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There was a time when Cynthia Erivo could glide around town on her Razor scooter in peace. “Don’t laugh!” she quips as she reminisces about those halcyon days while sitting in a cozy loft above a cavernous Los Angeles studio. “I’ve been doing it for years!” Whether maneuvering New York’s busy streets or transporting her […]
Billboard cover star Cynthia Erivo is gearing up to release her new album, ‘I Forgive You.’ The actress and singer shares insights into how she created the album and discusses the differences between filming ‘Wicked’ and ‘Wicked: For Good.’ She also opens up about her queerness, the role ‘The Color Purple’ played in her journey […]
Dr. Chelsey Green is the first Black woman elected as the Recording Academy’s chair of the board of trustees. She succeeds Tammy Hurt, who has served in that role since 2021. This marks the first time in Recording Academy history that two women have served back-to-back in the top post.
Dr. Green, 39, is also the youngest person ever elected chair. Dr. Green, who was vice chair last term under Hurt, was selected at this year’s annual board of trustees meeting. Her term officially began on Sunday (June 1). At the same time, Evan Bogart was elected vice chair; Jennifer Blakeman was elected secretary/treasurer; and Hurt was elected chair emeritus.
In Academy history, just two other women (besides Hurt and Green) have served as chair. Leslie Ann Jones was chairwoman (the title at the time) from 1999-2001. Christine Albert was chair from 2013-15.
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Green is the third Black officer to be elected chair, following Jimmy Jam (2007-09) and Harvey Mason jr. (2019-21). Mason went on to become the academy’s CEO.
“I am honored to welcome both our newly elected board and national officers to the Recording Academy, made up of passionate, talented leaders who care deeply about music and the people who create it,” Mason said in a statement. “Together, their extensive background in the industry will help us to continue to push the Academy forward and drive meaningful change.”
The Recording Academy’s elected officers dedicate their time in service to the academy and play an important role in helping to shape the organization’s strategic direction. They collaborate with the CEO and senior academy management, who work to fulfill the organization’s mission of serving music people through advocacy, education, and direct assistance and by shining a spotlight on musical excellence.
Here’s a closer look at the top four officers:
Dr. Chelsey Green is a recording artist, entrepreneur and educator. As the bandleader, violinist, violist, and vocalist behind her ensemble Chelsey Green and The Green Project, Dr. Green fuses her classical training with jazz, R&B, soul and funk. She has released five studio projects, with one (2022’s Chelsey Green & the Green Project) landing on Billboard‘s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart in 2014. Dr. Green has performed alongside artists such as Kirk Franklin, Lizzo, Samara Joy, Stevie Wonder, The War and Treaty, and Wu-Tang Clan, and has made orchestral debuts with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Alexandria Symphony, the United States Air Force Band, and more. An advocate for music education and equity, she leads educational concerts, artist residencies, and community workshops, and is an associate professor at Berklee College of Music.
Evan Bogart is a songwriter, producer and creative executive, who has had a hand in creating hits for Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Madonna, Rihanna and more. Son of legendary Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart (who died in 1982 when Evan was just four), Evan got his start in the music industry as a teenager in the Interscope Records A&R department, working on projects by 2Pac and Eminem, before moving into artist management and booking, representing such acts as Maroon 5 and OneRepublic. Currently, he is CEO of Seeker Music. Bogart has been named to Billboard’s 40 Under 40 list twice and to Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players list. Bogart recently served as the executive music producer and composer for Spinning Gold, an independent feature biopic based on his father, and for the musical-feature film, Juliet & Romeo, for which he co-wrote and produced all of the original music. Bogart also serves as chair of the academy’s Songwriters & Composers Wing.
Jennifer Blakeman is the chief rights and royalties officer at Seeker Music. For more than four decades, she has fostered the careers of some of the world’s most popular artists and songwriters. She has served in numerous senior executive and creative roles for major and indie publishers, record labels and film studios, including Atlantic Records, one77 Music, Universal Music Publishing, Universal Pictures, and Zomba Publishing. An accomplished musician and ASCAP songwriter and publisher, Blakeman was signed with her band to Warner Bros. Records and subsequently toured in the ‘80s as a keyboardist for Billy Idol, Brian Wilson and Savage Garden, among many others. For two decades she has been an adjunct professor at New York University and has taught more than 1,000 students in the music business degree program.
Tammy Hurt is a TV producer and drummer. She made history as the first openly LGBTQ+ officer in Recording Academy history. She serves on the boards of the Latin Recording Academy, the Grammy Museum and MusiCares. Hurt is the founder of Placement Music, a boutique entertainment firm specializing in custom music and scoring for high-profile clients including FOX Sports, Paramount Pictures, CBS and the NFL. Her passion project, Sonic Rebel, fuses high-fidelity soundscapes with mashups and live drum remixes. Hurt was honored in early 2025 by Billboard, Alicia Keys’ She Is the Music and the Atlanta City Council. Additional accolades include Catalyst Magazine’s Top 25 Entrepreneurs and the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Most Admired CEO award.
Every two years, the voting and professional members of the academy’s 12 chapters vote in their respective chapter board elections to elect their chapter’s governors. Of the trustees that serve on the national board, eight are elected by voting or by professional (non-voting) members of the academy and 30 are elected by the chapter boards. The remaining four seats are composed of the national trustee officers serving the roles of chair, vice chair, secretary/treasurer, and chair emeritus, and are elected by the board of trustees once every two years. National officer positions on the board of trustees are subject to two, two-year term limits.
The academy also released the names of the members of its 2025-27 board of trustees, including 19 newly elected or re-elected members. The full body includes seven Grammy winners: artists Ledisi and Avery Sunshine; songwriter Jonathan Yip; arranger Sara Garzarek; music supervisor Julia Michels; producer Cheche Alara; and engineer/mixer Reto Peter.
2025-27 Board of Trustees
Here is the full list of the Recording Academy’s 2025-27 board of trustees in alphabetical order by first name. An asterisk signifies those who were elected or re-elected this year. Others are midterm.
Dr. Alex E. Chávez*
Armand Hutton*
Ashley Shabankareh
Avery*Sunshine*
Carl Nappa*
Cheche Alara
Dr. Chelsey Green
Dani Deahl
Dave Gross
Divinity Roxx*
Donn Thompson Morelli “Donn T”*
EJ Gaines
Evan Bogart
Fletcher Foster
HENNY
Jennifer Blakeman
Jessica Thompson
Jonathan Yip*
Julia Michels*
Julio Bagué*
Ken Shepherd
Lachi*
Ledisi*
Maggie Rose*
Marcella Araica*
Maria Egan
Matt Maher*
Ms. Meka Nism
Mike Knobloch
Nikisha Bailey
Reto Peter*
Sara Gazarek
Sue Ennis*
Tamara Wellons
Tami LaTrell*
Tammy Hurt
Taylor Hanson
Teresa LaBarbera*
Terry Jones
Torae Carr
Wayna*
The Roots apologized to fans for the delayed opening of Saturday’s (May 31) first day of their 2025 Roots Picnic festival. According to Philadelphia magazine, fans complained that they waited hours in very long lines to enter the fest on its first day.
Roots drummer Questlove responded to the complaints in an Instagram post featuring footage of front loaders pushing around wood chips to cover of giant muddy patches on the site at the Mann Center in Philly’s Fairmount Park. “I know today wasn’t ‘ideal’ for The Roots Picnic in this 18th year of 2025. (This year has been particularly challenging to say the least),” he wrote. “Transforming the Mann Center into our event takes about two weeks, but as many of you experienced, heavy rain from May 30th into the morning of the 31st caused significant damage (midnight to 7am). We nearly canceled The Picnic because conditions were unsafe for everyone involved.”
CBS reported that “throughout the afternoon and evening, the festival’s social media pages were flooded with comments from people saying they waited in line for hours to get inside on Day 1.” The Philadelphia Inquirer said that hours after gates were slated to open fans started chanting “Let us in!,” with the line not moving until after 3:30 p.m. as frustrated attendees vented their anger in comments on the event’s official Insta.
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“Definitely need a refund! After waiting in 3 hours in the line, I have very little trust in today’s process. Yesterday was UNACCEPTABLE,” wrote one, with another adding, “If the event is rain or shine, y’all should be prepared for rain or shine. We knew about the weather all week and we prepared for that. What happened in those entry lines yesterday was not safe.”
Quest explained that instead of cancelling the festival — whose roster this year included Meek Mill, Lenny Kravitz, GloRilla, Miguel, Tems, Latto, Kaytranada and Jeezy — the group decided to take extra time to repair the site to make it safe for attendees, which he said caused a three-hour delay in opening doors. “We prioritized caution above all else,” he wrote. “After working hard to improve the site—factoring in the challenge of finding mulch to absorb excess water — we managed to revise the schedule so that all artists, including headliners Maxwell (whom we ALL owe an incredible amount of gratitude for doing us a solid with seconds on the clock) and Latto, could perform without violating city noise curfews.”
In the note Quest said he was writing at 3 a.m. Sunday morning, said he personally worked with promoter Live Nation to work out the kinks caused by the rain. “I wanna thank you for your understanding and patience through this adversity,” he added. “This year has shown our ability to adapt and overcome challenges, much like we did in past years. Tomorrow is a new day, and I’m excited to revisit the Do You Want More LP on the Mann stage.”
The official Roots Picnic Instagram also featured an update and apology for the delays in a message that read: “We would like to say sorry. As we shared yesterday, the rain over the last 48 hours made the grounds unsafe. In an abundance of caution, we had to delay doors opening, resulting in the lines to get into the festival. Please understand safety will always be our number 1 priority.”
Organizers said they worked hard to make sure every artist still got their stage time, extending the hours of the festival do that everyone could perform without violating city curfews. They also promised to “do better” on Sunday (June 1), noting that there was no rain in the forecast and that they had made changes to improve the entry process and communication with fans.
Day two appeared to go off with less hitches, with the official Roots Picnic posting footage of sets by Crystal Waters, the Clipse, CeeLo Green, The Roots, Kravitz, Kaytranada and Meek Mill.
See the message from the Picnic below.
Ticketing platform Seated is being re-acquired by its founders, David McKay and John Griffin, four years after it was acquired by intimate live experience producer Sofar Sounds. McKay will lead the company’s return to independence as CEO.
Seated — dubbed an artist-first ticketing platform — was launched in 2017 to empower artists to take more control of their ticketing by enhancing tour listings for artist websites; it has since evolved into a central pillar of many major tours’ marketing and ticketing efforts. The platform’s offerings have now expanded to include SMS-based presale registration, audience-building and pixeling for ad strategy, official waitlists for sold-out shows, and direct-to-fan ticketing. Seated has come to work with big-name artists including Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Olivia Rodrigo, Lizzo, Eric Church, John Mayer, Morgan Wallen, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Gracie Abrams in recent years.
“When we sold the company in February 2021, it was a very different time [for live events], and our vision of what a combined Seated and Sofar would become drastically changed once the vaccines came out. Our business was clearly moving in a different direction than Sofar,” says McKay. “To their credit, [Sofar] continued to support us and we stayed a fully independent operating team inside of Sofar for those four years, which actually made this a very clean split.”
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The two entities began discussing a split when former Sofar Sounds CEO Jim Lucchese departed the company in 2024 to become the president of Berklee College of Music. Lucchese was replaced by former Atlas Obscura CEO Warren Webster, who McKay says is a “breath of fresh air for Sofar” but diverges from Seated’s goals of working with arena and stadium touring artists.
“Seated has achieved remarkable growth under Sofar Sounds’ ownership these last four years, becoming a vital partner to some of the biggest artists in the world,” Webster said in a statement. “We’re proud to have been part of that story, and as Sofar focuses on the increasing demand in our communities for live experiences, we’re thrilled that Seated will continue to grow with its founders at the helm.”
For the founders, the reacquisition is about doubling down on building tools for artists to sell tickets directly and develop stronger connections with their fans. The platform has recently done direct-to-fan ticketing for Noah Kahan, Shawn Mendes and Goose, while artists like Brandi Carlile, John Legend and Nathaniel Rateliff have used Seated to sell their own presale tickets, giving them more control over the ticketing experience and fan data. Seated has also helped artists use identity verification for resale and waitlist ticketing, reducing the number of tickets that end up with brokers.
Over the past year, the biggest residencies at Sphere in Las Vegas — including Eagles, Dead & Company and Kenny Chesney — also used Seated for data capture, demand insights and SMS presale registrations.
With ticketing being a hot-button issue in the last few years, McKay says he is excited to be independent again so that Seated can focus more on helping artists capture their fan data. Rather than spending all of their tour marketing on directing fans to ticketing platforms where they have to wait for a specific time for an onsale, McKay wants artists to be able to give their fans actionable items that get them closer to securing tickets.
“When tickets are not on sale yet, fans can sign up for reminders to get tickets, and when tickets sell out, we open up the fan waitlist,” McKay says, and all that fan data goes back to the artist.
“All the ticketing companies that you know and love — or don’t — are built with the tools to service their customers, which are the venues,” McKay says, adding that major ticketing companies are investing in box office computers, scanners and season ticket technology for sports teams. “Ticketing companies as a whole, the artist isn’t their customer.”
After playing Fenway Park in Boston, Kahan was set to perform at a local Vermont venue with only 5,00 tickets available. Instead of making fans rush to an onsale (where bots are the quickest to the tickets), the company had fans sign up with their information and their price range, and Seated was able to sort through to make sure all buyers were authentic fans. If fans needed a refund, they could click a button to return the ticket, and it would go to another fan on the waitlist. Fans who did not want a refund for their ticket could donate the money they spent to Kahan’s charity, with McKay stating that 15% of those who wanted a refund did so.
“That’s the biggest difference between an artist-led ticketing platform and a venue-led ticketing platform,” says McKay.
Sir Rod Stewart called off his planned residency show at the Colosseum in Las Vegas on Sunday night (June 1) just hours before set time due to an unspecified illness. The 80-year-old singer pulled out of the show around 6 p.m. local time, with less than four hours to go, according to the Las Vegas […]
Eminem and Post Malone have appeared in cameos in the full trailer for Happy Gilmore 2, which dropped over the weekend ahead of the film’s July 25 release on Netflix.
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The sequel follows Adam Sandler’s iconic character returning to the green nearly 30 years after the original to raise $300,000 for his daughter’s ballet tuition.
Sandler previously announced the Detroit rapper’s inclusion in the highly anticipated sequel during a recent appearance on The Dan Patrick Show.
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“Eminem was cool, he came by, he was great,” Sandler raved of Em, adding, “I’ve known Eminem for a long time, he’s a great guy and he came in and was funny as hell,” he said. “I think we just hung out a day with Eminem and he just shot and shot and he was insane. [He] said a million things we can use and a million that we’re glad we have him on tape.”
The cameo-filled trailer features a slew of other big names, including Bad Bunny, Travis Kelce, Eric André, Margaret Qualley, and Martin Herlihy.
Bad Bunny plays Gilmore’s chaotic new caddie, while Ben Stiller, Julie Bowen, and Christopher McDonald reprise their roles from the 1996 classic. The movie also stars Sandler’s real-life daughter, Sunny Sandler, who plays Gilmore’s daughter.
Back in August, Sandler also discussed Travis Kelce’s cameo in the comedy flick. During a Tonight Show appearance, the comedian shared of the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, “He’s a very nice guy. You guys would love him in real life. What a big, handsome guy. Funny and cool as hell. He’s a stud and he’s so funny.”
Directed by Kyle Newacheck and co-written by Sandler and longtime collaborator Tim Herlihy, the film blends nostalgia with a new twist, bringing back fan-favorite characters while introducing fresh faces. Of course, Gilmore’s fiery temper and unconventional golf skills are on full display once again.
Eminem’s appearance comes during a prolific era for the rapper. His 2024 album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, moving 281,000 equivalent album units in its first week and marking his 11th No. 1 album.
The album’s lead single, “Houdini,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning Eminem his 23rd career top 10 single and his highest chart debut since “The Monster,” featuring Rihanna, which logged four weeks at No. 1 in December 2013-January 2014.
Menawhile, Post Malone is co-headlining the Big Ass Stadium Tour with Jelly Roll, which kicked off in April 2025 and runs through July in North America, before heading to Europe in August and September. The tour supports Post Malone’s country-inspired album F-1 Trillion, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Happy Gilmore 2 swings onto Netflix July 25. Watch the film’s latest trailer below.
Linkin Park delivered a four-song set ahead of the UEFA Champions League final in Munich on Saturday night (June 1), continuing their return to the live stage with performances of “The Emptiness Machine,” “In the End,” “Numb,” and “Heavy Is the Crown.”
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Taking the stage at Munich Football Arena just before kickoff between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan, the band’s appearance served as a high-profile preview of their upcoming world tour, which supports their latest album, From Zero, released last year.
The set marked another major step in the band’s evolution following the addition of vocalist Emily Armstrong, who officially joined the lineup last September. Armstrong’s debut sparked conversation online, including public commentary from the late Chester Bennington’s family and discussion around her past professional affiliations.
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From Zero is Linkin Park’s first studio album since 2017’s One More Light, released just months before Bennington’s death.
At the band’s first show with their new lineup last year, co-founder Mike Shinoda addressed the crowd, saying, “We are thrilled to be back out here. It is not about erasing the past. It is about starting this new chapter into the future and coming out here for each and every one of you.”
Shinoda expanded on that sentiment during a guest appearance on The Tonight Show, explaining, “I think the important thing for us is that we never set out to, like, ‘Let’s bring the band back’ or ‘Let’s find a singer.’ That was never our intention or our goal.”
The album debuted at No. 1 on all of the above charts last November, except for the Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales, where it arrived at No. 2. Following its deluxe reissue with additional tracks on May 16, From Zero recently returned to Top Album Sales (at No. 5), Top Hard Rock Albums (No. 4), Vinyl Albums (No. 8), Top Alternative Albums (No. 9), Top Rock Albums (No. 15), Top Rock & Alternative Albums (No. 17), Indie Store Album Sales (No. 17) and the Billboard 200 (No. 71) charts dated May 31.
The North American leg of Linkin Park’s upcoming tour is set to kick off July 29 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The run will include stops across the U.S. through August and September, including a major date at Dodger Stadium with Queens of the Stone Age, before it wraps Sept. 24 in Seattle.
Duran Duran are officially back in the lab with one of their most legendary collaborators.
On Saturday (June 1), the iconic U.K. band teased new material via Instagram, sharing a snapshot from Abbey Road Studios with the caption, “Working with our good friend Nile at Abbey Road Studios this weekend. Stay tuned…”
Nile Rodgers, who’s been behind some of the band’s biggest hits, also shared the moment on his socials, writing, “We had as much fun working yesterday as ever!” The reunion marks the first time Rodgers and Duran Duran have worked together in nearly a decade, following their last collaboration on 2015’s Paper Gods, which featured the funk-infused single “Pressure Off” with Janelle Monáe and cracked the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Rodgers’ relationship with the band stretches back more than 40 years. He remixed their first Billboard No. 1 single “The Reflex” in 1984, produced the fan-favorite “The Wild Boys,” and went on to helm their fourth studio album Notorious (1986). His signature grooves helped shape Duran Duran’s post-new wave sound during a critical period of their evolution.
The super-producer later reunited with them for 2004’s Astronaut, marking the return of the original five-piece lineup.
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The news arrives just days before Duran Duran kick off their European and U.K. tour with Rodgers and CHIC joining as special guests. The tour begins June 3 in Finland and includes major stops in Amsterdam, Rome, Dublin and the U.K., wrapping in early July.
While the band hasn’t confirmed whether the Abbey Road sessions are for a new album or standalone release, this marks the first major studio move since their Halloween-themed album Danse Macabre, released in 2023.
Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records worldwide and earned two Grammy Awards. Their latest chart appearance came with Future Past in 2021, which debuted at No. 28 on the Billboard 200. Rodgers, meanwhile, remains one of music’s most decorated producers, with credits spanning David Bowie, Madonna, Daft Punk and more.
Following the launch of Iron Maiden‘s Run for Your Lives World Tour, manager Rod Smallwood has shared a new plea for fans to put their phones away at the band’s shows.
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The British heavy metal veterans’ recently-launched tour takes place as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, with the group kicking things off with a pair of sold-out dates in Budapest, Hungary last week.
Prior to the tour’s launch, Smallwood took to Iron Maiden’s website to request that fans put their phones back into their pockets and witness the show as it’s supposed to be seen.
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“We really want fans to enjoy the shows first hand, rather than on their small screens,” Smallwood wrote. “The amount of phone use nowadays diminishes enjoyment, particularly for the band who are on stage looking out at rows of phones, but also for other concertgoers.
“We feel that the passion and involvement of our fans at shows really makes them special, but the phone obsession has now got so out of hand that it has become unnecessarily distracting especially to the band. I hope fans understand this and will be sensible in severely limiting the use of their phone cameras out of respect for the band and their fellow fans.”
In the wake of the band’s first few shows of their latest tour, Smallwood shared a reflective post on social media over the weekend, thanking fans for their support of new drummer Simon Dawson, and applauding those who heeded his request for limited phone usage during the gigs.
“A huge thank you to every one of you who kept your phones down, respected the band and your fellow fans, and embraced the show the way it’s meant to be experienced – in the room with us,” Smallwood said. “That was a great boost for us and the band appreciated it greatly. It is so much better when they can see you unencumbered and that drives them on without that distraction. For the selfish few that didn’t and just had to keep videoing… I wish you nothing but a very sore arm!
“But they were few, and we do hope this support from fans, especially in the floor area in front of the sound desk, continues in Prague tomorrow and beyond,” he added. “As I said before, by all means take the odd quick pic as a memento of a great night, but otherwise please keep your phone in your pocket.”
Iron Maiden’s current Run for Your Lives World Tour marks their performances since wrapping the The Future Past Tour in São Paulo, Brazil in December. That tour was the last to feature drummer Nicko McBrain, who announced his “decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle.”