Music News

11 Dec 2023

Ed Sheeran Played a Surprise Opening Set For The Darkness, Then Jammed On ‘Love Is Only a Feeling’ With Them

Ed Sheeran can’t get enough of The Darkness. The British glam rockers hosted a surprise pop-in from the “Eyes Closed” singer on Saturday (Dec. 9) during their set at London’s Roundhouse, where Sheeran played an unannounced six-song warm-up set, which, (according to setlist.fm) featuring Sheeran playing such hits as “Shivers,” “Thinking Out Loud,” “Bad Habits” and “Shape Of You,” as well as “Bloodstream” and a high-energy mash-up of “Don’t” and Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.”

Prefacing the latter, in fan video from the show, Sheeran told the audience, “The Darkness were one of my favorite bands growing up and it was always my dream as a kid to open up for them, so I’m living the dream.” Not only did Sheeran live his dream on Saturday, but in 2019 he got a preview of sharing the stage with the over-the-top rockers when they opened up for him on a leg of his Divide Tour.

The joy in Sheeran’s heart was palpable when he later returned to the stage to perform the Darkness’ 2003 hit “Love Is Only a Feeling” from the band’s landmark Permission to Land album. After hugging shirtless singer Justin Hawkins, Sheeran — who swapped his typical acoustic guitar for an electric one — strummed along to the song’s thumping beat, sang backup and added his falsetto to the track’s sky-high chorus while striking a classic back-to-back pose with guitarist Dan Hawkins; watch the performance here.

The band posted a clip of the special performance over the weekend with the caption, “Legendary stuff featuring @edsheeran.” Check it out below.

11 Dec 2023

Davido Set to Perform His First Concert at Madison Square Garden

Come next spring, Davido will perform his first concert at NYC’s Madison Square Garden, Billboard can exclusively announce.

The Afrobeats superstar will perform at the legendary venue on April 17, 2024, as part of his extended Timeless Tour. Produced by Duke Concept, the three new North American arena dates will start with the MSG show, continue with a show at Montreal’s Place Bell on April 19 and end with a show at Orlando’s Additional Financial Arena on April 24. More and more major Nigerian acts have been able to headline MSG over the years, starting with Burna Boy‘s historic stint in April 2022, and including Wizkid‘s concert in November 2022.

“Seven years ago, I walked past Madison Square Garden and looked at it and said, ‘We gonna come back and shut this down,’” Davido tells Billboard in a statement. “So to be here now, able to play Madison Square Garden, in New York, one of the first cities and fans to embrace my music, at this iconic venue … it’s a dream come true.”

He’s nominated for best African music performance for his summer smash “Unavailable” with Musa Keys and best global music album for his fourth studio album, Timeless, ahead of the 2024 Grammy Awards. Davido released Timeless on March 31, 2023, via Davido Music Worldwide. The 17-track set reached No. 37 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on World Albums, and “Timeless” reached No. 3 on both U.S. Afrobeats Songs and World Digital Song Sales.

11 Dec 2023

Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ Concert Film Suffers Big Drop in Second Weekend

Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé took a major tumble during its second weekend in movie theaters. The tour doc easily topped the box office tally on opening weekend, but in its second frame it is expected to tumble more than 77% from its initial peak.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie directed, written and produced by the Queen Bey tumbled from No. 1 to a seeming tie for No. 5 with Disney’s animated Wish, with an estimated $5 million haul; the final Renaissance number could be closer to $5.5 million when complete numbers are released on Monday morning.

Either way, it was a swift and steep fall from the movie’s $21 million opening last weekend, which marked the first film to open with over $20 million in the typically slow post-Thanksgiving period in 20 years, not accounting for inflation. THR reported that the big second-week drop suggested that the movie was “frontloaded and is relying primarily on superfans”; like Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour film run, the Beyoncé movie only played Thursday-Sunday.

Swift’s Eras film made more than $92 million in its first frame on its way to more than $250 million in global receipts to date. The two superstars have supported each other, with Swift recently flying to London for the Renaissance premiere. Sunday (Dec. 10) was the final day in theaters for Renaissance.

The movie had more robust competition during its second go-round, especially from The Boy and the Heron, acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s latest animated spectacle. The Studio Ghibli-produced film scored a record-breaking $12.8 million open, marking the first anime title in history to debut atop the North American box office chart.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes was expected to end up at No. 2 on a projected $9-$10 million, followed by Godzilla Minus One and the Justin Timberlake-topped threequel Trolls Band Together.

11 Dec 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Rocks NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk’ With Moving ‘GUTS’ Set

It’s probably safe to say that the NPR Tiny Desk series hasn’t seen this much pop joy and pain mixed with so many four-letter words before. Olivia Rodrigo stopped by public radio’s most famous cubicle recently and after ripping through “Love is Embarrassing” from the her sophomore album, GUTS, Rodrigo recalled that her first visit to Tiny Desk came in the midst of the pandemic, forcing her to perform at a emptied-out DMV.

“It’s much cooler to be here,” she said of the famed overstuffed NPR performance space. “I’ve never been star-struck by a room before, so this is a huge honor.” Rodrigo also provided some context for “Embarrassing,” describing a night spent lying in bed “playing back every embarrassing thing you’ve ever done and cringing at yourself.”

She then switched to the album’s lacerating first single, “Vampire,” which she said she wrote in 20-30 minutes, but then spent a month polishing with producer Dan Nigro into a high sheen. Sitting at the piano, Rodrigo was joined by a three person choir, who gave the kiss-off to an energy-sucking ex an eerie finality as they crooned “how do you lie, how do you lie?” over the song’s revamped, looser arrangement.

Rodrigo explained that “Lacy” came to her after writing it up as an assignment in a poetry class at USC last year, marking the first time she’d ever written a song by taking a fully formed lyric and then putting a melody to it, rather than working on both at the same time as is her usual method. “It was a fun experiment for me as a songwriter and it turned out to be one of my favorite songs on the record,” she said before playing the moving ballad on a lavender acoustic guitar, backed only by the choir.

The four-song set ended with Rodrigo alone at the piano “Making the Bed,” a track she wrote in New York that fits one of the album’s themes of taking responsibility for your actions. “Want it, so I got it, so it’s done/ Another thing I ruined I used to do for fun/ Another piece of plastic, I could just throw away/ Another conversation with nothing good to say,” she sang in a hushed tone.

Watch Rodrigo’s Tiny Desk show below.

10 Dec 2023

SZA Reveals Six Variations of ‘Lana’ Cover Art, Celebrates 1-Year Anniversary of ‘SOS’

Lana is coming soon. SZA teased the upcoming deluxe version of her chart-topping 2022 album, SOS, with a cover art series posted on Instagram Sunday (Dec. 10).

Though she didn’t announce a release date, SZA revealed six different images with the caption “LANA.” The singer-songwriter, whose real name is Solána Rowe, confirmed that Lana is the title of a deluxe release in September.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“So the deluxe is like a whole ‘nother album, and it’s called Lana. It’s seven to 10 songs, and it’ll be out this fall,” SZA said at New York’s Brooklyn Navy Yard at an event on Sept. 8 (via a fan-captured video from the show).

Fans are speculating that the images feature a clue that Lana could arrive on Dec. 15. The singer is wearing a jersey with the number “15” in three of the photos.

On Sunday, SZA also looked back on SOS a year after its release.

“a day late but Happy 1 year anniversary to an album that is ACTIVELY CHANGING MY LIFE .. like rn currently changing my life,” she wrote on Instagram. “I haven’t processed this year AT ALL cause it’s still happening .. this is beyond my wildest dreams . I never imagined we’d accomplish a fraction of the accolades that came from this .. it often doesn’t feel real and it’s funny cause I swore I’d know what to do if it ever happened . turns out I I froze .. I know the perils of drinking the koolaid so I won’t dabble in that .. but I have to express the immense GRATITUDE I have for every person that made this possible . Every person that’s been apart of this journey. Thank you to GOD and to my incredible TEAM and My FAMILY . My ancestors . Thank you to every person that streamed this album ,came to a show , blasted it in traffic and connected w ANY part of me . To everyone that continues to believe in me and be patient w me as I figure it all out . your my driving force . I love you.”

SOS debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in December 2022, and the album had a non-consecutive 10-week run atop the chart. SZA is the leader in nominations for the 2024 Grammys, with nine nods — including each of the “Big Three” categories: album for SOS, and record and song of the year for her Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Kill Bill.”

See her new Lana posts below.

10 Dec 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Makes Cameo in ‘Tiny Ass Bag’ Sketch on ‘SNL’

Tired of carrying around a big bag? Looking for something impractical to add to your Christmas list? SNL cast members Marcello Hernández and Ego Nwodim, host Adam Driver, and musical guest Olivia Rodrigo have got just the product for you: the Tiny Ass Bag.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Hernández and Nwodim led a sketch promoting various styles of the miniature accessory on Saturday night’s (Dec. 9) episode.

The most impressive item in the Tiny Ass Bag line might be the Tiny Ass Hiking Backpack, as modeled by Driver, or perhaps the Tiny Ass Luggage. As Kevin, aka Driver, says, “My bag is little, and my ass is fat. I’m the king of the world!”

Rodrigo co-stars as Georgina without a last name — “It’s Georgina, and das it” — who makes an appearance to show off another Tiny Ass product.

“This one is so small, it can only fit your secrets,” she says, modeling the Tiny Ass Carry On.

As musical guest, Rodrigo performed an emotional, understated “Vampire” and a theatrical “All-American Bitch” that had her shattering her glass at just the right moment, throwing herself across a table, stabbing a red cake and smearing it all over her face with a grateful smile.

Watch the “Tiny Ass Bag” sketch below. Check out her SNL performances here.

10 Dec 2023

Tony Romo Calls Taylor Swift Travis Kelce’s ‘Wife’ as Singer Cheers On the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium

“All they keep asking me is if I’m gonna be your bride” might accurately describe Taylor Swift‘s night after Tony Romo accidentally referred to the superstar as Travis Kelce’s “wife” Sunday (Dec. 10).

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Romo’s slip-up came when Kelce caught an amazing pass during the second quarter of Sunday night’s Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills game at Arrowhead Stadium.

“As you see Kelce’s wife, Taylor Swift, in the audience…” said Romo, who was commenting on the play. With a nervous chuckle, he quickly corrected himself: “I’m sorry, girlfriend.”

On Sunday, Swift, wearing a vintage Chiefs sweatshirt, stood in a suite beside her beau’s mom as they watched the game together.

The pop star, who was just named TIME‘s Person of the Year, confirmed to the public that she’s in a relationship with Kelce in her cover story interview published this week, in which she referred to herself and Kelce being a “couple.”

“We actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple,” said Swift, talking about her first appearance at a Chiefs game in September. “I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”

“Tony Romo” trended on X (formerly Twitter) right after he referred to Swift as Kelce’s “wife.”

“They need to play lavender haze at half time,” read a text screenshot from one fan to another. On the Midnights track, Swift sings about people asking her when she’s getting married, and only seeing her “as a one night, or a wife.”

Other Swifties shared funny GIFs, or joked about how news headline writers and Swift’s publicist would react.

See the televised moment captured below, followed by some fan reactions.

10 Dec 2023

ATEEZ Claims First No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart With ‘THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL’

ATEEZ’s THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Dec. 16), marking the first chart-topper for the Korean pop group. The set earned 152,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 7, according to Luminate, nearly entirely from traditional album sales. Its album sales were bolstered by its availability across more than 30 collectible editions.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL is the fourth top 10-charting effort from the act, all posted consecutively. The group previously charted as high as No. 2 with its last entry, THE WORLD EP.2: OUTLAW, in July.

While ATEEZ has logged six charting efforts on the Billboard 200 in total (four top 10s, plus two more that charted outside the region), the act has yet to notch a charting song on any U.S. Billboard airplay or streaming chart, the Billboard Hot 100, or the Billboard Global 200 or Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. (The latter two rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.)

Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song returns to the region for a sixth consecutive holiday season, as the set rises 16-10.

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 Dec. 16, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Dec. 12. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL’s 152,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 7, album sales comprise 146,000 (with 99% of that sum driven by physical album sales and 1% via digital album downloads), SEA units comprise 5,500 (equaling 7.59 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 tracks) and TEA units comprise 500 units.

As is typical for major K-pop releases, THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL was issued in multiple collectible physical configurations, 33 in total. All have the same 12-song tracklist, but have alternative packaging and contain different branded paper merchandise (some randomized, including photocards). Of the 33 editions, 26 are CDs and seven are vinyl. Among the variants are retail-exclusives sold through the likes of Barnes & Noble, Target and Walmart.

Each variant of the physical album in the U.S. was sold with a minimum of two random photocards, but could contain up to five depending on where the customer bought the album. K-pop photocards are similar to sports trading cards, in that each card typically has a photo of a member of the group. Each random photocard is from a set of eight total cards (one for each member). In total, there were a dozen sets of eight photocards, with assorted sets assigned to the retail-exclusive versions of the album.

As THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL album is mostly in the Korean language, it is the 23rd mostly non-English language album to hit No. 1, and the seventh of 2023 (and of those seven, the fifth in mostly Korean). The other six are: Stray Kids’ ROCK-STAR, Bad Bunny’s Spanish-language Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, NewJeans’ 2nd EP ‘Get Up,’ Stray Kids’ 5-STAR, Karol G’s Spanish Mañana Será Bonito and TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation.

THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL is the only debut in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200. The rest of the top seven comprises former No. 1s, with Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) falling 1-2 (101,000 equivalent album units; down 28%), Drake’s For All the Dogs dipping 2-3 (76,000; down 10%), Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time stationary at No. 4 (65,000; up 3%), Michael Bublé’s Christmas jingling 9-5 (60,000; up 28%), Swift’s Midnights dropping 3-6 (55,000; down 15%) and SZA’s SOS steady at No. 7 (51,000; up 7%).

Noah Kahan’s Stick Season rises 13-8 for its highest rank since its deluxe reissue pushed it 100-3 (its peak) on the June 24-dated chart. The album earned 48,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week – up 26%. The set’s gain follows Kahan’s performances on NBC’s Saturday Night Live on Dec. 2.

Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Folklore descends 5-9 with 46,000 equivalent album units earned (down 22%).

Rounding out the top 10 is Nat King Cole’s holiday album The Christmas Song, climbing 16-10. It visits the top 10 for a sixth consecutive holiday season (having reached a high of No. 5 in January). It earned 44,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week – up 21%. The album boasts Cole’s classic title track, along with Billboard Holiday 100-charting favorites including “Deck the Halls,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Joy to the World” and “Caroling, Caroling.”

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.

10 Dec 2023

Jada Pinkett Smith Explains How Will Smith’s Oscars Slap Saved Couple’s Marriage

Jada Pinkett Smith is crediting Will Smith‘s Oscars slap of comedian Chris Rock with saving the couple’s marriage.

The Daytime Emmy-winning talk show host and actress opened up in an interview with the Daily Mail about how her husband’s infamous slap during the 2022 Academy Awards helped her realize that they will always be together.

“After all those years trying to figure out if I would leave Will’s side, it took that slap for me to see I will never leave him,” Pinkett Smith told the Daily Mail. “Who knows where our relationship would be if that hadn’t happened?”

In October, the 52-year-old actress revealed during a primetime special on NBC revealed that she and Smith — who married in 1997 — separated seven years ago after the couple became “exhausted with trying” to keep their marriage together.

Pinkett Smith told NBC News’ Hoda Kotb that it was not a divorce “on paper,” but it was definitely a divorce in their minds, even as the couple continued to present a united public front.

Things changed for the couple after the I Am Legend star, 55, decided to slap Rock after the comedian made a G.I. Jane 2 joke about Pinkett Smith’s nearly bald head, which is caused by her battle with alopecia.

“I call it the ‘holy slap’ now because so many positive things came after it,” she told the Daily Mail. “I nearly didn’t even attend the Oscars that year, but I’m glad I did.”

She added, “That moment of the s— hitting the fan is when you see where you really are.”

Pinkett Smith is currently promoting her new memoir, Worthy, which was released on Oct. 17.

10 Dec 2023

Quando Rondo Arrested on Federal Drug Charges in Georgia

Quando Rondo was arrested on federal drug charges on Friday night (Dec. 8) in his hometown of Savannah, Georgia.

The 24-year-old rapper, whose real name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman, was taken into custody by the FBI after being pulled over in a vehicle, according to ABC’s Savannah affiliate WJCL. The Savannah police served as the arresting agency.

Quando’s car was reportedly pulled over around midnight with the intention of arresting the rapper and not because of a traffic violation. None of the other people in the vehicle were taken into custody.

A Savannah Police Department spokesperson told WJCL that the rapper, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was arrested without incident. He is expected to appear in court next week, according to Rolling Stone.

Quando’s arrest arrives nearly six months after he 18 others were indicted on drug and gang charges in Savannah. He is accused of being a manager of the Rollin’ 60s street gang, and conspiring with others to distribute marijuana and to buy hydrocodone pills, the Associated Press reported in June.

He was released on a $100,000 bond shortly after being jailed.