Interview
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Last summer, salute spent two days in a Tokyo hotel room putting the finishing touches on their debut album. This may seem like a glamorous situation. It wasn’t.
“It sounds cool, finishing your album in Tokyo,” the Manchester-based producer says, “But the last thing I want to be doing in Tokyo is sitting at my desk. I wanted to be outside.”
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Talking to Billboard over Zoom from London on a recent Friday afternoon, salute says these tedious finishing touches were the hardest part of making an album that emerged during writing sessions with friends at a massive house in the English countryside, where a No Social Media rule was put in place. After additional sessions in London, the project, True Magic, reaches its final stage of completion Friday (July 12) when it’s released via Ninja Tune.
A 14-track collection of shimmering, sometimes tough, occasionally sexy and always sleek music that fuses house, garage, synth and French touch, the album is the culmination of nine years worth of single and EP releases, a steadily growing profile and the connections the producer has made along the way.
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“Most of the people on the album are just friends of mine,” they say of the set’s collaborators — a list that includes longtime pal Rina Sawayama (“one of my closest friends in music”), Disclosure, who initially got in touch by DM-ing an invite to their L.A. studio, and other friends including Sam Gellaitry, Empress Of, Karma Kid and Leilah.
Following 2024 U.S. sets that included salute’s Coachella debut in April and a performance at the Four Tet & Friends festival in New York this May, True Magic will bring them back to the States this fall for a nine-date run that ends at III Points in Miami.
Amid the release, salute talks about making True Magic, using an inclusion rider to ensure they play on more inclusive lineups and why they’re happy about not being an overnight success.
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1. Where are you in the world right now, and what’s the setting like?
I’m in London at the moment for a show that I’m playing tonight. This is a very boring hotel lobby.
2. What is the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself, and what’s the medium?
This is so cringe: My parents are super Christian, so they wouldn’t let me buy any secular music. I wanted to buy hip-hop for example, and had to buy Christian hip-hop. I was nine or ten, and they took me to this Christian bookstore, and I bought this CD and had no idea who any of the artists were on it. But that’s not the album I recognize as being my first. The one I recognize as my first is Aaliyah’s [2001] self-titled.
3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid, and what do they think of what you do for a living now?
My dad was a cab driver, and my mom was a nurse. I think at first they were confused, because they hadn’t considered you could make a living with dance music. They were probably worried about me, so they weren’t super supportive at first. But further down the line when they understood that it made me happy, that I was able to sustain myself and there was an actual job, they supported it, which is great.
4. What is the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?
I bought these expensive New Balance shoes. I was 18, went into the shop in Vienna and did that thing where you buy something without looking at the price. I had all this cash in my hand, and I was like “I’m going to get those shoes, they look amazing.” They ended up costing me like, 250 Euros, which was so much money to me at the time. I was like, “F–k it.” I committed to them. I still own them, and I still wear them sometimes. When I put them on for the first time, I felt rich.
5. What is the last song that you listened to?
I was just listening to the new Kaytranada album — the last song was “Lover/Friend” by Kaytranada and Rochelle Jordan. The album is absolutely amazing.
6. If you had to recommend one album to someone looking to get into dance music, what album would you give them?
Settle by Disclosure, it is your best bet. That album perfectly combined house, garage and pop music, and I don’t think anyone has come close to doing that, in terms of U.K.-leaning dance music. The first Kaytranada album, 99.9%, was really important music for electronic music. But I think overall, in terms of cultural impact, it’s Settle.
7. Amid your rise and all of your success, what have been the most surreal moments?
I was in Colombia playing a festival and sightseeing, so I was in Medellín for a week. I was on the metro at like, 2:00 p.m. listening to music, and this guy calls out to me and says, “This is going to sound strange, but you’re not a DJ, are you?” I was like, “Yeah.” He shows me his phone, and he was listening to one of my songs. I was on the metro, in the backend of the city, thousands of miles away from home, and this guy is telling me how much he loves my music and how excited he is to see me perform.
That happening is bizarre and very humbling as well – people coming up to me and telling me how my music has helped them. Also going to places that are so far away, where I don’t speak the language and there’s a complete cultural disconnect, but you’re bonding over music you’ve made. That, to me, is so surreal.
8. You wrote that “writing this record nearly cost me my nerves.” Care to tell me more about that?
I love writing music and the creative part of it, having a few friends around and writing songs. But actually sequencing the album, finishing those songs and doing all the technical bits at the end, that probably takes up most of the time. None of the songs on the album took that long to write. It’s the last bit, doing all the technical stuff, re-recording elements, that is so tiring. I hate it. That’s when you’ve heard every song a few hundred times, and it’s like “I don’t even know if this sounds like music anymore.”
9. How did you know when it was done?
When is anything done? When there was nothing obvious that stood out to me, and I was able to listen through without cringing at anything. [Laughs.] That’s when I knew. For the most part, it was like, “Am I broadly happy with this? Am I going to regret putting this out? No? Then it’s done.”
10. What does success for the album look like to you?
I think of success less in streaming or units sold and more in cultural impact. If my album inspires a bunch of producers to move into being album artists, rather than just dance music producers who release three or four track EPs, breaking out of the DJ mold and working more on their artistry. That’s what I think Disclosure did with Settle. It influenced a whole generation of producers to realize that there was crossover into pop music. That’s what I want to do through True Magic, to have the level of confidence that Settle did. I know it’s a lofty goal, but that album inspired me so much.
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11. It feels like a healthy moment for dance music, with new albums by Kaytranada, Peggy Gou, Justice, you, among others, all released this year. Does that track for you?
It definitely tracks for me. There’s so much happening in all corners of dance music, and I think we’re back in low-level golden era without realizing it. Historically, dance music has suffered from a lack of really good albums — and all of the sudden, all of these amazing projects are dropping. For all of these artists to be releasing music in the space of a year, and for most of it to be so good, that’s rare. It shows how healthy dance music is.
What underlines that for me: in America, it’s mainly tech house and dubstep, but there is such a huge appetite for stuff outside those genres. When I go [to the States] and see the tickets my friends are selling, and how many people show up to these pop-up shows we do, it’s really encouraging. America has always had that thing where people say, “Oh America is a few years behind everywhere else,” but I don’t think that’s the case anymore. When I go America, my crowds are really knowledgeable — they’re very open as well, which is super important. So I agree, dance music is in an amazing place.
12. Who have been your biggest supporters?
Within music, Hudson Mohawke is a big supporter of mine. He shows me so much love. DJ Seinfeld is a huge supporter of mine. Barry Can’t Swim has my back through and through. Mall Grab has shown me so much love over the years — he’s introduced me to his audience, and is part of the reason I’ve been able to tour Australia. Annie Mac from Radio 1, she’s obviously retired now, but she was a very vocal supporter of my music for like, eight years. She is responsible for showing my music to so many people. Without her, my career would not be anywhere near what it is right now.
13. I read in your DJ Mag profile that you have an inclusion rider. What prompted that decision?
I was playing a show in Newcastle in the north of England, and I got there and every DJ on the lineup was white and male. It wouldn’t have been an issue for me if they were good DJs, but pretty much everyone sucked. They were like, really bad. Basically, the promoter had just booked his best friends to play. I was there [thinking] like, “So many of my girl mates, so many of my queer mates, so many of my Black mates would have absolutely killed this night.” But it’s just kind of how it is, where a promoter will just book his mates rather than booking a good DJ.
I got back to my hotel and texted my agent like, “I want to make sure that I am performing among more people who look like me, and among more people who are nonbinary and trans, etc.” I found a template for an inclusion rider online, and it basically stipulates that 30% of the lineup of any stage I play on has to be from an underrepresented group, and has to be approved by me.
14. How has that worked out?
It’s been really great. It’s not the solution to a problem, because the problem is very much systemic. There is a reason why there is such a drought of non-white, non-male DJs at the top of the DJ sphere, and it goes further than just implementing an inclusion rider, but I think it’s better than nothing. It’s a good start.
I had this queer DJ that was supporting me in Belgium say “thank you so much, I’m so grateful that I’m able to play for a crowd this big.” That is, to me, what it’s about — because those opportunities are not usually given to people outside a very specific category of DJs. As a Black person myself, I’ve had to deal with being on lineups where I’m the token, and I just want it to feel less tokenistic and more like the promoter actually gives a f–k, and it makes a difference. I’ve had promoters who weren’t interested in it, so those are promoters I’m just not going to work with anymore.
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15. What’s been the best business decision you’ve made so far in your career?
It’s realizing I don’t want A&Rs involved in my creative process. The label I’m releasing on now, at the start they said, “We can be as involved or not involved as you want us to be with A&R-ing the album.” I said, “Actually, I want you to back off completely and I will deliver it to you at the end.” I sent them a draft of the album halfway through the production process, and then again at the end — and they were like, “This is amazing.” I was like “Yes, because you let me do my thing.”
16. Has that now always been the case?
The previous label I was signed to — it’s not their fault, because I didn’t say anything, but the A&R was meddling quite a lot. That’s when I realized I wasn’t making music I was happy with; I was letting someone else dictate what I should be making. It wasn’t great for me. But I love A&R-ing, and I think I’m good at it. I love putting people in rooms and making great stuff. If I’m given space to do that, that‘s where I flourish.
17. What’s the most challenging aspect of your career right now?
Being away so much. Not seeing the people that matter to me. I was recently away for like, six weeks. I did Coachella, then went to Japan, and then randomly did more shows in the U.S. I’ve been touring at this level for two years now — and it’s amazing and I love it — but it does suck that I can’t just call my mate and say “do you want to go for a drink?” because I’m halfway around the world.
Obviously I appreciate meeting people on the road, and I’ve met so many amazing friends, but it’s just not the same as going to your best friend’s house to chill. It’s made me appreciate the time I do have when I’m at home. It’s made me a lot more present. I don’t take it for granted as much, when you might not see the person sitting opposite from you for a few months.
18. Maybe it’s also that you’re having these peak experiences, but you’re not with the people you’d like to share them with while they’re happening?
Right. I did this amazing show in America. I was playing Four Tet & Friends in New York [in May.] It was my birthday, and people were like, “This must be the best birthday you’ve ever had, right?” It was an amazing birthday, but I kind of wished my people were there with me.
19. Who’s been your greatest mentor, and what’s the best advice they’ve given you?
My greatest mentor is still my manager, Will. I’ve been with him for 10 years. He is probably the person who understands me the most, when it come to my career. Obviously it’s his job too, but he always just reminds me of the best version of myself.
It’s cliché, but when you really think of that, it translates into so many things. Everything I’ve done over any other project has reminded me to do what feels right for me and not try to please the label or [my manager]. In the past, when I’ve done what I thought someone else would want me to do, or what I thought I needed to do, it’s fallen flat. But Will is a constant reminder that people love me for me, and I shouldn’t forget that.
20. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
I used to worry so much and compare myself to other people so much. I’d see my friends’ careers blowing up, and I was like “I wish that was me.” It used to really mess with my self esteem. But when I see some of the careers where people have been really successful and it’s gone really quickly, it’s often happened that they’ve crashed afterwards. Maybe they didn’t have the support they needed, or things were moving too quickly and they didn’t find their feet properly.
I’m so grateful now that it wasn’t like that for me. My career has been such a slow burn. It happening like this has given me time to adjust. So I would tell my younger self not to worry, because it will all turn out just fine.
06/28/2024
Find out Yunah, Minju, Moka, Wonhee and Iroha’s favorite songs, movies, MBTI and more.
06/28/2024
When the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) releases its annual Music Industry Action Report Card, co-founder and president/CEO Willie “Prophet” Stiggers says a barrage of distressed phone calls from executives inevitably follows. The assessments grade music companies on how well they’ve kept promises made in 2020 to diversify their executive ranks, among other measures; the executives call, he explains, to complain that the grades affect their bottom lines.
“That’s what we want to do,” says Stiggers, who is also the CEO of artist and brand management company 50/50 Music Group Management. “You can’t continue to operate with false promises after saying that you stand in solidarity with your Black brothers and sisters and then don’t promote the Black executive and don’t ensure that a woman is in an environment where she is protected and her vision is executed.”
BMAC was established in June 2020 following the movement #TheShowMustBePaused to advance racial diversity, equity and inclusion in the music business. But this year’s mass industry layoffs, which included many DEI executives, has “unrolled some of the progress we were making,” Stiggers says.
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As a result, BMAC will present a new version of its report before its fourth annual gala in September. The organization has sent a link to executives that asks them to anonymously indicate whether they have seen true change, what has worsened and what still needs to be addressed.
The early results, Stiggers says, are “almost a slap in the face — a ‘whitelash,’ if you will, to the commitments that were made in 2020. The question has become, Was this s— really performative or not?”
The National Action Network Award that Stiggers received this year — “a 360 moment for me because my activism began with [NAN founder and president] Al Sharpton. I created and led [the organization’s] youth division.”
Diwang Valdez
Why are there fewer Black executives in the music industry now than in 2019?
The major labels, I’m sure, would tell you AI [artificial intelligence]. The uncertainty of that realm has caused them to tighten up. But my suspicions are, there’s a bit of that, but these positions [for Black and women executives] were not permanent. A lot of the people were put in these positions in 2020 — managers became senior-level directors, for example — and then in 2024, they have been asked to go back to that lower position or exit altogether. When you have the RIAA report record-breaking revenue that the industry generated in 2023, it’s a little lost on me how that translates to the lack of employment.
What are your thoughts on the DEI positions that have been eliminated since 2020?
The reality is that a lot of these commitments from the labels were three-year commitments. That seemed to be the hot number where they thought maybe at the end of the three years this s— would go away or we would be on to something else. Seemingly, the contracts that these DEI executives had were three-year deals. Once they were up, [the labels were] like, “We did that. We checked the box. Now let’s go back to business as usual.” There was so much potential for us to set this thing on the right course. So for us to go backward is really embarrassing, and history is going to reflect this.
How are you counseling these companies to elevate people of color and women?
A lot of our conversations with these labels, we do confidentially. Here’s what I can say about it. We bring all kinds of stats to prove how profitable diversity is; how profitable it is when you let women lead; how profitable historically it has been when people of color — those who make the product, who consume the product — lead [in terms of] how that product is distributed. This is not even a moral conversation at this point. I’m telling you how it impacts your bottom line.
The prototype of the first BMAC Award, which was given in September 2021 to The Weeknd at the first gala. “He said, ‘This is the greatest award I ever received.’ ”
Diwang Valdez
What do you think of the Recording Academy’s attempts to diversify the voting membership for the Grammy Awards?
Racism is a 450-year-old issue. It is not going to be solved in three or four years. What we can do is talk about the progress that has been made. We have, for the first time, a Black CEO of the Recording Academy. That’s progress. We watched new categories get introduced [like] best song for social change. That didn’t exist prior to Harvey Mason jr. as CEO. He’s up against decades of systems that we are slowly chipping away at. The mere fact that there is a Black Music Collective. The fact that Jay-Z stood on the stage and held a Grammy named after Dr. Dre. We’re not going to act like that is the liberation of our people, but we’re not going to act like that’s not change.
You say BMAC has moved from protest to policy. How?
In 2022, it came to our attention that there were over 500 cases of Black men that were locked up for lyrics. That became a problem for us. So BMAC created the federal legislation called the RAP Act. The work that we did on that federal level created all these statewide bills like what Gov. [Gavin] Newsom signed in California last year. That was a direct result of our work. We are working with the group around Fix the Tix and are working with the groups around AI protection. Our work around legislative policy is as loud, as real and as meaningful as the work we’re doing with pipeline programs.
What are some of those pipeline programs?
Three years ago, we partnered with the RIAA and Tennessee State University and [Nashville Music Equity’s] Brian Sexton, who is an alumnus there, to bring a unique commercial business school to young people who want to get into the industry. We bring in executives and artists from all over the industry. They get paid internships that come out of that every year. We’ve had several people get gainfully employed at record labels and music studios. Most recently, Live Nation hired one of the participants. Tri Star [Sports & Entertainment] hired a young woman from this year’s classes.
A portrait of Stiggers; his wife of 29 years, Fatima; and three of their children, from left: Zaira, Nailah and Willie III. They have since been joined by daughter Safra-Cree. “We met in high school and started [our] family young, which defined my greater purpose,” he says.
Diwang Valdez
That’s not your only Nashville-related initiative.
BMAC also put out a report in 2022 called Three Chords and the Actual Truth: The Manufactured Myth of Country Music and White America. When we released that report, there was a call to action for the music world to join us in addressing the structural racism on Music Row in Nashville and creating access. We were inspired by a guy named Michael Tubbs from Stockton, Calif. He created Mayors for a Guaranteed Income and got mayors from all over the country to create these pilot programs where they would give [citizens of their city] guaranteed income of up to $2,000 a month. He got the qualitative and quantitative data needed to show the positive effects of small increments of money going to people directly.
We felt we could bring the same concept to the music industry and creators. The Academy of Country Music was the first to raise their hand and join us. A year to the date of that report, 20 young Black kids [in the music community] started receiving $1,000 a month, plus mentorship and [other] services.
BMAC is also working with the live industry.
We did a partnership with Live Nation and created BMAC Live, a 10-day intensive program in California as part of Live Nation’s School of Live. They allowed BMAC to come in and carve out a program specifically geared toward young Black non-college-bound students who have a desire to be in the live space. We’ve had 3,000 applicants already, and we are going to pick 20 of the best of that group and fly them out to Los Angeles for a full week. Each of those young people will go to their respective cities and receive a paid internship from Live Nation for six months. [Then] they will be eligible for the Live Nation apprenticeship program. That’s another six months that will then lead to employment. That’s the type of access and training we talked about, and that program will scale and grow annually.
A plaque commemorating the first Music Business Accelerator Program created by BMAC in partnership with the RIAA that started at Tennessee State University in 2021.
Diwang Valdez
Is there anything else you would like to highlight?
We’re working on something really special with Apple Pathways. [We are training young people] around spatial audio, spatial visual and preparing them for the technology of tomorrow. This is where we are going, and if we don’t create the accessibility to the technology, another divide is about to happen. Another shift will take place in which Black America is left out once again.
Is BMAC looking to expand its staff as these programs and initiatives develop?
Yes. We will be expanding and looking at college representatives. Young people are ready. They’re not moving with the same barriers and the same willingness to allow norms to continue to separate people. It’s a different spirit among this generation here.
One thing we realized is that this fight for justice isn’t just here in the U.S. We are in partnerships with organizations in the United Kingdom and Australia, and we are forging a tremendous movement with several key organizations throughout the continent [of Africa]. I’m very concerned about what’s happening with Afrobeats. If we don’t get over there and start working with our African brothers and sisters to understand the industry, the cultural appropriation that took place in hip-hop, blues, rock, country will happen over there. If we do not protect the [intellectual property], it will be cultural colonization all over again.
The life of Mexican influencer Yeri Mua has taken a new turn with her foray into music, writing yet another chapter in her peculiar story.
Born in the port of Veracruz, Mexico, Yeri Cruz Varela (real name) went viral in 2018 at just 16 years old, doing makeup tutorials on YouTube and social media that attracted thousands. But that was only the beginning. Over time, the girl with a carefree spirit would share with her audience family aspects such as her relationship with her parents, whom she made part of her content; her stormy love affairs, which became part of her daily life in her online publications; and her much talked about physical transformation, achieved after several cosmetic surgeries and, of course, makeup.
All of this has grown her fandom: On TikTok, for instance, she has more than 22.6 million followers; on Instagram, she boasts 12.1 million. (On YouTube she has a separate account where she now posts her music).
Her friendship with Mexican reggaetón stars like Jey F and El Gudi led her to fulfill her dream of becoming a singer in 2023, when she collaborated with them on the song “Chupón”, whose video has more than 100 million views. Then came “Línea del Perreo” with Uzielito Mix, El Jordan 23 and DJ Kiire, and “Mamita Rica” with rising star Kenia Os, who also started her career as an influencer.
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Today, at 22, Yeri Mua is a celebrity who has caught the attention of superstars like J Balvin, with whom she released “G Low Kitty Remix” last April. Shortly thereafter, the content creator-turned-singer moved on from being an independent artist by signing a contract with Sony Music Mexico in early June. And, on Tuesday (June 25), she received a nomination for Premios Juventud in the “Creator of the Year” category.
In an conversation with Billboard Español, the Mexican influencer of the moment talked about her music plans, her ability to learn languages, her thoughts about starting a family, the moments that have shaped her character, as well as her plans to retire early.
How was your signing day with Sony Music?
As a woman I felt fulfilled. My managers, my best friend, my parents were there. Just before signing, my parents and I had a very intimate moment where we asked my grandfather, who is in heaven, for his blessings and to enlighten me on this important path.
Your parents have been together for many years. Have you imagined yourself getting married?
You bet I have. I would have no problem getting married at this age, even though many people say it’s not good. I’m not afraid because there is divorce. A wedding is a very nice family celebration.
Your relationships have been much talked about and your partners have even been criticized.
The truth is that I used to love toxic boyfriends — but to get married, I wouldn’t marry just anyone. For example, I get along very well with my current partner, because he listens to me in everything and that makes me happy.
I would like a beautiful [wedding] gown. There are not so many weddings anymore, so I would like a party in style. Maybe I would get married between 25 and 27.
Despite your age, you seem to have already experienced a lot. What is Yeri really like?
I think it is very demonized to make mistakes; making mistakes is a way to learn and move forward, and that has been my life. Many people think that I have always been a liberal person sexually and in every way — but no, when I was 17 my mother did not allow me to go out with skirts or showing cleavage.
My personality was formed as I grew up, because it was a process for my parents to accept the way I am now. I have always been extroverted, but it was a process. Today they love me and accept what I do.
Does anyone advise you on what to do?
I have not learned from what others tell me, I have to live it and stumble, and then I can get over the bumps. I don’t have to follow the advice of others; I have to follow my intuition even if it sucks. Today I can say that the problems I got into one, two or three years ago I would not commit them again.
You have talked about retiring young, at age 35. Is this true?
Yes, because I want to have a family and I don’t want my children to be nepo babies, to be exposed. If I am exposed it is because I want to. I don’t want my children to be exposed to cameras or fame without them causing it.
If I am working hard and breaking my back right now, it is to give them a normal childhood. I would like to have two children.
Has making money always been your objective?
I am in favor of the fact that it is not necessary to get a college degree. Since high school, I started studying hairstyling, because we were not going through a very good economic period and I started working since I was a teenager: I did nails, scrubbed feet, took care of children, I did everything because I liked to earn money. My mom allowed me to do high school online as long as I worked and I haven’t stopped.
I believe that no one should skip the stage of enjoying youth. However, I believe that working changes young people’s mentalities.
Are there any other passions you have besides music and makeup?
I always went to private schools, although I studied one year in the U.S. in a public school.
My school in Mexico was trilingual, so in addition to Spanish, I learned English and Mandarin Chinese. Languages have always been easy for me. In fact, I started studying languages and I would like to return to it.
How do you stay in shape?
I confess that I had rhinoplasty, liposuction twice and breast implants. Before my surgeries I was 20 kilos (44 lbs.) overweight — I lost weight on my own and then I had surgery. To be honest, I am not so much of an exerciser nor a dieter. At home I have a person, Mrs. Lucy, who cooks for me. If you eat healthy at home, you don’t need diets.
Tell us about the experience of making a video with J Balvin.
Although it was very fast, it was very pleasant. Colombians have something special, they make you feel good. J Balvin is someone I admire for the musical legacy he is leaving, he is a gentleman.
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Who would you like to collaborate with?
My dream reggaetón collaboration would be with Karol G or Tokischa, but artists that I also love and are top for me are Ice Spice and Doja Cat. I’m very inspired by their image, and I’m going to work to achieve it.
Most of the men in Dorothy Carvello‘s new novel The Circle Broken are horrible: Bucky, a Nashville record-label chief who screams in a crowded restaurant that his wife is the “whore of Babylon”; The Colonel, who controls his country-star client and takes 40% of his royalties, leaving the singer with just 10%; and Michael, the tortured young talent who suffers a traumatic brain injury and berates and gaslights his partner.
“All my books that I write — and will be writing — will always have the theme of the corruption of the music business,” says Carvello, whose previous book was 2018’s Anything for a Hit: An A&R Woman’s Story of Surviving the Music Industry, which she followed up with a December 2022 sexual-assault lawsuit against two major labels and three longtime record executives. “And there will always be themes of women as the unsung heroes behind the men in any place in the music business.”
Carvello’s lawsuit repeated many of the allegations from her first book. She accuses the late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun and former Universal, Sony and Warner chief Doug Morris of “horrifically sexually assaulting” her and claims Atlantic, its parent company Warner Music Group and former Atlantic exec Jason Flom “knowingly enabled … outrageous workplace sexual assault.” Among her claims: Female employees were “routinely exposed to Mr. Ertegun masturbating”; Morris carried a pornographic magazine around the office and placed it on Carvello’s desk when she was Ertegun’s secretary; and Ertegun committed “forceful and nonconsensual attacks” on Carvello at a Skid Row concert and in a corporate helicopter afterward.
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(Flom did not respond to requests for comment. Warner has said in a statement that the labels “take allegations of misconduct very seriously. These allegations date back 35 years, to before WMG was a standalone company. We are speaking with people who were there at the time, taking into consideration that many key individuals are deceased or into their 80s and 90s.” Morris, through his attorney, said Carvello’s allegations are “without legal or factual merit.” And Rick Werder, a former attorney for Ertegun’s widow, Mica, who filed a motion to dismiss Carvello’s lawsuit before her death last December at 97, called Carvello’s claims “utterly meritless.”)
Oral arguments were scheduled to begin in New York Supreme Court in mid-June, but a judge postponed them to September. “My jury will have to have trigger warnings because there’s a lot more that wasn’t in the book,” Carvello says, during a half-hour discussion about her writing career and the lawsuit.
Below is an excerpt of the conversation.
The only character name that appears in The Circle Broken as well as Anything for a Hit is Joel Katz, the real-life music attorney. In the new book, the fictional Katz gives a speech honoring a Nashville record mogul and says he’s “proof that If you do good enough in this town, you’ll be rewarded in kind. Unless you’re Jewish.” How conscious was your decision to put Katz in both books?
It was a conscious decision, because Joel Katz was the only premiere lawyer involved in so many people’s careers, artists and executives, and pretty much ran the town of Nashville. Also, I wanted to show that if you’re Jewish, Nashville is a town that’s hard. If you’re gay, Jewish, if you’re not white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant, it’s a tough town.
Why in general did you set The Circle Broken in Nashville?
I started to go to Nashville in 1988 and my first experience was at Atlantic Records Nashville. They were trying to sign an artist, and I was sitting there, and the person said to the artist, “Jesus wants us to have your publishing.” I was blown away by that. It always fascinated me, the religious undertones of Nashville. Even when I went down as recently as five years ago, a label head asked me what church I belonged to. I said, “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the Catholic church — we have our own bank and we have our own ambassadors.”
Cee Cee, the singer-turned-manager in the book, is the victim of abuse and, despite making a few questionable decisions, she’s full of empathy and has a lot of love to give. How personal was writing that character?
I wanted to show all the characters struggling with religious oppression, in a way. I went to an all-Catholic school, a Catholic college. Religion teaches you to obey. As women, we get it no matter where we turn. And in the music business, there are very few women. We’ve never had a woman even run a major corporation. We still have three white men running the game. When the Warner Music Group just changed CEOs [in September 2022], they had a chance to really do something and they still stuck with a white male [Robert Kyncl]. I wanted to show a woman who breaks free and makes a choice who gets away from that religious stuff and falls in love and goes for it.
Why write Anything for a Hit first, then file the lawsuit afterwards?
The law changed in New York in 2022. [The state passed the Adult Survivors Act in May of that year, eliminating the statute of limitations for sexual-abuse cases for a year — which led to more than 3,000 civil suits through last Thanksgiving, including Carvello’s in December 2022.] I couldn’t sue because I was time-barred. The book was published in 2018, and when I found out the law changed, I interviewed lawyers and decided to sue.
After Anything for a Hit came out, did you hear back from the people you wrote about?
No. I received not one pushback, not one letter, not one lawsuit, nothing. Dead silence.
One of the most disturbing details in Anything for a Hit, amid many descriptions of sexual abuse, is your allegation that Ertegun fractured your arm because he was angry about a subpar Skid Row concert after you’d steered Atlantic into signing the band. How long did it take you to get over that abuse, if at all?
Well, I’m not over it, and I probably never will be. I know what happened to me. I know what that truth is and I’m prepared to air that truth in a court of law, with a jury of my peers, at 60 Centre Street [site of the New York County Courthouse].
After the #MeToo movement led to men in the music business being publicly accused of sexual assault, has anything changed?
We’ve had no #MeToo in the music business. Where is the #MeToo?
Several men have been called out in lawsuits and press reports — most recently Diddy, but also Russell Simmons, L.A. Reid, Charlie Walk.
No. I don’t think anything’s changed. Like I said, we have three white males running the business.
How were you able to make the transition from non-fiction and get a book deal in the fiction world?
I had to get a different agent and sell him on the idea, and that was not easy because the book tells two stories — my critique of the music business overall in Nashville, and the story of a woman, two women actually, struggling to help this one man. I had to learn how to write fiction. It took three years. The next book is almost finished and that’s taken me less than a year.
What can you say about it?
It’s called Frontman, and it’s going to be about a rock star and the six women in his life throughout his career that started in the ’70s in the U.K.
When did you notice that you had what the music business calls “solid gold ears,” and the talent to be a record-label A&R person?
When we were doing it in the ’80s and the ’90s, you had radio, and you could get a feel for what was happening and go out and see somebody play live and see how people reacted to the songs. I never say I have great ears. I want to clear my name. I want to reclaim my position in history as the first woman at Atlantic Records.
Where are you right now?
In New York. Born and raised. You’ll never get me to Nashville.
Throughout almost two decades, songwriter and producer Luciano Luna has stood out as one of the most prolific artists behind the scenes in regional Mexican music, with songs like “Te Hubieras Ido Antes” by Julión Álvarez that will remain for posterity in the genre.
“I belonged to the generation of songwriters who suffered the most, who fought to get our credit in song collaborations or announcements,” Luna tells Billboard Español.
On June 26th, the musician will receive SESAC Latina’s Legacy Award in Los Angeles, as part of the celebration of the association’s 30th anniversary.
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Born in Sinaloa, Mexico, Luna has been recognized four times as SESAC Latina Songwriter of the Year for his many hits performed by a variety of acts, such as Banda El Recodo (“La Mejor de Todas”), Calibre 50 (“Tus Latidos”), Julión Álvarez (“Te Hubieras Ido Antes”), Grupo Firme (“El Reemplazo”) and Banda Los Recoditos (“Me Sobrabas Tú”).
Throughout his nearly two-decade career, he has recorded over 1,500 songs, of which about 500 have been released as singles in Mexico and the United States. With the SESAC Legacy Award, the Latin Grammy winner adds to a list of accolades that also includes La Musa Awards and the Conqueror Award from the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In an interview with Billboard Español, Luna recently talked about the road he has traveled alongside colleagues such as Horacio Palencia and Espinoza Paz, the differences between the composers of past and present and upcoming projects with stars such as Pepe Aguilar and Carín León.
You have received many awards — what does this one in particular mean to you?
All awards are motivating, for me they are also important. Maybe for someone who doesn’t know about songwriting, it doesn’t mean much. Unless it’s a Grammy or a Billboard [Music Award], it doesn’t attract so much attention for those who are not in the industry.
Had you done any recounting of your career accomplishments before?
When I found out that I was going to receive this great recognition I realized that I have been composing for 18 years, I have been constant and now I am of the generation that has already come a long way. In fact, it will be 10 years since the first time I won SESAC Songwriter of the Year; I had 17 singles placed in 2004, so it was unforgettable. Subsequently I’ve been awarded three more times, so we’ve had a good run.
Your contributions to Latin music haven’t always been smooth sailing.
I belonged to the generation of songwriters who suffered the most, we fought to get our credit in song collaborations or announcements. The new generation, if they get a song recorded, they get into orbit very fast and they make money very fast too … Maybe the only complication is that there are a lot of them now, but nothing more.
To what extent have things changed for you financially?
Every stream today is worth something, and you get paid. I had to suffer along with Horacio Palencia and Espinoza Paz, because there was a lot of piracy [back then]. It was very difficult financially to think that you could only dedicate yourself to songwriting. I had never said this, but I received 1,800 Mexican pesos a year, about $950. Imagine what nonsense!
I could tell you that the first seven or eight years were very difficult — because it was the [physical] album era, so you had to deliver something that stood out so that it could become a single, get radio plays and then from there, that’s where you got the biggest income. I’m one of the veterans who battled and I’m proud of that. We have built a great brotherhood. Besides those I mentioned, there’s also Omar Tarazón, Tony Montoya, Geovani Cabrera and Edén Muñoz.
Do you think it’s fair how music is handled today?
It is unfair if we think that there is so much music released today that a lot of it remains hidden. But if you make quality, your music will continue to survive. I go to Banda El Recodo’s concerts and listen to 14 of my songs that they recorded eight or 10 years ago, and that makes me feel satisfied with my contribution to music.
What do you think is the key to transcend over time?
I bet more on a timeless style, not on what is trending, and that has worked for me. I am currently on Pepe Aguilar’s new album, that’s a dream come true; on Carín León’s new album with three songs; four songs on Luis Ángel “El Flaco”’s album; and soon with Ángela Aguilar and Conjunto Primavera. Another dream fulfilled is to work with Tony Meléndez, one of the voices I admire the most.
I have produced four of Chiquis’ albums; also with Banda Los Sebastianes. I am still here, perhaps no longer with that anxiety of being in first place. Now I have the wisdom to enjoy what I do.
What advice would you give to the new generations of songwriters?
Now that I will be given this award, I feel confident to advise new composers not to sign documents without legal advice, try to make music that will last for many years. They should have gratitude to their peers who guide them.
We had more love for this profession; today they fight for percentages and publishers rights when they only have one or two hits.
What are your thoughts on the current state of regional Mexican music?
What is happening with regional Mexican music adds up to all of us, but we have to take advantage of it to make quality and good collaborations and to be known globally. The new generations must know where the whole movement comes from. It is not fair to think that what is currently being listened to is all that exists.
Is there an artist you would like to collaborate with?
I have been talking with Julión Álvarez about working together again. There is also Alfredo Olivas, who is going through a great moment in his career. Last year for the first time he recorded for someone other than himself and he did very well with the song by [Aarón] “La Pantera” Martínez [“Ni Con Labios Prestados”]. I think Horacio and I can contribute to his career now that he is having that opening.
How will you celebrate the night of June 26?
It is a very intimate event and I want to experience it with my family. Since I was notified that I would be honored, we have been enjoying it together. My history with SESAC through [its vice-president] Celeste Zendejas has been very nice. I’m going to enjoy celebrating with my colleagues and be grateful, because many of those who will be there that night have been part of my career.
When artists set out to promote a new album, their publicists often encourage them to have “a story.” Mark Oliver Everett, otherwise known as E, frontman and chief songwriter of the band EELS, has a lollapalooza of a tale. His father, Hugh Everett III, developed the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Today, his theory powers the Marvel multiverse and countless other movies, TV shows and novels about parallel worlds, but Everett wasn’t recognized for his work until late in his brief life. He died of a massive heart attack in 1982.
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E, who was 19 then, discovered his father’s body, and, a decade later, endured the deaths of his sister, who committed suicide, and his mother, from cancer. Left without a family, he chronicled his experiences in EELS’ 1998 masterpiece, Electro-Shock Blues, and his inspirational and funny 2008 autobiography, Things the Grandchildren Should Know.
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In 2017, the Everett bloodline rebooted when E became a father at the age of 54. But the story does not end there. Shortly after the band’s post-pandemic Lockdown Hurricane tour, his CT scan revealed an aortic aneurysm, and E underwent open-heart surgery to have it repaired.
The health scare did not curb his creativity. On June 7, EELs released its 15th studio album since forming in 1996 (not counting his two solo records in 1992 and ’93). “After 25 or 30 years, whatever it’s been, our time has finally come. It’s finally EELS time,” he says — which, if you put an exclamation point at the end, is the album’s title.
EELS TIME!
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After a spate of hard-rocking songs, EELS TIME! finds E, now 61, in a contemplative and grateful mindset accentuated with a poppier sound. Below, E discusses the album’s collaborative efforts with All-American Rejects frontman Tyson Ritter, the poignant music video for “Time,” which depicts three generations of the Everett family, and much more.
You’ve experienced quite a lot over the last few years: fatherhood, divorce, open-heart surgery.
It’s always something right? I got used to that a long time ago.
You’ve had quite a lot of experience with mortality. How is dealing with your mortality different from dealing with the deaths of loved ones?
Well, the one thing I don’t have any experience in is hospital experience. I’ve never been in a hospital before, which was a great run. I’m thankful for that. I was in the hospital for a week, so that’s a big deal. It turned out great. I’m totally good as new now.
It’s great that you were staying on top of your health.
It’s the one good thing that came out of my father having a heart attack and dying at 51. Doctors would tell me heart stuff can be very hereditary so keep an eye on stuff. Get scans. Whatever the best scan is technology-wise, get that. It was a CT chest scan that discovered the problem. [My condition] was not related to what happened to my father. It’s a different thing, but it’s still a heart related-thing and it’s only because of his early death that I found out about it.
How did working with Tyson Ritter change your creative process? Did you collaborate in the same room or were you throwing stuff back and forth via email?
It’s funny because we found out we were neighbors and literally live three blocks away from each other. But we did it all remotely. It was still the pandemic and I have a little kid in school. I didn’t want to be the asshole that shuts down his school by getting Covid.
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You also feature on indie-pop artist meija’s “Possum.” How did that come about?
The thing with Tyson started with me singing on a song he did, too. And then the meija thing happened. That just came out of the blue. A mutual friend contacted me and said, “Hey, this guy would really like to have you on a song.” He sent me the song, and I was like, “Oh, this is cool. Yeah, I’ll do it.” I even went so far as to be in the video.
“If I’m Gonna Go Anywhere” is one of my favorite songs on the album. It has a Bobby Gillespie/Primal Scream vibe,
That one is all credit to Tyson, by the way. That’s his musical doing. I’m singing and writing lyrics mostly on that.
In the chorus, you sing that if you’re going anywhere, you’re going “there.” Where is “there”?
There is simply if you have a choice to make, why not make the nice choice. Why not choose love.
“Sweet Smile” is like that, too.
That’s exactly what “Sweet Smile” is about. Sometimes I’ll be walking down the sidewalk and I’ll realize I’m not scowling but I’m not smiling. I’ll think smile. And I’ll smile and it’s weird. It’s like, everything feels better and easier when you smile. With that song, I wanted to to write my version of [The Seekers] “Georgy Girl.” Just a nice, innocent song about walking down the street.
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“We Won’t See Her Like Again” seems to be about someone you lost. I realize not every song is autobiographical, but I’m wondering if you wrote that about your mother or sister, who you lost at a young age.
I wrote that one with Chet from the EELS, and I don’t feel like it was specifically about anybody at the time. A lot of the songs that I’ve done over the years I can’t access if there is a personal experience that I’m writing about. And years later, I’ll look back and go, “Oh, that’s what I was writing about.” I think it’s a coping mechanism that helps me write unfiltered — to not let myself know that I’m disclosing all these things about myself in some cases.
When I hear “I Can’t Believe It’s True,” I’m thinking could E have found love?
Yeah, I’m hoping that song will be one that people will play at their weddings. We’ve had songs go on to become really popular that we never would have thought of as a single at the time they were released. They take on this big life because of being played at weddings or whatever. Really, the inspiration in the back of my mind was thinking about my kid. So, maybe it can be played at weddings and births.
Has your son Archie formed his own band yet?
No, I got him a little drum set because he’s at the exact age that I was when I started playing drums. And I didn’t want to push it on him. He likes to bang around on everything, but he has not shown anywhere near the kind of interest I had in it so far. But that’s fine.
It’s there if he decides he’s into it, but also I think I should probably get him an instrument that would make [him] more money.
In the letter you published on the EELS website a few days ago, you wrote that you almost lost your mind during the first part of the Lockdown Hurricane show. What was overwhelming you?
First of all, I was super jetlagged. Going to Europe overnight; that always makes me crazy. We hadn’t played in almost four years or something because of the pandemic. You might remember the pandemic. So, we finally got out there to play, and it was an extreme culture shock for me because it was the double whammy of being a new father — a new divorced father — during those years of lockdown. I got really used to nobody caring about me. Do you know what I mean? When you’re a father, you’re the last person in the family anyone gives a shit about. Then suddenly, from the first show of the first tour in almost four years, it was like everybody super cared about me and it really fucked with my head. I didn’t know how to process it, and I didn’t know how to act. I don’t get stage fright normally. I’m usually very comfortable being on stage, but I started to have a panic attack right before the first show. For the first week, I was just insane. Then I got my bearings, and it was, “Okay, it’s coming back to me now. I know how to do this.” I’m sure a lot of people have gone through situations like that from being in such an extreme situation during the lockdown years and then being thrown out. Then it was great. It was like, “Oh, people. This is fun.”
Will you be touring behind this album?
I don’t know when we’re going on tour yet. The last one took a lot out of me. It was a good one, and we worked really hard. But since we just went, it might be too soon to go right now. Maybe we’ll go in late summer or the fall. We don’t know yet.
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“Song for You Know Who” is about not repeating the missteps of the past and forgiveness. Is that directed at yourself or someone else?
I’ll never tell. My favorite thing about that song is going to become my least favorite thing about it, too, which is that everyone I know is going to suspect it’s about them. I couldn’t resist calling it that because I just thought, it’s going to drive everybody crazy around me. But I’ll never tell.
The video for “Time” is very poignant and emotional to watch. And having read your book, understanding the sense that you had no family and to see now you do have family, it’s really touching. Did that idea just come to you or was it something that you wanted to do for a long time?
When I wrote and recorded the song I didn’t have the video concept in my mind. It wasn’t until later – I can’t remember what sparked I, but I just thought, “Oh, wait a minute. There’s three verses. We can do photos of my dad in the first verse.” It fits the theme of each verse.
Then the second one where it says, “I’m riding on the train, I’m ready to stop anywhere and see what’s out there,” that’s like young me going into teenage me and EELS me. Then the last verse is about how I want to be here and I don’t want to ever leave because I like being close to the ones I love, and that’s my son.
The beard looks very strong in the “Time” video
That was filmed the day after I came home from our tour, and I couldn’t wait to get rid of the beard. That was my pandemic beard, and I was like, “Oh, we’re finally going on tour. I’ll save it for that. It’ll look cool onstage or whatever.” Then I couldn’t wait to get rid of it by the end of the tour because a beard like that is a lot of maintenance and a lot of work. So I called the director of the video and said, “I’m going to get rid of the beard.” He was like, “No, just keep it for one day after the tour and we’ll shoot it then.” The next day I trimmed it down extensively.
Okay, so you’re not in Fidel Castro territory anymore.
At the moment, no. But it can always come back. It comes back overnight if I want it to. I’ve got a lot of testosterone.
Yes, Orville Peck‘s masks have been getting smaller and smaller lately. No, that is not an accident.
“For those who are very sleuthy, they’ll notice that I’ve actually been doing that from the beginning,” Peck tells Billboard. “I’ve slowly been changing out my masks and showing more of my face with each album. I think a change is good.”
That spirit helped the country crooner break out of his own box and create Stampede, his genre-spanning duets album featuring a parade of collaborators from across the music industry. The album’s first volume (released May 10 via Columbia Records) featured duets with legends like Willie Nelson and Elton John, as well as younger acts like Noah Cyrus, Allison Russell and Bu Cuaron.
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Each song on Volume 1 aimed to stretch the boundaries of Peck’s sonic universe, bringing new fusions to Peck’s classic country sound, including pop, rock, and in the case of “Miénteme” with Cuaron, Latin. “I never thought I would do a reggaeton track sung entirely in Spanish, but it’s what the song called for,” Peck says.
The goal, he explains, was not to create a curated, musically-cohesive album that would simply become “an Orville Peck album with a bunch of features.” Instead, Peck wanted Stampede to consist entirely of true collaborations: “I wanted every single song to be a 50/50 collaboration between me and whoever the other artist is,” he explains. “People will see this especially with Volume 2 [due out later this year] — every song is entirely its own thing, because I wanted it to be like if me and whoever that other artist is had a musical baby.”
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While Peck has yet to set a release date for the second part of his album, the singer gave his fans a sneak peak of the forthcoming part two when he live debuted “Midnight Ride” at Outloud Fest at WeHo Pride alongside Kylie Minogue and Diplo. The song, which officially arrived on Friday (June 7), fulfills Peck’s promise of musical synthesis as he masterfully blends his swaggering sound with the dance-pop stylings of his collaborators.
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When telling Billboard about his new track, Peck says that the vision was clear from the beginning. “When we wrote ‘Midnight Ride,’ we knew we wanted to make a disco country banger,” he says. “Something that felt wild, free and dangerous“
Stampede has been gestating since Peck put out Show Pony, his glitzy 2020 EP that featured his first major collaboration with country legend Shania Twain on “Legends Never Die.” The now-36-year-old artist knew that an album of A-list duets would be a hit with fans, and an item to check off his bucket list.
“I started to think about what I used to call the ‘Orville and Friends’ project — who would I want to work with?” he wonders. “Honestly, I foresaw it happening much later in my career.”
Then, Willie Nelson called. In 2022, the country legend got in touch with Peck, asking if he would be interested in recording a duet version of “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other,” the 1981 Western waltz about gay cowboys that Nelson covered in 2006.
It helped that Peck was already intimately familiar with the song; for years before Nelson called him, he was already covering it in his live sets. As a fan of hokum songs — an offshoot of country music that incorporates “comedy, stand-up, wordplay and characterization” — Peck always found “Cowboys” to be a particularly fascinating song.
“It uses that humor to talk about something really blatantly, and it kind of does a little one-two on people,” he explains. “For those of us who are in the community, it makes us smile, because we understand it intrinsically. For those that aren’t, it’s almost like an easy, interesting way to maybe understand the concept; how there is still a lot of repression, suppression, oppression, all the -pressions to do with queerness in these more typical country spaces.”
To bring that narrative full circle by performing it alongside the country legend who made it famous, Peck says, stands out as a distinct honor. “As a queer person who grew up loving country, I didn’t see a country artist like myself when I was younger — I still have that yearning within me to find acceptance within country,” he says. “Between Willie and Dolly, there’s only a few true, untouchable country legends left. So to get that personal validation from Willie … it healed a lot of stuff for me.”
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In working with so many new collaborators throughout Stampede, Peck focused on “evolving” his artistry, from the way he performs on his new songs to the way he presents himself to fans. Evolution was always part of his plan, he explains, because some of his favorite artists always managed to push the envelope forward.
“David Bowie is a huge inspiration of mine, because there’s distinct eras of his career,” he says. “Ziggy Stardust, for instance — the persona, the costumes, the allure, the lore of it, it’s such an incredible feat. But I think if he had remained Ziggy Stardust for his whole career, I don’t know if I or anyone else would have loved it as much. You just get to enjoy this thing in this particular moment, before it changes again.”
Naturally, Peck understands why “eras” for pop stars have become increasingly popular over the last few years. “Change is good for artists — to challenge myslef and to be more vulnerable and to put myself out there a little more. But I think it’s also good for fans,” he explains. “I think people really get comfortable in a lot of things that I do. Changing it up and seeing what else they might be into is a good thing. I think we all can embrace change.”
Yet one area where Peck still hasn’t seen quite enough change is in the country music industry. While the genre is currently enjoying new levels of success thanks to dominant runs from artists like Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan and Luke Combs, Peck also recognizes that the genre isn’t currently built to support talent from marginalized groups.
“The fact is that there’s a heavily politicized grip on country music,” he says. “For some people, this is a genre that represents a type of American lifestyle, a type of belief system, of religion. They think that country music is supposed to represent those things for them. They don’t realize that country is the most diverse American genres, because it’s built off of so many different cultures. That should be reflected in the people who make it and enjoy it.”
It certainly doesn’t help, he adds, that country music remains largely insular from the music industry at large. “Country, more so than any other genre, has really been controlled by the machine that is Nashville and country radio. It sort of exists in a vacuum, where even people very high up in the music industry that work in the pop world don’t know how to approach Nashville.”
But Peck remains assured that change is coming — slowly, but surely. As the number of artists speaking out in support of a more inclusive vision of country grows — including Mickey Guyton, TJ Osborne, Allison Russell, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini and others — the singer says labels will have to start listening soon.
“There’s a few of us that have been trying to chip away at the wall that is Nashville, and I think there’s enough of us now that they can’t really hold the barricades anymore. The floodgates are gonna burst open,” he says. “And that is a great thing.”
Gloria Estefan can do it all — from breaking molds in the music industry to doing her own laundry, literally. And she knows it.
It’s something she learned from the biggest “legends” in her life: her grandmother Consuelo and her mother Gloria Fajardo, whose life circumstances forced them to take the reins and provide for their family. “I grew up with two women who did everything,” Estefan says. “So for me there was never the question [of], ‘Well, as a woman, can I do this?’ Because the women in my life did it all.”
Since rising to stardom in the 1980s as the lead vocalist for the Miami Sound Machine — alongside her husband, visionary producer Emilio Estefan — Gloria Estefan has helped infuse Latin flavor into English-language pop music, breaking barriers with hits like “Conga” and “Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” and singing at the same time en Español.
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On the Billboard charts, she has placed 29 songs on the Hot 100, including three No. 1 hits (“Anything For You” in 1988, “Don’t Wanna Lose You” in 1989 and “Coming Out of the Dark ” in 1991) — as well as 30 hits on Hot Latin Songs, 15 of which reached the top spot (from “No Me Vuelvo A Enamorar” in 1986 to “Hotel Nacional” in 2012). Her first full-length album in Spanish, Mi Tierra (1993), spent a whopping 58 weeks at the summit of Top Latin Albums, and won her first of three Grammy Awards.
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This weekend, the Cuban-American superstar — who only six months ago became the first ever Latina artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame — will receive the Legend award at the 2024 Billboard Latin Women in Music gala in Miami.
You are a music icon and a legend. What many may not know is how down to earth you are. I remember I interviewed you a few years ago over the phone and you apologized for the noise of the washing machine — you said that you were doing laundry because you were going on a trip, and I confess I was impressed. I didn’t imagine that Gloria Estefan washed her own clothes.
Sometimes I have to, you know? [Laughs.] I am blessed to have staff at home who are really family — they have been with us for more than 30 years, and they pamper and spoil me a lot — but there come times when there are some things that you have to do yourself. And of course, I know how to do everything! And Emilio is the same too. Emilio starts cleaning because he is meticulous, he sprays water everywhere with the hose. It’s hilarious to watch.
How have you managed to stay so grounded despite all the fame and success?
You know what, I went through a lot as a child. Taking care of my dad [who had multiple sclerosis], trying to help my mother, who had everything left on her shoulders — raising her two daughters, helping my grandmother. My grandmother helped us too. I believe that when you have the example of knowing what’s really [worthwhile] in life, the things that have real value, which is health primarily, love, affection, family — and if it weren’t for my family I wouldn’t know where I’d be — that helps me a lot.
Also, I already had a son when we achieved great global success, and I was still a mother; I would take him on tour with me and he would see me on stage and see that part, but when I got off I was just a mom. Having family with you like that really keeps you grounded.
Who have been the female legends in your life, as a woman and as a musician?
My grandmother Consuelo, who came to this country at 57. She didn’t speak English. She grabbed my grandfather and told him, “This is what we’re going to do” — and she created a food business, with which she managed to buy her home and help us. She was an entrepreneurial woman who unfortunately was taken out of school in Cuba when she was 9, because it was the global Depression and she had many siblings and they had to help the family work to survive. She wanted to be a lawyer, she was born in 1905 — a woman in Cuba! She was brilliant. She was spiritual, someone who gave everything and helped many people.
My mother too. I grew up with two women who did everything, so for me there was never the question, “Well, as a woman, can I do this?” because the women in my life did it all. My father was sick, my grandfather too, so women had to take charge of everything.
And on a professional level, Celia Cruz was an inspiration for me — a woman whose humbleness, professionalism, love for what she did, for her people, for her fans, her family… I had the joy of being able to be her friend and share time with her, and she was a very big example for me. She was ageless on stage! For me, that is a legend, someone who really breaks all the molds that exist. That was Celia. So that is the triangle of women who have somehow left their mark on me in a thousand ways.
You’ve stayed active in music. Only last year, you released a Christmas album with your family and recorded the main track from the movie 80 For Brady (“Gonna Be You”). Now you’re writing a Broadway musical with your daughter Emily. You could easily retire and live off the royalties of your many hits. What keeps you going?
For me, it is a blessing and a privilege to be able to make music and in some way inspire others who listen to it; That is what I enjoy the most. Right now, we’re in the workshop of a musical that we have been working on for two years. It has been an inspiration to be part of the process and even more so working with my daughter, which is a very unique opportunity, and to put new songs in the hearts of people tied to an original musical based on the real life story of The Cateura Orchestra of Recycled Instruments [in Paraguay]. They are children who live next to a landfill, and the man who did all this created a music school and they have made instruments from waste and live off that landfill.
It is inspiring to see the triumph of the spirit of young people who, under the most difficult circumstances, have managed to send music to the world. This is not work for me. The luxury I have now is that I can choose the projects to which I say yes […] because now I also have a grandson and I don’t want to be away, I don’t want to miss those years that go by so quickly. So it’s a nice balance.
You have also remained active with the Gloria Estefan Foundation, which you created in 1997 in response to your accident (of 1990, when a truck crashed into your tour bus and left you temporarily paralyzed). What would you say has been the greatest satisfaction it has given you?
Being able to be of service to others. It is a privilege to be able to help in any way. We have many organizations that we support […] I also want to be part of the paralysis cure, because I was paralyzed and I was a positive story after that accident, so I want to help in any way. We help teachers a lot, because my mother was a teacher, so that they can help their children, because sometimes public schools don’t have the funds.
And a strange thing, but something I love: the Miami Beach Police can’t buy bulletproof vests for the police dogs, because they are very expensive and are not in the budget. So many of the dogs were dying — and I was able to buy vests and donate them, so they are more protected, because I also love animals. It is a nice way to be part of the community, be of service to others and find the best way to help.
Would you say that the accident was the most difficult moment you have ever had to go through?
It wasn’t fun, I can tell you that. But I wouldn’t change it. I wouldn’t want to go through it again, but, although I already appreciated life a lot, it gave me a way to live totally grateful every day of my life — for simply being able to stand up, go get a glass of water myself. Because my father was in a wheelchair, I knew what my family would experience if I remained in a wheelchair. Although I am very positive, and if I had stayed in the chair I would be playing basketball. [Laughs.]
It was difficult, but I had so much support, so many prayers that I felt and absorbed and that I know are part of my recovery. I worked very hard, doing six to seven hours a day of rehab — first floating in the pool, because I couldn’t walk. Until I was able to step on stage, 20 days before the one year anniversary of the accident. Every year when that date arrives, the day I broke my back, March 20, […] I celebrate my rebirth. So I’m only 34 years old right now.
How would you describe the role that music has had in your life?
Music for me has been the vehicle of my soul. To express myself. To stay strong. To vent. To have fun, celebrate. Music is the center of my life. Always has been. I’ve been singing since I’ve been able to talk, it came with me. And it’s not that I had to be famous or anything, because I had to get used to being the center of attention — it’s not part of my personality. But I can’t imagine my life without music. And having the privilege of other people listening to my lyrics, my melodies, is something I feel grateful for every day of my life.
When you look back, what moment as a Latin woman in music do you view with greatest pride?
The album Mi Tierra. Definitely. Because although I grew up in this country — I came when I was two and a half years old, and American music and everything I listened to became part of me — to be able to share my culture, an era of Cuban music that was paralyzed with the revolution and didn’t grow any more, being able to make original songs that celebrate and honor Cuban music and spread it throughout the world, for me is my greatest achievement. And if I had to leave only one album, it would be that one.
Billboard Latin Women in Music 2024 will air exclusively on Telemundo Sunday (June 9) at 9 p.m. ET, and will also be available on the Telemundo app and on Peacock.
After being named a global brand ambassador for Versace in May, KUN is taking the partnership to the next level with a collaborative single with the Italian luxury brand that highlights the Chinese pop star’s inspiration from the intersection of music and fashion.
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Set to debut in an upcoming campaign for Versace Mercury sneakers, “Afterglow” will be released globally in full this coming Friday, June 9. Like his previous hits on Billboard‘s China TME UNI Chart including 2022’s “Hug Me” and “TITLE” from last year, KUN immersed himself in the creative process for “Afterglow” by utilizing inspirations like patterns and cuts to deliver a blend of dark synthesizers and rock-inspired vocals.
Working as a singer and actor since his teens, KUN has spent the last 10 years showcasing an evolution from a reality TV breakout and boy band member to a full-fledged solo superstar with several albums, overseas tours, and high-profile brand endorsements to his name. Currently, the C-pop star is collaborating with writers and producers in the U.S. to craft a globally focused music project with the upcoming “Afterglow” single release representing what he calls “a brand-new KUN sound.”
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Read on for more from KUN on “Afterglow” and its importance in setting up what should be a major 2024 and 2025 with more music, live performances, tours and other treats for fans worldwide.
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Congratulations on launching “Afterglow” alongside your global ambassadorship with Versace! Tell us more about it and how you started creating the track?
“Afterglow” is a brand-new single I produced in collaboration with Versace. I approached this song from what I learned in fashion culture — this piece truly reflects my journey as a musician and performing artist. Over the last two years, I have explored and experimented with many different genres, blending old-school with new-school elements, and incorporating my personal taste into modern music. “Afterglow” is born from all this process.
You’re known for being involved in composing your songs. In what ways did you get creatively involved with “Afterglow”?
I draw inspiration from how designers curate their clothing patterns, the sleek cut details and the attention to quality, and translate that into the song. I wanted the synth design to be unique, edgy, and dark while having vocals retaining that rock element. While writing, I imagined scenes of fashion runway — flashing strobe lights — with a more mysterious feel. The runway would be a perfect setting for this sound.
What does “Afterglow” represent for your music career?
Starting from “Afterglow,” we will hear a brand-new KUN sound. We’re starting a new chapter in music, and looking to release more songs in both Chinese and English.
Will “Afterglow” have its own music video too?
Many fans might remember our previous Art Lab live concert. Here’s some exclusive news for my Billboard friends: Art Lab 2.0 is coming soon, including a live performance of “Afterglow.”
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How does fashion influence your life day to day?
Fashion always inspires me in the creative process of songwriting. I love vintage clothing just like how I love listening to classic songs, as well as cowboy hats and rough jeans when writing rock songs. Fashion design is a tedious process that involves constant fine-tuning until the final product is developed. That process provokes or intrigues; it has no creative boundary. Very much like when making music, there are endless possibilities.
I read that your Versace news went viral in China with 400 million views on Weibo in under a week and a No. 1 search topic for hours. Were you expecting such an exciting response?
I was in a song camp at that [time]. It was around 3 a.m. so I was actually in bed when my team woke me up and told me the good news. I appreciate everything my fans do for me and we support each other all the way.
You visited the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. on your KUN ONE Tour in 2019. Are there any plans for more overseas shows?
We are planning many surprises this year; more news is coming. I have been in the studio nonstop for an upcoming new project. I am also designing a new music show production that can bring sound to life on a live stage with some talented writers and producers from all over the world.
What else can we expect from you in 2024?
2024 has been my first step into building a label and company that represents the art I love so much. I’ve been aiming at creating and releasing a few global music projects from my label this year and thinking about a global tour, so I’m pushing myself to hit these deadlines. I’ve never released an official global album, and I’m putting in the work to make that a reality. The music is the focus though, so if I don’t feel it’s ready, I may wait until early 2025. I’m enjoying the process of it all.
Any other goals for this year?
Goals… meet my deadlines. [Laughs] And if I meet those deadlines, the next goal is a real one: to make sure the people who listen to the music and experience it live can feel the same way I did when I was creating it. If they tell me that they felt something, I hit my goals for 2024.
Anything else to share with readers or international fans at this time?
I’d love to work with artists from around the world. Collaboration with artists of different cultures is what I love about art, music, and fashion, so for international listeners, message me with ideas, and also message me with cities that you think would want to experience my new projects.
Yu Cong
Yu Cong
Yu Cong