Music News

12 Feb 2024

Chrissy Teigen Gushes Over Usher’s Halftime Show Performance, Dances With Baby Wren to ‘Yeah!’

Usher’s Super Bowl Halftime Show at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Sunday night (Feb. 11) was every millennial’s dream — Chrissy Teigen included.

The Cravings cookbook author took to Instagram to share a series of videos in which she is seen dancing to Usher’s medley of hits, including one adorable clip in which she grooves along with her eight-month-old son Wren Alexander to “Yeah!”

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“I always love halftime. I never ever hate on halftime,” Teigen captioned her post. “It’s such a big deal and the pressure is so insane, the timing is so bananas. It’s all just so much and I’m so proud of anyone who does this show. But man, when you know all the songs.”

During the game — in which the San Fransisco 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 25-22 in overtime — Usher performed some of his biggest hits during Halftime, including “Caught Up,” “Burn,” “U Got It Bad,” “Confessions Part II,” “Love In This Club” and more, all while delivering his characteristic choreography.

Usher was also joined by a few of his celebrity friends on stage, including Alicia Keys for a mashup of “If I Ain’t Got You” and “My Boo,” before H.E.R. delivered a jaw-dropping guitar solo, and Ludacris and Lil Jon teamed up to hype up the crowd with a medley of “Turn Down for What” and “Yeah!”

See Teigen’s post below.

12 Feb 2024

Toby Keith’s ’35 Biggest Hits’ Tops Billboard 200 Albums Chart

Toby Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits re-enters the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Feb. 17) at No. 1, following the country superstar’s death on Feb. 5 of stomach cancer. It’s the fifth chart-topper for Keith on the all-genre chart, and first since 2010.

The best-of collection earned 66,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week ending Feb. 8 (up 953%). The album was originally released in 2008 and initially peaked at its debut rank of No. 2 on the list dated May 24, 2008. It contains 31 of Keith’s 42 top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including 15 of his 20 No. 1s.

35 Biggest Hits is Keith’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since 2010’s Bullets in the Gun. He also topped the tally with Big Dog Daddy (2007), Shock’N Y’all (2003) and Unleashed (2002). During his lifetime, he logged 14 top 10-charting albums (inclusive of his five No. 1s).

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multimetric 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 Feb. 17, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Feb. 13. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X and Instagram.

Of 35 Biggest Hits’ 66,000 units earned in the tracking week ending Feb. 8, SEA units comprise 46,000 (up 689%, equaling 64.04 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 35 songs), album sales comprise 11,000 (up 3,251%) and TEA units comprise 9,000 (up 6,966%).

35 Biggest Hits is the first posthumous No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since Pop Smoke’s Faith debuted at No. 1 on the July 31, 2021, chart, following his death on Feb. 19, 2020. The last retrospective album to hit No. 1 posthumously was Prince’s The Very Best Of, which topped the chart dated May 7, 2016, following his death on April 21 of that year. 35 Biggest Hits is the first retrospective album to reach No. 1 since BTS’ Proof opened at No. 1 on the June 25, 2002 chart.

Also, as 35 Biggest Hits replaces another country album at No. 1 — Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at Time, which dips to No. 2 — it’s first time in more than nine years that one country album has replaced another at No. 1. It last happened in late October and early November of 2014, when three country albums each debuted at No. 1 and spent one week in succession: Blake Shelton’s Bringing Back the Sunshine (Oct. 18), Jason Aldean’s Old Boots, New Dirt (Oct. 25) and Florida Georgia Line’s Anything Goes (Nov. 1).

Back on the new Billboard 200, One Thing at a Time slips one spot to No. 2 with 65,000 equivalent album units (down 2%). Four more former No. 1s follow Wallen’s, as SZA’s SOS steps 6-3 (53,000; up 28%), 21 Savage’s American Dream falls 2-4 (51,000; down 16%), Taylor Swift’s Midnights rises 9-5 (51,000; up 35%) and Drake’s For All the Dogs descends 3-6 (49,000; down 4%). SZA and Swift both gain thanks in part to exposure during the Grammy Awards’ CBS-TV broadcast (Feb. 4). The former performed and won best R&B song (for SOS single “Snooze”), while the latter won two trophies (both for Midnights: album of the year and best pop vocal album).

Noah Kahan’s Stick Season slips 4-7 on the Billboard 200 with 49,000 equivalent album units earned (though up 4%), Swift’s chart-topping 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is pushed down 5-8 with 48,000 units (up 7%) and Swift’s former leader Lover is also squeezed down despite a gain, falling 7-9 with 45,000 units (up 13%). Zach Bryan’s self-titled chart-topper rounds out the top 10, falling 8-10 with 42,000 units (while up 5%).

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.

12 Feb 2024

H.E.R. Posts Sweet Throwback Singing the National Anthem for the 49ers When She Was 11 Years Old

H.E.R. had the ultimate full circle moment.

The “Best Part” singer took to Instagram on Sunday (Feb. 11) to share a throwback photo of herself as a child singing on a jumbotron. “In honor of niners at #superbowllviii here’s me at 11 singing national anthem at 49ers game ? let’s get itttttt,” she captioned the post, in reference to the San Francisco 49ers facing off against the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LVIII this year.

Even though the 49ers lost to the Chiefs 25-22 in overtime at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, H.E.R.’s post was extra special because the Bay Area native came out as a surprise guest during Usher’s Halftime Show performance, delivering a jaw-dropping guitar riff during heated renditions of “U Got It Bad” and “Bad Girl.”

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She joined a few more of Usher’s celebrity friends throughout the performance including Alicia Keys for a mashup of “If I Ain’t Got You” and “My Boo,” before Ludacris and Lil Jon teamed up to hype up the crowd with a medley of “Turn Down for What” and “Yeah!”

In a follow-up post, H.E.R. shared a photo with Usher onstage, thanking the star for having her as a guest. “CAN’T SPELL USHER WITHOUT H.E.R.,” she captioned the post. “HALFTIME SHOW?!?!???? WHAAAAAAT. AND IT WAS THE GREATEST EVER. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TALENT, YOUR LOVE, AND FOR SHARING THIS MOMENT WITH ME. WOW I HAVE NO WORDS.”

12 Feb 2024

Miranda Lambert & Enrique Iglesias Are Teaming Up for a Duet: ‘Texas Meets Spain!’

Texas native Miranda Lambert teamed up with Leon Bridges for a romantic ballad last year, and now she’s teasing another new collaboration — this time with Latin pop star and Madrid, Spain-native Enrique Iglesias.

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On Feb. 12, the country singer posted a snippet of the upcoming song titled “Space in My Heart,” which will release in full on Feb. 22. On Instagram, Lambert noted, “Texas meets Spain! Can’t wait for y’all to hear this one.”

The snippet offers up a sultry come-on, with the two singing, “You don’t love me yet, but I know you will/ If you ever go I will never change/ There’s a space in my heart and it’s just your shape.”

Iglesias — known for his Billboard Hot 100 hits including “Bailamos” and “Be With You,” as well as songs such as “Hero” and the Whitney Houston collab “Could I Have This Kiss Forever?” — was named one of Billboard‘s Top-Grossing Latin Artists of All Time. He’s notched eight chart-topping albums on Billboard‘s Top Latin Albums chart, including Vivir (15 weeks at the chart pinnacle) and Sex and Love (16 weeks).

In collaborating with Iglesias, Lambert continues a lengthy linage of country-Latin collaborations.

In the 1980s, Latin music icon Julio Iglesias earned country hits on collaborations with Willie Nelson, including the CMA Award-winning “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before,” as well as “Spanish Eyes.” Country trio Midland teamed with Jay De La Cueva for a Spanish-language version of its hit “Drinkin’ Problem.” Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood performed with Latin artist David Bisbal for the bilingual song “Tears of Gold,” while Kane Brown teamed with Becky G for a Spanish remix of “Lost in the Middle of Nowhere.” In celebrating the 25th anniversary of his 1992 hit “Achy Breaky Heart,” Billy Ray Cyrus collaborated with Caballo Dorado on a bilingual version of the song. 

Hear the teaser for “Space in My Heart” below:

12 Feb 2024

Beyoncé Lays Down Her Country Cards With New Singles ’16 Carriages’ & ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’: Review

Beyoncé formally ended long-rumored speculation about the second act of her Renaissance trilogy during the Super Bowl festivities Sunday (Feb. 11) with the release of not one but two country songs: “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

The former is a vulnerable yet empowering autobiographical ballad that finds the singer-songwriter’s melodious vocals riding along to a spare track. It’s punctuated by a hard-charging guitar during what will no doubt become another sing-along chorus for Queen Bey fans: “Sixteen carriages drivin’ away/ While I watch them ride with my dreams away/ To the summer sunset on a holy night/ On a long back road, all the tears I fight.” 

That number 16 is significant: It’s how old Beyoncé was when girl group Destiny’s Child signed with Columbia Records and released its breakthrough single “No, No, No.” The song’s lyrics also carry other biographical references, such as “I saw Mama prayin’, I saw Daddy grind” and “Goin’ so hard, gotta choose myself …/ Still workin’ on my life, you know/ Only God knows.” All in all, the song paints a very visual picture of Beyoncé’s dreams and ever-evolving career and life pursuits. 

On “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the Houston native turns playful alongside an uptempo, banjo-driven and folk-vibed track — accompanied by whistling at one point — for “a real-life boogie and a real-life hoedown” as she and her crew head “to the dive bar we always thought was nice.” It’s about running out for a fun night on the town in lieu of sitting back and worrying about all of life’s problems. “This ain’t Texas/ Ain’t no hold ‘em/ So lay your cards down,” Beyoncé proclaims. “I’ll be d–ned if I cannot dance with you/ Come pour some sugar on me, honey, too.”

This isn’t the 32-time Grammy Award winner’s first rodeo. She presented a peek inside her country alter ego in 2016 with “Daddy Lessons.” Appearing on Lemonade, her sixth studio album, the song also featured country icons The Chicks on its promotional remix, which both acts performed live on the CMA Awards in 2016. Submitted for inclusion in the country category that year for the next Grammy Awards, “Daddy Lessons” was rejected by The Recording Academy’s country music committee.

Given that song plus Beyoncé’s Texas roots (for some, another tip-off was the cowboy hat she wore at the recent Grammys), this move across the genre aisle shouldn’t be a surprise. On Renaissance: Act 1, she reclaimed house music, a genre that Black musicians and artists had a major hand in building. And now the same for country, whose longstanding foundation was laid by Black musicians and artists as well. And before Beyoncé, R&B stars Lionel Richie and Ray Charles (another multi-genre aisle-crosser who’s also a Country Music Hall of Fame member) made their own popular, top-charting forays into country. So why not Beyoncé?

Listen to her two latest singles below:

12 Feb 2024

Killer Mike Reflects on His Grammy Night Arrest: ‘All of My Heroes Have Been in Handcuffs’

Killer Mike’s Grammy night on Feb. 4 was bittersweet after being placed in handcuffs by LAPD following an alleged altercation with a security guard earlier in the day. Mike spoke to the cast of The View on Monday (Feb. 12), following his Grammy trifecta, where he won best rap album and song, and best rap performance. 

“All of my heroes have been in handcuffs – Malcolm, Martin, Mandela, Medgar,” he said reflectively. “I walked out with the same dignity and respect that I walked in with, and I would implore people to just take that from it.”

He also noted that the backstage area was jam-packed, and caused security to behave more rashly than usual. “Backstage was overcrowded, the winners were exuberant, and I think security got a little overzealous,” he relayed to the panel. 

Detained for several hours following his arrest, Mike received a misdemeanor charge and was released. Then, he met his wife, Shana, and quipped about their encounter, saying: “I walked out to my wife in the rain,” he said. “It was like a romance movie. It was dope.”

After his arrest, the rapper released a statement about the incident. “As you can imagine, there was a lot going and there was some confusion around which door my team and I should enter,” he said in part. “We experienced an overzealous security guard, but my team and I have the utmost confidence that I will ultimately be cleared of all wrongdoing.”

Mike’s whirlwind of a night didn’t end there. He later discovered that his 21-year-old son had finally found a kidney donor after waiting for three years. In an interview with GQ, he spoke about his initial reaction to hearing the news. 

“The very next morning, I got a call that my child, after being on the list for three years, finally got his kidney. And I can just truly tell you that God is real. And the same way Christ gave us an example of being by himself, of being tempted by Satan, I understand that a lot better now because I could have succumbed to anger or evil and talked s–t. But I’m just grateful.”

Watch Killer Mike’s interview with The View below. 

12 Feb 2024

Lady Gaga Recreates Her Halftime Show Glitter Makeup Look at 2024 Super Bowl

Lady Gaga rolled up to Super Bowl LVIII perfectly in theme.

As seen in the photo above, the “Rain on Me” superstar was spotted in the crowd at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Sunday night (Feb. 11), rocking a San Fransisco 49ers jersey and a glittery eye look matching the one she wore back in 2017, when she performed her jaw-dropping Halftime Show at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Opening with Lady Gaga singing a medley of “God Bless America” and “This Land Is Your Land” from the roof of the Super Bowl stadium, the New York City pop star performed a medley of hits during her 13-minute set, including “Poker Face,” “Born This Way,” “Bad Romance” and more. She wrapped up the visually and musically impressive set with a fitting mic drop, before she caught a football toss and hopped off a staircase to end the show.

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While Gaga’s team didn’t end up winning the Super Bowl — the 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 25-22 in overtime — she did get to enjoy this year’s Halftime Show performance from Usher. He performed some of his biggest hits, including “Caught Up,” “Burn,” “U Got It Bad,” “Confessions Part II,” “Love In This Club” and more, all while delivering his characteristically sultry dance moves for the roaring crowd.

Usher also had a few surprises up his sleeves, as he was joined by a few of his celebrity friends on stage, including Alicia Keys for a mashup of “If I Ain’t Got You” and “My Boo,” before H.E.R. delivered a jaw-dropping guitar solo, and Ludacris and Lil Jon teamed up to hype up the crowd with a medley of “Turn Down for What” and “Yeah!”

12 Feb 2024

Swizz Beatz Appears to Brush Off Comments About Usher Hugging Up Wife Alicia Keys During Super Bowl Halftime Show

Swizz Beatz has seen all your concerned comments about Sunday’s (Feb. 11) explosive Super Bowl LVIII halftime show and the hip-hop producer/rapper thinks you might need to calm down. “Y’all talking about the wrong damn thing !!! y’all don’t see that amazing dress covering the entire stadium ⚡️????‍??‍??‍??‍?,” he wrote of wife Alicia Keys‘ eye-popping, glittering red Dolce & Gabanna bejeweled catsuit and billowy organza cape.

In addition to a snap of Keys’ flowing train, Beatz also included a shot of headliner Usher hugging a smiling Keys from behind during their joint performance of their 2004 joint hit “My Boo.”

“Tonight’s performance was nothing but amazing with 2 amazing Giants!,” Beatz added. “Congrats @usher and my love @aliciakeys that song is a classic ? We don’t do negative vibes on this side we make history.”

Swizz’s post appeared to be in response to a number of tweets suggesting that the singers got a bit too cozy on stage during the performance in which Usher hugged Keys from behind and put his hand on her hip. “Usher knows he outta pocket for violating Alicia Keys at the superbowl last night,” wrote one X user, with another saying, “It’s wrong to hold someone’s wife like this. I don’t care if Swiss Beatz is okay with it.”

Beatz (born Kasseem Dean), 45 and Keys, 43, first met as teenagers in the 1990s and then reconnected in 2008 and married in 2010; they share two sons, Egypt and Genesis.

The special on-stage moment between the old friends came amidst a glitzy career-spanning halftime extravaganza from Usher — whose recently concluded My Way Las Vegas residency had the singer getting up-close-and-personal with fans and famous friends on a nightly basis — which also featured cameos from H.E.R., Jermaine Dupri, Will.i.am and Lil Jon and Ludacris, the latter on the show-closing, crowd-pleasing run through their 2004 hit “Yeah!”

Check out Beatz’ post below.

12 Feb 2024

Here’s What Taylor Swift Told Travis Kelce Right After the Chiefs Won the 2024 Super Bowl

The image of Taylor Swift kissing Travis Kelce after the Kansas City Chiefs won the 2024 Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 11) is one that will go down in pop-culture history. And now, newly shared videos from the already iconic moment have revealed what exactly the pop star told the tight end soon after he helped lead his team to victory.

“Come here, girl,” Kelce says when he first saw the 14-time Grammy winner on the field, quickly wrapping her up in a kiss.

“Oh my god,” she responds, hugging him tightly. “I cannot believe that. I can’t believe you. How did you do that?”

One clip from the exchange shows Kelce asking, “Was it electric?”

“It was unbelievable,” the “Anti-Hero” singer enthuses. “That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Moments before, Swift watched the offensive lineman deliver a raucous victory speech while accepting the Lombardi Trophy. “You gotta fight for your right to party!” he cheered, tears streaming down his face, as the musician looked on proudly from below the stage.

This year marked the Chiefs’ second Super Bowl win in a row, a feat they earned 25-22 against the San Francisco 49ers after going into overtime. Swift attended the game with her parents as well as Blake Lively, Ice Spice, Lana Del Rey and more famous friends before going to an afterparty with Kelce.

Videos from the post-game festivities captured the couple dancing and singing along to remixes of two of Swift’s Fearless era hits, “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.” “It’s a love story, baby just say yes,” the “Karma” musician mouthed to the Ohio native before kissing him on the dance floor.

See Swift congratulate Kelce after the 2024 Super Bowl below.

12 Feb 2024

Oasis’ Liam Gallagher Had a Predictably NSFW Response to Band’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nomination

Count former Oasis singer, solo star and proprietor of one of rock‘s most legendary bored-to-death stares Liam Gallagher as someone unimpressed by his band’s inclusion on the 2024 short list for nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The notoriously tetchy singer who went solo after older brother and chief Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher split the band in 2009 summed up his dyspeptic feelings about the nod in a short, sharp tweet in which he wrote, “F–ck the Rock n Roll hall of fame its full of BUMBACLARTS.” The latter is a Jamaican slang term frequently employed by Gallagher on his socials when peeved to express his disdain in no uncertain terms.

At press time a spokesperson for the RRHOF had not returned Billboard‘s request for additional comment on Gallagher’s tweet.

When someone commented with a reminder to Oasis fans to choose the group in the RRHOF fan vote since, at the moment, Oasis was “losing stratospherically” to this year’s other nominees, Gallagher responded, “Don’t waste your time Rkid as much as it’s appreciated it’s all a load of bollox.” He later wrote a comment on another post suggesting the Britpop superstars really do deserve the award. “I appreciate that you do but I honestly feel there’s something very fishy about those awards,” Gallagher wrote in one of dozens of snarky, humorous replies.

To be fair, someone else resurfaced a 2021 response Gallagher posted to someone asking his thoughts on Oasis’ possible induction into the Rock Hall, to which the singer said, “Not interested in any of that.”

At press time Oasis had just over 23,500 votes from fans, with Ozzy Osbourne leading all vote-getters (39,848), followed by Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey and Kool & the Gang. The only acts below Oasis currently are Sinéad O’Connor, Sade and Jane’s Addiction. This year’s roster of nominees also includes Mary J. Blige, Eric B. & Rakim and A Tribe Called Quest.

Gallagher’s pointed response was quite different from one of his fellow irascible British rock peers, metal god Ozzy Osbourne, who said he was “deeply honored” to be considered as a solo act after already being enshrined with Black Sabbath. Foreigner singer Mick Jones also said it was an honor, calling the nomination an “incredible endorsement” of the band’s achievements over the past 45+ years and guitar great Frampton said he “screamed” when he found out. In the past, the Sex Pistols’ John Lydon and Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose have thrown cold water on their bands’ induction and a number of key band members have been conspicuously absent at inductions of Black Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane and Van Halen.

Gallagher would certainly not be the first potential inductee to say they’d prefer not being enshrined in Cleveland. Back in 2022, country superstar Dolly Parton initially “respectfully” declined the Hall’s nomination, later reversing course and accepting the honor, as well as releasing her first rock album, Rockstar.

The 2024 nominees will be decided by a voting body of 1,000+ “artists, historians and members of the music industry,” per a press release. The Rock Hall’s Class of 2024 will be announced in late April.

Check out Gallagher’s tweet below.