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13 Jun 2023

A New Arena in Palm Springs Is Proving Coachella Valley Can Host Superstars, Too

In the desert east of Los Angeles, the new Acrisure Arena has defied critics and proved to be an oasis of entertainment in Coachella Valley.

Since opening in December, Oak View Group’s new 11,000-capacity venue in Palm Springs, Calif., has grossed $17 million in ticket sales from 10 reported shows, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, earning itself the title of North America’s third-highest-grossing arena under 15,000 seats, according to Billboard Boxscore’s 2023 midyear report. The arena actually had 17 shows during this period, and had it reported them all, its ranking on the Boxscore chart would have been even higher.

It’s an impressive launch, especially considering criticism it received that an arena of its size could not survive in the Coachella Valley, the geographic region of 370,000 residents anchored by Palm Springs in the north and Indio to the south. Not only was the valley already teeming with competitive options, from tribal casino showrooms to festivals like Coachella and Stagecoach, but Southern California was already home to three big-name arenas and an ultra-competitive concert market with little incentive for acts or tourists to make the two-hour drive down I-10 from Los Angeles for a show.

Midyear Boxscores, Top Venues

Midyear Boxscore charts are based on figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. Eligible shows played between Nov. 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023.

First is Oak View Group’s relationship with OVG partner Irving Azoff, the super-manager whose ability to bring top-tier talent to the facility netted two shows by Harry Styles, a comedy double-header featuring Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock, two shows from the Eagles and concerts by Taylor Dayne, Lizzo, Journey, Shania Twain and Jimmy Buffett. Adding American Hockey League home games from the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Acrisure Arena has welcomed more than 430,000 people through its doors for 72 ticketed events since opening.

While Acrisure Arena is an open building that can work with any promoter, it enjoys a special relationship with Live Nation, which plans to continue to bring top contemporary tours to the venue, says GM John Bolton, who previously worked at SMG and managed the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. In the next six months, Live Nation is bringing some of its strongest tours to Palm Springs, including Peso Pluma (on July 8), Paramore (July 15), Dierks Bentley (Aug. 19), ODEZA (Sept. 20), Sting (Oct. 5), KISS (Nov. 1), Stevie Nicks (Dec. 5) and Madonna (Jan. 11, 2024).

“Part of our success booking artists is that many artists are playing Acrisure Arena on a separate leg of their tour months apart from their L.A. dates,” says Bolton. “There certainly are times when artists will play us after stopping in Orange County or Los Angeles, but in many instances, we’re booking artists as they come across the Southwest and then head into Las Vegas or the Central Valley, making the building very routable.”

Another factor in Acrisure Arena’s success is the building’s innovative, fast-paced, high-touch design. Most seats in the building are in the arena’s lower bowl, which has wide concourses that make moving around the building simple and dramatically decrease time spent waiting in line, thanks to innovative grab-and-go food catering stations. The dozen-plus food concepts inside the arena, as well as those located in an outside common space, feature only a few popular precooked items that reduce prep and wait time.

And while the Coachella Valley population is fairly small, Palm Spring’s year-round marketing efforts attract 14 million visitors to the region each year, including 3 million annually to Palm Springs, according to the city’s conference and visitor’s bureau, accounting for $7.1 billion in spending.

Those visitors include 450,000 Canadians who spend their winters in the area, many of whom support the arena’s Seattle Kraken minor league team, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. In the team’s first season, it reached the league championships and is currently facing the Hershey Bears in the finals. With a strong year-end calendar, Acrisure Arena will almost certainly land on the Boxscore year-end list and continue to chart new routes in and out of region, changing the way artists tour through the Southwest and generate revenue in the Golden State.

13 Jun 2023

The 1975 Announce Dates for 2023 Fall/Winter N. American Tour

The 1975 announced the dates for their biggest North American tour to date on Tuesday (June 13), a 32-stop outing they’ve dubbed “Still… at their very best.” The fall arena outing continues the tour that has taken the Matty Healy-led band across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand in support of the group’s fifth studio album, last year’s Being Funny in a Foreign Language.

After playing late August/September festival gigs at Lollapalooza (August 4), Outside Lands (August 13), Music Midtown (Sept. 16) and Life Is Beautiful (Sept. 22), the North American dates will kick off on Sept. 26 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The tour will take them to San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Minneapolis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Boston and New York (at Madison Square Garden) before winding down on Dec. 2 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

Tickets will go be available in an exclusive fan presale beginning on June 21st at 10 a.m. local time before the general on-sale starts on June 23 at 10 a.m. local time. The band celebrated the announcement of the dates by releasing a new episode of their “A Theatrical Performance of an Intimate Moment” series. In the eight-minute clip, singer Healy wakes up, sucks down some oxygen and makes his bed over a jazz soundtrack before brewing some unnecessarily complicated tea and leaving for his job trimming bonsai trees.

See the 2023 North American tour dates and the “Intimate Moment” video below.

Sept. 26 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center

Sept. 28 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center

Sept. 30 – San Diego, CA – Pechanga Arena San Diego

Oct. 2 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl

Oct. 5 – Glendale, AZ – Desert Diamond Arena

Oct. 7 – Greenwood Village, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre

Oct. 12 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center

Oct. 17 – Miami, FL – Kaseya Center

Oct. 18 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena

Oct. 20 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center

Oct. 22 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena

Oct. 23 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Arena

Oct. 25 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center

Oct. 26 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center

Oct. 28 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum

Oct. 31 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena

Nov. 2 – Indianapolis, IN – Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Nov. 3 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena

Nov. 5 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena

Nov. 8 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena

Nov. 10 – Philadelphia, PA – Well Fargo Arena

Nov. 12 – Boston, MA – TD Garden

Nov. 14 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden

Nov. 17 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre

Nov. 18 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena

Nov. 20 – London, ON – Budweiser Gardens

Nov. 22 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena

Nov. 26 – Salt Lake City, UT – Delta Center

Nov. 27 – Boise, ID – ExtraMile Arena

Nov. 29 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena

Dec. 1 – Portland, OR – Moda Center

Dec. 2 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena

13 Jun 2023

Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena Proves There’s Room for One More in the Lone Star State

Everything may be bigger in Texas, but Dickies Arena in Fort Worth is punching above its weight class. 

The 14,000-capacity venue opened in 2019 amid a competitive Texas market. With the 20,000-capacity American Airlines Center less than 40 miles east and the San Antonio, Austin and Houston markets reachable within a few hours, the region is saturated with large venues to book big names. Still, Dickies Arena has managed to stand out as a major contender in its first full year of shows following the COVID-19 pandemic, ranking at No. 2 on Billboard Boxscore’s Top Venues (10,001-15,000 capacity) chart for the 2023 midyear report. 

In the report, which is based on the touring period of Nov. 1, 2022-April 30, 2023, Dickies Arena grossed $40.1 million from 79 reported shows. Compared with the same period last year, as the touring business was still coming out of the pandemic, the venue nearly tripled the number of tickets sold (from 209,000 to 610,000) and grossed almost four times as much (up from $11.6 million). Even beyond its capacity limit, Dickies Arena out-grossed all but six venues in the 15,001-plus range, including American Airlines Center in Dallas. 

Midyear Boxscores, Top Venues

Midyear Boxscore charts are based on figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. Eligible shows played between Nov. 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023.

“If you look at entertainment, there wasn’t really much on this side of the [Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex],” says Dickies Arena president/GM Matt Homan, who notes that the drive between arenas can reach up to an hour-and-a-half with traffic. “What we’ve proven is that the market is large enough for American Airlines Center and Dickies Arena.” 

While American Airlines Center is the larger of the two Metroplex arenas, the venue also has two home tenants (NBA team Dallas Mavericks and the NHL’s Dallas Stars) that occupy several dates on the calendar. Dickies Arena, however, only has the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, which runs from January to the first week of February, when concerts tend to be space. This year’s event brought in over $9 million from its 25 performances. 

The Dickies Arena’s arrival and success run parallel to the city’s growing population. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022, Fort Worth had the largest numeric population gain of any large city in the United States, with 19,170 people joining its population of roughly 1 million — and the venue is focused on catering to the city’s varying interests. Country music is naturally a good fit for the arena, with two sellouts from George Strait ($9.9 million) in November marking its highest-grossing run of the midyear report, with two more scheduled for later this year. “It’s a great experience for fans to see [Strait] in such an intimate venue,” says Homan, “you’re not going to a baseball stadium with 60,000 or 40,000-plus seats, which we all know George could sell out in a heartbeat.” 

Beyond country, the Dickies Arena’s Boxscore totals also included shows from the Eagles, Muse, New Edition and K-pop group Stray Kids, the lattermost moving more than $2.5 million in tickets sold. “Our K-pop merch sales have been great,” says Homan. “Our merch numbers are generally amongst the top three to five on the tour, based on numbers I’ve seen recently.”  Rauw Alejandro’s sold-out show in April, which grossed over $1.5 million, was also the start of Homan’s focus on the Latin market. “Going into this year, the [Latin market] was my highest priority,” he says. The arena will welcome Peso Pluma, Banda MS, Christian Nodal and Grupo Frontera in 2023. “We’re starting to finally dip our toes into those markets. We want to make sure that we have something here for everyone and that we’re really representing the major city that we are.”

13 Jun 2023

Hot 100 First-Timers: Roisee Arrives With Metro Boomin & A$AP Rocky Collab ‘Am I Dreaming’

Roisee is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist, as her new collaboration with Metro Boomin and A$AP Rocky, “Am I Dreaming,” debuts on the ranking (dated June 17) at No. 51.

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The song appears on Metro Boomin’s soundtrack to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which was released – along with the film in theaters – June 2. (The set is fully titled Metro Boomin Presents Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.) The track tallied 9.3 million official streams and 2,000 downloads sold in the United States in its opening week, according to Luminate.

The LP debuts at No. 1 on the Soundtracks chart, No. 2 on Top Rap Albums and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 7 on the Billboard 200 with 66,000 equivalent album units earned.

(The Sony Animation film opened to more than $120 million and added an estimated $55.4 million for a 10-day domestic tally of $225.4 million — already more than the $190.4 million earned by 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in its entire domestic run. Overseas, the new release earned another $47 million for a foreign cume of $164.5 million and $389.9 million worldwide, also ahead of the first film.)

“Am I Dreaming” (the second song on the soundtrack) isn’t just Roisee’s first Hot 100 hit, but also her first entry on any Billboard chart. It concurrently opens at No. 11 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 17 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (which use the same methodology as the Hot 100) and No. 32 on both Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales. Roisee herself also debuts at No. 25 on the Emerging Artists chart.

The St. Louis native has released several songs previously. She dropped her first track, “Yet Again,” on streaming services in 2017. In 2019, she released her debut LP, Summon the Roisee, via her own Roisee Music Group. On March 17, she served up a five-track EP titled Not for Nothing.

13 Jun 2023

UnitedMasters & Nigerian Producer Sarz Partner on ‘1789’ Imprint to Empower the Next Generation of African Talent: Exclusive

UnitedMasters is partnering with Nigerian producer Sarz on his 1789 imprint that aims to discover, develop and empower the next generation of African artists and producers, Billboard can exclusively announce today (June 13).

Sarz (real name Osabuhoien Osaretin) has produced records for some of the biggest African artists, such as Wizkid, Burna Boy and Tiwa Savage, and is responsible for spreading the Afrobeats sound to the U.S. and U.K. charts with hits like Drake, Wizkid and Kyla‘s “One Dance,” which became the most-streamed song on Spotify in 2016, and Lojay and Sarz’s “Monalisa,” which received a Chris Brown remix and has amassed 297.3 million official global on-demand streams through June 8, according to Luminate. He also won the producer of the year award at The Headies last year.

LV N ATTN, the parent project of “Monalisa” that Lojay and Sarz released in 2021, as well as WurlD and Sarz’s I LOVE GIRLS WITH TROUBL from 2019 fall under Sarz’s 1789 imprint, which he established in 2018 to discover and develop African artists and producers. (It symbolizes his birthdate: March 17, 1989.) Now, UnitedMasters is coming in to amplify the work Sarz has already been doing by providing its cutting-edge label services and digital distribution technology.

“Sarz, for the last five years, has been developing some of the biggest producers on the continent that have gone on to produce for the Wizkid’s, the Burna’s, the Tems’, the Lojay’s, etc. We wanted to be able to say, ‘How do we add value to you guys and help give you resources so that way you can ultimately develop the talent on the ground?’” David Melhado, vp of music at UnitedMasters, tells Billboard. “You can see why he’s able to spot talent when you hang out with him. His energy is infectious. He’s just doing what he wishes he had. There’s something so powerful in that where he’s like, ‘I’m paying it forward to these producers.’ He’s really creating a movement.”

“I met with David and Julian McLean [director of producer relations/editorial at UnitedMasters], and it just felt right. I could tell we shared the same vision and we’re very passionate about emerging talent,” Sarz tells Billboard, adding that he hopes his new strategic partnership with UnitedMasters will bring “more opportunities to the continent, bring more opportunities to Afrobeats artists and producers globally. I hope to be the bridge between an emerging artist and everything they desire globally.”

Those signed to 1789 will be able to access “everything that you would get from a major label, from marketing to digital marketing to playlist pitching and, when the time is right, we can scale up and do radio campaigns,” says Melhado. He adds that the partnership will also provide artists and producers “transparency around the money they make” through UnitedMasters’ mobile app, where “they’ll be able to see their streams in real time,” as well as “brand partnerships with some of the world’s biggest brands [NBA, ESPN, WhatsApp], and they all have ambitions to be a part of the global music conversation.”

Adds Steve Stoute, UnitedMasters CEO/founder, in a statement: “We are extremely excited to be in partnership with Sarz and 1789. Sarz, a true hitmaker, has a keen ear for talent and has proven that he cares deeply about the artist development process. Our shared mission in supporting artists from Africa through education and resources will empower them to unlock their true potential.”

United Masters began discussing how to enter the African music conversation two years ago, when Stoute sent Melhado Billboard‘s 2021 feature on Wizkid following the global success of his Tems-assisted smash “Essence.” Melhado told Stoute, “‘When it’s time for us to go expand to Africa, I got a big network there.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, you should go in December,’” Melhado recalls with a chuckle. Melhado and McLean ended up traveling to Nigeria in December 2021, where the two were hosted by Melhado’s good friend Bizzle Osikoya, a Nigerian A&R expert and music executive who founded the talent management and music services company, The Plug. “We went out to really see what the culture was, the music, the food, the fashion, the art, and really engulf ourselves in the community there but really try to figure out, ‘Where can we add value?’ We didn’t want to just go to Africa and throw money at it. We wanted to not be opportunistic from a perspective of, ‘Let’s just go sign some artists,’ but we wanted to be able to make sure that we were going to be really impactful and additive to the music scene there. We wanted to be able to find the right partner, and that’s ultimately what we did with Sarz.”

In 2015, the 34-year-old producer founded The Sarz Academy, a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating African artists and producers and helping them launch successful careers. “I’ve always been passionate about helping people’s journeys, even unofficially I’ve mentored so many producers in the Afrobeats space before I thought about starting an academy,” he says. “It took me at least 10 years just grinding in the industry to find my position. And I thought, if I can mentor these guys, they could probably do it in two years or three years.” The academy’s esteemed alumni includes Kel-P, Legendury Beatz, P.Priime and Tempoe, who have gone on to work with Wizkid, Burna Boy, Rema, Fireboy DML, CKay, Angélique Kidjo and Teni, among many others. “I plan to break out of Africa. I am doing it for global Afro music,” P.Priime, a 2018 graduate of The Sarz Academy, told Billboard in 2020. Two years later, he was a part of the #YouTubeBlack Voices Songwriter & Producer Class of 2022 and earned credits on Wizkid’s Made in Lagos deluxe album that went on to receive a 2022 Grammy nomination for best global music album. Another 2018 graduate, Tempoe, went onto produce CKay’s “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)” the following year, which has since garnered 2.46 billion official global on-demand streams and spent two weeks at No. 1 on Rhythmic Airplay.

After meeting Sarz through their mutual friend Osikoya in March 2022, Melhado and McLean traveled back to Nigeria this past October to witness The Sarz Academy firsthand. “He had producers and artists from all over Nigeria. There were artists that flew in from London, from Costa Rica, to Nigerians who came from Canada to be a part of this experience. They all lived in a house. And they just created some of the most amazing music that I’ve heard in a long time. The collaboration, the desire to get on, the hunger — all these kids had that. It was inspiring overall,” says Melhado. “At that moment, I knew that we had the right partnership and the right partner.”

Sarz says the music coming out of last year’s Sarz Academy will be compiled into an album that will be released next month. Three singles — “Jam One Kele” by Sarz, Millymay_pod, Gimba and Fxrtune; “Good to Me” by Sarz, Perfext and Gimba; and “Body Wicked” by Sarz and Millymay_pod — have already been packaged as The Sarz Academy Presents: Memories That Last Forever 2 and released under 1789 and UnitedMasters on DSPs last week. One of the artists, Gimba, was also recently featured on the single “Blessings” with DJ Tunez and Wizkid.

UnitedMasters’ partnership with Sarz includes supporting his endeavors at The Sarz Academy, as education is one of the company’s core missions, according to Melhado. “We didn’t just come into the business trying to tell everybody they needed to be independent. We had to walk them through what it is like to be independent, and for artists on the [African] continent, we want to be able to help artists with those tools and educate them,” he explains. “Our ambition is to be able to support these artists, see them at the beginning of their career and ultimately take them to global superstardom.”

13 Jun 2023

Anita Baker Says She’s Going It Alone on ‘Songstress’ Tour After Alleged Babyface Fan Harassment

Anita Baker has had it. After going on a tweet spree over the past few days decrying the harassment she said she’s been receiving from Babyface’s fans, the “Caught Up in the Rapture” singer announced on Tuesday morning (June 13) that she’s had it.

“After Silently, Enduring Cyber Bulling/Verbal Abuse & Threats of Violence from the Fan Base, of Our Special Guest/Support Act. In the Interest of Personal Safety. I will continue, The Songstress Tour, alone. Appropriate refunds will be made. Blessings,” Baker wrote alongside a new tour poster that doesn’t feature her former opener’s name on it.

The tour celebrating Baker’s four decades in the music business that kicked off in Florida in February — and is slated to run through a Dec. 23 show at Oakland Arena — had featured opening support sets from singer/songwriter/producer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. But after Edmonds was unexpectedly cut from a May 10 show at the Prudential Center in New Jersey due to reported technical issues that pushed that night’s start time by two hours, she said his fans have been relentlessly harassing and trolling her.

“I am truly sorry to my fans who have been waiting for us to hit the stage this evening at the Prudential Center,” Babyface wrote at the time. “I was asked not to perform in order to give Ms. Baker her space and time to perform her show in its entirety. My band an I are extremely saddened we didn’t get to perform for y’all tonight.”

In the series of tweets last weekend that stretched into the weekend and then Monday, Baker made it crystal clear that Edmonds was always the opening act and that she is fed up with the alleged taunting from his fans. Dubbing his followers “Kenny’s Crazies,” on Monday Baker made a direct plea to Babyface to stop the madness.

“Dearest one. You are Not, privy to *The Contracts*. Yes, Babyface is Special Guest/Support Act, on My Tour,” she tweeted. “This False Narrative, of A Co-headliner is creating Unrealistic Expectations & Aggression, from his fans towards me. He should tell you guys, the Truth.”

At press time it did not appear that Babyface had reacted to Baker’s tweets and a spokesperson for the singer had not returned a request for comment.

Baker’s tour is a celebration of 40 years in music and the anniversary of her debut album, 1983’s The Songstress. The dates also mark the first time the Ohio native is performing her classics live since winning back the right of her masters in 2021 with the help of Chance the Rapper. The next scheduled date on the tour is June 30 at the United Center in Chicago.

See Baker’s tweet below.

13 Jun 2023

Rock Still Rules Touring, But Latin Is Gaining Fast

Take a look at Bad Bunny’s recent tour history, and you get a good sense of Latin’s rapid growth on the road.

When Billboard published the 2019 Midyear Boxscore Recap, Bad Bunny missed out on the then-10-position Top Tours ranking, scraping the bottom of the top 30 with $25.8 million, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. In doing so, he scored the biggest Latin tour of the tracking period, covering shows between Nov. 1, 2018, and April 30, 2019.

Three years later, following the COVID-19 pandemic, Bad Bunny took himself – and his genre – to the top. He crowned the all-genre list in 2022, earning $123 million in the same November-April six-month window – the first time a Latin act has ever topped the ranking.

Midyear Boxscores, Latin Tours

Midyear Boxscore charts are based on figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. Eligible shows played between Nov. 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023.

Now, Bad Bunny is in the midyear top 10 again in 2023 at No. 6 with $67.9 million, and he’s not alone. At No. 5, Daddy Yankee earned $72.5 million, marking the first time that two Latin artists have landed in the midyear top 10.

The top 10 Latin tours grossed a combined $295.1 million between November and April. That represents growth of 18.83% from last year, after already improving 101% from 2019.

While Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee lead that growth with the three biggest Latin tours in Boxscore history, it doesn’t stop with the genre’s top headliners. See below to watch how the biggest Latin tours of the midyear reporting period have grown uniformly since 2019.

Boxscore, Midyear Latin Tours

Each of the top 10 Latin tours is up — in both gross and attendance — from last year and 2019. This across-the-board growth applies to heritage stars such as Marc Anthony ($22.4 million) and Wisin y Yandel ($15.3 million) as well as newer headliners including Rauw Alejandro ($33.3 million) and Feid ($11.9 million).

Beyond the genre’s 19% growth in top-10 revenue, those shows’ attendance has grown by 48% as well. While last (mid)year’s biggest Latin tour (Bad Bunny) outgrossed this year’s (Daddy Yankee) by more than $50 million, the latter sold more than 100,000 tickets more than the former. Total attendance among the top 10 is 3.1 million, up from 2.1 million last year.

Beyond Latin, attendance is growing in R&B/hip-hop, pop and rock as well – which are up 44%, 43% and 16%, respectively. Despite the smaller bump, Rock remains No. 1 in both gross and attendance, with $539.1 million and 4.1 million tickets among its top 10 tours on the midyear recap.

Midyear Boxscores, Rock Tours

Midyear Boxscores, Pop Tours

Pop follows with $419.7 million and 3.8 million tickets. Further illustrating Latin’s gains, in 2019 the genre’s gross sales trailed pop by $350 million. This year, that lead has shrunk to $125 million.

Arena dates are on deck for Rauw Alejandro, Anuel AA and others for the rest of the year, while Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin and Pitbull will team for a tri-headline tour this fall. Karol G will play in select U.S. stadiums later this year, leveling up to unprecedented heights for Colombian acts.

As the genre’s biggest acts get bigger, its focus will grow wider as some of the biggest names in regional Mexican music join reggaeton and Latin-pop stars on the Boxscore charts. Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma will separately enter the domestic arena circuit this year while their No. 1 duet continues to dominate Billboard’s global charts.

13 Jun 2023

Demi Lovato Explains the ‘Exhausting’ Process That Led to Them Re-Adopting Feminine Pronouns

It’s been two years since Demi Lovato publicly came out as nonbinary, and the star is ready to break their silence on a recent change they made to their pronouns.

In a new interview with GQ Hype Spain, Lovato broke down the reason why she changed her pronouns to she/her and they/them back in August 2022, a little more than a year after she came out publicly. “I constantly had to educate people and explain why I identified with those pronouns. It was absolutely exhausting,” she said in a quote translated from Spanish. “I just got tired. But for that very reason I know that it is important to continue spreading the word.”

During an interview on the Sprout podcast back in August, Lovato announced that they were “feeling more feminine” and had decided to update their pronouns to include she/her. “I felt like, especially last year, my energy was balanced in my masculine and feminine energy,” she said at the time. “I didn’t feel like a woman, I didn’t feel like a man. I just felt like a human.”

In her new interview, though, Lovato expressed their ongoing frustration with the lack of understanding in the wider world for life as a person existing outside the gender binary. “Having to access the women’s bathroom, even though I don’t completely identify with it — I would feel more comfortable in a genderless bathroom,” she said. “Or it also happens when filling out forms … where you have to specify your gender; you only have two options, male and female, and I feel like none of that makes sense to me.”

Still, Lovato said that the strife she’s been through in regards to their gender would be “worth it” if it meant that people “learn more about themselves and feel more comfortable in their skin” thanks to the example she set. “That is the most meaningful thing to me,” they explained. “The safe space I’ve created in the industry is proof of the safe space I’ve created in my life as well. And I think no matter what industry you’re in, you have to be comfortable to evolve.”

13 Jun 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Announces New Single ‘Vampire’: Here’s When It Arrives

Olivia Rodrigo is coming back with a bite. At long last, the 20-year-old pop star has finally unveiled details about her first project since her 2021 multi-platinum debut Sour — a single titled “Vampire,” arriving later this month.

“my new song vampire is out june 30th!” Rodrigo wrote on Instagram Tuesday (June 13). “you can presave now. so excited for this ahhhhh!!!!!!! ????❤️”

The “Deja Vu” singer also shared the single’s cover art, which shows a close-up black-and-white photo of Rodrigo’s side profile. She sports dark lipstick, winged eyeliner and two Band-Aids forming a cross on her neck, signifying the location of a vampire-fang puncture wound. The bandages are edited to be the only part of the photo that’s in-color, a lilac purple shade that matches the cover of Sour.

The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actress also posted a slightly longer note on her website, where the digital single is available for pre-save and physical copies are available for pre-order.

“Hi guys!” the note reads. “Im so excited to announce that my new single ‘vampire’ is coming out June 30th!… so excited for this new chapter. thank you so much for all your support. love always, Liv.”

Both the CD and vinyl — which is tinted a bright blood red — include “Vampire” as well as the track’s first demo, according to Rodrigo’s online store. Also on the store, the cover art boasts a Parental Advisory: Explicit Content sticker.

Fans have suspected for weeks that Rodrigo’s highly anticipated next move would be set into motion on June 30, especially after a mysterious timer counting down to that date appeared on her website. The expiration date on her “drivers license” Spotify graphic was also altered recently to read “6-30.”

“Vampire” will serve as Rodrigo’s followup to her record-breaking debut effort Sour, which featured two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits (“Drivers License” and “Good 4 U”). In June last year, the album became the longest-running debut record this century to remain in the Billboard 200 top 10 at more than 52 weeks.

“By focusing on intimate storytelling, crafting iconic choruses, and effortlessly building a passionate fandom, Rodrigo has ascended to the very pinnacle of pop,” reads a press release for “Vampire.” “Her music has become an integral part of this era’s soundtrack. With ‘vampire,’ she is poised to begin an exciting new chapter.”

See Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” announcement below:

13 Jun 2023

Stray Kids Thank Fans for Helping ‘5-STAR’ Hit No. 1 on Billboard 200: ‘We Are Truly Humbled’

It’s a royal flush for Stray Kids, as the K-pop group scored its third No. 1 album in a row with the June 2 arrival of its latest album, 5-STAR. To celebrate, members Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N. shared a message with fans via Billboard on Tuesday (June 13) thanking them for their support.

Bang Chan kicked off the video with the announcement of the album’s chart placement. “We have heard some very excited news. It looks like we ranked No. 1 on this week’s Billboard 200 chart!” the rapper said, causing the rest of the group to erupt in cheers.

Felix added, “I mean, to us this is actually so mind blowing because even thinking about it, because it was only about a year ago since we’ve debuted at No. 1 on the chart and now we’re celebrating our third consecutive No. 1. Thank you so much STAY. Three times in a row! Three times.”

Seungmin followed and also gave STAY a shoutout of his own. “We would like to thank everyone who has been listening to our music and Billboard, and especially STAY for gifting us with this amazing achievement,” he said. “We are truly humbled, thank you.

“Another big thank you to STAYs and everyone. We are going to continue to create even more better Stray Kids music so please keep your eyes out for us. Thank you everyone,” Bang Chan concluded.

5-STAR follows Stray Kids’ previous Billboard 200 No. 1s: Oddinary and Maxident, both released in 2022.

See Stray Kids’ message to STAY below.