Music

Sinéad O'Connor, the acclaimed singer behind "Nothing Compares 2 U" has died.

The Irish Times was first to report the news, without much detail, it's unclear where O'Connor died or the circumstances surrounding her death.

The last few years of Sinéad's life were marked with tragedy, including the death of her son, 17-year-old Shane, who died by suicide in January 2022. Prior to his death, Shane was on suicide watch inside an Irish hospital ... but he'd gone missing from the hospital just two days earlier.

After his death, Sinéad released a statement saying, "My beautiful son, Nevi’im Nesta Ali Shane O'Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God. May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace."

Sinéad has had her own personal struggles with mental health, she was reported missing and suicidal in Chicago back in 2016 ... but was later found safe. In an interview with Dr. Phil, Sinéad admitted she'd attempted suicide 8 times in one year.

Sinéad's music career kicked off in a big way with the release of "The Lion and the Cobra" -- her first album -- back in 1987. The album earned her a Grammy nom for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and reached gold status.

However, Sinéad's 1990 album, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" -- which contained her biggest hit, "Nothing Compares 2 U" -- propelled her to stardom. The single, written by Prince, scored her a win for Video of the Year at the MTV Video Awards.

Sinéad continued to record, release and tour music over the next several decades, but announced she was postponing all of her tour dates in 2020 until 2022 to enter a one-year trauma and addiction treatment program. At the time, she stated, "I had a very traumatic six years and this year was the end of it but now recovery starts."

Sinéad announced her retirement from music in June 2021.

She's survived by her three children, Jake, Roisin and Yeshua.

Sinéad was only 56.

RIP

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

Tori Kelly's moving in the right direction after a scary incident that had her hospitalized for blood clots.

Tori's husband, retired basketball player André Murillo, just posted an update on Tori's condition, saying, "Tori is smiling again and feeling stronger. Not fully out of the woods but we see the sun. Just waiting on a few more answers. Your love and kindness has been overwhelming. Thank you so so much!"

While André didn't include a photo of Tori in his update, we know she's been at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles since Sunday night.

TMZ broke the story -- Tori was at dinner with friends DTLA when she suddenly felt her heart rate speed up before collapsing. Tori's friends loaded her into a car and rushed her to Cedars -- one of the top medical facilities in the country -- rather than an ambulance ride to a downtown hospital.

Sources close to Tori tell us doctors determined she had blood clots in her legs and around her lungs, but they were working to determine if there were any clots near her heart.

Conor McGregor was devastated to learn of the passing of musical icon Sinéad O'Connor on Wednesday ... telling TMZ Sports he considered her "an international star and an Irish treasure."

The UFC fighter grew close to the singer throughout his career in the Octagon ... particularly after she sang during his walkout at UFC 189 in Las Vegas.

You'll recall ... during the July 2015 performance, she belted out "The Foggy Dew" -- and many have since considered it one of the best entrances to a UFC fight ever.

In fact, McGregor himself called it "an honor to go out to that" ... adding that it was "go-to-war music."

Following her death this week, McGregor told us in a statement he was absolutely heartbroken.

"The world has lost a beautiful voice and an even more beautiful person," he said. "I am honored to have known her, to have played her music both in and out of the Octagon. God rest Sinéad."

He later added in a tweet, "Ireland has lost an iconic voice and one of our absolute finest, by a long shot."

The Irish Times was first to report the news of O'Connor's passing ... though the circumstances surrounding her death are still unclear.

She was just 56 years old.

Sinéad O'Connor was a mother in agony in the days leading up to her death ... expressing her heartache over her 17-year-old son's suicide, and revealing she was living as an "undead night creature."

O'Connor was very open with her emotions on social media, opening up about Shane's 2022 suicide in a post on July 17. Sinéad wrote, "Been  living as undead  night creature since. . He was the  love of my life, the  lamp of my soul.  We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person  who ever loved me unconditionally. I am lost in the bardo without him."

Shane was clearly always on her mind, in a video posted July 8, the singer showed off her apartment, making note of her own appearance, saying, "I look like s*** either way, which is why I didn't want to make a video ... but you know, the way your kid unfortunately passing away it isn't good for ones body, or soul to be fair."

Shortly after his death in 2022, Sinéad released a statement, saying, "My beautiful son, Nevi’im Nesta Ali Shane O'Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God. May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace."

As we reported, Sinéad's family told The Irish Times of her death Wednesday in a statement that read, "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”

The singer's had her own battles with mental health over the years, including an incident in 2016 where she went missing and was suicidal in Chicago. She was later located safe.

Sinéad's cause of death is currently unknown.

Bad news for Travis Scott fans that were hoping to see the rapper perform at one of the 7 wonders of the world ... because just two days before the big event, the show's been canceled.

Live Nation shared the news Wednesday, saying the Utopia show -- which was slated to go down this weekend at Egypt's Pyramids of Giza -- is no longer happening.

The company adds, "Despite highest efforts, complex production issues meant that the show could not be constructed in the desert." Live Nation says issues will be refunded to ticket holders, issuing an apology to those planning on attending.

The reasoning seems a little suspect considering just recently Egypt's Musicians Syndicate announced it wasn't pleased with Travis coming over to perform, saying the org canceled the show's permit ... claiming the type of concerts TS puts on "goes against the cultural identity of the Egyptian people."

We now know why Jason Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town" music video was edited ... because the production company skirted the rules and used FOX footage without permission.

Sources connected to the music video production tell TMZ ... back when they were producing the video, the company that produced it reached out to FOX on May 8 and asked for permission to use the 6 seconds of video shot by FOX 5 Atlanta ... showing violence at a BLM rally.

We're told the folks at FOX asked for more information ... specifically the lyrics of the song. We're told the production company sent FOX a link to the song -- which was released May 19 -- but the protocol was to send the lyrics in writing, which they never did.

The music video was released July 14 and the footage was in the vid, projecting on the courthouse behind Jason.

Our sources say a week ago, FOX reached out to the production company and asked them to remove the video to avoid any legal action -- which was described to us as a "polite ultimatum" -- and the production company complied.

So the new, edited video has actually been online for an entire week before anyone noticed.

Ice Cube has a serious bone to pick with the NBA and Adam Silver ... saying the league talks a good game about equality, but when it comes to supporting a black-owned company --like Cube's BIG3 -- they've completely dropped the ball.

The rap legend and 3-on-3 league founder teed off on the commish while he was on Tucker Carlson's Twitter show ... calling out Silver for making it seem like the league is at the forefront of change -- when, in his opinion, it's not doing much at all.

He said, "The NBA is full of great slogans and they write 'Black Lives Matter' on the court and they do all those things, but pretty full of s*** when the rubber meets the road."

Cube believes promoting the BIG3 would be a layup for the Association to show they're really about the cause ... but instead, their grand gestures have resulted in no real action.

"I'm just saying it's easy for them to put that on the court. It takes a little more effort to really care to work with a league like the BIG3. You really gotta want to make a difference."

Cube has been in an ongoing feud with Silver ... claiming there are several NBA team owners who want to get involved in the BIG3, but the league won't let them.

He's even openly said "I don’t give a f**k about working with the NBA" ... but wants the league to quit trying to keep his organization from growing.

It's not only politics that makes for strange bedfellows -- Ice Cube's unloading on Barack Obama, Black Lives Matter, COVID-19 vaccines and more ... with, of all people, Tucker Carlson.

The duo rolled through South L.A. together for an episode of Tucker's show on Twitter -- and they quickly found common ground on several topics ... starting with former President Obama. Cube said he was proud America had elected a Black man, and thought maybe "this guy is gonna be the guy."

But, ultimately Cube feels Obama -- like all of his White House predecessors -- did nothing to change his life.

Tucker and the rapper/actor also bro'd out on BLM ... Cube's criticism being the org didn't improve things for the Black people he knows and loves, while Tucker's voice-over and editing attacked BLM for allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars.

Interestingly, Tucker -- a staunch and vocal proponent of police -- never asked Cube about writing the song "F**k Tha Police." 🤔 Interesting.

Jason Aldean has quietly trimmed a portion of his controversial music video for "Try That in a Small Town" ... and one of the pieces he ditched is from a BLM protest.

The country singer's video is now missing 6 seconds of its original upload. What's missing -- footage of violence at a BLM rally, projected on a Tennessee courthouse where a Black teenager was lynched in 1927.

The scrubbed footage was shot by Fox 5 Atlanta. We reached out to Fox 5 to find out if they asked that the footage be removed ... so far, no response.

It's unclear why the footage was stripped from the project, but as we reported, Jason received major backlash over the song last week -- after folks accused him of going after the BLM movement.

Jason was adamant, the song is not an attack on BLM or in any way racist. It has soared up the charts since the controversy erupted after the music video was released.

Jason stood by his video again last week -- telling a concert crowd he's a proud American and is hoping to put the country back to "what it once was before all this bulls*** started happening to us."

We discussed the controversy surrounding the song on the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Travis Kelce basically lives in the end zone, but he couldn't score with Taylor Swift ... 'cause the Super Bowl champ says he failed to give the pop superstar his phone number at her recent concert.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end detailed his master plan to shoot his shot during Taylor's Eras tour stop at Arrowhead Stadium on his "New Heights" podcast this week ... saying he made friendship bracelets with his phone number on them in hopes of giving one to the recently single singer.

Kelce explained he was bummed to find out Swift doesn't meet with anyone prior to taking the stage in an effort to preserve her voice ... so baby, now they've got bad blood.

"I was disappointed that she doesn't talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings, so I was a little butthurt I didn't get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her," Kelce told his brother, Jason.

"She doesn't meet anybody -- or at least she didn't want to meet me, so I took it personal."

Jason joked the rejection had to be because Swift is a big Eagles fan and probably not over the Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs ... but Travis -- who called things off with Kayla Nicole in 2022 -- is taking it all in stride, saying it was a great time nonetheless.

Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater's romance came as a surprise to the Broadway actor's now-estranged wife who feels he abandoned his family ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Lilly Jay -- who married Slater back in 2018 -- tell us she's devastated her family's been torn apart. She's also upset their young son, who was born in August 2022, won't have both his mom and dad around constantly, now that they've split.

Our sources say Lilly and Ethan aren't on good terms now that the Ariana relationship is full steam ahead.

We're also told, for her part, Lilly feels like he's completely turned his back on his family.

What's more, we're told Ariana actually used to hang out with both Ethan and Lilly while they were still a happily married couple, and she even liked his Instagram tribute to Lilly on Mother's Day this year. Remember, we're told Ariana and Ethan's romantic relationship started several months ago.

The whole thing has left Lilly feeling betrayed and heartbroken ... according to our sources.

Additional sources close to the situation tell us, "It's understandable that emotions are high and it's hard seeing your ex move on, especially in such a public way, and her friends are trying to protect her. But Ari and Ethan are just trying to lay low and be respectful of their exes as they pursue this new relationship."

TMZ broke the story ... Ariana and Ethan first met on the set of "Wicked" and their relationship grew from there. Sources close to them have maintained both Ariana and Ethan were split from their spouses -- Dalton Gomez and Lilly -- when they got together.

Sources tell us while they haven't yet filed divorce docs, there's definitely one on the horizon for Ariana and Dalton.

As for Lilly and Ethan ... it doesn't appear either has filed yet, but it sounds like things are beyond repair.

Kevin Spacey is cleared of sexual assault charges in his UK trial -- a London jury just found him not guilty.

The verdict was handed down in Southwark Crown Court Wednesday in London after 2 days of jury deliberation.

Spacey was originally facing 13 counts including sexual assault, indecent assault, and causing a person to engage in a sexual activity without consent. The 4 indecent assault charges were dropped, with the judge citing its removal as a "legal technicality." He was found not guilty of the remaining charges.

It's a huge victory for Spacey, who had been facing the possibility of life in prison if he'd been convicted.

As we reported, Spacey's been on trial in London for allegedly sexually assaulting 4 men from 2001 to 2013. The trial kicked off at the end of June, and he was spotted looking cheerful as he headed into court for the first day.

Prosecutors claimed Spacey performed oral sex on a man while he was asleep, was aggressively "touchy-feely" with one of his drivers, and even groped a man backstage -- something the alleged victim said was done "with such force it was painful."

A lot came out during the trial -- for starters, one of his alleged accusers compared him to his serial killer character in "Se7en" ... telling cops in a prerecorded interview the actor was "a bit like that. A bit creepy. Maybe not quite as bad."

Spacey took the stand last week, describing one of the accusers as funny and charming, describing himself as a "big flirt" and insisting what went down between them was gentle and consensual.

He admitted he really liked the man, but claimed he never knew he would "stab me in the back" 20 years later. Spacey said he thinks his 4 accusers were attacking him after regretting being intimate with him.

Elton John's name came up during the trial because one of the accusers claimed he was groped by Spacey while driving to the singer's annual White Tie and Tiara Ball in either 2004 or 2005.

The Rocket Man himself actually testified remotely during the trial, saying Spacey only attended 1 of his bashes in 2001, not 2004-05. Elton's husband, David Furnish, also said Elton's recollection of the timing was backed up by photos of the past events.

In closing arguments, Spacey's defense team told the jury, "It is not a crime to have sex, even if you’re famous" -- adding it's also not a crime to sleep with someone "of the opposite sex, because it’s 2023 and not 1823."

Timbaland's back in the studio -- with real humans, after entertaining the thought of AI -- with his longtime pals Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado!!!

The "Dream Team" trio was apparently up late in the studio on Tuesday night ... sharing several pics of themselves with huge grins, a good sign the tunes are turning out right.

Nelly dialed in remotely from FaceTime while Timbaland and Justin were together in-studio ... but the reunion was still full circle.

Back in 2006, Timbaland oversaw the production of both JT and Nelly's blockbuster albums ... "FutureSex/LoveSounds" and "Loose" ... with both projects selling millions of records, opening the door for more collabs as the artists owned the dance floors for years.

Lionel Messi Mania is in full effect down in South Florida -- the soccer superstar scored two more goals for his new Inter Miami team on Tuesday night ... and a ton of celebs were there to celebrate.

The former Barcelona star suited up for the MLS squad for the second time in less than a week ... and he dazzled once again.

Coming off a game in which he netted the match-winner ... Messi poured two more balls into the net in just 78 minutes -- lifting his team to a 4-0 win over Atlanta United.

As it was last Friday night in his debut, celebs flocked to DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale to get a glimpse of the soccer G.O.A.T.

DJ Khaled, P Diddy and Camila Cabello were all there ... and Inter Miami owner David Beckham and his wife Victoria Beckham rolled out the red carpet for them.

The A-listers sat in front-row seats ... and, at one point, DJ Khaled's son even got in on the action, helping escort Messi onto the field before play officially began.

Khaled was pumped over it all afterward ... thanking Beckham for the experience in an IG post.

It's no secret Drake loves his mom ... but he proved it in a huge way at his NYC concert Tuesday night, celebrating her in front of a sold-out crowd.

Drake escorted the family matriarch, Sandi Graham, onto the stage at Madison Square Garden and sat down on a leather couch alongside her.

He then cracked open a composition book and started rapping, "Look What You've Done," a 2011 tribute song he wrote for Sandi, his uncle and his grandmother.

As Sandi grooved to the lyrics, Drake slightly turned his head to her and sang, "You love me and I love you."

The two then embraced in a big hug before Drake ended by repeating the phrase, "Look what you've done," causing Sandi to get choked up with tears.

The audience also got emotional, shouting and wildly clapping.

Morgan Wallen's got a new favorite pair of boots ... at least, according to The Shoe Surgeon, who supplied the country star with some high priced you-know-what-kickers.

Dominic Chambrone, aka The Shoe Surgeon, tells TMZ ... Morgan debuted his custom Tecovas during his concert this past Saturday night at L.A.'s SoFi Stadium, and these babies are literally one of a kind.

We're told MW stopped by Dominic's studio a few months ago, and a design in his concept room really caught the singer's eye -- a pair of shoes inspired by professional BMX rider Nigel Sylvester's Air Jordan 1's.

The boots are hand-dyed python skin with yellow suede binding, and it's all hand scuffed to mimic Nigel's shoes. The finished products were hand-delivered to Morgan before Saturday's show, where he took 'em out for a spin onstage.

BTW, Dominic's cooked up customs for some other celebs recently ... like singer/rapper Peso Pluma and soccer star Kellyn Acosta.