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Billie Eilish is Apple Music’s 2024 Artist of the Year, and to celebrate, the superstar and her brother Finneas performed a live acoustic set in their hometown of Los Angeles earlier this month. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The performance featured a Q&A as well as […]
Jennifer Hudson is no stranger to covering songs and making them her own, after getting her start on American Idol and continuing through her Emmy-nominated daytime talk show. So when she started work on her first-ever holiday album, The Gift of Love, Hudson understood the assignment: She would need to Jennifer-ize some of the most beloved Christmas classics of all time.
“Any time I do a classic — which I get to do a lot — I always want to stay true to the base but then allow space for my artistry to come through, which made making this album the most fun I have ever had recording an album,” the EGOT winner tells Katie & Keith on our special Christmas episode of the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below). “Whether it’s me lyrically or musically, my expression is there in some form, in my interpretation. … So it was fun to reimagine the classics, Jennifer Hudson-style. I call it ‘Jennifer-izing’ them.”
How did she choose which holiday hallmarks to tackle? “I picked what was most personal to me. Like ‘The Christmas Song,’ for instance, my grandmother used to love that song, so I recall hearing that as a little girl throughout each and every holiday of her playing that song — Nat King Cole with the satin voice — so that made me want to pay tribute to her in that way,” Hudson says. “Or ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain,’ I grew up singing that in church during the holiday season and ‘Carol of the Bells’ in high school. ‘Hallelujah,’ that’s my favorite song; that’s the heart of the album. And ‘O Holy Night’ is my favorite Christmas song.”
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She was also conscious of bringing a diversity of sounds, styles, genres and tempos to the project, because, according to Hudson: “There are different Christmases. Some years it’s a winter wonderland Christmas, it’s a big-band Christmas, it’s a North Pole Christmas with the reds and the greens and the candy canes for the kids, a ‘Jingle Bells’ type of Christmas. It can change through each year — which is why my album has a lot of variety in it, because it’s like: Is your Christmas the icicle Christmas? Is it a green Christmas? Is it a white Christmas? What type of Christmas do you want, baby?”
Hudson spoke with Katie & Keith from the set of The Jennifer Hudson Show, and she said it was her tightknit work family that was the original “inspiration towards why the time is now to do a holiday album. Our [show] theme is ‘Choose Joy.’ And on the Christmas album is the song ‘Let There Be Joy.’ So that’s what it’s all about, and that’s what I love to do. And the best gift and the best way I know to do it is through music. And it’s just a blessing to come in here every day and work with such beautiful people. And it’s like a party every day. We call it The Happy Place.”
The 15-song project also includes a half-dozen originals, all co-written by Hudson. Below, J-Hud breaks down the messages behind four of those brand-new holiday songs.
“Santa for Someone”
“My assistant inspired it because he he’s a scrooge. [Laughs] And I was like, ‘What is it about the holidays you don’t like?’ He’s like, ‘Getting gifts for everybody and trying to figure it out.’ So that’s where ‘Santa for Someone’ came from. Because we all can get frustrated looking for those gifts. Will we get it in enough time? Will we get them what they want? … I can’t think of too many men, like uncles and brothers, that are listening to ‘Jingle Bells,’ so how about I give them something to bop to throughout the holiday season? So I was trying to think of everyone, as we do during the holidays.”
“Find the Love”
“It meets the times that we’re in, and I feel like it’s a song that could be played throughout the year. … We’re in such a difficult time as a people, and it’s like, what unifies us? Music. We’re all human. We all have to go through a season no matter what — no matter if it’s the holiday season or life has seasons in itself. But that one thing that can bring us together on one accord is music, and that’s why the album is called The Gift of Love. And a song like ‘Find the Love’ is on there because it doesn’t just sit within the holiday season; it’s something you can carry throughout your life, and it can speak to you and it can speak to the times.”
“Make It to Christmas”
“‘Make It to Christmas’ is my son’s favorite song. It speaks to like, we all work all year, right? But we are waiting to get to the end of that tunnel, where the lights are red and green, to that holiday season, where we can go home at that one time of year and enjoy each other and our families.”
“Go Tell It on the Mountain”
“‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’ is for the mourners, those who may have lost. It’s kind of like a remake of that song, but from a personal perspective.”
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Also on the podcast, we’ve got chart news on how Taylor Swift spends a 17th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with The Tortured Poets Department; how Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” nets a 16th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, tying “One Sweet Day” as her song with the most weeks atop the list; and how Sabrina Carpenter’s “Fruitcake” flies into the top 10 for the first time on the Billboard 200 with the single-largest sales week in the modern era for a holiday album on vinyl. Plus, Madonna announced new music with her longtime collaborator Stuart Price coming next year, and we’ll hear from the Queen of Pop’s biggest fan, Keith, about why this is especially exciting news.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard’s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard’s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Timothée Chalamet is the latest celebrity to be serenaded by Harry Daniels. The influencer took to TikTok to share a clip in which he asks the actor if he could play his harmonica for him. Daniels then immediately sings the line “How does it feel?” from Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” before busting a […]
Sexyy Red and GloRilla have some interesting things to say about the conversations surrounding today’s female rappers. As part of XXL‘s new cover story, Glo and Sexyy asked each other questions, including about the subject matter of their music. “So, a lot of people give female rappers a hard time, saying we’re too sexual or […]
Demi Lovato and Jordan “Jutes” Lutes just celebrated a major milestone: one year of being engaged.
To celebrate, the couple marked the occasion with lovey-dovey posts Monday (Dec. 16) on Instagram Stories. Sharing a photo of him nuzzling noses with the “Sorry Not Sorry” singer, Jutes wrote, “1 year of being engaged to my favorite person. I’m so lucky and can’t wait to marry u baby.”
Re-sharing the post on her own Story, Lovato lovingly called Jutes, “My sweet angel.”
“I love you infinitely and cannot wait to call you my husband!!!” Lovato added. “Happy 1 year of being engaged baby!!”
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The couple first made their relationship Instagram official in August 2022, and the next year, Jutes popped the question, on Dec. 16, 2023. The following day, Lovato showed off her engagement ring on Instagram and wrote, “I’m still speechless … My love, I’m beyond excited to marry you.. every day I’ve spent with you has been a dream come true and I can’t wait to love and cherish you forever. Here’s to the rest of our lives. I love you baby.”
“yesterday i asked my best friend to marry me and she said yes,” Jutes added in a post of his own. “i can’t imagine my life without you and thank god now i’ll never have to. feeling like the luckiest man alive right now. i’m so in love with you.”
In addition to being life partners, they’re also musical collaborators. Jutes helped Lovato write multiple songs on their most recent album, Holy Fvck, including second single “Substance,” “Happy Ending” and “City of Angels”; the LP reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200.
The musicians are also dog parents to a tiny canine named Pickle.
Lovato hasn’t released a proper album since Holy Fvck in 2022, but they did drop Revamped, a collection of old songs from their discography re-recorded with a punk-rock edge, in 2023. She kept busy in 2024 with the release of documentary Child Star, which surveyed the effects of celebrity on kids and featured Drew Barrymore, Raven Symone and more.
Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber are enjoying a wedding in Costa Rica, and have been sharing snaps of their tropical trip on Instagram. The “Love Yourself” singer took to Instagram on Monday (Dec. 16) to post a series of caption-less photos of from the vacation and wedding, including a number of selfies with Hailey, in […]
Sexyy Red and Tyler, the Creator connected in October for their first collaboration, when Tyler recruited Big Sexyy, Lil Wayne and GloRilla for the Chromakopia standout “Sticky.” XXL enlisted GloRilla and Sexyy for their latest cover story, which arrived on Tuesday (Dec. 17) and found the pair of female rap stars in conversation about an […]
J. Cole‘s seventh studio album may be coming sooner than fans think. At the end of his 2014 Forest Hills Drive 10th-anniversary show Monday night (Dec. 16) at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the North Carolina rapper told the crowd he may have new music for them just in time for his festival next year. […]
The final ranking of American Idol season 2 might be a little foggy to Kelly Clarkson, but in her defense, it was 20 years ago.
If there’s anyone who won’t ever forget who was first and second place on the 2003 program, however, it’s Clay Aiken, who finished the show as runner-up to Ruben Studdard — something the “This Is the Night” singer had to remind his fellow Idol alum on Monday’s (Dec. 16) The Kelly Clarkson Show.
While reflecting on their days traveling together as American Idol royalty during the competition series’ early days, Clarkson mistakenly said to Aiken, “We toured after you won — the Independent Tour, I think it was called.”
The former politician’s face then comically froze up as he corrected her through stiff lips, “After I came in second.”
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Upon realizing her error, the “Stronger” vocalist looked directly into the camera and issued a hilarious apology. “So sorry — Ruben, I totally remembered that!” she said, cracking up. “Look, I’m 42, bro. I forgot.”
Clarkson became the first-ever American Idol victor in 2002, with Studdard winning the following season and Aiken placing in second. The two men went on to stay friends and collaborators, and in 2023, they toured together to celebrate their 20th Idol anniversary. They also competed side-by-side on the 11th season of The Masked Singer earlier this year.
“I’m sure we’ll do stuff again,” Aiken told Clarkson of working with the “Flying Without Wings” musician. “We’re sort of inseparable — I think we’re better together than apart.”
The “Since U Been Gone” artist noted that she would likely be hearing from Studdard following her mixup — “He’s gonna be like, ‘I won, but fine,’” she joked — and Aiken agreed. “He will be calling me, without question,” he said, nodding.
Elsewhere in the show, Aiken performed “Do You Hear What I Hear?” for Clarkson’s audience. The performer is fresh off the release of his new holiday album Christmas Bells Are Ringing, which dropped in November.
See the hilarious moment Clarkson forgot who won American Idol season 2 above.
As reported earlier, MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN is a brand-new award established by the five major organizations in the Japanese music industry — Recording Industry Association of Japan, Japan Association of Music Enterprises, the Federation of Music Producers Japan, Music Publishers Association of Japan, and All Japan Concert & Live Entertainment Promoters Conference. The specifics of the more than 60 categories slated to be recognized in this new music award, the voting method, and the selection and voting method for the more than 5,000 voting members have been revealed.
The inaugural event is set for May 21 and 22, 2025, at the Rohm Theatre Kyoto. Day 2 will be broadcast live via a domestic terrestrial TV channel and delay-streamed on YouTube for a global audience. Nominees will be awarded in over 60 categories including the six major ones such as Song of the Year and New Artist of the Year. Details of the 23 divisions in the song category, seven in the international song category, five in the album category, twelve in the artist category, and three in the “Alliance Category” have been announced.
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The song category will celebrate a wide variety of music genres and cultures, with genre divisions honoring J-pop, rock, hip-hop, idol culture, anime and more, as well as special divisions for revival (resurgent hits), Vocaloid culture, and music videos, among others. There will also be two awards decided by inviting votes from general music listeners via Spotify. In the album category, leading with Album of the Year, projects from genres that add color to music culture awards will be recognized including jazz, classical music, movie music/original soundtracks albums, and video game soundtracks. In the artist category, there will also be a prize for artists who have been active in the Japanese music industry for a long time and contributed to its enrichment called MAJ Timeless Echo.
“We are very honored that our data is being used as one of the core data sets for the songs entered in MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN,” says Billboard Japan chart director Seiji Isozaki. “We will continue to improve the accuracy of our data so that we can convey how people enjoy music and the joy of music itself.”
Tallying period will be from Monday, Feb. 5, 2024 to Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, excluding some categories.
Six major categories:
Song of the Year: Celebrates songs considered to be musically creative and artistic.
Method of selection: An original, MAJ-specific chart will be created by combining the weekly points of the top 100 tracks on the six metrics (radio airplay, CD sales, downloads, streaming, video views, and karaoke) comprising Billboard Japan’s Hot 100 song chart, and on the Top User Generated Songs chart. Two months will be considered a single period, and songs charting in each period will be nominated for Song of the Year. Domestic and international songs are eligible for this category.
Album of the Year: Celebrates albums considered to be musically creative and artistic.
Method of selection: An original, MAJ-specific chart will be created by combining the CD and downloads data comprising Billboard Japan’s Hot Albums chart, and GfK’s streaming data. Two months will be considered a single period, and albums charting in each period will be nominated for Album of the Year. Domestic and international albums are eligible for this category.
Artist of the Year: Celebrates artists considered to be musically creative and artistic.
Method of selection: The Artist of the Year will be decided from artists with either songs or albums nominated for Song of the Year or Album of the Year. Domestic and international artists are eligible for this category.
New Artist of the Year: Celebrates new artists considered to be musically creative and artistic.
Method of selection: The New Artist of the Year will be decided from artists of songs extracted from those nominated for Song of the Year, according to Billboard Japan’s Heatseekers Songs rules.
1. Excludes artists who have entered the top 20 on the Japan Hot 100 or top 10 of the Japan Hot Albums tallies in the last six months (26 weeks).
2. Excludes artists who have logged at least four months (17 weeks) in the last six months (26 weeks) on the Heatseekers Songs top 20.
Groups and projects that include the above excluded artists are also excluded. However, artists who perform under completely different names are not excluded.
Top Global Hit From Japan: Celebrates domestic songs that have become hits around the world.
Method of selection: The Top Global Hit From Japan award will be decided by selecting the top 5 songs from the global chart created by extracting Japan-based songs from the global viewing data (streaming, downloads, music videos) compiled by Luminate, excluding the number of views in Japan.
Only the highest-ranking song will be considered for acts with multiple songs on the list. Five songs by five acts will be nominated for this award.
Tallying period: From Friday, Feb. 2, 2024 to Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025
Best Song Asia: Celebrates Asian songs that have become hits in Asia.
Method of selection: The Best Song Asia award will be decided from the top 3 songs from the 2024 year-end charts of Asian countries/regions excluding Japan.
For the inaugural MAJ, songs from the following East and Southeast Asian countries and regions will be considered: South Korea, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan.
General voting categories: One best work will be decided from 30 works chosen as nominees through Spotify’s voting function.
Listeners’ Choice: Best Global Song of the Year powered by Spotify: An award given to the Best Global Song decided by general vote from Spotify users from both within and outside Japan, from among domestic songs that have become global hits.
Listeners’ Choice: Best Song of the Year powered by Spotify: An award given to the Best Song decided by general vote from Spotify users from both within and outside Japan.
MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2025 KYOTO
Date of Ceremony: Wednesday, May 21 and Thursday, May 22, 2025
MAJ Week: From Saturday, May 17 to Friday, May 23, 2025
Venue: ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
Live broadcast on domestic terrestrial TV and global stream on YouTube scheduled (some regions excluded)
*Tickets to attend the ceremony will not be open to the public. Details of the awards ceremony and related events will be announced later.
