Music News

19 Mar 2024

Ariana Grande Returns to No. 1 on Artist 100 Chart for 16th Week

Ariana Grande is the top musical act in the U.S., as she returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated March 23) for a 16th total week on top, thanks most prominently to her new album, Eternal Sunshine.

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The Artist 100 measures artists’ activity across key metrics of music consumption: streaming, radio airplay, album sales and track sales. Using a methodology comprising those metrics, the chart provides a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

Eternal Sunshine arrives at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as Grande’s sixth leader, with 227,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in its opening week (March 8-14), according to Luminate. The set scores the biggest weekly sum of 2024. Concurrently, the LP’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” launches as her ninth No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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With 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Artist 100, Grande passes Ed Sheeran for the sixth-most frames spent in charge since the chart began in 2014.

Artist 100, Most Weeks at No. 1:
102, Taylor Swift
38, Drake
28, The Weeknd
21, BTS
20, Adele
16, Ariana Grande
15, Ed Sheeran

Here’s a breakdown of the metrics contributing to Grande’s latest reign on the Artist 100.

Streaming

In the March 8-14 tracking week, Grande’s catalog generated 219.3 million on-demand official U.S. streams (encompassing songs on which she has lead artist billing). She ranks as the third-most-streamed artist in that span, after only Taylor Swift (286.7 million) and Drake (224.7 million).

Grande’s songs that generated the most official streams (on-demand and programmed) during the week: “We Can’t Be Friends” (32.6 million, making it the most-streamed song overall), “The Boy Is Mine” (17.6 million), “Yes, And?” (17.3 million), “Supernatural” (16.4 million) and “Eternal Sunshine” (15.9 million).

Radio airplay

Grande’s songs earned a combined 33.7 million in radio airplay audience March 8-14. Her songs that drew the most impressions in that span: “Die for You,” with The Weeknd (14.4 million), “Yes, And?” (13.7 million) and “We Can’t Be Friends” (4.6 million).

Grande is also charting on the following radio rankings:
Adult Pop Airplay: “Yes, And?” (No. 11) and “We Can’t Be Friends” (No. 29)
Dance/Mix Show Airplay: “Yes, And?” (No. 12)
Pop Airplay: “Yes, And?” (No. 20) and “We Can’t Be Friends” (No. 31)
Adult Contemporary: “Yes, And?” (No. 24)
Radio Songs: “Yes, And?” (No. 48)

Album sales

As for Grande’s album sales March 8-14, here’s a breakdown, by configuration:

Overall album sales: 79,000, the most among all acts
Vinyl sales: 34,000, the most among all acts
CD sales: 32,000, the most among all acts
Digital sales: 13,000, the most among all acts

Eternal Sunshine sold 77,000 copies, almost the entirety of Grande’s album sales for the week. It’s the top-selling album overall, as well as the top-seller on both vinyl and CD.

Meanwhile, Grande’s collections earned a combined 241,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week, the second-most among all acts after Swift (261,000).

Track sales

Grande’s songs sold a combined 14,000 downloads March 8-14, making her the third-best-selling artist of the week in terms of digital song sales, after Swift (26,000) and Teddy Swims (16,000).

Grande’s songs that sold the most in that period, all from Eternal Sunshine: “We Can’t Be Friends” (9,000), “The Boy Is Mine,” “Bye” and “Imperfect for You” (1,000 each).

19 Mar 2024

Watch Cardi B Hilariously Scold Fans for Making Her Sing Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ Over and Over

Cowboy Cardi is in the house. During a recent TikTok livestream, Cardi B hilariously sang a snippet of “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyoncé over and over to appease her fans — because even she isn’t immune to the country craze Bey’s been inspiring.

For context, TikTok viewers can virtually send silly filters to creators when they go live — and in a clip from the rapper’s latest stream, her face is repeatedly covered by one that makes her look like she’s wearing a cowboy hat and mustache. Every time it happened, she sang a snippet of Bey’s Billboard Hot 100-topping track — “This ain’t Texas,” she warbled in her best Southern accent — while lovingly imploring viewers to stop selecting the filter.

“Alright stop, dead a–,” she tells them. “Stop right now.”

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It seems that Cardi was doing her own version of the “NPC,” or “non-player character,” trend, which has exploded in popularity on the platform over the past year. The trend finds creators behaving as if they are video game avatars, spitting out repetitive automated responses in return for gifts.

“Texas Hold ‘Em” is one of two lead singles off Bey’s upcoming album Cowboy Carter, a sequel to Renaissance arriving March 29. In addition to blowing up on TikTok, the track topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks earlier this month and made the superstar the first Black woman to score a No. 1 hit on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Cardi is also fresh off of some new music, dropping both “Like What (Freestyle)” and “Enough (Miami)” in March.

Watch Cardi hilariously sing “Texas Hold ‘Em” below:

19 Mar 2024

Tyla & Travis Scott Brave the Storm in Steamy ‘Water (Remix)’ Video: Watch

Ahead of the arrival of her eponymous debut album on Friday (March 22), Tyla is reveling in romance in the Travis Scott-assisted “Water (Remix)” video.

The blue-tinted clip arrived on Tuesday (March 19). Tyla sensually dances through the rain and gets intimate with La Flame while they’re separated by a glass window.

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A shirtless Scott disregards the drizzle and pushes up on Tyla to deliver his intoxicating verse, staring through his white shades into her soul. “You keep it wet, that’s a real-life challenge/ All that ass gotta pour out of gallons/ Beauty in the top, keep balance,” he raps.

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The burgeoning amapiano/R&B star initially didn’t want to have a “Water” remix, but after Travis reached out, she couldn’t resist wanting to hear what he’d bring to the record.

“I didn’t really think of doing a remix. I was like, ‘Nah, like, let’s just have “Water,” it’s cool, whatever.’ But then people were reaching out and I was like, ‘oh my word, oh my word,’” Tyla told Complex in December.

“And I started getting excited and then Travis reached out and I literally couldn’t… like, I could not say no; his music is crazy. So after he reached out, we sent him that open verse and he came back and he killed it, you know, he killed it.” 

“Water” was released by Tyla last July, with the Cactus Jack boss hopping on the official remix in November. Marshmellow also joined in on a second remix.

Tyla’s breakout hit has remained a Billboard Hot 100 staple for over five months. The track sits at No. 17 on this week’s chart after reaching a peak of No. 7.

“From the beginning of the record-making process, we made it a point to find the best chemistry between creatives from different backgrounds to reflect the worldly influences you hear in the song,” Epic Records president Ezekiel Lewis said to Billboard in January. “That is a key factor in enabling it to appeal to audiences not only in the U.S. but across the globe.”

Tyla’s self-titled debut will be unleashed on Friday (March 22) with features from Gunna, Tems, Becky G and more.

Watch the “Water (Remix)” video below.

19 Mar 2024

Here’s Why Fans Think Beyoncé Is Calling Out the CMA Awards

Eight years before her new album Cowboy Carter came to fruition, Beyoncé released what was then her most country song to date, “Daddy Lessons,” on her critically lauded 2016 album Lemonade. Half a year later, she performed it at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards alongside The Chicks.

However, there was backlash before the superstar even took the stage. A pre-show announcement teasing her performance sparked calls for a CMAs boycott on social media, with some people blasting the awards show for including Bey, whose tribute to the Black Panther Party during her performance of “Formation” at the 2016 Super Bowl had also earned pushback. (Some viewers also called for a boycott due to the inclusion of The Chicks, who famously pissed off the country music industry by criticizing George W. Bush at the height of the Iraq War in 2003.) After the performance, there was no mention of her appearance on the CMAs website.

Now, close to a decade later, fans think Bey is getting the last word. While unveiling the Cowboy Carter cover artwork Tuesday (March 19), the singer wrote that the Renaissance sequel was “born out of an experience” she’d had years prior where she “did not feel welcomed,” adding, “it was very clear that I wasn’t.”

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It didn’t take the Hive long to connect the Houston native’s statement back to her rocky relationship with the awards show and its viewers. “Beyoncé left the CMA’s in 2016 and started plotting her revenge arc in the car,” one person tweeted shortly after she posted her message.

“Beyoncé really said oh yall didn’t like me at the CMA’s well imma make a whole country album, queen,” added another fan on X.

Billboard has reached out to the CMAs for comment.

It is worth noting, though, that Bey also emphasized in her cover reveal, “This ain’t a Country album … This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.” Still, it’s clear that the Grammy winner is embracing the genre on a bigger artistic level than ever before. Cowboy Carter, for instance, was led by two singles, both of them alike in their country influences: “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which historically topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks earlier this month and also made her the first Black woman to go No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and “16 Carriages.”

“She turned that experience into a deeper foray into country music with #COWBOYCARTER — the first taste of which, ‘Texas Hold ‘Em,’ made her the first Black woman with a No. 1 hit on the Hot Country Songs chart,” one fan mused on X. “Talk about turning lemons into lemonade.”

See more reactions to Bey’s possible allusion to the CMAs below.

19 Mar 2024

Beyoncé Reveals ‘Cowboy Carter’ Album Cover: ‘This Ain’t a Country Album, It’s a Beyoncé Album’

It’s officially time to saddle up! A little more than a month after making a grand pivot into country music with the release of “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” Beyoncé has finally unveiled the official album cover for her forthcoming LP, Cowboy Carter.

A clear continuation of the Renaissance aesthetic, the album cover for Cowboy Carter finds Queen Bey striking a regal pose while perched atop a striking white horse. She dons red, white and blue chaps, a simple white cowboy hat and flowing platinum blonde locks as she raises the American flag. Like the Renaissance album artwork, the background is completely black — save for the slightly illuminated dirt road at the bottom of the frame.

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Queen Bey shared the Cowboy Carter album cover on her official Instagram page on Tuesday (March 19). In her lengthy caption, she detailed the inspiration behind her new record, which has been in the making for “five years.” Cowboy Carter is the official follow-up to 2022’s Billboard 200-topping Renaissance — a sprawling dance record that won four Grammys, housed a pair of Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits in “Break My Soul” (No. 1) and “Cuff It” (No. 6) and spawned a record-breaking world tour and accompanying box office-topping documentary concert film.

“This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t,” she wrote, possibly alluding to her experience performing the country-indebted “Daddy Lessons” at the 2016 CMA Awards alongside The Chicks. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”

At the top of 2024, Beyoncé unleashed a pair of country singles during the Super Bowl. Alongside “16 Carriages,” a gorgeous Americana-nodding ballad, Queen Bey dropped “Texas Hold ‘Em,” an irresistible country-pop tune that made her both the first Black woman to top Hot Country Songs and the first Black woman to top the Hot 100 with a country song. Despite the commercial success of “Texas,” Beyoncé did face some criticism from players in the genre — one country radio station even initially refused to play, but even they couldn’t resist “Texas.”

“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she continued. “[Act II] is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work. I have a few surprises on the album, and have collaborated with some brilliant artists who I deeply respect. I hope that you can hear my heart and soul, and all the love and passion that I poured into every detail and every sound.”

In her message, Beyoncé both stressed that Cowboy Carter is “a continuation of Renaissance” and acknowledged the Billboard chart history she made with “Texas Hold ‘Em.” “I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart,” she gushed. “That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”

While Queen Bey has kept the Cowboy Carter visuals under lock and key — just as she did with Renaissance — the album cover reveal is one step in that direction. In fact, Beyoncé’s post coincides with the 10-day countdown until the release of Cowboy Carter — which is currently slated to drop on March 29.

“This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” she declared at the end of her message. “This is act ii COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!”

Check out Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album artwork below.

19 Mar 2024

Lady Gaga Jazz & Piano Show Returning to Las Vegas For Summer 2024 Run

Lady Gaga is headed back to Las Vegas for a summer run of more Jazz & Piano shows. The singer announced the news on Tuesday morning (March 19), revealing that she will be back on the stage at the Dolby Live theater at Park MGM for eight shows between June 19 and July 6.

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The news came alongside a video clip reel featuring highlights from the uber-Vegas revue, which finds the 13-time Grammy winner cycling through a series of bedazzled, glittering stage costumes while fronting a big band and singing hits from the Great American Songbook. Her most recent Jazz & Piano show was in October and since then she has performed a private show at the Fontainebleau in Vegas last month, as well as a Fortnite: Battle Royale gig during the 2024 Fortnite Festival on Feb. 22.

Fans can sign up now for the Little Monsters presale here for early access before the general public onsale begins on Saturday (March 23) at 1 p.m. ET. The upcoming shows will take place on June 19, 20, 27, 29 and 30 and July 3, 5 and 6. At press time there was no information on whether Gaga’s other Las Vegas residency show, the more pop-, hits-oriented Enigma will return in the future as well; Gaga has not performed the Enigma show since New Year’s Eve weekend in 2019.

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Gaga recently posted a response to the critics of trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who last year was the target of transphobic hate after Bud Light sent her a commemorative six-pack of beers. “It’s appalling to me that a post about [International] Women’s Day by Dylan Mulvaney and me would be met with such vitriol and hatred,” Gaga wrote in an Instagram post responding to an International Women’s Day picture she took with Mulvaney that was flooded with anti-trans comments.

“Hatred is hatred, and this kind of hatred is violence,” she added. “‘Backlash’ would imply that people who love or respect Dylan and me didn’t like something we did. This is not backlash. This is hatred.”

See Gaga’s Jazz & Piano announcement below.

19 Mar 2024

Hear Idina Menzel Sing Live in Her New Musical

“Ever since Rent, I have made it a priority to originate roles and shine a light on new work,” Idina Menzel tells Billboard. “It takes lots of patience and fortitude, but there is truly nothing as rewarding as seeing your kernel of an idea fully realized with a group of people you love and admire so deeply.”

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The Broadway icon’s latest project in that vein is the new musical Redwood, currently playing at La Jolla Playhouse in California. For Menzel — who plays Jesse, a successful businesswoman, mother and wife who finds herself as a personal crossroads and finds unexpected answers in the forests of Northern California — the show is an especially personal creative endeavor. “The story of a woman at a turning point in her life paralleled with the resilience, wisdom and strength of the redwood tree was one that spoke to me deep in my soul,” Menzel says. “Nature’s power to heal and connect us as human beings is essential in this turbulent world we are living in.”

Idina Menzel backstage during REDWOOD at La Jolla Playhouse.

Idina Menzel backstage during REDWOOD at La Jolla Playhouse.

Courtesy of Idina Menzel

Menzel, who released her latest album Drama Queen in August of last year, isn’t just the star of the production. She co-conceived Redwood with director, writer and co-lyricist Tina Landau (recently of Broadway’s inventive SpongeBob SquarePants musical) over the course of many years, delving deeply into the development of Jesse as a character.

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Menzel and Landau also “knew we wanted to find a new young composer who could bring a fresh take to musical theater” for the show, bringing in Kate Diaz for a score that Menzel describes as having “a beautiful, earthy and soulful quality as well as expansive and cinematic. When I perform Kate’s music, I am able to use all the different colors in my voice. I’m not just shooting for the rafters. I’m expressing myself similarly to how I express myself in my own songwriting.” (Diaz also co-wrote the lyrics with Landau).

While the La Jolla run of Redwood ends March 31, the show has its sights set on Broadway — which certainly seems more likely than not with Menzel and her creative collaborators on board. “We knew we wanted the production to be cutting edge and unconventional,” Menzel says. “We have encouraged one another to dream big, break rules, and not compromise our creative ideas. There’s a deep sense of creative freedom and trust in how we work.”

Here, Menzel exclusively shares with Billboard a live recording of her performing “Great Escape,” recorded during a performance of Redwood.


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

19 Mar 2024

Cardi B Hypes Upcoming Shakira Collaboration: ‘It Landed in My Lap’

Cardi B has dished out plenty of assists in her decorated career, but her upcoming collaboration holds an extra special meaning to her.

The Bronx native will check another item off her bucket list when she teams up with Shakira for a collab later this month. Cardi detailed how she ended up hopping on a track with the Colombian pop star during a recent interview with Million Dollaz Worth of Game.

“I always wanted to do a record with Shakira and it’s like, wow, it landed on my lap. It really landed on my lap, so I got a record coming out with her next week,” she said. “It’s like, ‘B—h, I’ll do whatever the f–k you want me to do, b—h. I’ll fly to Colombia.’ Like I’ll go over there right now.”

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Cardi explained she caught up with Shakira during Paris Fashion Week earlier this year and revealed her sister won a talent show performing one of Shak’s songs when they were growing up. Shortly after, the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer’s team reached out.

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“I saw her in Paris and I talked to her,” Cardi added. “I don’t like being in b—-s face about it. I’m like, ‘I have to, my sister she did a talent show when she was in first grade and she won doing your song! I just love you so much, like you’re a part of my life.’ And then her team reached out to me. I’m like, ‘Owww, Shakira, Shakira.’ I was gagging.”

The anticipated collaboration remains untitled and based on Cardi’s timeline, should arrive before March expires. The 31-year-old isn’t taking her foot off the gas pedal in 2024 — even though she doesn’t have her driver’s license.

Cardi lit the fuse with her Hot 100 top 40 hit “Like What (Freestyle)” earlier this month and should earn another lofty chart entry with the fiery “Enough (Miami)” next week. And while she hasn’t announced a title or release date for herlong-awaited sophomore album, the rapper has been hinting that it could arrive later this year.

Watch the clip below.

19 Mar 2024

Joey Fatone Didn’t Even Tell His Parents About Secret *NSYNC Reunion at Justin Timberlake Show

Fans went wild at Justin Timberlake‘s Los Angeles concert last week when the singer brought out his *NSYNC bandmates for a surprise live reunion, debuting the group’s new song “Paradise” onstage. And in a new interview, Joey Fatone revealed the lengths he went to in order to keep it a secret leading up to the show.

“I didn’t even tell my parents,” the boy bander said on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Tuesday morning (March 19). “My father has a very large mouth. He’s very proud, so he likes to tell people… I didn’t tell my publicist, I didn’t tell nobody. Surprise!”

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In addition to “Paradise,” which appears on Timberlake’s new album Everything I Thought It Was, the “Mirrors” singer, Fatone, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass performed their smash ’90s hits “Bye Bye Bye” and “It’s Gonna Be Me” at The Wiltern in L.A. The performance came more than 20 years after *NSYNC went on hiatus in 2002, after which they wouldn’t officially reunite until 2023 to collaborate on “Better Place” for Timberlake’s Trolls Band Together animated threequel.

“It was really exciting, it was kind of just fun,” Fatone added of the show. “We have not been around for a long time, obviously… When we came out, it was just like, ‘What?’ Justin asked us to do the show and we were like ‘Yeah, why not.’ People went crazy.”

“When they all walked out … the screams were unbelievable,” chimed in the Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean, who joined Fatone on the Hudson Show couch. “They didn’t miss a beat.”

McLean and Fatone kicked off their joint A Legendary Night Tour last week. The two stars have plans to play select dates across the United States through the end of March, with the shows promising live music, comedy and storytelling.

While chatting with J-Hud, the guys also reminisced on the time their respective bands faced off against each other for a charity basketball game in Europe back in the day. To spice things up, Bass had switched over to the Backstreet Boys team, while McLean played alongside the guys of *NSYNC.

“I think we won,” McLean said. “Whoops, sorry guys!”

Watch Fatone and McLean on The Jennifer Hudson Show above.

19 Mar 2024

SZA, Tyler, the Creator, Blink-182, The Killers, Future X Metro Boomin & More to Headline 2024 Lollapalooza in Chicago

SZA, Tyler, The Creator, blink-182, The Killers, Future X Metro Boomin will headline this summer’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago. The August 1-4 throwdown in the Windy City will also feature headline sets from Hozier, Stray Kids, Melanie Martinez and Skrillex among the 170 bands that will perform on eight stages over four days.

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Among the other acts on the lineup announced on Tuesday (March 19) are: Deftones, Tate McRae, Laufey with the Chicago Philharmonic, Reneé Rapp, Lizzy McAlpine, Zedd, Fisher, Zeds Dead, Dominic Fike, Labrinth, Pierce the Veil, Victoria Monét, Sexyy Red, Teddy Swims, Faye Webster, Benson Boone, Jungle, Two Door Cinema Club, Killer Mike, Ive, Vince Staples, Kesha, Galantis, Kevin Abstract, Ethel Cain, Chappell Roan, Megan Mornoey, Teezo Touchdown and many more.

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Fans can sign up now for the 2024 presale, which will kick off on Thursday (March 21) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET; the presale is the only way to guarantee the lowest price on 4-day general admission, GA+, VIP and Platinum tickets. Ticket prices will increase at 1 p.m ET when the public onsale begins; click here for ticketing information. One-day tickets and the lineup-by-day rundown will be available at a later date.

This year will mark Skrillex’s first show in a decade and K-pop boyband Stray Kids will be making their Lolla Chicago debut.

Last summer’s event featured headlining sets from Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kendrick Lamar, Odesza, Karol G, TOMORROW X TOGETHER and The 1975. The four-day extravaganza that sets up in Grant Park in downtown Chicago draws more than 400,000 fans to the massive party near Lake Michigan.

Check out the full lineup poster below.