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A massive fire tore through an overcrowded nightclub in North Macedonia Sunday (March 16), killing 59 people and injuring 155 in a chaotic escape during a live concert. The tragedy drew messages of support from around the world but focused national attention on corruption in the small Balkan country as authorities detained 15 people.
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The pre-dawn blaze in the eastern town of Kocani left mostly young people dead and injured due to burns, smoke inhalation and a stampede in the desperate effort to reach the building’s single exit, officials said. People as young as 16 were among the injured, they said.
Videos showed sparkling pyrotechnics on the stage hitting the ceiling followed by scenes of chaos inside the club, with young people running through the smoke as the musicians urged them to escape as quickly as possible.
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“We even tried to get out through the toilet, to find bars (on the windows),” Marija Taseva, 19, told The Associated Press, describing the fire that erupted after watching a local pop group at Club Pulse. “I somehow managed to get out. I fell down the stairs and they ran over me, trampled me. … I barely stayed alive and could hardly breathe.” She suffered an injury to her face.
Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski said 15 people had been detained for questioning after a preliminary inspection revealed the club was operating without a proper license. He said that the number of people inside the club was at least double its official capacity of 250.
“We have grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption in this case,” he told reporters without elaborating.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also sent messages of support. “I wish those who were injured a speedy recovery. Ukraine mourns alongside our (North) Macedonian friends on this sad day,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X.
Health Ministry officials said the government had accepted offers of assistance from several neighboring countries, including Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey, where preparations were being made to receive patients with life-threatening injuries. Paramedics from Serbia and Bulgaria also traveled to North Macedonia to help with the local effort.
Throughout Sunday, relatives gathered in front of hospitals and city offices in Kocani, some 115 kilometers (72 miles) east of the capital, Skopje, begging authorities for more information. Resident Dragi Stojanov was informed that his 21-year-old son Tomce had died in the fire.
“He was my only child. I don’t need my life anymore. … 150 families have been devastated,” he said. “Children burnt beyond recognition. There are corpses, just corpses inside (the club). … And the bosses (of organized crime), just putting money into their pockets.”
In Skopje, officials said the injured were to hospitals around the country, many being treated for severe burns and smoke inhalation. The effort was being assisted by multiple volunteer organizations.
The fire is the worst tragedy in recent memory to befall the landlocked nation, whose population is less than 2 million, and the latest in a slew of deadly nightclub fires around the world.
President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova visited burn victims at a hospital in Skopje and spoke to parents waiting outside the building. “It’s terrible … hard to believe how this happened,” she said, her voice halting with emotion. “We must give these young people courage to continue.”
The fire caused the roof of the single-story building to partially collapse, revealing the charred remains of wooden beams and debris. Police cordoned off the site and sent in evidence gathering teams in an operation also involving state prosecutors.
Pyrotechnics have often been the cause of deadly fires in nightclubs, including the one at the Colectiv club in Bucharest, Romania, in 2015 in which 64 people died.
Playboi Carti‘s new album is off to a strong start on streaming platforms.
Following its release on Friday (March 14), the Atlanta rapper’s long-awaited third studio album, MUSIC, became Spotify‘s most-streamed album in a single day in 2025 so far.
“Carti’s MUSIC is already making history,” the streaming giant captioned its announcement on X on Saturday.
In the lead-up to the album’s release, Spotify supported the rollout by putting up billboards in major cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami, displaying messages like “STREETS READY,” “SORRY4 DA WAIT” and “I AM MUSIC MF.”
MUSIC was preceded by the official single “All Red,” which reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 3 on Billboard‘s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Carti also released several tracks on his YouTube and Instagram, including “2024,” “BACKR00MS” featuring Travis Scott, and “H00DBYAIR.”
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Additionally, Carti performed unreleased songs during his headlining set at Rolling Loud Miami in December 2024, including “Lose You” featuring The Weeknd. Carti and The Weeknd’s collaboration “Timeless,” from The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow album, reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 last year, following the success of their platinum-certified hit “Popular” with Madonna.
MUSIC features star-studded collaborations from Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Lil Uzi Vert, Skepta and Ty Dolla $ign. It also boasts an impressive list of producers, including Cardo, Metro Boomin, Southside, F1lthy, Ye, Cash Cobain and the production duo Ojivolta, among others.
The 30-track project arrives five years after Carti’s last album, Whole Lotta Red, which topped the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The 2020 set featured collaborations with Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) on “Go2DaMoon,” Kid Cudi on “M3tamorphosis,” and Future on “Teen X.”
Carti is set to headline Rolling Loud California on Sunday (March 16). The festival posted on X earlier this week, noting that his 2018 debut album, Die Lit, dropped the day before Rolling Loud Miami, and he’s continuing that tradition by releasing MUSIC the day before Rolling Loud California opens.
Ye has dropped a new song that seemingly features Sean “Diddy” Combs and his daughter North West.
On Saturday (March 15), the 47-year-old rapper — formerly known as Kanye West — took to his X account to release the track titled “Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine.”
“LONELY ROADS STILL GO TO SUNSHINE new song by PUFF DADDY feat. His son KING COMBS my daughter NORTH WEST and new Yeezy artist from Chicago Jasmine Williams,” the controversial artist captioned the post.
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The nearly five-minute song opens with what appears to be a phone conversation between Ye and Diddy, who is currently incarcerated and facing multiple charges, including sex trafficking.
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“I just want to thank you so much for just taking care of my kids, man,” a voice that seems to be Diddy says. “Ain’t nobody reach out to them, ain’t nobody call them.” Ye replies, “Absolutely, I love you so much, man. You raised me. Even when I ain’t know you, know what I’m saying?”
West’s 11-year-old daughter North also appears on the track, rapping, “Doing everything I wanted, that’s the key to life/ When you see me shining, then you see the light.”
Before releasing “Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine,” West shared now-deleted screenshots on X of text messages between him and North’s mother, Kim Kardashian, according to TMZ. In the texts, Kardashian allegedly told her ex-husband that she had trademarked their daughter’s name in an attempt to block the song’s release.
“I asked you at the time if I can trademark her name. You said yes. When she’s 18, it goes to her. So stop,” Kardashian reportedly wrote. “I sent paperwork over so she wouldn’t be in the Diddy song to protect her. One person has to trademark!” The reality TV star added, “We agreed when they were both i would get all of our kids names and trademarks So no one else would take them.”
The rapper replied, “Amend it or I’m going to war And neither of us will recover from the public fallout You’re going to have to kill me.”
Ye, who has faced backlash in recent months for his hate-filled, antisemitic rants on social media, has recently defended Diddy. In February, West called on President Donald Trump to free the disgraced hip-hop mogul. “Free Puff,” Ye wrote in all caps on X, later adding, “@realDonaldTrump please free my brother Puff.”
Diddy was arrested in September and is currently in jail without bail, awaiting a federal trial in New York on racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. Prosecutors say he orchestrated an elaborate scheme in which he “abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires.”
In addition to his new song, Ye posted an image on X on Saturday that he claims will be the cover of his upcoming album. The image features a red Nazi swastika against a black background. It is unclear whether this is related to the release of his Bully album, which he teased at the start of 2025. While the rapper seemed to have plans to release the project sometime this year, it remains uncertain whether the album will actually be released.
03/16/2025
With support from Jordan Miller and Nala, the producer closed out Billboard’s trio of shows at SXSW 2025.
03/16/2025
Role Model wanted to sing a version of “Nothing New,” the melancholic Taylor Swift Red (Taylor’s Version) vault track that features Phoebe Bridgers, that he could do a little two-step to while screaming out the chorus — adding a dash of drunken coziness to Swift’s ruminating after a night of imbibing in a few too many. And so “Nothing New (Tucker’s Version)” was born, with Role Model debuting his live cover of Swift’s song on Australian radio station Triple J’s “Like a Version” series.
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“Standout song for me,” says Role Model, aka Tucker Harrington Pillsbury, in an accompanying interview clip with the station released on Thursday (March 13) while he’s on the road with his band, playing sold-out shows in Brooklyn and Boston this weekend and returning as opener on Gracie Abrams‘ Secret of Us Tour this summer.
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He stumbled upon the Red-era song while working on his sophomore studio album, 2024’s Kansas Anymore.
As Role Model recalls, “I was constantly adding songs to my playlist, like a music inspo playlist, and this one I came across. I had no idea Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers were on a song together. I’m scared to say it, but I think Phoebe brought me into the Taylor Swift world — which is great.”
Watch Role Model’s Live Cover of “Nothing New”
“She’s incredible,” he says of Swift. “She’s one of the best songwriters of our generation.”
“Nothing New,” a song that didn’t make the cut on the original Red album in 2012 but resurfaced amidst the 2021 re-recording of the set, has Swift contemplating her shelf life as a promising young pop-country star; verses are traded with Bridgers, who also lends harmony to the chorus and bridge. Swift and Bridgers brought the song to the stage for the first time on May 5, 2023 in Nashville, the first of several nights the Punisher singer-songwriter joined the lineup of the The Eras Tour.
“I love the chorus and [how] it changes slightly every time,” says Role Model of “Nothing New,” explaining why he went where he did with his interpretation of the tune. “It just feels good, like, ‘I’ve had too much to drink tonight’ — I wanna scream it and dance to it. So that’s why we added drums and a little bit of twang to it. I wanted to bump up the tempo just a little bit, add drums and bring it into the world of Kansas Anymore. Just give it a little warmth and a slight dance-y groove, and some twang. We had the peddle steel come in. I just wanted to be able to do a slow two-step to it.”
Though “Nothing New” is written from the perspective of a girl in the spotlight worrying it’s only a matter a time before a fresher face takes her place (“People love an ingénue,” Swift remarks, a sad line with dry delivery, after Bridgers sings, “Are we only biding time ’til I lose your attention?”), Role Model can empathize with the lyrics as an artist.
“I have said this many times before,” he shares. “People’s attention spans are very short, and they’re getting shorter. I try not to bathe in the attention that I’m getting now in this place of my career, which is, I guess, probably, the best place I’ve been in my career. I try not to shower myself in that because I know people are gonna forget at some point or move on, and there’s gonna be a nice, shinier little Tucker that comes along and outdoes me. I get it. I relate to Miss Taylor.”
Role Model arrives at the 15th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards at The Wiltern on Feb. 23, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
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Role Model once met Bridgers at Coachella, but humbly assumes she doesn’t remember it. He hasn’t met Swift, though between this performance circulating and his tour with Abrams, he’s arguably now in the pop icon’s orbit, at least tangentially. An opener on Swift’s Eras Tour, Abrams ended up co-writing and recording the Grammy-nominated duet “us.” with her, a highlight on her The Secret of Us album.
Of his hope to meet Swift someday, Role Model, who in February released a few new songs (including “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out,” seen below) via deluxe album Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye), says, “I would love to. I would love to.”
For someone who didn’t really identify as a fan of Swift until “Nothing New,” he’s got a reasonable grasp on the power of Swifties. His polite plea to those who hear his cover: “Just don’t hate me. If you don’t like it, I understand. If you liked it, thank you so much — I’m honored. I’m scared of both of you in the best way, so go easy on me.”
“Send hearts,” he says with optimism, making the signature heart hands Swift’s fandom knows.
Papa Roach extends its career-best streak of No. 1s on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, lifting a place to No. 1 on the March 22-dated survey with “Even If It Kills Me.”
The track is the band’s fourth No. 1 in a row and 11th overall. The group’s streak dates to the one-week reign of “No Apologies” in 2022, followed by triumphs for “Cut the Line” in 2023 and “Leave a Light On” in 2024.
The Jacoby Shaddix-led band takes over sole possession of the 10th-most No. 1s in the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart’s 44-year history. The act first reached the chart with the No. 4-peaking “Last Resort” in 2000 and first led with “Lifeline” in 2009.
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Most No. 1s, Mainstream Rock Airplay:20, Shinedown18, Three Days Grace15, Five Finger Death Punch14, Foo Fighters14, Metallica13, Godsmack13, Van Halen12, Disturbed12, Linkin Park11, Papa Roach
Concurrently, “Even If It Kills Me” holds at its No. 4 high on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 3.6 million audience impressions, up 7%, in the week ending March 13, according to Luminate. It’s tied for the band’s best placement on the ranking (which began in 2009), alongside “Kill the Noise” (2021) and “No Apologies.” The song is also bubbling under Alternative Airplay, where the band boasts 20 career entries, including the No. 1 “Last Resort.”
On the most recently published, multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart (dated March 8, reflecting data Feb. 28-March 6), “Even If It Kills Me” ranked at No. 7, after hitting No. 4 in February. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 634,000 official U.S. streams in that span.
“Even If It Kills Me” is currently a standalone single. The band’s most recent album, Ego Trip, debuted at its No. 6 peak on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart in April 2022 and has earned 180,000 equivalent album units to date.
All Billboard charts dated March 22 will update on Tuesday, March 18, on Billboard.com.
Lola Young scores her first No. 1 on a Billboard airplay chart, as “Messy” lifts a spot to the top of the Rock & Alternative Airplay tally dated March 22. The song rules the all-rock-format, audience-based ranking with 4.7 million audience impressions earned March 7-13, up 5% week-over-week, according to Luminate. Its reign is buoyed […]
Journey experienced some technical difficulties during a recent Texas concert.
The legendary rock band had performed just five songs when, during their 1981 hit “Don’t Stop Believin’,” they were forced to leave the stage at NRG Stadium during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on Friday (March 14).
Fan-captured video from the event, shared on X, shows lead singer Arnel Pineda reaching the second verse of the song before the sound cut out and the projector screens went dark. As the audience continued singing along, unaware of the issue, members of Journey’s crew were reportedly seen rushing to the stage with fire extinguishers. Shortly after, the crowd was informed that the concert would not continue and that everyone needed to evacuate, according to KHOU. No injuries were reported.
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Journey had not addressed the situation on social media at press time, but the Houston Rodeo later issued an official statement about the cancellation on its Facebook page.
“Due to an unforeseen electrical incident under the stage area, we regretfully announce the cancellation of tonight’s Journey concert. We sincerely apologize to all fans for this disappointment,” the organization wrote. “Our team is working diligently to assess the situation, and we will provide updates regarding rescheduling options and refunds as soon as possible.”
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Other local news outlets, including KPRC and ABC 13 Houston, reported that the incident was an electrical fire.
Following the abrupt cancellation, many fans were left frustrated and in disbelief. “I am here right now,” one person commented on the Houston Rodeo’s Facebook post. “People are upset, but unforeseeable things happen in every day lives. I am so glad everybody is safe and everything was under control.”
Another fan shared, “We truly thought that it was a part of the show. 70,000 people singing ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ perfectly in unison, unprompted was beautiful! I’m glad everyone in the band and crew are ok. I’m thankful all of us at the show are ok. Count your blessings folks, things just happen sometimes.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs returned to federal court in New York City on Friday (March 14), pleading not guilty to the latest version of an indictment charging him with two decades of sex trafficking crimes.
The 55-year-old Combs, his beard noticeably grayer than even weeks ago, stood with his hands folded before him as he told Judge Arun Subramanian that he had read the indictment and understood the charges against him.
Combs, who has been held without bail since his September arrest, hugged two of his lawyers as he entered the courtroom and he blew kisses to family members and waved as he was led out by U.S. marshals afterward.
Subramanian told lawyers that questionnaires will be distributed to hundreds of prospective jurors at the end of April so that questioning of would-be jurors can begin on May 5, with opening statements expected to occur on May 12.
According to the indictment, Combs used the “power and prestige” he wielded as a music mogul to intimidate, threaten and lure women into his orbit, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship.
The indictment said he then used force, threats and coercion to cause victims, including three women specified in the court papers, to engage in commercial sex acts.
It said he subjected his victims to violence, threats of violence, threats of financial and reputational harm and verbal abuse.
“On multiple occasions, Combs threw both objects and people, as well as hit, dragged, choked and shoved others,” it said. “On one occasion, Combs dangled a victim over an apartment balcony.”
Defense lawyers have argued that prosecutors used the charges to try to demonize sex acts between consenting adults.
Part of the discussion in court Friday revolved around what will be allowed at the trial regarding a video that aired on CNN last year that showed Combs punching his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, and throwing her on the floor in a hotel hallway.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner said the video was “critical to the case.”
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said the video was “deceptive and not in accordance with the actions that took place.”
He said certain actions were speeded up in the video by as much as 50% and others were taken out of order.
“From the defense standpoint, it’s a misleading piece of evidence, a deceptive piece of evidence, a piece of evidence that has been changed,” he said.
Steiner also said the government was reluctant to share information about accusers who may testify in the case with defense lawyers until deadlines arrive that require the information to be turned over.
She said many of the “individuals are incredibly frightened” not only at having their names revealed publicly but having them disclosed to defense attorneys.
The Chicago Bulls‘ six NBA championship banners have been removed from the United Center after sustaining damage from pyrotechnics during a Disturbed concert. In a statement released on Friday (March 14), the United Center confirmed that the banners — earned during Michael Jordan’s reign in the 1990s — sustained “minor damage” during a March 8 […]
