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The BLACKPINK solo set quadfecta is now complete, with JENNIE releasing her debut one-woman album, Ruby, Friday (March 7).
The 15-track LP makes JENNIE the final member of her girl group to drop a solo project amid BLACKPINK’s ongoing break, following ROSÉ’s Rosie, JISOO’s AMORTAGE and LISA’s Alter Ego. In addition to previously released singles “Mantra,” “Love Hangover” featuring Dominic Fike and “ExtraL” with Doechii, the album also contains the tracks “Like JENNIE,” “Start a War,” “With the IE (Way Up),” “ZEN,” “F.T.S.,” “Filter,” “Seoul City,” “Starlight” and “Twin.”
Plus, Ruby includes a number of star-studded collaborations, from the FKJ-assisted “Intro” to “Handlebars” featuring Dua Lipa and “Damn Right” with Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis.
The release of Ruby comes about seven years after JENNIE first made her solo debut in 2018 with the aptly titled single “SOLO.” The South Korean star didn’t follow the track up until 2023 with her version of “One of the Girls” from The Weeknd’s HBO show, The Idol, in which she also starred.
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JENNIE has long been working toward a solo album, with the performer opening up about how she “struggled a lot in the beginning” of the creative process in her January Billboard cover story. “A few months, I would say, was just me throwing myself out there, walking into rooms filled with new people,” she continued. “I just had to keep knocking on the door, like, ‘Is this it?’ ‘Is this it?’ and then eventually, we got to a point where I found a good group of people that I linked with, sonically and as friends.”
Now that all four of the BLACKPINK ladies have released their solo projects, the next step is for the band to reunite for a global tour kicking off in July. Dates for the trek were announced in February; around the same time, ROSÉ confirmed that the foursome also has new music in the works.
Of their upcoming reunion, JENNIE told Billboard in her cover interview, “I’ve missed the girls. I’ve missed doing tours with them. I miss our silly moments.”
“I’m excited to see what everyone brings,” she added at the time. “You know, everyone took their own journey [during] this time, and I’m excited to share that with the girls. I want to say it’s going to be the most powerful [versions] of ourselves that anyone has seen.”
Listen to Ruby below.
After five years away from the pop scene, Lady Gaga is back at long last with her long-awaited seventh studio album, Mayhem, out now via Interscope Records. Diving headfirst back into a pop-focused sound, Gaga brings in a new suite of production collaborators — including Andrew Watt, Cirkut and her fiancé Michael Polansky — to […]
Lady Gaga’s new album might bring with it an eagerly-anticipated return to Australia.
The singer appeared on Australian radio network The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick program to discuss the release of her nascent Mayhem record, while also providing a hint as to whether she might be announcing her first Australian tour dates in over a decade.
“I can’t formally announce anything, but I can tell you that I’m going to be announcing… some things,” she responded with a laugh, before reflecting on her time in the country. “I miss my fans there so much, I really do. I have such fond memories of being in Australia, it’s a beautiful place and I really do want to come back soon.”
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Currently, it’s been close to 11 years since Gaga first performed on Australian shores, last visiting in August 2014 as part of her artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball tour. While that tour was in support of her fourth album Artpop, the singer skipped over the country while touring for her next two – 2016’s Joanne, and 2020’s Chromatica.
Previously, Gaga had been a frequent presence within the country, appearing almost annually thanks to her album tour cycles, and even returning in between official visits for promotional appearances. In July 2011, Gaga’s visit to the New South Wales capital of Sydney saw her declared an honorary citizen of the city by Lord Mayor Clover Moore for her support of the LGBTQI+ community.
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Gaga’s new album, Mayhem, arrives as her seventh, with every one of her previous solo studio albums charting atop the Billboard 200 (save for 2008’s The Fame, which peaked at No. 2). Speaking to Fifi, Fev & Nick, Gaga again touched on her previous claims that the album had been inspired by the likes of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.
“This album has so many different genres on it; from ‘90s grunge, industrial music, to funk music, ‘80s synth pop… it’s all my favorite things in a blender,” she explained. “It’s why I called it Mayhem – because it’s chaos.”
Speaking to Billboard ahead of Mayhem’s release, Gaga asserted her decision to make such a genre-shifting, kaleidoscopic body of work, noting she paid no mind to any of the expectations that may have been placed upon her for the record.
“I do think that I felt a lot of pressure, over the years, to prove myself as a musician,” she explained. “And that sometimes stopped me from having fun. So, I tried to have a lot of fun making this record.”
While Coldplay might claim they’ve made peace with being an “easy, safe target” for widespread disdain, James Blake has issued a public plea for music-lovers to stop criticizing the band just for the sake of it.
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Blake made his public appeal in a recent discussion with Nick Grimshaw and Annie Macmanus on the BBC Sounds podcast Sidetracked with Annie and Nick. The focus of the conversation turned to a recent Instagram post from The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, in which she spoke about what she feels is and isn’t cool.
As Blake, Grimshaw, and Macmanus continued, they began to ruminate on the definition of cool, how its “hard to be a successful touring cool band,” and the recent comments from Brit Awards host Jack Whitehall, in which he referred to Coldplay as a “public school Nickelback.”
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“Coldplay bashing has got to stop,” Blake chimed in. “It’s not cool anymore! It’s not cool anymore to just be like ‘Coldplay’s not cool.’ Just f–k off,” he said. “There are so many amazing Coldplay songs. And Chris Martin is clearly a melodic genius.”
“[If] you don’t like the sound of their last few records, OK. When you go and see them at Glastonbury, did you like a lot of the songs? Probably,” he continued. “Maybe the band changed the way they dressed? Are we not allowed to change the way we dress? Are we not allowed to bloody write songs in a different genre? Like, who cares, man? I get really a bit irate about this!”
While bands such as Coldplay and Nickelback have indeed become something of a lightning rod for public scorn over the years (the were themselves the subject of a 2023 documentary Hate to Love: Nickelback), Martin indicated to Rolling Stone in 2024 that he’s at peace with where the band find themselves in terms of public opinion and expectations.
“There’ve been times where we [were like], ‘Well, we should probably try and look a bit like this or talk a bit like that,’” Martin explained. “And now, it’s just like, ‘No.’ Just follow whatever’s being sent. And that’s a very liberating place to be.
“If you want a puppet to sing a bit of a song, well, some people might not like this — my mum being one of them, for example. But my point is, that’s part of my journey to be like, ‘Well, I love you, and this is what we’re doing.’”
Despite any of the criticism that Coldplay attracts, their successes seem to tell a different story about what the public think of them. In January, their Indian debut broke the record for the largest-ever stadium shows of the 21st century. A two-night stint at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat saw them perform for 111,581 fans at the first show and 111,989 fans per night at the second, totaling more than 223,000 fans across the two nights.
As of mid-December, Coldplay had sold more than 100,000 tickets on over half the stops of their Music of the Spheres World Tour and grossed a total of $1.14 billion.
System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan has shared more insights into his fondness for U.S. President Donald Trump, despite the notably progressive views espoused by his band.
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Dolmayan, who joined System of a Down in 1997, shared his recent opinions in a recent discussion with Australian YouTuber Lilian Tahmasian. Throughout the lengthy conversation, the drummer turned his attention to the ever-present topic of politics, addressing his support for the President and confirming that he voted for Trump during his 2024 campaign.
“I’m glad he won, because it brings a little sanity back,” Dolmayan explained. “Irrespective of what you hear out there, it’s much more sane with him than it was without him.”
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As he continued, Dolmayan – who moved from Beirut to California as a two-year-old amidst the Lebanese Civil War – agreed with Trump’s border policy, explaining that while the U.S. thrives on immigration, he believes it must be done “a certain way.”
“We need law and order,” he continued. “Just like you lock your door at night, you don’t want somebody coming to your house when you have secure borders. We need people coming to this country. We all came to this country. And we need more people coming in. And the United States should always be a bastion for people that need it. Maybe they get oppression one way or the other in their countries and they need to leave. Or maybe they just want a fresh start. Or maybe they wanna be part of something that’s unique and interesting like the United States. And they should be allowed to do that, but do it a certain way — pay taxes, whatever you need to do, and live your life.”
Dolmayan’s outspoken support for Trump has been notable in recent years. In 2023, he took to social media to reveal he had lost friends and “hundreds of thousands” of followers due to his support for the President and his “unwillingness to accept the narratives [his followers] are now questioning the validity of.” Speaking to Tahmasian, however, Dolmayan explained that the left or right side of politics “makes no difference” to him, instead claiming he’s against “who’s doing wrong at this time.”
“If the conservatives go way off on the right and become too religious or whatever the case may be, where they’re infringing on people, then I’m gonna be with the Democrats at that point, because I’m not a politician and I don’t give a shit about the political parties. I’m a realist,” he explained. “And whatever’s good for people, that’s what I’m gonna fight for. So I’ll always be the enemy. I can never win.”
System of a Down released five albums between 1998 and 2005, with 2001’s Toxicity, and Hypnotize and Mezmerize (both 2005) all hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The group embarked on a four-year hiatus in 2006, later reforming in 2010 and continuing to perform live sporadically since.
In 2020, System of a Down released the singles “Protect the Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz,” though the band have shown no indication of recording a further studio album, with Dolmayan claiming that he’s felt “frustration” with the group’s lack of musical progress.
A Day to Remember’s Big Ole Album, Vol. 1 jumps 27-5 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated March 8) — and is the only title on the list charting solely from physical album sales. The set was surprise released on Feb. 18 exclusively on CD and vinyl, with its digital download and streaming versions slated for a March 21 release. (The March 8 chart reflects the sales week ending Feb. 27.)
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In the tracking week ending Feb. 20, the album sold about 4,000 copies in the U.S., according to Luminate and yielded debuts on Top Album Sales (No. 27) and Indie Store Album Sales (No. 4). All sales generated in the Feb. 18-20 frame were from brick-and-mortar stores.
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Then, in the week ending Feb. 27, as mail order sales kicked in, it sold nearly 10,000 copies (up 205%), largely from vinyl sales (almost 8,000). The set surges 27-5 on Top Album Sales, 4-2 on Indie Store Album Sales and bows at No. 4 on Vinyl Albums, No. 6 on Top Hard Rock Albums, No. 19 on Top Alternative Albums, No. 24 on Top Rock Albums and No. 30 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums. It also debuts at No. 155 on the all-genre Billboard 200 as the only title on the list charting from solely physical sales.
With the 27-5 jump on Top Album Sales for A Big Ole Album, Vol. 1, A Day to Remember earns its third top 10-charting effort on the list. The rock band also visited the top 10 with 2021’s You’re Welcome (peaking at No. 3) and 2016’s Bad Vibrations (No. 1).
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.
As for the rest of the top 10 on the latest Top Album Sales chart, Tate McRae’s new So Close To What leads the pack, as it debuts atop the list with 71,000 copies sold. Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping GNX is a non-mover at No. 2 with 19,000 (down 37%) and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet falls 1-3 with 17,000 (down 77%). Chappell Roan’s former No. 1 The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess climbs 5-4 with nearly 10,000 (down 15%).
The Weeknd’s chart-topping Hurry Up Tomorrow is stationary at No. 6 with 9,000 sold (down 16%) and Stray Kids’ former No. 1 HOP is steady at No. 7 with 8,000 (down 8%).
Rock act Killswitch Engage debuts at No. 8 with This Consequence, selling nearly 7,000 copies. It’s the eight top 10-charting set for the group.
Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft falls one spot to No. 9 with 6,000 sold (down 23%) and G-DRAGON logs his first top 10 with Übermensch bowing at No. 10 with nearly 6,000 sold.
King Charles is taking on a new role in addition to monarch of the United Kingdom: DJ.
As announced Thursday (March 6), the British ruler is set to premiere a new radio show on Apple Music titled The King’s Music Room. Recorded in his personal office at Buckingham Palace, the show will showcase Charles’ favorite artists, from “1930s crooners to Afrobeats stars as well as disco divas and reggae icons,” according to a description.
In a trailer released Thursday, Charles personally introduces the show while seated behind his desk. “Throughout my life, music has meant a great deal to me,” he says. “It has that remarkable ability to bring happy memories, comfort us in times of sadness and take us to distant places. But perhaps, above all, it can lift our spirits to such a degree, and all the more so when it brings us together in celebration.
“In other words, it brings us joy,” the king continues. “This is what I particularly wanted to share with you: songs which have brought me joy. This seemed such an interesting and innovative way to celebrate this year’s Commonwealth Day.”
A press release adds that Charles’ show will be “shaped by his extraordinary experiences from around the world” and find the monarch sharing personal stories about the artists he features. Bob Marley, Kylie Minogue, Grace Jones, Davido and RAYE make up just a few of the musicians he’ll highlight.
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“Human curation has always been a key pillar of our unique editorial approach,” said Rachel Newman, Apple Music’s global head of content and editorial, in a statement. “Apple Music Radio is where culture is happening worldwide, and we are honored that King Charles III chose to share his personal playlist with us, and with music fans around the world.”
The King’s Music Room will premiere on Apple Music 1 and Apple Music Hits at 6 a.m. GMT on Monday (March 10), with additional broadcasts throughout the day and Tuesday (March 11).
Watch the trailer below.
Charli XCX created a clubland dream world with her Brat revolution, and now it seems she may be stepping further into the realm of fantasy. As first reported by Deadline, the pop star is being considered for a role in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia film, which the revered director is creating for Netflix. Deadline reports […]
Cam’ron has responded to former Terror Squad rapper Cuban Link alleging that Cam and Mase stole the chorus to Cam’s early hit song “Horse & Carriage.” Cuban Link told the story of how he originally came up with the hook in a resurfaced clip of his Link & Panda Show podcast. He explained that he […]
Ingrid Andress made headlines — and garnered considerable backlash — last summer after her botched performance of the national anthem at the MLB Home Run Derby in Arlington, Texas. Andress swiftly issued an apology on social media, saying, “I’m not gonna bullsh– y’all. I was drunk last night. I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night.”
The “More Hearts Than Mine” hitmaker sought treatment and, more recently, made a comeback, singing the national anthem at a Colorado Avalanche hockey game.
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She’s been making the media rounds, and during an appearance on the podcast The Viall Files, Andress opened up about the support she’s received from other artists — and she noted, in particular, how other women country music artists encouraged and championed Andress during her time in rehab.
“That was actually the other really meaningful thing that happened after the anthem. I was expecting no one to reach out,” she said. “But there was just so much outpouring of love from female country artists in Nashville. I actually felt so loved and seen going into rehab.”
She continued, “Elle King was like, ‘This is just all part of it, girl,’ and she’s obviously been there before, too, and you know, Kelsea Ballerini was like, ‘Welcome to the worst parts of this job.’ It was mostly women. Karen Fairchild from Little Big Town, and that really meant a lot to me, because I feel like women in country music have had to stick together based on very obvious things because it’s a very male-dominated genre, but for them to be like, ‘Hey, we’ve all been there,’ it was very meaningful.”
Country music’s female artists weren’t the only artists to reach out with love: Andress recalled how artist-guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana reached out with support.
“Have never spoken to him before in my life, and he asked my management, ‘Hey, can I get Ingrid’s number?’ … He was so kind and so supportive. He was like, ‘If you ever want to do a song, you know where to find me,’ and he sent me flowers.”
Andress continues to cement her return with the recent release of her new song “Footprints.”
“As I’ve gotten older and experienced more life, I think the most human thing on earth is failing. It’s getting kicked off, feeling the sting of it, but getting back on the same d**n horse anyway,” Andress wrote in an Instagram post revealing the song. “The sister, daughter, and human I want to be is resilient. Without the mistakes in my life, I would not be the person I am today, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have the stories to pass on about my journey. We have to talk about our mistakes in order for our success to make sense. ‘Footprints’ is a reminder to all the people I love the most, and also to myself, that I’m out here trying my best at this “life” thing, and if there’s any helpful guidance anyone can take from it, it’s all worth it. Here’s to making it worse, making it right, and making it.”
See the full podcast below: