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Larry Mullen Jr. may have spent his career drumming, but that doesn’t mean it all comes easily to him. In a new interview with Times Radio published Thursday (Dec. 12), the U2 percussionist revealed that he has long struggled with dyscalculia — a learning disorder related to mathematics — that sometimes interferes with his ability to play.
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While speaking to the publication about his work on the soundtrack for Anna Toomey’s Left Behind documentary, which tells the story of five mothers working to establish New York’s first school for dyslexics, Mullen Jr. said that he’s “always known that there’s something not particularly right with the way that I deal with numbers.”
“I’m numerically challenged,” he continued. “And I realized recently that I have dyscalculia, which is a sub-version of dyslexia. So I can’t count [and] I can’t add.”
According to Cleveland Clinic, dyscalculia interrupts the areas in the brain that process skills related to numerical comprehension, similar to how dyslexia complicates the brain’s ability to read. For Mullen Jr., the disorder makes it difficult for him to count through measures of music while he’s playing alongside bandmates Bono, the Edge and Adam Clayton.
“When people watch me play sometimes, they say, ‘You look pained,’” he told Times Radio. “I am pained, because I’m trying to count the bars. I had to find ways of doing this — and counting bars is like climbing Everest.”
Featuring music written and produced by Mullen Jr., Left Behind first premiered at Woodstock Film Festival in October. The documentary’s story hit close to home for the U2 band member in more ways than one, he says, as one of his sons also struggles with a learning disability.
“Making the music through the eyes of my dyslexic son felt personal and visceral,” shared Mullen Jr.
The interview comes just a couple weeks after the Nov. 22 arrival of U2’s How to Re-assemble an Atomic Bomb, a special release celebrating the 20-year anniversary of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb that features previously unreleased tracks from the 2004 album’s recording sessions. In September, the rock band premiered V-U2 An Immersive Concert Film at Sphere Las Vegas, an onscreen playback of the group’s historic residency at Las Vegas’ The Sphere.
U2’s most recent album was Songs of Surrender, which arrived in March 2023. The project reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
The first-ever Billboard Arabia Music Awards (BBAMAs) lit up the stage on Wednesday (Dec. 11) at the King Fahad Cultural Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This landmark event celebrated the incredible talent shaping Arabic music, honoring artists who dominated Billboard Arabia’s charts throughout the year, alongside several honorary awards, including Icon of the Year, Lifetime Achievement and the Cultural Impact Award.
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This event underscores the growing significance of Arabic music on the global sound map, as it joins K-pop, Latin and African music among the fastest-growing music markets worldwide. Arabic music is echoing across the globe through a surge in international concerts, cross-cultural collaborations and a celebration of its rich and diverse sounds—all under the trusted Billboard umbrella.
Winners of the BBAMAs were determined based on their performance on Billboard Arabia’s diverse charts: the Hot 100, Artist 100, dialect-specific charts (Khaleeji, Egyptian, Levantine and Magharebi) and genre-specific charts such as Arabic Hip-Hop, Arabic Indie, Shelat and Mahraganat. These categories reflect Billboard’s signature approach to celebrating music that resonates globally.
Sherine’s music and voice continue to leave an undeniable mark on the Arabic music landscape, as she swept five awards, reflecting her continued ability to resonate with fans across the region. Not far behind was Al Shami, who claimed four awards, and ElGrande Toto, who took home three trophies, while Abdul Majeed Abdullah was given the Lifetime Achievement Award, in addition to Artist of the Year – Khaleeji Dialect and Top Male Artist – Khaleeji Dialect. Meanwhile, the Cultural Impact Award was posthumously presented to the late and iconic singer Etab by Paul Pacifico, CEO of the Saudi Music Commission, honoring her enduring legacy and profound influence on Arabic music.
The evening was marked by electrifying performances from regional and global superstars. Elissa delivered an unforgettable medley of some of her greatest hits against a cinematic, visually stunning set design, proving why she took home the coveted Icon Award. Tamer Ashour performed his chart-topping anthem “Haygeely Mawgoa,” which earned Song of the Year, while Elyanna dazzled the audience with a vibrant medley, including her hit “Ganeni.” Elyanna’s remarkable year was further celebrated as she took home Top New Artist and Top Arabic Indie Female Artist.
The coveted Top Dueto of the Year went to Ahmed Saad and Assala for their heartfelt collaboration “Sab Farhety.” Saad also set the stage ablaze with performances of his fan-favorite hits, including “Wasa Wasa” and “El Youm El Helw Dah.” The Khaleeji medley was another highlight, featuring breathtaking performances from Hams Fekry, Ayed and Oumaima Taleb. Ayed’s standout track earned him Top Khaleeji Song, while Oumaima was crowned Top Female Artist – Khaleeji Dialect.
Adding to the night’s significance, the BBAMAs coincided with Saudi Arabia’s historic announcement of winning the bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup. In a special segment, Ayed, Ghada Sherri and Fahd Bin Fasla debuted the first official songs for the World Cup, making the awards’ debut ceremony truly unforgettable.
Who else made their mark at the inaugural Billboard Arabia Music Awards? Check out the full list of winners below to see who’s shaping the future of Arabic music.
Billboard Arabia
Song of the Year
“Haygely Mawgow” by Tamer Ashour
Artist of the Year
Sherine Abdel Wahab
Top Male Artist
Amr Diab
Top Female Artist
Sherine Abdel Wahab
Top Band
Cairokee
Top New Artist
Elyanna
Highest Gainer
TUL8TE
Top Arabic Dueto of the Year
Assala Nasri and Ahmed Saad – “Sabb Farhety”
Top Khaleeji Song
Ayed – “Lammah”
Artist of the Year – Khaleeji Dialect
Abdul Majeed Abdullah
Top Male Artist – Khaleeji Dialect
Abdul Majeed Abdullah
Top Female Artist – Khaleeji Dialect
Oumaima Taleb
Top Egyptian Song
Tamer Ashour – “Haygely Mawgow”
Artist of the Year – Egyptian Dialect
Sherine Abdel Wahab
Top Male Artist – Egyptian Dialect
Amr Diab
Top Female Artist – Egyptian Dialect
Sherine Abdel Wahab
Top Levantine Song
Al Shami – “Sabra”
Artist of the Year – Levantine Dialect
Al Shami
Top Male Artist – Levantine Dialect
Al Shami
Top Female Artist – Levantine Dialect
Nancy Ajram
Top Magharebi Song
Saad Lamjarred, Shreya Ghoshal and Rajat Nagpal – “Guli Mata”
Artist of the Year – Magharebi
Dystinct
Top Male Artist – Magharebi Dialect
Dystinct
Top Female Artist – Magharebi Dialect
Manal
Top Arabic Hip-Hop Song
ElGrandeToto – “Blue Love”
Artist of the Year – Arabic Hip-Hop
ElGrandeToto
Top Arabic Hip-Hop Male Artist
ElGrandeToto
Top Arabic Hip-Hop Female Artist
Khtek
Top Indie Song
Al Shami – “Sabra”
Artist of the Year – Arabic Indie
Cairokee
Top Arabic Indie Male Artist
Muslim
Top Arabic Indie Female Artist
Elyanna
Top Mahraganat Song
Eslam Kabonga – “Aywa Ya Habibty Wahashtiny”
Artist of the Year – Mahraganat
Essam Sasa
Top Male Mahraganat Artist
Essam Sasa
Top Shelat Song
Abdullah Al Farwan – “Jamalek Gheer”
Artist of the Year – Shelat
Mohammed Bin Garman
Top Male Artist of the Year – Shelat
Mohammed Bin Garman
Best Composer
Amro El-Shazly & Mehdi Mzayen
Best Songwriter
Aleem
Best Music Producer
Tareq Hjeily
12/13/2024
The Saltburn soundtrack, Kylie Minogue’s dance pop Grammy and electronic music at the Paris Olympics make up some of the biggest dance stories of the year.
12/13/2024
Myles Smith’s “Stargazing” caps a triumphant 27-week trip to No. 1 on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, rising a spot on the tally dated Dec. 21.
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“Stargazing” reigns with 4.7 million audience impressions, up 15%, on alternative, adult alternative and mainstream rock reporting stations in the week ending Dec. 12, according to Luminate.
The song wraps the lengthiest rise to No. 1 by a solo male, and ties for the fifth-longest overall, since Rock & Alternative Airplay began in June 2009.
Longest Rises to No. 1, Rock & Alternative Airplay:33 weeks, “Out of My League,” Fitz and the Tantrums (reached No. 1 in 2013)30, “First, “Cold War Kids (2015)29, “Running Up That Hill,” Meg Myers (2020)29, “Trampoline,” SHAED (2019)27, “Stargazing,” Myles Smith (2024)27, “All My Favorite Songs,” Weezer (2021)26, “Way Down We Go,” KALEO (2016)24, “Broken,” lovelytheband (2018)24, “Tighten Up,” The Black Keys (2010)
“Stargazing” is Smith’s first Rock & Alternative Airplay ruler, earned with the British singer-songwriter’s first entry on the ranking. He’s the third act to score an initial leader on the chart this year, following The Offspring (“Make It All Right”), Hozier (“Too Sweet”) and Pearl Jam (“Dark Matter”). He’s the first to achieve the feat with a maiden hit since Giovannie & the Hired Guns, with “Ramon Ayala,” in 2022. Before Smith, Alice Merton last achieved the feat among soloists as a lead act, with “No Roots” in 2018.
Along the way to its Rock & Alternative Airplay coronation, “Stargazing” led the Alternative Airplay chart in September. (It ranks at No. 5 on the latest tally.) It also leads Adult Pop Airplay for a second week, following a week atop Pop Airplay. It becomes just the eighth song to have hit No. 1 on Rock & Alternative Airplay, Alternative Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Pop Airplay, joining Hozier’s “Too Sweet” earlier in 2024, Panic! at the Disco’s “High Hopes” (2018-19), Portugal. The Man’s “Feel It Still” (2017), Twenty One Pilots’ “Stressed Out” (2015-16), Lorde’s “Royals” (2013), fun.’s “We Are Young,” featuring Janelle Monáe (2012) and Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know,” featuring Kimbra (2012).
“Stargazing,” which also reached No. 4 on Adult Alternative Airplay, ranked at No. 3 on the most recently published Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart (dated Dec. 14, reflecting the Nov. 29-Dec. 5 tracking week), with 53.4 million audience impressions across all radio formats, 6.3 million official U.S. streams and 1,000 sold.
“Stargazing” is on Smith’s EP A Minute…, which debuted at its No. 25 high on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart dated Nov. 23.
All Billboard charts dated Dec. 21 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Dec. 17.
Will Smith is fed up with the jokes. The rapper turned actor was performing in San Diego this week, addressing the crowd as he tried to distance himself from the embattled Sean “Diddy” Combs by referencing alleged social media memes that he’s seen since the mogul was arrested for sex trafficking charges in September. “Some […]
Taylor Swift is officially 35 years old, and her Eras Tour crew is celebrating her birthday on Friday (Dec. 13). Her fan-favorite backup dancer, Kam Saunders, shared his final Eras “Bejeweled” solo via Instagram, and in the video, he and Swift share an adorable hug before he repeatedly tells the star, “I love you!” In […]
Miley Cyrus is getting her flowers with her song “Beautiful That Way” receiving a 2025 Golden Globe nomination this week — something the pop star humbly reacted to on X Thursday (Dec. 12).
Three days after the star’s contribution to Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl soundtrack received a best original song nod Dec. 9, Cyrus shared a recent photo of herself and wrote that it’s “an honor” to be nominated alongside her “friends and collaborators” Andrew Wyatt and Lykee Li, who helped write and produce the track.
She also shouted out the film’s leading lady, Pamela Anderson, who the “Wrecking Ball” singer said is “graciously sharing her moment with us.”
“I am continuing to root for her, it’s so fun to watch her shine,” Cyrus added. “Thank you Gia Coppola for inviting me to be a part of your gem ‘The Last Showgirl.’”
“Beautiful That Way” is up for best original song alongside “Compress / Repress” from Challengers, “El Mal” and “Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez, “Forbidden Road” from Better Man and “Kiss The Sky” form The Wild Robot. On the same day Golden Globe nominations went live, the Hannah Montana alum released the ballad in full for the first time on YouTube.
“Spin baby spin/ The night always falls/ At least you had your day,” she sings over delicate strings. “Now the light shines on some other girl/ Who’s beautiful that way.”
Released in September, The Last Showgirl finds the Baywatch icon’s character — a showgirl named Shelly — navigating life after her show is abruptly shut down. According to Variety, Cyrus recently gushed about her lifelong connection to the actress, revealing that Anderson is “deeply embedded into my earliest memories with my mother.”
“We both worshipped Pam and still do,” the Grammy winner continued. “I took the emotion I have towards those times with my mom and the few times we’ve gotten to spend with Pam. I thought a lot about what this film means to her not just as an actress but as the special person that she is.”
Following a blockbuster run with 2023’s Endless Summer Vacation — which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and spawned eight-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Flowers” — Cyrus is now working on her next album. In November, she revealed that the LP will be heavily inspired by Pink Floyd’s The Wall, “but with a better wardrobe and more glamorous and filled with pop culture,” she told Harper’s Bazaar.
“It was important for me that every song has these healing sound properties,” she added. “The songs, whether they’re about destruction or heartbreak or death, they’re presented in a way that is beautiful, because the nastiest times of our life do have a point of beauty.”
Kicking things off are Stray Kids who dropped a new album, Hop, just five months after scoring another No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with Ate and one day after taking home the 2024 Billboard Music Award for Top Global K-Pop Artist. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news […]
Legendary football coach Bill Belichick shocked the football community when he took the University of North Carolina head coaching job earlier this week instead of waiting for a possible NFL gig. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news While plenty of debate was sparked on social media with […]
Billboard Unfiltered returned with a brand new episode on Friday (Dec. 13), and some new faces joined the fellas for the 25th installment of the series.
Vibe‘s Regina Cho and Amber Corrine make their Unfiltered debut alongside co-hosts Carl Lamarre and Kyle Denis for the final episode of 2024, during which they also discuss predictions for 2025.
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Billboard‘s Top 10 Hottest Female Rappers of 2024 list created some waves around the culture, and the foursome debated what they liked and didn’t, as well as who they hope to see make a leap next year.
“Any list that does not include GloRilla at No. 1 I feel like causes an uproar because it is undeniable the year she has had,” Cho said. “It is so remarkable how in June, Doechii was not on the list, and now she’s at No. 6. The ascension she’s had in the last few months is so amazing to see … My year was defined in Latto, Megan Thee Stallion and Glo.”
As a resident of Gag City, Corrine wanted to see Nicki Minaj get the nod over Megan Thee Stallion at No. 2. “I’m very happy to see Nicki Minaj in the top five, but I would maybe make her No. 2,” she said. “I’d like to see Tierra Whack too.”
Denis is very happy with how the list turned out, as JT moved up a slot compared to June’s iteration. “I’m happy to see my girl JT move up a spot. I’m incredibly proud of the year she’s had,” he shared. “Latto was another defining artist regardless of genre or gender for me … If I had to champion one person who didn’t make the list, it would probably Little Simz.”
Lamarre, who spearheaded the list, enjoyed the reception to it, but especially the humility displayed by Cardi B at No. 10, as he sees a dominant 2025 in her future. “To be quite frank, there were discussions about her being off the list altogether,” he admitted. “We’re used to seeing Cardi in superstar form and she has not been that … She took it with grace … I think Cardi is going to put herself in position to have an explosive 2025, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her go from 10 to one.”
Also discussed during the episode was Jay-Z, who in a civil lawsuit filed Dec. 8 was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl at a 2000 MTV Video Music Awards afterparty with Diddy. A Jane Doe made the assault allegations against the two men in the suit filed by Texas attorney Tony Buzbee. Hov has vehemently denied all allegations against him, calling the suit “extortionate.”
“I wasn’t shocked because it felt like they were coming for Jay-Z next,” Corrine said. With Jay-Z being a fixture in his life as his favorite rapper, Denis shared that his “stomach sank” after hearing the shocking lawsuit’s details. “That was pretty heavy to sit with. I’m gonna wait to see how this plays out,” he said. “My heart broke for Blue [Ivy].”
Watch the episode below.
