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Rolling Stones Prepping Definitive Live Collection, ‘GRRR Live!,’ Featuring Lady Gaga, Black Keys, Bruce Springsteen
The Rolling Stones announced a new definitive live album on Wednesday (Nov. 30), the 24-track GRRR Live! The collection due out on Feb. 10 via Mercury Studios features the biggest hits from throughout the legendary band’s 60-year career, including “Honky Tonk Women,” “Start Me Up,” “Get Off of My Cloud,,” “Paint it Black” and “Miss You.”
The album, which will be available in a variety of formats — 3LP black, 3LP colored white, 3LP red, 2CD, DVD + 2CD, BluRay + 2CD — with the BluRay and digital versions including Dolby Atmos. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2012 and 2013 on the 30-show 50 & Counting Tour, which included a Dec. 15, 2012 show at Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center that featured a number of special guests.
Some of those performances are chronicled on the album, including collabs with the Black Keys (“Who Do You Love?”), Lady Gaga (“Gimme Shelter”), Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer (“Going Down”), former guitarist Mick Taylor (“Midnight Rambler”) and Bruce Springsteen (“Tumbling Dice.”) After its original airing on pay-per-view in 2012, recordings of the anniversary shows have not been available to fans until now. According to a release, the concert has been re-edited and remixed, with three songs from the Dec. 13 gig in Newark available as bonus features on the DVD and BluRay: “Respectable” (featuring Mayer), “Around and Around” and “Gimme Shelter.”
Check out the track listing for GRRR Live! below.
CD1
- “Get Off Of My Cloud”
- “The Last Time”
- “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)”
- “Paint It Black”
- “Gimme Shelter” (with Lady Gaga)
- “Wild Horses”
- “Going Down” (with John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr)
- “Dead Flowers”
- “Who Do You Love?” (with The Black Keys)
- “Doom And Gloom”
- “One More Shot”
- “Miss You”
- “Honky Tonk Women”
- Band Introductions
CD2
- “Before They Make Me Run”
- “Happy”
- “Midnight Rambler” (with Mick Taylor)
- “Start Me Up”
- “Tumbling Dice” (with Bruce Springsteen)
- “Brown Sugar”
- “Sympathy For the Devil”
- “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
- “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
- “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ at 40: Every Song Ranked From Worst to Best
After making his move for solo superstardom with 1979’s Off the Wall album — a tricky-enough transition from his childhood as the Little Brother in Charge in the Jackson 5 — Michael Jackson set out to beat himself when Thriller was released 40 years ago on Nov. 30, 1982.
With his trusted producer Quincy Jones back behind the boards, the then-burgeoning King of Pop delivered his crowning achievement — one that even he would fail to top before his untimely death at just 50 in 2009. The nine-track set topped the Billboard 200 for 37 nonconsecutive weeks and spawned seven singles — all of which hit the top 10 on the Hot 100, with “Billie Jean” and Beat It” going all the way to No. 1.
Sweeping the Grammys in 1984 (it nabbed eight trophies, including album of the year), Thriller went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time. It defined the modern pop blockbuster, leaving a blueprint for everyone from Usher and Justin Timberlake to Beyoncé to (of course) baby sis Janet Jackson.
Although Jackson’s crossover moves would never quite get him his soul card back, it opened up the eyes and the ears of the industry — and audiences around the world — to what music could sound, look and feel like if we blurred those tired old color lines.
And the thrill isn’t gone: The LP returned to the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Dec. 3, 2022) thanks to its 40th-anniversary reissue.
Here, we rank all nine tracks on a moonwalking masterpiece that provided the soundtrack for a generation.
How to Find Your Spotify Wrapped 2022
‘Tis the season for Spotify Wrapped, a.k.a. the day of the year where you find out your music listening habits of 2022.
On Wednesday (Nov. 30) the streaming service unveiled its annual colorful, Instagrammable package in which it calculates all your personal data to serve up a custom accounting of your top artists, songs and playlists from the past year.
While Spotify Wrapped is available for anyone with an account, sometimes it can be hard to find. Don’t worry, though, Billboard‘s got your back. Like last year, the 2022 Spotify Wrapped is only accessible on the Spotify mobile app. So if you go to spotify.com/wrapped like usual, you’ll be directed to download the app.
Once you’ve logged in on mobile, your personalized look back at 2022 should appear right on the home screen with the message “Your 2022 Wrapped is here” beneath your six most recent listens. This year’s version also chronicles how users listening habits have changed throughout the day, breaking down what kind of music you stream over the course of the morning, noon and night via the “Audio Day” feature.
The latest Wrapped wrinkle is the “music personality” feature, a kind of Myers-Briggs-style personality test using four-letter codes that breaks down how you listen to music while assigning you one of 16 categories, including “Specialist,” “The Replayer,” “Early Adopter,” “Voyager,” “Adventurer” or “Fanclubber,” with each Personality getting its own colorful card perfect for sharing on socials. Spotify is also including messages from artists including Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift, in which they thank fans for listening to their music enough to get them in the Wrapped mix.
In addition to the annual rundown, this year’s Wrapped includes a creator experience for podcasters and artists. And Artist Wrapped, now in its sixth year, rolls out with several new features including “Your Artist Messages,” a dedicated Wrapped video feed, personalized to each listener; and a “Spotlight” on merchandise and ticketing which, for the first time, sees personalized offerings integrated into the Wrapped Hub and promoted to top fans via in-app notifications and other channels.
Click the icon and you’ll be guided through a fun journey revisiting all your favorite music that soundtracked your 2022.
Country Singer Jake Flint Dies at 37, Just Hours After Wedding
Country singer Jake Flint died on Nov. 26 just hours after getting married. According to EW, publicist Clif Doyal confirmed that the 37-year-old up-and-coming singer died in his sleep, with a cause of death not announced at press time.
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The Oklahoma native’s death was announced over the weekend by manager Brenda Cline of Route 66 Entertainment, who wrote on Facebook, “With a broken heart and in deep grief I must announce that Jake Flint has tragically passed away. I’ve tried several times today to make a post, but you can’t comment on what you can’t process. The photo below is when Jake and I excitedly signed our artist management contract. That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship and partnership. Jake was even more than that to me, I loved him much like a son.”
Cline called Flint the “funniest, most hilarious, hardest working, dedicated” artist she’s ever worked with, noting that they were about to embark on some business together after his wedding to wife Brenda, which took place just hours before his passing.
“Yes-yesterday. Jake has a million friends and I’m not sure how everyone will cope with this tragic loss,” Cline wrote. “We need prayers- it’s all so surreal. Please please pray for his new wife Brenda, Jake’s precious mother, his sister and the rest of his family and friends. This is going to be incredibly difficult for so many. We love you Jake and in our hearts forever.”
New wife Brenda also mourned Flint, writing on FB, “We should be going through wedding photos but instead I have to pick out clothes to bury my husband in. People aren’t meant to feel this much pain. My heart is gone and I just really need him to come back. I can’t take much more. I need him here.”
According to “Cowtown” singer Flint’s website, he was born in 1985 and raised in Holdenville, Oklahoma and was best known for his songs Oklahoma Red Dirt-style songs “Fireline” and “Hurry Up and Wait.” Flint pursued music spurred by his late father’s wish to share something with his son. After his dad was diagnosed with ALS, he asked some friends to teach him how to play guitar, leading to the singer “float[ing] through life loving, hating, gaining, losing, experimenting, witnessing, missioning, sinning, breaking the law, paying the consequences while openly and candidly writing about it all.”
Flint’s friend and fellow musician, Mike Hosty, told The Oklahoman that the wedding took place on a remote Oklahoma homestead on Nov. 26, just hours before the singer’s death. “It was rainy, but he’d rented a 40-by-60 circus tent,” Hosty said. “They put up a bunch of carpets over the mud and then got two pieces of three-and-a-quarter-inch plywood and set it on the ground — and that was my stageJake goes, ‘Is that gonna be all right for you?’ And I go, ‘Jake, that’s perfect.’ A piece of plywood or a flatbed trailer is where I shine.”
Hosty called his late friend a “singer-songwriter, through and through, and just a big personality… a big heart, and [he’d] bend over backwards to do anything for you. When any musician asks you to play at their wedding it’s one of those most important days… and it’s always an honor.”
Flint’s most recent album was June 2021’s Live and Socially Distanced at Mercury Lounge, which included the songs “What’s Your Name,” “Drugged, Drunk and Alone/Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Hard Livin’” and “Cold in This House.” Previous studio releases included a self-titled 2020 album and 2016’s I’m Not OK.
See Cline’s tribute below.
Spotify Wrapped 2022: Bad Bunny, Harry Styles Dominate Year-End Streaming Charts
It’s the time of year — the mercury is diving (or soaring, for those of us in the south), holiday classics are ringing out in the stores, and Spotify unleashes its Wrapped campaign.
Today (Dec. 1), the music streaming giant unveils the songs that kept its 456 million listeners (with 195 million “paid” subscribers) plugged in.
Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny is No. 1 on Spotify’s most-streamed global artists list, with more than 18.5 billion streams in 2022. The rapper becomes the first artist to top the list three consecutive years, and also dominates Spotify’s annual albums chart.
Following the smash hit that was her tenth and latest album, Midnights, Taylor Swift comes in at No. 2 among Spotify’s most-streamed artists, while the top 5 is rounded out by international acts: Drake, The Weeknd, and BTS, respectively.
The biggest single of the year belonged to Harry Styles, whose chart-leader “As It Was” racked up more than 1.6 billion streams. Lifted from the British pop singer’s third solo studio album, Harry’s House, the single this year led the Billboard Hot 100 for a whopping 15 weeks, and reigned over the Official U.K. Singles Chart for 10 weeks.
Styles leads an all-international top 5, ahead of Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves;” The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s “Stay;” and Bad Bunny tracks “Me Porto Bonito” and “Me Porto Bonito,” respectively.
The former One Direction artist’s third album Harry’s House went to No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic, and around the world, and came in at No. 2 on Spotify’s most-streamed global albums list, behind Bad Bunny’s irrepressible Un Verano Sin Ti, which dominated the Billboard 200 in 2022 for 13 weeks.
Also, Spotify drills into its data for insights into those acts whose music is most shared (Taylor Swift), the most-shared lyrics (“Heat Waves”) and most popular podcasts (The Joe Rogan Experience, which Spotify exclusively licenses).
The streaming platform’s annual chart splurge is the entre for its Wrapped experience, which eligible users can access and share from today from Spotify mobile app (iOS and Android).
“This year’s Wrapped is both a celebration of a year gone by and an invitation to join in on the fun,” reads a statement, accompanying the year-end lists.
In addition to the annual rundown, this year’s Wrapped includes a creator experience for podcasters and artists. And Artist Wrapped, now in its sixth year, rolls out with several new features including “Your Artist Messages,” a dedicated Wrapped video feed, personalized to each listener; and a “Spotlight” on merchandise and ticketing which, for the first time, sees personalized offerings integrated into the Wrapped Hub and promoted to top fans via in-app notifications and other channels.
From Dec. 1, the likes of Jack Harlow, Elton John, NIKI, and others will promote Wrapped exclusive merch to their top fans.
Launched in 2017, Artist Wrapped is now available in 36 languages.
Spotify 2022 Wrapped Global Top Lists:
Most-Streamed Artists Globally
Most-Streamed Songs Globally
- “As It Was” by Harry Styles
- “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals
- “STAY (with Justin Bieber)” by The Kid LAROI
- “Me Porto Bonito” by Bad Bunny feat. Chencho Corleone
- “Tití Me Preguntó” by Bad Bunny
Most-Streamed Albums Globally
- Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny
- Harry’s House, Harry Styles
- SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo
- =, Ed Sheeran
- Planet Her, Doja Cat
Most Popular Podcasts Globally
Most Viral Artists Globally
Most Shared Lyrics Globally
Spotify 2022 Wrapped U.S. Top Lists
U.S. Most-Streamed Artists
U.S. Most-Streamed Songs
- “As It Was” by Harry Styles
- “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals
- “Bad Habit” by Steve Lacy
- “Me Porto Bonito” by Bad Bunny feat. Chencho Corleone
- “First Class” by Jack Harlow
U.S. Most-Streamed Albums
- Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny
- Harry’s House, Harry Styles
- Dangerous: The Double Album, Morgan Wallen
- Midnights, Taylor Swift
- SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo
U.S. Most Popular Podcasts
U.S. Most Popular Audiobooks
Universal Music Group Buys 49% Stake In PIAS Group
Universal Music Group (UMG) has struck a deal to acquire a 49% shareholding in PIAS Group, the leading European independent music company.
Financial terms of the arrangement, announced early Wednesday (Nov. 30), were not disclosed.
By taking a minority stake in PIAS Group, UMG, the world’s leading major music company, expands on its strategic global alliance struck with the indie powerhouse in June 2021.
PIAS, or Play It Again Sam, was founded in Belgium 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot, both career-long advocates for the independent music sector.
Gates and Lambot will retain majority control of the company, a joint statement reads, and UMG will have no seats on the company’s board.
Headquartered in London and Brussels, PIAS is said to be one of the largest independent and privately-owned music companies in the world.
The group includes the PIAS Label Group, which oversees the business’ various record label interests, and Integral Distributions Services, which provides support to its own, in-house labels and upwards of 100 independent label partners, including ATO, Beggars Group, Bella Union, Chrysalis, Domino, Epitaph, LSO, Mute, Ninja Tune, Partisan, Secretly Group, Transgressive and Warp.
Today, PIAS boasts 16 offices around the world with 300 employees.
“The boldly independent and music-centric culture that Kenny and Michel have built over the last four decades has provided a vital creative network to so many artists,” comments UMG chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge, in a statement.
“While much of the past was focused on ‘majors versus indies,’ it’s clear that today, the important divide in our industry is about those committed to artist development versus those committed to quantity over quality. “
He continues, “We share Kenny and Michel’s passion for developing artists and moving culture, and we recognize that a healthy music ecosystem needs companies like PIAS who are committed to amplifying the best voices in independent music.”
As PIAS celebrates its 40th anniversary, Gates and Lambot insist the new arrangement will enable its artists, clients and team to flourish.
Says Lambot, one of the founders of the pan-European independent music companies’ trade body Impala, “we are still as ambitious as we were when we started out about growing our global presence and providing a world class service to the independent music community.”
Gates adds, “These days we are competing with finance and tech giants and a partner like Universal Music Group provides the additional support for us to compete and grow. Universal made it clear that they like us, they trust us and they need us, because they can’t do what we do and they value it highly.”
This move, Gates continues, “makes us stronger and secures the future of our brand, our staff and our partners while maintaining control of our destiny.”
Created in a Brussels cellar four decades ago by Gates and Lambot, PIAS began life as a distributor of independent labels. Four years, the pair launched publishing company Strictly Confidential, and PIAS continued to grow its footprint, including the opening of offices Paris and London (in 1994), Hamburg (1995), Madrid (2000), New York and Stockholm (2013), and Sydney (2017) through the acquisition of Inertia.
Universal Music Group Buys 49% Stake in Indie Label Group [PIAS]
Universal Music Group (UMG) has purchased a 49% stake in the indie label group [PIAS], expanding on a strategic global partnership that began last year. As part of the deal, [PIAS] founders Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot will retain control of the company, “remain fully independent” and UMG will have no seats on the indie’s board.
In March 2021, [PIAS] rebranded its distribution and services arm to [Integral], bringing on a new managing director to expand its business globally. Three months later, [PIAS] entered into an agreement with UMG that gave the major label group access to the [Integral] platform, which also handles distribution services for more than 100 indie label partners including ATO, Beggars Group and Secretly Group. The newly announced minority investment is said to be an extension of that initial deal.
“We have enjoyed an excellent relationship with the Universal Music Group team since we announced our strategic global alliance with them last year,” said Lambot — who co-founded [PIAS] in Brussels, Belgium, in 1983 alongside Gates — in a statement. “Kenny and I are celebrating our company’s 40th anniversary this year and we are still as ambitious as we were when we started out about growing our global presence and providing a world class service to the independent music community.”
“These days we are competing with finance and tech giants and a partner like Universal Music Group provides the additional support for us to compete and grow,” Gates said in his own statement. “Universal made it clear that they like us, they trust us and they need us, because they can’t do what we do and they value it highly. For Michel and I this is our life’s work and an ongoing journey and I am excited about the prospect of this new chapter in the life of [PIAS]. This move makes us stronger and secures the future of our brand, our staff and our partners while maintaining control of our destiny.”
The expansion of the deal comes at a time when many major labels — Capitol Music Group, Republic, 300, Interscope and more — are increasingly launching or enhancing their distribution offerings for independent artists and labels. This deal with [PIAS] presumably expands UMG’s access to independent distribution moving forward.
“The boldly independent and music-centric culture that Kenny and Michel have built over the last four decades has provided a vital creative network to so many artists,” UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge said in a statement. “While much of the past was focused on ‘majors versus indies,’ it’s clear that today, the important divide in our industry is about those committed to artist development versus those committed to quantity over quality. We share Kenny and Michel’s passion for developing artists and moving culture, and we recognize that a healthy music ecosystem needs companies like [PIAS] who are committed to amplifying the best voices in independent music.”
‘The Voice’ Finds Its Final 8
Ten became eight on NBC’s The Voice, as one standout survived a nervous Instant Save.
The Voice is nearing the pointy end of its 22nd season. After the remaining contestants performed Monday night (Nov. 28), America voted and the nail-biting stuff began.
Fighting for their lives in the competition were Kim Cruse (Team Legend), Kique (Team Gwen) and Rowan Grace (Team Blake).
For their “last chance” to stay, Cruse performed “Brooks & Dunn’s “Believe;” Kique hit Leon Bridges’ “River;” and Rowan Grace tackled Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”
Matters took a slight detour for Kique, the teenage Miami native who tested positive to COVID-19 at the end of last week and performed from isolation in a different location.
Following the performances, Kique appeared, again, on a separate screen watching and waiting for the result.
On this occasion, youth had to step aside to class as Cruse, the 30-year-old from Woodville, TX, beat her teenage opponent.
“Kim, it’s hard for me to believe you’re not walking out of here with the utmost confidence. Because when I see you, I see so much gifted, beauty, power and soul in your voice,” Legend remarked. “When I work with you, I just see so much musical understanding and understanding of how to express your voice in such an incredible way. You are just a joy to work with truly.”
Also on the night, Legend and his Team (Cruse, Omar Jose Cardona and Parijita Bastola) performed The Band’s “The Weight,” while Gwen Stefani and her Team sang Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House.”
Cruse joins the final 8, which includes bodie (Team Blake), Morgan Myles (Team Camila), Omar Jose Cardona (Team Legend), Justin Aaron (Team Gwen), Brayden Lape (Team Blake), Parijita Bastola (Team Legend), and Bryce Leatherwood (Team Blake).
This year’s season reaches its climax with a two-part finale, set to air Dec. 12 and on Dec. 13.
Chuu Removed From LOONA Amid Back-and-Forth Reports Between K-Pop Group & Label
Chuu is no longer a member of the K-pop girl group LOONA, and the events surrounding the exit have raised eyebrows in Korea’s media and music industry.
BlockBerryCreative, the K-pop girl group’s label, announced through LOONA’s online “fan cafe” on Friday that Chuu had been expelled and withdrawn from the 12-member outfit. The fan cafe post is only available to subscribers of the Korean site, but local media widely shared the news and statement. In the report, the agency cited an investigation that found Chuu using “violent language” and “misuse of power toward staff” (as shared by translations from Soompi).
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BlockBerryCreative and Chuu’s relationship has been a source of concern among fans and prone to media speculation in the past year.
In the spring, rumors surfaced that Chuu took legal action in 2021 to cut parts of her exclusive contract with BlockBerryCreative. By summertime, the stories evolved to Chuu joining a new management label and setting up her own agency. BlockBerryCreative denied any management changes. Still, the 23-year-old did not participate in LOONA’s world tour that visited North America, Europe and Asia from August to October this year or their recent Japanese single “Luminous.” Chuu has stayed busy, with many television appearances, growing a YouTube channel, and releasing solo singles as LOONA’s most visible member.
In the spring, Chuu was rumored to have taken legal action in 2021 to cut parts of her exclusive contract with BlockBerryCreative. By summertime, the stories ranged from Chuu joining a new management label to setting up an agency all on her own. BlockBerryCreative denied that she was transferring management. Still, the 23-year-old did not take part in LOONA’s world tour that visited North America, Europe and Asia from August to October of this year, or their recent Japanese single “Luminous.” Chuu has stayed busy, with many television appearances, growing a YouTube channel and releasing solo singles as LOONA’s most visible member.
On Nov. 28, BlockBerryCreative followed up with another statement saying that the expulsion was not in retaliation. The label said it’s up to the parties involved to share specific evidence. It asked the media to refrain from speculative reporting, after noting articles that doubted BlockBerryCreative’s claims and intentions.
Billboard repeatedly reached out to a BlockBerryCreative representative for comment as the stories unfolded. The rep confirmed Chuu’s removal from LOONA and pointed to previously shared statements.
Several K-pop stars and industry professionals have shown public support for Chuu. Singer Sunmi posted a selfie of her with Chuu after the expulsion news dropped, while Korean music journalist Joy Park shared her memories of Chuu and a signed LOONA album on her Twitter account. Kim Do Heon, another Korean music critic, criticized BlockBerryCreative’s statement through a Twitter post.
For her part, Chuu shared a short statement through an Instagram Story post. On Monday, the star wrote that she was not contacted about nor does she know anything about the recent events. She shared that she would release another statement soon but told fans she hadn’t done anything they would disapprove of.
Another report surfaced on Monday saying that nine of the remaining 11 LOONA members (Heejin, Haseul, Yeojin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, Choerry, Yves, Go Won and Olivia Hye) were taking legal action to break their contracts with BlockBerryCreative. The agency dismissed the rumor. A BlockBerryCreative representative told Billboard that the report is “groundless.”
LOONA (whose Korean name translates to “Girl of the Month”) began their journey in 2016 with the ambitious plan of introducing each member with her own solo music and splinter units between the members before all 12 members finally came together in August 2018 for the [+ +] EP. LOONA has since earned multiple entries on World Albums and even sent their [12:00] album to the Billboard 200. The group hit No. 1 on World Digital Song Sales with their songs “365” and “Shake It” and also became one of the few K-pop acts to enter the Pop Airplay chart with an English single, “Star.”
