Music News

26 Mar 2024

Rihanna Opens Up About Raising Her Sons & Choosing to ‘Let Go of Everyone’s Expectations’

Rihanna opened up about motherhood, individuality and chasing her dreams for her Vogue China cover story.  

Speaking with Editor-in-Chief Margaret Zhang, the 36-year-old Fenty mogul shared what she thinks is “the most beautiful thing” about raising her two sons with A$AP Rocky, 22-month-old RZA and 7-month old Riot Rose. “[Children] come into the world with their own individuality and sincerity, without any logic or conformity, which usually makes you feel that you must fit into a certain group,” she said, as shared in an Instagram post Tuesday (March 26). “It’s really beautiful to see and I want to continue to help them navigate that and make sure that they know they can be whoever they want to be.”  

“They should embrace it completely, because it’s beautiful, and it’s unique,” Ri added. “I love them just that way.” 

The “Rude Boy” singer also spoke about chasing her dreams as an artist and businesswoman, two endeavors that have led her to 14 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, nine Grammy awards and an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion, to name just a few of her accomplishments. “We always want our parents to be proud … I [certainly] wanted to make my mom and my dad proud,” she told the publication. “But the reality is, I did it by standing up for what I believed in and pursuing my own path and dreams.” 

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“I’m living my dream,” she continued. “My parents were very proud of that because they just wanted me to be happy and successful. So, I think the key thing is to find some kind of balance. Yes, balance is important. Do this and you get the best of both worlds. You can write your own life the way you want, and it will be beautiful. Sometimes, you just need to let go of everyone’s expectations and start living your own story.” 

During her Vogue China photo shoot — for which Ri personally provided creative direction — the superstar rocked her hair long and straight as well as in beautiful braided patterns. Since then, she’s chopped her hair into a blonde pixie cut, which she debuted while stepping out in Santa Monica, Calif., last week. 

See footage and photos from Rihanna’s Vogue China shoot below. 

26 Mar 2024

J-Hope’s ‘Hope on the Street’: Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Photos

J-Hope‘s new album era is upon us. The BTS superstar is unveiling a six-part docuseries, Hope on the Street, which will “trail J-Hope’s dance journey” as he explores Osaka, Paris and New York, as well as Seoul and Gwangju in Korea, and meets street dancers throughout the cities.

To celebrate the upcoming series, Billboard can exclusively share photos from the documentary, in which the 30-year-old star is seen posing in his signature colorful outfits throughout the various cities.

Hope on the Street is directly tied to J-Hope’s forthcoming special album, Hope on the Street Vol. 1. Each episode of the docuseries is linked to a set of songs from the project through their narrative, sound and message.

J-Hope is currently completing his mandatory 18-month military service, which began in April 2023.

The first episode of Hope on the Street will premiere on Prime Video at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday (March 27). The accompanying album — which includes main track “Neuron (with Gaeko and Yonmirae)” — will launch at midnight ET on Friday (March 29).

The project follows J-Hope’s 2022 solo album, Jack in the Box, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. A newly expanded HOPE Edition of the album was released in August 2023. It features the original album tracks, along with three live recordings from J-Hope’s history-making performance at Lollapalooza in 2022 in Chicago, plus two instrumental tracks.

See below for photos from Hope on the Street, shared exclusively with Billboard.

26 Mar 2024

Korn Plot 25-City 2024 Fall North American Tour With Gojira, Spiritbox

Korn announced the dates for an extensive 25-city North American fall tour on Tuesday (March 26) featuring support from Gojira and Spiritbox. The reveal of the dates came after the “Freak on a Leash” band announced a 30th anniversary show slate to take place at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Oct. 5; that show is already sold out.

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The coast-to-coast Live Nation-promoted tour will kick off on Sept. 12 in Tampa at the MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre, followed by shows in Charlotte, Newark, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, Houston, Tulsa and Omaha before winding down on Oct. 27 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The run includes a Sept. 29 gig at this year’s Louder Than Life hard rock festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Tickets will go on sale starting with a Citi presale on Tuesday that opens at noon local time through 10 p.m. local time on Thursday (March 28); information available here. An artist presale also kicks off on Tuesday, with additional presales slated to run through the end of the week ahead of the general onsale beginning Friday (March 29) at 10 a.m. local time here.

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Korn released their 14th studio album, Requiem, in 2022, which opened at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 album charts.

Check out the dates for Korn’s 2024 fall North American tour below.

Sept. 12 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre  

Sept. 14 – West Palm Beach, FL @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre  

Sept. 16 – Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre  

Sept. 18 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion  

Sept. 20 – Camden, NJ @ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion  

Sept. 21 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center  

Sept. 23 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center  

Sept. 25 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage  

Sept. 27 – Detroit, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre  

Sept. 28 – Chicago, IL @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre  

Sept. 29 – Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life*  

Oct. 2 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater  

Oct. 3 – Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre  

Oct. 5 – Los Angeles, CA @ BMO Stadium^ – SOLD OUT

Oct. 6 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre  

Oct. 08 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center  

Oct. 10 – Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome  

Oct. 12 – Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Amphitheatre  

Oct. 13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Delta Center  

Oct. 16 – Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre>

Oct. 18 – Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center  

Oct. 20 – Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion  

Oct. 21 – San Antonio, TX @ Frost Bank Center  

Oct. 23 – Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center  

Oct. 25 – Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center  

Oct. 27 – St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center  

*Festival Performance

^Special Guests include Evanescence, Gojira, Daron Malakian and Scars On Broadway, Spiritbox and Vended

>Not a Live Nation Date

26 Mar 2024

Hear Exclusive CRSSD Spring 2024 Sets From Syreeta, Joris Voorn & More

CRSSD began its nine-year anniversary celebrations earlier this month (March 2-3) when the festival returned to San Diego’s Waterfront Park for its spring iteration.

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Produced by FNGRS CRSSD and Goldenvoice, the event has been a mainstay on the Southern California dance festival circuit since 2015, when it launched as a boutique destination for house and techno fans in SoCal, a market then dominated by dance megafestivals like EDC and HARD.

CRSSD’s 2024 spring festival (another follows annually each fall) welcomed roughly 15,000 fans per day, along with headliners including Tale of Us, Armand Van Helden, Jeff Milles and Lane 8. Additionally, the event hosted a flurry of crucial rising and veteran artists including Syreeta, Joris Voorn, Trym and X Club. Hear exclusive sets from these four acts below.

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Syreeta

Ending her debut U.S. tour with this CRSSD appearance, the London-based producer opened her set with a spacious, slow-build edit of Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 classic “Swimming Pools,” shifted into Latin rhythms, a subtle remix of Eminem’s “Superman” and then put her foot on the gas for an hour of fresh, sophisticated house music.

Joris Voorn

The Dutch mainstay played an evening set on the festival’s City Steps stage, opening with Infamous Zol’s lush 2019 production “Nocturnals” before ramping up into 90 minutes of progressive house and melodic techno that altogether helped segue the festival from day to night.

Trym

French DJ Trym wasted no time getting into it, starting his set with heavy-hitting techno and maintaining a very high BPM for the duration of his March 2 headlining set on the festival’s City Steps stage.

X Club.

On Saturday, the Australian duo played to a packed late afternoon crowd on CRSSD’s City Steps stage. There, they delivered an impeccable set made from ravey electronica, increasingly hard techno, one surprising and very welcome “Groove Is in the Heart” remix and a trance-oriented finale.

26 Mar 2024

‘Noise For Now Vol. 2’ Compilation Benefitting Abortion Access Features Big Freedia, Courtney Barnett, David Byrne & More

An all-star group of indie artists are collaborating on the second volume of the Noise For Now series benefitting independent abortion providers throughout the country. The lineup for Noise For Now Vol. 2 was revealed on Tuesday (March 26), the same day the Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments in a case challenging the availability and accessibility of the safe and effective abortion pill mifepristone.

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The 11-track collection features exclusive tracks from Big Freedia (“Holatta”), David Byrne and Devo (“Empire”), Courtney Barnett (“Boxing Day Blues (Demo),” The War on Drugs (“Victim (Live),” Claud (“Spare Tire (Demo)” and Julia Jacklin (“Dead From the Waist Down”), among others. At a time when abortion access is being rolled back across the country in the wake of the conservative majority Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the limited-edition compilation due out on June 21 will benefit abortion providers via Keep Our Clinics; the release date will mark the second anniversary of the overturning of Roe, which removed federal protections for abortion.

The compilation will be available on vinyl as well as digitally, with pre-orders available here. “We are so grateful to work with these incredible artists to raise money and awareness for independent abortion clinics throughout the U.S.,” said Noise for Now executive director Amelia Bauer in a statement. “We know that when the artists and performers we love speak openly and unapologetically about abortion, abortion is stripped of its stigma. We believe that we can shape our future with art, community, and collective action.”

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Noise for Now allows artists to connect with and financially support grassroots organizations that work in the reproductive justice field, including abortion access. “Independent clinics continue to be on the frontlines: they’re providing the majority of abortion care, providing care throughout pregnancy, and continuing to fight to preserve and expand our rights in the courts and on the ballot,” said Brooke Thomson, development director at the Abortion Care Network. “Art and music are essential to our struggles. When artists, musicians, advocates, and providers work together, we change the culture and tell everyone the truth: abortion is popular, and supporting independent providers is necessary.”

The first edition of Noise For Now — featuring Maya Hawke, Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell, Bully, Wet Leg and more — was released in Nov. 2023.

Check out the full track listing for Noise For Now Vol. 2 below.

Julia Jacklin – “Dead From The Waist Down (Catatonia cover)”

Courtney Barnett – “Boxing Day Blues (Demo)”

Becca Mancari – “It’s Too Late (Demo)”

The War On Drugs – “Victim (Live)”

MC50 feat. Arrow DeWilde – “High School (Live)”

A.J. Haynes (of Seratones) – “Everything is Change”

Claud – “Spare Tire (Demo)”

Faye Webster – “Thinking About You (Live)”

SOFIA ISELLA – “Hot Gum (she version)”

David Byrne and Devo – “Empire”

Big Freedia – “Holatta”

26 Mar 2024

Cody Johnson, Megan Moroney & More Join CMT Music Awards Performance Lineup

The upcoming CMT Music Awards are continuing to heat up.

Cody Johnson, Megan Moroney, Old Dominion and Parker McCollum + Brittney Spencer have joined the star-studded performance lineup for the fan-voted awards show, which will take over the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on April 7. The event relocated to Texas last year, moving from its longtime home in Nashville.

Johnson is one of this year’s top nominees, with three nods: video of the year and male video of the year for “The Painter,” as well as CMT performance of the year for “Human” (from 2023 CMT Music Awards). Moroney is also a top nominee, as she’s up for female video of the year and CMT digital-first performance of the year for “I’m Not Pretty,” as well as collaborative video of the year for her Old Dominion collaboration, “Can’t Break Up Now.” In addition to their nomination with Moroney, Old Dominion is also up for best video by a duo or group for “Memory Lane.”

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The new group join previously announced performers Bailey Zimmeran, Jelly Roll, Jordan Davis, host Kelsea Ballerini, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson, NEEDTOBREATHE, Sam Hunt and Trisha Yearwood. It was recently announced that Yearwood will be receiving the inaugural June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award at this year’s ceremony, an honor that recognizes an artist, duo/group or industry veteran who has demonstrated an exceptional dedication to community and their fellow artists.

Voting is currently open at vote.cmt.com, through April 1, while voting for the video of the year honor, presented by Hilton, will remain active into the show. The 2024 CMT Music Awards will air on CBS and stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

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26 Mar 2024

Xscape, SWV Co-Headline 2024 The Queens of R&B Tour

Xscape and SWV have been announced as co-headliners for The Queens of R&B Tour. Produced by Monami Entertainment and Live Nation, the 30-city tour will launch June 27 with special guests MYA, 702 and Total.

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Monami Entertainment founder/CEO Mona Scott-Young tells Billboard, “Xscape and SWV are an indelible part of R&B music; their influence and reach are undeniable. These Queens of R&B have connected to the hearts and souls of fans and, along with 702, MYA and Total, will travel across the country this summer to give the fans what they have been asking for — an unforgettable co-headline experience!  From their hit television series to embarking on this tour, the journey for these ladies has not been easy but they are all a living testament to the power of resiliency and strength through perseverance. I am so proud to be part of this defining moment in R&B culture and so grateful for our partnership with Live Nation.”

After its first show in Concord, CA on June 27, The Queens of R&B Tour will also stop in Las Vegas, Houston, Washington, D.C. and New York before closing in Los Angeles on Aug. 18. The tour is represented by Seth Shomes through Day After Day Productions (DADP).

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A Citi presale begins on March 26; additional presales run through the week ahead of the general sale that starts March 29 (10 a.m. local time) via Ticketmaster.

Check out the dates for The Queens of R&B Tour below:

June 27 — Concord, CA @ Toyota Pavilion at Concord
June 29 — Las Vegas, NV @ Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino
July 2 — Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
July 3 — Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
July 5 — Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion
July 6 — Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
July 9 — North Little Rock, AR @ Simmons Bank Arena
July 10 — Birmingham, AL @ Legacy Arena at The BJCC
July 12 — Jacksonville, FL @ Daily’s Place
July 13 — Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
July 14 — West Palm Beach, FL @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
July 16 — Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
July 17 — Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
July 19 — Washington, D.C. @ Capital One Arena*
July 20 — Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
July 21 — Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
July 24 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
July 25 — Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 26 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
July 27 — Atlantic City, NJ @ Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall
August 2 — Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
August 3 — Syracuse, NY @ Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview
August 4 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
August 6 — Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater
August 9 — Detroit, MI @ LIttle Caesar’s Arena
August 10 — Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
August 11 — Chicago, IL @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
August 13 — St. Louis, MO @ Chaifetz Arena
August 14 — Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center
August 18 — Los Angeles @ Kia Forum

*without MYA

26 Mar 2024

Robert Plant, Eddie Vedder and Roger Daltrey Team Up on Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley’ At Teenage Cancer Trust Benefit

The Who singer Roger Daltrey celebrated his final performance as the curator of the annual Teenage Cancer Trust concerts after 24 years on Sunday night, ending his nearly quarter-century run with an epic, all-star performance of one of his band’s most beloved songs.

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The “Ovation” concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall ended with Daltrey singing the Who’s go-to show-closing 1971 epic “Baba O’Riley,” with the band’s frontman joined by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Robert Plant, Glen Hansard, the Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones and Who guitarist Pete Townshend’s brother Simon Townshend.

In fan-shot video, a spry Daltrey, 80, takes the lead, with Vedder, Plant, Jones, Hansard and Townshend leaning in to add group backing vocals; Pete Townshend performed with the Who earlier in the run and was slated to be on the “Ovation” lineup but had to miss Sunday’s show to be in New York for the opening of the revamped Tommy on Broadway.

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Though Daltrey is stepping down from his post, after the encore, he told the crowd, “I’m not going away from the Teenage Cancer Trust. I’ve completed the job I set out to do. We’re going to get curators to do a year rather than doing 20 years. Talk about nerve-racking. But I’ve got other work to do for the charity that is kind of more important because we live in a day where our NHS [National Health Service] everyone knows is very questionable even surviving. We are part of that service, though we are a charity… If the NHS goes down, I want to make sure this charity doesn’t go down with it.”

The final show also featured Weller inviting Daltrey out for a run through the Who’s 1966 song “So Sad About Us,” as well as Vedder performing PJ’s “Porch” and “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” and the Swell Season’s “Falling Slowly” with Hansard. In a poignant moment, Vedder also brought out his daughter, Olivia, to sing their song “My Father’s Daughter.”

In addition to his band Saving Grace’s traditional folk songs “Gospel Plow,” “And We Bid You Tonight” and “As I Roved Out,” Plant busted out one Led Zeppelin song, the Led Zeppelin III track “Friends.” Last week’s run of Cancer Trust shows also featured gigs by Noel Gallagher, Young Fathers and the Chemical Brothers.

Daltrey has hosted and curated the fundraising shows since 2000, raising more than $40 million to date, which the organization said has paid for more than a million hours of specialist care from TCT nurses, or 13 TCT hospital care units. The TCT said that it plans to work with a series of guest curators beginning next year. Over the years, the TCT shows have included sets from Paul McCartney, Wet Leg, Underworld, Ed Sheeran, Liam Gallagher, Kasabian, Def Leppard, Pet Shop Boys, Olly Murs, Suede, Arctic Monkeys, New Order, Primal Scream, Noel Gallagher, Florence Welch, Joan Armatrading, Kaiser Chiefs, The Cure and many more.

See photos from Sunday night’s show below.

26 Mar 2024

Charli XCX Plots 2024 International ‘BRAT’ Tour Dates

Charli XCX announced the international dates for her 2024 Brat tour on Monday (March 25), which will be a mix of live concerts and what she’s dubbed “partygirl” events. The run will kick off with a set at Primavera Sound Barcelona on June 1, followed by shows in London, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Mexico City before winding down on June 22 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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Just hours after announcing the dates, the singer noted on Instagram that all the shows were already sold out.

At press time Charli had not yet announced the release date for BRAT, her sixth full-length album, though she did recently reveal that it is out this summer, contains 15 songs and is 41:23 long. The follow-up to her 2022 album Crash has been advanced by the uptempo first single, “Von Dutch.”

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Speaking to Billboard at this year’s 2024 Women in Music event, Charli said that BRAT is a club record meant to evoke the illegal London rave scene of the early 2000s where she started performing as a 14 and 15-year-old, produced from a tight collection of sounds to create “this unique minimalism that is very loud and bold.”

She also said that the album is “very direct” eschewing “metaphor and flowery lyricism” for language that is closer to the way she talks to her friends in text messages. “This record is all the things I would talk about with my friends, said exactly how I would say them. It’s in ways very aggressive and confrontational, but also very conversational and personal,” she said. “And not in that boring way where artists are like, ‘This is my most personal record.’ To me, it feels like listening to a conversation with a friend.

See the Brat tour announcement and dates below.

BRAT tour dates:

June 1 — Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound Barcelona

June 7 — London, England @ Here at Outernet

June 11 — Queens, NY @ Knockdown Center

June 12 — Chicago, IL @ Radius

June 15 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall

June 19 — Mexico City, Mexico @ LooLoo Studio

June 22 — São Paulo, Brazil @ Zig Club

25 Mar 2024

Golden Globes to Air on CBS for Next 5 Years

The Golden Globes are set to air on CBS for the next five years, it was announced Monday (March 25).

The deal, which begins with the 2025 edition of the ceremony, will see the film and TV awards show air on CBS and stream live on Paramount+.

“CBS’ collaboration with the Globes for this year’s broadcast was a big win for both of us and established strong momentum for awards shows in 2024,” CBS CEO George Cheeks said in a statement. “The Globes is a one-of a-kind live event that adds another marquee special and valuable promotional platform to CBS’ annual calendar. I’m excited to expand the partnership with [chairman and CEO of Penske Media and Dick Clark Productions] Jay [Penske] and the entire team to continue to drive the Globes forward.”

Globes president Helen Hoehne added, “Today marks a significant milestone for the Globes as we solidify our partnership with CBS and Paramount+ for the next five years. We are incredibly proud of the audience we garnered in 2024 and look forward to building upon the immense success to make the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards the best and most memorable show yet.” 

The 2024 Golden Globes, which took place Jan. 7, saw Poor Things, Succession, Oppenheimer, The Bear and Beef among the night’s big winners.

“We’re so proud to continue to call CBS our home for the Golden Globes,” said Penske. “CBS stepped up for the Globes during a very challenging time, and inherently understood its value, while having the foresight, imagination and conviction to bring this iconic show to its many platforms. We’ve long admired CBS’ commitment to some of the greatest cultural live events and partnering for the long-term further cements this show’s legacy and incredible place in history.”

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The Golden Globes telecast was something of a hot potato prior to this new deal. After the old iteration of The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, then in charge of the awards show, became persona non grata with industry publicists over accusations of bribery and much-publicized reports about a lack of diversity within the group, longtime broadcaster NBC put the 2022 telecast on ice. A slightly revamped show aired on NBC in 2023, fulfilling its contract. CBS aired the show in 2024 as a one-off. And while the reviews for the show were abysmal — thanks in large part to the hosting job by Jo Koy — the ratings were up and the guest list was wildly impressive. The telecast neared 10 million multiplatform viewers, up 50 percent from its final NBC outing.

That seems to have been enough to seal the deal for CBS. There’s also slightly less baggage these days, now that operation isn’t run by the HFPA. The group fundamentally disbanded in 2023. Dick Clark Productions now owns and produces the Golden Globe Awards. DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge that also owns Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.