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Jelly Roll was spotted shaking hands and smiling with president-elect Donald Trump at a UFC match New York City’s Madison Square Garden last month, leading to controversy surrounding the country star’s political opinions. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news However, Jelly cleared the air alongside his wife […]
For the second consecutive year, the NBA will hold its annual NBA Cup championship game Tuesday in Las Vegas, featuring the Milwaukee Bucks and the Oklahoma City Thunder (Dec. 17). The road to Vegas was tough as four teams vied for the title, including the Atlanta Hawks, the Houston Rockets, the Bucks, and the Thunder. […]
Snoop Dogg has reacted to Drake’s pair of legal actions against Universal Music Group in which he alleges that his label artificially inflated the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
The West Coast legend is on a press run in support of his Missionary album with Dr. Dre, and he stopped by The Bootleg Kev Podcast on Tuesday (Dec. 17).
Kev asked Snoop about myriad topics, including his thoughts on Drake’s legal action against his parent label, which Snoop initially offered up a “no comment” before expanding briefly. “On the West, we hold court in the streets,” he said of his policing preference rather than turning to the legal system.
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In November, Drake filed a pair of legal actions, which also alleged that UMG could’ve stopped the release of “Not Like Us,” which he believes defamed him and falsely accused him of being a sex offender. UMG denied Drizzy’s “offensive and untrue” allegations about artificially inflating numbers, telling Billboard at the time, “We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Snoop revealed he spoke to Kendrick Lamar in the weeks since K. Dot expressed his disappointment in one of his mentors on GNX‘s opening track “Wacced Out Murals.” In the midst of Kendrick’s feud with Drake, Snoop reposted Drizzy’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” — which included AI-generated vocals using Snoop’s voice — to Instagram.
“Snoop posted ‘Taylor Made,’ I prayed it was the edibles/ I couldn’t believe it, it was only right for me to let it go,” Lamar raps on the track.
Snoop Dogg quickly apologized and admitted it “was the edibles” and called Lamar the “West West King” shortly after on X.
“He’s a rapper he’s supposed to speak his mind and tell his truth,” Snoop told Bootleg Kev on Tuesday. “I’m his big homebody so I have to take what’s said from his perspective because he’s speaking truth. I’m willing to accept truth when it’s brought to me directly.”
Snoop explained he did a “collaborative post” on Instagram and allegedly didn’t even know what song he was posting. “I’m thinking I’m posting ‘Gin & Juice.’ Then I get the word [Kendrick] didn’t like what you posted,” he added. “Then I deleted it, called nephew and left him a message … Nephew, it’s uncle Snoop, I got the message I apologize I was f–ked up. My bad.”
Watch Snoop’s full interview below.
Numerous music stars are on the best original song shortlist for the 2025 Oscars, including Elton John and Brandi Carlile, Lainey Wilson, Pharrell Williams, Maren Morris, Robbie Williams, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
John and Carlile are shortlisted for co-writing “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late; Wilson for co-writing “Out of Oklahoma” from Twisters; Williams for writing “Piece by Piece” from the Netflix film Piece by Piece; Morris for co-writing Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot; Williams for co-writing “Forbidden Road” from Better Man; and Reznor and Ross for co-writing “Compress/Repress” from Challengers.
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released shortlists in 10 categories, including best original song and best original score on Tuesday (Dec. 17).
While music stars were well-represented on the shortlist, several others fell short, including Luke Combs, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran and Megan Thee Stallion, Reneé Rapp and Ryan Tedder.
Two songs from Emilia Pérez appear on the shortlist for best original song. The songs are “El Mal” and “Mi Camino,” both co-written by Clément Ducol and Camille, with the film’s director, Jacques Audiard, co-writing “El Mal.”
Diane Warren is shortlisted for writing “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight. If Warren is nominated, she’ll tie midcentury lyricist Sammy Cahn for the longest streak of consecutive nominations (eight) in the history of the category. (Cahn was a contender every year from 1954 to 1961.) This would be Warren’s 16th overall nod in this category, more than any other woman. Among women, she’s currently tied with the late Marilyn Bergman.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is shortlisted for writing “Tell Me It’s You” from Mufasa: The Lion King. Miranda has been just an Oscar away from an EGOT since 2014, when he won his first Primetime Emmy. He has been Oscar-nominated twice for writing “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana and “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto.
“El Mal” and “Mi Camino” are both nominated for both the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards for best original song. Three other songs that are nominated for both of those awards are on the Oscar shortlist “Beautiful That Way” from The Last Showgirl, “Compress/Repress” from Challengers and “Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot.
The sixth nominee for the Golden Globe is “Forbidden Road” from Better Man. The sixth nominee for the Critics Choice Award is “Harper and Will Go West” from Will & Harper. Both are shortlisted here.
Kristen Wiig co-wrote the latter song with Sean Douglas. (The multitalented performer and writer was Oscar-nominated for best original screenplay for the 2011 hit Bridesmaids.) “Harper and Will Go West” has elements of humor, as have such recent nominees as “Husavik,” from the 2020 comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, and “I’m Just Ken,” from last year’s Barbie.
Here’s a complete list of this year’s 15 shortlisted songs for best original song.
Shortlisted Songs
“Beyond” from Moana 2 (Walt Disney Pictures) — Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear
“Compress/Repress” from Challengers (Amazon MGM) — Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Luca Guadagnino
“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez (Netflix) — Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard
“Forbidden Road” from Better Man (Paramount Pictures) — Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler, Sacha Skarbek
“Harper and Will Go West” from Will & Harper (Netflix) — Sean Douglas, Kristen Wiig, Josh Greenbaum
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight (Netflix) — Diane Warren
“Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot (DreamWorks Animation) — Delacey, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, Ali Tamposi
“Like a Bird” from Sing Sing (A24) — Abraham Alexander, Brandon Marcel, Adrian Quesada
“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez (Netflix) — Clément Ducol, Camille
“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late” (Walt Disney Pictures) — Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt, Bernie Taupin
“Out of Oklahoma” from Twisters (Universal Pictures) — Lainey Wilson, Luke Dick, Shane McAnally
“Piece by Piece” from Piece by Piece (Focus Features) — Pharrell Williams
“Sick in the Head” from Kneecap (Sony Pictures Classics) — Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvaí, Adrian Louis Richard Mcleod, Toddla T
“Tell Me It’s You” from Mufasa: The Lion King (Walt Disney Pictures) – Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Winter Coat” from Blitz (Apple Original Films) — Nicholas Britell, Steve McQueen, Taura Stinson
And here are some highly-touted songs that were passed over for the shortlist.
Not Shortlisted
“Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” from Twisters (Universal) – Jessi Alexander, Luke Combs, Jonathan Singleton
“Beautiful That Way” from The Last Showgirl (Roadside Attractions) — Miley Cyrus, Lykke Li, Andrew Wyatt
“Folie à Deux” from Joker: Folie à Deux (Warner Bros.) — Lady Gaga
“Leash” from Babygirl (A24) — Sky Ferreira, Jorge Elbrecht
“Not My Fault” from Mean Girls (Paramount Pictures) — Alexander 23, Nell Benjamin, Jasper Harris, Megan Thee Stallion, Reneé Rapp, Jeff Richmond, Ryan Tedder, Billy Walsh
“Under the Tree” from That Christmas (Netflix) — Ed Sheeran
“Vaster Than Empires” from Queer (A24) — William Burroughs, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Nominations-round voting runs from Jan. 8 to 12. Nominations will be announced Jan. 17. Final-round voting runs from Feb. 11 to 18. The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide. The show will also stream live on Hulu for the first time.
Burna Boy announced on Tuesday (Dec. 17) that he will be releasing his eighth studio album, No Sign of Weakness, next year via Spaceship, Bad Habit and Atlantic Records. He kicked off the album rollout with the release of his new single “Bundle by Bundle” the same day. Produced by his frequent collaborator Telz, “Bundle […]
When it comes to quintessential covers of traditional holiday songs, arguably one of the best — and definitely most soulful — is The Temptations’ 1980 reinterpretation of the classic “Silent Night.” But during another holiday season 60 years ago, Motown Records released another classic that set the mold for the quintet’s legendary career: “My Girl.”
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Written and produced by fellow Motown legends and Miracles founding members Smokey Robinson and Ronnie White, “My Girl” was released through Motown subsidiary Gordy on Dec. 21, 1964. Three months later, in March 1965, the song had ascended to the top of Billboard’s pop and R&B charts, giving the Temptations their first No. 1 hit. “My Girl” also marked another milestone: the first Temptations single with David Ruffin as lead singer. Succeeding former original member Elbridge “Al” Bryant, Ruffin rounded out what became the group’s storied lineup alongside Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams and Paul Williams.
Now co-founder and last original member Otis Williams and The Temptations are celebrating the 60th anniversary of their mega-hit, which has now crossed the 1 billion streams mark on Spotify.
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The Temptations
Universal Music Archives
“I don’t think it gets any greater than that,” Williams tells Billboard on the eve of an anniversary run that kicked off with a performance of “My Girl” on the Today show Monday (Dec. 16) and includes visits to The View Tuesday (Dec. 17), Sherri and ABC News’ Nightline Wednesday (Dec. 18). Back in October during Game 5 of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, the group performed the hit, which New York shortstop Francisco Lindor had adopted as his walk-up music. The ensuing stadium-wide singalong at Citi Field is what happens every time The Temptations perform their signature song that’s known worldwide.
And there’s no wiggle room when it comes to not performing “My Girl.” Willams remembers a concert that happened years ago when the group, for whatever reason, didn’t sing the song. “They called us almost every name except child of God,” recalls Williams with a laugh. “And I said, ‘Paul, that’s one song we can never ever take out of our lineup.’ Here it is 2024 and when we perform it, the audience stands up like it’s the national anthem.”
So what is it about “My Girl” that resonates so strongly 60 years after its release? People invariably mention the love ode’s instantly recognizable opening bass notes and romantic sentiments expressed in the lyrics (“I don’t need no money, fortune, or fame/ I’ve got all the riches, baby, one man can claim”) brought to life by Ruffin’s indelible vocals and The Temptations’ sweet harmonies.
For those who may not know, “My Girl” was the follow-up to another Robinson-written and produced hit that’s also celebrating its own 60th anniversary: Mary Wells’ “My Guy.” Reminiscing about “My Girl” during an episode of his SiriusXM show, Motown’s longtime poet laureate said he was inspired to write the song because of the Temptations.
“I wanted to write something sweet for David Ruffin to sing,” recalled Robinson. “David had that great voice. I used to tell him that he demanded the girls to love him because he had that oh, come on, baby kind of voice. But I want him to sing something … that the girls could just swoon over. So I wrote ‘My Girl’ for his voice and for The Temptations to sing. And it has done what I set out to do when I wrote the song or what I set out to do anytime I write a song: it has stood the test of time.”
In the years since its release, “My Girl” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. Then the Library of Congress chose it for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2017, calling the song “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
The Temptations
Shahar Azran
During NBC’s holiday special A Motown Christmas, which aired Dec. 11, Williams and The Temptations — whose current lineup also features Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Tony Grant and Jawan M. Jackson — performed a three-song set of hits that included “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Get Ready” and, of course, “My Girl.”
“When we finished putting the vocals down on the song, I said to Smokey in the control room, ‘Man, I don’t know how big a record this is going to be. But this is going to be a record,” remarks Williams, whose own career accolades include an honorary doctorate from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala. “I still can’t believe that here we are, some 60 years later and we’re still going strong. Most groups don’t get that kind of break. It was God’s timing for Motown to start when it did. And here we are a part of something that will outlive all of us.”
Sabrina Carpenter isn’t the only entertainer in her family, but her aunt — Simpsons star Nancy Cartwright — thinks that she will be their first EGOT winner someday. In an interview with Good Morning America posted Monday (Dec. 16), one day ahead of the premiere of the famous cartoon’s 2024 holiday special on Disney+, the […]
Gracie Abrams opened 49 Eras Tour shows and to hear her tell it the final day on Taylor Swift’s mega world stadium outing was a lot like the last, weepy hours of a high school year. “Everyone had been crying all day. It felt like the last day of school backstage,” she told Nylon magazine in a new feature about her magical year. “Everyone was walking around with their [Eras Tour] books, signing each other’s books. We were all walking around with Sharpies.”
Abrams spoke to the magazine less than 36 hours after the final Eras Tour show in Vancouver on December 8 and admittedly was struggling with the stages of grief as she put the life-changing experience behind her. “I watched the live streams on shows that I wasn’t at,” she said. “I’m feeling emotional and grateful and in a state of shock that we don’t, as a global community, get to experience that source of light anymore.”
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As she ascends to her own new pop plateaus — including a recent debut Saturday Night Live musical guest spot and a fifth week at No. 1 on the U.K. charts with her “That’s So True” single — Abrams, 25, said the time spent on tour with Swift was like pop star boot camp. “I was just soaking up every moment of her show, too. I’ve basically been studying it for a year-and-a-half,” she said of Swift, who returned the favor by scattered some of her musical pixie dust on Abrams’ The Secret of Us track “Us.” “Every time I’ve opened for her, I watch and learn. I learned from her every time we have a conversation about the weather, even,” Abrams said.
Though she initially got hit with the dreaded “nepo baby” tag thanks to famous parents Star Wars and Star Trek director J.J. Abrams and production exec Katie McGrath, Abrams said the tables are starting to turn. The Nylon writer described a recent New York show where they observed fans approaching director Abrams to take selfies with “Gracies dad.”
“They’re like, ‘What in the world?’” Abrams said of her parents’ take on her rising fame. “But it’s really sweet,” she adds, noting that watching the sweet way her mother interacts with people is the model for how she wants to be. “Her support and encouragement of my writing my whole life is the reason that I’m doing any of this now,” she said.
The one thing she didn’t want to discuss, however, was her rumored relationship with Gladiator II star Paul Mescal, who she’s been photographed with a number of times this year. Asked how she’s dealing with a high-profile relationship amidst her rising fame, Abrams kept things vague. “That has nothing to do with me,” she said. “It doesn’t affect me.”
The singer announced her own 2025 North American headlining tour the day after wrapping her Eras run and told the magazine that she’s re-teamed with The National’s Aaron Dessner at New York’s Electric Lady Studios with an eye toward releasing her third album by late 2025.
“I am inspired by Taylor in a million ways, but especially by the pace with which she puts things out into the world,” Abrams said. “There’s less pressure the more you release — that’s how I consider it for myself. I want to just keep it coming while I’m in this period of writing as frequently as I am. I think it would be a waste to not be open.”
Watch Abrams take the Rorschach Test with Nylon below.
Snoop Dogg returned last week with his Missionary album, which found him reuniting with Dr. Dre for his first full-length project alongside the West Coast legend in more than three decades since 1993’s Doggystyle. But the project wasn’t always going to have that title, as Snoop joked with Complex earlier this week as part of […]
Future scores a triple play as his single “Too Fast” reaches No. 1 on three Billboard radio song charts: Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Rhythmic Airplay and Rap Airplay. The track advances to the summit on the lists dated Dec. 21 after it became the most played song on U.S. monitored mainstream R&B/hip-hop and rhythmic radio stations and the most heard song, by audience impression count, on U.S. monitored hip-hop stations in the tracking week ending Dec. 12, according to Luminate.
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“Too Fast,” released on Freebandz/Epic Records, jumps from No. 3 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay after a 3% increase in plays for the week. It becomes Future’s seventh No. 1 on the chart and second of 2024, after “Like That,” his collaboration with Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar, which reigned for three weeks in June. The rapper’s leading collection includes the longest running No. 1 in the chart’s history, the 16-week champ “Wait for U,” featuring Drake and Tems, from 2022.
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Looking at Rhythmic Airplay, “Too Fast” wraps an identical 3-1 leap after a strong 12% surge in weekly plays and likewise is Future’s seventh No. 1 on the radio ranking. On Rap Airplay, the single pushes from the runner-up spot thanks to a 9% rally in audience impressions, giving the rapper his sixth leader.
With its triple coronation, “Too Fast” is the fifth song to rule the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Rhythmic Airplay and Rap Airplay charts in 2024. It joins Future’s collaboration with Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar, “Like That,” Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me,” Lamar’s “Not Like Us” and Nicki Minaj’s “Everybody,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert.
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Elsewhere, “Too Fast” climbs 4-3 on the audience-based R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop stations. There, it improved to 13.4 million audience impressions, up 7%. Such gains, in turn, push the track 24-23 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart, with a 9% improvement to 24 million audience impressions across all formats.
“Too Fast” appears on Future’s Mixtape Pluto project, which dropped in September. It became the rapper’s 16th No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, a record by a solo artist and put Future within one leader of tying The Temptations for the most among all acts.
