By Mariel Turner
1:49pm PDT, Jul 6, 2018
Las Vegas police give update on Tupac Shakur murder case
Las Vegas police clarified the status of Tupac Shakur's murder case on July 4 after the primary suspect's uncle claimed in a BET docuseries that he knew who fatally shot the rapper. "We are aware of the statements made in a BET interview regarding the Tupac case. As a result of those statements we have spent the last several months reviewing the case in its entirety," the LVMPD said in a statement. "Various reports that an arrest warrant is about to be submitted are inaccurate. This case still remains an open homicide case."
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Montreal International Jazz Festival cancels performance after outrage over slave songs, costumes
Montreal International Jazz Festival organizers cancelled a show on July 4 after being heavily criticized for allowing white performers to sing African-American slave songs while dressed as cotton pickers and field workers. "For the Festival international de Jazz de Montreal, inclusion and reconciliation between communities is essential," the festival said in a statement. "We made the decision with the artist Betty Bonifassi to cancel all performances of the show ["SLAV"] at the festival."
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Shirley Manson speaks out about her battle with self-harm, cutting
Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson opened up about her battle with self-harm and cutting in a New York Times op-ed piece on July 3. "I didn't know I was a cutter until the first time I chose to cut. I didn't even know it was a 'thing," the singer shared. "I had never heard the phrase 'self-harm' back then, in the mid-80s in Scotland. There were no support groups for people like me or any progressive, sympathetic op-ed pieces about the practice of cutting in my local newspaper. It was something I came to naturally, privately, covertly. I didn't tell a soul about it."
Celebrity deaths this week
Tina Turner's son with musician Raymond Hill, Craig Raymond Turner (as a child top right), died at 59 on July 4 from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Multi-instrumentalist and singer Richard Swift died at 41 on July 3 after battling a "life-threatening condition." Eric Church's brother and frequent collaborator, Brandon, died on June 29, according to a note posted on Eric's fan club page on July 3. No cause of death nor age was given. Canadian rapper Smoke Dawg, who opened up for Drake last year, was fatally shot at age 21 on June 30. Alan Longmuir, a founding member of the Bay City Rollers, died on July 2 in Scotland at the age of 70.
Police shut down Smashing Pumpkins house show
Los Angeles police shut down a Smashing Pumpkins house show after receiving complaints about noise and cars taking up street parking, according to reports released on July 2. After finishing a comeback performance at a West Hollywood nightclub, the alt-rock band left and began performing at a Studio City, California, home where they'd filmed the video for their hit song "1979."
Panic! At The Disco singer creates human rights foundation
Panic! At The Disco frontman Brendon Urie announced on June 28 that he's launching a human rights foundation. The Highest Hopes Foundation will support "communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity," according to the rock singer's Twitter page. The band will earmark $1 from each summer tour ticket sold for the foundation.
Beyonce uses ladder to leave stage after malfunction at Poland concert
Beyonce had to use a ladder to climb down from a floating stage after a malfunction left her stranded at the end of her "On the Run II" concert with husband JAY-Z in Warsaw, Poland, on June 30. After concert staffers and bodyguards secured the ladder, it took Queen Bey a few minutes to make her way down to the main stage while wearing a thong leotard and heeled boots.
