Jay-Z Confirms Super Bowl Halftime Performance, Ending Week of Speculation

Jay-Z appears in a promotional video announcing him as the headliner of the Apple Music Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show, scheduled for Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. (Screen grab/Roc Nation and Apple Music)

Jay-Z has spent seven years helping decide who takes the stage at the Super Bowl halftime show. Next February, he'll be the one standing on it.

The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Monday night that the Brooklyn rap mogul will headline Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

The announcement came during ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcast, confirming reports that Jay-Z, whose company has helped oversee the halftime show since 2019, had chosen himself for one of music's biggest stages.

It also marked a significant change of heart.

When Jay-Z entered into his partnership with the NFL seven years ago, he said he had made clear to Commissioner Roger Goodell that performing at the Super Bowl was not the reason for the deal.

Now, after years of helping bring hip-hop and R&B's biggest names to the field, he's taking his own turn.

The announcement arrived in a black-and-white promotional video featuring Jay-Z, set to his 2003 track "Public Service Announcement." The words "GOAT's out of the bag" appeared as the rapper was revealed as the headliner.

Watch Roc Nation's official JAY-Z Super Bowl halftime announcement

Roc Nation and Apple Music announced JAY-Z as the Super Bowl LXI halftime headliner Monday.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Jay-Z reflected on the distance between his 1996 debut, "Reasonable Doubt," and the Super Bowl stage.

"This run continues to be a dream come true," he said.

The timing carries its own significance.

Just two days earlier, Jay-Z closed his JAY-Z 30 concert series at SoFi Stadium, the same venue where he'll perform at halftime. The anniversary run celebrated 30 years of "Reasonable Doubt" and 25 years of his landmark 2001 album, "The Blueprint."

His two-night Los Angeles finale featured a guest list that underscored the reach of his catalog and his standing in hip-hop.

Scarface, John Legend and DJ Khaled joined him during Friday's show, while his daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, appeared at the piano. Saturday's finale brought out Too $hort, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

Those appearances offered a reminder of the musical relationships Jay-Z could draw upon in February, although no Super Bowl guests have been announced.

There is a certain symmetry to his return to SoFi Stadium.

The venue hosted the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show, when Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar delivered a landmark performance centered on hip-hop and R&B.

That show was among the most visible examples of the direction the NFL's halftime entertainment has taken since Roc Nation entered the picture.

The partnership was controversial when it began in 2019, coming amid criticism of the NFL's treatment of Colin Kaepernick and player protests over racial injustice.

Jay-Z argued at the time that the agreement could provide opportunities for both entertainment and social change. His company went on to help shape halftime performances by artists including The Weeknd, Rihanna, Usher, Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny.

The question of whether Jay-Z would eventually headline the show himself never entirely disappeared.

Last week, Puck reported that he had selected himself for the 2027 performance. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell declined to confirm the report during the league's fall meetings.

Monday's announcement settled the question.

For Jay-Z, 56, the performance extends a year devoted to revisiting his musical legacy. Along with the anniversary concerts, an eight-part documentary series has explored the songs and recordings that established him as one of hip-hop's defining figures.

He has not released a solo studio album since 2017's "4:44," but his influence over the industry — and particularly the Super Bowl — has continued to grow.

His wife, Beyoncé, headlined the halftime show in 2013 and returned as a guest during Coldplay's performance in 2016.

Jay-Z will follow Bad Bunny, who headlined the 2026 show.

For years, Jay-Z has helped decide what the world would hear at halftime.

This time, the catalog is his.

Chris Brown Spared Immediate Jail Time After Guilty Plea in British Court

Chris Brown performs at Jamaica National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, on Aug. 27, 2023. The R&B singer received an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for one year, Monday in London after pleading guilty to affray in a 2023 nightclub attack. (Pelpa Time Production/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)

Chris Brown avoided immediate prison time Monday after a London judge sentenced the R&B singer to eight months behind bars, suspended for one year, for attacking a music producer with a tequila bottle at a nightclub in 2023.

Brown, 37, appeared at Southwark Crown Court, where Judge Tony Baumgartner imposed the sentence following the singer's July guilty plea to affray, a criminal offense involving unlawful violence or threats that cause people to fear for their safety.

The suspended sentence means Brown will not immediately go to prison but could be required to serve the term if he violates its conditions or commits another offense.

The case stemmed from a confrontation at Tape, a nightclub in London's Mayfair district, on Feb. 19, 2023.

OFFICIAL POLICE RECORD · OCT. 26, 2026

Metropolitan Police release nightclub security footage

Police released security video documenting the incident that led to the sentencing of Chris Brown and Omololu Akinlolu.

Content warning: The video contains physical violence.

View the original police video and media-use terms

Source: Metropolitan Police Service, London. Video duration: 1:37.

Prosecutors said Brown approached music producer Abraham Diaw on the dance floor and struck him twice in the head with a heavy glass tequila bottle.

The assault continued as Diaw attempted to get away, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. Brown's friend and vocal coach, Omololu Akinlolu, joined the attack, punching Diaw before he was pushed to the floor and kicked.

Diaw required hospital treatment for injuries to his head and knee.

Security footage presented during the proceedings showed the attack, which prosecutors said lasted approximately 20 seconds.

Judge Baumgartner described Brown's use of the bottle as "plainly dangerous" and emphasized that the singer's fame and commercial success did not entitle him to preferential treatment.

The judge also considered mitigating circumstances, including Brown's guilty plea, employment, charity work and recent conduct, according to courtroom reporting by the Associated Press.

Akinlolu, 40, received a four-month prison sentence, also suspended for 12 months. Both men were ordered to pay 1,500 pounds in court costs.

The guilty pleas resolved the criminal prosecution without a trial on the more serious charges the men had previously denied.

Brown had been arrested in Manchester in May 2025 after returning to Britain for a concert tour, more than two years after the nightclub incident.

British authorities said investigators had made repeated unsuccessful attempts to interview Brown and Akinlolu before arranging their arrests when they returned to the country.

In a statement released Monday, Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah of London's Metropolitan Police said investigators had remained determined to bring the men before the courts despite the passage of time.

The sentencing closes a criminal case that had threatened to disrupt Brown's touring career.

He has continued performing internationally and is scheduled to tour the United States with Usher.

Brown left court Monday without being taken into custody.

The Metropolitan Police also released security footage of the incident, providing a public record of the violence at the center of the prosecution.

Cassie Wins Dismissal Motion in Lawsuit Involving Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

Singer Cassie Ventura is shown in a May 27, 2021, photograph shared on her Instagram account. A federal judge granted her motion to dismiss claims in a civil lawsuit involving Sean "Diddy" Combs on Oct. 21, 2026. (Photo via Cassie Ventura's Instagram)

A federal judge has granted singer Cassie Ventura's request to dismiss claims against her in a $35 million civil lawsuit involving Sean "Diddy" Combs, while allowing the broader case to continue.

U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang granted Ventura's motion Wednesday during a hearing in Los Angeles, according to court minutes reviewed by SuperThrowbackParty.net.

The Oct. 21 ruling was recorded in a one-page document filed in the Central District of California in the case brought by Clayton Howard, a man who says he was hired to participate in sexual encounters involving Combs and Ventura.

ORIGINAL FEDERAL COURT RECORD

Howard v. Combs et al. — Oct. 21, 2026

U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang granted Cassandra Ventura's dismissal motion and separately ruled on a motion involving Sean Combs and corporate defendants.

Central District of California · Case 2:25-cv-06031 · Document 181 · One page

Read the court's original ruling (PDF)

Howard filed the lawsuit in June 2025, alleging that he was subjected to sexual exploitation, coercion and abuse during encounters he says took place over several years.

The allegations have not been established as fact by the court.

Ventura's attorneys challenged Howard's claims, arguing that his allegations did not establish the necessary legal basis to hold her liable for sex trafficking or related misconduct.

The defense also pointed to Howard's own descriptions of Combs exercising control over the encounters, arguing that those accounts did not establish that Ventura had coerced him.

The court granted Ventura's dismissal motion, identified as document 163 in the record.

But the ruling was not a dismissal of the entire lawsuit.

The judge granted part of a separate dismissal motion filed by Combs and corporate defendants and denied other portions. The court allowed an amendment within 14 days and directed Combs to file an answer within the same period.

The written minutes refer to an oral ruling delivered during the hearing and do not specify whether Ventura's dismissal was with prejudice, which would generally prevent the same claims from being brought against her again.

That distinction could matter if Howard seeks to pursue additional claims.

The judge also denied Howard's request to substitute another proposed amended complaint and said the court would consider a separate request involving an additional response to defense arguments.

Howard has repeatedly revised his lawsuit as the court has considered challenges to its allegations.

The $35 million figure represents damages sought in the litigation, according to AllHipHop's reporting. It is not a court award, settlement or finding that any defendant owes Howard money.

The ruling comes amid continuing civil litigation stemming from allegations involving Combs, whose legal troubles have generated a series of overlapping but separate cases.

Ventura previously testified in Combs' federal criminal trial. The allegations and procedural outcome in Howard's civil lawsuit must be evaluated independently of that prosecution.

The latest court action establishes one immediate result: Ventura's dismissal motion was granted, but the broader litigation has not concluded.

A$AP Rocky’s ‘Shroom Clouds’ Draws Accusations of Using Artist’s Footage

A$AP Rocky's latest music video is facing allegations that its creators used another artist's work without permission, turning a brief psychedelic sequence into a dispute over artificial intelligence, ownership and credit.

The controversy centers on a scene roughly 2 minutes, 25 seconds into the video for "Shroom Clouds," released Oct. 19. It features a figure amid concentric rings in a grassy field, with the surrounding landscape appearing to bend into a tunnel.

The disputed visual sequence appears about 2 minutes, 25 seconds into A$AP Rocky's official "Shroom Clouds" music video. (A$AP Rocky/YouTube)

Visual effects artist Cache Bunny says the sequence came from a 2019 project he created with director Ari Fararooy and parkour athlete Jason Paul.

His allegation goes beyond a shared visual idea.

In Instagram posts circulated over the weekend, Cache Bunny accused Rocky's production team of taking the earlier footage, processing it with AI and replacing Paul with the rapper while retaining details of the original landscape.

The posts highlighted apparent similarities in the grass, shadows and camera perspective. The earlier work was published in April 2019, more than seven years before Rocky's video.

The original Instagram post remains publicly linked, and Rocky's official video contains the disputed sequence. The similarities have drawn attention from other creators, but the available comparison does not independently establish how the newer footage was produced or whether the original material was licensed.

The video's own credits, however, confirm that artificial intelligence was part of the production.

Rocky shares directing credit with Aisultan Seitov and Pietro Biz Biasia. North of Now is listed as the production company, with additional postproduction and visual-effects contributors. The credits identify Spike and Red, along with Ces, as AI artists.

The use of AI in a production does not establish that another artist's work was copied, and the credits do not identify which contributors created the disputed sequence.

On Monday, a statement attributed to AWGE creative director Robert Gallardo began circulating online. A screenshot and subsequent published reporting attributed to him an acknowledgment that a breakdown in reviewing AI-generated material had resulted in work associated with Cache Bunny appearing without attribution.

ORIGINAL SOURCE · APRIL 2019

Ari Fararooy's original video

The earlier visual work at the center of the dispute was published years before "Shroom Clouds."

View the 2019 Instagram post

The statement also described an effort to contact the artist to discuss resolving the matter. Its original Instagram Story could not be independently authenticated.

The controversy arrives at an awkward moment for Rocky, whose music videos have long been an important part of his reputation as a visual artist.

In an interview with Complex before "Shroom Clouds" was released, the rapper discussed artificial intelligence's place in music production while emphasizing his preference for hands-on creative work.

"I prefer to do things myself, practically," he said.

The song, featuring reggie and Jeremih, is part of the continuing rollout surrounding Rocky's album "Don't Be Dumb."

No publicly verified copyright lawsuit or licensing agreement involving the disputed sequence has emerged.

For now, the unresolved questions concern not simply whether AI was used, but whether another creator's work entered the production without permission, who authorized its use and what steps will be taken to address the complaint.

Soul Train Awards Return After Three Years With Chaka Khan Among Honorees

Chaka Khan is featured in promotional artwork for the 2026 Soul Train Awards. The Chicago-born singer will receive the Classic Soul Honor when the ceremony returns to her hometown. (Courtesy of BET)

Chaka Khan will receive the Classic Soul Honor at the 2026 Soul Train Awards, bringing one of R&B's most celebrated voices into the spotlight as the show returns to her hometown of Chicago.

BET announced the honor Thursday. The awards, last held in 2023, will be taped in Chicago and broadcast Nov. 27 on BET and, for the first time, CBS.

The homecoming brings together two pieces of Chicago music history.

Khan, born Yvette Stevens on the city's South Side, emerged in the early 1970s as the lead singer of Rufus. Around the same time, Don Cornelius was turning a local television dance show into a national showcase for Black music.

"Soul Train" debuted on Chicago station WCIU-TV in 1970 and entered national syndication the following year. For decades, the program gave soul, funk, R&B and eventually hip-hop performers a television platform that few other shows offered.

Khan's own career would cross many of those same musical boundaries.

With Rufus, she helped create funk and soul classics including "Tell Me Something Good," written by Stevie Wonder, "Sweet Thing" and "Ain't Nobody." Her solo career began in 1978 with "I'm Every Woman," but her 1984 recording of Prince's "I Feel for You" made an especially important connection between established R&B and the emerging sounds of hip-hop.

The song brought together Khan's vocals, Wonder's harmonica and a rap by Grandmaster Melle Mel, whose repeated introduction of her name became one of the record's most memorable features.

More than four decades later, Khan is still working that connection.

Her latest album, "Chakzilla," released in September, features Snoop Dogg on "Boogie's in My Soul." The rapper opens the track with another playful chant of her name, recalling Melle Mel's contribution to the 1984 hit. The album also features collaborations with Sia and Lenny Kravitz.

And this isn't Khan's first trip to the Soul Train Awards as an honoree.

At the 2009 ceremony, she received an Icon Award and was celebrated with a tribute featuring Erykah Badu, Fantasia, Ledisi, Angie Stone and Melle Mel.

"Chaka Khan is the embodiment of soul music," BET President Louis Carr said in Thursday's announcement, citing her work with Rufus and the generations of performers influenced by her solo recordings.

The latest recognition follows Khan's 2023 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this year.

Actor and comedian Anthony Anderson will host the revived awards ceremony, which returns after a three-year absence with new fan-voted categories and an expanded television audience.

The Soul Train Awards will air Friday, Nov. 27, at 8 p.m. Eastern on BET and CBS.

Eminem's Former Engineer Admits Selling Unreleased Music for $50,000

Eminem is photographed at his Mom's Spaghetti restaurant in September 2021. A former studio employee pleaded guilty Thursday to selling the rapper's unreleased recordings. (Brendan_linden/Wikimedia Commons)

Joseph Strange helped operate the computer system that held Eminem's unreleased recordings. Now he has admitted selling music taken from that system for about $50,000.

Strange, 48, of Holly, Michigan, pleaded guilty Thursday to criminal copyright infringement in federal court in Detroit, admitting his role in a scheme that put music from the rapper's private studio into the hands of online buyers.

He faces up to five years in prison.

The guilty plea follows an FBI investigation that began in January 2025, when employees at Eminem's recording studio in Ferndale, Michigan, discovered unreleased songs circulating online.

Strange had worked for Eminem, whose legal name is Marshall Mathers, from approximately 2007 to 2021. His responsibilities included helping establish and operate the computer system used to store music in various stages of development.

That work gave him access to password-protected hard drives containing recordings that had never been cleared for public release.

EMINEM MUSIC LEAK | FEDERAL CASE

$50,000

Approximate sales

10+

Files copied and sold

8M+

Recorded accesses

$750K+

Estimated infringement amount

Sources: Justice Department and FBI criminal complaint. The infringement estimate is not the seller's profit or a court-ordered damages award.

According to the Justice Department, Strange copied at least 10 audio files without authorization and sold them to buyers over the internet during July and August 2024. The transactions totaled approximately $50,000.

The scope of the leak became clearer when FBI agents began tracing the music back to its source.

A criminal complaint filed in March 2025 described how investigators identified buyers, reviewed online conversations and followed Bitcoin payments connected to the sales.

One buyer, using the name Doja Rat, told investigators that a group of Eminem fans pooled money to purchase unreleased recordings from Strange. The buyer said the group acquired approximately 25 songs for about $50,000.

By the time the case became public, more than 25 recordings originally created between 1999 and 2018 had surfaced online without authorization, according to the FBI complaint.

Agents searching Strange's home in January 2025 recovered hard drives containing unreleased music and handwritten lyric sheets attributed to Eminem, the complaint said.

The leaked recordings were not necessarily songs Eminem intended to release.

Some remained works in progress, while others had undergone professional preparation, including studio mastering. Prosecutors said no commercial release was necessarily imminent or certain.

When the music first surfaced in January 2025, Eminem's longtime spokesperson, Dennis Dennehy, described the recordings to XXL as "demos, experiments and ideas" never intended for public consumption.

The exposure was considerable.

Streaming data cited by the Justice Department showed that the infringing audio files had been accessed more than 8 million times as of November 2025.

Prosecutors estimated the infringement amount at no less than $750,000. That figure is an estimated valuation of the infringement, not the amount Strange received from the sales or a court-ordered damages award.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said Strange had abused a position of trust, profiting from recordings their creator had not authorized for release.

Strange's attorney, Wade Fink, offered a different perspective on the circumstances surrounding his client's conduct.

"It is a far more complicated and nuanced matter than a man just unabashedly stealing," Fink told Reuters on Thursday.
Strange is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 27, 2027. The judge will determine his punishment after considering federal sentencing guidelines and other applicable factors.

Las Vegas Honors the R&B Group That Took Its Area Code Worldwide

LeMisha Fields and Kameelah “Meelah” Williams of R&B group 702 are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their debut album, “No Doubt,” with a hometown honor and weekend performances in Las Vegas. (Photo courtesy of Troutman Music Group)

Thirty years after taking their hometown's area code to the R&B charts, the women of 702 are coming home to a welcome only Las Vegas could give them. Thirty years after taking their hometown's area code to the R&B charts, the women of 702 are coming home to a welcome only Las Vegas could give them.

The group behind “Steelo,” “Get It Together” and “Where My Girls At?” will be honored Thursday at the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, where Clark County officials plan to recognize three decades of music that helped bring the city's R&B talent to an international audience.

Commissioner William McCurdy II is scheduled to present a proclamation to Kameelah “Meelah” Williams and LeMisha Fields during the 5 p.m. ceremony. The county also plans to pay tribute to Irish Grinstead, Fields' younger sister and longtime bandmate, who died in September 2023 at age 43.

The landmark sign will be illuminated in the group's honor.

It's a fitting tribute to an act whose name has always been a declaration of where it came from.

702 released its debut album, “No Doubt,” on Oct. 8, 1996, through Motown and Biv 10 Records. The album went gold, pairing R&B harmonies with hip-hop production and contributions from a young Missy Elliott.

702 performs “Steelo,” featuring Missy Elliott, from the group's 1996 debut album, “No Doubt.” (702 Official/YouTube)

Elliott wrote and appeared on “Steelo,” which sampled the Police's “Voices Inside My Head.” The album also produced “Get It Together,” a Donell Jones-penned ballad that reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The singers were still teenagers when they recorded much of that music, balancing schoolwork in Las Vegas with studio sessions in Los Angeles.

In an interview published Tuesday by Las Vegas Weekly, Fields recalled leaving school, flying to California to record and returning home in time for classes. While one member was in the recording booth, the others did homework. Some sessions stretched into the early morning hours.

The demanding schedule produced music that would long outlast the teenage experiences behind it.

In 1999, 702 scored its biggest crossover hit with the Elliott-written “Where My Girls At?,” which climbed to No. 4 on the Hot 100. The song helped propel the group's self-titled second album to platinum status and became a fixture of an era when female R&B groups were among popular music's dominant voices.

For Williams and Fields, the songs have taken on different meanings with age.

702 performs “Get It Together,” a single from its debut album, “No Doubt.” (702 Official/YouTube)

Williams told Las Vegas Weekly that motherhood, relationships and heartbreak have given the material a depth she could not fully appreciate as a teenager. Songs that once described emotions she was just beginning to understand now reflect experiences she has lived.

But the anniversary also brings an absence that cannot be overlooked.

Irish's death left the surviving performers to navigate the stage without a voice that helped define 702's sound. Fields said continuing to perform is part of honoring her sister, not leaving her behind.

“She would want us to continue and live out the legacy of 702,” Fields told the publication.

The homecoming extends beyond Thursday's ceremony.

702 is scheduled to perform Friday at On the Record inside Park MGM, followed by a '90s-themed skate party Saturday at Skate Rock City. Motown also has released a limited-edition 30th-anniversary vinyl pressing of “No Doubt,” including three additional mixes.

The festivities offer a chance to celebrate a group whose music has followed its fans from their teenage years into adulthood, even as the women behind those songs have endured changes of their own.

Three decades after turning a telephone prefix into a musical identity, 702 is returning to the place where it all began.

ThIs time, Las Vegas is welcoming them home — and honoring the sister who won't be there to celebrate.

From NFL Critic to Halftime Kingmaker, Jay-Z May Finally Take the Super Bowl Stage

Jay-Z visits the New York state Capitol in Albany, N.Y., on May 19, 2025. The rapper reportedly is expected to headline the 2027 Super Bowl halftime show. (Photo: New York Senate Media Services/CC BY 2.0; cropped)

Jay-Z once told the NFL he didn't need its biggest stage. Seven years after going into business with the league, he reportedly is preparing to headline it himself.

The Brooklyn rapper and Roc Nation founder is expected to perform at the 2027 Super Bowl halftime show, according to Puck, a subscription-based publication specializing in insider reporting on entertainment, media and business. The outlet reported Tuesday that Jay-Z selected himself for the performance.

Deadline separately reported that a music industry source confirmed Jay-Z would headline. Neither the NFL nor Roc Nation has officially announced a performer.

ORIGINAL REPORTING | PUCK

Jay-Z Picks Jay-Z for Super Bowl LXI

Dave Brooks reports that multiple sources say Jay-Z has selected himself for the 2027 halftime show.

Source: Puck | Oct. 20, 2026

If confirmed, the booking would complete a remarkable reversal for an artist who rejected the Super Bowl before becoming one of the most influential figures behind its halftime entertainment.

In 2018, Jay-Z addressed his decision on “APESHIT,” his collaboration with Beyoncé: “I said no to the Super Bowl. You need me, I don't need you.”

The refusal came during a period of growing controversy over the NFL's treatment of players protesting racial injustice, led by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Jay-Z later described objections to the league's proposed performance conditions as another reason he declined.

By August 2019, however, Jay-Z was sitting beside NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, announcing a partnership that would give Roc Nation a role in shaping the league's major entertainment events, including the Super Bowl.

FROM THE ARCHIVES | NFL

Jay-Z's Roc Nation enters partnership with NFL

The league's 2019 announcement describes Roc Nation's role in advising on major performances and supporting social justice initiatives.

Source: NFL | August 2019

The agreement also included work with Inspire Change, the NFL's social justice initiative.

The partnership drew immediate criticism from those who questioned why Jay-Z would work with the league while Kaepernick remained unsigned.

Jay-Z defended the arrangement as an opportunity to pursue change through the NFL's platform.

He also made clear that the negotiations had not begun with a desire to perform.

“First thing I said to Roger was, ‘If this is about me performing at the Super Bowl, then we can just end this conversation now,’” Jay-Z said at the 2019 announcement.

Instead, the agreement put Roc Nation in a position to help shape who would take the stage.

The company has since helped produce a succession of halftime shows featuring hip-hop and R&B stars, including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Usher and Kendrick Lamar.

Those performances reflected a significant change for a genre that had spent decades fighting for mainstream recognition even as it became one of popular music's dominant forces.

Jay-Z remained behind the scenes.

According to Puck, that could change Feb. 14, when Super Bowl LXI takes place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

The publication reported that Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber also were considered for the performance. Representatives for the NFL and Roc Nation did not respond to its requests for comment.

The timing adds another layer to the story.

Jay-Z is scheduled to perform Friday and Saturday at SoFi Stadium as part of a yearlong celebration marking the 30th anniversary of his 1996 debut, “Reasonable Doubt,” and the 25th anniversary of “The Blueprint.”

The venue will host the Super Bowl less than four months later.

Puck's report also raises a question about the unusual relationship between the artist and the event he may headline.

Roc Nation's original agreement called for the company to advise the NFL on performer selection. Although Puck described Jay-Z as the principal decision-maker, the league's final approval process has not been publicly detailed.

For Jay-Z, 56, a halftime appearance would bring together several chapters of a career that has taken him from Brooklyn's rap scene to the highest levels of the entertainment business.

It would also return him to a stage he once said he could do without.

This time, he would arrive not just as a performer, but as someone who helped reshape the show.

Drake Sued Over ‘Janice Stfu’ by Fellow Beyoncé ‘Heated’ Songwriter

Drake is shown in a scene from the official music video for “Janice STFU.” The rapper faces a federal copyright lawsuit alleging he copied the song's chorus from another songwriter's recording. Drake denies the allegations. (Drake/YouTube)

A Grammy-winning songwriter who shares writing credits with Drake on Beyoncé's “Heated” has sued the rapper over one of his biggest hits, alleging that the chorus of “Janice STFU” was taken from a demo he submitted to producers in Drake's circle months before the song was released.
Aviel Calev Hirschfield, a Portland, Oregon, producer who records as GoodbyeCalev, filed the copyright infringement lawsuit Friday in federal court in Los Angeles against Drake, OVO Sound, UMG Recordings and Universal Music Publishing.

Drake's representatives emphatically deny the allegations.

The dispute centers on eight lines Hirschfield says he wrote and recorded in January for a song he hoped Drake would perform. According to the complaint, he sent the finished recording to several producers who had worked with the rapper, including the production duo FnZ, but received no response.

Then came May 15.

Hirschfield says he was listening to Drake's newly released album, “Iceman,” when he heard “Janice STFU” and immediately recognized the chorus.

The lyrics, melody and cadence were identical to his recording, he alleges.

The lawsuit places an unusually detailed account of the song's creation at the center of the dispute, including a drive to Seattle, a Lykke Li recording and digital files that Hirschfield says establish when his vocals were recorded.

Hirschfield alleges that hearing Li's 2011 song “I Follow Rivers” inspired him to develop a new chorus with Drake in mind. Working over an instrumental supplied by FnZ members Michael Mulé and Isaac De Boni, he completed the recording around Jan. 25.

“Janice STFU” also interpolates “I Follow Rivers,” but the complaint concerns Hirschfield's claimed original lyrics and vocal melody, not ownership of Li's song.

Drake's official music video for "Janice STFU," released May 15, 2026. A songwriter alleges that the song's chorus was copied from his earlier recording. Drake denies the claim. (Drake/YouTube)

After the release, Hirschfield's representatives supplied Drake's team with the recording and individual audio tracks, known as stems, containing metadata that he contends establishes when the work was created.

Rather than acknowledge his contribution, Hirschfield alleges, Drake's representatives questioned the authenticity of that metadata and sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding that he stop publicly claiming authorship.

Drake's camp tells a very different story.

“These allegations are categorically, unequivocally, and completely denied,” a representative told TMZ.

The representative said Drake wrote the song himself and had no knowledge of Hirschfield, calling the lawsuit an attempt to exploit the rapper's success.

That denial raises an important distinction in Hirschfield's account: Although he and Drake are both credited as writers on “Heated,” from Beyoncé's 2022 album “Renaissance,” the lawsuit does not claim Hirschfield personally delivered the disputed recording to Drake.

Instead, Hirschfield alleges that Drake had access to it through producers who received the demo.

Their connection through “Heated” is documented. Hirschfield told Portland's Willamette Week in 2023 that his manager had circulated one of his tracks before Beyoncé selected it for her album.

Another detail could become important as the case progresses.

Drake previewed an early version of what became “Janice STFU” during a September 2025 livestream, months before Hirschfield says he finished his chorus. That earlier version, titled “That's Just How I Feel,” did not appear to contain the eight disputed lines, according to a transcription published at the time.

Whether Hirschfield's recording reached Drake's collaborators, and when the disputed chorus took its final form, remain central unanswered questions.

The stakes are substantial. “Janice STFU” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent two weeks atop the chart. The lawsuit says the recording has surpassed 300 million Spotify streams.

Hirschfield is seeking damages and profits attributable to the alleged infringement, along with attorney fees. He has not specified a dollar amount.

His recording was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office effective July 21, more than two months after Drake released the song. That timing could restrict the availability of certain statutory damages and attorney fees under federal copyright law, although it does not by itself resolve the infringement claim.

The lawsuit does not seek an order removing the song from streaming platforms.

Chance Wins Legal Battle Over Merchandise Profits as Drakeo’s Estate Settles Death Case

Chance the Rapper performs at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado on May 2, 2017. A Chicago judge ruled Tuesday that his former manager breached his fiduciary duties in connection with the rapper's merchandise business. (Photo by Julio Enriquez, CC BY 2.0; cropped for display)

A Chicago judge has ordered Chance the Rapper's former manager to surrender undisclosed merchandise commissions, while the estate of slain Los Angeles rapper Drakeo the Ruler has reached a settlement with festival organizers and security companies sued over his 2021 death.

A Chicago judge has ordered Chance the Rapper's former manager to surrender undisclosed merchandise commissions, while the estate of slain Los Angeles rapper Drakeo the Ruler has reached a settlement with festival organizers and security companies sued over his 2021 death.

The unrelated cases mark significant developments in two long-running hip-hop legal battles. Neither has produced a publicly established final payout: The amount Chance's former manager must forfeit remains under review, and the terms of Drakeo's estate settlement have not been disclosed.

Chance wins ruling over merchandise profits

Chance the Rapper has won another round in his nearly six-year legal fight with Patrick "Pat the Manager" Corcoran, the former friend who helped guide his rise from Chicago's independent rap scene to Grammy-winning success.

Cook County Circuit Judge James E. Hanlon Jr. ruled Tuesday that Corcoran breached his fiduciary duties by collecting undisclosed commissions from merchandise vendors while also receiving management fees tied to the same business.

Hanlon ordered Corcoran to surrender those commissions, forfeit the 15% management compensation associated with the affected merchandise transactions and transfer the ChanceRaps.com domain to the rapper by Oct. 28.

Chance's representatives estimate the forfeited management fees could total as much as $1.5 million, in addition to the vendor payments. The figure is not a final court award.

The parties have until Nov. 30 to agree on an amount. If they cannot, the judge will decide.

The ruling follows a March jury verdict that rejected Corcoran's demand for $3.8 million in unpaid commissions and royalties. The jury also found in Chance's favor on portions of his countersuit, awarding him $35.

The two worked together from 2012 until their relationship collapsed in 2020, building one of hip-hop's most prominent independent success stories without a traditional written management agreement.

Their dispute eventually turned on what Corcoran was owed after his dismissal and whether he had put his own business interests ahead of the artist's.

The latest ruling was not an across-the-board victory for Chance.

Hanlon rejected his attempts to recover compensation connected to several outside ventures, including the Ramova Theatre and UnitedMasters. The judge also declined to award punitive damages or strip Corcoran of all the compensation he earned during the relationship.

Corcoran's attorneys welcomed those limits, arguing that the court recognized the value of his work and rejected the rapper's broader financial demands.

Chance, whose legal name is Chancelor Bennett, said he was grateful to be nearing the end of the dispute and hoped to eventually share his account of what happened.

Drakeo's estate settles festival death lawsuit

In Los Angeles, a separate legal fight over the killing of Drakeo the Ruler has reached a conditional settlement nearly five years after the rapper was fatally stabbed backstage at a music festival.

A notice filed Oct. 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court confirms that Drakeo's estate, administered by his mother, Darrylene Corniel, reached an agreement with Live Nation and several other companies involved in the Once Upon a Time in L.A. festival.

The settlement resolves the estate's claims, subject to specified conditions being completed within 45 days. No financial terms have been disclosed.

Drakeo, born Darrell Wayne Caldwell Jr., was 28 when he was attacked backstage on Dec. 18, 2021, shortly before he was scheduled to perform.

His estate accused the festival promoters and security contractors of failing to maintain a secure backstage area and allowing a group of attackers to reach the rapper and his entourage.

The defendants disputed the negligence allegations. The settlement does not constitute a court finding that they were responsible for his death.

The agreement also does not end all the civil litigation arising from the attack.

Claims involving Drakeo's younger brother, rapper Ralfy the Plug, and others who were backstage remain scheduled for trial Nov. 30.

The criminal investigation remains unresolved. No one has been charged with Drakeo's killing.

The estate's agreement settles a major part of the civil case, but it does not establish who killed the rapper or whether the remaining plaintiffs will prevail against the festival organizers.

Drakeo the Ruler's "Talk to Me," featuring Drake, appeared on his 2021 album The Truth Hurts. (Drakeo the Ruler/YouTube)

Man Convicted in Tupac Shakur’s Murder Gets 40 Years to Life, Three Decades After Killing

Duane “Keffe D” Davis is shown in a Sept. 29, 2023, police booking photograph. Davis was sentenced Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

Duane “Keffe D” Davis spent years publicly describing his role in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur. On Tuesday, the former gang leader was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the murder, bringing a measure of justice to the rapper's family more than three decades after the fatal shooting.

Clark County District Judge Carli Kierny imposed the sentence in Las Vegas, six weeks after a jury convicted Davis of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon.

Davis, 63, was the only person ever charged in the killing, one of hip-hop's most enduring unsolved crimes until his arrest in September 2023.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis appears in court in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, for sentencing in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur. Davis was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison. (Video: Courtroom Insider/YouTube)

Shakur's family addressed the court before sentencing, recalling a brother whose life had been cut short at 25.

His younger sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, described their mother's belief that Tupac could change the world.

“He believed her,” she told the court. “He went out in the world to do that. And I believe he would have done it.”

Their brother Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur spoke about everything Tupac never experienced, including the opportunity to have children and watch his nieces and nephews grow up.

For the family, the punishment followed 30 years of living with the consequences of a killing that became part of hip-hop history even as their personal loss remained unresolved.

Kierny rejected Davis' argument that he had left his violent past behind.

“You don't get to take a man from his family,” the judge told him. “The world never forgot about him.”

Davis will receive credit for time served since his arrest. His attorney, Michael Sanft, said he plans to appeal the conviction.

When offered an opportunity to speak, Davis did not apologize. Instead, he asked about recovering personal belongings seized by police, including photographs.

TUPAC SHAKUR MURDER CASE

30 years to a sentence

Sept. 7, 1996
Tupac Shakur is shot in Las Vegas. He dies six days later.

Sept. 29, 2023
Duane Davis is arrested and charged in the killing.

Aug. 31, 2026
A jury convicts Davis of first-degree murder.

Oct. 13, 2026
Davis is sentenced to 40 years to life.

Sources: Clark County court records and AP and Reuters reporting.

The prosecution had built much of its case around Davis' own accounts of the shooting, including interviews, statements to investigators and his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”

Prosecutors argued that Davis organized a retaliatory attack after Shakur and members of his entourage assaulted Davis' nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, at the MGM Grand following a Mike Tyson boxing match on Sept. 7, 1996.

Hours later, Shakur was riding in a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled alongside the car near the Las Vegas Strip.

Someone inside the Cadillac opened fire.

Shakur was struck multiple times. Knight survived with a minor injury, but Shakur died six days later, on Sept. 13.

Davis acknowledged being inside the Cadillac and described passing a gun toward the back seat, where the shots were fired. Prosecutors said he supplied the weapon and directed the retaliation, making him criminally responsible for the murder even though he was not accused of pulling the trigger.

His attorneys maintained that his public accounts had been exaggerated or fabricated for publicity and financial gain. They also challenged the absence of physical evidence connecting Davis to the shooting.

The jury rejected that defense after a trial that revisited gang rivalries, the East Coast-West Coast rap feud and a murder investigation that remained dormant for years.

The identity of the person who fired the fatal shots has never been conclusively established in court. Anderson, whom Davis identified as the gunman, died in 1998. The other alleged occupants of the Cadillac are also dead.

For millions of listeners, Shakur remains the artist behind “Dear Mama,” “Keep Ya Head Up,” “California Love” and “Changes,” records that helped establish his voice as one of the most influential in rap.

For his family, he was a son and brother whose future disappeared on a Las Vegas street.

Davis' sentence establishes the punishment for his role in that killing. His planned appeal means the legal proceedings may continue.

But Tuesday's hearing marked a consequence his own public accounts of the murder helped bring about: After nearly three decades without a prosecution, the only man convicted in Tupac Shakur's death now faces at least 40 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

Court Sides With Top Dawg Entertainment in Fight Over Accusers’ Identities

The Ronald Reagan State Building in Los Angeles houses California's 2nd District Court of Appeal, which ruled Thursday in favor of Top Dawg Entertainment on a doxing claim. (Coolcaesar/Wikimedia Commons)

Top Dawg Entertainment won a significant legal victory Thursday when a California appeals court ruled that the record label could publicly identify two women who had sued its executives for alleged sexual misconduct, despite their decision to file the case anonymously.

The ruling removes a doxing claim against the influential hip-hop and R&B label but leaves the women's underlying allegations of sexual assault, harassment and unpaid work unresolved.

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of California's 2nd District Court of Appeal found that TDE's decision to name the women in a February 2025 press release was protected under state law. The women had filed their lawsuit as Jane Doe and Jane Roe but had never asked a judge for permission to keep their identities confidential.

That omission proved decisive.

PRIMARY SOURCE | CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEAL

Luna v. Top Dawg Entertainment

Second Appellate District, Division Two
Decided Oct. 8, 2026 | Case B347645

The appeals court directed the trial court to strike the doxing claim. The underlying sexual misconduct allegations were not decided.

Read the full 12-page court ruling (PDF)

Source: Judicial Branch of California.

The court said TDE's response to the lawsuit was protected by California's anti-SLAPP law, which guards certain speech and petitioning activities against litigation. It also found that the disclosure of the women's names qualified for protection under the state's fair report privilege, which covers accurate reporting about judicial proceedings.

"TDE violated no court order or rule when it disclosed Plaintiffs' names," Justice Anne Richardson wrote for the panel.

The decision reverses a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who had refused to dismiss the doxing claim in June 2025.

TDE, the label that helped launch Kendrick Lamar's career and established SZA as a major R&B star, has been fighting the lawsuit since December 2024.

One plaintiff alleges that Brandon Tiffith sexually battered her and that fellow executive Anthony Tiffith Jr. sexually harassed her while she provided services to the company between 2019 and 2024. She also alleges she was not paid for her work.

The second woman alleges that David Harrell, identified in court documents as a TDE employee, sexually assaulted and harassed her while she lived in a company-owned home in 2020 and 2021.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

The dispute over the women's identities began after their attorneys publicized the lawsuit on Jan. 31, 2025, using the pseudonyms from their complaint.

TDE responded the following day with a statement that identified both women by name, rejected their allegations as fabricated and described the lawsuit as a shakedown. The company also claimed the women, through their attorneys, had demanded $48 million and disputed that either had been an employee.

Four days later, the women amended their complaint to accuse the label of doxing them.

The trial judge initially sided with the women, reasoning that TDE did not need to reveal their identities to defend itself publicly.

The appeals court disagreed.

What the court decided — and what it didn't

DECIDED

The disclosure of the women's names was legally protected in these circumstances. The doxing claim must be stricken.

NOT DECIDED

Whether the allegations of sexual assault, harassment and unpaid work are true. Those claims remain unresolved.

Source: California Court of Appeal, B347645, Oct. 8, 2026.

The judges emphasized that the women could have sought court authorization to proceed anonymously and might have had substantial grounds for such a request. But without that protection, the court found, their use of pseudonyms did not prevent TDE from accurately identifying who had filed the lawsuit.

The ruling does not establish that defendants are always free to identify anonymous plaintiffs. It turns on the absence of a court order, a pending request for anonymity or another applicable legal protection in this case.

Nor did the panel determine whether the original allegations were true.

Instead, it directed the trial court to grant TDE's motion to strike the doxing claim and awarded the defendants their costs on appeal.

The broader lawsuit remains unresolved, with the women still pursuing allegations stemming from their experiences with the label and people associated with it.

Tupac’s 1995 Prison Interview Gets New Release as Original Tapes Head Toward Auction

Patrick Heaphy, left, Tupac Shakur and Jason Keller are shown at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., during a 1995 interview shoot. (Courtesy LCM247)

Patrick Heaphy went to a maximum-security prison in upstate New York in 1995 to film Tupac Shakur for a concert against youth violence. More than three decades later, he is still trying to make that concert happen.

The filmmaker announced Thursday that an extended presentation of his interview with Shakur will premiere Oct. 12 on YouTube, exactly 31 years after the rapper's release from prison. He also plans to auction the original camera and recording tapes, with part of the proceeds intended to help revive the concert that first brought him to Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York.

The concert never materialized, but the interview became part of the extensive documentary record Shakur left behind before his death in 1996.

Heaphy said the original assignment took an unexpected turn almost as soon as he arrived.

TUPAC SHAKUR | ARCHIVE / 2026

One interview. Two different releases.

1995The original recording

Filmed at Clinton Correctional Facility. Footage later appeared in commercially distributed documentaries.

2026The extended premiere

Heaphy announces a new presentation, plans to auction his equipment and proposes an anti-violence concert.

Whether the new edition includes previously unseen footage remains unclear.

View the earlier documentary's library record

"Most people don't know that I went to Dannemora to film Tupac for a proposed jailhouse concert aimed at stopping youth violence," Heaphy said in Thursday's announcement.

Shakur, he recalled, greeted the crew with news that he expected to be released.

In an earlier interview with Rorschach Art Publication, Heaphy described traveling to the prison with interviewer Frank Cooley and production assistant Jason Keller. What followed was an unusually candid encounter with a rapper whose music was dominating the charts even as his legal troubles dominated headlines.

Shakur was serving a sentence stemming from a New York sexual abuse conviction. His third solo album, "Me Against the World," had debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in March 1995, making him the first artist to achieve that distinction while incarcerated.

The album included "Dear Mama," his tribute to his mother, Afeni Shakur, and offered a more reflective side of an artist frequently portrayed through his confrontations with police, rivals and the music industry.

Heaphy's footage captured Shakur discussing his circumstances, ambitions and experiences behind bars during a period when his career and personal life were about to change dramatically.

Shakur was released on $1.4 million bond pending appeal on Oct. 12, 1995, and joined Death Row Records. Four months later, he released "All Eyez on Me," the blockbuster double album that included "California Love" and "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted."

He was fatally wounded in a Las Vegas shooting in September 1996 and died six days later at 25.

Behind the story

Read the original announcement and the filmmaker's account of the 1995 prison shoot.

Read LCM247's October 8 announcementRead Patrick Heaphy's earlier interview

Links to original sources

Although the upcoming presentation is being promoted as an extended version of the 1995 conversation, the footage itself is not a newly discovered recording.

Material from the prison session appeared in earlier documentaries, including "Tupac vs." and "Tupac Uncensored and Uncut: The Lost Prison Tapes," the latter released in 2009 and co-directed by Heaphy and Ken Peters.

The producers have not specified how much, if any, previously unreleased footage will appear in the new edition.

The planned auction presents a separate chapter in the recording's history.

Heaphy and his production company, LCM247, say they intend to offer the original Sony camera used during the prison shoot, along with source tapes from the production. Heaphy says he has personally authenticated the camera and holds the registered U.S. copyright to the interview footage.

An auction house, sale date and estimated value have not been announced.

The filmmaker also hopes to use a portion of the proceeds and a proposed crowdfunding campaign to finance a concert featuring contemporary artists and addressing youth violence.

For now, that event remains a proposal. No performers, venue or date have been identified.

The effort would revisit an idea conceived at a particularly turbulent point in Shakur's life, when the rapper was balancing commercial success with imprisonment and speaking publicly about the conditions affecting young Black Americans.

Whether the new release offers substantially more of that conversation remains to be seen.

What Heaphy wants to accomplish with it, however, has come full circle.

"If the film, the camera and the tapes can now help us finally make that concert happen," he said, "that feels like the right next chapter."

"The Tupac Prison Interview" is scheduled to premiere Monday, Oct. 12, at 9 p.m. Eastern on LCM247's YouTube channel.

Ebony Power 100 names Jay-Z, Megan Thee Stallion and T.I. Music Innovators

Megan Thee Stallion performs at the Superbloom Festival in Munich in September 2022. Ebony named her among its 2026 Power 100 Music Innovators. (Valerie Albert/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Jay-Z, Megan Thee Stallion and T.I. are among the music names on Ebony’s 2026 Power 100, while some of the other best-known musicians on the list landed in categories that have little to do with chart position.

Ebony unveiled this year’s list Monday, naming the three Music Innovators alongside Gamma co-founder and CEO Larry Jackson and HarbourView Equity Partners founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke.

The rest of the music crowd is scattered across the list.

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz were named Artists in Residence. Common and Vic Mensa are Community Crusaders. Questlove is an Entertainment Powerhouse.

For readers who first knew those names from radio, CDs and music television, the categories come with some interesting job changes.

2026 POWER 100

The Stories We Shape

Ebony unveiled its 2026 Power 100 list Oct. 5, honoring figures across music, entertainment, business, sports, media, technology and community leadership. (EBONY Media Group/PR Newswire)

Ebony identifies Jay-Z as an entrepreneur and founder of Roc Nation. T.I. gets both rapper and entrepreneur. Questlove is listed as a musician, filmmaker and author. Common is identified as a rapper, actor and activist.

Megan Thee Stallion gets the simplest description of the group: Grammy-winning rapper.

The list is broader than music. Debbie Allen and novelist Colson Whitehead join Keys and Swizz Beatz among the Artists in Residence. Keke Palmer and filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood are Entertainment Powerhouses alongside Questlove.

Naomi Osaka and WNBA Players Association President Nneka Ogwumike are among the Leaders in Sports. So are five New York Knicks players: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama appears in Generation Next, while streamer iShowSpeed is among the Influential Creators.

See the complete 2026 Ebony Power 100

Ebony's full list includes honorees across music, entertainment, business, sports, media, technology and community leadership.

View the official Power 100 list at Ebony

Ebony’s 2026 theme is “The Stories We Shape,” with the publication putting an emphasis on who gets to tell and control stories about Black life and culture.

“The Power 100 has always documented the people moving our culture forward,” Ebony CEO Eden Bridgeman said in announcing the list.

The 2026 Power 100 spans 10 categories.

The honorees will be celebrated Nov. 9 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The event is being produced with Jesse Collins Entertainment, whose credits include the BET Awards, Emmy Awards and multiple Super Bowl halftime shows.

Freddie Jackson, Platinum-Selling R&B Singer, Dies at 70

Freddie Jackson appears during a 2019 interview on "Sister Circle Live." The R&B singer, whose hits included "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)" and "You Are My Lady," died Monday at 70. (Sister Circle TV via screenshot)

Freddie Jackson, whose unmistakable voice and string of chart-topping love songs made him one of R&B's biggest stars of the 1980s, has died. He was 70.

Jackson died Monday, three days after his birthday, his family announced Tuesday on his official Instagram account. No cause of death was disclosed.

The Harlem-born singer ruled R&B radio with hits including “Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake),” “You Are My Lady,” “Tasty Love” and “Have You Ever Loved Somebody,” collecting 10 No. 1 singles on Billboard's R&B chart and two platinum albums along the way.

His family remembered him as a “kind, generous soul” and thanked the listeners who had supported his music and performances over the decades.

FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENT

Jackson's family announced his death Tuesday on his official Instagram account. Read the family's original statement.

Jackson's rise was immediate.

His 1985 Capitol Records debut, Rock Me Tonight, produced four Top 10 R&B singles. The title track spent six weeks at No. 1, while “You Are My Lady” became his biggest crossover hit, introducing him to pop audiences without sacrificing the sound that had made him a favorite on Black radio.

Freddie Jackson performs "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)," his 1985 breakthrough hit. (Capitol Records/YouTube)

His follow-up, 1986's Just Like the First Time, kept the hits coming. “Tasty Love,” “Have You Ever Loved Somebody” and “Jam Tonight” all topped the R&B chart, establishing Jackson as much more than a balladeer.

He also reached No. 1 with “A Little Bit More,” a duet with Melba Moore, and continued his run of hits into the 1990s.

Jackson's commercial success placed him among the leading male R&B singers of a period dominated by artists including Luther Vandross. But it also reflected the power of Black radio, where an artist could build a major career without achieving comparable success on the pop charts.

Jackson was keenly aware of that distinction.

In a 1988 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he discussed the pressure on Black performers to change their music in pursuit of crossover success.

“Crossover is just icing on the cake,” he told the newspaper.

Freddie Jackson performs "You Are My Lady," one of his signature R&B hits. (Capitol Records/YouTube)He was equally clear about changing musical tastes. As Keith Sweat and Al B. Sure! helped usher in a more hip-hop-influenced era of R&B, Jackson told Billboard in 1988 that he respected the emerging sound but intended to remain rooted in the traditional soul music his audience expected.

The approach continued to pay off. His third album, Don't Let Love Slip Away, produced more R&B hits, including “Hey Lover” and “Nice 'n' Slow.” The title track from his 1990 album Do Me Again also reached No. 1.

His cultural footprint stretched beyond the charts. In 2000, Big Boi name-checked Jackson and Teddy Pendergrass in OutKast's “So Fresh, So Clean,” placing two generations of soul singers in the middle of a hip-hop classic.

Born Oct. 2, 1956, Jackson began singing gospel at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church, where he met future producer and songwriter Paul Laurence. After working New York clubs and singing with the group Mystic Merlin, he recorded demos and sang backup for Moore before launching his solo career.

His breakthrough earned two Grammy nominations in 1986: best new artist and best male R&B vocal performance for “You Are My Lady.”

Jackson continued recording long after his chart dominance faded, releasing music independently and returning in 2023 with My First Love.

In 2024, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with kidney disease and partnered with the National Kidney Foundation to promote awareness. His family has not linked the illness to his death.

The family said details of memorial arrangements and opportunities for fans to honor Jackson would be announced later.