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In the wake of Taylor Swift cancelling shows over a terrorist plot, an interview has resurfaced in which she revealed such a scenario would be her “biggest fear”.
The Grammy-winning artist’s three The Eras Tour shows in Vienna were abruptly cancelled on Aug. 7 following the arrest of two suspects who reportedly planned to unleash a terrorist attack on the shows this weekend.
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Swift’s reflections on this very fear were penned in a 2019 article for Elle, where she candidly discussed her anxiety about performing live in the wake of the 2017 ISIS bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, and the mass shooting at Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest Music Festival.
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The Manchester attack resulted in 22 fatalities and injured over 200 people, while the Las Vegas shooting claimed 64 lives and left 413 wounded.
“My biggest fear,” Swift wrote at the time, “After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert shooting, I was completely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months. There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
“My fear of violence has continued into my personal life,” she said, adding that she carried “QuikClot army grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds.”
These fears have unfortunately been echoed with the recent events in Vienna.
On Wednesday, Aug. 7, Austrian police confirmed the arrest of two suspects involved in planning a terrorist attack on Swift’s concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium. The suspects, one a 19-year-old Austrian citizen, reportedly radicalized online and had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in July.
“The suspects were focused on the Taylor Swift concerts,” Austrian Director General for Public Safety Franz Ruf said via NY Post. “We discovered that he was taking action to prepare for the attack,” he added. “A clear threat has been averted.”
The planned attack forced Barracuda Music, the concert promoters, to cancel the shows scheduled for August 8-10.
“With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” reads a statement from Barracuda Music, also reposted by Taylor Nation on Instagram. All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.
Swift’s shows in Vienna were to be the second-to-last stop on the European leg of her The Eras Tour, before a five-night stint at London’s Wembley Stadium from Aug. 14-18.
She is set to return to North America in October for the final leg of her tour, concluding at the end of the year. However, the Vienna cancellations have cast a shadow over what has otherwise been a highly successful tour.
See Barracuda Music’s statement below.
Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance at Zach Bryan’s concert in Philadelphia on Wednesday (Aug. 7) after the previous night’s wild weather saw his Tuesday (Aug. 6) show delayed.
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The “Pink Skies” singer had quite the surprise in store for fans who attended his The Quittin’ Time Tour concert at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, bringing out guest performers Bruce Springsteen, The Lumineers, and Shane Gillis, who performed with Bryan throughout the show.
Springsteen, who recently collaborated with Bryan for “Sandpaper” on his latest album, The Great American Bar Scene, joined Bryan on stage to perform “Atlantic City”.
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Fans were delighted over the surprise appearances, with one taking to Twitter to write, “Hearing that Bruce Springsteen, The Lumineers, and Shane Gillis got on stage for Zach Bryan’s finale tonight in Philly and lightning could have struck me down leaving in the parking lot and that would’ve been a-okay with me.”
Another added, “Witnessed Bruce Springsteen and Zach Bryan blow up the Chicken man in Philly tonight. Then we had an all night Revival with Zach, Bruce, and The Lumineers—it was Spotless.”
It’s not the only time The Boss has joined Bryan for a surprise performance. He also joined the rocker on stage at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on March 27, where they performed two tracks, including the pair’s collaboration “Sandpaper”.
Following the album’s release on July 4, the country crooner thanked Springsteen for his feature.
“Thank you for the day @springsteen. thank you for your kind words. thank you for letting me take this picture,” Bryan captioned a photo of Springsteen on X (formerly Twitter). “thank you for making my whole life a dream of a younger me. a reason to believe.”
Fans of Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” will instantly recognize the chugging beat on “Sandpaper,” which is identical to the feel of his 1984 hit.
Bryan has also previously covered Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. classic “I’m on Fire” on several occasions, live and in the studio.
Drizzy also released three songs featuring collabs with Latto, 21 Savage and Young Thug.
Lauryn Hill took to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday (Aug. 7) to clarify the cancelation of her upcoming North American tour dates with The Fugees, which was set to kick off on Friday (Aug. 9) in Tampa, Fla.. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “With difficulty the […]
On Wednesday (Aug. 7), Freddie Trone, the father of the then 17-year-old who shot and killed PnB Rock in 2022, was found guilty of one count of murder, two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery. Jury deliberation took nearly four hours before they returned with a guilty verdict.
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Rock, born Rakim Hasheem Allen, was killed while eating with his family when the 17-year-old walked into Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in South Los Angeles and attempted to rob him of his jewelry. The son of Trone, now 19 years old, was charged with murder but was later deemed not competent to stand trial. He’s currently in custody of the juvenile system.
As for the father, Freddie Trone, he vehemently denied his involvement during the trial. While on the stand, Trone said he never encouraged his son to rob and kill Rock. “I never had nothing to do with it,” Trone said Monday while testifying. “I wasn’t there. I didn’t tell nobody to do nothing. I didn’t hand nobody no gun.” Later on the stand, Trone labeled the crimes as “heinous” and his son “dangerous.”
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Video footage caught Trone inside the parking lot 30 minutes before the murder. He revealed during his testimony that he was only in the vicinity because he was looking to get business for his local shop.
Another man involved in the incident, Tremont Jones, wasn’t charged with murder but was found guilty of two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy. The lawyer for Jones, David Haas, says he plans to appeal.
“There was no evidence produced that he conspired to commit murder,” Trone’s lawyer, Winston McKesson, told The Associated Press following the verdict. “There’s no evidence there was a conversation about murder, no evidence there was a conversation about a gun.”
McKesson further stated, “There is no evidence he gave his son a gun and no evidence he told him to shoot the guy. The only evidence the jury found is that he dropped him off and picked him up.” He plans to file a motion for a new trial, indicating that the legal proceedings are far from over.
Nelly was reportedly arrested at the Hollywood Casino in St. Charles, Missouri, early Wednesday (Aug. 7) for drug possession and an insurance violation. A source close to the situation says the hitmaker was detained at the casino — where he gambles and frequents as a performer often — and was paraded through the venue in […]
Maluma solidifies his status as a winner on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart thanks to “Por Qué Será,” his first partnership with Grupo Frontera, as the song jumps from No. 3 to rule the Aug. 10-dated survey.
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“Por Qué Será” was released May 9 as the fourth single from Grupo Frontera’s album Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada, its second studio album, which earned the Texas group a first top 10 debut (among two top 10s overall) on both Top Latin Albums and Regional Mexican Albums in May, at No. 10 and at No. 6, respectively.
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On Regional Mexican Airplay, “Por Qué Será” lifts from No. 3 in its eighth week after a 23% gain in audience impressions, to 7.4 million, in the tracking week of July 26-Aug. 1, according to Luminate. The move sends Becky G and Oscar Maydon’s “Mercedes” to No. 4, with 4.9 million impressions, which translates to a 23% decline from the prior week.
With the new champ Frontera captures its 10th No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay, and ties with Grupo Firme for the ninth-most among groups since the chart launched in 1994. The song follows and equal winner, “(Entre Paréntesis),” with Shakira, which earned the pop icon her first leader on a regional Mexican tally (May 18-dated list).
The ranchera “Por Qué Será,” meanwhile, gifts Maluma his third champ. The Colombian singer topped the tally twice before, through “Cada Quien,” with Grupo Firme, for two weeks in charge in 2022, and with Carin León on “Según Quién” in Dec. 2023.
“Por Qué Será” joins one other song from its parent album Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada, that reached the summit on Regional Mexican Airplay: “Ya Pedo Quién Sabe,” with Christian Nodal, topped the radio ranking for one week in May.
Further, “Por Qué Será” also gains terrain on the overall Latin Airplay chart, pushing 5-2.
If you haven’t heard, Drake dumped 100 gigabytes of content online Tuesday, and in the second folder, there’s a video clip that shows Drake, 40, and some friends discussing when to expect Jay-Z‘s “Talk Up” last-minute feature verse from the Toronto rapper’s fifth solo album Scorpion.
So apparently, Jay was on tour with his wife Beyoncé and planned to record and submit his verse afterward at the venue. In the clip, Drake tells 40 he plans to take a quick two-hour power nap so he can be around just in case the veteran rapper has some questions or concerns.
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Journalist Elliott Wilson posted the clip on his Instagram, and Jay’s longtime DJ and engineer Young Guru decided to gives fans the backstory to how they were able to get Drake the verse on time in the comments.
Between having to DJ during the show, being in charge of building a makeshift studio on the fly at the venue, and being late to a party he was booked to DJ months in advance, Guru’s night was pretty hectic. Here’s how he remembers the night in question:
We are on [the On the Run II Tour]. Remember I’m the DJ. Hov hit me and simply said, “Set up a studio in the venue.” I’m like, “What?” But, of course, I get it done. We go out and do a two-hour show.
Mind you, he has to remember every verse from every album. No backing tracks. I’m DJing, I can’t miss a cue or [musical director Omar Edwards] would kill me. We finish the show. We go back in the room to finish the verse, but the problem is I have an afterparty. I can’t [remember] what city or country in Europe, but understand, my parties have been set up months before the tour.
The promotor waited in [the] parking lot for two hours and I can’t tell him why I’m late. By the time Hov finished, the Internet that we set up from Live Nation is gone. Everyone is gone. I had to tether my phone to my computer to send the session to [Drake’s producer Noah “40” Shebib]. I made it to the club just in time for my set.
When y’all hear this work I sometimes wonder if you understand how much goes into it!!!! Classic Nights!!!! And I killed my set lol.
Watch the resurfaced clip below:
The 100gigs.org site features a treasure trove of things like how a woman inspired “Hotline Bling” and three new songs with 21 Savage, Young Thug and our recent cover star Latto.
Ahead of the release of his highly awaited studio album Rayo, J Balvin continues to crown YouTube’s Billion Views Club as the artist with the most titles in the coveted club. He has a total of 15 music clips with more than 1 billion views, at time of publishing, and surpasses previous titleholders such as Ozuna and Justin Bieber.
The Colombian artist’s most recent BVC entry is his collaboration on Tainy’s “Agua,” part of the 2020 The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run movie soundtrack. The next visual clip that’s closest to the 1 billion mark is “Sensualidad” with Bad Bunny and Prince Royce (currently at 930 million views).
In 2023, Balvin reclaimed his crown as the artist with the most videos in YouTube’s Billion Views Club, climbing to the top with the entry of David Guetta’s 2018 “Say My Name,” in collaboration with Bebe Rexha and Balvin.
“With the move, Balvin breaks a three-way tie with Bad Bunny and Ozuna for the artist with the most entries in the Billion Views Club as a lead, featured artist or collaborator,” according to former press release. At that time, “Say My Name” marked the French DJ’s fifth title with more than one billion views, as well as Rexha’s third entry, and Balvin’s 14th entry.
The artist born José Álvaro Osorio Balvin made his comeback in early 2023 after a nearly 10-month hiatus from social media and creating music.
“Really right now, I’ve been focused on my family,” he previously told Billboard about his break. “I left social media to be connected to my reality and to my family. That has taught me a lot — to live more in the present. Obviously, I miss my fans, but when the time is right, I’ll be back.”
Balvin’s sixth studio album, Rayo, is set to drop Aug. 9, following his sets La Familia (2013), Energía (2016), Vibras (2018), Colores (2020), and José (2021).
In celebration of his new set, Billboard spotlights all of his music videos in the coveted BVC, below:
“Mi Gente,” J Balvin & Willy William
Bon Iver took the stage at Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday (Aug. 7), drumming up support for the Democratic presidential bid before captivating the audience with a mellow cover of “The Battle Cry of Freedom” on guitar. In a clip from the rally posted by Harris’ headquarters […]