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Though becoming a stadium artist was a huge bucket list moment for Travis Scott in 2023, achieving such a feat with his children in attendance during his SoFi performance in L.A., a performance that was a part of his Circus Maximus Tour, was the real cherry on top. In his latest cover story with Billboard, […]
After making headlines with her critical acceptance speech at the 2025 Grammys, Chappell Roan is doubling down on helping up-and-coming artists earn a livable wage and affordable healthcare.
In a series of posts to Instagram Stories on Sunday night (Feb. 9), Roan continued the conversation about her speech, and called on music industry’s power players to invest more financial support into their artists. “Sharing my personal experience at the Grammys wasn’t meant to be a crowdfunded bandaid but a call to action to the leaders of the industry to step up, help us make a real change and protect their investments in a sustainable way,” she wrote.
The “Pink Pony Club” singer also continued to indirectly call out former music industry executive Jeff Rabhan, who criticized the singer’s speech in a blistering op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter. Rabhan referred to Roan’s call for change “wildly misinformed” and claimed that the singer was both “too green and too uninformed to be the agent of change she aspires to be today.”
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“My mind will not be changed about artists deserving more than what’s standard in the industry,” she wrote. “Random dudes are allowed to criticize my Grammy speech, but they best put their money where their mouth is, otherwise MOVE out the way.”
Roan and Rabhan previously traded public messages, with Roan calling for Rabhan to match her $25,000 donation to funding developing artists. Rabhan, in turn, replied that Roan should “stop dumpster diving” by criticizing his criticism, and instead should “act like the agent of change you say you want to be,” pointing out that the singer’s donation came after his critique.
In her posts, Roan also revealed the charity she was sharing her money with — Backline, a nonprofit that “connects music industry professionals and their families with mental health and wellness resources.” Specifically, Roan pointed to a fundraising initiative from the organization that is “supporting accessibility of health care for artists.”
However, Roan told her fans that she did not expect them to donate to these efforts — instead she pointed out that industry executives should feel compelled to donate to the organization. “Fans, y’all don’t have to donate a damn penny,” she wrote. “This is one of many opportunities for the industry powers to show up for artists. There is much more work to be done.”
For anyone questioning whether or not Roan herself shared such a donation, the “Hot to Go” singer concluded her posts with a screenshot of a confirmation email from Backline confirming her donation of $25,000 to their fundraiser. “Here,” she added.
Among those who shared their support for Roan were Noah Kahan and Charli XCX, both of whom pledged to match the singer’s $25,000 donation before her latest posts, with both artists posting since-expired posts to their Instagram Stories. “I’m inspired by you,” Kahan said of the singer. “Happy to get the ball rolling. Money where my mouth is.”
Ye appeared to sign off from X on Sunday (Dec. 9) following a days long spree during which he posted dozens of antisemitic, misogynistic and homophobic messages, culminating with the rapper sharing a string of uncensored clips from pornographic movies.
According to KTLA, West signed off with a final post on Sunday night — just a few hours after appearing in a cryptic ad promoting his Yeezy shoe brand during Super Bowl LIX — writing, “I’m logging out of Twitter. I appreciate [X owner] Elon [Musk] for allowing me to vent. It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board.” At press time it did not appear as if Musk had responded to West shutting down his account and it was unclear if the move was West’s choice or if the account had been suspended by X; a spokesperson for West had not returned Billboard’s request for comment at press time.
The sign-off came after West posted another shot at frequent target Taylor Swift, who attended the game to support boyfriend Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. “If its about the culture… why are we letting Taylor Swift be seen on TV singing a song about taking a Black man down and accusing of things that can take a Black man down for life,” West, 47, wrote in one of his all-caps missives.
He then lashed out at Lamar, issuing the latest in a four-day deluge of antisemitic slurs. “Kendrick is being used by these white people and Jews and so am I,” Ye wrote. In prior days, West had also expressed his support for disgraced Bad Boy Records boss Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is currently in jail without bail awaiting a May trial on racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution charges.
“@realDonaldTrump please free my brother Puff,” wrote Ye of the formerly high-flying rap mogul who is also facing dozens of lawsuits from men and women who claim he sexually and physically assaulted them and forced or coerced them into sexual activity over the past 25+ years, accusations Combs has denied.
Ye’s comments also included repeated attacks on the Jewish people via stereotypes and antisemitic language, jokes about the disabled, homophobic slurs and a double-down on his praise for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (“I love Hitler”) and the statement “I’m a Nazi.”
The hate-filled posts drew alarm from the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, who said in a statement that it was, “Another egregious display of antisemitism, racism and misogyny from Ye on his X account this morning. Just a few years ago, ADL found that 30 antisemitic indents nationwide were tied to Kanye’s 2022 antisemitic rants. We condemn this dangerous behavior and need to call it what it is: a flagrant and unequivocal display of hate.”
Ye also referenced Twitter/X owner and unofficial White House advisor Elon Musk’s repeated use of a Nazi-like salute at an inauguration event for Donald Trump last month, which was widely criticized; while not disavowing directly that the gesture was similar to the Nazi salute, Musk responded to critics at the time by saying they “need better dirty tricks.” “Elon stole my Nazi swag at the inauguration… yooo my guy get your own third rale,” Ye wrote on Friday, adding, “I can say Jew as much as I want. I can say Hitler as much as I want.”
Ye was kicked off X (then still known as Twitter) in October 2022 for antisemitic posts, then briefly reinstated in November of that year and re-suspended in November after he posted an image of a swastika intertwined with a Jewish star. Musk reinstated West’s account eight months later.
The manic posting spree, which at times found West firing off dozens of all-caps tweets per hour, prompted former Friends star David Schwimmer to ask Musk on Saturday to ban Ye from the platform. “This is so 2022. We can’t stop a deranged bigot from spewing hate filled, ignorant bile… but we CAN stop giving him a megaphone, Mr. Musk,” the Jewish actor, 58, wrote on Instagram. “Kanye West has 32.7 million followers on your platform, X. That’s twice as many people than the number of Jews in existence. His sick hate speech results in REAL LIFE violence against Jews.”
Following Schwimmer’s comments, Ye posted on X that Musk had unfollowed him. “Elon unfollowed me so I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be on twitter / X If I’m taken off go to,” he wrote. Last week, Ye’s hate posts were amplified by white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who wrote “we’re back” in response to one of the rapper’s tweets, in which he wrote, “all you pleeeeease come at me… that’s who we spot the k–ns… let these white people and Jewish people tell you what to do and say.”
Ye’s barrage of hate speech was capped on Sunday by a string of posts featuring scenes from uncensored porn films, as well as some that appeared to target singer Cassie, who dated Combs for a decade. Cassie alleged in a since-settled lawsuit that she suffered years of rape and repeated physical abuse at Combs’ hands, including allegations that he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he watched; Diddy has denied those, and dozens of other allegations of abuse.
“When I [sic] man truly loves a woman he may express it in rage I empathize with both sides,” West wrote in the since deleted tweet alongside an image of Diddy and Cassie screenshotted from a video of Combs assaulting the singer in a hotel hallway. He doubled down on the misogynistic comments by appearing to downplay the seriousness of Cassie’s charges of intimate partner violence.
“Hey, question if someone were to beat up their girlfriend in public, would that be considered domestic violence, or is that outdoor violence, or is it just public indecency? … I’m just asking for a friend,” Ye wrote. The rapper was also reportedly selling a sweatshirt on his Yeezy site similar to the one Cassie was wearing in the widely seen 2016 assault video that he was calling “The Love Hoodie,” in seeming reference to Combs’ nickname “Love.”
At press time, however, it appeared that the only item for sale in the Yeezy store was a white t-shirt featuring a swastika.
Rema announced on Monday (Feb. 10) that he’ll be embarking on the Heis World Tour this spring. The 23-date jaunt will begin on April 11 at the Edmonton Expo Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, includes his debut performance at both weekends of Coachella, and stops by major international arenas such as London’s O2 Arena and […]
Donald Trump became the first sitting President to attend a Super Bowl on Sunday (Feb. 9), when he watched two quarters of the Philadelphia Eagles’ dismantling of the Kansas City Chiefs on their way to a decisive 40-22 victory. The second termer also became the first commander in chief to post a nasty taunt of […]
Before becoming a Billboard Hot 100-topping singer/songwriter, Teddy Swims was dominating in a different arena: the football field. But just like Zac Efron’s High School Musical character before him, Swims had to take a break from sports to follow his musical dreams.
On the next episode of Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals web series, premiering Tuesday at 6 a.m. ET, Swims sits down with host Josh Scherer to eat their way through some of the musician’s all-time favorite foods and talk about his life story. When Scherer compared Swims’ teen days growing up in Conyers, Georgia, to High School Musical — in which Efron’s Troy Bolton is the basketball star who harbors secret musical aspirations — Swims immediately related to the Disney analogy.
“I call myself the fat Troy Bolton, you know?” Swims laughed. “I wanted to quit football to do music, focus on theater. I remember my mom was so bummed out about it. She had [saved] all my stuff, all my trophies … since 6 years old. She was like, ‘Baby, we’re a football team. We’re a football family. Why would you do this to us? We’ve always done football!’ She was so confused. I just told her, ‘I want to do music. I really like music.’”
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His mom’s mind changed when she saw him onstage for the very first time. “I remember her coming to my first performance. We did this show called Damn Yankees, and I had, like, all of two lines in it. As soon as it got done, I remember her coming to me and saying, ‘Baby, I’m so sorry. This is where you belong. You’re a superstar.’ It just flipped. Just watching me onstage, it just flipped it upside down for her.”
Last month, Swims shared the news via Instagram that he’s expecting his first child with his partner, fellow musician Raiche Wright, and he sees fatherhood as an opportunity to revisit the world of sports.
“We’re gonna get back on that field,” he tells Scherer. “I just want to be the coach of something. Hopefully I’m gonna have a son and I can coach a football team. I want to do the Snoop Dogg, like, youth league Netflix series. That’s what I’m trying to do eventually: Teddy Swims little league, and like coach my son. Hopefully I get that opportunity. Maybe a daughter wants to play football, or maybe I’ll do the Teddy Swims cheerleading league … chess league. Whatever they’re into, I’m into.”
Teddy Swims released his second studio album, I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2), on Jan. 24 — debuting atop Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart and at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 — ahead of his Feb. 2 performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards, where he was nominated for best new artist.
Father John Misty had a timely reaction to Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance on Feb. 9, which happened to coincide with the 10th anniversary of his second studio album I Love You, Honeybear.
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The singer-songwriter, born Josh Tillman, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Feb. 9 to acknowledge the moment with a dry, understated jab. “Had to do his super bowl performance today of all days nice,” he wrote, referencing Lamar’s blockbuster set.
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The timing of Lamar’s high-profile performance was particularly on brand for Tillman, who has joked about his albums frequently dropping in the same years as Lamar’s.
In response to a fan pointing out the pattern, he previously noted, “It’s okay only other times it’s happened was 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2022.”
The playful back-and-forth between the two artists resurfaced in November when Lamar surprise-released GNX on the same day as Tillman’s Mahashmashana. Misty responded by posting a mock “diss track” titled “God’s Trash” on Instagram, featuring parody cover art inspired by Lamar’s recent diss records aimed at Drake.
The I Love You, Honeybear anniversary wasn’t just marked by social media quips. The album, originally released in 2015, was praised upon arrival for its satirical, deeply personal take on love and existentialism. It debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 and became a defining release of the indie-folk singer’s career. To celebrate its milestone, Misty recently announced a remastered reissue, set for release on Feb. 14.
Meanwhile, Lamar’s Super Bowl set was widely discussed for its inclusion of his Grammy Award-winning “Not Like Us,” the Mustard-produced track that became a viral cultural moment in 2024.
His halftime performance also made headlines when Serena Williams joined him onstage, dancing to the song’s most cutting lyrics—fueling further speculation about the ongoing tensions between Lamar and Drake, who is currently in Australia for his Anita Max Win Tour.
Misty and Lamar both remain booked and busy this year. The former Fleet Foxes drummer will hit the road for a UK and Ireland tour in June and August, making stops in Liverpool, Nottingham, Leeds, Glasgow, and Dublin. Lamar, on the other hand, is gearing up for a North American tour with SZA, set to take place this spring.
Canadian rocker Bryan Adams’ sold-out show at Perth, Australia‘s RAC Arena was unexpectedly canceled on Sunday night (Feb. 9) after a massive fatberg—an accumulation of fat, grease, and rags—caused a significant blockage in the city’s sewer system.
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The unforeseen issue led to water overflow near the venue, making it unsafe for concertgoers to attend.
Fans were left waiting outside the venue for hours as updates trickled in. Initially, the delay was attributed to a leak in the septic tanks, but at around 9 p.m.—the time Adams was scheduled to take the stage—officials confirmed the show’s postponement.
“Last night’s concert could not proceed due to an external Perth Water Corporation issue, which was unable to be fixed in time. The issue, which impacted all of Wellington Street, meant that it was deemed unsafe for patrons to enter RAC Arena,” Frontier Touring said in a statement. “Tickets will be automatically refunded in full (including refundable ticket purchase, if relevant) to the original payment method used for purchase and patrons do not need to take any action.”
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“Patrons should allow approximately 30 business days for the refund to appear in their account. (Please do not contact Ticketek regarding your refund.)”
“The cancellation of show is bitterly disappointing, and we thank fans for their understanding that while every effort was made for the show to proceed, this matter was outside of the control of Bryan Adams, Frontier Touring and RAC Arena.”
The Water Corporation, which manages Perth’s water and sewage systems, confirmed the blockage was due to a fatberg. CEO Pat Donovan explained the situation to 6PR on Monday morning: “I assure you that our people worked really hard to clear a large blockage, which is called a fatberg, in one of our key water mains under Wellington Street.”
He added that while alternative solutions, such as transporting the wastewater away, were explored, officials ultimately concluded they would not be able to keep up with the needs of 16,000 attendees inside the venue.
Adams, who is in Australia as part of his So Happy It Hurts tour, is set to continue with scheduled performances in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne later this week.
While Adams himself has yet to publicly comment on the incident, the unexpected cancellation will undoubtedly go down as one of the most bizarre reasons for a postponed arena show in recent memory.
Drake’s Anita Max Win Tour in Australia continues to generate headlines Down Under, and his first Melbourne show at Rod Laver Arena on Feb. 9 was no exception.
Midway through the set at Rod Laver Arena on Feb. 9, the Canadian rapper surprised two audience members with a combined $50,000 in cash gifts during his performance. The moment, which was caught on video that has since circulated on social media, occurred when Drake spotted a sign in the crowd that read “Adonis for President,” a reference to his seven-year-old son.
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“You’re showing a lot of love to my son,” he told her. “On behalf of me and Adonis … we’re going to give you 25 grand for your family.”
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To another fan whose sign read “Kiss me, it’s my birthday”, the rapper said, “I can’t really see you from here… It’s a tough read on the kiss, but what I am gonna do is I’m gonna give you 20 grand and I’m gonna pay for a birthday dinner for you and all your friends.|
“And if you want, you can come back to the show again. Both of y’all, if y’all want, we’ll get you tickets,” he told both lucky fans.
“Australia, I love y’all. Melbourne, this is real love,” Drizzy added.
Later in the show, the “Energy” hitmaker told fans: “It really touches my heart that—through all of that, you still take your hard-earned money, and you spend some of that money on tickets to this show to see this kid from Canada get up here and talk s–t. I really appreciate you. I would be nothing without you.”
These moments follow similar instances earlier in the tour. At his Perth show, Drake handed out another $40,000 to fans in the crowd.
“Put the light on this family right here… For both of y’all, I’m gonna give you $20,000 each to go wherever you want in the world because that’s what we do out here in Perth,” he said as per The Music. “You gotta show love… You see, it’s nights like these that we can never take for granted; it’s 14,000 people inside one building, and we all got here safe.”
He continued, “I pray to God that you’re healthy; I pray to God that you’re happy, but I promise you that everybody in this room is not happy. There’s a lot of people in here that might be going through some shit, you know, it might be a f—d up time for you.
“Maybe you don’t get treated right by your parents or your boss, or maybe you don’t have that many friends. Maybe your boyfriend is f—-d up; maybe your girlfriend is a little toxic; you never know what the next person is going through, so this is what I want you to do… I want you to turn to somebody that you don’t know, and I just want you to give them a hug [and] say something nice to them.”
Prior to his first official concert in Perth, he also made an appearance at Melbourne’s Maison Batard’s Le Club, performing a surprise 90-minute set featuring deep cuts such as More Life’s “Do Not Disturb.”
Musically, the Anita Max Win Tour showcases a broad range of Drake’s catalog, blending chart-topping hits with fan-favorite deep cuts. His Melbourne setlist included tracks such as “Hotline Bling,” “Rich Baby Daddy,” and “Jimmy Cooks,” alongside earlier classics like “Marvins Room” and “Over.”
The production features an expansive floating catwalk stage that spans the arena, allowing for an immersive experience. His entrance at the Perth show, where he walked through a cloud of smoke wearing a hoodie adorned with bullet hole graphics, immediately sparked speculation among fans regarding its intended symbolism.
Drake’s Melbourne performance took place one day before Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, during which the Grammy-winner performed “Not Like Us,” the viral Mustard-produced track widely believed to be a diss toward Drake. The moment, which featured guest appearances from SZA, Serena Williams, and Samuel L. Jackson, quickly became a focal point of online discussion.
Despite the ongoing discourse surrounding Lamar’s performance, Drake remains focused on his tour, with upcoming Anita Max Win Tour dates in Sydney and Brisbane through March. Beyond his Australian tour, Drake’s upcoming collaborative album with PARTYNEXTDOOR, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, is set for release on Valentine’s Day.
Over the weekend, he teased a new track, “Crying In Chanel,” sharing a clip of PARTYNEXTDOOR in front of a wedding chapel while the song played. “Shorty right here crying in the middle of Chanel,” Drake sings in the snippet. “Are those tears of joy? I can’t tell.”
$ome $exy $ongs 4 U marks another chapter in Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s decade-long musical partnership, which began with 2013’s “Over Here” and through hits like “Recognize” and “Loyal.”
02/10/2025
From the superstar’s most fleet-footed moment to an unexpected stage crasher, these in-stadium moments were missed by the millions of TV viewers.
02/10/2025