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Ariana Grande is sticking up for Ethan Slater in the face of ongoing speculation about the two Wicked costars’ romance.
While speaking to Vanity Fair for a joint cover story with fellow Wicked leading lady Cynthia Erivo published Monday (Sept. 30), the 31-year-old pop star spoke openly about her boyfriend and the allegations surrounding their love story for the first time. “I went through a lot of life changes during the filming of this movie,” began Grande, who separated from ex-husband Dalton Gomez during shooting in February 2023 before filing for divorce that September. “A lot of people that were working on it did. We were away for two years.”
“The most disappointing part was to see so many people believe the worst version of it,” she continued of gossip surrounding her relationship with Slater, who split from his ex-wife Lilly Jay — with whom he shares a young son, finalizing their divorce just weeks ago — shortly before news of his and Grande’s romance came to light in July 2023. “That was definitely a tough ride.”
In the year since everything unfolded, some have speculated that the two stars began seeing each other while still with their former partners, despite multiple reports that both Grande and Slater’s past relationships had ended before they got involved. Others bought into rumors that the Spamalot actor walked out on Jay and their son, of which the “Thank U, Next” singer told the publication, “there couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being.”
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“No one on this earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about,” Grande continued of her partner. “There is no one on this Earth with a better heart, and that is something that no bulls–t tabloid can rewrite in real life.”
Though she said she’ll “never go into certain details” about her relationship with Slater, the Victorious alum does appear to sing about her split from Gomez and the beginnings of her new romance with the SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical star on her latest album Eternal Sunshine. The record spent two weeks atop the Billboard 200 and spawned two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).”
Grande has also stepped out with Slater a few times over the past year or so, although the couple has largely kept their relationship low-key. In April, the Grammy winner supported Slater at his final Spamalot show, and in June, the pair attended the Stanley Cup finals together.
See Grande’s Vanity Fair covers below:
The new docuseries Reggaeton: The Sound that Conquered the World reunites some of the biggest hitmakers in the genre — including Daddy Yankee, Ivy Queen and Bad Bunny — to tell the story of how it went from underground music to a style that went on to reign supreme. Set to premiere Oct. 3 on […]
If Latin music exploded in 2023, it consolidated in 2024. According to Luminate’s 2024 Midyear Music Report, it is now the fastest-growing core genre in the United States, and Spanish is the second-most-consumed language in music both stateside and globally, behind only English.
This year, Billboard Latin Music Week celebrates it 35th anniversary Oct. 14-18 at the Fillmore Miami Beach, with a wide range of acts from around the world that reflects the genre’s versatility both musically and as a business. The festivities will include the Billboard Latin Music Awards (airing on Telemundo on Oct. 20) — plus these highlights. (For a full schedule of events, go to billboardlatinmusicweek.com.)
“From Viral Hits to Billboard Charts: The Power of Content Creators”
Content creators have become increasingly prominent in raising awareness of Latin music and artists — and now, many of them are signing recording deals of their own. In the past six months, Mexican influencers Yeri Mua and Domelipa signed with Sony Music, and Mario Bautista, another Mexican influencer, signed to Warner. At Latin Music Week, Mexican TikTok powerhouse Kunno — who has close ties to many Latin music stars and has also dabbled in music — will moderate a conversation between Mua, Domelipa and Bautista, along with internet personality Sophia Talamas and Venezuelan comedian Marko.
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“Making the Hit Live with Grupo Frontera”
Grupo Frontera
Eric Rojas
For a fourth consecutive Latin Music Week, this groundbreaking session will host artists as they develop a hit in real time. This year’s panel features the norteño band that has earned more than 20 No. 1s on the Billboard charts since 2022, as its six members showcase their knack for adapting songs from other genres into their personal style. Two previous tracks created at Latin Music Week have been commercially released: Blessd and Ovy on the Drums’ “Billboard” and Pedro Capó and Carín León’s “Existo.”
“From Clubs to Stadiums”
Feid
Christopher Polk for Billboard
An unprecedented number of Latin acts, including Bad Bunny, Karol G, Grupo Firme and Feid, have toured stadiums in the past year. But their road to massive ticket sales began with their ground-up development: For instance, Colombian star Feid’s remarkable run culminated in July with his first-ever stadium concert at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. Feid joins his manager, Luis Villamizar, and Hans Schafer, Live Nation senior vp of global touring, in a frank conversation about how to build a touring career that sells out major venues globally.
“The Winning Combo of Sports and Music”
Anitta
Pedro Vilela/Getty Images
Latin artists are developing closer ties than ever to the sports world, with ventures ranging from team ownership (Anuel AA, Ozuna, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony) to sports-related gigs like Anitta’s recent halftime performance at the first NFL game in Brazil. This summer, Copa América, the soccer tournament that was played in the United States and featured steady cross-promotion between athletes and musicians, demonstrated the sport’s close ties with Latin acts — which will be the focus of a conversation between music stars and soccer stars Igor Lichnovsky and Leonardo Campana, moderated by Latin sports manager-agent Daniella Durán.
“The New Latin Music Business”
Latin artists, distributors and labels are becoming increasingly innovative in their deal-making, crafting everything from catalog deals to one-offs. Rancho Humilde, the label founded by entrepreneur Jimmy Humilde, has been a trailblazer in this regard, joining forces with different majors and distributors, and also making new label deals with its own artists. Humilde leads a conversation with Txema Rosique, vp of A&R for Sony Music U.S. Latin; Cris Falcão, managing director of artist and label strategy/GM of Latin for Virgin Music Group; and producer Atella, who is head of music for Zumba and leads the newly launched ZML Records.
“The Legacies Panel”
Chiquis Rivera
Alexander Tamargo/TELEMUNDO/Getty Images
Tradition runs deep in regional Mexican music, with many of its current top stars carrying on the musical legacies of famous parents and even grandparents. This once-in-a-lifetime panel will for the first time unite Chiquis Rivera, daughter of late banda legend Jenni Rivera; Camila Fernández, who is following in the mariachi tradition of her father, Alejandro, and grandfather Vicente Fernández; Lupita Infante, upholding the legacy of the iconic ranchera singer and actor Pedro Infante; and Majo Aguilar, representing the golden age of Mexican cinema through her musical heritage from grandparents Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre. Sponsored by Smirnoff Ice, the discussion will delve into their individual and familial contributions to their rich cultural traditions.
“The Sony Music Publishing Icon Q&A With JOP (Jesús Ortiz Paz)”
The mainstay Latin Music Week Q&A this year spotlights the leader of Fuerza Regida and founder of Street Mob Records. Introduced by Jorge Mejia, president/CEO of Sony Music Publishing Latin, and moderated by Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content officer of Latin/Español, this session will provide deep insights into the band’s industry achievements and the expansion of its record label. Fuerza Regida became the first Latin band ever to top Billboard’s 2023 year-end Top Artists — Duo/Group list, and the act continues to innovate, introducing a blend of Jersey club and corridos (dubbed “Jersey corridos”) on the group’s 2024 eighth studio album, Pero No Te Enamores.
“The Icon Q&A With Gloria Estefan”
Gloria Estefan
Jesus Cordero
Fresh from receiving the Legend award at the 2024 Billboard Latin Women in Music celebration, the Cuban American superstar will sit for an intimate conversation about her four-decade career. Estefan — who rose to fame in the 1980s as lead vocalist for Miami Sound Machine, alongside her husband, Emilio, and changed pop music forever by infusing English-language pop with Latin flavor, while singing en español as well — became the first female Latin artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2023. The Broadway musical telling her life story, On Your Feet!, is being adapted into a feature film.
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
The Billboard Latin Music Awards are approaching in October, where Karol G leads the list with 17 entries in categories including artist of the year, tour of the year, and top Latin album of the year for Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season).
The Colombian superstar is followed by Bad Bunny and Peso Pluma with 15 entries each. The former competes for artist of the year, global 200 artist of the year, and tour of the year. While the latter is also up for artist of the year, global 200 artist of the year, in addition to songwriter of the year, and regional Mexican album of the year for Éxodo.
The first wave of performers confirmed are Fuerza Regida, Grupo Niche, Luis Alfonso, Maria Becerra, Xavi and Yandel, all set to bring their latest collaborations and hit singles to the awards ceremony.
Meanwhile, 15 acts are first-time finalists at the coveted ceremony this year, including Chilean newcomers FloyyMenor and Cris MJ, who spent 14 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart with their viral “Gata Only.” Música Mexicana breakout star Xavi, who also topped the chart with “La Diabla,” is a first-timer at the awards. (Check out an extensive list below.)
The 31st annual ceremony will be broadcast at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20 via Telemundo. It will simultaneously be available on the Spanish entertainment cable network Universo, on Peacock and the Telemundo app, and in Latin America and the Caribbean through Telemundo Internacional.
The Billboard Latin Music Awards — the only awards that recognize the most popular albums, songs and performers in Latin music, according to Billboard‘s weekly charts — coincide with Billboard Latin Music Week, which returns to Miami Beach Oct. 14-18 with a roster of star speakers including J Balvin, Alejandro Sanz, Young Miko, Feid, Gloria Estefan, Peso Pluma, Thalia, and many more. Get your tickets today for the Billboard Latin Music Week 2024 here.
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Shortly after rolling out the first North American dates for their 2025 reunion tour, Oasis revealed that they will ditch Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing scheme for the gigs. “Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing model will not be applied to the forthcoming sale of tickets to Oasis concerts in North America,” the group announced on X in an official statement from their management on Monday morning (Sept. 30).
“It is widely accepted that dynamic pricing remains a useful tool to combat ticket touting and keep prices for a significant proportion of fans lower than the market rate and thus more affordable,” the statement continued. “But, when unprecedented ticket demand (where the entire tour could be sold many times over at the moment tickets go on sale) is combined with technology that cannot cope with that demand, it becomes less effective and can lead to an unacceptable experience for fans.”
The statement concluded, “We have made this decision for the North American tour to hopefully avoid a repeat of the issues fans in the UK and Ireland experienced recently.” At press time a spokesperson for Ticketmaster had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.
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The move comes in response to the bumpy rollout of the initial slate of dates for the first Oasis tour in 16 years. Back in August, the crushing demand for the summer 2025 UK/Ireland reunion shows by battling brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher sparked some fury among fans who spent hours on queue in a desperate bid to snag one of the one million tickets.
The anger was such that the British government promised to open a probe into the use of dynamic pricing for concert tickets after fans who waited on digital line for hours discovered that the cost of a standing ticket had nearly doubled due to high demand. At the time, a Ticketmaster spokesperson said that all ticket prices are set by the tour’s promoters.
Dynamic ticket pricing has become a staple in the U.S. live music industry in recent years, but Oasis’ comeback tour – jointly promoted by Live Nation, SJM Concerts, MCD and DF Concerts – marked its most high-profile and possibly biggest roll out for live concerts in the U.K. and Ireland. The U.K. competition regulator launched an investigation into TM over the Oasis ticket roll-out a week after the initial on-sale prompted hundreds of complains from fans.
At the time, Oasis said they had “no awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used” for the UK ticketing roll-out, adding that “it needs to be made clear that Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management.”
The North American run of stadium dates for the 2025 reunion tour were rolled out on Monday morning, consisting of visits to five North American stadiums beginning with an August 24 show at Rogers Stadium in Toronto, followed by an August 28 gig at Soldier Field in Chicago and an August 31 stop at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
For now, the North American portion will wind down with a Sept. 6 show at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles and a Sept. 12 stop at Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City. Cage the Elephant — led by brothers singer Matt Shultz and guitarist Brad Shultz — will open all the new dates.
Two-time CMA Awards entertainer of the year winner Luke Bryan, NFL luminary Peyton Manning and reigning CMA Awards entertainer of the year Lainey Wilson are set to co-host the 58th annual CMA Awards.
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Bryan is a four-time CMA Awards host this year, while NFL legend Manning is a three-time CMA Awards host and they will be joined by first-time host Wilson on the live broadcast from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 20 on ABC; the show will be available the next day on Hulu.
Bryan, a two-time CMA Awards entertainer of the year winner who just released his new album Mind of a Country Boy, previously told Billboard that, “just a lover of the genre and the people, the artists and the night” are what keeps him coming back as a CMA Awards host. “To be asked to host the CMAs for the first time was a dream come true, and something I never thought I’d be able to achieve. Going from a kid watching the CMAs at home with my family to being a host is pretty surreal. I walk out on that stage right before we deliver the monologue and it’s always a pinch myself moment and I’m always just honored to represent country music the best way I can.”
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“I could not be more excited to host the CMA Awards this year with Luke and Peyton,” Wilson said in a press release. “It’s such an incredible honor and something I’ve always dreamed of doing. We’re planning a really great show for y’all, so make sure to watch on November 20!”
“I am honored to be back hosting the CMA Awards again this year,” Manning added. “The past two years have been a lot of fun, and I know Lainey is going to bring a special flare. Hopefully she can help me keep Luke in line! Either way, I’m excited for an incredible night of celebration and country music.”
Bryan told Billboard of Wilson joining as a co-host, “Peyton and I have had a great run, and obviously Lainey is as hot as a firecracker in the world of country music, and we’ll be excited to watch her hosting abilities unfold in front of our eyes, and really love her as a person and am just excited to work with her on stuff and be there. So I know she’s running around busy as can be, so we’re glad to have her for a few days. And I know Peyton’s excited about it, too.”
Wilson is the reigning CMA Awards entertainer of the year, and is in the running to win the same category this year.
When she co-hosts the awards show, Wilson will become the first person to host or co-host the CMA Awards in the same year that he or she was nominated for entertainer of the year since Carrie Underwood, who co-hosted and was nominated for the top award in both 2016 and 2019.
Sonny James, who co-hosted the first CMA Awards in 1967, was an entertainer of the year nominee that year. In the intervening years, 10 other stars have also doubled up in this way: Kenny Rogers (1979), Barbara Mandrell (1980-82), Willie Nelson (1983 and 1986), Randy Travis (1990), Reba McEntire (1991-92), Vince Gill (1992-98), Brooks & Dunn (2004 and 2006), Brad Paisley (2008-12), Underwood and Wilson.
Leading this year’s CMA Awards nominees are Morgan Wallen (with seven nominations), followed by Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton with five nominations each. Wilson and Post Malone have four nomination apiece, while Louis Bell, Luke Combs, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins, Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney and Kacey Musgraves have three nominations each.
Performers and presenters for the CMA Awards will be announced in the coming weeks.
Watch Bryan, Manning and Wilson in a promotional clip for the CMA Awards below:
Lady Gaga loves a surprise, but even she wasn’t prepared when the world found out she was engaged to fiancé Michael Polansky in July thanks to an unexpected announcement. During an appearance on the Graham Norton Show last week to promote her role as Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux, Gaga revealed that she […]
As we await the only vice presidential debate of the 2024 campaign, a showdown between Democratic nominee Tim Walz and Republican nominee JD Vance on Tuesday (Oct. 1), let’s look back on the only No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 that was written or co-written by a future VP.
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The hit was Tommy Edwards’ “It’s All in the Game,” a philosophical romantic ballad which topped the Hot 100 for six weeks in the fall of 1958. Charles Gates Dawes, a self-taught pianist, flutist and composer, composed the melody in 1911 under the title “Melody in A Major.” Dawes later became an American diplomat and Republican politician, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a TIME magazine cover subject. He served as the 30th VP of the U.S. from 1925-29 under Calvin Coolidge.
Dawes’ melody was not a major hit under its original title, but noted lyricist Carl Sigman remembered it and 40 years later added lyrics to it, transforming it into “It’s All in the Game.” Sigman’s most memorable lyric: “Once in a while he won’t call/ But it’s all in the game.” Edwards first recorded the song in 1951, the same year Sigman added lyrics to it. His pretty, but unremarkable, recording reached No. 18 on Billboard’s Disk Jockey and Best Sellers charts.
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The great Nat “King” Cole included the song on his 1957 album Love Is the Thing, which topped the Billboard 200 for eight consecutive weeks.
In 1958, Edwards re-recorded the song, giving it a light doo-wop flavor which made it compatible with pop playlists — which by that point included a lot of doo-wop and rock and roll. Leroy Holmes was the orchestra leader on both versions. Both versions were released on the same label (MGM Records). But the differences are stark. The earlier version is awash in strings; the update is leaner. And Edwards doesn’t rush through the lyrics. Inserting pauses on two key lines (“You have words/ With him” and “And he’ll kiss/ Your lips”) adds considerable drama.
A re-release of the 1951 “traditional pop” version would likely not have succeeded in 1958 – music had changed a lot in the intervening seven years – but the re-recording was a smash. It reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 in seven weeks, bumping Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blue (Volare)” (which went on to win Grammys for record and song of the year) from the top spot in September 1958. “It’s All in the Game” remained on top for six consecutive weeks, before being replaced by Conway Twitty’s “It’s Only Make Believe.”
Unfortunately, Dawes died in April 1951, shortly before Sigman added lyrics to his tune, so he never knew that the little ditty he wrote 40 years earlier was about to become a hit, and later, a timeless classic.
Edwards returned to the top 20 on the Hot 100 three times by 1960, with “Love Is All We Need,” “Please Mr. Sun” and “I Really Don’t Want to Know.” He died in 1969 at age 47 due to complications from cirrhosis of the liver.
“It’s All in the Game” has returned to the top 30 on the Hot 100 twice. British pop singer Cliff Richard took it to No. 25 in 1964. Motown greats the Four Tops took it to No. 24 in 1970. In addition, Eddie Holman featured the song as the B-side of “Hey There Lonely Girl,” a No. 2 Hot 100 hit in 1970.
The Four Tops’ recording made the top 10 on what was then called Best Selling Soul Singles. The song was also a big country hit, making it a true multi-format smash. Tom T. Hall’s single reached No. 12 in 1977 on what was then called Hot Country Singles.
Numerous other artists have recorded the song, including Barry Manilow, on his Billboard 200-topping album The Greatest Songs of the Fifties (2006), and George Benson on his double-live album Weekend in L.A., which made the top five in 1978. The song also appeared on top 10 albums by pianist Roger Williams, bandleader Lawrence Welk and actor/singer George Maharis (a regular on Route 66).
Donny & Marie Osmond recorded the song in 1975. Earlier that year, they had a top 10 hit on the Hot 100 with “Morning Side of the Mountain,” which was Edwards’ first chart hit in 1951, right before “It’s All in the Game.”
Other artists to have recorded “It’s All in the Game” include Ricky Nelson, Keely Smith, Robert Goulet, Andy Williams, The Lettermen, Sandy Posey, Bobby Vinton, Bing Crosby, Brook Benton, Freddy Fender, Van Morrison, Issac Hayes, Glenn Jones, Merle Haggard & the Strangers and Johnny Mathis & Take 6.
In addition to being the only future VP to have written or co-written a No. 1 Hot 100 hit, Dawes is one of just two people credited with writing or co-writing a No. 1 hit who have also won a Nobel Prize. He shares that distinction with Bob Dylan, whose many hits include “Mr. Tambourine Man,” a No. 1 for The Byrds in 1965. Dawes was a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925 for his work on the Allied Reparations Commission, where he helped formulate the Dawes Plan to aid the struggling German economy. Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016.
Sigman, the lyricist of “It’s All in the Game,” wrote many famous songs over the course of his long career, including “Pennsylvania 6-5000,” “Crazy He Calls Me,” “Ebb Tide,” “What Now My Love,” “You’re My World” and “(Where Do I Begin) Love Story.” He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972 and died in 2000 at age 91.
CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan of CBS’ Face the Nation are set to moderate Tuesday’s VP debate.
Oasis warned fans to be “careful what you wish for” over the weekend, hinting that the long-awaited announcement of additional international dates for their reunion tour were on the horizon. Well, that tease became a reality on Monday morning (Sept. 30) when brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher revealed the first dates for the North American leg of their 2025 world tour.
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The run of shows will have the famously battling sibling playing a series of stadium shows in five North American cities beginning with an August 24 show at Rogers Stadium in Toronto, followed by an August 28 gig at Soldier Field in Chicago and an August 31 show at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
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The run of concerts is currently slated to wind down with a Sept. 6 show at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles and a Sept. 12 stop at Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City. A press release noted that the gigs will be Oasis first in North America in 16 years, with the band saying, “America. Oasis is coming. You have one last chance to prove that you loved us all along.” Cage the Elephant — led by singer Matt Shultz and his brother, guitarist Brad Shultz — will open all the new dates.
Oasis shocked the world in August when they revealed that they would put their differences aside and reunite for one of the most anticipated rock get-backs of all time. The first round of 2025 shows across the U.K. instantly sold out for the tour that is slated to kick off with two shows at Principality Stadium in Cardiff on July 4-5, followed by a five-night stand at Heaton Park in their native Manchester (July 11, 12, 16, 19, 20) and another five-night run at Wembley Stadium in London (July 25, 26, 30, August 2, 3).
The swing will then hit Dublin, Ireland for two shows at Croke Park (August 16, 17) before hopping the Atlantic for the North American shows and returning to Wembley for two more sold-out gigs on Sept. 27, 28.
The last time Oasis played the U.S. in 2008 on the Dig Out Your Soul tour they performed in 10,000-20,000 capacity arenas. The stadiums on their upcoming North American swing will accommodate between 45,000-80,000+ fans. According to the release announcing the new shows, plans are still underway for Oasis Live ’25 to hit “other continents outside of Europe and North America later next year.
Registration for a presale for the North American dates is open here through Tuesday (Oct. 1) at 8 a.m. ET, with a general onsale slated to begin on Friday (Oct. 4) at 12 p.m. ET local time here.
Chris Martin has been a longtime supporter of the Global Citizen Festival. Over the weekend, the Coldplay singer was slated to once again curate the New York festival, but the rain-soaked fans who turned up to see headliners Post Malone, Jelly Roll and Rauw Alejandro got way more than they expected at the event aimed […]