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Many 'Tiger King' fans were stunned to find out Joe Exotic doesn't sing his own songs, but there's a real band behind those cat-themed country tunes ... and it hopes the hit Netflix docuseries leads to a record deal.

For those who haven't watched yet ... zoo owner/big cat breeder Joe Exotic flaunts his country music songs and videos on 'Tiger King,' but it turns out he's just lip-syncing and pretending to play the guitar. The real performers are The Clinton Johnson Band.

One-half of the country group, Vince Johnson, tells TMZ ... since the documentary premiered and became a smashing success, lots of journalists and media outlets have reached out to him ... but he'd prefer to get some calls from music labels. So far, no luck.

Vince says that's a shame, because he and the other half of the band, Danny Clinton, recorded 3 albums worth of songs before Danny passed away in October from a heart-related issue.

We're told their tracks are a lot like the ones they did for Joe in 'Tiger King' ... except they're not cat-related.

Vince tells us the band's had some prior success getting their work featured in some small films and TV shows like "Justified," but he believes 'Tiger King' could really be a big break ... and help him become a big cat in the music biz.

As for how The CB Band -- from Vancouver, Washington -- got linked up with the Oklahoma zoo extraordinaire ... Vince tells us they simply responded to one of Joe's ads to make a theme song for Joe's TV show and park, and it evolved from there.

He says how it worked was Exotic would give Vince a theme and some details, he'd write a tune and Danny would sing it. Then they'd email it to Joe.

The band did about 20 songs for Joe, Vince says, and as far as he knows ... Joe has never professionally sung or played an instrument in his life.

BTW -- Vince hasn't watched 'Tiger King' yet, but plans on it soon.

Cops in the UK are going to the dark side -- intentionally dropping black dye into a picturesque Blue Lagoon -- to stop photo-thirsty crowds from gathering ... and potentially spreading the coronavirus.

Derbyshire Police decked themselves out in full protective gear for their mission to make the Instagram hot spot way less desirable for photo ops.

Even after UK authorities announced restrictions limiting gatherings, cops say people were still flocking to the lagoon for pics ... mostly because the weather has been sunny and clear lately. The dye job was a last resort to discourage foot traffic.

As you know, the U.S. had a similar problem with spring break crowds recently in Florida when the Governor refused to shut down beaches.

We doubt dying the Gulf of Mexico waters black would have dissuaded those inebriated beachgoers.

As for Derbyshire's Blue Lagoon ... it's in an abandoned quarry and gets that pristine look from harsh chemicals leaking from surrounding rocks.

It's not at all safe for swimming but makes for a great photo backdrop. Well, it did.

Pitbull is doing his part to lift the spirits of a frightened, uncertain world in pain with a new song ... specifically directed at beating the coronavirus.

Mr. Worldwide posted a portion of a video for the song, "I Believe We Will Win." Pit is at his beloved SLAM! charter school on the roof ... gazing out at the City Miami. He offers words of encouragement ... then breaks into song.

Some of the lyrics ..."If there's any time to check in for the world, it's right now," he says. "Now is when we take fear, and -- it's not Forget Everything And Run. It's Face Everything And Rise."

Pitbull credits his hometown with instilling a fighting spirit in him ...  "Miami taught me how to fight, and I want to give that to everybody in the world right now. Now is when we gotta stick together. We gotta fight hard, show how powerful it is when we come together."

Liam Hemsworth demonstrated a couple of things Saturday ... he's a crazy good surfer, and he's not afraid to catch those waves while others fear the coronavirus.

Check out Liam's surfing skills as he catches waves off Australia's Phillip Island. Aside from his ability to ride some gnarly waves all the way into shore ... he also practiced great social distancing. Hard not to, when you're the only one on a board.

He better get it in while he can, because on Monday many public areas in Australia will be closed, including public playgrounds, outside gyms and skateparks. Authorities have closed world-famous Bondi Beach after massive crowds made it dangerous.

It's unclear if the beach where Liam was surfing had been closed -- but he was hanging ten solo.

New York Knicks and Rangers owner James Dolan has tested positive for COVID-19 ... making him the first known major American sports team owner to contract the virus.

Knicks PR announced Saturday night that the 64-year-old billionaire owner -- one of the most controversial figures in sports -- has coronavirus ... but made it clear he was in good condition, and still in charge of his teams.

"The Madison Square Garden Company Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Dolan has tested positive for coronavirus. He has been in self-isolation and is experiencing little to no symptoms. He continues to oversee business operations."

Dolan lives in New York -- the United States hotbed for the pandemic -- with over 53,000 identified cases.

Before the NBA shut down earlier this month, Dolan was reportedly the only NBA owner who didn't want to play games without fans or suspend the season ... despite the growing threat of the virus.

The war between Claressa Shields and Laila Ali is even nastier BEHIND THE SCENES ... with Claressa revealing all the trash-talking messages they've been sending each other -- and it's WILD!!

Shields -- BY FAR the best active female boxer on the planet -- says she offered up an olive branch to Ali back in January, after Laila trashed her on 'Sway in the Morning.'

If you recall, 42-year-old Ali (24-0) said she would destroy Shields if they ever fought because Claressa isn't talented enough to hang with her.

During the interview, Ali claimed Shields had called her a bad businesswoman -- something Shields says she never said.

So, Claressa reached out in Laila's DMs to try and clear things up -- and a few months later, she got a pretty scathing reply from Laila.

"She goes, You are a real punk. Talking all that sh*t publicly but trying to make nice in private,'" Shields explained.

Here's another message Shields claims she got from Ali:

"I'm gonna teach you a whole lot of things that will make you a better fighter and person. Lesson #1: Learn to shut your mouth about money being there because it's not there until it's in an escrow account."

"I can see right through you and always have. So just be patient, and hopefully you will have the opportunity to try and knock me out. Even though you're not even hurting these soft girls you have been fighting."

WOW.

Claressa responded -- "I hurt everybody I fight. But the girls are way tougher now, and they don't go down now like they went down back in the day. Those bitches was soft."

Just watch the video ... Claressa spells out the whole thing -- and tells us she's dead serious about a big money fight with Laila if the two sides can agree on numbers.

All of the hiking trails around Los Angeles have been closed, including Runyon Canyon, Griffith Park and Malibu trails -- so we are bringing the great outdoors to you ... and some Hollywood hotties too!

Stars such as Emile Hirsch, Nick Viall, and Sam Smith, have spent some time in the past hitting the trails and they've shared these sexy snaps along the way.

These famous fellas love to get out and about, but since we're all stuck at home let's just take a trek through some more of these hot shots!

Scroll through our gallery of hiking hunks to get a good view of all the celebs making their way through the mountains!

As the U.S. grapples with the coronavirus outbreak, Arkansas had another natural disaster thrown onto its plate this weekend ... a massive tornado ripping through one of its towns.

A tornado warning was issued Saturday near Jonesboro, AR -- about 2 hours outside of Little Rock -- and not too long after that ... a giant twister touched down on the city and tore through a section of it -- which was caught on video as drivers casually cruised by.

Different angles of the shots that are online right now show just how damn big this thing got -- it looks like it's straight out of the 'Wizard of Oz' or something ... that's how big it appears from afar. You can even see several different items swirling in the air, almost in slow motion. It's just like the movies -- only it's real. Yeah, Dorothy wouldn't have fared well here.

In all seriousness though, it's a scary sight -- especially seeing how low to the ground (all the way, just about) it got and how freakin' close people were to it. Some folks say it was a mere 100 yards away at one point.

Makes you think the tornado might've formed in only a matter of minutes for people to be caught so nearby -- nobody in their right mind would be anywhere near this if they had ample warning.

While there are no immediate reports of deaths at the moment -- thank God -- there was lots of destroyed property to go around. Some buildings were destroyed, cars were flipped over, and tons of debris was tossed every which way. The streets were lined with rubble after the tornado subsided. Fortunately, it doesn't appear to have ruined a majority of the town.

Still, pretty s****y that the good people of Arkansas now have to clean up this mess while trying to get a handle on their own COVID-19 cases. Almost biblical if you think about it.

The lights have never went out on Reba McEntire's beauty!

Here is a 31-year-old version of the multitalented country singer rockin' these curls at the Country Music Awards  -- where she took home the title of Entertainer of the Year -- back in 1986 (left).

And 34 years later ... Reba, who has since juggled many roles throughout her career from singing to acting on her own sitcom 'Reba,' is celebrating her 65th birthday this weekend. She was last seen looking better than ever on set of CBS's 'Young Sheldon', where she made a guest appearance as Dale's ex-wife, June (right).

Red with envy!

The question is ...

Actor Matthew Faber -- who starred in a number of cult classic films in the '90s -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Faber was found deceased Saturday inside his Van Nuys, CA apartment -- this after his family hadn't heard from him in some days and asked the landlord to his building to open up his unit ... according to Matt's brother, Mark. His death appears to be natural, we're told.

Mark tells TMZ, "A beautiful man. Incredibly talented. Wise beyond his years, quick-witted. Abundantly aware. He could really pay attention more than most. He had such incredible focus and ability to sustain concentration -- brilliant man, very aware, very smart."

Matt is perhaps best known for his roles as Mark Weiner in 1995's 'Welcome to the Dollhouse' and its 2004 sequel 'Palindromes.' He also starred in 'Natural Born Killers,' 'Hard Luck,' 'The Pallbearer,' 'Ride with the Devil,' 'Sue,' and several other mid-to-late '90s flicks.

Alright, it's time to put the masks back on ... so says Future, who's donating a boatload of custom-sewn masks to medical professionals who desperately need 'em.

The rapper's nonprofit, The FreeWishes Foundation, is teaming up with Atlanta Sewing Style to produce hand-crafted face masks for countless doctors, nurses, scientists and others working in hospitals and around COVID-19 patients. They'll have a team of 500 people dedicated to the task -- although it's unclear how many they're aiming to churn out.

Future's org said in a statement Saturday, "As most people adapt to the new normal of staying quarantined to protect themselves from the coronavirus, healthcare professionals do not have this privilege." They continued, "In addition, they do not even have enough supplies to protect themselves from contracting coronavirus."

Just an FYI ... reports say there's such a shortage of face masks right now, the homemade ones are more than welcome by the pros on the ground.

Anyway, Future's sis, Tia-Wilburn Anderson, added it was important for her, Future and their family to service their community during this pandemic and throughout the year. Sounds like they'll be working well into summer should the outbreak persist -- and all signs point to just that.

BTW, this endeavor that Future and his family is embarking on is aptly called ... Mask On. Of course, his "Mask Off" song blew up a few years ago ... so it's only appropriate he of all people would circle back.

Rep the set ... gotta rep the set.