Music An Italian Group Is Accused Of Doing Cocaine On Live TV During Eu... Italian rock band Måneskin, who won the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest on May 22, will be taking a drug test for allegedly doing cocaine on the show’s<doc-sep>The past week has been a whirlwind for R. Kelly and the music industry. According to Billboard, after the Jan. 5 finale of Lifetime's "Surviving R. Kelly" docuseries aired, the R&B singer saw a massive boost in streams. As reported, the singer's catalog generated 4.3 million on-demand streams in the U.S. after the documentary, which centers around a series of sexual abuse allegations against Kelly, premiered. The rise marks a 116 percent increase from last Wednesday (Jan. 2). The series made its televised debut on Thursday (Jan. 3), resulting in thousands weighing in on the situation, such as his daughter and countless celebrities. According to Billboard, the songs that listeners gravitated towards — resulting in their subsequent uptick in streams — include "Ignition" (433,000 U.S. streams, up 80 percent), "Trapped in the Closet" (396,000, up 230 percent), "Bump N' Grind" (266,000, up 94 percent), "Same Girl" featuring Usher, (176,000, up 126 percent) and "I Believe I Can Fly" (161,000, up 48 percent). When adding up the singer's daily streams during the three-day documentary event and the day after the series' finale, streams increased by 65 percent, garnering a total of 14.5 million streams. The week prior, Dec. 30 - Jan. 2, R. Kelly's music racked up 8.8 million streams. However, while his streaming numbers increased following the six-part docuseries -- as did views on his Wikipedia page -- radio airplay experienced a significant decline. As reported, in January 2018, he averaged 11.1 million in audience each week. That number, as of December 2018, decreased to an average of 6.7 million. Two radio stations in Dallas made the decision to ban the singer's music in the wake of the docuseries bringing to light the magnitude of the allegations he's facing. "Smooth R&B 105.7 [KRNB] and K104 [KKDA] made the decision to drop R. Kelly's music from our playlists due to the outpouring of concern from our listeners regarding Kelly's alleged sexual assaults of underage girls," Service Broadcasting Corporation shared in a statement. "There are no immediate plans to drop music from any other artists." While there has been no official explanation helping provide insight in the uptick in streams, it could be due to the act of hate-listening. R. Kelly continues to vehemently deny all allegations being made against him and plans on pursuing legal action against Lifetime.<doc-sep>UPDATED: Lady Gaga has addressed her 2013 collaboration with R. Kelly in a tweet on Wednesday night, revealing that she is pulling the song “Do What U Want” from iTunes and streaming services. “I stand behind these women 1000%, believe them, know they are suffering and in pain and feel strongly that their voices should be heard and taken seriously.” Referring to the Lifetime documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly,” Gaga continues:”What I am hearing about the allegations against R Kelly is absolutely horrifying and indefensible. As a victim of sexual assault myself, I made both the songs and video at a dark time in my life, my intention was to create something extremely defiant and provocative because I was angry and still hadn’t processed the trauma that had occurred in my own life.” In Sept. 2015, Gaga released “‘Til It Happens to You,” the Oscar-nominated song to “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary about sexual assaults on college campuses. Relating the Kelly collaboration to her own experience, Gaga writes: “I think it’s clear how explicitly twisted my thinking was at the time. If I could go back and have a talk with my younger self I’d tell her to go through the therapy I have since then, so that I could understand the confused post-traumatic state that I was in-or if therapy was not available to me or anyone else in my situation-to seek help, and speak openly and honestly as possible about what we’ve been through. I can’t go back, but I can go forward and continue to support women, men and people of all sexual identities, and of all races who are victims of sexual assault.” “Do What U Want (With My Body), released in late 2013 and featured on the album “ARTPOP,” was also performed on the American Music Awards that year in a provocative display that nodded to Marilyn Monroe’s sexual relations with President John F. Kennedy (pictured above). “I intend to remove this song off iTunes and other streaming platforms and will not be working with him again,” Gaga wrote in her tweet. While by early Thursday afternoon (ET) the song remained available for download on iTunes and Amazon and for streaming at Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and Tidal, a source close to the situation noted to Variety that the services are essentially distributors and the decision rests with Gaga’s label, Interscope Records, which owns the repertoire. Another tells Variety that Interscope is working to follow Gaga’s wishes and remove the song as soon as possible. R. Kelly remains signed to RCA Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music, though, according to insiders, it is expected that the company will part ways with the singer imminently. According to Lifetime, “Surviving R. Kelly” was watched by an average of 2.1 million total viewers, factoring Nielsen live-plus-same-day ratings. The series, which included interviews with #MeToo founder and civil rights activist Tarana Burke, musician John Legend and others, documents the decades of sexual abuse allegations against the R&B artist. It aired across three nights, starting on Thursday, Jan. 3, concluding on Saturday, Jan. 5. Read Gaga’s tweet in its entirety below:<doc-sep>
R. Kelly's songs are reportedly seeing a spike in streaming on Spotify, following the premiere of the Lifetime docu-series “Surviving R. Kelly.” Since the six-hour series, which tells harrowing stories of alleged sexual abuse by the singer, debuted, streams of Kelly's music on Spotify have jumped 16 percent. The spike has prompted some to call on the streaming platform to remove Kelly's music from their libraries. Spotify has not commented on the boost. Many stars are also getting a lot of heat for not speaking out in the documentary, including Lady Gaga and Jay Z. Gaga and the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer performed together on several TV appearances, while Jay Z and Kelly released a couple duet albums together, 2002’s “Best of Both Worlds” and 2004’s “Unfinished Business.” John Legend, the only big star to appear in the documentary, was unfazed by the praise he's been getting for his bravery. "To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn't feel risky at all. I believe these women and don't give a f*** about protecting a serial child rapist,” Legend tweeted on Jan. 3. “Easy decision.” But the docu-series has inspired some to reflect on their relationship with Kelly. Common spoke to TMZ Tuesday about how he believes he failed Kelly's accusers. "I'm guilty of that too myself because I didn't stop and be like, 'Yo,' and speak against this," he said. "R. Kelly's from my hometown. At the end of the day, he's a human being. He has his issues and we see that, but I can't condone that and I shouldn't be allowing that to happen. "We failed our community as black people." Chance the Rapper also apologized for working with Kelly in the past. R. Kelly has denied all the allegations of physical abuse and sexual misconduct. RELATED STORIES