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Darius Rucker's singin' his blues away ... 'cause he hopped onstage in Las Vegas to belt out a few tunes -- alongside Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa.

The legendary singer-songwriter was joined by TT for a performance of his song "Wagon Wheel" ahead of Super Bowl Sunday in Sin City ... and the dynamic duo seemed to give the crowd the time of their lives.

Check out the vid ... Darius' staying on lead vocals of course -- dude's got three Grammys on his shelf, so he's in charge -- but there's Tua right next to him, dark shades on, strumming away on his acoustic guitar.

Tua's not hiding in the back though ... the 25-year-old's supporting DR with both his guitar and his voice it appears -- no lip sync controversy here!

The crowd's belting away too ... with most of them ripping away on vocals -- including Giants QB Daniel Jones who's really getting into it with a couple buddies.

FWIW ... this isn't a stir-of-the-moment performance. Tua showed off his musical talents during an episode of the ManningCast back in December -- plucking away on his guitar as the Jaguars took on the Bengals.

The performance seemed to catch Rucker's eye ... 'cause the longtime Dolphins fan said he'd be down to jam with Tua sometime -- and that time finally came!

BTW ... Darius doesn't look like any of his recent legal drama's weighing him down -- we broke the story, Darius was arrested early this month on three misdemeanor charges all stemming from a February 2023 arrest.

The Super Bowl may not be the most star-studded sporting event in Vegas these next few days ... 'cause Dana White's Power Slap 6 Friday night in Sin City had some of the biggest stars in the world, including Tom Brady and Travis Scott!

And we've got a bunch of pics and video from the event.

It wasn't just TB 12 and La Flame in the building ... Charles Barkley, Pat McAfee, Johnny Manziel, Taylor Lewan, Bert Kreischer, IShowSpeed, billionaire Michael Rubin, and a bunch of others were also there for the festivities -- and judging by the stars, it slapped.

Friday night marked the first event White held outside of the UFC's own Apex center ... going down at the Durango Resort, marking a big step forward for the young org.

We talked to Dana backstage during the event (while he wasn't rubbing shoulders with Tom and Travis) ... and asked him about the night.

"This is the first time ever selling tickets. We sold VIP packages. It was a good night," White said with a big smile on his face.

As for the action on the mats, the main event, Manny Muniz vs. Christopher Thomas, was a barn burner ... and the scrap DW was most looking forward to.

"Muniz has never been knocked out, and Chris Thomas knocks everybody out," White told us.

Manny ended up beating Chris by knockout in the 5th round.

We also talked to UFC legend Chuck Liddell at the event ... and while it's clear he likes watching, it doesn't sound like he's going to be coming out of retirement to compete at Power Slap 7.

Jax Taylor was also in the house ... and the former "Vanderpump Rules" star told us how he became a slap-fighting fan.

Taylor says he initially saw highlights on Instagram, so he messaged Power Slap ... which led to an invite from Dana.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's families are getting super close ... taking in Sunday's big game from a suite together TMZ has learned -- and, like a gentleman, Travis is paying.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Taylor's mom, Andrea, dad Scott, brother Austin and his girlfriend Sydney are going to sit with Travis' mom Donna, dad Ed, brother Jason and sister-in-law Kylie Kelce while watching Travis compete for his third Super Bowl ring.

Taylor's gonna be there of course, and we're told some of her friends are tagging along ... though we don't know if any of her famous entourage will join the two families.

Allegiant Stadium sources tell us the suite costs well over $1 million ... and we're told that Travis is covering all of it because he just wants everyone to enjoy Super Bowl Sunday together.

87 sorta said this was the case on his "New Heights" podcast earlier this week when he joked he was "just counting how much money I'm spending on this damn Super Bowl for family and friends to come."

Well, we now know exactly who he spent all that dough on ... and it seems like he'll definitely be staying in the good graces of the Swift family.

There's been a ton of interaction between the happy couple and their families this year ... whether it be pics and videos of Donna cheering alongside Taylor or T-Swift hanging out with her own parents at a game, Travis has been feeling the love and support this season.

Taylor Swift just wrapped up her fourth and final concert in Tokyo – but she's now rushing to her biggest show back in The States – the Super Bowl!

Check out this video of Taylor taking a bow and waving to her multitude of fans at the Tokyo Dome Saturday night followed by her leaving the venue to take a mini-break from the international leg of her 'Eras' tour.

Her last show went off without a hitch after she suffered a couple snafus on previous nights.

Taylor seemed to have a spring in her step as she apparently made her way to the airport to fly back to the U.S. for Sunday's big matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.

While Taylor is not scheduled to perform at the game, she will be showcased in a major way before, during, and after Super Bowl LVIII.

Every camera will be focused on the pop superstar as she cheers on her hunky boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, from her private suite at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Our sources tell us ... it will be a family affair inside Taylor's VIP room. Taylor's mom, Andrea, dad Scott, brother Austin and his girlfriend Sydney will be seated next to Travis' mom Donna, dad Ed, brother Jason and sister-in-law Kylie Kelce. Of course, everyone will be watching Travis compete for his third Super Bowl ring.

And get this ... Travis is paying the $1 million-plus bill for the suite so his loved ones can have the time of their lives for free. We're also told some of Taylor's closest buds will also be on hand ... but we don't know if any of her famous friends will join the two families.

Shaquille O'Neal threw the biggest and craziest pre-Super Bowl party in Las Vegas, turning the event into his annual "Shaq Fun House" -- with a major performance by none other than Lil Wayne!

The retired NBA legend kicked off the Friday night soiree at XS nightclub on the Vegas strip with hordes of people packing the venue to bear witness to Shaq's master skills as a disc jockey followed by Wayne's energetic show.

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ ... Shaq, who also goes by the name DJ Diesel, revved up the record player and spun some tunes, getting into the groove with the crowd.

Wearing some major bling around his neck, Shaq kept the house music going for a while until Diplo took over the DJ duties before it was time to bring out the hip hop icon ... AKA Wayne.

After Wayne took to the stage, he rapped like there was no tomorrow, getting the crowd all worked up into a frenzy.

Wayne performed some of his biggest hits, such as "6 Foot 7 Foot" and "John." And the audience just loved it, recording the whole gig with their cell phone cameras.

There was one touching moment when Shaq got emotional while talking about the recent unveiling of late NBA superstar Kobe Bryant's new statue.

Bill Maher has a warning for all Republicans: you shouldn't take swipes at Taylor Swift 'cause she just might win the election for Democrats.

The talk show host made the bold prediction on his Friday show, 'Real Time,' during a panel discussion with Sports commentator Bob Costas, and Atlantic writer Caitlin Flanagan.

Bill kicked things off by turning the conversation to the pop star making international headlines recently with her super popular 'Eras' tour, four Grammys Awards this year, her romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and her upcoming appearance at Sunday's Super Bowl.

Bill didn't mince words, saying, "This is a national news story in the sense that this is a person who could literally swing the election. I don’t know what that says about this country, but I would just say to the ‘MAGA’ people, ‘You should be very careful attacking her because this is someone who transcends parties.'”

He didn't stop there ... going on to describe Taylor as a country girl from rural Pennsylvania who has tremendous influence over her huge fan base. He said that could pose real problems for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and "Make America Great Again" supporters at the ballot box.

Bill put it this way, “Her voters perhaps are not registered at all, and she doesn’t have to say who she’s voting for. All she has to say is get registered. They know who she’s voting for.”

Of course, Bill was implying that Taylor is voting for the likely Democratic candidate, President Joe Biden, adding, “So I think you could be awaking a sleeping until the afternoon giant.”

A small plane carrying five passengers crashed into a vehicle on a Florida highway as it was making an emergency landing – killing two people and creating a massive fireball.

Friday afternoon's disaster was partly captured on video and air traffic control audio as the aircraft flew from Columbus, Ohio to Naples, Florida, but lost both of its engines.

As a result, the pilot radioed one of the control towers near the Naples airport, saying they needed to make an emergency landing.

In the chilling audio ... the air traffic controller told the pilot that he was cleared to make the emergency landing on a specific runway.

The pilot replied the plane was not going to make it due to its engine troubles.

Minutes later, the Bombardier Challenger 600 jet took a nosedive into Interstate 75 in Collier County, colliding with the vehicle and exploding into flames.

Witnesses shot cell phone footage of the fiery aftermath ... showing the airliner burning on the shoulder of the highway with black smoke billowing out of the wreckage.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office confirmed there were two deaths, but it was not clear if they were people on the ground or jet passengers. Three victims from the airliner survived and were taken to the hospital, although their conditions were not known.

Kylie Jenner is mother's girl ... and she now has the look to prove it.

Kylie uploaded a photo of herself, showing her freshly cut black hair in a bob just like her mom Kris Jenner, who's been rockin' that style forever.

Kylie wrote in the caption, "Kris Jenner is quaking."

Of course, Kris didn't seem worried at all and played along with her daughter. In fact, Kris made a joke about the hairy situation in the comments section, telling Kylie, "You're not even the fart," which are some of the lyrics to rapper Ice Spice’s song, “Think U The S*** (Fart).”

Pretty cute stuff from the Jenners and their fans thought so too, bringing Kylie's actor-boyfriend, Timothée Chalamet, into all the fun.

One person wrote in the comments, “She and timothee really twinning now,” referring to Chalamet's short-cropped hair.

Another said, “Boyfriend effect screaming in."

A third added, “She’s turning into timmy."

Biggest Super Bowl ever!!! So we gotta ask ...

Las Vegas is the center of the sports universe as it hosts the Super Bowl ... but it's not just football fans flocking to Sin City, 'cause TMZ Sports has learned countless beautiful ladies are in the desert to work the pole!!

Several gentlemen's clubs tell us women have been lined up outside their doors in hopes of getting a spot on their stages this weekend ... and many strip joints are increasing staff just to meet the demand.

In fact, Hustler -- one of the most popular strip clubs in Vegas -- expects it to be busier than the Las Vegas Grand Prix last November ... which was the first time the city hosted an F1 race in more than 40 years.

"This is an exciting time for Las Vegas, especially for businesses due to the economic impact of the Big Game," Hustler Club LV's general manager Brittany Rose said.

"We have seen out-of-town audition numbers in the hundreds leading up to the week of Super Bowl LVIII."

We're told there's also an influx of male entertainers for the Kings of Hustler Male Revue ... which is located on the 3rd floor of the strip club.

"Everyone is excited being that the club is just steps away from all the action at the stadium," Rose added.

Other clubs like Spearmint Rhino and Crazy Horse III are also expecting a record-breaking weekend ... with both saying they have no choice but to add more dancers each night.

"We will have double to triple the entertainers all week (about 300 entertainers nightly)," Nando Sostilio, owner of Crazy Horse 3, said.

"Since the teams have been announced, we have a ton of VIP reservations already input for football players, musical artists, and tech billionaires from Silicon Valley, and the reservations are continuing to pour in."

Jada Pinkett Smith had a terrifying incident go down at her Los Angeles Area home earlier this week -- cops say two men climbed onto her balcony while she was inside!

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the men wearing hoodies attempted to break in a little before 8 PM thinking the coast was clear -- but we're told they were scared off when the "Red Table Talk" host saw them.

Police responded to the scene ... but our sources say the suspects had long taken off and were nowhere to be found.

Unclear if Jada was the target or if this was just a crew hitting nice homes in and around the L.A. area.

We're told deputies took an attempted burglary report ... and the case is now under investigation.

Jada's been separated from hubby Will for a few years now, and though they're apparently still on pretty good terms, especially in the aftermath of that Oscars slap, it's highly unlikely that he was with her at the time of the break-in.

Cops say it's unclear whether she had other company at the time ... or was alone.

Speaking of being alone, Jada said last year she and Will would eventually move back in together. That clearly hasn't happened yet.

OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney hurled a racial slur at her boyfriend mid-argument ... and her parents say she did it to get now-deceased boyfriend Christian Obumseli to leave.

We spoke to Courtney's parents, Deborah and Kim Clenney, for a new 'TMZ Investigates' airing Monday at 9 PM ET/8 Central on FOX ... when the question of a slur Courtney used during an argument with Christian came up.

As we previously reported ... Christian secretly recorded Courtney calling him the n-word repeatedly during a fight months before she killed him in the Miami condo where they lived together.

The audio's brutal to hear ... and also explainable according to CC's parents -- who are now facing criminal charges for allegedly illegally accessing Christian's computer after he was killed.

We spoke to them before the arrest -- they have never spoken publicly before -- and they told us Courtney said she needed to use such a horrible slur because she was trying to get Christian to leave, with her mom Deborah claiming Courtney said no "self-respecting Black man would stick around after being called that name."

Deborah went on to say Courtney liked Christian partly because he was Black ... and she doesn't think their daughter would have been prosecuted if she were Black or if Christian were white.

Clenney pled not guilty to second-degree murder after stabbing her boyfriend in the chest ... her parents tell us she will plead self-defense.

Shane Gillis has some explaining to do when he hosts "Saturday Night Live" ... according to Asian advocacy group reps who say it's not too late to make amends for his racist remarks.

The comedian is scheduled to host on February 24 ... this after Lorne Michaels fired him from the show in 2019 for making distasteful jokes directed at Asians.

Shane made the comments during a 2018 podcast, referring to noodles as "nooders" and using a derogatory term for Asians in an expletive-laden discussion about Chinatown. Many people remain outraged by Gillis' jokes .. but the comedian is now being offered a path forward if he wants to right a wrong.

Jo-Ann Yoo, the executive director of the Asian American Federation, tells TMZ ... Shane getting tapped to host is bad timing, considering the Asian community has been devastated by a wave of hate that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. She says people in the community don't need to be reminded of the type of rhetoric that caused that trend.

However ... if Shane's serious about making amends, Yoo invites him to cut a check to the org's Hope Against Hate campaign, and join their food tours for a real Asian cuisine experience.

Yoo says she's planning to tune in ... not for Shane, but rather for what she proudly calls the Bowen Yang Variety Hour. Of course, Bowen Yang is the first Asian-American hire at 'SNL.'

Over at The Asian American Foundation, CEO Norman Chen says he hopes Shane has learned from his experiences and expects him to issue a "genuine" apology on 'SNL.'

Chen tells us his org was "disheartened" to hear Shane was invited to host, saying ... "Asian Americans are not the punchline of a joke. While these jokes may result in cheap laughs, they also result in real-world, deadly consequences for Asian Americans."

Now, Shane did apologize on social media after his 'SNL' firing, saying ... "I'm a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss. If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you're going to find a lot of bad misses. I'm happy to apologize to anyone who's actually offended by anything I've said. My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks."

However, Chen says that apology seems to be scrubbed from Shane's X (formerly Twitter) account, and his foundation wants to know if the apology still stands -- and, if so, a global stage like 'SNL' would be a great place to reaffirm it on camera.

Aside from Travis Kelce falling in love and holding hands with music's hottest star this year, he and his fellow Kansas City Chiefs have had quite the season! Put one foot forward and see if you can tackle the discreet changes in these two images.

In preparation for tomorrow's big game, the tight end was loosening up this week in Vegas during practice -- and was lookin' swift sporting some red-hot short shorts 😜.

There's no way you can mess with #87 ... but what about the others??

Time to settle into the weekend, and what better way than to catch up on what we talked about TMZ???

Kicking things off on 'TMZ Live,' we talked about Kanye West's latest listening event for his new album, 'Vultures,' which didn't get released digitally ... but did get played live.

Of course, there were some controversial things said during the performance -- in lyrics, no doubt -- and some of it touched on antisemitism ... which got Ye censored at his own show.

Over at 'TMZ on TV,' it was the battle of the Brads at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Brad Pitt presented Bradley Cooper an award and heaped on praise for his A-list counterpart -- delivering some bad jokes to get his point across ... although, he looked great doing it.

Travis Kelce already hosted 'SNL,' and now ... his brother says he'd be down to give it a go. Jason Kelce talked to us on camera and communicated as much -- he wants his turn!

Check your local listings for when TMZ is on in your area or catch up on past episodes!

Before the world's greatest athletes get padded up and hit the grass of Allegiant Stadium to battle out in this year's highly anticipated Super LVIII in Las Vegas ... the hottest players on the Chiefs and 49ers showed off their bulked-up bods on social media, so get in the game and see if you can tackle who's behind the ballin' bod.

Showin' skin for the win ... Big-shot quarterback Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes took off his pads and posed for a shirtless shot, and in a position you've never seen 'em in before ... while San Fransisco's Trent Williams, Kyle Juszczyk and Christian McCaffrey showed off their game day-ready physiques!

Put your game face on and test your skills on these peak physical forms off the field!