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10 Apr 2023

Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ Tops Billboard Global Charts, Jisoo’s ‘Flower’ Blooms at No. 2

Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” remains the biggest song in the world, as it adds an 11th week at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated April 15).

Plus, Jisoo becomes the third member of BLACKPINK to have hit the top 10 on each chart, as her single “Flower” debuts at No. 2 on both rankings. Additionally, Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” reaches the top 10 of both tallies, rising to No. 8 on Global Excl. U.S. and No. 9 on the Global 200.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. surveys, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

Here’s the Dirt on ‘Flowers’ & ‘Flower’ on Global 200

Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” logs an 11th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200. It ties The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” (2021) for the third-longest command since the Global 200 began, after only Harry Styles’ “As It Was” (15 weeks, 2022) and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (13 weeks, 2020-23).

Jisoo’s “Flower” sprouts at No. 2 on the Global 200 with 108.7 million streams and 21,000 sold worldwide in its first week, ending April 6, following its March 31 release.

Jisoo becomes the third member of star South Korean pop quartet BLACKPINK to have hit the Global 200’s top 10 solo. Here’s a recap of their solo top 10 hits:

Rosé, “On the Ground,” No. 1 (one week), March 27, 2021
Lisa, “Lalisa,” No. 2, Sept. 25, 2021
Jisoo, “Flower,” No. 2, April 15, 2023

As a group, BLACKPINK boasts four Global 200 top 10s, including two No. 1s: “Pink Venom” (for two weeks last September) and “Shut Down” (one week, last October). (The foursome’s Jennie has yet to hit the Global 200. Still, the first member of the group to release solo music, she topped Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart with “Solo” in December 2018, before the global surveys began.)

Also notably, “Flower” makes the third-biggest streaming start for an artist’s proper debut focus track since the global charts originated. Its 108.7 million first-week streams worldwide trail only the opening frames of Lisa’s “Lalisa” (152.6 million, Sept. 25, 2021) and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” (130.1 million, Jan. 23, 2021).

The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die for You” holds at No. 3 on the Global 200, after reaching No. 2; Jimin’s “Like Crazy” drops 2-4 in its second week; and Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” rebounds 6-5, after hitting No. 3 in January.

Also in the Global 200’s top 10, Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” ascends 11-9, with 63.9 million streams (up 23%) and 1,000 sold (up 24%) worldwide.

Quartet Eslabon Armado, from California, achieves its first Global 200 top 10, while Peso Pluma, from Mexico, adds his second, in as many weeks: “La Bebe,” with Yng Lvcas, holds at its No. 7 high in its second week in the region.

Cyrus, Jisoo Also Nos. 1 & 2 on Global Excl. U.S.

As on the Global 200, Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” claims an 11th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. Only Harry Styles’ “As It Was” has led longer since the latter list began (13 weeks, 2022).

Jisoo’s “Flower” debuts at No. 2 on Global Excl. U.S. with 103.3 million streams and 16,000 sold outside the U.S. March 31-April 6.

Jisoo is the third member of BLACKPINK to have reached the Global Excl. U.S. top 10 solo, as she earns the fourth solo top 10 hit among them. Here’s a recap of their solo top 10s:

Rosé, “On the Ground,” No. 1 (one week), March 27, 2021
Lisa, “Lalisa,” No. 2, Sept. 25, 2021
Lisa, “Money,” No. 7, Oct. 23, 2021
Jisoo, “Flower,” No. 2, April 15, 2023

BLACKPINK has notched four Global Excl. U.S. top 10s, including three No. 1s: “Lovesick Girls” (for one week in October 2020), “Pink Venom” (three weeks, last September) and “Shut Down” (one week, last October).

Jimin’s “Like Crazy” descends 2-3 in its second week on Global Excl. U.S.; Karol G and Shakira’s “TQG” falls 3-4, after it debuted at No. 1 on the March 11 chart; and The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die for You” drops 4-5, after reaching No. 3.

Elsewhere in the Global Excl. U.S. top 10, Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” jumps 12-8, led by 46.3 million streams (up 24%). Eslabon Armado earns its first top 10 on the tally, while Peso Pluma banks his second; “La Bebe,” with Yng Lvcas, ranks at No. 7, a week after reaching the tier with a 20-6 vault.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated April 15, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (April 11). For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

10 Apr 2023

Dee Snider on Letting Gun Control Advocates Use ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’: ‘Sometimes You Have to Say Enough is Enough’

Dee Snider isn’t gonna take it anymore. The Twisted Sister singer says the time has come to stand up to those who would use his band’s most famous song to promote conspiracy theories.

“QAnon uses it all the time as their battle cry,” Snider tells Billboard about the long-running conspiracy theory that posits that the world is run by a shadowy group of Satan-worshiping pedophiles that allegedly includes prominent Democrat politicians and Hollywood celebrities.

“And people are like, ‘Dee, you support QAnon?’ No I do not so I need to speak out,” he adds as an explanation for why he recently agreed to a fan’s request to use his band’s 1984 Billboard Hot 100 No. 21 hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as their anthem in the decadeslong fight to ban the type of military-style assault weapons frequently used in mass shootings in the U.S.

So, when it came to tying the song to intelligent gun control, Snider, a proud gun owner, said the answer was simple: “Yeah, I support this cause. It’s an important one.” In fact, when the request came in, Snider’s exact words in an enthusiastic tweet were, “I am a gun owner… That said, HELL YEAH YOU CAN USE ‘WE’RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT’ AS YOUR ANTHEM! Assault weapons were never meant for anything but combat!”

Asked if he made the decision in the wake of the recent mass shooting at Nashville’s Covent School in which the assailant killed three 9-year-old children and three adults, Snider said, “it goes on and on. In the wake of the one before that and the one before that. It’s just insane, it’s ridiculous and it’s something we just talk about forever.”

As Snider suggested, following the nation’s 132nd mass shooting so far this year — there was yet another one on Monday (April 10) in Louisville in which four people were killed and eight injured — gun rights advocates are afraid “to give an inch because people will take a mile. We’ve seen that with so many things before, but sometimes you have to say enough is enough.”

Snider — who was revealed last week as Doll on The Masked Singer — said that when he wrote “We’re Not Gonna Take It” he purposely left the meaning open to interpretation, even as he confirms that the underlying message is one about “everybody’s freedom and rights.” But, as he’s been vocal about in the past, he sometimes “disagrees strongly” with some of the people who’ve co-opted it and made it seem like he supports their cause.

Case in point, after initially giving his Celebrity Apprentice boss and friend Donald Trump permission to use his band’s signature rebel anthem on the campaign trail during the recently indicted one-term president’s first White House bid in 2016, Snider later asked The Donald to stop playing it at his rallies.

At the time he said, “It wasn’t an endorsement. We all have friends who have different views politically but you can go on vacation with them… But I had to ask him to stop using the song. I said, ‘I didn’t realize some of the things you were going to represent — the wall, banning Muslims. I can’t get behind some of these things,’ and he said ‘OK’ and stopped using it and that was it.”

Check out Snider’s tweets below.

10 Apr 2023

The Woman Behind Music’s Most Important Catalog Valuations Explains How It’s Done

When it comes to the red-hot market for music rights, the only people who may be more important than the buyers and sellers are number crunchers like Nari Matsuura.

The Ottawa, Ontario, native is the partner of Barry Massarsky and founder of the valuation division of their music economics and valuation services practice at Citrin Cooperman, one of just a handful of firms that calculate the future growth rates and discounts essential to determining a music catalog’s market value.

From 2021 to 2022, Matsuura estimates she oversaw 750 catalog valuations totaling $15.5 billion for such clients as Hipgnosis Songs Fund, Primary Wave and Reservoir Media.

But as billions have flooded the music intellectual property market, the practice of valuing catalogs has encountered unexpected controversy, with Massarsky and Matsuura’s team occasionally in the middle. Banks put considerable weight on catalog valuations when determining how much to lend to a buyer, and some question whether Citrin Cooperman’s discount rate — which has not budged since spring 2022 — ignores macroeconomic pressures, such as the rising cost to borrow, that could affect valuations. Lower valuations could lead banks to decrease the amounts they lend overall, which could have a cooling effect on the market. “The reason we did not increase our discount rate along with the rising interest rate environment is because we had originally started at a higher discount rate so that we could accommodate for that rise,” Matsuura says. “We knew that this low interest rate environment was not sustainable in the long term.”

A copy of King Crimson’s 1997 Epitaph album “signed by the original members of the band. It contains live performances of the 1969 progressive rock album In the Court of the Crimson King, which is one of my favorites.

A copy of King Crimson’s 1997 Epitaph album “signed by the original members of the band. It contains live performances of the 1969 progressive rock album In the Court of the Crimson King, which is one of my favorites.”

Rebecca Smeyne

Matsuura says she’s confident that she and her team are “doing a credible and responsible job.” Her solemn, studious demeanor suggests that she is unruffled by the pressures of her work — perhaps the byproduct of her past as a concert pianist. Matsuura attended The Juilliard School in Manhattan from the age of 15 and spent her 20s performing concerts and solo chamber music across North America and Asia before pivoting to the financial side of the industry she loved. “There was something about quantifying the abstract — the future — that appealed to me,” she says.

After graduating from Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business in 2001, fellow Cornell alumnus Massarsky recruited Matsuura to join what was then the one-man firm of Massarsky Consulting. The two sold the firm to Citrin Cooperman in 2022 and are now growing its team of analysts to accommodate the increasing demand for their services.

“There were many early signals that valuation would become an important expertise in this industry,” Matsuura says. “Clients were already asking us to do valuations of smaller assets such as music libraries. We did not know at the time that the investment market would become so big.”

Why is independence so important to your job?

Our job is to provide the market value of a catalog or portfolio of catalogs, and being independent is critical to achieving that. Capital is raised based on the values of these assets, and there needs to be confidence that the valuation was arrived at independently in order to do so. A few of the ways in which we achieve that independence are one, being consistent in our methodology across all of the funds, including the application of growth rates, and two, solving for the market value, not for an individual fund’s purchasing ability based on their hurdle rate [the individual investor’s rate of return].

“Schumann’s Sonata in F sharp minor is a piece that I used to perform a lot as a concert pianist. It is one of my favorite pieces in the piano repertoire.”

“Schumann’s Sonata in F sharp minor is a piece that I used to perform a lot as a concert pianist. It is one of my favorite pieces in the piano repertoire.”

Rebecca Smeyne

What factors do you consider when valuing a catalog?

Our job is to determine the market value of a given music catalog using different inputs that go into a valuation model. One of them is the discount rate, but the majority of inputs that go into developing the model are actually growth rates. How the music industry is performing across different income streams — and it’s performing very strongly — is another consideration.

What role does the discount rate play in the process?

From a discounted cash-flow perspective, future cash flows are discounted to the present value. The present value represents the value of the catalog. The discount rate represents the return on your investment, essentially.

How do you calculate the discount rate?

The essential method is the weighted average cost of capital, [about] which we’ve refined our thinking over time. We factor in an equity-risk premium, a beta [the measure of an asset’s volatility in relation to the overall stock market] of 0.65%. So, what would the risk-free rate — which is probably best represented by the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond — need to be to potentially raise or change the discount rate of 8.5%? Our view based on the numbers is that there is still margin before a change can be considered.

How much margin?

I’ve described some of the inputs, but they aren’t fixed in stone. That’s one reason why it’s difficult to say, “This is the number.” There are two schools of thought on when to change the discount rate. The first is if the risk-free rate is high enough to suggest that that margin has been eroded. The other school of thought is that you should change the discount rate not based on small fluctuations in the risk-free rate or fluctuations in where it will peak, but rather based on where it will eventually land in the long term. We’re talking about a long-lived asset.

“My daughter likes to do origami, and these really brighten up the office,” Matsuura says.

“My daughter likes to do origami, and these really brighten up the office,” Matsuura says.

Rebecca Smeyne

When you say “long term,” what kind of time period do you have in mind?

We do a 15-year projection, but the actual asset is 95 years after the death of the composer. Thinking about where this rate is going to land in the long term makes more sense [for calculating] the discount rate. The question is how and when to make that determination — that crystal ball. We are attentive to the risk-free rate and to the possibility of changing that rate. But it would be hard to be beholden to an exact number.

What debt-to-equity profiles do you consider in your ­calculations?

Our mandate is really to solve for the market and, to the best of our ability, come up with the market value of an asset. We can’t take into account the capital structure or debt-to-equity profile of any given acquirer because that would just be solving for their purchase price, and that wouldn’t necessarily represent market value. So we use a 50-50 ratio to represent an overall industry capital structure ratio in our valuations. And we use that repeatedly.

What are you seeing in terms of multiples? From Billboard’s estimates, it appears that superstar catalogs these days get around 20 times-plus multiples, while most others fall below that.

Multiples are tricky, and should not be used to price a catalog. There are always unique aspects to each catalog that can’t be captured in a multiple. Standards catalogs — older catalogs — are getting on average 20-plus multiples because they have stood the test of time.

Have you observed bias in the music asset investment marketplace in the form of preference for certain genres? If so, what effect has that had on sales or asset valuations?

I don’t know that I have observed bias. What I can definitely say is that all of the funds have excellent investment teams that conduct thorough due diligence and carefully develop their own models. What I can also observe is that transactions are taking place across a wider range of genres compared [with], say, five years ago. Investors are open to investing in many different types of music. Although this may be a result of more competitors in the market, which has led to exploring more thoroughly all the different types of music that can be potentially acquired.

“This is the textbook used in my valuation class at Cornell. I certainly didn’t realize then how important what I learned would be.”

“This is the textbook used in my valuation class at Cornell. I certainly didn’t realize then how important what I learned would be.”

Rebecca Smeyne

How much does success on TikTok affect a catalog’s value? How do you forecast royalties from that kind of source?

TikTok can impact the value of a catalog in different ways. It may raise the overall value on a long-term basis — for example, the effect of [viral videos featuring] “Dreams” on Fleetwood Mac’s catalog — or it may have a more temporary effect. The way we forecast royalties from TikTok is by using comps — that is, TikTok spikes from similar titles and artists — and we’ll also consider whether there may be momentum following the spike that could generate additional value to the song or even catalog.

If Spotify raises its subscription price later this year in the current inflationary market, how would that affect the economics for digital service providers and rights holders?

Music is a relatively price-inelastic product whose business model essentially reversed itself, from a CD model of $18 for 18 tracks, or $1 per track, to the streaming model — which, at $10 per month for unlimited listening of an unlimited number of tracks, is effectively a marginal cost of zero for each additional track. This is so reasonable that consumers are less price sensitive to it than other goods, and an increase in the subscription price should for the most part lead directly to additional revenue for the DSPs and rights holders.

10 Apr 2023

Here’s Why Lizzo is Declaring Herself a ‘Disney Princess’ Following ‘Mandalorian’ Cameo

Lizzo is reasoning that she’s officially a Disney princess, and she’s got some sound logic to back it up. Following her cameo as the “Dutchess” of Plazir-15 in a recent episode of The Mandalorian, the 34-year-old hitmaker posted a TikTok declaring herself amongst the ranks of Cinderella, Mulan and Snow White.

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“YALL I JUST REALIZED THAT IM ROYALTY IN STAR WARS WHICH IS DISNEY WHICH MAKES ME A DISNEY PRINCESS,” she wrote in the TikTok, in which she confidently ruffles her hair and poses with a pair of sunglasses.

In her caption, though, the “Truth Hurts” musician did amend her statement to be slightly more accurate: “*Disney Dutchess.”

Fans in her comments were definitely down with the idea of Princess Lizzo, with one fan entertaining the idea: “Brunch with Princess Tiana, GRWM videos with Snow White, vacationing with Moana.”

“Screaming,” Lizzo replied to the commenter.

The Grammy winner guest starred in the Star Wars spinoff’s “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire” episode alongside Jack Black’s Captain Bombardier, the two of them playing leaders of the far-off planet Plazir-15. Pedro Pascal’s titular character crosses paths with the powerful couple while on a side quest search for the former crew of Bo-Katan (played by Katee Sackhoff).

“When I was a young girl my dad introduced me to Star Wars like a rite of passage,” Lizzo wrote April 6, one day after the episode aired on Disney+. “The [trilogies] are his favorite movies and quickly became mine. When Jon Favreau called me and offered the role of The Dutchess I cried all day wishing my dad was still with us cus he’d be so proud.”

“Star Wars was a dream I never thought was possible— but thanks to Jon, Bryce, and everyone in the galaxy I am now part of the ever-expanding saga of the stars,” she added. “I am in honorable company and forever grateful. This is The Way…. and May the Force be with you.”

10 Apr 2023

Morgan Wallen’s ‘Last Night’ Returns to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” rebounds to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. It first reigned four weeks earlier, marking the country singer-songwriter’s initial leader on the list.

The track is from Wallen’s LP One Thing at a Time, which spends a fifth week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated April 15, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (April 11). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Up 3-1 on the Hot 100, “Last Night,” released on Big Loud/Mercury/Republic Records, drew 35.1 million streams (down 2%) and 29.7 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 25%, good for the chart’s top Airplay Gainer award) and sold 10,000 downloads (up 1%) in the March 31-April 6 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The track tops the all-genre Streaming Songs chart for a fifth week; holds at No. 3 on Digital Song Sales, following a week at No. 1; and jumps 30-21 on Radio Songs. A growing multi-format radio hit, it ascends to No. 17 on the Country Airplay chart, No. 21 on Pop Airplay and No. 23 on Adult Pop Airplay.

“Last Night” concurrently leads the Hot Country Songs chart, which uses the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a ninth week. It became just the 20th song to have topped both tallies – and the first by a solo male unaccompanied by any other acts in over 42 years, since Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night” ruled Hot Country Songs for a week in January 1981 and the Hot 100 for two weeks that February-March.

As “Last Night” has now ruled Hot Country Songs for nine weeks and the Hot 100 for two, it’s the first song with multiple weeks atop each chart since Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (10 and three weeks at No. 1, respectively) in 2012. It’s the first such hit by a solo male and no accompanying acts since Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy” (three and two weeks, respectively) in 1975. The only other titles by unaccompanied solo males to have topped Hot Country Songs and the Hot 100 for multiple weeks each: Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl” (1973), Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey” (1968), Jimmy Dean’s “Big Bad John” (1961), Marty Robbins’ “El Paso” (1959-60) and Johnny Horton’s “The Battle of New Orleans” (1959).

SZA’s “Kill Bill” rises 4-2 on the Hot 100, adding an eighth week at its No. 2 high. It wins top Sales Gainer honors (6,000, up 158%, helped by 69-cent sale-pricing in the iTunes Store), as it zooms 25-8 to become her fifth top 10 on Digital Song Sales.

“Kill Bill” simultaneously dominates the multi-metric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs charts for a 16th week each. On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, it passes Mary J. Blige’s “Be Without You” (15 weeks at No. 1 in 2006) for the longest reign for a song by a woman in a lead role since the survey became an all-encompassing genre chart in 1958.

Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” slips 2-3 on the Hot 100, after eight weeks at No. 1, starting upon its debut in January. It logs an eighth week atop Radio Songs (102.2 million in audience, down 4%).

Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage’s “Creepin’ ” rebounds 5-4 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 3; The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die for You” lifts 6-5, following a week at No. 1 in March; and PinkPantheress and Ice Spice’s “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” pushes 7-6, after hitting No. 3.

Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” climbs 8-7 for a new Hot 100 high. It tops the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for a 32nd week, extending the longest command since the list began a year ago (in partnership with music festival and global brand Afro Nation).

Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” reverses course, 9-8, on the Hot 100, following a personal-best eight weeks at No. 1 in November-January. It has spent 23 weeks in the top 10 – one week shy of Swift’s longest stay in the region, set by “Shake It Off” in 2014-15.

Coi Leray’s “Players” rises 10-9 on the Hot 100, returning to its best rank, as it leads the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart for a fourth week.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Bailey Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place” re-enters the tier, up 13-10, revisiting its best rank first reached two weeks earlier. As previously reported, the songs tops Country Airplay for a third week.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated April 15), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (April 11).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

10 Apr 2023

Mariah Carey Celebrates Easter With ‘Bunny Kisses’ & a ‘Huge Side of Gratitude for All!’

Mariah Carey took to social media on Sunday (April 9) to give the Lambs a peek at her festive Easter celebrations with Dem Babies and friends.

“Happy Easter!!” the singer captioned a video featuring a late-night visit from none other than the Easter Bunny himself. As an instrumental version of her 2008 single “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time” plays, a pajama-clad Carey sneaks the Easter Bunny downstairs to help him plant a giant golden egg in the backyard for her 11-year-old twins to find in the morning.

The Lambily absolutely loved seeing the certified Queen of Christmas teaming up with yet another holiday icon, with one writing, “DANG you know the Easter bunny too?! I’m envious.” Another fan was using Mariah’s discography for their own Easter celebrations, “Happy Easter to you and your family Queen! Currently listening to Fly Like a Bird on this Holy Sunday…love you!”

In another clip posted hours later, Mimi wrote, “Bunny kisses and orange soda with a huge side of Gratitude for All! Happy Easter!” and showed off the sweet gray bunny she’d adopted for the holiday. (“Does he eat, like, little carrots and stuff?” she asks as Roc and Roe play with their new pet in the grass.)

The Elusive Chanteuse, who’s set to headline L.A.’s Pride in the Park along with Megan Thee Stallion this coming June, most recently celebrated her latest “anniversary” of turning a year older with a tropical vacation that involved jumping off yachts and nearly swimming with sharks.

Check out Mariah’s bunny-filled Easter festivities below.

10 Apr 2023

ABBA Guitarist Lasse Wellander Dies at 70: ‘He Will Be Deeply Missed & Never Forgotten’

Lasse Wellander, longtime guitarist for ABBA, has died at 70, the band confirmed in a statement on Monday (April 10). A second statement was posted to Wellander’s official Facebook page, and revealed that he passed away on Friday, April 7, due to cancer.

“Lasse was a dear friend, a fun guy and a superb guitarist. The importance of his creative input in the recording studio as well as his rock solid guitar work on stage was immense,” band members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Frida (Anni-Frid) Lyngstad wrote in an Instagram post featuring the late guitarist.

ABBA concluded its Instagram statement by adding, “We mourn his tragic and premature death and remember the kind words, the sense of humour, the smiling face, the musical brilliance of the man who played such an integral role in the ABBA story. He will be deeply missed and never forgotten.”

A statement on the late artist’s Facebook page was also remembered the guitarist. “It is with indescribable sadness that we have to announce that our beloved Lasse has fallen asleep. Lasse recently fell ill in what turned out to be spread cancer and early on Good Friday he passed away, surrounded by his loved ones,” the message read. “You were an amazing musician and humble as few, but above all you were a wonderful husband, father, brother, uncle and grandfather. Kind, safe, caring and loving … and so much more, that cannot be described in words. A hub in our lives, and it’s unbelievable that we now have to live on without you.”

While Wellander was not a part of ABBA’s core lineup, he served as the group’s lead guitarist for decades, starting in 1974, and played on several of ABBA’s recordings, live concerts and tours in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1980. Most recently, Wellander’s guitar playing appeared on ABBA’s 2021 album, Voyage, which hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

Wellander also had a series of musical endeavors outside of ABBA, first dating back to 1968 and his teenage years while playing in Peps & Blues Quality, which later reformed to become Nature with Mats Ronander as its singer and harmonica player. (When Nature disbanded in 1977, Wellander and Ronander teamed up to form Wellander & Ronander.)

Other groups the guitarist played in included Zkiffz (1980), Little Mike and the Sweet Soul Music Band (1983–1986), Stockholm All Stars (1985–1988), Low Budget Blues Band (1983–1994) and the Vikings (2004). Wellander recorded solo music of his own through the 1970s to 1990s, and went on a hiatus of making his own material until 2017, when he released multiple singles and an album, Lasse Wellander 2017/2018. His latest solo release was single “O Come, All Ye Faithful” in November of 2022.

10 Apr 2023

‘American Idol’ Contestant Tearfully Apologizes to Katy Perry for Duet Week Drama: Watch

After a week of misunderstandings and onstage drama, American Idol hopeful Nutsa Buzaladze is redeeming herself. On the latest episode of the competition series, she tearfully apologized to Katy Perry — who last week told the 25-year-old singer to have more “grace” — and shared her take on what went down during her contentious duet rehearsals with Carina DeAngelo.

During last week’s duet round performances, DeAngelo threw Buzaladze under the bus by telling Perry and co-judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie that “some people wanted to sleep instead of working.” Buzaladze was visibly upset about the remark, but chose to keep silent — even as the “Firework” singer instructed her, “don’t forget about grace.”

“I wanted to tell my side of the story and I felt so bad, I was frozen,” she tearfully reflected in a sit-down with the judges that aired Sunday (April 9). “I didn’t want to bring negative energy, so that’s why I didn’t say nothing. I didn’t speak up because I didn’t want to cry on stage. After I left the stage I was just destroyed. So I wanted to apologize for that.”

Immediately, Perry stood up and hugged Buzaladze — who, in spite of the drama, moved forward to the next round while DeAngelo was sent home. “That is great,” Perry said. “That’s so wonderful and Nutsa, what I meant by grace is that it’s OK to be determined and ambitious and edgy and strong, but also with grace.”

“I really relate to you because I know what’s like to be a strong woman … to want to be strong and to never break and feel like nothing can ever get to me but that’s not real,” she added. “You’re a real person with a big heart and a big talent.”

In an April 4 Instagram post, Buzaladze — who this week proceeded to perform a show-stopping solo rendition of Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” — explained in more detail what happened offstage between her and DeAngelo. “I want y’all to know that I took a 17-hour flight to get to LA, just 1.5 days before the shooting,” she wrote. “I did not know that we had additional vocal rehearsals, probably I missed this information , my bad. However, once Carina called me, I prepared myself and came back, as soon as I could, to rehearse even more.”

“I realized Carina was not feeling comfortable by that time and I did my best to rehearse as much as she wanted, I really wanted to make this experience unforgettable for both of us,” she continued. “She is a very talented girl, with strong vocals and I am sure she will achieve a lot in her career life and I wish her all the best.”

Watch Nutsa Buzaladze apologize to Katy Perry on American Idol below:

10 Apr 2023

8 Must-Hear New Country Songs: Brothers Osborne, Tanya Tucker, Ray Fulcher & More

Brothers Osborne unleash a trio of new tracks this week, while Tanya Tucker celebrates her upcoming Country Music Hall of Fame induction with a first glimpse into her upcoming album. Meanwhile, Aaron Crawford nods to his trusty six-string companion, and Ray Fulcher and Tenille Arts team for an ode of gratitude.

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See latest videos, charts and news

Brothers Osborne, “Nobody’s Nobody,” “Might as Well Be Me” and “Rollercoaster (Forever and a Day)”

Hitmakers and critical darlings Brothers Osborne team with a new producer, Mike Elizondo, as they return with a trio of gut-punching tracks, marking their first music since the deluxe version of their Skeletons album. “Nobody’s Nobody” is a heartening track that nods to the fact that everyone makes an impact on somebody. “Some people never ever make a name/ But change the game in someone’s story,” TJ sings, backed by John’s bluesy guitar work.

“Might as Well Be Me” is a careening barn burner, with a rollicking groove every bit as impressive as the duo’s previous hit “It Ain’t My Fault,” while maintaining that “Somebody’s gotta shake things up… might as well be me.” Notably, they change gears on the piano and string-led ballad “Rollercoaster,” delving into a romance between two emotional polar opposites and the balance they each bring to the relationship. These well-grounded tracks are a promising glimpse into their upcoming album.

John King, “Make More Time”

King has already proven his sturdiness as a songwriter (through penning songs including Randy Houser’s “We Went”) and an artist (via his 2021 album Always Gonna Be You). But in his latest, he ponders the gravitas of everyday moments — a childhood birthday, or a phone call with an octogenarian loved one — in light of mortality. King’s supple vocal can ride the smooth tenor notes before breaking into a baritone just raspy enough to capture the longing and resignation in the line, “I can make a little money on the side/ But damn, I can’t make more time.”

Tanya Tucker, “Kindness”

Newly minted Country Music Hall of Fame inductee-elect Tucker wasted no time capitalizing on the announcement of her upcoming inclusion into country music’s most coveted membership, announcing her new album, Sweet Western Sound, to arrive June 2. As with many tracks on her previous effort, the Grammy-winning While I’m Livin’, the first taste of her upcoming project, “Kindness,” finds Tucker reflecting on her sinuous life journey, along with the lessons learned through the zeniths and hollows.

“I found glory in the ruins of the best-laid plans,” she ruminates triumphantly on this track, written by twin musician-writers Tim and Phil Hanseroth (known for their work with Brandi Carlile, who co-produced Sweet Western Sound with Shooter Jennings). Beyond the reflection, she pleads for kindness and understanding, and with her signature vocal, Tucker delivers.

Aaron Crawford, “Strings of This Guitar”

Northwest native Crawford telegraphs a nod to his constant companion of “wood and wire,” a well-worn six-string guitar that “took me on a winding road that dreamers understand,” on this tale of ambition-fueled perseverance. Along the way, his notes his trusty guitar has not only served as a bolster for his voice, but a salve for onstage loneliness and anxiety. The woozy, emotional ties depicted within should resonate with any number of musicians and artist-writers.

Chase Matthew, “Come Get Your Memory”

With his latest, Matthew aims squarely for the country/rock and bro-country-tinted amalgam dominating country streaming charts at the moment. In this track Matthew wrote with Casey Brown and Jordan Minton, he faces a home filled with his ex’s memories and begs to her to take them, along with everything else she took when the relationship fizzled. The radio-ready “Come Get Your Memory” is the title track to Matthew’s upcoming debut album for Warner Music Nashville, a 25-song sprawl out June 9.

Nicholas Jamerson, “Billy Graham Parkway”

Sinewy guitar fills this stately-sounding track, which ponders the greed and emptiness in the years and months leading up to a three-car pileup on Billy Graham Parkway. “Was the money you made worth the price that you paid/ Selling Jesus on cable TV?” Jamerson sings pointedly on this track, which was written by Jamerson’s late friend, Allun Cormier. The song takes its name from a stretch of road in Charlotte, North Carolina named for the evangelist Billy Graham. Jamerson’s upcoming album, Peace Mountain, releases May 19.

Ray Fulcher with Tenille Arts, “After the Rain”

The multi-talented Fulcher is known in songwriting circles for contributing to a range of hit songs for artists including Luke Combs (“When It Rains It Pours,” “Does to Me”) and as an artist on his own project Spray-Painted Line. Here, he teams with “Somebody Like That” hitmaker Tenille Arts for this earnest ode of love and gratitude for someone who “picked up the pieces when my heart was breaking/ since you showed up nothin’s been the same.” Their vocal interplay is terrific, with Arts’ penetrating soprano balancing Fulcher’s warm baritone. Fulcher wrote the song with AJ Pruis and Matt Jenkins, together crafting a song that serves as a balm of gratitude in a divisive age.

Remy Garrison, “As I Go”

While numerous country songs amount to little more than a list of nostalgic country “bona fides,” Alabama native and Nashville resident Garrison distills a list of her own — namely, a rundown of lessons she’s learned about love. “Don’t let a fool kiss ya/ Don’t let a kiss fool ya,” and “Don’t shop for white on an empty heart,” are a few of of the hard-fought gems Garrison advises, on this track written by Adam Wood, Lena Stone and Taylor Watson. Garrison is known for her previous single releases such as “Anymore” and “Young and Restless,” but this release further showcases her ear for sturdy songcraft and interpretive talents.

10 Apr 2023

Diddy Moonwalks Claim Of Paying Sting $5K Daily For Sample

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A social media post by Diddy concerning alleging that he paid daily – and hefty – royalty payments to Sting had many people buzzing until he walked it back.

The entertainment mogul initially became a topic of discussion after a viral video showed the British singer-songwriter stating that he was receiving $2,000 a day in royalty payments due to Diddy not obtaining permission to use a sample from his hit song with The Police, “Every Breath You Take”. Diddy had quote-tweeted the video on Friday (April 7th) and said “Nope. 5k a day. Love to my brother @OfficialSting,” adding more speculation to the mix. But that would be short-lived.

Later that day, Diddy returned to his Twitter account to discount everything. “I want y’all to understand I was joking! It’s called being Facetious! Me and @OfficialSting have been friends for a long time! He never charged me $3K or $5K a day for Missing You. He probably makes more than $5K a day from one of the biggest songs in history. LOVE.”, he wrote with a smiling face emoji.

The sample in question was used for Diddy’s smash hit “I’ll Be Missing You”, released in 1997 in tribute to The Notorious B.I.G. after his death two months earlier that year in Los Angeles. The song would go on to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year. Diddy hadn’t contacted Sting for the usage of the sample, resulting in his being sued in 2002. In the viral clip from a 2018 appearance on The Breakfast Club, when asked about the veracity of getting royalties for Diddy, Sting said it was true and that it was “for the rest of his life.”

The “Fields Of Gold” singer has mentioned that he won royalties from Diddy in a past 2003 Rolling Stone Q&A and that they “were good friends still”. He even joked about it when asked about his legacy: “All the songs can live on. Hey! P. Diddy’s grandchildren can rerecord “Every Breath You Take.” However, there isn’t anything on public record that contains accurate details on what the ruling amount actually was. Many speculated that if the alleged $5,000 payment was real, it would mean that Sting got close to $50 million since the song’s 1997 publication.