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Sam Fender has shared that he once turned down the opportunity to perform alongside Joni Mitchell.
In a new interview at Coachella with radio station KROQ, the North Shields songwriter revealed that he was once offered the chance to perform with the seminal folk artist as part of her “Joni Jams” series, but turned down the slot down due to nerves.
Fender went on to explain that Mitchell — who has a long history of hosting jam sessions in her living room with musicians — invited him to perform at her home in California. “Can I tell you something mental? I got offered to go to a ‘Joni Jam.’ You know how people were going to Joni’s house, and I didn’t go,” he told KROQ.
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“Honestly, it was nerves. I was like, ‘There’s no way I can sit next to Joni Mitchell and be like do you want to listen to this?’” he added. “I was like, ‘Does she even want these people around?’ Obviously, she did, but yeah, I got offered the chance to go, and I bottled it. I completely bottled it. It’s one of my great regrets, it really plays on my mind.”
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The Joni Jams began as an intimate performance series after Mitchell suffered a stroke in 2015. Organized by fellow singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile, close friends and collaborators would play her music for Mitchell as she recovered, with everyone from Elton John, to Paul McCartney, Harry Styles and others rumored to have been involved over the years.
The sessions later expanded to include public performances. In 2023, the 27,000-capacity Gorge Amphitheater in Quincy, Washington, played host to a Jam featuring appearances from Mitchell and Carlile, plus a star-studded guest list including Marcus Mumford, Annie Lennox, Allison Russell, Sarah McLachlan and Lucius.
At the time, it had been 20 years since the “Blue” singer had performed live due to several health issues that plagued the 81-year-old icon, leading to her staying out of the public eye for nearly two decades.
Mitchell made headlines again earlier this year when she took to the stage as part of the LA FireAid charitybenefit show. She was joined by Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Lucius, Taylor MacKall, Blake Mills and Abe Rounds, following a moving set at the 2024 Grammy Awards ceremony.
Fender, meanwhile, has enjoyed a banner year. The singer and guitarist shared his third LP, People Watching, in February, which Billboard U.K. described as “as a grand, emotional record which has the potential to become an instant British classic.”
According to data from the Official Charts Company, the record landed the biggest U.K. opening week for a British solo act since Harry Styles‘ Harry’s House in 2022. It also marked Fender’s biggest-ever opening week, selling more units than his 2019 debut Hypersonic Missiles and 2021’s Mercury Prize-nominated Seventeen Going Under combined.
In recent months, Fender has gone on to win a BRIT award for alternative/rock act, and has taken People Watching on tour across Europe and the U.S., including his debut appearance at Coachella over the weekend (Apr. 12).
This summer, he will perform a string of headline stadium shows in the U.K., with dates in London and Newcastle. £1 from every ticket sold on the run will be donated to select cultural organizations such as Youth Music and Sunday for Sammy to support the arts in the North East of England.
Check out the KROQ interview below.
Weezer have used their last-minute appearance at Coachella to reveal to fans that the band are currently working on a movie.
The Los Angeles rockers were added to the Saturday (April 12) lineup of the festival’s first weekend, joining the bill following cancellations from FKA Twigs and Anitta due to “ongoing visa issues” and “unexpected personal reasons,” respectively. Ed Sheeran was also added to the festival, though he will appear on the second weekend, performing on Saturday afternoon (April 19).
Appearing just days after the wife of bassist Scott Shriner sustained non-life-threatening injuries during a bizarre run-in with Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers that ended in a dramatic shootout, the group’s 12-song set featured no material released past 2008. However, just before performing 1994’s “Undone – The Sweater Song,” frontman Rivers Cuomo revealed the band have been active in the world of film lately.
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“We’ve been busy making the Weezer movie back in LA the last couple weeks,” Cuomo told the crowd. “But when Coachella called us up, said, ‘Hey Weezer, could you guys make it out for a surprise appearance?,’ we’re like, ‘Heck yeah!’ It feels so good to be here with you guys and let out these emotions.”
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According to further information shared by fans online, members of the Weezer fan club had received correspondence alerting them that the band would be “doing a private filmed merchandise signing for a select few fans, for a TBA video.” Additionally, it was noted that “selected participants will need to sign a release and NDA prior to arriving,” with a shoot date of April 21 being mentioned.
Elsewhere, fans on X (formerly Twitter) had also shared a photo of a “Notice of Filming” that had appeared in Los Angeles for a scripted feature film. The film, which listed a title of Weezer: Security Threat, also named Watch Me Unravel LLC as the production company (which adopted its moniker from a lyric in “Undone – The Sweater Song”), and alerted those in attendance that that the three day shoot from April 7-9 would feature “simulated bullet effects,” “atmospheric smoke,” and more.
While few details have been officially released by Weezer, it makes them the third Californian band to be the focus of an off-kilter film project in recent years. While Stockton’s Pavement are set to be the focus of the genre-defying Pavements from director Alex Ross Perry, Rodeo trio Green Day are in the process of filming New Years Rev, which is inspired by the group and their years of living in a tour van.
Elton John and Brandi Carlile’s first collaborative album, Who Believes in Angels?, debuts at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart dated April 19, marking the 22nd top 10 for John and fourth for Carlile.
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John earned his first Billboard 200 top 10 more than 54 years ago, with his self-titled album on the Jan. 30, 1971-dated chart. A living soloist last logged a longer top 10 span on the Oct. 16, 2021-dated survey, when Tony Bennett’s Love for Sale, with Lady Gaga, debuted at No. 8. It gave the then-95-year-old Bennett a 59-year top 10 stretch, dating to I Left My Heart in San Francisco in October 1962.
As for Carlile, she notched her first top 10 on the Billboard 200 in 2012 with Bear Creek, which debuted and peaked at No. 10 on the June 23, 2012-dated list.
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Who Believes in Angels? earned 40,000 equivalent album units in the United States in its opening week (April 4-10), according to Luminate. The album’s sales (36,500) were bolstered by its availability across seven vinyl and five CD variants, including signed versions.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. 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. The new April 19, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 15.
The new album also takes a bow atop both the Top Rock Albums and Top Rock & Alternative Albums charts, while also opening in the top 10 on Top Album Sales (No. 2), Indie Store Album Sales (No. 2) and Vinyl Albums (No. 3).
John and Carlile ushered in the release of the album with a flurry of media appearances, including CBS News Sunday Morning (CBS, March 30), The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (April 3), Saturday Night Live (NBC, April 5) and the concert special An Evening With Elton John and Brandi Carlile (CBS and Paramount+, April 6), along with interviews with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, NPR and SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, among other outlets.
Meanwhile, the album’s title track extended John’s record for the most top 10s (43) in the history of the Adult Contemporary chart, where it rises to a new No. 9 high on the chart dated April 19.
“Nobody wants another Elton John album like the other 35 [I’ve made],” John recently told Billboard. “This one had to have energy, and it had to have a statement saying: ‘Listen, I’m nearly 78 and I’m gonna be really sounding powerful.’” Said Carlile, “I don’t think it’ll ever really catch up to how incredibly life-affirming this has been for me.”
54 Years of Top 10 Albums: John earned his first Billboard 200 top 10 a little over 54 years ago, when his self-titled album climbed 11-7 on the Jan. 30, 1971-dated chart; it peaked at No. 4 a week later (Feb. 6, 1971). Breaking down John’s 22 top 10s by decade: 13 in the 1970s, two in the 1990s, one in the 2000s, four in the 2010s and two in the 2020s. Who Believes in Angels? is John’s second album with shared artist billing to reach the top 10, following The Union, with Leon Russell, which reached No. 3 in 2010.
John continues to be among elite company of acts with at least 20 top 10-charting albums on the Billboard 200, from March 24, 1956, when the list began publishing on a regular, weekly basis, through the new, April 19, 2025-dated chart. Here’s an updated leaderboard:
Most Billboard 200 Top 10s:38, The Rolling Stones34, Barbra Streisand33, Frank Sinatra32, The Beatles27, Elvis Presley23, Bob Dylan23, Madonna22, Elton John22, Bruce Springsteen21, Paul McCartney/Wings21, George Strait20, Prince
Notably, the Kidz Bop Kids music brand has collected 24 top 10s, in 2005-16, with its series of kid-friendly covers of hit singles. The franchise’s early albums were performed mostly by anonymous studio singers, although later releases focused on branding named talent.
Stevie Nicks has no plans to stand back idly this summer and fall, with the rock legend announcing that she’s getting back on the road with a run of solo tour dates Monday (April 14). Interspersed between Nicks’ previously announced joint performances with Billy Joel, the solo run will begin Aug. 12 with a show […]
Shirley Manson is pushing back against media commentary about her appearance, calling out what she describes as “weaponised” language used to diminish women in music as they age. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news On Saturday (April 13), the Garbage frontwoman took to Instagram to share a […]
Rob Hirst, the drummer of Australian rock veterans Midnight Oil, has revealed he is currently battling pancreatic cancer.
69-year-old Hirst, who co-founded the Sydney rock outfit in the ‘70s, revealed his diagnosis publicly in an interview with The Australian, explaining that he has been living with the disease for two years. Hirst noted he had received confirmation of his condition about six months after Midnight Oil wrapped up the Australian leg of their farewell tour in October 2023, and he’s been receiving constant medical assistance since.
“So it’s ongoing,” Hirst told the publication. “I’ve had pretty much every treatment known to man – every scan, ultrasound, MRI. I’ve kind of had ‘the works.’”
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Hirst explained that he was diagnosed “early,” with his tumor being caught while at stage three. Upon learning of his condition, Hirst embarked upon months of chemotherapy before an unsuccessful eight-hour “Whipple” surgery to attempt the removal of the tumor. He has since continued with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
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Though initially keeping his diagnosis a secret, Hirst has since gone public to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer, noting that it “hasn’t really attracted the attention, for example, of skin cancers or breast cancers or others.” According to data from Cancer Australia, the average survival rate of individuals between 2016 and 2020 was 13%, with men given a chance of 12%.
“Coming up to two years, I thought I just need to get this, literally, off my chest,” Hirst explained. “Also, I think that the lesson for me – and maybe why I’ve lasted this long – is because, if you do have any of that kind of symptom, where there’s something that you feel is wrong, just go and get a simple blood test. It could be life-changing, and life-extending.”
Midnight Oil first formed in Sydney in 1972 as Farm, before adopting their later moniker in 1976. The group initially released eleven albums before splitting in 2002, with their breakthrough coming in 1982 with 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, which hit No. 3 in Australia.
Their following three albums – 1984’s Red Sails in the Sunset, 1987’s Diesel and Dust, and 1990’s Blue Sky Mining – all topped the Australian charts, while the latter gave them a peak of No. 20 on the Billboard 200. Their 1987 single “Beds Are Burning” is often considered a landmark of Australian music, with its message of Indigenous land rights also resonating internationally and peaking at No. 17 on the Hot 100.
While the band would be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006, they would reform a decade later in 2016, and following a global reunion tour, they issued The Makarrata Project in 2020 and Resist in 2022. While both albums would reach No. 1 in Australia, the former was released just one week before longtime bassist Bones Hillman passed from cancer at the age of 62.
Billie Joe Armstrong made a surprise appearance during the Go-Go’s afternoon set at Coachella 2025 on Saturday (April 12).
Ahead of Green Day’s headlining performance that evening, the band’s frontman joined the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted group for a rendition of their 1984 hit song “Head Over Heels.”
In the hours leading up to the collaboration, Armstrong teased a “special surprise” on Green Day’s Instagram account. “Go see the go gos,” he wrote alongside a photo of the festival’s three-day lineup poster.
Following the Go-Go’s set on the Outdoor Theatre stage, Armstrong returned to social media to celebrate the moment.
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“Head over heels after playing with @officialgogos at @coachella,” the singer-songwriter captioned a backstage photo with the band on Instagram. His post also featured a carousel of snapshots from the performance, including an official setlist.
The Go-Go’s responded with a post of their own, sharing a photo on Instagram with Armstrong and writing, “We had the time of our lives!”
This year’s two-weekend Coachella festival runs April 11–13 and April 18–20. Saturday lineups are headlined by Green Day, with additional performances from Charli XCX, Anitta, Clairo, ENHYPEN, Jimmy Eat World, T-Pain, and more.
“Death, taxes and… rock n roll,” Armstrong told Billboard ahead of Green Day’s foray into the desert. “In this world gone sideways we know one thing for certain – rock n roll is forever, and its spirit is needed now more than ever. So bring your rage, your hope, and your loudest voice. Coachella, let’s have the time of our lives.”
The festival’s opening day on April 11 delivered standout moments from Lady Gaga, Tyla, LISA, Mustard, and more. Read Billboard’s full recap of day one here.
Benson Boone made a memorable Coachella debut on Friday (April 11), lighting up the main stage with surprise guest Brian May for a powerful rendition of Queen’s iconic 1975 hit “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Wearing a white-and-blue outfit reminiscent of Freddie Mercury’s classic look, the 22-year-old singer delivered a high-energy set complete with his signature backflips. Midway through the performance, Boone sat at the piano to begin “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and moments later, May emerged dramatically from the top of the stage, guitar in hand, to join him.
The legendary Queen guitarist stuck around for Boone’s final song, “Beautiful Things,” adding signature Queen-style riffs to the emotional track, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2024.
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“It has changed my life this year and I hope you enjoy it,” Boon said prior to hit set, which was filled with fireworks and pyrotechnics.
May had teased the surprise appearance by posting a photo of himself and Boone on a plane headed to Palm Springs. “Look who I bumped into – on the way to the fabled Palm Springs,” May wrote on Instagram. “Maybe something will happen ?!”
Boone replied with a playful comment: “What are you doing with Pedro Pascal.” P!nk also joined in, commenting, “Perfect combo right here.”
During his set, Boone also announced that his second album, American Heart, is dropping on June 20. He premiered the title track and revealed the cover art, which shows him standing in front of an American flag.
Coachella’s opening day was packed with standout moments, including sets from Lady Gaga, Tyla, LISA, Mustard, and more. Catch Billboard’s full recap of day one here.
Congratulations are in order — and overdue — for Mick Jagger and his longtime parter Melanie Hamrick, who are engaged.
Hamrick confirmed the news to Paris Match, revealing that the Rolling Stones frontman has been her fiancé for “two or three years.” On the topic of marriage, she shared, “Maybe one day we’ll marry, maybe not. We are so happy in our current life that I would be too afraid to change anything.”
Jagger and Hamrick, a former ballerina and choreographer at American Ballet Theatre, have been together since 2014. She says their love was a slow burn, as Jagger was still dating the late model L’Wren Scott when they met in Japan, where the Stones and the American Ballet Theatre were both touring at the time. “We didn’t even exchange phone numbers,” she recalled. “At the time, I wasn’t in a relationship, but he was.”
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The couple share eight-year-old son Deveraux Octavian Basil Jagger, and the sweet boy is often featured on his mother’s Instagram account.
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Jagger has seven other children, welcoming his eldest daughter, Karis, 54, with actress Marsha Hunt in 1970. The year after, he married ex-wife Bianca Jagger and the couple welcomed their daughter Jade, 53. With his ex-wife Jerry Hall, Jagger shares four children — daughters Elizabeth, 41, and Georgia May, 33, as well as sons James, 39, and Gabriel, 27. He also shares son Lucas, 25, with model Luciana Morad Gimenez.
Duo Soft Palms has returned with new single “Radio” from their upcoming sophomore album. The track marks the first new music from the wife and husband pair of Julia Kugel (The Coathangers, Julia Julia) and Scott Montoya (former member of The Growlers) since their debut self-titled album in 2020.
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“Radio” kicks off with Montoya on the drums before Kugel joins in a boisterous guitar riff that drives the track. The song is about the divisive nature of media and the alienation that results from the echo chamber of negativity, hearing secondhand information and the perception of persecution.
The track’s release is accompanied by a music video featuring the duo in night vision and serves as a reflection of the lyrics’ sentiment with surveillance cameras and projected messages that reflect the idea of being watched and judged.
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The Southern California couple have been making music together and separately for decades, and have decided to take their careers to what Montoya calls the “next logical step” of attempting to win a Grammy.
“Julia and I have over 40 years combined experience in music. ‘Radio’ will be our combined 352nd track on our combined 46th release, but it’s the first time we’ve ever thought to submit our work to the Recording Academy for Grammy consideration,” Montoya tells Billboard. Coming from the independent side of the music industry, he explains, the Grammys have “a stigma of being specifically for pop artists and for mainstream music, but it’s really not the case.”
The duo has also spent years strengthening their local music scene through their free annual festival, Happy Sundays, in Long Beach, Calif. The three-day event is scheduled to return this summer to several locations in the city between Aug. 23-25.
They also run non-profit Studios for Schools that provides equipment and funding for building recording/production studios in schools.
“Radio” was recorded and mixed by Kugel and Montoya at their home studio Centre of Mental Arts (COMA) in Long Beach, Calif., and mastered by BAFTA winner Mick Boggis. The entirety of the record is expected out later this year via Everloving Records.
Check out the video below.
