Music News

23 Feb 2023

Rihanna to Perform on 2023 Oscars

You may have noticed that Rihanna didn’t include “Lift Me Up” in her halftime performance at the Super Bowl on Feb. 12. Turns out she was just saving it for the Oscars. Rihanna will perform the Oscar-nominated ballad from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever at the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 12.

Fans will be watching to see if Rihanna’s baby bump has grown in the month between these high-profile gigs. The star’s previously undisclosed pregnancy made her Super Bowl halftime performance one of the most talked-about in years.

Rihanna’s upcoming performance was announced on Thursday (Feb. 23) by Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, executive producers and showrunners of the 95th Oscars. The producers will continue to announce talent on the show in the coming weeks.

The “Umbrella” singer won’t be the first person to perform on the Oscar telecast and at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in the same calendar year. Phil Collins played both high-profile gigs in 2000, though he wasn’t the sole headliner of the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Jan. 30, but part of a multi-artist package that also featured Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias and Toni Braxton. Collins performed “Two Worlds” from Tarzan at the Disney-produced halftime show. Two months later, on March 26, Collins performed “You’ll Be in My Heart,” also from Tarzan, at the Academy Awards. The song (which Collins wrote by himself) went on to win the Oscar.

“Lift Me Up” — with music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Göransson and lyrics by Tems and Ryan Coogler — is nominated for best original song.  This is Rihanna’s first Oscar nomination.

The other nominees for best original song are “Applause” from Tell It like a Woman (music and lyrics by Diane Warren); “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick (music and lyrics by Lady Gaga and BloodPop); “Naatu Naatu” from RRR (music by M.M. Keeravaani, lyrics by Chandrabose) and “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once (music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; lyrics by Ryan Lott and David Byrne).

The announcement of Rihanna’s Oscar performance was expected. When Oscar calls, even the biggest stars usually say yes. Beyoncé opened last year’s show with a memorable performance of “Be Alive” from King Richard. Such other superstars as Adele, U2, Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Sam Smith, Justin Timberlake, Sting, Elton John and Billie Eilish with Finneas have performed nominated songs on the Oscars in the past decade.

Rihanna attended the Golden Globes ceremony on Jan. 10 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., but that show doesn’t include performances of best original song nominees. “Lift Me Up” lost the award to “Naatu Naatu.” Even so, she attracted much attention, a sign of her star power even amid the high-wattage film and TV stars in attendance.

“All the Stars” from the first Black Panther film was likewise Oscar-nominated for best original song four years ago, but Kendrick Lamar and SZA didn’t perform it on the Oscar telecast, a move blamed on “logistics and timing.”

A nine-time Grammy winner, Rihanna has eight multiplatinum albums, and 14 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Final round Oscar voting extends from March 2 to 7. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the 95th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

23 Feb 2023

Selena Gomez Responds to Resurfaced Video of Hailey Bieber Gagging at Taylor Swift Mention

Selena Gomez has got her bestie’s back. After a video resurfaced of Hailey Bieber pretending to gag at the mention of Taylor Swift, the Only Murders in the Building star clapped back in her best friend’s defense — this shortly after Hailey and Kylie Jenner were accused of making fun of the “Lose You to Love Me” singer on Instagram.

It happened on Thursday (Feb. 23), when Gomez left a comment under a TikTok calling Hailey a “mean girl” and showing a clip from what looks to be Drop the Mic, the model’s former rap battle show with Method Man.

In the video, Method Man describes a rap battle as having “some of the meanest lyrics about a celebrity since Taylor Swift’s last album.” In response, Hailey points a finger at her mouth and pretends to gag, before shrugging as the audience laughs.

“So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game,” Gomez commented on the video.

This response comes hours after Hailey and Kylie Jenner were accused on social media of making fun of Selena’s eyebrows on Instagram. The lip kit mogul addressed the accusations by commenting on a TikTok, which explained the alleged insult, that the drama allegations were “silly,” writing, “No shade towards selena ever.”

The Golden Globe-nominated star then did her part to shut down the gossip, replying to Kylie’s comment with, “Agreed @kyliejenner It’s all unnecessary. I’m a fan of Kylie!”

Everything seemed fine between the three ladies at that point … until the singer-actress started leaving comments under other TikToks that seemed to suggest otherwise. Before commenting in defense of Taylor, she wrote “I love you” in response to a video calling Kylie and Hailey “nepo babies” who were acting like “mean girls.”

See the TikTok Selena commented on in defense of Taylor below:

23 Feb 2023

Jennifer Lopez Celebrates Twins Max & Emme’s 15th Birthday With the Perfect Taylor Swift Song

Jennifer Lopez‘s twins are all grown up. On Wednesday (Feb. 22), the “Let’s Get Loud” singer celebrated her children Max and Emme’s 15th birthday on Instagram with a sweet video montage of their moments together, along with a very fitting Taylor Swift song to soundtrack the video.

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“Happy birthday to my beautiful, brilliant coconuts,” the singer captioned the video, which had Swift’s Fearless track “Fifteen (Taylor’s Version)” playing in the background. “I am so proud of you both in every single way. You bring so much joy and happiness to my heart and soul. I love you beyond forever … HAPPY BIRTHDAY #Twins.”

Lopez welcomed her twins with then-husband Marc Anthony in 2008, four years after they tied the knot. Following the singer-actress’ marriage to Ben Affleck, Max and Emme have three more siblings — Violet, Seraphina and Samuel, whom the Oscar winner shares with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. Anthony is also expanding his brood, as he announced wife Nadia Ferreira is pregnant with his seventh child.

Coincidentally, Swift’s “Fifteen” will also be turning 15 later this year. The track was released as the fourth single from Fearless after its predecessors “Love Story,” “White Horse” and smash “You Belong With Me.” The original version of “Fifteen” spent a total of 21 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked at No. 23. Meanwhile, “Fifteen (Taylor’s Version)” — which appeared on Swift’s 2021 re-recording of Fearless — peaked on the all-genre tally at No. 88.

See Lopez’s birthday tribute to Max and Emme below.

23 Feb 2023

Iggy Azalea Says She’s Still in Touch With Britney Spears and Would Totally Collaborate Again

Though Iggy Azalea remains bummed that her 2015 collaboration on “Pretty Girls” with Britney Spears was not all she dreamed it could have been, the Australian rapper said she is still down for whatever when it comes to Brit.

“I have spoken about this before. I just feel like there was so much we wanted to do with it that we never got to… We never got to do all we wanted to do,” Azalea told Andy Cohen on Wednesday night’s (Feb. 22) Watch What Happens Live in response to a caller’s question about whether she has kept in touch with Spears since the singer’s conservatorship ended in Nov. 2021 and if she’d be up for another collaboration.

Whether it was more performances or remixes, Azalea said she thought the song never reached its full potential because Spears was “so limited” at the time. “Now that she has the ability to do it her way 100%… I love Britney and she’s so much more creative than what people give he credit for… I would love to be a part of more of anything that she had to do, especially when they’re 100% her own ideas,” Azalea said.

Azalea also noted that the two have been in touch since the dissolving of Spears’ restrictive conservatorship and that they DM each other on Instagram. “My collaboration with her is always one of my favorite collaborations,” she said of the song that peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100; at the time, Azalea angered some Britney fans when she expressed her frustration with the lack of promotion for the song, tweeting, “its difficult to send a song up the charts without additional promo and tv performances etc. unfortunately im just featured.”

In a supportive tweet in summer 2021, Iggy said she backed then efforts to remove Spears from her 13-year conservatorship, noting that such arrangements should be “illegal” and that during a performance of “Pretty Girls” in 2015 she witnessed the tight control on Spears’ life at the time.

“She is not exaggerating or lying,” Azalea wrote at the time. “I saw her restricted from even the most bizarre & trivial things: like how many sodas she was allowed to drink. Why is that even necessary.” Azalea also claimed that moments before the pair’s Billboard Music Awards performance she was told that if she did not sign a non-disclosure agreement she would not be allowed on stage.

During the “Truth or Touch Up!” segment of the WWHL chat, Iggy daintily sidestepped the question of who the better rapper is between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B while slathering makeup on Vanderpump Rules star James Kennedy. But when asked what the weirdest request has been on her OnlyFans account, Azalea laughed and said, “I actually love it. Men pay me to tell them that they’re a piece of s–t!”

The rapper also broke down the sexist quality she looks for in men (“witty banter”), the wildest part of opening for Beyoncé on tour (the excellent catering), the pet peeve that drives her nuts (when her assistant doesn’t strap her clothes down in a suitcase) and the sexiest music video of all time.

Watch Azalea on Watch What Happens Live below.

23 Feb 2023

BTS’ Jimin Unveils Cover Art & Tracklist for Debut Solo Album ‘FACE’

BigHit Music unfurled the artwork and complete tracklist for Jimin‘s upcoming debut album, FACE, on Thursday (Feb. 23).

The post on the label’s official Twitter account reveals the project will contain six tracks, including main track “Like Crazy” and pre-release single “Set Me Free Pt. 2,” which will drop March 17. A release promises that the song will find the BTS member exploring “his resolution to free himself from various emotions hidden deep inside him.”

Meanwhile, the studio effort’s metallic cover art features the title depicted beneath ripples on the surface of a body of water. The stark graphic may come across as cryptic upon first glance, but a message on the tracklist poster provides more clues about the reflective themes of Jimin’s solo set: “Circle of Resonance. Reflection of vulnerable minds and unexposed wounds. Face, the reflection of myself in an unfamiliar appearance … Face of facing the deepest part of inner-self.”

The six-song tracklist also shows off the inner circle of producers and songwriters Jimin enlisted for FACE — from Pdogg, GHSTLOOP and BLVSH to Chris James, EVAN and Supreme Boi. His BTS bandmate RM also helped co-write three tracks on the album, including album opener “Face-off,” “Like Crazy” and its English version.

To go along with the tracklist and cover art, Jimin also released a short video giving ARMY a brief, behind-the-scenes look at the making of FACE. Check out the short clip, complete tracklist and chrome cover art below.

23 Feb 2023

Kylie Jenner Denies Mocking Selena Gomez’s Eyebrows: ‘No Shade Towards Selena Ever’

Kylie Jenner is clearing the air after her recent posts raised a few eyebrows. When fans started accusing the makeup mogul of shading Selena Gomez‘s brow shape on Wednesday (Feb. 22), Jenner almost immediately shut it down by commenting on a TikTok about the alleged insult.

“This is reaching,” the Kylie Cosmetics founder wrote. “No shade towards selena ever and I didn’t see her eyebrow posts! u guys are making something out of nothing. this is silly.”

According to Cosmopolitan, Gomez also chimed in. “Agreed @kyliejenner It’s all unnecessary,” the pop star replied to Jenner’s comment. “I’m a fan of Kylie!”

The overblown brow beef all started when the Only Murders in the Building actress shared that she’d “accidentally laminated my brows too much” in a TikTok story, showing followers how her eyebrow hairs were sticking up a little more than usual. Soon after, Jenner posted a photo of herself with the words “this was an accident???” written unmistakably over her own eyebrows.

Followers thought the text placement was a little suspicious, especially after Jenner followed it up by posting a screenshot of her FaceTiming Hailey Bieber, both models holding their phone cameras up close to their own perfectly plucked eyebrows. Ever since Hailey married Justin Bieber, whom Gomez famously dated on and off for several years, onlookers have generally always been quick to speculate that the two women dislike each other, though they seemingly squashed the gossip by posing for cute photos together at an event in November.

However, hours after commenting on the TikTok that she’s a fan of Jenner’s, the Rare Beauty founder commented “I love you” on another TikTok in which a user candidly slams “nepo babies” Jenner (who is mentioned by name) and Hailey (whose name is hashtagged) for being “mean girls.” So, who knows where everyone really stands?

You can find screenshots of the eyebrow posts and more explanation about the alleged drama in the TikTok Kylie and Selena commented on below:

23 Feb 2023

Rolling Stones Confirm Paul McCartney to Appear on a Song From Band’s Upcoming Album

It’s been more than half a century since The Beatles and Rolling Stones reinvented the idea of rock and roll in their own unique styles. And while they have always remained cordial, there is one thing the British icons have never done: collaborate in the studio.

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That streak looks to end on the Stones’ upcoming studio album. A spokesperson for the Stones confirmed to Billboard in an email on Thursday (Feb. 23) that Sir Paul McCartney is “playing bass on a song” on the Mick Jagger-led group’s upcoming album; CNN was first in an on-the-record confirmation of the collaboration.

The exciting news came as the rep also threw cold water on a previous Variety report that cited unnamed sources claiming fellow surviving Beatle drummer Ringo Starr might make the long-awaited superstar summit as well.

“Ringo isn’t appearing,” the rep tells Billboard.

At press time there was no additional information on the album the Stones have reportedly been wrapping work on in Los Angeles with Grammy-winning producer Andrew Watt (Ozzy Osbourne, Justin Bieber); the untitled collection will be the veteran band’s first new studio album of new songs since 2005’s A Bigger Bang.

In addition to McCartney, the Stones album is likely to feature drumming from the group’s late timekeeper Charlie Watts, who died in 2021 at 80. Longtime group friend and touring drummer Steve Jordan told the L.A. Times that Watts had recorded his drum parts for a handful of songs before his passing. At press time neither the Stones nor McCartney had responded to the reports of their collaboration and a spokesperson for Sir Paul had no comment.

The debate about rock supremacy and friendly rivalry between the bands continues to this day, with McCartney telling Howard Stern in a 2020 interview that, “The Stones are a fantastic group, I go to see them every time they come out because they’re a great, great band and Mick can really do it, the singing and the moves, and Keith and now Ronnie and Charlie. They’re great.”

But, as “really, really” great as McCartney thinks they are, he confidently added, “I love ’em… I love The Stones, but I’m with you: The Beatles are better.” Jagger responded a week later in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that, “[Paul’s] a sweetheart. There’s obviously no competition. He’s a sweetheart.” Jagger noted that the Stones have continued to tour consistently into their sixth decade, while the Beatles quit the road in 1966.

“One band is a… unbelievably luckily still playing in stadiums and then the other band doesn’t exist,” Jagger said. The decadeslong back-and-forth continued a year later when McCartney took a polite swipe at the Stones in a New Yorker profile, describing them as a “blues cover band.”

Though the groups never collaborated on any studio recordings in their prime — or since — McCartney and late Beatle John Lennon wrote the Stones’ first hit, 1963’s “I Wanna Be Your Man” and Jagger was in the studio when the Beatles tracked 1967’s “All You Need Is Love.”

23 Feb 2023

Elton John Breaks & Extends Records Atop January Boxscore Report

Though the calendar year has flipped and Billboard’s January Boxscore report celebrates the beginning of a new year in touring, the top of the charts carry over what became a constant toward the end of 2022. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour earned $40.9 million during the month, securing his seventh at No. 1 on the Top Tours chart overall, and third in the last four months.

Beyond extending his record for time atop the ranking, notably, January’s Oceania leg of John’s sprawling farewell tour pushed the entire run’s gross to $817.9 million – making it the highest grossing tour of all time. It surpasses Ed Sheeran’s The Divide Tour ($776.4 million), which set the previous high mark in 2019, and U2’s The 360 Tour ($736.4 million), which had held the title since 2011.

Simultaneously, John leads the Top Boxscores chart with $11.3 million at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on Jan. 17-18. Since the charts launched in February 2019, it’s the ninth time an artist has ruled both rankings, and the second for John, who first did so in January 2020. BTS is the only other act to double-up twice.

John’s $40-million January breaks down to two stadiums shows apiece in Newcastle (Jan. 9, 11), Melbourne (Jan. 14-15) and Sydney (Jan. 18-19), plus single shows in Brisbane (Jan. 22) and Christchurch (Jan. 25).

Boxscore

Not only does John crown the Boxscores ranking, he follows himself at Nos. 2 (Melbourne), 4 (Newcastle), 6 (Brisbane), and 11 (Christchurch). Blanketing the chart with four top 10 appearances, he set himself apart from the pack in stadiums during Australia and New Zealand’s summer, while the Northern winter kept last year’s holdovers dormant and 2023’s from beginning later into the spring.

The strategy does extend to the Red Hot Chili Peppers at No. 2 on Top Tours and at Nos. 5, 9 and 12 on Top Boxscores. The funk-pop-rock band earned $15.1 million from the first three of its Oceania shows, with five more to chart in February. This follows the $59.6 million in Europe and $117.4 million in North America last year, playing stadiums in both continents during the warmth of June through September.

With far less history in Oceania than on the Western hemisphere, the Chili Peppers enlisted Post Malone to join the January and February shows. The bulked-up billing helped transform the band from an arena act to a stadium act in the region, having last reported shows in Oceania on 2007’s Stadium Arcadium Tour. Audience in Auckland flipped from 22,000 in ’07 to 48,000 in 2023, while Brisbane’s crowd grew from 22,000 to 40,000.

Boxscore

Playing Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium just a week after John, the two combined for $13.9 million and 91,000 tickets sold, enough to be the top grossing venue of the month worldwide.

On the Top Venues, 15,001+ capacity chart, Suncorp is followed by Sydney’s Allianz Stadium and Melbourne’s AAMI Park at Nos. 2-3, respectively, plus Manchester’s McDonald Jones Stadium at No. 6, forming a powerful Oceania block over western mainstays like the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. (No. 4), the O2 Arena in London (No. 5) and Madison Square Garden in New York (No. 8).

Continuing the 2022 carryover at the head of Top Tours, Harry Styles is No. 3, after finishing at No. 4 on last year’s annual recap. He earned $12.4 million from 62,000 tickets sold, all from four arena dates. On Jan. 26-27 and 29, Styles played the final three dates of his 15-show mini-residency at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Those dates grossed $9.6 million and pushed the entire Inglewood run to a gross of $47.8 million, making it the fifth-highest grossing headline engagement in Boxscore history.

Boxscore

Boxscore

Additionally, Styles played two shows at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif. One of those shows, played on Jan. 31, counts toward his monthly total, and the other, played on Feb. 1, will count toward his February earnings.

While January typically is a lull between the final dates of major tours in November and December and the opening nights for the year’s biggest attractions in February and March, January 2023 proved that there are ways to kick off the year in style, pun intended. From John and the Chili Peppers going to Australia, to The 1975 and Future conducting brief, monthlong runs before calendars get too packed, January can be a sneaky time for sleeper ticket sales.

Further flagged by Omicron-era woes, the January 2021 Top Tours chart featured six tours above $5 million, 18 above $1 million, and cut off the 30-position ranking at $548,000. One year later, those numbers improve to eight, 28, and $975,000.

Boxscore

Boxscore

Boxscore

23 Feb 2023

The Rolling Stones’ ‘GRRR Live!’ Makes Top 10 Debut on Album Sales Chart

The Rolling Stones’ new concert album, GRRR Live!, debuts at No. 7 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Feb. 25), marking the fifth consecutive year the band has placed a top 10-charting set on the tally.

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The new live effort was recorded on Dec. 15, 2012, at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, as part of the group’s 50th anniversary trek, dubbed the 50 & Counting Tour. The show was originally broadcast live as a pay-per-view event titled One More Shot, but was not released in a home video or audio format until its GRRR Live! bow on Feb. 10. For its album release, the show was re-edited and remixed.

The GRRR Live! album features a robust lineup of guest stars in The Black Keys, Gary Clark Jr., Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen and former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. The set was released in multiple configurations, including a 24-track digital album, a limited edition red-colored $80 three-vinyl-LP set, and variants that housed the concert on either blu-ray or DVD alongside two CDs.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Elsewhere on the new Top Album Sales chart, Paramore debuts atop the list with its latest studio album, This Is Why, launching with 47,000 copies sold. It’s the second leader for the band, which also led the tally with 2013’s self-titled set.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER’S The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION falls to No. 2 after spending its first two weeks at No. 1. It sold 28,000 in its third week, down 34%.

Pierce the Veil logs its highest charting effort yet on Top Album Sales as the rock band’s latest release The Jaws of Life starts at No. 3 with 18,000 sold. Taylor Swift’s former leader Midnights dips 3-4 with 17,000 (up 11%). Harry Styles’ chart-topping Harry’s House falls 4-5 with 9,000 sold (down 6%).

Rock band In Flames scores its first top 10 on Top Album Sales as Foregone bows at No. 6 with nearly 9,000 sold. It’s the ninth charting effort for the act, who had previously gone as high as No. 20 with I, the Mask in 2019.

Veteran alternative act Yo La Tengo hits the top 10 on Top Album Sales for the first time as This Stupid World bows at No. 8 with 6,000 sold. The band’s peak until the new chart was No. 26 in 2013 with Fade.

Closing out the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart are Tyler, the Creator’s former leader IGOR, rising 17-9 with just over 6,000 (after the set was reissued in physical formats) and Shania Twain’s Queen of Me falls 2-10 in its second week with 6,000 (down 82%).

In the week ending Feb. 16, there were 1.884 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 6% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.552 million (up 9.8%) and digital albums comprised 332,000 (down 8.7%).

There were 622,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Feb. 16 (up 2.7% week-over-week) and 919,000 vinyl albums sold (up 14.7%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 4.281 million (down 0.1% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 6.218 million (up 25.6%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 12.922 million (up 6.3% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 10.560 million (up 13.7%) and digital album sales total 2.361 million (down 17.7%).