Music News

29 Nov 2022

BLACKPINK Wins Worldwide Fans’ Choice at 2022 MAMA Awards

Another accolade for BLACKPINK! The girl group, along with nine other acts in K-pop, managed to secure the worldwide fans’ choice top 10 award at the 2022 MAMA Awards, which took place in Japan at the Kyocera Dome Osaka on Tuesday, Nov. 29.

Though the girl group was not in attendance, they were honored with a “Pink Venom” dance tribute and a special segment that aired at the award show that also featured their music producer Teddy Park.

BLACKPINK was the only female group who won the worldwide fans’ choice top 10 award. The other nine artists who were victorious in the category are BTS, ENHYPEN, GOT7, NCT DREAM, PSY, SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, TREASURE and TOMORROW X TOGETHER. Winners of the award were voted on by fans on the MAMA website in a series of polls that ended on Nov. 4.

Day 2 of the 2022 MAMA Awards is scheduled to take place on Nov. 30. BLACKPINK is up for another four awards at the ceremony in the best female group, best dance performance female group and song of the year “Pink Venom,” as well as artist of the year categories.

For BLINKs who were hoping to catch the quartet at the awards show, you’re out of luck. BLACKPINK is just one day away from starting the European leg of its Born Pink World Tour. The European leg will kick off on Nov. 30 in London, and will make stops in Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and more before heading back to Asia in 2023.

29 Nov 2022

‘Last Christmas’ Becomes Backstreet Boys’ First Adult Contemporary No. 1 Since ‘I Want It That Way’

Backstreet Boys’ remake of Wham!’s “Last Christmas” dashes to No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart (dated Dec. 3, reflecting plays in the Nov. 21-27 tracking week, according to Luminate).

The ever-youthful boy band notches its third AC No. 1 and first since its pop classic “I Want It That Way” reigned for 10 weeks beginning in July 1999. The act first led with “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” for seven weeks starting in October 1998.

Backstreet Boys’ triumphant return to the AC summit grants them the record for the longest break between No. 1s among groups: a week shy of exactly 23 years since the last frame on top for “I Want It That Way.” Among all acts, only Elton John has waited longer between time at No. 1 (23 years, 11 months and a week between “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” in 1998 and “Merry Christmas,” with Ed Sheeran, last holiday season). Among groups, Backstreet Boys pass the Eagles (a week short of 20 years between “Best of My Love” in 1975 and “Love Will Keep Us Alive” in 1995).

Backstreet Boys’ update of “Last Christmas” is from their first holiday LP, A Very Backstreet Christmas, which launched at No. 1 on the Top Holiday Albums chart in October. Another song from the set, “Christmas in New York,” rises to a new No. 19 AC high.

Released in 1984, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” — written and produced by George Michael — re-enters the all-genre, multi-metric Billboard Hot 100 at No. 23. The song hit the top 10 for the first time in the 2020 holiday season and reached a No. 7 best last season. On the Holiday 100, the carol ranks at No. 6 as the survey returns.

With the original receiving strong airplay, and streams, each holiday season – Wham’s version ranks at No. 5 on the Dec. 3-dated Holiday Airplay list with 19.8 million audience impressions – charted covers of “Last Christmas” have been rare, although all by high-profile acts.

Here’s a recap of remakes of “Last Christmas” on individual-format Billboard airplay charts:

  • Backstreet Boys, Adult Contemporary, No. 1 (one week to-date), 2022
  • Ariana Grande, Adult Contemporary, No. 26, 2013
  • Glee Cast, Adult Contemporary, No. 27, 2009
  • Taylor Swift, Country Airplay, No. 28, 2007

(Grande’s version also hit No. 1 in 2013 on Holiday Digital Song Sales, where covers have additionally charted, joining the Glee Cast’s and Swift’s, by Carly Rae Jepsen, Gwen Stefani and Meghan Trainor.)

Meanwhile, “Last Christmas” is the 28th holiday No. 1 on the AC chart since 2000, around the time that most stations in the format began playing seasonal songs heavily, or 24/7, between Thanksgiving and Christmas each year.

Here’s an updated recap of all the holiday songs that have hung atop the AC chart’s highest bough:

Title, Artist, Chart Date Reached No. 1, Weeks at No. 1

  • “Last Christmas,” Backstreet Boys, one (to-date), Dec. 3, 2022
  • “Merry Christmas,” Ed Sheeran & Elton John, one, Jan. 1, 2022
  • “Let It Snow! (10th Anniversary),” Michael Bublé, Dec. 11, 2021, three
  • “White Christmas,” Meghan Trainor feat. Seth MacFarlane, Dec. 12, 2020, four
  • “Like It’s Christmas,” Jonas Brothers, Dec. 14, 2019, three
  • “Cozy Little Christmas,” Katy Perry, Dec. 29, 2018, one
  • “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” John Legend feat. Esperanza Spalding, Dec. 8, 2018, three
  • “Santa’s Coming for Us,” Sia, Dec. 23, 2017, three
  • “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” Brett Eldredge feat. Meghan Trainor, Jan. 7, 2017, one
  • “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Josh Groban, Dec. 24, 2016, one
  • “This Christmas,” Train, Dec. 17, 2016, two
  • “This Christmas,” Seal, Jan. 2, 2016, one
  • “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” Idina Menzel duet with Michael Bublé, Dec. 20, 2014, three
  • “Underneath the Tree,” Kelly Clarkson, Dec. 2, 2013, four
  • “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow,” Rod Stewart, Dec. 8, 2012, five
  • “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Michael Bublé, Dec. 10, 2011, five
  • “Oh Santa!,” Mariah Carey, Dec. 18, 2010, four
  • “A Baby Changes Everything,” Faith Hill, Dec. 20, 2008, three
  • “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” Josh Groban, Dec. 22, 2007, three
  • “Frosty the Snowman,” Kimberley Locke, Dec. 15, 2007, one
  • “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” Daryl Hall John Oates, Dec. 30, 2006, two
  • “Jingle Bells,” Kimberley Locke, Dec. 23, 2006, one
  • “Up on the Housetop,” Kimberley Locke, Dec. 17, 2005, four
  • “Believe,” Josh Groban, Dec. 11, 2004, five
  • “Sending You a Little Christmas,” Jim Brickman with Kristy Starling, Jan. 3, 2004, one
  • “O Holy Night,” Josh Groban, Dec. 28, 2002, two
  • “Simple Things,” Jim Brickman feat. Rebecca Lynn Howard, Jan. 5, 2002, one
  • “The Christmas Shoes,” NewSong, Jan. 6, 2001, one

29 Nov 2022

Dolly Parton Shines With ‘Diamonds & Rhinestones’ on Top Country Albums Chart

Dolly Parton achieves her 48th top 10 on Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart (dated Dec. 3) as Diamonds & Rhinestones: The Greatest Hits Collection enters at No. 4. In the tracking week ending Nov. 24, the set — released Nov. 18 — earned 19,000 equivalent album units, with 15,000 in album sales, according to Luminate.

The 23-track album includes songs released between 1971 and 2019, including 10 No. 1s on the Hot Country Songs chart in 1974-89, from “Jolene” to “Why’d You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That.” Among those leaders are her two No. 1s on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100: “9 to 5” (1981) and “Islands in the Stream,” with Kenny Rogers (1983).

The newest cut is “Faith,” Parton’s collaboration with Swedish DJ/production duo Galantis and featuring Dutch vocalist Mr. Probz. The track debuted atop Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales in November 2019, giving Parton her first No. 1 in the genre, and topped Dance/Mix Show Airplay that December.

Parton extends her record for the most Top Country Albums top 10s among women, pushing six ahead of Loretta Lynn’s 42. Parton also remains the only woman with top 10s in every decade since the list began in January 1964. Her top 10 totals by decade: 1960s – four; ’70s – 18; ’80s – 11; ’90s – five; 2000s – three; ’10s – four; and ’20s – three.

Parton has netted eight Top Country Albums No. 1s, most recently A Holly Dolly Christmas, which bowed on top in October 2020. In between that set and her latest, Run, Rose, Run debuted at its No. 4 best this March.

Parton boasts the second-most Top Country Albums top 10s among all artists, after Willie Nelson (the only other act with top 10s in seven decades), with 53. She first reached the tier with her second entry, Just Between You and Me, with Porter Wagoner (No. 8 peak, 1968).

More ‘Proof’ of a Hit

Morgan Wallen’s “You Proof” rebounds from No. 2 for a sixth week atop Country Airplay (26.6 million audience impressions, down 7%). The song, Wallen’s seventh leader on the list (dating its first week on top on the Oct. 15 chart), ties for the longest reign of the 2020s, matching Dustin Lynch’s “Thinking ‘Bout You,” featuring MacKenzie Porter (starting last December), and Luke Combs’ “Forever After All” (starting in June 2021).

Since Country Airplay started in January 1990, only seven songs have led longer, with two tied with a record eight frames at No. 1 each: Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” (2003) and Lonestar’s “Amazed” (1999).

Meanwhile, “Proof” is the first song to return to the Country Airplay apex since Chris Lane’s “Big, Big Plans” hit No. 1 on Dec. 19, 2020, and revisited the top two weeks later.

Top 10 ‘World’ View

Jordan Davis banks his sixth Hot Country Songs top 10 as “What My World Spins Around” rises 12-10. The song, which he co-wrote, drew 7.7 million official streams (up 1%) and sold 2,000 downloads (up 98%) Nov. 18-24. On Nov. 17, he announced that his second LP, Bluebird Days, is due Feb. 17.

On Country Airplay, “Spins” ranks at No. 10, up by 7% to 18.7 million impressions in the week ending Nov. 27.

Davis last reached the Hot Country Songs top 10 with “Buy Dirt,” featuring Luke Bryan. The collaboration led for four weeks in January-February, becoming his first No. 1 (and Bryan’s 12th). It dominated Country Airplay for two frames, marking Davis’ third leader (and Bryan’s 26th).

Davis posted his first Hot Country Songs top 10 with his rookie entry “Singles You Up,” which hit No. 4 in April 2018, and followed with “Take It From Me” (No. 4, March 2019); “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot” (No. 6, April 2020); and “Almost Maybes” (No. 7, July 2021). “Singles” and “Slow Dance” also topped Country Airplay for a week each.

29 Nov 2022

BTS‘ Suga Pours Out Some Drinks in Preview of ’Suchwita’ Talk Show Debut Episode Featuring RM

BTS‘ Suga is not a light pour in the preview of the K-pop superstar’s new talk show, Suchwita. The first look at the series, which will debut next Monday (Dec. 5), finds Suga hanging with bandmate RM in a montage in which footage of the pop icon making his way to the couch is interspersed with glimpses of a turntable and a temple as he settles in with a glass and explains the definition of the show’s name.

“Suchwita… time to drink with Suga,” he announces as the first glasses of liquor are filled. The old friends cheers and wonder “how serious are these folks about it,” seemingly in reference to people who are interested in both drinking and telling stories. The two also speculate about who might appear on the series in the future, with Suga teasing, “Can it really get that far?”

RM will drop his solo debut album, Indigo, on Friday (Dec. 2), just days before Suchwita rolls out. The latest project from the on-hiatus BTS will feature RM collaborating with Erykah Badu, Anderson .Paak, Kim Sawol, Mahalia, Colde, Tablo and parkjiyoon. The nine-track album’s lead single, “Wild Flower” (featuring youjeen) will coincide with Friday’s release.

Though Indigo will be RM’s first full-length solo album, the rapper previously released two mixtapes. He was the first of the BTS members to share solo material, dropping his self-titled mixtape in 2015, which contained singles “Do You,” “Awakening” and “Joke.” RM then released a second mixtape in 2018 titled Mono. “Forever Rain” was released as the only single from the latter body of work; the set debuted at No. 26 on the Billboard 200.

Suga has also been keeping busy on the solo front, releasing “Our Island” from the BTS Island: In the SEOM soundtrack and, earlier this summer, teaming up with K-pop superstar Psy for the dance-y single “That That.“

Check out the first trailer for Suchwita below.

29 Nov 2022

Cardi B Says She’s ‘Feeling So Hopeless’ Trying to Make Husband Offset Happy After Takeoff’s Killing

Cardi B opened up about the overwhelming grief husband Offset is feeling in the wake of the killing of his Migos bandmate and cousin Takeoff. “We living our life normally, but deep down inside our hearts have been so heavy,” Cardi said in a since-deleted Twitter voice note according to People. “I feel like if I talk about the incident so desensitized, I feel like if we talk about how we really feel or what motherf—kers really been going through, y’all will start saying, ‘Oh, sympathy. Oh sympathy.’ And we don’t want no sympathy. We ain’t no charity case. But no lie, I have been feeling so hopeless trying to make my husband happy.”

Takeoff (born Kirsnick Khari Ball), 28, was shot and killed in a still-unsolved incident on Nov. 1 at a Houston bowling alley.

Cardi also said that she’s in no mood to be “playing around” with fans online who are trying to “get clout” by speaking on Takeoff’s death, as the past month has been very difficult for her and her family. “Trying to make him crack a smile, f—in’ seeing him randomly cry, see him trying to distract his mind completely, f—in’ schedules been changing, trying to keep up with work after everything that he’s been going through these past couple of weeks. We not in the mood to be f—in’ playin’ around with y’all. Dead a–,” Cardi said of her efforts to cheer up Offset in a recording of the note captured by The Neighborhood Talk.

Offset and Migos bandmate Quavo were on hand to pay tribute to Takeoff at a celebration of life event at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on Nov. 11.

29 Nov 2022

Kendrick Lamar, Rosalia, Calvin Harris, Blur, Halsey to Headline 2023 Primavera Sound Festival

The star-studded lineup for the 2023 Primavera Sound Festival was unveiled on Monday (Nov. 29), topped by Kendrick Lamar, Rosalía, Depeche Mode, Blur and Halsey. The event that will take place in both Barcelona (June 1-3) at Ciudad del Rock in Arganda Del Rey and Madrid (June 8-10) at the Parc Del Forum and also feature sets from Ghost, Darkside, Le Tigre, Turnstile, Sparks, Pusha T, Baby Keem, Skrillex, Bad Religion, The Mars Volta, Bad Gyal, Maneskin, St. Vince, the War on Drugs and many more.

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In addition, the Pet Shop Boys will play Wednesday’s (May 31) free show with Jake Bugg, Confidence man and La Paloma. Other acts slated to take the stage include: Japanese Breakfast, PinkPanthress, Christine and the Queens, Arlo Parks, The Voidz, Alex G, Built to Spill, The Moldy Peaches, Bleachers, Julia Jacklin, Caroline Polachek, Maggie Rogers, My Morning Jacket, Tokischa, Death Grips and more.

One-day and multi-day tickets will go on sale on Thursday (Dec. 1) at 12 p.m CET; more information on tickets here. Festival organizers announced earlier this year that 2023’s event would take place in Barcelona and Madrid for the first time, saying that the cities will “mirror” each other on consecutive summer weekends.

“Look for yourself in the Primavera Sound 2023 line-up… and find yourself,” organizers said in a statement in describing the mirror-image lineups. “Because we assure you that you are there. After twenty editions, the festival is the mirror in which the community that will come from near and far to Barcelona and for the first time to Madrid next June looks at itself and recognizes itself, but after everything it has experienced, this reflection goes in two directions, marking the richest musical itinerary we can think of: Primavera Sound also looks for and finds itself in its own audience.”

Check out the full poster below.

29 Nov 2022

The 1975’s Matty Healy Has a Viral Hit With Random Auto-Tune Blast

Matty Healy’s latest hit isn’t the kind to impact the charts.

The 1975 frontman is having an unusual viral moment, thanks to an off-the-cuff comment he made at security when his voice was filtered through Auto-Tune.

Healy was in full voice during a recent concert when he calls on staff to help a potentially injured fan.

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In a clip doing the rounds of social media, Healy is in the flow of “I Like America & America Likes Me,” when he spots something in the audience.

“Someone’s fallen down over there,” he interjects, his voice as synthetic as a Twitter bot. “Go and f***ing sort ’em out. Stop standing there like a bunch of d***heads.”

The moment, which has been seen nearly 1 million times, was reportedly captured during the English act’s Nov. 23 concert at the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix.

It’s not the first time Healy’s on-stage antics have enjoyed by the masses, watching on from their devices.

During a performance earlier this month at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Healy caused a stir when he whipped out a slab of raw, red meat and munched on it. Even his mother, actress Denise Welch, tweeted about the bizarre moment.

America likes the 1975, true. And so does Britain, where the alternative rock band has a perfect five consecutive No. 1 albums, including their latest release, Being Funny In A Foreign Language, which dropped last month.

In the U.S., Healy and Co. have cracked the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart on four occasions, including a No. 1 for 2018’s A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships.

North America tour dates in support of Being Funny In A Foreign Language are due to wrap Dec. 17 in Pittsburgh, PA, with U.K. and Ireland dates kicking off from mid-January, and South America, Asia and Australia following in early-to-mid 2023.

28 Nov 2022

Jennifer Lopez Reflects on 20th Anniversary of ‘This Is Me… Then’ & How Ben Affleck ‘Knows All the Words’

It’s been 20 years since Jennifer Lopez unveiled her third studio album, 2002’s This Is Me… Then, much of which was inspired by her then-relationship with Ben Affleck. Now, the singer is reflecting on the album and her rekindled romance with her now-husband.

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“It is a little bit like the Twilight Zone. It doesn’t happen,” Lopez told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe this week. “That album, This Is Me… Then really captured a moment in time where I fell in love with the love of my life. It’s all right there on the record. I didn’t even realize what was happening and what I was doing. It was just every day going from the set to the recording studio, doing the thing, being in love, him coming into the studio, writing ‘I’m Glad,’ […] Me tweaking the lyrics with him. Every single song that we wrote there, me writing ‘Dear Ben’, it was such a special moment in time to have captured.”

As expected, the Good Will Hunting actor “loves” the album. “He knows all of the words. It’s crazy. He also was with me while I was creating it,” she shared. “You’re listening to the demos in the car. You’re listening to the mixes. ‘I wrote this today. What do you think of this?’ It was that over and over again for two years while we were together. He knows it so well and he loves it so much. He’s my biggest fan, which is awesome, and supporter. When he came back into my life again, the same thing happened where I felt so inspired and so overtaken with emotion that it was just pouring out of me.”

Lopez also shared that her 2004 breakup with Affleck was the “biggest heartbreak of my life.” “I honestly felt like I was going to die,” she said, noting that she couldn’t perform songs from This Is Me… Then because it was too painful. “It sent me on a spiral for the next 18 years where I just couldn’t get it right. But now, 20 years later, it does have a happy ending. It has the most would-never-happen-in-Hollywood ending.”

Now, the multihyphenate is gearing up to release her new album This Is Me… Now, which was inspired by her marriage and how much she has grown over the years. “I think what the message of the album is very much if you were wondering if you have, like me at times, lost hope, almost given up, don’t. Because true love does exist and some things do last forever and that’s real,” she said.

Watch the full interview below.

28 Nov 2022

The 100 Greatest Jock Jams of All Time: Staff List

What is a jock jam?

Well, in the ’90s it was whatever ESPN defined it as for the purposes of their series of Jock Jams compilations: Most often, hip-hop-flavored dance-pop bangers which implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) promoted physical movement of any and all kinds. But defined more broadly for our purposes at Billboard, a Jock Jam is a song that has come to define the in-game experience at a pro sports arena: Any song that, after years of stadium (over-)usage, is as familiar to sports fans’ ears as sneaker squeaks, referee whistles and Zamboni organ groans. It’s a canon that spans rock, hip-hop, dance and country, and still includes pop songs old and new.

To celebrate this canon, Billboard presents our list of the 100 greatest jock jams of all time. We tried to stay away from jams that only really made sense for one sport (like John Fogerty’s “Centerfield”) or one city (like Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”), in favor of the classics that could work in the most games in the most places. These are the songs that helped define sports culture in this country for decades, which may have fallen in and out of favor with music supervisors as hip songs of the moment, but which will forever produce a Pavlovian response of sports-readiness. It’s a Hall of Fame in which AC/DC are The Beatles, 2 Unlimited are Michael Jackson, and The Baha Men… well, they’re still The Baha Men, but forever bronzed at their 2000 peak.

Now, a bunch of us here at Billboard are sports junkies, but we didn’t trust our own experiences and recollections in this matter to be anywhere near complete. So to help flesh out our Top 100 and determine the absolute cream of the bumper-music crop, we consulted the experts: Stadium entertainment officials, DJs, and general music men and women of the MLB, NHL, NFL and especially the NBA worlds. They were kind enough to give us their picks for the stadium-anthem GOATs, and explanations for their selections are interspersed throughout our list.

And now, let’s sound the horn and get our countdown underway. Y’all ready for this?

28 Nov 2022

Doja Cat Says She’s ‘Never Felt More Beautiful’ Since Shaving Her Head

Doja Cat is the cover star for Dazed magazine’s Winter 2022 The Beautiful Issue, and as the title suggests, the “Say So” singer looks stunning and effortlessly cool with her bright pink buzz cut.

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In the accompanying interview, the star reflected on her journey through playing with her look, and the range of reactions she gets online. “They’re like, ‘Oh, this can’t possibly be her simply having fun. She has to be out of her mind. She has to be cuckoo,’” she said. “Also, I have a really bad impulse control; I like to react to things really quick. If I’m in the right mood, or the wrong mood, I will snap back and I’ll have fun doing it.”

As for her latest ‘do, a shaved head and nonexistent eyebrows, Doja revealed that she’s loving it, despite at first thinking she looked like a “wrinkly penis.” “I have never felt more beautiful in my entire life, which is very strange. I felt beautiful when I had long hair. I definitely felt like a hot girl then, but I always do,” she explained. “There’s something so exhilarating about change; [it] showed me a different side of myself. I feel so new, fresh and sexy. I also feel better without make-up: having this bare head and so little make-up is a fun experience. It’s new, and I love it.”

She also shared her perspective surrounding her relationship with her body, something she said has grown. “Now, to me, beauty is going against [what society wants]. I love when you take something that is maybe classically beautiful and twist it and make it your own,” she shared. “For me, it’s more of an ‘are you happy?’ kind of thing. I want my fans to learn they don’t have to be like anyone else and the thing they want is already there. They just haven’t found it yet, and once they do they’ll be like, ‘How the f— did I not see it? How did I miss this?’”

Read the full interview here.