Music

The cop who became something of an instant celebrity in his small New York town for arresting Justin Timberlake on suspicion of DWI last summer just landed an award of his own ... officer of the year!

Michael Arkinson of the Sag Harbor Police Department was bestowed the award by Chief Rob Drake in a recent ceremony ... where he praised the rookie for making "an immediate impact within the department and the community."

The chief also commended the rookie for leading the department in arrests and summonses ... one of which included taking JT into custody last June after a DWI stop.

Jesse McCartney and his wife Katie Peterson are absolutely over the moon -- they just dropped the cutest video revealing the gender of their baby!

The couple brought their dog Bailey into the mix for the gender reveal, opening a picnic basket to reveal a blue dog collar -- it's a boy! -- which Katie joyfully popped on their furry little pal.

The duo couldn’t contain their excitement -- Jesse pumped his fist in the air, and they shared a sweet kiss to celebrate the big news.

Fyre Festival creator Billy McFarland is rejecting all the "comeback is bogus" talk -- he’s doubling down on his vision, insisting the second time around, it's moving forward full force, no matter what.

In an IG vid Tuesday, Billy responded to reports the Isla Mujeres tourism board in Mexico recently denied knowing anything about Fyre Festival 2. Billy said the festival has contracts with "a number of villas, yachts and hotels" -- and he specifically called out two hotels that were "contacted by the media, and in response, gave misleading statements saying they never heard of Fyre and they aren't working with us."

In response, he says, he told his team to terminate those contracts ... and to concentrate on working with eager partners on the project.

FIFA's preparing for the 2026 World Cup, and they're taking a page out of the NFL's playbook ... tasking Coldplay's Chris Martin and Phil Harvey with finding famous artists to perform the first halftime show at the world's biggest sporting event!

In other words, Chris is FIFA's Jay-Z.

Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, announced news of the partnership on Wednesday at a press event in Dallas ... where they discussed plans for the upcoming 2026 World Cup in North America.

A$AP Rocky had to use a lil muscle in his latest photo shoot ... thanks to his furry model companions who gave him a workout!!!

The Harlem rap star was recently in his old neighborhood for a Vogue photo shoot, with a pair of excited Dalmatians ready to burst off their leashes!!!

Rocky channeled his inner Cruella de Vil with a long, spotted trench coat and flashed a smile -- but clearly struggled to keep Pongo and Perdita sitting still with just one arm.

Chaos ensued on the '80s-themed Royal Caribbean cruise when the fiancée of Faster Pussycat's lead singer went overboard ... and only TMZ has video of the rescue efforts.

We obtained this video from a passenger on the cruise, and you hear the public address system alerting passengers that someone fell off the ship into the waters below.

The frantic search effort is also featured in the video, with smaller boats racing around the cruise ship in an effort to find Kimberly Burch -- fiancée of Faster Pussycat frontman Taime Downe.

Shawn Stockman is heartbroken over Angie Stone’s shocking death ... telling us he’ll always remember her for fighting to make sure artists got paid what they deserved.

We caught up with Shawn shortly after he and Boyz II Men hit Capitol Hill, pushing Congress to make AM and FM radio stations pay for playing artists' music -- and he tells TMZ he respected Angie because she was fighting that same battle too.

Shawn said he’d run into Angie often but didn’t know her personally. What he did know, though, was that she was all about fighting for what’s right -- and that's giving artists the pay they deserve so they don't go broke. He pointed out the industry was basically founded on "criminal activity" by "gangsters."

Jennifer Hudson was nearly drilled by a stray basketball at the Knicks game Tuesday night -- and while Common did his best to save the day ... she still appeared to end up with quite the ouchie.

The singer/actress cruised to Madison Square Garden with her boyfriend to catch New York's tilt with Steph Curry and the Warriors ... but unfortunately for the two, they got a little too close to the action in the tilt's second quarter.

Miles McBride attempted to steal a basketball right in front of the courtside couple -- but instead of corralling it, he knocked it right near Hudson's noggin.

LiAngelo Ball's building quite the roster of big-name rap collabs ... first Lil Wayne, now GloRilla!!

Gelo's brother, Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo, gave fans a sneak peek of the middle Ball's upcoming music video on his Instagram story on Tuesday ... which shows Glo -- one of the hottest female rappers out right now -- on camera with the "Tweaker" artist.

This will be Gelo's second single since his debut song ... which reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and reportedly generated almost $640k.

Rapper G$ Lil Ronnie and his 5-year-old daughter were shot to death Monday in Texas -- and dramatic video shows how part of the murder went down.

Police say the violence erupted at 10:45 AM yesterday at a car wash in the Fort Worth suburb of Forest Hill, where Ronnie and his daughter, R'Mani, were seated inside his stationary car getting washed by machines.

Suddenly, cops say 2 men jumped out of a white 4-door Kia and walked up to Ronnie's vehicle with guns drawn, pumping bullets into the hip hop artist and his little girl.

Angie Stone's family is in the process of planning a large memorial and a more intimate funeral ... wanting to make sure all her fans and famous friends have a chance to grieve the shocking loss, TMZ has learned.

Stone's rep Deborah R. Champagne tells TMZ ... the iconic singer's family has begun planning a public memorial, which will be held in Atlanta. The date and venue are not clear yet ... but they anticipate a large and star-studded turnout, so they are planning accordingly.

At the same time ... the family is making arrangements for Stone's funeral that will be more intimate -- but not necessarily private -- in Columbia, S.C., where she will be laid to rest. Deborah tells us an exact date is also not clear.

Mike Epps won't be appearing on Shannon Sharpe's highly viewed "Club Shay Shay" podcast anytime soon ... at least, not before the show decides to click-bait some white guys for a change!!!

The veteran comedian was on "The Breakfast Club" on Tuesday, where he downplayed appearing on "Club Shay Shay" after squashing his short-lived beef with Shannon last year.

Mike gave props for the podcast's super-viral Katt Williams interview but also criticized Shannon's lack of grilling regarding the white athletes and celebs.

Tragedy has struck an '80s-themed Royal Caribbean cruise ... the fiancée of Faster Pussycat's lead singer has died after going overboard, though her body remains missing, TMZ has learned.

Kimberly Burch -- fiancée of Faster Pussycat frontman Taime Downe -- fell to her death shortly after a heated argument with him aboard the ship, according to Kimberly’s mother.

Carnell Burch tells TMZ ... Taime called her on Monday to deliver the heartbreaking news. It’s still unclear whether Kimberly jumped or accidentally fell from the ship, but Carnell is confident Kimberly wouldn't purposefully hurt herself.

Before this lil' guy from London was spittin' mad rapping game, he was just working on his rhymes and poetry ... and looking up to rapper Bow Wow, with the dreams of becoming a famous rapper himself one day ...

You better sprint fast if you want to land on who this adorable kid is ... He's collaborated with stars like 21 Savage and Lil Baby, and he recently went viral for claiming he's responsible for the popularity of Nike tech suits.

In 2022, he obtained 1 billion Spotify streams, becoming the first UK rapper to do so!

Carl Dean, Dolly Parton's husband for more than half a century, is dead ... according to the icon herself.

Dolly announced Carl's passing Monday evening, saying her beloved will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with their immediate family.

While she did not mention a cause of death, Carl had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2019.

New video shows the horrible aftermath of Grammy-nominated singer Angie Stone's vehicle crash in Alabama -- with an up-close look at the big-rig that slammed into her van.

TMZ obtained fresh footage, which captures 19 seconds of the wreckage after Stone's Mercedes Sprinter van -- carrying her and 8 members of her backup band -- was struck by a semi-truck Saturday on Interstate 65, in Montgomery County, AL.

An eyewitness driving by shot the clip ... and it starts by capturing the monstrous white Freightliner Cascadia truck stopped on the shoulder of the highway.