Music News

05 Jun 2023

Taylor Swift & Matty Healy Break Up: Reports

The whirlwind — and still unconfirmed — romance between Taylor Swift and Matty Healy has come to an end, according to multiple reports.

Matty Healy; Taylor Swift

According to TMZ, who first reported the news, Swift is single again, though there wasn’t any information as to why the two have broken up. Billboard has reached out to Swift and Healy’s reps for confirmation.

Rumors of a relationship between the “Midnight Rain” superstar and The 1975 frontman began in early May, shortly after it was confirmed that Swift had split from her longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn. Healy was spotted at multiple shows of Swift’s The Eras tour, and photos of the musicians enjoying a dinner with Jack Antonoff — who reportedly helped them reconnect — hit the Internet on May 11. Fans were sent into a frenzy when Healy and Swift appeared to hold hands.

Just a few days later, on May 16, Healy and Swift were spotted leaving Electric Lady Studios in New York City together, after he was reportedly spotted near her apartment. 

During The 1975’s set at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival, Healy seemed to have referenced the Swift dating rumors. “Is it all a bit? Is it sincere? Will he ever address it? All of these questions and more will be ignored in the next hour,” Healy quipped, seemingly about his speculated relationship with the pop star.

Swift and Healy have been longtime friends, with the 12-time Grammy winner surprising fans during the band’s concert at the O2 Arena in London in January by covering The 1975’s “The City” and performing “Anti-Hero” for the first time.

05 Jun 2023

Jon Batiste Wants to Collaborate With Taylor Swift: ‘It Would Be Fun’

Jon Batiste doesn’t plan to stop collaborating with fellow musicians any time soon, and he has a very special pop star at the top of his list of people to work with. In a Friday (June 2) interview with People, the “Freedom” singer revealed that he would like to work with none other than Taylor Swift.

“I just went to the Taylor Swift concert and it would be fun to do something with Taylor,” he told the outlet. “She was nice enough to invite us and give us tickets to one of her MetLife Stadium shows over Memorial Day weekend, and I’d love to work with any of the living legends, you know, any folks that I can learn something from — even if we don’t put it out.”

The five-time Grammy Award winner has collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Prince, Willie Nelson, Lenny Kravitz, Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey and more. “I just like to sit and talk with folks about the process,” he told People of his process of finding others to work with. “It doesn’t necessarily have to result in a hit single; it can be on the fly or it can be a conversation.”

The former Late Show With Stephen Colbert bandleader’s most recent collaboration is “Be Who You Are (Real Magic)” for Coca-Cola’s Coke Studio. The track, written by Batiste, features NewJeans, Camilo, Cat Burns and J.I.D. Meanwhile, Swift most recently collaborated with Ice Spice on the “Karma” remix — now No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 — and has announced team-ups with Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Fall Out Boy for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

05 Jun 2023

Run-DMC, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg & More to Headline Hip-Hop 50 Live Concert at Yankee Stadium

Hip-hop will enjoy its 50th birthday in the biggest way possible this summer when it returns to the genre’s old stomping grounds in The Bronx on Aug. 11. Dubbed Hip-Hop 50 Live, a slew of the genre’s most decorated stars, including Run-D.M.C., Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube, will take center stage inside the legendary Yankee Stadium to celebrate hip-hop’s origin. 

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Along with the names mentioned above, there will be several special sets in commemoration of the event, including Queens of Hip-Hop, headlined by Eve, Trina, Remy Ma, and Lil Kim, along with a Pillars of Hip-Hop set paying homage to the early architects of the genre such as Kurtis Blow, Melle Mel, Roxanne Shante and more. Other performers include T.I., Fat Joe, Common, A$AP Ferg, EPMD, Ghostface Killah, Lupe Fiasco, and Slick Rick, while the DJ set will feature Clark Kent, Marley Marl, Mannie Fresh, and Battlecat. 

“I am honored to hit the stage in the Bronx, the birthplace of Hip Hop and celebrate all of my heroes,” said RUN in a press release. “Aug 11th is Hip Hop’s 50th birthday! So…’Up in the Bronx’ where it all started we will be celebrating this historic moment in history! I am honored to pay tribute to the culture that allowed this little shy kid from Queens to grow up and become The Mighty King of Rock! Thank you Hip Hop!!!” said DMC.

Pre-sales begin this Thursday (June 8), from 10 a.m. EST until 10 p.m., with prices starting at $50. General onsale will begin on June 9 at 10 a.m. EST here. Hip-Hop 50 Live will be co-produced by Mass Appeal, Live Nation and the New York Yankees. Emmy Award-winner, BASSic Black Entertainment CEO Adam Blackstone and producer and keyboardist Omar Edwards will be the concert’s creative music directors. 

Check out the full lineup below.

05 Jun 2023

Taylor Swift Unveils ‘Speak Now’ Track List, Collaborations With Hayley Williams & Fall Out Boy

Drop everything now, Swifties — Taylor Swift just unveiled the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) track list, including the names of vault songs and collaborations with Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Fall Out Boy.

“I’m VERY excited to show you the back cover of Speak Now (my version),” the pop star wrote on social media Monday (June 5), sharing the album’s back artwork. “Since Speak Now was all about my songwriting, I decided to go to the artists who I feel influenced me most powerfully as a lyricist at that time and ask them to sing on the album.”

According to the artwork — on which Swift poses in a flowing purple dress and ballet slippers — Williams will guest on a vault track called “Castles Crumbling,” meanwhile Fall Out Boy will appear on a vault track titled “Electric Touch.” “They’re so cool and generous for agreeing to support my version of Speak Now,” she added of her collaborators.

As Swift has previously explained in regards to Red (Taylor’s Version) and Fearless (Taylor’s Version), her 2021 re-recorded projects, vault songs are previously-unreleased tracks that were ultimately cut from their respective original albums. As revealed in Swift’s post, the other (solo) vault songs on the updated Speak Now are called “When Emma Falls In Love,” “I Can See You,” “Foolish One” and “Timeless.”

Re-recorded versions of all 14 songs from the original Speak Now will also appear on the new version, which arrives July 7 — as will 2010 bonus tracks “Superman” and “Ours.”

“I recorded this album when I was 32 (and still growing up, now) and can’t wait to unveil it all to you on July 7th,” Swift concluded her post, referencing a lyric to Track 11, “Innocent.”

Swifties have been waiting for this since early May, when the “Anti-Hero” singer first announced that Speak Now would be the next of her albums to get the “Taylor’s Version” treatment during an Eras Tour concert in Nashville. “I first made Speak Now, completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20,” she wrote on Instagram after the show, also revealing the album’s front cover art.

“The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness,” she added at the time. “I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing … and living to speak about it.”

And while Fall Out Boy’s involvement likely comes as a major surprise to many, a lot of Swifties had already detected that Williams would be featured on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) prior to Swift confirming it in her Monday announcement. That’s because the “Still Into You” singer did some major teasing at a meet and greet last week, winkingly telling a fan who’d given her a Speak Now friendship bracelet that the gift was “coming at a very interesting time.”

See Swift’s announcement below:

05 Jun 2023

Hayley Williams Addresses Her ‘You’re Dead to Me’ Message to Ron DeSantis Supporters

Hayley Williams definitely got people’s attention when, at May’s Adjacent Music Festival in Atlantic City, she bluntly told Rob DeSantis supporters, “You’re f–king dead to me.” But now, the Paramore frontwoman wishes she’d expressed her feelings on the politician in a more productive way.

“I hate that the only thing I really know to say to people I deem racist or bigoted in any way is ‘you’re dead to me’ when I know that message isn’t the kind that’s going to change a hateful heart,” Williams shared in a Saturday (June 3) open letter Paramore’s Discord channel. “How can I feel soft and tragic about it in one moment and ragey and rigid the next? Because that’s human.”

The so-called “rigid and ragey” moment in question came midway through the band’s set at the Memorial Day Weekend festival, with Williams telling fans in the audience that she’s “very f–king comfortable talking politics.” Then, she added, “If you vote for Ron DeSantis, you’re f–king dead to me. Is that comfortable enough for anyone?”

The Atlantic City show wasn’t the only time distaste for Florida’s Gov. DeSantis was declared on stage at a Paramore concert. During the band’s Friday show in Washington, D.C., Florida’s Rep. Maxwell Frost joined the musicians, where he shouted, “F— Ron DeSantis! F— fascism!”

Elsewhere in the “Still Into You” singer’s new Discord post, she apologized for kicking a couple of fans out of a recent Paramore concert at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Videos of the confrontation went viral online, which Williams said made her rethink how she handled the altercation in the moment.

“As a group – all 25,000 of us or so – exiled these people from the show in record time,” she wrote. “It was a moment that I would not fully process for a couple of days, when a friend showed me a video from the inside of the crowd, up close to the action… I have not been able to shake the feeling that I abused my responsibility and my platform in that moment… that I hurt those two in a way that will outlast the momentary discomfort of their poor concert etiquette.”

05 Jun 2023

NCT 127’s Taeyong Delivers Debut Solo Album, Music Video for Lead Single ‘SHALALA’

Taeyong’s debut solo album is finally here. On Monday (June 5), the NCT 127 member released his highly anticipated project, SHALALA, alongside a high-energy music video for the lead single of the same name.

The visual for “Shalala” sees the K-pop star playing a hacker who is so talented at what he does, he disrupts several multiverses, travels hundreds and thousands of years back in time, and even distorts the shape of Earth. Throughout the hip-hop track’s infectious chorus, the NCT 127 rapper expertly hits choreography with the help of a few back up dancers.

“Wow, wow, wow, wow/ Bounce (We jumpin’ around, let’s go)/ Sha-la-la-la, la-la, oh-my-my/ Sha-la-la-la, la-la, I’ma shine,” the K-pop star raps on the track.

SHALALA arrived with six songs alongside the title track: “Move Mood Mode” featuring Red Velvet main vocalist Wendy, “Ruby,” “Gwando,” “404 File Not Found,” “Virtual Insanity” and “Back to the Past.”

Though Taeyong and several other members under the NCT umbrella have released solo songs via their label, SM Entertainment’s SM Station project, he marks the first member of the group to make a solo debut with an album. Taeyong’s last solo release was 2022’s “Fine,” which was uploaded to SoundCloud in November.

As for NCT 127, the group made moves on the Billboard charts earlier this year with the release of Ay-Yo, the album repackage of its fifth studio album, 2 Baddies. The repackaged set peaked at No. 13 on the all-genre Billboard 200, and spent two weeks on the tally.

Watch the video for “Shalala” above, and stream the album in full below.

05 Jun 2023

Ryan Coogler, DJ Dahi & Director Peter Nicks Join Forces to Reimagine ‘Anthem’ for Hulu Documentary

With Black Music Month underway, Hulu is beginning to roll out some of its upcoming documentaries catered to the festivities, notably Anthem. 

Directed by Peter Nicks, Anthem will follow composer Kris Bowers (Bridgerton and King Richards) and Grammy-winning producer DJ Dahi’s trek across the nation to rediscover the roots of traditional American Music. During their quest, they find talent from a bevy of genres, such as jazz and soul, to help recreate the national anthem and reflect the modern times in the United States. Joining Nicks, Bowers and Dahi will be Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler and his multimedia company Proximity Media on the production front. Sean Havey, Chris L. Jenkins will also serve as producers. 

“Anthem started with the road trip that [Kris Bowers and I] took when we when we went around and started to just feel [and] understand what American music traditionally kind of comes from,” Dahi tells Billboard. “Soul music, country, jazz, native music, blues, and gospel are the foundational music that’s being a part of our being and a part of the different creative processes that people have expressed themselves through. The road trip really helped us see the world.”

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Dahi has previously worked with Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Last year, Dahi had production credits on Lamar’s Grammy-winning album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. His prints were on five records: “Father Time,” “Rich Spirit,” “Count Me Out,” “Mirror” and the Billboard Hot 100 top-five single “Die Hard.” 

To correspond with the announcement of Anthem, Dahi constructed an exclusive playlist that was instrumental to the documentary and the road trip he and Bowers conducted during their search. Listen below.

Anthem arrives on Hulu June 28. 

05 Jun 2023

Lizzo Dances With Drag Stars During Her First Concert of Pride Month: ‘Drag Is Not a Crime!’

Lizzo just kicked off Pride Month with a bold statement. At her Friday (June 2) concert in Thousand Palms, Calif., the hitmaker invited a group of drag performers to dance with her onstage, and afterward posted a sweet message reminding the LGBTQ community that she’s always going to be here for them.

In a video posted to Lizzo’s social media accounts following her Special Tour’s first show of the month, the “About Damn Time” singer waves a huge pride flag up and down while surrounded by drag queens Kim Chi, Angeria Paris Van Michaels and Kahanna Montrese, as well as drag king Tenderoni.

“Drag is not a crime!” yells the Yitty founder into her microphone, prompting loud cheers from her crowd at Acrisure Arena.

“You’ve always had my back, and I’ll always have yours,” Lizzo later captioned the video, adding, “Happy Pride,” bookended with LGBTQ and transgender pride flag emojis.

Tenderoni was delighted to join the star on stage. “Still can’t believe I performed with @Lizzo tonight!!!!!” he shared in one of several tweets after the show.

It’s not the first time in recent months that Lizzo has used her concert stages as literal and figurative platforms for drag performers. In April, she was joined onstage by Aquaria, Kandy Muse, Asia O’Hara and Vanessa Vanji during a show in Knoxville, Tenn. — aka, the state which has been the center of controversy following Gov. Bill Lee’s signing of anti-LGBTQ and anti-drag laws.

“In light of recent and tragic events and current events, I was told by people on the internet, ‘Cancel your shows in Tennessee,’ ‘Don’t go to Tennessee,’” she told her crowd at the time. “Their reason was valid, but why would I not come to the people who need to hear this message the most?

“Why would I not create a safe space in Tennessee where we can celebrate drag entertainers and celebrate our differences?”

See Lizzo’s video below:

05 Jun 2023

Garth Brooks Reveals a ‘Cosmic’ Trick of Coral Reef While Narrating ‘America’s National Parks’ Season 2

As the narrator and executive producer of America’s National Parks, Garth Brooks takes TV viewers on a road trip to some of the most cherished and preserved spaces our country has to offer. When season 2 kicks off Monday night (June 5) on National Geographic and streams starting Wednesday on Disney+, he’ll dive even deeper.

In an exclusive clip from the “Biscayne” episode — one of two back-to-back new episodes premiering Monday night — Brooks narrates an otherworldly scene documenting the sprawling coral reef of Florida’s Biscayne National Park, just south of Miami.

“To protect from the bleaching power of the sun, the park’s coral community have developed their own extraordinary type of sunscreen,” Brooks narrates, explaining that microscopic algae within the reef combat the UV rays by absorbing sunlight and re-emitting it in other colors. “The results are cosmic,” Brooks adds over footage of a neon black-lit reef.

Monday’s other new episode is “Grand Teton,” which kicks off the two-part premiere at 9 p.m. ET on National Geographic by scaling the majestic peaks of Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. Upcoming season 2 episodes, debuting June 12 and 19 on Nat Geo, venture to Southern California’s Channel Islands, Alaska’s Lake Park National Park, and Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park.

Also next week, Brooks will take a break from his current Las Vegas residency to sit down with Billboard for our inaugural Billboard Country Live in Conversation on June 7 in Nashville, taking part in an intimate Q&A with Melinda Newman, executive editor of Billboard, West Coast and Nashville.

Watch an exclusive Brooks-narrated clip from season 2 of America’s National Parks below:

05 Jun 2023

Hayley Williams Apologizes for Kicking Fans Out of Paramore Show: ‘I Don’t Feel Proud’

Hayley Williams has had a change of heart following a recent viral moment she says she’s “really not proud of.”

Last week, the 34-year-old singer-songwriter was captured on video kicking a pair of rowdy concertgoers out of a Paramore show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. But even though fans in the audience and online praised Williams for her actions at the time, she’s now posted a lengthy apology for having “embarrassed the hell out of these two people, without truly knowing what the situation was.”

“My insides were triggered from numerous personal experiences not fit for a blog post or a microphone on stage at an arena,” she recalled in a Saturday (June 3) post on Paramore’s Discord channel. “My outsides were trying to maintain control of a situation I felt that myself and my bandmates were responsible for. Without the opportunity for a proper back and forth (and with a looming, strict show-curfew in the back of my mind), I bared my teeth like a mother wolf.”

“As a group – all 25,000 of us or so – exiled these people from the show in record time,” continued the “Still Into You” singer. “It was a moment that I would not fully process for a couple of days, when a friend showed me a video from the inside of the crowd, up close to the action.”

In the viral video, a young man can be seen aggressively pushing through the crowd to get closer to a young woman while Williams and her bandmates, Taylor York and Zac Farro, perform “Figure 8,” one of their This Is Why songs. As the situation on the floor became more heated, Williams abruptly stopped the show to scold, “Yes, I will embarrass both of you … find somewhere else to take care of that sh-t.”

In hindsight, though, the Good Dye Young founder worries that she “abused my responsibility and my platform in that moment … that I hurt those two in a way that will outlast the momentary discomfort of their poor concert etiquette.”

“I feel the same tension in this moment that I wrote about all over the new album,” she continued. “I love to say we make a safe space at our shows each night … but I’m also the one who may throw someone out without really even knowing what exactly is going on.”

“So, if you are those two people … I am sorry for whatever shame or embarrassment I may have caused you,” Williams added, revealing she “cried” for them after seeing the video. “I’m not telling you that it’s perfectly fine to act entitled or ignorant at a show. I’m just saying that I’m sorry that I handled the whole situation like the arbiter of the same type of cancel culture that doesn’t often teach or lead in any productive way.”

In the Discord post, Williams also walked back on an incendiary statement she made at another recent Paramore performance: “If you vote for Ron DeSantis, you’re f–king dead to me.”

“I hate that the only thing I really know to say to people I deem racist or bigoted in any way is ‘you’re dead to me’ when I know that message isn’t the kind that’s going to change a hateful heart,” she wrote. “How can I feel soft and tragic about it in one moment and ragey and rigid the next? Because that’s human.”