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In today’s episode of Billboard Unfiltered, Billboard staffers Carl Lamarre, Angel Diaz, and special guest, Rapsody, debate who the best rapper/producer duo are. Moderated by Billboard’s Delissa Shannon, each hip-hop expert gives their hot take on Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre, Nas & Hit-Boy and more! Delisa Shannon: What is up y’all, this is Billboard […]
All of Sly & The Family Stone’s top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart return to Billboard’s rankings following the death of the group’s leader, Sly Stone, on June 9. The act logged five top 10s between 1968-1971.
On the R&B Digital Song Sales chart (dated June 21), “Everyday People” reenters at No. 2, while “Dance to the Music,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” and “Family Affair” debut at Nos. 4, 5, 7 and 10, respectively. (The chart ranks the top-selling digital songs of the R&B genre in the United States in the tracking week ending June 12, according to Luminate.)
Stone died after “a prolonged battle with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and other underlying health issues,” according to a statement from his family. Sly & The Family Stone released their first album in 1967 and charted hits through 1980, but had largely disbanded by 1975. This century, the group has expanded its chart history with multiple best-of collections on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and other surveys.
“Dance to the Music” was the group’s first top 10-charting hit on the all-genre Hot 100, peaking at No. 8 on the April 20, 1968-dated list. “Everyday People” was the act’s next top 10, and first No. 1, topping the list for four weeks beginning on Feb. 15, 1969. “Hot Fun In the Summertime” (No. 2, Oct. 18, 1969), “Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” (the A-Side of the double-sided No. 1 with “Everybody Is a Star;” it spent two weeks at the top, beginning on Feb. 14, 1970) and “Family Affair” (No. 1 for three weeks, beginning on Dec. 4, 1971).
All five of those songs also, unsurprisingly, rank among the act’s biggest Billboard hits.
In total, Sly & The Family Stone’s catalog of songs sold 10,000 downloads in the U.S. in the week ending June 12 — a surge of 1,977 % compared to the previous week. The group’s catalog of tracks was also streamed 5.78 million times — a gain of 277%. Its most-streamed song of the week was “Everyday People,” with 971,000 streams (up 94%).
In terms of album activity, the band’s catalog earned 8,000 equivalent album units in the week ending June 12 — up 389%. (Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums [TEA] and streaming equivalent albums [SEA]. Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.)
Album sales for the band totaled 3,000 for the week (up 527%).
Independent music platform Create Music Group (CMG) has formed a joint venture with Star Trak Entertainment and its co-founder Rob Walker, Billboard can exclusively report. Under the terms of the new partnership, CMG will provide worldwide distribution, technology and marketing services to Star Trak. As noted in the press release announcing the agreement, the joint […]
J. Brown’s “True Love” charts a successful course to No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay radio ranking as it rises from No. 2 to crown the list dated June 21. The song gives Brown his third champ on the chart. “True Love,” released and promoted through the independent label MoCha, wins the top spot […]
R. Kelly was reportedly hospitalized following claims of an alleged overdose while in prison. The singer is now seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump. Keep watching for the full story. Tetris Kelly: R. Kelly was reportedly hospitalized after what he is claiming was another attempt on his life inside prison. His defense attorneys are […]
R. Kelly’s lawyer says the disgraced R&B star and convicted sex offender was recently hospitalized after overdosing on anxiety and sleep medication in prison, attributing the event to a supposed jailhouse murder plot that prosecutors have dismissed as entirely made-up.
Kelly, who’s serving a 30-plus-year sentence for two federal sex crime convictions, has been petitioning a Chicago court for release since last week. Defense lawyer Beau Brindley claimed in an eyebrow-raising June 10 court filing that Bureau of Prison officials had tried to solicit another inmate to kill the singer (Robert Sylvester Kelly) to stop him from uncovering prosecutorial misconduct in his trials. Prosecutors deny that there’s any murder plot against Kelly.
Now, Brindley claims prison officials have tried another method of killing Kelly: administering the singer an overdose quantity of his medications while he was in solitary confinement last Thursday (June 12).
“In the early morning hours of June 13, 2025, Mr. Kelly awoke,” Brindley writes in a court filing from Monday (June 16). “He felt faint. He was dizzy. He started to see black spots in his vision. Mr. Kelly tried to get up, but fell to the ground. He crawled to the door of the cell and lost consciousness.”
Brindley says Kelly was taken from the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, N.C., to Duke University Hospital, where he was informed of the overdose. Kelly was hospitalized for two days to treat the overdose, according to the court filing.
To make matters worse, Brindley says, Kelly learned at the hospital that he had developed life-threatening blood clots in his lungs that required surgery. But Kelly was allegedly denied this surgery and taken back to Butner, where he was returned to solitary confinement without medical care.
“He could die from this condition, and they are letting it happen,” writes Brindley. “There is no legitimate explanation for that.”
Brindley’s court filing reiterates his request to have Kelly released to home confinement or temporary furlough, saying “his life actually depends on it.”
Prosecutors have called the allegations a “fanciful conspiracy” and “deeply unserious.” They also say the Chicago criminal court doesn’t have jurisdiction over the issue, and that it must be brought instead as a civil rights case or habeas corpus petition in North Carolina.
In response to Kelly’s latest claims about the alleged overdose and blood clot issue, prosecutors wrote late Monday, “This is the behavior of an abuser and a master manipulator on display.”
“This court should not allow Kelly to turn its docket into a grocery store checkout aisle tabloid,” prosecutors added.
Billboard reached out to Duke Hospital seeking to confirm the facts of Kelly’s hospital stay. A Duke spokesperson deferred to the Bureau of Prisons, which declined to comment on the matter.
“For privacy, safety and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any incarcerated individual, including medical and health-related issues,” said Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Scott Taylor in a statement to Billboard.
The motion to release Kelly from prison is scheduled to be heard by the Chicago judge on Friday (June 20). Meanwhile, Brindley has been publicly asking President Donald Trump to pardon Kelly.
Kelly was convicted in 2021 and 2022 at two separate federal trials, one in New York and one in Chicago, on a slew of criminal charges including racketeering, sex trafficking, child pornography and enticing minors for sex.
The former R&B star was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the New York conviction and 20 years in the Chicago case, although the vast majority of the second sentence will overlap with the first. Both convictions have been upheld on appeal.
SZA might be co-headlining one of the biggest tours of the year, but she says she still struggled with imposter syndrome leading up to its kickoff.
While answering guest interviewer Chappell Roan’s questions for an Interview Magazine cover story published Tuesday (June 17), the R&B hitmaker revealed that she used to be plagued by anxious thoughts when it came to performing. “Every time I had to go on stage, every time I had to get on a carpet, I’d have full-on panic attacks,” she began.
“I used to not show up to something because it was like, ‘I’m never going to win. No one cares that I’m here. Why would I go?’” she continued.
SZA struggled with that anxiety as recently as right before the Grand National stadium tour kicked off in April, with the singer telling Roan that she was convinced people would only attend to see her powerhouse tourmate, Kendrick Lamar. “Same thing with the Kendrick tour,” she said. “‘Everybody’s going to see Kendrick. I don’t even know if I have anything to show these people that’s exciting and new.’”
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Fast forward a few months, and both SZA and Dot have been crushing their performances across the United States in Canada. In July, the “Luther” collaborators will bring the trek to arenas and stadiums all over Europe, closing the trek with two Australian shows in August.
Fortunately, SZA shared that she’s since been able to kick her anxious thoughts to the curb through connecting with her spirituality, whether it’s consulting her astrologer or learning about the “laws of magic.”
“Now it’s just like, ‘F–k it. I don’t have anything else to do, and I want to see where this door is going to lead,’” she said of her approach to performing now. “I want to walk through the door. I want to see what happens in the uncertainty.”
The interview comes about two months into the Grand National Tour, which launched April 19 with a show in Minneapolis. SZA and Lamar most recently stopped in Hershey, Pa., for one night at Hersheypark Stadium.
Some of the most memorable moments of the trek so far have been its special guests, with Playboi Carti, Baby Keem, Justin Bieber and Doja Cat all making appearances at various stops. In May, SZA was joined on stage by longtime bestie Lizzo, and the pair performed their remix of the latter’s “Special.”
Also in the Interview piece, SZA opened up about her friendship with the Yitty founder. “We’ve been friends since, like, 2013, but it was very organic and very random,” she explained to Roan. “One day we were on the same tour, and I was like, ‘We’re about to drive out to Lake Michigan, do you want to come?’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’ And then we just got drunk and hung out, and we kept doing that, and then our lives and careers progressed, and we kept talking and hanging out.”
Chrisette Michele revealed she’s been diagnosed with autism. The 42-year-old singer opened up about her diagnosis in a post to social media on Sunday (June 15).
“I just learned I’m autistic. Official diagnosis. They used the word ‘severely,’” Michele wrote. “I’ve been quiet on here. But… I’ve been outside. Singing. … but learning to strip the mask. One show at a time. (The irony) Just… coming to grips with a lot and giving myself room to take it all in.”
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The R&B singer continued to say that the “challenges” she’s faced in life “finally make sense.” “My life and its challenges finally make sense,” Michele added. “So so much sense. Autistic. Would you get a load of that… I’ll talk more soon. Just wanted to say hi… from stage side.”
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Fans chimed in with messages of love and support for Michele. “Neurodivergent babes unite,” one person wrote. “There’s so much freedom in knowing and it’s truly like unlocking a whole nother level of understanding in yourself.. give yourself grace and love as you unmask, wishing you the best babe!”
Another added: “As a fellow neurodivedgent who was diagnosed last November, the grief and then immediate liberation from realizing I’ve been living for the comfort of others to mask knowing something was different inside. Whewwww, the shedding of the mask felt immediate. We are free.”
Michele performed in Atlanta on Sunday night (June 15) as an opener for Anthony Hamilton. These days, she’s also hosting her eponymous podcast. Her last album arrived with 2018’s Out of Control, which came a year after she faced backlash for performing at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“The first thing I thought was that I have an opportunity to get in front of these people who don’t seem to understand who they’re talking to and show them what we look like,” she told Billboard when defending her decision in 2017.
“I felt automatically committed to making sure that I stood up for the women who’ve felt disrespected and the minorities who felt disrespected, communities that felt that they weren’t being heard or understood,” Michele stated. “I thought that it was almost my responsibility to not just say yes but to say yes with purpose, so that was my reasoning. And no, I didn’t think twice about it.”
What a difference 10 years can make. That was the last time Billboard tackled the monumental feat of ranking the top R&B artists, dating back to the ‘50s. Michael Jackson, whose grew from his R&B roots to capture the King of Pop crown, ruled over that 2015 tally. Now as the music industry and fans celebrate Black Music Month 2025, Billboard is picking up the “best of all time” gauntlet once again.
Expanding from 35 to 75 entries and substituting artists with singers, this latest iteration begins its rollout with today’s (June 16) reveal of the singers ranked 75-51. The unveiling will continue over the next several days — Nos. 50-26 followed by Nos. 26-11 — with the curtain raising on Juneteenth (June 19) to reveal the top 10 honorees.
Staff discussions on how to go about determining the entries and rankings were, to say the least, heated. Helping to fuel these illuminating and sometimes raucous discourses were generational debates over old school vs. new school. At the same time, “Mount Rushmore” debates were also raging on the social media front as fans weighed in on which R&B artists — like Jackson, Chris Brown, Luther Vandross, R. Kelly and Usher — truly deserve to have their images carved in stone for all time.
In the end, Billboard staffers agreed on the following criteria: vocal prowess, body of work, career longevity, industry achievements, game-changing influence and enduring generational/cultural impact. While some singers who made the list are also known for their lyrical skills, songwriting wasn’t a major deciding factor in this instance. And legendary singers best known for fronting groups versus their solo work were not included — which means a ranking of the best R&B groups of all time is no doubt in the offing.
In the meantime, any best-of compilation automatically invites naysayers to the party. As these 75 singers are revealed, the expectant clamor will rise in response to our staff’s effrontery in deciding who’s now on or off the list, who’s risen or been dropped or who still has never made this latest version or the 2015 ranking.
More crucial, however, is understanding a chief intention behind Billboard’s 75 Best R&B Singers of All Time. It’s a teachable moment at a time when Black history, culture and its achievements are being erased or revised across the board. Black Music Month originated in 1979 via the efforts of the observance’s co-founders Dyana Williams, Kenneth Gamble and Ed Wright. And each year it drives home an insightful comment made by author/activist Maya Angelou: “You can’t know where you are going until you know where you have been.”
So here’s to the rich past and the unlimited future of the multifaceted jewel that is R&B.
75. Ruth Brown
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Mariah Carey achieves her landmark 50th career hit on the Billboard Hot 100, as her new single, “Type Dangerous,” debuts at No. 95 on the chart dated June 21, 2025.
Released June 6, the song starts with 2.5 million official streams, 14.7 million in radio airplay audience and 5,000 sold in the United States in the week ending June 12, according to data tracker Luminate.
Boosting its profile, Carey performed “Type Dangerous” on the 2025 BET Awards on June 9, when she was also honored with the Ultimate Icon Award.
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The track, which Carey co-wrote and co-produced, previews her 16th studio album, her first since Caution in 2018. The song’s official video premiered Saturday (June 14).
Carey debuts her first new title on the Hot 100 since “Oh Santa!,” featuring Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, spent a week on the chart dated Dec. 19, 2020. “Type Dangerous” is her first nonseasonal song to reach the ranking since “I Don’t,” featuring YG, logged a week on the list dated Feb. 25, 2017. “Type Dangerous” is her first non-holiday entry without any billed artists since “Infinity,” on the May 16, 2015, chart.
Beginning in December 2019, through this past holiday season, Carey has decorated the top of the Hot 100 for 18 weeks with her evergreen (and red) 1994 classic, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The carol became her 19th No. 1 – the most among soloists and second overall only to the Beatles’ 20.
(Carey is also heard on two Hot 100 top 10s in recent years that don’t contribute to her chart history: Drake’s “Emotionless,” which hit No. 8 in July 2018, samples her 1991 leader “Emotions,” while Carey joined for a remix of Latto’s “Big Energy,” which nods to Carey’s 1995 Hot 100-topper “Fantasy” and reached No. 3 in April 2022.)
Carey made her Hot 100 debut with “Vision of Love” on the chart dated June 2, 1990. It became her first leader that August.
Beyond the Hot 100, “Type Dangerous,” Carey’s first single on gamma., as well as on an independent label (and the latest on her MARIAH imprint), begins at No. 4 on the Digital Song Sales chart, marking her 10th top 10.
On the all-format Radio Songs chart, “Type Dangerous” debuts at No. 47. It’s her first new song to make the survey since the Miguel-featuring “#Beautiful,” which hit No. 17 in June 2013. “Type Dangerous” opens on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay at No. 7, Adult R&B Airplay at No. 15, Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay at No. 24, Adult Pop Airplay at No. 30, Rhythmic Airplay at No. 31 and Pop Airplay at No. 38. On R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, the single scores the highest entrance for a song in nearly 30 years, since Whitney Houston’s “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” started at No. 6 in November 1995.
“Type Dangerous” concurrently soars in at No. 7 on Hot R&B Songs and No. 24 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, which use the same multimetric methodology as the Hot 100.
All charts dated June 21 will update tomorrow, June 17, on Billboard.com.
