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Prymax Media & Technology Group has acquired all the remaining masters from the estate of music industry pioneer Stan Lewis, founder of the legendary labels Jewel Records, Paula Records and Ronn Records. While Prymax Media declined to reveal the purchase price, Billboard can exclusively report that the New York-based private investment firm’s acquisition encompasses more than 1,600 songs. Those include recordings by Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Willie Nelson, Ike & Tina Turner, Albertina Walker and Lightnin’ Hopkins, among other iconic artists representing America’s golden era of blues, R&B, soul, rock & roll, gospel and country.
Prior to co-founding Prymax Media in 2020, Tyrone Holmes worked primarily as a music and film producer who collaborated with Grammy-winning artist Faith Evans and late Stellar Award-winning artist LaShun Pace, among others. In a statement announcing his firm’s acquisition, Holmes said, “This is about more than just reclaiming music. It’s about preserving cultural heritage and sharing stories that have long been silenced. With the release of this vault, we’re not only honoring the legacy of the artists involved but also opening the door for new interpretations and collaborations in the future. These recordings were hidden treasures, and now we can introduce them to the world.”
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Added Beverly Paige, a member of the Prymax team, “This isn’t just an acquisition it’s the recovery of a cultural legacy. We look forward to seeing how this music resonates with lifelong fans as well as invite newcomers to discover the rich legacy of music that has shaped the industry. We’re also excited for the conversations it will spark around the significance and impact of gospel music in our lives.”
In addition to the aforementioned Albertina Walker — aka “The Queen of Gospel Music”— Prymax’s acquisition features released and unreleased recordings by fellow gospel artists Shirley Caesar and Dorothy Norwood, Jimmy Reed, Bobby Rush, John Lee Hooker and Malcolm X. Among the song titles now under new ownership are “Judy in Disguise,” the 1967 No. 1 hit by John Fred and His Playboy Band, “I Feel Good” by John Lee Hooker, “Knock on Wood” by Ike & Tina Turner and “A Message for You” by Curtis Mayfield.
Beyond fully finished tracks, the catalog cache includes rare studio sessions and alternate takes.
Lewis’ industry career began with the opening of Stan’s Record Shop in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1948 (a frequent customer was the yet-unknown Elvis Presley) from money earned selling newspapers. From there at age 20, he established what became the South’s largest independent record distribution network. In addition to Chess Records, where he also worked for a time, Lewis represented several other independent labels such as Atlantic, Checker and Specialty. Moving back to Shreveport after his Chess stint in Chicago, Lewis founded Jewel Records in 1963. Its roster and catalog holdings included Big Joe Turner, John Lee Hooker, Ike & Tina Turner, Aretha Frankline, B.B. King and Fats Domino. Prior to establishing Jewel, he had begun producing music artists while also co-writing with Dale Hawkins the 1957 rock & roll classic “Susie Q.”
Lewis later bought the masters of Chicago blues label Cobra Records in the late ‘60s (home to Buddy Guy). Then came the founding of the Paula (named after his wife Pauline) and Ronn imprints. The former sported a roster headed by The Uniques (led by Joe Stampley), Toussaint McCall, John Fred and His Playboy Band and others.
It was Garland Jones, owner of record store Garland Super Sounds and a longtime Lewis mentee, who helped the latter’s son Lenny outline all the music assets in Lewis’ vault before his death in 2018.
“After a decade-long legal battle, I finally obtained the rights to Stan Lewis’s succession and successfully sold this extraordinary, once forgotten collection of music to Prymax Media,” said Jones. “This partnership now can resonate with and inspire a new generation. The collection also includes the complete unreleased vault from the legendary Q Records and Gramercy Records.”
Attorney Jeffrey D. Garfin oversaw the transaction for Prymax Media. “The material derived from the estate of Stan ‘The Record Man’ Lewis represents a literal time capsule containing hundreds of unknown recordings from incredibly well-known artists,” commented Garfin. “Many of these iconic performers are no longer with us. So to be able to hear alternate takes on their hits and even new material is just fantastic. I’m honored to be shepherding these recordings into the 21st century.”
The Red Clay Strays were notified that they had won the ACM Award for new duo or group of the year on Monday (April 28) while recording with producer Dave Cobb in Savannah, Ga. Cobb also produced their first major-label album, Made by These Moments, which reached No. 9 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and No. 29 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
The news was revealed to the band by the winningest artist in ACM history, Miranda Lambert, via a congratulatory phone call. Lambert previously informed Ella Langley of her win for new female artist of the year.
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Restless Road and Treaty Oak Revival were the other nominees for new duo or group of the year. This was the second nomination in the category for Restless Road, which means they cannot compete in this category again. Because the major country music awards shows allow artists two nominations in new artist categories, Treaty Oak Revival can.
The Red Clay Strays are also nominated for group of the year, where they are squaring off with Flatland Cavalry and three past winners in the category – Little Big Town, Old Dominion and Rascal Flatts.
The Red Clay Strays won emerging artist of the year at the 2024 Americana Music Honors & Awards. They were nominated for vocal group of the year at the 2024 CMA Awards.
The group has had some big breaks, including having a song (“Caddo County”) on the best-selling Twisters: The Album, and opening selected dates on The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds tour.
Hailing from Mobile, Alabama, the band is comprised of Brandon Coleman (lead vocals, guitar), Drew Nix (guitar and vocals), Zach Rishel (guitar), Andrew Bishop (bass), John Hall (drums), and Sevans Henderson (keys).
Langley and Zach Top, the winner for new male artist of the year, are set to perform on the 60th ACM Awards. The Red Clay Strays will probably also join the line-up of performers, though for now we are told only that they “will be celebrated” on the show.
The 60th ACM Awards, hosted by Reba McEntire, will stream live exclusively for a global audience on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch on Thursday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. A limited number of tickets to the landmark 60th ACM Awards are available for purchase on SeatGeek.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Country-rocker Cody Jinks is set to release a new album, titled In My Blood, on July 25.
He recorded the upcoming project, which will come out on his own Late August Records, at famed The Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, and worked alongside musicians David Colvin, Joshua Thompson (also a co-producer on the album), Jake Lentner, Chris Claridy, Austin Tripp, Matt Nolen, Drew Harakal and Lenny Castro.
Produced by Thompson and Charles Godfrey, In My Blood follows his 2024 album Change the Game which landed in the top 30 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and featured songs such as “Outlaws and Mustangs.”
“I think that Change the Game was the final chapter in part one of my writing and I just opened up part two,” Jinks told Billboard via email. “Kind of like how an author like Stephen King has part one that has 10 chapters, and then there’s part two. So, I think In My Blood starts part two. That’s how I feel about this record. It’s a very, very reflective record, and hopefully optimistic about the future as well.”
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While Change the Game centered on lessons learned through his journey of sobriety and maturity, the new album finds him in a further reflective mood on songs such as the road-dog song “In My Blood,” the nostalgic “When Time Didn’t Fly” and the hopeful “Found.”
The album features a mix of songs written solo by Jinks, as well as songs he co-wrote Ward Davis, Tennessee Jet, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr, among others. Each song features Jinks’s fearless, unapologetically honest style of songwriting and hard-charging musical style, adding to his storied canon of music.
His debut single from the album, “Found,” will be out May 2, while he is also slated to launch his headlining Hippies & Cowboys Tour in Columbia, Missouri later this month.
Below, Jinks details the making of In My Blood to Billboard.
Cody Jinks
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You recorded this project at The Sonic Ranch. What do you love about recording there?
I fell in love with the Sonic Ranch during the recording process of [2015’s] Adobe Sessions. I love having nowhere else to go but to the studio to make music, because there’s nothing out there. You’re completely isolated in the desert, and it’s 45 minutes to the next town. I’ve recorded a lot of work out there because of that very thing, and Tony [Rancich] has created a magical place like no other that will ever exist.
Was there a particular song that really sparked the beginning for this project?
Not really. There was a song [“Better Than the Bottle”] that was one of the last ones written that became the first track, because it really set the tone for what the record was going to be. So that was fun. I love how records take shape like that on their own often time.
The title song was co-written with and features Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr. How did this song come about?
Charlie and I wrote this song while we were on tour together, last year, and debuted it the day we finished it in Canandaigua, New York. Obviously, since then, we recorded it, he came out to the studio and sang and played on it. We just got done doing a bunch of promo for it in Nashville, as well. He’s a great human being, and it’s the perfect song for him and I to have written together.
There seems to be such a synergy between what you do and what the guys in Blackberry Smoke do. Why do you love performing and creating with them?
That’s how that song really came to be. I love those guys because they aren’t in the music business. Blackberry Smoke is just a kick-ass band that’s been doing it the right way, the honest way, the hard way, the pure way, for a very long time. They are a very important piece of American music, and I’m thankful that we get to play with them. The friendship is more me and Charlie having hung out more than anybody else. When we were playing with those guys, there was always some of their guys watching our show and vice versa.
So, I think the mutual respect was there, and we see everybody in catering, and hang out, and guys would chat here and there. I think Charlie and I have found out we have a whole lot of things in common in just doing it the old school way, just the get in the van and go. And being thankful to still having a place in music.
“When Time Didn’t Fly” is really poignant. What is the backstory?
I wrote that song with Channing Wilson and Kendall Marvel on a Zoom write, four years ago or so, during COVID. I think at that time a lot of people were given time to reflect. All being at the age that we’re at, and given time to think about time… where did it go? Just the joys of childhood, how fun was it to do those things? The true joy that seems to not happen as much, the older you get. It’s a beautiful song, my mom loves that song, it’s the best on this new album. I really, really love that song. It’s a longing for innocence that only the youth are capable of having.
What is the story behind “The Others”?
We are the others. Everybody’s the others, actually. We all like the same things as everybody else, and we all like different things than everybody else. I wrote it with Ray Wylie Hubbard and Tennessee Jed. [After we were all at a festival], we ended up writing a song via text. “The Others” is just a cool tune written by two really, really cool guys and me. It’s one that we’re going to make a music video for. We’re really, really excited about this one being a single because at the end of the day, everybody’s just everybody. We’re all just people.
What do you most hope fans take away from this project?
I hope that if you really dive into the lyrics of this record, you find yourself, you find people, and you find letting go of the past and the things that hold you down, and looking forward to the things that are good for you. It’s about finding yourself, about being thankful, about becoming more reserved, and growing up. It’s a pretty wild ride, so the record reflects that. Our band made this record sound like it does.
They did a great job taking the simple songs that I brought them and making amazing pieces of music out of it. Josh Thompson, producing with Charles Godfrey, and our band having the freedom and the leeway to go in there with thoughtful and creative pieces that weren’t just laid down because they sounded all right, they were really crafted. It’s as pure a piece of art as we can possibly put out, as any band could ever possibly hope to put out. This is as pure as it gets, and I’ve often said that I’m thankful that the fans have grown up with us, and grown up with me, and here’s to looking forward and making it better.
In My Blood tracklist:
Better Than the Bottle
Lost Highway
The Others
In My Blood
Something Wicked This Way Comes
See the Man
When You Can’t Remember
Lonely Man
Monster
Found
When Time Didn’t Fly
Julien Baker and TORRES’ Send a Prayer My Way debuts at No. 5 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated May 3), and also takes a bow in the top 10 on both the Vinyl Albums and Indie Store Album Sales rankings. The set – the first collaborative effort from the duo – was released April 18 and sold about 6,500 copies in the United States in the week ending April 26, according to Luminate.
Previously, Baker has placed two solo titles on Top Album Sales. Baker is also a member of the group Boygenius, which has notched a trio of titles on the list.
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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 (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.
In addition to the No. 5 bow on Top Album Sales for Send a Prayer My Way, it also starts at No. 4 on Vinyl Albums, No. 6 on Indie Store Album Sales, No. 16 on Americana/Folk Albums and No. 34 on Independent Albums.
Elsewhere on Top Album Sales, Doechii scores her biggest sales week yet, and first No. 1, as Alligator Bites Never Heal reenters atop the chart with 14,000 sold. Until April 18, the set was only available to purchase as a download and in two vinyl variants. On April 19, it garnered a wider availability on vinyl, including two new vinyl editions (both color variants) exclusively available via Target and Urban Oufitters, along with a widely available CD.
A trio of former No. 1s are next up on Top Album Sales: Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet rises 7-2 (8,500; down 14%), Kendrick Lamar’s GNX climbs 8-3 (8,000; down 16%) and Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM ascends 14-4 (nearly 7,000; down 11%). Many titles on the chart vault up the tally with big positional climbs, but with declines in sales, as the chart adjusts back to normal following a crowded Record Store Day-infused chart a week ago.
Childish Gambino’s 2024 album Bando Stone and the New World reenters Top Album Sales at No. 6 with nearly 6,500 copies sold following its first physical release, on vinyl. It’s the best sales week and first week in the top 10 for the title.
Chappell Roan’s chart-topping The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess jumps 19-7 (5,500; down 20%), Elton John and Brandi Carlile’s Who Believes In Angels? steps 10-8 (just over 4,500; down 50%), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours races 36-9 (4,500; down 3%) and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft flies 38-10 (nearly 4,500; down 2%).
Beyoncé kicked off her Cowboy Carter Tour in L.A. at SoFi Stadium on Monday night, and we’re taking you inside the highlights of the night. From Rumi making her debut onstage to Beyoncé performing her classic hit “Crazy In Love,” keep watching for more! Were you at the opening night of the Cowboy Carter Tour? […]
Stagecoach 2025 brought out the hottest country stars, including Jelly Roll, Shaboozey, Jessie Murph and more. We got to catch up with all of the country stars and even some non-country musicians including Paris Hilton and Nelly. We take you through the highlights of each day and our interviews with the biggest names in country!
What was your favorite part of Stagecoach 2025? Let us know in the comments below!
Jelly Roll:It couldn’t have worked out any better for me. Boozey, Koe Wetzel’s here. I felt like my friend day, kind of, and I’m a Sturgill fan.
Paris Hilton:I heard there were thousands of people trying to get in.
Nelly:I thought everybody was doing a rap festival on Tuesday and then a country festival on Wednesday.
Tetris Kelly:And you were like this isn’t …
Nelly:Yeah, and then I found out that I was receiving blessings.
Jessie Murph:I love them both. They’re my brothers, and I don’t know, it’s really cool to share that moment with them. It’s such a big moment, especially a big moment, especially Jelly like headlining looks crazy. I’m really happy for them both.
Tetris Kelly:From on stage to backstage and all the parties in between, Billboard was all over the desert this weekend for Stagecoach, and we take you there in Billboard All Access. Our weekend actually kicked off Friday morning with a brunch at Ariat House with Annie Bosko, who was about to take the main stage at the Empire Polo Field. Once we arrived on site, the grounds were a vibe, as always, with the iconic ferris wheel and fans filing in for an epic day as we headed backstage.
Hey, I’m happy to be here with you guys. I kind of set you up, well you set yourselves up with your new song, “Finish This Drink.” There’s drinks on the table. I’m just saying, you know, cheers to that. Cheers to the new music.
Brothers Osborne: Cheers!
Keep watching for more!
A new supreme is rising — and her name is Blue Ivy Carter!
Beyoncé kicked off her 32-date Cowboy Carter stadium tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., on Monday night (April 28), and her eldest daughter stole the show several times.
After dazzling the crowd with an “America Has a Problem” dance break borrowed from 2023’s Renaissance World Tour — and a cameo alongside little sister Rumi during “Protector” — Blue returned later in the show for “Déjà Vu,” the 2006 Billboard Hot 100 top five hit that introduced the world to her mom’s Grammy-winning sophomore solo album, B’Day. Decked out in an on-theme brown leather chaps and tank combo with fringe details, the young singer-actress-dancer pulled out her best model walk as she strutted down center stage before leading her mom’s dancers in a thrilling rendition of the original mid-’00s “Déjà Vu” live performance choreography.
With her lengthy braids contouring the intense hairography and her lines and extensions crisper than ever, Blue flawlessly executed the dance break — and proved the enduring influence of Josephine Baker, whose iconic “Danse Sauvage” inspired the original “Déjà Vu” choreography. Elements of the moves Blue nailed have appeared in countless Beyoncé performances, from the song’s music video to the 2006 World Music Awards to her 2018 Coachella headlining set.
In the two years since she made her dancing debut on the Renaissance World Tour with “My Power” and “Black Parade,” the eldest Carter offspring has blossomed into a truly self-assured performer. In December, Blue joined her mom for the NFL’s Netflix-assisted Christmas Day halftime show, also known as “Beyoncé Bowl,” a 13-minute showcase of the Cowboy Carter LP. Blue has definitely spent the past few years living up to the Carter family name, and even her aunt Solange couldn’t resist showering her with love on social media. “TT’s babbyyyyyy killing s–t!” she posted on X Monday night (April 28), quoting a clip of Blue breaking down the “America Has a Problem” dance break.
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Outside of dancing, Blue Ivy has also made a killing at the box office. Last year, she starred as Kiara (Simba and Nala’s daughter) in Mufasa: The Lion King, Disney’s Barry Jenkins-helmed prequel to 2019’s photorealistic Lion King remake, in which her mother voiced Nala. The $722 million-grossing film arrived four years after Blue won a Voice Arts Award (best voiceover – children’s audiobook award) for her narration of Hair Love, the audiobook companion to Matthew A. Cherry’s 2019 Oscar-winning independent animated short film of the same name.
Launched in support of her historic Cowboy Carter album — which finally won Bey the long-elusive album of the year Grammy and made her the first Black woman to hit No. 1 on Top Country Albums — the Cowboy Carter Tour will visit nine American and European cities via a series of mini-residences hosted at some of the world’s grandest stadiums. The show is with flying cars and horseshoes, a special tribute to the Renaissance album and live renditions of every Cowboy Carter track (save “My Rose”).
Watch Billboard’s footage of Blue Ivy slaying the “Déjà Vu” dance break below, and check out a side-by-side clip of 2006 Beyoncé and her eldest daughter killing the choreography.
“We’re going to scream our faces off!” So declared two cowboy-garbed fans even before Beyoncé stepped onstage to kick off the first show of her Cowboy Carter Tour last night (April 28). Multiply those two sets of screams by the thousands of others screaming, cheering and dancing inside Inglewood, Calif.’s SoFi Stadium throughout the 35–time […]
Like millions of other fans, Kelsea Ballerini idolizes Taylor Swift, but when it came to starting her own music career, the former quickly learned that she’d need to find her own identity in order to stand apart from the superstar.
While speaking to Variety for her Power of Women Nashville cover story published Tuesday (April 29), the “Peter Pan” singer reflected on the struggle of coming up in Music City in the wake of the Eras headliner’s unprecedented success. At the time, the hitmaker’s shadow loomed especially large over aspiring stars such as Ballerini, who, like Swift, was also a young, blonde, female singer-songwriter — something that forced The Voice coach to find ways to stand out from the 14-time Grammy winner in order to be successful.
Recalling how one label executive dismissed her early on because, as Ballerini recalled him saying, “‘There’s already a Taylor Swift,’” the country artist conceded, “And he was right.”
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“There weren’t a lot of young female singer-songwriter girls in country music to look up to,” she continued. “I had to grow into my own identity as an artist and a songwriter and learn to differentiate myself.”
Distinguishing herself from Swift was even more difficult given Ballerini’s personal obsession with the “Love Story” singer — “Taylor was the North Star for me, and still is in a lot of ways,” she told Variety — but the Tennessee native eventually found her own distinct voice. Her self-titled debut EP dropped in 2014 via Black River Entertainment and earned Ballerini her first-ever Billboard Hot 100 entry with “Love Me Like You Mean It,” soon after which the project even got a cosign from none other than Swift.
“Driving around with the @KelseaBallerini EP on repeat.. SO lovely:)” the country-turned-pop behemoth tweeted in March 2015.
Swift quickly took Ballerini under her wing, with the latter telling Billboard the following year, “She’s like my big sister … She’s walked this so gracefully, so she’s the person that I go to when I’m like, ‘Hey, this is what I’m struggling with right now. How do I navigate this?’”
Also in her Variety cover story, Ballerini gushed about someone else who’s also been hugely influential in her life, but for very different reasons. Of boyfriend Chase Stokes, the singer recalled how patient the Outer Banks actor was as she released her 2023 EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat — which is famously about her divorce from Australian musician Morgan Evans — as well as Stokes’ reaction to hearing Ballerini’s love song for him, “To the Men That Love Women After Heartbreak.”
“He loved it,” she said. “When we first started talking, I hadn’t put out Welcome Mat yet, and he stood beside me through that whole musical chapter. But when it was time to write Patterns, I wanted to write about the things we were learning in our relationship. And I think with a lot of patience and therapy, we mutually have grown a lot in these last two-plus years.”
All three of the Carter girls made their Cowboy Carter Tour debuts Monday night (April 28), with Blue Ivy and Rumi both joining Beyoncé on stage for an emotional performance of “Protector” during the trek’s opening night at SoFi Stadium.
In clips taken by fans in Inglewood, Calif., both of the superstar’s daughters accompany her about a third of the way through the show for the tear-jerking Cowboy Carter ballad about motherhood, which samples Rumi’s voice in the recording. As the 7-year-old sits next to Bey on a set of stairs flanked by backup dancers, 13-year-old Blue crouches behind them, wrapping her arms around both her younger sister and their mom.
“Born to be your protector,” Bey sings before standing up, taking Rumi’s hand and walking with her downstage. “Even though I know someday you’re gonna shine on your own, I will be your projector.”
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At one point, the little girl turns around and gives her mom a big hug, at which point Bey can’t help but stop singing and giggle. “Give it up for Rumi, y’all!” the Destiny’s Child alum then says proudly as the crowd cheers, while Rumi excitedly waves.
Though Monday’s kickoff marked Rumi’s first time ever joining her mom on stage, Blue has long been working with her mom as a backup dancer. The teenager first started dancing on Bey’s Renaissance Tour in 2023, and on Christmas Day 2024, Blue was on the field with the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer for the star’s NFL Halftime Show.
Blue also had a couple shining moments to herself during the Cowboy Carter show, showing off synchronized choreography with her mom during “America Has a Problem.” She also had her own dance solo set to Bey’s “Deja Vu,” commanding a line of other dancers in a brown leathery fit as fans went wild.
Performing tracks from past albums as well as a bulk of the songs from her Grammy-winning, Billboard 200-topping album Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé kicked off about three months of touring with her show at SoFi. The vocalist will stay at the stadium for four more nights before embarking on a run of performances across the United States and Europe this summer.
