Chris Willman

Popular on Variety Southern California comedy aficionados have experienced some FOMO when it comes to on-and-off L.A. resident Alex Edelman having become the toast of the town in New York theater circles with his one-man show, “Just for Us.” One of the most celebrated younger stars of comedy, Edelman performed parts of what would turn […]

The full list of nominations for the 67th annual Grammy Awards is out, with SZA as the leading nominee, with nine. Other key nominees include Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Boygenius, Miley Cyrus, Jon Batiste, Victoria Monét and Billie Eilish, all of whom will be competing against SZA for record of the year. In the album […]

Lainey Wilson didn’t have to wait long to win entertainer of the year, the top prize given out by the CA Awards. In only her second year of being nominated at all, and her first year getting a nod for the biggest trophy, the rising star claimed the big kahuna. She also prevailed for album […]

These weren’t your grandfather’s CMA Awards… or even yours, from, say five years ago. A new generation has been firmly installed, between the big look for Lainey Wilson, who is only on her second major-label album but was named entertainer of the year, and other winners from Luke Combs to Hardy, who were also unknown […]

Gannett, the biggest newspaper chain in the U.S., no longer has a blank space under the title of “Taylor Swift reporter.” The company has written in the name of Bryan West, a 35-year-old journalist from Arizona who has just moved to Nashville to fill the newly added, headline-making position. Starting today, West will be working […]

Taylor Swift‘s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” has now gone down on the books as giving the singer her best first week tally for an album ever. The release tops the Billboard 200 with 1.653 million equivalent album units. That puts it ahead of her previous personal best, which was 1.578 million for “Midnights,” released just over […]

As Doja Cat‘s “Scarlet Tour” touched down at L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena Thursday night for what was only its second date, fans were still learning about just what shape her first arena headlining shows would take. Title cards appearing on the big screens announced that it would be broken down into five parts — Acts I, […]

Popular on Variety The philanthropic organization Global Citizen is teaming up with Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free’s company, pgLang, in an ambitious effort to establish a major music touring circuit across Africa. A kickoff event, “Move Afrika: Rwanda,” will take place Dec. 6 with the hip-hop superstar as the headliner. The December concert is being […]

Popular on Variety “Baby, it’s Halloween / And we can be anything,” Phoebe Bridgers once promised, in a song named after the high holy day of Oct. 31. Bridgers did not sing that particular seasonal number as part of Boygenius‘ Halloween show at the Hollywood Bowl Tuesday night, but the band took the sentiment to […]

Popular on Variety Christmas has come early for Beatles fans… who fortunately have been granted a week between gifts, so they don’t have to choose which to unwrap first. There was Thursday’s release, of course, of the newsmaking “Now and Then” single, a track that features the late John Lennon and George Harrison that was […]