Music
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Peso Pluma electrified the Barclays Center in New York City on Thursday (Oct. 3), captivating the audience as part of his Éxodo Tour 2024, promoting his latest album of the same name. The Mexican superstar performed hit after hit for nearly three hours and was joined by an array of special guests, including Ice Spice, Eladio Carrión, Estevan Plazola, Los Dareyes de la Sierra, Tito Double P, Yng Lvcas, and Jasiel Nuñez.
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Adding to the excitement, J Balvin made a special virtual backstage appearance right before Peso Pluma took the stage, amping up the crowd as Black Sabbath’s “N.I.B.” roared through the speakers.
With a backdrop that invoked a sense of grandeur, the giant screen displayed verses with a biblical tone: “There are over eight billion people in the world, each of us different, different origins, different stories that make up our character,” the message on the screens read. “Of course, not everyone has the perfect character, perhaps those who think that are the same ones deciding that our ways are defective. But before all of them, I ask: Can a compass, moral and broken, decide which is the right direction? An anti-hero is among us.”
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Meanwhile, a floating gigantic moon added a stunning element, moving across the arena and enhancing the celestial theme.
Dressed in black pants, a white T-shirt, olive Travis Scott Air Jordans, and silver chains — and sporting a slick hairstyle in place of his classic mullet — the Guadalajara native burst onto the stage kicking off with “La Durango.” His energy was infectious, marked by a beaming smile and dynamic movement across the stage. Flanked by hip-hop-style dancers and musicians clad in black, including a brass section, a tololoche, guitars, and a bajo quinto, the ensemble impressively adapted these acoustic instruments to resonate in the sold-out Barclays arena.
Spanning such charting hits as “Lady Gaga,” “Rubicon,” and “La Patrulla,” the highlight of the night was undoubtedly the performances by the numerous special guests. Ice Spice — rocking her curly red hair and showing off her new slim figure — performed “Deli,” Yng Lvcas joined Pluma for “La Bebé,” Jasiel Nuñez — who was the first invite and whom Peso consistently called his best friend — sang “Bipolar,” “Rosa Pastel,” and “Me Activo.” His cousin Tito Double P also joined the superstar for several songs, including Tito’s “Dos Días” and Peso’s banger “La People II.”
Eladio Carrión sang a corridos alongside Peso and had his moment with the trap anthem “Mbappé.” Then, Los Dareyes de la Sierra’s frontman impressed with accordion-powered corridos on “Hasta el Día de Hoy.” Another standout moment was Peso’s performances of “Qlona” by Karol G, 2023’s song of the year “Ella Baila Sola” with Eslabon Armado, and the introspective “Hollywood” from Éxodo, during which Peso shared his personal connection with the song penned by Estevan Plazola in 2020.
Outside the arena was another story, with fans gathering to share food and beers at a tailgate party while cars nearby blasted Peso Pluma songs and an array of pirated merch was for sale, displaying that he and modern-day corridos have truly become a cultural phenomenon.
On a balmy recent August evening, Gustavo Dudamel strode onto the stage of the Hollywood Bowl wearing a huge golden gauntlet on his left hand.
He wouldn’t get to use it. Dudamel is dramatic, but he’s no comic book villain; he’s the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and he was there to conduct the orchestra for the world premiere of Marvel Studios’ Infinity Saga Concert Experience. So instead of wielding the power of assorted Infinity Stones to change the world, Dudamel accepted the “vibranium baton” presented to him by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige (a reference to the fictional metal of the Marvel universe) and performed some magic of his own, conducting two-plus hours of raucous music from 25 different Marvel movies, backed by gigantic video screens with 3D projections, dancers, fireworks and thousands of screaming fans.
The whole thing looked more like a rock show than a symphony concert. Then again, Dudamel is the closest thing to a rock star the classical music world has.
After nearly two decades in Los Angeles, Dudamel hobnobs with the likes of Chris Martin and John Williams, is close friends with Frank Gehry (who designed the stunning Walt Disney Concert Hall, the L.A. Phil’s home that opened a little over 20 years ago) and counts Billie Eilish, Gwen Stefani, Ricky Martin and Carlos Vives among the dozens of pop world luminaries who’ve guested under his (non-vibranium) baton. He has won five Grammy Awards (including, this year, best orchestral performance for the L.A. Phil’s recording of composer Thomas Adès’ Dante) and placed nine albums at No. 1 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Albums chart. His life is the subject of the documentary Viva Maestro! And, though never officially confirmed, he was clearly the inspiration behind the character of the free-thinking, mercurial Latin maestro played by Gael García Bernal in the Amazon Prime series Mozart in the Jungle, in which he had a small role as a stage manager.
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In the span of just two weeks from the end of August to mid-September, Dudamel conducted Strauss with the Vienna Philharmonic in Salzburg, Austria, and then flew to Los Angeles where, including the two Marvel shows, he led the L.A. Phil in nine concerts, conducting Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and Beethoven’s Ninth; dances by living Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra; Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals and scenes from Bizet’s Carmen; plus two evenings of contemporary Latin music with Mexican pop/folk singer Natalia Lafourcade. It’s a staggering musical offering. All told, more than 100,000 people attended Dudamel’s nine summer concerts at the Hollywood Bowl with the L.A. Phil, which he will again conduct on Oct. 8 at the opening night of Carnegie Hall’s 2024-25 season in New York.
“He is unique in the classical music world because not only does he lead the orchestra and elevate the work of the L.A. Phil in terms of excellence, but he also connects the orchestra with different kinds of music, collaborating with artists [in other genres] with which we wouldn’t typically perform,” L.A. Phil president/CEO Kim Noltemy says. “The result is he brings orchestra music to so many different people. That is one unbelievably unique piece that makes Gustavo special.”
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For Dudamel, it’s part of a deep-rooted belief that music as an art, with purpose, supersedes specific forms and genres. “As an orchestral musician, you value the work of these pop artists, and likewise, pop acts have the opportunity to see that the academicism of the other side isn’t overwhelming, but rather, it’s the same thing in a different style,” he says. “Yes, there’s a fascinating technical complexity [to classical music]. But in the end, what matters is what you feel and what people perceive. We have to erase people’s fears regarding classical music. It may be intellectual in execution, but music’s power is spiritual.”
Not since Leonard Bernstein has a conductor done as much as Dudamel to make classical music accessible — or so thoroughly captured the public imagination. The two maestros share a not just persuasive but borderline evangelical approach to relentlessly promoting music as a “fundamental human right,” not just by broadening what qualifies as “classical” repertoire but also broadening the concept of the orchestra itself. Bernstein’s televised Young People’s Concerts were central to his efforts to expand classical music’s audience; Dudamel has worked to create youth orchestras worldwide. And then, of course, there’s the hair: Bernstein’s silky pompadour flung about wildly as he conducted, and while Dudamel’s signature curly brown mop is perhaps a little less springy than when he made his U.S. conducting debut with the L.A. Phil in 2005 and is now peppered with gray, it still pops and sways with the music.
It’s a visible reminder of the personal stamp he continues to leave in a world of relatively staid personalities, and undoubtedly a factor in his broad recognizability. Dudamel is one of the few faces in classical music known far beyond the space, no doubt one of many reasons the L.A. Phil will miss him when his last season as music and artistic director ends and he officially takes over the New York Philharmonic in its 2026-27 season as music and artistic director.
When he does, Dudamel will become the first Latino to helm the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, joining a pantheon of giants that includes Arturo Toscanini, Gustav Mahler and Bernstein himself. Expectations for his arrival are so heightened, says N.Y. Phil executive advisor and interim CEO Deborah Borda, that even though Dudamel will not formally join for another season, “we saw a record surge in subscription sales, as patrons are concerned they won’t be able to secure tickets once he starts.”
For Dudamel, being the first Latino to lead the N.Y. Phil long term is a matter of “immense pride. But I feel it doesn’t have to do with a race or a culture,” he says. Historically, he notes, the great symphony orchestras in the United States and beyond have been led mostly by European men who not only represented the music they performed, but also the European migration to this country and Latin America.
Dudamel’s story is completely different. The real triumph “is about where I come from,” he says. “I don’t come from a traditional music conservatory. I come from El Sistema de Orquestas, a program where you grow up playing music with your friends.”
It’s the morning after he has conducted Carnival of the Animals and Carmen, and Dudamel has joined me for coffee in an empty Hollywood Bowl meeting room. He has traded the formal white dinner jacket of the Marvel show for offstage casual — track pants, short-sleeved T-shirt and sneakers — and his trademark mix of impish humor (accentuated by his still-boyish dimples) and deep thoughtfulness. Born and raised in Venezuela, Dudamel learned English as an adult, and though it’s grammatically perfect — albeit with a clipped, precise accent — he prefers his native Spanish, which he speaks very quickly (as most Venezuelans do) and with the erudite lingo of an intellectual, often citing the likes of Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno or Mexican writer Octavio Paz.
Today, we’re talking not just about his new appointment and the legacy he’ll leave behind in L.A. as he begins to build another in New York, but also the legacy he grew up with — one that still defines him.
At 43, Dudamel is almost as old as El Sistema Nacional de Orquestas y Coros Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela (The National System of Venezuelan Youth and Children’s Choruses and Orchestras). Known simply as El Sistema, it was founded in 1975 by musician-economist José Antonio Abreu, who held several government appointments and built El Sistema as part of the government structure, guaranteeing its existence and funding regardless of who was in power.
El Sistema was created more than 20 years before the Hugo Chávez regime, built on the premise that music education should be free and accessible to all children, everywhere in the country. For Abreu, who died in 2018, the power of music was transformative, spiritual and lasting, particularly in a developing country rife with poverty. What started with a first rehearsal attended by 11 children eventually grew to 443 schools (each called a “nucleus” in Sistema terminology) and 1,700 satellite centers that teach over 1 million children in Venezuela’s 24 states, according to El Sistema’s official webpage.
Abreu’s philosophy — famously, he said that “a child who plays an instrument with a teacher is no longer poor; he is a child on the rise” — is one Dudamel not only espouses but assumes as his identity. He’s still the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and will tour Europe with it next year for El Sistema’s 50th anniversary. (The tour stops are connected to cities with which Dudamel has a personal history.) He has no plans to change his commitment to it. “I would give my life for the orchestra,” he states bluntly. “It gave me everything I’m living now, and that’s why I share it as much as I can.”
Gustavo Dudamel photographed September 3, 2024 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
Joe Pugliese
But in the last few years, throughout Venezuela’s many political government crises and now, after the contested July reelection of President Nicolás Maduro — who has been in power since 2013 and whose latest reelection has been widely disclaimed both domestically and internationally as rigged — Dudamel has sometimes been criticized by other Venezuelans abroad for not speaking out more against the government.
Some critics have suggested that Maduro has used Venezuela’s youth orchestra to his political advantage. Renowned Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero has long called it a propaganda tool; when Dudamel conducted the ensemble at Carnegie Hall days after Maduro’s reelection, Human Rights Foundation parked a truck outside the venue displaying the message “Maduro Stole The Election” and asking Dudamel, “How long will you continue to serve as Maduro’s puppet and henchman?” The organization explained on social media that it wanted “to remind the world of Maduro’s fraud and to call out Dudamel for engaging in shameless propaganda and providing cover for the Venezuelan dictator.”
But, Dudamel points out, he has not been silent. He has written New York Times and Los Angeles Times op-eds calling for an end to repression in Venezuela and speaking against the government’s plans to rewrite the nation’s constitution. In 2017, after Venezuelan government forces killed a young violinist during a protest, Dudamel published an open letter, writing, “Nothing justifies bloodshed. We must stop ignoring the just cry of the people suffocated by an intolerable crisis. I urgently call on the President of the Republic and the national government to rectify and listen to the voice of the Venezuelan people.”
“I am one voice,” he says today. “People think if I speak out everything is going to change, but that’s not the case. There needs to be radical change, and that will take a lot of time.
“We live in a world of immediacy, where there’s always pressure to say something,” he adds when I ask why he hasn’t spoken out more in the wake of July’s contested election. “When do people actually reflect before speaking? You have to consider the entire situation. El Sistema de Orquestas represents all Venezuela, not just a part of it… El Sistema is focused on the neediest communities. That’s the truth. Isn’t that a way to change the country, far more than shouting? So you have to be prudent because you’re part of that. I’m not an individual speaking as an individual because that’s not how I grew up. I grew up in an orchestra.”
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This was Dudamel’s mindset during his own first El Sistema experience. He started music lessons at a school in his native Barquisimeto, a quaint city of under 1 million people in northwestern Venezuela. This was the mid-’80s, still years before Chávez took power, but a decade into the existence of El Sistema, which by then was thriving.
“I was only 5 years old, but I remember it perfectly,” Dudamel recalls. “It was the home of Doña Doralisa de Medina. It was a tiny colonial house where Maestro Abreu studied as a child. Doralisa was no longer alive, but El Sistema was there. The house had a red gate with musical notes. I walked in down a passageway and then to a patio, and I heard Chopin on the piano, a trumpet, violins. I fell in love with that cacophony.”
El Sistema didn’t pluck Dudamel out of abject poverty. His father is a working salsa trombonist; his mother, a voice teacher. His uncle, a doctor, was also a gifted cuatro player who taught Dudamel how to play popular Venezuelan music: waltzes, tangos, boleros — what Dudamel calls his very essence.
Perhaps because music flowed through his family, Dudamel’s own studies were encouraged but never imposed. He started conducting by accident, when his youth orchestra’s conductor arrived late for rehearsal and Dudamel took the podium, almost as if it was a game.
While no one ever told him he would make it big, his talent would have been impossible to miss. Abreu took an early interest in him, becoming a mentor and moral compass. He’s still very much alive in Dudamel’s head — he constantly begins sentences with “El Maestro Abreu…” — as are his teachings: to think long term, to learn from mistakes, to see music as a social instrument. It was Abreu, after all, who urged Dudamel, then in his early 20s, to enter Germany’s prestigious Mahler Competition, for conducting works by the vaunted composer, in 2004. When he won, it changed his life, catapulting him from local star to global wunderkind.
Among the jurors was Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Finnish composer and current San Francisco Symphony music director who was, at the time, music director of the L.A. Phil. “I was deeply impressed by the talent of this guy, but also, I felt he was such a good guy,” Salonen recalls. “I told him I wanted to invite him to L.A.” As he got to know Dudamel, he continues, “I became so convinced about him being my favorite person to take over in L.A. and become my successor, taking [the orchestra] in a different direction but keeping his curiosity and openness.” A mere three years later, Salonen’s wishes came true: the L.A. Phil — where Deborah Borda was then executive director — appointed Dudamel music director, effective with the 2009-10 season.
Dudamel’s personable demeanor and charismatic conducting style immediately enchanted L.A. audiences and the ensemble’s players alike — he is, after all, affectionately known as “The Dude” to both cohorts. But from the jump, his mission went far beyond the podium. “I was very young, and evidently there was a human and artistic connection with the orchestra and the administration,” he says. “But my first order of business was creating El Sistema here. That’s how YOLA began.”
YOLA is Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, the L.A. Phil’s music education program, that Dudamel created in 2007. It currently serves close to 1,700 young musicians across five sites in the city, providing them free instruments, intensive music instruction (up to 18 hours per week), academic support and leadership training. The program has inspired hundreds of versions around the world; in the United States alone, El Sistema USA serves 140 member programs, 6,000 teaching artists and 25,000 students. Dudamel also launched a mentorship program for young conductors in 2009 and now brings four each season to assist the L.A. Phil’s guest conductors.
But education and training are just part of the equation to “create identity and have people see themselves reflected in the [L.A.] Philharmonic,” Dudamel says. “Right or wrong, cultural artistic institutions are seen as elitist for many, especially those who don’t have resources. The adventure was to make of the [L.A.] Philharmonic an institution people could identify with.”
Dudamel began doing this gradually by being more experimental in his programming, adding more pop and jazz guest artists, bringing Hollywood into the mix (he has famously played multiple concerts of John Williams’ music, with Williams in attendance) and opening up the repertoire to new works and unexpected juxtapositions. A ticket buyer who might not want to hear a world-premiere commission might be lured in by Beethoven; one allergic to the idea of Beethoven might reconsider after seeing an orchestra perform with Ricky Martin.
“For me, it wasn’t only about building a good orchestra,” Dudamel says. “That already existed. But now we have one of the top orchestras in the world, respected as much for its technical level as for its proud acceptance of the repertoire and the way they perform it. This wasn’t ‘Oh, Gustavo, come in and do whatever you want.’ It was figuring out how to build it.” Dudamel had the Hollywood Bowl, Disney Hall and the orchestra. “All the elements were there,” he continues. “We just had to get the best out of them. And there’s still a lot to do.”
Gustavo Dudamel photographed September 3, 2024 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
Joe Pugliese
Dudamel conducted the L.A. Phil at the 2011 Latin Grammys and the 2019 Academy Awards. He led the orchestra alongside Billie Eilish and FINNEAS as part of the concert film experience Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles, released on Disney+. And he performed at the 2016 Super Bowl halftime show with members of YOLA, alongside Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars.
“His authentic, warm connection with audiences really changes how people feel when watching a concert. Audiences are so excited to see him, and there’s a buzz around him,” Noltemy says, noting that pandemic era aside, attendance and audience diversity at the L.A. Phil have increased while the average age of concertgoers has decreased. “He’s certainly not the only conductor who has increased attendance and brought diversity, but he did so in L.A., a city that is so spread out. His concerts at Disney Hall tend to be sold out.”
Those results have occurred even as Dudamel has made a huge effort to foster contemporary composition (typically not an old-school orchestra subscriber’s favorite programming), commissioning music from composers around the world. During his tenure at the L.A. Phil, the orchestra has premiered “at least 300 new works” written specifically for the ensemble, he says, including many from Latin America.
“Latin American repertoire has to stop being [perceived as] exotic,” he says. “It’s not about ‘Wow, we’re playing Latin American music!’ No. It’s the fair thing to do. And the only way to include it in the repertoire is playing it but at the level it deserves, making it part of the regular repertoire of any orchestra.” Case in point: Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, a Dudamel mentee who was just named Carnegie Hall’s composer-in-residence for the coming season. In July, Platoon released her first full album of orchestral works, Revolución Diamantina (performed by the L.A. Phil and conducted by Dudamel), which is being submitted for Grammy consideration.
Just how much of his approach with the L.A. Phil Dudamel will be able to replicate in New York remains to be seen; as he says, he has yet to formally arrive and experience the orchestra. But in recent months, he has been working with both orchestras to forge a connection between the two.
In April, when Dudamel conducted the N.Y. Phil’s Spring Gala at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, he featured rapper Common, former New York Yankee and classically trained guitarist Bernie Williams and student musicians from several New York music schools, performing a program that also included classical works by Villa-Lobos and Strauss, as well as a premiere commissioned by the N.Y. Phil and Bravo! Vail Music Festival.
It was the kind of bold, cross-genre programming that Dudamel delights in doing in L.A. and clearly wants to emphasize in New York. “It was something completely new and wonderful. For me, that’s the kind of thing that makes the music transcend beyond the sometimes strict academic and intellectual isolation that classical music represents,” he says. “We can develop a lot in terms of repertoire and go beyond Lincoln Center and connect more with the entire community.”
Gustavo Dudamel photographed September 3, 2024 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
Joe Pugliese
The N.Y. Phil, for example, is known for its massive annual free outdoor concert on the Great Lawn in Central Park, which is always attended by no less than 50,000, and it also performs in all five boroughs during its annual Concerts in the Parks. But the L.A. Phil has the Hollywood Bowl, an outdoor venue that seats 18,000 and is the orchestra’s home for the entire summer. It’s a big difference that Dudamel would like to somehow bridge.
He also joins the N.Y. Phil after the 2022 reopening of Geffen Hall following a $550 million renovation that drastically improved its acoustics. He says the new venue did not factor into his decision to go to New York, “but it was very important, especially for the orchestra. It’s been a plus to elevate the morale. Now the orchestra is in the process of building its sound with the ‘instrument’ [that is the new hall].” Optimism is also high following the Sept. 20 finalization of a new labor contract that ensured 30% raises for the orchestra’s musicians over the next three years, bringing their base salary to $205,000.
Dudamel is also taking the reins of an institution that lately has had its share of highly publicized troubles. After just one year on the job, N.Y. Phil CEO Gary Ginstling stepped down in July amid rising tensions with the orchestra’s board, according to a New York Times report. And the orchestra’s public image has been tarnished after reports earlier this year resurfaced a 2010 sexual misconduct charge made against two of its musicians. Although charges were never filed against the two men, the controversy led to the musicians being put on leave; they then sued the N.Y. Phil for doing so.
As Dudamel is not yet officially the N.Y. Phil’s music director (for the 2025-26 season, he is music director designate), he won’t comment on administrative matters other than to acknowledge that “those are problems that need to be resolved.” And although the administration of the orchestra ultimately is not his purview, “Obviously the morale of the orchestra is my responsibility, and you have to keep that morale high, taking the best decisions and advocating for justice for everyone,” he says. “That’s essential. We’re not isolated from what happens around us.”
Whatever may have occurred before his tenure begins, Dudamel is without a doubt joining an orchestra that respects him as a conductor, whose musicians have a history and rapport with him. “There was an undeniable spontaneous connection between our musicians and Gustavo, so much so that he was literally their only choice to be our next music director,” Borda says. “Selling tickets is important, but we believe this is best accomplished when you have the right artistic leader.”
Dudamel is acutely aware of the expectations now surrounding him. “It’s a challenge, but life without challenge… it’s nothing!” he says with some relish. “But I’m not a savior here. I have nothing to save. What we have to do is build, and that’s not just up to me. We have a great team.” And after all, he’s Dudamel — and by now, he understands it comes with the territory.
“People want you to scream what they scream, but no. To me, change isn’t about screaming but about building things that last, as I learned from Maestro Abreu,” he says. “I sincerely believe artists should be symbols of unity … They must guarantee that cathartic, unifying space we all need — not just here or in Venezuela, but everywhere.”
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This fall, for example, Dudamel will lead the L.A. Phil in Mendelssohn’s music from A Midsummer’s Night Dream with his wife, Spanish actress María Valverde, providing narration — music by a German composer, written for the work of a British playwright who derived it from a Nordic story, now narrated in Spanish, conducted by a Venezuelan and performed by an American orchestra. Plus, the evening will feature the premiere of Ortiz’s new cello concerto.
“It’s the kind of thing you don’t even remark upon because it feels natural. But it’s a true reflection of diversity,” Dudamel says. “When you see all these elements come together, you realize, ‘Wow, this is powerful.’ ”
He speaks about this blend of so many seemingly disparate elements as if it’s destiny, or magic. But a moment like that — much like a career such as Dudamel’s — doesn’t occur by happenstance or without purpose.
“One thing about Gustavo I think needs to be said is that for someone who had a lot of success from very early on, he’s remarkable in that he never lost his center,” Salonen says. “He has never lost his ideals. He believes in music as a social cause, and he believes in music and the arts as a very central thing in keeping the fabric of society strong. And despite all the success and fame, he’s still the same guy I met all those years ago.”
This story appears in the Oct. 5, 2024, issue of Billboard.
On a balmy recent August evening, Gustavo Dudamel strode onto the stage of the Hollywood Bowl wearing a huge golden gauntlet on his left hand. He wouldn’t get to use it. Dudamel is dramatic, but he’s no comic book villain; he’s the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and he was there to conduct […]
Christian Nodal is now at home recovering from a “strong stomach infection” that led to his recent hospitalization in Mexico, the singer announced on Thursday night (Oct. 3) in a press release. His shows scheduled for this weekend in Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of his Pa’l Cora Tour have been postponed.
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“Through this statement, we want to deeply thank the expressions of affection, concern, and prayers towards our artist Christian Nodal,” said the statement on the singer’s Instagram stories. “We inform you that he is already home, where he must take a few days of absolute rest, while continuing with the treatment received to eradicate the strong stomach infection, which had him under observation in the emergency room in the past days.”
“As he recovers, we unfortunately must announce that the dates scheduled for this weekend in Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah, will be postponed until November,” it added. “The tour will resume next Monday, October 7, at the palenque in the City of Guadalajara, as part of the Fiestas de Octubre.”
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Christian Nodal was recently hospitalized in Mexico, where he was scheduled to perform on Wednesday (Oct. 2) at the Palenque de la Feria de Pachuca; the show was rescheduled for Oct. 14. His publicist, Conchita Oliva, told Billboard on Wednesday that the Mexican star — who had performed a concert last weekend in Los Angeles — began feeling ill upon arriving in Mexico.
Oliva also posted a photo of Nodal in a hospital bed with his eyes closed and a woman’s hand, presumably his wife Ángela Aguilar, caressing his head.
The performer whose hits include “Dime Cómo Quieres” and “Adiós Amor” has more dates scheduled in Mexico and the U.S. throughout the month. On Oct. 20, he is slated to perform at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., followed by a gig at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Oct. 26.
Gotta blame it on Netflix. Grammy-winning producer/composer NomaD has put a fresh spin on Milli Vanilli‘s legendary 1989 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Blame It on the Rain,” giving the song an updated island vibe groove to go with his gritty lead vocals. “Loving NomaD’s new version of ‘Blame It on the Rain.’ Gotta […]
Mötley Crüe are headed back to Las Vegas. The long-running metal band announced their latest Sin City stay-put on Thursday (Oct. 3), The Las Vegas Residency, which will find them playing an exclusive limited run of 11 shows at Dolby Live at Park MGM from March 28-April 19, 2025.
“Mötley Crüe and Las Vegas have always been the perfect combination of extravagance and decadence. We’ve always loved the idea of the Vegas residency, because we’ve always loved the idea of staying in one location to build a unique show for the fans,” the band said in a statement. “We’re excited to get into rehearsals and work up a lot of songs that have been requested by the fans for years.”
The Crüe’s third Vegas residency is being billed as a “tell-all show [that] will immerse the audience in the band’s history, leading all the say through their record-breaking Stadium Tour.” They previously set up shop in Vegas in 2012 for Mötley Crüe Takes On Sin City and 2013 for Evening in Hell.
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A presale for members of the band’s S.I.N. fan club will begin at 10 a.m. PT on Friday (Oct. 4), with information available here. A Citi card member presale will begin at 12 p.m. on Friday through 10 p.m. PT on Oct. 10, details here. The public onsale will kick off on Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. PT here. The band said a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales for the residency will be donated to the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.
Friday also marks the release of the band’s new EP, Cancelled, featuring the previously released singles “Dogs of War,” the title track and a rock-ified cover of the Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right.” To celebrate the EP’s release, the Crüe will play a series of club shows in L.A. next week, including a gig at the Troubadour on Oct. 7, the Roxy on Oct. 9 and Whiskey a Go Go on Oct. 11.
In conjunction with the sold-out Höllywood Takeöver club shows the band has teamed with Global Merchandising Services for a series of exclusive drops from Represent, Prince Street Pizza, Rainbow Bar & Grill and Hot Topic during the week of gigs. Prince Street will be offering the 4-slice Mötley Crüe Combo at their eight L.A. locations, with each band member picking their favorite Prince St. favorite.
The Rainbow pop-up will feature exclusive, band-curated merch and a co-branded T-shirt and pint glass combo available with purchase of Crüe-inspired drinks such as the Dr. Feelgood RX, Kickstart my Heart-Tini and the Without You mocktail. Represent will have a limited-edition shirt at their L.A. store and Hot Topic will have a limited-edition T-shirt.
The Mötley Crüe The Las Vegas Residency show dates:
March 2025: 28, 29
April 2025: 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19
Could there be anything more on-brand than Tim Walz losing it over Bruce Springsteen‘s endorsement of Kamala Harris for President? The Minnesota Governor who is running as current Democratic V.P. Harris’ running mate had a typically enthusiastic, joyful response to the full-throated stamp of approval from The Boss in a three-minute video the rock icon posted on Thursday (Oct. 3).
“Wow. As a lifelong fan of The Boss, I couldn’t be more honored to have his support,” Walz wrote on X Thursday night along with a repost of the plainspoken video from the “Born in the U.S.A.” singer who referred to Harris’ Republican opponent Donald Trump as the “most dangerous candidate for President in my lifetime.”
Springsteen, who was a vocal supporter of President Joe Biden in his 2020 election run — he narrated a “Hometown” ad for the Biden campaign — took on a somber tone for the clip filmed in an empty diner in which he speaks directly to camera to deliver a plainspoken explanation of why he’s backing the Democratic ticket.
“We are shortly coming up on one of the most consequential elections in our nation’s history,” he says. “Perhaps not since the Civil War has this great country felt as politically, emotionally and spiritually divided as it does at this moment. It doesn’t have to be this way. The common values, the shared stories that make this a great and united nation are waiting to be rediscovered and retold once again. That will take time, hard work, intelligence, faith and women and men with the national good guiding their hearts.”
Springsteen goes on to praise the bedrock values he says Harris believes in, including “freedom, social justice, equal opportunity, the right to be in love with who you want,” while ticking off a list of what he says are the disqualifying attributes of twice impeached convicted felon Trump. “His disdain for the sanctity of our Constitution, the sanctity of democracy, the sanctity of the rule of law, and the sanctity for the peaceful transfer of power should disqualify him from the office of president ever again. He doesn’t understand the meaning of this country, its history or what it means to be deeply American,” the singer says.
Springsteen is among a long list of A-list stars who’ve lined up to support the Harris/Walz campaign, joining Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Stevie Wonder, Lil Nas X, Maren Morris, Barbra Streisand, Ariana Grande, Stevie Nicks, Cardi B, Katy Perry and many more. Trump also picked up an endorsement this week from Shazam star Zachary Levi, after the actor’s preferred candidate, vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abandoned his bid. In addition to the Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget actor, Trump has been endorsed by Kanye West, Elon Musk, Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, Randy Quaid, Amber Rose, Russell Brand, Rosanne Barr and Rob Schneider.
See Walz’s reaction below.
Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell may be two of the biggest names in music, but their mom, Maggie Baird, isn’t buying into the idea that their success is purely due to nepotism.
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In a new interview with Glamour published on Oct. 3, Baird clapped back at the recent “nepo baby” label that has been attached to her kids. The term resurfaced after a clip of Maggie’s appearance on Friends began circulating online, with many pointing out her and her husband Patrick O’Connell’s connections to the entertainment industry.
However, Maggie was quick to set the record straight, explaining that while both she and Patrick have worked as actors and musicians, they were “working-class actors” who “eked out a meagre living.”
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The actress shared, “I got that episode of Friends because I was about to lose my health insurance,” emphasising that neither she nor Patrick had the fame or fortune that their children now enjoy.
She added that there’s a huge difference between the life she led as an actor and the one Billie and Finneas now navigate.
“People don’t really understand there’s a whole industry of people who are creative and they’re working and they’re struggling,” she explained, “But that’s a very different life than on this side of the door where you’re suddenly playing in this different arena.”
Despite their massive success—Billie and Finneas have both won multiple Grammys, and they made history as the youngest two-time Oscar winners—Baird says their family has remained tight-knit and grounded. “The family part is the part that keeps it sane,” she said.
As for how the family deals with the overwhelming scrutiny, Maggie offered a simple reminder: “They’re all human.”
With hits like “Bad Guy,” which spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and her critically acclaimed albums When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and Happier Than Ever, Billie has consistently dominated both the charts and award shows.
Meanwhile, Finneas is a Grammy-winning producer and songwriter in his own right. He has played a crucial role in shaping Billie’s sound while also finding success as a solo artist, having just released his new album For Cryin’ Out Loud! on Oct. 4, ahead of his upcoming tour in Australia in January 2025.
The project was preceded by the title track, “Cleats” and “Lotus Eater,” and follows the Grammy-winning producer’s 2021 debut album, Optimist.
Coldplay’s Chris Martin stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Oct. 4, where the frontman discussed the band’s 10th album, Moon Music, which dropped the same day.
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In his latest Fallon appearance, the Brit also spoke about displaying Coldplay‘s original flyers from one of their first shows to promote their tour nights in London, making the vinyl for their latest project out of recycled plastic bottles.
Martin also opened up about bringing out Michael J. Fox as part of their record-breaking set in front of 100,000 people at Glastonbury.
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“I think there are certain things – especially for those your or my age – that are so imprinted on us and made us dream of doing this job,” Martin explained to Fallon. “One of those things for me is Michael in Back to the Future.”
“It’s so trippy to me that we get to play with him,” he said of having the actor join the band on stage at the world-famous festival, adding, “It feels like seven and being in heaven.”
“He’s so inspirational as a person – and then he’s Marty McFly,” he said about Fox’s famous film character.
“The first time I played with him was at a charity show, and I asked him if we could play the two songs from Back To The Future – and in the middle of ‘Earth Angel’ started looking at his hand like it was disappearing.”
“Maybe people watching are too young to remember – but that hand disappearing was everything,” Martin explained as Fallon gushed, “That’s so cool he did that!”
Martin also brought the laughs earlier in the evening as he reprised the viral disguise he used at a Las Vegas karaoke bar as part of their “All My Love” music video.
Coldplay’s latest album, Moon Music, features a variety of collaborations, with artists like Little Simz, Burna Boy, and TINI making appearances on tracks such as “We Pray” and “Good Feelings.” The album’s lead single, “feelslikeimfallinginlove,” has already made a mark on the Billboard charts, and with other tracks like “All My Love,” the project is shaping up to be another Coldplay hit.
Coldplay has long enjoyed an impressive run of Billboard chart success throughout their career. The band’s first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 came with their anthem “Viva La Vida” in 2008, and since then, they’ve consistently landed hits, including “Paradise” and “Clocks.”
On the Billboard 200, all of their studio albums have debuted in the top 10, with several — X&Y, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, Mylo Xyloto, Ghost Stories, and A Head Full of Dreams — reaching No. 1.
The band’s recent dominance isn’t just limited to the studio. Their Music of the Spheres World Tour has been nothing short of historic, grossing $945.7 million and selling 8.8 million tickets since kicking off in March 2022. That makes it the highest-grossing and best-selling tour by a rock act in nearly 40 years, according to Billboard Boxscore.
Elsewhere on The Tonight Show, Chase Stokes also dropped by for an interview, while Sabrina Carpenter gave a showstopping performance on her unstoppable hit “Espresso.” Demi Lovato also stopped by to partake in Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonightmares.”
Check out Chris Martin on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon below.
Joe Jonas is back with some fresh tunes, with his new single “What This Could Be” officially out today, Oct. 4.
Last week, Jonas teased the release on social media, sharing how excited he was about the reaction to the, adding he would be pushing the release of his forthcoming album, Music for People Who Believe in Love so he could “fine-tune” it.
“Wow, the love for ‘What This Could Be’ really makes me smile 😊 So I’m going to make it my new single and put it out October 4th 💃,” he wrote, adding that the song’s popularity gave him the inspiration to hold off on releasing his full album to fine-tune it even more.
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“Hehe anyways enjoy the new song on Oct 4th – you’re all the best!”
Following the success he’s had with the Jonas Brothers and DNCE, Jonas’ latest solo single “What This Could Be” follows his July release “Work It Out.”
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Joe has seen some recent success on the Billboard chart thanks to his duet with Demi Lovato, “This Is Me,” which hit No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. He’s also charted with previous tracks like “Gotta Find You” and “See No More.” Could this new single be the one to land him another hit?
Joe’s forthcoming album, Music for People Who Believe in Love, began with the song “Only Love,” a funked-up and flirtatious pop-rock jam that he originally conceived with his brothers.
During the writing process in Australia as they worked with producer Joel Little, “I noticed that the song was going toward the direction of some personal stuff that I went through,” Jonas recalls.
So I go to Kevin and Nick, ‘Hey, can I use this as a catapult to go explore what this sound could be, and also what I’m trying to figure out emotionally?’ They were very supportive — Nick said, ‘Well, damn, I really like that song. But I get what you need to do, so go for it.’ ”
Stream “What This Could Be” below.