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It’s Friday, April 26th, and Doja Cat is getting backlash about her performance at Coachella, with many stating it wasn’t “safe for kids.” Normani released her new single featuring Gunna “1:59,” Anitta dropped her new album ‘Funk Generation’ and more. The Latin AMAs happened yesterday and we have all the updates from behind the scenes […]
It’s a Taylor Swift sweep on Australia’s charts, as The Tortured Poets Department (via Universal) and “Fortnight” blast to No. 1.
Tortured Poets opens at the summit of the ARIA Albums Chart, published Friday, April 26, for her lucky 13th leader in these parts.
With that result, Swift boasts the most No. 1 albums for a solo female artist in ARIA chart history, moving ahead of Madonna to claim outright third place.
The all-time leader among acts with the most chart-topping albums in Australia is Jimmy Barnes with 15 as a solo act (he had another five with Cold Chisel), followed by the Beatles with 14.
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Meanwhile, Swift scoops the chart double with “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone opening at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, for her 12th leader on that tally. With a dozen singles chart leaders, Swift sits third on the all-time list of artists here, trailing Elvis Presley (No. 14) and The Beatles (No. 26).
At the same time, she becomes the first artist to hold the entire top 10 on the singles chart, and establishes a new mark for the most singles in the top 50, with 29 on the current frame. That creams the old record of 20, set by Drake in 2021 and by herself in 2023.
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All 31 tracks from the double album impact the top 100, with “Robin” the lowest at No. 55. Three older songs sit in the top 100 (“Cruel Summer,” “Anti Hero” and “Lover”), meaning Swift has more than one-third of all songs in the top 100 (34). The previous record was 32 in one week, ARIA reports, held by Michael Jackson and Taylor.
Swift, whose The Eras Tour visited Australia in late 2023 for seven shows, is the only artist in ARIA history to replace themselves at No. 1 on the national albums tally. She has done it three times, including this month with Tortured Poets replacing Lover (earlier, in 2023, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) replaced Midnights; and in March 2024, Lover replaced Midnights).
According to a statement issued late Friday by Universal Music Australia, Tortured Poets is the most-sold album on vinyl in ARIA history, the market’s most-streamed LP in its opening week, and the biggest album debut since Adele’s 25 in 2015.
Remarkably, only two of the U.S. pop superstar’s studio or re-recorded albums have failed to reach the summit in Australia — her self-titled debut, Taylor Swift (peaking at No. 33 in 2006) and Fearless (No. 2 in 2008). Fearless (Taylor’s Version) did, however, climb the summit in 2021.
In non TTPD-related ARIA Chart news, Pearl Jam bows at No. 2 with Dark Matter, the Seattle rock legends’ 12th studio album. Pearl Jam has had eight No. 1 albums in Australia: Vs. in 1993, Vitalogy in 1994, No Code in 1996, Yield in 1998, Binaural in 2000, Riot Act in 2002, Backspacer in 2009 and Lightning Bolt in 2013. Dark Matter is the followup to 2020’s Gigaton, which peaked at No. 3.
Shady’s back, and he’s hinting that it’s for the last time.
Eminem teases The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), a new album due out in summer 2024.
The Rock Hall-inducted emcee breaks the news by way of a viral video in the style of real crime show Unsolved Mysteries, which tells a narrative of how Em meets his end and asks the question, “who killed Slim Shady?”
It’s a tongue-in-cheek job, and features fellow rapper 50 Cent (who declares “he’s not a friend, he’s a psychopath”), vintage footage of the Detroit rapper, a bloody knife, and a pixelated, bearded Em in the hot seat.
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“Through his complex, tongue twisting and oft criticized rhymes, the blonde anti-hero known as Slim Shady has had no shortage of enemies,” explains the trench-coated narrator of the parody program, Detroit Murder Files. “The same rude lyrics and controversial antics might have ultimately led to his demise.”
The Death Of Slim Shady is the followup to the rapper’s 11th studio album from 2020, Music to Be Murdered By. That album landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, for Em’s historic 10th consecutive leader. Prior to that Eminem delivered another surprise with Kamikaze, which dropped in 2018 without any warning.
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Eminem was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, in a class that included Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Dolly Parton, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, Lionel Richie and Carly Simon.
Em’s longtime collaborator Dr. Dre did the honors at the Rock Hall, and it was Dre who announced that a new Eminem album was on the way, spilling the beans on late night TV last month.
“Let me tell you something, let me explain something to you right now: Eminem is working on his own album which is coming out this year,” Dre said to cheers from the studio audience for Jimmy Kimmel Live, for his first late night appearance in 30 years. “And I actually talked to him and he said it okay for me to make that announcement right here on this show. So he has an album coming out, I’ve got songs on it and it’s fire. I’m actually gonna hear the entire album for the first time for tomorrow.”
The Rap God has dominated our news feeds in recent days. With the 2024 NFL draft upon up, Em, a Detroit Lions superfan, teamed up with commissioner Roger Goodell for a new ad hyping the 89th annual draft, taking place in Marshall’s hometown from April 25-27.
Also, the official video for Eminem’s 2004 song “Mockingbird” flew past 1 billion views earlier this week on YouTube, and the MC posted a single, powerful image on Instagram on Sunday honoring his 16th sober anniversary.
Deservingly so, Banda MS was honored with the Legacy AMA at the 2024 Latin American Music Awards.
The special award recognized the band’s more-than two decades of artistic career that began in 2003 in their native Sinaloa and eventually saw them become one of the biggest exponents of regional Mexican music around the world.
Presented by Eslabon Armado and Joss Favela, Banda MS took the stage to deliver an emotional speech, acknowledging the new generation of regional Mexican hitmakers. “More than 21 years ago, we started a dream in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, to be able to take this music to all the corners of the world, to fight for a purpose,” said frontman Oswaldo Silvas.
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He continued: “Not just to take the name of a band, but the name of the regional Mexican music, of a genre, all over the world. We have not yet achieved the purpose but we are still in the fight. The new generations have to achieve more than what we have achieved. Here we have a generation of musicians who have taken music to a new level and at home there is another generation that will take the genre to a higher level. To all those people who think we deserve this, thank you. Long live music, long live Mexican music.”
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Later that night, Banda MS — backed by their live musicians that power their banda sinaloense signature sound — took the stage to perform a show-stopping medley with real star power, bringing out artists like Carin León and A.B. Quintanilla. They kicked off with their latest hit, “Tu Perfume,” and were then joined by Los De La S for “Somos Los Que Somos.” Then, León joined the group to sing their collab “Ojos Cerrados” and Banda MS wrapped with special guest A.B. Quintanilla to sing the the party anthem “Es Viernes.”
The 2024 Latin American Music Awards took place Thursday, April 25, live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas via Univision. Hitmakers Feid and Peso Pluma lead this year’s list of nominations with 12 nods each. The Colombian singer and Mexican star, who are up for the coveted artist of the year award and album of the year award, are followed by top nominees Bad Bunny (11), Grupo Frontera (11), Karol G (9), Shakira (9), Eslabon Armado (8) and Fuerza Regida (8).
Thalia, Becky G, Alejandra Espinoza and Carlos Ponce co-hosed the award ceremony that presented in a combination of English and Spanish, marking the first time any major U.S. award show featured a bilingual broadcast.
It’s Thursday, April 25th, and we can’t seem to get enough of Taylor Swift. The singer jetted off to a vacation with Travis Kelce, Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid. After the release of her new albums, ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ Matty Healy finally responds about the songs about him in Taylor’s new album and Taylor […]
Tyla and Gunna’s hit “Jump” sits just outside the top 10, an oldie but goodie jumps to No.8, but who’s at No.1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart? Keep watching to find out! Tetris Kelly:A new song takes the top spot while another breaks into the top 10. Lay Bankz climbs from 11 into […]
Festival season is in full swing! We’re breaking down all the headlining acts for this year’s festival season. Tetris Kelly:Lana Del Rey, Post Malone and more have been announced as some of the headlining acts of the 2024 music festival season, and we have the rundown on all this year’s highlights. From industry veterans to […]
Reba McEntire is back in the saddle as host of the Academy of Country Music Awards, returning to the top job for a record 17th time.
The veteran country artist will lead the 2024 edition of the ACM Awards, set for Thursday, May 16, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PT from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
No other artist has been asked to host the annual celebration of country music more often than McEntire, and few can beat her collection of 16 ACM Award wins and nine nominations for the prestigious ACM entertainer of the year, including a win back in 1994.
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McEntire, who stars as a mentor on NBC’s The Voice, is also the ACM Award record-holder with most nominations for female artist of the year.
“I am tickled to pieces to get to host the ACM Awards for the 17th time,” says McEntire, who will also perform on the night. “What an honor to have been part of the past, present and now the future of the Academy of Country Music with Amazon Prime Video. I can’t wait to get to Texas and see everybody May 16.”
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As previously reported, Luke Combs leads the nominations for the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards with eight nods, including entertainer of the year, male artist of the year, album of the year, song of the year, and single of the year.
Megan Moroney and Morgan Wallen are close behind with six nods each.
Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson received five nominations each, followed by Jelly Roll and Jordan Davis with four nods each and Kelsea Ballerini and Zach Bryan with three nods each.
“There is simply no one better to continue to elevate this show in our new global streaming era with Amazon Prime Video,” says ACM CEO Damon Whiteside of McEntire’s return as host. “With exciting new music coming, extensive television presence and a worldwide fanbase, Reba’s back and better than ever.”
McEntire “is an icon,” adds Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios. “She is one of the most influential artists in the music industry and we are thrilled to welcome her back as host of the Academy of Country Music Awards.”
The Academy of Country Music (ACM) and Dick Clark Productions (DCP) announced nominations for the forthcoming ceremony on The Bobby Bones Show on Tuesday (April 9).
Established in 1966, the Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions. 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 Barry Adelman serves as executive producer for DCP. John Saade serves as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
The ACM Awards, which bills itself as “country music’s party of the year,” will stream live exclusively for a global audience on Prime Video. The full rebroadcast will be available directly following the stream on Prime Video and also the next day for free on Amazon Freevee and the Amazon Music app.
Primary Wave Music strikes a deal to acquire Neil Finn’s music publishing catalog and writer’s share of public performance for his work with Crowded House, the legendary Kiwi artist’s folk-rock favorites.
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Songs included in the deal are the classics “Better Be Home Soon,” “Weather With You” and “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” a Billboard chart leader.
Through the partnership, announced this week, Primary Wave Music will also represent Finn’s solo material.
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“I look forward to seeing Primary Wave’s plan for the ongoing care of my songs. I am confident they see the body of my work as music that matters,” says Finn in a statement. “This deal has been a good while in the making and feels right.”
The New Zealand-born and based artist is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary songwriters in the game, and is a member of the ARIA Hall of Fame.
“We are thrilled to welcome Neil Finn to Primary Wave,” adds Primary Wave’s David Weitzman. “Not only is he a master songwriter, he is the songwriters’ favorite songwriter. We look forward to working closely with Neil and his great team at Shelter Management on the next stages of his storied career.”
The alliance is announced ahead of Crowded House’s eighth studio album Gravity Stairs, set for release May 31 through a new recording deal with BMG.
Finn co-founded Split Enz, an important alternative rock outfit that landed hit after hit in Australia and New Zealand, prior to their dissolution in 1984.
From its embers, Finn formed Crowded House. A U.S. breakthrough happened in April 1987 when “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” recorded by the classic lineup of Finn (singer, songwriter, guitar), Nick Seymour (bass) and the late drummer Paul Hester, peaked at No. 2 back.
The song made a mighty comeback last year. Thanks to a sync to an episode of the rebooted detective classic Magnum P.I., “Don’t Dream It’s Over” powered to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top TV Songs chart.
Crowded House was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2016, in recognition of a glorious career during which they’ve sold more than 10 million albums, collected 13 ARIA Awards, and five ARIA No. 1 albums.
Their 2010 hits compilation Recurring Dream also topped the Official U.K. Albums Chart and is one of four Crowded House album to crack the top 10 in that territory.
Gravity Stairs is the followup to Dreamers Are Waiting, which peaked at No. 2 in Australia, No. 6 on the Official U.K. Chart, and won best adult contemporary album at the 2021 ARIA Awards.
Founded in 2006, Primary Wave Music is one of the world’s leading independent publishers, representing music from the likes of Bob Marley, Prince, Stevie Nicks, James Brown, The Doors, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Smokey Robinson, Whitney Houston and many others.
Miss Cleocatra is a one top cat with class and style but, it turns out, she doesn’t have nine lives.
The feline got ousted during episode 8 of The Masked Singer’s 11th season, which aired Wednesday, April 24.
The theme was “Girl Group Night,” and the celebrity contestants – and judges – got into the swing of things. Gumball sang “Wide Open Spaces” by the Chicks, Seal performed “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips, the Beets hit “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters, and Miss Cleocatra performed “Free Your Mind” by En Vogue.
The two contestants with the lowest scored entered a smackdown, Miss Cleocatra and Seal. Each performed their own rendition of “Waterfalls” by TLC, after which only one could stay. Cleocatra had to go.
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Under the Pharaoh-styled Cleocatra helmet was Jenifer Lewis, the veteran singer and star of Black-ish. Ken Jeong guessed right.
She’s graced the Broadway, the big screen, and small. Why do The Masked Singer? Lewis used her stint on Fox’s quirky singing competition to get back into the saddle after a shocking injury from a fall in the Serengeti back in November 2022.
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Last month, Lewis told all in a sit-down interview with Robin Roberts that aired on Good Morning America, sharing the grim details of a 10-feel fall from her hotel balcony, which left her unable to move and thinking she might die.
After recovering from her injuries, Lewis was able to appear in NBC’s Night Court revival and Jennifer Lopez’s musical movie This Is Me … Now: A Love Story.
The Masked Singer enabled her to get back to what she loves. “Listen guys, I took a long break,” she told the audience after the big reveal. “And when they called I said I haven’t been on stage singing for a long time. So I said c’mon, let’s go. And it was fun, I had a blast.”
Addressing viewers at home, Lewis remarked, “do me a favor, you’re so young and you’re so beautiful. Take care of yourselves. And be loving to one another, you hear me. That’s what I want for you.”
Lewis’ unmasking as Miss Cleocatra follows one week after The Masked Singer‘s “Queen Night” episode, which saw the unmasking of Ugly Sweater, aka Charlie Wilson, and Starfish, The Office‘s Kate Flannery.
Past season 11 contestants whose identities have been revealed include Kevin Hart (Book); restauranteur Joe Bastianich (Spaghetti & Meatballs); TV personalities Savannah Chrisley (Afghan Hound), Billy Bush (Sir Lion) and Colton Underwood (Lovebird); NFL hall of famer DeMarcus Ware (Koala); and singer Sisqó (Lizard).
Watch Miss Cleocatra’s performance and unmasking below.
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