Music

Ringo Starr's sudden weekend illness was actually the beginning stages of COVID -- and now, the former Beatle has been forced to hit the pause button on performing.

The announcement came Monday from The Canada Life Centre -- where Ringo and his band were scheduled to perform this week -- writing ... "Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band were forced to cancel their recent shows due to illness. It has been confirmed today that Ringo has Covid and the tour will be on hold while Ringo recuperates."

They add, "As of today the Canada Life Centre show on October 4 has been canceled," while going on to explain that he's recuperating at home and hoping to return to the stage soon.

Ringo's been on tour, and he's got a string of shows coming up that, for now, seem to be getting pushed -- including five Canadian dates through Sunday ... which were due to kick off in Winnipeg. Starting next week, he's got more shows here in the U.S.

Ringo's diagnosis follows his cancelation of a concert this weekend in Prior Lake, Minnesota -- while it was noted he'd fallen ill, the official word was that he didn't have the 'rona. Obviously, he's contracted it since then.

A Russian rapper who was opposed to his country's invasion of Ukraine jumped from a high-rise building to his death ... after being drafted to fight in the war.

27-year-old rapper Walkie posted a video in which he said, "If you are watching this video, then I am no longer alive. I can't take the sin of murder on my soul and I don't want to. I am not ready to kill for any ideals."

Walkie went on ... "I choose to remain in history forever. As a man who did not support what was happening I am not ready to take up arms and kill my own kind."

He had already served in the Russian Army, and despised the experience. This time around he tried to get a deferment because of mental illness, but that did not fly with the Russian military.

Walkie was 27.

RIP

Tory Lanez allegedly ran into a woman's car -- and the driver was pregnant -- and then took off ... that is, if you believe a lawsuit she's now filed against him.

The rapper is being sued by a couple named Krisha and Jesse Grullon, who claim he sideswiped them with his luxury vehicle in Miami during New Year's Day 2021 ... only to then allegedly flee the scene without even checking on them.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the Grullons allege they exited a highway and stopped at a red light at the end of the off-ramp. Moments later, they claim, Tory came out of nowhere and struck their car from the rear left side with a green Bentley SUV.

The Grullons insist Tory never exited his ride, but instead ... claim he took off without a second thought. The worst part, they say Krisha was 4 months pregnant at the time.

The couple is gunning to have him sit for a deposition, which they're requesting be conducted early in 2023. They're also denying Tory responded to their claims in 45 days' time ... either admitting or denying each specific part of their claim.

As you know ... Tory's already embroiled in a legal case here in California over allegations he used a firearm to cause bodily injury to Megan Thee Stallion -- something that's going to trial next month. He was also recently accused of beating up August Alsina in Chicago ... but it doesn't appear the cops are involved in that one just yet.

We've reached out to Tory's camp ... so far, no word back.

Lizzo playing James Madison's flute might have conservative pundits up in arms, but the folks repping the 4th president's home couldn't be happier and they're urging her to make a house call ASAP.

A rep for James Madison's Montpelier estate tells TMZ ... Lizzo now has an open invitation to take a private tour of Madison's well-preserved estate after she made history with the crystal instrument formerly owned by the prez.

They're even hoping she'll put on a performance during her visit -- whether it be a planned concert or a simple jam session on the fly!!!

They hope something can be worked out with the Library of Congress to get the crystal flute -- which dates back to 1813 -- brought there for Lizzo's set. The estate notes there's no evidence JM ever played the instrument, so Lizzo could be the first to play Madison's flute at Madison's home. Iconic.

FYI -- the historic Montpelier, located in Virginia, is a 2,650-acre estate ... acting not only as a monument to the former president, but also as a museum of American history and a center for constitutional education.

It's unclear if Lizzo will accept the gig -- she is currently in the middle of a tour -- but, it should be noted close to 100 slaves worked at Montpelier back when Madison lived there.

As we reported, Lizzo made history by playing some notes with the 200-year-old instrument Tuesday ... and we're told Montpelier doesn't think anyone else is more deserving -- calling it "a flute for royalty," with the singer fitting the bill.

The moment rubbed some people the wrong way (what else is new?) ... as they claimed she degraded American history by using such a unique relic as part of her performance.

Jack Johnson says he's being stalked and harassed by a woman who keeps popping up at his shows, trying to get close to him ... so now he's getting court-ordered protection.

The "Better Together" singer beelined it to court this week and got a temporary restraining order against a female fan he says recently confronted him at the hotel he was staying at.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Jack claims the woman traveled to Houston, Texas on Aug. 26 and got in his face at his hotel ... and the interaction was so frightening, not only for Jack but also for the bandmate who saw it all go down, Jack and his band bounced until cops came and detained the woman.

Jack had a show that night in the Houston area ... and he claims his alleged stalker often buys VIP packages to his shows in order to get close to him. JJ also says she emails him and his management, claiming she's been the victim of a long-term financial scheme ... conning her out of millions of dollars.

Jack says he's worried for his safety because it's easy for the woman to track his movements ... pointing out his tour dates and personal appearances are readily available online.

Jack claims the woman's been hounding him for several years ... and says his legal team's sent her cease and desist warnings, all to no avail.

Vanessa Bryant went to the Bad Bunny concert in L.A. this weekend -- and it seems two's all the company she needed for premier box seats.

The widow of the late Kobe Bryant was seen attending the show at SoFi Stadium Saturday, and she ended up getting her own VIP suite ... with just a few people on hand. It was her, a female friend and a few security guards who were also tagging along.

We're told the suites go for around $25k or so -- and based on the footage, it seems she was enjoying it mostly to herself and her gal pal. Unclear who the other woman was, though.

You can tell she was trying to keep a low profile, not wanting to photographed or filmed on the way out -- with her bodyguards shielding her. It seems she might've actually been rolling solo when it was all said and done ... you don't see the other lady with her at the end here.

Eyewitnesses tell us she made the most of it nonetheless. We're told she stayed through the whole thing -- catching Cardi B's guest performance, too, no doubt -- and enjoyed the smorgasbord of eats, even dancing a bit apparently.

Remember, she's fresh off a tough court case that she won ... so it's good to see her out.

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.