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Kate Bush celebrates her extraordinary comeback with a reissue of her albums in physical formats.
The enigmatic English singer’s label Fish People is pulling the trigger on “unlimited editions” of her reissued albums, spanning her 10 studio efforts, including U.K. No. 1s Hounds of Love and Never for Ever, The Dreaming, and her debut The Kick Inside, plus the remix album Director’s Cut.
“It’s been great fun putting together these new versions, including the colored vinyl for independent record stores,” comments Bush in a statement.
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“They’ve been designed as a ‘set’. It’s very exciting to see the resurgence of appreciation for the physical presence of albums released on vinyl. It’s how it’s always been for me, especially when I was a teenager. The whole buzz of the record store was part of the experience. Buying an album was an event.”
She continues, “There’s a special emotional connection that happens between the possessor of an album, the music and the artwork, when it exists in the real world. It’s something we can treasure in a unique way.”
The reissues feature the remastered audio from a 2018 campaign, when Bush’s entire musical output was released on vinyl across four box sets, including songs that had never before been pressed on wax.
The release campaign caps a thrilling resurgence for Bush in recent years. Powered by the fourth season of Stranger Things, Bush’s 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God”) became a chart phenomenon all over again.
By mid-2022, she was No. 1 on Hot 100 Songwriters Chart, and the song had logged multiple weeks at No. 1 in Australia and the U.K., where she was anointed as the oldest female artist ever to lead the Official U.K. Singles Chart (at 63 years and 11 months). This Friday (Nov. 3), Bush will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, during a ceremony that will air live on Disney+.
“I hope you enjoy these reissues,” writes Bush. “A great deal of care and thought has gone into them.”
The release of a new Beatles record, a band that officially split in 1970, is rare as hen’s teeth, and a legitimate cause for celebration.
That time has almost come, with “Now And Then” set to drop Thursday (Nov. 2) at 10am ET, followed 24-hours later by the release of an official music video, directed by Lord of the Rings mastermind Peter Jackson, marking the Oscar-winner’s first foray into the short format.
Described as the “last Beatles song,” “Now And Then” began life as a demo written and sung by John Lennon, was later developed and worked on by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and now finally finished by Paul and Ringo, the surviving members of The Beatles, more than 40 years after the group began work on it.
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No Beatles project is complete without a deep-dive, multi-channel exploration, which is what the band provides with a new 12-minute documentary, a companion piece to the song and video.
Directed by Oliver Murray and featuring input from McCartney, Starr, the late Harrison, Jackson, and Sean Ono Lennon, Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song is an origin story, tracing the tale of a bold project undertaken in February 1995 by Paul, George and Ringo, a studio mission that would get the old band back together.
“Real Love” and “Free as a Bird” both arrived, fresh, in 1995, as part of the Beatles Anthology project. But “Now And Then” remained unfinished — “languishing in a cupboard,” is how McCartney describes it — partly due to the technological limitations of the time.
The late Lennon’s vocals were recorded to tape in the 1970s, and remained there until Jackson found a solution. The New Zealander and his team developed a technology for the three-part documentary series Get Back, which paved the path for Lennon’s vocals to be uncoupled from his piano part.
Game on.
“He was always making demos,” Sean says of his dad in the short film, now streaming on YouTube, “and I do remember him recording into these tape cassette recorders. Mum had these handful of songs that my dad hadn’t finished. And she gave them to the other Beatles.”
Recounting the first attempts at converting Lennon’s rough cut into a Beatles diamond, McCartney says, “we listened to the track. There’s John in his apartment in New York City, banging away at his piano, doing a little demo. Is it something we shouldn’t do? Every time I thought, like that, I thought ‘wait a minute.’ Let’s say I had a chance to ask John. ‘Hey John, would you like us to finish this last song of yours?’ I’m telling you, I know the answer would have been ‘yeah.’ He would have loved that.”
Sean agrees. “My dad would have loved that, because he was never shy to experiment with recording technology. I think it’s really beautiful.”
“Now And Then” has been named as Radio 1’s Hottest Record, and will be issued as a double A-side single with “Love Me Do,” through Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe.
Watch The Beatles – Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song below.
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SYDNEY, Australia — Sounds Australia stalwart Esti Zilber will take the reins at the national music export body, succeeding Millie Millgate as executive producer.
With effect from Monday, Nov. 20, Zilber, currently creative producer, will lead a team that includes Glenn Dickie (export music producer), Dom Alessio (digital export producer) and Larry Heath (associate producer).
“Esti has been such an integral part of the growth of Sounds Australia over the last 13 years,” comments Millgate, who leaves the organization to lead Music Australia as its inaugural director, “and I’m truly excited for the future of the program knowing what a compassionate and formidable leader she will be. Sounds Australia is in extremely safe hands.”
Joining Sounds Australia in 2010, Zilber has played a key role in developing and delivering Sounds Australia’s program around the world. “Her work with inbound buyers across Australia’s domestic music conferences has seen thousands of invaluable connections made between international industry and local artists and managers,” reads a statement announcing her promotion.
During the peak-pandemic years of 2021 and 2022, Zilber managed Sounds Australia’s Export Stimulus Program, which saw $1.2 million distributed, across three rounds, to over 320 Australian artists, crew and music professionals. That financial support was used to realize “significant career-defining moments” in global markets and earn much needed income after 18 months of cancelled work due to the impacts of the pandemic.
Prior to working at Sounds Australia, she was the executive assistant to legendary concert promoter Michael Chugg and managed the offices of Chugg Entertainment and, before that, worked in book publishing in New York and was the executive producer arts and culture at FBi Radio, the Sydney community radio station.
Sounds Australia will next year celebrate its 15th anniversary. Since its launch in 2009, Sounds Australia has managed the presentation of over 2,200 Australian artists on global show stages, covering 86 different international events, in 75 cities, across 26 countries. Its presence can be felt at the Aussie BBQ and Australia House at SXSW, and, for its 10th anniversary in 2019, the Central Park SummerStage with Australian artists San Cisco, Hermitude, The Teskey Brothers, WAAX, Tkay Maidza Australian Music Prize winning Indigenous hip-hop act A.B. Original.
Sounds Australia will “imminently” kick start a recruitment process for Zilber’s replacement, reads a statement.
Led by strong sales and a world tour by the group Seventeen, K-pop giant HYBE’s third quarter revenues grew 20.7% year-over-year to 537.9 billion won ($410 million at the quarter’s average exchange rate), the South Korean company announced Thursday (Nov. 2).
When counted over the first nine months of 2023, Seventeen sold 11 million albums, including 5.1 million copies of Seventeenth Heaven, an eight-track EP, in the week after its Oct. 23 release. Seventeen also performed 18 times in nine cities across Asia, including shows at Japan’s five major domed stadiums that attracted 515,000 fans. In the third quarter alone, Seventeen performed two shows at the Tokyo Dome in Japan as well as a concert at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea.
HYBE also pointed to a string of successful solo releases by members of BTS for contributing in the quarter. V’s Layover sold 2.1 million albums in the week after its Sept. 8 release. J-Hope’s Jack in the Box, released July 15, reached No. 1 on the Tunes chart in 49 markets. D-Day by Agust D, also known as BTS member Suga, performed 28 times in 10 cities in North America and Asia.
HYBE’s music sales of 264.1 billion won ($201 million) was up 104.4% from the prior-year period and was 7.4% better than the 245.9 billion won ($187 million) in the second quarter. Concert revenue was up 83.9% year over year to 86.9 billion won ($66 million) but fell 44.8% from the prior quarter.
The company’s acquisition of Atlanta-based hip hop label Quality Control has quickly made a major impact. Home to such artists as Migos and Lil Baby, Quality Control accounted for 19% of HYBE’s streaming revenue in the quarter.
Big Machine Label Group, picked up in 2021 through the acquisition of Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, contributed 27% of third-quarter streaming revenue while South Korean labels took a 54% share.
Weverse, HYBE’s social media platform, increased its monthly active users to 10.5 million in the third quarter from 9.5% in the previous quarter and 6.9 million in the third quarter of 2022.
Shares of HYBE gained 5.4% to 243,000 won ($180.89) in early trading on Thursday in South Korea.
Total revenues grew 20.7% to 537.9 billion won ($410 million).
Music revenues gained 104.4% to 264.1 billion won ($201 million).
Concert revenue jumped 83.9% to 86.9 billion won ($66 million).
Merchandising and licensing revenue fell 25.3% to 85.7 billion won ($65 million).
Fan club revenue grew 21.3% to 21 billion won ($16 million).
Adjusted EBITDA grew 13.1% to 90.8 billion won ($69 million).
Net profit improved 5.9% to 98.6 billion won ($75 million).
We narrowed it down to our top 15 picks from Oprah’s holiday gift guide that will surely bring a smile to anyone this holiday season.
Another Halloween has come and gone. We are rounding up some of the best costumes that celebrities donned this year. The Halloween streets were lit with stars stopping by Billboard’s bash in LA, and Heidi Klum’s party brought out all the stars in New York. We take you inside both! The queen of Xmas, Mariah […]
Billboard has more than 200 different weekly charts in its menu, encompassing numerous genres and formats.
While established artists often compete for a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and Billboard 200 albums ranking, which track the most popular songs and albums of the week, respectively, up-and-coming talents typically start off on genre-specific lists.
Here’s a look at 10 artists who appear on surveys for the first time on the Nov. 4-dated charts.
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ScarLip
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The New York City-based rapper (real name: Sierra Lewis) scores her first Billboard chart appearance with “No Statements.” The track, released Sept. 15 via Broken Child/Epic Records, debuts at No. 40 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (up 36% in plays, according to Luminate). TikTok has been a big player in the song’s growing profile, as a portion of the track has been used in over 70,000 clips on the platform to date. (Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard’s charts except for the recently launched TikTok Billboard Top 50).
ScarLip has released eight other songs on streaming services, including her collaboration with Snoop Dogg, “This Is Cali,” in May. Earlier this year, Billboard named her track “This Is New York” one of the 50 best songs of 2023 so far. ScarLip joins a growing list of female rappers from New York to break through this year, along with Ice Spice, Lola Brooke and Flo Milli.
Alex Isley
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The singer-songwriter from New Jersey arrives on Billboard’s charts thanks to her collaborative album with Terrace Martin, I Left My Heart in Ladera. The set, released Oct. 20 on IRD/Sounds of Crenshaw/BMG, debuts at No. 2 on Contemporary Jazz Albums and No. 22 on Jazz Albums with 1,000 equivalent album units earned in its opening week.
Isley, the daughter of music legend and chart veteran Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers, has been releasing music for over a decade. She’s released three other albums: Dreams in Analog (2013), L U X U R Y (2015) and Marigold, with Jack Dine (2022). In 2020, her collab with Cautious Clay and Raedio, “Reaching,” appeared in the fourth season of HBO’s Insecure. She’s also collaborated Lucky Daye, Robert Glasper, Masego and serpentwithfeet, among others.
Destin Conrad
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The Tampa, Fla. native debuts on Billboard’s charts for the first time thanks to his featured appearance on Mahalia’s “It’s Not Me, It’s You.” Released in July via Atlantic Records on Mahalia’s latest LP, IRL, the song debuts at No. 27 on Adult R&B Airplay (up 19% in plays).
Conrad has released three solo LPs so far: Colorway (2021), Satin (2022) and Submissive (last Friday, Oct. 27). The new nine-track set, released on Above Ground Entertainment, also includes collaborations with Masego and Jordan Ward. Billboard named the Masego collab, “Super Paradise,” as one of its recent R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week. He’s previously released songs with Amaria, Ambre, Duckwrth, Kiana Lede and Musiq Soulchild.
Chriseanrock
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The rapper and reality TV personality is officially a Billboard-charting artist, thanks to her new collaboration with Lil Mabu, “Mr. Take Ya B*tch.” The song, which the pair self-released Oct. 17, debuts at No. 33 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, with 7.1 million official U.S. streams earned in its first full week of tracking (Oct. 20-26). The song also helps her debut at No. 37 on Emerging Artists.
Chriseanrock (a mash-up of her real name, Chrisean Rock) has appeared on the past three seasons of the Zeus reality show Baddies (Baddies South, Baddies West and Baddies East). Since 2022, she has also starred in her own Zeus reality show, Blueface & Chrisean: Crazy in Love, alongside her former boyfriend with whom she has a child, Blueface. “Mr. Take Ya B*tch” is a diss track aimed at the rapper. Chriseanrock has released nearly a dozen other songs on streaming platforms, all since 2020.
Head DA DON
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The MC notches his first Billboard chart entry, thanks to his featured appearance on Tech N9ne’s “Pull Out.” The track, released in July via Strange Music on Tech N9ne’s 24th studio album Bliss, debuts at No. 39 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (up 13% in plays).
In an exclusive interview with Billboard last month, Tech N9ne predicted that the song would be a hit. “When I heard that beat from Goodro, then that [‘pull out’] hook from Head DA DON, I knew immediately that the song would get us back up on radio and the charts,” he said. “This is just the beginning of the fire songs coming off Bliss.”
Adam Ten & Maori
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Both artists score their first Billboard chart placements thanks to their collaboration, “Spring Girl.” Released Aug. 25 on Higher Ground, the track debuts at No. 11 on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (up 88% in downloads). The song was boosted by a new mix with Vintage Culture, released Oct. 4.
Adam Ten, from Tel Aviv, has been a familiar face in the Israeli dance scene for over a decade. He has released multiple EPs and DJ’d various events around the globe. Maori, also from Israel, has been releasing music on streaming services as Maori since last year. He has released three EPs this year: South of the Border, in March, This Is Who I Am, with Monro (May), and Pillow Fight (July). The two also teamed up for the track “NCO,” released in August.
Ela Taubert
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The Colombian singer-songwriter hits Billboard’s charts for the first time with her single “Y Si Eras Tu.” The song, released Sept. 8 on Universal Music Latino/UMLE, debuts at No. 19 on Latin Pop Airplay (up 121% in audience). In March, Taubert released her first EP, the five-track Quien Dijo Que Era Facil?
Frizk
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Frizk arrives on Billboard’s charts with his viral breakthrough hit “All My Fellas (Pose 4 the Camera).” It debuts at No. 24 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with 190,000 official U.S. streams. TikTok has been a major factor in the song’s growing profile, as a portion of the track has been used in over 30,000 clips on the platform to date.
Frizk released his debut LP Forgotten Arcade on Friday (Oct. 27). Before that, he released two songs: “Friend” and “Bossa Break!,” in August and September, respectively.
Luke Harrison
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The Australian singer-songwriter is new to Billboard’s charts thanks to his song “Make Me Better.” The track, released Oct. 6 on Duncan Group Entertainment, debuts at No. 25 on Adult Contemporary airplay (up 283% in plays). Harrison has released four other songs on streaming services: “Free,” “Purpose,” “Heroes” and “You’ll Never Change.”
When Depeche Mode lost co-founder Andy Fletcher to a rare heart condition, the surviving band members didn’t buckle. They grieved, created music and confronted death head on.
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Dave Gahan and Martin Gore pressed forward, now representing Depeche Mode as a duo, and released their 15th studio album Memento Mori, or “remember you must die” in Latin.
The album hit No. 2 in DM’s homeland, the U.K., and No. 14 on the Billboard 200.
“Ghosts Again,” the lead single from Memento Mori, snagged a piece of chart history when it entered the top 10 on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart. With that effort, nearly 14 years after DM’s first chart appearance on the chart, and first top 10, the synth-pop outfit set a new mark for the longest wait between an act’s first entry and first top tier appearance on the tally.
The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame-inducted act is currently on another North America run, in support of Memento Mori. It’s the third leg in DM’s latest global tour. The fourth, Europe, starts late January 2024.
“This is the first time we’re doing something like this without Fletch,” Gahan told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “All the songs were already written before Fletch passed, but when something happens, an event like this in your life, songs change: They take on different forms and have different meanings when you sing them. I think when I was singing some of the vocals, I was reflecting on all kinds of things, but certainly Fletch came up in my mind quite a lot.”
For a final tuneup, Gahan and Gore stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, for a rendition of album track My Favourite Stranger,” a performance that captures both darkness and light.
Next up, DM visits Centre Bell in Montreal, QC this Friday (Nov. 3).
Watch the late-night performance below.
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Some battles end in tears, or stunned disbelief. When Eli Ward and Jason Arcilla went head-to-head Tuesday night (Oct. 31) on NBC’s The Voice, they wrapped it up with laughter, like two old buddies catching up, cracking open a few cold ones.
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The Team Gwen pair tackled Bread‘s “Make It With You,” bringing their own flair to the corny pop-rock number which led the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week in 1970.
“Gwen, what a song choice,” John Legend remarked. The performance was “so like fun and soulful” and “you got these handsome gentlemen to serenade you,” he quipped. The lads were smooth, Legend acknowledged. Arcilla had a “gentleness” of tone, he continued. And Ward, :I loved how confident and in command you felt the whole time.” If he had to choose, Legend would side with Ward.
“You guys sounded great together, you were having fun,” remarked fellow coach Reba McEntire. “I loved the little choreography moves.” If she had to pick, she’d go with Ward.
Niall Horan was impressed with Ward’s “’50s meets ‘70s” smoothness – and his biceps (the Waterloo, IL native is a Division I athlete at the University of Iowa with the cross-country track team). “Your tone is really pure and classic.” Arcilla, the 34-year-old who lives in Pukalani, Hawaii, has “an etherealness” to his voice. It’s a tough choice. If the Irishman had to make it, he would lean ever so slightly in the direction of Arcilla.
Stefani had to make the cut, and she wasn’t happy about it. “This is impossible right now,” she remarked. “I have zero, zero idea of what to do now.” After praising both singers, and remarking on their growth during the contest, she settled on a winner, someone who is “ready right right now.”
And that was Arcilla.
In the aftermath, the No Doubt singer explained her decision. “Jason has the kind of voice that has this breathy, airy, serene quality that I would actually listen to on a record. I think that he’s just really gifted.”
Watch below.
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The Nosferatu, a vampire so iconic in the annals of horror, it ranks right up there in the rogues’ gallery alongside Frankenstein’s Monster, Michael Myers, and Jason, has just had an update — thanks to Bad Bunny.
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Just in time for Halloween, the Puerto Rican superstar gets his creep on for “Baticano,” lifted from Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, his third and latest No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Directed by Stillz, the music video has all the angles, shadows and hallmarks of the 1922 version of Nosferatu, a benchmark in German Expressionism filmmaking. Steve Buscemi plays the father figure/mad scientist, who tells the pointy-eared creature, “they’re not ready for you in this world. But you are beautiful. Remember that. You are too perfect for this world.”
Bad Bunny is following in some mighty footsteps. Max Schreck’s performance in that early film was so compelling, Willem Dafoe reprised the role for 2000’s Shadow of the Vampire, which posited that, just maybe, Schreck was an actual garlic-hating, sunshine-avoiding vampire. Werner Herzog helmed the 1979 remake of Nosferatu the Vampyre, with Klaus Kinski, in the lead role, creepier than a box of spiders. Robert Eggers directs an update on the blood-sucking count, due out in 2024.
All 21 songs from Bunny’s new album (which translates to “Nobody Knows What Is Going to Happen Tomorrow”) went on to enter the Billboard Hot 100, including “Baticano,” which bowed at No. 78 last month. It’s his fifth solo studio album, following last year’s blockbuster Un Verano Sin Ti. His 2022 album spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard 200 albums chart and topped the year-end Billboard 200 as well — the first Spanish-language album to do so.
Following its release, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana was confirmed by Spotify as the platform’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2023 so far.
Watch the music video for “Baticano” below.
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