Music

Pitbull may need to go by "Dale" Earnhardt, Jr. now ... 'cause the party music legend is now a proud co-owner of a NASCAR racing team!!

The Grammy award winner shared the big news on Friday (which also happens to be his 40th birthday) ... officially announcing his partnership with Team Trackhouse and owner Justin Marks.

As it turns out, Mr. Worldwide says he's been a fan of NASCAR ever since he saw the 1990 flick "Days of Thunder" starring Tom Cruise ... and now he couldn't be more pumped to get in on the action.

"This is a great way to celebrate my 40th bday, so Get Ready! Dale!" Pitbull said on Twitter.

Trackhouse features star driver Daniel Suarez, who gave his new boss a shoutout shortly after the announcement was made.

"Welcome to the family amigo 🤙🏼💪🏼 @pitbull," Suarez said. "Daleeee!!!🔥🔥  Big things are happening."

Pitbull won't just be a mascot owner -- the musician is slated to be in-person to watch his team compete at the Daytona 500 next month.

He's already been active in the racing community ... performing alongside Blake Shelton at Phoenix Raceway back in March.

NASCAR released a statement on the big move, saying, "Pitbull is an iconic talent in the music industry and has tremendous passion for NASCAR racing."

"We look forward to working with him to further engage diverse audiences and introduce new fans to our great sport.”

The 911 call that led to the felony murder warrant for YFN Lucci's arrest is disturbing ... a woman describing a man clinging to a moving SUV before he was left for dead.

TMZ's obtained audio of the 911 call a woman made in Atlanta last month when she saw a white SUV speeding by "with a man hanging out of the car." She says she eventually saw the man get shoved out onto the street.

The witness told the operator the victim appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound to the head, and she desperately tried to get an ambulance to the location because the man was "still trying to fight for his life."

She remained on the scene while waiting for the ambulance, standing near the victim -- and said he was "taking his last breath" and he died moments later.

As we reported ... Lucci is wanted by Atlanta PD's homicide unit for his alleged role in the man’s death. We're told cops are looking to bring him in on multiple charges ... including felony murder, aggravated assault, participation in criminal street gang activity, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Atlanta PD's offering a $5k award for info leading to his arrest and indictment.

Los Angeles local Hope Sandoval burst onto the scene in the mid-'90s as the melancholy singer and founder of the indie dream pop band Mazzy Star ... they released their sophomore album So Tonight That I Might See on Capitol Records in 1993 and their track "Fade Into You" landed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

While Mazzy Star didn't have the same success with their follow-up albums Among My Swan and Seasons Of Your Day ... Hope still performs as a solo artist and collaborates with other high-profile indie artists like Massive Attack, Kurt Vile and Mercury Rev.

Post Malone is making sure hospital workers working on the pandemic frontlines are comfortable while spending hours on their feet by gifting thousands of pairs of his custom Crocs.

The Post Malone x Crocs Duet Max Clog II are still sold out after hitting the market last month, but Posty is pulling strings to hook up 10,000 hospital workers with the impossible-to-find footwear.

Post and Crocs teamed up with a charity called Musicians on Call -- which brings tunes to hospital bedsides - to donate the shoes to frontline caregivers, housekeeping staff and healthcare workers busting their tails at about 70 facilities across the nation.

Now, the custom Crocs are being worn around various hospital units ... including, COVID, cardiac, ICU, oncology, surgical care and pediatrics.

Taylor Swift's sexual assault lawsuit -- in which she only demanded $1 for punishment, and won -- became a talking point in the highest court in the land ... and it could actually help a guy keep his case alive.

T-Swift was name-dropped Tuesday during oral arguments on a Supreme Court freedom of speech case dating back to 2016 ... when college student Chike Uzuegbunam sued Georgia Gwinnett College for allegedly telling him to shut his yap over Jesus while on campus.

The school changed its policy the year after, and asked that the case be dismissed -- which it was in a lower court -- that is, until Uzuegbunam appealed to SCOTUS, where it's currently being debated.

The guy is asking for nominal damages, and the college's attorneys say it's a waste of time and resources to keep this going for such a low amount just to make a point.

That's where Tay-Tay comes in ... Justice Elena Kagan mentioned Taylor's 2015 suit against radio host David Mueller, whom she claimed groped her at a backstage meet-and-greet in 2013. Remember, all she wanted as far as relief was one measly dollar, simply to make a point ... and she won in the end.

Kagan thinks the same thinking could apply here. She said, "A few years ago, [Swift] brought a suit against a radio host for sexually assaulting her, and she said, 'I'm not really interested in your money, I just want $1. And, that dollar is going to represent something both to me and to the world of women who have experienced what I've experienced."

Kagan added, "That's what happened: The jury gave her $1. And, it was an unquestionable physical harm. But, she just asked for this $1 to say that she had been harmed. Why not?"

YFN Lucci is a wanted man in Atlanta -- because cops suspect he's involved in the shooting death of a man.

Atlanta PD's homicide unit tells us they're looking to bring in 29-year-old Rayshawn Bennett -- Lucci's real name -- on multiple charges ... including felony murder, aggravated assault, participation in criminal street gang activity, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

The reason ... he's suspected of being involved in a shooting incident in southwest Atlanta last month, which left one man dead from a gunshot wound to the head and another man injured. Cops say the second victim was shot only minutes after the first.

Cops say the shootings are related and have already made 2 arrests -- 23-year-old Ra'von Boyd and 17-year-old Leroy Pitts were booked for felony murder.

Dr. Dre is still in intensive care, one week after he was rushed to the hospital after suffering a brain aneurysm, and doctors are still trying to figure out what happened.

Sources connected to Dre with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Dre's where he's been since last Monday -- in ICU at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. Our sources say doctors continue to do a battery of tests to get to the root problem. Doctors also want him in ICU in case, God forbid, he suffers another aneurysm ... if that happens, time would be of the essence.

We don't know if Dre has gone into surgery, but that's usually the case to stop bleeding.

As for his current state ... the music legend is resting comfortably, and perhaps even more encouraging, our sources say docs have cautiously informed his family that a "bad outcome" doesn't appear to be on the horizon.

TMZ broke the story ... Dre suffered the aneurysm at his Pacific Palisades home Monday and was rushed by ambulance to Cedars.

The Cleveland Browns celebrated their first playoff win since 1994 the only way they knew how -- by epically roasting JuJu Smith-Schuster with a locker room celebration for the ages!!

Of course, the Steelers WR had some words for the AFC North rivals leading up to their Wild Card matchup ... calling Cleveland the "same old Browns" and claiming he was unfazed by the new-look team.

Baker Mayfield and Co. clearly had JuJu on their minds after taking care of business Sunday night ... trolling the TikTok-loving star with a taste of his own medicine.

Kareem Hunt, Jarvis Landry and more led the Browns' insane locker room celly following their 48-37 win over Pittsburgh ... blaring Pop Hunna and Lil Uzi Vert's "Adderall (Corvette Corvette)" and having some choice words for the receiver.

Remember, JuJu was infamous for his pregame ritual -- which included dancing to the same song while standing on opposing team logos prior to kickoff.

Landry mocked JuJu with some moves of his own ... while several Browns players recited the receiver's bulletin board material.

"The Browns gon' be the Browns!!!" Hunt said on IG Live ... with guard Wyatt Teller adding, "Same old Browns, huh?!"

It's a huge moment for the Browns ... who now have to prepare for the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs next week.

Diddy's got a big headache to ring in the new year ... the L.A. home he owns where his late soulmate, Kim Porter, died was hit by burglars.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... someone pried open a side door and entered his Toluca Lake home, triggering the security system.

We're told a caretaker discovered the break-in and it was clear -- someone rummaged through the house.

Cops took a burglary report and someone from Diddy's family will have to take a look around to see what, if anything, is missing.

As you know ... Kim, a model and actress, dated Diddy off and on for 13 years and they had 3 children together, including two daughters and a son.

Thousands are dying, hospitals are at capacity and Los Angeles is on lockdown ... but that didn't matter to Kaash Paige, who celebrated her bday with dozens of her maskless friends.

Paige rented out a mansion in Encino Thursday night to ring in her 20th -- with plenty of celebs in tow ... including Lil Mosey, 24kGoldn and members of the Sway and Hype House.

The videos we obtained make it clear ... there's absolutely no social distancing and almost everyone is without a mask as they belt out "Happy Birthday."

L.A. County recorded more than 40,000 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday. The hospitals are full. There's no place to store bodies, and hundreds of thousands of people are out of work.

We're told cops were never called to the bash, and if the kitchen looks familiar, it's the same pad Jake Paul rented out for his afterparty after knocking out Nate Robinson.

The founder and lead guitarist of heavy metal band Iced Earth is popular with the FBI these days, because he's now a wanted man.

Jon Schaffer was one of the rioters who stormed the Capitol Wednesday, and it's not like his presence was a big surprise. He's a die-hard Trumper who warned last month during a protest he and others like him were ready for violence if it came to that, and also warned the opposition ... "You're goin' down."

Schaffer is wanted for "unrest-related offenses" in connection with the failed coup attempt.

Schaffer’s involvement in the Capitol riot came a few months after he attended a D.C. Trump rally in November to protest against the election results.

Hansi Kursch, who's also in the band, Demons & Wizards, with Schaffer, was appalled at what he saw, saying ... "We are deeply shocked and our thoughts are with the relatives of the deceased. We expressly distance ourselves from any kind of violence irrespective if applied against institutions or persons. The incidents will be thoroughly investigated and the responsible will be brought to justice. We ask for your understanding that in view of the hourly news situation we will not make any further comments at present."

Schaffer's one of the more high-profile rioters, what with being in 3 popular bands and authorities know where he lives ... so it seems the FBI should find him with ease.

Katy Perry's alleged stalker just missed a hearing in his trespassing case, and will suffer consequences, but the scarier part for Katy is he remains on the loose.

According to L.A. County Court records, William Edward Terry was charged on Wednesday with one count of trespassing for a September incident at the singer's Beverly Hills home. His arraignment was set for Friday ... but Terry was a no-show.

The L.A. City Attorney tells us the court issued a bench warrant for Terry's failure to appear. As we first reported, he allegedly terrorized the hell out of Katy and her newborn daughter in September when he hopped the fence and got onto her property.

The 38-year-old had been posting lewd messages on social media for months ... before showing up at Katy's home. Her security apprehended him and held him until cops showed up to arrest him for trespassing.

Swedish songstress Anni-Frid Lyngstad (full name Princess Anni-Frid, Dowager Countess of Plauen) was in her 20s when she became an international sensation after she and her 3 harmonically-superior bandmates formed the iconic '70s band ABBA ... and released hits like 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!,' "The Winner Takes It All," "Mamma Mia," "Take A Chance On Me" ... and course the disco juggernaut "Dancing Queen."

Lyngstad was joined in the supergroup by the keys-tickling (and her husband at the time) Benny Andersson ... and blonde vocalist Agnetha Faltskog and her partner the guitar-strumming Björn Ulvaeus.

DaBaby's shopping spree on world-famous Rodeo Drive came to an abrupt halt when Bev Hills cops stopped him and his pals and allegedly found a gun.

DaBaby hit several stores on Rodeo Thursday including Dior, Gucci and Moncler. As he and 3 other men were about to drive off, multiple cop cars surrounded their vehicle. Law enforcement sources tell us someone had called the cops to report DaBaby and his crew had weapons.

Baby and his friends were detained while officers searched the vehicle, and found one handgun.

We're told the rapper was arrested for carrying a loaded firearm, a misdemeanor. Although cops initially detained everyone in the car, we're told DaBaby is the only one getting booked.

Britney Spears' ex-husband -- the one who isn't Kevin Federline -- had a front-row view to the attempted coup at the Capitol ... because he was part of the pro-Trump protest.

Jason Allen Alexander -- whom you might remember for being married to Britney for 55 hours after their wild, 2004 Sin City wedding -- trekked to D.C. for Wednesday's show of support for President Trump, which turned into an attempted coup.

Jason looked proud to be there ... snapping selfies in his Trump 45 beanie.

What's unclear ... if Jason actually was part of the riotous mob that breached the Capitol. If he was, it's likely the feds are going after him.

Seems Jason's big on attending demonstrations ... when we last saw him back in August, he had joined the #FreeBritney movement ... hanging out in the crowd gathered outside the L.A. courthouse where a hearing was taking place on her conservatorship.

As if Dr. Dre's week wasn't rough enough ... he's agreed to pay his estranged wife $2 million in temporary spousal support -- but he's not coughing up the $5 mil she wants for her divorce attorneys.

The music mogul and Nicole Young struck the deal that calls for Dre to write a one-time check for the $2 mil. That's all he'll pay ... at least until the next divorce hearing in April. Now it will be up to Nicole to decide how much of that amount she forks over to her lawyers.

As we reported, Nicole was demanding $2 mil per month, PLUS another $5 million in attorney's fees.

Our sources say Dre will continue to cover Nicole's living expenses at her Malibu pad, as well as her mother's Pacific Palisades home for the next several months. However, Dre will NOT cover Nicole's security costs ... she'll have to pay that from the $2 mil.

Dre and Young's lawyers struck the deal in court, but we're told Dre had to sign the agreement from his bed at Cedars Sinai Hospital.

Remember ... he's been dishing out $293,306 a month in temporary support. Now, he can focus on his recovery.

TMZ broke the story ... Dre suffered a brain aneurysm earlier this week and he was rushed by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. He was taken directly to ICU. Dre later thanked his fans for their support and said he's doing great and getting excellent care.