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Forever No. 1 is a Billboard series that pays special tribute to the recently deceased artists who achieved the highest honor our charts have to offer — a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single — by taking an extended look back at the chart-topping songs that made them part of this exclusive club. Here, we honor Brian Wilson, who died on Wednesday (June 11) at age 82, by looking at the first of The Beach Boys’ three Hot 100-toppers: the irresistible pop smash “I Get Around.”
The Beach Boys had racked up four consecutive top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (discounting B sides) prior to “I Get Around,” but this ebullient song was their first single to reach No. 1. They recorded it in April 1964, making it the first song they recorded after The Beatles arrived in the U.S. that February.
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If The Beach Boys felt threatened by the Fab Four’s explosive arrival, they were not going down without a fight. “I Get Around” is chock-full of hooks – great harmonies, handclaps, twangy guitar work and the inspired “round-round-getaround” hook.
In his liner notes for the 1990 reissue of Little Deuce Coupe and All Summer Long, Beach Boys expert David Leaf said the track represented “a major, revolutionary step in Brian’s use of dynamics.” He added: “From the opening note to the falsetto wail on the fade, this is one of the greatest tracks the Beach Boys ever cut. … Powered by the driving lead guitar break, the explosive harmonies and the handclaps, everything about this track was very spirited.”
The song runs a highly efficient 2:14, making it the second-shortest No. 1 hit of 1964. The Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” was a couple of seconds shorter.
With this song, The Beach Boys continued to move away from the surf music fad that they rode in on, with such hits as 1962’s “Surfin” and “Surfin’ Safari” and 1963’ “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Surfer Girl.” Like its immediate predecessors “Be True to Your School” and “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “I Get Around” has nothing to do with catching a wave, but instead is more generally capturing teen life in early-’60s California. (And, when you think about it, driving songs played nearly as big a part of the early Beach Boys success as surfing songs, between “I Get Around,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “Little Deuce Coupe,” “409” and others.)
Mike Love sang lead vocals on “I Get Around,” with Brian Wilson contributing falsetto lead vocals on the chorus. All five members of the group – also including Al Jardine, Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson – contributed harmony and backing vocals. The fabled Wrecking Crew of top Los Angeles session players, including Hal Blaine and Glen Campbell, played on the track.
The song has a line that seems autobiographical, given the group’s rising level of success over the previous two years: “My buddies and me are gettin’ real well-known.” The song also includes one of the most charming lines ever in a pop song: “None of the guys go steady ’cause it wouldn’t be right/ To leave your best girl home on a Saturday night.”
The group projects a strutting confidence throughout. Biographer Mark Dillon compared the lyrics to “the braggadocio of a modern-day rapper” — fitting that nearly 30 years later, one of the all-time most legendary MCs would recycle the title for his own cockiest hit.
The song entered the Hot 100 at No. 76 for the week ending May 23, 1964. It was the week’s fourth-highest new entry, behind hits by Elvis, Bobby Vinton and Lesley Gore, though it wound up eclipsing all of those. The song reached No. 1 in its seventh week, July 4, displacing Peter & Gordon’s “A World Without Love,” which was written by Paul McCartney (though officially credited to Lennon/McCartney.)
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McCartney and Wilson, two of the greatest songwriters of all time, spurred each other on to ever-greater heights for many years. The Beatles’ “Back in the U.S.S.R.” was clearly an homage to The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ U.S.A.”
“I Get Around” topped the Hot 100 for two weeks, before being displaced by The 4 Seasons’ “Rag Doll.” (These groups, representing the pinnacle of West Coast and the East Coast pop, respectively, were among the few American groups from the pre-Beatles era that continued to thrive after the British invasion.) “I Get Around” also put The Beach Boys on the map in the U.K., becoming their first top 10 hit in that country.
The B side of “I Get Around” was the equally great “Don’t Worry Baby,” making this one of the strongest double-sided singles in pop music history. It ranks with Elvis’ “Don’t Be Cruel”/ “Hound Dog,” The Beatles’ “Penny Lane”/“Strawberry Fields Forever,” The Beach Boys’ own “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”/“God Only Knows” and a handful of others.
The song was the opening track on (and only single released from) the group’s sixth album, All Summer Long, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 in August 1964. In his liner notes to the 1990 reissue, Leaf noted, “All Summer Long was the last regular studio album The Beach Boys recorded before Brian quit the touring band – the last complete Beach Boys album Brian cut before he suffered a nervous breakdown in late December of 1964.”
Incredibly, “I Get Around” didn’t receive a single Grammy nomination. The Beach Boys’ only songs to receive Grammy nods were “Good Vibrations” and the 1988 Brian-less hit “Kokomo.” The Recording Academy has since sought to make amends, awarding The Beach Boys a lifetime achievement award in 2001 and inducting five of their most classic works (including “I Get Around”) into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Wilson was initially the only songwriter credited on the song. In 1992, Mike Love sued to get a credit on this and many other songs. Love prevailed in December 1994, when he was awarded co-writing credits on 35 songs – as well as $13 million. In his series “The Number Ones,” Stereogum writer Tom Breihan wryly summarized the dispute: “Mike Love later sued Brian for a co-writer credit, and if he really did come up with the round round getaround part, he deserved it.”
While there is no improving on The Beach Boys’ recording of “I Get Around,” several artists have taken a stab at it over the years. Red Hot Chili Peppers performed it at the 2005 MusiCares Person of the Year gala where Brian Wilson was honored. My Morning Jacket performed it on the 2023 special A Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys (which CBS re-aired on Sunday night).
Billie Joe Armstrong posted his version of the song on Instagram on Wednesday (June 11), hours after the news of Wilson’s death broke. “Thank you Brian Wilson,” Armstrong wrote. “I recorded a cover of ‘I Get Around’ a few years ago. ..never got to share it. One of my all time favorite songs ever.”
Check back tomorrow and Wednesday for our Forever No. 1 reports on The Beach Boys’ second and third No. 1 hits, “Help Me Rhonda” and “Good Vibrations.”
Britney Spears has been spending time with her youngest son, Jayden. In an Instagram photo posted by the singer on Sunday (June 15), she and the 18-year-old pose together in front of a mirror. Jayden — who holds the phone as his famous mom models a summery pink dress — towers over the pop star. […]
The judge in Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ sex trafficking trial has formally dismissed a juror for giving inconsistent answers about where he lives, rejecting warnings by the rapper’s defense attorneys about a “thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror.”
Prosecutors moved to remove the juror last week, citing a “lack of candor” in his answers before he was picked for the trial. The defense blasted the move, arguing in a court filing over the weekend that he was “one of only two black men on the jury” and that Diddy would be “severely prejudiced” by his removal.
But at the start of Monday’s proceedings Judge Arun Subramanian said it was “inappropriate to consider race” in deciding whether the juror had been truthful in his answers, according to ABC News.
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“The record raised serious concerns as to the juror’s candor and whether he shaded answers to get on and stay on the jury,” Subramanian said. “There’s nothing the juror could say at this point to put the genie back in the bottle.”
The judge replaced the juror, a 41-year-old Black man, with a member of the alternate pool, a 57-year-old white man.
Combs is standing trial over accusations that he ran a sprawling criminal operation aimed at facilitating “freak-offs” — elaborate events which he allegedly forced his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and other women to have sex with male escorts while he watched and masturbated.
Prosecutors also say the star and his associates used violence, money and blackmail to keep victims silent and under his control. (Read Billboard‘s full explainer of the case against Diddy here.) Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include on racketeering and sex trafficking; if convicted, he faces a potential sentence of life in prison.
Five weeks into a trial that’s expected to run until early July, prosecutors moved to dismiss Juror No. 6, citing alleged inconsistencies about where he lives. During jury selection, the man said he lives in the Bronx, but he later revealed that he had been living some of the time in New Jersey – a residence that would make him ineligible to sit on the jury.
Diddy’s team, which criticized prosecutors during jury selection for striking several Black candidates, vehemently opposed the removal. In court last week, defense attorney Xavier Donaldson called it a “thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror.” And in a motion filed with the judge on Sunday, Diddy lawyer Alexandra A.E. Shapiro said the government had a “discriminatory motive” and was seizing an opportunity to “strike yet another black male from the jury.”
“The fairness of the trial depends in part on having jurors with backgrounds similar to Mr. Combs share their perspectives on the evidence with other jurors from diverse backgrounds during deliberations,” Shapiro wrote. “Removing this particular juror will deprive Mr. Combs of that important perspective.”
In the filing, Shapiro warned that removing the juror “at this late stage” would warrant a mistrial: “There is no question Mr. Combs would be severely prejudiced if the juror in question were removed,” she wrote. “Their pretextual motion to dismiss [the juror] is just one more attempt to gain an unfair advantage at the expense of Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial — which is all we ask this Court to preserve.”
At Friday’s proceedings, Judge Subramanian tentatively dismissed the juror, though he vowed to consider the defense’s objections over the weekend. On Monday, he stuck by his earlier decision, including rejecting the complaints about race: “This jury does not raise those concerns.”
After blockbuster testimony last week from an alleged victim known as “Jane,” the Diddy trial will now continue into its sixth week. Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case by the end of the week, allowing Combs’ team to begin presenting their own witnesses. A verdict is expected by July 4th.
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It’s undeniable, Drake is the biggest artist to ever come out of Canada.
From chart-topping hits to global influence, he’s put Toronto, affectionately called “The 6,” on the map like no one else. His loyalty to the city is unmatched, and whether he’s on stage at the Grammys or courtside at Raptors games, Drake wears his hometown pride like a badge of honor. His rise has not only changed Canadian Hip-Hop but also brought international attention to Toronto’s music scene.
However, the ongoing feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a dramatic peak when Kendrick performed in Toronto, Drake’s own backyard, and delivered a searing performance of “Not Like Us,” a diss track aimed directly at the 6 God. The move was bold, calculated, and certainly got people talking. But what stirred the pot even more was who was in the crowd, Canadian politician and former NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh.
Singh’s attendance at Kendrick’s concert did not go unnoticed by Drake. In a now-public exchange, Drake DM’d Singh, calling him a “goof,” Toronto slang for someone who’s disloyal or fake, and shared the message to his Instagram Stories.
Singh, seemingly caught off guard by the backlash, responded with a quick apology, claiming he went for SZA, not Kendrick. He added, “I love this city… OVO and Drake have lifted up this city,” affirming that it’s “always Drake over Kendrick” for him.
Still, Drizzy didn’t seem to accept the apology and unfollowed Singh on social media, signaling that the damage was done. For Drake, loyalty to Toronto isn’t just symbolic, it’s personal. When someone from his own city shows support for an “opponent” in the midst of a very public feud, it hits deeper than just music. This moment highlights just how powerful Drake’s presence is in Canadian culture. He’s not just an artist, he’s a symbol of Toronto itself. And when it comes to repping the 6, Drake’s influence is so massive that even politicians have to tread carefully.
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We’re a whole year away from getting into all the patriotic hype of the 2026 World Cup (if it’s still partially held in Trump’s Amerikkka anyway) and to get soccer fans amped up for the upcoming games, FIFA has announced a new mobile game that’s sure to be a hit among futbol enthusiasts around the globe.
FIFA Rivals is a new arcade-style soccer game that allows users to not only build their dream teams but will also give them the option to play in live events and even some PvP leagues to keep the fun going.
With the help of Mythical Games, FIFA Rivals delivers a fast-paced multiplayer mobile game allowing players to compete in real time and climb leader boards against other users across the globe.
“Football is the world’s game, and we’re thrilled to bring its billions of global fans an experience that captures the thrill of the sport, with the accessibility of mobile gaming,” Mythical Games CEO, John Linden explained in a statement. “With FIFA Rivals, we’re blending high-energy arcade gameplay with team-building strategy and actual ownership in gaming. This is just the beginning of what we believe will become a landmark title in gaming.”
Along with the ability to pull off trick shots and signature plays from your favorite soccer stars, the game’s other highlights include skill-based progression, player collectable ownership and trading, and fast-paced PvP gameplay.
You’re about to see a bunch of folk out in the wild playing this on their phones and tablets.
Check out the game trailer for FIFA Rivals below, and let us know if you’ll be downloading it in the comments section.
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OneRepublic singer and producer Ryan Tedder was not among the celebrities who joined in the protests against the Trump administration at the thousands of “No Kings” protests across the U.S. on Saturday. In fact, the songwriter who has worked with Beyoncé and Taylor Swift took to Instagram to protest against the protests, lamenting that they […]
Few artists fib as sweetly as Zach Top. On breakout hit “I Never Lie,” he sings about his life as a model citizen — an unfailingly punctual teetotaler who always gets a full night’s rest and remains impervious to heartbreak. It’s only at the end of the chorus that the illusion is shattered. “I wish I could say I miss you,” Top croons. “But you know I never lie.” The last falsehood is impossible to believe, and the rest of them fall like dominoes.
“I Never Lie,” which sounds like it could have been released in Nashville in the 1980s — maybe around 1987, when George Strait turned his own series of fibs into the hit single “Ocean Front Property” — cracked the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in September. It has climbed the chart at a stately pace, peaking at No. 24 in May, an impressive accomplishment for Top — and for Leo33, the fledgling independent label who made the singer their first signing in the summer of 2023.
“We knew that he was an important signing for us for a lot of reasons,” Katie Dean, label head at Leo33, says of Top. “We had a great plan, and Zach is absolutely a once in a lifetime kind of artist. But you can hope and dream — to have the audience react this way has been unbelievable. And to have the success with him that we’ve had has also helped put our stamp on, ‘These are the kinds of artists that we want to sign.’”
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Dean spent close to two decades at labels in the Universal Music Group family, specializing in radio promotion, before helping to launch Leo33 in April 2023. Like many veterans of the majors who transition to the independent sector — and some veterans who are still working at the majors — she worries that the artist development process has “fallen to the wayside” as those companies prioritize “picking up what’s popping and running with it.”
“Majors are sort of designed to do high volume: It’s signing a lot of artists and taking a lot of shots,” Dean says. “I wanted to be in an environment where we could really focus and know everybody who was touching the project at any given time, rather than walking into a boardroom where there’s a bunch of new faces from week to week.”
Dean joined Universal Music Group in 2005, eventually rising to senior vp of promotion at MCA Records Nashville. During that time, she worked with George Strait, Reba McEntire, Taylor Swift, Sam Hunt and Kacey Musgraves, among others. Her resume was part of the reason Top signed with Leo33. “It meant a good bit to me that Katie Dean had worked on a bunch of records that had made me fall in love with country music,” he told Billboard last year.
She launched Leo33 along with Rachel Fontenot, former vp of marketing and artist development at UMG Nashville; Daniel Lee, former president of artist development company Altadena; and Natalie Osborne, former Downtown Music Nashville senior creative director. Leo nods to the constellation of the same name; Fontenot said in 2023 that it was meant to signify lion-like traits, namely courage and agility. (She left a few months after the label was born.)
Katie Dean
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At a time when labels who have not previously shown interest in country music are storming into Nashville, a newcomer needs to be able to offer competitive advances. Leo33 has backing from Firebird and Red Light Ventures, which provide “fantastic resources and additional marketing support,” according to Dean. Firebird, which has invested in labels, management companies and publishers, also serves as Leo33’s distribution partner, as well as “another voice” advocating for the label’s artists at the streaming services.
Dean promises singers plenty of direct attention. “We are all on group texts with each of the artists, so anyone is available at any point,” she says. On top of that, “We don’t have the luxury as a new label to rely on 30 years of catalog. Success is the only option.”
That hunger appealed to Top. He was being pursued by other record companies, but “the fact that [Leo33 executives] are all veterans in this industry and they are trying this new [label], it feels like they are at square one again just as much as I am and have everything to prove,” he said.
Osborne, an A&R executive at Leo33, had gone to Whiskey Jam in Nashville to see another act when she stumbled on a performance by Top, a bluegrass artist turned country singer. She played his music at the Leo33 office the next morning before setting out to find Top’s manager.
Dean was also “immediately smitten” by what she heard. “He made the kind of music that made me fall in love with this format,” she says. And Leo33 executives believed “there is an audience of people who are craving that kind of music,” precisely because it has been out of favor in the country mainstream.
Top co-wrote his debut album, Cold Beer & Country Music, with Carson Chamberlain, who had a hand in No. 1 hits for legends like Strait and Alan Jackson. Leo33 picked the uptempo dance number “Sounds Like the Radio” — which references Jackson in its very first couplet — as the lead single. It serves as a manifesto of sorts: “It sounds like the radio/ Back in ’94, ya know.”
Roughly three months after releasing “Sounds Like the Radio,” when it was hovering just inside the top 40 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart, Top put out the rest of his album. “With most major labels, that would not have been the case,” Dean explains. “It would have been, ‘Wait for multiple singles to come out, wait for enough of a consumption threshold to be met.’ But we all felt really strongly internally that if somebody discovered Zach, they would want to discover more than a few songs.”
Their faith was rewarded when listeners started to gravitate to “I Never Lie,” streaming it and using it in TikTok videos. The album’s other high points include “Bad Luck,” which plays like a sequel to “I Never Lie,” where the protagonist finally catches a break; and “Use Me,” a slow-burn ballad about a one-night stand.
The rest of Leo33’s roster includes Jenna Paulette, who lives on a working ranch in Texas and shares Top’s appreciation for fiddle and pedal steel guitars; Jason Scott & the High Heat, whose ramshackle rock sprouts with sweet harmonies; Ashland Craft, who favors a rugged country sound; and a fifth signing that the company hasn’t yet announced.
In addition to reaching the top 25 on the Hot 100, “I Never Lie” peaked at No. 2 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart in May. Top’s catalog has earned 798,000 equivalent album units to date in the U.S., according to Luminate, including 963.9 million on-demand streams.
Leo33 now has eight full-time employees. In March, Ana Shabeer joined as director, business intelligence; and Joseph Manzo started as a marketing coordinator.
Jason Scott & the High Heat put out American Grin in March, and Ashland Craft just released her debut album on Leo33, Dive Bar Beauty Queen. Top will follow Cold Beer & Country Music with Ain’t In It For My Health on August 29. The lead single, “Good Times & Tan Lines,” was promptly put into rotation by 50 country radio stations, making it the most added track of the week in the format.
Billie Joe Armstrong has never held back on his contempt for Donald Trump. The Green Day singer has been raging against the policies of the 45th and now 47th president for years, and during the band’s first-ever set at the Download Festival in Donington Park in the U.K. on Friday (June 13), the singer lashed out at the U.S. president in unequivocal terms.
“Donald Trump in his administration is a fascist government,” Armstrong told the crowd. “And it’s up to us to fight back.” The comments came just a day before Trump presided over his long-awaited military parade in Washington, D.C. The rare display of military hardware and marching soldiers was meant to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, whilst also coinciding with Trump’s 79th birthday.
Though the D.C. event did not appear to draw the massive crowds the administration had predicted, a record number of Americans did turn out in historic numbers to protest the Trump White House’s agenda at more than 2,100 “No Kings” rallies, which drew an estimated five million attendees. The rallies featured a profusion of colorful, often profane signs lambasting Trump for what critics argued are imperial tactics to seize as many levers of government power as possible while attempting to drastically cut crucial social services, gutting environmental regulations and using the power of the White House to attack, and punish, perceived enemies.
In addition, Armstrong got the Download crowd to join him in calling Trump a “fat bastard,” in the singer’s latest broadside against the current administration. Back in March, less than 24 hours after Trump and Vice President JD Vance attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an Oval Office meeting in which the veep accused the wartime leader of being insufficiently grateful for U.S. aid for its three-year battle against Russia.
“Am I retarded or am I just JD Vance,” Armstrong sang in a lyrical tweak to the lyrics to “Jesus of Suburbia,” amending the politically incorrect-on-purpose original, “Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed?”
Last weekend, Armstrong sent a message of solidarity to protesters in Los Angeles who took to the streets to rally against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city, as well as the president’s decision to deploy the National Guard to L.A. over the mayor, and Gov. Gavin Newson’s, objections.
On June 8, Armstrong posted a video of protests from downtown L.A. on his Instagram Stories, captioned it with a middle-finger emoji and an ice cube, cued to a live version of “F— Off,” a song on the group’s Saviors (Édition de Luxe), the 2025 deluxe version of Green Day’s 2024 album.
Heart‘s Nancy Wilson and her bandmate and sister Ann Wilson are proud daughters of a Marine Corps major, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist said in a pointed Instagram post on Saturday (June 14) that their band’s music is not meant for political purposes. “Earlier today, during a parade held in support of our nation’s military and organized by President Donald Trump, the song ‘Barracuda’ by Heart was played without permission or authorization from us,” she said of the playing of the group’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 11 1977 hit during the military showcase.
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“‘Barracuda,’ written and performed by Ann and I, is a powerful piece of music that was never intended for political use,” continued Wilson, who drove home her point by wearing a “No Kings But Us” hat on a day when a historic number of Americans took to the streets from coast to coast to protest against what they called the creeping authoritarianism of the second Trump administration in a series of “No Kings” protests.
“As daughters of a U.S. Marine Corps major, we hold a deep and abiding respect for the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces,” wrote Wilson. “On a day meant to honor that service, it’s important that music used in such settings reflects not only the tone of the event but also the wishes of the artists who created it.🤘🏻”
According to reports. instrumental versions of Heart’s “Barracuda” and Journey’s “Separate Ways (World’s Apart)” were among the songs played at the event that appeared to draw modest crowds at a reported price of $25-$45 million, while the ACLU said that an estimated five million people took part in more than 2,100 “No Kings” rallies across the nation, making it the largest protest in the nation’s history.
Trump’s military parade, which was intended to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, also fell on the president’s 79th birthday. The parading of military hardware through the streets of the nation’s capital is an unusual site in the U.S., though Trump has long mused out loud about wanting to hold such an event. The D.C. event came amidst a day of dramatic news, including Iran and Israel battering each other with missiles in what is ramping up to be a major escalation of hostilities between the two nations. In addition, officials in Minnesota launched a massive manhunt for the suspected shooter who assassinated a Democratic state legislator in that state and attempted assassination of another; the now-captured 57-year-old man, Vance Boelter, allegedly had a list of 70 other potential targets in his car.
Nancy Wilson has long objected to politicians using her band’s music at their rallies, and earlier this year she said she feels “embarrassed” to call herself an American at this time. “We were kind of embarrassed at that time to call ourselves American because of the dirty politics of the Vietnam War,” Wilson said of the period that inspired some of the band’s most beloved hits, including the anti-Vietnam war single “Crazy On You,” whose lyrics she added are relevant again. “To be as subtle as possible, it’s more embarrassing now.”
She noted that “Barracuda” was initially written about a sleazy industry figure at the time, though Wilson twisted it to fit the current commander in chief, saying the song is “even more relevant in the salacious billionaire culture with the grab-them-by-the-(expletive) mentality,” the latter phrase a reference to an infamous sexist comment from Trump.
The Wilsons were also peeved when Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin played “Barracuda” at the 2008 Republican National Convention, sending a cease and desist order to the former Alaska governor demanding she stop using the track as her unofficial theme song. In 2018, singer Ann Wilson told The Hill that any politician was free to use “Barracuda” on the campaign trail in 2020. “I think anybody but Trump,” she added.
Katy Perry has taken time out of her current Australian tour to appear at a Melbourne nightclub celebrating her music.
Perry’s onstage appearance occurred at Chasers Nightclub on Saturday (June 14) following the final Melbourne date of her Lifetimes Tour at Rod Laver Arena. As part of the club’s LGBTQIA+ Poof Doof night, that evening also featured its Katy Club event, where attendees celebrated the music of the pop icon.
However, following a similar event in Brisbane the previous evening, the Melbourne edition featured a special guest by way of Perry herself, who bought the club an evening of free drinks.
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“You guys raised me,” footage of the event shows Perry telling the crowd. “I thank you and I love you, you are my chosen family.”
“Because you are my chosen family, a mother must provide for her children,” she added. “So as a provider, I would like to open the bar for one hour. The drinks are on me, baby!”
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Notably, Perry’s crashing of her own themed event follows on from a similar instance in Sydney where Lorde appeared at local venue Mary’s Underground while it was hosting an evening dubbed What Was That – after the New Zealand musician’s recent single.
Perry’s Australian tour launched in early June and has so far featured four sold-out dates in Melbourne and three in Sydney. During a recent show at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on June 9, Perry’s performance gained attention after she was joined by a stage invader during her set.
Footage of the incident showed an individual appearing onstage, putting his arm around Perry, who instinctively turns away as the fan continues to dance. “There’s never going to be another show like this, so just enjoy it!” Perry told the audience in response.
The individual was later identified as Johnson Wen, a “serial prankster” known for posting videos of stage invasions to TikTok under the username @pyjamamann. Wen was later arrested and taken to Auburn police station where he was subsequently charged with “entering enclosed land and obstructing a person in performance of work or duties.”
Wen has since been granted conditional bail ahead of a court appearance on June 23, and has been issued a six month ban from the Sydney Olympic Park precinct which houses Qudos Bank Arena.
Perry’s tour continues on Tuesday (June 17) with the first of two sold-out dates in Brisbane, before shows in Perth and Adelaide.
