Village voice: A Winnipeg icon celebrates 70 years and two decades of music in Osborne Village

The air is hardly ever quiet in Osborne Village, an enclave as dense in car honks as it is in population. But most days, cutting through the automotive trumpetry is the jangling strum of an acoustic guitar held by Eric the Great. Born in Rivers, Eric the Great, who turned 70 years old on Friday, has spent nearly two decades rifling through his repertoire in various, semi-permanent public residencies: the cement-benched circle outside the now-shuttered Village Starbucks, the shared parking lot of Tim Hortons and Tony Roma’s on Pembina Highway, or in the skywalk near the downtown arena, where he […]

Married musical duo gets to heart of complicated matters

Burnstick’s new album is the band’s most intimate and personal release yet.

Gabrielle Fontaine continues her father’s musical mission with Indian City

When Manitoba music icon Vince Fontaine, founder of the Juno Award-winning rock outfit Eagle & Hawk and the musical collective Indian City, died in 2022 at the age of 62, it was a shock that reverberated throughout the community. How could a man who meant so much to so many, who did so much to champion Indigenous music and reconciliation, suddenly be gone? How could there be no more music? “One of the first things I thought when my dad died was, ‘I don’t want his legacy to die with him. I don’t want his music to die with him,’” […]

Rapper Travis Scott arrested after Miami Beach police say he drunkenly yelled at people on a yacht

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Rapper Travis Scott was arrested in Miami Beach early Thursday on misdemeanor charges of trespassing and public intoxication after officers say they found him at the city's marina shouting obscenities at people on a yacht and disobeyed their order to leave.

Officers went to the marina shortly before 1 a.m. after receiving a call about people fighting on a yacht, according to a police report.

When they arrived, they found Scott, 33, standing on the dock yelling at people on the ship, the report says. Officers told him to sit down, but he kept standing back up and yelling. They could smell alcohol on his breath, the report says.

The man who called police did not want to press charges, so Scott was allowed to leave.

After Drake battle, Kendrick Lamar turns victory lap concert into LA unity celebration

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Not content with merely taking a victory lap after winning his battle against fellow rap superstar Drake, Kendrick Lamar turned his Juneteenth “Pop Out” concert at the Forum into a cathartic livestreamed celebration of Los Angeles unity.

Lamar curated a three-hour concert featuring a mix of up-and-coming LA rappers and stars including Tyler, The Creator, Steve Lacy and YG. When it was his turn to take the stage, the 37-year-old rapper powered through a set with Black Hippy collaborators Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock, performed his Drake diss songs “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA,” then was joined on-stage by Dr. Dre.

The two West Coast titans performed “Still D.R.E.” and “California Love” and Dre called Lamar “one of the greatest that ever did it” before quieting the roaring crowd by requesting a moment of silence. It was a misdirect. He then delivered the “Sixth Sense” quote that opens Lamar’s chart-topping “Not Like Us”: “I see dead people.”

A crowd of 17,000 that included The Weeknd, LeBron James, Ayo Edebiri and Rick Ross rapped along to every word of the biting-but-jubilant DJ Mustard production, which Lamar restarted twice after the first verse and performed four times in full.

Jacob Hoggard’s appeal of sexual assault conviction heard by Ontario appeal court

TORONTO – Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard’s appeal of his sexual assault conviction was heard at Ontario’s top court on Wednesday, as the former Hedley frontman sought a new trial. Hoggard was sentenced to five years behind bars in October 2022 after being found guilty of sexual assault causing bodily harm against an Ottawa woman, an offence the presiding judge called a “particularly degrading rape.” The musician was granted bail hours after being sentenced, pending his appeal in the case. Documents filed by Hoggard’s lawyers with the Court of Appeal for Ontario said he is appealing his conviction on four grounds, […]

‘Verzuz’ will return after Swizz Beatz, Timbaland lock in new distribution partnership with X

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Swizz Beatz and Timbaland are bringing the “Verzuz” series back with a new major platform for viewers to watch musicians face off in a song-against-song battle. The legendary producers announced Wednesday that Verzuz cemented an exclusive partnership for independent distribution with the social media site X. Swizz Beatz said he’s looking forward to the new chapter for Verzuz, which became popular during the coronavirus pandemic. Inductee Timbaland performs at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel on Thursday, June 13, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan […]

Five impactful moments in Celine Dion’s new documentary ‘I Am’

TORONTO – Celine Dion has bared her soul on stage for most of her life, but her new documentary reveals a previously unseen side of the famed Québécois singer. Amid her struggle with stiff person syndrome, “I Am: Celine Dion” offers an unflinching look at the 56-year-old’s private life as she manages the rare neurological disorder that can cause muscle rigidity and severe spasms, as well as affect her ability to perform. Ahead of its release on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service June 25, here are five impactful and insightful moments from the documentary: Singer Celine Dion is seen in […]

Justin Timberlake arrested: What you need to know about the pop star

NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Timberlake was arrested early Tuesday and is accused of driving while intoxicated on New York’s Long Island. He was released and his next court date is scheduled for July 26, according to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office. Timberlake and his representatives have not commented. Here’s what you need to know about the 43-year-old singer: From boy band to R&B FILE - Justin Timberlake arrives at the premiere of "Trolls Band Together" on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Singer Justin Timberlake has been arrested and is accused of […]

Celebrity brushes with the law are not new in the Hamptons. Ask Billy Joel and Martha Stewart

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Justin Timberlake is not the first celebrity to get arrested in the Hamptons. The beach communities on the eastern end of New York’s Long Island are popular with the rich and famous, and others have gotten into trouble there, much of it vehicular. Here are a few examples: Billy Joel Singer Billy Joel and Long Island commercial fishermen from the East Hampton Baymen’s Association were charged with catching striped bass illegally during a July 1992 protest against fishing regulations. The charges were later dismissed. The plight of fishermen whose livelihood is threatened by regulations inspired […]

Music Review: Concert album from the Tomasz Stanko Quartet explains the jazz lineup’s staying power

Jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stanko ’s first notes on the new album “September Night,” dark and slightly distant, sound as though they’re coming from the hereafter. Stanko died in 2018, and his new album is a previously unreleased recording of a 2004 concert by his quartet. Along with the trumpeter, the show in Munich featured his longest-lasting lineup — Marcin Wasilewski on piano, Slawomir Kurkiewicz on double bass and Michal Miskiewicz on drums. The four Polish jazzmen began playing together in 1993, and their final concert was in 2017. “September Night” helps explain the group’s staying power, folding Slavic elements into […]

Elton John doc, Amy Adams horror comedy among first titles announced for Toronto fest

TORONTO – A documentary about Elton John and an Amy Adams-led horror comedy about a stay-at-home mom whose life turns surreal will have their world premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival. “Elton John: Never Too Late” promises to “pull the back the curtain” on the superstar’s life and is co-directed by R.J Cutler and Toronto’s David Furnish, John’s husband. Marielle Heller’s “Nightbitch” joins a lineup including South Korean spy film “Harbin,” directed by Woo Min-ho, and the animated sci-fi adventure “The Wild Robot,” directed by Chris Saunders and featuring the voice of Lupita Nyong’o as a shipwrecked robot. A […]

Who will have the 2024 song of the summer? We offer some predictions

NEW YORK (AP) — Since the beginning of time or, at least, pop music, only a few have earned the designation of “song of the summer.” These are the earworms that lodge deep into the brain, pushing past genre preferences and reminding listeners: A hit is a hit. With so much variety, though, it’s getting harder to crown a single song of the summer. So The Associated Press is offering 2024 predictions across categories — with past winners for reference. Find your song of the summer and then listen to our Spotify playlist, here. Singer Taylor Swift performs on stage […]

Music Review: An uninhibited Gracie Abrams finds energy in the chaos on ‘The Secret of Us’

Singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams succumbs to a crush on “Risk,” the lead single of her frantic and melancholic sophomore album, “The Secret of Us.” “Heard the risk is drowning / But I’m gonna take it,” she sings atop fast acoustic guitar, her vocals growing more frenetic as the production thickens. “Watch this be the wrong thing,” she exclaims in the chorus. The track reveals an evolved, but familiar, Abrams. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter has let us into her diary before, but “The Secret of Us” is more intimate and less reserved than her previous work. This time, her songs aren’t recollections of […]

Musical ‘From Here’ explores life before and after the Pulse nightclub massacre

NEW YORK (AP) — Playwright Donald Rupe didn’t intend to write a musical about the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida. What he wanted to write about was his friends. But the more he dug into it, the more he returned to his hometown’s 2016 trauma. “The Pulse connection really was not planned, but if I was going to write honestly about myself and about my friends around that time period, it would be false not to talk about how it affected us,” Rupe says from Orlando. What the playwright has crafted is the powerful, moving “From Here,” which explores […]