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Roberta Flack, the beloved, Grammy-winning 1970s R&B singer best known for such hits as “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly” died on Monday (Feb. 24) at 88. At press time a statement from Flack’s spokesperson revealed that she died peacefully, with no official cause of death available.
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“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning, February 24, 2025,” read the statement. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”
A classically trained pianist from an early age, Flack received a music scholarship at 15 to attend Howard University and was soon discovered singing at Washington, D.C. nightclub Mr. Henry’s by jazz great Les McCann, which led to her signing with Atlantic Records. She scored her first break in 1971 when Clint Eastwood used her version of the moon-y ballad “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in his directorial debut, Play Misty For Me.
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A master of the “quiet storm” style, Flack’s effortless, soothing vocals soon became a staple of R&B and pop radio, leading to a two-decade run of chart hits.
Flack was born Roberta Cleopatra Flack in Black Mountain, N.C. on Feb. 10, 1937 and raised in Arlington, Va. where her mother, Irene, played organ at the Lomax African Methodist Episcopal Church. She learned to play piano on a funky junkyard instrument her father — a jazz pianist himself — found and restored for her, on which she practiced Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, as well as Mozart’s Requiem.
After getting her public debut playing piano as an adolescent in the Lomax church, Flack studied piano at Howard, then moved on to a music educator program after being told that the racial barriers at that time for a Black classical concert pianist were too high for her to achieve her dream. Following her father’s death in 1959, Flack returned to North Carolina and took a job teaching music at a public school, later moving back to D.C., where she taught at several middle and high schools for a decade.
Flack released her debut LP, First Take, in 1969 which included her first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” which also helped the album reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart; the song would win the Grammy for record of the year in 1972. She hit No. 1 again in 1973 with “Killing Me Softly,” from the album of the same name, with the song winning the 1974 Grammy for record of the year. It was later famously covered by the Fugees in 1996 on their second album, The Score.
Flack’s unprecedented back-to-back Grammy wins for record of the year feat wasn’t achieved again until U2 scored the same two-fer with “Beautiful Day” (2001) and “Walk On” (2002). Flack regularly recorded with fellow soul great Donny Hathaway, scoring duet hits on the Hot 100 with the singer on a covers of “You’ve Got a Friend” (1971, No. 29) and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (1971, No. 71), as well as “Where Is the Love” (1972, No. 5), “The Closer I Get To You” (1978, No. 2) and “You Are My Heaven” (1980, No. 47), among others.
She scored a total of 18 Hot 100 hits, and landed four albums in the top three on the Billboard 200 album charts, as well as more than two dozen charting hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Flack’s chart prominence began to fade by the mid-1980s, but she kept recording, releasing her most recent album in 2012 with the Beatles cover album Let It Be Roberta. Over the course of her career, Flack was nominated for 14 Grammys and won three.
Check out some of Flack’s most beloved hits below.
Tate McRae gets why she keeps getting compared to Britney Spears. The 21-year-old Canadian pop star who first came into our lives as a tween finalist on the 2016 season of So You Think You Can Dance has mastered the art of dance pop temptation in videos like the one for her slinky new single, […]
Mariah Carey has booked a massive summer 2025 gig in the U.K. at Royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on August 15. The show at the 20,000-capacity venue will feature support from Eternal and Nile Rodgers & Chic. The outdoor gig in Norfolk, England presented by Heritage Live Festivals is the third concert announced for the venue this summer, joining previously announced shows by the Stereophonics (Aug. 16) and Michael Bublé (Aug. 17).
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Tickets for the Carey concert will be available during a pre-sale on March 5 beginning at 9 a.m. GMT (4 a.m. ET). Fans can register for pre-sale access in advance here. A general on-sale will kick off on March 7 at 9 a.m., with information available here.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to bring one of the greatest pop artists of all time to the Royal Sandringham Estate for an exclusive UK headline show. Mariah Carey is an award-winner, a record-breaker, and an absolute global icon – this show will be historic,” Heritage Live Festivals’ Giles Cooper said in a statement. “Mariah’s live show is second to none and with such a catalogue of huge hit singles, it’s going to be an incredible occasion. It will most definitely be an ‘I was there’ event that will live in all of our memories forever.”
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Carey has also booked another U.K summer gig with a headlining slot at the Pride in the Park event at the Brighton Pride festival, which will take place on August 2-3; Carey was supposed to play the Pride fest in 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The singer recently celebrated her second nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, writing on Instagram earlier this month that she was “so grateful” to get her second nod in a row after first becoming eligible in 2016. “It’s always an incredible honor to be recognized alongside so many legendary artists I admire. Thank you to the @rockhall and, of course, to my amazing fans— you are the heart of everything I do. This means so much! ❤️🎶,” Carey wrote in a post that also featured the full list of 2025’s nominees, which includes Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Maná, Oasis, Outkast, Phish, Soundgarden and The White Stripes.
Noah Weiland, the son of late Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland, has paid tribute to his father with a cover of 1993’s “Sex Type Thing.”
Released on Thursday (Feb. 20), the haunting rendition of the track sees Noah offering up a faithful take on the original, albeit without the angry vocals that Scott included over 30 years ago. Featuring production and additional guitar from Spencer Carr Reed, the cover also comes accompanied by a video which sees Noah making his way throughout Sherman Oaks, CA alongside a Chucky doll which represents the elder Weiland.
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The video features subtitles which see Noah reflecting on the loss of his father. “There was so much I wanted to tell him, like how much has changed on Earth without him,” one caption reads, while a final caption adds, “I wish I could dream about you forever. But it’s ok…because for now I will carry on your legacy.”
“Filmed this about a dream I had long ago about seeing my father again,” Noah wrote about the track on social media. “It’s hard for me to stay in the moment sometimes, but I try.”
Scott Weiland passed away in December 2015 at the age of 48, with an autopsy later declaring his cause of death as an accidental overdose of cocaine, ethanol and methylenedioxyamphetamine. Scott first rose to fame in the ’90s as the frontman of Stone Temple Pilots, who officially formed in 1989 as Mighty Joe Young.
The band’s debut album, Core, was released in September 1992, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. “Sex Type Thing” was issued as its lead single in early 1993, and would peak at No. 23 on the Album Rock Tracks (now called the Mainstream Rock) chart. Second single “Plush” would also win them a Grammy Award for best hard rock performance.
Stone Temple Pilots would split in 2003 after releasing five albums (including 1994’s chart-topping Purple), though would reunite in 2008 and release a self-titled record in 2010. Scott Weiland would be fired from the band in 2013, with Linkin Park‘s Chester Bennington taking over as lead vocalist until 2015.
In 2016, the band launched a search for a new vocalist, ultimately announcing Jeff Gutt as their new singer in November 2017. The band have since released two studio albums with Gutt, with their most recent being 2020’s Perdida.
That same year, it was revealed that Noah Weiland, along with the sons of Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash and Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, had formed a band called Suspect208, though the group would only last for a year before splitting.
In April 2024, Noah revealed he was being “blackmailed” by an unnamed individual who demanded $2,000 to refrain from leaking a demo titled “Time Will Tell”, which featured previously-unreleased vocals from Scott. Noah instead decided to finish the song with Reed, telling Rolling Stone the idea was to present the track as a familial collaboration.
“Due to the fact that nobody who ‘represents’ my dad actually cares to give the fans new unheard music, let alone keep his name alive in the first place, my friend Spencer Carr Reed and I decided to turn it into a more modern sounding song as if he was still alive and just decided to hop on one of my songs,” Noah explained at the time. “That was the concept behind it.”
Almost four years since founding Korn bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu announced he was taking a hiatus from the group, the musician has revealed he hasn’t spoken to his bandmates in more than five years.
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Fieldy made the revelation in a recent appearance on the Basement Talk podcast, explaining that his hiatus has featured no contact with any of the musicians he rose to fame with.
“I haven’t talked to those guys since 2019. So it’s like we’re just kind of both…. They’re truckin,’” he explained. “They’re a machine. They’re going. It’s insane. It’s dope that they can keep on going like that.”
Though somewhat vague in his responses, one of the podcast’s presenters inquired as to whether “it’s all love between everybody” between the other members of the band. “Yeah. It’s cool to see them keep on going,” Fieldy added. “I’m, like, I need to chill. I’m just kickin’ it.”
Fieldy served as the bassist of Korn since its inception in 1993, performing on every one of their studio albums to date, including 1998’s Follow the Leader and 1999’s Issues, which both topped the Billboard 200. In June 2021, however, he revealed he would be taking “some time off to heal” and to address the “bad habits” which had “caused some tension with the people around me”.
“I’m going to respect what was asked of me and take that time,” he wrote in a statement at the time. “Unfortunately you will not see me on stage with my band. I will be working towards getting the bad habits out of my system. In the meantime I will be staying creative to keep my mind & soul in a good place.”
In the wake of Fieldy’s hiatus from the band, Suicidal Tendencies bassist Ra Díaz stepped in to take his place. Despite his departure (and his claims that he hadn’t spoken to his bandmates since 2019), Fieldy is still credited as the bassist for the group’s most recent album, 2022’s Requiem, which wrapped recording shortly after his exit.
Four months after announcing his hiatus, Fieldy released a since-deleted video in which he clarified the “bad habits” that he had initially referenced, denying it was in relation to drug use. “I’ve never tried cocaine, I’ve never tried heroin. I drink Bud Light, man. It’s clear,” he said.
At the time, he also addressed his relationship with his bandmates, claiming there is “no beef” between the members of Korn.
“They’re killing it,” he added. “I’m always gonna be Fieldy from Korn for the rest of my life, because that’s part of my legacy. Those are my homies, those are my brothers. We’re just in different places right now. We’re not even mad at each other. We’re all cool.”
After close to four decades as Australia’s own Princess of Pop, Kylie Minogue’s performing legacy has been commemorated with a star at the Melbourne Park sporting complex.
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Minogue – who launched her global Tension Tour in Perth on Feb. 15 – received the honor on Saturday (Feb. 22) ahead of a performance in her hometown of Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria.
Coinciding with the third of three consecutive performances at the city’s 14,820-capacity Rod Laver Arena, it also coincided with Minogue’s first performance at the venue back in Feb. 1990 when it was then known as the National Tennis Centre.
Since her debut at Rod Laver Arena 35 years ago, Minogue has gone on to play 30 shows at Melbourne Park, amassing sales of more than 350,000 tickets in the process. Her three recent dates brought that total to 33 performances with an additional 36,000 ticket sales, making her one of the most successful artists to ever perform at the Melbourne destination.
The star was unveiled to Minogue on the afternoon of Feb. 22 by Melbourne Park CEO John Harnden AM. Fittingly, it is located in the forecourt of Rod Laver Arena, adjacent to a statue of late promoter Michael Gudinski. Gudinski first signed Minogue to his Mushroom Records label in 1987, while his Frontier Touring company has promoted every one of her Australian concerts to date. In 2021, Minogue also performed at Gudinski’s state funeral at the same venue.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 35 years since I first stepped on stage at this venue, and I’m honoured to be acknowledged in this way in my hometown of Melbourne,” Minogue said of the honor. “It seems appropriate that MG will be watching over my star each day. I’m incredibly thankful to all the fans that have attended my shows over the years.”
“Kylie has a longstanding and record-breaking association with Melbourne Park and it’s only fitting we celebrate her amazing legacy with this star, cementing her name in the history of this great destination for live events,” added Harnden.
The installation of the star also coincides with a campaign to reinstate a statue of Minogue in Melbourne following its removal in 2016. At the time, a bronze likeness of Minogue – along with similar figures of Australian entertainers John Farnham, Dame Nellie Melba, Dame Edna Everage and Graham Kennedy – were removed to make way for a $140 million AUD apartment block.
Since its removal, the statue – which had been first sculpted by Peter Corlett in 2006 – has reportedly been in storage in an undisclosed location.
“I, for one, would love to see her statue reinstated in Melbourne,” Melbourne Mayor Nicholas Reece told The Age. “First, I think she’s a brilliant performer and entertainer who has brought so much joy to so many Melburnians, and secondly because we have a real deficit of statues of great women of Melbourne.
“If we could get a statue of Kylie back up again, it will remind all the boys and girls of Melbourne that great Melburnians come in all shapes, sizes and genders.”
Minogue’s most recent album, II, became her fourth consecutive record to top the Australian ARIA charts upon its October release, and her eighth overall to achieve the feat. It reached No. 98 on the Billboard 200, hit No. 2 on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums, and followed on from 2023’s Tension which saw lead single “Padam Padam” win the Grammy for best pop dance recording.
Marc Anthony officially kicked off the 2025 Viña del Mar International Song Festival on Sunday (Feb. 23) at the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater in the coastal city in Chile.
His set, more than an hour long, began at 7:55 p.m. ET, with the Puerto Rican salsa act performing “Pa’alla Voy.” He then continued with his early 2000s hits, “Valío La Pena,” “Y Hubo Alguien” and “Volando Entre Tus Brazos.” “How cool!” Anthony murmured in the mic as the packed venue of 15,000 fans sang along.
“Thank you so much. Thank you so much, for real,” the salsa artist said to the crowd, which included the presence of his wife, model Nadia Ferreira, in the front row. “What a wonderful time to be able to share with you all after so many years. How wonderful to see you. This next song is one of my favorites. If you know it, sing it with me.”
This is the fourth time the festival has hosted Anthony, following performances in 2009, 2012 and 2019.
He then continued with four back-to-back timeless covers that he’s made popular: Polo Montañez’s “Flor Pálida,” Juan Gabriel’s “Abrazame Muy Fuerte,” José José’s “Almohada” and José Luis Perales’ “¿Y Cómo es El?”
“How exciting, but do you want salsa? Let’s go!” Marc said after the romantic set, continuing with “Que Precio Tiene el Cielo.”
Shortly after, the event’s co-hosts, Karen Doggenweiler and Rafael Araneda, joined the artist on stage. “This quinta [venue] sings, dances and enjoys your music!” Araneda told Anthony as the audience signaled the popular flying seagull hand gesture to give him a trophy.
As tradition holds, the week-long event features local and international artists who compete for either a silver torch or golden torch. On this year’s opening night on Sunday, Marc received the two coveted gaviota trophies before wrapping up with salsa bangers “Mala,” “Te Conozco Bien,” “Tu Amor Me Hace Bien” and “Vivir Mi Vida.”
“It’s incredible,” Anthony said to the hosts. “I was telling Nadia that there is no country like Chile. Stepping on this land is felt immediately. What an honor to be in Chile!”
Each night, Viña del Mar, which has become Chile’s highest-rated television show, features a headliner, a supporting artist, a comedian and an international song festival in folk and pop categories, with contestants competing to win in each.
Rolling over, sitting up … and then ice skating? Justin Bieber‘s son with wife Hailey, 6-month-old Jack Blues, could be at the rink before long if he takes after his hockey-loving, pop star dad.
Bieber was among the celebrities participating in Skate For LA Strong — a benefit hockey game held at Crypto.com Arena to raise funds for wildfire recovery efforts in Los Angeles, on Sunday (Feb. 23) — when an interviewer got in a few questions with him on camera.
First he was asked what it means to him to take part in the charity hockey game, a rare live appearance at a public event for the Canadian-born singer, who was last on tour in 2022. In the video clip Billboard captured below (also just uploaded on Billboard‘s TikTok account), Bieber can be seen answering: “It means everything.”
Bieber noted that the benefit’s participants, who were coming together to help those impacted by the widespread Los Angeles wildfires in January, were “looking to have a good time.”
“I know you’re a new dad. How soon are you looking to get your kid on skates?” Bieber, who was a member of Team Black on the ice on Sunday, was asked next. He and wife Hailey welcomed their firstborn only months ago, in August.
“As soon as possible,” Bieber said, without hesitation.
Although it’s unlikely Jack Blues is even ready to crawl yet at only six months old, and it should be some time — probably another six to nine months — before an infant of his age would reach the milestone of walking, Bieber insisted: “It’s never too early.”
Justin Bieber skates on the ice during the Skate for LA Strong event at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 23, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
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Actor Steve Carell and musician Ross Lynch also laced up for Sunday’s occasion, officially titled “Skate For LA Strong: A Celebration to Support the Fire Recovery Efforts in Los Angeles.”
Serving as coaches were Snoop Dogg, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Danny DeVito and Cobie Smulders, while Kaskade, Jordan Davis and Lauren Spencer-Smith were on the bill as musical guests.
The event had four teams competing in a single-elimination format, with celebs joined by hockey pros like Mark Messier, Jeremy Roenick, Rob Blake, Manon Rheaume and Dany Heatley, athletes from other sports, and first responders. The game was broadcast on ESPN2 and livestreamed on ESPN+.
Proceeds from Skate For LA Strong are set to benefit the Red Cross, the LA Fire Foundation, Cal Fire Foundation, and the Eaton Canyon Fire Relief and Recovery Fund.
Watch Bieber chatting about little Jack Blues below, or view it on Billboard‘s TikTok here.
Depending on when you were first introduced to DPR IAN throughout his decade-plus career in entertainment so far, it may be smart to check on how exactly to address the Australian multi-hyphenate.
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Born Christian Yu in Sydney, Australia, in 1990, and known by his Korean name Barom, the future star introduced his first moniker by uploading dance videos to YouTube as B Boy B.yu — a nickname thought up by his mother to remind him to always “be you” or, in young Barom’s case, “B yu”). After high school, he embraced an unexpected swerve to debut in the K-pop industry as Rome, the leader of the boy band C-Clown. When the group split, he reclaimed Christian and used +IAN after directing music videos for the likes of BIGBANG’s Taeyang and iKON’s Bobby, before ultimately landing on his DPR IAN stage name as part of he and his Dream Perfect Regime’s independent, creative musical movement.
But for a friendly conversation like the first episode of Billboard’s The Crossover Convo, he says Ian is “perfect.”
“There are so many eras that I’ve been through and pertaining to those eras is where a lot of those names came out,” DPR IAN explains to Billboard. “Having it all laid out like that really puts a lot of things into perspective. I’ve really just been on the run and on the fly, and I haven’t been able to process a lot of these things; it’s been quite the journey.”
With a musical journey that began with a childhood obsession with progressive-music icons like Daft Punk and Moby, embracing British-pop icons like The Beatles and Spice Girls, to diving into new genres on multifaceted projects like vocalizing over icy EDM on “Do or Die” with DPR ARCTIC, while delivering a psychedelic rock experience for “Diamonds + and Pearls” on the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings soundtrack, that features a diverse roster of superstars like Simu Lu, Anderson .Paak, DJ Snake, Saweetie, Swae Lee, BIBI, 21 Savage, Mark Tuan of GOT7 and many more.
The Shang-Chi soundtrack peaked at No. 160 on the Billboard 200 in 2021, but IAN built upon the chart momentum with his 2022 full-length Moodswings in to Order (peaking at No. 146 on the chart), which was soon surpassed by Dear Insanity EP from 2023 (No. 138).
But IAN says the music’s personal impact on listeners is more important than how much they buy or consume it.
“I’ve never really expected any of that as I was starting this,” he says in reaction to his organic chart rise. “Even if it affects one person and if it’s enough to change one person’s world for the better, that was enough for me.”
For the premiere episode of The Crossover Convo, take a journey through DPR IAN’s music history and look out for the next star to go through their global-pop music journey next month.
Travis Scott had an eventful Sunday in sunny Florida, where he was not only the one to throw the ceremonial first pitch for the Houston Astros at the team’s spring training opener, but was also the face of a bobblehead created in his likeness for the occasion.
The February Billboard cover star appeared at the Feb. 23 Astros game against the Washington Nationals at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, the Major League Baseball training facility for which the rapper, a longtime Astros fan, has a multi-year, naming-rights deal; he’s also got a hard seltzer brand named CACTI, and a record label and publishing company called Cactus Jack — plus his non-profit that provides young people with educational and creative resources, Cactus Jack Foundation.
According to a press release issued on Sunday, the first 2,000 fans at CACTI Park were given a limited edition Travis Scott bobblehead that has him up at bat and decked out in a custom “CACTI” baseball uniform. Scott’s bobblehead is perched upon a base featuring his name and the CACTI brand logo.
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The Travis Scott limited-edition bobblehead, designed with Scott’s signature style.
Courtesy of the Houston Astros
At the game, Scott — whose Days Before Rodeo mixtape re-release on vinyl earned him his fourth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in fall 2024 — was photographed meeting with Astros pitcher Bryan Abreu and the team’s green alien-inspired mascot, Orbit.
Travis Scott meets Houston Astros pitcher Bryan Abreu on Feb. 23, 2025.
Courtesy of the Houston Astros
Travis Scott greets Houston Astros mascot Orbit on Feb. 23, 2025.
Courtesy of the Houston Astros
Earlier in the week, on Wednesday (Feb. 19), Scott unveiled the Sealie Flood + Bernice Webster Corner garden, named after his two grandmothers, with students at Houston’s Highland Heights Elementary School. The Cactus Jack Foundation initiative will provide food for food-insecure youth across the city.
Scott hosted his annual Cactus Jack HBCU Softball Classic at Daikin Park in Houston last week. The event welcomed Tyla, Swae Lee, Metro Boomin, Teyana Taylor, Mariah the Scientist, BIA and more.
Also among Scott’s many endeavors in February was the announcement of his foundation’s partnership with the Fashion Scholarship Fund to launch the Cactus Jack Design Ethos 101 Program, an online program that will award students with $10,000 each and mentorship.