Author: LATimes
James Conlon, the second music director in Los Angeles Opera’s almost 40-year history, will step down from his role after the 2025-26 season, the company will announce Wednesday. Conlon will have led L.A. Opera for 20 years by the time of his exit, and will be named conductor laureate in recognition of his many contributions to the company. Fans can expect his return as a guest conductor.Conlon’s departure from his leadership role coincides with that of Los Angeles Philharmonic’s music director, Gustavo Dudamel, who last year announced his plans to leave the L.A. Phil for the New York Philharmonic in…
After a two-year boycott, rocker Neil Young will bring his music back to Spotify.Young withdrew his catalog in 2022 after lamenting the spread of medical misinformation on popular Spotify podcasts such as “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Young’s move prompted a few other artists, including Joni Mitchell and India.Arie, to do the same.“I first learned of this problem by reading that 200 plus doctors had joined forces, taking on the dangerous life-threatening COVID falsehoods found in Spotify programming,” Young wrote in 2022. “I realized I could not continue to support Spotify life threatening misinformation to the music loving public.”In a new…
South by Southwest has voiced support for artists boycotting its festivities and events in Austin, Texas, after they were criticized by that state’s governor, Greg Abbott, on social media. The annual entertainment and technology festival said in a missive Tuesday that it “does not agree with Governor Abbott” and his take on the numerous artists who decried the festival’s Army sponsorship. “We are an organization that welcomes diverse viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW and it has long been our legacy,” the Instagram statement said. “We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free…
Just a few years before he founded Hopeless Records in his early 20s, Louis Posen thought he saw a future for himself in the film industry. That was before doctors diagnosed him with retinitis pigmentosa at age 19, leaving him with the knowledge that he’d be losing his eyesight at a very young age. “Being in a doctor’s office at 19 and hearing that you’re going to slowly lose your eyesight with no treatment or cures, there’s no hope — so I guess I had that stamp on my back of being ‘hopeless’ from that moment,” Posen says. “I was…
Don Lemon received his first lesson in doing business with Elon Musk, the mercurial owner of social media platform X.The former CNN host interviewed Musk for the first edition of his new podcast, “The Don Lemon Show,” which was scheduled to launch next week on X, formerly known as Twitter, and other online platforms.Lemon said Wednesday in an X post that Musk was not happy with the sitdown and killed the deal to carry the program on the platform. The episode will air Monday on YouTube and other platforms. Lemon said he will post the interview on X as well.…
For “Dateline” host Keith Morrison, the grief of losing his stepson and “Friends” star Matthew Perry last year is still raw.“It doesn’t go away. It’s with you everyday, it’s with you all the time,” Morrison said in a recent conversation with journalist Hoda Kotb. “There’s some new aspect of it that assaults your brain.”Morrison, 76, revealed how he has coped with Perry’s death in a new episode of Kotb’s “Making Space” podcast published Wednesday. The longtime TV host married the actor’s mother, Suzanne, in 1981. Morrison was one of the loved ones who rushed to Perry’s home in Los Angeles…
Christina Applegate believes she might have had multiple sclerosis for as long as seven years before officially being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 2021. Battling symptoms on and off, the Emmy winner and “Married … With Children” alum said she put off being checked by a doctor despite her legs giving out while filming the first season of her Netflix comedy “Dead to Me.”“I really just kind of put it off as being tired, or I’m dehydrated, or it’s the weather,” Applegate said this week in an interview that aired on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “And then nothing would…
Avery, styled as the Priestess, wears Balenciaga dress and shoes, Ashton Michael necklace and cuff. I want so badly to tell you about your future. I’ve made it clear on my website that I am not a psychic but now that you’ve paid me for a tarot reading and you’re sitting here in front of me, it’s obvious you want me to tell you what is going to happen. Ninety-eight out of 100 times, you specifically want to know the future of your love life or your career. (In the remaining two instances, you want to know where you should…
More than 60 Latin acts were invited to participate at this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, representing a wide array of genres, from cumbia and reggaeton, to indie rock and electronic. The De Los team will be on the ground to cover the growth of Latin music at the country’s biggest music festival — oh and did we mention we are presenting a showcase, too? Here are the eight acts we are most excited to see. Peso Pluma (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) Has anyone had a better 12 months than Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija?Better…
The L.A. Times Festival of Books is back for another year of readings, discussions, panels, signings and demonstrations featuring an eclectic lineup of authors including filmmaker Miranda July, actors Kerry Washington and Lauren Graham, drag star RuPaul, reality TV personality Ariana Madix and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen.On Wednesday, The Times released a list of more than 550 speakers and authors to be featured at the annual event, scheduled for April 20 and 21 on the USC campus.Other notable authors and personalities appearing over the weekend include Maggie Nelson, Lance Bass, Ed Begley Jr., Maria Bamford, Blippi, Sophia Bush,…