Music News

30 Mar 2023

Metro Boomin Hypes Up Baseball Fans for Opening Day in New MLB Network Video

Metro Boomin is preparing fans everywhere for Major League Baseball’s Opening Day on Thursday (March 30) with a special video.

The nearly three-minute clip from MLB Network’s studio programming kicks off with Metro (who’s wearing a baseball cap that reps his hometown team, the St. Louis Cardinals) opening up Pro Tools on his laptop and gearing up to make hits — a normal day for the multi-platinum producer — which he compares to players gearing up for a 162-game regular season.

“Whenever I start working on a new record, there are a million different ways that it can go. I might try something new. I might just want to pick up where I left off with the last big hit. Link up with an old friend, or get a bunch of the big dogs together. Go get them young hitters, or help someone trying to follow up a huge hit,” he says as “Trance” (featuring Travis Scott and Young Thug) from his latest Billboard 200-topping album Heroes & Villains plays in the background. “Sometimes you find an artist that breaks all the rules. Sometimes, the rules change right in front of your eyes. But all throughout, you’ve gotta be true to yourself, ya dig? Inject that flavor and that sauce that makes whatever you’re creating different from everything anyone else has ever come up with.”

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The piece features several images and highlights of MLB rising stars and veterans, including Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, Justin Verlander of the New York Mets, Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Miami Marlins. Later, the song shifts to the John Legend-assisted “On Time” from Metro’s Heroes & Villains.

“You can’t beat this time of year. Everybody’s staring at 162,” Metro says while peering into the camera. “162 chances to make that beautiful music…. It’s time to play ball.”

Watch the “Eyes on 162” clip below.

30 Mar 2023

GAYLE Documents Her Teenage Boredom in ‘Everybody Hates Me’ Video

GAYLE dropped a new music video for her latest single “Everybody Hates Me” on Thursday (March 30).

The 18-year-old proves she knows a thing or two about how to survive teenage boredom in the visual, which finds her enlisting her entourage of pals to document a casual trip to the grocery store. “Life’s a bi— and I’m not surprised/ If you read my mind, you’d probably cry/ I do it myself all the time/ Life’s a bi— and she’s cool with me/ I’ll let it be, hard world to please/ I live my life like everybody hates me,” she sings on the chorus as her friends push her wildly down the aisles in a shopping cart.

Elsewhere, the teen alt sensation goes for a joy ride in an unmarked moving truck and takes turns with her friends flipping off the handheld camera with glee.

“Everybody Hates Me” is GAYLE’s first single following her trio of 2022 EPs, A Study of the Human Experience Volume One, Volume Two and Volume Two and a Half. The former contained her breakout single “abcdefu,” which earned the singer a nomination for song of the year at the 2023 Grammy Awards and was also covered by Kelly Clarkson with some surprising lyrical modifications the same day the teenager’s new video dropped.

GAYLE is currently serving as an opener on Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour — an opportunity that came about after the superstar saw her perform at the 2022 Nashville Songwriter Awards last fall.

Watch the music video for GAYLE’s “Everybody Hates Me” below.

30 Mar 2023

Kaskade & Deadmau5’s Kx5 Debuts on Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart

Kx5, the superstar DJ pairing of Kaskade and Deadmau5, commands a No. 6 start on Billboard‘s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart (dated April 1) with its self-titled debut set.

Kx5 starts with 4,200 equivalent album units in the March 17-23 tracking week, according to Luminate.

Seven of the album’s 10 cuts have hit the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, with “Bright Lights” featuring AR/CO leading the way at No. 17 with 864,000 U.S. streams. It’s Kx5’s second-highest-charting track yet, after last year’s “Escape” featuring Hayla (No. 11).

Kx5 also rises with “Sacrifice” featuring Sofi Tukker (48-27; one spot short of its No. 26 high in March) and re-enters with both “Alive” featuring The Moth & The Flame (No. 30) and “When I Talk” with Elderbrook (No. 50). Both tracks peaked at No. 26 earlier this year. Rounding out Kx5‘s charted Hot Dance/Electronic Songs hits are “Take Me High” (No. 38 in October 2022) and “Avalanche,” featuring James French (No. 48 in November).

Additionally on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Fred again.., Skrillex and Four Tet bow with “Baby again..” at No. 11. The team-up makes for Fred again..’s highest debut among 15 charted titles; Skrillex’s fourth-highest of his 56; and Four Tet’s top arrival. Skrillex is now tied with Marshmello for the third-most appearances, after only David Guetta (75) and Kygo (61).

“Baby” earned 1.5 million streams and sold 900 downloads, the latter also good for a No. 5 start on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart.

On the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, Cash Cash collects its ninth top 10 with “Anyway,” featuring RuthAnne, who achieves her first (12-3). The track is drawing core-dance airplay on Music Choice’s Dance/EDM Channel, WCPY (Dance Factory FM) Chicago and iHeartRadio’s Evolution, among other outlets.

Also on the survey, Metro Boomin notches his first top 10, The Weeknd adds his 14th and 21 Savage scores his second with “Creepin’” (11-8). The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 70 top 40-formatted reporters.

30 Mar 2023

One Year of the U.S. Afrobeats Songs Chart: Rema & Selena Gomez, Tems & Burna Boy Top Highlights

The Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart hits a major milestone this week with its first anniversary on the list dated April 1, 2023. The chart’s 53rd weekly edition brings it to the one-year mark, dating to its launch with the chart dated April 2, 2022. Since its debut, the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, a partnership chart between Billboard and the music festival and global Afrobeats brand Afro Nation, has tracked the genre’s 50 most popular tracks stateside each week through a weighted formula incorporating U.S. official streams and sales, according to Luminate. In the past year, the Afrobeats genre has continued to expand its global footprint and reach, exposing millions of fans to new sounds and songs, making international stars out of its biggest acts, and inspiring new creative directions and collaborations for artists in every part of the globe.

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As Billboard celebrates the U.S. Afrobeats Songs’ charts first birthday, let’s recap some of the highlights from the past 12 months.

Six of One: In the first 53 weeks of the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, only six songs have managed to lay claim to the No. 1 spot. Nigerian singer-songwriter Ckay owns a piece of chart history with the inaugural No. 1, “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah),” which eventually ruled for six non-consecutive weeks. Of the half-dozen champs, however, one overshadows them all: Rema and Selena Gomez’s smash collaboration “Calm Down,” which has dominated for 30 of the chart’s first 53 weeks, or nearly 57% of that first year.

Here’s a full rundown of the six lucky No. 1s:

“Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah),” CKay, six weeks at No. 1, beginning April 2, 2022
“Peru,” Fireboy DML & Ed Sheeran, six, April 9, 2022
“Free Mind,” Tems, one, June 25, 2022
“Essence,” WizKid featuring Justin Bieber & Tems, two, July 2, 2022
“Last Last,” Burna Boy, eight, July 16, 2022
“Calm Down,” Rema & Selena Gomez, 30, Sept. 10, 2022

Tems, notably, is the only repeat champion that we’ve seen thus far, thanks to “Free Mind” and her featured appearance on “Essence.” Burna Boy almost became the first act to capture two lead-role No. 1s. In addition to “Last Last,” he ranked at No. 2 for two weeks with “Hold My Hand,” featuring Ed Sheeran in July 2022 and returned to the runner-up spot in November 2022 with “Alone.”

Perfect Attendance: Of the 217 songs to have appeared on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart since its inception, just 13 have been on the chart for all 53 weeks the chart has existed. Tems claims the most of the crew, with five tracks. Let’s revisit those 13 continual hits, based on their position rank on the most recently published list:

Song Title, Artist, Rank on chart dated April 2, 2023
“Calm Down,” Rema & Selena Gomez, No. 1
“Free Mind,” Tems, No. 3
“Essence,” Wizkid featuring Justin Bieber & Tems, No. 6
“Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah),” CKay, No. 7
“Peru,” Fireboy DML & Ed Sheeran, No. 8
“Found,” Tems featuring Brent Faiyaz, No. 14
“Ye,” Burna Boy, No. 19
“Finesse,” Pheelz x BNXN, No. 26
“Damages,” Tems, No. 32
“On the Low,” Burna Boy, No. 36
“Replay,” Tems, No. 38

Burna Boy’s Hot Streak: His song may be “Last Last,” but Burna Boy is … first first (had to) in the count for the artists with the most charted songs in the first year of the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart. The global hitmaker posted 28 titles on the list in its initial 12 months, with Wizkid (22) winning the silver medal and Nigerian singer Asake (16) claiming bronze. In total, six acts crossed the double-digit mark in the inaugural year:

Burna Boy, 28
Wizkid, 22
Asake, 16
Rema, 14
Zinoleesky, 13
BNXN, 12
Tems, 12

Burna Boy also heads the leaderboard for most top 10 hits on U.S. Afrobeats Songs, with eight different cuts that have reached the region: “Last Last,” (No. 1 for eight weeks), “For My Hand,” featuring Ed Sheeran (No. 2), “Solid,” featuring Kehlani and Blxst (No. 8), “It’s Plenty” (No. 8), “Cloak and Dagger,” featuring J Hus (No. 10) and “Alone” (No. 2). The remaining pair are through guest spots, on Asake’s “Sunbga” (No. 7), and Master KG’s “Jerusalema” (No. 10).

Thanks in part to that Burna Boy teamup, Asake owns six top 10s, putting him next in line behind his former collaborator. Tems’ five top 10s puts her in third place, while Fireboy DML and Wizkid round out the top five, with four top 10s each.

30 Mar 2023

Julie Bowen Explains Flirty Sign at Harry Styles Concert: ‘I Could Show Him a Good Time’

Like countless other fans over the years, Julie Bowen put her hat in the ring for Harry Styles‘ heart at one of his recent concerts. Her homemade sign at the 29-year-old pop star’s January show in Inglewood, Calif., got a lot of laughs for its bold message — “Harry, I’m old but I know what I’m doing” —which the actress opened up about in a Thursday (March 30) appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show.

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Speaking with Hudson, Bowen explained that she attended the concert with a group of kids including her son who all made signs of their own. “They’re like ‘Harry, I love you,’ and I went with five girls and my son,” she recalled.

The Modern Family star was inspired to make a heart-shaped sign decorated with a string of Christmas lights, adding her personal proposition for the “As It Was” singer. “I think, like, he could do worse than me,” she told Hudson. “I mean I’m not the youngest, but I think I could show him a good time.”

The 53-year-old Happy Gilmore actress excitedly showed off her sign on Instagram, taking a video from her spot in the venue before Styles went on. “Harry, I’m here!” she cheered.

Bowen had previously professed her admiration for the Grammy winner on The Ellen Degeneres Show, where she said she’d definitely come out of dating “retirement” if Styles were interested in a courtship. “Hell yeah,” she said on the talk show. “Look at him!”

Unfortunately for her and millions of other heartbroken fans, the “Watermelon Sugar” singer might be off the market once again following his relationship and split from Don’t Worry Darling director and costar Olivia Wilde. Styles was recently spotted making out with model Emily Ratajkowski on the streets of Tokyo following his concerts in the city’s Ariaka Arena.

Watch Julie Bowen talk about her flirty Harry Styles sign below:

30 Mar 2023

Phoebe Bridgers Calls Out Trolls Who ‘Bullied’ Her on the Way to Her Dad’s Funeral: ‘Grow the F— Up’

Phoebe Bridgers opened up about some of the more difficult parts of fame in a wide-ranging Them interview with her Boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker.

“I’m coming from a place of literally — I’m feeling it in my body as I’m saying it, but — people with my picture as their Twitter picture, who claim to like my music, f—ing bullied me at the airport on the way to my father’s funeral this year,” she revealed at one point. While she didn’t note what exact situation prompted the negative attention, Bridgers made headlines in January when she was photographed at the airport with comedian Bo Burnham amid rumors that she split from actor Paul Mescal. The “I Know the End” singer announced the death of her father just days before the photos made their rounds online.

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“If you’re a kid and the internet somehow taught you that that’s an okay thing to do, then of course I hate capitalism and everything that led you to believe that it’s okay to do that,” Bridgers continued. “I, at one of the lowest points of my life, saw people who claim to love me f—ing dehumanize me and shame me and f—ing bully me on the way to my dad’s wake.”

And yes, these alleged “fans” did know that her father recently passed away. “A lot of the top comments [were] like, ‘Hey, her dad just died, what are you guys doing?’”

As a message to those who harass others online, Bridgers said, “I f—ing hate you, and I hope you grow the fuck up.”

She concluded, “I have to say, most of the people I talk to light up my life and remind me what I love about my job, but my two best friends are helping me with the boundary of I don’t have to sit here and be f—ing grateful that that happened and that that’s a part of my job. It doesn’t have to be, and it wasn’t five years ago, so I appreciate being able to look at two other people and be like, this is dehumanizing abuse, horrible s—.”

Earlier this week, Boygenius announced their upcoming headlining tour of North America in support of the band’s long-awaited debut album The Record.

30 Mar 2023

Boygenius Calls Out Right-Wing Lawmakers for ‘Trying to Kill’ the LGBTQ Community With Legislation

As legislative attacks against the LGBTQ community sharply increase around the United States, indie supergroup Boygenius is offering a fat middle finger to the lawmakers responsible.

In a new interview with Them, the group — Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus — spoke about the rising tide of anti-LGBTQ legislation, and how they’ve seen it affecting their day-to-day lives. The group acknowledged their own privilege as successful musicians, with Dacus poetically saying that they “get to navigate this with an ease that was afforded us by so much pain.”

But Bridgers added that they still feel the impact of these attacks. “The government being actually actively trying to kill the coolest people is something I think about every day,” she said. “It’s so overwhelming how different the world would be if the AIDS epidemic had never happened. It’s so overwhelming to me, to my exact world, everything that I value.”

Speaking about queer rights activists of the ’80s and ’90s, the trio said that the pain and suffering being caused by these new laws directly insults the legacy of those who worked tirelessly to make the world better. “If all of the David Wojnarowiczes and Leslie Feinbergs of the world did all of that suffering for me not to live in a world where I can be so f–king gay on a big stage and have a whole bunch of other gay people here for me and it’d be joy, then it was in vain,” Bridgers said. Baker agreed, adding, “The joy is the living amends that you do for your community as a performer.”

In discussing the future for the LGBTQ community, Dacus said that she wanted to see queer people get to a place of mundanity, like everyone else. “I want every gay and trans person to have the opportunity to be inarticulate, stupid and unexceptional,” she said. “I want to see more cool art by trans people and non-white people, and also poor people”

The trio’s new album, The Record, comes out Friday (March 31).

30 Mar 2023

SEVENTEEN Announces 10th Mini-Album ‘FML’: See the Teasers

New music from SEVENTEEN is on its way! The boy band announced its forthcoming mini-album, FML, on Thursday (March 30).

The project is slated to be released April 24 via PLEDIS Entertainment, and will arrive just nine months after SECTOR 17, the repackaging of the K-pop idols’ fourth full-length Face the Sun. That deluxe album, featuring previously released singles “Hot” and the English-language “Darl+ing” as well as new cuts such as “_World,” “Circles” and “Cheers,” earned the 13-piece act a career high on the Billboard 200 by peaking at No. 4. (The original version had previously landed at No. 7 earlier in 2022.)

To herald the announcement, SEVENTEEN unveiled the first teaser poster for FML on its social media accounts. According to a release, the image “interweaves still photos of a bed on a puddle of water, a reading lamp and a boxing ring, all tinted in muted shades of blue.” Hours ahead of the reveal, the group also posted a mysterious teaser reading “Welcome to SEVENTEEN STREET…COMING SOON” along with a diverse array of emojis including a calendar page, a cat and a frog, twinkling stars and a desert island.

CARAT will be able to begin pre-saving the mini-album on Friday (March 31), with more information about the process expected to drop on Weverse.

Seventeen previously teased the existence of FML at its Carat Land show earlier this month, with S.Coups telling the crowd in Seoul, “Some day in April, we will be back with a great album. We will be back to make your April great.”

Check out SEVENTEEN’s teasers for FML below.

30 Mar 2023

Daisy Jones & The Six Release Surprise Double Single ‘Special Gift for Our Fans’

Daisy Jones & The Six aren’t done just because their Prime Video series is. Less than a week after the 10-episode show’s finale, the fictional-turned-real band inspired by Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel dropped two surprise singles Thursday (March 30) as a “Special Gift for Our Fans.”

The double single includes previously unreleased tracks “It Was Always You,” sung by leading lady Riley Keough as frontwoman Daisy Jones, and a version of “Aurora” performed by the full band during a Saturday Night Live appearance in the Prime Video series. Both tracks debuted in the penultimate episode of Daisy Jones & The Six, which dropped Friday (March 24) after three weeks of episodes being released two or three at a time throughout the month of March.

“It’s been clear to all of us from the start, how passionate the fanbase is for Daisy Jones & The Six,” said Atlantic Records’ West Coast president Kevin Weaver in a statement. “Never was that more obvious than when the fans took to social media last week loudly campaigning for the releases of these 2 new songs that appeared in the series’ final episodes.”

The “Special Gift for Our Fans” release follows the band’s debut album Aurora, which became available for streaming one day before Daisy Jones & The Six premiered March 2. The record has since accumulated over 50 million times and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Soundtracks chart. Meanwhile, the full band — comprised of fictional characters Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), Karen Sirko (Suki Waterhouse), Graham Dunne (Will Harrison), Eddie Roundtree (Josh Whitehouse) and Warren Rojas (Sebastian Chaon) in addition to Keough’s Daisy — became the first act from a scripted series to debut atop Billboard‘s Emerging Artists chart.

Listen to Daisy Jones & The Six’s surprise new singles below:

30 Mar 2023

Ed Sheeran Leads February Boxscore Report With $50 Million Gross

While conditions slowly inch toward spring temperatures in the Western hemisphere, Oceania continues its stronghold over Billboard’s Boxscore charts as open-air stadium shows in Australia and New Zealand continue to deliver blockbuster numbers. After Elton John led in January, Ed Sheeran picks up the mantle with the highest grossing tour of February. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, The Mathematics Tour grossed $50.6 million and sold 475,000 tickets throughout the short month.

Sheeran played three shows in New Zealand (one in Wellington and two in Auckland) and five in Australia (three in Brisbane and two in Sydney). The quintet of Australian shows drove much of his February business, earning more than $7 million per show, compared to about $4 million per night in New Zealand.

The Brisbane and Sydney runs earn Sheeran the top two positions on Top Boxscores, with a $19.2 million haul at Suncorp Stadium on Feb. 17-19, and a $18.9 million run at Accor Stadium on Feb. 24-25.

Top 30 Tours February 2023, Boxscore

Sheeran’s three-night stint at Suncorp Stadium isn’t just the biggest of the month, it’s the biggest reported boxscore in the venue’s history. The February shows pass U2 for the biggest gross, ($19.2 million for Sheeran; $11 million for U2 on Dec. 8-9, 2010) and himself for the biggest attendance.

Sheeran sold 173,000 tickets over three shows last month, eclipsing the 104,000 tickets in two shows in March 2018. Even taking an average per-night attendance, forgetting the fact that he had the horsepower to sell three stadium shows in Brisbane this time around, his 57,661 pace improves upon 2018’s 51,872.

The Divide Tour, Sheeran’s record-setting 2017-19 tour, played 18 shows in Oceania, all between March 2-April 1, 2018. Those earned a combined $82.6 million and sold just over 1 million tickets. With four Australian shows left to be reported, his regional run on the Mathematics Tour would need to average $8 million per show. That’s a tall order considering the February dates balanced out at $6.3 million, but the major market shows in Melbourne could help push him closer.

February marks Sheeran’s third month at No. 1, following June 2022 and April 2019. He matches The Rolling Stones and Trans-Siberian Orchestra, while trailing Bad Bunny (four) and Sir Elton John (seven). Those five acts have led Top Tours for 20 of the 32 monthly recaps since launching in February 2019. The other nine spread between BTS, P!nk and Post Malone with two apiece, plus Backstreet Boys, Coldplay, Grupo Firme, Paul McCartney, Spice Girls and Tool.

Top 30 Boxscores February 2023

Top 10 Promoters February 2023, Boxscores

Not only does Sheeran follow John on Top Tours and at Nos. 1-2 on Top Boxscores, the Oceania sweep continues with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Post Malone. Their co-headline run in Australia and New Zealand logs its second consecutive month at No. 2 on Top Tours with multiple top 10 placements on Top Boxscores.

The dynamic duo played five continental shows in February, spread between Sydney’s Accor Stadium (two shows), Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium (two) and Perth’s Optus Stadium (one). The Sydney and Melbourne engagements rank Nos. 4-5 on Top Boxscores, with Perth closely following at No. 7.

The Chili Peppers set a new kind of record of their own. Not only are the pop-funk-rockers at No. 2 on Top Tours, but follow at No. 6, unaccompanied by a co-headliner. The band played three dates on its own in Asia that grossed $12.1 million.

Though it’s rare for an act to chart twice in the same tracking period, it’s not completely unprecedented. On the 2018 year-end charts, Jay-Z was No. 3 alongside Beyonce for the On the Run II Tour, and at No. 25 for his solo headline dates.

Top 10 Venues 15,001+ February 2023, Boxscores

Top 10 Venues 10,001-15k, Boxscores

Two shows from Sheeran and another two from the Chili Peppers & Post combine to $32.4 million at Accor Stadium, enough to be the top-grossing venue of the month. With Suncorp Stadium at No. 2 and Marvel Stadium at No. 4, among venues with capacity of 15,001 or more, it is another consecutive win for Australia. Suncorp was No. 1 last month, with Sydney’s other marquee stadium, Allianz Stadium, at No. 2.

On the other side of the spectrum, geographically and in terms of size, Las Vegas headlines the 10,000-and-under range, with Dolby Live at No. 1 among venues 5,001-10k, and Resorts World Theatre among venues 5,000 or less. The former is lifted by residency shows from Bruno Mars and the Jonas Brothers and the latter by Luke Bryan and Katy Perry.

Mexico City’s Electric Daisy Carnival is No. 3 on Top Boxscores, with a three-day haul of $16.4 million. The EDM festival returned to Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues from Feb. 24-26, playing host to 269,000 fans. A year further removed from COVID woes, its 2023 earnings are up 73% from last year’s $9.5 million, even improving upon pre-pandemic runs in 2020 ($12.2 million) and 2019 ($10.5 million).

It’s the second biggest festival gross in the entire franchise, trailing only a previous Orlando edition that earned $17.1 million at Camping World Stadium from Nov. 8-10, 2019.

Top Venues 5,001-10,000 February 2023, Boxscores

Top 10 Venues 5k or less February 2023, Boxscores