R. Kelly and his entourage recruited girls and women to engage in illegal sexual activity with the singer and covered up the crimes by paying off and threatening victims and witnesses, federal prosecutors alleged Friday in indictments that could keep the Grammy winner behind ...
Johnny Kitagawa: The mogul who defined and controlled Japan's entertainment industry
Few in the history of Japan's entertainment industry have wielded more power than talent manager Johnny Kitagawa. Kitagawa primarily flexed this influence through Johnny & Associates Inc., an agency he founded in 1962 that would go on to become one of the most powerful entertainment ...
The entertainment industry on Wednesday mourned the death of Johnny Kitagawa, the founder of one of Japan's most powerful talent agencies, which shot a long line of boy bands to fame over a period of more than half a century. "He's like a father to ...
Johnny Kitagawa, founder of agency that launched numerous boy bands, dead at 87
Music mogul Johnny Kitagawa, who shaped Japan's boy band landscape for more than half a century, died of a stroke Tuesday at a hospital in Tokyo, his office said. He was 87. Kitagawa, who founded the country's top male talent agency and production company Johnny ...
Snowball the dancing cockatoo shows that birds, like humans, just want to have fun
Snowball, a sulphur-crested cockatoo, shot to YouTube stardom a decade ago for his uncanny ability to rock out to the Backstreet Boys. Now Snowball's back — alright! — having taught himself a dizzying array of new moves that might put you to shame, and have ...
Singer Stevie Wonder says he will undergo a kidney transplant in fall
Stevie Wonder surprised concert goers in London on Saturday night by announcing that he will take a break from performing so that he can receive a kidney transplant this fall. The 69-year-old music legend made the announcement after performing "Superstition" at the end of a ...
Michael Jackson's popularity endures, even after new scandal
The documentary "Leaving Neverland" presented a disturbing depiction of Michael Jackson as a child molester, but the initial wave of negative publicity hasn't greatly diminished the King of Pop's image or the enduring popularity of his music. Many believe Jackson's musical legacy is still going ...
'The Fourth String: A Memoir of Sensei and Me': Music, life and reflections on the space in between
Janet Pocorobba's "The Fourth String" reconfigures the typical Japan fish-out-of-water memoir into a meditation on music and mastery, relationships, culture and narrative.
'Here is Osaka wonderful city!': Granny group releases English rap video to welcome G20 summit
An Osaka-based "idol group" made up of women whose average age is 66 has released a rap music video in English to welcome the Group of 20 summit that starts in the city on Friday. The video for "Oba Funk Osaka," uploaded to YouTube, shows ...
Actor-musician Pierre Taki of techno-pop duo Denki Groove pleads guilty to using cocaine
Musician and actor Pierre Taki pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges of using cocaine in violation of the narcotics control law. Taki, 52, whose real name is Masanori Taki, attended the opening session of his trial at Tokyo District Court. The prosecution sought an 18-month prison ...
One-of-a-kind genre-bending musician Leon Redbone dies at 69
Leon Redbone, the blues and jazz artist whose growly voice, Panama hat and cultivated air of mystery made him seem like a character out of the ragtime era or the Depression-era Mississippi Delta, died Thursday at age 69. No details about his death were provided. Redbone's ...
Exiled Thais behind protest music fear for their lives in Laos after spate of disappearances
Members of a Thai folk music group now living communally in Laos fear for their lives. The musicians from the band Faiyen fled their homes in 2014, afraid of arrest after a military coup overthrew the elected government. Their music was their crime. Drawn into the polarized ...
