Watch Kany García, ChocQuibTown & Yotuel Talk Social Justice in ‘Cultura Clash’ Premiere

What role should artists take when it comes to social justice issues? Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Kany García, Cuban artist Yotuel and ChocQuibTown’s Goyo and Tostao come together for a candid conversation on speaking out and against social inequalities in the premiere episode of Billboard’s Cultura Clash.

Hosted by Latin music and culture executive AJ Ramos, episode 1 was filmed live in Miami during Billboard’s Latin Music Week. All four artists have been on the forefront of issues such as domestic violence, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ rights and political oppression, using social media and music as their platform to rally for change.

“There are moments when people would want to go out and raise a fist, and that moment should be accompanied by music,” Tostao says.

Most recently, Yotuel’s “Patria Y Vida” became the anthem of unprecedented anti-government protests in and out of Cuba. “Music has a major impact when it comes to social justice issues,” Yotuel adds. “Music isn’t just about numbers on Spotify or YouTube, music moves the conscience and inspires people.”

Speaking out wasn’t always an option for artists, argues García. “If we were talking about the role artists play when it comes to social justice issues 15 years ago, we’d say that the artist should not have an opinion on such matters or become associated with certain topics. But over the past few years, times have changed. We’ve realized that social media platforms aren’t only there to promote our new single or our tour, they’re there to help us move the masses.”

Billboard’s newly announced video series Cultura Clash will spotlight Latin artists and influencers who will be discussing trending topics within the Latin culture and music. The show will provide nuanced views on issues within the Latin space that affect both fans and the industry at large.

Cultura Clash will premiere new episodes every Wednesday on Billboard.com, social media and on Billboard’s YouTube channel. Watch the first episode, in Spanish, on social justice issues above.

/by

Judas Priest Postpone U.S. Tour Due to Richie Faulkner’s Heart Condition

Judas Priest has postponed the remainder of their U.S. tour after lead guitarist Richie Faulkner was hospitalized due to his “major medical heart condition.”

“It is with deep regret that we have to postpone the rest of our U.S. tour. Richie Faulkner has major medical heart condition issues which have landed him in the hospital where he is being treated,” read a statement from the band sent to Billboard. “In the meantime, we are all sending love to our Falcon to wish him a speedy recovery… As soon as we have any updates from the doctors on when we can reschedule the dates, we will of course announce them – Tickets will be valid.”

According to their official website, the English heavy metal band’s next show was scheduled for Wednesday at Denver’s Mission Ballroom. Their 50 Heavy Metal Years North American Tour would have concluded in November with a three-show run in Canada, before the European leg would resume Jan. 26, 2022, in Berlin’s Mercedes Benz Arena. It remains unclear if their European dates are impacted by Faulker’s hospitalization.

The 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour is the belated celebration of Judas Priest’s 50th anniversary featuring songs from their last studio album from 2018, Firepower, which went No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 — the British metal legends’ highest-charting effort on the all-genre albums tally to date.

On Oct. 15, Sony Legacy will release the Judas Priest 50 Heavy Metal Years of Music limited-edition box set, including remastered versions of every one of the band’s official live and studio album, new artwork, memorabilia, collectible items and a photo book.

/by

Florida’s COVID-19 hospitalizations drop under 7,000. Full vaccinations rise by 30,813

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Sunday report showed 6,914 COVID-19 patients reported from 262 Florida hospitals. That’s 271 fewer patients than Saturday’s report from 262 hospitals. In … Click to Continue »
/by

A Volusia Women was Found Dead in her Bedroom. Detectives Suspect her Boyfriend Killed Her

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man Sunday, charging him with first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend. Detectives were first alerted what a relative of Elizabeth Crisanti … Click to Continue »
/by

Miami police chief compares actions of some commissioners to Cuba’s Communist regime

On the eve of an emergency commission meeting that threatens to shorten his already brief tenure in Miami, Police Chief Art Acevedo broke a brief silence and penned a scathing … Click to Continue »
/by

Parents say toddler was sexually assaulted by another child on Disney cruise, sue for $20M

A Vermont family who says their 3-year-old daughter was molested by another child while attending the youth club aboard a Disney Cruise last year is suing the cruise line for … Click to Continue »
/by

Rolling Stones open American tour, pay tribute to drummer

The Rolling Stones are touring again, this time without their heartbeat, or at least their backbeat. The legendary rockers launched their pandemic-delayed “No Filter” tour Sunday at the Dome at … Click to Continue »
/by

Tony Awards 2021: Full List of Winners

Moulin Rouge! The Musical and A Christmas Carol led the way with multiple wins at the 2020 Tony Awards, which aired on Sunday (Sept. 26).

The winners were announced over the course of two broadcast events. At 7 p.m. ET, Audra McDonald hosted the awards ceremony, which streamed on Paramount+. The special then continued on CBS at 9 p.m. ET with a live show titled The Tony Awards Present Broadway’s Back! hosted by Leslie Odom Jr.

Featuring a powerful performance of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” and a lively rendition of “Burning Down the House” by David Byrne, the event celebrated the return of Broadway after an 18-month shutdown due to COVID-19.

Here’s the complete list of winners. (Three winners will be named during the CBS special. This story will be updated as those winners are announced.) The categories are listed in alphabetical order.

Best book of a musical

Jagged Little Pill, Diablo Cody — WINNER
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, John Logan
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar, and Kees Prins

Best choreography

Jagged Little Pill, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Sonya Tayeh — WINNER
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Anthony Van Laast

Best costume design in a musical

Jagged Little Pill, Emily Rebholz
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Mark Thompson
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Catherine Zuber — WINNER

Best costume design in a play

Slave Play, Dede Ayite
A Soldier’s Play, Dede Ayite
The Inheritance, Bob Crowley
A Christmas Carol, Rob Howell — WINNER
The Rose Tattoo, Clint Ramos

Best direction of a musical

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Phyllida Lloyd
Jagged Little Pill, Diane Paulus
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Alex Timbers — WINNER

Best direction of a play

The Sound Inside, David Cromer
The Inheritance, Stephen Daldry — WINNER
A Soldier’s Play, Kenny Leon
Betrayal, Jamie Lloyd
Slave Play, Robert O’Hara

Best lighting design of a musical

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Justin Townsend — WINNER
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Bruno Poet
Jagged Little Pill, Justin Townsend

Best lighting design in a play

Slave Play, Jiyoun Chang
The Inheritance, Jon Clark
The Sound Inside, Heather Gilbert
A Soldier’s Play, Allen Lee Hughes
A Christmas Carol, Hugh Vanstone — WINNER

Best musical

Jagged Little Pill
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Best orchestration

Jagged Little Pill, Tom Kitt
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine — WINNER
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Ethan Popp

Best original score (music and/or lyrics written for the theatre)

A Christmas Carol, Christopher Nightingale (music) — WINNER
The Inheritance, Paul Englishby
The Rose Tattoo, Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb (music)
Slave Play, Lindsay Jones (music)
The Sound Inside, Daniel Kluger (music)

Best performance by a featured actor in a musical

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Danny Burstein — WINNER
Jagged Little Pill, Derek Klena
Jagged Little Pill, Sean Allan Krill
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Sahr Ngaujah
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Daniel J. Watts

Best performance by a featured actress in a musical

Jagged Little Pill, Kathryn Gallagher
Jagged Little Pill, Celia Rose Gooding
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Robyn Hurder
Jagged Little Pill, Lauren Patten — WINNER
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Myra Lucretia Taylor

Best performance by a featured actor in a play

Slave Play, Ato Blankson-Wood
Slave Play, James Cusati-Moyer
A Soldier’s Play, David Alan Grier — WINNER
The Inheritance, John Benjamin Hickey
The Inheritance, Paul Hilton

Best performance by a featured actress in a play

Grand Horizons, Jane Alexander
Slave Play, Chalia La Tour
Slave Play, Annie McNamara
The Inheritance, Lois Smith — WINNER
Linda Vista, Cora Vander Broek

Best performance by a leading actor in a musical

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Aaron Tveit — WINNER

Best performance by a leading acress in a musical

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Karen Olivo
Jagged Little Pill, Elizabeth Stanley
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Adrienne Warren — WINNER 

Best performance by a leading actor in a play

Linda Vista, Ian Barford
The Inheritance, Andrew Burnap — WINNER
Sea Wall/A Life, Jake Gyllenhaal
Betrayal, Tom Hiddleston
Sea Wall/A Life, Tom Sturridge
A Soldier’s Play, Blair Underwood

Best performance by a leading actress in a play

Slave Play, Joaquina Kalukango
My Name Is Lucy Barton, Laura Linney
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Audra McDonald
The Sound Inside, Mary-Louise Parker — WINNER

Best play

Grand Horizons, Bess Wohl
The Inheritance, Matthew Lopez — WINNER
Sea Wall/A Life, Simon Stephens and Nick Payne
Slave Play, Jeremy O. Harris
The Sound Inside, Adam Rapp

Best revival of a play

Betrayal
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
A Soldier’s Play — WINNER

Best scenic design in a musical

Jagged Little Pill, Riccardo Hernández and Lucy MacKinnon
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Derek McLane — WINNER
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg

Best scenic design in a play

The Inheritance, Bob Crowley
Betrayal, Soutra Gilmour
A Christmas Carol, Rob Howell — WINNER
A Soldier’s Play, Derek McLane
Slave Play, Clint Ramos

Best sound design of a musical

Jagged Little Pill, Jonathan Deans
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Peter Hylenski — WINNER
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Nevin Steinberg

Best sound design of a play

The Inheritance, Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid
A Christmas Carol, Simon Baker — WINNER
Slave Play, Lindsay Jones
Sea Wall/A Life, Daniel Kluger
The Sound Inside, Daniel Kluger

/by

Britney Spears Thinks These ‘Cheesy’ Instagram Photos Look Like Her Yearbook Pictures

Britney Spears returned to Instagram after a brief hiatus recently, and she’s back to sharing some of her selfies.

Friday night (Sept. 24), the pop star posted a pair of pictures of herself in which she’s seen sweetly gazing up at the camera. With a floral crop top and her hair pulled half back, Spears’ look in the snapshots apparently reminded her of some old photos — her yearbook pictures.

“These pics look like my high school yearbook pics … kinda cheesy but hey !!!” she wrote.

Some of Spears’ actual yearbook portraits have circulated around the internet in the past. (A quick Google image search will pull them up.)

Fiancé Sam Asghari commented on her Instagram post, which was shared on the same day that the documentary Controlling Britney Spears premiered on FX and Hulu, with four heart emojis. The latest doc about Spears continued to pull back the curtain on what she endured throughout the conservatorship that was first established by her father Jamie Spears in 2008.

See her latest pictures below.

/by

Lauren Patten Thanks Trans and Nonbinary ‘Jagged Little Pill’ Colleagues While Accepting Best Featured Actress in a Musical

Lauren Patten called attention to the conversations around Jagged Little Pill‘s gender non-conforming representation, thanking her nonbinary and trans colleagues, while accepting the award for best featured actress in a musical at Sunday’s 74th Tony Awards.

“It is such a joy to finally be able to celebrate all of these phenomenal artists in this room after this long, long pause. It is also a strange time for awards. We are in the middle of a reckoning in our industry. And first and foremost I want to thank my trans and nonbinary friends and colleagues who have engaged with me in difficult conversations, that have joined me in dialogue about my character Jo,” Patten said.

“I believe that the future for the change we need to see on Broadway comes from these kinds of conversations that are full of honesty and empathy and respect for our shared humanity. And I am so excited to see the action that comes from them, and to see where that leads our future as theatre artists in this country,” she concluded.

Patten’s comments follow the news that the show’s lead producers, Vivek J. Tiwary, Arvind Ethan David and Eva Price, had hired the external firm Jay Hewlin and The Hewlin Group to investigate allegations made by former cast members, including nonbinary actor Nora Schell, who alleged in a social media post mistreatment by stage management and other members of the show’s creative leadership in regards to their health care. The producers also announced they are immediately launching an external review of the show’s policies and procedures.

That followed a lengthy Sept. 17 statement to the production’s website and social media, acknowledging missteps in how they publicly spoke about and identified Patton’s character Jo, a lovestruck teen dealing with religious parents, their sexuality and a souring relationship while also going on their own gender journey, which has no confirmed outcome in the show. The letter also outlined significant changes to the productions on an off-stage approach to trans and nonbinary identities.

A day after the statement, Patten shared a video conversation with Shakina Nayfack, trans writer, actress and activist, to increase transparency around the conversations that were being had about Jo, and to be accountable for harm resulting from the erasure of Jo’s gender journey. Patten linked her comments to a broader conversation on Broadway about transparency and the production changes that have occurred in regards to representation, particularly over the last year.

“The truth is that I did not know as much as I should and stepping into something that I did know would resonate with a lot of folks — a lot of queer folks and a lot of trans folks,” Patten said. “I should have known more how to talk about it. I should have known how to exactly, as you said, affirm the experience without trying to be it.”

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

/by