Music News

02 May 2023

Bad Bunny & Kendall Jenner Attend Met Gala Afterparty Together: See Photos

On this week of keeping up with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny, the entertainment industry’s buzziest rumored new couple stepped out together for a glamorous post Met Gala outing Monday night (May 1).

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Both Jenner and the Puerto Rican superstar were guests at the Karl Lagerfeld-themed gala that evening, the former sporting a black and white leotard with dramatically long sleeves, and the latter wearing a backless white suit with a train of fabric roses. Though the two arrived separately to the red carpet, they were later seen at each other’s side as they headed to an afterparty together in New York City.

Photos taken on the scene show Bunny, having changed out of his Met Gala attire, in a simple white T-shirt, brown slacks and jacket plus a sparkling cross necklace. Jenner also switched out her couture look, opting for a sheer bodysuit layered underneath black underwear.

The two stars’ Met Gala night is just the latest of several public appearances together since romance rumors began earlier this year. A couple weeks ago, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star was spotted getting cozy with Bunny at Coachella, and in March, the pair was spotted appearing to lock lips.

Before that, Jenner and the “I Like It” musician were seen riding horses together near Los Angeles. In February, the two went out to dinner on a double date with Jenner’s friends Hailey and Justin Bieber.

See Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner on their way to a Met Gala afterparty below:

Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny

Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny are seen heading to a Met Gala afterparty on May 01, 2023 in New York City.

Gotham/GC Images

02 May 2023

Jonas Brothers Announce ‘Five Albums, One Night’ 2023 North American Tour: See Dates

The Jonas Brothers are hitting the road. On Tuesday (May 2), Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas announced a 35-date North American trek to support not just their upcoming record, The Album, but four of their other LPs released over the course of their nearly 20-year career.

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Billed as the pop rock trio’s most ambitious outing yet, Five Albums. One Night. The Tour kicks off in August with a pair of shows in New York City’s Yankee Stadium. The band will then spend about two months making stops at venues across the United States — Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Arlington’s Globe Life Field and Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium, to name a few — as well as touching down for one show in Canada at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.

Fans’ best chance at securing in-demand tickets is Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan presale, which opens next Tuesday (May 9). Registration for the presale is open now through Saturday (May 6), and those selected will receive a special Verified Fan access code prior to the sale.

The touring news comes just 10 days ahead of the May 12 release of The Album, the Jonas Brothers’ first record since 2019’s Happiness Begins. Kevin, Joe and Nick have effectively been working toward The Tour since February, when they staged a five-night run of intimate shows on Broadway in New York. Each night, they played a different one of their albums, starting with 2007’s self-titled LP and ending with the live debut of The Album.

In April, the guys played two sold-out shows at Yankee Stadium in New York, both of which included run-throughs of all five of the albums spread out across five nights on Broadway two months prior. This format will now be applied to every night of The Tour, as explained by Kevin, Joe and Nick in an Instagram announcement video.

See a full list of dates for the Jo Bros’ upcoming North American tour below.

JONAS BROTHERS ‘THE TOUR’ 2023 DATES:

August 12 – Bronx, NY @ Yankee Stadium+
August 13 – Bronx, NY @ Yankee Stadium+
August 15 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
August 17 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
August 19 – Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
August 22 — Indianapolis, IN @ Gainbridge Fieldhouse
August 24 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
August 25 – Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field*
August 27 – St Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center
August 30 – Arlington, TX @ Globe Life Field
Sept. 1 – Saint Paul, MN @ Minnesota State Fair^
Sept. 3 – Austin, TX @ Moody Center
Sept. 6 – Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
Sept. 8 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
Sept. 9 – Los Angeles, CA @ Dodger Stadium
Sept. 11 – Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center
Sept. 14 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
Sept. 16 – Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center
Sept. 18 – Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse*
Sept. 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center*
Sept. 22 – Baltimore, MD @ Sept. Sept. CFG Bank Arena
Sept. 23 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
Sept. 25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
Sept. 26 – Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena
Sept. 28 – Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena
Sept. 30 – Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center
Oct. 1 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
Oct. 3 – Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center
Oct. 5 – San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center
Oct. 7 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center*
Oct. 9 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
Oct. 10 – Columbia, SC @ Colonial Life Arena
Oct. 12 – Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
Oct. 13 – Orlando, FL @ Amway Center
Oct. 14 – Miami, FL @ Kaseya Center
*No Verizon Presale
+Previously announced show
^No Citi or Verizon Presale

02 May 2023

Ed Sheeran, Alanis Morissette Subbing for Katy Perry, Lionel Richie on ‘American Idol’ as Guest Judges

American Idol will be down two judges on Sunday night (May 7) when Katy Perry and Lionel Richie jet to England to take part in the coronation of King Charles III. But they will have some serious ringers filling in during their absence: Ed Sheeran and Alanis Morissette.

During Monday night’s (May 1) show it was revealed that the pair will join Luke Bryan as guest judges on Sunday during the show’s “616” episode, where America will cast their votes for the top 5. Morissette will pull double-duty as guest judge and mentor to the top 10, who will perform her songs live, with the finalists also teaming up with each other on duets of Sheeran’s hits.

Both Sheeran and Morissette will perform on the episode, with Alanis sharing one of her classics and Sheeran playing his new single, the ballad “Boat.” And though Katy and Lionel will be getting the royal treatment, they will check in from Windsor Castle on Idol LIVE.

The top 10 battled it out on Monday night’s episode, with Hawaiian high-schooler Iam Tongi crushing it with his version of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” complete with some homey touches. After ditching his trusty guitar for Sunday night’s episode during performance of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me,” Tongi donned a colorful Hawaiian shirt and performed with a ukulele. Tyson Venegas and Marybeth Byrd were eliminated, while Oliver Steele earned a judge’s save.

American Idol airs live coast-to-coast on Sunday from 8-10 p.m. ET/5-7 p.m. PT on ABC.

02 May 2023

Ed Sheeran Reflects on ‘Heavy Stuff’ That Inspired His New Album ‘Subtract’: Exclusive

Ed Sheeran is opening up his world with the new docuseries Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All, this week, and Billboard has an exclusive clip ahead of the Wednesday (May 3) premiere.

The preview shows the pop star collaborating in the studio with The National’s Aaron Dessner on what will become – (Subtract) as he explains via confessional the multitude of hardships that hit his wife Cherry Seaborn, his best friend Jamal Edwards and him all in the space of a single month.

“I was hit by heavy stuff kind of one after the other,” the hitmaker explains. “They found a tumor in Cherry’s arm, the diagnosis wasn’t good and, ya know, she’s pregnant and I can’t do anything. And then suddenly I’m in this three-week court case. And then, um…Jamal dies.

“The moment you find out that the worst thing in the world has happened to someone that you truly love with all your heart, you feel like you’re drowning and can’t get out from under it,” Sheeran continues. “Just from that situation, all of these songs came out.”

The British singer-songwriter then goes on to record his new song “Boat,” which was released as the second single from his forthcoming album Subtract, with just an acoustic guitar.

The four-part docuseries will arrive on Disney+ on Wednesday, just two days before Subtract‘s Friday release. The studio set will complete Sheeran’s long-planned sequence of five mathematically themed albums, which began with his 2011 debut + (Plus) followed by 2014’s x (Multiply), 2017’s ÷ (Divide) and 2021’s = (Equals).

Watch Billboard’s exclusive preview of Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All below.

02 May 2023

Taylor Swift Returns to No. 1 on Artist 100, Thanks to Exclusive Record Store Day Release

Taylor Swift returns to No. 1 (up from No. 3) on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated May 6), reigning as the top musical act in the United States for a record-extending 65th week. She boasts 10 albums on the latest Billboard 200, including her new Record Store Day-exclusive vinyl release, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.

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The live acoustic album, which was issued on vinyl (its first physical release of any kind) for Record Store Day (April 22) at participating independent record stores, debuts at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 75,000 equivalent album units earned, all from vinyl sales, in the April 21-27 tracking week, according to Luminate.

Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions is the companion album to the Disney+ documentary film of the same name, released in 2020.

Swift charts 10 total albums on the Billboard 200, including three in the top 10. The last act to land at least three albums in the top 10 at the same time was Prince in 2016, following his death. Here’s a look at all of Swift’s albums on the latest list:

Rank, Title
No. 3, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
No. 4, Midnights
No. 10, Lover
No. 12, Folklore
No. 21, 1989
No. 22, reputation
No. 27, Red (Taylor’s Version)
No. 29, Evermore
No. 41, Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
No. 66, Speak Now

Since the Billboard 200 combined separate stereo and mono rankings in August 1963, Prince is the only other artist to chart at least 10 albums in the top 100 in a single week, as he posthumously totaled 15 in the region on the May 14, 2016, survey.

Among other Artist 100 chart moves, Agust D, aka Suga of BTS, re-enters at No. 3, a new high (following a week at No. 4 in 2020), as his new solo LP D-Day arrives at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (140,000 units). It becomes his first solo top 10 album; BTS has notched seven.

Five BTS members have hit the Artist 100’s top 10: Jimin (No. 1, one week), Agust D (No. 3), RM (No. 6), j-hope (No. 9) and JIN (No. 10). BTS has ruled for 21 weeks, the most among groups since the chart began in 2014.

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

02 May 2023

Keanu Reeves Says New Music From His ’90s Grunge Trio Dogstar Is Just Around the Corner

First The Matrix, then Bill & Ted and now Dogstar? Keanu Reeves has been on a reboot run and the actor’s 1990s grunge trio appears to be next on the list. Last week, Reeves posed for a picture in which the Dog men gathered for some promo pics on a rooftop in Los Angeles in preparation for the band’s first new music in more than 20 years.

“Last set up on the roof in Lincoln Heights for @dogstarband photo shoot,” read the post featuring bassist/singer Reeves alongside singer/guitarist Bret Domrose and drummer Robert Mailhouse. “Exiting news coming soon. Thanks for being so patient.”

The band low key reunited last summer more than two decades after their final show in Oct. 2022. During their brief run, Dogstar expectedly garnered a lot of media attention due to Reeves’ participation, beginning with the release of their four-track EP Quattro Formaggi in 1996 after several years of playing gigs in the U.S. and overseas; a full-length album, Our Little Visionary, was only released in Japan.

Another album, 1999’s Happy Ending, would prove to be their swan song as all three moved on to other projects. Dogstar began teasing a return last July with a retro pic from their salad days and the message “We’re back.” That began nearly a year of periodic updates about the in-process recordings sessions with producer Dave Trumfio, including video of Reeves transposing arrangements and a post from August describing a “deep, layered, lush” record on the horizon.

By December, they said they were mixing and sneaking out for a private show for the crew who helped create the album, while promising a spring release date. “Thank you everyone for the kind comments. We are overjoyed to see such a response!” the band added in comments on the photo shoot post. “Honestly, didn’t expect this. It makes us want to play out even more. We will be rolling out some new music this summer, followed by some gigs. As soon as it’s all figured out we will let everyone know immediately. So much to do, but rest assured, we are on it and have assembled a fantastic team that are helping us. We are also going to make a music video to support our first tune… Can’t wait to share our new music with everyone. It’s the most satisfying and meaningful batch of songs we’ve ever done. Thanks again for being so patient with us. We truly have the best, most loyal fans!”

Back in 2019, Reeves spoke to GQ magazine about Dogstar and what he suspects is the general public’s feeling about his side project. “I guess it would have helped if our band was better,” he said at the time.

Check out Dogstar’s post and rehearsal footage below.

02 May 2023

Snoop Dogg, Ryan Reynolds Appear in Mix to Buy Ottawa’s Hockey Team

There appears to be celebrity interest in buying the Ottawa Senators, the National Hockey League team for sale in Canada’s capital city.

Rap impresario Snoop Dogg said in an Instagram post Monday (April 1) that he was “looking forward” to being part of a bid by Los Angeles-based businessman Neko Sparks, who would be the first Black owner of an NHL team.

“I WANNA BRING HOCKEY TO OUR COMMUNITY,” Snoop Dogg wrote.

Last week, Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds was reportedly linked to a bid that would top $1 billion for the team. Neither Sparks nor Reynolds have publicly confirmed their interest in buying the Senators.

Reynolds and fellow actor Rob McElhenney last month basked in the storybook run of their Welsh soccer club, Wrexham, which secured promotion to the fourth tier of the English game.

The board of directors of Senators Sports & Entertainment announced in November that a process has been initiated for the sale of the club. The board retained Galatioto Sports Partners, a firm specializing in the sports finance and advisory business, as its financial adviser.

“A condition of any sale will be that the team remains in Ottawa,” the team said at the time.

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk died last year at 62 after battling an illness. He had previously said he planned to leave the team to his daughters, Anna and Olivia. Melnyk purchased the Senators in 2003 for $92 million at a time when the franchise faced bankruptcy and a tenuous future in the nation’s capital.

A recent valuation by Forbes listed the Senators at $800 million, 24th out of the NHL’s 30 teams.

Under Melnyk, the Senators played in the Stanley Cup final in 2007 when Ottawa lost in five games to the Anaheim Ducks. Ottawa nearly returned to the Cup final a decade later but lost the deciding game of the conference final in double overtime. Since that loss, the Senators have missed the playoffs six straight seasons.

The team has played at the Canadian Tire Centre in a former suburb since the arena opened in 1996. The team has expressed interest in building an arena at a site closer to downtown Ottawa.

See Snoop’s post below.

01 May 2023

Gordon Lightfoot Dies: Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau Remembers ‘One of Our Greatest Singer-Songwriters’

Gordon Lightfoot, the late, legendary Canadian singer and songwriter, is being remembered for his contribution to his country’s folk songbook, and for inspiring generations of musicians and fans.

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Lightfoot, who wrote the songs “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” “Sundown” and “If You Could Read My Mind,” and many other across a celebrated, decades long-career, died Monday (May 1) in a Toronto hospital at age 84.

Born in Ontario, Lightfoot’s six-decade career began in the early 1960s on the Toronto folk circuit and went worldwide in the 1970s thanks to a string of influential hits. He scored four top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the ’70s, starting with “If You Could Read My Mind,” which peaked at No. 5 in 1971. Next up were “Sundown” — his lone No. 1 — and “Carefree Highway” (No. 10), both from 1974’s Sundown — also his only No. 1 album on the Billboard 200.

During his lifetime, he collected 13 Juno Awards in his native Canada, capped by his induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986, and in 2012 was elevated into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau led tributes. “We have lost one of our greatest singer-songwriters,” he states. Lightfoot “captured our country’s spirit in his music – and in doing so, he helped shape Canada’s soundscape. May his music continue to inspire future generations, and may his legacy live on forever. To his family, friends, and many fans across the country and around the world: I’m keeping you in my thoughts at this difficult time.”

As the sad news spread on social media, fans and fellow artists chimed in.

“This one is really hard to write,” reads a statement from countryman Bryan Adams. “Once in a blue moon you get to work and hang out with one of the people you admired when you were growing up. I was lucky enough to say Gordon was my friend and I’m gutted to know he’s gone. The world is a lesser place without him. I know I speak for all Canadians when I say: thank you for the songs Gordon Lightfoot. Bless your sweet songwriting heart, RIP dear friend.”

Brian Wilson, Belinda Carlisle, author Stephen King and many others weighed in on the passing of a great. See the reaction on social media below.

01 May 2023

Gordon Lightfoot’s 10 Best Songs: Critic’s Picks

There are few careers in popular music more versatile than that of Gordon Lightfoot. The native Canadian has enjoyed success in the worlds of pop, adult contemporary, folk and country — with fans of all ages enchanted by the singer’s unforgettable vocal approach.

The Ontario-born singer/songwriter died at age 84 on Monday (May 1), his family announced via social media. “Gordon Lightfoot passed away this evening in a Toronto hospital at 7:30 p.m.,” a statement on Lightfoot’s Facebook page announced. He had been suffering health issues in recent days, forcing him to cancel planned tour dates in the U.S. and Canada earlier this month.

At the heart of Lightfoot’s career is his songwriting. It’s fair to say that the singer bleeds lyrically through his material. Songs such as “Sundown” and “If You Could Read My Mind” revealed a man who knew his relationships could be imperfect at times. He also has quite the way with a story song, taking one of the great American tragedies of the 1970s and crafting an unforgettable lyric about it.

In honor of six decades of music, here are 10 of Gordon Lightfoot’s finest moments.

01 May 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Channels Audrey Hepburn With Micro-Bangs at 2023 Met Gala

Olivia Rodrigo brought Old Hollywood glamour to the 2023 Met Gala on Monday night (May 1), rocking a Thom Browne black-and-white gown that looks like it was made entirely out of string, held together by stunning florals at the bust.

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To complete the look, the “Good 4 U” singer rocked a sleek bun with Audrey Hepburn-esque micro-bangs, as well as a simple winged eyeliner and berry-colored lipstick à la the Breakfast at Tiffany’s icon.

This year’s theme, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” will showcase more than 150 original looks designed by Lagerfeld, who died at 85 years old in 2019, delving into the former Chanel creative director’s expansive seven-decade career. Many of his original sketches are also set to appear alongside the objects on display.

Rodrigo has now attended three Met Gala red carpets, rocking one of the top looks of the night during 2022’s Gilded Glamour-themed event, where she opted for a sparkling lavender Versace gown, paired with mesh lilac gloves, loose wavy hair with butterfly clips and a purple smokey eye.

See Olivia Rodrigo’s 2023 Met Gala look below.

Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue