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The NFL is standing by Bad Bunny as next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner, regardless of the controversy surrounding the decision.
While speaking to press on Tuesday (Oct. 21), the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell dismissed questions about whether the NFL would reconsider the selection of Benito to perform at the big game in February. “He’s one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world,” he said, according to CBS Sports. “That’s what we try to achieve.”
“It’s an important stage for us,” Goodell continued. “It’s an important element to the entertainment value. It’s carefully thought through.”
He also pointed out: “I don’t think we’re ever selected an artist without some blowback or criticism.”
The commissioner’s comments come amid backlash from certain people — primarily MAGA conservatives — who have taken issue with the choice of a Spanish-speaking musician to perform at halftime. President Donald Trump called it “absolutely ridiculous,” while White House advisor Corey Lewandowski said, “It’s so shameful they’ve decided to pick somebody who seems to hate America so much to represent them at the Halftime Show.”
The chart-topping singer-rapper — who is from Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States — has never indicated that he hates America. He has, however, expressed his hesitance to tour in the U.S. due to concerns that ICE might target his audiences, a fear that Lewandowski further stoked by adding in an October interview that immigration enforcement agents would be present at the Super Bowl.
“There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” the advisor said at the time. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you and apprehend you and put you in a detention facility and deport you.”
Turning Point USA, an ultraconservative youth organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk, also announced its intention to host an alternate halftime show out of protest.
But while there is a loud and vocal group speaking out against Bad Bunny’s appointment as 2026 halftime headliner, countless others — from Shaboozey to Jennifer Lopez — have shared how excited they are for Benito’s performance. Shakira also recently said, “It’s the perfect moment for a performance like this.”
She added in an interview with Variety, “I’m so proud that Bad Bunny, who represents not only Latin culture, but also how important Spanish language music has become on a global scale and how universal it has become, is getting to perform on the biggest stage in the world.”
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Kenshi Yonezu’s “IRIS OUT” tops the Billboard Japan Hot 100 for the fifth consecutive week, on the chart released Oct. 22.
The Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc theme continues to dominate streaming, video views, and karaoke this week, while hitting No. 3 for downloads, No. 7 for radio airplay, and No. 14 for physical sales. Points have declined in most categories except radio, which gained 159% from the previous week. Yonezu’s longest consecutive run at No. 1 to date was five weeks with “Lemon” in January 2019 (seven weeks at No. 1 in total). If “IRIS OUT” tops the overall chart again next week, it will mark his longest consecutive No. 1 streak yet.
Debuting at No. 2 is FRUITS ZIPPER’s “Hacha Mecha Wacha Life!” The lead track from the girl group’s fourth single “Hacha Mecha Wacha Life! / JAM” sold 381,464 copies in its first week, marking the group’s highest-ever first-week sales and earning them the No. 1 spot in physical sales. The track also placed at No. 43 for downloads, No. 38 for streaming, and No. 16 for video. FRUITS ZIPPER’s previous peak on the Japan Hot 100 was No. 1 with “Kawaiitte Magic,” making this their second entry in the top 10.
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At No. 3 is Yonezu’s “1991,” the theme song for the live-action movie 5 Centimeters per Second. The track moved 20,002 downloads in its first week, putting it at No. 1 for the metric, while also hitting No. 3 for streaming, No. 6 for video, and No. 9 for radio. Following at No. 4 is Yonezu and Hikaru Utada’s collaborative hit “JANE DOE.” This week, three songs by the J-pop hitmaker are charting in the top 5, and he also sweeps the top 3 spots on the streaming list.
At No. 5 is GNJB’s “Paranoid Rendezvous.” The seven-member boy band’s first single since signing with Universal Music launched with 234,269 copies — their highest yet — to hit No. 2 for sales, No. 28 for streaming, and No. 54 for radio.
In other chart news, RADWIMPS’ “World End Girlfriend,” from the band’s first album in four years called Anew, climbs 85-53 in its second week on the tally. Streaming for the track gained 171% and radio 111% week-over-week. Meanwhile, Fujii Kaze’s “I Need U Back” jumps 80-67 after the accompanying visuals premiered on Oct. 9.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Oct. 12 to 18, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
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This holiday season is about to be particularly golden. As announced Wednesday (Oct. 22), the singing voices behind KPop Demon Hunters girl group HUNTR/X will reunite on stage for iHeartMedia’s Jingle Ball 2025.
Though the trio consisting of EJAE, AUDREY NUNA and REI AMI has previously performed together on stage, their showcase at the annual 102.7 KIIS FM event will mark their first-ever live concert appearance. They join a bill that also features Alex Warren, Audrey Hobert, Conan Gray, Feid, Jackson Wang, Jessie Murph, The Kid LAROI, Leon Thomas, Renee Rapp and Zara Larsson.
This year’s Jingle Ball will ring in Christmastime at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Fans can purchase tickets to the event now on Ticketmaster.
The festive news comes as the momentum behind KPop Demon Hunters continues to ramp up. The group’s signature song, “Golden,” has spent a total of eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 so far, marking the first time an all-woman K-pop group has reached the chart’s summit. The Netflix film’s full soundtrack also reached the top of the Billboard 200.
In the movie, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA and REI AMI respectively sang for characters Rumi, Mira and Zoey, who form a fictional band called HUNTR/X that slays demons on the side. In the months since KPop Demon Hunters premiered in June, appetite for the three ladies’ music has only grown, leading to them making their real-life performance debut on The Tonight Show on Oct. 7.
Still, the question remains: Will there be a sequel?
“The sequel has not been confirmed,” REI AMI told Billboard in a recent interview. “We are, you know, looking forward, and we will know once we get that email.”
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Ed Sheeran is used to playing for tens of thousands of rabid fans in stadiums around the world. But how does his emotional music play in a New York classroom of third graders? Check out the latest episode of the heart-warming series Celebrity Substitute, in which Sheeran pops into PS20 in Brooklyn to teach students how to transform everyday sounds into fully fledged songs.
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Host Julian Shapiro-Barnum sits down with Sheeran in the Clinton Hills classroom’s small chairs to observe as the singer teaches his young charges about rhythm and sound using his trusty loop rig, even as Ed laments that perhaps he’s “not the best substitute teacher.” Or, he offers, maybe he is just that because, he recalled (before the students arrived), sometimes when a sub comes in you feel like, “‘f–k, you’re not my real teacher… don’t tell me what to do!’”
Well aware that he doesn’t command authority and is basically a big Pokemon-loving adult kid himself, Sheeran recalled the nasty names he got called in school, helping to prove Shapiro-Barnum’s credo that “weirdos make the coolest adults.” (See the full video below.)
After getting affixed with his official “Mr. Ed” sub name tag — and getting warned by teachers Mr. Chung and Mr. Hampton that his lesson plan was “ambitious” at best — Sheeran dug into his curriculum of teaching the importance of rhythm, finding your own sound and, most importantly, rehearsing.
Sheeran got right to work, playing his 2015 Billboard Hot 100 No. 15 hit “Photograph,” which was met with mixed reviews from kids who were fans, some who were not so much, and one girl who recalled seeing him in a book about Taylor Swift once, but having no idea why he was in it. “I like the music… a lot,” said one young man named Theo, who admitted that he wasn’t familiar with Sheeran’s ouvre, but does love soccer and had a friend who was the fastest player on his team before he moved to England.
After teaching the kids the basics of the waltz and 4/4 rhythms by noting that pal Swift’s “Style” is in 4/4 by clapping his hands in time, Sheeran set about making sure the kids were picking up what he was laying down by asking them to clap their hands and stomp their feet at the same time in rhythm.
One-by-one the students came up to the mic to say silly phrases that Sheeran looped together to form a rhythm, earning praise from the teachers for his pedagogical skills. Busting out a box of instruments that turned the room into a riot of noise, Sheeran then encourage each student to share their unique sound into the mic, from saxophone bleats to fart sounds.
The 15-minute clip ends with a command Show & Tell performance of “The PS20 Kids and the Morning Routine” original song about brushing your teeth which is guaranteed to be the cutest thing you see all day.
Watch Sheeran on Celebrity Substitute below.
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Lizzo is facing a copyright lawsuit over her “I’m Going Til October,” a track she teased on social media to poke fun at Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad controversy but never actually commercially released.
The case, filed Tuesday by a group called GRC Trust, claims that Lizzo’s provocative song (also known as “Good Jeans” in reference to the Sweeney debacle) stole material from an earlier track called “Win or Lose (We Tried),” which appears to have been recorded by the soul singer Sam Dees.
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Obtained by Billboard, the lawsuit is light on details – claiming Lizzo’s track “incorporates, interpolates, and samples instrumental and vocal elements” without more specifics. But it pointedly says that reps for the star have “acknowledged” that the materials were used.
The case is notable because Lizzo never formally released the song in question. Though she teased a snippet on TikTok, the star has not included it on any formal release, including her June mixtape My Face Hurts From Smiling. Her long-awaited next studio album, Love in Real Life, was scheduled to drop at some point in 2025 but she said last month she’s unsure if or when it will be released.
Posting a song featuring an uncleared sample on social media would still count as copyright infringement; but the stakes would be lower, because it would be harder to prove that Lizzo made substantial profits without actually selling the allegedly infringing song. Such pre-release disputes are more typically handled with private negotiations rather than full-blown lawsuits.
In a statement to Billboard, Lizzo’s reps said: “We are surprised that The GRC Trust filed this lawsuit. To be clear, the song has never been commercially released or monetized, and no decision has been made at this time regarding any future commercial release of the song.”
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The American Eagle ads, launched in July under the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” sparked criticism that they were an allusion to eugenics and white supremacist ideals. That then prompted a right-wing backlash defending them and mocking the critiques.
In her August video on TikTok, Lizzo can be seen washing a Porsche while wearing a denim top. The clip features a snippet from “Going Til October,” in which the star raps: “No kizzy, he ain’t got no business being with me. Fat ass pretty face with the titties. Bitch, I got good jeans like I’m Sydney.”
While Tuesday’s lawsuit claims that snippet used material from “Win or Lose,” it doesn’t explicitly specify who wrote or recorded that track. But it appears to be the 1995 song recorded by Dees, which repeatedly features the lyric “win or lose we tried.” In an earlier sampling suit against Ye (formerly Kanye West), GRC Trust brought similar infringement allegations over another track by Dees.
The copyright case is the latest legal headache for Lizzo. In 2023, she was hit with a bombshell lawsuit from three former dancers (Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez) who claimed they had experienced sexual harassment and a hostile work environment while working for the superstar. The case, which also included allegations of weight-shaming, racial and religious discrimination, remains pending amid a lengthy appeal.
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Shakira is ready for Bad Bunny to headline the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show — but she says the Puerto Rican superstar should have been tapped for the gig a long time ago.
When asked about the news that Benito will perform at the big game in February during a Variety interview published Tuesday (Oct. 21), Shakira replied, “It’s about time!”
“I’m so proud that Bad Bunny, who represents not only Latin culture, but also how important Spanish language music has become on a global scale and how universal it has become, is getting to perform on the biggest stage in the world,” she continued. “It’s the perfect moment for a performance like this. I can’t wait to watch it.”
Benito previously performed on the Super Bowl stage as a guest artist alongside joint headliners Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. They performed part of their set in Spanish, which Shak told the publication was a “bold move” at the time.
“Acceptance of Spanish-language music as part of the mainstream has come so far from when I started,” she added. “I hope and like to think that all the times my music was met with resistance or puzzlement from the English-speaking world before it was embraced, helped forge the path to where we are now.”
It’s true that millions of fans are excited to see Bad Bunny perform at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., next year, but his appointment as Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner has also received backlash — primarily from political conservatives, who take issue with the fact that the singer-rapper’s music is all in Spanish. President Donald Trump called the choice “absolutely ridiculous,” White House advisor Corey Lewandowski claimed Benito “hates America” — despite the fact that the musician is an American citizen — and Turning Point USA announced plans to host an alternate, MAGA-approved halftime program.
But, as Billboard‘s chief content officer of Latin/Español Leila Cabo pointed out, there is nothing inherently political about the selection of Bad Bunny for halftime. “As those of us who speak Spanish daily can attest, many still look down on Spanish as a language, and definitely on the people who speak it,” she wrote in a recent op-ed. “Let’s acknowledge that having Bad Bunny headline the Super Bowl is a bold choice — but let’s also be real about the reasons.”
Shakira’s latest interview comes amid her 30th anniversary celebrations of her album Pies Descalzos, as well as the 20th anniversary of Oral Fixation, Vol. 1. Elsewhere in her conversation with Variety, she shared which Gen-Z star she’d love to collaborate with on a reimagined version of one of her Oral Fixation tracks.
“I would love to hear Chappell Roan on ‘La Pared,’” she said. “I think she would do an incredible rendition. Her voice and her artistry are incredible.”
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, visit the event’s website.
Trending on Billboard Benson Boone is preparing to blast off for one of the most exciting shows of his career. On Nov. 29, the “Mystical Magical” singer will perform as part of Visa Live at the Rocket Garden, a one-night-only special event at the Rocket Garden at Kennedy Space Center visitor complex in Merritt Island, […]
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An explosion of urban and flamenco sounds from artists including Chilean Katteyes and Los Ricos, and an unexpected birthday celebration from Argentine singer Yami Safdie sealed the “Latin Music Week Opening Night Showcase” presented by Boombastic at Miami’s MAD Club Wynwood on Monday night (Oct. 20).
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The showcase that kicked off the week of the prestigious annual music industry gathering also featured Asturian Mateo Eraña with his folk-rock offering, singer and actress Yas Gagliardi with her pop ballads, Puerto Rican GALE with her enchanting electropop and Argentine Luck Ra with an exciting fusion of trap and cumbia. In addition, the show also spotlighted one of the newest urban music stars, Puerto Rican J Álvarez.
GALE performs at the Billboard Latin Music Week 2025 Opening Night Showcase presented by Boombastic at Mad Club Wynwood in Miami on October 20, 2025.
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Yami Safdie was surprised by the event organizers, who brought her a cake for her 28th birthday. The emotional moment also included a duet between Safdie and her colleague and compatriot Soledad, with whom she performed “Alma, corazón y vida” (Soul, Heart, and Life) by the composer of the Creole waltz Adrián Flores.
The event was hosted by Bröther, the Argentine musician, producer, DJ and founder of Bresh, the global phenomenon known as “The Most Beautiful Party in the World,” who livened up part of the evening and the breaks between performances with a lively mix of the best of current Latin music.
Another surprise came with the presence of Puerto Rican urban music star Álvaro Díaz, who was seen among the VIP guests.
Spanning more than 30 years, Latin Music Week is the single-most important and largest gathering of Latin artists and industry executives in the world. This year’s star-studded lineup includes: Aitana, Alofoke, Anuel AA, Bebeshito, Carlos Vives, Carín León, Danny Ocean, DJ Khaled, Daddy Yankee (DY), Emilia Mernes, Ivy Queen, Gloria Estefan, Grupo 5, Kapo, Laura Pausini, Luck Ra, Netón Vega, Olga Tañón, Óscar Maydon, Ozuna, Pablo Alborán, Rawayana, Suzette Quintanilla, Tokischa, Xavi, and Yailin La Más Viral, among many others.
Latin Music Week also coincides with the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, set to air Thursday, Oct. 23, on Telemundo and Peacock, where Bad Bunny will be honored as Top Latin Artist of the 21st Century.
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here.
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Last week, Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop team shared our nominee predictions in three of the five R&B categories for the 68th annual Grammy Awards: best R&B performance, best traditional R&B performance and best R&B song. Here, we’re going to forecast which projects are most likely to make the cut in the best R&B album category.
Recent best R&B album winners include Jazmine Sullivan (Heaux Tales, 2022), Robert Glasper (Black Radio III, 2023), Victoria Monét (Jaguar II, 2024) and Chris Brown (11:11 [Deluxe], 2025). Before we predict the five nominees for the 2026 Grammy derby, which will be presented Feb. 1, here’s a quick refresher regarding the Recording Academy’s category definition for best R&B album.
It’s been four years since the Grammys’ best contemporary R&B album category was discontinued and its name changed to best R&B album. The revamped category brought together albums featuring infusions of contemporary hip-hop and those featuring more traditional R&B leanings under one roof. According to the academy’s current rulebook, best R&B album — vocal or instrumental — “recognizes artistic excellence in albums of R&B music.”
This year’s crop of R&B albums represents a diverse range of styles, long-anticipated returns and breakthroughs by a mix of established and rising stars — including several prior Grammy winners and nominees.
Among the long-anticipated returns is that of Teyana Taylor. Winning raves for her role in the Leonardo DiCaprio thriller One Battle After Another, she elicited strong buzz this summer for her BET Awards performance of “Fire Girl” and “Long Time.” Those songs plus the single “Bed of Roses” are from her anticipated first new album in five years Escape Room.
Another long-awaited moment arrived this year with the release of Justin Bieber’s seventh studio album SWAG. While one of its notable tracks, “Yukon,” is entered in the R&B category, the album is instead among the pop vocal album entries. This calls to mind the 2020 Grammys when Bieber questioned his Changes album being placed in the pop category versus R&B.
On the breakthrough front, one of this year’s heralded arrivals was Ravyn Lenae with the R&B/pop crossover lead single “Love Me Not,” alongside another popular track “Love Is Blind” — both from her critically acclaimed sophomore set Bird’s Eye. Her album, however, isn’t eligible for a nod as it was released Aug. 9, 2024, and the eligibility period for the 68th annual Grammys was Aug. 31, 2024-Aug. 30, 2025.
Additional artists who received attention this year include Alex Isley (WHEN), Thee Sacred Souls (Got a Story to Tell) and Eric Benét (The Co-Star).
So now let’s have a drumroll, please, as we share our fearless forecast of who will comprise the five slots when the best R&B album nominations are revealed on Nov. 7.
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The crowd at M2 in Miami didn’t need warming up — they were already lit by the time Anuel AA took the stage for Billboard En Vivo on Tuesday night (Oct. 21).
The Latin trap pioneer, arriving just before midnight, wasted no time proving why he’s built a reputation as one of the genre’s most dominant players. Backed by booming production, he charged through a whirlwind set that doubled as both nostalgia and foreshadowing, nodding to past hits and his forthcoming Real Hasta la Muerte 2 album — teased via silver-font graphics glimmering behind him.
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Striding onstage with all the swagger fans expect, Anuel AA sported a black leather jacket and jeans, a gem-encrusted baseball cap and sunglasses that shielded his face — not that he needed to make eye contact to hold the crowd. And, in keeping with his bad-boy persona, a red cup for sippin’ rarely left his hand as he launched into the opening number, “Reloj” — the Rauw Alejandro-collab hit from 2020.
But Anuel did not lean solely on smash singles. Half of his power lies in his ability to explore outside the mold, pushing through reggaetón into dancehall and Latin trap without losing command of the audience. A standout song was “Delincuente,” a head-boppin’-inducing interpolation of Chaka Demus & Pliers’ 1992 hit “Murder She Wrote,” originally also starring Ñengo Flow and Tokischa. Anuel, however, flipped the track on its head, rapping his own bars in their place.
The pacing shifted midway through when he delivered “WYA Remix Black and Yellow,” a slow-burning cut packed with glossy collaborations from Pirlo, Blessed, J Abdiel, and iZaak. While iZaak didn’t appear alongside Anuel during the track, the former artist had already prepped the crowd earlier that evening during his 9 p.m. opening set with serenely smooth vocals. Donning baggy blue jeans, a matching vest, and a silver chain, iZaak pulled fans into his orbit with his heart-on-sleeve delivery of the same remix, setting the tone for the meticulously curated lineup ahead, while performing other songs.
Then came FloyyMenor, who tore through his signature hits like Billboard No. 1 hit “Gata Only” and the Chilean reggaeton cut “Peligrosa.” His set leaned heavily into Y2K aesthetics with throwback visuals of old-school headphones and early cell phones looping overhead as choreographed dancers flanked him. Dressed simply in a black bomber and flashing a colossal gold chain, Floyy commanded the room during his 20-minute set.
The Billboard En Vivo event was part of Latin Music Week, the largest gathering of Latin artists and industry executives in the world. Latin Music Week also coincides with the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, set to air Thursday, Oct. 23, on Telemundo and Peacock, where Bad Bunny will be honored as Top Latin Artist of the 21st Century.
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information click here.
