genre pop
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Alex Warren tops Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart in his first appearance, as “Ordinary” lifts 4-1 on the May 3-dated tally. “Ordinary” reigns with 21 million official U.S. streams earned in the week ending April 24, up 3%, according to Luminate. The song becomes the first No. 1 to rise to the top of the list, […]
After working it out on the remix with Charli xcx, Lorde knew she had to work even harder on her own album to match the level of creative ingenuity her collaborator demonstrated on Brat.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1 posted shortly after the New Zealand native finally announced her fourth studio album, Virgin, on Wednesday (April 30), Lorde explained how the British pop star’s critically acclaimed 2024 project — for which the two teamed up on a remix of “Girl, So Confusing” — lit a fire under her when it came to finishing up her own LP. “Brat coming out really gave me a kick in a lot of ways,” Lorde began.
“It forced me to further define what I was doing, because Charli had so masterfully defined everything about Brat, and I knew that what I was doing was very distinct to that,” she continued, speaking to radio host Jack Saunders. “It’s an amazing thing when a peer throws the gauntlet down like that, you’re like, ‘OK, I’ve got to pick it up.’ I’ve spoken to a lot of peers who’ve all had the same feeling.”
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Released June 7, 2024, Brat was the album that finally propelled Charli into the mainstream. After the project debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 — her highest position on the chart to date — the Essex-born artist kept the momentum going by dropping a companion remix album in October, featuring Lorde’s version of “Girl, So Confusing,” which the pair recently performed together during Charli’s Coachella set in April.
On the remix, the two artists candidly address a rift between them while making peace with their differences, a level of honesty that reaffirmed to the “Royals” singer how rewarding her own vulnerability on Virgin could be. “I had been trying to express in this very naked way, and then Brat came out, and she was kind of doing that from the other side of the coin,” Lorde told BBC Radio 1.
“Doing the remix together and meeting her in that place of rugged vulnerability and kind of cracking open the thing …,” she added. “[When] people responded really well to that, I was like, ‘OK, cool, this is a good thing to be doing.’”
The interview comes as fans are still processing the news about Virgin, which Lorde announced would be arriving June 27 while sharing its thought-provoking cover art on Wednesday. The project was preceded by lead single “What Was That,” which dropped April 24 alongside a music video filmed in New York City, featuring footage from the Kiwi star’s pop-up in Washington Square Park two days prior.
“THE COLOUR OF THE ALBUM IS CLEAR,” Lorde described Virgin in a statement at the time of the announcement. “LIKE BATHWATER, WINDOWS, ICE, SPIT. FULL TRANSPARENCY. THE LANGUAGE IS PLAIN AND UNSENTIMENTAL. THE SOUNDS ARE THE SAME WHEREVER POSSIBLE. I WAS TRYING TO SEE MYSELF, ALL THE WAY THROUGH. I WAS TRYING TO MAKE A DOCUMENT THAT REFLECTED MY FEMININITY: RAW, PRIMAL, INNOCENT, ELEGANT, OPENHEARTED, SPIRITUAL, MASC.”
Watch Lorde open up about feeling inspired by Charli below.
This April, the Billboard charts have been largely static — with a couple big exceptions, for which we are thankful — but pop music keeps moving. This was a month for big festivals, with two weekends of Coachella and one of Stagecoach all back to back out in Indio, Calif., and of just-as-big tour kickoffs, […]
A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit claiming Sam Smith and Normani stole key elements of their 2019 hit “Dancing With a Stranger” from an earlier track, ruling that the case was tossed out too soon and should have been decided by a jury trial.
The decision, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, reversed a 2023 ruling by a lower judge that had dismissed the case – a copyright lawsuit claiming Smith and Normani ripped off a little-known earlier song called “Dancing with Strangers.”
At the time, the trial judge said the two songs were simply not similar enough to constitute copyright infringement. But in a ruling Tuesday, the appeals court said a jury of their peers might have decided the case differently if they’d been given the chance.
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A “reasonable jury” could potentially decide that the hooks of the two tracks share the same combination of musical elements “in substantial amounts,” the appeals court wrote, including lyrics, “metric placement” and the same “melodic contour.”
Though the two songs also have key differences, the appeals court said a trial judge cannot simply pick a winner if there are conflicting reports from musical experts: “Under that approach, expert testimony would not be required at all.”
The ruling is a loss for Smith and Normani, but is also a worrying decision for any artist hit with a song-theft copyright lawsuit. If such cases must be litigated all the way to trial to be decided, they become dramatically more expensive for defendants, and give accusers more leverage to secure settlements from artists wary of protracted litigation.
Released in 2019, “Dancing with a Stranger” peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100 chart, making it one of Smith’s biggest hits and Normani’s peak spot on the chart. The song, released on Smith’s third studio album Love Goes, ultimately spent 45 weeks on the chart.
In March 2022, the two artists were sued over the track by songwriters Jordan Vincent, Christopher Miranda and Rosco Banlaoi, who claimed that the 2019 hit song was “strikingly similar” to their own “Dancing” — and that it was “beyond any real doubt” that their song had been copied.
A year later, the case was dismissed by Judge Wesley L. Hsu, who ruled that the two songs were not “substantially similar” – the legal threshold for proving copyright infringement. He granted Smith and Normani summary judgment, meaning he ended the case without a trial because he believed a jury could not validly side with the plaintiffs.
But in Tuesday’s decision, the Ninth Circuit overturned that ruling, saying that so long as there is “sufficient disagreement” among the musicologists retained by each side, then case “must be submitted” to a jury.
The ruling will send the case back to Judge Hsu for more litigation, including a potential jury trial.
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco are not done saying I love you. The couple announced on Wednesday (April 30) that their debut collaborative album will get a deluxe edition on Friday (May 2) when they drop I Said I Love You First… And You Said It Back. “The deluxe version of my album with @itsbennyblanco is called […]
If the party was over and our time on Earth was through… could you say you’ve watched Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars‘ “Die With a Smile” video? Since its release more than eight months ago, the music video has officially racked up 1 billion views on YouTube — so yes, a few people can say […]
Following before-and-after photos of Olly Murs‘ fitness journey going viral this week, the British pop star is reacting to what he calls “very disappointing” coverage of his body transformation.
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It seemingly started when a poll on X (formerly Twitter) asked users if they preferred the “before” or “after” version of Murs’ body, and whether they were male or female. The results showed that the majority of women voters thought the “before” looked better, while men voters chose the “after.”
After days of social-media debate (which seemed to dismiss the fact that only Murs needs to be happy with his own physique), the singer/songwriter and TV host weighed in on the chatter, sharing a photo on Instagram of a Daily Mail headline that read: “Bad luck, Olly! Women prefer your ‘huggable dad bod’ to the muscles you got in the gym.”
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“I wouldn’t normally comment on stuff like this but from what I’ve seen I just want to say that this journey at the start of the year was for many personal reasons and not one of them was to spark a debate and divide opinions,” Murs wrote in the caption. “So it’s very disappointing to see this kind of reporting!”
He ended with a message to his supporters and anyone else on their own fitness journey: “Big Love to everyone who’s been kind and to anyone out there improving themselves and making adjustments to their wellbeing. Love to you all, keep it up! ignore the noise!”
One of Murs’ fans decided to flip the narrative by providing her own “before & after” moment on X. “Thought I’d do my own Olly Murs comparison post since that’s all that’s on my feed right now… 15 years in the game..5 albums out of 7 went to number 1 and STILL selling out arenas ! you deserve every single bit of success @ollymurs.”
The “before” moment she shared was Murs’ audition on season 6 of the U.K.’s X Factor in 2009 — where the then-25-year-old declared his dream of becoming a “pop star” and finished as the runner-up — and the “after” is his Official Charts Company stats, which include five U.K. No. 1 albums and four U.K. No. 1 singles. In the U.S., Murs has scored two Billboard Hot 100 hits, including the top 40 hit “Troublemaker,” featuring Flo Rida, which peaked at No. 25 in 2013 and hit the Pop Airplay top 10.
In addition to his music career, Murs has found success as a TV personality, appearing as a coach on The Voice UK from 2018 to 2023.
Find Murs’ response to the online debate below.
thought I’d do my own Olly Murs comparison post since that’s all that’s on my feed right now…15 years in the game..5 albums out of 7 went to number 1 and STILL selling out arenas ! you deserve every single bit of success @ollymurs 👏❤️ pic.twitter.com/ALaAgpoAj6— antonia✨ (@antonia_704) April 29, 2025
On Wednesday morning (April 30), Lorde fans opened their phones to a one-word text from the star: “Virgin.”
The term would turn out to be the title of the New Zealand native’s long-awaited fourth studio album — arriving June 27 after a four-year drought following 2021’s Solar Power — as revealed through the text blast sent out to fans, which featured a link to her website directing them to the official announcement. And though it’ll be another month until the project finally comes out, Lorde has already given her disciples much to discuss with the project’s cover art, which features a blue-toned X-ray of a woman’s crotch, and a description she shared of the record in a statement.
“THE COLOUR OF THE ALBUM IS CLEAR,” she wrote. “LIKE BATHWATER, WINDOWS, ICE, SPIT. FULL TRANSPARENCY. THE LANGUAGE IS PLAIN AND UNSENTIMENTAL. THE SOUNDS ARE THE SAME WHEREVER POSSIBLE. I WAS TRYING TO SEE MYSELF, ALL THE WAY THROUGH. I WAS TRYING TO MAKE A DOCUMENT THAT REFLECTED MY FEMININITY: RAW, PRIMAL, INNOCENT, ELEGANT, OPENHEARTED, SPIRITUAL, MASC.”
On her site, the “Royals” artist added that the album was “100% WRITTEN IN BLOOD.”
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With all of that to mull over — as well as April 24-released lead single “What Was That” still ringing in their ears — fans have been flooding social media to share their reactions to the news. “ohhhh this is gonna break me,” another fan commented on Lorde’s Instagram post announcing the album.
“We are so f—ing back,” one person wrote on X, adding that they think the cover art is “weird but simple & intriguing.”
The cover has quickly become perhaps the most talked-about facet of Lorde’s announcement, with the image opening itself up to much interpretation. Embedded between the pelvic bones visible on the X-ray is an IUD, with a zipper and belt buckle seemingly also showing up on the scan.
“Lorde’s new album being a transparent view of her femininity and the title being a societal construct tied to womanhood and the album cover being an Xray of a woman’s reproductive organs while she’s clothed,” one fan wrote on X. “oh the symbolism.”
“I can’t stop looking at this cover,” another fan replied. “It just seems so symbolic to me of the unintended loss of innocence, the way women need to be prepared for if and when that happens to them, and the sadness surrounding everything about it.”
Co-produced by Lorde and Jim-E Stack with help from Fabiana Palladino, Andrew Aged, Buddy Ross, Dan Nigro and Dev Hynes of Blood Orange, Virgin clearly already has followers hyped up for the imminent Lorde summer. Even before the album announcement, New York authorities had to cancel the singer’s pop-up in Washington Square Park on April 22 after the grounds became overrun by fans — who took to singing in the streets after being kicked out — with Lorde later showing up hours later than scheduled to perform “What Was That” for whoever had stuck around. Footage from the event was featured in the track’s music video days later.
See Lorde’s Virgin announcement below.
If you’re a ’90s kid, you know that one of the decade’s greatest pop stars wasn’t even a real person. We’re of course talking about Powerline, the cartoon hitmaker voiced by actual ’90s teen idol Tevin Campbell in 1995’s A Goofy Movie. To celebrate the animated movie’s release 30 years ago this month, on Wednesday […]
Barbra Streisand fans woke up to wonderful news Wednesday morning (April 29): The diva of all divas is releasing a new studio album, The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two, on her longtime label Columbia Records on June 27. To say the album is star-studded is an understatement. Her duet partners on the 10 tracks include Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande, James Taylor and Sting.
The album appears to be an instant front-runner to win the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album. If it does score a W, it will be Streisand’s first Grammy win in 39 years, since she won best pop vocal performance, female for The Broadway Album in 1987. That would be an extraordinarily long gap between Grammys for an artist of Streisand’s stature, but she has endured it without complaint.
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Streisand has gone so long without a Grammy win that she has never won for best traditional pop vocal album. The category was introduced at the 1991 ceremony. She has been nominated in that category 13 times, second only to Tony Bennett, who was nominated 17 times.
Streisand won her first two Grammys in 1964, so a win early next year would give her a 62-year span of Grammys. That would set a new record for the longest span of Grammy wins (in any category). Bennett’s wins spanned 59 years, from 1963 to 2022, when he won best traditional pop vocal album for Love for Sale, his collab with Lady Gaga.
The roster of guest stars on the new album includes three past winners in the category: McCartney, who won in 2013 for Kisses on the Bottom; Taylor, who won in 2021 for American Standard and Laufey, who won in 2024 for Bewitched.
Three other guest stars on the album have been nominated in that category, though they haven’t won yet. Dylan and Josh Groban have each been nominated three times. Seal has been nominated once.
Before this long Grammy drought, Streisand was a frequent Grammy winner. In 1964, at age 22, she won album of the year for her debut album, The Barbra Streisand Album. She was the youngest winner in that category until 1996, when Alanis Morissette won at age 21 for Jagged Little Pill. The record is currently held by Billie Eilish, who was just 18 in 2020 when she won for When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Streisand has received six album of the year nominations, which was the record for a female artist until Taylor Swift landed her seventh nod late last year.
Streisand won the Grammy Award for best female pop vocal performance three years running (1964-66), matching Ella Fitzgerald’s threepeat from 1959 to 1961. No one else has ever won three years in a row in that category or its gender-neutral successor category, best pop solo performance.
The new album includes “One Heart, One Voice,” a collab with Carey and Grande. The collab features three of the greatest singers of their respective generations: Streisand, 83; Carey, 56; and Grande, 31. In a way, it echoes a three-way collab on The Judy Garland Show in October 1963, when Streisand, then just 22, teamed with Judy Garland, then 41, and Ethel Merman, then 55, to sing Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”
Groban is the only guest on The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two who was also featured on Partners. The two stars team to sing “Where Do I Go From You?” on the new album. They sang “Somewhere” from West Side Story on Partners.
The new album includes a collab with country star Tim McGraw. Partners, likewise, included a collab with a country star — Blake Shelton. Streisand teamed with country great Vince Gill in 1999 to record “If You Ever Leave Me” for her album A Love Like Ours.
The new album’s Grammy pedigree is also shown by the opening track, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Roberta Flack’s original version won record of the year in 1973. The song, written in 1957 by Ewan MacColl, also won song of the year.
In titling this album The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two, Columbia is glossing over Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway, which was Streisand’s follow-up to Partners. Like its predecessor, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and received a Grammy nod for best traditional pop vocal album.
Will Streisand’s long Grammy draught end early next year? Place your bets.