Music News

23 Mar 2023

Raphael Saadiq Announces Long-Awaited Tony! Toni! Toné! Tour

Tony! Toni! Toné! will reunite for a tour in 2023.

The announcement came by way of Instagram posts from members Raphael Saadiq, D’wayne Wiggins and Timothy Christian Riley that read, “Raphael Saadiq revisits Tony! Toni! Toné! Just Me And You Tour 2023” — with an influx of fans including John Legend, Questlove, Keri Hilson, Common and Bun B commenting their excitement on Saadiq’s post.

While no dates have been announced yet, Saadiq included a phone number for fans to reach him via Instagram Stories, linking to his Community.com texting list, which will presumably include more information about the tour.

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Tony! Toni! Toné! is comprised of brothers Saadiq and Wiggins and their cousin Riley, who joined together in 1986 and had a monumental run. Their first album, Who?, was RIAA-certified gold and produced hit singles including “Little Walter,” which reached No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The group’s second album, The Revival, was met with critical and commercial acclaim, spending 64 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and going platinum, in addition to boasting a slew of hits, including the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 “Feels Good.”

The “Anniversary” group went their separate ways following the 1996 album House of Music, with Saadiq going on to produce music for Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, En Vogue, D’Angelo, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Whitney Houston, John Legend and Beyonce. This year, he won his second Grammy for best R&B song for his work on Beyoncé’s “Cuff It.” Wiggins, who helped develop R&B supergroup Destiny’s Child, entered the film world following the group’s hiatus, working as an executive producer and actor.

23 Mar 2023

Gerard Piqué Breaks His Silence on Shakira Split: ‘I Want to Be Faithful to Myself’

Gerard Piqué spoke out publicly for the first time about his high-profile breakup with Shakira after more than a decade together.

“I won’t say, I don’t want to,” the soccer star said when pressed in a profile by Spanish media outlet El Pais about how the split had affected him. Instead, he chose to speak about the former couple’s two sons, 9-year-old Milan and 7-year-old Sasha.

“Everyone has their responsibility to do what’s best for their kids,” he continued. “It’s about protecting them. That’s the job of all parents with their kids. That’s what I’m focused on and that’s my role as a father.”

Piqué also clapped back at media coverage surrounding the split and his new relationship with Barcelona college student Clara Chia, saying, “The problem is how people perceive things or how the press packages it. I’m still doing what I want. I want to be faithful to myself. I’m not gonna waste money on cleaning up my image.

“The people that I love and worry about are the people that know me. The rest, I don’t care,” he maintained. “I’m putting my energy on the people that are closest to me and giving them what I have. I’m very happy. There’s been changes in my life and I’ve known how to preserve that happiness.”

Meanwhile, Shakira has been outspoken on her side of the breakup, taking hard-hitting aim at Piqué on her Bizarrap collab “BZRP Music Sessions #53,” which rocketed to No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart and ultimately broke 14 Guinness World Records.

23 Mar 2023

Lil Nas X Criticized for ‘Gays in Africa’ Tweet After Passage of Uganda’s New Anti-LGBTQ Law

Lil Nas X may be known for his no-holds-barred online personality, but even his fans are letting him know to pump the breaks following a recent tweet.

On Wednesday (March 22), Lil Nas tweeted out a simple message to his followers: “where do the gays be in africa,” he wrote. “i wanna come there.”

Fans quickly pointed out that the timing of the rapper’s tweet wasn’t great, especially considering a new law in Uganda punishing homosexuality.

The Ugandan parliament passed a sweeping anti-LGBTQ law on Wednesday, criminalizing “identifying as LGBTQ+, or the so-called promotion of gay identity,” according to a report from NPR. Performing sexual acts with a person of the same sex was already illegal in Uganda, but the new law would punish the mere act of identifying as queer with up to 20 years in prison, or the death penalty in cases of “aggravated homosexuality” — a broad definition that includes “repeat offenders,” having sex with an HIV-positive person and more.

A number of users responded to Lil Nas’ tweet pointing to the new Ugandan law. “The Uganda gays need love and solidarity today,” wrote singer-songwriter Simon Curtis, while another person wrote, “nah bro. stay home, be safe.” Others called out the “Industry Baby” rapper’s statement through quote tweets, with one fan asking that he “read the room,” while another pointed out his “terrible timing.”

The latest backlash comes shortly after Lil Nas X published an apology for another tweet he posted joking that he had transitioned. “apologies to the trans community i def handled that situation with anger instead of considering why it was not cool,” he wrote. “much love to you guys. sorry.”

Check out Lil Nas X’s tweet below:

23 Mar 2023

Lizzy McAlpine Earns First Billboard No. 1 With ‘Ceilings’

Lizzy McAlpine’s “Ceilings” reigns on Billboard’s Alternative Streaming Songs chart for the first time, lifting to the top of the March 25-dated survey.

It’s McAlpine’s first Billboard No. 1.

In the March 10-16 tracking week, “Ceilings” earned 8.8 million official U.S. streams, a jump of 9%, according to Luminate.

The track rules Alternative Streaming Songs in its sixth week on the chart after debuting at No. 23 on the Feb. 18-dated list.

But the story of “Ceilings” didn’t start there. The song was initially released in April 2022 on McAlpine’s second studio album, Five Seconds Flat.

“Ceilings” grew on such shortform video services as TikTok in late 2022, eventually debuting at No. 26 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs tally dated Jan. 28, 2023.

The song reaches a new No. 5 high on that chart’s latest edition, with its U.S. streams joined by 1.3 million radio audience impressions (up 111%) and 1,000 downloads sold (up 5%).

Being promoted to radio, “Ceilings” is drawing airplay on pop, adult pop, alternative and adult alternative formats.

Concurrently, “Ceilings” returns to the all-format Streaming Songs chart at No. 39 and leaps 80-54 on the Billboard Hot 100, both new best ranks.

Five Seconds Flat places at No. 6 on Americana/Folk Albums and No. 15 on Top Alternative Albums and has earned 133,000 equivalent album units to date.

23 Mar 2023

Ryan Hadlock Tops Rock & Alternative Producers Chart for First Time Thanks to Zach Bryan Songs

Ryan Hadlock, Dan Darmawan and Tyler Smyth are Billboard’s No. 1 rock producers on the latest March 25-dated rankings, thanks to various hits on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Hot Alternative Songs and Hot Hard Rock Songs charts.

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Ryan Hadlock Leads Rock & Alternative Producers

Hadlock tops the all-rock-genre Rock & Alternative Producers chart for the first time, thanks to his work on Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange,” of which he’s the sole credited producer.

“Orange” stands at No. 2 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs after spending six weeks at No. 1. The song marks Hadlock’s second leader on the chart, after The Lumineers’ 18-week No. 1 “Ho Hey” in 2012-13. He’s also produced chart hits for Blond Redhead and Vance Joy.

“Orange” hit No. 10 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 in January.

Dan Darmawan Rules Alternative Producers

Darmawan hits No. 1 on the Alternative Producers chart for the first time, thanks to two production hits on Hot Alternative Songs, both of which are by newcomer d4vd. The tracks, “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me,” rank at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, and mark Darmawan’s first chart appearances as a producer.

“Romantic Homicide” reached No. 33 on the Hot 100 in October, while “Here With Me” reached No. 60 in February.

Tyler Smyth Continues Run Atop Hard Rock Producers

On Hard Rock Producers, Smyth scores a 25th week at No. 1, thanks to two production credits on the latest Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, both of which are by Falling in Reverse: “Watch the World Burn” (No. 3) and “Voices in My Head” (No. 7).

Dating to the Hard Rock Producers chart’s launch, only Greg Kurstin has spent more weeks on top (34 weeks).

Billboard launched its Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, as well as genre-specific rankings for country, rock & alternative, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic, in June 2019; alternative and hard rock joined in 2020, along with seasonal holiday rankings in 2022. The charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100. The genre-based songwriter and producer charts follow the same methodology based on corresponding “Hot”-named genre charts. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).

The full Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, in addition to the full genre rankings, can be found on Billboard.com.

23 Mar 2023

Taylor Swift Is Donating to Food Banks on The Eras Tour Route

Taylor Swift isn’t just taking her show on the road for The Eras Tour, she’s also doing some major good along the way.

It was reported on Monday (March 20) that the superstar had made a sizable donation to the Arizona Food Bank Network ahead of taking the stage in Glendale, Ariz. — temporarily renamed Swift City in her honor — for the hotly anticipated start of The Eras Tour.

Swift herself didn’t publicize the donation. Instead, the food bank shared its reaction to the act of kindness with local media outlet AZ Central. “It’s not every day that you get a call from someone who works for Taylor Swift, so we were dubious at first, but happily, it turned out to be absolutely real,” vice president of external relations Terri Shoemaker told the publication.

The nonprofit exec added that she was told in the conversation that Swift planned to focus on leaving a “positive impact” on each stop along her U.S. tour route, and on Wednesday (March 22), Three Square — a food bank based in southern Nevada — revealed the singer had also made a massive donation there ahead of her back-to-back shows in Las Vegas on March 24 and 25..

“We don’t know about you, but we’re feeling grateful on this day, March 22!” the organization wrote on its official Instagram feed. “@TaylorSwift has made a generous gift to Three Square, allowing us to provide thousands of meals to families and individuals struggling with hunger. Thank you to Ms. Swift for supporting our mission and the local community.”

Billboard has reached out to Swift’s rep for comment.

The day she launched the cross-country trek, Swift also gave fans a surprise gift in the form of four new songs, including (Taylor’s Version) re-recordings of The Hunger Games tracks “Safe & Sound” with Joy Williams and John Paul White (formerly The Civil Wars) and “Eyes Open” as well as a new version of Speak Now bonus cut “If This Was a Movie” and previously unreleased Lover ditty “All of the Girls You Loved Before.”

Check out Three Square’s post about Swift’s generosity below.

23 Mar 2023

Ashley Gorley Rules the Hot 100 Songwriters Chart for First Time Thanks to Morgan Wallen Hits

Ashley Gorley rises to No. 1 on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 Songwriters chart (dated March 25), leading as the top songwriter in the United States for the first time thanks to 12 writing credits on the latest Billboard Hot 100, including 10 by Morgan Wallen.

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All 10 songs by Wallen are on his new LP, One Thing at a Time, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated March 18) with 501,000 equivalent album units, according to Luminate. The sum marks the biggest week of 2023 for any album, in terms of units earned, and the largest week for any country album since Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) opened with 604,500 units in November 2021. One Thing at a Time spends a second week at No. 1 on the latest list (259,000 units).

Leading Gorley’s Hot 100 entries is the set’s single “Last Night,” which ranks at No. 2 after hitting No. 1 a week earlier. It earned Gorley his first leader on the chart as a songwriter.

Here’s a recap of Gorley’s songwriting credits on the March 25 Hot 100:

Rank, Artist Billing, Title

  • No. 2, Morgan Wallen, “Last Night”
  • No. 10, Morgan Wallen, “You Proof”
  • No. 17, Morgan Wallen, “Thinkin’ Bout Me”
  • No. 20, Morgan Wallen, “One Thing at a Time”
  • No. 29, Morgan Wallen, “Everything I Love”
  • No. 51, Morgan Wallen feat. ERNEST, “Cowgirls”
  • No. 52, Carly Pearce, “What He Didn’t Do”
  • No. 61, Morgan Wallen, “Whiskey Friends”
  • No. 76, Morgan Wallen, “Tennessee Fan”
  • No. 81, Morgan Wallen, “Me + All Your Reasons”
  • No. 87, Brett Young, “You Didn’t”
  • No. 96, Morgan Wallen, “180 (Lifestyle)”

Gorley has been one of the most in-demand country music songwriters since the mid-2000s. He’s written or co-written 96 Hot 100 entries, dating to his first, Carrie Underwood’s “Don’t Forget to Remember Me,” in 2006.

His country chart achievements are even more impressive. Gorley has written or co-written 51 No. 1 hits on Country Airplay and 15 No. 1s on Hot Country Songs.

Gorley has also spent 32 weeks at No. 1 on the Country Songwriters chart, the second-most after Zach Bryan (38 weeks).

On the Hot 100 Producers chart, Joey Moi tallies a 23rd week at No. 1, thanks to 29 production credits on the Hot 100 – with all but one via songs by Wallen. Only Dan Nigro has spent more weeks at No. 1 (27). As previously reported, Moi concurrently becomes the first artist to spend 100 weeks at No. 1 on the Country Producers chart.

Billboard launched its Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, as well as genre-specific rankings for country, rock & alternative, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic, in June 2019. (Alternative and hard rock joined in 2020, along with seasonal holiday rankings in 2022). The charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100. The genre-based songwriter and producer charts follow the same methodology based on corresponding “Hot”-named genre charts. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).

The full Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, in addition to the full genre rankings, can be found on Billboard.com.

23 Mar 2023

John Mayer Performs Taylor Swift Duet ‘Half of My Heart’ & Fans Are Shocked: ‘First Time in Years’

John Mayer performed his 2009 hit “Half of My Heart” at a recent concert, and fans are shocked. Why? It’s been long, long time since he last played it for an audience, maybe or maybe not due to the fact that it was originally released as a duet with his superstar ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift.

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The 45-year-old musician dusted off the track for his Detroit crowd Wednesday night (March 22) at Little Caesar’s Arena, a show on his solo acoustic tour. And even though he was the only one on stage, he still had a duet partner(s), as fans in the audience sang Swift’s accompanying vocals themselves.

“John Mayer played my favorite song of his last night for the first time in years,” one fan later tweeted, sharing a video of the rare performance. “I cried. This song means so much to me.”

As many other pleasantly surprised concertgoers also pointed out after the fact, Mayer has largely shelved “Half of My Heart” from his setlists, in spite of its commercial success. This could simply be because it’s a 14-year-old song, but it’s also no secret that the “Gravity” musician hasn’t exactly been on good terms with his former co-singer in the decade and a half since they dated.

The pair were first linked after Mayer, then 31, invited Swift, who was 19, to contribute vocals to “Half of My Heart” back when he was still working on the song. Sparks flew between them when they performed the duet live at the Z100 Jingle Ball, but their romance seemed to end a couple months after that.

Since then, Swift seems to have commented on their age gap in a couple stinging songs over the years, first on 2010’s “Dear John,” and again just a few months ago on Midnights bonus track “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.” “I d–n sure never would’ve danced with the devil at 19,” she sang on the latter. “I regret you all the time.”

Mayer also appeared to hit back at his former flame on 2013’s “Paper Doll” — “You’re like 22 girls in one/ And none of them know what they’re running from” — and slammed Swift outright in an interview the year prior. “It was a really lousy thing to do,” Mayer told Rolling Stone at the time, referring to “Dear John” as “cheap songwriting.”

See clips of John Mayer’s performance of “Half of My Heart” below:

23 Mar 2023

Tupac Shakur Details His Relationship With Mom Afeni in New ‘Dear Mama’ Trailer: Watch

Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni & Tupac Shakur is set to arrive on FX in April, and ahead of its release, the television company dropped a second trailer for the docuseries on Wednesday (March 22), which further details late hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur and the relationship he had with his activist mother, Afeni Shakur, who died in 2016.

Early footage of a teenage Shakur plays in the trailer, and highlights him talking about his mother’s teachings. “My mother taught me to analyze society and not be quiet. My mother was a Black Panther and she was really involved in the movement,” he said.

Baby photos of the rap great and black-and-white shots of Afeni sharing knowledge of the Black Panther’s message to crowds, being escorted by police and sitting in for hearings are also included. “It was very difficult for me to be a mom, but I knew very well how to protect my children,” she explains, adding that she did not want him to know what it was like to go to jail, as she’d been many times herself. “I think my mother knew that freedom wouldn’t come in her lifetime, just like I know that it won’t come in mine,” Tupac says, shortly after.

Afeni’s Black Panther work resulted in her and Tupac having an awkward relationship at times, the rapper shared as a teen: “We never spent time together because she was always speaking and going to colleges. And then after that was over, it was more time spent with me. And we were both just like ‘You’re my mother,’ and she was like, ‘You’re my son, and what do we do?’”

Ultimately, Afeni moved her family out to Baltimore in 1984, where Tupac’s life took a rough turn. “My mama was a crack addict. I ended up in Baltimore on welfare with no lights on,” adult Tupac angrily tells a crowd of people.

Dear Mama is “told through the eyes of the people who knew them best,” a previous news release from FX stated. “An intimate wide-angle portrait of the most inspiring and dangerous mother-son duo in American history, whose unified message of freedom, equality, persecution and justice are more relevant today than ever.”

The documentary series, which was announced in 2019, is scheduled to arrive on April 21 on FX, and will later stream on Hulu.

Watch the new trailer for Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni & Tupac Shakur above.

23 Mar 2023

Snow Man’s ‘Tapestry’ Soars to No. 1 on the Japan Hot 100

Snow Man’s “Tapestry” hits No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated March 22, selling nearly a million copies in its first week.

The nine-member boy band’s latest single, featured as the theme of a new movie starring member Ren Meguro, launched with 921,011 CDs to blast in at No. 1 for sales. The track also ruled radio airplay and came in at No. 3 for video with 2,167,138 weekly views, soaring 90-1 on the Japan Hot 100 this week.

The group’s previous single, “Orange Kiss,” sold 850,692 copies and reached 1,853,558 views in its first week, meaning the group has further expanded its fanbase in the meantime.

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This week’s Japan charts saw STU48’s “Iki wo suru kokoro” hit No. 2 for sales with 298,796 first-week copies and Kep1er’s “I do! Do you?” follow at No. 3 for the metric with 80,783 copies sold. These two numbers also performed well in the other metrics of the chart’s methodology, resulting in debuts at Nos. 2 and 3 on the Japan Hot 100, respectively.

As such, Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle,” which had coasted along in the top 3 for 22 weeks — including a record 13 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 — fell out of the top 3 on its 23rd week on the Japan Hot 100, slipping to No. 4. Still, the track is still going strong in streaming with more than 9 million weekly streams — 9,221,292 last week and 9,010,308 this week — and is likely to return to the top 3 again.

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.

See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Mar. 13 to 19, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.