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15 Aug 2024

Christina Aguilera Admits She Got ‘Bored’ of the ‘Bubblegum Thing’ During Her “Genie in a Bottle” Era

Christina Aguilera is celebrating 25 years of her 1999 self-titled debut album, and its enduring hit “Genie in a Bottle.”

While she revealed in her newest Glamour cover story that she’s “grateful” for everything that the album provided for her, it was the start of navigating her journey as an artist that wouldn’t be defined by one genre. “I didn’t love the bubblegum thing, where you had to play a virgin but not act like one,” she admitted. “When I was performing ‘Genie’ and ‘What a Girl Wants’ and ‘Come on Over,’ I got bored easily. Creatively, it was one-dimensional.”

That’s why she shifted her focus on 2002’s Stripped, which fittingly stripped the teenybopper persona with more adult themes and vocal-focused pop hits with R&B tinges. “I think it was just a matter of believing so wholeheartedly in my vision, which was to fight for sexuality,” she said of fighting back against the backlash to the provocative album.

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Funny enough, Aguilera was on that empowerment wave before her debut album was even released. The then-18-year-old star told Billboard of “Genie in a Bottle” back in 1999, “The song is not about sex. It’s about self-respect. It’s about not giving in to temptation until you’re respected. It’s time for something different. It’s time that music make[s] kids feel confident and secure.”

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With “Genie in a Bottle,” Aguilera unleashed her first of five Hot 100 No. 1s and 11 top 10s. Aguilera’s debut album subsequently launched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 253,000 copies sold in the United States in its first week, according to Luminate.

15 Aug 2024

VMAs VIPs: These 10 Artists Have Won Both Video of the Year and the Video Vanguard Award

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Of the 10 double honorees, seven are women, two are men and just one is a group.

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Katy Perry accepts award on stage at the The 28th Annual MTV Video Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A on August 28, 2011.

Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Today’s announcement that Katy Perry will receive the Video Vanguard Award at the 2024 Video Music Awards on Wednesday, Sept. 11 puts her in rarified company. Perry is only the 10th performer to receive both of the VMAs’ highest-profile awards – the Vanguard Award and video of the year. She won the latter award in 2011 for “Firework.”

Of the 10 double honorees, seven are women, two are men and just one is a group. Three are Black. One is British. One is from Barbados.

In addition, Perry hosted the VMAs in 2017. None of the other people who have won both of the VMAs’ top laurels has ever hosted the show.

MTV has presented both these awards since the very first show on Sept. 14, 1984 – though they didn’t have a Video Vanguard honoree in 13 years and had multiple Video Vanguard honorees in seven years.

The first winner of video of the year, in an upset, was The Cars’ “You Might Think.” (Most had expected Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to win.) The first winners of the Video Vanguard award were The Beatles and director Richard Lester, who had pioneered the form on a pair of 1960s films (A Hard Day’s Night and Help!), and David Bowie, who also performed on that first show. He sang “Blue Jean,” which went on to hit the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, in a pre-taped segment from London.

Here are the 10 performers in VMAs history who have received both the MTV Video Vanguard Award and video of the year.

Madonna

Image Credit: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

Vanguard Award: Madonna was, appropriately, the first woman to be awarded the Vanguard. She was 28 when she received the award in 1986.

Video of the Year: The Queen of Pop finally won in 1998 for “Ray of Light.” It was her third nod in the category. She had notched back-to-back nominations in 1989 and 1990 for her classic videos to “Like a Prayer” and “Vogue.” She was nominated for a fourth time for “Hung Up” in 2006.
Peter Gabriel

Vanguard Award: Gabriel was 37 when he was awarded the Vanguard in 1987. He got it the same year he won video of the year, a double feat that has been achieved by only one other artist. (Read on.)

Video of the Year: Gabriel won for the wildly imaginative “Sledgehammer,” which still holds the record for the most wins by a single video (nine). He was nominated again six years later for “Digging in the Dirt.”
R.E.M.

Vanguard Award: In 1995, R.E.M. became the third American band to receive the honor. They followed Bon Jovi (1991) and Guns N’ Roses (1992).

Video of the Year: The band won in 1991, on their first nomination, for the stunning clip for their great hit “Losing My Religion.” They went on to receive back-to-back nods in 1993-94 for “Man on the Moon” and “Everybody Hurts.”
Britney Spears

Image Credit: Jason Merritt/FilmMagic

Vanguard Award: Spears was 29 when she received the honor in 2011. Her award was presented by Lady Gaga, who will join this list just as soon as she and MTV are able to settle on the right year for her to get the Vanguard. (Gaga was the recipient of MTV’s “Tricon” award in 2020, the show’s lone time to date handing out the award.) She won video of the year in 2010 for “Bad Romance.”

Video of the Year: Spears won in 2008 for “Piece of Me.” She had been nominated four years earlier for “Toxic” and would be nominated again in 2009 for “Womanizer.”
Justin Timberlake

Vanguard Award: Timberlake was the second (and most recent) artist to receive both of these awards the same night. He achieved the feat in 2013, when he was 32.

Video of the Year: He won for “Mirrors.” It was his fifth (and most recent) nomination in the category, following his *NSYNC-era hits “Bye Bye Bye” (2000) and “Gone” (2002) and his solo smashes “Cry Me a River” (2003) and “What Goes Around… Comes Around” (2007).
Beyoncé

Vanguard Award: Beyoncé, then 32, received the honor in 2014. She was the second Black woman to receive the honor, following Janet Jackson in 1990. Bey’s award was presented by her husband Jay-Z and their then-two-year old daughter Blue Ivy Carter.

Video of the Year: Beyoncé has won twice, in 2009 for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” – “one of the greatest videos of all time,” in the memorable words of one authority – and again in 2016 for “Formation.” In addition, she was nominated for “Irreplaceable” (2007), “Telephone” (2010), a collab with Lady Gaga; “Drunk in Love” (2014), a collab with Jay-Z; “7/11 (2015) and “Apeshit” (2018), another collab with Jay-Z (as The Carters).
Rihanna

Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Vanguard Award: Rihanna, then 28, received the honor in 2016. Her frequent collaborator Drake presented the award.

Video of the Year: Rih, too, has won twice, for “Umbrella” (featuring Jay-Z) in 2007 and “We Found Love,” a collab with Calvin Harris, in 2012. In addition, she was nominated for “Take Care” (2012), a collab with Drake, and “Wild Thoughts” (2017), a collab with DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller.
P!nk

Vanguard Award: P!nk was 37 when she received the award in 2017.

Video of the Year: She had won in 2001 for the all-star remake of LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” which also starred Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim and Mýa and which featured Missy Elliott. Surprisingly, that’s her only video of the year nod.
Missy Elliott

Vanguard Award: Elliott was 48 when she received the honor in 2019. She was the first female rapper to receive the honor, which was presented by another female rapper, Cardi B.

Video of the Year: She has won twice, once as a featured artist and once as the lead. She won in 2001 as a featured artist on the all-star remake of LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya and P!nk. She won again two years later for her own “Work It.” She was the second artist to win twice in the category, following Eminem. She was also nominated for “Get Ur Freak On” (2001).
Katy Perry

Vanguard Award: Perry, 39, is slated to receive the award on this year’s show on Sept. 11.

Video of the Year: She won video of the year in 2011 for “Firework.” She was nominated again the following year for “Wide Awake.”

15 Aug 2024

How Big of a K-Pop Fan Are You? Take Billboard’s Survey

How deep is your K-pop fandom? Are you a fan of BTS, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, aespa or any other K-pop groups or artists? Billboard wants to know all about it.

Whether you’re a mild fan, a hardcore fan or anything in between, your input matters. We know that K-pop fans are a different breed. You’re passionate about the artists you follow. You buy CDs and downloads unlike fans of any other genre. But we’d like to dig a bit deeper.

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Click here to take the K-pop survey.

You will be asked about your listening habits, purchase habits, concert attendance and how K-pop affects your life.

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The survey has a few guidelines. First, you must live in the United States. Billboard welcomes music fans from around the world, but for the sake of only this survey, we’re focusing only on the U.S. Second, you must be 13 years or older. Third, you must listen to K-pop (any fan should easily meet this requirement).

You can take the survey on either a smartphone or a personal computer. It should take you around three to five minutes from start to finish.

While you’re here, read some of Billboard’s latest articles on K-pop artists and events, including the Billboard K-Pop Artist 100, a ranking of K-pop artists in 2023 based on a handful of Billboard charts, our list of the 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2024 (So Far), our official ranking of every song off Stray Kids’ ATE, our ranking of each song off of Jimin’s Muse and our K-pop 100 chart.

15 Aug 2024

Greg Kihn, Singer & Songwriter Known for His ‘Jeopardy’ Hit, Dies at 75

Greg Kihn, the beloved pop and rock musician known for his hit “Jeopardy,” died on Tuesday (Aug. 13) after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 75 years old.

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The star, born on July 10, 1949, in Baltimore, Md., moved to San Francisco in the mid 1970s, where he became one of the first artists signed to Matthew King Kaufman’s Beserkley Records. He formed the Greg Kihn Band, featuring guitarist Robbie Dunbar, bassist Steve Wright, and drummer Larry Lynch, and the group released a self-titled album in 1976. Through the 1970s, Kihn released an album each year.

However, it wasn’t until 1981 when Kihn got his first major Billboard hit with “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em),” from the Rockihnroll album. The track hit No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

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Just two years later, he unveiled the dance-ready hit, “Jeopardy,” which climbed to No. 2 on the Hot 100. In 1984, Kihn gave “Weird Al” Yankovic permission to parody his song into “I Lost on Jeopardy,” and even made a cameo at the end of the music video as the driver of a convertible. In 1985, Kihn signed with EMI.

Beyond his success as a musician, Kihn was also an accomplished author. He wrote four horror fiction novels, including 1996’s Horror Show and 1998’s Shade of Pale. 1998’s Big Rock Beat and 1999’s Mojo Hand were written as sequels to Horror Show. He also wrote Carved in Rock: Short Stories by Musicians, which compiled stories from him and other rock musicians including Pete Townshend, Joan Jett and more. His 2013 novel, Rubber Soul, was a Beatles-themed murder mystery story.

Kihn is survived by Jay Arafiles-Kihn, his wife; his son, Ryan Kihn, and daughter, Alexis Harrington-Kihn; as well as his grandchildren.

15 Aug 2024

Meek Mill Says He Has ‘3 Questions’ He’d Like to Ask Kamala Harris In Person

Meek Mill wants to sit down with Vice President Kamala Harris and ask her three questions.

The Philly rapper took to X on Wednesday (Aug. 14) and had questions about the Democratic presidential nominee’s past as San Francisco’s district attorney. “I wanna ask Kamala Harris questions about her past as a da, even if she had to be tough,” he tweeted. “All I hear is rumors of her … I would ask her 3 questions about black and brown men going to prison and her views and try to help her understand from a survival standpoint point she may have never had to encounter!”

Before becoming President Joe Biden’s veep, Harris’ political career started in 1990 when she became a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California. She eventually ascended up the ranks and was elected as San Francisco’s 27th district attorney in 2004, where she earned a reputation for being “tough on crime.”

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When a far-right political commentator suggested former president Trump “would do a sit-down,” Meek agreed. “I think he would too on my platform,” Meek said, before pointing out that it may not happen. “politics are scary tho he just got shot few weeks ago. I’ve been tryna heal up from that gun stuff I got ptsd!”

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Back in March of this year, he tweeted about wanting to donate a percentage of his earnings to his hometown. “Ima do a public contract with the city of Philadelphia where 10% of my music earnings go to the city of Philadelphia to combat gun violence in our city,”he wrote.

Some make fun of Meek when he gets on social media and talks about politics, but he’s been an active advocate when it comes to gun and prison reform over the years, even helping change Philadelphia probation laws.

Check out Meek Mill’s tweet below:

I wanna ask Kamala Harris questions about her past as a da, even if she had to be tough…. All I hear is rumors of her … I would ask her 3 questions about black and brown men going to prison and her views and try to help her understand from a survival standpoint point she may…

— MeekMill (@MeekMill) August 14, 2024

15 Aug 2024

Victoria Shaw, Liz Rose & More Join Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductees Class of 2024

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has revealed its slate of inductees for the Class of 2024, including Al Anderson, David Bellamy, Dan Penn, Liz Rose and Victoria Shaw.

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This year’s inductees in the contemporary songwriters category are Al Anderson and Liz Rose, while Dan Penn and Victoria Shaw are feted in the veteran songwriters category, and Bellamy is honored in the veteran songwriter-artist category.

During a press conference held the Columbia A Studio in Nashville, Nashville Songwriters Board of Directors chair Rich Hallworth opened the announcement event, while Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame executive director Mark Ford announced this year’s inductees. Ford also revealed that singer-songwriter Brad Paisley is the winner of this year’s contemporary artist/songwriter category, but will be inducted as part of next year’s class, due to a scheduling conflict.

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“This is surreal, absolutely surreal,” Shaw said in reaction to the news. “I love this business. I love the art of songwriting. I’m still stunned and deeply grateful.”

Penn took the stage and said, “It’s a privilege to be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside so many of my friends.” He added, “I’ve had the blessing of writing with so many talented people here over the years…I’m grateful to be here and proud to be included in such fine company.”

Anderson could not be there in person, but accepted via video. “To be accepted into this group is such a privilege,” Anderson said.

Rose was not in attendance, but said via video, “Wow, I’m really blown away. Thank you so much to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. This is really sinking in right now and I’m so sad that I’m not there. I’m out of town writing songs. I’m really excited to be in this amazing group of the best songwriters in the world.”

Bellamy, known for his songwriting craft and for his work with his brother Howard as part of The Bellamy Brothers, took the stage, saying, “I’m still in shock. Thank you so much. I have to thank Howard because he was probably the best sounding board for a songwriter. He’ll tell you if he doesn’t like something. He’s always been critical of my work and it’s made it better.” Bellamy wrote many of the songs he recorded with his brother, including their signature 1979 track “If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me).”

Among Anderson’s writer credits are Tim McGraw’s “The Cowboy in Me,” Carlene Carter’s “Every Little Thing,” Trisha Yearwood’s “Powerful Thing” and “Trip Around the Sun,” recorded by Jimmy Buffett & Martina McBride. Shaw’s credits include “The River,” recorded by Garth Brooks, the Ricky Martin/Christina Aguilera collab “Nobody Wants to Be Lonely,” and John Michael Montgomery’s “I Love The Way You Love Me.” Rose earned her first hit in 2004 with Gary Allan’s “Songs About Rain” and then worked with then-newcomer Taylor Swift to craft songs including “Tim McGraw,” “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “White Horse,” with Rose’s credits also including Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty” and Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush.” Penn’s credits include “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and “The Dark End of the Street,” among others.

Since its founding in 1970, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has honored many of Music City’s top-shelf songcrafters, including Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Loretta Lynn, Don and Phil Everly and plenty more.

The new group of inductees will be honored during the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala, slated for Nov. 6 at Nashville’s Music City Center, with additional honorees to be announced.

15 Aug 2024

Angie McMahon Announces New EP ‘Light Sides’ Alongside New Single

Australian artist Angie McMahon has shared new single “Untangling” ahead of the release of new EP Light Sides. Due out on Sept. 13 via AWAL, the new project is a collection of five tracks that were written at the same time as her sophomore album Light, Dark, Light Again, which was released last October.

McMahon explains in a release that “Untangling” was a difficult track to complete. The song remained unfinished on her phone since the beginning stages of creating Light, Dark, Light Again. “It was written about someone who is deeply entwined in my life,” McMahon said, “so I never felt like either the song or the untangling itself was entirely finished.”

The deeply personal song features McMahon struggling with the prospect that she hurt someone because she was too “slow at healing.” But facing those feelings, McMahon sings over a sturdy bassline and gritty guitar that she is “untangling” them from her center and calling the situation “a joint misadventure.”

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The song was recorded at longtime collaborator Alex O’Gorman’s studio in suburban Melbourne, Australia between stops on her recent Making It Through tour — and is the only song on Light Sides that was finished with her much-loved live band: Lachlan O’Kane (drums/percussion), Jess Ellwood (guitar), Stella Farnan (keys/synth) and O’Gorman (bass).

“I was surrounded by trees and my friends and I’m so grateful to them for their musical powers,” McMahon added.

“Untangling” follows the release of another track from the EP, “Just Like North.” Light Sides’ tracklist will include the two released songs alongside originals “Beginner,” “Interstate” and “Take Up Space.”

McMahon has just returned to the United States for a string of full-band Midwest and East Coast tour dates, recently making stops in Chicago and Detroit. She arrives on the heels of a packed performance at Glastonbury, multiple sold-out shows at Melbourne’s Forum Theatre and the Sydney Opera House, and an appearance with long-time supporter Fred Again.. on stage in front of 15,000 fans in Australia.

Watch the video for “Untangling” below.

15 Aug 2024

Katy Perry to Receive Video Vanguard Award & Perform at 2024 MTV VMAs

Katy Perry will receive MTV’s Video Vanguard Award and perform a career-spanning medley live at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 8 p.m. ET/PT from New York’s UBS Arena.

Perry received the VMA’s other top honor, video of the year, in 2011 for “Firework.” She will be the 10th artist to receive both video of the year and the Vanguard award, following Madonna, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Rihanna, P!nk and Missy Elliott.

Perry, who hosted the VMAs in 2017, will be the first person to, over the course of a career, host and receive both of the show’s marquee awards — making her a VMAs MVP.

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Perry and the VMAs are almost exactly the same age: Perry was born six weeks after the inaugural VMAs, co-hosted by Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd, aired on Sept. 14, 1984.

Perry is the seventh consecutive recipient of the Vanguard Award who is a woman, following Rihanna (2016), P!nk (2017), Jennifer Lopez (2018), Elliott (2019), Nicki Minaj (2022) and Shakira (2023). (There was no recipient in 2020 and 2021, the years most impacted by the pandemic.)

Perry made her VMAs performance debut in 2009 with a rendition of Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” on which she was joined by Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. She closed out the 2013 VMAs with a performance of her Billboard Hot 100-topping smash “Roar” surrounded by fans near the Brooklyn Bridge. In 2017, she pulled double-duty as both host and performer, delivering a grand-finale performance of “Swish Swish” with Minaj that included larger-than-life props and Perry flying over the crowd to land atop a giant basketball hoop.

This is Perry’s sixth VMA Moonperson award. She won three trophies in 2011: video of the year for “Firework” and best collaboration and best special effects, both for “E.T.” (featuring Ye, then known as Kanye West). (The VMAs give artists credit for technical awards their videos win even if they weren’t personally credited in those capacities.) She won another VMA in 2012, best art direction for “Wide Awake,” and another in 2014, best female video for “Dark Horse” (featuring Juicy J).

“Katy is a musical powerhouse and true pop culture icon,” Bruce Gillmer, president of music, music talent, programming & events, Paramount and chief content officer, music, Paramount+, said in a statement. “With her game-changing creative vision, she has become a global phenomenon and taken over the world’s biggest stages. Katy’s prowess will be on full display live on the VMAs with a can’t-miss, career-encompassing performance celebrating her biggest moments and chart-topping hits.”

MTV’s press release announcing Perry as the recipient referred to the award as the Video Vanguard Award twice (including once in the headline) and as the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award once. The award was named in Jackson’s honor in 1991, but the network has seemed to downplay the association somewhat since the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland raised disturbing allegations about the star’s behavior.

Perry has amassed nine No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 and three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. Perry unveiled her new single, “Lifetimes,” on Aug. 8. The song is from her sixth major-label studio album, 143, which will be released on Sept. 20 via Capitol Records.

MTV made its announcement on Thursday (Aug. 14), two days after Billboard posted this piece in which we surveyed the field of likely Video Vanguard candidates. We pegged Perry as the likeliest recipient, followed (in descending order of likelihood) by Eminem, Usher, Miley Cyrus, The Weeknd, Bruno Mars, Post Malone and Drake.

Here’s what we said about Perry, again before we knew who the choice would be. “It almost makes too much sense: Katy Perry will be releasing a new album in September that appears geared up to be a return to the mega-pop that she ruled with at the turn of the 2010s — when she was one of the most unavoidable artists in the MTV galaxy, with four or five eye-popping music videos per album (including one, Teenage Dream‘s ‘Firework,’ that took home video of the year in 2011). There could be no better stage for her to remind pop fans why they’re still rooting for her comeback than the VMAs, with a performance spanning from breakthrough hit ‘I Kissed a Girl’ to this year’s ‘Woman’s World’ return.”

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Tupj7ZpBZQE&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

15 Aug 2024

Halsey Lets It Bleed on Visceral, Rocking ‘Lonely Is the Muse’ Single: ‘I Will Always Be a Martyr’

Halsey has made a habit of deftly bouncing between genres lately and their latest song is no exception. The singer dropped the roiling, rocking single “Lonely Is the Muse” on Thursday (Aug. 15), a pointed, lacerating broadside against those who’ve tried to put them in a box and profit from exploiting her body and soul.

“I always knew I was a martyr and that Jesus was one too/ But I was built from special pieces that I learned how to unscrew/ And I can always reassemble to fit perfectly for you/ Or anybody that decides that I’m of use,” they sing on the ominous chorus of the song co-written with Stuart Price (Madonna, Dua Lipa) and produced by Austin Corona, Wyatt Bernard and Brandon Buttner.

The song also appears to take aim at those who would belittle and gaslight the singer, as in the first verse, which posits a scenario of years spent “becoming cool,” only to have someone “make a decade of my efforts disappear” in the snap of a finger. The second verse takes equally hard aim at those who would reduce their success and artistry to the sum of their body parts, while casually noting that others have banked successes off of Halsey’s artistry. “So, whеre do I go in the process whеn I’m just an apparatus?/ I’ve inspired platinum records, I’ve earned platinum airline status,” Halsey howls over turbulent guitars and funereal drums. “And I’ve mined a couple diamonds from the stories in my head/ But I’m reduced to just a body here in someone else’s bed,” they continue.

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After dropping the poppy Britney Spears-interpolating “Lucky” last month, the third single from the singer’s upcoming fifth album is a return to the grinding, industrial-inspired sound of their collaboration with Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on 2021’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. Halsey released the first single, the confessional acoustic “The End,” which hinted at struggles with some of the serious medical issues she’s battled over the past few years.

According to a release, Halsey previewed the song during their headlining set at Budapest’s Sziget Festival and Helsinki’s Flow Festival last week, as well as at a secret club show at Koko in London on Wednesday night (Aug. 14). At press time a release date for the singer’s upcoming album — their first under a new contract with Columbia Records after parting ways with longtime label Capitol –has not yet been announced.

Listen to “Lonely Is the Muse” below.

15 Aug 2024

Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars Confirm ‘Die With a Smile’ Collab & Share Release Date

After teasing that one was in the works, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars have confirmed that they have a collaboration on the way — and it’s coming way sooner than you think.

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Both singers (and Super Bowl halftime stars) announced the duet Thursday (Aug. 15), sharing the cover artwork on Instagram. In the photo, the pair sport matching red-and-blue retro Western outfits, with Gaga clutching a cigarette between her fingers and Mars posing with a white cowboy hat on his head.

“WHILE YOU WAIT TILL LG7…“DIE WITH A SMILE” a duet with @brunomars ❤️‍?,” the “Rain on Me” singer captioned the post. “Song and video tonight at 9pm PT [midnight ET].”

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The announcement comes just two days after Gaga teased that she was teaming up with the “Uptown Funk!” superstar, posting a video of her performing a tune on piano while wearing a t-shirt with Mars’ face on it. The day before that, the Haus Labs founder commented a series of emojis on the Silk Sonic star’s Instagram post.

As Gaga teased in her caption, “Die With a Smile” will arrive ahead of the pop icon’s highly anticipated seventh album. She’s kept fans waiting for a new LP since 2020, when she released the Billboard 200-topping Chromatica.

While in Paris to perform at the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony in July, Gaga took to the streets to share snippets of new songs from the forthcoming album with fans. Popping out of a limousine’s sunroof outside her hotel in the French capital, she simply opened her laptop and played two short snippets for a crowd of eager listeners.

See Gaga’s post below.

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