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Like gladiators entering the arena, 62 aspiring American Idol contestants survived the first round of Hollywood Week only to run into the buzzsaw of Sunday night’s (April 6) Showstopper rounds. Performing live for the first time in front of an audience at the Orpheum Theatre, as judges Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie worked to trim 38 aspiring stars from the roster, the singers had to turn things up a notch to make the cut.
In the end four made the first cut.
Gabby Samone wowed the room with her passionate, jazzy cover of Nina Simone’s “Four Women,” which showed off her towering range and emotional maturity on the powerful 1966 anthem that tracks four Black women’s journey from slavery to the present. “My skin is black/ My arms are long/ My hair is wooly/ My back is strong,” Samone sang over subtle piano accompaniment before climbing into a crystal-clear high note that had Richie up on his feet in amazement.
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The youngest singer in the competition, Eagleville, TN’s Mattie Pruitt, has rolled through the competition so far despite saying in her opening package that she sometimes has had trouble finding her place in a family with 12 siblings. Though feelings of self-doubt continue to creep in — “I’m not pretty enough, I’m not good at singing” — the high schooler said the Idol stage is the first time she’s felt truly comfortable in her skin.
She proved she belongs in the mix with a cover of James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World,” making the 1966 soul classic her own by slowing it down to a funky stroll and luxuriating in the notes like a seasoned pro used to having crowds in the palm of her hand.
Another early favorite, 17-year-old aspiring preacher Canaan James Hill, also proved that age ain’t nothin’ but a number with his roof-raising cover of Marvin Sapp’s “Never Would Have Made It.” The teen poured some Al Green grit on the gospel great’s 2007 ballad, again inspiring Richie to hop up and testify to some powerful vocals. “Go on man, go on do what you gotta do!” Richie said, shaking his head in wonder, with Bryan saying “he is one of the best singers I have ever seen!”
The last of the four to make it through was Zaylie Windsor, who squeaked by in an earlier round, only to prove that she’d definitely earned her spot with a mesmerizing cover of Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever.” The Radiohead-like acoustic take featured Windsor’s emotional vocals, climbing from a near whisper to a roar, filling the theater with ecstatic joy as she wailed the final notes. “Welcome to the Zaylie show!” Underwood said afterwards.
While those four made the cut and will go to the top 24, Jmarie, Will Carter, Santina Madden, Isaiah Moore, Samantha Ray and Jazzy Mae were sent home and the remaining 42 singers will have to fight it out on Monday night (April 7) in head-to-head rounds; that round airs at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Check out the four performances below.
PinkPantheress has shared new details about her upcoming mixtape Fancy That, which is due for release on May 9.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday (April 6), the Bath-born musician confirmed the nine songs that would feature on the tracklist, including her recent single “Tonight.” Last month, she teased the May 9 release date in a cryptic Instagram post.
Responding to a fan who wrote “now PinkPantheress has to release Romeo,” in reference to a song first teased on her TikTok in April 2024, Pink replied “posting da tracklist early just to let you all know that it’s track NINE”. See the full tracklist to Fancy That below.
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Last week, PinkPantheress shared a first taste of the club-focused mixtape with “Tonight” and its regency era-inspired music video directed by Charlotte Rutherford. The song was the U.K. musician’s first solo release of 2025, and followed a team-up with Shygirl on the latter’s Club Shy Room 2 EP on the song “True Religion.”
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Speaking to Mixmag, the songwriter and producer revealed that the mixtape was influenced by the music of Fatboy Slim and Groove Armada, saying she specifically liked “the size of the music”. She added, “All the music sounds so big and grand and present, and I really wanted to make music where it sounds like a statement is being made with the songs. I feel like that was what appealed to me, and it’s something that I wanted to take on board.”
Fancy That will be her first full release since 2023 debut album Heaven Knows, which hit No. 28 on the U.K. Official Albums Chart, and No. 61 on the Billboard 200.
In 2024, she collected the producer of the year prize at the Billboard Women In Music ceremony, and discussed her journey to the award: “As a woman of color in electronic music, specifically two-step, drum and bass, it’s taken a lot for the genre to be recognized on a wider scale. A lot of people didn’t expect me to look the way I did making the music I was making. And nobody, even now, people don’t want to take my music seriously, but I’m just happy that I have the opportunity to be recognized.”
PinkPantheress’ Fancy That Mixtape Tracklist:
1. “Illegal”2. “Girl Like Me”3. “Tonight”4. “Stars”5. “Intermission”6. “Noises”7. “Nice To Know You”8. “Stateside”9. “Romeo”
A couple is ready to “take it the next level” after a nice date in the “Making Love” sketch that aired on SNL Saturday night (April 5). Silk pajama-clad lovers-to-be (Jack Black and Sarah Sherman) turn the night into a musical performance, with a little help from Bowen Yang and Brandi Carlile — and with all four of them flying.
Black, the host of Saturday Night Live‘s latest episode, and Sherman are lifted up as they sing (and making swimming motions in the air).
“First we do things to me for a while,” Black sings, “and then we do things to you for not that long.”
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They try to incorporate some dirty talk, and get the champagne flowing — right into Sherman’s eyeballs.
“That was so romantic,” Sherman musters, to which Black agrees: “For me as well.” Together, they harmonize: “Because we’re making love.“
“Then without even saying a word, we both know it’s time to bring in a third,” they sing.
“Hello, I’m here to fix your problems,” croons Yang, who appears out of nowhere. “And this will definitely end well.”
Spoiler: Black panics, feels weird for inviting a guy from work to join them, and decides the way to make things all right and “dandy” is “to bring in a fourth … and the fourth is Brandi.”
Watch the “Making Love” sketch below to hear the always-cool Carlile croon her words of wisdom while mid-air.
Elsewhere on Saturday night’s show, the singer-songwriter fulfilled her duties as musical guest with Elton John, performing “Little Richard’s Bible” and “Who Believes in Angels?” from their new album released this week. Carlile and John’s collaborative project, Who Believes in Angels?, was released on Friday (April 4).
Dave Allen, who played bass guitar during influential British post-punk band Gang of Four’s early years — and who went on to found the group Shriekback — has died. He was 69.
Allen’s former Gang of Four bandmate Hugo Burnham shared the news of his passing on Sunday (April 6).
“It is with broken yet full hearts that we share the news that Dave Allen, our old music partner, friend, and brilliant musician, died on Saturday morning,” Burnham wrote on Gang of Four’s Instagram, where the band featured several photos in a tribute to Allen. “He was at home with his family.”
“Dave had endured the early-onset of mixed dementia for some years which has been a heartbreaking time for his wife Paddy, his children, and close friends. Our love and thoughts are with them,” he stated.The note continued: “Jon and I [Hugo] went to see him and spent a lovely afternoon with him and the family. We talked and laughed for hours, sharing rich and vivid memories of good times together. Adventures, careers in music, raising families, our interwoven lives spanning half a century. We’ve been so very lucky to have had the Ace of Bass in our lives. We know that Dave would have wanted nothing more than to step onstage with us again in Portland on our farewell US tour. But it’s now a bridge too far. Goodbye, Old Friend.”
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After joining Gang of Four with Burnham, Jon King and Andy Gill in Leeds in 1976, Allen made his mark as bassist on the band’s debut album, 1979’s Entertainment!, and their follow-up set, 1981’s Solid Gold. While neither were chart successes in the U.S., Gang of Four’s early work influenced the likes of Michael Stipe, Flea and Kurt Cobain, who included Entertainment! on his top 50 albums list (as published in the posthumous Journals).
In 1981, Allen formed Shriekback with Barry Andrews (XTC, The League of Gentlemen), and went on to record a number of albums with the group.
Allen rejoined Gang of Four for a reunion with the core lineup in the mid-’00s. He also performed with bands including The Elastic Purejoy and Low Pop Suicide.
Gang of Four bandmate Gill, the group’s founding guitarist, died in 2020.
Allen’s experience in the music industry went beyond the recording studio and stage. Most recently he co-founded and served as director of music relations at DinWorkshop, a consultancy, design studio and lab built to create alongside musicians.
Previously he held positions in artist relations and artist advocacy at Apple Music and Beats Music, was business development director in consumer digital audio services at Intel, and in the late ’90s was general manager at eMusic. Allen was a speaker and panelist on digital strategy, music and technology at SXSW, CMJ, SF Music Tech and more throughout his career.
The 2025 Tribeca Festival will kick off with the world premiere of Billy Joel: And So It Goes, a two-part documentary on Billy Joel featuring unreleased performances, home movies, personal photographs and in-depth, one-on-one interviews. The film, an HBO original, is described as “an expansive portrait of the life and music of Billy Joel, exploring the love, loss, and personal struggles that fuel his songwriting,” according to an official announcement from Tribeca.
Billy Joel: And So It Goes will have its premiere at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on June 4, 2025, the first night of this year’s Tribeca Festival.
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Running from June 4-15 in NYC, the fest’s full lineup — featuring film, music, TV, audio storytelling, talks, games and immersive programming — is expected to be revealed soon.
“For nearly 25 years, the Tribeca Festival has celebrated the artists who give New York its heart and soul, and on the opening night of the 2025 Festival, we are thrilled to honor Billy Joel — an artist who has embodied that very spirit,” says Jane Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO of Tribeca Festival and Tribeca Enterprises. “Paying tribute to the legendary performer who captured the essence of a ‘New York State of Mind’ is a perfect way to kick off this year’s celebration of creativity and inspiration.”
Susan Lacy, director and producer of the documentary, says, “I and my co-director, Jessica Levin, couldn’t be more thrilled about our film Billy Joel: And So It Goes opening the esteemed Tribeca Festival. Our thanks go out to Jane Rosenthal and the Festival team and to HBO and the wonderful folks there who have supported us throughout in our efforts to bring an in-depth, honest and musically expressive portrait of this complex talent. We are beyond appreciative of Billy Joel’s trust in us to bring his story to the screen. There is no better place for this film to premiere than at the Beacon Theater, the venue for so many historic musical events for decades, and in the city so important to Billy Joel.”
Tribeca memberships and 2025 Tribeca Festival passes and ticket packages can be purchased at tribecafilm.com. Single tickets go on sale on April 29.
Ahead of the Tribeca announcement, the film and plans for its HBO release were first confirmed in late March. Following its festival premiere, Billy Joel: And So It Goes will debut on HBO and be available to stream on MAX some time this summer. A release date has yet to be announced.
Joel will also return to the stage this summer. Last month he postponed his tour in order to recover and undergo physical therapy following an undisclosed surgery, announcing that he will resume performing in July.
ENHYPEN‘s “Loose” tops this week’s new music poll. Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (April 4) on Billboard, choosing the K-pop group’s new single as their favorite new music release of the past week. “Loose” brought in nearly 91% of the vote, far surpassing other recent music releases. Among the competition were Miley […]
Jack Black reimagined a classic My Chemical Romance track in a hilarious sketch on Saturday Night Live.
While hosting the iconic sketch comedy show on April 5, the actor and comedian channeled MCR frontman Gerard Way by performing a reggae parody of the band’s 2006 hit “Welcome to the Black Parade.”
The nearly three-minute sketch, titled “Goth Kid on Vacation,” features SNL cast members Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim as members of a Jamaican reggae band who cope with their own pain by laughing at goth kids vacationing on their island.
“When there is war and struggle and pain/ How do we fill our souls with joy again?” the duo sings before adding, “We look and we laugh at goth kid on vacation.”
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The camera then cuts to a stereotypical goth teenager (played by Michael Longfellow) dressed in all black with a classic emo hairstyle. He’s shown playing Magic: The Gathering from his hotel balcony, walking the beach in a heavy black leather jacket and combat boots, and belting in frustration after getting hit with a beach ball while painting his nails black.
Halfway through the pre-recorded skit, a long-haired Black joins the scene with a backing band, adding a reggae twist and reimagining the lyrics to My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome to the Black Parade,” which reached reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2007.
“When I was a young boy, my parents took me down to Jamaica for my high school spring break,” Black sings, wearing an outfit reminiscent of Way’s goth-inspired look from the music video. “They said come to the pool, but I stayed in the room with my graphic novels so I could mastur—-.”
Saturday’s episode also featured musical guests Elton John and Brandi Carlile, who performed a pair of songs from their new collaborative album, Who Believes in Angels? Check out their performances of “Little Richard’s Bible” and the project’s title track here.
Watch SNL‘s “God Kid on Vacation” sketch below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.
Ariana Grande’s 2024 album Eternal Sunshine returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for its third total week atop the list, flying 87-1 on the April 12-dated chart, following the set’s deluxe reissue, dubbed Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead. Bolstered with six previously unreleased songs, the expanded effort — available at streamers, and to purchase as a download, CD and vinyl LP — earned 137,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending April 3 (up 968%), according to Luminate.
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All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes and continue to chart under the title Eternal Sunshine.
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Eternal Sunshine premiered atop the Billboard 200 dated March 23, 2024, and spent its first two weeks at No. 1. The set contains a pair of chart-toppers on the Billboard Hot 100 in the songs “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).” The project also returns to the top 40 on the Billboard 200 for the first time since the Oct. 19, 2024-dated list, when it ranked at No. 34.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new April 12, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 8. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
With Eternal Sunshine’s return to No. 1 after a year and two weeks, it’s the second title in the last six months to jump back to the top after more than a year away. On the Jan. 4, 2025-dated chart, SZA’s SOS shot back to the top after a 22-month vacation from No. 1. It returned to lead the list after its SOS Deluxe: LANA reissue.
Further, Eternal Sunshine has the largest positional jump to No. 1 (bolting 87-1) since last September, when Travis Scott’s Days Before Rodeo vaulted 106-1 on the Sept. 28, 2024-dated list, after the album’s vinyl edition was shipped to customers.
Of Eternal Sunshine’s 137,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending April 3, SEA units comprise 75,000 (up 541%, equaling 98.45 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it reenters at No. 2 on Top Streaming Albums), traditional album sales comprise 61,000 (up 5,338%, it reenters at No. 1 on Top Album Sales for a second total week atop the list) and TEA units comprise 1,000 (up 4,115%).
Sales of Eternal Sunshine were bolstered by its availability in a variety of permutations released for the Brighter Days Ahead launch. The original Eternal Sunshine album had 13 tracks, and the core Brighter Days Ahead album added six cuts: one extended version of the album-opening “Inro (End of the World)” and five new songs.
Grande’s webstore sold three exclusive variants of the download edition of the album: the 19-track edition, a version with the 19 tracks plus instrumentals of the same cuts, and another version with the 19 tracks and a cappella versions of each cut (all with alternative cover artwork). Grande also released two vinyl variants and six CD editions of the reissue (some signed by the artist), containing the 19 tracks plus the three bonus tracks originally found on the album’s “slightly deluxe” reissues last year.
Playboi Carti’s MUSIC falls to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart after two weeks on top, with 91,000 equivalent album units earned (down 31%). It holds at No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart for a third week.
Lil Durk collects his seventh top 10-charting effort on the Billboard 200 as Deep Thoughts debuts at No. 3 with 64,000 equivalent album units earned. The set arrives largely from streaming activity, as it was only available to purchase as a standard widely available digital download album. Of its first-week units, SEA units comprise 63,000 (equaling 85.92 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 1,000 and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
The rest of the top 10 on the Billboard 200 comprises former No. 1s. Kendrick Lamar’s GNX falls 3-4 (58,000 units; down 10%); PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U is down 4-5 (nearly 58,000; down 6%); SZA’s SOS slips 5-6 (56,000; down 7%); Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet dips 6-7 (51,000; down 7%); Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos is a non-mover at No. 8 (45,000; down 8%); Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM falls 7-9 (nearly 45,000; down 15%); and Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time is stationary at No. 10 (almost 45,000; down 2%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
British police on Friday (April 4) charged Russell Brand with rape and sexual assault following an 18-month investigation sparked when four women alleged they had been assaulted by the controversial comedian.
London’s Metropolitan Police force said Brand, 50, faces one count of rape, one of indecent assault, one of oral rape and two of sexual assault.
Brand denied engaging in “non-consensual” sexual activity.
The alleged offenses involve four women and took place between 1999 and 2005 — one in the English seaside town of Bournemouth and the other three in the Westminster area of central London.
Police said the investigation remains open and urged anyone with relevant information to contact the force.
In September 2023, British media outlets Channel 4 and the Sunday Times published claims by four women of being sexually assaulted or raped by Brand. The accusers have not been identified.
The comedian, author and Get Him to the Greek actor has been interviewed by police about the allegations, which he denies.
In a video posted Friday on X, Brand said “I’ve never engaged in non-consensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes.”
He added that “I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Known for his unbridled and risqué standup routines, Brand hosted shows on radio and television, wrote memoirs charting his battles with drugs and alcohol, appeared in several Hollywood movies and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012.
In recent years, Brand has largely disappeared from mainstream media but has built up a large following online with videos mixing wellness and conspiracy theories. He recently said he had moved to the United States.
Brand is due to appear in a London court on May 2.
Jaswant Narwal, of Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service, said prosecutors “carefully reviewed the evidence after a police investigation into allegations made following the broadcast of a Channel 4 documentary in September 2023.
“We have concluded that Russell Brand should be charged with offences including rape, sexual assault and indecent assault,” Narwal said.
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendant has the right to a fair trial.”
In January the BBC apologized to staff members who felt unable to complain about Brand’s conduct because of his celebrity status. Brand had two weekly radio shows on the BBC from 2006 to 2008 and worked periodically on a number of short-term projects.
The BBC acknowledged that it was “clear that presenters have been able to abuse their positions” in the past.
Saturday Night Live took aim at Morgan Wallen following the country star’s abrupt exit during the show’s end credits in late March.
During the NBC sketch comedy show’s cold open on April 5, just a week after Wallen’s headline-making appearance as musical guest, President Donald Trump — portrayed by James Austin Johnson — made a jab at Wallen while discussing his “Liberation Day” tariffs.
“I even put tariffs on an island uninhabited by humans. It’s called Heard and McDonald Island,” Johnson’s Trump said, holding a poster featuring a hamburger in a hula skirt. “I would love to visit there. Can you imagine that? Big Mac and a hula skirt. Get me to God’s country, right? Remember that?”
The “Get me to God’s country” line was a direct nod to Wallen’s comment on his Instagram Story after his much-discussed exit from the show on March 29, when he abruptly walked off stage at Studio 8H during the end credits after whispering something to host Mikey Madison.
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Later in the April 5 episode, SNL‘s Colin Jost poked fun at Wallen during Weekend Update, cracking jokes about the financial state of the country.
“This was the worst week for the stock market since the summer of 2020. But you have to remember — back then, the president was also Trump,” Jost said. “Just in the past two days, investors have lost over $6 trillion. Money is leaving the stock market faster than Morgan Wallen at goodnights.”
During his musical guest appearance on SNL, Wallen performed the title track from his upcoming album, I’m the Problem, along with his song “Just in Case.”
Just days after his controversial appearance, the country singer capitalized on the highly publicized moment by launching a new line of “Get Me to God’s Country” merchandise. Wallen had not publicly commented on the incident or explained the meaning behind the phrase at press time.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly following Wallen’s walk-off, longtime SNL cast member Kenan Thompson called the incident “definitely a spike in the norm.”
“We’re so used to everybody just turning around and high-fiving us, everybody’s saying, ‘Good job, good job, good job.’ So when there’s a departure from that, it’s like, hmm, I wonder what that’s about?” Thompson said, adding that Prince had done the same thing during his appearance on the show years ago.
“I’m not saying Morgan Wallen is Prince, but we weren’t surprised because Prince was notoriously kind of standoffish. It’s just how he was. So we just thought like, ‘Okay, now he’s gone back into fantasyland.’”
Wallen’s forthcoming album, I’m the Problem, is set to be released on May 16 and features 37 tracks, although only a few song titles have been revealed so far.
Watch SNL‘s cold open and Weekend Update sketches below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.