Beyonce gives birth to twins - celebrity news websites

LOS ANGELES - US singer Beyonce has given birth to twins in Los Angeles, several celebrity news websites reported on Saturday, citing unidentified sources.

Beyonce, 35, and rapper and music producer Jay Z, already have a five-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy.

E! News, citing multiple unidentified sources, reported the birth and that Jay Z and Blue Ivy were seen at a Los Angeles area hospital on Thursday.

Us Weekly, also citing multiple unidentified sources, reported that the couple welcomed twins earlier this week.

"Bey and Jay are thrilled and have started sharing the news with their family and closest friends," one unidentified source told PEOPLE.

Reuters could not verify the reports. A representative for Beyonce did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The celebrity news websites did not provide additional details, such as the date and time the twins were born or the sex of the infants.

The "Lemonade" singer, one of the most powerful women in the music business, announced the pregnancy on her Instagram account in February along with an image of her posed in lingerie and caressing a noticeable baby bump.

The announcement got more than 8 million "likes" in the first 24 hours to become the "most-liked" Instagram ever.

The R&B singer performed live at the Grammy awards in Los Angeles two weeks later, proudly displaying her swelling belly in a motherhood-themed show. She has since posted numerous pictures of her bare baby bump on her social media accounts.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Beyonce storms VMAs, Rihanna gets lifetime award

NEW YORK -- Beyonce dominated the MTV Video Music awards on Sunday, prowling the stage with a 15-minute medley from her powerful "Lemonade" album and taking home eight statuettes, including the top prize - video of the year.

On a night when women ruled, Britney Spears returned to the VMA stage for the first time in a decade, and Rihanna performed four times to mark her lifetime achievement award.

Beyonce brought the house down at New York's Madison Square Garden, stringing together five of her "Lemonade" album tracks about betrayal, revenge and female empowerment in a song and dance routine that brought a long standing ovation.

VMA organizers had announced only three hours before Sunday's show began that Beyonce would perform. The singer arrived on the red carpet accompanied by the mothers of three African-American men who have died at the hands of U.S. police in the past two years.

Her politically charged "Formation" beat Adele's 2015 comeback single "Hello," Drake's "Hotline Bling," Justin Bieber's "Sorry" and Kanye West's sleeping nude celebrity look-alikes in "Famous" for video of the year.

She also won best female video and prizes for choreography, editing, and long form video in the awards that are voted on by fans.

Where Beyonce was angry and bold, Spears, 34, dressed in a sparkly gold leotard and matching over the knee boots was slinky retro pop. It was the "Toxic" singer's first time on the VMA stage since her humiliating 2007 performance when her personal and professional life was falling apart, and follows the release of a new album last week.

Rihanna, 28, sang 13 of the biggest hits in her 13-year career, including "Rude Girl," "Diamonds" and "Only Girl in the World." She was presented with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award by Canadian rapper Drake - with whom she has often been romantically linked.

"She's someone I've been in love with since I was 22 years old. She's one of my best friends in the world. All my adult life, I've looked up to her even though she's younger than me," said Drake.

Fifth Harmony, the five-girl group that won TV talent show "The X Factor," took home two "Moonman" awards.

Kanye West, who has often hijacked the live VMA show, presented a new video for his single "Fade." West preceded the video with a rambling, improvised speech that touched on poverty, his wife Kim Kardashian, his long-running feud with Taylor Swift, and violence in black neighborhoods.

"We are undeniably the influencers, the thought leaders," he said, before screening what he called a "piece of my art."

Many of pop music's biggest names, including Justin Bieber, Britain's Adele and Taylor Swift were absent on Sunday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Beyonce's 'Lemonade' tops Billboard, Prince reigns on album chart

R&B star Beyonce stormed to the top of the weekly US Billboard 200 album chart with her surprise visual concept album "Lemonade," while late singer Prince's music dominated the chart as fans continued to remember his legacy through his music.

"Lemonade," the sixth solo album by Beyonce, sold 485,000 albums, more than 900,000 songs and was streamed 115 million times, totaling 653,000 units according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

Beyonce debuted "Lemonade" as an hour-long film made up of music videos on cable network HBO last week, and initially made it available exclusively on premium streaming service Tidal, before releasing it to other online retailers.

The album garnered headlines for lyrics that suggested Beyonce's husband, rapper Jay Z, may have had an extramarital affair. The songs transition from suspicion and anger to hurt and finally forgiveness and reconciliation.

The album also contains the single "Formation," a power anthem to race and feminism.

Five of Prince's albums stayed in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart this week, led by 2001's compilation "The Very Best of Prince" at No. 2 with 391,000 units sold.

Sales of Prince's music, which he kept off numerous streaming platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, have soared after the singer's sudden death on April 22 at his Minnesota estate.

On Billboard's Digital Songs chart, which measures online song sales, Prince's "Purple Rain" led seven of the late singer's songs in the top ten of the chart with 282,000 copies sold.

Beyonce's "Formation" came in at No. 3 and "Hold Up" came in at No. 9.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com