Music News

04 Mar 2024

Travis Kelce Gets Emotional During Jason Kelce’s Retirement Press Conference

Jason Kelce officially announced his retirement from the National Football League on Monday (March 4) during an emotional press conference.

Throughout the 40-minute conference, the Philadelphia Eagles center  reflected on his career as he broke down in tears several times. His brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, was in attendance, and was also spotted wiping tears from his face.

Jason spent his entire 13-season NFL career with the Eagles, and notched a Super Bowl win in 2018. He’s a seven-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro selection. Jason mentioned Travis in a particularly emotional moment in the conference, noting, “There is no chance I would be here without the bond Travis and I share. It made me stronger, tougher, smarter and taught me the values of cooperation, loyalty, patience and understanding.”

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He continued, “It’s only too poetic I found my career being fulfilled in the City of Brotherly Love. I knew that relationship all too well.”

Jason watched Travis and the Chiefs win against the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas last month, supporting his brother from a private suite with Travis’ pop superstar girlfriend Taylor Swift, Blake Lively, Lana Del Rey, Miles Teller and more famous friends.

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After the game, Travis, Jason and Swift stepped out at a club in Las Vegas to celebrate with the younger Kelce’s teammates. Many viral videos emerged from the party, including clips of the Philadelphia Eagles center dancing in a red and yellow wrestling mask and the 14-time Grammy winner singing along to her own songs with Travis. 

04 Mar 2024

Carly Pearce Squashes Rumors of Maren Morris Feud: ‘Stop Making Something Out of Nothing!’

Beyoncé may have snagged a second week atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” but that’s not the only major story in country music this week. Following the announcement of a new collaboration between Carly Pearce and Ryan Hurd, the “Hummingbird” singer took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify rumors of a feud between herself and Maren Morris.

Initially, there was speculation among fans that the duet between Pearce and Hurd would appear on one of the two country star’s upcoming albums. The fact that the two are collaborating at all rubbed some fans the wrong way considering Pearce would be collaborating with Morris’ ex-husband. Morris and Hurd married in 2018, welcomed a son in 2020 and divorced in October 2023. To add fuel to the fire, some fans allege that Pearce unfollowed Morris on Instagram immediately after the release of “The Tree,” one of two emotional songs she released late last year to announce her departure from the country music industry.

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Despite the speculation, Pearce quickly cleared up any rumored beef between the two artists. “Since I have seen this all over, I figured I would respond,” she wrote on X. “Ryan [Hurd] has a been a friend of mine for over 10 [years]. I was asked by my label to record this song with him for the Petty tribute and of course I said yes because he’s a great artist. STOP making something out of nothing!”

On Feb. 23, Tom Petty fans were treated to the exciting news of a new tribute album titled Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty. Slated for a May 31 release, the 20-track LP will feature contemporary covers of Petty’s biggest hits and most beloved songs by country superstars such as Dolly Parton, Luke Combs and George Strait. In addition to those stars, Pearce and Hurd are set to duet on a cover of “Breakdown,” which peaked at No. 40 on the Hot 100 and served as the first single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ eponymous debut album.

Pearce is currently prepping the release of Hummingbird, her forthcoming fourth studio album. “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” the set’s Chris Stapleton-assisted lead single, peaked at No. 67 on the Hot 100 and earned a Grammy nod for best country duo/group performance.

Check out Carly’s response to the beef rumors here:

04 Mar 2024

Watch Drake’s Son Adonis Meet NBA Star LaMelo Ball & Get an Autographed Jersey

Drake’s son Adonis Graham had the opportunity to meet one of his favorite hoopers when the Charlotte Hornets visited the Toronto Raptors. While his father is on the road for tour, Adonis pulled up to the Scotiabank Arena’s visiting locker room on Sunday (March 3) to spend some time with Hornets star LaMelo Ball, who gifted the 6-year-old an autographed jersey.

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“Little man, what’s up y’all? What’s up Adonis, you good,” Melo asks Adonis in a video shared to the Hornets’ social media accounts.

“I got a little present for you, man,” Ball teased before bringing out the white signed jersey. “Little something something. Little jersey gang.”

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Adonis replied: “Thanks, Melo!”

The duo went on to take a few photos together as well, which the Hornets hilariously captioned paying homage to Adonis’ rap debut on X: “My Man (Freestyle) featuring @MELOD1P.”

Unfortunately, Adonis didn’t get to see Ball suit up as LaMelo missed the game with a right ankle injury, and the Hornets ended up losing to the Raptors 111-106.

Much like his dad, Adonis loves basketball and has proven to be a big LaMelo fan in the past. Last May, Drake posted a drawing his son made of Ball using markers to social media. Shortly after, Ball sent Adonis a care package that included his rare Puma X LaMelo Ball MB.01 Digital Camo sneakers.

“Oh yeah! Let’s go,” Adonis repeats while running around his bedroom in a video shared at the time. “I got LaMelos!”

See some photos and footage of Adonis and LaMelo hanging together below.

04 Mar 2024

Idina Menzel Celebrates 10 Years of John Travolta’s ‘Adele Dazeem’ Oscars Moment in Hilarious TikTok

Adele Dazeem is 10 years old!

It’s been a decade since the legendary 2014 moment at the Oscars where John Travolta butchered Idina Menzel’s name before she performed her Frozen hit “Let It Go,” referring to the stage and screen star as “Adele Dazeem.” To celebrate, Menzel took to Instagram to poke fun at the mix-up, and wish her girl Adele the happiest of birthdays.

“Hey, Adele Dazeem! It’s Idina Menzel,” she says in the now-viral clip posted this week. “I just wanted to say happy birthday. Sending you so much love and positive energy.”

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“I hope you have the best, best day,” Menzel added, before hilariously performing a heartfelt rendition of the “Happy Birthday song and signing off.

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After the moment became a meme flooding the Internet in 2014, Travolta issued a statement through is publicist in which he deeply apologized for his mispronunciation. “I’ve been beating myself up all day. Then I thought … what would Idina Menzel say? She’d say, ‘Let it go, let it go!’ Idina is incredibly talented and I am so happy ‘Frozen’ took home two Oscars Sunday night!,” he said at the time.

In 2022, Menzel poked fun at the situation once more, taking part in a TikTok challenge. The challenge, cued to the Ting Tings’ 2008 hit “That’s Not My Name,” finds Menzel cycling through video clips from her most famous movie roles. Opening with a shot of Idina’s face and the words, “My name is Idina… but they call me,” the clip then pivots to quick-cuts of her role as Elphaba in Wicked, Maureen in Rent, Shelby Corcoran (“Rachel’s Mom” in Glee), Nancy in Enchanted, Elsa in Frozen, Vivian in the Camila Cabello Cinderella reboot and Dinah from Adam Sandler’s Uncut Gems. To wrap up, a shot of Travolta from that fateful night with just a series of question marks filling the screen

Watch Mendel’s birthday wishes to Adele Dazeem below.

https://www.tiktok.com/@idinamenzel/video/7341960740435266862

04 Mar 2024

FLO Is Ready to Show You How to ‘Walk Like This’ for Their First Single of 2024

FLO announced on Sunday (March 3) that they will drop their first single of the year, “Walk Like This.”

The British girl group also shared the cover art, which features all three members — Renée Downer, Jorja Douglas and Stella Quaresma — strutting their stuff while draped in various fur coats and tall leather boots against a white backdrop.

“Walk Like This” marks their first single since the Missy Elliott-assisted “Fly Girl” in March 2023, which interpolates Elliott’s 2002 Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 smash “Work It.” FLO also released their second EP, 3 of Us, on July 3, with three tracks and a Bellah-assisted bonus track. The project arrived one year after their critically acclaimed debut EP The Lead, which contains their breakout single “Cardboard Box.”

FLO became the first group to win the BRIT Awards’ Rising Star award in 2022, and they won BBC’s Sound of 2023 poll. FLO was also recently featured on Billboard‘s 2024 R&B/hip-hop Artists to Watch list, which was published in February. They were also named Billboard‘s R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month in March 2023.

The girls are finishing up their highly anticipated debut album, and when asked what can fans expect from it during their Rookie of the Month interview last year, Quaresma said, “Just more elevated, different. We’re just growing up, basically, so our music’s just growing with us.”

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FLO is also slated to perform at Coachella this year, just one year after their first-ever North American headlining tour.

See the announcement below:

04 Mar 2024

TWICE & LE SSERAFIM Are First 2 All-Female K-Pop Groups in Billboard 200’s Top 10 Together

After nearly 20 years, two all-female groups are in the top 10 at the same time on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the latest releases from TWICE and LE SSERAFIM debut at Nos. 1 and 8, respectively, on the chart dated March 9. TWICE achieves its first No. 1 with the chart-topping debut of With YOU-th, while LE SSERAFIM lands its second top 10 effort with the arrival of Easy.

The last time that at least two all-female groups were in the top 10 concurrently was on the Aug. 5, 2006-dated chart, when The Chicks were at No. 9 with Taking the Long Way, while The Pussycat Dolls were No. 10 with PCD.

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Notably, as both TWICE and LE SSERAFIM are South Korean ensembles, this week marks the first time at least two all-female Korean pop (K-pop) groups are in the top 10 together.

With YOU-th is the third No. 1 on the Billboard 200 by an all-female group in less than three years. NewJeans was the last all-female group on top with 2nd EP ‘Get Up’ (Aug. 5, 2023, chart) and they were preceded by BLACKPINK with Born Pink (Oct. 1, 2022). All three acts are Korean pop groups, their respective albums were their first No. 1s, and all debuted atop the tally. Before BLACKPINK, the last all-female group to lead the chart was American act Danity Kane, with its second album, Welcome to the Dollhouse, which bowed at No. 1 on the April 5, 2008, 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 March 9-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on March 5. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

04 Mar 2024

Elle King Returns to the Stage for First Performances Following Dolly Parton Tribute Backlash

Elle King has returned to the spotlight, as the singer-songwriter performed at two events over the weekend. On Friday (March 1), the “Ex’s and Oh’s” singer took the stage during the Extra Innings Festival in Tempe, Ariz., and on Saturday (March 2), opened a show on Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show Tour in San Diego, Calif.

King’s sets marked her first performances since her controversial Grand Ole Opry set in honor of Dolly Parton‘s 78th birthday in late January, where King, seemingly inebriated, forgot the lyrics as she attempted to sing the country icon’s 2001 song “Marry Me.”

“I don’t know the lyrics to this thing in this f–king town. Don’t tell Dolly ’cause it’s her birthday,” King had said during the Opry performance.

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It appears that King didn’t comment on the Opry show during her Extra Innings set. Wearing a long-sleeve, red shirt and a snakeskin skirt, King delivered songs including “Love Go By” and a cover of the Charlie Daniels Band’s “Long Haired Country Boy,” according to footage from the set on social media. Social media footage also showed her drinking from a bottle of water throughout the show.

During a recent interview with Extra, Parton offered up her thoughts on King’s Opry performance, offering grace and encouragement. “Elle is a really great artist. She’s a great girl,” the country star said. “She’s been going through a lot of hard things lately, and she just had a little too much to drink.”

Parton went on to advise, “So let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on, ’cause she felt worse than anybody ever could.”

Next up for King is a series of overseas shows, with performances as part of the Country 2 Country festival in Europe. In addition to her pop hits, King has earned two Billboard Country Airplay hits: “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” with Miranda Lambert, and “Different For Girls” with Dierks Bentley.

04 Mar 2024

Joe Budden Thinks Cardi B Is ‘Scared’ to Drop New Album, Predicts ‘Girl Rapper Wave Is Over’

Joe Budden lambasted female rappers during the Sunday (March 3) episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, most notably, Cardi B. The famed podcaster didn’t hold back any punches, detailing why he believes the “girl rapper wave” is over. 

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“Y’all ain’t gonna want to hear it from me, but the girl rapper wave is over. Just telling you what it is,” Budden said. “All of that ‘Go find a girl, send her to Columbia, get it done, put her in the studio with f–king [Mike WiLL Made-It] or any one of them n—-s.’ All that planting the girl in the scene, getting the record and it taking off, that wave is over.”

Though he hailed Latto, Flo Milli and Rapsody for their skills, Budden stayed on the attack, explaining his take on how he believes labels feel the pressure to push a female artist.

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“I think labels are looking at it like, ‘Very few of y’all are selling records, it’s too much work to get your coin back,’” he said. “‘We gotta do brand deals all over the world with y’all. Y’all are expensive, some of y’all are annoying, and none of these records are working.’”

Budden’s searing take came on the heels of Cardi B’s “Like What” freestyle, which arrived on Friday (March 1). During his podcast, he suggested that The Bronx MC is “scared” to release her sophomore album because she fears the potential backlash awaiting her. 

“Cardi B is afraid and I’m tired of just nobody saying it,” said Budden. “Cardi B is scared to come out, it don’t take this long to come out.”

Billboard has reached out to Cardi B’s reps for comment.

Cardi’s blockbuster debut, Invasion of Privacy, dropped in 2018 and featured Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It.” The following year, the project scored a Grammy for best rap album, beating out Nipsey Hussle’s Victory Lap, Travis Scott’s Astroworld, Mac Miller’s Swimming and Pusha T’s Daytona. 

Check out Budden’s thoughts below. 

04 Mar 2024

BLACKPINK’s Lisa Meets Up With Taylor Swift at Singapore Eras Tour Show: ‘Had Such a Blast’

Taylor Swift linked up with one of her most famous fans at her Sunday (March 3) concert in Singapore — BLACKPINK‘s Lisa, the second member of the girl group to make it out to see the Eras Tour.

The 26-year-old K-pop star shared photos from Singapore National Stadium on Instagram, showing off her many friendship bracelets with Swift’s stage in the background. Lisa also got to meet up with the “Anti-Hero” singer backstage, and the two stars posed for pictures together — one with just the two of them, and another with some of the “How You Like That” singer’s friends.

In one snap, the “Anti-Hero” musician — sporting a mint green “New York” sweatshirt and cut-off jean shorts — wraps an arm around Lisa’s shoulders. “Had such a blast at The Eras Tour! Amazing performance? @taylorswift,” the Thai singer-dancer captioned her post.

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The meet-up comes a few weeks after Lisa’s bandmate Rosé attended one of Swift’s Eras dates at the Tokyo Dome, where she passionately belted along to the 14-time Grammy winner’s 10-minute performance of “All Too Well.” “Best 10 minutes in tokyo,” she captioned the Feb. 7 clip.

Swift finishes out her six-night stay in Singapore Saturday (March 9), after which she’ll take a two-month pause from touring. In April, she’ll release her new album The Tortured Poets Department.

Aside from “The Girls,” a single specially made for the band’s mobile game, BLACKPINK hasn’t released music since its 2022 sophomore LP Born Pink. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 that October.

The “Karma” artist has long been a fan of BLACKPINK. At the 2022 VMAs, cameras captured her singing and dancing along to Lisa, Rosé, Jisoo and Jennie’s performance of “Pink Venom,” paying special attention to the song’s “look what you made us do” line — a possible reference to Swift’s own single “Look What You Made Me Do.”

See Lisa’s post below:

04 Mar 2024

Gina Banfi de Abello, Shakira’s Former Vocal Coach, Dies at 92

Gina Banfi de Abello, a distinguished figure in vocal coaching, died on Saturday (March 2) at the age of 92. Known for her work in choir and vocal training, Banfi mentored notable artists including Shakira and Colombian singer and composer Nicolás Tovar.

Her son Jaime Abello Banfi confirmed the news on social media on the day of her passing with an image of his mother. “Gina Banfi de Abello, November 26, 1931 – March 2, 2024,” reads the announcement. “Jaime, Mauricio, Beatriz, Maribel and Hugo Abello Banfi, her sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren invite you to attend the funeral, Sunday, March 3, 2024.”

In response to the flood of comments he received on his social media channels, Jamie expressed his gratitude in another Instagram post. “I sincerely appreciate hundreds of messages of solidarity and affection received at times when my family and I tried to accept the sad reality of the physical death of my mother Gina Banfi de Abello, who made her transition with lucidity, serenity and full of love and gratitude,” he wrote alongside a photo of his mother. “We are comforted by these messages, as well as the media coverage of her departure, which highlights her contribution as an artist and music educator.”

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According to a 2011 interview with Argentinian newspaper La Gaceta, Banfi coached Shakira in 1992, when the then rising star was preparing to sing at Chile’s Viña del Mar International Song Festival at 15 years old.

“She was out of the ordinary. She was something different. When she was very young, she was a belly dancer. She has a gifted talent,” Banfi told La Gaceta. “She has always had that same powerful voice. I taught her some breathing techniques and I prepared her when she went to Viña del Mar and it was a pleasure for me. Since she was a little girl, she expressed herself as she does today. It was an admirable thing for such a young girl.”

Banfi’s journey into music began in her early years, as she turned to studying piano after her endeavors in painting did not pan out. Her home environment was rich with music and art, fostering her passion for the arts from a young age. Over the years, the Barranquilla, Colombia, artist became an integral part of various musical groups, including the Coro Santa Cecilia and Coro Madrigal, showcasing her talent and dedication to choral music.

See the announcement of her passing below: