Music News

02 Dec 2023

Billie Eilish Comments on Coming Out: ‘I Didn’t Realize People Didn’t Know’

Billie Eilish wasn’t aware that a recent interview would be perceived as a coming out story, but she’s cool with it.

“I didn’t, but I kinda thought, wasn’t it obvious?” the pop star said to Variety on the red carpet for the Variety Hitmakers Brunch, where she and brother Finneas were being honored with the film song of the year award for their Barbie soundtrack tune “What Was I Made For?” on Saturday (Dec. 2). “I didn’t realize people didn’t know.”

In the publication’s Nov. 13 cover story, Eilish had mentioned that she’s attracted to women: “I love them so much,” she said. “I love them as people. I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real … I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence.”

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Eilish has only ever been in public relationships with men, most recently The Neighbourhood’s Jesse Rutherford before their breakup in May. 

Speaking on the red carpet Saturday about the Variety cover story and the concept of coming out, she casually said, “I just don’t really believe in it. I’m just like, why can’t we just exist? I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I just didn’t talk about it. Whoops.”

“But … I saw the article and I was like, ‘Oh! I guess I came out today!’” Eilish said with a laugh.

“It’s exciting to me because I guess people didn’t know, so it’s cool that they know,” the singer added. “But ooh, I’m nervous talking about it.”

“I am for the girls,” confirmed Eilish, who will soon be seen as the musical guest on the Kate McKinnon-hosted Dec. 16 episode of SNL.

“I’m still scared of ’em,” she added in the red carpet interview, “but I think they’re pretty.”

Watch the interview clip via Variety below.

02 Dec 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Debuts ‘Can’t Catch Me Now’ Live at 2023 Jingle Ball in Los Angeles

Olivia Rodrigo brought “Can’t Catch Me Now” to the stage for the first time at iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball in Inglewood, California, Friday night (Dec. 1).

“So, has anybody watched The Hunger Games?” Rodrigo teased the crowd at Kia Forum before launching into the ballad. She added, “I was super lucky because this year I got a chance to write a song for the movie that’s out now.”

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Rodrigo wrote “Can’t Catch Me Now” for The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the latest installment in the Hunger Games film series starring Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth. The song release has so far peaked at No. 56 on the  Billboard Hot 100, and comes just a couple months after Rodrigo’s sophomore album, Guts, arrived. Guts debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in September.

Her set list for Los Angles fans Friday night also featured “All-American Bitch,” “Get Him Back!” and “Vampire” from Guts, plus debut album Sour‘s “Deja Vu,” “Drivers License,” “Brutal” and “Good 4 U.”

Other artists on the bill at Friday night’s Jingle Ball included Sabrina Carpenter, Niall Horan, Flo Rida and more.

Watch a clip of Rodrigo singing “Can’t Catch Me Now” below, as well as other highlights from her performance.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=e4eA_jtpNgg&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

02 Dec 2023

Blake Lively Applauds Taylor Swift & Beyonce for Empowering Each Other: ‘There’s Space for Us All’

Blake Lively is showing love to Taylor Swift and Beyonce following the stars’ respective blockbuster tours and concert film openings.

On Saturday (Dec. 2), the Gossip Girl alum took to Instagram after she and Swift attended the London of premiere of Bey’s Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé earlier in the week to share a strong message about female empowerment.

“When I grew up, women were always pit against one another. It took me until adulthood to see that the instinct for women to lift each other up to their highest potential is the norm not the exception,” Lively captioned a photo gallery of herself at the opening. “Most of my best friends are women who would’ve been packaged to me as threats or competition. It’s our job to show younger generations the power in aligning rather than dividing.”

She jokingly added, “All this to say, @beyonce and @taylorswift neither of you have to be threatened by my pop stardom. There’s space for us all.”

The A Simple Favor actress’ heartfelt note arrives amid Swift and Beyonce’s record-breaking Eras and Renaissance tours, along with the debuts of their new concert films.

Lively’s post featured a carousel of snapshots from the London premiere of Beyoncé’s Renaissance concert film on Thursday (Nov. 30). One pic features the actress alongside Bey and another shows her posing with Swift.

A day earlier, Swift shared her own photos from the premiere, including an image of her standing alongside Beyonce. “Got invited to London by The Queen…✨?✨ Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé is in theaters now!!” Swift captioned a series of photos.

Swift’s attendance at the London premiere arrived after Bey supported Tay at her Eras Tour film premiere in Los Angeles in October.

“I’m so glad I’ll never know what my life would’ve been like without @beyonce‘s influence,” Swift wrote after the event, sharing a gif of her and Bey posing in movie theater seats. “The way she’s taught me and every artist out here to break rules and defy industry norms.”

See Lively’s post on Instagram here.

02 Dec 2023

Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ Concert Film Headed Toward $22M-Plus Opening at Box Office

Beyoncé‘s new concert film is headed for a big opening weekend at the box office.

The superstar singer’s Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé is likely to earn between between $22 and $24 million in its domestic debut, giving it the largest early December opening in two decades, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film’s distributor, AMC Theatres, is playing it on the safe side with a projected domestic opening of $20 million. Renaissance, which hit theaters on Friday (Dec. 1), is also rolling out globally, where it’s reportedly tracking to open in the $20 million range for a global start of $40 million.

The post-Thanksgiving period is typically slow at the box office. The largest opening for the first weekend of December is Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai with $24.3 million, not adjusted for inflation, THR reports.

Prior to its Friday opening, Renaissance enjoyed star-studded premieres in Los Angeles (Nov. 25) and London (Nov. 30). The latter was attended by Taylor Swift and other celebs, including Michelle Williams, Blake Lively and will.i.am.

The concert documentary was written, executive produced and co-directed by the 32-time Grammy winner, and chronicles her record-breaking Renaissance World Tour.

Renaissance is the second one to be distributed by AMC, following the massive opening and box office for Swift’s own Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which has earned $250 million to date, the cinema giant reports. Those numbers cement the pop superstar’s movie as the highest-grossing concert film of all time. The three-hour-plus Eras Tour movie is headed to on-demand on Dec. 13 with three bonus songs.

02 Dec 2023

U2 Remembers Pogues’ Shane MacGowan With Moving ‘A Rainy Day in Soho’ Cover

U2 is remembering fellow Irish musician Shane MacGowan.

The veteran U.K. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers paid tribute to the late Pogues singer with a moving rendition of the Celtic band’s “A Rainy Day in Soho” during their Las Vegas residency on Friday (Dec. 1) at the Venetian’s Sphere venue.

“Sing with us, for Shane McGowan,” Bono told fans at the show as U2 performed the somber acoustic cover.

During the song, Bono altered the lyrics to reflect the death of MacGowan, who passed away Thursday (Nov. 30) following a recent hospitalization. He was 65.

“McGowan’s song is never over, but we may never find out what it means,” he sang. “You’re the measure of my dreams.”

This isn’t the firs time Bono has performed “A Rainy Day in Soho.” The 63-year-old singer previously performed the 1986 Poguetry in Motion track alongside actor Johnny Depp during MacGowan’s 60th birthday party in Dublin in 2018. The bash was also attended by such legendary artists as Nick Cave and the late Sinéad O’Connor.

Earlier in the week, the Pogues confirmed the passing of their notoriously hard-living singer, whose yearning, howling vocals and gritty rose-from-concrete lyrics super-charged the Pogues’ meld of traditional Irish music and punk rock spirit on such beloved songs as “The Old Main Drag” and “A Pair of Brown Eyes.”

U2 was among numerous artists to honor MacGowan after his passing. “Shane MacGowan’s songs were perfect so he or we his fans didn’t have to be…,” Bono captioned an illustration on X of MacGowan and lyrics to to “A Rainy Day in Soho.”

See U2’s “A Rainy Day in Soho” tribute here.

02 Dec 2023

Jussie Smollett’s Disorderly Conduct Convictions Upheld by Illinois Appeals Court

An appeals court upheld the disorderly conduct convictions Friday (Dec. 1) of actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying about it to Chicago police.

Smollett, who appeared in the TV show Empire, challenged the role of a special prosecutor, jury selection, evidence and many other aspects of the case. But all were turned aside in a 2-1 opinion from the Illinois Appellate Court.

Smollett had reported to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks. The search for the attackers soon turned into an investigation of Smollett himself, leading to his arrest on charges he had orchestrated the whole thing.

Authorities said he paid two men whom he knew from work on Empire, which filmed in Chicago. Prosecutors said Smollett told the men what slurs to shout, and to yell that he was in “MAGA Country,” a reference to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.

A jury convicted Smollett in 2021 on five felony counts of disorderly conduct, a charge that can be filed in Illinois when a person lies to police.

He now will have to finish a 150-day stint in jail that was part of his sentence. Smollett spent just six days in jail while his appeal was pending.

Lawyers for Smollett, who is Black and gay, have publicly claimed that he was the target of a racist justice system and people playing politics.

“We are preparing to escalate this matter to the Supreme Court,” Smollett spokeswoman Holly Baird said, referring to Illinois’ highest court and also noting that the opinion at the appellate court wasn’t unanimous.

Appellate Justice Freddrenna Lyle would have thrown out the convictions. She said it was “fundamentally unfair” to appoint a special prosecutor and charge Smollett when he had already performed community service as part of a 2019 deal with Cook County prosecutors to close the case.

“It was common sense that Smollett was bargaining for a complete resolution of the matter, not simply a temporary one,” Lyle said.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb was appointed to look into why the case was dropped. A grand jury subsequently restored charges against Smollett in 2020, and Webb concluded there were “substantial abuses of discretion” in the state’s attorney office during the earlier round.

Smollett was not immune to a fresh round of charges, appellate Justices David Navarro and Mary Ellen Coghlan said in the majority opinion.

“The record does not contain any evidence that (prosecutors) agreed Smollett would not be further prosecuted in exchange for forfeiting his bond and performing community service,” they said.

01 Dec 2023

Billy Porter Embraces His Music Moment With ‘Black Mona Lisa’: ‘The World Was Not Ready for This in 1997’

Billy Porter has always blazed his own trail in Hollywood. And now, the music world is finally catching up.

In a new interview with Billboard News‘ Tetris Kelly, the actor/musician talks about his latest album, last month’s Black Mona Lisa, and why now was the time to release his most ambitious music project yet.

“The world was not ready for this in 1997,” Porter tells Billboard News, referencing the year he put out his debut self-titled solo album. “And I understand that, and I am so grateful that I have been blessed to live long enough to see the day when my authenticity has become my superpower.

“There was no place for me and there were energies and forces in the business, gatekeepers, that made sure that I didn’t cross over,” he adds.

He also looks back at people telling him along the way to “just be himself” as he fought for a career in Hollywood and in music.

“We throw around this ‘authenticity’ thing,” Porter says. “‘Oh just be who you are. Just be who you are!’ It’s easy to ‘be who you are’ when what you are is what’s popular. What what do you do when the ‘who you are’ is reviled or rejected and there’s no place or space for you? You make the place and the space for yourself.”

That’s what he’s done with Black Mona Lisa, which includes a duet with Lady Blackbird and co-writing from Grammy-nominated songwriter Justin Tranter. Watch a behind-the-scenes video for the title track below, and watch Billboard News‘ full interview with Porter above.

01 Dec 2023

Demi Lovato, Cyndi Lauper & More Artists Join Climate Change Human Rights Campaign

As the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference begins in Dubai, a crew of music artists are putting their support behind a campaign that links climate action and human rights.

As part of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance, artists including Demi Lovato, Cyndi Lauper, Carole King and Annie Lennox have released statements urging leaders at the climate summit to support climate justice goals. The campaign will benefit from the artists’ combined social media followings of more than 300 million, with the goal to build support for United Nations Human Rights climate justice goals. Rob Thomas will add his voice to the campaign in the coming days.

The Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance addresses climate change through the lens of human rights, coalescing input from human rights experts, scientists, corporate leaders, NGOs, academics, advocates and people around the globe in the fight for rights-based climate action to preserve the future of humanity and the planet. The organization is partnered with the United Nations Human Rights, one of the U.N.’s major divisions.

All four artists released statements supporting the campaign via Instagram.

“By working together and supporting rights-based climate action for people and the planet,” Lovato wrote, “we can realize a better, more sustainable future for all.”

“Climate change is the SINGLE BIGGEST HEALTH THREAT FACING HUMANITY,” Lennox wrote. “The impacts are already harming health through air pollution, disease, extreme weather events, forced displacement, food insecurity, and pressures on mental health. Every year environmental factors take the lives of 13 million people… Climate change is a huge challenge, yet there ARE MANY SOLUTIONS. These solutions can deliver economic benefits while improving our lives and protecting the environment.”

“The impacts of climate change are now being felt in all countries, yet not all people are being impacted the same way,” wrote Lauper. “Climate change is hitting the poorest and most vulnerable women, children and marginalized people of the world most.”

“By working together and supporting inclusive, rights-based climate action for people and the planet,” wrote King, “we can realize a better, more sustainable future for all.”

The social media campaign precedes a press conference from the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance and United Nations Human Rights in Dubai at COP28 on Dec. 8. The press conference will include Recording Academy president Panos A. Panay and Chantel Sausedo, the Recording Academy’s vp of artist relations, who together will discuss the organization’s goals of using music to promote climate justice and rights-based climate action.

The Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit will be held at the University of Oxford from Sept. 11-14, 2024 and end with the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Concert. The lineup for the event will be announced at a later date.

01 Dec 2023

Kelly Clarkson Soars on ‘Kellyoke’ Cover of Eagles’ ‘Desperado’

Kelly Clarkson took the Eagles‘ classic “Desperado” to new heights on Friday’s (Dec. 1) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show.

For her daily Kellyoke cover, Clarkson chose the title track from the band’s 1973 album, taking some creative liberties with the well-known melody and hitting some power notes much loftier than Don Henley’s original vocal.

Forgoing her typical band and backup singers, Clarkson hit the stage with only her music director Jason Halbert behind the piano. She played it pretty straight through the first two-thirds of the performance with her lush delivery, before going up a whole octave to drive home the final few phrases.

“It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you/ You better let somebody love you (Let somebody love you),” she wailed, quietly finishing with: “You better let somebody love you before it’s too late.”

“Desperado,” which was written by Eagles’ co-frontmen Henley and the late Glenn Frey, was never released as a single, though it’s one of the band’s best-remembered songs. In fact, Billboard ranked it at No. 2 on our list of the 15 best Eagles songs — updated earlier this year following the death of original bassist Randy Meisner at age 77 in July — topped only by their Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Hotel California.”

Clarkson previously covered Eagles’ 1979 rocker “Heartache Tonight” — which Henley and Frey co-wrote with Bob Seger and J.D. Souther — last year for Kellyoke.

Watch her “Desperado” cover below:


https://youtube.com/watch?v=nOh_-vx3A7E&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

01 Dec 2023

Flavor Flav Is Still a Swiftie: ‘Anybody Want to Trade a Bracelet With Your Boy?’

Taylor Swift was surely on Flavor Flav’s top Spotify Wrapped artists this year. The rapper stopped by Tamron Hall on Friday (Dec. 1), where he revealed why he’s such a fervent Swiftie.

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“I love Taylor Swift’s music,” he explained. “Let me put it like this, I listen to her music real good, and she keeps it real with her audience. She writes about a lot of the things she goes through, and then when she gets out on that stage, a lot of people can relate to her.”

After adding that Swift sends him merch and that he attended a few of the Eras tour stops, he reached out his arms towards the audience, and took off a beaded friendship bracelet, a beloved trend among Swifties. “Anybody want to trade a bracelet with your boy?” he asked the crowd.

Back in March, Flav took a now-viral selfie with Swift at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards. “Love me some Taylor Swift, man, always did,” Flav told Billboard on the red carpet, before opening up his green puffer jacket to reveal a white t-shirt featuring the popular lyrics from Swift’s Evermore track, “Willow”: “I come back stronger than a 90’s trend.” He even captioned his Instagram post with Swift using the same lyric.

 “I heard that Taylor Swift keeps her clock on 12, just like mine,” he added. “The reason why I keep my clock on 12 is because 12 o’clock points straight up. Every day, I’m straight up with you.”

Watch Flav gush over Swift on Tamron Hall below.