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Sabrina Carpenter got an up-close-and-personal look at just how hard Taylor Swift rocks the stage when she opened for the Tortured Poets Department star on the Latin American, Australian and Singaporean legs of Swift’s Eras Tour in late 2023 and early 2024. And in a new interview with Variety, Carpenter says what she came away with was an indisputable fact: “Taylor is a rock star!”
The comment came while the singer/actress was perusing the racks at a Los Angeles record store and noticed that Swift’s latest chart-topping album was filed in the rock section. “She’s just such a gangster with all of it. No matter what people are saying, everything that I’ve ever seen her tackle, she’s done so with grace,” Carpenter added about the opening slot she has called a “dream come true.”
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That dream has become a reality, with Carpenter, 25, telling the magazine that Swift is now, “one of my best, best friends, and we grab dinner or text and catch up like you would with your best friend.”
The story also touches on her relationship with Saltburn actor Barry Keoghan. While Carpenter was cagey about details, she did reveal that the actor was totally into the Basic Instinct-inspired video treatment for her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Please Please Please,” which features lyrics about a troublesome thespian boyfriend. “He loved the song. He’s obsessed with the lyrics, and I’m so grateful for that,” she says of the track on which she famously warns: “Heartbreak is one thing/ My ego’s another/ I beg you don’t embarrass me mother f–ker.”
She adds, “I don’t want to sound biased, but I think he’s one of the best actors of this generation. So getting to see him on the screen with my song as the soundtrack made the video better and all the more special.”
The video is, of course, part of the wind-up to Carpenter’s anticipated upcoming sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet (August 23), which she refers to as the “hot older sister” of 2022’s Emails I Can’t Send. “It’s my second ‘big girl’ album; it’s a companion but it’s not the same. When it comes to having full creative control and being a full-fledged adult, I would consider this a sophomore album,” she says of the earlier collection that featured the singles “Vicious,” “Nonsense” and “Fast Times.”
And, despite “Espresso” climbing all the way up to No. 3 on the Hot 100 and its weirdly alluring hook (“That’s that me, espresso”) becoming a ubiquitous meme this summer, Carpenter reveals that she was “completely alone” in wanted to release it as the first single. “Not so much from my immediate team. But when it came to ‘the powers above,’” she says in air quotes about unnamed naysayers who didn’t get it, “there was a lot of questioning behind whether it made sense. But they trusted me in the end, and I was happy that I believed in myself at that moment.”
On the occasion of their recently released fourth studio album, Ask That God, Empire of the Sun‘s Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele recently came through the Billboard News studio to talk about the new music and the past, present and future of their longstanding project.
“We had to turn all of the computers off, we had to shut everything down, and even though the pandemic was horrible, for the band I thought it was a bit of a blessing because we got to step away,” says the group’s frontman Steele of the eight years between the new LP and the band’s last album. “For 20 years we’ve built this castle, and it was time for us to kind of abandon the dream and let it all get covered in reeds, to then come back again and realize what we loved so much about it in the first place.”
“I think what brings us back is what Edgar Cayce said,” adds Littlemore, referencing the late American clairvoyant, “is that sound is the medicine of the future, and I think we’re seeing that now, and I think that’s what’s always binded us together, is to make things that would live in the hearts.”
This elevated thinking applied to all areas of the album, including its title, with Littlemore saying that “everyone has their own person Jesus, or Allah or Buddha or whoever it is for that person. And I think music can be that for you too, and it’s certainly been that for us. And that is often the intention when we’re creating music, to create something that can be a beacon of hope and can be a signal of light and levity.”
To bring the album to life visually, the duo trekked to Thailand to film a series of characteristically cinematic, fantastical high-concept videos, many of them shot during long days in 100-degree heat.
But the pair says the sweat was effort was worth it for how the vibrant, layered clips — a few of which feature cameos from Steele’s son — expand the Empire of the Sun mythology “into a new dimension,” says Littlemore. “We’ve always been about something a little larger than the other bands. That’s the reason we started in the first place … we looked at the landscape and saw shoegazing, and we wanted to see Bowie.”
During the conversation, the pair also discuss Ask That God track “AEIOU,” the first collaboration between the band and Littlemore’s longstanding Pnau project, along with their upcoming tour, which includes a headlining show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in November.
Watch the complete interview above.
Even without a gold medal draped around his neck, Snoop Dogg has been one of the big winners of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Snoop’s commentary on the Olympic Games in Paris has been priceless, and he completed another more familiar side quest on Monday night (Aug. 5), when he performed at the USA Basketball 50th anniversary party co-hosted by Comcast NBCUniversal.
A Celebration of Olympic Basketball party was held at the Palais Brongniart, which has been doubling as the Team USA House, ahead of the knockout round set to begin for the men’s team on Tuesday (Aug. 6) against Brazil, while the women’s team will take the court on Wednesday (Aug. 7) in the quarterfinal.
The hoop stars were in attendance, with LeBron James, Steph Curry, Anthony Edwards, A’ja Wilson, Diana Taurasi and more in the building. Even NFL legend Tom Brady made an appearance, as well as Team USA alums Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Sue Bird.
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Snoop took the stage rocking a shirt featuring A’ja Wilson in her No. 9 USA jersey to perform hits such as Billboard Hot 100-topping anthem “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and he even covered Next’s “Too Close.” Eventually, some members of Team USA even joined him on stage to take part in the festivities.
Led by James, Kevin Durant and Curry, the men’s team is seeking a fifth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics. After dismantling Puerto Rico 104-83 in the final game of group play, Team USA looks to take it up a few notches in the quarterfinal game against Brazil on Tuesday (Aug. 6), where the Americans stand as heavy favorites (-26.5) to advance to the semis.
As for the women’s team, the ladies are in hot pursuit of their eighth gold medal in a row at the 2024 Olympics. They’ll suit up against Nigeria — who made it out of group play for the first time in the country’s history — on Wednesday (Aug. 7) in the quarterfinal.
Snoop continues to live his best life at the Olympics. He perused the Louvre Museum, swam with Michael Phelps and got up close with horses alongside his buddy Martha Stewart, when he dropped an equestrian freestyle.
Check out some highlights from the evening and Snoop Dogg’s performance below.
All we saw were STARS. USA Basketball, the NBA, the WNBA, Comcast NBCUniversal and Team USA came together Monday for a spectacular Celebration of Olympic Basketball. pic.twitter.com/gtDR42MUFD— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 6, 2024
After nearly 20 years on Atlantic, Skillet has left the label and is ramping up its Hear it Loud imprint to independently release its new single — “Unpopular,” arriving Friday (Aug. 9) — and new album, Revolution, coming Nov. 1.
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“After this long, we’ve learned enough about our audience to know what they want to hear,” Skillet frontman John Cooper tells Billboard of the Christian and mainstream hard rock band. “We have a pretty good handle on that now, so it’s time for us to be pushed out of the nest, or maybe jump out of the nest.”
Cooper admits making the leap wasn’t totally comfortable for him. “There’s a part of me that didn’t like it because I don’t like new things. I don’t try new food. I don’t like going to new destinations. My wife makes fun of me,” Cooper says with a smile as he sits in the living room of his spacious new hilltop home south of Nashville, where he and his wife/bandmate Korey relocated from their home base in Wisconsin.
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“I had some really good relationships, so that was the hard part is that I liked the people that I worked with a lot and learned a lot from them,” Cooper says of leaving Atlantic. “But it just felt like a new season. It just feels like it’s time for a change.”
That confidence is well-earned. Since launching in 1996, the Grammy-nominated and multiple Dove Award-winning band, which also includes Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison, has placed three albums in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200, two No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Albums chart and a pair of chart toppers on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart. They have one of the most streamed rock songs of the 21st century with the five times RIAA platinum-certified “Monster,” while their 2016 hit, “Feel Invincible,” made Skillet the first Christian act to top Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart since the chart’s launch in 1981. They also scored 11 No. 1s on the Christian Rock Songs chart before that chart ended in 2018. The veteran rockers tour relentlessly in the U.S. and abroad and their songs have been licensed by the NFL, Marvel, ESPN and WWE.
The Coopers and Skillet’s manager Zach Kelm formed the Hear It Loud imprint a decade ago. Artists LEDGER, Colton Dixon and Fight the Fury all released albums on the imprint through Atlantic Records (Dixon and LEDGER remain on Atlantic through Hear It Loud). Now, as the imprint morphs into a full-service label handling all aspects of Skillet’s marketing and promotion, Kelm has hired independent radio promotion, social media and marketing teams to work the new music. Vydia will distribute Hear It Loud.
Skillet
Jimmy Fontaine
Cooper says the band didn’t consider signing with another label. “If we were going to do that, I would have just stayed [at Atlantic] because we had 20 years of very successful history with good people,” he says. “They knew the band and liked us.”
Cooper says one of the factors that made Skillet, whose last album was 2022’s Dominion, opt for independence was the desire to move more quickly in terms of recording and releasing music. “One of the things about being independent is being able to make quick decisions,” he says. “There’s not this chain of people that need weigh in on it. The system takes a really long time. Instead, I wrote a song and we recorded it eight days later. That is a huge benefit. With the change in pace of technology and of the industry, that was important to me to be able to make quick decisions.”
Securing a larger piece of the pie was also a factor in going the indie route, especially when it comes to streaming. “We were looking at the amount of international streams that the band gets from touring, doing festivals and shows all over the world,” Kelm says, “and just by picking up the international piece, it was going to be worth it from a financial standpoint to go on our own.”
“The international stuff is really a big piece,” Cooper agrees. “I don’t know how Skillet became an international band, but it happened. It was like we woke up one day and went, ‘Oh my gosh we’re streaming like crazy overseas.’ We’re trying to catch up and that is a major upside of what we’re doing now.”
As to whether they plan to sign additional acts to Hear it Loud, Cooper says they haven’t decided yet. “Let’s see what happens,” he says, “but if it goes good, there’s sort of a natural progression that seems obvious and I like that.”
Cooper’s immediate priority is launching “Unpopular” to pave the way for Revolution. “I think that people hear a song like ‘Unpopular’ and they feel the same way,” Cooper says of the single, which encourages the listener to stand up for what they believe even if it isn’t popular. “That’s one of the things I hope people get from the record is courage. I think when people know that they aren’t alone then they go, ‘Oh okay, then I can stand up.’” Fans can pre-order the song here.
The 10-song album, produced by Brian Howes, Seth Moseley and Korey Cooper, is a mix of the incendiary rockers Skillet is known for alongside poignant moments such as “Happy Wedding Day (Alex’s Song),” which Cooper penned for his daughter. “As I started writing it, I was like there’s no way I could sing it at the wedding. But the day of the wedding I woke up and felt like, ‘I can do it,’” Cooper says. “Korey never even heard it. Alex had never heard the song. My manager was at the wedding, and the next day I said, ‘You aren’t going to hurt my feelings at all, but I think we should record the song. What do you think?’ He was like, ‘Oh definitely!’”
Cooper says the title track reflects the spirit of the album. “‘Revolution’ really is the overarching theme of what we want to say. We really need a revolution of love,” he says. “That song sounds a little different for us too. It’s a little alternative. The cool thing about doing an independent project is going, ‘All right, let’s try something new! Why not? And don’t be afraid.’”
The band, which is also launching a new app, addresses these fractured political times on “All That Matters,” which Cooper describes as a patriotic song. “Thirteen or 14 years ago it was a very different time, and part of the message of the song is saying if we could go back to that time, it really wouldn’t matter if you’re on the right or the left, because people got along,” he says. “There were things that we agreed on, like faith, family, freedom. There were things that mattered in life, and we were going to stand up for those things, wave the flag and be patriotic. We live in a country where you are free to chart your own course. Free to worship the God you want to or to not worship God and to raise your family. That was just kind of a live-and-let-live kind of thing. It was really wonderful, and that began to change.”
Cooper says being independent had a big impact on the way the new album was written and recorded. “It was a really incredibly liberating feeling,” he says. “We only wrote songs that we loved, and we only recorded songs that we loved, and we did it all super-fast. If this wasn’t independent, I feel it would be another year before we’d be releasing new music. If you look at Skillet’s timeline, you’ll see that it was every three or four years. It was a long time between albums.”
The band will perform music from the new album on their fall U.S. tour with Seether. Then in November, they’ll embark on their first tour of the Middle East, then will conclude with dates in the U.K. “It’s just really weird that 27 years into our career, we are opening up new markets around the world,” he says. “We’re spending half of the year overseas now, and I never would have dreamt that in a million years.”
Nearly three decades into their career, Cooper is happy with Skillet’s journey. “I always tell people, ‘We’re the biggest band you’ve never heard of.’ I laugh about it,” he says. “In no way do I live in frustration about it, because I’m just so blessed. The truth is I can’t believe I’m still playing music. I’m so lucky. How can I ask for more?
Cooper believes the band’s underdog status has helped their longevity, noting that, according to their Instagram data, Skillet’s No. 1 audience is the 25-34-year old demographic. “That just plays into the strangeness of the Skillet story,” he says. “That’s why, in some ways, this move to go independent is not the most shocking thing in the world, because we’ve always done things out[side] of the box. So why not try to crank it up and be the underdog again? That’s the Skillet story.”
Taylor Swift leads the nominations for the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, with 10 nods. Her “Fortnight” collaborator Post Malone is second, with nine nods – eight in tandem with Swift plus one for his hit “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen. They are followed by Ariana Grande, Eminem and Sabrina Carpenter (six nods each); Megan Thee Stallion and SZA (five each), and LISA, Olivia Rodrigo and Teddy Swims (four each).
“Fortnite” is nominated for video of the year, where it faces Grande’s “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” Billie Eilish’s “Lunch,” Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red,” Eminem’s “Houdini” and SZA’s “Snooze.” This is Eminem’s record-extending ninth nod in the category (counting one he received with D12). It’s Swift’s seventh nod in the category; the fourth for Grande and Doja Cat; the third for Eilish and SZA, and, surprisingly, the first for Post Malone.
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Swift has won a record four times for video of the year, for “Bad Blood” (2015), “You Need to Calm Down” (2019), “All Too Well: The Short Film” (2022) and “Anti-Hero” (2023). She is seeking to extend her record for most wins and to become the first person to win three years running.
Other artists with multiple nominations are Anitta, Benson Boone, Bleachers, GloRilla, Dua Lipa and Tyla, with three each; and Bad Bunny, Eilish, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Coldplay, Drake, Jelly Roll, Jessie Murph, Jung Kook, Latto, Rauw Alejandro, Sexyy Red, Tate McRae, Usher and Victoria Monét, with two each.
Those nomination tallies are surprisingly low for Chappell Roan and Charli XCX. Both artists blew up near the end of the eligibility period (June 22, 2023 to June 20, 2024). That also explains why Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” is missing in the video of the year and best hip-hop categories. The video was released on July 4. Nominations in social-only categories, including song of the summer, will be revealed in the next couple of weeks, which could give late-breaking artists another chance at some VMAs love.
Boone, Chappell Roan, Gracie Abrams, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims and Tyla are nominated for best new artist. Four of these artists are likely to also be in the running for best new artist when the Grammy nominees are announced on Nov. 8. Abrams and Tyla cannot be. Abrams was nominated in that category at the Grammys on Feb. 4. Tyla won in another category (best African music performance). The VMAs did not nominate Carpenter or Sexyy Red in this category.
If Swift wins four VMAs, she’ll tie Beyoncé as the top winner in the show’s history (unless Bey adds to her Moonperson collection with a song of the year win for “Texas Hold ’Em.” If Eminem wins one award, he will break out of tie with Peter Gabriel as the man with the most VMAs in history (13).
Swift directed the “Fortnight” video, which is nominated for best direction. Swift has won in that category in three of the last four years (for videos she personally directed) – for “The Man,” “All Too Well: The Short Film” and “Anti-Hero.” Swift’s friend and producer Jack Antonoff will have divided loyalties in this category: His band Bleachers is nominated for “Tiny Moves” – which was co-directed by his wife, Margaret Qualley, and Alex Lockett. (Qualley was also nominated for best choreography for that video.)
Art director Nicholas des Jardins has two of the six nominees for best art direction – Rodrigo’s “bad idea right?” and Carpenter’s “Please Please Please.”
In a VMAs quirk, the best pop award is awarded to an artist for overall work during the year, not for a specific video. All of the other genre awards – best hip-hop, best R&B, best alternative, best rock, best Latin, best Afrobeats and best K-pop – are for a specific video. Go figure.
Beginning today, fans can vote for their favorites across 15 gender-neutral categories by visiting vote.mtv.com through Friday, Aug. 30. Voting for best new artist will remain active into the show on Tuesday, Sept. 10. Nominations in social categories will be announced at a later date.
The 2024 VMAs return to New York live on the East Coast from UBS Arena on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The show will be held just four days shy of the 40th anniversary of the inaugural VMAs at Radio City Music Hall, where Madonna stole the show.
Bruce Gillmer and Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic are executive producers for the 2024 VMAs. Barb Bialkowski is co-executive producer. Alicia Portugal and Jackie Barba serve as executives in charge of production. Wendy Plaut is executive in charge of celebrity talent. Lisa Lauricella is music talent executive.
Here’s the complete list of 2024 VMAs nominees:
Video of the year
Ariana Grande – “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” – Republic Records
Billie Eilish – “Lunch” – Darkroom / Interscope Records
Doja Cat – “Paint the Town Red” – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records
Eminem – “Houdini” – Shady / Aftermath / Interscope Records
SZA – “Snooze” – Top Dawg Entertainment / RCA Records
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Republic Records
Artist of the year
Ariana Grande – Republic Records
Bad Bunny – Rimas Entertainment
Eminem – Shady / Aftermath / Interscope Records
Sabrina Carpenter – Island
SZA – Top Dawg Entertainment / RCA Records
Taylor Swift – Republic Records
Song of the year
Beyoncé – “Texas Hold ‘Em” – Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records
Jack Harlow – “Lovin on Me” – Generation Now / Atlantic Records
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us” – pgLang, under exclusive license to Interscope Records
Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso” – Island
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Republic Records
Teddy Swims – “Lose Control” – Warner Records
Best new artist
Benson Boone – Night Street Records, Inc. / Warner Records
Chappell Roan – Island
Gracie Abrams – Interscope Records
Shaboozey – American Dogwood / EMPIRE
Teddy Swims – Warner Records
Tyla – Epic Records
Best collaboration
Drake feat. Sexyy Red & SZA – “Rich Baby Daddy “ – OVO / Republic Records
GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion – “Wanna Be” – CMG / Interscope Records
Jessie Murph feat. Jelly Roll – “Wild Ones” – Columbia Records
Jung Kook feat. Latto – “Seven” – BIGHIT MUSIC / Geffen Records
Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen – “I Had Some Help” – Mercury / Republic / Big Loud
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Republic Records
Best pop
Camila Cabello – Geffen / Interscope Records
Dua Lipa – Warner Records
Olivia Rodrigo – Geffen Records
Sabrina Carpenter – Island
Tate McCrae – RCA Records
Taylor Swift – Republic Records
Best hip-hop
Drake feat. Sexyy Red & SZA – “Rich Baby Daddy “ – OVO / Republic Records
Eminem – “Houdini” – Shady / Aftermath / Interscope Records
GloRilla – “Yeah Glo!” – CMG / Interscope Records
Gunna – “fukumean” – Young Stoner Life Records / 300 Entertainment
Megan Thee Stallion – “BOA” – Hot Girl Productions
Travis Scott feat. Playboi Carti – “FE!N” – Cactus Jack / Epic Records
Best R&B
Alicia Keys – “Lifeline” – AK Records, under exclusive license to gamma.
Muni Long – “Made for Me” – Def Jam
SZA – “Snooze” – Top Dawg Entertainment / RCA Records
Tyla – “Water” – FAX Records / Epic Records
Usher, Summer Walker, 21 Savage – “Good Good” – mega / gamma.
Victoria Monét – “On My Mama” – Lovett Music / RCA Records
Best alternative
Benson Boone – “Beautiful Things” – Night Street Records, Inc. / Warner Records
Bleachers – “Tiny Moves” – Dirty Hit
Hozier – “Too Sweet” – Columbia Records
Imagine Dragons – “Eyes Closed” – KIDinaKorner / Interscope Records
Linkin Park – “Friendly Fire” – This Compilation / Warner Records
Teddy Swims – “Lose Control (Live)” – Warner Records
Best rock
Bon Jovi – “Legendary” – Island
Coldplay – “feelslikeimfallinginlove” – Atlantic Records
Green Day – “Dilemma” – Reprise Records / Warner Records
Kings of Leon – “Mustang” – Capitol Records
Lenny Kravitz – “Human” – ℗© 2024 Roxie Records Inc. under exclusive license to BMG Rights Management GmbH
U2 – “Atomic City” – Interscope Records
Best Latin
Anitta – “Mil Veces” – Floresta Records / Republic Records / Universal Music Latin Entertainment
Bad Bunny – “Monaco” – Rimas Entertainment
Karol G – “Mi Ex Tenía Razón” – Bichota / Interscope Records
Myke Towers – “LaLa” – Warner Music Latina
Peso Pluma & Anitta – “Bellakeo” – Double P Records
Rauw Alejandro – “Touching the Sky” – Sony Music Latin / Duars Entertainment
Shakira & Cardi B – “Puntería” – Sony Music US Latin
Best Afrobeats
Ayra Starr ft. Giveon – “Last Heartbreak Song” – Mavin / Republic
Burna Boy – “City Boys” – Spaceship / Bad Habit / Atlantic Records
Chris Brown ft. Davido & Lojay – “Sensational” – Chris Brown Entertainment / RCA Records
Tems – “Love Me JeJe” – Since ’93 / RCA Records
Tyla – “Water” – FAX Records / Epic Records
Usher, Pheelz – “Ruin” – mega / gamma.
Best K-pop
Jung Kook ft. Latto – “Seven” – BIGHIT MUSIC / Geffen Records
LISA – “Rockstar” – Lloud Co. / RCA Records
NCT Dream – “Smoothie” – SM Entertainment / Virgin Music Group
NewJeans – “Super Shy” – ADOR / Geffen Records
Stray Kids – “LALALALA” – JYP Entertainment / Imperial / Republic Records
TOMORROW X TOGETHER – “Deja vu” – BIGHIT MUSIC / IMPERIAL / Republic Records
Video for good
Alexander Stewart – “if only you knew” – FAE grp
Billie Eilish – “What Was I Made For (From Barbie)” – Darkroom / Interscope Records
Coldplay – “feelslikeimfallinginlove” – Atlantic Records
Joyner Lucas & Jelly Roll – “Best for Me” – Twenty Nine Music Group
RAYE – “Genesis.” – Human Re Sources
Tyler Childers – “In Your Love” – Hickman Holler Records / RCA Records
MTV push performance of the year
August 2023: Kaliii – “Area Codes” – Atlantic Records
September 2023: GloRilla – “Lick or Sum” – CMG / Interscope Records
October 2023: Benson Boone – “In The Stars” – Night Street Records, Inc. / Warner Records
November 2023: Coco Jones – “ICU” – Def Jam
December 2023: Victoria Monét – “On My Mama” – Lovett Music / RCA Records
January 2024: Jessie Murph – “Wild Ones” – Columbia Records
February 2024: Teddy Swims – “Lose Control” – Warner Records
March 2024: Chappell Roan – “Red Wine Supernova” – Island
April 2024: Flyana Boss – “yeaaa” – vnclm_/ Atlantic Records
May 2024: Laufey – “Goddess” – Laufey / AWAL
June 2024: LE SSERAFIM – “EASY” – SOURCE MUSIC / Geffen Records
July 2024: The Warning – “Automatic Sun” – Lava / Republic Records
Best direction
Ariana Grande – “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” – Republic Records; directed by Christian Breslauer
Bleachers – “Tiny Moves” – Dirty Hit; directed by Alex Lockett & Margaret Qualley
Eminem – “Houdini” – Shady / Aftermath / Interscope Records; directed by Rich Lee
Megan Thee Stallion – “BOA” – Hot Girl Productions; directed by Daniel Iglesias Jr.
Sabrina Carpenter – “Please Please Please” – Island; directed by Barbia Zeinali
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Republic Records; directed by Taylor Swift
Best cinematography
Ariana Grande – “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” – Republic Records; cinematography by Anatol Trofimov
Charli XCX – “Von dutch” – Atlantic Records; cinematography by Jeff Bierman
Dua Lipa – “Illusion” – Warner Records; cinematography by Nikita Nuzmenko
Olivia Rodrigo – “obsessed” – Geffen Records; cinematography by Marz Miller
Rauw Alejandro – “Touching the Sky” – Sony Music Latin / Duars Entertainment; cinematography by Camilo Monsalve
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Republic Records; cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto
Best editing
Anitta – “Mil Veces” – Floresta Records / Republic Records / Universal Music Latin Entertainment; editing by Nick Yumul
Ariana Grande – “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” – Republic Records; editing by Luis Caraza Peimbert
Eminem – “Houdini” – Shady / Aftermath / Interscope Records; editing by David Checel
LISA – “Rockstar” – Lloud Co. / RCA Records; editing by Nik Kohler
Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso” – Island; editing by Jai Shukla
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Republic Records; editing by Chancler Haynes
Best choreography
Bleachers – Tiny Moves – Dirty Hit; choreography by Margaret Qualley
Dua Lipa – “Houdini” – Warner Records; choreography by Charm La’Donna
LISA – “Rockstar” – Lloud Co. / RCA Records; choreography by Sean Bankhead
Rauw Alejandro – “Touching the Sky” – Sony Music Latin / Duars Entertainment – Choreography by Felix ‘Fefe’ Burgos
Tate McCrae – “Greedy” – RCA Records; choreography by Sean Bankhead
Troye Sivan – “Rush” – Capitol Records; choreography by Sergio Reis, Mauro Van De Kerkof
Best visual effects
Ariana Grande – “the boy is mine” – Republic Records; visual effects by Digital Axis
Eminem – “Houdini” – Shady / Aftermath / Interscope Records; visual effects by Synapse Virtual Production, Louise Lee, Rich Lee, Metaphysic, Flawless Post
Justin Timberlake – “Selfish” – RCA Records; visual effects by Candice Dragonas
Megan Thee Stallion – “BOA” – Hot Girl Productions; visual effects by Mathematic
Olivia Rodrigo – “get him back!” – Geffen Records; visual effects by Cooper Vacheron, Preston Mohr, Karen Arakelian, Justin Johnson
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Republic Records; visual effects by Parliament
Best art direction
Charli XCX – “360” – Atlantic Records; art direction by Grace Surnow
LISA – “Rockstar” – Lloyd Co. / RCA Records; art direction byPongsan Thawatwichian
Megan Thee Stallion – “BOA” – Hot Girl Productions; art direction by Brittany Porter
Olivia Rodrigo – “bad idea right?” – Geffen Records; art direction by Nichaolas des Jardins
Sabrina Carpenter – “Please Please Please” – Island; art direction by Nicholas des Jardins
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Republic Records; art direction by Ethan Tobman
Get ready, CARATs! After teasing the RIGHT HERE tour in late July, SEVENTEEN announced the U.S. dates for its global trek on Tuesday (Aug. 6) via fan platform Weverse and its social media accounts. After kicking off the tour with two consecutive dates beginning Oct. 12 at Goyang Stadium in South Korea, the K-pop group […]
The Weeknd is definitely up to something, but at this point it’s still not clear exactly what the big picture will be. The “Take My Breath” singer (who now goes by his birth name, Abel Tesfaye), posted yet another cryptic teaser video on Tuesday morning (August 6) as part of what has been tagged as “Chapter 3” in his musical evolution.
The three-plus minute CGI video, entitled “unprepared certainty,” arrived at midnight with no further explanation aside from the visual starring a digitally animated toddler making his way through a creepy house on the hill. “All I have is my… legacy,” Tesfaye sings at the outset over spooky keyboards bubbling alongside the computer generated sky pulsing with lightning.
As the child follows a shrouded woman into the home, a swell of dark keyboards gives the morose track a funereal feel while viewers follow the child’s progress and the track adopts a slightly lighter feel midway through. “You can change locations/ You can change your name/ They will always find a way,” Tesfaye sings in his signature falsetto over gently strummed acoustic guitars.
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At one point, the child strikes a pose with his left arm on his forehead, as if shading his eyes from a bright light, as he stares into a series of full-length mirrors that appear to show reflections of The Weeknd in a number of previous incarnations, including the signature red suit from his After Hours era. The video ends with the child sitting in the embrace of the woman, with Abel singing, “My mama told me it will never be the same/ They will always find a way.”
At press time a spokesperson for Tesfaye had not responded to Billboard‘s request seeking more information on the video.
The latest missive in the singer’s next era comes after he teased a song fans speculate is called “The Abyss,” which also featured a CGI video starring the unnamed baby and a similarly subdued track. That post was accompanied by a quote from German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, “when you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you…”
In another video teaser from July 18, Abel said, “There are Three Chapters in this Tale,” alongside CGI images of his red suit-wearing character driving a car alongside glimpses of some of his former incarnations.
Two years after the release of the Dawn FM album, Tesfaye is gearing up to return to the stage in September with a one-night-only concert in São Paulo, Brazil. The show is booked for Sept. 7 at Estádio MorumBIS and promises “never-before-seen production,” according to an earlier press release. The Live Nation-produced show in Brazil comes nine months after the singer performed in São Paulo for two nights (Oct. 10 & 11, 2023) during his After Hours Til Dawn Tour at Allizanz Parque, as well as Rio de Janiero’s Estádio Nilton Santos on Oct. 7.
Watch the new video (and the previous posts) below.
The image of the legendary singer Celia Cruz is now depicted on a U.S. quarter. Widely known as the Queen of Salsa, the late Cuban artist was chosen along with four other exemplary women from history to be featured on the U.S. quarter as part of the American Women Quarters Program this year. She also makes history as the first Afro-Latina to appear on the coin.
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“Celia received so many accolades during her lifetime that it was hard to expect a greater honor than what she had already accumulated during her legendary career,” said Omer Pardillo-Cid, Cruz’s last artistic representative and the executor of her estate, in a press release. “But to have been honored by the U.S. Mint in this way is something that would have surprised her greatly since she was a simple and humble woman.”
Celebrated for her iconic shout “¡Azúcar!” — a phrase also inscribed on the coin — Cruz is acknowledged as a cultural symbol and an influential vocalist in history, boasting nearly 40 albums. On the U.S. quarter, she is depicted in her customary Cuban attire, captured with her characteristic vivacity.
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The U.S. Mint’s other 2024 honorees are Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color to serve in Congress; Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a women’s rights advocate and Civil War era surgeon; poet, activist, and lawyer Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray; and Native American writer, composer, educator and political activist Zitkala-Ša. The four-year American Women Quarters Program “celebrates the accomplishments and contributions made by women of the United States,” states the official website, which also sells the coins individually and as a set.
“All of the women honored have unique accomplishments that have significantly impacted the history of our nation,” said Ventris C. Gibson, director of the Mint, in a press release.
Pardillo-Cid also announced that starting on Aug. 19, Leon Medical Centers in South Florida will distribute the commemorative Celia Cruz coin in special packaging. The centers are located in Miami-Dade County, home to nearly two million Hispanics, mostly Cubans. “This recognition is a source of enormous pride for all Cubans and for all Hispanics in general,” said Benjamín León Jr., president and founder of Leon Medical Centers, in a press release.
For each year commencing in 2022 and running through 2025, the U.S. Mint will issue five new reverse designs; the head side of the coin will still feature George Washington, but with a slightly different design from the previous quarter program.
See the Mint’s celebration of the coin below:
Tinashe is taking her body language on the road. The singer-songwriter announced her Live Nation-produced Match My Freak World Tour on Tuesday (Aug. 6).
The pop and R&B star’s 23-date trek is set to kick off on Oct. 14 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, Calif., before making its way to major market stops including Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, D.C., Chicago, Brooklyn, Seattle, Toronto and more before wrapping up at the Ace of Spades in Sacramento, Calif., on Nov. 25. The announcement of the tour comes just ahead of the arrival of the “Slumber Party” singer’s seventh album, Quantum Baby.
Though Tinashe has announced only North American tour dates thus far, the tour poster teases that dates for Asia, the U.K., Australia and Europe are “coming soon.”
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Verizon customers will have a first shot at tickets for select shows via the exclusive presale, which runs from 2 p.m. ET Aug. 6 to 10 p.m. local Aug. 8. The Live Nation and Ticketmaster presales will kick off Wednesday (Aug. 7) at 10 a.m. local time, wrapping up at 10 p.m. local time Thursday (Aug. 8).
General onsale begins on Tinashe’s website at 10 a.m. local time Friday (Aug. 9).
For fans who are looking for more than just concert tickets, VIP packages will include access to the soundcheck, an exclusive performance, special merch, early entry, premium tickets and more. These packages will be available via Live Nation’s VIP Nation website.
Since launching her career, Tinashe has landed five songs so far on the Billboard Hot 100, including “2 On” at No. 24 with SchoolBoy Q in 2014, “Slumber Party” at No. 86 alongside Britney Spears in 2016 and “Nasty” at No. 61 in July. Over on the Billboard 200, her 2014 set Aquarius is her highest charting release to date, peaking at No. 17 in October 2016.
See the Match My Freak World Tour dates below:
Some spur-of-the-moment decisions — and some industry champions — have led singer-songwriter Ella Langley to her breakthrough song, and her newly released debut album.
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“It’s not even my birthday, but it feels like the best birthday I’ve ever had,” Langley told Billboard on Aug. 2, the release day for her 14-song debut album Hungover, out on SAWGOD/Columbia Records.
Langley’s Alabama twang has been all over social media lately, thanks to “You Look Like You Love Me,” a pedal steel-soaked, flirty song about a woman making the first move. The Hope Hull, Alabama native teamed with fellow country hitmaker Riley Green for the largely spoken, retro-sounding collaboration, which sits at No. 15 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. The track previously reached No. 5 on Billboard’s TikTok Top 50 chart, and peaked at No. 36 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
“You Look Like You Love Me” was gaining steam even before the song became a duet. In May, Langley posted a clip to TikTok of singing the song’s verse and hook solo; that clip earned 10.5 million views. Langley was opening shows on Green’s Ain’t My Last Rodeo Tour earlier this year, when the two performed the song together in a spontaneous moment during the final show of the tour.
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“We had no idea we were going to do the song that night onstage, but we did,” Langley says. “He’s from Alabama too, and I remember a long time ago playing for a line of people waiting to get into a Riley Green show. I didn’t have a ticket, I just watched his show through the gate. So getting on his tour was good. I really just sent it to him so we could sing it together on tour. We had been doing another song together, but then we just ripped into this song and it’s been a whirlwind ever since,” Langley says.
In June, a video was posted to TikTok of Langley and Green performing the song together during a soundcheck at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Their voices wrapped around the song’s amorous verses resonated; that 30-second TikTok clip now has over 12 million views.
”It kind of blew up that way,” Langley says.
With the song riding high, she follows with Hungover, an album that seems poised to showcase Langley as an intrepid artist with a fully developed perspective and a fine-tuned sound, thanks to songs like the sashaying “Cowboy Friends,” the tender “People Change” and honky-tonk heater “Better Be Tough.”
In addition to potent songs, Langley has been a road warrior. She will launch her 14-date headlining North American tour later this month, interspersing those dates between opening for Morgan Wallen’s One Night a Time Tour, as well as opening shows for Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley. She just opened for Wallen at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, marking her first stadium shows.
“It was insane,” she recalls of playing the stadium. “I was talking to Lainey [Wilson] the other day about when I used to watch concerts as a kid and how I just had the toughest time going to watch concerts. I wanted to be up there so bad — just like, I could throw up. So, getting up in that stadium yesterday felt like that little girl’s dream just came true, and just letting her enjoy the hard work that’s been put into this.”
Below, Billboard’s Country Rookie of the Month for August opens up about her new album, country music’s current communal spirit, and the journey of “You Look Like You Love Me” from creation to hit song.
How did “You Look Like You Love Me” come about?
“You Look Like You Love Me” was written two years ago, inspired by a conversation with one of the song’s co-writers, Aaron Raitiere. His ideas are nuts and I love writing with him. We were in a write and he was like, “So how’s your relationship life going?” and I said, “Honestly, I’m at the point where if they look like they love me, I just got to get out of there.” And he was like, “That’s a great song title.”
Six months later, we had another writing session. I wanted a funny song that I could play around a bonfire. We literally just hit record and wrote probably 16 verses and then picked our favorite ones and put it together. Then Riley added a verse, and it’s just this sweet love song.
You never meant for this song to be released as a single. How did that happen?
Mya Hansen, who was my publisher at the time but is now on my label side, always loved the song. I was like, “Mya, this song is just a joke.” She tried to get me to put it on the EP [2023’s Excuse the Mess] and I didn’t let her. So, she put it in the Dropbox link on her own for this album, and that’s how the label heard it — it was the last one of all of the demos. Everyone loved it, and I was like, “If y’all believe in this song, then let’s cut it.” It was right after we cut it that Riley asked us on tour.
How did you first get interested in music?
My whole family is musically inclined. I was three years old the first time I got up to sing in church. My mom tells a story where my grandpa sits down at the piano and we’re going to do “Amazing Grace,” and my mom’s trying to help me with the microphone and I’m three years old, and I’m like, “I got it. I know how to do it,” and everyone in church is laughing. So this is what I’ve always wanted to do. When I was a teenager, I picked up guitar.
Did you play in a band in high school?
I played a lot of wedding ceremonies. Then I played bars and restaurants and everywhere that would let me play. I went to Auburn for two years and that got me into the cover gigs, the bar scene and the [Southeastern Conference] schools. That was a massive education, because you learn so much playing covers for four hours, multiple nights a week, trying to make people give a s–t. But I reached the point where I was like, “Nothing’s going to happen if I stay here,” so I moved to Nashville and I’m glad I did.
There are some very personal songs on Hungover, like “Closest to Heaven,” which is based on the story of your grandparents. What does that song mean to you?
My grandma had a stroke when I was 10 or 11. My grandpa lived with us and she was in a nursing home. We’d bring her home to stay the night. My grandpa passed away and a lot of times when someone is at the end of their life, they bring a pastor into kind of talk with and it’s kind of like a quiet moment. He came over and my grandmother was there and they wheeled her into my grandpa’s room and shut the door. I’ll never know what was said in that room, so this is my song about what I think was said.
You have this collaboration with Riley. Who else is on your bucket list of collaborators?
Eric Church, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert. Miley Cyrus has also been at the top of my list—I would love to even just sit in a room and ask her questions. And Ashley McBryde’s songwriting is so incredible and just very real-life and honest. I think me and Megan Moroney could come up with something awesome.
There have been several artists, such as Megan, who have brought your name up as an artist to watch. How do you react to that?
It’s hard to comprehend because you spend so much time wishing for something to happen and when it does start to happen, it’s nuts. Just to hear people you respect say that. [Megan and I’ve] known each other since before we moved to Nashville. I was at Auburn and she was at Georgia and my manager Bradley Jordan is part of a sunglasses company that’s partnered with Luke Combs, Blue Otter Polarized. Megan was doing a lot of influencer stuff back in the day and Bradley connected us. We wrote together once right when she moved to Nashville. It’s just awesome to see how many women are crushing it right now and we’re all just friends. It’s fun, it’s supportive and everyone has worked so hard to get here, so it’s great to be excited for everyone.
What was the first concert you saw?
The only concerts I saw growing up were at the Montgomery County Fair. The first person I remember seeing was Justin Moore. I remember Luke Combs came through right when “When It Rains It Pours” blew up, and I got sick that night and couldn’t go. I had the worst FOMO ever, not going to that concert.
What’s the best advice you have heard along the way?
I heard Chris Stapleton on a podcast when I moved to town, and this has been stuck in my brain ever since I heard it. Joe Rogan asked him about advice for young artists, and he said, “When you’re putting out songs, you never know the song that’s going to change your life — and then you could be stuck singing that song for the rest of your life, so really pay attention to the songs you release.”