Music News

28 Jan 2025

Laila! Announces Her First-Ever Headlining Tour

Laila! is going on tour, Billboard can exclusively announce.

The hip-hop and R&B prodigy is set to embark on the Gap Year Tour!, where she’ll be hitting 10 cities across North America beginning on Mar. 27 in San Francisco and finishing up on Apr. 27 in Toronto. Ticketing will begin with an exclusive artist presale on Wednesday (Jan. 29) at 10 a.m local time followed by a Spotify Fans First presale on Thursday (Jan. 30) at 10 a.m. local time. General ticketing will be available on Friday (Jan. 24) at 10 a.m. local time by going to Laila!’s website.

Featured as our October 2024 Rookie of the Month, Laila! released her debut album Gap Year! in September to capitalize on the success of her viral smashes “Like That!” and “Not My Problem”. The project also made our short list of the 10 Best R&B Albums of last year, marking a pretty remarkable year for the “baby genius.” She headlined her first show in September of 2024 at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn and now she’ll be headlining her first national tour.

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You can check out all the Gap Year Tour! North American dates and venues below.

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Thu., Mar. 27  – San Francisco, CA  – Brick & Mortar
Sun., Mar. 30  – Los Angeles, CA  – The Echo
Thu. Apr. 3 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
Sat. Apr. 5  – Atlanta, GA  – Aisle 5
Sat, Apr. 19 – New York, NY – SOB’s
Sun., Apr. 20 – Washington, DC – Pearl Street Warehouse
Tue., Apr. 22 – Philadelphia, PA – World Café Live: The Lounge
Thu., Apr. 24 – Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern
Fri., Apr. 25 – Pontiac, MI –  Pike Room
Sun., Apr. 27 – Toronto, ON – Drake Underground Hotel

28 Jan 2025

Kelela Covers Joni Mitchell on ‘In The Blue Light’ Live Album Recorded at NYC’s Blue Note Jazz Club

After teasing a “new era” on Instagram last week (Jan. 25), Kelela kept the wait short and sweet, unveiling her latest project on Tuesday (Jan. 28).

Out Feb. 11, In The Blue Light is a live album capturing Kelela’s intimate, unplugged performances at New York City’s Blue Note jazz club. Last year (May 28-29, 2024), she made her Blue Note debut with a dazzling set of new arrangements that transformed wide-ranging selections from her genre-melding catalog. Several of those tracks appear on the new live album (her first), including a seductive reimagining of Joni Mitchell‘s “Furry Sings the Blues.” Crafted alongside bassist and producer Daniel Aged, In The Blue Light also features Alayna Rogers and Xenia Manasseh on background vocals.

“Better (Unplugged)” is the album’s first single, which cheekily opens with Kelela telling her listeners, “You better get your tissues.” The shimmering track is just one piece of a 12-song tracklist that includes deep cuts like “Cherry Coffee” and a cover of Betty Carter‘s “Love Notes.”

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In the Blue Light arrives almost exactly one year after RAVE:N — a remix album that re-envisioned Raven tracks with the help of collaborators such as Shygirl, Rochelle Jordan and BbyMutha. Kelela dropped Raven, her sophomore studio album, to rave reviews from fans and critics alike in February 2023. The set reached No. 47 on Top Album Sales and made Billboard staff’s 2023 year-end lists of the best dance, R&B and Pride albums. In support of Raven, Kelela launched a tour that found her playing in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and London; the record served as the follow-up to her 2017 debut studio album, Take Me Apart, which hit No. 18 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Stream “Better (Unplugged)” below.

28 Jan 2025

Marshmello & Jonas Brothers’ ‘Slow Motion’ Debuts in Top Five on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart

Marshmello and Jonas Brothers’ new collaboration, “Slow Motion,” debuts in the top five of Billboard’s newly-revamped Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated Feb. 1).

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The track enters at No. 4 with 3.1 million official streams, 420,000 all-format radio audience impressions and 1,000 downloads sold in the United States in its first week (ending Jan. 23), according to Luminate. The song was released Jan. 17 via Marshmello’s imprint, Joytime Collective, and Republic Records.

The single earns Marshmello his 19th career top 10 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, the fifth-most in the chart’s history (which dates to January 2013), after Kygo (26), David Guetta (25), the Chainsmokers and Calvin Harris (23 each). Jonas Brothers also notch their first top 10 on the chart.

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“Slow Motion” marks the second collaboration between Marshmello and Jonas Brothers. They previously teamed up for “Leave Before You Love Me” in 2021. That track reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the top 10 on Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary.

Meanwhile, Marshmello and Kane Brown spend a 37th week at No. 1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with their collaboration, “Miles On It.” That’s the third-longest-leading No. 1 hit in the chart’s history, after Marshmello & Bastille’s “Happier” (69 weeks at No. 1) and David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” (55).

Elsewhere on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, John Summit’s “Focus,” featuring CLOVES, debuts at No. 5. Released Jan. 17 on Experts Only/Darkroom Records/ICLG, the song debuts on the strength of two million streams earned in its opening week.

Summit scores his third top 10 on the chart, following two No. 8-peaking collaborations with HAYLA: “Where You Are” (2023) and “Shiver” (2024).

Australian singer-songwriter CLOVES added her second entry on Billboard’s rankings. She first charted in 2016 with her breakthrough hit “Don’t Forget About Me,” which reached No. 34 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. CLOVES (real name: Kaity Dunstan) has released two full-length projects since: One Big Nothing (2018) and Nightmare on Elmfield Road (2021). She also appeared on the second season of Australia’s The Voice in 2013.

Also in the top 10 of Hot Dance/Electronic Songs: Dxrkaii and Jiandro’s “New Jeans (Jersey Club)” rises 12-10, becoming the first top 10 for each act, thanks to 1.5 million streams (up 15%). The song, whose slowed-down mix has been used in over 20,000 TikToks, reworks NewJeans’ K-pop track “New Jeans.”

As previously reported, Billboard revamped Hot Dance/Electronic Songs as of the chart dated Jan. 18. The 25-position chart ranks the most popular current dance/electronic songs, billed to DJs, producers and long-standing core artists in the dance/electronic genre, with an emphasis on electronic-based production. The same week, Billboard launched the 15-position Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart, which ranks the most popular current dance/pop titles, featuring titles with dance-centric vocals, melody and hooks, by artists not traditionally rooted in the dance/electronic genre.

28 Jan 2025

Justin Timberlake Recalls Pitching Beyoncé on ‘Single Ladies’ Male Dancer ‘SNL’ Sketch: ‘She Was Not Having It’

A big part of the job at Saturday Night Live in the week leading up to showtime is convincing that week’s host or musical guest to appear in sketches that sometimes sound bizarre at best, or potentially disastrous at worst. That was the dilemma frequent SNL guest Justin Timberlake found himself in November 2008 when cast member Andy Samberg hit him up to see if he was in town to hop in on a bit that castmate Bobby Moynihan had cooked up.

“He said Bobby Moynihan has this great idea for a sketch about you, me, and him being Beyoncé’s background dancers that never made the cut,” Timberlake explained in the three-hour doc Ladies & Gentleman… 50 Years of SNL Music, which aired on NBC on Monday night (Jan. 27). “I was like ‘full leotard’? And he’s like, ‘yeah.’ I was like, ‘This is too funny. We have to do this.’”

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Here’s the thing: the three guys were totally down, but convincing Queen Bey to get super silly with them was going to be another matter entirely. In the exhaustive look at the show’s musical history co-directed by Oscar-winning Roots drummer Questlove, current SNL star Bowen Yang explained that “when you pitch a sketch that the musical guest is involved in potentially it can always go wrong.”

And, according to JT, at first Beyoncé was not into it. At all.

“She was very polite about it, but she was very hesitant. And when I say hesitant, I mean like, she was not having it,” Timberlake said. “I’m like: Does she know how funny this is gonna be? How beloved this whole moment will be?” Determined to commit to the bit, Timberlake decided that he had to show his fellow pop superstar how far he was willing to go to convince her.

“I put the leotard and the heels and the hose on and everything, and put a robe on,” he said. “I walked and knocked on her door, I threw the robe down and put my hands on my hips and she was like, ‘No you didn’t!’” Long story short, Bey said yea and the rest is SNL history.

In the final sketch (which is not officially available on YouTube), host Paul Rudd plays the “Single Ladies” video director introducing the singer to her new backup dancers, who she is nervous about.

“Oh look, don’t worry about the other dancers, B-Town,” Rudd tells her. “I hand-picked them myself, these guys are pros.” The three men then enter in all their black leotard, white tights and black heels regalia, assuring Bey that they are definitely warmed up, “like biscuits,” Moynihan says, with Timberlake adding the unhelpful second helping, “yeah, dance biscuits!”

Smash cut to the trio gyrating impertinently on, around and at Beyoncé and the singer repeatedly stopping filming until Rudd finally admits that they are his stepsons, who his wife said he had to spend more time with. “Aww, I didn’t know these were your sons,” Beyoncé says. “That’s very noble of you.”

“So you’ll let them be in your music video?” Rudd asks. “Hell no,” Bey replies.

Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music is available to stream now on Peacock.

28 Jan 2025

Lady Gaga & Fiancé Michael Polansky Have ‘Talked a Lot’ About Starting Their Family Soon

Lady Gaga has been Mother Monster for about two decades. Now, she’s ready to be a mother.

In a cover story interview with Elle published Tuesday (Jan. 28) — just one day after the star finally announced her seventh studio album, Mayhem — Gaga revealed that she and fiancé Michael Polansky have talked “a lot” about starting their family very soon. In fact, the 13-time Grammy winner emphasized that her near future will focus on “me and Michael and our kids,” adding, “Sometimes I worry people will say I’m boring these days, but honestly, thank God I’m boring.

“Thank God!” she said. “Because I was living on the edge. I don’t know what was going to happen to me living that way.”

As for how she would navigate raising her children in the public eye, Gaga said, “That’s something Michael and I have talked about a lot — allowing our kids to be their own people…. It’s such an intense thing for kids coming into the world,” she continued. “And they’re told how to think and what to believe in and how to eat … I just kind of want to let my kids find out who they are.”

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The “Rain on Me” singer and businessman started dating shortly after meeting at a party in 2019, five years after which Polansky proposed in April 2024. The Joker: Folie à Deux actress has previously credited her fiancé with pushing her to make a new pop album, and while speaking to Elle, she revealed that Polansky helped pen “like, seven songs” on Mayhem — including single “Disease,” on which he’s credited as a songwriter.

The venture capitalist also spoke to Elle about being present for much of the creation of “Disease,” detailing how he would work on his laptop while watching his fiancée work her magic in the studio across the street from their home. “It’s been one of the most incredible parts of this chapter of my life, to live with and coexist alongside someone making art and being creative in ways that very few people get to experience,” he told the publication. “I think of myself as really lucky to have been there for it.”

Polansky also opened up about what it’s like to be in a relationship with one of the most famous women on the planet. “Accepting that you won’t have the privacy others might have was the hardest part,” he shared. “But [Gaga’s] comfort with it and patience with me has been amazing. Our relationship is probably a lot like everyone else’s. We just have to figure out how to do some of it in public.

“That makes it even more important for us to have strong friendships and close family relationships,” he added. “We find normalcy where we can.”

28 Jan 2025

Shaboozey Reveals What He’s a ‘Nerd’ About as He Appears in Nerds Gummy Clusters Super Bowl Ad Teaser

Shaboozey is trading in his double shot of whiskey for something much sweeter during this year’s Super Bowl. The country superstar is set to appear in Nerds Gummy Clusters’ Big Game advertisement, and the candy shared a teaser of the spot on Tuesday (Jan. 28).

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In the 15-second clip, the Hot 100 chart-topper enjoys a bag of Nerds Gummy Clusters while strumming his guitar. Shortly after taking a bite of the popular candy, a gummy cartoon character appears on his shoulder, transforming his guitar into a Nerds-inspired instrument. The message, “Unleash your senses,” appears on the screen to end the preview.

For Shaboozey, teaming up with Nerds was a no-brainer. “I remember Halloween, getting those little boxes and pouring the candy into my mouth. I love them so much,” he tells Billboard of his nostalgic connection to the treat. “It’s awesome to just to see the process of how it all came together. I make country music, and to be able to have the guitar and my world, and have just everything that I’m into, combined with Nerds Gummy Clusters was just amazing. It’s combining two things that are really good on their own to make something even better.”

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Fittingly, in the spirit of the partnership, Shaboozey was ready to express what he’s a nerd about. “Music. [laughs] I love music,” he says. “I love video games, and just anything that you can get really involved in and find yourself being super immersed in.”

This year’s game down in New Orleans marks the star’s first time attending the Super Bowl, after taking the stage for a Thanksgiving Day NFL halftime show last year and appearing alongside Beyoncé during her Christmas halftime show. “I got the opportunity to play two really huge halftime shows. It was definitely a dream come true,” he recalls. “I grew up watching some so many different athletes, and I’m really excited to be a part of this Big Game. To be in a Super Bowl commercial with a brand I grew up on, it’s going to be hard to beat that.”

The Nerds Super Bowl ad is just the beginning of an exciting year for Shaboozey, who is nominated for five Grammy Awards thanks to his Beyoncé collaboration “SPAGHETTII” and his breakthrough hit, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which notched a record-tying 19th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November. He’s also scheduled to perform at both Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals in the spring.

“It’s a dream. It’s surreal,” he says. “Every day I wake up, I’m just like, ‘Wow, we did that.’ I’m excited to keep making great music, and continue to give the people great things and great products. I’m also excited to keep improving and do better every day.”

Check out Shaboozey in the Nerds Big Game ad teaser below, and catch the full spot during Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, where the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will face off for the championship.

28 Jan 2025

Wyclef Jean Named 2025 Music Will Honoree

Wyclef Jean will be honored at an upcoming benefit on behalf of Music Will. The non-profit music education program for public schools will hold its annual event on April 9 in New York at Gotham Hall.

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In a release announcing the news, Music Will CEO Mike Wasserman said, “We’re thrilled to honor Wyclef Jean at this year’s benefit for his incredible contributions to music and his dedication to giving back through education. Wyclef’s passion for empowering young people through music perfectly aligns with our mission to ensure every student, regardless of their background, has access to a music program that inspires creativity and unlocks potential. This event will be a celebration of the transformative power of music and its ability to change lives as we look ahead to reaching millions of students annually through our programs in the years to come.”

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Three-time Grammy-winning rapper, songwriter and producer Jean commented, “I’m truly honored to partner with Music Will and be a part of their important work — which I was able to experience firsthand visiting a school in Passaic, New Jersey a few years back — providing instruments and resources for their music program. Music has the power to change lives. It changed mine, and through these music programs we’re providing young people with the tools they need to find their voices, tell their stories and connect with the world. It’s an honor to help provide that opportunity to increase access to music education, especially in my homes of New Jersey and New York.”

Performers for Music Will’s 2025 benefit will be announced at a later date. Michael Bearden will serve as music director for the evening. Previous Music Will honorees and performers include: Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Run-D.M.C.’s Darry McDaniels, Bonnie Raitt, Smokey Robinson, Joan Jett and Usher, among others.

28 Jan 2025

Sam Asghari Calls Relationship With Ex-Wife Britney Spears a ‘Crash Course in Hollywood’

A month after a California judge deemed them officially divorced, Traitors star Sam Asghari is speaking out about his seven-year relationship with ex Britney Spears. Asghari appeared on this week’s episode of Kate and Oliver Hudson’s Sibling Revelry podcast, describing how he went from appearing on Brit’s 2016 “Slumber Party” video to marrying the singer and getting pulled into her sometimes disorienting Hollywood orbit.

“Then there’s seven years worth of relationship that comes from the music video and a marriage and a lot of experiences… and a lot of a lot of experiences,” Asghari, 30, said. “Which I like to call it a crash course in Hollywood, which was… which was great,” he added, describing it as “you’re thrust into the sort of spotlight and it’s like, ‘is this what the f–k I want?’”

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Asghari also spoke for one of the first times on record about the disorienting experience of unwinding Spears’ 13-year conservatorship, which ended in Nov. 2021 after the now 43-year-old star was involuntarily placed into the restrictive court-ordered arrangement in which her dad and a business manager had control over her personal and financial decisions.

“Everything was going really well until one day I started learning about what the conservatorship is and things like that, and that’s when I was like, ‘wait a minute,’” Asghari said of the added element in the couple’s relationship. “‘What do you mean? What do you mean somebody doesn’t have, you know, their basic economy of their own life?’”

He said the conservatorship arrangement was “the weirdest thing to deal with.” Asghari began dating Spears shortly after the aspiring actor/model appeared in the “Slumber Party” music video, with the couple going Instagram official in January 2017. He was by her side during her long battle to get out of the conservatorship, wearing a #FreeBritney shirt on Instagram before one of the court hearings in the case which resulted in the termination of the arrangement. Eight months later, in June 2022, the couple married, before divorcing 14 months later.

Earlier this month, Spears revealed that she was forced to evacuate her Hollywood home in the midst of the city’s ongoing wildfire crisis.

Listen to the whole podcast here.

28 Jan 2025

Bruno Mars Adds New Dates to Las Vegas Residency

Bruno Mars is currently killing it on the charts with a trio of smash collaborations, but “The Lazy Song” singer just can’t sit on his laurels. Mars has extended his long-running residency at the Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas by adding seven more shows to his run this spring and summer.

The newly announced shows will take place on May 21, 24, 25, 28, 30 and 31 and June 2. Fans can sign up for a Live Nation presale slated to kick off on Thursday (Jan. 30) at 1 p.m. ET through Ticketmaster (code OCTAVE), followed by a public onsale on Friday (Jan. 31) beginning at 10 a.m. local time; click here for details.

You can be sure Mars will roll out his cavalcade of Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits including “Uptown Funk,” “That’s What I Like,” “Just the Way You Are,” “Leave the Door Open,” “Grenade,” “Locked Out of Heaven,” “When I Was Your Man” and “Nothin’ on You.” He also has his pair of recent chart-toppers to add to the mix, led by the Lady Gaga team-up, “Die With a Smile,” which has spent four weeks at the top. He’s also got “APT.,” his collab with BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ, which hit a new high this week when it ran up to No. 3 on the Hot 100 after 14 weeks on the charts.

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The latter also logged it’s 13th week atop the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. Chart and last week became the first No. 1 by a K-pop artist on Billboard’s Pop Airplay Chart. Both women make cameos in the new video for Mars’ NSFW collab with Sexyy Red on her strip club anthem “Fat, Juicy and Wet.”

28 Jan 2025

Cardi B Said She Got a New Piercing Where The Sun Don’t Shine and Fans Asked For Proof: ‘Do I Lie?’

Cardi B delights in surprising and confounding us. Case in point: on Monday (Jan. 27) the rapper announced on X, “sooo….. i got my butt crack pierced.” Naturally, fans had a lot of questions, with one asking, “that’s possible?,” while another said simply, “you WHAAAAT.”

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In the fine internet tradition of “pics or it didn’t happen,” the mother of three with ex Offset accepted the challenge and posted what she said was a close-up pic of the backside bling sometimes referred to as a “valley piercing.” For those not familiar, the party in the back puncture is a “surface piercing of the lower back that lies right above, or sometimes within, the cleft of the buttocks.”

She then posted a blurry close-up of a small piercing below her floral lower back tat. The reactions to the visual proof were equally gobsmacked, from “no way,” to “CARDI?????,” “sure, you always keep it real,” “wtf is that” and “i feel like i know you very personally now.”

The new hardware joins Cardi’s menagerie of other body modifications, including a throat piercing, as well as metal in her eyebrows, lips, hips and belly button.

In a video posted in November, Cardi promised she was “hitting the reset” button this year after spending most of last year teasing her long-awaited sophomore album. At press time there was no new information on her plans, which fans hope includes finally releasing the follow-up to her 2018 Billboard 200-topping debut album, Invasion of Privacy. A month before, she said that her second full-length studio album was coming “really, really soon.”

Check out the announcement below.