genre rock
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Semisonic‘s biggest hit may have been used in a recent White House video glorifying the deportation of undocumented immigrants, but that doesn’t mean the band approved of it.
After the Donald Trump administration shared a brief clip Monday (March 17) on X depicting Border Patrol agents putting handcuffed men on a plane to the tune of 1998’s “Closing Time,” Semisonic was quick to slam the song’s use in a statement to Rolling Stone. “We did not authorize or condone the White House’s use of our song in any way,” the Minneapolis rock group began.
“And no, they didn’t ask,” Semisonic continued. “The song is about joy and possibilities and hope, and they have missed the point entirely.”
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Billboard has reached out to the White House for comment.
Released as a single from Semisonic’s album Feeling Strangely Fine, “Closing Time” remains Semisonic’s best-known hit. The track topped the Alternative Airplay chart for five weeks and reached No. 8 on Pop Airplay.
The song’s lyrics find frontman Dan Wilson — who has gone on to co-write songs for hitmakers like Adele (“Someone Like You”), Taylor Swift (“Treacherous”) and Chris Stapleton (“White Horse”), among others — singing about patrons exiting a bar that’s closing for the night. “Closing time, you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here,” he belts on the rock tune. “I know who I want to take me home.”
In the White House’s video, however, the lyrics are reinterpreted in the context of border agents patting down two handcuffed men of color before sending them onto a plane for deportation. Anti-immigration policies have been central to the president’s administration, with Trump emphasizing strict deportation measures — which many who oppose his views have deemed extreme — as part of his “Make America Safe Again” platform.
Semisonic is far from the first act to call out Trump’s unauthorized use of their music in official content, an issue that was particularly flagrant during his presidential runs in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Last year alone, Beyoncé, Celine Dion, Foo Fighters, Isaac Hayes, the White Stripes and more artists distanced themselves from the politician as his campaign used their songs without permission, with some even taking legal action against him.
After Flogging Molly canceled their 2025 tour itinerary, frontman Dave King’s wife and bandmate, Bridget Regan, took to social media to give an update on the Irish-born singer’s ongoing health condition now that they are “safely out of the woods.”
In the statement posted to the band’s Instagram page, Regan wrote that on Jan. 24, “Dave suffered a brain hemorrhage and underwent two subsequent surgeries to save his life. He then spent two weeks in a coma, followed by varying stages of treatment and recovery. On February 28th he underwent yet another surgery and I now feel confident we are on the other side of this.”
Before thanking the doctors for “saving my husband’s life,” Regan wrote, “He is now entering into the next phase of his recovery and wants nothing more than to play music again. The road ahead is uncertain but we, as ever, will roll with the punches and hope to see you all in the near future.”
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Regan concluded her statement by writing, “Please look after each other and tell your people you love them. Life can change in an instant.”
Read the full statement here.
Last month, Flogging Molly announced the cancellation of all their 2025 tour dates, revealing that King was “battling a very serious health condition,” though the group didn’t specify the condition at the time. The band was scheduled their own Salty Dog Cruise, which was set to launch on Feb. 17 as a five-night trip from Port of Miami to Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
Flogging Molly’s 2025 tour itinerary was also expected to kick off at the end of February following their cruise, with dates in the U.S. scheduled across February and March, and shows throughout Europe and Canada planned across the summer.
The Celtic punk band released their first album in 2000, with 2008’s Float becoming their most successful to date – peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. The most recent studio album, Anthem, was released in 2022.
Veteran rockers Collective Soul and Live announced the dates for their co-headlining Summer Unity 2025 U.S. amphitheater tour on Monday (March 17). The 30-date Live Nation-produced outing is slated to kick off on July 8 with a show at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, WA and hit outdoor venues in California, Missouri, Michigan, New York, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Colorado and North Carolina before winding down on August 29 at the Hollywood Casino at Penn Race Course in Grantville, PA.
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In a dramatic three-minute video announcing the tour Collective Soul singer Ed Roland sets up for an acoustic set at a bar in St. Catharines, Ontario on one side of the screen while Live singer Ed Kowalczyk tunes his guitar on the other side in a New York pub. As the tock clicks, Kowalczyk breaks into his band’s iconic hit “I Alone,” while Roland strums out his group’s signature song, “Shine.”
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The performances are so intense they begin to make beer pints shudder as Kowalczyk zeroes in on a golden leprechaun throwing up the metal hand sign before the little guy explodes and lands both men in a black void. “Either I’ve reached enlightenment or I’m having a stroke,” Roland says to Kowalczyk when he wonders how they ended up in the blank space.
“Are we… dead?” Kowlaczyk asks. “No, you crazy cat. I think we’re in a cool Irish pub,” Roland responds in the video timed with Monday’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration. “You ever feel like we’re the same person, but stretched across two different versions of reality?” Roland asks. “Like we were once one singular Ed, but something, an event, a cosmic schism split us into two?”
They don’t agree on the vagaries of the universe, but the two old friends are totally simpatico about hitting the road again together, and enjoying the weird smell of tour buses and the allure of that sweet, sweet arena show catering.
“+LIVE+ is thrilled to be joining forces with the amazing Collective Soul! The great vibes between our two bands on and offstage is something we have both enjoyed for years, and here we come in 2025! This will be a very special night of music for all of the fans; I know everyone is gonna get rocked and uplifted right along with us…come on out!,” said Kowalczyk in a statement.
Roland added, “It was August 1994, and we, Collective Soul, were on our way to Woodstock. As our van pulled up to the grounds, another one pulled up beside us and out jumped the band +LIVE+. We became immediate friends, exchanging guitar picks with each other as soon as we met. Since that day, the Ed and Ed show has been nothing but pure, genuine friendship, and rock and roll. We’re excited that 31 years later, we still not only enjoy each other’s company, but enjoy playing music. It’s going to be a fun summer sharing it with fans, friends and +LIVE+.”
Joining the bands on the tour — their first together since a 2008 co-headlining run — will be Our Lady Peace and Greylin James Rue. Tickets will be available starting with an artist presale kicking off on Tuesday (March 18) at 10 a.m. local time, followed by additional presales throughout the week ahead of a general onsale starting on Friday (March 21) at 10 a.m. local time here.
Watch the Summer Unity Tour promo video and see the tour dates below.
Summer Unity 2025 tour dates
July 8 – Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
July 9 – Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater
July 11 – Wheatland, CA @ Toyota Amphitheatre
July 13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
July 16 – Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
July 17 – St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
July 20 – Huber Heights, OH @ Rose Music Center*
July 22 – Sterling Heights, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
July 26 – Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater
July 27 – Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
July 30 – Bangor, ME @ Maine Savings Amphitheater
July 31 – Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
August 2 – Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
August 3 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
August 5 – Greensboro, NC @ White Oak Amphitheatre
August 6 – Charleston, SC @ Credit One Stadium
August 8 – Jacksonville, FL @ Daily’s Place
August 9 – Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
August 10 – Nashville, TN @ FirstBank Amphitheater
August 13 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
August 15 – Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
August 16 – Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater
August 18 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
August 19 – Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater*
August 21 – Lincoln, NE @ Pinewood Bowl Theater*
August 22 – Ridgedale, MO @ Thunder Ridge Nature Arena
August 23 – Albertville, AL @ Sand Mountain Amphitheater*
August 26 – Simpsonville, SC @ CCNB Amphitheatre
August 28 – Charlotte, NC @ Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre
August 29 – Grantville, PA @ Hollywood Casino at Penn Race Course*
*Non-Live Nation Date
When Dermot Kennedy named his global music festival MISNEACH – meaning “courage” in Gaelic – he did so because he knew, like any first-time endeavor, it could fail. And yet, his mission of celebrating and amplifying Irish music and culture proved stronger than any fear of failure.
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“We’re so proud of our little country and how our artists continue to punch above their weight globally,” he says. “And so on St. Patrick’s Day I wanted to bring together some of Ireland’s best artists and bands to perform for massive crowds in Sydney and Boston, two cities with huge Irish communities.”
On March 16, fans in Sydney, Australia got to see Kennedy’s vision come to life as the first of the “twin festivals” took place. And on March 18 and 19, fans in Boston will get their turn. Kennedy will headline each lineup, alongside talent he curated in partnership with Ireland Music Week including Irish artists and acts such as The Frames, The Swell Season, Matt Corby and Meg Mac. (Kennedy shares that while he was “honored” that Hozier and Snow Patrol responded to his request “in a really positive way,” scheduling didn’t work out this year to book either act.)
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“Because we’re so proud of our rich musical history, we always talk about Irish artists like Sinéad O’Connor, Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy, and the impact they’ve had on music history,” says Kennedy. “And if we want that to continue for generations to come, we need moments like this where we come together and celebrate amazing Irish talent.”
Kennedy’s manager, TaP’s Ed Millett, says the idea for a festival like this started about 3-4 years ago and evolved organically over time. “Around the Sonder campaign [Kennedy’s 2022 second album], we were focused on activations that involved Dermot wanting to interact with fans and reflect back their stories and experiences,” recalls Millett. “We started discussing different ways we could tell his story and also shine a light on Ireland and all the amazing talent coming out of there. St. Patrick’s Day was the perfect opportunity to do this – but how?”Their first step was to discuss the idea with Kennedy’s agents in the U.S. and Australia, along with his promoter in the U.S. “We are always looking for ways for an artist to build out their ideas and identities and the more we talked, the more it turned out there had been an interest in doing this kind of thing for a while,” says Millett. He and Kennedy took two years to refine the concept, deciding along the way to own the festival themselves to ensure its identity would remain as authentic as possible.
“By retaining ownership and controlling the festival end-to-end, this has allowed us to market smartly and direct-to-fan,” says Millett. “Not just [with] tickets, but also issuing fan passes for on-site merchandise discounts, and connecting it with [Kennedy’s] new music coming out at the same time.”
Kennedy’s latest single, “Let Me In,” arrived just before his headlining gigs. He wrote the song in Nashville last summer and says it’s the first of much more new material to come. “2024 was a very productive year for me in terms of making music,” he says. “I’m just so happy with how everything’s feeling and with the sound and the sentiment of all that’s coming.”
Millett is excited about the future, too — and is especially hopeful that MISNEACH will become an “annual fixture” in cities worldwide with a large Irish diaspora. “But,” he says, “the focus right now is getting this year right. Dermot has big ambitions not just to support Irish and diaspora talent, but give back to Ireland and the local community. A festival should do all these things – and we are excited to learn and grow this for years to come.”
Journey fans were bummed when their favorite band had to hot-foot it off the stage on Friday (March 14) just five songs into their set at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at NRG Stadium. In fan video of the incident, singer Arnel Pineda was just reaching the second verse of the group’s iconic 1981 […]
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Fans from all around the world can to tune-in to the Dropkick Murphys’ annual St. Patrick’s Day concert slated for Monday (March 17).
The concert event livestreams from Citizens House of Blues in Boston at 9 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET on Veeps.
Read on for details on how to stream on Veeps.
How to Watch Dropkick Murphys’ St. Patrick’s Day Concert
Veeps subscribers can stream Dropkick Murphys for $24.99. If you’re not subscribed, you can sign up for at $5.99 per month, or $60 per year. Veeps has a free subscription tier, while you can still purchase access to the livestream feed for the St. Patrick’s Day concert with a free subscription.
Owned by Live Nation Entertainment, Veeps All Access features hundreds of livestream concerts, a catalog of past shows, exclusive bonus interviews, discounts and other benefits. Learn more about Veeps All Access on the Veeps website.
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Courtesy of Veeps
Dropkick Murphys: St. Patrick’s Day Concert
March 17 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
Want to attend the Dropkick Murphys concert in person? There are still last-minute tickets available via Vivid Seats (get $20 off purchases of $200 and over with code BB30), StubHub and GameTime (score $20 off ticket orders of $150 and over with code SAVE20). Prices vary depending on the city and seats available.
Moreover, you can save $150 off when you spend $500 with promo code BILLBOARD150, or $300 off when you spend $1,000 with promo code BILLBOARD300 at TicketNetwork.com.
Meanwhile, those who want to watch internationally can access different the streaming service with a VPN, such as ExpressVPN or NordVPN.
The Dropkick Murphys: St. Patrick’s Day Concert livestreams from Citizens House of Blues in Boston with a start time of 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. You can watch the entire event live for $24.99 on Veeps All Access.
Want more? For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.
Fans of Sadie Sink may know her best as Max Mayfield on Netflix’s Stranger Things or as the female lead in Taylor Swift’s All Too Well: The Short Film, but they will see a completely different side of her as the titular character in O’Dessa, a dystopian rock opera penned by PattiCake$ director Geremy Jasper.
The Searchlight Pictures film, which also stars Regina Hall, Murray Bartlett and Kelvin Harrison Jr., premiered at SXSW on March 8 and is available on Hulu starting Thursday (March 20).
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Jasper’s plot was ambitious in its breadth. “The original inspiration for the film was a sci-fi musical retelling of the Orpheus myth set in a world that combined the Dust Bowl of the ‘30s with a retro, futuristic, psychedelic sci-fi world,” he says.
In the featurette below, premiering exclusively on Billboard, Sink is a traveling troubadour in a wasteland communicating with her music, but runs afoul of a charismatic dictator, Plutonovich, played by Bartlett. Sink, Jasper and the other main actors also talk about the music in the film in the clip.
It was Sink’s performance in 2022’s The Whale that convinced Jasper to cast her. “Like the rest of the world I knew Sadie as Max, but when I saw her in The Whale, I was knocked out and convinced she could carry this film. Boy, did she,” he says.
Jasper, who has helmed such music videos as Selena Gomez & The Scene’s “Love You Like a Love Song” and Florence + the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over” (2010 version) also directed the film and co-wrote the songs.
Coming from the world of music videos, Jasper says there was a learning curve when he segued into feature films. “The major skill I learned from making Patti was working with actors, which I had very little experience with,” he says. “It’s become my favorite part of the filmmaking process.”
The movie is billed as a rock opera, which Jasper defines as “the fuzzier, looser, dirtier cousin to the normal musical.” Previous rock operas through the decades left their mark on him. “My favorite is Diamond Dogs by David Bowie. He was trying to make that concept album a stage show and was obsessed with doing a film version. O’dessa is extremely influenced by it,” he says. “Also, The Wall by Pink Floyd and Jesus Christ Superstar are all-time classics.”
The cast album for O’Dessa is out now on Hollywood Records. “I couldn’t be more excited for people to hear Sadie sing these songs,” says Jasper.
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ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard will be absent from the group’s upcoming tour plans, citing a “health issue” as the reason for his newly-announced leave of absence.
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The Texas trio announced the news on Saturday (March 15), explaining that Beard would be absent from the group’s current Elevation tour due to the need to undergo an unspecified health procedure.
“Shelter Music Group, ZZ Top’s management, has announced the band’s drummer, Mr. Frank Beard, has temporarily stepped away from the current tour to attend a health issue requiring his focus in the near term,” a social media post from the band read.
“Beard, along with fellow ZZ Top members Billy F Gibbons and Elwood Francis, presently on the Elevation tour since March 5, have engaged fellow Texan and longtime tech member, percussionist and drummer, John Douglas, for the interim.”
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The post noted that Douglas has “maintained a close relationship with Beard and the bandmates,” and had even sat in for Beard during a Paris performance in October 2002 when he underwent an emergency appendectomy.
“He is looking forward to a speedy recovery,” the post concluded.
ZZ Top launched their Elevation tour in October 2024, and toured throughout the U.S. until November. The trek resumed on March 5, and will see the group performing across the country until April, when they visit Australia and New Zealand. Further North American dates will be held upon their return, though it’s currently unknown when Beard will resume his place behind the kit.
Beard has been the drummer of ZZ Top since 1969, when he took over from co-founder Dan Mitchell. Alongside vocalist and guitarist Billy Gibbons, Mitchell and bassist Lanier Greig had founded the band that same year.
Following Grieg’s replacement by Billy Ethridge, Dusty Hill assumed the role of bassist in 1970, with their lineup remaining unchanged for 51 years until Hill’s death at 72 in 2021. Elwood Francis has since served as the group’s bassist.
The group have not released a studio album since 2012’s La Futura, though Gibbons has claimed a new record featuring contributions from the late Hill is in the works.
Taking inspiration from The Cure’s Robert Smith, Neil Young has informed fans that he will no longer be offering ‘Platinum’ tickets to his upcoming shows.
Young’s change in ticketing attitudes follows on from an interview Smith conducted with The Times in October 2024. The interview occurred just weeks after Oasis had put the controversial topic of dynamic ticket pricing into the headlines, and Smith had attempted to keep tickets as low as possible – often as low as $20 – for their U.S. tour dates.
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“I was shocked by how much profit is made [by ticketing],” Smith said. “I thought, ‘We don’t need to make all this money.’ My fights with the label have all been about how we can price things lower. The only reason you’d charge more for a gig is if you were worried that it was the last time you would be able to sell a T-shirt.”
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“It was easy to set ticket prices, but you need to be pig-headed,” he added. “We didn’t allow dynamic pricing because it’s a scam that would disappear if every artist said, ‘I don’t want that!’ But most artists hide behind management. ‘Oh, we didn’t know,’ they say. They all know. If they say they do not, they’re either f–king stupid or lying. It’s just driven by greed.”
Now, Young has taken to his own Neil Young Archives website to point to Smith’s 2024 comments, explaining how the conversation inspired him to make his own changes in terms of ticketing to his shows.
“It’s the story of the bad thing that has happened to concerts world-wide. It’s this story that really helped me to realize that I have a choice to make and can make a difference for my music loving friends,” Young explained. “My management and agent have always tried to cover my back on the road, getting me the best deals they could.
“They have tried to protect me and my fans from the scalpers who buy the best tickets and resell them at huge increases for their own profits. Ticketmaster’s High priced Platinum tickets were introduced to the areas where scalpers were buying the most tickets for resale. The money went to me. That did not feel right.”
As Young concluded, he alerted his fans to the fact that ‘Platinum’ tickets will no longer be available for his upcoming performances in the near future.
“I have decided to let the people work this out,” Young added. “Buy aggressively when the tickets come out or tickets will cost a lot more in a secondary market.”
Young’s upcoming tour will see him accompanied on all shows by the Chrome Hearts band, featuring his longtime collaborator keyboardist/organist Spooner Oldham, as well as Promise of the Real members Micah Nelson (guitar/vocals), Corey McCormick (bass) and Anthony LoGerfo (drums). The group released the grungy anthem “Big Change” in January. Young debuted the Chrome Hearts band last year and has said an album from the group is tentatively slated for release in April.
Papa Roach extends its career-best streak of No. 1s on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, lifting a place to No. 1 on the March 22-dated survey with “Even If It Kills Me.”
The track is the band’s fourth No. 1 in a row and 11th overall. The group’s streak dates to the one-week reign of “No Apologies” in 2022, followed by triumphs for “Cut the Line” in 2023 and “Leave a Light On” in 2024.
The Jacoby Shaddix-led band takes over sole possession of the 10th-most No. 1s in the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart’s 44-year history. The act first reached the chart with the No. 4-peaking “Last Resort” in 2000 and first led with “Lifeline” in 2009.
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Most No. 1s, Mainstream Rock Airplay:20, Shinedown18, Three Days Grace15, Five Finger Death Punch14, Foo Fighters14, Metallica13, Godsmack13, Van Halen12, Disturbed12, Linkin Park11, Papa Roach
Concurrently, “Even If It Kills Me” holds at its No. 4 high on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 3.6 million audience impressions, up 7%, in the week ending March 13, according to Luminate. It’s tied for the band’s best placement on the ranking (which began in 2009), alongside “Kill the Noise” (2021) and “No Apologies.” The song is also bubbling under Alternative Airplay, where the band boasts 20 career entries, including the No. 1 “Last Resort.”
On the most recently published, multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart (dated March 8, reflecting data Feb. 28-March 6), “Even If It Kills Me” ranked at No. 7, after hitting No. 4 in February. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 634,000 official U.S. streams in that span.
“Even If It Kills Me” is currently a standalone single. The band’s most recent album, Ego Trip, debuted at its No. 6 peak on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart in April 2022 and has earned 180,000 equivalent album units to date.
All Billboard charts dated March 22 will update on Tuesday, March 18, on Billboard.com.