Music

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez popped into a jewelry store during their romantic European getaway -- trying on some serious pieces -- but there's no ring in play, yet.

The shopping trip went down last week at Faraone Mennella jewelry store in Capri, and a store spokesperson tells us J Lo tried on a number of expensive pieces, including necklaces and earrings.

We're told J Lo tried on a $41,000 green tourmaline necklace ... plus a series of colored hoop earrings ranging from $1,800 to $2,850.

One thing we're told the couple did NOT check out, however, was a ring.

The spokesperson tells us Ben and J Lo took a series of photos together inside the jewelry store, where they were flirty and having fun, and J Lo also took a few selfies with the jewelry she tried on before leaving with their entourage.

The couple didn't officially purchase anything, but the rep says most celebs call in later to have items shipped back home.

TMZ broke the story ... Bennifer 2.0 walked hand-in-hand through the quaint alleyways of Capri, shopping and taking a ton of pics.

As we reported, Jen was spotted in Portofino, Italy over the weekend -- after Affleck left -- wearing a necklace with Ben's name on it and there was also a diamond hanging from the chain.

Miley Cyrus sure knows how to party in the USA ... 'cause right on the heels of killing it at Lollapalooza, she hit the Hamptons for a crypto billionaire's private rager.

The singer performed over the weekend at the home of Mike Novogratz ... CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners. Miley wore a red leotard, black heels and messy blonde hair during her set for Mike's soiree -- keep in mind, he's not just known for his business acumen, but also for being a serious party animal.

While Mike was hanging out with his guests, including Bobby Shmurda ... MC belted out some of her best hits, including "Party in the USA" and "Wrecking Ball." According to Page Six ... she also covered Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U."

The private bash apparently had a Coney Island mermaid parade theme. Get this ... there was even a pop-up of Nathan's complete with a hot dog eating contest and an appearance from the 76-hot dog crushing man himself, Joey Chestnut.

There were also tents offering partygoers booze and food ... plus ice cream stands throughout, and one of those "silent disco" areas, where everyone listens on headphones.

Biz Markie is being honored in the wake of his death -- with friends, family and loved ones coming out to speak on his behalf in a major celebration of life ... and TMZ's live streaming the event.

The rapper's funeral took place early Monday in the Big Apple, with a public memorial service to follow ... which you can watch in full here.

Al Sharpton is set to deliver the eulogy -- and other MCs are also expected to be on hand during the proceedings ... including Fat Joe, LL Cool J, Papoose, Big Daddy Kane, Al B. Sure!, Leland Robinson, among others. It's unclear if any of them will actually deliver remarks.

Word is ... Biz will be dressed to the nines, courtesy of the Harlem fashion designer, Dapper Dan.

It's sure to be an emotional moment for New Yorkers and hip-hop fans alike -- as you know, BM was a trailblazer in the genre ... and was loved by many before his untimely death.

TMZ broke the story ... he died last month at the age of 57.

DaBaby's finally doing a mea culpa ... he's apologizing for the third time over his homophobic rant that led to him getting 86'd from various music festivals and his hit song with Dua Lipa being dropped from playlists.

The rapper apologized with a lengthy statement Monday saying he's educated himself and knows better now following the vile comments he made at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami. He said, "I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the hurtful and triggering comments I made. Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS and I know education on this is important. Love to all. God bless."

The rapper suggested he's a victim of high-speed social media, saying, "Social media moves so fast that people want to demolish you before you even have the opportunity to grow, educate, and learn from your mistakes. As a man who has had to make his own way from very difficult circumstances, having people I know publicly working against me -- knowing that what I needed was education on these topics and guidance -- has been challenging."

He went on to thank those who came to him "with kindness, who reached out to me privately to offer wisdom, education, and resources. That’s what I needed and it was received."

As we've reported ... Lollapalooza organizers yanked him from Sunday's lineup. Ditto for the UK's Parklife festival ... swift action was taken after DaBaby went on stage at Rolling Loud and said, "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."

The Weeknd might think he's living the "sober lite" life -- but a renowned addiction interventionist says the language isn't just contradictory, but downright harmful.

Ken Seeley said as much Monday on "TMZ Live," where he broke down why Abel's seemingly innocuous choice of words here can be triggering and counterproductive to people who are actually fighting for their lives to stay sober ... truly sober, that is.

Check it out ... Ken firmly challenged both The Weeknd and Demi Lovato -- who recently said they were "California sober," implying Demi just smokes and drinks in moderation -- telling us the definition of sobriety isn't up for interpretation or cute twists, as the singers seem to be trying to concoct.

He also says addiction is a serious issue -- and the severity of that battle seems to be get diluted by folks making up terms that include sobriety ... that's his take, anyway.

As someone who used to habitually use crystal meth, Ken says he knows the difference between actual sobriety and recovery ... and suggests TW and DL use the latter phrasing if they are actually on that path.

Both artists are admitted former heavy drug users ... but it's unclear if they consider themselves straight-up addicts, per se.

Britney Spears desperately wanted to say "Aloha" to a curly-tailed cutie she spotted on her tropical vacay -- and she excitedly did just that when the opportunity presented itself.

The singer was spotted practically jumping for joy Sunday when she came across a potbellied pig in Hawaii ... where she and her BF, Sam Asghari, have returned for vacation again.

With all her recent conservatorship drama playing out in court, it's been a while since we've seen Brit looking so genuinely giddy as she does here. She completely freaked when she saw someone's pet pig out for a walk on Maui.

Britney bent down to pet and stroke the little guy. Apparently, she's gotten the word ... domesticated pigs are super smart, and make a nice alternative to cats and dogs.

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.