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Coincidence or not, it was a full moon Tuesday (Feb. 11) in Rio de Janeiro. The sky was clear, without stars, as the biggest star got ready to shine at the Nilton Santos Stadium, also known as Engenhão. Accompanied by her army — correction: her pack — She-Wolf Shakira marched toward the stage focused on […]
Mandy Moore had a simple message for Amazon on Tuesday (Feb. 11): “Do better.” The singer/actress lashed out at the global giant in her Instagram Story after she said the company delivered a package to her in-laws’ house in Pasadena, which was totally destroyed by last month’s devastating wildfires.
“Do better, Amazon,” she wrote in the Story that has since timed out, alongside a photo of the charred home and an image of the package sitting amidst the destruction. “Can we not have better discretion than to leave a package at a residence that no longer exists? This is my mother and father in law’s home. Smh.”
According to TMZ, Amazon responded to Moore’s post, with a spokesperson saying, “We’ve reached out to Ms. Moore via Instagram to apologize for this and to ask for more information from her in-laws so we’re better able investigate what happened here.” The representative added, “For weeks, we’ve advised those who are delivering on our behalf in southern California to use discretion in areas that were impacted by wildfires – especially if it involves delivering to a damaged home – that clearly didn’t happen here.”
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Moore, who initially reported that her home was also partially destroyed by one of the half dozen fires that killed 29 and destroyed more than 16,00 homes and other structures, also posted an emotional chronicle of her own flight from the Santa Ana winds-fueled conflagrations. “We never got an evacuation notice. Sometimes in the quieter moments of processing the last month, I play the game of what would have happened if I didn’t have my phone next to me, playing my typical ‘piano for deep sleep’ mix as I nursed Lou before bed, so I could answer the call from my brother-in-law?” Moore wrote on Instagram on Tuesday along with an image of the damage caused by the fire.
“It was 6:45 p.m. and he told me he, his wife, and our niece were evacuating, grabbing my in-laws (his parents) and getting the heck out of Dodge and we should do the same,” Moore continued. “I calmly walked downstairs and relayed this to my husband and without skipping a beat, we promptly packed up the kids (in their pjs), our dog, and scrambled to find our 3 cats as the power went out. I’ll never forget Taylor trying to figure out how to manually open our two little garage doors (they’d just finished construction around Thanksgiving and we’d just started using them—) in the harrowing 60 mph winds, as the sky glowed a dark red and ash started to fall all around us.”
Moore described racing across town dodging fallen tress on the freeway on their way to the safety of a friend’s home and getting her three kids to bed before running to Target to buy a litter box and some water. She also chronicled obsessively refreshing the Watch Duty wildfire map all night as she watched the evacuation zone narrow in on the eight-block radius around her home.
“It took until 4 a.m. for it to turn red. All the while, tossing and turning with a stomach-churning anxiety I’ve never experienced before, both boys passed out between us in bed,” Moore wrote. “[Oldest child daughter] Lou slept on the floor in a travel crib, and the dog curled up protectively by the door.”
She said that they just found out this week that their house is still standing, but that because of the proximity to the fires around their home, everything inside of it was a “near total loss. Clothes, furniture, pretty much everything will have to be disposed of… maybe even the walls too. We won’t be there for a very long time as it and the neighborhood itself get sorted out and cleaned and the rebuilding starts. I say all of this because i’m struggling. Yes we are exceedingly lucky to technically still have the structure of a home. But also… do we still have a home? I think my definition is in flux. The physical space? No. It goes without saying that our sweet brood and our pets are ALL that matters and home is where we are together… but having a sanctuary and safe space to feel settled really goes a long way too.”
The singer described “stumbling” on the home in the early days of COVID, instinctively knowing it was where they wanted to raise their kids; she found out she was pregnant with youngest son Gus two weeks after they closed on the home. Moore said they painstakingly restored and remodeled the home to make it their own and were just weeks away from finally finishing the work when the fires hit.
“I’m not saying all of this because I’m asking you to feel more sorry for us than someone else. Like I said, I am grateful. We’re so lucky!,” Moore wrote of the loss of the home and its contents, as well as the destruction of Taylor’s home studio. “By the grace of god we found a place to stay in the meantime and the kids are happy and safe. We’ve even starting collecting the books and toys that they’ve lost. It’s not a competition of who lost what or more. Real human beings across this town, regardless of their jobs or socioeconomic status, lost the life they’d come to know and count on in an instant. My whole heart is with them. Every one of them. This place, our home and the town itself, was our dream and I hope in time it will feel like that again… just a slightly different one.”
Last month, Moore’s brother-in-law, Dawes drummer Griffin Goldsmith, revealed that Moore and her family were taking shelter with her friend Hilary Duff. He also noted that he’d convinced his whole family and some close friends to move to Altadena years ago, including the siblings’ parents, who lived around the corner from him. Both Griffin and the Goldsmith’s parents lost their homes, while Taylor and husband Dawes singer Taylor Goldsmith had to flee their home and former Dawes bassist Wylie Gelber and his wife and their first crew member and old friend Jake lost their homes as well.
It’s been nearly five years since Naya Rivera died at 33 years old in an accidental drowning incident while taking her son, Josey — who turns 10 in September — on a boat trip in Lake Piru, Calif. And now, the Glee star’s ex-husband, actor Ryan Dorsey, is speaking out about her death and raising their child alone for the first time in depth, sitting down with People for an on-camera interview posted Wednesday (Feb. 12).
Looking back on the day he first got the call that Rivera had gone missing in July 2020 — with authorities at the time finding then-4-year-old Josey sleeping alone on a boat rented by the singer-actress, who was nowhere to be found — Dorsey said he was full of confusion and fear. “I instantly said, ‘What do you mean? She knows how to swim,’” he told the publication. “I didn’t know what to think, but I feared the worst.”
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Rivera’s disappearance quickly made national headlines, with fans, friends and Glee cast members all joining together at the time to voice their fears and pray for her safe return. Dorsey said he immediately drove to Lake Piru from Big Bear, Calif., speeding and “chain-smoking cigarettes” the whole drive before reuniting with Josey as authorities embarked on a search for Rivera’s body.
“It was the worst five days of my life,” recalled the actor, who says it’s still difficult to see photos of his ex-wife, much less hear songs that remind him of her (such as Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie,” which she famously covered on Glee).
One day after Rivera’s body was finally found in a remote part of the lake — sparking an outpouring of messages of grief from those who knew her, including numerous Glee costars and ex-boyfriend Big Sean — examiners ruled her death an accidental drowning and posited that she had used all of her strength to push Josey back onto the boat before she succumbed to the strength of the water. According to Dorsey, Josey has since been able to recall heartbreaking moments from the tragedy, such as how he and his mom had jumped off the boat to take a swim before Rivera noticed that the boat was drifting away, after which she instructed her son to swim back toward it.
“He said that the last thing she said was his name, and then she went under, and he didn’t see her anymore,” Dorsey told People. “Something he’s said over and over is that he was trying to find a life raft, and there was a rope, but there was a big spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it. I keep reassuring him, ‘Buddy, that rope wasn’t going to be long enough.’”
“That obviously still sticks out in his head because he feels like he could have saved her,” Dorsey added. “I think she just got caught up in a brush — that or a weird undercurrent from the dam. It was just a freak occurrence.”
Rivera and Dorsey had an on-again, off-again relationship. After getting back together following a breakup, the pair tied the knot in 2014 and welcomed Josey the next year; the Sorry Not Sorry later filed for divorce in 2016.
Dorsey has now spent the last four and a half years raising Josey as a single dad, moving to West Virginia after Rivera’s funeral to escape paparazzi. The actor says the experience has affected his approach as a parent. “I treat him differently than I would a normal kid because of what he’s been through. … For me, it’s not a big deal if he hears a bad word or if he sees someone get killed on TV,” Dorsey told the publication.
Josey is also definitely “his mama’s son, because when he doesn’t get the answer he wants, he keeps talking,” Dorsey added, smiling fondly. “He likes to talk, and that’s Mama for sure.”
Watch Dorsey’s emotional interview about Rivera below.
On Nov. 22, Kendrick surprised fans when, after winning what many consider the best rap battle ever, he released his sixth album GNX. However, after the shock of the surprise drop, fans were more taken aback by how the album sounded. Aside from a handful of songs like “Man at the Garden” and “Luther”, the project showcased a heavy and deeply rooted West Coast influence. The first voice you hear when you press play on “Wacced Out Murals,” the album’s intro, is not even Kendrick’s — it’s mariachi singer Deyra Barrera’s, “a genre of music that, thanks to L.A.’s heavy Mexican population, many in Kendrick’s generation grew up hearing while grabbing some tacos or visiting a neighbor’s house.
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He featured relatively unknown and underground Cali rappers throughout the album, giving artists like Lefty Gunplay, Dody6, AzChike, Hitta J3, YoungThreat and Peysoh their first charting hits. Songs like “Squabble Up”, “Hey Now”, “TV Off”, “Peekaboo”, “Dodger Blue” and “GNX” all have distinct West Coast production and put L.A. street lingo front and center. For example, “Squabble Up” uses a sample of Debbie Deb’s hook to freestyle classic “When I Hear Music,” which is popular in lowrider culture and has a Bay Area bounce to it. The video also features hyphy culture prominently, along with other easter-egg nods to life in California from a hip-hop perspective.
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But Kendrick Lamar wouldn’t be the only superstar to tap his home soil for inspiration in the past few months. Similar to the way Lamar used an unorthodox approach in setting off GNX with Barrera’s soulful vocals, Bad Bunny starts off his latest album Debí Tirar Más Fotos with the sounds of salsa, in the form of an interpolation of El Gran Combo’s “Un Verano en Nueva York” on the album’s intro “NuevaYol“. The listener immediately knows the direction in which Bunny’s planning to take them. This particular brand of salsa music exploded Stateside during the ‘70s, as more Puerto Ricans and Cubans moved to New York City and Miami, respectively. The Latino diaspora was thirsty for a new sound that helped speak to their new urban environment; sort of like reggaetón has become for younger generations.
The record’s third track, “Baile Inolvidable,” is essentially a salsa song, again wasting no time in telling the listener that this is a Puerto Rican album made by a Puerto Rican for Puerto Ricans. Bunny’s vocals over that style of production is reminiscent of artists like Ghostface Killah rapping over a loosely looped R&B beat on songs like “The Watch” and “Holla”. Kendrick’s “Heart Pt. 6” does something similar, as he raps about his early days over a sample of SWV’s mid-’90s R&B hit “Use Your Heart”.
Bunny, similar to Kendrick on past albums, is using his influence as one of the world’s biggest stars to bring attention to what’s happening in his homeland. Puerto Rico has been stuck in limbo as a United States territory since 1898, with its citizens being split between statehood, independence and free association. Bunny’s been a vocal supporter of the growing independence movement, recently endorsing third party candidate Juan Dalmau for governor of Puerto Rico. The song “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii” warns against statehood and the gentrification he believes it will inevitably bring as he doesn’t want his homeland to suffer the same fate as Hawaii since it became the 51st state in 1959. The 2023 Maui wildfires have amplified the archipelago’s gentrification problem, as many natives are being priced out of neighborhoods they’ve lived in for generations.
The Puerto Rican superstar’s sixth album isn’t all political, though. Tracks like “Café con Ron” and “Pitorro de Coco” are homages to Bori culture, with both being named after popular drinks like coffee with rum and coconut moonshine. He even released the album the day before Three Kings Day, a secondary Christmas holiday celebrated on the island. And he includes a few records for the ladies to whine to for good measure.
Lamar isn’t nearly as political on GNX as Bunny is on Debí Tirar Más Fotos, but he too wanted to remind fans and critics alike that his home has its own culture with its own slang, rhythms and dances. He did decide to wade into some political waters during his Super Bowl 59 Halftime performance, however, by enlisting Samuel L. Jackson to narrate the show as Uncle Sam, seemingly in reference to Jackson’s Dolmedes character in Spike Lee’s 2015 film Chi-Raq. “The feel of it is Black America,” Dot’s right hand man Dave Free told the Wall Street Journal of pgLang’s production. “What does Black America look like, and how to control that narrative of what it means to be Black in America, versus what the world’s perspective of that is.”
Two superstars whose genres have risen from the streets of their respective homelands to becoming a global force, dropping super-regional albums, and both going No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart shows that chasing trends and worrying about what everybody else is doing or wants to hear from you doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. “My purpose was what I said: Bring an album with the essence of Puerto Rico that would unite generations, awaken love for the country and the culture, and that people would enjoy,” the Puerto Rican superstar told Billboard. “That was it.”
Fans will have options to see Country Music Hall of Famer George Strait and 11-time Grammy winner Chris Stapleton on the road this summer, as the two have extended their run of stadium shows, adding five concerts for 2025.
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“Burn It Down” hitmaker Parker McCollum will be the special guest on four newly added shows, slated for Philadelphia (set for May 10); Pittsburgh, Pa. (May 31); Buffalo, N.Y. (June 14); and Foxborough, Mass., (June 21), while Little Big Town will be the special guest on a newly added show on July 19 in Inglewood, Calif.
“I keep trying to slow down a bit but you keep calling me back,” Strait said in a statement. “Please don’t ever stop. I still love it just as much as I always have. Thank you for an amazing year last yearand I can’t wait to see you for a few more again this year. Chris will be back and glad to haveLittle Big Town with us in L.A. For the other cities, we’ve added Parker M. to the show whichwill be outstanding. Can’t wait to see you!!”
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Tickets go on sale Friday, Feb. 21, at 10 a.m. local time via Strait’s website. American Expresswill also offer card members access to Amex presale tickets, available for purchase startingThursday, Feb. 20, before the general public onsale.
No doubt, these upcoming shows will see Strait infuse his setlist with some songs from his most recent album, Cowboys & Dreamers. The album also features the Stapleton collaboration “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame.” Meanwhile, Stapleton is fresh off of his latest Grammy win; he picked up best country solo performance for “It Takes a Woman.”
See the full listing of the five new shows below:
George Strait w/ Chris Stapleton and special guest Parker McCollum:
May 10: Philadelphia, Pa. @ Lincoln Financial Field
May 31: Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Acrisure Stadium
June 14: Buffalo, N.Y. @ Highmark Stadium
June 21: Foxborough, Mass. @ Gillette Stadium
George Strait w/ Chris Stapleton & special guest Little Big Town:
July 19: Inglewood, Calif. @ SoFi Stadium
In the same way every pro sports championship run looks a little different, so do the ways teams integrate music into their winning formulas. For some, it’s finding the perfect locker room jam; for others, its giving new meaning to the music of a hometown hero.
But for all of them, music provides an X factor that could well make the difference on game day.
Boston Celtics2024 NBA Champions
BIA at halftime of game two of the 2024 NBA Finals in Boston on June 9, 2024.
Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
Widely considered the most successful franchise in NBA history, the Celtics called on their community during the 2023-24 season when competing for their now league-leading 18th championship. For the season’s marketing campaign, Different Here, “We wanted to focus on showcasing local musical artists and what makes Boston’s culture different,” says Carley Lenahan, Celtics director of live production and entertainment. “Connecting with our community and fans is integral to the support they show the Celtics, and the support and energy from our fans during a championship run is everything.”
On opening night of the 2023-24 season, the Celtics launched their Local Artist Halftime Series with performances by Boston-based hip-hop stars Esoteric and Latrell James and Roxbury native Oompa. “During a championship run, the home court advantage is key to a successful series, and we understand how important it is that the players can feed off the atmosphere and energy in the arena,” Lenahan says. Throughout the season, the nine artists from the Boston area were featured across seven Local Artist Halftime Series shows, culminating in Medford, Mass., native BIA’s performance at game two of the NBA Finals.
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“As a lifelong Celtics fan, I’ve been going to games since I was 10,” BIA says. “The opportunity to perform my music on the iconic parquet floor in front of my hometown crowd and my all-time favorite team was truly an honor and a full-circle moment.”
Kansas City Chiefs2023 and 2024 Super Bowl Winners
Mecole Hardman Jr. (second from right) celebrates with Patrick Mahomes (right), Travis Kelce (second from left) and Jawaan Taylor (far left) after catching the game-winning touchdown pass at the 2024 Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, 2024.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Many sports franchises lean on hometown artists to galvanize their teams, but the Kansas City Chiefs find musical inspiration in a different place: their locker room.
Amid the run-ups to the Chiefs’ back-to-back Super Bowl wins in 2023 and 2024, artists like 50 Cent, Future and YoungBoy Never Broke Again were constantly on shuffle to motivate the team during marquee postseason matchups. “I feel like in-season, it’s kind of a variety. We got multiple artists [that we listen to] depending on who is new and who is hot then,” Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie says. “The postseason, we get back to the classics. We go old school.”
According to McDuffie, one new song has made its way through the cracks since the team won it all last year: BossMan Dlow’s “Get In With Me,” which has become a beloved anthem for players and coaches alike in the locker room. A close second? “Tweaker,” the current viral hit from LiAngelo “G3 GELO” Ball (himself a former pro-baller). But only two players have the privilege of managing the team’s turn-up tunes. “We’re strict on who can control the aux,” McDuffie says. “Most of the time, it’s either Jawaan Taylor or Chris Jones.”
Los Angeles Dodgers2024 MLB World Series Winners
Ice Cube opened game two of the 2024 World Series in Los Angeles on Oct. 26, 2024.
Harry How/Getty Images
The 2024 MLB World Series faceoff between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees couldn’t have been more high stakes. And to commemorate the East-West matchup between two of the biggest sports markets, the MLB tapped two beloved music stars — New York native Fat Joe and Los Angeles icon Ice Cube — to perform at their respective home fields.
Following a 1-0 series lead against the Yankees, Cube performed his 1993 classic “It Was a Good Day” from the pitcher’s mound at Dodger Stadium. Rocking Dodgers gear from head to toe, his performance enlivened the home team, which not only secured a game-two win but the overall series in five games. All-Star Kiké Hernández thanked Cube during the team’s championship celebration at Dodger Stadium, telling the thousands of fans in attendance, “Ice Cube came out with his performance in game two, and we didn’t even play [because] we already won it.”
“As a lifelong Dodgers fan who grew up watching them battle from the ’70s to the ’80s, that was a next-level dream come true,” Ice Cube tells Billboard. “To feel the energy of 52,000 fans going wild was otherworldly and contagious. You could feel it in the air. The crowd, the players — everybody was hyped. It was the perfect recipe for a win, and we all knew it at that moment.”
New York Liberty2024 WNBA Champions
Fat Joe at halftime of game five of the 2024 WNBA Finals in New York on Oct. 20, 2024.
Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Following a devastating championship loss the year prior, the WNBA team entered the 2024 season determined to bounce back — and understood the critical role its fans would play in that journey. Those hometown supporters turned out to include not only the spirited crowds flocking to Barclays Center for games, but local hip-hop legends like Fat Joe, Ja Rule and Jadakiss.
“Everything we do needs to have a through line of authenticity,” says Liberty chief brand officer Shana Stephenson, who spent the season recruiting homegrown New York talent to perform at home games. “Sometimes, there might be a pop artist who is a big name at the moment, but I might not want to book them because I don’t know if our crowd will resonate with their sound.”
After dominating the regular season and securing home court advantage throughout the WNBA playoffs, Stephenson leveraged her love for hip-hop to propel the team’s championship run. With its title hopes hanging in the balance, Stephenson enlisted the help of Liberty fan and basketball aficionado Fat Joe to ignite the energy for the crucial game five.
“Everybody knows ‘Lean Back,’ right? My dad can sing it. He leans back when it comes on. That’s an anthem,” Stephenson says.
In the end, her plan was a key element in helping the team achieve its historic championship win in October. “That’s the beautiful thing about music and sports: It can unite people in a beautiful and powerful way,” Fat Joe says. “One time for the Liberty Ladies.”
This story appears in the Feb. 8, 2025, issue of BIllboard.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft surge back into the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Feb. 15). The albums jump 12-5 and 14-7, respectively, following the performers’ turns on the Grammy Awards’ broadcast on CBS (Feb. 2).
Carpenter performed a medley of the Short n’ Sweet hits “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” on the show, while Eilish sang her album’s “Birds of a Feather.” Carpenter also won two Grammys, including one presented during the CBS broadcast, for best pop vocal album (for Short n’ Sweet).
Short n’ Sweet sold 8,500 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 6 (up 42%), according to Luminate. Hit Me Hard and Soft sold a little more than 7,500 (up 46%).
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Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.
Another Grammy performer, The Weeknd, arrives at No. 1 with his latest album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, selling 359,000 copies in its first week (his best sales week ever). Grateful Dead, who was honored as the Recording Academy’s 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year (on Feb. 1), debut at No. 2 with its latest from-the-vaults live album: Dave’s Picks, Volume 53: Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH – 10/2/76 (19,000 sold).
Chappell Roan’s chart-topping The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess also basks in the Grammy glow, as it climbs 10-3 with 12,000 sold (up 66%). Roan won the best new artist award and performed “Pink Pony Club” (from Princess) on the show.
Stray Kids’ former leader HOP jumps 8-4 with a little over 8,500 sold (up 6%), while the chart-topping Wicked film soundtrack steps 7-6 with 8,000 (down 8%).
Gracie Abrams’ former No. 1 The Secret of Us moves 9-8 (6,500), Mac Miller’s chart-topping Balloonerism falls 6-9 (6,000; down 32%) and Teddy Swims’ I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2) drops 1-10 in its second week (nearly 6,000; down 77%).
Central Cee has shared his love of Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” in a new interview.
On the west London rapper’s four-part CRG Radio show, which is available via Apple Music 1, Cench — born Oakley Neil Caesar-Su — discussed his all-time favorite artists, past and present. In addition to praising Lil Durk, Drake, Damian Marley, Amy Winehouse and dancehall artist Vybz Kartel, he spoke about playing Eilish’s music on repeat.
“You see me, I don’t know lyrics. I was saying I know ‘Juicy’ by Biggie Smalls just about off by heart and that’s the only song,” he began. “And then, after listening to it maybe a thousand times, I know Billie Eilish’s ‘Birds of a Feather.’”
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“I need to listen to something for time to hear [song] lyrics,” he continued, before describing his attraction to Eilish in the “Birds of a Feather” music video. “I think I fancied her first. I was looking at her, I was just watching the video to look at her and then I started thinking, ‘Yeah, no, this [song is] actually cold. And now I don’t know if it’s ‘mind games’; I’ve just heard it so much, but I love it. I just love the music now. It’s not even about [Eilish] anymore.”
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He added: “I’ve just been told that [‘Birds of a Feather’] was one of the biggest songs of last year, and it kind of makes me think that when something’s so popular — I know people do it with my music — that I’m not actually as unique as I think I am for liking that song. But I am in my circle!”
The latest episode of CRG Radio will also be the last. Previous installments of the series have seen the 26-year-old speak with U.K. rappers Headie One, Blade Brown and Nemzzz, while there has also been an appearance from England midfielder Cole Palmer.
On Jan. 31, meanwhile, Cench beat competition from Teddy Swims to top the Official U.K. Albums Chart with his debut LP, Can’t Rush Greatness. He will support the record with a 39-date world arena tour through the spring, kicking off in Oslo on April 1.
Cench also recently scooped a trio of nominations for the 2025 BRIT Awards; the ceremony will be held March 1. He is up for best U.K. artist, best song (“Band4Band”) and best hip-hop and grime.
Everyone has an opinion on how Drake should maneuver with his next venture to turn the page to 2025. Coming off of his appearance during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show over the weekend, Mustard stopped by Big Boy’s Neighborhood on Monday (Feb. 10) to share his thoughts on just that. Big Boy asked what […]
When WWE Superstar Damian Priest learned that one of the biggest matches of his career would be held in Puerto Rico, he was overjoyed. For Priest, who was raised in Vega Baja, a small town just 26 miles from San Juan, it was more than a match — it was a long-awaited homecoming. But for this no-holds-barred San Juan Street Fight, the former World Heavyweight Champion would be lacing up his boots to face an unusual opponent: one of music’s brightest stars and arguably Puerto Rico’s favorite son, Bad Bunny.
“Here he is doing all these moves and being able to take them,” Priest recalls of the May 6, 2023, barn burner, where he lost by pinfall. “The fact that he could take all these hits and get back up — and I know he was in a lot of pain — that drive to succeed and entertain, he has it, like we all do.”
Bad Bunny actually made his WWE debut in January 2021, at the Royal Rumble in St. Petersburg, Fla., where he faced off against former WWE and UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. That April, he showcased more daredevil moves and aerial tactics — and turned skeptics into believers — at WrestleMania. And since then, he has continued to solidify his heavyweight status in the wrestling world with his unwavering passion for the craft.
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“Music and WWE have always run parallel,” Priest says. “When I describe how to make it in this business through the grind and the struggle, it’s always easier to explain it to musicians because they get it. It’s the same grind. You start performing in front of little to nobody in these greasy clubs, try to get noticed and then build up a reputation and a bit of a following. Hopefully, you get noticed by a record label or an artist who puts you on a tour, [and] it’s the same thing here.”
Bad Bunny and Damian Priest wrestle during the WWE Backlash at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot on May 6, 2023 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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Though the WWE has been around for 70 years, the wrestling conglomerate is enjoying a renaissance — and the music industry has played a significant role in its post-pandemic resurgence. WWE president Nick Khan, who joined the company in 2020, has been at the forefront, connecting the dots between music and the WWE by bringing artists like Bad Bunny, Travis Scott, Metro Boomin, Cardi B, Meek Mill, Jelly Roll and Sexyy Red to collaborate with the company. Whether through actual matches, live TV segments or commercials for future premium live events, the strategic pairing has brought a fresh and diverse audience to WWE while elevating these artists’ status in the wrestling world.
In early January, WWE officially partnered with Netflix to present Monday Night Raw, its 34-year-old flagship show and the longest-running weekly episodic program without reruns in TV history. (The show most recently aired on USA Network from 2005 through the end of 2024.) The three-hour star-packed extravaganza featured wrestling immortals The Rock, John Cena and Hulk Hogan, and celebrities from Vanessa Hudgens and Tiffany Haddish to Travis Scott, Wale and Blxst attended. But unlike his peers, Scott wasn’t just a spectator — he escorted WWE Superstar Jey Uso ahead of his match. Scott — whom WWE chief content officer Paul Levesque (aka wrestler Triple H) gifted a Hardcore Championship belt during the rapper’s ComplexCon performance last November — wore the title draped around his shoulders and fed off the crowd’s electric energy as his own “Fein” reverberated throughout Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome. Sunglasses on and joint in hand, Scott sauntered out alongside Uso with the aura of a ’90s wrestler — a picture-perfect moment for both stars.
“The energy out there was crazy,” Scott tells Billboard. “I was talking to Triple H and was like, ‘Yo. This s–t is wild.’ In my shows, I try to create that maximum energy level and have the people feel they can reach the highest level of ecstasy as far as being happy and free. And in those environments — things like wrestling, and even in sports where the characters can be so free and create this livelihood for kids, adults and families — it’s dope.”
“When I found out I was coming out with Travis, I asked him, ‘Are you ready? Because this s–t is about to pop off,’ ” Uso adds. “I just didn’t expect that the brother was about to light one up before we walked out. He can do what he wants to do.”
This wasn’t the first time Uso had rubbed shoulders with a hip-hop superstar. Last April, at WrestleMania 40, he and Lil Wayne walked down the entranceway together at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field before a roaring crowd as the rapper’s “A Milli” and Uso’s entrance theme, “Main Event Ish,” played. It was a surreal moment for Uso: Before his WWE debut in 2007, he’d wrestled on the independent circuit alongside his twin brother, Jimmy, and they’d chosen Wayne’s 2004 hit “Go DJ” as their entrance music.
“We all grew up on Wayne in the late ’90s and early 2000s,” Uso says. “I’m talking about when he was with Hot Boyz and all that. It’s crazy how life comes full circle.” Before they walked out, Uso even cajoled Wayne into wearing some Uso merchandise: “He was real dope and cool with everything. He asked if I needed anything from him, and I said, ‘S–t, brother. Can you wear these “YEET” glasses for me? Here, put these on.’ ”
As artists rush to step inside the squared circle, wrestlers are moving with similar intention toward recording studios. Compelling entrance songs are vital in developing their characters, and since the ’90s, revered WWE Superstars like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock and The Undertaker have placed fans in a choke hold with not only their iconic visual presentation but also their magnetic theme music. At the heart of those entrance songs is former WWE composer Jim Johnston, who used popular ’90s genres like hip-hop and rock to create songs based on the wrestlers’ characters.
For Austin, famously known as “The Texas Rattlesnake,” his hard-rocking entrance song, “I Won’t Do What You Tell Me,” became known for its glass-shattering sound effects. Austin didn’t record vocals for it, but Cena, whose earlier wrestling persona was a punchline-driven rapper, stepped inside the booth and rapped his “The Time Is Now.” That bold move paved the way for future superstars like Uso and Priest to infuse their entrances with their own personalities, adding a fun new element for fans to enjoy.
“It helps to have someone like [Slayer’s] Kerry King play guitar on my track,” says Priest, whose character has a darker, goth-like personality. “It’s pretty cool. While doing my own vocals on my song is pretty simple, it’s cool because it comes from me and what I wanted to say and feel during certain moments. People can bop their heads to it, and it adds to that aura.”
Bad Bunny, representing Latino World Order, takes the ring as he prepares to wrestle Dominik Mysterio during the WWE SmackDown at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot on May 5, 2023 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Gladys Vega/ Getty Images
Uso’s hip-hop-influenced “Main Event Ish” is arguably the WWE’s most popular entrance song, with a simple but fiery hook (“It’s just me, Uce”), his unbridled energy and sharp ad-libs. His signature wave — now a staple at all WWE shows where he’s competing, in which he climbs the top rope and waves his hands up and down, controlling the crowd like a hip-hop maestro — accompanies the song.
“I flew to New York one day, sat [down with the writing team], put it together, knocked it out and it was on TV the next week,” Uso says of the track. “I knew I wanted to get on there and bring the energy. We always been musical, my whole family. We got hidden talents the world don’t know about.”
And as WWE enters WrestleMania season — with arguably its deepest roster since the ’90s — more musicians are looking to walk down the entrance ramp and pose a challenge, just like Bad Bunny first did four years ago. Fortunately for Bad Bunny, he had a great teacher in Priest, who, prior to their one-on-one showdown in Puerto Rico, served as his in-ring mentor and tag-team partner at WrestleMania 37, where they were victorious.
“A good match with another good wrestler is expected,” Priest says. “What I did with Bad Bunny was magic because nobody expected it. That’s not something you get to do all the time. I don’t know if I’ll ever get that chance again.”
This story appears in the Feb. 8, 2025, issue of Billboard.