Month: August 2022

Mable John, the first solo female artist signed by Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, has died. She was 91.

The veteran R&B singer passed away at her home in Los Angeles on Thursday (Aug. 25), her nephew Kevin John told The Detroit News. A cause of death had not been revealed at press time.

“We loved her and she was a kind person,” Kevin John said of his aunt, who was the older sister of R&B star Little Willie John.

In addition to being the first solo female artist signed to Motown (then Tamla), Mable John also recorded hit songs for Stax Records and she was a singer in Ray Charles’ Raelettes backing band.

John was born on Nov. 3, 1930 in Bastrop, Louisiana. The oldest of nine children, she and her family lived in the South before moving to Detroit in the early 1940s. As a teenager, John took a job with the Friendship Mutual Insurance Company, founded by Bertha Gordy, the mother of then-aspiring music producer Berry Gordy.

“He became my vocal coach, my manager and, within a couple of years, my record producer,” John recalled to author Susan Whithall, according to Motown Classic’s website.

Gordy later arranged John’s professional musical debut at Detroit’s Flame Show Bar, where she opened for Billie Holiday in 1959. John became the first solo female act to sign with Gordy’s Tamla Records in 1958. The label became Motown two years later.

During her stint with the legendary music company, John recorded blues songs including “Who Wouldn’t Love A Man Like That,” “Actions Speak Louder Than Words,” “No Love,” “Looking for a Man,” and “Take Me” with background harmonies by The Temptations.

John left Motown in the mid 1960s to join Stax Records in Memphis, where she teamed up with with the songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter for her 1966 hit “Your Good Thing (Is About to End),” which reached No. 6 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100. The popular song was later recorded by Lou Rawls, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt and others.

After releasing a handful of singles on Stax, John departed the label to became the musical director and a singer in Ray Charles’ Raelettes backing band, where she collaborated on dozens of songs during her decade-long stay.

John eventually left the music business and became a minister, founding Los Angeles’ Joy Community Outreach, which assists with feeding and clothing the homeless. She made her onscreen debut as a veteran blues singer in John Sayles’ 2007 film Honeydripper, and was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom.

Win Butler, who performs with wife Régine Chassagne in Arcade Fire, has been accused of sexual misconduct by four people.

In a report published by Pitchfork on Saturday (Aug. 27), three female Arcade Fire fans and a fourth person who is gender-fluid and uses they/them pronouns claimed that they’d had sexual interactions with Butler when they were between the ages of 18 and 23 that they deemed inappropriate; one claimed that they’d been sexually assaulted by the musician. In a statement given to the publication, Butler said that the extramarital relationships were consensual.

Billboard reached out to a representative for Butler, who said he had no further comment beyond the statement provided to Pitchfork.

The alleged incidents took place between the years of 2015 and 2020. The alleged victims asked to use pseudonyms for privacy. Pitchfork viewed screenshots of text and Instagram messages and interviewed friends and family members of those who spoke out.

One person alleged that Butler sexually assaulted them twice in 2015, when they were a 21-year-old art student and he was 34. They saw their interactions as only friendly, while Butler remembered them as flirtatious. They said one incident took place when they were together in a car — where he allegedly stuck his hands either into or through their pants without consent — and the other happened when he showed up at their apartment despite them telling him not to come over.

“I opened my door and he pinned me up against the wall and was aggressively grabbing my body and sticking his tongue down my throat,” they recalled. “Eventually he pulled me onto his lap on my couch. I don’t know if he was holding me by the waist or what, but I was physically constrained by him as he was putting his hand down my pants. At some point he tried to go down on me … The anger and the power in my voice surprised me. I will never forget it.”

Butler denied any non-consensual behavior, noting that “it felt like the mood was weird so I stopped and asked if [they were] OK. It seemed like maybe things were moving a little fast. [They] never asked me to leave, and I never berated [them]. I did express some genuine confusion as to how the mood had shifted so suddenly and become awkward. I said it was no big deal at all. I stopped and I left.”

The other woman first met Butler in 2016, when she was an 18-year-old student and he was 36. She had attended POP vs. Jock, a charity basketball event hosted by Butler, and shared photos of the event and tagged him on Instagram. Butler direct-messaged her on Instagram and invited her out for a drink at a bar he co-owned with his wife. The woman claimed that after that meeting, Butler repeatedly sent her explicit texts and photos without her consent or reciprocation; she said she told him she was uncomfortable and texted to him, “Sorry I really hate sexting.” Butler, meanwhile, claimed that “we met up for a drink and she got quite drunk and was asking me forcefully if there was somewhere we could sleep together,” but the woman denied making an advance.

Butler noted to Pitchfork, “I didn’t realize the significance of the age difference at the time. I can now see how it could be overwhelming thinking back to when I was 18, but at the time I didn’t appreciate that.”

Two other women, who were ages 20 and 23 at the time of their alleged interactions with Butler, claimed Butler connected with them on Instagram with casual conversation that shifted to him asking them to send explicit sexual videos, and to keep his messages a secret.

One of those women said she didn’t like doing “sexual stuff” over video but “I did everything because it was him,” recalling that “I remember being so nervous and so ashamed that I did it.” Her mother said of that time period, “What really struck me was her depression. I was noticing her spiraling and more troubled than I’d seen her in a while, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.”

Butler expressed a different point of view: “I love our fans but this was an unhealthy fandom,” he claimed. “We started sexting and talking a lot, but I became increasingly uncomfortable when she started coming to all my DJ events and showing up to my restaurant multiple times.”

Another woman connected with Butler on Instagram after she had been front row at an Arcade Fire concert in Montreal. They developed a sexual relationship, which she claimed made her feel “incredibly low” and said that she attempted suicide over. “The toll of having to keep everything secret, constantly pushing my needs aside in order to appease him, lack of boundaries, and the guilt of being the other woman was getting too hard to ignore,” she said.

Butler acknowledged the relationship — he said it “was consensual. We would sext and eventually slept together a couple times. The first time, I realized she had a tattoo of my band, which honestly felt a little weird” — and said that later, she’d made him aware that their relationship “had been difficult on her mentally, which was really surprising and very sad to me. We immediately talked on the phone and although she indicated her depression was not related to me, I left that conversation committed to never sleeping with someone again that I fundamentally knew so little about. It really shook me. Although she repeated it was unrelated to me, she was suffering from mental illness, to which I am very sympathetic.”

This woman told Pitchfork of her depression, “It was absolutely related to him.”

In May, Arcade Fire released their sixth studio album, WE, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Three of the group’s previous albums — 2010’s The Suburbs, 2013’s Reflektor and 2017’s Everything Now — topped the Billboard 200 at No. 1.

See Butler and Chassagne’s statements, first published in full by Pitchfork, below.

Statement from Win Butler:

I love Régine with all of my heart. We have been together for twenty years, she is my partner in music and in life, my soulmate and I am lucky and grateful to have her by my side. But at times, it has been difficult to balance being the father, husband, and bandmate that I want to be. Today I want to clear the air about my life, poor judgment, and mistakes I have made.

I have had consensual relationships outside of my marriage.

There is no easy way to say this, and the hardest thing I have ever done is having to share this with my son. The majority of these relationships were short lived, and my wife is aware – our marriage has, in the past, been more unconventional than some. I have connected with people in person, at shows, and through social media, and I have shared messages of which I am not proud. Most importantly, every single one of these interactions has been mutual and always between consenting adults. It is deeply revisionist, and frankly just wrong, for anyone to suggest otherwise.

I have never touched a woman against her will, and any implication that I have is simply false. I vehemently deny any suggestion that I forced myself on a woman or demanded sexual favors. That simply, and unequivocally, never happened.

While these relationships were all consensual, I am very sorry to anyone who I have hurt with my behavior. Life is filled with tremendous pain and error, and I never want to be part of causing someone else’s pain.

I have long struggled with mental health issues and the ghosts of childhood abuse. In my 30s, I started drinking as I dealt with the heaviest depression of my life after our family experienced a miscarriage. None of this is intended to excuse my behavior, but I do want to give some context and share what was happening in my life around this time. I no longer recognized myself or the person I had become. Régine waited patiently watching me suffer and tried to help me as best as she could. I know it must have been so hard for her to watch the person she loved so lost.

I have been working hard on myself – not out of fear or shame, but because I am a human being who wants to improve despite my flaws and damage. I’ve spent the last few years since Covid hit trying to save that part of my soul. I have put significant time and energy into therapy and healing, including attending AA. I am more aware now of how my public persona can distort relationships even if a situation feels friendly and positive to me. I am very grateful to Régine, my family, my dear friends, and my therapist, who have helped me back from the abyss that I felt certain at times would consume me. The bond I share with my bandmates and the incredibly deep connection I’ve made with an audience through sharing music has literally saved my life.

As I look to the future, I am continuing to learn from my mistakes and working hard to become a better person, someone my son can be proud of. I say to you all my friends, family, to anyone I have hurt and to the people who love my music and are shocked and disappointed by this report: I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the pain I caused – I’m sorry I wasn’t more aware and tuned in to the effect I have on people – I fucked up, and while not an excuse, I will continue to look forward and heal what can be healed, and learn from past experiences. I can do better and I will do better.

Statement from Régine Chassagne:

Win is my soulmate, my songwriting partner, my husband, the father of my beautiful boy. He has been my partner in life and in music for 20 years. And for all of the love in our lives, I have also watched him suffer through immense pain. I have stood by him because I know he is a good man who cares about this world, our band, his fans, friends, and our family. I’ve known Win since before we were “famous,” when we were just ordinary college students. I know what is in his heart, and I know he has never, and would never, touch a woman without her consent and I am certain he never did. He has lost his way and he has found his way back. I love him and love the life we have created together.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can reach out to RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 or chat at online.rainn.org 24/7 for confidential support. 

The annual Notting Hill Carnival has returned to the streets of London for the first time since 2019, with more than 1 million people expected to take in the music, spectacular parades, dancing and food offerings at Europe’s largest street party on Sunday (Aug. 28) and Monday.

The carnival, which celebrates Caribbean culture at the end of August every year, had to take place online for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The carnival traces its history back to 1958, when Trinidadian human rights activist Claudia Jones began organizing a gathering to unify the community after a series of racially motivated attacks on West Indians in west London’s Notting Hill neighborhood.

The event has grown from a festival drawing several hundred people to a huge annual street party, with tens of thousands of performers in the parade and more than 30 sound systems.

Celebrations began on Saturday night, as more than 1,000 people gathered to watch a steel band competition in west London.

Pepe Francis heads the Ebony Steelband Trust, which has been performing at the carnival for decades.

“Since the band has started, I’m on my fifth generation of people and there’s been a lot of changes,” he said. “But our members look forward to carnival every year and practice takes place regularly from year to year.”

“A lot of people have been waiting for it to come back,” Francis added.

Nicki Minaj has added a new track to her surprise greatest hits compilation, Queen Radio: Volume 1.

The Queen of Rap took to social media early Sunday morning (Aug. 28) to share cover art and reveal that a remix of Jamaican dancehall artist Skeng’s “Likkle Miss” has been officially added to her new 29-track release, which dropped on Friday.

“Likkle Miss” was originally released by Skeng in early July, and the music video on YouTube for the track had amassed nearly 2.7 million views at press time. Minaj teased in a selfie video on Instagram earlier this month that she was “writing my verse” for “Likkle Miss.”

“Dancehall need this/ The whole place shake it/ Boom boom/ That a– clapping on his d— all night/ He in Jamaica moving bricks all white,” she raps in her new verse on the song.

Queen Radio: Volume 1 features some of Nick’s most beloved hits, including “Beez in the Trap,” “Truffle Butter,” “Anaconda,” “Super Bass” and “Starships,” along with more recent tracks “Do We Have a Problem?” with Lil Baby and the Rick James-sampling “Super Freaky Girl.”

She recently earned her first solo No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when “Super Freaky Girl” topped the charts, which she celebrated with an Instagram video of a bouquet of pink flowers from her Republic Records team, as well as bottles of pink champagne and footage of her son playing with pink balloons that spelled out the song’s title and “#1.”

Minaj will take the stage at Sunday’s 2022 MTV Video Music Awards to receive the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, where she will also perform on the broadcast for the first time since 2018.

Listen to Minaj and Skeng’s “Likkle Miss” remix below.

Alan Jackson canceled Saturday night’s (Aug. 27) concert in Kansas City, Missouri, after testing positive for COVID-19.

“I’m so sorry I can’t be there tonight,” Jackson said, according to a statement published by the venue, the T-Mobile Center. “I hate to disappoint my fans.”

A representative for Jackson confirmed to Billboard that the country star has COVID-19 and that the show was called off.

The T-Mobile Center says organizers intend to reschedule the concert date, and that those who purchased tickets for the original date will have them honored at the rescheduled date.

The show was part of his Last Call: One More for the Road” Tour, which launched in June and runs through early October. At the time of publication, the Aug. 27 date is the only one postponed. Jackson’s next scheduled concert is on Sept. 9 in Lexington, Kentucky.

The tour marks Jackson’s first time on the road since revealing a health diagnosis last fall, when he told fans about his battle with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a degenerative nerve condition that impacts the peripheral nervous system and causes balance problems. $1 from every tour ticket sold was to be donated to the CMT Research Foundation, which funds research for Charcot-Marie-Tooth drug development.

“I have this neuropathy and neurological disease,” Jackson, who released the 21-track album Where Have You Gone? in 2021, said last year. “It’s genetic that I inherited from my daddy … There’s no cure for it, but it’s been affecting me for years, and it’s getting more and more obvious. I know I’m stumbling around on stage. And now I’m having a little trouble balancing, even in front of the microphone, and so I just feel very uncomfortable. It’s not going to kill me. It’s not deadly.”

Bob LuPone, who as an actor earned a Tony nomination in the original run of A Chorus Line and went on to help found and lead the influential off-Broadway theater company MCC Theater for almost 40 years, has died. He was 76.

LuPone, brother of Broadway icon Patti LuPone, died Saturday (Aug. 27) following a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer, according to Matt Ross Public Relations.

“The MCC Theater community mourns the loss of our much loved and uniquely inspiring partner, colleague and dear friend, Bob LuPone, who lived fearlessly and with great curiosity, good humor, a boundless passion for connection, and a whole lot of heart. We will miss him deeply and always,” the theater company said in a statement.

LuPone’s first professional job was in 1966, in the ensemble of the Westbury Music Fair’s production of The Pajama Game starring Liza Minnelli. He made his Broadway debut in the 1968 production of Noel Coward’s Sweet Potato and later appeared in Minnie’s Boys, The Rothschilds and The Magic Show.

LuPone was initially cast as Al in A Chorus Line, but convinced creator and director Michael Bennett to let him play Zach after the original actor left. LuPone would earn a best featured actor Tony nomination for the role.

Born in 1946 in Brooklyn, New York, LuPone graduated from the Juilliard School with a bachelor’s degree in dance in 1968.

He was teaching an acting class at New York University when one of his students was Bernie Telsey.

Together they would help form Manhattan Class Company in 1986 — known today as MCC Theater.
LuPone and Telsey, along with third co-artistic director Will Cantler, shaped MCC into a theatrical powerhouse, producing such Broadway-bound works as Frozen, Reasons to be Pretty, Hand to God, School Girls; or the African Mean Girls Play, The Snow Geese, The Other Place and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit.

While serving as co-artistic director of MCC, LuPone also worked as an actor, appearing in A View From the Bridge, True West and A Thousand Clowns, all on Broadway. He was in the Chicago premiere of Sam Shepard’s The Tooth of Crime and on TV was in The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Guiding Light and All My Children, for which he received a Daytime Emmy nomination.

He also served as director of the MFA drama program at the New School for Drama from 2005 through 2011 and served as president of the board of directors of A.R.T/ New York.

LuPone is survived by his wife, Virginia; his son, Orlando; sister, Patti; and brother, William

Comments made by country singer Jason Aldean‘s wife, Brittany, are coming under fire after she posted a transphobic joke on Instagram.

“I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life,” Brittany wrote earlier this week, on Aug. 23, as a caption to a before-and-after makeup video set to Beyoncé’s 2006 song “Upgrade U,” (even though Beyoncé is known to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community). Husband Jason left a laughing emoji in the comments and replied, “Lmao!! Im glad they didn’t too, cause you and I wouldn’t have worked out.”

In a wordier statement via Instagram Stories on Friday (Aug. 26), Brittany expanded upon her unsolicited thoughts on transgender youth and their rights to gender-affirming care: “Advocating for the genital mutilation of children under the disguise of love and calling it ‘gender affirming care’ is one of the worst evils. I will always support my children and do what I can to protect their innocence,” she wrote. “The other day Memphis wanted to be a dinosaur and tomorrow Navy will want to be a cat. They’re children. Some parents want to be accepted by society so badly that they’re willing to make life-altering decisions for their children who aren’t old enough to fully comprehend the consequences of those actions. Love is protecting your child until they are mature enough as an adult to make their own life decisions. Thankful my parents allowed me to go through my tom boy phase without changing my gender.”

Country singers RaeLynn and Whitney Duncan, as well as the wives of country singers Chuck Wicks, Jon Pardi, Shay Mooney and Granger Smith were among those to leave comments showing support on Brittany’s posts.

But elsewhere, country stars slammed Brittany Aldean. “You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging. But instead here we are, hearing someone compare their ‘tomboy phase’ to someone wanting to transition. Real nice,” Cassadee Pope remarked on Twitter Friday (Aug. 26) in reaction to Brittany’s posts.

Maren Morris replied to Pope’s tweet in agreement, writing, “It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie.”

At that point, conservative Candace Owens decided to insert herself into their conversation, replying: “It’s easier to not castrate your children. But I guess whatever helps sell bad records.”

Morris responded, “Oh my god, not you. My Grammy is positively sobbing right now. Also, why do y’all always go to ‘castration’ and ‘pedophiles’ to try and shut an argument down? It’s honestly concerning and worth looking into.” Here, Perez Hilton chimed in as well: “Where is the castration of children happen[ing]? Because I don’t know any doctors that perform that gender-affirmation surgery on minors in America,” he pointed out.

Morris also replied to comments from others, like one Twitter user who found the singer’s reaction “confusing” and told her to “put down the phone and focus on the guitar.” Morris shot back, “If it’s confusing to you, it’s because you think we’re ‘fighting’ over politics. We’re not. This isn’t political. We’re calling someone out for being transphobic and thinking it’s hilarious. It isn’t.”

On Morris’ Instagram Stories on Saturday, she shared a video clip of herself thanking her fans for their support, while suggesting they redirect their effort to those who probably needed more support than her after seeing Brittany Aldean’s post.

“Y’all have been so sweet and supportive today of me and Cassadee,” Morris noted. “I will say we can handle this s—. We’ve dealt with idiots, you know, for years saying insanely stupid stuff at us. But I would say check on your trans friends. Check on your gay friends. Anyone that is in country music and had to look at that bulls— today and feel subhuman. Check on your friends.”

“I’m just so sick of looking at absolute horses— on the internet and people getting away with it, much less being celebrated for it,” Morris said.

Morris’ husband, fellow artist Ryan Hurd, also reassured followers on Twitter that they were OK but would continue to speak up: “Getting a lot of people telling me our career is over, as if the last time she spoke up about something it disappeared. Honestly, we’re pretty ok over here. Tours are good, got a 2 year old we love, we’re f–ing fine, and I promise she isn’t going to shut up now … Scoring quick points by picking on trans kids isn’t something that is brave at all. And I’m proud of Maren for sticking up for them. Badge of honor to have CO engage in completely normal discourse, too. Shut up and sing only applies to those who you disagree with.”

See Brittany’s original post and the reactions from Morris, Pope and more below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brittany Aldean (@brittanyaldean)

You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging. But instead here we are, hearing someone compare their “tomboy phase” to someone wanting to transition. Real nice.

— Cassadee Pope (@CassadeePope) August 26, 2022

It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie.

— MAREN MORRIS (@MarenMorris) August 26, 2022

It’s easier to not castrate your children.
But I guess whatever helps sell bad records.

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) August 26, 2022

Oh my god, not you. My Grammy is positively sobbing right now. Also, why do y’all always go to “castration” and “pedophiles” to try and shut an argument down? It’s honestly concerning and worth looking into.

— MAREN MORRIS (@MarenMorris) August 26, 2022

If it’s confusing to you, it’s because you think we’re “fighting” over politics. We’re not. This isn’t political. We’re calling someone out for being transphobic and thinking it’s hilarious. It isn’t.

— MAREN MORRIS (@MarenMorris) August 27, 2022

Scoring quick points by picking on trans kids isn’t something that is brave at all. And I’m proud of Maren for sticking up for them. Badge of honor to have CO engage in completely normal discourse, too. Shut up and sing only applies to those who you disagree with.

— Ryan Hurd (@RyanHurd) August 27, 2022