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19 May 2023

Miley Cyrus Raves About Her ‘Endless Summer Vacation’ Cover Outfit: ‘This Look Is Just a Little Bit Too Good’

Everybody say “archival museum-quality”! Miley Cyrus sat down with Vogue to reflect on her style evolution and some of her most famous looks in the fashion bible’s series “Life in Looks.”

In the video published May 18, the pop star gave insight on everything from her time as Hannah Montana and punk-inspired appearance at the 2013 Met Gala to the “extremely controversial” teddy-bear bodysuit she wore to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards that same year.

Later, even Miley herself was blown away when revisiting the stunning cover of her latest album, Endless Summer Vacation. B—h. It’s f–king archival museum-quality Alaia, b—h, it’s better than I ever remembered,” she raved before getting the entire room to applaud. “This look is just a little bit too good. This is one of those looks where, you know, I didn’t have to go this hard. But I did.”

She then revealed that she shot the cover art on the grounds of the Frank Sinatra estate in Palm Springs, Calif., though she was quick to deadpan, “We’re not gonna talk about the shoe” before turning the page.

Cyrus also broke down the vintage gold lamé Yves Saint Laurent dress that took the world by storm when she released the music video for “Flowers” (again, “1991 museum-quality archival — hoo!”).

“Listen, b—h, we shot the video before the runway with all the hoods,” she dished, “and currently they are in Paris at the Yves Saint Laurent museum; it is the ‘Gold Exhibition,’ which we had no idea that was gonna happen. I did it first. I mean, Yves Saint Laurent did it first and then I did it second and then they copied us. It wasn’t saying too much. It spoke for itself, but it also allowed me to speak. It completely captured what the song is about.”

Watch Miley run through her “Life in Looks” for Vogue above.

19 May 2023

BTS’ Jimin Duets With Muni Long in Kodak Black & NLE Choppa’s ‘Angel Pt. 1’ Video: Watch

Fast X — the 10th installment of the of the Fast & Furious movie franchise — arrived in theaters on Friday (May 19) alongside its soundtrack and the music video for “Angel Pt. 1” by Kodak Black and NLE Choppa, which features Jimin of BTS, Muni Long and JVKE.

JVKE, who plays piano in the visual, opens the song. Jimin follows shortly after, singing the resounding chorus from a rooftop in New York City during sunset. “Angel, don’t fly so close to me/ I’m what you want, not what you need/ You don’t want to lose those wings/ People like me break beautiful things,” the BTS vocalist passionately sings before Kodak swoops in for a verse about the importance of family ties.

Following a verse from NLE Choppa, which details how a pair of friends escape adversity, the “Like Crazy” singer then teams up with Muni Long for the second chorus. She takes over for the first half, while Jimin and her duet in the latter half of the chorus, as scenes from Fast X are spliced in between.

Choppa spoke with PopSugar about working with Jimin on the song, and revealed that it was a major goal of his. “I’ve actually been for a while manifesting wanting to work with BTS and to be able to work with just one of the guys from BTS I feel like it’s a beautiful thing, and it’s one of those things I prayed for,” he told the outlet. “So, every time you hear BTS in my mouth or Jimin in my mouth, there’s gonna be a thank you behind it, because I’m just grateful knowing how big that scene is and grateful to know how big the impact they have on K-pop is in general.”

Check out “Angel Pt. 1” by Kodak Black and NLE Choppa featuring Jimin, Muni Long and JVKE above.

19 May 2023

Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in ‘Vogue’ Atop the Hot 100

One of Madonna’s biggest hits, her 1990 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 dance anthem “Vogue,” had surprisingly humble beginnings.

“The whole thing was done on a shoestring budget,” Shep Pettibone, the track’s co-writer and producer, told Billboard in 2015. Allotted just $5,000 by Warner Bros. (now Warner) Records to create what was initially slated as a B-side, he finished the song in three weeks, recording the then-31-year-old pop star’s vocals in a “basement on West 56th Street” in New York, where, he said, a closet had been converted into a vocal booth.



The song starts with suspense-building synths before kicking into “Philly Salsoul”-style house music, and its lyrics and sumptuous black-and-white video — directed by future Academy Award nominee David Fincher (Gone Girl, The Social Network) — celebrate voguing, a style of dance popularized in New York’s mostly gay ballroom club scene in the 1980s that mimics fashion-shoot poses.

Released as an A-side, “Vogue” topped the Hot 100 dated May 19, 1990. Madonna and Pettibone also collaborated on the singer’s 1992 No. 1 ballad, “This Used to Be My Playground,” but Pettibone left the music business in the late ’90s.

In June 2019, Madonna released her latest album, Madame X, which arrived as her ninth No. 1 on the Billboard 200. “Vogue,” meanwhile, continues to be a staple of her live shows.

A version of this article first appeared in the May 23, 2015, issue of Billboard magazine.

19 May 2023

Friday Music Guide: New Music From Bad Bunny, Summer Walker, Post Malone, Kesha and More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

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See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

This week, Bad Bunny has a summer banger to offer, Summer Walker checks in between full-lengths, and Post Malone is working at a furious pace. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Bad Bunny, “Where She Goes” 

Bad Bunny is not satisfied with simply dominating one summer: after Un Verano Sin Ti was released last May and proceeded to take the world by storm, the superstar bursts back into view with “Where She Goes,” a new single that, unlike his recent Grupo Frontera team-up “un x100to,” is clearly designed to conjure summertime perspiration. After about 40 seconds of stormy synths and emotional crooning, the clubby percussion kicks in, and Bad Bunny morphs into a master of ceremonies, his energy never flagging even as the tempo of the track shifts around him. Bad Bunny is in a Midas-touch phase of commercial success — but even divorced from the timing of its arrival, “Where She Goes” sounds like a surefire smash, ready to pounce upon the season with hungry melody.

Summer Walker, Clear 2: Soft Life EP 

At the beginning of 2019 — a year that would be momentous for Summer Walker, thanks to the October release of her Over It album — the R&B singer-songwriter released and EP, Clear, which would continue the momentum from her Last Day of Summer mixtape and set the parameters of her artistic formula. While fans await the proper follow-up to 2021’s Still Over It, Walker returns with Clear 2: Soft Life, a nine-song stopgap defined by her uncompromising perspective, whether it’s applied to yearning for company (like on the Childish Gambino collaboration “New Type”) or rejecting easy comforts (like on the spectacularly performed “Hardlife”).

Post Malone, “Mourning” 

“Got a lot of s–t to say, couldn’t fit it in the chorus,” Post Malone declares at the end of the “Mourning” hook, and he’s correct, even outside of the context of the song: after 2022’s Twelve Carat Toothache marked Posty’s first full-length in three years, he’s already back next month with Austin, his fifth studio album, which was preceded by the single “Chemical.” Unlike that more pop-leaning offering, “Mourning” finds Post Malone operating within singsong rap, yelling at God and refusing to sober up while grappling with the excesses of fame; in this prolific period, the superstar is prodding at his sound and identity, and the results are intoxicating.

Kesha, Gag Order 

The reinvention of Kesha’s pop career during her years-long legal battle against Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald has simultaneously been heartbreaking and revelatory: while the personal trauma that the “TiK ToK” singer has experienced during this time has been incalculable, she has mined the depths of her artistry and come up with wholly impressive sonic explorations like new album Gag Order. This album demands attention: as Kesha embraces throbbing cacophony and tries to make sense of senseless circumstances, her songwriting and vocal technique evolve with zero abandon and riveting results.

Lewis Capaldi, Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent 

The list of modern artists not named Adele who can guide heart-wrenching ballads to the billion-stream club is exceedingly short, but Lewis Capaldi, who earned international success with “Someone You Loved” and “Before You Go,” is on it, understanding the cocktail of vulnerable songwriting, tender production and vocal skill needed to affect the tear ducts of global listeners. On Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, the Scottish singer-songwriter doesn’t rip up the formula that made him a star — instead, he offers more stories that aim to stir, using songs like “Haven’t You Ever Been In Love Before?” and lead single “Forget Me” to reach wide and inspire as many listeners as possible to simply, effortlessly feel.

Kaytraminé, Kaytraminé 

The combination of singer-rapper Aminé and production multi-hyphenate Kaytranada not only makes sense on paper as a fusion of two like-minded creatives who have worked well together over the years, but Kaytraminé, the duo’s self-titled debut album, also works brilliantly as a late spring release, primed to soundtrack Memorial Day Weekend hangouts and months of hazy beach days. With guests like Freddie Gibbs, Pharrell Williams and Snoop Dogg stopping by to buttress Aminé’s silky flow and Kaytranada’s luxurious beats, Kaytraminé is a summer essential on the same level of shorts and sunscreen.

19 May 2023

Lizzo Asks Fans to Bring Posters of Her Boyfriend Instead of Chris Evans to Her Shows & They Oblige

Lizzo may have once fantasized about having Chris Evans’ baby, but those days are behind her. And now that she’s happily in love with boyfriend Myke Wright, she thinks it’s about d–n time her fans start bringing posters of him — and not cutouts of Captain America — to her shows.

In a hilarious video posted to the superstar’s Instagram Friday (May 19), Lizzo pauses her concert to specifically thank fans in the crowd for bringing blown-up photos of Wright. She then explains that at a previous show, she’d given a “public service announcement” about her relationship status because one fan in the audience had brought “a big a– cutout of Chris Evans’ face.”

“Chris Evans is not my man,” she’d told the crowd at the earlier show. “My man is [Myke Wright]. He fine as hell. I wanna see his fine a– face when I’m onstage.”

Clearly, her fans heeded her words — and Lizzo is overjoyed. “Can I have one? For scientific purposes,” the Grammy winner told two people in the audience who brought giant photos of Wright, before taking a picture with the fans from stage.

But while Wright, who is a comedian and TV personality, is Lizzo’s muse now, there was definitely a time not so long ago when Evans was the apple of her eye. In 2021, she confessed to drunk-messaging Evans over Instagram DMs, after which the Knives Out star followed her back and responded, “No shame in a drunk DM. God knows I’ve done worse on this app.”

From there, the two had many more moments of cute banter via social media and interviews. At one point, the “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)” singer posted a TikTok joking that she was pregnant with Evans’ child, prompting him to send her a hilarious response over DMs that she shared with followers. “Hi! Just heard about our little bundle of joy,” he joked at the time. “My mother will be so happy.”

See Lizzo’s PSA about those Chris Evans posters below:

19 May 2023

Miguel’s ‘Sure Thing’ Tops Pop Airplay Chart More Than a Decade After Its Original Release

More than 12 years after its release and its original chart run, Miguel’s “Sure Thing” hits No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart (dated May 27).

The song, on ByStorm/Black Ice/Jive/Legacy/RCA Records, completes the longest ascent to the Pop Airplay summit from a title’s release, having first hit Billboard’s charts in February 2011, following its November 2010 release on Miguel’s debut LP, All I Want Is You. An R&B/hip-hop radio hit in its original run, “Sure Thing” crowned the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, as well as R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, for a week in May 2011.

On the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100, “Sure Thing” reached No. 36 over a 23-week stay in March-August 2011.

In 2022, the song resurged thanks to newfound attention on TikTok, where a sped-up version has soundtracked more than 4 million clips. It debuted on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart this January and ranked at No. 30 on the most recently published, May 20-dated chart with 10.6 million official streams in the United States May 5-11, according to Luminate.

On the May 20-dated all-format Radio Songs survey, “Sure Thing” rose 7-6, up 6% to 51.6 million in audience. On the Hot 100, it pushed 15-14, reaching a new best – as well as a new career high for Miguel, surpassing the No. 15 peak of Mariah Carey’s “#Beautiful,” on which he’s featured, in 2013.

(Helping maintain familiarity with top 40 radio listeners, Miguel tallied six Pop Airplay hits in 2012-22, rising as high as No. 12 as featured on Kygo’s “Remind Me to Forget” in 2018, his best career rank prior to the revival of “Sure Thing.”)

Meanwhile, the comeback to new heights for “Sure Thing” has been historic, as the single broke the record for the most weeks ever spent on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: 78 (through the latest, May 20-dated survey, where it placed at No. 5, marking its first appearance in the chart’s top five since September 2011).

“We were keeping a close eye on the metrics,” says RCA head of promotion Keith Rothschild about the decision to promote the song to pop radio after TikTok sparked new interest in it. It debuted on the Pop Airplay chart dated Feb. 25, at No. 40, and hits No. 1 in its 14th week on the chart, up 7% in plays May 12-18.

While “Sure Thing” is far removed from its original release, “programmers were not hesitant at all,” Rothschild says, especially with other catalog songs recently finding new life on radio, whether from TikTok or synchs, including Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” and The Weeknd’s “Die for You.”

Until “Sure Thing,” “Die for You” — originally from 2016 and remixed this year with Ariana Grande, as it, too, received new radio promotion by Republic — briefly held the record for the longest wait to hit No. 1 on Pop Airplay from a track’s release, as it topped the tally for two weeks this February.

“We knew the song was a hit, as it was a No. 1 R&B/hip-hop record when it was originally out,” says Rothschild of “Sure Thing.” “It was never worked at pop, so we asked programmers to put it into callout. The numbers came back massive, and we knew it was game on.”

19 May 2023

Morrissey Pens Warm Tribute to Smiths Bassist Andy Rourke: ‘He Didn’t Ever Know His Own Power’

Despite tensions caused by a royalties battle that for a period split the former members of The Smiths into two warring camps, the band’s singer, Morrissey, penned a predictably lyrical, poetic tribute to the band’s late bassist, Andy Rourke. In a message posted on his official site on Friday (May 19) entitled “Beam of Light,” the legendarily misanthropic singer praised Rourke while pointedly bypassing what he called the “usual blandishments.”

In the wake of Royce’s death at 59 following a battle with pancreatic cancer, Morrissey said, “Sometimes one of the most radical things you can do is to speak clearly. When someone dies, out come the usual blandishments… as if their death is there to be used. I’m not prepared to do this with Andy.”

Morrissey, never one to dwell on sappy sentiment or empty words, said he hoped that “wherever Andy has gone… that he’s OK. He will never die as long as his music is heard. He didn’t ever know his own power, and nothing that he played had been played by someone else. His distinction was so terrific and unconventional and he proved it could be done. He was also very, very funny and very happy, and post-Smiths, he kept a steady identity — never any manufactured moves.”

The note ended with a final olive branch couched in loving words. “I suppose, at the end of it all, we hope to feel that we were valued. Andy need not worry about that.”

The latter was especially poignant given the nasty 1989 royalties dispute that pitted Morrissey and Marr against Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, during which Morrissey said of the latter two that they were “lucky… if they’d had another singer they’d never have got further than Salford shopping centre.”

Despite the acrimony — Rourke confirmed in an 2017 interview that Morrissey fired him from the Smiths by leaving a postcard on his car — Rourke toured with Morrissey on the singer’s solo outing following the band’s 1987 split and played bass on a number of Moz’s songs, including “Interesting Drug,” “The Last of the Famous International Playboys,” “November Spawned a Monster” and “Picadilly Palare,” as well as composing the music for a handful of others.

19 May 2023

Coi Leray Announces Sophomore Album ‘Coi’ & Teases New Song ‘Make My Day’

After the scorching success of her Billboard Hot 100 hit “Players,” Coi Leray is poised to make more noise with her upcoming sophomore album. Slated to drop June 23, Coi will serve as the follow-up to her 2022 effort Trendsetter, which included “No More Parties,” “BIG PURR” and her Nicki Minaj-assisted “Blick Blick.”

According to a press release, Coi will include 15 tracks across different genres, and will have features from David Guetta, Saucy Santana, Giggs, Lola Brooke and Skillibeng.

The success of “Players” increased the star power of Leray after garnering several big-name remixes with the likes of Busta Rhymes and Tokischa. Because of the song’s popularity on TikTok, “Players” reached the top 10 on the Hot 100, peaking at No. 9 on the April 1-dated chart. 

“The best thing about this industry is there’s room for everybody. That’s why it’s no competition,” she told Billboard at the top of the year. “B—h, I could be here, and you could be here right with me. At the end of the day, even if we at the top of the mountain, I’m a be Coi and you gonna be you, and we could trade places or I could become someone else. I’m gonna determine my greatness, my destiny and my future. What’s for you is for you, while we’re at the top together. Steel sharpens steel.”

Since the release of “Players,” Leray has dropped a slew of follow-up singles, including “My Body” and “Bops.” She also previously worked with David Guetta on his “Baby Don’t Hurt Me” single with Anne-Marie, while recently teasing her forthcoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse collaboration with Metro Boomin’ titled “Self Love.” 

Along with announcing the album, Leray also teased “one of her favorite songs” — “Make My Day,” which samples the 1989 classic “Pump up the Jam” by Technotronic.

Coi drops June 23. Check out the cover art and “Make My Day” teaser below.

19 May 2023

Jimi Hendrix Court Battle to Be Fought In London Rather Than New York, Judge Says

A transatlantic legal battle between Jimi Hendrix’s estate and his former bandmates is going to be fought primarily in London for now, after a U.S. federal judge ruled that she would defer to the British courts.

The two dueling camps — Hendrix’s estate and Sony Music on one side and the estates of bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell on the other — have each filed their own lawsuit on opposite sides of the Atlantic over control of the rights to music created by the trio’s Jimi Hendrix Experience.

After a year of jockeying over which case should take precedence, a Manhattan federal judge ruled Tuesday that it should be Redding and Mitchell’s UK lawsuit. She pointed out that the English litigation had kicked off nearly a month earlier than the American case, and that a British appeals court had already ruled that their case could move forward.

“The litigation centers on estate matters in England, general release documents located in England, and copyright and intellectual property rights under English law,” Judge Ronnie Abrams wrote. “It can thus hardly be said that the courts of England are not an adequate forum.”

Hendrix teamed up with Redding and Mitchell in 1966 to form the Experience, and the trio went on to release a number of now-iconic songs before Hendrix’s death, including “All Along The Watchtower,” which spent nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 and peaked at No. 20.

The current fight kicked off in 2021, when Redding and Mitchell’s heirs sent a letter in the UK claiming they own a stake in Hendrix’s music and arguing that they’re owed millions in royalties. The Hendrix estate and Sony responded a month later by filing their own lawsuit in New York federal court, arguing that Redding and Mitchell signed away their rights shortly after the legendary rocker died in 1970, in exchange for “significant monetary consideration.”

But for over a year, the two sides have been duking it out over which case should proceed first. The Hendrix estate and Sony say the contractual releases, which will play a central role in the case, were all signed in New York as part of probate proceedings in that state. But Redding and Mitchell’s heirs have claimed the estate is merely trying to “circumvent” English courts to win a friendly judge in America.

“Plaintiffs are merely trying to win the race to the courthouse because they apparently believe this court will be more sympathetic to their claim than the English court before which it is now pending,” the Redding and Mitchell heirs wrote last year. “Such blatant forum shopping is not entitled to any deference.”

Last month, a London appeals court ruled that the U.K. case could proceed, regardless of what happened in New York. That ruling said that the New York releases might indeed end up being the “central aspect in the dispute,” but that the British case also dealt with broader issues of English law.

And on Tuesday, Judge Abrams cited that April ruling as a key factor in why she had decided that the New York case could wait until the British case was resolved.

“The London High Court’s lengthy decision finding jurisdiction over the English action underscores the appropriateness of that forum, and the merits of that action are now being actively litigated in English courts,” the judge wrote. “This action is hereby stayed pending the resolution of defendants’ action in England.”

Neither side’s attorneys immediately returned requests for comment.

Read the entire ruling here:

19 May 2023

Dr. Luke Named Songwriter of the Year at 2023 ASCAP Pop Music Awards

Dr. Luke was named pop music songwriter of the year at the 2023 ASCAP Pop Music Awards, which were held at Yamashiro Hollywood in Los Angeles on May 18. This is the third win in that category for Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald). He won in 2010, and shared the award with Max Martin in 2011.

In the 40-year history of the ASCAP Pop Music Awards, only three other songwriters have won pop music songwriter of the year three or more times. Martin leads with 11 wins, followed by Diane Warren with five. Lionel Richie is tied with Dr. Luke with three wins.

Dr. Luke won this year based on the radio airplay and number of streams for such hits as Latto’s “Big Energy,” Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” and a string of hits for Doja Cat, including “Need to Know,” “Woman” and “You Right.”

The pop music songwriter of the year is determined by the total number of a writer’s shares in ASCAP Pop Music Award-winning songs multiplied by the winning songs’ impressions, which are calculated based on Luminate data for terrestrial and satellite radio and streaming services.

“Stay,” performed by The Kid LAROI and ASCAP member Justin Bieber, who co-wrote the song, won ASCAP pop music song of the year. The synth-pop smash notched seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remained on the chart for 63 weeks, which set a new record for a Bieber single.

“Stay,” which is published by Universal Music Publishing Group and Bieber Time Publishing, took the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s year-end Radio Songs chart for 2022. On Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 Songs chart for 2022, it finished No. 3 – even though its points were split between two years. The song had finished No. 12 on the year-end Hot 100 Songs chart for 2021.

Sony Music Publishing took ASCAP pop music publisher of the year for the second year in a row and the eighth time overall. Sony/ATV tied with EMI in 2009. Sony/ATV won outright or tied as publisher of the year in 2009, 2013-15, 2017 and 2019.

Sony Music Publishing won this year based on the strength of such hits as “Break My Soul” (Beyoncé), “Hrs and Hrs” (Muni Long), “One Right Now” (Post Malone and The Weeknd), “Numb Little Bug” (Em Beihold) and “23” (Sam Hunt).

Other songwriters honored for their ASCAP Pop Music Award-winning songs included Billy Walsh (“Die for You,” “I Like You,” “One Right Now”), Cardi B (“Wild Side”), Dua Lipa (“Sweetest Pie”), Fousheé (“Bad Habit”), Greg Kurstin (“Easy on Me”), Henry “Cirkut” Walter (“Die for You,” “Unholy”), Kim Petras (“Unholy”), Louis Bell (“I Like You,” “One Right Now”), Phil Plested (“I’m Good (Blue)”), Sarah Hudson (“Sweetest Pie”), Sia (“Unstoppable”), Starrah (“Wild Side”), Theron Thomas (“About Damn Time,” “Big Energy”) and Vaughn Oliver (“Big Energy,” “Super Freaky Girl”).

A complete list of 2023 ASCAP Pop Music Awards honorees can be found on the ASCAP website.