Music

Cher is singing “I Got Sue Babe” these days: She’s filed a suit accusing Mary Bono — the widow of her ex-husband and musical partner Sonny Bono — of trying to get out of paying royalties to her for Sonny & Cher hits.

It’s all pretty complicated, but in Cher’s complaint, obtained by ABC News, her lawyer is asking the court to stop Mary from using what’s called a “termination right” to avoid paying Cher royalties on songs like “I Got You Babe” and “Bang Bang.”

When Cher and Sony finalized their divorce in 1978, Sonny agreed that when it came to their hits, Cher could have 50% of “record royalties and musical composition royalties…in perpetuity and throughout the world.”

But Mary Bono is invoking the termination right, which allows artists to reclaim rights they may have signed away years ago. The suit says Mary had her team notify Cher last month that the royalty payments were going to stop.

Cher’s lawyer — the guy who won the infamous “Stairway to Heaven” copyright case on behalf of Led Zeppelin — says the provision that would allow Mary to do that is “wholly inapplicable” in this situation.  The lawyer also says Mary is in breach of contract if she stops paying.

In addition to seeking to have her royalties reinstated, Cher is also suing for damages in excess of $1 million, plus attorneys’ fees.

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Lil Nas X‘s instantly controversial video for “Industry Baby” has gotten the VEVO Footnotes treatment: You can now watch the making-of feature, complete with behind-the-scenes information and commentary from both the rapper and the clip’s director.

Here are just some of the things you can learn about the clip from VEVO Footnotes:

–The video, in which Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow break out of “Montero State Prison,” is “essentially a giant metaphor to represent Nas’ unwillingness to conform to the industry standards or be caged in because of his beliefs,” explains director Christian Breslauer.

–Lil Nas X chose the prison setting because he wanted “to go to a place people would least expect me to go in a music video. An overly masculine place and make it gay asf.”

–The Grammys you see in Nas’ jail cell are the actual Grammys he won for “Old Town Road.”

–The security guard who gets punched by Nas is Colton Haynes, one of the stars of the Teen Wolf TV series.

–Lil Nas X’s favorite scene isn’t the nude shower dance sequence: It’s the part where everyone is dancing together in the prison yard.

“The song felt like a victory lap… but also an underdog anthem, and that’s what I wanted the lyrics to reflect,” the chart-topping rapper says of “Industry Baby.” “I wanted a song to remind people I’m not going anywhere.”

(Video contains uncensored profanity & offensive language.)

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After celebrating her 29th birthday with a massive blowout on Monday attended by Megan Thee Stallion, Normani, Lizzo and more, Cardi B has won a court fight over the trial date for a copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by a photographer.

Kevin Michael Brophy is suing the “Rumors” rapper for at least five million dollars, accusing her of illegally using his tattoo of a tiger and a snake for the cover of her 2016 debut mixtape, Gangsta B**** Music, Vol. 1, according to RadarOnline.

The trial was originally scheduled to begin later this month, then was pushed to next year because Cardi claimed she needed extra time to travel from New York City to California where the trial would be held.

Her lawyer wrote, “For medical reasons, it is inadvisable for her to travel from her present residence on the East Coast to Southern California.”

Cardi’s attorney continued, “Being in the immediate post-natal period and nursing her newborn child, it would be an unreasonable imposition upon her to require her to actively be present for and participate in pretrial preparation and attendance at the trial itself.”

However, when the Grammy winner flew to Paris for Fashion Week in September, Brophy demanded that the trial be moved up to December, and that Cardi should be sanctioned and fined $8,130 for lying under oath.

On Wednesday, a judge ruled in Cardi’s favor.  “In short, the court sees no reason to advance the trial date or issue an order to show cause regarding sanctions at this time,” ruled Judge Cormac Carney, according to AllHipHop.com.

Brophy and Cardi B’s court trial is scheduled for February 1, 2022.

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Korn drummer Ray Luzier has tested positive for COVID-19.

The “Freak on a Leash” metallers announced the news in an Instagram post Thursday, adding that Luzier will be absent from their upcoming shows taking place on October 15 in Las Vegas; October 16 in Fresno, California; and October 18 in Oakland, California.

For those dates, drum duties will be handled by Aric Improta of FEVER 333. Luzier is expected to be back on stage with Korn for their Los Angeles dates with System of a Down on October 22 and 23.

Luzier is now the third member of Korn to contract COVID-19. Frontman Jonathan Davis tested positive back in August, while guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer came down with the virus in September.

 

 

 

 

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Darius Rucker lends his voice to “Good Strong Woman,” a breezy new release off of Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Keb’ Mo’’s forthcoming Good to Be album.

Gently lilting and optimistic, the song celebrates how beautiful life can be with the right partner.

“She will never leave you if you treat her right /She’ll be there in the morning ‘til the late of night,” Darius sings in his verse of the song. “She’s the kind that’s never gonna let you down/ Makes you put the brakes on the world around.”

Keb’ Mo’ co-wrote “Good Strong Woman” with Nashville writers Jason Gantt and Jason Nix, and Darius is one of a handful of country collaborators on Good to Be. Others include roots-leaning act Old Crow Medicine Show and actor/singer-songwriter Kristin Chenoweth. Vince Gill produced a portion of the new record, which will be out in January 2022.

For his part, Darius recently celebrated his latest number-one hit with another carefree anthem, “Beers and Sunshine.”

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How often do you hear of an artist asking fans not to stream his song, and stream his rival’s song instead?  Well, that’s just the kind of guy Ed Sheeran is.

Ed’s hit “Shivers” has been number one on the British singles chart for several weeks now and Ed himself has been number one for some 15 weeks straight, thanks to his previous single “Bad Habits.” But right behind him this week are Elton John and Dua Lipa, with their mashup remix “Cold Heart.” 

The prediction is that “Cold Heart” will overtake “Shivers” — and Ed is the one who wants to see that happen the most.

“@eltonjohn is so close to knocking me off the #1 spot in the U.K.,” Ed writes on Instagram. “It will be his first number one in almost twenty years and I really want it to happen. Please go buy/stream/download Cold Heart with@dualipa now.”

He continues, “15 weeks at #1 was more than I ever expected anyway, love you all. Who doesn’t wanna be knocked off by Elton anyway?”

Of course, Ed and Elton are close friends; in fact, Ed used to be managed by Elton’s company, Rocket Management.  The two are also coming out with a joint Christmas single soon that will no doubt put them both on top of the British charts, so it’s not like Ed has that much to lose by promoting Elton’s song over his.

 

 

 

 

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Dave Grohl can now add “New York Times best-selling author” to his ever-impressive list of career accomplishments.

The Foo Fighters frontman’s debut book, The Storyteller, sits at number one on the Times‘ Hardcover Nonfiction and Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction rankings.

The Storyteller faced some stiff competition, having been released the same day as former Donald Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham‘s tell-all book, I’ll Take Your Questions Now, as well as actor Stanley Tucci‘s Taste memoir. Still, Grohl’s collection of rock n’ roll tales, which range from his childhood to joining Nirvana and jamming with everyone from Paul McCartney to Iggy Pop, grabbed the top spot.

In a tweet reacting to the news, Grohl writes that he’s “honored” by the book’s success.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would someday be a number-one bestselling author,” Grohl says. “But it’s those same wildest dreams that I’ve followed since the day I picked up a guitar.”

Grohl recently wrapped a tour in support of The Storyteller, which featured him playing drums alongside the recording of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would someday be a number one bestselling author, but it’s those same wildest dreams that I’ve followed since the day I picked up a guitar. Honored. pic.twitter.com/LpZx93C2jn

— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) October 14, 2021

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Stars of all backgrounds and descriptions collided at the 2021 CMT Artists of the Year ceremony, which aired live from Nashville on CMT Wednesday night.

A handful of the genre’s biggest and most influential artists were the night’s honorees, while other stars from a diverse background of genres and musical styles were on hand to help celebrate them.

Alongside rising pop-soul act Yola, Breakout Artist of the Year honoree Mickey Guyton gave the world premiere performance of her song, “Remember Her Name.” Christian star Michael W. Smith celebrated honoree Gabby Barrett’s faith-filled roots before her performance, and Kane Brown was paid tribute by rapper Nelly, his musical pal and recent collaborator.

Another honoree, Luke Combs, was introduced by his country-rock hero, Eric Church, before performing recent hit “Forever After All.” Meanwhile, Chris Stapleton got a special tribute performance, with R&B greats Boyz II Men teaming with Pentatonix’s Kevin Olusola to highlight the soulful side of Chris’ song, “Cold.”

Kelsea Ballerini delivered a performance live from her tour with pop act the Jonas Brothers, treating the audience to their version of “With a Little Help from My Friends,” recorded in Franklin, Tennessee.

Of course, traditional country played a big role in Wednesday night’s ceremony, too. Garth Brooks celebrated his fellow traditionalist Randy Travis, who was honored with the Artist of a Lifetime award. Kane also took the stage in honor of Randy, delivering a version of the legendary artist’s “Three Wooden Crosses.”

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Demi Lovato made headlines recently by saying we shouldn’t call beings from outer space “aliens” because it’s “a derogatory term for anything, even extraterrestrials, ” saying they prefer the term “ETs.” But now a true expert on space is calling Demi out for that claim.

In an interview with TMZ, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson jokes, “All the aliens that I’ve ever met, they have no feelings,” and states that it seems silly to be “worried about offending them by calling them an alien.” 

But then, more seriously, he says, “What is [Demi] thinking is going on in the head of species of life from another planet? I know it’s very considerate of [them], but really?”

deGrasse Tyson goes on to explain that when he talks about aliens, he uses the phrase “space aliens,” and points out nobody really calls people “aliens” — as in the term “illegal alien” — anymore, anyway.

“What we used to call ‘aliens’ — undocumented immigrants, that’s what the new term is for them,” he says. “So what that means is…the only invocation of the word ‘alien’ is for creatures from outer space that want to kill us all.”

He laughs, “I don’t care what they feel. Plus, why should I even believe they know English?”

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