Music News

28 Feb 2023

There Goes My BBQ Hero: Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl Cooks For L.A. Homeless During Marathon Grill Session

Foo Fighters singer/guitarist Dave Grohl put down his pick and hopped into the pit to help Los Angeles’ Hope Mission feed the homeless last week in a marathon BBQ session that had the organization’s CEO singing the rocker’s praises.

“In the middle of our 350 mile run to end homelessness, we got the coolest video ever from Dave Grohl, of the Foo Fighters. Not only did I wish us luck, but he cooked for hundreds of people who live in our shelters in the middle of one of the worst storms,” the group’s boss, Rowan Vansleve, wrote alongside a video of Grohl manning the rib station last Wednesday.

TMZ reported that Grohl spent 16 hours in the kitchen whipping up ribs, pork butt, brisket, cabbage, coleslaw and beans, personally footing the bill for all the expenses and catching a nap in the parking lot while the meat was smoking. The rocker then reportdly helped serve the food, which fed around 450 guests and 50 staff members.

On Tuesday morning (Feb. 28), the Foos also announced three more headlining shows. The band is gearing up to play its first run of gigs since the shock death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last March in Colombia while on tour; at press time the group had not yet announced who will play drums on their 2023 dates.

In addition to a number of festival gigs at Bonnaroo, Boston Calling, Sonic Temple, Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Harley-Davidson Homecoming, Fuji Rock, Jazz Aspen Snowmass, The Town and Sea.Hear.Now, the Foos announced gigs in Gilford, NH on May 24 (at Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion), Rogers, AR on June 14 (at Walmart AMP) and Pelham, AL on June 16 (at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre); tickets for all three shows will go on sale to the public on Friday (March 3) at 10 a.m. local time here.

Check out the video of pit boss Grohl below.

28 Feb 2023

Hot 100 First-Timers: Lizzy McAlpine Reaches New Heights With ‘Ceilings’

Lizzy McAlpine achieves her first career entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated March 4) as her breakthrough single, “Ceilings,” debuts at No. 75.

The song, released on Harbour/AWAL, debuts largely from 6 million U.S. streams (up 34%) in the Feb. 17-23 tracking week, according to Luminate. It concurrently rises 6-5 on Hot Alternative Songs, 8-7 on Hot Rock Songs and 9-8 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (all of which use the same multimetric methodology as the Hot 100).

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“Ceilings” also becomes McAlpine’s first top 10 on the Official UK Singles chart, where it soars 21-9.

TikTok has been a major factor in the song’s growing profile, as a sped-up version has been used in more than 115,000 clips on the platform to date. (TikTok does not contribute to Billboard’s charts.)

The Philadelphia native, 23, is a newcomer to Billboard’s charts. “Ceilings” is McAlpine’s first title to appear on a songs ranking, while parent set Five Seconds Flat sparked her first overall chart appearance, when it debuted and peaked at No. 5 on Heatseekers Albums in April 2022. It later reached No. 10 on Vinyl Albums and No. 33 on Top Album Sales. This week, it debuts at No. 6 on Americana/Folk Albums. The LP features notable guest appearances from Jacob Collier and Finneas.

McAlpine’s 2022 collaboration with Collier and John Mayer, “Never Gonna Be Alone,” garnered the folk-pop singer her first Grammy nomination, for best arrangement, instruments and vocals.

McAlpine recently told Billboard that she’s already at work on her next album, without explicitly revealing its sonic direction.

“I feel like [2020’s Give Me a Minute] was close to what I think that I actually sound like. And then [Five Seconds Flat], I was trying to go as far away from that as possible, just to differentiate myself and not get stuck in the genre. This [next] album won’t sound like the first album, but it’s definitely closer to what I think I actually sound like as an artist. It feels like the most authentic music I’ve ever written.”

28 Feb 2023

Miranda Lambert Reacts to Earning a Career First With Morgan Wallen Hit: ‘We Did Good That Day Y’all’

Miranda Lambert is in the mood to celebrate after earning a No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart. “We did good that day y’all,” the country star wrote in a Feb. 27 Instagram post, addressing her songwriting partners Morgan Wallen and Nicolle Galyon, who together crafted Wallen’s current two-week Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 hit, “Thought You Should Know,” a tribute to his mother, Lesli.

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Lambert also shared a photo of herself with Wallen and Galyon in the post, tagging each of them in the photo. “Congrats @morganwallen on your number 1 song ‘Thought You Should Know,’” she captioned the snap. “Proud to be a writer on a song about your mama! This is the first number 1 song I’ve ever had as a writer. … Cheers friends.”

While Lambert has earned seven No. 1 Country Airplay chart hits of her own, “Thought You Should Know” marks Lambert’s first No. 1 solely as a songwriter on a song she isn’t also performing. (She has been a co-writer on some of her own chart toppers, including “Bluebird” and “Heart Like Mine.”)

Galyon also shared her pride in the song’s success, recounting the day the trio wrote the song in August 2020. “Everything about this one feels like a blur. the day it was written (aug ‘20). the life that has transpired since. the fact that it was chosen as a single. the manner in which it rocketed up the charts. it’s been harder for me to absorb as fast as i’ve been running lately,” Galyon wrote in a Feb. 26 Instagram post.

She added, “would be remiss to not give a huge thanks to MW & ML for showing up this day to write (especially when there was no obvious record to write for that day! – a reminder to just write to write). and to @stacytw and the Big Loud radio team for making my first ever big loud single as a writer a big one.” She ended her note with a sweet message to her son, Ford. “and to my fordy, I hope this serves as a reminder to check in on me when i’m old and very grey.. bc i’ve been losing sleep about you since 2015.”

“Thought You Should Know” is on Wallen’s 36-track album One Thing at a Time, which releases Friday (March 3).

28 Feb 2023

Niall Horan Explains How One Direction’s ‘X Factor’ Run Gives Him Empathy for ‘The Voice’ Contestants

If there’s anyone who understands what it feels like to go through an internationally televised singing competition show, it’s Niall Horan. After getting his start in 2010 as part of One Direction on The X Factor, where he and his bandmates placed third, the 29-year-old singer-songwriter is now seeing what it’s like on the other side of the buzzer by joining Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and Chance the Rapper as a coach on this season of The Voice.

And in a Monday night (Feb. 27) appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, Horan opened up about how going through the ringer on X Factor has made him a more compassionate coach on The Voice. “I’ve been on a show like that,” the “Slow Hands” singer said. “I understand how it works.”

“That’s how I got half of my team,” he added. “They understand I’ve got that empathy with them. I was that 16-year-old knowing that, that person there has got my future in their hands. That’s the hardest thing about The Voice, is I have to make end-game decisions over two singers that are standing in front of me knowing I have their future in my hands.”

Horan, whose third album The Show arrives this summer, also opened up about what it’s like to work with his fellow Voice judges — particularly Shelton, who recently announced that the upcoming 23rd season, which premieres March 6, will be his final stint as a coach. “It’s been so fun — we were very lucky with the crew of coaches I’m with,” Horan said. “It could have been horrific, if you’re sitting there every night pretending that you like the person you’re sat next to. I got very lucky in Blake Shelton alone.”

“He’s stone cold, that man,” he continued, admitting that Shelton is just as cocky in person about his nine Voice wins as he appears on TV. “That’s all he does, anywhere, to everyone that will listen to him or don’t want to listen to him. He’s constantly nailing everyone. But he’s an absolute beauty, and he’s going to be missed around that show. He’s so good to work with.”

Then, at Meyers’ request, the “Heaven” musician seamlessly switched from his trademark Irish accent to a deep Oklahoma twang, showing off his perfect impression of the country star. “This is my last season on The Voice, and I would love if you would be on the last ever Team Blake,” he mimicked, noting that impersonating Shelton’s southern charm makes him feel like “a politician.”

Watch Niall Horan talk about being a coach on the Voice, working with Blake Shelton and more above.

28 Feb 2023

Taylor Swift Extends Record Run Atop Artist 100, P!nk Jumps to No. 2

Taylor Swift extends her record run at No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated March 4) as she scores her 64th week as the top musical act in the United States.

Swift returns to No. 1 thanks to two tracks on the Billboard Hot 100 from her latest album, Midnights. Her former eight-week No. 1 “Anti-Hero,” which became her longest-leading hit, ranks at No. 8, while “Lavender Haze” rises 24-22 (after debuting at No. 2 in November).

Midnights holds at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 54,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. Feb. 17-23, according to Luminate, after spending five weeks at No. 1. Also contributing to Swift’s haul is her new live album, Lover: Live From Paris. The set debuts at No. 1 on Vinyl Albums, No. 5 on Top Album Sales and No. 58 on the Billboard 200, with its consumption entirely from 13,000 copies sold on vinyl, according to Luminate. It was recorded at Olympia in Paris on Sept. 9, 2019, in support of her studio album Lover, released that year.

In total, Swift boasts 10 albums on the Billboard 200: Midnights, Folklore (No. 28), Lover (No. 41), 1989 (No. 50), Red (Taylor’s Version) (No. 56), Lover: Live From Paris, Reputation (No. 100), Evermore (No. 103), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (No. 172) and Speak Now (No. 192). Swift is the first artist to place at least 10 albums on the chart simultaneously since Prince, following his death in 2016. Swift is the first living soloist to claim at least 10 titles on the chart in a single week dating to August 1963, when the chart switched from reflecting albums’ stereo and mono popularity separately.

Here’s a look at every week that an act has tallied at least 10 albums on the Billboard 200 in that nearly 60-year span:

Chart Week, Artist, Titles on Billboard 200:

  • March 4, 2023, Taylor Swift, 10
  • May 28, 2016, Prince, 13
  • May 21, 2016, Prince, 10
  • May 14, 2016, Prince, 19
  • Jan. 30, 2016, David Bowie, 10
  • March 1, 2014, The Beatles, 13
  • March 10, 2012, Whitney Houston, 10
  • Dec. 4, 2010, The Beatles, 14
  • Jan. 9, 2010, The Beatles, 11

Directly below Swift on the Artist 100, P!nk vaults 61-2 thanks to her new album, Trustfall. The set opens at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (75,000 units), becoming her ninth top 10. It also starts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, with 59,000 copies sold. She has spent three weeks atop the Artist 100 since the list launched in 2014, most recently in May 2019.

The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

28 Feb 2023

J. Cole to Headline 2023 Dreamville Festival With Drake As His Special Guest

J. Cole and his Dreamville team are ready to bring their hip-hop magic back to Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, N.C., with the third annual Dreamville Festival. Starting April 1 and 2, the two-day affair features a stout lineup headlined by J. Cole and special guest Drake on Sunday night, with Usher bringing the R&B flare the day before. 

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Dreamville Fest will be the first time Cole and Drake will headline a show together; the two hip-hop luminaries are considered the pillars of the 2010s rap era. Their first collaboration goes back to Cole’s 2010 Friday Night Lights standout “In the Morning.” In 2013, Drake and Cole united again on the braggadocio track “Jodeci Freestyle.” According to the Dreamville press release, they will perform a medley of hits from their standout catalogs. 

Aside from Drake and Cole sharing centerstage, Burna Boy will enjoy a headlining set of his own on a separate stage Sunday night. On the heels of his NBA All-Star Game halftime show performance earlier this month, Burna Boy will continue his fiery run after a dominant 2022 headlined by his Billboard Hot 100 hit “Last Last.” Summer Walker, J.I.D, GloRilla, Bas, Waka Flocka Flame, Mario and more will also perform April 2, while day one will have Lil Durk, Ari Lennox, City Girls, Sean Paul, Earthgang, Jessie Reyez and Key Glock. 

GA, GA+ and VIP two-day passes are on sale now at www.DreamvilleFest.com.

DREAMVILLE

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28 Feb 2023

Jimmy Fallon Thanks Monkees’ Micky Dolenz For Early Stand-Up Break: ‘I’ll Never Forget It’

It’s hard to imagine now, but a one point Jimmy Fallon was an unknown, struggling stand-up comedian looking for a break. On Monday night’s (Feb. 27) Tonight Show, Fallon finally got the chance to thank a musician who took a chance on him way back when by giving the now-veteran late night host an opening gig for the band.

“I was a stand-up comedian and it was probably 1996 or ’97… it was before I was on Saturday Night Live,” Fallon told Monkees singer/drummer Micky Dolenz about the time he opened for the “Pleasant Valley Sunday” band nearly 30 years ago. “I got a gig to open for you at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angles.”

Fallon recalled saying hello to Dolenz and late Monkees singer Davy Jones and that Dolenz asked what his name was. “‘I think you got something there, kid,’” Fallon said Dolenz told him. Jimmy then recalled “freaking out” about meeting the rocker and remembered that Dolenz told him he was filming a TV pilot and suggested Fallon ask his manager if he could audition for the show.

Fallon did end up trying out for the show — which didn’t get picked up — but he said the kind gesture from Dolenz meant a lot to him. “I wanted to tell you, it built my confidence as a comedian and someone who couldn’t get a gig or get a callback or anything,” Fallon said. “That little boost, that little someone believing in you really meant a lot to me and I’ll never forget it and I really thank you so much,” he added as a humbled Dolenz smiled at the retelling of the story.

Jimmy then pivoted to the story of the other famous James who got a leg up thanks to the Monkees: Jimi Hendrix. The group that was formed for the eponymous 1966-1968 musical sitcom famously booked the late guitar hero to open for them after Dolenz went to see the then-unknown shredder play at a tiny New York club.

Sure enough, Hendrix took the gig and every night when he ripped into “Purple Haze,” Dolenz said the screaming audience would shout, “We want Davy! We want the Monkees!” Dolenz also talked about his new photo book from his salad days, I’m Told I Had a Good Time and stuck around to play one of the band’s most beloved hits, “Last Train to Clarksville.”

Check out Dolenz on The Tonight Show below.

28 Feb 2023

Roger Waters Frankfurt Concert Canceled After City Council Calls Him One of World’s ‘Most Well-Known Antisemites’

A planned concert by Roger Waters in Frankfurt, Germany has been canceled after the city council called the former Pink Floyd singer/bassist “one of the world’s most well-known antisemites.” Waters was scheduled to perform at the city’s Festhalle on May 28, on the spot of what was a Jewish detention camp during WWII, where 3,000 Jewish men were held on Kristallnacht (“Night of the Broken Glass”) in Nov. 1938 before being sent to their deaths.

“The background to the cancellation is the persistent anti-Israel behavior of the former Pink Floyd frontman, who is considered one of the most widely spread antisemites in the world,” the council said in a statement according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “He repeatedly called for a cultural boycott of Israel and drew comparisons to the apartheid regime in South Africa and put pressure on artists to cancel events in Israel.”

The JTA reported that the city of Frankfurt made reference to the historic significance of the concert hall — which it partly owns — and said it was cancelling the show over Waters’ support of the controversial BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions). BDS is a Palestinian-led movement that calls for a boycott of Israel to force the nation’s government to change its policies toward Palestinians.

The JFA also noted that past Waters concerts have featured a flying pig balloon emblazoned with a Star of David (as well as a number of other corporate logos and symbols) and that he’s compared the actions of the Israeli government to that of South Africa under apartheid and Nazi Germany and questioned Israel’s right to exist.

At press time a spokesperson for Waters had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment; additionally, at press time the concert was still listed on Waters’ official site. Waters’ This Is Not a Drill tour is still slated to play a number of other gigs in Germany, including Hamburg (May 7), Cologne (May 9), Berlin (May 17) and Munich (May 21).

While Waters does not appear to have issued an official statement on the cancellation, he did retweet messages of support from an author and editor at the Palestine Chronicle who denied that the singer is an antisemite and an editor at the Delhi, India-based Marxist publishing house Leftword Books, who defended Waters’ stance on Israel. “Love you my brother,” Waters tweeted at Vijay Prashad, adding, “shoulder to shoulder. F–k em’!”

In Sept., Waters canceled planned shows in Krakow, Poland amid outrage over his stance on Russia’s unprovoked, yearlong war in Ukraine, which he has said was the fault of Ukraine and NATO. An official with the Tauron Arena in Krakow, where Waters was scheduled to perform two concerts in April, said they would no longer take place; the shows have been scrubbed from Water’s site. “Roger Waters’ manager decided to withdraw … without giving any reason,” Lukasz Pytko from Tauron Arena Krakow said in comments carried by Polish media outlets.

28 Feb 2023

Chart Rewind: In 1998, Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ Hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 (See Full Top 10)

“I decided that the only thing that could culminate this film was something that [brings together] all the emotions,” Titanic composer James Horner told then-Billboard radio editor Chuck Taylor in 1998.

“I wanted to write a song that would allow a contemporary legitimacy, so that it wouldn’t be just a period piece,” Horner mused.

On the Billboard Hot 100 dated Feb. 28, 1998, Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” which Horner completed writing with Will Jennings to close the 1912 (and 1997)-set Titanic, crowned the Hot 100. It debuted at No. 1 as it spent its fifth week atop the Radio Songs chart and arrived as the week’s best-selling song, newly released as a limited-edition stand-alone single.

On the Billboard 200, the Titanic soundtrack, featuring the ballad, scored its sixth week at No. 1, of 16 total weeks on top.

Notably, James Cameron, who solely wrote and directed Titanic, had originally forbidden that the film’s end-credits song include vocals. Horner, however, ultimately decided that he wanted a song to contrast the movie’s orchestral arrangements. As for the vocalist, “I needed an opera singer more than pop singer to bring all the emotional qualities I wanted,” Horner told Billboard. “For me, the only person that could do that was Celine. It was casting more than it was trying to find a superstar to sing it.”

Taylor’s story (which ran the week that “Heart” hit No. 1 on the Hot 100) continued tracing the steps that the song took to its lasting legacy: Horner surreptitiously met with Dion and her husband René Angélil, as he had long known the couple, and played a demo. Impressed, Dion likewise fell for Titanic following a private screening, taken by the film’s love story.

Five weeks later, she recorded it. “It was just electrifying,” Horner recalled. “She was singing like her life depended on it.”

Horner finally took the song to Cameron. “I was waiting for an especially good mood,” Horner said. “On one occasion, he was really excited about a special effect that had just been completed. I was sweating, but I played it.” Cameron’s reaction? “He couldn’t believe it. He said, ‘Aren’t those your themes?’ This is Celine Dion. How did you do this?’ He did love it.”

How did the rest of the Hot 100’s top 10 stack up the week that Dion hit No. 1 on the Feb. 28, 1998, chart? Count down the tally’s top tier that week below, along with a look at more honors that “Heart” has since achieved.

28 Feb 2023

Greta Van Fleet, Robert Plant, Lumineers, Earth, Wind & Fire Top 2023 Beale Street Music Festival

This year’s Beale Street Music Festival will feature sets from The Lumineers, Greta Van Fleet, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Earth, Wind & Fire, Hardy, Jazmine Sullivan, The Roots, AJR and 311.

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The event at Tom Lee Park in Memphis, Tennessee on May 5-7 will also feature appearances from GloRilla, Gary Clark Jr., Ziggy Marley, Young the Giant, Halestorm, Live, PJ Morton, The Struts, Gov’t Mule, Dru Hill, Mike., Andy Grammer, Yola, Toadies, Lucinda Williams and Living Colour.

Weekend VIP tickets will run you $995, while three-day tickets are $205 and one-day GA passes are $88.53; click here for more ticketing information.

Among the other acts slated to take the stage for this year’s fest are: Big Boogie, Cameo, the Bar-Kays, White Reaper, Shovels & Rope, Phony PPL, Low Cut Connie, Marcy Playground, Beach Weather, Jason D Williams, Myron Elkins, Dirty Streets, Mac Saturn, Tyke T, Sleep Theory and more.

The event will also host the Memphis Tourism Blues Stage on Beale at Handy Park — which is open to the public and free of charge — featuring Los Lobos, Keb Mo, North Mississippi Allstars, Bernard Allison, Ana Popovic, Cedric Burnside, Mr. Sipp, Colin James, Selwyn Birchwood, Ghost Town Blues Band, Blind Mississippi Morris and more.

“This year’s lineup reflects the broad musical tastes of our festival goers with a diverse lineup of some of today’s hottest artists as well past festival favorites and stars of tomorrow,” said Jim Holt, President and CEO of Memphis In May in a statement. “At the Beale Street Music Festival, we endeavor to offer something for almost every musical taste, and we have a few more surprise additions to come.”

Check out the full lineup below.