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22 Feb 2023

Pink Reveals Madonna Invited Her & Gwen Stefani to Be Part of That Iconic VMAs Kiss With Britney Spears

Apparently, Pink was originally supposed to be part of Madonna‘s iconic VMAs performance with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Who knew?

In a Wednesday (Feb. 22) radio appearance on KTU 103.5, the “Just Give Me a Reason” singer revealed that the Queen of Pop had actually asked her — and Gwen Stefani, she thinks — to be part of the infamous 2003 spectacle, during which Madonna individually kissed Aguilera and the “Toxic” singer as Justin Timberlake, who had recently split from Spears, looked on from the audience.

“I think we all were [invited],” Pink recalled. “I think Madonna wanted to kiss all of us. I was in Costa Rica at the time, having all kinds of fun with my boyfriend Carey Hart. Gwen Stefani was also invited, I remember. It was a bunch of us.”

“It was going to be a party,” added the pop star, who’s been married to Hart since 2006, grinning slyly. “It would’ve been a really weird party.”

The revelation comes about a month after Jennifer Lopez said that she, too, had originally been approached for Madge’s steamy performance. The Shotgun Wedding actress had actually gotten as far as meeting with Spears and Madonna at the legendary artist’s home to discuss possibilities, but ultimately, Lopez was unable to get away from the movie she was filming at the time.

“I didn’t wind up doing it, but yeah, we had talked about it,” Lopez said in a January interview. “I love Madonna. I’m a huge fan, I always have been.”

Watch Pink talk about the Madonna kiss that never came to be below:

22 Feb 2023

Taylor Swift Wins IFPI’s 2022 Global Recording Artist of the Year Award

LONDON – Taylor Swift has added more hardware to her overflowing trophy cabinet with the star being crowned 2022’s Global Recording Artist of the Year by international trade group IFPI. It’s the third time that Swift has won the annual honor, which recognizes the year’s best-selling act across physical sales, downloads and streaming worldwide, making Swift the most successful artist in the award’s 10-year history.

Swift previously won the honor in 2014 and 2019 and placed second in last year’s chart behind K-pop group BTS. She also charted in the top three of IFPI’s global artist rankings in 2015, 2017 and 2020. BTS and Drake are the only other acts to have collected the award more than once, with two wins apiece, while Swift becomes the first artist to receive it three times.

Announcing the award, IFPI chief executive Frances Moore called Swift “a truly magnificent international star, who continues to grow and evolve as an artist whilst maintaining an incredibly strong connection with her fans around the world.”

Swift’s 10th studio album, Midnights, was released in October, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and moving 1.578 million equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week – the biggest sales week for any album in nearly seven years, according to Luminate. Midnights spent five weeks atop the Billboard 200, as well as topping charts around the world, including five weeks at No.1 in the United Kingdom. IFPI did not provide global sales figures for Swift.

Second in IFPI’s 2022 Global Artist Chart, which measures worldwide consumption across all formats and an artist’s entire body of work, not just music released last year, was K-pop superstars BTS. It is the group’s third consecutive year in the Top 3 following back-to-back wins in 2020 and 2021.

Drake placed third, ahead of Bad Bunny, who becomes the first-ever artist from Latin America to enter IFPI’s Top 5. It was also a successful year for acts from South Korea with boy bands SEVENTEEN and Stray Kids charting at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, while Jay Chou is the first Taiwanese artist to feature in the Top 10. The United Kingdom is represented by Harry Styles (No. 8) and Ed Sheeran (No. 10), with Canada’s The Weeknd charting at No. 5. The full Top 20 list can be seen below.

IFPI Top 20 Global Recording Artists of 2022
1/ Taylor Swift 
2/ BTS 
3/ Drake 
4/ Bad Bunny 
5/ The Weeknd 
6/ SEVENTEEN 
7/ Stray Kids 
8/ Harry Styles 
9/ Jay Chou 
10/ Ed Sheeran 
11/ Eminem 
12/ Kanye West 
13/ YoungBoy Never Broke Again 
14/ Kendrick Lamar 
15/ Lil Baby 
16/ Billie Eilish 
17/ Post Malone 
18/ Juice WRLD 
19/ The Beatles 
20/ Imagine Dragons 

22 Feb 2023

Rihanna Tops Artist 100 Chart for First Time Thanks to Super Bowl Performance Gains

Rihanna vaults from No. 22 to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 (dated Feb. 25), becoming the top musical act for the first time since the chart began in 2014, thanks to catalog gains following her performance at the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show on Feb. 12.

Rihanna performed 13 songs during her set, and in turn, generated her largest streaming week ever, according to Luminate. Her song catalog earned 166.1 million U.S. on-demand official streams in the week ending Feb. 16. That’s up 156% compared to the previous week’s sum of 65 million. (She logged her previous best streaming week in the week ending Feb. 25, 2016, when her collected songs rung up 101.5 million clicks in the U.S., shortly after the release of her most recent studio album, Anti.)

Five of Rihanna’s albums chart the latest Billboard 200: Anti (No. 8), Good Girl Gone Bad (No. 15), Unapologetic (No. 18), Loud (No. 26) and Talk That Talk (No. 49). She becomes just the seventh act in the last 50 years to chart at least five albums in the top 50, joining Taylor Swift (who has claimed at least five titles in the region 18 times, including on the latest chart), Mac Miller (once following his death in 2018), Prince (three times, following his death in 2016), Whitney Houston (three times, following her death in 2012), the Glee cast (once in 2010) and Garth Brooks (four times in 1992).

On the Billboard Hot 100, Rihanna tallies four songs, three of which are former No. 1s that re-enter: “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z (No. 37), “Diamonds” (No. 44) and “We Found Love,” featuring Calvin Harris (No. 48). Her latest single, “Lift Me Up,” which debuted at No. 2 in November, rises 52-41.

Among other Artist 100 chart moves, Paramore re-enters at No. 5, marking the trio’s first top 10 appearance, thanks to its new studio album, This Is Why. The set opens at No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 64,000 equivalent album units earned. It earned the act its first No. 1 on the Alternative Airplay chart, among six top 10s, with the title cut earlier this month.

The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

22 Feb 2023

Morgan Wallen’s ‘Last’ Helps Him Be First on All Five Billboard Country Charts

Morgan Wallen leads all five of Billboard’s country charts (dated Feb. 25), becoming the first artist to achieve the quintuple domination since Luke Combs nearly four years ago.

Wallen’s “Last Night” tops the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs list for a second week, with 28.3 million U.S. streams, 1.3 million in radio airplay audience and 10,000 sold in the Feb. 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate.

“Last Night” also leads Country Digital Song Sales for a third week and Country Streaming Songs for a second week.

Concurrently, Wallen banks his eighth Country Airplay No. 1 with “Thought You Should Know” (33.2 million, up 4%). Both songs preview his 36-track album One Night at a Time, due March 3.

On Top Country Albums, Wallen’s prior LP, Dangerous: The Double Album, spends its record-extending 95th week in the penthouse (44,000 equivalent album units).

Wallen is the first act to rule all five country surveys since Combs dominated the charts dated March 9, March 30 and April 6, 2019.

One other artist has led all five charts simultaneously: Kane Brown, on Oct. 28, 2017.

‘Anyway,’ Here’s More

Luke Combs scores his 18th Hot Country Songs top 10 as “Love You Anyway,” which he co-penned, blasts in at No. 3. It drew 17.7 million streams and sold 9,000 downloads in its first week.

The song introduces his third LP, the 18-track Gettin’ Old, due March 24.

“Anyway” marks Combs’ fifth top 10 Hot Country Songs debut, a haul that includes a No. 1 launch in November 2020 for “Forever After All,” which went on to reign for 10 weeks.

Combs’ current single being promoted to country radio, “Going, Going, Gone,” from his 2022 album Growin’ Up, ranks at No. 8 on Hot Country Songs after reaching No. 5 in January. It drew 9.7 million streams and sold 2,000 in the latest tracking week. On Country Airplay, it pushes 4-3 for a new best (29 million, up 6%).

22 Feb 2023

After Years of the Industry Selling Her Short, Kim Petras Is Glad People Are Finally ‘Catching On’

When Kim Petras emerged from beneath Sam Smith’s layered pink tulle gown on Saturday Night Live in January, it was a perfect visual metaphor for her presence on the Hot 100 chart-topper they were performing, “Unholy.” Cooing and belting about her virtues as a no-hassle, dirty-chic sugar baby, Petras was magnetic — the hit’s secret weapon, revealed.

Two weekends later, at the Grammy Awards, Petras had an even more definitive moment in the spotlight. “Unholy” won best pop duo/group performance, and, at Smith’s behest, Petras accepted the award, exuding joy and liberation in a speech that became a high point of the night. “I just want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight,” said the German singer, who in that moment became the first out trans artist to ever win a major-category Grammy.

Kim Petras photographed by Vijat Mohindra Dec. 19, 2022 at Locus One Studio in Los Angeles.

Nikita Karizma top and bottom, Laurel DeWitt wrist cuffs.

Vijat Mohindra

Changing the game has become habitual for the dance-pop devotee, who signed to Republic in summer 2021. In October, “Unholy” made Petras and Smith the first openly trans and nonbinary artists, respectively, to top the Hot 100 in its 65-year history. When Madonna introduced their performance of “Unholy” at the Grammys, thanking a new generation of “rebels out there, forging a new path and taking the heat for it,” it felt like both a coronation and vindication for Petras, who, since her 2017 arrival, has always carried herself like a main pop girl but has only recently started to be treated like one.

“My whole life revolves around strong, amazing women who do whatever they want and have an artistic point of view,” says this year’s Chartbreaker, casually vaping beneath a hoodie. “[They’re] the reason I found the power in myself to do what I do.”

Kim Petras photographed by Vijat Mohindra Dec. 19, 2022 at Locus One Studio in Los Angeles.

JimmyPaul top and scarf.

Vijat Mohindra

Is the industry treating you differently since “Unholy” became a smash?

Hell yeah. [Before] it was like, “Oh, the gays love her,” but people didn’t want me on their songs. I didn’t get budgets approved. It was rough. I’ve been an independent artist for so long just hustling and playing clubs, and now different people are hitting me up to collaborate and get in the studio. It’s cool that people are catching on.

TikTok played a role in breaking “Unholy” before radio paid attention. What are your thoughts about the app?

I love the humor — nothing is so serious on there. I like that more weird songs blow up on TikTok than you would expect, like “Running Up That Hill.” The new generation just cares if they like the song. There’s less industry control because of TikTok.

Kim Petras photographed by Vijat Mohindra Dec. 19, 2022 at Locus One Studio in Los Angeles.

Laurel DeWitt wrist cuffs.

Vijat Mohindra

This is your biggest hit, and first major one without Dr. Luke as a collaborator. People have questioned your working relationship with him. Do you see “Unholy” as a chance to move past it?

I’ve always been a songwriter. Anything I’ve done, I’ve been a big part of writing. I’ve always collaborated with different people and producers. Luke is the one person people like to pick out and be like, “This is obviously who has to write all of this girl’s music because she can’t be talented and that’s a big name.” But I am here because I’m good at writing, and I do my sh-t.

What was it like playing SNL with Sam?

It means the world to me. Even growing up in Germany, SNL was a huge thing. I’m a huge comedy fan, and I love Bowen [Yang] on the show. We’ve kind of become friends — there’s this really sweet story of Bowen listening to [my song] “I Don’t Want It at All” before his SNL audition.

Kim Petras photographed by Vijat Mohindra Dec. 19, 2022 at Locus One Studio in Los Angeles.

Laurel DeWitt earrings, body chain, bra, and wrist cuffs.

Vijat Mohindra

In the last five years, how much has the industry changed its attitude toward trans artists?

A lot. When I tried to sign to [labels] in the beginning of my career, it was like, “What is the fan base going to be? How do we market this? There isn’t a place for you.” Then I went to gay clubs and built a solid fan base and showed everyone it’s possible. Now they have to accept it. I’m happy there are more trans artists now that are being taken seriously. I just don’t want to be the last.

Who are some of your career idols?

Cher. Nicki Minaj. Madonna. Lana Del Rey. Marina. Kylie [Minogue]. The list goes on. Women in pop music were my only friends in high school — they were everything I wanted to be and [gave me] the strength I [needed] to transition and live my life authentically. They gave me the strength to be myself.

Kim Petras photographed by Vijat Mohindra Dec. 19, 2022 at Locus One Studio in Los Angeles.

Kim Petras photographed by Vijat Mohindra on Dec. 19, 2022 at Locus One Studio in Los Angeles. Laurel DeWitt wrist cuffs, JimmyPaul boa.

This story will appear in the Feb. 25, 2023, issue of Billboard.

22 Feb 2023

Karol G & Shakira Announce the Collaboration ‘You’ve All Been Waiting For’

“We know what you’ve all been waiting for and here we are,” Karol G and Shakira jointly posted on social media on Tuesday (Feb. 21) announcing their highly anticipated collaboration.

The pair will join forces for “TQG,” which will be part of Karol’s upcoming new album, Mañana Será Bonito, set to drop Feb. 24. It’s the first time the Colombian superstars unite for a track. The photo of them side-by-side kneeling on a dirt-like surface doesn’t reveal much about the actual song, but fans are already predicting it will be a hit. Fellow artists such as Anitta and Becky G reacted by writing “wow” or commenting two crown emojis.

Shakira is just one of a handful of collaborations featured on Karol’s album. Mañana Será Bonito will also include collabs with  Quevedo, Carla Morrison, Sean Paul, Sech, Bad Gyal, Justin Quiles and Angel Dior. It also includes previously released hit singles “Provenza,” “Cairo” with Ovy on the Drums, “Gatubela” featuring Maldy, and the Romeo Santos-assisted “X Si Volvemos.”

Mañana Será Bonito will be her fourth studio album. It will follow her 2021 Grammy-nominated KG0516, which scored Karol her first No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Latin Albums. The set earned the biggest week for a Latin album by a woman since Shakira‘s 2017 El Dorado.

Meanwhile, Shakira is currently making the rounds with her Bizarrap Music Session, “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” The diss track, released in January, peaked at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart. With her music session, Shakira ties with Bad Bunny for the fourth-most No. 1s overall, both with 12.

See the collaboration announcement below:

22 Feb 2023

Joel Zimmerman Joins Range Media as Partner in Music Division

Joel Zimmerman has joined the management, production and business development firm Range Media Partners, where he will serve as a partner in the music division, the company announced Wednesday (Feb. 22). In his new role at Range, which launched in 2020, Zimmerman will represent clients with a focus on long-term career strategy, creative development, cross-over positioning, branding, IP and global touring.

“I’m most passionate when I have a vision for an artist’s career path or see where a new market can be created, while having the right set of resources to not only ideate but bring it all to fruition,” said Zimmerman. “I believe the best and most forward-thinking cultural platform for music talent is at Range. The team’s ability to mobilize with very high-level resources, combined with a truly amazing company culture, makes for the best breeding ground to turn the biggest dreams into reality. I am so excited to be building at Range and to make a positive impact on the continuously evolving industry.”

Prior to joining Range, Zimmerman had a 13-year run at WME, where he helped break artists including Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams, Steve Lacy, Avicii, Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki, Psy, Kygo, Swedish House Mafia and Deadmau5. Altogether, Zimmerman served as an architect of the U.S. electronic music boom of the early to mid-2010s, particularly as he developed the template for Las Vegas DJ residencies. During this same era, Zimmerman signed The Weeknd and helped guide the artist to superstar status.

“Joel has consistently managed to cut through the noise — and competition — by landing clients lucrative touring, club and festival deals, as well as crossing them into other entertainment arenas,” said Range Media Partners CEO Peter Micelli. “The result of his groundbreaking work has created new pathways and platforms that break future stars and legitimize new music genres.”

“We could not be more excited to welcome Joel to Range,” Micelli added. “He is the preeminent thought leader in the music industry and a true force of nature, with an inherent ability to identify talent and looming trends. We’re thrilled to add an executive and partner of his caliber to the company.”

22 Feb 2023

Kim Petras: Photos From the Billboard Women in Music Shoot

When Kim Petras emerged from beneath Sam Smith’s layered pink tulle gown on Saturday Night Live in January, it was a perfect visual metaphor for her presence on the Hot 100 chart-topper they were performing, “Unholy.” Cooing and belting about her virtues as a no-hassle, dirty-chic sugar baby, Petras was magnetic — the hit’s secret weapon, revealed.

Two weekends later, at the Grammy Awards, Petras had an even more definitive moment in the spotlight. “Unholy” won best pop duo/group performance, and, at Smith’s behest, Petras accepted the award, exuding joy and liberation in a speech that became a high point of the night. “I just want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight,” said the German singer, who in that moment became the first out trans artist to ever win a major-category Grammy.

Changing the game has become habitual for the dance-pop devotee, who signed to Republic in summer 2021. In October, “Unholy” made Petras and Smith the first openly trans and nonbinary artists, respectively, to top the Hot 100 in its 65-year history. When Madonna introduced their performance of “Unholy” at the Grammys, thanking a new generation of “rebels out there, forging a new path and taking the heat for it,” it felt like both a coronation and vindication for Petras, who, since her 2017 arrival, has always carried herself like a main pop girl but has only recently started to be treated like one.

Read the full interview with Billboard Women in Music’s 2023 Chartbreaker here.

22 Feb 2023

Reservoir Buys Catalog of Jazz Legend Sonny Rollins

Reservoir Media said Wednesday it acquired the publishing and recorded rights to the catalog of jazz living legend Sonny Rollins — aka “The Saxophone Colossus.”

A recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Grammys, Rollins is perhaps best known for his 1956 album Saxophone Colossus and its track, “St. Thomas,” which has been deemed “culturally, historically…significant” by the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

A regular collaborator of other jazz giants Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, Rollins continued to release music, including his 2001 Grammy-winning album This is What I Do and 2006 Grammy-winning solo “Why Was I Born?”

“I’m happy that Reservoir will be helping to maintain my musical legacy, which was created in concert with so many great musicians I’m proud to be associated with,” Rollins said in a statement announcing the acquisition.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, with Reservoir adding that it includes a “mix of rights across Sonny’s entire catalog.”

Rollins catalog is a body of work spanning more than 70 years of “musical innovation,” Rell Lafargue, Reservoir president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.

“I first learned of Sonny through his music, playing ‘St. Thomas’ as a young jazz student, and it’s incredibly meaningful that Reservoir and I can now commit to preserving Sonny’s musical legacy and amplifying his contributions to the artform for audiences old and new,” Lafargue said.

22 Feb 2023

Black Thought Shares “Love Letter To Hip Hop” For Its 50th Anniversary

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Black Thought manages to still dazzle as a lyricist and had done so with expert ease since the 1990s, so it is fitting that his latest missive salutes the culture that raised him. As part of BET’s yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, Black Thought shares a potent tribute titled “Love Letter To Hip Hop.”

Black Thought, known to most as the frontman for The Roots, used the tribute to highlight the culture’s beginnings in the inner city of New York and the purpose of unity that sparked its inception. Further, Thought uses the moment to highlight the likes of mogul Sylvia Robinson and other women who paved the way such as Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Sha Rock, and Roxanne Shante.

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Some of Thought’s contemporaries are mentioned in the poetic tribute such as Common, Jay-Z, and A Tribe Called Quest, and also expertly shouts out regions outside of the usual East Coast locales such as Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, and more.

Benny Boom directed the visually stunning piece that captures Black Thought’s crystal clear delivery and gives it a necessary punch since the ode is delivered acapella.

Check out Black Thought saluting the culture as only he can in the video shared below.



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Photo: VALERIE MACON / Getty