State Champ Radio Music News
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Cody Johnson debuts at No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart (dated Nov. 22) with a take on The Chicks’ “Travelin’ Soldier.” The update starts with 11.9 million official U.S. streams, 1.3 million in radio audience and 5,000 sold Nov. 7-13, according to Luminate.
It’s Johnson’s highest entrance on the survey, where he’s collected four top 10s, with his first, “’Til You Can’t,” having ruled for nine weeks in 2022. The new “Travelin’ Soldier” also launches atop both Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales, becoming his second and fourth No. 1, respectively.
Written and first recorded by Bruce Robison, “Travelin’ Soldier” has been a staple in Johnson’s live set in recent years. He previously issued a stripped-down version during a 2020 livestream and continued fan demand led to the new studio recording, released Nov. 7 ahead of Veterans Day on Nov. 11.
The song carries a notable chart legacy. The Chicks’ rendition topped Hot Country Songs for a week in March 2003, marking the group’s sixth and most recent No. 1. It reigned days after the trio drew intense backlash following Natalie Maines’ criticism of then-U.S. president George W. Bush — a flashpoint that reshaped the group’s relationship with country radio and has been widely chronicled in the decades since.
Ballerini Strolls In
Kelsea Ballerini opens at No. 37 on Hot Country Songs with “I Sit in Parks” (2.9 million streams, 1,000 sold). The track appears on her six-song EP, Mt. Pleasant, released Nov. 14. She’ll perform Wednesday (Nov. 19) at the 59th Annual CMA Awards, airing on ABC, and is nominated for female vocalist of the year.
Meanwhile, Johnson, recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured eardrum, will sit out the telecast. Still, he enters the night as one of its leading contenders, earning four nominations, including entertainer and male vocalist of the year.
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Doja Cat pounces to No. 1 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart with “Jealous Type,” which jumps from No. 4 to rule the list dated Nov. 22. The single gives Doja Cat a 12th leader on the radio ranking, tying her with Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj for the second-most champs among all women since the chart launched in October 1992. The trio trail only Rihanna, who owns 17 No. 1s, among female artists.
“Jealous Type,” released and promoted through Kemosabe/RCA Records, reigns as the most played song on panel-contributing rhythmic radio stations for the tracking week of Nov. 7-13, according to Luminate. The single added 13% more plays in the week compared with the prior frame (Oct. 31 – Nov. 6). As “Jealous Type” takes the summit, it ousts the previous champ, Cardi B’s “Safe,” featuring Kehlani, after two weeks in charge. “Safe” slides to No. 3, dropping 18% in plays for the week.
With “Jealous Type” the envy of its competition, here’s a review of Doja Cat’s 12 No. 1s on Rhythmic Airplay.
Song Title, Artist (if other than Doja Cat), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Say So,” three, April 18, 2020
“Best Friend,” Saweetie feat. Doja Cat; one, April 10, 2021
“Kiss Me More,” feat. SZA; two, June 26, 2021
“You Right,” with The Weeknd; four, Aug. 28, 2021
“Need to Know,” five, Nov. 6, 2021
“Woman,” five, March 26, 2022
“Freaky Deaky,” with Tyga; one, May 14, 2022
“I Like You (A Happier Song),” Post Malone feat. Doja Cat; four, Aug. 13, 2022
“Vegas,” one, Nov. 19, 2022
“Paint the Town Red,” seven, Oct. 7, 2023
“Agora Hills,” two, Dec. 23, 2023
“Jealous Type,” one (to date), Nov. 22, 2025
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Thanks to the “Jealous Type” triumph, Doja Cat becomes the 10th artist to claim at least a dozen No. 1s on Rhythmic Airplay. As mentioned, she ties Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj for the second-best total among women, with only Rihanna’s 17 above in that category. Drake, with 43 No. 1s, leads all artists.
Elsewhere, “Jealous Type” holds at its No. 9 peak on Pop Airplay for a third consecutive week, though it improved 3% in spins for the tracking period.
“Jealous Type” is the lead single from Doja Cat’s latest studio album, Vie. The set, released in September, debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Trending on Billboard Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce‘s New Heights podcast just reached, well, new heights, and it’s all thanks to Taylor Swift. On the latest episode, which was posted Wednesday (Nov. 19), the retired Philadelphia Eagles center announced to their audience that the pop superstar’s cameo on the show in August earned them a […]
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There’s a reason that New York University is a perennial honoree on Billboard’s Top Music Business Schools list each year: There aren’t too many universities where students can sit down for an exclusive Q&A with industry behemoth Clive Davis and 21st century hitmaker Mark Ronson on a casual Tuesday night to hear insightful, revealing stories about everyone from Aretha Franklin to Adele.
On Tuesday (Nov. 18) night in Manhattan, a couple hundred industry power players, artists, educators and students at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts/Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music sat down to watch an unreleased film (a visual mixtape, really) spanning Davis’ legendary career, a run that saw him boost everyone from Billy Joel to Aerosmith to Patti Smith to Whitney Houston to TLC to Brooks & Dunn to the top. Do You Remember? — first screened at Davis’ 90th birthday and produced by Ronson, Erich Bergen and DJ Earworm — was followed by a Q&A between Davis and Ronson moderated by Anthony DeCurtis.
Both Davis and Ronson have written acclaimed memoirs about their very different careers (Ronson’s book, Night People: How to Be a DJ in ’90s New York City, came out just this year), but much of the discussion covered territory that was brand new or vaguely familiar to the student body in the audience. “Just hit after hit after hit!” exclaimed one astonished student after the screening. “So many different eras.”
What’s fascinating about Davis isn’t just that he was “The Man With the Golden Ear,” but the fact that he refused to do one genre at a time, working with Barry Manilow while also helping Earth, Wind & Fire, or giving the Grateful Dead a late-career win around the same time he was working with golden-age rap group Whodini and sax juggernaut Kenny G.
Guided by DeCurtis (who assisted Davis’ memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life), Davis regaled the crowd with stories about Aretha Franklin’s four bodyguards eating their way up to a massive bill at three-Michelin star Manhattan restaurant Le Bernardin and John Lennon explaining why he didn’t need to listen to the radio to make music: “Do you think Picasso goes to the galleries to see what’s being painted?“ (Lennon, incidentally, had this to say when Davis introduced himself in a diner: “I read Billboard. I know who you are.”)
Ronson also shared some wisdom with the crowd of aspirants, telling students that he only broke through (with Amy Winehouse, incidentally) when he stopped chasing trends and focused on making music he loved — and that sometimes you have to eat crow at a songwriting session and admit that someone else’s idea is better.
Whitney Houston, who was discovered and signed by Davis and remained a lifelong friend until her passing in 2012, was naturally touched upon, though Davis refused to answer the loaded question “Aretha or Whitney” when it reared its head. He did, however, share that at one point, Houston wondered if she should start cowriting her own material, given that Madonna and Janet Jackson did so. His response? If you’re going to do it, the standard to reach is “The Greatest Love of All” (a three-week No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986). Davis said that after that exchange, she never brought up the idea again.
Though both men have enjoyed very different careers, that story tips to a through line in the Q&A — whether you’re a singer, a songwriter or an executive, you need to know when it’s time to put your foot down and when it’s time to take the L. Because as both Davis and Ronson have demonstrated over the course of their lengthy careers, you can suffer defeat and still emerge victorious when the dust has settled.
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Warner Music Group (WMG) has reached a “landmark” licensing deal with Udio as part of a settlement to resolve the label’s lawsuit against the artificial intelligence music company.
The deal comes weeks after Universal Music Group signed a similar agreement with Udio, under which the AI firm said it would relaunch its platform next year as a more limited subscription service that pays for music rights and gives artists the right to opt out.
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Warner’s agreement will follow the same basic framework — with Udio paying a compensatory settlement to resolve Warner’s claims of past copyright infringement, and a licensing deal to allow the company to use the label’s music in the future.
“We’re unwaveringly committed to the protection of the rights of our artists and songwriters, and Udio has taken meaningful steps to ensure that the music on its service will be authorized and licensed,” WMG CEO Robert Kyncl said in a statement. “This collaboration aligns with our broader efforts to responsibly unlock AI’s potential — fueling new creative and commercial possibilities while continuing to deliver innovative experiences for fans.”
Andrew Sanchez, co-founder and CEO of Udio, said the Warner deal “marks a significant milestone in our mission to redefine how AI and the music industry evolve together.” The revamped Udio will let users make remixes, covers and new songs using the voices of artists that opt in, the companies said.
“This partnership is a crucial step towards realizing a future in which technology amplifies creativity and unlocks new opportunities for artists and songwriters,” Sanchez said, adding that it would “enable experiences where fans can create alongside their favorite artists” but in an environment where artists have “control.”
UMG, Sony Music and WMG teamed up last year to sue both Udio and Suno — the other leading AI music firm — for allegedly “trampling the rights of copyright owners” by exploiting vast numbers of songs to train its models. The cases are part of a trillion-dollar legal battle over whether AI firms can use copyrighted works like books, movies and songs to create platforms that spit out new ones.
Wednesday’s deal will not impact the separate case against Suno, which has pulled ahead of Udio as the market-leading AI music platform and has scored key wins like the success of AI-powered artists like Xania Monet. Suno announced on Wednesday that it had raised $250 million in a deal that values the company at $2.45 billion. A rep for Suno did not return a request for comment.
The Suno case will continue forward, as will Sony’s claims against Udio. But the deal certainly lends momentum for Udio to strike a deal with Sony, as the licensed AI music platform is not an exclusive partnership with either WMG or UMG. A rep for Sony did not immediately return a request for comment.
The planned Udio 2.0 will be substantially different than the current services offered by Udio and Suno, which allow users to generate entire songs based on a text prompt. The new service will be a “walled garden” in which users can experiment with AI and listen to the results, but they cannot download or share songs outside the service. It will also not feature the music or voice of any artists who opt out, a potentially large group of excluded songs in a world where artists are leery of AI.
In Wednesday’s announcement, Warner and Udio called those changes a “significant evolution” that was “shifting the company’s focus to a platform built in collaboration with artists and songwriters.” They said the “reimagined” service would only apply to choose to participate, and it would feature “expanded protections and other measures designed to safeguard the rights of artists and songwriters.”
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Vivica A. Fox joined Sherri on Tuesday (Nov. 18), where she opened about how she can’t forget about 50 Cent, her ex of 20-plus years.
Fox went viral earlier in November for her comments from a Women’s Expo advising others not to date 50 Centand rappers altogether, but she is now clarifying her stance.
“I didn’t say you couldn’t play with them,” she told host Sherri Shepherd. “You acted like I was on the picket line. Every time somebody ask me something, ‘Don’t date 50 Cent.’ That was not it. What happened is I said, ‘Vivica, if you could tell your 17-year-old self anything.’ That was me, like, I wish I knew not to go public so fast, not to have it out there, not to have the breakup that’s lasted 22 years.”
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Fox enjoyed that 50 had fun with his comedic response to her comments, which saw him post an AI-generated photo of himself as The Matrix‘s Morpheus holding out a red and blue pill.
“Either way I’m a have that a– in the matrix,” he wrote in a since-deleted post captured by Complex. “You know I love me some you, girl. But damn it’s been 22 years Vivica.”
Fox and 50 Cent dated in 2003 and broke up in the same year. They’ve been on-and-off publicly feuding in the decades since.
However, they’re on cordial terms these days, and Fox says she’ll always hold a “special place” for 50 and pointed to their excellent sex life. “You know you got that one that you always got that one that you always got a little special place for, but we are in a good place, and I’ll take the blue pill. Oh my goodness,” she revealed. “Remember the time!”
50 got wind of Fox’s comments on Tuesday and responded with an IG post resharing the Sherri clip. “What the fvck is going on here Shaniqua & Jane doe don’t act like that, and I had to pay them h–’s. LOL,” he wrote.
Watch the clip of Vivica A. Fox on Sherri below.
Trending on Billboard Billboard has unveiled its ultimate list of the best rock bands of all time, but while the staff carefully considered each group’s merits as musical pioneers and cultural changemakers, not everyone is bound to be rocking with our choices. Part of that discordance might be the fact that as a genre, rock […]
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Jill Scott, John Legend and Earth, Wind & Fire are among the stars who will be performing at the inaugural HBCU AWAREFEST. Billed as “the largest HBCU fundraiser ever,” the festival — a new joint partnership between Live Nation Urban and Student Freedom Initiative — will be staged at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on March 26.
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In addition to the aforementioned acts, the lineup includes Common, GloRilla, Tems, Metro Boomin, Kirk Franklin and others. Chris Paul, Angel Reese, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and entrepreneur-philanthropist Robert F. Smith are among the guest speakers who will be participating.
“At Student Freedom Initiative, we are incredibly excited about the coalition and movement that we are building to end the student loan debt crisis for our nation’s HBCU students,” said Keith Shoates, president and CEO of SFI, in a statement. “In addition to these amazing performers, we have enlisted AWAREFEST Ambassadors, showing the breadth of our ecosystem of mission-aligned partners. These individuals will help to spread the word and share the urgency of our mission to tackle the racial wealth gap through the lens of education.”
Shawn Gee, president of Live Nation Urban, commented, “Live Nation Urban is committed to Black excellence in music and culture, and today we are proud to stand with our partners at Student Freedom Initiative to build a national movement of allies, artists, activists and students to support the institutions that are the foundation of our culture.”
Serving as a nationwide call to action, HBCU AWAREFEST will also present workshops and panel discussions about the serious issue of student loan debt. Funds raised by Live Nation Urban and Student Freedom Initiative will benefit SFI’s Student Freedom Loan Agreement, described as “an affordable, income-contingent funding alternative to Parent PLUS Loans.”
Tickets for HBCU AWAREFEST are available for presale now, and then go on sale Nov. 21 (10 a.m. ET). For tickets and additional information, visit the event’s website.
Northern Ireland rap trio Kneecap dropped a surprise drum & bass single, “No Comment,” on Tuesday (Nov. 18), a track the Belfast group said in an Instagram post is “all about the police witch-hunt against Mo Chara.”
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The latter reference is to the terrorism charge against MC Chara (born Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh), with the song taking on the legal action launched by British authorities against Chara that was thrown out of court in September on a technicality.
The provocative group added the messages, “Free Palestine. Free the 6 counties. F–k the peelers,” references, respectively, to the group’s support of the Palestinian people and advocacy for a Palestinian homeland, the slogan used by Irish nationalists in reference to six counties in Northern Ireland as part of a push to end British rule in the territory and a slang phrase denigrating the police.
The two-minute-long collaboration with DJ/producer Sub Focus was accompanied by cover art by enigmatic British street artist Banksy in the form of one of his signature murals in which a protestor is seen in shadow lying on the ground trying to protect himself from a judge threatening to hit him with a gavel.
The song’s mostly Irish-language lyrics hit on Chara’s legal entanglements with bars including, “It’s certain that we’re in the way/ In the West Bank and in Gaza/ We’ve made an example of you now, so silence Mo Chara/ That won’t ever happen,” as well as, “I’m misbehaving in badness/ Mo Chara’s wanted/ The air bubble bandit.” The song later takes on the paranoia that comes with sudden, controversial fame. “Have you ever been plastered on the news when you’ve got the heebie-jeebies?,” it continues, “Far from ideal/ Got death threats on my screen.”
In a statement to Pitchfork, the group said: “‘No Comment’ is all about getting harassed by the British state. Simple as. Us Irish are well used to it, been happening for centuries. Was a pleasure to work with Sub Focus on this, the man is a legend.”
Chara was charged in May with a terror offense for reportedly displaying the flag of the Lebanese Islamist political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah during a Nov. 2024 concert in London’s Kentish Town Forum, a group designated with terrorist status by the U.K. government. The charge was tossed out by a British judge in September, due to a technical error in the timing of when the charges were brought by London’s Metropolitan Police; Chara had steadfastly denied any wrongdoing in the case, though video footage from the show appeared to show him displaying a flag associated with Hezbollah.
The band continued to court controversy over the past year, including during their Coachella sets in April, which ended with a message that read: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel; free Palestine.” The statement led to a number of prominent music industry figures, including Ozzy Osbourne manager Sharon Osborne, calling for them to be removed from the bill and for their work visas to be revoked.
The group has since been banned from several countries, including Hungary and Canada, over claims, respectively, that they pose a “national security threat” and that they made statements “that are contrary to Canadian values and laws.” They were also forced to cancel a run of shows in the U.S. and U.K. in the midst of the court case.Listen to “No Comment” below.
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Prepare to feel old, even if you’re young: Movies about classic rockers are now contenders for AARP Movies for Grownups Awards.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the biopic about a pivotal period in the life of Bruce Springsteen, is nominated for best period film, while its director, Scott Cooper, is up for best director. Becoming Led Zeppelin, a doc about Led Zeppelin, hard rock gods of the late ‘60s and ‘70s, is nominated for best documentary.
The Movies for Grownups Awards honor films and television projects that celebrate the voices and stories of those who are 50-plus. This year’s contenders for the top award, best picture/best movie for grownups, are Hamnet, A House of Dynamite, One Battle After Another, Sinners and Train Dreams.
Kathryn Bigelow, director of A House of Dynamite, and Paul Thomas Anderson, director of One Battle After Another, are up for best director, along with Cooper, director of the aforementioned Springsteen biopic, Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein) and Spike Lee (Highest 2 Lowest).
Ethan Hawke is nominated for best actor for playing lyricist Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon. The film is set on the night of the opening of the groundbreaking musical Oklahoma!, which was created by Hart’s former collaborator Richard Rodgers and his new lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II.
Other nominees include Helen Mirren, recently announced as the 2026 recipient of the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award; two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn; and Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock.
Two documentaries directed by current stars that look at the lives of their parent(s) are also nominated for best documentary. They are Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, Ben Stiller’s film about his parents, the great 1960s comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, and My Mom Jayne, actress Mariska Hargitay’s look at her mother, 1960s sex symbol Jayne Mansfield. The remaining nominees for best documentary are Cover Up, a look at investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, and Riefenstahl, about controversial filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.
In the best TV series or limited series category, nominations go to Adolescence, Hacks, The Pitt, The Studio, and The White Lotus.
“These nominees prove that powerful storytelling transcends age,” Myechia Minter-Jordan, CEO of AARP, said in a statement. “At AARP, we believe representation matters—not just for audiences, but for the industry itself. By honoring these actors and creators, we’re shining a light on the richness, depth, and diversity of experience that deserves to be seen and celebrated.”
The annual Movies for Grownups Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, Jan. 10 at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, California. Alan Cumming, the Tony- and Emmy Award-winning host of TV’s The Traitors, will return to host the show, which will be broadcast by PBS’ Great Performances on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 7/6c.
The annual awards show raises funds for AARP Foundation, which works to strengthen older adults’ financial resilience.
Here’s the complete list of 2025 nominees for the Movies for Grownups Awards:
Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups
Hamnet
A House of Dynamite
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams
Best Actress
Laura Dern, Is This Thing On?
Jodie Foster, A Private Life
Lucy Liu, Rosemead
Julia Roberts, After the Hunt
June Squibb, Eleanor the Great
Best Actor
George Clooney, Jay Kelly
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Dwayne Johnson, The Smashing Machine
Best Supporting Actress
Regina Hall, One Battle After Another
Amy Madigan, Weapons
Helen Mirren, Goodbye June
Gwyneth Paltrow, Marty Supreme
Sigourney Weaver, Avatar: Fire and Ash
Best Supporting Actor
Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another
Delroy Lindo, Sinners
Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Michael Shannon, Nuremberg
Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value
Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Kathryn Bigelow, A House of Dynamite
Scott Cooper, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein
Spike Lee, Highest 2 Lowest
Best Screenwriter
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer, Jay Kelly
Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, and Mark Chappell, Is This Thing On?
Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
James Vanderbilt, Nuremberg
Best Ensemble
A House of Dynamite
Jay Kelly
Nuremberg
One Battle After Another
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Best Intergenerational Film
Eleanor the Great
The Lost Bus
Rental Family
Rosemead
Sentimental Value
Best Period Film
Dead Man’s Wire
Marty Supreme
Nuremberg
Sinners
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Best Documentary
Becoming Led Zeppelin
Cover Up
My Mom Jayne
Riefenstahl
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost
Best Foreign-Language Film
It Was Just an Accident
No Other Choi
Nouvelle Vague
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Best TV Series or Limited Series
Adolescence
Hacks
The Pitt
The Studio
The White Lotus
Best Actor (TV)
Walton Goggins, The White Lotus
Stephen Graham, Adolescence
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Noah Wyle, The Pitt
Best Actress (TV)
Kathy Bates, Matlock
Kathryn Hahn, The Studio
Catherine O’Hara, The Studio
Parker Posey, The White Lotus
Jean Smart, Hacks
