Music

If Demi Lovato's engagement ring looked expensive, that's only because it's worth more than $2 million, and comes with some razzle-dazzle too ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with knowledge tell us ... Demi's ring would cost the average Joe off the street anywhere between $2.5 million and $5 million -- and that's due to the fact that it's a very special cut from a very well-regarded celebrity jeweler in Hollywood ... Peter Marco.

We're told Demi's diamond is an emerald cut that was hand set in platinum, and flanked on all sides by smaller (only relatively) trapezoid-shaped diamonds designs. All told, our sources say the rock comes in at well over 10 carats ... maybe even as much 20!!! No one's spilling the exact weight.

We're told Demi's fiance, Max Ehrich, spent a lot of time to make sure the design was unique -- namely, he really wanted the elongated stone for Demi. We're told he and Marco went back and forth with different side stones and angles until the ring was just right.

Their engagement came after just a few months of dating ... albeit quarantine-dating. Demi and Max first got together in March, and they've been quarantining/vacationing all over Cali since then.

After Max put a ring on it ... Demi said, "I knew I loved you the moment I met you," adding, "I’m ecstatic to start a family and life with you. I love you forever my baby. My partner. Here’s to our future!!!!"

LeAnn Rimes says people shouldn't have to choose between risking COVID-19 exposure or not taking care of their teeth ... and she's ripping a proposed dental care law as "unfair."

The singer fired off a letter, obtained by TMZ, informing California State Senator Steve Glazer why she strongly opposes a bill known as the Dental Practice Act -- which would require patients to get an oral x-ray before using telehealth. For example, if patients want direct-to-consumer services -- like teeth whitening or aligners -- they would first need an x-ray.

LeAnn says the bill would unfairly block dental health access to low-income families, particularly those in Black and Latino communities where it's harder to find a local dentist.

Kerry Washington opposes the bill too, and her letter to Glazer helped get the bill amended to remove the in-person visit requirement ... but LeAnn points out that's just been replaced by the requirement for an oral x-ray, which still forces folks to go into a dentist office.

LeAnn says people shouldn't be forced to go into their dentist's office for an x-ray and risk potential exposure to COVID-19, and she fears the bill could spur some families to forgo dental care altogether.

The Chainsmokers held a charity fundraiser in the Hamptons at a drive-in Saturday night ... and even with all the precautions, it still looked a little dicey.

The plan was to have the crowd socially distance on the 100-acre venue, and it seems there was an effort to keep people apart, but there's a heck of a lot of people in that area.

There were temperature checks before gaining admission, and face masks were even provided gratis. There was also plenty of hand sanitizer, so precautions were in place.

This was a super swanky event ... ticket packages went for as much as $25,000 -- that's the "JAJA Like a Rockstar" package ... which comes with your own RV.

Profits from the event went to No Kid Hungry, Southampton Fresh Air Home, and the Children's Medical Fund of New York.

Megan Thee Stallion is ready to talk about her injuries after the shooting she says she endured, but she's still fighting back tears -- and, notably, NOT spilling names ... including Tory Lanez.

Meg talked Monday about suffering injuries to both of her feet. She says she had to get surgery to get the bullets out, and, luckily, no bones or tendons were hit.

The rapper broke down crying a few different times during the stream, saying she wasn't ready to speak on it until now -- adding that it was a serious situation she didn't take lightly, and one her fans (not to mention her family) helped her get through amid tons of attention.

Interestingly enough, Megan did NOT speak about Tory ... who allegedly shot her as she exited the SUV they were riding in together early on July 12.

He was charged with possession of a firearm, but nothing more. Everyone's been pretty mum on who did what -- and even Meg's playing it close to the vest for now. The only thing she says plainly ... she'll be more careful with who she brings into her circle going forward.

As she's previously said ... she's "hurt and traumatized" after the shooting, and our sources say that feeling of being victimized is partly why she won't mention Tory by name. Still, law enforcement sources tell us he is under investigation for an alleged assault with a deadly weapon -- but he has not been charged.

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner's 2020 just got exponentially better -- they've welcomed their first baby, and it's a girl ... TMZ has learned.

The "Game of Thrones" star gave birth Wednesday at a hospital in Los Angeles. We don't have a name yet, but we're guessing the couple will announce that soon.

Sophie was spotted in L.A. the week before she gave birth, and looked like she was ready to pop.

As we reported ... Sophie and Joe were out last month shopping for three, with her baby bump on full display. She looked pretty comfy in grey leggings, a crop top and plaid blazer. Joe was truly kicking it ... with a Bruce Lee t-shirt. And, yes, they both wore masks. Now that's setting a good example.

The married couple never publicly acknowledged expecting a baby. You'll recall back in May they were out and about ... and Sophie for the first time revealed her baby bump in public.

We didn't say it back then but we'll say it now ... CONGRATS!!!

Britney Spears is still seeing her sons, Jayden and Sean, without any pushback from Kevin Federline amid the new wave of concern raised by the #FreeBritney folks.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... if Kevin ever felt any concern about Britney's state of mind, he would try to take legal steps to end -- or at least reduce -- her visitation with their boys, but he doesn't think she poses a risk.

Our sources say Kevin is confident their boys are healthy and safe when they're at their mom's home -- which is about 30 percent of the time -- and he's not the least bit influenced by the persistent buzz from some fans who claim Britney should be freed from her conservatorship. There are always other people at the home when the boys visit ... making Kevin feel that much more comfortable.

As we've reported ... some Britney fans think she's being held against her will, but we've been told there's no truth to this. Our sources say Kevin is not going to weigh in on Britney's state of mind, because he's not an expert and sees no benefit in sharing his opinion.

Bottom line ... Britney's going to keep seeing the boys with no resistance or concern from their father.

Two icons. One photo.

Colin Kaepernick and Dr. Dre struck a pose together to send a message -- taking a knee during a recent get together ... and LeBron James approves!

"Defiant," Dre wrote about their photo posted Sunday night. Unclear when and where the pic was taken. We're working on it.

The pic was praised by stars like LeBron, Caron Butler, Busta Rhymes, Kevin Durant and more.

Colin and Dre have been in business together for years -- Colin had an endorsement deal with Beats by Dre starting way back in 2013.

And, by the way, Beats by Dre recently signed Bubba Wallace -- the only Black driver in NASCAR's top series.

"No one should ever be asked to apologize for standing up for what’s right," the company said after signing Wallace earlier this month.

"We are proud to welcome @bubbawallace to the Beats by Dr. Dre family."

As we previously reported, Colin is still dead serious about trying to get back into the NFL -- and has been training almost every day to stay ready.

A few teams mentioned they're interested in the QB -- but so far, no one has brought him in for a workout.

Post Malone is taking steps to turn his favorite drinking game into big biz ... we've learned the wheels are in motion for a world beer pong league!!!

The "Beerbongs & Bentleys" rapper is looking to lock up the rights to "World Pong League" ... and Post and his legal team have gone so far as to file for a trademark on that name.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Post wants his "World Pong League" to operate official beer pong tournaments, competitions, events and exhibitions.

And, just like the NFL, MLB or NBA ... ya gotta have merch! Post plans to put the league moniker on beverage glassware, drinking glasses, plastic cups, game tables, cup racks, balls and every piece of casual sportswear -- including boxer shorts -- under the sun.

Basically, everything you could possibly associate with sport of (drinking) kings and queens.

As you know ... Post is a huge beer pong fanatic, and he loves to raise the stakes. PM won $50,000 playing pong with Tyla Yaweh.

We're told the "World Pong League" is the brainchild of Post and his manager, Dre London, but the idea is only in its infant stages -- meaning, all you amateurs still have time to practice.

Aim well and drink wisely, friends.

Any Jimi Hendrix collectible is significant, but this rare electric guitar oozes with so much history ... it's no wonder it'll fetch a HUGE sum of money when it goes up for auction.

The folks over at Kruse GWS Auctions are in possession of Buster's early 1960s Japanese Sunburst electric guitar that's expected to snag at LEAST a cool $50,000. That's the minimum bid but GWS expects to fetch a historic amount ... and here's why they just might.

Legend has it the guitar god used this exact axe shortly after he returned home from the U.S. Army in 1962 and moving to Clarksville, Tennessee. While he was there, Jimi played the Chitlin' Circuit with some incredible talent -- like Sam Cooke and Ike and Tina Turner.

Jimi's brother, Leon Hendrix, has said "that was the last time that Jimi sounded happy." Leon recalls, "I remember Jimi calling me from New York saying he so broke he can't even pay attention. He pawned his guitar and his friends got him one."

When Jimi moved to London in 1966, he left this guitar in NYC at the apartment of one of his best friends. Cut to 54 years later and the winner of this bid will also get a letter of provenance from Leon, who will also have a private lunch with the winning bidder.

BTW ... there will be TONS of other cool items up for auction, like Prince's custom purple boots, Elvis Presley's owned and worn Neo-style sunglasses, Tom Hanks "Cast Away" costumes -- and perhaps the greatest ... Muhammad Ali's custom white terrycloth "World Champion" robe!!!

Kanye West's last-ditch effort to make the presidential ballot in his home state worked ... but it cost him a nice chunk of change.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Kanye's campaign team hired a third-party vendor called Let The Voters Decide to collect the 2,500 signatures to make the ballot in Illinois.

Thing is ... Kanye did it with only a little more than a day to spare ... before the 5 PM Monday deadline.

We're told the group got to work right away, deploying 45 people who hit the streets in various parts of the state and racked up enough signatures ... all in 24 hours.

Our sources say they were paid handsomely for their efforts ... Kanye dished out $10-12 per signature, and they produced 3,178 signatures. Do the math -- well over $30k.

One of the signature collectors, Kenny Mister, tells us he got hit up Sunday to petition for Kanye. He says he was in Detroit, but dropped everything to get to Springfield, IL by Monday, worked for 3 hours ... and got 56 signatures at 10 bucks a pop.

Kenny says he went door to door, asking folks if they'd support Kanye getting on the ballot, but adding it didn't mean they had to vote for him.

BTW, if you're wondering if $10 per signature is a lot ... it is. Rickey Hendon -- a former Illinois State Senator who now works as a campaign consultant -- tells us the standard rate is closer to $1-3 per signature.

Rickey also says Kanye's team reached out to him a couple days before Let the Voters Decide ... but he declined.

It all might be a moot point ... Kanye missed the deadline to file in other states, and he seems like he's focused on other matters at the moment anyway ... many other matters.

Mick Jagger, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, turns 77 Sunday, and the occasion wasn't lost on his bandmates.

Keith Richards marked the occasion by posting a pic of them, saying, "Mick, Wishing you a Happy Birthday! Love, Keith."

Ronnie Wood piled on ... "Wishing @mickjagger a very happy birthday!"

It's remarkable ... Mick and co. have been together for 6 decades, and they're still a group. There have been a million ups and downs ... feuds between Mick and Keith, tell-all books ... but in the end, they are brothers joined at the hip, and there's a lot of love between them.

The band 86'd its No Filter Tour back in March ... this because of the coronavirus. They did, however, perform a virtual concert for "One World: Together at Home Concert," and it was fabulous.

Mick's had some health issues recently ... last year he underwent heart valve replacement surgery, but it only sidelined him for a short period of time ... he was back on stage doing his thing.

Happy Birthday, Mick!!!

A source connected to Kanye and with direct knowledge tells TMZ, he went to the hospital for anxiety, but there were lots of people inside, he got uncomfortable and left. His people then arranged for an ambulance to come to the ranch. Ye apparently calmed down ... EMTs checked his vitals -- heart rate and blood pressure -- and determined he was not in danger.

Kanye West showed up at a hospital near his Wyoming ranch Saturday, and a short time later an ambulance arrived at his property ... TMZ has learned.

Kanye entered the E.R. door of the hospital in Cody Saturday afternoon, and stayed inside for about 10 minutes. We're told he returned to his ranch and a short time later an ambulance arrived on the property.

This comes just an hour or so after Kanye went public to apologize to Kim for his hurtful comment -- presumably about abortion. She has been desperately trying to convince her husband, who is in the middle of a serious bipolar episode, to get help, but he had shut down her efforts.

We've also learned Kanye had flown from Wyoming to San Francisco. It's unclear why he went, but he returned to Wyoming earlier on Saturday.

It's unclear why Kanye went to the E.R. and why an ambulance showed up. The big question ... did he go for help?

And, we just found out the ambulance left without Kanye. He's currently on the ranch riding his ATV.

Story developing ...

Peter Green, one of the founding members of Fleetwood Mac, has died.

The family put out a statement that said ... "It is with great sadness that the family of Peter Green announce his death this weekend, peacefully in his sleep."

Green, a blues/rock guitarist, created Fleetwood Mac with Mick Fleetwood way back in '67, and the group produced an insane number of hits ... the insanity only surpassed by the drama inside the group.

Among the hits ... "Black Magic Woman" and "Need Your Love So Bad."

The group was originally known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer. It's a mouthful, and was collapsed to simply Fleetwood Mac several years later.

Peter left the group in 1970, creating a guitarist void in the group that was eventually filled by Lindsey Buckingham. He struggled with mental illness, which was a principal reason he left the group.

There were 9 members of the band during the years -- Mick, Peter, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie, Christine McVie, Danny Kirwan, Bob Welch and Jeremy Spencer. All but Welch were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Biz Markie has been hospitalized for weeks, TMZ has learned, for a serious illness ... sources connected to the rapper tell TMZ.

Biz's rep tells TMZ the illness is not coronavirus. The rep went on to say the trigger for the hospitalization is that he suffers from Type II Diabetes.

He's currently in a Maryland-area hospital and the status of his condition is unclear, but it appears serious.

The rep told us, "He is receiving the best care from an amazing team of medical professionals and we remain positive about the outcome."

Kanye West got another famous visitor Friday who was not Kim Kardashian -- this time around, it was Justin Bieber.

Justin and wife Hailey have been tooling around the country in an RV, and they made a stop at Kanye's Wyoming ranch.

Kanye posted a photo of the 2 of them, along with Damon Dash, in what looks like some sort of hanger. Kanye said, "DD & JB discussing the new spray foam wall prototypes on the YZY campus."

Bieber has been tight with Ye -- over music and faith -- and we're guessing the visit was more about support than foam.

As you know by now, the family is deeply concerned Kanye is in the middle of a serious, bipolar episode. He has rejected Kim's plea for him to get help and we're told he barely speaks to her.

Kanye West is not letting his bipolar episode and fierce family feud mess with his bottom line -- it's still business as usual as far as Ye is concerned.

Sources close to Kanye tell TMZ ... this drama-filled week has not had a negative impact on his massive deals with Adidas and GAP. We're told through all of his tribulations -- Twitter rants, family wars and the off-the-rails campaign rally -- Ye's still been able to balance several projects at once because the guy is passionate about his businesses.

Kanye's not doing it alone either ... we're told he has a big team helping to keep the trains running -- and GAP and Adidas trust they'll continue operations on schedule.

Our sources say Kanye's hired Mowalola Ogunlesi as his lead designer for his YZY GAP project and this week hasn't stunted anything she's been working on ... and GAP knows that.

Now, it's true Kanye did not drop his new album, "Donda," Friday, as initially planned -- however we still saw him directing a music video that day for the project. And, let's be honest, Ye's never been one to stick to release dates ... it's just not his thing.