Music

Adam Levine took the stage for the first time since his cheating scandal, and he and his band were met with cheers.

Adam performed Saturday night with his band, Maroon 5, at Shaquille O'Neal's annual fundraising gala, "The Event." It went down at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Vegas.

Adam had some company onstage ... Shaq joined him as the band performed "This Love."

Social media judgments be damned ... it was a great evening that benefited the Boys & Girls Clubs and Communities in School. One hundred percent of the proceeds are going to charities.

Shaq has been squarely in Adam's corner, making it clear ... "Adam is a personal friend of mine. He's always been a great guy."

As for the scandal, Shaq said, "It is not my job to say, 'You did this. You did that. You shouldn’t have did this. You shouldn’t have did that,'" he continued. "As far as I can say, he’s coming to help kids out this weekend. He’s a good man in my book."

Adam and his pregnant wife, supermodel Behati Prinsloo, are presenting a united front. They've been seen out together, and got on a private jet a few days ago. It's unclear if they were going to Vegas, but that seems likely considering Behati was at the fundraiser.

Kanye West engaged in some high-fashion mudslinging this weekend in the City of Light.

Ye and a gaggle of models walked the runway in getups slathered in mud. Yeah, it's a look and, we're guessing, an acquired taste.

Kanye's ex, Kim Kardashian, did not join, but all four of their kids were there. Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner were also in attendance ... plus other stars including Offset, Naomi Campbell and Salma Hayek.

West opened the show ... aptly titled, Balenciaga's Apocalyptic, Mud-Filled SS23.

The creative director for Balenciaga, Demna, said the mud is "a metaphor for digging for truth and being down to earth."

Kanye has never walked the runway before, and actually, he didn't this time ... he stomped down it, wearing leather pans, a security jacket, a baseball cap and a hood.

Demna went on to say, "Let us let everyone be anyone and make love not war." The timing is interesting, given Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

BTW ... Bella Hadid also hit the runway. Her face was made to look bruised and beaten as she walked with a baby carrier strapped to her body ... again, covered in mud.

Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band did not hit the stage Saturday night, because the famed drummer has fallen ill.

The plug was pulled at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Michigan after the 82-year-old former Beatle realized he could not perform. Whatever he has, it affected his voice, so just a few hours before the scheduled show ... it was canceled.

The band spokesperson said Ringo does not have COVID, but did not say what was ailing him.

There seems to be some hope the concert could be rescheduled, which is good news on the health front. Promoters did say people could get a refund if they wanted.

The fans who showed up for the concert did not get a reason for the cancelation ... just that it wasn't gonna happen.

One of the concertgoers tells TMZ, he went to the Four Winds Casino management and pressed them as to why the show was a no-go, and was told Ringo was ill but would not go further.

Vanilla Ice got pretty emotional, recalling the last time he had a heart-to-heart with Coolio about being a parent ... adding he's put a brief hold on his tour following the rapper's death.

Ice tried keeping it together while talking about their last convo ... and it sounds like Coolio's kids were on his mind the last time they hung out. He says family was a big topic during their chats.

He tells us Coolio was all about positivity ... and was a good friend all this time -- adding he'll be missed.

Ice also says he's taking the weekend off from performing after learning about his bud's death ... because he doesn't think he's in the right mindset to put on a show.

As we reported, Coolio's last performance was with Ice ... coming out onstage with him last week to freestyle during his set. V.I. says he had no clue this performance would be his last -- he was more focused on how honored he was to have such a legend up there with him.

It's that time of the year again -- when everyone makes jokes about Billie Joe Armstrong ... and he's totally in on it, despite how difficult of a time this is in reality.

The Green Day frontman tried to get ahead of all the memes and posts that inevitably were posted anyway -- taking to the GD Instagram account to throw up a photo of himself floating on a giant rubber ducky with a drink in hand.

His caption is pretty simple ... "GOOD MORNING. YOU’RE WELCOME." BJA noted that he's in Singapore right now, and it seems he's on a bit of vacay -- which is also telling.

What we're talking about, of course, is his band's famous song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" ... and all the cracks that are online right now, making fun of the fact that Billie must be rising from his month-long slumber on October 1st.

It's all in good fun -- at least on the surface anyway. The problem, though, is that there's a bit of a dark origin story to that classic ditty ... and it has to do with Billie's father and him passing away when he was a young boy, back in September of '82 to be exact.

This is well-chronicled ... as BJA has gone on record many times over the years to explain this, noting that the song is about him dealing with a hard time in his life and having to process the death anniversary of his father -- which he did through this song.

Seems like most people are simply unaware of this hard truth -- which is fine, but going forward -- folks should probably chill on the Billie jokes every October 1st ... 'cause like we said, it's actually a sore subject for the guy. Although he's clowning around here, it's gotta be tough.

When "MJ: The Musical" meets "The Producers" ... you get a little something like this.

John Branca -- one of the guys behind Broadway's biggest spectacle right now -- went backstage Friday night with his wife, Jenna, to meet the show's lead star ... Myles Frost, who plays Michael. They had a cool little photo-op moment together -- flashing smiles and looking sharp.

'MJ' has been playing since earlier this February -- after a lot of delays, due to COVID -- and so far ... it's a smash hit. Not only has it been commercially successful, but it has sat well with critics too ... even snagging a handful of Tonys this year, including for Frost.

He won Best Actor in a Musical -- and 'MJ' has won some technical Tonys too, such as Best Choreography, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design. It's about Mike's real-life 1992 Dangerous tour, and the show gives a BTS glimpse at some of his imagined rehearsals.

Of course, it also covers a ton of MJ hits along the way ... with his signature dance numbers to boot. There was controversy around this at first, but most of that seems to have fallen by the wayside, especially this many months into a long and consistent run.

There are reports Trevor Noah and Dua Lipa are "just friends." Really?

Now that we know Trevor's plan to exit "The Daily Show," which he announced Thursday, it seems kinda weird he'd have dinner with a casual friend the night before ... there are things to discuss with your closest allies when stuff like that is about to go down.

Well, it's possible they're just friends ... hugging and kissing on the street as friends often do.

Trevor sent shock waves in the TV world with his announcement he's leaving the show that made him super famous in America. As we reported, he has a ton of projects in the works, both in front of and behind the cam, and a daily show may have proved too much of a grind.

Both are unattached ... Trevor is no longer dating Minka Kelly, and Dua has Anwar Hadid in her rear view.

Coolio fans flocked to his website after his death to grab some merch ... and the response was so overwhelming, people were met with a big ol' "404 error."

The rapper's merch store was out of service as of Friday morning ... folks were unable to grab Coolio swag online -- instead seeing the message, "Page not found -- Somehow you have come to a page that does not exist."

Normally, a response like this would come up if the page were deleted, or because of heavy traffic. It looks like the latter is the culprit.

FYI -- the site normally has lots of great finds for Coolio fans ... stuff like fanny packs, mugs, hoodies and face masks.

You can count Ski Mask the Slump God among the rappers who won't stop wearing iced-out chains and jewelry after PnB Rock's murder, but he's taking some precautions and relying on good energy!!!

TMZ Hip Hop chopped it up with Ski Mask Thursday at LAX and asked about his massive chain inspired by the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! manga card game ... which he shamelessly wears while being searched by TSA.

The piece is modeled after a Millenium Puzzle and opens up to reveal his name engraved on a diamond-encrusted globe -- it's nothing short of insane, and totally conspicuous.

Ski Mask says he leaves on all his bling and rings through TSA searches, simply because it'll take too long to put them back on!!!

That being said, the Florida rapper definitely has thoughts on this week's arrests in the PnB case, he and echoes the recent remarks of Roddy Ricch and DJ Drama that L.A. is a dangerous place.

While he's aware of the violence, Ski Mask says keeping good energy typically prevents altercations in his circle ... and he also avoids most trouble by simply not going out at all!

TMZ broke the story earlier this week ... a father and son duo were arrested and charged with PnB's Sept. 12 murder at a Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles in South Los Angeles.

Of course, Ski Mask went through a similar tragedy when his close friend XXXTENTACION was shot and killed in 2018.

Remy Ma was in early talks to become the first rapper-turned-'Real Housewife,' but she ran into a major problem -- because as any realtor would tell her, it's all about location, location, location.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... 'RHONY' star Eboni K. Williams brought up Remy's name to casting several months ago for the Bravo reality series ... suggesting Remy would be a great addition to the show.

We're told the casting team had a virtual chat with Remy and the conversation went really well ... but they hit a huge roadblock when they found out the Bronx-born MC now lives in New Jersey full-time.

Our sources say the rapper used to have an apartment in midtown Manhattan, but she doesn't anymore. At the time she was recommended to casting it was still believed she had ties to NYC.

While the Bravo series is historically loose about the cast's "wife" status, they're pretty strict when it comes to geography -- so all convos with Remy about "Real Housewives of New York City" ended.

We're told well-known NYC newscaster, Tamsen Fadal, from the CW affiliate PIX11 was also being considered, but ultimately that didn't work out, either.

Bravo hasn't officially announced the new cast for season 14. As we reported in April, housewives honcho Andy Cohen announced the network is completely rebooting and recasting 'RHONY' after 13 seasons.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is making Cali the first state to block prosecutors from freely using rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases -- and the move has some high-profile supporters.

Newsom looked like he was hosting a hip hop award show Friday as he put his John Hancock on Assembly Bill 2799. The signing went down in an online forum that included Too $hort, Meek Mill, Killer Mike, Tyga, YG, E-40, Ty Dolla $ign. and some other industry heavyweights.

The new CA law prevents prosecutors from using rappers' lyrics in court as circumstantial evidence ... unless a judge first reviews and approves it. Before the Gov. signed, several of the rappers talked about why the bill was so important.

Cali homegrown MCs E-40 and Too $hort, in particular, stressed the need for artists to have the freedom to creatively express themselves ... and said they hoped the Golden State would start a trend.

A similar bill in New York faltered earlier this year in that state's legislature.

Veteran rapper and former convict X-Raided told TMZ Hip Hop he always believed Newsom’s progressive politics would make the difference in California.

The Strange Music artist spent 26 years in prison for his role in a 1992 murder, but said he believes he would have been acquitted if prosecutors had been barred from referencing his lyrics.

Coolio was busy working up until he died, but there was one opportunity he was super excited about that unfortunately never happened ... he was supposed to appear on one of Nick Cannon's most popular shows.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ Coolio was scheduled to be in Atlanta to film an episode of "Wild 'N Out" on Tuesday, Sept. 20 ... but the rapper was forced to cancel at the last minute.

We're told Coolio really wanted to be on the show, and producers had been working for a long time to make it happen before they were finally able to find a date that worked.

However, a source close to Coolio tells us his travel plans changed at the last minute and he couldn't get a flight to Atlanta that would work for the show's taping.

We're told Coolio was a huge fan of the show and was bummed he couldn't participate. What's more, Valentina Nicolette, who booked Coolio for the gig tells us he was also planning to perform "Gangsta's Paradise" during his time on the show.

As we first told you ... Coolio appeared happy and in good health later that same week, taking pics with fans in a Texas airport ahead of a concert in the Houston area with Vanilla Ice.

Fat Joe is suing his Chicago-based accounting firm, claiming it was running a Ponzi scheme that misappropriated his funds and those of some MLB players, too.

According to legal documents, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Joe claims tax hub BDO, its longtime CPA Andre N. Chammas and his assistant Vanessa Rodriguez defrauded him in several ways.

According to the docs, Joe noticed some accounting irregularities after Rodriguez was fired in July ... and he says things really didn't add up when he started taking a closer look.

For starters, Joe says his wife Lorena's name was used to open AMEX accounts and make huge unauthorized purchases, including $40K in charges for Uber rides and UberEats deliveries, as well as tuition payments for Rodriguez's daughter.

Joe also claims he discovered one of his entities, Sneaker Addict Touring, was missing large deposits -- to the tune of more than $300K. He says there were similar irregularities with other entities.

As for the Ponzi part of the alleged scheme -- Joe claims the firm also defrauded Jose Iglesias of Colorado Rockies, Luis Garcia of the Houston Astros and former Chicago White Sox player Dayan Viciedo.

In the suit, he says AMEX accounts were opened under their names as well, and the money flowed between all of their accounts to keep the Ponzi going. The players are not plaintiffs in the suit, and Joe makes it clear he feels they were victims ... just like himself.

Nick Cannon has a couple early birthday gifts this year cause he just welcomed his 10th baby ... just 2 weeks after his 9th child was born.

The extremely proud dad shared the news Friday about his newborn son, Rise Messiah Cannon. on IG. He wrote, "Another Blessing!!! As my journey on this planet becomes more and more remarkable and unfathomable, all I can do is thank God and continue to ask the Most High to order my steps."

Rise is Nick's 3rd child with his ex-girlfriend Brittany Bell.

He went on to thank Brittany for what he calls 48 hours of excruciating pain and life-risking danger, saying ... "Thank you Brittany for my fellow little Libra! I love you and our Incredible Family!"

Of course, the new bundle of joy comes just weeks after Nick's daughter Onyx Ice Cole Cannon with model LaNisha Cole was born.

As we've reported, Abby De La Rosa, is also due next month with their third child together.

FYI Nick's birthday is also next month, so it looks like he's gonna be doing ALOT of celebrating this season.

Coolio's sudden death comes as a total shock to fans who interacted with him less than a week before he passed, and they say he gave no indication he was having health issues.

TMZ obtained these photos and videos of the "Gangsta's Paradise" rapper traveling last Friday through the Houston airport, and he was happy and in good spirits as he greeted some giddy fans.

Mika, the woman who stopped Coolio in the airport, tells TMZ ... she ran up to him to get a photo and he was friendly and very happy to take some pics, laughing and being very engaging.

We're told he even invited Mika and her girl pals to come to his show that night in Cypress, TX and they exchanged numbers and text messages -- and Coolio got the women on the VIP guest list.

Mika says she and her friends didn't end up going to the show because it was about an hour from where they were staying in Houston, and now they're devastated they missed that chance to see what turned out to be his last live performance.

TMZ broke the story ... Coolio died Wednesday afternoon at a friend's house in L.A., and his Friday concert with Vanilla Ice in Texas ended up being his last gig.

Coolio went to the bathroom at his friend's place and never came out ... his friend called 911 and paramedics gave him CPR for 45 minutes in an effort to revive the rapper.

Law enforcement sources say no drugs or drug paraphernalia were found at the scene of his death. An autopsy and toxicology test will be used to determine the official cause of death.

Coolio's death has the likes of Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, LL Cool J and Vanilla Ice sadly memorializing their longtime partner in rhyme -- and now a fellow West Coast O.G.'s delivering his own eulogy.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Ras Kass, who -- like so many in hip hop -- is sharing memories of Coolio, but he's also saluting his mic skills.

Ras and Coolio have several records together ... including one on the late rapper's magnum opus "Gangsta's Paradise," but their relationship dates back before Ras was even old enough to drive.

He admits being a local knucklehead growing up in Watts when he befriended Coolio's longtime partner Bryan "Wino" Dobbs ... who eventually passed his early work to Coolio while Ras was locked away in juvenile detention.

After a stern lecturing to get his act right, Ras obliged and was soon on tour and rocking Lollapalooza while still a teenager!

Ras notes Coolio's hip hop legacy is extra special, considering his brand of West Coast boogie was selling multi-platinum ... at the same time as gangsta rap's popularity peak when folks like 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube reigned supreme on the rap charts.

He also remembers the good times -- such as Coolio's Grammy Award win for his mega-hit "Gangsta's Paradise" back in 1996.

Rap music hadn't solidified its respect or revenue streams just yet and Ras says he, Coolio and crew celebrated like they had never been there before ... because they hadn't!!!

Ras sends his condolences to Coolio's fam and looks forward to his upcoming project with Havoc and Philly MC RJ Payne ... which he describes as N.W.A meets Mobb Deep.