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Adding yet another honor to her Billboard chart résumé, Mariah Carey has now ranked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in a record-extending, and milestone, 20 distinct years. As previously reported, Carey‘s 1994 anthem “All I Want for Christmas Is You” returns to No. 1 for a 15th total week atop the Hot […]
Vanderpump Rules star James Kennedy has been arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence, the Burbank Police Department confirms to Billboard. TMZ was first to report the news. According to law enforcement, police were called to a home around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday (Dec. 10) in response to an argument between a man and a woman. “The […]
Beyoncé is set to celebrate Christmas onstage, as she’ll be the NFL Halftime Show headliner for the Dec. 25 game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans — but not for 20 minutes. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The superstar’s publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, seemingly responded to a […]
Morgan Wallen pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts in a Nashville courtroom on Thursday (Dec. 12) following an April incident during which he threw a chair off the sixth-floor balcony of Eric Church’s bar, Chief’s, in April.
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He was sentenced to probation for two years and seven days in a DUI education center.
Wallen pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment, which had been pled down from the original charges, which were three Class E felonies for reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon (the chair) and one misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.
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Thursday’s appearance followed a hearing on Tuesday (Dec. 10), which Wallen did not attend, but where his attorney, Worrick Robinson asked to waive the country artist’s right to a preliminary hearing and a grand jury.
Wallen, wearing a gray blazer, black pants and black shirt, entered the courtroom Thursday with his attorney and security. It was the first time he has attended any of the hearings following the April incident. In the courtroom, Wallen and his attorney Worrick Robinson stood before Judge Cynthia Chappell, who reiterated the charges that Wallen was entering a guilty plea for. Wallen kept his comments to a minimum during the session, mostly answering the judge’s questions with a direct, soft-spoken “Yes, ma’am” or “No, ma’am.” Following the session, Wallen and his attorney exited the courtroom.
In a statement following the hearing, Robinson said, “Earlier today, Morgan Wallen appeared in Davidson County Circuit Court with Judge Cynthia Chappell presiding, where he entered a conditional plea pursuant to Tennessee’s Diversion Statute that does not result in a conviction. The plea agreement with the Office of the District Attorney requires Mr. Wallen to spend seven days at a DUI education center, be on probation for two years — one year for each of the misdemeanor charges for reckless endangerment— pay a $350 fine and court fees. Upon the successful completion of his probation, the charges will be eligible for dismissal and expungement … Mr. Wallen has cooperated fully with authorities throughout these last eight months, directly communicating and apologizing to all involved. Mr. Wallen remains committed to making a positive impact through his music and foundation.”
The court date comes three weeks after Wallen won entertainer of the year at the CMA Awards on Nov. 20.
Meek Mill is never one to mince words on X. He shared his thoughts on Wednesday (Dec. 11) regarding the rampant gun violence in America while pressing the media for being hung up on the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot and killed in New York City earlier this month. Explore Explore […]
If you didn’t get a chance to catch Charli xcx and Troye Sivan‘s SWEAT tour in person, you can still “feel the rush” and soak up the Brat Summer vibes at home. The superstar duo’s tour is making its way to virtual reality, Billboard can exclusively reveal, thanks to iHeartMedia and Meta and produced alongside OBB Media.
Charli xcx & Troye Sivan Present SWEAT in VR will be available exclusively on Meta Quest devices starting Dec. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The show was filmed during one of Charli and Troye’s performances at the KIA Forum in Los Angeles in October.
“The LA shows were incredible because of the energy in the crowd — it was especially good on night 2,” Sivan tells Billboard exclusively. “Having friends and family in the audience made it more special, too. It felt like a celebration with everyone I love and admire right there in the room.”
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He continues: “The SWEAT tour was one of the best experiences of my life, and I wanted to immortalize it in a way that felt as immersive and special as it was for me. iHeart, Meta and OBB have been able to make this come to life in VR and it’s the perfect medium to capture the intimacy, the energy, and the joy of those nights so that people at home could truly feel like they were there, or relive it.”
“Performing with Troye every night on the SWEAT tour was truly iconic and I’m so excited for fans to now be able to experience it at home,” Charli xcx added in a release announcing the news.
The 22-date nationwide tour wrapped in October and featured both artists taking turns performing high-energy hits, including Charli’s Brat hits like “360,” “Von Dutch” and “Girl, So Confusing,” as well as Troye’s fan-favorite jams including “My My My,” “Rush” and “One of Your Girls.” The concert, which is available for free in Meta Horizon Worlds Music Valley, will give fans a front-row seat to all the fun with 180-degree views of the show.
“She brings such an insane energy to the stage, and those performances felt like pure magic,” Sivan shares of his onstage partner. “I can’t wait for fans to relive or experience those moments for the first time.”
Charli xcx & Troye Sivan Present SWEAT in VR is executive produced by iHeartMedia’s John Sykes, president of entertainment enterprises, and Bart Peters, senior vice president of production and development; as well as Michael D. Ratner, Scott Ratner, Anthony Anchelowitz, Simone Spira and Kfir Goldberg for OBB Pictures, the Film & TV division of OBB Media; with Glenn Stickley, co-executive producing for OBB Media.
“Charli xcx, Troye Sivan and their teams have built something electric and singular with this show,” Ratner said of the SWEAT tour. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to partner with Meta and iHeartMedia to share this experience with fans around the world.”
Sykes agreed, saying in a statement: “Partnering with Charli xcx and Troye Sivan and with Meta gives us a unique opportunity to offer our millions of listeners the chance to experience two of the most talented artists in music performing on the most exciting new visual platform today.”
Sarah Malkin, director of Metaverse Entertainment at Meta, added, “The SWEAT Tour is the latest in a long lineup of incredible performances that we’ve brought to Music Valley. “Connecting fans to their favorite artists in a totally unique way through virtual reality extends the joy and excitement of concerts to even more people – and we couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with iHeart, Charli xcx and Troye Sivan to do that with this show.”
After the show, fans can catch free concerts from more artists in Music Valley, or experience the thousands of apps available in the Meta Horizon Store. Meta Quest 3S retails for $299, and features 128GB of storage, but you can upgrade to the 256GB device for $399.99. Meta Quest 3S is available at major retailers such as Amazon, Target, Walmart, Best Buy and Meta.com.
Snoop Dogg is headed into space for a starring role in an upcoming sci-fi movie from director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element). The rapper will not only top-line The Last Man, but according to Variety, he will also co-produce the post-apocalyptic tale whose plot is being kept quiet for now.
The magazine reported that The Last Man is believed to be inspired by Planet of the Apes and have a connection to Snoop’s 2009 track “Last Man Standing.” Besson’s eclectic, four-decade-plus filmography has included a number of science fiction films, among them 1997’s The Fifth Element with Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich, the trippy Lucy with Scarlett Johansson in 2014 and the big-budget Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets in 2017, which featured Clive Owen, Cara Delevingne, Rihanna and Ethan Hawke.
Besson is also writing the script for the upcoming film, which Variety speculated would be in the same wheelhouse as The Fifth Element, mixing sci-fi with comedy and action. The project will be a reunion for the director and rapper, who worked together in 2006 on the live action/animated fantasy movie Arthur and the Invisibles, in which The Voice coach starred as Koolamassai leader Max alongside an all-star cast that also included Madonna, Robert DeNiro, David Bowie, Freddie Highmore, Mia Farrow and Chazz Palminteri.
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“Ever since I’ve seen The Professional, I’ve always wanted [Luc] to direct a whole movie for me. Now we finally get the opportunity for him to write and direct me in a Luc Besson movie,” Snoop said.
Besson returned the admiration, adding, “I’ve been a big fan of Snoop Dogg’s music ever since ‘Who Am I.’ We first met 20 years ago, and we’ve always wanted to work together again. We just needed the right project that would excite us both — and this is it, with Snoop in the lead role. I can’t wait to get started!”
Snoop’s Death Row Pictures is co-producing the movie along with Besson and wife Virginie Besson-Silla for EuropaCorp, with filming slated to begin next year.
The rapper’s acting resume is nearly as long as his rapping sheet, dating back to early appearances in Half Baked and Caught Up in the mid-1990s, as well as co-starring roles in a variety of dramas, comedies and genre films, including Baby Boy, Training Day, Bones, The Wash, Starsky & Hutch and Dolemite Is My Name, among many others.
In the meantime, Snoop is gearing up to release his Missionary album on Friday (Dec. 13), which represents his first full-length LP made in collaboration with mentor Dr. Dre since Snoop’s 1993 debut, Doggystyle.
Billie Eilish is currently touring through arenas and stadiums, but she’s also making time for smaller venues — tiny ones, you might say. On Thursday (Dec. 12), the 22-year-old superstar’s appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk web series went live on YouTube, showing Eilish, her brother and producer Finneas and a few band members cramming into […]
In addition to hanging those stockings with care, Post Malone is going to have to make more room on his mantle for new hardware from the RIAA. The Recording Industry Association announced on Thursday (Dec. 12) that Malone’s star-packed debut country album, F-1 Trillion, has been certified Platinum (one million). Explore Explore See latest videos, […]
During a recent conversation, John Mayer and Shawn Mendes opened up about an experience not many others can relate to: having a high-profile ex write a hit song about you.
On the latest episode of the “Daughters” singer’s How’s Life With John Mayer program on SiriusXM, the two men — who, between the two of them, are believed to have inspired bangers by artists such as Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Camila Cabello and Sabrina Carpenter — got real about the “psychological toll,” as Mayer called it, of those songs opening up their personal lives to public scrutiny.
“No one’s gonna understand,” Mayer began, conceding that he and his friend are “handsomely rewarded for the stuff we have to deal with.” “You and I are both talking as people who’ve heard songs that — at least other people are saying — are references to us.”
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Agreeing, Mendes shared, “It sucks to feel like … It’s a funny feeling to feel like you’re being written about, and maybe the whole picture’s not being expressed.”
As Mayer pointed out, it’s also not exactly like the two musicians can talk about these issues to a professional who relates to the pressures of celebrity life. “You talk to a therapist and go, ‘You ever seen your ex-girlfriend on a billboard before?’” the “Your Body Is a Wonderland” artist said, laughing. “‘Let me tell you, it’s a weird two weeks.’”
Even so, the Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile star said he wouldn’t let that prevent him from falling in love with another songwriter. “The suffering that is from hearing a song talking about you in a way you don’t want to be talked about is not even close to the beauty of falling in love with someone for the first time,” he told Mayer.
Neither of the artists named names, but both have been in public relationships with very famous women in music. Between 2012 and 2015, Mayer dated the “Teenage Dream” singer — whom he bumped into at a recent Carpenter concert — and before that, he had a relationship with a certain Eras Tour headliner, whose scathing 2010 ballad “Dear John” is widely believed to be about the guitarist.
Speaking of the “Espresso” singer, Mendes is the long-rumored center of a love triangle with his “Señorita” duet partner and Carpenter. Cabello’s “June Gloom” and the Girl Meets World alum’s “Sharpest Tool” and “Taste” detail a love interest who’s still not over his ex, seemingly mirroring how Mendes was spotted with Carpenter several times in 2023 right before rekindling things with Cabello.
Without getting into details, Mendes did appear to touch on the situation with Mayer. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is no one gets out of this life without getting hurt, and no one gets out of this life without hurting someone,” the “Mercy” singer said.
Watch Mayer and Mendes talk about being the inspiration for songs below.
