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Morgan Wallen is ready to enter into his “MW3” era with the upcoming release of his third studio album, One Thing at a Time, on Friday, March 3.
He’ll celebrate with about 20,000 of his fans at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, having just announced a free pop-up show in Nashville, set for the same day as his album release.
“I’m gonna do acoustic… everyone’s asking me why I’m not doing a Tennessee show. I’m doing one now,” Wallen shared with fans via social media.
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Fans can reserve tickets only in person at downtown Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, and it’s capped at two tickets per person. The in-the-round show kicks-off Friday night at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 4:30 p.m.
The Bridgestone show will also mark a triumphant homecoming for Wallen, who on his 2022 Dangerous Tour sold-out three consecutive shows at the venue. As he gears up for One Thing at a Time (out via/Republic/Mercury), Dangerous: The Double Album still resides in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, more than 100 weeks after its release.
Wallen also recently topped all five Billboard country charts simultaneously — the first time an artist has done so since 2019, and making him one of only three artists who have earned that distinction (the other two being Luke Combs and Kane Brown).
Wallen has released nine songs so far from the 36-track One Thing at a Time project, which he created with producer Joey Moi.
The “You Proof” singer previously told Billboard that they spent four months in the studio crafting the album, and that while they did not intend to surpass the 30 songs found on Dangerous, “the songs just kind of naturally came in.”
“It seemed like the more we cut, the more songs would show up,” Moi added. “So it just kept piling up.” He noted that at one point, they cut the track list down from 42 songs.
The new album combines Wallen’s sphere of influences, from country, alternative and hip-hop. The album is also a family affair, featuring the country star’s younger sister Ashlyne on harmonies on the song “Outlook.”
“We’ve always been super, super tight,” Wallen said. “We grew up in church singing hymns and stuff and learning how to harmonize with each other and sing three-part harmony.”
Watch his message about his free show below:
This Friday 3/3… Free show at Bridgestone.. 2 ticket limit per personSHOW / TICKET DETAILS:Bridgestone Arena Only way to get tickets is at Bridgestone box office. This show is FREE – NO tickets will be sold. Box Office openTODAY – 10AM – 5PM Friday – 10AM – 4PM pic.twitter.com/BJOWhF6J8v— morgan wallen (@MorganWallen) March 2, 2023
Matthew West earns his second No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart as My Story Your Glory arrives at the summit on the March 4-dated list. The 22-song set, released Feb. 17, earned 7,000 equivalent album units in its first tracking week, ending Feb. 23, according to Luminate.
“I’m humbled by this news and thankful to my team at Provident Label Group for its hard work,” West tells Billboard. “Most of all, I’m thankful for all who let my songs be part of their lives.”
West first led Top Christian Albums when Live Forever arrived at the summit and spent a week at No. 1 in May 2015. With the new LP, he also adds his eighth top 10 and first since Brand New started at its No. 4 best in February 2020.
West posted his first of 14 Top Christian Albums entries in 2004 with Happy, which peaked at No. 28.
Meanwhile, “Me on Your Mind,” the launch single from the new album, ruled the Christian Airplay chart for five weeks beginning last July, awarding West his 12th leader. On the multi-metric Hot Christian Songs list, which combines streaming, airplay and sales data, the track dominated for two weeks in August, giving West his sixth No. 1.
West’s current single, the My Story Your Glory title track, pushes 12-11 on Christian Airplay, up 5% to 4.3 million audience impressions. On Hot Christian Songs, it rises 16-15 for a new best, also with 376,000 U.S. streams in the tracking week.
That’s My Jam is returning for season 2 on Tuesday, March 7, and Billboard has an exclusive first look at the wild premiere featuring Jason Derulo as an opera star.
In the clip, Derulo and Nicole Scherzinger face off against Kelsea Ballerini and Julia Michaels in a series of musical games and challenges hosted by Jimmy Fallon. When it’s the “Acapulco” crooner’s turn to compete in the Musical Genre Challenge, the Tonight Show host gleefully pulls the lever to assign him a song and genre at random. The result? Sisqo‘s late-’90s classic “The Thong Song” in the grand tradition of opera.
“Are you serious?” a baffled Derulo asks before Fallon proceeds to pass red roses out of several ladies in the audience. And despite his initial hesitation, the R&B singer steps up to the mic and lets loose — adopting a faux British accent as he proves there’s apparently been a bona fide opera star inside him this whole time.
“She had dumps like a truck, truck, truck/ Thighs like what, what, what?/ Wait, Jimmy, what?/ Baby move your butt, butt, butt/ I think I’ll say it again,” he intoned before shifting up a full octave and really showing off his vibrato-laden pipes.
Throughout the season, Fallon will also welcome Chloe x Halle, Keke Palmer, Adam Lambert, JoJo Siwa, Quavo, will.i.am and more to the stage of That’s My Jam with new games, including Turn the Beat Around, Don’t Fear the Speaker, Drawing a Blank, Bop Quiz and more.
Get a first look at Derulo’s operatic “Thong Song” below.
Wizkid has pushed back his planned North American tour in support of More Love, Less Ego on the eve of its kick-off due to what the singer described as “unforeseen circumstances.” The outing, which was slated to begin on Friday (March 3) at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, would have kept the Afrobeats star on the road through a May 28 gig at Loandepot Park in Miami.
In a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday (March 1), the Nigerian singer wrote, “Due to unforeseen circumstances the Wizkid — More Love, Less Ego Tour has been postponed to Fall 2023. All tickets purchased for the originally scheduled shows will be honored on the new dates at the respective venues. Stay tuned for more information.”
At press time the new dates had not yet been announced and it was unclear if the shows will take place at the same venues.
Wizkid is also slated to perform at Afro Nation — the world’s biggest music festival focused on Afrobeats — when it comes to the continental U.S. for the first time in May. The two-day event in Miami is also scheduled to feature Burna Boy, Rema, Asake, Beenie Man, CKay, BNXN, Dadju, Franglish, Black Sherif, Nelson Freitas, Gyakie and Nissi and more.
Back in November, Wizkid landed the four top spots from More Love, Less Ego on Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs chart, including the No. 1 track “2 Sugar featuring Ayra Starr. In addition, the Ego songs “Flower Pads,” “Slip N Slide,” featuring Skillibeng and Shenseea, and “Plenty Loving,” landed at Nos. 2-4, respectively.
Check out Wizkid’s statement below.
Amy Grant is getting ready to release her first new solo album in a decade and the singer’s first foray back into the music scene since a devastating brain injury suffered in a bike accident in July 2022.
The Christian pop star spoke to The Today Show on Wednesday (March 1) about the incident near her home in Nashville, in which she hit a pothole and slammed into the pavement, knocking her unconscious for 10 minutes. The resulting traumatic brain injury and memory loss forced the cancelation of a string of 2022 shows during her recovery, which is ongoing. The singer told Today that she filled a spiral notebook with writing just to help reboot her memory, including the names of her family, which she could not recall at first.
She couldn’t even remember her song lyrics at first, including such hits as “Baby, Baby” and one of her holiday staples, “Tennessee Christmas.” “The first night of the Christmas tour, which was my first time back on tour, TelePrompter, and I was on heels. I was like holding onto the piano. Before the show I was like, ‘I’m so scared, I’m so scared,’” she recalled. And though she’s made lots of progress, doctors have told Grant that it could 18 months to fully recover from the cognitive issues from the incident.
Now, though, she said she feels “fantastic” and “re-revved up in a beautiful way,” revealing that in addition to heart surgery in 2020, she also underwent throat surgery to remove a cyst in January. She described working with a vocalist who asked what her was going on in her throat and Grant said she felt like she had an Adam’s apple that kept growing. As it turns out, that growth was a thyroglossal duct cyst that she successfully had removed earlier this year.
Afterwards, Grant holed up in a trailer in her driveway to practice singing, where she discovered that her voice was stronger than ever. Now, she’s set a 70-date tour and plans to play some of her new songs for fans on the road before the release of her new single, “Trees We’ll Never See,” on March 24. The song was written by Michael White and Marshall Altman, who also produced the singer’s 2013 album, How Mercy Looks From Here.
“So much creativity has been put on hold in my life, for all kinds of reasons,” Grant said in a statement announcing the single. “Last summer I was asked to sing on a new Cory Asbury song yet to be released. This might be one of the best songs I have heard in a long time. I was so glad they waited for me to heal up and get back to the studio. Inspired by Cory’s beautiful song, Altman and I started talking about songs that we’ve written recently that affected us. I played him one of mine. He played me one of his. His song was ‘Trees We’ll Never See.’ I loved it immediately and asked him if I could record it, and within two weeks, both songs were mixed and mastered!”
The tour kicks off tonight (March 2) at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California and is currently slated to run through an Oct. 26 gig at the Plymouth Memorial Hall in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
“To me it’s been a great reminder that life is dynamic, people are dynamic. Nobody’s all good, nobody’s all bad. A circumstance is not all bad or all good,” she told Today about her recovery and the re-ordering of her life following the accident. “Even in the worst, awful, worst trauma, beauty and goodness are still present.”
Watch Grant talk about her recovery and see her statement about “Trees” below.
BRISBANE, Australia — BIG WETT is set to make a splash with a new deal through Play It Again Sam, Billboard can exclusively reveal.
To celebrate her partnership with the independent music specialist, announced Wednesday (March 2), BIG WETT drops a fresh cut, “NUMBER 1 PUSSY,” produced by Confidence Man’s Reggie Goodchild.
“NUMBER 1 PUSSY” arrives with an eye-catching official video, directed by Lewis Stephenson and edited by Joe Aguis (Pollen Arts).
The Melbourne native “is a superstar in the making,” reckons Russell Crank, London-based head of A&R at Play It Again Sam. “Armed with huge hooks, banging beats and bucketloads of NSFW fun, everything about BIG WETT is totally addictive”.
Director of [PIAS] Australia Mari Stuart adds, “Like most people who have been lucky enough to catch her live, the [PIAS] Australia team have fallen in love with the enigma that is BIG WETT. For the uninitiated, be warned about the ridiculously fun and very NSFW lyrics you’ll soon have stuck in your head”.
Straddling a sound that captures the energy of electroclash, ‘90s rave and femme power, BIG WETT built the buzz when she uploaded a batch of demos to Soundcloud in late 2021.
Your folks will hate the tunes “EAT MY ASS” and “KING DICK,” but they caught the attention of the right people — tastemakers at triple j, Triple R, RTR FM, PBS FM, 4ZZZ and elsewhere. As soon as promoters caught her riotous performances, she landed on some of the country’s biggest stages.
Breakout performances at Bigsound 2022, Meredith Music Festival and Gaytimes will be followed by slots at Pitch Music and Arts Festival in Moyston, Brighton’s The Great Escape and this Saturday (March 4) for the BIG WETT Mardi Gras Party in Sydney.
“I’m so excited to be surrounded by the team at [PIAS] who really understand the project, and who are excited to see it grow,” comments BIG WETT in a statement. “We’re all stoked to be releasing more music over the next year together and really giving each song a chance to have its own moment”.
Founded in 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michael Lambot, Play It Again Sam is the imprint at the heart of the [PIAS] Label Group, which oversees the business’ various record label interests and is a leader among Europe’s independent music companies. Its global roster includes Lykke Li, Anna of the North and Soulwax
Last year, Universal Music Group (UMG) struck a deal to acquire a 49% shareholding in parent PIAS Group.
SZA took the stage at YouTube Theater on Wednesday (March 1), where she was being honored as the Woman of the Year at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music Awards.
After an in-person introduction from Coi Leray and a partially sung message from Lizzo via video, the SOS auteur – who has topped the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks and counting – took the stage.
Here’s her full speech.
“I’m taped in here for high hell, y’all,” she said of her outfit. “I just want to thank God and my parents are here, my mom and my dad and right here, and my whole team [at TDE], Punch [Terrence Henderson] and MeLisa [Heath] and Top [Anthony Tiffith] and Amber, who is my best friend, we were roommates in college, and now she just makes sure I don’t fall apart every single day. To RCA, just everybody.
“I don’t know. A couple days ago MeLisa was like – I was about to go on stage, I’m on tour right now, today is my day off – she was like, ‘You should take time to write your speech.’ And then it’s like, ’10 seconds to stage’ and it’s like, ‘OK.’
“I didn’t write anything but that’s also who I am. I’m a very off the dome person. What I wanted to say is that there’s so many women in this room right now that I respect so deeply. This could have been any of us in this room.
“Whether it’s Lana Del Rey or Olivia Rodrigo or Chloe or Doechii who is a f–king star or Latto, or even Coi, my very own Jersey baby. I think sometimes there’s a misconception where everybody always feels like that girl, like, oh, I know I’m that b—-h and I have a lot of confidence. It’s OK to not be that person all the time. I used to feel like I didn’t belong because I don’t always feel like that. But I realized that the key is to stay open and available for whatever the universe or God wants to do with your life. Even when you don’t know who you are or you may not see, I don’t know why telling these on Billboard, I’m grateful — I love you too [aside to an audience member].
“But I really just want my life to be more than music, to be more than just an artist. I want to serve others, I want to serve people I want to be open and available to whatever God wants from me and saying yes to everything that’s scary to everything that feels like it’s not for you or where you don’t belong. It’s really the only way we walk through those doors. I encourage everybody to continue to be inspired and just stay available. You don’t have to be confident or even know that you are the one, or anything like that, you just have to say yes to the possibility. I’m grateful and thank you all for saying yes to me and I hope everybody has a blessed night. Thank you very much.”
Some of music’s biggest names and rising stars gathered to celebrate and support woman artists, executives, producers and creators who have made an impact in their communities and the music industry at Billboard’s annual Women In Music event on Wednesday (March 1) at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.
The star-studded event featured performances from Woman of the Year honoree SZA, Becky G (Impact Award), Doechii (Rising Star), Kim Petras (Chartbreaker), Lainey Wilson (Rulebreaker) and TWICE (Breakthrough Artist). On hand to present were Sabrina Carpenter, Dove Cameron, Chloe Bailey, Coi Leray and Wondagurl. There was also a surprise appearance by global superstar Bad Bunny, who was on hand to present Ivy Queen with the Icon Award.
This Women In Music Executive of the Year honoree was Sylvia Rhone, the CEO and chairwoman of Epic Records. During her speech, she gave a shout-out to her fellow honorees SZA and Rosalia, who received the inaugural Producer of the Year Award. “You changed the game for R&B music, and R&B music is where I come from, and we’re back!” Rhone said of the “Kill Bill” artist. “And Rosalia particularly because that’s a historic win to be producer of the year.”
During her own acceptance speech — which was unscripted — SZA shared her deep respect for the other women in the room. This could have been any of us,” she said.
This year’s ceremony was hosted by Emmy Award-winning actress and writer Quinta Brunson. Check out moments from the 2023 Billboard Women In Music event below.
Becky G & Dove Cameron
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Becky G and Dove Cameron at Billboard Women In Music held at YouTube Theater on March 1, 2023 in Los Angeles.
Doechii
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Doechii performed “Crazy” and “Persuasive” at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music event.
Lana Del Rey & Rosalía
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Lana Del Rey and Rosalía — both of whom were honored during the evening — posed together at Billboard Women In Music.
Latto
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Latto performed “Lottery” and accepted the Powerhouse Award at Billboard Women In Music.
Doechii
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Doechii accepted the Rising Star Award from her mother at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music event.
Bad Bunny
Image Credit: Rich Polk/PMC
Bad Bunny presented Ivy Queen with the Icon Award during his surprise appearance at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music event.
Quinta Brunson
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Quinta Brunson hosted the 2023 Billboard Women In Music event.
Kim Petras
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Kim Petras made a plea for body autonomy while accepting the Chartbreaker Award at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music event, where she also performed “Brrr.”
Rosalía
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Rosalía marveled at the “chain” (a diamond necklace given to each honoree) while accepting the inaugural Producer of the Year Award at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music event.
Kim Petras
Image Credit: Rich Polk/PMC
Kim Petras accepted the Chartbreaker Award from Wendy Goldstein onstage at Billboard Women In Music event.
Lainey Wilson
Image Credit: Rich Polk/PMC
Lainey Wilson performed “Heart Like a Truck” at the Billboard Women In Music event.
Wendy Goldstein
Image Credit: Rich Polk/PMC
Wendy Goldstein spoke onstage at the Billboard Women In Music event before presenting an award to Kim Petras.
Kim Petras
Image Credit: Rich Polk/PMC
Kim Petras performed “Brrr” at the Billboard Women In Music event.
WondaGurl
Image Credit: Rich Polk/PMC
WondaGurl spoke onstage at the Billboard Women In Music event.
Piper Parabo & Lainey Wilson
Image Credit: Rich Polk/PMC
Piper Parabo and Lainey Wilson posed together at the Billboard Women In Music event.
Sabrina Carpenter & Lauren Spencer-Smith
Image Credit: Rich Polk/PMC
Sabrina Carpenter, who presented TWICE with the Breakthrough Award, and Lauren Spencer-Smith struck a pose together at the Billboard Women In Music event.
Latto & Chlöe
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Latto and Chlöe at Billboard Women In Music event as Latto accepted the Powerhouse Award.
Chlöe
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Chlöe presented the Powerhouse Award to Latto at the Billboard Women In Music event.
Ivy Queen
Image Credit: Rich Polk/PMC
Ivy Queen accepted the Icon Award at the Billboard Women In Music event.
Piper Parabo
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Piper Parabo at Billboard Women In Music event.
Lainey Wilson
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Lainey Wilson accepted the Rulebreaker Award at the Billboard Women In Music event.
Coi Leray
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/PMC
Coi Leray presented the Woman of the Year Award to SZA at the Billboard Women In Music event.
TWICE basked in the spotlight for its performance of “Moonlight Sunrise” at Billboard’s 2023 Women in Music event held at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday (March 1).
As the performance kicked off, images of each of the members flashed on giant screens amid shots of gorgeous sunrises. As the screens lifted to reveal the K-pop group in matching black outfits, TWICE dazzled the audience — which was packed with screaming ONCE — with spot-on choreography throughout the sweet set.
The song — off upcoming mini album Ready to Be — is the K-pop group’s second English-language single; the first was “The Feels,” which arrived in October 2021. “Moonlight Sunrise,” released in January, debuted and peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 84 on the Feb. 4-dated chart. Predecessor “The Feels” arrived and topped out one spot better – at No. 83 on the Oct. 16, 2021-dated tally — it was also the group’s first song to crack the Hot 100.
Earlier in the evening, TWICE – comprised of Chaeyoung, Nayeon, Tzuyu, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun and Jeongyeon – were honored with the Billboard 2023 Women in Music Breakthrough Award, which Sabrina Carpenter presented to the K-pop stars.
“I was especially thrilled they were being recognized because I’m a really big stan,” the “Nonsense” singer admitted to the audience. “They’re so talented, and now I consider myself a ONCE, which is what half this room is! I really hope this award will expose them to a wider U.S. audience.”
After the group took the stage to accept the honor, Chaeyoung held the award and was first to speak. “Receiving Breakthrough Artist at Billboard Women in Music is the most magical way to start our year,” she began. “Ever since we became TWICE, we believed in each other to always be together when taking a step toward our future. This moment is especially meaningful because all nine of us are standing here together in front of our fans who made our dreams come true. This title Breakthrough Artist proves that if you confidently push for your dream, people who support you will always be your team, you will break through.”
Added Tzuyu: “This accomplishment will forever motivate us to challenge ourselves to break more barriers.”
In an interview with Billboard ahead of the event, TWICE shared their thoughts on their rising global success despite language differences. “I think it’s the songs of ours that carry TWICE’s color rather than the language in which the song is sung,” Jihyo said at the time. “I don’t think the language is that relevant in carrying out TWICE’s [identity].”
Chaeyoung added that their songwriters know each of women’s personalities and strengths well, so are able to better craft tunes for the group. “They really express our personalities well, so I think that really establishes our style,” she shared. “That’s why it carries over different languages.”
And while they’ve now been named Billboard’s Breakthrough artist and have started making their way onto the Hot 100, TWICE is aiming high for the future. Said Chaeyoung to Billboard earlier: ““My personal goal going forward is to top the [Hot 100].”
Sylvia Rhone, the CEO and chairwoman of Epic Records, was recognized as Billboard’s 2023 Women In Music Executive of the Year on Wednesday (March 1) at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.
She was presented the award by Fatima Robinson, who praised Rhone for using her position to fight for hip-hop and paving a way for women in the industry. “You are magic, a force, an alchemist a savant of creative artistry and an inspiration to all women,” Robinson said. “Thank you for all the glass ceilings you have conquered.”
Rhone — who was named Epic Records’ CEO and chairwoman in April 2019, making her the first Black industry executive and woman to hold the dual title at a major record label – gave a that expressed her passion for her career, and for some of her fellow honorees of the evening, including SZA (Woman of the Year) and Rosalia (inaugural Producer of the Year).
“It’s a true privilege to be honored with these women in music – special shoutout to SZA because you changed the game for R&B music, and R&B music is where I come from, and we’re back!” Rhone said excitedly. “And Rosalia particularly because that’s a historic win to be producer of the year.”
The executive also discussed her time in the music industry. “I’m still as excited about the business today as I was over 40 years ago because it’s simply, simply my passion,” she shared, also highlighting how proud she is to run a label where more than 50 percent of senior leadership is female and people of color.
As for her promotion to Epic’s CEO and chairwoman, Rhone previously told Billboard that she had to set aside any worries that she wouldn’t succeed in the role, and found the courage to forge ahead. “I concluded that this was my chance, my time,” she said. “And that’s the takeaway I would share with whoever has that doubt: Always believe in yourself and your worth.”
This year’s event was hosted by Emmy-winning writer and actress Quinta Brunson of Abbott Elementary. The 2023 Women In Music honorees include SZA, who was recognized as Billboard’s Woman of the Year; Chartbreaker Kim Petras; American Express’ Impact Award winner Becky G; Lana Del Rey, who received the Visionary Award; Producer of the Year Latto; and K-pop group Twice for the Breakthrough Award.
