Music News

01 Apr 2025

Listen to Lucy Dacus’ Cover of Lady Gaga’s ‘Abracadabra’ on BBC Radio 1

Billboard Women in Music 2025

Lucy Dacus performed her own magic trick on Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra.”

The Boygenius star joined BBC Radio 1 this week, where she covered Gaga’s Mayhem hit. While Gaga’s version is punchy and anthemic, Dacus strips it back for hers, singing alongside a pianist and acoustic guitarist, opting for a more ethereal, atmospheric feel with soaring harmonies and a slowed tempo.

“With a haunting dance, now you’re both in a trance/ It’s time to cast your spell on the night/ Abracadabra/ Amor oo na na/ Abra ca da bra,” she sings in the chorus.

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Gaga’s MAYHEM debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated March 22, marking her seventh leader. The project earned 219,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 13, according to Luminate — the biggest week of the year for an album by a woman. It’s also Gaga’s largest streaming week of her career.

“Abracadabra,” meanwhile, debuted at No. 1 on the Feb. 15-dated Hot Dance/Pop Songs tally and climbed to No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

Over the weekend, a group of 32 Gaga fans, affectionately known as Little Monsters, were chosen to go from “fan to featured” in a special edit of the “Abracadabra” music video. Gaga herself opens the clip, released by Mastercard. In the recreation of the track’s music video, directed by Parris Goebel — who also worked on the original — the fans have a blast while delivering a fierce, heartfelt performance of the Mayhem single’s choreo.

01 Apr 2025

The Weeknd Tests the Depths of His Soul in Ominous ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ Film Trailer: Watch

The Weeknd has shared another glimpse into his upcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow film ahead of its nationwide theater release on May 16.

The ominous thriller received a second trailer on Tuesday (April 1) as the Toronto singer/actor took viewers further into his bewildering odyssey. Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan serve as The Weeknd’s co-stars in the movie directed by Trey Edward Shults.

Abel plays a fictionalized pop star version of himself while Ortega (Anima) serves as his love interest and brings him on a psychotic journey, testing the depths of his soul.

“Have we met before,” The Weeknd asks Ortega’s Anima character while driving. Things get eerie when Ortega’s shown lighting a home on fire and tying the XO frontman up while performing some sort of satanic ritual on him.

The movie serves as the film companion to The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow album, which arrived in February and saw him retire his artistic alias.

“I tried to make the movie in a way where, for his fans and people who want to approach it at that level, I hope it’s very satisfying and you get a good meal out of it,” Shults told EW. “And for people that aren’t his fans and don’t know anything about him or even care about the final capping of the Weeknd, I think you still have a great movie to go through.”

Hurry Up Tomorrow notched The Weeknd his fifth No. 1 album atop the Billboard 200 when the set earned 490,500 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 6, per Luminate.

Just ahead of Hurry Up Tomorrow hitting theaters on May 16, The Weeknd will embark on his After Hours Til Dawn Tour on May 9 in Phoenix. The trek will invade stadiums across North America this summer with Playboi Carti and Mike Dean serving as the tour’s special guests.

Watch the trailer below.

01 Apr 2025

Cardi B Says There Will Be ‘Surprising’ Features on Her Sophomore Album

Billboard Women in Music 2025

Cardi B is continuing to tease her long-awaited sophomore album, and recently gave fans some more details on what to expect.

On Monday, Cardi B hopped on X Spaces to discuss her highly anticipated sophomore effort, which fans have been clamoring for for over eight years.

“The features on my album are really good,” she said in the clip below. “I don’t have a lot of features but I’m working with artists, some that I have worked before and some that I haven’t worked before. And the ones that I have not worked before, I feel like it’s gonna really, really surprise y’all.

She went on to say that “It’s such a vibe,” and that she’s getting closer to giving fans what they’ve long wanted.

“I can tell y’all this, I’m 100 percent confident with this album,” she continued. “I just don’t think what I got is out there. That’s all I’mma say. I gave y’all some clues on my features, that’s it.”

Billboard has reached out to Cardi’s team for further comment.

Cardi B dropped off her debut Invasion of Privacy in 2018, and has continued to push back her sophomore effort time and time again. Bardi most recently said she was swearing off sex to finish the new project, which she hopes will finally drop this year.

“I don’t even want to take dick right now, because every single time I take dick, I get distracted. I don’t want no distraction,” Cardi said on social media back in January.

Listen to a clip of Cardi B’s X Spaces conversation below.

01 Apr 2025

Lil Nas X Says Conservatives Would ‘Actually Try to Kill Me’ if He Released ‘Montero’ Today

Over the years, Lil Nas X has dealt with his fair share of criticism over his creative choices, and the star is reflecting on how things would be even worse in today’s political climate.

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The Grammy-winning singer appears on the most recent Paper cover, where he opened up about his music videos for “J Christ” and his Hot 100 chart-topper “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” both of which featured biblical themes. For example, in the CGI-laden “Montero” video, Lil Nas X ventures from the Garden of Eden to ancient Greece before dancing down a stripper pole into hell, where he gives Satan a lap dance before ultimately killing him.

“The world was shifting so much at the time,” Lil Nas X says of the criticism he received. “Even right now, [there’s] everything with the young males being taught these super conservative ways.”

The sentiment hits closer to home with Donald Trump back in office, and the trans community continues to be attacked in the government. Reflecting on his controversy-heavy musical era, Lil Nas X added: “[If I did that today,] they’d actually try to kill me, like I’m not kidding.”

For his next musical era, Lil Nas X is shifting gears, releasing a slew of high energy singles off his upcoming Dreamboy LP, including the dance-y “Light Again” track. “I’m a bubbly, fun b—-,” he says, before adding more seriously, “I know a lot of people are very scared in the world right now about all the s— that’s happening, especially in our own country. I don’t want to think about it. I don’t mean that in the sense of being dismissive, but I’m just so f—ing tired of being tired of this s—. If this song could even for three minutes make somebody just forget what’s going on and just feel some oblivious joy, then so be it.”

Dreamboy is set to arrive sometime this year.

01 Apr 2025

Dua Lipa ‘Levitating’ Win, Tony Bennett Family Feud, Del Villar Guilty Verdict & More Music Law

This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.

This week: Dua Lipa shuts down a copyright lawsuit over her smash hit “Levitating”; Tony Bennett’s daughters sue their brother over the late singer’s estate; Latin music exec Angel Del Villar is convicted of working with a promoter with links to Mexican cartels; and much more.

THE BIG STORY: Dua Lipa Levitates Out of Another Lawsuit

Back in March 2022, Dua Lipa was sued for copyright infringement twice in just four days over “Levitating,” her breakout hit that spent 77 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. But three years later, both cases are now dead and gone.

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In a decision issued last week, a federal judge granted Lipa summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer, who accused the superstar of ripping off their 1979 song “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and their 1980 song “Don Diablo.”

The complaint cheekily claimed that Lipa “levitated away plaintiffs’ intellectual property,” but Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled that there was essentially no IP to steal — that the songs shared only the kind of basic musical building blocks that are not covered by federal copyright law.

“It is possible that a ‘layperson’ could listen to portions of plaintiffs’ and defendants’ songs and hear similarities,” the judge wrote in her decision. “But … the similarity between the works concerns only non-copyrightable elements of the plaintiffs’ work.”

The other lawsuit against Lipa — filed by a Florida reggae band named Artikal Sound System over their 2015 track “Live Your Life” — was voluntarily dropped in 2023 after another judge ruled in her favor that there was no sign that anyone involved in creating “Levitating” had had “access” to the earlier song — a key requirement in any copyright lawsuit.

As we wrote back in 2022, it seems you’re not truly a pop star until you’ve been sued for copyright infringement a few times; just ask Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran or Katy Perry. Now, Lipa can truly join that distinguished group — as someone who has not just faced such cases, but fought back and won.

Other top stories this week…

FAMILY FEUD – Tony Bennett’s daughters (Antonia and Johanna Bennett) expanded their legal battle against their older brother (D’Andrea “Danny” Bennett), claiming in a new lawsuit that he has “abused” his power over the late singer’s affairs to “enrich himself.” Echoing an earlier case, the sisters accused Danny of “improper and unlawful conduct” both before and after the legendary singer’s 2023 death, including “excessive and unearned commissions” and giving “gifts to himself and his children.” Danny’s lawyers have called such accusations “baseless” and argued he was “fully authorized to take the steps he took.”

GUILTY VERDICT – Latin music executive Angel Del Villar was convicted by a federal jury on felony charges of doing business with a concert promoter linked to Mexican drug cartels, setting the stage for a potential decades-long prison sentence for the Del Records CEO. Prosecutors alleged Del Villar had repeatedly arranged concerts with Jesus Pérez Alvear, a Guadalajara-based promoter subject to federal sanctions for helping cartels “exploit the Mexican music industry to launder drug proceeds and glorify their criminal activities.” Del Villar’s attorneys vowed to appeal the verdict, saying the jury “got it wrong.”

AI RULING – A federal judge issued a ruling denying Universal Music Group’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have immediately blocked artificial intelligence company Anthropic PBC from using copyrighted lyrics to train future AI models. The judge said that it remained an “open question” whether using copyrighted materials to train AI is illegal — something of a trillion-dollar question for the booming industry — meaning UMG and other music companies could not show that they faced the kind of “irreparable harm” necessary to win such a drastic remedy.

SAMPLING SPAT – Ye (formerly Kanye West) was hit with a copyright lawsuit claiming he sampled a song by German singer-songwriter Alice Merton despite her express refusal to license it to him because of his history of antisemitic statements. Merton said she’s the direct descendant of Holocaust survivors and that being involuntarily associated with the controversial rapper left her “shocked and humiliated.” The case is the latest of at least a dozen lawsuits West has faced over his career over allegations of unlicensed sampling or interpolating.

01 Apr 2025

Mustard Is Opening for Kendrick Lamar & SZA on Their Grand National Tour

The Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show won’t be the only time Kendrick Lamar and Mustard share the stage together this year.

Mustard revealed on Tuesday (April 1) — and this is no April Fool’s Day joke — that he’s joining the Compton rapper and SZA’s Grand National Tour as an opening act. Fans can expect Mustard to perform a nightly DJ set to warm up the crowd.

“I’m joining Kendrick Lamar and SZA on the Grand National Tour,” he wrote on his Instagram. With Mustard joining the show, the tour released additional floor seats for those who missed out on the first batch.

“Had to look out for my fans. Cash App Card Holders have exclusive access to purchase newly released tickets on the floor,” he added. “On-sale tomorrow at 10AM local time.”

The North American trek okicks off on Saturday, April 19 in Minneapolis, and will take over 19 stadiums in total with stops in Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Detroit, Chicago and Toronto before wrapping up in Washington, D.C., on June 18.

Mustard popped out with Lamar as a special guest during “TV Off” for the rapper’s Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show in New Orleans earlier this year.

Mustard delivered one of the best years of his career in 2024 as he produced the “Not Like Us” Drake diss, which went on to win record of the year and song of the year and the Grammy Awards in February. He also helmed production on Lamar’s GNX tracks such as “TV Off” and “Hey Now.”

Check out Mustard’s Instagram announcement below:

01 Apr 2025

Dance Moves: Loud Luxury, Selena Gomez, Anabel Englund Reach New Milestones on the Charts

Billboard’s Dance Moves roundup serves as a guide to the biggest movers and shakers across Billboard’s many dance charts — new No. 1s, new top 10s, first-timers and more.

This week (on charts dated April 5, 2025), Loud Luxury, Selena Gomez, Yng Lvcas, Anabel Englund and others achieve new feats. Check out key movers below.

Loud Luxury

The duo spends a second consecutive week at No. 1 on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart with “Crash.” The song is the act’s second leader, after 2023’s “If Only I,” with Two Friends and Bebe Rexha, spent three weeks at No. 1. Loud Luxury first hit the chart in January 2018 with “Body,” featuring Brando. The pair has logged 13 total entries, eight of which have reached the top 10.

Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco

Gomez and Blanco grace Billboard’s recently-launched Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart for the first time with “Bluest Flame.” Released March 21 on the pair’s new joint album, I Said I Love You First, the song opens at No. 4 with 4.8 million official U.S. streams and 1,000 downloads sold in its first week, according to Luminate. Notably, Charli XCX provides uncredited background vocals on the song.

“Bluest Flame” was produced by Blanco, Cashmere Cat and Dylan Brady, who is half of electronic hyperpop duo 100 gecs. All three artists, plus Gomez and Charli XCX, are credited as co-writers.

Gomez has previously appeared on Billboard’s dance charts. Before the launch of Hot Dance/Pop Songs, Gomez charted five tracks on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, two of which hit No. 1: Zedd’s “I Want You To Know,” featuring Gomez, spent six weeks on top in 2015, and Gomez and Marshmello’s “Wolves” spent 11 weeks at the head of the pack in 2017-18.

Blanco has charted one other song on Billboard’s dance rankings as a billed artist: “I Found You,” with Calvin Harris, reached No. 9 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in 2019. He’s credited as a producer on nine tracks that have hit Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, including three top 10s: Major Lazer’s “Cold Water,” featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (No. 1 for two weeks in 2016); Cashmere Cat, Major Lazer and Tory Lanez’s “Miss You” (No. 10, 2018); and “I Found You.”

RØZ & Yng Lvcas

Both artists earn their first entry on Billboard’s dance charts, as “Flashes” debuts at No. 10 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs on the strength of its streaming sum: 1.4 million, according to Luminate.

Yng Lvcas, from Guadalajara, Mexico, broke through in 2023 with his song “La Bebé” and its subsequent remix with Peso Pluma. The song reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on Hot Latin Songs, the Billboard Global 200 and the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart.

“Flashes” earns RØZ his first appearance on Billboard’s charts overall.

Anabel Englund X Punctual

The pair’s “Falling Up” starts at No. 36 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay (up 51% in plays). The song earns Englund her 15th entry on the chart and Punctual its fifth. Englund boasts 13 top 10s, including seven No. 1s. She most recently led with “Get Busy” and “Cutting Loose,” the latter with Disco Lines and J. Worra, both in 2024.

Punctual, which comprises Will Lansley and John Morgan, is also currently on the chart with its collab with KASKADE, “Heaven Knows,” featuring Poppy Baskcomb. The track reached No. 4 last month, marking the duo’s first top 10.

Gryffin, KASKADE & Nu-La

All three artists debut at No. 40 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay with their collaboration “In My Head.” It’s Gryffin’s 18th entry and first since “Where Are You Tonight,” with Zohara, became his seventh top 10 (No. 8 peak, December).

KASKADE claims his 35th title on the survey, the fourth-most in the chart’s 22-year history, after David Guetta (67), Tiësto (39) and Rihanna (36). Of those 35 cuts, 19 reached the top 10 and five hit No. 1, most recently “Tears Don’t Fall,” with Enisa, in December.

“In My Head” lands Nu-La her first entry on Dance/Mix Show Airplay. The song became her first overall chart hit when it debuted and peaked on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs at No. 15 in February.

01 Apr 2025

Kevin Hart A.K.A. Chocolate Droppa’s Tiny Desk Concert Is the Perfect April Fools’ Day Joke

Kevin Hart a.k.a. Chocolate Droppa’s Tiny Desk concert debut supplied the April Fools’ Day entertainment, but don’t think this rap s–t is a joke to the comedic legend.

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Hart pulled up in a hoodie and a backwards red fitted cap ready to drop bars. The Band of Brothas, whom he claimed to have met for the first time outside, provided instrumentation behind him.

“Only time they had somebody on Tiny Desk with no f—ing track. I’m here off the dome,” he sneered.

Droppa took it back to his 2016 What Now mixtape as he reimagined a live performance of bi-coastal cuts “ATL Rap,” “West Coast,” “Love Song” and “Don’t F–k With Dem.” The project featured superstar guest appearances from Nick Jonas, Chris Brown, Migos, Big Sean, Wale, T.I. and more.

“Every time I see people, the first thing they say is ‘Droppa where you been? When you gonna give us more?’” Hart said. For those waiting on the next Droppa release, you’re in luck as the 45-year-old teased that an album is on the way.

The Philly native didn’t break character once as Hart remained locked in as his Chocolate Droppa rap alter-ego and put forth a solid performance commanding the stage.

Following an extended hiatus, Hart teased his return as Droppa during an appearance in Kai Cenat’s AMP cypher last summer.

Whether it’s an April Fools’ Day joke or not, the world will never know. Watch Chocolate Droppa’s Tiny Desk debut below.

01 Apr 2025

Wet Leg Return With Punchy New Single ‘Catch These Fists,’ Announce Sophomore Album

Wet Leg have returned to music with the release of their new single, “Catch These Fists,” and the announcement of their second LP, Moisturizer, marking a new era for the band.

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The Isle Of Wight-formed duo – made up of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers – began teasing an announcement last week after they wiped their Instagram profile, prompting speculation that the follow-up album to their 2022 eponymous debut will arrive soon.

Earlier today (Apr. 1), the band’s new single premiered on BBC Radio 1 – marking their first new material in three years. It will feature on Moisturizer, due for release on July 11 via Domino Records, and is accompanied by a music video directed by the band. Watch the clip in full below.

“We were just kind of having fun and exploring,” said Chambers in a press release, describing the band’s creative process for Moisturizer, which involved decamping to Southwold, East Sussex, to write together in spring 2024. “We focused on: Is this going to be fun to play live? It was very natural that we would write the second record together,” added Teasdale.

The new album was produced by Dan Carey, who also worked on Wet Leg’s debut, and features performances from the duo’s touring band: Ellis Durand (bass), Henry Holmes (drums) and Joshua Mobaraki (guitar, synth).

Wet Leg have also confirmed a U.K. tour scheduled for May 2025, with dates in Birmingham, London, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester. A presale will go live on Apr. 9 at 10 a.m. (BST) for fans that pre-order the forthcoming album. General sale will commence at 10 a.m. on Apr. 11. See the full run of shows below, while further ticketing information can be found on their official website.

In the build-up to “Catch These Fists,” the band performed a slew of underplay shows in the U.K. and U.S. Last month, they aired unreleased tracks at shows in London and Brighton – with titles including “Dragonfart,” “Beans” and “Lovestruck” – while last night (Mar. 31), they took to the stage at Brooklyn’s Market Hotel. Next week (Apr. 8), they are scheduled to play at The River in Los Angeles.

Wet Leg’s self-titled effort earned them two Grammy Awards for best alternative music album and best alternative music performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards (they now have three Grammys total). In 2023, they won a Brit Award for group of the year, as well as scooping up the best new artist prize.

Upon release, the record reached No. 14 on the Billboard 200. Its commercial success – including a U.K. No. 1 and a nomination for the Mercury Prize – led to Wet Leg enjoying stadium show support slots with global superstars, including Harry Styles and the Foo Fighters.

Over the summer, they are set to perform a series of U.K. and Irish festival headline slots, including Green Man in Bannau Brycheiniog, Wales and Oxfordshire’s Wilderness. They also have appearances lined up for Glastonbury, TRNSMT and BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend in Liverpool.

Wet Leg U.K. tour 2025 dates:

  • May 21 – Birmingham, England @ O2 Academy
  • May 23 – London, England @ O2 Academy Brixton
  • May 27 – Edinburgh, Scotland @ Usher Hall
  • May 28 – Leeds, England @ O2 Academy
  • May 29 – Manchester, England @ O2 Victoria Warehouse

01 Apr 2025

Miley Cyrus Is Setting the Stage for Something Big With First Two Tastes of ‘Something Beautiful’ Album

Over her nearly two-decade career, Miley Cyrus has prepared her fans to expect the unexpected. And with her ninth studio album Something Beautiful — a self-described “one-of-a-kind pop opera” — Cyrus might be taking her most ambitious swing yet.

The May 30 release is a visual album, and Cyrus unleashed the first two songs and videos on Monday: “Prelude” and the title track. She also announced that the project’s first single, “End of the World,” will arrive on Thursday, along with a glimmering video teaser. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are chatting all about the first two tastes of the project and what we can expect ahead of its arrival in two months.

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco team up for a No. 2 debut on the Billboard 200 with their first collaborative album and how Morgan Wallen has two debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, including one in the top five. Plus, Wallen’s new “Just in Case” debuts at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, replacing Chappell Roan’s “The Giver” atop the list, and we’re also chatting about Wallen’s latest appearance on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, along with his unceremonious exit.

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.)