Music News

In the wake of the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, several artists are joining in the efforts to raise money for the victims, including Solange, Fall Out Boy and Bun B who have all planned separate benefit concerts.





Solange announced she will be performing a benefit show at Orpheum Theatre with Sun Ra Arkestra in Boston on September 28th.

"I will be doing a special 'Orion's Rise' show in Boston, and ALL proceeds will go towards Hurricane Harvey relief," the Houston native posted on Instagram on Wednesday. "I'm committed to partnering with organizations on the ground in Houston and making contributions to uplift the city that raised me with so much love. See you September 28th Boston, I thank you in advance for making this a special, meaningful night!"

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Chance the Rapper announced Friday that his SocialWorks organization has raised $2.2 million for the Chicago Public Schools' arts programs.





"Quality education for public schools is the most important investment a community can make," the rapper said at Chicago's Harold Washington Cultural Center, four days before the school year begins in the city.

"So today, all of us at SocialWorks are excited to take our biggest, boldest step yet and announce our first-ever grants from the New Chance Fund. Today we're giving a new chance to kids in 20 more schools across our city."
The donations will be spread be 20 schools in the Chicago public school system, with each school receiving $100,000 over the course of three years.

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Young Thug and Carnage announced a joint EP titled Young Martha with a bloody, Shining-inspired video for their new single, "Homie." Meek Mill is featured on the incinerating new song as well.



The video begins with twin girls in matching dresses, holding hands while playing piano. The show then reveals that the young girls are on the ceiling, while Young Thug is sitting across a table from a gluttonous man yelling at the staff and presumably the rapper. The staff sharpens their knives before eventually descending upon the man to murder him, leaving him hanging from the chandelier as blood surrounds the lighting structure.

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The Muppets staged their first ever full-length stage performance Friday night at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl, where Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and company sang Muppet Show favorites alongside covers of David Bowie, Queen, the Beatles and more.




One of the highlights of the "Muppets Take the Bowl" show came during the evening's penultimate song, when Kermit the Frog was joined by surprise guest Paul Williams on a duet of "Rainbow Connection," which Williams co-wrote for 1979's The Muppet Movie.

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Foo Fighters played a secret gig in Stockholm, Sweden on the eve of the release of their new LP Concrete and Gold, and to close out the concert, Dave Grohl and company brought out the Hives' fiery frontman Pelle Almqvist to cover AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock."





Before bringing out "Howlin' Pelle," Grohl talked about his long admiration for the Hives singer, even dressing as Almqvist and covering the Hives' "Hate to Say I Told You So" at Foo Fighters' Halloween 2002 gig in New York.

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Lana Del Rey, Elvis Costello, Sting, Philip Glass and Feist are among the artists that will perform at a Leonard Cohen tribute concert scheduled for the anniversary of the music legend's death.





The Lumineers' Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites, k.d. lang, Damien Rice, Patrick Watson and Cohen's son Adam Cohen will also take part in Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen at Montreal's Bell Center on November 6th. Cohen died November 7th, 2016 in Los Angeles.

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"I really care that our music is a story of growth," Muna singer Katie Gavin tells Rolling Stone in an August phone chat. Fittingly, the thoughtful L.A. pop outfit, also including guitarist Josette Maskin and keyboardist-guitarist Naomi McPherson, is in the midst of a major real-world growth spurt. Currently opening for Harry Styles on his first solo world tour, the band – whose anthemic synth-pop debut, About U,was released in February – is now faced with the massive task of adapting their show to massive crowds around the world.




"We are thrilled to be on tour with Harry," McPherson says. "We are nervous," she adds, "but excited."

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Charles Bradley, the acclaimed soul singer and live dynamo who saw his career ascend late in life, has died following a long bout with cancer. He was 68.





"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Charles Bradley," the singer's rep said in a statement. "Always a fighter, Charles battled cancer with everything he had. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the fall of 2016 and underwent treatment. Bradley headed out on the road earlier this year after receiving a clean bill of health but the cancer recently returned, spreading to his liver."

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Investors will soon be able to purchase shares of Eminem's "My Name Is," "Lose Yourself" and every other song he released from 1999 to 2013 on an exchange much like the stock market, at a minimum of $2,250. The rapper's former production duo, the Funky Bass Team (aka FBT Productions), signed Eminem years before he turned into a superstar, and will auction portions of his future song royalties in October as part of a new company called Royalty Flow. "If you own any Apple stocks, for instance, it's exactly the same," Matthew Smith, head of Royalty Exchange, the Denver company running the auction, tells Rolling Stone. "Not only do you potentially get to earn along with Eminem's catalog, but you also win the ultimate bragging rights to say 'hey, I own that!' anytime you hear one of his songs."





The Eminem catalog is among the first of what Smith and others expect to be a new way for fans to invest in musicians and songs. With streaming revenues expected to boom over the next few years, the returns could become substantial. Royalty Exchange has already sold shares of Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again," Chris Brown's "Drunk Texting" and the Ariana Grande-Lil Wayne track "Let Me Love You" as part of investment packages, some for as much as $71,000. The portion of "See You Again," made available by a background singer who owned part of the recording rights, generated $11,372 before it went on sale through Royalty Exchange — and Eminem has far more revenue potential.

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Marilyn Manson has canceled the next nine dates of his Heaven Upside Down Tour following an onstage incident Saturday in New York in which the singer was crushed by a stage prop.





"Marilyn Manson is being forced to cancel several of his October dates on his forthcoming US tour," the singer's rep said in a statement.

"On Saturday night, the legendary performer suffered an injury on stage towards the end of his set at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom causing him to cut the show short. He was treated for the injury at a local hospital and will be recuperating at home in Los Angeles."

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