Also this week: Bruce Allen reflects on decades-spanning career, an inside look at Justin Bieber's post-Coachella chart comeback, and Peter Gabriel helps out Vancouver lifeguards.
This past week, the Met Gala brought many of music's biggest stars to the year's biggest fashion event – including Canadians like Tate McRae and Hudson Williams.
Elsewhere, new inductees into the Musicians Hall of Fame include Dolly Parton, Keith Urban & Michael McDonald, the Rolling Stones announce a new album with a Toronto easter egg, and rising fuel costs hamper touring artists.
Read more music biz headlines of the week from Canada and beyond.
The Canadian stars all made their first appearance at the famed fundraising benefit in New York last night (May 4), dressed to the theme “Fashion Is Art.” – Stefano Rebuli, Billboard Canada
Music manager legend Bruce Allen will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Departure Festival and Conference, a music industry event taking place in Toronto from May 4 to 10. Last fall, he stepped down as president of Bruce Allen Talent, a company he founded in the early 1970s, and moved into the role of chairman. – Brad Wheeler, Globe & Mail
"I remember sending it to Max Martin, going, 'look at this!'" the hit songwriter-producer recalls of the 2012 pop hit currently topping Billboard's global charts. – Annie Harrigan, Billboard
The Conservatory said it is ‘deeply saddened’ about the allegations against the famed piano educator, and is conducting an internal investigation. – Deborah Dundas,Toronto Star
The Cape Breton musician reports that the company defamed him by falsely linking him to a sex offender with the same last name in AI overview results, causing a show to be cancelled. – Heather Taylor-Singh, Billboard Canada
Her experience points to a broader crisis facing Canadian musicians, who say touring has become an increasingly high-risk gamble. As fuel, food and accommodation costs soar — and audiences grow more cautious about spending amid inflation — artists are being forced to scale down, absorb losses or rethink touring altogether. – Alex Nino Gheciu, Canadian Press
One of the new songs, “Rough & Twisted” was secretly released on vinyl on Record Store Day (April 18) under the Cockroaches alias, referencing their secret Toronto show as The Cockroaches in 1977. – Stefano Rebuli, Billboard Canada
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra will soon premiere Cree composer and cellist Cris Derksen’s Still Here, which draws on the everyday experiences of Indigenous patients at the city’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
Musician The English star Peter Gabriel recounted his own rescue from waters off a city beach ahead of a tour stop with David Bowie in 1983. –Canadian Press
The singer-songwriter from Cape Breton tapped into her troubled past to find her true voice and is now ready to take on the world. – Hadani Ditmars, National Post
SOCAN recently spoke to the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications about the opportunities and limitations that generative AI poses for Canadian songwriters, composers and music publishers. – Words & Music
Taylor Swift filed three new trademark applications with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, a move one legal expert theorizes it is to protect her voice and image from potential misuse through artificial intelligence. – Maria Sherman, Associated Press
Prosecutors stated Wednesday that singer D4vd killed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez by stabbing her multiple times then dismembered her body using chainsaws in his garage. – Andrew Dalton, AP
Inspired in part by Zohran Mamdani’s NY mayorship, Rostam Batmanglij’s gorgeous new album fuses Americana with sounds of the Middle East. So why isn’t his mum happy? S– haad D'Souza, The Guardian
