Taylor Swift won her third consecutive artist of the year prize at the American Music Awards, but she missed the show for a good reason: She said she’s busy re-recording her songs’ masters after her catalog was sold.

In a video that aired during Sunday’s awards show, the pop star said “the reason I’m not there tonight is I’m actually re-recording all of my old music in the studio where we originally recorded it. So it’s been amazing. And I can’t wait for you to hear it.”

Last year music manager Scooter Braun — who manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande — announced that his Ithaca Holdings company had acquired Big Machine Label Group, the home to Swift’s first six albums. This month Braun said he has sold the master rights to Swift’s first six albums to an investment company; Swift acknowledged the sale on social media and said she would not work with the new buyers because Braun was still involved.

Instead, she began re-recording her albums.

Swift beat out Bieber, Post Malone and Roddy Ricch to win the top award. She also won favorite music video and favorite pop/rock female artist.

The Weeknd lost artist of the year, but he still kicked off his all-star week as a big winner: Days before he’s expected to land multiple Grammy nominations, the pop star dominated the 2020 American Music Awards with multiple wins.

The 30-year-old won favorite soul/R&B male artist, favorite soul/R&B album for “After Hours” and favorite soul/R&B song for “Heartless” on Sunday, two days before the 2021 Grammy nominations are announced.

“The last time I received this award it was given to me by the late, great Prince,” he said after winning favorite soul/R&B album. “And, you know, he’s the reason I get to constantly challenge the genre of R&B and yeah, I’d like to dedicate this to him,” he said.

The Weeknd didn’t break character throughout the three-hour show with his gauze-wrapped face, which matched the vibe of his recent album and music videos where he appears blooded and bruised. He accepted his awards and performed with his face wrapped in gauze.

Kenny G joined the Weeknd for his performance, playing the sax in downtown Los Angeles as the Weeknd walked across a bridge singing “In Your Eyes.” He finished the performance singing “Save Your Tears.”

The Weeknd was one of several artists who appeared live at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles for the fan-voted awards show. Others recently taped their performances because of the coronavirus pandemic, though host Taraji P. Henson — who appeared live from the venue — said the few audience members sitting in the mezzanine practiced social distancing, wore masks and were tested for the virus.

Henson joked that A-list celebrities were in the audience, including Beyoncé, though cardboard cut-out of the singer, Jay-Z and other stars appeared in seats.

But a good number of chart-toppers were in the building. Breakthrough singer-rapper Doja Cat performed and won multiple honors, including new artist of the year and favorite soul/R&B female artist. Grammy-winning country duo Dan + Shay beautifully performed “I Should Probably Go to Bed” and won collaboration of the year and best country song for “10,000 Hours,” both shared with Bieber. And Megan Thee Stallion — won favorite rap/hip-hop songs for “WAP” with Cardi B — performed “Body” from her recently released debut album “Good News.”

Bieber and Shawn Mendes kicked off the AMAs with a pre-taped performance of their new duet “Monster,” marking the first time they performed the song together. It began with a stripped-down Bieber singing his recent hit “Lonely,” with songwriter-producer Benny Blanco on piano, and “Holy,” where background dancers wearing masks joined him.

Mendes, strumming his guitar, then appeared for “Monster,” which featured the twentysomethings singing lyrics about about fame and growing up as celebrities who attracted massive public attention. Mendes later sang his song “Wonder” during the show, which aired on ABC.

Katy Perry, in her first performance since giving birth to her first child, gave a strong performance of the emotional and hopeful song “Only Love,” which featured a surprise guest appearance from Darius Rucker, who sang and played guitar. With flaming red lights glaring behind her, Billie Eilish sang her new song “Therefore I Am,” as her brother-songwriter-producer Finneas backed her on guitar. Jennifer Lopez and Maluma teamed up to perform their new songs “Pa’ Ti” and “Lonely” from the film “Marry Me,” which both of them star in, while Dua Lipa — who won favorite pop/rock song — levitated in the air during her performance of “Levitating.”

24kGoldn and Iann Dior — who currently have the country’s No. 1 song with the smash hit “Mood,” also performed. The multi-genre track is the rare song that has reached No. 1 on both the rap and rock charts.

Other performers included BTS, Bad Bunny, Lewis Capaldi, Machine Gun Kelly, Lil Baby, Bell Biv DeVoe and Nelly, who performed hits from his diamond-certified debut album “Country Grammar,” which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

This year the AMAs, which typically awards one Latin honor, launched more categories in the genre. Becky G — who burst on the music scene in 2014 with the pop hit “Shower” but has recently had success singing in Spanish and launching hits on the Latin charts — won favorite Latin female artist.

She used her speech to honor immigrant families.

“I proudly wave both flags, Mexican and American. And like many, many children and grandchildren of immigrants, no matter where they’re from, we have learned from the ones before us what sacrifice and hard work looks like,” she said. “And I dedicate this award to all of our immigrant workers in this pandemic; the students and immigrant families. It’s because of my family, my abuelitos, that I stand here today.”

Nominees for the AMAs were based on streaming, album and digital sales, radio airplay and social activity, and reflect the time period of Sept. 27, 2019, through Sept. 24, 2020.

A long-lost trove of Bob Dylan documents including the singer-songwriter’s musings about anti-Semitism and unpublished song lyrics has sold at auction for a total of $495,000.

Boston-based R.R. Auction said Friday the collection privately held by the late American blues artist Tony Glover, a longtime Dylan friend and confidante, was sold as individual lots Thursday, with a majority of the key pieces going to a bidder whose identity was not made public.

The collection included transcripts of Glover’s 1971 interviews with Dylan and letters the pair exchanged. The interviews reveal that Dylan had anti-Semitism on his mind when he changed his name from Robert Zimmerman, and that he wrote “Lay Lady Lay” for Barbra Streisand.

Dylan, 79, was close with Glover, who died last year. The two men broke into music in the same Minneapolis coffeehouse scene. Glover’s widow, Cynthia Nadler, put the documents up for auction online.

The reclusive Dylan won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2016 after giving the world “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” “The Times They Are a-Changin’” and other anthems of the turbulent 1960s.

Included in the auctioned items were lyrics Dylan penned after visiting folk legend Woody Guthrie in May 1962. The lines, never made public until last month, read:

“My eyes are cracked I think I been framed / I can’t seem to remember the sound of my name / What did he teach you I heard someone shout / Did he teach you to wheel & wind yourself out / Did he teach you to reveal, respect, and repent the blues / No Jack he taught me how to sleep in my shoes.”

In a 1971 conversation with Glover, Dylan discussed why he changed his name, saying: “A lot of people are under the impression that Jews are just money lenders and merchants.”

Also read:Bob Dylan whiskey distillery to open fall 2020 in Nashville

A documentary film titled 'Political Life of Bangabandhu and Emergence of Bangladesh' was premiered at the Star Cineplex in the capital’s Bashundhara City on Friday night, marking the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,.

Produced by Bengal Multimedia, the documentary is  scripted and directed by Syed Shabab Ali Arjoo. 

State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid, Local Government and Rural Development Minister Md Tajul Islam, Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujon, Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Deputy Minister for Water Resources AKM Enamul Haque Shamim, RTV Chairman Morshed Alam MP, RTV Vice Chairman. Jasim Uddin, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Barrister Biplob Barua, playwright and thespian Ataur Rahman, producer of the documentary and CEO of RTV Syed Ashik Rahman ,among other, attended the inaugural ceremony..

Showcasing different periods of the great leader’s eventful life and career, the 2 hour and 26-minute documentary showcases rare footages and divided into multiple time periods including Bangabandhu's early days and upbringing (timeline: 1920-1947), His entry into national politics (1947-1954), Bangabandhu's rise as the leader (1955-1963), protest for Independence and the mass-uprising period (1963-1969), the historic Election (1970), the political unrest and War of Liberation (1971) and Bangabandhu’s glorious return, his role as the greatest leader and the brutal assassination of the Father of the Nation and his family (1972-1975).

Eminent recitation and voiceover artists including Syed Hasan Imam, Ataur Rahman, Abdus Sabur Khan Chowdhury, Laila Hasan, Syed Ismat Toha, Ramiz Raju, Rezaul Karim Siddique, Dr Likhan Rahman and Syed Shabab Ali Arjoo narrated the storylines in the documentary film.

Also read: We're still following Bangabandhu's foreign policy: FM

Late Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput was a maverick who hated being alone, his actor friend Siddharth Gupta has claimed.

34-year-old Sushant was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his Mumbai flat on June 14. An autopsy revealed that he had committed suicide. A subsequent probe by India's federal investigative agency also confirmed the autopsy report.

More than four months on, in an interview with the Indian media, Sushant's friend Siddharth Gupta said that the late star was "in a deeply spiritual phase" when the duo shared a flat for nearly a year between 2018 and 2019.

“He was everything that doesn’t have a definition to be very honest, he was a mentor, he was a brother. Staying with him was like getting inspired everyday. The reason we connected was a lot of common interests,” Siddharth said.

"And beyond that, he took me to the other side of it where he made me understand the biggest thing, consciousness, he was a maverick. He was a mad person. I thought he was a genetic specimen. He didn’t like being alone," he said in the interview.

Sushant's death case captivated and polarised India, with a section of the media being accused of running a biased campaign against his rumoured girlfriend Rhea and Bollywood celebrities that led to the country's narcotics agency opening a drugs probe linked to it.

And on September 9,  Rhea was arrested by India's Narcotics Control Bureau, following days of questioning. She was, however, released on bail days later.

Many Bollywood stars, including Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan, had also been grilled by the narcotics sleuths in the case after WhatsApp chats retrieved from Rhea's mobile phone indicated they procured drugs from dealers with foreign links.

Read Also: No one killed Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, say doctors