Music

19 Apr 2024

Mandisa, Grammy-Winning ‘American Idol’ Alum, Dead at 47

CCM singer Mandisa, known for her 2013 hit “Overcomer,” has died at age 47. The Grammy winner died on Thursday, April 18, at her home.

“We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased,” a representative for the singer said in a statement to Billboard. “At this time, we do not know the cause of death or any further details. We ask for your prayers for her family and close-knit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time.”

California native Mandisa launched her career as a contestant on American Idol‘s fifth season, and later collaborated with TobyMac and Kirk Franklin on TobyMac’s album Portable Sounds. She released her first album, True Beauty, in 2007. The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Christian Albums chart.

In 2011, Mandisa earned her first No. 1 on Billboard‘s Christian Airplay chart with “Stronger,” and earned a top 20 hit on the chart with “Good Morning” featuring TobyMac.

In 2013, Mandisa’s song “Overcomer” spent 10 weeks atop Billboard‘s Hot Christian Songs chart and became a signature hit for the singer. Her Overcomer album also earned a Grammy for best contemporary Christian music album. She also earned six GMA Dove Awards nominations during her career.

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Mandisa also featured on songs including TobyMac’s “Lose My Soul,” Crowder’s “Let It Rain (Is There Anybody)” and Jordan Feliz’s “Jesus Is Coming Back.”

Several CCM and gospel artists honored the late singer via posts on social media, including Brandon Heath, who wrote, “Love you, Disa. You were a force of love and encouragement in a difficult world. You were a sister and friend and I’ll miss you.”

Natalie Grant wrote on Instagram, “Your smile and infectious spirit lit up every room. You were a true champion of others. I was the benefactor of your encouragement more times than I can count.
Thankful for your music, your honesty and testimony that helped thousands upon thousands of people find the hope of Jesus. I loved sitting by you at awards shows so we could geek out at every performance. We were both true Christian music fans, and unashamed of it.”

Mandisa was also an author, writing the book Out of the Dark: My Journey Through the Shadows to Find God’s Joy.

19 Apr 2024

Paris Hilton & Sia on Their New Song: ‘She Brought Something Out of Me That Nobody Ever Has’

There are few people with more authority on fame than Paris Hilton and Sia. Both are longtime fixtures of global public consciousness: Sia for her music, songwriting and singular voice, Hilton for her mid-aughts party girl public persona, her reality series The Simple Life, her sprawling business, her 2020 documentary and 2023 memoir — both of which offered a revised look at what was happening behind the scenes for Hilton amid the apex of her fame — and of course, for her 2006 classic pop banger, “Stars Are Blind.”

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All of this history amalgamates into “Fame Won’t Love You,” a collaborative track by co-written and co-sung Hilton and Sia out today (April 19.) A treatise on fame as an ultimately emptier vessel than real love, the chest-thumping anthem is the lead single from Hilton’s forthcoming second album. Her first LP in 18 years, the project is out in June and was executive produced by Sia. This meeting of minds came to be after a fortuitous meeting on New Year’s Eve 2023, when the two women, along with Miley Cyrus, gathered to perform “Stars Are Blind” on Cyrus’ holiday special.

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It was an encounter that lead to Hilton going to Sia’s house in L.A. to eat pasta, talk, hang out with the dogs and make music. Other songs from Hilton’s album, the title of which has not yet been announced, are intriguingly called “ADHD” and “Bad Bitch Academy,” with Sia saying that some of the music has a “cool early 2000s Britney” vibe. “Fame Won’t Love You” also comes ahead of Sia’s forthcoming LP, Reasonable Woman, which is out in May and will feature collaborates including Hilton, Labrinth and Chaka Khan.

Talking to Billboard over Zoom, here Hilton and Sia discuss fame, the song they wrote about it, the “Stars Are Blind” renaissance and more.



Let’s talk about this song. How you two end up working together?

Sia: Well, we [performed on Miley Cyrus’ New Year’s Eve special] on the new year’s before last. Paris was so nervous, and I was so hot, because I had my wig on and it was boiling hot because it was in Miami. So Paris was dying of nervousness, and I was dying of heat. I went up to her and I was like, “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be amazing. You can do it.” Then she put her fan on me, and she made me cool. I just felt like our friendship was formed in that moment, where it was not a give/give relationship, it was a give, take, give relationship. It was the kind of reciprocal relationship that I only like to engage in.

Then what happened?

Sia: That night I said to Paris, “What’s your big dream?” and she said “To put out an album.” I was like, “Well, we can do that. I’ll source some songs, and write a couple songs, and I’ll try and help you put an album together, because you can totally do it.” She was very darling. She said, “Thanks for believing in me.”

Paris, what do you remember from from that interaction?

Paris Hilton: Well, when Miley called me and asked me to sing “Stars Are Blind” with her and Sia on New Year’s Eve, I was like, “Oh my god.” I was planning on just going with my husband to Maui and having a nice, relaxing New Year’s Eve. Then when I got that call I was like, “This is too iconic to say no to. I have to do this.”

And you were nervous?

Paris Hilton: I was so nervous, and Sia and Miley were so kind and supportive and made me feel so comfortable, and we just killed it out there. The next day Sia asked if I wanted to fly home with her on her plane, and we went and she said, “You were born to be a pop star.” I said “That’s always been my dream.” She was like, “Well, what about if we did a record?” I was so excited, because I’ve always been such a huge fan. Sia is the greatest songwriter of our time. She’s so brilliant, so talented, and just so amazing. So this has just been a dream come true. She’s one of the kindest, sweetest angels, and I feel that she really came into my life for a reason.

@parishilton

I told you I had another surprise! ? I had so much fun singing #StarsAreBlind on @Miley Cyrus New Years Eve Special with Miley & @Sia ! ? The perfect way to ring in 2023 and celebrate my new version of this iconic song. ?????? I can’t wait to show you all the other exciting things I’m working on. This is only the beginning! Happy new year! ? #LovesIt #Sliving #StarsAreBlind ?

♬ original sound – ParisHilton

Obviously the song is about how fame can’t give you real love. As two extremely famous people, what’s your take on that message?

Paris Hilton: For me growing up, I put so much of my self worth and happiness on things like fame or beauty and things that in the long run don’t matter as much as family. Now, with becoming a wife and a mother with my son and my daughter, I know what’s important in life and what really makes me feel happy. Because all the thought things I thought were so important often times left me feeling really empty and alone.

What’s brought me deep fulfillment in life now is just building my family with [husband] Carter [Reum] and deepening my relationships with my family and friends… Seeing that so many people put so much of their happiness or self worth on fame or striving to be famous, I just want to let them know that, yes, there’s amazing parts of it, but it’s not everything. It won’t bring you true happiness.

There’s the line in the chorus that goes “fame won’t love you like a mother.” You’re both moms — how has becoming mothers changed your relationship with fame?

Sia: I’ll say it’s better than any drug. It’s better than anyone laughing at my jokes. It’s better than anyone clapping at my singing. It’s better than getting an award. It’s better than singing with someone I’ve admired for a million years. It’s better than all of that. It’s enriching.

Paris Hilton: I’m going to cry. Oh my god.

Paris, as Sia was saying, being a pop star and making another album was a longtime dream for you. Why is it happening now?

Paris Hilton: I’ve just been focused. I have my media company, 11:11 Media; I have my 30 fragrances, my 19 product lines. I’ve been running my businesses and being a mogul.

But music has always been my passion; music is the thing that has always made me happy. It’s what I love to do. I love being a businesswoman and entrepreneur, that is fantastic, but the thing that makes me most happy is being on stage performing and making music.

What are your strongest memories of the recording session?

Paris Hilton: Being in the studio with Sia at her house, I literally didn’t even know I could sing the way I did. She brought something out of me that nobody ever has. Because I never ever really felt comfortable with people in the studio. No one really knows this, but I’m actually a very shy person, like painfully shy. But with her, I just feel so comfortable so I really sang in ways that I never knew were possible.

Sia: You really let your freak flag fly. It was amazing. You just put your fists down and sort of of stomped on the ground and sang in the loudest voice I’ve ever heard you sing. It was so beautiful. It was like a liberation of sorts.

Paris, what was that like for you to know that there was more to your vocal range?

Paris Hilton: I feel like this whole past year has been about reclaiming my voice — emotionally, physically, in every single way. It was almost like my real voice came through to my music instead of the voice that everyone would expect, the sexy, kind of breathy baby doll voice.

Your 2020 documentary revealed a lot about your history that the public didn’t know about. Did releasing that film help you find your voice and a new level authority? And did it change your relationship with fame, in terms of people knowing more about where you’re coming from?

Paris Hilton: Oh, yeah. I will always be so grateful to Alexandra Dean, the director, for just being there for me and having me trust her [so I could] open up to her. Because that was the first time I was actually real. That documentary changed my life and took me on this journey from then, to doing my memoir, and now with all my advocacy work. My entire life has changed in so many ways. And again, like with this song, I realized the most beautiful thing about me is my heart.

Sia: Yes!

Paris Hilton: It has nothing to do with beauty or fame. It’s all about the inside and being kind. That’s a message that’s really important to me. I want to make being kind iconic.

Sia: I watched that documentary before I really knew Paris, and it made me feel me feel trauma bonded to her. When I did finally meet her, I felt like I was meeting a real person, because the breathy voice thing — she’s in on the act. Anyone that doesn’t know has been fooled. She knows what’s going on, and it’s so amazing to see what a f—ing genius she is in real life. It’s amazing to see when she has to do that, when she doesn’t have to do that. Her vast range is quite inspiring.

You mentioned performing “Stars Are Blind” on New Year’s Eve. I just recently watched Promising Young Woman, and of course that song was used so brilliantly in that film. Paris, what has it been like to experience this resurgence of love for that song?

Paris Hilton: “Stars Are Blind” has always been such a huge part of my life. It’s like, the anthem of my life. To have people love it and for it to be so timeless, and for people to say it’s their favorite song and it’s the song they got married to, or it being in films like [Promising Young Woman], it just makes me feel so proud.

Sia: I love that songs, and that’s also why I said to you on the plane “You were born to be a pop star. I don’t know why you stopped.” We rectified it.

Paris, your album comes out in June and Sia your album is out May. In terms of streaming numbers and charts and all that stuff, what does success for these two albums look like for you both?

Sia: Oh, I don’t care about that stuff. If it comes out and then touches one person, groovy. What about you Paris?

Paris Hilton: This is a dream come true, and doing this with Sia. My fans have been waiting since my last album. This is dedicated to all of them. I just want to make music that makes people smile and feel great and feel empowered and maybe cry.

Sia: Okay, I want that too. I want that too for my fans!

Paris Hilton: Music is so healing. Music has saved my life in so many ways, so to be able to make it for my fans and celebrate something that I love to do so much and now have the most incredible memories of Sia and all of our friends making this record… For me, that’s a huge success already.

19 Apr 2024

Taylor Swift Producer Aaron Dessner Says ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Is ‘Most Lyrically Acute, Intricate, Vulnerable’ Taylor Ever

Taylor Swift had a number of surprises in store for fans when she dropped her anticipated 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, on Friday (April 19). Among them the late night bombshell that it is actually a double album, coming in at a heft 31 tracks over two hours.

But it was frequent collaborator Aaron Dessner of The National who provided one of the biggest reveals about the roiling, emotional collection in an Instagram post just hours after the album dropped. “I’m so excited and honored to share that I have contributed to my dear friend and collaborator @taylorswift‘s brilliant 11th album — a 31 song double album / anthology called The Tortured Poets Department,” he wrote in the post that also featured a snap of a smiling Swift in the studio and images of the album’s moody black and white cover.

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Dessner revealed that he and Swift began working on the songs back in 2022, after they dropped their two 2020 pandemic albums, Folklore and Evermore, and seemingly after she recorded her 2022 album Midnights. “We started working on these songs over two years ago and it feels like they have kept us company and evolved in beautiful and unexpected ways through so much life lived during this process,” Dessner wrote, marveling at the fact that the duo have now recorded more than 60 songs together over the past four years, including 17 on the new album.

“I am forever grateful to Taylor for sharing her insane talents with and trusting me with her music. I believe these songs are some of the most lyrically acute, intricate, vulnerable and cathartic Taylor has ever written and I am continually astonished by her skills as a songwriter and performer,” he wrote. Dessner also thanked another one of Swift’s most stalwart collaborators, Jack Antonoff, giving him kudos for his “open hearted and open door collaboration with me through all these many projects”; Dessner and Antonoff roughly split co-producing duties with Swift on the album.

The multi-talented songwriter/producer/composer also thanked his twin brother and fellow National bandmember, Aaron Dessner, engineers Laura Sisk, Jonathan Low, James McAlister, Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman) and Bella Blasko and musicians Glenn Kotche (Wilco drummer), Benjamin Lanz (synths, trombone) and Rob Moose (viola, violin), among many others.

“It’s not lost on me how lucky I am that this is my job and I feel so grateful to be a part of creating this vast, magically detailed and symbolic world of songs Taylor has crafted that we all get to inhabit and enjoy,” Dessner wrote. “Keep searching and you’ll find some new detail, layer or sliver of meaning with each listen.”

Check out Dessner’s post below.

19 Apr 2024

Nas & DJ Premier Announce Long-Awaited Joint Album With ‘Define My Name’ Single: Listen

Hip-hop turned 50 in 2023, and it’s crazy to think that some artists have been contributing to the culture for more than half of that time.

With Nas’ legendary debut Illmatic celebrating its 30th anniversary on Friday (April 19), time came full circle with Esco reuniting alongside DJ Premier for their “Define My Name” single.

The classic-feeling record is packed with nostalgia and Preemo scratches, which clear the way for Nas to dominate with his lyrical gymnastics. The Queensbridge icon reflects on being able to still rhyme prolifically into his 50s, which he wouldn’t have predicted to be the case.

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“At 20, I said I’d better quit by 30/ Then by 30, I thought by 40 rapping is corny/ How wrong was I/ Never would have thought at 50, new songs by Nas would be hard and live,” he raps.

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Preemo even gets into his rapping bag briefly before Nas playfully tells him to stick to crafting beats, and lets the world know what they’ve been hoping for — that a collaborative project is on the way.

“It’s time, it’s album time, yeah,” Nas says to close out the track in a call back to “N.Y. State of Mind.” While the project is said to arrive later this year, there is still no firm release date listed yet.

Premier produced three records on Illmatic (“N.Y. State of Mind,” “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)” and “Represent”) in addition to sequencing the album. The duo continued to reunite on tracks such as “Nas Is Like” and “N.Y. State of Mind Pt. II,” as well as 2022’s “Beat Breaks.”

Illmatic arrived on April 19, 1994, and debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard 200 with 63,000 albums sold in the first week.

Nas has spent the better part of this week reminiscing on ’94 and how things were surrounding the Illmatic‘s arrival.

“Grainy pictures for grainy times. I had a dream I could get my favorite producers to produce on my debut album. I knew exactly what I wanted and how it should be. But I didn’t know anyone except for Paul, so I asked him would he connect me to them all. The cool soul brother that he is helped me line it up. On April 19th we smashed shit,” he wrote to Instagram alongside a series of grainy photos earlier this week.

“Even tho the album leaked months before the release date we still are apart of music history. Thank you Large Professor (Paul) and Dj Premier who drove into the projects to pick me up a time or two. Qtip , Pete Rock , and my man from The Bridge DJ LES, and my guy AZ who was just coming up himself. And thank you to everyone involved. Friday is the albums 30th. 2 The Listeners- ONE LOVE.”

Listen to “Define My Name” below.

19 Apr 2024

Here’s the Song on ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Fans Think Taylor Swift Wrote for Travis Kelce

Fans weren’t sure if Taylor Swift would feature a song about Travis Kelce on her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, which the pop star has been working on since well before their romance began mid-2023. However, many listeners are convinced that one track on the LP’s expansive two-part tracklist is definitely about the Kansas City Chiefs tight end: “The Alchemy.”

A song about an all-powerful, once-in-a-lifetime attraction to a new partner, “The Alchemy” finds Swift making a number of apparent references to Kelce’s chosen sport. “So when I touch down, call the amateurs and cut ’em from the team,” she sings. “These blokes warm the benches/ We’ve been on a winning streak/ He jokes that ‘It’s heroin, but this time with an E.’”

“Shirts off and your friends lift you up over their heads,” Swift continues in a bridge full of lyrics reminiscent of the couple’s post-Super Bowl celebrations. “Beer sticking to the floor, cheers chanted ’cause they said/ There was no chance trying to be the greatest in the league/ Where’s the trophy? He just comes running over to me.”

The use of NFL vocabulary was not lost on fans, who quickly took to social media to discuss after Tortured Poets hit streaming services at midnight Friday (April 19). “THE ALCHEMY IS A TRAVIS SONG WE WON,” one fan wrote on X, sharing a video of Swift watching one of Kelce’s games during the 2023-24 season with Ice Spice.

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“We’ll all remember where we were when we realized The Alchemy was about Travis Kelce,” tweeted another person.

“The Alchemy” is one of 16 tracks on the main Tortured Poets tracklist, which just about doubled two hours after its initial release when Swift unveiled an extended Anthology version at 2 a.m. Friday. Featuring collaborations with Post Malone and Florence + the Machine — as well as seeming references to the 14-time Grammy winner’s past relationships with Joe Alwyn and the 1975’s Matty Healy, as well as her Kim Kardashian feud — the sprawling set follows her Billboard 200-topping 2022 record Midnights.

See what fans are saying about Swift, Kelce and “The Alchemy” below.

19 Apr 2024

Here’s Why Taylor Swift Fans Think ‘Thank You Aimee’ Is Full of Digs at Kim Kardashian

Between Kendrick Lamar, Drake and even J. Cole, rap fans have been devouring their favorite flavors of beef all month long. But now, pop fans think Taylor Swift is serving up her own heaping helping of piping hot conflict with her old rival, Kim Kardashian.

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With the surprise, 2 a.m. release of The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, a complete, double-album version of the Swift’s long awaited eleventh studio album, fans seem to think that her song “Thank You Aimee” is aimed at the reality star she’s been feuding with since 2016.

For starters, fans pointed to the strange capitalization of the song’s title across all streaming services. Billed as “thanK you aIMee,” Swifties clocked that the three capitalized letters in the title spell out “KIM.”

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That trend continued when the Taylor Nation X account tweeted the chorus’ lyrics “Screamed, ‘f–K you aIMee’ to the night sky,” alongside a GIF of Swift performing during the Reputation portion of her Eras Tour set. Not only did fans latch onto the continued spelling of “KIM” through capitalized letters, but they also glommed onto the fact that Reputation was inspired, in part, by Swift’s ongoing feud with Kardashian and her then-husband Ye (formerly known as Kanye West).

Fans also pointed to a number of the excoriating lyrics throughout the song, which sees Swift apparently reminiscing on a high-school bully (the titular Aimee) and the impact she had on the pop star’s life. With the opening line, “When I picture my hometown/ There’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you,” Swifties quickly pointed out the use of the words “spray-tanned,” potentially referencing Kardashian’s famous tan.

In the song’s third verse, Swift sings that she “wrote a thousand songs that you find uncool,” and “built a legacy which you can’t undo,” while adding that “there wouldn’t be this, if there hadn’t been you.” Fans theorized that the lyric referenced the infamous leaked phone call and subsequent snake emoji tweet that Kardashian shared in 2016, instances that fans believe deeply influenced Swift’s writing on Reputation.

Perhaps the most talked-about lyric on “Thank You Aimee” comes during the bridge, when Swift goes after her bully’s lack of development. “I don’t think you’ve changed much. And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues,” she sings, with fans pointing at the obfuscated name throughout the song’s lyrics. Swifties then pointed to a video of Kardashian and her daughter North West dancing to Swift’s “Shake It Off” as evidence for the bridge’s final lyric: “And one day, your kid comes home singin’/ A song that only us two is gonna know is about you.”

Swift last spoke about her feud with both Kardashian and Ye during her wide-ranging interview as TIME’s Person of the Year in December 2023. “You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar,” Swift said during the interview. “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.”

Listen to “Thank You Aimee” and see just a few fan reactions to the new track below:

19 Apr 2024

Nas’ ‘Illmatic’ Album: All 10 Songs Ranked 

The Queens MC’s groundbreaking debut turns 30 today.

Nas-Illmatic

Nas – ‘Illmatic’

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Today marks the 30th anniversary of the consensus best album in rap history. Illmatic, meaning “the science of everything ill,” was a pivotal moment in hip-hop, especially for the East Coast rap scene. At the time, West Coast “gangsta” rap was dominating the genre and the birthplace of the sound was becoming afterthought with the exception of groups like the Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest.

Enter Nasty Nas.

The teenage phenom hailing from Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, Queens had already made waves in 1991 with a guest feature on Main Source’s song “Live at the Barbeque.” He sounded like a newer version of Rakim and Kool G Rap and his verse was talked about like a mythical treasure like the Lost Scrolls. Since rapping about the time he “almost went to hell for snuffing Jesus,” his Queens OG Large Professor and his then-new manager MC Serch shopped for a deal and recruited a who’s who of producers to help craft what would become the perfect rap album. Nas was the Second Coming, the Chosen One, and Large Professor, DJ Premier, L.E.S., Pete Rock, and Q-Tip were the wise men following the North Star in search of the true and living god emcee.

Now, 30 years later, Illmatic remains one of the most important artifacts in hip-hop history, proof that perfection can achieved and a symbol of lyrical mastery. This is the first album you play for someone who has never heard rap music before because the poetry is deep and never fails.

For the timeless classic’s anniversary, we decided to break down each track and rank them (no clue how you can rank a perfect album, but I try my best.) Check out our thoughts and rankings below.

19 Apr 2024

25 Weed Songs: Highest Hits in Hot 100 History

For part-time potheads, 4/20 is a holiday that comes but once a year. But for the steadfast stoner, you can celebrate 4:20 every day (twice a day is possible, but inadvisable).

Regardless of how deep your love for the leaf runs, everyone knows that marijuana and music are peas in a pod. We’ve previously rounded up 25 toking tunes, an editorial playlist that encompasses Cypress Hill, Afroman, Miley Cyrus, Bob Dylan, Peter Tosh, Wiz Khalifa and, of course, Snoop Dogg.

This list ain’t that. Looking at biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits of all time, we decided to round up the highest hits in the chart’s history. For purposes of this list, we’re casting a bloodshot eye toward songs with a title that includes “smoke,” “puff,” “high,” “stoned,” “burn,” “drug,” “toke,” “weed” or some variation. If the song’s title doesn’t tip to something along those lines, it’s out. (That means songs such as Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & #35” aren’t eligible; we’re sure he’ll get over it.)

We are also discounting songs where weed-adjacent words are in the song title but are clearly not referring to drugs or intoxication. For example: We include Sean Paul’s “We Be Burnin’” but not Usher’s “Burn.” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” isn’t here because The Platters weren’t singing about hotboxing the dance floor, but “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” is eligible. Sure, most folks assume cigarettes are what Brownville Station and/or the Crüe were puffing at school, but we don’t know for sure, so we’re giving that one the benefit of the dank doubt.

Anyone who’s a fan of mind-altering substances should know that truth is subjective, man, and this list is no exception. While the selections – and the order in which they appear – are culled from the biggest hits in Hot 100 history (more on that below), editorial decisions were made on what to include on this list. Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” isn’t here because it’s about a love that is above (i.e., better than) others; “I Want to Take You Higher” is eligible, however, because you can (and probably should) interpret “higher” as substance adjacent.

Also included: The many songs that refer to love as a drug, as well as songs that use “stoned” for a general sense of intoxication. If it’s about a mind-altering state brought about by romance, booze or whatever, it’s in.

Don’t like the criteria? Sounds like you need to chill out, catch a cool buzz and hit play on one (or all) of these songs and just follow the vibe where it takes you. Responsibly, of course.

This ranking is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. To ensure equitable representation of the biggest hits from each era, certain time frames were weighted to account for the difference between turnover rates from those years.

19 Apr 2024

Stevie Nicks Pens Poem for Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Fans who got their hands on the physical copies of Taylor Swift‘s new album The Tortured Poets Department received an extra surprise when the project arrived Friday (April 19) — a passage written by the OG tortured poet Stevie Nicks.

The Fleetwood Mac frontwoman penned a poem dedicated to Swift, as printed inside the CD casings of the 16-track record. “He was in love with her/ Or at least she thought so,” it reads. “She was broken hearted/ Maybe he was too/ Neither of them knew.”

“He really can’t answer her,” the text, dated Sept. 13, continues. “He’s afraid of her/ He’s hiding from her/ And he knows — that he’s hurting her/ She tells the truth/ She writes about it/ She’s an informer/ He’s an x-lover/ There’s nothing there for her/ She’s already gone.”

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Nicks dedicated the poem, “For T — and me…”

The contribution from the “Edge of Seventeen” singer comes hand in hand with the shoutout Swift gave Nicks on the Tortured Poets closing track, “Clara Bow.” “You look like Stevie Nicks in ’75, the hair and lips,” the pop star sings on the finale. “The crowd goes wild at her fingertips/ Half moonshinе, a full eclipse.”

Later on in the song, the “Anti-Hero” artist turns the line on its head — “You look like Taylor Swift
in this light, we’re loving it/ You’ve got edge, she never did.”

The two stars’ surprise partnership with Tortured Poets comes after Nicks praised Swift’s Midnights track “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” last year. When Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie passed away in November 2022, the “Landslide” icon took comfort in the younger star’s lyrics, she revealed.

“Thank you to Taylor Swift for doing a favor for me, and that is, writing a song called ‘You’re on Your Own, Kid,’” Nicks said at one of her concerts. “That is the sadness of how I feel.”

Read Stevie Nicks poem for Tortured Poets below.

19 Apr 2024

Taylor Swift Fans Think ‘Tattooed Golden Retriever’ Line on ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Is Definitely About This Shaggy Rocker Ex

Let the games begin! Quickly after Taylor Swift dropped her The Tortured Poets Department album, Swifties were sifting through the lyrics to play their favorite parlor game: who is this lyric about?

And while longtime fans were sure the singer’s 11th studio album — which, in a surprise, is a 31-track, double-disc, two-hour behemoth — would plumb into the end of her affair with former longtime boyfriend actor Joe Alwyn, or perhaps gush over new beau NFL player Travis Kelce — the lyrics many keyed in on were not about either man.

In fact, a number of Swifties speculated that on the title track she references a fellow musician who Taylor allegedly dated for a brief period in early 2023, The 1975’s shambolic singer Matty Healy. The lines in question refer to an ex as a “tattooed golden retriever,” which many Swifties thought seemed to poetically sum up the hedonistic, cigarette-puffing, inked-up rock rabble rouser who seamlessly swings from eager-to-please to gratingly off-putting.

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“You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate/ We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist/ I scratch your head, you fall asleep/ Like a tattooed golden retriever,” she sings on the collection’s gauzy second song. Healy often puffs cigs on stage during his band’s shows and his band released a song called “Chocolate” in 2013.

Other clues? A seeming reference to Healy’s one-time friend Lucy Dacus, in which Swift sings, “Sometimes I wonder if you’re gonna screw this up with me/ But you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave/ And I had said that to Jack about you so I felt seen/ Everyone we know understands why it’s meant to be/ Because we’re crazy,” which also name-checks longtime friend and the song’s producer, Jack Antonoff. While Swift, and her team, never confirmed that the two were romantically linked, Swifties, as usual, dug deep for receipts.

“TTPD – Thank you Taylor for my new favorite description of Matty Healy, ‘Tattooed golden retriever.’ The Lucy & Jack name drop & wedding ring thing here triggered some kind of sleeper agent in me. Kinda wish this was the lead single but it feels too personal to be. 8/10 #TTPD,” wrote one, with another quipping, “the matty healy thing could have been a bizarre wrinkle in taylor swift lore and now it is the backbone of a major turning point in her career lmao.”

Oner song detective launched a deep-dive X thread with seemingly connected all the dots, including, “‘you left your typewriter at my apartment’ matty mentioned his love for typewriters multiple times, he spoke about it in this interview for example and a typewriter is also always a part of the stage of the 1975,” as well as “also when multiple magazines reported in may 2023 that matty is writing songs with taylor, they mentioned that he already left stuff like his guitar effect pedals, audio interfaces, synths and his macbook at her nyc apartment where he got papped multiple times the day before.”

At press time it did not appear that Healy had commented on the song.

Check out the fans comments and speculation below.