Music News

17 May 2024

Which Performance at the 2024 ACM Awards Was Your Favorite? Vote!

From the red carpet fashion to the emotional acceptance speeches, this year’s ACM Awards were full of memorable moments. But the highlight of the show was arguably the star-studded lineup of performances, from Dua Lipa‘s surprise cameo with Chris Stapleton to host Reba McEntire‘s blazing closing number.

Lainey Wilson opened the show — which was produced by Dick Clark Productions — with a cover of “God Blessed Texas,” a fitting tribute given the ceremony’s location in Frisco, Texas. Billboard‘s latest cover star went on to sing her new single “Hang Tight Honey,” just hours before she won entertainer of the year later in the night.

Trending on Billboard

The ceremony also featured knockout showcases from Jelly Roll — who went on to take home music event of the year for his “Save Me” collaboration with Wilson — as well as Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert and Thomas Rhett. Several notable duets also took place on the 2024 ACMs stage, with Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani appearing for a husband-wife duet of their song “Purple Irises” and Noah Kahan joining Kelsea Ballerini for a joint performance of “Stick Season” and “Mountain With a View.”

Plus, Stapleton took the entire world by surprise when Dua Lipa joined him onstage for a duet of his Higher track “Think I’m in Love With You.” Later, the country crooner told Billboard that the performance came together in just two days, while the “Levitating” singer revealed that “lots of zip-up hoodies and running in and out of the arena” were involved in keeping their rehearsals secret.

Which performance at the 2024 ACM Awards was your favorite? Vote for your top pick below!

DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldridge. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.

17 May 2024

Joshua Bassett Announces Debut Album ‘The Golden Years’: Here’s When It Arrives

Joshua Bassett is going for gold. After years in the music industry, the 23-year-old singer-songwriter has finally announced that his debut studio album The Golden Years is arriving this summer.

Sharing a teaser video for the project, Bassett simply wrote via Instagram on Friday (May 17), “THE ALBUM. THE GOLDEN YEARS. JULY 26.”

In the clip, the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series alum shoots the single artwork for The Golden Years‘ title track, which also dropped Friday. In jeans, a denim jacket and white tank top, Bassett frolics through a grassy meadow, lit by the sunset.

“If I would’ve known those were the golden years/ I would’ve held you longer that night when you kissed me goodbye through your tears,” he sings on the soft rock number, which plays in the background of the teaser. “If I would’ve known those were the golden years/ I would’ve never left you alone when you needed me most, my dear.”

Trending on Billboard

The new album will follow a string of singles from Bassett, including last year’s “Just Love” and 2022’s “Different” and “I’m Sorry.” In 2022, he released the EP Sad Songs in a Hotel Room.

The announcement comes about two weeks after the singer/actor teased “The Golden Years” in a viral TikTok, in which he sang along to a snippet of the track on the beach. At the time, many commenters speculated that the regret-filled lyrics were about either Olivia Rodrigo or Sabrina Carpenter, both of whom he’s been romantically linked to in the past.

See Bassett’s announcement — and stream “The Golden Years” — below.

17 May 2024

How to Watch EDC Las Vegas 2024 Livestream

Tonight, one of the world’s major destinations for dance music, EDC Las Vegas, begins at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The three-day festival, produced by Insomniac Events, famously begins each day at sunset and then goes until dawn, with performances from several hundred DJs filling the nocturnal hours in between.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

If you can’t get to Vegas to get your rave on, fret not. EDC Las Vegas 2024 is streaming online for free all weekend via the Insomniac YouTube page and the Insomniac website.

Starting at 6:30 p.m. PT Friday, four separate livestreams will be available from four of the festival’s biggest stages: the house and techno-oriented NeonGarden, the bass-focused BassPod, the genre-spanning CircuitGrounds and its always larger-than-life main stage KineticField.

Trending on Billboard

The livestream will feature by performances by DJs including John Summit, Mau P, Kayzo, Jessica Audiffred, Benny Benassi and many more. Sets can also be heard on the Insomniac app or via the Insomniac Radio website.

A representative for Insomniac Events tells Billboard that more than a million unique viewers from around the world tuned in to the 2023 EDC Vegas livestream. The festival itself expects roughly 175,000 attendees per day on site at the Speedway. Many of the world’s biggest DJs are playing the festival, with Four Tet, Peggy Gou and hard techno star Sara Landry all making their EDC Las Vegas debuts this weekend.

The festival hosts artists across nine stages total, a few of which will be moved this year in order to create larger dancefloors and better crowd flow.

17 May 2024

Cassie Ventura’s Husband Speaks Out After Diddy Hotel Video Surfaces: ‘Men Who Hit Women Aren’t Men’

Cassie Ventura‘s husband, model Alex Fine, has spoken out after a video of Sean “Diddy” Combs appearing to physically assault Ventura — whom the hip-hop mogul dated on and off for 11 years — surfaced online Friday (May 17).

Shortly after CNN posted the 2016 security surveillance clip — in which Combs appears to shove Ventura to the ground, kick her several times and drag her down a hallway during a hotel stay — Fine shared a Notes app screenshot of a self-written statement beginning with, “Men who hit women aren’t men.”

“Men who enable it and protect those people aren’t men,” the message continued. “As men violence against women shouldn’t be inevitable, check your brothers, your friends, and your family … To all the women and children, I’m sorry you live in a world where you’re not protected, and you don’t feel equal.”

Trending on Billboard

Fine added: “To the abusers, you’re done, you’re not safe anymore.”

“Wrote this awhile back but the words ring true not just today but everyday,” the fitness entrepreneur captioned his post. “I want my kids and every kid to live in a world that’s safe for women and girls, protects them and treats them as equals. To the women and children, you’re not alone, and you are heard. if you need help call the domestic violence hotline at (800) 799-7233.”

Fine and Ventura married in 2019, and have since welcomed two children. The contents of the video mirror an assault allegation the “Me & U” singer made in a now-settled lawsuit she filed against Diddy in November, in which she also alleged one instance of rape and another instance of Combs forcing her to have sex with male sex workers while he masturbated.

“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs,” said Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, in a statement sent to Billboard shortly after the clip went public. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”

Since Ventura filed her lawsuit late last year, Combs has been hit with four additional sexual misconduct lawsuits. In November, the mogul stepped down as chairman of his digital media company Revolt before reportedly selling his stake in the company in March. Also in March, federal agents conducted raids of Combs’ L.A. and Miami homes “in connection” with a federal sex trafficking investigation, according to CNN.

Combs has strongly denied all allegations of sexual assault made against him. “Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged,” he said in a statement posted to social media on Dec. 6. “I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

See Fine’s post below.

17 May 2024

Dan + Shay Give Justin Bieber Fatherhood Advice at 2024 ACM Awards: ‘You Gotta Learn As You Go’

As a dad of three, Shay Mooney has had well over 10,000 hours of practice at fatherhood. And in an interview with Billboard on the Winner’s Walk carpet at the 2024 ACM Awards Thursday (May 16), the Dan + Shay band member passed on a little bit of sage advice to one of the duo’s past collaborators: Justin Bieber, who recently announced that he and Hailey Bieber are expecting their first child.

“You gotta learn as you go, you obviously pick things up as you go,” said Mooney, who shares sons Asher, Ames and Abram with wife Hannah Billingsley. “Justin, if you’re watching this, you’re gonna do just fine. You’re a good man.”

Trending on Billboard

“It’s gonna be awesome, I’m excited for them,” the singer added of his and bandmate Dan Smyers’ “10,000 Hours” duet partner. “It’s a new journey, and they have a lot of great people around them. I’m proud of him.”

The awards show — where Dan + Shay won the prize for duo of the year — comes just over a week after the Biebers revealed that they’re expanding their family. Hailey debuted her baby bump with the “Peaches” singer in photos taken at what appeared to be a vow renewal ceremony, posted by the Rhode founder on Instagram May 9.

Since then, the model has shared more photos of her bump and revealed her biggest pregnancy craving so far: pickles topped with egg salad and hot sauce. “No, you’re not allowed to judge!!” she wrote on Instagram Stories earlier this week, sharing a photo of the concoction.

Mooney and Smyers are currently closing out their first season on The Voice. They pair make up the first-ever coaching duo on the show, where they serve on the panel alongside Reba McEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper.

“I’ve enjoyed genuinely getting to work with the artists, really digging in,” Smyers told Billboard of their time on the series. “There’s so much thought that goes into the songs. Trying to give those artists their best shot, ’cause that’s an amazing moment for them.”

17 May 2024

Lupe Fiasco Announces New Album, Debuts New Video for ‘Samurai’

Lupe Fiasco is set to drop his follow up to 2022’s Drill Music In Zion as he links up once again with longtime producer Soundtrakk for a full project.

Samurai has a release date of Friday, June 28 and features only eight tracks; a rarity in the age of music streaming. Today he released the lead single “Samurai” and its accompanying video. Soundtrakk’s production is refreshing as Lupe posts up in Chicago’s Ping Tom Memorial Park to give us some elite “battle raps.”

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Lupe explained the album title in a press release, saying “The word ‘samurai’ means to serve. My relationship to that word has always meant that you need to be at the service of other people, either in the overall community, or in this instance, the rap community at large that I’ve been a part of for years.”

Trending on Billboard

If you’ve followed Lupe, you’d know he practiced various forms of martial arts and sometimes posts video of himself practicing kata and sword techniques.

Lupe has also been teaching the course ‘Rap Studies’ at MIT in Cambridge, MA since 2022, and has also since been made a fellow at Yale, sharing his unique perspective on the industry at large. This album is also the first project since 2007’s The Cool that Lupe and his mentor/business partner Charles “Chill” Patton have worked on together. Chill was serving a prison sentence since 2007 and was finally released in 2023 after 16 years.

“It felt great to be back in the studio again as a family,” the rapper noted. 

Check out the album artwork and tracklist below:

Lupe Fiasco 'Samurai'

Lupe Fiasco ‘Samurai’

Courtesy Photo

  1. “Samurai”
  2. “Mumble Rap”
  3. “Cake”
  4. “Palaces”
  5. “No. 1 Headband”
  6. “Bigfoot”
  7. “Outside”
  8. “Til Eternity”

17 May 2024

Taylor Swift Releases Limited Edition ‘Tortured Poets’ Albums Featuring First Draft Voice Memos

With her latest deluxe edition of The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift — aka the Chairman — is showing fans what some of the album’s songs sounded like before they left her desk.

The pop star unveiled three limited versions of her new album Thursday (May 16), featuring three first draft voice memos of “The Black Dog,” “Cassandra” and “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” The finished versions of the songs already appear on the 31-track anthology version of Tortured Poets, but the new audio notes show listeners what they sounded like midway through Swift’s writing process.

The digital copies are available for $5.99 each on the “Fortnight” singer’s website. The sale ends Friday evening (May 17).

Trending on Billboard

The drop comes amid Tortured Poets‘ third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, where it demonstrated the largest streaming week ever recorded since the chart first started measuring by units in December 2014 upon its debut. The album has also broken several other records since it dropped April 19, including her own previous benchmark for single-week vinyl sales.

Last week, Swift resumed her global Eras Tour, playing her first set of concerts since releasing Tortured Poets in Paris. While there, she debuted several new numbers from the album — including “Down Bad,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” and “So High School” — which she’ll continue performing at each of the remaining stops on the trek, including this weekend’s shows in Stockholm.

The new Tortured Poets set earned praise from many Swifties, as well as Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce. “It is absolutely unbelievable,” the Kansas City Chiefs tight end said on a recent episode of his New Heights podcast. “I enjoyed every bit of it … I don’t know if they’re just getting better or if I just keep forgetting how they are. It was electric in there. Paris was on a whole other level.”

17 May 2024

Diddy Appears to Assault Then-Girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016 Video

A 2016 surveillance video appears to show Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel, mirroring an assault allegation Ventura made in a now-settled lawsuit she filed against the hip-hop mogul in November.

In the video, obtained by CNN and dated March 5, 2016, Combs appears to shove Ventura to the ground near an elevator bank, kick her several times while she lies on the ground and drag her down a hallway.

Trending on Billboard

After briefly dragging Ventura down the hallway, Combs, wrapped only in a bath towel, appears to release his grip. Ventura is then seen standing up before gathering some of her things from the floor and moving toward a phone in the hallway near the elevators. Combs can then be seen returning and appearing to shove Ventura. Just seconds later, he sits in a chair, grabs something off of a table and appears to throw it at her. He then walks away before turning toward Ventura once more, just as one of the elevator doors opens and someone is seen walking out.

“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs,” said Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, in a statement sent to Billboard. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”

A representative for Combs did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.

Ventura sued Combs on Nov. 16, 2023, claiming that he repeatedly physically abused her over the course of a decade, including one allegation of rape when she tried to leave him in 2018. She also accused Combs of forcing her to have sex with male sex workers while he masturbated. In a statement at the time, Combs’ attorney, Ben Brafman, said the hip-hop giant “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,” alleging that Ventura had made a “persistent demand” of a $30 million payout in the six months leading up to her lawsuit. Ventura’s lawyer responded by disputing Brafman’s claim, saying that Combs instead offered Ventura “eight figures to silence her and prevent the filing of this lawsuit.”

The case, which was filed under a newly enacted law in New York that created a limited window for abuse survivors to take legal action over years-old accusations that would otherwise be barred under the statute of limitations, was settled the day after it was filed.

Ventura had an on-again, off-again relationship with Combs for 11 years until they split in 2018. In the lawsuit, she said she met Combs in 2005 when she was 19 and he was 37. After signing to his Bad Boy Records label, Ventura claimed that Combs “lured” her into a romantic relationship in which he “asserted complete control” over her life.

Since Ventura filed her lawsuit, Combs has been hit with four additional sexual misconduct lawsuits. In November, the mogul stepped down as chairman of his digital media company Revolt before reportedly selling his stake in the company in March. Also in March, federal agents conducted raids of Combs’ L.A. and Miami homes “in connection” with a federal sex trafficking investigation, according to CNN.

Combs has strongly denied all allegations of sexual assault made against him. “Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged,” he said in a statement posted to social media on Dec. 6. “I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

17 May 2024

Friday Dance Music Guide: The Week’s Best New Tracks From Peggy Gou, Bebe Rexha, John Summit & More

This week in dance music: San Francisco’s Portola festival announced a massive 2024 lineup, we looked at why artists are moving their TikTok remixes off of Spotify, Marshmello and Kane Brown made chart history with their track “Miles On It” becoming the first track to hot the top five of both Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and Hot Country Songs, Chicago announced citywide celebrations for the 40th anniversary of house music, Paramount+ announced that a documentary about the Nova Music Festival massacre will be coming to the platform and French electronic pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre performed with Queen’s Brian May in Slovakia.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

And of course, here are the best new dance tracks of the week.

Trending on Billboard

Peggy Gou, “Lobster Telephone”

Weeks ahead of the release of her debut album, I Hear You, Peggy Gou has delivered the project’s fourth single, “Lobster Telephone.” Gou’s favorite song from the 10-track album (according to a press release) the dreamy house production also function as the project’s spiritual and aesthetic center, fitting squarely in the wheelhouse of the album’s heavy ’90s dance music influence. In her recent Billboard cover story, Gou said that I Hear You (out June 7 via XL Recordings) will be a success to her if people listen to it and “get a feeling.” Emanating warmth, this one feels a lot like the summer season ahead.

Bebe Rexha, “Chase It (Mmm Da Da Da) “

Bebe Rexha debuted her latest track “Chase” last month at Coachella, and today delivers the song in its most fully realized format, via a slick (and quite sexy) racing-themed video filmed between the L.A. river and a mechanic’s garage. The clip features Rexha and a crew of dancers demonstrating the pop-lock-and-wiggle potential of the song, which was produced by Chris Lake and Sammy Virji (who released their own collaboration “Summertime Blues” late last month), along with Punctual and Marco Straus. This dance-focused project is no surprise, given that Rexha has one biggest dance hits of the last few years with her David Guetta collab “I’m Good (Blue),” which spent 55 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.

Shygirl feat. Danny L. Harle, “Encore”

“Buy a drink, take a shot/ Spill a bit/ Lick it up,” purrs Shygirl on her latest, “Encore.” The track whips up a spirit of hedonism with both these and other mature-themes lyrics in tandem with a thick, skittering electro production that’s well-matched with a music video capturing the type of late night behavior the song is designed to soundtrack and elicit. A collaboration with British producer Danny L. Harle, “Encore” comes from Shygirl’s forthcoming Club Shy Rmx EP, a collection of remixes of her 2024 Club Shy project by artists including VTSS, Logic1000, X-Coast and Fedde Le Grand. (Both projects are out via Because Music.) The London-based artist is on tour in the U.S. and Europe this summer and will go on the road with Charli XCX and Troye Sivan for their ravey 21-date Sweat tour starting in September.

John Summit & Sub Focus feat. Julia Church, “Go Back”

On his latest, “Go Back,” John Summit takes the progressive house style that’s coming to define his growing catalog and injects it with a dose of d’n’b via the help of U.K. genre star Sub Focus. Together, the guys — along with South Africa-born, London-based vocalist Julia Church — create a track with the same sort of ecstasy-laced emotiveness of other Summit hits like “Where You Are,” with this one getting a slightly harder, higher BPM treatment via a final third that’s fully dancefloor d’n’b. Out via Summit’s own Experts Only label, the song will surely be heard during his set EDC Las Vegas this weekend, with this stop coming amid a heavy summer tour schedule and a sold out show at Madison Square Garden on June 29.

Fatboy Slim feat. Dan Diamond & Luca Guerrieri, “Role Model”

The 500th release on Fatboy Slim’s Southern Fried Records is, appropriately, a Fatboy Slim track. Spicy and psychedelic in the style of any given Fatboy Slim set, “Role Model” is all scintillating percussion, cowbell, sirens and a tongue in cheek vocal from Dan Diamond about behaviors that could be considered role model material, depending on the type of person you are. Altogether, it’s high-quality dancefloor fare with an absurdist attitude, classic Fatboy Slim output. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Southern Fried Records was launched to release music by Fatboy Slim’s alias Mighty Dub Katz and over the years has released an eclectic mix of music by artists like Armand van Helden and Crookers.

17 May 2024

Billie Eilish Calls Ex Jesse Rutherford One of Her ‘Favorite People’ & Jokes She’s ‘Never Dating Again’

Things are all good in the (Neighbour)hood when it comes to Billie Eilish and Jesse Rutherford. The 22-year-old pop star has confirmed that she’s still friends with her rocker ex-boyfriend, whom she dated for about seven months in 2022 and 2023.

“That’s my guy, truly one of my favorite people in the world,” she said of The Neighbourhood frontman in a previously unpublished snippet from her April Rolling Stone cover story, posted by the publication for the first time Friday (May 17).

The “What Was I Made For?” singer went on to say that she doesn’t see herself romancing anyone else in the near future. “I plan on never dating again,” she joked. “That’s not true, obviously. But no, I don’t see myself being serious with anyone until I find someone that really feels right to me, and that is not interesting to me right now.”

Trending on Billboard

Eilish and Rutherford, who is 32, first sparked dating rumors in October 2022. They went Instagram official later that month, showing off their couple’s Halloween costume that seemingly poked fun at their age gap. (The two-time Oscar winner went as a baby, while the “Sweater Weather” singer dressed as an old man.)

In May 2023, a rep for Eilish confirmed that the couple had broken up in a statement to Page Six. “We can confirm Billie and Jesse did split amicably and remain good friends,” it read. A rep for Rutherford later confirmed to Billboard, noting, “All cheating rumors are false. Both are currently single.”

The newly published interview snippets come on the same day Eilish released her third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, a 10-track set produced by the star’s older brother and longtime collaborator, Finneas. The “Lunch” singer also told the publication that she almost called her LP Patheticville — based on a quote from Mindy Kaling’s character in The Office — before the sibling duo settled on a title inspired by the name of a synth instrument in Logic Pro.

“I just thought that was awesome, and we laughed and we wrote it down,” said Eilish, who previously sampled a piece of dialogue from the Steve Carrell-led show in her 2019 track “My Strange Addiction.” “Then there’s a couple more that we thought of and nothing was really sticking, but I knew it would come. It always comes.”