Music

07 Mar 2024

Wolfgang Van Halen Explains How He Ended Up on the Oscar-Nominated ‘I’m Just Ken’ From ‘Barbie’

Wolfgang Van Halen‘s career has been full of unlikely opportunities. After all, he started with playing bass alongside his father and uncle in Van Halen when he was just 16 years old. And his own band, Mammoth WVH, has become a stadium habituate opening for the likes of Metallica and Guns N’ Roses.

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But the son of the late Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli never thought he’d be part of an Academy Award-nominated song — sung by a Barbie doll, no less.

Yet Van Halen was, in fact, part of the team that recorded “I’m Just Ken,” the Ryan Gosling-sung piece from Greta Gerwig’s hit film Barbie. He plays guitar on the track, which was co-written and produced by Mark Ronson and Andrew Watt and features Slash on guitar, current Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese on drums and Jelly Fish/Imperial Drag keyboardist Roger Manning.

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“I’m honestly happy just to be a part of it, to have an opportunity to play a super small part in it,” Van Halen tells Billboard. “It was a really, really wonderful opportunity. I knew (the movie) was good just from being involved in it and seeing what I was able to see. But to see the song I played on blow up as much as it did was pretty crazy.”

Van Halen was recruited for the track after meeting Ronson at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in London during September 2022. “Mark Ronson and I hit it off,” Van Halen remembers, “and he reached out and hit me up and it was just a really good time. I spent two days in his studio and we just played around with ideas and it was a really good time. (Ronson) and his writing partner Andrew are such wonderful dudes and amazing at what they do that it was an honor just to see how they worked.”

“I’m Just Ken” was a top 5 hit on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart during the summer and hit No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100, while Barbie The Album reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Soundtrack Albums chart. During December, a “Merry Kristmas Barbie” version of the power ballad send-up was released, accompanied by a video boasting an in-studio performance. Gosling will perform the song at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday (March 10); the band lineup for the show has not been announced, but Ronson, Watt and others who took part in the session are expected to be part of it. Mammoth WVH recently announced the postponement of three concerts this week which would have conflicted with the Oscars and rehearsals.

“For Mark and Andrew to bring me into it, just to play some guitar in the movie, it was really, really wonderful,” Van Halen says. “I’d love to do something like that again, especially with those guys. They’re wonderful dudes and incredibly talented. Everybody in the movie, the whole production of it, are so deserving of every accolade they’re getting. It’s really exciting.”

Van Halen does not, however, see soundtrack composing in his future at the moment. “I’m still very much focused and driving on building Mammoth and seeing what is possible with that,” he explains. “But certainly, opportunities like the one that Mark gave me for Barbie, when they come up it’s very, ‘Okay, we can certainly make time for something like this.’ But I’m very much driven in terms of, ‘Let’s see where we can take Mammoth.’”

Van Halen has mostly been taking Mammoth on the road this year, supporting last August’s Mammoth II. The group is wrapping up the first leg of a U.S. headlining tour and will be playing Europe supporting Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators during March and April. The group will also be supporting Metallica and Foo Fighters during the summer. Van Halen is also “tinkering” with new song ideas, though he says any plans for a third Mammoth WVH album are “super preliminary.”

In May, Van Halen and his father’s EVH instrument company will roll out a new line of SA-126 guitars, which he designed along with EVH masterbuilder Chip Ellis and Matt Bruck.

Amidst all the good news, Van Halen is still fighting off some haters, an ongoing battle that he’s addressed in songs such as “I’m Alright” and “Better Than You.” Most recently it was former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, who posted a lengthy video diatribe that referred to Van Halen as “this f–kin’ kid” and a “schlemiel kid” and accused him of kicking some of Roth’s guests out of the backstage area during shows. “I’m honored he thinks about me as much as he does, I guess,” Van Halen says in response, though quickly adding that, “I would sure love to not have to be part of some sort of Van Halen drama at all, so I think I’m just gonna continue to sit in my no-comment zone…’cause at the end of the day it’s just not worth it.”

But, he continues, “It’s one thing when there’s some due on Twitter saying a lie about me. But when there’s other people trying to lie about me and make me look bad? It’s just like, you can believe whatever you want, I guess. The people who hate me are gonna continue to hate me, and I’m just gonna be over here doing my thing.”

07 Mar 2024

J. Cole, SZA, Nicki Minaj & Chris Brown to Headline Dreamville Festival 2024

J. Cole’s Dreamville Festival is returning to North Carolina in April, and he’s put together an all-star team to hit the stage alongside him this year.

Dreamville Fest 2024 announced its lineup of heavy hitters on Thursday (March 7), with SZA, Nicki Minaj and Chris Brown set to serve as headliners with J. Cole.

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The anticipated fourth edition of the annual festival — which launched in 2018 — is set to take over Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7. Tickets are already on sale with a limited number of general admission passes still available for the two-day event.

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“Some of the biggest names in music will travel to Raleigh in only a few short weeks, bringing about one of the most highly anticipated festivals of the year. Our team looks forward to welcoming all of our Day One fans from around the world back to Dreamville Festival,” said Dreamville Cofounder and Festival President Adam Roy in a statement.

The rest of this year’s stacked lineup will feature sets from Lil Yachty, JID, Sexyy Red, ScHoolboy Q, Teezo Touchdown, Jeezy, Monica, Rae Sremmurd, Key Glock, Jeremih, Lul Tyler, Muni Long and more.

From the Dreamville hometeam, fans can expect EARTHGANG, Bas, Cozz, Lute, and Omen to hit the stage as well.

In addition to the musical acts, there will be plenty of other attractions for festivalgoers throughout the weekend including carnival rides, immersive art installations and a variety of food options.

Find the full Dreamville Festival 2024 lineup broken down below.

Saturday, April 6:

  • SZA
  • Chris Brown
  • J.I.D.
  • Lil Yachty
  • ScHoolboyQ
  • Sexyy Red
  • Jeremih
  • EARTHGANG
  • Teezo Touchdown
  • Amaarae
  • Lute
  • Luh Tyler
  • Domani

Saturday, April 7:

  • J. Cole
  • Nicki Minaj
  • Rema
  • Jeezy
  • Monica
  • Rae Sremmurd
  • Key Glock
  • Bas
  • Muni Long
  • Cozz
  • Omen
  • TiaCorine
  • Chase Shakur

See the announcement below:

07 Mar 2024

From Beyoncé to Post Malone, Why Is Everyone Going Country?

Bolstered by acts like Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan and Luke Combs, country music in 2023 experienced its biggest growth spurt in more than 30 years — way back when Garth Brooks soared to superstardom. Already, this year seems on track to continue that explosion, as country stars and pop icons alike are capitalizing on the genre’s recent boom.

In February, Beyoncé became the first Black woman to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with her galloping hit, “Texas Hold ’Em,” from her upcoming Act II, expected to be a full-on country album, out March 29. Post Malone has teased a duet with Combs on social media and written with other genre stars including Wallen and HARDY for his upcoming country album. And Lana Del Rey — who declared that her fall album, Lasso, will be a country set — recently posted a snippet of a song that she worked on with noted Nashville songwriter-producer Luke Laird.

CMT senior vp of music strategy and talent Leslie Fram views the influx as a sign of “overwhelming respect for the storytelling and the songwriting in Nashville,” but predicts that noncountry artists taking up slots at terrestrial country radio “is going to be a major topic of conversation … If [a core country artist] has spent 30 to 50 weeks trying to climb up a chart and, all of a sudden, they’re replaced by someone who is not in the genre, I do believe there will be concerns.”

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However, Simon Tikhman, co-founder of The Core Entertainment, which manages Nickelback and country upstarts Bailey Zimmerman and Nate Smith, sees the possible radio displacement as a good sign overall. “We were on a call with Nate’s Sony team talking about adds at radio, and No. 1 was Beyoncé and No. 2 was Nate,” he says, adding that The Core Entertainment co-founder Kevin “Chief” Zaruk “and I were like, ‘This is amazing that she sees what’s going on over here.’ She’s as brilliant as a performer gets, and she wants to be part of this. It just goes to show how powerful the genre is right now.”

As Alan Jackson famously sang in his 1994 hit, “Gone Country,” for decades, any artist who released such music but who hadn’t moved to Nashville or put in the time building a country audience and courting country radio was considered a carpetbagger. But now, many insiders see it as a sign that borders between genres have fallen and that country’s recent surge in popularity has made it extremely appealing to artists who have fallen in love with the music, too.

And unlike in the past, when artists might explore country only as their pop career dwindled, today’s infiltration and interest are coming from names at the peak of their pop prowess. “It isn’t like the heritage artists before that wanted to do a country record. These are artists at the top of their game,” Fram says. Olivia Rodrigo attended Megan Moroney’s Los Angeles show last year and posted photos backstage together. And in November, Post Malone made his debut performance at the Country Music Association Awards.

Plus, fandom aside, it’s smart business. “The pop labels are seeing the success of a Morgan Wallen,” Sony Nashville chairman/CEO Randy Goodman says of the country superstar, whose smash “Last Night” and album One Thing at a Time logged the most weeks of any song or album on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 last year, respectively. He adds: “The biggest female artist in the world is Taylor [Swift], who started in country. I don’t think that’s lost on any of the labels.”

Range Media Partners co-founder Matt Graham, whose company manages Jack Harlow, Midland and Saweetie, believes the pop transplants could help expand country’s global audience. “It’s good for making the genre international,” he says, noting that acts like Wallen and Combs have already helped country grow worldwide. “This has the potential to blow that wide open.” He predicts streaming numbers for country artists, which were already up nearly 24% year over year in 2023 domestically, according to Luminate, will “drastically” increase this year and beyond.

And the genre-flipping isn’t just flowing one way: Country artists are finding success in other formats, too. Combs had a massive crossover hit with his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” and Wallen topped Billboard’s year-end Streaming Songs Artists chart, the first time a country act had achieved the feat. Meanwhile, Jelly Roll and HARDY — both of whom are considered primarily country artists — reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock and Hard Rock charts, respectively.

Like 21-year-old Rodrigo, younger music listeners don’t “put music in a box,” Zaruk says, noting Zimmerman’s November duet with the Jonas Brothers. “For years, country fans didn’t really listen to hip-hop and rap and rap fans were not listening to country,” he continues. “We’re genreless now.”

This story will appear in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.

07 Mar 2024

Watch a Joyous Jimmy Buffett Dance Through ‘The University of Bourbon Street’: Video Premiere

The late Jimmy Buffett deeply loved New Orleans. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, he moved to the Crescent City for a year and his time there informed the rest of his musical life. 

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He played New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at least a dozen times, adored New Orleans legendary composer/artist Allen Toussaint (who wrote a song called “I’m Gonna Hang with Jimmy Buffett”), recorded and toured with local icons The Neville Brothers, and when asked by a journalist if he thought “there would be a Jimmy Buffett if there wasn’t a New Orleans,” Buffett replied, “I don’t think there ever would have been.” 

On his final album, Equal Strain on All Parts, which was released Nov. 3 via Mailboat/Sun, two months after his Sept. 1 death, Buffett again professed his love for New Orleans and what the city meant to him on the rollicking  “The College of Bourbon Street.” 

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In the video for the autobiographical anthem, which premieres above, Buffett, with a little help from  the renowned Preservation Jazz Hall Band, chronicles his history with the city. Anchored by footage of a grinning Buffett recording the song in the studio last year, the video also includes decades of photographs and clips of Buffett performing in New Orleans and just enjoying the multitudes of delights the city has to offer.

He’s shown leading a second line, busking in the French Quarter with a sign in his guitar case that reads “will play for gumbo,” hanging out with fans at Margaritaville, playing at Jazz Fest and excitedly getting ready to sample some gumbo. The video does everything to reinforce the notion that Buffett lived and loved every moment to the fullest in his 76 years on earth. 

Buffett wrote the song with Will Kimbrough, who told Buffettnews.com that he “started writing ‘The University of Bourbon Street’ on my couch Dec 19, 2022, after Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers sent me one of his ‘are you ready for some homework? messages.” He then joined Buffett in the studio last January to record the song. “One of the most profound experiences of this time period was rewriting the lyrics from beginning to end right there in the studio with Jimmy” he told the website. “No pressure! But we did it. Despite his illness, he was 100% on and energetics, lighting up the room with that smile. Making everyone feel comfortable and laugh.”

07 Mar 2024

Kesha Bares All in First Tease of Post-Dr. Luke Era Music: ‘First Day I’ve Owned My Voice in 19 Years’

Kesha is ready to begin again. The singer who was locked in a battle with former producer/label boss Dr. Luke for nearly a decade over her claims that he raped and emotionally abused her posted a snippet of new music and hinted an her new era in a post on Wednesday (March 6); Luke (born Lukasz Gottwald) has denied the allegations.

“First day I’ve owned my own voice in 19 years. Welcome,” Kesha tweeted, later sharing a 42-second snippet of an emotional, ethereal new song in which she sings, “I’ve been waiting for you/ Everything’s changed now/ We haven’t talked for a while,” accompanied by a video in which the singer strips off her white slip and wades naked into a stream. She also posted what appeared to be an album cover shot and launched a new website, keshaiswaitingforyou.com, which at press time only featured a link to her social media accounts and a nude image of the singer’s back in a nighttime desert landscape.

In an Instagram live, Kesha, 42, smiled, cried and danced along to an upbeat new song that featured her signature confessional lyrics.

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The new music would be the follow-up to last year’s Gag Order album, which was her final under contract to Luke’s Kemosabe label. Kesha sued Luke in 2014 over allegations that he’d sexually and emotionally abused her — including a claim that he allegedly drugged and raped her at a 2005 party — which he denied; that action led to a countersuit from Luke claiming breach of contract and defamation, with the latter action settled before a planned June 2023 trial.

In a December TikTok, Kesha shared a video of her running into the ocean with the caption, “I haven’t felt this free since I was 18,” followed by a post in January, in which she promised fans “new music coming soon!” The message was written on a cardboard box she was seen holding in a 7-Eleven parking lot in Los Angeles. At press time no additional information was available on the name or release date of the singer’s sixth album.

Check out Kesha’s new era announcements below.

07 Mar 2024

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Set New Studio LP ‘Wild God’

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds will unleash Wild God later this year, the alternative rock outfit’s 18th studio album.

Led by the title track, Wild God is the followup to Ghosteen, the critically-lauded two-disc longplay from 2019, which explored Cave’s exposure to grief and pain, following the sudden death of his son Arthur in 2015. 

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That record went on to crack the top 10 on national charts in Australia (at No. 2) and the U.K. (No. 4) and impacted the Billboard 200 (at No. 108), and was shortlisted for several major music awards, including the Australian Music Prize and the U.K.’s Ivor Novello Awards.

The album will drop Aug. 30 through Cave’s own label Bad Seed, via a new, exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Play It Again Sam, an imprint of the independent [PIAS] label group.

“The new album is incredible,” enthuses Kenny Gates, co-founder and CEO of [PIAS], “in my opinion his best ever, and we will go over the barricades to deliver the global success it deserves.”

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Led by the ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted Cave, the current Bad Seeds lineup consists of Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Jim Sclavunos, George Vjestica and longtime collaborator Warren Ellis, who produces the album with Cave.



Mixed by David Fridmann, Cave began work on the album on New Year’s Day 2023, news of which he shared on his blog The Red Hand Files. “My plan for this year is to make a new record with the Bad Seeds,” he wrote at the time. “This is both good news and bad news. Good news because who doesn’t want a new Bad Seeds record? Bad news because I’ve got to write the bloody thing.”

Spanning 10 track, the forthcoming LP was cut at Miraval Studios in Provence, France and Soundtree Studios in London, England, and features contributions from Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood (bass) and Luis Almau (nylon string guitar, acoustic guitar).

Greenwood will accompany the multihyphenate Cave on a solo tour of Australia, set to kick off April 25 with the first of a three-night stand at the MCEC Plenary Melbourne. Cave is expected to perform songs from his extensive catalog on the trek, presented by Billions.

“I hope the album has the effect on listeners that it’s had on me,” Cave says of the new album. “It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it. It’s a complicated record, but it’s also deeply and joyously infectious. There is never a master plan when we make a record. The records rather reflect back the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this, I don’t know, it seems we’re happy.”

Wild God track listing:
1. Song of the Lake
2. Wild God
3. Frogs
4. Joy
5. Final Rescue Attempt
6. Conversion
7. Cinnamon Horses
8. Long Dark Night
9. O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is)
10. As the Waters Cover the Sea

06 Mar 2024

Why the Oscars Are Bringing Back the ‘Fab 5’ Presenters Format from the 2009 Telecast

The creative team behind the 2024 Oscars is lifting an idea from the 2009 Oscars, when they had five past winners in each of the four acting categories pay tribute to the current nominees before announcing this year’s winner.

In a press conference Wednesday (March 6) on Zoom, four days before the Oscars telecast on March 10, Raj Kapoor, executive producer and showrunner of the Oscars, said “I think one of the things we’re most excited about is what we call Fab Five. We did a deep dive into so many of the past Oscar shows, and even though we’ve been a part of previous shows, even though I think all of us have watched the show since we were kids, we always feel like we learn.

“So, we went back, we did a deep dive into Oscars history, and one of the best moments that we loved, and has not been repeated till this year, was the year that Bill Condon [screenwriter of Gods and Monsters and Chicago] did it, and it was this lovely storytelling. And, again, it came down to connection. It was past winners speaking to present nominees, and just that lovely connection and that human interaction.

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“And so we thought we’d love to try it again. So, we tasked Erin [Irwin], who is one of our other producers, and she’s done an amazing job. … And so during the show in our acting categories, five former winners will present to the five nominees, and we think it’s just going to be a great piece of storytelling and connection at home that you will maybe get to hear these personal stories and these personal interactions, and you get to root for your favorite actor or actress in this really personal way. So, we’re really excited to have that come to life.”

If you missed the 2009 show, Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, Anjelica Huston, Eva Marie Saint and Tilda Swinton presented the nominees for best supporting actress.

Alan Arkin, Cuba Gooding Jr., Joel Grey, Kevin Kline and Christopher Walken presented the nominees for best supporting actor.

Halle Berry, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren and Shirley MacLaine presented the nominees for best actress.

Adrien Brody, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley presented the nominees for best actor.

While the Academy has not yet announced who will be presenting which awards this year, these announced presenters have won in these categories. (Jessica Lange and Al Pacino have won in both lead and support. We put them where they seemed likeliest to land on Sunday).

Best actress: Sally Field, Charlize Theron, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Yeoh

Best actor: Ben Kingsley, Forest Whitaker, Nicolas Cage, Brendan Fraser, Matthew McConaughey

Best supporting actress: Mary Steenburgen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Regina King, Rita Moreno, Lupita Nyong’o, Octavia Spencer

Best supporting actor: Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Ke Huy Quan, Sam Rockwell, Al Pacino

In addition, the show has booked Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, stars of the upcoming film Wicked, as presenters. It’s a good bet they’ll do something together.

Rickey Minor, who is serving as music director of the Oscars for the fourth time in the past six years, was also on the panel. He was asked how he picks the music to play on the show, and explained some of the obvious factors – looking for a range of emotions and a diversity of source material. “But it’s about the energy of the room,” he said. “So, we have a plan, but I’ll call an audible just like that. You know, if I feel the audience needs something that needs to pump them up, I’ve got it right in the pocket. And so the band’s always ready. And I think they love it, too, because they never know what’s coming.”

Kapoor added, “This year, the orchestra is live on our stage. So, we are celebrating 42 incredible musicians that will be seen throughout the evening. … And we are treating the music performances very different. Sometimes, it’s full orchestration. Sometimes, they may be a little bit more intimate. And that will lend itself when we get to the In Memoriam performance.”

In response to a question from the session’s moderator, Rotten Tomatoes’ awards editor Jacqueline Coley, Kapoor spoke highly of Jimmy Kimmel, who is hosting the Oscars for the fourth time.

“I could not speak more highly of anybody than Jimmy,” he said. “He’s been an amazing partner, and he has just been so involved from the very beginning in the summer. He’s involved in all our creative decisions, from the presenters to pairings to the pace of the show to musical performances. Like, Jimmy’s touch, he is a producer on this show. He is one of our partners, and he has a really strong creative vision. And I think what makes him so great is just his investment. We don’t just get him for rehearsals this week. We get him for months before.”

The panelists were asked which was their favorite Oscar show they had worked on. Molly McNearney, executive producer of the Oscar telecast and an executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, had a surprising answer – the show seven years ago that was capped by the biggest debacle in Oscar history, when La La Land was named best picture before the award was presented to the rightful winner, Moonlight.

“This might be an unpopular answer, but when there was the mix-up with the envelope, I actually enjoyed the spontaneity of a moment because when Jimmy is in an uncomfortable situation, that’s where he’s most comfortable,” McNearney said. “And I think that when there’s moments you don’t expect in a live television broadcast, I think we’re in really great hands with this team.”

McNearney also spoke to the process of writing the monologue. “You know, the monologue is scripted,” she said. “It gets reworked up until the very last minute. He will obsess now over every joke. He has pages and pages and pages. He has a rough outline of the monologue that I read this morning that I think is brilliant. I know it will change six more times before Sunday. But then there are those moments in the show that are completely unscripted. There have been several in every show he’s ever hosted. And those are the moments I love the most because we get to be surprised.”

Katy Mullan, executive producer, spoke to an interactive portion on this year’s show involving a QR code. “One of the really successful parts of last year’s show was profiles of a lot of the nominees, and they got huge, huge views from global audiences. So, at the end of each act, there will be a QR code, and people can scan that and go to the Academy website where they can watch profiles of a ton of the people that are nominated. They’re beautifully made by The Academy team and really insightful.”

“And there’s also an ability to go and watch the speeches from the Governors Awards, which happened earlier this year. … It was a really, really memorable night. So, if you want to go and do a deep dive during the commercial breaks or after the Oscars, all of that content will be there.”

06 Mar 2024

Some Music Fans Speculate Whether Brian Kelley’s New Song is a Dig at Former FGL Bandmate Tyler Hubbard

Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard, both previously part of Florida Georgia Line, are each prepping new solo projects, with Hubbard’s Strong to release April 12, and Kelley’s Tennessee Truth to release May 10.

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Kelley just released one new song off the album, titled “Kiss My Boots,” along with a new music video for the song, and some music fans seem to think the track is a dig at his former FGL bandmate Hubbard.

The song includes lyrics aimed at someone who has wronged him, even in the opening lines, “You’ve been throwin’ dirt on my name ’round this town like it ain’t small/ Like your friends ain’t my friends, and I wouldn’t end up hearin’ it all.” The chorus goes on to muse, “I don’t know how you act sweet after how you did me/ Here’s a middle finger to you through a song.”

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In teasing the song a week ago, Kelley said on Instagram, “My mental health coach told me a couple years ago as I was navigating through an extremely difficult, hurtful, and confusing time, ‘the person with the highest emotional intelligence has the highest responsibility.’ So as hard as it was in those moments to take the high road, I took her advice and I sat back and ‘ate my popcorn’. Everyone processes differently. I went inward. And it all came out in a song. Now it’s time for y’all to get your popcorn ?”Kiss My Boots” available next Wednesday, March 6th.”

The video for the song centers around Kelley hunting down a snake in the woods, while some fans began speculating about the video’s final scene, which shows Kelley, wearing a belt buckle emblazoned with the word “Florida,” slicing up a peach (the official state fruit of Hubbard’s homestate of Georgia) with a knife.

Hubbard previously addressed Kelley’s new song in an interview with Holler, saying, “Just like I’ve always said, I’m happy for BK. This is what he wanted and this is what he initiated, and I hope he’s happy and that he’s doing his thing and I’m doing my thing.” Hubbard further added, “I wish him the best, and yeah, as far as that’s concerned that’s about all I have to say about it.”

Meanwhile, Kelley said of the inspiration behind the song, “You know, this is a really personal song, it was born from a deep wound and a relationship. It’s a song about betrayal, and I just took a deep dive and put it all out there in a song, just like so many other artists have done over the years.” He went on to add, “I really hope that people can find their own ‘Tennessee Truth’ in this song. What I love about [‘Kiss My Boots’] is I know what it means to me, and I think it has a universal message that people can relate to. A lot of people have been betrayed, and so I hope that this song helps them as much as it has helped me.”

Billboard reached out to reps for both Hubbard and Kelley for comment.

Ormond Beach, Florida native Kelley and Monroe, Georgia native Hubbard met while both were students at Nashville’s Belmont University. In 2012, they released their debut album, and FGL’s career skyrocketed thanks to their breakthrough song “Cruise,” which would ultimately become certified “Diamond” by the RIAA. They earned two Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits (“Cruise” peaked at No. 4 while their Bebe Rexha collaboration “Meant to Be” peaked at No. 2). FGL has collected 16 Country Airplay No. 1 hits, among them “Stay” and “‘Round Here.”

In 2021, they posted a video on Instagram, stating that they would each begin working on solo music, even as they geared up for the release of their album Life Rolls On, which dropped on Feb. 12, 2021. That same year, Hubbard said during an interview on The Bobby Bones Show, “We’re not breaking up, we’re just taking a break.”

A year later, in July 2022, Hubbard said during an appearance on Bones’ podcast that Kelley initiated each of them releasing solo projects, and noted that though there was “no bad blood between the two of them,” he did point out that any reunions would likely be years in the making, saying they “might revisit getting the duo together 10 or 15 years down the line.” Hubbard and Kelley last played a show together back in 2022.

Meanwhile, Hubbard released his debut, self-titled solo project via EMI Nashville and Hubbard House Records in 2023, including the hit songs “5 Foot 9” and “Dancin’ in the Country.” Kelley released the EP BK’s Wave Pack in 2021, followed that same year by Sunshine State of Mind, out on Nashville South/Warner Music Nashville. Kelley’s upcoming album, Tennessee Truth, will release via Big Machine Records, spearheaded by the top 30 Country Airplay single “See You Next Summer.”

Listen to Kelley’s “Kiss My Boots” below:

06 Mar 2024

Nelly’s Right: The Rap Game Was Harder 20 Years Ago

Nelly, the St. Louis rap vet, raised a few eyebrows when a clip with him from SpringHill’s The Shop circulated on social media yesterday. In the clip, the diamond-selling superstar claimed that it was much harder to sell records as a rapper back when he was first coming out than at any other time in the genre’s history.

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“My era of music was the toughest era of hip-hop, ever. Ever,” he says on the episode that drops March 7. “When I put out songs, I had to go against DMX, JAY-Z, Eminem, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Luda. All of us are fighting for one spot!”

Every artist believes their generation has it the toughest. Drake, for example, on his first Rock Ross collab “Lord Knows,” laments having to deal with a climate in which a celebrity’s private life is incessantly mined for content by publications and people on social media, alike. Going as far as to wonder if the greats he’s compared to would “ever survive in this era. In a time where it’s recreation to pull all your skeletons out the closet like Halloween decorations.” Who knows how rappers from the 90s would fare if they had to contend with X, Instagram, and TikTok.

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But Nelly’s mostly right. It’s tough to believe that it was harder to be a top-selling rapper in the early 2000s than it was in the, say, late 80s, but it’s not hard to believe that it’s a bit easier today.

Real quick, some numbers to consider.

When Nelly dropped his debut album, Country Grammar, in June of 2000, he managed to sell 235,000 copies the first week. Not bad for a kid most people had not heard of who was riding the success of a single everyone found super catchy if a bit puerile. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. The top spot was taken by Eminem who, a month earlier released his highly anticipated sophomore effort, The Marshall Mathers LP. Yes, you read that right.



TMMLP sold 1.78 million copies its first week. The second week it sold 800,000. Third week? Another 600,000. And then the fourth week it sold a comical 520,000 copies. That’s more than double Nelly’s first week. And, for those keeping a running tally, that’s 3.7 million copies in one month. Nelly would eventually claim the top spot and he and Em would duke it out for the rest of the summer before both albums would go diamond.

So far in 2024, no rap album has even gone gold in its first week. And, sure, numbers aren’t everything. These days there are more rappers than ever who are making a great living. Depending on their deal a rapper doesn’t have to sell a million records or have a top 10 album in order to live well. Artists today have found new and novel monetization methods that just weren’t available when Nelly was first coming out. That’s all fine and well. However, it’s undebatable that we have less rap stars than before.

The era Nelly is referring to is one in which DMX dropped two multiplatinum albums in one year, both of which went number one on the Billboard 200. It’s the era when Outkast capped off an incredible five-album run by going diamond. It’s the era when Ludacris was still a rapper. It’s when JAY-Z dropped an album every fourth quarter that topped the charts and went multiplatinum. If you wanted to be a rap star, you had to do battle with all of them and more.



Ask a rap fan why no albums have managed to sell crazy so far this year and they’ll likely point out the fact that Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole—the venerable “Big 3”—haven’t dropped anything. Even if you add Future, Nicki Minaj and Ye, to that group, it still wouldn’t match up to the sheer number of heavy hitters who were moving units back then.

It was, as the saying goes, just different.

06 Mar 2024

Eric Church Gives Fan Club Members Deeds to Bricks in His Chief’s Nashville Restaurant

As Eric Church gears up for the opening of Chief’s, his downtown Nashville restaurant, bar and music venue located at 200 Broadway, the CMA entertainer of the year-winning artist gave premium members of his Church Choir fan club a surprise. Tens of thousands of Church fans were sent deeds of ownership to individual bricks that make up the physical framework of the six-story Nashville venue.

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Additionally, fans received access to a virtual fan community and the first in a series of digital collectibles, including a digital version of their brick, which offers access to exclusive content such as previously unheard demos, unreleased video footage, and priority entrance to Chief’s. Other digital collectibles some fans can receive include Vinyl For Life, which gives fans first-edition vinyl of Church’s catalog and a copy of every new piece of vinyl released going forward, including all color variants. Other prizes include a signed guitar (which also grants access to content including a video guitar lesson from Church’s guitarist Driver Williams, and videos of performances from Church playing the guitar). Other prizes include year-long subscriptions to SiriusXM and an opportunity to record a guest DJ set at Chief’s studio as part of Outsiders Radio “Insiders Hour.”

According to Rolling Stone, the virtual component also serves as a database for concerts on Church’s tours, giving fans the ability to “check in” to shows they have attended, view setlists and view tour posters for each concert.

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“You’ve helped me build my career brick by brick, and I want the whole world to know that the building is yours,” Church said in a message to fans. “This is not just another club downtown. This is our house. I’ve been involved in every step of restoring this historic building into a place we can call our own and, because you’ve been with me every step of my career, I’m proud to dedicate a physical brick of the Chief’s building to each and every one of you.”

In 2022, Church announced the upcoming venue, for which he has partnered with real estate developer and hospitality entrepreneur Ben Weprin of AJ Capital. Chief’s will include not only a ticketed music venue, but also additional live entertainment throughout the building, as well as a studio to be used for broadcasting (including for Eric Church Outsiders Radio on SiriusXM), with the capability to host broadcasts from various media partners. Street-level windows will also offer fans a behind-the-scenes look into seeing the broadcast in action. Chief’s will also honor Church’s Carolina roots via a partnership with Rodney Scott. Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ will overlook Nashville’s downtown from its “Hell of a Q” rooftop position. An opening date has yet to be set for the venue.

Giving his fans a stake in ownership — not simply fan-fueled allegiance — has been a cornerstone of Church’s career, most notably back in 2015, when Church surprise-released his album Mr. Misunderstood, by sending copies of the album directly to his Church Choir fanclub members before anyone else heard the project.

“My songs are mine, until I release them, and then they’re never mine again. And this building’s a lot that way,” Church further added in a statement. “It’s been mine in the building of it, in the cultivating with the stories, the challenges, and the successes. But once Chief’s opens, it’s not mine anymore. It belongs to the Choir. It belongs to the fans. It belongs to the patrons. It belongs to the stories they create there. It belongs to the music they listen to there and share from there. So, my story ends where theirs begins and that’s the essence of what you do musically and what we’re trying to do at Chief’s.”