Music News

30 Oct 2023

Aaron Spears Dies at 47: Drummer Remembered by Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber & More

Aaron Spears, who worked as a drummer for Usher, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and countless other music stars, has died at age 47, his family announced Monday (Oct. 30).

The drummer was nominated for a Grammy for his work on Usher’s 2004 album Confessions and had just turned 47 last week.

“It is with a heavy heart and overwhelming sadness that I share the news of the passing of my beloved husband, Aaron Spears,” Spears’ wife, Jessica, said in an Instagram post. “Aaron was not only an incredibly accomplished drummer, admired by many for his unparalleled talent and passion for music, but he was also a devoted father to our precious son, August. His love, guidance, and warmth were the pillars of our family, and his absence leaves a void that words cannot describe. We were blessed to have him in our lives, and his legacy will live on through the beautiful rhythms he created and the love he shared with us. We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Please remember Aaron for the incredible person he was and the amazing music he brought into our world. At this time we ask for privacy as we work our way through this.”

The many artists who worked with Spears shared an outpouring of condolences to social media.

Along with a photo of Spears, Grande shared this message to her IG Story: “I can’t wrap my head around this. We were all so incredibly lucky to know Aaron. The absolute brightest light of a human being. Always the kindest, always smiling. I am so honored and thankful that our paths crossed and to have spent so much very special time together. Thank you for your utter brilliance, for our laughs, and for your kindness always. I will miss your hugs. You are so, so loved and will be so very missed.”

“It’s been a painful season for all of us,” Justin Bieber wrote in an Instagram post, adding in his Story: “We lost a beautiful man and inspiration to all of us drummers. @aspears prayers for your family and loved ones you will be remembered and celebrated.”

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker commented on Jessica’s post, “I have no words. I love you so much my brother and will miss you. This doesn’t seem real. Praying for you Jessica and August.”

The Roots’ Questlove shared a video of Spears drumming along with a heartfelt message about his fellow drummer on Instagram. “The world lost a legend today. Husband, father, producers music director, leader drumgod & just a Cotdamn BEAST in Aaron Spears. You’ve seen Aaron drum prolly 5-10 times in your life if you attend concerts & sometimes without knowing. That’s how much in demand his services were. … Condolences to his wife, family, community and all who loved him and were given joy through his musical contributions. This is devastating … rest in melody brother.”

See Jessica’s announcement below:

30 Oct 2023

Jack Harlow to Perform at Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day Classic Halftime Show

What’s poppin’ for Thanksgiving this year? Jack Harlow’s halftime show performance.

The rapper will be taking the stage at the halftime show during Detroit Lions’ 84th annual Thanksgiving Day Classic on November 23 against the Green Bay Packers. Country music duo The War And Treaty will also be there to perform the national anthem.

For those looking to tune in, the game will be nationally televised on Fox starting at 12:30 p.m. ET. For those without cable, Fox is available with an HD antenna or join a streamer like DirecTV Stream, YouTube TV or FuboTV to stream for free (Fox is available on Vidgo and Sling TV in select areas).

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It’s been a big year for Harlow, who released his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums chart with his third studio album, Jackman., which was released back in April. He first appeared on the list with his Sweet Action EP, which peaked at No. 13 in July 2020. His full-length debut, That’s What They All Say, debuted and peaked at No. 2 in December 2020, as did his sophomore LP, Come Home the Kids Miss You, in May 2022.

Last month, the 25-year-old rapper was named songwriter of the year at the 2023 SESAC Music Awards, marking the third year in a row that Harlow has been awarded the honor. “First Class,” which was his first unaccompanied No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, took song of the year.

30 Oct 2023

Halle Bailey & DDG Nail Janet Jackson & Tupac ‘Poetic Justice’ Couples Halloween Costume — And Janet Approves

Halle Bailey and DDG have officially won Halloween. The duo dressed up as the lead characters from 1993’s Poetic Justice, played by Janet Jackson and the late Tupac Shakur.

Bailey, who resembles Jackson in general, also took to TikTok to share a video in which she and DDG re-create an NSFW scene from the film.

Bailey is no stranger to channeling her iconic look-alike, as she’s paid tribute to Jackson throughout the years. She even got Jackson’s approval this year: The iconic pop star shared Bailey’s Halloween costume to her Instagram story along with a red-heart emoji.

“Poetic justice, put it in a song,” Bailey captioned a series of photos of the couple’s costumes, quoting Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 song “Poetic Justice.” DDG captioned his photos “tupac & janet” with a black heart. The pair re-created a dozen photos of Jackson and Shakur, from the film’s poster to a series of black-and-white publicity photos.

Find the pics below:

Halle’s sister Chloe went a more mystical route for her Halloween costume this year, dressing as Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones, also known as Khaleesi. As part of Chloe x Halle, the duo contributed the haunting song “Wolf at Your Door” to the 2019 album For the Throne: Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones, which also featured contributions from Maren Morris, Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers as well as a collaborative track from SZA, The Weeknd and Travis Scott.

30 Oct 2023

Jung Kook Just Broke a Massive Spotify Record

Jung Kook’s solo career is breaking records. The BTS superstar’s “Seven” featuring Latto became the fastest song to reach 1 billion streams in Spotify history, the streaming platform announced on Monday (Oct. 30).

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It’s been 108 days since the song was first released, and as a new member of the Spotify Billions club, the song was added to the official playlist.

This is hardly the first record Jung Kook’s Latto collaboration has broken, as it landed upon its release at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published July 21, for the highest-charting debut by a solo Korean act. Additionally, “Seven,” launched at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated July 29). The song marked the first leader on the lists for a member of BTS as a soloist, as well as Latto’s first No. 1.

See Spotify’s announcement of Jung Kook’s accomplishment below.

30 Oct 2023

A Lana Del Rey Fan Dressed Up as the Singer Working at Waffle House for Halloween — Then Ran Into Lana Herself

Lana Del Rey saw double this past Halloweekend, as she ran into a fan dressed like her.

Makeup artist Sandy Ganzer dressed up as the pop star working a shift at Waffle House — as she memorably did in Alabama over the summer, which went viral on social media — in an equal-parts hilarious and serendipitous moment at a Halloween party.

Ganzer spilled the details of her meeting the “Summertime Sadness” singer via Instagram on Monday (Oct. 30).

“Waffle House employee shirt purchased on Ebay: $28.60. Pepsi bottle and fun little straw purchased last minute at CVS: $9. Waffle House ‘Lana’ name tag sticker: $5.59. Attending a halloween party dressed as ‘Lana Del Rey kicking it at Waffle House’ and she’s there in real life: Priceless,” Ganzer captioned the post, which featured her and the six-time Grammy nominee posing together, plus her solo in the costume. “Thank you for having a sense of humor about it @honeymoon, you’re a Queen. *first two photos taken by the Queen herself.”

While Ganzer didn’t share how she ran into Del Rey, she is a celebrity makeup artist who has created looks for Hunter Schafer, Phoebe Bridgers, Kesha, Paris Hilton, Kendall Jenner and more.

Del Rey explained how she ended up working at an Alabama Waffle House in her September feature in The Hollywood Reporter. “We were on our third hour, and the servers asked, ‘Do you guys want shirts?’ ” she recalled. “Hell yeah! We were thrilled.” She even remembered a notable customer: “This guy, a regular, comes in every day and orders two things, so they were like, ‘Just go get it for him!’ I brought him a Coke. No ice. And an empty cup.”

The response to Del Rey’s Waffle House photos caught her off guard, she revealed. “I wish my album had gone as viral. I woke up to, like, 10,000 texts the next morning — some from folks I had not heard from for 10 years,” Del Rey said. “’Saw your picture at the Waffle House!’ I was like, ‘Did you hear the new album?’”

See Del Rey and Ganzer pose for pictures below.

30 Oct 2023

Lance Bass Says Fans Should ‘Find Some Forgiveness’ for Justin Timberlake After Britney Spears Memoir

Once a bandmate, always a brother. That appears to be the case for Lance Bass, who recently stuck up for his *NSYNC bandmate Justin Timberlake amid the “Mirrors” singer’s myriad swirling controversies following the bombshell revelations unleashed in Britney Spears’ new memoir The Woman in Me.

In an impromptu airport interview with TMZ, Bass confirmed that he bought Britney’s memoir and intended to read it on his flight. The singer also said the memoir’s Michelle Williams-voiced audiobook “sounds amazing.” “Maybe she should do my book!” he quipped. Back in 2007, Bass published his own memoir, Out of Sync, which debuted at No. 22 on The New York Times best-seller list.

When asked about the heat Timberlake has been receiving from some fans following the memoir’s release, Bass responded, “Everyone has their own opinion. I just feel like the world is so full of hate right now that we need to practice a little forgiveness. Britney did, so let’s take a note from her.”

Among the countless revelations in The Woman in Me, Spears revealed that she had an abortion while dating Timberlake. “If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it, and yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father,” she wrote. “To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”

For his part, Bass thinks “Everyone deserves to tell their story; she did. I hope the fans can find some forgiveness.” He then declined to reveal the details of any conversation he and Timberlake have had since the memoir’s release.

Bass’ management has not yet responded to Billboard’s request for comment.

Bass’ defense of Timberlake comes on the heels of an *NSYNC reunion. Earlier this month, the boy band tied for their highest career Billboard Hot 100 debut (No. 25) with “Better Place,” the lead single from the Trolls Band Together soundtrack that also doubles as the group’s first new original song in 21 years.

30 Oct 2023

Halloween 2023: See What Musicians Are Dressing Up As

This is Halloween, this is Halloween — and today’s biggest music stars stepped up their costume game this year.

The most high-profile parties over the weekend were Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber’s Halloween party on Friday (Oct. 27) and Vas Morgan and Michael Braun’s bash on Saturday (Oct. 28).

Stars like Paris Hilton got inspiration from fellow superstars, as the heiress opted to dress as Britney Spears and Katy Perry. Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox, meanwhile, drew inspiration from a classic Quentin Tarantino film. MGK donned a blood-drenched yellow jumpsuit similar to the one worn by Uma Thurman’s Bride character and Fox rocked a costume based on the schoolgirl assassin Gogo Yubari, portrayed by actress Chiaki Kuriyama.

Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber nailed the couple’s costumes as well, rolling up to Vas Morgan and Michael Braun’s party as Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles from The Flintstones. Demi Lovato, meanwhile, revisited her Disney days by dressing as a classic Snow White.

See below for our gallery of 2023 celebrity Halloween costumes.

30 Oct 2023

Travis Barker & Kourtney Kardashian Look Positively Spooky in Beetlejuice & Lydia Halloween Costumes

With Halloween just around the corner, celebrities are flocking to social media to share the spooky activities and flashy costumes they donned over the weekend in the lead-up to the holiday. Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian took to Instagram on Monday (Oct. 30) to share photos of themselves dressed as Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz from the 1988 classic Beetlejuice.

The couple shared their costume in a joint post to their Instagram accounts, with photos of Barker decked out in pale-white face makeup, a dark purple suit and the crazy hair of the movie’s namesake character played by Michael Keaton, while Kardashian wore the signature red wedding dress worn by Lydia, played by Winona Ryder.

“I’m the ghost with the most, babe,” the photos were captioned, referring to the movie’s scene in which Lydia and Beetlejuice meet for the very first time.

The Blink-182 drummer and Poosh founder’s costume post comes just days after he shut down fans of The Kardashians who speculated that he was the source of the feud between his wife and her sister, Kim Kardashian. Some viewers of the show exhumed excerpts from Barker’s 2016 memoir — in which he described Kim as “f—ing hot” — and an Us Weekly interview where he reflected on a 2006 trip to Amsterdam he took with his girlfriend at the time, Paris Hilton, to point to a potential love triangle between himself, Kourtney and Kim. “Kim was eye candy … I was in no way disrespectful to Paris, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off Kim,” he told Us in 2015.

Referring to the rumors in a Sunday interview with the Los Angeles Times, Barker said, “It’s like, ‘Kourtney’s fans are worried about Travis. He’s a womanizer,’” he said. “I obviously shared all that stuff because I wanted to move past it. It was therapeutic for me. That’s her sister. She knows we used to talk. Nothing bad was going on.” He continued that they were ultimately making something out of nothing, adding, “You give people a little information and they think they’ve solved the mystery of ‘this is why they’re fighting.’ It’s just so ridiculous.”

See Barker and Kourtney’s Halloween costume below:

30 Oct 2023

Kendrick Lamar & Dave Free’s pgLang Partners with Light for Minimalist New Phone

Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free’s pgLang is moving into the tech space with its newest device: the Light Phone II. 

Slated to drop Thursday, the Light Phone II comes through a partnership with tech company Light. The minimalist phone will not include a Web browser or color interface and is positioned to be a less-distracting alternative to the modern cell phone. The limited release will consist of 250 phones exclusively available at pg-lang.com and is billed as “just a phone” to interested consumers.

Founded by Joe Hollier and Kaiwei Tang in 2015, Light’s website touts their business as “not just another tech company.”

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About the phone, the website details the following: “We build all of the tools from scratch to ensure there are absolutely no third party apps tracking you. In this time of ‘Surveillance Capitalism’ and the ‘Attention Economy,’ the Light Phone represents a different option. You are the customer, not the product. This is a phone for humans.”

As for notable new features, there’s a “language tool” exclusive to the 250 phones. Users can ask the phone a question, shake it, and receive a response on the screen. The Light Phone II will include a calendar, notes/voice memos, directions, podcasts, music, an alarm, a hotspot and a calculator. The phone will be available for $250.

Last month, pgLang partnered with Converse for a black colorway version of the Converse Chuck 70. Similar to the trailer for Light Phone II, pgLang released content pieces for the shoe starring Dominic Fike and directed by Jack Begert. 

Watch the Light Phone II trailer below. 

30 Oct 2023

Boygenius’ Lucy Dacus & Julien Baker Recreate Ariana Grande & Pete Davidson Meme for Halloween

Boygenius’ Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker gave fans a serious throwback to 2018 with their Halloween costume over the weekend, recreating a viral photo of Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson that has since become the base of countless memes.

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In the snap posted to Instagram on Monday (Oct. 30), Baker takes on the role of the former Saturday Night Live comedian, dressed in an oversized plaid hoodie, black track pants and a purple hat with a lollipop in his mouth. On Baker’s arm is Dacus as the “Positions” singer, rocking an orange hoodie as a dress, thigh-high beige boots and her hair in Ari’s signature ponytail. Just like the OG photo of the former couple, Dacus’ Grande looks up lovingly at Baker’s Davidson while licking a lollipop.

See the photos here.

Grande and Davidson began dating in May 2018, shortly after the former’s split from Mac Miller and the latter’s breakup with Cazzie David. By June, the two were engaged. In October of that year, the couple parted ways.

Besides coming up with creative Halloween costumes, in other Boygenius news, the group is set to appear as musical guest on Saturday Night Live on Nov. 11, just weeks after the release of new four-track EP The Rest. Timothee Chalamet is scheduled as host. Boygenius’ reacted to the SNL news Sunday (Oct. 29) on Instagram with the simple but telling: “!!!”