Music

Scottish singer Susan Boyle shot to stardom in 2009 after she stunned the audience, judges and television viewers around the world with her rendition of the Les Miserable tune "I Dreamed A Dream" on the third season of "Britain's Got Talent."

While Boyle made her way through the competition with the support of the crowd and the three judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden ... Susan fell short of the final prize with an upsetting loss to the dance group Diversity.

Susan Boyle continues to grace the world with her angelic singing and has released an impressive catalog of albums including the 2019 LP Ten.

The man cops say is responsible for running his SUV through a Wisconsin Christmas parade, killing 5 people, and injuring dozens more has just been charged ... and is about to make a first appearance in court.

According to documents released Tuesday, Darrell Brooks Jr. has been hit with 5 counts of first-degree intentional homicide -- one count for each person killed. The docs recount how Brooks ignored attempts by both civilians and police officers to stop his vehicle.

Not only that, officers claim there were several moments when Brooks had the opportunity to exit the parade route and he stayed in ... increasing his speed and mowing people down.

In all, there were at least 62 injured by Brooks ... the 5 casualties were all adults, but we know children were among the injured.

As we reported, Brooks' arrest was captured on doorbell surveillance shortly after the massacre. He had asked the homeowners to use a phone, saying he was waiting on an Uber ... but cops were quick to catch up to him.

Brooks, who at one time had a very small-scale rap career featured the same vehicle he used in the attack in one of his videos.

BTS is at the intersection of global fandom these days -- but right now, they're literally at the intersection of Genesee and Beverly in Los Angeles -- with none other than James Corden.

The Korean pop band -- consisting of a whopping 7 members -- appears to be involved in a major showstopping number in the middle of the day, and in the middle of the street too ... right outside of CBS's Television City in the heart of L.A.

That's where Corden films his 'Late, Late Show' ... and it looks like he and his team coordinated an elaborate dance routine of some sort that's blocking off the roads -- complete with costumes, signage, a trampoline ... and probably some BTS music too.

Based on what we can see here ... they're plugging the group's smash hit, "Butter," which has been at the top of all sorts of music charts lately -- emblematic of their pull in general, these guys are very much so on top of the world.

Not only have they been nominated for another Grammy this year, but they just cleaned up at the AMAs -- taking home three trophies total -- and are selling out concerts everywhere they go, including here ... they've got a show this weekend at SoFi Stadium, and tickets are reselling for a fortune (about $600 for nosebleeds, just for reference).

Of course, Corden knows talent when he sees it -- so it's no surprise he's pulling out all the stops for whatever segment they're filming right now. Besides, this is sorta right up his alley anyway ... flash mob-style extravaganzas that stop people in their tracks, and their cars.

Kanye West is up to something at his new Malibu pad -- and whatever that something is ... he wants the man living in one of the most unique homes in town to help.

James Goldstein -- who owns the famed Sheats-Goldstein Residence in the Beverly Crest hood of L.A. -- tells TMZ he recently had a face-to-face with Ye ... and not just that, but it sounds like they're gonna be working together on an architectural project.

That project, we're told, encompasses some complex plans KW has for his newly purchased mansion along the coast ... ones he believes Goldstein can advise him on, considering his experience in this field.

If you don't know ... JG's house is perhaps the most awe-inspiring in all of La La Land, due to its mind-bending construction and elaborate architecture -- most of which was undertaken by the late John Lautner, who teamed up with James years ago to bring his vision to life.

With that in mind, we're told James got a call from Kanye last week to see if they could link up and talk shop about home design -- and after sending his own architect out to inspect James' place, he tells us the man himself paid a visit on Friday to see it himself.

James says Ye toured the grounds thoroughly, taking pics and complimenting certain features he found wowing -- like the stairway and the pool -- and eventually came clean on what he wanted ... namely, for him (James) to come over to the 'Bu and help with his project.

James says Ye is interested in James' expertise and perspective, and indeed ... he accepted his request. Now, as for what exactly Kanye is cooking up, JG says he actually showed him some drawn-up rectangular-based plans -- but couldn't really make sense of it, so he's gonna swing by in person soon to talk in more detail and figure out what Ye's got in mind.

It's no secret, Tupac Shakur was gang-affiliated -- and a piece of his own jewelry collection confirmed it ... one that's now made its way back to the marketplace with a fat price tag.

The rapper's very own gold 'M.O.B.' ring -- as it's known -- is hitting the auction block this week, courtesy of Moments in Time ... but it ain't really gonna be up for bidding, but more so ... just sold at a flat rate -- first come, first served.

The going rate ... a cool $95,000 -- so you can definitely cop it if you can afford it. And hey, the value might be spot on -- considering the late icon himself wore it on a handful of occasions, especially once he started hanging with Suge Knight and co.

For the uninitiated ... M.O.B., in the Death Row Records context, mostly stands for Member of Blood -- a street gang that Suge was certainly tied to in those days. M.O.B. can stand for other things -- money over b****es, mafia, etc -- but the Blood reference is most common.

It looks like Suge had a lot of his artists rock the M.O.B. rings back in the day -- including Pac, who's said to have usually worn it on his pinkie finger, and Snoop Dogg too (even though his roots are with the Crips). Anyhoo, this ring here was flashed quite often.

As for how it ended up in MIT's hand ... sources connected to the sale tell us Tupac actually gave this ring to a then-girlfriend he was seeing before his death ... and it eventually made its way to a private collector over the years.

Aaron Carter is a first-time father, welcoming his son, Prince Lyric Carter, to the world with fiancée Melanie Martin.

Aaron announced the exciting news Monday, posting a photo of his newborn and caption, "Emergency C Section after 13 hours of labor but my fiancé is in great health thank you lord and the incredibly sweet loving staff here. Prince is precious I love you son."

Clearly, it was an emotional event, as Aaron writes, "Your mommy loves you as I drop tears on the phone."

Aaron says he was the one to cut his son's umbilical cord, and writes to Melanie, "I’m so proud of you hunny you did it I Love you with all my heart my beautiful blessings from god."

TMZ broke the story, Aaron and Melanie had planned on naming their son Prince as a nod to Michael Jackson. Aaron and Michael were close, and of course, Michael was known as The Prince of Pop.

In a day that saw more than 30 new lawsuits filed against Travis Scott and the organizers of Astroworld, now event staffers are filing legal papers of their own ... including two security guards who say the event has left them permanently scarred.

Samuel and Jackson Bush say they were hired by AJ Melino and Associates to work security at the event. The docs claim that while only 50,000 people bought tickets, there were many more in attendance ... and the massive crowd caused bigger problems.

Both men claim mental and physical injuries from working the event. Jackson says he witnessed CPR being performed on lifeless bodies and pulled a person from a crowd crush who ended up dying.

The lawsuit is asking for more than $1 million in damages ... and going after not only Travis, but Live Nation, AJ Melino, Cactus Jack Records and others in the process.

As we reported, the new filings are just a fraction of what's already come in. Just last week, a $2 billion lawsuit was filed on behalf of more than 280 attendees ... prior to that, another lawsuit for $750 million was filed against Travis and others.

Cops continue to investigate exactly what went wrong, but from almost all fan accounts, overcrowding and crowd surges seem to be to blame.

Travis remained out of the public eye since the festival, and 10 people have died after suffering injuries at the concert ... he's offered to pay funeral expenses and set up an account where families can get in touch with his team to work things out.

Travis' attorney, Ed McPherson tells us, "It was reported that the Operations Plan designated that only the festival director and executive producers have authority to stop the show, neither of which is part of Travis's crew. This also runs afoul of HPD's own previous actions when it shut down the power and sound at this very festival when the performance ran over 5 minutes back in 2019."

He continues, "Investigations should start proceeding over finger-pointing so that together, we can identify exactly what transpired and how we can prevent anything like this from happening again."

Britney Spears may be cozying up by the fire with none other than her mom, Lynne -- that is, if things go mama bear's way ... and it's clear she wants to reconcile.

Lynne ran into some paps at LAX, and they asked all about her daughter and the fact she's now out of the 13-year conservatorship -- one her mom had an integral part in orchestrating all those years ago.

As you see ... LS wasn't in too much of a chatty mood, staying mum on actual words. But, she did say a lot with her body language -- including an apparent desire to reunite for the holidays.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Lynne is in L.A. to spend Thanksgiving with her son, Bryan. We're told she'd like to see Britney but there are no plans ... at least so far.  We're told Bryan still has a relationship with Britney, so he could talk to her about joining for Thanksgiving dinner. We're told, "The guest list has not been set," so stay tuned.

It also sounds like Lynne is happy Brit is out of the legal apparatus -- even though her kid is still furious with her ... going so far as to call for the jailing of her parents, whom she considers responsible for keeping her trapped for so long.

In any case, Lynne is obviously looking to bury the hatchet -- again, based on her few gestures here.

80's teen star Tiffany is still on the road singing her hits ... but her latest show in Florida struck a sour note between the singer and her fans.

Tiffany was onstage Sunday night in Melbourne, FL with her band, belting out a few tunes including her hugely successful "I Think We're Alone Now." You can hear Tiffany struggle with a few notes, but fans help her out -- singing along word for word.

However, near the end of the song, Tiffany apparently hears or sees something she doesn't like in the crowd ... telling them, "F*** You!!!"

A rep for the singer tells us Tiffany had lost her voice and got frustrated with her performance. It's clear in the video, she was struggling to hit several notes during the gig, so it's possible some concertgoers were heckling ... but Tiffany just wasn't having it.

The man who's been reported as a person of interest in the Waukesha parade tragedy -- killing at least 5 people -- is a local rapper who used an SUV in one of his music videos that appears to be the same one that plowed through the crowd.

Darrell Brooks Jr. -- who went by the stage name Mathboi Fly -- released a music video a couple years ago set in Milwaukee. Several times in the video, you see the red Ford Escape, which looks like the one seen in the horrific videos of the Christmas Parade.

YouTube pulled the music video from the original account, leaving this message in its place -- "This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated."

However, it's since been re-posted by at least one other account.

CBS 58 News got Brooks' vehicle in his driveway shortly after the massacre -- the damage is clear, and beyond disturbing.

Brooks Jr. has a recent criminal history in the area ... getting charged on November 5 with resisting an officer, bail jumping, 2nd degree recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct and battery.

In addition to the 5 fatalities, cops said Sunday night at least 40 more were injured when the SUV rammed through the crowd of parade viewers and participants.

Justin Bieber has an upcoming concert in Saudi Arabia -- one that's getting a lot of backlash ... which morphed into drive-by billboards this weekend, calling on him to nix the gig.

Check out these ads that were plastered along the side of a truck that was cruising all over DTLA Sunday, right next to the Microsoft Theater where the American Music Awards are going down tonight.

No word on whether JB is expected to show or not -- he is nominated, but not scheduled to perform -- so it's unclear if this is meant for him to see ... or others in general. In any case, it certainly caught some attention -- especially with the pointed language.

One ad reads, "Bieber, Your Saudi Boss Murders Journalists. Do the Right Thing, Cancel!" Another says, "It's Not Too Late Now to Say Sorry. Don't Sing for Saudi Arabia's Dictator!"

There are others that are just as harsh -- but considering the org that put this together, the Human Rights Foundation, it's understandable why they feel so passionately about it ... fact is, they believe the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, violates everything they stand for -- as do many others around the world.

Ditto for the widowed fiancee of murdered WaPo reporter Jamal Khashoggi, whose 2018 death was linked to MBS. Hatice Cengiz penned an open letter to Justin ... pleading with him to cancel the event, suggesting moving forward will be seen as cosigning of sorts.

She writes, "If you refuse to be a pawn of MBS, your message will be loud and clear: I do not perform for dictators. I choose justice and freedom over money."

The Internet has been buzzing lately about who's the stronger singer between Whitney Houston and Taylor Swift -- but now, a new contender has entered the chat ... Adele.

You might've heard about this last week -- there was a raging debate on Twitter about who was "better" between TayTay and the late, great Whitney ... which got kickstarted with Bartstool Sports staffers, including one who felt Taylor was more well-rounded big picture.

Of course, she was met with ferocious pushback, both right there from her Stoolie colleagues ... but also online, with many (rightly) pointing out the sheer absurdity of comparing them at all -- as Whitney is oh so obviously on another level, vocally and culturally.

To clarify, this gal's point seems to stem from the fact Taylor writes a lot of her own stuff, and in her eyes ... is likely the better artist all around. Eh ... still don't know about that!

Anyway, Ms. Adele got thrown into the fire this weekend too ... with none other than Piers Morgan claiming she's up there with some of the all-time greats, including Whitney.

Others seemed to agree ... saying Adele has perhaps some of the best pipes in the game right now, and may actually stack up against other modern-day legends -- which is certainly a more serious take than Taylor (no offense, Swifties).

However, just as many weren't so quick to let Adele into the icon club -- with members like Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey, to name a few -- arguing, yeah ... she's a solid singer, and may even the best of the bunch out of today's crop of popular female artists, but doesn't really compare when you measure 'em note for note.

We'll say this ... today's singers, male or female, simply don't hold a candle to artists of the past, many of whom had raw vocal talent that ya just don't hear anymore -- at least not so much in the 21st century.

The longtime drummer for No Doubt is going to be on the mend for a while -- 'cause his hand was all cut up, leaving him with a gnarly gash that'll take time to heal ... no doubt about it.

Adrian Young -- who's performed in the band for years -- suffered the injury Saturday at his home while preparing for dinner. Sources familiar with the situation tell us he was holding a glass in his hand when he tripped ... and the whole thing shattered in his palm.

As you can see from his graphic photo ... the cut ended up being pretty deep, as 2 big pieces of glass made their way inside. He was taken to the ER right afterward.

Crazy enough, the docs weren't able to get the glass out right then and there ... and actually recommended he undergo surgery to remove it all. So, that's what he's doing now ... preparing to go under the knife, in what we're told is a relatively minor procedure.

Adele has made it clear -- she will not be pushed around ... or, at least, her music won't.

Spotify has agreed to 86 the shuffle button while users listen to her album because Adele says it screws up the flow of the songs.

There are 12 tracks on her "30" album, which she calls her "ride or die throughout the most turbulent period of my life." Adele -- or her people -- apparently went to Spotify and asked that the shuffle button be removed, and here's her reasoning ... "This was the only request I had in our ever-changing industry! We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our tracklisting for no reason. Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening"

Short story ... she felt shuffling the songs would screw up the flow of her story.

Spotify saw it her way, confirming it will only offer the option of playing the album in order.

Britney Spears says she's ready to tell her story to the world -- potentially even through Oprah -- but there's still a lot to be hammered out before, or even if, that happens.

Britney had fans buzzing this week when she posted a video and teased, "I might as well do a hint of my thoughts on the gram before I go and set things square on @Oprah."

Sources close to Spears tell us at this time, there's nothing set with Oprah. In fact, we're told there aren't any interviews lined up for Britney at all right now ... whether TV, print or podcast/radio.

Our sources say Britney's still just enjoying adjusting to life without the conservatorship, and while she is open to sitting down and telling her story at some point ... it won't be in the near future.

TMZ broke the story, there's currently a plan being put into place to consolidate 2 of the singer's trusts -- one established in 2004, the other in 2018 -- into one account to be controlled by Britney.

Not only are her finances being organized, Britney's team has also created a list of recommendations to keep Britney safe ... urging her to take necessary medications, attend doctor appointments, refrain from using drugs and alcohol and even limit driving.

Again, those things are only recommendations, and it will be up to Britney whether or not to take them into consideration in her day-to-day.

DaBaby was allegedly assaulted by his baby mama DaniLeigh, and now her brother wants to beat the crap out of him ... legally, of course.

We got Brandon Bills at The Grove in Los Angeles and talked to him about challenging his sister's ex to a celebrity boxing match.

Brandon, who's also a rapper himself, says he would win handily ... guaranteeing the fight would end with DaBaby out cold on the canvas.

As we reported ... DaBaby and DaniLeigh got into a blowout argument this week in North Carolina, and cops later charged her with 2 counts of simple assault after police made 2 visits to DaBaby's home.

DaBaby also posted a video where he seemed to accuse her of using their baby for clout, vowing to take care of the child himself despite all the drama playing out in the public eye.