L.A. Weekend Guide: Pepperland at the Wallis, World Dog Day, celebrating Pride in LB and at the Beverly Center
and exhibits at Southern Guild — opening May 16 Queer identity is celebrated in these two powerful exhibits. Muholi's photographic project documents Black lesbian, bisexual and queer women as well as trans and gender non-conforming people in South Africa and beyond. Heaven questions social failure in advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community and hope for the future.
Outlaw Music Festival at the Hollywood Bowl — May 16Willie Nelson and his musical family are joined by Bob Dylan, Billy Strings and Sierra Hall for this sure to be epic country, folk and blues extravaganza at the Bowl.
Day of Black Docs— May 16-17Back for its 18th year in L.A., Day of Black Docs celebrates Black documentaries and the visionaries on screen and behind the lens. Four screenings reflect Black influence in music and entertainment. The event is also a fundraiser for Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers (BADWest), the arts organization who puts on the event. Paris Barclay will do a Q&A after the screening of his film, Billy Preston: That's The Way God Planned It.
OUTLOUD presents Pride @the Bev — May 17Pride month is this June, but an array of events are happening before, like this audacious afternoon kiki at the beloved shopping center. Giveaways, activations and drag performances from Onya Nurve, Arrietty, Kori King, Suzie Toot take place 1–4 p.m. in the Grand Court. Tickets are $10 all proceeds benefiting It Gets Better, the L.A. nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ youth.
Vendors, live music, raffles, and activities for dog lovers are just some of the pawsome features of this 8th annual event from the City of West Hollywood and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Lisa Vanderpump.
Considered a Generation X-geared alternative to Coachella, the flashback flaired music fest features an array of dark dance, goth and new wave artists including New Order, Nick Cave, The Go-Go's, Devo, Garbage, Madness, She Wants Revenge and more. Read our Cruel World feature story .
The first major Pride event of the season, this year's theme l'The Power of Community' drives the amusements and activities at the 42nd annual event. Read more about the event HERE.
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Buzz Feed
12 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
17 Musicians Whose Careers Were Ruined
Natalia Kills was slowly rising in fame over the early 2010s, opening for acts like Kesha, the Black-Eyed Peas, and Katy Perry, as well as featuring on an LMFAO song. Willy Moon was similarly rising in the music scene after going viral for his hit "Yeah Yeah." The two, who were married, both looked to be getting more notoriety with their first foray into reality television as judges on The X Factor New Zealand. However, in their very first live show, Kills and Moon made such cruel comments to a contestant that both of their careers were almost immediately ruined. After contestant Joe Irvine sang "Cry Me a River," Kills called Irvine out for dressing like Moon, with Moon joining in. The audience booed, and the other judges tried to step in, but they kept going. Natalia later issued an apology, saying, "A lot goes on behind the scenes of a reality TV show and [what] you see isn't always the whole story. ... I was encouraged to be outspoken, and things got out of hand. ... Joe, I hope you can forgive me and I wish you all the best!" but the damage was done. The duo was let go from the show after a viral petition to get them fired. Natalia did continue her career, but she changed her name and started a different band with Moon, which still has not released their debut album (though they do have an EP). Natalia later called the whole ordeal "a publicity stunt resulting in a viral media storm" and said she couldn't say more due to a "wide-reaching legal gagging-order". R&B duo Milli Vanilli reached worldwide fame in the late '80s with their debut album, leading them to win the award for Best New Artist at the 1990 Grammy Awards. However, their careers quickly took a nosedive when their producer Frank Farian revealed they didn't sing any of the album, which was confirmed by member Rob Pilatus. The Grammys swiftly revoked their award. The duo's swift decline is often attributed to a Club MTV live performance in 1989, where they were caught lip-synching, (Pilatus later admitted that the concert "was the beginning of the end for Milli Vanilli"), but they did continue to find success after the incident. Still, it led to them eventually being exposed as frauds. Pilatus and co-member Fab Morvan attempted a comeback in the early '90s, but the scandal followed them, and they were unable to gain traction. They attempted a second comeback in the late '90s, but Pilatus died in 1998, which ended that attempt. Morvan has continued to make music, even releasing a solo album, but is still best known for his time in Milli Vanilli. Billy Squier skyrocketed to fame in the early 1980s, but by 1984, his career had taken a nosedive. Why? The blame lies with the music video for his song "Rock Me Tonite," which was so bad many claimed it singlehandedly tanked his career. Even Squier said so: "The video had a deleterious effect on my career. The tour before, I was selling out arenas faster than Sinatra, and as soon as that video came out, I was playing to half houses," he said in 2011, according to I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. The song itself was a major hit, but the video — which mostly featured Squier dancing around in a bedroom, rolling on the floor, and ripping his shirt off — made people scratch their heads. "The video misrepresents who I am as an artist," Squier told the authors of I Want My MTV. "I was a good-looking, sexy guy. That certainly didn't hurt in promoting my music. But in this video, I'm kind of a pretty boy. And I'm preening around a room. People said, 'He's gay,' or 'He's on drugs.' It was traumatizing to me." Squier released multiple albums afterward, but none were as successful as his previous music had been. You can watch the video here. Vanilla Ice rose to fame incredibly quickly with "Ice, Ice, Baby" in 1990, but he attracted controversy just as quickly. First, reported details about his past (namely that he had a rough background) were proven false. His music was also criticized for being white-washed and "mainstream." Then, Jim Carrey parodied him on In Living Color, he had a disastrous appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, and he was the subject of a diss track by 3rd Bass. Finally, he starred in the panned film Cool as Ice, which effectively ended his movie career before it began. He then attempted a career in motocross and jet skiing, as well as in reality TV (where he found moderate success), and had multiple run-ins with the law. While he did attempt a comeback, it was unsuccessful, and his music career never got back to what it was. Iggy Azalea looked like she was going to become huge after the success of "Fancy." With "Problem" and "Black Widow," Azalea proved she wasn't just a one-hit wonder. But her career stalled after continued accusations of racism and profiting off of Black culture — including using a "Blaccent" — as well as her perceived inability to freestyle and public feuds. She eventually canceled her debut tour. She continued to make music, but acknowledged her career had "fallen off a cliff," and never returned to her "Fancy" level of success. Azalea announced she was retiring from music last year and has since moved into business ventures, which has included launching her own meme cryptocoin. CeeLo Green went massively viral with his hit song "Fuck You" in 2010, which was followed by a stint as a guest-host on The Voice, along with performing at the Super Bowl halftime show. But allegations of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2012 derailed his career before he could become an A-List star. Rape charges were not filed due to a lack of evidence, and his charges were reduced to supplying ecstasy to the woman. Green pled no contest, and was sentenced to three years of probation. Green may have continued his career — his lawyer claimed the encounter was consensual — but then he took to Twitter to write things such as "If someone is passed out they're not even WITH you consciously! so WITH Implies consent" and "People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!" He deleted all the tweets, and later apologized, calling his tweets "highly irresponsible." Green quit The Voice (reportedly believing he'd be fired, though he later said, "I ran my course there just naturally"), and his reality show, The Good Life, was canceled. Green is still around and making music today, but he's not even close to the level of fame or success he had in the early 2010s. Ben Hopkins of Pwr Bttm also saw their career derailed by sexual misconduct allegations. Just as the group was gaining traction, days before the release of their second album, Hopkins was accused of being a sexual predator. Their label dropped them, streaming platforms removed their music, and their upcoming tour was canceled. Hopkins says the anonymous accusations are false and eventually released music as a solo artist in 2020 after taking a break from the public eye. However, they have yet to release a new album or make a full comeback. Rapper and actor Mystikal steadily rose in fame over the '90s and early 2000s. In 2003, he seemed on top of the world, gaining his first-ever Album of the Year Grammy nomination and starring in the film 13 Dead Men. However, in early 2004, he was convicted of sexual battery and sentenced to six years in prison. Mystikal attempted to make a comeback when he was released in 2010 and found some success in early performances. However, he continued to have run-ins with the law, being accused of rape and domestic battery, among other charges, and he is currently facing a life sentence (he pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his former attorney proclaimed his innocence). He has not released a solo album since 2001, and he is still in jail. Mystikal's trial on charges of first-degree rape, criminal damage to property, false imprisonment, domestic abuse battery by strangulation, simple robbery, and possession of multiple different drugs was delayed in March by the judge. In May, he finally had a court appearance, but due to a gag order, it's unclear what the status of the case is. Canadian-Chinese singer Kris Wu rose to fame through the Canadian-Korean boy band Exo before finding major success as a solo artist. He also made waves as an actor, appearing in the Vin Diesel film XXX: Return of Xander Cage, and seemed poised to break into the American market. But in 2021, the 30-year-old Wu was accused of sexual assault of a 17-year-old two years prior. He denied the allegations, but was arrested and ultimately sentenced to 13 years in prison, a conviction which was upheld upon appeal. Wu was quickly dropped from all of his major luxury brand deals, and obviously has not released any new music since then. Another musician whose career was derailed by jail time is Tory Lanez. Lanez was a rising star who was finding mainstream success in the late 2010s — and then he was accused of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020. He was eventually convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Time will tell if he attempts to make a comeback after that. Lanez recently attempted to challenge his conviction by submitting new evidence, but the California Court of Appeals denied the two petitions. Despite legal trouble, 6ix9ine shot to fame quickly in the late 2010s, but his involvement with the Nine Trey gang led to his arrest in 2018 on racketeering, robbery, and firearm charges. He was ultimately sentenced to two years in prison after testifying against other Nine Trey members, leading to him being labeled a "snitch" and essentially ruining his credibility in hip-hop. 6ix9ine has released music since then, with moderate to low success (nowhere near his initial success), and has continued to generate controversy and have legal troubles. He's currently facing possible jail time. Keri Hilson had a wildly successful debut album and continued that success with her second album. But she never reached the career highs that were expected for her — due in part to her allegedly shading Beyoncé and Ciara in a few lyrics in her 2009 song 'Turnin' Me On" (which Hilson denied). Hilson continued to face what she referred to as "verbal abuse" from Beyoncé fans for years and ended up taking a years-long break from music, later revealing she was dealing with depression and the grief of her father's passing. Hilson eventually alleged her label had told her to diss Beyoncé, saying she was too young and insecure to refuse. She says she's since made up with Beyoncé. This year, Hilson eventually released her first studio album (well, it's actually part one of a three-part album) in 15 years, We Need to Talk: Love. This has marked a comeback for Hilson, though the album did not reach the heights of her previous success. Fiona Apple was an ingenue when her debut album was released to widespread acclaim, but public opinion turned swiftly against her when she won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. She got up on stage and said she hadn't prepared a speech, then famously said, "This world is bullshit and you shouldn't model your life ... about what you think that we think is cool and what we're wearing and what we're saying and everything." Apple was labeled afterward — in her own words — a "brat bitch loose cannon." She later said she felt like a "sellout" when she won and became "a paper doll in order to be accepted." Her infamous speech, along with storming offstage during a show in 2000, led her to be seen as "unstable," which followed her for her entire career. While Apple has continued to have an acclaimed, Grammy-award-winning career, she never again reached her pre-2000 commercial heights. Pop duo Karmin had just begun to find mainstream success (after making a name for themselves with YouTube covers) in 2012 with their EP Hello. But their performance on SNL that same year is widely cited as one of the worst SNL performances of all time. This effectively killed their momentum, and they ended up disbanding the group and starting a new music endeavor, Qveen Herby. This group still releases music and tours, but is not as well-known as Karmin. While Robin Thicke was around for years before "Blurred Lines," the song catapulted him into global superstardom and he became a household name, getting nominated for his first non-production-related Grammy in 2014. But his performance of the song with Miley Cyrus at the 2013 VMAs generated significant controversy, as did the lyrics and music video for Thicke's song (Thicke also lost a lawsuit about the song's similarities to Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up"). Thicke may have been able to save his career — but his highly publicized divorce and ensuing album focused on getting his wife back, which was a massive critical failure, cementing his ousting from the music industry A-list. His next album wasn't until 2021 and did not cement a comeback for Thicke. The main thing he's currently known for is appearing as a judge on The Masked Singer. And finally, we'll end on Azealia Banks. In the early 2010s, Banks seemed poised for a long career in the music business, but since then, her outspoken and problematic Twitter rants and feuds have meant that she's more well-known for her controversial online presence than her songs. While she still performs, she certainly has not achieved the level of mainstream success she might have. What other up-and-coming musicians and singers essentially ruined their own careers? Let us know in the comments!
Buzz Feed
21 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Here Are The Most Hilarious Black Twitter Tweets From The Week
Hey, friends! We're back with another week of Black laughs from Black Twitter. So, let's get into it: That's all for this week! Let us know which tweet was your favorite, and check out last week's roundup below if you missed it.
Time Magazine
2 days ago
- Time Magazine
The Science of Why Humans are Obsessed with Stadium Concerts
August 15, 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of a pivotal moment in live music history: The Beatles' infamous performance at Shea Stadium. What began as an unprecedented attempt to accommodate the Fab Four's overwhelming popularity has evolved into a touchstone of pop culture—the modern stadium tour. Today's stadium concerts are more than just supersized live shows; they have become cultural phenomena and socio-economic markers. Perhaps most intriguingly—at least to me—they are also neuroscientific experiments in mass synchronization. In 1965, pop music's demographic was dominated by teenagers with disposable income and a desire to break the self-imposed boundaries of their post-Depression-era parents. The Beatles' audience at Shea was overwhelmingly young, predominantly female, and distinctly American. In the decades since, stadium audiences have expanded in every conceivable way. Through the '80s and '90s artists like U2, Madonna, and Michael Jackson drew increasingly global, multi-generational crowds. Today, truly global music acts like BLACKPINK and Bad Bunny play to stadium audiences worldwide, reflecting the increasing multicultural appeal of contemporary music. And touring artists like Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Cyndi Lauper, and The Rolling Stones now draw in new followers aside lifelong fans, with three generations of family members often attending together. Fandom itself has transformed. Where fans once relied on the vagaries of radio play and magazine spreads to engage with their favorite artists, today's fans form tightknit communities on social media platforms like TikTok and Discord. Through these digital spaces, enthusiasts exchange theories, share memes, decode Easter eggs, and coordinate elaborate travel plans and ticket-buying strategies months in advance. The shift from passive consumption to active participation has transformed how fans engage with pop music, turning concerts into global events that have expanded well beyond geography and generations. Yet this evolution has created new challenges, chief among them, the skyrocketing cost of being part of the experience. We've gone from $5.10 to see the Beatles at Shea Stadium to Eras Tour tickets with face values ranging from $49 to $449 reselling for up to $20,000 on StubHub and SeatGeek. When my mother wanted to surprise me with tickets to Bryan Adams' Waking Up The Neighbours Tour in 1992, she lined up at the physical box office hours before opening with other eager fans. She forked over $42.50 for two, side-view seats in the lower bowl. Compare that to last year when I battled bots and refreshed my browser every few milliseconds in the hope of scoring four tickets to Olivia Rodrigo's GUTS World Tour before they soared to mortgage-level proportions. By some miracle, I was able to take my three teenage daughters to their first arena show for a relatively low $600. They're now saving their babysitting money and diligently tracking price trends for Benson Boone's American Heart Tour while I'm (half) considering dipping into their college fund to see Bryan Adams again this fall. At what point does the price of admission outweigh the joy of participation? When it came to the Eras Tour, like many other disappointed Swifties, we had to settle for movie screenings and grainy live feeds. Swift didn't stop in our hometown of Montreal. We considered travelling to Toronto, Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. When calculating the costs—tickets, travel, accommodations, meals—our cheapest option turned out to be Lisbon, Portugal. That three-day excursion would have set us back about $6,000 CAD. While that was substantially less than the resale tickets in any nearby city, the financial cost and complicated logistics of participation were too great. Economists often argue that high ticket prices are simply a reflection of market forces—artists, and resellers, can charge more because demand far outstrips supply. Sociologists counter that this trend deepens cultural divides, turning concerts into exclusive experiences for the financially privileged. Despite the costs, stadiums continue to sell out at record speed, raising the question: what is it about live music that makes us willing to pay such a premium? Is it the music itself, the sense of community, or something even more basic? For 30 years, our lab has been exploring why music moves us—literally and figuratively. Many of our studies focus on memory for music, demonstrating that people have a remarkable ability to recall melodies, pitch, tempo, and loudness with surprising accuracy, even without formal music training, suggesting that musical memory operates differently from other forms of memory. We conducted some of the first neuroimaging studies to map the brain's response to music—showing how it lights up the brain, engaging areas responsible for hearing, memory, movement, and emotion all at once. This is why a song can transport you back to a specific moment in time, evoking vivid memories and emotions. Our studies show that when people listen to music they love, it activates brain regions associated with pleasure and reward, helping to explain why a favorite song can feel as satisfying as a good meal or a warm hug. Music's ability to give you chills and make you feel euphoric is tied to the release of natural opioids in the brain, the same chemicals that help relieve pain. Years ago, our lab showed in brain scans that listening to the same piece of music caused people's brain waves to synchronize. Recent studies conducted in real-time, in concert halls, demonstrate that people enjoy music more when the performance is live and experienced as part of a group. Live music triggers stronger emotional responses than recorded music due to the dynamic relationship between the audience and the performers. The visual cues, collective energy, and real-time responsiveness of live music engage more sensory and emotional systems than listening alone, deepening our visceral connection to the experience. Attending a concert is associated with increases in oxytocin, a bonding hormone, enhancing our sense of social connection. When we move together to music—clapping, swaying, or singing in sync—we engage neural circuits involved in motor coordination, empathy, and social prediction, reinforcing our sense of being part of a group. We're literally on the same brainwave! What ties all this together is the simple but profound idea that music is more than just entertainment. From the joy of discovering a new banger to the comfort of an old, familiar tune, music may well be a biological necessity, a fundamental part of being human, wired into our brains and bodies in ways that shape how we think, feel, and connect with one another. Our innate desire for connection might also, in part, explain why a friendship bracelet exchange (inspired by Swift's You're On Your Own Kid) is trending at modern stadium shows: the simple act of swapping beaded bracelets cultivates a microcosm of human connection within a macro-scale experience. It's a ritual that transforms a crowd of thousands into an intimate community, where strangers become momentary friends, bound by shared enthusiasm and a tangible token of group membership. It's a small, tactile gesture that taps into our deep-seated need to bond, to feel seen, and to belong. In a world where digital interactions often replace physical ones, these trinkets are a reminder of the power of touch, of giving, and of creating memories that extend beyond the concert itself. Music has always been a social glue, a way for humans to synchronize their emotions and movements, whether around a Neanderthal campfire or in a packed stadium. And in an era of increasing isolation, these moments of connection feel more vital than ever. Making friendship bracelets to share with your fellow Swifties may be part of the solution. But today's stadium shows aren't just about emotional connection or even entirely about the music—it's also a masterclass in sensory stimulation. The Beatles may have pioneered the stadium format, but their setup was quaint by today's standards. Early stadium shows featured little more than musicians standing in front of a static backdrop, struggling to project their sound through subpar sound systems designed for sports announcers, not music. By the 1980s, technological advancements had changed the game. Pink Floyd's The Wall Tour in 1980 set a new standard for large-scale stage production, with elaborate sets, visual projections, and theatrical storytelling. U2's Zoo TV Tour in 1992 introduced multimedia screens that transformed the stage into a digital playground. More recently, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour involved 70,000 wristbands pulsing in unison, and stage sets transforming from slithering snakes to whimsical fairy-tale forests to cinematic cityscapes. And Beyoncé's 2023 Renaissance Tour incorporated cutting-edge robotics and high-fashion couture, proving that stadium concerts can be as much about visual effects as they are about the music. While many fans view these advances as improvements, others argue that the intimacy and simplicity of early stadium shows have faded, and been replaced by a commercialized, high-stakes industry. The Outlaws Roadshow stadium tour in 2012 left me feeling as though I had overpaid for a lights and lasers show that happened to include the Counting Crows phoning it in somewhere in the background. In the pursuit of grandeur, has some of the raw, unfiltered magic of live music been diluted? And what does all this mean for the future of live music? If the past 60 years of stadium shows (and tens of thousands of years of human music-making) have taught us anything, it's that music, at its core, is about shared experience. We crave the pulse of the bass beneath our feet, the collective chant of a catchy chorus or killer bridge, the unspoken understanding between strangers who, for just one night, are part of something bigger than themselves. As technology continues to evolve and fan communities grow more interconnected, one thing is certain: the stadium concert will remain a space where we come together, not just to listen, but to belong.
