Music News

28 Jun 2023

How Kim Petras Handles the ‘Brutal’ Wave of Anti-Trans Hate: ‘Find the People Who Get You’

Despite the title of her hit song “Alone,” Kim Petras wants the trans community to know that they are in good company.

During her interview with Alex Cooper on the latest episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, Petras spoke up about the anti-trans rhetoric spreading around the United States, thanks in no small part to right-wing legislatures passing bills that hurt the community. “It’s brutal how people treat trans people. Everybody deserves to live their lives how they can,” she said. “The judgement around it is still so intense and scary — there’s so much actual murder and things like that happening [to] the trans community that’s really terrifying.”

But Petras added that the attempts to break the community down have only resulted in a sense of further unity. “That’s the one thing that I want people to know — the dolls have each other’s backs,” she said. “There’s so many trans friends of mine that I couldn’t live life without.”

As for her young trans fans who are seeing the rise of this kind of bigotry, Petras offered a simple piece of advice: “Find the people who get you and who support you and focus on that,” she said. “I still get called a man every single day … I know how like horrible that situation can be. Know that like there’s amazing people out there who have all got your back and think you’re really beautiful and you deserve everything. Don’t settle for anything less; I’ve done it, it sucks.”

The “Unholy” singer’s statement comes as legislation targeting queer and trans people in the U.S. reaches an all-time high. The ACLU is currently tracking nearly 500 bills that have been introduced in 2023 alone, the most of any year on record. Many of these bills aim to ban gender-affirming care for minors and occasionally adults, while others aim to make it harder for trans people to update their gender information on government-issued IDs and records, including their birth certificates.

Check out Petras’ full interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast below:

28 Jun 2023

Fan Gives Pink a Giant Wheel of Brie Mid-Concert — and It Goes Over Better Than the Human Ashes

Well, at least it isn’t human cremains this time. Pink is once again going viral for accepting an unorthodox present from a fan in the crowd at one of her concerts, but luckily, instead of a plastic bag containing the remains of someone’s mom, this gift was simply a large wheel of Brie cheese.

In a video taken from her show at Hyde Park in London over the weekend, the singer can be seen interacting with concertgoers at the edge of the stage, smiling and giving air-hugs to fans in between belting out lyrics to her 2010 smash “F–kin’ Perfect.” Then, she eagerly bends down to take an offering from the crowd — a circle of Brie de Meux, which she hugs close to her chest — and mouths, “I love you.”

Overall, Pink looked happy to be the recipient of the delicious dairy product, which is a lot more than can be said about another so-called gift she received recently. When another fan in the audience over the weekend chucked a plastic bag of gray dust onstage, which the “So What” musician then confirmed was the fan’s dead mother’s ashes, Pink looked horrified at best.

“This is your mom?” she asked in disbelief. “I don’t know how I feel about this.”

Between the cheese and the cremains, some folks online are calling for people at concerts to practice more respectful boundaries with Pink — and all artists, for that matter. (It’s only been a few days since Bebe Rexha suffered facial injuries after a fan threw his phone at her while she was performing).

“Someone’s ashes and now cheese?” one person tweeted. “What is wrong with her fans?”

“y’all need to get a handle on ur parasocial relationships bc??? she doesn’t know you??” wrote another. “what were you thinking?? now ur moms ashes are gonna end up in the trash bc you wanted to get noticed by P!nk??”

“do y’all not know boundaries anymore when it comes to artists and how to behave at concerts….?” added someone else.

Watch Pink receive a wheel of Brie at her concert below:

28 Jun 2023

Kim Petras Recalls First Meeting Madonna While ‘Obliterated’ at an ‘SNL’ Afterparty

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and Kim Petras certainly had a memorable first meeting with her pop idol Madonna.

In the latest episode of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast posted on Wednesday (June 28), Petras revealed that she first met Madonna while in a bit of an altered state at an afterparty for Saturday Night Live. “She came to the SNL afterparty, and I was so obliterated,” she told Cooper, laughing at herself. “I just kept talking her ear off about Confessions on the Dancefloor, and I was like, ‘That’s one of the best albums ever. It’s a timeless classic, people don’t appreciate it enough!’”

Eventually, as Petras recalls, Madge suggested that the pair pose for a photo together. “She said, ‘Let’s take a picture,’ and I said, ‘Thank you so much for saying that,’” she said, giggling. “Because I would have just talked her f–king ears off for hours … she must think I’m insane.”

There’s good reason why the “Alone” singer felt compelled to gush about Madonna to her face. Earlier in her conversation with Cooper, Petras said that Madonna was always her favorite pop star because of the way she used her platform.

“Madonna is someone who broke a lot of these gender stereotypes, and who can be very masculine in some of her music, and talk about sex very freely and in a very different way,” she said. “[She] was so ahead of her time in liberating people from feeling this shame about their sexuality … I will forever feel inspired and liberated by her just taking the hit for so many people.”

It felt especially important to Petras when Madonna introduced the “Brrr” singer’s performance with Sam Smith at the 2023 Grammy Awards, where the pop icon told the audience at home that the pair were “two incredibly talented artists who have risen above the noise, the doubt, the critics, and all the bulls–t.”

According to Petras, that speech may not have happened had Madonna not specifically asked to introduce them. “She was supposed to [announce] record of the year or something, but she said she wanted to introduce the first trans performer at the Grammys,” Petras revealed. “I was like, ‘You really are the coolest to ever exist.’”

Check out the full episode of Call Her Daddy featuring Kim Petras below:

28 Jun 2023

Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘In Times New Roman’ Crowns Rock Album Charts

Queens of the Stone Age launches atop all four of Billboard’s rock albums charts with In Times New Roman…, which begins at No. 1 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums surveys dated July 1.

The set begins with 40,000 equivalent album units earned in the June 16-22 tracking week, according to Luminate. Of that sum, 36,000 units are via album sales.

The album is the Josh Homme-led act’s third leader on all four lists. The band first reigned with 2013’s …Like Clockwork, followed by 2017’s Villains.

On the all-genre Billboard 200, In Times New Roman… is Queens of the Stone Age’s fourth top 10, starting at No. 9. The band first reached the top 10 with Lullabies to Paralyze, which debuted and peaked at No. 5 in 2005. The group boasts one No. 1, …Like Clockwork.

Concurrently, three songs from the album appear on the multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. “Paper Machete” debuts at No. 11, thanks to 961,000 official U.S. streams and 386,000 radio audience impressions, followed by “Emotion Sickness” (No. 21) and “Obscenery” (No. 24).

“Emotion Sickness” peaked at No. 31 on the Alternative Airplay list dated June 10, with “Paper Machete” having since become the album’s new radio single. The band has 12 entries on Alternative Airplay so far, first appearing with “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret,” which peaked at No. 36 in September 2000. Of those, three were top 10s, including four-week No. 1 “No One Knows” in 2003.

28 Jun 2023

10 First-Timers on Billboard’s Charts This Week: The Last Dinner Party, Ludmilla, October London & More

Billboard has more than 200 different weekly charts in its menu, encompassing numerous genres and formats.

While established artists often compete for a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and Billboard 200 albums ranking, which track the most popular songs and albums of the week, respectively, up-and-coming talents typically start off on genre-specific lists.

Here’s a look at 10 titles by artists who appear on charts for the first time on the latest July 1-dated charts.

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The Last Dinner Party

The London-based quintet arrives on Billboard’s charts with its debut single — and only release so far — “Nothing Matters.” The song, released April 19 via Island/Republic Records, enters at No. 39 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart (up 19% in plays June 16-22, according to Luminate). The group got its start performing at club shows around London in 2021, despite having never released a studio recording.

The band, which performed at Glastonbury Festival last weekend, is currently on the road on a string of U.K. tour dates set to run through October, some of which are in support of Florence + The Machine and First Aid Kit. Last year, the act opened for the Rolling Stones, Courtney Barnett and Sam Fender in Hyde Park in London. The Last Dinner Party is comprised of Abigail Morris (vocals), Georgia Davies (bass), Lizzie Mayland (guitar), Aurora Nishevci (keys) and Emily Roberts (lead guitar). The group’s second release, “Sinner,” is due this Friday, June 30.

Ludmilla

The singer-songwriter from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, debuts on Billboard’s charts with her song “No_se_ve.mp3” with Emilia. The track, released May 3 through WK Records, debuts at No. 177 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart (11.4 million streams outside the U.S.) Ludmilla has been releasing music for more than a decade, including five studio albums, most recently Vilã in March (released through Warner Music Brasil, with which she signed in 2014).

‘Ludmilla is already a household name in her native Brazil – fans refer to her as “Rainha da Favela” (or “Queen of the Favela”). “I come from the favela here in Rio de Janeiro, where funk is a very strong genre,” she said in a February interview with Billboard. “In these communities, you have a lot of connections with funk and Black music. I started singing and began appearing in the media through funk. I saw that my musical range was wide, that I could do everything I dreamed of, everything I wanted to do. So, I started to invest more in this, and now I am at this moment.”

October London

The R&B/soul singer-songwriter, from South Bend, Ind., reaches Billboard’s charts for the first time with “Back to Your Place.” The song, released Feb. 3 via Death Row Records, debuts at No. 22 on Adult R&B Airplay (up 121% in plays). The song appears on London’s new LP The Rebirth of Marvin, released Feb. 10. On June 22, he released a new four-track EP, Jackpot. London has seven additional album releases to his name, dating to 2016. Outside of music, London acts in Snoop Dogg’s 3D animated children’s series Doggyland.

Skilla Baby

The Detroit-based rapper (real name Trevon Gardner) enters Billboard’s charts for the first time with his new LP, We Eat the Most. The set, released June 16 through Geffen Records/IGA, debuts at No. 16 on the Heatseekers Albums chart with 3,000 copies sold. The set features high-profile collaborations with G Herbo (“B-CUZ”), BabyTron (“Dogs–t Militia”), Luh Tyler (“Millionaire”) and Rylo Rodriguez (“Fear of God”). The album is Skilla Baby’s second LP release of 2023, after his collaborative effort with Tee Grizzley, Controversy, in April. Prior to that, he had released six albums, dating to his 2019 debut, Push That S–t Out Skilla.

ALWZ SNNY

The dance DJ/producer — who is recognizable by his sunshine mask — scores his first Billboard chart appearance thanks to his new song “Every Thought of You” with GT_Ofice. The song, released May 19 via CAINE Records, debuts at No. 26 on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart (up 65% in plays). The Annapolis, Md., native has previously opened for Imanbek, KSHMR and Madeon, among others.

Voices of Fire

The gospel choir, from the 2020 Netflix musical documentary series of the same name, is officially a Billboard­-charting act. Its single “Joy (Unspeakable)” featuring Pharrell Williams and released June 16 on Columbia Records, debuts at No. 8 on Hot Gospel Songs with 483,000 official U.S. streams in the latest tracking week. It also starts at No. 3 on Gospel Digital Song Sales. The six-part series followed Pharrell and his uncle, Bishop Ezekiel Williams, as they travel to the former’s hometown of Hampton Roads, Va., to form a world class gospel choir.

“Working with Pharrell is always an amazing experience that not only inspires you, but drives you to dig deep within yourself for the best you have to offer,” Bishop Ezekiel Williams recently said in a press release. “When the dream team finally came together on this song – Pharrell, Voices of Fire, Pastor Larry George and yours truly – I knew that moment in the studio was one of destiny.”

Mike Dimes

The San Antonio-based rapper and singer (real name Michael C. Goode) lands his first Billboard chart appearance, as his new album, Texas Boy, debuts at No. 21 on Heatseekers Albums. The set, released June 16 via CAMP BILLY/SinceThe80s/Epic Records, is his third release, after his debut studio album In Dimes We Trust in 2022 and his mixtape DLOG in 2021 (both self-released). Texas Boy features high-profile collaborations with Denzel Curry, Wiz Khalifa and Joey Bada$$, among others.

Busted

The English pop-punk band from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, lands on Billboard’s charts with its new collaboration with Hanson, “MMMBop 2.0,” a revamp of Hanson’s classic 1997 hit, which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. The new version, released May 26, debuts at No. 33 on the Digital Song Sales chart with 2,000 downloads sold. Busted, which is comprised of James Bourne, Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis, has been influential in the band’s native U.K., with the group having released four studio LPs: Half Way There (in 2019), Night Driver (2016), A Present for Everyone (2003) and Busted (2002). The group recently announced its 20th anniversary Greatest Hits Tour, which is set to kick off in September across the U.K. and Ireland. Hanson is slated to support the group on tour, along with New Hope Club and The Tyne.

S3BZS

The Brazilian dance artist (real name Sebastian Cordova) makes his first appearance on Billboard’s charts with his song “Montagem – PR Funk.” The track debuts at No. 28 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with 854,000 official U.S. streams in the latest tracking week.

Karthik, Sachet Tandon & Parampara Tandon

All three artists achieve their first Billboard chart appearance with their collaboration “Ram Sita Ram” from the new film Adipurush. The song, released May 29 ahead of the movie’s June 16 premiere in India, debuts at No. 149 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart (26.4 million streams outside the U.S.) The Tandons, who married in 2020 and release music under the name Sachet-Parampara, are renowned composers, lyricists and vocalists; they’ve composed and recorded music for dozens of Indian films since 2017. As for Karthik, the playback singer and composer has recorded thousands of songs, both independently and for film and TV over the past two decades.

28 Jun 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Shares Mystical ‘Vampire’ Video Teaser: Watch

Fans are thirsty for Olivia Rodrigo‘s fast-approaching new single “Vampire,” and lucky for them, the pop star has shared a visual sneak peek at the track days ahead of its release.

In a Tuesday (June 27) YouTube Shorts teaser, Rodrigo can be seen through a camera monitor lying on a patch of grass, sporting a dark red lip shade akin to the one she wears on the GUTS cover artwork as a pounding electric guitar-filled snippet of “Vampire” plays. As the song intensifies, a Twilight-esque blue-green haze engulfs the 20-year-old singer onscreen.

“so excited for Friday!!!” Rodrigo captioned the clip. “here’s a first look with @YouTube Shorts ??? #vampireOR2.”

The former Disney star didn’t specify what exactly the visual was for, though a music video seems to be the most likely option. What is known, however, is that “Vampire” — Rodrigo’s first release since her 2021 blockbuster debut album, SOUR — arrives Friday (June 30) and will be followed by GUTS a little more than two months later.

Rodrigo announced her sophomore record just one day prior to the new “Vampire” sneak peek, surprising fans Monday (June 26) by unveiling GUTS‘ release date (Sept. 8) and cover art in a post on social media. “I made the bulk of this album during my 19th year on this earth,” she said in a statement released shortly after. “A year that, for me, was filled with lots of confusion, mistakes, awkwardness & good old fashioned teen angst.”

Two weeks before that, Rodrigo announced “Vampire” with a similar post to social media, sharing the single’s cover art. Since then, she’s been tiding fans over by steadily dropping clues about the single, including a couple lyrics and what fans think to be a snippet of the track’s instrumentals.

Watch the new “Vampire” teaser below:

28 Jun 2023

Jon Batiste Announces New Album Featuring Collabs With Lana Del Rey, Lil Wayne & More

Just two years after releasing his Grammy-winning album We Are, cross-genre savant Jon Batiste is gearing up to unleash his next record upon the world. On Wednesday, (June 28), the multi-hyphenate took to Twitter to reveal that his new studio album, titled World Music Radio, is slated for an Aug. 18 release — and will feature collaborations with Lana Del Rey, Lil Wayne, Kenny G and more.

“World Music Radio is a concept album that takes place in the interstellar regions of the universe,” Batiste wrote on Twitter. “The listener is led through the album by an interstellar traveling griot named Billy Bob Bo Bob, who takes you sonically all around the world at the speed of light.”

Alongside his announcement of the album’s title and release date, Batiste also debuted the official visualizer for the set’s lead single, “Calling Your Name.” “I created this album with a feeling of liberation in my life and a renewed sense of exploration of my personhood, my craft and of the world around me unlike anything I had ever felt before,” mused Batiste.

In addition to Del Rey, Lil Wayne, and Kenny G, the album will also feature collaborations with Jon Bellion, Fireboy DML, J.I.D., NewJeans and more. World Music Radio — which is executive produced by Batiste, Bellion and Ryan Lynn — is certainly a star-studded affair. According to the press release, Batiste’s purpose for the new album is to explore the idea that all music is “world music,” and forge an international, cross-cultural community through different kinds of popular music from different regions around the world.

Two years ago, Batiste made history as the first Black artist to win the Grammy for Album of the Year in 14 years when he triumphed in the category for his genre-spanning We Are. He won four other awards that night, adding a handful of trophies to a mantle that already boasts an Academy Award for Best Original Score thanks to his work on 2020’s Soul alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails.

Batiste has landed two titles on the Billboard 200: 2014’s Social Music (No. 134, as Jon Batiste & Stay Human) and 2021’s We Are (No. 25).

See his World Music Radio announcement and listen to “Calling Your Name” below.

28 Jun 2023

Toby Keith Says He’s ‘Feeling Pretty Good’ After Stomach Cancer Diagnosis, Hopes to Tour ‘This Fall’

Toby Keith is feeling hopeful after first revealing to fans in June 2022 that he has been battling stomach cancer. One year later, the country star opened up about his health ahead of his annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic with The Oklahoman, and shared that things are looking up.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” he shared with the newspaper earlier in June. “Basically, everything is in a real positive trend … you never know with cancer, so you have to prepare.”

When the singer-songwriter first shared his diagnosis, he revealed that he already had six months of treatment — including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation — under his belt. “So far, so good,” he tweeted at the time. “I need time to breathe, recover and relax.”

Now that he’s had some time to take care of his health, Keith said he’s hopeful about getting back to entertaining fans in person. “I’ve got more wind,” the 61-year-old told the paper. “And I’m thinking about bringing the band in and setting up, playing two or three days somewhere just to see if I can get through two hours.” If that goes well, he’s hoping to be “out on the road this fall.”

“All I gotta do is see if I can get through two or three nights of work and get a little break in this chemo, and we’ll go back to work,” continued the seven-time Grammy nominee, who added that his tumor has shrunk.

On Monday, the Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic announced that it had raised $1.8 million in support of OK Kids Korral, a lodging facility of the Toby Keith Foundation’s that provides a free place to stay for parents to stay while their kids are fighting cancer. The top bids at the event’s auction included $120,000 for a guitar signed by Taylor Swift, $80,000 for a fishing trip with Keith and pro fisher Jimmy Houston, $70,000 for a dinner with Keith, $20,000 for a Game of Thrones trip to Croatia (11 were sold) and more.

28 Jun 2023

Japan’s Daoko Talks New ‘Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos The Movie’ Theme ‘Tsuki no Hana’: Interview

J-pop vocalist Daoko was tapped to sing the theme for Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos The Movie, a two-part animated feature due to hit Japanese theaters June 9 (Part 1) and June 30 (Part 2).

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The film depicts the final story of the Sailor Guardians, known as the Shadow Galactica arc. Daoko wrote the theme song “Tsuki no Hana” (“Moon Flower”) for this movie, set to be included in the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos The Movie Theme Song Collection, scheduled for release on the day Part 2 drops in theaters.

Daoko sat down with Billboard Japan to chat about the new song and her thoughts on the Sailor Moon franchise, which existed before she was born, the songwriting process for the movie theme, and where she expects to go next in her musical journey.

When did you first come across the Sailor Moon anime series?

I wasn’t born when the original series first aired, but reruns were being broadcast on cable TV when I was in kindergarten and that was the first time I watched it. The transformation scenes were cute, and from a kindergartener’s point of view, the characters were older young women and that also stands out in my memory. I see now that the items on the show like the rods are beautifully designed, but when I was little I just thought they were cute. We also pretended to be the Sailor Guardians in kindergarten.

What do you think is the appeal of the Sailor Moon franchise?

When I was little, I liked the visuals, transformation scenes, and worldview as a whole because I just thought everything was so cute. But now that I’ve grown up, and after watching the entire series over again, I thought it was cool how the concepts could be seen in the details of the design, like the planets being used as motifs. When I went to the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Museum (a major exhibition held in 2022), I took a long time looking at the transformation gear from each era.

You’ve mentioned that you “read the original manga and watched the anime series over and over again to take in the worldview more deeply” when creating the music for the movie.

Yes. I reread all the manga, watched the anime, and bought books containing model sheets and books geared towards fans to gaing new perspective on the work.

What part of “Tsuki no Hana” reflects what you took in through that process?

Since I knew that the song should exist alongside and support the world of Sailor Moon, I searched for a common language between my own worldview and that of the series. I tend to be too meticulous about being faithful to the source material and the original work, but Seiichi Nagai — who co-wrote the song with me — helped to loosen that up a bit, so that people who don’t know that “Tsuki no Hana” is from Sailor Moon will think it’s good when they hear it on the street. We aimed to please Sailor Moon fans while also adjusting the wording and the expression to make sure it also resonates with a wider audience. One of the themes was the nobility of the Sailor Guardians overcoming hardships.

Did the producers of the movie ask for the kind of music they wanted?

Since it was for the ending of the final chapter of the series, I initially had a ballad in mind, but as we discussed it further, it became clear they wanted the song to represent the strength of women and the thoughts of the Sailor Guardians as they confront their vicissitudes. Not mellow, but glorious. So the arrangement has powerful and dreamy elements to it.

Seiichi Nagai is the guitarist of TESTSET and also a supporting member of your backing band.

He’s been supporting me as a band member for my solo endeavors for a long time. We decided to form a new band called QUBIT with those same members, meaning he and I are now really bandmates. So we’re close like that, and I’ve also worked with him on several songs before. When he’s backing me in my solo projects, he peppers his performances with metal guitar flavors and I like his intense, cool playing style. His guitar playing also has a kind of starry sparkle to it that only he can create. I thought that would match the world of Sailor Moon and that’s why I invited him to collaborate.

The arrangement is credited to kensuke ushio, who also produces music under the name agraph. He’s worked on lots of anime-related music before. 

Mr. Nagai introduced us, and it was the first time I worked with Mr. ushio on a song’s arrangement. I thought he was so proficient. He made the song sound cool, and he scattered lots of sounds that would resonate nicely in a movie theater. The interlude is majestic, reminiscent of outer space, and we all had a lot of fun thinking about the song’s impact in theaters while working on it. I was in charge of singing and lyrics this time, so I didn’t get to see the entire exchange between the composer and arranger. It did kind of feel like something awesome was done before I knew it, and the demo came to me pretty much completed.

Have you received any response from your fans outside of Japan about releasing a Sailor Moon theme?

Sailor Moon is also very popular internationally, so I did receive many comments from people living in other countries when it was announced that I would be doing the theme song. My fanbase expanded internationally after working on anime music so I currently have quite a few fans in different countries. It seems they’re happy about my latest collaboration and looking forward to the movie’s release. I hope it’ll be a chance for people who like Sailor Moon to get to know Daoko. I’m sure people from many different countries will see the movie, and I wonder how “Tsuki no Hana” will sound to them.

When you perform outside of Japan, do you find the reactions of the audience different from those back home?

It depends on the country, and I do think there are individual differences, but people tend to be more expressive in a physical way. I guess it depends on the type of music, but in Japan, people are generally shy and seem to enjoy themselves internally, but elsewhere, people dance like crazy and that was also fun. I’d never seen anything like that before, so it left a big impression on me. Now I want the Japanese audience to dance, too, so I’ve been trying to build my shows to make it happen.

Are there any genres you’d like to try moving forward? Also, are you working on any new songs?

I think bands have their own cool ways of presenting themselves, but I decided to quit my former management to pursue what I like as Daoko the solo artist. I want to write cute anime music that falls under the “denpa song” genre (intentionally strange and catchy pop music). I want to write music that everyone can dance to at clubs, like “four-on-the-floor” stuff and house. I also want to expand the world in my demos, and since I’ve been practicing guitar recently, I’d like to write songs I can perform live “unplugged.” I like lots of music regardless of genre and want to keep doing music that I like. Right now, I have a strong desire to expand overseas, so I’ll probably make music with an overseas audience in mind, which probably means stuff people can dance to. I’d love to collaborate with artists from different countries, and am exploring various avenues at the moment.

—This interview by Akihiro Watanabe first appeared on Billboard Japan

27 Jun 2023

How Far Will They Go? TikTok’s Sharpe Family Singers Cover ‘Moana’ on ‘America’s Got Talent’

From TikTok to the America’s Got Talent stage.

The Sharpe Family Singers — a New Jersey vocal group made up of mom and dad Ron and Barbra and their four kids, Samantha, Logan and twins Connor and Aidan — auditioned for AGT on Tuesday night, urging their 8.5 million TikTok followers and 1.6 million YouTube subscribers to tune in for their tryout.

They belted out the Lin-Manuel Miranda-written Moana ballad “How Far I’ll Go,” giving each family member a solo spotlight to shine throughout the theatrical performance.

Ahead of the performance, Ron and Barbra explained that they had been in a production on that very theater’s stage before they were married and even shared their first kiss in the show. “From production to reproduction!” judge Howie Mandel joked waving to the couple’s four children.

Before their AGT audition, the family appeared on another reality singing competition: Now-27-year-old daughter Samantha Sharpe tried out for American Idol back in 2021, with her whole family by her side. They even sang “Into the Unknown” from Frozen 2 as a family before Samantha scored a golden ticket on her own for hitting the power notes on Sia’s “Titanium.”

Now the family entertains millions with their musical videos — and hope to entertain millions more through America’s Got Talent, which airs every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Watch their AGT audition below: