Music

Cissy Houston, a Grammy-winning singer and the mother of late singer and actress Whitney Houston, is dead.

Cissy died Monday surrounded by family in her New Jersey home, where she was under hospice care as a result of Alzheimer's disease ... her daughter-in-law Pat Houston confirmed to TMZ.

She's being remembered by Pat as "a strong and towering figure" and "a woman of deep faith and conviction."

Big celebrities on the level of Diddy are going to be sued for allegedly helping him carry out and cover up sexual assaults, unless they settle out of court first ... so says attorney Tony Buzbee.

The Houston-based attorney joined us Monday on "TMZ Live," and we asked him what we should be expecting from his forthcoming lawsuits against Diddy ... specifically, if other major celebs would be named as defendants too.

Buzbee says a bunch of famous people everyone has heard of are going to be sued by his law firm in the coming weeks ... and he's already sent out demand letters, giving these celebs the chance to pony up a lot of money to settle and avoid a public lawsuit.

Rihanna didn't have enough "Diamonds" to trump Taylor Swift's growing network ... the pop star just surpassed RiRi as the world's richest female musician.

A year after Swift joined the ranks of billionaire musicians, Forbes is reporting the "Cruel Summer" singer has since nabbed the top title ... which was previously held by Rihanna.

Per the outlet, Swift is now worth a reported $1.6 billion ... citing her sold-out "Eras" tour as the biggest boost to her financial portfolio. And, Taylor did make history with her money-making moves ... reportedly becoming the first musician to reach billionaire status mainly from her music and live shows.

The creative director of Beyoncé's company, Parkwood Entertainment, is catching heat from a congressman ... who thinks an influencer allegedly promoting violence "has no business" shaping culture.

New York Congressman Ritchie Torres took to IG Sunday, posting a screen-cap of an earlier post by Andrew Makadsi depicting a man who reportedly set his arm on fire Saturday at a protest in Washington, D.C. ... Torres accuses Makadsi of glorifying the self-immolation of an anti-Israel activist.

Torres posted on the eve of October 7, which marks a year since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.

Jennifer Lopez took a trip down memory lane for the 50th Anniversary of the American Music Awards Sunday night, rattling off her favorite moments over the decades.

The singer/actress appeared in a pre-recorded interview played Sunday night at the 2024 AMAs, with Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Kate Hudson and many others in the star-studded audience.

J Lo opened by saying she watched the AMAs as a little girl, noting her first performance was in 2001, as a video flashback played showing her dancing onstage to her music.

Drake appears to be "In His Feelings" about his ongoing feud with Kendrick Lamar ... publicly complaining about fake friends amid the drama.

The rapper grabbed the mic at Tyrone Edwards' Nostalgia Party in Toronto Saturday evening ... where he lamented about being dropped by flip-flopping pals.

He noted ... "My real friends are definitely in the building. But, I’m going to tell you, you’re going to come to a point in life where people you thought were friends, or people you thought were close to you, they might switch up."

Diddy’s mom has finally weighed in on her son’s legal troubles ... stating while he might not have been completely honest about the whole Cassie situation, that doesn’t automatically make him guilty of all the allegations in his indictment.

Janice Combs spoke out about the situation to Local 10 News on Sunday through her attorney, Natlie G. Figgers ... expressing her devastation over the allegations against her son, saying he was judged not by the truth but by a "narrative created out of lies."

Janice added, "To bear witness to what seems like a public lynching of my son before he has had the opportunity to prove his innocence is a pain too unbearable to put into words.”

Some of Hollywood's biggest names celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the American Music Awards Sunday night — and they did it all in style.

Mariah Carey led the way on the red carpet at L.A. Center Studios, showing off a form-fitting cream-colored strapless dress with black stripes on either side. She looked amazing as she posed for paparazzi pics with a big smile.

Jennifer Hudson and Kate Hudson also made a splash ... Jennifer sported a long black latex dress with sparkling jewels, while Kate squeezed into a glittering halter dress with her blonde hair slicked back.

Before this cool-lookin' kid with his backward hat turned into an A-list celeb, he was just body-checking on the rink, scoring on the field, shining in his high school's Glee Club and growing up in Canada, eh?

Jumpstarting his career young, he quickly became the "Life of the Party." When he's not shining bright as a musician, he enjoys hanging out with his family and friends back home. He's transparent about the downsides of fame, however he's currently on a world tour.

"Why Why Why" must you have another clue 😜?

Talk about a heavy topic for some late-night laughs ... "Saturday Night Live" went all in on Diddy, who’s currently behind bars on charges related to racketeering, sex trafficking and other serious crimes.

On the show's "Weekend Update" segment, Michael Che quipped alongside a pic of Diddy, “It was reported that the U.S. added 245,000 new jobs. Unfortunately, they were all 'Diddy accusers.'”

The audience erupted in laughter as Michael kept it rolling, saying, "It was announced that Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs’ sex trafficking case has been assigned to a new judge. One that Diddy hopes is cool with rapes."

Cardi B and Offset both wanted a night out on the town ... and hit a speed bump when they ended up at the same nightclub.

TMZ obtained footage of Cardi living her best life at the Dream Hospitality Group party at The Stafford Room in NYC early Sunday morning where she was movin' and groovin'. But, eyewitnesses tell us things took a turn when the DJ gave a shoutout to Offset being in the house ... which apparently startled Cardi.

We're told the exes didn’t arrive or leave together, nor did they hang out during their time at the club. In fact, their overlap was short.

10:13 AM PT -- According to Christopher's obituary ... he died peacefully surrounded by his husband, Ray, and loved ones. The obit notes Christopher's loving spouse was faithfully by his side during the final stages of cancer that would ultimately end his life.

Another death in Madonna's family ... and this time it's her younger brother, Christopher Ciccone.

Madonna's brother died Friday in Michigan due to cancer ... his rep tells TMZ.

Jose “El Taiger” Carbajal is clinging to life in a Miami hospital ... days after the Reggaeton star was found shot in the head, in the back of a Mercedes-Benz in the city’s Allapattah neighborhood.

Miami Police Chief Manuel A. Morales gave an update Friday ... telling media that the 37-year-old remains in "very" critical condition after undergoing surgery ... and their investigation is ongoing into the brutal crime.

Authorities suspect Jose may have been shot elsewhere and then driven to that location and ditched ... just blocks from nearby Jackson Memorial Health Hospital.

Dolly Parton quickly got back to work after making a huge donation to Hurricane Helene relief ... and TMZ has video of her entertaining at a private event.

Here's the deal ... the country superstar just pledged $1 million to help Hurricane Helene victims in a partnership with Walmart ... the chain is donating a whopping $10 million!

While in Bentonville, Arkansas at the Walmart HQ on Friday ... Dolly put on a private show in an event for Walmart employees with 35, 40, or 45 years of service under their belt, TMZ learned.

Travis Kelce's "Grotesquerie" character was a stripper back in the day, but he's now getting opportunities to bring Ed Lachlan's past back to the present ... with several male revues telling TMZ Sports they would love "Big Peter and His Banana Splitter" to make a special appearance!!

The Kansas City Chiefs superstar made his debut on the Ryan Murphy show this past week ... and in one scene, his role was revealed as a former dancer at a male strip club in Juneau, Alaska, where he was "jiggling it for horny mamas coming off of cruise ships."

Unfortunately, there weren't any flashback scenes.

Boyz II Men will be keeping an extra close eye on UFC 307 on Saturday night ... 'cause the legendary R&B group has a special and tragic connection to Khalil Rountree.

Shawn Stockman and Nathan Morris, two-thirds of the 4x Grammy Award-winning group, joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1) this week where they talked about the Rountrees.

Back in 1992, Khalil's dad, Roderick "Khalil" Rountree, was Boyz II Men's road manager. After a May 1992 show in the Chicago area, Khalil was gunned down by three men who'd been caught trying to break into his hotel room, according to reports.