Musicians

The successful South Korean supergroup BTS has openly spoken out against racism towards people of Asian descent.

On their official Twitter they stated that "What is happening right now cannot be dissociated from our identity as Asians. It required considerable time for us to discuss this carefully and we contemplated deeply on how we should voice our message.

But what our voice must convey is clear.

We stand against racial discrimination:

We condemn violence.

You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together."

Britney Spears's legal team has requested the permanent removal of father Jamie Spears as her conservator. Ms Spears has been under a court-ordered conservatorship since 2008, with her father being in control of both her personal and financial affairs until he stepped down from the role in September 2019 due to health reasons. Jodi Montgomery, who is a professionally licensed conservator, has stepped in temporarily.

Ms Spears's team has put in a request that Mr Spears resign as conservator of her person but remain as co-conservator of her estate while Montgomery's appointment shall be made permanent. In addition, Ms Spears has requested to retain the right to terminate the conservatorship eventually.

Bob Dylan has sold his entire catalogue of music, which encompasses over 600 songs, to Universal Music Publishing Group in the biggest music publishing deal in decades. Financial terms have not been disclosed, but the New York Times estimates that it was worth more than $300 million.

A collection of Bob Dylan documents have sold at an auction for $495,000. The collection previously belonged to late American blues musician Tony Glover and included unpublished lyrics written by the singer and letters between Glover and Dylan.

Famous Indian singer SP Balasubrahmanyam died on Friday after being in intensive care following a Coronavirus infection. He was 74.

Balasubrahmanyam recorded over 40,000 songs in his 50-year-long career, for which he held a Guinness world record. He later become the singing voice for Bollywood superstars.

Jack Sherman has died on August 20 at the age of 64. His cause of death has not been disclosed as of yet.

"We of the RHCP family would like to wish Jack Sherman smooth sailing into the worlds beyond, for he has passed. Jack played on our debut album as well as our first tour of the USA. He was a unique dude and we thank him for all times good, bad and in between. Peace on the boogie platform," the band said in a post to Instagram.

Sherman was the guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers from 1983 to 1984 and co-wrote much of the band's second album "Freaky Styley".

Neil Young has filed a claim in US federal court in the Southern District of New York against Donald Trump for copyright infringement over the use of his music at Trump's campaign rallies, which the artist refers to as a "campaign of ignorance and hate". The lawsuit further names two songs specifically: "Rockin' In The Free World" and "Devil's Sidewalk" that both have been used "numerous times at rallies and political events for the entertainment and amusement of those attending those rallies and political events."

"This complaint is not intended to disrespect the rights and opinions of American citizens, who are free to support the candidate of their choosing. However, [Young] in good conscience cannot allow his music to be used as a ‘theme song’ for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate," so the complaint.

Peter Green has died "peacefully in his sleep" at age 73. Green, who was an English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, co-founded Fleetwood Mac with drummer Mick Fleetwood in 1967. He left the band four years later, though Mick Fleetwood told the Associated Press in 2017, that Green deserved the "lion’s share of the credit for the band’s success."

Nigerian singer and entrepreneur Mr Eazi raised $20 million with his Africa Music Fund. The musician wants to offer funding and financial support for African music creatives. One of his main investors is Pan-African seed fund 88mph.

Mr Eazi said: "Artists cannot go to banks to get money for their music because financial institutions don't understand how to secure intellectual property. They get it for physical properties but not for music. So, because not a lot of people understand the music business, there is no finance product for musicians."

Neil Young, who previously voiced his aversion over the president's usage of his music, has published an open letter to Donald Trump on the official Neil Young Archives website.

Young writes: "Dear Mr. President: Although I have repeatedly asked you to please not use my music because it indicates that I support your agenda, you have always played my songs anyway at your gatherings, with no regard for my rights, even calling me names on twitter. I did notice that you played my music at your latest rally in Dakota despite my previous requests."

Young, who has condemned Trump and his actions on multiple occasions, further states that he wouldn't sue Trump as he was in charge of the Covid-19 response and wouldn't want to distract him from "protecting and saving American lives". He ends the letter with the suggestion that Trump might listen to his song "Looking For a Leader 2020," as Young believes "it would be an interesting addition to your next rally."

Ennio Morricone has died at age 91. The Italian composer composed over 400 scores for television and cinema, including a score for the 1966 movie The Good, The Bad and The Ugly which is considered one of the most influential soundtracks in movie history. Morricone was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and received an Oscar for his score to Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight. His work influenced many artists, including Hans Zimmer, Dire Straits and Metallica.

A tweet by @NeilYoungNYA retweeted a video of footage of Trump's visit to Mount Rushmore, adding "This is NOT ok with me." He later added a second Tweet, stating "I stand in solidarity with the Lakota Sioux & this is NOT ok with me." Trump played three Neil Young songs during his speech at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

"Donald Trump was not authorised to use ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ in his presidential candidacy announcement," so an official statement from Neil Young's management.

Bob Dylan's newest album "Rough and Rowdy Ways" debuted at Number 2 in the Billboard 200 charts. With his latest album hitting the Top 10 of the charts, Dylan becomes the first artist ever to have an album in the Top 40 Billboard 200 charts in every decade since the 1960s.

Tom Petty's family issued a cease and desist notice against the Trump campaign for using the song "I Won't Back Down" the president's Tulsa rally on Saturday.

In a tweet, the Petty family stated: "Trump was in no way authorised to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind,"

The Trump campaign received other cease and desist notices from musicians, including R.E.M., Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Neil Young.

Mikel Jollett, lead singer of The Airborne Toxic Event, has released his first book, a memoir 'Hollywood Park'. In it, he chronicles his life, from growing up in the cult Synanon and his subsequent escape to his struggles with relationships in his later years. The memoir is accompanied by an album with the same title.

Brian May, 72-year old lead guitarist of Queen, said in an Instagram post that he recently suffered a heart attack after he had ripped his buttock muscles. The attack caused him 40 minutes of chest pain and, after being driven to the hospital, his doctors found three blocked arteries, which May described as being "very near death". Instead of heart surgery, May decided to have three stents inserted into his blocked arteries.

Betty Wright, legendary Soul and R&B singer, dies of cancer at age 66. She died at her home in Miami, according to Billboard. Wright is known for hits such as "Tonight Is The Night" and "Clean Up Woman".