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Hollywood is collectively saying "howdy" to cowboy hats ... hopping on a trend that's being fueled by Beyoncé's transition to country music.

With Queen B playing some poker on the charts, celebs lately are going full country ... and busting out their Western wear ... particularly above the shoulders. Kim Kardashian, Pharrell Williams, Diplo and Bella Hadid are among the stars being lassoed in to this latest look.

Of course, the poster child for the cowboy hat resurgence is Beyoncé. She's been rocking these 10-gallon hats a lot in recent months ... and we gotta say, she wears them well.

Bey incorporated the look into her "Renaissance" tour, but it's really catching fire now that she's galloping into country with two new songs ... "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16 Carriages."

Some celebs are really going all in, like "Selling Sunset" stars Emma Hernan, Chelsea Lazkani and Chrishell Stause ... pairing their cowboy hats with cowboy boots and chaps, plus a riding bull to boot!!! Safe to say, the cowboy/cowgirl look is all the rage.

Madonna brought out a special guest for her concert north of the border, playing to the crowd with a fan favorite and national treasure ... none other than Pamela Anderson!!!

Madonna was performing in front of a sold-out crowd Wednesday night at Rogers Arena in Vancouver -- when Pamela, the hometown hero, joined her onstage.

The two icons hugged and kissed on the cheek before sitting down together for Madonna's hit song, "Vogue." TMZ has it all on video ... Pamela and Madonna act as judges as models turn the stage into a runway, strutting their stuff and striking a pose in front of them.

As you can see, Pamela and Madonna are holding up scorecards as they judge the fake pageant on stage ... and it's mostly 10s across the board.

Madonna's obviously in full hair and makeup for her "Celebration" tour, but Pamela was fresh-faced and au naturel ... hey, no complaints here!!! BTW, this all-natural look is actually something Pam has been rockin' a lot lately -- it's kind of her new thing, in fact.

She's got a new skincare line out called Sonsie ... and the whole idea here about her products is that it's all about promoting minimalist beauty -- something PA is sticking to out in public. She's not wearing any makeup these days ... even when she's next to Madge!

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.

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.

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.

The college student who got a cease and desist from Taylor Swift for tracking her private jet ain't sweating a legal battle with her, 'cause he thinks she'll balk ... so says his attorney.

James Slater, the lawyer for Jack Sweeney, tells TMZ ... he and his partners don't see any realistic legal path for T-Swift and her attorneys to take if they wanna press this jet issue.

Now, Slater does say if there was any movement from Taylor's side -- namely, a lawsuit of some sort -- Sweeney's team would immediately respond with an anti-SLAPP motion ... a law that provides defendants a way to dismiss meritless lawsuits quickly.

JS adds to us the letter from Tay Tay's attorney, Kate Wright Morrone, had little legal substance, from his POV, and her assertation Jack committed stalking and harassing behavior by showing TS's flight path to the world was totally unfounded in the eyes of the law.

He basically blasts the whole thing as a big scare tactic ... asserting everything that needed to be addressed was written in the letter he sent to Swift's team -- and that nothing else really needs to be mentioned to make their point. Bottom line ... Sweeney ain't scared!

Quick recap ... things took off when TS' attorneys issued a legal threat to Sweeney in December, warning him that if he didn't stop putting their famous client's safety in imminent danger, he'd be subject to further legal action.

But Slater retaliated last month ... saying Taylor's camp cited no law supporting the cease and desist -- while also rebuffing the stalking claims ... saying it doesn't apply to his client whatsoever since Sweeney has never made a "credible threat" against Taylor through his words or actions.

He also pointed out the obvious ... Sweeney simply uploaded publicly available data from the Federal Aviation Administration to track Taylor's plane movements -- a point backed by aviation attorney Tim Loranger of Wisner Baum, who tells us this has been a longtime hobby for aviation buffs ... insisting there's no there-there to threaten a lawsuit or any legal action.

Loranger tells TMZ that whether aircraft owners like it or not ... their planes and jets have to be registered with the FAA and their registration numbers are displayed on their aircraft's side ...  making it pretty easy to be followed on flight tracking services.

We spoke to some more legal experts who weighed in on Swift vs. Sweeney -- and not everyone thinks he's in the clear. Civil attorney Tre Lovell of The Lovell Firm tells us that unless Sweeney can clearly describe the purpose for his actions ... he'd suggest Sweeney treads very carefully moving forward.

In contrast, Camron Dowlatshahi of Mills Sadat Dowlat LLP says TS has no legal standing in this matter -- but the one thing she's got is a whole lotta $$$ to bury JS in legal fees -- so, bottom line, he should probably watch his back.

Bottom line ... more people seem to think Jack's A-OK to keep tracking ... ball's in his court.

Machine Gun Kelly has unveiled his most dramatic tattoo yet -- a layer of solid black ink across almost his entire upper torso ... and yes, we've confirmed it's the real deal.

The rapper dropped his new look on IG Tuesday ... and you can see that the black ink saturates virtually half of his upper body ... with some of his OG inkings peeking through strategically placed paneled gaps down his arms and in between a cross symbol across his chest.

Machine Gun Kelly's decision to undergo this transformation was a deeply personal one, according to his tattoo artist ROXX who did this job for the artist -- and who tells TMZ that MGK had a "spiritual consultation". We're told he explained to her all his tatts were too chaotic for him now and he was seeking change and order in his life.

This is also something MGK makes clear in his IG caption ... explaining that the blackout cover-up was for "spiritual purposes only." FWIW, Kelly made sure no one could comment.

Oh, and if you're wondering whether it was painful ... ROXX praises him for being the toughest client she's ever had in 30 years. So, safe to say ... it hurt a lot.

Roxx tells us they started the process in mid-Dec with MGK coming to see her at her private L.A. studio 4 days a week for 13 six-hour sessions -- making it one of the biggest projects she's done in such a short time. She's not done yet either ... ROXX says she's got a bit more tattooing to do on him to finish the job.

Adele finally explained why she was making such a goofy ass face at the NBA All-Star game a couple years back -- and, apparently, it all has to do with film crews defying her wishes.

The singer got into the story over the weekend at her Vegas residency and explained what's become one of the most famous Adele memes. You've seen it by now ... the camera cuts to her sitting courtside, but she's awkwardly looking around avoiding making eye contact.

Adele says an NBA film crew on hand had asked ahead of time if it'd be okay to record her during the broadcast, which she says she politely declined because she "really doesn't like being famous" and was content with her boyfriend Rich Paul doing the schmoozing.

Well, they ended up circling back and filming her anyway ... and that ticked Adele off.

Adele says that rather than engage with the camera like she was supposed to -- or how others might in the situation -- she decided to play dumb and just scan the arena, all aloof.

In terms of her very full lips -- another observation people have made about the now-viral clip -- Adele insists it's all-natural, noting she doesn't need filler. Anyway, the bigger point here is that she says she was sulking in the moment ... and expressing defiance against the NBA.

It's pretty funny that Adele thought she could go unseen/unnoticed at a star-studded event -- especially when she was seated next to the most prominent NBA agent in the league ... the dude who literally reps LeBron James and a crap ton of other high-level players.

Since then, Adele has continued to be pretty camera-shy out in public with Rich -- but when she's in her own environment in Vegas ... she's an open book, and very chatty.

Taylor Swift doesn't have Travis Kelce around as she continues to tour in Australia -- but she'll be far from lonely as she ramps up for Sydney ... 'cause Sabrina Carpenter is there.

The two singers grabbed dinner Tuesday at a swanky hotspot in the city's Surry Hills neighborhood -- and as you can imagine, they were surrounded by fans and paps (and bodyguards) who were following their every move into the restaurant.

Taylor was dressed pretty casually, but was rocking some wavy hair here down under ... and SC wore a red getup, while rocking a big grin as she joined her gal pal for a meal.

Sabrina's been hired to open for Taylor for the next handful of shows -- including 4 in Sydney that start up Friday ... and another batch in Singapore, where they'll jet off to next. After that, TayTay's gonna switch up her opening act yet again ... and bring on Paramore for Europe.

In other words, she's back into the swing of things ... just like she was here in the States last year before she went public with Travis and started going to all his games in the fall.

Obviously, she rode that wave all the way to the Super Bowl ... which made for some memorable snaps -- but now, it's back to reality for her ... and thus far, Travis doesn't appear to have joined her on her international leg of the tour, and it remains to be seen if he will.

Of course, T-Swift still has Kansas City on her mind ... something she proved the other day by rocking a Chiefs SB hat -- so not all is forgotten as she delves deeper into the tour.

An Amy Winehouse statue in London has been defaced -- with protestors covering up the statue's Star of David necklace with a Palestinian flag, causing outrage among some ... but not necessarily in her own family.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators besmirched the late singer's statue over the weekend during a massive protest in London ... with someone placing a sticker of the Palestinian flag on Amy's likeness.

The statue features Amy wearing a Star of David necklace, a symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism, and the Palestine flag sticker covered up the pendant. Amy was British and Jewish.

Naturally, the internet is outraged ... with folks calling the vandalism disgraceful, revolting and antisemitic.

Mitch Winehouse -- Amy's dad and the administrator of her estate -- however is taking a more measured response, telling TMZ ... "It's not very nice but it was just a sticker."

Amy's bronze statue in London's Camden Market was unveiled in 2014, a couple years after her 2011 death, and fans often leave flowers to pay their respects.

On this episode of The TMZ podcast ...

Billie Eilish was seemingly not happy with the amount of TikTokers and influencers in attendance at the People's Choice Awards Sunday night.

Taylor Swift resumed her tour in Australia, repping Chiefs gear during her travels, however, no sign of Travis Kelce just yet.

Viewers of the hit show "Love Is Blind" are roasting contestant Chelsea Blackwell for saying Megan Fox is her celebrity doppelgänger.

Plus, Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez were spotted eating at a strip mall Chinese restaurant!

Subscribe to The TMZ Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!

Hosts: Charlie Cotton & Deven Rall

Billie Eilish seemed to speak some truth at the People's Choice Awards this weekend -- namely, openly wondering why a bunch of social media "stars" were among real A-listers.

The singer was filmed chatting with Kylie Minogue behind the scenes at the award show in L.A. Sunday -- and she could be heard pointing out that there was a crap-ton of TikTokers in the building ... something she didn't look to be a huge fan of.

Watch ... BE was sitting next to KM when she made the observation -- and once she realized she was being filmed, she tried to cover up how she felt about it, unsuccessfully.

Billie could be heard noting there were some TikTok heads "over there" ... she then grimaces, shakes her head and says something to the effect of "I don't need it." Now, in terms of who exactly Billie might've been referring to, there's only a handful of suspects.

There really weren't a lot of TikTok/social media personalities on hand at the show -- and they did seem to be more filled with actual Hollywood types (mainstream actors/musicians) than viral people. But, among those who have a huge following ... Tana Mongeau, Chris Olsen, Gigi Gorgeous, Alix Earle, James Charles and maybe a couple more here and there.

That's what makes her remarks so funny ... even with the small handful of TikTokers, it was still enough to rub Billie the wrong way -- and we gotta admit, she ain't really wrong here!

Madonna suffered a mishap onstage this weekend ... which saw her go toppling backward in the middle of the show -- but thankfully, she seemed to be okay.

The singer was in the middle of performing Sunday night at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle -- her latest stop on the "Celebration" tour -- and while she was belting out "Open Your Heart," she and one of her backup dancers attempted this choreographed move on a chair.

In video obtained by TMZ, you can see Madge sitting in the chair -- which her dancer tilts back ... only to lose control and send his boss straight to the floor. It stunned the crowd.

Unclear what exactly went wrong here ... but from the looks of it, the dude lost his grip as he was dragging her back down the stage plank, and it ended with Madonna on her back.

Madge was laying there for a quick sec, but the show went on ... with her dancer continuing to strut his stuff -- and Madonna herself eventually rising to her feet and keeping it going.

Funny enough ... something similar happened at yet another concert of hers recently -- only it wasn't the pop star in the chair, but rather ... Old Saint Nick, who took quite a tumble.

Chair routines onstage -- pretty tricky, and seem to end with folks laid out on their ass.

Usher and Justin Timberlake draw a lot of comparisons ... but Usher says he's got a leg up on his counterpart -- 'cause he beat him in a Justin Bieber bidding war.

The singer-songwriter revealed in an interview with People that, way back in 2008, he met Bieber and Scooter Braun and offered to bring JB onto his record label ... but first, he said he had to pull out a thicker wad of cash than Timberlake.

Usher said he also used Timberlake's name against him, telling Justin that -- if he went with Usher -- he'd be the only Justin around.

Seems like the war didn't get too contentious ... Usher doesn't say anything negative about Timberlake in the interview -- and actually compliments the guy tons.

Usher said he and Justin are both unique artists, and he loves the producers Timberlake chooses to work with ... adding he even wants to collaborate on an album with the former *NSYNC star.

He finished off by saying he's motivated by people like Timberlake who "should be recognized for who he is and what his contribution has been."

Of course, Usher was recognized for his contribution to music by headlining the Super Bowl Halftime show ... one which his protege decided to skip out on.

We broke the story ... Usher reached out to Bieber directly to get him to join him for his big performance -- but, while Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Lil Jon all hopped onstage with him, Justin decided to sit in his suite and spectate.

No bad blood between the two though ... 'cause Usher said in an interview earlier this week that "he's just wanting to tell a different story right now, and I understand that."

Ben Lanzarone -- a composer behind music in hit shows like "The Love Boat" and "Happy Days" -- has died ... TMZ has confirmed.

Ben's wife, actress Ilene Graff tells TMZ ... Ben passed away peacefully in his sleep Friday after a battle with lung cancer.

Graff says she was with Ben -- to whom she was married for more than 45 years -- when he died.

While many people might not know Ben's name, they definitely know the music he helped create ... with his work appearing in many iconic shows from the '70s,'80s & '90s.

Among them ... "The Love Boat," "Happy Days," "Dynasty," "Mork and Mindy," "Laverne and Shirley," "The Tracey Ullman Show," "The Colbys," and "Mr. Belevdere."

Ben and Ilene met on the set of "Grease" -- where Ben worked on the music video for "Summer Nights" -- and later worked together on 'Belvedere' where Ilene played Marsha Cameron Owens for 118 episodes.

Ben was honored with the ASCAP's Most Performed Underscore Award in 1986 and is survived by Ilene and his daughter Nikka.

Ben was 85.

Beyoncé’s in the country music doghouse it seems ... at least if John Schneider’s to be believed -- ‘cause he said the star's like a dog takin’ a piss on the genre!

The former “Dukes of Hazzard” star sat down for an interview with right-wing One American News Network to discuss Bey’s recent foray into country music ... and he blasted the Queen for not leaving the genre well enough alone.

Check out the clip yourself ... Schneider says left-wing entertainers have to “make their mark just like a dog” -- basically, he sees entertainers trying to claim country music as their own.

While he’s probably best known for his work as an actor, Schneider does know a little bit about country music ... John’s actually released a bunch of albums with several reaching impressive heights on the country charts back in the ‘80s.

Beyoncé's used as the example here, but JS is speaking more broadly about pop stars flooding into country music ... and he seems none too pleased about the trend whatsoever.

Artists like Post Malone and Lana Del Rey are also reportedly dipping their toes into the country music pool ... but Bey’s new album’s gotta be the most-anticipated. Her new tracks “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” got dropped during the Super Bowl and signaled a whole new sound for the Beyhive to jam to.

BTW ... this isn't exactly a new phenomenon. Steven Tyler, Cyndi Lauper and Nelly are just a few big names who have put out country/country-adjacent albums in the past.

Now, if you’re wondering how Bey’s fans took Schenider’s comments ... they weren’t shy about venting their anger, calling his words “disgusting” and pointing out Beyonce’s from Texas -- so country’s kinda in her DNA!