Music

03 Jan 2024

Jack Harlow’s ‘Lovin on Me’ Leads Rhythmic Airplay Chart

Jack Harlow races to his fourth No. 1 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart as “Lovin on Me” climbs from the runner-up spot to lead the list dated Jan. 6. The single’s advance comes following a 4% increase in plays that made it the most-played song on U.S. monitored rhythmic radio stations in the week ending Dec. 28, according to Luminate.

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As “Lovin on Me” ascends, it ousts Doja Cat’s “Agora Hills” from the summit after the latter’s two-week reign.

With the new champ, Harlow nabs his fourth career champ on Rhythmic Airplay. He first led with “What’s Poppin,” featuring DaBaby, Tory Lanez and Lil Wayne, which ruled for one week in 2020, and returned to the top slot with the Lil Nas X-collaboration “Industry Baby” (four weeks, 2021) and his own “First Class” (nine weeks, 2022).

Despite “Lovin on Me” being released on Nov. 10, the single has exploded into a multi-format radio smash by just its seventh chart week. In addition to the Rhythmic Airplay crown, Harlow’s hit repeats at No. 1 on the Rap Airplay chart for a second frame and picks up the list’s Greatest Gainer prize as it added 8% in audience in the latest tracking week. The track likewise posts a second week at No. 6 on the Pop Airplay list, though it climbed 1% in plays in the tracking week. Proving its rapid rise at the radio format, “Lovin on Me” had taken the Pop Airplay’s Greatest Gainer honor for the previous four consecutive weeks.

And call it déjà vu – “Lovin on Me” has a third repeat rank this week, also staying at No. 8 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart for a second frame. The track registered an 8% boost in weekly plays in the latest tracking window, winning the list’s Greatest Gainer badge for a fifth straight week. Thanks to the strong radio performance across the rhythmic, pop and R&B/hip-hop formats, “Lovin on Me” sits at No. 5 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart, having added 3% more audience to reach 51.8 million in the week ending Dec. 28.

Radio strength has helped “Lovin on Me” weather the annual storm of holiday titles on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune scored one week at No. 1 before two Christmas titles – Brenda Lee’s “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree” and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” – shared the throne for the last five chart weeks. On the most recent published chart, “Lovin on Me” is the lone non-holiday track in the top 10, at No. 9. Given the expected receding of holiday titles on next week’s list, the song is the natural front-runner to lead the Hot 100 again, and as it closes in on even more radio crowns, “Lovin on Me” should be a challenger to top the flagship chart for several weeks to come.

03 Jan 2024

Michael Bublé, Mariah Carey & Brenda Lee: Here Are the Biggest Hits of the 2023 Holiday Season

What was the biggest festive music over the latest holiday season?

Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart ran most recently from the rankings dated Nov. 4, 2023, through Jan. 6, 2024, while the Holiday 100 songs survey encompassed charts dated Dec. 2 through Jan. 6.

Below, Billboard recaps which titles fared best on the charts in those spans, with Michael Bublé, Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee among the season’s top performers, thanks to evergreen catalog hits.

Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums Chart – Nov. 4, 2023-Jan. 6, 2024:

  • No. 1, Christmas, Michael Bublé
  • No. 2, The Christmas Song, Nat King Cole
  • No. 3, Merry Christmas, Mariah Carey
  • No. 4, A Charlie Brown Christmas (Soundtrack), Vince Guaraldi Trio
  • No. 5, A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector, Various Artists
  • No. 6, Ultimate Christmas, Frank Sinatra
  • No. 7, The Greatest Christmas Hits, Pentatonix
  • No. 8, The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Andy Williams
  • No. 9, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree: The Decca Christmas Recordings, Brenda Lee
  • No. 10, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Burl Ives
  • No. 11, Christmas, Cher
  • No. 12, Christmas Classics, Bing Crosby
  • No. 13, Wrapped in Red, Kelly Clarkson
  • No. 14, The Dean Martin Christmas Album, Dean Martin
  • No. 15, Greatest Christmas Songs, Perry Como
  • No. 16, White Christmas, Bing Crosby
  • No. 17, The Classic Christmas Album, Elvis Presley
  • No. 18, The Jackson 5 Christmas Album, Jackson 5
  • No. 19, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Other Christmas Classics, Gene Autry
  • No. 20, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Soundtrack

Bublé’s Christmas leads the ranking of the biggest titles on the Top Holiday Albums chart during the latest holiday season (combining entries’ chart points over the surveys dated Nov. 4, 2023-Jan. 6, 2024). Of the 10 weeks that Top Holiday Albums published this season, Christmas was No. 1 for eight frames. It was the most streamed holiday collection in that span, with 452.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams for its songs in that stretch, according to Luminate. Since the set was released in 2011, it has collected 52 nonconsecutive weeks atop the Top Holiday Albums chart.

Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song and Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas round out the top three titles on our merry roundup.

The past season’s two biggest new holiday albums rank at Nos. 7 and 11, respectively, on the recap above: Pentatonix’s The Greatest Christmas Hits and Cher’s first-ever holiday set, Christmas. The former peaked at No. 3 on the season’s inaugural weekly Top Holiday Albums chart dated Nov. 4, as the latter debuted atop the tally. On the all-genre Billboard 200 dated Jan. 6, Pentatonix’s album climbs to No. 10, marking the vocal group’s 11th top 10 set. 

Cher’s Christmas was the top-selling seasonal collection, by traditional album sales, over the latest run of the Top Holiday Albums chart. It sold 133,000 copies in the U.S. in that span.

Meanwhile, one artist has two titles among the top 20 biggest holiday albums of the season: Bing Crosby. His Christmas Classics ranks at No. 12, while White Christmas is No. 16. The two albums don’t share any recordings, although one song, “White Christmas,” is included on both, but via different renditions.

The weekly Top Holiday Albums chart ranks the 50 most popular seasonal albums in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

Billboard’s Holiday 100 Chart – Dec. 2, 2023-Jan. 6, 2024:

  • No. 1, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey
  • No. 2, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Brenda Lee
  • No. 3, “Jingle Bell Rock,” Bobby Helms
  • No. 4, “Last Christmas,” Wham!
  • No. 5, “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” Burl Ives
  • No. 6, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Andy Williams
  • No. 7, “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!,” Dean Martin
  • No. 8, “Feliz Navidad,” José Feliciano
  • No. 9, “Sleigh Ride,” The Ronettes
  • No. 10, “Underneath the Tree,” Kelly Clarkson
  • No. 11, “Santa Tell Me,” Ariana Grande
  • No. 12, “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You),” Nat “King” Cole
  • No. 13, “White Christmas,” Bing Crosby with Ken Darby Singers & John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra
  • No. 14, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” Darlene Love
  • No. 15, “Jingle Bells,” Frank Sinatra with The Orchestra & Chorus of Gordon Jenkins
  • No. 16, “Deck the Halls,” Nat “King” Cole
  • No. 17, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” Michael Bublé
  • No. 18, “Blue Christmas,” Elvis Presley
  • No. 19, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres and His Orchestra
  • No. 20, “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane),” Gene Autry

Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” reigns as the top title on the Holiday 100 this Yuletide season (combining titles’ chart points over the rankings dated Dec. 2, 2023-Jan. 6, 2024), just ahead of Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” with both classics having hit notable recent chart highs.

Carey’s song, from 1994, spent two weeks atop the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100 in December, upping its total to 14 weeks at the summit dating to its first coronation in 2019. Among all holiday songs this season (as reflected on the Holiday 100 charts dated Dec. 2-Jan. 6), the track was the most heard on radio, with 145.5 million in all-format audience, and the most-sold, with 33,000 paid downloads.

Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” from 1958, meanwhile, completed its historic run to No. 1 on the Hot 100 at last in December – 65 years after its release – and led for three total weeks this season, through the Jan. 6-dated chart. It reigns as the most-streamed seasonal song over the holidays, with 246 million official U.S. streams during the Holiday 100’s six-week span this season.

While the bulk of the top 20 titles on the Holiday 100 for the latest season consists of classic carols over a half-century old, three of the songs were released in the 2010s: Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree,” from 2013 (No. 10), Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me,” from 2014 (No. 11), and Bublé’s “It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas,” from 2011 (No. 17).

Plus, of the top 20 holiday singles this season, Nat “King” Cole is the only act with two – “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)” (No. 12 above) and “Deck the Halls” (No. 16) – while the holidays, naturally, sounded a lot like Christmas, as “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” is the only composition to double-up in the top 20, thanks to versions by Bublé (No. 17) and Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres and His Orchestra (No. 19).

The weekly Holiday 100 chart ranks the 100 most popular seasonal songs in the U.S. based on all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations.

03 Jan 2024

Harry Styles’ Hair Is Slightly Longer Now & Fans Are Loving It

Harry Styles is glowing in 2024.

A fan account shared a recently taken photo of the 29-year-old crooner, in which he’s seen wandering around a tropical location seemingly on vacation. Styles’ hair — which was shaved into a buzz cut back in November — has since grown out a bit and is styled into a fade. See the photo here.

Fans were initially shocked when Styles cut his signature long locks, giving mixed reactions throughout the Internet. In fact, the pop superstar’s mother Anne Twist even stepped in, pushing back against critics. “When you consider that H has a legacy of kindness and inclusion, has always made every effort to make everyone feel seen and appreciated for exactly who they are,” she wrote on Instagram on Nov. 17. “There’s an irony in the negativity he’s been shown for having a haircut. Sorry but I don’t get it.”

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Thankfully, fans are feeling more positive about Styles’ recent hairdo, flooding X (formerly known as Twitter) with sweet messages and requests for a hair care routine. “How does it grow so fast,” one fan hilariously asked.

It’s been an exciting year for Styles, who collected the album of the year award at the 2023 Grammys for Harry’s House. He wrapped up his two-year Love on Tour over the summer, closing as one of the highest grossing and best-selling tours of all time. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Love On Tour grossed $617.3 million and sold more than 5 million tickets. Among all tours in Boxscore’s 30-plus-year history, the world tour is the fifth-highest grossing and eighth-most attended trek ever. 

See some fan reactions to Styles’ new hair length below.

03 Jan 2024

Joe Don Rooney Speaks Out About His 2021 DUI & Sobriety: ‘My Life Has Been Changed Forever’

Joe Don Rooney is looking forward to a fresh start in 2024. The former Rascal Flatts member spoke out on X Wednesday (Jan. 3) about his turbulent past few years, including his 2021 car crash and battle with alcoholism.

Rooney started off his lengthy post by setting the record straight on a rumor that had been floating around. “I’m sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted on any socials. It’s actually been a couple years since I’ve engaged with fans and friends on Twitter (now X) or Instagram But I figured today, at the beginning of this brand new year 2024, would be a good day to send a message out to the world. First off, I am alive! There have been so many rumors and opinions thrown around about me – but I’m finally healthy and ready for the world. And NO, I’m not transitioning to be a woman. That thought has never entered my mind. Nothing against the trans community whatsoever but I needed to set the record straight.”

He went on to detail lessons learned following the 2021 car crash and subsequent DUI near Franklin, Tenn.

“My life and career took a major detour at 4 [a.m.] in the early morning hours of Sep 9, 2021 when I ran square into a tree and about killed myself,” Rooney tweeted. “I was drunk and I was so far gone with my life – I was completely out of control and finished with trying to fight the fears, depression and anxieties that had spun me out in a way I’ve never experienced before. My drinking had been an issue for many years – and as they say in AA and treatment, it’s a progressive disease. I am living proof that the progressive nature of drinking can really ratchet up and as I grew older as an adult my drinking grew worse.”

Rooney noted that career pressures and personal mistakes he had made, in addition to “a lot of pain and trauma from my childhood and early on in my adult life, had become too much to bear.”

“I was not a good father – I was not a good husband – and I was not a good band mate to my business partners,” he said, referencing his former Rascal Flatts bandmates Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus. “I probably would’ve never taken responsibility for any of this if it hadn’t been for my car wreck on Sep 9, 2021. And btw, going to jail sucks! Fortunately, (and I truly believe this,) God lead me into that tree safely enough to not kill me – and luckily nobody else was involved and I didn’t injure or kill anyone. I could literally be in a Federal Prison for life right now. That is the reality of what my life had become.”

Rooney said that following the car crash, he spent months in treatment in Utah.

“When I first got there, I didn’t want to stay. I was ashamed of myself. I was so full of fear and guilt, that it took me all of the those 4 months to really start understanding treatment and the AA way and how to best utilize these new tools that I downloaded from the amazing clinicians, counselors and other patients there,” he said. “My life has been changed forever – and I’m grateful for the change.”

Rooney said he has now been sober for nearly 28 months.

“I never believed I could actually live my life without drinking. It had become such a huge part of my daily and nightly routine. I had tried to stop on my own in the past but the powerful nature of alcohol always found its way back into my life. I learned that I had to come to the realization that I was powerless over alcohol – and a power much greater than myself (and much greater than alcohol) was the only way to stop drinking and completely restore my sanity. God intervened and helped me to get my life back. With the help of my family and so many other professional clinical advisors and now numerous new sober forever friends, I’ve been able to get the train back on the tracks and live without the burden of alcohol.”

Looking forward in 2024, Rooney says his focus is on protecting his family and his newfound sobriety. In December 2023, Rooney and Tiffany Fallon finalized their divorce, more than two years after Rooney first filed for divorce in January 2021. Rooney and Fallon wed in 2006 and have three children together: Jagger Donovan, Raquel Blue and Devon Olivia.

“I have new healthy boundaries for the first time in my life. Only positive, loving, caring & understanding people may enter. It’s an absolute blessing in ways I can barely put into proper words. But for now, I’ll just say – thank you God!! I wish there was a way I could give back to God what all God has given to me – but moving forward, I will do my best to reflect God’s light of love and grace onto others like so many have done for me.”

He ended his note with gratefulness to his fans and supporters. “I hope y’all have an amazing 2024. Thank you for all the love, support and prayers. I promise you, I’ve felt them all and I’m super appreciative. Here’s to making the best of 2024 and living our most healthiest, happiest and goal oriented lives ever!!”

During their career, trio Rascal Flatts earned two top 10 hits on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, including 2006’s “What Hurts the Most” and “Life Is a Highway.” The group also earned 14 Country Airplay chart-toppers, including “Bless the Broken Road” and “These Days.” They also won six CMA vocal group of the year honors.

03 Jan 2024

Lil Nas X Responds to Dave Chappelle Jokes, Says He & the Devil ‘Broke Up’ 

Lil Nas X is over the “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” controversy.

It’s been nearly three years since the star unveiled his devilish music video for his 2021 single, in which he’s seen slipping from Garden of Eden to ancient Greece before pole-dancing down a stripper pole into hell, where he gives Satan a lap dance before killing Lucifer.

In Dave Chappelle‘s latest comedy special, The Dreamer, the comedian took jabs at the “Montero” visual, noting that Lil Nas walked up to him at a party and said that he wanted Chappelle in the video, which Chappelle did not remember.

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He said that the moment reminded him of grade school and being asked what he wanted to be growing up, ultimately making fun of what the 24-year-old singer might have told his teacher. “‘What do you want to be when you grow up, Lil Nas X?’ That n—- stood up in front of the whole class,” Chapelle said. “‘I want to be the gayest n—- that ever lived. I want to do a music video, slide down a stripper pole, all the way to the depths of hell, and suck the devil’s d— at ten o’ clock on BET while all the kids are awake and can see me.’ Shockingly, that was the only dream that worked out.”

Upon seeing the clip on Wednesday (Jan. 3), Lil Nas took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to respond. “yall gotta let call me by your name go, me and the devil broke up 3 years ago. yall acting like children of divorce,” he wrote.

See below.

03 Jan 2024

Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks of the Month: Popcaan, Lila Iké, Nessa Preppy, Nicki Minaj & More

We finally made it, folks! 2024 is here. To kick off the new year, Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column is back with the best selections from December 2023.

As the world celebrated the various December holidays, the biggest names in reggae and dancehall convened in Portmore, Jamaica, for the 40th edition of Sting — the iconic music festival that served as both a debut stage for future reggae superstars and a host site for legendary clashes. The 2023 edition of the festival featured headliners such as Bounty Killer and Capleton, although severe delays prevented several headliners from performing, drawing heated responses from musicians such as Tanya Stephens.

Elsewhere in the reggae and dancehall worlds, Masicka notched a second consecutive No. 2 peak on the Reggae Albums ranking thanks to his new 17-track Generation of Kings album. Teejay, Shenseea, Bunji Garlin, Rupee and Ding Dong all lit up the Hot 97 Winter Jam stage on Dec. 30.

Naturally, Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column will not cover every last track, but our Spotify playlist — which is linked below — will expand on the 10 highlighted songs. So, without any further ado:

Freshest Find: Lila Iké, “Good & Great”

Jamaican reggae star Lila Iké has been performing “Good & Great” in live settings for most of last year, but she finally gifted fans with an official streaming release at the tail end of 2023. Equal parts reggae and gospel, “Good & Great” finds Iké singing her praises to Jah and thanking him for keeping her and blessing her. The lyrics read as confessionals, dripping with vulnerability that’s accentuated by the string arrangements in the background. “Sometimes I fail, oh gosh/ Sometimes I falter/ And feel as though you’ve left me in a corner/ But here you are the light upon my tunnel,” she croons with her irresistably buttery tone.

DEV & Millbeatz, “Rum Hit Meh”

It is truly a testament to how strong the “Jouvert Jam” riddim is that every song on the five-track compilation is a banger. For his take on the riddim, Trinidadian soca artist DEV shifts his focus to the intricacies of his vocal performance. “Di rum hit meh bahhhhd,” he chants and the chorus, doubling down on the airy qualities of the vowel in the word “bad,” and delivering a level of animation that embodies the balls-to-the-wall energy of J’ouvert festivities.

Dan Evans & Nessa Preppy, “By Mehself”

Wining is synonymous with much of dancehall and soca, but contemporary cultural conversations concerning consent have sparked some reevaluations of the social cues that are integral to the dance style. For her take on Dan Evans’ “90 Degree” riddim, Nessa Preppy delivers an ode to wining for yourself, not for a man or any other dance partner. The brightness of her tone pairs well with the fairly sparse instrumentation in the beginning of the song, but it’s the giddy glee in her vocal performance that truly conveys the feeling of liberation that comes from dancing for, with and by yourself.

Bunji Garlin, “Forward”

Three days before he graced the Hot 97 Winter Jam stage, Bunji Garlin provided the opening track to his collaborative “Smoke Riddim” double single with Shurwayne Winchester. On “Forward,” Garlin rides on high-octane soca percussion to deliver a track that doubles as both an anthem of West Indian pride and a party track that is sure to rule the coming year. “Rags in the air is the forward!” he proclaims.

Nicki Minaj, Skeng and Skillibeng, “Forward From Trini”

Tucked away in the middle of her sprawling, Billboard 200-topping Pink Friday 2 album, “Forward From Trini” stands as the latest in a string of Nicki Minaj’s musical odes to her home country of Trinidad & Tobago. Minaj has collaborated with both Skeng (“Likkle Miss”) and Skillibeng (“Crocodile Teeth”) in the past, but this is the first time all three artists have appeared on the same track. A loving mixture of hip-hop, dancehall and soca (with notes of calypso), “Forward from Trini” serves as a reminder of both the interconnected lineage of those styles and Minaj’s boundless versatility.

Tech Sounds & Millbeatz, “Doh Run”

As the opening track on Millbeatz’s Jouvert Jam Riddim compilation, “Doh Run” needed to feel massive. With his booming “Doh run!” chants juxtaposed against ever-so-slightly hollow percussion, Tech Sounds delivers a worthy kick-off to the J’ouvert tape. The funky riddim isn’t just infectious, it almost demands listeners to get up and wine their waists.

Fay-Ann Lyons, “Miss B-tch”

There’s already a litany of songs reclaiming the word “b-tch,” and Fay-Ann Lyons is seeking to add to that legacy with “Miss B-tch.” For her contribution to DJ Avalanche’s “Do You” riddim, Lyons coasts over the electro-soca beat with a tone that can only be described as “gangsta.” There’s a certain bite and assertiveness in her tone that balances out the inherent humor in the drawn-out “This biiiiiitch” chant that punctuates the chorus. While, lyrically, she doesn’t offer any new spins on the word “b-tch,” Lyons’ conviction is far more than enough.

Nailah Blackman & Pumpa, “Born to Fly”

Just as the Jouvert Jam Riddim compilation captured the rambunctious celebratory energy of J’ouvert festivities, so does “Born to Fly” for the Carnival season in general. Blackman’s piercing, saccharin upper harmony pairs well with Pumpa’s gruff tone as the two recount the feeling of freedom and catharsis that characterize partying during Carnival. The duality of their respective voices — a siren-esque timbre and a rousing roar of rasp — cover the wide expanse of Carnival energies. As they croon in the song and display through their collaboration, the true essence of the season is coming together as one to celebrate.

Masicka & Spice, “WOW”

At the top of last December, Masicka dropped off his Generation of Kings album, which featured collaborations with a wide range of artists, including the likes of Dexta Daps, Fridayy and Chronic Law. On “WOW,” Masicka teams up with dancehall queen Spice for a no-holds-barred ode to tantalizing sexual chemistry. In a typical fashion, Spice is just as brash and forward as Masicka with her demands for sexual gratification, and the pair’s rhythmic flows recall dancehall’s influence on hip-hop.

Popcaan, “Life Is Real”

On Christmas (Dec. 25, 2023), Popcaan gifted fans a surprise mixtape titled Best Mood. The project’s closing track, “Life Is Real,” is both an easy standout and a clear continuation of the crossover star’s penchant for somber evaluations of life, with all of the violence and riches that complicate it. “People you show your love and give your things often/ Same one will pop your neck just like a guitar string,” he warns, before proclaiming that no one can ever take his life from him — either literally or metaphorically. There’s a current of hope that courses from the song’s opening notes to those closing piano keys, but it’s Popcaan’s interpolations of family lessons and conversation that truly show just how much he has matured and grown over the past decade.

03 Jan 2024

Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s Favorite Taylor Swift Songs Will Probably Not Surprise You

It’s been impossible to avoid hearing Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s name over the past week. The former inmate who was sentenced to a decade in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to enticing a boyfriend she met online to kill her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, was released on Dec. 28 after serving 85 percent of her original sentence.

Blanchard’s story was turned into an HBO documentary and scripted drama (The Act) and it will the subject of an upcoming six-part Lifetime doc, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, featuring prison interviews. The sordid tale has garnered attention because of the raft of unnecessary medical interventions Blanchard underwent because of what experts believe was her mother’s mental disorder, Munchausen by proxy, a rare behavioral disorder in which a person’s caretaker seeks medical help for exaggerated or phantom symptoms of a child in order to get attention.

In advance of the Lifetime series’ kick-off on Friday (Jan. 5), Blanchard spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about her post-prison life, how therapy has helped her heal and what she’s learned about the lengths her late mother went to in seeking superfluous cures for fake ailments.

Though Blanchard seems open to talking and being in the public eye now that she’s out, she said you shouldn’t expect to see her on Dancing With the Stars due to what she described as her two left feet and total lack of rhythm. The avowed Swiftie did ,however, share her favorite Taylor Swift tracks with THR. “All of her songs are really, really good. I really like the song ‘Eyes Open,’” Blanchard said of track Swift recorded for the 2012 Hunger Games soundtrack.

That song features lyrics that could be taken as a primer on the paranoia and fear of trying to survive behind bars. “Everybody’s waiting/ Everybody’s watching/ Even when you’re sleeping/ Keep your ey-eyes open,” Swift sings. “So here you are, two steps ahead and staying on guard/ Every lesson forms a new scar/ They never thought you’d make it this far.”

Blanchard said another current favorite is the Midnights hit “Karma,” whose lyrics also seem to be somewhat on-the-nose. “I’m really digging ‘Karma’ right now. ‘Karma’ has been what I have been playing on my playlist a lot. So I’m jamming out to that,” Blanchard said of the track that ends with the line “Karma’s a relaxing thought.”

03 Jan 2024

Lil Nas X Boasts He’s Going to Have the ‘Greatest Comeback of All Time,’ Shares When New Song Will Drop

Lil Nas X wants to start the new year off with a bang. On Wednesday (Jan. 3), the rapper tweeted an image that hints at his upcoming, self-proclaimed “Christian era” and gave fans a timeframe for a brand new song.

“New song and visual next week! – Official art dropping soon,” he revealed on the social media platform, adding an illustrated image of himself in locs and a priest’s robe, showing the hand movements for the Sign of the Cross, paired with the prayer “In the name of the father, and of the son and of the holy ghost.” In the illustration, the rapper performs the movements with one hand, while the other clutches the Montero logo.

The 24-year-old was busy on X, also sharing a tweet that read, “lol im really bout to have the greatest comeback of all time. hope yall ready for next week.”

In addition to the music updates, Lil Nas changed his X profile photo and header image to that of a hazel eye and a red iteration of his Montero logo. He also joked that “yall gotta let call me by your name go, me and the devil broke up 3 years ago” in response to a snippet of Dave Chapelle making fun of his “Montero” music video in the comedian’s new Netflix special.

While fans will need to wait until next week to hear Lil Nas X’s latest offering, the rapper gave a sneak peek back in November. On X, he asked fans, “Y’all mind if i enter my christian era ?” and provided a snippet of a new track: “Father stretch my hands/ The lonely road seems to last the longest,” he croons. “Help me with my plans/ Everything seems to go nowhere.”

See Lil Nas X’s tweets below.

03 Jan 2024

What Will Be the Hot 100’s First Post-Holidays No. 1? 

The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week (for the upcoming Billboard Hot 100 dated Jan. 13), the holiday rush is over on the charts, and now we see what rises back to the top when all those festive classics finally fall away.  

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Jack Harlow, “Lovin on Me” (Generation Now/Atlantic): It almost feels like a chart nerd trivia question at this point: What song was No. 1 on the Hot 100 before Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” spent five weeks trading off at the top spot? The answer: Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me,” which reached pole position in its second chart week after its quickly viral debut, becoming his third No. 1 in as many years on the listing.  

Over a month later, the song is still going strong: It’s the only non-Christmas entry in this week’s top 10, holding on at No. 9, and has climbed to No. 5 on Radio Songs, while also reclaiming its throne atop the daily rankings for Spotify and Apple Music. In other words, there’s every indication that with the holiday songs disappearing on the Hot 100 – as they customarily do the first full chart week post-Christmas — “Lovin on Me” will not only be a leading candidate to recapture the top spot, but that it might be around for a long time still to come.

Taylor Swift, “Cruel Summer” (Republic): What, you thought that with the calendar turning to 2024, you might actually have a little less Taylor in your life? Not on this chart, anyway. Swift still maintained a trio of songs on the Hot 100 throughout the holiday season – led, of course by the blazing “Cruel Summer,” which topped the ranking for four weeks in October and November and remains the second-highest-ranking non-holiday song this week (No. 19), behind “Lovin.”  

And it’s still not cooling down. “Summer,” revived from 2019’s Lover, tops Radio Songs for a 10th frame this week – the longest leader of Swift’s career – while returning to the top five on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA chart. If even the coldest time of the year can’t tamp down this song’s incandescence, it just might end up sticking around through next summer, as well.  

Tate McRae, “Greedy” (RCA): One song that was still growing as it ended up getting swallowed by the holiday rush was Tate McRae’s breakout smash “Greedy.” The pop favorite, which spends a fourth week at No. 1 on Pop Airplay this week, had broken into the Hot 100’s top 10, reaching as high as No. 7 – but would have gotten even higher had it not had to compete with the seasonal likes of Brenda and Mariah — particularly in the release week (Dec. 8) of parent album Think Later, when “Greedy” ranked behind just “Lovin” among all non-holiday songs.  

The song should still be a contender in the post-holiday season, though: It remains a strong performer on both streaming and radio, and currently rates as the third-highest non-Christmas song on the Hot 100 (No. 24). That means it’s likely to hit a new peak on the chart this week as the holiday songs get put away for the new year – and beyond that, if it can get an extra boost from a new remix or performance or something else to help it regain momentum, it wouldn’t be too greedy for McRae to set her sights on the top spot.  

IN THE MIX 

Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything” (Belting Bronco/Warner): This one feels like it came out a lifetime ago at this point, but it was only the Hot 100 dated Sept. 9 when Bryan’s and Musgraves’ duet bowed atop the chart. Four months later, the song has scarcely slowed on streaming – it’s currently in the top five on both Spotify’s and Apple Music’s daily charts – and still holds at No. 31 on the Hot 100, higher than all but four pre-holiday entries. The airwaves remain the final frontier for “Everything,” as it’s gaining slowly and surely, but remains well below the 50-song cutoff to make the Radio Songs chart.  

Tyla, “Water” (Fax/Epic): “Water” was another pop hit still gaining as the holiday takeover began, just touching the top 10 (at No. 10) before the waves of Christmas songs swept it back to shore. This week, Tyla‘s hit rests just below “Everything” at No. 32 on the Hot 100, with room still to grow on radio – as it rules the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart for a sixth week — though how much the South African singer-songwriter wants to continue pushing the crossover smash rather than moving on to other material (like newer single “Truth or Dare”) remains to be seen.  

Nicki Minaj, “FTCU” (Young Money/Cash Money/Republic): While the Junior Senior-sampling “Everybody” held the early lead as the breakout single from rap queen Nicki Minaj’s Billboard 200-topping Pink Friday 2 album, it appears that it will soon be lapped by LP-mate “FTCU.” The Waka Flocka Flame-lifting jam has long passed “Everybody” on both the Spotify and Apple Music daily charts (landing in the top 10 on both) and it also appears two spots higher on this week’s Hot 100 (No. 53 vs. No. 55), as a major radio embrace may be the only thing standing in the way of it becoming Minaj’s biggest unaccompanied solo hit since 2022’s “Super Freaky Girl.”  

03 Jan 2024

Mikaela Shiffrin on Studying Taylor Swift’s Success Playbook: ‘She’s Been Guiding Me’

Mikaela Shiffrin is in a league of her own. The 28-year-old American downhill skiing phenomenon smashed the all-time record for World Cup race victories (87) last year and by most accounts has quite a few years to go in her unprecedented slope dominance.

But according to a New York Times profile, instead of focusing on the career arc of such fellow double-Olympic champs as alpine legend Ingemar Stenmark (whose World Cup record she broke), when Shiffrin looks for examples for maintaining — and expanding — her skiing superiority the idol she wants to emulate is a pop one.

“I’ve spent 15 years studying Taylor Swift and she has been guiding me a little bit every step of the way,” Shiffrin, 28, told the paper about the music star whose career path has featured similar massive highs and soul-sucking lows. “It’s why most Swifties become Swifties. It feels like her music is speaking directly to you. Her experiences resonate; I’ve always tried to learn from them.”

A Swiftie since age 13, Shiffrin made her World Cup circuit debut at 16 — the same age Swift, now 34, was when she began recording her debut album — and has reached the kind of rock star status in ski-crazy Europe as Swift has across the planet. Shiffrin rented a suite to catch Swift’s Eras Tour in Denver over the summer, which she described as “three hours of jumping up and down while singing every song at the top of my lungs” as she searched for a lesson that might shape her own next “era.”

Like Swift, Shiffrin was thrust into the international spotlight early, after winning three World Cup races and a world championship gold medal as a high school senior. Listening to Swift’s 2008 Fearless album, Shiffrin said she plumbed the collection for cheat codes about living as a public figure.

“Granted, Taylor is a big fish in a big pond and I’m more of a big fish in a small pond,” Shiffrin told the paper. “But you can see how she’s handled the attention, because she was a teenager too. She was able to hold up and work on her music. And while she’s very comfortable sharing a lot of her life, she builds a layer of protection when she needs it. She can disappear. That does seem to give her energy.”

Shiffrin said she took those lessons in and assimilated them, though her journey was made more difficult because of her nature as an “extreme” introvert. After taking a gold and silver at the 2018 Olympics, followed by 17 race wins, a poor showing the next year flung Shiffrin into a funk as she worried about whether she could ever reach those heights again.

And, once more, a Swift album helped her find her balance. This time it was 2017’s Reputation, the singer’s reaction to public and media scrutiny after her previous album, 1989, thrust the singer into global stardom. “That album was built of basically having her reputation go incredibly downhill, or at least that’s how she perceived it with all the feuds that were going on at the time,” Shiffrin said of Swift’s public feud with Kanye West and then-wife Kim Kardashian. “But she came back in a big, big way. I related to the album because it made me feel like life is full of ebbs and flows. And that everything is probably going to be OK.”

Shiffrin’s mother, former ski racer Eileen, described how her daughter’s career thrives on “creativity,” noting that every new Swift song, concert and video provides inspiration and motivation for the next challenge. “She [Swfit] keeps Miki ticking like she does the whole world. And she stands her ground, as she should, and that’s a great role model,” said Eileen Shiffrin, who also praised Swift’s “street smarts” and business savvy.

Following the shocking accidental death of her father in an accident in Feb. 2020, Shiffrin turned to Swift’s pandemic album Folklore for help navigating grief. She cued in on the song “Epiphany,” which Swift said explores the emotional distress faced by health care workers and soldiers at war. “She literally addressed the most unforeseeable and horrific experience I ever have gone through,” Shiffrin said of the album that came out five months after her father’s passing; Swift’s parents have each had cancer battles. “It speaks directly to the experiences I had in the hospital with my dad.”

Though Swift has served as a kind of unofficial north star during Shiffrin’s record-smashing run, the telegenic ski superstar said she’s terrified of meeting her idol in person. “I’d probably trip over myself and be so tongue-tied,” Shiffrin laughed. “And then it’d be memorable to her because it’s the first time she’s experienced, like, a goofball.”

Even as new metrics need to be created to measure Swift’s success, Shiffrin said she admires how the singer “just keeps going.” Given their mutual championship mindset, Shiffrin wonders if we’ve even touched “1 percent of what she [Swift] can accomplish” with her music. “I think about my skiing in a similar way. I’m closer now to reaching my potential, but it’s not about a record or another title,” she said. “I’ve noticed Taylor just keeps going. In a way, you never finish doing that work.”

Shiffrin will look to add to her medal haul in March at the World Cup Finals.