Music

Diddy's adopted son says his father isn't just dabbling in high-priced art ... the music/tv/fashion/liquor mogul is diving headfirst into the art world.

We got Quincy Brown -- whose biological father is Al B. Sure! -- at LAX Monday, and asked what he thought of Puff dropping $21.1 million on Kerry James Marshall’s '97 painting, “Past Times," during a Sotheby's auction last week.

Quincy says this is the next logical step for his old man, seeing as how he's conquered just about everything else. The fact he dropped serious cheddar for the piece should tell you Papa ain't playing around, according to his son.

R. Kelly is being sued for sexual assault by a woman who claims he held her against her will and abused her ... TMZ has learned.

A woman named Faith Rodgers filed the lawsuit in NYC, and claims they met in March 2017, when she was 19 ... after a performance in San Antonio. In the suit, she says a couple months later Kelly flew her to NYC for one of his concerts.

After the show, she says Kelly "bombarded" her hotel room and initiated "unwanted sexual contact" ... including oral and vaginal intercourse. After what she calls "abusive sex" ... Kelly allegedly criticized her for being boring in bed.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Faith caught herpes from Kelly. She says they dated for about one year, during which he mentally, verbally and sexually abused her. Faith claims he locked her in rooms, studios and cars to punish her for failing to fulfill his sexual desires. In the suit, Faith says Kelly had a female assistant stand guard to make sure she didn't flee.

Faith's attorney tells us she is the woman who secretly recorded Kelly. TMZ broke the story ... she recently recorded a phone conversation, attempting to coax a confession out of him.

Who was one of the key people who helped get 'NSYNC off the ground??

IT'S GOTTA BE SHAQ!!

It's true ... according to Lance Bass who tells TMZ Sports the supergroup owes a lot of its early success to the NBA legend.

"I mean ... a lot of people don't know Shaquille had a big hand in starting our career," Lance said at the Montage Hotel in Bev Hills.

We only brought up Shaq because Google search is showing Shaq as the 5th member of the group -- replacing Joey Fatone.

It's obviously a glitch ... but Lance says Shaq's connection to the band is 100% real.

"We lived in Orlando and our first place that we recorded was his house ... so all of our first demos, our first songs were all from Shaq's house!"

It's true ... Shaq has a recording studio in his massive Orlando estate -- which is now on the market for $28 MILLION -- and Lance says O'Neal let the group record because he knew someone at the label.

One thing led to another ... and 'NSYNC became a global phenomenon.

Now, Lance says he'd love for Shaq to join the group in real life ... as soon as they get rid of that one member "we probably need to replace."

British musician James Arthur straight-up jacked another band's song and twisted it into his own hit ... according to a new lawsuit.

Arthur has been sued by musician Daniel O'Donoghue, who's got a song with his band, The Script, called "The Man Who Can't Be Moved," which he claims Arthur ripped off in making his own song, "Say You Won't Let Go." The former dropped in 2008, and the latter in 2016.

O'Donoghue says Arthur used a very similar melody and tempo in his song, and claims it's infringing on his original work. O'Donoghue says Arthur approached him and his band after Arthur was dropped by his label in 2014, trying to talk ideas for a comeback song. He says they denied the meeting, and somehow Arthur came out with "Say You Won't Let Go" 2 years later.

Interestingly enough, both men have ties to British talent shows -- O'Donoghue's a voice coach on the UK's 'The Voice,' and Arthur won the UK's 'X Factor' in 2012.

Take a listen for your self.

Kendrick Lamar shut down his concert after a white fan he invited onstage decided it was cool for her to repeatedly rap the n-word. It was not.

K. Dot was performing Sunday night at Hangout Festival in Alabama when he pulled the young woman named Delaney from the crowd to rap "M.A.A.D City."

Delany promised she knew all the words, n-word included ... and after dropping it 3 times ... Kendrick had to stop everything. She was clueless at first, responding, "Am I not cool enough for you?"

Even Black Mamba enjoys a little white snake.

Kobe Bryant brought his entire family to the Taylor Swift concert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena over the weekend ... even busting out some dance moves to "Shake It Off."

Kobe and Taylor have been friends for a little while ... remember, it was Kobe who played M.C. when she got a banner at Staples Center back in 2015 for "Most Sold Out Performances."

This time, Bryant didn't have any official duties -- but he did get V.I.P. access for his daughters to hang with Taylor backstage ... where his wife, Vanessa, also kicked it with Julia Roberts!

Retirement ain't so bad, is it, Kobe?

There were a TON of famous people at the show including Rebel Wilson, Miles Teller, Bill Nye, Sarah Michelle Gellar ... and get this -- Amber Rose and her ex, Wiz Khalifa, arrived together with their kid!

Shawn Mendes just honored victims of gun violence with an emotional tribute at the Billboard Music Awards ... and with the help of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

Shawn took the stage Sunday to perform his song "Youth," and was joined by singer Khalid ... who's featured on the song. Toward the end of the performance, multiple students from MSD's choir came out as well to help him finish out the tune.

We broke the story ... Shawn was aiming to send an uplifting message with the Parkland students' cameo -- especially in the wake of another school shooting this week that left 10 people dead.

Taylor Swift's shaking off critics who compare her to a "drunk turtle" -- and serving up big compliments to Post Malone for one of his hits.

The superstars came face-to-face backstage Sunday night at the Billboard Music Awards, and she immediately told Post she was a huge fan of his track, "Better Now." One part of it, in particular.

It looks like this was the first time they met because Post seemed surprised by Taylor's shout-out -- but, still ... cool backstage moment we rarely get to see.

Taylor's bubbly mood shows she's hardly reeling from the harsh, yet hilarious, criticism of her cover of Earth, Wind and Fire's "September."

She performed it during one of her recent concerts, and the co-writer of the track said Taylor sounded like a "a drunk turtle dozing under a sunflower after ingesting a bottle of Valium."

The 3 men who beat the crap out of an aggressive Cardi B autograph seeker have been ID'd by cops and TMZ's learned they're now persons of interest.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the guys are in Offset's crew, but when cops called neither the rapper nor his famous -- and very preggo -- fiancée were cooperating. Investigators had their luck quickly turn ... and it had everything to do with Offset's chain getting stolen from his hotel room.

We're told investigators in that case wanted a list of names of authorized people coming in and out of the Migos rapper's room. When they got that list, investigators handed it to cops handling the assault case. Those cops ran background checks on the suspects, checked surveillance and cross-checked the names on social media.

Sources tell us cops struck gold and found images that matched the same gear they were wearing in the assault captured on camera. We're told the 3 men are currently in Georgia. They're not officially suspects  ... at least not yet.

As we first reported ... the autograph seeker has sued Cardi B and Offset alleging their hired muscle is responsible for the attack.

Lifetime's diving deep into R. Kelly's alleged sex cult with a documentary series ... and TMZ's learned the network's getting tons of help from the families directly affected.

Tim Savage -- the father of alleged brainwashed sex slave Joycelyn Savage -- tells TMZ ... 3 families are directly involved with helping Lifetime produce the documentary. Along with the Savages, Tim tells us Michelle Gardner's playing ball, as is Angelo Clary.

And get this ... one of the scenes features Michelle in L.A. looking for her daughter, Dominique. Michelle tells us she recognized her daughter in a video we posted earlier this month interviewing Joycelyn. Dominique's the one wearing the baseball hat and black t-shirt.

We're told Michelle somehow found Dominique and brought her back home with her. As far as Angelo ... he's been trying to find his daughter, Azriel, for some time now. As we reported ... Angelo claims Azriel met Kelly when she was 17 and shortly after meeting Angelo says she moved in with him.

Taylor Swift's cover of Earth, Wind & Fire's classic hit "September" was about as exciting as a drunk and sedated turtle napping ... so says one of the co-writers of the song.

Allee Willis, who co-wrote "September" with EW&F's Maurice White and Al McKay, shared her thoughts on Taylor's rendition Friday during a show in Detroit.

Here's what she reportedly said, in part -- it's pretty brutal ... "I didn't really think she did a horrible job. Yes, I felt it was as lethargic as a drunk turtle dozing under a sunflower after ingesting a bottle of Valium, and I thought it had all the build of a one-story motel, but, I mean, the girl didn't kill anybody." OUCHHH!!!!!

The criticism went on ... "She didn't run over your foot. She just cut a very calm and somewhat boring take of one of the peppiest, happiest, most popular songs in history."

Taylor released her acoustic version of "September" last month on Spotify. She caught a lot of backlash for turning the funky song into a country snoozer. The band's very own lead singer, Philip Bailey, praised Taylor's take, but clearly Willis disagreed.

She finished her thoughts with this message to Taylor ... "I'm honored you'd choose to do my song and that it meant enough to you that you wanted to personalize it to the goddamn 28th night of September, that you wanted to cover it with banjo."

Do you remember // That time Taylor Swift pissed off someone who helped write "September?" Hell yes we do.

Katy Perry treated her hometown to free booze at a concert this weekend -- but might've spoken too soon ... 'cause much of the crowd went runnin'.

Katy performed Saturday night at the Santa Barbara Bowl for what she dubbed 'Witness: Coming Home' -- a benefit show to help relief efforts for the wildfires and mudslides in the area earlier this year. All ticket sales were donated, including Katy's cut.

Toward the end of the performance, Katy offered to buy the entire audience "all drinks" on her dime, per eyewitnesses. True to form ... many in the SB crowd immediately hit the bar.

You can hear Katy try to call them back in to catch the rest of the show, but it was too late. Santa Barbara Bowl's general manager, Rick Boller, tells TMZ that her offer amounted to about one free drink per person to anyone who swung by. No word yet on the total tab.

Holy lord ... Beyonce now has her very own church!

Queen Bey's the new owner of a stone structured, 7,500 sq. ft house of God in The Big Easy. The New Orleans church -- which is more than 100 years old -- was listed at $850,000 ... but it's unclear if she got a divine discount.

We're told Beyonce's church was built in the early 1900s, but has been out of commission as a place of worship for some time due to its church members passing away.

Looks like it could be revival time though ... and Beyonce shouldn't have any issues finding folks willing to get in formation and join her congregation. Her sister, Solange, lives nearby, too.

Speaking of ... a San Francisco church held the first ever "Beyonce Mass" a few weeks ago and had more than 900 people show up for it.

Rapper Trippie Redd makes it clear who he f***s with and who he doesn't, but one thing we don't know yet ... why a bouncer was so pissed at his crew.

We got the 18-year-old rapper leaving Delilah in Weho Friday with his entourage, and he's got takes on meeting with President Trump, foul-mouthed 9-year-old rapper Lil Tay, and Tekashi69 ... and that last take's sure to heat up their beef.

But the real fireworks came as Trippie's ride was trying to drive away, but a bouncer from Delilah got in the street and blocked them from leaving. The rapper got around him pretty quick ... but things got heated with the car the rest of his crew was in.

We're told the bouncer was trying to stop them because there was a fight in the restaurant earlier ... and Trippie's guys were allegedly connected.

Elton John just performed at the reception for Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle ... just as we said he would.

We've learned Elton sang "Your Song" to the VIP crowd. On hand -- the Queen and the Queen, aka Oprah. We're told he performed other songs as well.

It's interesting ... Ellie Goulding performed the same song at William and Kate's wedding.

TMZ broke the story Elton would be performing. Makes sense, given he's super close to Prince Harry and was obviously extremely tight with Princess Diana.

The reception is a luncheon at Windsor Castle, hosted by the Queen. We're told all 600 guests are in attendance.

Teairra Mari's ex-boyfriend, Akbar Abdul-Ahad, says she's pointing her finger at the wrong guy when it comes to who leaked her sex tape ... because it's not a guy at all ... it's a woman.

Akbar is being accused of hacking into Teairra's Instagram account and posting the XXX video, from which 50 Cent then grabbed a screenshot and shared with his 18 million followers. Teairra's lawyered up and is suing, claiming it's revenge porn.

But, when we spoke with Akbar he claimed he knows the culprit, a female, but wasn't naming names. He says Teairra's putting on an act because that's what she does by trade, plus he claims they were hanging out as early as last week, days before her lawsuit was filed.