Music and drama

Lady Gaga's dog saga comes to a happy ending with the safe return of the singer's stolen French Bulldogs. On Wednesday night, two of Gaga's three dogs were taken by thieves who callously shot the dog walker . Fortunately, Gaga's assistant survived and is expected to make a full recovery. Extremely distraught over the missing pets, Gaga had also offered a $500,000 reward for the dogs' safe return with "no questions asked." Friday evening at around 6 p.m., the stolen dogs were returned at the LAPD's Olympic Community Police Station. Physically unharmed (but probably traumatized), the dogs have since been returned to Lady Gaga's representatives. The singer reportedly cried "tears of joy" when she heard that the dogs were back home. Meanwhile, Gaga's assistant is said to be in serious but stable condition. Reportedly, the dogs were returned by a woman who "appears to be a good samaritan" and claims to have simply found the dogs and brought them in. It's not yet clear if and when the … [Read more...] about Lady Gaga’s Dogs Returned Safely, Dog Walker to Make Full Recovery, Shooters Still at Large

The concert industry clearly wants to get back to work, as a flurry of announcements on Friday proved. But what those announcements also proved is that getting back to work will require a leap of faith by all involved, most prominently, the government. Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, speaking during an earnings call and citing conversations with state governors, said that “a clear outline to a 75% to 100%” capacity for outdoor US events in 2021 was looking likely to be green-lit.” “We are seeing… what we’ve been talking about: [fans] are excited to get back to the show as soon as we get the green lights in these markets to open up,” he added. That point of view was bolstered this week across the pond. On Monday, the British government said that large music events in the U.K. could resume at 100% capacity beginning on June 21. Live Nation leaped into action, putting 100,000 tickets on sale for the August 27 and 29 Reading & Leeds festival. The concert was sold out … [Read more...] about This Week In Music: Taylor Swift Concerts Canceled, But Live Nation Optimistic On Future Shows

The late Nina Simone ’s younger brother, Sam Waymon, who played in her band for years, joined our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast for a uniquely intimate look at his legendary sister’s life and music. In a discussion with host Brian Hiatt and David Browne (who wrote about Simone’s enduring influence ), Waymon discussed Simone’s civil rights activism, her famous performance three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the development of her genre-blurring style, her difficult later years, and much more. “Nina didn’t trust many people,”  he said, discussing what it was like to back her in concert. “You don’t mess with her music. You either could play it or you couldn’t. She had high standards, yes. But if you want to call yourself a musician, then you should appreciate those standards.” Related Stories Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis: How Janet Jackson Made Her Greatest Hits Brittany Howard on Nina Simone: 'She Was Herself, No Matter How Complicated' … [Read more...] about Hear Our Podcast on the Greatness of Nina Simone

J Balvin has new music coming out soon, and so does The Pokémon Company. At the end of the Pokémon Day 25th anniversary virtual concert Saturday (February 27th), headlined by Post Malone , a somewhat ambiguous end card appeared on screen with Balvin and Katy Perry ’s names. Rolling Stone has learned that both Balvin and Perry — who was announced as the face of Pokémon’s celebratory P25 campaign in January — are creating original songs as part of a 14-track album called Pokémon 25: The Album . It will include music by 11 different Universal Music Group (UMG) artists and be released by Capitol Records in the fall. On the phone with Rolling Stone from Miami, Balvin said that his song isn’t done yet, but it’s close. The reggaeton superstar added that he just can’t stop sifting through sounds from Pokémon games and TV episodes, trying to create a smash single that will appeal to fans of both his and Pikachu’s worlds. “We’re gonna come up with a crazy song. It’s going … [Read more...] about J Balvin Joins Katy Perry and Post Malone on Pokémon Compilation Album

The Network — who are not Green Day under their masks — made their late-night debut Friday with a virtual performance of “Threat Level Midnight” on The Tonight Show . Although the Network sounds a lot like Green Day, and their luchador mask-wearing drummer looks a lot Tre Cool, and they are also signed to the same label as Green Day (Warner Records), the long-dormant new wave band have been insisting since their 2003 formation that they are not a Green Day side project. The mysterious band first released their 2003 debut album Money Money 2020 , opened a few shows for Green Day and then disappeared, only to return in December 2020 with Money Money 2020 Part II: We Told Ya So! , which features “Threat Level Midnight.” The Tonight Show performance itself, seemingly filmed to VHS, looks like it was recorded from a public access television talk show in the Eighties, with the costumed Network wreaking havoc on the soundstage. The only thing that grounds the … [Read more...] about See the Network, Which Isn’t Green Day in Disguise, Perform on ‘Fallon’