The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
The Current Music News

Music News: One dead after van hits pedestrians at Pinkpop

The scene outside Pinkpop festival after a van slammed into pedestrians on June 18, 2018.
The scene outside Pinkpop festival after a van slammed into pedestrians on June 18, 2018.PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/AFP/Getty Images

by Jay Gabler

June 19, 2018

A man has been charged with manslaughter and attempted manslaughter after a van he was driving slammed into a group of pedestrians on Monday outside the Pinkpop music festival in the Netherlands — leaving one dead and three injured in very serious condition. At this time it's unclear whether the crash was an accident or deliberate; the suspect turned himself into authorities, but only after driving 120 miles to Amsterdam.

The crash happened just outside the grounds of the annual festival, a major international attraction that was headlined by Bruno Mars this year. At the time of the early morning crash, the festival had just ended. (Billboard)

XXXTentacion dies of gunshot at 20

XXXTentacion, one of hip-hop's hottest young stars, died on Monday of a gunshot wound, according to authorities in Broward County, Florida. "The 20-year-old rapper, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, was leaving a motorsports store shortly before 4 p.m. when two men in a dark colored SUV shot and killed him in an apparent robbery," reports CNN.

XXXTentacion saw his sophomore album, ?, reach number one on the Billboard 200 this year. His behavior caused controversy for numerous reasons, and along with R. Kelly, he was one of two artists to be affected by Spotify's short-lived "hateful conduct" policy.

Sexual misconduct reportedly rampant at UK festivals

A new study by the UK's Press Association finds that attendees at music festivals report very frequent sexual harassment and sexual assault. 22% of all festival-goers, 30% of women, and 43% of women under 40 say they've experienced sexual misconduct, most commonly aggressive dancing and verbal harassment. The study also found that men were much more likely than women to report incidents to festival staff: 19% of men, versus 1% of women, reported the misconduct they experienced. In 70% of cases, the perpetrator was a stranger. (Pitchfork)

Lauryn Hill announces tour openers

Lauryn Hill is kicking off a Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 20th anniversary tour on July 5 in Virginia Beach, and she's just announced her opening acts. They are, to say the least, impressive. We're talking Nas, SZA, Big Boi, Busta Rhymes, Santigold, Talib Kweli, A$AP Rocky, and more. The tour, which includes a headlining slot at next month's Pitchfork Music Festival, wraps up Oct. 5 in St. Louis. (Pitchfork)

DMB top Cudi and Kanye

Kanye West fans are streaming up a storm this summer, but 92 million streams couldn't put his Kid Cudi collaboration Kids See Ghosts on the top of the Billboard 200. This week's album chart is topped by Come Tomorrow, the new release by the Dave Matthews Band. The DMB used a strategy that's increasingly common among veteran touring artists: they bundled copies of the new album with concert tickets, helping them to sell 285,000 copies in a single week. This makes Come Tomorrow the jam band's seventh number one album. Everything Is Love, the new Beyoncé/Jay-Z album, won't be eligible until next week's chart. (New York Times)

Oasis fan can't keep his clothes on

A Liam Gallagher fan has gone viral by displaying what David Niven might call his shortcomings during a Friday night concert at Malahide Castle in Dublin. The crowd went wild when Gallagher busted out with some Oasis numbers he hadn't played in years — including "Whatever," "Bring It Down," and "Listen Up." One man was so excited, he couldn't keep his clothes on...or, anyway, he didn't. (Consequence of Sound)