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06/11/2025
Following the death of the legendary Brian Wilson, the absolute best from one of the greatest catalogs in rock or pop history.
06/11/2025
Brian Wilson, leader of The Beach Boys, widely acknowledged as one of America’s all-time greatest composers, a pioneer of advanced studio techniques, and one of the most sensitive chroniclers of the Californian experience, has died at age 82.
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His death was confirmed Wednesday (June 11) by a post shared across his social media accounts. “We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,” the post read. “We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world. Love & Mercy.”
Wilson is survived by his daughters Carnie and Wendy from his 1964 marriage to Marilyn Rovell, as well as his five adopted children with his wife Melinda Ledbetter. (Ledbetter herself passed in early 2024.)
Wilson was born in Inglewood, California on June 20, 1942 to Audree Neva and Murry Wilson, a factory worker who became a songwriter and The Beach Boys’ early manager. At Hawthorne High School, Wilson was an athlete, but demonstrated an ear for harmony. In Summer 1961, he formed the Pendletones with younger brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Released on the local Calpix label, their rudimentary “Surfin’” became a regional hit under their new name, The Beach Boys, and their next recordings landed them a contract with Capitol Records.
The following year’s Surfin’ U.S.A. reached No. 2, and The Beach Boys became superstars. From ’63 to ‘65, the band released three studio albums each year while touring nearly nonstop. Earning full producer credit by September 1963’s Surfer Girl, Wilson made speedy progress as an arranger and sonic sculptor: Harmonies were overdubbed and perfected, and he often sang falsetto lead, particularly on ballads like “In My Room.” Although their instrumental chops also strengthened, Wilson soon augmented the Boys with session musicians. Even the British Invasion couldn’t squash their popularity: The Beach Boys were America’s biggest band.
Yet conflicts with Murry Wilson – who’d long bullied his sons – as well as pressure to maintain their constant schedule magnified Wilson’s anxieties. Following an inflight panic attack in late 1964, the songwriter stopped performing. During his first LSD trip, he composed July 1965’s “California Girls,” which marked the studio debut of his touring replacement, Bruce Johnston.
For May 1966’s expansive Pet Sounds, Wilson and lyricist Tony Asher created a song cycle documenting a passage from youthful innocence to mournful adulthood that the composer contrasted with delicately sophisticated yet openhearted orchestrations. Wilson recorded the band’s next single in several studios using even more unconventional instrumentation, but October 1966’s “Good Vibrations” became a worldwide smash.
Meanwhile, he and fellow experimentalist Van Dyke Parks toiled for many months on the even more ambitious Smile, but the project’s complexity overwhelmed its producer, who ultimately abandoned it in favor of September 1967’s simplified Smiley Smile, the first of several creative but commercially far less successful albums of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s in which Wilson typically diminished his input. After 1974’s Endless Summer – the first of three consecutive compilations – unexpectedly reached No. 1, the band suddenly became the era’s top touring draw.
Marilyn Wilson hired celebrity shrink Eugene Landy to cure her husband’s mounting instability and addictions during 1976’s 15 Big Ones and ‘77’s Love You, which he both produced. After Landy’s dismissal, his condition worsened again; an overdose brought Landy back in 1983. The therapist’s control over Wilson’s life extended even to 1988’s debut solo album Brian Wilson and 1991’s autobiography, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, until a 1992 restraining order.
Wilson’s condition gradually improved; he married Ledbetter in 1995, when his output resumed, sometimes with stellar results: 2004’s Brian Wilson Presents Smile, a re-recording of the abandoned album, justly earned universal accolades. He returned to touring solo and, in 2012, with The Beach Boys. That year, the band released the Wilson-helmed That’s Why God Made the Radio, which brought back early guitarist David Marks and celebrated the group’s 50th anniversary.
In December of 2021, Wilson sold his publishing rights to Universal for more than $50 million, according to documents filed in a lawsuit by his ex-wife Mary Wilson-Rutherford. In recent years, Wilson suffered a marked decline in mental and physical health, leading to him being placed under a conservatorship in late 2024.
Although an acclaimed 2014 biopic, Love & Mercy, chronicled the musician’s rise, fall and return to relative stability, the magnitude of Wilson’s work towers above his legend as a troubled genius. Equally adept at celebrating sun, surf, cars, and girls as well as his own vulnerability, Wilson broadened rock’s scope while deepening its spiritual impact. God only knows what we’ll do without him.
CMAT’s newest single, “Take A Sexy Picture Of Me,” has a lightning-in-a-bottle quality that nothing she had released previously could quite compare.
The track, which will feature on the country-pop songwriter’s third LP Euro-Country (due Aug. 29 via AWAL), is bright, hooky and possessed of a subtle emotional pull. Under a soulful, spacious melody, the tone shifts continually: from self-reflection to blame-laying, from denial to weariness, frustration and regret.
So as much as this irresistible earworm encapsulates the Song of the Summer ethos with its easy, forthright and effortlessly cool arrangement, it also in a way defies it. It offers a pained and pointed depiction of body image struggles in a world of constant online commentary — evoking a sunlit mood with lyrics rooted in a wider, meaningful conversation. CMAT (an acronym of Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson) recently explained to BBC 6 Music that the track is about the mental anguish she has experienced, having previously received a flood of “nasty comments” on her physical appearance.
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Since its release last month, “Take A Sexy Picture Of Me” has taken on a life of its own, picking up significant traction on TikTok while also translating into real-world success. What started as a playful dance challenge by app user Sam Morris, a 37-year-old content creator based in Brighton, has snowballed into a trend. The routine follows along with the words of the second verse — “I did the butcher/ I did the baker/ I did the home and the family maker/ I did schoolgirl fantasies” — with participants miming chopping and baking actions.
Dubbed the “Woke Macarena” in reference to its simple choreography, the song has soundtracked over 28,000 TikTok videos in recent weeks, with stars such as Lola Young and Julia Fox getting involved. CMAT, meanwhile, is currently in the midst of an extensive festival run: at the end of May, she thrilled a Main Stage crowd at London’s Wide Awake festival, while a Pyramid Stage slot at Glastonbury is on the horizon. Last week (June 6), she supported Sam Fender at London Stadium in front of an audience of 82,500 — the venue’s biggest sold-out show to date.
Prior to this, CMAT and her band delivered an electrifying rendition of “Take A Sexy Picture Of Me” on Later… With Jools Holland, kicking off the Euro-Country campaign in earnest. The performance proved that she wants viewers to understand what she’s singing about on the deepest level possible, and if that requires theatrical emotions and dancing, she is more than willing to oblige. It wouldn’t be remiss, then, to suggest that prestige slots on U.S. late night shows may soon come along.
“CMAT is firmly and deservedly positioning herself as one of this summer’s breakout stars,” says Adam Read, music programs manager at TikTok UK. “This is a track that speaks directly to identity, self-image and transformation, all while being incredibly catchy. The fact that the choreography took shape organically and is now being performed at live shows by entire crowds is exactly the kind of cultural crossover we love to see.”
Unlike this time last year, when Sabrina Carpenter’s smash hit “Espresso” was dominating the British (and global) airwaves, there arguably hasn’t been a Song of the Summer frontrunner just yet. Alex Warren’s ballad “Ordinary” has remained firmly at the summit of the Official U.K. Singles Chart for the past 12 weeks — the longest-running U.K. No. 1 of the 2020s — yet its sighing, plaintive melody doesn’t quite speak to the easy-breezy feel of the season.
Read and the team at TikTok UK, however, have predicted “Take A Sexy Picture Of Me” as a contender, alongside Afrobeats star Darkoo’s “Like Dat” and Charli xcx’s “Party 4 U.” The latter is a 2020 fan favorite that peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard 200 last month (May 31), with Atlantic Records having pushed it towards U.S. contemporary hit radio over the spring.
With over 575,000 video creations under the #SongOfTheSummer hashtag, TikTok is a key launchpad for new music at this time of the year. CMAT, meanwhile, has gained over 26.6 million content views in the past month alone, leading to a 71% growth in her follower count and, in turn, pushing her monthly Spotify listeners over the 1 million mark. The song is continuing to climb Spotify’s Viral 50 — Global chart and is approaching 4 million streams on the service.
That begs the question: is this CMAT’s crown to take? The Dublin-raised musician has perhaps never been better primed to make a mainstream crossover. Her second LP, 2023’s Crazymad For Me saw her break the Top 40 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart for the first time (No. 23), while also scooping Mercury Prize, BRIT and Ivor Novello nominations; the former is a notable feat, given that 2022 debut If My Wife New I’d Be Dead failed to crack the Top 75.
Shrewd marketing from the Sony-owned AWAL, meanwhile, has also played a role in the success of “Take A Sexy Picture Of Me”; the track recently landed a glowing feature in The New York Times. “We realized very quickly that this would be an opportunity to broaden her out to new audiences,” says Victoria Needs, senior vp at AWAL. Having announced a worldwide deal with CMAT four years ago, Needs adds that the label’s vision for 2025 revolves around “solidifying her positioning in the U.K., Ireland and the rest of Europe,” as well as making “further inroads” in the U.S. with a North American headline tour booked for September.
CMAT finds herself in fine company on the world stage, with fellow Irish exports Fontaines D.C. and Kneecap having also pushed the needle forward in 2025. All three acts are making music with rich, defiant messaging, an attribute that chimes well with TikTok audiences, where songs can take off if they are attached to a particular story or movement; in this case, “Take A Sexy Picture Of Me” rings true with the collective female experience.
“CMAT is a great example of a real artist who has put in the work and has earned this moment,” AWAL CEO Lonny Olinick tells Billboard U.K. “Across three album campaigns, we have been fortunate to partner with her and do the hard artist development work that AWAL is known for, building her fan base from the ground up. We are all excited to see this powerful record connect with audiences globally.”
Sabrina Carpenter‘s break between her last album and next LP was short and sweet, with the pop star announcing Wednesday (June 11) that she has another full-length titled Man’s Best Friend coming out this summer. Sharing the news on Instagram, Carpenter unveiled the project’s sensual cover art — a photo of the Grammy winner down […]
Miley Cyrus appears to be headed to Paris for a very special concert celebrating some of her biggest hits, with the pop star teasing Wednesday (June 11) that she’ll be performing at Spotify‘s next Billions Club Live concert later this month.
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The news comes via X, on which the streaming giant first posted a lyric to Cyrus’ “End of the World” — “Let’s go to Paris, I don’t care if we get lost in the scene” — and added, “@MileyCyrus, you coming?”
The singer then reposted the message and wrote: “I’ll meet you there. Next week. #BillionsClubLive.”
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Billions Club Live was introduced last December, with The Weeknd playing the first show in the series for about 2,000 people in Los Angeles to celebrate his long roster of songs that have surpassed a billion Spotify streams. The crowd was made up of fans selected for being in the “Blinding Lights” artist’s top percentage of listeners on the music service.
Cyrus has several songs that have reached the ten-digit milestone, including “Wrecking Ball,” “We Can’t Stop,” “Angels Like You” and “Party in the U.S.A.”
The Spotify concert comes on the heels of her new album Something Beautiful, which dropped May 30 and debuted this week at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. The LP marks her first full-length since 2023’s Endless Summer Vacation, which spawned eight-week Billboard Hot 100-topper “Flowers” — a song that has garnered more than 2 billion streams on the platform, meaning fans in Paris can almost definitely expect that she’ll perform it during her Billions Club Live show.
The upcoming show will be especially meaningful as Cyrus’ live performances are few and far between these days. When she does perform, it’s usually in an intimate setting — such as the Chateau Marmont, where she recently hosted a Something Beautiful listening party. In 2023, the Hannah Montana alum announced that she had no intention of touring for the foreseeable future.
While promoting Something Beautiful on Apple Music 1 in May, Cyrus elaborated on her decision to skip touring, noting that staying off the road is best for her sobriety and protecting her vocal cords.
See Cyrus’ post below.
Billie Eilish brought an emotional moment to fans at her Paris concert on Monday night (June 10), delivering a stripped-down cover of Paramore’s Brand New Eyes ballad “The Only Exception.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Performing the first of two nights at Accor Arena, Eilish paused […]
Benjamin Hightower has channeled Chappell Roan for his America’s Got Talent audition, going from Tennessee to Los Angeles to receive a standing ovation from judges for his performance of “Pink Pony Club.”
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Appearing on Tuesday (June 10) night’s episode of America’s Got Talent, Hightower told judges how he ended seven years of active duty in the Air Force to pursue his dreams of stardom. “I made the really scary choice to get out of the military and take a chance on myself because I believe in my ability to be a performer,” he explained.
Dressed in a white shirt and ripped jeans, the unassuming musician sat behind a keyboard as he launched into a triumphant rendition of Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.” Originally released in 2020, the single gained renewed attention following Roan’s 2025 Grammy Awards performance, and hit No. 4 on the Hot 100, tying with “Good Luck, Babe!” as her highest-charting single to date.
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Receiving a rapturous reception from the audience (which included his own mother), Hightower explained that it was a more than fitting track given his roots in Tennessee. Though Roan grew up in Missouri, the lyrics to “Pink Pony Club” describe the singer’s desire to leave Tennessee in hopes of acceptance on the west coast.
“That song is great, but I think that also could be a hit; your rendition of her song,” enthused judge Howie Mandel. “It was beautiful, it was great.”
“The perfect audition, this is what you’re supposed to be doing,” added Sofia Vergara. “I think America’s going to love you.”
The biggest response, however, came from Simon Cowell, who expressed his certainty that Hightower’s performance could become a viral hit. “I really like you. I really do,” he told the singer.
“When I saw the keyboard I thought, ‘Oh God, it’s going to be something like “Stand By Me,” or something we’ve heard a billion times.’ And it wasn’t,” he added. “When you do somebody else’s song and you make it your version, that’s smart. I love that song, I love your version, and I don’t know, there’s something about you I really like.”
Hightower’s overwhelmingly positive reception was echoed in his own response to the acclaim, with the visibly emotional performer telling host Terry Crews that the moment has been a long time coming.
“If the little kid who grew up in Tennessee could see me now, he would be so proud,” he explained.
Watch Hightower’s full performance below:
Miley Cyrus‘ Bangerz era was pretty unforgettable, with the pop star repeatedly shocking the world through risqué outfits and provocative performances at a time when many still associated her with the squeaky-clean image of Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana.
But during a candid interview with Monica Lewinsky on her Reclaiming podcast posted Tuesday (June 10), the pop star revealed just how much the backlash affected her — and her relationships with her family — when it all went down circa 2013. “That was the time where I just got hit so hard, and I was so embarrassed,” she said, referring to the criticism.
“There was even a time where my brother and sister didn’t want to go to school, because of how humiliated they were to be related to me,” she continued. “I had a lot of guilt about how hard it would’ve been to be my sibling or my parent, and how embarrassing.”
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Cyrus has five siblings, including half-sister Brandi, half-brothers Trace and Christopher, brother Braison and sister Noah. In addition to affecting the lives of her siblings, the Grammy winner said that the years surrounding the release of her Bangerz album also put a strain on her relationships with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus — “It was really hard for me to go home and see my dad and look him in the eyes and not feel super embarrassed,” she noted — and her grandmother.
She also said that she has since worked through the feelings of shame that lingered from that time period in therapy, but was very honest about how she “lost everything” as a result of her risqué persona. “If I kept dressing or acting a certain way, my relationships fell apart,” Cyrus said. “No one wanted to date me, because they didn’t want to be with a woman [whose] sexual expression part was not for them, it was like shared with the world.”
“I was engaged at the time,” she continued, referring to ex-husband Liam Hemsworth. “That didn’t work out, because I was sharing a part of myself that men wanted to be saved for them only.”
Cyrus has come a long way since the events of 2013, the most memorable of which was arguably her parental-panic-inducing, half-nude performance alongside Robin Thicke at that year’s MTV VMAs. Though Bangerz spawned her first-ever Billboard Hot 100 hit with “Wrecking Ball,” she has since outdone herself with the eight-week chart reign of “Flowers,” which also earned the singer her first-ever Grammys at the 2024 ceremony. Cyrus is now fresh off the release of her new album, Something Beautiful, which debuted this week at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
But while the criticism she faced more than a decade ago hurt in the moment, Cyrus says she now understands why it was so extreme. “What I did wasn’t shocking, it was who I was that was shocking,” pointing out that her past as the kid-friendly Hannah Montana character made her pivot feel even more disturbing to the public.
To give an example, Cyrus pointed out that, in comparison, barely anyone batted an eye at Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” in 2021. “But Cardi B isn’t for kids,” the Black Mirror alum acknowledged. “She’s not a child star. For me it was hard to go, ‘Why is Rihanna not in trouble?’”
Watch Cyrus’ full interview with Lewinsky above.
It’s been a week and a half of celebration for Swifties, following Taylor Swift‘s May 30 announcement of her triumph in buying the masters of her early catalog — six full-length albums and various assorted other releases — back from private equity firm Shamrock Holdings.
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The news that Swift’s back catalog was now entirely hers also came with her revelation that while the superstar singer-songwriter had already finished all of her expected Taylor’s Version re-recording of her 2006 self-titled debut album, the final of her first six albums to be re-recorded — 2017’s Reputation — was still less than a quarter complete. Though the long-anticipated Taylor’s Version of that fan favorite does not appear to be coming anytime soon, all news is good news when it comes to Swift’s streaming fortunes — and indeed, her entire catalog got a boost from the recent headlines, led by Reputation bounding from No. 78 to No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
How surprising is that Reputation jump? And what could be the next event to send Swift’s catalog screaming back up the charts? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.
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1. Taylor Swift’s Reputation rebounds from No. 78 to 5 on this week’s Hot 100, following her announcement that she had reacquired her masters. On a scale from 1-10, how surprised are you by this chart surge for the album?
Hannah Dailey: I would say 4. It’s not surprising at all to me that Reputation is the album fans immediately flocked to after the acquisition announcement, given how much anticipation there had been for Rep TV over the past few years. But I am a little surprised that it climbed as far as it did, because a 73-spot leap is insane.
Josh Glicksman: At best, a passing “Huh, how about that?” level of surprise, which equates to a 2 or maybe a low 3. Sweeping gains for Taylor Swift at any point, for any reason, should not really floor anyone who has been keeping tabs on the Billboard charts for the past two decades, particularly in the streaming era. Combine her massive announcement with the ever-growing anticipation of Reputation’s rerelease — and the comfort among her fan base to now resume listening to the original album — and a Billboard 200 that is relatively stagnant, and the runway was wide open for this sort of thing.
Jason Lipshutz: A 2. Taylor Swift buying back her masters was enormous news in the pop world, activating a fan base at a rare moment of (relative) downtime for the superstar. Her entire catalog received a streaming surge, but naturally, Reputation received the biggest bump, after years of Swifties waiting for Reputation (Taylor’s Version); that day may never come now, but with Swift regaining ownership of her fiercely beloved 2017 album, the streaming party was on, and Reputation enjoyed a predictably huge rise back into the top 10 of the Billboard 200.
Danielle Pascual: Honestly, 1. Since her first re-recorded album, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), dropped in April 2021, Reputation (Taylor’s Version) seems to have always been what fans have been the most excited for. I vividly remember that before Midnights was announced at the 2022 MTV VMAs, theories flooded Twitter/X about “clowning for rep tv.” And that was two albums (and two Taylor’s Versions) ago! It is one of her most iconic eras, and now that she owns it, it makes total sense to me that her fiercest supporters — who’ve boycotted those first six albums since Taylor posted that original letter in 2019 — have flocked back to it.
Andrew Unterberger: 1. A friend asked on Friday for my prediction of where it would re-chart and I answered “top five,” so.
2. Most of the rest of Swift’s albums catalog also gains this week, with four of her albums even re-entering the Billboard 200. Are any of the movers in her catalog this week unexpected to you for how big (or how small) their gains were?
Hannah Dailey: I guess I’m a little surprised that albums like Midnights (up 75-50) and Folklore (up 69-52) shot up as much as they did, since they’re kind of unrelated to the acquisition news. But I’m definitely surprised that both Speak Nows reentered the chart (No. 170 for the original and No. 185 for the Taylor’s Version), while Fearless and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) did not. If I was going to pick between the two, I would’ve predicted more love for Fearless – though as a Speak Now diehard, I’m happy to see it.
Josh Glicksman: I’m slightly surprised at both the original and rerelease of Speak Now not making a larger splash in their reentries on the Billboard 200, but perhaps that’s rooted in my own internal bias towards the album. Additionally, it’s not shocking that fans are still gravitating toward her more recent album releases — particularly given that her chart movement this week is largely driven by streaming activity — but I would’ve expected some of the original versions of her reacquired catalog to overtake their respective rereleases. (The Taylor’s Version of 1989 still outranks the original, No. 61 to No. 73; Red (Taylor’s Version) is No. 147 while the original is not on the chart.)
Jason Lipshutz: I’m a little surprised by the rises of some of the re-recorded albums, like 1989 (Taylor’s Version) moving up 19 spots to No. 61 and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) re-entering the chart. The news of the recordings purchase was focused on her six original albums, not the Taylor’s Version full-lengths that she began putting out in 2021… but such is the demand for all things Taylor, where, in a scenario in which those original albums get re-embraced by fans, the re-records still get an uptick in listens, too.
Danielle Pascual: I’m shocked that neither Fearless nor Fearless (Taylor’s Version) are on this week’s chart. The former was the album that won Swift her first album of the year Grammy and kickstarted her rise to megastar status, and the latter marked the beginning of Taylor’s re-recording journey. It contains some of her most popular songs — including her first-ever Hot 100 top 5 hits, “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” — so I at least expected it to enter the chart in some way. On the other hand, I definitely saw a big chart moment for the original 1989 coming (it re-enters at No. 73). I wouldn’t be the first to admit that the OG “Style” is better than the “Taylor’s Version,” although, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) does contain some excellent From the Vault tracks!
Andrew Unterberger: While my “top five” prediction proved right on for Reputation, my “just outside the top 10” prediction for the self-titled album…. not so much. Taylor Swift did re-enter the Billboard 200, but only at No. 64, which is obviously much lower than I expected. I suppose I overestimated the sentimentality around Swift’s debut — and since we actually still may get that Taylor’s Version at some point, maybe fans are still waiting for that moment to dive back in anyway.
3. While Swift admitted she had not yet gotten through much of the Reputation re-recording at the time of her announcement, she also said the re-recording of her self-titled debut had already been completed. Do you think we’ll see the full release of that Taylor’s Version – and if so, about when?
Hannah Dailey: I get the sense that she’s ready to close the door on all things Taylor’s Version and Eras, especially now that she owns all her work. But since she’s already spent all that time and effort re-recording Debut, there’s no reason not to release it, especially knowing how much fans want it. I bet we’ll get it soon, probably by the end of the year – maybe in October to honor the month it originally dropped.
Josh Glicksman: Yes, but I wouldn’t expect it any time soon unless she needs a push in momentum for some reason, which is rarely, if ever, the case with her. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Taylor’s Version of her self-titled album appear in fragments — rerecorded fan favorites that are webstore exclusives and packaged to new releases or vault tracks that arrive just in time to be considered for awards season. At some point, I think it’ll arrive in full, but it might come in drips first.
Jason Lipshutz: “I really love how it sounds now,” Swift wrote about Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) when she announced that she had bought back her masters. If that’s the case, there’s no way it’s never seeing the light of day. Next year for the 20th anniversary would make sense, but if we don’t receive a new studio album in 2025, the already-finished re-recorded debut album would be a lovely consolation prize this year.
Danielle Pascual: I am pretty certain we will see Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) sometime next year though, as it would be the perfect way to celebrate her debut album’s 20th anniversary.
Andrew Unterberger: October 24, 2026 — or whenever the closest Friday to that anniversary date is. Mark your calendars now.
4. Swiftie fandom is as such that it feels like almost any major development in Swift’s career (or life) leads to major gains in her catalog. What do you think the next such occasion will be for her that may have a similar bearing on her chart movement?
Hannah Dailey: An obvious answer would be that she announces a new album, but I do reckon we’re probably getting close to TS12. Beyond that, it could be anything. Maybe Travis Kelce will propose, and her love-song canon — from most of Lover to “So High School” and “The Alchemy” on Tortured Poets – will get a major boost.
Josh Glicksman: It’s easy to speculate that a long-anticipated, highly-speculated question from a certain NFL tight end could cause such a gain, but the more likely answer to me here is that’ll it come more naturally when she’s gearing up for another album release, be it of fully new material or one of the remaining Taylor’s Versions. But how fun would it be if we got a new single from Swift out of the blue to celebrate her reacquisition of the catalog? All I’m saying is: The song of the summer season is upon us; it’s not too late, Taylor!
Jason Lipshutz: Maybe a major change in her personal life that would cause a huge spike for “Love Story,” with Swifties posting the lyrics “Go pick out a white dress/ It’s a love story, baby, just say ‘Yes’” into infinity? The world is waiting for Swift and Travis Kelce to make an engagement announcement; who knows if it will happen, or happen anytime soon, but if and when it does, I fully expect every romance-related Swift song to explode on streaming services.
Danielle Pascual: It’s hard to imagine any other moment would kickstart gains as major as this. The back-and-forth of Taylor’s masters has been top of mind for both her and her fans since the drama began six years ago, and now that chapter is finally closed. That being said, if she wanted to continue this momentum for her original albums, I think it would be smart to re-release vinyl editions of the originals, whether as some sort of collector’s set or individually. The Record Store Day editions of albums like 1989 and Red are highly sought after for vinyl-collecting Swifties (they go for upwards of thousands on the resale market), and I’m sure the fans would flock to any sort of special re-issues, therefore triggering new gains on the Billboard 200.
Andrew Unterberger: I’ll swipe a prediction from our Charts team’s Trevor Anderson and say that the next big Taylor bump will come when she’s announced as the headliner for a certain February 2026 gig at Levi’s Stadium in California.
5. Since we’re unlikely to get it at this point anyway, what would have been your ultimate dream get for a From the Vault Reputation (Taylor’s Version) track?
Hannah Dailey: Having Charli xcx on a Vault song would’ve been legendary. Charli opened for Taylor on the Reputation Tour, so it would’ve been such a cool full-circle moment to see them reunite for something Reputation-related almost a decade later, especially now that Charli has had so much success with Brat. Charli also could’ve elevated the electro-pop feel Taylor experimented with a lot on the original Rep, and it would’ve been an epic way for both women to put those “Sympathy Is a Knife” feud rumors to bed.
Josh Glicksman: If her latest few singles are any indication, Reneé Rapp feels like she would’ve met the Reputation moment and run with it — so I would’ve loved to get her as an FTV guest collaborator.
Jason Lipshutz: The mash-up between “New Year’s Day,” “Long Live” and “The Architect” is still echoing in my head after seeing it performed at Swift’s final stop on her Eras Tour. I was hoping against hope that we’d get it (or another “New Year’s Day” mash-up) with Reputation (Taylor’s Version), but then again, it’s not so bad that that performance belongs to that singular moment forever.
Danielle Pascual: My number one pick for a collaborator on a From the Vault track is definitely Beyoncé. There were a lot of rumors surrounding a team-up after the two showed up at each other’s concert film premieres at the end of 2023, and it would be awesome to see that come into fruition for a brand new Reputation era track. Beyond that — this is a huge reach, but my dream is for Taylor to re-release Reputation in full as a collab album. I’d want all 15 of the album’s original tracks to have a different feature with only female artists. I can see Doechii doing Kendrick Lamar’s part on “Bad Blood,” Sabrina Carpenter on “Call It What You Want” and Halsey on “Don’t Blame Me.” Also, how full-circle would it be to see Olivia Rodrigo on “New Year’s Day”?! Never say never…
Andrew Unterberger: Many fans might answer this question hoping for a full solo version of “End Game,” without the Future and Ed Sheeran feature appearances. I say go the other way with it: Let’s get a full-on…. well, I don’t think we could ever credibly say “posse cut” about a Taylor Swift-led song, but an extended remix with even more pop star guest verses, anyway. Maybe her Reputation Tour openers Camilla Cabello and/or Charli XCX could’ve added 16 bars? Perhaps they could’ve passed the mic to Florence Welch, a future Tortured Poets supporting player and an obvious influence on some Reputation cuts? And then for the final guest: Would a tell-’em-how-you-feel verse from Justin Timberlake, then undergoing some reputational concerns of his own, have been a great idea or a catastrophic one? Dunno, but I’d certainly be interested to find out the answer.
On a drizzly Monday (June 9) night in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! summer series kicked off with a knockout double bill of Grace Jones and Janelle Monáe that also served as an unofficial Pride Month party.
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“Grace Jones is the most original, innovative artist of our time,” Monáe said toward the end of the night, saluting the Jamaica-born musician who went from singing disco in Studio 54 to pioneering a spiky, brash blend of reggae and art rock in the ‘80s. Standing in the park after nightfall, gazing up at the inimitable Jones under the dramatic stage lights in all her imposing, undaunted glory, you’d be a fool to argue semantics with Monáe or attempt to insert a qualifier. Jones is undoubtedly one of the most wildly underappreciated living pioneers, a Black woman whose experimental and experiential art pop was decades ahead of its time. And at 77, Jones is still sowing the wildest of oats, bucking the narrative that edgy musicians need to settle into some kind of well-coiffed adult contemporary mold after crossing a certain age.
Bashing on cymbals throughout “Demolition Man,” straddling a metal gate while singing “My Jamaican Guy,” prancing around matador-style during “I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango)” and letting her tongue run amok the entire evening (“I do like to stick out my tongue; don’t make it make you crazy?” the contralto purred), Jones is as uninhibited as ever. Not to mention inscrutable. When she chugged a glass of wine and belted out “Amazing Grace,” it was hard to parse whether it was an earnest expression of faith, a cheeky brag about how wonderful she is or both.
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“Nobody’s hurt, right?” Jones asked her band and backup singers after sending a cymbal sailing across the stage. After ascertaining that everyone was fine, she hugged her singers. “You can take a beating,” she said with a wide grin. “I’ve taken a lot. And I’m still here.”
In addition to playing a new, unreleased funk song called “The Key” which found her in her characteristic sing-speak mode augmented by a vocoder or talk box effect, she delivered the lion’s share of her catalog favorites, including her full-throated, hard-hitting “Love Is the Drug.” In a shimmering bowler hat under a spotlight, Jones whipped the crowd into a sing-along fervor at the end of the Roxy Music cover, declaring, “It’s wake up the neighbors!” and urging the all-smiles audience to pump up the decibels and “wake ‘em up!” with every fresh round of whoa-ohs.
“Curfew? Who’s ever heard of a curfew?” Jones snarled as she put on a massive, seashell-esque red headpiece and began slinking around to the flirty funk guitar of “Pull Up to the Bumper” (a gay club favorite for reasons that become clear when you pay attention to the lyrics). “Bumper” stretched out into an extended jam session for her nimble band, with Monáe – who had opened the show with her own indefatigably funky brand of pop&B – joining Jones onstage. It was ostensibly a duet on the 1981 reggae-disco classic, but in practice, it was an excuse for the two to let loose: they offered up some French kicks; Jones licked the microphone while Monáe sang into it; they collapsed into each other’s arms, laughing; and one point, Monáe, on all fours, climbed through Jones’ legs, with Jones proceeding to drum on Monáe’s backside and then swivel around and ride her La Dolce Vita-style. Not long after, Monáe pantsed Jones (how often do you get to pants your music and style icon?) and then attempted, unsuccessfully, to free Jones from her slacks. “You’re a naughty, naughty girl,” Monae told Jones after the escapade, wagging her finger in cartoonish disapproval.
Jones shouted out “Brooklyn Pride!” a few times during the show, and while it wasn’t an official Brooklyn Pride event, the playful, resilient spirit of the LGBTQ community – from the audience to what was happening onstage – undoubtedly elevated the evening.
Curfew be damned: after that duet, Jones came out for an encore despite the house lights having already come up.
And what an encore. Jones crooned, cooed, barked and spat the lyrics to her Billboard Dance Club Songs No. 1 “Slave to the Rhythm” while hula-hooping for the entire classic (and she did the long version, too, introducing her band and bringing out her backstage crew during the song). When the show was finally over, the ebullient Brooklyn audience was ecstatic but fully danced out – and left with a lingering suspicion that at 77, Jones is still running circles around us all.
