Queer country artist Orville Peck released the new single “Death Valley High”—a collaboration with eight-time Grammy winner Beck, a press release noted. The video features guest stars Sharon Stone and Gigi Goode. The high-energy track is the latest cut from Peck’s upcoming duets album Stampede, which arrives Aug. 2, and follows the release of “Midnight Ride,” a dance track alongside Kylie Minogue and Diplo. Last month, Peck announced his 6th annual Rodeo, featuring performances from Medium Build, Mickey Guyton, Reyna Roberts, The Nude Party and more in addition to a headline set from Peck and Tanya Tucker. Hosted by John Waters, the rodeo will take place on August 24 at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater.
Earlier this year, queer musician/Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music assistant arts professor JD Samson won the Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Original Score for her work on the documentary 32 Sounds, per a press release. 32 Sounds is an immersive documentary that explores the elemental phenomenon of sound; Samson served as composer. According to an NYU Tisch School of the Arts bio, “A formidable songwriter, producer, visual artist and internationally renowned DJ, Samson has amassed a body of work that not only spans a variety of fields—everything from pop music and fine art to curatorial work, political activism, and fashion—but has also helped galvanize NYC’s LGBT community.”
Performer/fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi will return to the NYC club 54 Below with his band in Isaac Mizrahi: A Brief History on Aug. 28-31, per a press release. Mizrahi has worked extensively in the entertainment industry as a performer, host, writer, designer and producer for more than 30 years. With an annual residency at Cafe Carlyle in New York City, he has taken his cabaret performances across the country and this past year made his Broadway debut in Chicago, starring as Amos Hart. In addition, Mizrahi has his own production company, Isaac Mizrahi Entertainment, under which he has several projects in development in television, theater and literature. His New York Times bestselling memoir, I.M., was published in 2019.
Dozens of queer creators and queer-themed TV shows have been nominated for the 76th annual Emmy Awards. According to The Washington Blade, shows like Netflix’s Ripley and Baby Reindeer as well as FX’s Feud: Capote vs. the Swans scored nominations in 13, 12, and 10 categories, respectively. Once again, RuPaul dominated the reality categories, with MTV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race earning nominations for outstanding reality competition series, production design, casting and choreography, among other areas; also, if RuPaul wins for outstanding reality-competition host, he’ll extend his record eight consecutive wins in the category. Some of the other queer actors and shows picking up nods were Ayo Edibiri (The Bear), Holland Taylor (The Morning Show), Bowen Yang (SNL), Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country), the limited series Fellow Travelers and the Shudder series Boulet Brothers: Dragula. The awards show will take place Sept. 15 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, and will be broadcast on ABC.
Tom Viola—the longtime executive director of the groundbreaking nonprofit organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS—said that he’ll retire at the end of 2024, ending a 36-year tenure, per Deadline. Current Broadway Cares Director of Development Danny Whitman, who’s been with the nonprofit for 15 years, will succeed Viola as executive director beginning Jan. 1, 2025. Viola will remain involved with the organization as a consultant throughout next year.
Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated actress, singer and trans-rights activist Michaela Jae (best known from the show Pose) is set to release her debut album, 33, on Sept. 26, per a press release. According to the release, “Each song on 33 represents a different stage in Michaela Jae’s intergalactic avatar’s journey, from the initial shock of waking up without a memory to ultimately finding acceptance and empowerment in her new reality. Through this fantastical lens, Michaela Jaé explores deeper human emotions and experiences, weaving an allegorical tale that parallels her own journey.”
Icon Shania Twain will host the two-hour 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards, airing live from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on Thursday, Sept. 26, on NBC and Peacock, per a press release. Last year’s inaugural show, hosted by Opry members Little Big Town, recognized the biggest and best country music has to offer and honorees were chosen entirely by the fans across various categories. Honorees included Jelly Roll, Wynonna Judd, Kelsea Ballerini, Blake Shelton and others.
Out Tony winner Jonathan Groff is set to star in a staged reading next month of a new musical about Bobby Darin—the 1950s-’60s-era singer who scored hits with “Mack the Knife,” “Dream Lover” and “Beyond The Sea,” Deadline reported. With an eye toward Broadway, Groff will perform the industry reading of Just In Time in New York next month. Alex Timbers will direct the reading; he also directed in 2018, when he teamed with Groff on an early concert version of the musical at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan.
Center Stage Records announced the release of Patti LuPone: A Life in Notes, per a press release. Her first new studio album since 2006, the Grammy Award and three-time Tony Award winner’s new double album will be available digitally on July 19, and on CD on Aug. 30. Tracks include “Lilac Wine,” “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Anything Goes,” “Saratoga Summer Song” and “Alfie,” among others. The album can be ordered now at Amazon and www.CenterStageRecords.com, and the digital album can be pre-saved at https://orcd.co/lifeinnotes.
Fitness guru Richard Simmons, who had just celebrated his birthday on July 12, has died at age 76, per ABC News. Simmons has been out of the public eye lately, although there were reports of a biopic being made about the fitness enthusiast earlier this year. Simmons criticized the reports, writing, “Don’t believe everything you read. I no longer have a manager, and I no longer have a publicist. I just try to live a quiet life and be peaceful.” Simmons—known for his constant positivity—told his fans in March that he’d had skin cancer removed from his face, but was now doing well. Simmons never officially came out as LGBTQ+, although Jane Fonda stated on Instagram, “I saw him last when I took him and a boyfriend of his to lunch at the Polo Lounge. The relationship was new and he was proud. I never saw or heard from him again and, like many thousands of others, I’ve mourned his absence from my life.”
New York-based LGBTQ+ film and media organization NewFest announced the 2024 recipients of the New Voices Filmmaker Grant—an effort in partnership with Netflix to support emerging LGBTQ+ filmmakers, per a press release. The 2024 recipients of the New Voices Filmmaker Grant are Apa Agbayani, Angalis Field, Clementine Narcisse and cai thomas. NewFest received nearly 600 applications for this year’s New Voices Filmmaker Grant via an open submission process starting in January; applications for the fourth year of the grant are expected to open in January 2025 at NewFest.org.
Shōgun and Hacks were among the big winners at the 40th Annual The Television Critics Association (TCA) Awards, Deadline noted. The former won for Program of the Year as well as in Outstanding Achievement in Drama, Outstanding New Program and Individual Achievement in Drama for star Anna Sawai. And Jean Smart took home her second Individual Achievement in Comedy Award for her portrayal as comedian Deborah Vance in Hacks. Doctor Who, which now stars out actor Ncuti Gatwa, won for Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming. The late Andre Braugher—who, among many characters, played a gay police captain on the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine—received an award for career achievement.
While hosting the ESPYs, Serena Williams called out Kansas City Chiefs player Harrison Butker at the 2024 ESPY Awards after his controversial remarks about the role of women during a commencement speech that was also anti-LGBTQ+, Deadline noted. At one point, sister Venus Williams and Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson joined her on stage to help celebrate women. “So, go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sports because they are sports,” Venus said. Serena added, “Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you.” Brunson then said, “At all. Like, ever.” Butker responded by telling NBC News, “I thought Mrs. Williams was a great host and applaud her for using her platform to express her beliefs on a variety of topics. Sports are supposed to be the great unifier, and at an event dedicated to celebrating a diverse group of men and women who have accomplished great feats, she used it as an opportunity to disinvite those with whom she disagrees with from supporting fellow athletes.”
This year’s Kennedy Center Honors will be awarded to director Francis Ford Coppola; rock band Grateful Dead; singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt; jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval; and the venue The Apollo, Deadline noted. The ceremony will take place on Dec. 8, and it will be broadcast Dec. 23 on CBS. The first Kennedy Center honorees (in 1978) were Marian Anderson, Fred Astaire, George Balanchine, Richard Rodgers and Arthur Rubinstein.
Out actor Kit Connor is slated to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as the superhero Hulkling, per Instinct Magazine, citing The Cosmic Circus. Hulkling is a Kree/Skrull hybrid with shapeshifting abilities and superhuman strength—and he’s half of Marvel’s most prominent gay couple, with Wiccan. Wiccan boasts powers such as chaos magic, flight, reality-warping, telekinesis, telepathy and teleportation. Interestingly, Connor’s queer Heartstoppers co-star Joe Locke will appear as Wiccan in the TV series Agatha All Along, Out noted last year.
Now, Halle Berry has left All’s Fair, Hulu‘s new legal series from Ryan Murphy and Kim Kardashian, per Deadline. Previously, Berry and Glenn Close were named as part of the ensemble cast of the show, which stars Kardashian as the head of an all-female law firm.
Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, actor and producer Joe Jonas plans to release his new full-length solo album, Music for People Who Believe In Love, on Oct. 18 via Republic Records, per a press release. His newest single, “Work It Out,” was released July 19.
The creators of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV say they’re open to making a follow up to the series, Deadline noted. The five-part Investigation Discovery series documented alleged abuse suffered by stars of Nickelodeon series when they were children. Drake Bell and Raquel Lee Bolleau of The Amanda Show; Shane Lyons, Katrina Johnson, Leon Frierson, Giovonnie Samuels and Bryan Hearne of All That; and Alexa Nikolas of Zoey 101 were among those allegedly abused.
The upcoming Broadway production of the musical Maybe Happy Ending, starring Darren Criss and Helen J Shen, will be delayed by nearly a month due to what producers say are supply-chain issues, Deadline noted. Said issues are related to the custom-made scenic design. The musical will now start performances at the Belasco Theatre on Wed., Oct. 16 with opening night set for Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Actor/musician Jack Black (who’s endorsed Joe Biden) cancelled his latest Tenacious D tour and said that “all future creative plans” for the duo are on hold following partner Kyle Gass’ controversial on-stage “joke” about the recent assassination attempt against Donald Trump, per Deadline. During a performance in Sydney, Gass was asked to make a wish by his co-frontman, replying “Don’t miss Trump next time.” The remark attracted plenty of criticism, with an Australian senator demanding the comedy-rock band be deported.Tenacious D was also due to begin a U.S. tour in October with a sold-out show in newly minted GOP running mate U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance’s state of Ohio, but that’s seemingly on hold as well.
Soulja Boy (real name: DeAndre Cortez Way) is suing social-media figures Tasha K and William The Baddest for defamation after they allegedly made false statements about the rapper having a sexual encounter with a man, according to Billboard. Soulja’s suit cited a May interview on Tasha K’s celebrity gossip podcast in which William allegedly recounted explicit details of a supposed encounter he’d had with the “Crank That” rapper. The musician’s lawyers say these statements were false and have brought “embarrassment and disgrace that can cause fans to abandon and withdraw from supporting him.” In 2022, Cardi B won a nearly $4 million defamation verdict against Tasha K over statements about drug use, STDs and prostitution.
Musician Andre 3000 (previously half of the rap duo OutKast) responded to actor/rapper LL Cool J’s criticism of Andre’s debut album New Blue Sun, which featured no rapping but his longtime interest in flutes, People noted. LL said he didn’t “wanna hear him do the flute,” and publicly called for the star to return to rapping. In a recent interview on The Shop video series, Andre replied, “Of course, I have things to say now, but if I can’t say them in a fresh, innovative way, if I feel like I’m just hanging onto the same flow that I used to do, it’s not enough for me. So I can’t talk for another rapper about what [they’re] doing. I just say, ‘Man, go for you. If it’s in you.’” New Blue Sun’s 12-minute opening track is titled “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a Rap Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.”
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