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The Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., is undertaking a $1 billion renovation project that will reimagine nearly every aspect of the seasoned venue, it was announced Tuesday (April 29) by OC Sports & Entertainment (OCSE), an affiliate of the operator of the city-owned venue.
Dubbed Honda Center Encore, the privately funded transformation will happen simultaneously to the ongoing development of the arena’s surrounding campus, OC Vibe — a $4 billion, 100-acre entertainment district anchored by the home of the National Hockey League’s Anaheim Ducks. Both Honda Center Encore and OC Vibe are being funded by the Samueli Family, owners of the Anaheim Ducks and longtime stewards of Honda Center.
Honda Center Encore
Courtesy of OCVIBE
“We don’t want to have the experience of our guests coming in here to be fantastic when you’re outside of our four walls of the Honda Center, and then you walk in and you’re taken back to 1993,” says OC Vibe CEO Bill Foltz. “We’ve kept the place up. It’s an amazing venue. It really needs to be updated. That process actually started a couple of years ago, where we started bringing in designers and architects.”
Trending on Billboard
The Honda Center Encore transformation will include a new five-story south entrance with a grand arrival experience along with a high-impact digital display to host outdoor viewing parties and community events. Foltz tells Billboard that the display will be used to showcase events occurring at the Honda Center in addition to viewing parties for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), as the arena has signed an agreement to be the designated watch party site for the league. The new south entrance will replace the arena’s current facade.
Honda Center Encore
Courtesy of OCVIBE
Once completed — the transformation is due to be finished by 2027 — the arena will have entirely refreshed its food and beverage spaces, including ten brand-new concepts and the introduction of self-service technology to elevate speed and convenience. The transformation will also include a new all-inclusive club on the club level, offering an upscale, hospitality-focused experience for premium guests, with curated food and beverage offerings and unmatched views of the action. The venue will also debut new opera box suites on the main concourse and a full renovation of all 68 existing luxury suites.
Honda Center will additionally install new escalators to improve vertical circulation and introduce four new entry plazas, each with its own distinct social aesthetic. The construction of three new parking structures that will add 6,000 new stalls to the campus is already underway; the new parking options are expected to be complete by October and will increase parking availability by 60%. To keep the parking experience as friction-free as possible, the arena is also eliminating the need for arena guests to purchase parking passes in addition to their ticket.
Honda Center Encore
Courtesy of OCVIBE
“When you buy your ticket, it’s an all-inclusive price, meaning all-inclusive of your parking and access when you get here. So, when you pull in our parking garages, you won’t be stopping to check a QR code or to pay somebody,” says Foltz. “You’ll come straight into the parking garages, which are built for speed of access and exit. We think that step alone will get our fans into the excitement 20 to 30 minutes faster than they’re getting in today.”
One of the few aspects of the building that will remain unchanged is the arena’s iconic floors. The more than 30-year-old building will keep its white and burnt orange Italian marble flooring that “look[s] just the same as it did 30 years ago,” Foltz says, adding that the arena will match the color scheme throughout the renovations.
While the renovations will create more points of sale for attendees (especially those in the upper tiers of the arena), Foltz says the majority of the $1 billion renovation will be dedicated to guest experience over direct revenue enhancement. “The bulk [of the renovation] is making this building brand new so it will last another 50 years,” he says, adding, “We have a contract to run Honda Center through the 2060s.”
Honda Center Encore
Courtesy of OCVIBE
Honda Center Encore
Courtesy of OCVIBE
A new supreme is rising — and her name is Blue Ivy Carter!
Beyoncé kicked off her 32-date Cowboy Carter stadium tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., on Monday night (April 28), and her eldest daughter stole the show several times.
After dazzling the crowd with an “America Has a Problem” dance break borrowed from 2023’s Renaissance World Tour — and a cameo alongside little sister Rumi during “Protector” — Blue returned later in the show for “Déjà Vu,” the 2006 Billboard Hot 100 top five hit that introduced the world to her mom’s Grammy-winning sophomore solo album, B’Day. Decked out in an on-theme brown leather chaps and tank combo with fringe details, the young singer-actress-dancer pulled out her best model walk as she strutted down center stage before leading her mom’s dancers in a thrilling rendition of the original mid-’00s “Déjà Vu” live performance choreography.
With her lengthy braids contouring the intense hairography and her lines and extensions crisper than ever, Blue flawlessly executed the dance break — and proved the enduring influence of Josephine Baker, whose iconic “Danse Sauvage” inspired the original “Déjà Vu” choreography. Elements of the moves Blue nailed have appeared in countless Beyoncé performances, from the song’s music video to the 2006 World Music Awards to her 2018 Coachella headlining set.
In the two years since she made her dancing debut on the Renaissance World Tour with “My Power” and “Black Parade,” the eldest Carter offspring has blossomed into a truly self-assured performer. In December, Blue joined her mom for the NFL’s Netflix-assisted Christmas Day halftime show, also known as “Beyoncé Bowl,” a 13-minute showcase of the Cowboy Carter LP. Blue has definitely spent the past few years living up to the Carter family name, and even her aunt Solange couldn’t resist showering her with love on social media. “TT’s babbyyyyyy killing s–t!” she posted on X Monday night (April 28), quoting a clip of Blue breaking down the “America Has a Problem” dance break.
Trending on Billboard
Outside of dancing, Blue Ivy has also made a killing at the box office. Last year, she starred as Kiara (Simba and Nala’s daughter) in Mufasa: The Lion King, Disney’s Barry Jenkins-helmed prequel to 2019’s photorealistic Lion King remake, in which her mother voiced Nala. The $722 million-grossing film arrived four years after Blue won a Voice Arts Award (best voiceover – children’s audiobook award) for her narration of Hair Love, the audiobook companion to Matthew A. Cherry’s 2019 Oscar-winning independent animated short film of the same name.
Launched in support of her historic Cowboy Carter album — which finally won Bey the long-elusive album of the year Grammy and made her the first Black woman to hit No. 1 on Top Country Albums — the Cowboy Carter Tour will visit nine American and European cities via a series of mini-residences hosted at some of the world’s grandest stadiums. The show is with flying cars and horseshoes, a special tribute to the Renaissance album and live renditions of every Cowboy Carter track (save “My Rose”).
Watch Billboard’s footage of Blue Ivy slaying the “Déjà Vu” dance break below, and check out a side-by-side clip of 2006 Beyoncé and her eldest daughter killing the choreography.
Shakira is gearing up for a monthlong takeover on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Billboard can announce Tuesday (April 28). With three confirmed appearances, the Colombian superstar will first perform her global hit “Hips Don’t Lie” in honor of the song’s 20th anniversary on Tuesday, May 6. A sit-down interview with Fallon — during […]
Nothing More scores its third No. 1 in a row on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, ruling the May 3-dated survey with “House on Sand.”
The song, which features I Prevail’s Eric Vanlerberghe, follows two-week reigns apiece for “If It Doesn’t Hurt” and “Angel Song,” the latter featuring Disturbed’s David Draiman, both in 2024.
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In all, Nothing More boasts four Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1s, as “Go to War” led in 2017.
Trending on Billboard
“House on Sand” marks the third No. 1 from Nothing More’s album Carnal, which debuted at No. 9 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart last July. It’s the second time in 2025 that an act has earned a third leader or more from an album, after Falling in Reverse scored its fourth from Popular Monster in March with the Saraya-featuring “Bad Guy.”
Vanlerberghe, one of two vocalists from I Prevail, lands his first No. 1 solo; I Prevail has three: “Hurricane” (2020), “Bad Things” (2022) and the Halestorm collaboration “Can U See Me in the Dark?” (2024).
Concurrently, “House on Sand” ranks at No. 14, after reaching No. 13 the previous week, on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 2.2 million audience impressions in the week ending April 24, according to Luminate.
“House on Sand” also places at No. 17 on the multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs tally; it hit a No. 11 best upon its debut in April 2024. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 364,000 official U.S. streams in the latest tracking week.
Carnal, Nothing More’s seventh studio album, has earned 73,000 equivalent album units to date.
Nelly shared his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office before stepping on stage for his Stagecoach performance. In a quick interview with Fox News Digital prior to his Stagecoach set on April 26, Nelly called himself a “glass half-full type of guy” when speaking on Trump’s first 100 days back in […]
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Baes & Baddies, Hip-Hop Wired’s curated space for some of the most beautiful women making moves online, is back with a new update with someone we’re sure readers will want to follow. Meet curvy IT tech, gamer, and all-around baddie @badgirl_tami AKA Tami LaReina, who delivers head-turning looks with ease.
We don’t know much about @badgirl_tami AKA Tami LaReina, but her bio says she works in IT and likes to stream her gaming sessions, as evidenced by her shared Twitch links. She also runs her own Discord server, posts heavily on Facebook and X, and has a YouTube page in development where she shares some of her gaming activities.
Below in the gallery section, we’ll share a variety of images across all of the spaces you can find @badgirl_tami AKA Tami LaReina, and be sure to hit that follow when you do.
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Photo: @badgirl_tami/Instagram
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Baes & Baddies, Hip-Hop Wired’s curated space for some of the most beautiful women making moves online, is back with a new update with someone we’re sure readers will want to follow. Meet curvy IT tech, gamer, and all-around baddie @badgirl_tami AKA Tami LaReina, who delivers head-turning looks with ease.
We don’t know much about @badgirl_tami AKA Tami LaReina, but her bio says she works in IT and likes to stream her gaming sessions, as evidenced by her shared Twitch links. She also runs her own Discord server, posts heavily on Facebook and X, and has a YouTube page in development where she shares some of her gaming activities.
Below in the gallery section, we’ll share a variety of images across all of the spaces you can find @badgirl_tami AKA Tami LaReina, and be sure to hit that follow when you do.
—
Photo: @badgirl_tami/Instagram
On the heels of delivering Kush + Orange Juice 2, Wiz Khalifa is hitting the road. Wiz and Sean Paul announced the Good Vibes Only Tour on Tuesday (April 29), which will feature DaBaby as a special guest performer. The 15-date amphitheater run will go through North America this summer, kicking off on July 6 […]
Deezer’s total quarterly revenue edged 1.1% higher in the first quarter of 2025, the French streaming company reported on Tuesday (April 29), as its top executive reiterated the company’s target to achieve profitability this year.
Deezer reported revenue of 134 million euros ($145.08 million) in the first quarter, driven primarily by 6.3% growth in its direct subscriber base in France, bringing the total number of subscribers there to 3.5 million.
Deezer achieved positive free cash flow and its first break-even year in fiscal 2024, and CEO Alexis Lanternier said the company will achieve positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) in 2025. Deezer expects total revenue for 2025 to be flat or slightly decline from fiscal year 2024, as it forecast no meaningful increase in average revenue per user (ARPU). However, the company maintained it will “generate positive free cash flow for the second consecutive year,” according to a press release.
Trending on Billboard
“We started the year with positive momentum, delivering revenue growth in line with our expectations and further increasing our direct subscriber base in France,” Lanternier said in a statement. “With confidence, we confirm our 2025 guidance and our objective of reaching profitability this year.”
Founded in August 2007, Deezer has embarked on a range of initiatives aimed at achieving profitability, including raising prices on its direct subscribers in France; doubling-down on its strategy to gain subscribers through partnerships with companies like the German broadcaster RTL, American speaker company Sonos and Latin America’s Mercado Libre; and through the introduction of new customization features for users and opportunities to directly interact with artists.
Deezer’s total subscriber base now stands at 9.4 million, down from what it said was 10 million subscribers on a like-for-like basis in the first quarter of 2024. Of those 9.4 million subscribers, 5.3 million are direct subscribers, mostly in France, while 4.1 million subscribers come from partnerships. Revenue from Deezer’s direct subscriber base contributed 86.6 million euros ($93.8 million), up from 86 million euros ($92.8 million) a year ago. Partnership subscribers contributed 39.2 million euros ($42.4 million), down from 43.3 million euros ($46.7 million) a year ago.
The decline in partnership subscriptions, which drove an overall 3.4% drop in the revenue Deezer receives from countries outside of France, was primarily due to the conversion of users who came to Deezer through its partnership with Mercado Libre called MeLi+. Some promo users converted to premium users “with higher [average revenue per user] & margins,” the company said. The decline in partnership subscriptions and revenue was partly offset by a ramp up in Deezer’s partnership with RTL+, the company said. Deezer renewed long-term partnerships with Bouygues and Orange in the first quarter.
Seems like Tyla is gearing up for her sophomore album by teasing a new single titled “Bliss” on Tuesday (April 29). “Take me out of my mind/ Oh-oh-oh, oh, oh-oh/ Take me out of my mind/ Oh-oh-oh, oh, oh-oh/ You take me to bliss,” she’s heard crooning in a video shared to her social media […]
