Music News

Kelly Clarkson Reveals How She Worked Through Her Depression After Divorce

Kelly Clarkson‘s music isn’t only for her fans — it’s also to help her work through her personal hardships. In the latest issue of People, the American Idol alum revealed that writing her latest album, Chemistry, provided a healthy way to express her feelings following her divorce from ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock.

 “I didn’t see it other than: This is my outlet. I’m a let-go person; I don’t hold grudges. So it was really delving into what happened in my life and why — and what am I going to do about it?” Clarkson said of releasing the record.

The three-time Grammy winner additionally expressed her gratitude at being able to use music to help her heal from difficult times. She added, “I cannot express how appreciative I feel for having that kind of healthy outlet. Because the level of depression and things that come with divorce or grieving is extraordinarily hard. You feel alone, and it’s just a blessing to be able to have that outlet for those emotions that are overwhelming.”

When Chemistry was released on June 23, Clarkson revealed that it felt like “‘I’m taking my power back.’” Though the singer joked that her choice of words sounds “very therapy,” she said the practice has only benefited her and thinks “it’s important to have those tools to navigate your life and relationships.”

Chemistry marked the 41-year-old’s 12th album to hit the Billboard 200, and her ninth to achieve top 10 status on the chart. The set peaked and debuted at No. 6 on the July 8-dated chart.

See Clarkson’s cover of People below:

Travis Kelce Reflects on His ‘Fun’ New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve was a fairy tale for Travis Kelce. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end opened up briefly about how nice the last day of 2023 was for him in the Wednesday (Jan. 3) episode of New Heights, the podcast he cohosts with brother Jason Kelce.

While discussing the Chiefs’ big New Year’s Eve home game against the Cincinnati Bengals — which Taylor Swift attended to cheer on boyfriend Travis — Jason boasted about how his younger brother’s team not only clinched the AFC West title with its 25-17 win (the Chiefs’ eighth consecutive division title), but also earned its ninth consecutive playoff berth and ninth consecutive 10-plus win season.

“It was all around a fun game. The atmosphere was great on New Year’s Eve, a lot of Chiefs fans excited for this one,” said the tight end, who had Swift — wearing his black-and-white Chiefs jacket — supporting him in the stands. “It was a fun day, man.”

“How was having Mom there for that game?” the Eagles center asked. “Pretty good?”

“It was fun! Then we all got to celebrate New Year’s together! It was cool, man, to have all the friends and family,” said Travis, who has not only appeared on Billboard charts alongside Jason, but also topped two charts late last year with their holiday tune “Fairytale of Philadelphia.” “I think I had over 50, 55 people come in for this one. A good new year’s celebration with all the friends and fam.”

Though the player didn’t mention the 12-time Grammy winner by name during the latest podcast episode, the couple — who began dating over the summer — were spotted leaving Arrowhead Stadium together after the Chiefs’ victory. Later that day, during a New Year’s Eve party, the pair shared a sweet kiss, which was captured on video and shared on X.

Listen to Travis discuss his New Year’s Eve in the New Heights episode above.

‘Mean Girls’ Movie Musical Releases Fierce Final Trailer

Are you ready for it? The final trailer for the upcoming musical movie adaptation of Mean Girls dropped Wednesday morning (Jan. 3) and it hints at some big, bold song and dance numbers. The clip opens with perpetually clueless principal Duvall (Tim Meadows) welcoming curve-busting new student Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) to school.

Cue an ominous image of The Plastics leader Regina George (Reneé Rapp), whose entrance finds her standing with arms crossed, backlit by a blood red light in the middle of the school hallway as the singer who starred in the Broadway musical version of the high school drama — based on the 2004 film of the same name — intones “my name is Regina George.”

A quick-cut montage takes us from a boy drumming on the lockers to George inviting “loser” Heron into her car as a fellow student warns, “Regina George is a scum-sucking life burner.” We get a glimpse of thoroughly unqualified health teacher Coach Carr (Jon Hamm) giving the kids a lesson on the dangers of female “whoremones” to Ms. Nordbury’s (Tina Fey) horror and a brief glimpse of an uptempo dance break.

The second half of the trailer is cued to Megan Thee Stallion and Rapp’s “Not My Fault,” and Duvall reading from the series’ infamous “burn book,” which reveals that one of his students keeps her secret vodka stash inside her inhaler. Plus, we get several cringe shots of Mrs. George (Busy Philipps) just trying so hard to be a cool mom.

Mean Girls hits theaters on Jan. 12 with a cast that also includes Bebe Wood and Avantika as the other Plastics and The Summer I Turned Pretty‘s Chris Briney as Regina’s ex, Aaron Samuels, with Heron’s pals Janis and Damian played, respectively, by Auliʻi Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey.

Watch the final Mean Girls trailer below.



June Carter Cash Recalls Meeting Johnny Cash in ‘June’ Trailer

June, a documentary that premieres Jan. 16 on Paramount +, will examine the extraordinary life of June Carter Cash. 

A member of the country music’s pioneering Carter Family, Carter Cash won five Grammy awards, co-wrote the classic “Ring of Fire,” and married Johnny Cash. The songwriter, performer and actress opened for Elvis Presley and appeared onscreen with Robert Duvall and Jane Seymour. 

The documentary features rare and never-before-seen footage of Carter Cash as she carries on her family’s legacy and becomes half of a power couple with Cash. Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Kacey Musgraves and Reese Witherspoon — who won an Oscar in 2006 for her portrayal of Carter Cash in Walk the Line — also contribute.

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Carter Cash, who died in April 2003 at age 73, charted as a solo artist only once on Billboard’s Country singles chart in 1971 with “A Good Man,” but found greater success with her duets with Cash, reaching the top 10 four times with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe” (1964), “Jackson” (1967), “Long-Legged Guitar Pickin’ Man” (1967) and “If I Were a Carpenter” (1969). Cash scored a hit with “Ring of Fire,” taking the song to No. 1 for seven weeks on the country chart in 1963. 

June is produced by Jason Owen and Josh Matas for Sandbox Productions, Mary Robertson for Maxine Productions, Sarah Olson and Kristen Vaurio. Executive producers include Tom Mackay and Krista Wegener for Sony Music Entertainment, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman for Sony Pictures Television, Jean Song and Chandra LaPlume for Sandbox Productions, Bruce Gillmer and Vanessa White Wolf for MTV Entertainment Studios, and her children John Carter Cash and Carlene Carter. The documentary premiered at the DOC NYC Festival on Nov. 12.

After opening in North America on Jan. 16, June will be available on Paramount + starting the next day in the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. 

Taylor Swift Has 7 of the Top 10 on Billboard’s Album Sales Chart

Taylor Swift holds seven of the top 10 titles on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Jan. 6), marking the first time any act has concurrently claimed as many titles in the region since the chart launched in 1991. Previously, Swift held the record for the most concurrent albums in the top 10 on Top Album Sales, with six, on three separate weeks.

Swift leads the latest list with her most recent release, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), which rules for a fourth nonconsecutive week. She also populates the top 10 with former chart-toppers at Nos. 2, 4, 6-8 and 10.

The Jan. 6-dated chart reflects album sales in the U.S. in the final tracking week of 2023 (Dec. 22-28), as tabulated by data-tracking firm Luminate, thus capturing some last-minute holiday shopping relating to the Christmas Day holiday on Dec. 25. Most of Swift’s sales for the week were owed to vinyl purchases. Of Swift’s total album sales across all of her albums for the week, including those not in the top 10, vinyl sales accounted for 65% of her total sales.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) heads up the new Top Album Sales chart, holding at No. 1 with 61,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 28 (down 36%). She’s also in the top 10 with Midnights (holding at No. 2 with 24,000; down 44%), Lover (3-4 with 22,000; down 28%), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (4-6 with 20,000; down 31%), Evermore (12-7 with 17,000; up 5%), Folklore (6-8 with 16,000; down 38%) and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (holding at No. 10 with 13,000; down 29%).

The only non-Swift titles in the top 10 are Stray Kids’ ROCK-STAR (7-3 with 23,000; down 3%), Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts (holding at No. 5 with 20,000; down 22%) and ATEEZ’s The World EP.Fin: Will (8-9 with 14,000; down 33%) – all former No. 1s.

In the week ending Dec. 28, there were 2.507 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 29.4% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 2.172 million (down 32.5%) and digital albums comprised 335,000 (up 0.1%).

There were 755,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Dec. 28 (down 34.4% week-over-week) and 1.409 million vinyl albums sold (down 31.4%).

Metro Boomin Planning a Trifecta of Albums in 2024

Metro Boomin had an epic 2023, but the in-demand producer is promising he’s got an even bigger 2024 on tap. After co-producing Young Thug’s Business Is Business album and reportedly producing the delayed joint Ye/Ty Dolla $ign collection Vultures — as well as curating the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack — MB promised in an exchange with a fan on X on New Year’s Eve that there is way more coming over the next 365.

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“How many albums do you think you’ll be dropping in 2024?” the X user asked on the eve of the new year. “3 at the very least,” Boomin responded, without specifying the titles or released dates for the projects. The promise of a trifecta came after MB tweeted, “2023 was great but just watch what I do 2024!!!!!”

While Boom didn’t name names, among the albums he appeared to be referring to are anticipated joint projects with Future and J.I.D., as well as a follow-up to his 2022 studio album Heroes & Villains; he is also producing A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd’s next efforts.

Back in October, MB chatted with Billboard for a cover story in which he revealed that there was a studio snafu while he was working on beats for the Future project. “They was beats I was making for the next time I see him, and they was going crazy. Boom, boom, boom. And I just came from Atlanta, and there was a storm,” he said.

“One of my beat machines that I use…. It’s not like a computer, it’s old-school, so it’s plugged up. The power goes out, and you haven’t saved it, that’s it,” he added about the storm that zapped “3 [fire] beats” he’d cooked up on his MPC 3000. “Sometimes, if I’m so far into something and that happens, then I’ll just be like, ‘Alright, I just gotta do something.’ And that usually be a blessing in disguise, I’ve done learned, ’cause the next thing be like, ‘Oh man, I wouldn’t have had this if I hadn’t lose this,’” he said.

See the exchange below.

Jack Harlow Goes Back to the Start in Trailer For ‘No Place Like Home: A VR Concert’ Special

They say you can’t go home again, but that is exactly what Jack Harlow does in the trailer for his upcoming concert special No Place Like Home: A VR Concert. The preview opens with Harlow enshrouded in fog on a stage accompanied by his 2023 Jackman track “Ambitious,” in which the rapper reminisces about being a “peach fuzz” faced teen with huge dreams… many of which have come true.

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The-rags-to-riches story reaches it apotheosis in the trailer, as Harlow confidently walks the stage in an all-black leather outfit in front of an adoring hometown crowd. The concert special will premiere on Thursday (Jan. 4) at 8 p.m. ET through Meta Horizon Worlds, which promises an immersive VR experience that will give fans a “front-row seat at an incredible, intimate concert,” as well as behind-the-scenes footage from the KY gigs.

The Live Nation-produced Bluegrass state tour marked the third annual hometown run for Harlow, featuring a six-show mini-tour that kicked off on Nov. 24 at Owensboro Sports Center in Owensboro, KY and wrapping up at Rupp Arena in Lexington on Dec. 3 after hitting Pikeville, Covington, Murray and Bowling Green. The string of gigs came three months after Harlow was honored with a “Hometown Heroes” banner in his hometown of Louisville.

After its premiere, No Place Like Home will be available to replay on Meta Horizon Worlds through Jan. 25. Harlow released his third studio album, Jackman, in April, spawning the global hit “Lovin’ On Me,” which rode the top of the U.K. charts in late 2023 on the way to becoming the MC’s third Hot 100 No. 1.

Watch the trailer for Harlow’s No Place Like Home concert special below.

Kid Cudi Slams Troll Who Said His 2021 ‘SNL’ Performance Was an ‘Illuminati Humiliation Ritual’

Kid Cudi has “got time” to shut down the haters.

The star took to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday (Jan. 2) to clap back at a user named Isaac, who claimed Cudi’s 2021 Saturday Night Live performance, in which he’s seen performing “Sad People” in a floral print dress, is “an illuminati humiliation ritual.”

“Dear Issac u silly stupid lil person and all people under this post. Its the start of a new year and I got time for muthaf—as like u today,” Cudi began his response. “This post is mad f—in lame of u and sad. A black man cant express himself and be confident AND successful with out it being some conspiracy. My success was givin to me by God with the help of my many angels.”

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He added, “This moment was a proud moment for me, a shinin moment for all people who express themselves in their art. I felt free and alive, it inspired people and nothing u stupid simple a–es say can take that away from me. Happy New Year u f—in simps.”

Cudi has said on many occasions that the floral print dress was in honor of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who wore similar dresses onstage in the 1990s. The rapper shared at the time of his performance that the dress was designed by the late Off-White founder and Louis Vuitton artistic director Virgil Abloh. “I told him I wanted to show love to Kurt w a floral print sundress and this man made a masterpiece,” the rapper wrote. “Thank You @virgilabloh ur a f—in genius!! Love you man we did it!!!”

During his second SNL performance of “Tequila Shots,” Cudi also rocked a fuzzy olive-green cardigan similar to the one Cobain famously wore during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York live performance, which aired months before his 1994 death. Underneath, Cudi sported a shirt with a headshot of late SNL great Chris Farley.

Selena Gomez Hints at Retirement From Music: ‘I Feel Like I Have One More Album in Me’

Selena Gomez is ready to slow down.

The star appeared on the latest episode of the SmartLess podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, during which she shared that she’d like to focus on only one aspect of her career. “I started having a lot of fun with music and then touring was really fun. But I was doing my TV show at the same time [Wizards of Waverly Place] and I just found it really fun so I just kept going but the older I get, the more I’m kind of like, I would like to find something to just settle on,” she explained, according to Deadline.

The Only Murders in the Building actress added that she’d like to focus on her acting career, sharing, “I do feel like I have one more album in me but I would probably choose acting.”

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Gomez recalled that she got into singing after snagging the lead role on her Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place. “Disney is, it’s safe to say, a machine and, in a way, forcefully require that I know how to sing so I could sing the theme song [of a show]. They know how to package someone and make it a whole triple threat thing,” she said. After she recorded the theme song for Wizards, Disney asked if Gomez would like to record an album, which she “thought it would be fun.”

She added, “I wanted to be an actress, I never really intended on being a singer full-time but apparently that hobby turned into something else.”

Gomez’s acting career is skyrocketing even more lately, as her role in Hulu’s Only Murders has snagged her two Golden Globes nominations in 2023 and 2024 for best performance by an actress in a television series – musical or comedy.

Ciara Finds Out She’s Related to This New York Yankees Superstar

Sure, Ciara is married to NFL quarterback Russell Wilson, but she’s got some sporty DNA in her as well.

The “Level Up” singer took to Instagram on Tuesday (Jan. 2) to share a snippet of her upcoming episode of Finding Your Roots, in which she finds out that she’s distant cousins with former New York Yankees baseball player Derek Jeter.

“What in the world? You are kidding me. That’s crazy,” she says in the clip upon finding out, with a huge smile on her face. “The moment I learned @DerekJeter was my cousin! Crazy,” she captioned the snippet. “Thank you @drhenrylouisgates for such an incredible experience! This was a dream come true to learn about my family genealogy!”

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See Ciara’s post here.

PBS’ Finding Your Roots is hosted by educator Henry Louis Gates Jr., and features DNA diagnosticians analyzing genetic code, tracing bloodlines and occasionally debunking beliefs. The series also shows celebrities as they look through their ancestral histories, discover secrets and share their reactions with viewers. Over the course of 10 seasons, the show has featured everyone from Samuel L Jackson, LL Cool J, Questlove and Cyndi Lauper to Barbara Walters, Ben Affleck, Angela Bassett, Scarlett Johansson and more.

Ciara’s episode will also feature Alanis Morissette. The full episode will air on Tuesday (Jan. 2) at 9 p.m. ET on PBS.