Music

31 Jan 2024

AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’ Music Video Reaches 1 Billion YouTube Views

AC/DC’s “Back in Black” music video keeps on rocking, as the visual reached one billion views on YouTube. It’s the Australian band’s second clip to join the Billion Views club, following their hit “Thunderstruck.”

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In the music video, the group performs the high-energy hit on a small stage, as frontman Brian Johnson belts, “Back in black / I hit the sack / I’ve been too long, I’m glad to be back.”

The classic song serves as the title track to AC/DC’s seminal 1980 album, marking their biggest-selling LP. Back In Black found guitarist Angus Young, rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, bassist Cliff Williams and drummer Phil Rudd joining forces with new singer Brian Johnson (formerly of glam outfit Georgie) and re-teaming with Highway to Hell producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange in the Bahamas to pick up the pieces, just months after frontman Bon Scott died Feb. 19, 1980 at the age of 33.

Peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, Back In Black was the band’s first top 10 album, and it it produced their first top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “You Shook Me All Night Long” (No. 35 peak).

To celebrate the “Back in Black” music video achievement, watch AC/DC’s music video below.

31 Jan 2024

Marc Anthony’s ‘Punta Cana’ Debuts at No. 1 on Tropical Airplay Chart

Marc Anthony’s remarkable dominance on Billboard’s Tropical Airplay chart adds yet another chapter this week as his latest single, “Punta Cana,” debuts at No. 1 on the ranking dated Feb. 3. The arrival extends his record for the most No. 1s in the chart’s history.

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“Punta Cana” storms in atop Tropical Airplay with 4.6 million audience impressions earned in the U.S. during the Jan. 19-25 tracking week, according to Luminate.

“Punta Cana’s” arrival at the summit secures Marc Anthony his unprecedented 36th No. 1 on the list, the most among all acts; a record he’s held since 1996, one year after Tropical Airplay launched. Victor Manuelle remains in second place, with 29 No. 1s.

The bachata, coproduced by Marc Anthony alongside Sergio George, was released Jan. 26 via Sony Music Latin and unseats another labelmate from the lead: Enrique Iglesias and Maria Becerra’s “Así Es La Vida” drops to No. 2 with a 19% decrease in impressions, to 4.3 million.

Notably, out of the 36 champs on Marc Anthony’s Tropical Airplay account, “Punta Cana” becomes the third song to premiere at No. 1, following the six-week champ “Se Me Sigue Olvidando” (1995) and nine-week ruler “Ahora Quien” (2004). (Only 16 songs overall have debuted on at No. 1 on the chart.) Plus, “Punta Cana” is Marc Anthony’s first No. 1 in two years (since “Mala Santa” ruled for one week in March 2022) and his 27th No. 1 without any accompanying acts.

As Marc Anthony continues to beat the competition, here’s the recap of the artists with the most No. 1s on the 28-year-old chart:

36, Marc Anthony
29, Victor Manuelle
23, Prince Royce
18, Romeo Santos
14, Elvis Crespo
14, Gilberto Santa Rosa
13, Jerry Rivera
12, Juan Luis Guerra 440

Beyond its Tropical Airplay coronation, “Punta Cana” gives Marc Anthony his 59th career entry on the overall Latin Airplay ranking, as the song debuts at No. 19. With the new entry, he continues to hold the record for the most chart appearances among tropical acts, and the sixth-most among all artists. Here’s the leaderboard:

85, Daddy Yankee
68, Ozuna
64, Intocable
63, Los Tigres del Norte
60, J Balvin
59, Marc Anthony
58, Banda El Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga

31 Jan 2024

Bluegrass Group Sister Sadie Forges Ahead Following Personnel Changes With New Album ‘No Fear’: ‘We Decided to Keep Going Forward’

In 2020, bluegrass group Sister Sadie made history by becoming the first all-female group to win the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s coveted top honor: entertainer of the year. That same year, the group earned vocal group of the year, while Sister Sadie member Deanie Richardson became the second woman in 30 years to win the IBMA’s fiddle player of the year. The group originally formed in December 2012, with a lineup that included Gena Britt, Deanie Richardson, Dale Ann Bradley, Tina Adair and Beth Lawrence. 

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But over the past four years, Sister Sadie has weathered changes both external and internal — from pandemic shutdowns to the exits of group members, including Adair and Bradley. The group’s two remaining founders, Deanie Richardson and Gena Britt, have forged ahead with Sister Sadie — and in the process, are welcoming a new generation to the group’s mission of putting talented women bluegrass players in the spotlight.

Fiddle player Richardson has spent years touring with artists including Patty Loveless and Bob Seger, while banjoist/vocalist Britt’s resume has included time as part groups including New Vintage and The Daughters of Bluegrass. Rounding out Sister Sadie are the newest members Jaelee Roberts (guitar/vocals), Dani Flowers (guitar/vocals) and the group’s youngest member, 19-year-old Maddie Dalton (bass/vocals). Roberts joined in 2020, followed by Flowers in 2022 and in 2023, Dalton. 

“Personnel changes are always hard because everything changes—the energy, the sound,” Richardson tells Billboard via Zoom. “With personnel changes, it’s like, ‘Do we call it or do we try to reinvent this thing?’ We decided to keep going forward.” 

The relational ties with some of the newer members run deep, particularly with Roberts. “I grew up playing in a band [New Tradition] with Jaelee’s dad when I was a teenager,” Richardson says, “and [Gena] grew up playing in a band [Petticoat Junction] with Jaelee’s mom when she was a teenager, and now we are in a band with Jaelee.”

The group’s latest album, No Fear, which came out Jan. 26, marks the group’s first full-fledged project with their new label Mountain Home, where they signed in 2022.

“With all the personnel changes happening, we just felt it was time for a change,” Richardson says of leaving former label Pinecastle Records and joining Mountain Home. “Gena and I went to Mountain Home and just thought it would be a good spot to land. We started making calls, chatting with labels and seeing what family feels right to work with, and this felt right.”

For some of the newer members, crafting the album came with career milestones and unique challenges.

“The funny part is they all went into the studio and recorded, and I had my college finals, so I couldn’t make it for the first round, but in the second round of session I went in and just loved getting to hear all of this music come to life,” Roberts said, while Dalton called the sessions “a whirlwind of an experience and so fun,” noting that making the album marked her first time playing bass in a professional studio setting, just two weeks after joining Sister Sadie.

The album’s 13 tracks span straightforward bluegrass to folk, traditional country and more, anchored by each of the group’s members’ individual musical proclivities.

“It’s a reflection of all of us, because our individual personalities come out in the record,” Britt said. “We just love songs and songwriters. When we are making a record, we start a Dropbox and everyone starts throwing songs we love into that Dropbox and we start picking things out. There’s some electric guitar on this album, some piano and drums and a B-3 organ—some things that are way outside of the Sister Sadie box, but I love where it’s heading.”

Some of those favorited compositions are pulled from the country genre, including Cam’s 2017 single “Diane,’ which flips the script on Dolly Parton’s classic “Jolene.”

“I played in the band at the Opry and I was on one night and Cam walked out and I was playing mandolin. She did that song and I was floored. I thought, ‘It sounds like an old ‘70s pop song.’ I sent it to the girls and they loved it as much as I did. The song wasn’t a huge hit, but we loved it and it has been a crowd favorite.”

Two other songs, “Willow” and “Ode to the Ozarks,” were co-written by country singer-songwriter and Grammy winner Ashley McBryde, who also lends her vocals to “Ode to the Ozarks.” 

“Ashley is one of my best friends,” Flowers says, recalling that the two met in a songwriting session, and that McBryde was a contributor to “Something to Lose,” featured on 2018 album Sister Sadie II, “We love her and she’s always been such a great supporter and came to my first show with Sister Sadie at [Nashville music venue] Station Inn and sang with us on the Opry. She’s a big part of Sister Sadie—she’s Sister Ashley.”

“When I saw Sister Sadie live for the first time, I was like, ‘Okay, now I’m obsessed,’” McBryde told Billboard via a statement. “I found out through Dani Flowers (we’ve been friends for over a decade), that they were thinking about cutting ‘Willow,’ a song I had written quite a few years ago. Then I found out they were also gonna cut ‘Ode to the Ozarks,’ and I was so tickled. Deanie called and asked if I would come and sing on ‘Ode to the Ozarks,’ and I was blown away. I love the whole record and I’m still obsessed with Sister Sadie.”

“If We Ain’t Drinkin’ Then We’re Fighting” is an older song, written by Richardson and former Sister Sadie member Adair. 

“I was in a marriage that just kind of went south and was not in a good place,” Richardson says. “The only thing we really looked forward to every day was like, ‘What are we drinking tonight? What cocktail are we making?’ and I said to Tina one day, ‘It’s just no fun over here. If we’re not drinking, we’re fighting. And she was like, ‘Oh my god, let’s write that.’ So it was a quick write, and there was some comedic tinge to it. The feel is more Reno and Smiley, just real swingy old-school bluegrass.”

Dalton takes the lead on “Mississippi River Long,” a song Flowers co-wrote when she was 19.

“Maddie joined as we were finishing up the record,” Flowers says. “We knew she was a great bass player, but I didn’t realize how great of a singer she is until we heard her at a festival and knew she needed to sing on this record. I’m so happy this song has new life.”

The group’s accolades are a testament to the skill and determination of its members, especially in a male-dominated genre. Richardson says the group’s all-female lineup hasn’t been a deterrent.

“I am a gay woman in bluegrass music, and I have never ever had an issue,” Richardson says. “I don’t feel like us being women has really hindered us. The only thing I’ve ever noticed is they’re only going to book one female band at a festival. That’s the only really negative downside I’ve ever seen. We’ve got a great career. For me and us, I don’t feel like it’s ever been an issue. I know it has been for lots of people, but we just try to stay positive and give it hell and see what happens.”

Even while earning top awards from the IBMAs, Sister Sadie didn’t have a booking agent or manager and was booking shows and facilitating its own business operations. That’s changed, as they’ve now signed with Madison House for booking, and began working with manager Chris Segal. The Sister Sadie members say they are dedicated to forging ahead, even as they balance roles as musicians with other responsibilities including jobs (Richardson works at a bank and Britt at a glasses retailer), school and family.

“We do as much as we can and we also have jobs and kids,” Richardson said. “We started this thing as a pet project. We were like, ‘Let’s get these amazing women together and play when we can.’ Then that developed into tour dates and records and IBMA Awards, but it was organic and we never really went in 100% on this. So we had this conversation of ‘What if we got managers and agents and the right combo of amazing, talented, strong-ass women and really went at this 100%? What would happen? So that’s where we’re headed.”

31 Jan 2024

Justin Timberlake’s Top 25 Billboard Hot 100 Hits

Following the launch of his solo career after soaring to success with *NSYNC, Justin Timberlake has been a force on the Billboard charts.

His 2002 solo debut album, Justified, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and generated four top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including his first two top 10 efforts: “Like I Love You” (No. 11), “Cry Me a River” (No. 2), “Rock Your Body” (No. 5) and “Senorita” (No. 27).

The multi-hit run set Timberlake up for a monster sophomore album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, which arrived in 2006 to enormous acclaim. The project opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, while three of its singles mirrored the chart-topping results on the Hot 100: “SexyBack,” “My Love” (featuring T.I.) and “What Goes Around …. Comes Around.”

Though another solo album didn’t come for six years, Timberlake filled the gap and remained musically active with featured contributions on a string of hits, partnering with a range of acts such as 50 Cent (“Ayo Technology”), Madonna (“4 Minutes”), T.I. (“Dead and Gone”) and Ciara (“Love Sex Magic”). The Timberlake touch was evident: All four songs hit the Hot 100 top 10.

When he did return, the boy bander-turned-solo superstar continued his top 10 ways with The 20/20 Experience album’s “Mirrors” and the Jay-Z-assisted “Suit & Tie” in 2013; another Hot 100 champ in 2016’s Trolls soundtrack single “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”; and Man of the Woods’ “Filthy” and “Say Something,” featuring Chris Stapleton, in 2018.

As the superstar turns 43 on Wednesday (Jan. 31) and is warming up for his forthcoming Everything I Thought It Was album, Billboard recaps the Grammy winner’s biggest solo hits on the Hot 100. As a sign of his musical versatility and status as a go-to collaborator, the list includes collaborations with an array of top talent, including rap superstars Jay-Z and T.I. and pop royalty Madonna and Michael Jackson.

Justin Timberlake’s Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits ranking is based on weekly performance on the Hot 100 (through Feb. 3, 2024). Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods.

31 Jan 2024

Britney Spears’ ‘Selfish’ Tops Justin Timberlake’s ‘Selfish’ in Sales During Latter’s First Full Week, Thanks to Fan Movement

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up column, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip. 
 
This week: Britney Spears’ fans ensure Justin Timberlake isn’t by his “Selfish” lonesome on the charts this week, a Prime Video musical series seems to be on the verge of a major breakout, “Not the 1975” passes The 1975 on radio and much more.

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Britney Spears Fans ‘Selfish’-ly Troll Justin Timberlake’s New Single Release, Revive 13-Year-Old ‘Femme Fatale’ Bonus Track 



A little low-stakes trolling never hurt anybody, right? Last Friday (Jan. 25), Justin Timberlake kicked off the campaign for Everything I Thought It Was – his forthcoming sixth studio album – with lead single “Selfish.”  

Of course, Timberlake’s name has been embroiled in controversy for the past few months following unsavory excerpts from Britney Spears’ The Woman In Me memoir, in which she reflects on him cheating on her, dumping her right before a music video shoot, and playing guitar as she cried on the bathroom floor after aborting their unborn child. 

To troll Timberlake’s release, Britney’s fans started throwing their support behind a Spears single also titled “Selfish.” A bonus track from the deluxe edition of 2011’s Femme Fatale, “Selfish” had seen virtually no substantial commercial success before this weekend. At one point, Spears’ “Selfish” reached the top of the U.S. iTunes Chart, conquering a Tom McDonald-Ben Shapiro collab, Megan Thee Stallion’s much-talked-about “Hiss,” and Timberlake’s own “Selfish” in the process. 

According to Luminate, during the period of Jan. 29-31, Spears’ “Selfish” garnered over 397,000 official on-demand streams, marking an unbelievable 14,978% increase from just over 2,600 streams during the period of Jan. 22-24. Notably, Spears’ “Selfish” also sold just under 10,000 digital copies during Jan. 29-31, a vast improvement from the negligible number of copies the song sold during Jan. 22-24. 

For what it’s worth, Spears has since come out as a fan of Timberlake’s “Selfish,” writing on Instagram (which is now set to private), “I am so in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song ‘Selfish.’ It is soo good.” Timberlake’s new single earned 4.8 million official on-demand streams during Jan. 29-31. – KYLE DENIS

Will ‘Hazbin Hotel’ Reserve the ‘Encanto’ Slot on the 2024 Charts?



For all the film musicals that have been taking over the box office in recent months – Wonka, The Color Purple, Mean Girls – it might be an animated musical comedy series whose soundtrack has the most profound impact on the Billboard charts this year. Hazbin Hotel, created by Vivienne Medrano and featuring songs composed by Sam Haft and Andrew Underberg (no relation), has been taking off with viewers and critics since the first four episodes of its first season premiered on Amazon Prime two Thrusdays ago (Jan. 18). Now, with two more episodes out on Jan. 25, the show’ is starting to really make its presence felt in sales and streaming. 

“Poison” (sung by cast member Blake Roman) and “Loser Baby” (by Roman and co-star Keith David), both featured in the season’s fourth episode (“Masquerade”) and available on DSPs via A24 Music, have been the two leading performers from the show thus far. “Poison” notched over 2.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending Jan. 25 (following the episode’s premiere), according to Luminate, while “Loser” did even better, with over 2.7 million streams. What’s more, they’re both still gaining: “Poison” has infected over 1.8 million streams through the first four days of this tracking week (Jan. 26-29) – a 61% gain over the same period the previous week – while “Loser” has won nearly 2 million over the same period, a gain of 60%. 

Neither song is threatening the Hot 100 just yet (“Poison” has made a couple Alternative charts) but as the show continues to build buzz – and as the final two songs of the first season arrive this Thursday (Feb. 1) – it’s hard not to get the same feeling Encanto generated when its songs started breaking the surface of the mainstream at the turn of 2022. Whether any of the songs can become a crossover hit on the level of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” remains to be seen, but karaoke rooms should probably start bracing themselves for impact just in case. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Michael Marcagi Off to Strong ‘Start’ With Second Single



As both Zach Bryan and Noah Kahan have lodged their work into the upper reaches of the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 charts, a natural byproduct of their respective successes is the proliferation of their rustic, intimately drawn country-folk amalgamations. Fans of both singer-songwriters have certainly taken a shine to “Scared to Start,” the new single from Cincinnati singer-songwriter Michael Marcagi, who fronted the rock quartet The Heavy Hours before striking out on his own. Debut single “The Other Side” earned some attention upon its December release, but based on early streaming returns, its follow-up may be a bonafide breakthrough.

After Marcagi teased the single ahead of its Jan. 12 release, “Scared to Start” has started strong, with 2.54 million official on-demand U.S. streams in its first week of release and 3.64 million more in its second week — a 42% week-to-week jump, according to Luminate. The song has been added to Spotify’s Hot Hits USA and Pop Rising playlists, while Marcagi has continued promoting “Scared to Start” and re-posting fan covers on his TikTok page, which has 165,000 followers. The soft-glowing electric guitar and tenderly anthemic hooks of “Scared to Start” sound straight out of stick season — and Marcagi, a recent Warner Records signee, may be crashing the Hot 100 with it soon enough. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Rich Amiri Bags Burgeoning Streaming Smash In Only “One Call” 



“I don’t trust a soul, I don’t trust nobody / Threw up off some pills, I don’t trust my own body,” opens the chorus of Rich Amiri’s “One Call.” Those lines – which are paired with rattling pluggnb production – smartly call on social media’s self-destructive obsession with “haters,” thus providing two immediate gateways to TikTok virality for the single. 

“One Call,” taken from Amiri’s Internet Money/10K Projects LP Ghetto Fabulous (2023), has posted a 289% increase in official on-demand U.S. streams over the past five weeks. During the week of Jan. 19-25, the track pulled in 4.69 million streams, up substantially from the 1.2 million it notched during Dec. 22-28. On TikTok – where users frequently use the song to soundtrack video game fan edits and lip-sync clips – the official “One Call” sound boasts 31,600 posts. On YouTube, the track’s official music video – which debuted on Nov. 8, 2023 – has collected over 2.9 million views. 

Having debuted on both the Bubbling Under Hot 100 (No. 7) and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (No. 45) this week (both charts dated Feb. 3, 2024), “One Call” is shaping up to be the first Billboard Hot 100 entry of Rich Amiri’s career. – KD

‘Not the 1975’ Is Becoming Bigger at Pop Radio Than… The 1975



Last July, Atlantic-signed Nashville artist Knox built a kicky pop-rock track around the chorus lyric “She said ‘I like your confidence, but you’re not The 1975’”; then, the 25-year-old singer-songwriter wove in references to the British band’s songs “Chocolate,” “Looking for Somebody (to Love)” and “Oh Caroline,” and titled the track “Not The 1975.” Over the past month, the song has proven to be an unlikely hit for Knox — and most surprisingly, has continued to find an audience at U.S. pop radio.

The all-format radio audience for “Not the 1975” has ballooned from 141,000 impressions during the week ending Jan. 4 to 1.1 million during the most recent tracking week, according to Luminate. That’s good enough to get Knox’s single to No. 35 on this week’s Pop Airplay chart — a format that has yet to fully embrace the actual 1975, even as they’ve headlined arenas across America in recent years. The 1975’s biggest Pop Airplay hit to date is the aforementioned “Chocolate,” which peaked at No. 25 on the chart in 2014, and the band hasn’t graced the listing at all since “The Sound” in 2016. That means, depending on how many spins Knox keeps collecting over the next few months, “Not the 1975” could climb higher on this chart than the 1975 ever have. – JL

Season’s Gainings: Travis Kelce Continues Fighting the Good ‘Fight’ 



It may have confused those not versed in recent Kansas City Chiefs lore when start tight end (and Taylor Swift beau) Travis Kelce paused his postgame interview after his team’s AFC Championship victory to shout the chorus to the Beastie Boys’ 1986 classic “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party).”But the song has been a rallying cry for the Chiefs since Kelce first yelled it at the AFC Championship post-game a half-decade ago, and the team’s faithful knew it was time to get ill once Kelce again sounded the call: “Fight for Your Right” was up 15% in combined official on-demand U.S. streams (193,000 to 221,000) over this Sunday and Monday (Jan. 27-28) from the same period the previous week. If the Chiefs win their third Super Bowl in the past six years two Sundays from now, maybe Mike D and Ad Rock can at least get some free championship shirts out of it. – AU

31 Jan 2024

Travis Kelce Confirms He Won’t Be at the Grammys With Taylor Swift

With the Super Bowl coming just one week after the Grammy Awards, Travis Kelce won’t be able to fly out to Los Angeles to support his girlfriend Taylor Swift.

“I wish I could go support Taylor at the Grammys and watch her win every single award that she’s nominated for,” Kelce said in a Pat McAfee Show interview on Wednesday (Jan. 31), before explaining that the weekend will be filled with practice and traveling for the big game, in which Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs will be taking on the San Fransisco 49ers for the championship. “Unfortunately, I’ve got to get ready for this big ol’ Super Bowl we got in a week.”

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Swift is nominated for six awards at this year’s Grammys, which will air on Sunday (Feb. 4) live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. She’s up for album of the year and best pop vocal album for Midnights; best pop solo performance, song of the year and record of the year for “Anti-Hero;” and best pop duo/group performance for her Ice Spice-assisted remix of “Karma.”

If she wins album of the year, the pop superstar will make history as the first artist to win album of the year four times.

While Swift has been a mainstay at Kansas City Chiefs games throughout the season, it’s unclear if she’ll be able to make it out to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl on Sunday (Feb. 11). 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.

31 Jan 2024

Jack Harlow Headlining h.wood Homecoming Party During Super Bowl Weekend in Vegas

The current king of the Billboard Hot 100 is making his way to Las Vegas. Jack Harlow will headline the h.wood Homecoming party on Saturday night (Feb. 10) of Super Bowl Weekend in Sin City, Billboard can exclusively announce. The party will also include DJ sets from Kaytranada and Zack Bia.

The previously announced h.wood Homecoming party for Friday night will include performances from David Guetta and Future.

The Friday and Saturday night parties will take place in a custom-built pop-up venue on the Las Vegas Strip, adjacent to the Fashion Show Mall.

It’s perfect timing for Harlow to mount a celebratory concert, as his “Lovin On Me” lands a fourth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 this week, scoring his longest reign on the chart so far among his three leaders. “First Class” ruled for three weeks in April-May 2022, and he also reigned with Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby” for one week in October 2021.

Harlow’s performance will be joined by a DJ set from Grammy-winning producer/artist Kaytranada as well as music exec/producer Zack Bia.

The pair of parties precede the 2024 Super Bowl, which goes down Sunday (Feb. 11) between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and will feature a halftime show from Usher.

This marks the third year that Los Angeles-based hospitality and lifestyle marketing company The h.wood Group has teamed with Uncommon Entertainment for h.wood Homecoming parties around Super Bowl, starting in 2022 in L.A. followed by 2023 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Both of those events included performances by Drake.

Friday night’s party is presented by Taco Bell, and sponsors include REVOLVE, MTN DEW BAJA BLAST, GHOST ENERGY, Crown Royal and NYX Professional Makeup. Saturday night’s sponsors include Taco Bell, REVOLVE, MTN DEW BAJA BLAST, GHOST ENERGY, Crown Royal and NYX Professional Makeup. Both nights are hosted in partnership with REVOLVE. The pop-up venue will include a Taco Bell Lounge that will offer late-night bites “and all of the vibes,” according to a press release announcing the event.

h.wood Homecoming is produced by The h.wood Group, Uncommon Entertainment and AG Production Services.

Jack Harlow + h.wood Homecoming flyer

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31 Jan 2024

Grammy Week 2024: Jordin Sparks, Jelly Roll, Kylie Minogue & More Stars at Events

It’s Music’s Biggest Week, haven’t you heard? As the 66th Grammy Awards draw nearer (Feb. 4), the stars have descended upon Los Angeles for a week jam-packed with events, galas, panels and performances in celebration of Music’s Biggest Night.

This year, SZA leads all nominees with nine nods for her 10-week Billboard 200 No. 1 album SOS. That record boasts the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Kill Bill” — up for record and song of the year — as well as additional Grammy-nominated top 10 hit “Snooze” (No. 2). R&B breakout star Victoria Monét, Boygenius member Phoebe Bridgers and engineer/mixer Serban Ghenea tie for the second-most nominations of the night with seven each. All three artists are up for record of the year for “On My Mama,” “Not Strong Enough” and “Worship,” respectively. Finally, seven additional artists racked up six nods each: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus, Jon Batiste and Brandy Clark.

So far, a genre-spanning spread of performers has been announced for Sunday night’s telecast, including Eilish, Rodrigo, SZA, Billy Joel, Burna Boy, Dua Lipa, Luke Combs, Travis Scott, U2 and Joni Mitchell in her debut Grammy performance. In addition, this year’s lifetime achievement honorees include, Donna Summer, Gladys Knight, Laurie Anderson, N.W.A, Tammy Wynette and The Clark Sisters.

From Coco Jones‘ illuminating conversation with Billboard’s Gail Mitchell at the Grammy Museum L.A. Live on Jan. 29 to James Fauntleroy‘s address at the Grammy Week 1500 Sound Academy Panel that same day, see photos from across every star-studded Grammy Week event so you can keep track of where your favorite celebs are celebrating.

31 Jan 2024

Zach Bryan Reveals Matthew McConaughey Will Star In His ‘Nine Ball’ Music Video

Zach Bryan has dropped more details about a project with actor Matthew McConaughey, which Bryan had previously teased on social media.

On Tuesday (Jan. 30), the “I Remember Everything” singer revealed that McConaughey is set to appear in the upcoming music video for his song “Nine Ball,” which was included on his 2023 EP Boys of Faith. In a post to his Instagram, Bryan shared artwork styled like a movie poster, featuring McConaughey’s face front and center. The poster’s tagline, “My father was a betting man,” comes directly from the song’s lyrics. “Coming soon and written with care,” Bryan wrote in the caption.

Two weeks ago, Bryan shared a photo on Instagram of himself with McConaughey in a bar in Sagebrush, Texas, taking to his caption to thank the actor for his constant support. “thank you for being so kind and open-hearted these past few days @officiallymcconaughey,” he wrote. “For all the advice and believing in something I cared enough to write about, you’ll always have a friend in me and for once it was an honor to meet a hero.”

“Nine Ball” centers on a boy whose relationship his father isn’t quite the norm, as the father places gambling bets on his son’s games of pool.

Currently, Bryan’s collaboration with Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything,” is at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, having previously topped the Hot 100 back in September; the song has also spent 18 weeks atop the Hot Country Songs chart. At the recent Billboard Music Awards, Bryan picked up wins for top new artist and top rock artist, while his song “Something in the Orange” was named top rock song and his album American Heartbreak was named top rock album.

Check out Bryan’s official teaser for the “Nine Ball” music video featuring Matthew McConaughey below:

31 Jan 2024

MGMT on Naming New Album ‘Loss of Life’ — And the ‘Wildness’ of That ‘Saltburn’ Synch

Two decades since forming MGMT as Wesleyan University students, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser haven’t lost their psychedelic puckishness. Despite its grim title, their fifth album, Loss of Life (out Feb. 23), contains some of the duo’s most sincere, hopeful music yet. “Coming out of the pandemic, there was a whole wave of super doom-oriented art and music and apocalyptic shit,” VanWyngarden says of MGMT’s first album since 2018’s Little Dark Age.

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Recorded in 2021 and 2022, Loss of Life is also the act’s Mom + Pop debut (after leaving longtime label Columbia Records) and features “Mother Nature,” MGMT’s first hit on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart since its 2007 smashes “Time To Pretend” and “Kids.” As VanWyngarden says, “This album is more reflective and existential and sort of philosophical. But at the core, it’s about always going back to [the idea of] love being something that you can depend on — and that is sort of indestructible.”

How did you settle on Mom + Pop as your new label home?

Goldwasser: It was after the album was completed. We got to shop the record around – it was the first time we’ve ever really done that. One of the people works at the label went to Wesleyan, where we also went, and her faculty advisor was the same as ours. We bonded of that the first time we met, just talking about weird stuff that we did in college.

VanWyngarden: We kind of did, like, label speed dating. Everyone we talked to was super, super cool. It could have been great to go with any of them. In the end, Mom + Pop had this sort of ethos that was at the foundation of their label that we were attracted to and related to. Goldie, as [Mom + Pop founder/owner Michael Goldstone] is affectionately known, had been in the music industry for decades before for major labels and came out of it kind of wanting to do something [at Mom + Pop] that was trying to change things up and be more all about the artists, like in a true sense. So we liked that.

You’ve said that your last two records, 2013’s MGMT and 2018’s Little Dark Age, dealt with the paranoia and anxiety of living through the modern era. What was your headspace when making this one?

VanWyngarden: We both turned 40 while making this album, and we wanted to find a way to retain our light-hearted, playful approach to things but to challenge ourselves to have more of a sincere and hopeful message. Coming out of the pandemic, there was a whole wave of super doom-oriented art and music and apocalyptic shit. A common condition for humans for, like, the entire history of humanity is that you feel like the world is ending – and it’s probably because you know you’re gonna die. Mortality is an apocalypse that’s common to every human. It’s sure, it’s certain. This album is more reflective and existential and sort of philosophical. But at the core, it’s about always going back to love being something that you can depend on – and that is sort of indestructible.

You reteamed with Little Dark Age producer Patrick Wimberly and longtime studio collaborator Dave Fridmann. What do they bring to the table?

Goldwasser: Those are the human beings that we feel most comfortable existing with in the creative process. We just want to feel like uninhibited and natural in the whole process of creating music. Especially having worked with Dave Fridmann since our first record, we just have this level of understanding and communication with him. I don’t know how we would ever build that up with anybody else.

VanWyngarden: Considering how naive and new to everything in the music industry we were when we first met [Dave], he’s almost like a dolphin trainer. Like we were these dolphins that came to his complex and he trained. Everything we know traces back to Dave Fridmann. Patrick’s the same, really. He’s a peer; he’s a producer, but more so in the sense of helping preserve the atmosphere and the vibe.

For Loss of Life, you also widened your creative circle compared to your previous albums. Tell me about that decision and how it impacted the record.

Goldwasser: Part of that’s a result of us being less precious about the way that we make music. It had been hard for us at a lot of points in time, wanting to be recognized more as producers ourselves and wanting people to know that we’re responsible for the sounds on the records – maybe we’ve had a chip on our shoulder about that in the past. With time and experience, we’ve learned to let go of some of that. The most important thing is to make good music.

“Mother Nature” has a cool lineup: Oneohtrix Point Never, Danger Mouse and Nels Cline. It’s also your first charting hit on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart since “Time To Pretend” and “Kids.”

VanWyngarden: I didn’t even know that.

How’d it come together, and how have you been reacting to its success?

VanWyngarden: I’ve driven around so much listening to classic rock radio, and I recognize that now, in terms of time having passed, we’re like eligible to be on classic rock stations. Along with ’90s Britpop, there’s a lot of classic rock influence [on “Mother Nature”]. When we were first working out the piano riff at the beginning, I always felt like there was a Supertramp feeling to it. It all really came together very naturally and organically on that song. We had known Brian Burton [Danger Mouse] for a really long time and we were we were working in his studio. He was there giving us advice and his opinion and helping work through sections. Then once we developed the song out and invited Oneohtrix Point Never on, he and Ben did a session where they just went hog wild with guitars and made this sort of shoegaze-y bridge. Then we got the song closer to where it ended up when we were working at Sean Lennon’s studio in September 2022. It was in upstate New York and Nels and Yuka [Honda] live close by, and then Oneohtrix Point Never was up there. There was this smorgasbord of amazing musicians. We had Nels go in and just fool around on the guitar and we were like, “Wow, this is incredible.”

Oneohtrix Point Never worked on five of this album’s tracks. Artists from The Weeknd to Soccer Mommy have been collaborating with him lately. How’d you connect with him? What did he add to Loss of Life?

Goldwasser: Andrew met him at a party in New York – and didn’t know who he was at the time. They just ended up having a really cool hang. After that, they hung out again. And then we thought it would be fun to get together with him and see what happened. It turned out we have a lot of the same musical references. We just got along really well. He got where we were going with the record. The way that he works is very curatorial – he mines sounds and has an encyclopedia of sounds that he knows, like, this is how you get this sound. I always get a kick out of seeing people’s different approaches to how they work.

“Time To Pretend” features prominently in Saltburn. How did that synch happen?

Goldwasser: We were approached by the filmmakers. I had been a fan of [director Emerald Fennell’s] Promising Young Woman — so I knew it was going to be something a little out of the ordinary.

VanWyngarden: I don’t remember exactly when it was brought to us; I don’t think I was paying too close of attention. I was like, “OK, another [person] who wants to use ‘Time To Pretend’… I wish they would use one of our newer songs.” But then I saw Saltburn and I was like, “Oh, this is set in 2007, this totally makes sense.” It’s really great to be kind of passively participating in another cultural phenomenon. I’m impressed that there’s Georges Bataille-level wildness happening in this massive pop cultural film — that’s not very common. To have a song in that is cool, because we like being subversive and irreverent too.

You debuted with Oracular Spectacular almost two decades ago – and played it in full at Just Like Heaven festival last year. How do you look back on that time?

Goldwasser: It’s pretty wild how things get put into context, the stories that people tell about things over the years. At the time, we weren’t thinking about how people were going to be writing about it 20 years later. We were young and dumb and somehow we…

VanWyngarden: Wait, how are you going to finish that?

Goldwasser: …are still here.

A version of this story originally appeared in the Jan. 27, 2024, issue of Billboard.