Music
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Leading into this week’s GMA Dove Awards, Forrest Frank is one of the frontrunners with nods for new artist of the year and pop/contemporary recorded song of the year (“Good Day”). He’s also set to perform during Christian music’s biggest night, when the GMA Dove Awards are held Wednesday (Oct. 2) at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena. The show will air on TBN and TBN+ on Oct. 4.
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In August, “Good Day” rose to No. 2 on Billboard’s streaming, airplay and sales-based Hot Christian Songs chart, after previously rising into the upper echelon of Spotify’s U.S. Viral 50 chart.
However, the Houston native never intended to release “Good Day” after he wrote it in early 2024. He recalls to Billboard that he sent the song to a close music friend, who offered up some discouraging feedback.
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“He was like, ‘I don’t know about this song,’ so I had put it on the back burner because of that,” Frank recalls. “I thought maybe it was a little too on the nose, too happy.”
But then, Frank’s fans took the song from the dust bin to viral hit. While most artists tease out songs early on social media, Frank offers up early versions of songs in the 6,000-member Grouped app community that he’s named The Tree House. When Frank let the community vote on five unreleased songs, “Good Day” was the clear choice.
“I kept seeing the comments rolling in, like, ‘”Good Day” is my favorite,’ ‘Good Day,’ ‘Good Day’…so I put the song out, not thinking it was special at all, and then it just completely blew up.”
“Good Day” is Frank’s highest-ranking song on the Hot Christian Songs chart, but it’s not his first. In 2023, Frank’s collaboration “Up!” with Connor Price reached No. 8 on the chart. In April, his four-song EP God Is Good, which featured “Up!” and “Good Day,” debuted in the top 5 on the same chart.
In August, Frank saw his biggest chart hit yet. His album Child of God (which includes the four songs from the God Is Good EP) debuted at No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart and has held that spot for the past nine weeks. To date, he’s earned 5.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
“Just on a macro level, Forrest is speaking to an enormous community of people in a way that they really haven’t been spoken to,” says Tony Talamo, who serves as Frank’s manager, but was also recently named general manager at Atlantic Music Group.
“I think it’s just the way that he’s able to communicate and expose his music to this community has really registered with people, and just how genuine he is about the whole thing,” Talamo continues. “I think it just shines through in the music and that’s what people really kind of gravitate towards.”
Frank, 28, grew up listening to music ranging from CCM to jazz and first began creating music as a high school student, using the compact Maschine Mikro production and beats-making machine to produce his own musical creations.
Shortly after graduating from Baylor University with a degree in business, he teamed with fellow musician Colin Padalecki in 2017, joining the group Surfaces (they released the album Surf that year). At the time, Frank was working a corporate gig in Seattle, doing sales for the Fortune 500 company Abbott, while continuing with his obsession with making music. Simultaneously with his work as part of Surfaces, he was also already releasing solo music, issuing his first solo project, Warm, in 2018.
In 2019, Surfaces released “Sunday Best.” The following year, Frank married — and he and his wife, Grace, moved to Waco, Texas. Around that time, “Sunday Best” gained traction, rising to the top 20 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and ultimately earning 980 million plays on Spotify. The song was certified 3x multi-platinum by the RIAA. Surfaces followed with songs including “Wave of You” and even collaborated with Elton John on the song “Learn to Fly” from John’s The Lockdown Sessions.
But as Frank began getting his first taste of success with Surfaces, Frank was “wrestling with the feeling of ‘I don’t want to be famous,’” he says. “Ultimately, my goal is to lead people to Jesus, and I hope I’m doing that through pop music. I remember I would pray salvation prayers at a low decibel beneath these pop songs.”
The success of “Sunday Best” came at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when concerts and tours of all sizes were paused. After turning down performance opportunities for over a year, Frank says he “felt like eventually I was pretty much retired from pop music. I was like, ‘I’ll write songs for Surfaces, but I feel like we are supposed to be at home. And if God wants me to go back to [work in a] corporate [setting], I’m fine with that.’”
At the same time, he was writing and singing worship songs. He kept returning to one of the songs he’d crafted during his personal time, “No Longer Bound,” eventually recording and releasing the song in January 2023. The song went viral (it’s earned over 64 million Spotify streams to date), and he soon followed with the Connor Price collaboration “Up!,” “Lift My Hands,” and ultimately, “Good Day.”
“Things just snowballed from there,” Frank says.
Frank is one of a crop of newcomers making waves in Contemporary Christian Music, alongside fellow GMA Dove Awards new artist of the year nominees Charity Gayle, Josiah Queen, Seph Schlueter and Terian. Newcomers to the genre are seeing gains in streaming, social media and touring, as CCM music rose in the first half of the year as one of the top fastest-rising musical genres in the U.S.
“There’s this new level, where people are coming forward with their own personal sound because of the availability of technology and the lack of hoops to jump through,” Frank says. “And I think that even the Christian industry probably hasn’t had much friction or competition for a lot of years. But now you’ve got all these kids, like you’ve got an 18-year-old who knows more than the 40-year-old about production because they went direct to the source and learned on YouTube versus going to a college. And so these young, talented, hungry kids are rising forward and they’re making great songs.”
Frank’s connection with fans extends beyond the U.S. market: According to Chartmetric, while the United States remains Frank’s top market, 13.3% of his listenership comes from Brazil (he has leaned into that market by incorporating Portuguese-language content on his social media).
“We just went and shot a live version of his [sold out] show at the Shrine in [Los Angeles],” Talamo says. “We employ all our digital content team when he needs it, but he really leads the way with it. It’s giving him all the things he needs to do things the way he wants to. Forrest is such a machine in the way that he operates from writing and producing the music, shooting the content, performing, and thinking about all the creative elements that come together. He’s so in tune with his business and his projects.”
That business-focused mindset extends beyond music, as does Frank’s future goals.
‘I do have an entrepreneurial mind and I’m always thinking about different things,” he says. “For example, I bought a space in Waco, and I’m turning it into this physical retail space where people can come in and buy albums and merch — but it’s also going to be a grocery store and a coffee shop that serves the community, and I’m going to source it to local farms. Honestly, I could predict that in the next five to 10 years, something will emerge that has nothing to do with music. That could even become my main thing.”
Not anytime soon, however — considering that his new single “Never Get Used to This,” featuring JVKE, just debuted at No. 39 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart, while he has seven songs peppering the Hot Christian Songs chart, including “Good Day,” “Never Get Used to This,” and “Life is Good.”
As with “Good Day,” Frank says he’ll continue to bring all his music to his most devoted fans first.
“When I’m thinking about my next release, before taking it to Instagram or TikTok I’ll probably throw three or four snippets in [the Treehouse group] to get the feedback,” Frank says. “For me, it helps as an artist — not every song’s going to be a hit, but at least I can be a little more refined in my moves so when I bring a song to socials it’s like, ‘Okay, this is the one that’s already been proven in this smaller focus group.’”
With his Child of God tour having recently wrapped, the UTA-aligned Frank has an even larger tour slated for 2025. He says touring as a CCM artist has been markedly different from some of his past performance experiences.
“I’ve never viewed myself as a performer,” he says. “I just wanted to make music and be a producer. I’ve done maybe hundreds of shows with Surfaces that were in the name of entertainment, and looking back, I can now recognize fully that it always felt like a disconnect. And on this past tour, it just felt so right. It felt like every cell of my body was being used for God and his glory, and every show was a 10 out of 10 because of that. It changed my perspective of being onstage to where now I’m excited because I get to be a conductor of bringing people to the Lord, versus just connecting with fans per se, which I do love as well.
“This whole journey just has felt like a gift from God, and he’s just continued to bless me with new songs and new ideas,” Frank adds. “I can’t take any credit for it. Anytime anything good happens, it’s just like, ‘Okay, God for whatever reason has selected me as a vessel for Him.’”
Hailey Bieber celebrated her fifth wedding anniversary with Justin Bieber on Monday (Sept. 30) by posting a loving tribute to late fashion designer Virgil Abloh. She posted a picture of herself with the beloved fashion icon who created the custom Off-White gown and veil for the model’s wedding on what would have been Abloh’s 44th […]
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month and to celebrate Carlos Vives‘ 30 years in music, the Colombian star is getting his own limited-run radio channel on SiriusXM. Hosted and curated by the “Fruta Fresca” singer himself, Carlos Vives Radio will “showcase the impact” he’s had on the industry and air hits from his extensive music catalog […]
Rascal Flatts are hitting the road in 2025, five years after announcing, and then cancelling, their final tour due to the pandemic.
The multi-platinum country trio’s 21-date Life is a Highway tour kicks off Feb. 13 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. Lauren Alaina and Chris Lane are the opening acts.
“In 2020, we announced the farewell tour after being on the road extensively for 20 years,” the band said in a statement. “To put it simply, we needed a break. Then COVID hit and our plans came to a screeching halt, like the rest of the world. Since then, we’ve been able to revisit our unique and special experience as a band and we’re ready to get out on the road again. It’s hard to believe that next year will be the 25th anniversary of Rascal Flatts, and that felt like the perfect time to get back in front of the fans who have given us so much.”
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Rascal Flatts—vocalist Gary LeVox, multi-instrumentalist Jay DeMarcus and guitarist Joe Don Rooney—got fans buzzing Monday (Sept. 30) when they posted a video to their Instagram account featuring the three individually walking through stage doors as if headed to rehearsal with the message, “Life’s a road that you travel on.”
The group originally announced the Rascal Flatts Farewell: Life Is a Highway Tour during an appearance in January 2020 on CBS This Morning, saying it was the perfect way to celebrate their then 20th anniversary.
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“We make music and that’s what we do,” Jay DeMarcus told CBS This Morning in 2020. “We may do it again someday collectively. We’re not going to sign some pact that says we’re never going to tour again … we all still do love each other, but we do make music, and we will probably make some music individually, collectively.”
Founded in 2000, the band scored such hits as “Prayin’ for Daylight,” “Bless the Broken Road” and “What Hurts the Most,” landing 14 No. 1s on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. They won the CMA Awards’ vocal group of the year award six years in a row from 2003 to 2008.
No word on if the band plans to record new music or extend the tour beyond the initial 21 dates.
Tickets go on sale Friday (Oct. 4) at 10 AM local time.
LIFE IS A HIGHWAY TOUR Official Dates:
Feb. 13 Evansville, IN- Ford Center
Feb. 14 Charleston, WV- Charleston Coliseum
Feb. 15 Grand Rapids, MI- Van Andel Arena
Feb. 22 Durant, OK- Choctaw Grand Theater
Feb. 27 Sioux Falls, SD- Denny Sanford Premier Center
Feb. 28 Green Bay, WI- Resch Center
March 1 Moline, IL- Vibrant Arena
March 6 Columbus, OH- Nationwide Arena
March 7 Toledo, OH- Huntington Center
March 8 Youngstown, OH- Covelli Centre
March 13 Manchester, NH- SNHU Arena
March 14 Uncasville, CT- Mohegan Sun Arena
March 15 Allentown, PA- PPL Center
March 20 Huntsville, AL- Von Braun Center Propst Arena*
March 22 Savannah, GA- Enmarket Arena
March 27 Ft. Worth, TX- Dickies Arena
March 28 Lafayette, LA- CAJUNDOME
March 29 Little Rock, AR- Simmons Bank Arena
April 3 Estero, FL- Hertz Arena
April 4 Orlando, FL- Kia Center
April 5 Jacksonville, FL- Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena
Lady Gaga is smitten. During a red carpet chat at Monday’s (Sept. 30) Los Angeles premiere of Joker: Folie à Deux the singer could not stop gushing about her fiancé, tech entrepreneur Michael Polansky, with whom she collaborated on her just-released Joker companion album, Harlequin. “It’s just the first time that we decided to fully […]
Jelly Roll capped off an epic weekend with a stirring performance of his collaborative single with MGK, “Lonely Road,” on The Tonight Show on Monday night (Sept. 30). After headlining Madison Square Garden, then performing on Saturday Night Live‘s 50th season opener and headlining the Global Citizen Festival, Jelly put a button on a career quadfecta by teaming up with Machine Gun and the song’s producer, Travis Barker, for an inspired run through the song that interpolates John Denver’s beloved 1971 “Take Me Home, Country Roads” single.
KellyRoll (as the duo have dubbed themselves) began the performance singing the song’s aching refrain a cappella while standing on either side of a flaming garbage can backed by three soulful back-up singers. “Lonely road, take me home/ To the place that we went wrong/ Where’d you go now, it’s been a ghost town/ And I’m still here, all alone,” they sang in unison before Kelly called Barker to the stage and busted into his rap verse.
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The Blink-182 drummer tapped out the song’s clip-clop rhythm on the lip of the can before scooting over to a proper drum kit as Jelly and Kelly meandered to host Jimmy Fallon’s desk set to make themselves comfortable. Seated in the guest spot on the couch, Jelly Roll crooned, “I use alcohol to fill that hole/ Will our home ever be the same?,” as MGK tapped out the rhythm on Fallon’s desk.
The performance ended with the two men standing on either side of Barker, with always humble Jelly thanking Fallon and the viewers at home for “allowing us into your living rooms tonight.”
Before the set, Jelly made his first visit to the Tonight Show couch, admitting that he was so nervous that he may have “tinkled” himself a bit. “I won’t know until I do a full assessment,” he joked. He then admitted that he likely “double-tinkled” himself being in a sketch on SNL, the sadly cut-for-time hilarious House of the Dragon spoof “Blonde Dragon People,” where he played Lord of the Rings‘ Samwise Gamgee to Andy Samberg’s Legolas, for some reason.
“I was more nervous for the sketch, obviously,” he told Fallon. “Because I’m already a fish out of water in the music business. And I’m a double-fish out of water when I was there… I’m just whaled out!” And, just days after Machine Gun addressed his former beef with Jelly at the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards — where he said, “Jelly, I love you. We went from 10 years ago, hating each other, to elevating each other” — Jelly Roll told Fallon, “I just love him to death. We’ve known each other a long time and we started on rocky roads and made amends.”
Jelly Roll’s upcoming album, Beautifully Broken, is due out on Oct. 11.
Watch Jelly Roll on the Tonight Show below.
Europe will get more of The Boss in 2025.
Announced early Tuesday, Oct. 1, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band adds eight new shows to their previously-rescheduled European jaunt – including concerts in England, France, Germany and Spain.
The newly-confirmed dates kick off May 17 with the first of two nights at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
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All told, Springsteen and Co. will play 12 dates on their 2025 run of the U.K. and Europe, including previously-rescheduled shows in Marseille, Prague and Milan, which were initially called off in May on doctor’s orders, as the rock legend recovered from “vocal issues.”
The announcement of new dates follow the world premiere of the Thom Zimny documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which arrives Oct. 25 on Hulu and Disney+.
After being sidelined for six years because of the global pandemic, and illness, including peptic ulcer issues, the road is calling to Springsteen. The Rock Hall-inducted artist and his band embarks on eight shows in Canada, beginning Oct. 31 in Montreal and running through Nov. 22 in Vancouver. That trek follows the completion of a U.S. tour with a Sept. 15 headlining spot at Sea.Hear.Now. festival in Springsteen’s old Asbury Park stomping grounds in his native New Jersey.
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If his comments during a performance Aug. 23 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia are anything to go by, Springsteen is just getting started. “We’ve been around for 50 f***ing years, and we ain’t quitting!” he declared. “We ain’t doing no farewell tour bullsh*t! Jesus Christ! No farewell tour for the E Street Band!”
He added, “Farewell to what? A thousand people screaming your name? Get the hell out. I ain’t going anywhere!”
In a review of Springsteen’s Pittsburgh show, Billboard noted Springsteen’s “earth-quaking exuberance” and the band’s ability to deliver “magic moments” night after night. The same energy was palpable in Philadelphia, where the band delivered a set that spanned decades of hits.
Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band 2025 European Tour Dates
May 17 – Manchester, England – Co-op Live – On-sale: Oct. 11 at 10am BST (5 am ET) ticketmaster.co.uk
May 20 – Manchester, England – Co-op Live – On-sale: Oct. 11 at 10am BST (5 am ET) ticketmaster.co.uk
May 24 – Lille, France – Stade Pierre Mauroy – On-sale: Oct. 7 at 10am CEST (4am ET) gdp.fr/en
May 31 – Marseille, France – Orange Velodrome (rescheduled from May 25, 2024) gdp.fr/en
June 4 – Liverpool, England – Anfield Stadium – On-sale: Oct. 11 at 10am BST (5am ET) ticketmaster.co.uk
June 11 – Berlin, Germany – Olympiastadion – On-sale: Oct. 9 at 10am CEST (4am ET) ticketmaster.de
June 15 – Prague, Czech Republic – Airport Letnany (rescheduled from May 28, 2024) ticketmaster.cz
June 18 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park – On-sale: Oct. 9 at 10am CEST (4am ET) ticketmaster.de
June 21 – San Sebastian, Spain – Estadio Reale Arena (Anoeta) – On-sale: Oct. 8 at 10am CEST (4am ET) doctormusic.com entradas.com
June 27 – Gelsenkirchen, Germany – Veltins Arena – On-sale: Oct. 9 at 10am CEST (4am ET) ticketmaster.de
June 30 – Milan, Italy – San Siro Stadium (rescheduled from June 1, 2024) ticketmaster.it
July 3 – Milan, Italy – San Siro Stadium (rescheduled from June 3, 2024) ticketmaster.it
Jacob Collier and Swedish alt-pop artist Aurora recently boarded a ship to the arctic to perform amid the glaciers.
In video, premiering today (Oct. 1) the duo play a mash-up of their two songs, Collier’s “A Rock Somewhere” from his 2024 album Djesse Vol. 4 and Aurora’s 2019 song “The Seed,” with the performance intended to raise awareness for ocean and climate protection.
“The moment I heard about an opportunity to jump aboard one of the legendary Greenpeace ships, head to Arctic waters, and sing a song with one of my favorite artists next to a mighty glacier, I knew I was signing up for something special,” Collier says in a statement. “What I hadn’t foreseen was quite how transformative and moving the experience would be, and how much it would teach me – musically, energetically and environmentally.
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“I was bowled over at the sheer magnitude of the Arctic – and also its deep fragility,” Collier continues. “We’ve lost two thirds of all the Arctic summer ice in the last forty years. It’s a shadow of its former self – yet it’s not too late for us to help.
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“We compete with each other as nations but we forget the one thing we all have in common,” adds Aurora. “If we keep interfering with the few untouched areas of this Earth, there will be no future. We have to stop deep sea mining. I hope our Prime Minister and the other world leaders will do what is right. Not for them, but for the children of the children.”
Greenpeace notes that millions of people around the world have signed Greenpeace’s petition calling for ocean protection. 32 countries currently support a deep sea mining moratorium, precautionary pause or ban on deep sea mining in the international seabed, which covers more than half of Earth. Greenpeace adds that 58 leading electric vehicle and technology companies have publicly committed to not source minerals mined from the deep sea, with this list including Google, Samsung, Apple, Volvo and BMW.
“We won a historic Global Ocean Treaty last year, which keeps our goal of protecting 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030 alive,” Dr. Laura Meller of Greenpeace Nordic says in a statement. “But governments now want to mine the deep. We won’t let that happen. We hope this collaboration will inspire millions of people around the world to join our mission to protect the oceans for future generations. We still have time, but governments must act now. They must protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030 and introduce a moratorium on deep sea mining.”
Shed Seven‘s Liquid Gold shines brightly in the race for the U.K. Official Albums Chart crown this week, but the alt-rockers could face a battle with Bring Me The Horizon‘s POST HUMAN: NeX GEn for the No. 1 spot.
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At the midweek mark on the latest Chart Blast, Shed Seven are currently leading with their seventh studio album and first new release of 2024. If it holds, this will be the band’s second No. 1 album in the U.K., following A Matter of Time earlier this year.
With their debut album being released 29 years ago, they still hold the U.K. Official Charts record for the longest time between a band’s debut and their first No. 1.
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But Bring Me The Horizon are creeping up behind them. Their album POST HUMAN: NeX GEn, which was initially released in May, floats from No. 5 to No. 2 in the latest blast, thanks to its physical release, and is currently sitting at No. 2. With just 600 chart units separating the two, Oli Sykes and company are within striking distance of their third U.K. No. 1.
At No. 3, Nines’ latest album Quit While You’re Ahead looks to debut strong. This marks his sixth studio release and potentially his second U.K. No. 1 album, following Crabs In A Bucket in 2020.
Meanwhile, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet slips one spot to No. 4 after peaking at No. 1 six weeks ago. Ed Sheeran’s new + – = ÷ x (Tour Collection) is set to debut at No. 5, continuing his chart dominance following his recent tour.
Ezra Collective’s Dance, No One’s Watching eyes a No. 6 debut, marking their highest to date, while Pale Waves’ Smitten is likely to land at No. 7, which would mark their fourth consecutive Top 10 album in the U.K.
Indie darling Chappell Roan sees The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess slip from No. 2 to No. 8, while Maximo Park’s Stream of Life debuts at No. 9. Oasis’s Time Flies… 1994-2009 continues its record-setting run at No. 10, holding steady after peaking at No. 2 for its 704th week in the Top 40.
Further down the chart, In a touching posthumous debut, SOPHIE’s self-titled album is set to enter the chart at No. 24, marking the first time the visionary producer has appeared on the Chart. Lady Gaga’s Harlequin, the surprise soundtrack album for the new Joker film and digital-only release, is expected to debut at No. 25, and Michael Bublé’s The Best of Bublé is poised to enter the chart at No. 28, marking his 13th Top 40 album.
With only a few days left in the chart week, it’s still a close race for the top, and the final results could shift dramatically before Friday’s reveal.
In one of the many unprecedented turn of events in K-pop this decade, the beloved girl group LOONA experienced an emotional split after terminating contracts with their label before each of the 12 members landed safely to pursue new K-pop paths. Alongside Chuu and Yves‘ new starts as soloists, to five members reconfiguring as Loossemble, the final step of these re-debuts came in ARTMS, consisting of LOONA stars HaSeul, HeeJin, Kim Lip, Choerry, and JinSoul coming together to rebrand themselves, reimagine their artistry and remember their roots as a new quintet.
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After releasing a series of solo and unit singles, the group launched their debut full-length album, DALL, to return the girls to the Billboard charts (main single “Virtual Angel” cracked the Top 10 on the World Digital Song Sales chart, while DALL itself landed in the Top 10 of World Albums), and to the delight of fans and critics alike (even earning a spot on Billboard critics’ Best K-Pop Albums of 2024 So Far list).
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Riding the exciting comeback success, the group is embarking on their ARTMS World Tour ‘Moonshot,’ which has already wrapped its North and South American legs. As they prepare to conquer Europe, Australia, and Asia this fall and winter, ARTMS is eager to reflect on their journey from LOONA to their current iteration.
Sitting down with Billboard at the New York office of The Orchard, ARTMS shine with a sense of unity, growth, and playfulness. HaSeul, more confident than ever in English, jokes about accidentally spoiling upcoming tour surprises, while HeeJin candidly confesses her hair is mostly extensions, JinSoul speaks about immersing herself into the A&R process, Choerry balances the group’s past with an exciting future, as Kim Lip looks ahead to what’s next for the group’s personal and professional lives.
Despite the challenges faced, ARTMS beam with a sense of pride over their collective growth and how they’ve taken control of their music and artistic direction. Here, the five idols discuss their creative evolution, navigating the K-pop industry post-LOONA, and their deep connection to the fans who have supported them every step of the way. Read on for more below alongside exclusive photos provided for Billboard.
I’m so proud to see ARTMS here in New York. Kim Lip, JinSoul, and Choerry toured as ODD EYE CIRCLE, but all five of you are here now. How do you feel about ARMTS’ first shows outside Asia?
HaSeul: I’m so excited and a little nervous too because it’s ARTMS’ first concert and tour.
HeeJin: Of course it feels great, and we have lots of thoughts on starting off strong as New York, a big city, is our first stop for this tour.
Congratulations on your first album, DALL, which got such great reactions. Was it a relief to get such a positive response?
Kim Lip: Since we’re releasing an album as ARTMS instead of LOONA, I was worried yet excited about how the public would react to our music. But we’re getting on the charts and receiving lots of attention, so we felt at ease, and I’m so happy to go on tour and meet with our fans.
HaSeul
Lauren Nakao Winn
How did you five come together and decide to move forward as ARTMS?
HaSeul: I was the last member to join ARTMS, but all five of us are very passionate about music. I think the members who came together and gathered [here] had the biggest will to bring ARTMS to life. When producing this album, I felt how sincere we all were about music…we had many solo and unit albums when we were promoting as LOONA, and you can see it as us continuing that identity. In a way, [ARTMS] can be seen as us taking back our identity. And since our skills are outstanding, we released solo, unit, and group albums.
It seems like you have more ownership and responsibility this time. There must have been pressure, but did it feel like you could share something more personal under ARTMS?
HeeJin: Usually, the company tells us what to do, but now, since we’re active players and debuting again, we wanted to work on the identity of ARTMS. We gave a lot of input in the songs and concepts. Our company took them positively and reflected them in our work, so I’d say it’s an album we produced all together.
I imagine reuniting with LOONA’s original producer, Jaden Jeong, must have been special. Was it fun to return to this production style?
JinSoul: We have had a storyline in our group [LOONA] and the fans like this aspect. We further developed the storyline by working again with Jaden Jeong, who [first] created this storyline — and it’s great to add ARTMS to it as well. While adding ARTMS’ colors, everything became more diverse. We maintained a bit of tradition for the fans, and it’s great to show more sides of us and go deeper.
HeeJin: I think fans love it the most that we’re going with the storylines and expanding onto it.
JinSoul
Lauren Nakao Winn
While we know about LOONA’s contract story, I’m more interested in how all 12 of you found strength and came out of it together?
JinSoul: The members share lots of conversations together. But during that time, we looked into what we could do and thought of methods to use to go through with it.
Kim Lip: The members cooperate well together, so we tend to respect each other’s opinions since we’re like a family. I think that’s how we came to a conclusion.
HeeJin: It’s also meaningless if we don’t do it together. So, we did it all together.
HaSeul: We are a family.
Putting the past to rest, if there are fans — whether they’re Orbits or OURII — who are still worried about you or want to check in, what words would you share with them?
HeeJin: We’re always simultaneously thankful and sorry to the fans. It took a lot of time for ARTMS to debut. Despite that, I’d like to thank the fans for waiting for us. There are also fans who became our fans as ARTMS debuted. We’ll promote more from now on, so please be at ease and keep an eye on us. Don’t worry…
Looking ahead, what are some of the special aspects of the Moonshot tour?
HaSeul: During our concerts in South Korea and Japan, we performed TWS’ “Plot Twist.” But for the USA, we prepared a different song to perform — “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift. I look forward to performing that song the most.
JinSoul: When we performed in Korea and Japan, we changed the choreography of “Sparkle” and “Flower Rhythm” for the concert version. Many fans looked forward to it after seeing the choreography video. We also do different ad-libs at different times, so I’m always looking forward to the various ad-libs we’ll do.
HeeJin: The setlists will be similar, but there are always impromptu changes during our concerts, so the fans can really look forward to it. In Japan, there was a moment we performed the same song twice and a time we’d suddenly go off-stage. I look forward to those kinds of impromptu moments. And, of course, I brought my guitar.
Kim Lip
Lauren Nakao Winn
How has it been reuniting with fans in the States?
Kim Lip: We just had a fansigning today. It was fascinating to hold new events like this fansign during this tour. There was one moment that I remember when one fan started to sing in front of us — the fans are very, how do I say this, open when it comes to expressing their feelings. They’re different from the fans in Korea. I really felt the way they so enthusiastically express their feelings this morning, and it makes me really look forward to our concerts.
HeeJin: That’s why I love it. Even if the fans in Korea really want to express themselves, they are very reserved. But on the other hand, fans in the U.S. openly show their support, so it excites us and gives us lots of strength.
Whether it’s your concerts or album production, what is ARTMS’ creative process nowadays?
HeeJin: We’ve been deeply participating in the process, but shall we start off with an answer from the main A&R member?
JinSoul: Jaden Jeong usually brings forward a lot of the music, but we look into the smallest details of the production. For example, we direct the vocals for each other or select the photos to be included in the album. We also selected the album cover design, hair colors, and styling. We participated in lyric writing this time, too. The company works on big tasks and we give our detailed inputs to showcase the best of us.
HeeJin
Lauren Nakao Winn
What are you really proud of to say you’ve worked on?
Kim Lip: We can proudly say that we wrote the lyrics for “Sparkle.” And the light stick!
HeeJin: We got ideas for the light stick and sent over drafts. The final design was our idea. And personally, during the “Virtual Angel” promotions, I wanted to dye my hair white because I thought an angel had a very white, bright image. So, even though I had to sacrifice my hair, I wanted to do it. I discussed it with my company and went on with it.
You’ve never been blonde; your hair looks great!
HeeJin: This is not my hair. [All Laugh] It’s extensions, my hair looks bad.
I’m sure your hair looks great. But from watching K-pop, it feels like the fans can give artists new chances today. Do you think the industry has changed from when you debuted to today?
Choerry: I definitely wouldn’t have expected this back then. We were very young. The situation the 12 of us went through was saddening, but I’m very satisfied with ARTMS right now. I’m happy to have released great songs with the members, my sisters. I also believe we have lots of time to spend with fans, so I hope we can have fun and come to them with better sides.
HaSeul: I’d say we were able to stand on stage again 100% because the fans were waiting for us. And it was made possible because we have fans. The reason why we look forward to the concerts on tour as the time went by is because we want to show a great performance to the fans who’ve been waiting for two years. We’re really looking forward to this tour.
Choerry
Lauren Nakao Winn
I loved HeeJin’s interview with InternetsNathan when she ranked every LOONA song. To give everyone the opportunity, I’d love for you to choose your “favOriTe” song released from LOONA solo days to ARTMS today.
HaSeul: I think “Virtual Angel.” Since the title song [single] is the song you listen to the most due to promotions, there are times you can get sick of it, but I like the song so much that I can listen to it in the car every day.
Kim Lip: “Hi High”? We had lots of solo and unit songs, but we went a long way to release the “Hi High” album. I think it was a relieving album for the members, staff, and fans who were waiting for a long time. I think it’s the most meaningful album; fans still love this song. I can call this my favorite.
HeeJin: I’m going to choose “Butterfly Effect” because ARTMS is starting anew with Jaden Jeong and he told us the story behind this song. It was one of the songs he wanted to release when we were LOONA. He held onto this song for six years and finally got it on the tracklist for DALL. The song feels like a continuation of LOONA to ARTMS. Some lyrics make you think of the past, so it became a song I love.
Choerry: I choose “Singing in the Rain.“ It’s my favorite song because, during concerts, it has a bursting beat and the sound is full and harmonious. And JinSoul’s vocals suit the song so it’s a song that I always wanted. It’s so good that I want to do a collab stage.
HeeJin: I want to do a collab stage for it too!
JinSoul: I choose “Butterfly.” I think this song really shows LOONA’s identity. When I look at past performances, there were times I looked shy, but I think this song was one I was most proud of. The choreography was amazing. It’ll be difficult for me to perform it again, but I think it was a synergy only we could show during that time.
Others: We can do it again! We can do it!
What can we look forward to from ARTMS from here, the tour, what’s next?
Kim Lip: ARTMS is…
All: Vacation! After tour…
Kim Lip: This is a secret, but I think we’ll prepare for the next ARTMS album after the tour. We don’t know the details, but I think it’ll be an album to really look forward to. But it’s not confirmed…
Both of those are important! Any last messages to fans if they couldn’t see you on tour this time?
HeeJin: Thank you so so much for waiting for us. Fans who attended our concerts will know, but even though we’re fewer members as ARTMS, you’ll be able to see perfect performances. We’ve become very experienced performers. Thank you so much for loving us and coming to see us. I hope the members stay healthy throughout the tour because we wish to promote the group to many people.
HeeJin, Kim Lip, HaSeul, JinSoul and Choerry of ARTMS
Lauren Nakao Winn