Music

Naomi Judd -- the Grammy-winning country star and one half of the mom-and-daughter duo The Judds -- has died ... this according to her kids.

Wynonna and Ashley Judd released a statement Saturday, saying ... "Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness." They add, "We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory." No other details were offered.

NJ's passing comes as a bit of a shock -- while she's been public in recent years about different personal struggles she's grappled with throughout her life, including depression dating back to her childhood, nobody seemed to know the extent of what she was battling.

Naomi had also made clear that her issues had left her and her country duo-daughter, Wynonna, estranged for a time ... but they'd recently reconciled and were actually due to hit the road again this year for an arena tour across the country -- the first in over a decade.

Plus, Wynonna and Naomi were supposed to appear together Sunday as inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame ceremony -- so the timing of this tragedy is stunning.

The Judds first formed in 1983 and had a massively successful career for about a decade thereafter -- during which they cranked out six studio albums, over 20 hit singles (many of which charted in the Top 10 and higher) ... and won 5 Grammys between '85 and '92.

Some notable songs ... "Love Can Build a Bridge," "Girls Night Out," "Grandpa," "Young Love," "Let Me Tell You About Love," "Maybe Your Baby's Got the Blues," "Give a Little Love," "Have Mercy," "Turn It Loose," "I Know Where I'm Going," among countless others.

The group disbanded in the '90s, during which each woman ventured out solo into their respective careers ... and Naomi even dabbled in television with one-off appearances, either as a side character or herself ... and eventually got into movies as well.

She's appeared in hit series like "Frasier," "3rd Rock From the Sun," "Touched by an Angel," "Sisters," "Maybe It's Me," and more. Naomi's also starred in flicks like "An Evergreen Christmas," "Someone Like You...," "A Holiday Romance," "The Family Tree," "Newlyweds," etc.

BTW, Ashley had her mom cameo in at least one of her films ... so they were obviously close. Naomi's survived by her husband, Larry Strickland, and her celebrity daughters.

She was 76.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon's relationship is often seen as bitter, but this week ... Macca seems to have made it clear ... him and John can still come together, even now.

The Beatles frontman was performing this week in Spokane, WA ... and toward the end of the show, during an encore performance, PMC started strumming to his band's song "I've Got a Feeling" -- which appears on The Beatles' last album, "Let It Be."

The song is also featured in their new 'Get Back' documentary ... featured as one of the songs Paul and co. performed on the rooftop of Apple Corps HQ in London.

Of course, he was also side by side with his then-bandmates -- including the late Lennon -- which is what this moment all the more cool ... Paul beamed in JL's video performance of the song live and worked it into the set.

As soon as John's face appeared on the screen behind Paul, the audience went crazy ... and it seems his vocals were coming through quite nicely through the sound system in the building.

Paul weaved in and out of John's singing seamlessly with his own, and at one point ... they were in a full-blown duet together, just like old times. Before John faded out, it appears Paul even turned to face the screen to give a thank you wave.

It was seriously awesome, and kinda puts to bed the idea that there's any bad blood between the pair -- despite the fact Paul recently cast blame on John for breaking up the band.

Adele is close to finalizing a deal to bring her Vegas residency to a new home ... with her sights set on a premiere date in a few months.

Sources with direct knowledge of the singer's plans tell TMZ ... she and her team are in serious talks with the people over at Planet Hollywood, and will do the show at Zappos Theater -- barring any unforeseen setbacks.

As we reported, Adele was supposed to do a residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace earlier this year -- but the show was derailed and canceled after what she first claimed was a COVID outbreak, but then it came out the postponement was really over creative issues.

Our sources say there'll be some major perks for Adele at Zappos ... she'll have full creative control over the show. And, get this, we're told Adele will also rake in a large cut of ticket sales -- a significant enhancement considering Zappos holds 7,000 people compared to The Colosseum's 4,100.

As for the dates, the official schedule is still being worked out, but the aim is for a late summer start that will run through the end of 2022 -- makes sense considering she recently revealed she wants to have a baby in 2023.

You'd think there might be some bad blood between The Colosseum and Zappos with Adele -- but both venues fall under the Caesars Entertainment family -- so all is good.

Adele's been spending the last few months with her bf Rich Paul, taking in NBA games and even dropping in at a London gay bar for some fun.

DaBaby is facing criminal charges for a beatdown a man claims he suffered for trying to stop the rapper's entourage from shooting a music video on his property.

The rapper has been charged with felony battery by the L.A. County District Attorney's Office ... over an incident from early December last year ... which allegedly left a guy, Gary Pragar, with serious injuries.

There's another man named Thankgod Awute who's being charged as well. Prosecutors claim he was DaBaby's cohort in crime ... they hit him with felony robbery.

Pragar filed a lawsuit in February, claiming he was attacked for enforcing basic property rental rules at his place.

DaBaby and his team rented a massive pad that Pragar manages in L.A. ... and Pragar says he was told it was going to be a vacation place for DB and his pals. Pragar says he made clear ... there was a guest limit -- no more than 12 -- which he claims DaBaby's management team agreed to in a rental agreement.

During their weeklong stay ... Pragar says he became aware there were way more than 12 people at the property at any given time and complained to DaBaby's team ... getting assured, falsely he says, that they wouldn't be there for long.

Eventually, on Dec. 2, he says he paid a visit himself and realized they were shooting a music video there with an entire film crew and a ton of other people around -- upwards of 40, he says -- and Pragar tried to shut the whole thing down by talking to DaBaby.

That's when he claims he was attacked by someone in DB's crew, part of which was caught on video. He says DB ordered the guy off of Pragar, but then allegedly sucker-punched him in the face, knocking out his tooth ... this, per the lawsuit.

Sounds like Pragar went to the authorities after this, and now they're coming down hard on DB and co. Tough few weeks for DaBaby -- this is just the latest incident for him in a string of seemingly nonstop hiccups.

Post Malone did a good deed -- a very good deed -- for students who were grieving over the death of their principal.

Post recorded a video for students at P.S. 56, The Louis Desario School in Staten Island. Principal, Phil Carollo, died suddenly last month at 49 ... apparently from a heart attack.

Phil's widow Erin tells TMZ ... her husband was a huge Post Malone fan ... the fam would take car rides and all they played was PM as the couple and their kids sang along.

Well, Phil would have celebrated his 50th birthday Friday, so folks at the school wanted to do something special. They held a carnival, and wanted Post to record a vid honoring Phil that could be played to all the students.

One of the teachers, Linda Acevado, started an online petition to get Post to record the video.

Linda was undeterred ... a colleague had a friend who somehow had a way to get to Post, and he recorded the video.

You see Linda in the video break down in tears as an emotional Post offers words of comfort to the students.

Travis Scott has another fellow artist supporting his decision to resume his music career following the Astroworld tragedy that left 10 people dead.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Tinashe at LAX, and the R&B starlet feels it's prime time for Cactus Jack's comeback. While she acknowledged the festival was indeed a "sensitive subject," she doesn't feel Travis should be banned from performing ... provided additional security measures are in place.

The singer -- who just fired off the deluxe version of her "333" album -- actually collaborated with Travis on her 2014 debut album "Aquarius" and echoed much of what T-Pain told us earlier this week.

As for the various Astroworld lawsuits still hanging over Travis' head ... both sides have accused each other of "tainting" the jury pool

Attorneys for victims have criticized Travis for his charitable initiative, Project Heal, calling it a thinly-veiled attempt to get into a jury's good graces -- while reps for La Flare claim a new documentary, "Concert Crush: The Travis Scott Festival Tragedy," is a cash grab, and one that could potentially taint a jury.

Questlove is fresh off his first Oscar for his "Summer Of Soul" documentary, and it sounds like he wants to hand Action Bronson some hardware too ... for his latest album.

As new music releases flooded social media and DSPs Friday, The Roots' drummer, Oscar winner and, let's not forget, all-around hip hop genius ... found his favorite in Action's "Cocodrillo Turbo," and gave it a glowing endorsement on Twitter.

The 10-song project is a fluid offering, finding the colorful New York-bred MC rummaging through his traditional rap bag over production from Griselda's Daringer ... with features from Conway The Machine, Roc Marciano and Meyhem Lauren.

While Quest digs the record, some Twitter mob critics think it lacks hooks, and it's "filled with random phrases that have no meaning and Italian food references over weird jazz beats."

Can't please 'em all, right?

But, AB's loyal fans point out he's been improving his life aura ... chopping down his once familiar 400-pound frame by 160 pounds and even altering his eating habits on his popular show, "F**k, That's Delicious."

As for that album title -- it's Latin for crocodile -- the proud Sagittarian says it's inspired by his time in the water, and he delved into his reptilian side via a freaky short film to tell another story.

Chris Paul went absolutely nutty yesterday ... breaking an NBA Playoff record while leading the Phoenix Suns to victory over Curren$y's New Orleans Pelicans, but Spitta Andretti is taking it in stride.

The NOLA rap legend was courtside Thursday night in his hometown to witness CP3 shoot a perfect 33-point game. Following the 115-109 victory, Chris still had enough energy to talk smack to Spitta and his manager Mousa in a viral moment on the sidelines.

The footage is hilarious … CP3 was still in go mode as Curren$y eventually playfully pushed him off.

Curren$y tells TMZ Hip Hop of the heartfelt moment "Chris was just talking s***," as they've been pals for a long time. Remember, CP3 started his future Hall of Fame career with the then-New Orleans Hornets.

Despite the loss, Curren$y says the playoff experience unified the city -- "The Pelicans put it all on the court for us and we filled the arena for them," Spitta continued. I feel like this turnaround season is definitely gonna be a booster shot to the season ticket sales."

Spitta's having a personal come-up in 2022, having dropped off 2 projects this year alone ("Land Air Sea" Chopped + Slopped reissue w/ Cash Fargo and "Continuance" w/ Grammy-Nominated producer The Alchemist) -- and recently blazed his way through a heralded Tiny Desk Concert ... dropped, appropriately, on 4/20.

Morgan Wallen is getting a second chance at showing his talents to an award show crowd -- he's been named as a performer for the Billboard Awards -- his first televised gig since 2020.

Billboard made the announcement Friday, with a statement from the show's production company, saying, "We oppose discrimination, harassment, or racism of any kind.”

They continue, “We believe in treating everyone with dignity and respect. After a thorough review and robust discussions internally and with the artist’s team, in which we found a demonstrated and ongoing commitment to meaningful work and outreach, we extended an invitation to participate in this year’s show.”

Wallen's been shut out of performing at awards shows since we posted a video of him shouting the n-word with a group of friends after a night out in Nashville back in February 2021.

While he's put on some live shows, and was even able to be in the crowd at the Academy of Country Music Awards last month, he hasn't taken the mic.

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker have a thing for making out near bodies of water ... this time sucking face at Lake Como!!!

Kourtney and Travis are on yet another romantic Italian getaway, where she slipped into a black bikini and climbed on top of her man on the shores of the country's most famous lake.

It's the first time we've seen Kourtney and Travis in lovebird mode since their late-night Las Vegas "pretend" wedding ceremony earlier this month ... and now they're looking like honeymooners.

Travis was shirtless as he sat next to Kourtney on a couple of lounge chairs by the lake ... they talked for a bit, and then she couldn't resist and got all over him!!!

The couple, who are anything but shy, also grabbed a bite to eat ... and took pictures of each other on their balcony.

Kourtney and Travis just hit their Italian trifecta ... we've also seen them attached at the hip in Venice and a small town in Genoa.

"American Idol" winner Laine Hardy has a warrant issued for his arrest ... but the allegations remain a mystery.

The 2019 'AI' is under "active investigation" by the Louisiana State University Police Dept. ... Ernie​ Ballard, a rep for the University tells TMZ. The rep declined to elaborate on the allegations.

Ditto the 21-year-old country singer ... who said on social media Thursday, "I understand that my career has thrust me into the public spotlight, and I embrace that wholeheartedly as my entire world belongs to my music and my fans."

Hardy, who says he's "fully cooperative" with the PD, added ... "due to the sensitive nature of this allegation, I humbly ask for privacy at this time. I have the utmost respect for the law and will assist in their investigation as needed moving forward."

It's unclear when Hardy will turn himself into authorities.

Travis Scott's team is coming out swinging against the creators of a documentary that takes aim at the tragic events of the Astroworld music festival ... calling it a pathetic money grab.

The "propaganda piece," as Scott's reps have dubbed it, is called "Concert Crush: The Travis Scott Festival Tragedy" and started screening in Texas on Friday.

The movie's director, Charlie Minn, told the AP the project isn't intended to be a hit piece against Travis, but rather a recounting of the devastation from that day.

Clearly, that's not what Travis' team thinks, calling it a, "... farce financed by and containing content from members of the plaintiff's legal teams, who, weeks after a tragedy, sought to exploit and benefit financially from it, with the clear goals of making money and swaying future juries and public opinion."

Interestingly enough, attorney Ricardo Ramos, who represents plaintiffs in multiple Astroworld cases is a producer for the film, and actual plaintiffs from the lawsuits are also featured in the film.

They also go in on Minn, saying, "It's a profit play and a publicity stunt, with no support from the film industry, no distribution, and from a director with no respect from his field who has been termed a "trauma pornographer."

For what it's worth, Minn has been critical of Travis' actions during the festival in the past, telling the Houston Press, "I think he'd be a lot more nervous if he didn't know the mayor and police chief. The police had all the authority to stop things, and the show should have been stopped by the third song. It was a dangerous, evil joke."

The documentary features several concertgoers from that day, most blaming Travis for not seeing what was happening in the crowd.

TMZ broke the story, several Houston Police officers were seen watching Travis and Drake perform while things got worse in the crowd -- apparently unaware of the severity of what was going on.

As we reported, 10 people died from "compression asphyxia" as a result of the events at Astroworld. The investigation continues as to who or what was responsible for the deaths ... but several lawsuits have pointed the finger at Travis and promoter Live Nation.

Celine Dion is pushing back another round of performances ... she says her medical issues are still preventing her from being able to take the stage.

The "My Heart Will Go On" singer says she's still experiencing some muscle spasms and her body is not in tip-top shape ... so she's rescheduling all of this year's tour dates in Europe.

It sounds like Celine won't be performing until February at the earliest -- that's when she says her European tour is being moved to -- and as we reported, Celine put her Las Vegas residency on ice back in October and hasn't rescheduled those shows.

Celine's already delayed her European tour before ... the first time was due to the pandemic.

Dolly Parton's had a change of heart ... she's now willing to accept her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination after first trying to withdraw from the honor.

Dolly talked about her switch on NPR's "Morning Edition" Friday ... if she's voted into the Class of 2022, she'll now gracefully accept the recognition.

It was earlier this year when Dolly was nominated and tried to take herself out of the mix, saying, “I do hope that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will understand and be willing to consider me again — if I’m ever worthy.”

She also talked about being inspired to put out a great rock album in the future.

She now says she didn't understand why she was in the running because Rock and Roll was never her style -- Dolly's now learned there's more to it, especially while being up against artists like Eminem and Lionel Richie.

A$AP Rocky got good news and bad news ... LAPD sources tell TMZ, the guns they found at the rapper's home did not match the gun used in the shooting ... now for the bad news.

Our LAPD sources say they have video of the shooting in their possession ... presumably from a surveillance camera. A$AP was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon ... cops believe he shot a man in Hollywood last November during an argument, grazing his hand.

If the video is clear enough, it could be bad news for A$AP. The video could be even more powerful evidence than the gun itself.

Speaking of the guns ... we've now learned cops did indeed find multiple weapons when they executed a search warrant on his house last week, but they determined on the spot they were not the weapon they were looking for. In fact, we're told cops found shell casings at the crime scene, so they knew the type of caliber, and none of the guns at A$AP's home were a match.

Our Rocky sources say the weapons found were all fully registered and legally purchased.

We're told cops ran the serial number on the guns and they were all legally acquired. Turns out our Rocky sources were correct ... police didn't take the guns to the station -- they left them at Rocky's house.

It was a great night to be a "Drake" on Thursday ... 'cause Drake London got picked in the top 10 of the NFL Draft -- and Drake the rapper made a boatload of cash because of it!!!

Here's the deal ... a few months before Roger Goodell officially put the Jacksonville Jaguars on the clock in Las Vegas -- Drake decided to bet some cash on USC wideout and top prospect Drake London.

The "Toosie Slide" rapper threw down $100K -- saying "Drake betting on Drake just feels right" -- believing London would be the first wide receiver off the board. It was a bold bet, considering most had Garrett Wilson as the favorite for that honor.

Turns out, though, London was the top wideout picked -- going #8 overall to the Atlanta Falcons -- and according to Drake's betting slip, that earned him $225k!

London knew about Drake's bet ahead of the draft ... and told the Falcons' official team website that he and his buddies actually got a kick out of it before the event began.

"My friends were hitting my phone saying Champagne Papi bet on me," London said. "So, I thought that was funny."

Of course, placing -- and winning -- big bets is nothing new for Drake ... in fact, the 35-year-old recently got a huge payday for winning at an online roulette table.

But, he doesn't win 'em all ... remember, he famously lost $275k when he thought Jorge Masvidal would beat Colby Covington at UFC 272.

As for London, all bets side, he said he was thrilled to be picked by the Falcons on Thursday.

"I cannot wait to go out there and put on that jersey and just be a Dirty Bird at the end of the day."