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20 Sep 2024

Miranda Lambert Talks ‘Postcards From Texas,’ Says Country Music Is Shining Its Brightest’ | Billboard News

Miranda Lambert recently released Postcards from Texas, and the country star has revealed why she decided to return to her Texas roots for this album. Discover her favorite songs from the new record, her friendship with Lainey Wilson, why country music is shining so brightly now and more!

Jason Lipshutz: I’m so excited for this album in particular. Does it feel like kind of a new chapter for you, in terms of, you know, new music and kind of new album and new label and just like, kind of new presentation. Like, how does it feel on the eve of release?

Miranda Lambert: It feels exactly like that. I mean, I went back home to Texas to make this record on purpose. I hadn’t made a record in Texas since I was 18, and that was my very first little independent studio album, but it was the starting of a journey, and it was the starting of putting it on tape, like all the inspiration that I had gathered up until that point. So I felt like I want to do that again. I want that same fire, and I want to go back home and sort of pull from all the inspiration that I’ve used for the last two decades in this business. But it all started at home for me, so I just felt like that was the right thing to do at this point in my life.

And I do have a new team, a new label, Republic, and they lead with art. That makes me so excited because that’s what I’ve always done, but you don’t always have the support every time with a team that leads with art, so this has been, just kind of lit a new fire for me, really. 

Keep watching for more!

19 Sep 2024

David Gilmour Scores First No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart With ‘Luck and Strange’

David Gilmour lands his first No. 1 on Billboard’s 33-year-old Top Album Sales chart, as his first studio album in nine years, Luck and Strange, debuts atop the tally dated Sept. 21. The set, which also marks his third top 10-charting effort on the list, sold 30,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 12, according to Luminate.

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Gilmour has reached the Top Album Sales chart seven times as a soloist, beginning with 2006’s No. 6-peaking On an Island. He reached the top 10 a second time with 2015’s No. 4-peaking Rattle That Lock.

Also arriving in the top 10 of the latest Top Album Sales chart are the newest releases from TZUYU, George Strait, Paris Hilton, LL COOL J and xikers.

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Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of Luck and Strange’s first-week sales of 30,000, physical sales comprise 25,000 copies (14,500 on CD; 8,500 on vinyl and about 2,000 on Blu-ray Audio) and digital download sales comprise 5,000. The album’s first-week vinyl sales were bolstered by its availability across four variants, helping it debut at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart. The set was also a sturdy seller at independent record stores, with nearly 4,500 sold through that retail sector. It debuts at No. 2 on the Indie Store Album Sales chart.

Luck and Strange additionally starts at No. 3 on Top Rock Albums, No. 4 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums. Top Rock Albums and Top Rock & Alternative Albums rank, respectively, the week’s most popular rock albums, and rock and alternative albums, by equivalent album units.

On the Billboard 200, Luck and Strange arrives at No. 10, marking Gilmour’s third top 10 set on the ranking. Gilmour is also a member of Pink Floyd, and all 10 of Pink Floyd’s top 10-charting albums on the Billboard 200 (from 1973’s No. 1 The Dark Side of the Moon through 2014’s The Endless River) reached the region after Gilmour joined the band in 1967.

TZUYU sees her debut solo project abouTZU arrive at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with nearly 23,000 copies sold. The TWICE member’s album sold 22,000 physical copies (16,000 on CD and 6,000 on vinyl) and about 1,000 digital downloads. The set’s opening-week sales was bolstered by its availability across 11 CD variants and two vinyl variants, all containing branded paper ephemera such as photocards, stickers, and posters.

George Strait’s Cowboys and Dreamers debuts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with 22,000 copies sold. The set was available across three CD variants (two containing branded paper ephemera), a deluxe CD boxed set containing a branded T-shirt, three vinyl variants and a digital download.

Paris Hilton’s second album – and first in 18 years – Infinite Icon, debuts at No. 4 on Top Album Sales with 16,000 copies sold. Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slips 2-5 with 15,000 sold (down 45%). LL COOL J’s first studio album in over 10 years, THE FORCE, arrives at No. 6 with 12,000 sold, bolstered by the availability of signed editions.

Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess moves down 5-7 (11,000 sold; down 17%), LE SSERAFIM’s CRAZY falls 1-8 in its second week (10,000; down 74%) and Stray Kids’ former leader ATE dips 6-9 (8,000; down 24%).

Closing out the top 10 of the latest Top Album Sales chart is xikers’ House of Tricky: Watch Out, 4th Mini Album, debuting at No. 10 with nearly 8,000 sold. It’s the third top 10-charting set for the group. Its first-week sales were largely driven by CD sales, enhanced by the set’s availability across 18 variants (all containing branded paper ephemera).

19 Sep 2024

Reacting to Diddy’s Arrest & ‘Freak Offs’: What Happens Next? | Billboard Unfiltered

In this episode of ‘Billboard Unfiltered,’ Billboard staffers Carl Lamarre, Trevor Anderson, Kyle Denis and Damien Scott go in-depth about the controversy surrounding Diddy’s charges, arrest and how the world has reacted to it. The trio also discuss why Tyla & Tems aren’t categorized as Afrobeats artists, Lil Wayne’s comment about his Super Bowl snub and more.

Trevor Anderson:

I mean, this is a federal raid y’all. The FBI raided two of his houses. This is something that has been set up for so long. This had to be planned for months, if not years.

Damien Scott:

You can’t be mad at an artist for wanting their art to be received. You can never be upset at that.

Kyle Denis:

I can’t remember another performer in recent memory like actually going and putting up a video and being like, “Oh I’m heartbroken I wasn’t chosen.” What is that?

Carl Lamarre:

Hey, what’s going on, guys. Welcome to a fresh episode of ‘Billboard Unfiltered.’ Gentlemen.

Damien Scott:

Welcome back.

Trevor Anderson:

What’s up.

Kyle Denis:

What’s good.

Trevor Anderson:

It feels like the season premiere or something. Like now everybody’s back, everyone’s off of vacation.

Carl Lamarre:

Kind of like season 2, right? Well I wish we were going to start the show off very light, you know. But we’re going to get into the trenches of mud.

Damien Scott:

You brought the negativity back with you.

Carl Lamarre:

Sadly, man. I was on an island when I heard about this news right here, so Mr. Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs charged with sex trafficking and racketeering. Per Billboard.com, “Federal prosecutors on Tuesday unsealed a criminal indictment against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs over sweeping allegations of sexual abuse, accusing the once-powerful rapper, producer and music executive of running a racketeering conspiracy that included sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson and bribery.”

Keep watching for more.

19 Sep 2024

Bush’s ‘Nowhere to Go But Everywhere’ Tour Takeover at The Greek Theatre | All Access | Billboard News

Bush rocked The Greek Theatre with their “Nowhere to Go But Everywhere” tour, and we have the inside scoop. Keep watching for a peek into the show! 

Tetris Kelly:

We love Bush and we got to check them out at one of LA’s most iconic venues. We take you there in Billboard All Access. It was a beautiful evening at The Greek Theatre as fans packed in and enjoyed themselves, created their own customized drinks, as well as checked out all the Bush merch that was available before heading to their seats for the memorable show. The “Nowhere to Go But Everywhere” band delighted fans with their greatest hits and new classics. Fans ate up every moment. An incredible night was had.

19 Sep 2024

Zach Bryan Apologizes After Saying Ye Is Better Than Taylor Swift | Billboard News

This week, Zach Bryan tweeted that Ye is better than Taylor Swift and received backlash from Swifties. The country singer took to IG today to apologize to Taylor Swift. Keep watching to see what his apology said. 

Tetris Kelly:
Kanye over Taylor Swift? At least that’s what Zach Bryan said, but now he’s apologizing to The Eras Tour queen after saying he’s been going through some things. We’re breaking it down. On Wednesday the country star shared a hot take on X posting, “eagles > chiefs, Kanye > Taylor” concluding with “who’s with me.” 

And after the Swifties rose up, he swiftly deactivated his X account. Well today on IG, he’s being candid about the post. He opened up saying, “I’ve been going through a hard time in my own life and I think I was projecting a little. The last thing I want is people thinking I don’t appreciate and love what she has done for music. Don’t drink and tweet!”

Posting a Speak Now deep cut he continued, “Taylor has been a force of nature for as long as we’ve all been growing up and I admire that,” before concluding, “This year has been an awful lot on me in personal ways that no one knows and I’ve been trying to cope and balance too many things at once. So I’m going to take a breather from tweeting stupid stuff, finish my tour and ground myself somehow in the midst of all this.” 

Do you appreciate Zach’s honesty? Do you think Taylor and Zach would sound good together? Let us know in the comments.

19 Sep 2024

Blessd Jokes He & Ryan Castro ‘Fell In Love Over Instagram’ | Billboard News

Blessd and Ryan Castro are kicking off their El Bendito Ghetto Tour, and the pair is sharing why the two of them decided to do a tour together, how they met, the success of “Lejanía” and more!

Buy your tickets here!

Ryan and Blessd, how are you? Welcome to Miami. I love that we are celebrating El Bendito Ghetto Tour. How do you feel?

Ryan Castro: Really happy. Thankful to God for this. It’s going to be an amazing party, quite unforgettable for our fans.

We have to start from the beginning. Where did you meet?

Blessd: We met in Medellin. Ryan came from Curazao. And I was in a country house, I don’t remember, and Ryan told me to go to the studio. And I arrived at the studio.

But had somebody already introduced you? 

Blessd: No. We had only talked on social media. 

Ryan Castro: Yes.

Blessd: We hadn’t met yet. That was the first time. We met at the studio. 

Ryan Castro: First, we flirted. 

Blessd: We fell in love over Instagram. Both of us. I’m kidding, we first talked on Instagram. And he told me, “I’m in the studio, come.” “OK, I’m coming.” I went to the studio, we listened to some songs, and then came our first song called “Lejanía.” I was resentful too …

Ryan Castro: What do you mean with “too?” I was chilling. 

Blessd: So we recorded the song and that’s how we met. And from there on, it’s been like six years?

Ryan Castro: Like five years.

Keep watching for more!

19 Sep 2024

Juice WRLD Posthumously Debuts Two Songs on Billboard’s Charts

Juice WRLD (born Jarad Higgins) died on Dec. 8, 2019 at age 21 due to an accidental oxycodone and codeine intoxication. Since then, his estate has consistently released new music from the late musician to the degree that he’s charted more songs since he died than he did while he was alive.

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Juice WRLD’s estate released two new songs on Sept. 9 packaged together as part of the rapper’s The Pre-Party, titled “World Tour (Aquafina)” and “Lightyears” featuring Young Thug.

Both songs debut on Billboard’s latest Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (dated Sept. 21) at Nos. 34 and 39, respectively. He’s now charted 87 total songs on the chart. Of those, only 29 debuted while he was living.

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Juice WRLD teased both songs on social media while he was still living. In 2018, he previewed “World Tour (Aquafina)” on Instagram Live, rapping “I’m a real n—a, nah, I’m not an actor/ Double cup with that red lean, I’ma sip classy/ Dior on my feet, I feel classy.” Juice and Young Thug both teased “Lightyears” before the COVID shutdown in February 2020.

Both songs are slated to appear on Juice’s forthcoming The Party Never Ends album, which Billboard reported is expected to be the rapper’s third and final posthumous album. His first posthumous LP, Legends Never Die, spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in July 2020. His second, Fighting Demons, debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the chart in December 2021. While he was alive, Juice earned three top five albums on the Billboard 200: Goodbye & Good Riddance (No. 4; 2018), Future & Juice WRLD Present…WRLD on Drugs with Future (No. 2; 2018) and Death Race For Love (No. 1; 2019).

On the Billboard Hot 100, Juice has charted 80 total songs, most recently with “Lace It,” with Eminem and Benny Blanco, in December (No. 85 peak). Of those, 25 debuted while he was alive.

Of course, many other artists have posthumously debuted on Billboard’s charts. Eight artists even earned posthumous Hot 100 No. 1s, including: Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Jim Croce, John Lennon, The Notorious B.I.G., Soulja Slim, Static Major and XXXTentacion. On the Billboard 200, the late Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke landed his second No. 1 album in 2021 (with Faith) after he was murdered in 2020. 2Pac, who was murdered in 1996, earned eight top 10 albums following his death, including three No. 1s.

18 Sep 2024

Cardi B Responds To Receiving A Non-Payment Lawsuit | Billboard News

Cardi B responds to a non-payment lawsuit. Keep watching to see what she had to say.

Tetris Kelly:
Cardi B to the stand! The rapper snaps back at owners of a music video set that say she didn’t enough. As she represents herself with evidence.

The property owners of the home used in the “Like What” music video are suing Cardi B and Offset for money they say wasn’t enough after also claiming they didn’t know she was filming a music video. She posted to X, “We paid those people $10,000 IN CASH to rent the property for a whole 24 hours. Now they wanna finesse us trying to say we told them it was a TikTok video when that was nowhere in the contract and like they didn’t hear the whole song playing and see how long we was shooting….Why would it take us 24 hours to shoot a TikTok?”

According to Rolling Stone, in an 11-page complaint, the hip-hop heavyweights are accused of “targeting a distinctive property and devising a plan” to use it “without paying full market value.”

Cardi B is providing text messages and screengrabs of payments made. She also posted, “The problem is people wanna find loopholes and get over but IRON YOUR BEST SUIT B—H I’ll see you in court!!!!”

18 Sep 2024

Christina Aguilera Claims Sabrina Carpenter as Her Favorite ‘Child’ | Billboard News

Christina Aguilera and Sabrina Carpenter have met, and Aguilera is claiming that Sabrina is her favorite “child.” Keep watching to see how these two are planning to collab!

Tetris Kelly:

She is a mother! At least that’s how Sabrina Carpenter feels about Christina Aguilera ahead of their new collab. Here are the deets. Christina shared a post of Carpenter using an iconic Kardashian sound to claim she was her favorite. This all comes as Christina Aguilera is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her debut album. The superstar is planning to celebrate in a big way by releasing live studio reimaginings of the LP’s hits for Spotify anniversaries on September 23rd. Both Sabrina and Machine Gun Kelly are slated to perform with Aguilera for the tribute. Are you ready for this pairing of queens? Let us know in the comments.

18 Sep 2024

Zayn Announces First Solo Tour Kicking Off In October | Billboard News

Zayn just announced that he’s going on his first ever solo tour after dropping the news on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show. Keep watching to see more details.

Tetris Kelly:
Zayn did one of his famous surprise pop-ins at The Tonight Show and revealed some big news to Jimmy Fallon. After showing up during Jimmy’s monologue, he switched out the host’s music and coffee mug and left him a note. Jimmy read it aloud to his audience. 

Jimmy Fallon:
Hey, Jimmy. Great to see you, mate. I’m going on my first ever solo tour this autumn, so maybe when you’re done picking apples with your buds, you can come check out my Stairway to the Sky tour across the U.S. and U.K.

Tetris Kelly:
And Zayn followed that up with an announcement this morning. The singer announced the dates for the intimate 11-show outing kicking off Oct. 23 in San Francisco, before hopping over to the U.K. for a run of six gigs. Zayn will have four albums of material to choose from, fom his 2016 debut, Mind of Mine, to this year’s Room Under the Stairs. General tickets for the tour will be available on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 11 a.m.

Are you heading to see Zayn? We can’t wait!