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Sam Smith has pretty much seen and done it all. With a fourth studio album arriving later this month, the singer and songwriter already boasts four Grammys, three BRITs, an Oscar and a Golden Globe, No. 1s around the globe and a James Bond theme.
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Though Smith still feels star struck when a pop diva walks into the room.
“If I see Rihanna or Madonna, I fall to the floor,” Smith tells Jimmy Fallon, during an interview that aired Thursday night (Jan. 19).
Add Lady Gaga to that starry list. Smith recounts the story of when they skipped school to watch Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour. They forged a letter from dad, and landed detention for, maybe, a week. Did the punishment fit the crime? Doesn’t matter. “It was so worth it,” Smith says.
Smith’s life has moved on from playing hooky. Last month, they were invited to the White House for a performance and a meet-and-greet following the signing of the historic Respect for Marriage Act into law, protecting same-sex and interracial marriages across the country.
On the day, Smith performed “Stay With Me,” and met with top brass. Kamala Harris “loved” their handbag, “they were all very sweet and kind to me and my team and everyone.”
As a Brit, Smith never dreamed of being in playing that particular venue. “It was such a beautiful day, such a beautiful step in the right direction for our community and I was just very honored.”
Smith was, of course, on the Tonight Show couch to talk about their new album Gloria, due out Jan. 27 via Capitol. Its title and title song, Smith explains, is about “a spirit inside of me that says to me, ‘you keep going. You’ve got this. Carry on’. It’s like a fighter spirit within me.”
Several songs from it have already dropped, including the hit “Unholy” with Kim Petras, and “Gimme,” with Koffee and Jessie Reyez. One more song with an “amazing” music video is coming soon. “I explode into glitter,” Smith quips.
Smith will hit the road this April for the start of a major tour in support of Gloria. More dates were added this week. But first, SNL this weekend – Smith’s first appearance as musical guest on the show in eight years. “I’m not as nervous. I was s—ing myself the first time,” they admit. “It’s the fourth time I’ve been there. I’m a bit more calm.”
Watch the late-night interview below.
Since catching the attention with “Munch (Feelin’ U)” last August, Ice Spice has been on the very tip of many tongues.
The Bronx freestyle specialist followed it up with “Bikini Bottom,” a fun exercise in drill which could easily soundtrack an silly scene from Spongebob Squarepants.
“Munch” has racked up more than 25 million views on YouTube and 39 million listens on Spotify, and landing spots on the Billboard Rhythmic Airplay, Bubbling Under Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.
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“Bikini Bottom” is at 9.5 million and 39 million plays, respectively.
Cardi B and Lil Nas X are fans, and Billboard anointed her as October R&B/Hip-Hop rookie of the month.
All that love and attention spilled over when Vevo sent Ice Spice to the 2023 class of “DSCVR Artists to Watch”.
The 23-year-old rapper is repaying the faith, and getting in early with Like…? (via Capitol), a new six-track EP which dropped at the stroke of midnight.
The six-pack captures “Munch” and Bikini Bottom” at the back-end, with the recently-released cut “In Ha Mood,” and newbies “Princess Diana,” “Gangsta Boo” with Lil Tjay, and “Actin a Smoochie” at the top.
Like…? is stickered with a “parental advisory” warning, which could also apply to its naughty artwork which features an animated stripper in a compromising pose.
so excited for ya to hear this project likee
From one leading lady to another, Pink has paid tribute to outgoing New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern as a one-of-a-kind.
On Thursday (Jan. 19), Ardern dropped a political bombshell with the announcement of her resignation — citing burnout — twinned with confirmation of a national election in October.
Ardern became the world’s youngest female head of government when, in 2017, she was elected to lead the country, aged 37. In the years since, she has navigated the Land of the Long White Cloud through an obstacle course of challenges, and reportedly faced an escalation of abuse and threats for her efforts.
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“There will never be another like you. I wish there were,” writes Pink, the Philadelphia native who is recognized in Australia and New Zealand as an honorary citizen, thanks to her rigorous touring of these parts.
“You have my admiration, my respect, my well wishes for you + your beautiful family,” the message continues. “I have watched you shine uniquely + bravely from afar. Thank you 4showing the rest of the world what’s possible.”
Prime Minister @jacindaardern there will never be another like you.I wish there were. You have my admiration, my respect, my well wishes for you+your beautiful family. I have watched you shine uniquely+bravely from afar.Thank you 4showing the rest of the world what’s possible.— P!nk (@Pink) January 19, 2023
The admiration is mutual. According to local entertainment and news title Stuff, the pair met in September 2019 at one of Pink’s performance at Spark Arena, and organized a “play date” for their kids.
Arden also holds the portfolio for Arts, Culture and Heritage and has a stronger connection with the local music industry. When Anthony Albanese was elected as prime minister of Australia in 2022, the two leaders swapped vinyl records for the cameras. The NZ chief is a sometimes-DJ and she has twice delivered keynote addresses at the Going Global music industry powwow in Auckland, the nation’s most populous city.
“This has been the most fulfilling five and a half years of my life,” she said during a press conference in Wellington, the capital. “But it’s also had its challenges – among an agenda focused on housing, child poverty and climate change, we encountered a … domestic terror event, a major natural disaster, a global pandemic, and an economic crisis.”
The Labour leader will step aside no later than Feb. 7.
Pink has no such plans to get out at the very top. She teased the Jan. 27 release of “Trustfall,” the title track from her forthcoming ninth studio album. The album proper is due out Feb. 17, and is the follow to 2019’s Hurts 2B Human, which logged a week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and is one of her three leaders on the chart.
Prime Minister @jacindaardern there will never be another like you.I wish there were. You have my admiration, my respect, my well wishes for you+your beautiful family. I have watched you shine uniquely+bravely from afar.Thank you 4showing the rest of the world what’s possible.— P!nk (@Pink) January 19, 2023
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Elvis Presley and Britney Spears debut on Billboard‘s multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated Jan. 21) with “Toxic Las Vegas (Jamieson Shaw Remix)” at No. 26. The track earned 493,000 U.S. streams and sold 500 downloads in the Jan. 6-12 tracking week, according to Luminate.
Heard in the 2022 Presley biopic Elvis, and released Jan. 6, the track is a mash-up of two classics from different eras: Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas” and Spears’ “Toxic.” “Viva,” credited to Presley with the Jordanaires, reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964; “Toxic” rose to No. 9 in 2004.
Elvis director Baz Luhrmann compared the King of Rock and Roll to the Princess of Pop in an interview with entertainment.ie last June. “Just like Britney, who creates the quintessential ’90s pop music, you’re richer than God and you’re in the Hollywood bubble,” he said. “That’s what happens to Elvis. He’s gone from being this rebel, this punk, deeply steeped with his Black music friends doing radical music, to suddenly being isolated in Hollywood doing pop.”
The star pairing gives Presley his inaugural appearance on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, which premiered 10 years ago this month. It’s the eighth placement for Spears, who earned her second No. 1 last September, alongside Elton John on “Hold Me Closer.” (Spears first led with “Scream & Shout,” with will.i.am, on that inaugural survey, dated Jan. 26, 2013, beginning a five-week reign.)
Concurrently, “Toxic Las Vegas” opens at No. 12 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart, eclipsing the peak of Spears’ original “Toxic”; although its release predated the chart’s 2010 inception, “Toxic” hit No. 31 on that chart’s first edition in 2010.
On Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales, Spears has three No. 1s and nine top 10s among 23 appearances. “Toxic Las Vegas” is Presley’s second hit there, following “Don’t Fly Away (PNAU Remix),” billed as by Presley and PNAU (No. 18, last July).
Meanwhile, “Toxic” marks the latest revival as a mash-up for the enduring song: In early 2022, “Toxic Pony,” a blend with Ginuwine’s No. 1 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs smash, and a No. 6 Hot 100 hit, from 1996, reached No. 7 on R&B Digital Song Sales and No. 40 on Pop Airplay, among other showings.
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BigBang‘s Taeyang and BTS‘ Jimin gave us a studio vibe last week, with the release of their eagerly awaited collaboration “Vibe.”
Now, the K-pop legends team-up for a live “Vibe,” which arrives Thursday (Jan. 19), via YG Entertainment subsidiary The Black Label and BigHit Music.
The new cut is accompanied with a performance video, which shows the boy band veterans working their musical magic in a spacious living room, draped in clean-and-comfy white curtains, decorated with house plants, and with a six-strong band in support. It’s a chilled vibe.
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The original cut of “Vibe” and its official music video simultaneously arrived Jan. 13, marking Taeyang’s first solo track since he was discharged from his mandatory service in the South Korea military in Nov. 2019. His last solo single was 2018’s “Louder,” recorded for the Winter Olympics, and his most recent solo album was 2017’s White Night.
“Vibe” became Jimin’s first official solo release since BTS announced that they were going on hiatus to allow its members to focus on their solo ventures (he last appeared solo on the 2022 collaborative track “With You” with Ha Sung Woon).
For those keeping score, Jimin is the final member of BTS to release a solo project since the band announced that they were taking that break, breaking millions of hearts in the process.
K-pop fans were so eager for the collaboration, “Vibe” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs before the song was released.
Taeyang and Jimin took the reins on the composition, along with Teddy, founder of The Black Label and a long-time collaborator and producer for Taeyang and BigBang. The Black Label songwriters and producers Kush, Vince, and 24 were also on board.
Watch Taeyang and Jimin’s live version of “Vibe” below.
Bonnie Raitt has reflected on the “inspiration” and “staggeringly great singing” of Renée Geyer, the celebrated Australian soul and blues singer who died earlier this week, aged 69.
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Geyer enjoyed solo success in Australia in the ‘70s with covers “It’s a Man’s Man’s World”, “Heading in the Right Direction” and with the bouncy ’80s pop number “Say I Love You,” though never reaped the commercial rewards that her talents deserved.
Later, she would relocate to Los Angeles, where she contributed to recordings for many stars, including Raitt.
“Shocked and so saddened to hear of the sudden passing of another friend and one of the greatest singers I’ve ever known, Australia’s incomparable Renée Geyer,” writes Raitt on her social pages.
“Her husky, powerful and deeply soulful voice and phrasing has blown me away since I first heard her back in 1980 in LA, while making her So Lucky album,” with Bump Band and producer Rob Fraboni, she writes.
Raitt “was so knocked” out that she tapped Fraboni and the band members oh her own, next album, 1981’s Green Light. The album cracked the top 40, peaking at No. 38 on the Billboard 200.
Geyer possessed an “impossibly low growl, unearthly high swoops but mostly, staggeringly great singing, there was no one like her,” Raitt enthuses. “She was feisty, fiercely independent and faced a lot being a strong woman in this music business. She was also my good friend and will remain an inspiration and in my heart always.”
back in 1980 in LA, while making her So Lucky album with producer @RobFraboni, and the Bump Band, consisting of legendary keys player, @IanMacMcLagan, drummer Ricky Fataar, guitarist Johnny Lee Schell and bassist Ray Ohara. (2/5)— Bonnie Raitt (@TheBonnieRaitt) January 17, 2023
Geyer cemented her icon status in 2005, when she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame alongside Split Enz, Normie Rowe, Smoky Dawson, The Easybeats, Hunters & Collectors and Jimmy Barnes. Then, in 2013 she was the first woman to be inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame; and in 2018 received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at the Australian Women in Music Awards.
While attending University Hospital Geelong to undergo hip surgery, specialists discovered that Geyer also had inoperable lung cancer. She died Tuesday (Jan. 17), “in no pain” and “peacefully amongst family and friends,” reads a family statement.
After the sad news broke, the music community paid tribute to the talented, late artist, including Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, Colin Hay, Kate Ceberano, Marcia Hines, Sarah McLeod and Troy Cassar-Daley. “The U.S. had Aretha, the U.K. Dusty Springfield. We had Renée. She taught us all so much,” explains Hay, former singer and songwriter with Men at Work. “She knew not only what music was, but where it came from. We had an inkling, but so much of it was so far away.”
Since launching her own recording career in 1971, Raitt has effortlessly melded music and activism, inspiring generations and earning “icon” status — she was bestowed the Icon Award at the 2022 Billboard Women In Music event.
Her 21st and latest album, 2022’s Just Like That, is nominated for four Grammy Awards.
Music from MONSTA X’s new six-song EP REASON swarms Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs chart, powered by Twitter, dated Jan. 21, led by “Deny” at No. 1.
Billboard’s Hot Trending charts, powered by Twitter, track global music-related trends and conversations in real-time across Twitter, viewable over either the last 24 hours or past seven days. A weekly, 20-position version of the chart, covering activity from Friday through Thursday of each week, posts alongside Billboard’s other weekly charts on Billboard.com each Tuesday, with the latest tracking period running Jan. 6-12.
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“Deny” is one of five songs to feature on the latest list upon the EP’s Jan. 9 release. All of the songs reach the top 10, with “Deny” followed by “Crescendo” at No. 5.
Concurrently, one of the EP’s songs, “Beautiful Liar,” reaches Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart at No. 8.
The top non-MONSTA X Hot Trending Songs appearance belongs to Huh Yunjin, whose “I ≠ DOLL” starts at No. 2. The LE SSERAFIM member’s first solo release of 2023 premiered Jan. 8; the music video, released the same day, has earned nearly 4 million global views on YouTube as of Tuesday, Jan. 17.
Music by A$AP Rocky and Moneybagg Yo featuring GloRilla also reach the top five.
Keep visiting Billboard.com for the constantly evolving Hot Trending Songs rankings, and check in each Tuesday for the latest weekly chart.