Music

Sean Kingston's begging the judge in his federal wire fraud case for some home cooking ... as in, the singer wants to serve his prison sentence from the comfort of home.

Kingston and his attorney filed docs Tuesday asking the court to give him 2 to 2.5 years when he's sentenced this Friday, Aug. 15. They acknowledge official guidelines call for a sentence of 5 to 6 years, but they're hoping for a discount due to the fact Sean's never done time before, and has done a bunch of good deeds in his community.

According to the docs, Sean's organized toy drives, fed the unhoused and gathered clothing for the needy. They include several photos of him performing the charitable work. As his lawyer put it, "He did not just donate money, he rolled up his sleeves and served countless dinners to those in need."

Kelly Clarkson -- Brandon Blackstock's second ex-wife -- has been front and center since his death ... but his first ex, Melissa Ashworth, is now grabbing the spotlight.

Over the weekend, Ashworth took to Instagram to post a tribute to Blackstock, who died August 7 following a long battle with melanoma, a form of skin cancer. She was married to him from 2001 to 2012, before he tied the knot with Clarkson in 2013. Both marriages ultimately ended in divorce.

In her IG post, Melissa describes Brandon as witty, charming and an "absolute gentleman who happened to wear cowboy boots, wrangler jeans, and a cowboy hat." She says he was the greatest dad and "loved hard and he fought hard."

Taylor Swift has announced her 12th studio album -- "The Life of a Showgirl" -- and the latest "Easter egg" might just reveal who produced the highly anticipated album.

The pop star's newest Spotify playlist "And, baby, that's show business for you," has a collection of 22 songs from "Red," "Reputation," "1989" and "Red (Taylor's Version)" -- and eagle-eyed fans have noticed the songs are produced by the same 2 people ... Max Martin and Shellback.

You can put 2 and 2 together -- Swifties are convinced the duo produced the entirety of 'TLOAS'. The theory has not been confirmed ... but as fans know -- there are no coincidences in Tay's world.

Taylor Swift kept fans on the edge of their seats Tuesday, starting a mysterious sparkly orange countdown for an upcoming announcement set for 12:12 AM ET on August 12 ... and it is none other than her 12th studio album titled 'The Life of a Showgirl.'

TS is known for her Easter egg hints, however, this one caught many of her fans by surprise -- and boyfriend Travis Kelce exposed to loyal Swifties that he has been in on the news by allowing her to announce the project on his and brother Jason Kelce's "New Heights" podcast.

Get a load of this ... Taylor Swift is making her debut appearance on none other than Travis Kelce's podcast -- and the famous couple is even giving us a sneak peek.

You heard it right kids ... Taylor is hopping on the "New Heights" podcast with Travis and his brother, Jason Kelce, to record the episode, which will drop Wednesday.

But before then, Taylor has another treat in store for her fans -- which will be revealed at 12:12 am ET, per the countdown clock on her official website.

Can you guess which 'Vanderpump Rules' star put his poolside bod on full display in this eye-popping shot?! Here's a few clues to get you started ...

When he's not workin' on his summer tan, he's spinning discs and mastering his tunes n' beats. "It's not about the pasta!!!"

The Chainsmokers were all about the love ... fanboying over Amaya Espinal before bringing her up onstage for an electrifying performance that had the crowd buzzing!

TMZ’s got the clips -- Alex Pall and Drew Taggart were living for the summer dating show, hugging the S7 winner like she was their bestie before bringing her onstage at Brooklyn’s Under the K Bridge on Friday, calling her "the greatest woman that has ever existed."

Amaya was all about the love too, living her best life and working that crowd into a frenzy -- still riding that summer high!

Kelly Clarkson got real emotional while belting out her reworked version of "Piece by Piece" just 12 days before her ex, Brandon Blackstock, died -- and the clip is gut-wrenching.

Check this resurfaced TikTok from Kelly’s July 26 show in Vegas -- Kelly was choking up as she intro'd the song -- saying she wrote it back when her marriage to Brandon was full of hope and dreams for the future. But now? It's had a few emotional tweaks over the years, to say the least.

Kelly revealed she’d actually changed the lyrics to the song back in '23, three years after her split from Blackstock. But after some therapy and reflection, she realized they came off a bit angry. So, she tweaked them again, making the new version feel more grown-up.

DJ Unk's larger-than-life presence is still being felt in death ... the late "Walk It Out" rapper just received a shimmering headstone that rivals those Big Oomp chains he used to wear!!!

The blinged-out headstone was crafted courtesy of Cemetery Tim's services, who tells TMZ Hip Hop that it was Unk's wife, Sherkita, who reached out to him and provided some of her favorite photos she wanted to use for his headstone.

Unk's headstone was installed and it debuted Sunday at South View Cemetery in Atlanta.

DDG had his life tampered with when someone swatted the rapper/streamer during his paintball tournament -- and cops say they're actively looking for the culprit responsible!!!

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department tells TMZ Hip Hop they responded to a call on Sunday afternoon along the 31000 Block of Charlie Canyon Rd in Castaic -- just north of Los Angeles -- reporting a male adult was brandishing and shooting a firearm, threatening to harm everyone around him.

Sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene, drew their guns, then cuffed and briefly detained DDG ... all captured on his livestream channel for his legions of fans to witness.

Maluma just schooled a mom for bringing her baby to his concert without ear protection for the child -- and his epic public smackdown is sparking major debate online!

The TikTok clip is straight-up wild – Maluma, on his "+Pretty +Dirty World Tour" in Mexico City over the weekend, suddenly hit pause and blasted a woman in the crowd ... "Do you think it’s a good idea to bring a 1-year-old to a concert where the decibels are this f***ing high?"

Maluma kept going in Spanish, telling the mother her infant had no clue what was going on, slamming her for swinging the little one around like a toy.

Machine Gun Kelly’s been talking all things co-parenting with ex Megan Fox ... but fans are dying to know -- what’s the deal with him and Sydney Sweeney?!

The rapper popped up on "Watch What Happens Live" Sunday night, where Andy Cohen threw a fan question from Kyle P his way, asking if he and Sydney were more than just friends. MGK’s response? Pure comedy, as always!

MGK straight-up told Kyle P to "shut up, dude," and the entire audience lost it. And ... that was the end of that.

The Jonas Brothers left Disney fans stunned at their New Jersey concert ... bringing out a surprise guest that had everyone feeling nostalgic.

It all went down Sunday night at MetLife Stadium ... where the JoBros were reflecting over their 2008 smash hit Disney movie, "Camp Rock." Joe Jonas -- the film's lead -- broke out into song, singing "Gotta Find You," sending fans into a frenzy.

But then ... he brought out Demi Lovato onstage -- who played his onscreen love interest -- and the whole crowd went wild.

Jennifer Lopez had to deal with a creepy crawly during an international performance Sunday night -- and the spine-tingling moment was captured on camera.

Check out the video ... J Lo is belting out one of her tunes onstage at Central Stadium in Almaty -- a city in Kazakhstan -- when a grasshopper crawls up the front of her body and stops on her neck.

At first, J Lo stands in front of the mic like a statue ... then she starts singing and tosses the pesky insect off her body.

Kevin Mares -- a Bad Bunny fan who traveled down to Puerto Rico to see the artist -- has been shot and killed.

We spoke with Kevin's mother, Sandra, through a friend acting as a translator ... and, she confirmed to us her son was shot early this morning following his attendance at a pool party in La Perla, PR.

Sandra tells us her son was a massive Bad Bunny fan ... and, he planned this trip with his girlfriend and their friends about a year ago -- with the group eager to watch the show on Sunday. They are no longer attending the show in light of the shooting.

Finneas and Taylor Swift don't have any 'Bad Blood' between them ... but, he says his blood still runs cold whenever he thinks about an awkward encounter they had!

The 10-time Grammy winner sat down for an interview with The Guardian, published Saturday ... and, he reflected on a mortifying moment between him and T-Swift when he attended her birthday party.

Finneas said Taylor thanked him for coming to her birthday party ... and, he responded, “Thank you for coming!” -- to her own party!