Music News
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Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” has earned an eighth consecutive week at No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart (May 9). The last single to earn this feat was Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste,” which reigned at the top for nine consecutive weeks beginning in August 2024. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and […]
Pink Floyd have scored their first No. 1 LP in over a decade on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart with live album Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII (May 9).
The collection coincides with a digital 4K remastering of the 1972 concert film Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, directed by Adrian Maben, which captures the band’s iconic show at the Roman amphitheatre in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy. The film’s audio was newly mixed by Steven Wilson and released across physical formats and on streaming.
The prog rock icons now have seven chart-toppers on the U.K. charts, Atom Heart Mother (1970), Wish You Were Here (1975), The Final Cut (1983), The Division Bell (1994), Pulse (Live) (1995) and The Endless River (2014). Their magnum opus, Dark Side of the Moon (1973), only hit No. 2. The feat now ties them with Blur, Kasabian, Barbara Streisand, George Michael, Muse, The Prodigy and Paul McCartney (solo) on the all-time list of acts who have landed seven No. 1s.
In its 37th week on the charts, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet rises back up to No. 2, and Ed Sheeran’s +-=÷× (Tour Collection) lifts to No. 3 following the announcement of an upcoming eighth studio album, Play.
On Thursday (May 8), Sheeran shared the music video to nostalgic single “Old Phone,” which saw him revisit formative moments throughout his career as a musician. He also launched a new Instagram page showcasing never-before-seen pictures with musician pals Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and more.
Greatest hits collections by Fleetwood Mac (Don’t Stop, No. 5) and The Weeknd (The Highlights, No. 4) round out the top five. Alex Warren, whose single “Ordinary” is now in its eighth week at No. 1 on the Singles chart, enters the top 10 of the Albums Chart for the first time with debut LP You’ll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1).
Legendary house label Trax Records has dropped its first vinyl release in a decade. The project is a six-track compilation called Rising Again and features the work French duo Jacques x Gregory, American house producer Joe Smooth, KushGad, Spada, ThadX and veteran house producer and Trax affiliate Screamin’ Rachael. Five hundred copies of Rising Again […]
Lola Young’s “Messy” moves up two spots to No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart (dated May 17). The song tops a second individual-format radio ranking, after it led Alternative Airplay for a week in April. “Messy,” on Day One/Island Records and promoted to radio by Republic, becomes just the sixth song by a solo […]
It’s Walton Goggins’ world, we’re just living in it. The actor who has been on a red hot streak lately thanks to his dual over-the-top roles in The White Lotus and The Righteous Gemstones is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend and things are, honestly, off to a rough start.
In one of the promos for Saturday’s (May 10) show, the veteran character actor gets a little taste of what it’s like to be super recognizable, for… something. “I’m Walton Goggins and I’ll be hosting SNL this week with musical guest Arcade Fire,” Goggins says. Cast member Ego Nwodim can’t hold in her excitement, fangirling to Goggins that she loves his “music.”
“I… what… you think I’m Arcade Fire?” Goggins says a bit peeved. “Oh shoot, my bad,” Nwodim replies, embarrassed. “You thought Walton Goggins was four people?,” the host huffs while surrounded by members of the band. “We hung out at the Met Gala! Also, I literally said my name at the beginning of this!”
Not willing to endure the indignity any longer, Goggins says “screw this” and walks off. “We’re still cool, right Walton?” Nwodim asks Arcade Fire, as singer Win Butler waves goodbye to “Arcade Fire.”
Nwodim gets it right, kind of, in another promo.
“Walton, I hear you’re a pretty serious actor. So how do you prepare for the role of ‘Walton Goggins?,’” she asks. “I dunno, I just try to have fun and… um, wait a minute. Oh God. Oh Jesus, this is the role of a lifetime,” Goggins realizes, haunted. “How do we honor that which we have lived so directly, for he who can’t truly be himself is a fraud,” the actor continued as Nwodim and musical guests Arcade Fire slowly, nervously slip out of frame while the Righteous Gemstones star gets into serious method mode.
“… And… they’re gone,” he laments as he’s left alone on stage.
Finally, Nwodim tells Goggins she loved him in The White Lotus, while Butler adds that he also loved him in the holy roller Max comedy Righteous Gemstones. “Ah, much obliged,” says Goggins, who has been killing it for more than 30 years in films including Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, Ant-Man and the Wasp and dozens of TV series before turning into a global sensation over the past six months.
“And I liked you in that other thing you were in,” Nwodim adds, at a loss to name the exact project. “Oh yeah, and that one episode of that… one show,” Bulter says, as Goggins blushes at the non-specific plaudits. “Wait a second, didn’t you also play that guy that…” Nwodim begins, as Goggins completes her thought with, “… in that thing with the other guy.”
“Yes!” Nwodim and Butler say in unison.
Watch the promo below.
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Loungefly celebrates the Princess of Pop, Britney Spears, with a first-ever bag collection. Paying homage to her legendary career filled with hit singles and iconic outfits, this new release gives off early 2000s nostalgia, featuring a Hit Me Baby One More Time mini backpack, an Oops! I Did It Again crossbody bag, a Butterfly tote bag, and a large card holder. The collection is available now on Loungefly with prices ranging from $25 to $80.
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Want to have your own Britney moment? The Hit Me Baby One More Time mini backpack brings the singer’s full iconic “…Baby One More Time” outfit to life. You’ll find appliqués of Britney’s tie-front top and mini skirt, and her gray cardigan is made of knit material. Fans can even find a pom-pom zipper charm attached to the zipper. If you turn the bag around, you’ll discover “Hit Me, Baby, One More Time”” written on the back, flanked by butterflies. For $80, this bag is a must-have for any Britney stan.
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Loungefly x Britney spears
Hit Me Baby One More Time Mini Backback
Next up is a bold red crossbody bag that gives flowers to Britney’s “Oops!…I Did It Again” music video. Resembling her iconic outfit, the bag features a bright red patent faux leather, and a silver-colored metal charm of Britney’s silhouette on the front. On the back, you’ll find “Oops! I Did It Again” written in silver foil. This bag is ready for anyone ready to relive their Britney era and will only run you $70.
Loungefly x Britney spears
Oops! I Did It Again Crossbody Bag
This tote bag features a blue butterfly on the front, with smaller butterflies flying around on the front, sides, and back. For an extra fun detail, you’ll find an adjustable crossbody strap with a snakeskin print and a snake-head coin bag attached. Add this subtle Britney-themed tote to your collection for only $75.
Loungefly x Britney spears
Butterfly Tote Bag with Coin Bag
Lastly, the card holder is an accumulation of the other three bags showcasing appliqués of Britney from her “Oops!…I Did It Again,” “…Baby One More Time,” and “I’m a Slave 4 U” eras. Sitting on a pearlescent background, these three iconic Britney looks will help protect the four-card slot holder in the most pop way. Celebrate each Spears’ era with the $25 card holder below.
Loungefly x Britney spears
Large Card Holder
The Loungefly x Britney Spears collection is available now on the brand’s site. If you’re looking for more Britney Spears collectibles to add to your home or serve as a fun gift, shop the pop star’s Funko Pop! collection that also pays homage to the singer’s hit singles “Oops!… I Did It Again,” “Lucky,” and “Stronger.”
It’s hard to imagine Shakira‘s discography without the 2006 smash hit “Hips Don’t Lie,” but according to the star, the song very nearly didn’t come out when it did.
In an interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show Thursday (May 8), Shakira recalled having to plead with her record label to release the now-iconic Wyclef Jean collaboration on a reissue of her album Oral Fixation, Vol. 2, even though the original LP was already out on store shelves. “I remember my album was already distributed, and then this idea came up, and Wyclef and I met,” she began, noting that she’d had a prophetic dream about the Haitian rapper just before he reached out asking to work with her.
“This song came about,” she continued. “I knew I had a hit, so I called Donny Ienner, who was in charge at the time of [Sony Music Label Group U.S.], and I said, ‘Donny, you have to pick up the albums from the stores.’ He was like, ‘No way, this album is already out there.’ I was like, ‘You’ve got to believe me. You’ve got to trust me. You do that, we have a hit.’”
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To great reward, Shakira’s team ended up doing just that. Released in February 2006 on a repackaged version of Oral Fixation, Vol. 2, the track would ascend to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and spend two weeks at No. 1, marking the four-time Grammy winner’s best performance on the chart to date. As Shakira put it to Fallon, “It changed my story.”
Shakira’s sit-down chat with the late night host comes just two days after she and Jean reunited on The Tonight Show to perform “Hips Don’t Lie” in celebration of its 20-year anniversary. She’s currently gearing up to embark on the United States leg of her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour, which kicks off May 13 in Charlotte, N.C., following a run of Latin America dates earlier this year.
Just last year, however, Shakira gave fans a taste of what’s to come when performed a surprise concert in Times Square in March 2024 for 40,000 fans. The show was truly something to behold, but according to the “She Wolf” singer, she thought it would be a complete failure in the hours leading up to it.
“The funny thing is I was so scared to do that performance, because I thought people were not going to show up,” she told Fallon on Thursday. “We announced it, like, two hours before the appearance, and half an hour before the appearance, I just saw cars. I was peeking through the window, I was so scared, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is the end of my career.’ And then in the last 20 minutes, it was a sea of people.”
Watch Shakira’s full interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon above.
Fat Joe and Jadakiss have a new podcast called Joe & Jada where they talk about all things music, sports, and culture. On their recently released premiere episode, the two rap legends — who’ve seen their fair share of rap beef — talked about the one-year anniversary of the kick-off of the historic rap battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
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Jada started things off by clarifying that what went down wasn’t exactly “beef,” and that he couldn’t believe that it’s been a whole year already. “One year since the Kendrick and Drake discrepancy. What they like to call it ‘beef’ in the media world,” Jada quipped. “Thank God nothing really happened to anybody, physically. Personally, I thought it was about four or five months ago. I can’t believe it’s already been a year.”
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Joey Crack couldn’t believe that it’s been a year either, and then sparked a light debate between the two when he said he noticed that Lamar gets more airplay than other West Coast legends did in their prime. ‘Kiss fired back by saying, “Everybody from L.A. gets spins on L.A. radio.”
Joe then asked him when was the last time Jadakiss was out there, with both of them saying they were recently in L.A. and Joe adding, “Yo, bro, I never seen nothing like this. Every single song, they like, ‘Turn the TV off,” causing Jada to agree that Kenny does indeed get a lot of spin in Southern California.
“It’s a fact. Kendrick Lamar gets played nine out of every 10 songs in L.A. right now,” the Bronx rapper proclaimed. “Not even Snoop Dogg, not even Tupac Shakur — nobody from L.A. has dominated the paint like this guy. That last year? What they’re doing in L.A. — if you’re from L.A., you probably think there’s only one guy on Earth, Kendrick Lamar. I’m just keeping it a buck with you. You turn on that radio in L.A. — if you from L.A., you work at Target, Amazon, you’re delivering some s–t, you working at the bakery, panadería, wherever, East L.A., holmes — you thinking it’s one man breathing in hip-hop, it’s called Kendrick Lamar.”
Joe then shifted the conversation to rap beef in today’s landscape, asking the Yonkers MC what he thinks about historic hip-hop battles. “For me, I thought it was always good if you take it all the back to Wild Style and LL and Kool Moe Dee and all the way up to us and 50,” he began. “It’s always good as long as it stays on wax. “When it first started, somebody say something about you, you gotta go to the studio, you gotta immediately work on getting one back at there, knock the stick off your shoulders like a fight after school at three o’clock. Now, as the technology evolved, it turns into movie skits, animations, retrieving fake information… It got a little wacky for me. I like it to be beats and rhymes and keep it like that. Once it got out of my pay grade, it’s a little bit of disinterest to me because it’s turning political now.”
Fat Joe agreed about things getting political and brought up Drake’s controversial UMG lawsuit. “There’s even lawsuits behind rap diss records now. I never saw that,” he said, to which Manteca Jada replied, “That’s over my head, I don’t really understand… I just wanna see rhymes and song and hip-hop s–t.”
You can watch the full episode below.
If it feels like it’s been a minute since you heard from Gretchen Wilson you’re not wrong. The Grammy-winning “Redneck” woman country star known for her independent streak hasn’t released an album of all-new material since 2017’s Ready to Get Rowdy or a single since 2024’s scorching “Little Miss Runner Up,” a one-off sequel to 2005’s “Homewrecker.”
But after winning season 13 of The Masked Singer this week, Wilson tells Billboard she’s ready to crank things up again after a long time out of the spotlight due to a run of serious health issues with an all-star Taylor Swift-style reboot.
“I had some post-COVID health stuff, I’m a long-hauler. I’ve got medications I’ll have to take for the rest of my life — high blood pressure, asthma — these are all things I didn’t have right before COVID,” Wilson told Billboard in her Masked Singer exit interview about why she’s been off the radar a lot over the past few years. “I also was dancing with a 6-year-old boy at a wedding, spinning, spinning, spinning, then I lost myself and I shattered my ankle and my leg, so I spent eight months in a wheelchair in a cast.”
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Wilson says the cascade of health issues got her wondering if she might still have the stamina to “do a 75-minute show in Yuma, AZ” outdoors in August. But, after the reality singing show came knocking and she had a season-long run nailing rock, pop, R&B and Latin dance pop she realized she was ready to return to the spotlight.
Saying she has “lots of irons in the fire” at the moment, Wilson, 51, reveals the most exciting thing on tap this year is a “re-creation” of her breakthrough 2004 album, Here For the Party. “I am gonna do my version, sort of the way Taylor did, but on my label [Redneck Records],” she says. “But instead of just recreating it the same way, I am going to have a guest vocalist on each song. I’ve got a few absolute yes’s so far, but I was waiting for this [post-Masked Singer] moment so that when I make the rest of the calls they are quicker yes’s.”
While it’s still a work in progress, so far Wilson is proud to tease a duet with Travis Tritt on an unnamed song, something she’s been wanting to do her whole career. “I can’t think of another voice that would pair up with me perfectly,” she says. In addition, she’s re-worked her song “Chariot” with country trio Chapel Hart and has a number of feelers out to some “huge names” that she’s not able to talk about yet.
“I want to make sure [they know] I’m not trying to reinvent myself with the album, I’ve got other things going on and this will be good for them,” she said of the message to the A-list collaborators she’s shooting for.
One of those other irons is a role as “tour manager” or, as she dubbed it “tour momager” on the upcoming music competition series The Road. The show executive produced by Taylor Sheridan (Landman, Mayor of Kingstown), Blake Shelton, David Glasser, Lee Metzger and Keith Urban is slated to premiere in the fall on CBS and stream on Paramount+.
“Tour manager is the hardest job because it all comes down to you,” Wilson laughs. “Obviously on this production I didn’t have to do all the jobs a tour manager does — I wasn’t wrangling the buses or hotel rooms — but in the venue I was doing all the other parts a tour manager does: getting them on and off the stage, making sure they’re taking care of themselves, discussing songs changes, keys, modulations with the band on their behalf… just being the last face they see before they go on and the first face they see when they get off. It’s more like a tour momager role.”
She says none of the contestants on the show are “super young,” but most are younger than her and she calls them “kids” because, let’s be honest, they don’t have nearly the experience she’s had on the road. From playing in three or four bars bands at the same time at 16, to touring the world, Wilson says her road dog experience is worth its weight in gold as she helps the contestants make their way across the country. “What my role was to bring them my experience, any knowhow I’ve gained over the years, any tricks or secrets I know,” she says. “It’s not hard: go to be early, shut up, don’t talk too much, save it for the show. Just somebody to bounce ideas off of, to yell at.”
In the meantime, Wilson has a summer full of shows on her calendar, including slots at the Natchitoches Jazz and R&B Festival in Natchitoches, LA this weekend, as well as a spot at the Hoofbeat Country Fest in Cadott, WI the weekend of June 26-28 and a Grand Ole Opry House show on July 8 in Nashville.
When you look at the bonkers hard rock roster for the upcoming final Black Sabbath show in Birmingham, U.K. on July 5 at Villa Park, there is definitely one name that is conspicuously absent: Judas Priest. The masters of British leather-and-motorcycle metal simply are nowhere to be found among the head-banging roster of greats lined lined up for the Back to the Beginning show that includes Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Alice in Chains, Pantera, Lamb of God and many more.
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Apparently, there is a very good explanation for their absence, according to singer Rob Halford: they’re double-booked. Speaking to Metal Hammer, Halford explained that his band is slated to join the Scorpions in Hanover, Germany on that date for a 60th anniversary celebration of the German rock group.
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“I had no idea it [the Sabbath show] was happening. It all got announced and was a big deal,” he said of the Scorpions and Priest concert taking place more than 630 miles away from fellow Brummie Ozzy’s show. “Suddenly I get this phone call [from Ozzy Osbourne’s wife and manager Sharon Osbourne], ‘Robbie, I know you’ve got this gig with Scorpions, but could you consider coming over to do a thing with Ozzy and the guys. He’d love to see you.’”
But Halford said as much as he’d like to be on hand for the last run with Ozzy and the gang, trying to pull double-duty would be too difficult. He said Sharon Osbourne even offered to fly him back to Birmingham on the day of the show to make an appearance a la Phil Collins’ legendary Concord flight from London to Philadelphia to play two sets at Live Aid in July 1985.
And though Collins’ whirlwind flights, technically, got him to the U.S. before he left due to the timezones he crossed, Halford said as much as he’d like to double-down he thinks it might be “dangerous… Even with a private plane, there’s a word called ‘technical’, where something could go wrong, or the weather that time of year could cause problems… I was absolutely gutted [to miss the show],” he said.
The Sabbath swan song, which will also be Ozzy’s final solo show, has the 76-year-old metal legend pushing himself to deliver a curtain call worthy of his nearly 60-year career. “I do weights, bike riding, I’ve got a guy living at my house who’s working with me. It’s tough – I’ve been laid up for such a long time,” Osbourne said of his workout regimen to get pumped for his first full set since New Year’s Eve in 2018 in the wake of a series of health issues and surgeries that have laid him low for several years and kept him off stages.
“I’ve been lying on my back doing nothing and the first thing to go is your strength. It’s like starting all over again,” he said. “I’ve got a vocal coach coming round four days a week to keep my voice going. I have problems walking. I also get blood pressure issues, from blood clots on my legs. I’m used to doing two hours on stage, jumping and running around. I don’t think I’ll be doing much jumping or running around this time. I may be sitting down.”
Though Halford will not be on hand, former longtime Priest guitarist K.K. Downing will perform at the show alongside members of Limp Bizkit, Smashing Pumpkins, Living Colour, Megadeth, Halestorm, Faith No More, Sleep Token, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Megadeth, Ghost, Soundgarden and Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler.
“All my mates are going to be there though, great bands and artists,” Halford told Metal Hammer, saying that Downing’s appearance will represent the “spirt” of Priest. “It’s a wonderful and epic moment for Sabbath and heavy metal — it re-emphasizes that Birmingham is where metal came from.”