American singer Akon may be singing the blues following his wife Tomeka Thiam’s decision to call it quits before their 29th wedding anniversary.
According to reports obtained by People, Thiam filed for divorce on Thursday, citing ‘irreconcilable difference,’
The rapper, 52, who caused a ruckus when he allegedly slapped a security guard during a performance in Russia, married Thiam on September 15, 1996 – meaning they were just four days away from celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary when Thiam filed to split.
Thiam has asked for joint legal custody and physical custody of their 17-year-old daughter and noted their date of separation was ‘TBD.’
She also requested that the court approves spousal support while requesting that Akon not be granted any financial support in return.
Akon, born Alioune Badara Thiam, has not yet responded publicly to the filing.
The situation seems to be complicated as the Right Now rapper, who is from Senegal, where polygamy is permitted, in total has nine children.
Amirah-Iman Thiam appears to be one of Akon’s wives, and after the divorce news dropped she posted a loved-up photo with the musical artist. The photo featured a diamond ring emoji and was poignantly soundtracked to the Gunna song ‘forever be mine’.
She has also released music, with Akon announcing last year: ‘‘The first lady of #konvictkulture @sincerelyamirror Drops her debut Album #REFLXNS.”
Akon said during a 2022 appearance on The Zeze Mills Show that polygamy is ‘part of our culture.’
”For me, it looks normal, because it’s culture for us,” he said. ”We didn’t go outside of our African culture when we got to the Western world. See, the flaw that the Western world made is they created all these rules without putting nature into account.”
Chris Brown, American singer, has pleaded not guilty to fresh charges connected to an assault case.
TheNewsGuru recalls that the fight happened in a London nightclub on February 19, 2023.
Brown, alongside another US citizen, Omololu Akinlolu, aka HoodyBaby, were accused of attacking a man with a bottle at Tape, a private club in Hanover Square, during Brown’s UK tour.
During his UK tour, Chris Brown was involved in an incident at Nover Square. The victim reportedly suffered injuries after being struck with a bottle and was subsequently chased, punched, and kicked.
In court on Friday, Brown denied charges of causing actual bodily harm and carrying a bottle as a weapon in public. He had previously pleaded not guilty to a more serious charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. Akinlolu also pleaded not guilty to the same charges.
Brown was arrested in Manchester in May 2025, shortly after arriving in the UK. He was held in custody for several days before being released on bail. Currently, he is out on bail set at £5 million and must return for future court sessions to avoid losing the bail money.
Despite the ongoing court case, Brown is permitted to continue his world tour, which began in Amsterdam on June 8. The next court hearing is scheduled for October 24.
R. Kelly was rushed to hospital after he suffered a near-fatal overdose in prison.
According to a new filing by his attorney, Beau Brindley, the 58-year-old singer – who is serving 30 years in a North Carolina prison for sex trafficking and racketeering – was placed in isolation on June 10 with his anxiety medication.
After being given more medication by prison staff, he lost consciousness three days later and was taken to Duke University Hospital on June 13.
According to the document, Kelly was later removed from Duke University Hospital in Durham against medical advice.
The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment, citing “pending litigation.”
R. Kelly, born Robert Kelly, is currently serving a 30-year sentence following his 2022 conviction for racketeering and sex trafficking.
His lawyers say the incident occurred just days after an emergency furlough motion was filed on June 10. They claim that soon after filing the motion, which alleged a plot by three prison officials to have Kelly killed by another inmate, the singer was placed in solitary confinement against his will.
In the early hours of June 13, Kelly reportedly woke up feeling lightheaded and began experiencing vision problems.
The filing states, “He tried to stand but collapsed. He crawled to the cell door and lost consciousness.”
Unable to treat him on site, prison medical staff called for an ambulance, and Kelly was taken to Duke University Hospital where he remained for two days.
His legal team says they were unable to speak with him until June 16, after a scheduled phone call was abruptly canceled with no explanation.
Following sexual allegations levied against him, about eighteen companies have severe relations with Empower Global, a business venture founded by embattled American singer, Sean Combs, popularly known as Diddy.
This companies confirmed this to Rolling Stone Magazine on Sunday.
Founder of luxury-bag, eyewear, and apparel company, House of Takura, Annette Njau said; “We take the allegations against Mr. Combs seriously and find such behavior abhorrent and intolerable. We believe and support victims’ rights, even against the most powerful of people.”
Rolling stone added that
18 brands in total have cut ties with Diddy’s Empower Global which was founded in 2021.
Other companies that have left Diddy’s company include skincare brand, Tsuri, footwear line, Rebecca Allen, jewelry label, Fulaba, sunscreen brand, Baby Donna, among others.
Recall that the news came days after a fourth lawsuit was filed against the singer by Jane Doe who alleged that she was sex trafficked and gang raped in 2003 by Diddy, Harve Pierre, a former Bad Boy Records president and another man when she was 17.
In November, Diddy stepped down as the chairman of Revolt TV, a media company he co-founded.
Grammy-winner Anita Pointer of The Pointer Sisters gave up the ghost after a long battle with cancer on Saturday in the United States.
Pointer passed away at the age of 74 her publicist confirmed.
The singer died on Saturday, New Year’s Eve, at her home in Los Angeles, United States, where she was surrounded by family.
According to a statement on Instagram on Sunday, Pointer’s family announced her death, confirming that the Grammy Award winner died after a heroic battle with cancer.”
“While we are deeply saddened by her death, we are comforted in knowing she is now with her sisters, June & Bonnie and her daughter, Jada. Heaven is a more beautiful , loving place with Anita there,” it added.
Anita was one of the founding members of the R&B group The Pointer Sisters, who delighted fans all over the world with hits including I’m So Excited, Jump and Fire.’
Along with sisters Ruth and June, the group from Oakland, California, released its first album in 1973 before winning three Grammy awards.
Lead attorney to American singer, Robert Sylvester Kelly, aka R. Kelly, on Tuesday, got her chance to deliver her closing argument to federal jurors in Chicago.
This was a day after a prosecutor told them that weeks of evidence proved the singer parlayed his fame to sexually abuse minors and record the abuse on video.
Kelly faces charges including production of child pornography, enticing minor girls for sex and obstruction of justice by rigging his 2008 child pornography trial in state court, at which he was acquitted.
Jurors were expected to begin deliberating later Tuesday.
In her closing, prosecutor Elizabeth Pozolo described Kelly as a secret sexual predator.
“Robert Kelly abused many girls over many years,” she said, referring to the 55-year-old Grammy winner by his full first name. “He committed horrible crimes against children. All these years later, the hidden side of Robert Kelly has come out.”
Kelly attorney Jennifer Bonjean twice called for a mistrial Monday, complaining that closing arguments by attorneys for Kelly co-defendants Derrell McDavid and Milton Brown were grounded in the presumption that “the world now knows Mr. Kelly is a sex predator.”
“The presumption of innocence has been abolished for him,” Bonjean said, meaning Kelly was unable to get a fair trial. Judge Harry Leinenweber denied the requests.
Prosecutors will have the opportunity for a short rebuttal after Bonjean gives her closing argument in Kelly’s hometown of Chicago, where he rose from poverty to become an R&B superstar.
TheNewsGuru.com recalls that a New York judge sentenced R. Kelly to 30 years in prison after a jury found the multiplatinum singer guilty on nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering in September last year.
Known for his smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and for sex-infused songs such as “Bump n’ Grind,” Kelly sold millions of albums even after allegations of sexual misconduct began circulating in the 1990s. Widespread outrage emerged after the #MeToo reckoning and the 2019 docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly.”
Kelly and McDavid, Kelly’s former business manager, are accused of fixing the 2008 trial by intimidating and paying off witnesses.
Both face child pornography charges. Brown, a former Kelly associate, is accused of receiving child pornography.
Kelly was sentenced in June to 30 years in prison after a separate federal trial in New York, where he was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking.
Convictions on just a few of the 13 counts Kelly faces at his current trial could add years to his imprisonment.
Pozolo focused much of her closing argument on the government’s star witness, an accuser who went by “Jane” and who said Kelly sexually abused her hundreds of times starting when she was 14.
“He performed degrading acts upon her for his own sick pleasure,” Pozolo said.
She reminded jurors of graphic video footage they had watched, which Jane testified depicted Kelly, at around age 30, abusing her when she was 14. The videos shown included one at the heart Kelly’s 2008 trial. Jurors said later they had no choice but to acquit Kelly because Jane didn’t testify.
“Who does that? Who uses a 14-year-old child to film a video like this?” she said. “This man. Robert Kelly.”
Before Kelly’s 2008 trial, Pozolo said, Kelly and his associates scrambled to recover multiple sex videos that had gone missing from a collection he often carried around in a large gym bag.
By doing so, she said, Kelly associates sought “to cover up the fact that … R. Kelly, the R&B superstar, is actually a sexual predator.”
In his closing, an attorney for McDavid said prosecutors had to show that his client actually knew about any abuse of Jane by Kelly in the 2000s — not just that it was likely he knew.
“Did they prove he knew … behind a reasonable doubt?” Beau Brindley asked. “They did not.”
Pozolo balked at the idea that McDavid had no inkling in the 2000s that the abuse allegations might be credible after helping to recover missing recordings and handing bags of cash to people who returned videos McDavid knew could destroy Kelly.
Sensational American singer, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, surprised fans again on Thursday when she dropped a 4-song “Break My Soul” remix EP featuring refreshed versions of her Renaissance single by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.
The collection of club royalty remixers continues turning up the dial on Beyoncé’s dance-iest album to date.
Chicago house legend, Terry Hunter, global scene queen, Honey Dijon, and New York producer, DJ Nita Aviance, could not hold back their joy in Beyoncé’s new release, as i.am. strips the song down to its most elemental beat, while Hunter amps up the tempo and transforms the track into a dreamy house workout complete with Sunday church service organs.
Aviance’s nearly 10-minute version adds hypnotic, trancey elements as it stretches the track to double its recorded length.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter
Comprised of four revamped cuts of the titular lead single, the EP enlists Honey Dijon, will.i.am, Terry Hunter and Nita Aviance, who each offer different versions of the song.
For his part, The Black Eyed Peas frontman distills the track’s core bounce beat, while Hunter adds church organs for a more ethereal take on the album’s distinct ballroom sound.
Meanwhile, both Aviance and Dijon extend the original song’s runtime beyond the six-minute mark, offering trance cadences and tribal drum beats, respectively. Dijon’s track adds to her previous involvement with the album, having featured as a producer on fellow ‘Renaissance’ tracks ‘Cozy’ and ‘Alien Superstar’.
The EP’s inclusion of notable names in the dance music scene is in keeping with the album’s sonic focus. Saying as much in a four-star review for NME, Kyann-Sian Williams wrote that ‘Renaissance’ is “indebted to house music and New Orleans bounce”, and pays “homage to that scene’s unique spirit”.
Beyonce
In a similar vein, Dijon thanked Beyoncé for sharing “Chicago house music roots”, taking to Instagram to applaud the album’s broader showcase of “black queer and trans culture… I am honored, humbled, delirious with joy, and proud,” Dijon wrote.
Adding: ‘Renaissance’, which marked Beyoncé’s seventh studio album following 2016’s ‘Lemonade’, was largely met with acclaim upon its release last week, and today (August 4) drew praise from fellow musician Lil Nas X, who claimed the album is “kinda changing [his] life somehow”.
The rollout of ‘Renaissance’ has, however, been marked by a few setbacks, the first of which saw Beyoncé face claims that the track ‘Energy’ had used elements of Kelis’ ‘Milkshake’ without the former’s express permission. A new version of the track without the interpolation was yesterday (August 3) updated on Tidal and Apple Music, on top of a separate edit to the lyrics of ‘Heated’.
Earlier this month, ‘Heated’ faced backlash for its use of an ableist slur in the outro, resulting in a lyric-change which removed the word “spaz” on Apple Music. It followed similar criticisms levied at Lizzo, who just weeks ago removed the same word from her single ‘Grrrls’.
‘Renaissance’ forms part of Beyoncé’s broader trilogy album, the details of which were discovered by a fan who received a vinyl copy of the album. “This three act project was recorded over three years during the pandemic,” Beyoncé wrote in the vinyl’s accompanying booklet, saying the period was “a time I found to be the most creative.”
Following backlash, American singer and actress, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is set to remove an offensive album lyric that uses an ableist slur from her new album ‘Renaissance’.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that the musician’s publicist has confirmed that the lyric will be removed.
The star faced a backlash over the use of an offensive term on her new track ‘Heated’, where she sings: “Sp***in’ on that ass, sp** on that ass,” towards the end of the song.
While used colloquially in the United States with a similar meaning to “freak out” or “go crazy”, the term emerges from the word “spastic”, which is used medically to describe the spasms one might experience from a condition like cerebral palsy.
The term is often used in a derogative manner to describe those with disabilities, especially cerebral palsy.
According to the Beyoncé’s publicist, the lyric is now set to be replaced and that it was not “used intentionally in a harmful way.”
Disability equality charity Scope had described the use of the “deeply offensive term” as “appalling”, while disability advocate, Hannah Diviney, said the singer’s status as one of the most famous musicians in the world did not “excuse her use of ableist language”.
“So @Beyonce used the word ‘sp**’ in her new song ‘Heated’. Feels like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community and the progress we tried to make with Lizzo,” added Diviney.
Lizzo also received a backlash over an ableist lyric in her single ‘Grrrls’ a few weeks ago, which she has since addressed and altered.
Following criticism of her single, Lizzo responded in a statement posted to her social media, writing: “Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language.
“As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I overstand [sic] the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally).”
She went on to say that the altered lyric came as a direct result of her “listening [to her critics] and taking action”, further noting: “As an influential artist, I’m dedicated to being part of the change I’ve been waiting to see in the world.”
Last week, Kelis also criticised Beyoncé after she claimed that she was sampled on ‘Renaissance’ without granting permission.
Beyoncé, born September 4, 1981, is also known as a songwriter and producer. She performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny’s Child, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Their hiatus saw the release of her debut album Dangerously in Love (2003), which featured the US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles “Crazy in Love” and “Baby Boy”.
Following the 2006 disbanding of Destiny’s Child, she released her second solo album, B’Day, which contained singles “Irreplaceable” and “Beautiful Liar”. Beyoncé also starred in multiple films such as The Pink Panther (2006), Dreamgirls (2006), Obsessed (2009), and The Lion King (2019).
Her marriage to Jay-Z and her portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third album, I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008), which earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010. It spawned the successful singles “If I Were a Boy”, “Single Ladies”, and “Halo”.
After splitting from her manager and father Mathew Knowles in 2010, Beyoncé released her musically diverse fourth album 4 in 2011. She later achieved universal acclaim for her sonically experimental visual albums, Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016), the latter of which was the world’s best-selling album of 2016 and the most acclaimed album of her career, exploring themes of infidelity and womanism.
In 2018, she released Everything Is Love, a collaborative album with her husband, Jay-Z, as the Carters. As a featured artist, Beyoncé topped the Billboard Hot 100 with the remixes of “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran in 2017 and “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion in 2020. The same year, she released the musical film and visual album Black Is King to widespread acclaim.
Beyoncé is one of the world’s best-selling recording artists, having sold over 120 million records worldwide as a solo artist by 2010.[5][6] She is the first solo artist to have their first six studio albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200.[7] Her success during the 2000s was recognized with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)’s Top Certified Artist of the Decade as well as Billboard’s Top Female Artist of the Decade.
Beyoncé’s accolades include 28 Grammy Awards, 26 MTV Video Music Awards (including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2014), 24 NAACP Image Awards, 31 BET Awards, and 17 Soul Train Music Awards; all of which are more than any other singer.
In 2014, Billboard named her the highest-earning black musician of all time, while in 2020, she was included on Time’s list of 100 women who defined the last century.
American singer, Ne-Yo, who was dumped by his wife, Crystal Smith, after eight years marriage over infidelity, has reacted, saying that his personal issues would not be dissected and addressed in public forums.
The 42-year old American singer took to his instagram page to ask for privacy in dealing with his eight-year-old wife’s decision to end their marriage over infidelity.
TheNewsGuru.com recalls that Ne-Yo’s 35-year old wife accused him of cheating on her.
Through an Instagram post, the wife of the famous American singer accused Ne-Yo of cheating on her with women who sold their bodies to him unprotected.
She slammed her husband for being unfaithful.
In her words: “8 years. 8 years of lies and deception. 8 years of unknowingly sharing my life and my husband with numerous women who sell their bodies to him unprotected…every last one of them! To say I’m heartbroken and disgusted is an understatement.”
Crystal also pleaded with fans to stop sending her videos of her husband with other women.
She added: “To ask me to stay and accept it is absolutely insane—the mentality of a narcissist. I will no longer lie to the public or pretend that this is something it isn’t.
“I choose me, I choose my happiness and health and my respect I gained 3 beautiful children out of this but nothing else but wasted years and heartache.
“I ask that you all please stop sending me videos and information of him cheating because what he does is no longer my concern.”
Ne-Yo and Crystal extravagant wedding happened took place sometime 2016.
The lavish affair included a rooftop ceremony at Resorts World Las Vegas overlooking the famed strip.
Neyo looked dapper in a black tuxedo, but the spotlight belonged to Crystal, who looked stunning in her wedding gown that featured a lengthy train and veil.
The ceremony and reception was flooded with thousands upon thousands of roses throughout.
There was also a towering wedding cake that included the flavors salty caramel, chocolate and pumpkin.
The American singer posted a video that showed the happy couple heading back to their suite after the event. The video shows the suite decorated with hundreds, if not thousands, of roses.
Ne-Yor said he was “honored and beyond happy” following the nuptials.
Parts of Ne-Yo’s vows were captured on video by a guest and shared on Smith’s Instagram Story, and featured the star praising not only his wife’s “beauty,” but her quirks, too.
“Where some might see a smart-ass mouth, what I saw was a mouth that has no problem letting it be known what’s on the lady’s mind, thus making it easier for a worldly man to understand her. Where some would see attitude, I saw confidence. A woman with knowledge of self-worth, absolutely refusing to accept anything less,” Ne-Yo stated.
American singer, pianist, and songwriter of Christian worship music, Donald James Moen, popularly known as Don Moen, and his wife, Laura Lee Szuchna Moen, are jubilant as they celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary today, 20th May, 2022.
He is father of Five (James Moen, John Moen, Rachel Moen, Melissa Moen, Michael Moen).
The couple married in 1973 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
By June 29 (next month) the gospel singer would be 72-year-old.
Don Moen and wife, Laura
Don, who is known famously for his ‘God is good all the time’ song, took to his Facebook to share the news.
He recounted how he had married the love of his life 49 years ago and how a lot of people had turned up for their wedding with over a thousand people they didn’t even know.
He wrote: “49 years ago, I married this girl after a concert in Minneapolis, MN. We welcomed anyone in the audience to stay for the wedding, it started at 10PM & we had approx 1,000 people we didn’t know at our wedding! What an adventure! I’m a very blessed man. God is so good!!!”
Don grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he attended high school in 1968.
He attended Oral Roberts University, a Christian liberal arts school and became a Living Sound musician for Terry Law Ministries.
He later worked for Integrity Media for over 20 years, serving as creative director and president of Integrity Music, president of Integrity Label Group, and an executive producer of Integrity Music albums.
He left Integrity Media in December 2007 to start a new initiative, The Don Moen Company. The Don Moen Company acquired MediaComplete, the church software company that created MediaShout.
Don became a radio host for Don Moen & Friends in 2009. Moen received a Dove Award for his work on the musical God with Us in addition to nine nominations for his songs.
He also worked with Claire Cloninger, Paul Overstreet, Martin J. Nystrom, Randy Rothwell, Ron Kenoly, Bob Fitts, Debbye Graafsma, Paul Baloche, Tom Brooks, among many others. He worked with musicians, Justo Almario, Carl Albrecht, Abraham Laboriel, Alex Acuña, Paul Jackson, Jr., Lenny LeBlanc and Chris Graham.
The gospel singer was a catalyst in launching the careers of Paul Baloche, Darlene Zschech, Israel Houghton, and Hillsong United.
He produced 11 volumes for the Hosanna! Music series of worship albums. His first album under his own name, Worship with Don Moen, was released in 1992. His music has total global sales of over five million units.
Don Moen
Moen performing with Lenny LeBlanc
Moen’s first album for Hosanna! Music, Give Thanks, became the label’s bestseller. Produced by Tom Brooks, Give Thanks went on to be certified Gold by the RIAA. Moen followed this with a number of albums of his own including two, En Tu Presencia and Trono De Gracia, in Spanish.
“God with us” won the Dove Award for Best Musical. On an Asian tour in 1999 he recorded The Mercy Seat at Singapore Indoor Stadium and Heal Our Land at Yoido Park in South Korea, which was released in 2000. One of Moen’s albums, I Will Sing, was recorded at Christian Broadcasting Network.
“God Will Make a Way”, the best of Don Moen was released in 2003 and features 19 greatest hits. The title song was written for his sister-in-law and her husband, whose oldest son died in an auto accident while their other three children survived but were seriously injured.
Don’s “Hiding Place” became his first studio album which was recorded at Paragon Studios in Franklin, Tennessee, and was released in the autumn of 2006.
His third studio recording titled “Uncharted Territory” (funded successfully through Kickstarter) was released on March 27, 2012.
His Christmas album, Christmas: A Season of Hope, was released on October 22, 2012, and some songs were recorded at a studio in Czech Republic.
Don released Hymnbook as a celebration of reaching over 1 million likes on his Facebook page.
Recall that sometime July 2017, he was rumoured to have died
