Music

Fetty Wap and his entire family have been hit by an unfathomable tragedy … his 4-year-old daughter, Lauren Maxwell, has died.

Lauren’s mother, Turquoise Miami, confirmed the news over the weekend on Instagram with a Boomerang video of Lauren smiling while having fun in the swimming pool. The cause of death at the time of this post is unknown.

Turquoise’s caption said, “This is my amazing, beautiful, funny, vibrant, loving, talented, smart and hardheaded princess mermaid Aquarius. If you see this post scrolling by with her comment or just say to yourself ‘I love you LAUREN’ because they say that souls can feel your love #RIP.”

While performing at Rolling Loud last weekend in Miami … Fetty dedicated his set to Lauren. He wrote on his Instagram Story, “Lolo daddy did that s*** for you last night baby girl” followed by a butterfly, dove and heart emojis.

It’s been a grueling couple of years for Fetty and the family. As we first reported … Fetty’s daughter, Alaiya, underwent emergency brain surgery back in January 2019 after she was born 3 months premature. The surgery went well.

Lauren was 4.

Lollapalooza wasn't just a breeding ground for COVID this weekend -- it also led to some serious violence ... as seen in this brutal video of a festival ticket sale gone wrong.

The scuffle broke out Sunday just outside the Congress Plaza Hotel & Convention Center in Chicago ... literally across the street from Grant Park, where the multi-day music festival was being held outdoors.

In the clip, you can see 3 men tussling in front of a glass window ... which ended up getting shattered when at least one dude got shoved through it.

You see him cry out in pain and then try and drag himself away from the chaos. According to Chicago PD, this was all over one guy selling "bad wristbands" for Lolla to a group of 2 men and 2 women. The dispute between the 3 men ended with the shattered glass and all 3 getting hospitalized for various cuts on their heads, legs and arms.

Cops are investigating, but no one's been arrested yet.

This incident aside, the bigger danger for festival-goers this weekend appears to have been COVID-19 ... in particular, the Delta variant, which is starting to run rampant across the U.S.

CDC officials say it is infecting a helluva lot of people at alarming rates once again. The fact that Lollapalooza was packed to the gills, with a sea of people who were mostly unmasked, probably won't help.

Even those who are vaccinated aren't safe against Delta -- not entirely, anyway. Those people are getting infected just as much as unvaccinated people, but the shot does help mitigate symptoms ... and usually prevents the patient from needing hospitalization.

A notable case in point for this new surge and who's catching it lies in Provincetown, MA -- which is experiencing a major outbreak of Delta. The town was key in the CDC issuing new indoor mask guidance recently ... as positive cases among the vaccinated there were found to be in step with those who hadn't gotten inoculated yet.

So, everyone's at risk again, it seems ... granted, to varying levels.

Still, it's pretty crazy ... Provincetown is a left-leaning city that usually plays by the rules for this type of thing -- and despite that, they're still catching COVID like crazy.

English artist David Gray was in his early 30s when the folksy jams and soothing vocals on his fourth album "White Ladder" shot to the top with some notable singles like "Babylon," "Sail Away" and of course "This Year's Love."

Although David Gray has made the most of his musical talents with a catalog of albums that span nearly two decades including his most recent album "Skellig" released earlier this year, he's still yet to capture the same success he received from earlier in his career.

Gray continues to perform live and has a worldwide tour set for 2022.

Dolly Parton threw down major dough she collected off the success of one of Whitney Houston's biggest hits -- a rendition of Dolly's, no doubt -- into a Black Tennessee community ... something that doesn't appear to have been known, until now.

The singer made the revelation this week during an appearance on 'WWHL' with Andy Cohen, where he asked her ... what was the best thing she'd invested in with the royalties she's collected from Whitney's version of 'I Will Always Love You' ... originally sung by DP.

Dolly gave a pretty incredible answer ... as it appears it's something no one's ever bothered to ask, but she was happy to share. Check out her response for yourself in the clip.

She tells Andy that of the money she'd gotten from the royalties -- a reported $10 million or so, in the '90s -- she ended up investing a decent amount into an office complex/strip mall "off the beaten path" of 16th Avenue in Nashville (a famous street near downtown).

More importantly, Dolly notes it was a part of town where mostly Black folks lived -- and she felt there was no better place to be, as it was among Whitney's people ... and Dolly's people, too, as she points out. It's unclear if Dolly developed more down there over the years ... but in any case, she almost certainly left some sort of economical impact big picture with her outlay.

It's unclear where exactly Dolly's property resides ... but it sounds like she still might be using it all these years later. And, crazier yet -- she never really piped up about this until Andy asked her about it, it seems. As many are pointing out -- that's just Dolly for ya.

One more thing worth mentioning re Whitney and Dolly -- during a Q&A segment from fans, one person asked if there were ever plans for Dolly to perform 'I Will Always' alongside Whitney, like in a duet version or something ... and it just never happened. Very good question, as Andy notes.

Her answer is both stunning, and kinda annoying ... if you're a fan of either artist.

Long story short, Dolly simply says ... no, because NO ONE EVER ASKED HER TO DO IT, even though she adds she would've happily agreed to belt out the tune next to Whitney, assuming anyone approached her about it. Talk about a missed opportunity, huh???

DaBaby just got the hook -- Lollapalooza organizers are yanking him out of their Sunday night lineup, which he was supposed to headline ... due to his ignorant and homophobic comments.

The legendary festival, going down in Chicago this weekend, announced Sunday morning ... "Lollapalooza was founded on diversity, inclusivity, respect, and love. With that in mind, DaBaby will no longer be performing at Grant Park tonight."

DaBaby was supposed to perform at 9 PM Sunday for more than 150,000 fans, as the final act of the 4-day festival -- instead, he'll be sidelined, and Young Thug has been moved up into that slot.

The 11th-hour change is in response to the rapper's onstage rant last weekend at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami. ICYMI ... DaBaby told the audience to put their phones up, "If you didn't show up today with HIV/AIDS or other STDs that'll make you die in 2-3 weeks" and "Fellas, if you didn't suck a n***a d**k in the parking lot."

He attempted to explain away the vile comments on social media when he posted a video claiming his words weren't directed at his gay fans because they're not "nasty gay n****s" or "junkies" and they take care of themselves.

In other words ... he just made it worse.

As we've reported ... the clothing company, Boohoo, stopped working with DaBaby soon after the heinous comments. Also, Dua Lipa -- who has a huge hit with DaBaby, "Levitating" -- denounced his remarks ... and their song has reportedly been removed from multiple Apple Music playlists.

42 Dugg has responded to a now-viral video of him kissing and licking his son's neck -- and he's firing back with nothing but homophobia.

The rapper addressed a clip he posted late this week in which he's seen being affectionate with his young son -- who just turned 3 -- aboard a plane, which entailed hugging him from behind ... and slobbering all over his neck -- including licking, kissing and sucking.

You can see the kid kinda squirm a bit, but he eventually giggles as if to escape his dad's canoodling. One could argue this was innocent father-son fun, but others took it differently.

Some folks said it was inappropriate, and in some cases ... many just called it gross and speculated it might be child abuse, invoking Child Protective Services and considerations to call them over this. The interaction itself was up for debate ... but Dugg's fiery retort isn't.

Instead of tackle the crux of the issue -- whether this video is fatherly love gone too far -- Dugg went on a rant that was riddled with homophobic language and sentiments ... not entirely different from what DaBaby spewed. Now, he's catching backlash for this too.

We won't get into all the nitty-gritty from his post -- you can read the since-deleted IG Story above -- but essentially ... Dugg seems to want to distance himself from any talk of homosexuality as it pertains to his relationship with his kid ... further saying he feels he's having same-sex vibes shoved down his throat by famous people and society at large.

Whatever point Dugg was trying to make gets lost in the clear bigotry and apparent hatred he seems to have when it comes to the LGBT crowd. Not a good look ... all the way around.

Machine Gun Kelly made a surprise appearance at Lollapalooza Saturday ... mostly upside down.

Fans got an alert on day 3 of the festival ... MGK was there for a special show. Within an hour, he appeared at the Bud Light Seltzer Sessions side stage and performed to ... well, let's just say a more-than-packed audience -- it had 20 times the number of people permitted in the space.

He performed "Kiss Kiss," more hit songs from "Tickets to My Downfall," and a cover of "Misery Business." But there was more ... "My Ex's Best Friend," "Bloody Valentine" and "Drunk Face."

And then, the stunt ... MGK dangled from the rafters -- upside down no less -- as fans repeatedly screamed, "MGK!!!"

The festival has drawn around 100,000 people, and health officials are super worried it will become a super-spreader event with the surge of the Delta variant.

Here's the last time ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill performed with the band before his death ... and you can tell something's just not right with him.

TMZ obtained this video from ZZ Top's last concert with Dusty -- July 18 at the Iroquois Amphitheater in Louisville, KY -- and he's clearly having a tough time performing in what would ultimately be his final gig.

As you can see, Dusty is playing bass as he sits down on a large speaker ... and we're told he was sitting like this for the entire show and had to be helped off the stage because he couldn't walk on his own.

A few days after this video, ZZ Top announced Dusty was heading back to Texas due to a hip issue.

A source close to Dusty tells TMZ ... things had gotten so bad recently, he had to stop touring because of a hip injury, so he went home early to recover, and that's when he died.

Coi Leray says it's going to take music fans time to come around to her, like the zombie crowd she encountered at Rolling Loud ... because she's something fresh and new.

We got the rapper outside The Ivy in Los Angeles and our photog asked about her infamous set at Rolling Loud, when the crowd was mostly just standing around and looking on while she performed with gusto.

Coi says the crowd had the deer-in-the-headlights reaction because she's unlike anything they've ever seen ... and she's blaming the music industry for churning out too much of the same thing.

The way Coi sees it ... artists aren't doing anything new to make fans gravitate to them, and when something new comes along -- like her -- it takes time for people to get used to it, and that's what happened down in Miami.

R. Kelly doesn't want the feds to be given a chance to prove he had sex with a male -- because the jury isn't ready for that wrench ... and might take it out on him in a verdict, assuming they're homophobic.

The singer's legal team fired back to what federal prosecutors submitted last week -- namely, a request to have new evidence they say they have touching on several new allegations ... the most shocking of which being R. Kelly groomed and molested a 17-year-old boy.

You'll recall ... prosecutors filed a bombshell just mere weeks ahead of the start of Kelly's Chicago case, the first of his many cases that'll start before any of the others. In addition to bribery, they claimed he started a relationship with a male minor in the mid-2000s -- this after supposedly meeting him at a McDonald's and taking him under his wing.

There was another 17-year-old boy the feds claim R. Kelly met as a result of this relationship -- but it sounds like things didn't turn sexual until years later for that second John Doe, per their filing. At any rate, Kelly's team says NONE of it should be allowed into the record.

Of the many reasons they list in their docs, obtained by TMZ, Kelly's attorneys -- Thomas A. Farinella and Nicole Blank Becker -- list timeliness (or a lack thereof), ongoing anonymity, purpose and jury selection as their main concerns for why this stuff shouldn't be heard.

The jury thing is perhaps the most interesting though -- it speaks to what Kelly's team appears to be anticipating in terms of jurors who may or may not have a bias on the issue of same-sex relationships. That's important ... 'cause the jury questionnaire is already filed and submitted, which his lawyers say is messed up considering this late, new development.

Long story short, his attorneys argue the questionnaires potential jurors will see soon are "void of a single question about their opinions or feelings on same-sex relationships" -- which they think is important, since that could end in bigots on the panel who may decide unfavorably against Kelly simply due of the nature of the evidence/allegations ... aka, the implication that R. Kelly is gay and/or bisexual. His attorneys say ... that's not fair.

The 2 attorneys further tell TMZ that it's no secret the issue of sexual orientation is still a lightning rod issue in 2021, and needs to be vetted to give Kelly an impartial jury.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck continued their "2021 We're Super in Love" tour Saturday, as they packed on the PDA along the Mediterranean.

Ben and J Lo were all over each other again, as they smooched it up on a dock in Naples, Italy.

They've been on a multi-million dollar superyacht all week, meandering along the coast in the South of France and Italy. The yacht will set them back around $1.1 mil for a week's stay. Seriously.

A-Rod's been yachting in the Med as well, at times in the same area as Ben and Jen. As far as we can tell, there's been no interaction between them.

Since they reunited, they have played with photogs and made it clear they're down with all the PDA pics. It's a seismic change from Ben's M.O. -- he's never been one to play to the cameras, but that was then ...

Unclear when it's back to reality, but it seems they've got some sort of plan together in L.A. She's already scoped out schools for her kids.

Britney Spears is telegraphing a message that has become increasingly obvious over the last few months ... she's done with just about everyone involved -- directly or indirectly -- in her conservatorship.

Britney posted a simple message to her fans ... "If standing up for yourself burns a bridge, I have matches" -- a pretty clear reference to ending relationships, something she's been doing with laser-focus recently. In addition to going after her dad, Jamie, she's zeroed in on her mom and sister ... among many others.

The message seems to be that she's not afraid to torch relationships she says have harmed her over the years.

Britney also posted pics of her recent trip to Maui, talking about "the little things" she enjoys. Maui seems to be her go-to place ... she's been there a lot over the years. The pic shows what appears to be her cocktail of choice, held by BF Sam Asghari.

She also posted another topless video.

Her posts include the image of a statue of a "rare white owl," with the caption .. "Pssss check out the statue of the rare white owl … I saw it this morning !!!! Before I saw it, a beautiful little boy with white blond hair who was two years old screamed at his mamma because he wanted his drink with a straw … it was the most adorable thing ever cause he reminded me of my boys when they were younger."

Gonzoe the rapper -- a friend of Tupac and Ice Cube -- has been murdered.

Police say Gonzoe was shot 3 times in the chest near a gas station in Seattle, Washington. The gunman is still at large and cops are on the hunt.

The 45-year-old rapper -- real name Ronald Moore -- was from Los Angeles. He was a member of the Outlawz and got his nickname from Tupac himself. His albums include "If I Live & Nothing Happens," and he contributed on "Kuruption" and "Godzilla."

After Gonzoe was shot he ran to a Shell gas station that was close by and then collapsed. He was rushed to a hospital where he died overnight.

It appears he was shot while driving ... cops found a vehicle riddled with bullets in the area.

Gonzoe was a member of Kausion ... a '90s group supported by Ice Cube. The group's album, "South Central Los Skanless," rose to #37 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Rapper C-Bo paid his respects to Gonzoe on social media, posting a throwback video of the two of them out together

Gonzoe was reportedly "working on numerous business deals after the high-profile fight with Boskoe, with whom he started a boxing league with after squashing their beef," All Hip Hop explained.

Gonzoe had started a boxing league with fellow-rapper Boskoe100. The 2 of them got in the ring and fought it out to a draw back in April.

Gonzoe was 45.

Country star Jake Owen is going to have to hit pause on celebrating the success of his hit song, "Made For You" ... he's being sued for allegedly stealing it.

Alexander Cardinale and Morgan Reid filed legal docs in Nashville claiming Jake's version lifts the lyrics and melody directly from their 2014 track with the same title.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Cardinale and Reid claim their song and Jake's are strikingly similar. They claim the "notes, structure, harmony, vocal style and rhythm are clear indicators" Jake's song copied their track.

Cardinale and Reid say they released their version on Cardinale's album "Digital Youth" with Hashtag Records. It instantly found success ... so much so, the single was used for a Coca-Cola commercial.

What's more ... Cardinale and Reid say the soda giant chose the record in 2016 as its multi-national "Share a Coke and a Song" ad campaign. They say the hook and title appeared on more than 250 million bottles of Coke, which provided QR codes on the bottles linking consumers to the OG song.

The plaintiffs say the track was re-released worldwide ... to critical acclaim. But, when Jake released his version in 2019, Cardinale and Reid say they instantly recognized the similarities.

Jake would eventually play the tune live on "The Bachelorette" in 2019 and, earlier this year, the country star's version became his third No. 1 hit off his "Greetings from ... Jake" album.

Biz Markie is getting a grand sendoff from his famous friends and family ... his celebration of life is set for Monday in New York City.

Sources tell TMZ ... Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy and celebs like Fat Joe, LL Cool J, Papoose, Big Daddy Kane, Al B. Sure! and Leland Robinson will be front and center to pay their respects to the trailblazing rapper.

It sounds like Biz will have an open casket ... we're told he will be dressed in a custom outfit designed by Harlem fashion icon Dapper Dan. Biz, of course, was one of Dapper Dan's biggest supporters when their careers were both getting off the ground.

There's a private family viewing set for Monday from 11 AM to 1 PM ET and the funeral service is scheduled to begin at 1:30 PM and run until 3:30 PM. TMZ and BET will be live streaming the celebration of life starting at 2 PM.

Gloria and Emilio Estefan's investment nearly 3 decades ago on a Miami mansion has paid off big time ... TMZ's learned the couple sold it for a whopping $35 million.

According to property records ... the famous couple sold their 6-bedroom, 10-bathroom crib on Miami's Star Island last week. The Estefans sure got top dollar for the nearly 8,000-square-foot mansion especially when you consider this -- property records show the couple bought the house in 1993 for $1,840,000. #ChaChing.

We're told ... as of late Gloria and Emilio used the home for guests when they visited the famous couple, who aren't going anywhere 'cause they have another property down the street. The area, of course, is a major enclave for celebs like Alex Rodriguez, Shaquille O'Neal and Sean Combs, to name a few.

As for the corner-lot house itself ... it sits on a 58,332-square-foot lot. It offers sparkling waterfront and unobstructed views to Biscayne Bay and the downtown Miami skyline.

For the new owner's guests ... there's a 2-story guest house with 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms and 1.5 baths complete with a spacious living room and private dining room. It's also got killer views. And, if the new owner has a boat (guessing yes), there's also a private dock at this one-of-a-kind estate.

Helluva score.