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26 Jun 2024

Ranking Ariana Grande’s Top 10 Songs | Billboard News

In honor of Ariana Grande’s 31st birthday today, we take you through her Billboard hits and rank them.

Tetris Kelly: 

Happy Birthday to Ariana Grande. The pop star celebrates her 31st birthday today and Billboard is honoring her by ranking the Top 10 Ariana Grande songs.  Starting off at No. 10 with the ballad from her latest album ‘eternal sunshine’ “imperfect for you.” Ari told Zach that the song is her favorite from ‘eternal sunshine’ and was the last song she finished for the album.  “ghostin” is at No. 9 and definitely stands out as one of Ari’s most heartbreaking and features a sample from her late ex and dear friend, Mac Miller. Ariana said it was her hardest song to write for ‘Thank U, Next’ especially the second verse as she initially didn’t want to release it, but her then manager Scooter Braun convinced her to do it. No. 8 is a dance anthem collaboration that saw Ariana team up with another pop queen, Lady Gaga, it’s “Rain On Me.” Billboard ranked this song at No. 1 Best Song in 2020. At No. 7 is Ari’s live cover of an all time classic, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” which she performed at her One Love Manchester concert. Ariana did another more recent cover of the song while she was filming ‘Wicked.’ No. 6 is one of Ariana’s biggest and well known hits, another collaboration, this time with EDM DJ Zedd, it’s “Break Free.” 

Keep watching for more!

26 Jun 2024

Taylor Swift Vs Gracie Abrams for Billboard 200? Will Sabrina Qualify for the Grammys? | Billboard News

Will besties Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams go head to head on the Billboard 200 next week? Does Sabrina Carpenter have the qualifications to be nominated for a Grammy? Keep watching to find out!

Tetris Kelly:

There are some battles brewing in the music biz. Who could take the top spot on the Billboard 200? And who even qualifies for the Best New Artist Grammy? Let’s break it down. Gracie Abrams sophomore album, ‘The Secret of Us,’ is expected to secure a solid streaming debut, but it’s going to come down to sales to see if she can best her bestie collaborator, Taylor Swift, and her nine week run with ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’ With Gracie’s vinyl variants and Taylor’s CD variants, it’s anybody’s game. As for the Best New Artist Grammy there are many musicians that fans are pulling for, but who even qualifies for the award? Sabrina Carpenter currently owns the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. She’s never been nominated for a Grammy and she hasn’t been entered in the Best New Artist competition three times. She’s been entered twice, in 2017 and 2024. So she’s fair game. The same can’t be said for Tate McRae. While she’s had a stellar year with “Greedy” topping the Global 200 and Global 200 excluding the US, she was entered for best new artists the last three years so she won’t qualify. We’ll know all the Grammy nominations on November 8.

26 Jun 2024

Justin Timberlake Is Back Online, Britney Spears Reconciles With Kids & More | Billboard News

After Justin Timberlake’s arrest a little over a week ago, he’s back online sharing his tour merch with fans. Britney Spears may or may not be reconciling with her kids and more.

Tetris Kelly:

Justin Timberlake is back online, J.Lo flies commercial like the rest of us, and Britney may or may not be reconciling with her kids. This is your millennial pop news update. Since Justin’s DWI arrest he’s been quiet on social media — until now. The pop king has continued his world tour and jumped online to show off the exclusive merch for his Madison Square Garden stop. Meanwhile, there was some good news hitting the net about his ex, Britney Spears. Brit had been upset that her kids cut contact with her and have been living in Hawaii. But Kevin’s lawyer told ET, “The good thing is that the boys saw their mom was doing well and have a desire to speak with her. There has been some telephonic communication between Britney and her sons, and we think that is a step in the right direction.” TMZ was quick to post that the boys and Spears have not reconciled and it was just a Mother’s Day call. Can they leave Britney alone? And Jennifer Lopez canceled her tour to spend time with family, and she’s apparently doing so affordably. Jenny From the Block was photographed in business class on an Air France flight from Italy to France. Short flight, but definitely a change from her private-jet lifestyle.

26 Jun 2024

LISA, IVE, BABYMONSTER & KATSEYE Set To Release New Music This Week | Billboard News

LISA, IVE, BABYMONSTER and KATSEYE are all set to release new music this week. Keep watching to see when the release dates are!

Tetris Kelly:
Who run the world? Girls. And for K-pop fans, mothers are keeping us well fed. Here are some upcoming releases from women in K-pop.

LISA has been teasing a solo project for some time, and now we’ve got visual takes. It would be the first release on her own label, LLOUD, and it’s yours tomorrow night.

On to the girl groups, IVE’s collabed with Pepsi for Summer Festa to help get the season started. BABYMONSTER’s got new tunes on the way, too. “Forever” marks a new era for the rookie group. And gearing up to make their debut is global girl group KATSEYE. Rejoice, EYEKONS: Their first ever track “Debut” is out Friday.

26 Jun 2024

Tony Winner Shaina Taub on Her Two Awards for ‘Suffs’ and Why Broadway ‘Loves’ Hillary Clinton

In a community of multitaskers, Shaina Taub is still most likely one of the busiest people on Broadway. Taub wrote the music, lyrics and book for Suffs, her musical bringing the women who fomented the women’s suffrage movement vividly back to life and firmly out of the history books to which they’ve long been relegated; she’s also one of the show’s stars, playing the central role of movement instigator Alice Paul.

At last week’s Tony Awards, Taub took home the prizes for both original score and book of a musical, and gave a moving televised speech calling out some of the pioneering women who paved the way for her – including both fellow composers and one of her lead producers, Sec. Hillary Rodham Clinton.  

Shaina Taub as Alice Paul

Shaina Taub as Alice Paul in Suffs.

Joan Marcus

Sitting in her dressing room a little over an hour from showtime on a recent night, the 35-year old Taub is clearly still absorbing her wins, though she admits that the ongoing routine of performing onstage each night has helped keep her grounded. “To have the tangible act of doing the show,” she says, “brings me back to reality in a beautiful way.” (The show’s original Broadway cast recording is currently out on Atlantic Records).

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Below, she speaks to Billboard about Suffs’ long road to Broadway (including its run at New York’s Public Theater in spring of 2022), the status of her next project – writing the lyrics for Elton John’s music in the The Devil Wears Prada musical (set to open at London’s Dominion theater in July prior to a West End transfer in October) – and more.  

The world of theater often feels like a more progressive one than TV or film — but as you pointed out in your acceptance speech it’s still a fairly small group of women composers who are getting recognition of this level. What’s been your experience?   

I’ve been so blessed to have been taught well for so long by so many brilliant women. Elizabeth Swados — who’s a legend of theater, composer, educator — I got to be in her class [at NYU], and she was the first person who pushed me off the cliff to write a song before that was something I thought I could even do. And Jeanine [Tesori] especially is just a titan of composing in our field for any gender. She’s been so generous — she just let me come and play crappy first drafts, and gave me essential devastating feedback, tough love and real-talk in moments when I’ve had questions about the business and about the craft. Georgia Stitt too, who put together Maestra, which is such an amazing community for women and non-binary folks making theater. Kristen Anderson-Lopez has been so kind.  

A lot has been made this season of me being the second woman to write and star in a musical but the first one is Micki Grant, an incredible artist I sadly never got to meet whose legacy should be given a lot more attention. We’ve always been here, and so many women are my peers on Broadway right now: Rebekah Greer Melocik is a good friend, and her work for How to Dance in Ohio was so gorgeous; Kate Kerrigan with The Great Gatsby, she and I have come up together; Bekah [Brunstetter] and Ingrid [Michaelson] for The Notebook. Anais Mitchell – whose Hadestown I was in off-Broadway — we’re both Vermont girls and she’s such a confidante. Everyone is just so forthcoming; it’s a real sisterhood.  

You clearly did work on Suffs between the Public and Broadway runs. How did you come to terms with what needed editing? Was there a moment between the runs of reset for you? 

There really wasn’t a lot of a moment of reset. There was no back in the saddle – we kinda stayed in the saddle. I had demos of new ideas for songs from May 2022 that are now in the show on Broadway. I knew that it wasn’t finished, and there’s just that intel you get from a first production that you can’t get in a workshop or reading because the audience tells you everything and they tell you fast. It took a lot of willpower to keep going; I’m so proud of what we did downtown, and we had so much love for the show and also a lot of critique of the show. There were times that got me down, but any sense of feeling down pretty quickly transformed into almost this adrenaline, this sense of being underestimated that put me on fire to be like, we’re gonna finish this show, dammit!  

enn Colella Kim Blanck Shaina Taub Nikki M James and Ally Bonino

From left: Jenn Colella, Kim Blanck, Shaina Taub, Nikki M James and Ally Bonino at Suffs‘ first preview performance.

Jenny Anderson / @jennyandersonphoto

What kind of changes did you know you had to make? 

There were two driving principles to my revision. More humanity, less history: just making sure everything was as character- and emotion-forward as possible, with all the historical detail I fell in love with taking a bit more of a backseat. And then I kind of made a promise to myself that I was gonna spend more time sitting at the piano than the computer, trying to let my impulses be visceral, let me pull from my musical heart first and see where that would lead. 

Did you always intend to perform in Suffs? 

I always wanted to perform in it. I’ve always performed in my work — I find writing and performing feed each other. But I initially thought I’d play Doris, the young intern type character who documents everything. It sort of felt like the Mark in Rent character and I’ve always wanted to play Mark in a gender-flipped Rent. [Laughs.] But Alice was a difficult nut to crack, finding her inner life. She didn’t leave that much of a paper trail in terms of her emotional life.

And it was also about finding Alice’s sense of humor. I got a great note from our orchestrator, Michael Starobin, who came to see me play at Joe’s Pub early last year and was like, “I wish there as more of that girl in Alice – that self-deprecation and humor.” It was such a great note, and I think it helped me make her come alive.  

What has Sec. Clinton been like as a producer? 

She’s just been such a cheerleader and a warm, supportive presence — how vocal she’s been in her support of us before reviews, nominations, awards, just her vote of confidence in us and that we could see through this thing we started at the Public, that gave me faith in the dark and hard moments of tech and previews and the “Oh boy, we’re gonna go face the music again [on Broadway], what are people gonna say…” Knowing she believed in us so wholeheartedly that she was willing to attach her name and her legacy to this piece of art, that gave me confidence I needed in really vulnerable moments.  

Rachel Sussman, Secretary Clinton, Jill Furman, and Morgan Steward

Suffs producers Rachel Sussman, Sec. Clinton, and Jill Furman, and co-producer Morgan Steward.

Jenny Anderson / @jennyandersonphoto

Can we please discuss her amazing Tony night caftan? It was definitely one of the biggest stories of the night… 

I loved it. She looked gorgeous as always, and she seemed to me to be so liberated. And to see her be so celebrated by the theater community with that standing ovation — it was great to see her given her due. She’s a theater lover, and beyond just being an enthusiast I think she understands the importance of theater to the public discourse. She gets that it matters beyond just entertainment; it’s a public common good that should be funded, that should be championed, and that’s rare in a leader of her stature. New York theater loves HRC! 

Have you been juggling Devil Wears Prada work with all this too? Are there lessons you’ve learned in the editing process for Suffs that you’re finding are applicable there? 

I mean, that’s another long and winding road — we’re going through a lot of changes, and it’s exciting. I was actually just texting with the creative team right now! I’ve been working on that show for six years, it’s gone through so many permutations, and yet we keep trying to figure it out. It’s such a fundamentally different experience [from Suffs] in that I’m collaborating so much, writing lyrics for a composer who’s worked lyrics-first for his whole 50-plus-years songwriting career. That’s really strengthened me as a songwriter, to write lyrics first and lyrics only. It’s gotten me excited for my projects after this to be a little more in the music seat, after this lyric-honing time.  

It’s crazy with theater, you can never plan these things in advance. I never imagined it would be this insane overlapping season, but luckily we got to do a lot of amazing work last year. Elton and I wrote a few new songs, so it’s on its way.  

25 Jun 2024

ARMY Demands Geffen Records to Apologize to Jimin | Billboard News

After the Head of Streaming at Geffen Records made dismissive remarks about Jimin’s much-anticipated “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” release without addressing ARMY’s inquiries for streaming links, fans are now calling for a formal apology from the label. Keep watching for more! 

“Geffen apologize to Jimin” was trending on X and it has something to do with Taylor Swift? What is going on? Let the ARMY and I break it down for you. Jimin is on the way with new music. But the ARMY is having an issue with the labels rollout and promotion of the song. A fan @’ed Geffen on X and said, “Where are the iTunes pre-orders for Jimin’s “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” out next week June 28?” One of Geffon’s SVP’s and Head of Streaming responded, “Song of the Year” with the link to Gracie Abrams and Taylor Swift’s new song, “Us.”

The people are just trying to buy the song. Unsure of why the SVP responded that way to them asking for the quote “bare minimum of promotion.” “Geffen apologize to Jimin” began trending on Twitter. Jimin’s “Like Crazy” became a historic Hot 100 No. 1 hit in 2023, the first for a South Korean solo. Geffen has posted a link to promote another Jimin track “Who.” Were Geffen’s SVP’s comments inappropriate? Let us know down below. Jim’s new album ‘Muse’ is available July 19.

25 Jun 2024

BTS’ V ‘TYPE 1’ Is Coming, Katy Perry Previews Lyrics At Paris Fashion Week & More | Billboard News

BTS’ V has announced that his next project, TYPE 1, will be released on July 9. Katy Perry made a fashion statement at Paris Fashion Week by wearing a dress featuring the lyrics to her upcoming single, while Jade Thirlwall teased her first solo project and more!

Tetris Kelly:
Lyrics posters and snippets, oh my. Some of your favorites are giving you a taste of what’s to come. Katy Perry is in Paris for Fashion Week and gave a taste of her upcoming single’s lyrics as a fashion statement. She’s been teasing “Woman’s World” all over the place.

As for the boys of BTS, Jimin is not the only one teasing new tunes. V shared a shirtless poster with his name, Kim Tae-hyung, for his next project TYPE 1, which is due July 9.

Finally, Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix is teasing her first solo project. She created an account on Spotify, dropping her last name and sharing some ideas for her solo music. We’ll just have to wait and see what’s to come.

25 Jun 2024

Crazy Town Singer Shifty Shellshock Dead at 49 | Billboard News

Shifty Shellshock, the lead singer of Crazy Town, has died at the age of 49. He was found dead in his L.A. home. Keep watching for more.

Tetris Kelly:
Crazy Town frontman Shifty Shellshock has died at the age of 49. Seth Benzer — aka Shifty — was found dead in his Los Angeles home, according to the LA County Medical Examiner. The cause of death is still pending investigation.

Crazy Town is most known for their chart topping hit, “Butterfly.” The song was released October 2000 and climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed on top for two weeks. Another member of Crazy Town, Adam Goldstein, also known as DJ AM, died of an accidental overdose back in 2009. Shifty was open about his struggles with substance abuse on multiple VH1 shows.

We wish his fans, family, and friends the best.

25 Jun 2024

Tiffany Haddish Talks New Song ‘Woman Up,’ Getting a Role in ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ | Billboard News

Tiffany Haddish shares details about her new single “Woman Up” and working with Dianne Warren on her upcoming musical project. She also talks about how she was able to get a role in ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die,’ seeking advice from some of her peers including Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Queen Latifah and more!

Tiffany Haddish:

She plays this song for me, she plays a few more. And I’m like, Girl, we recording all of these. So we recorded three songs.

Rania Aniftos:

No way! 

Tiffany Haddish:

And so this is just the first of a trilogy, if you will. Hi, I’m Tiffany Haddish and this is Billboard News.

Rania Aniftos:

Congratulations on your brand-new song “Woman Up.” Working with Diane Warren, she’s one of the most prolific songwriters in general, but also has such an affinity for female artists having a song about empowerment, written by Diane Warren. How did it feel?

Tiffany Haddish:

It felt amazing. First of all, Diane Warren slid in my DMs back in 2017. I had no idea because I decided to stay out of the DM’s because it was too many D pics coming through and I was just shocked. 

Rania Aniftos:

Happens, happens to the best of us.

Tiffany Haddish:

You know, I can’t stand it and I kind of stayed out of the DM’s and then I ran into her at a party. And she’s like, ‘I was in your DM’s you never responded.’ I’m like, ‘I didn’t know you were in my DM’s! Oh my gosh, we need to work together.’ She’s like, ‘I want to work with you. I love your voice.’ I’m like, ‘You heard my voice? You know my voice?’ And so we’re going back and forth talking. I’m telling my team like, ‘Set me up with Diane Warren.’

Keep watching to learn more!

25 Jun 2024

Gracie Abrams Tracks to Top U.K. Albums Chart for First Time With ‘The Secret of Us’

Rising singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams is set to claim her first No. 1 album on the Official U.K. Albums Chart with her second studio effort, The Secret of Us.

Midweek sales and streaming figures from the Official Charts Company indicate that the Californian singer’s heartfelt and introspective songs are resonating strongly with U.K. fans, putting her in prime position to clinch the top spot.

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The 23-year-old Californian is currently outpacing her closest rival, Taylor Swift – who coincidentally features on the album’s track “us.” – by a margin of more than 2:1.

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The Secret of Us (Interscope) follows Abrams’ debut LP, Good Riddance, which peaked at No. 3 last year. The new album was preceded by the single “Close To You,” which recently became Abrams’ first U.K. Top 40 hit, reaching No. 35.

Amid her collaborative track with Taylor Swift dropping on June 21 alongside her 13-track sophomore album, Abrams took to Instagram to share a video of the duo playfully creating their collaborative number, calling the evening “some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.”

She also included a video of Swift extinguishing an apartment fire. “Now we know how to use a fire extinguisher. I love you,” Abrams wrote.

As Swift wraps up a three-night stint at London’s Wembley Stadium on her The Eras Tour, several of her former chart-topping albums are also present in the U.K. top 40 midweek.

Other notable appearances on the chart blast include The Mysterines’ second album Afraid of Tomorrows (Fiction) eyeing a No. 3 debut, Charli XCX’s BRAT (Atlantic) looking to log a third consecutive week inside the top 5, and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (Island) potentially reaching a new peak inside the top 10, at No. 8.

Outside the Top 10, Avril Lavigne’s Greatest Hits (Sony Music CG) is on track for a top 20 debut, Ed Sheeran’s X (Asylum) could re-enter the chart thanks to a 10th-anniversary reissue, and Jethro Tull’s Bursting Out (Parlophone) is predicted to become their 26th U.K. top 40 album.

Joe Bonamassa’s Live At The Hollywood Bowl With Orchestra (Provogue) could become his 17th top 40 collection, Kate Nash’s 9 Sad Symphonies (Kill Rock Stars) approaches her highest-charting LP in 14 years, and The Story So Far are expected to enter with I Want To Disappear (Pure Noise).

All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday, June 28.