Music News

15 Oct 2023

Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce Photographed Holding Hands at ‘SNL’ Afterparty

Love was in the air at the Saturday Night Live afterparty.

After weeks of a rumored romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, the pair all but confirmed their budding relationship by arriving hand in hand for the post-show bash at Catch Steak in New York City early Sunday morning (Oct. 15) following the iconic comedy series’ season 49 premiere.

During the Pete Davidson-hosted show, the pop superstar, 33, and Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 34, made separate surprise cameos. Swift popped up to introduce musical guest Ice Spice’s second song and Kelce appeared toward the end of a hilarious sketch poking fun at NFL’s recent obsessive coverage of the singer.

Earlier in the evening, Swift and Kelce also grabbed a pre-show dinner at Nobu in NYC, according to photos published by Page Six, which show the lovebirds holding hands once again.

Rumors of a romance between Swift and Kelce have been swirling since the “Anti-Hero” singer was seen sitting next to Kelce’s mother during the Chiefs-Bears game on Sept. 24. The pair were spotted leaving the stadium together in the football star’s convertible, according to photos acquired by TMZ. Since then, Swift has attended two more Chief games with celebrity friends like Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.

Kelce’s ongoing courting of Swift began in July, when he tried (and failed) to hand her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it during her Eras tour stop in Kansas City.

See more photos of Swift and Kelce from the SNL afterparty below.

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift arrive at SNL Afterparty on Oct. 15, 2023 in New York City.

Gotham/GC Images

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift depart the SNL Afterparty on Oct. 15, 2023 in New York City.

Gotham/GC Images

15 Oct 2023

Drake Earns 13th No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With ‘For All the Dogs’

Drake earns his 13th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Oct. 21), as his new studio effort For All the Dogs debuts atop the list. The set earned 402,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 12, according to Luminate. That marks the fourth-largest week of the year for an album, by units earned.

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For All the Dogs’ opening frame was almost entirely driven by the streaming activity of its 23 songs. In total, 97% of Dogs’ debut was owed to song streams — adding up to 514.01 million on-demand official streams of those songs in its first week. That results in the largest streaming week of 2023 for any album, and the fourth-largest ever. Strikingly, of the top five biggest streaming weeks four of them were generated by a Drake album.

For All the Dogs was released at 6 a.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 6 — slightly off-cycle, as most new albums are released at 12 a.m. ET every Friday. The album was first teased in June, and then on Sept. 6, he announced the album was due to be released on Sept. 22. By Sept. 15, he had pushed that release date back to Oct. 6.

Dogs is Drake’s fourth album in less than two years, and third since June of 2022. He released the collaborative Her Loss with 21 Savage in November of 2022, and the solo sets Honestly, Nevermind in June of 2022 and Certified Lover Boy in Sept. 2021.

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 Oct. 21, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Oct. 17). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of For All the Dogs’ 402,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 12, SEA units comprise 391,000 (equaling 514.01 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 23 songs), album sales comprise 10,000 (it was only available to purchase as a digital download album) and TEA units comprise a little over 1,000.

In terms of total on-demand official streams earned by the album’s songs in its first week, the 514.01 million figure marks the fourth-largest streaming week ever, and biggest of 2023. Here are the top five biggest streaming weeks for an album, by total on-demand streams earned by a set’s collected songs: Drake’s Scorpion (745.92 million in its debut, in 2018), Drake’s Certified Lover Boy (743.67 million in its debut, 2021), Taylor Swift’s Midnights (549.26 million in its debut, 2022), For All the Dogs (514.01 million) and Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (513.56 million in its debut, 2022).

With a 13th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Drake breaks out of a tie with Swift to solely have the third-most No. 1s on the chart. The Beatles continue to have a record 19 No. 1s, followed by Jay-Z with 14, Drake with 13, and Swift with 12. (Swift’s next album, the re-recorded 1989 [Taylor’s Version], is due to be released on Oct. 27. All 12 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and re-recorded projects from 2008’s Fearless through 2023’s Speak Now [Taylor’s Version] have debuted at No. 1.)

The Nos. 2 through 7 albums on the new Billboard 200 are all former No. 1s. Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time dips 1-2 with 72,000 equivalent album units earned (down 3%), Rod Wave’s Nostalgia falls 2-3 (59,000; down 16%), Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts descends 3-4 (nearly 59,000; down 12%), Zach Bryan’s self-titled album is a non-mover at No. 5 (53,000; down 9%), SZA’s SOS is stationary at No. 6 (50,000; down 4%), Swift’s Midnights climbs 8-7 (42,000; down 2%) an Travis Scott’s Utopia dips 7-8 (40,000; down 12%).

Noah Kahan’s Stick Season is back in the top 10 for the first time since June, as it climbs 13-9 with 39,000 equivalent album units (up 26%). The set benefits from activity generated by a recently released remix of the album’s “She Calls Me Back” with Kacey Musgraves. Kahan also additionally gained exposure thanks to Rodrigo’s recent cover of the album’s title track on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge.

Rounding out the new top 10 of the Billboard 200 is Swift’s former No. 1 Lover, which rises 11-10 with nearly 39,000 equivalent album units earned (down 4%).

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.

15 Oct 2023

Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ Film Dances to No. 1 at the Box Office

Movie theaters turned into concert venues this weekend as Swifties brought their dance moves and friendship bracelets to multiplexes across the country. The unparalleled enthusiasm helped propel Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour to a massive, first place debut between $95 million and $97 million in North America, AMC Theatres said Sunday (Oct. 15).

It’s easily the biggest opening for a concert film of all time, and, not accounting for inflation, has made more than the $73 million Justin Bieber: Never Say Never earned in 2011. In today’s dollars, that would be around $102 million. And if it comes in on the higher end of projections when totals are released Monday (Oct. 16), it could be the biggest October opening ever. The one to beat is Joker, which launched to $96.2 million in 2019.

A unique experiment in distribution, premium pricing, star power and loose movie theater etiquette — more dancing and shouting than a Star Wars premiere — have made it an undeniable hit. Compiled from Swift’s summer shows at Southern California’s SoFi Stadium, the film opened in 3,855 North American locations starting with “surprise” Thursday evening previews. Those showtimes helped boost its opening day sum to $39 million — the second biggest ever for October, behind Joker’s $39.3 million.

Internationally, it’s estimated to have earned somewhere between $31 to $33 million, bringing its global total in the range of $126 million to $130 million.

“This is a phenomenal number,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “To have a blockbuster style opening weekend for a concert film is unprecedented.”

Swift, who produced the film, went around the Hollywood studio system to distribute the film, making a deal directly with AMC, the largest exhibition company in the United States. With her 274 million Instagram followers, Swift hardly needed a traditional marketing campaign to get the word out.

Beyoncé made a similar deal with the exhibitor for Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, which will open on Dec. 1. The two superstars posed together at the premiere of The Eras Tour earlier this week in Los Angeles. It was a needed injection of star power with Hollywood actors over 90 days into a strike that has left most red carpets void of glamorous talent and resulted in several high-profile films being pushed to next year.

The Eras Tour, directed by Sam Wrench, is not just playing on AMC screens either. The company, based in Leawood, Kansas, worked with sub-distribution partners Variance Films, Trafalgar Releasing, Cinepolis and Cineplex to show the film in more than 8,500 movie theatres globally in 100 countries.

The spotlight on Swift has been especially intense lately as a result of her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The two made separate surprise appearances on Saturday Night Live this weekend and were also photographed holding hands in New York.

It led to some hyperbolic projections going into the weekend, with some analysts predicting that The Eras Tour could make over $125 million. Dergarabedian said it’s common for outsized expectations to be attached to massive brands like Swift. There’s also no precedent for something like The Eras Tour and a celebrity of Swift’s stature.

“The laws of gravity don’t apply to Taylor Swift,” Dergarabedian said.

The film scored well with both critics and audiences, who gave it an A+ CinemaScore, a metric that typically signals a film will continue to do well after its first weekend.

Elizabeth Frank, the executive vice president of worldwide programming and chief content officer for AMC Theatres, said in a statement that they are grateful to Taylor Swift.

“Her spectacular performance delighted fans, who dressed up and danced through the film,” Frank said. “With tremendous recommendations and fans buying tickets to see this concert film several times, we anticipate Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film playing to big audiences for weeks to come.”

The stadium tour, which continues internationally, famously crashed Ticketmaster’s site and re-sale prices became astronomical. Pollstar projects that it will earn some $1.4 billion. The concert film offered fans both better seats and a much more affordable way to see the show for the first or fifth time. Prices are higher than the national average, at $19.89, which references her birth year and 2014 album, and ran closer to $29 a pop for premium large format screens like IMAX. Even so, they are significantly less than seat at one of the stadium shows.

Showtimes are also more limited than a standard Hollywood blockbuster, but AMC is guaranteeing at least four a day on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at all AMC locations in the U.S. Many locations also specified that there are no refunds or exchanges. And fans will have to wait a while for The Eras Tour to be available on streaming — part of the AMC deal was a 13-week exclusive theatrical run.

Michael O’Leary, CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners said in a statement the moment was, “Another landmark weekend for cinemas.”

“This year has been marked by unprecedented experiences for movie lovers in theaters across this nation,” O’Leary continued in a statement. “The ‘Eras Tour’ debut proves, yet again, that fans are eager to share other experiences in a communal way, with theater owners working creatively to build memorable moments in their cinemas.”

O’Leary said that a survey of 6,000 people by his organization and The Cinema Foundation found that 72% want to see more concert films on the big screen.

The Eras Tour accounted for over 70% of the total weekend box office grosses. The Exorcist: Believer placed a very distant second in its second weekend with $11 million, followed by the Paw Patrol movie in third with $7 million. Rounding out the top five was Saw X with $5.7 million and The Creator with $4.3 million.

“This is great news for theaters,” Dergarabedian said. “The Eras Tour wasn’t even on our radar in mid-August. You take this out of the equation and it would have been a totally different weekend.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

15 Oct 2023

Kanye West Planning to Perform New Album With Ty Dolla $ign at Concert in Italy

Kanye West and his team are working to produce a concert in Italy to promote the rapper’s upcoming collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, Billboard has learned.

West, who now goes by Ye, is scheduled to perform the new album alongside Ty Dolla $ign at an undisclosed location in Italy on Oct. 27, with tickets going on sale as early as Sunday (Oct. 15).

Billboard Italia previously reported that the show will be held at Campovolo in Reggio Emilia, but that location hasn’t been confirmed by West’s camp.

A representative for West has declined Billboard‘s request for comment. Billboard has also reached out to reps for Ty Dolla $ign.

West and Ty Dolla $ign are currently shopping for a partner to distribute their forthcoming collaborative album, sources tell Billboard. The new set was originally scheduled for release on Friday (Oct. 13), but it was pushed back and is expected to arrive in the coming weeks, according to sources.

The last time West and Ty Dolla $ign released a collaboration was “Junya Pt 2” on Ye’s 2021 album, Donda. Before that, they worked together on Ty Dolla $ign’s “Ego Death” (2020) and on West’s “Everything We Need” (2019), “Real Friends” (2016) and “Only One” (2014).

This story is developing.

15 Oct 2023

Travis Kelce Makes ‘SNL’ Cameo in NFL Sketch Poking Fun at Taylor Swift Coverage: Watch

Travis Kelce returned to Saturday Night Live for the season 49 premiere on Oct. 14 for a hilarious cameo in a sketch poking fun at the NFL’s coverage of his rumored relationship with Taylor Swift.

The “Fox NFL Sunday” skit features SNL cast members Kenan Thompson (playing Curt Menefee), Mikey Day (Howie Long), Molly Kearney (Terry Bradshaw), James Austin Johnson (Jimmy Johnson), Devon Walker (Michael Strahan) and host Pete Davidson parodying the NFL’s obsessive coverage of Swift attending Kansas City Chiefs games in recent weeks.

“Let’s get into the game and stop yapping about Taylor and her little boyfriend,” Thompson’s Menefee says, prompting a conversation from the other broadcasters about the rumored couple’s relationship status.

“Whatever it is, I want to say to Travis Kelce, from one Super Bowl champion to another, this is a way bigger deal than the Super Bowl. You cannot mess this up. This is very delicate!” Walker’s Strahan says, pounding his finger on the desk.

After more banter about Swift’s past boyfriends and her appearances at the games, the Chiefs tight end appears when Thompson’s Menefee demands to speak to “someone who actually wants to talk football.” The camera cuts to Kelce standing on the sidelines and responding, “Yes, please!” with a big smile on his face. Kelce previously hosted SNL in March 2023.

Prior to Kelce’s surprise appearance, Swift made a cameo of her own to help introduce the evening’s musical guest, Ice Spice. “Once again, Ice Spice,” the pop superstar announced before flashing a mischievous smile and walking off the stage.

On Saturday evening, Kelce and Swift were photographed holding hands while heading to dinner at Nobu in New York City. Rumors of a romance between the pair have been swirling since Swift was seen attending sitting next to Kelce’s mother during the Chiefs-Bears game on Sept. 24.

Watch Kelce’s cameo in SNL‘s “Fox NFL Sunday” sketch below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes as well.

15 Oct 2023

Taylor Swift Makes Cameo During Ice Spice’s Musical Guest Debut on ‘SNL’: Watch

Taylor Swift made a surprise visit to Studio 8H for the season 49 premiere of Saturday Night Live.

The pop superstar popped in on Oct. 14 to help introduce musical guest Ice Spice shortly before another surprise cameo by the singer’s rumored boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

“Once again, Ice Spice,” Swift announced before flashing a mischievous smile and walking off the stage.

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During her musical guest debut during the Pete Davidson-hosted episode, Ice performed “In Ha Mood,” from her 2023 EP Like..? and the just-released “Pretty Girl,” featuring Nigerian Afro-rave singer Rema.

Earlier in the week, the Bronx-bred rapper won the best breakthrough hip-hop artist award at the 2023 BET Hip-Hop Awards. Next month, she will open on select dates for Doja Cat‘s Scarlet Tour.

Just after Swift’s cameo on the show, the star’s rumored beau Kelce appeared in an NFL Fox Sunday sketch poking fun at how much the league has been focusing the the superstar couple’s supposed romance.

Davidson was originally scheduled to host the iconic sketch comedy show on May 6, alongside musical guest Lil Uzi Vert, before the writers’ strike canceled all upcoming episodes. The season 49 premiere marked Ice Spice’s debut on SNL.

Watch Ice Spice’s SNL performances below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes as well.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=u4t2SKGjkTE&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent


https://youtube.com/watch?v=s3FzkxeEACE&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

14 Oct 2023

Israeli Festival Organizers Release First Statement After Event Massacre: ‘Unspeakable Tragedy’

The producers of Israel’s Supernova Sukkot Gathering have released their first statement following the massacre of roughly 260 attendees at the festival in Re’im, Israel, last Saturday (Oct. 7).

The festival was hosting approximately 3,000 attendees, with the lineup focused on the electronic psytrance subgenre. At around 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists entered the site by truck, motorcycle, ATV and paraglider and immediately began killing festival attendees with machine guns and RPGs. A number of attendees were also taken hostage by Hamas. (While the exact number of hostages is unknown, two people close the festival put the number at around 150.)

Today (Oct. 14), Supernova Sukkot Gathering producer Tribe of Nova posted a statement (published in both Hebrew and English) to its Facebook page. In it, organizers state that they are “working hand in hand with security forces and authorities to help find answers and bring back all that those who can return to their families and friends.”

The statement also notes that members of the Nova Tribe team have been at the site of the attack over the past week, “searching for those located in the disaster area, or other locations, recovering equipment from the site and its surroundings and, above all, ensuring the security of Israel.”

The statement continues to say that “at this moment, our production team is focused on providing the right and extensive emotional and mental support to everyone involved. This is the most important thing in this moment.”

Read the complete statement below.

Supernova Sukkot Gathering was the Israeli offshoot of the Paralello Universo festival, a psytrance festival launched in Brazil roughly 20 years ago.

Hamas attacked others areas in the region of the festival site, located near the Gaza border, on Oct. 7. Israeli has since retaliated with days of heavy bombing of Gaza, with the death toll of Palestinians rising.

Complete Statement From Nova Tribe:

“Our dear tribe of Nova, first and foremost, we want to convey our sincere and heartfelt condolences to all the families, friends, partners and couples who have lost their loved ones or have been affected by the tragic events that unfolded, following that magic night and that turned into an exceedingly heavy morning.

What was planned to be the happiest and largest electronic music festival of the Nova Tribe has turned into a scene of unspeakable tragedy, an inhumane war crime, an unprecedented violation of the most basic human values.

This is the epitome of pure and unbridled evil, the horrifying and senseless murder of countless innocent angels, whose only ‘crime’ was being Jewish and living in Israel.

It’s no wonder that these agents of darkness targets this joyous gathering of children of light, for their sole and singular purpose is to bring darkness upon the world. But we won’t let them do that!

We will keep fighting until we reach our objective adorned on our tribe’s flag: to spread light throughout the world, with the help of the holy people of Israel and the Nova Tribe.

Last Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, we were brutally attacked by hundreds of terrorists, heartless, ruthless and lacking any mercy. They murdered in cold blood hundreds of women and men, our beloved Tribe of Nova members, as well as numerous innocent Israeli civilians.

It was a heinous, terrifying, brutal massacre of innocent civilians from all over the country and the world, the best and most among us. This was [one of] the largest terrorist attack[s] in Israeli history. Taking the lives of 1,400 pure and innocent souls with over 150 remain [sic] missing, thousands left physically injured to varying degrees, and tens of thousands psychologically, emotionally and mentally broken. [Billboard editor’s note: While around 260 festival attendee deaths have been reported, CNN says that last weekend’s Hamas attacks overall killed more than 1,300 people.]

At this moment, our production team is focused on providing the right and extensive emotional and mental support to everyone involved. This is the most important thing in this moment.

We are working tirelessly, day and night, conducting search and rescue operations, helping identify the victims and updating their families. Searching for those located in the disaster area, or other locations, recovering equipment from the site and its surroundings and, above all, ensuring the security of Israel.

This is our sole goal, and we will stand behind it and fulfill it to the best of our abilities. We will not stop.

We are present at the disaster site and its vicinity day in and day out, working hand in hand with security forces and authorities to help find answers and bring back all that those who can return to their families and friends.

At the moment, this is our top priority. In the meantime, it’s essential for us to convey the following message: Our strength lies in our unity! We are in a war for our home, and it’s essential that we all come together, strengthen each other, and unite under one great, shining light to overcome this dark period as quickly as possible.

We send infinite love and a massive embrace to all Tribe of Nova members and all around Israeli civilians, the injured, the affected and the families of the deceased and the missing.

Wishing all of you to stay safe and that you take care of yourselves. We continue to pray that goodness and light will always prevail.

Wish wishes for a peaceful and safe week and good tidings for all of the people of Israel. Both in the land and across the world.”

14 Oct 2023

‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ Film Has Taylor Lautner Doing Backflips for Wife Taylor

Taylor Lautner was flexing like a goddamn acrobat to “Karma” at a movie theater for the opening weekend of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

The actor, who happens to be married to another Taylor (Dome) and is an ex of Taylor Swift‘s, backflipped in front of the big screen at a showing of the blockbuster concert movie that’s headed for a $100 million domestic opening.

Tay shared a couple videos of her husband being the life of the party in front of their friends at an Eras Tour movie viewing via Instagram Stories, here and here. She posted the clips on Saturday (Oct. 14).

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Other Instagram Stories showed Tay singing along and dancing to Reputation‘s “Ready for It” and “Look What You Made Me Do.”

Before admitting they were experiencing “post-Taylor Swift show depression” after seeing Swift live in Los Angeles in August, the couple attended another show on The Eras Tour. In July, Lautner the actor made a surprise appearance onstage at Kansas City’s Geha Field at Arrowhead Stadium for the premiere of Swift’s “I Can See You” music video, in which he stars alongside Joey King. He entertained the sold-out crowd by impressively flipping down the catwalk toward the pop icon.

“He was a very positive force in my life when I was making the Speak Now album, and I want to say he did every single stunt that you saw in that music video,” Swift said onstage. “He and his wife have become some of my closest friends, and it’s very convenient because we all share the same first name.”

Swift and Lautner dated briefly in 2009. Their relationship is believed to have inspired the Speak Now apology track “Back to December,” which reminisces on what Swift missed after breaking up with a former boyfriend: “Your tan skin, your sweet smile, so good to me, so right.” Elsewhere in the song, she says, “You gave me all your love and all I gave you was goodbye.”

Swift’s The Eras Tour film already grossed $39 million Friday (Oct. 13), according to The Hollywood Reporter‘s box office update on Saturday, and has a shot at becoming the biggest October opening weekend of all time in North America if it surpasses Joker‘s $96.2 million. Swift called the premiere of her concert film “the most electric experience of my life.”

14 Oct 2023

Aaron Carter’s ‘Final Resting Place’ Revealed by Late Star’s Twin Sister Angel

Aaron Carter’s twin sister, Angel Carter, has revealed the final resting place of the late singer.

On Friday (Oct. 13), Angel took to social media to provide an update on her brother’s burial site. Her post included an image of a bronze plaque featuring a carved portrait of her brother.

“Aaron’s portrait was placed this morning at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills,” she captioned the photo on Instagram. “He adored his fans, and I know how much this would mean to him now having a final resting place where we could all celebrate his life.”

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Angel added, “I invite you to visit, share your memories, and never forget who Aaron was deep down,” followed by a white heart and dove emoji.

Aaron, a former child star and brother of Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter, died in November 2022 at age 34, with a string of chart hits and TV credits to his name.

Earlier this year, Carter’s autopsy results were released by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, who ruled his death as accidental and revealed the late star drowned in his bathtub after taking a deadly combination of difluoroethane (the gas used in cans of compressed air) and alprazolam (the generic form of Xanax).

At the time of his younger brother’s death, Nick Carter posted an emotional and devastating memorial to him, writing, “My heart is broken. Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded. I have always held on to the hope that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed…God, Please take care of my baby brother.”

Other tributes honoring Carter poured in across social media from everyone from Hilary Duff — whom he dated briefly in the early 2000s — and New Kids on the Block to Paris Hilton, Christy Carlson Romano, Melissa Joan Hart and more. Controversy erupted among the onetime teen heartthrob’s fanbase when he was left out of the “In Memoriam” segment at the 2023 Grammy Awards just a few months later.

See Angel Carter’s post on Instagram below.

14 Oct 2023

Eladio Carrión Takes Over Theater at Madison Square Garden: 5 Takeaways from Sauce Boyz Tour Stop

Surrounded by striking pyrotechnics, amid apocalyptic-like trap and drill beats — punctuated by occasional machine gun sounds — Eladio Carrión made a grand entrance at New York’s Theater in Madison Square Garden.

He was decked out in an outfit reminiscent of Mad Max, rocking a tactical vest and black cargo jeans, with a glimmering B.B. Simon belt. The result was a visual that evoked the image of an urban gladiator stepping onto the stage, an uncanny coincidence considering the superstitious nature of Friday the 13th.

Starting his set at 9:50 p.m., he rallied his ardent fan base, captivating them with a two-hour spectacle that showcased the full spectrum of his career. His performance spanned from the early “SoundCloud days” of Sauce Boyz (2020) to his latest Billboard 200-charting 3MEN2 KBRN, creating a musical journey that left no stone unturned.

His arrival comes one week after he kicked off the second leg of his The Sauce USA tour in Chicago on Oct. 7. The U.S.-born, Puerto Rican rapper expressed his excitement about performing at the legendary Manhattan venue: “You are all here for my first big show in New York at Madison Square Garden. This is a very special day,” he told the audience, reminiscing just a few years ago when he performed in nightclubs.

The enthusiasm was palpable throughout the entire show. It was a mutual exchange of energy with his passionate fanbase, making the performance a memorable one. Presented by Live Nation, Carrión’s tour stops include Las Vegas (Oct. 21), San Diego (Oct. 29), Seattle (Nov. 5) and more before wrapping up Nov. 11 in Miami. 

Here are five takeaways from the trap star’s Sauce Boyz show at The Theater at MSG.