Love & Mercy, the new Brian Wilson biopic, is scheduled to be released on June 5. The first trailer—featuring actors Paul Dano and John Cusack as Wilson at two different points in his life—has now been released. Also in the cast is Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti, who plays Wilson’s infamous psychologist Eugene Landy. (Billboard) Paul McCartney‘s childhood home in Liverpool…

The Brit Awards—widely regarded at the British Grammys—were held on Wednesday, and though for Minnesota music fans the huge news was local MC Allan Kingdom joining Kanye West on stage for a song debut, the big winners in terms of awards were Sam Smith and Royal Blood. Smith won Global Success and British Breakthrough Act, while Royal Blood…

Bob Dylan‘s not the only venerable musician who’s sick of having his distinctive singing style attacked: Yoko Ono has published a scathing rejoinder to her critics. “DON’T STOP ME!” reads the headline of the post on her website, which goes on to say, “Let me be free. Let me be me! Don’t make me old, with…

Lorde‘s producer says that she’s heading into the studio within weeks to begin work on a sophomore album that will follow the wild success of her debut Pure Heroine. We’ll need to be patient, though: the songs aren’t even written yet. (Billboard) X have announced a spring tour (sorry, no Minnesota dates), and plan to celebrate the tour…

At the Academy Awards on Sunday night, awards-season favorites John Legend and Common were given the biggest movie-music prize of all, after a performance that had many attendees in tears: the Oscar for Best Original Song went to the moving “Glory” from Selma. (Billboard) Jazz trumpeter Clark Terry, who collaborated with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charles Mingus, and more, has died, at 94, of…

Sleater-Kinney have partnered with the TV show Bob’s Burgers for their “A New Wave” video. (Pitchfork) The New Yorker said that Justin Timberlake‘s “Cry Me a River” may be “the most polyphonically complex teenybopper ballad in history.” Here’s CHVRCHES‘ synthpop take on the 2002 song. (Billboard) The 2015 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards will be held on March 28, and Billboard…

In separate incidents, two of pop music’s most infamous one-hit wonders have been put behind bars. “Ice Ice Baby” rapper Vanilla Ice was taken into custody in Lantana, Florida after allegedly swiping stuff from a home next door to a house he’s renovating for his HGTV show. The allegedly burglarized house was foreclosed and empty of people—but still…

Stephin Merritt, the brilliant and eccentric musician best known as the creative force behind the Magnetic Fields, has announced a rare solo tour that will stop at the Cedar Cultural Center on May 15. The show has an unusual premise (albeit somewhat less unusual for a guy who’s made an entire album of songs starting with…

Lesley Gore has died of cancer at age 68. Discovered by Quincy Jones as a 16-year-old ingenue, Gore performed the indelible 1963 hit “It’s My Party” as well as “You Don’t Own Me,” “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” and “She’s a Fool” – all top five hits, with “It’s My Party” taking Gore to number one just weeks after her…

It’s official: Florence + the Machine will release their (her) next studio album on June 2. The album will be titled How Big How Blue How Beautiful, and Florence Welch kicked it off with new single “What Kind of Man.” (Billboard) Kanye West, never one to do things small, unveiled his new custom sneaker—the Adidas Yeezy 750 Boost—at a…