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How We Work Now: Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside
In a series amid the coronavirus pandemic, Billboard is asking individuals from all sectors of the music business to share stories of how they work now, with much of the world quarantined at home and unable to take in-person meetings, attend conferences or even go into the office. Read the full series here. This installment is with Damon Whiteside, the new CEO of the Academy of Country Music. Damon Whiteside: I started the job Jan. 6 and I was still getting to know everybody. I’m based in Nashville and was at [the ACM’s Los Angeles] office two weeks a month for those first couple of months. And then, suddenly, we’re isolated and quarantined after we decide to close the office in L.A. the week of March 16. That was literally the week that I was planning to go back to L.A., so that’s b...
Lady Gaga, Carly Rae Jepsen, Madonna & More: Who Is Your Favorite Gay Icon? Vote!
To celebrate Pride Month this year, Billboard connected queer artists to their biggest musical heroes (who also happen to be major LGBTQ+ allies) to get career advice. Alanis Morissette talked Maddie Ross through writing about heartbreak, Jay Som picked Carly Rae Jepsen’s brain on creative freedom, and Mandy Moore told Samir all about balancing acting with music. Those were just a few conversations with gay icons that Billboard highlighted in their latest feature. Beyond the ally queens on the list, a number of other superstars have loved and supported the LGBTQ+ community throughout their careers, including Madonna, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Britney Spears (who recently took to Instagram to wish her fans a happy Pride Month). So, we at Billboard want to know: Who i...
Which Rescheduled Music Festival Are You Most Excited to Go to in 2021? Vote!
Coronavirus claimed music festival season, and regardless of festival organizers’ virtual events making up for the year in waiting, music lovers have been plotting their returns. The Manchester, Tenn.-based Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival joins the long list of live music events rescheduled for 2021 today (June 25). The San Franciso, Calif.-based Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival also announced the cancellation of this year’s three-day celebration yesterday (June 24) with Lizzo, Tame Impala and The Strokes set to headline next year. Promoter Goldenvoice pushed back both the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Festival in Indio, Calif. from April 2020 to October to now April 2021, a full calendar year behind due to the COVID-19 pandem...
YouTube Announces Demi Lovato Docuseries
At the ninth digital newfront and first-ever digital personalized event, Brandcast Delivered, on Thursday (June 25), YouTube announced its list of new and returning projects. Among them is a four-part docuseries in partnership with Demi Lovato. The Michael D. Ratner-directed series is a follow up to her 2017 YouTube Originals documentary, Simply Complicated. The currently untitled show will give fans a glimpse into the ups and downs of the star’s personal and musical journey over the past three years. Some of the other projects YouTube announced were season two of Instant Influencer With James Charles, a gaming tournament called The Creator Games Presented by MrBeats, an interactive special with YouTube creator Markiplier, season two of Retro Tech, a kids and...
Lil Duval Sued By His Baby Mama For Financial Assistance
Source: Lil Duval attending the World Premiere of ‘Grow House’ at the Regency Bruin Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Featuring: Lil Duval Where: Westwood, California, United States When: 17 Apr 2017 Credit: Guillermo Proano/WENN.com Lil Duval might be living his best life but his sunny day is about to see a cloud or two as he’s being sued by his baby mama for lack of child support. According to Bossip the comedian/singer has been slapped with a lawsuit by Tornica Cheney who says that though the couple have a daughter together, Duval has been negligent in his responsibilities providing for their pre-teenager and wants him to pay up already. Besides child support, the mom wants Lil Duval to pay for the girl’s health insurance, make her the beneficiary of a $1 million life insurance policy...
No Longer Hidden: NASA Announces Washington DC Headquarters Will Be Named After Mary W. Jackson
Source: Donaldson Collection / Getty NASA engineer and mathematician Mary W. Jackson is finally getting her just due. On Wednesday (Jun 24) NASA announced plans to rename their headquarters located in Washington DC after the first Black female aerospace engineer Mary W. Jackson. Jackson, who was the agency’s first American American female engineer in 1958, opened up opportunities for countless women of color in STEM who followed in her footsteps. “Mary W. Jackson was part of a group of very important women who helped NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space. Mary never accepted the status quo, she helped break barriers and open opportunities for African Americans and women in the field of engineering and technology,” Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement to CBS Ne...
Millions Push For Reopening Of Elijah McClain Murder By Cops Case
Source: Andy Cross / Getty The death of Colorado man Elijah McClain has been shrouded in mystery as details have been slowly emerging in the wake of calls for widespread police reform. McClain, who was Black, died after an encounter with police in Aurora and millions have signed a petition asking for the reopening of the investigation of what supporters are framing as a murder. McClain, a massage therapist who was 23 at the time of his death, was returning home from an Aurora gas station after buying cans of iced tea, was stopped by police after calls of suspicion from residents, according to a report from the Colorado Springs Gazette. On August 24, 2019, police were called in the area McClain was due to him wearing a ski mask and moving his arms around, which friends later said that was m...
eBay & Sole Supremacy Launching ‘Vault Sale’ Featuring Ultra-Rare Sneaker Auctions
Source: eBay / eBay and Sole Supremacy Launch Vault Sale Rona or no Rona, sneakers are still getting copped. eBay and Sole Supremacy are allowing sneakerheads the opportunity to cop some hard to find kicks. eBay announced today (Jun.25) that it is teaming up with Sole Supremacy and will be launching a special “Vault Sale” that will feature 20 pairs of ultra-rare sneakers. Beginning Sunday, June 21 through Wednesday, July 1, “rare grails” like the Air Jordan 3/8 Kobe Pack, Nike Air MAG, Air Jordan 11 Snake Pink OVO, and more. Here is the complete list of grails you can bid on in the vault: Air Jordan 11 Snake Pink OVO ❘ size 13 Air Jordan 4 Marquette ❘ size 11 Air Jordan 3 Blue DJ Khaled ❘ size 10 Air Jordan 6 White Oregon ❘ size 7 Air Jordan 6 Black Oregon ❘ size 1...
The Politician And Hollywood Star David Corenswet Has A Beautiful Imagination
By Crystal Bell No one is perfect, but David Corenswet comes close. Of course, the 26-year-old balks at such a suggestion (he’s humble, too!) but the facts speak for themselves. While he was a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia-born actor auditioned for the drama division at Juilliard; he graduated from the famed performing arts conservatory in 2016. (“We’re 98 percent sure that I did in fact go and graduate from Juilliard,” he jokes.) He’s also a self-proclaimed Star Wars nerd who started his own a cappella group in high school with his three best friends. “We were briefly called Three Card Monte, and then we added a fourth [member], and so that ruined the whole thing,” he adds. And right now he’s making pesto. The ...
Zendaya Broke Down Her Fears In A Powerful Convo With Janelle Monáe And Others
HBO’s Euphoria found Zendaya tapping into a much darker, grittier role than her Disney Channel beginnings on Shake It Up would have forecasted. But as she revealed in a new roundtable interview for The Hollywood Reporter, that evolution was only one piece of the other stress she felt in making her next acting move. “Being a young Disney actor, that’s one level, being a young Black woman is one level, and then being very hard on myself is another level,”she said. The roundtable, which found her in conversation with Janelle Monáe, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Rose Byrne, and Helena Bonham Carter, also allowed Zendaya to explain how those fears about making the so-called “right” decision can dissipate in time. “It’s also just a personal ...
The Dixie Chicks Have Dropped The ‘Dixie’ — Say Hello To The Chicks
In 1999, the Dixie Chicks had a hit with “Goodbye Earl,” but today (June 25), we’re all saying goodbye to Dixie Chicks — or more accurately, just the “Dixie” part. The trio have announced they’re now going by just The Chicks, after weeks of racial-justice protests, toppled Confederate statues, and even similar name changes within the country-music community. “We want to meet the moment,” The Chicks — Natalie Maines, Martie Erwin Maguire, and Emily Strayer — said in a statement. “Dixie” as a term can refer to the Confederacy, though it also can refer to the South in general (The Chicks hail from Texas). In addition to the name change, the trio also unveiled a brand-new single called “March March” as well as a powerful a...
First Look: Here Are The Teen Wolf Cast Members At Their Virtual Reunion
Back in March, Tyler Posey tweeted the following: And now, the Teen Wolf gang is having a “high school” reunion. In a sneak peek of the inaugural installment of the digital format “MTV Reunions”– which will bring together cast members from television’s most memorable shows, all with the purpose of raising money for charitable causes — the man behind Scott McCall explains the context around the tweet and reveals he’d been watching the supernatural series. Right after overloading on another MTV show, that is. “I was bingeing Jersey Shore, and then I started Teen Wolf,” Tyler says in the clip from the special, which will air on the MTV YouTube channel TOMORROW with amplification across MTV News, MTV brand, MTV Vault and Teen Wolf social ac...
