magazine
On May 16, The Weeknd will bring his album Hurry Up Tomorrow, which topped the Billboard 200, to the big screen as a suspense thriller. Tomorrow has precedents in many yesterdays: Artists have been making movies out of albums, partly to boost their sales, for decades. March 19 marked the 50th anniversary of the premiere of The Who’s Tommy. But The Who wasn’t first — and it certainly wasn’t the last.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Anything You Want
“Arlo Guthrie is about to become The Thing to talk and write about,” trumpeted an ad in the Aug. 23, 1968, Billboard for the just-released Alice’s Restaurant movie based on his 1967 album of the same name. Soon, Guthrie’s name was littering the pages of Billboard, and a piece in the Oct. 18 issue said the film “sparked sales for the Reprise album … racking up $1 million sales.” A month later, the Nov. 15 issue showed the set at a new chart peak of No. 17 on the Billboard 200, two years after its release.
See It, Feel It, Buy It
Six years after The Who released Tommy, the British rockers followed it with a 1975 film starring Roger Daltrey as the titular pinball wizard. The Ken Russell movie was divisive: The March 29, 1975, Billboard ran two reviews. One praised it as a “gripping fantasmagoria,” while another panned it as a “travesty of worn-out symbolism and general tackiness.” The same issue also reported on “the record war between the original rock opera and the movie soundtrack,” which were on MCA and Polydor, respectively. Buyers bought in, pushing the soundtrack to No. 2 on the Billboard 200, above the original album’s No. 4 peak.
Trending on Billboard
Band From the ‘Club’
When the Bee Gees’ 1978 jukebox musical Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band hit theaters, expectations were as high as Lucy in the sky. The July 29, 1978, Billboard reported that the soundtrack of Beatles covers was “taxing virtually every record presser, jacket printing facility and freight company contracted to get the initial order of four million units in the hands of consumers.” A report from an advance screening told a different story: “A movie where the audience laughs at all the wrong moments is in trouble, no matter what its advertising budget.” It was a boon for The Beatles, at least: “Sales of Capitol’s Beatles catalog are surging,” according to the Aug. 26 issue.
Hitting a ‘Wall’
Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Billboard’s No. 1 album of 1980, famously inspired an animated film of the same name. Unfortunately, critics wanted to run like hell. “The $10 million movie adaptation of Pink Floyd’s international double-album bestseller was demolished” at a London premiere, reported the Aug. 7, 1982, issue. Despite an end-credits promise of a forthcoming soundtrack, one never appeared. “We intended to make a soundtrack album,” David Gilmour told the Sept. 18 Billboard. “But we just didn’t have enough new music to reasonably justify putting one out.”
This story originally appeared in the March 22, 2025 issue of Billboard.
Lucy Dacus has some mixed feelings about her newly minted public profile. “My dream is that I could play huge shows where [the crowd] knows every word,” she says, “we can connect after the show — and then I can wipe everyone’s mind of myself once they leave.”
The lack of Men in Black-esque technology notwithstanding, it’s easy to see why Dacus may feel that way. After spending the majority of her career as a cult artist with a tight-knit fan base in the indie scene, the singer-songwriter broke big alongside her friends Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker with The Record in 2023. Their supergroup, boygenius, sold out arenas, led Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart while also earning a top 10 debut on the Billboard 200 and dominated the rock categories at the 2024 Grammys, winning three awards.
As she prepares her first solo release since the band’s breakthrough, Dacus, 29, still struggles with her shift from underground phenom to rock headliner. “Honestly, I don’t like being culturally relevant,” she says with a giggle. “I don’t like being somebody where people think they need to have a ‘take,’ in either direction.”
Trending on Billboard
Yet even in that discomfort, Dacus exudes a confidence that feels new for her. Forever Is a Feeling, her fourth studio album (out March 28 on Geffen Records), takes the sound that Dacus has painstakingly crafted over the last decade and broadens it as her most lush collection to date.
Going into the creation of Forever Is a Feeling, Dacus says she “knew the scope was going to be different” for this album. That process included honing what she wanted to sing about. Whereas her past albums confronted loss and childhood trauma, the new set focuses almost entirely on romance. The first proper track off the album, “Big Deal,” finds Dacus reminding a doomed lover just how important they are; “Talk” traces the shifting dynamics of a relationship to its near end; and album closer “Lost Time” is one of the boldest love songs of her career, on which she declares, “I notice everything about you.”
Meredith Jenks
That line also encapsulates a key part of the singer’s songwriting process: Since she broke onto the scene with 2016’s No Burden, Dacus has always thrived at transforming specificity into universal lyrics. “Once you focus on one thing and one person, it actually recontextualizes everything else, and you realize that every detail is its own universe,” says Dacus, who recently revealed that she and her boygenius bandmate Julien Baker are in a relationship. She then quotes a line she read in one of Susan Sontag’s journals: “Love is noticing.”
With Forever Is a Feeling marking Dacus’ major-label debut on Geffen, the singer’s new music is striking a chord with mainstream listeners. “Ankles,” the project’s exhilarating lead single, earned Dacus her first solo entries on the Adult Alternative Airplay and Rock & Alternative Airplay charts. “She writes songs that are potent and timely but will endure for years to come,” says Matt Morris, executive vp of A&R at Interscope Geffen A&M. “The success of ‘Ankles’ at radio is a very deserved accomplishment for an artist who has already been so influential and continues to break new ground with this album.”
The set also finds Dacus continuing to evolve as a producer, after she recently helmed singer-songwriter Jasmine.4.t’s debut, You Are the Morning, alongside her boygenius bandmates. “A lot of [producing Jasmine’s album] was about advocating when it comes to being less experienced in the studio,” she explains. “It’s about helping develop a language and asking folks, ‘What do you want? Here’s how to say it.’ I want to continue to help hold the emotional space of saying, ‘Do us the favor of being a control freak.’ ”
Meredith Jenks
That experience speaks to Dacus’ larger goal of late: using her newfound platform to create good. Shortly after the Trump administration began rolling out its anti-trans policy agenda, Dacus took to her social media and called for any of her trans fans hosting fundraisers for gender-affirming surgeries to share their campaigns so that she could donate $10,000 in $500 increments to those in need of help.
There’s a reason Dacus made that pledge in public. “Ten thousand dollars is not that much in the grand scheme of things,” she says. “But I wanted there to be a list of links on my profile so that if anybody else wanted to do what I was doing, then they could scroll through and donate as well. If other people are jumping in, then that can really matter.”
It’s that sense of renewed purpose that shows how far Dacus has come as a leading voice in rock — even if, as she points out, she is the “guinea pig” of the boygenius bandmates as the first of the trio to release a solo project since The Record.
“I feel really gratified when putting my albums out means something to someone else,” she says with a warm smile. “I wouldn’t do this if it didn’t matter to some people.”
Lucy Dacus photographed on March 5, 2025 in New York.
Meredith Jenks
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
“I consider a hit song one that my 3-year-old knows,” Meghan Trainor says. The 31-year-old pop star and mother of two sons, Riley and Barry, says that her first-born has been jamming to Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” lately and also loves Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus. When her own breakout single, “All About That Bass,” reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014, she noticed that the song connected with both young children and adults. “So if I get kids involved in my songs as well as adults, I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s a hit,’ ” she says.
A decade removed from “All About That Bass,” a body-positive doo-wop riff that went viral years before TikTok, the former best new artist Grammy Award winner has fashioned a career as a chart stalwart with all-ages appeal. After her first two albums, 2015’s Title and 2016’s Thank You, produced six top 20 hits on the Hot 100 combined, Trainor spent the rest of the decade releasing one-off singles and collaborations, dabbling in film and TV projects and starting a family with her husband, actor Daryl Sabara. She returned to the Hot 100 in 2022 with “Made You Look,” which spawned a widespread dance trend online and peaked at No. 11, and “Criminals,” from her 2024 album, Timeless, reached the chart last year after serving as the theme song to the hit Netflix drama The Perfect Couple.
Trending on Billboard
Next on the to-do list for Billboard‘s 2025 Women in Music Hitmaker? Two more kids (“There’s so many dudes here — I want a baby girl”) and, maybe, leveraging her music career into a big-screen debut. “I want to be in a rom-com and then write the song for it,” she says. “Who do I have to talk to?”
Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.
Which of your own hits sticks with you the most?
I love the reactions I get from the audience. There’s nothing harder than when you’re onstage and you’re a songwriter and you’re like, “You don’t know this one?!” And when they do, you see me call out people who know every word. I know “Me Too” is always going to be fun. I know “Lips Are Movin’ ” is always going to be a blast.
BUNDÏ top and bra.
Munachi Osegbu
When you’re in the studio, do you think about what the potential hits will be?
Usually when I’m writing an album, I’ll have one song that’s my favorite and I’ll say, “This is the top girl. This is how I want the entire album to sound like and we need to beat her.” For [the 2022 album] Takin’ It Back, I had “Don’t I Make It Look Easy.” “Made You Look” came after, and every day we just tried to beat it.
Why do you think the TikTok audience loves you so much?
My songs are really hooky. My main thing when I’m trying to write a song is I want you to be able to sing the melody by the second chorus. I think my stuff was just catchy enough that [TikTok users] could use the sound or make a simple dance to it or have fun and show something. I’ve noticed “Made You Look” still being used to sell products. I’m like, “That’s my song!” I still freak out.
Annakiki top, Michael Ngo skirt, Silent Opus jewelry.
Munachi Osegbu
Hearing new artists like Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, what do you think a hit sounds like now?
I need you to answer this for me, Sir Billboard, because I’m literally about to start my next album. There’s so many open lanes. Chappell and Sabrina are bringing instruments in and beautiful melodies and taking risks. What Doechii is doing — she’s just changing the world through art and [her] talent is thriving. Going into my next album, I’m nervous but also excited because there’s no more rules.
Is there something to be said about writing for yourself versus working with others?
I love learning from others. I always [say], “Please put me in a room with a better tennis player than me so I can learn more about tennis.” And sometimes going into a session with new people is scary. It’s like blind dating. And then you have to go, “Let’s try to create magic together.” My goal on this album is to find as many writers I love that I can collaborate with. I love Daniel Nigro. I want to work with him so bad. If you’re reading this, that’s my dream. And Andrew Watt. Andrew, pick me, choose me, love me. We would do something magical.
Munachi Osegbu
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
In 2019, Priscilla Renea’s solo career was stalled. She had released an album in 2009, and when it didn’t chart, she had turned to songwriting. Her second album, released in 2018, also failed to make much of an impact. So, Renea decided, a rebrand was in order.
For her new moniker, “I picked Melrose at first. That was terrible, a very short phase,” the 36-year-old recalls with a laugh. “Then I quickly settled on [the word] ‘money’ and went through a few last names like Money Jones, Money Smith. But when I heard the 2 Chainz lyric ‘hair long, money long’ [from 2012’s “I’m Different”], I was like, ‘Whoa. That’s it.’ ”
Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.
Two years later, the artist now known as Muni Long hit the jackpot. Her seductive smash “Hrs and Hrs,” initially featured on her 2021 EP, Public Displays of Affection, went viral on TikTok and became the then-indie artist’s first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart. In February 2022, it peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 — and helped her land a contract with Def Jam Recordings (through her own imprint, then called Supergiant, now rechristened Muni Long Inc.). In September 2022, the hit appeared on her debut set, Public Displays of Affection: The Album, and won the artist her first Grammy Award, for best R&B performance, at the 2023 ceremony. At the 2025 awards, she won the same Grammy trophy for “Made for Me (Live at BET)” — and declared onstage during her acceptance speech, “Please stop calling me Priscilla… It’s Muni Long now!”
Trending on Billboard
Born and raised in Gifford, Fla., Priscilla Renea Hamilton wrote her first song at age 8; at 21, she signed a contract with Capitol. But when her 2009 debut album, Jukebox, didn’t chart, she pivoted to writing — and amassed a string of impressive co-writing credits for Rihanna (“California King Bed”), Kelly Clarkson (“Love So Soft”), Ariana Grande (“Imagine”) and Pitbull (“Timber”). As Christopher “Tricky” Stewart — the Grammy-winning hit-maker who executive-produced Muni Long’s Grammy-nominated 2024 album, Revenge — puts it: “She’s a professional song assassin.”
Genny romper, Wolford tights.
Joelle Grace Taylor
But even with those songwriting successes, her second album as Priscilla Renea, 2018’s Coloured, also failed to gain traction. “I started writing songs to make money because I bought into the [idea of] ‘Well, if you write enough hits, then you can be an artist,’ ” Muni Long says. “I gave it my all… I did so much free work, got stolen from and taken advantage of so many times, so many bad deals. I’d also been the only Black person in the room writing all these pop songs for years. So I quit to focus on me… keeping these songs for myself.”
After her 2022 breakthrough, Long released “Made for Me” in 2023. Buoyed by a viral TikTok challenge and a remix with idol Mariah Carey, “Made for Me” peaked at No. 8 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 20 on the Hot 100. Two Adult R&B chart-toppers, “Make Me Forget” and “Ruined Me,” quickly followed. (All appear on Revenge.)
“She’s real — there’s no facade with her,” Def Jam chairman/CEO Tunji Balogun says. “In an era where things can sometimes feel forced or indirect, Muni is able to take personal experiences and write about them in a way that projects universally onto her fans. She’s just very unfiltered and people appreciate that.”
Dolce & Gabbana dress, On Aura Tout Vu cuffs and earrings.
Joelle Grace Taylor
The artist recently released a new single, “Slow Grind,” that she says is for an upcoming project she’s already working on: “It’s all songs to make love to; I’m a lover girl.” But Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music Rising Star honoree is also taking a moment to enjoy her long-awaited plaudits.
“There are things that you can’t viral your way, relationship your way or accolade your way into,” she says. “This award signifies to me that I’ve reached a place in my transition as an artist from trying and aspiring to now I am doing, I am becoming. And I only have further up to go.”
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Ángela Aguilar has a tangible presence — even over Zoom. It’s mid-February and the 21-year-old singer is all smiles, almost giddy, as she joins our call from Mexico City, where she’s hunkered down in a studio working on her next album. “You probably didn’t recognize me because it’s a new me,” she says, referencing the shoulder-length, soft chocolate brown style that has replaced her signature short bob. “I do miss being [The Incredibles character] Edna ‘E’ Mode,” she adds with a grin, “but I’m enjoying this new stage.”
The “new me, new stage” goes beyond the new hairstyle. Ángela, the youngest of the Aguilar dynasty — her father is música mexicana icon Pepe Aguilar, her grandparents legendary Mexican entertainers Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre — married fellow regional Mexican superstar Christian Nodal last July in an intimate ceremony in Mexico (a subject she prefers to keep private and not discuss during our interview), and for the first time, she’s producing her own music.
Trending on Billboard
“I doubted myself a lot because I had never [produced] before, but I’m figuring out what I want my sound to be,” says Ángela, whose father produced all of her previous albums, including her latest, Bolero, which was nominated for album of the year at the 2024 Latin Grammy Awards. “At the beginning I was scared, but now I know that this album is me. It’s also scary to think if it goes well, it’s because of me, but if it goes badly, it’s also because of me.
“This is the first time I’m doing everything myself,” she continues. “I’m taking care of the arrangements, choosing the songs, directing myself vocally.” And for this project, she’s especially focused on supporting other female talent. “Most of the songs on the album are written by Mexican women. It’s a full mariachi album, but it is a little bit different; it has a modern twist, some subgenres in mariachi that you are not expecting me to ever sing.”
Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.
While this may be her first time flying solo, Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music Breakthrough honoree has for a while been on a journey of self-discovery behind the scenes, carefully strategizing how she moves through a genre that has been historically dominated by men. “It’s been a process of trial and error,” she says. “I’m still figuring out who I want to be and what I want to say.”
Her father has consistently encouraged that process. “My dad is the biggest macho ever, but he’ll be like, ‘Vas mijita. You can do it.’ Or he’ll tell me, ‘You’re not singing good enough, you have to be better.’ It prepares you to take on the world.”
Pooneh Ghana
Ángela made her stage debut as a toddler when she joined Pepe at one of his concerts. Five years later, at age 8, she released her first album, a joint set with her older brother Leonardo Aguilar. The two later joined Pepe on back-to-back arena tours when he launched Jaripeo Sin Fronteras in 2018, honoring the jaripeo-style show — singing while riding horses — that their grandparents pioneered. Along the way, Ángela landed three No. 1 songs on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart and four top 10 hits on Latin Airplay, including her first No. 1 on that chart, “Por el Contrario,” with Leonardo and Becky G, last year.
“No one really asked me if I wanted to do this,” she says when reflecting on her start in music and her journey from child star to regional Mexican fixture. “It just happened and I’m happy it was that way. When you’re younger, you don’t realize how huge this is. I just thought it was fun getting to dress up and sing with my grandparents or dad and then everyone clapped for me. But when I was around 10 years old, I fell in love with performing and I thought, ‘This is what I’m here for.’ ”
With her grandmother’s vibrant falsetto and a mesmerizing, regal presence onstage, Ángela makes even the difficult skill of singing on horseback look effortless. As might be expected for someone from a family of born performers, she is extremely disciplined and has a strict routine: Besides training to sing on horseback, she sings while running or dancing to build her vocal projection and physical energy. But her diligence hasn’t stopped her talented family from giving her their opinion.
“It’s constructive criticism,” Ángela says with a smirk. “We don’t see each other as often so when we do, it’s like, whoa, they definitely catch me up on their feedback. I’m in the studio working on my new album and I showed my mom one of the songs — it was literally a demo on a voice note — and my mom was like, ‘You have to open your mouth when you sing because I don’t understand what you’re saying.’ And my dad is the same way. It really helps me. I don’t want people to tell me something is good when it isn’t. There’s a lot of yes men in the industry, so the best thing in the world is to have a whole family who is part of this artistic life.”
Pooneh Ghana
Her mother, Aneliz Aguilar, is also her manager, and has been pivotal in helping Ángela navigate the industry. “Having her by my side has saved me,” Ángela says. “She has taken care of me in this industry that is so difficult for young women, so difficult to have your voice heard. She’ll also ask how I’m feeling or if I’m emotionally prepared for something. I mean, she’s my mommy, I love to have her with me. From the dresses she would make for me when I was little to now showing me how to be a woman, I’ve learned so much from her.”
Mid-conversation, another important family member enters the screen. “Look at Gordo,” she says, picking up the family’s Instagram-famous 4-year-old pug. “He’s going to be a dad — my [other] doggie is pregnant, and she will have pugsitos with Gordo. I’m going to be a grandma.” (A couple of weeks after our interview, five adorable pugsitos arrive.) Then she adds with a shrug, “Actually, it’s weird because my dad says Gordo is my brother but he’s having babies with my dog, who is my daughter. I’m not sure what that makes me.”
But for now, figuring out this family tree will have to wait: Ángela is headed back to the studio to keep working on her new album. “I’m getting out of my comfort zone but still honoring my roots and traditions. I just turned 21, so it’s kind of like exploring where I want my career to take me.”
Pooneh Ghana
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Memphis-bred rap star GloRilla knows a thing or two about staging a comeback.
In 2022, she exploded into the mainstream with the Grammy Award-nominated, summer-dominating “F.N.F.” — and quickly followed it up with the Cardi B-assisted “Tomorrow 2,” which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became her first top 10 hit on the chart.
But 2023 proved to be a far cry from her triumphant rookie year. She kicked it off with the Moneybagg Yo collaboration “On What U On,” which stalled at No. 56 on the Hot 100 — and was her only release that year to even reach the chart. Everything she dropped bricked, whether it was the radio-ready “Lick or Sum” or her direct response to detractors, “Internet Trolls.” And that March, tragedy struck when three people died in a fatal crowd surge at her concert with Finesse2tymes in Rochester, N.Y. With her commercial pull waning, everyone on the internet (trolls and otherwise) seemed to agree: Big Glo had fallen off.
“2023 was an eye-opener for me,” the 25-year-old says. “I realized that I can’t take my foot off the gas. I didn’t know I was doing that, but I did. It was a reality check when I would drop music and people would hate it. Getting closer to God was one of the key things that helped me.”
Trending on Billboard
Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.
Born Gloria Hallelujah Woods, the eighth of 10 children, GloRilla grew up in the church. She sang in the choir and her mother only allowed gospel music in the house; as her taste evolved and she found a home in hip-hop, gospel music and its encouraging messages remained present in her raps — from 2022’s “Blessed” to “Rain Down on Me,” a gospel-rap track from Glorious, her 2024 debut studio album.
GloRilla also looked to Yo Gotti, the rap superstar and fellow Memphian who’s now her label head, as a mentor. Since Gotti signed Glo to his CMG Records imprint in 2022, the two have worked closely to hone her sound and image, taking her from viral breakout to presidential campaign surrogate (she performed at a Wisconsin rally for former Vice President Kamala Harris last fall). “Even with all the success and accolades, she’s still the same authentic and ambitious hustler that I met back in 2022,” Gotti says of Glo.
With the help of her CMG team, renowned choreographer Sean Bankhead and creative director Coco Gilbert, GloRilla spent late 2023 plotting the perfect road map to recapture her momentum. The plan worked: With her first release of 2024, the anthemic “Yeah Glo!,” GloRilla came out swinging. Arriving in February, the motivational anthem took over nightclubs, cookouts and locker room celebrations. The song topped Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay for two weeks and reached No. 28 on the Hot 100, then her highest peak for a solo single.
“To have that little break, come back with ‘Yeah Glo!’ and have it start going up on the first day [of release] — that was personal,” GloRilla tells Billboard in between rehearsals for her forthcoming Glorious tour.
“Yeah Glo!” was meant to introduce GloRilla’s debut album, but its runaway success significantly shifted those plans. “I felt like I had to build my momentum back, so that’s where the mixtape kicked in,” she explains. “We made that decision around the time ‘Yeah Glo!’ came out.” Ehhthang Ehhthang arrived in April and yielded another hit single, the Megan Thee Stallion-assisted “Wanna Be,” which later received a Cardi B remix and peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100. The week before, Megan had announced Glo as the special guest for her arena-conquering Hot Girl Summer Tour. Between Ehhthang Ehhthang and successful guest appearances on BossMan Dlow’s “Finesse” and Big Boogie’s “Bop,” GloRilla had become inescapable — and she hadn’t even launched her official album campaign yet.
While opening the Hot Girl Summer Tour in June, GloRilla released “TGIF,” which kicked her 2024 into an even higher gear. Within a week of the song’s release, Rihanna shared an instantly viral clip of herself adorably dancing and singing along to it. By February 2025, GloRilla became the first artist to simultaneously become a face of all four of Rihanna’s Fenty brands.
With Riri begging for an album in her DMs and Beyoncé posting pictures with her on Instagram, GloRilla had undoubtedly became the hottest woman MC in the game. As “TGIF” cemented her pop appeal, GloRilla kept her core audience fed — and reinforced her sound — with her feature on Real Boston Richey’s “Get in There.”
“Me and my team figured out the difference between a mixtape and album song: You just got to hear it,” she says. “My core sound is how [gritty] the mixtape sounded. When I went into album mode, I already had a lot of those songs before the mixtape — but I knew they weren’t mixtape songs.”
After months of recapturing and multiplying her momentum, GloRilla finally released Glorious in October. With collaborators ranging from Sexyy Red to Maverick City Music, Glo’s studio debut was a capstone on her massive year, earning the highest opening week total for an album by a female rapper in 2024 (69,000 units) for a No. 5 debut on the Billboard 200. Five of its songs landed on the Hot 100, including “Whatchu Kno About Me” (No. 17), which Taylor Swift later used to soundtrack an Eras Tour TikTok. “I was real excited about that,” Glo recalls. “Everybody was sending it to me — I was feeling like ‘that girl’ when she posted that.”
Now, after scoring three Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay No. 1 hits in under a year and being named Billboard’s Hottest Female Rapper of 2024, Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music Powerhouse is determined to deliver an impeccable show on her tour, which commenced March 5 in Oklahoma City and will play arenas and music halls throughout the United States.
“Even though I’m not as good at dancing, I’m getting better and I learn fast,” she says, noting that her tour prep playlist includes gospel classics like Yolanda Adams’ “Open My Heart.” “I learn about two new routines a day. I like helping out with choreography because I get to do what I’m comfortable with and showcase my vision.”
Still, GloRilla isn’t as concerned with being the best rapper alive as she is with her own consistent personal growth. “I have the desire to be the best me I can be,” she proclaims.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
“It’s beautiful, how I have nothing to lose,” Grace VanderWaal says. After winning America’s Got Talent as a precocious, ukulele-toting 12-year-old in 2016, VanderWaal was fast-tracked into a major-label pop career, which stalled following her 2017 debut, Just the Beginning.
Eight years later, VanderWaal, now 21, has prepared a very different follow-up: Childstar, out April 4 on Pulse Records. After releasing the single “Babydoll” last month, VanderWaal unveiled “Proud” on Friday (Mar. 21), as well as spring tour dates that kick off in Chicago on May 4.
Childstar is a concept album with dark edges that unpacks the uncomfortable truths of growing up in the spotlight — and provided some long-overdue catharsis. “I did whatever I wanted,” VanderWaal says, “and made something I was proud of.”
Trending on Billboard
When did you start working on Childstar?
A little more than a year ago, but I wrote the album stupid quick. That was unexpected, but I was at a point where, due to some trauma development, all of this s–t about my childhood started spilling out. It’s what my subconscious was doing, but I wasn’t mad at it. I thought it was raw and vulnerable, so I leaned into it.
On a song like “Proud,” you sing about seeking validation as a child and feeling controlled, and the listener can’t help but think about how your career began.
I wanted to talk about subliminal conditioning and how nothing is black and white. What makes something so complicated is when there’s no one to blame — that would be so easy. If you’re getting exposed to millions of people who are saying, “You’re great at this, you’re doing good,” while your brain is literally forming — of course there would be repercussions of that. But no one did anything wrong.
What made you partner with Pulse Records?
I brought the Childstar concept to every label you can imagine, and some people liked it and some people really didn’t like it. Then I went to Pulse, and they were the first ones to not only like it, but take it more extreme. I didn’t want to sign with people who would hold back an idea, but a lot of the art and visual ideas you see have been collaborative or fully from the Pulse team.
What would you tell longtime fans who are surprised by this album’s thematic focus?
I don’t know if they would be surprised. I think there’s a very small crowd that will feel like I’m stealing a narrative. As a child, I was very aware of the purpose that I served for people — I was this hope and happiness, this innocent angel. But it’s my story to tell, so whatever thoughts those people have, I don’t really care. I’m not a symbol for you.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Before her 2024 world tour had wrapped up, Tate McRae already had thoughts on how to level up her next live outing. “It’s a lot of back and forth and a lot of just brain dumping,” she says of her scattered ideating process with her creative director, Parker Genoway. “I come with a whole bunch of mood boards and random ideas… You dream as big as you can until you get the budget, then you have to narrow it down.”
Fortunately for McRae, that budget expanded, thanks to a massive first quarter of 2025. The 21-year-old singer’s So Close to What, her most mature and introspective album to date, arrived in February and gave McRae her first No. 1 entry on the Billboard 200, with 177,000 equivalent album units earned — which at the time was the largest debut week for a studio album by a woman artist in five months — according to Luminate.
Trending on Billboard
The chart-topping debut — along with a dozen Billboard Hot 100 entries from So Close to What and a high-octane performance of top 20 hit “Sports Car” on Saturday Night Live — helped cement McRae’s leap to pop’s A-list. It also set up her Miss Possessive arena tour, which began in Mexico City on March 18 and was followed by a handful of South American dates. She will head to Europe in May and will begin a North American run in Vancouver in August.
McRae pulled from a wide range of influences for her tour themes, including classic dance showcases. “It’s been really fun to dive into old musicals and old TV shows,” she says, “and bring out Fosse references and old Chicago references, and tap into that geeky musical side I think we all have.”
Meanwhile, Genoway — who collaborated with McRae on her Think Later tour and spearheaded her SNL and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon performances earlier this year — points to McRae’s “It’s ok I’m ok” music video as an example of the singer’s opposing aesthetics, showcasing the intersection of grungy and glamorous. McRae says, “I’m referencing rap shows, I’m referencing Kendrick [Lamar] shows, Post Malone shows, and then I want to feel like a glam pop girl. It’s finding a cool in-between.”
The new tour includes a “thrust stage” in the shape of a giant T, and there are also cranes involved. “You try to make people walk in and be like, ‘What are we looking at right now?,’ and create your own world in there,” McRae says. Genoway adds that McRae should “feel like she’s in the middle of everything” surrounding the show, which also includes a B-stage and a mix of stage elevations.
As for McRae’s dance skills, “[Her] technical ability is unmatched,” says Genoway, who works as part of Silent House Productions. “Tate levels everyone up who works with her. She’s going to be at rehearsals late at night and so are you. She’s going to work hard and so are you.”
And although McRae is playing her biggest venues to date, her preshow routine has remained consistent. “I always take one Grether’s Pastille and suck on it,” she explains. Prior to a group prayer and a moment of meditation, McRae will warm up her voice by performing the ad-libs to Rihanna’s “B—h Better Have My Money.” “My dancers probably think I’m f–king crazy,” she says with a chuckle.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Country music stardom wasn’t in Megan Moroney’s plans. Though she wrote her first song at age 19, Moroney studied marketing and accounting at the University of Georgia. But in the end, that turned out to be just the preparation she needed for a career in Nashville.
“I guess because I grew up thinking I was going to be an accountant, I didn’t know much about the industry and what rules I should even be following,” Moroney, 27, says today. “There is definitely a bit of, ‘I’m going to do whatever I want to do.’ ”
Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.
So just two months after the Georgia native released her debut EP, Pistol Made of Roses, independently in July 2022, she chose to put out another song not on the EP: “Tennessee Orange,” a ballad of a star-crossed romance between fans of two rival SEC football teams.
Trending on Billboard
At first, Moroney doubted her decision. “You spent every dollar that you have making this EP. Why would you release another song that’s going to take away from these songs?” she recalls thinking. But when Spotify offered to add a new song by Moroney to its Fresh Finds playlist — provided that she gave them one — the timing seemed perfect. “They are a huge platform, and that’s free marketing. Football season’s coming and I’ve got this football song. It made sense.”
That “football song” soared into the top 20 of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, and on the strength of that success, Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records signed Moroney in November 2022. With the labels’ help working it to country radio, “Tennessee Orange” reached the top five of the Country Airplay chart and has now been certified triple-platinum by the RIAA.
Selkie top, Nadri jewelry.
Tracy Allison
For the relatable songs on her debut album, 2023’s Lucky, and its follow-up, 2024’s Am I Okay? (which debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200), the self-described “emo cowgirl” drew on influences like John Prine and Emmylou Harris — but filtered them through the lens of a 20-something navigating life and love, such as on the mean-girl takedown “I’m Not Pretty” and the introspective “No Caller ID.” And Moroney’s marketing background keeps coming in handy: She’s connected with a wide audience thanks in large part to her innate branding acumen — using different colors to signify each new album era, for instance — and off-the-cuff use of social media.
“I like to create worlds around albums,” Moroney says. “I feel like my fans would be very upset if I didn’t continue that. I’ve been writing a lot, and I have a couple of colors in mind [for upcoming music].”
Last year, Moroney toured with Kenny Chesney and won two coveted industry honors: the Country MusicAssociation’s new artist of the year and the Academy of Country Music’s new female artist of the year trophies. And as she continues to amass commercial wins (her catalog has registered 2.1 billion official on-demand streams in the United States through Feb. 20, according to Luminate) and begins work on her next album, Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music Rulebreaker is still fearlessly following her creative impulses.
“I’m sure the next album will have a few emo cowgirl songs, but overall, I’ve been shocked at myself,” she says. “I’m still in the creative process, but it’s been happier than I thought.”
Dolce & Gabbana dress, Camila Cabello necklace, Nadri earrings and rings.
Tracy Allison
You have built a relationship with your fans through social media from the get-go. Why was that so important to you?
I think social media and the direct me-to-fan interactions is how it’s all blown up so quickly. I recently teased a song I had literally just written while I was in the islands. I was like, “I’m in the middle of the ocean and this song is such a vibe. I’m just going to post it.” Because I can share so much of my life and share songs quickly and react to what they like, I know what they like, so then I can put it out. And sometimes my life is just straight up boring, and I’m like, “Sorry, guys!”
How else have you broken rules in your career?
I’m definitely not putting myself in any kind of box. I love country music, and all the instrumentation [on my songs] is country, but I’m not just thinking about being in a field with trucks. With branding “Tennessee Orange,” I made the cover [art] on my phone. I have control of my social media. There is no “You should do this or you should wear this.”
Who, to you, has been a rule-breaker?
Artists that are true to themselves. Dolly [Parton] did her own thing. Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves — especially when Kacey was coming up, her songwriting opened the door for conversational, universal lyrics in country music. For me, that was the first artist where I’m like, “Can you say that in a country song? OK, cool. If she can say it, I can probably say it.”
Megan Moroney photographed on February 25, 2024 at The Paper House in Nashville. Selkie top and bloomer, Malie shoes and Nadri jewelry.
Tracy Allison
Last year, you performed with Tate McRae in Nashville. Do you feel a kinship with women pop artists?
The pop girls, I love their music. Tate and Olivia [Rodrigo] are amazing. I was so surprised, honestly, when I sang with Tate how much crossover our fans [have]. I was a little nervous to go out in front of Tate’s crowd. Even though it’s Nashville, I was like, “These people are going to be like, ‘Who is this girl?’ ” But fortunately, everyone freaked out, and so that made me happy.
For other artists who want to break rules, what advice do you have?
Trust your gut and make decisions based off you and your career alone. Don’t bring another artist’s success into how you think you should operate. It’s OK to take risks, too.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
When Jennie posted the long-awaited trailer announcing her debut solo album, Ruby, she was on a plane heading to London. “It’s hard for me to stay longer than a week in one city,” she confesses — while in the car en route to yet another flight (this time from Los Angeles back home to Seoul).
Jennie chose the commanding “Zen” to soundtrack the album’s January trailer, particularly highlighting the lyric “In the dark I grew,” a sentiment that echoes throughout Ruby. “To me, that song is the core of this album,” she says. “So it only felt right to begin this journey with it.”
The album, which is entirely in English and arrived March 7, was preceded by singles “Mantra”; “Love Hangover,” with Dominic Fike; and “ExtraL,” with Doechii; and its other features — including genre-spanning artists such as Dua Lipa, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis — further illustrate Jennie’s wide-ranging taste and global appeal. As a jet-setting artist with a devoted worldwide fan base firmly in place thanks to her role in history-making K-pop act Blackpink, Jennie is determined to build upon that on her own. (She released Ruby on her independent label, OddAtelier, in partnership with Columbia.) “It feels like my power as a superhero,” Billboard‘s 2025 Women in Music Global Force says. “It drives me to put more great things out there and work hard.”
Trending on Billboard
Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.
You already have a global fan base thanks to Blackpink. How did that benefit you on your solo journey?
If anything, I’m reintroducing myself to the world with this album. I’m throwing myself out there as if this was the very first time — that’s the commitment that I told myself. So I don’t think it changes so much for me.
You’ve adopted the middle name of Ruby Jane. How did that inspire the album title?
I was contemplating until the very end. I didn’t name [the album] Ruby because it’s a part of my name. To me, Ruby speaks to me as the curtain call of a play, where I’m opening this new chapter of… I don’t want to say new life; life is life, but a different stage in my life and I’m welcoming everyone in. I don’t necessarily see Jennie, Ruby, Jane as three different alter egos of mine. That’s just who I am, all in one.
Annakiki dress.
Songyi Yoon
You released a lyric breakdown of “Love Hangover” in Korean. Why was that important for you to do?
I love the fact that I’m Korean, so I’m just showing my appreciation and giving back the love that [my Korean fans] give me, and I wanted them to understand my music and myself better since this is an all-English album. And I know that they want to be more interactive with me in both languages.
What lyrics on Ruby best sum up how this journey has felt for you?
There’s a song that speaks to me in that sense called “Starlight,” and I think it’s a beautifully written song about how I felt for all this time. It’s a personal song.
Dua Lipa is featured on “Handlebars.” Tell me about that friendship.
I’ve known Dua for a very long time now. I went to her first show in Korea. We’re already good friends, [but] it was our first time doing a song together. That itself was a new experience for us to see each other in a different way, and we just had a great time.
Jacquemus top, David Koma pants, AREA hat.
Songyi Yoon
Between you two, who do you think travels more?
Honestly, we both work hard.
Behind the scenes, you have a strong team of women helping run your label. Why was that important to you?
I consider it to be important to work with people that you share good energy with, and I naturally started to gravitate toward empowering women. I’m still working hard to become one of those women that I look up to myself.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.