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15 Nov 2024

Luke Bryan to Host 2024 CMA Awards Behind-the-Scenes Special Ahead of Show

Luke Bryan, a co-host of this year’s CMA Awards and a two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner, is set to guide viewers through country music’s current moment, offering fans a journey into the artists, songs and stories that have led the genre over the past year, when he hosts the ABC News special Vegas Lights & Country Nights: Countdown to the CMA Awards — A Special Edition of 20/20.

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The one-hour special will air Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 10:01 p.m. ET on ABC, and will stream the following day on Hulu and Disney+.

Filmed in Las Vegas, the special will take fans behind-the-scenes as country music gears up for the 58th Annual CMA Awards. The awards ceremony is hosted by Bryan, Peyton Manning and Lainey Wilson, and will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 20, on ABC, and the following day on Hulu.

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Vegas Lights & Country Nights will feature Jason Aldean, who will sit down for a candid discussion of his career history in Vegas, at his new Jason Aldean Kitchen+Bar Vegas location; he will also surprise first responders from 2017’s Route 91 Harvest Festival with an intimate musical performance. Bryan’s fellow American Idol judge and eight-time Grammy winner Carrie Underwood will take fans behind the curtains of her Reflection: The Las Vegas Residency, while Blake Shelton will show fans around his Ole Red Las Vegas bar while talking about his life and upcoming residency.

From there, Keith Urban will also reflect on his new album, High, and his Las Vegas residency, while Shaboozey will discuss his breakthrough year and his 17-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Shaboozey has two nominations leading into this year’s CMA Awards, including new artist of the year and single of the year for “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”

The special will also feature conversations with Thomas Rhett, who will launch a limited Las Vegas residency in December, as well as Carly Pearce, who offers an all-access pass to her “Hummingbird” tour stop in Las Vegas. Dustin Lynch, Brandi Cyrus and the YEEDM DJ duo VAVO will also provide an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at their performances at the Professional Bull Riders after-party.

Vegas Lights & Country Nights: Countdown to the CMA Awards – A Special Edition of 20/20 is produced by ABC News Studios and 20/20. Emily Whipp serves as executive producer, and Janice Johnston is senior executive producer. Monica Escobedo serves as senior entertainment producer. 

Get an early look at the ABC News special below:

15 Nov 2024

What to Listen for on George Harrison’s ‘Living in the Material World’ Anniversary Edition

They may not have had quite as bountiful of a vault as for the All Things Must Pass anniversary edition, but the George Harrison estate and Dark Horse Records had no shortage of, well, material in putting together the new 50th anniversary edition of George Harrison’s fourth solo (and second post-Beatles) album, Living in a Material World.

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The expanded two-disc set, which was curated by Harrison’s widow Olivia and son Dhani, is part of an expanded deal with BMG that Dark Horse signed last year. Out Friday (Nov. 15) with a new mix by Grammy Award-winning engineer Paul Hicks; in addition to the 11 original tracks that came out on May 30, 1973, a second disc (on LP and CD) includes an outtake of each song as well as two rarities, “Miss O’Dell” and, on CD only, the unreleased “Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)” (which Harrison contributed to Ringo Starr’s 1973 album, Ringo, and recorded with Starr and members of The Band). The package also includes a 60-page hardcover book featuring previously unseen images and memorabilia from the period.

“We’re going in chronological order,” Dhani Harrison, Dark Horse’s CEO, tells Billboard about the estate and label’s approach to reissuing his father’s catalog. “There was obviously (The Concert For) Bangladesh in-between but that’s a full concert movie, so that doesn’t affect the order as we release his solo studio albums.”

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Harrison adds that his father “really loved this album because of what it stood for. It was designed to help people living in the material world — it had a purpose. It always meant a lot to him. He named his charity after it, so it was also the beginning of the foundation, which still goes on today.” Royalties from the 50th anniversary edition will go to the Material World Foundation.

Living in the Material World was Harrison’s second consecutive No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified gold, spawning the Billboard Hot 100-topping single “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth).” It was also the first album Harrison recorded at the studio in his Friar Park estate in Henley-on-Thames, England, which he’d purchased in January 1970. Unlike All Things Must Pass’ legion of contributors, Living in a Material World was made with a small core band that included keyboardists Nicky Hopkins and Gary Wright, bassist Klaus Voormann, Starr and Jim Keltner on drums and Jim Horn on woodwinds.

“It was very cozy,” recalls Voormann, who was living in a cottage at Friar Park at the time. “It was a very personal atmosphere, very comfortable. It was a beautiful house, and the (studio) room itself was one end and very secluded and not really big, so it was very intimate. And George was in a very calm state. He was very happy with his meditation and his friends from India, so he was in a certain mood which made it into this wonderful atmosphere.”

Dhani Harrison, meanwhile, views the album as the start of a new era for his father, the first of “a long line of Friar Park albums that stretch all the way to the end of his career,” including albums by Ravi Shankar and the all-star Traveling Wilburys, whose debut album was mixed there. Having worked through a backlog of Beatles-era songs for All Things Must Pass, Living in the Material World offered a spate of brand-new songs, many reflecting Harrison’s spiritual focus at the time.

“He also produced this album all by himself,” Dhani notes. “It’s the first time we see him in his element in his home studio, producing and writing…. If you listen to the album that’s a real band on there, which is what makes it different from All Things Must Pass. They were really ripping as a band on those sessions. It was also coming off the back of Bangladesh, so there was a lot of synergy with the musicians from that on this album.”

Hicks, who’s also worked on reissue projects by the Beatles and John Lennon, says the streamlined process benefited the remixing as well. “I think in general my mission is to just start fresh and have a new sort of sonic take on the album,” he explains. “Timeless is the term I always use; we’re not trying to make things sound modern…although I think people maybe listen differently now — on their phones and headphones — so to me there’s a different sort of detail in what you’ve got to do.

“It’s obviously a lot simpler production than All Things Must Pass. Apart from a few songs, like the title track, it’s almost sort of like an acoustic album, but with some extra instruments. It doesn’t strike me as a rock album. So I kind of went into it emotionally mixing it and really trying to bring out the lyrics, because (Harrison) is saying some really fascinating things. I thought we should have a bit more focus on George on this one, and the Harrisons agreed.”

The vaults held plenty of options. The additional material ranges from a third take of “The Lord Loves the One (That Loves the Lord)” to some takes in the 20s and even the 93rd take of “Who Can See It.” “We did that — but, you see, I don’t remember it,” Voormann says, with a laugh, about the process. “We were just playing the songs and going through them. We weren’t keeping count…George was very precise. John was more direct; if there were mistakes on the take it didn’t matter, the feeling had to be right and that was good enough for him. But with George…all the details had to be right.”

Dhani adds that, “the fact there was a take 93 shows how deep we went. Ultimately, we only put stuff in that makes the album stronger…what we’re looking for is the really worthy stuff, and if you have to go through 90 takes to find that one take, that’s what we do. It wasn’t just a ‘remaster’; we’ve gone back to every single master track. It’s really an ‘ultra remaster,’ as we went back to the original masters and remixed them without stepping on the original, which is what we did with All Things Must Pass. We did a deep, deep dive, and that’s what the fans deserve.”

George Harrison

George Harrison Box Set

Courtesy Photo

Despite the substantial number of takes, however, Hicks notes that “they’re all basically the same. George taught (the band) the songs, and then they did it. All Things Must Pass was kind of a treasure trove — that one’s loads slower, that one’s faster…. On this (album) they definitely seemed to have a plan. Maybe the title track outtake (take 31), that’s possibly one of the most different because it’s a much more square bit, not as swung as the (album version), so that’s quite interesting. But they didn’t really experiment with styles… they were just playing the songs until (Harrison) felt they’d done it enough.”

The Harrisons are already working on what’s next. The estate began working concurrently on The Concert for Bangladesh, with Peter Jackson helping to restore footage of the film “so it’s of the same quality as Get Back,” according to Dhani. “It’s just incredible when you see the show. It took it into another level, which is why you haven’t seen it yet as we’ve been taking our time with it. But when you de-grain it and up-res it, it becomes a whole new thing. With the level of musicians who are in that show, it deserves that attention.” Dark Horse is looking at doing something similar with Harrison’s 1974 tour as well.

“If there’s any way of doing Dark Horse (the album) and the Dark Horse ’74 tour in the same way as well, that’s my ultimate goal,” Dhani says. “The band is incredible, and the shows set the template for bringing classical Indian music and rock n’ roll together.

“All these releases require so much work. It took us five years to do the All Things Must Pass 50th anniversary. We started doing all this in 2001 — we’ve been at it for nearly 25 years and we’re only up to the second album.”

15 Nov 2024

SZA Says She Was ‘Scared’ and ‘Freaked Out’ During Her Glastonbury Set

SZA has spoken out about her Glastonbury Festival headlining set, saying that she was “scared” and “freaked out” during the show in June.

The “Kill Bill” artist experienced numerous technical difficulties during her performance, with her microphone sounding muffled and occasionally inaudible during the opening 30 minutes. The show received mixed reviews from critics and attendees, with other performers on smaller stages appearing to pull bigger crowds. She headlined the final night of the festival, following Dua Lipa and Coldplay on the Pyramid Stage the previous two evenings.

Speaking to British Vogue, she said of the show, “I just felt like nothing I could do would be enough for Glastonbury, no matter what I did.” She also added, “It scared me. I was like, well, I wish I wasn’t doing it, but I couldn’t walk away from it.”

“It’s such a tall order,” SZA told the publication. “It’s like, no matter what you do here, you will be subject to criticism because of who you are. But that’s life. That’s life, you know?”

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She continued, “I’m like, I’m freaked out right now. I’m scared. I feel like I’m drowning on stage and I feel like I’m failing.”

SZA also said that she felt the pressure to follow Beyoncé as the “second Black woman in history” to headline the festival. Beyoncé topped the bill in 2011, though Skin from British rock band Skunk Anainse also headlined the festival in 1999.

The first tickets for the 2025 edition of the festival went on sale Thursday (Nov. 14), with punters hoping to purchase a coach and weekend entry ticket package. A general sale will take place on Sunday (Nov. 17) for the 200,000-capacity festival, with tickets expected to sell out within hours.

Earlier this month, Glastonbury announced a new sale process for the event. Previously, the festival operated a random entry system onto the ticketing vendor’s website, which encouraged users to refresh their browsers multiple times to try and gain entrance to buy tickets. This year they’ve implemented a queuing system, meaning that fans will have to wait their turn to enter the site.

15 Nov 2024

Kelly Clarkson Kellyoke Cover of Lady Gaga’s ‘Always Remember Us This Way’ Will Blow Your Mind

Kelly Clarkson‘s star was born a long time ago. In fact, 2025 will mark 23 years since America voted to make Clarkson the very first — and still in many minds the very best — American Idol winner. So even though she had nothing to prove on Thursday (Nov. 14) in the latest Kellyoke segment on her daytime talk show, Clarkson absolutely went for it on a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Always Remember UsThis Way” from A Star Is Born.

“That Arizona sky burnin’ in your eyes/ You look at me and, babe, I wanna catch on fire/ It’s buried in my soul like California gold/ You found the light in me that I couldn’t find,” Clarkson sang, her warm vocals conveying the ballad’s roiling emotion. There was an extra bit of hurt in her voice as she hit the tune’s plaintive refrain, “When the sun goes down/ And the band won’t play/ I’ll always remember us this way.”

And then Clarkson shifted into her second gear, as the band revved up the arrangement and the singer climbed up into a higher register to wail, “Oh yeah, I don’t wanna be just a memory, baby,” gripping the mic stand with both hands as she hit a keening high note that match her guitarist’s spiraling solo.

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By the time she hit the second round of the chorus, Clarkson was in full go-for-it mode, climbing up to hit a note somewhere near the exosphere before taking a breath and a dramatic pause as she landed the plane as softly as possible. “When you look at me/ And the whole world fades/ I’ll always remember us this way,” she sang in a near-whisper.

Gaga’s “Always Remember Us This Way,” was written by the singer along with Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey and Lori McKenna and co-produced by Gaga and Dave Cobb. The song appeared on the soundtrack to Gaga’s 2018 A Star Is Born remake and was nominated for a song of the year Grammy.

Watch Clarkson sing “Always Remember Us This Way” below.

15 Nov 2024

Chart Rewind: In 2014, Taylor Swift Went Pop — and to No. 1 Again — With ‘1989’

While it was largely assumed that Taylor Swift’s 1989 would have a big debut when it arrived on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated Nov. 15, 2014 — after all, she was coming off three straight No. 1 sets that had sold in the millions — no one knew just how big it would be.

And then … it exploded atop the chart.

After 1989’s release on Oct. 27, 2014, the project not only sold more than a million copies in its first week in the United States — 1.29 million to be exact, according to Luminate — but also cleared the largest sales week for an album in over a decade (since Eminem’s The Eminem Show debuted with 1.32 million in 2002).

“Another way to look at it,” Billboard further noted at the time, “1989 outsold the Nos. 2-107 albums on the Nov. 15-dated Billboard 200 combined.”

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In fact, in the 10 years since 1989’s arrival, there have only been three weeks in which an album has sold more copies — and two of those weeks are also by Swift: the debuts of 2023’s rerecorded 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department. (The third: the opening week of Adele’s 25 in 2015, when it logged a Luminate-era single-week record 3.38 million.)

Swift called 1989 a “bit of a rebirth” when she announced the set during a livestream event on Aug. 18, 2014. She said that she “woke up every single day that I was recording this record not wanting, but needing, to make a new style of music than I had ever made before.”

She added: “And for the record, this is my very first documented official pop album.”

While that may seem quaint today, as the Swift we know in 2024 is a globe-trotting, stadium-filling, mega-mega Pop star with a capital P, back in 2014, she was following four albums that straddled the worlds of country and pop. She had reached No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart with her first four studio full-lengths, while also topping the Pop Airplay chart with “Love Story,” from her second LP, Fearless, and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” from her third, Red.

But with her decisive “official pop album” declaration, Swift was moving into new territory. Would the move pay off? Would the sonic shift influenced by pop of the late-1980s yield even bigger success than she had already experienced? Turns out, yes! The set spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200, generated three No. 1s on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, the most from any Swift album, and five enduring No. 1s on Pop Airplay: “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Style,” “Bad Blood” and “Wildest Dreams,” also the most from a Swift LP.

1989 would also garner Swift her first nomination, and win, for best pop vocal album at the Grammy Awards. Plus, it won for album of the year — the second of her record four trophies in the coveted category.

1989 arrived with a wall-to-wall promotional blitz and media campaign. During release week, Swift engaged with her fanbase on social media, heavily leaning into Twitter (now called X) and Tumblr to reach existing and newly converted Swifties. She blanketed terrestrial media during the album’s rollout, including appearances on the MTV Video Music Awards, ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS’ The Late Show With David Letterman. She had promotional tie-ins with Subway and Diet Coke, while the album was carried in non-traditional sellers such as Kroger supermarkets, Starbucks and Walgreens.

Notably, 1989’s first-week sales were bolstered by its lack of availability on streaming services; a deluxe edition exclusive to Target, with six bonus tracks; its CDs being packaged with one of five sets of 13 collectible Polaroid-like images of Swift (with fans not knowing which set they would get); and a contest, dubbed the “1989 Swiftstakes,” whereby every purchase of the album through the final day of the set’s first week could be entered to win one of 1,989 prizes. (Such contests are no longer allowed to count toward Billboard’s charts.)

1989 has gone on to spend more than 500 nonconsecutive weeks on the Billboard 200, the most of any Swift album. It’s one of her 14 leaders on the list, the most among women. She boasts 12 No. 1s on the Hot 100, having tied Madonna and The Supremes for the sixth-best sum among all acts.

In 2023-24, 1989 has been showcased as one of the eras in Swift’s retrospective The Eras Tour. The trek began on March 17, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz., and is scheduled to conclude on Dec. 8 in Vancouver, B.C. On Aug. 9, 2023, during her final Los Angeles-area show at SoFi Stadium, Swift announced the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version). It arrived at retail and via streamers on Oct. 27, 2023 — exactly, nine years after the original 1989 was released. The rerecorded album continued the epic 1989 story, as it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, buoyed by an even larger first-week sales figure than the original 1989: 1.36 million sold.

15 Nov 2024

Cat Cohen Unwraps ‘Overdressed,’ A Holiday Album for the Fa-La-La-La Fatigued

Just as the The Waitresses‘ “Christmas Wrapping” captured the melancholy and romance of spending the holidays alone — making it a holiday-playlist perennial, Cat Cohen has recorded, Overdressed, an album of 10 original songs that mines the comedy of single life today, including the kind of sloppy end-of-year merrymaking that lives on in nightmares and brunch conversations.

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While Overdressed, which drops on Nov. 15, is not strictly a holiday album, it does take the stuffing out of office Christmas parties and the boorish behavior that takes place at them in songs such as “Plus One,” “Time of Year” and the inevitable self-help delusions accompany new year’s resolutions in “Just Bought a Journal” and “Blame It on the Moon.”

“I’ve been doing cabaret songs in my standup act for a really long time, and I’ve always wanted to do poppier versions of them — fancier, fun tracks,” Cohen says. “The holidays seemed like a good way to get into that celebratory mood. I had a bunch of songs that fit within the holiday theme somewhat and thought, this is a fun little idea.”

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That said, Cohen’s idea of fun, as expressed on Overdressed, would have made Bing Crosby drop his pipe. After “four to six glasses of wine” at an office holiday party, the star of “plus one” gets pretty granular recounting the time she had sex on a boat. And in the future Instagram-generation anthem, “Can You Send Me That?,” she ends up going home from the club with a foot fetishist in a fedora. “Thankfully no one took any pics,” she sings.

Before anyone thinks the characters in Overdressed have set women back decades, Cohen throws herself into “Time of Year,” a song that would fit on the soundtrack of Black Christmas — pick your version — or any other Christmas-themed feminist slasher movie.

“When you wake up in that hole wondering how you got so low, know it’s you touched my lower back at a party four years ago,” Cohen sings. “And when I see your friends, cuz it’s that time of year when the boys will close down the bar, I’ll let them know with my eyes, there will be no surprise. If you touch me, I’ll destroy your life.” (Spoiler alert: the guy in the hole doesn’t make it.)

On the eve of Overdressed‘s release, Cohen spoke to Billboard about the inspirations behind the music, many of which came from personal experience.

Why record a comedic holiday-themed album?

Comedically, the holidays are a great thing to mine for jokes.

Were any of the songs on Overdressed inspired by your actual experiences?

Unfortunately, they all are.

Okay.

The story of the guy asking to see my feet at the club. That’s true. The story of the sex-on-a-boat situation as mentioned in “Plus One.” I’ll heighten things in my act or change details, but I’m always pulling from real life, for better or for worse.

I was going to ask you if you really had sex on a boat and was sand involved?

Sure. Give it a go. Try it out. I want to encourage all my listeners to try it out. You know how the floor of a boat is always wet and sandy. Something must have gotten lost in the mix.

Office parties are always great fodder for comedy. Is “Plus One” based on any particular experience?

I wrote that song pre-pandemic. I often see pictures of these totally lavish parties these companies would throw. I was like, “Wait, just because I don’t have an office job doesn’t mean I should be left out.” Big parties are coming back, so this is my formal plea to be invited to yours. I want a seafood tower, I want a DJ, I want specialty cocktails.

Songs such as “Blame It on the Moon ” and “Just Bought a Journal” seem to be more about the contemporary tropes we buy into that we — usually mistakenly — think are going to be a path to self-improvement.

Totally. I’m just fascinated by how we’re all obsessed with bettering ourselves. I make fun of all this stuff but only because I’m doing it as well. I have paid so much money to astrologers, healers, psychics — because I’m obsessed by it. The same with the journal. Especially on New Year’s Day, you’re like, “Wow, I think this journal is going to change my entire life.” So I thought that would be a relatable point for people.

And then you stop journaling before January ends.

Exactly. A few years ago I bought one of those five-year journals where every day, you’re supposed to write a sentence. It stopped like the 18th of January.

Did an astrologer actually ask you to dip your nipple in…

Yes, yes. This is a while ago. We were talking about drinking. I was like, “I think I’ve been drinking too much.” What should I do? She was like, “You should have some sparkling water. Drink sparkling water. Play around, feel it. I don’t know, put your nipple in it.” I was like, “Wait, did I just hear you right?”

Good lord. The album spans a few different genres of music. It starts out with kind of a disco feel, and there’s a bit of Prince-y funk. But you’re also doing some sort of cocktail music. Are those genres your touchstones?

Before I went to the studio, I was listening to a lot of ’90s Spice Girls. Beyond that, when I’m writing a comedy song, it’s like, “h, if you’re talking about some grotesque thing, maybe we’ll make it a love ballad.” Juxtaposition is always interesting to me. The genre I use is just to comment on the message of the song, and what joke I’m going for. That’s why it spans so many different little bits.

Are you going to be touring at all behind this release?

This album is like, half old songs that have already been in my specials and half new. I think I’m going to wait until I write my next hour of comedy to go on tour. I just finished a tour at the end of the summer. So, I’m going to start fresh in the new year, and then hopefully, incorporate some of these newer songs in my next show. I’ll probably not be touring for a few months.

You were in the current season of Only Murders in the Building. What character did you play?

I play one of the Brothers sisters.

You did? Looking at the photos from this album release, I did not make the connection.

I hope I’m a transformative actor, so I appreciate that. Especially living in New York, Only Murders in the Building was a dream gig — working my comedic heroes on a show that everyone watches. I’m waiting for the next big gig, so I’m manifesting, obviously — a massive role for the new year, this interview.

And seeing an astrologer about it as well.

Always, always.

Cat Cohen

Cat Cohen

Courtesy Photo

15 Nov 2024

‘Moana 2,’ ‘Twisters’ & More: Early Oscar Predictions for Best Song and Score

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences releases its Academy Award shortlists in 10 categories on Dec. 17, the most immediately obvious change from past years will be that the number of shortlisted scores will jump from 15 to 20. The best song shortlist will remain at 15.

Nominations-round voting runs Jan. 8-12, and nominations will be announced Jan. 17. Final-round voting runs Feb. 11-18, and the 2025 Oscars will be held March 2. Billboard highlights some of the potential nominees in the best original song and best original score categories below.

“Forbidden Road”
Sacha Skarbek, Freddy Wexler, Robbie Williams
Better Man, Paramount

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Better Man is a biographical film about British pop star Williams, who is portrayed as a chimpanzee through use of motion capture. All three co-writers are past Grammy Award nominees. Skarbek was nominated for song of the year for co-writing James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful”; Wexler for album of the year for his songwriting contributions to the deluxe edition of Justin Bieber’s Justice; and Williams for a pair of music videos.

“Winter Coat”
Nicholas Britell, Steve McQueen, Taura Stinson
Blitz, Apple Original Films

Stinson was previously nominated in this category for co-writing “Mighty River” from Mudbound. If she’s nominated again, she’ll tie Siedah Garrett as the Black woman with the most nods in this category. Britell is a three-time nominee for best original score. Blitz director McQueen won a best picture Oscar as a producer on his film 12 Years a Slave in 2013.

“Never Too Late”
Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt, Bernie Taupin
Elton John: Never Too Late, Walt Disney Pictures

John is a two-time winner of best original song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King and “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman. Taupin was a co-winner on the latter. Carlile has received four Grammy nods for song of the year, John has received two and Watt one. John’s victory lap also includes an EGOT-clinching Emmy win for Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium.

“El Mal”
Clément Ducol, Camille Dalmais, Jacques Audiard
Emilia Pérez, Netflix

Ducol and his personal and professional partner, Dalmais, composed the score and collaborated on the songs for this film. Audiard, the film’s writer, director and co-producer, joined them in writing this song. The film premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where the couple won the soundtrack award. In addition to her film work, Dalmais has recorded five albums in her native France.

“Mi Camino”
Clément Ducol, Camille Dalmais
Emilia Pérez, Netflix

Emilia Pérez is one of three films with a reasonably good chance of placing two songs on the best original song shortlist. Piece by Piece and Twisters could also do it. Last year, three films had multiple songs on the shortlist: Barbie led with three (two of which went on to be nominated), and The Color Purple and Flora and Son each had two.

“Beautiful That Way”
Miley Cyrus, Lykke Li, Andrew Wyatt
The Last Showgirl, Roadside Attractions

Wyatt won in this category in 2019 for co-writing “Shallow” from A Star Is Born. He was nominated at this year’s Oscars for co-writing “I’m Just Ken” from Barbie. Wyatt has received three Grammy nods for song of the year for co-writing “Shallow,” Bruno Mars’ “Grenade” and Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night.” Cyrus was nominated in that category at the 2024 ceremony for “Flowers.” This would be her first Oscar nod.

“Beyond”
Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear
Moana 2, Walt Disney Pictures

Songwriter-composer duo Barlow & Bear won a Grammy in 2021 for best musical theater album for The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical. This would be the first song by an all-­woman team to be nominated in this category since the Diane Warren-Laura Pausini collaboration “Io sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead four years ago. Lin-Manuel Miranda was nominated in this category for writing “How Far I’ll Go” from the first Moana, released in 2016.

“I Always Wanted a Brother”
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Mufasa: The Lion King, Walt Disney Pictures

Miranda has been just an Oscar away from an EGOT since 2014, when he won his first Primetime Emmy. He has been Oscar-nominated twice for writing “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana and “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto. None of the songs from the 2019 reboot of The Lion King were nominated, but three were from the 1994 original, all written by Elton John and Tim Rice.

“For Real”
Pharrell Williams
Piece by Piece, Focus Features

Piece by Piece is an animated film co-produced and directed by Morgan Neville, who won an Oscar for best documentary (feature) in 2014 for directing 20 Feet From Stardom. It follows the life and career of Williams, who stars in the film, through the lens of Lego animation. The movie also features the voices of Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg.

“Piece by Piece”
Pharrell Williams
Piece by Piece, Focus Features

Williams was nominated for best original song for “Happy” from 2013’s Despicable Me 2. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks after he performed it at the 2014 Oscars. He received a second Oscar nod three years later as a producer of best picture nominee Hidden Figures. Williams has amassed 39 Grammy nods, including one for song of the year for co-writing Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.”

“The Journey”
Diane Warren
The Six Triple Eight, Netflix

If Warren is nominated, she’ll tie midcentury lyricist Sammy Cahn for the longest streak of consecutive nominations (eight) in the history of the category. (Cahn was a contender every year from 1954 to 1961.) This would be Warren’s 16th overall nod in this category, more than any other woman. Among women, she’s currently tied with the late Marilyn Bergman.

“Ain’t No Love in ­Oklahoma”
Jessi Alexander, Luke Combs, Jonathan Singleton
Twisters, Universal

All three co-writers have received Grammy nods for best country song — Alexander for co-writing Blake Shelton’s “Mine Would Be You” and Lee Brice’s “I Drive Your Truck,” Combs for co-writing his own hit “Doin’ This” and Singleton for co-writing Tim McGraw’s “Diamond Rings and Old Barstools.” Twisters: The Album reached No. 3 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and No. 7 on the Billboard 200.

“Out of Oklahoma”
Lainey Wilson, Luke Dick, Shane McAnally
Twisters, Universal

McAnally is a two-time Grammy winner for best country song for co-writing the Kacey Musgraves hits “Merry Go ’Round” and “Space Cowboy.” Last year, he received a Grammy nod for songwriter of the year, non-classical. Dick was nominated for best country song for co-writing Miranda Lambert’s “Bluebird.” Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country won a Grammy for best country album in February.

“Kiss the Sky”
Delacey, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, Ali Tamposi
The Wild Robot, DreamWorks Animation

Pollack received a Grammy nod for song of the year for co-writing Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers.” The Johnson brothers were nominated in that category for co-writing the Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey smash “The Middle”; Tamposi for co-­writing Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).” Morris has received five Grammy nods for best country song. Singer-songwriter Delacey has written such hits as Halsey’s “Without Me,” which topped the Hot 100 in 2019.

“Harper and Will Go West”
Sean Douglas, Kristen Wiig, Josh Greenbaum
Will & Harper, Netflix

Wiig was an Oscar nominee for best original screenplay for co-writing the 2011 smash Bridesmaids. She co-wrote four songs for the 2021 film Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Douglas received a Grammy nod for best country song for co-writing the Thomas Rhett hit “Die a Happy Man.” Greenbaum directed and co-produced this film, which stars Will Ferrell and Harper Steele.

Alien: Romulus (20th Century Studios)
Benjamin Wallfisch

This would be Wallfisch’s first Oscar nod. He received Grammy and Golden Globe nods for Hidden Figures and BAFTA and Grammy nods for Blade Runner 2049. Alien: Romulus is part of the Alien franchise, set between the events of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). Fun fact: Wallfisch was born less than three months after the release of the first Alien.

Blitz (Apple Original Films)
Hans Zimmer

Zimmer has received 12 nominations in this category across five decades. He won for The Lion King (1994) and Dune (2021). Steve McQueen wrote, produced and directed Blitz, a historical war drama. The film stars four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, Harris Dickinson and Elliot Heffernan in his film debut. Following a theatrical run, Blitz is set for a streaming release on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22.

The Brutalist (A24)
Daniel Blumberg

This would be the first nomination for Blumberg, an English artist, musician, songwriter and composer. The Brutalist stars Adrien Brody as Hungarian Jewish architect László Tóth, who survives the Holocaust and constructs a new life in America. The film, which also stars Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce, is scheduled to be released in the United States on Dec. 20.

Challengers (Amazon MGM)
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Reznor and Ross have received three nominations in this category, winning for The Social Network (2010) and Soul (2020), the latter a collaboration with Jon Batiste. In addition, they have jointly won an Emmy, two Grammys and two Golden Globes for their scoring work. Luca Guadagnino directed Challengers, about the love triangle between a tennis coach (Zendaya), her tennis player ex-boyfriend (Josh O’Connor) and her tennis champion husband (Mike Faist).

Conclave (Focus Features)
Volker Bertelmann

Bertelmann won in this category for 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front. He was previously nominated for Lion, on which he collaborated with Dustin O’Halloran. Conclave is a mystery-thriller directed by Edward Berger, who also directed All Quiet on the Western Front. In this film, a cardinal played by Ralph Fiennes organizes a papal conclave to elect the next pope. The film also stars Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini.

Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
Clément Ducol, Camille Dalmais

Emilia Pérez premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and its stars (Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Zoe Saldaña) jointly won the best actress award. Pathé released the film theatrically in August. It was selected as the French entry for best international feature film at the upcoming Oscars.

The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM)
Tamar-kali

This would be the first nod for Tamar-kali, whose previous scores include Mudbound and the documentaries John Lewis: Good Trouble and Little Richard: I Am Everything. The Fire Inside, which tells the story of professional boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (played by Ryan Destiny) as she trains for the 2012 Summer Olympics, is set for release on Christmas Day. The film marks Rachel Morrison’s feature directorial debut.

Gladiator II (Paramount Pictures)
Harry Gregson-Williams

This would be Gregson-­Williams’ first nod. Hans Zimmer was nominated for scoring the original 2000 film, which won five Oscars including best picture. Ridley Scott directed both the original movie and this long-awaited sequel, which stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington — but not Russell Crowe, who won the best actor Oscar for the first film. Gladiator II is scheduled to be released in the United States on Nov. 22.

The Goat Life (Netflix)
A.R. Rahman

Rahman won for scoring Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and was nominated again two years later for 127 Hours. The Goat Life was written, directed and co-produced by Blessy. The film is an international co-production involving companies in India and the United States. It’s an adaptation of the 2008 Malayalam novel Aadujeevitham, which is based on the real-life story of Najeeb, a Malayali immigrant laborer in the Gulf.

Here (Sony Pictures)
Alan Silvestri

Silvestri was nominated for scoring 1994’s Forrest Gump, that year’s best picture winner. This film reunites the director (Robert Zemeckis), screenwriter (Eric Roth) and stars (Tom Hanks and Robin Wright) of that film. Silvestri was also nominated for best original song for co-writing “Believe” from yet another Hanks film, The Polar Express. Here depicts a single home and its inhabitants over time.

Sound, Oscar Best Bets, Scores

From left: Ryan Reynolds in IF, Inside Out 2, Zendaya in Challengers, Lady Gaga in Joker: Folie à Deux and The Wild Robot.

illustrations by Klawe Rzeczy

IF (Paramount Pictures)
Michael Giacchino

Giacchino was nominated for scoring Ratatouille (2007) and won two years later for Up. John Krasinski wrote, directed, co-produced and co-starred in IF, which combines live-action and animation. The cast also features Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds and Fiona Shaw. The film’s soundtrack includes a pair of pop classics, Tina Turner’s “Better Be Good to Me” and Nat “King” Cole’s “L-O-V-E.”

Inside Out 2 (Pixar)
Andrea Datzman

With this release, Datzman became the first woman to score a Pixar feature film. This would be her first Oscar nomination. Datzman previously composed the music for the Pixar short Carl’s Date (2023) and co-scored the studio’s animated-shorts series Dug Days (2021) with Curtis Green. The first Inside Out (scored by Michael Giacchino) received two Oscar nods but was passed over in this category.

Joker: Folie à Deux (Warner Bros.)
Hildur Guðnadóttir

Hildur won for scoring the first Joker. This sequel bombed at the box office and critics generally panned it, but the film’s music earned praise. If Hildur’s score is nominated, she would become the third woman to receive two or more nods in scoring categories, following Rachel Portman (who leads with three) and Angela Morley (who had two nods in the defunct original song score or adaptation score category).

Nickel Boys (Amazon MGM/Orion)
Alex Somers, Scott Alario

This would be the first nomination for Somers and Alario, who were members of the Icelandic experimental duo Parachutes that recorded two albums and an EP in the 2000s. Nickel Boys is based on the 2019 novel of the same name by Colson Whitehead. RaMell Ross directed and co-wrote the film, which follows two African American boys, Elwood and Turner, who are sent to an abusive reform school in 1960s Florida.

Nosferatu (Focus Features)
Robin Carolan

This would be Carolan’s first nod. Nosferatu is a gothic horror film written and directed by Robert Eggers. It’s a remake of a 1922 German film, which was in turn based on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. The film stars Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin and Willem Dafoe. Nosferatu is scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on Christmas Day.

The Piano Lesson (Netflix)
Alexandre Desplat

Desplat has amassed 11 nominations in this category, winning for The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The Shape of Water (2017). The Piano Lesson is an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1987 play by August Wilson. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington and Erykah Badu. Washington is the brother of the film’s director, Malcolm Washington (who is making his feature directorial debut). Their father is two-time Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington.

Queer A24
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

If Reznor and Ross are nominated for both Challengers and Queer, it would be the second time they were double-nominated in this category. They were in contention for both Soul and Mank four years ago. Luca Guadagnino directed Queer, which is based on a 1985 novel of the same name by William S. Burroughs. Set in 1950s Mexico City, the film stars Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey.

The Room Next Door (Sony Pictures Classics)
Alberto Iglesias

Iglesias has garnered four nominations in this category for The Constant Gardener (2005), The Kite Runner (2007), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and Parallel Mothers (2021). The Room Next Door marks his 14th collaboration with director Pedro Almodóvar. This film is Almodóvar’s first full-length feature in the English language and scheduled for a limited release in the United States on Dec. 20.

Saturday Night (Sony Pictures)
Jon Batiste

Batiste won in this category for 2020’s Soul, a collaboration with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. He was nominated for best original song last year for co-writing “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony. Saturday Night, directed by Jason Reitman, recounts the night of the 1975 premiere of NBC’s Saturday Night (as Saturday Night Live was originally called). In addition to scoring the film, Batiste plays Billy Preston, who performed on that first episode.

The Wild Robot (DreamWorks Animation)
Kris Bowers

Bowers has received two Oscar nominations but not in music categories. He was nominated for best documentary short film for A Concerto Is a Conversation (2020) and won in that category for The Last Repair Shop (2023). Chris Sanders, a three-time Oscar nominee for best animated feature film, wrote and directed The Wild Robot, which features the voices of Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal and Catherine O’Hara.

Additional reporting by Melinda Newman.

This story appears in the Nov. 16, 2024, issue of Billboard.

15 Nov 2024

Conan O’Brien to Host 2025 Oscars

Fifteen years after being unceremoniously replaced as host of The Tonight Show after a brief, seven-month run, Conan O’Brien has been selected to host the 2025 Oscars. It will be O’Brien’s first time hosting the broadcast. He’ll become the second host of The Tonight Show to do the honors on the Oscars, following Johnny Carson, who hosted the Oscars five times between 1979-84.

The Academy Awards will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on March 2 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

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“America demanded it and now it’s happening: Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme. In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars,” said a wisecracking O’Brien in a statement.

“Conan has all the qualities of a great Oscars host — he is incredibly witty, charismatic and funny and has proven himself to be a master of live event television,” said Oscars executive producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan. “We are so looking forward to working with him to deliver a fresh, exciting and celebratory show for Hollywood’s biggest night.”

“We are thrilled and honored to have the incomparable Conan O’Brien host the Oscars this year,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang said in a joint statement. “He is the perfect person to help lead our global celebration of film with his brilliant humor, his love of movies, and his live TV expertise. His remarkable ability to connect with audiences will bring viewers together to do what the Oscars do best — honor the spectacular films and filmmakers of this year.”

O’Brien, 61, follows Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, who hosted the Oscars the last two years (and also in 2017-18).

O’Brien is best known for hosting the late-night talk shows Late Night with Conan O’Brien and TBS’ Conan. Before his more than two-decade hosting career, he served as a writer for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. O’Brien currently hosts the podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” and recently starred in the 2024 travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go. He has won five Primetime Emmys and received 31 nominations for his work.

The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide. The official live red-carpet show will air at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

15 Nov 2024

Elton John and Brandi Carlile Talk Writing Music for His New Doc,’ Never Too Late,’ Teaming Up For Soaring Theme Song

As Brandi Carlile watched Elton John: Never Too Late, she was so moved she put pen to paper and was immediately inspired to write a song. The new documentary chronicles the first five years of Elton John’s meteoric rise and the road to his two 1975 Dodger Stadium dates juxtaposed against his final tour concluding with his triumphant return to Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium in 2022.

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The song, “Never Too Late,” performed by John and Carlile, not only became the end title song, but it also became the film’s title (watch the video for the track below). Elton John: Never Too Late is available in select theatres Friday (Nov. 15) and streams on Disney+ starting Dec. 13.

The documentary, helmed by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, was originally called Farewell Yellow Brick Road, “which was really boring,” John tells Billboard. And then Carlile’s song “just summed up the whole of the documentary perfectly,” he continues. “What she saw she wrote down in a very concise way and summed up the whole of that hour and 40 minutes of time in a lyric, which was incredible.”

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“I was moved by what I was watching. I especially loved some of that historical footage, and it just sent me back throughout my childhood,” Carlile says. “I felt like my life admiring Elton just sort of flashed before my eyes. And I came to this conclusion that I had something to say about him and that I wanted him to say it,” she says.

The idea of words about John not written by John coming out of John’s mouth had captivated Carlile from the time she was 11 or so and first heard Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, John’s autobiographical 1975 album about his and longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin’s relationship. The album became the first to enter Billboard’s album chart at No. 1.

“I remember looking at the liner notes to Captain Fantastic and seeing this autobiographical rock opera play out that was written by another man about Elton and it was just like the greatest love story I think I’d ever seen,” says Carlile.

“Never Too Late,” credited to Carlile, John, Taupin and producer Andrew Watt, looks at how it’s never too late for new adventures and moving forward.

Carlile’s lyrics stress John’s penchant for not looking back, a trait he talks about admiring in John Lennon when he and the Beatle became friends in the ‘70s. As John remarks in the film, he “loves people who think about tomorrow, not yesterday.”

“I love that Elton doesn’t like to self-reflect,” Carlile says. “He’s too forward thinking. He’s too forward moving. And I’m so inspired by that ruggedness. I don’t think ruggedness is a word that gets associated with Elton John quite enough. He’s really f–king tough and he’s overcome a lot. And I just wanted to sort of take pause and slow it down and write a lyric about that for him to sing because he doesn’t like to say nice stuff about himself.”

Carlile didn’t allow herself to feel intimidated when she handed over the lyrics to John to see if he felt inspired to write music to them. “I think I took a page out of his book and just didn’t look back and I just gave them to him,” she says. “But now, in retrospect, yeah, that should have been f–king terrifying because he’s absolutely a cornerstone of  everything that I am, not just musically, but he’s influenced me as an activist and as a mother and a gay person living in the world. I’m so happy that it turned out the way it did.”

The song opens with instantly recognizable piano chords played by John, and he says the music poured out of him. “It was pretty easy to write to because it’s such a great lyric and, obviously, I knew what it was about,” John says. “For her to write something for me and for Bernie — as Brandi says, we’re hand-in-hand.”

The doc, through animation, recreates the serendipitous moment that John and Taupin connected more than 55 years ago via their publishing company giving John Taupin’s lyrics in an envelope.  As well known as the story is, it still seems like some kind of modern miracle to this day — even to John.

“It’s one of the greatest glories of my life and mysteries as how lucky was I to meet Bernie and the happenstance involved,” John says. “I appreciate our relationship and our writing more and more. [Brandy] mentioned the Captain Fantastic album, which I think is probably my best album because it’s about us. It’s so personal. As soon as he gave me the lyrics, it was so easy to write to because it was about us. It’s not something like ‘Tiny Dancer’ or ‘Madman Across the Water’ or ‘Levon’ or something like that. The more I think about and the more I appreciate Bernie’s lyrics, the better it gets and the more I feel so gratified. What a life! What a life we’ve had.”

Taupin and John, as the documentary notes, were extraordinarily prolific in those early years, with John releasing 13 albums between 1970 and 1975, including four in one year.

“It was called adrenaline and gratitude and love for what I was doing. I was a kid in the candy story,” John says. “I was playing America. I was meeting Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, The Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, all these wonderful people. I used to look at their albums on the floor and listen to them on headphones. I’m an unusual guy, I suppose, but when you’ve got lyrics handed to you that are so good and Bernie keeps writing them, we just couldn’t stop. We were like a never-ending faucet.”

As the documentary depicts, though, that life was filled with pain at times. As John’s star was rising, he felt very alone and turned to drugs to help him fill the void when he was off-stage. “My music saved me when I was drug addicted and were going through bad times. I didn’t just shut myself away. When I was sad, I played music and when I was happy, I played music,” John says. “When I was unhappy, I still went on stage and the music for two hours took me out of my sadness. And so, you know, music saved me. By God, did it save me because I didn’t sit at home doing a lot of drugs.”

The documentary contrasts those 1975 Dodger Stadium dates and the emptiness John felt offstage with his 2022 Dodger date and the completeness he felt surrounded by his husband, Furnish, and their two young sons.

These days, two years after his retirement from the road, John says he doesn’t miss the stage at all — in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

“I did a scene in Spinal Tap 2, where we had to drive into a coliseum in New Orleans, and David was with me in the back of the car. And I said, ‘David, I’m having a panic attack. I do not want to go back to doing these things.’ I do the odd charity thing, the odd private show, but I do not want to tour again.”

He also doesn’t have time. John has had two musicals open this fall: The Devil Wears Prada on London’s West End and Tammy Faye on Broadway.

Both John and Carlile had reflections while watching the documentary.

For Carlile, the film provided another life lesson from her pal. “[Elton’s] given me so many things, but the thing that he’s given me that’s most pertinent to this film is that he’s given me an energy to move forward in my life. To ask, ‘What’s now and what’s next’ and to not dwell in the past.”

For John, as he watched archival footage he’d never seen before, including recording Goodbye Yellow Brick Road at the Chateau studio in France, “it reaffirmed the fact that we made good music. The documentary really helped me with my attitude toward my past catalog: it was bloody good.”

John may have been the only one who had any doubts about his early output and Carlile adores that the film compelled John to acknowledge a job well done.

 “I love that this documentary is a forced reflection on his achievements and that he has to sit there and watch a story of goodness play out for what he’s done for the world,” she says. “I love that he has to see it. I love that he has to reflect. I love that he’s sitting here saying his music was bloody good. It’s a good thing that this has been [foisted] upon him and it’s an inspiration. It’s why I wrote the song.”

Watch John and Carlile’s video for “Never Too Late” below.

15 Nov 2024

Ariana Grande and Jimmy Fallon Recreated the ‘Wicked Witch of the East Bro’ Meme and It Was Wonderful

On her promotional run for the movie musical Wicked, Ariana Grande has been talking a lot about how her starring role as Glinda is the gig of a lifetime. And while the singer has said she’s been basically prepping for this moment since she was in the single digits, that doesn’t mean she is taking it all so, so seriously.

Which might explain why on Thursday night (Nov. 14) when she dropped by The Tonight Show to talk up the movie that will hit theaters on Nov. 22, she was happy to have a bit of fun with one of the most beloved Wizard of Oz memes of all-time. In a clip posted a few hours before airtime captioned “Ariana Grande’s sister is a witch,” Grande and Fallon recreated the 2018 “THE WICKED WITCH OF THE EAST, BRO!” clip in which two men have a seriously heated discussion about whether Glinda the Good Witch is a princess or not.

In Ari’s hands, she is the overheated bro yelling, “Hold on, hold on, hold on. Her sister was a witch, right? And what was her sister? A princess, the wicked witch of the east, bro. You’re gonna look at me and you’re gonna tell me that I’m wrong? Am I wrong? She wore a crown and she came down in a bubble, Doug. Grow up bro, grow up.”

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Grande sold it like a champ, coming at Fallon hard while wearing a flowing pink gown as he stared at her in disbelief.

The singer later sat down with Fallon — with the long train on her ruffled dress taking up the rest of the couch — to talk about the movie, as well as her super-viral bit from her SNL hosting stint last month in which purposely, and hilariously, sang off-key in a sketch sending up Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.”

Asked if it was hard to sing off-key, Grande said it was “really fun. I really enjoyed it… it was a bit we found in the moment.” Grande said she pitched it the writers, asking if it would be funnier if her vocals got “progressively worse” as the bit went on. Speaking of SNL, Grande also talked about helping to get current cast superstar Bowen Yang a spot in Wicked, calling his performance as Pfannee “absolutely brilliant… he killed it.”

She then recreated the call she had with SNL major domo Lorne Michaels — including a spot-on impersonation of the show boss’ dry persona — in which she nervously asked him if he could spare Yang. “In that moment I realized I don’t have what it takes to get this to happen,” Grande said. “But I did beg,” she added, describing how Yang would fly back-and-forth between SNL and the Wicked set to be a part of the two-part film.

Grande has already spoken quite a bit about how she was willing to put everything else on hold when she heard that director Jon M. Chu was turning the Broadway sensation into a movie musical, saying she knew she had to “earn” the part and was willing to put her music career on hold to prepare for the role she’d coveted since she was a girl.

Ready to take “all” the acting and singing lessons to train her voice to become a coloratura soprano, Grande recalled that she got huge support from Fallon as she was preparing to audition, which was also when she was recording the video for her collaboration with Jimmy on his holiday song “It Was a… (Masked Christmas),” also featuring Megan Thee Stallion.

Even with all the mental preparation she did beforehand, Grande said getting cast along with Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba sent her into overdrive. “When they called me to tell me I had the part, I had one heart attack,” Grande said. “That was the first one. And then they told me I was going to be playing opposite Cynthia Erivo, that was the second heart attack. And then I died and I’m dead. And I’m dead here. And I’m still dead.”

She also brought along a never-before-seen video of her first rehearsal for the show-stopping swinging chandelier bit in which she almost booted a stunt coordinator in the face as she flew around in circles.

Watch Grande on the Tonight Show below.