Grammy Awards

Ariana Grande appears to have buried the hatchet with the Recording Academy because she's ready to take the stage at this year's show ... even though there were issues last year.

The 'Thank U, Next' singer made the announcement Saturday, saying she was officially booked to perform at the 2020 Grammy Awards later this month. She wrote on Instagram, "OFFICIAL: #ArianaGrande will perform at the #GRAMMYs Jan. 26!"

Attached was a promo shot of her with the Grammy logo in the corner, and the words "GRAMMY PERFORMER" emblazoned along her back. So yeah, it's definitely happening.

What's interesting ... Ariana had a big beef last year with the Grammys' longtime executive producer, Ken Ehrlich, who publicly made it seem like Ariana had backed out of last year's show because she was too frazzled and unorganized to pull it together on short notice.

We heard from people connected to the situation that characterization simply wasn't true -- in fact, we were told it was Ken who'd put her in an impossible spot by not allowing her to perform her biggest hit single at the time, "7 Rings," and then later recanting.

By the time Ken realized it'd be better to have AG perform than not, our sources told us he came back to her with the offer to do "7 Rings" when it was too late ... she'd already made up her mind on not doing the show at all, and that's how it ultimately played out. We're told the whole thing left a bad taste in Ariana's mouth, so she just watched from home.

Now, it looks like that's all water under a bridge -- and the reason might be more obvious than you'd think. Earlier this year, Ken announced he's hanging it up after this year's show, so it appears the direction of things is about to change hands -- if it hasn't already.

In Ariana's case ... probably for the better.

There is no substitute for J Lo in her famous green Grammy gown -- although Fashion Nova's trying to knock it off ... according to Versace which is suing over what it calls a straight-up rip-off.

Versace's filed suit over several of its designs, but most notably Jennifer's jungle print gown from the 2000 Grammy Awards. In the suit, the Italian design house calls out Fashion Nova for the whole fast-fashion movement -- a nice way of saying copycats -- which launched on its site in 2013.

Versace's legal diss of FN includes calling it a "serial infringer specializing in 'fast-fashion' knock-offs." Ooooh, burn.

And, there's plenty of name-dropping too -- Versace points out its designs have adorned the likes of Princess Diana, Princess Caroline (royalty burns hurt the worst), Elton John, Lady Gaga and Liz Hurley. Translation: Who you got, Fashion Nova? IG Model Who??

According to the suit, Fashion Nova's already been sued at least 8 times for this kind of alleged offense, including one from Adidas.

Versace says it fired a warning shot back in July 2019, officially putting FN on notice, but says nothing's changed, so now we're going to court.

Lizzo has many reasons to be happy ... so a trip to The Happiest Place on Earth was in order.

The Record of the Year nominee and her sister had a fun evening out with friends Thursday at Disneyland to celebrate both her sister's birthday ... and Lizzo's 8 Grammy noms.

We're told the group had a blast all over the park hitting up popular rides like Space Mountain, It's a Small World, the Matterhorn Bobsleds ... and even made their way over to Disney California Adventure for Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!

Even better ... Lizzo and company splurged for a VIP tour guide so they didn't have to wait in any long lines.

At one point the "Truth Hurts" singer took a break to check her phone and enjoy a chocolate-covered frozen banana ... with Minnie Mouse ears on and everything.

And if you're wondering about the woman in the sexy Santa outfit on her sweatshirt ... it seems Lizzo's promoting a raunchy new single called "Christmas Time" by celeb hairstylist, Shelby Swain.

Great addition to your feel-good holiday playlist ... along with pretty much all of Lizzo's songs, of course.

Singer Peabo Bryson suffered a mild heart attack over the weekend and is currently in the hospital ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for Peabo tells TMZ ... the Grammy-winning balladeer was at his home in Georgia early Saturday morning when he suffered the mild heart attack. We're told Peabo's currently responsive and both his medical team and family are optimistic he'll make a speedy recovery.

The rep tells us, "At this time, privacy is requested; however, the thoughts and prayers of friends and fans are welcomed and appreciated.”

Peabo, of course, won two Grammy Awards in 1992, one for his performance of the song "Beauty and the Beast" with Celine Dion and another in 1993 for "A Whole New World" with Regina Belle. The "Aladdin" theme song was so huge back in the day ... it toppled Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" from Billboard's Hot 100 chart in March 1993. Both tracks also took home Oscars for Best Original Song.

5:52 PM PT -- A source tells TMZ, Travis Scott and DJ Paul spoke on Tuesday and the resolution is expected shortly ... a rep for Travis confirms the conversation happened, but would not elaborate on details.

Travis Scott straight-up jacked a portion of Three 6 Mafia's DJ Paul's track ... so claims DJ Paul in a new lawsuit.

Paul filed legal docs claiming Travis' "No Bystanders" has a hook that's almost identical to DJ Paul's track "Tear Da Club Up." According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Paul says the hook to his track says "Tear da club up, tear da club up" while Travis' track goes "F*** da club up. F*** da club up."

In docs, Paul claims the cadence and sound are virtually identical. What's more ... Paul says Travis used his exact hook from "Tear Da Club Up" for his Grammys performance earlier this year ... line by line.

"No Bystanders" is a part of Travis' massively successful "Astroworld" album ... which debuted No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart. It was also a fan favorite during the rapper's 55-city tour.

In a previous interview with us in June DJ Paul claimed young artists were going to kill hip-hop ... but it doesn't appear like the lawsuit is in direct correlation to that statement.

Paul's now suing to get Travis' track pulled and wants the profits from "No Bystanders" ... which he thinks is around $20 million. We've reached out to Travis' rep, so far no word back.

Brian Littrell's reaction to Joey Fatone suggesting the Backstreet Boys and 'NSYNC come together in one super boy band is pretty simple -- Bye, Bye, Bye ... it ain't happening until you get Justin Timberlake.

We got the BSB singer Thursday at LAX, and he absolutely destroyed Joey's dreams of the pop pairing that, honestly, would be Larger Than Life. Brian's point is ... right now BSB is bringing a lot more to the table than 'NSYNC can.

He's got a point. Backstreet was Grammy-nominated this year, starred in a Super Bowl commercial with Chance the Rapper ... AND they have a Vegas residency. All of that equals relevance.

But watch, Brian does offer a small ray of hope.

If Joey really Wants it That Way, all he's gotta do is get JT on the horn ... and then wait another 10 years or so. LOL!!!

Cardi B takes ZERO days off ... even after reuniting with her husband, winning a Grammy and having a social media meltdown -- talk about loving what you do, huh?

The Grammy winner was back at it Wednesday night at Dan Bilzerian's Valentine's Day party in Bel-Air, which was dubbed "Angels & Devils." Considering Cardi deactivated her IG this week over criticism related to her big win (and Nikki Minaj comparisons) ... she sure looked fine here, on all fronts.

She might be grinding harder than anyone in the game and her hubby, Offset, will testify. Check out how Cardi put it on him -- more evidence they're back.

Tyga also took to the stage during the V-Day bash, which also featured Quavo, Swae Lee, DJ Carnage ... and a ton of hotties in lingerie -- very little lingerie -- to celebrate.

Maybe Hallmark-made "holidays" ain't so bad after all.

Cardi B did not get flowers from the great beyond -- as she insinuated by thanking Tom Petty for a Grammys bouquet she received -- but, TMZ has learned who REALLY did the honors.

Sources tell us ... celebrity florist Annie Wonderlich, owner of Art Fleur, sent the bouquet wishing Cardi luck at the award show. We're told Cardi is one of her clients, and Annie also delivered a Grammy arrangement to Lady Gaga.

After getting the flowers, Cardi looked at the back of the card -- which contained a Petty lyric -- and thought they were from him. She thanked Tom on social media ... prompting the internet to quickly point out that would be pretty freakin' amazing (as in, impossible) since TP sadly died nearly 2 years ago.

Although, we're sure Ghost Tom's probably a Bardi fan.

The sender's true identity was there the whole time ... because the other side of the card had a note from Annie reading, "Cardi B! Wishing you LOVE, LIGHT & LUCK tonight at the Grammys! All the best! XOXO, The Art Fleur Team."

We're told Annie's company has TONS of celeb clients, including Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift, and every special delivery comes with a card quoting someone famous -- like Oscar Wilde, Claude Monet, David Bowie, and in this instance, Petty.

As for the flowers ... we're told the $600 arrangement is dubbed "Ms. B" and stands 3 and a half feet tall!!! There are 250 vendulas, orange crush and garden roses ... and monster leaves painted with 24-karat gold!!!

Smokey Robinson is outraged at all the people who are slamming Jennifer Lopez for representing Motown at the Grammys, and he thinks confining the Motown sound to African Americans is a "stupid philosophy."

Smokey thinks people who think there's something wrong with a Hispanic woman showcasing Motown completely misses the point ... that Motown is about breaking all color barriers. The man who was pivotal in turning the label's sound into a world force acknowledges it represents black culture, but he's quick to add it also represents other cultures ... Hispanic, Asian, everyone.

Smokey posted a tribute to J Lo Tuesday, saying she did an awesome job ... calling out critics, saying, "So now you're gonna try to diminish the scope of Motown and narrow it down to just music for Black people and you call yourself defending the image of Motown. Well you're trying to set us back a hundred years."

He has a big job ahead of him Tuesday night ... he's cohosting the big Motown 60th Anniversary show in downtown L.A.

Childish Gambino is being called a "house slave" by an artist who claims his own tune was ripped off for Gambino's latest Grammy-winning work. Warning ... VERY hot take ahead.

Jase Harley explained to us Monday in NYC why he was upset with CG walking away with 4 Grammys for his monster hit, "This Is America" -- which took home Record of the Year among other top accolades during Sunday night's award show.

It's a bit tough to follow Jase's logic, but he apparently feels Gambino set black culture back by not attending the show and speaking on behalf of the racial issues he raises in the song ... and, perhaps most importantly, not acknowledging Jase as an inspiration.

This was a thing a few months back when the song first dropped -- people accused Gambino of ripping Jase off, 'cause 'TIA' sounds a lot like Jase's track, "American Pharaoh."

At the time, Jase appeared to be chill with the whole situation ... and even said he was "extremely humbled" that 'Pharoah' might've served as an influence for Gambino.

Well, it looks like all that is out the window now -- 'cause Jase makes a very controversial analogy that invokes slavery.

A$AP Rocky just declared himself the best music video director of his generation ... humblebrag much?

We got the rapper out Monday at LAX, and Rocky kinda jokes -- we think -- about how he needs a Grammy for Best Music Video. In case you missed it ... Childish Gambino got the statue Sunday night for "This is America."

And, in case you didn't know ... Rocky does direct a bunch of his own videos, so he knows a thing or two about what goes into making them. Our photog jokingly tells Rocky he shoulda ran up onstage and snagged the award, and this image had Rocky laughing at the idea of busting a Kanye.

Future bailed on a performance at Clive Davis' pre-Grammys party at the last minute -- maybe not coincidentally, considering Ciara and Russell Wilson were front and center at the event.

Eyewitnesses at Clive's Beverly Hilton bash Saturday night -- which was a who's who of Hollywood event ahead of Sunday's award show -- confirm Future was booked to perform, but hightailed it when his team realized his ex-fiancee and her new hubby were in the front row.

Our sources -- who were present during the exchange -- say someone in Future's camp accused the event organizers of being "messy" by having Ciara and Russ there, and said their guy wouldn't perform. We're told Future was briefed about it outside, and then dipped.

HollywoodLife first reported Future's departure. Now, there's another side to this story -- sources close to Future tell us he didn't bail because of Ciara or RW.

Our Future sources say the show was behind schedule by nearly an hour, and he and his team were instructed to shorten his performance significantly, which, we're told, Future wasn't down with. We're told he had no idea Ciara or Russ was there.

Jennifer Lopez hit it outta the park with her Motown tribute at the Grammys ... and anyone who disagrees is missing the point about music and race ... so says Whitney Houston's sister-in-law.

We got Pat Houston out Monday morning at LAX and got her take on the criticism J Lo faced before, during and after she honored Motown ... in the middle of Black History Month.

J Lo, of course, is of Puerto Rican descent and the Internet's been teeing off on her and the Grammys -- but Pat has a different view, which is ... there is NO color when it comes to music.

Many, many Motown fans disagree, saying things like ... "Sorry everyone, but I agree. She's a great performer, but they should have chosen someone else. No doubt Latinos would be upset if they had a black soul singer doing a tribute to Latin music."

As you know ... J Lo hit the stage with Motown legend Smokey Robinson and Ne-Yo. Houston's not the only one supporting her -- Tyler Perry admits he was skeptical, but adds J Lo won him over.

J Lo has said Motown producer Berry Gordy was thrilled she was involved in the tribute. Count Pat in that category too ... based on her rating for the night's most talked about performance.

2:20 PM PT -- BET is making it clear the tweet targeting Nicki was unauthorized. The network says, “BET loves Nicki Minaj. We have supported her from the very beginning of her career and will continue to do so moving forward. Nicki has paved the way for so many performers and has solidified her place as one of the most powerful figures in the music industry."

The statement continues ... "Unfortunately the respect we have for Nicki was violated by this post that should never have been written. The post does not reflect how we feel about Nicki. And further does not reflect our company values. We deeply apologize for the hurt, disappointment and confusion that this post has caused. We are committed to doing everything we can to address the situation."

BET also says, "We are also conducting an internal audit to assure these types of posts are not published again. We have apologized to Nicki and her team. The post has been removed and we have taken additional appropriate action. We understand Nicki’s position and look forward to continuing our dialogue with her. Finally, we apologize to all of her fans. This should have never happened.

BET's social media team thought it was a good idea to make fun of Nicki Minaj on Twitter when Cardi B won at the Grammys... and now Nicki's getting a little payback against the network.

The "QUEEN" rapper announced Monday that she and her label, Young Money, would not be part of the BET Experience later this summer -- which is a concert series she and Cardi were booked to co-headline just days before the BET Awards in June.

Sources connected to Nicki tell us she did, in fact, cancel the gig in direct response to BET's crass joke -- and she made that quite clear with her follow-up tweets.

People were putting BET on blast, saying they owed Nicki an apology since the comment was a low blow. Nicki seemed to agree, saying ... "Meanwhile, BET is being dragged by their lacefront," adding a laughing emoji for good measure.

It's unclear who, if anyone, at the network green lit the controversial tweet, but Nicki clearly doesn't care. If she and Young Money stick to the boycott ... it's a big loss, because it means Lil Wayne's also pulling out of the BET Experience concert.

You'll recall, Nicki and Cardi have had a salty past, getting into it at a NYFW party last September -- but both women said they were squashing the beef. It sounds like Nicki's just pissed about the jab at her, not so much about the celebration of Cardi.

Originally Published -- 12:12 PM PST

9th Wonder says XXXTentacion absolutely deserved to be part of the Grammys' In Memoriam segment, because the guy left a musical legacy that's bigger than life.

The legendary hip-hop producer made no bones about it Monday at LAX, where he told us Grammy producers missed an opportunity to include someone who gave a lot to the industry and changed lives ... adding that every big artist deserves recognition in death.

9th -- who's worked with Jay-Z, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and MANY other giants -- says X's impact on the culture is undeniable ... citing even his own son as proof the controversial MC was making waves before his tragic murder.

He suggests X's exclusion might have something to do with older Recording Academy members not knowing X -- but adds there were plenty of far less famous people honored on screen.

Our photog raised the issue that's reportedly the real reason X didn't make the cut -- his many legal issues and allegations of domestic violence.

After the 2019 Grammy Awards, all the biggest names in music dispersed to various after-parties -- the question ... whose party was the most poppin'???

At least five different get-togethers were going down at the same time late Sunday night all over L.A. Republic Records had a shindig, as did Universal and Sony. Even Mark Ronson threw something himself ... and don't forget the LiveXLive bash.

Each party had its fair share of big fish from the awards ceremony. Republic was able to lure a diverse crowd in Zedd, Paris Jackson, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner as well as Scottie Pippen. UMG's rager featured Earth, Wind & Fire, Eve, Kacey Musgraves and Terry Crews ... and Sony was able to bring in folks like Usher, John Mayer, Maren Morris and Miguel.

Ronson's party was a who's who too -- artists like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry swung by. And, the LiveXLive function had Charli XCX, Rick Ross and Sheck Wes there.