Music News

07 Apr 2024

Fans Choose Doja Cat’s ‘Scarlet 2 CLAUDE’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music

Doja Cat‘s Scarlet 2 CLAUDE has topped this week’s new music poll.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (April 5) on Billboard, choosing the deluxe edition of the 28-year-old superstar rapper’s fourth studio album as their favorite new music release of the past week.

Scarlet 2 CLAUDE brought in nearly 70% of the vote, beating out new music by J. Cole (Might Delete Later), Vampire Weekend (Only God Was Above Us), Young Miko, (att.), Kehlani (“After Hours”), Bryson Tiller (Bryson Tiller), and others.

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The expanded version of Scarlet — named after the villainous character from The Hunchback of Notre Dame — features seven new tracks: “Masc,” “Acknowledge Me,” “Head High,” “Gang,” “Rider,” “Urrrge” and “Hungry.”

“I feel like it connects to the story of ‘Scarlet’ in some way,” Doja explained on The Therapy Gecko Podcast. “And if you look up his personality traits and who he is and his story, you’ll understand the whole connection. There’s a control aspect. He just abuses his power and his control and is dogmatic and a total c—.”

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Doja launched the original edition Scarlet in June with the release of “Attention,” which debuted and peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. The accompanying music video — which previewed the era’s overarching horror aesthetic — picked up six nominations at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, ultimately winning best art direction. “Paint the Town Red,” the record’s first radio single, soon followed with a catchy hook and a bouncy Dionne Warwick-sampling beat. The song became Doja’s second Hot 100 No. 1 — her first unaccompanied — becoming the first hip-hop song to reach the top of the ranking in 2023.

Trailing behind Scarlet 2 CLAUDE on the poll is the “other” category, which brought in 14% of the vote. Placing third was J. Cole’s new surprise project Might Delete Later, which pulled in 5% of the vote.

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

07 Apr 2024

Beyoncé Achieves Eighth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With ‘Cowboy Carter’

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter gallops in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 13), debuting with 407,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 4, according to Luminate. It’s the superstar’s eighth No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200.

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With 407,000 units earned, Cowboy Carter claims the biggest week of 2024 and the largest since Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) bowed with 1.653 million units on the Nov. 11, 2023-dated list. Cowboy Carter’s launch is also Beyoncé’s biggest week, by units, since her Lemonade album debuted at No. 1 with 653,000 units (mostly from traditional album sales) on the May 14, 2016, chart. The new effort also lands Beyoncé her biggest streaming week ever.

Cowboy Carter also launches at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums, Americana/Folk Albums and Top Album Sales charts. She’s the first Black woman ever to have led the Top Country Albums list, dating to its January 1964 inception. Cowboy Carter also claims the biggest week for a country album, by units earned, since last July, when Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), opened at No. 1 on the July 22, 2023 chart with 716,000 units.

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Cowboy Carter was introduced by the singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” which were released during the Super Bowl festivities on Feb. 11. The tracks debuted and have peaked (through the charts dated April 6) at Nos. 1 and 9, respectively, on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, marking Beyoncé’s first entries on the tally. They have also reached Nos. 1, for two weeks, and 38 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

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 April 13, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 9. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of Cowboy Carter’s first-week unit sum of 407,000, SEA units comprise 232,000 (equaling 300.41 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), traditional album sales comprise 168,000 and TEA units comprise 7,000. With 300.41 million on-demand official streams, Cowboy Carter earns Beyoncé her biggest streaming week ever and the fourth-largest for a country album.

Cowboy Carter marks Beyoncé’s eighth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. She previously led the list with Renaissance (in 2022), Lemonade (2016), her self-titled album (2013), 4 (2011), I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008), B’Day (2006) and Dangerously In Love (2003). Beyoncé breaks out of a tie with Janet Jackson for the fourth-most No. 1s among women. Swift has the most, with 13, followed by Barbra Streisand (11), Madonna (nine), Beyoncé (eight) and Jackson (seven).

Cowboy Carter’s sales were supported by the album’s availability across a number of configurations, released on March 29. It was issued as standard 19-track edition on vinyl (across four variants, each pressed on different color vinyl [black, red, white and blue] with alternate back cover artwork), a CD with an additional song (“Flamenco”) and a digital download and streaming edition (both in clean and explicit versions, with three bonus songs “Flamenco,” “Spaghetti” and “Ya Ya,” plus two interludes). The CD edition was issued in four variants (each with different back cover art). Two of the variants were sold as stand-alone items, while two of the CDs were only available inside two deluxe boxed sets (each with a different branded T-shirt contained inside a branded box). All physical configurations of the album were sold exclusively through Beyoncé’s official webstore, while the digital download and streaming editions were widely available.

The vinyl edition of Cowboy Carter sold 62,000 copies (across its four variants combined), marking Beyoncé’s biggest week on vinyl and the largest week for any vinyl album in 2024.

Cowboy Carter boasts an eclectic lineup of billed guest artists, including Tanner Adell, Beyoncé’s daughter Rumi Carter, Miley Cyrus, Willie Jones, Tiera Kennedy, Linda Martell, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Post Malone, Reyna Roberts, Shaboozey, and Brittney Spencer. Among the many additional players on the album: 070 Shake, Jon Batiste, Ryan Beatty, Gary Clark Jr., The-Dream, Rhiannon Giddens, Paul McCartney, Pharrell, Robert Randolph, Nile Rodgers, Raphael Saadiq, Sara Watkins and Stevie Wonder.

Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You falls to No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200 after debuting atop the list a week ago. The set earned 131,000 equivalent album units in its second week (down 48%). Morgan Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time rises 4-3 with 69,000 (up 2%) and Ariana Grande’s chart-topping Eternal Sunshine dips 3-4 with 58,000 (down 19%).

J-Hope’s Hope On the Street, Vol. 1 debuts at No. 5 with 50,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s J-Hope’s second top 10-charting effort, and highest-charting set, following Jack In the Box, which peaked at No. 6 on the Sept. 2, 2023-dated list. Of Hope On the Street’s 50,000 units earned, album sales comprise 44,000, SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.7 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise 2,000. The album’s sales were supported by eight collectible CD editions (including exclusive variants for Target, Walmart and the Weverse store), all containing branded paper merchandise.

Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Guts falls 2-6 on the new Billboard 200, with 49,000 equivalent album units earned (down 32%), Noah Kahan’s Stick Season descends 5-7 with 44,000 units (down 2%) and Taylor Swift’s chart-topping Lover falls 7-8 with 40,000 units (down 1%). Rounding out the top 10 are two former leaders: SZA’s SOS (6-9 with 39,000; down 3%) and Zach Bryan’s self-titled album (8-10 with nearly 39,000; down 1%).

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.

07 Apr 2024

Gilberto Santa Rosa Exudes Class and Elegance at Radio City Music Hall

Gilberto Santa Rosa brought his class and elegance to New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Saturday (April 6), where he made it clear once more why he is considered El Caballero de la Salsa (The Gentleman of Salsa).

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Accompanied by a stellar orchestra of 15 musicians — including brasses, keyboards, strings, percussion, and backup singers — the Puerto Rican icon delighted a mostly Latino audience in New York City with classics from his repertoire such as “Derroche,” “Conciencia,” “Conteo Regresivo” and “Perdóname.”

He also performed a set of boleros, which he introduced with an anecdote told with his characteristic grace and charm.

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“My life has gone between bolero and salsa, and I say it in that order because the first thing I started singing was bolero,” he remembered. “I started singing bolero because I suffered a very strong love disappointment… at the age of 6,” Santa Rosa continued, making the audience burst in laughter.

With the idea of winning over a girl, he said, the singer teamed up with a buddy who also sang and played the guitar.

“I thought, ‘When I start singing, that girl is going to go crazy for me’. Well, guess what? I went out to sing on the first school program that I could, and the girl didn’t even look at me. But she gave me a profession, and thanks to that, you and us we are here tonight.”

On his third occasion at the Radio City Music Hall, this time as part of his Auténtico Tour, Santa Rosa recalled his long history with New York City, where he began playing as a teenager in the 1980s at the Corso nightclub as part of Willie Rosario’s orchestra, and where he recorded his iconic 1995 live album En Vivo Desde El Carnegie Hall.

“Tonight we come to give you everything here at Radio City Music Hall, which is an iconic place in New York City and the United States,” he said with a smile. “This is our third time on this stage and we are happy about that.”

One of the most joyful moments was led by conguero Gerardo Rivas, a former member of the musical duo NG2 who also has a solo career as a singer. The son of Jerry Rivas from El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Gerardo momentarily left the congas to take center stage, where he first sang “Suma y Resta” with Santa Rosa — who originally recorded this song with El Micha — and then a track from his own repertoire, “Happy”, which got everyone dancing.

The orchestra, whose talent was matched by their grace and elegance, includes veteran musicians such as musical director and trombonist Georgie Torres, pianist Luis Marín, bongo player Rafael Echeverría, backup singer Gino Ramírez and trumpeter Rebeca Zambrana, many of whom have been playing with Santa Rosa for decades. They all spread their enthusiasm with amusing choreographies, and Santa Rosa took the time to introduce each one of them with great affection and admiration.

With an uninterrupted and successful decades-long career, Gilberto Santa Rosa continues to be one of the undisputed references of salsa. His Auténtico Tour began last year in Puerto Rico and arrived in South America in February. His U.S. stint continues next week in Charlotte, N.C., and also includes stops in cities such as El Paso, Houston, and Dallas, before moving on to Europe. (For a full list of dates, click here).

07 Apr 2024

Kristen Wiig Joins ‘SNL’ Five-Timers Club With Cameos From Ryan Gosling, Matt Damon & More: Watch

Kristen Wiig has officially become a member of the Five-Timers Club at Saturday Night Live.

The actress and comedian returned to Studio 8H on April 6, marking her fifth time hosting the long-running sketch comedy show. During her opening monologue, the Palm Royale star was welcomed into the prestigious group by some huge celebrities — many of whom weren’t actually Five-Timers themselves.

The cameo-filled segment started with Paul Rudd, who popped up from the audience wearing a Five-Timers Club jacket he received in 2021. “I also heard a rumor that you might be doing one of those Five-Timers sketches featuring awesome celebrity cameos,” the Ant Man actor told Wiig. “So is there a script or something I could look at for that?”

After Wiig broke the news that the evening’s episode wouldn’t feature a Five-Timers Club skit, former SNL writer Paula Pell stood up to note that the NBC show hands out Five-Timers Club jackets “to everybody like free maxi pads.” Proving her point, Matt Damon appeared wearing one of the dark blue coats despite the fact that he’s only hosted SNL twice.

Damon boasted that SNL creator Lorne Michaels told him “the first time I hosted was so good, it counted for three. Second time, not quite as good, that only counted for two, but by my math, that’s five, baby!”

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Wiig then questioned whether the Five-Timers Club held anymore meaning before the camera cut to Michaels surrounded by Jon Hamm, Fred Armisen, Will Forte and Martin Short — all of whom wore the jackets despite not having hosted five times. “Together, we’ve hosted five times,” Forte said.

As the monologue closed, with Wiig being serenaded by the celebs, Ryan Gosling — who is set to host next week’s SNL — made a cameo wearing the Five-Timers coat, even though he has not hosted the appropriate amount of times. “Are you sure?” the Barbie star asked Michaels. “I mean, I haven’t even hosted three times yet. It seems unfair.”

The monologue ended with Gosling handing Wiig her very own Five-Timers jacket.

Earlier in the show, English songstress RAYE made her musical guest debut on SNL, performing a pair of songs from her Brit Award-winning debut album, My 21st Century Blues.

Watch Wiig’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.

07 Apr 2024

RAYE Performs ‘Escapism’ & ‘Worth It’ in ‘Saturday Night Live’ Debut: Watch

RAYE made her Saturday Night Live debut, performing songs from her Brith Award-winning debut album.

During the Kristen Wiig-hosted episode on April 6, the London-born singer-songwriter passionately delivered “Escapism” and “Worth It,” which appear on her 2023 studio release, My 21st Century Blues.

RAYE opened her SNL musical guest debut with a stirring performance of “Escapism.” Backed by a array of musicians and singers, the artist belted out the dance-rap fusion in a setting reminiscent of her recent live album recording at Royal Albert Hall in London.

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“Escapism” (featuring 070 Shake) reached No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2023 and logged 23 weeks on the chart. My 21st Century Blues arrived the following month, reaching No. 2 on the U.K. albums chart.

The 26-year-old songstress followed with a lively performance of “Worth It,” first sitting down at the piano for the subtle intro and then building up to a rousing finish with the help of her choir and orchestra.

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Earlier this year, RAYE made history by taking home six Brit Awards, the most ever awarded to one artist in a single year. The wins included best new artist, best R&B act, songwriter of the year, song of the year, artist of the year, and album of the year.

“I was sobbing like a child!” she recounted to Billboard after the exciting night. 

Watch RAYE’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=PZvOx5l8myk&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=xiEYUV7gt-I&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

07 Apr 2024

Lauren Daigle Brings Kaleidoscope of Sounds, Crowd-Connecting Moments at Nashville Show

Contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter and two-time Grammy winner Lauren Daigle brought her Kaleidoscope Tour to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Saturday (April 6), as the Lafayette, Louisiana-born Daigle ushered in a cavalcade of sounds, a tight-knit horn section, superb backing vocalists, a full band, and a brightly-hued, joyous production for the roughly two-hour show.

Daigle, who has notched six pinnacle reachers on Billboard‘s Hot Christian Songs chart, has long approached her music with a free-flowing, genreless mindset, one that positions melodies and lyrics as leaning into a vast spectrum of sounds, each a capable vessel of hope, healing and flourishing. As she has amassed success both in Contemporary Christian Music and pop music (most notably, her 2018 album Look Up Child, which debuted at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200, while her song “You Say” reached the top 30 on the all-genre Hot 100), Daigle has made the natural step up to headlining arenas — and with it has constructed a show filled with colors, sights and sounds meant to capture and hold the audience’s attention from the first, uptempo moments of “These Are the Days.”

Helming uptempo anthems such as “Look Up Child,” as well as soaring ballads such as “Valuable” was Daigle’s soaring vocal, which has often drawn comparisons to both Adele and Joss Stone, as well as her joyous, easygoing performance style as she and her crew of musicians danced and shimmied around the mainstage and catwalk stretching into the middle of Bridgestone Arena. The full band resided aloft an elevated platform, placing them visually in the center of the massive video wall that shone an array of colors and images throughout the evening, while Daigle and her crew of vocalists/musicians/dancers took up residence on the mainstage.

“This song is my favorite,” was a refrain of regular occurrence from Daigle throughout the set, as she punctuated the evening with stories behind some of her songs. Her fourth, eponymous studio album — which released last year via Atlantic Records/Centricity Music — saw Daigle further embrace mainstream pop, welcoming artists including Gary Clark Jr., and Jon Batiste, as well as songwriting prowess from songwriters including Shane McAnally and Natalie Hemby.

As a companion to her song “Kaleidoscope Jesus,” she spoke of the soul-connecting power of touring and live concerts, comparing each concert to looking through a kaleidoscope and knowing that each turn of the instrument brings a new collage of shapes and colors unique to that moment.

She noted that the song nods to a memory of playing with kaleidoscopes at her aunt’s house as a child.

“When you look inside of a kaleidoscope, and put it up to the light, there are different shapes and colors, some have rough edges and some have smooth edges,” Daigle told the crowd at one point. “Then you put them up to the light and they make this beautiful image… you bring all of your different stories to this show; some of you are struggling, some are having the time of your lives, but we bring those stories to God and put them up to the light and ask, ‘God what are you going to do through all of this?’ and it becomes a beautiful moment.”

Daigle’s hope-giving work extends beyond song and stage; during the concert, attendees were encouraged to sponsor a child through an organization Daigle works closely with, ChildFund, which aims to provide children around the world with food, clean water, education, healthcare and more. Daigle, who also sponsors a child through the program, noted that more than 700 children were sponsored by attendees at Bridgestone that evening.

Opening the show was Nigerian-born singer-songwriter Blessing Offor, known for his 2023 hit “Brighter Days” and his feature on TobyMac’s song “The Goodness.“ “This show means the world to me because this is my hometown,” Offor told the crowd.

Seated at a keyboard at the front of the main stage, he offered a Sterling display of his soulful, octave-leaping tenor vocal. He sang songs aimed at elevating his fellow musicians, particularly those struggling in the early days of their careers in “Don’t We All.” He sang “Believe,” and Tin Roof,” which Offor wrote with songwriter Natalie Hemby. CCM mainstay Chris Tomlin later recorded the song with Offor and included it on his country-leaning album Chris Tomlin & Friends.  He followed with “My Tribe,” the title track to his 2023 album, and concluded with his breakthrough song “Brighter Days,” which drew the audience to appropriately light up three arena with a sea of cell phone lights. 

Below, we highlight five top moments from Daigle’s set:

06 Apr 2024

Giant Inflatable Ice Spice in Alexander Wang Spotted in NYC

A larger-than-life, inflatable Ice Spice was seen rolling by on a flatbed truck down the streets of New York City on Saturday (April 6). The unexpected sight was promoting the rapper’s new collaboration with Alexander Wang.

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Fans were quick to capture and upload videos and snapshots of the jumbo version of Ice Spice advertising a look replicated from the photo shoot for her “Nocturna” collection with the designer.

Those clips caught Ice Spice’s eye. She shared them with her followers and reacted with a few emojis: heart eyes, the Statue of Liberty and lips.

Ice Spice is the face of Alexander Wang’s spring ’24 collection (“Nocturna”) which debuted Thursday (March 7). The collection is described as working in both the designer and rapper’s New York roots, taking inspiration from the culture of the city and their personal style. Looks range from denim dresses to to chic tailored pants, with prices for the Ice Spice x Alexander Wang collection ranging from $150 to $1,495.

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“As an artist, I’m always challenging myself on how I can contribute to culture in a way that drives things forward, and Alexander Wang is a great vehicle for that, with this incredibly bold and global campaign,” Ice Spice said in an official press statement.

Alexander Wang called Ice Spice the perfect artist to embody the “strong alpha wang woman.”

On the music side, Ice Spice recently shared that she’s done recording her debut full-length album, Y2K.

“I finished recording y2k the album ^.^,” she wrote to her X and Instagram accounts on March 5. The set’s title is inspired by her birthdate, Jan. 1, 2000.

“I think this is some of my best work,” she told Billboard, adding, “It’s not going to be too long — it’s going to be sweet and to the point.”

See the super-sized Ice Spice inflatable drive by in the post the rapper shared below.

06 Apr 2024

Cardi B Teases Second Album on ‘Invasion of Privacy’ Anniversary: ‘It’s So Different’

Cardi B is celebrating the sixth anniversary of her debut album, Invasion of Privacy — and throwing in a little teaser of what’s to come next.

Invasion of Privacy was released in 2018, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and earning a Grammy win for best rap album at the 2019 Grammy Awards. The set’s tracklist includes Hot 100 No. 1 singles “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It.”

The rapper looked back at the success of her studio debut in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday (April 6). In her message, she hinted at what fans can expect from her long-awaited second album.

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“6 years ago I released my first album and it broke so many records GAH LEE!!” she wrote. “6 years later I’m preparing to drop the next one this year.. it’s so different from what everyone is expecting and I’m sooo excited.”

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“Love you guys and thank you for the support! I’ll talk to ya soon I been so busy these last few days,” added Cardi.

Cardi most recently unveiled the single “Enough (Miami)” on March 15 along with a Patience Harding-directed music video for the track. “Enough” arrived two weeks after she dropped “Like What (Freestyle).”

She’s also featured on “Puntería,” the opening track from Shakira‘s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran album that was just released on March 22.

The follow-up LP to Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy has yet to get an official release date.

See her post from Saturday below.

06 Apr 2024

ABBA Fans Mark 50 Years Since ‘Waterloo’ Took the World by Storm

It’s been 50 years since ABBA won a major battle with “Waterloo.”

A half-century ago on Saturday (April 6), the Swedish quartet triumphed at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the peppy love song, which opens: “My my, at Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way.”

The song rang out again Saturday at London’s Waterloo railway station — also named after the 1815 battle that dealt defeat to the French leader — where a choir belted out a rendition for commuters.

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In the English coastal town of Brighton, where the 1974 competition was held, fans were staging a flashmob dance and silent ABBA disco to mark the anniversary.

Eurovision victory turned ABBA into a pop juggernaut, by far the most successful band to win the pan-continental music contest, which will hold its 68th edition in May in ABBA’s home country, Sweden. The Eurovision final will take place May 11 in Malmö, after Swedish singer Loreen won last year’s competition with “Tattoo.”

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ABBA’s melodic disco pop sold hundreds of millions of records worldwide. The stage musical Mamma Mia! based on its songs is 25 years old and spawned two movies.

The band members have not performed together live for four decades, but released a comeback album, “Voyage,” in 2021. Every day, fans attend a concert by digital “ABBA-tars” at the hit show Abba Voyage, which opened in London in 2022.

In a thank-you message to fans on Saturday, the four band members said it was “slightly dizzying and deeply humbling” to know that their songs had been passed down the generations and “still resonate around the world.”

“Music you discover and learn to love when you grow up or even later in life has a way of staying with you forever,” said Agnetha Faltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. “We share that experience with you and to know that our music has become a constant in your lives is a wonderful thing.”

A tribute concert titled “A Party for ABBA” was set to take place in Stockholm on Saturday evening featuring prominent Swedish artists, a 21-person band and a large choir. Organizers said it was a salute to a band that changed the Nordic country’s music scene “forever.”

Swedish public broadcaster SVT, which planned to broadcast the concert live on television and on its streaming service, said, “April 6, 1974 is considered by some to be Sweden’s national music day.”

06 Apr 2024

Taylor Swift Builds Anticipation for ‘Tortured Poets’ Album Using Her Favorite Number

Taylor Swift is counting down the days until the release of her new album.

On Saturday (April 6), the 34-year-old pop superstar used her lucky number to remind Swifties that there are only 13 days left until the arrival of her highly anticipated album, The Tortured Poets Department.

The “Cruel Summer” singer took to her Instagram Story to share a clip of a typewriter writing the words, “13 days until THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT,” alongside a pre-order link to the album.

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April 19 marks the arrival of Swift’s 11th studio album, which she surprise-announced at the 2024 Grammys in February while accepting best pop vocal for her previous release, Midnights. In her speech at the ceremony, the star mentioned that the project has been two years in the making.

The 14-time Grammy winner is currently taking a two-month break from her global Eras Tour trek to prepare for the release of The Tortured Poets Department. Since then, she’s shared the new project’s main cover plus details on the four deluxe editions, as well as confirming that Post Malone and Florence + The Machine are both featured on the album.

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Swift’s latest social media post arrives as SiriusXM announced plans to launch “Channel 13 (Taylor’s Version)” this month, allowing listeners to hear selections from the pop star’s 17-year discography 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The broadcaster promising to play both original and Taylor’s Version editions of her older hits as well as From the Vault songs, live recordings, bonus tracks and more.

The channel will go live on April 7 and remain available through March 6. On the 13th day of its run — April 19 — Swift will drop The Tortured Poets Department. To tune in, fans need only download the SiriusXM app and select Channel 13.

See Swift’s Tortured Poets Department countdown post on her Instagram Story here.