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03 Jun 2024

Halsey Confirms New Album & Announces First Single: ‘There’s So Much I Am Going to Reveal’

For Halsey‘s next trick, the artist is making their last era disappear. The pop star has announced that her fifth studio album is finally complete, and its first taste will arrive in the form of a new single coming in less than 24 hours.  

On Monday (June 3), the star shared what appears to be cover artwork and wrote on social. media, “I’m releasing the first song off my 5th album tomorrow 6/04 at 9am pt / 12 et. Before the first single comes, I wanted to share this. It means a lot to me and I love it.” 

They added, “Let’s try something different this time and start at ‘The End.’” 

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The announcement comes after fans noticed last week that Halsey had unveiled a cryptic new website titled “ForMyLastTrick.com.” The page boasts several illustrated badges, some of them leading to what appear to be clues about the new album. 

One shaped like a vinyl record, for instance, leads to a Spotify playlist full of iconic songs from the late ’60s and early ’70s, while a drawing of a doctor X-raying a patient’s heart plays an ominous droning sound upon being clicked. The most telling badge, however, is a ticket stub labeled “The End,” which now prompts a letter from Halsey to pop up onscreen. 

“As you may have guessed, I have written a new album,” their letter, dated a mysterious “6/?/71,” reads. “But I needed some time to figure out how to say what I needed to say. You see, I’ve been holding [REDACTED] and I need to let it out.” 

“There’s so much I am going to reveal on this record, but you need to know some of the story first,” the letter continues. “So before the chaos and confetti of big singles and album releases I just need to tell you, my friend, why it all matters this time. I’m releasing a new song on June 4. It’s just for us.”  

The “Closer” singer added in her note, “Let’s start at THE END.”  

Halsey’s new record will follow 2021’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The About-Face Beauty founder has only dropped a few sparse singles in the three years since, including 2023’s “Die 4 Me” and 2022’s “So Good,” both of which charted on the Billboard Hot 100. 

In September, Halsey teased that their next album would be on the emotional side. “splitting myself in two everyday so that I can give you my deepest wounds (and a handful of perfect joys) for the 5th time in 10 years,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. 

See Halsey’s announcement below.

03 Jun 2024

Jay-Z Linked Up With Real Madrid Star Vinicius Jr.

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Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid CF - UEFA Champions League Final 2023/24

Jay-Z has kept a largely low profile on the music front but the Brooklyn superstar remains active on the scene in other ways lately. Over the weekend, Jay-Z was seen at London’s Wembley Stadium and linked up with Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr., who is signed to Hov’s sports agency.

Vinicius Jr., 23, is a Brazilian soccer forward for Real Madrid and his team locked horns with Borussia Dortmund for the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League final.

Ahead of the game, Jay-Z dapped up Vinicius Jr., who scored a goal in the match alongside Real Madrid right-back defender Dani Carvajal with the team defeating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 for the coveted title. Among the celebrations with his Real Madrid teammates, Vini, as he’s also known, took a moment to take some photos with Jay-Z before hoisting the trophy with his fellow players.

In the summer of 2023, Roc Nation Sports acquired Brazilian soccer agency TFM which counted Vinicius Jr. as a client along with other association football stars such as Gabriel Martinelli, who plays for Arsenal.

Congratulations are in order for Real Madrid for capturing the UEFA Champions League championship win.

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Photo: Getty

03 Jun 2024

Camila Cabello Seeks a ‘More Loving’ World Through Her Global Impact

With a new look and unleashing her most unapologetic body of music to date, Camila Cabello is channeling a “big baddie energy” that’s fearless, bold and rebellious. But despite her new era, one thing stays consistent: her heart of gold.  

Cabello — who’s logged 21 career entries on the Billboard Hot 100 including No. 1 hits “Havana” (with Young Thug) and “Señorita” (with Shawn Mendes) — has used her star power and platform to advocate for topics that wholeheartedly matter to her: immigration, mental health, climate change and LGBTQ+ rights, to name a few. 

Celebrating her contributions that positively influence popular culture, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter will be honored with the Global Impact award at the 2024 Billboard Latin Women in Music airing exclusively at 9 p.m. ET on June 9 via Telemundo, and simultaneously on the Telemundo app and Peacock.  

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“Hopefully when I’m no longer here, I want the legacy I leave behind to make the world, somehow, more loving,” she tells Billboard. “There’s different ways of doing that, through art and music, and I always try to keep myself accountable.”  

Cabello (real name Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao), who formed part of famed girl group Fifth Harmony from 2012 to 2016, owes her kind, selfless and giving qualities to her parents: a Cuban mother (Sinuhe Estrabao) and Mexican father (Alejandro Cabello), who migrated to Miami when Cabello was six years old in search of better opportunities. Estrabao was an architect in Cuba, who worked at the shoe department in Marshalls; Mr. Cabello worked washing cars at Dolphin Mall. Today, they have a successful contracting company called Soka Construction (named after Camila and her little sister, Sofia).   

“I’m so proud of my family history, and proud of my work ethics, and any sort of strength or drive that I have is from hearing their stories,” she explains. “I really feel that I come from a family of f–king hustlers. My mom and dad never lost that, and even my grandparents. I feel that so much of that is carried in my bloodline. There’s something carried in our story that I feel makes me handle life and look at life in a different way.” 

Among her notable philanthropical efforts, Cabello has partnered with This Is About Humanity and Miami Freedom Project to host community events for new immigrant families in Miami and has raised half a million dollars with Equality Florida and Lambda Legal to combat harmful legislation in Florida targeting the LGBTQ+ community. She also launched the Healing Justice Project to provide mental health resources to BIPOC organizers across the country advancing racial, immigrant, and environmental justice. 

“What strikes me the most is how sincere, hard-working, and caring she is as a human being,” Roger Gold, Cabello’s longtime manager, adds. “Camila really absorbed that from her family, from her upbringing, from her journey to The United States. She grew up very, very humbling.” 

In addition to receiving the Global Impact award at the Billboard Latin Women in Music event, Cabello is preparing to release her fourth studio album C,XOXO on June 28, a set produced by El Guincho and Jasper Harris that was inspired by the eclectic rhythms and sounds of her hometown, and which she describes as the ultimate “Miami art piece.”   

03 Jun 2024

Megan Thee Stallion Signals Rebirth In Cover Art For New Album ‘MEGAN,’ Reactions Are Mixed

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Megan The Stallion Unveils 'MEGAN' Album Cover, X Reacts

Source: Steve Jennings / Getty /Megan Thee Stallion

After months of teasing fans, specifically the Hotties, Megan Thee Stallion unveiled the cover art for her new album, MEGAN.

Megan Thee Stallion is officially in her self-titled album era.

After keeping fans in suspense for months, dropping two singles, “HISS” and “BOA,” and her Megan Monday freestyles, Thee Stallion surprised fans by dropping the cover art and the June 28 release date for her new album MEGAN taken by David LaChapelle.

The Houston rapper has been hinting at this next project being a sort of rebirth, with analogies like shedding skin, like a snake, but on the MEGAN’s covert art, she is blooming and coming out of her cocoon like the butterfly she is.

The announcement comes after her Hot Girl Summer tour, featuring her “Wanna Be” collaborator GloRilla, hit a snag during its Atlanta stop.

Due to a massive water main break, Thee Stallion had to postpone her Friday and Saturday shows before finally taking the stage on Sunday, ending the drought her ATL Hotties were enduring.

Reactions To MEAGAN’s Cover Are Mixed

The reactions to MEAGAN’s cover are as polarizing as the House of Representatives or Senate voting on a policy with most of the Hotties absolutely loving it, while the rapper from Queen’s fanbase and others are going all out to call it all types of trash.

One account on X, formerly Twitter, wrote about the MEAGAN album artwork, “this is absolutely ugly.”

“BEST FEMALE RAP ALBUM RELEASED THIS DECADE ALREADY!!!” a fan wrote on X after feasting their eyes on the artwork.

We are truly getting the Hot Girl Summer we have been denied for so long. We’re not counting that single. Megan The Stallion is giving us a proper reboot.

You can see more reactions in the gallery below, good and bad.

1. This fan has spoken

2. We see the vision

3. Interesting

4. Lol, we’re not ready

5. Some confusion

7. Juicy J approves

03 Jun 2024

SZA Rings Up Third No. 1 on Pop Airplay Chart With ‘Saturn’

SZA scores her third No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart as “Saturn” rockets to the top spot on the survey dated June 8.

SZA previously led the list with “Kill Bill” for a week in April 2023 and as featured on Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” for one frame in July 2021.

The Pop Airplay chart, which began in October 1992, ranks songs by weekly plays on over 150 mainstream top 40 radio stations monitored by Mediabase, with data provided to Billboard by Luminate.

“Saturn” was released Feb. 23 after SZA teased the track in a Mastercard commercial that aired during CBS’ broadcast of the Grammy Awards Feb. 4.

She couldn’t planet any better: “Saturn,” meanwhile, is among a select group of Pop Airplay hits with names of planets in their titles:

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  • “Saturn,” SZA (No. 1, one week to date, 2024)
  • “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” Train (No. 4, 2001)
  • “The Earth, The Sun, The Rain,” Color Me Badd (No. 7, 1996)
  • “Downtown Venus,” P.M. Dawn (No. 21, 1995)
  • “Standing at the Edge of the Earth,” Blessid Union of Souls (No. 35, 2000)

Plus, Bruno Mars boasts nine Pop Airplay No. 1s and Thirty Seconds to Mars, four entries; OMC’s “How Bizarre” led for a week August 1997, on the Mercury label; and Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” (2002), Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body” (2003) and Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” (2005) all hit No. 1 – all three songs were produced by The Neptunes.

SZA co-wrote “Saturn,” released on Top Dawg/RCA Records. The song debuted at its No. 6 high on the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100 in March, becoming her 10th top 10. It has also topped the multimetric Hot R&B Songs chart and the Rhythmic Airplay ranking, becoming her sixth No. 1 on each chart.

All Billboard charts dated June 8 will update Tuesday, June 4, on Billboard.com.

03 Jun 2024

Cher Says She’s ‘Proud’ of Boyfriend Alexander ‘A.E.’ Edwards Following His Fight With Travis Scott

Cher really believes her boyfriend’s strong enough. The iconic singer gave her stamp of approval to her boo Alexander “A.E.” Edwards’ fight in Cannes with Travis Scott, after footage emerged last week.

The “Believe” artist took to X over the weekend, more than a week after the Cannes afterparty altercation that included A.E., Scott and producer Southside, among other team members who got involved.

Cher explained that she was “proud” of Edwards — with whom she has been romantically linked since late 2022, after meeting at Paris Fashion Week — and said he didn’t start the brawl, but was the one to end it.

Trending on Billboard

“I’m Proud of Alexander,” she gushed on X Saturday (June 1). “He Didn’t Start The fight Against 2 Men,… He finished it, Gotta Love Him.”

Fans hopped into Cher’s replies, happy to see her support A.E. and that everything was all right in wake of the incident.

“Bless him, isn’t it crap all the rubbish that gets published, sad that you’ve had to comment on this. Hope AE is ok and you are too xxxx,” one person responded to the 78-year-old.

The altercation went down at Richie Akiva’s Cannes Film Festival afterparty on May 23 behind the DJ booth when Scott and A.E. began to argue, but it’s unclear what exactly sparked the disagreement.

Sources close to the situation told Billboard that La Flame returned with producer Southside, and that’s when things got physical. Following the brief tussle with punches exchanged, security diffused the fight.

TMZ caught up with A.E. last week to get Cher’s thoughts about the altercation, and he quoted lyrics from Future and Metro Boomin’s “GTA”: “Like Future say, ‘Whatever I’m with, my b—h with it, too.’ My woman, but the lyrics are the lyrics.”

03 Jun 2024

Taylor Swift Excitedly Wishes Fans ‘Happy Pride Month’ at Eras Tour Show in Lyon: Watch

Taylor Swift and tens of thousands of fans spent the second day of Pride Month singing and dancing at the Eras Tour concert in Lyon, France, and the pop star was sure to mark the occasion during a sweet moment on stage Sunday (June 2). 

The celebratory shout-out came toward the beginning of Swift’s three-hour-plus set, about halfway through the Lover era. While in the middle of performing her 2019 ode to the LGBTQ community, “You Need to Calm Down,” the 14-time Grammy winner excitedly cheered, “Happy Pride Month, Lyon!” 

In response, applause erupted throughout Groupama Stadium. The show marked Swift’s first performance of Pride Month 2024, as well as her first of two consecutive Eras stops in Lyon. 

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Elsewhere during the concert, the “Fortnight” singer impressed her European crowd by speaking the locale’s native tongue instead of English. While still entrenched in the Lover era, she welcomed fans in French — “Bienvenue dans la Eras Tour!” — and later asked security in French to help a concertgoer in need of assistance.  

“Aidez-les, s’il-vous-plaît,” Swift said shortly before playing Evermore‘s “Champagne Problems” on piano, pointing staff in the right direction. “Can we get someone to go … right in the front. Awesome.” 

The moment mirrors a similar instance from Swift’s recent Eras shows in Portugal, during which she asked staff to help fans in Spanish. 

Other highlights from the superstar’s first show in Lyon include her selection of surprise songs. Not only did she give The Tortured Poets Department‘s “The Prophecy” its live debut Sunday night, but she also performed a mashup of “You’re On Your Own, Kid” and “Fifteen” — seemingly giggling to herself about her romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce while singing the lyric, “In your life you’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team.” 

See clips from Swift’s first Eras show in Lyon below. 

03 Jun 2024

Anitta’s Baile Funk Experience Ignites NYC With Sizzling Show: 5 Highlights

Amid a battle-like dance-off and a full embrace of Brazilian culture, Anitta delivered her Baile Funk Experience at the Brooklyn Paramount in New York City on Sunday (June 2). It was the first of two consecutive shows, with its opening night successfully selling out at the recently opened venue.

Produced by Live Nation, Anitta’s Baile Funk Experience trek includes stops in Latin America, the U.S. and Europe. The 20-date tour is in support of Funk Generation, the sixth studio album from the trilingual singer, which highlights the favela funk that has influenced her career. Kicking off her show at 8:30pm, she ran through her biggest hits in nearly two hours, including “Funk Rave,” “Envolver,” “Vai Malandra,” “Bellakeo,” “Downtown” and “Girl From Rio.”

“I’m so happy. I’m so thankful to be here, showing Brazilian funk to the world,” she said in English before thanking her fans in Brazilian and then in Spanish. “I want to know who has heard my new album, Funk Generation.” She wore a black harness, pink happy-face plushies as a bra over a cut-out top and black jeans, letting her long copper-colored hair down.

The album title is particularly fitting, as Anitta has become the preeminent crossover Brazilian star of her generation. The New York concert drew an exceptionally diverse crowd, reflective of the city’s multicultural fabric. Attendees spanned multiple generations of Brazilians and Latinos, along with a wide array of other cultures. The presence of the LGBTQIA+ community was unmistakable, adding to the high energy of the audience — that also included numerous fashion-forward fans sporting lots of fishnet get-ups. 

The 31-year-old performer is currently halfway through her international tour. Following her performance in New York, she is scheduled to entertain audiences in Bogotá, Colombia; Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. After completing these Latin American dates, she will travel to Europe for nine shows across various countries. To view her complete tour dates, click here.

The Brazilian superstar is touring North America for the first time. Here are five standout moments from the first night of her Baile Funk Experience at the Brooklyn Paramount. 

03 Jun 2024

Diana Ross, Jack White & More Set for Concert to Celebrate Reopening of Michigan Central

The highly anticipated reopening of Michigan Central Station is just around the corner, following a six-year restoration by Ford Motor Company, and Detroit‘s biggest stars are coming together for a once-in-a-lifetime concert to celebrate.

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The event, Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central, is executive produced by Eminem and Paul Rosenberg and will feature performances by Michigan natives Diana Ross, Big Sean, Illa J, Jack White, Kierra Sheard, Theo Parrish, Slum Village, the Clark Sisters, Sky Jetta and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. They will be joined by presenters Detroit Lions legend Barry Sanders and players Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown, as well as Judge Greg Mathis, Loni Love, Sam Richardson and Taylor Lautner. Other performers include Common, Fantasia, Melissa Etheridge and Jelly Roll, along with presenters Mike Epps and Sophia Bush.

The Station first opened in 1913, as was one of the grandest and tallest train depots in the United States. However, The Station closed in 1988 as travel preferences and technology changed, and remained vacant until Ford’s acquisition of the property in 2018. Since then, the company has been working to restore The Station and retrofit it with modern technological infrastructure to support its next chapter.

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“We wanted to celebrate the reopening of Michigan Central Station in style and make it a night to remember for Detroiters and people watching around the world,” said Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford. “I am honored and grateful that so many of Detroit’s musical legends, sports heroes, artists and innovators are joining us to celebrate the city we all love and the bright future we are creating together.”

The sold out Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central event will stream live exclusively on Peacock on June 6 at 8:30 p.m. ET. Additionally, NBC will air a one-hour primetime special on June 9 starting at 7 p.m. ET/PT. The concert will also stream locally on Local 4+ and ClickOnDetroit.com.

03 Jun 2024

5 Must-Hear New Country Songs: Chris Housman, Maddie & Tae & More

This week’s crop of new country music includes Chris Housman’s debut album and Georgia Webster’s latest, while Bronwyn Keith-Hynes teams with Dierks Bentley for a bluegrass spin on a Jimmy Buffett hit.

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Chris Housman, Blueneck

Blueneck, the debut album from Kansas native and openly gay country musician Housman, melds a ’90s country sound with songs that reflect Housman’s own truths and journey. The project collects songs he’s released over the past few years, as well as new tracks, including songs of romance (“Tomorrow, Tonight”), heartbreak (the beautifully crafted “I Can’t Go Down that Road”) and nights of hazy escapes from life’s pressures (the dance-fueled “High Hopes”).

But Housman also turns his affinity for tightly turned lyrical phrases to songs such as “Drag Queen,” about a drag queen who is “never a drag,” and the title track, where he sings, “I think y’all means all and I know we all just want to know that we belong.” “Bible Belt” centers around reflections of (and healing from) religious trauma and rejection; the song’s uptempo feel and ultimate hope for acceptance and respect turn the song into a rallying cry. Centering the entire project is Housman’s twangy, versatile vocal and a range of songs that truly offer a country music album that is inclusive and universal.

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Georgia Webster, “Town Talks”

On her third EP, Signs, Webster dissects the emotional nuances of coping with–then exiting–a noncommittal relationship. On “Town Talks,” she fights the urge to spill her ex’s misdeeds up and down the streets of Nashville, because, as she sings, “Nashville will hurt you more than I will … this town talks so I don’t have to.” The Massachusetts native brings a masterful storytelling arc to the overall project, but on this track, her conversational vocal style brings just the right touches of drama and intimacy.

Kameron Marlowe, “I Can Run”

Off his new album Keepin’ The Lights On, this track showcases Marlowe’s ability to wring every ounce of emotion from a song. Written by Oscar Charles, Ben Roberts and Tucker Beathard, the song marks a powerful self-reflection of denial, disappointment and angst. This is another solid vocal showcase from Marlowe.

Maddie & Tae, “Sad Girl Summer”

Don’t be fooled by the song title — this is no slow weeper. Instead, this post-breakup track is a girl’s best friend’s attempt to get her out of sad-girl mode and back into the dating scene. “Girl, you’re a catch/ He’s more catch and release,” they sing. Breezy, boppy, empowering and fueled by the duo’s harmonies, this is set to be a sure-fire fan favorite.

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, “Trip Around the Sun”

Keith-Hynes, a two-time IBMA fiddle player of year winner known for her work in Molly Tuttle’s band Golden Highway, teams up with country performer Dierks Bentley on this track from Keith-Hynes’ second album I Built a World, out now on Sugar Petunia Records.

Originally recorded by the late Jimmy Buffett and Martina McBride, here stately mandolin and Keith-Hynes’ top-shelf fiddle work bring the country hit squarely into bluegrass territory, while the sonic atmosphere here allows this meditation on acceptance and relinquishing control the room to breathe and expand, progressing from a ballad into a fiddle-driven bluegrass jam. Throughout, Bentley’s harmonies offer an earthy counterpoint to Keith-Hynes’ airy vocal. Bentley, of course, has long shown his affinity for bluegrass, including his 2010 bluegrass-infused project Up on the Ridge and stretching back to his first album, which featured a collaboration with The Del McCoury Band. The two are aided by musical luminaries including Bryan Sutton (guitar), Wes Corbett (banjo), Jerry Douglas (reso-guitar), Jeff Picker (bass) and Sam Bush (mandolin).