Music News

16 Apr 2025

Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars Rule Top Gabb Music Songs Chart Again, Benson Boone Debuts at No. 2

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” leads the Top Gabb Music Songs chart for a third month in a row as the most-played songs on Gabb Wireless phones, but a challenger appears on the March 2025 tally in the form of Benson Boone, whose “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” debuts at No. 2.

Billboard has partnered with Gabb Wireless, a phone company for kids and teens, to present a monthly chart tracking on-demand streams via its Gabb Music platform. Gabb Music offers a vast catalog of songs, all of which are selected by the Gabb team to include only kid- and teen-appropriate content. Gabb Music streams are not currently factored into any other Billboard charts.

“Die With a Smile” became the first song in the now-six-month history of Top Gabb Music Songs to stay at No. 1 for more than one month when it reigned on the February 2025 survey; now, it’s the inaugural track to do so for at least three editions.

Trending on Billboard

After enjoying five weeks at No. 1 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year, “Die With a Smile” spent the entirety of March 2025 in the top three of the ranking and appears at No. 3 on the latest chart, dated April 19.

Boone’s “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else,” however, continues to establish the singer-songwriter as a formidable presence on Top Gabb Music Songs as one of three Boone songs in the top 10 of the March 2025 list. “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” was released on Feb. 27 and debuted at No. 44 on the Hot 100 dated March 15; it’s at No. 47 on the latest chart.

“Beautiful Things,” which led the inaugural Top Gabb Music Songs in October 2024, and “Slow It Down” rank at Nos. 3 and 9, respectively. That makes Boone the second act to occupy at least three positions in the chart’s top 10 at once, following NF, whose “Let You Down,” “Hope” and “The Search” were Nos. 5, 7 and 10, respectively, on the October 2024 tally.

The February 2025-dated chart featured just one debut among its 25 positions. Not so for March 2025; the artist behind that lone bow, Forrest Frank (via “DROP!,” at No. 19), returns again with the second-biggest start after Boone’s “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else”: “Nothing Else,” featuring Thomas Rhett, at No. 7. Like Boone’s new entry, “Nothing Else” was also a late-February release (Feb. 28); it enjoyed a No. 4 debut on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart dated March 15.

The third and final debut of the month belongs to Lady Gaga, whose “Abracadabra” bows at No. 17. “Abracadabra” was also released in February, albeit much earlier (Feb. 3). It reached a peak so far of No. 13 on the Hot 100 dated Feb. 22 and ranks at No. 38 on the most recent tally.

See the full top 25 below.

Top Gabb Music Songs

  1. “Die With a Smile,” Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars (=)
  2. “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else,” Benson Boone (debut)
  3. “Beautiful Things,” Benson Boone (=)
  4. “APT.,” ROSE & Bruno Mars (-2)
  5. “God’s Plan,” Drake (+2)
  6. “Deja Vu,” Olivia Rodrigo (+6)
  7. “Nothing Else,” Forrest Frank feat. Thomas Rhett (debut)
  8. “Golden Hour,” JVKE (+3)
  9. “Slow It Down,” Benson Boone (-1)
  10. “Butterfly Effect,” Travis Scott (+3)
  11. “Face 2 Face,” Juice WRLD (-6)
  12. “Stargazing,” Myles Smith (-2)
  13. “Thick of It,” KSI feat. Trippie Redd (-9)
  14. “Please Please Please,” Sabrina Carpenter (-5)
  15. “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” Luke Combs (-1)
  16. “Love Somebody,” Morgan Wallen (=)
  17. “Abracadabra,” Lady Gaga (debut)
  18. “Heat Waves,” Glass Animals (-1)
  19. “Too Sweet,” Hozier (-4)
  20. “Run It,” Jelly Roll (-14)
  21. “Let You Down,” NF (-3)
  22. “Bones,” Imagine Dragons (-1)
  23. “Stressed Out,” Twenty One Pilots (-3)
  24. “Saturn,” SZA (-1)
  25. “Hope,” NF (=)

DROPS FROM FEBRUARY 2025: “DROP!,” Forrest Frank; “Enemy,” Imagine Dragons; “Wildflower,” Billie Eilish

16 Apr 2025

Sleep Token Scores First Hot Hard Rock Songs No. 1 Debut With ‘Caramel’

Sleep Token earns its first No. 1 debut on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, bowing atop the April 19-dated survey with “Caramel.”

Released April 4, the track drew 11.2 million official U.S. streams, 30,000 in radio airplay audience and sold 3,000 downloads in the week ending April 10, according to Luminate.

Sleep Token tallies its second total No. 1 on the chart, following “Emergence,” which debuted at No. 2 on the March 22 ranking and led for three weeks up to the debut of “Caramel.” “Emergence” ranks at No. 2 on the latest list via 5.2 million streams, 2.2 million in radio reach and 1,000 sold.

Sleep Token becomes the third act to replace itself at No. 1 on Hot Hard Rock Songs since the chart began in June 2020. Bring Me the Horizon first achieved the feat, when “Teardrops” gave way to “Parasite Eve” (Nov. 14, 2020), followed by Linkin Park (“The Emptiness Machine” and “Heavy Is the Crown,” Feb. 15). The latter band supplanted itself at No. 1 again when “The Emptiness Machine” returned to the top (Feb. 22).

Concurrently, “Caramel” debuts at No. 1 on the Rock Streaming Songs, Hard Rock Streaming Songs and Hard Rock Digital Song Sales charts. “Emergence” also led each list.

“Caramel” also starts at No. 34 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 – Sleep Token’s highest rank yet, surpassing the No. 57 best for “Emergence.” It’s the highest-charting hard rock song on the ranking in 2025 and the best since “The Emptiness Machine” debuted and peaked at No. 21 last September.

“Caramel” is the second song released from Even in Arcadia, Sleep Token’s fourth studio album and first with RCA Records, due May 9. Its predecessor, Take Me Back to Eden, debuted at its No. 2 peak on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart in June 2023 and has earned 776,000 equivalent album units to date.

16 Apr 2025

The Weeknd Plots ‘Ferris Wheel Takeover’ at Coachella Ahead of ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ Film

The Weeknd is planning a unique kind of Coachella appearance during the festival’s second weekend. He announced on Wednesday (April 16) that he’s hosting a “ferris wheel takeover” from Friday to Sunday.

“SEE YOU IN THE DESERT @coachella,” he wrote on Instagram underneath a poster promoting his upcoming psychological thriller film Hurry Up Tomorrow and featuring an upside down picture of a ferris wheel. Directed by Trey Edward Shults and co-written and -produced by The Weeknd, who also stars in the film, Hurry Up Tomorrow tells the story of a fictionalized version of the superstar, who — “plagued by insomnia” — becomes wrapped up in an “odyssey with a stranger who begins to unravel the very core of his existence,” according to an official synopsis. Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan star alongside The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye), who scored the film alongside his frequent collaborator Daniel Lopatin (also known as Oneohtrix Point Never). Lionsgate will distribute the movie in theaters worldwide on May 16.

The film is based on The Weeknd’s final studio album under his world-famous alias, which was the third and final installment of his last trilogy, following 2020’s After Hours and 2022’s Dawn FM. The 22-track LP Hurry Up Tomorrow debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums following its Jan. 31 release date.

Trending on Billboard

The Weeknd’s upcoming “ferris wheel takeover” marks his first Coachella appearance in two years, after he popped out as a special guest during Metro Boomin‘s star-studded set in 2023. He headlined the festival twice, in 2018 and in 2022 alongside Swedish House Mafia.

16 Apr 2025

Linkin Park’s ‘In the End’ Music Video Surpasses 2 Billion Views on YouTube

It starts with one … then two, then three, and eventually 2 billion. Linkin Park‘s “In the End” music video has officially surpassed the 10-digit view-count milestone two times over, becoming the band’s second visual to do so.

Uploaded in October 2009, the “In the End” video finds the group’s iconic original lineup of Chester Bennington — who died in 2017 — Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Joe Hahn, Rob Bourdon and Phoenix Farrell performing the hit on top of an Egyptian-looking statue as CGI vines sprout from the desert grounds below. A whale-like creature also swims through the air as the band’s frontman belts the track’s iconic chorus, “I tried so hard, and got so far/ But in the end, it doesn’t even matter/ I had to fall to lose it all/ But in the end, it doesn’t even matter.”

The song was originally released in 2000 on Linkin Park’s debut album, Hybrid Theory. Reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, it remains the rock band’s highest-charting song to date.

Trending on Billboard

Linkin Park previously reached 2 billion views on the visual for 2003 hit “Numb.” News of the group hitting the milestone a second time comes amid a major comeback period following a seven-year hiatus after Bennington’s death; in September, the surviving members (sans Bourdon) announced that the band would be returning with the additions of new lead vocalist Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain, dropping new album From Zero that November. The group is now in the middle of its world tour supporting the LP, with dates set through this November.

Add your view to 2 billion others by watching Linkin Park’s “In the End” music video above.

16 Apr 2025

Justin Bieber Parties With Sexyy Red for Rapper’s 27th Birthday

Sexyy Red had the stars out in Los Angeles for her 27th birthday party earlier this week as she twerked the night away at The Players Club. Among those in attendance were Justin Bieber and GloRilla.

Fresh off attending Coachella with his wife, Hailey Bieber, JB pulled up to Big Sexyy’s bash in a tan fur coat with some gold chains as he danced alongside the St. Louis rapper.

Sexyy rocked a bikini with a sparkling Santa Claus robe, a money sign red belt and a matching furry hat with plenty of flashy jewelry on.

Trending on Billboard

“My 2 personalities,” she captioned the clip with Bieber and then posted another video twerking, which was soundtracked by her new “Hoochie Coochie” single. Fans were happy to see JB outside having some fun.

“LMFAOOOO THANK YOU FOR GETTING JUSTIN OUT THE HOUSE,” one person wrote to X. Another added: “Lmfao I love that dude!”

It was a busy weekend for Biebs, who was spotted turning up at YEAT’s Coachella set with his wife, as well as Tate McRae and her boyfriend, The Kid LAROI.

As for the rest of Sexyy’s rager, she turned The Players Club into a strip club alongside GloRilla, as the “WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME” collaborators made it rain dollar bills.

On the music side, Sexyy Red delivered her ratchet “Hoochie Coochie” single earlier in April. The party will continue into the weekend as Sexyy’s slated to make an appearance at Club LIV in Miami and perform at the 305 hot spot.

16 Apr 2025

Serena Williams on Her Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl Halftime Cameo: ‘I Don’t Know If I Regret It or Not’

Tennis great Serena Williams had the honor of being named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025 and was asked about her viral cameo during Kendrick Lamar‘s Super Bowl halftime show.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

She told Time that she and fellow Compton native Lamar have been “trying to do something together for ages,” but when he first reached out to ask if she would crip walk during his performance of “Not Like Us,” just as she did after winning Wimbledon for the fifth time in 2012, Williams admitted to being a bit confused.

Trending on Billboard

“I’m like, ‘Wait, what, you’re asking me?’” she admitted. “I’m not Taylor Swift, let’s be honest. I would have a better chance to be quarterback at the Super Bowl than dance.” 

However, she didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to represent for their shared hometown, even if it meant dancing while a diss aimed at her ex-boyfriend Drake was playing. “Who would have thought that a tennis player from Compton would be regarded as one of the best tennis players of all time?” she asked. “It was just putting an exclamation on it.”

Williams is still not sure if she regrets it, though, telling the outlet, “I don’t know if I regret it or not. I don’t know the answer to that.” She also doesn’t feel like she was dissing the Toronto rapper. “Absolutely not. I would never do that,” the 23-time singles champ asserted. “And that was sad, that anyone would ever think that. I respect how they could. Obviously, I can see how someone would think that. But absolutely not.”

She added: “I have never had negative feelings towards him. We’ve known him for so many years.”

Back in 2022, on the song “Middle of the Ocean” from his joint album Her Loss with 21 Savage, Drake called Williams’ husband, Reddit co-founder Alex Ohanian, “a groupie,” which prompted Ohanian to respond on X. “The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the absolute best at whatever I do — including being the best groupie for my wife & daughter,” Ohanian wrote at the time.

16 Apr 2025

TWICE to Drop Remix of Coldplay’s ‘We Pray’ After Joining Rock Band On Stage in South Korea

Coldplay already did “We Pray” once, and now, the band is doing the song TWICE.

As announced Wednesday (April 16) following the K-pop septet’s first show opening for the rock group on tour — during which the two acts performed together on stage — a second version of the Moon Music track featuring Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu is on its way. Sharing a video of the ladies singing the upcoming collaboration live with Chris Martin at Goyang Stadium in South Korea, Coldplay revealed on Instagram that “We Pray – TWICE Version” will drop Friday (April 18).

In the clip, the Coldplay frontman dances as the “Moonlight Sunrise” singers perform an updated, bilingual version of the track, each of them wearing a Coldplay T-shirt. Then, Martin joins back in on the “We Pray” chorus, belting out, “And so we pray for someone to come and show me the way/ And so we pray for some shelter and some records to play.”

Coldplay first released “We Pray” in 2024 on the band’s 10th studio album, Moon Music, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The original track features Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna and TINI, and it reached No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October.

Trending on Billboard

Wednesday’s performance marked the first of six shows TWICE is set to open for Coldplay in South Korea on the latter’s ongoing Music of the Spheres Tour. Elyanna and Hanroro are also supporting the Goyang Stadium shows, which will continue April 18-19, 22 and 24-25.

Watch Coldplay and TWICE perform “We Pray” at Goyang Stadium below.

16 Apr 2025

Deezer Says Number of Fully-AI Generated Songs Delivered Daily Has Doubled Since January

French streaming service Deezer reported in a company blog post on Wednesday (April 16) that it is now receiving over 20,000 fully AI-generated tracks on a daily basis, amounting to 18% of their daily uploaded content — nearly double what it reported in January 2025.

Back in January, Deezer launched a new AI detection tool to try to balance the interests of human creators and the rapidly growing number of AI-generated tracks uploaded to the service. At the time of the tool’s launch, Deezer said it had discovered that roughly 10,000 fully AI-generated tracks were being uploaded to the platform every day. Instead of banning these fully AI-generated tracks, Deezer instead uses its AI detection tool to remove them from its recommendation algorithm and editorial playlisting — meaning users can still find AI-generated music if they choose to, though it won’t be promoted to them.

This tool might even be underestimating the number of AI tracks on Deezer. At the time of its launch, Deezer noted that the tool can detect fully AI-generated music from certain models. This includes Suno and Udio, two of the most popular AI music models on the market today, “with the possibility to add on detection capabilities for practically any other similar tool as long as there’s access to relevant data examples,” as they put it. Still, it’s possible there’s more AI-generated music out there than the tool can currently catch.

Trending on Billboard

Deezer’s tool also does not detect or penalize partially AI-generated works, which likely make up a significant portion of AI-inflected songs today. According to guidance from the U.S. Copyright Office, as long as “a human author has determined sufficient expressive elements,” an AI-assisted work can be eligible for copyright protection.

Deezer is one of the first streaming services to create a policy against fully AI-generated songs, and the first to report how often they’re seeing them uploaded to the service. As Billboard reported in February, most DSPs do not have AI-specific policies, with SoundCloud the only other streamer that has publicly stated that it penalizes AI music. Its policy is to “prohibit the monetization of songs and content that are exclusively generated through AI, encouraging creators to use AI as a tool rather than a replacement of human creation.”

Still, some other streaming services have taken steps to ensure some of the negative impacts of AI are policed, even though their policies aren’t specific to AI. For example, Spotify YouTube Music and others have created procedures for users to report impersonations of likenesses and voices, a major risk posed by (but not unique to) AI. Spotify also screens for users who spam the platform with too many uploads at once, a tactic used by bad actors who are trying to earn extra streaming royalties. This is often done by deploying quickly made AI-generated tracks, though that is not always the case.

“AI generated content continues to flood streaming platforms like Deezer, and we see no sign of it slowing down,” said Aurelien Herault, chief innovation officer at Deezer, in a statement. “Generative AI has the potential to positively impact music creation and consumption, but we need to approach the development with responsibility and care in order to safeguard the rights and revenues of artists and songwriters, while maintaining transparency for the fans. Thanks to our cutting-edge tool we are already removing fully AI generated content from the algorithmic recommendations.”

16 Apr 2025

Mass Appeal Announces 7 New Albums From Nas, Ghostface Killah & More for ‘Legend Has It’ Series

Mass Appeal and Nas announced on Wednesday (April 16) that their Legend Has It series, which will feature seven new albums from seven different hip-hop icons, is on its way.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The heavyweight series will include projects from Nas & DJ Premier, Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, Raekwon The Chef, Big L, De La Soul and what the brand calls an “epic return by a surprise guest of honor,” according to a press release. The projects are expected to drop before the end of 2025.

Among those projects will likely be Ghostface Killah’s long-rumored Supreme Clientele 2 and Raekwon’s Emperor’s New Clothes. Additionally, the De La Soul and Mobb Deep records will be the first release since the deaths of Trugoy The Dove and Prodigy. There will also be a posthumous release from Harlem’s Big L.

Trending on Billboard

The new Nas record will be the rapper’s first since his 2023 run, during which he dropped off King’s Disease III, Magic 2 and Magic 3. The Queens legend teased the aforementioned DJ Premier record in 2024, announcing it on the 30th anniversary of his seminal debut Illmatic back in April. However, the idea of a Nas and Premier record dates back to 2006, when the former first floated the idea in an interview with Scratch magazine.

“We talked about doing an album together and some of the listeners want to rush the s—t — I wanna rush it, too — but I just want to pull pieces from all kinds of different people for this next puzzle because a lot of people think s—t got easy, that I quit,” he said at the time.

Mass Appeal also teased the news on its Instagram with a video. Check it out below.

16 Apr 2025

Young Thug Announces ‘UY SCUTI’ Album & Reveals Alternate Cover Art: ‘It’s Time. Red Planet’

Young Thug’s first album since being released from prison in October appears to be on the horizon. Thugger launched the official shop for UY SCUTI on Wednesday (April 16) and revealed alternate cover art for the project.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“It’s Time. Red Planet,” Thug wrote to X with the link to the UY SCUTI store, signaling Thugger season is just around the corner. Per Nine Planets, Uy Scuti is a red supergiant star located in the constellation Scutum.

The online shop includes a pair of vinyl and CD covers as well as a few merchandise bundles supporting the album. There’s even a “What Would Brian Do” T-shirt in a salute to Thug’s lawyer, Brian Steel, who represented the rapper in the YSL RICO case.

Trending on Billboard

Steel actually joined Diddy’s defense team earlier this week for his sex trafficking and racketeering trial looming next month. The decorated attorney joins a legal team that includes Marc Agnifilo, who is a former federal prosecutor who has repped Martin Shkreli, along with his law partner Teny Geragos.

As for Thug, a billboard was spotted at Coachella teasing his upcoming album with an apparent May arrival. “Universe has been too quiet. Until now. UY SCUTI,” the billboard read while the specific release date in May is blacked out.

Many have speculated a May 9 release date, which is a Friday, and marks three years since Thug and 27 others were taken into custody on RICO charges.

Young Thug hasn’t released a single in 2025, but appeared on Lil Baby’s album for “Dum, Dumb, and Dumber” alongside Future.

After over two years behind bars as part of the longest-running trial in Georgia’s history, Thug secured his release when reaching a plea deal on Halloween that saw him sentenced to 15 years of probation.

Find Thug’s X post below and look for UY SCUTI in May.