State Champ Radio Dance
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The clubs are currently dark in Ibiza, but months before the 2025 season gets underway, we’ve got tabs on the 50 most played artists at island institution Ushuaïa in 2024. These 50 artists rank highest on a list of 3,001 unique acts whose music was identified at the club in 2024. The top five slots […]
Rüfüs Du Sol will play a show benefitting Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts on March 6 at the Hollywood Palladium. The one night only performance will feature a DJ set by the Australia-born, U.S.-based group.
100% of the ticket proceeds from the Live Nation produced event will be donated to California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund, which is focused on directing resources with people most in need. Tickets go on sale via Ticketmaster this Thursday (Jan. 23) at 10 a.m. PT.
The show will happen six days before the launch of the trio’s previously announced world tour in support of their fifth studio album. The trek kicks off starts in Guadalajara, Mexico on March 12, extends through November and includes a sold out show at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. Los Angeles was home to Rüfüs Du Sol when they first moved to the U.S. from their native Australia, with the trio writing “Los Angeles we love you,” on their social media post announcing the show.
The show announcement comes on the heels of a new fire in the Los Angeles area, with the Hughes Fire forcing evacuations in Castaic, an area just north of Los Angeles, after starting on the morning of Jan. 22. Red flag warnings, which indicate an increased risk of fire danger, remain in effect for Los Angeles and Ventura counties until Thursday (Jan. 23.)
With the show announcement, Rüfüs Du Sol joins a long list of artists getting involved in wildfire relief efforts. The FireAid concert is set to take place on Jan. 30 at the Kia Forum and the Intuit Dome with a star-studded lineup including Billie Eilish, Dave Matthews & John Mayer, Earth, Wind & Fire, Green Day, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Lil Baby, Peso Pluma, Stevie Nicks, Sting and more. The 2025 Grammys and its attendant MusiCare event has also announced a focus on wildfire relief efforts.
After starting on Jan. 7, the Eaton and Palisades fires have decimated entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles, killing at least 28 people, displacing thousands and damaging or destroying at least 15,000 structures.
In the earlier days of his career, touring wasn’t necessarily Kygo‘s favorite thing to do.
“It was like every show was life or death,” says the Norwegian producer. “I was always very nervous. It was like, ‘This is the most important [thing ever], and if I mess up tonight, my career is over.’”
With this extreme self-imposed pressure, the artist “wasn’t really able to enjoy the shows that much. At one point I was like, ‘I’m probably never going to tour again,’ because it was just so exhausting.”
Flash forward to the present moment and Kygo — whose real name is Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll — has a fresh approach and attendant attitude, calling his current world tour “definitely my favorite that I’ve done so far.”
Starting last September, the 35-date tour has hit arenas and amphitheaters in North America, Europe and Central America, averaging slightly over 10,000 tickets and $838,000 in revenue per show, according to numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore. The run is continuing into 2025, with shows in Asia and Australia. Additionally, the producer plays this Thursday (Jan. 23) in Toronto and Saturday (Jan. 25) in Mexico City, where Kygo will play what he calls “the biggest show of the tour by far.” See exclusive behind the scenes footage of this tour below.
Trending on Billboard
Despite this success, Shear acknowledges that the run hasn’t made the same headlines as other recent marquee dance tours, such as Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s 2024 Sweat Tour. “We’ve quietly been doing this unbelievable tour that’s sold over a half a million tickets,” he says. “There are a lot of tours out there. There’s a lot of stuff going on, and there’s a lot of new artists. But we’re going out there and doing the business. Kygo is just quietly winning in the dance music world.”
This current run is behind Kygo’s 2024 eponymous album, the artist’s fifth studio project that hit No. 97 on the Billboard 200 after its release last June. The tour is also his first in six years, since the run behind 2017’s Kids in Love. (Golden Hour and Thrill of the Chase came out in 2020 and 2022, respectively, although Kygo wasn’t able to tour behind them because of the pandemic.)
While the Kids in Love tour required 12 trucks to move it from city to city, this current tour requires 17 trucks and a crew of 58. When brainstorming the production, Kygo and Shear decided the music and visuals would lean into the fact that Kygo has been making music for a decade, with this kind of looking back approach inspired, Shear says, by Dead & Co.’s nostalgia-laced run at Sphere in Las Vegas last summer. As such, set lists featured visuals that nod to entirety of Kygo’s career thus far, while the setlist spans albums and hits. Vocalists including Justin Jesso, Zak Abel and Parson James are on the tour to sing their parts on “Firestone,” “Freedom” and “Stole the Show,” respectively.
“Kyrre told me that doing a tour was extremely important to him,” says Shear. “It’s not like every dance artist goes out there like a rock band or a pop star and does hard tickets in arenas or stadiums. “He was like, ‘The fact that I’m able to do it, I want to do whatever it takes to make this tour happen.’”
Kygo himself credits his ability to tour such big rooms — an option available to only a handful of dance acts including Illenium and Odesza — is a function of he and his team “not skipping any steps” while he was building his career. (Kygo is represented by Rob Markus at WME.) His earliest U.S. tour had him playing 200-700 capacity rooms, with each run getting progressively larger.
“We were living with my parents at the time, and Kyrre was staying in my brother’s room,” Shear says of these early days. “I went in my brother’s room, and was like, ‘Hey man, we found this guy who used to work with Disclosure and other big artists. He knows how to build live shows, and I think we should build one. We emptied the bank account making that show.”
This groundwork and investment has paid off, with Shear citing “the most tickets we’ve ever sold” on this current run. “I know so many people focusing on streams or on this or that, but the fans follow you as long as you do them right, take care of them and keep bringing an elevated show.”
Sometimes, this elevation requires some extra effort. The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles doesn’t have the space to erect a B stage where Kygo typically performs his encore. As such, the team improvised for the Oct. 17 show, setting up a riser in the middle of the amphitheater amid the seats. Getting there from the stage just meant, Kygo says, “that we just had to run a little bit.”
Kygo
Johannes Lovund
Outside the tour, Kygo and Shear’s multi-faceted Palm Tree Crew brand continues expanding. Its first brick and mortar space, the 115-room hotel and restaurant Palm Tree Club Miami, opened last December. Meanwhile, Palm Tree Festival has happened in Aspen, The Hamptons, Southern California and beyond over the last several years. Some of these festivals feature Kygo on the lineup, and some don’t.
“I was with him in Paris a few weeks ago when he was playing Accor Arena, one of the biggest shows on tour,” says Shear. “At the same time, we opened a restaurant and club in Miami the night before and we were also throwing a music festival in Australia with 30,000 people and The Chainsmokers, and Kyrre isn’t even at either of them. I think that’s a true testament to a great brand we’ve brought to the world, and one that just sort of feeds off his demeanor.”
This demeanor is one that’s also changed as Kygo has become more experienced, and over time more relaxed, about touring.
“There’s definitely been some f–k-ups on the on the road and some songs where I’m like, ‘Oh, that did not sound good at all,’” he says with a laugh. “But I think that’s just part of it being live. Knowing that, I’m more confident and better able to enjoy myself on stage and not always just nervous about everything that could go wrong.”
01/21/2025
The list reflects data collected at the Ibiza club, where a total of 8,251 unique tracks were identified by KUVO Powered by DJ Monitor during the 2024 season.
01/21/2025
During the 2024 season, tracks by 4,680 unique artists were played at the Ibiza clubbing institution Hï. Of that dizzying number, 50 artists were played more than all the others, and now we know who. Leading the list of the top 50 artists whose music was played most during last year’s Hï season is David […]
This week in dance music: Tom Rowlands of the Chemical Brothers scored a new series about Benito Mussolini, a woman who accused Diplo of disseminating revenge porn dropped the lawsuit (for now) after a judge ruled she must use her real name, Tate McRae’s “It’s OK, I’m OK” topped Billboard‘s inaugural Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart, Boiler Room was acquired by Superstruct Entertainment, L.A. Gives Back announced a show benefitting victims of the Los Angeles wildfires, Brunch Electronik cancelled their L.A. event scheduled for Jan. 18 amid the ongoing fires, the family of late Crazy P vocalist Danielle Moore revealed her cause of death and Skrillex was added to the 2025 Ultra Music Festival lineup.
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And yes, there’s more. These are the best new dance tracks of the week.
Trending on Billboard
John Summit feat. Cloves, “Focus”
It’s boilerplate dance world jargon to say a DJ “shows no signs of slowing down” — but in the case of John Summit the statement appears factually sound. Fresh off shows in Central and South America, Summit today (Jan. 17) released “Focus” with Australian singer-songwriter Cloves, with the pair together creating a lush, urgently emotive anthem that melts house and tech house into a real 21st century banger. The track is out on Experts Only/Darkroom and comes ahead of a looong list of upcoming Summit shows in Europe, North America, India and beyond.
Jungle, “Keep Me Satisfied”
Does anything brighten a day like a fresh Jungle track? The U.K. trio drop their first song of the year with “Keep Me Satisfied,” which essentially argues “why fix what ain’t broken?” by extending the group’s signature brightly lo-fi and stoney throwback live electronic sound. The video, of course, is one of Jungle’s signature single-take dance clips, with this one (like the rest of them) directed by the masterful J Lloyd and filmmaker Charlie Di Placido. Out on Caiola Records, “Keep Me Satisfied” comes ahead of Jungle shows in the U.S. and Europe this spring.
DJ Koze feat. Ada “Unbelievable”
Fresh DJ Koze output is always coze for celebration, so today we dance (or like, stand and nod with our eyes closed) upon the release of the German’s producer’s latest, “Unbelievable.” The track — which comes with a video directed by Koze himself, and features vocals from Ada, whose own 2011 album Meine zarten Pfoten was released Koze’s Pampa Records — is psychedelic electronica laced with doo-wop, and comes from his forthcoming album Music Can Hear Us, the follow-up to 2018’s beloved Knock Knock. “For some time now, I have been working on the idea of revolutionising aerospace tourism in specific: traveling without moving,” the producer writes of the album. “This is the closest I’ve ever come to it.” Consider us enticed.
Ela Minus, DÍA
The mighty Colombian producer today releases her second album, DÍA, the followup to 2020’s acts of rebellion. The album is an altogether excellent, no-skips project that further demonstrates Minus’ ability to fuse futuristic and in moments headspinningly complex IDM with deep (and deeply personal) lyrics about love, life on earth, the expectations has one’s for one’s self and what it’s like when they’re not met. (“I want to be better, I thought I was better” she sings on “I Want to Be Better,” “but I just seem to keep acting like a little kid.”) The project is out on Domino and comes ahead of an expansive world tour this spring.
Butcher Brown, “Ibiza”
The sound of modern day Ibiza is a lot of oontz oontz and womp womp and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But a new song named for the Spanish isle by Virginia outfit Butcher Brown also serves to remind us all that the island’s soundtrack is also a wavelength of groovy jazz laced with sex appeal and the exact right amount of sax. “Ibiza” comes from the group’s forthcoming Letters From The Atlantic, out March 28 via Concord Jazz, and due to dose up our earholes with a fusion of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, soul, bossa nova and more.
Skrillex is joining the lineup for Ultra Music Festival 2025. The festival confirmed the news Friday (Jan. 17) by adding the artist’s name to the festival lineup poster on its website.
This news follows Skrillex and Ultra teasing the appearance on X this past Wednesday (Jan. 15), when the producer responded to a tweet from the festival’s account reading “Happy birthday Skrillex, we miss [hands raised emoji]” with a message on the platform of his own reading, “See you in March.”
The performance will mark the first time the artist, who turned 37 on Jan. 15, has played the festival as a solo act since 2015. He last appeared at Ultra Music Festival Miami in 2019 as part of Dog Blood, for which he plays alongside Boys Noize. Skrillex also played Ultra’s debut festival in Abu Dhabi in March of 2023.
Trending on Billboard
Ultra Music Festival is happening at Miami’s Bayfront Park March 28-30. The previously announced lineup includes Four Tet, Gesaffelstein, Armin van Buuren, Carl Cox, Afrojck, Tiësto, Martin Garrix and Hardwell, along with pairings including John Summit and Dom Dolla playing as Everything Always, Anyma b2b Solomun and Knife Party playing both solo and b2b with Deadmau5, with the latter artist also performing his first ever career-spanning “retro5pective” set, which will see the producer playing his classic hits.
On Jan. 15, Skrillex also posted a note to his social accounts reading, “If you like my music leave me your email at Skrillex.com/FUS and I’ll send you some things.” The note was signed with the producer’s real name, Sonny Moore. An email submission to this address on Jan. 15 has not yet yielded a response.
Skrillex first teased new music last fall, writing on X in November that “I’ve never felt more inspired and in lockstep with my intentions as an artist. As I’m nearing completion of my next work and my final project for Atlantic Records I can’t help but feel very existential about it all… I’m thrilled to get this out and focus on more release[s] in 25 as an ‘independent’ artist. But ‘independent’ is such a strange term because I still depend on my team as well as all the other creatives and executives to do what I do.
“But now I’m able to rethink/relook at how the structures are designed,” his posts continued. “I want to find ways to simplify [disseminating] music and art.” The producer’s last albums, Quest for Fire and Don’t Get Too Close, came out within days of each other in February of 2023.
The artist, who’s originally from Los Angeles, also recently used X to respond to the ongoing fires in L.A., writing on on Jan. 10: “We’ve been devastated here in Los Angeles. My phone has been unmanageable so to all my friends, I’m safe and bless you for checking in. So many close ones have lost their homes so being there for each other has never been this critical.”
The L.A. edition of dance event Brunch Electronik has been postponed amid ongoing fires in the city. Originally scheduled to happen Saturday (Jan. 28) at Expo Park, the one-day festival is now on the calendar for Saturday, June 28. A portion of revenue from the rescheduled event will be donated to the California Fire Foundation. […]
The family of late British singer Danielle Moore, the vocalist for dance band Crazy P, has released a statement revealing her cause of death. Moore died by suicide on Aug. 30.
In the statement, her family said, “Whilst we will never fully understand why Danielle took her life, we know that how she died bears no relation to who she was in life.
“Danielle cared deeply about the well-being of others and the world in which she lived,” the statement continued. “She was pained by social injustice and the impact of consumerism. She was an empath, instinctively compassionate and loyal, nurturing the truest of connections with the people in her life. The image of human kindness and generosity of spirit.
“We also know that Danielle would never have wanted her outcome for anyone else. She overcame two periods of significant mental ill health in the distant past and was so grateful that she did. With support and treatment, Danielle came through what had seemed, at those times, to be intolerable and wanted to keep on living.
“We would like to take this opportunity to highlight the prevalence of neurological and psychiatric symptoms during the perimenopause; something which is well known within the scientific community, but little talked about outside it. They say that to be forewarned is to be forearmed, so if any good can come from Danielle’s death, perhaps it will be increased awareness and understanding of the impact that the perimenopause can have on women’s mental health.
“We would like to thank everyone who came to see Danielle perform over the years and enabled her to do what she loved. She was as captivated by you as you were by her. We would also like to thank everyone for their words of kindness since Danielle’s death. The outpouring of love and support has been overwhelming.”
The disco house group was formed in the mid-1990s by artists Chris Todd and Jim Baron while they were attending the University of Nottingham, with the duo releasing their debut album, A Nice Hot Bath With… in 1999 on Paper Recordings. In 2002, Moore and keyboardist Mav Kendricks joined the band — which also included bassist Tim Davies — and they released their sophomore effort, The Wicked Is Music.
They released seven more albums over the years. Their most recent, Any Signs Of Love, was released this past November 29, almost exactly three months after Moore’s death.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, reach out to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or visiting the website for free, confidential support 24/7.
A group of Los Angeles’ key promoters and venues are coming together to raise money in the wake of the fires that have devastated the city over the last eight days.
L.A. Gives Back: Fire Relief will happen Jan. 29 at The Bellwether in downtown Los Angeles. The show is being organized by IHEARTCOMIX, Brownies & Lemonade, Another Planet Entertainment (which owns The Bellwether) and Teragram.
The show — the lineup for which will be announced in the coming weeks — will raise money to support victims of the fire, along with first responders and animals. One hundred percent of the funds raised will go to charity.
The Jan. 29 show marks a special edition of L.A. Gives Back, which typically takes place during the holiday season to raise money for charitable causes in the city. Previous editions have featured artists including Zedd, Bonobo, Madeon, Flying Lotus, Tokimonsta, Boys Noize, A-Trak, JPEGMafia, Louis the Child, Tim Heidecker & Weyes Blood, Eric André and more. The event series has collectively raised over $250,000 for L.A.-based charities and initiatives.
This show is a new addition to a growing list of benefit shows to support victims and first responders of the wildfires, which have claimed at least 25 lives, killed countless animals and destroyed or damaged roughly 12,300 structures in the city since Jan. 7.
“There’s nothing the IHEARTCOMIX team and I care about more than our Los Angeles community — it’s what made us who we are,” IHEARTCOMIX founder Franki Chan says in a statement. “Over the past few days, it has been extremely painful to witness so many close friends, family members and colleagues lose their homes. Even more heartbreaking is knowing the road to recovery will be long. In moments like these, we believe it’s our duty to channel our best talents to support those in need. L.A. Gives Back has always been that vehicle for us, so we hope this event will make a meaningful contribution in providing some relief to our community.”
“The devastation Los Angeles has endured the past week from these wildfires made it clear we had to do something,” the organizers of electronic dance events company Brownies & Lemonade say in a joint statement. “L.A. Gives Back has been our longstanding event series focused on providing aid to our city and we’re so happy to bring it back for this crucial moment to provide wildfire relief for our city.”
“Los Angeles is home to a vibrant independent creative community,” adds Casey Lowdermilk of The Bellwether. “We’re proud to open our stage in support of our neighbors who lost everything in this disaster.”
LA Gives Back Fire Relief
Courtesy Photo
