THE FOUR TOPS: Levi Stubbs works up a sweat on live French TV, belting out a supercharged "I'll Be There."

MARK LANEGAN, who followed a long stint as lead vocalist for the proto-grunge band Screaming Trees with a distinguished career as an impassioned solo singer-songwriter and adventurous collaborator with Queens of the Stone Age and others, has died. A cause of death was not announced, although last year he was said to be suffering from Covid-19 and kidney disease; he was 57.

GARY BROOKER, the frontman for Procol Harum who led the band throughout their 55-year history and co-wrote and sang their 1967 classic “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” died at his home from cancer on Saturday, Feb. 19. He was 76.

BUFFALO NICHOLS plays a Tiny Desk Concert.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED features Fantastic Negrito, Daniel Rossen, Porridge Radio and more.

THE AFGHAN WHIGS return with "I'll Make You See God."

REGINA SPEKTOR returns with "Becoming All Alone."

COLA, featuring members of Ought and US Girls, share "So Excited."

SUPERCHUNK: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview.

AARON RODGERS & SHAILENE WOODLEY: Not dunzo after all?

THE OSCARS will pre-tape 8 of 23 awards, which is one way to shorten the show, I suppose.

SCARLETT JOHANSSEN is starting a skincare line.

MATTHEW PERRY plans a juicy autobiography.

JOHN CARPENTER is sort of interested in a sequel to The Thing.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD's oral history comes a lot of new dish about the set feud between leading actors Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.

STAR TREK: The sequel announcement came as a surprise, not just to observers who have been watching the movie studio haltingly try to revive Trek on the big screen for years but also to the actors and their representatives.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. & SHANE BLACK (“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” and “Iron Man 3”) are reteaming for a movie based on the character Parker, created by author Donald E. Westlake.

RISING PHOENIX, the documentary in which Evan Rachel Wood accuses Marilyn Manson of "essentially" raping her, has a trailer online.

A MYSTERY KANGAROO, on the lam in Denmark.

A MASAI GIRAFFE was born at the Phoenix Zoo.

AN AGGRESSIVE DONKEY in Oaxaca struck again on Wednesday and killed a 79-year-old man.

THE WALKER BROTHERS play "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" and "Make It Easy On Yourself" for Twofer Tuesday.

CACTUS BLOSSOMS play The Current.

BLEACHERS: Jack Antonoff talks to The Current. 

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF's Alynda Seggara, profiled at Pitchfork.

JOAN JETT, profiled at American Songwriter.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: A survey of John Darnielle's boombox period.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Mariah Carey's hacky, swollen inspiration ballad "Hero."

BRITNEY SPEARS reportedly signed a “record-breaking” deal to publish a tell-all book in which she will detail her career and family.

RUST: How the Gun in Alec Baldwin's Hands Turned the Set Deadly.

R KELLY filed a motion to be acquitted on - or at least be granted a new trial for - his September 2021 conviction for racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child and kidnapping.

COURTNEY COX wants respect.

SEX & THE CITY, and fake baseball.

GHOST COMPOSERS: The Ugly Truth of How Movie Scores Are Made.

GEESE, on parade.

CATS, looking for the blue socks.

A SUGAR GLIDER, bouncing through the green fields.

THE KNACK: "Frustrated."

NEW RELEASES: Paste will point you to Hurray for the Riff Raff, Beach House, Alice Glass and more.

BILL'S INDIE BASEMENT has Metronomy, Midnight Oil, Sally Shapiro, and more.

FLOCK OF DIMES shares "Pure Love / Time."

GIN BLOSSOMS singer Robjn Wilson on ‘90s fame, The Masked Singer, Marshall Crenshaw, and more.

DALLAS GOOD, of Canadian country rock greats The Sadies, died of natural causes. He was 49.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Janet Jackson's "Again," the light ballad from the 'Poetic Justice' soundtrack.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Uncharted tops the chart with 51MM over a four-day run, exceeding projections (and reviews).  Dog places with 18MM.  Spider-Man: No Way Home shows with another 8.8MM and a 771MM domestic total.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II tested positive for COVID-19.

JUSTIN BIEBER tested positive for COVID-19.

JAMES GUNN & JENNIFER HOLLAND of Peacemaker are engaged.

THE OSCARS may have to recognize Cinderella.

MINKA KELLY rejected a nude scene in Euphoria.

CHANNING TATUM nearly turned down Magic Mike 3: "You Have to Starve Yourself."

ALEC BALDWIN may have fired the shot that killed “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins without pulling the gun’s trigger, a New Mexico prosecutor says. (Still an unlikely scenario.)

FROM "PIG" TO "DOG" TO "COW": A new movement of films is recalibrating not just how animals are treated on sets, but how they're considered on screen.

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY is observed today. Here's an inaccurate and profane tribute to the first US President. 

A 500-POUND BEAR known as "Hank the Tank" has broken into dozens of homes in South Lake Tahoe.

HOW IT STARTED / How It's Going.

KITTY & MONKEY, living together...

WHEELIE DOGS, at the park.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with OTIS REDDING!  Otis and the Bar-Kays crank up the energy to 11 for a Ready Steady Go special, crashing through "Satisfaction,"  "My Girl" and "Respect," then "Shake" morphing into "Land of a Thousand Dances" performed by Otis, Eric Burdon and Chris Farlowe.  BONUS: from the same special, Eric Burdon covers "Hold On, I'm Coming," while Chris Farlowe covers "It's a Man's World."

CHVRCHES plays KEXP.

CHRIS PIERCE visits World Cafe.

PHOSPHORESCENT covers Nick Lowe's "I'm a Mess."

FONTAINES D.C. share "I Love You."

STARS share "Pretenders" and "Snowy Owl."

BEACH HOUSE, on 'The Phantom Of The Opera,' 'The Red Shoes,' and more of their formative influences.

JEFF TWEEDY, profiled by the San Francisco Chronicle.

PORTISHEAD, profiled by The A.V. Club.

VINYL SALES in the UK look set to overtake CDs this year.

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, on The Godfather, Megalopolis,Marvel and more.

VANITY FAIR's Hollywood issue is online.

STRANGER THINGS has Season Four premiere dates, and announces it will end with Season Five. And the episodes are supersized.

20 QUESTIONS with HBO's content chief, in which he makes the point that they don't rely all that much on sequels and reboots.And that David Chase isn't interested in more Sopranos.

CHET HANKS has opened up about growing up as the son of Tom Hanks.

THE WORST MOVIE SEQUELS, according to ScreenCrush.

BAZ LUHRMANN'S ELVIS, with Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom, has a trailer online.

IN A WORLD where you can be anything, be kind.

DOWNWARD Prairie Dog.

A PIG, clearing the road.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN breaks out a 12-string to cover Jackie DeShannon's "When You Walk in the Room," which was also a hit for The Searchers.

SPOON plays a four-song set for Kimmel.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED features The Suffers, S. Carey, Lady Dan, and more.

SLANG, a Portland-based "supergroup" share "Wilder."

SONDRE LERCHE shares "Avatars of Love."

TOMBERLIN's "happy accident" features Cass McCombs on guitar.

BEACH HOUSE Are Still Surprising Each Other.

EDDIE VEDDER & NIKKI SIXX are having a beef, but not Stone Gossard.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Meat Loaf's bombastic, overwhelming rock 'n' roll epic "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)."

AARON RODGERS & SHAILENE WOODLEY are dunzo,

MEGXIT: Meghan Markle 'has no intention of ever returning to UK.'

BRITNEY SPEARS was invited by two members of Congress to meet and discuss possible reform to the conservatorship process.

BEAVIS & BUTT-HEAD Do The Universe.

LINDA EVANGELISTA shares her cosmetic procedure disaster in photos.

1932: Another Yellowstone prequel is in the works.

ART SPIEGELMAN talks about Maus, and losing his glasses.

MARLA GIBBS of The Jeffersons talks to THR at 90.

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH has a trailer online.

IT WAS A GOOD RUN at the dog show, until it wasn't.

A KITTEN sees snow for the first time.

COW-KISSING raises funds for the United Way.