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The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard Hot 100 dated June 7, we look at the chances of Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae’s star-powered duet to continue its reign on the chart.
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Morgan Wallen feat. Tate McRae, “What I Want” (Mercury/Big Loud/Republic): The combined star power of country superpower Morgan Wallen and rising pop phenom Tate McRae helped boost “What I Want” to being not just the highest-ranking of Wallen’s record-breaking 37 tracks on the Hot 100 last week, but the No. 1 song period – Wallen’s fourth and McRae’s first. The debut came on the back of 31.2 million official streams, according to Luminate, allowing it to bow atop the Streaming Songs chart and making up for its relative lack of radio presence as a new song.
That streaming presence should still be very pronounced in its second week, as the song continues to reign on the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart and the Apple Music real-time chart. And the song is already starting to make a radio impact: After debuting at Nos. 32 and 38 on Adult Pop Airplay and Pop Airplay, respectively, on this week’s charts (dated May 31), it’s pushing toward the top 25 on both. (On Country Airplay, it debuted at No. 55 this week but looks likely to fall off next week – granted it’s being promoted so far only to pop and adult formats.)
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If the song can hold for a second week, it will become the first multi-week Hot 100 No. 1 from I’m the Problem, pulling past the one-week No. 1 “Love Somebody,” which topped the chart last November. (It would still have another 14 weeks to go to tie the longest-reigning single from prior album One Thing at a Time, the 16-week No. 1 “Last Night” in 2023.)
Alex Warren, “Ordinary” (Atlantic): If not for Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem album debut, we might be talking about Alex Warren celebrating his first Hot 100 No. 1 single this week. After multiple frames of being at stuck at No. 2 behind Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” “Ordinary” finally moves ahead of that 13-week No. 1 – but still only ranks at No. 4 on this week’s chart, after falling behind three tracks from I’m the Problem.
Nevertheless, “Ordinary” should remain a strong contender for the top spot. It still ranks towards the top of the major streaming charts, and after reaching the Radio Songs top 10 this week, the song is now aiming for the top five; it’s up 16% in audience May 23-26 over the previous building week. It’s also challenging for No. 1 next week on Adult Pop Airplay, and could come for the crown on Pop Airplay not long after.
Meanwhile, Warren has a new song out in the Jelly Roll collab “Bloodline,” which should also be headed for a strong Hot 100 debut. But as shown with the success of recent artists like Teddy Swims and Benson Boone, having simultaneous follow-up hits can be more helpful than harmful to the original hits these days, so “Bloodline” doing well might boost “Ordinary” in its pursuit of the top spot.
Morgan Wallen, “Just in Case” and “I’m the Problem” (Mercury/Big Loud/Republic): Morgan Wallen will still be seeing an awful lot of himself in the rearview mirror, as his solo songs that rank at No. 2 and 3 on the Hot 100 this week — “Just in Case” and “I’m the Problem,” respectively – should remain big factors on the chart next week as well. Though the two songs rank behind “What I Want” on DSPs, they still have the head start on radio: “Just in Case” continues climbing Country Airplay, though it could be still outside the top 10 next week, after rising to a new No. 13 high this week. Meanwhile, “I’m the Problem” has ruled Country Airplay for six weeks already, and could be on pace for a seventh week at No. 1.
If one of these other I’m the Problem tracks is able to pass “What I Want” on next week’s Hot 100, Wallen would replace himself on top for the first time in his career – becoming the first artist to do so since… Kendrick Lamar just a couple months ago, after a Super Bowl-rebounded “Not Like Us” gave way to “Luther” and its months-long reign.
Jack Black’s “Steve’s Lava Chicken” — the shortest song ever to make the Billboard Hot 100 — adds another chart feat as the A Minecraft Movie song debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Movie Songs chart, powered by Tunefind (a Songtradr company), for April.
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Rankings for the Top Movie Songs chart are based on song and film data provided by Tunefind and ranked using a formula blending that data with sales and streaming information tracked by Luminate during the corresponding period of April. The ranking includes newly released films from the preceding three months.
“Steve’s Lava Chicken” reaches No. 1 following its first month of tracking for Top Movie Songs; A Minecraft Movie debuted in theaters on April 4.
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The song earned 20.1 million official on-demand U.S. streams and sold 3,000 downloads in April, according to Luminate. That led “Steve’s Lava Chicken” to debut at No. 78 on the Hot 100 dated May 3, making it the ranking’s shortest song ever at 34 seconds (a longer, albeit less popular version is one minute and 15 seconds).
“Steve’s Lava Chicken” reigns over a trio of holdovers from the chart’s previous iteration, paced by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” from The Electric State (No. 2; 14.6 million streams, 1,000 downloads) and followed by Chappell Roan’s “Casual” from Novocaine (No. 3; 13.8 million streams) and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” from The Gorge (No. 4; 2.4 million streams, 1,000 downloads).
The next highest debut is courtesy of Rod Wave’s “Sinners,” from the movie of the same name, released April 18. Wave’s track bows at No. 5 via 14.3 million streams and 1,000 downloads.
More Sinners activity is possible upon the May chart, the movie’s first full month of tracking for the survey. The soundtrack debuted at No. 133 on the Billboard 200 dated May 10.
Eric Prydz‘s 2004 hit “Call On Me” also starts at No. 7 via a synch in Warfare, garnering 2.6 million streams and 1,000 downloads in April. Prydz’s track concurrently returned to Billboard charts via the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales list in late April, bowing at No. 5. It peaked at the same position on Dance/Mix Show Airplay in 2004.
See the full top 10, which also features music from Snow White and Holland, below.
Rank, Song, Artist, Movie
“Steve’s Lava Chicken,” Jack Black, A Minecraft Movie
“Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Electric State
“Casual,” Chappell Roan, Novocaine
“Spitting Off the Edge of the World,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs feat. Perfume Genius, The Gorge
“Sinners,” Rod Wave, Sinners
“Good Things Grow,” Snow White Cast, Snow White
“Call On Me,” Eric Prydz, Warfare
“Mother,” Danzig, The Electric State
“Party Up,” DMX, Holland
“(All Along the) Watchtower,” Devlin, The Gorge
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Disney fans, get excited. ColourPop just dropped its latest collaboration, and it’s Lilo & Stitch themed.
Released just in time for the 2025 live-action film adaptation, this collection features seven pieces of tropical-inspired makeup including glitzy eye shadow pallets, ultra-glossy lip glosses and unique pH-changing blushes that are sure to make your looks this summer pop.
Pricing for the collection ranges from $12 to $95 depending on if you snag a product bundle or not. If you’re looking to change up your makeup routine or are just a fan of the film franchise, this collection is right for you. With so much to pick from, we’re breaking down each product, giving you the in-depth scoop on every Stitch-inspired piece.
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Beach Dreamin’ Eyeshadow Pallet
A colorful “Lilo & Stitch” inspired eye shadow palette with 12 shadows.
The Beach Dreamin’ eyeshadow palette is a maximalist’s dream, equipped with 12 vibrant shades that’ll have you creating a million different eye-catching looks each time. These shadows are buildable and pack a punch of color, coming in clutch with matte, shimmer and pearlescent glitter finishes. The formula is built to last and is practically immune to creasing, a specialty of all of ColourPop’s pressed shadow formulas. While you can certainly dream up a few neutral-ish looks from this palette, this product is more for those adventurous makeup lovers.
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Crowd Favorite pH Colour-Changing Blush
A blush that changes to the pH of your skin.
Don’t let the look of this product fool you. It’s a blush, and a unique one at that. The Crowd Favorite utilizes a pH-changing formula that works with the pH and the warmth of your skin to create a unique pink shade for you. This blush is universally flattering for that reason. Just use your fingers or a brush to apply to the apples of your cheeks and watch the color change right before your eyes. It’s like magic — or at least we’d like to believe it is.
Keepin’ It Sweet Ultra Glossy Lip Set
A set of three lip glosses in a popsicle-inspired package.
These Keepin’ It Sweet Ultra Glossy glosses give the effect of just having sucked on an ice-cold popsicle, leaving your lips shiny and stained. We recommend the set because you’re getting three products for a value at $33 — that’s $11 per gloss.
This set features three berry-esque shades, including Experiment 626, Super Sweet and Surfer Vibes. Each shade also includes its own special flavor. Experiment 626 is a passion fruit flavor, while Super Sweet tastes like a freshly plucked coconut. Finally, Surfer Vibes is a guava flavor. These glosses are formulated with hyaluronic acid, an ingredient that works to help give you a hydrated pout every time.
Ohana Luminous Highlighter
A colorful highlighter with swirled pigments that look good on all skin types.
Who doesn’t want a beachy glow without stepping foot in the sun? I know we do. ColourPop’s Ohana Luminous Highlighter is a universal highlighter that works on pretty much all skin tones. This highlighter features a tie-dye effect in the pan that evokes tropical seaside views. Don’t let the vibrant hues scare you, though. Once you swirl your brush through the product, the pigments and shimmers combine to create a blinding shine every time. For our natural girlies, this product is buildable and ultra-creamy, melting into the skin for a more subtle finish.
Cute and Feisty Shadow Stix Duo
A duo eyeshadow stick in an aqua and purple-pink hues.
These eyeshadow sticks are a breeze to apply, and they’re cute to boot. Retailing for $16, this Cute and Feisty Shadow Stix Duo features two wind-up shadow sticks in shades Alien Vibes, a soft aqua blue; and He’s All Yours, a pink hue. Both shades are seemingly meant to replicate Stitch’s coloring, a sweet touch for those die-hard fans.
These sticks are ultra-creamy, gliding on the eyes without snagging. They also feature a whimsical duo-chrome shift that shifts and shimmers as you move. The built-in sharpener also ensures you get sharp lines every time. Just swipe on, blend with your fingers and boom, you’ve got an impactful eye look without breaking a sweat. No brushes required.
Disney Lilo and Stitch Collection Set
The full collaborative collection.
Can’t choose just one product? Not to fret. ColourPop has bundled the full collection, allowing fans of the franchise to experience each product for just $95. From lip glosses to blush and an eye shadow palette, the bundle is a one-stop shop for every step in your routine. You can certainly create some colorful looks with all of these products in your arsenal. While there are a few bundles in this collab to pick from, this one is a great value, especially considering you get the full collection.
In a perfect world, major career honors would be nicely spaced out. But sometimes, they bunch up. Case in point: On June 10, just two days before he receives the Johnny Mercer Award at the annual Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) gala, legendary Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz will receive the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award, recognizing his humanitarian efforts and contributions.
There will also be a second honoree at the ASCAP Foundation event: artist and music education advocate Chandrika Tandon, who won her first Grammy in February for best new age, ambient, or chant album for Triveni.
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While the close proximity of the two events may be less than ideal, the ASCAP Foundation event appears to be a very different kind of evening — namely, smaller and more intimate. Where the SHOF dinner and gala will be held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the ASCAP Foundation “cocktail celebration” will take place at the New York home of Tony-winning composer Adam Guettel (Floyd Collins, The Light in the Piazza, To Kill a Mockingbird, Days of Wine and Roses).
Composers and lyricists (and EGOT recipients) Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land) will perform a tribute to Schwartz. Composer, pianist and singer-songwriter Emily Bear (Moana 2, The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical) will perform and talk about her creative journey and The ASCAP Foundation.
The ASCAP Foundation Champion Award recognizes ASCAP members who have made a significant impact through social action and humanitarian efforts. Previous recipients include Billy Joel, Natalie Merchant, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie and Ne-Yo.
Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation has supported American music creators through music education, talent development and humanitarian programs for five decades.
ASCAP Foundation president Paul Williams said in a statement, “As we celebrate 50 years of The ASCAP Foundation’s work empowering music creators and uplifting communities, it is an honor to recognize Stephen and Chandrika — two extraordinary individuals whose artistry and humanitarianism have inspired countless creatives. Their passion reflects the very spirit of our mission, and we are proud to honor them as Champions.”
Williams is on the board of directors of the SHOF and is a past recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award. (The ASCAP Foundation news announcement doesn’t mention Schwartz’s SHOF honor.)
These aren’t Schwartz’s only awards this year. In February, he received the Icon Award at the 15th Guild of Music Supervisors Awards in Los Angeles, where he was honored alongside veteran music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg.
Tickets to the ASCAP Foundation’s 50th Anniversary Gala run $2,000 and can be purchased here.
05/29/2025
The Colombian star has made notable fashion statements throughout her career.
05/29/2025
It’s no secret that artists are at the mercy of the algorithm when it comes to reaching fans online and through social media — but many acts report that new music and posts on platforms like Instagram and YouTube only reach a tiny fraction of their fan bases.
This issue is one experienced by Norwegian producer Alan Walker, whose manager, Gunnar Greve, tells Billboard that “when we release a new song, it reaches only 0.4 to 2% of our most active listeners. The same goes for YouTube — even fans who want to stay connected don’t always see the content. Editorial playlists and algorithmic feeds have started to replace organic discovery.”
This is despite the fact that Walker has roughly 10.4 million followers on Instagram alone and has clocked songs with millions, even billions, of streams.
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“When I released ‘Faded’ in 2015,” Walker says of his biggest hit, “streaming was still in its early days. There was a sense of excitement, a new world opening up. But in the years since, the pace of the industry has exploded. Today, the landscape is crowded, noisy, and often overwhelming even for those of us with big followings and strong communities.”
Like many other artists, Walker has observed that “the connection between artists and fans is starting to slip. Not because people care less, but because the systems we rely on don’t prioritize or find space for meaningful content. The pressure to chase trends or fit into playlist algorithms often takes the spotlight away from creativity, experimentation and emotional connection. The reasons most of us got into music in the first place.”
To cut through this noise, Walker and Greve are preparing to launch World of Walker, a custom app and online community tailored for Walker’s millions of global fans.
Launching on Aug. 8, World of Walker will offer exclusive immersive fan experiences, access to premium content (including Walker’s entire music and video catalogs), behind-the-scenes material, exclusive weekly livestreams, direct chats and more. Users can also participate in community-driven projects, events and discussions. The app is free to join, and pre-registration is available now.
The way Walker and Greve see it, World of Walker will provide greater opportunity than most social platforms for everyone involved. “For one, we can speak freely, without worrying about algorithms or chasing virality,” says Walker. “I have a global, diverse fanbase with different interests, and this app gives each person the chance to build their own World of Walker. They can find their people, join conversations that matter and stay connected to what truly resonates with them. We also get better insight into what fans actually want, which means we can shape the platform based on real feedback, not guesswork.”
Greve says the goal is reaching 500,000 users within the first year, “but the most important thing is for people to be active and engaged within the app.” In terms of monetization, he adds that the business model has two layers.
“First, just having a direct line of communication with fans without relying on third-party platforms. This is a success in itself. But in the app, we’ll have a mix of activity-based experiences and monetization through a small premium model and an in-app store with both physical and digital items. If we create enough engagement and value, profitability will follow.”
While Walker and Greve acknowledge that not every artist has the resources to build such a platform, they hope their project will help the industry evolve “in a way that puts fans and artists at the center. Not just as tools for big corporations,” says Greve.
Ahead of the app’s August launch, fans will get the opportunity to join the world of Walker in real life when he plays the final show of his two-year Walkerworld Tour at SummerStage in New York’s Central Park on Saturday (May 31.) Walker reports playing for more than 500,000 people during the tour and says he’ll also be releasing new music this summer.
World of Walker
Courtesy of World of Walker
World of Walker
Courtesy of World of Walker
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Michael Sumler, the longtime hype man for the Kool & The Gang band, died over Memorial Day Weekend after his vehicle was involved in a crash. Michael Sumler, also known as Chicago Mike, was a member of the band for several years.
Local outlet Fox 5 Atlanta reports that last Saturday (May 24), Michael Sumler was driving from the town of Mableton, Ga., after a performance at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre that evening. The outlet reports that Sumler collided with a vehicle while driving along the Veterans Memorial Highway in Cobb County.
According to the report, the crash occurred just before midnight, with Sumler dying at the scene of the crash. The other person involved in the crash survived.
Taking to Facebook, Kool & The Gang shared a statement regarding Sumler’s passing:
We’re deeply saddened to hear about the passing of our longtime wardrobe valet, Mike Sumler. Mike worked alongside Kool & the Gang from 2000-2015, making sure the guys looked their best on stage every night. He also hyped the crowd with his energy and dance moves at the top of the show. Most recently, Mike helped Kool with LeKool champagne events.Everyone here at Kool & the Gang has fond memories of Mike and will miss him. May he rest in peace.
Michael Sumler was 71.
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Photo: Facebook
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Ten years ago today, on May 29, 2015, Jamie xx released his debut solo album, In Colour.
The 11-song project reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, generating hits including “Gosh,” “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” and “Loud Places” and becoming a beloved LP of the era.
Billboard also celebrated the album upon its release, publishing a glowing review that identified the British producer’s ability to create a collage of ’90s U.K. rave culture that simultaneously acknowledged the rich history of this era while also sounding entirely fresh.
“Jamie xx is 26 years old, which means he was barely out of diapers during the heyday of ’90s U.K. rave culture, which provides the heart, soul and inspiration for his jaw-dropping solo debut, In Colour,” wrote Billboard contributor Garrett Kamps.
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The review continues to say that “The xx member (real name: Jamie Smith) reportedly combed through videos from the era on YouTube, experiencing it in a way that generations before him could not: all at once, chopped up, voyeuristically and set to the best music. This, conveniently, describes the rush of hearing In Colour, an ambitious collage of dance music’s most artistically exciting decade, assembled with maximum TLC by a visionary who inherited its legacy.
“Pockmarked by bits of dialogue from the era’s radio shows and documentaries,” Kamps continues, “the record leaves no doubt as to its source material, and Jamie xx is among other U.K. electronic-dance acts, such as Disclosure and Four Tet, that are tapping the genre’s past to forge its future. But no one has nailed it quite like this.”
Read the complete 2015 review here.
Speaking with Billboard last year upon the release of In Colour‘s long-awaited follow-up, In Waves, the artist said his country’s esteemed history with electronic music, combined with some good old fashioned homesickness, inspired the album’s tone.
“When I was making Colour, I was on tour [with The xx], and had been for seven or eight years nonstop,” he said. “I was really homesick, and I was dreaming up ideas about the U.K. and music in the U.K. and the dance scene there and everything that has happened since the ’80s in dance music in the U.K., which is a lot. It was sort of my fantasy version of U.K. dance music history. Because I was missing home, it made me feel more like I was at home, I guess.”
He also reflected on the differences within himself as he made two connected projects nine years apart, saying that while listening to In Colour while making In Waves, “I remember being really surprised by a lot of decisions I had made as a younger person, and remembering who the hell I was when I made those decisions.
“I guess I was drunk quite a lot of the time, having a lot of fun in my mid-20s,” he continued with a laugh while reflecting on the production process for In Colour. “It’s very painstaking, all these decisions you feel are so important. Then listening to them 10 years later or five years later, you can’t believe you made any of the decisions. And you think they’re wrong, or I would have made completely different decisions now, but I guess that’s a part of it.”
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President Donald Trump’s angry response to a description of his erratic trade policies evoked a bevy of laughs from social media.
On Wednesday (May 28), President Donald Trump had sworn in former Fox News host Jeannine Pirro as the interim U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C. in the White House, and began to field questions from reporters. CNBC reporter Megan Casella asked, “Mr. President, Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the TACO trade. They’re saying Trump always chickens out on your tariff threats and that’s why markets are higher this week. What’s your response to that?”
“I’ve never heard that,” Trump acknowledged, but swiftly got defensive. “You mean because I reduced China from 145%, that I set down to 100% and then down to another number, and I said, ‘You have to open up your whole country.’ And because, I gave the European Union a 50% tax tariff, and they called up, and they said, ‘Please, let’s meet right now. Please, let’s meet right now.’” He continued angrily, “after I did what I did, they said, ‘We’ll meet anytime you want.’” And we have an end date of July 9th. You call that chickening out?”
After attacking former President Joe Biden for not imposing high tariffs, he pointedly attacked Cassella. “We had a country people didn’t think it was gonna survive, and you ask a nasty question like that?” he retorted, saying “But don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question. For me, that’s the nastiest question.”
The “TACO trade” term was coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong last month to describe how Trump scares global markets with tariff threats, forcing the market to plummet before backing off, which allows them to rebound again. “[T]he recent rally has a lot to do with markets realising that the US administration does not have a very high tolerance for market and economic pressure, and will be quick to back off when tariffs cause pain,” Armstrong wrote.
The meltdown didn’t go unnoticed on social media, as critics highlighted how badly the president took the news. “What’s hilarious about this whole thing is there has to be people in the admin who know about this stuff and everyone is afraid to tell him bad news,” wrote Democratic Party strategist Adam Parkhomenko in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “So we get to see him lose his s—t for the first time live on tv.”
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The dull, distant thud of munitions falling in Gaza is the only sound you hear in the parking lot in Re’im in southern Israel. It’s a world away from the thumping, joyous EDM beats that filled this same site more than two years ago as 3,000 ravers gathered under the stars for an all-night Nova Music Festival.The site is now a memorial to the 364 people killed by Hamas militants on Oct 7, 2023, eerily silent on a recent mid-May morning as friends, family and visitors quietly wandered among the hundreds of tributes to the slain attendees of the music festival. In addition to the scores killed and assaulted that day, 44 others were taken hostage in what became the deadliest attack in modern Israeli history.
The joyous rave kicked off the night before the shocking early morning raid by the al-Qassam Brigades that resulted in the killing of nearly 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and kidnapping of more than 250. What was meant to be a celebration of the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret — a time to stop and reflect, pray for rain and gather with friends and family — is now a heart-wrenching shrine to vibrant lives cut short.
“Daniel Goffman, 24 years old when he passed away. A child with a huge heart, endless generosity, and optimism, always willing to help and sacrifice himself for a friend,” reads one tribute featuring the image of a smiling young man giving a thumbs up. “He went to the Nova music festival with his partner, Daniela Petrenko, may she rest in peace, to celebrate the start of a new life, but they never returned.”
Among those attending the festival was Israel’s 2025 Eurovision Song Contest runner-up Yuval Raphael, who still bears shrapnel in her body from the attack. She has recalled hiding in a bomb shelter packed with 50 other people as Hamas gunmen repeatedly shot into the shelter and lobbed grenades. She survived after making a panicked call to her father, who counseled her to play dead and be quiet, a tactic that allowed her to be among the 11 people in the shelter who survived the onslaught.
In the middle of the sea of stories of lives cut short featuring tokens of memorial ranging from a charred DJ deck to a ghostly white statue mirrored on the ground by a hollow dirt reflection, is a massive star made up vibrant reproductions of the nation’s official flower, the red anemone (Kalanit). The flowers bloom at the festival site every February and the deeply symbolic gesture is a nod to the spilled blood of the victims, as well as a sign of resilience and hope. The official memorial funded by the non-profit Jewish National Fund has quickly become the JNF’s most-visited site, attracting nearly 7,000 visitors a day.
Visiting family for a wedding in Tel Aviv, I admittedly was not able to get a perspective on the dire situation in the Gaza Strip as Israel’s government continues to hammer the area with daily assaults in a conflict that has killed more than 53,000 people in the territory to date, according to Palestinian health authorities.
But what I did observe that day was a sea of moving tributes to dance music fans who gathered in the desert for an all-night celebration of renewal that turned into an early morning nightmare of automatic weapons fire and brutal assaults by Hamas militants who crashed through the border during the shocking surprise attack.
Just down the road was a kind of car graveyard, framed by five-story piles of charred, rusted vehicles attendees attempted to flee in that were destroyed in the attack. Scattered among the trashed cars with memorials to the victims were shot-up trucks driven by the marauders, some with large gun mounts in the bed.
Like the Nova memorial, the eerie site full of crushed and burnt cars and piles of mangled motorcycles features placards with QR codes that lead to the fuller stories of the victims. At the center is a destroyed car spilling over with a long trail of the red anemone sculptures. Atop the vehicle is a metal sculpture with the Hebrew word “V Ahavat,” which translates into “and love,” a common expression of affection.
The entire nation is laser-focused on returning the remaining hostages in Gaza — believed to number 58 men and women, half of whom are believed to be alive — with the two Nova memorials similarly plastered with stickers and banners honoring the captured and demanding their return. From the Ben Gurion airport arrival area to restaurant walls and roadside memorials, the stickers and posters bearing the faces of the captives are inescapable in the country now, along with massive banners reading “Bring Them Home.”
Just like the Nova site, the stickers and banners are daily testimonies to a grievous wound that feels impossible to ever heal from. But they are also a reminder of the vibrant stories of the lives that were lost and, hopefully, of those hostages who may yet return.
Check out a gallery of photos from the Nova site below.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
More than 5,000 people visit the Nova Memorial site every day, where they can wander among personalized tributes to the 364 killed by Hamas raiders on Oct. 7.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
Each tribute features lovingly written profiles of the Nova attendees’ lives, along with tokens memorializing them and clay recreations of the red anemone flowers that bloom in the area each February.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
In an adjacent grove, the families of the victims planted saplings in memory of their loved ones on the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat last year, an annual arbor day-like celebration of trees.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
The outside walls of a bomb shelter on the Nova site graffittied with the names of some of the dead and the acronymn “Hashem Ylkom Damo,” which translates to “May God avenge his/her blood” and a phrase reading “to win my brother.”
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
One of the bomb shelters on site at Nova where attendees fled during the attack. A guide said Hamas raiders repeatedly attempted to throw grenades into the packed concrete bunker during their assault.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
A close-up of one of the cars destroyed during the raid, one of hundreds on display in a grim shrine just down the road from the Nova Festival site.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
The memorial for attendee Shani Gabay, entitled “Shani Gabay’s Black Saturday,” feauturing a time-coded countdown of her attempt to escape, with links to photos and videos. It relates how the 25-year-old tried to run away from the assult and was declared missing for 17 days, until her body was discovered accidentally buried with another victim.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
A memorial to an Israeli soccer player featuring scarves from the victim’s favorite football teams, including Maccabi Petah Tikva, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Beitar Jerusalem and Israel’s beloved Maccabi Tel Aviv FC. The collection of white stones are in keeping with a Jewish tradition of mourning, in which visitors leave a rock to mark a visit to a grave site.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
A ghostly memorial to attendee Ziv Pepe Shapira, in which a tree has been planted in the middle of the “reflection” of a human torso on the ground.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
The burnt remnants of a metal sign reading “Nova Tribe of Light” lies amid a pile of wreckage near the memorial for beloved trance DJ Matan “Kido” Elmalem (aka “DJ Kido”), 42, who played festivals all over the world. He was spinning an early-morning set on Oct. 7 as Hamas raiders descended on the festival.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
An enormous garden of clay anemone flower sculptures — including charred black versions at the center — spreads on the Nova memorial site. Anemones are the official flower of Israel and they bloom near the festival site every Feburary. A tribute to the blood of the victims as well as a sign of resilence and hope.
