Music

08 Nov 2023

BTS’ Jung Kook Stops Traffic For Spirited ‘Today Show’ Performance of Solo Hits ‘Seven,’ ‘3D’ and ‘Standing Next to You’

BTS‘ Jung Kook took his solo act to the Today Show on Wednesday morning (Nov. 8), stopping traffic all around the plaza outside the show’s New York studios for a live performance of songs form his just-released debut solo album, Golden. The program’s hosts said JK drew one of the biggest crowds they’ve ever had, just short of the massive 15,000 who turned out for Karol G in July. And, in keeping with ARMY’s dedication to the K-pop superstar’s members, some in the crowd had begun queueing up for the morning gig on Monday to secure a good spot.

After getting a personal walk-on to the Citi stage from show co-host Hoda Kotb — who noted that ARMY had packed the streets outside the Today studio from 48th Street to 51st — Savannah Guthrie showed off the look of the day: a signature pink Cooky headband spotted on many in the crowd who were shouting “JK! JK!” in anticipation.

Wearing a sparkly jacket over a black shirt and matching pants Jung Kook made his debut on the Today stage with a live band for a spirited run through is Jack Harlow collaboration “3D” to a sea of uplifted cell phones as the rapper’s pre-recorded verse was enthusiastically shouted back to JK by the largely female audience.

The singer also shouted out the audience saying, “thank you so much for coming early in the morning, you are the best.” He then wished them a “Golden day” before dipping into the uptempo rock-edged track “Standing Next to You,” which opened with a flourish of rocking guitar and crashing drums before dipping into the singer’s sky-high falsetto verses. At one point, JK moved to a thrust stage in the middle of the crowd and pulled off a series of impressive dance moves as ARMY members shouted and held out their hands to get a high five from their pop idol.

After losing a ring during the slaps, Jung Kook exchanged “I Love you”‘s with a crying girl in the crowd celebrating her 10th birthday and offering her a happy birthday greeting before returning for his third song, “Seven,” the smash Latto collab that recently became the fastest song to reach 1 billion Spotify streams.

Check out video of the performances below.

08 Nov 2023

Lainey Wilson, HARDY Are Early 2023 CMA Awards Winners

Lainey Wilson and HARDY are already winners heading into tonight’s (Nov. 8) 2023 CMA Awards.

This morning, the Country Music Association revealed that HARDY and Wilson’s dramatic murder ballad, “Wait in the Truck,” picked up trophies for musical event of the year and music video of the year.

“Wait in the Truck” was produced by HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt and Derek Wells, while Justin Clough directed the music video.

These mark HARDY’s first CMA Awards wins, while Wilson took home new artist of the year and female vocalist of the year during last year’s CMAs. Part of the song’s strength is the charismatic vocal interplay between the two singers, as well as the message tackling domestic abuse.

“You rarely hear songs like this that bring light to heavy situations that people are really scared to talk about,” Wilson previously told Billboard of “Wait in the Truck.” “I feel, in my heart, that our job is to sing about the things that people are afraid to talk about. It’s a song that definitely starts a conversation.”

Co-producer Moi also previously noted, “When somebody’s had the guts to write something completely alternative and also make it sound completely mainstream at the same time, it’s a unicorn-type song.”

Heading into this year’s ceremony, Wilson leads the nominees with nine total nominations (including entertainer of the year and female vocalist of the year), while HARDY picked up four nods. “Wait in the Truck” is also up for both single of the year and song of the year.

The 57th annual CMA Awards will air tonight on ABC from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Wilson and HARDY are both slated as performers, as well as Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs, Dan+Shay, Jordan Davis, Alan Jackson, Jelly Roll, K. Michelle, Little Big Town and more.

The 57th Annual CMA Awards is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the executive producer, Alan Carter is the director and Jon Macks is the head writer.  

08 Nov 2023

Coco Jones Named MTV’s Global PUSH Artist for November

Coco Jones could be enjoying a very special Friday once 2024 Grammy nominations are announced, but she and her fans can kick off their celebrations a little bit earlier: Billboard can exclusively reveal that Coco Jones will be MTV‘s Global PUSH Artist for November.

The announcement comes less than a week after Jones marked the one-year anniversary of What I Didn’t Tell You, her debut EP with Def Jam. That project and its accompanying North American headlining tour helped the powerhouse vocalist transition from Disney star to award-winning R&B dynamo. In the past year, Jones has picked up best new artist honors from both the BET Awards and the NAACP Image Awards, as well as a whopping six nominations at the upcoming Soul Train Music Awards (Nov. 26), including album, song and video of the year.

What I Didn’t Tell You houses Jones’ very first Billboard Hot 100 hit, “ICU.” The DJ Camper-helmed ballad spent 20 weeks on the ranking, peaking at No. 62. The track, which also received a remix from fellow Disney alum Justin Timberlake, topped both Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and R&B Digital Song Sales.

“‘ICU’ really fell into my lap, I feel, because I was so surprised… what I ended up doing that day in the studio… I heard this track by Camper, and I could not skip it,” Jones says in a press release announcing the PUSH news. “Then I had to get really vulnerable and tell this story that I feel like people can relate to: when you love someone and they didn’t do anything wrong to you but you guys are just wrong for each other.”

“ICU” marked a new frontier for Jones’ career, becoming her first RIAA Platinum single and introducing her to scores of new listeners. The song’s success also gave way to the deluxe edition of What I Didn’t Tell You, which arrived earlier this year (Jan. 20) and featured three new songs in addition to the previously released “Simple” (with Babyface).

“I think my favorite line is the first line ‘something about your hands on my body’ because I just feel like it snaps people’s attention… I feel like it gives me a southern twang,” Jones says. “It reminds me where I’m from and it surprised people that I could go that low. It is just a really good line to me. It’s really solid.”

As MTV’s featured Global PUSH Artist for the month of November, Jones will partner with the entertainment iconoclast all month to discuss her roots, the stories and memories behind her music and the artists and eras that inspire her. For Jones, The Cheetah Girls were a formative part of her childhood, specifically the song “Cinderella,” which she hails as a “girl power anthem.” “I was the biggest Cheetah Girls fan,” she gushes. “That was my first concert ever actually and I thought they asked me to come up on stage, but my mom said no.”

Jones is also set to debut two exclusive performance videos for “ICU” and “Double Back,” the latter of which she credits to the “Brandys, Aaliyahs and Destiny’s Childs” of the ’90s and describes as “one of the best songs to get [her] makeup done to or to do [her] makeup to.”

The MTV PUSH initiative aims to connect fans across the globe with a new music artist every month through live performances, exclusive broadcast premieres of music videos, interviews and video content. Previous MTV PUSH artists include Lizzo, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, SZA, Chloe X Halle, H.E.R., Jack Harlow, Jorja Smith, BROCKHAMPTON and more.

Watch an exclusive clip of Coco Jones performing and talking about “ICU” above.

08 Nov 2023

How Lauv Used AI to Translate His Latest Single Into Korean

Korean artist MIDNATT made history earlier this year by using AI to help him translate his debut single “Masquerade” into six different languages. Though it wasn’t a major commercial success, its seamless execution by the HYBE-owned voice synthesis company Supertone proved there was a new, positive application of musical AI on the horizon that went beyond unauthorized deepfakes and (often disappointing) lo-fi beats.

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Enter Jordan “DJ Swivel” Young, a Grammy-winning mixing engineer and producer, known best for his work with Beyonce, BTS and Dua Lipa. His new AI voice company Hooky is one of many new start-ups trying to popularize voice cloning, but unlike much of his competition, Young is still an active and well-known collaborator for today’s musical elite. After connecting with pop star Lauv, whom he worked with briefly years before as an engineer, Young’s Hooky developed an AI voice model of Lauv’s voice so that they could translate the singer-songwriter’s new single “Love U Like That” into Korean. 

It’s the first major Western artist to take part in the AI translation trend. Lauv wants the new translated version of “Love U Like That” to be a way of showing his love to his Korean fanbase and to celebrate his biggest headline show to date, which recently took place in Seoul. 

Though many fans around the world listen to English-speaking music in high numbers, Will Page, author and former chief economist at Spotify, and Chris Dalla Riva, a musician and Audiomack employee, noted in a recent report that many international audiences are increasingly turning their interest back to their local language music – a trend they nicknamed “Glocalization.” With Hooky, Supertone and other AI voice synthesis companies all working to master translation, English-speaking artists now have the opportunity to participate in this growing movement and to form tighter bonds with international fans.

To explain the creation of “Love U Like That (Korean Version),” out Wednesday (Nov. 8), Lauv and Young spoke in an exclusive interview to Billboard. 

When did you first hear what was possible with AI voice filters?

Lauv: I think the first time was that Drake and The Weeknd song [“Heart On My Sleeve” by Ghostwriter]. I thought it was crazy. Then when my friend and I were working on my album, we started playing each other’s music. He pulled out a demo. They were pitching it to Nicki Minaj, and he was singing it and then put it into Nicki Minaj’s voice. I remember thinking it’s so insane this is possible.

Why did you want to get involved with AI voice technology yourself?

Lauv: I truly believe that the only way forward is to embrace what is possible now, no matter what. I think being able to embrace a tool like this in a way that’s beneficial and able to get artists paid is great. 

Jordan, how did you get acquainted with Lauv, and why did you feel he was the right artist to mark your first major collaboration? 

Jordan “DJ Swivel” Young: We’ve done a lot of general outreach to record companies, managers, etcetera. We met Range Media Partners, Lauv’s management team, and they really resonated with Hooky. The timing was perfect: he was wrapping up his Asian tour and had done the biggest show of his life in South Korea. Plus, he has done a few collaborations with BTS. I’ve worked on a number of BTS songs too. There was a lot of synergy between us.

Why did you choose Korean as the language that you wanted to translate a song into?

Lauv: Well, in the future, I would love to have the opportunity to do this in as many different languages as possible, but Seoul has been a place that has become really close to my heart, and it was the place of my biggest headline show to date. I just wanted to start by doing something special for those Korean fans. 

What is the process of actually translating the song? 

Young: We received the original audio files for the song “Love U Like That,” and we rewrote the song with former K-Pop idol Kevin Woo. The thing with translating lyrics or poetry is it can’t be a direct translation. You have to make culturally appropriate choices, words that flow well. So Kevin did that and we re-recorded Kevin’s voice singing the translation, then we mixed the song again exactly as the original was done to match it sonically. All the background vocals were at the correct volume and the right reverbs were used. I think we’ve done a good job of matching it. Then we used our AI voice technology to match Lauv’s voice, and we converted Kevin’s Korean version into Lauv’s voice. 

Lauv: To help them make the model of my voice, I sent over a bunch of raw vocals that were just me singing in different registers. Then I met up with him and Kevin. It was riveting to hear my voice like that. I gave a couple of notes – very minor things – after hearing the initial version of the translation, and then they went back and modified. I really trusted Jordan and Kevin on how to make this authentic and respectful to Korean culture.

Is there an art to translating lyrics?

Lauv: Totally. When I was listening back to it, that’s what struck me. There’s certain parts that are so pleasing to the ear. I still love hearing the Korean version phonetically as someone from the outside. Certain parts of Kevin’s translation, like certain rhythm schemes, hit me so much harder than hearing it in English actually.

Do you foresee that there will be more opportunities for translators as this space develops?

Young: Absolutely. I call them songwriters more than translators though, actually. They play a huge role. I used to work with Beyonce as an engineer, and I’ve watched her do a couple songs in Spanish. It required a whole new vocal producer, a new team just to pull off those songs. It’s daunting to sing something that’s not your natural language. I even did some Korean background vocals myself on a BTS song I wrote. They provided me with the phonetics, and I can say it was honestly the hardest thing I’ve ever recorded. It’s hard to sing with the right emotion when you’re focused on pronouncing things correctly. But Hooky allows the artist to perform in other languages but with all the emotion that’s expected. Sure, there’s another songwriter doing the Korean performance, but Lauv was there for the whole process. His fingerprint is on it from beginning to end. I think this is the future of how music will be consumed. 

I think this could bring more opportunities for the mixing engineers too. When Dolby Atmos came out that offered more chances for mixers, and with the translations, I think there are now even more opportunities. I think it’s empowering the songwriter, the engineer, and the artist all at once. There could even be a new opportunity created for a demo singer, if it’s different from the songwriter who translated the song. 

Would you be open to making your voice model that you used for this song available to the public to use?

Lauv: Without thinking it through too much, I think my ideal self is a very open person, and so I feel like I want to say hell yeah. If people have song ideas and want to hear my voice singing their ideas, why not? As long as it’s clear to the world which songs were written and made by me and what was written by someone else using my voice tone. As long as the backend stuff makes sense, I don’t see any reason why not. 

08 Nov 2023

Timbaland Apologizes For Misogynistic Britney Spears ‘Muzzle’ Comment: ‘You Speak What You Want to Speak’

On Tuesday (Nov. 7), Timbaland walked back his recent misogynistic statement about Britney Spears after a furious backlash against the producer for comments he made in an interview last month in which he said frequent collaborator Justin Timberlake should have put a “muzzle” on his one-time girlfriend Spears.

“I apologize to the Britney fans, and her,” Timbaland said somberly during one of his regular live TikTok chats while reading a comment asking him about his attitude towards women. “Yes, ‘you know about respecting women? Hell yeah!”

Rolling Stone reported that Timbaland additionally said, “I’m sorry to all the Britney fans, even to her. I’m sorry, because muzzle was — no, you have a voice. You speak what you want to speak. Who am I to tell you what not to speak? And I was wrong for saying that. I was looking at it from a different lens and what I am is a reconcile person. I’m not a person who takes sides.”

The reaction came after Timbaland took questions from the audience during an Oct. 29 live interview with 9th Wonder at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in which someone asked about the renewed interest in JT’s Tim-produced “Cry Me a River” in the wake of Spears’ best-selling tell-all memoir, The Woman in Me.

The 2002 song from Timberlake’s first solo album, Justified, is widely seen as a reaction to the singer’s split with Spears — down to the casting of an unfaithful blonde woman who looks eerily like Britney in the video — and when asked about the song during the chat last month, Timbaland said, “She going crazy, right? I wanted to call and say, ‘JT, you gotta put a muzzle on that girl.”

Spears and Timberlake dated from 1999-2002, and Britney delves into aspects of their relationship in the memoir, including an abortion she underwent while they were together. “Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young,” she wrote, adding, “To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”

In the book Spears also notes that the “Cry Me a River” video featured a “woman who looks like me cheats on him and he wanders around sad in the rain” and that the media attention to the video for the song that Timbaland co-wrote and co-produced turned her into a “harlot who’d broken the heart of America’s golden boy.” In reality, she added, she was broken-hearted and “comatose in Louisiana” while JT was “happily running around Hollywood.”

Spears fans were furious after the Timbaland comments surfaced, slamming the producer for his sexist statement. At press time it did not appear that Timberlake — who has kept a low profile during the run-up and roll-out of the Spears book — had reacted to either the original Timbaland statement or the apology; Spears also appears not to have posted a reaction to either comment.

08 Nov 2023

Jack Harlow Got a Major Shout-Out During Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s Victory Speech

Jack Harlow has earned a lot of flowers in his career, but on Tuesday night (Nov. 7) the “Churchill Downs” MC got a surprise shout-out from an unexpected collaborator. “Tonight Kentucky made a choice. A choice not to move to the right or to the left, but a choice to move forward for every single family,” said Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in his victory speech after securing a second term.

“A choice to reject Team R or Team D, and to state clearly that we are one Team Kentucky. A choice of Jack Harlow over Sarah Huckabee Sanders.” The latter was a reference to Louisville-bred Harlow joining Beshear on stage last week to stump for the popular blue incumbent in a typically deep red state; former Trump White House press secretary and current Gov. of Arkansas Sanders took the stage with the night’s losing candidate, Trump-endorsed Daniel Cameron, around the same time that Harlow pitched for Beshear.

The charismatic Beshear — one of the most popular governors in the nation — hit the campus of the University of Louisville last Thursday with Grammy-nominated rapper Harlow, joking, “You draw a bigger crowd than I do,” the Courier-Journal reported. After brief remarks about his economic record and a ticket that “strongly supports higher education,” Beshear handed the mic to Harlow.

“He was telling me he loved what I was doing, and for the last year and a half we’ve been staying in touch,” Harlow told the students about how he was introduced to Beshear in 2022 on a phone call while shooting a movie in Los Angeles. “This is a hell of a stand-up guy right here, and I think you all are holding the right signs.”

Tuesday’s off-year election was also yet another rebuke of the Supreme Court’s landmark anti-abortion decision, with neighboring Ohio becoming the latest state to overwhelmingly approve a measure to support abortion rights, in this case enshrining it in the state’s constitution with a ballot issue that guarantees abortion access up until the point of viability (typically 24 weeks); Ohio also became the 24th state to legalize recreational marijuana.

Check out Beshear’s speech below (Harlow shout-out comes around 5 minute mark).

08 Nov 2023

Cirque du Soleil and Universal Music Group Nashville to Launch New Experience in Music City: Exclusive

Following the tremendous success of such music-driven shows  as The Beatles’ Love and Michael Jackson’s MJ One, Cirque du Soleil is partnering with Universal Music Group Nashville for an acrobatics spectacular that will feature country music. The still-untitled touring show will launch in Nashville  in July 2024 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and feature music from both contemporary and legendary country artists. 

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“Nashville is the perfect location to launch our new show centered around country music,” Cirque du Soleil CEO Stéphane Lefebvre tells Billboard. “It’s a place where the genre has thrived and continues to evolve, making it a natural fit for our new theatrical touring show to debut, celebrating the roots and evolution of country music.”

The show marks Cirque’s first venture using country music. “Working with this new specific music genre challenges our creative team to innovate and come up with unique ways to interpret the music,” says Lefebvre. “It pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in live entertainment. Shows like Love and MJ One have taught us that the synergy between our extraordinary performances and the power of the music can create a powerful and captivating live experience, and we are convinced that pairing our expertise with the country music genre including artists from Universal Music Group’s vast repertoire, will be a successful collaboration.”

Lefebvre says it is too early to specify what songs or artists will be used in the show, but says, “Our goal is to create a captivating musical experience that resonates with our audience on a deep and emotional level. The heart of our show lies in the diverse selection of songs. We have carefully curated a blend of classic and new songs that touch upon a wide range of subjects. From heartbreak to love, good times and bad times, celebration, and friendship, our song choices are a reflection of the human experience in all its complexity.”

The music will be performed by live musicians and singers instead of licensing the existing recordings.  “The live element adds an extra layer of authenticity and energy to the performance, enhancing the emotional connection with the audience,” Lefebvre says. “It will be a celebration of the evolution of country music and we aim to showcase the authenticity of the genre and how it has evolved over time.”

Though running in Nashville instead of Las Vegas, Lefebvre still expects the show to have an international appeal: “Country music also has a global fanbase, and its unique storytelling and melodies can resonate with people from all walks of life… Exploring the world of country music provides us with an exciting artistic challenge as well and the emotional depth, storytelling, and authentic charm of country music can be translated into breathtaking acrobatics, visual spectacles, and immersive storytelling.”

08 Nov 2023

Matraca Berg, Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs Top BMI Country Awards Winners

The CMA Awards may be rightfully billed as “Country Music’s Biggest Night,” but in terms of pure star power, the annual BMI Country Awards just might prove a close rival, as artists including Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Ashley McBryde, Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, The War and Treaty, Cole Swindell, Kane Brown, Ronnie Dunn, Tyler Hubbard, Bailey Zimmerman, Chris Young, Charles Kelley, Dustin Lynch and Priscilla Block were all in attendance on Tuesday evening (Nov. 7), as the awards ceremony was held at BMI’s Nashville office.

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The evening began as BMI president/CEO Mike O’Neill addressed the elephant in the room — speculation over a potential private equity sale of BMI — by stating that no deal has been made.

“If we move in that direction, it will only be with a company that shares in our mission, which is to support your creative growth and grow our distribution. That is and will always be our number one priority. That will never change, no matter what happens,” O’Neill told the audience.

Additional BMI executives including BMI Nashville’s VP, Creative Clay Bradley and executive director, creative Shannon Sanders were on hand to honor BMI’s 50 most-performed country songs of the previous year, which included 27 first-time BMI Award winners.

Combs and Wallen shared the songwriter of the year accolade. Combs was honored for co-writing his own singles “Doin’ This,” “Going, Going, Gone,” “The Kind of Love We Make,” as well as Zac Brown Band’s “Out in the Middle.” Wallen co-wrote Keith Urban’s “Brown Eyes Baby,” Corey Kent’s “Wild as Her,” as well as his own “Thought You Should Know” and “You Proof.” Combs and Wallen surprised the audience by taking the stage together, and offered a twist on a typical performance by swapping songs, as Combs performed Wallen’s “Thought You Should Know” and Wallen returned the favor by performing Combs’s “Going, Going, Gone.”

Wallen’s “You Proof” was named the 2023 BMI country song of the year, published by Big Loud Mountain, Bo Wallace Publishing, Ern Dog Music, Songs of Universal, Inc., Sony/ATV Songs LLC and Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. BMI’s most-performed Country song of the year was written by Wallen, Ernest Keith Smith and Charlie Handsome.

Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. was named publisher of the year, for publishing 25 of the 50 most-performed songs of the year, including Hubbard’s “5 Foot 9,” Maren Morris’s “Circles Around This Town,” Thomas Rhett’s “Slow Down Summer,” Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” and Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place.”

The awarding of the evening’s highest accolade provided some of the most heartfelt moments, as Matraca Berg was recognized with the BMI Icon Award. The BMI Icon Award has previously been awarded to songwriters including Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, James Brown, Brian Wilson, Carole King and Kris Kristofferson.

Berg’s BMI Icon Award is the latest in a career filled with prestigious honors, including the ACM Poet’s Award and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Bradley called Berg “a trendsetter, a rulebreaker.”

Former BMI CEO Del Bryant signed Berg as a BMI affiliate at the beginning of her career; she earned her first No. 1 as a writer at just 18, when her collaboration with Bobby Braddock, “Faking Love,” became a No. 1 Billboard Country hit for T.G. Sheppard and Karen Brooks in 1983. Berg went on to be the go-to writer for numerous artists over the past four decades, a writer who can.

In 1996, she became the first woman to have five No. 1s in a single calendar year. Her ability to exquisitely detail the stories held closest to the heart, and deftly characterize an array of emotions, made Berg a go-to writer for many artists, but particularly many of the female artists whose music dominated country music in the 1990s. She is a writer and/or co-writer on hits recorded by Patty Loveless (“I’m That Kinda Girl,” “You Can Feel Bad”), Deana Carter (“Strawberry Wine,” “We Danced Anyway”), Reba McEntire (“The Last One to Know”), Martina McBride (“Wild Angels,” “Still Holding On”), Trisha Yearwood (“XXXs and OOOs (An American Girl),” “Wrong Side of Memphis,” “Everybody Knows,” “They Call It Falling”), The Chicks “(If I Fall You’re Going Down With Me”), Faith Hill (“You’re Still Here”) and more. Her songs have also garnered three best country song Grammy nominations, for the Kenny Chesney-Grace Potter duet “You and Tequila,” Carter’s “Strawberry Wine” and the Gretchen Wilson-recorded “I Don’t Feel Like Loving You Today.” She also released seven of her own albums along the way.

Prior to Berg accepting her honor Tuesday evening, video tributes were shown from Loveless and Yearwood, as well as songwriters and publishers who played essential roles in Berg’s career, including Dean Dillon, Bobby Braddock, Aimee Mayo, Pat Higdon, and Chris Farren.

Two of the artists indelibly influenced by Berg’s work — Lainey Wilson and Ashley McBryde — performed in her honor, with Wilson performing the CMA song of the year-winning hit “Strawberry Wine,” and McBryde performing “Wrong Side of Memphis.”

McBryde recalled that as she was preparing to move to Nashville, a friend gifted her with a copy of Berg’s 1997 album Sunday Morning to Saturday Night. “Thank you for setting the bar,” McBryde said.

Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter performed their 2010 Grammy-nominated hit “You and Tequila,” a song that proved a full-circle career moment for Berg, as she co-wrote it with Carter.

Chesney recalled being in Malibu when he heard “You and Tequila” for the first time, saying, “I went, ‘Wow, this song is going to maybe bring a lot of people together’ — and it brought me and the wonderful Grace Potter together…thank you Matraca, I love you.”

Berg thanked several of her co-writers, including “Wild Angels” co-writer Harry Stinson, her “You Can Feel Bad” co-writer Tim Krekel, and her “Strawberry Wine,” “Wrong Side of Memphis” and “Wild Angels” co-writer Gary Harrison. “There would be no me standing up here with out him,” she said of Harrison. She also thanked Carter, saying, “‘You and Tequila,’ we just go on and on, don’t we?” She also thanked music publishing exec Higdon, another early champion. “We started working together, I think I was 22 years old. Boy, you saw something in me.”

“I’ve been a BMI writer since right out of high school. It means so much, this honor,” Berg told the packed audience. “All I ever wanted to be was a songwriter.”

08 Nov 2023

Here Are All the Performers & Presenters for the 2023 CMA Awards

The 57th annual CMA Awards will air Wednesday, Nov. 8, live on ABC from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, crowning this year’s slate of winners, as voted upon by the CMA’s more-than 6,000 members. But the star power extends far beyond only the winners — there are plenty of top-notch performances and presenters, as well.

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The ceremony — which will again be hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning — will feature several special performance moments, including Morgan Wallen joining forces with Post Malone and HARDY to offer up several classic country songs. Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Zac Brown Band and Coral Reefer Band member Mac McAnally will honor the late singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett.

Jelly Roll, a five-time nominee, will take the stage twice during the evening, first opening the show with a performance of his No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hit “Need a Favor,” and performing again later in the show for a collaboration with K. Michelle on The Judds’ signature song “Love Can Build a Bridge.”

Meanwhile, newly-minted Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Tanya Tucker will be joined by Little Big Town for a performance of Tucker’s 1972 debut hit “Delta Dawn.”

Lainey Wilson leads this year’s nominees with nine nods, including entertainer of the year, female vocalist of the year, single of the year and song of the year. Wilson is just the fourth artist in CMA history to land nine or more nominations in a single year. She follows Merle Haggard (nine nods in 1970), Alan Jackson (a record 10 nods in 2002) and Miranda Lambert (nine nods in both 2010 and 2014).

Jelly Roll has five nominations this year, including new artist of the year and male artist of the year. Luke Combs and HARDY have four nominations each, followed by Jordan Davis, Ashley McBryde, producer/mix engineer Joey Moi, songwriter-producer Jordan Schmidt, Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen, and musician/producer Derek Wells with three nominations each.

See below for a full list of performers and presenters:

Performers:

Kelsea Ballerini

Luke Bryan

Kenny Chesney

Luke Combs

Dan + Shay

Jordan Davis

HARDY

Alan Jackson

Jelly Roll

Cody Johnson

Little Big Town

Mac McAnally

Ashley McBryde

Megan Moroney

Old Dominion

Carly Pearce

Post Malone

K. Michelle

Chris Stapleton

Tanya Tucker

The War And Treaty

Morgan Wallen

Lainey Wilson

Zac Brown Band

Presenters:

Paula Abdul

Bill Anderson

Nate Bargatze

Kevin Cahoon

Jordan Davis

Cynthia Erivo

Sara Evans

Brian Kelley

Lady A

Martina McBride

Parker McCollum

Craig Morgan

Darius Rucker

Corey Seager,

Gerry Turner

Keith Urban

Hailey Whitters

Chris Young

07 Nov 2023

Tori Kelly Reflects on Beyoncé Sending Her Flowers After Hospitalization, Talks Growth on New EP

Tori Kelly is fresh off a successful tour and a new EP Tori, and the star sat down with Billboard‘s Rania Aniftos to reflect on her past few months.

Thankfully, the 30-year-old singer says she’s “feeling really good” after she was hospitalized back in July for blood clots in her lungs and legs. “It totally caught me off guard,” she said of the experience. “It was a scary few days but, but I’m so happy that I had like a really good support system around me. I was mind blown by this all the love and support.”

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One person who immediately reached out was none other than Beyoncé, who sent Kelly flowers along with a “Get Well Soon” card. “I got a lot of flowers but when Beyoncé’s flowers showed up, it’s like, oh yeah, those are obviously Beyoncé’s. They were massive,” Kelly says.

As for her new EP, Kelly says its a reflection of her growth over the past few years. “My last full length album was even before 2020. That album was a lot more sad, and I had gone through a lot of things personally, with family and all these different things. So growing from that, having a lot of healing, being in love and just wanting to express that feeling — this new wave of confidence come over me and all of that, I just put into the music and I hopefully you can hear that. I think I’m in just this new place in my life where I’m willing to have a little more fun and experiment with sounds and style.”

But she’s not done yet. “What I’ll say is there’s definitely more where this EP came from,” she said of the potential of a new album.

Watch Billboard‘s full interview with Tori Kelly above.