Peter Petter, Maestro Fresh Wes and Jade Lemac also to be honoured.

Billy Eff is the Content Director for Rolling Stone Canada. An award-winning journalist and columnist, he has previously contributed to outlets including VICE and Urbania. A passionate advocate for underground music and a musician himself, he has conducted several hundred interviews with artists and industry professionals across a wide range of styles and genres over the past 15 years. He is based in Montréal, Québec.

Drake, Jessie Reyez and Peter Peter are among the Canadian artists being recognized by SOCAN with its 2026 Special Achievement Awards.

Drake takes home Songwriter of the Year in the Performer category for his triple album drop back in May.

Reyez, meanwhile, has been named the recipient of the International Achievement Award. The Toronto-born singer-songwriter has , earned Grammy recognition and has collaborated with global superstars including Calvin Harris, Eminem and 6LACK.

Maestro Fresh Wes's 1989 classic "Let Your Backbone Slide" has been selected for the Cultural Impact Award, with Anthony Davis and Peter Davis also credited as writers. The track became a foundational Canadian hip-hop recording and helped establish Maestro Fresh Wes as one of the country's early rap stars.

Montréal singer-songwriter will receive the Global Impact Award, recognizing the international reach of his work, notably through the success of Heated Rivalry, for which he scored the original music.

Behind the scenes, songwriter Jenna Andrews has been named Songwriter of the Year in the Non-Performer category. Andrews has become one of the most sought-after Canadian songwriters in contemporary pop, with writing credits for artists like Drake and BTS, and who is also credited with starting Stella Lennon's music career. The award comes after she wrote music for the breakout Netflix hit K-Pop Demon Hunters.

BC indie pop up-and-comer Jade LeMac will receive the Breakout Songwriter Award, while Toronto's own Nathan Micay is named Breakout Composer, notably for his work on HBO's Industry.

Film composer Andrew Lockington rounds out the winners with the Screen Composer of the Year award. The Hamilton-born composer has built an extensive Hollywood résumé, including scores for Mayor of Kingstown, Landman and Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

The annual SOCAN Awards ceremony will take place on October 26 at Toronto’s REBEL nightclub.

Yesterday, Hello! Canada published an interview and exclusive photoshoot with Canadian pop star Keshia Chanté, in which the singer revealed she is seven months pregnant. What overshadowed that news, however, is the fact that the 38 year-old artist refused to say who the father was, only confirming that he was also involved in music.

Short of giving us a name, Chanté said the person was ''super creative and just constantly doing things that I’m inspired by,” adding that she would “love to see my son have his mannerisms and his swag.”

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Naturally, the internet went into a frenzy, with many speculating that Drake, Chanté's one-time boyfriend, was the mystery genitor.

Quickly, representatives for the eternal playboy shut those rumours down, telling E! News ''It's false.'' Reps for Chanté have yet to comment.

Chanté was previously engaged to former NHL goaltender Ray Emery, but called it off in 2017, after claiming he had threatened and assaulted her with a weapon. Emery died less than a year later, after accidently drowning in Hamilton.

Drake, who has also previously dated celebs like SZA, Rihanna and Serena Williams. This isn't the first time Drake has to publicly deny fatherhood of a child. Famously, he was reluctant to acknowledge he was the father of his 8 year-old son Adonis, whom he shares with former French porn actress Sophie Brussaux. In 2017, reps for Drake told TMZ: “This woman has a very questionable background. She has admitted to having multiple relationships. We understand she may have problems getting into the United States. She’s one of many women claiming he got them pregnant. If it is in fact Drake’s child, which he does not believe, he would do the right thing by the child.”After paternity tests, it was concluded that Adonis was in fact the Toronto rapper's son, and Drake seems to enjoy his life as a single father.

It's been a while since we had a new, unhinged update from everyone's favourite uncancelleable entertainer, Azealia Banks. After years of criticizing Israel, to the point where her comments have their own section on her Wikipedia page (which is a fascinating read), the 212 rapper has moved to Tel Aviv.

"If you would have told me years ago id end up moving to Tel Aviv and liking it, I would have said youre crazy 🤪🇮🇱," she shared on X on Tuesday, October 6. She has also said she is working on new music with Israeli producer Yinon Yahel and has found the country’s music scene unusually welcoming.

In 2018, Banks performed in Tel Aviv and subsequently said she would never return to Israel after describing experiences she characterized as racist. She even told her followers that her Israeli fans would have to travel to see her because she would not be coming back.

In 2025, Banks returned to Tel Aviv and performed while wearing an Israeli flag and Star of David necklace. Around the same period, she became an outspoken supporter of Israel and identified herself as a Zionist, while attacking the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as antisemitic. She also argued against the idea of a Palestinian state and said Palestinian territory should instead be part of Israel.

Then, in March 2026, amid the war involving Israel and Iran, Banks publicly turned on Israel again, writing that she hoped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dead and declaring, "F*** ISRAEL." She criticized Israel's actions and said she no longer supported the country.Azealia Banks is scheduled to perform her first concert in her new hometown tomorrow, October 8, at at the Tel Aviv Amphitheater.

Olivia Rodrigo attends the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in March in Los Angeles

Olivia Rodrigo originally planned to hit the stage at her inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival in August in an iconic floor-length, flowing white gown. The singer-songwriter had purchased the exact vintage Gunne Sax maxi dress Meg White wore on the cover of the White Stripes’ 2003 album Elephant, released the same year she was born. But the heat had other plans.

Looking at the forecast for Great Park in Irvine, California, Rodrigo realized it was “too fucking hot,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “Maybe if I do Daisy Chain in the winter, I can wear it.”

Julien’s Auctions estimated the dress, which Tracee Mae Miller pulled from her closet for the shoot, to be worth between $4,000 and $6,000. When it went to auction, it sold for $25,600, an “exorbitant amount of money” per Rodrigo. But according to the listing, it did at least come with a copy of Elephant on CD.

Regardless, the White Stripes and Rodrigo are aligned in other ways. While the band fronted by Jack White couldn’t have been included on the all-woman festival inspired by Lilith Fair, Rodrigo stands proudly alongside White and other artists who aren’t shying away from using their platform to speak politics.

“When Lilith Fair was happening 30 years ago, women in America had more rights, had more autonomy over their bodies,” Rodrigo said. “I’ve always felt really protective of my young fans, and when I play a show and I look out into the audience and see young girls with their friends or their moms or their families, I feel such a kinship with them. And if I could be a small part in making the world a safer and better place for them to grow up and live, that’s what I want.”

Rodrigo “one hundred percent” saw Daisy Chain Fields as political. The event, which she organized over the course of a year-and-a-half and jokes felt more like a wedding, donated net earnings in the amount of $10 million to nonprofits benefiting women and girls, including National Domestic Workers Alliance, Planned Parenthood, National Institute for Reproductive Health, and more. Melinda French Gates later matched the donation, bringing the total revenue raised to $20 million.

“Daisy Chain is a real example to me of how it actually is a real power that you can use for good,” Rodrigo said. “I can call Karen O and ask her if she wants to be a part of this festival. I can try and rally all these troops together to raise $20 million for these causes that I really care about.” She also sees the festival as a celebration of joy. “I think the two things can exist at the same time, they kind of have to.”

She added, “I think young people have lost hope in our leaders and lost hope in each other. I really wanted to galvanize people and be evidence of what can happen when you come together and are part of something and contribute.”

The Backstreet Boys are adding even more dates to their Toronto residency.

The group announced two additional Rogers Centre concerts on February 26 and 27, expanding their Into The Millennium – HOMECOMING: Live in Canada residency to eight officially announced dates. The new shows come just two days after the band added February 14 and 21 to the original four-date run.

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The Backstreet Boys cited “overwhelming demand” for the latest additions. The Toronto residency now runs February 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26 and 27, with all eight concerts, their only shows in North America, taking place at Rogers Centre.

The shows are built around Millennium, the group’s 1999 blockbuster, with the concert production featuring hits including “I Want It That Way” and “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”.

General public tickets for the newly added shows are scheduled to go on sale Friday, October 9 at 10 a.m. ET.

Toronto will also host the Backstreet Boys YYZ Terminal, a temporary fan experience inspired by the airport imagery on the Millennium album cover, with official merchandise, photo opportunities and fan events planned throughout the residency.

Sean "Diddy" Combs

Sean Combs has been ordered to pay nearly $500,000 in legal fees after losing his defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal for its 2025 Peacock documentary, Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.

A New York state judge ordered the Bad Boy founder to pay NBCUniversal’s high-paid lawyers $477,700 for bringing the unsuccessful suit, which was dismissed in April. (Combs filed an appeal.) Although Combs owes nearly half a million dollars, that is a significant reduction from the $990,000 legal bill the attorneys originally sought, according to court papers filed Tuesday.

A representative for Combs did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.

Combs had filed the $100 million lawsuit against the network in February 2025, claiming the documentary promoted conspiracy theories and “maliciously advanc[ed] the unhinged narrative that Mr. Combs is a serial killer” by highlighting the deaths of The Notorious B.I.G. and his ex-partner Kim Porter.

“[The documentary] shamelessly advances conspiracy theories that lack any foundation in reality, repeatedly insinuating that Mr. Combs is a serial killer because it cannot be a ‘coincidence’ that multiple people in Mr. Combs’s orbit have died,” the 17-page lawsuit claimed. “[Amplifying these claims] with absolutely no evidence or logic to stand on and in the face of clear evidence to the contrary – Defendants spread fake news of the most damaging kind.”

But earlier this year, a judge rejected Combs’ claim that he was defamed, noting in a 12-page decision that the documentary makers did not act irresponsibly or defame him.

“It is inconceivable as to how the Documentary created additional damage to [Combs’] reputation, which was already tarnished by the numerous lawsuits, domestic violence video, press coverage, and a criminal indictment before the Documentary’s publication,” the judge wrote.

This isn’t the only hefty legal bill Combs is facing. Last month, his longstanding civil lawyers who had been representing him in the NBC case, as well as numerous sexual assault lawsuits, withdrew from their representation of the multi-millionaire. They cited a “total breakdown in cooperation and communication” and at least six months of outstanding legal bills.

Combs is currently serving a 50-month prison sentence after he was convicted last summer of transportation to engage in prostitution charges. He was acquitted of the more serious offenses of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

His current release date is scheduled for March 2028, a recent change after he was reportedly caught using a contraband cell phone to scroll on Instagram.