Music

The nominations for the 94th annual Academy Awards were announced Tuesday, and Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Beyoncé and Questlove are among the nominees.

As expected, Smith scored a Best Actor nomination for his starring role as the father of Venus and Serena Williams in the film King Richard. His co-star, Aunjanue Ellis, also received a nod for Best Supporting Actress for playing the tennis icons’ mother, Oracene Price.

Washington, already a two-time Oscar winner, was nominated for Best Actor for his role as the title character in The Tragedy of Macbeth, director Joel Coen‘s take on the classic Shakespeare play.

Meanwhile, the Beyhive is losing their minds over the fact that Beyoncé received her first-ever Oscar nomination for co-writing the song “Be Alive,” for the movie King Richard. She shares the nomination with her co-writer, Dixson.

In addition, Questlove received his first Oscar nomination, for his documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). It spotlights the New York City’s 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-week event that featured everyone from Stevie Wonder and Nina Simone to Gladys Knight & The Pips and Mahalia Jackson.

The 94th Annual Academy Awards air March 27 live on ABC.

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The nominations for the 2022 Oscars was announced this morning Oscar and among the nominees in the Best Original Song category is Van Morrison.

Morrison’s “Down to Joy,” from the film Belfast, will compete against “Be Alive” from King Richard, co-written by Beyoncé and singer, songwriter and producer Darius Scott, aka DIXSON; “Dos Oruguitas,” from Encanto, composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda; the title track of the James Bond film No Time to Die, co-written by Billie Eilish and and her brother and collaborator, FINNEAS; and “Somehow You Do,” from Four Good Days, written by Diane Warren.

Meanwhile, a number of noteworthy songs from 2021 films that had been shortlisted for an Oscar nod were passed over. They include U2‘s Sing 2 track “Your Song Saved My Life”; and “Right Where I Belong,” from the Brian Wilson documentary Long Promised Road, which the Beach Boys legend co-wrote with My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James.

The 2022 Oscars will air live March 27 on ABC.

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Despite being nominated for most of the awards leading up to the Oscars, Lady Gaga failed to capture a second acting Oscar nomination for her role in House of Gucci.

Gaga was been nominated for a BAFTA, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics’ Choice Award and a Golden Globe Award for her showy role as Patrizia Reggiani in the film, but when the Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday morning, her name wasn’t among the honorees.  Instead, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Olivia Colman, Kristen Stewart and Jessica Chastain got the nods.

Meanwhile, two other chart-topping singers were nominated for Oscars: Billie Eilish and Beyoncé.

Billie and her brother FINNEAS were nominated for Best Original Song for “No Time to Die,” from the James Bond movie of the same name. It’s already won them a Grammy and a Golden Globe. 

In a statement, the siblings say, “Words cannot describe how honored and excited we are to have been nominated for an Academy Award for our song ‘No Time To Die.’ It was a lifelong dream of ours to write a Bond theme, and one we never thought would ever come true.”

They add, “It’s completely unbelievable that we are here being recognized for this song, and this is a peak life experience for us as songwriters and artists. To be recognized today among these other incredible nominees is something we most certainly do not take for granted.”

Beyoncé is also nominated for Best Original Song, for “Be Alive,” from the Will Smith movie King Richard. She co-wrote the song with singer, songwriter and producer Darius Scott, aka DIXSON.

These are the first Oscar nominations for both Beyoncé and Billie.

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Fall Out Boy‘s Andy Hurley lends his drumming skills to a new cover of the Van Halen song “Unchained.”

The recording was spearheaded by Jordan Olds, aka Gwarsenio Hall, who hosts the popular metal-themed Two Minutes to Late Night YouTube channel. Other artists featured on the cover include Matt Pike of High on Fire and Sleep, and Mike Sullivan of metal instrumental outfit Russian Circles.

Previous Two Minutes to Late Night covers include Halestorm‘s Lzzy Hale singing Pantera‘s “Mouth for War,” and an all-star prog lineup of Tool‘s Danny Carey, Primus‘ Les Claypool, Coheed and Cambria‘s Claudio Sanchez and Mastodon‘s Bill Kelliher taking on Rush‘s “Anthem.”

Fall Out Boy, meanwhile, has been quiet since wrapping up their Hella Mega tour with Green Day and Weezer last year. Their most recent album is 2018’s M A N I A.

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On Sunday, Kanye West teamed with Hollywood Unlocked‘s Jason Lee to hosted a new event dubbed The Future Brunch for Black media outlets and Ye declared Black Future Month

“This is the future,” Ye told the journalists from 50 Black outlets. “There is no looking backwards — only forwards.” West also referenced his good friend and collaborator, the late Virgil Abloh, who passed away November 28, 2021, from cancer. Abloh was the founder of fashion brand Off-White, and the first African American to serve as artistic director for Louis Vuitton.

“Me and Virgil believed in Black design,” the 22-time Grammy winner commented. “Now we need to invest in Black media. God uses me as a vessel — we declare Black Future Month. The future — not the past.” Kanye added, “It’s not about me, it’s about us. They can’t tell us what to say. We’re too powerful.”

During his conversation, the Chicago MC discussed elevating Black culture, desegregation in media, humanizing how people of color are portrayed in the media, and Black ownership of media properties.

Yeezy also performed his Sunday Service for the first time for members of the press. 

As Kanye focuses on the future, his verbal war with his estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, continues.

As previously reported, Ye appears to have deleted all of the Instagram posts in which he reportedly called out Kim. 

In the since-deleted posts, the Donda rapper slammed Kim, and voiced concerns about his oldest daughter, North, being on TikTok, made claims that his estranged wife stopped him from seeing their children, and even claimed that he was accused of putting a contract out on Kim.

“YESTERDAY KIM ACCUSED ME OF PUTTING A HIT OUT ON HER,” Ye claimed in a lengthy post shared to Instagram on Sunday, according to Page Six.

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Billy Joel has always been a huge supporter of the arts, as well as a huge supporter of his home base of Long Island, New York. Now, he’s shown once again why these two things are near and dear to his heart.

Long Island’s Newsday reports that Billy and his charitable foundation have pledged $1.5 million to the Long Island High School for the Arts, which provides programs in music and theater, as well as game design, audio and video production and digital film making.

“We are incredibly proud of LIHSA’s momentum and positive impact on the next generation of artists from Long Island,” Billy and his wife, Alexis, said in a statement.

When the school, founded in 1973, was on the verge of closing six years ago, Billy’s foundation kicked in a million dollars to save it.  In 2017, the building that houses the music and theater programs was renamed in honor of Billy’s mother, Rosalind Joel.

Graduates of the school, which is located in the town of Syosset, have gone on to careers on Broadway, nationally recognized arts organizations and more.

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