CHICAGO (AP) — Defense lawyers at R. Kelly’s child pornography trial in Chicago sought Wednesday to portray a key government witness as a liar and extortionist, contending the man first approached the R&B star in 2001 and demanded that Kelly pay $1 million or he’d go public with video that could put Kelly in serious legal peril.
CHICAGO (AP) — A former merchandizing agent for R. Kelly testified Tuesday that the singer offered him $1 million to find a VHS tape featuring Kelly as prosecutors sought to persuade jurors that Kelly was desperate to recover the missing recording, knowing it could land him in legal peril if it fell into the hands of law enforcement.
NEW YORK (AP) — Ani DiFranco has some life thoughts to share — for kids.
Rise x Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, announced Wednesday that the Grammy winning singer-songwriter's debut picture book “The Knowing” is coming out March 7, 2023.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jerry Allison, an architect of rock drumming who played and co-wrote songs with childhood friend Buddy Holly and whose future wife inspired the classic “Peggy Sue,” has died.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Finland’s prime minister apologized after the publication of a photo that showed two women kissing and posing topless at the official summer residence of the country's leader.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A small town in the Mississippi Delta that has ties to the civil rights movement will soon be home to the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame.
Project planners hope to finish building the facility in the town of Marks in two or three years, Velma Wilson, director of economic tourism and development for Quitman County, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — For decades, a New Wave treasure trove sat in a converted barn. For fans of the band Blondie, it was the equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant tucked away in a rickety storage space.
The Film Independent Spirit Awards will now feature gender neutral film and television acting categories and raise its budget cap to $30 million, the organization said Tuesday.
“We’re thrilled to join the other festivals and award shows that are already moving to celebrate great acting without reference to gender,” Josh Welsh, Film Independent's president, said in a statement.
CHICAGO (AP) — A mother whose daughter prosecutors say R. Kelly sexually abused starting when she was 14 told jurors Monday at the singer’s federal trial that she lied to a state grand jury 20 years ago, in part because she and her husband felt threatened by Kelly and feared for their lives if they told the truth.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Opera star Placido Domingo's name has appeared in an investigation of a sect-like organization in Argentina that also had U.S. offices and whose leaders have been charged with crimes, including sexual exploitation.
Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.
MOVIES
— As an action star, Sylvester Stallone's most iconic characters — Rocky Balboa, Rambo — have always relied on plain old brawn for his powers.
Celebrity birthdays for the week of Aug. 28-Sept. 3:
Aug. 28: Actor Sonny Shroyer (“The Dukes of Hazzard”) is 87. Actor Marla Adams (“The Young and the Restless”) is 84. Actor Ken Jenkins (“Scrubs”) is 82.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Patrick Cantlay won another thriller Sunday in the BMW Championship, getting a great bounce on the 17th hole that set up a short birdie and led to a 2-under 69 and a one-shot victory over Scott Stallings.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck said “I do" again this weekend.
But instead of in a late night Las Vegas drive through chapel, this time it was in front of friends and family in Georgia, a person close to the couple who was not authorized to speak publicly said Sunday.
CHICAGO (AP) — A woman who says she was sexually abused hundreds of times by R. Kelly as a minor testified Friday that she agonized several years ago about whether to cooperate with federal investigators who were looking into child abuse allegations involving the singer, but she ultimately did because she didn't want to “carry his lies.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Loudon Wainwright III points out that the first line of the first song on his first album, released when he was 23, is about aging: “In Delaware when I was younger.”
So it's no stretch that the folk singer's first album of new compositions in eight years, “Lifetime Achievement,” is loosely based on turning 75.
CHICAGO (AP) — A woman who has been central to R. Kelly’s legal troubles for more than two decades testified Thursday that the R&B singer sexually abused her “hundreds” of times before she turned 18 and that it was her and Kelly in a videotape that was at the heart of his 2008 child pornography trial, at which he was acquitted.
NEW YORK (AP) — Creem, which billed itself as “America's only rock ‘n’ roll magazine” during two decades of existence that ended in 1989, is being revived next month.
The return is a remarkable story of persistence by J.J.
NEW YORK (AP) — The MTV Video Music Awards later this month will have not one emcee but three, with rap stars LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow all set to anchor the ceremony.
They’ll introduce and present the famous Moon Person trophies alongside performers including Lizzo, Anitta, BLACKPINK, J Balvin, Måneskin, Kane Brown, Marshmello with Khalid, and Panic!
LOS ANGELES (AP) — If Randy Rainbow is adored by the legendary Carol Burnett, and he is, what flimsy excuse could TV academy voters have to deny him an Emmy for his fourth nomination?
Rainbow, who has raised musical parody to a political-satire art form, is again David facing Goliath.
CHICAGO (AP) — R. Kelly kept an ugly side of his life hidden as he escaped poverty in Chicago and rose to pop music stardom, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday at the singer's trial on charges accusing him of enticing girls for sex and rigging a 2008 child pornography case.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rapper A$AP Rocky has pleaded not guilty to felony assault with a firearm charges stemming from a 2021 confrontation in Hollywood.
“Vol. II,” Watkins Family Hour (Family Hour Records)
Tom Petty’s pianist plays “Tennessee Waltz,” an Ernest Tubb classic rides a Bo Diddley beat, and a deep cut by the ’60s band the Zombies becomes a Disney-style lullaby.
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal jury was impaneled Tuesday in R. Kelly's hometown of Chicago to decide multiple charges against the R&B singer, as prosecutors and defense attorneys argued toward the end of the process about whether the government was improperly attempting to keep some Blacks off the jury.
LONDON (AP) — Performer Darius Campbell Danesh, who went from a British reality television show to a stage and music career, has died at the age of 41.
The singer's family said Tuesday that he was found unresponsive in his apartment in Rochester, Minnesota on Aug.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rapper A$AP Rocky was charged with two felonies Monday for pulling a gun on a former friend and firing in Hollywood last year, prosecutors said.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged the 33-year-old New York native, whose legal name is Rakim Athelaston Mayers, with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
CHICAGO (AP) — Jury selection in R. Kelly's federal trial on charges that he rigged his 2008 state child pornography trial began Monday with the judge and attorneys quickly focusing on whether would-be jurors watched a 2019 documentary about sex abuse allegations against the R&B singer.
R. Kelly's musical accomplishments have been accompanied by a long history of allegations that he sexually abused women and children. Now the R&B singer faces a trial in his hometown of Chicago on charges accusing him of rigging his 2008 child pornography trial and of enticing minors for sex.
NEW YORK (AP) — Rocker Melissa Etheridge has found a new stage: The Grammy- and Oscar-winner will unveil a solo show mixing her music and stories off-Broadway.
“Melissa Etheridge: My Window – A Journey Through Life” will play 12 performances only starting Oct.
Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.
MOVIES
— In the almost 25 years since Princess Diana died, there has never been any shortage of content examining the enormous impact and intrigue of her short life.
Celebrity birthdays for the week of Aug. 21-27:
Aug. 21: Guitarist James Burton (with Elvis Presley) is 83. Singer Jackie DeShannon is 81. Actor Patty McCormack (“The Ropers”) is 77. Singer Carl Giammarese of The Buckinghams is 75.
ATLANTA (AP) — In the state investigation spurred by then-President Donald Trump's call to Georgia’s top election official, people who have been called to testify — or who might be — about potential interference in the 2020 presidential contest are turning to high-profile lawyers.
CHICAGO (AP) — R. Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago that starts Monday is in many ways a do-over of his 2008 state child pornography trial, at which jurors acquitted the singer on charges that he produced a video of himself when he was around 30 having sex with a girl no older than 14.
VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — A man once briefly married to Britney Spears has been convicted of aggravated trespassing and battery at the pop star’s June wedding.
Jason Alexander, 40, pleaded no contest to the two misdemeanor counts in a California court, prosecutors in Ventura County announced Thursday.
Bella Poarch, “Dolls” (Warner Records)
In theory this should work. With her massive TikTok following, Bella Poarch clearly needed to strike while the iron is hot and release a studio EP. “Dolls” is that album.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The family of country singer Naomi Judd filed an amended court petition Friday to seal police reports and recordings made during the investigation into her death.
NEW YORK (AP) — Reaching the age of 25 is usually a sign of hitting adulthood, a signal to put away all childish things. Not for “South Park” and stars Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman.
The Comedy Central staple about four bratty, perpetually bundled-up youngsters in an unhinged Colorado cartoon town celebrated its silver anniversary by trundling along, fueled by poo jokes and razor-sharp social satire.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jon Batiste, his career soaring after winning multiple Grammys this year, is leaving his perch as bandleader of “The Late Show” after a seven-year run backing up host Stephen Colbert.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Grammy-winning group of the world’s top percussionists has reunited after 15 years on a new record that aims to bring the world together in rhythm and dance.
Planet Drum’s new record “In The Groove,” out now, features drummers from very different backgrounds and musical cultures collaborating using technology to adapt their acoustic instruments into new sonic forms.