Musicians

Victor Willis -- the legendary singer for the ultra-popular 1970's disco band "Village People" -- has died.

A social media post on his Facebook, posted by his wife Karen, says Willis passed away Monday after "a short but aggressive illness." His exact cause of death was not revealed.

Willis was the theatrical front man for The Village People ... and he who cowrote the band's most famous songs, such as "Y.M.C.A.," "Macho Man," "Go West" and "In The Navy."

Jermaine Jackson looks like he no longer has to cough up millions of dollars to his rape accuser ... a judge voided the $6.5 million default judgment against him because the woman did not use his legal name while trying to serve him the lawsuit ... TMZ has learned.

We told you all about it ... plaintiff Rita Butler Barrett sued Michael Jackson's older brother in December 2023, claiming he "violently" raped her. She said Jermaine unexpectedly showed up at her Encino, California home in the spring of 1988 and raped her for several minutes until he abruptly stopped, leaving her traumatized.

According to the filings, she and her attorney tried tracking Jermaine down to serve him the lawsuit -- even publishing a legal notice in the Los Angeles Times in August and September 2025.

Lionel Richie is back where he belongs -- onstage -- making his first performance since the health scare that landed him in the hospital!

The music legend resumed his "Sing a Song All Night Long" tour with Earth, Wind & Fire Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ... and looked right back in his groove.

It was a welcome return after Friday's show in Chicago and Saturday's concert in Columbus were postponed following the medical scare.

It's just "One of Them Days ..." Can you score the scorchin' star szallin' in these hot shot selfies?!

She's a singer-songwriter known for hit songs like "Kill Bill" and "Snooze" but don't knock her on-screen credits ... She starred in a Netflix film with Keke Palmer ...

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding is shaping up to be crazy expensive ... and that's not even counting the roughly $160,000 it's going to cost for police assigned to work two events at Madison Square Garden.

Our high-ranking NYPD sources tell us there are going to be over 70 detectives from precincts all across the city assigned to Thursday's rehearsal and Friday's wedding ... and they'll be working 8.5 hour shifts at $80 to $90 an hour.

We'll spare you the math ... that's $95,200 on the low end.

In addition, we're told there will be over 50 police officers assigned to MSG as well ... they're mostly rookies making $70 an hour for a 9-hour shift ... which would be another $63,000.

Our sources say some NYPD higher-ups in will also be working ... so the salary figure should push over $160K.

Taylor Swift is one step closer to saying "I do" ... literally.

TMZ obtained video of a giant white staircase being craned into Madison Square Garden -- and at first glance, it looks like it could be another piece of the fairytale castle set being built for her wedding to Travis Kelce.

By now, it's clear Taylor didn't just rent out MSG -- she rented a blank canvas. The iconic venue has been transformed into a giant, windowless fantasy world that's being rebuilt from the ground up.

3:18 PM PT -- TMZ obtained video of a giant white staircase being craned into Madison Square Garden -- and at first glance, it looks like it could be another piece of the fairytale castle set being built for her wedding to Travis Kelce.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding is already looking like America's answer to a royal wedding ... and now, TMZ has learned it'll even come with its own castle!

Sources close to the wedding tell TMZ ... a massive castle is being built inside a garden at MSG, with the legendary venue being transformed into a full-blown fairytale for the big July 3 wedding event.

What's more, crews were spotted unloading giant, covered scenic pieces labeled "Garden Party 1 (Scenic)" and spray-painted "GP" outside the venue ... all arriving, fittingly, at Madison Square GARDEN!!😱

Madison Square Garden is disappearing behind layers of fabric ... all in the name of Taylor Swift's fairy tale wedding.

Sources connected to the wedding setup tell TMZ ... the event crew got to work Monday, and nearly all of the effort so far has gone into draping the entire arena. We're told workers have been tirelessly hanging fabric from the ceiling and even wrapping the perimeter of the arena floor as they build out Taylor and Travis Kelce's vision.

The makeover is so extensive, sources say it's become clear Taylor didn't simply rent MSG -- she rented a giant, windowless space she could completely reinvent. In fact, we're told guests will walk inside and quickly forget they're even in the world-famous arena.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce don't want the red carpet rolled out for them for their wedding event at Madison Square Garden ... they want purple carpet instead, even if workers have to start from scratch.

The color change is underway right now at Madison Square Garden, where workers are pulling up the red carpet they laid down earlier today on a set of stairs outside the arena.

Our photog took this video and was told the carpet is supposed to be purple, not red ... hence the frantic change.

Madison Square Garden employees are being cut off from the outside world while setting things up for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's mega-bash this week ... because they're not allowed to have their phones while they work.

Employees who work in event production for MSG tell us ... they can't have their phones during the shift, and while they haven't been told why, it's presumably so they can't take pictures of the setup.

We're also told employees are wearing wrist bands -- which is out of the ordinary -- and they have to go through an extra layer of security when they show up to work.

Ginuwine is heading towards marriage again ... 'cause TMZ has learned the R&B star is engaged to 28-year-old Miami realtor Jannette Escartin.

Jannette tells TMZ ... Ginuwine popped the question in Washington, D.C., a couple of weeks ago ... and she said yes.

The newly engaged couple tells us they're very happy and in love.

Fans of the late Oliver Tree came together Monday evening to celebrate his heavenly birthday ... gathering in Venice Beach just two weeks after his tragic death.

Check out the video ... the turnout is massive, with fans showing up to honor the musician as Oliver's music blasts on speakers that could be heard throughout Venice Skate Park.

Fans even got decked out in Oliver's signature black-haired bowl cut and red-rimmed glasses.

These loyal aficionados were looking to make waves wherever they could ... because in the flyer they sent out, they even encouraged people who were not in Los Angeles to host their own meet-ups to pay tribute to Oliver on his birthday.

KATSEYE is setting the record straight on bandmate Manon Bannerman's hiatus ... shutting down speculation it had anything to do with the racial discrimination some K-pop fans believed she faced.

In a new interview, Sophia Laforteza made it clear Manon's break had nothing to do with race, saying the idea goes against everything the group stands for.

Lara Raj also addressed where things stand with Manon, insisting the six members remain each other's "safest space" and saying outsiders have no idea what goes on behind the scenes.

Kanye West and his former personal assistant Lauren Pisciotta are nearing an agreement to settle her bombshell lawsuit, which featured sexual harassment allegations and a slew of other disturbing claims.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, counsel for each side met June 4 for mediation and agreed in principle to settle the case. The court took the next hearing off the calendar to give the parties a chance to finalize the deal.

TMZ broke the story ... Lauren sued Ye in June 2024, claiming he fired her after sending her vile sexual texts and videos. One alleged text read, "See my problem is I be wanting to f*** but then after I f*** I want a girl to tell me how hard they been f***ed while I'm f***ing them. Then I want her to cheat on me."

Bobbi Althoff sat down with Oliver Tree for one of the late singer's final interviews, then published their conversation a couple weeks after his death ... but she didn't do so without a stamp of approval.

Sources with direct knowledge TMZ ... Bobbi reached out to Oliver's camp before publishing her interview with him on "The Really Good Podcast," and she got their blessing.

Oliver's appearance on Bobbi's podcast stands as one of his final on-camera interviews before he died in a helicopter crash in Brazil. It's unclear when they filmed the podcast, but Oliver died June 14 and Bobbi posted it 15 days later on June 29.

Bad Bunny's record label passed out freebies to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for a concert in Puerto Rico -- worth over $4,000, according to official documents.

TMZ obtained Sotomayor's annual financial disclosure, showing that the justice was given $4,333 worth of tickets by Rimas Entertainment for herself and guests while they were on a private trip to Puerto Rico in August 2025. Bunny's manager, Noah Assad, founded Rimas, which also represents a bunch of other Latin music artists. 

It's not clear from the disclosure whether Sotomayor and Co. attended a Bunny concert or a show for another Rimas musician. Yet, during August 2025, Bunny hit the stage in Puerto Rico for a slew of performances.