Music

23 Feb 2024

Lil Jon Says This Was the ‘Hardest Part’ of Putting Together Usher’s 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show

Lil Jon is known for his exuberant nature, but the “Turn Down For What” rapper was uncharacteristically quiet when he sat down on the couch at the Jennifer Hudson Show on Thursday (Feb. 22) to talk about his role in Usher‘s halftime show during Super Bowl LVIII earlier this month.

“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy to be a part of something like that,” he said of his spot joining Ush for a run through their hit 2004 hype-up anthem “Yeah!” during the musical break in the most-watched Super Bowl ever, for which he also served as musical director.

The low-key MC said none of it made him nervous because he turns those butterflies into energy he uses to bring in new fans, though he did cop to the preparation being “a lot of hard work… putting the show together was really hard because it’s Usher’s biggest show of his career.” In addition to Jon, the performance featured cameos from Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri and Will.i.am.

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And while he was in charge of shaping the 13-minute flight through Usher’s catalog, Lil Jon said he had to listen to the singer’s suggestions about which songs would make the cut, which was the “hardest part” of the process. “We narrowed it down and then he made changes to the very end,” Jon laughed, noting that, unlike Usher, you won’t find him on roller skates anytime soon.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Confessions hit “Yeah!,” Jon recounted how he leaked the last song recorded for Usher’s multi-platinum LP — “Burn” was already tapped as the lead single — after talking to producer Jermaine Dupri, who told Jon to “do what you do.” Though Usher’s record company sent out a cease-and-desist to stations playing “Yeah!” at the time, a DJ at New York’s Hot 97, knowing it was a smash, resisted, kept playing it and framed the letter on her wall as a memento.

Elsewhere in the interview, Jon talked about his new Total Meditation album and his renewed focus on guided meditation and prioritizing his mental, and physical, health. “You turn up, but then you gotta turn down!” Jon said.

Watch Lil Jon on Hudson’s show below.



23 Feb 2024

Taylor Swift Announces ‘The Albatross’ Edition of ‘Tortured Poets,’ Duets With Sabrina Carpenter at Eras Concert

The surprises just kept coming at Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour show in Australia Friday (Feb. 23). During the pop star’s first night at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, she unveiled yet another version of her upcoming album The Tortured Poets Department titled “The Albatross” — complete with a limited bonus track of the same name — before bringing out Sabrina Carpenter to help sing a mashup of “White Horse” and “Coney Island.”

Swift began her regularly scheduled surprise song section by playing a 1989 fan-favorite titled “How You Get the Girl” on acoustic guitar. Then, taking a seat at her piano, she surprised the crowd by unveiling details about “The Albatross,” debuting its special edition cover on the big screens behind her.

“I’m really, really proud of this record,” she said as fans screamed with excitement. “It’s good to have options — everyone likes options. I wanted to show you something, if you will direct your attention to the main screen.”

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Shortly afterward, the “Anti-Hero” singer shared the new cover — the back of which reads “Am I allowed to cry?” — on Instagram. The “Albatross” edition marks the third version of Tortured Poets Swift has announced so far, following the album’s original “The Manuscript” layout she unveiled at the 2024 Grammys as well as “The Bolter” package, which the musician revealed during her Eras show in Melbourne Feb. 16.

All three editions of Tortured Poets are available for pre-order, and will arrive April 19.

Immediately afterward, Swift welcomed Carpenter to the stage. The “Feather” musician has served as the “Karma” artist’s opener on the Latin America, Asia and Australia legs of the Eras Tour; however, she was unable to perform her setlist Thursday due to rain delays.

“She heroically sacrificed her show, which I think is a crime against Sydney,” Swift said before Carpenter joined her on the piano bench.

The pair then dove into a mashup of Swift’s Evermore deep cut “Coney Island” and her Fearless single “White Horse,” which the 14-time Grammy winner explained was a favorite of Carpenter’s.

See clips from Swift’s Eras show in Sydney below.

23 Feb 2024

Watch Katy Perry Sing & Dance to ‘Bad Blood’ at Taylor Swift’s Sydney Eras Tour Concert

Take a look — it’s definitely mad love! Katy Perry attended Taylor Swift‘s first show of the Eras Tour in Sydney, Australia, on Friday (Feb. 23) and showed everyone that she’s a Swiftie. In fan-captured videos, the “Dark Horse” singer is spotted singing along and dancing at Accor Stadium to the pop superstar’s hit “Bad Blood.”

In videos posted to TikTok, Perry bops her head to the track and belts out the song’s chorus, as Rita Ora grooves next to her.

The 2015 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song is widely believed to be about the two women’s feud. Swift has never confirmed that the hit was about the two pop stars’ dispute, but hinted at it during a 2014 Rolling Stone interview, when she said an unnamed female artist poached one of her backup dancers. The “Anti-Hero” singer later said in a 2019 interview that she and the “Firework” artist had set their bad blood aside. “She sent me a really nice note and an olive branch to my tour when it started a while ago,” Swift said at the time. “From that point on, we’ve been on good terms.”

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Proving that point, the American Idol judge — who recently announced that this 22nd season and her seventh will be her last on the singing competition — shared a selfie with Swift on Instagram after the concert and captioned the post, “Got to see an old friend shine tonight.” In the carousel post, Perry also included a selfie video of herself with Ora singing along to “You Belong With Me,” a clip of Swift performing “Bad Blood,” a photo with one of her own fans and more.

Other fan-captured videos also showed Perry receiving a friendship bracelet from another Swiftie.n

Perry and Ora aren’t the only stars who have been spotted at one of Swift’s international Eras Tour concerts. BLACKPINK’s Rosé attended the Feb. 7 show at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, and shared a TikTok of herself singing along to the 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”

Watch videos of Katy Perry singing “Bad Blood” and getting a friendship bracelet below:

23 Feb 2024

Twenty One Pilots Hint at Next Era in Cryptic ‘I Am Clancy’ Video Recap: ‘A New Chapter Begins’

Twenty One Pilots fans woke up to some thrilling news on Thursday morning (Feb. 22), when the band dropped a four-minute Easter egg-packed video teasing the next, and perhaps final, chapter in the story that began with their breakthrough 2015 album Blurryface.

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“Next week, a new chapter begins,” read the caption to the “I Am Clancy” visual that served as a recap for the entire Blurry saga.

“I am trapped,” singer Tyler Joseph says in voiceover over footage from videos that have helped tell the twisted, futureshock tale of the allegorical walled city Dema, the Banditos and the nine iron-fisted bishops that won’t allow the residents to escape. “Stuck in a cycle I’ve never been able to break. I want to believe this is the last time, I don’t know for sure. I’ll start with what I do know.”

Joseph then goes on to relate the story of an escapee from the “circular cement city” of Dema, who has seen some of the expansive surrounding wild, green continent Trench, but who keeps getting caught by the red-robed wraith known as Nico, aka Blurryface. The rest of the twisted tale touches on the nine bishops’ “miraculous power and hijacked religion” as the source of their authority, based on theory of self-destruction as the only path to paradise.

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The lore then gets even knottier, touching on the bishops’ use of a power called “seizing,” which allows them to take control of dead bodies for short periods. It is a power only they have… well, except for the narrator, the escapee, who is an exception to the rule and also has the power. After tricking Nico into taking him outside the walls and escaping once again, he was caught and returned, but not before getting a glimpse of the mythical Banditos outlaws, characters introduced in videos for “Jumpsuit” and “Nico and the Niners” from Trench.

The recitation then turns to 2021’s Scaled and Icy album, whose more mainstream, pop-oriented material is described as the Bishops’ attempt to make the hero more palatable and entertaining, as seen in videos for the singles “Shy Away,” “Choker” and “Saturday.” Long story short, Nico was betrayed, the narrator escaped again and wound up in a new place, the island Voldsoy, where he was given the gift of the same powers the Bishops wield. “I am returning to Trench… I am Clancy,” he says at the end.

It’s a lot, as evidence by one comment on the video, which read, “I’ve been trying to understand this lore for 6 years and you guys really just explained it all in 4 minutes.”

In a 2019 interview with NME, Joseph hinted that the follow-up to 2018’s Trench album — the pop-leaning Scaled and Icy, which had not yet been announced at the time — would continue the sci-fi-like rebel saga. “There’s definitely an end-game. There’s a story. I think I was very specific that there’s a reason why the record ends with [the song] ‘Leave The City’ and the song itself is a kind of cliff-hanger,” he said at the time. “I mean, the whole thing was it’s setting up for what’s next and it’d be silly to not at least resolve what we’ve already started.”

It wouldn’t be 21P without some additional, puzzling clues, which reportedly include the unexplained addition of red strips of tape to the covers of the band’s albums on streaming services, as well as letters sent out to fans from the “Sacred Municipality of Dema” featuring maps, urls and pages labeled “EVIDENCE” and puzzling billboards around the world with the band’s logo.

At press time no additional information was available on the band’s next move.

Check out the “I Am Clancy” video below.

23 Feb 2024

Dan + Shay on Joining ‘The Voice’ as Coaches and ‘Strategizing’ to Beat Fellow Country Star Reba McEntire

When The Voice came calling, it was the perfect time for Dan + Shay to join as the talent show’s first ever “double chair” coaches.

Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney had celebrated their 10th anniversary as a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning country duo, but had also hit a rough patch. “The last couple of years had been a bit of a roller coaster,” Smyers says. “We were going through our own personal battles, rebuilding our relationship –and you throw in COVID, and it was just kind of a wild time for us.” 

But as the pair worked through their issues and came back from the brink of breaking up, they were filled with a new gratitude. “We’ve changed our perspective from ‘We have to do this’ to ‘We get to do this,’ and that it’s amazing that there’s somebody who is willing to pay their hard-earned money to come see our show or buy an album or a T-shirt,” Smyers continues. “The Voice came to us at such a perfect time where that gratitude is at an all-time high.”

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The country duo, who served as mentors in season 20, will make their coaching debut on the show on Monday, Feb. 26, as the 25th season of NBC’s singing competition starts. They are joined by returning coaches Reba McEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper. 

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This marks the first time that two of the chairs will be occupied by country acts, leading the way for some heavy competition for country contestants between Dan + Shay and McEntire.  

Former coach Blake Shelton never overlapped with McEntire and “didn’t have to compete with the queen of country music. He had it really easy,” jokes Mooney. “I feel like we have really been having to strategize and use our blocks to our advantage. Who doesn’t love Reba McEntire and didn’t listen to her music and watch her show growing up? That’s stiff competition. She’s very competitive.”

Just as The Voice exposed Shelton to a much bigger, mainstream audience, Dan + Shay are well aware that the show could broaden their appeal. “This is a massive opportunity for us,” Mooney says. “We’ve had some crossover success, but this opens you up to an entirely different audience. Being on television every week definitely expands the people who listen to your music. We don’t really know what to expect.”

As the first set of double coaches, Dan + Shay have to share one button as they pick their 14-member team in the blind competition, which has already been filmed. “When we were flying out [to L.A.] for the first time, we looked over at each other’s like, ‘Should we come up with some kind of strategy, like two taps on the knee is a yes?’ We didn’t realize when they started taping that there’s cameras on you from every angle at all times, you’re miked up. You can’t really talk to each other that much. If one of us is really feeling it, we’ve given each other permission to go ahead and smash that button and turn that chair around. But the two chairs, one button [thing] is an interesting dynamic.”

Seeing contestants so eager to launch their careers has been a powerful reminder of how lucky the two are to have seen their musical dreams come true. “Seeing these people who are pouring their hearts and souls out onto that microphone, honestly, I can’t imagine being in their shoes,” Smyers says. “A lot of these people are coming from small towns and are singing into the back of somebody’s chairs. It’s a pretty high-pressure, nerve-wracking situation. It really is a cool perspective shift to see somebody who wants it so badly. I feel like you kind of lose perspective where we and a lot of our friends have a seat at the table. These people are working to earn their position at the table.”

Like the other judges, Dan + Shay have to juggle the daily demands of their careers with coaching, and also have to commute from Nashville to Los Angeles weekly.  They continue to promote their fifth Warner Music Nashville album, Bigger Houses, which came out in September and debuted at No. 9 on Top Country Albums chart. First single “Save Me the Trouble” reached No. 2 on the Country Airplay chart. Their Heartbreak on the Map arena tour, which takes its name from a song on the album, kicks off Feb. 29 in Greenville, S.C.

Spending more time in Los Angeles has one big advantage. “I get more sleep out here, which is pretty cool,” says Mooney, who has three small boys. More seriously, he adds, “It’s definitely a challenge being away from our families. It’s very difficult. But they’re excited for us.” Legend, who is Los Angeles-based, brings his kids to the studio, and Mooney is hoping his children can join him on some trips.

Even though they aren’t even through their first season, Smyers says they’d like to come back for more seasons. “It’s just a really exciting, heart-pounding experience for us as coaches when the lights go down, not knowing what’s about to go into your ears,” he says. “Hopefully they invite us back, because I’m having a little too much fun to give it up now.”

Mooney even has a suggestion for future seasons: “We’re conspiring with Reba — now that it’s three [country] coaches vs. two [non-country] coaches — to move the show to Nashville,” he says with a laugh.

23 Feb 2024

Major Nine Details New ‘Kardiology’ Project & Moving Between the Worlds of Sports and Music

The Super Bowl halftime show is arguably the biggest convergence of music and sports in a given year, but that’s not the only forum in which the two industries are colliding. Following in the footsteps of major artist-athletes like Shaquille O’Neal aka DJ Diesel and Damian Lillard aka Dame D.O.L.L.A., Chad Thomas aka Major Nine is looking to continue leveling up his athletic and musical careers while prioritizing independence at every turn. 

After playing as a defensive end for the Hurricanes at the University of Miami, the Cleveland Browns selected Thomas in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He was the sixth defensive end drafted that year, and the 67th overall pick. A year before he became a national football star, however, Thomas was already making major waves in the music industry under the name Major Nine. 

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In 2017, he scored a placement on Rick Ross’s top five Billboard 200-charting Rather You Than Me album (alongside Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter Raphael Saadiq) on the grand album opener “Apple of My Eye.” Ross’ By 2020 – the same year the Browns waived his multi-million-dollar contract – Major Nine snagged yet another high-profile placement, this time on Chris Brown & Young Thug’s Slime & B, which peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 and earned nominations at the Billboard Music Awards and Soul Train Music Awards. With “Trap Back,” his joint on the album, Major Nine did what comes naturally: He leveled up, and contributed not just production assistance, but a credited guest verse as well. 

As much as Major Nine has made waves through collaboration, he’s remained steadfast in pumping out projects of his own. Since 2018, he has released nine such sets – including 2019’s star-making Soulties – culminating in his two most recent: 2023’s Nothin Major and this year’s Kardiology. The former is Major Nine’s most radio-ready body of work to date; featuring emotionally vulnerable heaters (“Love Don’t Live Here,” “A Hustler’s Prayer”) and a splashy Kodak Black guest verse, Nothin Major boils down the best of contemporary Florida rap into something for the whole country to enjoy. The latter, Kardiology, is arguably Major Nine’s biggest artistic swing yet, an emotional 13-track Miami bass-laced journey through the throes of love. 

In a new interview with Billboard, Major Nine discusses his new Kardiology project, moving through multiple industries as an artist-athlete and the ever-deepening union between the worlds of music and sports. 

Obviously, you began your time as a public figure by way of football. Was music always on your mind? Or were you more focused on the athletic side of things? 

I actually started music first. I’ve been doing music since I was a baby, so that was No. 1. And then football became No. 1 in high school. I was playing before that, but it got serious in high school. 

What are some of your earliest musical memories? 

My pops, he bought me a drum set, like the little kid drum set. That was probably my first drum set. Growing up, at my grandma’s house, she had a little piano in her house. It was a baby grand, something like that. [Those were] my first instruments: drums and piano. I made it into all of the magnet schools in South Florida. I ended up going to one of the biggest ones down there: New World School of the Arts. That was a big accomplishment, being where I’m from. A lot of people don’t make it into that school. 

Music adds up different ways, I done did too much stuff with music. [Laughs.] My last time being in New York, we performed at Jazz @ Lincoln Center.  

What do you remember listening to growing up? Who and what were the defining artists and songs of your childhood? 

Anything ‘80s R&B. S—t, I’m from Miami, so Trick Daddy, Rick Ross, all the Miami moguls, the South Florida moguls. A little bit of West Coast. My music goes everywhere. I got Metallica in my library! I done listen to all types of music growing up, gospel music, Kirk Franklin. It go left and right. 

As football took you across the country, did you pick up any new musical influences from different teammates or cities? Especially during your time with the Browns? 

It was kind of backwards for me, to tell the truth. When I first touched down in Cleveland, my first apartment, the man at valet, he actually knew who I was. He was a producer and we tapped in. When I got to Cleveland, I tapped in with my teammates, and a lot of my teammates supported and are fans of my music. Actually, they was waiting on my new music, they weren’t really putting me onto people. 

Sometimes, it’s like that. They’ll put me on to a person that’s back home. I done got put onto a bunch of artists that’s actually superstars now, and it was before their time. Football connects you with different cities.

You scored a production placement on Rick Ross’ Rather You Than Me (2017). Walk me through how you put that track together and secured that placement? 

That relationship been going on since I was in high school, definitely locked in with the whole MMG family, Rick Ross and everybody. I can’t really tell how the songs come about, they just call me and say “We need a verse” or “We need a beat.” You know I’m on go because that’s family. It wasn’t really no big thing about it. I went in and did my verse, sent it back to him, he loved it. When I did the beat for “Apple of My Eye,” he loved it. We got a bunch of work together. When that popped out, I was just ecstatic.

Are there any skills you find yourself bringing from the sports world to the music world or vice versa? 

Always. Music and football taught me a lot about life. With football, doing certain drills and just having that pattern of skill. You gotta know numbers. It definitely goes hand-in-hand because ballers is gonna be ballers. The ballers that’s in the field gonna be the ballers that’s in the studio. Jarvis Landry is probably one of the best rappers I’ve ever heard. 

If I was to bring music to football, I would just be tapping in with people. Football players got feelings too, they listen to music and get in their vibe. Who better to relate to than your teammate? They’re actually doing it. 

Why is your independence as an artist important to you? 

[Because] I’ve done music my whole life, part of that was learning how to do so much stuff and be that team for myself. Now that I actually have a team and label that I created, it’s easier for me to stay independent and learn how to build my company, so I could be one of the big companies or be on the level where they is. [Independence] is perfect. It’s big. It’s big to me, it’s big to the people around me because they understand how much more money you can make and how much business you can control or how much leverage you can have once you’re independent. 

How do you compare your experiences on the business side of music versus the business side of sports? 

As a kid growing up in South Florida, business is not taught to us with sports. Yes, it’s monetized, you grow up and you gangsta and they gon’ look out for you. But business is not taught to us. 

When it came to football and I made it to the league, yes, I understood the business, but I kind of lost love for football because the business that goes into it – your whole life is a game, but once you get to a certain age or just before then, your fate is in another man’s hands. With music, I can’t control it, but I can express myself and God gave me a gift to be able to be at a level where people support me for my gift. 

You put out Nothin’ Major late last year, and that featured the focus track “Shawty” (with Kodak Black). How did that collaboration come together and why was it chosen as the focus track? 

I recorded my part in LA [probably two years ago] and I sent it to Kodak and he sent it right back. The next time we seen each other face-to-face was at another studio in Miami. It was supposed to have been his song, but I don’t how it went and came back to me and brodie was ready to drop it. Me and Kodak, we always doing business. That’s just that Broward-Dade County connection. It was a blessing man. 

A lot of people mess with Kodak — besides all the other stuff, that’s a good person, I know him for real. Him getting on that song… we connecting different parts of Florida. When T-Pain and Plies did it, that was more Fort Myers and Tallahassee. We giving that Dade County/Broward vibe, that’s a Florida classic. 

Why is it important for you to rep your hometown? 

I praise Florida, I praise Dade County. I’m from Liberty City, I’m from Miami. It ain’t no really big rappers out of Liberty City for real. The biggest we could go is Uncle Luke, and Uncle Luke opened doors for so many people, so many generations after him. To be from Miami and be from a birthplace of many styles and a lot of music that’s been sampled over the years, it’s big to let people know I’m from the 305. Florida, baby! We gon’ rep Florida wherever we go. And we got a different vibe too.  

Miami, South Florida, all that music has been ringing for years, but we getting a different type of buzz now. Just being one of the people that created some of this buzz, it’s big to me and it’s big to everybody. So, I’m definitely gonna rep all my people. I’m gonna rep the whole Florida not just South Florida. 

Who’s on your Mount Rushmore of Florida rappers? 

I’m gonna go Trick Daddy, Rick Ross, JT Money — I’m gonna leave myself out cause I have a mountain by myself – Ice [Billion] Berg. 

You recently dropped Kardiology (Feb. 16). What was your vision for the project and what are your goals for it post-release? 

These songs, I already had down. Some songs I added on there because we always recording. The focus on the whole project was just… these not your typical songs about love. It won’t come out that way. 

Every time you listen to a different track, it would give different directions of love or how love could have messed a person up or messed a situation up. These songs speak to the people, it’s a song on there for everybody. There’s a lot of Miami-style songs — I’m from Miami, so you know I gotta put that dance in some of the songs, the bass, the DJ checks, different stuff like that. 

I was supposed to start the whole Kardiology rollout probably around 2022, but this is a great start.

Why the delay? 

It was the directions of the songs. I record songs, but I’m not the type of person to just throw stuff on the tape and just put it out. I want to make sure you can actually have a no-skip tape. It was a whole wait. And then the direction of the videos, the treatments, the whole marketing plan behind what we’re gonna do with Kardiology – it’s more stuff we gotta do. We got scrubs, I’m gonna play a doctor in one of my videos. We having fun with it. 

We’re seeing the sports and music worlds continue to bleed more and more into each other every year, especially since Roc Nation and the NFL partnered for the Super Bowl halftime show. What do you make of that dynamic and how do you think it can best help artist-athletes like yourself? 

Exposure, that’s the biggest thing about anything we do. People want exposure, they want the world to see what they can do. These artists been out here, but the world goes so fast. That exposure collides the worlds and makes it easier for the right people to be in the same room. What they’re doing right now is big. I hope it grows until more independent artists are brought to these stages. 

Do you have any advice for other athletes looking to get into music or artists trying to get into sports or people who are just trying to balance both?  

Don’t plan on having a life. That was kind of my biggest thing since I’ve been doing music since high school. Once I started making music seriously in tenth or eleventh grade, that was my way of not going outside, because I was a kid [who] was always outside. You gotta understand that what’s important gotta stay important. And if it’s gonna be important, you can’t worry about the people around you and say they’re not supporting you or you’re not getting that push that you need. You got to be that push. You got to be everything for yourself. That’s what I mean, you ain’t really going to have no life. I’m just starting to live! 

People know me for “Okay, we’re gonna go make a tackle, get a couple of sacks, then come home and drop a hit.” If you’re gonna do it, do it. You’re gonna see the world change and you gonna realize that it’s easier to get that money if you really took it seriously. 

23 Feb 2024

Justin Timberlake ‘Gutted’ About Cancelling One-Off London Show Due to Illness

Justin Timberlake was scheduled to play a one-off show in London at the Roundhouse in Camden on Friday night (Feb. 23), but had to cancel the gig announced last week at the last minute due to illness. The singer revealed the news to fans in a video in which he apologized for the late notice.

“Hi everybody,” he said with a hoarse voice in the Instagram Story post. “This is an unfortunate video to have to send out, but I’m sure you can tell from the sound of things that I am not going to be able to make it to the show on Friday, which I’m gutted about.” He noted that he’s been in London all week and was “so excited” to perform at the legendary theater.

“But as you may or may not know, I’ve been battling some kind of bug,” he added. “And I thought it was getting better but it just took a turn for the worse.” He promised his London fans he would make it up to them, after he was able to “power through” his visit to Graham Norton’s chat show, which also nearly got scotched. But on Friday morning, he said he woke up feeling “worse than ever,” pledging that the next time he comes through he can hopefully make it up to them and “rock the Roundhouse” with his fans.

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“But for now I feel terrible… I hope none of you get this flu,” he said.

Earlier this week, Timberlake posted a preview of his just-released new single, “Drown,” playing a bit of it solo on a piano while acknowledging his illness. “Made it out to London, still recovering from this flu. But trying to power through. So excited for new music and everything coming this week,” he wrote at the time.

The news came on the same day that JT released his introspective new single, “Drown,” the second song so far from his upcoming Everything I Thought It Was album (March 15); the first single, “Selfish,” debuted at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Timberlake’s upcoming North American tour is slated to kick off on April 29 in Vancouver and keep him on the road through a July 9 gig in Lexington, KY before hopping over to Europe for his just-announced 13-gig run of overseas dates. The singer also recently expanded the North American run, adding 15 more shows that will keep him on the road through a Nov. 20 show at KFC Yum Center in Louisville, KY.

23 Feb 2024

Peso Pluma Cancels Latin American Dates For ‘Personal Reasons’

Peso Pluma canceled his three upcoming Latin American tour stops, including his first appearance at the Viña del Mar International Music Festival slated for March 1.

A spokesperson for the singer confirmed to Billboard that the Mexican star would not play his three scheduled Latin American dates – including stops in Perú and Paraguay — for undisclosed “personal reasons.” In addition to his Viña del Mar date, Pluma was also scheduled to perform on Saturday (Feb. 24) in Asunción, Paraguay and on March 2 in Lima. Paraguay news outlets, including ABC Color, reported the cancelation of his show there, citing “logistic issues.”

However, an official press release sent by Viña del Mar’s press office includes a quote from Peso’s reps which states: “We are sorry to communicate that due to personal reasons, Peso Pluma will not perform in the concerts/festivals slated for Viña del Mar, Lima and Asunción. We hope to return soon to these territories to give them the experience you deserve.”

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In Viña del Mar, Peso Pluma’s headlining slot will be taken over by María Becerra, who was originally scheduled as the second performer of the evening. Becerra is currently on a hot streak, having released a single with Enrique Iglesias, and is prepping for her first stadium show in Argentina. Argentine rapper Trueno will step in to take Becerra’s place as the second act performing on March 1 at the festival.

Peso Pluma’s Latin American tour has been fraught. He was originally scheduled to perform in Paraguay in December of 2023, but that date was later moved to Feb. 24. And, earlier this year, lawmakers in Chile had called for his removal from the Viña del Mar slate of performances, citing concerns over his music “normalizing narcoculture” in the country.

Viña del Mar organizers refused to remove him from the festival. Now, however, Pluma himself has canceled all three shows.

This is not the first time the Mexican singer has canceled performances. Last September, Peso Pluma called off a Tijuana show due to threats from drug cartels. Subsequently, another five shows in Mexico were canceled. Peso Pluma’s upcoming U.S. dates are going on as planned, according to his spokesperson, including performances at Coachella in April.

23 Feb 2024

Taylor Swift Takes Stage For First Sydney Eras Tour Show After Weather Evacuation

It was a rollercoaster of a night on Friday (Feb. 23) for Taylor Swift as the singer kicked off her four-show stand at Sydney, Australia’s Accor Stadium in front of 81,000 soggy, determined Swifties. Before the show could kick off, the stadium floor and lower bowl were evacuated due to storms — and a nearby lightning strike — which meant that opening act Sabrina Carpenter‘s set was cancelled in order to get Swift on stage in time.

“Please note, due to weather, show start time has been delayed. Stay undercover until further notice and follow venue screens and staff instructions. Stay safe and remember to be kind to those around you,” the venue announced on X in describing the delay.

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But, according to the Sydney Herald, the show did go on, with Swift taking the stage just before 8 p.m. local, and yes, boyfriend Travis Kelce was in the house, accompanied by Swift’s dad, Scott Swift. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end — wearing an electric blue, wildly patterned matching shorts and t-shirt combo –made his way to his seats accompanied by the rabid screams and shouts from Swifties on the stadium floor. Fans also got excited to see Rita Ora and Katy Perry (as well as Rita’s husband director Taika Waititi and beloved Australian director Baz Luhrmann) sharing a private box and exchanging friendship bracelets with admirers; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was also in the house.

On to the show, though. According to the Herald, Swift immediately nodded to the resiliency of her audience, telling them, “We have a little bit of a weather situation, a little bit of rain but I have never known an Aussie crowd that let anything get in the way!” Later, in what has become a signature moment in the set, Swift picked a nine-year-old named Scarlett — who was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer in October — as the recipient of her black hat during “22.”

The show progressed as usual after the storm delay, and the night’s first surprise song was “How You Get the Girl” from 2014’s smash 1989 album. “I kind of pick the song for each individual crowd and hope I get it right,” Swift told the audience of the song she first played during the stripped-down portion of the night in Atlanta last April.

Swift then brought out Carpenter to help her on a mash-up of Fearless‘ “White Horse” and Evermore‘s “Coney Island,” with Taylor telling the crowd that Carpenter “heroically sacrificed her show, which I think is a crime against Sydney.” The singer also took a moment during the surprise piano acoustic section to shout out her new favorite destination: the Sydney Zoo, which she visited the day before with Kelce. “We really love the Sydney Zoo – we’ve been 100 per cent of our days off here,” Swift said of her back-to-back visits. “I don’t think you guys don’t understand how cool kangaroos really are. They are so cool, so strong, so bouncy.”

Swift’s Accor stand will continue with shows on Saturday (June 24), Sunday (June 25) and Monday (June 26) before moving on to Singapore on March 2.

23 Feb 2024

Justin Timberlake Sets ‘Forget Tomorrow’ Tour Dates For U.K. and Europe

Justin Timberlake’s Forget Tomorrow World Tour will cruise through the U.K. and Europe this summer for a run of arena shows.

Just hours after dropping “Drown,” the second single from his forthcoming LP, Timberlake unveiled a 13-date pan-European itinerary kicking off July 26 at Tauron Arena Krakow, Poland, and wrapping Sept. 8 at LDLC Arena in Lyon, France.

“When I said WORLD tour, I meant it,” reads JT’s social post announcing the run, acknowledgment that the first waves of his “world tour” announcement covered only cities in the United States and Canada.

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Earlier this month, the “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” singer added 15 more concerts to his growing trek. The tour will launch April 29 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., and visit major cities such as Las Vegas (May 10-11), New York (Jun. 25-26) and Atlanta (Nov. 16), before concluding Nov. 20 at KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Ky.

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With the announcement of his European jaunt, eight more countries are added to his plans.

“Selfish” and “Drown” are the first cuts from Everything I Thought It Was, JT’s first solo album release in more than six years.

Due out March 15, EITIW is Timberlake’s sixth studio LP, and the followup to Man of the Woods which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 following its release in February 2018, for his fourth consecutive solo leader.

“I worked for a long time on this album and I ended up with 100 songs,” he told Zane Lowe in a recent interview for Apple Music 1. “So narrowing them down to 18 was a thing, and then, yeah, I’m really excited about this album. I think every artist probably says this, but it is my best work.”

The 10-time Grammy Award winner warmed-up for his live return with a performance last month in New York at the 1,100-capacity Irving Plaza.