Music

The 10 people killed at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival all suffocated to death in a crowd surge that crushed their lungs, according to the medical examiner.

The info, released more than a month after the Houston tragedy lists each of the ten victims' cause of death as "compression asphyxia." The report states each victim was pronounced dead at local hospitals. Only one of the ten had a "contributory cause" to his death of the combined toxic effects of cocaine, methamphetamine and ethanol.

Of course, the investigation of what failures led to those deaths continues. As we reported, the Astroworld stage started to be torn down Wednesday, 40 days after the concert ended.

As you know, Travis, Live Nation and other promoters are facing billions of dollars in litigation for negligence and wrongful death.

TMZ broke the story, Travis has teamed up with government officials over the last few weeks to organize a safety report for city officials across the country to use moving forward when planning large-scale music events.

Families of the victims from the show have mostly positioned their anger toward Travis, refusing his help even after he and his team had offered to help pay for funeral costs.

Todrick Hall came sooo close to winning "The Masked Singer" title, but he's not walking away empty-handed -- in fact, he's pulled off a super rare accomplishment in the singing competition.

So, if you missed Wednesday night's season finale ... Bull, aka Todrick, lost to Queen of Hearts, aka Jewel, in the closest vote in the show's history. The unmasking was pretty awesome, shocking almost all of the judges ... with the exception of Nicole Scherzinger.

Todrick and Nicole have worked together, and he told us on Thursday's "TMZ Live" ... they've actually become good friends. Still, it wasn't just his voice that gave him away. Todrick admits it was total bull scent!!!

Yes, his cologne was the giveaway, and TH gave us lowdown on which one he was rocking under that costume. Speaking of which, 'Masked' contestants always griped about producers not letting them keep the costumes -- but Todrick's clearly different.

Gwen Stefani rocked the mic for Spotify's huge end of the year bash -- singing hits from her solo career and time with No Doubt ... and TMZ has the video.

The Spotify celebration, dubbed "A Totally Normal Party for 2021," went down Tuesday at an event space in Los Angeles ... with Gwen stealing the show.

Gwen performed for 45 minutes and her set featured some of her most famous songs ... including "Just a Girl," "Hey Baby," "The Sweet Escape," "Spiderwebs," "Hollaback Girl," "Don't Speak," "It's My Life" and "Rich Girl."

The first act on stage was the USC Trojans marching band ... but Gwen was the big draw here.

Spotify's year-end party comes on the heels of their 2021 Wrapped unveiling ... you've definitely seen people share their top Spotify songs and artists on social media ... and at one point, Gwen joked about hearing she was a top Spotify artist.

"The Boss" just proved why he's carried the nickname for so many years, negotiating one of the biggest deals in music history ... $500 million for his masters and publishing rights.

Bruce Springsteen and Sony just reached an agreement on the Springsteen catalog -- over 300 songs, 20 studio albums and other items for the half-a-billion price tag ... including albums like the 15-times platinum "Born in the U.S.A." and 5x platinum "The River."

For his entire career, the NJ singer released his music through Sony, but in the late 80s and 90s, he was given ownership of his records as an incentive to re-sign with the label.

According to Billboard, Springsteen had been in negotiations with Sony last month to make the album catalog purchase ... the deal comes a year after Universal Music Publishing brought Bob Dylan's publishing catalog for more than $300 mil.

Travis Scott is getting to work to ensure an event like the Astroworld tragedy never happens again, joining leaders from government and music in a first of its kind initiative ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Travis has spent the last few weeks meeting with leaders from The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) -- a group that represents the interests of more than 1,400 cities across the country.

We're told the goal is to form a committee made up of members of government, public safety, emergency response, health care event management, music and technology -- and create a safety report for future shows to follow and ensure safety and security.

We've obtained an outline of the group's goals, which also states it will "aggressively focus on new technologies and innovations that offer ways to address these challenges."

Outside of Travis, the report will be led by the Chair of the Conference's Tourism, Art, Parks, Entertainment and Sports Committee and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve.

You'll remember, it was during Travis' first interview since Astroworld last week when he told Charlamagne Tha God he felt it was his responsibility to fix things moving forward and to be sure something like the Houston tragedy never happened again.

Of course, the interview was not met well by some of the families of the 10 victims who lost their lives at the festival. Valerie Cortinas Fisher, the attorney for the family of 23-year-old Rudy Peña said despite what Travis thought, the interview didn't heal anyone -- telling us anyone can act sorry on camera -- but it's the action after that counts.

Megan Thee Stallion completing her college education is much more than a feather in her cap -- it's actually encouraging lots of other folks to go back for degrees ... specifically, at her now-alma mater.

Dr. Monica Rasmus, program director for Texas Southern University's Health Administration program, tells TMZ there's been an influx of one-time dropouts -- who used to study in her wing of the school -- steadily finding their way back and getting re-enrolled.

She says this is a direct result of Meg, in many cases, as she tells us former TSU students started reaching out to discuss returning after Meg went public in 2020 about completing her studies there.

She didn't have hard numbers, but Dr. Rasmus says there's certainly been a trend of interest -- and that intrigue goes beyond just former pupils, she says current students came flocking too. Rasmus says TSU undergrads and grad students started to hit up her department out of curiosity, and in many cases ... a genuine desire to pursue a degree in HA.

Perhaps the biggest way Meg has helped ... the $25k donation she made via Fashion Nova, which Dr. Rasmus says went a long way to helping students who need the dough. The feeling of appreciation is mutual, BTW -- MTS has shouted out Dr. Rasmus in recent interviews.

As we reported ... Megan walked the stage last weekend as she finally received her diploma, completing a long educational journey she'd been pursuing since 2013.

Killer Mike says the solutions for fixing the recent crime wave in Los Angeles are simple at face value ... but it might take some time and serious effort to actually implement.

We got the Atlanta rapper and activist Wednesday at LAX and asked him why crime is on the rise in Hollywood -- Mike says the issues are a result of failings in education, opportunities and housing.

Killer Mike says we're dealing with the brunt of 25 years of people growing up without trade skills for decent jobs and affordable places to live, and the pandemic is making things worse.

As we've reported, there's an alarming trend of home invasions, burglaries and armed robberies in affluent neighborhoods in L.A. ... with celeb victims including Dorit Kemsley, Terrence J and Clarence Avant and his wife, Jackie, who was shot and killed inside their Beverly Hills home.

Killer Mike says the tide can turn if America starts investing in these areas ... but it's going to take at least 5 years to see the results.

In the meantime, Killer Mike says people worried about home invasions and robbers should embrace the 2nd Amendment ... and he (jokingly) tells us which 5 guns he thinks every American should own.

Young Dolph was just honored in Memphis with a street naming, a ceremony that featured some touching words from his longtime partner, who hopes violence in the community slows.

Mia Jaye was on hand Wednesday for the unveiling of Adolph "Young Dolph" Thornton Jr. Avenue -- the new road in town that'll now honor his memory. With her two children by her side, MJ eulogized the late rapper ... singing his praises and the impact he left on her kids.

Mia said Dolph served as a good role model and father figure for the couple's son, while also treating his little girl like a queen ... and she says she hopes that's the legacy that he's remembered for, one of family and community.

Another point Mia made was Dolph behind the scenes of his rap career was a kind and gentle person.

Mia wants Dolph's death to serve as a reminder that Black men deserve to live, grow old and care for their families. Mia says the street sign should serve as a symbol for that message.

Councilwoman Martavius Jones and Councilman JB Smiley Jr., were among the group of local politicians at the ceremony.

Dolph was shot and killed last month in broad daylight. His murder investigation is currently underway ... but no suspects have been apprehended yet. He was 36.

Travis Scott's Astroworld stage is finally being broken down and hauled away after the tragedy in Houston.

Crews were hard at work Wednesday, dismantling the stage that continued to stand tall for 40 days after the deadly concert. There's a ton of crew members removing everything from lighting to the video screens and structure of the Houston event.

As for why it stayed up so long, law enforcement likely needed everything in place while they continued their investigation into what happened and what went wrong with the show's logistics and apparent lack of a safety plan.

As you know, the death toll from the Astroworld festival reached 10, and there's massive lawsuits pending against Travis and the concert promoters.

Another interesting piece from yesterday's hearing, Holley tells us, "On cross-examination, Detective Stogner admitted that the bullet fragments allegedly removed from Ms. Pete’s ankles cannot be located."

Of course, if available, the fragments would be hard evidence to prove it was a bullet, and not glass in Meg's foot. If they're missing, it leaves the door open for other possibilities.

Megan's got big issues with what the independent witness told police about her arguing with Kelsey ... and she makes a good point.

Megan just tweeted, "I've been shot and the focus of some these headlines are dismissing that I was attacked with a weapon while I was unarmed and trying to paint it as a cat fight between friends."

Fact is ... even if there was a dispute with Kelsey inside the SUV, we know Megan was shot while she was standing outside the vehicle. Megan's openly said she got out of the car because she didn't want to argue anymore ... which makes the dispute almost irrelevant to the moment the trigger was pulled.

An independent witness told cops they saw Megan Thee Stallion and her female friend, Kelsey, fighting just moments before Meg was shot in the foot ... a piece of evidence Tory Lanez's team feels cast serious doubt on what Meg said about him being the shooter.

During Tuesday's preliminary hearing a detective testified this independent witness -- who allegedly saw the shooting happen -- claimed the gun's muzzle flash went off closer to Kelsey than Tory.

Tory's attorney, Shawn Holley, says that muzzle flash detail is "corroborated by the gunshot residue found on the other female's hands." She also tells us, "It was further established that Megan gave several inconsistent accounts of what happened that night and that she omitted key information to the police."

Holley is almost certainly referring to what Meg first told responding officers, she had glass, and not a bullet, in her foot. Meg later claimed she only said it was glass because she was afraid if she told cops there was a Black man in the car with a gun, Tory could get shot.

Remember, this was the month after George Floyd was murdered.

Still, Holley adds, "We look forward to the opportunity to cross examine her at trial about the numerous inconsistencies in her story.”

It's a long since cold case that's suddenly been solved -- human remains discovered back in the 80s in a garbage bag have finally been identified as Frank "Frankie" Little Jr. ... the guitarist and songwriter for the O'Jays.

In 1982, police found the bag behind a business in Twinsburg, Ohio. At the time, they could tell the person had been stabbed to death several years prior, but they were not able to figure out his identity.

It was only 2 months ago when a breakthrough came courtesy of DNA technology and a non-profit org. Police explained, "In October 2021, the DNA Doe Project provided the names of potential living relatives, who were able to provide Frank's name."

Police say, that a close relative [of Little's] provided a DNA sample, which was analyzed by a crime lab, and sure enough ... Frank's identity was confirmed.

Frank played with the O'Jays in the R&B group's early days ... writing several songs including "Pretty Words" and "Oh How You Hurt Me."

It wouldn't be until after his tenure that the group scored its biggest hits, including "Back Stabbers," "For the Love of Money" and "Love Train."

After his run with the O'Jays, he joined the U.S. Army, served 2 years in Vietnam and eventually went back to his hometown of Cleveland ... his last known residence.

Boosie Badazz's destructive brawl during a performance was a planned attack that ended up costing the promoters a crap ton of money -- at least according to the promoters who are now suing him over it.

MN2S Corp. and We Are Live Entertainment -- booker and promoter, respectively, for the "Legendz of the Streetz" tour -- just filed suit against the rapper, claiming he caused all the mayhem that unfolded in October at Atlanta's State Farm Arena.

You'll recall ... there was a massive brouhaha that went down in the middle of the show, which resulted in equipment getting damaged, and the entire production getting shut down early. Boosie, as seen in the video, was right in the middle of the fracas.

In their lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the companies say Boosie was initially booked for a total of $150k for five different appearances alongside guys like 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, Jeezy and others. They even say they gave him a $50k deposit in good faith before night #1.

Welp, the companies claim before the show Boosie contacted We Are Live president, Leonard Rowe, demanding more dough than what was agreed upon. Rowe declined to pay more, and they allege Boosie threatening to torpedo the whole thing ... and then followed through.

They claim Boosie slipped past security and destroyed a bunch of pricey equipment before fighting with security. They say the show ended early as a result -- before Ross, the headliner, could even take the stage.

Flavor Flav is lucky to be alive, escaping death by only a few feet after a massive boulder struck his car.

A rep for Flav tells us he was on a road trip from Vegas to L.A. Tuesday when the rain caused a boulder to fall down a cliffside in La Tuna Canyon and smash the right side of his vehicle. We're told the collision caused Flav to briefly lose control of his vehicle, thankfully, he was able to safely get it to the side of the road.

As you can see from the photo, the impact did quite a bit of damage. We're told if Flav had just been a few feet in another direction, the boulder would've killed him.

Luckily, Flav is up and talking, following the accident ... he tells us "God is good" and that he "came very close to death but is super grateful to be alive."

We're told that Fav seems to be physically fine, though mentally he is shaken up... and he wasn't the only one. A driver who saw the whole thing happen began to freak out just before stopping to make sure the rapper was okay.

Tory Lanez shouted "Dance bitch, dance!" while firing gunshots at the ground near Megan Thee Stallion's feet, subsequently injuring her ... at least according to testimony from a detective on the case.

LAPD Det. Ryan Stogner took the stand in court Tuesday during a preliminary hearing in Tory's case. The detective says Megan told him Tory was intoxicated during the July 2020 incident.

Det. Stogner went on to say this happened in the Hollywood Hills around 4:30 AM after a party, and a dispute between the artists.

He went on to describe that Tory was standing on the step board of their SUV while Megan was outside of it -- and as soon as Tory fired the shots, she "immediately felt pain to her feet, observed blood, fell to the ground, and then crawled to an adjacent driveway of a residence."

He also said under oath that Megan told him Tory apologized and begged her not to tell, allegedly offering her money to keep her mouth shut because he was on probation. Det. Stogner said, Megan initially explained her injury by claiming she'd stepped on broken glass.

Megan allegedly later admitted she only said it was glass because of the political climate ... she was afraid cops might shoot Tory if she said there was a gun in the car.

What's more ... a recorded phone call was played that Tory made from jail to a woman who was also with Meg when the incident happened. Tory apologizes on the call for something he did because he was too drunk. Tory got pissed in the courtroom, yelling out, "How you gonna tell me what I apologized for?" before his attorney told him to calm down.

The judge heard enough during Tuesday's hearing to move forward with a trial, which is now set to begin on January 13. Tory's facing one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm in a manner that caused great bodily injury, and one count of carrying a concealed, unregistered weapon.

The detective's testimony confirmed something Megan's already said publicly ... that in the wake of George Floyd, she feared cops would shoot Tory if she told them a Black man had a gun and had shot her.

Billie Eilish says she consumed so much porn as a kid, it gave her nightmares ... and the mental effects of the addiction have now hurt her in her adult love life.

The 19-year-old singer spilled the beans Monday on SiriusXM’s "The Howard Stern Show," sharing her experience with violent porn and its impact on her life, "I think it really destroyed my brain and I feel incredibly devastated that I was exposed to so much porn.”

Billie clearly hates it now, "I think porn is a disgrace. I used to watch a lot of porn, to be honest. I started watching porn when I was like 11.”

She says that watching the "abusive" porn not only caused her to have trouble in the bedroom once she began having sex ... but she also believes watching it caused her to have sleep paralysis and nightmares.

She now says she is angry that porn is loved and mad at herself for thinking it was okay ... "The first few times I, you know, had sex, I was not saying no to things that were not good. It was because I thought that’s what I was supposed to be attracted to.”

As far as her love life, she says it has been hard, being a celeb and finding love. Saying that people are either "terrified of you or think that you’re out of their league.”

While she admits to thinking last year she'd be single for the rest of her life, she says she got over that thought pretty fast.

Though the 19-year-old may have had trouble with her love life, her music career has had a pretty good year.

Jo Koy might have kicked off a new singing career, well kinda... during his comedy show, he surprised the audience with Boyz II Men's Wanya Morris and he even busted out his own vocals.

It happened Sunday night during Jo's sold-out comedy show at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA ... Jo brought out his longtime friend and the Boyz II Men singer and they both sang the 1994 hit song, "I'll Make Love To You."

Jo didn't bring out the other two B2M members Nathan Morris and Shawn Stockman, but he had no problem stepping up to the mic to sing in their place.

Folks who were there tell TMZ ... Jo cracked jokes, talking about which songs are panty-droppers ... and that's when he brought out Wanya. The night wasn't all jokey. Jo sang Nathan Morris' baritone part and impressed the audience with his vocals.

The song is a classic throwback jam. It spent 14 weeks topping Billboard Hot 100, making it the 3rd best performing song in the 1990s. It also ranked on Billboard's Greatest of All-Time chart.