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At 62, Fito Páez maintains “the curiosity and desire” of the early years and an energy that doesn’t allow him to stop creating. Music above all, but also cinema and literature — passions he has been developing in parallel over the decades. And Novela, his latest album, might finally combine them all.
Created as a rock musical, the 25-song project — which Páez spent nearly 40 years writing and was finally released on March 28 under Sony Music Spain — tells the story of Villa Constitución, a town in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, where a strange circus arrives to revolutionize the lives of its inhabitants. Through songs such as “Universidad Prix,” “Cuando el Circo Llega al Pueblo,” “Superextraño” and “El Triunfo del Amor,” its unique characters are introduced: the school’s dean, Rectitud Martirius; the witches Maldivina and Turbialuz; the young lovers Loka (daughter of the circus owner) and Jimmy (singer of a rock band) and more.
“We’re already speaking with many producers to film the movie once the tour finishes next year,” Páez tells In Conversation with Billboard Español in New York. “And I’m also beginning an adaptation [to] perform Novela live in full, where the audience can go and see a show that isn’t a musical — it’s the band playing the album and everything happening at once.”
The release comes the same year as the 40th anniversary of Giros, the second studio album in his expansive discography and the one that truly launched his career, with classics such as “11 y 6,” “Cable a Tierra” and “Yo Vengo a Ofrecer Mi Corazón.”
“It’s similar to a beach, Giros. It’s like having arrived, after wandering so much in the river or the sea, and saying, ‘Ah, I’ve made it here,’” he reflects on what the 1985 set meant to him. “There are many elements there that define many things about the place where I was raised, where I learned music, where I was loved, and where I was shaped. It’s an album I care for deeply, and I think it was a strong first step in the direction of searching for a more personal voice.”
In this new installment of En Conversación, the singer of hits such as “El Amor Después del Amor,” “Tumbas de la Gloria” and “Mariposa Tecknicolor” also discusses current events such as the immigration policies that have led fans to avoid attending concerts in the U.S. out of fear of deportation (“It’s horrifying,” he says. “It reminds me of when, back in ’78, we were chased out of Serú Girán concerts during the military dictatorship, and they threw us in jail”); and the ban on narcocorridos in some states in Mexico (“It’s a cultural expression born from lived experiences … and now it’s the singers’ fault! No, guys, it doesn’t work that way”).
Watch the full interview in the video above.
ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires — the upcoming fourth film in Disney‘s supernatural series — is all about the battle between light and dark, and we see that back-and-forth come to life with the debut of the new original song “The Place to Be” and its music video, premiering exclusively on Billboard.
The first single from the ZOMBIES 4 original soundtrack showcases Freya Skye as Nova, leader of the Daywalkers, and Malachi Barton as Victor, leader of the Vampires. Skye tries to convince Milo Manheim’s Zed that the “light side” is “The Place to Be,” while Victor lobbies Meg Donnelly’s Addison toward the “night side.”
ZOMBIES 4: DAWN OF THE VAMPIRES
Disney/Matt Klitscher
“The Place to Be” is one of nine new original songs (plus two reprises of earlier songs) on the Walt Disney Records soundtrack, which is now available for pre-order (all pre-orders include an instant download of “Place”). A Music from ZOMBIES green vinyl album will be released on July 11 and is also available for pre-order.
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Below, watch “The Place to Be” music video and find the full track list for the ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires original soundtrack.
• “Legends In The Making” – Performed by Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Chandler Kinney, Kylee Russell
• “The Place to Be” – Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Freya Skye, Malachi Barton, Swayam Bhatia, Julian Lerner, Mekonnen Knife
• “Dream Come True (Intro)” – Performed by Freya Skye, Malachi Barton
• “Don’t Mess With Us” – Performed by Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Chandler Kinney, Kylee Russell, Freya Skye, Malachi Barton, Swayam Bhatia, Julian Lerner, Mekonnen Knife
• “Dream Come True” – Performed by Freya Skye, Malachi Barton
• “Kerosene” – Performed by Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Chandler Kinney, Kylee Russell, Freya Skye, Malachi Barton, Swayam Bhatia, Julian Lerner, Mekonnen Knife
• “My Own Way” – Performed by Freya Skye
• “Possible” – Performed by Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Chandler Kinney, Kylee Russell, Freya Skye, Malachi Barton, Swayam Bhatia, Julian Lerner, Mekonnen Knife
• “Someday (Reprise)” – Performed by Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly
• Show the World – Performed by Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Chandler Kinney, Kylee Russell, Freya Skye, Malachi Barton, Swayam Bhatia, Julian Lerner, Mekonnen Knife
• “Ain’t No Doubt About It (Reprise)” – Performed by Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly
• “Together as One” – Performed by Meg Donnelly, Freya Skye, Malachi Barton, Swayam Bhatia, Julian Lerner, Mekonnen Knife
• “Score Suite” – Performed by Tom Howe
ZOMBIES 4: DAWN OF THE VAMPIRES
Disney
The soundtracks for the first three ZOMBIES movies all hit the top five on both Billboard‘s Kid Albums and Soundtracks charts, with the original film’s album spending 10 weeks at No. 1 on Kid Albums and the most recent soundtrack spending two weeks atop the chart.
ZOMBIES 4 premieres July 10 on Disney Channel and streams starting July 11 on Disney+.
Beyoncé had the whole family — including the the tens of thousands of Beyhive members at the second show of her Cowboy Carter Tour — congratulate Tina Knowles on her recent accomplishment Thursday night (May 1).
In a sweet moment from the performance at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer is joined on stage by her mom, whose memoir, Matriarch, debuted this week atop the New York Times nonfiction hardcover bestsellers list. Standing with an arm around her mom and joined by her own daughters, 13-year-old Blue Ivy and 7-year-old Rumi, Bey first praises the author for “working so hard on her book.”
“She has the No. 1 book on the New York Times bestsellers,” the 35-time Grammy winner continues proudly as Rumi jumps up and down excitedly, prompting big sister Blue to lovingly shush her. “Everybody, please say, ‘Congratulations, Mama T.’ One, two, three!’”
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As the crowd indulges Bey’s request, Tina blows a kiss before exiting the stage with her granddaughters, holding Rumi’s hand.
The day prior, the Destiny’s Child alum had also personally congratulated her mom with a post on Instagram. “The Mama T was that good??” Bey wrote Wednesday (April 30). “You deserve it, I’m so proud!”
Tina’s achievement comes a little over a week after Matriarch hit shelves, giving fans an intimate look into her life raising one of music’s biggest stars as well as the designer’s battle with breast cancer in 2024. In addition to NYT‘s nonfiction hardcover bestsellers, the book is also No. 1 on the publication’s combined print and E-book nonfiction list.
Thursday’s performance marked the second of five shows slated for SoFi, after which Bey will travel around the United States and Europe through the end of July. The Cowboy Carter Tour kicked off three nights prior on April 28, featuring cameos from both Blue and Rumi during “Protector.”
Watch Bey’s Cowboy Carter Tour crowd join her in congratulating Mama T below.
98 Degrees knows what you want. The long-running boy band has made heart-melting ballads its calling card since signing to Motown Records in the late 1990s.
Now, the quartet featuring brothers Nick and Drew Lachey and bandmates Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre are preparing to release their first non-Christmas album in more than a decade, Full Circle (May 9) — and to hear Nick tell it, Taylor Swift kind of had something to do with it.
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“She [Swift] was definitely an inspiration to us, and probably to a lot of musicians out there who felt like they just didn’t have ownership of their own creativity, of their own career to an extent,” says Nick, 51, in a recent group Zoom call with his bandmates about their decision to include six “98°’s Version” updates of their biggest hits on the album. The move follows Swift’s decision in 2021 to begin issuing “Taylor’s Version” remakes of (to date) four of her most iconic albums following the sale of the masters of her first six albums to former Justin Bieber manager Scooter Braun.
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“We were certainly inspired by her to do it, to great success and acclaim [and] we felt it was the right time in our career to make that move and take some ownership back over the songs that have paved the way for our success over the years,” says Lachey of the band, which had a hand in writing a number of the songs on their initial four-album run from 1997-2000. Admittedly, like Swift’s re-records, the fresh 98 takes don’t sound radically different, and Timmons, also 51, says that was the point.
“We decided we wanted to keep them true to their original form that people fell in love with,” he says of the spruced-up recordings of their Billboard Hot 100 top 20 hits “I Do (Cherish You)” (No. 13), “Invisible Man” (No. 12), “Because of You” (No. 3), “The Hardest Thing” (No. 5) and “Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)” (No. 2).
“Over the past 20-plus years we’ve developed vocally in different ways, but we wanted to keep the songs with the integrity of the originals, because that’s what people fell in love with,” says Timmons, admitting that sometimes fans will give them feedback if the group messes around with the arrangements or melodies of its top hits. “We wanted them to sound almost exactly like the originals.” He also stresses that there was “no dispute” with former label group Universal Records that led to the decision, but rather a desire to have more control over how and where their most cherished songs appear.
“Some of the things that started irritating me was if I wanted to use my own music, our own music on a video post, Universal striking my own post for copyright infringement… it’s our own songs!” Timmons says. Like with the Swift remakes, Nick Lachey says he thinks it would be “great” if these new takes become the standard versions for their fans.
In addition to the revamps, the album features the first new non-holiday songs from the guys since their 2013 2.0 album. Again knowing their lovestruck lane and happy to hang out in it, they say the five ballads are 100% fan service. The album kicks off with the mid-tempo bubbler, and recently released single, “Stranger Things (Have Happened).” The bouncy pop tune was inspired by Netflix blockbuster Stranger Things and, like that show, it employs vintage synths alongside the quartet’s signature interwoven vocal melodies.
The classically keening 98 ballad, “Got U,” was co-written by Nick along with Soulshock & Karlin (Usher, Whitney Houston) with Alex Cantrall (JoJo) and produced By Anders Bagge (Madonna, Jennifer Lopez), while “Same Mistake” and “Tremble” are heartbreaking tales of regret over the one(s) that got away.
One of the most intriguing fresh cuts is “Mona Lisa,” which plumbs the mysteries of Leonardo da Vinci’s smiling painting in a super 98 Degrees way. “A portrait of a fairytale/ So we cover canvas like/ The colors mask the pain/ We only ever let them see/ The picture that we paint,” they sing before the uplifting chorus, “Is Mona Lisa smiling, or is there pain in her eyes/ Is it just an illusion?/ What is she hiding behind?/ Was she trying to put on a show?/ Not let Leonardo know/ That in between the cracks of the brush strokes/ Lies the truth only Mona Lisa knows.”
That song also features additional vocals from Filipino vocalist Janine Teñoso in what Timmons says is a nod the one of two territories where the band first broke nearly 30 years ago; the other one is Canada. “We didn’t break in the U.S. right away… and we wanted to get back into the Philippines because we knew we were going to tour there,” he says of the band’s upcoming first shows in the country that has been a stalwart supporter for decades.
The album also spotlights another team-up with a Filipina singer, Katrina Velarde, on a Taglish version of “I Do (Cherish You),” which should get the crowds on their feet when the guys perform in Manila on May 30 and 31. “They love love songs there [in the Philippines], it’s a very passionate, romantic culture and when we’ve been there we also noticed everyone can sing, really well! Like even the valet at the hotel!” Timmons says.
Listen to some of the new mixes and a preview of “Stranger Things (Have Happened) ” below.
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Maroon 5 and LISA aim for the charts, Ed Sheehan stumbles through memories and Don Toliver and Doja Cat are ready to race. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Maroon 5 & LISA, “Priceless”
From Christina Aguilera to Cardi B, Maroon 5 have teamed up with A-list solo stars on singles that have reached the top of the Hot 100 over the years; they’ll attempt to do the same with “Priceless,” a lightly funky, easy-listening pop track featuring LISA, hot on the heels of her debut album and Coachella performances, balancing out Adam Levine’s romantic crooning with airy sing-rapping.
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Ed Sheeran, “Old Phone”
After kicking off his new era with the global anthem “Azizam,” Ed Sheeran returns to the wistful, emotionally piercing pop-rock of previous eras with “Old Phone,” on which the singer-songwriter keeps strumming as he stumbles upon a long-dormant phone and gets flooded with the photos, texts and memories stored inside, searching for resolution within the discovery.
Don Toliver feat. Doja Cat, “Lose My Mind”
The upcoming Brad Pitt-starring racing drama F1 will boast one of the most high-profile soundtracks of 2025, and the compilation rollout gets kicked off with “Lose My Mind,” a shimmering, synth-drenched club track (courtesy of producer Ryan Tedder) that showcases Don Toliver’s silky melodic streak and Doja Cat’s chest-thumping rhyming, a few years after the latter scored a top 10 hit with her Elvis theme “Vegas.”
Bailey Zimmerman feat. Luke Combs, “Backup Plan”
“Getting back up — that’s the only backup plan you need,” Bailey Zimmerman declares on “Backup Plan,” the empowering new single that seems tailor-made for end-of-workout playlists to give you that extra bit of motivation. After Zimmerman teamed up with BigXThaPlug on the top 10 hit “All the Way,” Luke Combs serves as his co-pilot here, with the fellow country star’s rumbling voice turning into the perfect foil.
Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco, I Said I Love You First… And You Said It Back
In addition to a few stray tracks and remixes, the real appeal of I Said I Love You First… And You Said It Back, the deluxe edition of Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s collaborative full-length from March, is “Talk,” a cheeky new single that reanimates Cake’s beloved 1998 single “Never There” for a new generation of pop fans, complete with halting lyric delivery and slinky alt-rock arrangement.
Quavo feat. Takeoff, “Dope Boy Phone”
The tirelessly prolific recording run of Migos in the 2010s and early 2020s has resulted a slew of unreleased material seeing the light of day following the tragic passing of Takeoff in 2022, and “Dope Boy Phone,” Quavo’s new single featuring a posthumous appearance by his nephew and group mate, sounds as fresh as any of the rap group’s earth-rattling hits, including those on the pair’s underrated joint project Only Built for Infinity Links.
Fuerza Regida, 111XPANTIA
A press release for Fuerza Regida’s 111XPANTIA describes the new project as “pure Fuerza from start to finish”: with 12 songs and zero features, the album does indeed offer an unadulterated version of the Mexican music superstars’ aesthetic, full of carefully constructed arrangements and harmonies that encourage the listener to join in after a few listens.
Editor’s Pick: Key Glock, Glockaveli
Key Glock’s excellent new album may include an update of Three 6 Mafia’s “Stay Fly” on the single “Blue Devil,” but the rapper was already carrying on the tradition of Memphis hip-hop long before Glockaveli: through his recent mixtapes and particularly his critical work with Young Dolph, Key Glock has demonstrated an unflappable delivery and ear for effective production, and his new album feels like the mainstream arrival for an artist who’s already been putting in the work.
R.E.M. have released a five-track benefit EP featuring three remixes of their landmark 1981 debut single, “Radio Free Europe,” ahead of Saturday’s (May 3) World Press Freedom Day. The collection also features the song’s original b-side, “Sitting Still” and instrumental “Wh. Tornado,” a cassette-only song that is being issued on digital and vinyl for the first time. The Radio Free Europe 2025 EP is a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty services (RFE/RL), the broadcasting groups that have delivered uncensored news, analysis and cultural programming in a variety of languages in places lacking a free press since 1949.
The special package includes a never-before-released 2025 remix of “Radio Free Europe” by the band’s longtime collaborator, producer Jacknife Lee, as well as a 1981 remix of the song by the band’s original producer, Mitch Easter. RFE/RL currently broadcast in 27 languages to 23 countries to an audience of nearly 50 million people in places where a free press is either illegal or under threat, often serving as the only line to the outside word for people living under onerous government censorship.
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“Whether it’s music or a free press – censorship anywhere is a threat to the truth everywhere. On World Press Freedom Day, I’m sending a shout-out to the brave journalists at Radio Free Europe,” said singer Michael Stipe in a statement. The band’s effort comes one day after a federal appeals court in Washington ruled that, for now, the Trump administration can continue to withhold money from the RFE/RL — as well as Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks — temporarily reversing two earlier lower-court rulings that stopped the White House from cutting off funds from the outlets as part of its wide-ranging DOGE cost-cutting measures.
DOGE boss and Tesla/Space X CEO Elon Musk has been unequivocal in his disdain for the services, writing in February on X, “shut them down… Europe is free now… nobody listens to them anymore… it’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves.”
“Radio Free Europe’s journalists have been pissing off dictators for 75 years. You know you’re doing your job when you make the right enemies. Happy World Press Freedom Day to the ‘OG’ Radio Free Europe,” added bassist Mike Mills in a statement. While the band’s members did not directly reference the Trump administration’s efforts to defund the organizations, RFE/RL president and CEO Stephen Capus was more direct in his praise for the song and the group’s efforts to help shine a light on the services’ vital work.
“To me, R.E.M.’s music has always embodied a celebration of freedom: freedom of expression, lyrics that make us think, and melodies that inspire action,” said Capus. “Those are the very aims of our journalists at Radio Free Europe — to inform, inspire, and uphold freedoms often elusive to our audiences. We hold dictators accountable. They go to great lengths to silence us — blocking our websites, jamming our signals, and even imprisoning our colleagues.”
In an interview with CBS Mornings on Friday, Stipe said the band decided to honor the services because “we love journalism, we love freedom of speech… and we love the world.”
Stipe told CBS that when he got the call from the imperiled service asking for some help he said there was no hesitation at all. “It’s important to democracy and a fight against authoritarianism that they remain.” All of the proceeds from vinyl sales of the new remix will go to Radio Free Europe, which is still waiting for its frozen April and May funding as it soldiers on with is rapidly dwindling reserves.
The new EP is being released through Craft Recordings and was overseen by Easter, who first recorded the band at his Drive-In Studio during their first-ever road trip to a professional studio in April 1981; that original session produced “Radio Free Europe,” “Sitting Still” and the instrumental “Wh. Tornado.” In 2009, “Radio Free Europe” was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.
Fans can stream and download the EP today and pre-order a limited-edition 10-inch orange vinyl pressing due to ship on Sept. 12 here. You can also click here to make a tax-deductible donation to RFE/RL here.
Listen to the jaunty Jacknife Lee remix and the full EP below.
Dolly Parton got choked up while talking about her late husband, Carl Dean, during an on-camera interview two months after the businessman’s death.
While speaking about the 40th anniversary of her Dollywood theme park on TODAY Friday (May 2), the country superstar became visibly teary-eyed as soon as host Savannah Guthrie asked how Parton has been doing since Dean died at age 82 on March 3. “Oh, you know what, I get very emotional when people bring it up,” she began.
“But we were together 60 years,” Parton continued. “I’ve loved him since I was 18 years old. It’s a big adjustment, just trying to change patterns and habits. I’ll do fine, and I’m very involved in my work, and that’s been the best thing that could happen to me. But I’ll always miss him, of course, and always love him.”
She added, “He was a great partner to me.”
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As Parton mentioned, she and Dean had been a couple since she was 18 — in fact, they first met the same day the “9 to 5” singer moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music. They got married in Georgia in 1966.
At the time of Dean’s death, Parton released a simple statement asking for privacy, writing, “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years.”
Three days later, she thanked family, friends and fans for sharing their messages of condolences, and wrote on Instagram, “He is in God’s arms now, and I am okay with that. I will always love you.”
Dean was famously private, preferring to stay far out of reach of his wife’s spotlight. But while he was rarely spotted by the public, Parton once again mentioned how she’s received “so many cards, letters, flowers, from all over the world” in light of his passing on TODAY.
“I had no idea Carl Dean was so famous,” she said with a laugh.
Watch Parton’s full interview above.
Green Day got their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday (May 1), with former MTV VJ Matt Pinfield serving as emcee for the ceremony in his first public appearance since suffering a massive stroke in January.
Dressed in rock-appropriate black leather motorcycle jackets — except for drummer Tre Cool, who opted for a traditional suit and tie — the band were introduced by an emotional Pinfield. Making his way to the stage holding a cane, Pinfield said, “What an honor it is to be here today with these three guys that I love. Love their music and love them as people.”
Praising them as “one of the greatest live bands in the world,” Pinfield honored the trio’s breakthrough 1994 classic, Dookie, which he said, “made so many young people pick up guitars, bass, and drums, and want to sing and write songs. And that is what rock ‘n’ roll, punk rock is all about. That beauty, that love, a passing on of that gift. And that’s the thing that’s so special about Green Day and why it’s such an honor to be here today.”
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The ceremony also featured a speech from Green Day’s longtime producer Rob Cavallo, who recalled hearing a demo of “Longview” in 1993 and thinking, “this is the greatest band I have ever heard.” Next up was Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, who jokingly called himself “the modern face of punk.” The star nodded to the band’s earliest days, when they were known as “Blood Rage” and “Sweet Children.”
He also told a story about being in the edit for the Deadpool & Wolverine movie a few years ago and how he imagined a poignant end credit sequence he wanted to express “warmth, gratitude and love.” Then, Green Day’s 1997 classic “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” came on and he realized he had his tune. “I’ve always loved this song. It isn’t just a song because anything that endures the way that this song, along with so many that these gentleman have blessed is with in the world, they endure because they’re a feeling as much as they are a story,” he said.
Reynolds said he wanted to thank singer Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and Cool for letting him use the song, so he found Armstrong’s number after the singer had attended a screening. “It’s cheating to use that song. You could set my colonoscopy to that song and people will weep,” he joked.
Earlier this week, Pinfield said he was “slowly but surely” recovering from the stroke he suffered on January 6 and looking forward to Thursday’s event. “Slowly but surely recovering.. lots of physical therapy.. Fighting my way back!!” he told fans in an update on his health last week. “One day at a time.”
The ceremony ended with the group taking the stage and Armstrong thanking his family and shouting out his mom, saying the Walk of Fame hoopla was like her “Super Bowl,” but also like “being at your own funeral.” He also thanked all the fans who buy their records and come to their shows, while Dirnt shouted out Armstrong’s mom for taking him in when he was a teen and his own mom for making him believe he could do anything.
“I hope everybody comes here and takes pictures for as long as you want to and as long as you can. We’ll never say thank you enough,” Dirnt said, getting choked up. Cool also thanked the fans who showed up and closed down the street for the event, as well as his bandmates, who he sweetly hugged. When the star was finally revealed, Green Day had an unexpected, surprise guest in the form of Public Enemy hype man Flavor Flav, who ran up at the last minute and got down on the ground next to Cool so he could appear in the official pictures.
The Flav crash came two weeks after the rapper hopped on stage with the band on their second Coachella weekend on April 19 dressed as their iconic dirty drunk bunny mascot.
Watch the full Green Day Walk of Fame ceremony and some highlights below.
People watching the 67th annual Grammy Awards, which aired three months ago today, contributed nearly $10 million for Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts. MusiCares reports that that money has made its way to recipients across the region, helping both music professionals and the broader local population affected by the horrific event.
MusiCares has distributed $6,125,000 to more than 3,100 music professionals across Los Angeles. In addition, $3,969,005 has been directed to three community-based organizations: California Community Foundation, Direct Relief and Pasadena Community Foundation.
In addition to the $10 million contributed by Grammy telecast viewers, MusiCares and the Recording Academy raised another $16 million during Grammy weekend thanks to the MusiCares Fire Relief campaign and the annual Persons of the Year gala, which this year honored the Grateful Dead. MusiCares has allocated $6 million of that $16 million to long-term fire relief efforts, while the other $10 million from Persons of the Year gala will be used for MusiCares’ year-round mission delivery.
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“The music community does amazing things when it comes together,” Harvey Mason jr., Recording Academy and MusiCares CEO, said in a statement. “This outpouring of love and support was humbling, whether it was performing or participating on the show, making contributions or donating their time and items for fundraisers. We are grateful for this amazing community and the Grammy viewers who felt inspired to give.”
Laura Segura, executive director of MusiCares, added: “What moved us most in the days following the Grammy telecast wasn’t just the scale of support, it was the spirit behind it. Thousands of people gave what they could, and together, their generosity became a lifeline for those in crisis, which reached far beyond our industry. That’s why we partnered with trusted community organizations who are helping Angelenos across the region access the care, resources and support they need to rebuild.”
MusiCares reports that the median contribution during the Grammy telecast was $53.50.
The Grammy telecast, which was held less than a month after the wildfires broke out on Jan. 7, included several segments dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis. Two of the night’s performances were specifically inspired by the events – Dawes’ opening performance of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” and Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga bypassing their own nominated smash “Die With a Smile” to perform the Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’.”
While MusiCares responded within days of the fire’s outbreak to provide immediate assistance, the long-term needs of music professionals are only now coming into sharper focus. From loss of work and instruments to the emotional toll of displacement and trauma, the wildfire tragedy continues to affect lives. MusiCares continues to provide aid through customized case management, mental health support and financial assistance to those with lasting need.
MusiCares Fire Relief funding comes from multiple sources, of which the Grammy telecast was the largest. Fire Relief distributions are made as part of an independent and confidential client case management model overseen by MusiCares. MusiCares expects many more millions to be distributed over the coming year as they continue to serve the fire victims.
To address the broader community impact beyond the music industry, MusiCares and the Recording Academy partnered with three organizations already embedded in the neighborhoods hardest hit by the fires. Here are quotes from leaders in those organizations on the status of recovery efforts.
California Community Foundation (CCF)
“Recovery isn’t just about rebuilding homes,” said president and CEO Miguel Santana. “People who lost their homes also lost schools, churches, stores — the places that connected them to their neighbors to form the community they treasured. As we bring activity back to places like a park, a church, or a school, people can re-connect as a community. Those chances to be together can give people strength and hope as they continue the difficult process of rebuilding their individual lives.”
Direct Relief
“Recovery from wildfires involves more than rebuilding physical infrastructure—it requires addressing complex social challenges such as housing instability, food insecurity, and healthcare disparities,” said Dr. Byron Scott, CEO. “Community health centers and free and charitable clinics serve as vital anchors, providing not just medical care but comprehensive support including mental health counseling, housing assistance, and nutritional services.”
Pasadena Community Foundation (PCF)
“Nonprofits in Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre have been our partners on the ground for more than 70 years,” said Jeannine Bogaard, VP of community impact. “Throughout the last three months, PCF has seen these organizations meet the moment in countless ways—disbursing cash assistance and emergency supplies, securing stable housing, addressing the unique challenges of older adults, rescuing and tending to lost and injured pets, and so much more.”
For more information on the MusiCares Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort or to donate, visit www.musicares.org.
On Friday (May 2), the TODAY show announced the 30th-anniversary lineup for its Citi Concert Series on TODAY, with outdoor performances on the way from Kelly Clarkson, Jonas Brothers, Blake Shelton, Cynthia Erivo and more.
Clarkson will kick things off next week with a Rockefeller Plaza concert on Tuesday, following the release of her new single “Where Have You Been.” The rest of the 2025 roster includes Blake Shelton (May 13), Sebastián Yatra (May 30), Cynthia Erivo (June 6), Ciara (July 11), Zac Brown Band (July 25), Jonas Brothers (Aug. 8) and Role Model (Aug. 29).
More performers will be announced, including concerts through September.
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While TODAY‘s Concert Series has gone through different creative directions in the past three decades, the summer tradition began with the first Rockefeller Plaza concert from Earth, Wind & Fire back in 1995, as Al Roker recalled to Billboard.
“It started with Earth, Wind & Fire literally on the plaza. In the last 30 years, we’ve had musical icons and first appearances of icons-to-be,” Roker tells Billboard exclusively. “It’s been imitated but never duplicated because of the excitement that our plaza audience gives and gets from our concert performances.”
Anyone can attend the famous outdoor concerts — known for attracting fans as far as the eye can see outside TODAY‘s New York studio — by registering for Fan Passes at TODAY.com/Concerts, which allow priority access to the show ahead of General Admission. Viewers can also join the General Admission line the morning of each concert and will be admitted if space permits; the line entrance is located at 48th Street and Rockefeller Plaza.
Find the full lineup below:
May
Tuesday, May 6: Kelly Clarkson
Tuesday, May 13: Blake Shelton
Friday, May 30: Sebastián Yatra
June
Friday, June 6: Cynthia Erivo
July
Friday, July 11: Ciara
Friday, July 25: Zac Brown Band
August
Friday, Aug. 8: Jonas Brothers
Friday, Aug. 29: Role Model
September
TBD