debut album

As the intro of his song “Girls, Girls, Girls” poured over the crowd at SoFi Stadium late Friday night, Jay-Z locked eyes (from behind his ever-present shades) with a guy near the stage whose excitement had bubbled over at last.

“Oh, this yo s—,” the rapper observed with a knowing little laugh. “You was waiting for this s— all night long.”

Dude was lucky not to wait even longer: The first of two SoFi gigs, Friday’s show was an almost comically overstuffed display of hits by an aging cultural giant in the middle of a legend-reclamation project; Jay-Z performed parts of three dozen songs over two hours, which was still only a fraction of the 152 entries he’s notched on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart since 1996.

“We got a million of these,” he said after doling out a few verses of “On to the Next One” — not bragging so much as explaining.

Having earlier visited stadiums in London, Paris and his hometown of New York, the 56-year-old is in Inglewood this weekend as part of what he’s calling JAŸ-Z30: a yearlong celebration of himself timed to the 30th anniversary of his debut album, “Reasonable Doubt,” and the 25th anniversary of his commercial high point, “The Blueprint.” Last month, HBO premiered an 8-part docuseries in which Jay-Z combs through the minutiae of his songwriting with the producer Rick Rubin; any day now, the rapper is expected to announce that he’ll return to SoFi in February to headline the halftime show at Super Bowl LXI.

That’s a lot of action for an artist who’s spent much of the last decade in éminence-grise mode — Jay-Z’s most recent solo album, “4:44,” came out in 2017 — but he seemed in fighting trim Friday, moving nimbly through the songs that made him a superstar and helped put hip-hop at the center of pop music. He was backed by a muscular live band (complete with horn players and a string section) that could push the music toward plush soul, sticky funk or crunching hard rock; “99 Problems,” in particular, made you think about how funny it’ll be, if indeed Jay-Z ends up at the Super Bowl, to see a rapper bring big guitars back to an event that rock fans love these days to lament.

Jay-Z’s daughter Blue Ivy joined him to play piano during “The Story of OJ” and “Dead Presidents II”; he beamed as she walked offstage afterward — a moving vision of fatherly pride. He also brought out Scarface, the veteran Houston MC, to do “This Can’t Be Life” and Scarface’s Geto Boys classic “Mind Playing Tricks on Me.” A pair of OGs still competing in a young man’s game, the two traded compliments before parting: “Jay-Z is a killer,” said Scarface, whom Jay-Z hailed as “one of the best writers of any genre.”

With a set list that jumped freely among albums and eras, the concert felt a little scattershot; it wasn’t always clear what story Jay-Z was trying to tell about his life and career beyond the glorification of his success. And you have to wonder how a man who’s found work as an event planner — booking the halftime show falls under the purview of his Roc Nation company — could end the night so anticlimactically with an appearance by a past-his-prime DJ Khaled. (It didn’t help that many in the audience were anxiously awaiting Jay-Z’s wife, Beyoncé, who performed with him at Yankee Stadium but didn’t show on Friday.)

The evening’s emotional peak came maybe two-thirds of the way through in “Never Change” and “Song Cry,” two tracks from “The Blueprint” written by a guy in his early 30s struggling with how — or whether — to hold onto his complicated past. That he performed them here as a middle-aged billionaire proved he figured it out; that they were so lush with the pain of nostalgia proved he remains an artist.

Rock band Pavlov’s Dog is mourning the loss of singer-songwriter and lead vocalist David Surkamp, who died Monday at age 74.

Violinist and Pavlov’s Dog member Abbie Steiling announced Surkamp’s death Wednesday on Facebook. Additional information about Surkamp’s passing, including a cause of death, was not revealed.

“David leaves behind a legacy of endless creativity, unmistakable artistry, and a body of music that has touched lives across generations and around the world,” Steiling said on the band’s behalf.

Pavlov’s Dog also remembered its vocalist for his “profoundly poetic spirit and a romantic heart that found its way into every note, every lyric and every performance.”

Surkamp was born May 23, 1952, and led Pavlov’s Dog, known for songs “Julia” and “Late November,” since its founding in 1973 in St. Louis. He founded the band alongside bassist Rick Stockton, violinist Siegfried Carver and drummer Mike Safron, according to the band’s website. The group, which first signed to ABC Records under a six-figure deal, released its debut album “Pampered Menial” in 1975. The release featured the band’s most popular songs and showcased Surkamp’s high-pitched and trembling, yet powerful, vocals.

Pavlov’s Dog’s second release “At the Sound of the Bell” followed in 1976 and its third, “Lost in America,” came more than a decade later in 1990. Surkamp departed Pavlov’s Dog while recording its junior album and traveled to Seattle to further develop his musical talents. This led to a collaboration with British musician Iain Matthews and their power pop duo Hi-Fi.

Surkamp and his Pavlov’s Dog collaborators reunited in the early 2000s and Surkamp’s wife, Sara, joined as a vocalist and guitarist. The group went on to tour Europe, including playing the Netherlands’ Arrow Rock Festival in 2006. Over the years, Pavlov’s Dog saw members come and go: Some musicians departed the group because of conflicting commitments and others — including founding members Carver and Rayburn — died in the late aughts and early 2010s.

The group, with Surkamp still at the helm, later released albums “Echo & Boo” in 2011, “Wonderlust” in 2025 alongside some live albums, remasters and unreleased demos.

“He always allowed the musicians around him to shine in their strengths, generous with the spotlight and appreciative of what each brought to the music,” Steiling continued in the band’s Facebook post. “No matter what life held for him, he came alive onstage. Even on his hardest days, when the lights came up and the count-off began, he was a consummate performer. If he was playing music, it was a great day.”

Surkamp was preceded in death by his wife Sara, who died in 2025 at age 72. He is survived by children Saylor and Evan.

Sept. 24, 2026 3:39 PM PT

Naked Eyes lead singer Peter Byrne died in Los Angeles on Sept. 14, according to the group’s website.

Byrne, who co-founded the synth-pop band with Rob Fisher in 1982, died “peacefully … after a brief illness,” the statement reads.

Naked Eyes’ Pete Byrne performs onstage in Los Angeles in 2019.

(Scott Dudelson / Getty Images)

Naked Eyes, a high note for the MTV generation, scored ’80s hits with their synth-pop version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Always Something There to Remind Me” and their original song “Promises, Promises,” with the former hitting No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983 and the latter reaching No. 11 that same year. “When the Lights Go Out” and “(What) in the Name of Love” also reached the Hot 100’s Top 40, hitting No. 37 in 1983 and No. 39 in 1984, respectively.

Byrne was born in Islington, North London, and began his music career in the mid-’70s. From 1979 to 1982, he was a member of the band Neon, which included Fisher and future Tears for Fears founders Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. Byrne and Fisher released their debut album as Naked Eyes in 1983, according to the group’s website.

After Fisher died in 1999, Byrne released his 2001 solo album “The Real Illusion” and Naked Eyes albums “Fumbling With the Covers” in 2007 and “Disguise the Limit” in 2021. A remastered version of their self-titled debut album was released in 2025.

Byrne is survived by his siblings Eileen, Sandy, Carol and Steve; his three children, Merlin, Dylan and Chloe; and his ex-wife, Elena.