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For over 14 years, Sway in the Morning with Heather B and Tracy G has remained a singular fixture in popular culture. Hosted by Sway Calloway, Heather B. Gardner and Tracy Garraud, the SiriusXM radio show has broadcast candid interviews with almost all of today’s biggest icons. According to Sway and Heather, who sat down with Billboard for a lengthy interview, the key to this hospitality is keeping an open mind around artistic expression. Whether it be rappers, actors, Olympic athletes or tech giants, the hosts take serious pride in being able to feature people from all walks of life.
This openness stems from both hosts’ experiences as recording artists. Sway released a handful of independent albums throughout the 1990s including, most notably, Concrete Jungle with King Tech, which led to Sway’s first radio gig. Heather B, meanwhile, starred in the debut season of MTV’s The Real World: New York before releasing the albums Takin’ Mine and Eternal Affairs in 1996 and 2002, respectively. Their backgrounds have helped the two hosts understand how important it is for creatives to be able to step into a welcoming space.
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“We have Dr. Ian Smith that comes on the show once a month and talks about ways to better your life, but then you might flip it around and have Robert Glasper come and do a jam session that Rapsody will come and rock on,” Sway tells Billboard. “I’m always an artist. The way we do radio is through artistry. It’s not just the science of radio.”
This underscoring of creative freedom has helped the radio program blossom into a cultural touchstone, with unforgettable moments like Kanye West’s infamous 2013 “How Sway?” interview. Now, Sway and Heather will help bring the show from its New York home over to California, anchoring it in Los Angeles to help spotlight West Coast creatives.
Billboard spoke with Heather and Sway about the show’s history, their move to L.A., and a few of their favorite interviews.
Sway, looking back on your career, what has kept you motivated to stay in radio for this long?
Sway: Curiosity, for one, keeps me here. I’m always curious about up-and-coming talent. Whether it’s comedians, actors, artists, people who work in tech, coders. Having a platform where we can be able to speak their voice and get them heard in places where they normally won’t be heard. For me, that’s phenomenal. The show reaches Canada [and] people call in from the West Indies. We had a caller who was listening from France! I’ve never in all my years had this kind of reach, and with it, we’re able to introduce people to a lot of new things in their lives. So coming to L.A. and being from the West Coast, it’s bringing things full circle.
Why did you guys decide now was the time to move the show out to Los Angeles?
Sway: The L.A. fires to me represented a change — a pivot in the environment. I wanted to help rebuild and expand the cultural scene in L.A, to create a platform for artists from L.A. I’m from the West Coast, I have a home in the valley in Tarzana. I did L.A. radio for 10 years in the ’90s and we were able to do a lot of groundbreaking things with my partner King Tech and the World Famous Wake Up Show. Through that show Eminem was discovered, you know what I mean? Through that show, Wu-Tang Clan was discovered, Nas. A lot of big artists go through mainstream radio because we had a syndicated show on that show. So you fast forward to 2025, it’s the same variables, but now we have a bigger platform with a bigger brand. We have a bigger voice, and more resources to do a similar thing. So we came out here to shake it up.
Heather: I think it was necessary. Sometimes, it’s very hard to explain to other people the feelings that you get. It was just a gut instinct. It’s time to elevate, it’s time to move forward, to do the unexpected. Something that people didn’t see coming.
Can you speak more about how you guys have stayed in sync all these years? What has kept your partnership going so strong?
Heather: Don’t even start! So part of it is, you’re usually supposed to have a working relationship, but on the weekends he forced his way into my home with dinners. Then dinners turned into lunch and dinners and now out in L.A., since we live really close to each other, it’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is bonded by food!
Sway: And, and! On one hand, you have Heather B., who was really the first person from our culture to ever be on a mainstream platform consistently like MTV or Real World. Hip-hop culture hadn’t seen anything like that, our community hadn’t seen anything like that! Meanwhile, we’re already family because of the culture, but now we both got a chance to be on this mainstream platform and because of that it gave us global visibility. We have this all accumulated on this one show, so every day you get such a broad audience that we’re talking to and it allows us to share our experiences. I think Heather B. has one of the most powerful voices in radio. It’s real, it’s transparent, it’s rooted in experience and my voice is as well. So we were able to take our reach that we gained and encapsulate it into this show because of the experience.
With that being said, how are you guys feeling about the state of media right now? With everyone making podcasts and TikToks, how important is that experience when it comes to standing above the noise?
Heather: I think what people underestimate all the time is your story. Why are you trying to tell somebody else’s story? Why are you trying to add on to someone else’s experience? I think because of social media and a lot of things, people are always trying to alter their story and alter their experience [and] feel like it needs to be bigger. Just tell your story! And sometimes know when to shut up. If you don’t have anything else to say, give yourself a breath, step back, and just listen because it may be an opportunity for you to learn. That’s what experience has taught me.
Sway: It also teaches you to embrace change. You might have an actor like Bill Murray come on the show. Now, Bill Murray will come on our show and wonder, “What the heck do they know about me?” And they turn around and realize that our experience that you talked about has filled us with knowledge in areas that most people may not have. We found [Bill Murray] dancing in between breaks because he was having such a good time because we know how to talk about his career and keep him current.
With are some of your favorite interviews from over the years?
Heather: So part of my hustle when I was figuring things out was, I ran a catering business out of my home. I used to cook for Tyler Perry, and a full-circle moment happened on the show when he came in. I told him I used to cook for his place and he remembered the food! In the interim, I had done an independent film, and he saw the independent film. It was called B-Boy Blues. [He] saw the film, forgot that I used to cook for him, and I was the same girl from the Sway in the Morning show. Reached out to the director and said, “I wanna work with this woman.” The director sent it to me and he ended up casting me for a season of Sistas. That was a full-circle moment for me I was just blown away by.
Sway: We had The Rock on the show when he was promoting Black Adam. And I’m sitting here really trying to give him the best journalistic approach to this interview because we got layers to our skill set, right? And somebody like The Rock, you gotta really step it up. I’m trying to bring it, trying to find that thread. I’m being all formal with the guy, and he breaks formality with me! He says, “Sway, man. I gotta thank you. There was a time in the ‘90s when I used to come to the Bay Area and you used to put me on radio when nobody else would. You talked to me and you gave me a break when nobody else would. I’ll never forget that, so it’s great that this moment has come full circle. I am who I am and here you are again, giving me opportunity.” So that’s one of the highlights.
Halle Berry was another one — she came on our show and I had the chance to tell her how she’s been a cultural tentpole for our community over these different eras, and she broke out in tears. So to have Halle Berry be that emotional and make that kind of connection with her doing a radio interview, that became one of my favorite moments. [And] I would say, Chadwick Boseman. When Chadwick came just before his untimely passing to promote Black Panther, nobody really knew what he was going through. The whole cast was there and we made him comfortable enough to have a conversation in that interview, and he too got emotional. When that happens, it’s just confirmation that there’s a real human connection being made that supersedes the headlines or whatever metrics you may grow from that conversation. That’s our prerogative. We try to rise above that. When Will Smith came by with Martin, that was special.
Heather: That was special because, they don’t always get the acknowledgment, but we grew up and idolized both Will and Martin for different reasons. To see these two giants come together and do the Bad Boys franchise. That was a moment for me.
What about some of the more challenging interviews? What have you learned when it comes to handling conflict live on the air?
Sway: It takes two people to make it a conversation. So regardless of where that guest may be, I know where I’m at. So if I don’t participate in a confrontation then it can’t be confrontational. But you learn to take the emotion out of it, [and] don’t take it personally. A lot of people be in front of the camera acting. A lot of people be inauthentic in trying to make a moment. We’ve had a lot of people try to make a moment.
Heather: This is where the partnership of it all comes in. So he usually has to tell me to calm down, so we can even it out. I’m always like, “Say something, Sway!” You know? [laughs] So we learn from each other, and I think a lot of times I have to remember, “What would Sway do?” I don’t think he ever thinks, “What would Heather do?” ‘Cause he knows what I would do.
Sway: I had to stop her from punching a few dudes. I’m not even joking.
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DJ Vlad is shutting down any talk that his platform, VladTV had anything to do with the recent arrests of Bricc Baby, Big U, and other alleged Rolling 60s Neighborhood Crips members caught up in Operation Draw Down.
The major RICO case accuses Big U, real name Eugene Henley, of running a “mafia-like organization” tied to murder, extortion, human trafficking, and more.
With some people trying to connect VladTV to the indictment, Vlad made it clear in a TMZ interview that he ain’t got nothing to do with it. “I think in this particular case, VladTV doesn’t have anything to do with this case,” he said. He explained that while Bricc Baby was a regular on the show and Big U had done an interview years ago, they weren’t talking about anything current or incriminating. “There is no act of anything being talked about in our interviews,” Vlad stated.
For years, people have accused Vlad of setting up his guests by asking incriminating questions that could get them caught up. Some even call him “the feds” for how deep he gets into street politics. But Vlad has always denied those claims, saying he just gives people a platform to tell their stories, and whatever they say is on them.
Still, with Operation Draw Down making headlines, folks are once again debating whether platforms like VladTV help or hurt the culture. While some say media has nothing to do with these indictments, others feel like these interviews put unnecessary attention on street business. Either way, law enforcement clearly had their eyes on Big U and his people for a minute, with or without any interviews.
Showtime has won a ruling dismissing a lawsuit that claimed George & Tammy – a television series about country music legends George Jones and Tammy Wynette – unfairly turned her late husband into “the villain.”
The case, filed last year, alleged that Showtime’s series conveyed a “negative and disparaging portrayal” of the late George Richey, a songwriter and producer to whom Wynette was married for decades after her split from Jones.
But in a decision Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that Richey’s widow (Sheila Slaughter Richey) lacked the grounds to file the case. The show might have been “unflattering” to him, the judge said, but it did not meet the legal requirements for her to sue Showtime for “unjust enrichment.”
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“Normally, a plaintiff who cries unjust enrichment must have actually enriched somebody,” Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote.
In his ruling, the judge said Sheila’s dispute was really with Wynette’s daughter, Georgette Jones, who had licensed her memoir to Showtime as the basis for the series. But he suggested she had instead sued the network because of the potential for a larger judgment.
“Sheila could have sued Georgette for breaking their agreement,” Bibas wrote. “But George & Tammy had been a hit, and Showtime had presumably profited handsomely from Georgette’s breach. So instead of going after Georgette for whatever damages her breach caused, Sheila set out for bigger game.”
Released in December 2022, George & Tammy was well-received by critics — particularly Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain’s respective portrayals of Jones and Wynette. Both were later nominated for Emmy Awards for their performances.
Sheila filed her case in January 2024, claiming the show had depicted Richey as a “devious husband” who engaged in physical abuse, facilitated Wynette’s drug addiction, and committed “financial and managerial manipulation” of the late country icon.
Accusations about a harmful depiction of a real-world person would typically be filed as a defamation lawsuit, but Sheila didn’t sue Showtime for defamation. And that’s likely because she couldn’t: Under U.S. law, defamation cases can only be filed by living people, not on behalf of the deceased.
Instead, Sheila claimed the show indirectly violated a 2019 legal settlement in which Georgette promised to not make disparaging statements about Richey. Since George & Tammy was based on Georgette’s 2011 memoir about her parents, the lawsuit alleged that Showtime had been unjustly enriched by Georgette’s decision to violate her agreement with Sheila.
In Tuesday’s decision, Judge Bibas rejected that legal workaround. He ruled that Sheila had simply not met the strict requirements to sue the networek for unjust enrichment — saying that Showtime might have profited from the show, but not at Sheila’s expense.
“The crux of Sheila’s claim is that Georgette wronged her by breaching the non-disparagement agreement and Showtime profited from that wrong,” the judge wrote. “But that is not enough for unjust enrichment. Instead, a plaintiff must usually allege that she is the one who enriched the defendant.”
Sheila didn’t hand over any money to the network, Bibas said, or perform any uncompensated services. And he stressed that Showtime had also not violated any of her intellectual property rights, since she did not “own the story that Showtime used.”
“The network’s right to turn George and Tammy’s story into a TV show came from the First Amendment and from buying the rights to dramatize Georgette’s book,” the judge wrote. “So Showtime did not exploit Sheila’s property rights by making the series.”
Though he rejected the current lawsuit, the judge gave Sheila a chance to refile an updated version next month, suggesting that additional evidence might help show that the network facilitated Georgette’s decision to breach her agreement. He gave her until April 18 to file the new complaint against Showtime.
Attorneys for both sides did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday.
Larry Tamblyn, the keyboardist/singer and co-founder of L.A. garage rock band The Standells has died at 82. The news was first announced on Friday by Tamblyn’s nephew Dennis and confirmed by the group’s Facebook page. “Sad news to announce tonight,” the group wrote on Saturday in a message that did not provide any additional information on the cause of death.
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“My uncle Larry Tamblyn passed away today. I have very fond memories of him and his family over the years,” Dennis wrote in the post that appears to have since been deleted. “He lived an incredible life. He was in a band called The Standells, whose hit song ‘Dirty Water’ is still played to this day whenever the Red Sox or the Bruins win a home game. They also played on an episode of The Munsters.”
According to People, the post continued, “A few years ago, The Standells played at Hotel Congress here in Tucson, Ariz., and Larry stayed with me. It was so great to hang out with him and catch up. He was still making music well into his later years. You will be missed, Uncle Larry.”
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The Standells were formed in Los Angeles by Tamblyn — who had a brief solo career in the early 1960s — along with guitarist Tony Valentino, bassist Jody Rich and drummer Benny King. Their debut single, “You’ll Be Mine Someday Gir/ Girl in My Heart” was released in 1963 under the name Larry Tamblyn and the Standels before they signed to the Liberty label and adopting their foreshortened name, with Gary Lane taking Rich’s place and Gary Leeds replacing King; Leeds left a short time later and was replaced by former Mouseketeer Dick Dodd, who also took over as lead vocalist.
The band’s first album, the mostly covers collection In Person at P.J.s, came out in 1964 and the group famously made a cameo on The Munsters sitcom in 1965, where they played the original “Come On and Ringo” and a cover of the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Though the group was originally formed by Tamblyn, he did not sing the lead vocals on what is the band’s most enduring hit, 1966’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 11 garage rock classic “Dirty Water.”
“Dirty Water” became the band’s calling card, acting as one of the anchors of both the 1972 Nuggets garage rock compilation as well as a sports anthem for a number of Boston-area professional teams, serving as the victory song at Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics games. The track, anchored by Dodd’s snarly vocals and a metronomic beat, became associated with Boston thanks to lyrics referencing the polluted Charles River, the Boston Strangler and shout outs to the city and its “lovers, muggers and thieves.” The Standells performed the song at Fenway Park during one of the Red Sox’s 2004 World Series games.
The song appeared on the band’s 1966 debut album, Dirty Water, which also featured covers of the Rolling Stones’ “19th Nervous Breakdown” and other originals written by “Dirty Water” producer/songwriter Ed Cobb (The Four Preps).
Though the group never again scored a hit on the level with the lascivious, grungy “Dirty Water” they did land at No. 43 with their follow-up single, “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White.” A second album, Why Pick on Me – Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White, was released in 1966 while the group’s roster underwent another series of personnel changes before 1967’s The Hot Ones! cover songs album. Dodd — who died in 2013 — left in 1968 to go solo.
The Standells released two more albums, 1967’s Try It and 2013’s Bump, and continued on performing sporadically in the 1980s and 90s with a line-up featuring Tamblyn and a variety of former and new band members.
Tamblyn was not the only A-lister in his family. He was the brother of actor Russ Tamblyn (West Side Story) and uncle of actress Amber Tamblyn (Paint It Black). In addition to his work with the group, Tamblyn released an autobiography, From Squeaky Clean to Dirty Water: My Life with Sixties Garage Rock Trailblazers the Standells, in 2022. Tamblyn was inducted into the California Music Hall of Fame in 2013 by brother Russ.
Listen to “Dirty Water” below.
Basketball player-turned-rapper GELO earns his first No. 1 on a Billboard radio chart as “Tweaker” shoots from No. 3 to rule the Rhythmic Airplay list dated March 29. The track, released on Born to Ball/Def Jam and promoted by REPUBLIC, extends the musical breakthrough season for the rapper, born LiAngelo Ball.
The 26-year-old traveled an unusual route to Billboard’s charts, having first generated attention through with his brothers, Lonzo and LaMelo, for their on-court ability in high school. After graduating, LiAngelo played in international divisions and the NBA’s G-League and Summer League series; his siblings are active players in the NBA.
Back to his current gig – “Tweaker” takes over Rhythmic Airplay as the most-played song on U.S. panel-contributing rhythmic radio stations in the tracking week of March 14-20, according to Luminate. The single enjoyed a 7% increase in plays during the tracking week compared with the week prior. Knoxville, Tenn.’s WKHT-FM registered the most plays in the period, with Honolulu’s KPHW-FM and Greenville, S.C.’s WHZT-FM landing in second and third place, respectively.
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As “Tweaker” rises, GELO wraps, perhaps temporarily, a dominant stretch for Kendrick Lamar at the Rhythmic Airplay summit. Lamar ruled for the last seven weeks through a combination of three songs – “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay, for four frames, and two SZA collaborations: “Luther” (one week) and “30 for 30” (two weeks).
The debut single for GELO, “Tweaker” began generating attention in late December of 2024 after the rapper previewed a snippet on a livestream hosted by N3on. The single was officially released on Jan. 3 and erupted into a viral sensation, with several rappers praising the track while athletes and sports teams adopted it as a soundtrack for locker room anthems and other celebratory posts across social media. Thanks to the attention, the song clocked 12.4 million official U.S. streams in its first week and debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. (It ranks at No. 62 on the latest published chart, dated March 22).
Elsewhere, “Tweaker” holds at No. 7 on the plays-based Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, where it reached a No. 6 best, after a 3% loss in plays for the tracking week. It likewise repeats at its No. 7 peak on the audience-based R&B/Hip-Airplay chart for a third consecutive week, despite slipping to 9.3 million in audience impressions, down 3%.
Meanwhile, GELO’s follow-up single, “Can You Please?,” with GloRilla, is showing favorable momentum as it seeks its first radio charts. Although it remains below the cutoffs for this week’s Rhythmic Airplay and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, the new cut soars 112% in plays and 75% in plays at the respective formats in the latest tracking week.
All charts dated March 29 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, March 25.
Blake Shelton, Eric Church and Lainey Wilson are the first performers to be named for the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards. Hosted by Reba McEntire, the 60th ACM Awards will stream live exclusively on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch on Thursday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Shelton, a five-time ACM Awards co-host, will perform his current hit, the highly apropos “Texas.” The song is currently in the top 20 on both Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay. Shelton is set to release his 13th studio album, For Recreational Use Only, on May 9, the day after the ACM Awards. This will mark Shelton’s first album for BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville, following a long and successful run on Warner Music Nashville. Shelton co-hosted the ACM Awards in 2011-12 with McEntire and from 2013-15 with Luke Bryan.
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Church will perform on the heels of the release of his eighth studio album Evangeline Vs. The Machine, which is due May 2, six days before the show date.
Wilson will perform one year after winning the ACM’s top honor, Entertainer of the Year. Her fifth studio album, Whirlwind, was released in August. It reached No. 3 on Top Country Albums and No. 8 on the Billboard 200, both career highs for the artist.
Nominations for the 60th ACM Awards will be announced on Thursday (March 27). Additional performers, presenters and ACM Awards week will be announced in the coming weeks.
Established in 1966, the ACM Awards is the longest-running country music awards show. The Country Music Association Awards launched the following year. In 2022, the ACM Awards became the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream, in collaboration with Prime Video.
The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions (DCP). Raj Kapoor is executive producer and showrunner, with Patrick Menton as co-executive producer. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music, and Jay Penske and Barry Adelman serve as executive producers for DCP. John Saade will also continue to serve as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
This year’s ACM Awards will celebrate six decades of country music. A limited number of tickets to the show are available for purchase on SeatGeek.
DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldridge. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
In 2019, Priscilla Renea’s solo career was stalled. She had released an album in 2009, and when it didn’t chart, she had turned to songwriting. Her second album, released in 2018, also failed to make much of an impact. So, Renea decided, a rebrand was in order.
For her new moniker, “I picked Melrose at first. That was terrible, a very short phase,” the 36-year-old recalls with a laugh. “Then I quickly settled on [the word] ‘money’ and went through a few last names like Money Jones, Money Smith. But when I heard the 2 Chainz lyric ‘hair long, money long’ [from 2012’s “I’m Different”], I was like, ‘Whoa. That’s it.’ ”
Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.
Two years later, the artist now known as Muni Long hit the jackpot. Her seductive smash “Hrs and Hrs,” initially featured on her 2021 EP, Public Displays of Affection, went viral on TikTok and became the then-indie artist’s first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart. In February 2022, it peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 — and helped her land a contract with Def Jam Recordings (through her own imprint, then called Supergiant, now rechristened Muni Long Inc.). In September 2022, the hit appeared on her debut set, Public Displays of Affection: The Album, and won the artist her first Grammy Award, for best R&B performance, at the 2023 ceremony. At the 2025 awards, she won the same Grammy trophy for “Made for Me (Live at BET)” — and declared onstage during her acceptance speech, “Please stop calling me Priscilla… It’s Muni Long now!”
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Born and raised in Gifford, Fla., Priscilla Renea Hamilton wrote her first song at age 8; at 21, she signed a contract with Capitol. But when her 2009 debut album, Jukebox, didn’t chart, she pivoted to writing — and amassed a string of impressive co-writing credits for Rihanna (“California King Bed”), Kelly Clarkson (“Love So Soft”), Ariana Grande (“Imagine”) and Pitbull (“Timber”). As Christopher “Tricky” Stewart — the Grammy-winning hit-maker who executive-produced Muni Long’s Grammy-nominated 2024 album, Revenge — puts it: “She’s a professional song assassin.”
Genny romper, Wolford tights.
Joelle Grace Taylor
But even with those songwriting successes, her second album as Priscilla Renea, 2018’s Coloured, also failed to gain traction. “I started writing songs to make money because I bought into the [idea of] ‘Well, if you write enough hits, then you can be an artist,’ ” Muni Long says. “I gave it my all… I did so much free work, got stolen from and taken advantage of so many times, so many bad deals. I’d also been the only Black person in the room writing all these pop songs for years. So I quit to focus on me… keeping these songs for myself.”
After her 2022 breakthrough, Long released “Made for Me” in 2023. Buoyed by a viral TikTok challenge and a remix with idol Mariah Carey, “Made for Me” peaked at No. 8 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 20 on the Hot 100. Two Adult R&B chart-toppers, “Make Me Forget” and “Ruined Me,” quickly followed. (All appear on Revenge.)
“She’s real — there’s no facade with her,” Def Jam chairman/CEO Tunji Balogun says. “In an era where things can sometimes feel forced or indirect, Muni is able to take personal experiences and write about them in a way that projects universally onto her fans. She’s just very unfiltered and people appreciate that.”
Dolce & Gabbana dress, On Aura Tout Vu cuffs and earrings.
Joelle Grace Taylor
The artist recently released a new single, “Slow Grind,” that she says is for an upcoming project she’s already working on: “It’s all songs to make love to; I’m a lover girl.” But Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music Rising Star honoree is also taking a moment to enjoy her long-awaited plaudits.
“There are things that you can’t viral your way, relationship your way or accolade your way into,” she says. “This award signifies to me that I’ve reached a place in my transition as an artist from trying and aspiring to now I am doing, I am becoming. And I only have further up to go.”
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
In 2019, Priscilla Renea’s solo career was stalled. She had released an album in 2009, and when it didn’t chart, she had turned to songwriting. Her second album, released in 2018, also failed to make much of an impact. So, Renea decided, a rebrand was in order. For her new moniker, “I picked Melrose at […]
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Future made sure his daughter Londyn’s Sweet 16 was a night to remember, pulling out all the stops to give her the ultimate birthday experience.
The trap superstar didn’t just throw a party, he turned it into a full-blown concert, bringing some of his famous friends along for the ride. Travis Scott had the crowd going wild with his high-energy performance of “Goosebumps,” turning the venue into a mini-festival as fans moshed and raged. Sexyy Red kept the energy alive, with the ladies screaming “Get It Sexyy” at the top of their lungs, turning the party into a viral moment.
Then, Mariah The Scientist switched up the vibe, bringing everyone into their feelings with her emotional rendition of “Spread Thin.” Of course, Future himself had to bless the stage for his baby girl. He performed some of his biggest hits, including “Type Sh*t,” proving once again why he’s one of the greatest in the game. With a lineup like that, Londyn just might be the coolest kid in school by a landslide.
Let’s be real, who do you know that can say they had all their favorite artists perform at their Sweet 16? Probably no one. But when your dad is Pluto? Anything is possible. This was more than just a lit party, it was a moment that his daughter and all of her friends will forever remember.
Ángela Aguilar has a tangible presence — even over Zoom. It’s mid-February and the 21-year-old singer is all smiles, almost giddy, as she joins our call from Mexico City, where she’s hunkered down in a studio working on her next album. “You probably didn’t recognize me because it’s a new me,” she says, referencing the shoulder-length, soft chocolate brown style that has replaced her signature short bob. “I do miss being [The Incredibles character] Edna ‘E’ Mode,” she adds with a grin, “but I’m enjoying this new stage.”
The “new me, new stage” goes beyond the new hairstyle. Ángela, the youngest of the Aguilar dynasty — her father is música mexicana icon Pepe Aguilar, her grandparents legendary Mexican entertainers Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre — married fellow regional Mexican superstar Christian Nodal last July in an intimate ceremony in Mexico (a subject she prefers to keep private and not discuss during our interview), and for the first time, she’s producing her own music.
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“I doubted myself a lot because I had never [produced] before, but I’m figuring out what I want my sound to be,” says Ángela, whose father produced all of her previous albums, including her latest, Bolero, which was nominated for album of the year at the 2024 Latin Grammy Awards. “At the beginning I was scared, but now I know that this album is me. It’s also scary to think if it goes well, it’s because of me, but if it goes badly, it’s also because of me.
“This is the first time I’m doing everything myself,” she continues. “I’m taking care of the arrangements, choosing the songs, directing myself vocally.” And for this project, she’s especially focused on supporting other female talent. “Most of the songs on the album are written by Mexican women. It’s a full mariachi album, but it is a little bit different; it has a modern twist, some subgenres in mariachi that you are not expecting me to ever sing.”
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While this may be her first time flying solo, Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music Breakthrough honoree has for a while been on a journey of self-discovery behind the scenes, carefully strategizing how she moves through a genre that has been historically dominated by men. “It’s been a process of trial and error,” she says. “I’m still figuring out who I want to be and what I want to say.”
Her father has consistently encouraged that process. “My dad is the biggest macho ever, but he’ll be like, ‘Vas mijita. You can do it.’ Or he’ll tell me, ‘You’re not singing good enough, you have to be better.’ It prepares you to take on the world.”
Pooneh Ghana
Ángela made her stage debut as a toddler when she joined Pepe at one of his concerts. Five years later, at age 8, she released her first album, a joint set with her older brother Leonardo Aguilar. The two later joined Pepe on back-to-back arena tours when he launched Jaripeo Sin Fronteras in 2018, honoring the jaripeo-style show — singing while riding horses — that their grandparents pioneered. Along the way, Ángela landed three No. 1 songs on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart and four top 10 hits on Latin Airplay, including her first No. 1 on that chart, “Por el Contrario,” with Leonardo and Becky G, last year.
“No one really asked me if I wanted to do this,” she says when reflecting on her start in music and her journey from child star to regional Mexican fixture. “It just happened and I’m happy it was that way. When you’re younger, you don’t realize how huge this is. I just thought it was fun getting to dress up and sing with my grandparents or dad and then everyone clapped for me. But when I was around 10 years old, I fell in love with performing and I thought, ‘This is what I’m here for.’ ”
With her grandmother’s vibrant falsetto and a mesmerizing, regal presence onstage, Ángela makes even the difficult skill of singing on horseback look effortless. As might be expected for someone from a family of born performers, she is extremely disciplined and has a strict routine: Besides training to sing on horseback, she sings while running or dancing to build her vocal projection and physical energy. But her diligence hasn’t stopped her talented family from giving her their opinion.
“It’s constructive criticism,” Ángela says with a smirk. “We don’t see each other as often so when we do, it’s like, whoa, they definitely catch me up on their feedback. I’m in the studio working on my new album and I showed my mom one of the songs — it was literally a demo on a voice note — and my mom was like, ‘You have to open your mouth when you sing because I don’t understand what you’re saying.’ And my dad is the same way. It really helps me. I don’t want people to tell me something is good when it isn’t. There’s a lot of yes men in the industry, so the best thing in the world is to have a whole family who is part of this artistic life.”
Pooneh Ghana
Her mother, Aneliz Aguilar, is also her manager, and has been pivotal in helping Ángela navigate the industry. “Having her by my side has saved me,” Ángela says. “She has taken care of me in this industry that is so difficult for young women, so difficult to have your voice heard. She’ll also ask how I’m feeling or if I’m emotionally prepared for something. I mean, she’s my mommy, I love to have her with me. From the dresses she would make for me when I was little to now showing me how to be a woman, I’ve learned so much from her.”
Mid-conversation, another important family member enters the screen. “Look at Gordo,” she says, picking up the family’s Instagram-famous 4-year-old pug. “He’s going to be a dad — my [other] doggie is pregnant, and she will have pugsitos with Gordo. I’m going to be a grandma.” (A couple of weeks after our interview, five adorable pugsitos arrive.) Then she adds with a shrug, “Actually, it’s weird because my dad says Gordo is my brother but he’s having babies with my dog, who is my daughter. I’m not sure what that makes me.”
But for now, figuring out this family tree will have to wait: Ángela is headed back to the studio to keep working on her new album. “I’m getting out of my comfort zone but still honoring my roots and traditions. I just turned 21, so it’s kind of like exploring where I want my career to take me.”
Pooneh Ghana
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
