Music

Darius Rucker es un gran fan de que Beyoncé pruebe otros géneros, dice que le encanta su nueva música country y espera que finalmente le consiga el codiciado Grammy al Álbum del Año.

El legendario cantautor -que es uno de los pocos artistas negros que ha irrumpido con éxito en el country- estaba en el aeropuerto de Los Ángeles el miércoles cuando un fotógrafo le preguntó acerca de la última oferta de Beyoncé, "Texas Hold 'Em".

Darius es bastante breve y preciso en sus comentarios. Dice que le gusta el nuevo giro de la Diva.

Dice que "THE" es una gran canción e incluso le desea buena suerte a su manera sobre la perspectiva de la incursión de Beyoncé en la música country finalmente le gana un premio Grammy por Álbum del Año, algo que todavía falta dentro de los logros de Bey.

Recordemos que Jay-Z hizo un gran alboroto sobre la ausencia de Beyoncé durante su discurso en los Grammys de este mes, por lo que mucha gente se pregunta si un álbum de country podría cambiar las cosas.

Por supuesto, Beyoncé va a tener que vencer a Taylor Swift -entre otros- para ganar el gran premio (Artista del Año). Taylor también tiene un nuevo álbum y Darius se refirió a ella.

El camarógrafo le pregunta a Darius si cree que Taylor debe volver al country. A lo que responde que Tay Tay debería sacar el tipo de música que quiera, lo mismo para Beyoncé.

Una última cosa que Darius abordó aquí sobre Bey y el country, son los comentarios feos de John Schneider de la semana pasada, cuando hizo comparaciones con un perro que marca su territorio.

Al igual que muchas personas, está de acuerdo en que las palabras de John estaban impregnadas de un trasfondo racista, y dice que la música country no pertenece a un grupo pequeño. Sobre la cuestión de si Beyoncé es un "pararrayos", Darius se burla de esa idea también en esta entrevista.

Resumiendo, Darius está apoyando los deseos de Beyoncé de entrar en la música country.

Darius Rucker is a big fan of Beyoncé joining his genre ... saying he's loving her new country music, and hopes it finally lands her a coveted Album of the Year Grammy.

The legendary singer-songwriter -- who's one of the few Black artists who's broken through into country successfully -- was at LAX Wednesday when a photog asked him about Beyoncé's latest offering, "Texas Hold 'Em."

Darius is fairly brief and succinct in his review -- but he's clear ... he's digging Bey's twang.

He says 'THE' is a great song and even throws good luck her way over the prospect of Beyoncé's foray into country music finally earns her a Grammy award for Album of The Year ... something that's still missing from Bey's mantle.

Remember ... Jay-Z made a big stink about Beyoncé's lack of an AOTY award during a speech at this month's Grammys, so lots of folks are wondering if a country album will get Bey over the hump ... Darius included.

Of course, Beyoncé's going to have to beat out Taylor Swift -- and others -- to win AOTY ... Taylor's got a new album coming out too, and Darius actually addresses Taylor too here.

The cameraman asks Darius if he thinks Taylor should go back to country -- something that another bystander next to DR actually weighs in on before has a chance to. As for Darius, he says Tay Tay should crank out whatever type of music she wants ... ditto for Beyoncé.

One last thing Darius addressed here about Bey and country ... namely, John Schneider's ugly remarks about her last week -- when he likened her to a dog marking its territory.

Like many people ... he agrees that John's words were laced with a racist undertone -- and he says gatekeeping country music is absolutely silly. On the question of whether Beyoncé is a "lightning rod" ... Darius scoffs at that notion as well in this interview.

Long story short ... Darius is all for Beyoncé getting into country music -- he's definitely a fan.

Hoda Kotb está diciendo lo pasado, pasado está después de que Kelly Rowland saliera furiosa del set de "Today" la semana pasada. De hecho, ¡está dispuesta a enterrar el hacha de guerra, y más aún, hacer todo de nuevo!

La presentadora de noticias de la mañana le dijo a ET el miércoles que a pesar de la decepción de que Kelly se haya retirado del plató, está dispuesta a darle otra oportunidad y explica que le ha estado enviando mensajes de texto desde el jueves para que regrese como presentadora en una próxima fecha del show.

Hoda parece conocer a Kelly personalmente y añade que es una de las favoritas de NBC de todos los tiempos y que no hay nadie más graciosa o elegante que ella. Así que definitivamente parece que Hoda no está guardando rencor contra Kelly en absoluto.

Por ahora, no se sabe si Kelly le dará otra oportunidad a "Today", pero si lo hace, estos claramente van a tener que retocar sus camerinos y darle uno mucho mejor.

En defensa de Kelly, las otras co-presentadoras de Hoda, Jenna Bush Hager y Savannah Guthrie también admitieron que sus vestuarios apestan y necesitan un arreglito. También explicaron que están en un edificio antiguo, histórico y que se nota.

De hecho, Jenna bromeó en esta entrevista con ET que va a hacer todo el re empapelado porque le encanta el diseño de interiores. No está claro si realmente lo hará o no.

Nosotros compartimos la noticia: Fuentes nos dijeron que Kelly y su equipo no estaban a gusto con su camerino desde que llegaron al set la semana pasada y que terminaron huyendo después de algunas conversaciones al respecto, ya que ninguna de las alternativas que les ofrecieron estaban a la altura de Kelly.

Hubo otros reportes que decían que el arrebato de Kelly podría haber sido a causa de las insistentes preguntas de Savannah sobre Beyoncé, pero sabemos que no fue el caso.

Elton John's swapping out that yellow brick road for another made of 24-karat gold ... 'cause a collection he curated for Christie's sold at auction -- and they fetched a bundle.

The legendary singer-songwriter partnered with the popular auction company to sell a ton of iconic items, and Elton made out like a bandit on the auction's first night -- with all 49 lots selling for a total of around $8 million.

Among the items sold ... Elton's silver leather platform boots circa 1971 for $94,500, prescription sunglasses for $22,680 and even his beloved 1990 Bentley Continental which brought home $441,000.

A series of luxury wristwatches sold for prices in the six figures ... and Elton even parted with "Flower Thrower Triptych" -- a painting by enigmatic artist Banksy -- to the tune of just over $1.9 million. The auction house says Elton got the Banksy piece "directly from the artist" ... which presumably means EJ has met the elusive man (or woman) himself.

BTW, Wednesday was only the first night of The Collection of Sir Elton John: Goodbye Peachtree Road sale ... more items are set to be sold off in person Thursday and Friday.

Also ... deep-pocketed purchasers who'd rather buy from the comfort of their own home will have about a week to pick up more one-of-a-kind collectibles.

Hoda Kotb is letting bygones be bygones after Kelly Rowland stormed off the "Today" set last week -- in fact, she's ready to bury the hatchet even further with a whole redo!

The morning news host told ET Wednesday that despite the disappointment of having Kelly bail ... she's willing to give it another shot ... explaining that she's been texting with Kelly since Thursday to get her to come back for a future hosting date.

Hoda seems to know Kelly on a personal level ... adding she's one of the NBC show's all-time favorites, and that there's no one more gracious or graceful than her. So, it definitely sounds like Hoda's not holding this against Kelly whatsoever.

So far, no word on whether KR will give the "Today" show another go ... but if she does, they're clearly gonna have to touch up all their dressing rooms and give her their best one.

In Kelly's defense ... HK's other cohosts -- Jenna Bush Hager and Savannah Guthrie -- also admitted their dressing rooms suck, and need to be worked on. They also explained that they're in an old, historic building ... and that it shows.

In fact, JBH joked in this ET interview that she's gonna be doing all the re-wallpapering 'cause she loves a bit of interior design. Unclear if it's actually gonna happen or not though.

We broke the story ... sources told us Kelly and her team weren't feeling her dressing room's vibe from the jump during last week's appearance ... and that they ended up bolting from the studio after a game of musical dressing rooms, as none of them were up Kelly's standards.

There were other reports she left over a Beyoncé grilling by Savannah -- but we know that just wasn't the case.

El cantante y compositor estadounidense Kenny Loggins rondaba los 30 años cuando su rockero single "Footloose" lo catapultó a lo más alto de las listas musicales (permaneció tres semanas en el número uno de la lista Hot 100 de Billboard) en 1984.

La canción no solo fue un éxito mundial, sino que también fue uno de los temas estrella de la película "Footloose", protagonizada por Kevin Bacon y Lori Singer.

Durante décadas, otros grandes músicos como Blake Shelton y Good Charlotte han versionado la pegadiza melodía y ha aparecido en populares programas de televisión como "Glee" y "Veggie Tales".

American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins was in his mid-30s when his rockin' single "Footloose" catapulted to the top of the music charts -- spending three weeks in the number one spot on Billboard's Hot 100 -- back in 1984.

Not only was the song a worldwide banger, but it was a breakout track from the film "Footloose" starring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer.

For decades, other big musicians like Blake Shelton and Good Charlotte have covered the catchy tune, and it's been featured on popular TV shows like "Glee" and "Veggie Tales."

6:30 PM PT -- The first sign of Travis Kelce in Australia has surfaced, and the dude looks ... well, beat.

Here's a shot of the tight end arriving in Sydney Wednesday (or Thursday on his time), and yes ... the dude was pretty straight-faced and serious as he got off his private jet. Ya gotta imagine he's stoked to be there for Taylor Swift ... but yeah, that was a long ass flight. Woof ...

2:58 PM PT -- Travis Kelce has officially touched down in Australia, hopping off his private jet just minutes ago.

Travis Kelce is on his way to see his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, in Australia -- in fact, he's currently en route ... and he'll be landing there bright and early, TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Travis is, in fact, aboard a private jet at the moment that's on its way to Sydney right now ... and it looks like he's taking a similar flight path that she did when she left Vegas after the Super Bowl to get back to work in Melbourne.

We know Travis went from Los Angeles to Hawaii overnight -- where he landed for a pit stop -- and then continued on his journey very early this AM ... and is up in the air as we speak.

Our sources tell us Travis grabbed dinner in L.A. Tuesday evening before jumping on a plane around 9 PM and jetting on over to the islands. We're told he chowed down at Nobu Malibu -- and seems to have laid relatively low, 'cause there aren't many eyewitness sightings.

Of course, he'll now be joining Tay Tay down under ahead of a string of shows she's got scheduled through the weekend ... this after missing her Melbourne slate. Here, he's making up for it by catching the latter half of her Aussie shows ... 4 of 'em running through Monday.

Unclear if Travis is gonna stick around and hit up Singapore with Taylor afterward -- where she's scheduled to perform next -- but for now ... she'll have TK by her side in Sydney.

Travis has been traveling quite a bit over the past 48 hours -- as we reported, he was in Vegas (again) Monday for a little bro time and some golf ... but beelined outta there quick.

There's been a lot of speculation on when (or if) he'd join Taylor at some point ... and now, we know he will. The reason for the doubt had to do with the Kansas City shooting -- which threw Travis and his whole team for a loop, and seemingly set his plans back a bit.

He was just in Kansas City this past weekend ... but since then, he's been bouncing around.

Travis' dad, Ed, did an interview earlier this week where he said his boy sounded keen on coming down there and enjoying the Aussie landscape -- as it turns out, he was right.

Get ready, Taylor ... here comes, Travis!!!

We'll be talking all things Taylor on the new "TMZ Swift-Tea Podcast" -- available on all podcast platforms.

Drake's 2011 sophomore effort "Take Care" is close to crossing the 10-million sales mark, marking an inevitable Diamond plaque certification ... simply par for the course, says producer Chase N. Cashe.

He believes it's Drake's best album -- and not because he worked on it!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the veteran songwriter after reports jumped the gun on Drizzy's big boom ... the 2011 album is actually sitting at 8x platinum according to RIAA ... just a couple of carats short of absolute glory!!!

Chase co-produced the track "Look What You Done For Me," with OVO 40, one of Drake's most emotional records, as touches on relationships with his mother, uncle and late grandmother.

It was a moment of honesty for hip hop as a whole ... the track has generated hundreds of millions of streams without being a promoted single and Chase says it's just one of the many examples of Drake making timeless music with every drop.

Chase also has a record with Beyoncé from the 2013 "Epic" soundtrack in his storied discography ... and thinks she'll do great in the country music space -- after she comes through with a few big records that match the magnitude she brought to R&B.

Megan Thee Stallion said the infamous "fire crotch" line in the new "Mean Girls" on the big screen -- but you won't find it in the digital release ... and Lindsay Lohan's probably happy.

The rebooted flick -- which is now a musical -- finally hit VOD this week ... so it's available to rent on all your major players, Amazon and the like. The only difference this time around ... Meg's quote that pissed off LiLo in theaters is completely gone.

Indeed ... eagle-eyed fans noticed it right away as they started to stream the flick from home -- the part where MTS is supposed to say "Y2K fire crotch is back" has been edited out.

Instead, Meg here just ends her little piece of dialogue with "We are going back to red," and it then cuts to her laughing ... totally glossing over the line that was featured and seen in theaters, and which drew the ire of Lindsay and team -- who publicly denounced it.

Remember, Lindsay's rep came out and said LiLo was hurt by the fact the phrase had been included ... and not just that, but apparently, nobody had told her it would be in there.

The crazy part about that was ... Lindsay herself is ALSO in the movie, making a cameo.

It was all very bizarre ... and what made it even stranger was the fact that Tina Fey -- who EP'd and wrote "Mean Girls," and who's presumably pals with Lindsay -- didn't come out and address any of this last month when Lindsay made a big fuss about it ... just crickets.

However, now ... we can clearly see she heard LiLo loud and clear -- and made a change.

As you probably know by now ... the "fire crotch" insult first started with oil heir Brandon Davis -- who used to party with Paris Hilton back in the 2000s, and who used to run his mouth a lot to paps after nights on the town with his famous friend.

He was happy to trash Lindsay at the time, and even though it was years ago ... it clearly still bothers her to this day -- making it all the more surprising TF put it in the film at all.

Una demanda por agresión sexual contra Steven Tyler ha sido desestimada porque un juez dice que el presunto incidente no presentó un grave riesgo de daño a la demandante, TMZ ha indagado.

El año pasado el cantante y compositor fue demandado por Jeanne Bellino que alegó que Steven la besó, manoseó y comenzó a "frotarse contra ella fingiendo tener relaciones sexuales" dos veces una noche en 1975 cuando ella tenía 17 años.

Bellino interpuso la demanda contra Tyler justo el año pasado a través de la Ley de Protección de Víctimas de Violencia de Género de la ciudad de Nueva York, una ley que amplía el plazo de prescripción para que ciertas supuestas fechorías sexuales, en algunos casos de décadas atrás, sean finalmente juzgadas en los tribunales.

El juez dijo que es necesario cumplir con ciertos criterios, tales como: "presentar un grave riesgo de lesiones físicas", cosa que no pasa en este caso.

Básicamente, lo que el juez dijo en la decisión dictada el miércoles, es que Tyler supuestamente besó a la fuerza y tocó a Jeanne -como ella afirma, y si bien esto podría ser angustiante, no es lo suficientemente grave como para adentrarse en terrenos legales.

Es una decisión bastante digna de mención, y no está claro qué ramificaciones futuras puede tener el precedente establecido hoy por el juez en otros casos presentados en la ciudad de Nueva York.

A sexual assault lawsuit against Steven Tyler has been dismissed because a judge says the alleged incident did not present a serious risk of harm to the plaintiff ... TMZ has learned.

Here's the deal ... last year the singer-songwriter was sued by Jeanne Bellino who alleged Steven kissed, groped and began "humping her pretending to have sex" twice one night in 1975 when she was 17.

Bellino brought the lawsuit against Tyler just last year via New York City's Victim of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act -- a law extending the statute of limitations for certain alleged sexual misdeeds, in some cases from decades past, to finally be heard in court.

But, to take advantage of the longer statute of limitations, the judge said the alleged act needed to meet certain criteria ... including "presenting a serious risk of physical injury" -- a box the judge in Bellino's case says this alleged incident does not check.

Basically, what the judge said in the decision handed down Wednesday is that Tyler allegedly forcibly kissing and dry-humping Jeanne -- as she claims -- might be distressing, but didn't rise to the level of presenting any risk of serious injury, so he tossed the suit.

It's a pretty noteworthy decision, and unclear what future ramifications the precedent set by the judge today may have on other cases filed in New York City under the same provision.

6:30 PM PT -- Ha salido a la superficie la primera señal de Travis Kelce en Australia y el tipo se ve ... Bueno, exhausto.

Aquí tenemos una foto del jugador llegando a Sydney el miércoles (o el jueves en Australia), y sí el hombre estaba bastante serio al bajar de su jet privado. Podemos imaginar que está emocionado de estar allí para Taylor Swift, pero sí, el viaje es larguísimo.

2:58 PM PT -- Travis Kelce ha aterrizado oficialmente en Australia. El jugador de los Kansas City Chiefs se bajó de su jet privado hace apenas unos minutos.

Travis Kelce está en camino para ver a su novia Taylor Swift en Australia. De hecho, está actualmente en ruta y va a aterrizar temprano en el día, según ha averiguado TMZ.

Fuentes con conocimiento directo nos dicen que Travis está, de hecho, a bordo de un jet privado en este momento y de camino a Sydney. Parece que es una ruta similar a la que hizo Taylor cuando salió de Las Vegas tras el Super Bowl para dirigirse a Melbourne.

Sabemos que Travis viajó de Los Ángeles a Hawái durante la noche. Hizo una parada y continuó su viaje muy temprano esta mañana. Ahora está volando mientras hablamos.

Nuestras fuentes dicen que Travis cenó en Los Ángeles el martes por la noche antes de subirse al avión alrededor de las 9 PM y volar a las islas. Nos han dicho que cenó en Nobu Malibu y parece haber pasado relativamente desapercibido, porque no hay muchos testigos.

Por supuesto, ahora se unirá a Tay Tay, quien tiene una serie de espectáculos programados hasta el fin de semana. Esto, después de perderse su parada en Melbourne. Aquí lo está compensando con la última mitad de sus shows en Australia: 4 hasta el lunes.

No está claro si Travis va a quedarse o si viajará a Singapur con ella después, donde está programado que siga su gira. Aunque por ahora tendrá a Travis Kelce a su lado en Sydney.

Travis ha estado viajando bastante en las últimas 48 horas, como informamos, estuvo en Las Vegas el lunes para jugar golf y pasar tiempo con sus amigos, pero se fue rápido.

Ha habido mucha especulación sobre cuándo (o si) se uniría a Taylor y ahora sabemos que va en camino. La razón de la duda tenía que ver con el tiroteo de Kansas City, que al parecer echó sus planes un poco para atrás.

El jugador estuvo en Kansas City este fin de semana, pero desde entonces ha estado en diferentes lugares.

El padre de Travis, Ed, hizo una entrevista a principios de esta semana donde dijo que creía que su hijo quería viajar y disfrutar del paisaje australiano. Parece que tenía razón.

Kodak Black has been sitting in Florida jail for weeks after his arrest for drug possession back in December triggered a probation violation ... but we've now learned the "Super Gremlin" rapper finally got out on Wednesday and will no longer have to deal with supervised release.

According to court docs, Kodak admitted to violating the terms of his supervised release but the judge sentenced the rapper to time served without any further supervised release ... and it sounds like it's all due to Kodak's lawyer really going to bat for his client in his drug possession case.

Ever since the arrest, Kodak's lawyer Bradford Cohen has argued that lab testing proves the substance Kodak was caught with wasn't cocaine, but rather a prescribed medication ... insisting his client was the victim of a false arrest.

Lab tests determined that to be true and Cohen even sent a fiery letter to the Mayor of Plantation, FL, Nick Sortal over it, saying the officer's conduct exposed the city to a federal civil rights claim.

Nuevos informes sugieren que la verdadera razón por la que Kelly Rowland abandonó el set de "Today" fue porque habría sido bombardeada con preguntas sobre Beyoncé, pero eso es mentira, según dicen fuentes bien informadas sobre el tema.

Fuentes con conocimiento directo le dicen a TMZ que Kelly llegó el pasado viernes justo antes de las 8 AM, en pleno glamour, y ella y su equipo comenzaron a quejarse de su camerino desde el comienzo. Nos dicen que el personal de "Today" le explicó que sus camerinos estaban notoriamente "glorificados".

Las fuentes continúan diciendo que Kelly y su equipo estaban "bastante molestos" y preguntaron quién tenía el camerino de arriba. Les dijeron que había sido tomada por J Lo, y les ofrecieron otras opciones. Nos dicen que a Kelly y a su equipo no les gustaron ninguna de ellas y 7 minutos antes de salir al aire les dijeron: "Nos vamos" y se fueron rápidamente.

Las fuentes dicen que no es cierto que el punto de quiebre fueran las repetidas preguntas de Savannah Guthrie sobre Beyoncé durante la segunda hora del show.

Esos informes afirman que Kelly tiene una estipulación para las entrevistas y es que Beyoncé y Destiny's Child están fuera de los límites. Si eso es cierto o no, nos han dicho claramente que no es el motivo por el que Kelly se fue.

Eso coincide con lo que han dicho los principales involucrados en el último par de días, incluyendo la propia Hoda, quien hizo una alusión explícita a los camerinos mientras intentaba hacer las pases con Kelly este lunes.

Sherri Shepherd también se inclinó por el tema de los vestuarios, mientras le dio la bienvenida a Kelly en su propio programa. También mostraron imágenes y mencionaron que el vestuario que consiguió era mucho mejor que lo que "Today" le había ofrecido.

Ahora, puede haber algo de verdad en que se molestara con las preguntas sobre Beyoncé y Destiny's Child. Lucía un poco molesta con Savannah al igual que en otras entrevistas de esta semana.

New reports suggest the real reason Kelly Rowland walked off the set of "Today" was because of being peppered with Beyoncé questions -- but that's BS ... so say well-placed sources.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Kelly arrived last Friday just before 8 AM -- already in full glam -- and she and her team began complaining about her dressing room from the jump. We're told "Today" staffers explained their dressing rooms were notoriously "dumpy, glorified closets."

The sources go on to say Kelly and her team were "quite upset," and asked who had the dressing room upstairs. They were told that room was taken by J Lo, but they were then offered a few options. We're told Kelly and her team liked none of them, and 7 minutes before air, they said, "We're gonna leave," and they booked it.

The sources say there's no truth to the notion Kelly's breaking point was Savannah Guthrie repeatedly asked KR about Beyoncé during her sit-down in the second hour of the show.

These reports claim Kelly has a stipulation for interviews that Beyoncé and Destiny's Child questions were off limits. Whether that's true or not ... we've been told squarely that's not why Kelly left.

That jibes with what the main characters have said over the last couple of days ... including Hoda herself, who explicitly mentioned dressing rooms Monday while extending an olive branch to Kelly.

Also ... Sherri Shepherd leaned into the dressing room dust-up while welcoming Kelly on her own show ... and they played it up further with BTS footage, showing the dressing room Kelly got -- and telegraphing it was way better than what "Today" offered.

Now, on the issue of Kelly being peeved about questions regarding Beyoncé/DC -- there may actually be some truth to that ... as she did come across as a bit annoyed with Savannah, and she proved to be annoyed in other interviews this week too.

With that said ... that's not why she left "Today" on Friday. It was, indeed, dressing room problems. Now, that's not to say Kelly isn't welcomed back to "Today" -- 'cause she is.