Music News

Billie Eilish Celebrates 21st Birthday With Boyfriend Jesse Rutherford, Justin & Hailey Bieber

Billie Eilish turned 21 on Dec. 18, and some of music’s biggest stars showed out to help her celebrate. In photos shared by the “Happier Than Ever” pop star on Instagram early Thursday (Dec. 22), Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber and The Neighbourhood‘s Jesse Rutherford — whom she’s currently dating — were all present at her birthday bash.

Born shortly before Christmas, it was only fitting that Eilish ring in her birthday wearing a red and white off-the-shoulder Santa-inspired dress, long gloves and candy cane earrings. She showed off her festive outfit in a carousel of Instagram photos from the occasion, which also included a snap of her and Rutherford, all smiles, locking eyes in front of a “Happy 21st Birthday” balloon arrangement.

In another photo, the “Bad Guy” singer, the Biebers and Rutherford squeeze into a photo booth. Justin rests his cheek on Hailey’s forehead, while Eilish kisses the 31-year-old “Sweater Weather” singer — whose face is mostly cut off in the carousel — on the cheek.

The seven-time Grammy winner simply captioned her post with a string of emojis: ❤️‍?❤️‍?❤️‍???

The celebration comes a few days after Eilish’s trio of end-of-year hometown shows at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum, at each of which she invited a handful of guest artists to share the spotlight with her. On night one (Dec. 13), she sang “I’ve Never Felt So Alone” from the Euphoria soundtrack with Labrinth; night two (Dec. 15) saw her perform a Taylor Hawkins tribute with Dave Grohl and duet with Phoebe Bridgers.

Finally, on night three (Dec. 16), she sang “Redbone” with Childish Gambino — who wished her a happy birthday onstage — and brought out Khalid to sing their 2018 smash hit duet “Lovely.”

SZA Scores Her First Streaming Songs No. 1 With ‘Kill Bill’

SZA reaches No. 1 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart for the first time thanks to “Kill Bill,” which debuts atop the Dec. 24-dated tally.

“Bill” bows with 36.9 million official U.S. streams earned in the Dec. 9-15 tracking week, according to Luminate.

Her first ruler eclipses the No. 2 peaks of “Good Days” (2020), her featured credit on Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” (2021) and Summer Walker co-bill “No Love” (2021).

“Bill” is the first non-holiday song to reign on Streaming Songs past the first week of December (and before January) since 2018, when Ariana Grande‘s “Thank U, Next” ruled for the entire month of December.

SZA first made the chart — which began in 2013 — with “Love Galore,” featuring Travis Scott. That track peaked at No. 27 in 2017.

In all, four songs from SZA’s new album SOS reach Streaming Songs’ top 10, with “Bill” joined by “Nobody Gets Me” (No. 6, 25.1 million streams), “Blind” (No. 8, 24.4 million) and “Low” (No. 10, 22.3 million). Of the Dec. 24-dated top 10, only SZA’s entries are non-holiday songs.

A total of 19 songs from SOS appear on the Dec. 24 ranking, giving SZA a tie for the second-most simultaneous appearances by a woman in the chart’s history, alongside Taylor Swift’s 19 on the Nov. 27, 2021, list upon the release of the album Red (Taylor’s Version). Only Swift boasts more, with 20 achieved on the Nov. 5, 2022, ranking, after the debut of the album Midnights.

Concurrently, “Bill” starts atop R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs and R&B Streaming Songs. It’s her fourth ruler on the former, following “Days,” “Love” and “I Hate U,” and her seventh on the latter, with the aforementioned four joined by “The Weekend,” “All the Stars” (alongside Kendrick Lamar) and “Hit Different,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign.

One other song from SOS reigns on a genre-based streaming chart: the pop-punk-esque “F2F,” which becomes her first to reign on Alternative Streaming Songs (13.7 million streams).

As previously reported, “Bill” is the top debut of SOS on the multi-metric Billboard Hot 100, bowing at No. 3. SOS itself also starts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 318,000 equivalent album units earned.

Coolio Talks Ancient Aliens, Metaverse, Secret 8th Continent On ‘Crypto Island’ Podcast

One of Coolio‘s last known interviews took place on a lark in an airport departure gate when the host of a crypto podcast happened to spot the rapper chilling out while waiting for a flight. In the new episode of PJ Vogt’s Crypto Island pod, the host describes his surprise at seeing someone who had the “incandescent shine” of a likely famous person casually sitting at a gate in New York’s JFK airport.

Wearing a green track suit and matching baseball hat with two slots cut in the top to make room for his signature at-attention braids, Coolio was friendly when Vogt asked him to introduce himself and a young fellow passenger named Grant whom the MC had befriended.

Waiting to board a flight to Copenhagen, Coolio explained to Vogt that he’d done his crypto research. “I am actually heavily invested into the metaverse,” said the “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper who died on Sept. 28 in Los Angeles at age 59 of suspected cardiac arrest. “I have a nice swath of land in the metaverse and barring the internet crashing or somebody dropping an EMP (electomagnetic pulse) on the whole world and there being no power, this would be a good deal.”

Given the tremendous amount of energy needed to power crypto in the midst of what climate scientists have warned is a make-or-break moment for the rapidly warming Earth, Vogt asked Coolio to share his thoughts on the climate crisis. “I’m not so much worried about it,” Coolio said in a hoarse voice. “By the time it gets to be a serious problem I’ll be long dead.”

Though Vogt said Coolio understood the dangers of sea level rise and global warming, the rapper said he had “so many other things” to worry about right now that impending climate apocalypse was not on the list. Among them, Grant chimed in, was how they were going to get to Denmark. “Exactly, because I got a show tomorrow,” Coolio said. Though he’s more likely to suffer the ravages of climate catastrophe because of his age (20), Grant agreed about fretting in the right now versus worrying about our hothouse future.

And then Coolio dropped a serious bombshell. “I’m gonna tell y’all another thing that nobody will never tell you,” he said. “There’s another continent that they’re hiding from us.” Vogt, confused but intrigued, asked Coolio to elaborate. And so the rapper born Artis Leon Ivey Jr. explained that if you travel 50 miles out into the Antarctic Ocean — whether on a ship, plane or helicopter — you will be told by the military to turn back or face annihilation.

Grant said he’d also heard this conspiracy theory, and then doubled down with another one about hidden pyramids in Antarctica. “There are pyramids in the Grand Canyon,” Coolio noted. Vogt said he would save the rest of the chat for a later episode, but summarized a discussion with Coolio and Grant that involved them getting excited about what they described as an ancient race of aliens who were protecting part of the planet from marauding, fossil-fuel addicted humans.

The trio then boarded a plane — a sleepy Coolio in first class, Vogt in coach — with the host musing that as far-out as Coolio and Grant’s notions were, in a world where everything feels like it’s falling apart all the time, “it points to the allure of literally any distraction… any problem shinier than the big one: that we’ve accidentally created a world where our consumption is gradually killing us.”

Listen to the episode below (Coolio appears around 4:10 mark).

For King & Country’s ‘Joy to the World’ Jumps to No. 1 on Christian Airplay Chart

For King & Country, the duo of siblings Joel and Luke Smallbone, notches its 12th No. 1 on Billboard‘s Christian Airplay chart (dated Dec. 24), as the pair’s version of “Joy to the World” dashes from No. 7 to the summit.

In the tracking week ending Dec. 18, “Joy” drew 1.8 million audience impressions among the chart’s panel of reporters, according to Luminate.

Here’s a recap of For King & Country’s nine Christian Airplay No. 1s: “Joy to the World” (for one week, to-date); “For God Is With Us” (three weeks, July); “Relate” (three, beginning in December 2021); “Amen” (one, July 2021); “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” featuring NEEDTOBREATHE (two, starting in December 2020); “Together,” with Kirk Franklin and Tori Kelly (five, beginning in August 2020); “Burn the Ships” (five, starting in January 2020); “God Only Knows” (10, beginning in April 2019); “joy.” (four, starting in August 2018); “Priceless” (three, October 2016); “Shoulders” (two, June 2015); and “Fix My Eyes” (one, September 2014).

Meanwhile, For King & Country’s current non-seasonal single, “Love Me Like I Am” with Jordin Sparks, also resides in the Christian Airplay top 10 — at No. 9 (1.3 million) — after reaching No. 6 the past two weeks.

With 12 Christian Airplay No. 1s, For King & Country ties Jeremy Camp and Matthew West for the second-most leaders since the chart launched in 2003. MercyMe leads all acts with 17 No. 1s.

“Joy to the World” concurrently becomes For King & Country’s milestone 20th top 10 on the multi-metric Hot Christian Songs chart, where it vaults 28-9. The act is the eighth to have notched at least 20 top 10s, with Casting Crowns, MercyMe and Chris Tomlin sharing the record with 29 each.

Lana Del Rey Gets Last, Biggest Word With Billboard in Ex’s Hometown Promoting Upcoming Album

Lana Del Rey is beloved by millions all around the world. But the new micro-targeted billboard promoting her upcoming Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. album appears to pointedly have an audience of one.

According to screenshots from LDR’s private @honeymoon Instagram, the singer posted an ad for Tunnel in Oklahoma, explaining, “There’s only one and it’s in Tulsa,” adding in comments, “It’s personal.” Fans are speculating that the one-off promotion is aimed at her ex-boyfriend, a Tulsa cop she reportedly broke up with in 2020 who used to appear on the popular Live PD series. Fans also noticed that Del Rey made her album announcement and dropped the title track on Dec. 7, her ex’s birthday.

The singer-songwriter surprised fans earlier this month with the announcement of her upcoming ninth album, which shares its name with the title of her new song that was also unveiled. The collection, with featured artists including Jon Batiste, Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers, Father John Misty, Judah Smith, Tommy Genesis and SYML, will arrive on March 10.

Antonoff, who previously worked with Del Rey on 2021’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club, is also listed on the cover as a producer, as are Mike Hermosa, Drew Erickson and Zach Dawes, who worked on Blue Bannisters, also released in 2021. The title track finds the singer firmly in her element, her voice billowing out like smoke over somber piano and dark strings. “When’s it gonna be my turn?” she sings on the single. “Open me up, tell me you like it/ Love me until I love myself / There’s a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard.”

See a screenshot of the billboard below.

Dave Grohl’s Daughter Violet Stuns With Janis Ian’s ‘At Seventeen’ on 4th Night of 2022 ‘Hanukkah Sessions’

On the fourth night of Hanukkah Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin gave us a classic coming-of-age song. Mid-way through this year’s “Hanukkah Sessions,” the Foo Fighters leader and producer invited Grohl’s 16-year-old daughter, Violet, to the stage for a moving cover of Janis Ian’s 1975 hit “At Seventeen.”

“I learned the truth at 17/ That love was meant for beauty queens/ And high school girls with clear-skinned smiles/ Who married young and then retired,” Violet sang in a voice too young to be as world-weary as the character in Ian’s song. Strumming an acoustic guitar as dad Dave gently brushed the drums behind her and producer Kurstin provided light-touch, jazzy piano backing, the preternaturally poised teen brought a hush over the room as she painted a world of teen angst that swings from hope to angsty despair and back again.

And, in a touching moment, proud dad Dave gave his daughter a huge smile and two fists up for her elegant efforts at song’s end.

“Born Janis Eddy Fink, a 23-year-old Janis Ian wrote one of the all time classic coming of age anthems ‘At Seventeen’ — here it is as interpreted by Violet Grohl,” read the video’s description. It’s just the latest impressive showing by Violet, who also joined her dad and a parade of all-stars paying tribute to late Foo’s drummer Taylor Hawkins at a pair of memorial concerts in London and L.A. earlier this year, where she effortlessly pulled off moving covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Jeff Buckley’s “Last Goodbye.”

So far this season, Kurstin and Grohl have teamed with the former’s The Bird and the Bee bandmate Inara George for 10cc’s “The Things We Do For Love,” P!nk on “Get the Party Started” and director Judd Apatow for Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “Spinning Wheel.” This is Grohl and Kurstin’s third year posting eight nights of covers of songs made famous by Jewish musicians. In a twist, this year’s efforts were all recorded live at Los Angeles’ intimate Largo on Dec. 5 with a cast of all-star guests taking the stage at the 250-capacity club.

Grohl and Kurstin released the first “Sessions” in Dec. 2020 in the midst of the first winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping one new cover for each night of the holiday. In the midst of a concerning rise in antisemitic incidents and hate speech in the U.S., proceeds from the Largo night went to the Anti-Defamation League.

Watch “At Seventeen” below.

Lizzo Shows Off Her New ‘Wolf Cut’ on TikTok

Lizzo, fresh off of her appearance as musical guest on SNL last weekend, has a fresh new look.

She took to TikTok on Tuesday (Dec. 20) to show off her new hairstyle, a wolf cut featuring shaggy, wavy layers and bangs.

“are we loving the wolf cut ???” she asked her followers on the post, which had reached 3.9 million views at press time.

In the video, Lizzo mouths a Blair Waldorf line from the original Gossip Girl series: “Some people are simply better than others.”

Her cute new hairstyle can also be seen in a second clip, in which the singer applied lipstick and showed off her outfit, a T-shirt dress with cut-outs. “I’m posting a lot today so beware,” she wrote.

“Obsessed w how cute I was yesterday,” she added in an Instagram glimpse at herself in the mirror.

See Lizzo’s new hairstyle below and on her TikTok.

Rory Kramer, Justin Bieber’s Photographer, Mourns Loss of Son After Premature Birth: ‘How Fragile Life Is’

Gone far too soon. Rory Kramer, Justin Bieber‘s longtime photographer and music video director, took to social media on Monday (Dec. 19) to share the news that his baby son had died after a premature birth.

“It’s with a broken heart that I share on December 1, 2022 at 9:41pm, my wife Amy went into a preterm labor and gave birth to our baby boy, Daniel Thomas Kramer after 21 weeks,” Kramer wrote alongside an Instagram photo of himself cradling the tiny baby, whose face was covered by a heart emoji. “A name after both our fathers. He weighed 14oz and was 11 inches long. He made Amy and I parents for 52 minutes before heading off to heaven.”

Kramer went on to recall his very first moments in the hospital with baby Daniel before writing, “It went from the most beautiful moment to the most eye opening, devastating moment I’ve ever experienced. Daniel taught me so much in those 52 minutes…he showed me patience, he taught me how fragile life is, to never to take life for granted, and that death affects so many.”

“We are so blessed and grateful for the time we had to stare at him, kiss him, and hold him in our arms. He was perfect. Tiny little hands. Big goofy feet. And Rory’s face. We wish you could have met him,” the photographer continued. “I share this, as a lot of you have been following my journey through many peaks and valleys, and as we find ourselves in the trenches, I know we must go on and live a life to honor our son. To anyone, that has experienced a loss or similar situation, my heart aches for you.”

Kramer’s directorial credits include the music videos for Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande’s pandemic hit “Stuck With U,” The Chainsmokers’ 2016 single “All We Know,” both “I’ll Show You” and “Company” off Bieber’s 2015 album Purpose and “Should’ve Been Us” by Tori Kelly.

Read Kramer’s heartbreaking tribute to baby Daniel below.

From Beyoncé to Brent Faiyaz, What Was Your Favorite R&B Album of 2022? Vote!

It’s that time of year! Yes, the holiday season, but also when we look back and take stock on the best music of the year. And in the countdown to Christmas, we want to know which R&B album released in 2022 was your favorite.

On Tuesday (Dec. 20), Billboard staffers ranked their ten picks for the year’s best R&B studio sets, starting with Brent Faiyaz‘s Wasteland. Calling it the indie artist’s “most transparent project to date,” the sophomore follow-up to 2017’s Sonder Son was led by singles “Dead Man Walking,” “Gravity” with DJ Dahi and featuring a guest assist from Tyler, the Creator, and “Wasting Time” featuring Drake before finally debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in July.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the year in R&B without considering Beyoncé‘s mammoth Renaissance, even if the Beyhive is still waiting for any hint of visuals from Queen Bey’s house-inspired opus, which includes fan favorite cuts like “Alien Superstar,” “Cuff It,” “Pure/Honey” and hit single “Break My Soul.”

Steve Lacy also made major waves in the genre thanks to his major-label solo debut, Gemini Rights, and its No. 1 hit “Bad Habit,” and Ari Lennox shared many a personal detail with her unapologetic sophomore album Age/Sex/Location.

Other powerhouse contenders that made Billboard‘s top 10 list included The Weeknd‘s radio broadcast-inspired Dawn FM, Ella Mai‘s vulnerable Heart on My Sleeve, Giveon‘s Give or Take and Lucky Daye‘s Candydrip. Plus, Kehlani and Mary J. Blige proved once again to be masters of their craft on their stellar respective albums Blue Water Road and the Grammy-nominated Good Morning Gorgeous.

Vote for your favorite R&B album of 2022 in Billboard‘s year-end poll below.

Las Vegas Punk Rock Museum Opening Delayed Until March

The opening of a Las Vegas museum devoted to punk rock music has been pushed back.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday (Dec. 21) that the Punk Rock Museum, slated to debut next month, will open its doors in March.

The 12,000-square-foot museum is situated between the Las Vegas Strip and downtown. It will include a bar, a tattoo parlor, a wedding chapel and a “jam room.”

Several punk rock artists have signed on to act as tour guides, including Roger Miret of Agnostic Front and Louiche Mayorga of Suicidal Tendencies.

The museum’s opening day is March 10. Tours will begin April 1.