MADONNA turns 62 next weekend and now she has another reason to celebrate.
I can reveal the queen of pop has left her label Interscope after almost a decade and is poised to sign an eight-figure deal to return to Warner Records — the label which helped her become a superstar in the first 25 years of her career.
The Hung Up singer, who has sold 300million records worldwide to become the best-selling female musician of all time, signed a three-album deal in 2011 with Interscope — home to acts including the Rolling Stones and U2 — but has recently parted company with them.
It means she is in line to secure a big-money deal to continue releasing albums throughout her sixties, back at the label where she started her incredible music career.
The move follows the release in 2019 of her critically acclaimed 14th album Madame X and subsequent tour, which ended in March.
A music insider said: “Madonna is still a force to be reckoned with.
“The fact is, she sells records, people around the world adore her and every label would love to have her on their books.
“Now that her deal with Interscope has come to an end, she is a free agent and can choose where to go next — and Warner feels like the best place given their history.
“But Madonna comes at a hefty price. She can command big money and wants to make sure whatever deal she signs is the best thing for her and her music.”
The star is due to return to the charts on Friday as a featured artist on Dua Lipa’s new single Levitating along with Missy Elliott, both of whom are signed to Warner.
As one of the biggest and best characters in music, let’s hope she doesn’t leave it too long before she returns with more tunes of her own.
A tiny bra-vo, Ariana
Lady Gaga’s influence is clearly rubbing off on Ariana Grande, who wore this tiny bra top as she headed to a studio in LA.
She was back to work on Wednesday and joked about Gaga’s impact on her wardrobe when they filmed the video for their collaboration Rain On Me.
In a new video from the shoot shared on Instagram, Gaga refers to their tiny outfits and says: “Your fans are going to be like, ‘What did you do to her?’ ”
But Ariana responded: “I don’t think they’re going to be like, ‘F*** you!’ They’ll be like, ‘She wore something that isn’t a sweatshirt.’ ”
The video also showed Gaga accidentally scratching Ariana’s eye while dancing in the video.
Ignoring the pain though, Ariana said: “Lady Gaga scratched my eye. It’s an honour. I hope it scars.”
Instaglam
Sam Thompson would have needed this cold shower after posing with Zara McDermott on hol in Mykonos.
App hunt ticks Si's boxes
Simon Fuller – the music genius behind The Spice Girls and S Club 7 – has turned to video app TikTok to find the next big pop group.
He has announced a partnership which will include in-app auditions to create a first-of-its-kind global music collective.
It’s a fresh approach for the music manager, who launched the TV Idol franchise which discovered stars including Gareth Gates, Will Young and Kelly Clarkson.
Details of how budding singers can get involved will be available on TikTok in the coming weeks.
Simon said: “TikTok has empowered self-expression and creativity and captured the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of passionate users.
“With the help of the TikTok audience, I will bring together a line-up of incredible artists to shape the next level of pop fandom.
“This will be the most connected pop group ever.”
Dotty's Apple pay beats BBC
Radio 1Xtra’s Dotty presented her final breakfast show last week, and now I know why – she was lured to Apple Music in a big-money deal.
I’m told she jumped at the chance of a massive pay rise by moving over to Beats 1 from the BBC, especially to pay for the baby she has on the way.
Her wife Line Charles is currently expecting their second child, which is due to arrive in the coming weeks before Dotty makes her debut as a host on the Apple station in September.
A radio source said: “Dotty couldn’t turn down the money and the chance to be the part of a really progressive and exciting company.
“She was handed an exec-style role as well as becoming a host on Beats 1, so it’s an incredible opportunity.”
Announcing the move on Instagram yesterday, Dotty wrote: “I’m over the moon to be taking on the role of Lead Cultural Curator, Black Music for @applemusic and host on @beats1official!
“Time for another unforgettable chapter, let’s have some fun.”
As a father of two myself, I know exactly where she’s coming from.
bizbit
Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw is off on holiday to France with boyfriend Mesh Henry to celebrate their second anniversary.
He has taken time off from his drivetime show for the trip, along with their designer pal Henry Holland.
The Eurovision Song Contest is getting a spin-off in the US, which will feature acts from all 50 states performing original tracks.
The American Song Contest is set to debut next year, featuring both amateur and signed artists.
B, Thee, Kylie makes 3
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion spared no expense with the special guest in their latest music video, enlisting millionairess Kylie Jenner to join them.
Kylie wore a plunging leopard print leotard in the clip for the pair’s new single, Wap.
Speaking about teaming up with Megan and Kylie, Cardi told Apple Music: “I feel like people be wanting to put female artists against each other. Why does it even have to be like that? Why it has to be somebody’s taking my spot?
“There’s a lot of female artists right now and all of them are a little bit different from me. But people be trying to make that beef . . .”
And there wasn’t just one Kylie appearing in a new video yesterday either.
Hours after Wap dropped, Kylie Minogue released the video for her single, Say Something.
What a great start to the weekend.
bizmeter charts
- Joel Corry and MNEK are at No1 for a third week with Head & Heart, which they will give the first performance of today on Clean Bandit’s House Party Against Hunger virtual festival from noon on YouTube.
- Billie Eilish has the highest new entry of the week with My Future – her seventh UK Top Ten hit. It comes after her No1 James Bond track No Time To Die.
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