Music

13 May 2024

Jelly Roll Joined Limp Bizkit For a Surprise Cover of Who Classic at Welcome to Rockville Fest

Limp Bizkit have been playing their unique version of the Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes” during live shows since including the 1971 Who’s Next classic on their 2003 Results May Vary album. On Friday night at the Welcome to Rockville Festival at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, Fred Durst and company roped in some help to tackle the cover during their headlining set.

After orange bucket hat-wearing singer/rapper Durst crooned the opening verses of “Eyes” along with the crowd, he asked them, “you feel me?” and then pleaded with the audience to help him find “an angel” to save them. “I need you guys to help me pray right now. Pray for an angel. I need an angel. I need an angel to come out here and save me,” Durst said. “I mean anything. Drop something from the sky. I don’t care what it is, just come out here please sweet angel. Come out here and save your brother Freddy D!”

After a few more pleas to “save me,” Jelly Roll appeared on stage, waving his cowboy hat at the stunned crowd as the “Save Me” singer drawled out a verse of the song over the spare acoustic guitar arrangement. Durst interjected, “ladies and gentlemen, the angel has came!,” before the two men then sang the final “behind blue eyes” refrain together and hugged it out center stage.

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Bizkit’s version of “Behind Blue Eyes” peaked at No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 2004.

In a video posted over the weekend, Jelly was seen hanging out with Durst backstage, with the Bizkit boss saying, “Every once in a while you get blessed and you run into an angel,” as the camera pivoted to Jelly, who added, “an oversized one, baby, in a black ball cap like Johnny Cash!”

Check out video of Durst and Jelly backstage and onstage.

13 May 2024

Raj Kapoor and Patrick Menton on Producing 2024 ACM Awards: ‘This Is Such a Global Genre Now’

Four pop stars — Post Malone, Gwen Stefani, Noah Kahan and Avril Lavigne — are set to perform on the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards on Thursday May 16, but the show’s producers stress that the performances came about organically.

“Our goal is always country-first,” Raj Kapoor, who is the show’s executive producer and showrunner, told Billboard. “We’re not actively going out to pursue artists [who are] out-of-genre. I think the most important thing is that it fits in a very natural way. We’re not asking people to come in who don’t have relationships or haven’t wanted to work together or don’t have projects together. We always want to stay authentically country. Those bonds that bring people together need to exist already.”

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Post Malone will perform a song from his upcoming country album, possibly “I Had Some Help,” a collab with Morgan Wallen. Stefani and Blake Shelton will perform their single “Purple Irises.” Kahan and Kelsea Ballerini — who, Kapoor notes, were in the studio together — will perform her “Mountain with a View” and his smash “Stick Season.” Lavigne and Nate Smith will perform Smith’s song “Bulletproof.”

This is a heavier slate of pop performers than on last year’s ACM Awards, where there was just one: Ed Sheeran, who joined Luke Combs to perform Sheeran’s song “Life Goes On.”

Menton, who is serving as co-executive producer, notes, “Yes, Post is definitely a kind of pop/hip-hop performer, but in a way, he’s almost genre-less. Post spent a lot of time in Nashville on this record and kind of dove back into his roots. He’s a country traditionalist at heart. He’s from Texas, so he grew up on this. Having heard some of the album, this is a real country album. This is an artist who’s really honoring the genre.

Menton adds: “This is such a global genre now. Country artists are selling out stadiums in the U.K. and Europe and all over the world. So, I think there is that conversation of they want it to be a bit boundary-less. They want those guardrails to open up a little bit. Yes, for us to be focused on country and celebrate the genre, but we really do welcome these other genres coming in because [country] really has exploded into this global genre and we want to celebrate that.”

The 59th ACM Awards, to be hosted by Reba McEntire, will stream globally on Prime Video on Thursday May 16 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Also performing on the show are Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Parker McCollum, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson, as well as McEntire and, most likely, one or two more artists not yet named. “There may be some surprises,” Menton teases.

Kapoor was one of three executive producers of the Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, along with Ben Winston and Jesse Collins. He also served as executive producer and showrunner of the Oscars on March 10. Menton was a co-executive producer of the Grammys.

“I think my job is to make each show unique,” Kapoor says, “because they have such different DNA. That’s really what I strive for. They’re brands almost. They’re all actually [put on by] academies. It’s so different from just a pop show. There’s so many eyeballs on what we do. I guess I didn’t realize the complexities of that before I took on these positions. I’m much more aware of what goes on behind-the-scenes because it’s not just about our show. It’s really about these year-round programs that they all do and how many people are so invested.”

Kapoor and Menton have worked together on six Grammy telecasts – four in their current positions. They share a philosophy of producing a show, one that may sound a bit soft, but which is obviously working. Last year’s ACM Awards was the third-highest-rated awards show of 2023, behind just the Oscars and the Grammys (which they also worked on).

“We both lead with kindness,” Menton says. “That’s our rule of thumb, across-the-board. It’s creating space for these artists to come to us and feel safe. It’s not a case of we tell them what we want on the show. That’s not at all the way we work. It’s ‘What do you want to do on the show?’, ‘What’s going to create a moment?’ We’re all about the artist first and making sure they have a space to really create and collaborate in a safe space.”

Some awards show producers are known for taking a much firmer hand; for dictating what they want the artist to perform and who they want them to perform it with.

“We always believe it’s a conversation,” Kapoor says. “Obviously, we’re there to help guide sometimes. ‘Why don’t we try this?’ ‘What would you think about this?’ Sometimes we will push if we have a really strong belief about something, but it’s always a conversation, always a collaboration.

“Sometimes these moments really help define people’s careers,” he continues. “They can go viral. They are things that people will talk about for years to come. Last year [on the ACMs], everyone talked about Luke and Ed. Earlier this year [on the Grammys], I think everyone was talking about Luke and Tracy [Chapman, who teamed on “Fast Car].”

Kapoor believes the ACMs’ move to Amazon in 2022 helped give it a unique personality that sets it apart from the three other televised country award shows, the CMA Awards, the CMT Music Awards and the People’s Choice Country Awards.

“Our show is very fast-paced – two hours with very little commercials. So, you have back-to-back music performances. You still have a lot of awards, but our show moves very quickly. One thing I’ve really taken away since we’ve been on Amazon is how punchy and exciting it feels. We’re literally moving all the time. One performance leads into another. Sometimes, we’ve done three performances back-to-back.”

Menton says the partnership with Amazon has affected the show in another way. “It has allowed us to open those guardrails up and take chances. We’ve leaned into new artist development a lot more, we lean into diversity. We lean into something that’s completely out of the box; [that] other shows may feel a bit uncomfortable trying to do. Amazon gives us that ability to move and shake a bit differently. But I also think the industry comes to us with those out-of-the-box ideas. I think it’s because we’re open to it, Amazon is open to it and the Academy has always been that place where we’re the party of the year. We’re a little bit more fun. We try to let everyone just let their hair down.”

The ACM Awards are different in that respect from the Grammys and the Oscars, which are the official “shows of record” for the music and film industries. The CMA Awards probably better fit that description for country music, which led to the ACM Awards instead billing itself as country music’s party of the year.

As for new artist development, the show will feature performances by this year’s winners of the three new artist awards, male artist, female artist and duo/group. The latter category is being awarded for the first time in five years.

Bobby Bones will be featured throughout the show with the artist interview segment “Backstage with Bobby Bones,” which was introduced on last year’s show. This takes advantage of Bones’ close relationships with many country stars, but Kapoor reveals that the segments also serve a practical function on the show.

“Because we are live/live with all these performances, Bobby is also a great backup plan when we need him to be. You would never know it, like if we need an extra 30 seconds [to set the stage for the next performer], Bobby is there to help us if we need it, which we are very grateful for.”

Menton says they approached last year’s hosts, Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, about returning to host the show again this year, but the superstar duo declined. “They were ready to take a step down,” he says. “They had such a rocking year last year, they probably felt like it [would be] hard to top.”

Fortunately for the show, another country legend, McEntire, was willing to return to the show for a 17th time as host or co-host. McEntire is closing in on the all-time record for most times hosting or co-hosting a major awards show. That record has long been held by Bob Hope, who hosted or co-hosted the Academy Awards 19 times between 1940-78.

“Reba is one of the most kind and hard-working artists out there, and to have her hosting our show, having an icon like that — we’re so lucky,” Menton says.

Barry Adelman, a mainstay at Dick Clark Productions, is serving as executive producer of this year’s show for DCP. Adelman has worked on the ACMs for more than 30 years.

Anyone can watch the ACM Awards, whether they have a Prime subscription or not. Did ACM CEO Damon Whiteside push for that? “Oh, I think we all did,” Menton says. “We want everyone to see this. It’s a country music show. We don’t want to have that paywall in front of us. The fact that everyone can watch it, whether you have Prime or not, we’re so grateful.”

Kapoor says they are already thinking ahead to next year’s show, which will be the 60th ACM Awards. “Everybody is already strategizing leading to that event. We’ll be returning to Amazon. I hope on this show we set the foundation for what’s going to be an amazing 60th show.”

DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldridge. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.

13 May 2024

Foo Fighters Rock Roll Audience at Festival With Van Halen ‘Eruption’ Solo Fake-Out

Dave Grohl is a showman. The Foo Fighters frontman loves to surprise and delight his band’s fans by giving them a bit of the unexpected amid the sweat and rumble of a typically high-energy Foos show.

On Saturday, during the Foos’ headlining slot at the Welcome to Rockville Festival at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, Grohl did it again with an assist from a famous rock scion. According to fan video of the moment, during the Foos’ mid-show medley, singer/guitarist Grohl cut off drummer Josh Freese to complain that while everyone else was getting their moment to shine, “I never get to f–king solo!”

Then, accomplished shredder Grohl busted into the notoriously tricky Eddie Van Halen guitar line from Van Halen’s instrumental classic “Eruption” off the group’s self-titled 1978 debut album, surprising the crowd by finishing the instrumental with his fingers off the guitar neck entirely. But the jig was instantly up as the cameras panned to Eddie’s son, WVH band leader Wolfgang Van Halen, ripping off the solo on the side of the stage.

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“Dude, I told you to keep that cool Wolfie, what the f–k you doing right now?” Grohl jokingly chided Van Halen. “Everybody, give it up for f–ing Wolfgang Van Halen.” Wolfie then played a bit of the the equally killer “Hot for Teacher” solo as the Foos got back to business with “My Hero.”

“Since Wolfie took all that f–king time to pull off that joke with us, I’m gonna dedicate this one to him,” Grohl said. “Let’s sing this one for him, and let’s sing this one for his f–king dad too.” Last week Grohl dedicated a version of “My Hero” to late producer/engineer Steve Albini, who was behind the boards for Nirvana’s final studio album, In Utero, as well as the Foos’ Sonic Highways.

Watch video of the Wolfgang Van Halen cameo below.

13 May 2024

Donald Glover Shares ‘Atavista’ Album and Wild Choreo in ‘Little Foot Big Foot’ Video

Donald Glover shared some new old music on Monday morning (May 13) when he unleashed his new Childish Gambino project Atavista (3.15.20 reimagined versions). “New” is a relative term for the 11-track collection, which the actor/rapper explained the “finished version of 3.15.20, the album I put out four years ago.”

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Indeed, Atavista is a refresh of the 2020 Gambino album 3.15.20, which was originally uploaded in an unfinished state to donaldgloverpresents.com before it was removed and then re-uploaded to streaming sites a week later under it final title. A number of songs on Atavista appear to be very similar, if not exactly the same as those on the previous release, including “Algorhythm,” the Ariana Grande-featuring “Time” and others with guest spots from 21 Savage, Ink and Kadhja Bonet (“Psilocybae”) and Summer Walker (“Sweet Thang”); the 50-minute project does feature the new futuristic title track, which opens with chaotic synth squiggles before settling into a classic Gambino soul serenade, as well as the fresh robotic funk track “Human Sacrifice.”

Though fan favorite dreamy single “Feels Like Summer” is off the roster, Atavista is being fronted by hot jazz hop burner “Little Foot Big Foot” featuring Young Nudy (formerly known as “35.21” on the 3.15.20 album). In addition to a new title, the song gets its own video as well, a black-and-white narrative directed by Glover’s frequent collaborator, Hiro Murai, featuring a cameo from Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary).

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The six-minute clip opens with Gambino and his crew showing up to a Cotton Club-style nightclub as doo wop trio Johnny and the Pipes, with a warning from Brunson to not make eye contact with anyone in the front row. Playing to an unimpressed room, Gambino busts into the song’s irresistible chorus as he and his compatriots tear up the floor with moves that borrow inspiration from everyone from Beyoncé to Cab Calloway.

In typical Glover fashion, things go dramatically awry, as the trio win the room over in the most unexpected way and the scene shifts to a shot of Nudy dropping his verses in the dark under the desert stars.

In a statement, Glover said most of the songs on Atavista are spruced-up versions of the same songs from the previous album, noting that there’s also a “special vinyl coming soon w/visuals for each song.”

Last month Glover announced that he was preparing the final two Gambino projects, with Atavista to be followed by the soundtrack to his upcoming movie, Bando Stone & the New World.

Listen to Atavista and watching the “Little Foot Big Foot” video below.

13 May 2024

Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’ Stays Hot In U.K.

Sabrina Carpenter has a hot one on her hands with “Espresso.”

The pop gem enters a second straight week at No. 1 in the U.K., where it’s the U.S. pop star’s first leader and fourth appearance in the top 40.

The leader at the midweek phase, “Espresso” is, once again, the most-streamed song during the U.K. chart week, with 8.6 million plays, the Official Charts Company reports. All told, the track rakes-in 76,500 chart units.

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It’s an Island Records 1-2 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Friday, May 10, as Hozier’s former leader “Too Sweet” lifts 3-2.

Meanwhile, Shaboozey keeps country music’s hot run going with “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (via American Dogwood/Empire), up 6-3. That’s the U.S. artist’s career peak chart performance in the U.K. With Dasha’s “Austin” (Warner Records) holding at No. 9, country artists lock up two U.K. top 10 positions, a rare scenario for a chart that’s typically dominated by rock, pop, indie, hip-hop and electronic music.

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Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” (ISO Supremacy/Pulse) has exploded since the tune went viral on TikTok. In the U.K., the Virginia-born artist’s breakthrough number blasts 31-7, a new peak position. “Million Dollar Baby” last week opened at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Further down the Official Chart, Kendrick Lamar lands his eighth U.K. top 10 with “Not Like Us” (Interscope), his controversial Drake diss track. It’s new at No. 10. Lamar’s ongoing beef with Drizzy yields two more appearances on the latest frame, with “Euphoria” (at No. 11) and “Meet The Grahams” (at No. 28), lifting the west coast rapper’s tally of U.K. top 40 appearances to 23.

The target of Kdot’s ire, Drake, debuts at No. 17 with his response track “Family Matters” (OVO/Republic Records).

Finally, as she debuts at No. 1 on the U.K. albums chart with Radical Optimism (via Warner Records), Dua Lipa lands another U.K. top 40 single, her 27th in total, with album track “These Walls.” It’s new at No. 40.

13 May 2024

Dua Lipa’s Lands U.K. No. 1 With ‘Radical Optimism’

Dua Lipa is the new queen of the U.K.’s albums chart, as Radical Optimism debuts at No. 1.

The runaway leader at the halfway mark, Radical Optimism (Warner Records) collects 46,300 chart units in its first cycle, the most for any British female since Adele’s November 2021 smash 30, the Official Charts Company reports.

Also, Radical Optimism becomes the biggest opening week of any British act so far this year, eclipsing the 39,400 first-week total for Liam Gallagher and John Squire’s eponymously title LP, which dropped in March. The likes of Caroline Ailin, Danny L. Harle and Tobias Jesso Jr. provided creative input on the new collection, while Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker co-wrote and produced seven tracks, including the three U.K. top 10 singles “Houdini,” “Training Season” and “Illusion.”

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Radical Optimism is Dua’s second U.K. No. 1 after 2020’s Future Nostalgia, and first to bow at No. 1; Future Nostalgia climbed to the summit in its second week, and has logged 204 weeks at the top, including four stints at the top. Her self-titled 2017 debut peaked at No. 3 but has clocked 354 weeks on the Official Albums Chart.

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With her latest leader, confirmed Friday, May 10, Lipa knocks off Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department (EMI), down 1-2 after two weeks at the chart zenith.

Closing out the podium is Frank Turner’s Undefeated (Xtra Mile), new at No. 3. It’s the sixth U.K. top 10 appearance for the English singer and songwriter following 2013’s Tape Deck Heart (No. 2 peak), 2015’s Positive Songs For Negative People (No. 2), 2018’s Be More Kind (No. 3), 2019’s No Man’s Land (No. 3) and 2022 chart-topper FTHC.

Also netting a U.K. top 10 debut is Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones, whose second solo studio effort Inevitable Incredible (Ignition) starts at No. 6. That’s a career solo best for the Welshman, bettering the No. 8 peak for his debut solo LP Don’t Let The Devil Take Another Day from 2020. As a member of Stereophonics, Jones has eight U.K. No. 1s.

Finally, as ABBA celebrates the 50th anniversary of their Eurovision Song Contest win with “Waterloo,” the Swedish pop group’s juggernaut Gold: Greatest Hits (Polydor) rebounds into the top 10, up 11-9 in its 1,149th week. Britain can claim a small part in ABBA’s early success. The group won Eurovision in Brighton, England back in 1974, though the Swedish entry received nil points from the U.K. voting jury. Viewers of the 2024 Eurovision final, hosted in Malmo, Sweden, were treated to a surprise on Saturday night when ABBA’s digital avatars were beamed to the studio from the ABBA Voyage stage show in London. The pop megastars’ early breakthrough is retold in ABBA: Against the Odds, streaming in the U.S. on the CW Network.

12 May 2024

MTV Movie & TV Awards Put on Hiatus for 2024

Put those “Golden Popcorn” statues back in storage. The MTV Movie & TV Awards have been put “on pause” this year, and “will return with a reimagined format in 2025,” according to a spokesperson.

The show, originally dubbed the MTV Movie Awards, was a yearly fixture from 1992 to 2019, but has lost some momentum in recent years. The show wasn’t held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, MTV aired MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time, a clip show hosted by Vanessa Hudgens, which featured highlights from past ceremonies.

The show took place in 2021 and 2022, but the 2023 show was stymied by the Writers Guild of America strike. Drew Barrymore was set to host that year’s show. Barrymore has achieved success in both movies and TV and would have been an ideal host, but when the WGA went on strike on May 2, 2023 – just five days before the show was set to take place at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. – Barrymore and most of the planned guests dropped out. As a result, the traditional ceremony didn’t take place. It was replaced by a pre-recorded virtual ceremony with no host.

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The MTV Movie & TV Awards were once a hot pop-culture show. Hosts in the show’s prime included such A-list stars as Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Ben Stiller, Mike Myers, Jimmy Fallon and Sarah Jessica Parker, the latter at the height of her Sex and the City fame. But the show has lost some allure in recent years.

The two post-pandemic shows that made it to air were co-hosted by Leslie Jones and Nikki Glaser, followed by Hudgens and Tayshia Adams. No shade to these performers, but they’re not Eddie Murphy or Will Smith.

This isn’t the first time MTV has pulled the plug on a show. The 2023 MTV Europe Music Awards were scheduled to take place on Nov. 5, 2023 at the Paris Nord Villepinte in Paris. The ceremony was cancelled on Oct. 19 due to the Israel–Hamas war, becoming the first EMAs to be cancelled in its 30-year history. Despite that setback, voting remained open until Oct. 31. The winning artists were revealed on Nov. 5.

12 May 2024

Billboard Wins 2024 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Print Article: See the Full Winners List

Two months after its Los Angeles counterpart, the 2024 GLAAD Media Awards hit New York City on Saturday (May 11) to reveal the rest of the winners and honor Orville Peck with the Vito Russo Award (presented by Jennifer Lawrence, no less). Additionally, Red, White, and Royal Blue received the GLAAD Media Award for queer fan favorite, presented by Cody Rigsby and Beanie Feldstein.

Billboard was among the winners, earning the award for outstanding print article for Pride Editor Stephen Daw’s June 2023 cover story, which found Maren Morris don Willie Nelson drag and go deep with drag artists Eureka O’Hara, Landon Cider, Sasha Colby and Symone about the proliferation of drag bans around the country. The honor comes six years after Billboard won its first GLAAD Media Award for outstanding magazine overall coverage in 2018.

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Here’s a list of the categories that were presented at the Midtown Hilton Hotel on Saturday night, with winners marked. You can see the winners announced at the 2024 GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles here.

Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode

“Certainty” Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts (Disney+)

“Chaos, Law, and Order” The Problem With Jon Stewart (Apple TV+)

“Cynthia Nixon and Kim Petras” Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (Bravo)

“Dulcé Sloan & Sasha Colby Talk What It Means to Be A Happy Trans Person” The Daily Show (Comedy Central)

“Elliot Page Opens Up In New Memoir: ‘It Felt Like The Right Time’” The View (ABC)

“The Hardest Fight Is the Fight Against Status Quo” The Conversations Project (Hulu)

“I’m Not Just Gay, I’m Your Son” Karamo (syndicated)

WINNER: “Jennifer Hudson Surprises HIV Activist with $10,000” The Jennifer Hudson Show (syndicated)

“Trace Lysette & Patricia Clarkson, Laverne Cox” The Kelly Clarkson Show (syndicated)

“Unapologetically Me” Tamron Hall (syndicated)

Outstanding TV Journalism Segment

“11th Hour: Transgender Athletes and What People Don’t Understand” The 11th Hour (MSNBC)

“19-Year-Old Designer CJ King Gets Second Chance to Walk the Runway” GMA3 (ABC)

“The All in Y’all” (KEYE-TV CBS Austin)

“Anti-LGBTQ+ Law in Uganda that Threatens the Death Penalty Sparks International Outcry” PBS Newshour (PBS)

“Bringing Queer Joy into the World of Hip-Hop” ABC News Live Prime (ABC News Live)

“Des Moines LGBTQ Community Hosts First-Ever ‘People’s Pride’” (WOI-TV Local 5 Des Moines)

“Geena Rocero Talks About Her New Memoir ‘Horse Barbie’ and the Power of Living Unapologetically” CBS Mornings (CBS)

“How Eco-Drag Queen Pattie Gonia Defines What It Means to Fight for the Environment” Nightline (ABC)

WINNER: “New York City Gay Bar Deaths Classified as Homicides” (NBC News Now)

“One-on-One with the President of the American Medical Association (AMA)” The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell (CBS)

Outstanding TV Journalism – Long-Form

“Beyond Limits: Who I Am” CBS Sports (CBS)

“CBS Reports: A Nation in Transition” CBS News (CBS)

“Club Q One Year Later” (KKTV CBS 11 Colorado)

“Freedom to Exist” Soul of a Nation (ABC)

“It’s Ok To Ask Questions – Pidgeon Pagonis” (WMAQ-TV NBC 5 Chicago)

“Marty’s Place: Where Hope Lives” (+Life Media with KGO-TV & ABC Localish)

WINNER: “Our America: Who I’m Meant to Be” (ABC Owned Television Stations)

“Proud Voices: A NY1 Special” (Spectrum News NY1)

“Serving in Secret: Love, Country and ‘Dont Ask Don’t Tell’” (MSNBC)

“VICE Special Report – Out Loud // Big Freedia Presents: Young Queer Artists To Look Out For” (Vice News)

Outstanding Live TV Journalism – Segment or Special

“Capehart on SCOTUS rulings: ‘My Possibilities are Up to Them, Not Up to Me’”  The Last Word (MSNBC)

“CNN’s Anderson Cooper Speaks With Lauri Carleton’s Daughter, Ari Carleton, About Her Mother’s Legacy” Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)

“Flipping the Script: Live Interviews on LGBTQ+ Community” Morning News NOW (NBC News Now)

“Gio Benitez Interviews Sasha Velour on Her Book and the Climate of Drag in America” Good Morning America (ABC)

WINNER: “Indiana Students Put on LGBTQ-Themed Play Themselves After it’s Canceled By the School” Yasmin Vossoughian Reports (MSNBC)

“José Díaz-Balart Reports: A Texas Mother’s Fight: the Case for Gender-Affirming Care” José Díaz-Balart Reports (MSNBC)

“One-on-One with Eureka O’Hara” The Reid Out (MSNBC)

“Pride Across America” (ABC News Live)

“TikTok Sensations ‘The Old Gays’ Talk About How They Became Friends and Their New Docuseries” TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (NBC)

“Two Anti-LGBTQ Bills Advance to Louisiana House” Breakdown (WWL-TV CBS New Orleans)

Outstanding Print Article

WINNER: “As Drag Bans Proliferate, Maren Morris Goes Deep With Drag’s Biggest Stars on Why the Show Must Go On” by Stephen Daw (Billboard)

“Black Queer History is American History” by Myeshia Price (TIME)

“‘But Most of All I’m Human’: These 3 Transgender Teens Prove Identity Stretches Beyond One Label” by Susan Miller (USA TODAY)

“The Dancer” by Matt Kemper (The Atlanta-Journal Constitution)

“Heroism Overpowers Hate” by John Sotomayor (Embrace Magazine)

“Kim Petras Is Breaking the Mold” by Jeff Nelson (People)

“Pop Icons Are ‘Mothers’ Now. The LGBTQ Ballroom Scene Wants Credit.” by Samantha Cherry (The Washington Post)

“Stop Bad Hair and Uglier Legislation (The New Classics)” by Karen Giberson (AC Magazine)

“Transgender Youth: ‘Forced Outing’ Bills Make Schools Unsafe” by Hannah Schoenbaum and Sean Murphy (AP)

“We Have the Tools to Stop HIV. So Why Is It Still Spreading?” by LZ Granderson (Los Angeles Times)

Outstanding Online Journalism Article

WINNER: “The AP Interview: Pope Francis Says Homosexuality Not a Crime” by Nicole Winifield (AP.com)

“Book Banners Came for This Colorado Town. They Didn’t Anticipate Resistance.” By Jeff Fuentes Gleghorn (LGBTQNation.com)

“Evidence Undermines ‘Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria’ Claims” by Timmy Broderick (ScientificAmerican.com)

“From Drag Bans to Sports Restrictions, 75 Anti-LGBTQ Bills Have Become Law in 2023” by Jo Yurcaba (NBCNews.com)

“How the Latinx Drag Queens of Brooklyn Are Finding Freedom through Their Cultures” by Juan De Dios Sanchez Jurado (TeenVogue.com)

“Pedro Zamora, ‘Real World’ Star Who Died of AIDS, ‘Humanized the Disease for a Generation,’ Say Activists” by David Artavia (Yahoo.com)

“Pride Month Feels Different As Threats, Fear of Violence Grows” by Brooke Migdon (TheHill.com)

“Some Trans Kids Are Being Forced to Flee America for Their Safety” by Nico Lang (HuffPost.com)

“Stochastic Terrorism: Links between the GOP, Right-Wing Influencers & Neo-Nazi Violence” by Christopher Wiggins (Advocate.com)

“What Does Queer Gen Z Want on TV? Everything under the Rainbow” by Jude Cramer (INTOMore.com)

Outstanding Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia

WINNER: “7 Remarkable Trans Elders Share Lessons for the Next Generation” (them.us)

“Brave Spaces” (PBS.org)

“CANS Can’t Stand” (NewYorker.com)

“Club Q: Stronger Together” (NFL.com)

“‘I’ve Always Known I Was Different’: Four Trans People Share Their Stories” (WashingtonPost.com)

“Michaela Jaé Rodriguez Calls Out the New York Times’ Anti-Trans Coverage & Advice for Trans Youth” (Variety.com)

“Moving Isa” (Insider.com)

“People Come Out to Their Parents | Truth or Drink” (Cut.com)

“Protecting Pride: Resilience after Tragedy – Club Q Survivors Fight to Project Their Community” (GoodMorningAmerica.com)

“Transnational” (Vice.com)

Outstanding Blog

Charlotte’s Web Thoughts

WINNER: Erin in the Morning

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

LawDork

Mombian

Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents

The Queer Review

The Randy Report

The Reckoning

Outstanding Reality Program

Bargain Block (HGTV)

WINNER: Family Karma (Bravo)

I Am Jazz (TLC)  

Living for the Dead (Hulu)

Queer Eye (Netflix)

Real Housewives of New York City (Bravo)

Selling Sunset (Netflix)

Swiping America (Max)

TRANSworld Atlanta (Tubi)

The Ultimatum: Queer Love (Netflix)

Outstanding Broadway Production

Fat Ham, by James Ijames

How to Dance in Ohio, by Jacob Yandura and Rebekah Greer Melocik

WINNER: Melissa Etheridge: My Window, by Melissa Etheridge

Once Upon a One More Time, by Jon Hartmere

The Sign in Sydney Brustein’s Window, by Lorraine Hansberry

Outstanding Podcast

Finding Fire Island (Broadway Podcast Network)

Gay and Afraid with Eric Sedeño (Past Your Bedtime)

WINNNER: Las Culturistas (iHeart)

NPR’s Embedded (NPR)

Queen of Hearts (Wondery)

Rooted Recovery Stories (Promises Behavioral Health)

Sibling Rivalry (Studio 71)

That Conversation With Tarek Ali (Buzz Sprout)

This Queer Book Saved My Life (This Queer Book Productions, LLC)

TransLash (TransLash Media)

Outstanding Film – Streaming Or TV

Cassandro (Amazon Prime Video)

Christmas on Cherry Lane (Hallmark Channel)

Friends & Family Christmas (Hallmark Channel)

Frybread Face and Me (Array Releasing)

Nuovo Olimpo (Netflix)

Nyad (Netflix)

Red, White, and Royal Blue (Amazon Prime Video)

Runs in the Family (Indigenous Film Distribution)

WINNER: Rustin (Netflix)

You’re Not Supposed To Be Here (Lifetime Television)

Outstanding Documentary (Multiple winners)

WINNER: Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later (MTV Documentary Films)

Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate (Netflix)

Every Body (Focus Features)

WINNER: Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)

Little Richard: I Am Everything (Magnolia Pictures)

Orlando, My Political Biography (Janus Films)

Rainbow Rishta (Amazon Prime Video)

Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed (HBO Documentary Films)

WINNER: The Stroll (HBO)

“UYRA – The Rising Forest“ POV (PBS)

Outstanding New Series

The Buccaneers (Apple TV+)

Class (Netflix)

Culprits (Hulu)

Deadloch (Amazon Prime Video)

Everything Now (Netflix)

Found (NBC)

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+)

WINNER: The Last of Us (HBO)

The Other Black Girl (Hulu)

Tore (Netflix)

Outstanding Kids & Family Programming or Film – Live Action

WINNER: Heartstopper (Netflix)

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (Disney+)

Jane (AppleTV+)

Power Rangers Cosmic Fury (Netflix)

XO, Kitty (Netflix)

Outstanding Online Journalism Article (Spanish Language)

“Abogan por una política pública contra la violencia hacia la comunidad trans en Puerto Rico” por Carolina Gracia (ElVocero.com)

“La activista trans que sepulta a sus amigas olvidadas: ‘Los primeros cuerpos los velaba yo sola, solita’” por Daniel Alonso Viña (ElPais.com)

“Carlos Adyan nos invita a su boda civil con Carlos Quintanilla: ‘Todo ha pasado como yo soñaba’” por Lena Hansen (PeopleEnEspanol.com)

“El eterno desafío de ser un hombre o mujer trans en El Salvador” por María Teresa Hernández (APnews.com)

“Familias latinas con menores trans temen a nuevas leyes que limitan el acceso a tratamientos médicos: ‘Es lo que ha mantenido a mi hija viva’” por Anagilmara Vílchez y Lourdes Hurtado (Telemundo.com)

“‘Hemos huido de algo muy cruel’: las familias que buscan una vida mejor para sus hijos transgénero en otros estados de EE.UU.” por Leire Ventas (BBC.com)

WINNER: “Personas mayores LGBTQIA+ ‘tienen que regresar a un clóset para poder buscar vivienda’” por David Cordero Mercado y Joaquín A. Rosado Lebrón (PeriodismoInvestigativo.com & ElNuevoDia.com)

“Quiero que todo el mundo pueda decir libremente ‘así soy yo’” por Maria Mercedes Acosta (Sentiido.com)

“Reconocimiento a medias también es estigmatizante: RAE agrega ‘no binario/a’ a su diccionario” por Alex Orue (Homosensual.com)

“Wendy Guevara, la ‘perdida’ que lo ganó todo” por Jonathan Saldaña y Mari Tere Lelo de Larrea (Quien.com)

Outstanding Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia (Spanish Language)

WINNER: “Conoce a la primera diputada negra y trans de Brasil” por Natalia Barrera Francis, Joyce García, David von Blohn, Paula Daibert y Claudia Escobar (Descoloniza – AJ+ Español)

“La increíble historia de cómo ‘Mami Ruddys’ refugió a decenas de jóvenes LGBTIQ en Puerto Rico” por Marcos Billy Guzmán y Pablo Martínez Rodríguez (El Nuevo Día)

“Mi novio vive con VIH y yo no: ser una pareja serodiscordante” por Mariana Escobar Bernoske y Daniela Rojas (La Disidencia – El Espectador)

“This gay cowboy convention celebrates sexual freedom — and Mexican identity” por Jackeline Luma, Kate Linthicum y Maggie Beidelman (Los Angeles Times)

“Villano Antillano cuenta todo de la realidad Queer de su música” por Yollotl Alvarado, René Barreto, Alfredo Castellanos, Sofía Reyes, Rai Irizarry, Arjun Demeyere, Luis Ramírez, Florencia Botinelli, Iván Juárez y Sebastian Fernández (GQ México y Latinoamérica)

12 May 2024

Fans Choose RM’s ‘Come Back to Me’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music in All-Genre Poll

RM‘s “Come Back to Me” has topped this week’s new music poll that features artists in various genres of music.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (May 10) on Billboard, choosing the BTS singer’s new solo song as their favorite new music release of the past week.

RM’s latest track brought in 91% of the vote on the poll, securing a notable edge ahead of new releases from Gunna (One of Wun), Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen (“I Had Some Help”), Camila Cabello fearuing Lil Nas X (“He Knows”), Megan Thee Stallion (“Boa”), and more.

“Come Back to Me” is the first single from RM’s upcoming 11-track second solo album, Right Place, Wrong Person. The new set is due May 24.

Trending on Billboard

“Come back to me/ Like you used to/ Now, I could see/ What a life is about/ I told you I’m fine tonight/ Staying good/ Spring always been here/ I will sleep in her eyes,” the 29-year-old K-pop star sleepily croons over acoustic guitar and whistling.

The song was first performed last August during a surprise appearance at BTS bandmate Suga’s Seoul concert on his SUGA | Agust D Tour ‘D-DAY’ The Final outing.

RM’s first solo LP, Indigo, was released in Dec. 2022, and peaked at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200 and featured guests including Anderson .Paak, Erykah Badu and others.

Trailing behind “Come Back to Me” on this week’s poll is Gunna’s fifth studio album, One of Wun, with nearly 3% of the vote. The 20-track project includes collaborations with Offset (“Prada Dem”), Normani (“$$$”), Leon Bridges (“Clear My Rain”) and Roddy Ricch (“Let It Breathe”).

See the final results of this week’s poll below. Check out Billboard‘s Friday Music Guide to catch up with more must-hear releases from this week.

12 May 2024

Taylor Swift Rules Billboard 200 for Third Week With ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department spends a third straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated May 18), marking her first title to spend its first three weeks atop the chart since 2020’s Folklore spent its first six weeks at No. 1. (Between Folklore and the new album, Swift earned six No. 1 albums.) The Tortured Poets Department is the first album to spend its first three weeks in the pole position since Travis Scott’s Utopia led in its first four weeks last summer (Aug. 12-Sept. 2, 2023).

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The Tortured Poets Department earned 282,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending May 9 (down 36%), according to Luminate. That marks the largest third-week for any album since Swift’s own Midnights clocked 299,000 units in its third frame (Nov. 19, 2022-dated chart).

Trending on Billboard

Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, Dua Lipa achieves her highest-charting album yet, as Radical Optimism debuts at No 2. Plus, SEVENTEEN logs its fifth top 10-charting effort with the No. 5 arrival of SEVENTEEN Best Album ’17 Is Right Here.’

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new May 18, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on May 14. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of The Tortured Poets Department’s third-week unit sum of 282,000, SEA units comprise 229,500 (down 30%, equaling 298.33 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), traditional album sales comprise 51,000 (down 53%) and TEA units comprise 1,500 (down 43%).

Swift adds her 72nd career week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, extending her record among soloists (Elvis Presley has the second-most among soloists, with 67). The total encompasses her 14 leaders. (She’s tied with Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among soloists.)

Dua Lipa scores her highest-charting album yet on the Billboard 200 as her third studio effort, Radical Optimism, bows at No. 2. It enters with 83,000 equivalent album units earned — a personal best for the singer-songwriter. Of its starting sum, album sales comprise 51,500 (it’s the top-selling album of the week, and it’s Lipa’s best sales week ever), SEA units comprise 30,500 (equaling 39.7 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs) and TEA units comprise 1,000.

The album’s sales were bolstered by its availability across 20 physical variants, all with the same 11 songs. There were 11 vinyl editions in assorted colors (one of which was signed, and most variants were exclusive to specific retailers) and two cassette tapes. In terms of CDs, there was a widely available standard CD with a lenticular cover, and then multiple CD iterations sold exclusively in Lipa’s webstore (a signed standard CD, a zine CD package, and four deluxe CD boxed sets — each containing a branded T-shirt and a CD, and two of the boxes also included a signed art card).

In addition, the album was issued as a widely available standard 11-song digital download and a deluxe digital album with two live bonus tracks sold exclusively in Lipa’s webstore.

Radical Optimism is Lipa’s second top 10-charting effort, following her sophomore set, 2020’s Future Nostalgia, which peaked at No. 3.

The new 11-song album was announced on March 13 following two previously-released singles “Houdini” and “Training Season.” The former dropped last November and peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 that month, while the latter topped out at No. 27 in March. A third single, “Illusion,” bowed at No. 43 on the chart dated April 27.

On the promotional front, Lipa opened both the Brit Awards (March 2) and the Grammy Awards (Feb. 4). On the former, she performed “Training Season,” while on the latter she presented a medley of “Training Season,” the Grammy-nominated Barbie soundtrack hit “Dance the Night” and “Houdini.” On May 4, a day after the album’s release, Lipa hosted and performed on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, performing “Illusion” and the album’s “Happy for You.” Further, the entertainer was named to Time 100 list of the most influential people of 2024 (and appeared on the magazine’s April 29 cover), graced the covers of both Rolling Stone (for its February issue) and Elle (May issue), sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe for an hour-long interview (May 1) and even went day drinking with Seth Meyers (Dec. 11, 2023).

Two former No. 1s are up next on the Billboard 200, as Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time is pushed down 2-3 despite a 3% gain (to 71,000 equivalent album units) and Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You falls 3-4 (down 1% to 61,000 units).

SEVENTEEN collects its fifth top 10 on the Billboard 200, all consecutive, as SEVENTEEN Best Album ‘17 Is Right Here’ debuts at No. 5. The retrospective compilation earned 53,000 equivalent album units in its first week. Of that sum, album sales comprise 49,000, SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.5 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The set’s sales were supported by its availability across a dozen CD variants, all containing branded paper merchandise like posters and photocards (some randomized). Exclusive iterations were sold by Barnes & Noble and Target, while signed editions were also available.

Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s chart-topping Vultures 1 flies back into the top 10, as it wings 52-6 following the set’s arrival on vinyl. The effort earned 45,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week (up 173%), while album sales comprising 31,000 of that sum (up 37,841%). Essentially all of its sales were from vinyl — nearly 31,000, which marks the biggest sales week on vinyl for both Ye and Ty Dolla $ign. The vinyl edition of the album was exclusively sold via Ye’s official webstore, and was initially sold as a pre-order when the album was first released on Feb. 10 (as a paid download and via streaming services). At that time, when customers pre-ordered the vinyl, the webstore stated the vinyl would ship in “2024.”

Wallen’s former No. 1 Dangerous: The Double Album is squeezed 6-7 on the new Billboard 200, though with a 4% gain (to 42,000 equivalent album units). Beyoncé’s chart-topping Cowboy Carter falls 4-8 with 41,000 units (down 21%), Noah Kahan’s Stick Season slips 5-9 with 40,000 units (down 2%) and SZA’s former leader SOS falls 9-10 with 39,000 (down 1%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.