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07 Jun 2024

Rihanna’s ‘I’m Retired’ Shirt Has the Navy Wondering If R9 Is In Permanent Dry Dock

It’s pretty easy to imagine that by now Rihanna is sick to death of people asking her when R9 is coming. After dropping albums at a furious, nearly one-a-year pace through 2012’s Unapologetic, the singer has kept her Navy in dry dock since releasing 2016’s Anti. Which is why every time RihRih steps out to do anything the inevitable “when is R9 coming?” questions rain down on her.

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There are two ways to deal with that kind of relentless pressure: ignore it or have a laugh. On Thursday (June 6), the “Umbrella” star appeared to take the latter path while out for a stroll with boyfriend A$AP Rocky in New York. Rocking a pair of blue Dior shield sunglasses, red sneakers and a dark blue maxi skirt, Rihanna grabbed attention with a momcore blue graphic t-shirt featuring the message, “I’m Retired This is as Dressed Up as I Get.”

Wait, what?

Trending on Billboard

The reaction from fans on X ran the gamut from chuckles to serious concern. Among the comments on posts about the shirt were: “That’s the name of the album ????,” “Well, there’s yall answer,” “It’s giving expect no album,” “can’t say I blame her,” “oh we never gettin an album,” “id be retired too if i had a billion dollars” and “I hope she’s not serious but she could be deada–.”

A spokesperson for Rihanna had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment at press time.

In April the singer made it seem like music is in the works, but gave no timetable for a release. “It’s gonna be amazing,” she said of what to expect while talking to Extra. “It has to be — that is the only reason it’s not out yet. If I’m not feeling it and I’m not feeling like it represents the evolution, the time I spent away… There should be a show of growth, right?”

A week earlier, she said more explicitly, “I already got stuff that I feel like I could make hits out of,” adding that the work in progress is “so good” so far.

For now, Rihanna is focusing on her mega-successful Fenty line of beauty products, which will expand next week when she launches Fenty Hair.

07 Jun 2024

Nicki Nicole Earns Fifth No. 1 on Billboard Argentina Hot 100 With ‘Ojos Verdes’

Nicki Nicole crosses off a new milestone thanks to her latest single, “Ojos Verdes,” released April 24 via Sony Music Latin. The song rises from No. 2 to lead the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart (dated June 8). Her second ruler of the year arrives seven weeks after “Una Foto” — with Mesita, Tiago PZK and Emilia — culminated its 10-week domination (chart dated April 20), the longest leading song of 2024.

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As “Ojos Verdes” lands at the summit it ejects “Bésame (Remix)” by Bhavi, Seven Kayne, Milo J, Tiago PZK, Khea and Neo Pistea from the summit: falls 1-4.

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While Maria Becerra’s “Iman (Two Of Us)” dips 5-2, Los Ángeles Azules secure their first entry of the year as “Perdonarte Para Qué?,” with Emilia, debuts at No. 3. The Hot Shot Debut of The week earns the Mexican group its third top 10, while the Argentinian singer collects her 16th.

Fifteen-year-old Argentinian Valentino Merlo and Chilean band The La Planta join in the upper region thanks to “Hoy,” their first team-up which climbs 32 places, from No. 37 to No. 5. While The La Planta picks up its second top 10, Merlo’s “Tu Foto,” with Q’ Lokura, advances 13-6, for his second top 10 hit.

Above the top 30, Chilean Lewis Somes makes his first chart visit thanks to “Apaga El Cel,” his first collab with compatriot FloyyMenor, which joins at No. 29. Meanwhile ECKO, Los Turros and Doble P’s “Loquita (Remix)” rallies up 58 places, from No. 99 to No. 41 with the week’s Greatest Gainer honors.

Further, four more songs debut this week, starting with Tiago PZK who adds a 34th career entry with “Corazón” at No. 60. Cris MJ’s “Si No Es Contigo” bows at No. 77. The song earns the Chilean his second top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart this week, following the eight-week domination of “Gata Only,” with FloyyMenor. Plus, NewJeans’ “How Sweet” opens at No. 79.

Lastly Trueno scores three simultaneous entries on the current chart: “The Roof Is on Fire” at No. 94, “Pull Up!” at No. 97, and “Real Gangsta Love” at No. 100, all stemming from his album El Último Baile released May 23 via Sony Music Latin.

07 Jun 2024

How Twenty One Pilots Scored the Biggest Rock Debut of the Year With ‘Clancy’

Much of the conversation in the music business this year has been about superfans — where to find them, how to connect with them and the ways to better cater to them during single and album rollouts. Suffice it to say that the team behind Twenty One Pilots and their latest album, Clancy, took that conversation to heart.

This week, Clancy debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and flew in at No. 1 on both the Top Album Sales and Top Rock Albums charts with 143,000 equivalent album units, landing the biggest rock debut of the year so far in the process, with a campaign that leaned heavily into super-serving the group’s biggest fans. That took the form of exclusive listening parties at independent record stores around the country, a multi-pronged sales strategy that offered more than a dozen different ways of purchasing the album and thinking holistically about each tier of fandom and what they want the most.

The result: Nearly 60% of the album’s first week numbers came from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales, according to Elektra vp of D2C, streaming and marketing strategy Thom Skarzynski, who worked on the album rollout. And the success of Clancy helps earn Skarzynski the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.

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Here, Skarzynski discusses the fan-led strategies that went into the album release, as well as the career-long buildup that got the band to this point. “We went into the campaign with a refreshed mindset,” Skarzynski says. “It was all about bringing things back to the surface and carrying the story to life for not only the deeply-rooted superfans but also the more casual listeners who may have lost the plot along the way.”

This week, Twenty One Pilots’ Clancy debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on both Top Album Sales and Top Rock Albums. What key decision did you make to help make that happen?

My role at Elektra is multifaceted — depending on the project, I might be involved in marketing, D2C or streaming strategy. In the case of Twenty One Pilots, I was fortunate enough to run point on all three, co-running the overall marketing on this album campaign with Katie Robinson [senior vp of marketing at Elektra], so I truly was able to engulf myself into the whole picture and curate what we needed to happen and when. 

That said, the area that I’m most proud of in impacting our debut was what we were able to do via D2C on the band’s store. We took extra care to custom tailor each of our offerings, accounting for every level of fan, what would excite them, and how it would deepen their connection with the band. In the end, D2C accounted for nearly 60% of our first-week activity. Their overwhelming response shows the power of a fan base when they’re being listened to and treated right. 

With 143,000 equivalent album units, Clancy nearly doubled the first-week mark from the band’s last album, 2021’s Scaled and Icy. What did you do different this time around to achieve that?

We went into the campaign with a refreshed mindset. It was all about bringing things back to the surface and carrying the story to life for not only the deeply-rooted superfans but also the more casual listeners who may have lost the plot along the way. I must credit the band themselves, management [Chris Woltman and Ashley Pimenta at Element 1] and their creative team [Mark Eshleman and Brandon Rike], as they were true architects in the early teaser campaigns we executed for the core fanbase — sending 1,500 red envelope letters out to fans across the globe, swapping all studio artwork of previous albums to have “red tape” over it. Cryptic moments like that activated their hardcore fans, and from there we just expanded. This album campaign was about bringing every level of fan together and nailing the conclusion to a story the band has been telling for nearly a decade.

The album’s huge sales week was also bolstered by its physical availability — 11 vinyl variants, plus several CD editions and deluxe box sets. What was your approach to the physical sales aspect, and how were you able to pull that off?

Very early on, we connected with the band’s creative director Brandon Rike, and went through ideas and suggestions for this launch — including my absolute favorite, the Clancy Journal — as well as box-set options and how many different vinyl variants we would need to ensure everybody from the fan base had something they loved enough to own. We chose carefully, knowing where each level of fan would be shopping and what they would engage with, and let that be our guide. 

We also held listening events at over 175 independent record stores across the country the Saturday prior to album release, which brought out an estimated 20,000 fans. That indie variable was super cool and we were so happy to bring the physical community together to experience the album as one. I am a firm believer that fans want to own an item from an artist they love that they can proudly display or cherish, and that’s what we aimed to offer. Every decision we made was around “thinking like a fan.” Any mindset different from that was unacceptable as we rolled this out.

The album was the final chapter of a conceptual series. How were you able to play into that to help generate excitement among the fan base?

For me, the pressure was on to deliver on behalf of the band and their team, and simply connect the dots wherever possible. This storyline that they’ve built for nine years now is so much bigger than me and I not only accepted that fact but was humbled to be trusted to handle parts of the campaign that played into it. Ultimately, what generates the most excitement are three things: excellent music; a message and lyrics that resonate with people; and bringing fans along on the journey with you.

Clancy also represents the biggest debut for a rock album this year so far. With rock such a sales-heavy format and the industry at large so dependent on streaming, how do you leverage streaming with that sales strategy to deliver such a big debut?

The variety and cadence of the single releases leading up to the album kept the fan base engaged and built up anticipation for the full album. We also had great support from our streaming partners with multiple playlist covers, and excellent positioning in both their new music and flagship playlists across rock, alternative and pop. When it comes to sales itself, we looked at everything mathematically, and strategically pinpointed where we could find wins and where we felt we may have had some challenges. We knew how much we had total control of — D2C, physical retail, indie retail and digital albums — and making each of them the best experience possible maximized our results. We just knew the fan base so well and were able to be strategic with how, when and where we interacted with them.

How are you guys planning to continue to promote the album moving forward?

We are just getting started. “The Craving (single version)” is impacting at Top 40, Alternative and Hot AC radio right now and already getting incredible support. This is also a band that never stops: They have their massive Clancy World Tour which hits arenas and even some stadiums across North America starting in August before going overseas to Australia, New Zealand, Latin America and Europe. In my very first conversation with management back in October, they walked me through a plan that ran through 2026 and beyond. Twelve years in, this is still just the beginning for them.

07 Jun 2024

Halle Berry Approves of Ariana Grande’s ‘Catwoman’ Tribute in ‘The Boy Is Mine’ Music Video

Halle Berry is purring for Ariana Grande‘s take on Catwoman. Shortly after the pop star released her new music video for “The Boy Is Mine” — in which she dresses up just like the DC Comics femme fatale — the actress shared her approval on social media Friday (June 7).

Retweeting a clip of Grande modeling a cat-ear mask and traipsing through a Gotham-like cityscape in the visual, Berry simply tweeted, “Get it, Ari! ??????”

The Oscar winner, who portrayed the titular character in 2004’s Catwoman, added: “Living.”

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Grande is known for putting her own spin on famous films via music videos. Earlier this year, she paid homage to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for her Billboard Hot 100-topping single “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love),” recruiting Evan Peters to be the Jim Carrey to her Kate Winslet.

For “The Boy Is Mine,” she channeled Catwoman — who’s also been played on screen by Anne Hathaway, Michelle Pfeiffer and other iconic actresses in the past — while starring opposite Penn Badgley, who portrayed a devilishly handsome politician with whom Grande’s character is infatuated. In the video, the vocalist wears a leathery black dress and carries a whip to sneak into the Gossip Girl alum’s apartment, where she tries and fails to inject him with love potion.

Brandy and Monica also made surprise cameos in the video, a subtle tribute to their own 1998 duet “The Boy Is Mine.” The iconic track spent a total of 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the year it was released.

See Berry’s tweet below.

07 Jun 2024

How Bluegrass Supergroup Wood Box Heroes Made Its Genre-Melding Debut Album In Two Days

“It’s kind of crazy stepping into that lead role. I’ve been a side woman my whole life,” says fiddle player Jenee Fleenor.

Since moving to Nashville in 2001, she has toured with artists including Blake Shelton, Steven Tyler and Martina McBride, in addition to playing on hits such as Cody Johnson’s “’Til You Can’t.” But now, with her bluegrass group Wood Box Heroes, she is stepping into the spotlight and showcasing her talents as songwriter and soulful vocalist.

“I’ve always wanted to sing, but it’s been on the back burner,” Fleenor tells Billboard. “Fiddle wasn’t hot on the radio at that time, so I started songwriting and realized I could say things I wanted to say. It’s nice to have a fiddle playing, songwriting and vocal trifecta all in one place.”

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It wasn’t long ago that Fleenor was touring with Shelton when vocalist/guitarist Josh Martin hired her — along with 15-time Grammy winner and bassist Barry Bales and banjoist Matt Menefee — to be part of a backing group for his run of acoustic shows. At the end of the 10-day gig, they had honed their sound and realized they each had more to give.

“Those shows locked the band in and solidified the sound and we thought, ‘We could probably make a record,’” says Fleenor, who adds she had songs stored away that she felt would be a great fit for the newly-formed group. “It’s always been a dream of mine to have a band of session-quality musicians. We hardly rehearsed. We played through the songs one time and got onstage.” Wood Box Heroes released its self-titled EP last year and now (Friday, June 7), its debut full-length, 444, has arrived.

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The group’s quirky name came about thanks to a random Buc-ee’s gas station stop, when Fleenor saw two small Marvel Comics figurines, Thor and Groot, sitting atop the gas station pump. “We were looking for a name for a band,” Fleenor recalls. “I sent Josh a picture of them and he said, ‘Those look like some wood box heroes,’ and I thought that was a great name for a band. We went through probably a thousand more names, but came back to that.”

Once in the studio, the recording process came naturally and swiftly, given the years they have all spent in recording studios, laying down tracks for other artists and as part of other groups. As a result, Fleenor says 444 was recorded in just two days. “We wrote charts and mapped out arrangements so when we are in the studio we aren’t wasting time,” she recalls. “A lot of my vocals, I cut while we were tracking.”

Fleenor notes the group’s sound has been compared to bands ranging from Fleetwood Mac to New Grass Revival — and their expansive influences prove why. While Fleenor began playing Suzuki violin at age three, she was also raised on Bob Wills records (“’Faded Love’ changed my life,” she says), as well as Merle Haggard, George Strait and Willie Nelson. She also soaked in Cajun music, as her mother is from Louisiana. Meanwhile, Martin grew up on the bluegrass-influenced Eastern Kentucky sounds of Patty Loveless, Loretta Lynn and The Judds. And Menefee’s influences add an unexpected element to their sound, drawing on jazz, rap, pop and video game music. (Menefee won the Winfield Banjo Contest at age 17 and has since worked with artists including Bruce Hornsby, Jerry Douglas and Mumford & Sons; Bales, who alongside his work for Alison Krauss & Union Station, has played on albums for Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, The Civil Wars and Chris Stapleton, the latter of whom he won an Academy of Country Music Award with for song of the year as co-writer on “Nobody to Blame.”)

On 444, each member not only plays but also helped with songwriting: Fleenor co-wrote six tracks; Martin is the sole writer on a trio of compositions, “Cross the Line,” “Piece of the Peace,” and “Better When We’re Livin’”; and another of Bales’ Stapleton co-writes made it on the album with “Cannonball.”

“When we cut that, I had a flashback to the 1997 Alison Krauss & Union Station album So Long So Wrong,” Fleenor recalls. “That album influenced us all so much, so it was cool to find that intersection. I say Barry [Bales] is the hero of the Wood Box Heroes. I wanted to do a string thing on the front of that song as soon as I heard it, because it sounds like it should be in a movie.”

Elsewhere, “This Train,” which features Fleenor on lead vocals, joins the lengthy canon of train songs alongside Blue Highway’s “Endless Train” and Flatt & Scruggs’ “Petticoat Junction.” As Fleenor sats, “Once we got the ball rolling and figuring out the songs, I told Josh, ‘We need an up-tempo song — and every bluegrass band needs a train song.’ I was driving to a session and threw some melodies down in my voice memos. I was writing with Josh and Jim [“Moose” Brown] and this came out. It’s fun to sing and it showcases our musicality.”

Ahead, Fleenor, Bales, Martin and Menefee are slotting in Wood Box Heroes shows between their continued work playing with other artists and groups. For Fleenor, that has meant playing recent shows with “King George” Strait.

“As a fiddle player, I have to pinch myself. I’m playing ‘Amarillo by Morning,’” she says. “But getting to step into the artist thing was something I thought, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever get to do that.’ I took a leap into this thing. I’m living my dream.”

And even though she is marking milestones off her list, Fleenor does have one bucket list item left: “My mom’s dream for me as a kid was to play violin at Carnegie Hall. I’m not playing classical, but maybe one day we can play some bluegrass there.”

07 Jun 2024

Joy Reid & Abby Phillip Pack Up Jim Crow Advocate Byron Donalds, Xitter Approves

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MANHATTAN, NY - MAY 23 : Former President Donald Trump greets

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Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) is having a terrible week when it comes to his tryouts to be the running mate of convicted felon and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. On two separate networks, CNN and MSNBC, Donalds saw his hypocrisy get called out to his face.

In case you’re unaware, recently while in Philadelphia, Donalds went full Uncle Tom and infamously said that Black people were better off under Jim Crow. That would be the same Jim Crow era where Blacks in Southern states were disenfranchised (read: they couldn’t even vote), routinely lynched for the most minor of offenses and pretty much lived in terror for simply trying to live.

“You see, during Jim Crow, the Black family was together. During Jim Crow, more Black people were not just conservative — Black people have always been conservative-minded — but more Black people voted conservatively,” Donalds said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

As expected, and after a rebuke from Democrats including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Donalds insisted his words were taken out of context.

Considering his documented tomfoolery, booking Donalds already gets you the side eye, but at least the Black women asking the questions, in this case Joy Reid and Abby Phillip, held his tap dancing feet to the fire.

Let’s start on CNN, where Phillip was first to make Donalds a spokesman for Team Ya Played Yourself. While appearing on CNN’s Newsnight on Wednesday evening (June 5), he conceded that Black people are better off now but insisted that marriage rates were higher for Blacks during Jim Crow, so there’s that. “All I was doing is referring to the time periods when you talk about the historical timelines in America and coinciding with Black families and what their marriage rate in Black families are,” he said.

Yeah, okay, that’s what he meant—#sarcasm. Then Donalds went into suspect GOP talking point mode by claiming Donald Trump’s policies have served Black Americans better than Biden’s, adding, “If you’re actually going to compare economic policies and public policies between the 45th president and 46 president, it’s without question, they were better under the 45th.”

To this, Phillip had to retort. “I’m going to interrupt you on the facts, Congressmen,” she said. “The Black unemployment rate was the lowest in American history under Joe Biden…. The poverty rate for Black people is the lowest under Joe Biden’s [administration]. So you cannot say empirically for Black people that from a financial level things were better under Trump.”

Donalds then started flapping his gums about inflation and wealth that amounted to copping pleas. But the real burn came courtesy of Joy Reid. On Thursday evening (June 6), while on MSNBC’s The Reid Out, Donalds again insisted he was initially misquoted about the Jim Crow comments.

“The stuff that comes up about Jim Crow, and twisting my words saying I was being nostalgic or Jim Crow was good for Black people, that’s all political spin. It’s a lie,” said Donalds. “It’s gaslighting and that’s truly unfortunate.”

Reid then replied with receipts. “Here’s the challenge, Congressman,” she said. “You started out talking about your family, talking about your mom, talking about being raised. And you on your own brought up Jim Crow. In fact, you said Jim Crow three times for emphasis. It wasn’t the media or the Democrats or gaslighters who brought up Jim Crow. It was you. You brought up Jim Crow. So why did you use Jim Crow specifically as your reference? You did that, no one else did that, you did it.”

The conversation continued with Reid pointing out this controversy was Donalds’ own doing, but she saved the real burn for the end of their chat. “Last question, and then I’m going to let you go. One more question,” said Reid. “During Jim Crow, could your family have existed? You are in an interracial marriage. Your wife, and a white conservative activist. Could your family have existed at all during Jim Crow?”

Got ’em.

“No, it could not, and we all know that,” said Donalds. “That’s why I’m blessed to live in America today, as opposed to America during that time. But we cannot ignore the realities of not having fathers in homes. That is important to our Black people today and all people today as we move forward toward a better America.”

Donalds has been getting cooked on social media ever since. You can see for yourself in the gallery. below Be careful, the MAGA cult is foaming at the mouth defending their latest Op of color, respectfully.

15. Also, let’s never forget.

07 Jun 2024

Watch the Moment Eminem & Jelly Roll Met Prior to Their Surprise Performance in Detroit

Eminem and Jelly Roll linked up for a surprise performance of Slim Shady’s Aerosmith-sampling “Sing for the Moment” at the Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central show on Thursday night (June 6).

Prior to hitting the stage together, the Detroit legend and country star linked up outside the Michigan Central Station venue for a heartwarming interaction, which was shared by Bunny XO, who is married to Jelly Roll. She posted the exchange between Em and her husband on TikTok for the world to see. “When the goat meets THE GOAT,” she captioned the clip soundtracked by Eminem’s “My Name Is” anthem.

The exchange finds Jelly Roll in awe as Em approaches him, and he takes his hat off out of respect for the rap icon before they dap up.

Trending on Billboard

Their voices can’t be heard in the clip, but it looks as if Jelly Roll was giving Eminem his flowers as a longtime fan. They dap up again before going their separate ways, with Em in a black hooded jacket and sunglasses.

Fans really enjoyed seeing Em and Jelly Roll connect prior to making magic on stage, and let it be known in Bunnie’s comment section.

“I saw someone say ’eminem helped us get through our childhood and jelly roll is helping us get through adulthood’ so true,” one person wrote. Bunnie responded to the comment with the bawling and “100” emojis.

Another noted, “He took his hat off to shake Eminem’s hand hes so respectful even though he is a celebrity too.”

Some are hoping this could eventually lead to a collaboration between Em and Jelly. “Can we get a Jelly Roll featuring Eminem song soon, please,” they asked.

Eminem, who co-produced the concert with his manager Paul Rosenberg, sent the crowd into a frenzy when he performed a surprise four-track mini-set that included the live debut of his new “Houdini” single, which fans are hoping will be earning a lofty debut on the Billboard Hot 100.

Em was joined by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and also performed the aforementioned “Sing for the Moment” with Jelly, along with the Trick Trick-assisted “Welcome 2 Detroit” and “Not Afraid.”

Watch the moment Eminem and Jelly Roll met below.

07 Jun 2024

Kany García’s New Album ‘Garcia,’ Her Friendship With Young Miko & More | Billboard News

Kany García talks about her new album ‘García’ and the various collaborations she has done with artists such as Carin León, Christina Nodal, Young Miko and many more. Kany explains why exploring different types of music is important to her. Furthermore, she goes in-depth about becoming a representative for the LGBTQ+ community, how she supports them, her strong stance on various world issues and more!

Don’t miss the Billboard Mujeres Latinas en la Música special on June 9th at 9pm/8c on Telemundo.

Kany García:

Many nice things happen at Billboard. I had seen an interview with her when she was just starting out and she said super nice things about me and many of her fans sent me the TikToks of the interview. I kept that and thought we would meet at some point.  

Leila Cobo: 

Kany García and ‘García.’

Kany García:

New album, how nice.

Leila Cobo:

Why is the album called ‘García’ and not Kany?

Kany García:

Not Kany. The album is called ‘García’ because there is one song with that title. There are two or three key people in my life who have been like anchors and people whose opinions have been important to me who don’t call me Kany and call me García. I would say there are two specific people. But some do that when they have to tell me “García, did you write that there?” or “Did you say that in the lyrics?” or this other person, “García, I have to tell you that when I saw your interview you have to be careful.” These are people who care for me. 

Leila Cobo:

García is, it’s serious, when they call you García.

Kany García:

It’s serious. 

Leila Cobo:

It’s like when your mom used to call you Kany Cristina.

Kany García:

Mine was Encarnita. “Encarnita, come here. You didn’t clean the room.” For me, it was García. In this song, I speak to myself.

Keep watching to learn more!

07 Jun 2024

Lana Del Rey Explains Why Taylor Swift Is So Successful: ‘She Wants It More Than Anyone’

The fruits of Taylor Swift‘s work ethic are pretty much inescapable, from the chart dominance of her music to the attention her billion-dollar Eras Tour trek commands nearly every week. And in a new BBC story exploring the pop star’s success published Friday (June 7), Lana Del Rey offered her thoughts on how her friend has been able to keep shattering expectations over the years.

“She wants it,” the “Summertime Sadness” singer put it simply. “She’s told me so many times that she wants it more than anyone. And how amazing — she’s getting exactly what she wants.”

Trending on Billboard

Del Rey added of her “Snow on the Beach” collaborator: “She’s driven, and I think it’s really paid off.”

The publication also surveyed RAYE and Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall. “She is just one of those rare timeless artists who gets it right every time,” said the “Escapism” musician. “She’s an absolute powerhouse.”

“She’s got the resilience and the chutzpah to be the boss of an enormous machine, employing thousands of people,” added Tunstall. “To be able to handle that and handle what’s coming at her publicly, you’ve just got to be a one-off.”

Swift is currently in the middle of the European leg of her Eras trek, with her next stops slated for June 7-9 in Edinburgh, Scotland. To celebrate, the city has decked out its trams with photos of the 14-time Grammy winner, while its local zoo has named two newborn tamarin monkeys “Taylor” and “Swift” in her honor.

One week after concluding her tenure in Scotland, the “Anti-Hero” singer will perform three nights in Liverpool, where officials have been preparing for her arrival for weeks. Not only did they temporarily rename the city “Taylor Town,” but they also worked with local artists to set up 11 Eras-inspired art installations — one for each of Swift’s albums — for fans to interact with around town.

The pop star has been performing numbers from her latest album The Tortured Poets Department on this leg of the tour. The LP hasn’t gone lower than No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since its debut six weeks ago.

07 Jun 2024

Orville Peck Keeps Evolving — Now He Hopes Country Music Can Do the Same

Yes, Orville Peck‘s masks have been getting smaller and smaller lately. No, that is not an accident.

“For those who are very sleuthy, they’ll notice that I’ve actually been doing that from the beginning,” Peck tells Billboard. “I’ve slowly been changing out my masks and showing more of my face with each album. I think a change is good.”

That spirit helped the country crooner break out of his own box and create Stampede, his genre-spanning duets album featuring a parade of collaborators from across the music industry. The album’s first volume (released May 10 via Columbia Records) featured duets with legends like Willie Nelson and Elton John, as well as younger acts like Noah Cyrus, Allison Russell and Bu Cuaron.

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Each song on Volume 1 aimed to stretch the boundaries of Peck’s sonic universe, bringing new fusions to Peck’s classic country sound, including pop, rock, and in the case of “Miénteme” with Cuaron, Latin. “I never thought I would do a reggaeton track sung entirely in Spanish, but it’s what the song called for,” Peck says.

The goal, he explains, was not to create a curated, musically-cohesive album that would simply become “an Orville Peck album with a bunch of features.” Instead, Peck wanted Stampede to consist entirely of true collaborations:  “I wanted every single song to be a 50/50 collaboration between me and whoever the other artist is,” he explains. “People will see this especially with Volume 2 [due out later this year] — every song is entirely its own thing, because I wanted it to be like if me and whoever that other artist is had a musical baby.”

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While Peck has yet to set a release date for the second part of his album, the singer gave his fans a sneak peak of the forthcoming part two when he live debuted “Midnight Ride” at Outloud Fest at WeHo Pride alongside Kylie Minogue and Diplo. The song, which officially arrived on Friday (June 7), fulfills Peck’s promise of musical synthesis as he masterfully blends his swaggering sound with the dance-pop stylings of his collaborators.

When telling Billboard about his new track, Peck says that the vision was clear from the beginning. “When we wrote ‘Midnight Ride,’ we knew we wanted to make a disco country banger,” he says. “Something that felt wild, free and dangerous“

Stampede has been gestating since Peck put out Show Pony, his glitzy 2020 EP that featured his first major collaboration with country legend Shania Twain on “Legends Never Die.” The now-36-year-old artist knew that an album of A-list duets would be a hit with fans, and an item to check off his bucket list.

“I started to think about what I used to call the ‘Orville and Friends’ project — who would I want to work with?” he wonders. “Honestly, I foresaw it happening much later in my career.”

Then, Willie Nelson called. In 2022, the country legend got in touch with Peck, asking if he would be interested in recording a duet version of “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other,” the 1981 Western waltz about gay cowboys that Nelson covered in 2006.

It helped that Peck was already intimately familiar with the song; for years before Nelson called him, he was already covering it in his live sets. As a fan of hokum songs — an offshoot of country music that incorporates “comedy, stand-up, wordplay and characterization” — Peck always found “Cowboys” to be a particularly fascinating song.

“It uses that humor to talk about something really blatantly, and it kind of does a little one-two on people,” he explains. “For those of us who are in the community, it makes us smile, because we understand it intrinsically. For those that aren’t, it’s almost like an easy, interesting way to maybe understand the concept; how there is still a lot of repression, suppression, oppression, all the -pressions to do with queerness in these more typical country spaces.”

To bring that narrative full circle by performing it alongside the country legend who made it famous, Peck says, stands out as a distinct honor. “As a queer person who grew up loving country, I didn’t see a country artist like myself when I was younger — I still have that yearning within me to find acceptance within country,” he says. “Between Willie and Dolly, there’s only a few true, untouchable country legends left. So to get that personal validation from Willie … it  healed a lot of stuff for me.”

In working with so many new collaborators throughout Stampede, Peck focused on “evolving” his artistry, from the way he performs on his new songs to the way he presents himself to fans. Evolution was always part of his plan, he explains, because some of his favorite artists always managed to push the envelope forward.

“David Bowie is a huge inspiration of mine, because there’s distinct eras of his career,” he says. “Ziggy Stardust, for instance — the persona, the costumes, the allure, the lore of it, it’s such an incredible feat. But I think if he had remained Ziggy Stardust for his whole career, I don’t know if I or anyone else would have loved it as much. You just get to enjoy this thing in this particular moment, before it changes again.”

Naturally, Peck understands why “eras” for pop stars have become increasingly popular over the last few years. “Change is good for artists — to challenge myslef and to be more vulnerable and to put myself out there a little more. But I think it’s also good for fans,” he explains. “I think people really get comfortable in a lot of things that I do. Changing it up and seeing what else they might be into is a good thing. I think we all can embrace change.”

Yet one area where Peck still hasn’t seen quite enough change is in the country music industry. While the genre is currently enjoying new levels of success thanks to dominant runs from artists like Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan and Luke Combs, Peck also recognizes that the genre isn’t currently built to support talent from marginalized groups.

“The fact is that there’s a heavily politicized grip on country music,” he says. “For some people, this is a genre that represents a type of American lifestyle, a type of belief system, of religion. They think that country music is supposed to represent those things for them. They don’t realize that country is the most diverse American genres, because it’s built off of so many different cultures. That should be reflected in the people who make it and enjoy it.”

It certainly doesn’t help, he adds, that country music remains largely insular from the music industry at large. “Country, more so than any other genre, has really been controlled by the machine that is Nashville and country radio. It sort of exists in a vacuum, where even people very high up in the music industry that work in the pop world don’t know how to approach Nashville.”

But Peck remains assured that change is coming — slowly, but surely. As the number of artists speaking out in support of a more inclusive vision of country grows — including Mickey Guyton, TJ Osborne, Allison Russell, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini and others — the singer says labels will have to start listening soon.

“There’s a few of us that have been trying to chip away at the wall that is Nashville, and I think there’s enough of us now that they can’t really hold the barricades anymore. The floodgates are gonna burst open,” he says. “And that is a great thing.”