Music News

07 Aug 2023

BTS’ Suga Begins Military Enlistment Process

BTS‘ Suga is about to become a military man. BigHit announced on Monday (Aug. 7) that Suga has begun the process initiate his mandatory military service in South Korea.

“We would like to inform our fans that SUGA has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement,” BigHit said in a statement posted to Weverse, promising to keep ARMY informed with any updates.

“We ask you for your continued love and support for SUGA until he completes his military service and safely returns,” the statement concluded. “Our company will spare no effort in providing support for our artist.”

South Korea had initially passed a bill in 2020 that allowed the members of BTS to postpone their mandatory service until they reached age 30. The country’s laws state that citizens are required to enlist between the ages of 18 and 28.

The announcement comes just one day after the K-pop star wrapped up the Asian leg of his Agust D-DAY tour in support of his solo album, D-DAY, which he released under his stage name Agust D. The trek ended with three shows — from Aug. 4 to 6 — at Seoul’s KSPO Dome.

After his performance, Suga appeared on Weverse live to chat with fans. “I came to say hi after my last concert,” he said. After showing off his tattoo at a fan’s request, the artist become a bit emotional when talking about the end of his trek.

“I think I had a fun tour the last couple of months. I really don’t cry,” he said before reflecting on the last decade. “Those past 10 years went by like a film. I started crying from then.”

As his live chat came to an end, he seemed to hint at his upcoming enlistment, though he did not specifically talk about it. “I think it’s a lie if I say ‘soon,’” he told viewers. “Let’s see each other in 2025, OK? Please wait a little bit,” he concluded in his message to ARMY. “2025. See you then!”

BigHit initially announced in October 2022 that the members of BTS — which also includes RM, V, Jin, Jung Kook, J-Hope and Jimin — would be unable to perform together as a whole group until 2025 as the individual members complete their mandated military service. Jin was first to enlist, followed by J-Hope.

07 Aug 2023

Ryan Gosling Is the 15th ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ Cast Member With a Hot 100 Hit: See the Complete List

On the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Aug. 5), Ryan Gosling scored his first appearance, as “I’m Just Ken,” from the new Barbie movie, in which he stars with Margot Robbie, debuted at No. 87.

Notably, the song isn’t Gosling’s first foray into music. He charted once before, with “City of Stars,” from his 2016 film La La Land. His solo version spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Jazz Digital Song Sales chart, while a mix with co-star Emma Stone reached No. 8 on the Hot 100’s Bubbling Under ranking.

But before that, Gosling broke through at age 13 as a member of The Disney Channel’s The All-New Mickey Mouse Club revival, which ran for seven seasons (1989-94). He starred in the show’s final two seasons, performing song and dance numbers alongside several future Billboard hitmakers.

In total, four separate iterations of the Mickey Mouse show franchise have aired. The original series, The Mickey Mouse Club, aired on ABC in 1955-59, followed by The New Mickey Mouse Club (syndicated; 1977-79), The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (The Disney Channel; 1989-94) and Club Mickey Mouse (Facebook, Instagram; 2017-18).

Of every Mouseketeer over the show’s four iterations, spanning over 60 years, 15 of have charted songs on the Hot 100. Gosling now becomes the 15th.

Here’s a look at every cast member from every edition of the series to chart a song on the Hot 100, listed chronologically from when they first reached the ranking.

(Honorable mention to Rhona Bennett, who appeared on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in 1991-94 and is currently a member of En Vogue. She joined the R&B group in 2003, after it charted all 14 songs of its Hot 100 hits.)

Annette Funicello

Funicello, who starred in all four of the original show’s seasons (1955-59), charted 10 songs on the Hot 100, all in 1959-61. She performed, and charted, under the mononym Annette, or as Annette With the Afterbeats. Two of her hits reached the top 10: “Tall Paul” (No. 7, 1959) and “O Dio Mio” (No. 10, 1960). Another track, “Pineapple Princess,” peaked just outside the top 10, at No. 11.
Johnny Crawford

Crawford, an original cast member who appeared in the show’s first season (1955-56), charted eight songs on the Hot 100, in 1961-64. One of those reached the top 10: “Cindy’s Birthday” (No. 8, 1962). In between his tenure on the show and debuting on the Hot 100, Crawford received a Primetime Emmy nomination for best supporting actor in 1959 for his work on The Rifleman.
Paul Petersen

Petersen, an original cast member in 1955-56, charted six songs on the Hot 100, all between 1962 and 1964. Of those, one reached the top 10: “My Dad” (No. 6, 1963).
Albert Fields, Tiffani Hale, Chase Hampton, Deedee Magno & Damon Pamplona

All five members of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club charted on the Hot 100 together, as members of the early-’90s pop group The Party. They formed the quintet during their tenures on the show, and it earned four Hot 100 singles: “Summer Vacation” (No. 72, 1990), “I Found Love” (No. 79, 1990), “That’s Why” (No. 55, 1991) and “In My Dreams” (No. 34, 1992).
JC Chasez

Chasez starred in the final four seasons of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (1991-94). He performed alongside his fellow ‘NSYNC bandmate Justin Timberlake in his final two seasons. ‘NSYNC charted 12 songs on the Hot 100, including six top 10s and one No. 1: “It’s Gonna Be Me,” for two weeks in 2000. He later charted two solo songs on the Hot 100: “Blowin’ Me Up (With Her Love)” hit No. 35 in 2003 and “Some Girls (Dance With Women),” featuring Dirt McGirt, reached No. 88 in 2004. ‘NSYNC also tallied eight Grammy nominations.
Justin Timberlake

Timberlake, who appeared in the sixth and seventh seasons of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, has forged one of the most successful careers in modern pop music. Outside of *NSYNC’s previously mentioned achievements (all also with Timberlake in the lineup), as a solo act, he has charted 37 songs on the Hot 100 — including 19 top 10s and five No. 1s: “SexyBack” (for seven weeks in 2006), “My Love,” featuring T.I. (three, 2006), “What Goes Around…Comes Around” (one week, 2007), “Give It to Me,” with Timbaland and Nelly Furtado (two, 2007), and “Can’t Stop the Feeling! (one, 2016). Timberlake has won 10 Grammy Awards, plus four Primetime Emmy Awards. He also earned an Oscar nomination for best original song for co-writing “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
Britney Spears

Spears performed in the final two seasons of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club and has since gone onto have an historic pop career. Her first Hot 100-charting song, “…Baby One More Time,” spent two weeks at No. 1 in 1999, becoming her first of five leaders. She later dominated with “Womanizer” in 2008, “3” (2009), “Hold It Against Me” (2011) and “S&M,” with Rihanna (2011). In total, she has charted 36 songs, including, most recently, her 14th top 10: “Hold Me Closer,” with Elton John. Spears has garnered eight Grammy Award nominations, and one win: for best dance recording in 2005 for “Toxic.”
Christina Aguilera

Similar to Spears — her castmate on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, alongside whom she performed in the show’s final two seasons — Xtina’s first Hot 100 entry hit No. 1. Breakthrough single “Genie in a Bottle” spent five weeks at the summit in 1999 and opened the door for four more leaders: “What a Girl Wants” (two weeks, 2000), “Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You)” (four, 2000), “Lady Marmalade,” with Lil’ Kim, Mya and P!nk (five, 2001), and Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” on which she’s featured (four, 2011). She has charted 30 songs on the Hot 100, and won five Grammy Awards, including best new artist in 2000 (in which she was up against Spears).
Matt Morris

Morris appeared in the final four seasons of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (1991-94; with JC Chasez and Tony Lucca). He posted his lone Hot 100 appearance thanks to a collaboration with a fellow Club member: his and Timberlake’s “Hallelujah,” also featuring Charlie Sexton, reached No. 13 in 2010.
Tony Lucca

Lucca starred in the final four seasons of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (1991-94). He has notched two entries on the Hot 100, thanks to his run as a contestant on NBC’s The Voice (when Aguilera was a coach, as she sat in one of the four chairs in 2011-16). In May 2012, his rootsy cover of Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” reached No. 58, and his version of The Beatles’ “Yesterday,” with fellow coach Adam Levine (of Maroon 5) hit No. 68.
Ryan Gosling

Gosling, like Aguilera, Spears and Timberlake, was on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in its final two seasons. He’s the latest cast member to achieve a Hot 100 hit, thanks to “I’m Just Ken” from Barbie, which he stars in with Margot Robbie. The song debuted at No. 87 on the Aug. 5, 2023-dated chart. Gosling has tallied two Academy Award nominations for best actor: for Half Nelson in 2007 and La La Land in 2017.

07 Aug 2023

Lana Del Ray Floats 2023 Lollapalooza to a Vivid, Cinematic Close During Hit-Packed Set: Six Best Moments

Lollapalooza glided to a close on Sunday night (Aug. 6) on the wings of two very different California vibes. While the Red Hot Chili Peppers helped shut down the T-Mobile stage at the South end of the mud bog previously known as Grant Park, Lana Del Rey did the honors about a mile up the road on the Bud Light stage, drawing a huge crowd of superfans who’d been waiting all day for their beloved queen of disaster.

Del Rey brought a bit of old Hollywood glamour to what was an otherwise not-at-all glamorous, soggy, cloudy day — the second one of the four-day weekend in Chicago — one that reduced so many cute outfits and carefully curated looks to muddy messes as fans tromped through giant puddles.

In the wind-up to her commanding, mesmerizing 90-minute set, the day featured some fun lead-ins, including Afrojack getting the crowd absolutely mental with a taste of the remix of LDR’s “Summertime Sadness” on the Perry’s EDM stage. Just moments earlier, Joey Bada$$ made his fans equally bonkers by inviting hometown hero Chance the Rapper out for a surprise cameo run through Chance’s “No Problem and the live debut of their collab “Highs & the Lows.”

In another tip to Chi-town hip-hop royalty, both A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Lil Yachty shouted out late Chicago MC Juice WRLD during their sets, with the latter wowing the far-as-the-eye-could-see crowd with a rocking performance that leaned hard into the indie guitar vibes of his Let’s Start Here album.

An hour before LDR cast her soothing spell, Rina Sawayama lit up the Bud Light stage with a decidedly more high-energy vibe, literally cracking a whip during “XS” as she playfully teased her back-up dancers with a variety of S&M gear while rocking a red latex bondage outfit. And in a kind of foreshadowing of LDR’s headlining set, Rina took time out during her show to get her hair done on stage, change shoes and have a sip of Bud Light — she was, after all, on the Bud Light stage. She also slipped in a quip to the audience that seemed to allude to the beer brand’s Dylan Mulvaney flap, reminding them that “trans rights is not just for pride month.”

All of that, however, was just a simple appetizer for the tens of thousands who camped out to see Lana, who took the stage dressed as the world’s loneliest bride, complete with a white wedding mini-dress with a colossal train. While her set was low on the pyrotechnics that marked some of the other headliners over the weekend — from Karol G’s history-making appearance, to the 1975’s cheeky, antics-filled show, Billie Eilish’s eye-popping spectacle and Kendrick Lamar’s intense, stripped-down set — what it lacked in flames it more than made up for in smoldering elegance.

Check out the six best moments from LDR’s set below.

Wedding Bell Blues

You knew Del Ray was going to make an entrance, and boy did she on Sunday night. Walking onto a stage flanked by lit-up two arches featuring sheer screens — behind which twisted two of the singer’s dancers — the California queen strolled out dressed in a white wedding gown. The skirt was short in front, but soon after opening song “A&W” faded away, her six-woman dance crew began to tug at the train and stretch it out for 20 feet behind Lana as they danced under it like kids playing beneath a parachute at recess. “Will you still love me when I’m no longer beautiful?,” Del Rey crooned as the adoring crowd assured her that she should worry about no such things.
Beauty Break

As befits any Hollywood siren, Del Rey took a moment a few songs in to get a touch-up. Sitting in a chair near the side of the stage at a table with a burning candle, flowers and a mirror, she perched quietly as an assistant fixed her hair with half a dozen glittering butterfly clips while the instrumental intro to “Bartender” played behind her. During the song, the dancers spun and dipped while holding candelabras and red rhythmic gymnastic balls as Del Rey swooned about the “ladies of the canyon,” temporarily turning the massive stage into an intimate jazz lounge.
A Mid-Set Lie-Down

During a set that featured lots of intricate movements from Del Rey’s dancers, perhaps the most arresting moment came when a stagehand brought out a rug and laid it down so the singer and her crew could form into a kind of cuddle pile midstage. As “Pretty When You Cry” began, LDR laid on her back in the middle of the cuddle puddle, her dancers entwined with their bosses’ limbs, making shifting geometric shapes as they twisted and crawled around the languid singer. In the camera shot from above, the writhing, undulating mass looked like a scene from an Esther Williams aquamusical from the 1950s.
Swing, Swing

Adding to the pastoral vibe on a stage that also featured a giant tree strung with Christmas lights, during “Ride” two of Del Rey’s dancers climbed onto swings decked out with flower garlands. The women were pushed out over the lip of the stage, swaying back and forth during the swooning track from LDR’s 2012 Paradise EP. Near the end of the set, Del Rey would take her own turn on a swing as she sang the crowd favorite, “Video Games” while kicking her feet and smiling through her 2011 debut single.
Touching Me, Touching You

A highlight of any LDR show is the bit where the singer makes her way into the crowd to get up-close-and-personal with her adoring fans. During “Ultraviolence,” Lana gingerly made her way down the steps, into the mud — in her black chunky-heeled shoes — and posed for a series of selfies with barely-able-to-maintain Lanatics. One had a pair of red heart-shaped Lolita glasses that she handed to to the “Every Man Gets His Wish” singer to model for a shot. Having just sung the lyrics about a cult leader, LDR looked every bit like a charismatic pop pied piper as she accepted bouquets of flowers, trinkets and took a series of selfies with visibly overcome fans. One even held up a sign that promised, “Lana it’s my birthday, if you sign me my mom will let me get a tattoo.”
Big Exit

If you start with a dramatic entrance, you better have an equally headline-worthy exit. Which, of course, LDR had. Her festival-closing set matched the glamour and classic L.A. style of her music — at one point her dancer’s moved around her holding those old foil reflectors people used to use to get tan — as Del Rey sang the the Norman F**king Rockwell track “Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have – But I Have It” to end her show. In a bit of musical theater, Del Rey swooned toward one handsome man, before tearing herself away and then falling into the arms of another, who picked her up and swung her in circles. Then, two men pushed-and-pulled her, sandwiching the singer between them until she seemed exhausted by the exertion of it all and lay down on her aforementioned long wedding dress train and was dragged slowly off the stage as she softly sang, “Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have/ But I have it/ Yeah, I have it.”

06 Aug 2023

Ne-Yo Apologizes for Comments on Parenting and Gender Identity: ‘I Plan to Better Educate Myself on the Topic’

Ne-Yo has issued an apology for the comments he recently made regarding transgender kids.

“After much reflection, I’d like to express my deepest apologies to anyone that I may have hurt with my comments on parenting and gender identity,” the singer wrote on Twitter/X Sunday night (Aug. 6). “I’ve always been an advocate for love and inclusivity in the LGBTQI+ community, so I understand how my comments could’ve been interpreted as insensitive and offensive.”

Ne-Yo continued: “Gender identity is nuanced and I can honestly admit that I plan to better educate myself on the topic, so I can approach future conversations with more empathy.”

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“At the end of the day,” he said, “I lead with love and support everyone’s freedom of expression and pursuit of happiness.”

On Saturday, a video of an interview with Gloria Velez for VladTV — in which Ne-Yo and Velez questioned parents who support their children identifying as a different gender than the sex they were assigned at birth — was uploaded to YouTube.

“I just personally come from an era where a man was a man and a woman was a woman,” said Ne-Yo in the interview clip. “And there was two genders, and that’s just how I rocked. You could identify as a goldfish if you feel like, I don’t care. That ain’t my business. It becomes my business when you try to make me play the game with you. I’m not gonna call you a goldfish. But if you wanna be a goldfish, you go be a goldfish. We live in a weird time, man. We do.”

During their conversation he said, “I feel like parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. If your little boy comes to you and says, ‘Daddy, I want to be a girl.’ And you just let him rock with that? He’s 5 … If you let this 5-year-old boy decide to eat candy all day, he’s gonna do that. When did it become a good idea to let a 5-year-old, let a 6-year-old, let a 12-year-old make a life-changing decision for themself? When did that happen? I don’t understand.”

“He can’t drive a car yet, but he can decide his sex?” asked Ne-Yo, who is a father of seven children.

The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association all agree that gender-affirming care is not dangerous for trans youth, and in most cases, it’s highly beneficial and life-saving.

Later on Saturday Ne-Yo expanded on his thoughts in the comments section of an Instagram post, writing, “1st and foremost, I CONDEMN NO ONE. Who am I to condemn anybody? Your life, your kids, your choice. I was asked a question and I answered it. My opinion is mine. I’m not asking anybody to agree with me nor am I telling you what you can and cannot do with your children. I stated my opinion on a matter and that’s that. Why should I care if my opinion upsets you when you don’t care if yours upsets anyone? Opinions aren’t special. We all have one. People voice them regularly whether they’re asked or not. I was actually asked mine. Agreeing to disagree is not a declaration of war. Y’all do whatever the hell y’all want to. But my feelings on the matter are mine. Same way yours are yours. Meanwhile, I love everybody. Don’t agree with some of y’all’s ideals….but love you no less.”

See his latest statement below.

06 Aug 2023

Beyoncé in D.C.: FedEx Field Issues Shelter-in-Place Order Due to Severe Weather

Beyoncé concertgoers ready for the Renaissance World Tour at FedEx Field Sunday night (Aug. 6) were told to shelter in place ahead of showtime due to lightning in the area.

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Concert organizers at the D.C.-local stadium, located nearby in Maryland, instructed fans to shelter in place around 6:40 p.m. ET.

A statement was posted on FedEx Field’s Twitter/X page: “Due to lightning in the area, we are currently under a shelter in place order. Fans outside of gates and in the parking lots are asked to return to their cars. All fans inside of the stadium are asked to shelter in place under covered concourse areas and ramps until further notice.”

At 8:25 p.m., an “all clear” update was released.

“Fans may return to their seats,” the stadium posted.

The show is Beyoncé’s second date at the venue this weekend.

Local reporters and fans shared video clips of a downpour and people taking cover at the stadium Saturday night.

Due to lightning in the area, we are currently under a shelter in place order.

Fans outside of gates and in the parking lots are asked to return to their cars.

All fans inside of the stadium are asked to shelter in place under covered concourse areas and ramps until further…

— FedExField (@FedExField) August 6, 2023

06 Aug 2023

Taylor Swift Surprises ‘Someone Great’ Director With ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’ Performance in Los Angeles

Taylor Swift included Lover standout “Death by a Thousand Cuts” during her surprise songs set at SoFi Stadium Saturday night (Aug. 5). Arguably, no one appreciated Swift’s pick more than director/writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who happened to be at this Eras Tour date in Los Angeles.

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Friends, including actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, captured the moment Kaytin Robinson freaked out upon realizing Swift was playing “Death by a Thousand Cuts” and shared clips on Instagram. It’s the second time the star has performed the song on the Eras Tour, and one of only a handful of songs she’s repeated during her acoustic surprise set. She’s typically only repeated a song if she messed it up the first time around, which she did at an earlier tour stop.

Swift revealed “Death by a Thousand Cuts” was actually inspired by Kaytin Robinson’s romantic comedy Someone Great in 2019.

“I just wrote a song based on something she made, which she made while listening to something I made, which is the most meta thing that’s ever happened to me,” Swift said at the time.

Someone Great, starring Gina Rodriguez and released by Netflix in 2019, tells the story of a couple who ends their relationship after nine years. “It’s a movie about how she has to end this relationship that she didn’t want to end because she’s still in love with the person but they just grew apart and he’s not a jerk,” said Swift. “It’s just sad because it’s just realistic, time passed and now we’re different people and that is the most devastating thing.”

Kaytin Robinson said that Swift’s 1989 album had been there for her “like a best friend with a bottle of tequila and a bear hug” and that she “found the most comfort in ‘Clean,’ a song about rebirth after love lost. It inspired me and Someone Great.”

See the director’s reaction to hearing “Death by a Thousand Cuts” live, plus a clip of Swift’s performance captured by a fan, below. So far Swift has performed three of six concerts scheduled at SoFi Stadium. She’ll return for the next show on Aug. 7.

06 Aug 2023

Fans Choose LE SSERAFIM & Demi Lovato’s ‘Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s Wife’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music

LE SSERAFIM‘s “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s Wife” featuring Demi Lovato has topped this week’s new music poll.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (Aug. 4) on Billboard, choosing the collaboration between the K-pop group and pop singer as their favorite new music release of the past week.

“Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s Wife” brought in nearly 46% of the vote, beating out new music by Doja Cat (“Paint the Town Red”), Halle (“Angel”), Usher featuring 21 Savage and Summer Walker (“Good Good”), Grupo Frontera (El Comienzo), and others.

The K-pop group — comprising members Sakura, Kim Chae-won, Huh Yun-jin, Kazuha and Hong Eun-chae — released an English version of the song on Friday (Aug. 4), with the addition of a sultry verse by Lovato. The remix follows the group’s Rina Sawayama collab for the track the week prior.

“I see it written on your face, yeah/ I know you want a little taste, yeah/ You know I’ll put you in your place/ You’re crawling on the floor/ Begging me for more, ooh/ I’m sicker than the flu/ Come put me in the mood/ My body touching you, do you like that?/ Ooh, just watch the way I move,” Lovato belts on the rock-tinged tune.

“Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s Wife” is the second single from LE SSERAFIM’s first studio album, Unforgiven. The song peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs chart dated June 3, while the album it’s on peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200.

Lovato, meanwhile, is prepping to release an entire album featuring rocked-out versions of some of her biggest hits. REVAMPED is slated for release on Sept. 15 and it will feature the reimagined guitar-heavy versions of “Sorry,” as well as the previously released “Heart Attack (Rock Version)” and “Cool For the Summer (Rock Version).”

Trailing behind “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s Wife” on the poll is Doja Cat’s latest release “Paint the Town Red,” which brought in 26% of the vote.

Led by a sample of Dionne Warwick’s classic “Walk on By” to leverage the chorus, Doja knows exactly what her naysayers think of her, and taunts them with their own comments on a bouncy chorus.

“Mm, she the devil/ She a bad lil’ b—-, she a rebel/ She put her foot to the pedal/ It’ll take a whole lot for me to settle,” she sings.

The track is the second look fans have received of her upcoming fourth album after single “Attention.”

See the final results of this week’s new music release poll below.

06 Aug 2023

‘Barbie’ Joins $1 Billion Club, Breaks Another Record for Female Directors

Greta Gerwig should be feeling closer to fine these days. In just three weeks in theaters, Barbie is set to sail past $1 billion in global ticket sales, breaking a record for female directors that was previously held by Patty Jenkins, who helmed Wonder Woman.

Barbie, which Gerwig directed and co-wrote, added another $53 million from 4,178 North American locations this weekend according to studio estimates on Sunday (Aug. 6). The Margot Robbie-led and produced film has been comfortably seated in first place for three weeks and it’s hardly finished yet. Warner Bros. said the film will cross $1 billion before the end of the day.

In modern box office history, just 53 movies have made over $1 billion, not accounting for inflation, and Barbie is now the biggest to be directed by one woman, supplanting Wonder Woman’s $821.8 million global total. Three movies that were co-directed by women are still ahead of Barbie, including Frozen ($1.3 billion) and Frozen 2 ($1.45 billion) both co-directed by Jennifer Lee and Captain Marvel ($1.1 billion), co-directed by Anna Boden. But, Barbie has passed Captain Marvel domestically with $459.4 million (versus $426.8 million), thereby claiming the North American record for live-action movies directed by women.

New competition came this weekend in the form of the animated, PG-rated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and the Jason Statham shark sequel, Meg 2: The Trench, both of which were neck-in-neck with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, also in its third weekend, for the second-place spot.

Meg 2 managed to sneak ahead and land in second place. It overcame its abysmal reviews to score a $30 million opening weekend from 3,503 locations. The Warner Bros. release, directed by Ben Wheatley, currently has a 29% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and a B- CinemaScore from audiences. The thriller was released in 3D, which accounted for 22% of its first weekend business.

Third place went to Oppenheimer, which added $28.7 million from 3,612 locations in North America, bringing its domestic total to $228.6 million. In just three weeks, the J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic starring Cillian Murphy has become the highest grossing R-rated film of the year (ahead of John Wick Chapter 4) and the sixth-biggest of the year overall, surpassing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Oppenheimer also celebrated a landmark, crossing $500 million globally in three weeks. Its worldwide tally is currently $552.9 million, which puts it ahead of Dunkirk, which clocked out with $527 million in 2017, and has become Nolan’s fifth-biggest movie ever. It’s also now among the four top grossing biographies ever (company includes Bohemian Rhapsody, The Passion of the Christ and American Sniper) and the biggest World War II movie of all time.

Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was close behind in fourth place with an estimated $28 million from 3,858 theaters in North America. Since opening on Wednesday, the film, which is riding on excellent reviews (96% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience scores, has earned $43.1 million.

“This is one of those movies that is a multigenerational joy,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution. “I think the enduring popularity of Turtles is showing its true colors. And there hasn’t been an animated film in eight weeks and there won’t be another for eight weeks which is great for us.”

Turtles cost $70 million to produce and features a starry voice cast that includes Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Paul Rudd, Ayo Edebiri and Seth Rogen, who produced and co-wrote the film, which leans into the “teenage” aspect of the turtles.

Barbie, Oppenheimer and even the surprise, anti-trafficking hit Sound of Freedom (now at $163.5 million and ahead of Mission: Impossible 7) have helped fuel a boom at the box office, bringing in many millions more than was expected and helping to offset pains caused by some summer disappointments.

“After The Flash, Indiana Jones and, to a certain extent, Mission: Impossible, people were saying the summer was a disappointment. But it’s not over yet,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “We’re going to have a summer that is going to go out on a high note.”

But the moment of triumph for the industry will likely be short lived if the studios can’t reach an agreement with striking actors and writers soon. The fall release calendar has already gotten slimmer, with some studios pushing films into 2024 instead of trying to promote them without movie stars.

Sony had planned to release its PlayStation-inspired true story Gran Turismo in theaters nationwide next Friday, but will now be rolling it out slowly for two weeks before going wide on Aug. 25. The thinking? If movie stars can’t promote the film, maybe audiences can.

“We have to be realistic,” Dergarabedian said. “We’re on this emotional high of movies doing so well, but we have to temper our enthusiasm and optimism with the fact that the strike is creating a lot of uncertainty. The longer it goes on the more profound the issues become. But the audience has spoken and they love going to the movie theater.”

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

05 Aug 2023

Ne-Yo Questions Best Practice Care for Transgender Youth: ‘I Don’t Understand’

Ne-Yo shared his thoughts on how to parent transgender children and questioned minors’ rights to receive gender-affirming care in a new interview.

The singer, a dad of seven children, spoke for several minutes on the topic during a conversation with Gloria Velez for VladTV.

Ne-Yo prefaced what he was about to say with “I have no issue with LBG — I have no problem with nobody. You love who you love, you do what you do.”

“I just personally come from an era where a man was a man and a woman was a woman,” said Ne-Yo. “And there was two genders, and that’s just how I rocked. You could identify as a goldfish if you feel like, I don’t care. That ain’t my business. It becomes my business when you try to make me play the game with you. I’m not gonna call you a goldfish. But if you wanna be a goldfish, you go be a goldfish. We live in a weird time, man. We do.”

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Later in the chat he added, “I feel like parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. If your little boy comes to you and says, ‘Daddy, I want to be a girl.’ And you just let him rock with that? He’s 5 … If you let this 5-year-old boy decide to eat candy all day, he’s gonna do that. When did it become a good idea to let a 5-year-old, let a 6-year-old, let a 12-year-old make a life-changing decision for themself? When did that happen? I don’t understand.”

“He can’t drive a car yet, but he can decide his sex?” asked Ne-Yo, referring to a child who identifies that their gender is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. A misinformed Velez replied, “And he can cut off his pee pee.”

“I can’t take credit for it,” Ne-Yo said toward the end of the interview clip, “but I heard somebody say one time, if your son comes to you and says, ‘Daddy, I want to be a girl,’ ask your son, ‘Son, what is a girl?’ What is he gonna do? He might want to play with dolls. All right, you want to play with dolls. Play with dolls. But you’re a boy playing with dolls. ‘I want to wear pink.’ Cool, wear pink, but you’re a boy wearing pink.”

The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association, all agree that gender-affirming care is not dangerous for trans youth, and in most cases, it’s highly beneficial and life-saving.

When trans youth receive gender-affirming care, that does not typically include the kind of surgical intervention Velez implied in her conversation with Ne-Yo. Both the Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health do not recommend surgical intervention before age 18, unless the patient, their doctor and a mental health professional all agree that intervention is necessary.

Gender-affirming care for minors may focus on gender expression, publicly changing pronouns and names, and using puberty blockers, which pause permanent physical change while the patient decides how they want to proceed with their transition. In later teenage years, well-established patients may begin gender-affirming hormone treatment.

Interestingly, in 2018, Ne-Yo voiced LGBTQ+ support. When Amanda Lepore was removed from Travis Scott’s Astroworld album art, TMZ asked Ne-Yo his thoughts on hip-hop embracing the community.

“If rap is not embracing them, that’s the only people that ain’t embracing them,” he replied at the time. “It doesn’t make any sense. I mean, they’re here, they’re not going anywhere. They’re people just like us, and I feel like they deserve the same respect.”

Ne-Yo released his latest studio album, Self Explanatory, in July 2022.

Watch Ne-Yo’s interview with Velez below.

05 Aug 2023

Dirty Heads Back Atop Alternative Airplay Chart With ‘Rescue Me’

Dirty Heads return to No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart for the first time since 2010, as “Rescue Me” jumps from No. 4 to the top of the tally dated Aug. 12.

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It’s the California band’s first ruler since “Lay Me Down,” featuring Rome, crowned the survey for 10 weeks in 2010. “Lay Me Down” also marked the six-piece’s first charted title.

In between “Lay Me Down” and “Rescue Me,” Dirty Heads appeared on Alternative Airplay with 13 entries, paced by a pair of No. 3 peaks via “My Sweet Summer” (2014) and “Life’s Been Good” (2022).

The band went 13 years and two weeks between No. 1s, the second-longest break in the Alternative Airplay chart’s 35-year history. The lengthiest was achieved by The Killers, who went just a bit longer: 13 years and six months between the commands of “When You Were Young” in October 2006 and “Caution” in April 2020.

Concurrently, “Rescue Me” ranks at No. 7 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 3.1 million audience impressions, up 9%, July 28-Aug. 3, according to Luminate. It reached No. 6 on the Aug. 5 list.

“Rescue Me” is on the deluxe edition, released July 14, of Midnight Control, Dirty Heads’ eighth studio album. Released in August 2022, the LP has earned 57,000 equivalent album units to date.

1 … 1,872 1,873 1,874 1,875 1,876 1,877 1,878 … 2,569

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