State Champ Radio Music News
Page: 621
Veteran English rockers The Soft Boys staged an impromptu reunion performance as part of Yo La Tengo‘s annual Hanukkah Residency in New York City. The reformation of sorts took place during the fourth night of Yo La Tengo’s yearly holiday event, on Saturday (Dec. 28), which featured Robyn Hitchcock as an opening act. Following a […]
Taylor Swift‘s weekend out and about in New York City continued Saturday night (Dec. 28). She was photographed with Travis Kelce in the Meatpacking District, where the two were reportedly seen arriving at private supper club Chez Margaux. The foundation of the singer-songwriter’s outfit was a mod Fleur du Mal mini dress (Long Sleeve Flared […]
Kristin Cavallari is dishing on her past romance with Morgan Wallen.
In a teaser for an upcoming episode of Bunnie XO‘s Dumb Blonde podcast, released Sunday (Dec. 26) on TikTok, the 37-year-old actress revealed some spicy details about her brief relationship with the 31-year-old country music star.
“Morgan’s a good guy. He has a big heart, he really does,” Cavallari says in the two-minute clip, following some gentle prodding from host Bunnie.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The Hills alum then agrees with Bunnie’s description of Wallen as a “playa from the Himalayas.” The host adds, “The amount of women that have sat on my couch who have been with Morgan Wallen is crazy.”
While Cavallari had seemingly confirmed her romance with Wallen earlier this year in a video on social media, she went on to share details about her first time going out with Wallen.
Trending on Billboard
“The first date that we went on, he was a true gentlemen,” the Very Cavallari star says. “He was like, ‘I’ll pick you up, I’ll pick the place.’ Like, just f—ing handled business. He came and picked me up, he met my kids. My kids were so excited, it was so cute.”
Cavallari shares three children — Camden, 12, Jaxon, 10, and Saylor, 9 — with her ex-husband, former NFL star Jay Cutler.
“He got us a private room, you know he had like his bodyguard and whatnot, dropped me off, kissed me in the rain, and it was like the sweetest thing,” Cavallari continues.
In mid-November, Cavallari appeared to confirm her relationship with Wallen during a viral trend with her best friend, Justin Anderson. The trend had loved ones reveal truths about one another, and in the clip, Cavallari is seen jogging as Anderson, speaking off-camera, says, “Suspect let Morgan Wallen hurt her feelings, and she kept going back.” Cavallari bursts into laughter and covers her mouth, reacting to the playful remark.
In the Dumb Blonde teaser, Cavallari says she and Wallen “hung out thereafter” following the first date and admits he didn’t hurt her feelings as much as he damaged her ego.
“Morgan was the first guy in my entire f—ing life that wasn’t just completely enamored with me. I was like, ‘What in the f— is going on?’ It really threw me,” Cavallari says. “I love having the upper hand, and I felt like with him, I didn’t have the upper hand. It was the only time in my life, so it really f—ed with me.”
She also reveals she wasn’t looking for anything serious at the time. “I was like, I kinda just want a f— buddy in Nashville,” Cavallari says. “He’s a great f— buddy.”
At the end of the clip, Bunnie jokes that Wallen might be reaching out to her husband, country music star Jelly Roll, with a request to never discuss him on the podcast again.
Check out the teaser for Cavallari’s appearance on the Dumb Blonde podcast on TikTok here.
Frank Sinatra returns to the top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time in over a decade, as his holiday compilation Ultimate Christmas climbs 17-10 on the Jan. 4, 2025-dated chart. The title, which previously peaked at No. 12, reaches the top 10 in its 52nd week on the chart — […]
After 22 months, SZA’s chart-topping SOS returns No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as the set jumps 15-1 on the Jan. 4-dated chart. It bolts back to the top thanks largely from activity generated by the album’s deluxe reissue on Dec. 20 (dubbed SOS Deluxe: LANA) that added 15 additional songs to the album. The set was originally released on Dec. 9, 2022, with 23 tracks. All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes and continue to chart under the title SOS.
SOS surges to No. 1 with 178,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 26 (up 297%), according to Luminate. With its return to No. 1, the set collects an 11th nonconsecutive week atop the list, and its first since the March 4, 2023-dated chart. That 22-month gap between weeks at No. 1 is the longest for any album since the Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.
Trending on Billboard
Notably, had the 15 new songs on the LANA deluxe edition of the album been released as a new stand-alone album, its track activity alone would have been enough for that stand-alone set to debut atop the list. (The 15 new songs generated 105,000 in SEA and TEA units. The No. 2 title this week, Michael Bublé’s former leader Christmas, earned 100,000 units from SEA, TEA and traditional album sales combined.)
SOS debuted atop the Billboard 200 dated Dec. 24, 2022, and logged 10 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the list through the March 4, 2023-dated chart. It has never left the weekly top 20 of the chart during the 107 consecutive weeks that it has spent on the list. SOS closed 2024 at No. 6 on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums chart, after it was No. 3 on the year-end list in 2023.
Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200 chart, Frank Sinatra scores his first top 10-charting in over a decade, as his holiday compilation Ultimate Christmas vaults 17-10.
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 Jan. 4, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Dec. 31). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of SOS’ 178,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 26, SEA units comprise 167,000 (up 341%, equaling 220.22 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it hits No. 1 on the year-old Top Streaming Albums chart for the first time), traditional album sales comprise 10,000 (up 44%, rising 39-23 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 1,000 (up 1,744%).
A deluxe reissue of SOS had been in the works since at least February of 2023, and SZA first mentioned LANA as the name of the expansion in September 2023. The deluxe reissue was preceded by the Billboard Hot 100-charting hit “Saturn” (one of the 15 added tracks), which debuted and peaked at No. 6 in March.
The last R&B/hip-hop album with at least 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200 was Drake’s Views, which notched 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2016 (May 21-Oct. 8). SOS has the most weeks at No. 1 for an R&B/hip-hop album by a woman, or an R&B album by a woman, since Mariah Carey’s self-titled debut spent 11 weeks, all consecutively, at No. 1 in 1991. (Honorable mention to the Whitney Houston-led soundtrack to The Bodyguard, which logged 20 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 1992-93. The 12-track album has six songs by Houston and six songs by other artists.) SOS has the most weeks at No. 1 for any R&B album since The Bodyguard’s 20-week reign. (R&B/hip-hop and R&B albums are defined as those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top R&B Albums charts, respectively.)
At No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200, Michael Bublé’s former leader Christmas jingles 5-2 with 100,000 equivalent album units earned (up 47%). The set spent a total of five weeks atop the list in late 2011 and early 2012, following its release in October of 2011. It has climbed to No. 2 in four of the last six holiday seasons. With 100,000 units earned, Christmas tallies its largest week, by units, since the Billboard 200 began ranking by units in December 2014.
The Jan. 4-dated Billboard 200 is set to be the last chart of the holiday season to showcase high-ranking Christmas efforts, as the tracking week for the chart closed on Dec. 26, the day after the Christmas Day holiday.
Bing Crosby’s Ultimate Christmas rallies 6-3 on the new Billboard 200, marking the late entertainer’s highest-charting effort since the Jan. 5, 1959-dated chart, when his former No. 1 Merry Christmas ranked at No. 2. Merry Christmas had previously spent a week at No. 1 on Jan. 6, 1958-dated chart.
Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song moves 11-4, matching its peak, with 84,000 equivalent album units earned (up 56%). Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping GNX falls 2-5 (76,000; down 24%), Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas rises 10-6 (nearly 76,000; up 36%), and Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 The Tortured Poets Department dips 3-7 (74,000; down 13%).
The Wicked film soundtrack falls 7-8 on the Billboard 200 with 71,000 equivalent album units earned (up 9%) and the festive compilation A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector climbs 16-9 with 70,000 units (up 60%).
Rounding out the top 10 is Frank Sinatra’s Ultimate Christmas, climbing 17-10 with 63,000 equivalent album units earned (up 55%). The title — which previously peaked at No. 12 and reaches the top 10 in its 52nd week on the chart, dating to its December 2017 debut — is the late legend’s first visit to the top 10 since August 2012, when his 2008 hits package Nothing Best the Best returned to the top 10 (re-entering at No. 3 on the Aug. 25, 2012-dated list after sale pricing and promotion). Nothing had previously debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the May 31, 2008-dated chart.
Ultimate Christmas becomes Sinatra’s 33rd top 10-charting effort, the most among solo males. The Rolling Stones have the most top 10s, with 38. They are followed by Barbra Streisand (with 34), Sinatra and The Beatles, whom he passes (32).
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.
Post Malone expressed his gratitude to Beyoncé after joining her stunning NFL Halftime Show performance during the Texans-Ravens game at Houston’s NRG Stadium on Christmas Day. On Saturday (Dec. 28), the 29-year-old singer shared a heartfelt message to Queen Bey, 43, on X (formerly Twitter). “thank you @Beyonce so much for havin me out in […]
Engaged couple Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco shared a loved-up photo over the holiday weekend that shows the two of them kissing on a cozy armchair. The soon-to-be-married pair look very comfortable in the snapshot — especially Gomez, whose face is hovering above Blanco’s and whose hand is pointing his chin upwards as she comes […]
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce had a post-holiday night out in New York City with Jack Antonoff and Margaret Qualley on Friday night (Dec. 27), based on photos that circulated Saturday.
Photographer @josiahwphotos (on Instagram) posted images of Swift and Kelce’s arrival to NoHo restaurant BondST, and their departure after dinner. Additional photos showed Antonoff, Swift’s close friend and longtime producer, and wife Qualley joining the couple.
Swift’s dinner look (seen in pictures here) was led by an oversized wool blazer with padded shoulders by Stella McCartney, a piece with cage paneling along the hem that’s hand-embroidered with lead-free crystals (Crystal Cage Oversize Blazer, $5,500). The shape of the blazer nods to menswear, while its embellishment, and its styling with tights and heeled boots, gives it a glimmer of femininity.
Trending on Billboard
BondST is a hot spot known for its Japanese-inspired cuisine with two locations in NYC, the one in NoHo (where Swift has been seen dining with friends before) and another in Hudson Yards.
The superstar wrapped her record-breaking, $2 billion-grossing Eras Tour on Dec. 8 in Vancouver. On Dec. 12, she was named the winner of 10 Billboard Music Awards, including Top Artist. With 49 total wins collected throughout her career, she’s now the most celebrated artist in the history of the BBMAs.
“Thank you to the fans, because Billboard is counting your stuff. They’re counting what you listen to, the albums that you’re passionate about,” she shared in a video message that aired during the telecast. “I count these as fan-voted awards because you’re the ones who care about the albums and come see us in concert. Everything that’s happened with the Eras Tour and The Tortured Poets Department, I just have to say thank you. It means the world to me that you guys embraced the things I’ve made, and the fact that you care so much about my music … This is the nicest early birthday present you could have given me. So, thank you very much. I love it. It’s exactly what I wanted.”
Swift, who turned 35 on Dec. 13, made an appearance at the Dec. 21 Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., to support Kelce.
Since wrapping her tour, she’s also been seen visiting patients at Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Hospital; though she didn’t publicize her visit, patients and their families posted about her generosity online. Swift additionally made a substantial donation to Kansas City children’s non-profit Operation Breakthrough, according to the organization.
Mark Ronson is remembering legendary producer Quincy Jones.
In an emotional piece shared with The Guardian on Thursday (Dec. 26), Ronson reflected on his personal experiences working with Jones — who passed away in November at the age of 91 — and the profound impact the music icon had on his life and career.
“Losing Quincy is like a black hole swallowing part of the musical universe,” Ronson wrote. “But his work will live forever, as will his lessons. Keep striving for that deeper knowledge. Always leave space for something bigger than yourself. Because sometimes, magic happens when we get out of the way.”
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Ronson opened the tribute by recalling a passage from Jones’ 2001 autobiography, Q, in which the legendary musician describes walking away from a successful career in order to study music theory and composition in Paris.
Trending on Billboard
“Imagine reaching the pinnacle of success, especially as a young Black musician in segregated 1950s America, and saying thanks, but I’m starting over for the sake of chords and harmony,” Ronson wrote. “I fantasize about having that kind of courage.”
“But that’s the peril of holding Quincy as a yardstick,” he continued. “He’s an impossible standard. For producers and arrangers like me, he didn’t just raise the bar; he hid it where no one could reach.”
Ronson also reflected on the years he spent with Jones, particularly when he was engaged to the legendary producer’s daughter, Rashida Jones, in the early 2000s. The two producers also collaborated on the song “Keep Reachin’,” featuring Chaka Khan, for the 2018 Netflix documentary Quincy, directed by Rashida Jones.
“Over the years, he would send me kind notes — he had a particular fondness for Amy [Winehouse] — and we’d often hang out whenever I played the Montreux jazz festival, his beloved stomping ground,” Ronson wrote. “Seeing him there, stage right, seated in his director’s chair — looking every bit the debonair godfather of music, smiling back at you — elicited a wild mix of emotions.”
He added, “The greatest producer and arranger of all time, watching your every move, was utterly terrifying. And yet he only radiated generosity. All he wanted was for you to win, to shine. He had already achieved the unimaginable. Now he existed as something rare and beautiful — a benevolent cheerleader for the wonder of music itself.”
Jones passed away on Nov. 3 at his home in Los Angeles. A 28-time Grammy Award winner, Jones was revered for his groundbreaking work as a producer and arranger on iconic albums, including Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987).
Jones was also the guiding force behind the recording of the all-star charity single “We Are the World” in 1985, which rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and featured a star-studded lineup of artists, including Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Kenny Rogers.
Hayley Williams may be gearing up for her first solo tour in 2025.
On Friday (Dec. 27), the Paramore frontwoman hinted at the possibility of solo dates in an Instagram Story celebrating her 36th birthday. In her note, Williams reflected on the tour she had to cancel in 2020 in support of her debut solo album, Petals for Armor, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m going to try and finally play some shows next year that would’ve happened nearly 5 years ago now,” she wrote. “That is, if the world doesn’t f—ing stop before then. Here’s hoping.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Petals for Armor was released in March 2020, and Williams had planned a European and North American tour to support the album. However, the pandemic forced her to cancel those shows as venues around the world shut down.
Trending on Billboard
“Wow. I am going on tour. Myself. It’s not Paramore and truthfully, it’s just a little terrifying,” she wrote at the time. “But if I know anything, it’s that there’s no safer place (besides at home with my dog) than to be in a room, in front of the people who’ve grown up singing my lungs out for. There was a time I thought I wouldn’t tour Petals for Armor. What a joke. I must.”
During the pandemic, Williams shifted to virtual performances, including an NPR Tiny Desk concert filmed in Nashville, and released her surprise sophomore album, Flowers for Vases/Descansos, in 2021.
In 2023, after the lockdowns lifted, Paramore returned with their sixth studio album, This Is Why. The pop-punk band supported the release with a tour that included dates opening for Taylor Swift on her record-breaking Eras Tour.
In her celebratory post on Instagram, Williams also thanked fans for their well-wishes and shared a personal reflection.
“35 felt like tilling soil and throwing little seeds down. Waiting, waiting, waiting to see,” she wrote. “36 is exciting and a little scary, already. So much to hope for. I’m still in the dirt, ready for whatever might grow. Fruit?”
