Entertainment News
Popular Nigerian Musicians That Has Featured in Nollywood Movies
When it comes to the entertainment industry, Africans are now taking the lead by displaying that they are multi-talented and can act in both the music and the movie industry. In Nigeria for example, the likes of Banky W, Falz, Phyno, etc are currently making it big in the entertainment industry via both music and movie roles. It is worthy of note that Nigeria Movie Industry popularly known as Nollywood is a gold mine and as well as an avenue to make a lot of money because the Nigeria Movie Industry produces not less than fifty movies weekly which is much more than that of America Movie industry and even India’s Bollywood. It is also estimated that the Nigeria Movie Industry generates $590 million annually and if properly managed can grow beyond its current income and even the world ba...
Slash on Eddie Van Halen: “Any Instrument He Had Chosen to Play Would Have Been Phenomenal”
There have been countless tributes to the great Eddie Van Halen since his passing on October 6th. One of the millions of fans mourning his death is fellow guitar legend Slash. Van Halen released their groundbreaking self-titled debut in 1978, and by the time Guns N’ Roses formed in 1985, one can easily argue that Van Halen were the biggest hard-rock band on the planet — until GN’R took that title with their own masterful debut, Appetite for Destruction. We recently caught up with Slash to discuss the new Guns N’ Roses pinball machines, as well as his new custom collection with Gibson Guitars. While speaking with the GN’R axeman, we asked him for his thoughts on Eddie Van Halen, specifically what it was about the Van Halen legend’s playing that made him such an iconic guitarist. Slash graci...
Bandcamp Fridays Raised $40 Million (!) for Musicians in 2020
Earlier this year, as the pandemic strangled the live events economy, the artist-oriented platform Bandcamp decided to waive its own cut on sales of music and merch on Friday, March 20th. The one-off sale was such a success that the website soon extended it to the first Friday of every month in 2020. With the year almost over, the results are in: artists earned more than $40 million on Bandcamp Fridays in 2020. And since the vaccine isn’t widely available yet, and live music unlikely to return for several months, the platform has announced four more Bandcamp Fridays extending into 2021. While competitors like YouTube and Spotify have long been criticized for their miniscule streaming payout rates, Bandcamp has helped normalize consumers paying for music again. On those special Fridays, the...
HBO Max Also Pulls Chappelle’s Show at Dave Chappelle’s Request
Last month, Netflix removed Chappelle’s Show from their service at the behest of Dave Chappelle himself. The beloved comedian has now asked HBO Max to pull the iconic sketch series from their library, and they’re granting his request. In a lengthy Instagram video posted in late November, Chappelle explained that because of the contract he signed with ViacomCBS back when the show was made in the mid-2000s — years before streaming services even existed — he actually doesn’t see a penny of the money that ViacomCBS receives when it licenses the show out to companies like Netflix and HBO Max. “They [ViacomCBS] didn’t have to pay me because I signed the contract,” Chappelle said in the clip, which compiles footage from recent stand-up gigs. “But is that right? I found out that these people were ...
Sundance Film Festival Announces 2021 Virtual Lineup
The Sundance Film Festival will continue in 2021 and returns with a new upgrade amidst the ensuing pandemic. For the first time ever, the entire festival will take place digitally through “a feature-rich, Sundance-built online platform” in conjunction with in-person festivities that will air through Satellite Screens across the country from January 28th to February 3rd, 2021 “Togetherness has been an animating principle here at the Sundance Institute as we’ve worked to reimagine the Festival for 2021, because there is no Sundance without our community,” said Sundance Institute Founder and President Robert Redford. “Under Tabitha’s leadership, we’ve forged a new collective vision: one that honors the spirit and tradition of these invigorating yearly gatherings in Utah, while making roo...
Lana Del Rey Performs “Let Me Love You Like a Woman” on Fallon: Watch
Lana Del Rey performed her new single “Let Me Love You Like a Woman” live for the first time during a Monday night appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The pre-recorded performance was filmed at a rustic dive bar and saw Del Rey accompanied by a four-piece band and a trio of backing singers. Catch the replay below. “Let Me Love You Like a Woman” serves as the first single from Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club, which was recently pushed back until the spring due to production delays. To tide fans over, the singer is planning to drop a new album of American standards for Christmas. Over the summer, Del Rey published her first poetry collection, titled Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass. Featuring music by her frequent collaborator and bon...
Taylor Swift Debunks woodvale Album Rumor on Jimmy Kimmel
Taylor Swift joined Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday night for her first television interview since releasing her second surprise album of the year, evermore, and sister album to this summer’s folklore. During the interview, Swift debunked a fan rumor that she is planning to release a third surprise album called woodvale. “This takes a bit of explanation,” Swift began. “I tend to be sort of annoyingly secret-agenty about dropping clues and hints and Easter eggs and it’s very annoying but it’s fun for fans and it’s fun for me because they like to pick up on things. And they’ll notice lots of things in music videos or photos or whatever, and then sometimes, I take it too far, and I make a mistake.” As Swift explained, woodvale was merely the working title for folklore and her team “forg...
Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page Urges Streaming Companies to Pay Musicians Fairly
Jimmy Page is using his status as a rock icon and a knighted Order of the British Empire to urge streaming companies to fairly compensate musicians. The legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist penned an open letter on his Instagram account in response to a recent inquiry into streaming services by the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Among the items the committee is reviewing is the business model employed by Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Google and other streaming services, especially when it comes to artist royalties. Page shared the following letter on his Instagram page: “Having recently viewed the Select Committee for Music Streaming on 24 November 2020 I feel compelled to write this letter. I fully appreciate the dilemma surrounding streaming royalties that should be ...
National Film Registry Adds The Dark Night, Shrek, A Clockwork Orange, Record Number of Films by Women
The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.), Shrek (DreamWorks), and A Clockwork Orange (Warner Bros.) The Library of Congress has announced the next crop of 25 movies admitted into the National Film Registry, as NPR reports. The class of 2020 includes Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece A Clockwork Orange, recent blockbusters The Dark Knight and Shrek, and a record number of films made by women. As with last year’s list, there are several films that are so obviously classics, it’s a surprise they haven’t been added already. The unsinkable 1978 musical Grease fits that description, as does the Charlie Chaplin flick Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914), Wim Wender’s 1999 documentary about Cuban musicians, The Buena Vista Social Club, and, if you’re of a certain generation, The Bl...
Pallbearer’s Joseph D. Rowland Launches Solo Project Hosianna Mantra, Unveils Debut Album: Stream
Joseph D. Rowland / Hosianna Mantra, photo by Elizabeth L. Cline Pallbearer bassist and songwriter Joseph D. Rowland has launched a synth-based solo project, Hosianna Mantra, with a seven-song album, Particle Mythology. Hosianna Mantra is a definite sonic departure from Rowland’s work in Pallbearer, though it touts the same exploratory sonic approach. The project showcases Rowland’s affinity for progressive electronic music and modern recording technology. Indeed, the musician shared a long list of the gear used on Particle Mythology (which can be seen below), and it’s a serious collection that undoubtedly takes some engineering savvy to operate. Taking a step toward the electro-acoustic pioneering of Daniel Lanois, Rowland has proven himself to be just as worthy a soundscapist as he is a ...
Sharon Osbourne Tests Positive for COVID-19, Briefly Hospitalized
Sharon Osbourne has revealed that she has tested positive for COVID-19, and was briefly hospitalized as a result. She is now recuperating at a location away from her husband, Ozzy Osbourne, who recently disclosed that he has emphysema, among his other health issues. The 68-year-old host of the daytime TV program The Talk reported her positive test result via Twitter on Monday evening (December 14th), writing, “I wanted to share I’ve tested positive for COVID-19. After a brief hospitalization, I’m now recuperating at a location away from Ozzy (who has tested negative) while The Talk is on scheduled hiatus. Everyone please stay safe and healthy.” Sharon, who is also Ozzy’s manager, went public with her COVID-19 diagnosis just a few days after her Talk co-host Carrie Ann Inaba had shared that...
Smokey Robinson: “Happy CH-A-NUKA!”
Today is the fifth day of Hanukkah, the eight-day-long traditional Jewish festival that has been honored in homes around the world and in pop culture for hundreds of years. Many Americans are aware of the holiday, even if they don’t celebrate it themselves. Others are relatively unfamiliar with it, especially in its written form — and apparently the legendary Smokey Robinson is one of those people. In a now-viral tweet, Robinson seems unfamiliar with the word “Chanukah”. It all started when Twitter user Jeff Jacobson purchased a Cameo of Robinson as a gift for his mother. “My mom grew up on the same street as Smokey Robinson in Detroit. So for Chanukah, I wanted to reunite them via @Cameo,” he explained. “But the video takes a strange twist.” The clip starts off relatively normal with a ve...
