Music

Rihanna tends to live in luxury wherever she goes -- and her week in Arizona preparing for the Super Bowl was no different, 'cause she spared no expense for her desert hideout.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... RiRi was renting a home about 30 miles from the stadium where SB LVII went down ... in the town of Paradise Valley -- and, we gotta say, it's a fitting name when ya see this place!!!

The price tag is a real eye-popper -- we're told she spent $85,000/night to stay here, and booked it for 6 nights ahead of the game ... so, about $510K more or less.

As for the crib where the multi-billionaire and her fam hunkered down ... well, it's a beaut. The house has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms over a sprawling 6,434 square feet.

It's a one-story pad, but it feels palatial when you take a peek inside.

For starters, there are 2 living rooms, as well as an open kitchen and accompanying walk-in wine cellar. There's also a private gym nook, and a separate office as well ... lots of room to spread out.

There's even more to marvel at outside -- in addition to the gorgeous courtyard seen out front, the backyard has extra perks ... like a huge pool with built-in waterfall, a pickle ball court, a bar area, big ol' barbecue grill, a freaking putting green and a bocce ball court!

Machine Gun Kelly's guitarist is calling BS on reports she had a romantic liaison with MGK ... after folks online claimed she's the reason for the singer's alleged breakup with Megan Fox.

The management team for guitarist Sophie Lloyd spoke out about the recent allegations ... telling Page Six she's "been needlessly dragged into the media based off of meritless accusations made by social media."

Her team went on ... "Any suggestion that she has ever acted in an unprofessional manner or stepped out of her relationship are untrue."

MGK and Sophie have been rocking together on tour, starting back in May of last year ... but fans started speculating they were an item.

As we reported, Megan scrubbed all photos of her and MGK off her IG over the weekend, while posting pics of an envelope burning with the caption, "You can taste the dishonesty it's all over your breath" -- a song from Beyoncé's Lemonade album, "Pray You Catch Me" ... the album which chronicles Jay-Z's alleged cheating.

She ended up deleting her account altogether ... but with cheating allegations in the air, fans are pointin' fingers at Sophie -- who's also in a relationship.

MGK and Megan were spotted together on Valentine's Day ... so all this hoopla might just be a bump in the road ... maybe they're working things out.

Rihanna's unborn child has quite the showbiz resume already ... having been featured in a Super Bowl Halftime Show and, as it turns out, a cover shoot for British Vogue!

Rihanna, her rapper bf A$AP Rocky and their baby boy, all posed for the fashion mag's latest issue -- RiRi's proudly posting the fam's cover shoot and other pics from their beachside shoot.

However, she also revealed more of what was going on behind the scenes during the shoot -- which went down in Malibu back in December -- and naturally, that had fans flooding her comments.

Rihanna says, "How crazy both of my babies were in these photos and mommy had no clue ❤️❤️."

Her point is she had no idea in mid-December that she was expecting baby #2. That's kinda willd, because at that point she'd already been rehearsing like crazy for the Super Bowl. Our sources say she was plugging away more than 24 hours straight, at times ... all while unknowingly pregnant!

As you know, Rih made her pregnancy reveal during her highly-anticipated SB performance ... shocking fans as she took the stage with a baby bump.

It was back in May, Rihanna and A$AP welcomed their first baby, who's quite the model, btw, even if we still don't know his name.

Busta Rhymes' reaction to a strange woman grabbing his butt is stirring an uproar among fans -- but Claudia Jordan says the rapper had every right to react the way he did after getting violated.

We got the TV and radio host Wednesday in NYC outside the studio where she's guest hosting "The Breakfast Club" this week ... and she thinks safety is a priority for all artists, no matter their gender.

She's not buying into the ol' double standard that men shouldn't complain if a woman puts her hands on him without consent.

In case you missed it, Busta caught some flack after a clip of him went viral Tuesday, throwing a drink at a woman who ran up behind him, and touched his butt.

Folks online were split on the reaction -- some say he did the right thing, while others think he was out of pocket -- but Claudia's got BR's back, solidly.

Lil Tjay upgraded Ice Spice's wrist game on Valentine's Day with a $150K Richard Mille watch, but before you assume what time it is ... both rappers tell us it's just what "friends" do.

Sources close to Ice Spice tell TMZ Hip Hop the duo isn't a romantic couple, but Tjay still wanted to get her something sentimental to celebrate their "Gangsta Boo" collaboration charting on the Billboard Hot 100.

NYC-based Benny the Jeweler revealed Tjay's six-figure souvenir to be an RM-05 Rose Gold, complete with a white band, and it just happened to be ready for pickup on February 14.

No surprise why the fancy timepiece is raising eyebrows -- Tjay's appearance was the lone guest contribution when Ice's debut EP "Like..?" dropped a few weeks ago.

The track would've had a video too, but Tjay got arrested for gun possession ahead of filming, forcing Ice to shoot her "In Ha Mood" video instead ... and that one's also making a splash on the charts.

Both Bronx-born artists also went halfsies on a Thanksgiving turkey drive in the heart of their hood last November -- but yep, we're still told there's no romance.

Jason Derulo sees big things happening for women's pro volleyball after the star musician launched a brand new volleyball franchise in Nebraska ... and the org will be part of a league founded by Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow!

Derulo joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... where the "Trumpets" singer broke the news, announcing his new team will play in the Pro Volleyball Federation -- a league founded in part by the star QB.

"I'm excited because volleyball is on a crazy trajectory."

The league, PVF, will launch in February 2024, and they plan to play across the country in some of the biggest arenas.

FYI, volleyball's huge in the Cornhusker state. In fact, since 2013, the University of Nebraska's squad has led the nation in attendance, even setting a record last year when nearly 16K fans packed their arena to watch a match.

That's to say, Derulo, who has 57 million followers on TikTok, wholeheartedly believes the sport is on the come up in a big way.

"It's on the way up and to be a small part in what these ladies created is pretty incredible to me. I think it's gonna change sports forever."

And, unlike in a sport such as basketball, where the men's game is more popular, women run volleyball.

"Women's volleyball is actually leading. It's not the guys this time that are leading. I'd like for real pro volleyball to be the platform that just changes women's sports forever."

FYI, Jason also teamed up with his business partner, Danny White, who is from Omaha.

"The trajectory just seems so bright," 33-year-old Derulo said, adding ... "It's just been growing year after year after year and if it continues on this path, especially with this platform, I think it can absolutely be the next big thing."

Jason says he also wants to be the owner of the team with the "happiest players in the world," saying "I wanna make sure everybody is living their dream."

Anita Baker's Valentine's Day show in Atlanta is earning rave reviews, especially because it was capped off with a cameo surprise from Usher mid-show!!!

Backstage looked like a scene from an award show as Jermaine Dupri assembled the troops backstage for photos with the woman of the night. Tamia and Grant Hill, Chris Webber and John Gray all said cheese with Anita inside State Farm Arena ... where Usher surprised the audience and the headliner.

The "Confessions" singer brought out a huge bouquet of roses for Anita ... only to be surprised himself when she passed him the mic, putting him on the spot!!!

Usher didn't disappoint the ATLiens and belted out a few notes from Anita's classic "Same Ole Love (365 Days A Year)," and eventually worked up a sweat himself.

AB is currently on the road with Babyface .. her first nationwide tour in nearly 30 years, which doubles as a celebration for the 40th anniversary of her debut solo album, “The Songstress.”

NLE Choppa checked off a bucket list item ... wrapping up a music video shoot with his idol Lil Wayne, and the young rap star didn't hold back his gratitude for the icon while on set!!!

Wayne was recently honored by the Recording Academy ahead of his "Tha Carter VI" album rollout ... but NLE surprised the Young Money CEO on the set of their “Ain’t Gonna Answer” collab with a bouquet of roses and a heartfelt letter breaking down Weezy F. Baby's significance to him.

NLE explained he didn't want to wait for calendar anniversaries and gifted Wayne with the impromptu gesture ... earning quite the cosign as appreciative Wayne told everyone around NLE is an inspiration for his generation.

NLE also brought up Wayne when we spoke to him about honoring his fellow Memphis native Tyre Nichols ... who was fatally beaten by police officers in January.

NLE is in the process of creating a skate foundation for Tyre, and noted Wayne's a pioneering skateboarding rapper who could teach him a few things.

Forbes' list of the 10 highest-paid entertainers in 2022 includes filmmakers, musicians, TV creators and more -- collectively earning about $1.35 billion -- and, if there's one theme, it's that longevity pays off big time in show biz!!!

Topping the list is the rock band Genesis ... bringing in a whopping $230M. The frontman Phil Collins and the rest of the group sold their catalog back in September for a reported $300 million.

Forbes says the $70 mil difference represents fees to managers, agents and lawyers. They get ya coming and going.

Coming in a close second is Sting, earning $210M. Last year, he also sold his music catalog and his band's, The Police, and also got about $300M for all those hit songs.

Guess he paid his lawyers more than Genesis.

On the younger side ... 53-year-old TV/film mogul Tyler Perry came in at number 3, pocketing an estimated $175M from all his projects and his huge studio in Atlanta.

Others in the top 10 include ... "South Park" creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who came in at number 4 ahead of "The Simpsons" creators James L. Brooks and Matt Groening.

Brad Pitt is number 6 collecting $100M ... just ahead of the Rolling Stones, who at their advanced ages still earned $98 mil last year off a European tour.

Back in Hollywood, another guy who's been around forever, James Cameron -- now one of the highest-grossing directors of all time -- earned at least $95M from the "Avatar: The Way of the Water" flick.

Now for some youth -- Taylor Swift, who's the only woman in the top 10, made $92 million to put her at number 9, and Bad Bunny collected around $88 million from his massive tour.

World-famous gamer/YouTuber FaZe Banks says he's out a huge chunk of change after his ultra-exclusive watch got swiped at a Super Bowl party, but he's hoping cops track it down.

The FaZe Clan founder took to social media, telling folks about his stolen, one-of-a-kind Chrome Hearts Richard Mille watch ... which is worth a cool $200,000!!!

Banks says it went down at Scottsdale Hangar One in AZ Friday night ... at the big H.Wood homecoming party where Drake performed and, as we reported, big names like MGK, Cher, Lil Baby, Meek Mill and Odell Beckham Jr. were there tearing it up.

Scottsdale PD confirms a report for the stolen watch was filed, and you better believe the document highlights that approximate 6-figure value. What's really shocking is FaZe says the crook snatched it right off his body.

He says the piece fell off while he was walking through the crowd, but surveillance video shows him picking it up and putting it in one of his pockets ... only to have someone reach in and pick that pocket clean!!!.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are proving their devotion to one another ... by getting inked up.

Jen just revealed the recently married couple's new tattoos ... as part of a Valentine's Day post to her husband.

J Lo is sporting some new ink on her rib cage ... an infinity symbol with an arrow cutting straight through the middle.

The tattoo looks fresh, Jen still has a bandage on the ink, which makes it hard to make out the wording, though it appears both of their names are present.

Ben's tatt is a little bit different ... but it still incorporates Jen and their marriage. He's got a pair of intertwined arrows along with their initials "J" and "B."

Jennifer captioned the post "Commitment" and that seems to be a big theme here ... she included four hashtags ... #CommitmentIsSexy #ThisIsUsThen #ThisIsUsNow #ThisIsMeNow ... along with a photo dump.

The photos are super cute too ... Jen included a bunch of shots of her and Ben kissing and cuddling in different locations, including a yacht.

Priscilla Presley's alleged friendship with Bam Margera appears short-lived, she's ripping the "Jackass" star for claiming she gave him one of Elvis' rings and robes ... telling us Bam made the whole thing up.

Priscilla tells TMZ ... Bam has betrayed not only her, but also her son Navarone Garcia, by falsely claiming she gifted him a couple of Elvis' personal items and filming in their home without her consent.

It's a stark rebuttal to what Bam told us earlier this month ... when he claimed Priscilla gave him a robe and a ring that once belonged to Elvis. Bam said he was going to pass the robe along to his dad, who is a big Elvis fan, and give the ring to Yelawolf, who Bam considers the new king of Rock 'n' Roll.

Remember ... the friendship seemingly popped up out of nowhere last week, when Bam posted pictures and videos of him hanging out with Priscilla.

Bam made it seem like he and Priscilla were buddies, but she says that statement couldn't be further from the truth. Instead, Priscilla tells us Navarone asked her to have a "new friend" come over for a visit, but she had no idea it was Bam "or that later he would choose to post photos and false stories."

Priscilla says Bam, "came over, talked non-stop about his new ventures and personal struggles and asked for a photo with me for his father, who is a big fan."

She continues ... "Unbeknownst to us at the time, Bam chose to circulate those photos accompanied by false information and storytelling. After what Bam has chosen to do, my son and I want no further communication with him. I consider him a dishonest and unstable individual. I had no idea who he was or that he was filming in my home without my consent."

What's more, Priscilla's camp says the robe did not belong to Elvis and the ring is actually one of Bam's.

Priscilla adds ... "At no time during the visit did I give him anything of Elvis'. I still have everything he ever touched. I would never disrespect Elvis who was the love of my life by giving away anything that belonged to him. I have always protected them for the fans. Elvis belonged to all of you and I cherish my life with him too much to ever squander anything."

As you know, Bam's been accused of falling off the wagon in his sobriety battle ... and Priscilla tells us she hopes Bam "gets the help he needs and does what is right."

Cardi B and Offset are spendin' Valentine's Day together at the golden arches for the unveiling of their collab meal, and they certainly weren't alone ... because a MASSIVE swarm of fans met them there.

The happy couple hit up the Times Square McDonald's Tuesday, and if ya didn't know that location is one of the busiest in the world ... you'd definitely know it after seeing the scene the couple created.

The entire staff was eagerly waitin' for them too, cheering them on as they walked up to the counter to get their grub bags.

They also had a kiss cam in the building for Cardi and Offset to snap some pics -- and they even ended up on the Jumbotron outside the restaurant for all of Times Square to see!

TMZ broke the story ... sources connected to the couple told us they shot their Super Bowl ad around Christmas time, and the final product introduced the couple's new meal to millions of viewers on Sunday.

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly may or may not be riding together until the wheels fall off -- but on the heels of their possible breakup, they're at least driving around together.

Megan and MGK were spotted in his Escalade Tuesday morning ... he was behind the wheel while she rode shotgun as they left his L.A. area home.

It's significant because it's not any ol' Tuesday -- the engaged couple is spending  Valentine's Day together just a couple days after Megan strongly hinted on social media they're done.

You'll recall, she dropped a series of photos over the weekend, where she appeared to be burning something, and wrote, "You can taste the dishonesty it’s all over your breath" ... a caption she snatched from Beyoncé's song "Pray You Catch Me".

This obviously set off alarms for fans, considering that song is from Bey's Lemonade album, which is allegedly all about Jay-Z cheating on her.

MF also unfollowed all but 3 people -- Timothee Chalamet, Harry Styles, and Eminem, who has major beef with MGK ... before deleting all posts with her fiance, and then her IG page altogether.

The two got engaged back in January 2022 and seemed to be getting on just fine ... at least, up until their Super Bowl weekend in AZ.

Snoop Dogg's lockout of Death Row Records' catalog on streaming services is finally over -- Tha Doggfather's linked with TikTok's new music arm, SoundOn.

The exclusive welcome party will extend throughout the week on TikTok ... before the legendary rap tunes return to traditional digital streaming platforms.

Snoop removed the Death Row catalog from streaming in March 2022 ... and at the time, outlined a plan to have the music live on in its own metaverse within a full-functioning app.

Those plans appeared to have since fizzled. Dr. Dre recently threw a party to celebrate his own debut album, "The Chronic," returning to streaming and its original label home of Interscope.

To compensate for the lulls, Snoop and TikTok went halfsies on a custom Death Row playlist ... because not a day goes by without someone asking him to restore the catalog online.

"As the Super Bowl rolled around, I knew fans would be looking for the music from our iconic performance in 2022, so I wanted to reintroduce the most historic catalog to the people. I reached out to the folks at TikTok to make more history ... enjoy ya'll."

Drake's wish is officially granted -- he will not be grilled by a defense attorney about XXXTentacion's murder ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

Judge Michael A. Usan signed off on Drake's motion to avoid the deposition ... tossing the court's previous order calling for him to sit down later this month and answer questions.

Defense attorney Mauricio Padilla, who reps suspect Dedrick Williams, previously argued Drake needed to be present for questioning due to an old beef between XXX and him.

Drake's attorney, Bradford Cohen, though, told the court Drizzy has no relevant information to add to the case -- and the judge agreed.

It is possible Padilla could convince the judge there's some other cause for Drake to be deposed, and get a new subpoena -- but with the trial already underway, the clock's ticking.