djfrosty

03 Feb 2023

AOC Blasts GOP On House Floor Over Racism & Xenophobia

HipHopWired Featured Video
House Oversight Committee Holds Organizational Meeting

Source: Kevin Dietsch / Getty

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned her Republican colleagues in a fiery speech on the House of Representatives floor over their hypocrisy and racism.

On Thursday (February 2nd), the Republican majority prepared to vote to remove Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Their reasoning was tied to claims that Ms. Omar was over comments that she made in the past that they deemed antisemitic.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez took to the House floor to call out the GOP members’ hypocrisy as she defended her Democratic colleague. “Now as also as a fellow New Yorker, I think one of the things we should talk about here is also one of the disgusting legacies of 9/11 has been the targeting and racism against Muslim Americans throughout the United States of America. And this is an extension of that legacy,” she began.

Her voice rising, Ocasio-Cortez referenced her treatment by far-right Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), who had previously attacked her with an offensive tweet. “I had a member of the Republican caucus threaten my life,” she said. “And the Republican caucus rewarded him with one of the most prestigious committee assignments. Don’t tell me this is about consistency.”

She would go on to attack Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for her racism & conspiracy theories including “Jewish space lasers”, remarking that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has already rewarded her with plum committee assignments for her support of his speakership. Ocasio-Cortez finished her speech, punctuating it by slapping her book on the podium: “This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America. Don’t tell me, because I didn’t get a single apology when my life was threatened. Thank you.”

Rep. Omar, who is one of two women Muslim representatives elected to the House along with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) in 2018, has been a constant target of right-wingers. Before the 218-211 vote to remove her, she spoke on the floor, saying: “I am Muslim. I am an immigrant. And interestingly, from Africa,” Ms. Omar said. “Is anyone surprised that I am being targeted?” She concluded amid the applause of her Democratic colleagues: “Take your vote or not — I am here to stay.”

03 Feb 2023

Inside Spotify’s Star-Studded Best New Artist Party

Year after year, Spotify’s Grammy Week party delivers what no other party does: performances from every best new artist nominee on the same stage on the same night. 

And sure, with 10 nominees, that does lead to a rather long evening as the sets spread out over nearly five hours, but that hardly stopped the closing act from delivering a headline-worthy rock show, prompting the first and only mosh pit of the night.

With a guest list full of future best new artist hopefuls such as Orville Peck, jxdn, Joshua Bassett, Role Model, Yung Gravy and more, past nominee Kid Laroi was also in attendance. Plus, a handful of stars showed up, including Machine Gun Kelly, Shawn Mendes, Charlie Puth, Diplo, Tove Lo, Aly & AJ and so many more.

After turning last year’s event into a first-of-its kind best new artist brunch – held at Encore Beach Club at Wynn in Las Vegas – 2023’s edition at Los Angeles’ Pacific Design Center was a welcome return to the party guests have come to know and love. 

Below are the best moments from the night, courtesy of each best new artist nominee. 

7:32: Instrumental jazz duo Domi and JD Beck opened the night with a captivating set that not only served as the perfect entry music, but also set a high bar for the acts to follow. Drummer JD Beck joked about playing “anti-party music” while Domi later took her shoes off and jokingly declared the duo to be the “Worst New Artist.”

7:52: Emerging bluegrass artist Molly Tuttle wowed the room with her quick and vibrant strumming, amplified by a four-piece string band. Tuttle sounded crisp and cutting, briefly transporting the captivated audience – which included an attentive Orville Peck – to a setting more akin to Newport Folk Festival. 

8:11: Performing alongside a pianist, upright bassist and drummer, Samara Joy turned the sprawling tented venue into an intimate late-night club – think New York’s Blue Note. The jazz singer stunned with her soaring vocals, and caught even more of the room’s attention with her cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You.” 

8:35: Muni Long became the first performer of the night to welcome backup dancers and a prop – in the form of a silver chaise lounge – to the stage. She not only upped the ante with her production value, but delivered bar-raising vocals to match. Her voice was a force, even battling it out briefly with an electric guitar. Before her set wrapped, she wished the crowd a happy Black History Month, plugged her upcoming show and fittingly ended with breakout hit “Hrs and Hrs.” 

9:33: Following a surprise DJ set from the week’s most in-demand performer, DJ Pee Wee (Anderson .Paak), he introduced the celebrated Italian rockers Maneskin to the stage. “Hello everybody, we’re Italian rockers and we play rock n’ roll – at least, we try,” quipped frontman Damiano David. Wearing matching all white suits, the Eurovision winners shredded through “Begging,” “I Wanna Be Your Slave” and more, delivering a stadium-worthy rock show. In the absence of any pyro or other rock show staples, David settled for sprinkling water over the front row to cap off the set.

9:53: Nearly three hours in, Latto took the stage at the perfect time to bring the “big big energy,” performing her hit “Big Energy.” Supported by her DJ and flanked by backup dancers, Latto genuinely seemed to be having a blast on stage, engaging with the audience and smiling through each move. 

10:03: Opening her set in a denim trench to perform “Lobby,” Anitta soon after joked, “Good thing the votes are already counted.” Yet she still delivered an expectedly fiery set, including some signature twerking as an appetizer to “Envolver,” which continued to stand out as a party starter.

10:31: As the stage spins around to reveal Tobe Nwigwe, the first thing to stand out is the set fit for Architectural Digest, with two ivory arched structures on either end framing Nwigwe and his backup vocalists in the center. The singer-rapper treated the audience to a moment of all-consuming zen, momentarily making the otherwise fast-paced party seem to slow down and tune in.

11:03: The crowd thickened for Omar Apollo’s anticipated set, for which he asked, “Is everybody drunk right now? What’s the vibe here?” As the second-to-last performer, Apollo left quite the impression, performing fan favorites including “Go Away” and Endlessly” before warning the crowd his closer is “really f–king sad.” He told no lie, as he finished with the still-growing ballad “Evergreen.”

11:28: Following an epic flute introduction, indie-rock duo Wet Leg took the stage for the evening’s grand finale, and judging by the floor that began to shake from all the jumping, the act was a perfect choice. The rockers treated the brief set the same as their own headlining shows, letting their instruments do most of the talking. The performance included “Wet Dream” and, of course, ended with the song that started it all, “Chaise Lounge.” As a mosh pit began to pick up steam, the pair grinned, as if to say even they couldn’t believe this quirky song started it all.

03 Feb 2023

Music Investing Start-Up JKBX Partners with GTS Securities For Equities Trading

JKBX, a start-up offering retail investors fractional shares in thousands of hit songs, is partnering with electronic market-making firm GTS Securities for U.S. equity trading, the companies said in a joint statement Friday (Feb. 3).

The partnership is a sign that investing in songs and catalogs rights — a burgeoning asset class so far open to only the biggest, most monied music fans — is taking another step toward the mainstream. By teaming up with the electronic market maker GTS, JKBX is positioning itself to have one of the most prominent platforms when it launches its public offerings in late 2023.

Pronounced “jukebox,” chief executive Scott Cohen says JKBX has acquired $1.7 billion in music rights and is aiming to acquire $4 billion in rights before their LLC offerings go live. Once those regulation a+ initial filings are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, everyday investors will be able to buy bite-sized investment stakes in songs by current artists and back catalogs belonging to rock legends for a price starting at around $10.

“A handful of private equity firms, multinational corporations and major labels control the most valuable music rights in the world,” Cohen said in the statement. “JKBX’s platform will allow these entities and other significant rights holders to unlock the true value of these assets by offering them to retail investors to buy and sell in a regulated marketplace.”

Cohen, who co-founded The Orchard and was previously Warner Music Group’s chief innovation officer, last year named Matt Brown, formerly of Citadel and Ripple, as JKBX’s chief technology officer tasked with building out the tech powering the platform. With a high-frequency quantitative trading firm, GTS is responsible for nearly $13 trillion of market capitalization — or 3-5% of the daily cash equities volume in U.S. stock markets — making it a designated market maker. Through the partnership, JKBX will gain access to GTS’s technology, a competitive digital advantage in accessing U.S. public markets.

“GTS excels in making markets for every major financial asset class and providing enhanced liquidity through sophisticated, real-time pricing,” said GTS Securities co-founder/CEO Ari Rubenstein in a statement. “This same expertise can be applied to music royalties, which represent the next exciting tradeable asset class.”

03 Feb 2023

First Country: New Music From Dierks Bentley, Ashley McBryde, Shania Twain, Corey Kent & More

First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos & albums that dropped this week.

Dierks Bentley with Ashley McBryde, “Cowboy Boots”

“They ain’t broke in until they’ve broke a few horses and some hearts,” Dierks Bentley sings in this sentimental ode to trusty, dusty old boots. Joining Bentley is is another superb, rootsy-warm vocalist, Ashley McBryde. Together, they bring all out the best nuances in this track, which is included on Bentley’s upcoming album Gravel & Gold, out Feb. 24.

Shania Twain, Queen of Me

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Shania Twain returns with the album Queen of Me, her followup to 2017’s Now. Here she nods to the current culture’s fervent nostalgia for ’90s music — both pop and country. With three top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (“You’re Still the One,” “That’ Don’t Impress Me Much,” “From This Moment On”), Twain has been one of the foremost architects of the ear-catching, euphoric pop-country blend, and brings to this new project a continuation of the peppy, empowering messages (see songs such as inescapably danceable “Giddy Up!” and “Not Just a Girl”), layered over staunchly pop productions that legions of fans have come to expect. Given her battle with health issues including Lyme disease and dysphonia, Twain’s vocal does sound different than her projects from the mid-’90s, but she uses her voice’s newly gritty texture with great impact, as it lends an added toughness to her defiant, triumphant storylines such as “Brand New” and “Queen of Me.”

Morgan Wallen, “Everything I Love”

Leading up to the March 3 release of his upcoming massive, 36-track album One Thing at a Time, Wallen released three new songs this week: “Last Night,” “Everything I Love” and “I Wrote the Book.” “Everything” is the most traditional country of the three, holding on to his country/rock/hip-hop hybrid, while incorporating a ’70s Allman Brothers vibe — and the the lyrics offer a direct nod to the Brothers’ classic “Midnight Rider” on the lyric, “We were listenin’ to ‘one more silver dollar’/ Hanging out in my Silverado.”

Corey Kent, “Man of the House”

Kent follows his radio hit “Wild as Her” with this moody, autobiographical track about a boy forced to grow up a little too fast, trying to “fill shoes that ain’t my size” in order to make up for the hole left by an absent father. The memories and inner struggle tumble out as his voice runs the gamut from subdued and husky to an angsty near-scream as the memories and inner struggles tumble out, before he muses that now grown up and a father, he’s still “a boy trying to be the man of the house.” A solid showcase of Kent’s maturing acumen as a songwriter and vocal interpreter.

4Runner, “Ragged Angel”

This group first signed with Polydor in 1995, released their debut track “Cain’s Blood” and earned followup hits. Years later, they disbanded to raise their respective families. But now, they return with their first release in nearly two decades, on a reimagined version of a song they first released in 2004 — and a new baritone singer, with lead singer Craig Morris’ son Sam. In that time, it’s clear the group’s Eagles-esque, full-bodied harmonies are perfectly intact on this uplifting and buoyant track, which feels like a perfect throwback in an era filled with nostalgia for 1990s and 2000s country sounds.

Charles Wesley Godwin, “The Jealous Kind”

Godwin’s scruffy voice offers bone-baring honesty on this cover of Chris Knight’s “The Jealous Kind,” accompanied by cool piano licks and haunting bass lines. He and his band kick up the tempo, leaning into the urgency reverberating through the song’s storyline, detailing a guy outrunning the law to reach his wayward lover.

“I never drove two days through the pouring rain just stopping for coffee and gas,” he sings. “Never outrun the law on the interstate/ Didn’t know this thing’d go that fast … but there’s always a first time.”

03 Feb 2023

Depeche Mode Announces New Song ‘Ghosts Again’: Here’s When It Arrives

Depeche Mode shared the news on Friday (Feb. 3) that their new single, “Ghosts Again,” is on its way.

“Ghosts Again, the first single off Depeche Mode’s next album Memento Mori, comes out February 9th, 2023,” Martin Gore and Dave Gahan shared in a social media post featuring the album artwork as well as promo for the song popping up on murals, bus stations, subway stops and more. “Set your clocks for Feb 9, 6:00 PM CET/5:00 PM GMT / 11:00 AM ET / 8:00 AM PT.”

With its Tuesday (Feb. 9) release, “Ghosts Again” will serve as the ’90s icons’ first single since “Where’s the Revolution,” “Going Backwards” and “Cover Me” off their 2017 album Spirit. It is also the first new music to be released by the synth-pop band since the sudden death of co-founder Andy Fletcher in May 2022 at age 60. Depeche Mode announced the following month that their utility player died from an aortic dissection.

Fans of the band seemed confused by the single’s announcement after thinking the song was meant to drop as part of New Music Friday. “omg i thought it‘s coming out todaaayyyy,” one wrote. Another complained, “broooo come on I’ve been checking Spotify all morning.”

The confusion seemed to stem from a countdown clock the duo posted seven days prior, pointing to something major coming that turned out to be … another four-day wait.

“Then what was the countdown for,” one follower demanded, while another complained, “So the extraordinary announcement expected for a week is the announcement that we will have to wait another week? this story starts well..”

Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” received a major streaming bump last month thanks to its use in the pilot episode for the new HBO series The Last of Us. The synch even shot the 1987 classic to No. 1 on Billboard‘s LyricFind U.S. and LyricFind Global charts (dated Jan. 28).

Check out Depeche Mode’s “Ghosts Again” announcement below.

03 Feb 2023

GAYLE, Yung Gravy, Anderson .Paak & More: Music Stars at 2023 Grammy Week Events

The 2023 Grammy Awards are nearly upon us! Though the ceremony takes place on Sunday, Feb. 5, artists who are preparing to make their appearance at the ceremony have touched down in Los Angeles in advance for a series of both public and private events for the period dubbed Grammy Week. And while fans may not be able to attend them all, Billboard has you covered with this gallery of photos that features snaps of music stars who showed up to the Grammys pre-parties.

Thursday (Feb. 2) saw Warner Music Group host a star-studded party at the Hollywood Athletic Club in Los Angeles. Saweetie was among the stars to pose for photos on the carpet. During the event, Anderson .Paak — who showed up in his now-signature shiny bowl cut and sunglasses combo — gave the turntables a spin as DJ Pee Wee. Best new artist nominee Omar Apollo took to the stage to perform, and Nile Rodgers cleared the dance floor to bust a move.

The Recording Academy Honors presented by The Black Music Collective also took place on Thursday. Ciara and Lil Wayne posed for photos while sitting at the tables, Dr. Dre accepted the Recording Academy Global Impact Award that night, and attendees were treated to entertaining performances from Busta Rhymes (“Put Your Hands Where Your Eyes Can See,” “I Know What You Want”) as well as Chlöe, who dazzled with covers of songs by Aaliyah and Missy Elliott (“One in a Million” and “One Minute Man”).

Young stars such as Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and GAYLE also turned up at the many Grammy Week events. See photos of the stars at the various gatherings.

03 Feb 2023

11 Grammy Duets & Collaborations You Probably Forgot About

There’s a reason the Grammy Awards are called Music’s Biggest Night. Since the first ceremony in 1959, musicians, singers, songwriters, producers, recording engineers, executives and more have united annually to celebrate and recognize outstanding achievements in the industry.

Although it’s the awards that bring everyone together, the Recording Academy’s annual ceremony has grown to become a major musical showcase of its own. Now, performances can be just as headline-making as winners — especially when two or more acts take the stage for a surprise team-up. For instance, Prince and Beyoncé stole the show in 2004 when they performed a medley of hits that included “Purple Rain” and “Crazy In Love.” Elton John and Eminem’s performance of “Stan” at the 2001 Grammys still has people talking today. And back in 1980, Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond stole the show by singing “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” live for the first time together.

With over half a century of show-stopping sets, there are likely dozens of acts you may not remember having taken the stage together. Some pairings are more surprising than others (Metallica and Lady Gaga’s 2017 team-up surely had heads turning), but all of them captivated audiences, bringing together artists both old and new to make history live on stage.

Ahead of the 2023 Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 5) — which will feature performances from Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Stevie Wonder, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs, Steve Lacy, Lizzo, Kim Petras and Sam Smith and more — Billboard rounds up 11 epic duets and collaborations you may have forgotten about, in no particular order, below.

03 Feb 2023

More Signings Fail To Produce More Stars

From 2001 to 2004, the music industry produced a steady stream of new artists with big hits: At least 30 first-timers landed in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 each year. In 2022, only 12 new acts managed the feat (plus a pair of songs from the Encanto cast). “This is the hardest time to break through and market music,” one manager tells Billboard.

It’s not for lack of trying: In recent years, labels have been signing acts at whirlwind speed, yet this surge of new signings hasn’t yet amounted to a surge of new stars. And some executives worry that the dry spell is partly due to the recent wave of signings, claiming that the majors have inked deals at a rate beyond their ability to provide service.

“The over-signing of [the] COVID [era] is now a pain point at every label,” says one manager with multiple acts on majors. If staff growth doesn’t keep up with roster growth, artists don’t necessarily get the care they need to level up. “No one has enough product managers. So they’re all getting crushed.”

“It is not humanly possible for a product manager — the person responsible for the story of the artists, the story of the music — to creatively, strategically and efficiently implement marketing for 20 artists at one time,” says Craig Baylis, a former major-label product manager who runs the boutique publishing company Eighth & Groove. Record companies often “aren’t getting the best out of [their staff] because they are ramming them with all of these artists that they’re not even getting the chance to know.”

All the major-label groups have broken new artists in the last few years, of course, whether it’s Olivia Rodrigo (Universal Music Group), Steve Lacy (Sony Music) or Zach Bryan (Warner Music Group). In a January letter to staff, UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge reaffirmed the company’s commitment to this task, writing, “We diligently work, day in and day out, to break our artists and songwriters.” While speaking with investors last year, Sony Music chairman Rob Stringer said “creative staff,” which encompasses A&R, marketing, product managers and artist relations, had increased at a faster rate than artist roster size, helping launch new acts onto the streaming charts.

Roster size numbers are difficult to come by, but in 2017, a study organized by the RIAA found that major labels had signed 658 artists that year, up from 589 in 2014. Although the RIAA hasn’t released a follow-up, many lawyers and executives say the rate of signings has climbed since that report. Two senior executives believe the number of deals is now as high or higher than it has ever been; Sony Music told investors that new signings rose 32.4% between 2017 and 2021.

The recent wave of signings is in part a byproduct of streaming becoming the main revenue source at the majors. The biggest streaming services pay rights holders according to their share of total plays on the platform. But low-cost distribution has brought a “vast and unnavigable number of tracks” into the music ecosystem, as Grainge put it in his staff memo. Streams for those tracks eat into big record companies’ piece of the pie. If tens of thousands of new tracks are added to streaming services daily, “then [major-label] market share is going to be diluted by default,” Stringer explained last year.

Signing more is a way of fighting back. “For major labels, independents and distributors, it’s all about volume of signings now,” says Andreas Katsambas, who was a senior vp at BMG before joining the analytics company Chartmetric as president/COO.

This puts major labels in a bind: They need to sign and release more to keep market share up, but this makes it harder for each artist signed to get the attention they need to break through.

“Intelligent marketing is not going to be a facet of developing artists today if record companies are going to continue doling out artists, singles and projects at the frequency that they do,” says Baylis. “There is a high level of fatigue that product managers are experiencing.”

A former major-label employee who left to go into management agrees that product managers and marketers tend to be “completely overworked.” “A digital person may have 60 projects,” he adds. “It’s crazy.”

Mike Caren, founder of the publishing company and independent label APG (and former president of global A&R at WMG), points out that “even the best marketer is limited by the number of hours in the day and days in the week.” He adds: “Executing an artist’s vision is time-intensive, and the best artists challenge their teams with unique ideas that take a lot of time to properly deliver. Capacity is a key metric to determine when choosing a label or team.”

This may be especially true today, when the ability to grow audiences seems increasingly like the most important service a label can offer. Artists no longer need to turn to majors for national and international distribution or studio-quality recording equipment; now, anyone can get those things from their laptop while sprawled on the couch. Instead, “gaining awareness is the most challenging thing for anyone that releases music,” Katsambas says. “Awareness more than anything else, and then engagement and retention.”

Are those goals compatible with high-volume signing? “It’s hard creating a game plan for longevity for some of these artists that are really talented and deserving,” Baylis says, “because executives are charged with just feeding the beast called the DSPs.”

03 Feb 2023

Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, John Legend & More to Join DJ Khaled for ‘God Did’ Performance at 2023 Grammys

DJ Khaled is set to appear on the 2023 Grammy Awards telecast with collaborators Fridayy, Jay-Z, John Legend, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross to perform “God Did,” which is nominated for song of the year, best rap song and best rap performance.

DJ Khaled is also nominated for album of the year and best rap album for the album of the same name. “Beautiful,” another track from the album, is up for best melodic rap performance.

Jay’s participation in the collaboration means he is sure to be in the house for what is expected to be a big night for his wife, Beyoncé. Bey is up for nine awards, more than any other artist this year. If she wins three of them, she will tie the late classical conductor Sir Georg Solti for the most Grammys ever. If she wins four, she’ll set a new record.

Jay-Z is nominated for five awards, including double nominations for song of the year. He is nominated in that marquee category for co-writing both “God Did” and Bey’s “Break My Soul.”  If he wins even one of his five nominations, he’ll surpass Kanye West as the most-awarded rap artist in history. The two rap stars are currently tied for that distinction with 24 wins each.

This year’s Grammys will have a strong hip-hop emphasis. On Thursday (Feb. 2), the Academy announced a star-studded salute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. LL Cool J will host the segment, which will include performances by Big Boi, Busta Rhymes with Spliff Star, De La Soul, DJ Drama, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Missy Elliott, Future, GloRilla, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Mele Mel and Scorpio/Ethiopian King, Ice-T, Lil Baby, Lil Wayne, The Lox, Method Man, Nelly, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Rahiem, Rakim, RUN-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa and Spinderella, Scarface, Swizz Beatz and Too $hort.

Lizzo and Mary J. Blige, the longtime queen of hip-hop soul, are also set to perform on the show. In addition, Quavo will be joined by Maverick City Music for a performance of Quavo’s sentimental ballad “Without You” to honor Takeoff, who died on Nov. 1 at just 28.

The 65th Annual Grammy Awards will air live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and will be hosted for the third year in a row by Emmy-winning comedian Trevor Noah. The show will be broadcast live on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS, and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

The Recording Academy made its first performers announcement on Wednesday (Jan. 25), revealing a slate of Lizzo, Bad Bunny, Blige, Carlile, Luke Combs, Steve Lacy, and Sam Smith and Kim Petras. Harry Styles was announced as an addition to the lineup on Sunday (Jan. 29) during the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship game.

On Wednesday (Feb. 1), the Academy announced that the In Memoriam segment at the 2023 Grammy Awards will include breakout tributes to three diverse artists who died last fall — Loretta Lynn, Christine McVie and Takeoff.

Kacey Musgraves will perform Lynn’s 1970 classic “Coal Miner’s Daughter” in tribute to the country legend, who died on Oct. 4 at age 90; Sheryl Crow, Mick Fleetwood and Bonnie Raitt will team to perform “Songbird” from Fleetwood Mac’s album of the year-winning Rumours to honor McVie, who died on Nov. 30 at age 79.

Earlier Friday, the Academy announced that Stevie Wonder would be performing in a spot that features his longtime Motown colleague Smokey Robinson as well as country star Chris Stapleton.

The 65th Annual Grammy Awards are produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy. Kapoor serves as showrunner and executive producer, alongside Winston and Jesse Collins as executive producers. Phil Heyes joins the team for the first time as director. Eric Cook is co-executive producer with Tabitha Dumo, Tiana Gandelman, Patrick Menton and David Wild as producers.

Prior to the telecast, the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony will be broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater at 12:30 p.m. PT and will be streamed live on live.Grammy.com. Randy Rainbow, a first-time Grammy nominee this year for best comedy album for A Little Brains, A Little Talent, is co-hosting the show. His co-host has yet to be named.

03 Feb 2023

How Elton John’s Record-Breaking Farewell Tour Became an $800 Million Behemoth

After nearly 60 years in the music business, there’s precious little Elton John hasn’t already achieved. The icon has sold millions of records, toured the globe countless times and even saw the biopic based on his life, Rocketman, win honors at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes. But this week he added another accolade to his extensive collection, and one that sets a mind-boggling record: his multiyear Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour became the highest-grossing tour of all time, and the only one to surpass $800 million in gross, passing Ed Sheeran’s Divide tour for the title.

John’s outing isn’t even over yet, and there’s still the possibility that this tour crosses even higher benchmarks before all is said and done. But it’s already a crowning achievement for Debra Rathwell, the executive vp of global touring and talent at AEG Presents, who promoted the trek. And the milestone earns her the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.

Here, Rathwell breaks down how the tour came together and became so successful, the strategy behind moving up from arenas to stadiums midway through, the challenges posed by the pandemic and the lessons learned from such a gigantic undertaking. “I’m not sure that there will ever be another artist like Elton John, or a tour quite like the FYBR Tour,” she says. “But for any artist aspiring to achieve this level of success, this tour is probably the best example of what comes out of hard work and a love of performing: get out there and share your music with your audience.”

This week, Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour became the highest-grossing tour in history, and the first-ever tour to gross $800 million. What key decision did you make to help make this happen?

This all started to come together six years ago, back in 2017, a full year before the first date of the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. Jay Marciano (AEG Presents chairman/CEO), Howard Rose (John’s longtime agent), Keith Bradley (John’s tour director), Donna DiBenedetto (AEG Presents vp), Barrie Marshall (Marshall Arts), Doris Dixon (Marshall Arts) and myself met in Las Vegas to begin the job of routing and shaping the first half of tour. At that time, Elton John was playing the final shows of The Million Dollar Piano residency at the Colosseum.

Once we had our plan together, Elton held a press conference in New York in January 2018 to officially announce his retirement from touring, but not before he had embarked on a final run of 350 shows over three years, beginning that September. He wanted to travel around the world to say farewell to his fans. We all knew right then that this would be the greatest tour of all time, and that it was our job to back up Elton and deliver the goods.

No single person can take credit for the monumental success of the FYBR tour — apart from Elton John, of course. But if I had to describe my small part of it over these past five years, it’s been kind of a “utility player” role. Depending on the day, or even minute, it’s coach, captain or just “the bossy girl with the clipboard” who keeps things on course.

Elton spent the first few years of this tour in arenas, before moving up to stadiums this past year. Why did you guys go that route?

For several years prior to the first arena show in Allentown, Penn. (Sept. 18, 2018), Howard Rose had booked shows in smaller secondary markets, which created demand in the major markets. That demand, combined with the news of the retirement, created demand for multiple shows in those markets. We repeated this strategy several times during the tour. But we also made sure to return to many of the same smaller secondary markets; it was important for Elton John to bid a final farewell to as many of his fans as possible.

It was always the plan that the final lap of the FYBR tour would be in stadiums. This was important to Elton and mapped out in the planning stages. Getting them organized and on sale during COVID turned out to be our biggest challenge.

Given the demand of an iconic performer’s final tour, how did you approach setting this up differently than you would have any other tour?

The tour was divided into two parts that we internally referred to as “Round One (179 shows)” and “Round Two (153 shows).” Round One kicked off with that Allentown show and ran all the way through to Sydney on March 7, 2020. Of course, we had no idea that the world would be shutting down four days after we wrapped Round One. And we certainly never imagined that Round Two wouldn’t be wrapped until summer 2023.

The tour also encompassed the pandemic. How did that affect your plans, and how did it force you to adapt once you got back on the road?

When we resumed touring in January 2022, we had very strict COVID protocols in place for all members of the touring team and local venue staff. With some minor adjustments in the routing, we were able to reschedule shows. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the two sold-out shows in Montreal and the two sold-out shows in Toronto due to government COVID restrictions. We also had to cancel some entire territories altogether; we always intended to bring the FYBR tour to Asia and South America, but two years of COVID delays and the rescheduling that followed made that impossible.

We also made the decision that the ticket prices for the stadium shows would be pretty similar to the arena shows — we were in a situation where rescheduled arena shows were on sale at the same time we were putting stadium shows on sale.

How has touring changed overall given the events of the past few years? And how has this tour itself evolved across the years that it’s been going?

The interesting thing to watch was that as the FYBR tour continued, the audience got younger. Elton John broadened his fan base over the life of the tour. Rocketman and his biography Me: Elton John were big moments for us. And The Lockdown Sessions album released in October 2021 was of course one more thing that connected him with a new generation.

The public demand for tickets increased exponentially as the tour was coming to an end. It actually got quite frenzied as the final shows approached in every market. We were all so excited that we were able to sell out three Dodger Stadium shows in Los Angeles, culminating with the livestream of the concert on Disney+.

What have you learned from this long-running Elton tour that you can apply to the rest of your clients?

First and foremost, the initial messaging and announcement of a tour is so important. It really is critical to its success. And the messaging that Elton John conveyed to his fans at that press conference all the way back in 2018 was front and center at all times.

Also, this tour really drove home the importance of having a strong team around you. I have loved every minute being a part of this team. It has been the greatest pleasure of my professional career to be involved with Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Luke Lloyd Davies and all of the wonderful people at Rocket Entertainment. Keith Bradley is the finest tour director and this tour would not have made it around the world for five years, in its many shapes and forms, without him. Many cherished hours were spent with Howard Rose and our touring partners Marshall Arts (Barrie Marshall and Doris Dixon) for the U.K. and Europe and Michael Chugg and Frontier for all of the shows in Australia and New Zealand.

Plus there’s our AEG Team: Andrew Sharp and John Merritt who have been traveling around the world for these past five years — apart from when they couldn’t — and Donna DiBenedetto, my promoting partner who keeps things organized. And of course, Jay Marciano’s leadership and experience has been invaluable. It’s just an incredible group of people from top to bottom.

I’m not sure that there will ever be another artist like Elton John or a tour quite like the FYBR Tour. But for any artist aspiring to achieve this level of success, this tour is probably the best example of what comes out of hard work and a love of performing: get out there and share your music with your audience.

To sum up: Start each tour with a clear message and intention, and a collaborative mentality is imperative. A successful tour requires lots of teamwork on the part of the agency, management, promoter and artist. Think big, and think worldwide. And always be patient. When I first meet with the extraordinarily talented artists with whom I get to work, I often joke that I will negotiate the rights to their 20th Anniversary Tour right then and there. But it’s not really a joke. That’s how much I believe in them.