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On her new album, Cosas Que Sorprenden A La Audiencia (Things That Surprise the Audience), Vivir Quintana uses the strength of her voice and the power of her words to tell real-life stories of women who were imprisoned after killing their abusers in self-defense. She does so through the corrido, a traditional Mexican genre often associated with glorifying violence and misogyny — but transforming it into a narrative of denunciation, dignity, and justice.
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Told in the first person, Quintana’s sophomore LP is the result of a decade of research and collaboration with women who shared “their hearts, their homes, and their cells” to recount their stories and the reasons that led them to defend themselves against their abusers, ultimately losing their physical freedom after being accused of “excessive self-defense.”
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“Fifteen years ago, a friend of mine was a victim of femicide, and it made me incredibly sad — I didn’t know who to blame or how to cope,” the Mexican singer-songwriter shares in an interview with Billboard Español. “For a long time, I kept thinking about what would have happened if my friend had killed her abuser instead of him killing her.”
Her friend’s femicide inspired her popular 2020 release “Canción Sin Miedo” (Song Without Fear), the powerful feminist anthem that accompanies marches and protests against gender violence in Mexico, as well as the fight of mothers searching for their missing children.
But in her album Cosas Que Sorprenden A La Audiencia, released last Thursday (April 24) on digital platforms, the artist, originally from the northern state of Coahuila, goes further by reflecting deeply on the causes of machista violence — the same that results in the killing of 10 women every day in Mexico for gender-based reasons, according to reports from UN Women.
Released under Universal Music, the album features 10 corridos, a genre that emerged during the Mexican Revolution (191–1917) as an alternative account to official history, according to experts consulted by Billboard Español.
With resonant guitar sounds and a powerful accordion, Quintana uses this musical style — characteristic of the region where she was born and raised — to tell stories like that of Yakiri Rubio, the protagonist of the song “La Nochebuena Más Triste” (The Saddest Christmas Eve). In 2013, Rubio was kidnapped by two men who took her to a hotel to sexually assault her, and she ended up killing one of her attackers in self-defense.
Another example is the corrido that opens the album, “Era Él o Era Yo” (It Was Him or Me), which narrates the story of Roxana Ruiz, who was sentenced to six years in prison for killing her attacker in 2021. “Files and more files/ With my name and the names of other women/ Who fiercely dodged death/ Justice destroyed our luck,” goes part of the lyrics.
The album also includes titles like “Mis Cuarenta” (My Forty), “Mi Casita” (My Little House), “Más Libre que en Casa” (Freer Than at Home), “Mi Cobija” (My Blanket), “Claro Que No” (Of Course Not), “Kilómetro seis” (Kilometer Six), “Al Tiro” (At the Ready), and “Cosas Que Sorprenden a la Audiencia,” the album’s title track, inspired by Marisol Villafaña, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for defending herself against her abusive husband.
“That’s why the album is named this way,” Quintana explains, “because we’re so surprised when a woman defends herself, but we’re not surprised when a man receives an exemplary sentence for committing femicide.”
Recognized in 2024 as one of the Leading Ladies of Entertainment at the Latin Grammys, the 40-year-old artist is one of the new faces of corrido music in Mexico, although she has revolutionized the genre since her debut over a decade ago, by using music as a tool for activism and denunciation. In addition to “Canción Sin Miedo,” she is the author of “El Corrido de Milo Vela” (The Milo Vela Corrido), a tribute to journalist Miguel Ángel López, who was murdered in 2011 along with his wife and son in Veracruz. In 2024, she also wrote “Compañera Presidenta” (Madam President), a letter dedicated to the then-possible first female president of Mexico, a position now held by leftist Claudia Sheinbaum.
“With this album, I hope people open their hearts — but beyond that, I hope they open their minds to understand that gender violence needs to be addressed by all of us,” Quintana says. “And may we never forget that the voices of women deprived of their physical freedom also matter.”
Regarding the controversy surrounding corridos that glorify drug trafficking — subject to bans and restrictions in public spaces across ten Mexican states, though not officially prohibited by the federal government — Quintana believes that prohibition “is not the solution.”
“The children born into a world of organized crime, where their social context is that, where their family members are part of that life, and one day they realize they want to sing or play the guitar — what are they going to talk about?” Quintana questions. “Music is nothing more than a reflection of the reality or social context you live in, so narcocorridos should be regulated, but through education. That way, we can distinguish between reality and fiction, between good and bad.”
While in Auckland, New Zealand, for the latest stop on her Secret of Us Tour, Gracie Abrams paid tribute to the country’s patron saint of pop music, Lorde, whose ballad “Liability” the American singer covered during her show at Spark Arena Tuesday (April 29).
In clips taken by fans at the venue, Abrams sits at her keyboard on a B-stage while chatting with fans, whom she tells she’s been “thinking about [Lorde] a lot” while spending the week in the “Royals” singer’s home country.
“Obviously, being here, and also because she finally returned to save pop music …,” she continues of Lorde, whose comeback single “What Was That” dropped less than a week prior.
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After calling it “one of my favorite songs ever,” Abrams then dives into the moody Melodrama fan favorite, closing her eyes as she gently plays the piano. “They say, ‘You’re a little much for me/ you’re a liability, you’re a little much for me,’” she croons softly as the crowd belts along with her.
As the “That’s So True” singer highlighted, the cover comes just as Lorde reemerges from a four-year break between albums to kick off her next era, releasing “What Was That” April 24. Abrams — who recently wrote that she’s ready for “Lorde summer” on X — is just one of several stars who have expressed their excitement for the Kiwi artist’s return, with Olivia Rodrigo also jamming out to the new track in a TikTok and writing “I LOVE THIS MF SONG.”
But in addition to being her fan, Abrams is also Lorde’s friend. In her recent cover story with Billboard, the former opened up about her relationship with the latter, telling staff writer Hannah Dailey, “She’s like 800 years old inside … whenever we’re together, I feel my nervous system regulate differently.”
Abrams is currently in the midst of her first-ever arena tour, with about three months of shows in Australia and Europe left ahead of her before she returns to North America for a second Secret of Us leg. The trek supports her breakthrough sophomore album The Secret of Us, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
Lorde, on the other hand, hasn’t dropped an album since 2021’s Solar Power, which debuted at No. 5 on the albums chart. Fans are hopeful that a new LP is coming soon, however, with the “Green Light” musician teasing in an April 15 voice note, “Everything is about to change … I’m so ready.”
“We’re going to scream our faces off!” So declared two cowboy-garbed fans even before Beyoncé stepped onstage to kick off the first show of her Cowboy Carter Tour last night (April 28). Multiply those two sets of screams by the thousands of others screaming, cheering and dancing inside Inglewood, Calif.’s SoFi Stadium throughout the 35–time […]
Like millions of other fans, Kelsea Ballerini idolizes Taylor Swift, but when it came to starting her own music career, the former quickly learned that she’d need to find her own identity in order to stand apart from the superstar.
While speaking to Variety for her Power of Women Nashville cover story published Tuesday (April 29), the “Peter Pan” singer reflected on the struggle of coming up in Music City in the wake of the Eras headliner’s unprecedented success. At the time, the hitmaker’s shadow loomed especially large over aspiring stars such as Ballerini, who, like Swift, was also a young, blonde, female singer-songwriter — something that forced The Voice coach to find ways to stand out from the 14-time Grammy winner in order to be successful.
Recalling how one label executive dismissed her early on because, as Ballerini recalled him saying, “‘There’s already a Taylor Swift,’” the country artist conceded, “And he was right.”
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“There weren’t a lot of young female singer-songwriter girls in country music to look up to,” she continued. “I had to grow into my own identity as an artist and a songwriter and learn to differentiate myself.”
Distinguishing herself from Swift was even more difficult given Ballerini’s personal obsession with the “Love Story” singer — “Taylor was the North Star for me, and still is in a lot of ways,” she told Variety — but the Tennessee native eventually found her own distinct voice. Her self-titled debut EP dropped in 2014 via Black River Entertainment and earned Ballerini her first-ever Billboard Hot 100 entry with “Love Me Like You Mean It,” soon after which the project even got a cosign from none other than Swift.
“Driving around with the @KelseaBallerini EP on repeat.. SO lovely:)” the country-turned-pop behemoth tweeted in March 2015.
Swift quickly took Ballerini under her wing, with the latter telling Billboard the following year, “She’s like my big sister … She’s walked this so gracefully, so she’s the person that I go to when I’m like, ‘Hey, this is what I’m struggling with right now. How do I navigate this?’”
Also in her Variety cover story, Ballerini gushed about someone else who’s also been hugely influential in her life, but for very different reasons. Of boyfriend Chase Stokes, the singer recalled how patient the Outer Banks actor was as she released her 2023 EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat — which is famously about her divorce from Australian musician Morgan Evans — as well as Stokes’ reaction to hearing Ballerini’s love song for him, “To the Men That Love Women After Heartbreak.”
“He loved it,” she said. “When we first started talking, I hadn’t put out Welcome Mat yet, and he stood beside me through that whole musical chapter. But when it was time to write Patterns, I wanted to write about the things we were learning in our relationship. And I think with a lot of patience and therapy, we mutually have grown a lot in these last two-plus years.”
Neil Diamond is set to receive the Inspirational Lifetime Achievement Award by the Children’s Diabetes Foundation at the 39th Annual Carousel Ball on Oct. 11. The event will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver, near the home of CDF’s primary operations and its clinic and research facility, the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes.
Proceeds from The Carousel Ball benefit CDF and focus on patient support, awareness and diabetes research. The Carousel Balls, which date to 1978, collectively have raised more than $117 million.
Diamond, 84, has served on CDF’s advisory board and has attended the organization’s fundraisers for many years, including performing in Denver in 2001, as well as at The Carousel of Hope Ball in Beverly Hills in 2012, where he memorably sang an impromptu duet of “Sweet Caroline” with George Clooney.
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“Neil Diamond is a once-in-a-generation talent,” event chair Dana Davis and honorary chair Barbara Davis said in a joint statement. “As a bestselling recording artist the world over, he is an undeniable force whose songwriting has earned him countless musical accolades. … For over 35 years, Neil has lent his timeless voice to our efforts to find a cure for diabetes. On behalf of the patients and researchers his generosity has touched, we can’t think of anyone more deserving of our Inspirational Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Diamond’s career spans nearly 60 years. He landed his first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “Cherry, Cherry,” in October 1966. He has notched three No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 — “Cracklin’ Rosie” (1970), “Song Sung Blue” (1972) and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” a duet with Barbra Streisand (1978). Diamond finally topped the Billboard 200 in 2008, nearly 42 years after he first made that chart, with Home Before Dark.
Diamond was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and has received two additional awards from that organization — the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement in 2000 and the Johnny Mercer Award (their top honor) in 2018.
Additionally, Diamond received MusiCares’ Person of the Year Award in 2009, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2011 and a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2018. He was voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. His achievements also include a Grammy, a Golden Globe Award, an American Music Award, an ASCAP Film and Television Award and a Billboard Icon Award.
In addition to the award to Diamond, The MacMillan Family will be honored with the High Hopes Tribute Award for their nearly three decades of commitment as supporters of CDF. To purchase tickets and tables and learn more about the event, visit the Children’s Diabetes Foundation’s site.
Yung Miami is clapping back at speculation she’s in pursuit of NFL draftee Shedeur Sanders. On Sunday (April 27), the former City Girls rapper responded to someone on X who implied she was “making it sooo obvious” that she romantically wants Sanders. “Y’all b—hes don’t know what ‘supporting your ppl’ look like!!!!” she wrote in […]
Davido won artist of the year and digital artist of the year at The Headies, which recognizes African contemporary music and Afrobeats. The show was held on April 27 at The Landmark Event Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, marking the show’s return to Africa after holding its last two ceremonies in Atlanta. The show was livestreamed on YouTube (U.S.) and Hip TV (Nigeria).
Davido also took the stage to present the Next Rated award — an honor he described as “the most important” of the evening — to Odumodublvck. “I won this award 12 years ago, and I know firsthand the hard work and dedication it takes to get to this point,” Davido said. Odumodublvck also won best rap single.
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Rema as well as Chike and MohBad were also double winners on the night. Rema won album of the year and Afrobeats album of the year, both for Heis. Chike and MohBad won best collaboration and the viewers choice award, both for “Egwu.”
Tems won best recording of the year for “Burning.”
For the first time, the show was hosted by a woman — Nigerian actress and model Nancy Isime. Isime also performed, accompanied by Fire and Desire. Other performers included Blaqbonez, L.A.X., Qing Madi, Ayo Maff, Magnito, Juma Jux, L.A.X., INNOSS’B (DRC), Kcee, Odumodublvck and Shallipopi.
Temitola Adekunle Johnson, senior special assistant to the president (OVP) on job creation, and influencer and philanthropist Michelle Mukoro (King Mitchy) received the humanitarian award for their commitment to uplifting underprivileged communities across Nigeria.
“I want to thank the entire entertainment and creative industry, you have come a long way,” Johnson said in accepting the award. “Back in the days, we used to just be happy to watch the Grammys, but now, during Grammy nominations, people are saying how many Nigerians were nominated — that’s how far we have come.”
The 17th Headies Awards show also paid homage to Babajide Sanwo-Olu, executive governor of Lagos, for his dedication to the creative sector.
For his contributions to the creative industry and innovative leadership in advancing the digital ecosystem across Africa, Alex Okosi (managing director, Google Africa) received the special recognition award. Amaju Pinnick (chairman/GCEO Brownhill Group) also received the special recognition award for his contributions to Nigeria’s creative and cultural industries.
The Headies Awards, originally called the Hip Hop World Awards, was established in 2006 by the Hip Hop World magazine of Nigeria to recognize outstanding achievements in the Nigerian music industry.
Only music materials released and distributed on digital streaming platforms, and physical music media within the eligibility period (April 1, 2023, to July 31, 2024) were considered for nominations.
Here’s the complete list of nominations for the 2025 Headies Awards, with winners marked.
Artist of the year
WINNER: Davido
Ayra Starr
Asake
Rema
Tems
Burna Boy
Song of the year
“Showa” – Kizz Daniel
“Commas” – Ayra Starr
“Egwu” – Chike and Mohbad
WINNER: “Lonely at the Top” – Asake
“Ozeba” – Rema
“Big Baller” – Flavour
Album of the year
Born in the Wild – Tems
WINNER: Heis – Rema
The Year I Turned 21 – Ayra Starr
Stubborn – Victony
Work of Art – Asake
Rookie of the year
WINNER: Zerry DL
Taves
Kaestyle
Llona
Best recording of the year
WINNER: Tems – “Burning”
Seyi Vibez – “Different Pattern”
Burna Boy – “Higher”
Ayra Starr & Giveon – “Last Heartbreak Song”
Sarz featuring Lojay – “Billions”
Best vocal performance (female)
Ayra Starr – “Last Heartbreak Song”
Niniola – “Level”
Simi – “Stranger”
WINNER: Liya – “I’m Done”
Tomorrow – “Yemi Alade”
Best vocal performance (male)
WINNER: Lojay – “Billions”
Omah Lay – “Moving”
Anendlessocean – “Gratitude”
Johnny Drille – “For You”
Timi Dakolo – “Ke Na Ke So”
Best collaboration
“Emotions” – Tiwa Savage Feat. Asa
“Blood on the Dance Floor” Odumodublvck, Bloody Civilian and Wale
“Cast” – Shallipopi feat. Odumodublvck
WINNER: “Egwu” – Chike and Mohbad
“Ole” – Qing Madi and Bnxn
“Twe Twe” Remix – Kizz Daniel and Davido
“IDK” – Wizkid feat. Zlatan
International artist of the year
Wale – “Blood on the Dance Floor” (Odumodublvck)
Skepta – “Tony Montana” (feat. Portable)
Chris Brown – “Hmmm” (feat. Davido)
WINNER: Travis Scott – “Active” (Asake)
Chloe Bailey – “Vision” remix (Qing Madi)
Music video of the year
“Charm” – Rema (Rema X Perliks X Folarin Oludare)
“Metaverse” – Olamide (Jyde Ajala)
“Like Ice Spice” – Blaqbonez (Perliks & Emeka Shine Shine)
“Ojapiano” – Kcee (Mattmax)
WINNER: “Egwu” – Chike & MohBad (Director Pink)
“Showa” – Kizz Daniel (Tg Omori)
“Na Money” – Davido feat. Cavemen, Angelique Kidjo (Dammy Twitch)
Songwriter of the year
Simisola Kosoko – “Stranger” (Simi)
WINNER: Chimamanda Pearl Chukwuma – “Vision” (Qing Madi)
Michael Ajuma Attah – “Can’t Breathe” (Llona)
Emoseh Khamofu – “Family Meeting (Bloody Civilian)
Fuayefika Maxwell – Stages of Life” (Wizard Chan)
Producer of the year
Sarz – “Happiness”
WINNER: London – “Ozeba”
Magicstick – “Basquiat”
Rema/Producer X/Cubeatz/Deatz/Kilmberboy – “Hehehe”
Dibs – “Different Pattern”
Best R&B single
Qing Madi – “Vision”
Johnny Drille – “For You”
Simi – “Stranger”
Tems – “Burning”
WINNER: Ayra Starr – “Last Heartbreak Song” feat. Giveon
Best rap single
WINNER: “Cast” feat. Odumodublvck – Shallipoppi
“Blood on the Dance Floor” feat. Bloody Civilian & Wale – Odumodublvck
“Hallelujah” – Ladipoe, Rozzz & Morrelo
“Canada” – Magnito
“Ije Nwoke” – Jeriq
Best street-hop artist
Seyi Vibez – “Different Patterns”
Ayo Maff – “Dealer” (feat. Fireboy Dl)
Shallipopi – “Cast” (feat. Odumodublvck)
Zhus Jdo – “Johnbull”
WINNER: Mohbad – “Ask About Me”
Afrobeats single of the year
“Big Big Things” – Young Jonn feat. Kizz Daniel and Seyi Vibez
“Twe Twe Remix” – Kizz Daniel
“Egwu” feat. Mohbad – Chike
“Remember” – Asake
“Ogechi” remix – Hyce, Boypee, and Brown Joel feat. Davido
WINNER: “Big Baller” – Flavour
Lyricist on the roll
Mogadishu – A-Q
Chocolate City Cypher – M.I Abaga
Chocolate City Cypher – Blaqbonez
WINNER: Hallelujah – Ladipoe
Efeleme – Alpha Ojini
Best inspirational single
“Gratitude” – Anendlessocean
“Worthy of My Praise” – Dunsin Oyekan feat. Lawrence Oyor
“Good God 2” – Limoblaze feat. Naomi Raine
“Particularly” – Gaise Baba feat. Tope Alabi
WINNER: “You Do This One” – Mercy Chinwo
Headies’ viewers’ choice
“Big Big Things” feat. Kizz Daniel and Seyi Vibez – Young Jonn
“Ogechi” remix feat. Davido – Hyce, Boypee, And Brown Joel
WINNER: “Egwu” – Chike & MohBad
“Showa” – Kizz Daniel
“Different Pattern” – Seyi Vibez
“Ozeba” – Rema
“Love Me Jeje” – Tems
“Cast” feat. Odumodublvck – Shallipopi
“Dealer” feat. Fireboy Dml – Ayo Maff
“Big Baller” – Flavour
Best West African artist of the year
Black Sherif (Ghana) – “January 9th”
King Promise (Ghana) – “Terminator”
WINNER: Himra (Ivory Coast) – “Coulibaly & Diabaté”
Josey (Ivory Coast) – “Venez Bouger”
Toofan (Togo) – “Tone”
Best East African artist of the year
Bien (Kenya) – “Wahala”
Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania) – “Mapoz”
WINNER: Juma Jux (Tanzania) – “Enjoy”
Bruce Melodie (Rwanda) – “When She’s Around”
Azawi (Uganda) – “Masavu”
Best North African artist of the year
Mohamed Ramadan (Egypt) – “Arabi”
Elgrande Toto (Morocco) – “Maghribi”
WINNER: Soolking (Algeria) – “Tiki Taka”
Balti (Tunisia) – “Dima Mechi”
Abu (Eygpt) – “Hollela”
Best Southern African artist of the year
WINNER: Titom (South Africa) –“Tshwala Bam”
Yuppe (South Africa) – “Tshwala Bam”
Tyla (South Africa) – “Water”
Kelly Kay (Malawi) – “Bana Pwanya”
Plutonio (Mozambique) – “Acordar”
Zee Nxumalo (South Africa) – “Thula Mabota”
Best Central African artist of the year
WINNER: Innos’B (DRC) – “Sete”
Gaz Mawete (DRC) – “Dendisa”
Emma’a (Gabon) – “Biso Mibale”
Eboloko (Gabon) – “Satanana”
Singuila. (Central African Republic) – “Sin Saison”
Kocee (Cameroun) – “Credit Alert”
Best rap album
Sideh Kai – Illbliss
Eziokwu – Odumodublvck
Alaye Toh Se Gogo Vol. 1 – Reminisce
WINNER: Family Time – Erigga
Shiny Object Syndrome – Modenine
Soundtrack of the year
Eledumare – Teledalese (Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre)
Lose to Gain – Kaline (Breath of Life)
Kill Boro – Native Filmworks & Wizard Chan (Kill Boro)
Orisa – Beriola (Orisa)
Emotions – Tiwa Savage & Asa (Water and Garri)
WINNER: Tribe Called Judah soundtrack – TCJ & Abbey Wonder (A Tribe Called Judah)
Next rated
Qing Madi
Shallipopi
WINNER: Odumodublvck
Ayo Maff
Nasboi
Afrobeats album of the year
Stubborn – Victony
Work of Art – Asake
The Year I Turn 21 – Ayra Starr
WINNER: Heis – Rema
Jiggy Forever – Young Jonn
Best performer (live)
Rema – Ravage Uprising: Rema Live From The O2, London
Omah Lay – Live at L’olympia Paris
Flavour – Celebrating You 2023
Wizard Chan – Live in Concert Port Harcourt
WINNER: Burna Boy – African Giant Live From London
Femi Kuti & The Positive Force – Nuits De Fourvière (Arte Concert)
Digital artist of the year
Ayra Starr
Rema
Shallipopi
Tems
WINNER: Davido
Kizz Daniel
Asake
Humanitarian award
King Mitchy
Special recognition
Kingsley Chinweike Okonkwo A.K.A Kcee
SZA crowns both the latest Billboard 200 albums chart and the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart dated May 3. While it’s customary for star acts to lead both lists simultaneously, SZA does so differently than the way that the feat is usually achieved.
As previously reported, SZA’s album SOS rebounds for a 13th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Concurrently, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” from Lamar’s album GNX – not SOS – logs a milestone 10th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100.
Since the beginning of the 2020s, only three acts have led the charts simultaneously but with a Hot 100-topping song not from the album at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The two prior to SZA: GNX headed up the Billboard 200 as Lamar’s stand-alone single “Not Like Us” led the Hot 100 for a week in February and Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as the then-four-year-old “Cruel Summer” ruled the Hot 100 for a week in November 2023.
Comparatively, in a hefty 50 weeks this decade, and continuing coordination common since the ‘60s, acts have doubled up atop the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 with albums and songs from those sets. Most recently, Lamar did so twice via GNX: the LP was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as “Luther” (March 15) and “Squabble Up” (Dec. 7, 2024) topped the Hot 100. Leading the way since 2020, Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time and its smash “Last Night” spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 side-by-side. (The set and song reigned for 19 and 16 total weeks, respectively.)
Prior to SZA, Lamar and Swift earning such commands, no act had scored such a divergent double-up since August 1997, when Diddy (then Puff Daddy) was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with No Way Out (with The Family) while being featured with Mase on The Notorious B.I.G.’s Hot 100 leader “Mo Money Mo Problems.” Among artists in lead roles, none had earned the honor before SZA, Lamar and Swift since 1975, when, for two weeks that January, Elton John’s Greatest Hits led the Billboard 200 as his cover of The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” not on the collection, topped the Hot 100.
The recent relative uptick in the feat suggests that songs’ success can be less tied to album campaigns than in the past. In the case of the acts above, the reign of “Luther” aligns with the recent reissue of SOS; “Not Like Us” was re-diss-covered after Lamar performed it at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show and it won five Grammy Awards, all within an eight-day span in early February; and “Cruel Summer” was revived from Swift’s 2019 album Lover, partly from fan fervor as she performed it early in the run of her The Eras Tour.
Meanwhile, in a digital era, artists can more easily release single tracks than before, while the likes of TikTok and media synchs can more randomly spark popularity for songs not on albums that acts are simultaneously promoting.
Further tying Lamar and SZA together, GNX is No. 2 on the Billboard 200, while the stars kicked off their co-headlining Grand National Tour April 19.
Mike Peters, the lead singer of Welsh rock band The Alarm died on Tuesday (April 29) at age 66 following a decades-long battle with cancer. The death of the author of such strident 1980s alt rock anthems as “Blaze of Glory,” “Spirit of ’76,” “Sixty Eight Guns” and “The Stand” was confirmed in a statement from the group’s publicist titled “Totally Free.”
As the lone remaining original member of the punk-turned-rootsy rock group formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1977 (originally known as The Toilets) Peters continued to tour and release music during a three-decade battle with several forms of cancer, putting himself up as an indefatigable advocate for blood cancer patients.
Last April, before launching a 50-date U.S. tour, he was diagnosed with Richter’s Syndrome, an aggressive form of lymphoma. According to the release, even after extensive treatment at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, U.K., including experimental therapies, doctors could not halt the cancer’s progress.
Michael Leslie Peters was born in Wales on Feb. 25, 1959 and logged time in early Hairy Hippie and The Toilets, forming the latter after being inspired by a Sex Pistols show he attended in 1976. Teaming up with childhood friend and bassist Eddie McDonald, as well as drummer Nigel Twist and guitarist Dave Sharp — initially as Seventeen — the group gelled as The Alarm in 1981, when they were signed to Miles Copeland’s IRS Records, the early indie rock home of groups including R.E.M., The Go-Go’s, Fine Young Cannibals, Wall of Voodoo and many more.
They got a crucial break when U2’s agent saw them live and invited the band to open for the then-ascending Irish group in December 1981. Their sound — a mix of acoustic roots rock, new wave balladry and howling, uplifting anthems — began to gain traction as they supported U2 on that band’s 1983 War tour.
The hard road work paid off on the Alarm’s 1984 debut album, Declaration, which spotlighted Peters’ sensitive, heartfelt lyrics on tracks including the opening salvo, “Marching On.” The anthem for youth found him wailing, “These are the kids they’re powerless/ So you tell them so/ These are the kids they’re powerful/ Don’t say you haven’t been told.”
Setting the tone for the next two decades, the album also featured such fist-in-the-air shout-along hymns to fortitude and fight as “Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?,” “We Are the Light,” “Blaze of Glory” (not to be confused with the Bon Jovi song of the same name) and one of the Alarm’s most beloved calls to arms: “Sixty Eight Guns.”
The song mixed a jaunty rockabilly-meets-mariachi horns sound with another one of Peters’ rallying cries for misunderstood youth, in this case inspired by a late1960sGlasgow street gang who went by the song’s title. “They’re after you with their promises/ Promises of love/ They’re after you to sign your life away,” Peters sings in his signature urgent, raspy yowl. “Sixty-eight guns will never die/ Sixty-eight guns our battle cry/ Sixty-eight guns,” he adds on the chorus.
The group expanded their sound on 1985’s sophomore effort, Strength, which added some churchy organs to the title track and added a handful of other classics to their live repertoire, including the synth-speckled “Knife Edge” and yet another heart-pumping call to arms, the harmonica and piano painted homage to the band’s early origins, “Spirit of ’76.”
They would release three more albums during their initial run, including 1987’s Eye of the Hurricane — featuring their signature ballad, “Rain in the Summertime” — as well as 1989’s Tony Visconti-produced Change, which got them their first and only Billboard Hot 100 top 50 hit with “Sold Me Down the River” (No. 50). That album also represented one of the group’s chart peaks in America, topping out at No. 75 on the Billboard 200 album chart; Strength hit No. 39 in February 1986 and Declaration ran up to No. 50 in April of 1984.
Among their other Hot 100 charting singles were “Strength” (No. 61), “Rain in the Summertime” (No. 71) and “Presence of Love” (No. 77).
After the release of their fifth, and final, LP by the original lineup, 1991’s Raw, the band split up and got back together just one more time, for an episode of VH1’s Bands Reunited, in October 2003. Peters continued his musical march with the Poets of Justice band featuring his wife, Jules Peters, on keyboards, as well as releasing his first solo album, Breathe, in 1994, one year before his first cancer diagnosis.
Peters was diagnosed with non Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1995, battling that form of cancer, as well as later being twice diagnosed with lymphocytic leukemia in 2005 and 2015. Taking on the disease with the same vigor that fed his songs, Peters co-founded the music-driven charity Love Hope Strength with his wife Jules — who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 — as a means to raise awareness around stem cell donation. The organization’s “Get on the List” campaign at his shows helped add more than 250,000 people to the global stem cell registry.
The singer also kept a sparkle in his eye amidst his health battles, releasing an album by his hoax teen group The Poppy Fields, in 2004, scoring a hit on British radio with the blitzing “45 R.P.M.” Though the song clearly featured Peters’ signature vocals, at the time he said the masked effort was an attempt to shake-up the media’s perception of the by-then 20-plus year old band by concealing their identities and enlisting a group of younger musicians in the band the Wayriders to pose as the veteran act.
In addition to solo singles and albums, Peters, who shared the stage with icons including Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan over the years, performed with the indie/new wave supergroup Dead Men Walking with members of The Mighty Wah!, The Damned and the Sex Pistols and briefly joined on as the lead singer of Scottish band Big Country in 2011 following the death of singer Stuart Adamson.
In addition to touring, Peters performed the “highest show ever” on Mt. Everest in 2007, where he was joined by some other 1980s new wave legends, including Cy Curnin and Jamie West of The Fixx, Glen Tillbrook of Squeeze and Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats for a show to raise cancer awareness. A tireless advocate for cancer awareness, Peters shared his stories with his fans and encouraged them to join him on mountain-climbing treks to Mount Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas and released a documentary in 2018 on the BBC about Jules’ cancer battle, While We Still Have Time.
Peters posted from his hospital room in January, his signature shock of long blonde hair shaved down to a slim mohawk, as he shared a new song, “Chimera,” which he said celebrated his receipt of his CAR-T cell therapy on what he called his “new birthday.” Peters booked a series of shows in June of this year in Wales, dubbed “The Alarm Transformation Weekends,” in advance of the upcoming release of his final album, Transformation. He also completed the second volume of his memoirs, Volume 2 HOPE – 1991-2005.
Check out some of The Alarm’s most beloved hits below.
When Wiz Khalifa‘s seminal mixtape Kush and Orange Juice dropped in 2009, the Pittsburgh staple brought a new sound and lifestyle that forever shifted the hip-hop landscape.
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“The mode I was in — tapped in with the fans, being on the road, buying Jordans, wearing Chucks, wearing camo shorts every day,” recalls Khalifa a decade-and-a-half later to Billboard. “[I] was literally smoking Kush and drinking orange juice, [and] putting the world onto a whole lifestyle that we were living.”
Earlier this month, Khalifa kept the Kush and Orange Juice legacy alive when he released the sequel to his magnum opus. He enlisted familiar faces such as Taylor Gang affiliates Ty Dolla $ign, Juicy J and Chevy Woods while linking up with new characters including LaRussell, Don Toliver and Larry June, making this 23-track ride memorable. The album’s standout tracks, such as the swagger-filled “Pimps n Hustlers” and the Curren$y-featured “Jet Taylor,” showcase the same gusto that made Kush and Orange Juice a classic.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” Khalifa confidently states when facing the arduous task of following up his 2009 classic. “It was something that I felt I could challenge myself to do. And I would also know if it was it or wasn’t it. There were a couple of times during the process where I would get to maybe I’m done, maybe I figured it out, and I did, but the fans would always let me know what direction to shift it. When I finally got to the end of it, I was 100% confident. So, it wasn’t scary. It was fun trying to figure it out.”
Wiz Khalifa, the spry MC who emerged as the cornerstone of stoner rap in the early 2010s, has transcended past being a caliber MC from the Blog Era. He has become a Billboard Hot 100 contender, courtesy of his rap bona fides. His journey from songs such as “Black & Yellow,” “We Dem Boyz” and “Work Hard, Play Hard” to the melancholic anthem “See You Again” placed him in the venerable territory, hitting Diamond status and accruing 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, is a testament to his evolution. This growth, from his stoner rap roots to becoming a Hot 100 contender, is something that his fans can take pride in. Despite these milestones, Khalifa’s love for hip-hop runs deep in his blood, as proven by his latest freestyles over J. Cole’s “Clouds” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Squabble Up.”
“I did it strategically,” says Khalifa, revealing a key aspect of his creative process. “I started working on the album and removed myself from social media for a bit. It was about four months, and I didn’t scroll or digest anything. It was on purpose because I had to find myself and figure out what I was going to do regardless of what was going on around me.”
Watch Khalifa’s full Billboard News In Conversation interview above, during which he spoke about his love for Snoop Dogg, linking up with J. Cole and more.