Olivia Rodrigo shares how she felt to be on the cover of Billboard’s touring issue, her favorite song to perform on the ‘GUTS’ world tour, having friends like Chappell Roan and Laufey come out to support her at the premiere of her new Netflix ‘GUTS’ world tour doc and more!
Beyoncé is standing beside Kamala Harris leading up to Election Day on Nov. 5.
The 32-time Grammy winner took the stage alongside her Destiny’s Child bandmate and childhood friend Kelly Rowland at the Democratic presidential nominee’s rally in their hometown of Houston, Texas, on Friday night (Oct. 25), where they endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket and urged their fellow Texans to do the same.
“H-Town!” Beyoncé said to rapturous cheers when she took the mic. “We are so happy to be standing here on this stage as proud, country, Texas women supporting and celebrating the one and only Vice President Kamala Harris. A woman who’s been pushing for what this country really needs right now: unity. It’s impossible not to feel the energy in this room, the positivity, the community, the humanity. We are at the precipice of an incredible shift. The brink of history.
“I’m not here as a celebrity,” she added. “I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother. A mother who cares, deeply, about the world my children and all of our children live in. A world where we have the freedom to control our bodies. A world where we’re not divided. Our past, our present, our future merge to meet us here.”
Bey spoke to “all the men and women in this room, and watching around the country,” telling them: “We need you. Your voice has power and magnitude. Your vote is one of the most valuable tools, and we need you. Your freedom is your god-given right, your human right. Everybody say Texas! Texas plays a pivotal role to change the course of our future.”
The superstar then leaned into her music roots to wrap her speech, saying, “It’s time to sing a new song. A song that began 248 years ago. The old notes of downfall, discord, despair no longer resonate. Our generations of loved ones before us are whispering a prophecy, a quest, a calling, an anthem. Our moment is right now. It’s time for America to sing a new song. Our voices sing a song of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity. Are y’all ready to add your voice to the new American song? Because I am. So let’s do this. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give a big, loud Texas welcome to the next president of the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris.”
In addition to Rowland and Beyoncé, Willie Nelson performed at the Houston rally and Harris ended the night with a speech.
Though Bey hadn’t previously vocalized support for Harris amid the 2024 election cycle, her presence has been strong in the VP’s campaign over the past few months. In August, the superstar was heavily rumored to appear at the Democratic National Convention, but never showed up. Her 2016 track “Freedom” has also been a mainstay in Harris’ campaign, becoming the Democratic nominee’s walkout song in July. CNN confirmed that month that Bey had given direct approval for the song’s use.
She has previously supported other Democratic political causes, including performing with Jay-Z at a Hillary Clinton musical rally in Cleveland in 2016 ahead of that year’s presidential election. In 2020, Bey supported Joe Biden’s campaign and later celebrated his victory on Instagram. Additionally, the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer performed at both of Barack Obama’s inaugurations in 2009 and 2013.
Watch Beyonce’s full speech below:
Zhamira Zhambrano talks about how she finds beauty and joy through her music, as well as her favorite beauty trends while backstage at Billboard Latin Music Week.
Zhamira Zhambrano:
My glam session has a pretty mixed soundtrack. Sometimes I listen to my own unreleased songs because it’s a moment where I’m alone and can concentrate on what I have to fix for certain songs. I listen to my husband’s music. I listen to Morat. I listen to songs in English. I think if you ask me right now, Karol G. I really like her style lately in her performances. Beyond her style, I really like her self-confidence that she shows in front of the cameras because that’s how you can get to know her and I think she’s a person who always looks beautiful, elegant and who’s super confident in herself. I have always said that if you feel beautiful inside, that is what you will radiate outwards. In my case, I try to work on that a lot with myself and involve it in the studio. When I am creating, I am always thinking about how the person or in this case, the woman who listens to this will feel, or even the man, too, because men can also feel beautiful and powerful. I think that as long as you carry a message of positivity, in my personal case, that’s what I try to radiate in the studio through the music with beautiful and motivational words, healthy and clean messages that reach the heart. You will feel good.
Danna talks about how she finds beauty and joy through her music, as well as her glam soundtrack backstage at Billboard Latin Music Week.
Danna:
A little bit of everything. It depends on the mood. Lately, we are listening to a striptease playlist because it’s like R&B, then suddenly a little bolero, to slow reggaeton, a little bit of jazz, like a combination of all these sexy sounds to bring out that femininity. How does my music help me find beauty and joy? To put it simply, it’s in the act of it. I believe that, for me, creating music and dedicating myself to this industry is a very spiritual act. So within spirituality, there is a lot of beauty. It’s the creation of something together with someone. The beauty of friendship, of finding a very unique and magical moment when creating something, I think it’s very special. And I think the beauty and joy after finishing it and listening to it and you hear my fans singing my songs and that song that was made with so much love, gives me everything. What’s my favorite move on the dance floor these days?
Keep watching for more!
María Becerra talks about how she finds beauty and joy through her music, as well as her most memorable fan interaction while backstage at Billboard Latin Music Week.
María Becerra:
Well, the few times we listen to music when we are doing glam, we like to start off with something with a little movement because usually the glam is in the morning, so we start the morning more upbeat with Argentine cumbia, Cumbia En Base, Santafesina cumbia, cuarteto or if not, Mexican cumbia, Columbian, but always a little cumbia to get us going. I feel that the simple fact of making music helps me to find beauty and joy in life. The truth is that I am lucky to be a woman who can make a living from what she loves, whose job is to express, to write her emotions as an open letter, and on top of that, to put it into music. I feel that this fact brings me joy and helps me to find beauty in life every day. This is something that has been around for a while, but the truth is that the “cat eye,” you see, the type of makeup or eyelash to make the eye look more dragged out, fascinated me from the moment I saw it and I love it. I like to do it, I like to have it done, that’s what I like the most.
Keep watching for more!
As earnings season prepares to get underway, K-pop companies were among the week’s rare winners as music stocks broke a six-week winning streak.
YG Entertainment surged 6.1% this week as the company appears to have scored a hit with “APT” by ROSÉ, a member of the girl group BLACKPINK, featuring Bruno Mars. The track got off to a blistering start this week, topping Spotify’s global and U.S. daily streaming charts and earning 13.3 million streams in the U.S. in its first four days of release. SM Entertainment, home to NCT 127 and RIIZE, rose 4.1%, while HYBE, with a roster including Seventeen and Tomorrow X Together, improved 2.1%. JYP Entertainment, the agency behind Stray Kids and ITZY, improved 1.4%.
Stock prices are likely to see movement in the coming weeks as companies release their results for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The first music companies out of the gate are Reservoir Media (Oct. 30), SiriusXM (Oct. 31), Universal Music Group (Oct. 31) and Cumulus Media (Nov. 1). Other companies that have announced earnings release dates include Sony Corp. (Nov. 8), Tencent Music Entertainment (Nov. 12), Live Nation (Nov. 12) and Spotify (Nov. 12).
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) fell 0.6% to 1,974.72 in the week ended Oct. 25 after breaking 2,000 for the first time the prior week and posting gains the previous five weeks. In the week ended Oct. 18, the BGMI reached 2,001.28, more than doubling in value since the index launched in February 2022. After the recent decline, the index’s year-to-date gain stood at 29.7%, ahead of both the Nasdaq composite (up 23.4%) and S&P 500 (up 21.8%).
Stock markets were mixed this week. In the U.S., the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 18,518.61 while the Nasdaq composite fell 1.0% to 5,808.12 despite Tesla’s 22% gain after the electric vehicle maker beat earnings expectations and upgraded its growth outlook. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 dropped 1.6% to 8,248.84. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index dipped 0.4% to 2,583.27. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2% to 3,299.70.
Outside of South Korean companies, one of the biggest movers of the week was Live Nation. Ahead of the company’s Nov. 12 earnings release, numerous analysts increased their price targets on the concert promoter’s stock this week: Redburn Atlantic (to $126 from $118), Jefferies (to $132 from $113), JP Morgan (to $137 from $118) and Goldman Sachs (to $132 from $128). Given that the third quarter is historically Live Nation’s strongest period and the company has set all-time records in previous quarters, Q3 results are likely to boast more all-time highs.
Spotify was one of the index’s few stocks to post a weekly gain — albeit with just a 0.1% increase. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Spotify on Wednesday to $430 from $400. Analysts see much upside for Spotify. Global subscription penetration (excluding China) “remains relatively low” at 15%, Goldman analysts explained in a Tuesday (Oct. 22) investor note, and Spotify has the ability to further raise prices. Additionally, they wrote, Spotify’s growing audiobook business proved the company can generate more revenue from its subscribers than was possible when it offered just music.
Most music stocks had modest, single-digit declines this week. Warner Music Group fell 0.1% to $32.38, Universal Music Group dropped 1.9% to 23.61 euros, Tencent Music Entertainment declined 3.2% to $11.50, Reservoir Media dipped 3.4% to $8.55, iHeartMedia was down 4.3% to $1.80, and both Sphere Entertainment Co. and SiriusXM were off 4.4%.
LiveOne was the week’s biggest loser after falling 10.6% to $0.58. The music streamer has fallen 38% since its Oct. 1 announcement that Tesla will no longer subsidize the LiveOne-powered streaming service in new vehicles. Radio broadcaster Cumulus Media dropped 9.4% to $1.16, bringing its year-to-date decline to 78.2%.
Created with Datawrapper
Created with Datawrapper
Created with Datawrapper
Brad Paisley stepped into the baseball diamond on Friday night (Oct. 25), where he performed the national anthem at the first game of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Accompanied by a green electric guitar, he performed a slowed down version of the U.S. anthem, as a massive American flag was stretched across the field.
See the full performance here.
The country star is a longtime Dodgers fan, and the performance marks his fourth time singing the anthem at a World Series game. Ice Cube and Fat Joe are also set to perform at games two and three representing their respective hometowns.
Last month, Paisley dropped the single “Truck Still Works,” off his upcoming full-length LP. The new album, which will likely come out in early 2025, will be his first full-length album since 2017 and his first since moving from Sony Nashville’s Arista imprint to Universal Music Group Nashville’s EMI Records.
“The project has some deeper things on it but, like the song itself, is really about creativity and nostalgia and you know the themes that you want to hear right now,” he told Billboard. “Sometimes, like in these times, it’s great to give people something they just want to turn up and takes them to a place where they feel good.”
Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz
It’s no secret that Megan Thee Stallion is a proud Texan and though she’s campaigned for Kamala Harris (much to the dismay of many Texas conservatives), she’s still wearing her Lone Star State patch loud and proud and in her latest offering demonstrates as much.
Dropping off some new visuals to “Bigger In Texas,” the Grammy Award winning rapper hits the road in her home state and links up with the likes of Hip-Hop OG’s such as Scarface, Slim Thug and Paul Wall while reminding us that she is indeed one of the sexiest women walking God’s green earth. She is badder than a MF.
Speaking of Hip-Hop OG’s, Ice Cube is taking a break from Hollywood to get back in the studio and in his clip to “It’s My Ego,” the Hip-Hop legend uses some CGI to showcase him in a frozen tundra of a world before pimping it out for his congregation complete with the wild wig piece that makes it seem like he’s half Latino. We love it.
Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from JasonMartin, Fendi P, and more.
The battle for East Coast-West Coast bragging rights heads to the baseball diamond with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers set to battle in the 2024 World Series.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Major League Baseball announced on Friday (Oct. 25) that the league tapped two rap legends repping their coast as The Bronx native Fat Joe and lifelong Los Angeles Dodger fan Ice Cube are set to perform ahead of games two and three.
Cube will be taking the mound first on Saturday night (Oct. 26) ahead of game two to warm up the Dodger faithful with “It Was A Good Day” and “Bow Down.”
Fat Joe will have his turn on Monday at game three where Joey Crack will get Yankee Stadium in an “Empire State of Mind” with customized performances of “New York” and “All the Way Up.”
“Both stars are lifelong fans of their hometown teams and are excited for the opportunity to get their fans ready for this year’s World Series matchup,” MLB said in a statement. “The performances will take place following the national anthem each night and will be shown during Fox Sports’ exclusive pregame coverage.”
MLB continued to lean into the musical history of New York and Los Angeles. The league celebrated the pair of iconic music cities with Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” as well as 2Pac and Dr. Dre’s “California Love” serving as the soundtrack to the World Series as part of the MLB’s “Empire State of California Love” campaign, which boasts a 30-second video spot starring Yankees and Dodgers stars like Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani.
Game one of the World Series is slated for Friday night (Oct. 25) with the Yankees and Dodgers kicking off a highly-anticipated series battling for the MLB’s crown. It’s the first appearance in the World Series for the Yankees since 2009 as NYY looks to end its World Series drought. As for LA, the Dodgers won the title in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic shortened season.
Watch the clip below.
Big Sean brings out special guests like YG and Jhene Aiko during his Amazon Music Live concert on this episode of Billboard All Access.
Tetris Kelly
It was a night with Amazon Music Live, Big Sean and all his special guests. We take you there in Billboard All Access. Amazon invited fans to an interactive experience in Los Angeles before they got to experience the live event full of Big Seans hits. And the night packed celebrity guests as well, like Cali legend YG and Jhene Aikido. Thank you Big Sean.
