Music

31 May 2024

Rihanna Makes History for Most Diamond Singles by a Female Artist: See Her Reaction

They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and Rihanna continues to collect crown jewels. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded RiRi with four more diamond plaques, which brings her total to seven diamond certifications.

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Per the RIAA website, Rih and Jay-Z’s “Umbrella,” the Drake-assisted “Work,” Anti‘s “Needed Me” and 2012’s “Stay” are all diamond-certified as of May 31. The announcement comes on the heels of 2012’s “Diamonds” fittingly also going diamond in April.

Roc Nation congratulated Rihanna on now holding the record for the most diamond-certified singles of any woman artist in music history with seven plaques to her name. “Ain’t no back n forth,” Rihanna wrote to X while reposting the graphic featuring her latest accolades while seemingly brushing her shoulders off.

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The Navy flooded Rihanna’s replies with congratulatory messages, but were quick to remind her she hasn’t delivered R9 and it’s been eight years since her last full-length album, Anti.

“Congrats rih,” one fan wrote. “I know you don’t ever have to release music again but do us a solid ONE MORE TIME. just that album please.”

Jay-Z hopped on Good Girl Gone Bad‘s “Umbrella” in 2007 and the hit worked its way up the charts to give Rih her second No. 1 entry atop the Hot 100. “Work” featuring Drake arrived in January 2016 and also soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

However, Unapologetic‘s “Stay” reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 while the Mustard-produced “Needed Me” peaked at No. 7.

Outside of the four new diamond certifications and last month’s “Diamonds” also entering the exclusive club, Rihanna’s 2010 “Love the Way You Lie” featuring Eminem (certified on May 9, 2013) and her 2011 “We Found Love” collaboration with Calvin Harris (certified on April 27, 2023) round out her seven-carat diamond collection.

Find Rihanna’s reaction on X below.

31 May 2024

Pat Boone at 90: Six Things You Didn’t Know About One of the Rock Era’s Most Successful Artists

Pat Boone — the second most popular artist of the first five years of the rock era, according to rock historian Joel Whitburn — turns 90 on June 1. He’s been in the spotlight since his Billboard chart debut on April 2, 1955, but surprisingly, even after 69 years, there are at least a few things you probably don’t know about the singer famous for his white buck shoes and clean-cut image.

He Was Signed to Motown

Most of his songs on Billboard’s pop singles charts were released on Randy Wood’s Dot label, followed by one solitary title on the brief-lived Tetragrammaton imprint. Then Boone was signed to Berry Gordy’s legendary Motown label. The company had many different imprints, the best-known being Motown, Tamla and Gordy. In 1974, Motown launched Melodyland, a country label. The very first single, released in October of that year, was Boone’s “Candy Lips.” That was followed in Feb. 1975 by “Indiana Girl” and six months later with “I’d Do It With You,” a duet with Pat’s wife, Shirley. The B-side was Pat’s solo cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday.” A fourth single, “Glory Train,” was issued in Feb. 1976.

By the time Motown issued Texas Woman, the first of two Boone albums for the company, the name of the Melodyland label had been changed to Hitsville, due to a lawsuit from the Melodyland Church, a Pentecostal institution in Anaheim, Calif.

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Motown didn’t just sign Pat; his wife Shirley and his four daughters also joined the roster. “Mike Curb proposed that my family and I join Motown,” Boone told Billboard in an unpublished 2019 interview. “I was excited because I knew Mike was great at marketing and Berry had a marketing machine. I was looking forward to doing more R&B, which is what I started out doing. Instead, Berry started this country label with Suzanne de Passe. Ray Ruff produced my first album, which is the reason I ended up on the cover of Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner took notice that I was back on the charts on Motown, so he sent John Anderson down to do the story, which was very complimentary.”

When Wenner was asked why Boone was on the cover of the Jan. 29, 1976 issue of Rolling Stone, the singer says Wenner replied, “We sent a writer to turn over the rocks to see what would crawl out and all I can say with Pat is what you see is what you get. He’s been the same for almost 40 years. Hardly anything else has stayed the same so we tip our hat to a guy who’s been consistent. You may not like his music but you have to credit him with having success after all this time.”

To thank Wenner for the tone of the story, Boone sent 40 cartons of milk to the office in San Francisco. “I packed them in ice so everybody could enjoy a drink. He sent me a nice note saying they all lifted a carton and said, ‘Here’s to a nice guy.’”

As for his Motown tenure, Boone says, “They didn’t spare any expense recording me, with arrangements by Don Costa. Suzanne took a personal interest in me but Berry was busy making movies with Diana Ross. Suzanne had her hands full with the Jackson 5 but I made stuff I was very proud of. Berry signed me to a three-year deal with a provision that the masters would revert to me, which is how I know I recorded over 100 songs for Motown.”

He Has Something In Common With Superman and Batman

“I was a cartoonist in high school,” Boone revealed. “Nobody knows that. I drew cartoons for our high school paper. I was good with a pencil and could draw. I signed my cartoons with ‘Poo’ with two little eyes in the O’s. It was a combination of Pat and Boone. I had thoughts of pursuing a career as a cartoonist.”

Although Boone didn’t become a cartoonist, he did become illustrated, appearing as a guest in Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #9, dated May 1959. On the Curt Swan-drawn cover, Boone is playing guitar and Lois is sitting at the piano as Superman is flying into the scene, saying, “Pat Boone and Lois Lane are singing a new song about me! It’s a great tune, but I must use all my super-powers to prevent it from becoming a hit!” The big reveal in “Superman’s Mystery Song” is that the last son of Krypton wrote the lyrics, and subconsciously started each line with letters that spell out, “Clark Kent is Superman.” Oops!

“I was flattered to be in the comic book, because I’d been a comic book guy. I wish I had kept all my comics. My favorite was Plastic Man. I don’t know how many people remember Plastic Man. He could make himself into anything. And there was another one called Snuffy Smith. His super ability was his nose. Hardly anybody gets to appear in a Superman comic. I guess there have been a few. I can’t think of any. I’d like to think I was the one exception. (Ed. Note: Among the real-life personalities who have guest-starred in DC Comics’ Superman books are President John F. Kennedy, Muhammad Ali, Candid Camera creator Allen Funt, Perry Como, Jerry Lewis, Orson Welles, Don Rickles and This Is Your Life host Ralph Edwards).

Four months after Lois Lane #9 was published, Boone joined the ranks of Superman, Batman, Flash and Green Lantern with his own self-titled comic book. Pat Boone #1 was issued in September 1959 and was followed by four more issues. The book featured a fictional version of the popular singer and short text pieces about the real Pat Boone.

Superman's Lois Lane

Superman’s Lois Lane

Courtesy of DC

Elton John Was Afraid Boone Would Sue Him

In 2005, Boone met Sir Elton John at the Society of Singers’ annual Ella Awards (named for the first recipient, Ella Fitzgerald). Boone helped found and fund the organization, with a mission to provide health and welfare benefits to singers in acute financial need and establish scholarships for students seeking master’s degrees in voice.

“I was in line to take a picture with him and when it was my turn I introduced myself, ‘Sir Elton, Pat Boone.’ He was happy but looked sheepish. He said, ‘I was afraid you were going to sue me.’ I knew what he was talking about. ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Because of my recording of “Speedy Gonzales.” You copied the “la-la-la-la-la-la” for “Crocodile Rock.”’ I told him I took it as a compliment, and you can’t copyright ‘la-la-la.’ He told me when he only went by Reginald Dwight that he bought all of my records. He named six titles, including “Love Letters in the Sand” and “April Love.” He said, ‘When I heard “Speedy Gonzales” it really clicked with me and I wanted to use the “la-la-las” sometime and it fit in “Crocodile Rock.”‘”

You Don’t Need 23andMe to Know His DNA

When he was 19 years old in 1953, Pat Boone married Shirley Foley, the daughter of country star Red Foley. Pat and Shirley were married for 65 years, until her passing at age 84 in 2019. That means their four daughters have the DNA of two of the most successful singers of their eras, Pat Boone and Red Foley. On Sept. 1, 1979, Pat and Shirley’s daughter Debby (who topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks in 1977 with “You Light Up My Life”) married Gabriel Ferrer, the son of actor José Ferrer and singer Rosemary Clooney. Their children have the DNA of Pat Boone, Red Foley and Rosemary Clooney. In a separate interview held a few days after Billboard spoke with her father, Debby addressed the role genetics plays in people’s lives.

“I often think talent is genetic. When I listen to my dad’s older records, I completely hear a tonal quality that I have. And with my grandfather, it isn’t so much a similarity in the tone, but there is a friendliness that either I learned because I was just exposed to it so much because my dad was a huge fan of Red and that influenced the way he started to sing and how he treated an audience from the stage. I was onstage with the family watching and learning from my dad and then I married a guy whose mother had that same gift.”

Considering what musical genetic material might be in their DNA, do any of Debby’s children sing? “It’s funny to watch what happens with kids and who they become. My youngest has that heatseeking missile attention that she was born with. So now she’s a successful actress, and she can sing. She is nervous. She doesn’t sing with confidence because there are so many singers that are around, but she can sing.

“You don’t have to have a perfect voice or an impressive range to touch people musically. You have to have a point of view and an ability to communicate something that makes people identify and I’m sure that she has that. It’s in her toolshed, and I’m sure she’ll use it. I saw her use it to my surprise in high school in plays and then an acting showcase. Suddenly she’s on the piano doing the theme from The Fabulous Baker Boys. So she continues to surprise me. My son has a great voice and does not have any desire to sing. He’s an art director for television and movies and he came out drawing. He loved to draw. That’s his passion, but when he plays around or does karaoke, I think, ‘If you had wanted it, you could’ve been Justin Timberlake.’”

Jump Shot: Boone Can Ball

Boone was 79 in 2013 when he joined the Virginia Creepers, a basketball team based in Arlington, Va., for senior men 75 and older. Creepers player James Martin was a personal friend of the singer and invited him to join the team at the National Senior Games in Cleveland that year. Team captain Del Martin told a local Arlington reporter, “Even though we didn’t bring home a medal, it was a successful trip and a once-in-a-lifetime experience to play with Pat Boone. Pat still draws the ladies and was so gracious to everyone. Plus, he’s not a bad player.”

In 1978, It Was the FTC vs. PB

Normally, the Federal Trade Commission is involved in heavy matters like anti-trust issues. But in 1978 the Commission went after the popular singer, claiming false advertising of Acne Statin, a lotion produced by a company called Cooga Mooga, Inc. Boone endorsed the product in commercials, saying it helped his four daughters with their skin problems. The FTC required Boone to pay 25 cents for each of the 13,000 bottles the company had to refund to customers.

Boone released a statement saying, “This whole experience with the Acne Statin matter has greatly improved my prayer life. I’ve had to turn the other cheek so often in the FTC situation that I’m getting punchy.”

The FTC displayed some humor about the situation. Spokesperson Susan B. Ticknor was laughing when she told The New York Times, “It’s a hell of a lot more interesting than mergers.” Maureen Reagan, daughter of President Ronald Reagan, supported Boone when she said that the lotion helped her with her skin problems during her father’s campaign for the highest office in the land. And after Boone reported that independent laboratory testing backed his claims about the product, the singer said he was going to make more commercials for Acne Statin.

Pat Boone is still active. He is the host of The Pat Boone Hour, airing on SiriusXM’s ’50s Gold (channel 72) Saturdays at 3 p.m. ET with encores on Sundays at noon ET, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET and Thursdays at 2 p.m. ET. The show is also available on the SiriusXM app for on demand listening. SiriusXM will celebrate Boone’s 90th birthday on June 1 with a town hall. “We’ll have a career-spanning conversation and in-studio audience members will have a chance to speak with Pat,” Lou Simon, vp/music programming for SiriusXM, tells Billboard. The Pat Boone Town Hall will premiere on ’50s Gold at 3 p.m. ET and will encore on June 2 at noon, June 4 at 10 p.m. and June 6 at 2 p.m., all times ET.

31 May 2024

From a Hit Cover of ‘Ain’t That a Shame’ to Decades of Fame: Pat Boone in Billboard’s Back Pages

When Pat Boone turns 90 on June 1, it will be almost 70 years since he debuted on a Billboard chart. Back then, he was pushed as clean-cut counterprogramming to Elvis Presley — so successfully that he became bigger than the King, as measured by Billboard Hot 100 hits from the Aug. 4, 1958, debut of the chart through the end of the decade. From his first hits to his recent work with veteran artists, Pat has always been a boon to Billboard.

He’s So Square, We All Care

“Pat Boone, Dot’s new young find, comes off as a potential bobby sox grabber,” noted the May 21, 1955, Billboard when “Two Hearts” hit No. 16 on the Most Played in Juke Boxes chart. After “Two Hearts,” Boone didn’t miss a beat: His cover of Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” (hailed as a “flavorsome number” in the June 18, 1955, issue) became his first No. 1. “He is unassuming, generous and should go far,” predicted a retailer in the Aug. 20, 1955, issue.

Pat, Pending

The July 9, 1955, Billboard described Boone as a “fledgling performer, a pleasant-looking lad who’ll do much better when he loosens up his platform manner.” The “Love Letters in the Sand” singer may have taken note. A review of his Los Angeles concert in the June 19, 1961, issue hailed his “easy and relaxed patter.” “Hope this one brings us another gold record,” Boone said of “Moody River” at the show; in that same issue, it became his first No. 1 of the Hot 100 era.

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Jesus Christ + Superstar

Boone’s religious convictions eventually supplanted his pop aspirations. “Pat Boone is creating a ‘Jesus Music’ center,” reported the June 3, 1972, Billboard, “for the myriad of small Jesus youth groups which record their own works but do not have the machinery for national distribution.” Two years later, Boone got soul. When Motown planned a country imprint, he was its first artist, according to the Oct. 26, 1974, issue, which said “not only Boone but Boone’s family will be represented.” Three years later, daughter Debby Boone went solo on Arista, and her “You Light Up My Life” topped the Hot 100 for 10 weeks.

Pat Sabbath

Boone “blasted back on the Billboard album chart after a record 34-year, 2-month absence,” reported the Feb. 15, 1997, issue, as his In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy hit the Billboard 200 at No. 125. Crediting his American Music Awards appearance with Alice Cooper as “one of the many publicity efforts” that fueled this success, Billboard said the album, released on Universal’s Hip-O, was “about as far out in left field as you can go without hitting the wall.”

Gold in Years

In 2019, Boone celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Gold Label, which he formed to help veteran hitmakers ignored by major labels. “We were out there still performing the songs that helped build those labels, and those labels were still selling those old records,” Boone said in the July 27, 2019, issue, but those acts found it harder to get new label deals. “It’s a real labor of love, just like everything else I do with music.”

This article appears in the June 1, 2024 issue of Billboard.

31 May 2024

Morgan Wallen’s Nashville Bar Opening June 1

Just in time for CMA Fest, Morgan Wallen‘s This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen has a new opening date. The six-story bar, restaurant and music venue will open Saturday (June 1) at 11 a.m. CT in downtown Nashville.

The venue’s original opening, set for Memorial Day weekend, was delayed, with a source previously telling Billboard that the restaurant/bar was awaiting final inspections and that the delay was not related to the Nashville Metro Council’s decision earlier this week to deny approval for an external sign for the bar.

Wallen’s restaurant and bar, located at 107 4th Ave. N., adjacent to the Ryman Auditorium just off Nashville’s Lower Broadway, is a partnership between Wallen and TC Restaurant Group, which licensed his name for the project. The space features three live music stages, six bars and an open-air rooftop.  The menu — curated by Wallen with Chef Tomasz Wosiak, vp of culinary development at TC Restaurant Group — features southern food fare, bar bites, Tennessee favorites and some of Wallen’s mother’s personal recipes. 

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Wallen’s This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen’s opening comes just weeks after Wallen sold out three showsat Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on May 2-4, which also contributed to a record-setting weekend of hotel bookings in Nashville, according to the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. Due to the concerts, 75,000 hotel rooms were sold from May 3-4, the most in Nashville’s history.

“We’re thrilled to welcome our first guests on Saturday, June 1, to This Bar leading into CMA Fest,” said Grant Burlingame, vp of operations at TC Restaurant Group in a statement. “This venue has been a labor of love for us and Morgan. His fans and music lovers alike will love the experiences they will find at This Bar. We’re proud to open its doors.” 
 
“Morgan Wallen is one of the most sought after stars in the music industry, and we are thrilled that he has trusted us to deliver a concept that will bring him closer to his fans, hold fast to his roots and enshrine his name among an exclusive group of artists who can claim international stardom with a Lower Broadway destination fans all over the world seek out,” added Adam Hesler, president at TC Restaurant Group.

31 May 2024

Shawna Virago Reflects on LGBTQ Country Music: ‘We’re Breaking the Mold and Keepers of the Flame’

Not exactly renowned for its inclusivity or progressive views on the spectrum of sexual identity, country music has nevertheless been a source of inspiration for numerous LGBTQ artists over the years, from Lavender Country and Peter Grudzien in the ’70s to Orville Peck and Brandi Carlile today.

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With the May 31 release of Blood In Her Dreams, it’s time to give the pioneering Shawna Virago her wildflowers. In the early ‘90s, well before the fight for trans inclusivity and representation entered mainstream discourse, she was one of the very few openly transgender musical performers in America.

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After years of performing solo and in a band, Virago released her debut album, the mostly acoustic Objectified, in 2009. While the flavor of Los Angeles punk pioneers X has always inspired Virago’s (comparatively quieter) music, Blood In Her Dreams finds her adding an electric jolt of cowpunk adrenaline to her lyrically detailed, emotionally resonant Americana. Songs like “Ghosts Cross State Lines,” “Eternity Street” and “Climb to the Bottom” paint empathetic, vivid portraits of hard-luck types who’ve been battered but not beaten by life; like Lucinda Williams, Virago finds a dusty beauty in the rugged troublemakers living a country mile from polite society.

Speaking to Billboard, Virago talks about everything from queer country to changing opportunities for trans musicians to trying to “understand the anger that has been unleashed in this country” on her best album yet.

How long did this album take to put together?

I would go into the studio about once a month and work on songs. I wanted to work with the engineer Grace Coleman, and they’re busy, so it was whenever I could work with them over like two years. One day we were in the studio and we finished “This Girl Felt Hounded.” Once we finished it, we just looked at each other like, “I think we’re done. I think we now have an album.” I didn’t know when we would finish it, but I think the songs are all speaking to each other.

“Ghosts Cross State Lines” is such a lyrically impressive song. What’s your songwriting process like?

It’s always different. That song was primarily driven by the lyrics first. I was thinking about this idea [that] you can move geographically, but there might be things from where you’ve come from that are still in you. They might always be in you, whether they have the power that they once did or not. I was thinking about someone leaving a domestic violence situation, and they’re able to get out, but there was still this psychic residue that they were going to have to deal with.

It’s primarily a serious album. There is humor throughout the record. There is one beginning-of-a-relationship song, so there’s hope in that song, it’s called “Bright Green Ideas.” There is there’s some light in that one, but there’s not a lot of light on the record. I was reading through some notebooks recently from around that time when writing those songs, and it was pretty bleak. I think the stuff that I didn’t write was way more bleak. We’re all living through this kind of recalibration. And here, locally, we went through this in San Francisco. We went through this mass displacement because of the tech industry when it got here. And then when that started to downturn, many of the same people fled the city — but it’s still too expensive for people to come back here.

Blood In Her Dreams started out really trying to understand the kind of anger that has been unleashed in this country. The anger I’m talking about seems very one sided and many of us are the targets of it. I think that loneliness, sadness that jobs have been shipped overseas, all these things are really at bottom of so much of the anger, but it’s being displaced.

You mentioned the changing landscape of San Francisco. As a longtime resident, do you think there’s still an arts scene that’s weathered the tech boom and the ensuing exodus?

There definitely is an art scene, or art scenes, happening. There’s some really great drag scenes. I think in the broader Bay Area, there’s this sort of alt-country scene that’s happening. Somehow, I’m not sure how it happened, but it kind of embraced me. It still surprises me. And there’s some great performance art scenes.

It is different from when I first moved here in the early ’90s. But that was primarily a lot of, I’d say, cisgender gay boys doing things. There was what’s called the Mission Art Scene that was largely cisgender d-kes, people like Michelle Tea. Twenty years ago, there was still this window of a critical mass of trans communities who either had been here for a few years, or were just coming here, and we had this short-lived, very vibrant trans performance art scene that we hadn’t had really before. I saw some friends of mine the other night, who also came out around the same time I did in the early ‘90s, and there was really only like two or three bars for us to go to. It was really hard to break outside of that. So that had finally changed. Yes, there’s still good things happening here. Though people might have [to live with] five roommates. Which is probably what it’s like in New York, in Brooklyn, too.

It sure is. Traditionally, country music has been more conservative and not open-minded to transgender folks. As a trans person who in that world a bit and loves the music, is that ever hard to reconcile?

Trans and queer communities in country music is a relatively recent phenomenon. We have bona fide commercial stars now like Orville Peck and Brandi Carlile. Part of my upbringing was in the South, and we had three radio stations doing country music. Charlie Rich, Charley Pride, Loretta [Lynn], Tammy [Wynette] and also Lynn Anderson and Jeannie C. Riley. So many queer folks love country music. We’re loving a lot of the trappings of traditional country music, in a way that other folks have moved on from and don’t know about or care about. If you look at Porter Wagner, he was doing Ziggy Stardust. [laughs] What was going on with that guy? There’s stuff [in country] that we’re drawn to. We’re breaking the mold and keepers of the flame at the same time.

When you started performing live music in the ‘90s around San Francisco, was there an audience for you beyond that? Did you ever perform in more rural areas, and how was that?

It’s a really great question. I know somebody is going to get their Ph.D. at some point on the ‘90s in San Francisco with trans communities. Because there were a lot of things happening for the first time. Getting health care through the San Francisco health clinics was new. There was a Department of Health study focusing on trans people and how we earn money, possible drug usage, HIV status, and that had never happened before. Police accountability work was happening for the first time. So I did not play — in that period of time — I did not play in any rural communities. I played Los Angeles, some small clubs there. I just played wherever I could play. It was a mixed bag as well. People weren’t quite ready for trans performers in music. There was about six months where I just didn’t perform at all because it’s so frustrating, because then people would want to just talk about my gender. I was often the only trans out trans person in the club, or the bar we played at. Worrying about getting home from the club was a reality.

There weren’t many people doing what you were doing at the time.

There was a performer that came out about a decade before me named Bambi Lake. She had been performing in the ‘80s already, and her drug usage impacted her with stable housing, and I think she had some mental health issues. She didn’t play very much past the very early ‘90s, but she was somebody that broke a lot of ground and is largely forgotten. I would call her a frenemy. She could be challenging. She called in a bomb threat whenever Oasis came to town because she thought they were cute. And she wanted to meet them, so she used a payphone and waited around. She got arrested. I gave her money in jail, so she could buy some shampoo and stuff. As time went on, I think she got very bitter, because the trans world changed so much, and she wasn’t really a part of it. I like to at least throw a little light towards her. I’m not sure she actually ever released any recordings. Justin Vivian bond does cover one of her songs [“Golden Age of Hustlers”].

I’ve seen Justin Vivian Bond do that song! I go see them quite a lot at Joe’s Pub, their show is so spiritually enriching.

I remember in the early ‘00 meeting a trans guy who had what you would call traditional ambitions as a musician. And I had never thought that was possible. For myself, I still don’t think that’s really possible, which is fine. [Most of us were] truly just trying to survive and I didn’t think ambition was an option. So that has changed. The idea of ambition has changed.

What are your post-release plans for Blood In Her Dreams?

I have modest goals. We wanted to create a band sound on the record, so I worked with the engineer Grace Coleman, who is also co-producer, but as far as performance goes, I’m still doing solo acoustic shows. My plan is to get out there on the road, say, 100-mile radius around San Francisco. The last few years I’ve toured a few times with a friend of mine, Secret Emchy Society. And I always felt more and more unsafe to get out of this certain bubble. I would see militia men out there on the road. And I’m really starting to feel it even more with, we call him “the bad man who wants to be president,” who is talking about extending term limits.

Does it seem worse to you now than, say, 10 years ago? Has the bad man’s ascendence made certain people feel more empowered?

Yes. I think that they’ve had this simmering resentment. A huge swath of our country is filled with people with huge amounts of resentment. I also think a lot of Americans are ignorant in many ways. And that’s not a judgment on potential intelligence, but they’re under-educated, don’t travel, and they find all of their answers in the Bible, which they’ve never read. My mother, my family, they live in Arkansas, and she goes to a church where the preacher is a huge transphobe. It’s always been there. I think same sex marriage, Black Lives Matter, anything that you might think is a sign of progress, it just infuriates these folks. I do think that now they feel empowered. And it is scarier.

What’s interesting is, having this great conversation with you, you think I would have been putting out an album like London Calling. [But this album is] much more personal. It’s not polemics, which I’ve done before, but the feeling of fear and paranoia is definitely in the songs.

31 May 2024

All the Celebrities Eminem Name-Drops on ‘Houdini’

Shady’s back, tell a friend. Eminem returned with “Houdini,” his first single of 2024 on Friday (May 31).

Em attempted to turn the clock back with the single and his early 2000s Slim Shady alter ego. “Houdini” serves as the start of the rollout for the Detroit legend heading into his The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) album, which will be released this summer.

The project will serve as his 12th album and follows 2020’s Music to Be Murdered By, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Em originally announced plans for the album shortly after his appearance at the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit. He teased his own version of an Unsolved Mysteries episode featuring a cameo from 50 Cent. However, it was actually Dr. Dre who revealed the details about Eminem’s upcoming album during a late-night appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in March.

Eminem also dropped an accompanying superhero-themed visual for “Houdini” on Friday, and the clip is a star-studded affair while attempting to create Em’s 2002 “Without Me.” 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Pete Davidson, Snoop Dogg and the rapper’s three kids all make cameos in the video.

From Britney Spears to Christina Aguilera, Eminem hasn’t been shy about sparking controversy and name-dropping his celebrity peers throughout his career.

Em tends to lean into the shock value and that’s still the case on “Houdini,” as the provocateur mentions pop-culture personalities such as RuPaul and hip-hop staples like Megan Thee Stallion and Dr. Dre.

Find our full list featuring all the celebrities Eminem references on “Houdini” below.



31 May 2024

The Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen Is Bit by a Bat Onstage While Singing the Most Ironic Song: Watch

The chances of Taylor Momsen turning into a vampire are slim but not impossible after the Pretty Reckless frontwoman was bit by a bat onstage during a recent concert in Spain.

In a clip posted by the Gossip Girl alum Friday (May 31), she and her band take a pause while opening for AC/DC. Ironically, the group was performing “Witches Burn” from their 2021 album Death by Rock and Roll when a bat lands on Momsen’s thigh.

She doesn’t notice it at first, but after realizing that several audience members were pointing at her, she looks down and says, “There is a f—ing flying bat on my leg right now … I must really be a witch!”

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A crew member eventually helps Momsen safely remove the bat, but not before the spooky creature nipped her leg. “So…ROCK AND ROLL MOMENT,” she captioned the video with some bat emojis for added flair. “A BAT flew onto me and clung to my leg…in the moment I was performing and had no idea until the incredible crowd kept screaming and pointing…”

The rocker also included footage of her getting an injection in a Spanish hospital, as well as a photo of her puncture wounds from the bat’s fangs. “He was cute, but yes he bit me…so rabies shots for the next two weeks,” she added. “Thanks to all the staff at the hospital who dubbed me #batgirl after seeing it on the local news that morning…more footage to come…that’s one for the books!!!!”

AC/DC’s European Power Up Tour kicked off earlier this month and will continue through mid-August. The Pretty Reckless will stay with the trek as support throughout.

See Momsen’s post below.

31 May 2024

Afrobeats Fresh Picks: Ayra Starr, Azanti x PsychoYP, Tiwa Savage, Darkoo, Sarkodie, Fireboy DML & More

Ayra Starr started a new chapter of her life with her sophomore album The Year I Turned 21, which was released Friday (May 31) via Mavin Records and Republic Records. In a recent Billboard interview, she explained that after Giveon turned in his verse for “Last Heartbreak Song,” “I was like, ‘OK, I’m just going to trust my intuition with who I want on each song” — and one of the artists she reached out to for a feature was Seyi Vibez, for the single “Bad Vibes.”

And three years after Tiwa Savage released her Water & Garri EP, she starred in and executive produced her first film by the same name and released a 10-song soundtrack to go along with it. Those are just two of the artists who feature on this month’s roundup, which also includes new singles from Ghanaian legend Sarkodie, a teamup from two of Nigeria’s finest in Victony and Asake, a new groove from Fireboy DML and plenty more.

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We’ve highlighted 10 of our favorite new Afrobeats (and related) songs that have come out roughly within the last month. Check out our latest Fresh Picks, and catch a vibe with our latest Spotify playlist below.

Azanti & PsychoYP, “Naija Funk”  

Abuja’s finest, Azanti and PsychoYP, are back at it again on “Naija Funk” from their new joint album, YP & Azanti, Vol. 2. Producer Aykbeats puts the “Funk” in “Naija Funk” with his nostalgic, folk-inspired drums and gliding synth melody, while Azanti takes blame for a failed relationship with the bold opening line “I should’ve done you better” — and PsychoYP puffs his chest and brags about why a girl would never want to fumble him. The Apex Village members’ musical chemistry has been apparent since their 2020 project YP & Azanti, Vol. 1, with Azanti’s transcendent blend of R&B and Afropop and PsychoYP’s exhilarating fusion of alté and drill creating an even more dynamic mix here.  

Darkoo feat. Dess Dior, “Favourite Girl”  

British-Nigerian rapper/singer Darkoo and American rapper Dess Dior will have the girls whining on somebody’s son or daughter all summer long to “Favourite Girl.” The booming horns in the beginning and Diwali Riddim will have booties bouncing instantly — and Darkoo wants in on the action when she asks, “Would you come do it slowly?/ Girl, dutty whine/ Would you bend it for me?” Meanwhile, featured guest Dess Dior makes an irresistible case for why a starboy should “make me your star girl.” It’s safe to say “Favourite Girl” will be in rotation — just like our hips — all season.  

Qing Madi & Chlöe, “Vision” (Remix)

Nigerian singer-songwriter Qing Madi adds Chlöe for a sultry remix of “Vision,” originally from her eponymous debut EP last year. Qing describes the paralyzing feeling of unexpectedly falling hard for someone, while Chlöe loses even more control over her body when she sings, “Got my temperature comin’ high, oh.” But even if their vision’s in a blur, no man could ever impair their honeyed harmonies over the track’s scintillating percussion.  

Tiwa Savage, “Lost Time”  

Tiwa Savage prepared an official soundtrack to accompany her debut Prime Video film Water & Garri — which follows fashion designer Aisha, who returns to her native Nigeria after spending the last 10 years away in the U.S. and reconnects with family, friends and an old flame. On the standout single “Lost Time,” Savage recalls what life was like before she met her love, singing, “Feels like I missed you before we met/ Not meeting you sooner, I regret,” and yearns to spend forever and ever with that person. Produced by Needlz and Poo Bear, “Lost Time” evokes the heart’s pitter-patter feeling when someone’s with their other half with the subtle plucking of a guitar in this romantic ode.  

TitoM, Yuppe & Burna Boy feat. S.N.E, “Tshwala Bam (Remix)” 

Burna Boy adds more fuel to the fire created by the viral TikTok-driven success of TitoM, Yuppe and S.N.E’s amapiano smash “Tshwala Bam.” After hopping on the remixes of Master KG and Nomcebo Zikode’s “Jerusalema” and Asake’s “Sungba,” the African Giant continues sharpening his ear for the continent’s next biggest hit so he can make his mark on it – and he further touts his greatness when he sings, “Better recognize/ Greatest of all time/ No other name, them go call mine.”  

“To surpass the success of the original, we sought a collaborator with both global appeal and a commitment to enhancing the song’s original vibe. Burna Boy was the perfect fit,” TitoM says in a press release; Burna Boy adds, “Jumping on the ‘Tshwala Bam’ remix was a no-brainer for me. It’s a track that resonates with everyone, and I’m thrilled to bring my energy to it and connect with fans in a whole new way.” 

Ayra Starr feat. Seyi Vibez, “Bad Vibes”

For a song called “Bad Vibes,” there’s something extremely smooth and calming about this track, a single off the Beninese-Nigerian “Commas” hitmaker Starr’s debut album, The Year I Turned 21, which dropped today. And Seyi Vibez, known much more for his scrappy street cuts that vividly bring the underground of Lagos to life, shows off a gentler side of himself, too, as the duo croon about deflecting the negativity life throws a person’s way.

Fireboy DML, “Everyday”

Over a fantastic laid-back groove set by producer Blaisebeatz, Fireboy shows off his melodic flow in this ode to a woman he wants by his side. The young Nigerian star, who broke out in a major way over the past few years with crossover hit “Peru” and a string of high-profile singles and guest spots, puts his own twist on this R&B-inflected cut, one perfect for late nights and low lights.

Sarkodie feat. Beeztrap Kotm, “Amen”

Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie is one of the most celebrated artists in his home country, and his skills are still at the highest level on this latest track. He flips through languages and flows, while Beeztrap Kotm comes through as the perfect complement, putting his stamp over this soulful production that comes straight from the church.

Victony & Asake, “Stubborn”

Victony has established himself as one of the most soulful singers in Nigeria over the past few years, and this link-up with amapiano-inflected sensation Asake adds to the canon of each. The two weave a tale of coming up to success by staying true to their own respective vision, even before success and fame eventually found them. 

Shenseea feat. Wizkid, “Work Me Out”

A standout track on the new Shenseea album, this cut sees the Jamaican singer tap one of Nigeria’s resident superstars to craft a song that combines the standout vocal abilities of both to meet somewhere in the cultural middle, with a sultry jam that sets the right tone. It’s another reminder of Wizkid’s chameleonic ability to fit into any style, and Shenseea’s multi-genre approach to her music.

31 May 2024

John Legend Says Allegations Against Diddy Are ‘Shameful,’ Hopes That ‘Reparations Can Be Made’

John Legend is speaking out against Diddy, less than a year after the duo collaborated on a track that appeared on Legend’s The Love Album: Off the Grid.

“I was horrified by the descriptions that I read before the video evidence came out,” Legend told CNN this week of the devastation accusations against Diddy, as well as the video that was released that featured the hip-hop star appearing to assault his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. “And absolutely it’s something that needs to be brought to light when it happens.”

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The duo collaborated with Babyface on 2023’s “Kim Porter,” which was named after Combs’ late partner who died in 2018 of pneumonia.

Noting that that allegations against Diddy are “shameful,” Legend added, “My default stance is to believe women when they make these accusations and to make sure that we do whatever we can to support women,” hoping “that they’re heard and that any kind of accountability and reparations can be made to make these women whole again.”

In the video, obtained by CNN earlier this month and dated March 5, 2016, Combs appears to shove Ventura to the ground near an elevator bank, kick her several times while she lies on the ground and drag her down a hallway. The contents of the video mirror an assault allegation Ventura made in a now-settled lawsuit she filed against Diddy in November.

Shortly after, on May 19, Diddy took to social media to share a video of himself taking responsibility and apologizing for his actions in the disturbing clip. “It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Diddy says in his Instagram video. “I was f—ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, I’m disgusted now.”

He continued, “I went out and sought professional help. Had to go into therapy, into rehab. Had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to being a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”

“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs,” said Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, in a statement sent to Billboard. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”

Ventura was the first to accuse Diddy of sexual assault, filing a lawsuit in November in which attorneys for Cassie claimed she “endured over a decade of his violent behavior and disturbed demands,” including repeated physical attacks and forcing her to “engage in sex acts with male sex workers” while he masturbated. According to the complaint, after she attempted to separate from him in 2018 after an on-and-off public relationship for 11 years, Combs allegedly “forced her into her home and raped her while she repeatedly said ‘no’ and tried to push him away.” The case was soon settled, but Combs was then sued by multiple other women who claimed they were sexually abused by the hip-hop mogul. 

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” Diddy wrote on Instagram in December. “For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

31 May 2024

Nate Smith’s ‘Bulletproof’ Hits Country Airplay Top 10

Nate Smith rolls up his third consecutive career-opening top 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Bulletproof” pushes to No. 10 on the survey dated June 8. During the May 24-30 tracking week, the single increased by 7% to 18.6 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.

The song, which Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson and Hunter Phelps wrote, is the lead single from the 38-year-old Smith’s seven-song set Through the Smoke, which opened at its No. 34 high on Top Country Albums in April.

Smith, from Paradise, Calif., crowned Country Airplay for 10 weeks starting in December with “World on Fire” – tying Morgan Wallen’s “You Proof” in 2022for the longest reign in the chart’s history, which dates to 1990. His rookie entry “Whiskey on You” led for two weeks in February 2023.

Smith won for best new male vocalist at the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas, on May 16 and performed “Bulletproof” with Avril Lavigne at the festivities.

‘Ends’ Continues

Bailey Zimmerman tops Country Airplay second week with “Where It Ends,” which gained by 1% to 33.6 million in reach.

The 24-year-old from Louisville, Ill., adds his second multi-week dominator among his four consecutive career-opening Country Airplay No. 1s, joining “Rock and a Hard Place,” which led for six frames beginning in April 2023.

Zimmerman’s debut hit “Fall in Love” commanded Country Airplay for a week in December 2022, while his third No. 1, “Religiously,” notched a week on top in September 2023.

Of the 12 songs that have hit No. 1 on Country Airplay in 2024, “Where It Ends” is just the second to rule for multiple weeks, joining Sam Hunt’s three-week leader “Outskirts” beginning in April. In contrast, 12 of the chart’s 19 No. 1s in 2023 each led for more than one frame.