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Micah Sykes, the son of celebrated opera and gospel singer Jubilant Sykes, pleaded not guilty to murdering his father during an arraignment at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles on Thursday (Aug. 6).
The younger Sykes, 31, was arrested hours after his father was fatally stabbed at the family’s Santa Monica, Calif., residence on Dec. 8, 2025.
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Micah Sykes was charged with a felony count of murder with a special allegation that the defendant used a deadly weapon in the commission of the crime. If convicted, he faces up to a life sentence in state prison.
“Our community continues to mourn the senseless loss of Jubilant Sykes whose renowned baritone and legacy of music brought joy to the world,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement on Thursday. “This horrific act of violence is a painful reminder of how older adults remain vulnerable to violence, even from those closest to them. Our elders deserve to feel safe and the office’s Elder Abuse Section is committed to holding those who harm them fully accountable.”
According to Rolling Stone, prosecutors allege that Micah Sykes murdered his father inside their home using a “dagger, garden shears and a barbell.”
Police responded to a 911 call of an assault around 9:20 p.m. PT on Dec. 8. The Grammy-nominated singer was ruled dead at the scene by Santa Monica Fire Department personnel. He was 71.
Micah Sykes, who is one of Jubilant’s three children, was quickly identified as a suspect in the fatal stabbing. He was taken into custody “without incident,” according to the Santa Monica Police Department.
“I was born and raised in Santa Monica, so we were really pretty close out here. What a singer… Good spirit, good-hearted person, beautiful family,” Jubilant Sykes’ neighbor and friend Sammy Murphy told KTLA at the time of the murder.
Per a press release put out by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office,Micah Sykes will remain behind bars without bail and is slated to be back in court on Sept. 2.
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Pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter is the latest musician to receive her own Little Golden Book.
Sabrina Carpenter: A Little Golden Book Biography is now available to pre-order before its release on Sept. 1, 2026. The biography takes readers on the pop star’s path from a music-loving kid to one of the decade’s biggest talents as told through easy-to-read text and full color illustrations.
Designed for children while appealing to longtime fans, the picture book tells the story of Carpenter’s childhood in Pennsylvania to her eventual rise to fame.
MINI BIOGRAPHY
‘Sabrina Carpenter: A Little Golden Book Biography’
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From publisher Golden Books, the 24-page pageturner has already hit Amazon’s children’s book charts even before its release date.
Created for readers ages 4 to 8 (though really a fun read for fans of all ages), the picture book details Carpenter’s life as a young girl with big dreams before embarking on a Disney Channel career that would eventually catapult her to pop-star heights.
Illustrator Beverly Johnson sketches colorful drawings of major milestones in Carpenter’s life, like a graphic of the Emails I Can’t Send album cover, the singer looking up at her sold-out arena, and the pint-sized popstar standing on stage during her Grammy acceptance speech.
The book also includes some other famous faces who have made an impression on Carpenter’s musical journey. In one illustration of Carpenter’s mom recording the young star singing, a poster of Miley Cyrus hangs in the background. And who can forget Sabrina Carpenter opening for Taylor Swift on the Eras tour in 2023 and 2024? The book features a drawing of the Espresso singer performing on stage alongside a guitar-playing Swift.
The book is written by Cat Reynolds, who also authored Chappell Roan: A Little Golden Book Biography published in 2025. Carpenter joins many other music icons like Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Prince, Elvis Presley, KPop Demon Hunters, Cher and Blackpink who’ve also been featured in their own dedicated Little Golden Books edition. The publishers also created Women Who Rock, Pop, and Hip-Hop!
Aside from spotlighting musicians, Little Golden Books also has kid-friendly biographies on Zendaya, Jenna Ortega, Oprah Winfrey and Serena Williams.
As for Carpenter, the singer most recently teamed up with Madonna on the track “Bring Your Love,” from the Queen of Pop’s Confessions II album.
Peter Katsis, the veteran music manager who helped shepherd the careers of artists including Backstreet Boys, Korn, The Smashing Pumpkins and Snoop Dogg, has died, a representative tells Billboard. He was 69.
Katsis kicked off his music business career at age 23 in Chicago, his hometown, when he discovered and managed the industrial band Ministry. He later went on to work as an A&R executive at the city’s Trax Precision Records, where he served as a booking agent for influential Chicago house artists including Marshal Jefferson and Adonis just as the dance sub-genre was in its nascent stages.
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After moving to Los Angeles in 1990, Katsis began working with artists including The Cramps, Material Issue and Tuck & Patti. Between 1997 and 2008, he became a partner in The Firm, where he helped launch artists like Backstreet Boys, Enrique Iglesias and Thirty Seconds to Mars to stardom. While working on the Backstreet Boys’ Millennium arena tour in 1999, the run sold 765,000 tickets in just one day, the vast majority in the first hour; the tour also won Katsis a Pollstar Award for most creative stage design. The massive success of that run resulted in the boy band moving up to stadiums on its Black and Blue tour the following year.
While at The Firm, Katsis scored another major success with the rock supergroup Audioslave, helping secure the band’s 2005 performance for tens of thousands of fans in Havana, Cuba, as part of a cultural exchange between Cuba and the U.S.
In 2008, Katsis, along with ex-The Firm partner and CEO Jeff Kwatinetz and former Disney executive Rich Frank, launched Prospect Park Entertainment, where he continued managing Backstreet Boys, Audioslave and Korn along with acts including the The Smashing Pumpkins (which he signed in 2012), Jane’s Addiction and Ice Cube. After leaving Prospect Park in 2014 following an alleged dispute with Kwatinetz, Katsis continued laying the groundwork for successful tours for some of those same artists, as well as acts including Liz Phair, Morrissey, Pentatonix and 5 Seconds of Summer, at firms including Deckstar Management and YM&U.
Katsis is survived by a son Ian Katsis and sister Anastasia Katsis.
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We all know Elf on a Shelf, or even Snoop on a Stoop, but could this year’s hottest toy be Rumi in a Ramyeon cup?
Meet the latest merch release from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters: this 138-piece 3D puzzle that forms a standing figurine of Rumi eating her branded ramyeon (Korean instant noodles).
SELLING FAST
KPop Demon Hunters Rumi in Ramyeon Cup 3D Puzzle
The 2-in-1 building kit also lets you build a larger ramyeon cup that Rumi can sit in, with her name displayed on the back of the lid.
Unlike LEGO sets, which use hard plastic blocks, this 3D puzzle uses pre-cut foam puzzle pieces, which all fit and snap together with no glue or tools needed for assembly. The finished product measures approximately 7.8 x 15 inches when Rumi is in the ramyeon cup.
The puzzle set comes on the heels of hundreds of “Hungry Rumi” memes online, depicting the HUNTR/X lead singer snacking on everything from kimbap to candy. And if working on this building kit makes you hungry for actual ramen: you can pick up official KPop Demon Hunters instant noodle cups here.
This is an officially licensed release from Netflix and 4D Build, the puzzle company known for their collectible 3D model kits.
MOVABLE PIECES
KPop Demon Hunters Derpy Tiger & Sussie Bird 3D Puzzle
4D Build also has this Derpy Tiger and Sussie Bird 3D puzzle kit, with 168 pieces.
This 3D puzzle brings the blue supernatural tiger to life on a pedestal, with his sidekick (and Jinu’s pet bird) Sussie, perched on his head. This design lets you move or remove different parts, to change up the design. For example, Derpy’s tongue can be removed and the flowerpot can sit in different ways on the stand. The finished puzzle measures 9.8 x 9.1 inches in size.
CHIBI COLLECTIBLE
Kpop Demon Hunters HUNTR/X Chibi Character 3D Puzzle Model Kit
Amazon also has this 3D puzzle of the entire HUNTR/X crew, with chibi or manga-style depictions of Rumi, Zoey and Mira.
This kit contains 212 foam puzzle pieces and the finished display piece measures 15.7 x 11.4 inches in size.
DOUBLES AS DESK DECOR
KPop Demon Hunters Sneaker 3D Jigsaw Puzzle
And you can pick up this 3D sneaker puzzle, with 108 plastic pieces that snap together.
The sneaker features an image of HUNTR/X promoting their “Takedown Tour,” and the finished product can be displayed on its own or used as a pencil cup or small vase. The 3D sneaker measures approximately 8.4 x 5.3 inches in dimension.
It’s a love sensation, indeed, with the first-ever collaborative release from pop divas Madonna and Kylie Minogue. The pair on Thursday (Aug. 6) released the “Love Sensation (Afterhours Radio Edit)” and Love Sensation (Afterhours Mix),” two new versions of “Love Sensation” from Madonna’s July album Confessions II.
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Helmed by Stuart Price, who also produced the album, the remixes present two different versions of the song, with the “Afterhours Radio Edit” maintaining many elements of the original while adding Minogue’s take on the second verse, for which she perfectly matches and compliments Madonna’s vocal tone. This edit comes in at three minutes and 35 seconds, seven seconds shorter than the original.
The “Afterhours Mix,” meanwhile, is a significant departure from the original, with Price creating a steamy, thumping build before introducing Madonna’s vocals, adding an extended, churning middle section and then layering in vocals from Minogue. The song forays into lush, celestial territory via repeated vocal samples that Price gives heft to by adding increasingly urgent percussion, until the whole thing breaks wide open into pop paradise at the five minute, 15 second mark. This one has a total run time of six minutes and 14 seconds.
Listen to both remixes below.
The project was announced earlier this week after Madonna and Minogue performed together during WorldPride Amsterdam 2026. Here, Madonna performed a 30-minute set at Amsterdam’s AFAS Live that featured a rare live collaboration with the Australian pop superstar.
The collaboration comes after “Love Sensation” reached No.1 on Dance Airplay last week, clocking another victory for the massive album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in July. The achievement made Madonna the first act with a No. 1 album in the 2020s and three other decades.
Kid Cudi wants to give a few fans the chance of a lifetime.
Cudder posted Wednesday about plans to craft a beat from scratch and let potential artists record whatever they deem to be their best work over it, and he would select a handful of the entrants to form a group.
“What if I made a beat, put it on soundcloud, let u guys rap/sing on it and then I choose the illest versions and make a group? Like a boy or girl pop group but hip hop and trippy,” he wrote. “Would yall like this? I’d sign u to my label Mad Solar and f— up the world together. If this gets 100k likes and 20k RT, Ill do it and help somebodies dreams come true. The future is yours.”
Cudi ended up amending his staggering requirement for 100,000 likes on the post to 2,000, which it blazed by and locked in the contest. The beat will be posted Friday and fans will have their chance to enter.
“Beat will be live on my soundcloud Friday by 6pm PST, boom get those night sessions set. When I post, I’ll leave a lil direction,” he added. “Ideas for what u should talk about. I dont want anybody talking about some bullshit. Real talk. Real emotion. Real feeling. I believe in you.”
The Ohio rapper detailed the standard of greatness he’s looking for when it comes to fans’ upcoming entires and Cudi admitted he’s going to be picky.
“Ok!!! Excited for Friday yall. I wanna let yall know, ima be very critical,” he continued. “Theres gonna be a lot of submissions, and im looking for someone who is polished and has a sound and feels original and also has a story and something to say. This will not be easy for u. Plus not many people can rap on my beats, theyre unique and different than what u usually hear in hip hop. So come correct yall. Ull have a week to cook. Then, Ill be checkin out what we got. Im working on a way for u to submit so dont even trip. News coming soon!”
Kid Cudi hit the road earlier this year and wrapped up his Rebel Ragers Tour in June. On the music side, his last album came with Free in 2025, which debuted at No. 192 on the Billboard 200.
Ricky Martin is a proud dad, and his kids are all grown up.
The two-time Grammy winner shared a throwback photo on his Instagram Stories of his twins, Matteo and Valentino Martin, who recently turned 18.
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“Celebrating the 18th birthday of the loves of my life all week long. I love you, my children,” said the text in the post, which showed the two boys — who were still children when the photo was taken — jumping into a pool together. Martin soundtracked the photo with his 2011 song “Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú,” which translates to “you’re the best thing in my life.”
The father of four welcomed Matteo and Valentino in 2008 via surrogacy.
In a 2014 interview on the Enrique Santos Show, Martin spoke candidly about the conversations he had with his twins regarding how they were conceived. He said they asked if they were “in your belly,” to which he replied, “You were in my heart and you are still in my heart.”
“So I explained further, because I couldn’t just leave it at that: ‘There was a woman that I adore with all my heart that helped me bring you into this world. She lent me her belly so that you could come, and when you were born she put you in my arms.’ And he said ‘ah, ok’ and he kept playing,” he shared.
Between 2018 and 2019, Martin had two more children with his then-partner, Jwan Yosef. Lucía, 7, and Renn, 6, were born just nine months apart.
During his press tour to promote American Crime Story, in which Martin played Antonio D’Amico, Gianni Versace’s lover, he opened up about being an LGBTQ+ parent. “My kids ask me about having two daddies, and I tell them we are a part of a modern family,” Martin told Out magazine. “This is a beautiful sense of freedom.”
Tyga isn’t denying the AI allegations.
The West Coast rapper talked to VIBE recently about his ’80s-inspired $tarface alter-ego and the self-titled album it spawned, which has been suspected of being produced with the help of artificial intelligence. The speculation is now over, as he’s admitted to utilizing AI music generator Suno for things like “’80s synths” and a “guitar solo.”
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“I’ve never spoken on this with anybody because I always felt like it’s similar to a magician explaining how he does his tricks. Like why are people over-explaining how they make sh– that’s good?” he said when asked directly if he used AI music programs like Suno and compared its current controversial usage to that of the use of Auto-Tune during the mid-2000s. “It’s supposed to give you an experience and a feeling. But we definitely used AI as a [tool],” he continued. “And I know people are going to be mad about me saying this, but it’s where technology is going. It’s no different than when Auto-Tune came out. Some people were opposed to it, but real artists took it and used it.”
He added: “But as far as the writing, all the vocals are all me. There’s nothing wrong with using technology as a tool.”
The AI allegations really started earlier this summer after Shoreline Mafia’s Fenix Flexin had everyone talking with his own ’80s-inspired single “RUBBERZ,” and then footage popped up on social media of he and Tyga in the studio recording a song titled “Lavish” that had those very same ’80s-pop-leaning synth elements.
However, according to Tyga, the two just so happened to be “experimenting” with this new sound at the same time. “Nah, we just did the ‘Lavish’ record. But when he came to the studio, I was already deep into working on my ‘80s-sounding music. I had already played him some stuff,” he replied after being asked if he and Fenix planned any of this. “So, when I saw what he was doing, I was like, ‘Oh, this is fire! We should do this record together because I see you on a similar wave. I think it was just cool to do, you know? We’re going to put the video out in a few weeks. The song just didn’t fit the aesthetic of the $tarface project. “
No hace falta que una canción esté repleta de acordes o de fórmulas complejas para convertirse en un hit. Así lo demuestran estas cinco canciones, compuestas con un solo acorde —o casi en su totalidad— que, aun así, se convirtieron en grandes éxitos o en auténticas canciones de culto. The Beatles – «Tomorrow Never Knows» […]
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Mick Jagger es, sin duda, toda una leyenda del rock, tanto por sus creaciones artísticas como por sus performances sobre el escenario. Su control del cuerpo, la voz y el gusto por la actuación son tan naturales que parecen instintivos, y esto lo convirtió en toda una referencia para aquellos frontmen que querían dominar las […]
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