Music

After Britney Spears‘ father Jamie Spears was suspended as her conservator at an LA hearing on Wednesday, he’s issued a statement saying it was the wrong decision.

In a statement to ABC News, Mr. Spears’ attorney, Vivian Thoreen, says “the outcome of yesterday’s hearing” is “disappointing and, frankly, a loss for Britney.”  Instead, Thoreen says, the judge should have terminated the conservatorship entirely, which is, she notes, what Mr. Spears petitioned the judge to do.

“Respectfully, the court was wrong to suspend Mr. Spears, put a stranger in his place to manage Britney’s estate, and extend the very conservatorship that Britney begged the court to terminate earlier this summer,” says Thoreen, adding that it was “Mr. Spears who took the initiative to file the petition to terminate the conservatorship,” when Britney’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, wouldn’t.

“Despite the suspension, Mr. Spears will continue to look out for the best interests of his daughter and work in good faith towards a positive resolution of all matters,” Thoreen concluded, saying that Jamie “loves his daughter Britney unconditionally.” Britney herself requested that her father be removed as conservator.

In court Wednesday, Rosengart agreed the conservatorship “should and must” be terminated but with an “orderly plan.”  He said his “logically reasonable” plan called for suspending Jamie immediately — which he says Britney insisted on — appointing a temporary conservator to replace him, and then returning to court within a month or so to end conservatorship for good.

Rosengart claimed Mr. Spears only wanted to terminate the conservatorship because he didn’t want to be “deposed under oath” or “turn over his files,” adding, “That’s what he’s most concerned about.”  Rosengart has long accused Jamie Spears of financial shenanigans. Spears has denied any wrongdoing.

Ultimately, Judge Brenda Penny agreed that Rosengart’s plan was in Britney’s best interests. Another hearing is set for November.

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One of Lee Brice‘s favorite things to do is perform in front of his fans, night after night. But after more than a year off of the road, Lee admits it has been a bit of a challenge to remember how to put on a live show.

“I had to kind of learn how to sleep on a moving loud bus again, which, it’s different cause you got used to sleeping in the still bed,” Lee tells The Country Daily.

“Another thing is that even when I get on, I’m about to go on stage I’m thinking ‘Okay I got all these songs that I’ve sang a million times and I’m like wait a minute…what’s the second verse?’ he adds. “You’re almost afraid you’re going to get up there and maybe forget lyrics to something that you’ve sang a million times.”

Lee is currently celebrating a top-five single with “Memory I Don’t Mess With.” The song is from his 2020 Hey World album.

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Lil Nas X burst into the scene in 2019 with his smash-hit “Old Town Road,” which spent a historic 19 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for three Grammy Awards.

That June, the rapper further made headlines by revealing he was gay.  Speaking to XXL, the 22-year-old explained why he decided to come out during such a pivotal moment in his career.

“I honestly felt like it was kind of my duty… Especially if I wanted to move forward,” he said, admitting that he once thought he’d never come out. “And what I was doing, because authenticity is very real, and I feel like people can see right through that. And that’s a part of me.”

Lil Nas X said that he also worried how people would judge him after he came out, adding, “For me, I felt like [my insecurity with my sexuality] was my fear of people judging me for how I would act post-coming out.”

Noting how the hip hop community has treated him since revealing his sexuality, he admitted, “Honestly, I don’t feel as respected in hip-hop or many music places in general.”

“But these are communities that I am a part of, whether people would like it or not,” he continued. “This is something that I wanted to do because, not that my entire album is rap, but there are rap tracks on my album. I am a rapper. I am a pop star. I am a gay artist, I belong in these places, you know?”

Dolly Parton agrees. On Wednesday, she shouted out the rapper for recently covering her hit song, “Jolene.” Saying she was “honored and flattered” by his “really, really good” cover,” she added, “Of course, I love him anyway.”

 

 

 

 

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Lady A‘s uptempo hit, “Like a Lady,” has been one of country music’s stand-out, feel-good songs of the summer. 

It’s the first release from the trio’s seven-track What a Song Can Do (Chapter One) collection, which came out in June. But when Lady A’s full-length eighth album arrives next month, we’ll get a better look at what Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood have been feeling, amid both the COVID-19 pandemic and the controversy over their name change.

“The songwriting, the songs that we wrote and recorded, were our way of really, I think, trying to just cope with really uncertain months,” Hillary explains. “And it was our way to really have a creative outlet.”

“I think it was therapeutic for all of us,” she reflects. “I think we wrote a lot about just how we were feeling about a lot of things.”

Hillary adds: “I think the whole album, when it comes out in October, you’ll get to hear some of the outliers of where we kind of explored and took some risks from a song standpoint and production.”

More than anything, the three friends are thankful for the way music has transformed their lives.

“Ultimately, I think it’s just so present for us, and we are just so grateful,” Hillary says of the record. “The reason why we named the album What a Song Can Do is because these songs and the songs of our career have gotten us through such hard times.”

“And then they’ve also allowed for us the greatest times, you know, in the live show, and all of the years of being a band,” she points out.

What a Song Can Do doubles in size, growing to fourteen cuts when the full record arrives October 22.

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Bebe Rexha makes her acting debut in Queenpins, a new comedy that arrives today on the Paramount Plus streaming platform. Bebe plays a computer hacker who helps launder money for two housewives who are running a multi-million-dollar coupon scam.  Bebe says the movie’s star, Kristen Bell, gave her the secret to improving her performance: sugar.

“She just told me to relax and then also, like, 10 minutes before going on camera, I was like, ‘I need energy,’ because after a while…I kinda felt like my energy was getting low,” Bebe tells ABC Audio. “So she was like, ‘Go get like an M&M or whatever…just eat some sugar,’ and that actually really helped!”

She laughs, “Thanks Kristen, that was a good tip!”

In fact, the “Jealous” singer admits she was “eating the whole time” she wasn’t on camera, because the food on set was so “magnificent.”  And while she says she also got “some advice on some girl stuff” from her female cast members, she didn’t seek out any acting advice prior to taking the role from other pop stars-turned-actors, like Lady Gaga.

“I haven’t gotten any acting advice from anybody famous, to be quite honest with you,” she admits. “I just got the script and I was like, ‘I like this. I’m going to do it, why not?'”

However, Bebe says she doesn’t plan to pursue acting as a career — because, she says, it’s difficult.

“Acting is honestly…it’s not just something you can pick up and do,” she tells ABC Audio. “It’s actually quite hard…you have to be really focused on your intentions and where your mind’s at and how you want to say something.”

Guess Bebe will just have to stick to her day job as a global pop star.

(Trailer contains uncensored profanity.)

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Jethro Tull will belatedly mark the 50th anniversary of their third studio album, 1970’s Benefit, by releasing an expanded, four-CD/two-DVD version of the record on November 5.

The Benefit (The 50th Anniversary Enhanced Edition) collection’s CDs feature stereo mixes of the original album and associated tracks done in 2013 by acclaimed studio whiz Steven Wilson; mono and stereo mixes of various single A-sides and B-sides, radio spots and more; a previously unreleased Wilson remix of a 1970 Jethro Tull performance at Massachusetts’ Tanglewood venue; and a newly remastered mono recording of a previously unreleased 1970 Tull show at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom.

The DVDs feature high-res versions of Wilson’s 2013 remix of Benefit and associated tracks, a video of the 1970 Tanglewood concert, and more.

The reissue also comes packaged with a 100-page book, featuring a new essay about Benefit; commentary about each of the album’s tracks from frontman Ian Anderson and former Tull members Martin Barre, Glenn Cornick and Clive Bunker; and interviews with Benefit studio engineer Robin Black, executive producer Terry Ellis, and others.

Released in April 1970, Benefit peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the U.K. album chart. The record included one hit U.K. single, “Witch’s Promise,” which reached #4 on the chart. The album’s best-known song in the U.S. likely is “Teacher,” which went on to become a classic rock radio staple.

Benefit has gone on to be RIAA-certified Gold in the U.S. for sales of over 500,000 copies.

You can pre-order the deluxe reissue and check out the full track list at BurningShed.com.

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Britney Spears is finally free…of her father.

Judge Brenda Penny — whose main role at today’s hearing in L.A. was determining what is in Britney’s best interests — said that the “toxic environment” between Jamie Spears and his daughter required that he be suspended as her conservator, effective immediately. 

“I believe suspension is in the best interest of Britney Spears,” said Penny.  As per the request of Britney’s lawyer Mathew Rosengart, a CPA named John Zabel has been appointed temporary conservator of Britney’s estate. 

Zabel will now take over control of Britney’s finances, until a decision about terminating the conservatorship is made.  Jodi Montgomery, who is Britney’s conservator of the person — meaning she’s in charge of her medical decisions — will remain in her position.

Rosengart has accused Mr. Spears of “reaping millions of dollars from his daughter’s estate”; Jamie has denied all wrongdoing.  In his latest filing, Rosengart said that Mr. Spears had “crossed unfathomable lines,” if recent reports that he’d hired a security firm to monitor his daughter’s communications were, in fact, true.

Mr. Spears had petitioned for the immediate termination of the conservatorship, which would have rendered moot the question of his suspension. Rosengart said Spears’ petition was just a “desperate effort” to deflect attention from Spears’ “egregious incompetence” [and] “gross misconduct.”  

Earlier this year, Britney told Penny that her father “ought to be in jail.”

As for when the 13-year conservatorship will end, Rosengart suggested a hearing within the next 45 days to determine that.

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Boosie Badazz is in trouble for asking for help from Drake.

The “Wipe Me Down” rapper says his Instagram account was suspended because he requested that Drizzy assist him in promoting his new biopic, titled My Struggle.

“IG was taken for nothing,” Boosie complained on Twitter. “They saw me reach out to Drake for help.” 

“Please continue to buy my film despite this move to stop the success of my struggle,” he added. “Yall all I got against these powerful people. Buy it twice to boost my first week numbers.”

Boosie dropped a trailer for My Struggle three weeks ago, featuring YFN Lucci, Mo3 and Quando Rondo. The movie, released through his Bazzazz Film Company, tells his story of growing up poor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, launching his music career in 2000, going on trial for first-degree murder, and serving prison time for drug possession.

As he promotes his film, which was released on September 24, Boosie will perform on the Legendz of the Streetz tour, which kicks off September 30 in Augusta, GA. He’ll be joined by Rick Ross, Jeezy, Gucci Mane and 2 Chainz, with special guests Fabolous, Lil Kim and Trina.

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