Music News

27 Mar 2023

Harry Styles Was Spotted Kissing Emily Ratajkowski & Fans Are Incredulous: See the Reactions

Harry Styles is doing some late-night talking with someone new, apparently. The pop star was just spotted getting up close and personal with model, actress and author Emily Ratajkowski on a recent trip to Japan, and naturally, the internet is undergoing a volcanic eruption of emotions in response.

It’s not unlike the deluge of reactions that flooded Twitter more than two years ago, when Styles was first confirmed to be dating his Don’t Worry Darling director and costar, Olivia Wilde. The two were together up until just a few months ago, when it was revealed in November that the pair had gone their separate ways.

Now, it looks like the “As It Was” singer is moving on. He and Ratajkowski — who was linked to comedian Eric André as recently as last month — were filmed kissing against the side of a car during a rainy day in Tokyo, where Styles just closed out the Asian leg of his ongoing Love on Tour with two shows at Ariake Arena Friday (March 24) and Saturday (March 25).

By strange coincidence, the footage surfaced on the exact date — March 25 — that Zayn Malik broke hearts across the globe by announcing his departure from One Direction

Reactions to footage of the new romance ranged from happy for the potential new couple to heartbroken that Styles may once again be off the market. But overall, the unifying feeling was one of pure shock. “Just saw harry styles passionately making out with emily ratajkowski… i can’t breathe,” one fan tweeted.

“harry are you dating emily ratajkowski? it’s not really my business i’m only 14 and stuff but i have always thought that we were going to get married,” joked another.

Some were excited for the new pairing, with one fan tweeting, “emrata and harry styles honestly power couple.”

See some of the best fan reactions below:

27 Mar 2023

Seven Returning ‘Idol’ Stars Talk Mentoring Season 21’s Contestants

Finally, what are you doing now and what is next for you?

Noah Thompson
Image Credit: David McClister

Justin: I’m finishing up the last bit of my Star Code course. I’m teaching that live online. I also have a master class that I teach, which is a lead-in to that. And then I’m gearing up for what will be my seventh Broadway show, Once Upon a One More Time, which is opening in the summer. It’s a Britney Spears musical and I’ve been with it for five years and we are finally getting our due to come to Broadway and I could not be more excited. It is legitimately my most favorite role I’ve ever played, and it is going to be something where people come to it, they will laugh, they will cry and it will feel like they are watching the most kick-ass music video they’ve ever seen on Broadway.

Clay: I semi-retired from performing nine years ago. In 2013 I said, “I’m going to step away from this.” And then in 2018 Ruben wanted to do something and we had an opportunity to do a Broadway show, so I came back and did that. And then I said, “Okay, dude. I’m not going to keep going.” And he said, “It’s our 20th anniversary. We’ve got do something.” I said, “Fine, let’s do it.” There’s nobody who could get me to come back and perform except for Ruben. I love doing that. We’re going to go out on our 20th anniversary tour, and it’ll be the first time I’ve been on tour in over a decade now. We’re putting everything we’ve got into this tour. I might fall on the ground afterward and be done for a while again. We’ll see.

Jordin: I am still doing music. I am in the final stages of choosing the songs that are going to go on the new album. Last season, they were talking to me about music while I was on stage with Ruben during the finale and I had over 100 songs and now I have almost close to 200 and so I really have to figure out which songs are the best. I want to take people on a journey and make them feel something. So I’m hoping to get that done in the next couple weeks, because after that I’m going to film a Christmas movie for BET+ and then I’m hoping that I can tour internationally. So there are a lot of dreams and ambitions. I’m also just being mom. I’m really grateful that I still get to do what I love.

David: I did a Christmas tour, and I was supposed to go on a spring tour, but I put that on hold because I need time to reassess myself. Because not only did I come out, but I also had a transition in faith. Before, my faith was the ship that steered every decision I made. I involved it in my career and now that it’s not there, it’s like I lost myself and I’m asking, “Who am I now?” But it’s also an opportunity to start again and decide who I am without my faith as a buffer. I’ve been writing a lot of music and I’m really excited to share my journey with everybody. Learning how to love yourself when you spent so much time believing that you were supposed to hate yourself and believing that that was the right thing to do: to be afraid of a piece of you, feeling like you have to hide this for your own safety and for the safety of the people around you. To think that if it ever came out, you would be hurting not only yourself but the people around you in your life. I am in the process of learning how to change that way of thinking. It hasn’t been easy, but I feel like I’m entering a whole new space of my career because I’m entering this new space personally. It’s always been important for me to share what’s in my soul and in my heart. Now, I feel so much passion in my career — [there’s] this fire that’s coming out of me that’s given me this new fuel into what I do and into the music and I just can’t wait. I’m looking for ways to share my story, because I know so many other people, especially those coming from religious backgrounds, they’re still in the thick of it and I want to help them learn because I know what it’s like. It’s like being a mentor on Idol: I was there, so this is what I wish I would have known. While it’s easier for some, it’s especially tricky for people in religious conservative households where you are still being taught, “This is not okay. Resist it. Do not give into it. Do not accept this part of you. If you do, you’re a failure.” Too many [people] who share my beliefs feel like it’s better to end their lives than to accept their sexuality if they’re queer. I was there as well. I thought, “Before I accept this about myself, maybe it’s better for me to not be here and to end my life, so that I save my soul in the long run.” I realized, “Even if you’re queer, David, maybe your life is still worth living.” I had to take that chance and it has been worth it and I realized I’m not this evil person. I’m just now understanding this love that everyone wrote love songs and romance movies and romance novels about, expressing how beautiful of a feeling it is. I didn’t understand before. I couldn’t relate to it and now I’m able to comprehend that and write those songs myself and tell my story of what it’s like to feel that feeling of loving someone and wanting to be there for them. I feel like that will help people understand, like, “Oh, that’s not very much different from what I experienced, so maybe it’s not as foreign than what I thought it was.” To help them not demonize that feeling because they feel it too and it’s a pure, wholesome feeling to experience.

Phillip: I released a song earlier this year called “Dancing With Your Shadows.” I love that song. And I’m releasing another song when this is airing called “Before I Loved You” and I’m really proud of that song. It’s a beautiful love song about me and my wife. There’ll be an album toward the end of the summer called Drift Back and all of these songs are representations for the past three to five years for me through COVID and show where I am now. It’s an honest album of love through ups and downs, not just your significant other but relationships with family and friends. My little boy Patch, he sings every word to one of these songs and that’s really sweet. I’ll say, “Is that a good song?” He’ll say, “Yup, that sounds good, daddy.” I’m like, “That’s good. Thank you.”

Catie: I am releasing a new single called “Hyperfixations” and it shows what the inside of my brain sounds like, if anyone’s ever wondered that before. I wrote this song with my producer in Nashville, Ruslan. I was discovering a new sound for myself because I went from very acoustic to very pop and I wanted to find a way to honor both but still feel authentic to myself. I’m finding the nice middle ground of acoustic lyrics but with a more produced sound and in a way to where it’s not so pop. I’m having a really fun time with that.

Noah: I recently moved to Nashville. I’ve been on tour, and I’ve been writing every day. I really don’t want to stop. Hopefully we’ll get some tour dates back up pretty soon. We’ve got some cool shows coming up, opening for Luke Combs.

27 Mar 2023

Teacher Says Miley Cyrus/Dolly Parton Duet ‘Rainbowland’ Pulled From Spring Concert at Wisconsin Grade School: ‘No Reason Given’

A language teacher at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha, Wisconsin has called out her school’s administration after saying that they vetoed the inclusion of a pair of rainbow-themed songs in the spring concert. “My first graders were so excited to sing ‘Rainbowland’ for our spring concert but it has been vetoed by our administration. When will it end?,” she tweeted last week along with hashtags for the school system, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, GSafe (which create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth in Wisconsin schools) and civil rights.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Teacher Melissa Tempel also included the lyrics to “Rainbowland,” the Cyrus/Parton duet about acceptance that appeared on Miley’s 2017 album Younger Now. “Living in Rainbowland/ Where you and I go hand in hand/ Oh, I’d be lying if I said this was fine/ All the hurt and the hate going on here/ We are rainbows, me and you/ Every color, every hue,” they sing on the song. Why was that track about living in harmony together reportedly banned?

On March 24, Tempel wrote, “The latest I heard is that the song was banned bc @MileyCyrus is controversial. D’oh, I thought for sure it was @DollyPartonvand her beautiful drag queen followers! Oh well, I can’t stop my students if they still sing ‘Rainbowland.’ It’s a fun, catchy song!” First grade teacher Tempel later said her guess as to why the duet was pulled was because of its “beautiful LYRICS. Because saying an ARTIST is controversial would be a very slippery slope and they wouldn’t want to go there. Amirite?,” she wrote.

When a commenter asked why the song was pulled from the concert Tempel responded, “no reason given.” A day later, Tempel reported that the administration also banned the Muppet Movie classic “Rainbow Connection,” writing, “so it seems the reason is rainbows.” Tempel provided another update on March 23 when she reported that “Rainbow Connection” had been unbanned after “parents sent emails to admin,” though it seems “Rainbowland” is still off the menu.

At press time spokespeople for Heyer Elementary and the Waukesha Country board of Education had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on the reported song bans. At press time it also did not appear as if Parton or Cyrus had responded to the reported “Rainbowland” ban on their socials.

In a statement to People, the Alliance for Education’s Becky Gilligan said that their organization, “continues to advocate for our community… This is the most recent decision by a school district administration intent on stifling the diversity and denying equality to the community it serves, further ostracizing Waukesha in the eyes of the nation.”

The mother of a first-grader at the school, Sarah Schindler, told the Los Angeles Times that her daughter came home last week with a list of songs she was going to perform at the spring concert. Among the tracks Schindler pulled up on YouTube were “Rainbowland,” Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection” and Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” Schindler said both she and her daughter were very excited because they love Parton.

Then a few days later, her daughter came home and told Schindler, “we can’t sing it anymore. We can’t sing ‘Rainbow Connection’ and we can’t sing ‘Rainbowland.’” Schindler said she reached out to Tempel, her daughter’s teacher, and the school’s principal as well as the district superintendent for answers and was told that the administration had pulled the songs because they were too “controversial.”

Schindler told the Times that the school board had undergone a “conservative flip” recently in the wake of COVID-19 mitigation strategies during the global pandemic that has has killed more than 1.2 million Americans to date. “One of those is a controversial topics policy saying that teachers can’t have any kind of signage that could be deemed political. … Discussion of pronouns with students was another thing that came up. And teachers aren’t allowed to wear rainbows,” Schindler said.

Another parent with a student enrolled in the district told the paper that the Waukesha school district has “really cracked down on anything LGBTQ… so this song being an ‘issue’ has not in any way come as a surprise… My daughter is 17 and has been in the marching band community for four years. It’s a very welcoming community for kids that are LBGTQ. She has a lot of friends that identify as part of that community so it hurts her deeply. All that Miley and Dolly are saying is that they want to live in a world that is accepting, with no judgment and where people can be who they want to be.”

See Tempel’s tweets below.

27 Mar 2023

Madonna Adds Nashville Tour Date and Calls Out Anti-LGBTQ+ State Laws: Don’t ‘F With a Drag Queen’

Pop icon Madonna won’t allow a troubling trend of state legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community impede her career-spanning Celebration Tour, announcing plans to perform in Nashville just weeks after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a law restricting drag shows in the Volunteer State.

Tennessee Senate Bill 3 creates a new felony offense for anyone engaging in an “adult cabaret performance” on public property or in any location where the performance “could be viewed by a person who is not an adult.” In announcing her plans to perform at the Bridgestone Arena on Dec. 22 — one of nine new shows added to the sellout tour that now stretches to 80 dates across North America and Europe — Madonna and tour opener Caldwell Tidicue, who performs as Bob the Drag Queen, seem prepared to confront and possibly break the law. Maybe.

Madonna addressed the issue in a press release announcing the Nashville show, among others.

“The oppression of the LGBTQ+ is not only unacceptable and inhumane; it’s creating an unsafe environment; it makes America a dangerous place for our most vulnerable citizens, especially trans women of color,” she said. “Also, these so-called laws to protect our children are unfounded and pathetic. Anyone with half a brain knows not to f–k with a drag queen. Bob and I will see you from the stage in Nashville where we will celebrate the beauty that is the queer community.”

Madonna noted that there are over 100 anti-LGBTQ+ bills currently making their way through various state legislatures around the country, with the longtime activist committing to donating a portion of proceeds from her to show to support trans rights organizations.

Madonna has performed in Nashville just once as part of a major tour — in 2016 on the Rebel Heart trek, selling out the Bridgestone Arena and grossing $1.5 million, according to Billboard Boxscore.

Besides the new Music City show, Madonna also announced two new dates on the East Coast, a new run of shows in California and tour stops in Las Vegas and Phoenix. The Celebration Tour has sold out over 40 shows and counting across Toronto, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and more.

Citi cardmembers and fan club members will have access to presale tickets for the new dates starting tomorrow at noon local time through Thursday at 6pm local time. The general on sale for most of the shows starts on Friday (March 31) at 10am local time on Madonna’s website, while the Philadelphia date goes on sale at noon.

Fans can also purchase VIP Packages, which may include premium tickets, behind the scenes tours, group photos on-stage, a pre-show reception and more.

New Dates for The Celebration Tour

Dec. 18 Washington, DC Capital One Arena
Dec. 20 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center – On Sale at 12pm Local Time 03/31
Dec. 22 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
Jan. 7 2024 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
Jan. 8 2024 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
Jan. 11 2024 Palm Springs, CA Acrisure Arena
Jan. 13 2024 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center
Jan. 15 2024 San Francisco, CA Chase Center
Jan. 18, 2024 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
Jan. 20, 2024 Phoenix, AZ Footprint Center

27 Mar 2023

Kamala Harris Releases Spotify Playlist to Soundtrack Trip Across African Countries: Exclusive

Vice President Kamala Harris has partnered with Spotify for an official playlist of African music as a means of crystallizing her current trip across the continent, Billboard can exclusively reveal.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The playlist, titled “My Travels: Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia,” is live on the streaming platform, and is designed to “amplify the artists and sounds from my travels” across those countries, per its description. The vice president arrived in Ghana on Sunday (March 26) for her first trip to Africa while in office, and will visit Tanzania on Wednesday and Zambia on Friday before returning to the U.S. on Sunday.

According to Spotify, VP Harris worked closely with the streamer to curate the playlist, which features Ghanaian and Ghanaian-American artists like Amaarae, Moses Sumney and Black Sherif; Tanzanian and Tanzanian-American artists like Harmonize, Zuchu and Alikiba; and Zambian and Zambian-American artists including Chile One Mr. Zambia, Yo Maps and Chef 187.

On Monday, Harris will visit Vibrate Space, a Ghanaian music work station that local collective Surf Ghana opened last October with audio recording, mixing, mastering and editing equipment, along with consultations and Masterclass sessions. Spotify supported the launch of Vibrate Space last year, and the vice president plans to meet with local artists — including some featured on her playlist — at the studio.

Click here to listen to the playlist, and check out the full track list below:

1. All My Cousins, “Act a Fool”
2. Moses Sumney, “Me in 20 Years”
3. T’neeya, “Pretty Mind”
4. Amaarae, “Reckless & Sweet”
5. Herman Suede, “Kumbaya”
6. Moliy, “Ghana Bop”
7. Ria Boss, “Call Up”
8. Harmonize, “Single Again”
9. Chile One Mr Zambia, “I Love You”
10. Black Sherif, “Kwaku the Traveller”
11. Jux, Marioo, Papi Cooper & Tony Duardo, “Nice (Kiss)
12. Zuchu, “Utaniua”
13. Yo Maps, “Aweah”
14. Alikiba, “Mahaba”
15. Jay Melody, “Sawa”
16. Mbosso feat. Costa Titch & Alfa Kat, “Shetani”
17. Sarkodie feat. Black Sherif, “Country Side”
18. Platform Tz & Marioo, “Fall”
19. Darassa feat. Bien, “No Body”
20. Chef 187 & Blake, “Nobody”
21. Kuami Eugene & Rotimi, “Cryptocurrency”
22. Coolguy Pro, “Cherry”
23. Marioo & Abbah, “Lonely”
24. M3NSA, “Fanti Love Song”
25. Baaba J, “Lumumba”

27 Mar 2023

Ariana Grande Is ‘Up to (No) Good’ in Behind-the-Scenes ‘Wicked’ Set Pics with Cynthia Erivo

Something Wicked this way comes. Fans are finally getting a sneak preview of the eagerly anticipated Wicked movie musical. On Sunday (March 26) the movie’s co-star, Ariana Grande, shared some behind-the-scenes pictures from the set in which she elegantly poses alongside co-star Cynthia Erivo with the caption “up to (no) good,” followed by bubbles and a broom emoji.

In the first snap, Grande’s Glinda — dressed in an elegant polka dot gown and long white gloves — holds hands with Erivo’s Elphaba, dressed in a plaid dress, tall black boots and big hoop earrings; Erivo posted the same pics on her feed. The pair star in the Jon M. Chu-directed movie filming in two parts and in the pics she and Erivo are seen chatting in the back set of a car, holding each other’s hands at the dinner table and standing toe-to-toe.

While Chu has kept things tightly under wraps during the shoot, an excited Jeff Goldblum spilled some secrets last week on Jimmy Kimmel Live! when he confirmed that he had joined the cast of the film. “I was just on the set of Wicked. I’m not supposed to talk about that. But it’s been out and about,” Goldblum said with a wicked grin.

It’s still not confirmed what role Goldblum will play, but he had nothing but praise for his co-stars, adding, “you should see our witches, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, very good.” The film based on Gregory Maguire’s novel and the hit Broadway musical adaptation, will also feature Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, as well as Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Bowen Yang, Adam James, Keala Settle and Bronwyn James.

The movie was initially meant to hit theaters on Christmas Day of next year (Dec. 25, 2024). But in the spirit of giving thanks, Wicked Part 1 is now set to be released next Thanksgiving (Nov. 27, 2024), according to Chu, who excitedly shared the news via Instagram recently. He wrote that he and his team were “deep into shooting WICKED here in London” before officially announcing the new release date. “Bring the family, bring your friends…it’s going to be a ride!!! appreciate all your support through this long production process. Shooting two movies at once is no small feat.”

Check out Grande’s pics from set below.

27 Mar 2023

Ed Sheeran Shares Stripped-Down ‘Eyes Closed’ Video Featuring Aaron Dessner on Piano

Just days after manifesting his grief via a blue meanie in the official video for “Eyes Closed,” Ed Sheeran switched things up and dropped a moving live video for the song on Monday (March 27). In the bare-bones clip, Sheeran strums his trusty acoustic guitar inside a drab warehouse space backed by producer The National’s Aaron Dessner on upright piano.

After the first run through the song’s crying chorus Sheeran is joined by a six-piece string section, giving the song a heightened sense of gravity as he sings, “Just dancin’ with my eyes closed/ ‘Cause everywhere I look, I still see you/ And time is movin’ so slow/ And I don’t know what else that I can do/ So I’ll keep dancin’ with my/ Eye-eye-eye-eyes/ Eye-eye-eye-eyes closed/ Eye-eye-eye-eyes So I’ll keep dancin’ with my.”

“Eyes Closed” is the first single from Sheeran’s forthcoming album – (Subtract), the final collection in his mathematics-themed series records. The singer explained that the song percolated for several years, initially imagined as a break-up song before it evolved when Ed suffered a “heartbreaking loss,” which led him to revisit the track, as described in a statement accompanying the official video.

“This song is about losing someone, feeling like every time you go out and you expect to just bump into them, and everything just reminds you of them and the things you did together,” Sheeran explained. “You sorta have to take yourself out of reality sometimes to numb the pain of loss, but certain things just bring you right back into it.”

Sheeran’s forthcoming album will drop May 5 via Asylum and Atlantic Records. It’s been described as a “soul-bearing” collection, written “against a backdrop of grief and hope,” during which time he processed his good friend late Australian Mushroom Group founder Michael Gudinski’s death, his wife Cherry Seaborn‘s tumor diagnosis and the loss of his close pal Jamal Edwards.

Watch the acoustic take on “Eyes Closed” below.

26 Mar 2023

Kelly Clarkson Announces Post-Divorce Album ‘Chemistry,’ Explains Meaning Behind the Title

Kelly Clarkson has officially announced the title of her upcoming post-divorce album.

The 40-year-old pop superstar and television personality shared the exciting news through social media on Sunday (March 26), revealing details about the album’s title, Chemistry, and assuring fans that new music will be arriving very soon.

“I’ve been working on this project for close to three years now. I wasn’t sure I was going to release it, but I am. The album is called Chemistry,” Clarkson said in a video on Instagram.

“I was trying to find a word, it might be one of the songs on the album, but I was trying to find a word that really described the whole thing. I didn’t want everybody to think I was just coming out with some ‘I’m angry,’ ‘I’m sad’ — just one or two emotions. This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship.”

The Kelly Clarkson Show host added, “That whole relationship shouldn’t be brought down to one thing. There’s the good, the bad and the ugly kind of thing going on. Chemistry can be a really amazing, sexy, cool, fun thing, but it can also be very bad for you. So that’s why I named it Chemistry, I thought it was the perfect title to describe the entire album.”

Clarkson did not reveal a specific release date for Chemistry, but said the album is “coming out soon” and noted that new music from the forthcoming release is “coming out even sooner.”

The songstress said in a September 2022 interview with Variety that she had been working on new music in the wake of her separation and subsequent divorce filing from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock in 2020.

“My producer and I were laughing yesterday because I was like, ‘Remember that time we wrote, like, 25 songs in a week?’ A lot of those are the ones that are on the album,” Clarkson told Variety. “I literally wrote most of these almost two years ago. Then I told my label, ‘I can’t talk about this until I’ve gone through it,’ and it’s just taken some time to do that. That’s one of the reasons we’ve done a lot of Christmas stuff the past two years — because I was like, ‘Well, that’s happy!’”

Clarkson’s most recent album, the holiday release When Christmas Comes Around, arrived in 2021. Prior to that, she dropped her eighth studio album, 2017’s Meaning of Life, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

The singer’s upcoming Chemistry album was reportedly inspired by the “emotional journey” she went through during her tumultuous split with Blackstone, with whom she has two young children.

“I hadn’t really been working hardcore on an album until I needed to. I was just very busy,” Clarkson said of the album, which will be released on Atlantic Records.

“There were so many jobs, and I’m a single mom — well, even with being married, it’s a lot, trying to fit kids’ schedules in and all that stuff. But then the whole divorce thing happened, and I needed to write it. And then I didn’t know if I was going to release it, because you can be very angry in that state of mind. So some of the songs, they definitely cover the gamut of emotions; there’s everything on the album. It’s almost like the arc of a relationship, because the beginning is so beautiful and so sweet, and then it evolves. And sometimes it doesn’t evolve how you want.”

Watch Clarkson’s Chemistry album announcement on Instagram below.

26 Mar 2023

Fans Choose Jimin’s ‘Face’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music

Jimin‘s debut solo album, Face, has topped this week’s new music poll.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (March 24) on Billboard, choosing the BTS member’s six-track project as their favorite new music release of the past week.

Face, which arrived on March 24 via HYBE LABELS, brought in 74% of the vote, beating out new music from Lana Del Rey (Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd), Ed Sheeran (“Eyes Closed”), Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro (RR), Luke Combs (Gettin’ Old), and others.

Face was preceded by pre-release single “Set Me Free, Pt.2” and its dance-heavy music video. The new album also contains “Like Crazy,” album opener “Face-Off,” and more. In addition to production from the likes of Pdogg, Ghstloop and Evan, Jimin’s BTS bandmate RM also has songwriting credits on three songs on the tracklist.

In an interview with Consequence previewing Face, Jimin admitted each of his bandmates have been anxious over going solo as they focused on individual projects, but “their results were absolutely great.” (Recent solo efforts have included J-Hope’s old-school hip-hop-leaning Jack in the Box, RM’s eclectic, collab-packed Indigo, and Jin’s single “The Astronaut,” which was co-written by Coldplay and released before he started his mandatory enlistment in the Korean military.)

Jimin himself was also nervous for his solo debut before its grand unveiling, explaining, “I don’t want to be an embarrassment to my members. I want to be a proud member of BTS” before hinting that the album will explore “how I overcame… If people understand the emotions I’m trying to express, I’ll consider the album a success.”

Trailing behind Jimin on the fan-voted poll was Del Rey’s ninth album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, with 21% of the vote. In the set, the songstress muses on sex, devotion, family and American decay, but this time with a series of guests — including Tommy Genesis, Jon Batiste and Bleachers — providing an assist. The set shows once again that Del Rey is trying to challenge herself in ways she previously hasn’t.

See the final results of this week’s new music release poll below.

26 Mar 2023

Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron Addresses Rumors About Joining Foo Fighters on Drums for Upcoming Tour

Matt Cameron is clearing up rumors about joining the Foo Fighters for the rock band’s upcoming tour dates.

On Saturday (March 25), the Pearl Jam drummer shared a post on his Instagram Story, denying a recent report by U.K. tabloid The Sun that he’s replacing late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins when the group returns to the road in late spring.

“FYI the internet rumors are false, I haven’t joined the Foos,” Cameron wrote alongside a red heart emoji.

The Sun reported on March 16 that Cameron, a close friend of Hawkins, would join the Foo Fighters on their 2023 North American tour, which begins May 24 at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, N.H. Citing a source, the report also indicated that Angels & Airwaves drummer Atom Willard would join the Dave Grohl-fronted band on various upcoming dates.

Cameron performed the Foo Fighters song “Low” alongside surviving band members during a September 2022 tribute concert in Los Angeles. Saturday (March 25) marked the one-year anniversary of Hawkins’ death at the age of 50. He passed away in a Bogotá, Colombia, hotel room as the Foos were gearing up to perform. The beloved drummer’s death was announced through a social media statement from the band’s accounts, with no immediate cause of death given.

In a New Year’s Eve social media post, the Foo Fighters announced plans to continue as a “different band going forward” following the death of Hawkins.

“Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were — and without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a different band going forward,” the statement read. “We also know that you, the fans, meant as much to Taylor as he meant to you. And we know that when we see you again — and we will soon — he’ll be there in spirit with all of us every night.”

See Cameron post on his Instagram Story here.