Music

Calling all you mighty Millennials, ballin' Boomers, groovy Gen X-ers, and everyone else ... We're tappin' y'all into Gen-Z's hottest stories of the week, packed with sexy stars and piping-hot news!

When *NSYNC came calling, Lance Bass wanted to take the offer -- no strings attached -- but his mom had other ideas.

The singer tells the story in the new Joey Fatone-produced documentary "Boy Band Confidential" ... explaining he got a call out of the blue to audition for the group when he was 16 and living in small-town Mississippi.

While clearly the opportunity of a lifetime, Bass says his mom seemed skeptical ... and told manager Lou Pearlman, Justin Timberlake, and Justin's mom Lynn, they may need a new band member -- but it wasn't gonna be her son.

Kacey Musgraves just saw some "insane" orbs in the sky, and she ain't blowin' smoke ... she's got videos to back it up.

The singer posted on her Instagram Story late Thursday night, describing the "craziest f***ing orb UFO experience" while flying from Fort Worth, TX to Nashville, TN with one of her managers, Bobby.

She said she was about to take a nap when she saw some lights that "just didn't look normal" ... first noticing them over the Little Rock, AR area and watching them all the way until they reached Nashville.

What's better than Coachella?! Coachella with your bestie, of course! And the celebs love hightailing it to the desert with their built-in partners n' crime ...

Megan Thee Stallion and Ciara may've been "savage," but they're still a pair of "goodies," Griffin Johnson wrangled his star-studded crew for a photo-op starring Blake Gray, Josh Richards, Luv Anthony and Curtis Newbill.

And Michael Cimino and Xochitl Gomez threw their hands in the air like they just don't care, while Reneé Rapp and Cara Delevingne matched in besties-perfection!

Coachella’s first weekend is here ... and yeah, rain might be in the forecast ... but we’re turning up the heat with a look back at the steamiest celeb PDA over the years!

Take a scroll through our gallery -- from Justin and Hailey Bieber keeping the love alive, to Josh Richards and Gabi Moura getting cozy under those neon festival lights.

There’s plenty more where that came from, too -- Claudia Sulewski and Finneas, Nick Viall and Natalie Joy -- the love is very much in the air.

Afrika Bambaataa -- a rapper and DJ who helped pioneer hip hop -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... he died from complications of cancer at about 3 AM today in Pennsylvania.

Bambaataa was born in The Bronx .... and he joined the local gang the Black Spades, quickly rising up the ranks in the gang to the position of "warlord."

Karol G isn’t just making Coachella headlines this week … 'cause a recent interview sparked claims her team warned her to avoid mentioning ICE onstage -- but we’re told that’s flat-out wrong.

Sources close to Karol tell TMZ ... her team would never instruct her not to mention ICE, or warn her against it in any way ... as she's been an advocate for immigrants through her foundation ... so there’s no scenario in which her inner circle would discourage her from speaking on something that personal to her.

The confusion stems from a recent interview with Playboy -- originally conducted in Spanish -- and we're told some nuance may have gotten lost in translation.

Pooh Shiesty ain't sweatin' being in a jail cell ... in fact, the rapper seems pretty upbeat about his situation -- at least according to his lawyer.

Pooh's powerhouse attorney, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ ... Pooh is in "good spirits" and looking forward to defending himself against kidnapping charges after a judge rejected his bid to get out of jail on bond pending his trial.

Last week, federal prosecutors filed a complaint against Pooh, his father, and 7 other defendants, accusing them of robbing and kidnapping Gucci Mane and others at gunpoint inside a music studio in Dallas on January 10. The complaint says Pooh went there to get Gucci to terminate the recording contract between the hip hop stars.

The cat’s out of the bag ... Mick Fleetwood has gone and tied the knot for a fifth time ... and he spilled the news himself by dropping honeymoon pics!

The 78-year-old Fleetwood Mac drummer looks totally smitten in a series of sun-soaked snaps from the South Pacific ... planting a kiss under a hat on his 56-year-old bride Elizabeth Jordan, whose face he kept hidden.

He also shared some dreamy ocean shots, captioning them all about love, sunshine and "moments to be remembered" -- man’s clearly in full honeymoon mode.

Coachella is almost here, and these past attendees are showin' off their rears ... can you guess who they are?!

Turn around and look back at bodacious babes like Lola Young and Alix Earle ... and Demi Lovato is "Sorry Not Sorry" for showin' off her curves!

Cardi B's "Little Miss Drama" show in Washington, D.C. Wednesday doubled as a family reunion ... 'cause Stefon Diggs, his mom, and brother all attended!

Check it out -- fans were quick to spot the trio dancing the night away at Cardi's show looking like they were all having the time of their lives. Even if Cardi and Stefon's romance didn't work out, it seems there's nothing but love here.

As we've reported, Stefon's mom Stephanie has already gone to a show -- she was at Cardi's Houston tour stop ... where Nicki Minaj's younger sister also showed up.

Remember when Coachella wasn’t just an Instagram feed and celebs could actually party in peace? Yeah, those days are no longer, but we’ve dug up the throwback photos ... and they’re just too dang good to scroll past!

The gang's all here!!! Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Pharrell! And flashback to Austin Butler and Vanessa Hudgens hand-in-hand in the desert?!

Before this cute kid rockin' her crop top was performing at Coachella, she was just working at the hair salon and dreaming of the big stage and flashing lights.

She's set to hit the Coachella stage this weekend, as well as Weekend 2 ... There's a good chance she'll jam out to "Pound Town."

You might have to kiss your *NSYNC reunion dreams bye, bye, bye! While leaving LAX recently, Joey Fatone said the boys won't be getting back together anytime soon ... but not because he doesn't want to!

JF explained it's tricky trying to get everyone's calendars lined up, saying the other guys have kids, families and "other things" -- an apparent nod to the recently-released body cam footage from Justin Timberlake's 2024 DUI.

Ariana Grande's ready to release a scorching record this summer -- because we've learned she's got a whole new album on the way!

Here's the deal ... Ariana got fans talking by posting a few photos of herself from the recording studio ... sitting at a soundboard, messing around on her computer, and -- most importantly -- setting up behind a microphone.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us this ain't a repost ... Ariana has finished a new album and plans to release it around summertime.

Erykah Badu might vibe with Kanye West's music ... but, she doesn't want to talk about him in the streets -- turning down our request for comment earlier this week.

We caught up with the R&B star outside Nya Studios West in Hollywood on Tuesday ... and, we had to ask her about her recent trip with her daughter to see Ye perform at SoFi Stadium.

However, Erykah didn't want to talk ... turning us down flat out -- totally her right, of course -- though it's unclear why she didn't want to discuss Ye.