Music

31 Dec 2023

Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Tops Billboard 200 for Fifth Week

Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) locks up a fifth nonconsecutive week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Jan. 6, 2024), as the set earned 98,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 28 (down 28%), according to Luminate. With a fifth week at No. 1, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) equals the total combined weeks at No. 1 of Swift’s three previous re-recorded albums. The Taylor’s Version editions of Fearless, Red and Speak Now notched two weeks, one week and two weeks on top, respectively.

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In addition, Swift’s total weeks at No. 1 — across all 13 of her chart-topping releases — climbs to 68 weeks, surpassing Elvis Presley for the most weeks at No. 1 by a soloist. He logged 67 weeks at No. 1 across 10 chart-topping albums spanning 1956-2002. Only The Beatles have more weeks at No. 1, with an overall record 132 weeks on top, across 19 No. 1 albums in 1964-2001.

Swift’s first No. 1 album came with Fearless, which spent 11 weeks atop the list in late 2008 and early 2009. She followed it with the chart-toppers Speak Now (six weeks at No. 1, 2010-11); Red (seven, 2012-13); 1989 (2014-15); Reputation (four, 2017-18); Lover (one, 2019); Folklore (eight, 2020-21); Evermore (four, 2020-21); Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (two, 2021); Red (Taylor’s Version) (one, 2021); Midnights (six, 2022-23); Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (two, 2023); and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (five, 2023-24).

Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, half of the region consists of holiday albums for the first time since a year ago this week, led by Michael Bublé’s former No. 1 Christmas, which rises 4-2.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. 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. The new Jan. 6, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 3, one day later than normal due to the New Year’s Day holiday on Jan. 1. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of 1989 (Taylor’s Version)’s 98,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 28, album sales comprise 61,000 (down 36%), SEA units comprise 36,000 (down 10%, equaling 48.5 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise 1,000 (up 31%).

Bublé’s chart-topping Christmas climbs 4-2 with 78,000 equivalent album units earned (up 11%). It’s the highest rank for the title in two years, since it spent two weeks in a row at No. 2 on the Jan. 1 and 8, 2022-dated charts. Christmas was released in 2011 and spent five consecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2011-12.

Christmas is the first of five holiday titles in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, the most seasonal sets in the region in a year. The top 10 last hosted five holiday albums on the Jan. 7, 2023 ranking.

Nicki Minaj’s former No. 1 Pink Friday 2 dips 2-3 with 66,000 equivalent album units earned (down 35%), while Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song hits a new peak, rising 8-4 with 64,000 units (up 15%). The album previously topped out at No. 5 a year ago, on the Jan. 7, 2023, chart. The set includes Cole’s classic title track, along with Billboard Holiday 100-charting favorites including “Deck the Halls,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Joy to the World” and “Caroling, Caroling.”

Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 5 with 60,000 equivalent album units earned (down 7%), while Drake’s former No. 1 For All the Dogs is stationary at No. 6 with 57,000 units (down 10%).

The classic multi-artist holiday album A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector jumps 14-7 — a new peak — with 56,000 equivalent album units earned (up 17%). The album, first released in 1963, previously peaked at No. 8 a year ago (on the Jan. 7, 2023, chart). It first reached the top 10 on the Jan. 8, 2022, chart, when it stepped 11-10. The album, produced by Spector, includes familiar favorites heard during the holiday season that were initially recorded for the project. Among them are Holiday 100-charting hits including The Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride” and Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and “Winter Wonderland.”

Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas jingles 10-8 with 56,000 equivalent album units (up 7%) and Swift’s Midnights falls 3-9 with 53,000 (down 29%).

Rounding out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 is Pentatonix’s The Greatest Christmas Hits, which vaults 60-10, a new peak, with 51,000 equivalent album units earned (up 147%). The 31-song set is the vocal group’s latest release, and it includes 23 previously-released holiday favorites, along with eight new recordings.

The Greatest Christmas Hits marks Pentatonix’s 11th top 10-charting set, and its first since the group’s last compilation, 2019’s The Best of Pentatonix Christmas, peaked at No. 7 on the Dec. 28, 2019, chart.

Here’s a recap of Pentatonix’s 11 top 10-charting albums on the Billboard 200, six of which are holiday sets: PTXmas (No. 7, 2013); PTX: Vol. II (No. 10, 2013); PTX: Vol. III (No. 5, 2014); That’s Christmas to Me (No. 2, 2014); Pentatonix (No. 1, 2015); A Pentatonix Christmas (No. 1 for two weeks, 2017); PTX Vol. IV: Classics (No. 4); PTX Presents: Top Pop, Vol. 1 (No. 10, 2018); Christmas Is Here! (No. 7, 2018); The Best of Pentatonix Christmas (No. 7, 2019); and The Greatest Christmas Hits (No. 10, 2024).   

As The Greatest Christmas Hits houses songs by Pentatonix that are on multiple albums by the act, SEA and TEA for those songs contribute to whichever Pentatonix album containing those songs sells the most in traditional album sales in a week. A song such as “Mary, Did You Know?” appears on three Pentatonix albums: the studio set That’s Christmas To Me, and the later-released compilations The Best of Pentatonix Christmas and The Greatest Christmas Hits. SEA and TEA for “Mary” is assigned on the chart to whichever of those three albums sells the most in a given week. In the tracking week ending Dec. 28, The Greatest Christmas Hits sold nearly 2,500 copies, more than any other Pentatonix album. Thus, Greatest is assigned all of the SEA and TEA on the chart for any songs it shares across other Pentatonix albums.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

31 Dec 2023

Shecky Greene, Legendary Las Vegas Comedian, Dies at 97

Shecky Greene, the gifted comic and master improviser who became the consummate Las Vegas lounge headliner and was revered by his peers and live audiences as one of the greatest standup acts of his generation, has died. He was 97.

His widow, Marie Musso Green, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that her husband died early Sunday (Dec. 31) at their home. She said her husband of 41 years died of natural causes.

Those who saw Greene in his decades of comedy dominance on the Vegas Strip in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s said that with a mic in his hand he could roam a room and work a crowd like no other.

He couldn’t wait to abandon written jokes for the shared thrill of improv.

“I’ve never had an act,” Greene told the Las Vegas Sun in 2009. “I make it up as I go along.”

Greene made huge fans of his fellow entertainers including Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, and, most famously, Frank Sinatra, who hand-picked him as his opening act for a stretch. Greene couldn’t resist the gig with the biggest star in America at the time, but the two big personalities butted heads frequently, and the relationship ended with the comic taking a beating from the singer’s cronies at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach.

It led to his most famous joke: “Frank Sinatra once saved my life,” Greene would say. “A bunch of guys were beating on me and Frank said, ‘OK that’s enough.’”

Sinatra wasn’t actually there, Greene later said, but the beatdown was real. Also true was the oft-repeated story of Greene driving his Oldsmobile into the fountains at Caesars Palace in 1968, a consequence of what he conceded was a serious alcohol problem and a dangerous desire to go for a drive when he was a few drinks in.

He got a famous joke out of that moment too, later saying that when the cops arrived at his submerged car, whose windshield wipers running, he told them, “No spray wax please!”

With a body like a linebacker’s, a wit as quick as lightning and a voice that suggested he could’ve been a lounge singer instead of a lounge comic, Greene in the course of a night would plow through dozens of impressions, do extended riffs at audience members’ tables and turn musical standards into parody songs on the spot.

Tony Zoppi, who for decades was entertainment director of the Riviera Hotel, said Greene was the finest comic mind he ever saw.

“He’ll walk out on a stage and do an hour off the top of his head,” Zoppi told the Los Angeles Times. “A waitress dropped a glass — he did 15 minutes.”

He made appearances in films including 1967’s Tony Rome with Sinatra, 1981’s History of the World Part I with Mel Brooks, and 1984’s Splash with Tom Hanks, showed-up on network sitcoms including Laverne & Shirley and Mad About You, and was a constant guest on talk and variety shows.

But he never really clicked on the screen. He needed a crowd he could interact with, and a whole night to woo them. That meant never becoming as famous as comic contemporaries like Don Rickles, Buddy Hackett or Carson. But he pulled the same six-figure-a-week paychecks as they did for live shows.

Born Fred Sheldon Greenfield, Greene took to singing, acting, making jokes and doing mock accents while growing up on the North Side of Chicago.

He served in the Navy in World War II in the Pacific.

On returning to Chicago, he went to community college and thought he might become a gym teacher, but started doing comedy nightclub gigs for money.

An offer of a two-week gig at the Prevue Lounge in New Orleans turned into a six-years stint.

He did his first show in Las Vegas in 1953. He found he and the Strip were a perfect match, and within a few years he owned the town. In 1956, he opened for a young Elvis Presley at the New Frontier.

“The kid should never have been in there,” Greene told the L.A. Times in 2005. “He came out in a baseball jacket. Four or five musicians behind him had baseball jackets on. It looked like a picnic. After the first show they switched the billing, and I headlined.”

Greene would remain a Vegas mainstay, his playgrounds places like the Riviera and the Tropicana, for the next 30 years.

From 1972 to 1982 Greene was married to Nalani Kele, a dancer whose show, the Nalani Kele Polynesian Revue, was a long-running nightclub hit. And in 1985, he married Marie Musso, daughter of jazz saxophonist Vido Musso.

Greene gained his share of national fame eventually. He could fill Carnegie Hall, and guest-hosted both Carson’s Tonight Show and The Merv Griffin Show.

He grappled with addictions to both drinking and gambling, neither ideal for a man who spent most of his time in Las Vegas. He also struggled with what were later diagnosed as severe depression and panic attacks, both of which made it increasingly difficult to perform as he got older.

Greene moved to Palm Springs in an attempt at retirement in his late 70s in 2004, but the stage still had appeal, and he returned for a stint in Las Vegas at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino in 2009.

Returning to a city now dominated by the likes of Celine Dion and Cirque du Soleil, Greene found he could stroll through casinos anonymously.

“I’m a legend,” he told the Sun in 2009, “but nobody knows me in Vegas anymore.”

31 Dec 2023

Lewis Capaldi Says He’s ‘Noticed a Marked Improvement’ Since Taking Touring Break

Lewis Capaldi is giving fans an update on his mental health after taking a step back from the stage in June.

About six months after announcing that he was going on hiatus from touring, the 27-year-old Scottish musician revealed in a lengthy New Year’s Eve message that he’s noticed an improvement in his overall health but that he’s still not ready to step back into the spotlight.

“As most of you will know, I’m currently taking some time off to focus on my health and wellbeing and it’s been going great!” Capaldi wrote on Instagram Sunday (Dec. 31). “I’ve been working with some incredible professionals to help me learn about and cope better with my Tourette’s and anxiety issues. I’m really happy to say I’ve noticed a marked improvement in both since I decided to take some time off back in June.”

He continued, “I was completely overwhelmed by the reaction to the news that I was taking a break and genuinely want to thank each and every one of you who reached out, left a comment, tweet or dm wishing me well, the support was like nothing I’ve ever experienced and has made me more excited than ever to return to what I love at some point in the not too distant future.”

Earlier this summer, Capaldi struggled to finish his Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Someone You Loved” during his June 24 set at the Glastonbury Festival. Days later, he shared on Instagram that he would be “taking a break from touring for the foreseeable future” to “spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order.”

In his New Year’s Eve note, the singer also announced that he will be releasing an extended version of his second album, Broken By the Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, at midnight on Monday (Jan. 1). The expanded set will feature five additional songs.

“Prior to my decision to f— off for a bit, I’d always hoped to release an extended version at some point!” Capaldi wrote. “After some back-and-forth about whether or not it was the right thing to do, I’ve decided it would be a shame for these five extra songs, which are so incredibly special to me, to sit on my hard drive, never to see the light of day.”

The “Before You Go” singer-songwriter concluded his message by letting fans know that he plans to remain out of the public eye for the time being.

“For now I’m going to continue taking some time to carry on looking after myself, maybe writing some new music and taking a moment to reflect on some of the most incredible years of my life,” he wrote. “I want to make absolutely sure I’m 100% before getting back out there again properly for more shows and doing what I love more than anything!”

Read Capaldi’s full update below on Instagram.

31 Dec 2023

‘Wonka’ Leads New Year’s Holiday Weekend at the Box Office

Wonka is dominating the New Year’s weekend box office race.

The Willy Wonka origin story, starring Timothée Chalamet, is on track to earn $31.8 million in the U.S. during the four-day holiday weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Those numbers will reportedly give the Paul King-directed musical a total domestic tally of $142 million through Monday (Jan. 1). Wonka, which opened in mid-December, also topped last weekend’s box office to the tune of $39 million in the U.S.

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The film, an updated musical take on the beloved 1964 Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, stars Chalamet as a young candymaker Willy Wonka, with a supporting cast including Hugh Grant, Olivia Colman, Keegan-Michael Key, Calah Lane, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson and Natasha Rothwell, among others.

Leaning into the lyrical aspect of the story, director King said in September that he was determined not to make the movie a “musical where people are singing dialogue to each other for no discernible reason. I felt like it was more like a movie with songs than a musical.”

Wonka isn’t the only musical film to pull in big numbers over the holiday weekend. The Color Purple, produced by Oprah and Steven Spielberg, places fourth on the chart with estimated earnings of $17.7 million through Monday, THR reports.

30 Dec 2023

Travis Kelce Got This Special Christmas Gift From Taylor Swift’s Brother Austin: ‘He Made Me Feel Like a Child’

Taylor Swift‘s brother Austin got a holiday stamp of approval from the Kelce family this week, thanks to his thoughtful Christmas gift for Taylor’s boyfriend Travis Kelce.

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The Swifts spent Dec. 25 cheering on Kelce at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, where the Chiefs played against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders defeated the Chiefs, 20-14.

“The worst, I’m not gonna lie,” Travis said of Christmas on the Dec. 29 episode of New Heights, his podcast with his brother Jason. “I’ve had better. But it ended well, with good Christmas cheer and great people. That’s always gonna save Christmas, no matter if you lose to the Raiders or not.”

Taylor — who currently holds the top four spots on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart — donned a Santa hat featuring her boyfriend’s jersey number, 87, with a red sweater and plaid skirt for the holiday. Meanwhile, Austin went all out in full Santa gear at the game. He accessorized his festive look with a Chiefs scarf.

“It was a full commit,” Travis commented on New Heights. “He killed it.”

The tight end then opened up about the Christmas present Austin gave him, a gift that made him feel nostalgic.

“He actually made me feel like a child because his gift to me was straight out of the bag, in the Santa sack. He whipped it out and handed me a VHS of my favorite football movie of all time, Little Giants.” Travis said, referring to the 1994 sports comedy.

Check out the moment in the latest episode of the Kelces’ New Heights podcast below.



30 Dec 2023

Selena Gomez Looks Back on 2023 With ‘Moments in Time’ Photos of Sister Gracie & Friends

Selena Gomez is looking back on some of her favorite memories of 2023.

On Friday (Dec. 29), the 31-year-old pop star and actress shared a gallery of fun photos on social media of her little sister, Gracie Elliot Teefey, along with friends including Nicola Peltz Beckham and Sofia Carson.

“Moments in time,” Gomez captioned the post on Instagram.

In one of the snapshots, the “Single Soon” singer is being sweetly embraced by 10-year-old Gracie at a Disney theme park. Another finds the siblings cuddling alongside each other while in a bed.

Elsewhere in the post, Gomez appears to be sharing a drink with Carson and sticks out her tongue while taking a selfie with Beckham. The two friends both took to the comments section to show some love to Gomez.

Cason commented with three white hearts and Beckham wrote, “I love you so much!!”

Earlier this year, the Only Murders in the Building star shared some special moments with Gracie. In addition to taking her little sis to Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour concerts in Texas and Los Angeles over the summer, Gracie made a cameo in Gomez’s “Single Soon” music video.

“Hi, I love you sissy. Never worry about boyfriends. At. All,” Gracie says on an answering machine in the beginning of the clip.

Speaking of boyfriends, the pop star recently confirmed that she and producer Benny Blanco are officially dating. In early December, she replied to fans on Instagram that Blanco “is my absolute everything in my heart” and that she is at her “happiest” in the relationship.

Although the producer didn’t appear in Gomez’s most recent Instagram post, she did spend one of the last days of 2023 cuddled up with Blanco on an artsy after-Christmas date. She recently shared a photo on her Instagram Story of the couple cozying up at what appeared to be Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy, an art exhibit in Los Angeles.

See Gomez’s latest post on Instagram here.

30 Dec 2023

Maurice Hines, Tap Dance Icon, Dies at 80

Maurice Hines, who appeared alongside his younger brother, Gregory Hines, in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club, has died. He was 80.

The Broadway dancer, choreographer and actor passed away on Friday (Dec. 29) of natural causes at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, N.J., according to his cousin and representative, Richard Nurse, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

Hines received a Tony Award nomination in 1986 for best actor in a musical for a musical for Uptown… It’s Hot and was featured again on Broadway in 2006’s Hot Feet. Both productions were conceived, directed and choreographed by Maurice.

Born on Dec. 13, 1943, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, Hines studied tap with Henry LeTang in NYC and was fascinated by the acrobatics of the Nicholas Brothers. He made his professional debut at around 6 years old alongside brother Gregory as the tap-dancing Hines Kids on Broadway in 1954, according to THR.

They later became known as the Hines Brothers and then Hines, Hines & Dad after their father, Maurice Sr., joined in 1963. The trio became regulars at New York’s Apollo Theater, and also performed in clubs across the U.S. and Europe.

After Gregory went solo in the early 1970s, Maurice joined the national tour of Guys and Dolls and reunited with his brother for Eubie! on Broadway in 1979. In 1982, Maurice stepped in for Gregory in the Broadway musical Sophisticated Ladies and he also appeared in the national tour of Jelly’s Last Jam.

The siblings later joined forces as the feuding Williams Brothers in Coppola’s 1984 crime drama The Cotton Brothers, which also starred Richard Gere and Diane Lane.

The 2019 documentary Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back highlights a falling out between the Hines brothers, who didn’t speak for 10 years “for reasons that Maurice refuses to discuss to this day. He provides no explanation in the film, but instead takes every opportunity to praise Gregory and say how much he loved him,” according to a THR review of the film.

“Nonetheless, the lingering emotional pain of their rift is deeply evident in such moments as Maurice sadly remembering that they didn’t even speak to each at their mother’s wedding, to her great distress. The film includes footage of Gregory’s Tony Award acceptance speech [in 1992] in which he pointedly thanks everyone in his family except his brother. He even takes pains, when mentioning his father, to add ‘Sr.’ so nobody misunderstands.”

The brothers made up before Gregory died of cancer at age 57 in 2003, according to THR.

Maurice is survived by his nephew, Zach, and niece, Daria.

30 Dec 2023

Bad Bunny Gives Back in Puerto Rico & More Uplifting Moments in Latin Music

From career milestones to new music releases to major announcements and those little important moments, Billboard editors highlight uplifting moments in Latin music. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.

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Bad Bunny Gives Back

Bad Bunny is spending the holidays in his native Puerto Rico and part of the celebration included his annual “Bonita Tradición” gift giveaway hosted by the artist and his Good Bunny Foundation. Held at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, the free event featured traditional food and attractions, as well as 25,000 gifts that were handed out to children and teenagers. Bad Bunny was in attendance to hand out sports gear, music instruments, art sets and more gifts aimed at promoting the love of music, art and sports. Other artists who joined the cause included Miky Woodz, Young Miko and Dei V. 

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Taking Over Times Square on New Year’s Eve

New York City’s Times Square is gearing up to host its annual New Year’s Eve celebration, which includes the televised ball lowering during the countdown to the new year. The tradition, which has been celebrated for 120 years now, will boast two Latin artists as part of this year’s festivities. Argentine star Maria Becerra and Mexican reggaeton artist Yng Lvcas will perform a medley of their biggest hits at the Planet Fitness Center Stage. The former is scheduled to perform at 10:04 p.m. and the latter at 11:02 p.m. ET. Both performances will air live on Univision and the Times Square New Year’s Eve webcast. 

Shakira Honored in Her Hometown

This week, Shakira was honored with a 20-foot-tall bronze statue in her hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia. Dressed in one of her famous belly-dancing outfits, with her hips swaying and her arms raised, the monument features a plaque that reads: “On Feb. 2, 1977, the town of Barranquilla and the world witnessed the birth of a heart that composes, hips that don’t lie, a voice that moves masses and a pair of bare feet that walk for the good of children and humanity.” The Colombian star was not present at the grand reveal, but her parents were. “I am very excited about this tribute to Colombian women and Barranquilleras inside and outside my land!” the singer expressed on Instagram. 

Myriam Hernández is Celebrated in Chile

This week, Chilean singer-songwriter Myriam Hernández was recognized as a “Fundamental Figure of Chilean Music” by the Society of Authors. “I am happy and grateful for the news,” the artist known for hits such as “El Hombre que yo Amo,” “Huele a Peligro” and “Te pareces tanto a él’” said in a statement. “I feel proud of this recognition that the Society of Authors of my country gives me, an entity that is so necessary and important for artists, creators, composers and performers. I am excited to be part of this distinction alongside other music greats. Additionally, being recognized by your peers is something very special and significant. I receive it with immense joy because this is a race that belongs to the public,” she said.

29 Dec 2023

Zac Brown & Wife Kelly Yazdi Divorcing After 4 Months of Marriage

Zac Brown and his wife Kelly Yazdi are divorcing after four months of marriage, a rep for the Zac Brown Band frontman confirmed to Billboard on Friday (Dec. 29).

“We are in the process of divorce,” the couple said in a statement sent to Billboard. “Our mutual respect for one another remains. We wish each other the best and will always appreciate our time together. As we navigate this personal matter, we simply request privacy during this time.”

TMZ was first to report the news.

Billboard reported in December 2022 that Brown was engaged to the actress/model/stuntwoman. Last month, TMZ reported that the pair had secretly wed on Aug. 31 in Coweta County, Georgia.

This was the second marriage for Brown, who was previously married to Shelly Brown from 2006 to 2018. The former couple shares five kids: daughters Justice, Lucy, Georgia and Joni and son Alexander.

As the co-founder and lead singer of the Zac Brown Band, Brown has scored 34 hits on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, including 17 top 10s and eight No. 1s, starting with their breakthrough smash “Chicken Fried” in 2008. The group — which formed in 2002 — has scored three Grammys, including best new artist in 2010.

Last month, Brown joined Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney and Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally to pay tribute to the late Jimmy Buffett at the 2023 CMA Awards. Over the summer, Brown offered an update on the health of his bandmate John Driskell Hopkins, who was diagnosed with ALS last year. “It’s been tough for Hop and our band, but he is our brother and we’re doing all that we can to support him every day,” Brown told People of the group’s founding bassist.

29 Dec 2023

Katy Perry Leads ‘American Idol’ Crew Down Yellow Brick Road in ‘Wizard of Oz’-Themed Promo

American Idol is heading “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” In a new Wizard of Oz-themed promo, judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, alongside host Ryan Seacrest, make their way down the Yellow Brick Road to visit cities “big and small.”

Set to air during ABC’s Seacrest-hosted Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve broadcast on Dec. 31, the promo features the four Idol main players taking on different Wizard of Oz roles. Perry opens the scene as Dorothy, and Bryan (the Scarecrow), Richie (the Lion) and Seacrest (the Tin Man) join her as she makes her way across the country.

During their journey, the foursome visit the hometowns of several past Idol contestants, including Burleson, Texas (Kelly Clarkson, season 1 winner); Checotah, Oklahoma (Carrie Underwood, season 4 winner); and San Diego, California (Adam Lambert, season 8 runner-up). They even made a visit to Iam Tongi‘s Kahuku, Hawaii; the 19-year-old won season 21, becoming the first winner to be born after the show’s initial premiere on Fox.

Seacrest also told Rolling Stone, which debuted the promo on Friday (Dec. 29), that the show will visit the judges’ hometowns throughout the season. “Idol cannot wait to share the judges’ special hometowns with our viewers – and show off the talent from each of the places they call home!”

Season 22 of American Idol is set to premiere on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, on ABC. Episodes will also be available to stream on Hulu.

In other recent Idol news, season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino is enjoying a successful close to the year in the film musical The Color Purple, in which she stars as Celie in her motion picture debut.

Watch the new Wizard of Oz-themed American Idol promo above.