Music News

16 Nov 2022

King & Prince’s ‘Tsukiyomi’ Soars to No. 1 on Japan Hot 100

King & Prince’s “Tsukiyomi” soared 92-1 on the latest Billboard Japan Hot 100, released Nov. 16, selling 614,173 CDs this week.

The five-member Johnny’s boy band’s 11th single ruled sales and look-ups, while also coming in at No. 2 for Twitter, No. 3 for video views, and No. 17 for radio airplay to topple Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” from the top spot where it reigned for three consecutive weeks. 614,173 weekly copies is about 100,000 more than the group’s previous single, “TraceTrace,” and follows its biggest hit so far, “Cinderella Girl,” which launched with 622,701 copies and currently clocks in at 838,244 copies total. 

The popular group — with members Sho Hirano, Yuta Kishi, Yuta Jinguji, Ren Nagase, and Kaito Takahashi — shocked fans on Nov. 4 when it announced that the first three members listed above would be leaving the group and agency next year. This news led to a uptick in rankings for the group’s preexisting works and this trend is expected to continue for a while.

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Meanwhile, HIGE DAN’s “Subtitle” continues to break its own record in streaming and downloads. Streams have increased by 1.6 percent from 21,044,966 to 21,377,507 this week, maintaining over 20 million streams for the third week in a row (No. 1 for the metric). The drama theme is also at No. 1 for downloads this week, improving by 8.5 percent from 20,945 to 22,717 units. It also continues to perform fairly well overall, coming in at No. 2 for video, No. 5 for radio, and No. 21 for karaoke, but slips to No. 2 on the Japan Hot 100 by a slim margin against King & Prince’s new single.

YOASOBI’s “Shukufuku” rises 7-4 this week on the Japan Hot 100 after the CD sold 24,926 copies to come in at No. 4 for sales and look-ups. In other metrics, the single hits No. 2 for downloads (up 30.7 percent from 13,753 to 17,973 units), and No. 6 for streaming (up 10.8 percent from 6,796,758 to 7,530,364 streams).

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, Twitter mentions, YouTube and GYAO! video views, Gracenote look-ups and karaoke data.

Check out the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Nov. 7 to 13, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.

16 Nov 2022

The Right Stuff! New Kids on the Block Funko Pops Are Finally Here

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Blockheads, rejoice! New Kids on the Block Funko Pops are finally here and they might just become your new obsession.

NKOTB Funko Pops! went up for pre-order on Wednesday (Nov. 16) featuring Jonathan, Joey, Jordan, Donnie and Danny as cute little vinyl figures – each showcasing a different look.

Danny’s Pop! vinyl wears an American-flag T-shirt, black pants, and suspenders. Donnie holds up the peace sign while sporting a white, cutoff shirt, grey pants and peace-sign chain. Jonathon rocks out in a red leather jacket with jeans, Jordan wears all black, and Joey is dressed in a blue jacket with black jeans.

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These adorable Pop! vinyls measure 4.1 to 4.4 inches tall and are packaged in a plastic box making them easy to display (click here for durable, plastic display cases). Fans have the option of buying each NKOTB Funko Pop! separately ($12) and as a 5-pack ($60) available at Walmart and Funko.com.

NKOTB released their breakout album, Hangin’ Tough, in 1988. The LP went No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spawned some of their most classic hits, including “Please Don’t Go Girl” (a Billboard Hot 100 top 10), “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” (No. 3), “I’ll Be Loving You Forever” and the title track (both No. 1s on the Hot 100) and “Cover Girl” (No. 2).

Earlier this year, the group hit the road for the Mixtape Tour alongside Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Astley and En Vogue, before setting sail with fans on the four-night NKOTB Cruise last month.

Block Nation has long been waiting for NKOTB to join Blink-182, TLC, BTS and other music groups and recording stars that have their own collectible figures. There’s even a petition urging Funko to release NKOTB Pop! vinyls.

Funko’s music vertical includes Pop! Rocks, Pop! Albums, GOLD and Tha Dogg House, a co-branded retail store with Snoop Dogg that is slated to open in early 2023.

Pre-order NKOTB Funko Pop! figures below.

Funko

NKOTB Funko Pop – Danny

$12

Funko

NKOTB Funko Pop – Donnie

$12

Funko

NKOTB Funko Pop – Joey

$12

Funko

NKOTB Funko Pop – Jordan

$12

Funko

NKOTB Funko Pop – Jonathan

$12

16 Nov 2022

kenzie to Join Billboard at 2022 AMAs as Our Red Carpet Host

kenzie is taking over the red carpet at the American Music Awards this Sunday, joining the Billboard News team as our on-camera host to chat with today’s top artists.

The 18-year-old pop star and Dance Moms alum announced the news in a selfie video shared to hers and Billboard‘s socials.

“Hey, guys! It’s Kenzie Ziegler. I have super exciting news,” she says in the announcement video. “I’m going to be chatting with all of your favorite artists at the AMAs this Sunday with Billboard, November 20th, so make sure to tune in!”

You can catch kenzie’s AMAs red carpet coverage on Billboard.com, as well as Billboard‘s Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube pages.

The 2022 AMAs, hosted by Wayne Brady, and the pre-show red carpet will take place at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Bad Bunny leads this year’s list of nominations with eight nods. Beyoncé, Drake and Taylor Swift follow closely with six nominations each. See the full list of nominations here. Lionel Richie will also take the stage to accept the Icon Award.

kenzie, meanwhile, has had a busy year. She released her steamy new single “100 Degrees” in October and is gearing up to drop her next song, “paper,” on Jan. 13. “I actually wrote this song about one of my friend’s breakups, not my personal one,” the star previously told Billboard News of “100 Degrees,” noting that her pal got broken up with on Christmas Eve. “I just wanted to shed light on how something can ruin everything for you during breakups. It’ll ruin seasons, restaurants you went to.”

“This is just an all-around new era for me,” she continued. “I’m so happy, I’m comfortable with my music and I’m trying new things.”

See her announcement below:

16 Nov 2022

Solange to Curate 2023 Spring Music Series for Brooklyn Academy of Music

Brooklyn Academy of Music announced on Wednesday (Nov. 16) that Solange is set to curate the lineup for the venue’s 2023 Spring Music Series.

Through her multidisciplinary creative collective Saint Heron, the When I Get Home auteur will be responsible for hand-selecting a lineup of concerts, films, performance art, dance and other theater pieces for the stages of BAM’s multi-theater campus “honoring the intergenerational and genre-spanning impact” of innovative musicians and artists.

“We’re excited to work with Solange and her Saint Heron collective for this incredible music series of genre-crossing artists presented in unprecedented ways,” said David Binder, BAM’s artistic director, in a statement. “Her experimental, global, and authentic approach consistently pushes the boundary of what performance can be and charts new pathways for audiences to connect. We can’t wait to see how this transpires on our stages.”

The complete lineup curated by Solange is expected to be announced soon with performances slated to begin this coming winter. The singer last worked with BAM nearly a decade ago when she headlined the 2013 Crossing Brooklyn Ferry music festival.

Her creative partnership with Brooklyn Academy of Music will follow Solange’s recent foray into composition. She wrote the score for Play Time for the New York City Ballet, which premiered at the end of September as part of the celebrated dance troupe’s Fall Fashion Gala. The premiere earned raves from Beyoncé, who sweetly shouted out her younger sister on social media by saying, “Might I suggest you don’t f–k with my sis” — a lyric from Renaissance fan favorite track “COZY.”

16 Nov 2022

Lizzo Surprises Poet With Dress After Request for 2022 Emmys Gown on TikTok

Not many people can say pop star Lizzo gifted them a personal item from her wardrobe, but Aurielle Marie — writer of Gumbo Ya Ya, Georgia Author of the Year, Out 100 honoree and a major Lizzo fan — can.

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In an Oct. 27 TikTok posted to her account, Marie made a plea to Lizzo and asked to borrow her 2022 Emmys dress so she could have something wear to the Out 100 event, otherwise she would likely skip out on attending entirely.

“I know you know how it feels to be the biggest b—h in a room, and all of the scrutiny and hyper-visibility that comes along with that because I’ve watched you talk about it,” she said in the video, later adding, “I know you a girl for the girls, and I’m a girl and a girl, and I just need to know. I gotta ask. Can I please, please, please wear your dress from the 2022 Emmys?”

Though a few weeks went by without updates from Marie, a surprise showed up to her door on Tuesday (Nov. 15) — the author posted a video of her running downstairs to open a box from Lizzo. While the garment was not Lizzo’s 2022 Emmys dress, Marie promptly tried the gown from the box and burst into tears. (The dress Marie received was the stunning ruffled one Lizzo wore to the American Music Awards in 2019.)

“I might’ve gotten a few tears on your dress Lizzo, my bad babe. Words don’t suffice and thank you isn’t enough. But THANK YOU! I’m speechless,” Marie captioned the Nov. 15 video. “Ya’ll! A b—h is certified LIZZO-SIZED! And look at this gown! Out Magazine, here I come!”

Lizzo has yet to comment on Marie’s post, but she’s gearing up for an awards ceremony of her own — the singer was nominated for six awards at the 2023 Grammy Awards, including album of the year for Special and song and record of the year for “About Damn Time.”

Watch Marie’s TikTok videos below.

16 Nov 2022

The Walkmen Reuniting For First Shows in a Decade

The Walkmen are reuniting for their first shows in nearly a decade. The beloved New York band whose initial 13-year run ended in 2013 will play a pair of hometown shows at New York’s Webster Hall on April 26 and 27.

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“Back in 2013, an unnamed Walkmen band member (bassist Peter Bauer) announced to the Washington Post that we were going on an ‘extreme hiatus.’ I assumed that meant there would be a lot of monster energy drinks and maybe that red-headed snowboarder guy would be hanging around a lot,” wrote singer Hamilton Leithauser in a statement announcing the get-back by the band that also features drummer Matt Barrick, guitarist Paul Maroon and multi-instrumentalist Walter Martin.

“But none of that actually happened,” he continued. “Instead, in the ensuing years we’ve all worked on a ton of different projects in a ton of different places. Recently, someone sent us a clip of us playing at Irving Plaza from 2003, and it just looked very exciting. So, we’ve decided we’d like to play together again.”

The official presale for the is open now through 10 p.m. ET on Thursday (Nov. 17); click here to register. The general on-sale will begin on Friday (Nov. 18) at 11 a.m. ET.

The garage rock-inspired band — whose members grew up in the Washington, D.C. area — formed in 2000 after the break-up of the groups Jonathan Fire*Eater and The Recoys. They released their full-length debut, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, in 2002, followed by Bows + Arrows (2004), A Hundred Miles Off (2006), a 2006 covers collection, You & Me (2008) and Lisbon (2010) before dropping their final full-length, Heaven, in 2012.

Check out a trailer for the Webster Hall shows below.

16 Nov 2022

Halle Bailey Says She ‘Doesn’t Feel Pressure Anymore’ Over Starring in ‘The Little Mermaid’

Assuming the role of Ariel in the live-action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid is Halle Bailey‘s biggest acting look to date. But despite the apprehension — and at times, backlash — that comes with portraying such an iconic character in the Disney franchise, the “Do It” singer insists she’s cool as a cucumber leading up to the film’s May 2023 release.

“I don’t feel any pressure anymore,” Bailey told E! News on Tuesday (Nov. 15) when asked about playing the titular character. “I think that before I started filming, I did feel some nerves naturally because the film is so important to so many people.” The 22-year-old added that leaning on her close friends and family, including big sister Chloe, helped her overcome any fears she had.

Perhaps the most “touching” part about getting to play Ariel, the actress revealed, was getting to see the reaction little girls had to her performance of “Part of Your World” when it was released in September.

“It just makes me cry,” she shared. “The fact that all these little Black and Brown babies are going to be able to feel like they’re being represented is really special to me. I know that if I had that when I was younger, it would have changed a whole lot for me and my perspective on who I am as an individual.”

In addition to feeling “super honored” to play a Disney princess, the star added, “I’m just really grateful to kind of be in this position and I just hope everybody really enjoys the film.”

The Little Mermaid live action remake will be released on May 26, 2023. Revisit the trailer — in which Bailey sings “Part of Your World” — below.

16 Nov 2022

K-Pop Soloist Wonho Confirms Military Enlistment to Fans: ‘We’ve Made So Many Memories Together’

Wonho is officially bound to enlist in the South Korean military next month, but that doesn’t mean you’ve heard the last of him. In Wednesday (Nov. 16) statements from his agency and the K-Pop soloist himself, it was confirmed that he’ll be carrying out his mandatory eighteen months minimum as a public service worker starting Dec. 5 — but not before he prepares a few projects for his fans to enjoy while he’s away.

“Wonho will enlist as a public service worker on December 5th 2022 to fulfill his duty as a Korean citizen,” read the statement from Wonho’s reps at Highline Entertainment, posted to his Daum Café page. “We ask for your warm love and support until the day he finished his service and returns in good health.” 

The 29-year-old performer posted a letter of his own on the website, addressed to his fanbase WENEE.

“Each and every day that I’ve spent together with WENEE up until now, we’ve made so many memories together that if I just spent one day thinking back on each one of those days, it would already be time for us to meet again,” it reads, translated from Korean to English, according to Soompi.

Wonho first found stardom as a member of the boy band Monsta X, with whom he released several albums and EPs before departing the group in late 2019. Since then, he’s released four EPs as a solo artist and dropped a two-song project titled Bittersweet just over a month ago.

“I’ll prepare lots of things so that WENEE won’t get bored,” his letter continues. “And I hope WENEE will spend that time happily, freely catching up on the things that you haven’t been able to do up until now while waiting for the day that we’ll meet again!”

16 Nov 2022

Adele & Beyonce Are Headed for a Grammy Rematch: Here Are Other Artists Who Faced Off for Album of the Year Multiple Times

Adele and Beyoncé are headed for a rematch. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 12, 2017, the two singers went head-to-head in four categories, including the Big Three (album, record and song of the year). Adele won all four of these contests.

In the nominations for the 65th annual Grammy Awards, which were announced on Tuesday (Nov. 15), Bey and Adele are again competing in each of the Big Three categories. Adele’s 30 is vying with Bey’s Renaissance for album of the year. Adele’s “Easy on Me” is competing with Bey’s “Break My Soul” for both record and song of the year.

This isn’t the first time two artists have competed multiple times for album of the year as lead artists. Two pairs of all-time greats went head-to-head for album of the year three times.

With the number of album of the year nominees having jumped from five to eight in 2018 and then from eight to 10 in 2021, we’ll likely see more such recurring matchups. But it will be hard to top the rivalry between Adele and Beyoncé, who are both world-class artists as well as, by all accounts, friends and mutual admirers.

In her 2017 acceptance speech for the final award of the night, album of the year, a highly emotional Adele all but handed the Grammy to Beyoncé, who was standing in the front row with her husband, Jay-Z, as the audience rose to its feet to celebrate Adele’s win. Adele’s speech stands as one of the most selfless and gracious in awards show history.

After some introductory thanks, Adele addressed the issue of competing with a friend and an artist she greatly admires. “I can’t possibly accept this award and I’m very humbled and I’m very grateful and gracious, but my artist of my life is Beyoncé and this album to me – the Lemonade album – was so monumental.”

Addressing the singer directly, she continued: “Beyoncé, it was just so monumental and so well thought-out and so beautiful and soul-baring and we all got to see another side to you that you don’t always let us see, and we appreciate that. And all us artists here, we fu—ing adore you. You are our light. And the way that you make me and my friends feel – the way you make my Black friends feel – is empowering. And you make them stand up for themselves and I love you. I always have and I always will.”

Beyoncé didn’t go home empty-handed that night. She won two Grammys – best urban contemporary album for Lemonade and best music video for “Formation.” And she has won seven more Grammys since that night.

Take a look at all artists who have, as lead artists, competed against each other for album of the year two or more times.  We start with the pairs who competed three times, followed by the pairs who vied twice.

16 Nov 2022

Harry Styles Hit in the Eye With Skittles During Los Angeles Concert

Harry Styles can’t seem to catch a break during his live shows. Continuing what seems to be an unfortunate fan tradition, Styles — while performing “Kiwi” from his self-titled debut LP at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Monday night (Nov. 14) — got an eyeful’s worth of Skittles thrown at his face, and as a result covered his eyes.

A disgruntled fan who caught the moment on camera took to Twitter and wrote, “whoever the f–k threw a solid object at his eye, u literally ruined kiwi bc he wouldn’t open his eye for the whole song.” Another worried fan, who shared video of the moment slowed down, wrote, “like are you joking?? look how hard he recoils hope your eye is okay @Harry_Styles.”

Thankfully, Styles appears to be okay — not only did he continue with the rest of his concert, Styles’ backing bandmate Pauli the PSM shared an update about his condition during an Instagram Live DJ set later in the evening. “H came through, confirming his eye is okay,” Pauli said, adding, “But do me a favor, don’t throw no more Skittles on stage.”

Styles appeared to also have a good sense of humor about his injury. Tuning into Pauli’s Live, he commented, “See you tomorrow AVEC eye patch.”

This is far from the first time the “Watermelon Sugar” singer has had objects thrown at him while performing. During an August show of Styles’ Madison Square Garden residency, a fan threw multiple chicken nuggets on stage, and in October, a fan threw an unidentified object that hit him in the groin area.

See the tweets regarding Styles’ Skittles-induced eye injury below.