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The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund launched a fundraiser on Thursday (May 15) to benefit the Music’s Mental Health Fund featuring signed memorabilia and experiences from Coldplay, R.E.M., Teddy Swims, The Mars Volta, Nickelback and more. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Mental Health Fund, a partnership between […]
In the lead-up to her new album Virgin, Lorde has started to slowly open up about her broadening gender identity with the world. But before she was ready to do that, she confided in one of her new friends: Chappell Roan.
In a Rolling Stone cover story published Thursday (May 15), the New Zealand native revealed that she and the “Pink Pony Club” singer have gotten quite close over the past year, and that one of the things they’ve discussed is Lorde’s changing relationship with gender. When asked how she identifies now, the “Royals” artist told the publication, “[Chappell Roan] asked me this … She was like, ‘So, are you nonbinary now?’”
“I was like, ‘I’m a woman except for the days when I’m a man,’” Lorde continued. “I know that’s not a very satisfying answer, but there’s a part of me that is really resistant to boxing it up.”
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The musician also explained that she still identifies as a cisgender woman who uses “she” and “her” pronouns. But the complexities of her newfound gender fluidity informed much of the June-slated Virgin, the opening track of which Rolling Stone reveals finds her declaring, “Some days I’m a woman/ Some days I’m a man.”
Even so, Lorde added that she doesn’t think her gender expression is “radical” compared to what most transgender and nonbinary people face on a daily basis. In the United States in particular, the rights of LGBTQ people have been under constant threat for years, something Roan — a longtime advocate for the community and a queer-identifying artist herself — has spoken out about many times.
“I see these incredibly brave young people, and it’s complicated,” Lorde said. “Making the expression privately is one thing, but I want to make very clear that I’m not trying to take any space from anyone who has more on the line than me. Because I’m, comparatively, in a very safe place as a wealthy, cis, white woman.”
The star’s embrasure of her new gender expression is one of several personal transformations that has occurred since she last dropped an album, 2021’s Solar Power, four years ago. In addition to breaking up with Universal Music executive Justin Warren after about eight years together — “It was so painful, as they are, but there was real dignity to it,” she told the publication of the split — Lorde also recovered from an eating disorder, something she’s also been increasingly open about in the weeks ahead of Virgin‘s June 27 release.
“I felt so hungry and so weak,” she recalled of being obsessed with calories and protein intakes around the time Solar Power came out, specifically the day it dropped. “I was on TV [that] morning, and I didn’t eat because I wanted my tummy to be small in the dress. It was just this sucking of a life force or something.”
See Lorde on the cover of Rolling Stone below.
Chris Brown was arrested at his hotel in Manchester, U.K. on Thursday morning (May 15) over what British authorities alleged was an attack on a music producer at a London nightclub two years ago. According to The Independent, Brown, 36, was detained by Metropolitan Police at the five-star Lowry Hotel in Salford just hours after he arrived on a private jet.
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The singer was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm, with officials telling the paper, “A 36-year-old man was arrested at a hotel in Manchester shortly after 2am on Thursday, May 15 on suspicion of grievous bodily harm,” without naming Brown, per protocol. “He has been taken into custody where he remains. The arrest relates to an incident at a venue in Hanover Square on February 19, 2023. The investigation is being led by detectives from the Central West Area Basic Command Unit.”
According to the paper, producer Abraham Diaw accused Brown of smashing him over the head with a bottle and kicking him at the Tape nightclub on that night, with Diaw previously telling The Sun on Sunday that Brown “hit me over the head two or three times. My knee collapsed as well.” Diaw has also lodged a civil complaint against Brown for $16 million seeking damagers for injuries and losses as a result of the alleged incident, according to The Independent.
At press time a spokesperson for Brown had not returned a request for comment on the arrest.
Brown has a long history of arrests and allegations of violence, including his 2009 beating of then-girlfriend Rihanna, which led to him being charged with felony assault; that incident resulted in the U.K. denying Brown a visa to travel there for a short tour in 2010. In 2012 he was involved in a brawl with Drake and his entourage at a N.Y. nightclub that injured eight people, followed by an altercation with Frank Ocean over a parking space in West Hollywood in 2013.
The singer was also arrested for felony assault for punching a man outside a hotel in Washington, D.C. in 2013, which led to him being charged with a probation violation and a sentence of 131 days in lockup. He was also allegedly among the men behind an assault on a man during a basketball game at Palms Casino Resort in 2015, an incident his team denied he was involved in. In 2016, Brown was arrested at his home on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and, a year later, was court-ordered to stay 100 yards away from ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran after she told a court he’d repeatedly threatened her. Among other similar incidents, Brown and several members of his entourage were named in a lawsuit over an alleged assault following one of the singer’s shows in Fort Worth, Texas in which Brown and several accomplices allegedly “brutally and severely beat” four men.
Brown is preparing to launch the European leg of his Breezy Bowl XX Tour, which is slated to kick off on June 8 at Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam. It was not known at press time if Brown’s arrest will hamper his ability to play a planned series of June shows in the U.K. on the tour.
At press time it was also unclear if Brown was still in custody and it did not appear as if he’d commented on the arrest on his social feeds; a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police department had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment at press time.
Billboard Country Live is set to return to Nashville this summer, with the Bud Light-presented, two-day tentpole celebration highlighting rising country stars and industry tastemakers on June 5-6 at venue Category 10 in downtown Nashville.
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The country music celebration will launch on Wednesday, June 4, with an exclusive gathering held on the rooftop of Category 10, honoring Billboard’s Country Power Players and recognizing the most influential executives shaping and leading the country music genre today.
On Thursday, June 5, a showcase concert presented by Bud Light will spotlight rising artists, with live performances from Alexandra Kay, Ashley Cooke, Drew Baldridge, Max McNown and Reyna Roberts. Inside Billboard’s video lounge, Major League Baseball will film exclusive interviews with the country stars featured in players’ walk-up songs.
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The celebration will continue Friday, June 6, with a second evening of music that will feature “Country on the Rise,” honoring the future of the genre with a lineup set to be announced in coming weeks.
Each of the artists featured in the showcase concert on June 5 have earned ever-heightening career milestones in recent years. In 2024, Baldridge earned a top five hit on the Country Airplay chart with “She’s Somebody’s Daughter (Reimagined).” Kay, who signed with BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville this year, also released her latest single “Cupid’s a Cowgirl.” Cooke earned a No. 2 Country Airplay chart hit with “Your Place” and recently teamed with Joe Jonas on the song “All I Forgot.” McNown broke through with his song “A Lot More Free,” while his song “Better Me for You (Brown Eyes)” cracked the top 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Roberts released her debut album, Bad Girl Bible Vol. 1, in 2023 and last year was featured on the song “Blackbiird” from Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter album, as well as providing background vocals on the album’s track “Tyrant.”
Since its origin in 1894, Billboard has become the essential barometer of music success, through its authoritative charts, news, detailed analysis, multi-platform storytelling and multiple events that celebrate artists and various industry sectors. Billboard’s annual events also include the Billboard Power 100, Billboard Women in Music, Billboard Latin Music Week and Billboard Live.
For her 34th birthday, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Valentina decided to give herself some peace of mind as a present, when she came out as a transgender woman in a new social media post. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In a post to her Instagram on […]
Heads up, Tems fans. Billboard has launched an exclusive Pinterest board honoring the Nigerian chart-topper’s latest role: Billboard cover superstar. On Thursday, May 15, the board was released, offering fans all the behind-the-scenes action of Tems’ newest feature. The shoot, which took place in London in April, was led by photographer Zoe McConnell. Throughout the […]
By now you’re certainly seen video of the nightly ritual at Sabrina Carpenter shows on the singer’s Short n’ Sweet tour where she “arrests” someone from the audience. Back in March, during a stop at the O2 Arena in London, she once again looked around for a guest that was “too hot” in order to […]
This year’s amfAR Gala in Cannes has added a couple of major names to its performance roster. The event announced on Wednesday (May 14) that Ciara and Adam Lambert will perform at the 31st annual gala that typically coincides with the end of the Cannes Film Festival.
The pair will join previously announced performers Duran Duran at the event that will be hosted by Taraji P. Henson at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 22. “We are thrilled to have such a sensational lineup of talented artists — the iconic Duran Duran, Ciara, and Adam Lambert — performing for us at amfAR Gala Cannes this year and we are deeply grateful for their support of our work,” amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “We are also delighted that the incomparable Taraji P. Henson has graciously agreed to act as host for the evening.”
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In addition to the performer news, amfAR also announced the chairs for the event hosted by the world’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education and advocacy. Among the A-listers — some of whom are expected to attend — are: Pedro Almodóvar, Angela Bassett, Odell Beckham Jr., Halle Berry, Len Blavatnik, Adrien Brody, Ron Burkle, Marion Cotillard, Tom Cruise, Colman Domingo, Alessandro Dusi, Laurence Escalante, David Glasser, Paris Jackson, Milla Jovovich, Heidi Klum, Spike Lee, Julian Lennon, Demi Moore, Coco Rocha, Carine Roitfeld, Caroline Scheufele, Russell Wilson and Ciara, Jeffrey Wright, Michelle Yeoh.
As usual, there will be a live auction of luxury goods, art and experiences to raise money for the group’s work, as well as a fashion show. Among the items up for auction are a Picasso-esque George Condo painting (Smiling Goddess), a Fast X Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody, a moody 2010 photo of Bono taken by Julian Lennon and a Geroge Hoyningen-Huene platinum palladium print of Josephine Baker from 1929.
There were the usual allotment of eye-popping fashion whoas and uh-ohs at this year’s Met Gala. And while fans and the media love to obsess over who wore what and how, sometimes A-listers who didn’t even go get drawn into the conversation. Take, for instance, Billie Eilish. While it certainly seemed like she dove into […]
Amyl and The Sniffers delivered a characteristically unhinged performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week, taking the late-night stage for a rowdy rendition of their latest single, “Tiny Bikini.”
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Frontwoman Amy Taylor brought her statement punk flair to the late-night stage, pairing her explosive vocals and fearless energy with a cheeky fashion statement – thong sandals repurposed as a top. Styled in leather lace-up shorts, knee-high boots, bold blue eyeshadow and her unmistakable mullet, Taylor delivered the kind of explosive presence that’s become a hallmark of the band’s live performances.
“Tiny Bikini” features on the band’s third studio album Cartoon Darkness, released in March via Rough Trade. The album marks a new high point in their trajectory, blending their snarling pub-rock energy with a sharper sense of songwriting and production. It follows 2021’s Comfort to Me, which landed in the top 10 of the ARIA Albums Chart and earned international acclaim.
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Their Fallon appearance comes at a peak moment for the Melbourne punk outfit. Earlier this week, Amyl and The Sniffers scored three nominations at the 2024 AIR Awards, including Independent Album of the Year and Best Independent Rock Album or EP for Cartoon Darkness, as well as Independent Song of the Year for “U Should Not Be Doing That.” The latter already took out Song of the Year at the recent APRA Music Awards, and have won three ARIA Awards, including Best Group in 2022.
The band also performed at Coachella last month, earned a Brit Award nomination for Best International Group, and graced the cover of Rolling Stone AUNZ in March after picking up two trophies at the 2024 RSA Awards.
Known for pushing the envelope, Amyl and The Sniffers previously made headlines with the uncensored version of their music video for “Jerkin’,” which featured full-frontal nudity and a disclaimer emphasizing body positivity over titillation.
From raucous club gigs to mainstream U.S. television, the Aussie band continues to prove that they’re not here to tone things down. In fact, they’re just getting started.
