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18 Oct 2024

Kamala Harris Campaign Launches Taylor Swift Snapchat Filter to Reach Young Voters

Kamala Harris‘ campaign is making sure there are no blank spaces in its efforts to win over young voters, especially where Taylor Swift fans are concerned.

On the day of the pop star’s first Eras Tour show back in the United States Friday (Oct. 18), the Democratic National Committee unveiled a themed Snapchat filter available only to Swifties in battleground states that allows users to pose under a digital banner reading, “In My Voting Era.”

The filter will also let voters choose from a number of topics Harris supports to complete the phrase, “Be fearless for …” in reference to the 14-time Grammy winner’s hit 2008 album Fearless. To fill in the blank, users can select from a menu containing “Democracy,” “Reproductive rights,” “Climate action” and more.

“This election will determine the future for young voters, from student loan debt relief and economic opportunity to whether they have fewer rights than their grandmothers did,” reads a statement from Rosemary Boeglin, DNC communications director, on the new Swiftie initiative. “Democrats are reaching out to young voters where they are, from concert venues to social media platforms, to make sure they have the resources they need to cast their ballot.”

The Snapchat filter is just one of several ways Harris’ campaign has capitalized on Swift’s emphatic endorsement of the Democratic ticket in September. The VP has also been selling friendship bracelets in the style of Swifties’ favorite Eras Tour accessory on her online store, and her running mate, Tim Walz, shouted out the “Anti-Hero” musician during the vice presidential debate in early October.

“I’m as surprised as anybody of this coalition that Kamala Harris has built, from Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift,” the Minnesota governor said at the time. “They believe in a positive future of this country, and one where our politics can be better than it is.”

In addition to the Snapchat filter, the DNC is also rolling out Swift-themed billboards this week reading, “A new way forward … ready for it?” and “We’re in our Kamala era!” — starting with a mobile ad on a boat that will be stationed near Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, where the “Karma” musician is set to play three Eras Tour shows Oct. 18-20. Florida is right next door to Georgia, one of seven key swing states in the 2024 presidential election. The other battleground states are Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada.

The billboards also direct viewers to visit IWillVote.com to ensure they’re registered to vote by Oct. 26. Election Day is Nov. 5.

In her September endorsement of Harris, Swift emphasized the importance of voting. “Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make,” she wrote at the time. “I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early.”

18 Oct 2024

BOYNEXTDOOR Wants to Redefine Who the Boy Next Door Represents: ‘You Never Know Who’s Living Next Door’

BOYNEXTDOOR‘s latest single, “Nice Guy,” begins with the K-pop group crooning, “Don’t be such a wuss, Seoul is mine tonight/ Let’s rizz up all night” for a synth-pop anthem of declarative self-confidence. While it seems like a stark contrast from “Dangerous,” the rebellious pre-released buzz single about teens pushing curfew which kicked off the group’s 19.99 album, it all connects into BOYNEXTDOOR’s multifaceted world of limitless freedom and friendliness.

With less than a year and a half since their debut, Billboard’s K-Pop Rookie of the Month for October 2024 is seeing its message reaching audiences worldwide. 19.99 scored BOYNEXTDOOR’s first No. 1 on Billboard’s World Albums chart and top 40 entry on the Billboard 200, while the group has performed on festival stages in South Korea, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, and the United States. The sextet has modeled for Korea’s most prominent brand, Samsung, but is also the face of Japan’s popular casual clothing brand, WEGO, and has competed for best new artist recognitions at the MAMA Awards, iHeartRadio Music Awards, Asian Pop Music Awards and beyond.

During a weekend morning interview and photoshoot with Billboard in Seoul, any understandable tiredness from BND takes a back seat as members Jaehyun, Sungho, Taesan, Riwoo, Leehan, and Woonhak excitedly emphasize their desire to connect with audiences through authenticity rather than just chart placements and awards. “Rankings aren’t everything,” Taesan says in the Zoom call. “Our priority is really talking about what we want to and conveying that to the audience in a very free kind of way. So, that’s what we try to do and I’m happy that is actually connecting with a lot of people out there. It makes us really proud.”

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Those themes are present in the narrative structure of 19.99, which is grounded in the guys’ real-life experiences. Without fixed roles within the group, BOYNEXTDOOR pride themselves on a collective creativity, where members can contribute across different areas like music, storytelling, choreography, stage direction and more. While half the group is credited as lyricists, and Riwoo added personal touches to their new choreographies, 19.99 has the DNA of all six stars divided throughout the EP.

That philosophy of artistic expression and prioritizing personal experiences and creativity over external pressures feels like a founding block of BOYNEXTDOOR’s label KOZ Entertainment, founded by boy band member-turned-chart-topping soloist-producer ZICO, that’s housed in the HYBE LABELS system. While ZICO has been a presence on the Billboard charts for over a decade (earning his first No. 1 on a U.S. sales chart earlier this year), BOYNEXTDOOR says his mentorship and tips have been crucial to the group’s impressive and quick takeoff.

“He always told us that you have to have a really good attitude and be cautious of how people would see you,” eldest member Sungho says of their mentor. “He always cared so much for us and gave us a lot of advice even before we debuted.”

With BOYNEXTDOOR’s first tour on the horizon and a growing global fanbase awaiting the group’s next steps, the “Nice Guy” singers remain ambitious to make Seoul — and every other city — their own by doing it their way. Read more on BOYNEXTDOOR’s story as the next group to watch as Billboard’s K-Pop Rookie of the Month for October 2024.

Congratulations on the latest chart success with 19.99, BOYNEXTDOOR! Do you feel the impact and that you’re growing your audience overseas?

TAESAN: Yes, we feel like more and more people are starting to like and enjoy our music, which we are very happy about. But you know, grades and rankings aren’t everything; grades aren’t our priority. Our priority is really talking about what we want to convey to the audience in a very free kind of way. So, that’s what we try to do and I’m happy that is actually connecting with a lot of people out there. It makes us really proud and gives us the confidence to stride forward.

19.99 starts a very different musical chapter from your previous trilogy of EPs. What are some of the differences between your past releases and this project?

SUNGHO: So, I think the “First Love” trilogy [the Who!, Why.., and How? EPs] was a big narrative that we had and tried to follow. When we were recording, creating and on stage, we tried to follow the overall kind of narrative and scenario that we had for the trilogy. But after that, with 19.99, rather than going with a narrative, this was an album where we really infused our experiences and the members’ stories. What we experience in our daily lives and what we go through is really infused in the tracks.

So, when we were recording or on stage, we felt like we were speaking our own language and just talking about what we experienced as boys. Even when we were performing, I think we focus more on our individual style and vibes… it’s more grounded and more heartfelt this time around. We paid more attention this time.

How do you express your stories? Is it sharing your experiences with each other? Writing lyrics? The concepts? Performing on stage?

JAEHYUN: I think my answer to that is really all of the above. It really starts at the very beginning of the creative process: we discuss a lot about what we want to talk about in the songs and in the album, so I think that naturally infuses into the songs — both in the songwriting and performance. So, we would talk a lot with the performance director and the music producers so that we could add our input into the lyrics and the overall concept of the performance as well. So, yeah, I think it’s all parts of what you brought up.

I see BOYNEXTDOOR as having a lot of freedom. There are no fixed positions within the team. Does that freedom allow you to be more creative, or is it difficult to balance that in a group dynamic?

TAESAN: As JAEHUYN said earlier, we are very heavily involved in the creative process; we have a big say. And as you said, we have a lot of freedom. Instead of thinking of that as a stress factor, we enjoy it because it gives us the freedom to be more creative and I think we’re even more eager to participate more in the creative process. So, rather than finding it difficult, I think it’s our fate to make these stages.

Even from your teaser videos, “friendliness” feels like a keyword for BOYNEXTDOOR. On one hand, artists who are so friendly can come off as less mysterious and intriguing. Do you have ideas or methods for bridging that gap?

JAEHYUN: I guess the secret lies in our music. So while we are friendly as people, our music can be mysterious; people can always wonder what’s coming next. You said that the name BOYNEXTDOOR is a very “friendly” name, but you never know who’s living next door. That boy might be a hip-hop lover, that boy might be a rock lover or love ballads. So, I think there is an air of mystery to that name as well. So, we kind of have both.

You deserve a lot of credit because not many rookies can say that and it feels like you’re sharing even more on 19.99. Can you share more about the title and what the EP represents?

WOONHAK: The six of us talked about what kind of album we wanted to make and what kind of music we wanted to do…

TAESAN: The producer asked us to talk about how we felt about our 20s one by one — [asking] “What was it like for you?” or “What do you expect from turning 20?” — and we gradually came up with the theme. After we came up with the theme of the number “20,” we discussed what kind of stories each of us wanted to incorporate into the album. JAEHYUN, WOONHAK and I actually wrote the lyrics based on that. We tried to capture 20 as much as possible in our own way.

When it comes to 20, the youngest member of BOYNEXTDOOR, WOONHAK, will soon be turning 20. Have your members shared any advice for you?

WOONHAK: So, instead of giving me advice directly in words, I think I just learned from them vicariously and naturally. Seeing them, I can understand that there are certain things that people don’t see or understand because I’m underage, you know? They recognize when I tell them I’m facing certain challenges and say, “That’s okay.” But when I do turn 20, there will be more responsibilities as an adult — and I see that through our leader JAEHUYN, our oldest SUNGHO, RIWOO, as well as TAESAN and LEEHAN. So, I think I kind of learn by looking at how they behave and take on different tasks. They continue to teach me a lot.

Along with JAEHYUN, TAESAN, and WOONHAK’s songwriting, how do you all collaborate creatively?

JAEHYUN: Although there are just three of us in the album credits, I think it really should be the six of us together because we talk a lot amongst ourselves and are sources of inspiration to each other. So, we would talk to other members and gain insight from their experiences and stories. So, all six of us are actually involved in the creative process.

SUNGHO: While JAEHYUN, TAESAN and WOONHAK are involved in the songwriting, in terms of the stage, RIWOO is really involved a lot in terms of the stage; when we actually go perform, he can lead the crowd. When we need to rehearse, we practice together under RIWOO’s guidance. He even creates and organizes the setlist and has a lot of input and ideas about the setlist. RIWOO is the one who has the most to say about our performances; each of us has such different personalities and individual styles, but RIWOO is the one who kind of becomes the anchor to help us combine and blend together as a group.

RIWOO: When we learn the choreography for the first time from choreographers, we usually learn choreography that is almost complete, but I feel like we have to include our own style into it and tweak it a little bit to make sure that it really fits our own style and not the choreographer’s style. From facial expressions to gestures and movements, I personally think about it a lot. If our members want to express something, I want to make sure we can express it and edit it a little so that it’s more BOYNEXTDOOR and our style.

Talking about stage performances, you recently announced your KNOCK ON Vol.1 tour. What are you preparing for your first tour? Do you think you’ll have more “volumes” or dates beyond Asia?

JAEHYUN: Our first concert is in the planning process, but there are a lot of stages and performances that we’ve saved for the concert. The stages that you’ve wanted to see and the performances that you wanted us to do, we’ve been saving them all to show you at our first concert so I think there will be a lot of stages that our fans, ONEDOOR, will really like.

LEEHAN: We’ll go anywhere. We’re willing to fly to anywhere where ONEDOOR exists. And we hope there are many more opportunities going forward to share these great times with ONEDOOR.

Do you have any worries ahead of the tour?

TAESAN: There will inevitably be some challenges because it’s our first concert and first tour, but I think we need to focus on how to overcome those difficulties. But I think what’s always on our mind is our next step forward — what we’re going to talk about in our next album.

I recently met with ZICO, and he spoke so affectionately about you. Do you notice that affection or is this his everyday self? Any fun stories you can share about your time with him?

SUNGHO: We actually noticed his affection ever since when we were trainees. He was always very worried about us. He always cared so much for us and gave us a lot of advice. Even before we debuted and after our debut, when we became “professionals,” he always told us that you always have to have a really good attitude and be cautious of how people see you. But the difference between the days when we just debuted and now is that in the early rookie days, he would try to really help and assist us in all kinds of ways. But now I think he really respects us as professionals and that we have our own way of communication and style. And then when he thinks we need help or if there are parts where he can help us, he will kind of jump in. I don’t really remember any specific anecdotes to share…

WOONHAK: I actually do remember one! He said, “I regret taking really bad selfies.” [All laugh.] So, we should really make sure that we take nice selfies.

JAEHYUN: My father! There are so many funny moments. Recently, ZICO has been telling me to show him some aegyo, like doing something cute or adorable, because he said that JAEHYUN as a trainee and JAEHYUN as a member of an idol group is really different. So, he wants me to show him those aegyo moments like I do with ONEDOOR, but for him. So, he’ll kind of tease me, telling me, “Can you show me some aegyo?!?” [Laughs.]

Any other messages you want to share with international fans or Billboard readers at this time?

JAEHYUN: Thank you for loving our tracks. I’m happy to see our songs on the Billboard charts and I hope you all keep loving them.

TAESAN: Please stay tuned for our tour and our concert. I hope that we’ll have more opportunities to go to other continents and other countries as well!

WOONHAK: Love you!!!

18 Oct 2024

Executive Turntable: Capitol Hires Breaker of Artists, Plus a Sony Music Video Star Joins WMA

Time to drop the needle on the latest Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music.

Read on for good news and also check out Billboard‘s annual list of music’s highest compensated executives, plus our weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive, our helpful calendar of notable events, and have you ever wanted to look at tchotchkes inside the office of an executive while reading their in-depth answers to the most important questions facing the biz? From the Desk Of is probably your jam.

Capitol Records appointed Justin Grant as senior vice president and head of urban digital — putting him in charge of digital marketing efforts for R&B and hip-hop artists across Capitol, Motown and Priority Records. Grant spent a decade at Atlantic Records, rising from intern to vp of digital marketing & sports partnerships, where he worked with artists like Cardi B, Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black and NBA YoungBoy. Additionally, Capitol promoted Dante Smith to head of Motown digital. Smith will manage digital campaigns, direct-to-consumer efforts and brand development for the storied label. Since joining Capitol in 2020, Smith has collaborated with artists such as Ice Spice, Quavo, Lil Yachty and Kali Uchis. Grant will be based in NYC while Smith works out of Capitol’s Hollywood headquarters. In comments about both executives, Capitol Music Group chairman and CEO Tom March said Grant “knows what it takes to break artists” and is “hugely respected and exceptional at what he does,” while Smith has “delivered brilliant marketing campaigns for a number of years now for artists across the roster.”

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Creative agency WMA appointed Sony Music veteran Mike O’Keefe as global vice president of creative, effective immediately. With three decades of experience under his belt, O’Keefe joins in a creative and strategic consultancy role and will help oversee bigger 360 creative projects at WMA. O’Keefe started his career in the early 1990s with Conspiracy Films and Oil Factory before joining Sony Music in 1995. At Sony, he worked on notable projects like Jamiroquai’s groundbreaking “Virtual Insanity” video and later became vp of creative at the label. He has collaborated with artists such as One Direction, Kasabian, Little Mix and Calvin Harris. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023, WMA has delivered award-clinching campaigns for clients like Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, Dolly Parton and Spotify, among others. Founder and Global CEO Seb Weller expressed pride in WMA’s decade-long journey and said he was thrilled to work with O’Keefe again, while global vp Crystina Cinti called it an exciting to be “working with such a legend,” adding, “Mike’s credibility and experience in the industry is immense and he joins us at a significant time.”

Prescription Songs promoted Rachel Wein to senior director of A&R. Throughout her more than seven year with the company, Wein has played a key role in expanding Prescription’s Nashville roster to over 30 songwriters, artists, and producers, contributing to the company’s broader network of 150 acts. In her elevated role, Wein will continue managing roster artists and songwriters, including Morgan Nagler, known for co-writing “Kyoto” with Phoebe Bridgers, a Grammy-nominated hit. Under Wein’s leadership, Nagler has collaborated with mxmtoon, Astrid S, Maddie Zahm, and more. Wein has also been instrumental in developing emerging acts like JORDY, Greyson Chance, and Parson James, while overseeing top producers such as Sean Small (Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson) and Spellz (Wizkid, Burna Boy). Wein joined Prescription Songs in 2017 as the first hire in their Nashville office. Outside of music, Wein actively supports community initiatives, serving on leadership boards for Family Alliance in Music and Salt Lick Incubator. She also mentors LGBTQ+ youth through Youth Villages and was honored with the Marchetti Impact Award for her efforts with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Katie Fagan, Prescription Songs’ head of A&R, praised Wein as an “integral part of our growth as a team here in Nashville and I’m looking forward to seeing her win big in the coming years,” while Wein expressed her excitement about continuing to work with the “simply unmatched” company.

Universal Music Group Nashville promoted Damon Moberly to the role of senior vp of promotion. Moberly has been with the label group for over 25 years, most recently serving as senior vp and head of the Mercury Nashville imprint’s radio promotion team. Moberly launched his country radio promotion career with work on the launch of Shania Twain’s Come On Over album and has since aided in the careers of artists including Jamey Johnson, Terri Clark, Chris Stapleton and The War and Treaty, in addition to working special projects including an Eagles single to country radio and the breakout hit “Man of Constant Sorrow” from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. –Jessica Nicholson

NASHVILLE NOTES: Concord named Anke Becker as vice president, information technology. Becker will be based in Concord’s London office and will report to Jonathan Eby, Concord senior vp, information services and technology. Becker previously spent a decade at BMG, where she led the creation of BMG’s proprietary client portal … Gabb, makers of kid-safe tech and the Gabb Music streaming service, hired Sidney Coury as its new digital operations coordinator. Earlier this year, Marco Vega joined the team as music coordinator. Coury previously worked at Olivia Management, while Vega has worked at Universal Music Publishing Group and Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy. The hires coincide with the opening of Gabb Music’s new office on Music Row in Nashville (1030 16th Ave S), and Gabb HQ’s recent move to an expanded facility in Lehi, Utah.

CD Baby, a division of Downtown Music, appointed Jean Mischler as senior vp of marketing. Based in New York, Mischler will oversee marketing for CD Baby and its direct-to-creator services, including Soundrop and CD Baby Stages. Reporting to CD Baby president Molly Neuman, she’ll lead initiatives to help independent artists grow their fanbase and visibility globally. Mischler previously served as vp of growth marketing at Sofar Sounds, where she boosted ticket sales and revenue through social media, email and partnerships. Neuman noted Mischler’s nearly 20 years of experience, saying “her approach to marketing and deep understanding of the independent music landscape will be instrumental as we expand CD Baby’s reach to independent artists around the world.”

Believe introduced a new global music strategy led by Romain Vivien, its global head of music and president for Europe. The strategy focuses on enhancing artist development and creating more value for artists and labels at all career stages. As prez of Europe, Vivien oversees operations in France, the UK, and Germany — and collaborates with teams across 50 markets to design and implement strategies that accelerate Believe’s “Artist Services” business, supporting digital artists across 14+ countries. He’ll also work to strengthen Believe’s “Label & Artist Solutions” offering by aligning distribution, marketing, digital promotion and publishing services. Denis Ladegaillerie, Believe’s founder and CEO, praised Vivien’s leadership in scaling the company’s global presence. “He has been instrumental in building our music vision across the group,” he said. “Constantly leading his teams to innovate and push barriers to enable the emergence of new talents across hip-hop, pop, electronic music and more – all the while sustaining an impeccable delivery of premium services to our top artists and labels.”

RADIO, RADIO: Juan Navarro was promoted to chief revenue officer of Entravision Communications, replacing Karl Meyer, who was dismissed following challenges related to the loss of Meta’s Authorized Sales Partner program. Despite this setback, Entravision reported a 12% increase in net revenue for Q2 2024. Navarro brings over 20 years of media experience to his new role, having previously served as executive vp of local sales and integrated marketing solutions and as regional vp of integrated marketing solutions … iHeartMedia division and region president Tom McConnell is retiring after nearly 30 years with the company, leading to an executive restructure. Eddie Martiny, currently Houston region president, will become division president for the big four Texas markets (San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Houston), as well as New Orleans and Baton Rouge. John Karpinski, evp of strategic partnerships, will take on the role of division president for markets in the Carolinas, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Memphis, and Kentucky.

JET Management added veteran manager Elena Awbrey to its team. Awbrey’s career began in Live Nation’s touring department before she transitioned to management, working with Motley Crüe and discovering Mannequin Pussy. She later managed Miguel at Atom Factory, guiding his Grammy-nominated albums. At Career Artist Management and Roc Nation, she developed artists like Chika, a 2020 XXL Freshman and Grammy-nominated Best New Artist. Awbrey, who also founded Moonshot Management, was named one of Billboard’s 2020 Changemakers. Founded in 2020 by John Scholz and Tyler Goldberg, JET’s roster features top-tier talent like Justice, Suki Waterhouse, LP Giobbi, Madeon, Sam Gellaitry, and Girl Talk. JET is also partnered with Firebird, a next-generation music company.

Granderson Des Rochers appointed Joey Seiler as senior counsel in its New Media practice. Seiler, a seasoned music licensing attorney, joins from Block, where he led TIDAL’s licensing team. With over a decade of experience, he has worked with labels, digital service providers and creatives to license music for innovative business models. His career includes roles at Empire and Loeb & Loeb, representing a range of clients from startups to multi-platinum artists.

ICYMI:

Takeshi Okada

Takeshi Okada

David Gray was appointed U.K. managing director of Universal Music Publishing Group, succeeding Mike McCormack, who is stepping down from the role after almost nine years in charge to launch a new consultancy and joint venture with UMPG … and Warner Music Japan appointed longtime Universal Music executive Takeshi Okada as the label’s new president and CEO. [KEEP READING]
Last Week’s Turntable: Sphere Sheds CFO

18 Oct 2024

Jack Harlow Returns to the Stage With Brooklyn Concert & Teases Next Era: ‘Got Some Very Special S–t on the Way’

Jack Harlow is at a crossroads. The Louisville native was more 700 miles away from home as he took the stage in NYC at Brooklyn Paramount on Thursday night (Oct. 18) as part of the Citi Sound Vault concert series.

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Harlow has laid low on the music side this year, as he hasn’t unleashed as much as a single. His “Lovin on Me” bopcarried him through the early part of 2024 as the Oz-produced hit topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks.

It’s been about 18 months since Jackman‘s arrival in April 2023, which pivoted from his pop curiosities and catered to his core rap fanbase. The project ended up peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.

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After a year off, Harlow knows his next move needs to be his best move. The 26-year-old tuned out the noise and looked inward as he searched for “his why” when it comes to discovering newfound inspiration for his upcoming project — and he appears to have grasped onto something concrete.

“And I do got some very special s–t on the way,” he teased the crowd at one point, although he stopped short of making any official announcements regarding new music.

Emerging singer Laila! kicked off the night around 8 p.m. ET. The 18-year-old Brooklynite, who is Mos Def’s daughter, warmed up the crowd with her Brandy-esque vocals and self-produced eclectic beats packaged into standouts such as “Not My Problem” and “Like That!” Her Gap Year! project is more than worth a listen for R&B fans searching for bright talent, as Laila!’s a name to keep an eye on going forward.

The curtain dropped on Jack Harlow precisely at 9 p.m. ET as he faced the roar of 2,000-plus filling the venue. His set was more of a living room straight out of Architectural Digest. Rocking a black turtleneck and matching trousers, he initially sat on an L-shaped white couch, surrounded by lavish light fixtures and his DJ mixing from a wooden desk.

The ode to Miami Heat star “Tyler Herro” put Harlow’s set in drive as he ran through tracks such as hometown anthem “Route 66,” “They Don’t Love It” and “Is That Ight?”

“I was a little nervous tonight — it’s been a while,” Harlow admitted. “It’s been a great start though.”

Even with the time off, Harlow’s still a technician on stage with the mic in his hand. He sought out the day-one fans in the audience while performing “Warsaw,” “Sylvia” and “Way Out” before dedicating “21C/Delta” to the nurses in the building.

Missionary Jack took it to 2022’s Come Home, the Kids Miss You to perform “Movie Star,” “Poison,” “Nail Tech,” “Like a Blade of Grass” and “Dua Lipa,” while the British-Kosovo superstar performed at the noble Royal Albert Hall across the pond on the same night.

Harlow then pressed pause on the show to candidly provide some insight into his psyche as he plots on the next chapter of his career.

“I spent a lot of time thinking about how much art is being uploaded into the world. I sit there thinking about why contribute? Why add more? I spent this last year and a half thinking about it,” he reflected. “Why do you want to make music? What’s your contribution? And I think I’m getting pretty close. I appreciate all the patience you’ve shown me as I put some thought into why I would add more art to this cluster of art. I don’t know if I want to give anymore art to the world unless it’s worthwhile.”

Jack sent the fans home happy as he dipped back into his bag to run through a few of his massive hits including Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby,” his breakthrough “WHATS POPPIN,” the Fergie-sampling “First Class” and closed out with “Lovin On Me.”

Performing for just under an hour, Harlow finished out teasing his next era. “Next time I see you, we gonna have something to talk about,” he cryptically hinted.

18 Oct 2024

‘If I Start Throwing Dirt, It’ll Never End’: Alex Van Halen on Why He Didn’t Want His ‘Brothers’ Book to Be a Tell-All

Alex Van Halen hopes that those coming to his new memoir, Brothers, for a tell-all will be disappointed.

“It’s not about the dirt,” Van Halen, older brother and bandmate of the late Eddie Van Halen, tells Billboard. “If I start throwing dirt, it’ll never end. I think some people would like that; that’s how projects are sold nowadays. I think it divides the audience, and we’re not here to divide. I think the tone of the book and how I want the book to be perceived is more on a spiritual and creative level. That’s why there’s very little, or any, dirt in there.

“The majority of things that were written about Ed were third party,” he continues. “They weren’t really there. I’m not degrading any of it, but it’s not accurate. I really felt like a lot of the stuff that was out there was incorrect, and it didn’t do justice to the more sensitive side of Ed. So before I die I would like to at least partially set the record straight.”

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Brothers, publishing Oct. 22 and written with New Yorker staff writer Ariel Levy, acknowledges the sex and drugs and rock n’ roll. But as the title indicates it’s primarily a chronicle of the drummer’s relationship with his guitar hero brother, who passed way during Oct. 2020 at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer. The tome is undeniably emotional, with some passages written directly to his late brother. Van Halen acknowledges that the process “really took its toll on me.”

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“You have to remember we were together for 65 years; that’s a lifetime, if not more,” explains Van Halen, who was born in Amsterdam and came to the United States with his family in 1962, eventually settling in Pasadena, Calif., where the Van Halen band was formed in 1974. “(Brothers) not only forced me to look at everything Ed and I had done in our lifetime, but also — and I should thank Ed for this — it forced me to look at me. What are my motivations? Why am I really doing this? Who does anybody do this? It took me a lot of places…very heavy.”

Throughout Brothers’ 231 pages, Van Halen discloses the tight bond between him and Eddie, personally and musically — and presents the connection between those two as one and the same thing. Van Halen offers a detailed account of the entire family dynamics, too, from the influence of their father, Jan, a jazz musician, and their more strict Dutch East Indies-born mother Eugenia, and the impact of immigrating to America and being treated as outsiders. The passion for music came early and was a constant, of course, and one can read in Brothers a kind of mission on Van Halen’s part to offer a more expansive and sophisticated view of his brother’s talents.

“There was more going on than most people recognize or realize, and it’s not our job to ‘teach’ people,” explains Van Halen, who also makes use in the book of a variety of other sources, including published interviews with his brother, books by original frontman David Lee Roth and producer Ted Templeman, and philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche. The brothers, who first learned to play piano, actually started out on each other’s instruments before switching as teenagers. “When Ed picked (the guitar) up he could make it sing. It was amazing. That sound, that intonation was phenomenal. You couldn’t express it in words. Everybody gets blinded by the fact Ed was such a phenomenal player (that) you’re not even understanding who the human being was. Maybe people don’t care, but I care. He’s my brother.”

Brothers of a Band

Writing about Van Halen the rock band in Brothers, Van Halen says that “me, Ed and Dave were very subversive in the way we looked at music and the political system and the way we looked at people in general…The band was dysfunctional. It was completely running on three wheels, if you will. I think Ed was quoted as saying ‘but we always played well,’ and that was ultimately what kept it together until it was no longer together. It was a very sad moment when that whole thing fell apart.” Van Halen, in fact, writes in Brothers that Van Halen’s 1985 split with Roth “was the most disappointing thing I’d experienced in my life, the thing that seemed the most wasteful and unjust. Until I lost my brother.”

Despite the acknowledged rancor with Roth over the years – and blaming Roth for the failure of a planned Eddie Van Halen tribute tour — Van Halen maintains that “I’m not angry at all with Dave. He was one of the three main components of the band. At the time we didn’t recognize it because we were constantly battling things out. That’s why I mentioned (in the book) that the first person I called when Ed died was Dave because I felt like I owed him that, to the work we had done together and the fact that our families knew each other and the fact that everybody was sort of on the same level, if you will, when we first started. I don’t know where things went wrong…I have nothing but the utmost respect for Dave and his work ethic. I just think some of his choices were really strange to me, but that’s not my job to figure it out.”

Other than his brother’s death, Van Halen chose to stop the story with the Roth split, leaving out subsequent runs with Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone and even the reunion with Roth that started in 2007. (Roth and Hagar both wrote memoirs after their respective tenures with the band.) Van Halen cites “limitations to how big the book could be” but also says it the scope of the narrative made sense to him.

“What happened after Dave left is not the same band,” Van Halen explains. “I’m not saying it was better or worse or any of that. The fact is Ed and I did our best work whenever we played. We always gave it our best shot. But the magic was in the first years, when we didn’t know what we were doing, when we were willing to try anything.” Not surprisingly, Van Halen was not responsive, either, when Hagar and bassist Michael Anthony reached out about him taking part in some way in their Best of All Worlds tour celebrating Van Halen.

“I’m not interested,” he says. “They’re not doing the band justice. They can do what they want to do. That’s not my business.”

Everybody Wants Some

Van Halen does add, however, that his auction of drum equipment and other items in June “was misinterpreted” and simply clearing out a warehouse of gear that wasn’t being used.

“I’m not quitting. I don’t know where that came from,” Van Halen says. “I’ll die with sticks in my hand.” Spinal issues he’s been battling for decades are still present, he adds, including a recent injury during a trip to a shooting range in 2022. “But with modern technology we have now I should be OK in about five years,” he says.

Despite rumors of what the Van Halens were up to between the last tour with Roth (in 2015) and Eddie’s death, Alex maintains there was little to report. “We never really talked about it,” he says. “We prefer that things just happen by some kind of magic. The issue was Ed had been dealing with cancer for quite a number of years, and some of the stuff that he was doing out of the normal procedures, if you will, had side effects. Some of the stuff that was being said about Ed was completely wrong, and it was painful…. He was fighting cancer. It’s as simple as that.”

Fans are certainly excited about the presence of a new instrumental track, “Unfinished,” that’s part of the audio version of Brothers. It hails from a trove of ideas the brothers recorded at Eddie’s 5150 studio and stashed away, and Alex anticipates releasing more of that material “when it feels right.”

“I’m not in a hurry,” he says. “I do have a certain obligation to keep it to Ed’s standards. He was meticulous and he was a pain in the ass…and I need to have access to the right takes, ’cause not every day did we play at our best. But we always had the tape recorders running. We didn’t go in the studio like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna make a record from beginning to end.’ We had little pieces here, little pieces there, you put ’em away until the time comes and you go, ‘Hey, I think I like that piece…’ and then go back to it and build something from there.” He told Rolling Stone that he’s approached OpenAI about using its technology to help turn some of the material into songs.

“I know people want to hear it,” Van Halen adds, before cautioning that, “the other side of the coin is this doesn’t sound like Van Halen. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” He says that for future releases he’s also “looking forward to getting some people involved…other musicians and producers. You have to have the right team, because not everybody can do everything. So we’ll see.”

For the time being Van Halen is focused on promoting Brothers, which he’d also like to turn into a movie — though he notes that, “I learned a long time ago not to put your hope in things that don’t exist yet. I know people who would be willing to participate, but it’s a very complex fabric of things that need to happen.” Meanwhile Van Halen has three book events lined up — signings at Barnes & Noble in New York on Oct. 21 and at Books & Greetings in Northvale, N.J., the following day, and a live conversation on Oct. 24 at the Frost Auditorium in Culver City, Calif.

“People can ask whatever they like — that’s their prerogative,” Van Halen says. “It’s my prerogative to answer. Or not answer.”

One thing Van Halen will make clear, however, is that his brother is still a strong presence in his life.

“He’s not gone for me,” Van Halen says, citing the “island voodoo” of their mother’s upbringing and the Spooky Action at a Distance concept of quantum physics. “He’s still there. His spirit’s here, and it’s not something you can grab or touch. There’s something between us that’s just connected on a level that is beyond explanation. Scientists will tell you that you cannot destroy energy, it just takes different shapes, and that’s kind of how it is for me with Ed.

“I really had a tough time when Ed passed — full of rage, for a number of reasons. I heard this thing by Billy Bob Thornton; he just said basically when his brother died he didn’t know how to deal with it, and he basically said that you’re not running away from the fact that you’re not together anymore. You accept it for what it is and then the pain will slowly diminish, but it’ll never go away. That’s why i said (in the book), ‘When I see you again, I’m gonna kick yo’ ass…’”

Alex Van Halen

Brothers by Alex Van Halen

Courtesy Photo

18 Oct 2024

Ringo Starr Going Country (Again) on Upcoming ‘Look Up’ Album

Ringo Starr‘s first new full-length album in six years, Look Up, will find the former Beatles drummer and solo star going country, again. The 11-track album of original songs produced and co-written by T-Bone Burnett is due out on Jan. 10 and was prefaced on Friday (Oct. 18) by the tear-in-your tea ballad “Time On My Hands.”

“I have loved Ringo Starr and his playing and his singing and his aesthetic for as long as I can (or care to) remember,” said Grammy-winning producer/songwriter Burnett, 76, in a statement. “He changed the way every drummer after him played, with his inventive approach to the instrument. And, he has always sung killer rockabilly, as well as being a heartbreaking ballad singer. To get to make this music with him was something like the realization of a 60-year dream I’ve been living. None of the work that I have done through a long life in music would have happened if not for him and his band. Among other things, this album is a way I can say thank you for all he has given me and us.”

Burnett wrote or co-wrote nine of the songs on Starr’s 21st solo album, on which the peace-and-love advocate sang and played drums; one song so written by Billy Swan and another was co-written by Starr and Bruce Sugar. According to a release announcing the project, Starr co-wrote the album’s closer, “Thankful,” which features one of Burnett’s previous collaborators, bluegrass singer/fiddler Alison Krauss.

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Burnett also roped in some other Nashville ringers for the project, including Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius and Molly Tuttle. Though pop and R&B stars dipping their toes into the country pool has become de rigueur over the past year, with swerves into the genre by Beyoncé, Post Malone, Ed Sheeran, MGK and Lana Del Rey, the release noted that Starr’s appreciation for all things twangy goes back more than half a century.

“I’ve always loved country music. And when I asked T Bone to write me a song, I didn’t even think at the time that it would be a country song – but of course it was, and it was so beautiful,” Starr said of his collaboration with friend of more than four decades Burnett, which was spurred by a chance meeting in L.A. in 2022 where the ex-Beatle asked Burnett to write a song for an EP he was working on at the time.

“I had been making EPs at the time and so I thought we would do a country EP -but when he brought me nine songs I knew we had to make an album!,” Starr added of the tracks Burnett wrote that all had a country vibe. “And I am so glad we did. I want to thank, and send Peace & Love, to T Bone and all the great musicians who helped make this record. It was a joy making it and I hope it is a joy to listen to.”

“Time on My Hands” finds Starr wistfully lamenting the loss of a true love over pedal steel and gently strummed acoustic guitar, with his signature laconic vocals taking center stage in the ballad about the one that got away. “I used to have a true love/ Everything was fine/ But now she’s found a new love/ She’s no longer mine,” he sings.

From the country-tinged Beatles songs he performed and wrote, including “Act Naturally,” “What Goes On” and “Don’t Pass Me By,” to his 1970 sophomore solo album Beaucoups of Blues,” Starr has dipped his toe into the genre since his early, pre-Beatles days playing in Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. In fact, the release added, Starr was so enamored with country and blues as a teenager that he tried to emigrate from London To Texas in his younger years after learning that blues great Lightnin’ Hopkins lived there.

Starr’s first new full-length album since 2019’s What’s My Name, will get a proper country welcome on Jan. 14-15, 2025 when the singer/drummer headlines the legendary Ryman Auditorium; tickets for the show will go on sale on Oct. 25.

Check out the full track list and cover art for Look Up below.

  1. “Breathless” (featuring Billy Strings)
  2. “Look Up” (featuring Molly Tuttle)
  3. “Time On My Hands”
  4. “Never Let Me Go” (featuring Billy Strings)
  5. “I Live For Your Love” (featuring Molly Tuttle) 
  6. “Come Back” (featuring Lucius)
  7. “Can You Hear Me Call” (featuring Molly Tuttle) 
  8. “Rosetta” (featuring Billy Strings and Larkin Poe) 
  9. “You Want Some”
  10. “String Theory” (featuring Molly Tuttle)
  11. “Thankful” (featuring Alison Krauss)

Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr

Courtesy Photo

18 Oct 2024

Marc Anthony Endorses Kamala Harris for President, Slams Donald Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric

Marc Anthony endorsed Kamala Harris for president in a new ad, and slammed Republican candidate Donald Trump in that same message. The endorsement was revealed on Friday (Oct. 18), just three weeks away from the Nov. 5 presidential election, considered one of the most consequential elections in recent memory.

In the video, the Puerto Rican artist (who was born in New York) explains why he’s supporting Vice President Harris. “This election goes way beyond political parties. Let’s remember what the United States represents and stands for: UNITED,” he reminds viewers. “That’s why I support Kamala Harris for president.”

This ad, titled “Recuerdo,” is part of the Harris campaign’s $370 million investment in television and digital reservations until Election Day. The video will air nationally on Telemundo during Sunday’s coverage of the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards and in Pennsylvania on Telemundo, Univision and WAPA TV, and will have an “emphasis on high-viewership events and shows including high-ranked telenovelas and a variety of shows,” according to a press release.

In the ad, Marc Anthony explains that another Trump presidency would be “divisive,” and reminds viewers the way the former president handled Hurricane Maria, which pummeled Puerto Rico in 2017. “Even though some have forgotten, I remember what it was like when Donald Trump was president. I remember what he did and said about Puerto Rico, about our people. I remember after Hurricane Maria devastated our island, Trump blocked billions in relief while thousands died. I remember when our families lacked clean water and electricity, Trump threw paper towels and called Puerto Rico ‘dirty and poor,’” he says. “I was not surprised. Because I also remember he launched his campaign by calling Latinos ‘criminals’ and ‘rapists.’ He told us what he’ll do. He’ll separate children from their families, and threaten to use the Army to do it.”

Marc Anthony is among a number of Latin artists — including Maná, Eden Muñoz and Chiquis — who’ve slammed Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. Meanwhile, urbano acts such as Anuel AA, J Quiles and Nicky Jam have publicly announced their support for Trump.

Watch Marc Anthony’s ad endorsing Kamala Harris below:

18 Oct 2024

Louis Messina to Receive Executive of the Year Award at Billboard Live Music Summit

Billboard, in partnership with AEG Presents and Live Nation, has announced the first round of talent and industry leaders for this year’s Billboard Live Music Summit and Awards. The event, taking place Nov. 14 in Los Angeles, will celebrate creativity and achievement in the live music industry through exclusive panels and conversations, featuring some of the brightest stars and leaders in music.

The first round lineup includes: 

  • Louis Messina who will be honored with the prestigious Touring Titan Award and recognized as the Executive of the Year in honor of his work producing Taylor Swift’s  record-breaking Eras Tour, as well as tours for Eric Church, George Strait, Kenny Chesney and many more top grossing artists. Following the award presentation, he will sit with Billboard’s Melinda Newman for The Power Players Conversation. Together, they will delve into Messina’s remarkable career, covering his time with Pace Concerts, his work with artists like Tim McGraw, Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes, as well as his plans to build the next generation of touring superstars. This fast-paced, insiders-only conversation will offer attendees a rare glimpse into the business mindset of the 21st century’s most successful concert promoter and showman.
  • John Summit and his longtime manager Holt Harmon will take part in an exclusive conversation, Inside the Rise of John Summit. Moderated by Billboard’s Katie Bain, the duo will discuss Summit’s explosive rise and the strategy behind it, exploring how the producer went from playing small bars and clubs to becoming one of the leading artists in the global dance scene. They’ll share insights into the creative process behind Summit’s chart-topping hits, the evolving relationship between artists and audiences and the challenges and opportunities DJ’s face in an ever-changing market.
  • A powerhouse lineup of agents are set to share their insights and expertise during the Agents Power panel, featuring industry heavyweights like Kirk Sommers from WME, Rick Roskin representing CAA as well as David Zedeck  of UTA, and Ali Hedrick of Arrival Artists. A must attend session for anyone involved in talent booking, the Agency Power panel will cover all things related to artist development and representation with a focus on building superstar talent for a growing global audience. 
  • L-Acoustics, the leader in professional audio technologies, is sponsoring the Festivals of the Future panel. A distinguished group of executives will take center stage to discuss how innovations in sound, video and immersive media are transforming the festival experience. Moderated by Amber Mundinger (L-Acoustics Global Director of Artistic Engagement), the panel features Polygon’s David Lopez de Arenosa, Dave Rat, President of Rat Sound Systems, and more. They will explore the critical role of sound design and technology, including deploying large-scale spatial audio, immersive sound, and projection mapping. From deep diving into Electric Forest’s sellout success to new initiatives for developing artists, the Festivals of the Future panel will serve as a roadmap for the next generation of experienced creators. 
  • Previously announced talent include multi-platinum, 3x Grammy award winning singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo who will be a part of the Superstar Q&A and will receive Billboard’s editorially selected Touring Artist of the Year award.  

The Live Music Awards, which will honor touring acts as well as some of the visionary executives behind them, are based on a number of criteria ranging from revenue to tour demand, production, technical ambition, fan engagement, momentum and cultural impact. 

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Programmed by Billboard’s Dave Brooks, the Billboard Live Music Summit and Awards will bring an unforgettable experience, spotlighting some of the biggest names in music and emerging artists who are shaping the future of the industry. The event will feature a series of keynote panels as well as the highly anticipated Billboard Live Music Awards, honoring artists and industry professionals who have made significant contributions to the world of live music.

In addition to exclusive panels and conversations with the brightest stars and industry leaders, the Billboard Live Music Summit will feature insightful panels with leading figures from AEG Presents and Live Nation, exploring trends, challenges, and innovations in the live music sector. The summit aims to foster dialogue and inspire future developments in the industry. Additional information will be distributed in the coming weeks. For more information on this year’s Billboard Live Music Summit and Awards, visit billboardlivemusicsummit.com.

18 Oct 2024

Lin-Manuel Miranda on How GamerGate Inspired the Gender-Flipped ‘Warriors’ Concept Album

From In the Heights to Hamilton, New York City – with its frenetic pulse and intoxicating contradictions – has been an intrinsic part of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s artistic palette. Even so, the EGT-winning musical mastermind is likely to confound more than a few fans with his and Eisa Davis’ new project: Warriors, a narrative concept album based on the 1979 cult film The Warriors.

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For those who do not reflexively think “come out to play” when they hear bottles clinking, The Warriors is about a Coney Island street gang forced to traverse the city after dark while a gaggle of gangs — each one sporting a distinct fashion aesthetic, from goth baseball to silken Harlem Renaissance — tries to murder them as revenge for an assassination they’re falsely accused of. It’s the violent, stylish stuff of midnight movie legend, and despite Miranda’s affinity for NYC-based tales, a surprising choice for a guy who was recently penning smashes for Disney.

With Warriors out Friday (Oct. 18) on Atlantic, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis (a playwright/actress who appeared in Miranda’s 2021 film Tick, Tick… Boom!), hopped on the phone with Billboard to discuss the inspiration behind their gender-flipped take on the subject matter, how they landed hip-hop royalty (Nas, Busta Rhymes, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Cam’ron, Ghostface Killah and RZA) for the project and what might be next for their Warriors.

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Lin — at a preview listening session, you mentioned that about 15 years ago, someone pitched the idea of a Warriors musical to you. You summarily shot it down but kept mulling it over. What was the “aha” moment where you had a breakthrough?

Miranda: That friend, Phil Westgren, approached me in 2009, and the bulk of my thinking why it couldn’t work is, “Well, it’s an action movie.” Action movies and musicals are always fighting for the sale real estate: When you can’t talk anymore — the emotion is heightened — you fight and/or sing. So doing it as a concept album first freed us from that. It allowed us to score the moment. We approached that in different ways throughout the album. Sometimes we dilated a moment of action, sometimes it’s a montage and you hear sound effects and by the end the Warriors are victorious. (laughs) The other thing that made it compelling to write was flipping the gender of the Warriors as a female gang. I had that notion in response to seeing GamerGate happen online around 2015. These toxically online men doxxing women’s home addresses, the chaos of it struck me as a very Luther thing to do. Luther shoots Cyrus, blames the Warriors and then watches the fun unfold. It seemed to be the same malignant chaos. That thought led me to thinking of the Warriors as a female gang and suddenly it got really interesting to write. Every plot point is wrinkled or changed in some fundamental way. I got excited by the notion of writing women’s voices surviving the night.

Eisa, unlike Lin, you said The Warriors was not part of your childhood. What was it that made you think, “I get it, I have something to say here”?

Davis: Number one: Lin asked me. Number two: Because they’re women, I thought, this is really exciting to look at the wrinkles and search for the ways that this is a specifically femme story. What is it that I’ve experienced on the streets of New York at night, or what is it that I want when it comes to protection and having a crew? We based the album on the movie; the movie is based on the novel; the novel was based on a Greek narrative from 400 B.C. Obviously, it has staying power and good bones. There’s something intrinsically human to the various responses to violence and adversity and loss that are in this story. One is that you can try and take revenge and continue the cycle of violence. Another thing the Warriors do is they defend themselves against the injustice of being falsely accused and develop more courage. Another response is to try and end that cycle of violence, try to create a peace not only in yourselves but the communities around you. All of those human responses being baked into the story, it has something very compelling to everyone.

What you said about GamerGate is interesting. Similar to the misogynist response to the 2016 Ghostbusters movie, do you think some perpetually online bros will get upset about the Warriors’ gender swap?

Miranda: Maybe. Probably. I know none of those people have seen this movie more than I have, and in many ways it’s a love letter to that original movie, too. I don’t think a beat-for-beat recreation of the movie would be satisfying. I’ve seen those adaptations, they’re not satisfying: You’re just waiting for the moment that you liked in the [original] movie. I think of this as a love letter to the original film and its own thing that could not be confused for the original film. To me, it’s the best of both worlds.

You really scored a murderer’s row of rappers to represent each borough: Nas, Cam’ron, Busta Rhymes, RZA, Ghostface Killah and Chris Rivers (Big Pun’s son). What was it like giving feedback to these legends? Lin, you’re a genius in your own right, but was that intimidating?

Davis: That’s such a great question because, of course, the only reason this murderer’s row, as you put it, are even on this album is because they already respect Lin and what he has accomplished. So everyone was on board and ready to do this. It was written for all of these rappers and what their rhythms are, but it was a question of, “Are they able to say someone else’s lines?” That’s a big deal.

Miranda: They’re used to writing their own features.

Davis: And have pride in never being ghostwritten.

Miranda: The shift was, “You’re not playing yourself. You’re playing the Bronx. You are the voice of Staten Island or the voice of Manhattan.” It’s having them playing these roles but bring what we love about them as emcees to the table.

The Warriors film is known for its violence and grit, things not usually associated with musicals. How did you go about ensuring there was a sense of danger on the album?

Miranda: It was freeing doing this as an album. Our job is to paint it as vividly as possible musically, to paint those slick sidewalk streets in your mind. To that end, we got the best artists we could find. We even got Foley artists to create some of the soundscapes of the subway and the city on top of these songs we’d written.

Davis: That really helped with creating that grit you’re talking about.

Miranda: The job is to create the sickest movie in your head possible. It’s also 1979 shot through 2024. I remember recording the scene where Luther calls an unknown associate and gives them a status update and someone said, “I don’t think young people know what a rotary phone sounds like anymore.”

Davis: That someone was Lin’s wife, Vanessa. (Miranda laughs) What we had to do was make sure we baked into the dialogue that this is a phone call, so people who had no idea what these sounds were would know. To make sure we didn’t have what you would call a pat musical theater score, something more cliché, one of the first things we did was make each other playlists and say, “This is an idea for this particular gang, they might have this particular sound.” Maybe there’s more of this Jamaican patois in the DJ so we have the Jamaican roots of hip-hop represented. Maybe we have this really amazing beat that can add this ballroom culture and have this queer, trans [vibe]. We were going for all of these vibes that would be legitimate for a pop listener.

As you’re saying, there are so many different musical styles on Warriors. Which was the hardest to get right, and which was the most fun to play with?

Miranda: They were all fun. The most joyous probably was going down to Miami to record with Marc Anthony and his orchestra. It would not sound as good as it does if we had not gone down to where Marc plays. We came in with a fully finished demo but by the time Marc is translating it to his orchestra with Sergio [George], his righthand man, he found another level of authenticity. Writing all of these was enormous fun. I think the one people will be most surprised by, considering what they’ve heard of my work, is our metal song, “Going Down,” with Luther. But I’m a big metal fan. The challenge was not so much writing the song and not blowing my voice out on my demo — because I don’t have a screamo voice — but finding the person to play Luther. My metal gods are all my age or older. (Davis laughs) We went to Atlantic and said, “Who is the next great metal singer we don’t even know about yet?” And I think Kim Dracula is one of the great discoveries of this album. Everyone who listens to this leaves going, “Who the f–k was that? And how can I hear more of that?” That was an exciting discovery.

Davis: Like Lin said, everything was so fun. It was wonderful to spend a week and a half with our Warriors, because they’re such dear friends, and hearing this gel together and sing was something only they could do. Another thing that was so joyful was to be with Mike Elizondo, our producer, at his studio, and being able to work with his band. What was challenging for me, as someone who does not have the same experience and Lin and Mike, was making sure the ideas of everything I heard was something I could articulate and share with all of our artists. Everything was so clear in how I could hear it, but how could I share how to get there? I had a nice learning curve.

I love that you flipped the Lizzies into the Bizzies, a boy band. Did you use any particular boy bands as sonic touchstones for that?

Miranda: We wanted to do the boy band to end all boy bands. The Voltron of boy bands, if you will. The Megazord. We wanted to connect New Edition all the way to Stray Kids and back again. You have Stephen Sanchez holding down the gorgeous falsetto crooner at the top; you have Joshua Henry holding down the soulful Boyz II Men era vocals; you have Timothy Hughes holding down the bass; and then Daniel Jikal representing the new school of hip-hop.

I love that you included K-pop boy band music on this, because that is the new school.

Davis: That was a flash of genius on Lin’s part. Of course, he doesn’t speak Korean….

Miranda: (laughs) How dare you tell them that!

Davis: We went to Helen Park, who is an incredible composer, and she dropped that instantaneously.

How much direction did you give her?

Miranda: We painted the picture for her: This needs to be the come on to end all come-ons, but then at the end, you sneak in the phrase “you killed our hope.” The folks who speak Korean will have a head start on how nefarious this gang is.

Ms. Lauryn Hill portrays the DJ on this, which is wildly impressive. At what point in the process did she enter?

Miranda: It was the first song we wrote. We had no plan B. We wrote it to Lauryn Hill’s voice. Essentially, we sent her manager a love letter from me and Eisa, the track and some test vocals for her to fill in however she pleased. And we stayed in touch. I learned from her manager she was an admirer of Hamilton. That kept the door from being all the way shut.

Davis: And then we prayed.

Miranda: And then a lot of prayer until one day the Dropbox came and it had all the vocals. It was so much better than we even imagined. The fact that she trusted us and sang the song we wrote will always be among the greatest honors of our careers, but then added so much of herself to it, added background vocals. She’s a co-producer on that track and she earned every bit of it.

I know you said making this a recording allowed you a certain freedom, but are you considering a staging?

Miranda: Yeah. It was an enormous privilege to be able to write it this way. This caliber of world-class talent, it’s hard to get them in the same room at the same time much less on a stage eight times a week. The fact that we get these fingerprints on these roles is incredible. And you’re talking to two theater artists. Of course, we’d love to imagine continuing to work together and what the next incarnation could be, but what we really love is that everyone gets the thing we made on Friday. It’s not a recording of the thing we made that you have to be in New York to see. Everyone gets it at the same time. As someone who lived through both Hamilton cast album going around the world and the relative inaccessibility of Hamilton because we could only serve 1400 people at a time, it’s enormously gratifying to give everyone the same gift at the same time.

Davis: If there’s a show, it’s a discrete thing. The album is its own thing and if we have a show, it’s its own thing. It’s another level of adaptation, just like we adapted the film. This is its own thing.

Final question for you both. In the movie, which is your favorite gang and why? And you can’t say the Warriors.

Davis: What’s the gang that puts their tokens in?

Miranda: (Laughs, coughs) In the opening montage, there is one gang that’s very courteously [entering the subway] like they’re on a school trip.

Davis: They’re like, “We’re going to uphold the social compact on the way to a meeting of gangs across the city.”

Miranda: My favorite gang is the Turnbull AC’s. The Turnbull AC’s walk to a Mad Max: Fury Road vibe. And a converted school bus of bats and chains is the most terrifying, awesomest thing.

18 Oct 2024

Sharon Osbourne Honors Liam Payne While Lamenting That Music Industry ‘Let You Down’

Sharon Osbourne has had an inside angle on the highs and lows of the music industry for more than 45 years as her husband Ozzy’s manager. On Thursday (Oct. 17), she took aim at the music biz for what she said was its failure to support former One Direction singer and solo star Liam Payne, who died at 31 on Wednesday following a fatal fall from the balcony of his Buenos Aires, Argentina hotel room.

“Liam, my heart aches. We all let you down,” wrote Osbourne, a three-season veteran of the British X-Factor, where Payne rose to stardom after he was grouped with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson in 2010. “Where was this industry when you needed them?” she asked in an Instagram post featuring a solemn picture of the late singer who first auditioned for the reality singing show in 2008 as a solo act, before giving it another shot two years later at age 16. “You were just a kid when you entered one of the toughest industries in the world. Who was in your corner? Rest in peace my friend,” said Osbourne, who left X-Factor several years before Payne auditioned.

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Payne often talked about the overwhelming pressures he faced when 1D rocketed to global superstardom in 2012, which included suicidal thoughts and substance use, telling the BBC in 2017 that he often used alcohol to “mask” his feelings. I was very confused about fame when it all happened… and learning to be a person outside of your job was difficult,” he said at the time.

Fellow boy bander-turned-solo-star Robbie Williams weighed in as well on Thursday, expressing, “shock, sadness and confusion” about Payne’s death, while urging fans to think deeply about how they treat celebrities online and urging kindness and compassion. “I met the boys on The X Factor and ‘mentored’ them. I use the word mentored in inverted brackets cos I hardly did anything to be honest. I just hung out with them,” wrote Williams, who chronicled his tumultuous years in the spotlight as a member of British boy band Take That and his personal struggles with depression and substance use in the years after in his solo career in a self-titled 2023 Netflix documentary series.

“They were all cheeky and lovely,” Williams wrote. “I enjoyed the light hearted piss takery and Thought about all the times I was that cheeky pisstaker with the Popstars that had gone before me when I was in Take That.”

Williams said he crossed paths with the 1D stars over the years since and while saying he was “fond” of all of them, adding that what Payne’s “trials and tribulations were very similar to mine, so it made sense to reach out to offer what I could. So i did.” He also included what appeared to be a text exchange with Payne from 2022 in which Williams told the singer he was “very proud” of him, to which Payne replied, “that’s man, that means the world.”

The note from Williams included an all-caps section in which the singer reminded fans that we “don’t know what’s going on in people’s lives. What pain they’re going through and what makes them behave in the way that they behave. Before we reach to judgement, a bit of slack needs to be given… Even if you don’t really think that celebrities or their families exist, they f–king do.”

Williams lamented that the “media will unfortunately carry on being the media and fame will carry on being fame.” He ended with a plea for compassion and love, writing, “As individuals though we have the power to change ourselves. We can be kinder. We can be more empathic. We can at least try to be more compassionate towards ourselves, our family, our friends, strangers in life and strangers on the internet. Even famous strangers need your compassion. What a Handsome Talented boy. What a tragic painful loss for his friends, family, fans and by the looks of the energy this moment has created – The World.”

A preliminary autopsy said that Payne died from multiple traumas and internal and external hemorrhages sustained from the impact of a fall from the third-story of the Casa Sur hotel in the Palermo district in Argentina. Police are still investigating the incident, but initial reports are that they found substances in the star’s disheveled room that appeared to be narcotics and alcohol.

Osbourne and Williams’ tributes came after all four of Payne’s former 1D bandmates — Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan — issued a joint statement mourning the loss of their brother, saying “the memories we shared with him will be treasured forever.” All four living members also offered up their own personal statements, as did Payne’s family and his former school.

See Osbourne and Williams’ tributes below.