Music News

Rihanna has landed a $25 million sponsorship deal with TV maker Samsung, which will act as a sponsor on her upcoming tour. The deal was cinched with help from Riri's manager Jay Z. The latter, it was rumored, was looking to sell TIDAL to Samsung after he was seen exiting the building; although, the real reason he was there, turned out to be the Riri deal.

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Ed Sheeran says that Jay Z called him "an alien" after listening to a new song on Sheeran's upcoming new album. Sheeran said that he played a track likely to appear on the release to Jay Z and Beyonce at their home in New York after playing the Global Citizen Festival in September.

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Madonna got up close and personal with pal Katy Perry during a recent Rebel Heart tour appearance. Madge brought Katy out to duet on a song and quickly took to spanking the pop star on stage. The pair had previously connected on the track "B*tch I'm Madonna," and Perry initially hit the stage planning to merely sing a duet.

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Steely Dan provided the musical backdrop to a recent lighting display at New York's Empire State Building. The famous structure celebrated the 50th anny of its Master FM Antenna by lighting, while Steely's "FM (No Static At All)" was simulcast on a local radio station. Designer Marc Brockman choreographed the lights for the special spectacle at the Empire State Building.

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Monica will release her eighth studio album Code Red on December 18, she announced via Facebook. The singer also released a snippet of a new song. Ahead of the album's release, Monica will take the road with Rico Love, beginning on November 12 at Las Vegas's Brooklyn Bowl, and wrapping on December 13 at NYC's Gramercy Theater.

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Sam Smith has released "Drowning Shadows" a single from his upcoming two disc, In the Lonely Hour (Drowning Shadows Edition). The album is a re-release of his 2014 breakout album In the Lonely Hour. "'Drowning Shadows' is the saddest song I've ever written and the least radio-friendly song I've ever written," Smith told Zane Lowe.

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Rod Stewart says that the positive reception of his 2013 record Time helped him in writing his new record Another Country. "The last album did fairly well - it did really well in Europe - and it gave me the confidence to spread my wings, as it were, and just keep on writing. Writing about different things," Stewart began.

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Longtime Santana percussionist Raul Rekow has died. Rekow appeared on 16 Santana studio efforts, including 1999's Supernatural and Carlos Santana's most recent solo album, 2014's Corazon. He also played on recordings by Aretha Franklin, Herbie Hancock and Whitney Houston, while releasing solo music and doing instructional film work.

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Brad Paisley recently joined Color Me Badd for a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Going by the name Color Me Bradd, Paisley jammed on guitar to Color Me Badd's 1990's hit "I Wanna Sex You Up" to kick off the show's Mashup Monday series. Paisley traded lines with singer Bryan Abrams during the song's chorus.

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Jazmine Sullivan performed at the 16th annual For Sisters Only event on Halloween, taking a deep dive into her catalog for a memorable evening. Other performers included Vivian Green, Dru Hill and Rare Essence, along with Bern Nadette Stanis and a panel with the men of BET's Being Mary Jane!Sullivan's latest album, Reality Show, landed in January.

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