Music
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Taylor Swift gave shout-outs to two of her friends Friday (Aug. 23), praising both Sabrina Carpenter‘s new album Short n’ Sweet as well as Zoë Kravitz‘s film Blink Twice on Instagram Stories.
Of her former Eras tour mate, the pop superstar wrote: “Short. Sweet. Has made an extraordinary album.”
Sharing a photo of her posing with Carpenter at a Kansas City Chiefs game in October, Swift also gave followers a call to action. “Go support our girl!!” she wrote.
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The “Espresso” singer dropped her sixth studio album Friday, featuring the Billboard Hot 100-topping hit “Please Please Please” and new single “Taste,” for which she also offered a music video costarring Jenna Ortega. The project comes more than five months after Carpenter concluded her run as Swift’s opener on the Eras Tour’s Latin American, Asian and Australian dates.
Reposting Swift’s praise on her own Story, the Girl Meets World alum simply wrote, “:’) ily.”
Also on Instagram, the “Anti-Hero” artist raved about Blink Twice, Kravitz’s directorial debut starring the Batman star’s fiancé, actor Channing Tatum. “This film is incredible,” Swift wrote, sharing the psychological thriller’s poster. “Thrilling, twisted, wickedly funny, and visually stunning. The performances are phenomenal.”
“Zoe Kravitz conceptualized this, wrote it, obsessed over every detail, and directed it with such a clear and bold vision,” Swift continued of her friend. “I’m so blown away by what she’s accomplished here and I can’t wait to watch everyone discover this film and this brilliant filmmaker.”
The 14-time Grammy winner’s post comes a few days after Tatum shared a sweet video of his and Kravitz’s date night at one of Swift’s Wembley Eras Tour shows. “The love is real and @taylorswift13 is an absolute force!” he captioned the clip, which showed him kissing the actress on the cheek as she danced along to “Shake It Off.”
Swift and Kravitz have been close friends for years, and even collaborated on the former’s Midnights track “Lavender Haze.” In 2022, the Divergent alum told GQ that she and the “Karma” artist were in each other’s quarantine pods, with Swift telling the publication: “Zoë’s sense of self is what makes her such an exciting artist, and such an incredible friend. She has this very honest inner compass, and the result is art and life without compromising who she is.”
If there’s one thing Mötley Crüe mastered in their hair metal heyday it was fighting for the right to party. But on the veteran band’s new single, they steal a page from another famously hard-partying crew from the 1980s: the Beastie Boys. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and […]
Just a few hours after the release of her new album Short & Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter dropped the music video to “Taste” Friday (Aug. 23) — but there’s nothing sweet about the Death Becomes Her-inspired bloodbath that ensues in the visual, unless you count the unlikely friendship she forms at the end.
The video opens with Carpenter singing a creepy lullaby: “Rock-a-bye baby, snug in your bed/ Right now you are sleeping, and soon you’ll be dead.”
She then sneaks into her ex-boyfriend’s house to hack his new girlfriend — played by Jenna Ortega — to bits with a machete, before realizing that the Wednesday actress had set up a decoy in the bed. Ortega jumps out from hiding and starts shooting Carpenter with a rifle, sending her falling out the second-story window, with the singer impaled on the fence below.
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Such begins a gory cat fight between the two ladies who keep coming back from the dead — à la the 1992 Oscar-winning film starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn — involving weaponized hospital defibrillators, voodoo dolls and Ortega chopping off Carpenter’s arm after the latter bursts in on the former and her nameless beau in the shower. It all culminates with the “Nonsense” singer and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star having a steamy makeout sesh by the pool, before Ortega mistakenly murders their shared boy toy with a chainsaw.
“I heard you’re back together and if that’s true/ You’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissin’ you,” Carpenter sings. “If you want forever, I bet you do/ Just know you’ll taste me too.”
At the funeral for their late love, the girls realize they’re better off as friends than as enemies. “Very insecure,” Ortega complains of her lover-turned-murder-victim, to which Carpenter responds, cackling, “Very insecure! You kill me.”
The Dave Meyers-directed project marks the third music video in Carpenter’s Short & Sweet era, following visuals for smash hit “Espresso” and Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Please Please Please,” which starred her boyfriend, actor Barry Keoghan. The new album marks the musician’s sixth studio album, following 2022’s Emails I Can’t Send, which reached No. 23 on the Billboard 200.
Watch the “Taste” music video above.
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars have won a combined 28 Grammy Awards – 13 for her, 15 for him – so it doesn’t take a genius to know that their newly-released collaboration, “Die With a Smile,” is a strong contender for Grammy nods. The song was released on Aug. 16, two weeks before the close of eligibility for the 67th annual Grammy Awards.
The instant smash has a good chance of nominations for record of the year, song of the year and best pop duo/group performance.
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Both artists have been nominated multiple times for record of the year for previous collaborations. Mars has been nominated three times for collaborations – as a featured artist on B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ on You” and Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” and as the co-lead artist with Anderson .Paak on Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open.” If he is nominated again for “Die With a Smile,” he’ll break out of a tie with Jay-Z and Rihanna as the artist with the most record of the year nods as part of a collab.
Gaga has been nominated for record of the year with two previous collabs – “Shallow” with Bradley Cooper and “I Get a Kick Out of You” with Tony Bennett. Counting all singles, not just collabs, this would be Mars’ seventh record of the year nod; Gaga’s fourth.
The Grammy nominations will be announced on Nov. 8. The 67th annual Grammy Awards will be presented on Feb. 2, 2025 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Gaga and Mars co-wrote and co-produced “Die With a Smile” with Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II and Andrew Watt. James Fauntleroy was an additional co-writer.
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Mars has one of the best batting averages of any artist in Grammy history. He has won 15 awards from just 31 nominations. Adele at one point had won 15 awards from just 18 nominations, but her batting average came down to earth a bit when she won just one award from seven nominations in 2023. (Her current standing – 16 awards from 25 nods – is still pretty great!)
Gaga has won 13 awards from 36 nominations.
While it’s too early to predict who is going to win in the marquee categories, if “Die With a Smile” does win record of the year, Mars would set a big Grammy record: the first artist to win record of the year four times. He’d break out of a tie with Paul Simon, who has won three times (counting two Simon & Garfunkel classics).
Mars won the award in 2016 as a featured artist on Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!,” in 2018 for the solo smash “24K Magic” and along with Anderson .Paak in 2022 for Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open.”
If it wins song of the year, Mars and D’Mile would become the first three-time winners in that category. They are currently in a tie with Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer, Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell, Adele, Brody Brown, James Horner, Will Jennings and the members of U2, with two wins each.
Mars previously won song of the year for co-writing “That’s What I Like” and “Leave the Door Open.” D’Mile previously won for co-writing H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” and “Leave the Door Open.”
If “Die With a Smile” wins record or song of the year, it would be Gaga’s first win in a so-called Big Four category (album, record or song of the year plus best new artist).
If the collab wins best pop duo/group performance, it would be Gaga’s record-setting third win in that category, following wins for pairings with Cooper (“Shallow”) and Ariana Grande (“Rain on Me”). Gaga is currently tied with SZA with two wins each in the category (which was introduced at the 2012 ceremony).
Gaga and Mars share another Grammy common bond: Neither was nominated for best new artist, despite both getting off to hot career starts. In both cases it’s because they blew up so fast that they ran afoul of Grammy eligibility rules in that category.
Gaga was entered in the best new artist competition for the awards that were presented in 2009, but she wasn’t nominated. She was nominated that year for best dance recording for “Just Dance,” her Hot 100-topping collab with Colby O’Donis. That nomination precluded her from getting a second shot at best new artist the following year (which is the norm in that category for artists whose breakthroughs don’t neatly fall into one Grammy eligibility year).
Mars was never even entered for best new artist. He received seven nominations at the awards that were presented in 2011, winning best pop vocal performance, male for his Hot 100-topping “Just the Way You Are.” But because his first full-length album hadn’t been released by the close of that eligibility year – it was released four days later, on Oct. 4, 2010 – he wasn’t eligible for best new artist that year. And he wasn’t allowed in the category the following year because he was, by that point, a Grammy winner. (That’s what you call a Grammy Catch-22.)
The failure of both artists to be nominated for best new artist hasn’t seemed to unduly slow their career momentum.
“Die With a Smile” is expected to challenge for a debut inside the top 10 on next week’s Billboard Hot 100. The chart will be unveiled on Monday (Aug. 26).
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Sabrina Carpenter releases her new full-but-not-too-full-length, Lainey Wilson captures two years’ worth of career hubbub on her latest LP, Coldplay leads a global All-Star prayer circle and much more.
Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet
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The wait is over: Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet is here, on the backs of the consecutive smashes “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” with 10 additional pop confections. Those range from the delectable obvious third single “Taste” to the rollicking acoustic betrayal of “Coincidence” to the frisky soft ’80s pop-funk of “Bed Chem.” For fans hoping for a coherent mix of the hooky confidence and slinky seductiveness of Carpenter’s latest singles with the clever detail and revealing lyrics of Emails I Can’t Send should have no complaints about Short n’ Sweet — outside of the brevity, anyway.
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Lainey Wilson, Whirlwind
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“Whirlwind” is the too-appropriate title to summarize Lainey Wilson’s career since 2022 breakthrough LP Bell Bottom Country, with the past two years being a blur of hits, gigs, cameos and accolades for the always-rising singer-songwriter. The mania has most recently led to her fourth studio album, in which she sounds more self-assured than ever on tracks like the strutting victory lap “Country’s Cool Again,” the Jerry Reed-inspired kiss-off “Ring Finger” and the rip-roaring lead single “Hang Tight Honey.” But she allows she probably won’t be able to do it forever, pleading “I can’t keep trying to keep up with Jones” on the album’s George Jones-referencing opening track.
Coldplay, Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyana & TINI, “We Pray”
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Few would expect Chris Martin & Co. to lead off a New Music Friday single featuring an All-Star global cast of singers and rappers — but Coldplay have extended their pop-rock superstardom into its third decade largely due to their willingness to embrace younger artists and new sounds. So it’s not exactly shocking — and decently rousing — to hear Martin belting “We’ll be singing, Baraye!” over a booming Max Martin-co-produced beat as voices from around the world support him in hoping for simpler and safer times. “We Pray” will be featured on the band’s upcoming Mood Music album, due in October.
Central Cee, “Billion Streams Freestyle” & “Bolide Noir”
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“Said that my b–ch was gay, got a billion streams,” U.K. rapper Central Cee boasts about his breakthrough hit “Doja” apparently passing the 10-digit mark in online plays. The hitmaking MC, whose takeover continues to make its way across the pond, releases two new songs this week to celebrate his achievement, both the gleeful “Freestyle” and the more downbeat “Bolide Noir,” featuring Paris rapper JRK 19, in which a bleary-eyed Cench raps, “When you’ve been through all the things that I have/ Everything else is a walk in the park.” Another rewarding release from one of the decade’s most exciting new rappers.
Mk.gee, “Lonely Fight”
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In a year of major pop breakthroughs, bubbling up below the surface has been singer/songwriter Mk.gee, whose acclaimed debut album of emotional, intimate guitar ballads Two Star & The Dream Police has already earned him a fairly devoted cult following. That album only came out half a year ago, but the artist born Mike Gordon is already back with a new song: the gorgeous “Lonely Fight,” another transmission of aching guitar and warm fretless bass tied together by Gordon’s evocative but open-ended crooning. If you haven’t gotten on the bandwagon yet, be sure to hop on before LP2.
New Radicals, “Murder on the Dancefloor” & “Lost Stars”
The New Radicals hadn’t released any new music since their cult classic 1998 debut LP Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too spawned one of the most enduring pop-rock gems of its era, the recently DNC-featured “You Get What You Give.” Last night, however, they debuted two quasi-new songs, along with an open letter to Kamala Harris’ “super fan” husband Doug Emhoff, and a stated hope “to rally the cause of democracy and encourage all artists to get out the vote.” The “quasi” is due to both of the songs being covers of originals already penned by frontman Gregg Alexander — Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Saltburn-revived “Murder on the Dancefloor” and “Lost Stars” from the 2013 film Begin Again — so not quite enough to raise hopes for any kind of full Brainwashed sequel, but long-Radicalized fans will still undoubtedly be very grateful for the new releases.
The heavy metal Prince of Darkness is just an old softie after all. While he’s made a reputation for singing dark songs about dark subjects for more than half a century, deep down Ozzy Osbourne is a sweet-hearted mushball. Especially when it comes to his beloved fur baby Rocky. The hard rock icon had a […]
It’s always sweet when an artist invites a superfan on stage during a show to give them a special moment with their favorite singer. But a recent incident in Slovakia during a Macklemore set at last weekend’s Lovestream Festival should give anyone wanting to hop up pause. Or at least make them take a beat […]
The iHeartRadio Music Festival lineup is heating up even more, with A$AP Rocky, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and The Weeknd joining the performers list, Billboard can exclusively reveal.
They join previously announced performers Big Sean, Camila Cabello, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, Gwen Stefani, Halsey, Hozier, Keith Urban, New Kids on the Block, Paramore, Shaboozey, The Black Crowes, Thomas Rhett and Victoria Monét. Hosted by Ryan Seacrest, the festival will also include one-of-a-kind collaborations and surprise performances.
Ahead of his iHeart performance, The Weeknd will livestream a “one-night-only” concert from Sao Paolo, Brazil. Martin is currently on tour with Coldplay, with the band joining forces with Maggie Rogers this week during a stop in Vienna to cover Taylor Swift after the superstar was forced to cancel her Eras Tour shows in the Austrian capital due to an alleged terror plot. And current Billboard cover star A$AP Rocky says his Don’t Be Dumb album is finally coming out this fall, so the iHeart crowd could hear some brand-new music from the rapper.
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The event will take over Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 20 and 21, with tickets available via AXS here. For those who can’t catch the action in person, the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Festival presented by Capital One will broadcast live for fans via iHeartMedia radio stations throughout the country. Additionally, Hulu will be the official streaming service for the festival, with performances broadcast live each night to all Hulu subscribers at no additional cost.
“The iHeartRadio Music Festival is the one time each year when the best-in-class superstar artists from all genres of music come together to share one stage for a weekend of live music,” said Tom Poleman, chief programming officer, and John Sykes, president of entertainment enterprises of iHeartMedia. “And with Hulu as the Official Streaming Destination, the festival will reach even more fans across the country.”
For more details about the iHeartRadio Music Festival visit iHeartRadio.com/festival.
Sabrina Carpenter contains multitudes. The former Disney Channel star showed off her child actress chops, and then some, on Thursday night (August 22) on The Tonight Show when she performed a jazzy version of her inescapable Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Please Please Please” after joining Jimmy Fallon and fellow guest Zoë Kravitz in the basement for the host’s very silly signature “EW!” bit.
Channeling Michelle Pfeiffer’s iconic sultry piano-top performance from 1989’s The Fabulous Baker Boys, Carpenter kicked-off her performance of the strong contender for song of the summer seated atop a white grand piano. Looking over her left shoulder while singing into a bejeweled microphone, the singer revamped the pop bop into a swoony torch song with the help of three back-up singers, as well as a string and horn section.
Barefoot in a glittering black gown with a daringly plunging neckline, Carpenter crawled, then stood on the piano while emoting her way through the song with the NSFW chorus that she thankfully amended for NBC censors. The performance came on the night Carpenter dropped the anticipated follow-up to 2022’s Emails I Can’t Send, Short n’ Sweet, which in addition to chart-topper “Please” also gave the singer her first top 10 hit in April, the equally inescapable “Espresso.”
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Carpenter also showed up earlier in the episode alongside actress and Blink Twice director Zoë Kravitz for a trip to the basement for Fallon’s long-running sketch “EW!” Joining brace-face Sara on the couch, Kravitz and Carpenter, as Lucy and Hailey, bounded down the steps in colorful outfits bursting with cute as Kravitz — chomping on a gigantic wad of gum like her life depended on it — lamented being “so not ready” for school to start.
The summer camp chums also showed off their friendship bracelets, which the pals noted were, ahem, “very mindful, very demure,” to shouts of approval from the studio audience who clearly are on board with the viral phrase’s creator, TikToker Jools Lebron. Kravitz’s read “nightowl” because she stayed up “sooooo late,” while Carpenter’s was “Sweetie Pie,” because she ate “soooo much candy” and Fallon’s read “Splash,” because, she shouted, “I’m like a mermaid!”
As usual, the guests could barely contain their laughter at Fallon’s over-the-top ridiculousness, especially when they jumped up to do their “Espresso” dance, only to be interrupted, ugh, by Sara’s super annoying, dorky step dad, Gary. He then ruined the fun by busting out the most cringey version of the only song of the summer he acknowledges, “Kumbaya.”
The bit ended with the obligatory EW! speed round. In short: mullets (EW!), PopSockets (EW!), Hokas (EW!), Love Island (EW!), Stanley Tucci (cute) and pink drink (love!).
Watch Carpenter on The Tonight Show below.
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During a chilly week on the cusp of autumn (Aug. 19-22), history was made in Chicago, IL. On Thursday (Aug. 22), the final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris officially became the first Black woman and first Indian-American to accept a major party presidential nomination.
Throughout the week, the Democratic party’s biggest and rising stars joined forces with a few members of Hollywood’s A-List to help Vice President Harris along her path to the Oval Office. Emmy winner Kerry Washington and SAG Award nominee Tony Goldwyn — who famously played ruthless fixer Olivia Pope and fictional U.S. President Fitzgerald Grant on Shonda Rhimes’ hit ABC political drama Scandal — were two notable actors who served as emcee, as were Tony winner Mindy Kaling, Emmy winner Kenan Thompson, comedian-actor Hughley, and Emmy nominee Eva Longoria. Of course, the star power wasn’t limited to entertainers, with a host of Democratic Party titans delivering rousing speeches, including former President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz.
Each night featured several musical performers that showcased the breadth of America’s musical history, from country and hip-hop to soul and Americana. On Monday night (Aug. 19), Grammy-nominated country star Mickey Guyton delivered a gorgeous rendition of her unity anthem “All American,” while Jason Isbell performed the moving “Something More Than Free,” the title track from his 2015 LP. Night two (Aug. 20) saw Patti LaBelle belt her way through “You Are My Friend” to soundtrack the in memoriam segment, and Common thrilled the packed arena with “Fortunate,” a cut from his recently released joint album with Pete Rock. For the convention’s third night (Aug. 21), Maren Morris performed “Better Than We Found It,” the great Stevie Wonder gave a lengthy speech before launching into a groovy rendition of his 1973 Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Higher Ground” (No. 4), and John Legend and Sheila E. joined forces for “Let’s Go Crazy” in tribute to Prince, who shares a home state with Walz in Minnesota. To close out the convention (Aug. 22), The Chicks opened the primetime portion with the National Anthem and P!nk wailed a heart-wrenching version of “What About Us” alongside her talented daughter, Willow Sage.
Led by Harris’ adoption of Charli XCX‘s brat aesthetic in the earliest moments of her presidential campaign, the 2024 election cycle has become incredibly intertwined with pop music. That trend continued at the DNC, with the campaign’s official anthem — Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar‘s 2016 duet “Freedom”– blaring through the speakers what felt like every five minutes. Jon Batiste’s “Freedom” — a cut from 2021’s We Are, which made him the first Black artist in 14 years to win the album of the year Grammy — also played before and after every campaign ad aired as an interlude between speakers. From the delightfully zany roll call to the “surprise appearance” that never happened, the DNC was a large-scale demonstration of how music and pop celebrity can be wielded by politics that placate at best and pedal platitudes and paltry promises at worst.
Here are the five best moments of the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Common Puts On For Chi-Town