By Wonderwall.com Editors
8:16am PDT, Apr 27, 2020
Drake publicly shares photos of son Adonis for first time
What a cutie! Rap icon Drake finally publicly shared photos of his 2-year-old son, Adonis, on March 30, and the reveal blew up in the media in early April. The rapper posted a series of pics of his blonde, blue-eyed tot as well as the toddler's mother, Sophie Brussaux, on Instagram. The rapper captioned the cute series, "What is most important for you right now is to connect to your own inner light. This will create the biggest opening of all. Trust that you have all of the power within to make this happen, and in order to do that connect to the people and things that bring you a lot of joy." Sophie quietly gave birth to Adonis in October 2017 following a brief romance with Drake. Rapper Pusha T famously revealed the child's existence during a feud with Drake the following year. The Canadian music star then confirmed it was true, telling LeBron James in 2018, "[Sophie and I] have found ourselves in a situation and we are both equally responsible, and now I'm just really excited to be a great father. I have a son, he's a beautiful boy."
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Michael Buble's wife defends him after controversial video
Michael Buble's wife, Luisana Lopilato, jumped to her husband's defense after some fans criticized his behavior — which some considered abusive — in an April 12 Instagram Live video the couple shared. Fans saw the singer elbow Luisana after she talked over him. After she quickly apologized, Michael grabbed her arm and pulled her in close. Some felt this, too, was an aggressive act. The next day, the Argentine actress insisted everything is fine in her marriage. "[I] come out every day with my husband to try to do [Instagram] lives to bring some happiness, entertainment, longing, and we have to put up with, hear and see what people with ill intentions are posting without knowing anything about our family and after all the pain that we have experienced, I want you all to know that I have no doubts about who my husband is and that I would chose him again a thousand times over!" she said. As the controversy continued, she issued a second statement thanking fans for their concern and assuring them she's no victim. Michael's rep told E! News that the allegations are "a failed effort of cyberbullying" against the couple.
RELATED: The biggest celebrity love life stories of April 2020
Bob Dylan scores first ever No. 1 song on a Billboard chart
Congrats are in order for musical legend Bob Dylan. Surprisingly, for the very first time in history, Bob has had a song he's performed hit No. 1 on a Billboard chart. His JFK assassination track, "Murder Most Foul" topped the Rock Digital Song Sales chart in April. The song, which addresses the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, is his first original release since 2012. While Bob has reached No. 1 as a writer on such songs as the Byrds' 1965 hit "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Peter Paul & Mary's 1963 hit "Blowin' in the Wind," the highest he ever reached as a performer — before now — was No. 2.
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Rihanna, Jack Dorsey, JAY-Z donate $6.2M in COVID-19 grants for New York, New Orleans, Puerto Rico
This is why we love JAY-Z and Rihanna! In April, the Roc Nation duo announced that they've partnered with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to contribute to COVID-19 relief efforts focusing on marginalized communities hit especially hard by the health crisis. Rihanna's Clara Lionel Foundation, Jay's Shawn Carter Foundation and Jack's Start Small Foundation are jointly offering $6.2 million in grants to a number of organizations funding COVID-19 rapid-response efforts protecting at-risk populations with a focus on New York, New Orleans and Puerto Rico. This comes on the heels of Rihanna and Jay's organizations giving $2 million in grants to protect undocumented works, first responders, and children of frontline health workers in Los Angeles and NYC. Rihanna's charity also previously gave $5 million in grants to other groups working to protect vulnerable and marginalized communities in America, the Caribbean and Africa.
Coronavirus-related deaths in the music world
We lost several music stars to the coronavirus this month. Legendary country-folk singer and songwriter John Prine passed away on April 7 at 74 from COVI19 complications… On April 1, jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr. died at 85 due to complications of the coronavirus… Fountains of Wayne frontman Adam Schlesinger — who's also an Oscar-nominated and Grammy- and Emmy-winning songwriter for film, television and theater — passed away on April 1 from complications related to the novel coronavirus. Adam was 52… And on March 29, Alan Merrill of the Arrows — who wrote the Joan Jett classic "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" — passed away due to complications of COVID-19 on at 69.
More music stars who died in April
Grammy winner Bill Withers, who gave us classics like "Lean on Me," "Just the Two of Us" and "Ain't No Sunshine," died in Los Angeles on March 30 from heart complications. He was 81. On April 8, up-and-coming Philadelphia rapper and model Chynna Rogers died at home of an accidental drug overdose. She was 25.
Taylor Swift lashes out at Scooter Braun again for his latest move involving her back catalog
The drama between Taylor Swift, music manager and exec Scooter Braun and her old label, Big Machine Label Group, took a new turn this month. On April 23, Taylor took to her Instagram Stories to denounce Big Machine and Scooter, whose consortium bought the label last year, after learning they were putting out "an 'album' of live performances of mine tonight," she wrote of the release, dubbed "Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008." Taylor — who last year claimed she was not given the opportunity to buy her back catalog unless she re-signed with Big Machine — continued, "I'm always honest with you guys about this stuff so I just wanted to tell you that this release is not approved by me. It looks to me like Scooter Braun and his financial backers, 23 Capital, Alex Soros and the Soros family and The Carlyle Group have seen the latest balance sheets and realized that paying $330 MILLION for my music wasn't exactly a wise choice and they need money. In my opinion… Just another case of shameless greed in the time of Coronavirus," she concluded. "So tasteless, but very transparent."
A Whitney Houston biopic is in the works
An official Whitney Houston biopic is coming! On April 22, Clive Davis and the late singer's estate announced that they are working on a biopic titled "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." The script is being penned by "Bohemian Rhapsody" writer Anthony McCarten. The best part? Because Whitney's estate is involved, the movie will have full access to the late singer's impressive catalog.
Andrea Bocelli performed Easter concert from Italy's empty Duomo Cathedral
Andrea Bocelli gave fans a beautiful gift on Easter Sunday — his "Music for Hope" concert. On April 12, the legendary opera singer took to Milan's empty Duomo Cathedral with organist Emanuele Vianelli to deliver songs for the world to enjoy. The performance aired on his YouTube channel. The iconic opera star sang classics including "Ave Maria," "Panis Angelicus," "Sancta Maria" and "Amazing Grace." The icon said, "I believe in the strength of praying together; I believe in the Christian Easter, a universal symbol of rebirth that everyone — whether they are believers or not — truly needs right now."
Music's biggest stars perform from home to raise money for COVID-19 causes
The state of New Jersey proved it's all about family and love! On April 22, major New Jersey natives like Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, SZA, Chelsea Handler, Halsey, Tony Bennett and more performed from home during "Jersey 4 Jersey," a coronavirus benefit for the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund… Post Malone joined forces with musicians including drummer Travis Barker to cover Nirvana songs at home on April 24, raising nearly $3 million for the United Nations Foundation's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for The World Health Organization. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic both gave the livestream their blessing… On April 18, the Lady Gaga-curated World Health Organization and Global Citizen special "One World: Together at Home" aired on TV and online. A ton of artists including Gaga, The Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift, Chris Martin and Celine Dion performed to raise money in support of healthcare workers devoting their time to fight COVID-19.
