Music News

03 Jan 2023

Cardi B Covers a Fall Out Boy Classic to Ring in the New Year

A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it! Cardi B celebrated New Year’s Eve on Saturday (Dec. 31) by covering Fall Out Boy‘s seminal hit “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down.”

The superstar’s delightfully emo moment came during her performance at Miami’s E11EVEN nightclub to ring in 2023. With a drink in one hand and a mic in the other, Cardi excitedly launched into the 2005 single in a fan-captured TikTok video. “Anything you wanna hear/ But that’s just who I am this week/ Lying in bed/ Next to the mausoleum,” she wailed a capella as the crowd excitedly sang along.

“Cardi b singing fall out boy first thing after midnight on new year’s day is exactly how i wanted to start my year,” the TikTok user wrote on the clip, which also features Offset on stage, playing to a different part of the packed crowd.

Released as the lead single off 2005’s From Under the Cork Tree, “Sugar We’re Goin Down” served as the foursome’s breakout hit, becoming their first top 10 smash and ultimately peaking at No. 8 on the Hot 100. (The pop-punk anthem also reached No. 3 on the Alternative Airplay chart as well as No. 2 on Pop Airplay.)

Funnily enough, Cardi’s appreciation for Pete Wentz and co. plays into a tweet she posted earlier this fall expressing her love for the “emo kids” at her high school who were “actually really cool and will give me free cigarettes.”

Weeks before her New Year’s Eve performance, Cardi promised that her long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s Invasion of Privacy is set to be released sometime in 2023 and even treated the Bardi Gang to a seven-second snippet of an unreleased song via Twitter.

Watch Cardi playfully cover Fall Out Boy below.

03 Jan 2023

Which Snubbed Hot 100 Hitmaker Should’ve Received a Best New Artist Grammy Nomination? Vote!

Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 Songs chart included a total of 15 artists who were both entered and eligible for this year’s Grammy’s best new artist award, but only two musicians — Latto and Muni Long — were able to make this cut for 2023.

One of the biggest Hot 100 success stories is Gayle and her breakout track “abcdefu.” Though she is not nominated for best new artist this year, the track allowed her to peak at the year end Hot 100 at No. 17, and earned her a nomination in the coveted song of the year category, but also has a series of fellow hitmakers who fans believed deserved a spot in the best new artist category at the Grammy’s this year.

Former Disney Channel star Dove Cameron came into her own in 2022 — the singer release her EP, Girl Like Me, in December, which included hit track “Boyfriend” as its lead and breakout single. Though snubbed for best new artist, the track gained her enough traction to be named best new artist at the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 28 and secure at spot on the year-end Hot 100 at No. 51.

And while Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” didn’t start making waves until the end of 2022, the track made a big splash and instead is up for best pop duo/group performance, though Petras was left out of the best new artist nominees at the Grammys.

So who do you think should have been nominated for best new artist at the Grammy’s this year? Vote in out poll below.

03 Jan 2023

Adele Shares Sciatica Diagnosis During Las Vegas Residency: ‘I Have to Waddle These Days’

At her New Year’s Eve show in Las Vegas on Saturday, Adele revealed to the crowd that she’s been suffering from sciatica.

“I have to waddle these days as I have really bad sciatica,” she said as she moved from one side of the stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, according to a report by Cosmopolitan UK.

Sciatica affects the nerve that goes through your lower back, hips and backside and down each of your legs, and Adele has been characteristically up front about other back issues she’s dealt with over the years as well. “I’ve been in pain with my back for, like, half of my life, really,” she said in an interview with The Face for its Winter 2021 issue. “It flares up, normally due to stress or from a stupid bit of posture.

“I slipped my first disc when I was 15 from sneezing,” Adele added. “I was in bed and I sneezed and my fifth one flew out. In January, I slipped my sixth one, my L6. And then where I had a C-section, my core was useless. But where I got my tummy strong, down at the bottom, which I never had before, my back don’t play up as much.”

Her health problems didn’t stop the “I Drink Wine” singer from celebrating another chapter of her ongoing Sin City residency, Weekends With Adele, on social media, posting photos from her very last concert of 2022 and writing, “Weekend 7 Happy New Year to You and Yours,” punctuated by a red heart emoji.

Check out Adele’s New Year’s post from Vegas below.

03 Jan 2023

Ventriloquist Terry Fator Goes Home on Night One of ‘America’s Got Talent: All-Stars’

America’s Got Talent: All-Stars premiered on Monday (Jan. 2) and it has already been a jaw dropper.

Aerialist Alan Silva (Season 15), poet Aneeshwar Kunchala (Britain’s Got Talent 2022), hand-balancing group Bello Sisters (Season 15), a Capella group Berywam (Season 14), singer Caly Bevier (Season 11), singer Jeanick Fournier (Canada’s Got Talent winner 2022), singer Jimmie Herrod (Season 16), dance group Light Balance Kids (Season 14), magician Lioz (Season 10) and ventriloquist Terry Fator (Season 2 winner) all took the stage for the first episode, bringing the heat to the competition.

However, Fator — one of the most successful contestants in AGT history — was sent home. After winning the competition in 2007, the then-42-year-old signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the Mirage in Las Vegas and regularly made Forbes’s annual list of highest-paid comedians.

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“I’m going to let in on a little secret,” Cowell told the champion during the episode. “When we decided to make All-Stars, we had one condition: We’re only going to do it if you competed. Seriously! Because if you’re going to say we’ve got the ‘best of the best,’ then you’ve got to get the best of the best.”

Bevier, Berywam, Fournier, Herrod, Kenchala, Silva and Lioz also went home during the premiere episode. On the other hand, Light Balance Kids snagged the Golden Buzzer from judge Howie Mandel, sending them straight to the finale. The Bello Sisters also made it to the finale thanks to winning the super fan vote.

America’s Got Talent: All-Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

03 Jan 2023

Renée Elise Goldsberry Hilariously Mistakes Laura Benanti’s COVID Test for Pregnancy Announcement

Oops! Renée Elise Goldsberry jumped into the comments section on Laura Benanti‘s latest social media post Monday to congratulate her for… catching COVID?

The LOL-worthy gaffe occurred when Benanti shared her positive coronavirus test on Instagram after taking her daughter Ella on a trip to the New York City Ballet, writing, “Happy New Year? (I tested the day of the ballet and was negative…I also wore my mask so everyone is safe, don’t worry!).”

However, the original Hamilton cast member appears to have thought her fellow Broadway star was sharing a positive pregnancy test on her feed, and mistakenly wrote, “AAAAAAH! Congratulations!” in a now-deleted comment, all while other Broadway stars like Kristin Chenoweth and Jessica Vosk added their commiseration and well-wishes for Benanti’s speedy recovery.

On Tuesday (Jan. 3), Goldsberry offered some hysterical context for her mistake via Twitter, writing, “Drunk scrolling on my birthday… Wrong positive test…” with a facepalm and laughing emoji before adding, “Love you, Laura! Feel better!”

For her part, Benanti seemed focused on making sure her recovery was as low-key and relaxing as possible. “Dear Laura: you do not need to spend this quarantine writing the great American novel, or a pilot, or a play, or a song,” the Tony winner wrote on her Instagram Story. “You do not need to clean and organize your basement. You do not need to organize your email into categories. You do not need to return the thousands of unread emails in your inbox. You do not need to journal, or reflect or read books that challenge you. You can rest and watch tv and read cheesy novels and that doesn’t make you lazy. K?”

Back in October, Goldsberry’s musical sitcom Girls5eva was officially renewed for a third season and will find a new home on Netflix after originating its first two seasons on Peacock.

See Benanti’s post lamenting her positive COVID test and Goldsberry’s amusing response to her accidental congratulations below.

03 Jan 2023

Will Beyonce Tour? Will Taylor Swift Re-Record More Albums? Looking Ahead to the 2023 Year in Pop

We’re just a few days into the new year — but it’s never too early to look ahead to the Year in Pop.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are sharing their pop predictions and new year’s resolutions about what we know is coming and what we hope to see. Will Beyoncé tour around Renaissance — or do we have to wait until Act II‘s arrival to see her live? Will Taylor Swift release any re-recorded music ahead of the March launch of her Eras Tour? And might we see new albums or tours from Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga, Madonna or all of the above?

Listen to the new episode to take a peek into our pop-music crystal ball.

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Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how both the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 charts are still very festive, with half of the top 10 albums and eight of the top 10 songs all Christmas efforts, as the charts’ latest tracking week included Dec. 23 through 25.

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.)  

03 Jan 2023

Angela Simmons Is ‘Happier Than I Ever Been’ After Sharing Yo Gotti Relationship

Angela Simmons is going into the new year with a glow. The star took to her Instagram Stories on Monday (Jan. 2) to share a sweet sentiment.

“Happier than I ever been,” Simmons wrote on a black screen, adding a pink heart emoji. The post comes just a day after she made her relationship with rapper Yo Gotti Instagram official with a series of sleek professional photos.

“You are all I need and more,” she captioned the post, in which the happy couple is seen dressed up in dazzling looks as they pose against a black Rolls Royce.

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Gotti has been open about his crush on Simmons for years. On his 2015 hit “Down in the DM,”  he raps, “And I just followed Angela (Simmons) / Boy, I got a crush on Angela Simmons / They like, ‘Damn Gotti, you bold’ / F— it, I’m gon’ let the world know.”

Later, in 2017, Gotti shoots his shot again in “Save It For Me,” which was release after Simmons got engaged to Sutton Tennyson. “Passed my number to Angela / I thought I had her / Her n—- cuffed her, married, it made me madder/ I respect it, I’m moving on, but the truth is I want her badder / Maybe me sayin’ her name made him move faster,” he raps.

03 Jan 2023

Here’s What Lewis Capaldi Said After Being Mistaken for Susan Boyle

No, 26-year-old Lewis Capaldi is not 61-year-old Susan Boyle — despite what a fan’s father thought.

It all started on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31), when Capaldi performed at BBC’s Hogmanay celebrations. After the show, a fan commented on one of the “Before You Go” singer’s TikToks, “Lewis, my dad saw you on TV and thought you were Susan Boyle.”

Capaldi then shared a video response to the comment, joking that the mistaken identity was a “great start to the new year.”

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“I dreamed a dream that ppl stopped telling me i looked like women in their 60s,” he wrote in the caption.

On a more positive note for Capaldi, the singer is gearing up to release his sophomore album, Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, on May 19, 2023. In addition, the star will be embarking on a global tour, which kicks off on January 14 in Leeds, England, and will stretch across Europe until March 15 in Munich, Germany. On March 30, Capaldi will cross the pond to begin his North American tour in Nashville, Tenn., on March 30. His US dates wrap up on May 11 in Houston, Texas, before he heads off to Australia and New Zealand.

Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent is a follow-up to Capaldi’s debut album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, which peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 and spent an impressive 177 weeks total on the chart. The album’s breakthrough single, “Someone You Loved,” landed Capaldi his first Grammy nomination, as it was up for song of the year at the 2020 ceremony.

03 Jan 2023

Alan Rankine of The Associates Dies at 64

Alan Rankine, co-founder of Scottish pop band The Associates, died Monday at 64.

The news was first reported by both the BBC and The Guardian after a Facebook post by the multi-instrumentalist’s’ two sons began circulating on the social network. “Callum and Hamish’s message say it all,” Rankine’s ex-wife Belinda Henderson (nee Pearse) wrote to share the sad news. “‘It’s with great sadness that my brother, Hamish, and I announce the passing of our father, Alan Rankine. He died peacefully at home shortly after spending Christmas with his family. He was a beautiful, kind and loving man who will be sorely missed. Callum & Hamish Rankine.’”

Formed in 1979 by Rankine and singer Billy McKenzie, The Associates initially became known throughout their native Scotland thanks to their unauthorized cover of David Bowie’s “Boys Keep Swinging.” After the rendition got them signed to Fiction Records, the duo released their debut studio set The Affectionate Punch in 1980 and became integral in Britain’s New Pop movement. A follow-up compilation titled Fourth Drawer Down arrived the following year and eventually, the band released three more albums: 1982’s Sulk, 1985’s Perhaps and 1990’s Wild and Lonely — though Rankine left the band on the precipice of touring around the final album.

Though none of The Associates’ music broke through on the Billboard charts over the course of their career, though Fourth Drawer Down reached No. 5 on the U.K. Independent Albums Chart and Sulk peaked at No. 23 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart thanks to the popularity of its singles “Party Fears Two” and “Club Country.”

Later in his life, Rankine worked as a producer for artists like Cocteau Twins, Paul Haig and The Pale Fountains. He also released a trio of solo albums including The World Begins to Look Her Age in 1986, She Loves Me Not in 1987 and The Big Picture Sucks in 1989.

Read the news of Rankine’s death below.

03 Jan 2023

Don Williams, Last Surviving Member of the Williams Brothers Quartet, Dies at 100

Don Williams, who partnered with Andy Williams and their brothers, Dick and Bob, in a singing foursome that performed on the radio, in the movies and with Bing Crosby and Kay Thompson, has died. He was 100.

Williams died Friday (Dec. 30) of natural causes at his home in Branson, Missouri, his wife, Jeanne, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Born on Oct. 9, 1922, Don was the second oldest of the Wall Lake, Iowa-bred quartet. He and his brothers would work mornings on their own live radio show in Des Moines, Iowa, and then head off to school.

The boys also performed on stations in Chicago and Cincinnati before they came to Los Angeles and backed up Crosby on his 1944 hit “Swinging on a Star.” Later, they teamed with Thompson to form a popular nightclub act.

Thompson, who headed the vocal department at MGM, put the brothers in the studio choir, and they worked on films including Anchors Aweigh (1945), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), The Harvey Girls (1946) and Good News (1947).

They also appeared in the musicals Janie (1944), Kansas City Kitty (1944), Something in the Wind (1947) and Ladies’ Man (1947).

Without his brothers, Don appeared on a 1956 episode of Playhouse 90 and headlined at the Tropicana hotel soon after it opened in Las Vegas in 1957. He also sang in commercials, on The Tonight Show and on programs hosted by Eddie Fisher and Nat King Cole.

Later, he became an agent and manager, with his clients including Mary Tyler Moore and singers Ray Stevens and Roger Miller.

During World War II, he served with the U.S. Merchant Marine with Dick, and both were radio operators on the same tanker.

Don Williams County Park, a recreation area in Boone County, Iowa, is named for him.

Andy Williams, known for his easy-listening hits “Moon River,” “Days of Wine and Roses” and “Where Do I Begin?” and for his long-running TV variety show, was born in 1927 as the youngest of the boys. He died at age 84.

Bob Williams, born in 1918 as the oldest, died in September 2003 at age 85. And Dick, born in 1926, died in May 2018 at age 91.

The four reunited often for Andy Williams’ Christmas specials.

In addition to his wife — they were together for 41 years — Don’s survivors include his twin sons, David and Andy, and a grandson, Harrison. His sons recorded as the Williams Brothers, too, with their songs including “What’s Your Name” and “Can’t Cry Hard Enough.”

This story was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.