Music News

06 Sep 2023

Beastie Boys Mike D, Ad-Rock To Celebrate Hip-Hop 50 With Unveiling of Beastie Boys Square in New York

Beastie Boys members Mike D (Mike Diamond) and Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) will be on hand on Saturday (Sept. 9) to celebrate the unveiling of Beastie Boys Square in New York’s Lower East Side. According to a press release announcing the event, the living members of the Rock and Roll hall of Fame rap trio — third member MCA (Adam Yauch) died of cancer in 2012 at age 47 — will join NY City Council member Chris Marte at the corner of Rivington St. between Ludlow and Essex streets for the celebration that will begin at noon and feature a guest DJ set by Jon Bless HiFi System.

The corner of Ludlow and Rivington will be renamed Beastie Boys Square in honor of the site of the cover photo for the band’s landmark 1989 sample-soaked second studio album, Paul’s Boutique. It’s a fitting tribute to the trio of teenage friends who formed in the city on Yauch’s 17th birthday and cycled through a hard-core punk phase before recording their breakthrough hip-hop debut, Licensed to Ill, what would become the first rap record to hit No. 1 on Billboard album chart.

The dense Dust Brothers-produced Boutique was a commercial dud at first, but still stands as a landmark in sampling thanks to its intense tangle of more than 100 samples, which range from obscure jazz to songs and pioneering early hip-hop to snippets of tracks by Rose Royce, Afrika Bambaataa, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Curtis Mayfield, Kurtis Blow, Tower of Power, Public Enemy, the Eagles, Loggins and Messina, the Beatles, Cameo, Deep Purple, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix and many more.

In addition, the album — which was recorded in Los Angeles — has dozens of references to classic New York personalities, places and traditions, including shout-outs to the Ramones, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, the Village, Chrystie Street, the D Train, Ed Koch, the Knicks, the Yankees, Shea Stadium, the Palladium, Phil Rizzuto, the Atlantic Antic, the New York Post, El Diario, Bernard Goetz, Broadway, Jazzy Jay, Bad Brains, and many others.

The unveiling is part of the year-long celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary and it will be accompanied by the cinema debut of the Apple Original film, Beastie Boys Story at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village on Friday (Sept. 8) and Saturday at 9 and 11:30 p.m. SiriusXM will also relaunch the Beastie Boys Channel on Thursday (Sept. 7) on channel 105.

06 Sep 2023

Bebe Rexha Becomes Only Artist With 50-Week No. 1s on Both the Country & Dance/Electronic Charts

Bebe Rexha scores a first on Billboard’s charts, becoming the only artist to have notched milestone 50-week No. 1s on both Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and Hot Country Songs.

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The versatile artist and David Guetta’s “I’m Good (Blue)” logs a 50th week atop Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (dated Sept. 9). (Dating to the chart’s launch in 2013, it’s just the second song to post at least 50 weeks at No. 1, after Marshmello and Bastille’s “Happier” dominated for 69 weeks in 2018-20.)

Rexha first spent a record 50 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs with “Meant to Be” with Florida Georgia Line in 2017-18. Rexha also co-wrote both that song and “I’m Good.”

“Songwriting is my passion, no matter the style of music,” Rexha told Billboard earlier this year. “I’ve been blessed to have hit songs in different genres throughout my career. Finding this kind of success within both the dance/electronic and country charts is something I’m really proud of. To have my music resonate with so many people and top charts across multiple genres is amazing and means a lot to me, as I’ve never wanted to be put in a box.”

“I’m Good,” released on What a DJ/Warner Records, holds at No. 1 with 26.8 million radio airplay audience impressions, 5.3 million U.S. streams and 1,000 downloads sold in the Aug. 25-31 tracking week, according to Luminate. The collab has controlled Hot Dance/Electronic Songs every week since Oct. 1, 2022.

Among other longevity accolades for “I’m Good” on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, it tallies a 53rd week in the top five (encompassing its entire chart run), tying Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” and Major Lazer and DJ Snake’s “Lean On” featuring MØ, for the sixth most. “Happier” rang up a record 91 weeks in the top five.

Guetta and Rexha have both now spent a combined 61 total weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart in their careers, thanks to “I’m Good” and their previous team-up, “Hey Mama,” also with Nicki Minaj and Afrojack (11 weeks at No. 1 in 2015). Only The Chainsmokers (82 weeks), Marshmello (81) and Bastille (69) have spent more time on top.

“I’m Good” became a crossover smash upon its release. It spent one week at No. 1 on the all-format Radio Songs chart and topped Dance/Mix Show Airplay for 14 weeks and Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay for two each. On the Billboard Hot 100, the single even outperformed the song it interpolates: It reached No. 4 in January, while Eiffel 65’s “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” peaked at No. 6 in 2000.

06 Sep 2023

Zach Bryan Triples Up at No. 1 on Artist 100, Hot 100 & Billboard 200

Zach Bryan zooms from No. 16 to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated Sept. 9), becoming the top musical act in the U.S. for the first time, thanks to his new LP, Zach Bryan.

The set, released Aug. 25 via Belting Bronco/Warner Records, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 200,000 equivalent album units in its opening week, according to Luminate. It becomes his first No. 1 album, after he charted five prior sets – all since only June 2022: American Heartbreak (No. 5 peak), Summertime Blues (No. 34), All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live From Red Rocks) (No. 88), Elisabeth (No. 92) and Deann (No. 167).

All 16 of the new release’s tracks concurrently debut in the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100, led by “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves at No. 1. It’s the first Hot 100 leader for each singer-songwriter.

All 16 tracks also debut on the Hot Country Songs chart, with six in the top 10. Bryan is just the third act to land at least six in the top 10 at once, after Morgan Wallen (a record nine) and Taylor Swift (seven).

Bryan is just the second country act to top the Artist 100 in 2023, after Wallen, who has led the chart for eight weeks this year (among 13 total weeks on top). One country act ruled in 2022 (Luke Combs), after two each led in 2021 (Wallen, Eric Church), 2020 (Combs, Kenny Chesney) and 2019 (Combs, Thomas Rhett). (Still, country music is surging in 2023, thanks in large part to Wallen.)

Meanwhile, Bryan becomes just the the second country male soloist to simultaneously triple up at No. 1 on the Artist 100, Hot 100 and Billboard 200, after Wallen, who has scored four such weeks, including the most recent such frame among all artists: On the April 22 charts, he led the Artist 100 and paced the Hot 100 with “Last Night” and the Billboard 200 with One Thing at a Time.

Elsewhere on the latest Artist 100, Miley Cyrus jumps 22-7, driven by her new single “Used to Be Young.” The ballad begins at No. 8 on the Hot 100, becoming her 12th top 10.

Plus, Tyler, the Creator vaults 52-8 on the Artist 100 thanks to a new vinyl deluxe release of his former Billboard 200 No. 1 Call Me If You Get Lost. The set soars 143-11 on the Billboard 200 (37,000 units) and returns to No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart for a fifth total week on top.

The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

06 Sep 2023

Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner Speak Out on Divorce: ‘This Is Truly a United Decision’

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner are speaking out after news broke that they are ending their marriage.

In a joint statement posted to both of their social media accounts, the two stars said that they are parting on the friendliest of terms. “After four wonderful years of marriage we have mutually decided to amicably end our marriage,” their statement began. “There are many speculative narratives as to why but, truly this is a united decision and we sincerely hope that everyone can respect our wishes for privacy for us and our children.”

The Jonas Brothers member filed for divorce in Florida’s Miami-Dade County on Tuesday (Sept. 5), Billboard confirmed. He stated in the court documents that “the marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.”

The former couple met in 2016, and married in two ceremonies in 2019. The first was a surprise Vegas wedding in May that they held immediately after attending the Billboard Music Awards, where the Jonas Brothers had just performed. They then threw a lavish wedding at the end of June in Southern France.

They kept their first pregnancy mum, never confirming that the Game of Thrones actress was expecting, even though she was spotted out with a baby bump. Their daughter Willa arrived in the summer of 2020, they confirmed in a statement to Billboard at the time. Jonas and Turner kept their second pregnancy even more private, revealing only that the actress had given birth to a second daughter in the summer of 2022, and have not yet revealed her name.

See the former couple’s full statement about their split below:

06 Sep 2023

Ethan Hawke Admits to Daughter Maya Hawke That Lame Flirting Attempt with Rihanna Has Become His ‘Family Shame’

Years before Rihanna was the mother of two, Ethan Hawke very publicly tried to shoot his shot with the “Rude Boy” singer at the 2015 NBA All-Star game. The photo of the incident went viral at the time after Hawke very slickly traded places with his son in the front row at the game and was photographed leaning wayyy back in his chair and chatting Rihanna up.

“I’ve been caught by the paparazzi openly flirting with Rihanna,” the actor said, with his daughter, Maya Hawke, correcting him by noting that he was “openly trying to” flirt with the singer. “Trying to flirt,” he agreed, “and that’s been to the family shame.” Maya tried to bail him out by saying, “no, it’s family pride.”

Hawke posted a picture of the incident on Instagram in which his son is doing a face palm motion while watching his dad chat up the music superstar, with the actor captioning the pics, “after Rihanna’s brilliant half time performance, I’m hoping my son can find it in his heart to forgive a Dad for taking his moment.”

The revelation came during a game of “How well do Ethan & Maya Hawke really know each other” in a bit for Variety, in which dear old dad totally blew it when asked what Maya’s first school play was — it was Jenny in Jenny and the School for Cats, not the Artful Dodger in Oliver. The father-daughter pair are promoting the new movie Wildcat, in which Ethan directs Maya as author Flannery O’Connor (A Good Man Is Hard To Find and Other Stories) in a chronicle of her attempt to get her first novel published. The chat heated up when the interviewer asked if Ethan would rather see RihRih or Lady Gaga in concert.

Maya had a very fast answer for that one, because that information is “really available online,” she smirked in reference to the flirty pics. While Ethan said “both,” his daughter corrected him, saying the answer was “RihRih by a long shot.” To be fair, Ethan said he’s been to a Gaga show, but really would like to see Rihanna live sometime. Then, in a total dad moment, Ethan said he remembers taking Maya to see Lady Gaga once, with his daughter correcting him by noting that they went to see Madonna and Gaga was sitting near them at the show.

“We did have an amazing year where we went to see Madonna, Taylor [Swift] and Adele, and it was highly educational, very motivational year for me,” said Maya, who is also a recording artist who released her Moss album last year. If you’re keeping score, Ethan kind of got it when asked to name the fist song Maya ever wrote, remembering that the tune was written at their family home in Nova Scotia, though she was a bit fuzzy on how many Oscar nominations her dad has had (the answer is four, if you’re keeping score).

Watch the Hawke’s discuss the Rihanna incident below.

06 Sep 2023

Jung Kook Joins Global Citizen Fest 2023 As a Co-Headliner

2023 has been a huge year for Jung Kook. Not only did the BTS member earn his first solo credit atop the Billboard Hot 100 in July when “Seven,” featuring Latto, debuted at No. 1 on the chart, but the South Korean pop star is set to join the 2023 Global Citizen Festival lineup as one of its co-headliners. This not only marks Jung Kook’s Global Citizen Festival debut, but the global star’s debut performance at a U.S. festival (although it’s worth noting he performed as part of the 2023 GMA Summer Concert Series and was spotted at Coachella earlier this year as a fan).

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“I’m so thrilled to join this year’s Global Citizen Festival as a headliner!” said Jung Kook in a statement. “The festival sheds light on important causes and drives action and I’m happy to take part in it. I can’t wait to perform in front of many people at the Great Lawn in Central Park.”

The Global Citizen Fest takes place in New York City’s Central Park on Saturday, Sept. 23, as a free, ticketed event; people can earn tickets by taking action to help end extreme poverty via the Global Citizen app and on the organization’s website. With this fall concert, Global Citizen is urging world leaders gathered in New York for the UN General Assembly to tackle climate crisis, equity for women and girls and the global hunger crisis.

Jung Kook joins previously announced headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ms. Lauryn Hill and Anitta. Conan Gray, D-Nice, Megan Thee Stallion, Sofia Carson and Stray Kids will also perform. Global Citizen Fest will be broadcast and livestreamed around the world.

06 Sep 2023

Renée Rapp Says ‘Snow Angel’ Title Track Was Inspired By Drugging That Let Her ‘Missing For Seven Hours’

Renée Rapp is speaking out about the scary 2022 incident that inspired the urgent title track to her Snow Angel album. The former The Sex Lives of College Girls star recently released her debut full-length album on Interscope — with the title song serving as the first single — and in a new interview with On Purpose podcast host Jay Shetty she revealed that dramatic song was inspired by a traumatic experience last year in which she was drugged and lost nearly an entire night.

“I was drugged, and I had just been missing for seven hours,” Rapp told Shetty about a night out in 2022 when she went to a party with a new group of friends after a breakup. “I really let my judgment go when it came to the people that were around me. We were all out, and it was just situation after situation where they were just not trustworthy, and then the next thing you knew, I was face up, laying down in a bathroom stall in a hotel bar, just waking up at 5 in the morning, completely alone.”

Rapp said when she woke up alone in the bathroom stall early in the morning she had no idea what happened and saw that she’d missed two texts from people she’d started hanging out with the night before.

“First to arrive, last to leave/ What’s misery without company?/ It’s hard to laugh when it’s hard to breathe/ It’s white outside, but red underneath,” she sings in the opening verse of the song before dipping into the pre-chorus, “Feel the tip of my nose/ It’s burning, but it’s ice cold.”

Rapp said when she woke up the next day she saw blood on her pants and had no idea what happened during that lost time. “I was drugged, and I had just been missing for seven hours. I stopped being friends with those people and stopped doing as much partying as I was doing,” she said. “I told my parents, told some of my friends. I explained it in a very matter-of-fact way, and they were all very concerned and I didn’t even understand what was happening.”

It was hard to process the night at first and she couldn’t wrap her head around what happened for several months. But once Rapp started working with the song’s co-writer, Alexander “23” Glantz, they found a way to turn the scary event into a moving song.

“‘I really want to write a song about this,’” she said of the incident she turned over-and-over in her mind, telling the story to a number of friends who didn’t seem to be comprehend what she was saying. “We started writing it, and it was just the two of us. And the entire time I was writing it, I felt nothing,” Rapp said. “Until we recorded the song and the whole thing was done and I played it for my friends and my manager and everybody was like, ‘This is insane.’ But for me, that whole year of my life was inherent resilience.”

The good news is that Rapp, 23, said she’s cut ties with those people, but she still doesn’t know exactly how she feels about it. “I just know that I feel weird… and very resilient,” she said. “I was just like, ‘I don’t care what you know or what you claim to know or don’t know.’ I just want to let it go.”

Rapp wil kick off her Snow Hard Feelings Tour in Houston, TX on Sept. 15.

Watch the “Snow Angel” video below.

05 Sep 2023

CMA Awards 2023 Predictions: Who Could Score Nominations in the Main Categories?

Final nominees for the 57th CMA Awards will be announced Thursday at 8 a.m. ET. It’s been an exceptional year for country music, with artists like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs dominating the pop and country charts. Newer acts like Zach Bryan and Oliver Anthony Music have seemingly come out of nowhere to top the charts and, in some cases, the national conversation. 

Many of the acts who have broken through this year, like Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson, who swept the Academy of Country Music Awards, don’t sound like anyone who has come before them. 

While it’s easy to predict a handful of the nominees, several of the categories are harder to figure out because in some cases, like new artist of the year, there is such a wealth of talent to be considered. 

The CMA Awards, which are voted on by eligible CMA members, will be handed out Nov. 8. Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning return as co-hosts on the program, which will air live on ABC. The eligibility period for the 2023 show is July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023. According to CMA rules, “singles, albums, music videos and qualified music products for the annual show must have been released or reached peak national prominence during the eligibility period.” 

Below are my predictions for the artist categories. I decided to go young this year, given the strength of some of the artists coming up. 

05 Sep 2023

Beyoncé Gifts LA With 3 Shows for Her Birthday: A Roundtable Appreciation

Beyoncé played three sold-out nights at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., over the holiday weekend — and Billboard was there for all three shows.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, we’ve put together a roundtable discussion about the trio of concerts with Gail Mitchell, Billboard‘s executive director, R&B/hip-hop; Cat Johnson, Billboard‘s business development and talent relations manager; along with your two regular Pop Shop hosts Katie & Keith. Katie attended Friday night, Gail and Keith attended Monday night, and Cat attended all three nights and covered the shows (read her Friday/Saturday recap and birthday concert recap now).

Listen to our full discussion below to hear about all the surprises, all the standout moments, and all the silver, sparkly fashion.

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Zach Bryan takes over the top of both the Billboard 200 albums chart and Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, thanks to his new self-titled album and its breakout track “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves. It’s Bryan’s first No. 1 on both charts and Musgraves’ first Hot 100 No. 1 (and top 10!) too. Plus, Miley Cyrus’ “Used to Be Young” debuts straight into the top 10 on the Hot 100, marking her 12th top 10 hit.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

05 Sep 2023

A Timeline of Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner’s Relationship

From two weddings & two children to a divorce filing, here’s a look at the former couple’s relationship.

Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas

Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas attend the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 1, 2019 in Las Vegas. 

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Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner are divorcing after four years of marriage and two children together. The Jonas Brothers singer filed for divorce on Sept. 5, Billboard confirmed.

In his petition, the musician said that his union with the Game of Thrones actress “is irretrievably broken,” according to the Today show, which obtained the filing.

News of their split came as a surprise, as the pair displayed no signs that their marriage was on the rocks, with the actress sharing photos with the musician backstage at Jonas Brothers concerts and playfully teasing him on social media. In the days after rumors of a split began to surface, the singer wore his ring onstage and even shared a photo of himself wearing his wedding band hours before news broke that he had filed for divorce.

Though their romance has come to an end, it wasn’t always tough times for Jonas and Turner. After getting engaged to Jonas — who first reached out to the actress via an Instagram DM in 2016 — Turner even admitted that she didn’t think she’d ever marry. “I was fully preparing myself to be single for the rest of my life,” she told Rolling Stone in March 2019. “I think once you’ve found the right person, you just know.”

From sliding into DMs to their two 2019 weddings (a surprise Vegas ceremony first, then an elegant affair in France) and welcoming two children, the former couple have shared many sweet moments together during their romance. Here’s a look back at the love story of Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner.