Music News

09 Mar 2023

St. Vincent Gets an Assist From The Roots for Sensual Portishead ‘Glory Box’ Cover on ‘Tonight Show’

St. Vincent put her own spin on a classic from Portishead‘s catalog for the Wednesday episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, receiving some assistance from The Roots on the electronic band’s 1994 track “Glory Box.”

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In addition to being joined by The Roots, several violinists also appeared onstage to provide further depth to the track. Vincent took center stage wearing an all-black leather ensemble, red lipstick and shimmering eyeshadow.

“I’m so tired of playing/ Playing with this bow and arrow/ Gonna give my heart away/ Leave it to the other girls to play/ For I’ve been a temptress too long/ Just…/ Give me a reason to love you/ Give me a reason to be a woman/ I just wanna be a woman,” she passionately sang on her rendition of the track.

“Glory Box” was released as the third single from Portishead’s debut studio album, Dummy. Though the track did not chart — the album’s second single, “Sour Times,” peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 53 in February 1995 — the LP became the electronic band’s first entry on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 79.

Up next for St. Vincent is an appearance at the seventh annual Love Rocks NYC event on Thursday (March 9); James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Pat Benatar and more will also perform at the event.

Watch St. Vincent and The Roots’ cover of the track in the video above.

09 Mar 2023

What Should Win Best Original Song at the 2023 Oscars? Vote!

The 2023 Academy Awards are just days away, and songs by some of today’s biggest artists are up for the best original song Oscar.

Lady Gaga is nominated for “Hold My Hand” (Top Gun: Maverick) and Rihanna is up for “Lift Me Up (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). This is Rihanna’s first and Gaga’s fourth Oscar nomination, and Gaga previously won for co-writing “Shallow” from A Star Is Born. Diane Warren also received her 14th Oscar nom for “Applause” (Tell It Like a Woman). David Byrne, Sox Lux founder Ryan Lott and Mitski are also Oscar nominees in the best original song category thanks to “This Is A Life” from Everything Everywhere All At Once, which is the most-nominated film this year with 11 nods.

Ahead of the Oscars, we at Billboard want to know which song you think should win the trophy. Let us know by voting in our poll below.

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09 Mar 2023

Post Malone & Swae Lee’s ‘Sunflower’ Music Video Grows to 2 Billion Views on YouTube

Post Malone and Swae Lee‘s “Sunflower” music video officially surpassed 2 billion views on YouTube on Thursday (March 9).

Originally released in the fall of 2018, the song was part of the soundtrack for the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and also ultimately made the tracklist for Malone’s 2019 studio album Hollywood’s Bleeding.

The music video borrows a multitude of scenes from the family-friendly movie to spell out the origin story of a young Miles Morales even as the rappers take turns crooning, “Callin’ it quits now, baby, I’m a wreck/ Crash at my place, baby, you’re a wreck/ Thinkin’ in a bad way, losin’ your grip/ Screamin’ at my face, baby, don’t trip.”

“Sunflower” became Malone’s third career No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — after the 21 Savage-assisted “Rockstar” and “Psycho” featuring Ty Dolla $ign — when it reached the summit of the chart for a single week at the start of 2019. Meanwhile, it was Lee’s very first chart-topper and also scored nominations for record of the year and best pop duo/group performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards.

In November, the two rappers had another reason to celebrate their massive song after it achieved the record as the highest-certified single in the history of the Recording Industry Association of America at 17x Platinum.

Just a few weeks ago, the video for Posty’s 2015 breakout track “White Iverson” joined the Billion Views Club on YouTube, becoming the rapper’s fourth video to do so after “Sunflower,” “Rockstar” and “Congratulations” featuring Quavo — the latter of which is inching closer every day to the 1.5 billion mark.

Revisit the “Sunflower” music video below.

09 Mar 2023

So!YoOn! Shares Rapid-Fire ‘Smoke Sprite’ Teaser With RM of BTS: Watch

RM is on a brand-new song, and BTS ARMY has So!YoON! to thank.

On Thursday (March 9), So!YoON! — Hwang So-yoon of South Korean indie rock band SE SO NEON — released a teaser for her forthcoming track “Smoke Sprite,” which the BTS star briefly appears in. Several moments from the video play out in rapid succession, with a quick scene of RM and So!YoON! standing back-to-back flashing by, while a high-energy snippet of the song plays in the background. Closing out the 10-second video is a black screen with white text informing fans of when the collaboration is scheduled to arrive: Tuesday, March 14, at 6 p.m. KST, or 4 a.m. ET.

RM’s new collaboration comes on the heels of his recently released solo album Indigo. The project, which arrived in December, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and allowed RM to become the highest-charting K-pop soloist, as well as the only K-pop soloist ever to reach the top five of the all-genre albums chart. The BTS rapper earned the honors after the LP moved 83,000 equivalent album units for the week ending in Dec. 22, according to Luminate.

The collab is one the latest endeavors afoot for the BTS boys. Jimin is scheduled to release his solo debut album, FACE, on March 24, while Suga will embark on his Agust D Tour in April.

Watch the teaser for “Smoke Sprite” in the video above.

09 Mar 2023

Karol G Joins Yahritza Martinez as the Only Women to Rule Latin Songwriters Chart

Karol G jumps to No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Songwriters chart (dated March 11), becoming just the second woman to rule the ranking.

The star leads for the first time thanks to a whopping 16 songwriting credits on the latest Hot Latin Songs chart, all via songs on her new LP Mañana Será Bonito. The album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making history as the first all-Spanish-language leader by a woman. The only other all-Spanish-language No. 1 albums are Bad Bunny’s El Ultimo Tour del Mundo and Un Verano Sin Ti.

The only other woman to have hit No. 1 on Latin Songwriters is regional Mexican up-and-comer Yahritza Martinez, who tallied four weeks on top in April 2022 thanks to Yahritza y Su Esencia’s breakthrough single, “Soy El Unico.”

Here’s a recap of Karol G’s entries on the latest Hot Latin Songs chart:

Rank, Title
No. 1, “TQG,” with Shakira
No. 4, “X Si Volvemos,” with Romeo Santos
No. 8, “Mientras Me Curo del Cora”
No. 9, “Gucci Los Paños”
No. 10, “Tus Gafitas”
No. 11, “Gatúbela,” with Maldy
No. 13, “Cairo,” with Ovy on the Drums
No. 14, “Pero Tú,” with Quevedo
No. 16, “Ojos Ferrari,” with Justin Quiles & Ángel Dior
No. 17, “Besties”
No. 19, “Mañana Será Bonita,” with Carla Morrison
No. 24, “Amargura”
No. 25, “Karmika,” with Bad Gyal & Sean Paul
No. 26, “Mercurio”
No. 29, “Danamos Los Amistad”
No. 33, “Carolina”

In the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart, only Bad Bunny and Ozuna have charted at least 16 songs simultaneously. Bad Bunny holds the record for the most in one week: 24, on May 21, 2022, concurrent with the chart start for Un Verano Sin Ti.

On the latest Latin Producers chart, Ovy on the Drums returns to No. 1 for an 18th week on top, thanks to his production work on Mañana Será Bonito. The hitmaker produced 11 charting songs from the album (Nos. 1, 4, 6, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 24, 25 and 33). Only Tainy and MAG have spent more weeks at No. 1 on Latin Producers: 119 and 38, respectively.

The weekly Latin Songwriters and Latin Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot Latin Songs chart. 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). 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 full Latin Songwriters and Latin Producers charts, in addition to the full genre rankings, can be found on Billboard.com.

09 Mar 2023

Pedro Pascal Wants This Prince Hit Played at His Funeral

Pedro Pascal is the latest celebrity to take on First We Feast’s Hot Ones challenge, in which stars eat ten chicken wings or vegan substitutes, with each wing prepared with a progressively hotter hot sauce. Meanwhile, they’ll will answer thoughtful and well-researched questions from host and co-creator Sean Evans.

The Last of Us actor made it all the way through the 10-wing challenge, maintaining his calm and cool personality as much as he could amid the heat. On the last chicken wing, dipped in Hot Ones’ own The Last Dab Apollo sauce, Evans brought up Pascal’s love for Prince, and asked him “Purple Rain” is the song the star would want played at his funeral.

“It’s my favorite song. It’s the most moving song,” Pascal shared. “I don’t know why, but it always emerges even before I actively started implementing it into my spiritual routine, essentially. I didn’t go to church. I was raised by HBO, [Steven] Spielberg and Prince. For me, ‘Purple Rain’ is the most emotionally cathartic, the most musically sophisticated song that I can think of. If it’s casually or spontaneously playing somewhere, I don’t have emotional space to go there because it just moves me so deeply.”

Watch the full episode of Hot Ones below, in which Pedro Pascal talks The Mandalorian, The Last of Us and more.

09 Mar 2023

Curren$y Talks Working With ‘Walking Grammy’ Jermaine Dupri, Offers Advice for Aspiring Rappers

Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly linked up with Louisiana rapper Curren$y behind the scenes at Rolling Loud Los Angeles. The former No Limit and Cash Money signee gushed over legendary producer Jermaine Dupri, who he even named a song after on his 2021 project, TK.

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“I’m from the underground [and] I got a lot of homies in the game, but not somebody with those accolades,” says Curren$y. “He’s just a normal person. He’s not even aware that he’s a walking Grammy.”

The 12-time Grammy-nominated producer was rumored to have been working with Curren$y since 2021, with Dupri sharing in a January interview with Vibe that the pair will put out a collaborative project together, titled Motivational Use Only Vol. 1. “I’m ready to take instruction from [Dupri] if he felt like, ‘Yo, we should probably lay this [down] again,’” Curren$y explains. “That’s not something I’m used to.”

During his Rolling Loud LA set, Curren$y performed classic tracks such as “Breakfast,” and fan-favorites including the Mac Miller-assisted “Money Shot.” Other performers included Kodak Black, Tyga, Trippie Redd, DaBaby and Ice Spice. The festival was headlined by Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Future and Lil Wayne.

Curren$y — who has had a 21-year-long career — also offered some words of advice for aspiring rappers: “Keep your head down. Keep working. Don’t mind nobody else’s business. As soon as you take your eyes off your path, that’s how you’re going to lose your position.”

Watch Billboard’s interview with Curren$y above.

09 Mar 2023

Rachel Platten Shares How Meeting Brian Wallach Led to Featuring ‘Fight Song’ in His Powerful Documentary About ALS

It’s been nine years since Rachel Platten released her ode to resilience, “Fight Song,” yet the song, to this day, has remained empowering for people worldwide who are overcoming obstacles.

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That’s why when Platten met Brian Wallach and his wife, Sandra Abrevaya, she was moved to tears by their story. Wallach, a former Obama campaign staffer, was diagnosed with the progressive neurodegenerative disease ALS when he was just 37 years old and was given six months to live. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, impacts the muscles that control eating, walking, speaking and more. Approximately 5,000 people are diagnosed with ALS each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly six years later, Wallach and Abrevaya have defied the odds and made incredible steps to advocate for ALS patients and even spurred a legislative process that eventually led to President Joe Biden’s December 2021 signing into law of the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act, which authorized $100 million a year for ALS research and expanded access to medications being studied in clinical trials to those who have been unable to participate.

Platten, however, didn’t know all of this when she and her husband Kevin Lazan first met the inspirational couple. In fact, they bonded while their children were playing in the swimming pool during a recent Hawaiian vacation. “It was such a lovely surprise. I just thought that I’d met some friends, you know, and our daughters became friends quickly. I had extra pool chairs and I gave them some of my chairs,” the singer tells Billboard. “We had a lot in common and we connected on an emotional level. It felt like way more than just a vacation friend, and it was beautiful how it turned out.”

While chatting, Abrevaya told Platten of her husband’s story, and the 41-year-old singer was awestruck by Wallach’s positivity and the love radiating from his family. “He’s such a charming guy. He’s delightful,” she says. “It’s become hard for him to talk and vocalize and his wife and his oldest daughter are the only ones remaining that can understand him. His daughter who’s only seven years old can translate for him. It’s so beautiful. Watching her love him with her eyes and the way she’s translating him with such love was the most special thing I’ve ever seen.”

At one point, Abrevaya mentioned No Ordinary Campaign, a recent documentary that highlights Wallach’s remarkable journey and how he took control of the fight for his life. That’s when Platten offered for “Fight Song” to be used in the film. “I was a little shy and vulnerable about it,” she recalls with a laugh. “I was like, ‘Guys, I don’t know if you know who I am, but I have this song.’ They’re like, ‘No, no, we know who you are. We’re really excited about it. We’ve been trying to play it cool.’ Brian actually listens to the song often.”

The version of the documentary that includes “Fight Song” was recently screened at Santa Barbara International Film Festival for the first time and is set to be featured at SXSW in Austin, Texas, this weekend (March 12).

“I’m so grateful that I wrote ‘Fight Song’ in this burst of courage and determination as a younger version of me,” Platten says of how her hit track has grown into a pillar of strength for people like Wallach. “I wrote it 10 years ago with this grit. I refused to give up on myself. It’s funny how when you write something so true and resonant and so personal that the meaning can be universal.”

See below for a heartwarming clip of No Ordinary Campaign, in which “Fight Song” soundtracks the support for ALS fighters and their families. Wallach, Abrevaya and Katie Couric serve as executive producers of the Christopher Burke-directed documentary.

09 Mar 2023

BTS’ Jimin Gets Covered in Silver Studs for ‘FACE’ Concept Photos

BTS‘ Jimin is gearing up to release his debut solo album, FACE. But in the tradition of K-pop, the singer’s label BigHit Music shared a series of concept photos on Thursday (March 9) to get ARMY even more excited for the album’s release.

Fans were treated to the “Hardware ver.” pictures in a series of three: The first features a stylish snap of the BTS vocalist wearing a black leather moto jacket, staring directly at the camera through his bangs. Another shows Jimin fitted in studs placed on his brow bone and a piercing through the center of the bottom lip. The final one has the singer seemingly shirtless, with silver studs cascading down from his face to the neck and collarbone area.

Ahead of the album’s release, a second set of concept photos — the “Software ver.” — is scheduled to arrive on March 11.

The images arrive after BigHit revealed the album art and tracklist for Jimin’s solo LP on Feb. 23. The album will contain a total of six tracks, including main song “Like Crazy” and pre-release single “Set Me Free Pt. 2,” which will drop March 17. According to a press release, the latter song will see the BTS member exploring “his resolution to free himself from various emotions hidden deep inside him.”

FACE will be released on March 24. See the “Hardware ver.” concept photos below.

09 Mar 2023

Taylor Swift’s ‘All Too Well (10 Minute Version)’ Is Now a Class at Stanford University

Calling all Stanford students! You’ll officially be able to take a class next quarter on Taylor Swift‘s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version).”

The course, cleverly titled “All Too Well (10 Week Version),” is being offered during the elite university’s upcoming winter quarter as one of the classes taught under the umbrella of Stanford’s Introductory Studies, and promises an “in depth analysis” of the No. 1 hit’s emotive lyrics taught by alum Nona Hungate.

According to the Stanford website, each of the ITAL 99 courses “offer students an introduction to topics taught by alumni of the program. With each quarter offering unique courses, these student-led classes are focused on hands-on learning and have included topics such as travel sketching, watercolor, music composition, improv acting, animation, and digital art, among many others.”

Swift’s artistry has increasingly been a topic of study at numerous universities across the country. In February 2022, NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music launched its first-ever class on the superstar taught by Rolling Stone writer Brittany Spanos. Last August, the University of Texas at Austin rolled out a new liberal arts course entitled “Literary Contests and Contexts — The Taylor Swift Songbook,” where the singer-songwriter’s work was studied alongside the likes of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Wyatt, Coleridge, Keats, Dickinson and Plath with “required texts” including four of her most recent albums.

Meanwhile, Swift herself is gearing up for the start of her wildly anticipated The Eras Tour, which kicks off next Friday (March 17) at State Farm Arena in Glendale, Ariz., with openers Paramore and GAYLE.