Music

Taylor Swift's L.A. concert is the biggest event of the year for sure, which is why 70,000 people packed into Sofi Stadium Thursday night, shouting lyrics that can be heard far and wide ... much to the chagrin of some very tired homeowners!

Taylor's first of 6 concerts ended at 11:45 PM, depriving some residents of their 8 hours of shuteye. One person in particular -- truth be told it's a dude who works at TMZ -- groused as he recorded Taylor and her legion of fans singing "You Belong with Me," complaining of the loud noise seeping from the stadium.

Fact is ... this guy is a known curmudgeon, so discount his displeasure. Nonetheless, the noise is really loud.

It's interesting ... in 2021, during rehearsals for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, when Dr. Dre and his crew wanted to keep the performances top secret, Stadium staff blasted rock music outside so neighbors couldn't tattle on the set list and the surprise guest (50 Cent). That too pissed off some residents, including our guy, so this is all par for the course.

Billie Eilish took time out of her Lollapalooza set to honor Angus Cloud ... performing one of her tracks featured on "Euphoria" and shouting out the late actor in a heartwarming tribute.

The singer took to the stage in Chicago Thursday night to perform a bunch of her hits for the massive crowd ... and it was about an hour into her set when she started "Never Felt So Alone" -- a song by Labrinth in which Billie is featured.

Billie's fans went wild just hearing the intro, singing along with her from beginning to end. Billie shouted, "RIP to Angus Cloud, everybody" once it was over, before moving on to her next song.

It's a pretty touching tribute ... especially with the track being a big hit on Angus' show.

As we reported, the actor's costar Dominic Fike also shouted him out at his show earlier this week ... getting emotional while talking about Angus to the crowd.

Kyle Richards is teaming up with Morgan Wade for the country singer's new music video ... a move the two say is intended to poke fun at rumors they're currently dating.

Morgan shared a behind-the-scenes look at her new music video for her song, "Fall in Love with Me," which dropped on Friday. She says the vid comes next week, and it looks like Kyle is front and center.

The gals say the internet's gonna go nuts over it, with the singer saying folks always assume she's dating whoever is in her music videos ... so they thought what better way to have some fun with the rumors than to put Kyle in one of them!

They chat about how the 2 became friends and even joke around about the different fits Kyle wears for the vid -- clearly, they get along pretty well together.

You'll recall, rumors have been flying about them dating ever since her split from Mauricio Umansky ... but Kyle's been pretty adamant about them being just friends.

The City of Angels is officially the City of Swifties -- Taylor Swift has kicked off her 6 sold-out shows in Los Angeles, and fans had a lot to go wild over on night number 1.

Taylor took the stage Thursday night at SoFi Stadium for her "Eras" tour ... rockin' the crowd of over 70,000 after a killer opening act by HAIM. She brought the sister group back out later in the night to perform "No Body, No Crime" together.

TS had a surprise for her L.A. fans ... dusting off "I Can See You" from "Speak Now (Taylor's Version") -- the first time she's ever performed it live. Safe to say, the crowd went ballistic.

Swifties also pointed out a fun fact -- Taylor sang "August" from her "Folklore" album in August for the first time ... pretty neat.

It was a star-studded event at SoFi ... Vanessa Bryant was there with her daughters, Natalia and Bianka. tWitch's wife Allison Holker was in the crowd, as was Ashley Tisdale, Nick and Vanessa Lachey, and "Outer Banks" star Madelyn Cline -- and that was just Thursday.

As we reported, the LAPD is working with Metro to help with the flood of fans heading to and from SoFi while Taylor's in town ... beefing up the amount of officers throughout the big Metro system.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department said it's "providing a similar level of visibility as the 2022 Superbowl" ... in other words, LAPD ain't messing around when it comes to Taylor!!

Taylor Swift shared a special moment with Kobe and Vanessa Bryant's daughter, Bianka, during her "Eras" Tour stop in Los Angeles ... gifting the 6-year-old her "Red" hat and a big hug.

Vanessa and her daughters were among the Swifties for the singer's first of six sold-out concerts at SoFi Stadium on Thursday ... with mom decked out in a custom jean jacket to honor the late Lakers legend.

But, it was Bianka who had her wildest dreams come true ... with Swift picking her out of the crowd and bringing her up to the stage in the middle of the show.

For those who don't know, Swift gives out her iconic hat to one lucky fan every time she performs "22" ... something that's been quite the phenomenon throughout the tour.

Taylor shared a warm embrace with Bianka -- she hugged her and said a few words before putting the hat on her head ... and the entire stadium erupted in cheers and applause over the gesture.

"We love you @taylorswift ❤️," Vanessa said on Instagram.

The Bryant family has been tied to Swift for years -- not only are they all huge fans, but Kobe also took the stage at Staples Center to reveal a banner to honor her record for sold-out shows at the venue in 2015.

Gigi was also a massive Swiftie ... and Vanessa shared a throwback of her late daughter rocking out to "You Belong With Me" prior to attending Thursday's show.

One very lucky Post Malone fan left his concert with a kick-ass memento ... as the proud new owner of the rock star's $5K guitar!!!

11-year-old Winter attended Post's Tampa Bay concert Tuesday night, and at the end of the show, he handed over his personal blue guitar ... the same one he jams out with. Oh, and we should mention, he signed it too.

Winter's mother, Jenn, tells TMZ ... her kiddo's a massive Post fan, as is her other daughter, Brooklyn. Tampa's show marks the 5th PM show the family has attended. At past shows, Jenn says they've seen Post give away smashed guitars to fans, but nothing like this.

We're told Winter doesn't know how to play the guitar, but the rare gift might be enough to get her into learning. In handing it over, Post made the young girl promise to treat the instrument with respect, and Jenn says that's exactly what they'll do.

Winter plans to put it in a case to display on a wall in her room and will never sell it.

Don't worry, Brooklyn didn't walk away empty-handed -- she ended up with Post's sweaty shirt and socks. Not a bad consolation prize!

Tyga looked perfectly in control of his crowd during a recent show out in Mykonos ... despite a ton of rappers catching heat for lackluster performances this year.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of T-Raww calling for all the Greek girls, while blazing through his hits such as "Swish" and "Ayo" at SantAnna Mykonos on July 28.

We're told Tyga got lit on stage for nearly an hour and stayed and partied with Alexander “A.E.” Edwards and the rest of the homies throughout the night.

Tyga will be back in the building on August 9 and the successful sets will make for perfect practice when he embarks on his co-headlining tour with YG and Saweetie this fall.

As we told you last month, the trio of Cali superstars will be hitting 14 cities across the West Coast ... and Tyga's been racking up new material to perform ever since.

On Thursday, he teamed up with Lil Wayne and Mario for the new collab "Main One" ... the type of song you'd expect to hear at those Greek parties this summer!!!

Cardi B is in the clear after throwing a microphone at a fan ... because the criminal battery investigation has been dropped.

Cardi's lawyers, Drew Findling, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, tell TMZ, "This afternoon we were notified by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept., that as a result of their investigation, there will be NO charges against Cardi. On behalf of Cardi, we appreciate the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept's diligent and prompt resolution of this matter."

As you know, Cardi was performing at Drai's Beachclub last Saturday when she asked the crowd to splash water on her to cool her down in the burning Vegas heat ... but when someone threw a cup with an unknown liquid and ice, she hurled the mic at the person. It ricocheted and hit another person, who filed a police report.

Cardi was then listed as a battery suspect but the case has gone nowhere. It was never ever referred to the D.A. The cops concluded Cardi did not commit a criminal offense.

We learned an audio production company that owns the mic decided to auction off the piece, with the money going to charities like the Wounded Warrior Project and Friendship Circle Las Vegas, which helps teens and young adults with special needs. FYI, the bids have hit $100,000.

L.A. ain't messing around with Taylor Swift in town ... cops are beefing up security for public transit, with an operation that'll be taken as seriously as football's biggest day.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department announced Tuesday that LAPD is working with Metro to support the swarm of folks heading to and from Taylor's 6 shows at SoFi Stadium -- providing a ton of officers through the spread out Metro system.

The dept. says, "The Department is providing a similar level of visibility as the 2022 Superbowl in order to ensure the safety of the public throughout the Metro System."

In case ya forgot, tickets for her SoFi shows sold out instantly on Ticketmaster, so the only way to score tix at this point is by shelling out thousands for resale.

Swifties in L.A. have been going nuts over her arrival -- with fans already waiting for hours just to grab some merch!!!

Kim Kardashian is back to campaigning for Master P's brother's release from prison ... citing a new law in the state of Louisiana that could possibly land the incarcerated rapper a new trial.

Corey Miller, the former No Limit rapper, has been locked up in the Bayou State since 2002 where he's serving a life sentence for second-degree murder ... an alleged miscarriage of justice, according to Kim.

On Thursday, she dropped several statements on social media breaking down Louisiana's new law Section 926.2 ... which allows people to submit new factual evidence to prove their innocence.

Kim thinks Corey isn't being given his fair rights, as he's never been given an evidentiary hearing to explain his side, and several witnesses have since recanted statements.

"Louisiana recently enacted a new law that provides innocent people with the ability to raise a post-conviction claim of factual innocence. Mr. Miller has raised such a claim and, like all of his prior post-conviction filings, has been denied relief without even so much as an evidentiary hearing. In light of the fact that the only witnesses have completely recanted their testimony, there is absolutely no remaining evidence against Mr. Miller."

The 52-year-old, who rapped under the name C-Murder, has been getting public support from Master P, his family, his ex-GF Monica Brown, and Kim for years ... but the state hasn't shared their sentiments.

LL Cool J is sick of hearing how rap is both a "young man's game" and comparable to sports ... setting the record straight on how he feels hip hop culture should thrive.

The legendary rapper appeared on SiriusXM’s "Sway In The Morning" Thursday to promote his new tour, the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and he closed the interview with his first-ever freestyle on the celebrated radio show. ... supplying a dizzying array of rhymes.

LL rocked the mic for nearly two minutes, causing all Sway's Universe cohosts to go wild as Tracy G proclaimed LL shut down their freestyle segment for the rest of the year.

Earlier in the interview, LL expressed his disappointment with older rappers being rubbed out of the culture, much like he did when he took DJ Akademiks to task last year.

LL admits he's a fan of songs from the likes of Lil Baby, Lil Durk and DaBaby but says his reason for creating his "Rock The Bells" platform was so he didn't have to pretend like he's not older than he is.

The 55-year-old MC also laid into the rap debates that liken the genre to sports and says rappers only flirt with retirement like pro athletes over insecurities of becoming obsolete ... a position LL says he's allergic to!!!

Megan Thee Stallion's music release hiatus hasn't kept her from working ... the "Savage" rapper has gone straight Hollywood with her feature film debut.

Fans got a glimpse of what Megan will bring to the table when A24 popped the lid off its trailer for "Dicks: The Musical" comedy on Thursday ... which stars Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp as a pair of bumbling salesmen who soon discover they're long-lost twins.

Megan plays their business suit-wearing, potty-mouthed boss and makes use of her artistic talents ... even breaking off into a rap song at the point where she instructs the boys to munch on her male genitalia. 😬

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland could double as a K-pop idol ... 'cause the soccer superstar just got a personal dance lesson from Blackpink's Jisoo!!

The athlete and singer met up for a one-on-one interview during Man City's visit to Seoul as part of its preseason tour of Asia last month ... and at one point in the conversation, Jisoo gave Haaland a tutorial on how to do the viral dance to her solo song, "Flower," which has nearly 350 MILLION views on YouTube.

Of course, the "Flower Challenge" was a big thing on TikTok ... with a bunch of users trying out the dance craze.

While Haaland didn't do the whole dance, he was able to nail the hand movements from his seat ... even getting his own flower props to execute the routine.

Jisoo gave her stamp of approval on Haaland's attempt ... with the entire room clapping following his impromptu performance.

Haaland also came bearing gifts ... handing Jisoo a customized Man City jersey -- complete with No. 103, in honor of her birthday (January 3).

But don't start shipping Haaland and Jisoo -- the singer is currently dating Korean actor Ahn Bo Hyun, their reps confirmed Thursday -- and Erling is dating Isabel Johansen.

One of the women suing Lizzo claiming she was done dirty by the singer actually sang her praises, AFTER the alleged incidents she says terrorized her.

TMZ has obtained a video shot in April 2023, in which plaintiff Arianna Davis gushes over Lizzo, saying, "It's been so amazing and such a beautiful journey. I look up to her so much. I just want to follow in her footsteps, and I just want to share that with the Queen Lizzo herself."

Lizzo's lawyer, Marty Singer, tells TMZ, "These do not sound like the words of someone who was harassed or discriminated against by someone they described as 'THE QUEEN."

What's critical here ... Davis made her comments after the European leg of Lizzo's tour and after Season 1 of "Watch Out for the Big Grrrls." All of Davis' allegations involve alleged incidents before she shot this video -- an interview for Season 2 of the show, in which Davis pitches herself as a singer.

Davis and another plaintiff, Crystal Williams, appeared on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and acknowledged they were fired after Lizzo's team said their dancing was not up to par.

Lizzo broke her silence Thursday morning, saying, "These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional."

Marty Singer adds, "They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and here a video shows that there are no legitimate claims in this lawsuit. We are confident that Lizzo will be completely vindicated in this matter."

Originally Published -- 6:25 AM PT

Joey Fatone is NOT taking offense to the NSYNC dig tucked away in the "Barbie" movie -- in fact, it's quite the opposite ... he says the low blow makes the band all the more relevant.

We got Joey at LAX Thursday and our photog asked about the NSYNC reference in the Greta Gerwig flick.

It seems everyone's seen "Barbie," Joey included, so this shouldn't be a huge SPOILER ALERT ... but midway through the movie, NSYNC gets name-dropped ... and not in a positive way.

Michael Cera's character, the Allan doll, jokes ... "Not one person would care if Allan was in the real world, in fact, it's happened before. All of NSYNC -- Allan. Yes, even him."

Joey's rolling with the punches here ... he's the first to admit everyone in the band, including Justin Timberlake, have all had their Allan moments ... and he's all about self-deprecation, so he can laugh it off no problem.

What's more, Joey tells us the reference means NSYNC is still relevant in 2023 ... so he's taking it as a huge compliment.

Kesha's got some good vibrations coming her way after her mom's pet pooch chewed her favorite sex toy to pieces.

ICYMI, the singer was "livid" Tuesday when she said she "Woke up this morning and saw my mom's dog chewed my $250 vibrator to pieces."

We-Vibe is swooping in to save the day, though ... because a spokesperson for the sex toy company tells TMZ they're well aware of Kesha's tragic situation and have already reached out to her to hook her up with a brand new gadget -- and more!!!

We're told Kesha's going to be getting a sweet gift box full of goodies -- and we've obtained a pic of the products being shown off by none other than We-Vibe's human-sized Clitoris ... though it's not clear if the costumed character will drop off the toys herself.