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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.
Gary A. Vasquez/NHLI via Getty Images
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.
As PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s first collaborative album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, debuts atop the Billboard 200 chart (dated March 1), it marks PARTYNEXTDOOR’s first leader, and the 14th chart-topper for Drake. In turn, Drake now ties JAY-Z and Taylor Swift for the most No. 1s among soloists in the nearly-69-year history of the chart. […]
Don Toliver and Speedy’s “LV Bag,” featuring J-Hope and Pharrell Williams, has topped this week’s new music poll, which showcases artists from a variety of genres.
Music fans cast their votes in a poll published on Friday (Feb. 21) by Billboard, choosing the collaborative track as their favorite new release of the past week.
“LV Bag” received nearly 92% of the vote, leading by a wide margin over other notable new releases, including JENNIE’s “ExtraL” (featuring and Doechii), Tate McRae’s So Close to What, Anxious’s Bambi, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s “Call Me When You Break Up” (featuring Gracie Abrams), and more.
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Premiering during Pharrell’s menswear show at Paris Fashion Week, “LV Bag” features Toliver as the headliner, joined by J-Hope of BTS, who takes the opening verse. The track’s melody, a signature Pharrell earworm, is as undeniably catchy as some of his early Neptunes hits.
Toliver released his latest album, Hardstone Psycho, in June, which included collaborations with his Cactus Jack label boss Travis Scott, Kodak Black, Charlie Wilson, Cash Cobain, Future, Metro Boomin, Teezo Touchdown, Lil Uzi Vert, and Yeat. The project became his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.
Trailing behind “LV Bag” in this week’s poll is JENNIE’s confident new single “ExtraL,” featuring Doechii, which garnered 6% of the vote. The BLACKPINK member is gearing up for the release of her debut solo album, Ruby, on March 7.
Check out the full results of this week’s poll below and visit Billboard’s Friday Music Guide for more must-hear releases.
PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s first collaborative album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, debuts atop the Billboard 200 chart (dated March 1), earning 246,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 20, according to Luminate. It’s the first leader for PARTYNEXTDOOR and fourth top 10 charting set. It’s 14th No. 1 for Drake among 17 top 10s. Drake now ties JAY-Z and Taylor Swift for the most No. 1s among soloists in the nearly-69-year history of the chart. Overall, only The Beatles, with 19 No. 1s, have more.
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A collaborative project from PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake had been teased for months, but was only officially announced on Feb. 3, in advance of its release on Feb. 14.
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The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new March 1, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Feb. 25. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of $ome $exy $ongs 4 U’s 246,000 first-week equivalent album units, SEA units comprise 219,000 (equaling 287.04 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 25,000 (it debuts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 2,000.
With 287.04 million on-demand official streams generated of its songs, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U nets the largest streaming week for an album in 2025. It’s the largest streaming week for any album since Kendrick Lamar’s GNX debuted at No. 1 on the Dec. 7, 2024, chart with 379.72 million.
Speaking of Lamar, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U is Drake’s first album since the feud between him and Lamar escalated in March 2024 with the release of “Like That” by Future, Metro Boomin and Lamar. A flurry of diss tracks followed from each artist, with Lamar’s “Not Like Us” finding the most commercial success, spending three nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (including a return to the top a week ago after he performed the track during his Super Bowl LIX halftime show on Feb. 9).
$ome $exy $ongs 4 U replaces Lamar’s GNX atop the Billboard 200, as the latter falls to No. 3 after returning to No. 1 a week ago in the wake of the halftime show. It’s the first time Lamar and Drake have swapped the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200. This is also only the third time Lamar and Drake have been in the top three at the same time on the Billboard 200. They previously shared space in the top three on the May 13, 2017, chart, when Lamar’s DAMN. was in its second week at No. 1 and Drake’s former leader More Life was No. 2, and on the May 6, 2017, chart, when DAMN. debuted at No. 1 and More Life was No. 3. (DAMN. spent four nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in May-August 2017 and More Life had three weeks at No. 1, consecutively, in April 2017.)
$ome $exy $ongs 4 U is the first collaborative No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2025. There were three collab No. 1s in 2024, none in 2023, one in 2022, one in 2021 and one in 2020. Of Drake’s 14 leaders, three are collaborative sets. He previously led with the collab projects Her Loss (with 21 Savage in 2022) and What a Time to Be Alive (with Future in 2015).
On the new Billboard 200 chart, Sabrina Carpenter’s former leader Short n’ Sweet surges 7-2 with 156,000 equivalent album units earned (up 208%) following its reissue with five additional tracks on Feb. 14. The set was reissued on streamers, as well as at retail as a digital download, CD, cassette and two vinyl variants. One of the additional cuts on the reissue is a reworked version of Carpenter’s solo No. 1 Hot 100 hit “Please Please Please,” now rerecorded as a collaboration featuring Dolly Parton.
With 156,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, Short n’ Sweet snags its biggest week since it debuted at No. 1 on the chart dated Sept. 7, 2024, with 362,000. Of the album’s 156,000 units earned, SEA units comprise 83,000 (up 108%, equaling 111.95 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it climbs 7-4 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 71,000 (up 616%; it rises 6-1 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 2,000 (up 198%).
SZA’s chart-topping SOS falls 2-4 on the Billboard 200 with 93,000 equivalent album units earned (down 14%); Bad Bunny’s former No. 1 Debí Tirar Más Fotos dips 4-5 with 67,000 units (down 14%); and The Weeknd’s chart-topping Hurry Up Tomorrow descends 3-6 with 58,000 units (down 42%).
Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess slips 5-7 on the Billboard 200 (49,000 equivalent album units earned; down 17%); Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft drops 6-8 (46,000; down 18%); Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time dips 8-9 (39,000; down 5%); and Lamar’s DAMN. falls 9-10 (33,000; down 14%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Bill Fay, the British cult folk singer-songwriter, has passed away at the age of 81.
On Saturday (Feb. 23), Fay’s label Dead Oceans confirmed his death in a statement on Instagram, noting that the musician “peacefully” passed away that morning in London. A cause of death was not specified, but Fay had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
“Bill was a gentle man and a gentleman, wise beyond our times,” Dead Oceans wrote in a statement. “He was a private person with the biggest of hearts, who wrote immensely moving, meaningful songs that will continue to find people for years to come.”
Born in North London in 1943, Fay studied electronics at a university in Wales, where he began honing his songwriting skills on piano and harmonium. His early recordings caught the attention of former Van Morrison drummer Terry Noon, who helped him sign to the Decca Records subsidiary Dream.
Fay released two albums with the label: his self-titled debut in 1970 and Time of the Last Persecution in 1971. The latter album was a commercial failure, and he was dropped by the label. Fay would not release any new music for decades afterward.
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“I didn’t leave the music business — the music business left me,” Fay told The Guardian in February 2024. “It wasn’t difficult, because I still had the music … and you find the songs. And then you find another. That’s good enough for me.”
After leaving the music industry, Fay worked as a groundskeeper, fruit picker and factory worker, among other jobs, all while continuing to make music. In 1998, a small British label reissued his first two albums, leading to renewed interest in his work. Producer Jim O’Rourke soon discovered Fay’s music and played it for Jeff Tweedy during the recording sessions for Wilco’s 2002 album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Tweedy was so taken with Fay’s music that he incorporated a cover of “Be Not So Fearful” into Wilco’s live shows, even convincing Fay to join the band on stage in 2007 and 2010.
“There’s a simplicity and an elegance to it,” Tweedy told The Guardian last year. “You immediately recognize this is something uncut by ambition and fashion; it’s just somebody humbly adding their voice to contribute some beauty in, and maybe make peace with, the world.”
O’Rourke also introduced Fay’s music to Current 93’s David Tibet, who helped release the 2005 compilation Tomorrow, Tomorrow & Tomorrow, which featured recordings from 1978 to 1981.
In the years that followed, producer Joshua Henry discovered a copy of Time of the Last Persecution in his father’s record collection and eventually reached out to Fay. This connection led to Fay signing with Dead Oceans, where he released three new albums: Life Is People (2012), Who Is the Sender? (2015), and Countless Branches (2020).
Dead Oceans stated that Fay had been working on new music just a month before his death.
“Only a month before his passing, Bill was busy working on a new album,” the label wrote. “Our hope is to find a way to finish and release it, but for now, we remember Bill’s legacy as the “man in the corner of the room at the piano”, who quietly wrote heartfelt songs that touched and connected with people around the world.”
See Dead Ocean’s announcement of Fay’s passing on Instagram here.
Canadian rockers Three Days Grace have never played it safe. For over two decades, they’ve delivered some of rock’s most anthemic gut punches—”I Hate Everything About You,” “Animal I Have Become,” and “Never Too Late”—while weathering lineup changes, shifting sounds, and carving out a legacy that refuses to fade.
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Now, they’re flipping the script once again. Original frontman Adam Gontier is back, but not as a replacement—he’s teaming up with Matt Walst in a rare, dual-frontman powerhouse. Instead of a passing of the torch, it’s a collision of past and present, rewriting the band’s next chapter in real-time.
“I grew up same town, watching these guys practice in my basement when I was 12 years old,” Walst tells Billboard. “So I’ve always been a big fan of the band. It’s pretty cool to see this happen.”
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This reunion had been years in the making. Gontier made a surprise appearance with Three Days Grace in 2023, igniting rumors of a comeback. By October 2024, the band made it official after dropping a video of Gontier and Walst linking up at the studio. For the first time, Three Days Grace would have two lead singers.
If the reaction from fans was explosive, the impact on the charts was just as immediate.
Their first single as a dual-fronted band, “Mayday,” skyrocketed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. It marked their 18th No. 1–the first featuring vocals from Gontier since “Misery Loves My Company” in 2013.
“We knew people would freak out about it, but I didn’t think it would fly up to No. 1 on Billboard in five weeks to No.1,” Walst says. “It’s now sat there for five weeks. It’s been No. 1 for half the time it’s been out. We’re blown away by it. It’s crazy.”
With new music and a massive tour alongside Disturbed on the horizon, the next big question became—how do two powerhouse singers split up vocal duties?
“We start rehearsals next week, and then we’re out on tour with Disturbed across America, and it will be the first time we’ve gone through the songs together,” explains Walst, who took on the role of frontman in 2013.
For older songs originally sung by Gontier, Walst says, “I’m playing guitar and singing harmonies, backups.” Meanwhile, for songs from his own tenure, “he’s playing guitar and singing backups, and then for the new song we’re gonna sing together.”
Walst has a deep respect for Gontier’s talent, particularly his vocal range. “He can sing really, really high, he can hit notes that way, way up there. It’s insane.”
That ability, Walst believes, has only grown stronger over time. “It’s pretty cool to watch,” he added.
But when it came to recording their first tracks as a two-frontman band, they took an unconventional approach to deciding who sings what.
“Sometimes we did rock paper scissors,” Walst laughs. “Like, okay, who’s singing this part?”
“A lot of the time in the studio, it just comes naturally. Who’s gonna sing what and where,” he explains. “It’s been a lot of fun. We have each other’s backs and we cheer each other on when we do a good take. It’s pretty cool to be part of.”
“We get along. We’re both pretty chill people, and we’ve known each other for years and years,” he adds of his relationship with his fellow frontman. “We grew up together. We’re from the same town, so it’s not like if Van Halen singers tried to get together and do a tour.”
With a deep catalog of Billboard rock hits, the band is gearing up for a high-energy setlist, featuring the heavy-hitting sound that has fueled their legacy—only this time, with even more fire behind it.
“I think we’re just gonna bash them over the head with some hits,” Walst jokes.
“We have a lot of heavier songs on this album,” Walst teases. “But we have our ballads too, some lighter stuff. With every album, we like to balance it out with heavier songs and some lighter material, just so there’s diversity in it. ‘Mayday’ would not be the heaviest song on the record, but it’s up there.”
After 20 years of career highs, lineup changes, and countless tours, the band knows longevity in rock isn’t just about surviving—it’s about evolving and not letting egos get in the way of the music. For Walst, that’s never been an issue for the band.
“We don’t get offended if our idea isn’t good enough, or if our suggestion doesn’t go through,” he continues. “It’s about the song. Whatever is best for the song is gonna go.”
“I think it’s just writing about stuff that is going on in our lives or around us, and that people can apply themselves to the music and feel that,” Walst reflects. “If they’re depressed or they can reach on to a song, like ‘Never Too Late,’ or they going through a breakup, listening to ‘I Hate Everything About You.’”
As Three Days Grace kick off their new chapter, Walst is looking forward to what’s ahead.
“When the crowd is going nuts, it fuels me,“ he says about performing live. “The more they go crazy, the more I go crazy. I haven’t been on a stage for a year, and it’s gonna be interesting to get back up there and feel the butterflies and feel that energy again. It’s kind of like a drug you can’t get anywhere else.”
Shakira‘s concert in Medellín, Colombia, that was scheduled for Monday (Feb. 24) has been postponed. Event organizers said there were safety concerns for the show at Estadio Atanasio Girardot, after the roof of the stage installed by local production was damaged.
Shakira — who was forced to reschedule another Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour date in Lima, Peru, last weekend, when she was hospitalized with an “abdominal” condition — expressed regret regarding another unexpected concert postponement on Saturday. She shared the news with fans in a note on social media.
“My people from Medellín! It hurts me a lot not to be able to get on stage and sing for you as much as I wanted to,” she wrote in a post on X.
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“My children were excited to get to know Medellín, and I was excited to meet you again and share all the surprises I had prepared for them. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, especially for those who have traveled. It’s out of my hands and those of my production team, but I’m sure we’ll soon find a new date to celebrate together,” said Shakira.
“Always grateful for the unconditional support you give me,” she added. “I love you very much and I hope to see you very soon.”
Concert promoter Páramo Presenta said Shakira’s performance would be rescheduled.
“Together with Shakira’s team, we are working on new concerts for Colombia in the second half of this year, news that will be celebrated by more than one city in the country,” read a statement on X.
Páramo Presenta explained why the decision to cancel Monday’s concert had been made, noting there was a risk to the safety of the performers, the crew and the crowd.
The update on Saturday said, “During the assembly process of the show scheduled for February 24, the roof of the stage installed by the local production suffered damage that puts at risk the safety of the artist, her staff and, most importantly, that of the audience. The promoter and the artist’s team are working together and hope to reschedule the date in the future. We understand that this decision may be annoying for the public who were anxiously awaiting the show, but the most important thing is everyone’s safety.”
Ticketholders can find information about refunds at www.eticket.co.
Atención: La fecha programada de LMYNLL World Tour no podrá realizarse este 24 de febrero. Junto con el equipo de Shakira, estamos trabajando en nuevos conciertos para Colombia en el segundo semestre de este año, una noticia que será celebrada por más de una ciudad en el país. pic.twitter.com/8q52PNVGsv— Páramo Presenta (@paramo_presenta) February 21, 2025
Justin Bieber is among the stars set to participate in a benefit hockey game aimed at raising funds for those impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires. Actor Steve Carell and musician Ross Lynch will join the Canadian superstar as they lace up for “Skate For LA Strong: A Celebration to Support the Fire Recovery Efforts […]