Maurice Hines, who appeared alongside his younger brother, Gregory Hines, in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club, has died. He was 80.
The Broadway dancer, choreographer and actor passed away on Friday (Dec. 29) of natural causes at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, N.J., according to his cousin and representative, Richard Nurse, The Hollywood Reporterreports.
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Hines received a Tony Award nomination in 1986 for best actor in a musical for a musical for Uptown… It’s Hot and was featured again on Broadway in 2006’s Hot Feet. Both productions were conceived, directed and choreographed by Maurice.
Born on Dec. 13, 1943, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, Hines studied tap with Henry LeTang in NYC and was fascinated by the acrobatics of the Nicholas Brothers. He made his professional debut at around 6 years old alongside brother Gregory as the tap-dancing Hines Kids on Broadway in 1954, according to THR.
They later became known as the Hines Brothers and then Hines, Hines & Dad after their father, Maurice Sr., joined in 1963. The trio became regulars at New York’s Apollo Theater, and also performed in clubs across the U.S. and Europe.
After Gregory went solo in the early 1970s, Maurice joined the national tour of Guys and Dolls and reunited with his brother for Eubie! on Broadway in 1979. In 1982, Maurice stepped in for Gregory in the Broadway musical Sophisticated Ladies and he also appeared in the national tour of Jelly’s Last Jam.
The siblings later joined forces as the feuding Williams Brothers in Coppola’s 1984 crime drama The Cotton Brothers, which also starred Richard Gere and Diane Lane.
The 2019 documentary Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back highlights a falling out between the Hines brothers, who didn’t speak for 10 years “for reasons that Maurice refuses to discuss to this day. He provides no explanation in the film, but instead takes every opportunity to praise Gregory and say how much he loved him,” according to a THR review of the film.
“Nonetheless, the lingering emotional pain of their rift is deeply evident in such moments as Maurice sadly remembering that they didn’t even speak to each at their mother’s wedding, to her great distress. The film includes footage of Gregory’s Tony Award acceptance speech [in 1992] in which he pointedly thanks everyone in his family except his brother. He even takes pains, when mentioning his father, to add ‘Sr.’ so nobody misunderstands.”
The brothers made up before Gregory died of cancer at age 57 in 2003, according to THR.
Maurice is survived by his nephew, Zach, and niece, Daria.
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From career milestones to new music releases to major announcements and those little important moments, Billboard editors highlight uplifting moments in Latin music. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
Bad Bunny Gives Back
Bad Bunny is spending the holidays in his native Puerto Rico and part of the celebration included his annual “Bonita Tradición” gift giveaway hosted by the artist and his Good Bunny Foundation. Held at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, the free event featured traditional food and attractions, as well as 25,000 gifts that were handed out to children and teenagers. Bad Bunny was in attendance to hand out sports gear, music instruments, art sets and more gifts aimed at promoting the love of music, art and sports. Other artists who joined the cause included Miky Woodz, Young Miko and Dei V.
Taking Over Times Square on New Year’s Eve
New York City’s Times Square is gearing up to host its annual New Year’s Eve celebration, which includes the televised ball lowering during the countdown to the new year. The tradition, which has been celebrated for 120 years now, will boast two Latin artists as part of this year’s festivities. Argentine star Maria Becerra and Mexican reggaeton artist Yng Lvcas will perform a medley of their biggest hits at the Planet Fitness Center Stage. The former is scheduled to perform at 10:04 p.m. and the latter at 11:02 p.m. ET. Both performances will air live on Univision and the Times Square New Year’s Eve webcast.
This week, Shakira was honored with a 20-foot-tall bronze statue in her hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia. Dressed in one of her famous belly-dancing outfits, with her hips swaying and her arms raised, the monument features a plaque that reads: “On Feb. 2, 1977, the town of Barranquilla and the world witnessed the birth of a heart that composes, hips that don’t lie, a voice that moves masses and a pair of bare feet that walk for the good of children and humanity.” The Colombian star was not present at the grand reveal, but her parents were. “I am very excited about this tribute to Colombian women and Barranquilleras inside and outside my land!” the singer expressed on Instagram.
This week, Chilean singer-songwriter Myriam Hernández was recognized as a “Fundamental Figure of Chilean Music” by the Society of Authors. “I am happy and grateful for the news,” the artist known for hits such as “El Hombre que yo Amo,” “Huele a Peligro” and “Te pareces tanto a él’” said in a statement. “I feel proud of this recognition that the Society of Authors of my country gives me, an entity that is so necessary and important for artists, creators, composers and performers. I am excited to be part of this distinction alongside other music greats. Additionally, being recognized by your peers is something very special and significant. I receive it with immense joy because this is a race that belongs to the public,” she said.
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The Billboard Global Music Index — a diverse collection of 20 publicly traded music companies — finished 2023 up 31.3% as Spotify’s share price alone climbed 138% thanks to cost-cutting and focus on margins. Spotify is the single-largest component of the float-adjusted index and has one of the largest market capitalizations of any music company.
The music index was outperformed by the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite, which gained 43.4% with the help of triple-digit gains from chipmaker Nvidia Corp (+239%) and Meta Platforms (+194%). But the Billboard Global Music Index exceeded some other major indexes: the S&P 500 gained 24.2%, South Korea’s KOSPI composite index grew 18.7% and the FTSE 100 improved 3.8%.
Other than Spotify, a handful of major companies had double-digit gains in 2023 that drove the index’s improvement. Universal Music Group finished the year up 14.7%. Concert promoter Live Nation rode a string of record-setting quarters to a 34.2% gain. HYBE, the increasingly diversified K-pop company, rose 34.6%. SM Entertainment, in which HYBE acquired a minority stake in March, gained 20.1%.
A handful of smaller companies also finished the year with big gains. LiveOne gained 117.4%. Reservoir Media improved 19.4%. Chinese music streamer Cloud Music improved 15.8%.
The biggest loser on the Billboard Global Music Index in 2023 was radio broadcaster iHeartMedia, which fell 56.4%. Abu Dhabi-based music streamer Anghami finished 2023 down 34.8%. After a series of large fluctuations in recent months, Anghami ended the year 69% below its high mark for 2023. Hipgnosis Songs Fund, currently undergoing a strategic review after shareholders voted against continuation in October, finished the year down 16.6%.
Sphere Entertainment Co., which split from MSG Entertainment’s live entertainment business back in April, ended 2023 down 24.4%. Most of that decline came before the company opened its flagship venue, Sphere, in Las Vegas on September 29, however. Since U2 opened the venue to widespread acclaim and earned Sphere global media coverage, the stock dropped only 8.5%.
For the week, the index rose 1.1% to 1,534.07. Fourteen of the index’s 20 stocks posted gains this week, four dropped in price and one was unchanged.
LiveOne shares rose 15.7% to $1.40 after the company announced on Friday (Dec. 29) it added 63,000 new paid memberships in December and surpassed 3.5 million total memberships, an increase of 29% year over year. iHeartMedia shares climbed 14.6% to $2.67. Anghami continued its ping-pong trajectory by finishing the week up 16.9%.
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American Idol is heading “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” In a new Wizard of Oz-themed promo, judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, alongside host Ryan Seacrest, make their way down the Yellow Brick Road to visit cities “big and small.”
Set to air during ABC’s Seacrest-hosted Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve broadcast on Dec. 31, the promo features the four Idol main players taking on different Wizard of Oz roles. Perry opens the scene as Dorothy, and Bryan (the Scarecrow), Richie (the Lion) and Seacrest (the Tin Man) join her as she makes her way across the country.
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During their journey, the foursome visit the hometowns of several past Idol contestants, including Burleson, Texas (Kelly Clarkson, season 1 winner); Checotah, Oklahoma (Carrie Underwood, season 4 winner); and San Diego, California (Adam Lambert, season 8 runner-up). They even made a visit to Iam Tongi‘s Kahuku, Hawaii; the 19-year-old won season 21, becoming the first winner to be born after the show’s initial premiere on Fox.
Seacrest also told Rolling Stone, which debuted the promo on Friday (Dec. 29), that the show will visit the judges’ hometowns throughout the season. “Idol cannot wait to share the judges’ special hometowns with our viewers – and show off the talent from each of the places they call home!”
Season 22 of American Idol is set to premiere on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, on ABC. Episodes will also be available to stream on Hulu.
In other recent Idol news, season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino is enjoying a successful close to the year in the film musical The Color Purple, in which she stars as Celie in her motion picture debut.
Watch the new Wizard of Oz-themed American Idol promo above.
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Zac Brown and his wife Kelly Yazdi are divorcing after four months of marriage, a rep for the Zac Brown Band frontman confirmed to Billboard on Friday (Dec. 29).
“We are in the process of divorce,” the pair said in a joint statement sent to Billboard. “Our mutual respect for one another remains. We wish each other the best and will always appreciate our time together. As we navigate this personal matter, we simply request privacy during this time.”
Billboard reported in December 2022 that Brown was engaged to the actress/model/stuntwoman. Last month, TMZ reported that the pair had secretly wed on Aug. 31 in Coweta County, Georgia.
This was the second marriage for Brown, who was previously married to Shelly Brown from 2006 to 2018. The former couple share five kids: daughters Justice, Lucy, Georgia and Joni and son Alexander.
As the co-founder and lead singer of the Zac Brown Band, Brown has scored 34 hits on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, including 17 top 10s and eight No. 1s, starting with their breakthrough smash “Chicken Fried” in 2008. The group — which formed in 2002 — has scored three Grammys, including best new artist in 2010.
Last month, Brown joined Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney and Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally to pay tribute to the late Jimmy Buffett at the 2023 CMA Awards. Over the summer, Brown offered an update on the health of his bandmate John Driskell Hopkins, who was diagnosed with ALS last year. “It’s been tough for Hop and our band, but he is our brother and we’re doing all that we can to support him every day,” Brown told People of the group’s founding bassist.
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Partly for the prolific volume of projects artists release each year and partly for the fluid definition of an album (running anywhere from three to 13 tracks), an annual ranking of K-pop albums is never easy. As South Korea continues to extend its global musical influence, certain projects transcend hit-song compilations, presenting larger visions and conceptual narratives.
In 2023, stars like V, WOODZ and ONEW used their latest solo projects to share the music that inspires them at their core as artists and let listeners settle into sonic worlds they’ve developed. Meanwhile, artists like IVE, SEVENTEEN, Kim Sejeong, TOMORROW X TOGETHER and BTS’ Suga as Agust D used their projects to show their range as artists whose inspirations run deep and varied, offering satisfying surprises for audiences. Meanwhile, the likes of JOOHONEY, (G)I-DLE, Stray Kids and NCT DREAM used their projects to speak to the topics most important to them and their fans.
While artists who have operated in the Korean entertainment system are typically lumped into an all-encompassing “K-pop” term, several projects that would have caught fans’ attention are challenging to deem as K-pop. A slew of top-notch projects like Jung Kook’s Golden, (G) I-DLE’s Heat, DPR IAN’s Dear Insanity, Mark Tuan’s Fallin’, Yerin Baek’s New Year, Eric Nam’s House on a Hill all deserve their rightful acclaim, but this K-pop list focuses on albums with Korean as the primary language.
In 2023, K-pop represents far more than music from idols as more artists dabble in new genres, soundscapes and inspirations to encompass burgeoning Korean sub-genres in this space. The albums that moved us this year speak to the continuing importance of full-length projects even in an increasingly single-focused global market. (And speaking of singles, check out our list of the 25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2023 here.)
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2023-12-30 03:02:222023-12-30 03:02:22The 25 Best K-Pop Albums of 2023
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And if you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can order now and get your tech goodies delivered to your home in less than two days — thanks to Prime Delivery.
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We roundup the best tech deals across Amazon from top brands, like Meta (formerly Facebook), Samsung, Beats by Dre, Hisense and others.
On sale for $21.99, or nearly 30% off, the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite is one of the cheapest and fastest ways to add video and music streaming to your TV. Just plug it into your TV’s HDMI port for access to thousands of apps, including Netflix, Disney+, Spotify and much more.
The Meta Quest 2 may be the previous model, but it’s one of the best values in VR. It can still access the same apps and experiences as the newer model, but at a discounted price. Right now, it’s on sale for its all-time lowest price ever.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive alternative to the Apple iPad, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is for you. It has a 10.4-inch display, up to 13 hours of battery life per charge, and access to the Android App Store for downloadable apps. It even comes with a free Samsung S-Pen stylus for handwritten notes and sketching.
Turn your home into a smart home with the Amazon Echo. This is the fourth generation of the smart speaker, which gets you access to the Alexa voice assistant throughout your home. From news to weather reports and delivery info and song requests, just ask a question and Alexa will handle it for you.
On sale for $179.99, or nearly half off, the Beats Studio Pro Wireless Bluetooth Noise Cancelling Headphones have clear and rich audio with deep and booming bass, in which Beats is known. They also have up to 40 hours of battery life per charge, which means you can get nearly two days of use before you have to plug them back into a wall outlet.
At 40% off, the Hisense 58-Inch Class U6HF Series ULED 4K Ultra HD Smart Fire TV is steal, especially for those who want a TV upgrade or a secondary TV in the home. It has an impressive 58-inch 4K Ultra HD display, Dolby Vision picture quality, a buttery smooth refresh rate for live sports and Fire TV built-in for access to thousand of apps, like Netflix, Max, Prime Video, Spotify, Disney+ and much more.
If you’re looking to upgrade your TV’s audio, then the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar is our pick. It’s on sale for less than $100, which is its all-time lowest price ever. The soundbar has premium audio, thanks to DTS Virtual:X and Dolby Audio compatibility, as well as Fire TV inside for video streaming Netflix, Peacock, Paramount+, Hulu and other streaming apps.
The all-new Amazon Echo Buds are on sale for $34.99, or 30% off — which is their all-time lowest price ever. With their semi-in-ear design, these wireless earbuds offer full and sharp audio with deep bass at a very affordable price. They also offer up to 20 hours of playback per charge and the ability to sync with two devices at the same time.
At $179.99 (reg. $249.99), the Motorola Moto G 5G is a speedy wallet-friendly Android smartphone that has a large 6.5-inch display, 4GB of RAM paired with 128GB of storage, and an impressive 48-megapixel camera on its rear for impressive and detailed photos.
Logitech G Cloud is a handheld PC gaming console that can run Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Nvidia GeForce Now, Steam and various Android mobile games and emulators for on-the-go gaming — thanks to its sharp 7-inch touchscreen display and up to 12 hours of battery life per charge. It’s also on sale for its all-time lowest price ever.
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Ado’s “Show” holds at No. 1 after returning to the top spot last week to log its 12th leader on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.
On the chart dated Dec. 27 tallying the week ending on Christmas Eve, “Show” passed the 11-week record held by Gen Hoshino’s “Koi” and is now eyeing the 13-week record held by Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” for most week at No. 1. (The all-time record for most weeks at No. 1 is 21 weeks, held by YOASOBI’s “Idol.”)
Streaming for “Show” decreased by approximately 6% from last week to 9,707,241 streams, but continues to rule the metric for the 14th consecutive week. The track also holds at No. 1 for video views (12th straight week), rises 3-2 for downloads with 10,210 units, and moves 7-9 for karaoke.
“Anti Confiture” by ≠ME (Not Equal Me) debuts at No. 4 on the Japan Hot 100. The eighth single by the girl group launched with 216,440 CDs to hit No. 1 for physical sales. Following at No. 2 for sales is HKT48’s “Bucket wo Kabure!” with 183,540 first-week copies. The girl group’s 17th single bows at No. 5 on the Japan Hot 100.
As mentioned earlier, this chart week ended on Christmas Eve and as always during the holiday season, Christmas- and winter-themed songs surged on the Japan Hot 100 powered mainly by radio airplay. 13 songs charted this year, surpassing 2022’s record of 11 songs. Here’s a list of this year’s winter-themed entries:
No. 2 “Kissin’ Christmas (Christmas dakara janai) 2023” Keisuke Kuwata & Yumi Matsutoya No. 6 “Christmas Song” back number No.10 “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Mariah Carey No. 21 “Christmas Eve” Tatsuro Yamashita No. 24 “Santa Tell Me” Ariana Grande No. 25 “Shiroi Koibitotachi” Keisuke Kuwata No. 41 “Merikuri” BoA No. 42 “Heroine” back number No. 44 “Last Christmas” Wham! No. 57 “silent” SEKAI NO OWARI No. 69 “WINTER WITHOUT YOU” XG No. 90 “Itsuka no Merry Christmas” B’z No. 99 “Koibito ga Santa Claus” Yumi Matsutoya
“Kissin’ Christmas (Christmas dakara janai) 2023” by Keisuke Kuwata & Yumi Matsutoya shoots to No. 2 after the CD dropped Dec. 20. This song was originally written for the Merry Christmas Show, a now-legendary music program Kuwata spearheaded in 1986. It was remade for this release and the Southern All Stars frontman and “Koibito ga Santa Claus” singer-songwriter newly recorded their duet. The song ruled radio, sold 25,639 copies in its first week to hit No. 4 for sales, and came in at No. 7 for downloads with 5,131 units, giving the two iconic hitmakers their highest-ranking song so far on the Japan Hot 100.
back number’s “Christmas Song” from 2015 rises 11-6 this week to break into the top 10 again for the third consecutive year during the same season. This year, the track entered the top 20 on the chart released Dec. 6 and gradually climbed the ranks. This week the evergreen pop-rock love song reaches No. 5 for streaming with 6,976,101 streams, which is an increase of about 3% from last year’s peak (6,715,894 streams). The track comes in at No. 32 for downloads with 1,789 units, No. 7 for radio, No. 8 for video, and tops karaoke for the first time this year.
Meanwhile, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” also rises 35-10. The Queen of Christmas’s modern standard comes in at No. 3 for radio, behind Tatsuro Yamashita’s iconic seasonal favorite, “Christmas Eve.” Carey’s Yuletide hit comes in at No. 11 for streaming with 5,089,233 streams, No. 28 for downloads with 1,857 units, and No. 29 for video.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2023-12-29 03:07:212023-12-29 03:07:21Ado’s ’Show’ Logs 12th Week at No. 1 as Winter Favorites Return to Japan Hot 100
SPY x FAMILY CODE: White, an animated film featuring the beloved characters of the popular manga and anime series, has quickly become a box office smash in Japan after hitting theaters Dec. 22. Japanese hitmaker Gen Hoshino wrote the ending theme for this movie, as he did for the TV series, and this new song “Why” is the title track of his latest single.
The 42-year-old artist’s new project also features “Life” — the theme song for this year’s World Athletics Championships and the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China — as the other title track, and includes “Odd Couple” a song written for the popular Japanese comedy duo Audrey for their event at Tokyo Dome, and the instrumental track “Beyond the Sequence” featured in a TV commercial that he appears in. The J-pop superstar sat down with Billboard Japan and looked back on his headspace in 2023 while breaking down the production process of the tracks on this new single.
“Why” is the ending theme song for SPY x FAMILY CODE: White. How did you feel when you were tapped to write this song?
Gen Hoshino: First, I thought it was interesting that the ending theme would be revealed on the day of the movie’s release. I wrote “Comedy” (the ending theme for SPY x FAMILY Season 1) with the sound of 2000s hip-hop in mind, so when I was asked to do the theme for the movie, I wanted to make sure that the feel of the music was connected at the base. For “Why,” I went further back and combined the R&B/hip-hop beats of the early ’90s with the R&B medium ballads of the late ’80s as the track’s soundscape.
R&B and hip-hop from the late ’80s to early ’90s comprise your musical roots, don’t they?
They’re the music of my youth, to be exact. Oh, but I guess the late ’80s could be considered part of my roots. A lot of the songs featured as anime themes that I listened to growing up were heavily influenced by Western music, and I wanted to do something like that now. Take “Romantic Ageruyo” from Dragon Ball as an example. The opener is energetic and easy for kids to understand, but out of nowhere the ending theme is a grownup love song that suddenly throws you off. But that wistfulness stays with you and when you grow up, you get what the lyrics are saying. That sort of thing.
I grew up on jazz and R&B music of the same era because my parents liked to listen to them, so they’re stuck in my mind as the same kind of music. A lot of hip-hop tracks from the ‘90s sample R&B from the ’80s, and I wanted to make a song with that kind of connection in mind. That was how “Why” first came about.
The lyrics to “Why” lay out the premise that “people eventually disappear,” and ask the question of “why we still try to create more memories.” Could you elaborate on this theme?
The soundscape is a throwback to the ‘80s and ‘90s, and in the lyrics I decided to depict what happens after “Comedy” which was sonically inspired by the 2000s. Since the movie is about a trip, I actually went on a trip myself. I went to Kanazawa alone, and felt like I gained many things from the time I spent at the D.T. Suzuki Museum, and the time I spent walking around the city.
I was feeling pretty depressed this year. I didn’t feel any hope or have positive feelings at all. When I think about it, I think it might have been kind of a backlash, a reaction to the three years of the pandemic and how I’d worked so hard during that time.
Restrictions stemming from the pandemic have been lifted this year, so maybe the mental fatigue of the past three years set in.
I was in a state of “nothingness,” and no matter what I wrote, it didn’t feel right. After my trip to Kanazawa, I decided to write a song without thinking about the tie-in, and the first thing that came to me was the A-melo (first verse) of “Why.” That really felt right, and from that point on, my current situation — my own troubles and trials, the things I wanted to overcome — linked to the movie. People die eventually, and if you think about it on the level of thousands or tens of thousands of years, human society will surely collapse. When you consider it that way, it doesn’t matter what anyone leaves behind or what they do, it’s all meaningless. But why was I so moved by the sunset I saw in Kanazawa? Why did I find the ripples of water at the D.T. Suzuki Museum interesting? Why do people take pictures to preserve their memories when they travel? These thoughts led to the characters of SPY x FAMILY, three people and a dog, who each have their own traumas, being together as a family.
“Life” feels like it has the power to uplift the listener’s mind and body, and I also felt a connection with “Why.”
I didn’t intend to connect them at all, actually. [Laughs] I thought the lyrics to “Why” would be more light-hearted, but a lot of thoughts went in as I was writing it. I wasn’t originally planning to release these two songs as a single, so they just happened to connect when I completed them.
Music-wise, I heard you had gospel in mind. The song contains the fundamental power of human performance and singing, like the raw sounds of the drums and saxophone.
Sounds with physicality come across in a direct way. That, and I also really like music programming and editing. Up until my early thirties, I was more interested in physicality and used to think that it’s better to have people (performing the music), even with mistakes and errors. I started being drawn to programming and synthesizers later on. There’s definitely an energy that comes out of programmed music. For the drums, Shun Ishiwaka played what I’d programmed. There’s something moving about a human performance that tries to imitate and outdo machines. It’s a mixture of human and machine-like qualities.
The footage from your “so sad so happy” Curated by Gen Hoshino at SUMMER SONIC BEACH STAGE from this year’s SUMMER SONIC music festival will be streamed on the Amazon Music Japan channel on Twitch. Jacob Collier, Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest), Camilo and UMI performed at the event. Looking back now, what are you thought on this project?
The first half of this year, I spent all of my days at home doing stuff like write songs, then suddenly I was outside and it was crazy hot. [Laughs] I managed to get through it, and it’s a great memory of this summer. I couldn’t be more grateful to be able to do whatever I wanted on one of the stages at SUMMER SONIC. I’d met everyone before except for Camilo. I invited my friends, so the day’s performances were linked in that sense, and it must have looked different from a typical festival. And they all gave great performances, so that was really moving.
–This interview by Tomoyuki Mori first appeared on Billboard Japan
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2023-12-29 03:07:212023-12-29 03:07:21Gen Hoshino Talks New ‘SPY x FAMILY CODE: White’ Ending Theme ‘Why’: Interview
Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi has filed a lawsuit against her former manager and music producer Sergio Andrade, claiming he was a “true predator” who subjected Trevi and other girls to “total control and sadistic abuse” in the late 1980s and 1990s.
The filing also serves as a counter-lawsuit to the complaint filed Dec. 30, 2022, by two Jane Does who sued Trevi and Andrade for “grooming” and “exploiting” them when they were between the ages of 13 and 15 in the early 1990s.
Now, Trevi — who has for many years categorically denied such claims — alleges in the lawsuit, filed Dec. 27 in Los Angeles, that she is also one of Andrade’s victims. According to Trevi’s suit, Andrade took advantage of his position as a successful music executive often called “Mr. Midas” for being able to recognize and promote young, female artists promising them to turn them into stars.
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Gloria Trevi Hit With New Sexual Assault Lawsuit Over Allegations Dating Back to the 1990s
“That position allowed him to draw many young girls into his sphere of influence, who gathered around him in the hopes that he would guide, mentor, and launch their careers in entertainment, as he had previously done for others,” the lawsuit reads. “But once these young girls and women had been drawn into his sphere by dreams of stardom, he subjected them to total control and sadistic abuse – mental, financial, physical, and sexual. Ms. Trevi was one of those young women.”
According to Trevi’s lawsuit, the “Todos Me Miran” singer met Andrade as a child just as she was gaining recognition in Mexico as a singer, and soon he took over her career. “But Andrade also recognized Ms. Trevi as an isolated and vulnerable girl who was easy prey to his manipulation, control, and abuse,” Trevi’s lawsuit claims. “He took full advantage, subjecting the rising child superstar that he had taken on to grotesque abuse calculated to break her spirit.”
The filing includes graphic allegations, such as Trevi being “brutally beaten” by Andrade, at times to the point of unconsciousness, that she was sexually assaulted by him and raped repeatedly. The abuse inflicted by Andrade “eventually drove Ms. Trevi to attempt suicide,” the suit states.
Trevi, who is being represented by Johnny Depp’s former attorney Camille M. Vásquez, explained in a statement to Billboard that she chose to take legal action to fight for justice. “No one should have to go through what I experienced and I am determined to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions,” she expressed.
Vásquez added, “Our client, Gloria Trevi, has shown great strength and courage in stepping forward and filing this counterclaim. We are fully prepared to present our case and seek justice on her behalf.”
Trevi’s legal woes resurface more than 20 years after Trevi, Andrade and backup singer María Raquenel Portillo, also known as Mary Boquitas, were arrested in January 2000 in Rio de Janeiro for allegedly luring young girls into a cult-like pornographic ring. Former vocalist Karina Yapor, who filed criminal charges against the so-called “Trevi-Andrade clan,” alleged that backup recruits wanting to join the band were forced to have sexual relations with Andrade.
In 2004, Trevi was acquitted by a judge and found not guilty on charges of rape, kidnapping and corruption of minors. This resulted in Trevi’s immediate release from prison in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Trevi’s new lawsuit comes six days after a judge dismissed Portillo’s defamation claims against the two Jane Does after she was sued alongside Trevi and Andrade.
