Music

Coco Lee, famous for voicing Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney's "Mulan," has died by suicide.

Coco's sisters, Carol and Nancy, say she attempted suicide at home Sunday and was sent to a hospital, where she slipped into a coma and died on Wednesday despite attempts to save her life.

Coco suffered from depression for years, her family says, and she sought professional help ... but her condition drastically deteriorated over the last few months and she ultimately took her own life.

In addition to her work with Disney, Coco performed an Oscar-nominated song, "A Love Before Time," in the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as part of a three-decade career as a singer.

Coco was born in Hong Kong but attended middle school and high school in San Francisco, where she was crowned 1991's Miss Teen Chinatown.

She was the first Chinese singer to go big in America, with her song "Do You Want My Love" reaching No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Dance Breakout chart way back in 1999.

Coco's family is remembering her for working "tirelessly to open up a new world for Chinese singers in the international music scene, and she went all out to shine for the Chinese."

She was 48.

RIP

Keke Palmer's boyfriend Darius Jackson -- who's also the father of her child -- isn't backing down after publicly shaming her wardrobe choice for Usher's show and now says her sheer fit reflects poorly on their family.

Darius is defending his initial comments on Keke's sexy outfit after catching a ton of heat for his critique -- specifically, he said she shouldn't wear such a revealing outfit because she's a mother.

In doubling down, Darius said Wednesday ... "We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is."

Unapologetically, he added ... "This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case."

The controversy started Wednesday afternoon when Darius quote tweeted a video showing Keke in a sheer dress as Usher serenades her at his Las Vegas residency. Darius said, "It's the outfit tho.. you a mom."

Tons of folks lashed out at Darius in the replies, but now he's sticking to his guns.

Colleen Ballinger's fall from grace is taking her to a new low -- she's getting raked over the coals for an old video of her in blackface, while singing a Beyoncé hit.

The YouTuber/comedian -- famous for her viral character Miranda Sings -- is again in the crosshairs of critics who dug up the problematic clip from her past ... a video showing Colleen with dark makeup on her mug as she sings along to "Single Ladies."

Unclear exactly what year this went down, but based on the Miranda Sings YouTube page, it seems to be sometime in 2017 or 2018 ... and while it's an unlisted post, it is still up. Some of the comments claim the blackface video was offered as an exclusive sneak peek to folks who bought Colleen's book, "My Diarrhe."

The resurfacing of the video comes at a very interesting time, because Colleen was recently accused of racism in another context -- resurfaced texts allegedly sent pertaining to her 2016 Netflix show, "Haters Back Off."

The texts, attributed to someone working with Colleen at the time, were about auditions they were conducting for the show, and the sender claimed Colleen made a crack about a Black actor ... allegedly saying, "WHERE IS HE" -- referring to the guy being very dark in bad lighting.

Of course, this latest backlash is on top of recent grooming allegations ... with people accusing her of reaching out to young fans in inappropriate ways.

Colleen responded to those claims in a bizarre apology video ... which had her singing/explaining away the behavior. It was deemed as tone-deaf, and didn't help.

Things are heating up for Nelly again, 'cause the dude's about to get a helluva lot richer after selling the rights to half of the music he's cranked out ... including his biggest hits.

Sources close to the rapper tell TMZ ... Nelly secured a $50 million deal for 50% ownership over his entire catalog -- which includes 8 albums and a ton of #1 singles that helped define pop culture in the 2000s.

We're told Nelly is teaming up with a company called HarbourView Equity Partners for this, which is forking over the dough to lock up some of his best-known songs ... such as, "Ride Wit Me," "Dilemma" and of course, "Hot in Herre." Obviously they're getting more than just that ... but those tracks are, by and large, the ones Nelly's perhaps best-known for.

In fact, a couple of these songs won him Grammys -- he snagged a statuette in 2003 for "Dilemma" (Best Rap/Sung Performance) and another that same year for "Hot in Herre" (Best Male Rap Solo Performance). He has another Grammy to his name for "Shake Ya Tailfeather."

No word yet on which parts of Nelly's catalog -- besides the above-mentioned singles -- now belong to HarbourView ... but considering the wide range of tunes he has under his belt ... you gotta figure there's more goodies in the vault that they'll now have a claim to.

It's a lot of money, obviously -- so it's great news for Nelly. Interestingly enough, things are going swimmingly for Nelly in other departments of his life ... including his business ventures, like his alcohol brand, MoShine.

Plus, he's not even done making music at this point in his career ... the guy produced a full-on country album, "Heartland," in 2021 -- and we're hearing part 2's on the horizon as well.

Seems like Cardi B and Offset's latest public beef is buried ... after publicly going after each other over cheating rumors, they're gettin' close again, publicly, in Paris.

The married artists were all over each other outside the Balenciaga fashion show Wednesday, posing for the camera as a group of onlookers snapped some pics of the happy couple.

The crowd went nuts as the 2 stepped out, and Cardi was cheesing pretty hard while hand-in-hand with her boo -- a good sign things have died down from last week's public spat.

As we reported, she wasn't holding back on Offset after he posted -- then scrubbed -- a claim that she hooked up with another dude, calling him out on Twitter Spaces for the world to hear.

She denied the cheating rumors, and even said Offset would get beat with a bottle if he ever said that stuff to her face.

Safe to say the dust has settled -- especially with no bottle marks on Offset's face.

We covered the drama in a recent episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Jennifer Lopez's new alcohol brand drew a lot of questions and even some criticism from folks who thought her household was booze-free -- but she's setting the record straight.

The triple-threat entertainer hopped on IG Tuesday to both plug her just-launched spritzer line, Delola, and defend herself against fans who were apparently calling her out over it ... namely, the fact Jen has, historically, sworn off booze in the public eye.

Check it out ... Jennifer says she's aware of certain people raising an eyebrow about this business venture, and she addresses it head-on -- which also includes a confession.

She says while it's true she didn't drink for a long time while coming up, that changed about 10-15 years ago ... at which point, Jen says she began to enjoy the occasional cocktail. J  Lo says there's photographic evidence of this and that it's well-documented, BTW.

Another point of clarification ... Jen says she drinks responsibly and doesn't get "s***-faced." As she says herself, she just sips a little to be social and to relax/cut loose a bit. And as far as why she chose a spritzer as her alcohol of choice, she says it's light and relatively healthy.

One specific dig she did not address -- but which is certainly being discussed -- is Ben Affleck's alcoholism ... something he's battled for years, and which he seems to have kicked after stints of rehab, including a very famous one that roped in his ex, Jennifer Garner.

As we've reported ... he's had his ups and downs with alcohol, and JLo's been getting a lot of disapproval on that front too -- especially for advertising it on the 4th of July, no less.

Ben has said nothing about it himself, so you gotta figure he's on the same page as his wife -- and that Delola isn't a problem in the blended Affleck-Lopez family ... who looked quite happy and in sync this weekend.

India.Arie doesn't like the fact Megan Thee Stallion and Janelle Monáe show off a lot of skin during their performances -- but that criticism has the Internet ripping her as a boomer.

The veteran neo-soul singer issued a scathing rebuke of the 2 artists' live-show choices -- namely, their tendency to bare their bodies onstage ... which was again on display this past weekend during Essence Festival, where both MTS and JM grabbed the mic.

Their respective sets went viral ... in Janelle's case, it was because she ended up flashing the audience -- revealing her right breast (which had a nipple pasty). She's had a habit lately of dropping her top, but has said she feels comfortable in her own skin.

As for Meg, she didn't really do anything too crazy ... just a little twerking of her booty, which she always incorporates into her routines, and for which she's kinda become famous.

In any case, India wasn't feeling the perceived peep show they put on, and she sounded off about it on IG, saying ... "The issue is what is CONTEXT. Humanity does EVERYTHING. But does EVERYTHING BELONG IN A STAGE. No. is everything for KIDS? No."

She continues, "So when we as a culture make something like this mainstream -- it shows a lack of discretion and discernment. To those in the comments who laugh at anyone who wants these things for our culture, you certainly have that right."

India adds this though ... "Just as many folks have the right to want our MAINSTREAM International export -- our Music -- to show us in a respectful light. I'd like to on the record saying: this wont age well and that's my issue." She finishes by saying she loves Janelle and Meg, but just not how they're choosing to express themselves in this regard.

Her critique, although somewhat apologetic, is getting roasted by fans dropping memes and GIFs mocking India.

Essentially, she's getting branded a prude and an old head, who should keep her comments to herself ... and let the younguns live!

Taylor Swift fans overseas are crossing their fingers for an email from Ticketmaster, letting them know if one of her concerts will be in their future ... and there's reason to worry after last year's ticket sales fiasco.

Swifties looking to attend one of the singer's shows in places like London, Dublin, and Liverpool are supposed to be getting a drop in their inbox Wednesday, informing them if they'll get a code to buy tickets or be put on a waiting list.

Ticketmaster's made it clear ... seats will be sold on a "first come first serve basis" for those blessed with codes.

Folks with the golden email can only scoop up 4 seats, and they'll get their unique code sent to them the evening before their show's tickets go on sale -- tickets for Dublin go on sale next week and other concerts follow according to date.

As we reported, fans were furious back in November when the public sale for Taylor's US leg of the Eras Tour was canceled, following a mad scramble for tickets, and major scalper interference that inflated prices to as much as $20k a pop. Oh, and the site crashed.

Taylor dragged Ticketmaster after the mess, echoing what a lot of her fans had already complained about. The company was even hit with a lawsuit and had to answer to Congress.

It's Independence Day, when America forged its own path forward and down an uncharted path -- something Hollywood loves to celebrate ... which they did plenty of this year!

The sun was out Tuesday, as were the rest of Tinseltown's biggest stars -- who were catching rays, hanging with loved ones, cooking up grub ... and enjoying the holiday that is, essentially, the U.S.A.'s birthday. Of course, most everyone was on theme, too.

Among the A-listers who posted pics showing off their planned festivities ... Jana Kramer, Kim Kardashian, Arnold Schwarzenegger (who was dressed as Uncle Sam), Paula Abdul, Rumer Willis, Gretchen Rossi, Kristin Chenoweth, Kelly Ripa, Cheryl Burke, Billy Ray Cyrus and Snooki.

Another interesting 4th post that went up amid a reported tumultuous time ... one from Kyle Richards' husband, Mauricio Umansky, from whom she's said to have recently separated.

Based on the family-friendly pics he posted -- which also feature Kyle front and center -- you wouldn't think anything's amiss ... even though KR herself said they've been going through a hard time of late, but denying any hint of a looming divorce in their future.

Tyga and Avril Lavigne are really enjoying each other's company after their reported split ... at least according to a new video they shot together.

Check out the short clip Tyga posted to TikTok, which shows the pair looking very comfy as they boogie to Tyga's new summer jam, "Bops Goin Brazy."

Under the circumstances, one might think Avril and Tyga are playing a guessing game with everyone ... are they back together or just really good friends?

You may recall ... TMZ broke the story Tyga and Avril called it quits after they became an item back in March. Our sources said the breakup was mutual, with both feeling the relationship had run its course.

Then came their Vegas reunion of sorts a few days ago ... the two were photographed hanging out at the Encore Beach Club after Avril performed onstage. The rapper and pop star were smiling and giggling ... and even left the place with one another surrounded by their posse. Lots of smoke here, right?

An incredibly rare piece of Jimi Hendrix's music history could be yours ... that is if ya have a fortune!

The legendary musician's 1961 Epiphone Wilshire guitar is up for sale through Moments in Time, and the mahogany-bodied instrument has a $1.25 mil price tag attached to it.

The piece holds a lot of significance ... when Jimi was discharged from the army back in 1962; he traded in his Danelectro for the Wilshire -- only paying $65 bucks for it.

Jimi played the Wilshire in his early days with his group, The King Kasuals ... marking it as one of the first guitars in his professional career!

The guitar was last seen on the open market back in 2008, and now Moments in Time is selling it on behalf of a private collector.

Adele has had it with everything from cellphones to ashes being hurled on stage at singers during their concerts, and she has threatened her fans with death if they follow suit!!!

The famed singer seems to have a new schtick .... stopping the concert to talk about stuff that's bubbling up in pop culture. The latest ... a spate of incidents that have actually caused injury.

Adele was in the middle of her Vegas residency at Caesar's when she dared the audience to toss any item in her direction.

She groused, "Throwing s**t on stage, have you seen them? I f**king dare you. I dare you to throw something at me. I'll f**king kill you!"

Turnabout, however, seems to be fair play in Adele's world, because she fired off her t-shirt cannon into the crowd.

As you know, Bebe Rexha was badly hurt recently when a fan pitched a cell phone at her that landed smack on her face, cutting an area above her eye. She was forced to stop the show.

And someone bizarrely tossed a bag of her mom's ashes on stage during a Pink concert.

Adele has clearly had it with the trend, although to be fair, singers have kind of encouraged some of it by taking selfies with cell phones that have been thrown on stage.

Vanilla, the chimpanzee, who spent 28 years in an animal testing lab before finally getting a new life, is touching people's hearts, and inspiring them to open their wallets.

Save the Chimps, an animal sanctuary in Florida shared a video on social media showing Vanilla being introduced to other chimps and seeing open skies for the first time in her life ... and it's sparked a huge wave of interest and donations.

A rep for Save the Chimps tells TMZ ... Vanilla's viral moment brought in $48,600 in donations in just 4 days, plus a wave of new social media followers.

For context, Save the Chimps tells us they got $2,700 in donations the week before Vanilla went viral ... so the bump really stands out.

Save the Chimps says part of the $48,600 comes from merch sales, and about $10,000 has been donated from people who are adopting chimpanzees living in their sanctuary, which is one of the largest in the world.

Volunteer numbers are up too, and they're joining some existing celebrity supporters ... like Pink, Paul McCartney, Jane Goodall, Alan Cumming, and Anjelica Huston.

The money's going to be put to good use ... Save the Chimps has 226 chimps, including Vanilla, and because these animals can live well into their 60s, care is not cheap. The sanctuary says donations are part of a $9 million annual budget that pays to maintain a 150-acre property with 12 islands where different groups of chimps live, plus daily meals, veterinary care, and more.

Seems like Avril Lavigne and Tyga are still gettin' along pretty well after their split ... because the 2 were spotted kicking it at a club in Sin City only weeks after calling it quits.

Avril and Tyga appeared to be in good spirits in pics and video, obtained by TMZ -- we're told Avril performed Saturday with Marshmello at the Encore Beach Club inside Wynn Las Vegas, and Tyga hopped onstage later that night.

We're told the rapper watched Avril's set from his VIP section of the DJ booth ... and she went over to him after her performance, where the two were spotted laughing and smiling together.

The pair eventually left the club together with their posse ... but not before Avril snapped pics with fans while Tyga waited next to them.

TMZ broke the story, sources told us the split was a mutual decision, with both believing the relationship simply ran its course. You'll recall, they went public in March -- a month after she called off her engagement to Mod Sun.

Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky have reportedly separated ... putting an end to their 27 years of marriage.

According to People, the 'RHOBH' star and her real estate broker husband have been separated for a while, but are still living together. It's unclear when they called it quits, but we're told the 2 are still remaining friendly.

For those unaware, Kyle and Mauricio got married back in 1996 after meeting in a nightclub just 2 years before. They ended up having 3 daughters together -- Sophia, Alexia, and Portia.

Fans of the reality series were introduced to Kyle and Mauricio in 2012 when the show premiered, sticking around for all 12 seasons. Mauricio once claimed they're the same, happy couple whether or not the cameras are rolling.

Mauricio responded to rumors back in April when Kyle was spotted without her wedding ring -- shutting it down and claiming they weren't getting a divorce.

There's also been speculation that Kyle is dating country singer Morgan Wade ... having spent a decent amount of time together recently. They also allegedly have matching heart tattoos.

Jay-Z's mom has tied the knot, and if her son and his wife, Beyoncé aren't big enough names for ya ... the whole celebration was a who's who of A-listers -- partyin' it up late into the night together.

Tyler Perry and Kelly Rowland were just a couple of the big names that came through for the big day in NY Sunday night ... also packing the house were the likes of Robin Roberts, Corey Gamble, and Beyoncé's mom, Tina Knowles.

And yes, Bey and Jay were both front and center for Gloria, who said "I Do" to marry her partner, Roxanne Wilshire.

We're told the whole thing wrapped around 1 AM -- so there was plenty of fun to be had by all.

As we reported, Jay-Z's been extremely supportive of Gloria, who came out as a lesbian in his 2017 track, "Smile" ... where she jumped on the song to talk about "living in the shadows" as a gay woman.

He ended up shouting her out at the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards, thanking her for letting him tell her story.