Music

24 Jul 2024

Morgan Wallen Joins Luke Combs & Garth Brooks as Only Acts With 4 Country Airplay No. 1s in a Single Year

Morgan Wallen claims his fourth No. 1 of 2024 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated July 27), as “Cowgirls,” featuring Ernest, rides to the top spot. Wallen becomes only the third artist to notch four leaders on the list in a single year, following Luke Combs in 2021 and Garth Brooks, who achieved the feat twice, in 1991 and 1993.

As “Cowgirls” becomes Wallen’s 14th career Country Airplay No. 1 (and Ernest’s first as a recording artist), here’s a look at his four leading songs this year, as well as Combs’ and Brooks’ in the years that they each earned the honor.

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Morgan Wallen, 2024:

  • “Mamaw’s House,” Thomas Rhett feat. Wallen; one week at No. 1, March 23
  • “Man Made a Bar,” feat. Eric Church; one, April 20
  • “I Had Some Help,” Post Malone feat. Wallen; four weeks, beginning June 29
  • “Cowgirls,” feat. ERNEST; one (to date), July 27

Luke Combs, 2021:

  • “Better Together,” five weeks at No. 1, beginning Jan. 21
  • “Forever After All,” six, beginning June 5
  • “Cold Beer Calling My Name,” Jameson Rodgers feat. Combs;  one week, Oct. 9
  • “Cold as You,” one, Nov. 27

Garth Brooks, 1993:

  • “Somewhere Other Than the Night,” one week at No. 1, Jan. 16
  • “That Summer,” one, July 3
  • “Ain’t Going Down (Til the Sun Comes Up),” two weeks, beginning Sept. 18
  • “American Honky-Tonk Bar Association,” one, Dec. 4

Garth Brooks, 1991:

  • “Unanswered Prayers,” two weeks at No. 1, beginning Jan. 12
  • “Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House,” one week, April 6
  • “The Thunder Rolls,” two, beginning June 22
  • “Shameless,” two, beginning Nov. 16

Notably, Brooks is the only act to reach the mark as a lead artist on each such Country Airplay No. 1. He also came close to adding a fifth leader in each year above: in April 1993, “Learning to Live Again” hit No. 2; in October 1991, “Rodeo” peaked at No. 3.

Wallen has a chance to become the first artist with as many as five Country Airplay No. 1s in a single year, and just more than halfway through 2024: His newest single, “Lies Lies Lies,” ranks at No. 27 in its third week on the chart.

24 Jul 2024

Cardi B Defends Kamala Harris From Sexist Attacks Regarding Husband Doug Emhoff

With Kamala Harris poised to possibly become the nation’s first-ever female president, the current VP is already facing a barrage of sexist comments on social media — and Cardi B is having none of it.

After seeing that people online were attacking the Democratic party’s presumptive 2024 nominee — who President Joe Biden endorsed shortly after announcing that he was dropping out of the race last weekend — the rapper took to X Tuesday (July 23) to specifically shut down misogynistic criticism regarding Harris’ husband, lawyer Doug Emhoff.

“What does Kamala Harris husband or relationships have to do wit her credentials?” Cardi tweeted. “Do y’all hire people based on who they f–king??”

The Grammy winner’s comment seemingly comes in response to a wave of attacks baselessly suggesting that Harris has cheated on Emhoff, whom she’s been married to since 2014, in order to achieve career success. Some of the attacks have had racist and antisemitic overtones, with people taking aim at the couple’s interracial relationship and Emhoff’s Jewish descent.

Cardi isn’t the only star to come to Harris’ defense lately. Earlier this week, Lizzo slammed critics who’ve alleged that the former prosecutor “didn’t do anything” during her ongoing tenure as Biden’s vice president, challenging, “Please, for $5,000, do not use Google, tell me what any vice president has ever done during their term that was notable that you noticed.”

“The vice president’s job is to take a backseat and support while the president does everything that’s forward-facing,” the “About Damn Time” had singer added.

Several other musicians have also endorsed Harris over the past few days, from Ariana Grande to Barbra Streisand, Carole King, John Legend and more. As she was quick to remind fans recently, though, Cardi beat most of her peers to the punch, having said in a June livestream before Biden dropped out that she thought Harris should’ve been the Democratic presidential candidate instead.

See Cardi’s tweet defending Kamala Harris below.

24 Jul 2024

‘Cher: The Memoir’ Will Be a Two-Parter, With First Volume Due Out This Year

Cher‘s life has been so epic that one volume won’t suffice. The singer posted the cover of her upcoming two-part memoir on her Instagram on Wednesday (July 24), revealing a throwback pic from early in her six-decade career and her name splayed in color-shifting font just above.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Cher: The Memoir, Part One, is due out on November 19 through Dey Street Books, an imprint of the William Morrow Group at Harper Collins. “After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir,” the publisher wrote in a statement about the book that will chronicle the 78-year-old singer’s childhood and tumultuous marriage to late partner Sonny Bono. “With her trademark honesty and humor, Cher: The Memoir traces how this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century.”

The second part of the anticipated autobiography is slated for release in 2025.

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The singer cemented her pop icon credentials further in December when she earned a No. 1 hit on the Billboard songs chart with “DJ Play a Christmas Song,” tying her with the Rolling Stones as the only acts to have at least one new No. 1 on a Billboard songs chart in each of seven decades from the 1960s through the 2020s.

The road to the memoir has been a long one, with the Cher tweeting in 2018 that the first part of the book would drop in 2020, while also hyping a biopic whose details have not yet been confirmed; in 1998, Cher released a memoir entitled The First Time, a collection of essays that recounted a number of the major first-time events in her life.

Then, on the Tonight Show in November, Cher told Jimmy Fallon that she wasn’t quite ready to share her full story with her fans, saying she didn’t have a title for the book at the time. “I just totally chickened out. I didn’t put in some things that need to be in, and they’re not comfortable,” she told Fallon. “But they need to be put in, so I have to go back and man up… I’ve lived too long and done too much, and so it’s like it should be the encyclopedia.”

The Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning singer/actress who rose to fame in the 1960s as part of the duo Sonny & Cher with Bono is best known for their signature duet “I Got You Babe,” as well as solo hits “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,” “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “Believe,” and acting in films such as Silkwood, Mask, Moonstruck and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

Check out the cover of Cher: The Memoir, Part One below.

24 Jul 2024

Miley Cyrus’ ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ Music Video Surpasses 1 Billion Views on YouTube

Put your hands up, they’re playing her song — a billion times and counting. Miley Cyrus‘ smash “Party in the U.S.A.” has surpassed the nine-zeros mark on YouTube, marking her second music video to reach the milestone.

Uploaded in September 2009, the Chris Applebaum-directed video finds the then-16-year-old pop star, well, partying in the U.S.A. Joined by a litany of backup dancers, Cyrus sports cowboy boots, and belts out her famous tune in a crowded drive-in movie lot, in front of a huge American flag banner and on a swing set structure, all of it culminating in one final patriotic concert at the end.

“So I put my hands up/ They’re playin’ my song, the butterflies fly away,” she sings on the Dr. Luke-produced banger. “I’m noddin’ my head like, yeah/ Movin’ my hips like, yeah.”

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Released as the lead single of Cyrus’ 2009 EP The Time of our Lives, “Party in the U.S.A.” remains one of the Grammy winner’s biggest hits to date, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It marked the beginning of the star’s transition away from the family-friendly persona she cultivated on Hannah Montana — a pivot she would later cement with 2010’s Can’t Be Tamed and 2013’s Bangerz — and goes down in pop-culture fame as the song Cyrus sang during her controversial “pole dance” performance at the ’09 VMAs.

Speaking of Bangerz, Cyrus’ only other visual to reach a billion views so far is 2013’s “Wrecking Ball.”

Add your view to more than a billion others by watching Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” above.

24 Jul 2024

Adam Lambert & Auli’i Cravalho Will Make Their Broadway Debuts in ‘Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club’

Broadway fans will soon have to bid “auf wiedersehen” to Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin when they depart from the Tony Award-winning musical Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. But soon after, they’ll be saying “willkommen, bienvenue, welcome” to a new set of Broadway stars.

On Wednesday (July 24), the production announced that pop singer Adam Lambert and Moana star Auli’i Cravalho will join the cast of Cabaret starting on Sept. 16. The “Whataya Want From Me” singer will take on the role of the enigmatic Emcee (currently played by Redmayne), while Cravalho will join as wannabe nightlife starlet Sally Bowles (currently portrayed by Rankin).

“Growing up on the musical theater stage, it was always a childhood dream to perform on Broadway. With this production of Cabaret, it finally felt like the right time to accept an invitation to make my debut,” Lambert said in a statement released with the news. “The themes of this show have always resonated with me and given the current sociopolitical climate the world is in, feel eerily timely … I’m looking forward to working with Auli’i to create our own magic.”

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Cravalho agreed, adding, “I’m thrilled to join the long line of talented women who have taken on the iconic ‘Sally Bowles,’ most recently, the woman I watched with notebook and pen in hand, the dynamite Gayle Rankin. To join a show with so much history – and such a stellar cast and crew – means it’s quite literally an honor to get my butt kicked each week.”

This won’t be Lambert’s first time taking on a theatrical role. Before gaining widespread acclaim from his run on season eight of American Idol, the singer performed in the touring ensemble of Wicked in 2005, and eventually went on to play as the understudy to the romantic lead Fiyero in February 2007 Los Angeles production of the show.

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club has already proven to be a hit on Broadway. Along with a string of sold-out performances, the show was nominated for a whopping nine Tony Awards in 2024, including best revival of a musical and best performance by an actor/actress in a leading role in a musical for both Redmayne and Rankin. The show ultimately nabbed one award at the ceremony on June 16 for best scenic design of a musical.

Fans looking to score tickets to Lambert and Cravalho’s debut show can check performance schedules on the production’s official website.

24 Jul 2024

Watch Taylor Swift Give Flavor Flav a Cute Shout-Out From the Eras Tour Stage in Hamburg

Even Taylor Swift has to pay her respects to the king. After spotting Flavor Flav — aka “King Swiftie” — in the crowd at her first Eras Tour show in Hamburg, Germany, the 34-year-old pop star took a moment to give him a sweet shout-out from the stage.

In a video posted by the rapper on X Tuesday (July 23), Swift stands underneath a rainstorm of confetti while preparing to wrap up her three-hour-plus show at Volksparkstadion. She then locks eyes with him and excitedly mouths, “Flavor Flav!” before pointing at him with a big smile on her face.

“It’s the guy from Public Enemy also known as KING SWIFTIE,” Flav captioned the clip. “Coming straight to Germany to see me,!!! Shout out back to @taylorswift13 @taylornation13 and her team and family for having me,!!! ??????”

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The 65-year-old hip-hop star also showed off a gift he seemingly received from another Swiftie in Germany: a name plate reading “Flavor Flav, King Swiftie.” “Ya boy appreciates the love and everything every Swiftie as ever given or sent me,,, ??” he wrote, sharing a video of him dancing with the present to Lady Gaga’s “Applause,” which was part of Swift’s pre-show music.

Flav’s trip to Hamburg comes more than a year after he attended his first Eras Tour show in Detroit, which he later revealed was the impetus of his Swiftiehood. “It started because I got a girl that lives in Detroit and her kids wanted to go to the Eras Tour concert,” he said on Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning radio show in January. “So my manager got in contact with Taylor Swift’s people and they hooked me up some tickets and passes … a lot of these fans were coming up to me — these young kids, man, I’m surprised they even knew who I was! — and they start giving me these friendship bracelets.”

“Her fanbase embraced me, and I embraced them back,” he added at the time. “So, I went home and I started really listening to Taylor. I’m listening to her music, and I’m like, ‘Yo, this girl is dope!’ She’s writing a lot about experiences that she goes through in life, just like a Mary J. Blige.”

Flav has since been vocal in his love for Swift, and is quick to come to her defense, such as the time he dissed Jo Koy for making a jab at the pop star during his Golden Globes monologue. He’s snapped a few photos with the “Anti-Hero” singer at award shows, and attended her Eras Tour concert film premiere in October.

See Flavor Flav’s posts from the Eras Tour show in Hamburg below.

24 Jul 2024

Here’s Who Snoop Dogg Would Have on His ‘Dream Team’ If Rapping Were an Olympic Sport

Snoop Dogg is completing another side mission in life when he joins NBC as part of the coverage slated for the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics. While breakdancing is now an Olympic sport, rapping won’t be at the Olympic Games in Paris. However, if there were a team for rap at the Games, Snoop Dogg knows the three hip-hop legends he’d be taking with him to represent the United States.

“Definitely would take Eminem,” Snoop tells Billboard on a Wednesday morning (July 24) conference call from Paris. “Gotta have that global experience. I definitely would take Rakim. Old school. Then I would go grab a female. I’d go grab Queen Latifah. Just so that way, I got some royalty. Then, naturally, I gotta take Snoop Dogg. Come on, man. What are we talking about? I mean, dream team. Let’s go.”

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With Snoop joined by Rakim, Eminem and Queen Latifah, were rapping an actual Olympic sport, he’d be bringing quite the potent mix of rhyming icons with him as part of Team USA, with his picks boasting plenty of experience in the hip-hop realm.

It’s slated to be a very busy few weeks in France for Snoop Dogg once the Opening Ceremony kicks off the Olympic Games on Friday night (July 26). He’ll join NBC’s Mike Tirico as part of Primetime In Paris, which will provide wall-to-wall coverage of Olympic competitions, and will go behind the scenes with some of the world’s favorite athletes.

Snoop Dogg will also be serving as a torchbearer at the 2024 Summer Olympics. The Death Row alum is set to carry the lit-up torch through the streets of Saint-Denis in northern Paris.

“It says a lot about America as far as where we at in this world,” he said later in the call about having the torchbearer honor bestowed upon him. “I look at it as a prestigious honor. I would’ve never truly dreamed of something like this. I’ma be on my best behavior. I’ma be on my best athleticism. I’ll be able to breath slow, walk fast and have a smile on my face.”

Snoop continued, “I’m thinking back to Muhammad Ali and when Muhammad Ali was holding it. It was emotional for all of us to see the champ holding that torch and walking it up there. That’s what it feels like to me. My own version of it.”

The Opening Ceremony is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and will be streaming on Peacock.

24 Jul 2024

Eminem Tops 7 Billion U.K. Streams, Receives Brit Billion Award

Eminem could tweak the lyric of one of his most famous hits to “Love the Way You Stream.” The American rapper has received a Brit Billion Award by the BPI, which represents the U.K.’s leading music companies. The award recognizes artists who have achieved more than one billion U.K. career streams – a mark that Eminem has met seven times over. He has reached seven billion U.K. streams, as calculated by the Official Charts Company.

Fifteen of Eminem’s songs have been certified multiplatinum in the U.K. His top three most streamed hits – “Without Me,” the Oscar-winning “Lose Yourself” and “Love the Way You Lie” featuring Rihanna — have accumulated more than 770 million U.K. streams.

Eminem has amassed 11 No. 1 hits on the Official U.K. Singles chart and 11 No. 1 albums on the Official U.K. Albums chart. (By way of comparison, he has landed five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and 11 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200.)

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A total of 39 artists have been recognized with a Brit Billion award. The roster includes global icons such as Green Day, The Rolling Stones, Queen, ABBA and Whitney Houston; pioneering rap and hip-hop artists including AJ Tracey and Headie One; and chart-dominating pop artists and singer-songwriters, including Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Camila Cabello, Lewis Capaldi and Raye. 

The Brit Billion award, which officially launched in 2023, reflects the extent to which streaming has transformed the music landscape over the past decade. More than 85% of the U.K.’s recorded music consumption now takes place through streaming. In 2023 there were a record 180 billion audio streams in the U.K. In the U.K., more than 2,000 artists now annually amass at least 10 million audio streams, while more than 10,000 artists are streamed over a million times.

24 Jul 2024

Every Latin Artist With Over 5 Videos in YouTube’s Billion Views Club

YouTube established its coveted “Billion Views Club” in 2012, when Psy’s “Gangnam Style” made history as the first-ever music video to hit one billion views on the platform.

Since then, countless music videos have formed part of the elite music video club, including those of Latin acts such as Karol G, Daddy Yankee, Christian Nodal, Becky G, Myke Towers, Romeo Santos and Los Angeles Azules.

To date, the fastest Latin music video to reach one billion views was “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, surpassing the impressive number in only 97 days. “Mi Gente” by J Balvin and Willy William followed, reaching one billion views in 103 days.

With more than eight billion views, the former is currently the second-most-watched music video, overall, on YouTube — behind just Pinkfong’s “Baby Shark,” but above Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s “See You Again,” Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” and “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, to name a few.

Balvin, on the other hand, is the Latin artist with the most music videos in the Club, having racked up 15 in total at the time of publishing.

“The Billion Views Club represents the diverse mix of global sounds and voices that have helped make YouTube the home of music,” YouTube Music Trends manager Kevin Meenan explained in a YouTube blog post. “The list serves as a reminder of the power of the visual pairing with a great song, with the music video – alongside features like Premieres and Shorts — serving as the ultimate way for artists to share their art and vision directly with fans.”

Below, check out every Latin artist — as a lead, featured artist or collaborator — with more than five music videos to enter YouTube’s Billion Views Club:

24 Jul 2024

Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart Connects Music & Sports in New ESPN Film ‘Rhythm Masters’: Watch the Trailer

Music and sports have always been interconnected, and ESPN is diving into the bridge between the two in the upcoming film Rhythm Masters: A Mickey Hart Experience.

Hart, the beloved Grateful Dead and Dead & Company drummer, will take viewers on a “sonic journey as he creates an original score inspired by conversations with legendary and iconic voices from the world of sports,” according to the film’s synopsis. “His breath-taking score combined with insight from athletes helps show the depths of the universal rhythm found in music, sports, and life.”

Rhythm Masters

Rhythm Masters

The athletes set to be featured in the film include Phil Jackson, Joe Montana, Laila Ali, Ronnie Lott, Marshawn Lynch, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Sheryl Swoopes, Ozzie Smith, Mario Andretti, Jack Nicklaus, Mike Piazza, Mark Messier, Alex Honnold, Mikaela Shiffrin, Rush Sturges, Alessia Zecchini, Bob Cousy and the late Bill Walton, a noted Deadhead and a world-class basketball star and NBA coach. In a trailer for the film, premiering on Billboard below, Hart is heard saying: “He who knows the rhythm, knows the world.”

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“Rhythm is the heartbeat of life, and it’s everywhere — in the music we create and the sports we love. When I set out to make Rhythm Masters: A Mickey Hart Experience, my goal was to explore this universal pulse and celebrate how music and sports are deeply intertwined,” the rocker shared in a statement. “Through the voices and stories of some of the greatest athletes, we uncover the profound connection that rhythm brings to their performance and passion. This film is a journey into that shared human experience, a testament to the power of rhythm in uniting us all. We dedicate this film to Bill Walton, whose own rhythmic journey in sports and life has been a true inspiration.” 

Rhythm Masters: A Mickey Hart Experience is directed by Torey Champagne and produced by ESPN Films, Bluefoot Entertainment and Fresh Features. The film will premiere on ESPN and ESPN+ on August 14. Watch the trailer below.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=AwjV1fVVEfI&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent