Music News

15 Apr 2025

Post Malone Brings Country to Coachella — And Plans to Stay in the Saddle for His Next Album

When Post Malone released F-1 Trillion last year, he conquered yet another genre with the country collab album. And it looks like he’s going back to that well on his next project.

On the new Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are joined by Billboard deputy editor Lyndsey Havens to discuss Post’s Sunday headlining set at Coachella as well as Havens’ interview with the superstar in the desert about what’s next. Post told Lyndsey that he’s already made two trips to Nashville and that he and his collaborators “just have fun. We just sit and f—ing talk and make songs. And so I’m pretty excited for the new record already.”

Listen to our full conversation with Lyndsey below:

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Also on the show, we’ve chart news on how Elton John and Brandi Carlile team up for a top 10 debut on the Billboard 200 with Who Believes In Angels?, how the vinyl release of a Ethel Cain’s 2022 album Preacher’s Daughter brings the set onto the Billboard 200 for the first time (and straight into the top 10), and how the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart gets shaken up by a couple of new arrivals to the region.

Plus, we continue our Coachella chat with a discussion around whether Green Day or Charli xcx should have headlined day 2, after Charli sported a “Miss Should Be Headliner” sash at an afterparty.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

15 Apr 2025

Wink Martindale, TV Game Show Host, DJ & Hot 100 Hitmaker, Dies at 91

Wink Martindale, who had success as a DJ, radio personality, game show host and TV producer, died in Rancho Mirage, California, on Tuesday (April 15).  He was 91.

Martindale was best-known for hosting Gambit from 1972 to 1976 (and again from 1980 to 1981), Tic-Tac-Dough from 1978 to 1985, High Rollers from 1987 to 1988 and Debt from 1996 to 1998.

He also had a short-lived career as a recording artist. His spoken-word hit “Deck of Cards” reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. The song had been a No. 2 hit for “T” Texas Tyler in 1948 on Billboard’s Best-Selling Retail Folk Records chart, a forerunner to Hot Country Songs.

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Martindale landed just one other Hot 100 hit, “Black Land Farmer,” which reached No. 85 in 1961.

The future broadcaster was born Winston Conrad Martindale in Jackson, Tennessee. He began his career as a DJ at age 17 at WPLI in Jackson, earning $25 a week. After moving to WTJS, he was hired away for double the salary by Jackson’s only other station, WDXI. He next hosted mornings at WHBQ in Memphis while attending college at Memphis State University.

In 1959, he became morning man at KHJ in Los Angeles, moving a year later to the morning show at KRLA and finally to KFWB in 1962. He was a regular presence on Los Angeles radio into the 1990s. He had lengthy stays at KGIL (AM) from 1968 to 1971, KKGO-FM/KJQI and Gene Autry‘s KMPC (now KSPN-AM) from 1971 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1987, a brief stint on KABC during 1989, and KJQI from 1993 to 1994.

Martindale’s first break into television was at WHBQ-TV in Memphis, as the host of Mars Patrol, a children’s series. While at that station, Martindale became the host of the TV show Teenage Dance Party, where Elvis Presley (who would become a friend) made an appearance in June 1956.

Martindale’s first game-show hosting job was What’s This Song?, which he hosted for NBC (credited as “Win Martindale”) in 1964-65. In 1970-71, he hosted a similar song-recognition game show, Words and Music, again on NBC.

While Martindale’s greatest claim to fame is as a game-show host, he periodically returned to music programming. Martin filled in as guest host for Casey Kasem on American Top 40 in October 1975.

In the 2000s, Martindale had a daily three-hour show on the syndicated Music of Your Life format. In 2012, Martindale hosted the nationally-syndicated The 100 Greatest Christmas Hits of All Time.

On June 6, 2021, Martindale began hosting the syndicated The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll, a two-hour weekend review of music from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The production was created by Martindale, producer/engineer Peter Jay Gould of The Intervale Group, and writer/producer Gary Theroux.

Martindale was one of the hosts featured in the 2002 NBC special Most Outrageous Game Show Moments, alongside four other game show mainstays – Bob Eubanks, Jim Lange, Ben Stein, and Peter Marshall.

Martindale’s last program was the GSN original series Instant Recall, which premiered on March 4, 2010.

On June 2, 2006, Martindale received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is located at 7018 Hollywood Boulevard, adjacent to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel – site of the first Academy Awards ceremony.  On Oct. 13, 2007, Martindale was one of the first inductees into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

Martindale married Madelyn Leech in 1954, with whom he had four children; the couple divorced in 1972. He married his second wife, Sandy (née Ferra), on Aug. 2, 1975.

15 Apr 2025

Forest Hills Stadium Says 2025 Concert Season Will Go On After City of New York Gives Go-Ahead

Forest Hills Stadium in Queens says its 2025 season is officially on despite a long-running noise dispute with its neighbors.

“As anticipated, we’re pleased to announce that the City of New York has given Forest Hills Stadium the green light for our 2025 concert season to proceed as planned,” reads a statement from a stadium spokesperson sent to Billboard. “Each year, our team works closely with the local community and elected officials to bring world-class performances at one of the most iconic music venues in the country.” 

The statement continues, “We’re excited to welcome fans back this summer and proud to continue our role as a cultural cornerstone of the Queens community.” 

Last month, local homeowners association Forest Hills Garden Corporation (FHGC) denied the New York Police Department (NYPD) permits to shut down streets bordering the stadium for its upcoming concert season, with the New York Post reporting that the NYPD revoked the venue’s sound amplification permits as a result. At the time, a spokesperson for the NYPD told Billboard, “This is a disagreement between the Forest Hills Garden Corporation (FHGC) and the West Side Tennis Club,” the latter of which owns the venue. The statement continued, “We understand that many people enjoy these concerts every summer, but we must be able to take appropriate action to keep people safe. We trust that the FHGC and the West Side Tennis Club will be able to reach an appropriate compromise.” 

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According to a source familiar with the situation, the NYPD decided to allow the concert series to move forward over the FHGC’s objections. The source added that the FHGC has said it will abide by the police department’s decision.

Both the NYPD and the FHGC were contacted for comment, but neither responded by press time.  

Forest Hills’ 2025 concert season is set to kick off May 31 with a performance from Bloc Party. The season will also include shows from Dr. Dog, two nights of Phish, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizzard, two nights of Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, Leon Bridges, Alabama Shakes and the New York edition of All Things Go Festival.  

15 Apr 2025

MGK Reacts to Being Excluded From Viral ‘White Rapper Mount Rushmore’: ‘Blasphemy’

If a Mount Rushmore-like attraction commemorating white rappers is ever built, Machine Gun Kelly thinks his face should definitely be carved into the rock — despite what a recent viral mockup of the concept dictates.

Days after a seemingly AI-generated image of a fake “White Rapper Mt. Rushmore” started going viral on social media, the “My Ex’s Best Friend” musician spoke out against his omission from the choice of hip-hop stars featured in the picture. In place of the real-life monument’s lineup of past United States presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, the faux Caucasian-rapper iteration showed stone-like renderings of Eminem, Mac Miller, Paul Wall and Russ.

“me not on the white rapper mt rushmore is blasphemy,” MGK wrote on X.

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In evidence of why he should have been included, the rapper-turned-punk-rocker also reposted a video of him freestyling in his home city of Cleveland while guesting on Gillie Da Kid and Wallo267’s YouTube series MILLION DOLLAZ WORTH OF GAME in August. “I made 10 mil with someone, and we ain’t talking now/ F— the money, I just want the loyalty we talked about,” he spits in the clip as his posse cheers him on. “It’s no other side, it is only us/ I get cross-eyed watching y’all switch up.”

Though he’s earned a reputation for trying out different genres in recent years, MGK got his start in rap. His sophomore album, General Admission released via Bad Boy Records, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Since 2020’s Travis Barker-produced Tickets to My Downfall, however, the musician has been more focused on flexing his pop-punk and rock capabilities — most recently doing so on last month’s single “Your Name Forever.” Collaborating with Jelly Roll in 2024 on both “Lonely Road” and “Time of Day” after covering The Chicks’ “There’s Your Trouble” for Spotify Singles in July, he’s also been dipping into the country space.

But his music isn’t the only thing that’s experienced change lately. In March, MGK also welcomed a baby girl with ex Megan Fox, making him a father of two. He also has a teenage daughter named Casie from a past relationship.

“She’s finally here!! our little celestial seed,” the artist wrote on Instagram last month to announce the birth.

15 Apr 2025

Wale Says J. Cole Once Suggested Meditation to Beat Writer’s Block

Wale recently took to X and opened up about how he once dealt with writer’s block, revealing that a fellow rapper once suggested meditation.

“Music friends, how do y’all cure writers block,” he asked. “Over the years I’ve had different methods. Curious what y’all do.” Fans responded with a ton of suggestions that ranged from taking a walk, continue writing until something clicks, and “getting past the fear of writing something trash.”

When one fan quote tweeted his original tweet with a clip of J. Cole explaining how he deals with writer’s block, saying that you need to trust yourself and just write instead of waiting around for inspiration that may never come, Folarin replied that it’s a subject the two peers often talk about and meditation helped him out when they were trying to record a song together. “I done talked to Cole ’bout the block a rack of times,” he replied. “One time [he tried to] teach me how to meditate…it worked a lil. We made ‘My Boy‘ right after.”

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And while he wasn’t dealing with writer’s block at that exact moment and admitted that he “wrote a lot today,” the Washington D.C. rapper is going to try some of the methods suggested. “I don’t have the block right now FYI, he told fans. “I was just curious. I wrote a lot today lol. Next time I do I’m def comin back here.”

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Wale may be gearing up to release his eighth solo album as he’s dropped two new songs late last year, premiering “Ghetto Speak” in a Nike Foamposite ad. He’s also helping the sneaker giant rollout the new Nike GT Future Foamposite that’s set to drop later this holiday season.

15 Apr 2025

10 Best Moments From REVOLVE Festival Weekend 2025

Whether it was Cardi B spraying Whipshots into the crowd or LISA shutting things down just by showing up, these were our favorite moments in the desert.

Cardi B

Cardi B performs onstage during Revolve Festival 2025 at Cavallo Ranch on April 12, 2025 in Thermal, Calif.

Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Revolve

REVOLVE Festival has cemented itself as one of the most essential events of festival weekend in the desert. What started as a stylish influencer day party has now fully evolved into its own cultural takeover — part music festival, part fashion week, part social media Olympics.

Held at a private estate in Thermal, California, the eighth annual REVOLVE Festival brought its signature mix of music, celebrity, style and content-driven chaos to the desert once again. This year’s Desert Mirage theme leaned into futuristic glamour, with chrome installations, mirrored structures and curated brand activations that turned nearly every corner into a photo opp.

But the real draw, as always, was the people. Whether it was Cardi B spraying Whipshots into the crowd mid-performance, LISA of BLACKPINK casually shutting down the scene just by showing up, or Chris Brown, Karrueche Tran and Teyana Taylor catching up together in VIP, there was no shortage of moments that set social feeds ablaze. 

Here are the 10 best things we saw at REVOLVE Festival Weekend 2025 in the desert.

15 Apr 2025

Producer Jeff ‘Gitty’ Gitelman Talks Working With Hozier (and Bonding Over This Irish Writer) on Toby Gad’s Podcast

Toby Gad, a German-born musician who made a name for himself in America as a hit songwriter, recently celebrated the deluxe edition of Piano Diaries – The Hits, a collection of his biggest songs (including two co-writes that topped the Billboard Hot 100, Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and John Legend’s “All of Me”) reimagined as collaborations with 17 fresh artists. The collection afforded the songwriter-producer the opportunity to look back on a career that has found him wearing many different hats; lately, he’s been donning a reporter’s cap, interviewing musicians about their careers, work habits and inspirations on his new podcast, Songs You Know with Toby Gad.

The podcast’s latest episode, which posted on Tuesday (April 15), finds Gad chatting with producer Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman about everything from growing up in Moldova to learning English through hip-hop to working with Hozier.

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Gitelman served as a producer on the Irish singer-songwriter’s 2023 album Unreal Unearth and its follow-up, the 2024 EP Unheard. Both projects were inspired by Dante’s 14th century classic Inferno, but Gitelman says he and Hozier initially bonded over a different part of the literary canon.

Meeting up during quarantine to work on new music in rural Ireland, Gitelman says he and Hozier spent “the first day or two just talking about James Joyce” (Gitelman says he’s a fan of Joyce’s Dubliners in particular). For the producer, those discussions were key to finding a trust that helped them as they worked on songs that bridged the gap between Irish folk and soul music (styles that Van Morrison, another artist the two discussed in detail prior to recording together, was especially adept at combining). “A lot of times it’s like, Andrew [Hozier], I don’t know what it is you’re saying in Gaelic, but let’s do,” Gitelman recalled.  

The two also went deep on Gitelman’s time working with Mac Miller on Swimming, the final album released during the late rapper’s lifetime, as well as hitting the top 10 on three Billboard producer charts in the same week (Hot 100 Producers, R&B Producers and Country Producers) in November 2023 for his work on Jelly Roll & Jessie Murph’s “Wild Ones” and Victoria Monét’s “On My Mama.”

“It’s a cool statistic, I like numbers,” Gitelman says of the Billboard chart coup. “Coming up from an artistic, musical world, it’s nice. I’ve been shouting from the rooftops, like, ‘Hey I’m pretty good…’ To have the numbers do all the talking is really nice. I don’t think music is a competition… but man, the numbers sometimes give you the freedom to make the art you want to make.”

Check out the new episode of Songs You Know with Toby Gad below.

15 Apr 2025

2025 Coachella Best Photos: JENNIE, Post Malone, Lady Gaga, Tyla & Becky G, More

SoCal’s high holiday of music festivals, Coachella, returned to Indio, California, this past weekend, April 10-13.

As always, the event offered far more music than one person can possibly consume, with some of the biggest music stars in the world turning up and turning out across the festival’s many stages.

As an acutely hot Friday afternoon turned into balmy evening, Lady Gaga gave what will likely come to be remembered as one of the all-time great Coachella headline performances, dazzling the crowd with a stunning multi-act show that transformed the stage into an opera house. Saturday headliners Green Day reminded the giant crowd assembled to see just how many hits they’ve accumulated over the last 30-plus years, and Post Malone closed out the main stage on Sunday with a show that highlighted his talent, charm and expansive catalog.

The very weekend one phenomenon of artists bringing out other artists as surprise guests was also in full effect. Zedd brought out stars including Maren Morris and John Mayer, Zedd himself was a guest during a performance by Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic, Charli xcx brought out a gaggle of Brat-adjacent friends including Lorde, Billie Eilish and Troye Sivan during her main stage show, Benson Boone brought out Queen’s Brian May, Addison Rae made a surprise appearance during Arca’s set and — in one of the weekend’s buzziest surprise appearances — Senator Bernie Sanders introduced Clairo during her Saturday night show and told the crowd that “We need you to stand up and fight for justice, to fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice.”

K-pop and J-pop also had a strong presence at the festival, with big shows from LISA (who joked that her dazzling stage outfits are what the character she played on The White Lotus wears when she’s not working), JENNIE, XG and ENHYPEN.

All in all, the weekend was a reminder why Coachella’s prestige and influence is unparalleled. See some of the sights from the first weekend of Coachella 2025 below.

15 Apr 2025

Olivia Wilde Calls Out Katy Perry & Co.’s All-Female Space Flight, But Is Loving the ‘Memes’

Olivia Wilde has chimed in on the controversial all-female space expedition helmed by Jeff Bezos‘ space exploration company Blue Origin.

The Don’t Worry Darling actress took to her Instagram Stories on Monday (April 14), shortly after the NS-31 rocket completed its 11-minute journey. She shared a meme featuring two photos of passenger Katy Perry exiting the capsule when returning to Earth, one in which she’s kissing the ground and another in which she’s holding up a daisy while walking outside as a tribute to her daughter, Daisy Dove.

The caption on top of the two photos read, “getting off a commercial flight in 2025 #BlueOrigin.” Wilde added the message, “Billion dollars bought some good memes, I guess.”

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The NS-31 expedition marked Blue Origin’s 11th human space flight, and in addition to Perry, included passengers CBS Mornings‘ Gayle King, NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen and entrepreneur/film producer Kerianne Flynn. The flight crew was led by Lauren Sánchez — who is engaged to Bezos and is vice chair of the billionaire’s Earth Fund. 

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Before the flight took off, another Olivia also shared her thoughts on the mission. Olivia Munn co-hosted Today With Jenna & Friends last week, where she called out the space flight. “What are they doing?” she said. “I know this probably isn’t the cool thing to say, but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now.”

She continued, “I know this is probably obnoxious, but like, it’s so much money to go to space, and there’s a lot of people who can’t even afford eggs.”

15 Apr 2025

Coi Leray Reveals Sex of Her Baby On the Way With Trippie Redd

Coi Leray has announced the sex of her baby with Trippie Redd, sharing the exciting news on Instagram.

Sporting a cute pink outfit on Tuesday (April 15) that perfectly showcased her baby bump, Coi Leray announced to the world that she is having a girl with her ex-boyfriend Trippie Redd.

“GIRL MOM,” Coi wrote in all caps.

The exciting news comes after a tumultuous few months for Coi, who kicked off 2025 by announcing a child with Trippie before accusing him of infidelity. “[Broken heart emoji] Nothing worse than being cheated on. I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worst enemy. [crying sad face emoji] God bless.”

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Regardless, she expressed excitement at the idea of becoming a mom. Writing on Instagram: “I’m a rockstar mommy! We ready for 2025.”

In February, Coi then teased a new track she penned about the breakup, where she raps: “Ex is supposed to be a ex for a reason/ Wanted to be there while you was fighting demons/ I had family plans – you had plans for cheating/ Camera in the room, you ain’t know I was creeping.”

Trippie responded with blowing raspberry emojis in the comments. Two months after the split, Trippie appeared remorseless on X, formerly known as Twitter. “To every bi— I ever did wrong, I’ll do it again,” he wrote.

Coi had shared a message a day earlier, criticizing men for lack of discipline. “Girls don’t care if he got a baby on the way, married, in a relationship, just had a baby, happily in love, it doesn’t matter what it is, they gone always be there,” she wrote. “What matters is a mans DISCIPLINE & the way he don’t play about his girl. He gotta be ready for commitment 100%.”

Check out Coi Leray’s gender reveal post below.