Teen rapper Tay-K found guilty of murder, faces up to 99 years
A teen rapper who three years ago notoriously made a music video while on the run from police was found guilty of murder Friday. Taymor “Tay-K” McIntyre, 19, faces five to 99 years behind bars after a jury convicted him of murder, but not the more serious crime of capital...
Trump says he will help rapper A$AP Rocky get out of Swedish jail
President Trump on Friday tweeted that he, after conversing with Kanye West, will work toward bringing rapper A$AP Rocky back to the U.S. after he was jailed in Sweden. A$AP has reportedly been jailed without charges following a street fight in June. “Just spoke to @KanyeWest about his friend A$AP...
Gin Blossoms, Cowboy Mouth to headline Flood City festival in JohnstownVideo
Johnstown hosts the annual Flood City Music Festival, not South by Southwest. But those two directions perfectly describe two of the festival’s 2019 headliners. The Arizona-based Gin Blossoms and New Orleans-based Cowboy Mouth will headline the two-day festival, set for Aug. 2 and 3 at Peoples Natural Gas Park in...
27 hot songs to go along with the heat
Look, there’s no escaping the heat outside. The National Weather Service says temperatures are set to head into the 90s in the coming days, with heat indexes hitting 105. So you might as well make the best of it. Crank up this playlist and let the music pour out of...
At 71, Alice Cooper refuses to burn out — let alone fade away
Alice Cooper is 71 years old. And while there are those who may cling to the idea that it’s better to burn out than to fade away, the man born Vincent Damon Furnier has no intention of doing that. He recently released a live album, “A Paranormal Evening at the...
Third Eye Blind’s new music won’t have any ‘smoothed-out edges’
A couple of years ago, Stephan Jenkins, frontman of Third Eye Blind, announced that the group would no longer make full-length albums. It’s a thought that’s occurring to plenty of music acts these days, given the way the major-label music industry emphasizes singles and how streaming encourages putting out music...
Hootie & The Blowfish back on the road after decade-long hiatus
Hootie & the Blowfish could easily have made their return after a decade-long hiatus with a tour on which they simply played their hits and fan-favorite album cuts from the five albums the group made during their initial 20-year run. Instead, the group will have a new studio album to...
PSO to play movie score while ‘Empire Strikes Back’ screens
The force is definitely with John Williams. His scores for the “Star Wars” series of films are among the most popular music for orchestra of our time. Excerpts from Williams’ film music have figured prominently at Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concerts for decades now. Williams himself has led the local orchestra...
Review: The Psychedelic Furs rock McKees Rocks
It was 10 p.m. Tuesday night in the beautifully restored Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks and the Psychedelic Furs still hadn’t hit the stage. The bill, which featured opening bands of James and Dear Boy, was running behind but I had waited nearly 40 years to see these guys, so,...
Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish closing in on historic No. 1 status, enlisting others to help outVideo
As pop music’s summer season hits its stride, the race at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 single chart is generating heat. If Columbia Records has any say in the matter, at the end of the month Lil Nas X’s left-field smash “Old Town Road” will surpass four months at...
Murals are a testament to Nipsey Hussle’s legacy
Months after his death in March, Nipsey Hussle’s influence pulses through the city — in alleys, on the fronts and sides of buildings, along busy highways and streets, on billboards and basketball courts, in galleries and breweries. In rich, vibrant colors, his face is amplified on dozens of murals and...
The Clarks to perform at Freedom Farms summer ‘hootenanny’
The Clarks are going down on the farm. Freedom Farms in Butler County will host the popular band on July 20 to celebrate Pittsburgh’s small businesses with a “Husks and Hops Hootenanny,” an event that will feature more than 20 locally owned breweries, three local bands and food straight from...
Carnegie Science Center to showcase rock-themed films on giant screen
The Carnegie Science Center’s Rangos Giant Cinema wants to take you to school this summer. The school of rock, that is. Pittsburgh’s largest screen is showing a series of rock ’n’ roll films showcasing pioneers of the 1960s sound, English rock royalty, and jam band titans. The list includes the...
South African musician Johnny Clegg dies at 66 after cancer
JOHANNESBURG — Johnny Clegg, a South African musician who performed in defiance of racial barriers imposed by the apartheid system decades ago and celebrated its new democracy under Nelson Mandela, died Tuesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 66. The British-born singer sometimes called the “White Zulu” died...
Ben Folds will hit Pittsburgh for concert, event for new book
Fans of Ben Folds will have two opportunities to see the singer-songwriter in the Pittsburgh area. On Aug. 5, the multi-platinum-selling musician will display another kind of writing talent, appearing at an event in support of his new memoir, “A Dream About Lightning Bugs,” from 7-9 p.m. at the First...
Meek Mill seeks new trial, judge after decade-long probation
Lawyers for Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill will ask an appeals court Tuesday to overturn a 2008 drug and gun conviction that’s kept the Philadelphia rapper on probation for a decade. The city judge who oversees the case and sent him to prison in 2017 on a parole violation has a...
Diddy’s ‘Making the Band’ coming back to TV
Diddy’s “Making the Band” is officially coming back to TV. The music mogul announced Monday that the hit series, where he discovered groups including platinum-sellers Danity Kane, would return to MTV in 2020. “Making the Band” made its debut on ABC in 2000 when Lou Pearlman, who managed the Backstreet...
Barbie goes glam rock to honor David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust
Barbie has been many things over the years. Now, she’s dressed as Ziggy Stardust. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of David Bowie’s iconic “Space Oddity,” Barbie overseers at Mattel released a collectible version of the doll dressed as Ziggy Stardust, one of his most beloved alter...
Metallica kids book about the band coming in the fall
“Exit light / Enter night / Take my hand / We’re off to never-never land” If you’re looking for a different bedtime story book for your kids, Metallica might have something for you. The heavy metal heavy-weights announced last week that they are releasing “The ABCs of Metallica” in November...
Youth chorus group will host ‘Summer Singers’ camp in August
The Pittsburgh Youth Chorus will host its annual “Summer Singers” day camp Aug. 5-9 at the Pittsburgh Opera headquarters in the city’s Strip District neighborhood. The camp is for children ages 7-10, and will teach fundamental vocal skills along with hosting fun activities and special guests. Children are encouraged to...
Laurel Harmony Chorus seeks additions to its sweet soundVideo
Outside the Trinity United Church of Christ on Greensburg’s Main Street, the sweet sounds of singing fill the evening air. It’s not choir practice, but rather chorus practice — as in the Laurel Harmony Chorus, Greensburg’s chapter of the Sweet Adelines International. The all-female, four-part harmony, barbershop-style group practices each...
Mister Rogers’ ‘fantastical’ operas coming to Pittsburgh stage
The gentle goodness of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” touched millions of families. The show was so successful and individual that it became an American icon, which will be reflected in Tom Hanks’s new film “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” scheduled for release on Nov. 22. The television program reflected the...
Jeannette’s You Are Here hosts singer, acoustic guitarist Kelly Zullo
Ohio native Kelly Zullo, described as a one-person band, will bring her acoustic show to You Are Here: A Place for Art in Jeannette. Zullo, who won the Columbus Songwriter Association competition’s “best songwriter” category, fuses funk, jazz and Americana, and will perform from 7-9 p.m. July 18 at the...
Bruce Hornsby’s new album doesn’t stick with ‘just the way it is’
Bruce Hornsby hit the music scene hard in the late 1980s with hits like “The Way It Is” and “Mandolin Rain,” featuring his high, clear vocals and bright, syncopated piano-playing. So distinctive is his style that it’s spawned articles like “5 Ways to Play Like Bruce Hornsby,” a 2014 Keyboard...
KC and the Sunshine Band will light up Rivers CasinoVideo
In the 1970s, one artist who surely seemed to have his finger on the pulse of what type of songs would be hits at top 40 radio was Harry Wayne Casey. The man who would become known to millions as KC of KC and the Sunshine Band enjoyed some minor...
