Music

01 Feb 2024

Darius Rucker Arrested on Misdemeanor Drug Charges in Tennessee

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Darius Rucker was reportedly arrested on three misdemeanor charges in Williamson County, Tennessee on Thursday (Feb. 1). Rucker’s attorney, Mark Puryear, said in a statement to Billboard that Rucker “is fully cooperating with authorities related to misdemeanor charges.”

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Rucker, 57, who is known for his solo country hits such as “Wagon Wheel” and “Alright” as well as his hits including “Hold My Hand” as part of Hootie and the Blowfish, was booked on two misdemeanor drug charges, for simple possession and casual exchange of a controlled substance, according to TMZ.

He also received a third misdemeanor charge of a violation of Tennessee’s vehicle registration law, for expired tags on his vehicle. Rucker was brought into jail around 10 a.m. PT on Thursday and was released approximately an hour later, on bond.

Rucker has earned nine No. 1 Country Airplay hits including “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” and “Come Back Song.” His most recent album, Carolyn’s Boy, was released in October 2023. He has also won three Grammys — best country solo performance (“Wagon Wheel”), the all-genre best new artist award with Hootie and the Blowfish, and best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal, for the Hootie hit “Let Her Cry.”

Most recently, he’s enjoyed a hit collaboration with fellow artist Dax, on their song “To Be a Man.” The song reached No. 3 on Billboard’s digital song sales chart in November.

During the Billboard Power 100 party this week, Dax told Billboard that the vulnerable song “is really touching a lot of men…not only men, but women as well, and just to be part of it, I’m really thankful.”

01 Feb 2024

Green Day’s ‘Saviors’ Starts at No. 1 on Multiple Billboard Album Charts

Green Day’s latest studio album, Saviors, makes an eye-catching debut across Billboard’s charts, as it debuts atop seven different U.S. album charts (all dated Feb. 3). Plus, the set scores the band its best sales week ever on vinyl in the U.S.

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All told, Saviors starts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Top Current Album Sales, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums, Vinyl Albums and Tastemaker Albums.

In the tracking week ending Jan. 25, Saviors sold 39,000 copies in the U.S., according to Luminate. Of that sum, physical sales comprise 30,000 (18,000 on vinyl – the band’s best week ever on vinyl; 11,000 on CD and 1,000 on cassette) and digital album download sales comprise 9,000.

Saviors is Green Day’s fifth No. 1 on Top Album Sales and Top Current Album Sales; fourth No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums, third No. 1 on Vinyl Albums and fifth leader on Tastemaker Albums.

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 units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums rank, respectively, the week’s most popular rock and alternative, rock, and alternative albums by equivalent album units. Vinyl Album tallies the week’s top-selling vinyl releases. Tastemaker Albums measures the top-selling titles at independent and small chain record stores. Top Current Album Sales ranks the week’s top-selling new/current albums (non-catalog/older titles).

The first-week sales of Saviors were bolstered by its availability across more than 15 vinyl variants (all with the same tracklist, just different colored vinyl), an autographed CD sold through the band’s webstore and two deluxe boxed sets containing a CD and an artist branded t-shirt (both exclusive to Green Day’s Webstore).

A quartet of former No. 1s follows Saviors on the new Top Album Sales chart, as Taylor Swift’s Folklore is a non-mover at No. 2 (11,000; down 42%), as is Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) at No. 3 (nearly 11,000; down 18%). Kali Uchis’ Orquideas falls 1-4 in its second week with 7,000 (down 78%), while Swift’s Midnights rises 6-5 (nearly 7,000; down 15%).

NMIXX notches its first top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales as Fe3O4: Break debuts at No. 6 with a little over 6,000 sold. Its sales were encouraged by its availability in five collectible CD packages, all containing branded paper merchandise (including some randomized), including two signed editions sold through the act’s official webstore.

Stray Kids’ former No. 1 ROCK-STAR is steady at No. 7 (6,000; down 19%) and Swift’s chart-topping Lover is stationary at No. 8 (nearly 6,000; down 9%). The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds returns to the top 10, re-entering the chart at No. 9 with just over 5,000 sold, following the release of a new deluxe edition containing seven live bonus tracks recorded in October 2023. Swift’s former leader Evermore rounds out the top 10, dipping 9-10 with 5,000 sold (down 12%).

In the week ending Jan. 25, there were 1.103 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 1.8% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 823,000 (up 0.1%) and digital albums comprised 280,000 (up 7.4%).

There were 388,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Jan. 25 (up 5.1 week-over-week) and 429,000 vinyl albums sold (down 4.6%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 1.704 million (down 26.9% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 1.995 million (down 45.8%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 4.797 million (down 35% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 3.718 million (down 38.5%) and digital album sales total 1.079 million (down 19%).

01 Feb 2024

Justin Tranter on Grammy Nod, Writing Something ‘Filthy & Sexy’ With Miley Cyrus & How Songwriters Could ‘Run the Industry’

Justin Tranter is in the midst of a massive week. The renowned hitmaker is up for the songwriter of the year award at this Sunday’s Grammy Awards and will also host the Premiere Ceremony prior to the 2024 Grammys, live from Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

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Ahead of Grammys week, Billboard‘s senior music correspondent Katie Bain sat down with Tranter to talk about why the Grammys’ addition of the songwriter award is so important. 2024 marks the second year the songwriter of the year Grammy is being awarded and marks Tranter’s first nomination in the category. (They were previously nominated for song of the year in 2018 for Julia Michaels’ “Issues.”)

Tranter says they found out they were nominated when when they were out walking the dog and suddenly, 300 congratulatory texts came through.

“I think it’s important because we almost always get the short end of the stick in this business,” Tranter says of the Grammys acknowledging songwriters with the new-as-of-last-year songwriters category. “We’re always kind of thought of last; we’re always treated the worst, and I do think it is intentional because we are so powerful, that if we are allowed to recognize our power and flex our power, we would run the industry, and people don’t want that.

“So I think that this award is very important,” they continue, “because it lends visibility to songwriters, and without visibility we have no power, because we live in a world where if you can’t see something, you can’t hear something, it doesn’t exist.”

Tranter also shares stories of working on each of the songs they were nominated for in 2024, including Reneé Rapp‘s “Gemini Moon” (“She was mentioning her moon is in Gemini, and I’m a Gemini…and we Googled and that day the moon was also in gemini…”), Maneskin (“I DM’d them on Instagram when they won Eurovision and said ‘you are the coolest band I’ve seen since my band, we should work together’”), and Miley Cyrus (“we had one day together, and she was in the beginning of a new relationship and was feeling really sexy and fabulous and wanted to write something, in her words, pretty f—ing filthy and sexy”).

Tranter has worked with some the biggest superstars in modern pop music, and says building rapport with artists like Justin Bieber and Cardi B during the writing process is about sharing part of themselves.

“I can’t be afraid to ask slightly more personal questions than you’d usually ask someone you met an hour ago,” Tranter says. “But I think if you ask them with respect and also share at least a little bit about my life, then it feels like we are in this together. And I am very lucky too that I was just born pretty confident, and so I think me being a very femme queer person who is also very confident creates a space that’s [like] ‘if I can be confident in this, then you can be confident in what you’re in, what you’re living through.’”

01 Feb 2024

Charles Barkley Slams Taylor Swift Haters: ‘You’re Just a Loser’

Charles Barkley has a simple message for NFL fans hating on Taylor Swift.

“If you’re screaming at T-Swift saying she ruined [football], you’re just a loser,” the TV presenter and former basketball player said on CNN this week. “You’re just a loser or a jacka–. You can be A or B. One of the two.”

While Swift has been a mainstay at Kansas City Chiefs games throughout the season supporting her boyfriend Travis Kelce, it’s unclear if she’ll be able to make it out to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl on Sunday (Feb. 11), in which the Chiefs will face off against the Baltimore Ravens. She’ll be kicking off the Asian and Australian legs of her Eras tour on February 7 to 10, with four shows at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. She then has a few days off before heading to Melbourne, Australia, for her show on Feb. 16.

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Swift discussed the backlash to her presence at the games in her TIME Person of the Year interview last year. “I’m just there to support Travis,” she said in the cover story. “I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads and Chads.”

Unfortunately, due to the Super Bowl, Kelce will not be able to fly out to Los Angeles on Feb. 4 to join Swift on the red carpet at the Grammys, where she’s nominated for six awards.

01 Feb 2024

Bruce Springsteen’s Mom Adele Dies at 98: See His Emotional Tribute

Bruce Springsteen has announced that his mother, Adele, died on Wednesday. She was 98 years old.

The 74-year-old rock star shared the news with his followers via Instagram on Thursday (Feb. 1), posting a sweet throwback video of him dancing with his mother to a recording of Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood.” “Adele Springsteen – May 4, 1925-January 31, 2024,” he captioned the clip.

The Boss also fittingly paired the video with lyrics from his 1998 song “The Wish.” “I remember in the morning mom hearing your alarm clock ring,” he wrote in his post. “I’d lie in bed and listen to you getting ready for work, the sound of your makeup case on the sink. And the ladies at the office all lipstick, perfume and rustling skirts, how proud and happy you always looked walking home from work.

“It ain’t no phone call on Sunday, flowers or a Mother’s Day card,” he continued. “It ain’t no house on the hill with a garden and a nice little yard. I’ve got my hot rod down on Bond Street I’m older but you’ll know me in a glance. We’ll find us a little rock ‘n’ roll bar and we’ll go out and dance.”

In addition to Bruce, Adele leaves behind two daughters, Pamela and Virginia. Their father Douglas Springsteen, whom Adele married in 1948, died in 1998.

A Brooklyn, New York, native, Adele was a proud champion of her son’s music and sometimes joined him onstage at his concerts to dance. “My mother loves to dance,” Bruce once said in a July 2021 Broadway performance. “She grew up in the ’40s … [with] the big bands and the swing bands, and that was a time when dancing was an existential act.

“She’s 95 and she’s 10 years into Alzheimer’s and that’s taken a lot away from us,” he continued at the time. “But the need to dance hasn’t left her.”

See Bruce’s tribute to his mom below.

01 Feb 2024

Who Should Win Song of the Year at the 2024 Grammy Awards? Vote!

The 2024 Grammy Awards are just days away, and opinions about who should win each of the categories are all over the map. That especially goes for the so-called “Big Four” categories: album of the year, record of the year, best new artist and, of course, song of the year.

That final category in particular boasts stiff competition this year, with eight of the biggest names in music — seven of whom are female artists — being considered. Will it go to Taylor Swift, whose “Anti-Hero” ruled the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and made her the Grammys record-holder for most song of the year nominations in history? How about Miley Cyrus, whose “Flowers” also scored eight weeks atop the Hot 100? Or perhaps SZA, whose “Kill Bill” earned her a career first solo No. 1 on the U.S. chart?

There are also two songs from the Barbie soundtrack in the running: Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” will compete in the songwriting race; Billboard predicts that the latter will take the prize.

Notably, Jack Antonoff is nominated twice in the category, thanks to his work on both “Anti-Hero” and Lana Del Rey’s “A&W,” a standout from Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Voters also have their choice of two songs named after creatures with wings — Jon Batiste’s “Butterfly” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” — so do with that information what you will.

But while the Recording Academy voters may have jurisdiction over who wins what at this year’s Grammys, you get to decide in this Billboard poll. Tell us who should win song of the year in 2024 below.

01 Feb 2024

Shinedown’s Brent Smith on Mental Health at Hollywood & Mind Panel: ‘I Want People to Live to Fight Another Day’

On “A Symptom of Being Human,” Shinedown’s sweeping No. 1 Mainstream Rock Airplay current hit, lead singer Brent Smith sings about the all-too-relatable condition of feeling isolated even when surrounded by others: “Sometimes I’m in a room where I don’t belong/ And the house is on fire and there’s no alarm.”

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That vulnerability has been a mainstay of the rock band’s career, which has yielded a record-setting 19 No. 1s on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart spanning more than 18 years. On Tuesday night at Hollywood & Mind’s “Minds Matter: Spotlight on Shaping a Healthier Music Industry” conference at West Hollywood’s London Hotel, Smith talked in depth about musicians and mental health and how communication is the key to sustaining a healthy balance in a creative, often unstable profession.

Smith’s panel was moderated by Ryan Dusick, a founding member of Maroon 5, who is now a therapist. Dusick got the discussion off to a candid start, detailing how in 2006, as Maroon 5’s stardom was rising, he suffered a breakdown that effectively ended his musical career. “I had to walk away from it,” he said. “I grieved that loss for another decade, struggling with alcoholism and other debilitating effects.” Once he was in recovery, Dusick realized he had experienced “a mind, body and spirit breakdown. … I’m one of the fortunate ones who survived.” 

Through songs like “Get Up” and “Sound of Madness,” Shinedown has addressed mental health issues. “I’m in a band that’s been talking about mental health for the better part of two decades,” Smith said. And while taking care of one’s mental health is at the forefront of many conversations these days, it wasn’t always the case. “Before it was in the mainstream and brought to the forefront, it was something that was looked at as a bit of a weakness. Sometimes people would just say that you had a case of the Mondays and things of that nature,” Smith said. “It’s not taboo to talk about your feelings on the road anymore. It doesn’t make you weak; it makes you strong.” 

Crucial to maintaining a stable mental condition is communication. “We’re on the road 280 days a year,” Smith said. “You’ve got to talk to each other. In some cases, the bravest thing you can do is get someone off the road. In some cases, it’s potentially going to save their life. I want people to live to fight another day.”

As Smith says in the clip above, the key to success in the music industry is to always have “another mountain” to climb and to understand that life is a series of peaks and valleys. “When it comes to mental health, the most powerful thing is to speak up,” he said.

Speaking up was a theme throughout the day’s five intimate conversations, which also included developing artist Em Beihold, who talked about how to maintain habits that foster strong mental health, especially amid music industry pressures; as well as radio and TV host Matt Pinfield, who suggested an action as simple as promoting artists you like through your social media can help alleviate the pressure those artists feel to always be pushing their own work. Other speakers included Lucas Keller, founder/president of Milk & Honey Music + Sports; Alison Malmon, founder/executive director of Active Minds; Mary Rahmani, founder of Moon Projects, a joint venture label with Republic Records; Jaclyn Ranere, CMO of Sofar Sounds; Kakul Srivastava, CEO of Splice; Yuli, a Grammy-nominated artist, multi-instrumentalist and producer; and Marshai Iverson, managing director of mental health and addiction recovery services at MusiCares. Sponsors included Splice, Active Minds and Sofar Sounds.

Hollywood & Mind was founded in 2023 by veteran journalist (and Billboard contributor) Cathy Applefeld Olson to address the intersection of the entertainment industry and brain health sector, working with executives and talent across multiple sectors, including music and film, to elevate mental health and wellness.

The Jan. 30 event was Hollywood & Mind’s third since launching with the Hollywood & Mind Summit held last May that featured, among others, Demi Lovato discussing mental health. In September, the company hosted an event in partnership with Bumble focused on our crisis of loneliness that featured Tiffany Haddish, singer/songwriter Rachel Platten, and California first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom among speakers. The second annual Hollywood & Minds Summit will take place May 9 at UTA in Los Angeles.

01 Feb 2024

Azealia Banks Weighs In on Nicki Minaj & Megan Thee Stallion Feud: ‘This Is About Jay-Z’

Fans had been calling for Azealia Banks to give her opinion on the vicious Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion feud sweeping the rap game.

After initially believing she was going to sit this one out, the “212” rapper delivered, to the tune of 30 posts on her Instagram Story early Thursday (Feb. 1), weighing in on the beef and even dragging Jay-Z into the mix.

“Originally I was just going to stay out of this because it’s another day, another rap beef — who really cares? But I think there’s some interesting parts to this that everyone’s missing. This isn’t about Meg [collaborating] with Cardi,” Banks began. “This is about Jay-Z. … Jay-Z has this way of presenting himself in the culture as a Daddy Warbucks type of figure.”

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The Harlem native hypothesized that a majority of female rappers lack a father figure and look to Jay for that kind of validation and guidance.

“When you really dig down deep into it, Nicki be sweating Jay in a different type of way,” she continued. “Low-key, she be on his di–. I’m really good at reading body language and I could see in the ‘Feeling Myself’ video, Beyoncé’s kinda like laughing at her.”

Banks, who has clashed with Minaj in the past, believes that Nicki ultimately wanted a co-sign from Jay and felt dissed when Hov threw his support behind Meg and brought her to Roc Nation.

“Jay-Z has kinda positioned himself in this way where almost every type of female urban artist feels she needs his approval of sorts,” Banks said. “I could just low-key feel she’s felt slighted by Jay. Just by his association with Meek Mill. But at the same time, Nicki wants to wiggle her way in bad. That’s what this beef is about. She wants to be a Roc Nation girl so f—ing bad.”

She continued: “It’s been years since Jay-Z publicly co-signed any female rapper, and the fact that it’s Megan — it could be anyone — the fact some female rapper that’s not Nicki got Jay-Z’s public co-sign makes Nicki jealous. … And I’m really not trying to diss Meg. She’s not a typical Roc Nation girl. She’s still ham hocks and hushpuppies.”

Further into the extended rant, Banks poked at Nicki for her financial situation and alleged issues with her butt implants.

“It’s pretty clear that Nicki’s f—ed. That she’s f—ed financially,” AB claimed. “I realized it when she was frying the can of cream corn in the Teflon pan. I was just like, ‘What in the welfare is happening right now?’ … You can tell by whatever keeps happening with Nicki’s butt that she’s f—ed right now. Because there’s something very f—ing wrong with the butt right now. I do know that the surgery to get that out of there is a pretty penny.”

Megan Thee Stallion lit the fuse when she jabbed Nicki and her husband Kenneth Petty — who is a convicted sexual predator — on her fiery “Hiss” track last Friday (Jan. 26).

Minaj didn’t waste any time attacking Meg on social media for a variety of things, ranging from her late mother to her rapping ability as well as the Tory Lanez 2020 shooting.

The Young Money rapper packaged those social media threats up and turned them into her “Big Foot” single, which served as a response to the Houston Hottie on Monday (Jan. 29).

Watch some of Azealia Banks’ Instagram Stories giving her take on the feud below.

01 Feb 2024

Chris Young Thanks Fans After Assault Charges Are Dropped: ‘It’s Not Something I Wish Anybody Has to Go Through Ever’

Chris Young shared an official message to fans on Thursday (Feb. 1) after Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk previously dismissed all charges against the singer following Young’s alleged altercation at Nashville bar Dawg House with Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents. The incident led to a subsequent arrest with three misdemeanor charges.

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All charges against the singer were dismissed on Monday after security footage of the incident showed that Young had reached out to one of the agents, who then shoved Young to the floor of the bar (Young later released photos on Instagram that showed bruises the singer allegedly got from being shoved to the ground).

In a video message Young shared via Instagram, he spoke directly to fans and supporters, saying, “Hey guys, so I just wanted to say something. You know, I’m still processing a lot through the false accusations and everything that went on in the past week. But I wanted to say first and foremost, thank you to everybody that had my back. It meant the world to me and I had so many friends and fans reach out and say ‘We got you, we don’t believe you did any of this.’ So it’s really nice to see the charges get dismissed. It’s not something I wish anybody has to go through ever. But, like I said, the bright spot was seeing just all the love and support.”

As a thank you to his fans, Young revealed that he plans to release a new song at midnight: “Double Down,” from his upcoming album Young Love & Saturday Nights. Written by Monty Criswell, Derek George and Tyler Reeve, “Double Down” is one of 18 songs on the album, which is due March 22 via Sony Music Nashville.

“We’re going to put out ‘Double Down’ at midnight and I really hope you guys enjoy this one. Crank it up, enjoy it – I appreciate you, I love you, and thank you,” Young said.

Young previously addressed online trolls with a social media post that contained a clip of some security video footage of the incident. “For all the trolls saying ‘Don’t touch a cop,’ I didn’t touch him,” read text on the clip. He also captioned the video by addressing the online trolls directly, writing, “Stop coming at me.”

Young’s current single, the album’s title track, currently resides at No. 34 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart.  

01 Feb 2024

Watch Don Toliver Lead His Hardstone Biker Gang in New ‘Bandit’ Music Video

Don Toliver has a new rock edge to him with his brand-new single “Bandit,” which he released Thursday (Feb. 1) via Cactus Jack and Atlantic Records.

The song, which samples Tame Impala‘s “One More Hour” from the 2020 album The Slow Rush, is Toliver’s first new music release since his 2023 album Love Sick, which reached No. 4 on Billboard‘s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 8 on the Billboard 200. But it sounds like he’s already back in album mode, since he wrote on X, “Album soon.”

Toliver is kicking off his new era with a music video that features him leading a Hardstone biker gang through the desert (two of the motorcycles are from his personal collection) while wearing custom Elliot Evan leather jackets with the “Hardstone Psycho” symbol emblazoned on the back. He eventually leaves their rowdy house party to go check on his IRL girlfriend Kali Uchis, who is expecting their first child. The couple made the announcement last month.

Toliver has upcoming festival performances at Rolling Loud California in March and Governors Ball in June.

Watch Toliver’s “Bandit” video below.