contract. “Universal has been systematically underpaying Iglesias’ streaming royalties by calculating those royalties at a small fraction of the contractually required 50 percent royalty rate,” said the lawsuit filed in Miami, where Iglesias lives. The lawsuit alleged that the 42-year-old […]
