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Lyrical Lemonade has announced this year’s Summer Smash Festival lineup — and it contains some potentially culture-shaking performances. The three-day event will be headlined by Future, the world debut of the newly formed duo of Don Toliver and Yeat, and Young Thug in his first live performance since his release from jail.
Scheduled for Friday, June 20, through Sunday, June 22, Summer Smash will grace SeatGeek Stadium near Chicago for its seventh iteration. Tickets will be released for purchase on Friday (March 28) at 12 p.m. CT via the Summer Smash website.
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This year’s Summer Smash Festival features some of the hottest names across hip-hop’s innumerable scenes. Led by Don Toliver and Yeat, the Friday night lineup also includes Trippie Redd, Ski Mask the Slump God, NLE Choppa, Nettspend, DC the Don, Molly Santana, Karrahbooo and more. On Saturday (June 21), Future will lead a lineup that features Sexyy Red, Lil Tecca, Destroy Lonely, SahBabii, Soulja Boy, Osamason, BabyTron, Plaqueboymax, Famous Dex and 1900Rugrat. The lineup of Sunday night performers preceding Thugger’s highly anticipated live comeback includes Lil Yachty, Quavo, Nav, G Herbo, Saba, Insane Clown Posse, Bktherula, Skaiwater and TiaCorine. Chance the Rapper will close out one of the two main stages on Sunday night.
“I feel lucky to be able to throw the party of the year with my best friends,” said Cole Bennett, Summer Smash Festival cofounder and Lyrical Lemonade founder, in a press release. “May this be the best one yet. Lucky No. 7.”
Young Thug’s headlining appearance comes the year after Summer Smash hosted one of the most iconic musical homecomings of the decade with Chief Keef’s long-awaited return to performing in Chicago after a 12-year hiatus. Thug, of course, was in the throes of his state RICO trial for most of 2024. On Oct. 31, 2024, he was sentenced to 15 years probation and no prison time after pleading guilty in the long-running case accusing him of leading a violent Atlanta street gang. Despite popping up on songs with Lil Baby (“Dum, Dumb & Dumber”) and Playboi Carti (“We Need All Da Vibes”), Thugger has been relatively quiet on the music front so far in 2025.
See the full lineup below:
From “In West Philadelphia born and raised” to now having a street named after him in his hometown, Will Smith will forever be synonymous with Philadelphia. Smith was honored on Wednesday (March 26) during a ceremony celebrating the 56-year-old artist having a street named after him in West Philadelphia. From here on out, 59th Street […]
The youngest members of ARMY will soon have the perfect album of lullabies to fall asleep to. As shared exclusively with Billboard Thursday (March 27), Rockabye Baby is taking on BTS for its next album, featuring calming covers of “Butter,” “Dynamite” and more of the K-pop boy band’s biggest hits.
Dropping April 4, Lullaby Renditions of BTS will feature a total of 13 songs. The tracklist includes Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Permission to Dance” and “Life Goes On” as well as “Boy With Luv,” “IDOL,” “Blood, Sweat & Tears,” “ON,” “DOPE,” “DNA,” “Fake Love,” “Save Me” and “Spring Day.”
The project marks Rockabye Baby’s first K-pop tribute album. The children’s music brand has previously released lullaby collections for artists such as Bad Bunny, Dolly Parton, Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé and more.
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Rockabye Baby also shared a video of its soothing take on “Dynamite” with Billboard. In the minute-long clip, BTS’ famous melody plays in the form of gentle, cascading xylophone hits as the brand’s teddy bear mascot sets up a stage in his bedroom, recruits his stuffed animals to be his bandmates and tests out his K-pop dance moves.
The sweet project comes amid the septet’s ongoing break as several of the band’s members complete their required service periods in the South Korean military. Jin was the first to be discharged in June, followed by J-Hope in October.
BTS hasn’t released a proper studio in four years, dropping BE in 2020. The project debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, one of seven total LPs from the group to top the chart.
Here’s the tracklist for Lullaby Renditions of BTS:
“Dynamite”
“Butter”
“Boy With Luv”
“IDOL”
“Permission to Dance”
“Blood, Sweat & Tears”
“ON”
“Dope”
“DNA”
“Fake Love”
“Save Me”
“Spring Day”
“Life Goes On”
As the first person to ever win American Idol, Kelly Clarkson walked a lonely road for several years as other stars in the music industry had mixed feelings about her then-unorthodox route to success.
On the latest episode of Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast posted Thursday (March 27), the “Stronger” singer revealed that some of her now peers initially judged her for getting her start on Idol — something that wouldn’t be so ironic if some of those same stars didn’t end up serving as coaches on offshoot competition series The Voice. “I had no one,” Clarkson began. “I was the first winner. It was hard.”
“People were really mean,” she continued without naming names. “People that were really mean have been coaches. You know what I’m saying? Like, hated talent shows, and they ended up being on The Voice.”
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Clarkson won season one of American Idol in 2002, a victory that propelled her to a successful career in music marked by three Billboard Hot 100-topping hits and three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 so far. Ever since the flagship show premiered, numerous other competition series inspired by Idol have sprung up over the years — one of which, The Voice, saw Clarkson stepping into the coaching role for seasons 14-21 and 23.
But while televised talent shows are all the rage now, the three-time Grammy winner added that 20 years ago, “people were really cruel at first.”
“They didn’t like it,” she told Kelce. “It took the industry kind of by storm, the talent shows. It was a very unlikable thing in the industry concerning the populous. Now there’s so many.”
One advantage of starting out on Idol, however, was Clarkson’s ability to empathize with the contestants back when she was a coach on The Voice. The same applied to fellow coach Jennifer Hudson, who competed on Idol in 2004 before joining The Voice panel on seasons 13 and 15.
“People like us who have been there in that audition process, and just being so judged instantaneously, on maybe not your best performance but you know you can do better … it’s a grueling thing,” Clarkson said of herself and the Dream Girls star. “And it’s unforgiving in a lot of ways, and a lot of pressure for these artists that I don’t think a lot of artists that sell tons of records would be able to handle. It’s a different thing.”
Listen to Clarkson reflect on Idol critics on Not Gonna Lie below.
If you already loved K-pop girl group aespa‘s 2024 hit “Whiplash” then you’re in luck, because on Thursday (March 27) they dropped not one, but three new versions of the bouncy pop track. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “We’re so excited to share these new versions of […]
Chris Brown is hitting the road again in 2025, as CB announced the Breezy Bowl XX stadium world tour with Summer Walker and Bryson Tiller on Thursday (March 27).
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of his self-titled debut album coming up later this year, Breezy will kick off the trek with a European leg in June before coming to North America in July.
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“TEAM BREEZY !!!!!TEAM BREEZY!!!TEAM BREEZY!!!!!BREEZY BOWL 20th anniversary TOUR!!!!!!!!!! CELEBRATING 20 years of CB,” he wrote on Instagram. “So excited to be able to share this moment with the world and my amazing fans. I CANT WAIT TO SEE ALL YALLS BEAUTIFUL FACES. IMA TAKE YALL THREW THESE ERAS BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY GIVE YALL MY HEART AND SOUL.”
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Tickets will be available through pre-sales starting on March 31, while the general public tickets go on sale on April 3 at 10 a.m. local time on Live Nation’s website. There are also various VIP packages for the North American fans.
Brown also revealed that more dates will be announced, so hang tight if your city isn’t on the list just yet. He also confirmed the viral meet-and-greets are coming back. “OH AND WE DOING THEM MEET AND GREETS,” he wrote to his Instagram Story.
Walker will be present on North America dates, while Tiller will be performing at all shows.
Europe’s shows begin in Amsterdam on June 8 and will hit Germany, Manchester, London, Dublin, Glasgow, Paris and more.
Miami gets the honor of being the first North America show on July 30, followed by stadium dates in Tampa Bay, Fla.; Detroit; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Toronto; Boston; Chicago; Las Vegas; Los Angeles, Atlanta and many more.
CB is coming off some wins, as he took home best R&B album at the 2025 Grammys for his 11:11 (Deluxe) album. He was also on the road in 2024, dominating arenas across the country as part of his 11:11 Tour.
Find all of the Breezy Bowl XX stadium world tour dates below.
Kesha finally revealed the title of her upcoming sixth album on Thursday (March 27). It’s ., as in the punctuation mark period. The 11-song collection due out on July 4 that will feature previously released singles “Joyride” and “Delusional” is described in a press release as an “unapologetic, unfiltered declaration of artistic freedom and fearless authenticity.”
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The latest taste of the album dropped on today, with two versions of the whip-cracking country pop hoedown “Yippee-Ki-Yay,” produced by Pink Slip (Ava Max) and Nova Wav (Beyoncé). “B–ch I just got a brand new car/ Hose me down at the trailer park/ We lit up like a bonfire/ Singing ‘Yippee-ki-yay, yippee-ki-ya-ya,” Kesha sings over the loping plucked guitar and hand-clap beat on a solo version of the track.
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The more fleshed-out lead version of the single features T-Pain, who takes the reins on the second verse where he sings, “I just pulled up in a brand new one/ Bartender, pour me up some damn fluid/ I just wanna see a pretty girl dancing to it/ Drinks on me just ’cause I can do it.”
The singer has been teasing the new song for a week, posting cryptic videos in which the upcoming LP’s signature oversized pink period icon is splashed over her face and body. The album was conceived, co-produced and co-written by Kesha and, according to the release, it, “transcends pop norms to create a raw, daring, and intensely personal sonic journey, a defiant act of self-expression that refuses to adhere to expectations or play it safe.”
Period — the follow-up to 2023’s Gag Order — represents a new chapter in Kesha’s career that kicked off last July when she dropped the first two singles under her own label, Kesha Records. The independent label that has global distribution through ADA gives the singer full creative control and ownership of her work after she settled a long-running defamation suit filed by her former label boss, producer Dr. Luke, in 2023; Kesha filed suit against Luke (born Lukasz Gottwald) over allegations of sexual, physical and emotional abuse in 2014, claims he repeatedly denied.
The full track list for . (Period) is: “Freedom,” “Joyride,” “Yippee-Ki-Yay,” “Delusional,” “Red Flag,” “Love Forever,” “The One,” “Boy Crazy,” “Glow,” “Too Hard” and “Cathedral.”
Listen to both versions of “Yippee-Ki-Yay” below.
Before she travels the world for her Lifetimes Tour, Katy Perry will check out the planet from above. On Thursday (March 27), Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin announced the date of the singer’s ascent into the stars as part of the space exploration company’s first all-women flight crew, with Perry set to embark on the trip just before her upcoming global trek.
According to Blue Origin’s Instagram post, the spacecraft’s launch window begins at 8:30 a.m. CT on April 14 in the West Texas high desert. The company also unveiled the flight’s official patch, which features the last names of each member of the crew emblazoned on the border as well as symbols that are meaningful to the women.
Perry, for instance, is represented on the artwork with fireworks, a nod to her 2010 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Firework,” as well as her “global influence across music, pop culture, and philanthropy,” according to Blue Origin’s website.
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The news comes one month after it was first announced that the “Woman’s World” artist would be joining 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 on the NS-31 expedition. The trip will be led by Lauren Sánchez — who is engaged to Bezos and is vice chair of the billionaire’s Earth Fund — and marks Blue Origin’s 11th human space flight.
At the time of the announcement, Perry wrote on Instagram, “If you had told me that I would be part of the first ever all-female crew in space, I would have believed you … Nothing was beyond my imagination as a child.”
“Although we didn’t grow up with much, I never stopped looking at the world with hopeful WONDER!” continued the former American Idol judge, who shares daughter Daisy with Orlando Bloom. “I work hard to live my life that way still, and I am motivated more than ever to be an example for my daughter that women should take up space (pun intended). That’s why this opportunity is so incredible — so that I can show all of the youngest & most vulnerable among us to reach for the stars, literally and figuratively.”
The expedition will take place in between Perry’s rehearsals for the Lifetimes Tour and the trek’s kickoff in Mexico City April 23. Supporting new album 143 — which debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 — the run will also see the musician lapping the United States, Canada, Australia, South America and Europe with shows scheduled through mid-November.
See Blue Origin’s flight date announcement below.
Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World, AFI and Jawbreaker will headline the Four Chord Music Festival at EQT Park in Pittsburg/Washington, PA on Sept. 13-14. The 11th annual edition of the event will also featuring Hot Mulligan, Bowling For Soup, State Champs, Set Your Goals, Knuckle Puck, Homegrown, Eternal Boy, Driveways, Charly Bliss and others joining Blink and Jimmy Eat World on night one.
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Night two will host Say Anything, Face to Face, The Wonder Years, Drug Church, Punchline, Koyo, Deathbyromy, Sincere Engineer and others warming up the stage for AFI and Jawbreaker.
“We’ve worked hard to make this year’s festival something special, not only with this incredible lineup, but by making it more accessible for our fans than ever before. We can’t wait to celebrate with everyone at EQT Park!,” founder Rishi Bahl said in a statement.
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A general public on-sale will launch on Friday (March 28) at 11 a.m. ET; The festival is also introducing a ticket layaway plan this year. In addition to single-day general admission and VIP options, Four Chord will also offer up a deluxe VIP option for both days that incudes access to a climate-controlled VIP lounge area, VIP acoustic performances, an exclusive VIP shirt not available to the public, unlimited water refill stations and a Four Chord water bottle, unlimited snacks, a custom VIP holographic commemorative ticket and early entry into the venue and early access to merch, as well as front row access to the main stage and a deluxe VIP lounge overlooking the field, up to three free alcoholic drinks, a parking pass, free storage a merch concierge and private, temperature-controlled bathrooms.
Check out the Four Chord lineup poster below.
Fans of the ACM Awards will get super-served at this year’s ceremony as the show, which had clocked in at two hours since moving to the commercial free Amazon’s Prime Video, will expand by 30 minutes.
“It was a long discussion with Amazon because we pride ourselves on the fact that we’re the only major awards show that clocks in at two hours and that’s a big consumer benefit for our show,” says Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside. “However, this year there’s so many things that we want to accomplish in the show because we want to give a proper nod to our history, but we still have a lot of business to take care of in terms of the current nominees as well, so we just felt like the extra time will allow us to do some special things. I don’t think viewers are going to be unhappy that we’re giving them an extra 30 minutes of really amazing content.”
Ella Langley leads all nominees with eight nods, which Whiteside sees as a sign of how current and fresh the ACM Awards are. “To have essentially a brand-new artist lead the nominations, especially in our 60th year, it’s almost like a full-circle thing, because we really pride ourselves on often being the first organization to honor a new artist,” Whiteside says. “It speaks to the fact that we’ve always been an organization that is very new artist forward.”
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Langley is followed by Cody Johnson, Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson, all of whom received seven nominations, with Chris Stapleton garnering six nods.
Whiteside also lauds Johnson’s seven nominations as “he just continues to grow and so it’s exciting to see him get acknowledged and, obviously, Morgan Wallen continues to be a juggernaut,” he says. He also enthuses over Kelsea Ballerini’s first nomination for entertainer of the year. “I can’t say enough about her and her journey and the way she continued to grow as an artist.”
Like Langley, a number of artists, including Dasha, Shaboozey, Red Clay Strays and Zach Top landed their first nominations this year. “It does feel like a really fresh crop of artists are getting recognized,” Whiteside says.
Beyoncé received no nominations, despite winning two country Grammys in February, including for country album of the year, just weeks before first-round ACM voting opened. “Were we hoping she’d be nominated? Absolutely,” Whiteside says. “We love that Beyoncé is in the country genre. That’s fantastic for all the country artists out there. It’s fantastic for the fans. The more successful she is, the more we’re bringing more mainstream people into the genre which we want.”
Unlike Grammy voters, who span all musical genres, the more than 5,000 ACM voters primarily make a living in country music and are mostly based in Nashville. “I think, more likely, they’re going to be voting for artists that they’ve got relationships with and work with on a regular basis and that are in the country music business 365,” Whiteside says, but adds, “We’d love to have Beyoncé on the show. She has an open invitation to be on the ACM stage anytime she ever wants to.”
As Whiteside, executive producer/show runner Raj Kapoor, and show producer dick clark productions work on the show, they are trying to strike the right balance between old and new. “It’s tough because we may have a really great idea on honoring this artist from the past, but then it’s like, ‘Well, that may take away a slot from a current artist’,” Whiteside says. So far, Wilson, Blake Shelton and Eric Church have been announced as performers. The three new artist winners-male, female and duo or group- who are announced in advance will also perform.
“It’s a little bit of a past/present/future approach,” Whiteside adds. “It’s going to be a really iconic night and a great way to look back and look forward and celebrate where we are right now as an industry.”
Plans around the ACM Awards are still being firmed up but will include free shows on the Star Plaza on May 6 and 7, as well as a Top Golf tee-off tournament on May 6, and an official after party following the awards.
With the Amazon deal and the contract with the Cowboys for the Frisco location both expiring this year, Whiteside says things could look very different next year depending upon if the deals aren’t renewed.
“For 2026, we may do a major pivot again and define what’s the future of the academy. This year is a very special year, but next year is going to be kind of turning the page,” he says. “It’ll be a fresh new year. We don’t know yet where we’ll be. We don’t know what [outlet] we’re going to be on. Everything’s a new day in 2026, so it’s going to be the evolution of the ACM Awards, but we’re excited about that because it’s a blank slate.”
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
