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The legendary Bing Crosby is back in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time in nearly 64 years, as his new holiday compilation Ultimate Christmas climbs 18-9 on the chart dated Dec. 14.
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The entertainer, who died in 1977, was last in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 with his classic Merry Christmas album, which ranked at No. 9 on the Dec. 31, 1960-dated chart. It had previously spent a week at No. 1 on Jan. 6, 1958-dated chart.
Merry Christmas became the second holiday album to top the Billboard 200, following its launch as a regularly published weekly chart in March 1956. Elvis Presley’s Elvis’ Christmas Album was the first chart-topping holiday set, as it topped the chart for three weeks in December 1957, moved aside for Crosby for a week and then returned to No. 1 for one more week in January 1958.
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Ultimate Christmas is available as 14-song standard album, an expanded 28-song edition, and a deluxe 58-song version. All versions of the album contain such classic Holiday 100-charting tunes from Crosby as “White Christmas” (featuring The Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra), “It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas,” “Do You Hear What I Hear?,” “Mele Kalikimaka” (with The Andrews Sisters) and “Silent Night” (featuring John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra and Max Terr’s Mixed Chorus).
In the tracking week ending Dec. 5, as reflected on the Dec. 14-dated Billboard 200 chart, Ultimate Christmas earned 50,000 equivalent album units in the week ending (up 59%). Of that sum, SEA units comprise 46,000 (up 62%; equaling 61.37 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks; it jumps 16-6 on Top Streaming Albums).
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 Dec. 14, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on Tuesday, Dec. 10. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
If ever there was someone whose marriage advice was considered invaluable, it’s Dolly Parton.
The country veteran and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has been recording and releasing as a solo artist since 1967 – just one year after her marriage to the rarely-seen Carl Dean.
Together, the pair have been married for close to 60 years, though Dean has been known for his aversion to the spotlight. Having met in a laundromat on the day she moved to Nashville, only rarely do photographs of the pair emerge, and Parton has long said that Dean – a retired paver four years her senior – has only ever seen her perform live once.
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In a new interview with Bunnie Xo‘s Dumb Blonde podcast (itself a song title from Parton’s 1967 album Hello, I’m Dolly), the musical icon has offered up some of the secrets to their long-lasting relationship.
“He’s quiet and I’m loud, and we’re funny,” Parton explained. “Oh, he’s hilarious. And I think one of the things that’s made it last so long through the years is that we love each other [and] we respect each other, but we have a lot of fun.”
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“Anytime [there’s] too much tension going on, either one of us can like, find a joke about it to really break the tension, where we don’t let it go so far,” Parton continued, touching on their shared sense of humor. “We never fought back and forth. And I’m glad now that we never did, because once you start that, that becomes a lifetime thing.
“I’ve seen it with so many people, and I thought, ‘I ain’t ever starting that.’ I couldn’t bear to think that he’d say something I couldn’t take… because I’m a very sensitive person toward other people and myself.”
Parton’s comments are consistent with her previous offerings on the key to her long-lasting marriage, telling ET Canada in 2022 why she feels the pair have worked so long for close to 60 years.
“I like it when people say, ‘How did it last so long?’ I say, ‘I stay going,’” she explained. “You know, there’s a lot to be said about that. So we’re not in each other’s face all the time. He’s not in the business, so we have different interests, but yet we have the things we love to do together. So it was meant to be, I think. He was the one I was supposed to have and vice versa.”
Lana Del Rey may have a lot to thank Jack Antonoff for when it comes to music, but in a speech at the Variety Hitmakers ceremony over the weekend, the 39-year-old pop star revealed that she’s actually most grateful for the way the producer inspired her to get married to husband Jeremy Dufrene. While presenting […]
Composer/producer Charlie Calello knew he was in the presence of something special when he began working on the landmark Eli and the Thirteenth Confession album with Laura Nyro early in 1968.
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“I first heard it in the studio; she played me the entire record…and I was dumbfounded,” Calello, who co-produced the album with Nyro, tells Billboard. “I’d never heard anything like it and still haven’t heard anything as good. There was never a record that was actually written by a composer who displayed her emotions and her feelings the way she did.”
Nyro’s musical legacy, complex and underappreciated, is being celebrated with the recent release of Hear My Song: The Collection 1966-1995, a limited-edition box set from Britain’s Madfish Records. It includes Nyro’s 10 studio albums, along with six live albums (two previously unreleased), the 1966 demo tape that landed her first recording contract at the age of 18 and a Live & Rarities disc including more demos, alternative versions, outtakes and live tracks. The collection also comes with a coffee-table sized book of liner notes by Vivien Goldman, a foreword by Elton John and remembrances from Calello, Jackson Browne, Clive Davis, Lou Adler, John Sebastian and others.
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The Bronx-born Nyro possessed a three-octave voice and was best known for songs such as “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “And When I Die” and “Stoney End” — which were turned into hits when covered by the Fifth Dimension, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Barbra Streisand. In addition to music Nyro was an avid feminist and animal rights activist. She passed away April 8, 1997 from ovarian cancer at the age of 49 (her mother died of the same disease, at the same age 22 years earlier) and was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2010) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2012).
In his foreword, John calls Nyro “one of my all time idols. She wrote songs that had no kind of fixed compass point, they had different sections, codas and various tempo changes. They remain as unique and absolutely spellbinding to this day as when I first heard them in the ‘60s…. She was a giant of a songwriter who sadly didn’t have the legacy and recognition she deserved during the years she was with us.”
Calello, who also co-produced Nyro’s 1976 album Smile, echoes John’s praise about Nyro’s fusion of pop, jazz, R&B and gospel. “The whole thing did not glue together from a pop standpoint,” he explains, “but yet when you collectively put it together, it was its own thing. It had all of those elements — it had the R&B, it had that jazz, all of it — and it also had the honesty she looked for. And also she would rein it in when things seemed to be getting out of control. It was really an amazing experience seeing her arrive at those conclusions.”
For Nyro’s son Gil Bianchini, Hear My Song is a welcome chronicle of his mother’s artistry. “I think it’s a great reminder of a real talent,” says Bianchini, a rapper who records under the moniker Gil-T. He’s also an associate producer of an upcoming documentary that’s in production with director Lisa D’Apolito (Love, Gilda), with no release date yet. “For people who sit down and really listen to the music…it’s not just a melody or a hook or whatever. I just think it’s a great collection of something that’s real and positive, but also something that’s reality-based and can really inspire. It’s a beautiful thing.”
The Hear My Song box set was produced by James Batsford, pulling together catalogs primarily from Sony Music and Concord/Craft, as well as from the Nyro Estate. It’s an outgrowth from a 2020 vinyl box set of Nyro’s Columbia Records recordings, and Batsford says that the CD package “gave us more room to be expansive and tell her story. It wasn’t a completest mentality; it’s more, ‘What are the touchstones of her career, and how can we bring it in an interesting way and include the best possible material out there?’ It’s not just, ‘What can we get our hands on?’ but ‘What’s the best we can get our hands on?’ and bring them together in one place.”
And when it comes to Nyro, Batsford adds, there’s quite a bit that can be considered best-possible.
“I’ve gotten deeper and deeper into her over the years from working on these records, and it astounds me how my favorite record changes from month to month,” he says. “She’s just such a great (artist). Your taste evolves with listening to her records. She’s just timeless.”
Producer Calello says he’s particularly happy Hear My Music includes a wealth of live material, including a pair of previously unreleased concerts from San Francisco in 1994, while Nyro was touring to promote her final album, 1993’s Walk The Dog & Light The Light. “You see the growth of her as a performer,” he says. “When I made Eli she didn’t want to tour; she was really afraid of the audience. But by the ‘80s she had gotten to the point where she loved performing and there was an energy. You could hear the growth and joy, and the performances are simply amazing.”
The 2013 release Live at Carnegie Hall: The Classic 1976 Radio Broadcast was not included, however, due to rights issues.
Batsford, meanwhile, says there’s more coming from the Nyro vaults. He’s planning a vinyl reissue of 2001’s posthumous Angel in the Dark during April on his own New Land Records. Looking ahead, Batsford promises that “there are some bits and pieces I can’t talk about yet. I’m aware of some rarities that exist that I’d love to help to bring to the public at some point. There is still stuff out there that wasn’t possible this time around but are things that will excite people down the line.”
Roc Marciano and The Alchemist have decided to do it again. The duo have announced their latest endeavor The Skeleton Key as they look to follow up their critically acclaimed collab album The Elephant Man’s Bones from 2022. And with that announcement, they dropped the project’s lead single in “Chopstick” along with its video. Directed […]
On Sunday night (Dec. 8), Taylor Swift played the last of 149 shows on The Eras Tour. As reported earlier Monday, the record-setting trek grossed more than $2 billion and sold over 10 million tickets: $2,077,618,725 and 10,168,008, respectively, to be exact.
The news was first reported by The New York Times.
Without qualification, The Eras Tour is the highest-grossing tour of all time, by artists of any genre, and from any era in music history. If compared to data officially reported to Billboard Boxscore, it is the biggest tour ever by an unthinkable distance of more than $900 million, blasting past Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour (2022-ongoing) – the only other tour to gross more than $1 billion – by a margin of almost two-to-one.
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Even before The Eras Tour was announced, Swift was one of the most successful touring acts of her generation. Dating back to her first reported solo headline show at Sovereign Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pa. (April 6, 2007), she has grossed $3 billion across her career, when adding The Eras Tour’s sum to officially reported data for her prior tours to Billboard Boxscore.
Previously, her biggest tour – according to Billboard Boxscore – came when Swift brought in $345.7 million and sold 2.9 million tickets on 2018’s Reputation Stadium Tour, marking a 38% leap from the earnings on 2015’s The 1989 World Tour. The Eras Tour multiplies her prior best more than six times over.
The Eras Tour kicked off in Glendale, Ariz. on March 17, 2023. If the tour hadn’t already made a seismic impact just via its announcement, the actual performances sent Swift from superstardom to the stratosphere. The friendship bracelets, the surprise songs and all of Swift’s eras took over, sparking major economic booms in every city she visited and hysteria among Swifties around the world.
By August 9, 2023, Swift had released her re-recording of Speak Now (July 7), announced the re-recording for 1989 and wrapped the tour’s first U.S. leg. Quickly after, she played her first shows ever in Mexico with four nights at the capital’s Estadio GNP Seguros (then known as Foro Sol), followed by nine shows in South America.
In February 2024, Swift took her talents to Asia and Australia, but not before she won her record-setting fourth Grammy for album of the year for Midnights and announced her next new studio album during an acceptance speech. That one – The Tortured Poets Department, released April 19 – arrived while on break from tour, and once again, set a new career-peak with a debut week of 2.61 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S., according to Luminate, and the entire top 14 on the Hot 100. On the current, Dec. 14-dated edition of the Billboard 200, the set returns for a 16th week at No. 1 on the back of a physical release of the album’s deluxe Anthology version, sold exclusively at Target.
In May, Swift took on Europe, with 48 shows across the continent. While Tortured Poets spent most of the summer atop the Billboard 200, The Eras Tour continued its blistering pace, including eight nights at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Finally, Swift returned to North America for three shows each in Miami, New Orleans, and Indianapolis, plus six in Toronto and one last weekend in Vancouver.
Amirah’s story unfolds like a carefully plotted script, peppered with the unexpected moments that distinguish dreams from reality. This 18-year-old emerging artist isn’t just a fresh face in music; she’s a testament to the power of vision, resilience, and a faith grounded in the support of family. From recording her first EP while still in high school to signing with 10 Summers and Interscope, Amirah’s rise reflects an artist who’s balancing authenticity with industry ambitions—and doing it on her own terms.
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Amirah’s journey has been propelled forward by her dedication and the encouragement of platforms like Honda Stage, which shares her mission of uncovering stories that embody resilience, passion, and authenticity. Honda Stage champions emerging artists and brings audiences closer to the often-hidden journeys that fuel the music industry. Much like Amirah, the platform celebrates individuals who are redefining music through unique perspectives, unwavering commitment, and unfiltered creativity.
Raised in Virginia Beach, Amirah grew up in a family that knew how to cultivate dreams. “I was always about music—I needed it,” she says, remembering the countless times she would talk to her mother about wanting to be a singer. Her grandparents championed her budding passion, capturing every recital and piano performance, and her mother taught her about the power of faith and self-belief. “My mom would always say, ‘Speak it into existence,’” Amirah shares, her voice carrying a quiet confidence that hints at a wisdom beyond her years. And speak she did—writing down her dreams, rehearsing the vision in her head, and setting her sights on making them real.
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It was during the lockdowns of 2020, and like many artists, Amirah was channeling her energy into creating and refining her sound, writing songs, and imagining what it would take to break into the industry. She’d been a devoted fan of Mustard’s work for years, studying his production style and envisioning what it would be like to work with him. But the idea of actually connecting with him seemed like a far-off fantasy, something her mom used to say to encourage her: “You never know; one day, Mustard might come knocking!”
By 2021, Amirah was writing down all her goals, detailing her dreams, and practicing a manifestation ritual. She recalls that she’d just written a note in her journal that year, setting an intention to be signed to a major label by the time she was 16. She was 15 when the unthinkable happened—her phone pinged with an Instagram DM notification from none other than Mustard himself. In a message that was straightforward but powerful, he expressed his admiration for her work and wanted to talk more after seeing one of her covers online.
“I just remember staring at it, thinking, ‘This has to be a joke, right?’” she laughs now. “But it was real. And the best part? He didn’t just see the potential—I felt like he already knew the vision I wanted for myself.” They connected almost instantly, with Mustard helping her navigate the next steps, leading to her signing with Ten Summers and Interscope.
That DM wasn’t just a message; it was the manifestation of everything she’d been working toward.
By 2021, she was signed with 10 Summers and Interscope, making her one of the latest young artists to be mentored by the celebrated producer. “It felt like a fever dream,” she admits, still in awe of the trajectory that took her from a Virginia high school to recording studios in L.A. “I remember asking, ‘So, does this mean I can release music now?’ I didn’t know the process, but my team walked me through every step.”
That team—especially her managers and Mustard—has become an extension of her family, helping her navigate the industry’s highs and lows while supporting her growth as an artist. The creative back-and-forth with Mustard, she says, has been an anchor for her, one that’s reinforced her dedication to the work. “Sometimes I feel like my songs are corny, but he’ll listen and say, ‘No, you have to hear this through.’” With Ten Summers, she’s found a team willing to help her experiment while keeping her grounded, ensuring her artistic vision isn’t compromised.
Amirah isn’t an artist who’s chasing the flash and glamour often associated with success; she’s a self-described “earth girl” who takes comfort in simplicity. “I don’t need flashy stuff,” she says. “Knowing where I came from keeps me grounded and helps me hold onto my artistic vision.” Her home in Virginia Beach, with its coastal, laid-back vibe, serves as a touchstone that keeps her focused on authenticity rather than trends.
For Amirah, staying true to herself and finding balance in an industry driven by image and expectations isn’t a battle—it’s a principle. “I don’t feel pressure; I feel like we’re all just here to make dope stuff,” she explains. “It’s important to maintain who I am.” That ethos is reflected in her music, where each song offers a piece of her story, her evolution, and her soul. “My upcoming project is vibes, vibes, vibes,” she says, eager to share the songs she’s been recording since she was 16. “I hope people just have fun and feel connected. I want it to be a vision that everyone can understand.”
Beyond her music, Amirah is setting long-term goals that extend into acting and animated series, hoping to show her versatility as an artist with a personality that jumps off the screen. Her short-term plans, however, are all about staying in the studio, writing, and crafting music that resonates with audiences everywhere. “I want to write music that’s played in clubs but also tells the story of who I am,” she says, already visualizing the next stage of her career.
There’s a boldness to Amirah’s vision, but it’s grounded in faith—a faith she says is both personal and unshakeable. Her approach to setbacks is to turn to God, her family, and sometimes, a cathartic cry. “When I doubt, I pray,” she reveals, a simple phrase that carries the weight of her journey thus far. She’s learned that the road to success isn’t always easy, but she’s not one to give up. Each step she’s taken has reinforced her belief that with hard work, resilience, and a team who sees her potential, anything is possible.
Today, Amirah’s poised to make a name for herself in an industry that’s often more focused on profits than passions. But with her first EP out, a loyal team at her side, and a vision for what she wants to accomplish, Amirah’s on track to defy those odds. In her own words: “I hope everyone loves it, and I hope they can feel my heart in every song.” Amirah’s journey is one to watch—not just because of her talent, but because of the unwavering authenticity she brings to every note, lyric, and performance.
Hello, Cleveland! On Nov. 1, 1894, Billboard Advertising published its first monthly issue out of an Ohio office. Its goal: to demonstrate for advertisers “the efficacy of the bill board” (two words, even though the magazine’s name was one) and “maintain a high and exacting standard of excellence,” despite starting as a “journalistic youngster.” The nascent magazine was renamed The Billboard in 1897, nicknamed “Billyboy” by the 1910s and officially became Billboard in 1961. By then, the trade publication had become weekly, with a music business focus, and it was more about chart position than advertising placement. Even at 130, the only wrinkles are in our stories.
No Business Like Show Business
By 1900, The Billboard covered more than best (and worst) practices for bill posters, who early issues reported would glue ads on ash cans, piles of bricks and even, according to the first issue, a dead horse. (Are we kidding? Neigh.) Within a decade, carnivals, fairs and vaudeville productions took over Billboard’s pages; a music column started in 1905, and coverage of sheet music sales joined the chorus in 1913. “The Billboard has grown,” the magazine declared when it marked its 35th anniversary in 1929, “to include the entire world.”
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Over There
The Dec. 29, 1934, issue celebrated the publication’s 40th anniversary by hailing “the legion of true, sincere and loyal show-folk” who provided “continued support and favor.” Also, “It is our earnest wish to have an active part in a 50th Anniversary Number.” History had other plans: The Dec. 18, 1943, Billboard replaced its “Anniversary and Holiday Greetings” annual with an ad-free “Bondbardment” issue that urged advertisers to take the money “they would be spending” and buy “an extra war bond.” The next year’s issue followed suit.
The Same Old Song
By the time Billboard hit 75, music had become the publication’s primary focus, thanks in part to the Aug. 4, 1958, launch of the Billboard Hot 100. “This industry of entertainment is not an easy one to record; like the sky it is never the same two days running,” an editorial in the Dec. 27, 1969, issue observed. But “as one aspect of the business faded, decayed or lost its broad public, another has smartly taken its place.”
Computer Love
“Billboard Charts the Future,” declared the Dec. 15, 1984, issue — sometimes presciently. “Computers in the home will have a major impact on the entire retail industry, not just on music retailing,” predicted one article. “It would be possible to purchase an entire music collection without leaving home.” Other ideas weren’t ready for prime time: “Why not squirt radio broadcasting out on the coaxial cable network?” another piece suggested.
100, Pure Love
For its Nov. 1, 1994, 100th-anniversary special, “Billyboy” took a victory lap. “Billboard is peerless,” an article boasted. “No other publication has the sweep and continuity of Billboard’s coverage of movies, of television, of laser disc, of videocassettes — even of multimedia formats like CD-ROM.” Most of those formats sound like relics today, but the accompanying insight remains timeless. “History is typically made by amateurs,” an editorial said. “The boldest ideas regularly come from those who are oblivious to conventional solutions.”
After earning her fourth Golden Globes nomination on Monday (Dec. 9), Cynthia Erivo is practically “Defying Gravity.”
In a series of posts to her Instagram Stories, Erivo celebrated her nomination for the 2024 Golden Globes, along with the many nominations for her smash-hit film Wicked. “Now that my feet are hovering off the ground, I cannot even come close to properly expressing what this moment means to me,” she wrote under a photo of herself as Elphaba. “Not just because of this individual nomination, but because I get to watch as this project and my @wickedmovie family are celebrated, too.”
The actress/singer was nominated on Monday for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy for her role as Elphaba in Wicked. Erivo’s co-star Ariana Grande also received a nomination in the supporting role category for her work as Glinda on the film, while the film itself was nominated for best motion picture — musical or comedy.
“Being a part of this project has been a dream come true, and playing Elphaba, a woman who speaks to everyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong and lets them know they have the power to defy gravity, has been the honor of a lifetime,” Erivo continued.
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The actress shared special praise for the film’s director Jon M. Chu — who Erivo thanked for his “wonderful dedication to this work,” and his “care for each one of us on your set” — and for Grande, who she called her “little sister” in a post. “I’m so proud of you. You’re so deserving of this moment, and I’m glad I get to share the seconds and the moments and the days and the years with you,” she wrote. “This journey has been so unbelievably special, and I believe it is the company we have kept together that has made it as special as it has been and will continue to be.”
In one final post on her Stories, Erivo shared a special shoutout to the other women nominated in her category — Amy Adams, Karla Sofía Gascón, Mikey Madison, Demi Moore and Zendaya. “Being named alongside you powerhouses is one of the truest honors of them all,” she wrote. “I can’t wait to be in a room celebrating you all!!”
The new posts come just after Grande herself shared her own thoughts on being nominated, saying that she was “floored and honored to be recognized by members of the @goldenglobes” for the annual ceremony.
Normani’s years-in-the-making debut album arrived with Dopamine earlier this year, but the 28-year-old revealed she’s not planning to make fans wait that long again with her sophomore LP. In an interview with Rolling Stone at Spotify’s Wrapped party, Normani opened up about her plans to release another album in 2025. “Putting lots more music out, […]