Richard Perry, one of the most stylish and successful record producers of the 1970s and ’80s, died on Tuesday (Dec. 24) in a Los Angeles hospital. He was 82. The cause of his death was cardiac arrest, said Daphna Kastner Keitel, a friend.

Perry’s greatest hits include Nilsson’s “Without You” and Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” both of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also received Grammy nods for record of the year. These two classic hits typify Perry’s production style – immaculate, powerful and precise. Other hits that have that unmistakable Perry stamp include Leo Sayer’s “When I Need You” (also a No. 1 on the Hot 100) and Burton Cummings’ stately “Stand Tall” (a top 10 hit on the Hot 100 in 1977).

Perry produced more than 30 top 20 hits on the Hot 100, including Barbra Streisand’s dynamic version of Laura Nyro’s “Stoney End,” in which one the legendary star dove into contemporary pop music for the first time; and a long string of hits by The Pointer Sisters, including the exhilarating “I’m So Excited” and “Jump (for My Love).”

Perry was Billboard’s Top Singles producer on the magazine’s end-of-year recaps twice, in 1977 and 1984. He received back-to-back Grammy nods for producer of the year, non-classical in 1977 and 1978.

He had a 42-year span of top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. He first made the top 10 in July 1968 with a very unlikely project, an album by pop-culture phenomenon Tiny Tim. His last album project to make the top 10 was Rod Stewart’s Fly Me to The Moon…The Great American Songbook, Vol. 5 in November 2010.

Perry produced back-to-back No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 by two different artists – Ringo Starr (“Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen” in 1973-74) and Sayer (“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” and “When I Need You, both in 1977).” The Starr smashes were historic – the first and only time that a former Beatle had back-to-back singles that reached No. 1 on the Hot 100.

Perry never won a Grammy in competition, but finally received a Trustees Award from the Recording Academy in 2015. His other nominations, not already mentioned, were album of the year for Nilsson Schmilsson (the album that housed “Without You” and its quirky follow-up hit, “Coconut”), best pop instrumental performance for an instrumental version of “Jump (For My Love)” (The Pointer Sisters won best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal for the vocal version) and best music video, short form, for The Pointer Sisters’ So Excited compilation, on which he was the video director.

Perry’s long string of hits with The Pointer Sisters really showed what he could do. The group was considered a B-act, at best, when Perry announced in 1978 that he was signing them to his new Planet Records. The group had had a couple of moderate hits, but few expected them to become one of the most consistent acts in pop music. Under Perry’s guidance, they did just that, with five top five hits on the Hot 100 – a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire,” “He’s So Shy” (a Tom Snow/Cynthia Weil song with a style that harkened back to the girl-group hits of the early ’60s), “Slow Hand,” “Automatic” and “Jump (For My Love),” which went on to soundtrack one of cleverest scenes in Love Actually, when the prime minister played by Hugh Grant simply can’t resist that beat. (Who could?)

Perry was very much a pop producer, but his music touched other genres, too. He produced Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson’s “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before,” which reached No. 1 on Hot Country Songs in 1984 and won single of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards and was nominated in that category at the Country Music Association Awards. Perry also had No. 1 hits on the R&B and dance charts.

Richard Van Perry was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 18, 1942, to Mack and Sylvia Perry, who manufactured and sold musical instruments and also served as music teachers. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1964 with a degree in music and theater, Perry returned to New York. He formed his own independent record production company, Cloud Nine Productions, in June 1965. In March 1967, he moved to Los Angeles. His first album production job was Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band’s debut, Safe as Milk, which he co-produced with Bob Krasnow. The album was released in June 1967. That November, Perry was hired by Warner Bros. Records as a staff producer.

His first assignment was recording Tiny Tim, who had become a novelty sensation on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, the runaway No. 1 show on TV. The ukelele-playing falsetto singer’s debut album, God Bless Tiny Tim, rose to No. 7 on the Billboard 200, boosted by a remake of the 1920s novelty tune “Tip-Toe Thru’ the Tulips With Me,” which became a top 20 hit on the Hot 100.

Perry also recorded albums with legendary stars Fats Domino (Fats Is Back) and Ella Fitzgerald (Ella), both of which cracked the Billboard 200. Perry left Warner Bros. in 1970 and almost immediately became one of the most in-demand producers in pop.

His first big score as an indie producer was Streisand’s Stoney End, released in late 1970, on which the then-28-year-old superstar was, for the first time, singing songs written by and intended for an audience of people roughly her own age. The album cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200 in March 1971, becoming Streisand’s first top 10 album in more than four years. Perry also produced her next two albums, Barbra Joan Streisand and Live Concert at the Forum. These projects pointed the more contemporary direction for many of Streisand’s biggest successes in the 1970s, including A Star Is Born in 1976.  

In 1978, Perry played a record producer in American Hot Wax, a film about DJ Alan Freed. (In 1955, at age 12, Perry had been a regular at Freed’s live shows at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater.)

Perry produced DeBarge’s “Rhythm of the Night,” a top five hit in 1985 and the first top five hit written by hit machine Diane Warren. While most of Perry’s hits were new songs, he also produced his share of hit remakes, including Johnny Burnette’s “You’re Sixteen” (for Ringo Starr, then 33, an age-inappropriate song selection that barely caused a rippled back then but would be much more problematic today), Inez Foxx (with Charlie Foxx)’s “Mockingbird” (for pop music’s “It Couple” of 1974, Carly Simon and James Taylor), The Platters’ “Only You” (also for Ringo Starr) and the Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes for You” (for Art Garfunkel).

In 1988, Perry produced a passion project, Rock, Rhythm and Blues, which consisted of classic oldies from the ’50s, each performed by a different contemporary artist. Elton John, Christine McVie, Chaka Khan and Michael McDonald, among others, were featured on the album. One of the tracks, Randy Travis’ version of Brook Benton’s “It’s Just a Matter of Time,” topped Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and received a Grammy nod for best country vocal performance, male.

In 1993, Perry produced Ray Charles’ My World, which made the Billboard 200. A track from the album, Leon Russell’s classic “A Song for You,” made Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart and won a Grammy for best R&B vocal performance, male.

Perry and Carly Simon reunited in 2004 for the standards collection Moonlight Serenade, which reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and received a Grammy nod for best traditional pop vocal album. Perry did some of his finest work with Simon. “You’re So Vain” is simply one of the greatest singles of the 1970s. The No Secrets album, which headed the Billboard 200 for five weeks in early 1973, is a classic, from its revealing album cover (very provocative for 1972) to its no-skips lineup of songs. “Nobody Does It Better,” released in 1977, is one of the best and sexiest James Bond themes ever written (hat tip: songwriters Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager).

Perry’s last big hurrah on the Billboard charts was on Rod Stewart’s The Great American Songbook series. All five volumes, which rolled out between 2002 and 2010, made the top five on the Billboard 200. All five received Grammy nods for best traditional pop vocal album. Perry was credited as a producer on four of the five volumes.

In April 2020, Perry published his memoir, Cloud Nine: Memoirs of a Record Producer.

Perry is survived by his younger brothers Roger, Fred and Andrew. His marriages to Linda Goldner and Rebecca Broussard ended in divorce. Perry was in a relationship with actress and activist Jane Fonda from 2009 to 2017.

Chappell Roan is offering a playful apology after criticizing a past holiday-themed episode of Glee.

On Monday (Dec. 23), the 26-year-old pop star shared her thoughts on the musical comedy’s season 3 episode “Extraordinary Merry Christmas” in a series of posts on an Instagram account run by Roan and her creative director, Ramisha Sattar.

“This is the worst episode of Glee I’ve ever seen,” Roan said, holding back a laugh while the 2011 episode played in the background. “I’m turning it off. I hate it,” she added, hitting pause on the remote. “Next.”

Shortly after, Roan returned with another video, this time sitting in front of a brightly lit Christmas tree. In the playful clip, she jokingly apologized to Glee fans while someone off-camera pointed a pair of sharp scissors at her.

“This is my apology video for the Gleeks that I offended. I am so sorry,” Roan began. “I love every episode of Glee, and I love Kurt and Blaine,” the singer-songwriter added, referencing Chris Colfer and Darren Criss’ characters on the Fox series.

This isn’t the first time Roan has shared her thoughts on Glee, which aired from 2009 to 2015. In fan-captured video from a live performance earlier this year, the Grammy-nominated artist revealed she had recently started watching the show.

“I just started watching Glee. I’m on season 2,” Roan told the audience. “It took me like three full times to try to watch Glee, ’cause I was like, ‘This is stupid as f—.’ And then I was like, ‘Lean into it.’”

Meanwhile, Roan is closing out 2024 at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top New Artists chart, marking a year of breakout success on both the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. Her debut full-length album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in August. Additionally, she scored seven entries on the Billboard Hot 100, including her first top 10 hit with “Good Luck, Babe!” which reached No. 4.

Snoop Dogg’s Missionary album debuts in the top 10 across multiple Billboard charts, as the set opens in the top 10 on Top Album Sales (No. 7), Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (No. 7) and Top Rap Albums (No. 3) — all charts dated Dec. 28. It also launches at No. 20 on the overall Billboard 200 chart. On Top Album Sales, Missionary marks Snoop’s highest-charting effort in over 15 years.

Missionary is the first album from Snoop Dogg produced by Dr. Dre since their successful teaming on Snoop’s debut effort Doggystyle in 1993.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.

Missionary debuts with 38,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 19, according to Luminate. Of that sum, album sales comprise 20,500, SEA units comprise 16,500 and TEA units comprise the remaining sum.

On Top Album Sales, Missionary is Snoop’s 13th top 10-charting effort and highest charting effort set Ego Trippin debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the March, 29, 2008-dated list.

As for the rest of the top 10 on Top Album Sales, Stray Kids’ HOP opens at No. 1 with 180,000 sold (it’s the sixth leader for the group); Taylor Swift’s chart-topping The Tortured Poets Department falls 1-2 with 50,000 (down 75%); the Wicked film soundtrack rises 6-3 with 29,000 (down 5%); Chappell Roan’s former leader The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess jumps 8-4 with 28,000 (up 34%); and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet goes 7-5 with 26,000 (down 8%).

Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft scales 9-6 with 23,000 (up 26%); TWICE’s STRATEGY falls 2-8 with 19,000 in its second week (down 76%); Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas TV soundtrack bumps 10-9 with 16,000 (up 20%); and Taylor Swift’s former No. 1, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) climbs 12-10 with 14,000 (up 29%).

Beyoncé is getting in on the Netflix buffering joke ahead of her highly anticipated NFL Halftime Show performance.

On Tuesday (Dec. 24), the 43-year-old superstar shared a new 30-second teaser for her upcoming performance, which will air during the Christmas Day NFL doubleheader on Netflix.

In the clip, Beyoncé — dressed in a long shawl, a sparkly top, a large hat and black sunglasses — sits on a football field strumming a banjo as her hit song “Texas Hold ‘Em” plays. After a few moments, she stops playing, pulls down her sunglasses, and the camera zooms in on her face as a buffering wheel spins on screen — a playful nod to the glitches experienced during Netflix’s mid-November Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing match. Beyoncé giggles as the video resumes and ends with her giving the camera a wink.

Alongside the teaser, Beyoncé wrote on Instagram: “I’m sending you big joy and love on this Cowboy Christmas Eve. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, in my city HTX.”

Netflix also shared the teaser on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “LOADING…BEYONCÉ. NFL Halftime Show – Ravens vs. Texans. Kickoff at 4:30 PM ET. Tomorrow on Netflix. #NFLonNetflix.”

The teaser comes just one day before Beyoncé’s hometown performance at Houston’s NRG Stadium, where she’ll take the stage for the highly anticipated halftime show between the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens on Christmas Day.

This will be Beyoncé’s first live performance since the release of Cowboy Carter, her Billboard 200-topping album. The NFL first announced her halftime appearance in mid-November, sharing a teaser of her standing atop a rose-covered vintage car, effortlessly catching a football, and the opening track “Ameriican Requiem” from Cowboy Carter playing in the background — a likely hint at her setlist.

The Christmas Day doubleheader opens with the Kansas City Chiefs facing the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET, followed by the Texans vs. Ravens game at 4:30 p.m. ET. Both games — and Beyoncé’s halftime performance — will stream live on Netflix, with additional access via NFL+ for regional broadcasts and mobile viewers.

Beyoncé’s return to the NFL halftime stage marks her first appearance since her iconic 2013 Super Bowl performance, where she reunited with Destiny’s Child. In 2016, she joined Coldplay and Bruno Mars for another unforgettable performance.

Watch Beyoncé’s latest teaser for A Cowboy Carter Christmas above.