Music

Katharine McPhee got a big surprise after a performance in London Saturday ... a pretty awesome bachelorette party.

Katharine had just taken her bow on stage, when the cast and crew from her play, "Waitress," blindsided her with the celebration.

TMZ broke the story, 35-year-old Katharine got engaged to 69-year-old music legend David Foster last July. David was nowhere in sight -- as he shouldn't be since the obligatory fake firefighter/stripper showed off his stuff.

Katharine tried to accelerate things a bit, wearing a bridal veil.

Everyone danced to some awesome tunes, courtesy of Whitney Houston, Britney Spears and Katharine herself.

A lot of these engagement-type parties seem pretty forced, but this one actually seemed super fun, and Katharine's cast clearly digs her a lot.

It's Katharine's second marriage and David's 5th. We don't know when they're tying the knot, but when these bachelorette parties go down, a wedding usually is not far behind.

Miley Cyrus appears to believe Britney Spears was recently being held at a mental health facility against her will ... and the proof is in tweaked lyrics to her biggest song.

Miley was performing down in Memphis, TN Saturday at the Beale Street Music Festival, and while she was singing "Party in the U.S.A." ... the Britney part of her tune got remixed by Miley herself ... who stoked a conspiracy theory that sprung up during Brit's mental health facility stint.

The moment in question is almost as famous as the song itself -- Miley sings the refrain, "And a Britney song was on" three different times about midway through, but during Saturday's performance ... she shouted "Free Britney!" while her fans sang the normal lyrics from the crowd -- a clear indication that she's behind the #FreeBritney campaign.

As we've told you, a lot of Britney's fans were concerned she was being held captive at the mental health facility where she was getting treatment, under the control of the folks who run her lifetime conservatorship.

Britney herself tried to stamp out that notion by assuring her fans that she was fine, NOT being controlled by anybody ... and doing what was best for her at the time.

Desiigner celebrated his 22nd birthday in a big way, and Chris Brown, Lamar Odom and a bunch of other celebs helped make it appropriately wild.

The bash went down Saturday night in Calabasas at Jake Paul's house. Aside from Chris and Lamar, Bella Thorne, Swae Lee, Justin Combs, Paris Brosnan, Trey Songz, Famous Dex, Cameron Dallas and others partied till the wee hours.

Speaking of Dex, he definitely seemed to be having a good time in the "legends circle" with Desiigner and the Paul brothers. Check it out ... good pals right here for sure.

There were, of course, the obligatory motorcycle stunts as the choppers flew over the heads of the Paul bros. Desiigner performed and generally, a good time was had by all.

The visual evidence Remy Ma has for prosecutors in her assault case is so cut and dry, she knows they'll have no choice but to drop it ... so says her lawyer.

The rapper's attorney, Dawn Florio, tells TMZ ... Remy has security cameras installed in her house that show she was there at 9:30 PM on April 16 -- the same time "Love & Hip Hop: New York" star Brittney Taylor claims Remy punched her backstage during a concert at NYC's Irving Plaza.

We already knew this, but according to Florio ... prosecutors were "dumbfounded" in court this week when Remy's side claimed to have evidence to support she was nowhere near the spot of the alleged assault.

Remy's lawyer's confident once they review the home security footage, Taylor's case will be destroyed and Remy will be cleared.

There's more -- Florio insists there's NO surveillance footage from Irving Plaza that backs Taylor's claim she was assaulted in the green room area ... AND Florio says she's obtained a photo from the night of the alleged assault timestamped hours afterward that shows Brittney with no visible marks on her face.

Florio also claims after Remy left her house that night, she stopped at Target to pick up some items for her baby and didn't arrive at Irving Plaza until around 10:45 PM ... 15 minutes before she was scheduled to perform at 11.

Stevie Wonder pivoted to what he's perhaps best-known for -- his "Fingertips" -- while chowing down in L.A. ... and it caught a lot of lucky dinner-goers by pleasant surprise.

The legendary musician was dining Saturday night at Skylight Gardens in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, where there was a live gig going on. The mood must've struck Stevie, 'cause we're told at one point ... he decided to hop up to get in on the action.

Stevie opted to play what appears to be something similar to a steel guitar, which lies flat and is plucked using one's fingers. Whatever it is, he definitely knew how to play it -- go figure, right?

Eyewitnesses tell us, Stevie and the lead acoustic guitarist went back and forth for an impromptu 35-minute set, playing some of Stevie's most well-known songs like "My Cherie Amour," "Superstition" ... and even John Lennon's "Imagine."

The guitarist, Nelson Cade III, wrote on IG about the experience, saying ... "An actual life changing moment. I’ve officially been granted the affirmation that every artist desperately craves. It was just a Friday night doing what I love, then it turned into a night I’ll always remember."

We're told the rest of the dinner guests were in awe of the performance, and a lot of 'em stuck around afterward to take pics with Stevie. Of course, Stevie obliged.

Britney Spears is getting back to that fit life on social media after checking out of a mental health facility, and she looks better than ever ... doing yoga in a two-piece.

The pop star posted a compilation video Sunday showing herself getting into a bunch of yoga poses outside while wearing a teeny bikini ... all set to Cardi B's "I Like It." Good song choice, 'cause Britney definitely comes with that energy with handstands, splits ... and pretty much everything in between.

It's been a little more than a week since she left the mental health facility she was staying at, and it looks like she's fully back into her routine. It also appears she's caught more of those UV rays she was somewhat lacking the last she was photographed in public.

As we told you ... Britney is still working through some unresolved issues regarding her medication, despite checking herself out of the facility she was at for 30 days.

We're told she'll continue receiving intensive therapy sessions while at home, but this vid's gotta be a good sign that things are getting back to normal.

Good for her.

Blake Griffin sure hopes Drake didn't seal Arya Stark's fate on "Game of Thrones" by shouting her out at the Billboard Music Awards ... him and everyone else, tbh.

We got the Pistons star outside of the Maxfield clothing store in WeHo Friday afternoon and asked him about Drizzy showing love to Maisie Williams' 'GOT' character Wednesday night when he mentioned her during his acceptance speech for the Top Billboard 200 Album.

ICYMI ... Drake made sure to plug Arya for "putting in that work last week" during Sunday's episode when she killed the Night King with some fancy dagger moves -- basically saving every living person in Westeros from eternal death in the process.

BTW, this is a spoiler -- and you should've seen it by now. If you haven't, well, here it is ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway ... Blake really, REALLY hopes the Drake curse doesn't kick in here for everyone's sake. Like he says, "I think we all need a little bit of Arya." Considering Champagne Papi's track record with supporting losing teams ... here's praying Blake's right.

Aretha Franklin's home is up for sale and there's a buyer on the hook -- but her estate doesn't have permission to seal the deal ... yet.

According to new legal docs, the Queen of Soul's estate is looking to liquidate her assets and eliminate expenses after her passing ... which means unloading her properties in the Detroit area.

Aretha's main residence was a condo in the north suburbs, and the estate says it has plans locked down to sell it to someone for $325,000. If the judge signs off on it, the sale can proceed. A court hearing is scheduled for later this month.

As we reported ... when Aretha died in August she left behind some debts -- including a massive tax bill -- and her estate has been working to resolve any remaining issues.

According to the new docs ... the estate still has a $100k debt and owes $5.2 million in taxes ... but she had millions invested in property which will help settle the tab.

The Game just jumped into the fray, expressing contempt for people who are boycotting Chris Brown with a simple message ... "F*** you!"

We got Game Friday in WeHo outside the super-expensive clothing store, Maxfield, and asked about the heat Justin Bieber has been taking for daring to say Chris Brown is a cross between Michael Jackson and Tupac.

Game scoffs at the critics, saying a couple of things. First, Chris Brown is deeply ingrained in hip-hop culture, which influences everything. Second, most people who say publicly they don't like Brown are full of s*** because they listen to him privately.

The criticism against Brown, of course, is associated with his violence toward women. As you know, he was convicted of beating Rihanna.

Bieber drew fire for saying, "Everyone wants to wait til people die to give them the credit they deserve. I'm calling it now when CB passes away after a long full life, you will miss what you had in front of you the whole time the people who have over looked this mans talent because of a mistake he made ... you need to reevaluate."

Feds investigating R. Kelly in Illinois are on the hunt for more sex tapes that allegedly show him with underage girls ... and prosecutors are doing everything they can to find footage.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois is interviewing parties closely associated with Kelly. We're told prosecutors have been asking about the possible existence of VHS tapes purportedly showing Kelly having sex with minors.

Rumors about an alleged stash of R. Kelly sex tapes have been floating around since Kelly went to trial on child porn charges back in 2008, but it's never been found ... not by law enforcement, anyway.

As we've reported ... the feds are building another case against Kelly in Illinois, which we're told is entirely separate from the 2 probes currently underway in New York -- one by the Eastern District and another by the Southern District.

We're told feds in Illinois are investigating Kelly on 3 different fronts: sex trafficking, tax evasion and obstruction of justice.

In terms of obstruction ... we're told prosecutors have been asking people close to Kelly an array of questions focusing on his 2008 trial, believing Kelly and his handlers may have pressured witnesses. Some of the questions involve alleged payoffs to prevent witnesses from testifying in court or speaking out publicly.

We reached out to the U.S. Attorney's Office, but it declined to comment.

Wayne Gretzky says he WANTS Alex Ovechkin to pass his all-time goals record ... telling TMZ Sports it would be GREAT for hockey!!!

"If he breaks it," The Great One says ... "I'll be the first guy there to shake his hand."

Of course, Gretzky owns the NHL's all-time mark for goals scored with 894 ... but Ovie ain't that far behind with 658.

In fact, if the 33-year-old Washington Capitals superstar averages 33.7 goals per season for the next 7 years ... he'd tie Gretzky by the time he's 40.

Doesn't seem like TOO difficult of a task -- Ovie's NEVER scored less than 32 goals in his entire 14-year career!!!

As for Ovechkin, he says he's actually gunnin' for the record -- telling NHL.com earlier this year, "I'm going to try to do it."

By the way, while we were on the subject of records ... Gretzky also told us he thinks Tiger Woods has a "great chance" to catch Jack Nicklaus' majors mark.

Soledad O'Brien, host of Saturday night's Lifetime follow-up to "Surviving R. Kelly," says this docuseries has been groundbreaking for victims who never had a voice.

We got Soledad Friday at LAX ... on the eve her show, "Surviving R. Kelly: The Impact," which not only follows up with the alleged victims but also the defense strategies of the embattled singer.

She says one of the values of her docuseries and others is that victims who had no previous connection are able to find each other and mobilize.

Justin Bieber is defending Chris Brown in the face of backlash from other artists who don't want to work with him because of his history of violence toward women.

The Biebs buddied up to Breezy on social media Friday ... posting a picture equating CB to a mix of Michael Jackson and Tupac and saying Chris is being underappreciated like the music icons were before they died.

Justin says, "everyone wants to wait til people die To give them the credit they deserve. I'm calling it now when CB passes away after a long full life, you will miss what you had in front of you the whole time the people who have over looked this mans talent because of a mistake he made.. you need to reevaluate."

As you know ... Michael was dogged by accusations of child molestation before and after his death, and Tupac spent time in prison on sexual assault charges.

Brown pled guilty to felony assault of Rihanna way back in 2009, and he's also the subject of an ongoing lawsuit over an alleged rape in Paris.

As we've reported ... Scottish pop band Chvrches ripped Marshmello for working with Brown, calling it a tacit endorsement of violence towards women.

The lead singer for Chvrches, Lauren Mayberry, says the band's been getting death threats since speaking out against Brown.

The backlash against Kodak Black -- for disrespecting Nipsey Hussle -- is taking out an innocent victim ... namely Danielle Bregoli, but now she's doing something about it.

As we told you ... Bhad Bhabie released a track in February called "Bestie" featuring a verse by Kodak -- and a DMX cameo in the music vid. It was a pretty big hit ... right up until Kodak popped off about Lauren London, saying he'd give her a year of "crying and s**t" over Nipsey's death before making a move on her.

When radio stations banned his music, "Bestie" got screwed too. Sources close to the situation tell us several radio stations contacted Bhabie's camp, asking if she could record another version without Kodak, so they could play it -- and that's what she did.

BB got Houston rapper, Megan Thee Stallion to replace Kodak ... and they released the updated version late Thursday night, and it's now available on all streaming platforms.

We're told Danielle's hoping hip-hop stations will take notice ... and give it another run.

12:01 PM PT -- Raz B has been officially released from custody.

Raz B is getting off clean, at least criminally, for that fight he got into with his girlfriend during the B2K reunion tour.

Raz B won't be charged for allegedly strangling his girlfriend during a heated argument outside a Macy's in Minneapolis. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office tells us after a thorough investigation ... they didn't feel there was enough evidence to successfully prosecute the singer.

The County Attorney's Office tells TMZ cops talked to Raz's girlfriend and witnesses, and analyzed surveillance video from the scene ... but didn't see sufficient evidence.

Case dropped.

TMZ broke the story ... Raz B was busted early Wednesday morning for domestic assault by strangulation. We're told the girlfriend told a family member about the altercation, and then someone called police.

Dispatch audio describing the alleged assault mentions a female being strangled by the ramp of a Macy's store.

Raz B's camp claimed his girlfriend attacked him, and he was just defending himself.

Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas exchanged ring pops as wedding bands when they got hitched in Vegas ... and now the wrapper from Sophie's sweet bling is up for auction.

Jesse Grice, the Reverend Elvis who officiated the wedding, tells TMZ he found the wrapper from Sophie's ring pop and he's already posted it on eBay, and the bidding starts at ... a whopping 10 bucks!

The eBay listing is hilarious ... the description reads, "Joe Jonas ORIGINAL AUTHENTIC REAL WEDDING RING WRAPPER used by him in Las Vegas." We think it's decent condition too ... based on this -- "wrapper is in very good but slightly used wrapper on foil like material."

Jesse tells us he'll take whatever he can get for the one-of-a-kind piece of Sophie and Joe memorabilia ... but he's holding out hope the bidding reaches $1,000.

As you know ... Joe and Sophie tied the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Vegas Wednesday night after the Billboard Music Awards. Nick and Kevin Jonas were Joe's groomsmen, Diplo and Khalid were celeb witnesses and country duo Dan + Shay sang Sophie down the aisle.

Joe and Sophie's nuptials were good for biz ... Jesse tells us the chapel's already seen an influx of tourists coming to take pics.

Screw a photo ... Sophie's ring pop wrapper is way cooler!