Music News
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LISA may have delivered some serious drama for her “Born Again” music video featuring RAYE and Doja Cat, but a new behind-the-scenes clip released on Thursday (Feb. 19) shows a fun and smile-filled day of filming. In the two-minute clip, the 27-year-old K-pop superstar is glowing as she gets glam for the music video, visibly […]
Carl Cox will no longer appear at Movement 2025. A statement posted to the techno producer’s Instagram Story on Thursday (Feb. 20) reads, “I regret to inform you that due to scheduling complications, my show at Movement has been postponed to 2026. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but I promise to make […]
After President Donald Trump was elected chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, many have speculated about what the embattled commander in chief would do with his new position. This week, one performing group got an answer.
On Wednesday (Feb. 19), the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington announced that the Kennedy Center had canceled its upcoming Pride Month performance of a show titled A Peacock Among Pigeons, based on the LGBTQ+-inclusive children’s book of the same name. The concert, which was set to take place with the National Symphony Orchestra in May, was scheduled to kick of Washington, D.C.’s Pride celebrations ahead of the city hosting WorldPride 2025.
“We are deeply disappointed with the news that our upcoming Pride performance with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) has been canceled,” the chorus wrote in a statement posted to its Instagram page. “We believe in the power of music to educate and uplift, to foster love, understanding, and community, and we regret that this opportunity has been taken away.”
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The organization continued, adding that they would still perform their rendition of the piece during the WorldPride festivities. “While we are saddened by the decision, we are committed to this work and to our mission of raising our voices for equality for all,” the statement read. “We are grateful to those who have supported us, and we will continue to seek spaces where our voices, our stories, and our music can be heard.”
Billboard has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.
The news comes just a few weeks after President Trump staged a dramatic takeover of the cultural institution. The president purged the Kennedy Center’s board of 18 Democratic appointees while promising to install himself as chairman, added new members to the board more aligned with his politics, was unanimously named the new chairman and fired the Center’s former president, Deborah F. Rutter.
In a statement given to NBC News, the National Symphony Orchestra’s executive director Jean Davidson claimed that the decision to cancel A Peacock Among Pigeons was made prior to Trump’s reshaping of the Kennedy Center’s board. “Before the leadership transition at the Kennedy Center, we made the decision to postpone [A Peacock Among Pigeons] due to financial and scheduling factors,” she said in a statement. “We chose to replace it with The Wizard of Oz, another suitable program for World PRIDE participation.”
Rihanna was a mainstay in A$AP Rocky’s corner throughout his three-week felony shooting trial, which ended with a not guilty verdict for the Harlem native on Tuesday (Feb. 18), but her presence in the courtroom wasn’t always in the cards.
Rocky’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, revealed following the verdict that his client originally didn’t want Rihanna in attendance at the trial.
“He didn’t want her there. He was very protective of her,” Tacopina told a reporter. “I was sort of supporting his decision to keep her away. The trial’s not about Rihanna.”
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However, RiRi would not be denied. as she went behind Rocky’s back to contact Tacopina and let him know she would be pulling up to court to support her boo. “But she called me one day and she was like, ‘Joe, wild horses aren’t going to keep me away, so let him know I’m coming and deal with him,’” Tacopina continued.
Billboard has reached out to Tacopina, as well as Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s reps.
Rihanna was a staple at the courthouse, and she even made appearances with their two children, Riot and RZA, alongside Rocky’s mother and sister, who consistently supported the rapper in court.
Tacopina also recently explained to Extra why the little boys were there. “That day was summations, and in theory, what we initially believed, the judge had told us he was gonna start the jury deliberations that day after summations, right after summations. If they came back with a quick verdict — like they did — and it didn’t go his way, that would be the last time he saw his children,” the attorney explained. “So she wanted them in court, in the courtroom … house. One of the, the littlest one, you know, stayed outside. But you know, RZA was inside because he’s a little older and he comported himself very well, and he looked like a sweet little gentleman. … But you know, that’s family. I mean, it’s his family.”
Rocky (born Rakim Mayers) was found not guilty on both counts in the 2021 shooting case involving his former friend and associate A$AP Relli (born Terrell Ephron).
Upon hearing the verdict, Rocky jumped over the railing into the gallery to embrace Rihanna. He then thanked the jury and Judge Mark Arnold. “Thank y’all for saving my life,” Rocky said. “Thank you, thank you. Thank you for making the right decision. Thank you, your honor.”
Rocky was arrested in April 2022 at Los Angeles International Airport after being accused of firing a handgun at Relli near a Hollywood hotel in November 2021. The 36-year-old faced a maximum of 24 years behind bars and pleaded not guilty to all charges in August 2022. Last month, he turned down a final plea deal that would have landed him 180 days in county jail.
Rihanna took to her Instagram Story on Tuesday to celebrate the court’s ruling while giving thanks to the most high. “THE GLORY BELONGS TO GOD AND GOD ALONE! THANKFUL, HUMBLED BY HIS MERCY,” she wrote.
Dolly Parton has called on Indiana Governor Mike Braun to reconsider his decision to cut funding for her charitable Imagination Library initiative. “We are hopeful that Governor Braun and the Indiana Legislature will continue this vital investment by restoring the state’s funding match for local Imagination Library programs,“ Jeff Conyers, vice chair and president of […]
Belting out your favorite song in your car with the windows down is time-honored catharsis, a solitary moment that helps release tension and express emotion. Medical studies have shown that singing has both physical and psychological health benefits. Now, a new virtual reality app encourages users to experience those benefits with a headset strapped on, immersed in a gorgeous setting while crooning their favorite Chappell Roan song or rapping their Kendrick Lamar track of choice.
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Realize Music: Sing, which launched on Thursday (Feb. 20) exclusively on the Meta Quest in North America, is designed to promote relaxation through singing smash hits and unlocking achievements the more tunes they warble. The experience, from wellness-based entertainment venture Realize Music Inc., exists at the midsection between popular VR fitness apps like Beat Saber and Supernatural, and an uninhibited night at the karaoke bar with friends.
“This is very different than focusing on fitness, but similar in the way that this is something that you do by yourself, for yourself,” Mark Roemer, Realize Music co-founder and CEO, tells Billboard. “It’s not performative — this isn’t something that you’re doing to show off your skills in front of your friends at a party. It’s more singing just for you, and getting yourself into the zone with the music that you love.”
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Roemer says that Realize Music: Sing, the company’s first title, began its development process during the pandemic, as the music and wellness industry veteran was joined by longtime video game producer and publisher Mike Wilson at the new company. “Everyone was feeling the same levels of anxiety and stress and isolation,” Roemer says. “We knew that we had something that could help get people into flow state through pattern breathing and vagus nerve stimulation. If we were to do it through some sort of meditation app, it would be a lot less likely to reach the masses than if we did something incorporating popular music, which is what we’ve done.”
To do so, Realize Music: Sing launches with blanket licensing deals with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, which Roemer says took about a year to secure. When users select a song to sing, they are “transported into gorgeous, otherworldly landscapes,” says Roemer, and the lyrics are projected into the sky. As they sing their favorite Lady Gaga, Linkin Park or Tom Petty song, their voice emits stars, and their tone affects how the spherical landscape appears, with points earned less on performance than on movement and timing.
“We all have that music that changes our state,” Roemer notes. “And we wanted to have the widest variety of music in this app so that people could choose that which is appropriate for them in the moment, because that also changes.”
Realize Music: Sing launches at an introductory subscription price of $9.99 per month, or $99.99 for an annual subscription. While future releases are in development for Apple, Samsung and Sony PSVR2, Roemer also points out that new music will be added to the app on a weekly basis, as well as new, customized artist packs, similar to those in fitness VR apps.
“We’ve got stuff that ranges generations,” says Roemer. “In a household, maybe a 12-year-old owns the headset — but there’s something in there for the parents, there’s something in there for the older siblings. There’s something in there for literally everybody.”
Roemer also notes that Realize Music: Sing was built with Unreal Engine, the same technology used to power the visuals of the Sphere in Las Vegas — and that the VR app could eventually extend in live events as well. “I envision ticketed group singalongs in that venue,” he says. “I am imagining genre-specific singalong parties, with thousands of others singing their hearts out! I could easily see ’80s, Disney, pop and oldies being wildly popular regular events — with the graphics providing a shared experience, and the seats providing a haptic element.”
Following an extremely prolific 2024, Kendrick Lamar has dominated headlines into 2025. On Feb. 2, “Not Like Us” was a five-time winner at the Grammy Awards, becoming the second rap song to win record and song of the year. A week later, he headlined the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, spotlighting the smash, along with songs from his latest album, GNX, and more. It became the most-watched halftime show ever and resulted in some major chart moves: GNX returns to the top of the Billboard 200 and Lamar is the first rap artist to ever log three albums in the top 10 simultaneously. On the Billboard Hot 100, he reclaimed the top three spots, led by his Drake diss track “Not Like Us.”
Though football and the Super Bowl are American-based phenomena, the game is broadcast in more than 130 countries, yielding similarly huge boosts on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. On the former, “Not Like Us” has blasted from No. 45 to No. 20 to No. 1 (on the Feb. 8, 15, and 22 charts), returning for a third non-consecutive week atop the list since its release last May. On Global Excl. U.S, the song reaches a new No. 3 high (after debuting at No. 9, climbing to No. 7 the following week, and reaching a prior No. 5 best after the July 4 release of its official music video).
This week doesn’t just set a new high for the track itself, but for all rap songs on the global stage. “Not Like Us” jumped 188% to 65.7 million streams outside the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 13, according to Luminate. That’s the highest non-U.S. streaming total for a rap title since the global charts launched in September 2020. It surpasses Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red,” which drew 64.9 million in the week ending Sept. 28, 2023.
Including the U.S., “Not Like Us” is up 176% to 113.2 million streams globally. It falls short of Eminem’s “Houdini” for the most among rap hits since the Global 200 began: 121.4 million in the week ending June 6, 2024. Still, the latest boost for “Not Like Us” nine months after its arrival re-asserts its longevity. Since the Global 200, there have been only six instances of rap songs exceeding 100 million weekly worldwide streams and four of them belong to “Not Like Us.”
The international success of “Not Like Us” is rare. Hip-hop’s struggle to export globally has been documented, and it’d be reasonable to expect Lamar’s lyrically dense tracks to hit a wall, particularly in countries where English is not the primary language. But the song’s reach is wide, appearing on more than 30 of Billboard’s territory-specific Hits of the World charts this week, including tallies in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America and Oceania. It’s No. 1 on Australia Songs and Ireland Songs and ranks among the top 10 in 18 other territories.
While “Not Like Us” leads the charge, three other Lamar tracks – “Luther” and “All the Stars,” both with SZA, and “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay – score top 20 ranks on Global Excl. U.S. Altogether, he logs nine songs on this week’s chart and 13 on the Global 200.
Across Lamar’s charting entries, streaming gains are varied between the U.S. and beyond. “All the Stars,” “Humble.,” “Luther” and “Peekaboo” have bigger domestic lifts, while “Money Trees,” “Not Like Us,” “TV Off” and “Squabble Up” see sharper increases internationally.
Dream Theater returns to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart for the first time in almost a decade, debuting atop the Feb. 22-dated survey with Parasomnia. The set bows with 18,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Feb. 13, according to Luminate. The majority of the sum – 16,000 units […]
South Korean boy band PLAVE debut four songs on the Feb. 22-dated Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. And while K-pop acts regularly flood the global rankings with material from new EPs and albums, PLAVE sticks out by being a virtual group in its presentation.
PLAVE has five members — Bamby, Eunho, Hamin, Noah and Yejun — who sing, rap, write and choreograph. But for music videos, livestreams and performances, the collective uses motion capture technology to broadcast animated visuals.
Variations on this practice have been more common among Japanese artists, such as Ado, who reached No. 8 on Global Excl. U.S. in 2022 with “New Genesis,” among 12 entries on the chart to date. Plus, Korea’s K/DA hit No. 93 in 2020 with “More,” co-billed with a mix of American, Chinese and fellow Korean artists, both “real” (Madison Beer, [G]I-DLE, Lexie Liu and Jaira Burns) and virtual (Seraphine).
With this week’s debuts, PLAVE breaks new ground for Korean Vtubers (virtual YouTubers). “Dash” starts on Global Excl. U.S. at No. 89, while also hitting the Billboard Global 200 at No. 195. Plus, “Rizz,” “Chroma Drift” and “Island” debut on the former list at Nos. 111, 115 and 128, respectively.
All four tracks come from PLAVE’s third EP, Caligo Pt. 1, released Feb. 3. The group previously charted on Global Excl. U.S. with “Pump Up the Volume!” and “Way 4 Luv” last September.
“Dash” drew 11 million streams outside the U.S. in its first full tracking week (Feb. 7-13), according to Luminate, while PLAVE’s four chart entries combined for nearly 40 million in that span. Of those, 39.7 million, or 99.4%, were from outside the U.S. PLAVE’s home-country appeal is reflected on Billboard’s South Korea Songs chart. There, the group infuses the entire top five, led by “Dash” at No. 1 and rounded out by “12:32 (A T to T)” at No. 5.
Ariana Grande‘s dress definitely didn’t defy gravity at the Tokyo premiere of Wicked Thursday (Feb. 20), with the singer getting tripped up as she made her way to stage — and sending Cynthia Erivo and Jon M. Chu into immediate crisis-management mode in the process.
In a clip from the screening shared by the “Yes, And?” singer on Instagram Stories, her fellow Wicked leading lady and the director go ahead of her onto the stage while she hangs back, appearing to have caught her white ballgown on part of the steps. Erivo and Chu make it several yards away from her before they turn back to see that Grande is stuck, at which point both jog straight back to her to help, arms outstretched.
“the unison panic !!!” the Victorious alum wrote, tagging both the Pinocchio actress and filmmaker. “i love you both so much.”
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Grande also shared a fan-made meme with a blurry zoomed-in photo of Erivo and Chu running to her rescue, captioned, “NO WITCH LEFT BEHIND.” “this is tickling me soooo,” the R.E.M. Beauty founder wrote.
Luckily, Grande was eventually able to free her dress from the staircase’s grasp, taking both Erivo and Chu’s hands and letting them guide her to the center of the stage.
Tokyo is just the latest city the actresses and director have taken the Wicked experience to since its worldwide premiere in November, a months-long promotional cycle during which all three members of the film’s core team have picked up multiple prestigious award nominations. That includes Oscar nods for Erivo and Grande — best actress and best supporting actress, respectively — ahead of the March 2 ceremony.
The film’s rollout — which precedes the November-slated Wicked Part 2 — has also given fans a front-row seat to Erivo and Grande’s close bond, though some people have taken it and run with their own theories about the duo’s relationship. “People think we’re secretly married,” the “We Can’t Be Friends” singer said a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I wish I could unsee some things,” she said of the sometimes explicit fan fiction and art she’s seen. “I mean, wow, I had a feeling, but I didn’t know it would be on this scale or this graphic.”