genre pop
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Pharrell Williams has always had impeccable style. From his early days as a producer and performer with the Neptunes and N.E.R.D working on songs for Wreckx-n-Effects, the Clipse, Jay-Z and Nelly, Skateboard P always put a premium on looking good while sounding excellent.When the world first met Williams — who is a co-chair for the 2025 Met Gala — he was rocking distressed, baggy jeans, track jackets and trucker hats before launching his own bespoke fashion label, Billionaire Boys Club in 2003, followed by spin-offs Ice Cream, Bee Line and Billionaire Girls Club. All along, the multi-hyphenate has relished being a bridge between what the kids are wearing in skate parks and clubs and what’s pushing the envelope on the runways in Milan.
As his client list expanded to include production, songwriting and collaborations with Ed Sheeran, Migos, Beck, SZA, J Balvin and Rauw Alejandro, Williams also branched out on the fashion side, co-designing a line of glasses and jewelry for Louis Vuitton in 2008, followed in 2013 with a sunglass line for Moncler.
Constantly juggling his own music, a heavy production schedule and voicing himself in the 2024 LEGO autobiographical film Piece by Piece, Williams also teamed with G-Star Raw in 2014 on the “RAW For the Oceans” denim collection made from recycled ocean plastic. He followed with a 2014 collab with Uniqlo called “i am OTHER,” then paired with Adidas on a 2016 “Human Race” edition of shoes, and in 2017 designed an $1,100 sneaker for Chanel/Adidas.
His crowning fashion achievement, though, was in February 2023, when Louis Vuitton announced that Williams had been appointed to serve as their men’s creative director, with his first collection for the famed fashion house hitting runways during Paris Men’s Fashion Week in June 2023.
Check out Billboard‘s chronicle of Williams’ fashion evolution.
2002
Image Credit: Paul Natkin/Getty Images
From left: Chad Hugo, Shay Haley and Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D. at the Park West on June 2, 2002 in Chicago.
2002
Image Credit: J. Vespa/WireImage
Pharrell Williams during Motorola 4th Annual Holiday Party at The Lot on Dec. 5, 2002 in Los Angeles.
2004
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/WireImage
Pharrell Williams during Pharrell Williams and Nigo Debut “Billionaire Boys Club” Apparel Line and “Ice Cream” Footwear at Drive-In Studios on August 25, 2004 in New York City.
2004
Image Credit: Evan Agostini/Getty Images
Pharrell Williams attends a preview gala dinner for the Metropolitan Museum’s “Wild: Fashion Untamed” exhibition on Dec. 6, 2004 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
2005
Image Credit: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage
Pharrell Williams arrives at the 2005 Vibe Awards at Sony Studios on Nov. 12, 2002 in Culver City, California.
2005
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Pharrell Williams arrives at the 2005 Billboard Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Dec. 6, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
2006
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Pharrell Williams attends The Audi Polo Challenge Cup on July 5, 2006 at Cowdray Park in Midhurst, Great Britain.
2006
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Pharrell Williams arrives at the 13th annual MTV Europe Music Awards 2006 at the Bella Center on Nov. 2, 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
2007
Image Credit: Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage
Pharell Williams arrives at the Louis Vuitton Gala celebrating the Murakami exhibition held at the Geffen Contemporary at Moca on Oct. 28th, 2007 in Los Angeles.
2008
Image Credit: Brad Barket/Getty Images
Pharrell WIlliams attends BET’s ‘Rip the Runway’ at The Manhattan Center on Feb. 21, 2008 in New York City.
2009
Image Credit: Jon Furniss/WireImage
Pharrell Williams attends the annual summer party at The Serpentine Gallery on July 9, 2009 in London, England.
2010
Image Credit: Dominique Charriau/WireImage
Pharrell Williams attends the NRJ Music Awards 2010 at Palais des Festivals on Jan. 23, 2010 in Cannes, France.
2011
Image Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Pharrell Williams visits the Dior pop-up shop featuring Anselm Reyle for Dior at Miami Design District on Nov. 29, 2011 in Miami City.
2012
Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Pharrell Williams attends the OHWOW & HTC celebration of the release of “Terrywood” with Terry Richardson at The Standard Hotel & Spa on Dec. 7, 2012 in Miami Beach, Florida.
2013
Image Credit: Mark Davis/Getty Images
Pharrell Williams arrives at the premiere of Universal Pictures’ “Despicable Me 2” at Gibson Amphitheatre on June 22, 2013 in Universal City.
2014
Image Credit: Lester Cohen/WireImage
Pharrell attends the 56th Grammy Awards at Staples Center on Jan. 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
2015
Image Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Helen Lasichanh and Pharrell Williams attend The 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles.
2016
April showers bring May flowers, along with a slew of new music releases from Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5 and LISA and more to start off the month right. On the first New Music Friday of May 2025, the British pop star followed up April’s “Azizam” with a nostalgic new single titled “Old Phone.” Both songs […]
Beyoncé had a surprise in store for the Beyhive at her Cowboy Carter Tour on Thursday (May 1). During her second of five nights at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., the superstar added a new medley to the setlist encompassing past hits such as “Crazy in Love,” “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” and […]
Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” continues to dominate the U.K. Singles Chart as it notches a seventh consecutive week at No. 1 on May 2. The hot streak makes “Ordinary” the longest running chart-topper in the U.K. since Sabrina Carpenter’s nine-week reign with “Taste” in 2024. The news also coincides with continued success on the Billboard Hot […]
98 Degrees knows what you want. The long-running boy band has made heart-melting ballads its calling card since signing to Motown Records in the late 1990s.
Now, the quartet featuring brothers Nick and Drew Lachey and bandmates Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre are preparing to release their first non-Christmas album in more than a decade, Full Circle (May 9) — and to hear Nick tell it, Taylor Swift kind of had something to do with it.
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“She [Swift] was definitely an inspiration to us, and probably to a lot of musicians out there who felt like they just didn’t have ownership of their own creativity, of their own career to an extent,” says Nick, 51, in a recent group Zoom call with his bandmates about their decision to include six “98°’s Version” updates of their biggest hits on the album. The move follows Swift’s decision in 2021 to begin issuing “Taylor’s Version” remakes of (to date) four of her most iconic albums following the sale of the masters of her first six albums to former Justin Bieber manager Scooter Braun.
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“We were certainly inspired by her to do it, to great success and acclaim [and] we felt it was the right time in our career to make that move and take some ownership back over the songs that have paved the way for our success over the years,” says Lachey of the band, which had a hand in writing a number of the songs on their initial four-album run from 1997-2000. Admittedly, like Swift’s re-records, the fresh 98 takes don’t sound radically different, and Timmons, also 51, says that was the point.
“We decided we wanted to keep them true to their original form that people fell in love with,” he says of the spruced-up recordings of their Billboard Hot 100 top 20 hits “I Do (Cherish You)” (No. 13), “Invisible Man” (No. 12), “Because of You” (No. 3), “The Hardest Thing” (No. 5) and “Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)” (No. 2).
“Over the past 20-plus years we’ve developed vocally in different ways, but we wanted to keep the songs with the integrity of the originals, because that’s what people fell in love with,” says Timmons, admitting that sometimes fans will give them feedback if the group messes around with the arrangements or melodies of its top hits. “We wanted them to sound almost exactly like the originals.” He also stresses that there was “no dispute” with former label group Universal Records that led to the decision, but rather a desire to have more control over how and where their most cherished songs appear.
“Some of the things that started irritating me was if I wanted to use my own music, our own music on a video post, Universal striking my own post for copyright infringement… it’s our own songs!” Timmons says. Like with the Swift remakes, Nick Lachey says he thinks it would be “great” if these new takes become the standard versions for their fans.
In addition to the revamps, the album features the first new non-holiday songs from the guys since their 2013 2.0 album. Again knowing their lovestruck lane and happy to hang out in it, they say the five ballads are 100% fan service. The album kicks off with the mid-tempo bubbler, and recently released single, “Stranger Things (Have Happened).” The bouncy pop tune was inspired by Netflix blockbuster Stranger Things and, like that show, it employs vintage synths alongside the quartet’s signature interwoven vocal melodies.
The classically keening 98 ballad, “Got U,” was co-written by Nick along with Soulshock & Karlin (Usher, Whitney Houston) with Alex Cantrall (JoJo) and produced By Anders Bagge (Madonna, Jennifer Lopez), while “Same Mistake” and “Tremble” are heartbreaking tales of regret over the one(s) that got away.
One of the most intriguing fresh cuts is “Mona Lisa,” which plumbs the mysteries of Leonardo da Vinci’s smiling painting in a super 98 Degrees way. “A portrait of a fairytale/ So we cover canvas like/ The colors mask the pain/ We only ever let them see/ The picture that we paint,” they sing before the uplifting chorus, “Is Mona Lisa smiling, or is there pain in her eyes/ Is it just an illusion?/ What is she hiding behind?/ Was she trying to put on a show?/ Not let Leonardo know/ That in between the cracks of the brush strokes/ Lies the truth only Mona Lisa knows.”
That song also features additional vocals from Filipino vocalist Janine Teñoso in what Timmons says is a nod the one of two territories where the band first broke nearly 30 years ago; the other one is Canada. “We didn’t break in the U.S. right away… and we wanted to get back into the Philippines because we knew we were going to tour there,” he says of the band’s upcoming first shows in the country that has been a stalwart supporter for decades.
The album also spotlights another team-up with a Filipina singer, Katrina Velarde, on a Taglish version of “I Do (Cherish You),” which should get the crowds on their feet when the guys perform in Manila on May 30 and 31. “They love love songs there [in the Philippines], it’s a very passionate, romantic culture and when we’ve been there we also noticed everyone can sing, really well! Like even the valet at the hotel!” Timmons says.
Listen to some of the new mixes and a preview of “Stranger Things (Have Happened) ” below.
Dove Cameron is back with “French Girls,” an espresso shot of electro-pop that finds her continuing to explore moody, campy dance-pop that won’t quit.
“There’s a huge intersection between pain, heartbreak, joy and camp and levity. And that’s where we found ourselves in ‘French Girls,’” Cameron tells Billboard. “The melodrama of being a muse for a sculptor or a painter. There’s something so painfully romantic and also constricting about that. In ‘French Girls,’ the thing that I was really obsessed with was this self-sacrificing mania about being a muse that is not healthy.”
Aside from the song being inspired by her love for Paris and Parisian museums, she confirms that the chorus is a reference to Titanic, specifically the scene where Rose asks Jack to sketch her. And yes, she knows she’s technically misquoting the movie. “The public remembers it differently than what it was: in the movie, it’s ‘draw me like one of your French girls.’ But ‘draw me’ just didn’t sing as well as ‘paint me’.” Given that a lot of people “collectively remember it” as “paint me like one of your French girls” anyway, she took the creative license to tweak the line for her song.
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“I’m definitely not talking entirely about myself,” she explains of the song. “I’m talking about all of the women in the industry that are considered these great, larger-than-life personalities, these Helen of Troy people that we remember in history as these icons of beauty and art who can also be the most tragic figures. In ‘French Girls,’ it was just that (question of), ‘How far do we go to sacrifice ourselves for our art and for our love of what we do and for the people who love what we do?’ Are we interconnected? What is this amalgamation of things that we’re creating together as the audience and the person on the stage?”
Speaking of the stage, it was just announced that Dove Cameron will serve as the opening act on several dates of Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism Tour in the U.K. and Ireland. You can find those dates below.
June 20, 2025 – Wembley Stadium – London, EnglandJune 21, 2025 – Wembley Stadium – London, EnglandJune 24, 2025 – Anfield Stadium – Liverpool, UKJune 25, 2025 – Anfield Stadium – Liverpool, UKJune 27, 2025 – Aviva Stadium – Dublin, Ireland
Ed Sheeran is bringing it all back home to celebrate his upcoming Play album. On Friday (May 2), the singer announced the run of shows in Ipswich this summer, which will have the Ed joined by an all-star roster of support acts as she sets up shop at Suffolk town’s Portman Road stadium, home of his beloved Ipswich Town FC football club.
The shows on July 11, 12 and 13 will find Sheeran joined by, respectively, Myles Smith and Tori Kelly on night one, Busted and Dylan on night two and James Blunt and Maisie Peters on the final evening. Sheeran, who last year bought a minority stake in the football club, posted a promo video on Friday morning cued to his new single, “Old Phone,” in which he toiled at drawing the lines on the venue’s pitch alongside a lengthy essay about what the venue means to him.
“Something incredibly exciting to announce. One of the first ever concerts I went to as a kid was at Ipswich Town Portman Road to see Elton John,” he wrote. “James Blunt opened for him, and I got so obsessed with James’ music, it really shaped me as a singer songwriter from then on. I started doing shows around ipswich as a young teenager, in pubs and bars, then moved to London to ‘make it’ because that’s what you did back then. Then things took off for me and I toured the world, but never ended up playing ipswich really, for whatever reason, but mostly because I lived there and thought if I’m gonna do it, it has to be special.”
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The singer said he first wanted to play Portman Road in 2019 when we wrapped up the Divide tour, but because football season was still in full swing he ended up playing elsewhere. “It’s always been such a dream to play Portman Road that I kept badgering the @ipswichtown team, but because I tour so much and football is very rigid in their schedule I always missed the opportunity to play it,” Sheeran added. “Fast forward to now, having become an investor in Ipswich Town, I got a bit more sway and asked if I could launch my new record there, as a one off weekend of shows, and they agreed. I play all around the world, in such amazing stadiums, but nothing means as much as this one here. This really is a true home coming, and is 3 nights only. It’ll be such a special weekend of shows, with a killer line up (shout out @jamesblunt for coming back and completing the circle).”
You can get early access to tickets by pre-ordering Play from Sheeran’s official store by 3 p.m. BST on Tuesday (May 6). A pre-sale will begin at 10 a.m. BST on Wednesday (May 7), followed by a general on-sale at 10 a.m. BST on Friday (May 9); click here for more information on ticketing.
Sheeran recently announced the details about his upcoming eighth studio album, Play, which is due out on Sept. 12 from Gingerbread Man Records/Atlantic Records. His first full-length LP since 2023’s Autumn Variations will feature the Persian-influenced first single, “Azizam” and nostalgic new song, “Old Phone.”
Check out the poster and video pitch for Sheeran’s Ipswich Town shows below.
We are delighted to announce that @edsheeran will be playing three live shows at Portman Road this summer! 🏟️🎶— Ipswich Town (@IpswichTown) May 2, 2025
Lorde has officially returned to the ARIA Singles Chart’s top tier, as her latest release “What Was That” debuts at No. 9 this week (May 2). It marks the New Zealand singer-songwriter’s first top 10 appearance in Australia since 2017, when “Green Light” peaked at No. 4. The new track, co-produced by Dan Nigro — […]
Maroon 5 has returned with a major pop crossover moment. On Friday (May 2), the Adam Levine-fronted band unveiled their new single “PRICELESS” featuring BLACKPINK’s LISA, released via 222/Interscope Records.
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The track marks Maroon 5’s first-ever collaboration with a K-pop artist and offers a guitar-driven sound that nods to the group’s early 2000s roots, paired with LISA’s confident rap feature. The accompanying music video, shot on 35mm film and directed by Aerin Moreno, draws inspiration from Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
“It’s just a guitar-based song which we haven’t really done in so long. It happened first for us while we were recording the album. I think it’s just the purest and we are so happy to have LISA on it,” frontman Adam Levine said in a statement.
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He added, “The guitar intro is literally me playing into an audio message on my iPhone with an unplugged guitar. I actually got a little emotional recording ‘cause it was sort of reconnecting to our roots, which a lot of our fans have been saying ‘hey we want to hear that sound again.’ It’s been like over 20 years so I think it’s time for that to return.”
Teasers of the track, which Maroon 5 previewed on Instagram in late April, included Levine’s falsetto vocals alongside a rap verse from LISA: “Yeah, talk is cheap boy stop it/ Got my love that’s a real big profit.”
In the days leading up to the confirmation of “Priceless,” Maroon 5 also teased the collab by posting an Instagram photo from behind of the lead singer and a mystery woman standing side by side, gazing out of a floor-to-ceiling window at a cityscapeLISA’s IG Story also featured a clip with audio, showing the K-pop star lying back while seemingly filming a music video.
The single also serves as the first preview of Maroon 5’s upcoming 2025 album, which the band first teased during Levine’s recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (April 8).
“PRICELESS” follows Maroon 5’s 2021 album Jordi, which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. For LISA, the track adds to her growing list of international collaborations as a solo artist, following the success of her 2021 debut single “LALISA” and her ongoing work with BLACKPINK.
Watch the “PRICELESS” video and stream the single now.
A little more than a month since unleashing their collaborative studio album I Said I Love You First, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco are giving fans another romantic release by way of the record’s deluxe edition.
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The couple have adopted a swift turnaround for the release of the appropriately-titled I Said I Love You First… And You Said It Back, announcing its arrival only two days prior, on Wednesday (April 30).
“The deluxe version of my album with @itsbennyblanco is called I Said I Love You First…And You Said It Back and it’s out this Friday, 5/2!” Gomez wrote on Instagram. “There are some new songs, some favorites you might recognize, and reimagined songs from the original album. Can’t wait for you to hear them!”
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Alongside the original 14-track album, the deluxe version is complemented by an additional eight tracks, featuring unheard tracks, remixes, and collaborations.
These include fresh cuts such as “That’s When I’ll Care,” the Cake-interpolating “Talk,” and the Gomez solo venture “Stained.” Meanwhile, GloRilla is tapped for a remix of “Cowboy” while DJ Sliink offers a new version of “Bluest Flame.”
Gracie Abrams returns for an acoustic version of “Call Me When You Break Up,” and a live Vevo performance of “How Does It Feel to Be Forgotten” also joins the mix. The new set closes out with the dreamy “Guess You Could Say I’m in Love,” a collaboration with Texas shoegaze outfit Cigarettes After Sex.
The pair promoted the new drop by teasing that the video for “Talk” would drop on Thursday night (May 1), encouraging fans to “pick out your prom outfit.”
It arrived just a week after Blanco posted a video on Instagram of the couple going to the mall to get their prom pics taken after revealing that Gomez never got to go to her prom. The video shows Gomez getting ready in a purple ballgown and planting a kiss on her fiancé as they do a classic walk-down-the-stairs dress reveal. In the limo ride to the mall, Blanco excitedly leans out the window of their stretch limo and tells the driver in the lane next to him: “We’re going to prom!”
After first starting dating in mid-2023, Blanco and Gomez got engaged in December last year. In March, they dropped I Said I Love You First, their first joint album as a couple, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
Stream I Said I Love You First… And You Said It Back below.