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Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment Sued Over ‘Alien Superstar’ Intro Sample

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Beyoncé’s company Parkwood Entertainment is facing a lawsuit over a sample used as the introduction to her hit 2022 Renaissance track “Alien Superstar,” with an indie label saying the house musician who licensed his 1998 song “Moonraker” doesn’t actually own the rights.

The allegations came in a Tuesday (July 29) legal complaint against Parkwood, Sony, Warner Chappell and dance musician John Holiday, who goes by the stage names Foremost Poets and Johnny Dangerous. Beyoncé herself is not named as a defendant.

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The federal lawsuit centers on the introduction to “Alien Superstar,” which peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022: “Please do not be alarmed, remain calm/ Do not attempt to leave the dancefloor/ The DJ booth is conducting a troubleshoot of the entire system.”

This intro is a sample from Holiday’s house song “Moonraker,” and Beyoncé’s lengthy Renaissance credits name Holiday as a co-writer. Tuesday’s lawsuit says Beyoncé licensed the sample from Holiday himself — but adds that he doesn’t own the track.

According to Shuji Hirose, the founder and owner of indie house music label Soundmen on Wax Records, he bought all the copyrights to “Moonraker” for a flat fee of $1,500 when his company released the song in 1998.

“Despite widespread domestic and international distribution and publication of the sound recording ‘Moonraker’ by Soundmen on Wax Ltd. since 1998, defendants Parkwood, Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Music Publishing opted to contract with defendant Holiday for a master use license of the sound recording ‘Moonraker’ to create the infringing derivative work, ‘Alien Superstar,’” writes Hirose’s attorney DaShawn Hayes.

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Hirose says that if anybody has the right to license “Moonraker, it’s him. Because Beyoncé’s team did not clear the sample with Hirose, the label owner is now bringing claims for copyright infringement and seeking a portion of the royalties and sale profits from “Alien Superstar.”

The lawsuit also accuses Holiday of breach of contract, claiming he violated the terms of their 1998 distribution deal by licensing “Moonraker” to Beyoncé when he didn’t actually own the rights.

Reps for Parkwood, Sony and Warner Chappell did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday (July 30).

Beyoncé’s extensive samples and interpolations on Renaissance were a focal point of discussion when the dance album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in August 2022. Some artists celebrated their references on the record, like “Show Me Love” singer Robin S, while others, such as “Milkshake” hitmaker Kelis, were less pleased.

Last year, a little-known New Orleans group sued Beyoncé over the chart-topping Renaissance hit “Break My Soul.” That suit, which was quickly dropped, claimed the properly-cleared Big Freedia sample on “Break My Soul” copied lyrics from their own 2002 track “Release a Wiggle.”

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Doechii Performs a Star-Making Set at Montreal’s Osheaga Festival

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Osheaga has a knack for booking budding superstars right as they blow up. Last year, it was Chappell Roan. This year, it was Doechii.

The Grammy-winning, Florida-born rapper took the stage on the first night of the Montreal music festival on Friday (Aug. 1), and it felt like a star-making performance. The Killers headlined the mainstage, but unlike Chappell Roan, who played for 40,000 people at 3:30 in the afternoon last year, Doechii did have the honor of closing out the festival on the secondary Forest Stage.

Her set was pushed back slightly to start at 10:10 p.m., meaning she was the final performer of the night before the noise curfew at 11 p.m. And for those who wanted to catch both acts, The Killers made it easy by playing their belt-along favorite “Mr. Brightside” as their first song and packing the first hour of their two-hour, 9:10 p.m. set with hits.

Doechii’s stage set was decked out to fit her Swamp Princess persona, covered in greenery and a large, elevated swampy platform for her to stand on. The crowd was packed in, so the fans stuck at the back still had a visual feast. “I look good from the nosebleeds,” she rapped from her 2025 hit “Nosebleeds,” and this show proved it.

Doechii performs at Osheaga 2025 in Montreal.

Charlotte Rainville @jailli

For a full hour, Doechii kept the energy up. She rapped a mile a minute, all live with almost no reliance on a backing track. She showed off her full skill set, from pure hip-hop to sung R&B/pop hooks, and comedic banter to thought-out stagecraft. She brought unbridled charisma, taking time to dance and twerk and show off some vogue moves as well. She showed off a reverence for classic hip-hop, rapping over Wu-Tang’s “C.R.E.A.M.,” and later screaming over a distorted guitar sample — almost veering towards nu-metal. She showed she can do it all.

The audience stayed captivated, rapping along and matching her energy throughout. It was Doechii’s first time in Canada, and you could tell she was impressed by the reaction. “As an artist, you can get so much hate and negativity,” she said. “Then you go out in real life and see your real fans.”

She took some time to thank her gay fans, her female fans, and the fans who brought their boyfriends. “If your boyfriend hates female rappers, then leave him immediately,” she said.

Seeing all the phones out, she seized her moment. “Ya’ll can’t be scared to stand up for what you believe in, you can’t be scared to say what matters,” she said. “Free Palestine.”

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Doechii performs at Osheaga 2025 in Montreal.

Charlotte Rainville @jailli

Doechii broke out her biggest hit, the Billboard Hot 100 top-10 charting “Anxiety,” and thanked all her fans for streaming it. The “Somebody That I Used To Know” sampling song is a bit of an outlier in her catalogue, but it’s a viral TikTok favourite, and she’s found a way to fit it perfectly into her set. After playing the song, she thanked Gotye for approving the sample.

The true highlight of the set was “Denial Is a River.” The song, which features Doechii rapping with her internal monologue, took on a whole new call-and-response dimension with fans chanting along to every word.

It felt like she was still just getting started when, midway through the next song, the beat cut out. “F— that, they cut me off!” she yelled. She put her thumbs down, inciting the crowd to boo, then threw her hands up. “Whatever,” she said, walking off the stage.

Unfortunately, Osheaga has a hard 11 p.m. noise curfew. It’s clear the next time she’s back, she’ll have to have a longer headliner-length set.

Doechii performs tonight (Aug. 2) at Lollapalooza in Chicago, where she’s teased a special guest. If Osheaga was anything to go by, her set will likely be all over social media soon.

This article originally appeared on Billboard Canada.

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Olivia Rodrigo Rocks Out With Weezer During Her Headlining Set at Lollapalooza 2025

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Olivia Rodrigo was joined by surprise guest Weezer during her headlining set at Lollapalooza 2025.

On Friday (Aug. 1), the 22-year-old pop superstar made her debut on the second day of the Chicago music festival at Grant Park. Toward the end of her evening set, she surprised the crowd by inviting Weezer to join her on stage.

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In a fan-captured video on TikTok, Rodrigo shared with the crowd that Weezer was the first band she ever saw live.

“You always remember your first concert. It’s a very, very special moment,” the “Drivers License” singer said. “I remember my first concert. It was a very memorable night. I watched this incredible band and I am so over the moon, because that incredible band is actually here tonight to play a few songs. Will you please say hello to Weezer?”

Weezer then joined Rodrigo for performances of their classic hits “Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So,” both from the group’s 1994 self-titled album. She played guitar and harmonized alongside frontman Rivers Cuomo during the collaboration. Check out clips from the performances here and here on X.

This marked Weezer’s first Lollapalooza performance since they headlined alongside Widespread Panic in 2005.

This isn’t the first time Rodrigo has brought out surprise guests during her recent festival appearances. She recently invited David Byrne onstage at New York’s Governors Ball to perform Talking Heads’ 1983 hit “Burning Down the House,” and welcomed The Cure’s Robert Smith at this year’s Glastonbury Festival to perform “Friday I’m In Love” and “Just Like Heaven.”

During her Lolla set on Saturday, Rodrigo opened with “Obsessed” and “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl,” and also performed hits including “Driver’s License,” “Traitor,” “Bad Idea, Right?” and “Love Is Embarrassing.”

The Chicago festival continues Saturday (Aug. 2) with headliners Rüfüs Du Sol and TWICE, followed by closers Sabrina Carpenter and A$AP Rocky on Sunday.

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Kelly Osbourne Honors Dad Ozzy Osbourne With NSFW Post Days After His Funeral

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Kelly Osbourne is paying tribute to her father, Ozzy Osbourne, just days after his funeral.

On Friday (Aug. 1), the 40-year-old TV personality shared an NSFW photo on her Instagram Story in memory of the rock legend, who passed away on July 22 at the age of 76.

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The outdoor image featured a beautiful display of purple flowers arranged to spell out “Ozzy F—ing Osbourne,” set beside a serene pond surrounded by a rolling hill and trees.

In a second post, Kelly shared a heartfelt clip from The Osbournes, the MTV reality series that aired from 2002 to 2005. The snippet shows Ozzy lying in bed with his wife, Sharon Osbourne, offering words of wisdom.

“Listen, all you got to worry about is getting through today,” the Black Sabbath frontman says. “That’s all you got to worry about.”

Just days earlier, Kelly attended her father’s funeral procession in his hometown of Birmingham, England, where fans flooded the streets to pay their respects. Sharon, along with Ozzy’s other children — Aimeé and Jack — laid flowers at the Black Sabbath Bridge, which had been covered with tributes from mourners.

Shortly after Ozzy’s passing, Kelly posted another emotional tribute to her Instagram Story on July 24. “I feel unhappy I am so sad,” she wrote. “I lost the best friend I ever had,” the Fashion Police alum added, along with a heartbroken emoji. Her words echoed lyrics from Black Sabbath’s ballad “Changes,” which she and her father released as a duet in 2003.

Ozzy Osbourne died at age 76, just weeks after performing his final concert. His family confirmed the news in a joint statement. “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” they wrote. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”

Just a month before his death, Kelly had honored her dad on Father’s Day with an Instagram post that included a slideshow of Ozzy spending time with her young son, Sidney, whom she shares with fiancé Sid Wilson.

“Happy Father’s Day daddy,” she wrote at the time. “I love you more than anyone or anything in the world! I am so proud to be your daughter and Beyond honored to watch you be the best #Papa in the world to my son!”

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