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TETRIS KELLY: Ice Spice is Billboard’s newest cover star! The ‘Princess of Rap’ opened up about some of the biggest collaborations in her career so far, making TikToks with Kim Kardashian’s daughter North West and more! Ed Sheeran discusses the ‘Thinking Out Loud’ copyright trial and reveals that it caused him to miss his grandmother’s funeral. We are breaking down what fans should expect from the Academy of Country Music Awards tonight. And more!
I’m Tetris and let’s get into today’s top story. Beyoncé kicked off her Renaissance World Tour in Sweden last night and we’ve got to talk about it. Beyonce performed a three-hour set and her first show in Stockholm comprised of 40 songs. Noticeably missing from the setlist: ‘Single Ladies’, ‘If I Were a Boy’, and ‘Halo,’ but she did sample my girl Britney with a little ‘Toxic’. I won’t spoil too much of the show. You can see all the videos online for that but Bey did post the highlight reel showing the high tech extravaganza. I mean, she brought out a giant mirrorball covered horse. Oh yeah, and she flew across the crowd on a horse a la Donna Summer. See you in September, Bey!
From a Queen to a Princess. Let’s check out our new cover star, Ice Spice. “I did manifest being successful. I would always be on Google as a kid and looking up how to be rich. And like careers that pay the most. So like growing up, I was like, okay, should I be a doctor? Or should I be a lawyer? You know what I’m saying? I just wanted to make a lot of money, but I just love music. So I guess that’s how it just fell into place.
ICE SPICE: “I love the Princess label. I feel like I let the fans pick that one. Because I didn’t like claim her until I saw like all my supporters being like ‘she’s the People’s Princess. She’s Princess Diana.’ At first I was confused. I was like, Oh, Princess Diana, like out everybody? But I was like she’s iconic. So yeah, Princess Diana it is.
“I’ve been a fan of Nicki my whole life. I feel like I was always manifesting like working with her and meeting her one day and stuff like that. So, I mean, I guess it’s just perfect timing.”
TETRIS: I feel like I need to meet Ice Spice. But I also need to hang out with Ed Sheeran, because he can teach me some things about music.
ED SHEERAN: “This is my, like, livelihood. And this is a thing that I’ve worked my entire life to do, and to have someone like disbelieve it and diminish it and just say that you’ve stolen it. I really felt like I had to take a stand and go to it.”
TETRIS: Ed Sheeran spoke out, saying he felt he had to take the stand during his copyright trial when he stopped by the ‘Howard Stern Show’ on Wednesday. The singer songwriter showed the radio host the mix of songs he played for the jury all using similar chord progressions.
Ed said there was 101 songs they found with similar chord sequences going back as far as the 1700s. He ultimately won his case and doubled down saying if he lost, he would have quit music
Now let’s talk to one of Billboard’s best about what’s going down in country. Country stars descend on Dallas tonight for the Academy of Country Music Awards. Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton take the stage together to host one of country music’s biggest nights, and Billboard’s Executive Editor for Nashville, Melinda Newman, fills us in on what to expect.
MELINDA NEWMAN: One of the biggest things people are looking forward to for tonight at the Academy of Country Music Awards is Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks are co-hosting. Dolly has hosted before but Garth has never hosted an awards show. So, you have arguably two of the biggest stars in the world hosting this event together and they’re longtime friends so it should be very fun to see how they interact with each other.
TETRIS: Morgan Wallen had to pull out of performing due to vocal issues. But who are some of the big performers we’re expecting to see tonight?
MELINDA: The good news is the show was so packed full with performances that they’re not even scrambling to replace him. Earlier, today they announced that Ed Sheeran will be performing so it will be Ed’s first performance since he won his landmark court case. And then there are also a number of performances that people are looking forward to including some collaborations like Carly Pearce and Trisha Yearwood. Ashley McBryde has got a whole bunch of people performing with her. Luke Combs is performing. You have artists who aren’t nominated showing up and performing just because it’s going to be a great evening.
TETRIS: Entertainer of the Year is ACM biggest award. Is there a clear front runner in that category?
MELINDA: This year, the ACM has expanded it from five nominees to seven but it’s a really tough slate. Even with the expansion, it’s hard to figure out who’s going to go home. But Jessica Nicholson, my colleague at Billboard, predicted Luke Combs will win.
TETRIS: Thanks, Melinda and good luck to all the nominees.
Now. I’m always down to learn some new slang and today I’m getting it from Evaluna.
EVALUNA: Hi, my name is Evaluna. And my favorite Venezuelan slang is ‘Cayendo y corriendo como la iguana.’ I don’t know why I love it. It means like, ‘we’re doing this fast.’ Like we got to, you know, to get there and we do our thing. When we leave. I just I love it. My mom always says like, “Okay, let’s go. Cayendo y corriendo.” Another word that I love is cónchale, which in Argentina might be a little weird, but I just say for everything. It’s like, “cónchale, man!” Like, “dang it!” And that was my favorite Venezuelan slang.
TETRIS: That’s the show. Come back tomorrow for our Tour Stop with ENHYPEN. plus all your new music. This is Billboard News.
Evaluna chatted with Billboard at Billboard Latin Women in Music and talked about some of her favorite Venezuelan slang! Hi, my name is Evaluna. And my favorite Venezuelan slang is Cayendo y corriendo como la iguana. I don’t know why, I love it. It’s just like it means like, we’re doing this fast. Like we […]
Ice Spice talks about some of the biggest collaborations in her career so far, working on ‘Princess Diana’ with her idol Nicki Minaj, how she teamed up with PinkPantheress for ‘Boy’s a Liar’ and the success of the song, making TikToks with Kim Kardashian’s daughter North West and more!
Luke Combs made his Billboard Hot 100 debut back in 2017, but in the six years since, the country hitmaker isn’t likely to be called a “pop star.”
That all might change, thanks to his new cover of Tracy Chapman‘s 1988 classic “Fast Car,” which is featured on his latest album, Gettin’ Old, and marks his very first song to cross over to the pop and adult contemporary charts.
This week, “Fast Car” debuts on Pop Airplay at No. 39, Adult Pop Airplay at No. 40, and Adult Contemporary at No. 30 — marking the first time the country star has appeared on any of those charts. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking all about the song’s longevity. We even get a little help from Billboard‘s own Gary Trust — who manages the Hot 100, Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts — to ask why he thinks the song is catching on with pop radio.
Listen to the podcast here:
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how SEVENTEEN, Eslabon Armado and Jack Harlow all debut in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and how Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” becomes the first song to concurrently be No. 1 on both the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 and the Country Airplay chart. Plus, we’re talking all about Taylor Swift announcing Speak Now as her next re-recorded album, and big news across the pond this week with Beyoncé launching her Renaissance Tour in Sweden and the Eurovision Song Contest kicking off in the U.K.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
The Weeknd wants to retire his alter ego, The Weeknd and is open to making music as Abel Tesfaye, the stars were out for ‘The Little Mermaid’ Hollywood premiere and Halle Bailey talks about playing the iconic role of Ariel, Colde, and RM top the Hot Trending Songs chart. Elena Rose tells us who she wants to be in her dream girl group and get to know Shenseea more on Billboard’s speed date!
An alleged fight between Chris Brown and Usher took place in Las Vegas. Morgan Wallen’s ‘One Thing at a Time’ continues to lead the Billboard 200 albums chart as SEVENTEEN, Eslabon Armado, and Jack Harlow debut in the top 10 this week. We are breaking down everything that happened at the first-ever Latin Women in Music. And more!
Joe Bonamassa is widely regarded to be one of the best blues musicians in the business. In 2019, a Guitar Player reader poll named him the top blues guitarist in the world — ahead of Eric Clapton, Derek Trucks and Buddy Guy. That respect has translated to a heavy touring schedule and a string of successful recordings. In April, Bonamassa reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart for an astounding 26th time with Tales of Time, a live recording of his 2021 album Time Clocks recorded last year at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.
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But the upstate New York native — a former child prodigy who opened for blues great B.B. King when he was just 12 years old — speaks with humility and admiration about his bandmates.
“[They’re] better than me — all of them,” he tells Billboard‘s Behind the Setlist podcast. Keyboard player Reese Winans “gets a standing ovation every night,” says Bonamassa before a recent concert in Charlotte, N.C. “He gets the biggest ovation of the night. He’s a living legend [who has] played with Stevie Ray [Vaughan] and Delbert McClinton. He’s a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee [as a member of Vaughan’s band, Double Trouble]. Every band has to have a Hall of Famer. He’s our’s.”
Guitarist Josh Smith is a “better player than I am,” he continues. “He’s killer.” He calls both drummer Lamar Carter (Raphael Sadie, Demi Lovato) and bass player Calvin Turner (Marc Broussard, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews) “amazing” musicians. Backup singers Jade MacRae and Danni D’Andrea, who have worked with Liam Gallagher and Prince, respectively, are “saints” for tolerating his singing voice, he says self-effacingly.
The great musicians tend to attract talented musicians to their touring bands. That gives Bonamassa a superb cast to help re-create his songs and transform the studio recordings for the live setting. “We have some fun with it,” he says. “Bring it up, bring it down. Like in the case of ‘Self-Inflicted Wounds,’ our great vocalist Jade MacRae takes a vocal solo at the very end and it brings the house down.”
Still, Bonamassa knows he’s the reason people buy tickets to his shows. “You’re never gonna see me go, ‘Well, I don’t really feel like playing guitar, and I’m just gonna let Josh take all the solos, or I’ll we’ll just we’ll just cut all the guitar, so I’m just gonna sing and play acoustic guitar.’ There will be a revolt, you know? There will be 2,500 people revolting tonight, leaving. And that’s because I know the audience. They want to hear a big guitar solo. So they want to they want to hear me shred over blues changes. And it’s something I get criticized for doing. But it’s also what people want to hear. I don’t question that.”
Bonamassa is currently on tour in Europe and will perform in Germany on May 5-6, Luxembourg on May 7 and France on May 10. He will play five dates in the U.K. from May 9-14 before returning to the U.S. to perform at the Capitol Theatre in Yakima, Wash., on May 26 and the Backroad Blues Festival with Kenny Wayne Sheppard in Bend, Ore., on May 27.
Listen to the entire interview with Bonamassa at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeart, Amazon Music or Audible.
Our ‘Global Powerhouse Award’ recipient Thalía talks about what the award means to her, how she got her start in music, paving the way for other women in the industry, her new album ‘Thalia’s Mixtape’, and more!
Get your tickets to Billboard’s #MujeresLatinas in Miami, for May 6th, and tune in to watch it on Telemundo on May 7th at 9PM/8C.
Jessie Ware had a straightforward goal with her new album That! Feels Good! (released April 28) – “The goal was to make people dance and make them feel sexy and romantic,” the pop singer-songwriter tells the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen to her full interview, below).
The new 10-track set, with production by Stuart Price and longtime collaborator James Ford, is a “delicious disco opus” and follows her warmly received 2020 album What’s Your Pleasure. The latter marked her highest-charting effort on the Official U.K. Albums chart (peaking at No. 3) and garnered Ware her first BRIT Award nomination for British album of the year.
“I wanted [the new album] to feel more live than What’s Your Pleasure?,” Ware continues, “but I still wanted there to be groove, and funk and soul dictating it – and elements of disco, of course. But to feel like a dance record, but a looser dance record, with a bit more color. That was the intention.”
So what’s changed for Ware in the nearly three years between What’s Your Pleasure? and That! Feels Good!? “I feel really centered and excited about putting music out,” she says. “I don’t kind of have that fear like I had before. What else has changed? The podcast [her hit show Table Manners, co-hosted with her mother Lennie Ware] has carried on. I’ve got another baby… I don’t know! I feel like a changed artist since the reception of What’s Your Pleasure?”
Ware will take That! Feels Good! on the road in the United States later this year, with a string of dates beginning in Chicago on Oct. 5. Before that, she’ll play the OUTLOUD @ WeHo Pride festival on June 2 in West Hollywood, Calif. in celebration of Pride Month.
Also on the new edition of the Pop Shop Podcast, we’ve got chart news on how Morgan Wallen continues to lead the Billboard 200 albums chart for an eighth week with One Thing at a Time, how Taylor Swift makes a splash on the list with a stunning 10 albums in the top 100 of the chart, and how for the first time ever, there are two regional Mexican songs in the top five (and 10!) of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Our “Agent of Change” recipient Goyo talks about what the award means to her, the state of afro-latina representation in latin music, what change looks like to her and more! Get your tickets to Billboard’s #MujeresLatinas in Miami, for May 6th, and tune in to watch it on Telemundo on May 7th at 9PM/8C.