Music News

06 May 2024

Lana Del Rey Announces First-Ever U.S. Stadium Headlining Gig

If you’ve seen Lana Del Rey headline a festival then you are aware that the singer draws a massive crowd. That truth will be told again on June 20 when LDR headlines her first-ever U.S. stadium show at Boston’s iconic Fenway Park.

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The show announced on Monday morning (May 6) is a one-night-only affair that comes after Lana crushed it at this year’s Coachella following a sold-out amphitheater run and a two-night run at Mexico City’s Foro Sol last summer where she played to 65,000 each night.

Tickets for the Fenway show will be available starting with an artist presale on Wednesday (May 8) starting at 10 a.m., with the general onsale kicking off on Friday (May 10) at 10 a.m. local time here.

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LDR hung around the Indio Valley after Coachella to make two unannounced appearances at the Stagecoach Festival, last weekend. While there, she joined Paul Cauthen on stage for a moving rendition of “Unchained Melody,” the classic ballad that became an iconic hit for the Righteous Brothers in 1965.

Del Rey, who is prepping a country album called Lasso, sang “Unchained Melody” last year for NBC holiday special celebrating the legacy of Elvis Presley, Christmas at Graceland and Cauthen previously covered the song with masked country crooner Orville Peck, with the pair calling themselves The Unrighteous Brothers.

That unexpected treat came after Del Rey invited a surprise guest up during her second Coachella weekend on April 19 when Camila Cabello popped up to sing her frenetic new single, “I Luv It,” as LDR momentarily ceded the spotlight to the former Fifth Harmony star and her backup dancers. “I luv it, I luv it, I luv it, I luv it,” Del Rey sang to Cabello after she closed the song. “This is my girl. I have so much fun with her. I love this song to death. Thank you so much, angel, for coming to sing with me,” Del Rey told Cabello.

At press time no support acts had been announced for the Fenway show.

06 May 2024

Drake Dissects Kendrick Lamar & Clears the Air With ‘The Heart Part 6’: Listen

Drake has made his own entry into Kendrick Lamar’s famed The Heart series with the defensive “The Heart Part 6” on Sunday (May 5).

The Aretha Franklin-sampling diss hit YouTube on Sunday night (May 5) with cover art featuring an Instagram comment made by Dave Free of a black heart and hand-heart on an Instagram photo posted by Kendrick’s fiancée Whitney Alford with their children.

Drake continued to double down on domestic violence allegations against the Compton rapper as well as Lamar’s manager, Dave Free, allegedly fathering an illegitimate child with Whitney. (Whitney is following Free on IG but not Lamar).

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“And why isn’t Whitney denying all of the allegations/ Why is she following Dave Free and not Mr. Morale/ You haven’t seen the kids in six months, the distance is wild/ Dave leaving heart emojis underneath pics of the child,” he raps.

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The 6 God then changed focus to debunk claims of pedophilia made by Lamar in previous tracks such as “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us.”

“Speaking of anything with a child, let’s get to that now/ This Epstein angle was the shit I expected/ TikTok videos you collected and dissected/ Instead of being on some dis-direct s–t/ You rather f—ing grab your pen and misdirect s–t,” he contests.

He continued later into “The Heart Part 6” referencing his friendship with 20-year-old Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown. “Only f—–g with Whitney’s, not Millie Bobby Brown’s, I’d never look twice at no teenager,” Drizzy declares.

As far as the allegations of having a secret 11-year-old daughter he was hiding from the world that Kendrick rapped about on “Meet the Grahams,” Drake claimed that OVO actually planted the story as bait to trick the former TDE rapper, which Lamar took and ran with.

“We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information/ A daughter that’s eleven years old, I bet he takes it/ We thought about givin’ a fake name or a destination,” he recalls.

Drake finished out the five-minute marathon speaking directly to Kendrick while seemingly being disappointed in the alleged lies he’s spewing in the feud as he claims his bars have been straight facts.

“You would be a worthy competitor if I was really a predator and you weren’t f—–g lying to every blog or an editor but, it is what it is,” he raps with a sigh.

Metro Boomin isn’t backing down from dissing Drake as he reacted to “The Heart Part 6” with a Chris Paul meme essentially saying the OVO boss is still down a ton of points in the battle with K. Dot.

“The Heart Part 6” follows Drake’s “Family Matters” with his Kendrick Lamar diss track entries.

Lamar didn’t give Drizzy’s “Family Matters” even an hour of the spotlight before returning fire with the scathing “Meet the Grahams” Friday night (May 3), and he followed up with the Mustard-produced “Not Like Us” less than 24 hours later.

It’s anyone’s guess where this goes from here with both rappers digging their heels in and firing at-will to close out a historic hip-hop weekend.

Listen to “The Heart Part 6” below.

05 May 2024

Madonna Wraps Celebration Tour With Record-Setting Free Concert in Rio de Janeiro

Madonna wrapped her Celebration Tour with a massive free concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Queen of Pop closed her global trek with a record-breaking show at Rio’s Copacabana Beach on Saturday (May 4), drawing more than 1.6 million fans to the majestic site.

Although Copacabana Beach has seen larger crowds during past New Year’s Eve events, Madonna’s free concert beats the previous record held by the Rolling Stones, who performed there in 2006, according to a news release from promoter Live Nation.

The 65-year-old pop superstar’s Rio show also surpasses her record attendance of 130,000 fans at Paris’ Parc des Sceaux in 1987, the Associated Press reports. Ahead of the Rio concert, dubbed the “Celebration in Rio,” Madonna’s website touted the free event as the “biggest gig yet” of her four-decade career.

During Saturday’s concert, which was broadcast locally on Brazilian television, Madonna performed numerous hits, including “Like a Virgin,” “Like a Prayer” and “Into the Groove.” She was joined onstage by special guests Anitta and Pabllo Vittar.

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The Rio show was sponsored by Itaú bank and marked Madonna’s first show in Brazil since 2012. Tickets were made available to fans on a first-come first-serve basis on the day of the event.

Rio de Janeiro marked the last stop on Madonna’s Celebration Tour, which is projected to earn more than $225 million. The tour launched in London in October 2023 before visiting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico City.

05 May 2024

Fans Choose Dua Lipa’s ‘Radical Optimism’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music in All-Genre Poll

Dua Lipa‘s Radical Optimism has topped this week’s new music poll that features artists in various genres of music.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (May 3) on Billboard, choosing the pop star’s third studio album as their favorite new music release of the past week.

The new set from Lipa brought in 35% of the vote on the poll, securing a notable edge ahead of new releases from Imagine Dragons featuring J Balvin (“Eyes Closed”), Kendrick Lamar (“6:16 in LA” and “Euphoria”), Willow (“Empathogen”), Kane Brown and Marshmello (“Miles on It”), and others.

Lipa’s 11-track Radical Optimism — her first proper album since 2020’s Future Nostalgia — features previously released singles “Houdini,” “Training Season” and “Illusion.”

“[Releasing the album] feels good. It feels for lack of a better word — radically optimistic,” she previously told Billboard, before explaining the idea behind the album cover, which features the singer floating in a wide open ocean facing a shark fin. “Throughout the whole record, there’s this idea of chaos happening around and me trying to push through it in a way that feels authentic and honest to me.”

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The British artist also pulled double duty as host and music guest during Saturday Night Live on May 4, where she performed Radical Optimism tracks “Illusion” and “Happy For You.”

Trailing behind Radical Optimism on this week’s poll is the “other” category, with nearly 23% of the vote. Placing third is Imagine Dragons featuring J Balvin’s “Eyes Closed,” which brought in 21% of the vote.

See the final results of this week’s poll below. Check out Billboard‘s Friday Music Guide to catch up with more must-hear releases from this week.

05 May 2024

Morgan Wallen Reveals the Opening Date of His Nashville Bar

Morgan Wallen‘s Nashville bar will soon be open for business, according to the “Last Night” hitmaker. During his headlining set at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on Saturday (May 4), the country music star revealed that his Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen will open on Memorial Day weekend.

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“It’s over off fourth avenue just beside the Ryman [Auditorium], and it’s going to be opening Memorial Day weekend, so I hope I see y’all there,” Wallen told the crowd at one point.

The official Instagram page for the bar and restaurant also shared video of Wallen making the announcement. See below.

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Wallen’s Nissan Stadium show marked his last of three consecutive sold-out concerts at the stadium over the weekend, as part of his One Night at a Time World Tour.

Knoxville-area native Wallen’s six-story This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen is set to include three live music stages, as well as an open-air rooftop. For the venue, Wallen teamed with TC Restaurant Group, known for other downtown Nashville celebrity bars, including FGL House, Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar, Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa and Luke Bryan’s Luke’s 32 Bridge Food+Drink.

Each floor of the venue will highlight memorabilia and photos from Wallen’s life and career thus far, while the menu will be curated by Wallen with chef Tomasz Wosiak, VP of culinary development for TC Restaurant Group. The menu will feature not only some of Wallen’s mother’s recipes, but also various bar bites and Southern-flared favorites.

“I sing about finding myself in ‘This Bar,’ and now it’s coming to life. This venue will hold true to everything I love and is inspired by my fans and the way they have embraced me and my music,” Wallen said in a statement when the bar and restaurant was first announced. “We’re designing a menu around some of my family favorites, so it brings a piece of East Tennessee to Music City. I hope This Bar is a place you’ll want to find yourself in and make memories with your friends and family and celebrate the way country music has brought us all together.”

05 May 2024

Dua Lipa Spreads Positivity While Explaining ‘Radical Optimism’ Album Title in ‘SNL’ Monologue: Watch

Dua Lipa was all about positivity during her Saturday Night Live monologue.

The 28-year-old pop star — who pulled double duty as host and musical guest during SNL on May 4 — opened the show with a monologue that explained why her just-third studio album is titled Radical Optimism.

“A lot of people ask me what Radical Optimism means,” the “Levitating” singer told the Studio 8H crowd, which included her parents. “To me, it’s like looking on the bright side of any situation. Here, I’ll show you.”

From there, Lipa called on various members of the audience to share a problem in their lives. One man stood up and revealed that his wife left him because he accidentally called her mom while sharing an intimate moment.

“Well, on the bright side, now you’ll have more time to spend with your mom,” the British artist said. “See, Radical Optimism.”

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Next, SNL cast member Bowen Yang stood up to share that his doctor ordered him to stop drinking alcohol.

“Well, on the bright side, there’s always poppers,” Lipa replied, referencing the recreational drug. “See, you can put a positive spin on anything.”

The singer ran into a snag when calling on MAGA hat-wearing South Dakota Republican governor Kristi Noem (played by Heidi Gardner), who has received criticism for shooting her puppy.

“No, no no, sorry, I can’t help,” Lipa immediately replied after Gardner’s Noem introduced herself.

Saturday’s SNL marks Lipa’s third time appearing as musical guest on the long-running sketch comedy show and her first time hosting. She was previously a musical guest in 2018 and 2020.

During the May 4 episode, she performed Radical Optimism tracks “Illusion” and “Happy For You.”

Following Saturday’s episode, season 49 will wrap up with two new episodes: May 11, with former SNL star Maya Rudolph hosting for a third time and Vampire Weekend as musical guest for a fourth time, and May 18 with Jake Gyllenhaal hosting a third time and Sabrina Carpenter making her musical-guest debut.

Watch Dua Lipa’s SNL monologue below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.

05 May 2024

Taylor Swift Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department holds steady at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated May 11) in its second week, earning 439,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending May 2 (down 83%), according to Luminate. It arrived atop the chart a week ago with a massive 2.61 million units.

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Though the set declines by 83%, it still logs the biggest second-week, by units, for any album since Adele’s 25 tallied 1.162 million units in its second week (Dec. 12, 2015-dated chart, down from its 3.482 million in its opening week).

Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, PARTYNEXTDOOR debuts at No. 10 with PARTYNEXTDOOR 4 (P4).

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The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new May 11, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on May 7. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of The Tortured Poets Department’s second-week unit sum of 439,000, SEA units comprise 330,000 (down 52%, equaling 428.54 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), traditional album sales comprise 107,000 (down 94%) and TEA units comprise 2,000 (down 82%).

The rest of the top four titles on the Billboard 200 comprises former No. 1s. Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time rises 4-2 (69,000 equivalent album units; up 8%), Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You falls 2-3 (61,000; down 11%) and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter dips 3-4 (52,000; down 21%). Noah Kahan’s Stick Season rounds out the top five, stepping 7-5 (41,000; down 10%).

Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album climbs 11-6 (its highest rank since it was No. 5 on the July 29, 2023, chart) with 40,000 equivalent album units (up 9%). Benson Boone’s Fireworks & Rollerblades glides 8-7 (40,000; down 1%), Future and Metro Boomin’s former leader We Still Don’t Trust You falls 6-8 (39,000; down 28%) and SZA’s chart-topping SOS is steady at No. 9 (nearly 39,000; down 1%).

Closing out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 is PARTYNEXTDOOR and the arrival of his PARTYNEXTDOOR 4 (P4) at No. 10. It launches with 37,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 34,000 (equaling 45.94 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), album sales comprise 3,000 and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. PARTYNEXTDOOR4 marks the third top 10-charting set for the singer/songwriter and producer, following PARTYMOBILE (No. 8 in 2020) and PARTYNEXTDOOR 3 (P3) (No. 3 in 2016).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

05 May 2024

Dua Lipa Performs ‘Radical Optimism’ Songs While Pulling Double Duty as ‘SNL’ Host & Musical Guest

Dua Lipa pulled double duty as host and musical guest during Saturday Night Live on May 4.

In between her hilarious sketches (including a dissection of Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s ongoing beef), the 28-year-old pop star performed two songs from her just-released third studio album, Radical Optimism.

With an introduction from fellow pop star and former tourmate Troye Sivan, Lipa opened with the summery “Illusion,” which served as the third single from her new LP. For her second performance, the artist received an intro from comedian Jerry Seinfeld before launching into a passionate delivery of “Happy For You,” which closes out Radical Optimism.

Lipa’s 11-track Radical Optimism — her first proper album since 2020’s Future Nostalgia — arrived Friday (May 3) and also features previously released singles “Houdini” and “Training Season.” The former debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the latter entered the chart at No. 27.

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“[Releasing the album] feels good. It feels for lack of a better word — radically optimistic,” she previously told Billboard, before explaining the idea behind the album cover, which features the singer floating in a wide open ocean facing a shark fin. “Throughout the whole record, there’s this idea of chaos happening around and me trying to push through it in a way that feels authentic and honest to me.”

Saturday’s SNL marks Lipa’s third time appearing as musical guest on the long-running sketch comedy show and her first time hosting. The “Levitating” singer was previously a musical guest in 2018 and 2020.

Following Saturday’s episode, season 49 will wrap up with two new episodes: May 11, with former SNL star Maya Rudolph hosting for a third time and Vampire Weekend as musical guest for a fourth time, and May 18 with Jake Gyllenhaal hosting a third time and Sabrina Carpenter making her musical-guest debut.

Watch Dua Lipa’s SNL performances below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=71hoBY14kAw&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent


https://youtube.com/watch?v=y4bdpcHRm-s&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

05 May 2024

Fans Choose Danny Ocean’s ‘Reflexa’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music Latin

Danny Ocean’s new studio album, Reflexa, has topped this week’s new music Latin poll.

In a poll published on Friday (May 3) — in support of the weekly New Music Latin roundup and playlist, curated by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors — music fans voted for the Venezuelan artist’s latest production as their favorite music release of the past week.

Reflexa garnered nearly 55% of the votes, beating out other new albums that also dropped that week including ​​Kany García’s GARCÍA, Fonseca’s Tropicalia and Eladio Carrión’s Porque Puedo, to name a few. 

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Coming in at second and third favorite releases are Lasso and Mau y Ricky’s first collaborative effort “Bilingües” (more than 30% of the vote) and Yahritza y Su Esencia’s “Tu Orgullo” (over 12% of the vote). 

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Ocean’s third studio album, home to 12 tracks (with no collaborations), is perhaps his most personal album yet, but also his most sonically experimental, where he fuses his signature pop sound with electro and Middle Eastern influences. He dubs the entire production as the “pop of the future.” 

In Reflexa, Ocean navigates through heartbreak, lust, love and the desire to live authentically, and ultimately cements himself as a well-rounded artist who can deliver pop hits without having to rely on lyrics that are trite or borderline cheesy. He’s real, raw and overly honest about life, and a fierce protector of the art he puts out in the world

See the final results of this week’s new music release poll below.

05 May 2024

Madonna Brings Out Anitta & Pabllo Vittar at Massive Concert in Rio de Janeiro

Anitta and Pabllo Vittar helped Madonna bring her career-spanning Celebration Tour to a close in Rio de Janeiro, where the pop icon finished her global trek with a free concert at Copacabana Beach on Saturday (May 4).

Anitta was the last star invited to guest judge the pop icon’s dancers during her performance of “Vogue,” joining a string of celebrities who’d done the same at different tour stops, including Ricky Martin in Miami, and Salma Hayek in Mexico City.

“Yesterday was a historical night for my city Rio de Janeiro. Madonna finished her tour at the Copacabana beach for more than 1 million people,” the Brazilian star wrote in an Instagram post, sharing a set of images of her participation in the musical number. “Such a special time for all of us. I feel really honored you invited me to be part of this moment. You represent the freedom of a whole community that yesterday celebrated together your victory,” the “Envolver” singer added.

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Guests in Rio also included drag queen and singer Pabllo Vittar, who joined Madonna for a joyful, samba-infused version of “Music,” completed with Brazilian flags and a group of kids playing drums.

“TE AMO Madonna,” Vittar wrote on Instagram, while the Queen of Pop posted an Instagram video of the moment captioned “Blame it on Rio ?? Thank You Brazil!!”

Saturday’s free show, sponsored by Itaú Bank, was broadcasted live on TV Globo. It was the last stop on Madonna’s Celebration Tour, which is projected to rake in more than $225 million when all is said and done. The trek kicked off in London in October, before winding its way through Canada, the U.S., and Mexico City.

Watch moments from Madonna’s show on Instagram below.