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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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Taylor Swift sets a new career mark in the U.K., as The Tortured Poets Department mounts a massive lead in the national chart race. In just three tracking days, Tortured Poets (via EMI) notches a U.K. career best opening week for Swift with more than 220,000 combined units, according to a rare sales flash published by the Official Charts Company.That’s well ahead of Swift’s previous first-week best, for Midnights, which accumulated 204,000 combined units in a seven-day stretch following its release in 2022.Tortured Poets has a long way to go if it is to compete with the U.K.’s all-time fastest sellers.
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The record holder is Adele’s 2015 effort 25, with 800,000 first-week units; ahead of Oasis’s 1997 release Be Here Now, with 696,000 units (collected in just three sales days); and Ed Sheeran’s album from 2017 ÷ with 670,000 units, respectively. As previously reported, Swift should sweep to a U.K. chart double. Tortured Poets is already the U.K.’s fastest-selling album of 2024 so far, and Swift should lock up the top three spots on the national singles chart, with “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone, “The Tortured Poets Department,” and “So Long, London,” respectively. “Fortnight” should become TayTay’s fourth U.K. No. 1, after “Look What You Made Me Do” (from 2017), “cardigan” (2020) and “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version)” (2023).
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And, with Tortured Poets, Swift should score a 12th U.K. No. 1 album, equaling Madonna at the top of the leaderboard of solo female artists. She’s also the first and only artist this century to rack up 10 U.K. No. 1 albums.
Swift’s 11th studio album has already set a slew of records, including a new, global streaming mark on Spotify, blasting away with more than 300 million streams in a single day, and shifting 700,000 copies on vinyl in its first week on sale in the United States.All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday, April 26.
The 2024 Latin American Music Awards are taking place this Thursday, April 25, live from Las Vegas via Univision. Before all the glitz and glam, Billboard was backstage at rehearsals catching up with some of the night’s nominees and performers.
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Under the theme “We Speak Música,” the awards ceremony will broadcast its first-ever bilingual edition co-hosted by Thalia, Becky G, Alejandra Espinoza, and Carlos Ponce. This year’s top nominees are Feid and Peso Pluma with 12 nods each. Meanwhile, Banda MS, Ricardo Montaner, and Yandel will be honored with special tributes and awards.
The Latin AMAs will air live at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 25, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas via Univision, UNIMÁS, Galavisión and ViX.
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Below, check out some of the best highlights during rehearsals:
New Albums Galore
Backstage at rehearsals, a handful of artists revealed that they will be releasing new albums this year. Danny Ocean, for example, opened up about his forthcoming Reflexa, which he described as a very personal process where he reflected on his life and the future of his career. Farruko, on the other hand, explained he will be premiering a song with Ky-Mani Marley at the 2024 Latin AMAs, marking the first single of his next studio album dropping soon.
Meanwhile, Wisin is set to drop his own project dubbed Mr. W this week, where he reeled in colleagues such as Don Omar, Yandel, Pedro Capo, Mora, and Jowell y Randy. “Doing music for me is not a job, it’s pleasure,” he tells Billboard. “I enjoy going to the studio and being able to collaborate. I enjoy breaking barriers in music. I think that’s what my album is all about.”
Los Avengers Are Back
In their comeback era, Los Avengers will be performing at the 2024 Latin AMAs. Four of the reggaetón collective’s members—Justin Quiles, Sech, Dalex, and Dimelo Flow—were at rehearsals talking about their new album, The Academy: Segunda Mision, and their highly-anticipated night.
“We transported 2019 to 2024, a bit more advanced with new music,” Quiles says to Billboard. “The same group. Good energy, good music. Everytime we get together, it’s organic.” Sech, who’s been taking a break from music and social media, could not contain his excitement. “I was working on myself. Life goes by very fast. I was organizing myself but we came to have an incredible time with the boys,” he notes.
AB Quintanilla’s Sweet Initiative
AB Quintanilla, who will form part of Banda MS’ tribute performance, used his platform to talk about a heartfelt initiative he has going on with his latest single, “El Rey de la Kumbia,” which he worked on over a year ago with the late artist, Lefty SM. “The beautiful thing about this song is that the record label and myself agreed that any financials made from the song, the publishing, anything whatsoever, would go to his wife and kids. So, it’s good giving back,” he expresses.
AB Quintanilla
Courtesy of Univision
Yandel Talks Feid Bromance
Yandel was present at the Latin AMAs, where he’s set to receive a special award for being one of the pioneers of the reggaetón movement on Thursday night (April 25). At rehearsals, he talked about his freshly-released joint EP with Feid, MANIFESTING 20-05. “It called my attention because I never expected it,” he notes. “I always wanted to collaborate with him because I like his talent, how he sings, his energy, how he is as a person. When I met him, I became more of a fan. [The album] was a proposal I made to him after ‘Yandel 150.’ For me, it’s a special project that I’m enjoying because I’m attracting [a] new generation [of fans].”
Becky G’s Co-Hosting Era
Becky G is ready to co-host the award ceremony’s first-ever bilingual broadcast alongside Thalia, Alejandra Espinoza, and Carlos Ponce. “It’s my first time coming to one of these awards shows and not feeling ashamed of being a Pocha, speaking in Spanglish,” the Mexican-American singer exclusively tells Billboard. “I know there are many generations that also identify with their Latin roots and want to participate in celebrating our culture but maybe don’t always feel welcomed to do so, so our hope is to extend a big hug to all the multi-generational families that are going to be watching this show.” Backstage, she also reflected on “Shower,” which was released 10 years ago and has opened so much doors for her since. Watch the full interview below:
Newcomers Oscar Ortiz and Edgardo Nuñez combine efforts for their first No. 1 on any Billboard chart as “First Love” ascends 3-1 on the April 27-dated Regional Mexican Airplay ranking. The song was released Dec. 23 via BadSin Records, the music management company co-owned by Ortiz and his brothers Kevin and Gerardo, both frequent Billboard charts visitors.
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“I feel grateful and honored that Edgardo Nuñez believed in my composition and I cannot say ‘thank you’ enough to my fans for supporting me in this dream,” 21-year-old Ortiz tells Billboard.
“First Love” accrued 7.95 million audience impressions in the U.S. toward the April 27 Billboard ranking (April 12-18 tracking week), according to Luminate; that’s a 16% gain from the week prior. The song ejects Banda MS’ “Tu Perfume” from the penthouse, which falls to No. 2 with a 6% dip, to 7.1 million impressions.
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Notably, “First Love” becomes just the fifth song by two co-billed soloists to lead Regional Mexican Airplay this decade. Here’s the list of those equal-billed collabs since 2020:
Title, Artist, Peak Date, Weeks at No. 1“Dime Cómo Quieres,” Christian Nodal & Angela Aguilar, Jan. 30, 2021, five“Duele,” Alejandro Fernéndez & Christian Nodal, April 24, 2021, one“Tus Desprecios,” Pepe Aguilar & El Fantasma, Sept. 25, 2021, one“Si Ya Hiciste El Mal,” Luis R Conriquez & Jessi Uribe, Nov. 19, 2022, one“Según Quién,” Maluma & Carin León, Dec. 16, 2023, one“La Intención,” Christian Nodal & Peso Pluma, March 30, two“First Love,” Oscar Ortiz & Edgardo Nuñez, April 27, 2024,
“First Love” caught immediate viral attention through TikTok, where Ortiz was named #Rompiendo Artist of the month in March by TikTok. To date, the song has sparked nearly 600,000 videos. Streams, however, experience a 4% dip during the tracking week, to 3.5 million official U.S. clicks.
As “First Love” rises to No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay, it takes BadSin to its second champ in 2024 and 13th overall. Earlier in this year, the indie label topped the ranking through Ortiz’s brother Gerardo Ortiz’s “Ahí No Era,” for one week in charge in February.
Unlike Oscar Ortiz, whose first and only Billboard entry arrived through “First Love,” Nuñez has placed four other tracks on the charts, including “El Humo De Gallo,” with Banda Los Sebastianes de Saul Plata, which debuts at No. 34 on Regional Mexican Airplay on the current list.
Beyond its Regional Mexican Airplay coronation, ‘First Love” climbs 9-5 on the overall Latin Airplay chart, for its new peak, with an 18% gain in overall impressions, to 8.32 million.
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It’s Wednesday, April 24th, and we have legal issues and confessions to share with you. Unfortunately for over 170 million users, TikTok is officially banned in the US unless the owners of the app can find a new owner in the next 9 months. Is Megan Thee Stallion going back to court? The singer finds […]
Ten weeks after Prince Royce and Gabito Ballesteros monopolized Billboard’s Tropical Airplay chart with “Cosas De La Peda,” the song slides to the top of the overall Latin Airplay chart (dated April 27), up from No. 3 a week ago. The hit is the seventh single from Royce’s album, Llamada Perdida, the 23-track set that placed the bachata singer back in the top five on Tropical Albums after a four-year pause (No. 2 debut in March).
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“Cosas De La Peda,” (loosely translating to ‘drunken matters’), shoots to No. 1 on the overall Latin Airplay chart thanks to a 27% boost in audience impressions, to 10.9 million, logged in the U.S. in the week ending April 18, according to Luminate. With to the almost 2 million additional impressions, the song wins the weekly Greatest Gainer award on the Latin radio ranking for the largest increase in audience among its 50 titles.
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Further, thanks to its radio surge, “Cosas De La Peda” debuts at No. 46 on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs, which ranks the most popular Latin songs of the week by blending streaming, airplay, and sales activity.
Royce and Ballesteros’ first team-up gives the regional Mexican soloist his maiden No. 1 on Latin Airplay. The new achievement arrives 10 weeks after he picked up his first champ on any Billboard radio ranking, as “Cosas De La Peda” rose to the top of Tropical Airplay on the Feb. 24-dated list, where it has held strong since.
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“Cosas” is a cause for celebration for Ballesteros, who joins a select group of regional Mexican artists who likewise achieved their premiere No. 1 on Latin Airplay in 2024 among the seven rulers this year including a regional Mexican act (whether through a regional Mexican song or a collab outside the genre). Those new highfliers comprise Xavi, whose “La Diabla” led for two weeks (starting the Feb. 10-dated list) and siblings Leonardo and Angela Aguilar through their Becky G collab, “Por El Contrario,” for one week atop (March 9).
Prince Royce moves ahead with 17 No. 1s on Latin Airplay and breaks from a tie with Carlos Vives for the second-most champs among tropical artists in the survey’s almost 30-year history, where Romeo Santos continues at the lead with 21 No. 1 hits. Here are those chart toppers:
21, Romeo Santos17, Prince Royce16, Carlos Vives14, Marc Anthony11, Gloria Estefan6, Juan Luis Guerra
In its 10th consecutive week atop Tropical Airplay, “Cosas” continues to hold the record for the longest-leading song in 2024 thus far.
Papercuts, the first greatest-hits compilation from Linkin Park, debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart dated April 27.
The set bows with 44,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in its first week (April 12-18), according to Luminate. The majority (23,000) is from streaming equivalent units, with 21,000 in album sales.
Linkin Park now boasts a record-rewriting eight No. 1s on Top Hard Rock Albums, which began in 2007. The band pulls into sole possession of the most rulers in the tally’s history, passing Five Finger Death Punch, Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam; perhaps not to be outdone for long, Pearl Jam’s latest LP, Dark Matter, was released April 19 and will challenge for the top spot on the May 4 ranking.
Most No. 1s, Hard Rock Albums:8, Linkin Park7, Five Finger Death Punch7, Foo Fighters7, Pearl Jam6, Disturbed6, Korn
Linkin Park last led Top Hard Rock Albums with Meteora, following its 20th-anniversary reissue last April.
Papercuts also starts at No. 2 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums. As previously reported, it debuts at No. 6 on the all-genre Billboard 200, where it’s the band’s 11th top 10 and first since One More Light debuted at No. 1 in 2017.
The 20-song Papercuts includes singles from the majority of the band’s studio albums, as well as the previously unreleased “Friendly Fire” and outtake “QWERTY,” from the group’s 2006 EP LP Underground 6, a fan club-only collection. The new release’s “Lost” was released in 2023 on the 20th anniversary reissue of Meteora.
“QWERTY” concurrently debuts at No. 5 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart with 1.1 million official U.S. streams and 1,000 sold April 12-18. “Friendly Fire,” released Feb. 23, rises 42-37 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (after it debuted at its No. 13 high on the March 9 ranking) with 6.5 million radio audience impressions, 806,000 streams and 1,000 sold. It spent two weeks atop Rock & Alternative Airplay and one week at No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Airplay.
Linkin Park’s music rose 15% to 42.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams April 12-18, boosted by interest in not only the newly released “QWERTY” but also the band’s multi-album string of hits cataloged on Papercuts. The most-streamed Linkin Park song of the week was “Numb,” which accrued 4.7 million streams, up 9%. It’s just a tick ahead of “In the End,” also at 4.7 million streams rounded off, a boost of 10%. “One Step Closer” was third with 3 million streams, a 15% jump.
In all, the 20 songs on Papercuts encompass 10 of Linkin Park’s 12 career No. 1s on Alternative Airplay. The tracklist omits only three-week ruler “Lying From You” (2004) and four-frame leader “The Catalyst” (2010). As for Mainstream Rock Airplay, Papercuts features all but two of the band’s 10 No. 1s, both from 2014’s The Hunting Party: “Guilty All the Same” (featuring Rakim) and “Until It’s Gone.”
One More Light remains Linkin Park’s last studio album. Frontman Chester Bennington died two months after its May 19, 2017, release.
