Music News

25 Jan 2023

No Biggie, Pharrell Just Hanging Out at Elysee Palace with French President Emmanuel Macron

Pharrell Williams has collaborated with some of the most iconic artists of our time. But on Tuesday (Jan. 24) Skateboard P kicked it up a notch when he visited Élysée Palace for a hang with French President Emmanuel Macron for a discussion about internet safety and human rights.

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“A safe place for all, secure and open, peaceful and democratic, which respects human rights,” Macron tweeted along with a picture of the two men posing in black suits in a gilded palace room with the reflection of a giant chandelier in the window behind them. “That’s what the Internet must be and remain, especially for our children. It’s one of our battles. Artists, join us, and speak out! Thank you @Pharrell for your commitment.”

Pharrell retweeted the image and added a prayer hands emoji in comments. RTL reported that a spokesperson for Macron said [in comments translated from French] that the pair discussed “the digital world,” adding that they “got on really well. Pharrell Williams is very involved in the issues of the harmful effects of the internet and [smart] telephones on young people… It’s good because he [Pharrell] really reaches a big audience and he is very fine in his analysis.” Combating school and online bullying is a cause championed by Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron.

Pharrell is slated to appear at Wednesday night’s (Jan. 24) Yellow Pieces gala, a musical charity event that raises funds for the Hospital Foundation, a charity chaired by the country’s First Lady; Blackpink and French artists Vianni, Angel, Mika and Pascal Obispo are also slated to perform at the show at the Zenith Paris.

Check out the snap of Macron and Pharrell below.

25 Jan 2023

Chrissy Teigen Shares Sweet Close-Up of Newborn Esti’s Face: ‘Out Here Lookin’ Like a Baby’

Chrissy Teigen posted the first close-up look at her and John Legend‘s newborn daughter, Esti, on Tuesday (Jan. 24), and, as you might expect, it was freakin’ adorable. In the snap, baby Esti Maxine Stephens is sleeping with her eyes shut tight, with her right hand folded under her chin and left hand resting against the side of her head.

“Look at u out here lookin’ like a baby,” Teigen captioned the snap in which Esti lays in her arms, while husband Legend added, “My little Esti.” The couple recently welcomed Esti to their brood, joining daughter Luna Simone, 6 and son Miles Theodore, 4; in an earlier snap, the two older siblings took their turn holding the baby and staring at her face with sweet smiles.

Legend and Teigen’s famous friends couldn’t resist weighing in on the Insta-perfect moment, with Kaley Cuoco commenting, “Oh em gee what a beaut!!!!!,” Olivia Munn writing, “Welcome earthside little one” and Kris Jenner adding, “Soooo beautiful just like her mama.” They also got hearts, blessings and love from Jesse Tyler, Mandy Moore, Camila McConaughey, Gabrielle Union-Wade, Andy Cohen, Garcelle Beauvais and Jenna Dewan, among others.

Earlier this month, the couple shared the news of the baby’s birth, with Teigen announcing in an Instagram post, “The house is bustling and our family could not be happier ?. Daddy sheds nightly tears of joy seeing Luna and Miles so full of love, and I am learning you still need diapers with a c section!? We are in bliss. Thank you for all the love and well wishes – we feel it all! X”

Check out the picture below.

25 Jan 2023

London Gallery to Show Unseen Paul McCartney Photos From Peak Beatles Era

A trove of previously unseen photos taken by Paul McCartney as The Beatles shot to global stardom will go on display in London this year.

The National Portrait Gallery announced Wednesday (Jan. 25) that the exhibition, titled “Eyes of the Storm,” will help mark the gallery’s reopening in June after a three-year refurbishment. Gallery director Nicholas Cullinan said McCartney, approached the gallery in 2020 saying he had rediscovered a batch of photos from late 1963 and early 1964 that he had thought were lost.

Cullinan said they were an “extraordinary” set of images of “such a famous and important cultural moment … taken by someone who was really, as the exhibition title alludes, in the eye of the storm.”

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“Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of The Storm” opens June 28 and runs to Oct. 1. The gallery is due to reopen June 22. Other exhibitions slated for this year include a retrospective of the 20th-century English photographer Yevonde, a show of drawings by David Hockney and an exhibition of portraits by Black artists from the U.S. and Britain.

In December, McCartney released a sprawling box set, The 7″ Singles Box, which collected more than 50 years of singles in a wood crate that tells the story of his post-Beatles career from 1970 to 2021. The 3,000 copy limited-edition set ropes in some of his biggest solo and Wings singles, including “Band on the Run” and “Maybe I’m Amazed,” as well as goofy ephemera like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae,” for a total of 65 re-creations of previous 7-inch releases and 15 new ones.

24 Jan 2023

Diane Warren Received an Oscar Nod & An Honorary Oscar in the Same Awards Year: Who Else Has Done That?

Diane Warren achieved something remarkable on Tuesday (Jan. 24): She was nominated for an Oscar in the same awards year that she received an honorary Oscar.

The reason that’s so significant is that every member of the music branch of the Academy – whose votes determined the nominations – knew that Warren just collected an honorary Oscar at a ritzy event in Century City, Calif., on Nov. 19. There was no pressing reason to recognize her again so soon.

So the fact that she was nominated for her song “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman says a lot about the depth of support for Warren in the Academy.

We already knew about that support. This was her 14th nomination for best original song – a total matched by only seven other songwriters in Oscar history. And this is the sixth year in a row she has been nominated, the longest continuous streak of nominations in that category since Alan Bergman and his late wife Marilyn Bergman were nominated six years running from 1968-73.

Those are impressive statistics. Here’s another one: Warren is just the fifth person in Oscar history to receive a competitive Oscar nod in the same awards year that he or she received an honorary Oscar. Warren is the only person from the world of music to do this. Two of the previous double recipients you probably know. The two others you may not, but we’ll fill you in.

First, let’s clarify something: Warren’s latest Oscar nomination was announced in 2023, and if she wins, she’ll receive the award in 2023, but the award is for the 2022 awards year. That’s how it’s listed in official Academy records. That’s also how her honorary Oscar is listed. So it all lines up.

Here’s a list of all five people who received a competitive Oscar nod in the same awards year that he or she received an honorary Oscar.

24 Jan 2023

James Taylor & His All-Star Band Announce Las Vegas Mini-Residency

You’ve got a friend coming to Sin City. James Taylor and His All Star Band announced Tuesday (Jan. 24) that they’ll kick off the summer with a stint in Las Vegas.

The singer and his backing band are set to take over The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas starting June 3 for a weeklong run of five exclusive shows as part of their 2023 tour. Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Saturday (Jan. 28) at 10 a.m. PT via Ticketmaster and The Cosmopolitan’s official website. Fans can also purchase tickets by calling (800) 745-3000.

Presales for the Las Vegas dates, which include June 3, 4, 7, 9 and 10, will be available in the days leading up to the general sale, starting with Citi cardholders Wednesday (Jan. 25) at 10 a.m. PT through Friday (Jan. 27) at 10 p.m. PT. Additional presales for MGM Rewards members and both Ticketmaster and Live Nation customers will begin the following day, Thursday (Jan. 26), also at 10 a.m. PT.

Months before heading to Vegas, Taylor will help headline the 2023 Love Rocks NYC benefit concert in March along with St. Vincent, the John Mayer Trio, Sheryl Crow and Mavis Staples. The special showcase at the Beacon Theater will help nonprofit food delivery charity God’s Love We Deliver and also feature appearances by Stephen Colbert, Andy Cohen, Chevy Chase and Phoebe Robinson in between sets from Pat Benatar & Neil Girlado, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Stephen Marley, Gary Clark Jr., Allison Russell and more.

Check out Taylor’s announcement of his Vegas shows below.

24 Jan 2023

Miley Cyrus Back on Top! Beyoncé in Dubai! Rihanna & Lady Gaga Oscar Nods! The Week in Pop News

We’ve always known Miley Cyrus comes in like a wrecking ball, but she really proved it this week with her latest single “Flowers” debuting atop the Billboard Hot 100, Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts.

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It’s her first Hot 100 No. 1 since — hey! — “Wrecking Ball” back in 2013, and on the latest Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking all about why the self-love anthem, the lead single from Cyrus’ upcoming eighth album Endless Summer Vacation, is the pop star’s biggest hit in a decade.

But wait, there’s more! It’s been a very active week in pop music, between Beyoncé playing a 75-minute private party in Dubai on Saturday night — where she duetted with daughter Blue Ivy on “Brown Skin Girl” and covered Etta James’ “At Last” — plus Rihanna scoring her first Oscar nomination (best original song for co-writing “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and Lady Gaga picking up her fourth (for “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick).

To hear our conversation on the busy pop week, listen to the Pop Shop Podcast below:

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Bizarrap and Shakira’s “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” blasts onto the Hot 100 at No. 9, becoming the first top 10 for Bizarrap and the fifth for Shakira, and her first since 2007. Plus, SZA’s SOS holds at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for a sixth consecutive week, and we have all the details on why this is such a major moment.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

24 Jan 2023

Camilo & Camila Cabello Ride on Top of an Ambulance in Adorable ‘Ambulancia’ Video

Camilo and Camila Cabello unveiled a music video for their first collaborative effort “Ambulancia” on Tuesday (Jan. 24). 

Directed by Camilo’s wife and singer/actress Evaluna Montaner, the VHS-inspired clip finds Camilo and Camila riding on top of an ambulance, where they are sitting on a mattress filled with sunflowers. In the background, a green screen shows trippy visuals such as the starry galaxy, a busy highway and crashing ocean waves, to name a few. 

The clip comes more than four months after the single dropped Sept. 6, part of Camilo’s De Adentro Pa Afuera album, which debuted at No. 8 on the Latin Pop Albums chart dated Sept. 17. 

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“I love the song so much,” Cabello told Camilo during an Instagram Live chat Tuesday afternoon. “I’ve always wanted to do a song with you. Being on set with you, Evaluna, and Indi (the couple’s baby), and then performing it live together in Los Angeles, for me, was a dream come true.” 

The Colombian artist agreed: “I wanted to thank you for opening the door of your heart to do music together and also your fans for allowing me to be a part of their playlist.” 

“Ambulancia” is a flirty slow-tempo bachata that narrates the story of a connection that cannot be explained, the one that is pure magic and magnetic. Moreover, it perfectly combines Camilo’s melodic vocals with Camila’s raspy voice. “I had turned off my heart, but when he saw you alone, he decided to turn back on,” she sings in a verse.

Watch the music video below:

24 Jan 2023

Miley Cyrus ‘Forever Grateful’ for ‘Flowers’ Debuting at No. 1 on the Hot 100 & Across the World

Miley Cyrus took to social media on Tuesday (Jan. 24) to react to her new song “Flowers” debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and beyond.

“Thankful that Flowers is Number 1 around the world,” she tweeted above a behind-the-scenes snippet from the set of the single’s music video. “This song is dedicated to my fans & the steadfast self love I wish for each of you. Forever grateful, Miley.”

“Flowers” launched at No. 1 on this week’s Hot 100 (chart dated Jan. 27), as well as on the Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts. The anthem is Cyrus’ second track to top the all-genre Hot 100 after “Wrecking Ball” spent three weeks at No. 1 back in 2013. It will appear as the lead single from Endless Summer Vacation, Cyrus’ upcoming eighth studio album, when it drops March 10 via Columbia Records.

To coincide with the chart-topping debut, Billboard broke down five reasons why the self-love groove has become the Hannah Montana star’s biggest hit in nearly a decade — from its close proximity to her latest New Year’s Eve special on NBC and finding in-demand hitmakers like Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson in the song’s credits to its explosion on TikTok and the litany of fan theories about the track’s lyrics being about her relationship with ex-husband Liam Hemsworth.

The song, which broke Spotify’s single-week streaming record after its Jan. 12 rollout, has also found a number of famous fans with its independent message, including Gloria Gaynor, Diane Keaton, Kerry Washington and more.

Check out Miley’s message to fans about the success of “Flowers” below.

24 Jan 2023

Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter Announces Debut Solo Project: See the Album Cover

The Daft Punk camp has been as quiet as an empty nightclub since the French icons officially announced their breakup in February 2021. But Tuesday (Jan. 24) offers tangentially related Daft Punk news by way of the group’s Thomas Bangalter.

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This April, the producer will release his first solo album, an orchestral project called Mythologies. The work comes with a predictably high-pedigree backstory, having been commissioned by French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj for the ballet of the same name. The show premiered in Bordeaux at the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine.

A press release on this project states that the 90-minute score “reveals a love of Baroque music and hints to traces of American minimalism, its brief phrases subjected to a process of progressive variation.” The orchestral work does not incorporate any electronic elements. See its cover art below.

The project, out April 7 via Erato/Warner Classics, began in fall 2019 when Preljocaj invited Bangalter to write the music for a new work. Preljocaj advised that this piece was intended for 10 dancers from the Opéra National de Bordeaux’s ballet company, 10 others from Preljocaj’s own company and the house’s resident orchestra.

“This invitation,” the press release continues with a wink to kismet, “arrived at the very moment that Bangalter was itching to write for a full orchestra.”  

The resulting 23-scene production and its corresponding music do nothing less than “delve into the legacy shared by all of humankind by embracing the ancient and modern myths that reflect and shape us.”

“I think all artists should have freedom,” Bangalter’s father Daniel Vangarde told Billboard last November. “I helped Thomas, Guy-Man and their friends as much as I could to allow them to release without barriers. They were only 20 years old and the industry could have squeezed them — a normal contract generates interference between your work and the time it’s released… My input was to help create a good environment that allowed them to produce freely.”

Thomas Bangalter,

Thomas Bangalter, “Mythologies”

Stephane Manel

24 Jan 2023

Chris Martin & Gwyneth Paltrow’s Daughter Apple Is All Grown Up at Chanel’s Paris Fashion Week Show

Apple Martin has officially made her debut at Fashion Week.

On Tuesday night (Jan. 24), the teenager — the daughter and eldest child of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin — attended Chanel’s Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week.

The 18-year-old looked elegant in a two-piece set designed by the esteemed French fashion house, wearing a black-and-white plaid printed mini dress made of Chanel’s signature tweed fabric and matching jacket. Apple topped off the look with chunky-heeled shoes, a crossbody Chanel bag and shiny blond hair reminiscent of her mother’s.

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At the show, the budding fashionista sat next to Bohemian Rhapsody star Lucy Boynton, as well as All Too Well: The Short Film and Stranger Things star Sadie Sink, who were also dressed in threads from the brand.

Apple Martin

Apple Martin attends the Chanel Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on Jan. 24, 2023 in Paris.

Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via GI

Sadie Sink, Lucy Boynton and Apple Martin

Sadie Sink, Lucy Boynton and Apple Martin attend the Chanel Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on Jan. 24, 2023 in Paris.

Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via GI

Gwyneth Paltrow was in disbelief when her daughter turned 18 last year, lamenting back in May about Apple’s milestone birthday.

“18. I’m a bit of a loss for words this morning,” she wrote. “I could not be more proud of the woman you are. You are everything I could have dreamed of and so much more. Proud doesn’t cover it, my heart swells with feelings I can’t put in to words. You are deeply extraordinary in every way. Happy birthday my darling girl. I hope you know how special you are, and how much light you have brought to all who are lucky enough to know you. Especially me. I say it all the time and I will never stop… in the words of auntie Drew, I was born the day you were born.”