Music News

15 Feb 2023

Shania Twain Returns to Top Country Albums Chart With ‘Queen Of Me’

Shania Twain’s sixth studio set, Queen of Me — her first since 2017’s Now — flies in at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated Feb. 18), becoming her seventh top five entry.

Released on Feb. 3, the LP earned 38,000 equivalent album units, with 34,000 in album sales, in its opening week, ending Feb. 9, according to Luminate.

On the all-genre Billboard 200, Queen starts at No. 10, awarding Twain her sixth top 10.

The set, whose 12 songs Twain co-authored, is her first of new material since Now, which opened at No. 1 on Top Country Albums and the Billboard 200 in October 2017. Now marked Twain’s fifth No. 1 on Top Country Albums and her second on the Billboard 200.

Twain first appeared on Top Country Albums in 1993 with her No. 67-peaking self-titled debut set. She then reigned with The Woman in Me, which spent 29 weeks at No. 1 in 1995-96; Come on Over (50 weeks, 1997-2000); Up! (six weeks, 2002-03); Greatest Hits (11 weeks, 2004-05); and Now (one week, 2017).

In between Now and Queen of Me, Twain’s Not Just a Girl: The Highlights soundtrack, which accompanied her career-spanning Netflix documentary, opened at its No. 15 Top Country Albums peak last September.

With its 50 frames atop Top Country Albums, Come on Over is tied for the second-longest reign with Luke Combs’ This One’s for You, which began its rule in June 2017. Since the chart premiered in January 1964, Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album boasts the longest command: it racks up its 94th week in the penthouse on the latest list, with 46,000 units (up 8%).

Meanwhile, Twain joins five other acts with top five titles on Top Country Albums in the 1990s, 2000s, ’00s and ’10s: Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson and Tim McGraw, as well as Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, both of whose streaks date back to the ’60s.

15 Feb 2023

Jennifer Lopez Makes It Super Official With Ben Affleck With Matching Tattoos: ‘Commitment Is Sexy’

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have hit all the traditional relationship goals: they got married several times after breaking up two decades earlier, attended the 2023 Grammy Awards together and became a global meme and just co-starred in a Super Bowl commercial honoring his favorite coffee spot.

But now they’ve made their love official-official with matching ink.

Lopez celebrated Valentine’s Day on Tuesday (Feb. 14) by showing off the forever symbol she got tatted onto the left side of her ribcage, an infinity sign bisected by an arrow with the A-lister’s names running around the loop. “Commitment ♾️ Happy Valentine’s Day my love ? (Look for more deets on VDay coming #OnTheJLo soon…),” the singer/actress captioned an image of her new body art, along with the tags #CommitmentIsSexy #ThisIsUsThen #ThisIsUsNow #ThisIsMeNow.

The post featured a carousel of pics from the couple’s love affair, including one of Affleck smiling with his eyes shut, another that appeared to show his version of the forever ink — with a pair of crossed arrows featuring their first initials — and then a series of the happy couple on vacation, kissing on a night out and recreating the yacht scene from her 2002 “Jenny From the Block” video in which Affleck grabs a handful of her bikini bottom.

Ben and Jen got married last July in Las Vegas after re-booting their romance in 2021 after getting engaged nearly 20 years earlier before splitting in 2004. They said “I do” again a month later in Georgia in a larger ceremony featuring their friends, family and children.

Check out Lopez’s post below.

15 Feb 2023

Metallica Foundation Donates $250K for Turkey/Syria Earthquake Relief Efforts

Metallica‘s All Without Our Hands foundation has donated more than $250,000 to aid victims of the Feb. 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Southern Turkey and Northern Syria that has killed 41,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless.

“We’re at a loss for words to describe the devastation in southern Turkey and northern Syria. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake has reduced the entire region to rubble. The death toll continues to rise, tragically exceeding 36,000 lives lost,” the band wrote in a tweet announcing their donations to Direct Relief and World Central Kitchen to help deliver medical aid and meals.

“Two of @AWMHFoundation’s partner organizations, @DirectRelief & @WCKitchen, have boots on the ground providing medical aid & food to the victims of this disaster. #AWMH is providing $125k to each organization to support their efforts,” they added.

The massive quake and a series of aftershocks have left tens of thousands dead, injured more than 114,000 and displaced two million people while carving a path of destruction that leveled 6,500 buildings, many of them crushing victims who were sleeping when the early morning temblor struck.

The donation from the metal icons is just the latest charitable news from their AWMH foundation, coming on the heels of the more than $3 million raised by their Dec. 16 Helping Hands concert in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater, with funds earmarked for efforts to support workforce education, fight hunger and provide disaster relief.

The gig hosted by late night’s Jimmy Kimmel was streamed live on Paramount+ and also featured sets from Greta Van Fleet, a surprise appearance by St. Vincent and Robert Downey Jr. introducing the headliners. The Helping Hands Concert and a parallel auction honored a number of local organizations, including:  Baby2Baby, First Star, Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, mikeroweWorks Foundation, and The Skatepark Project.

See Metallica’s tweets below.

14 Feb 2023

See Lady Gaga’s First Photo in Costume in ‘Joker’ Sequel

It looks like Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is getting a love story in Joker: Folie à Deux, the upcoming sequel to the 2019 DC film.

Late Tuesday (Feb. 14), Todd Phillips — who directs and writes the Joker films — shared a close-up photo on his Instagram of Phoenix face-to-face with Lady Gaga‘s character, widely believed (but not yet confirmed) to be Harley Quinn. Gaga holds Phoenix’s face in her hands, her eyes open wildly, with evidence on both of their red-paint-smeared faces that they’ve just kissed.

“Happy Valentines Day.,” Phillips captioned the unorthodoxly romantic image.

The pop star/actress confirmed her starring role in the Joker sequel back in August by posting a teaser clip on her Instagram, featuring Phoenix and Gaga’s silhouettes dancing together to the song “Cheek to Cheek,” which Gaga famously covered alongside Tony Bennett.

Folie à Deux, which is currently in production, will also star Zazie Beetz, who returns as Sophie, as well as new castmembers Catherine Keener and Brendan Gleeson in yet-unknown roles.

Lady Gaga is nominated for her fourth Oscar at the upcoming ceremony on March 12, nabbing a best original song nod for co-writing the Top Gun: Maverick power ballad “Hold My Hand.” “Thank you so much to the Academy for nominating my song ‘Hold My Hand’ for an Oscar this year!” Gaga wrote on Instagram last month after nominations were revealed. “Writing this song for the film Top Gun: Maverick was a deep and powerful experience that I will never forget. So grateful for the magic of music and cinema. Love you my co-writer @bloodpop I’m on set filming now big love to little monsters!”

Joker: Folie à Deux is slated to open Oct. 4, 2024.

14 Feb 2023

Eminem’s Younger Brother Nate Calls Him ‘The Best Role Model’ on Hailie Jade’s Podcast

Eminem‘s younger brother swung by Hailie Jade‘s podcast earlier this month to reflect on growing up with the superstar rapper as a sibling.

To introduce Nathan Mathers as her guest, Eminem’s daughter opened the “super special and exciting” Feb. 3 episode of Just a Little Shady with some context about her family. “For those of you who may not know, Nate is my uncle – my dad’s younger brother – but also we kind of grew up together because Nate lived with us for a while when I was young,” she explained. “So he’s kind of like a ‘bruncle.’ I would say brother-uncle. … You definitely act younger than your age, I always think that. … We are closer in age than you are to [my] dad, but still, I never realize how much older you are than me because I feel like you are like a brother.”

In fact, Mathers happens to be 14 years younger than his famous older brother, compared to being 12 years older than Jade. And when it comes to his memories of the artist otherwise known as Marshall Mathers, Nate had nothing but good things to say — even admitting he bleached his hair to copy Em’s signature look.

“He was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today,” the younger Mathers brother said, though he added that it took him a while to understand the size of Eminem’s fame. “I started understanding a little more when reality would hit when I would start seeing him on TV and going to shows and all the signatures and crazy people. I’m like, ‘All right, well, this is real.’”

Earlier this month, Jade announced her engagement to longtime boyfriend Evan McClintock just months after Eminem was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Watch Hailie’s full interview with her uncle below.

14 Feb 2023

Romeo Santos Welcomes Fourth Son & Announces U.S. Stadium Tour

Romeo Santos is making sure this Valentine’s Day is a memorable one.

The “King of Bachata” took to social media on Tuesday (Feb. 14) to not only announce that he’s going on tour, but also to share that his fourth son was born and that his name is Milano.

“Formula, Vol. 3 was released Sept. 1, a special day, the day my first son was born,” he starts off the video. “In the intro you can hear Alex Damian, Valentino and Solano. Surprisingly, nobody noticed in the background a subliminal message: the heartbeat of the new member of the Santos dynasty. I present my fourth prince, Milano.”

Last month, Santos confirmed he was expecting a baby with his longtime partner via the music video for “Solo Conmigo.” Surprising his fans, it also marked the first time that the artist — who’s always been secretive about his personal life — showed his girlfriend in one of his music videos.

The Dominican artist ends his social media post with “Also, see you soon in the U.S.” Santos is set to kick off a summer stadium four-day stint in the U.S. with stops in Los Angeles (June 3), New York (June 9), Miami (June 16) and Houston (June 24). The trek is in support of Formula, Vol. 3, which peaked at No. 2 on Billboard‘s Top Latin Albums chart (dated Sept. 17).

This year, Santos will also be touring in South American countries such as Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and Argentina. He’s also set to perform four back-to-back shows in Madrid in July.

14 Feb 2023

Celine Dion Helps Priyanka Chopra Find True Love (But Not With Nick Jonas) in ‘Love Again’ Trailer

Priyanka Chopra is in a steady and loving marriage with husband Nick Jonas, but in the first trailer for her upcoming movie Love Again, she stars as Mira Ray, who mourns the loss of her fiancé and uses text messages to feel connected to him in his absence.

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A trailer for the movie, released Tuesday (Feb. 14), sees Chopra cuddling with the fiancé’s old clothing and reflecting on the time she’s spent with him, until one night, she uses her cell phone to send her former lover a message: “I miss you so much. There’s an aching inside of me,” she sends, unknowingly to journalist Rob Burns (Sam Heughan), who receives her texts after getting a new cell phone for work purposes.

In an attempt to move on, Chopra goes on a date for the first time since her fiancé died and gets sets up with none other than a character played by her real-life husband, who she is unable to settle into a comfortable groove with. “Maybe we should just take it slow,” she suggests as they’re in the back of a cab. “Yeah,” he says, awkwardly leaning in for a kiss.

Rob, on the other hand, can’t help but fall for the random woman whose messages he continues to receive, and one day, he makes a plan to meet her face to face, jumpstarting the unfolding of his and Mira’s relationship. Céline Dion also stars in the movie, playing herself and acting as a guiding force for Rob, at one point in the trailer telling him, “These texts you’re receiving are saying something. It might be crazy, but love doesn’t always follow the rules.”

“A journalist, Rob is captivated by the honesty in the beautifully confessional texts,” the film’s synopsis adds. “When he’s assigned to write a profile of megastar Céline Dion, he enlists her help in figuring out how to meet Mira in person and win her heart.”

“I had a lot of fun doing this movie,” the “It’s All Coming Back to Me” singer told People. “And to have the privilege of appearing with the beautiful and talented actors Priyanka Chopra and Sam Heughan in my very first feature film is a privilege that I will cherish forever.” Several new tracks from the singer will also appear in the film. “I think it’s a wonderful feel-good story, and I hope that people will like it and like the new songs too,” she adds.

Love Again will arrive on May 12. Watch the first trailer in the video above.

14 Feb 2023

Hot 100 First-Timers: PinkPantheress Arrives With Ice Spice Collab ‘Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2’

English singer-songwriter PinkPantheress is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist, as her new collaboration with Ice Spice, “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2,” debuts at No. 14 on the latest chart, dated Feb. 18.

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The team-up, released Feb. 3 via Parlophone/Elektra/3EE, opens with 20.2 million U.S. streams, 585,000 radio airplay audience impressions and 600 downloads sold in the Feb. 3-9 tracking week, according to Luminate. The track is a remix of PinkPantheress’ original solo “Boy’s a Liar,” released in November. (All versions of the song are combined into one listing on Billboard’s charts.)

“Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2,” which PinkPantheress wrote and produced with Mura Masa (who also appears on the Hot 100 for the first time), is additionally a hit around the world, as it debuts at No. 15 on the Billboard Global 200 and No. 54 on Global Excl. U.S.

TikTok has been instrumental in the song’s growing popularity, as a portion of the track’s audio has been used in over 760,000 videos on the platform to-date. (TikTok does not contribute to Billboard’s charts.)

PinkPantheress, who hails from Bath, England, first appeared on Billboard’s charts in June 2021, when “Break It Off” debuted at No. 43 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, before reaching No. 30 two months later. She’s charted three additional tracks on the tally since then: “Passion” (No. 30 peak in July 2021), “Reason” (No. 39, October 2021) and “Where You Are,” featuring Willow (No. 22, May 2022).

She’s charted two other songs outside of Billboard’s rock rankings: her featured credit on CKay’s “Anya Mmiri” reached No. 28 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart in November and “Way Back,” with Skrillex and Trippie Redd, hit No. 13 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs this January.

Meanwhile, her debut mixtape To Hell With It debuted and peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard 200 in October.

“Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” marks PinkPantheress’ first collaboration with Ice Spice, who herself became a Hot 100 First-Timer when her song “Gangsta Boo,” with Lil Tjay, debuted at No. 82 (Feb 4). Ice Spice has now scored three total Hot 100 entries, all this month, as her own “In Ha Mood” debuts at No. 85 on the current chart.

PinkPantheress was featured in Billboard’s 21 Under 21 list in 2021. “I think my biggest interest when it comes to music making is within the topline writing, as opposed to the beat production and the singing aspect,” she told Billboard at the time. “I’m a big fan of writing lyrics, writing melodies, so I wasn’t too bothered with collaborating with other people. It’s only a good thing to get the help of a producer because I’m a terrible producer, which is why I have to sing on top of samples.”

14 Feb 2023

Republic Records Has 7 of the Top 10 Albums on the Billboard 200 Chart

Republic Records is having a stellar week on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Feb. 18), as the company lays claim to seven of the top 10 titles.

Since Luminate’s electronically monitored music data began powering the chart on May 25, 1991, no label has concurrently held seven of the top 10 on the Billboard 200. Republic previously shined with six of the top 10 on the Feb. 27, 2021-dated list.

In the top 10 of the Feb. 18 chart, Republic has Taylor Swift’s Midnights (No. 2), TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation (released via BigHit/Imperial/Republic, No. 3), Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (Big Loud/Republic, No. 4), Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (Boominati/Republic, No. 5), The Weeknd’s The Highlights (XO/Republic, No. 6), Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (OVO Sound/Republic, No. 8) and Shania Twain’s Queen of Me (new on the chart at No. 10).

“This historic moment is the result of an exceptional roster of artists and storytellers who continue to make a tremendous impact and shape culture around the world,” says Republic Records founder and chief executive officer Monte Lipman. “This achievement is also a credit to the tenacity of our dedicated and fiercely competitive team of executives and partners.” Lipman heads Republic alongside his brother, founder and chief operating officer Avery Lipman.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multimetric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.  

14 Feb 2023

Kelsea Ballerini Details Divorce Journey in Heart-Wrenching New Short Film

Valentine’s Day isn’t all love and romance, especially for the heartbroken people out there. Kelsea Ballerini captures that feeling in a new six-track EP released on Tuesday (Feb. 14) called Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, and its accompanying short film.

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In the 20-minute clip, the country star details the devastation of her divorce from fellow country Morgan Evans, opening the short film with “Mountain With a View,” in which the 29-year-old sits alone at a breakfast table. “I’m wearing the ring still / But I think I’m lying / Sometimes you forget yours / I think we’re done trying,” she sings.

She then visually portrays equally emotional tracks “Just Married,” “Penthouse,” “Interlude” and “Blindsided” before wrapping up with the reflective “Leave Me Again,” in which she sings, “For a while the shoe fit / But then I outgrew it / And staying only made me get real good at pretend / So, I hope I never leave me again.”

Ballerini originally announced her divorce from Evans in August 2022 via an Instagram Story. “I’ve always tried to share my life with you in a real and vulnerable way, while also protecting layers of my personal life as they unfold,” she wrote in the all-text message. “This is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce.”

The couple met in March 2016 while both were co-hosting the CMC Awards in Australia. They became engaged in December of that year, and married Dec. 2, 2017 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Rolling Up the Welcome Mat also follows her 2022 album, Subject to Change, which reflects on her personal growth over the past few years.

Watch the new short film below.