Music

Travis Scott and a handful of artists are jumping to the defense of a Black man in Texas whose rap lyrics were cited during his sentencing for a double murder ... which landed him on death row, but the rappers believe using lyrics to impose capital punishment is unconstitutional.

James Broadnax was 19-years old when he killed two white men during a robbery in Garland, Texas ... and in 2009, a nearly all-white jury convicted him and decided he deserved the death penalty.

Prosecutors introduced Broadnax's handwritten rap lyrics as evidence only after he was convicted -- during the sentencing phase -- and during deliberation, the jury twice asked to see 40 pages of Broadnax's lyrics.

North West is making some new noise in the music game, 'cause the first snippet from her latest collab just dropped, and it looks like total chaos ... in the most fun way!

Check it out -- the 12-year-old goes all in on the track "Don’t Care," shared by Mag!c (a protégé of her dad Ye) -- rocking her signature blue hair and clearly having a blast in the clip.

No word yet on when the full music video is dropping -- but if this teaser is anything to go by, these two could be cooking up a serious Gen Alpha hip-hop moment.

If you're famous, Gene Simmons has a strong message for you ... do your art and shut up about politics!

The legendary KISS cofounder put his own spin on Laura Ingraham's infamous "shut up and dribble" line when we chatted with him Monday in Bev Hills.

And, he even called out a few celebs by name! You'll have to watch the video to find out who.

You won't catch Jack White taking a page out of Taylor Swift's playbook when it comes to songwriting ... because the White Stripes frontman says penning songs about breakups is a total snooze.

Jack sat down for an interview with The Guardian over the weekend and threw a little shade Taylor's way ... saying the trend of pop stars writing songs about their public breakups -- “in the Taylor Swift way” -- just doesn’t interest him.

He added he finds it “a little boring” to write about himself -- even if he had an interesting day -- because he’s already lived it and has no desire to relive it again.

Bad Bunny is one bad birthday boy!!! One swipe through our hot shots gallery and that upper lip of yours will be sweatin'!!

The Puerto Rico native has had himself a year! He took home three Grammys and made his stance known -- or his “seat,” rather -- during “God Bless America” at the Yankees vs. Blue Jays playoff game.

Oh, and he also slayed the Super Bowl halftime show -- becoming the first artist to perform the Super Bowl halftime show primarily in Spanish!

Check out the gallery ... It's fuego!

Rihanna was home with her 3 kids at the time an assailant targeted their L.A.-area mansion with gunfire -- A$AP Rocky, the father of the kids, was also home.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... the singer was shacked up inside her house with the children she shares with A$AP -- namely RZA, Riot Rose, and Rocki Irish -- before all hell broke loose on Sunday afternoon.

The suspected shooter, Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, allegedly fired off several shots from her vehicle at the residence ... but luckily RiRi and her youngsters were not injured, our sources said.

It took a minute ... but Dr. Dre has finally unloaded his longtime Malibu beach house after 4 years on the market -- and he’s walking away with a hefty payday!

Real estate sources tell TMZ the rap mogul sold the carbon 6-bedroom, 7-bathroom pad along iconic Pacific Coast Highway for $16.5 million ... and the deal was done quietly off-market.

Dre originally listed the place in 2022 for $20 million, so he didn’t quite hit that mark -- but the property still fetched a solid price for what it offered, sitting on a roughly 7,000-square-foot lot.

Kanye West -- who now goes by Ye -- is coming back to Los Angeles.

In his first live performance since his Mexico City shows in January -- and his first live Los Angeles show since 2021 -- Ye will be hitting the stage at SoFi Stadium April 3.

Promotional art for the new concerts show Ye's wife Bianca Censori is back ... while the rapper dons a Jason Voorhees mask.

Remember, the last time Ye rocked a live crowd in L.A., he did it alongside Drake at the Free Larry Hoover benefit concert, which was livestreamed on Prime Video.

Tommy DeCarlo -- lead vocalist for the rock band Boston -- has died.

The singer's family confirmed the news in a Facebook post, writing that he died Monday after a battle with brain cancer.

"He fought with incredible strength and courage right up until the very end," they wrote.

Country music star Maren Morris is speaking her mind about what she sees as the failures of the Trump administration, and she doesn't care if she loses fans over it.

According to Maren Morris, if you supported Donald Trump in his presidential elections, you voted for a "dementia ridden, diaper clad, cornball" and "you got bamboozled."

Not only that ... she doesn't feel bad for the MAGA faithful who may feel disillusioned by their leader.

Country Joe McDonald -- the legendary lead singer and co-founder of 1960s psychedelic folk rock band Country Joe and the Fish, best known for the anti-Vietnam War anthem "I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the Woodstock icon died Saturday evening. Details surrounding his death are currently unclear.

McDonald, born Joseph Allen McDonald, became one of the defining voices of the 1960s protest movement. As frontman of Country Joe and the Fish, he helped shape the San Francisco psychedelic scene during rock's most politically charged era.

His 1969 Woodstock performance, which was complete with the crowd-wide "Fish Cheer," remains one of the festival's most unforgettable moments, cementing his place in counterculture history.

It takes a REAL MAN to show his dirty feet to the whole world, but can you guess who he is based on this altered pic?!

All jokes aside, he's an iconic American record producer -- notoriously producing tunes for Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Britney Spears -- and he's married to an icon as well!

Can't keep your "hands to yourself?!" Neither can he!

LISA met up with a star possibly even bigger than herself ... the viral monkey Punch!

The BLACKPINK star stopped by Ichikawa City Zoo in the Chiba prefecture just outside Tokyo, Japan to visit the monkey who went viral because other apes in his enclosure were bullying him.

The star wanted to support the monkey's habit of carrying around a stuffed orangutan by bringing her own to the zoo ... holding it up for the little macaque to see.

Lady Gaga will be going by Mrs. Lady Gaga "soon," because the pop icon says her marriage to fiancé Michael Polansky is right around the corner.

Gaga provided a major update on her upcoming nuptials during her Friday appearance on Bruno Mars’ “Romantic Radio” live stream with iHeartRadio with a prerecorded message from the singer herself.

Check out the clip ... After Bruno asks what's next, Gaga's crystal clear voice plays over the video, “Me and my fiancé have been traveling all year, but we’re getting married soon. We were hoping you could choose a special song for us."

Bruno doesn't address the elephant in the room, namely the word "soon," but he was more than happy to oblige Gaga's request. He dedicated one of his tunes, "Risk It All," from his new album to Gaga's soon-to-be-hubby.

Tony! Toni! Toné! singer  D'Wayne Wiggins’ family is involved in a bitter war over his 6-figure estate nearly a year after his death ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, D'Wayne’s daughter, Ilahn Wiggins, claimed the late singer-songwriter and guitarist left behind an estate worth around $700K after his death last year.

Ilahn said she has 2 brothers, and her dad got married to a new wife named Dori Wiggins months before D'Wayne's death.

Killer Mike says he's tired of watching poor kids fight wars ... arguing countries that want to go to war should send entitled rich kids instead.

We caught up with the four-time Grammy winner at LAX Thursday ... and we had to ask the politically active star for his take on the devastating conflict in the Middle East.

KM says he thinks poor people need to refuse to fight for the empire that is the United States ... because it's often working-class kids who are risking their lives to further the aims of the state.