Music News

10 Jul 2023

Sam Smith Is Bursting With Kenergy About Their Upcoming Song on the ‘Barbie’ Soundtrack

Barbie-mania may seem like it’s already reached a fever pitch, but pop superstar Sam Smith is ready to give you one more reason to ramp up your excitement for Greta Gerwig’s forthcoming film.

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On Monday (July 10), Smith took to their Instagram to share that they are the final celebrity guest set to join the already star-studded Barbie soundtrack. “Man I Am,” Smith’s take on a Barbie-related anthem, is set to debut on Friday, July 21, alongside the film and soundtrack.

“I cannot begin to express how incredibly excited I am to be a part of the soundtrack to this already iconic film,” Smith wrote on their Instagram before sharing just a little bit of what fans can expect from their new song. “I was invited by the incredible @iammarkronson and Greta Gerwig to write a song from the perspective of Ken for one of the scenes and we honestly had so much fun with this. I cannot wait for you to hear what we’ve created together.”

Smith joins a bevy of stars on the upcoming album — Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, FIFTY FIFTY, Karol G and Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice have already released their contributions to the album, while further songs are still set to debut, including ones from Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Haim, Dominic Fike, PinkPanthress and many more.

The news comes amid a busy time for Smith. Along with continuing their Gloria world tour, the singer released their hotly anticipated single with Madonna, “Vulgar,” in earlky June. “Man I Am” also doesn’t mark the last fans will be hearing from Smith in the near future — the star teased an upcoming single with Calvin Harris titled “Desire,” while they are also set to appear on a “lusty duet” with Anitta on her upcoming new album.

Check out Smith’s announcement below:

10 Jul 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Sends ‘Love’ to Fans After ‘Vampire’ Debuts at No. 1 on Hot 100

Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” sunk its teeth into the Billboard Hot 100 dated July 15, 2023, debuting atop the chart.

The 20-year-old pop star took to Instagram on Monday (July 10) to celebrate her third leader on the tally, sharing a screenshot of the Hot 100 top 10 and writing, “AHHHHH IM SO EXCITED AB THIS!!! thank you x1000 to everyone who bought and streamed vampire I love you!!!! and thank u to my amazing team!!!! ahhhh!!!!”

See her post here.

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“Vampire” follows Hot 100 hits “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U” in 2021, both of which also launched at No. 1. The track serves as the lead single from Rodrigo’s upcoming sophomore album Guts, due out Sept. 8, and since “Drivers License” introduced her first project, Sour, she becomes the first artist ever to debut the lead singles from two career-opening albums at No. 1 on the Hot 100.

Rodrigo’s achievement also dethrones Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” which now sits at No. 2 on the Hot 100 after 13 weeks at No. 1 

“We always said that it was kind of our version of a rock opera,” Rodrigo told Billboard of “Vampire,” which she wrote with her frequent musical collaborator Dan Nigro. “I think as the album was coming together, we were coming up with a bunch of songs that we really liked, but this one always stuck out to me as something that I felt like was honoring my singer-songwriter roots, but felt like an evolution – in a good way that wasn’t too stark. So, I really liked it for that, and it was always one of my favorites.”

10 Jul 2023

Lil Uzi Vert Scores Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With ‘Pink Tape’

Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated July 15), earning 167,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending July 6, according to Luminate. It’s the rapper’s third chart-topper and launches with the year’s third-largest debut, by units earned, and the biggest week of the year for any rap or R&B/hip-hop album.

Further, Pink Tape brings a rap album to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for the first time in 2023, marking the longest wait in a calendar year for rap set to lead the list since 1993. That year, the chart didn’t see a rap set top the tally until Cypress Hill’s Black Sunday opened at No. 1 on the Aug. 7, 1993-dated chart (two years before Uzi was born on July 31, 1995).

The last rap album to lead the Billboard 200 prior to Pink Tape was Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains, which spent one week atop the chart dated Dec. 17, 2022. The 29-week gap between Metro and Uzi is the longest the Billboard 200 has gone without a rap album at No. 1 since 1992-93, when 34 weeks separated Ice Cube’s The Predator (one week at No. 1, Dec. 5, 1992, chart) and Cypress Hill’s first of two weeks at No. 1 with Black Sunday (Aug. 7, 1993).

Between Heroes & Villains and Pink Tape were six different No. 1s: SZA’s SOS notched 10 nonconsecutive weeks atop the list, Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time logged 15 nonconsecutive frames, and four albums each led for one week during that span – TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation, Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito, Taylor Swift’s Midnights and Stray Kids’ 5-STAR.

Also in the new top 10 of the Billboard 200, aespa notches its second top 10-charting set as third mini album MY WORLD bows at No. 9, and Rylo Rodriguez scores his first top 10 with the No. 10 bow of Been One.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multimetric 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 July 15, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on July 11. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of Pink Tape’s 167,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending July 6, SEA units comprise 154,000 (equaling 210.39 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 26 songs – the largest streaming week of 2023 for any rap or R&B/hip-hop title), album sales comprise 11,000 and TEA units comprise 2,000.

Lil Uzi Vert announced Pink Tape’s June 30 release just four days earlier, on June 26.

Uzi previously hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Eternal Atake in 2020 and Luv Is Rage 2 in 2017. The rapper hit the top 10 with Pluto x Baby Pluto, a No. 2-peaking collaborative set with Future in 2020.

Back on the new Billboard 200, Wallen’s One Thing at a Time falls to No. 2 with 110,000 equivalent album units earned (down less than 1%) after 15 nonconsecutive weeks atop the list – the most weeks at No. 1 since Adele’s 21 logged 24 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2011-12. One Thing at a Time has earned in excess of 100,000 equivalent album units in all 18 of its chart weeks. It extends its own record as the album with the most weeks of 100,000-plus units since the Billboard 200 began ranking titles by units in December of 2014.

Peso Pluma’s Génesis holds at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in its second week with 68,000 units (down 7%), Swift’s Midnights is also a non-mover at No. 4 with 54,000 (down 5%), Wallen’s former No. 1 Dangerous: The Double Album climbs 7-5 with 48,000 (up 2%), SZA’s SOS rises 8-6 with 44,000 units (down 6%) and Gunna’s A Gift & a Curse falls 5-7 with nearly 44,000 (down 20%)

Swift’s chart-topping Lover climbs 9-8 on the latest Billboard 200 with 43,000 equivalent album units earned (up 1%). Swift’s most recent album release, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), a re-recorded edition of her 2010 No. 1 album Speak Now, bowed on Friday, July 7. If Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) premieres at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated July 22, it would mark Swift’s 12th No. 1 – surpassing Barbra Streisand for the most No. 1s among women. All 11 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and re-recorded projects from 2008’s Fearless through 2022’s Midnights have debuted at No. 1. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is Swift’s third re-recorded project, following Red (Taylor’s Version) and Fearless (Taylor’s Version), both in 2021.

Aespa’s MY WORLD debuts at No. 9 with 40,000 equivalent album units, marking the second top 10-charting set for the Korean group. Of that sum, album sales comprise 39,000 (making the set the top-selling album of the week), SEA units comprise 1,000 (equaling 1.33 million on-demand official streams of the set’s six tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.

MY WORLD was initially released in the U.S. via retail download and streaming services on May 5, but did not chart on the Billboard 200 until now, following its CD release on June 30.

Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of MY WORLD was issued in collectible CD packages (more than 16, including exclusive editions for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart and the act’s webstore), each containing a standard set of branded merchandise items and randomized branded elements (such as photo cards, posters and stickers). Effectively all of the album’s sales in the week ending July 6 were on the CD format, with a negligible sum generated by digital download album purchases. The set was not released on any other retail format (cassette, vinyl, etc.).

Rapper Rylo Rodriguez closes out the top 10 with his first top 10-charting set, as Been One debuts at No. 10 with 35,000 equivalent album units earned. SEA units comprise effectively all of that sum, equaling 47.93 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 19 songs. (Album sales and TEA units combine total a negligible sum.) Been One is the artist’s second charting effort, following the No. 37-peaking G.I.H.F. (Goat in Human Form) in 2020.

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.

10 Jul 2023

Ryan Gosling Laments Being ‘Always No. 2’ in ‘Barbie’ Song ‘I’m Just Ken’: Watch

He’s just Ken, and he has a song to share with the world. In the latest preview for the highly anticipated Barbie movie, Academy Award nominee Ryan Gosling belts out his character’s de facto theme song, “I’m Just Ken.”

In the Great Gerwig-helmed film, Gosling plays Ken to Margot Robbie’s Barbie, as the two dolls grapple with the existential adventures of the real world. “I’m just Ken/ Anywhere else, I’d be a 10/ Is it my destiny to live and die / a life of blond fragility,” Gosling croons, lamenting about how he’s “always No. 2.” The new song soundtracks a teaser in which a legion of Kens, including some portrayed by Simu Liu and Ncuti Gatwa, follow Gosling’s Ken as he performs the power ballad.

“I’m Just Ken” is just the latest example of how music is an intrinsic part of the upcoming Barbie film. Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” which has thus far peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, soundtracks a massive dance party scene, and the film’s soundtrack has already spawned a top 10 hit on the Hot 100 with Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice and AQUA’s “Barbie World.”

Executive produced by Mark Ronson, Barbie The Album is also set to feature songs from Lizzo, Fifty Fifty, Kaliii, Ava Max, Haim, Tame Impala, The Kid Laroi, Khalid, Gayle and more. On Thursday (July 6), Oscar and Grammy winner Billie Eilish revealed that she was one of the surprise artists on the soundtrack. Co-written with her older brother and go-to collaborator FINNEAS, her contribution to the album is titled “What Was I Made For?“

Barbie is not the first time Gosling has blended music and acting. In the early ’90s, the Barbie star was a child actor on Disney Channel’s Mickey Mouse Club alongside fellow child performers Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. In 2017, he earned his second career Academy Award nomination for best actor in a leading role for his acclaimed performance in Damien Chazelle’s movie musical La La Land.

Watch Gosling sing “I’m Just Ken” above.

10 Jul 2023

Billie Eilish Teases ‘What Was I Made For’ in ‘Barbie’ Film Promo

Billie Eilish revealed just days ago that she’s joined the star-studded list of artists contributing to the Barbie soundtrack, and the 21-year-old superstar teased her emotionally driven track in a short teaser clip posted to Instagram on Monday (July 10).

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In the 30-second promotional video, a voice is heard telling Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, to “take my hand, close your eyes, now, feel.” A soft, melancholy piano melody plays in the background before Eilish is heard singing the title of the track, “What Was I Made For.”

“absolutely over the MOOOOON excited for you to see this,” she captioned the post. See the clip here.

“What Was I Made For” is slated for a July 13 release and features contributions from Eilish’s Grammy-winning older brother, FINNEAS.

Executive produced by Academy Award-winning songwriter and producer Mark Ronson, the Barbie soundtrack is set to feature songs from some of contemporary pop’s biggest and brightest stars, such as Lizzo, Fifty Fifty, Kali, Gayle, Khalid, Haim and Ava Max. A slew of singles have already been released from the soundtrack, including two that have reached the Billboard Hot 100: Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” (No. 31) and Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice and AQUA’s “Barbie World” (No. 7).

Barbie hits theaters on July 21.

10 Jul 2023

Jack Harlow’s First Wax Figure Makes Its Debut at Madame Tussauds Las Vegas

Another rapper has been immortalized in wax! On Monday (July 10), Madame Tussauds Las Vegas revealed that Jack Harlow is one of the lastest celebrities to enter its gallery, and the result is so good, the “Whats Poppin” singer could not believe the similarities.

Madame Tussauds shared an Instagram video of the Kentucky native meeting his wax figure for the first time alongside the unveil. Harlow hilariously remarked on the figure’s beauty, and expressed previous doubts that the wax could mimic his appearance so accurately.

“Damn! Wow … he’s just beautiful, Jesus. That is crazy. Is this mine? Everything just looks like he’s about to come to life. It’s good. He’s cut. I just wanna knock his a– over, you know? Way, way exceeded my expectations,” he said in the video. “I was worried I was going to see him and be like, ‘OK, this is funny because it’s an attempt,’ but it looks just like me for real.”

The figure, which took around six months and 20 studio artists to create in the museum’s London location, is dressed in the custom-designed suit by Musika New York from his video for “Churchill Downs (feat. Drake).” As for the accessories, Harlow’s wax figure wears diamond studs, a Rolex and a jewel encrusted Kentucky-shaped pendant that hangs from a chain in its hands. 

“Jack Harlow’s new figure is a perfect addition to our museum,” said Linsey Stiglic, marketing manager for Madame Tussauds Las Vegas, in a press release. “His confidence, humor, and of course, music is admired by all, and we’re so thrilled to welcome him to our Las Vegas attraction.”

See Harlow’s wax figure reveal below.

10 Jul 2023

‘Vampire’ Week: Olivia Rodrigo Soars In Atop Both Billboard Global Charts

Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” blasts in at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated July 15).

The song introduces Rodrigo’s sophomore album Guts, due Sept. 8.

Plus, Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” surges from No. 9 to No. 3 on the Global 200 and hits the Global Excl. U.S. top 10, jumping 14-7. The song was originally released on her 2019 album, Lover, and is now being promoted as her newest single.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, which started in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

Tale of the Crypt: ‘Vampire’ No. 1 on Global 200

Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” launches at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, as it drew 86.3 million streams and sold 13,000 downloads worldwide from its release June 30 through July 6.

The song is Rodrigo’s third Global 200 leader, following “Drivers License” (eight weeks on top) and “Good 4 U” (six) in 2021, both of which also debuted at No. 1.

Rodrigo becomes the first woman with as many as three No. 1s since the Global 200 began in 2020, and overall joins only BTS (seven) and Bad Bunny (three) with at least that high a total. (Justin Bieber, BLACKPINK, Drake and Taylor Swift each boast two No. 1s.)

Rodrigo is also the first woman with three No. 1 debuts on the Global 200. Overall, only BTS (five) has more.

Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” descends to No. 2 on the Global 200, after 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 beginning upon its debut in January; Swift’s “Cruel Summer” charges 9-3, up 16% to 44.1 million streams and 4% to 5,000 sold worldwide; Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” dips 3-4, after six weeks at No. 1 starting in April; and Yng Lvcas and Peso Pluma’s “La Bebe” falls to No. 5 from its No. 2 high.

Rodrigo Also New Atop Global Excl. U.S.

Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” likewise premieres at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, with 51.5 million streams and 4,000 sold outside the U.S. June 30-July 6.

The song is Rodrigo’s second Global Excl. U.S. leader, after “Drivers License” dominated for nine weeks in 2021. She ties Swift for the most No. 1s among women since the chart originated in 2020.

YOASOBI’s “Idol” recedes to No. 2 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart, following three nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 beginning in June; Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” slides 2-3, after 13 weeks at No. 1 starting in January (as it tied Harry Styles’ “As It Was” for the chart’s longest command); Fifty Fifty’s “Cupid” keeps at No. 4 after two weeks on top beginning in May; and Yng Lvcas and Peso Pluma’s “La Bebe” drops 3-5 after hitting No. 2.

Elsewhere in the Global Excl. U.S. top 10, Swift’s “Cruel Summer” flies 14-7, with 29.7 million streams and 1,000 sold (up 19% in both metrics) outside the U.S. Released on Swift’s 2019 album Lover, and now being promoted as her newest single, the song becomes her 11th Global Excl. U.S. top 10, the most among women and tied for second with BTS among all acts, after Bad Bunny’s 14.

“Cruel Summer” has been gaining momentum in recent weeks, as Swift has been performing it on her current Eras Tour, her first in which she’s been able to spotlight songs from Lover, which was released shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each concert on the tour is divided into 10 acts, encompassing nine of her LPs; the Lover era kicks off the show, with “Cruel Summer” performed in the opening set.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated July 15, 2023) will update on Billboard.com Tuesday (July 11). For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

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.

10 Jul 2023

Bad Bunny’s ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ Is Now the Most Streamed Album in Spotify History

It’s official: Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti is now the most-streamed album on Spotify.

The streaming platform confirmed to Billboard on Monday (July 10) that the Puerto Rican artist — who was named Spotify’s artist of the year in 2022 for a third consecutive time — that Un Verano Sin Ti has become the most-streamed of all time in Spotify’s history, globally.

Released in May 2022, UVST debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated May 21, 2022), earning 274,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., according to Luminate. And with 356.66 million on-demand official streams for the set’s songs in its first week, the album registered the largest streaming week ever for a Latin music album.

The eclectic set – which spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 – also placed 22 songs from the set on the same May 21, 2022-dated Billboard Hot 100, the most in a week for a core Latin music artist and the most in a week performed all in Spanish. Moreover, Un Verano Sin Ti became the first non-English album to ever top the Year-End Billboard 200. The LP — which features wide-ranging collabs such as The Marías, Buscabulla and Chencho Corleone — also made history at the Grammys last year becoming the first Spanish-language album to be nominated for album of the year.

Reflecting on the massive success of his album, Bad Bunny told Billboard in December: “I never dreamed I wanted to be the biggest one or No. 1. I simply wanted to make it. Why? Because I love what I do. I’ve been doing rhythms since I was 13 years old, writing, singing songs in my head. … I never said I want to be the biggest or the best or the richest. I did it because I loved it, and my only dream was to be able to make a living out of it.”

10 Jul 2023

Ozzy Osbourne Pulls Out of Power Trip Music Festival

Ozzy Osbourne will no longer be performing at Power Trip Festival in Las Vegas this October.

The rocker shared a statement to Instagram on Monday (July 10), revealing why he decided to pull out of his first performance since announcing that he will no longer tour due to health reasons. “My original plan was to return to the stage in the summer of 2024, and when the offer to do this show came in, I optimistically moved forward,” Osbourne wrote. “Unfortunately, my body is telling me that I’m just not ready yet and I am much too proud to have the first show that I do in nearly five years be half-a–ed.”

The statement continued, “The band that will be replacing me on Power Trip will be announced shortly. They are personal friends of mine and I can promise that you will not be disappointed. Above all, I want to thank my fans, my band, and my crew for their unconditional loyalty and continual support.”

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See Osbourne’s post here.

He was scheduled to take the stage on night two of the jam-packed rock event on Oct. 7 alongside AC/DC. Night one (Oct. 6) will feature performances by Guns N’ Roses and Iron Maiden, while the final night (Oct. 8) pairs Metallica with Tool. Power Trip festival will take place at Coachella Valley in Indio, Calif., with tickets available for purchase here.

In February, Osbourne shared a note to fans on social media, in which he announced that his touring days have come to an end and that his scheduled 2023 European/UK tour dates have been canceled. “Believe me when I say that the thought of disappointing my fans really f—s me up, more than you will ever know.”

Ozzy previously revealed that while his voice is “fine,” after three operations, stem cell surgeries and other procedures to deal with a spinal injury he suffered four years ago, touring has become increasingly difficult.

10 Jul 2023

All the Musicians at the ‘Barbie’ Premiere

It’s a “Barbie World,” and we’re all just living in it! On Sunday, July 9, Hollywood’s biggest and brightest stars descended upon the pink carpet for the world premiere of Barbie. Directed by Academy Award nominee Greta Gerwig, Barbie features acclaimed performances from Margot Robbie (Barbie), Ryan Gosling (Ken), Issa Rae (President Barbie), Dua Lipa (Mermaid Barbies), Will Ferrell (the CEO of Mattel) and Helen Mirren (the narrator), among others.

Sunday night’s premiere found attendees emulating the hundreds of variations of Barbie and Ken that fill out the doll’s iconic nearly 65-year history. In addition to the film’s stars, the scores of musicians who contributed to the accompanying soundtrack also graced the red carpet. Executive produced by Grammy and Oscar winner Mark Ronson, Barbie The Album features a plethora of music’s biggest stars across eras and genres.

Several songs have already been released from the soundtrack including songs from Charli XCX (“Speed Drive”), Karol G & Aldo Ranks (“Watati”), PinkPantheress (“Angel”), and Kaliii & Fifty Fifty (“Barbie Dreams”). Two of the soundtrack’s radio singles have also become hits on the Billboard Hot 100: Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” (No. 31) and Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice & AQUA’s “Barbie World” (No. 7). The Barbie soundtrack will also feature songs from the likes of Lizzo, Tame Impala, Haim, Ava Max, Gayle, The Kid Laroi and more.

Barbie is set to open in theatres on July 21. Ahead of the film’s debut, check out this gallery of all the musicians that hit the pink carpet in their best Barbie fits.