Music

05 Sep 2023

Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves’ ‘I Remember Everything’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Continuing his chart breakthrough that began in 2022, singer-songwriter Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves launches at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song – each singer-songwriter’s first Hot 100 leader – is from Bryan’s self-titled LP, which concurrently premieres at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” keeps at its No. 2 Hot 100 high and takes over as the most-heard song on radio, a rare feat for a country hit.

Plus, Miley Cyrus’ “Used to Be Young” debuts at No. 8 on the Hot 100, marking her 12th career top 10.

The Hot 100 blends 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. All charts (dated Sept. 9, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 6, a day later than usual due to the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. yesterday, Sept. 4). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Here’s a look at the coronation of “I Remember Everything,” the 1,154th song to top the Hot 100 over the chart’s 65-year history, and the 70th to debut at No. 1.

Streams, sales & airplay: Released Aug. 25 on Belting Bronco/Warner Records, “I Remember Everything” drew 33.7 million streams and sold 10,000 downloads in the tracking week ending Aug. 31, according to Luminate. Not being formally promoted to radio, it also tallied 263,000 radio airplay audience impressions, with two-thirds (175,000) from reporters to Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.

The single also debuts at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart (notably, it snagged the top spot on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist upon its release) and No. 4 on Digital Song Sales.

Bryan, Musgraves’ first No. 1: Bryan and Musgraves each achieve their first Hot 100 No. 1 with “I Remember Everything.” Bryan charted four entries prior to this week, with one hitting the top 10: His first charted song, “Something in the Orange,” reached No. 10 in January; with 66 total weeks on the tally (May 7, 2022-Aug. 5, 2023), it became the longest charting country hit by a solo male in the survey’s history. Plus, the U.S. Navy veteran, born in Okinawa, Japan, and raised in Oologah, Okla., won for new male artist of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in May.

Musgraves completes over a decade’s journey to No. 1 on the Hot 100, having first reached the chart with “Merry Go ‘Round” (No. 63 peak, 2013; it’s also her lone Country Airplay top 10 to date). She previously charted highest on the Hot 100 with “Follow Your Arrow” (No. 60, 2014) and added her other entry before this week, “Rainbow” (No. 98, 2019). The Golden, Texas, native has won six Grammy Awards, with her most recent LP, 2018’s Golden Hour, claiming album of the year honors at the 61st Grammy Awards.

A Hot 100, country and rock first: “I Remember Everything” concurrently opens at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts (as well as Hot Rock Songs), which use the same methodology as the Hot 100. It’s the first song to top the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (dating to 2009, when the lattermost list began).

Bryan tops all three genre charts for a second time, after “Something in the Orange” led Hot Country Songs, Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs for six, 20 and 20 weeks, respectively. Musgraves leads each ranking for the first time.

“I Remember Everything” is the 24th song to have topped both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs (dating to 1958, when the Hot 100 originated and Hot Country Songs became the country genre’s singular Billboard chart). Four such songs have led the Hot 100 in 2023, the most in a year since 1975.

Songs to Have Hit No. 1 on Both the Hot 100 & Hot Country Songs Charts:

  • “I Remember Everything,” Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves, 2023
  • “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Anthony Oliver Music, 2023
  • “Try That in a Small Town,” Jason Aldean, 2023
  • “Last Night,” Morgan Wallen, 2023
  • “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” Taylor Swift, 2021
  • “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Taylor Swift, 2012
  • “Amazed,” Lonestar, 1999-2000
  • “Islands in the Stream,” Kenny Rogers, duet with Dolly Parton, 1983
  • “I Love a Rainy Night,” Eddie Rabbitt, 1981
  • “9 to 5,” Dolly Parton, 1981
  • “Lady,” Kenny Rogers, 1980
  • “Southern Nights,” Glen Campbell, 1977
  • “Convoy,” C.W. McCall, 1975-76
  • “I’m Sorry,” John Denver, 1975
  • “Rhinestone Cowboy,” Glen Campbell, 1975
  • “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” John Denver, 1975
  • “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” Freddy Fender, 1975
  • “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” B.J. Thomas, 1975
  • “The Most Beautiful Girl,” Charlie Rich, 1973
  • “Honey,” Bobby Goldsboro, 1968
  • “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” Jeannie C. Riley, 1968
  • “Big Bad John,” Jimmy Dean, 1961
  • “El Paso,” Marty Robbins, 1959-60
  • “The Battle of New Orleans,” Johnny Horton, 1959

As Billboard reported in July, country music has surged this year: consumption for the genre in the United States was up 20.3% year-over-year in the first 26 weeks of 2023, according to Luminate. (Comparatively, country grew by 2.5% over the same period in 2022.)

Four country No. 1s in a row for the first time: On the newest, Sept. 9-dated Hot 100, “I Remember Everything” supplants Anthony Oliver Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” at No. 1, after the latter led the last two weeks (Aug. 26 and Sept. 2). Before that, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” rebounded for the last two of its 16 weeks on top (Aug. 12 and 19), directly following Jason Aldean’s one-week reign with “Try That in a Small Town” (Aug. 5).

Four country songs have topped the Hot 100 consecutively for the first time in the chart’s history, extending a record run for the genre. Previously, country hits reigned back-to-back twice: in 1981 (Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” and Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night”) and 1975 (Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” and John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”).

Zach, Kacey, Kenny and Dolly: “I Remember Everything” is just the second shared Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs No. 1 by a male and female artist together. It joins Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s 1983 classic “Islands in the Stream” (written by the Bee Gees).

Zach, Kacey, Ed and Bey: Bryan and Musgraves also co-wrote “I Remember Everything,” which Bryan solely produced. It’s the first Hot 100 No. 1 by a male and female artist also boasting co-writing credit with no other billed writers since Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé’s “Perfect,” which reached the top of the chart dated Dec. 23, 2017. (Sheeran wrote and originally recorded the love song solo; Beyoncé joined for its remix and gained co-writing credit.)

Bryan begins atop Billboard 200 and Hot 100: Zach Bryan logs just the ninth instance of an act debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 simultaneously. As “I Remember Everything” opens atop the Hot 100, parent LP Zach Bryan soars onto the Billboard 200, likewise as his first No. 1, with 200,000 equivalent album units.

Bryan joins only Taylor Swift, BTS, Drake and Future and having scored such a double debut. Swift initiated the club and has earned the honor four times, while Drake has done so twice.

Artists to Have Debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 & Hot 100 Simultaneously:

  • Zach Bryan: Zach Bryan, Billboard 200 & “I Remember Everything” (feat. Kacey Musgraves), Hot 100, Sept. 9, 2023
  • Taylor Swift: Midnights & “Anti-Hero,” Nov. 5, 2022
  • Drake: Honestly, Nevermind & “Jimmy Cooks” (feat. 21 Savage), July 2, 2022
  • Future: I Never Liked You & “Wait for U” (feat. Drake & Tems), May 14, 2022
  • Taylor Swift: Red (Taylor’s Version) & “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” Nov. 27, 2021
  • Drake: Certified Lover Boy & “Way 2 Sexy” (feat. Future & Young Thug), Sept. 18, 2021
  • Taylor Swift: Evermore & “Willow,” Dec. 26, 2020
  • BTS: BE & “Life Goes On,” Dec. 5, 2020
  • Taylor Swift: Folklore & “Cardigan,” Aug. 8, 2020

Zach Bryan also bows at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Americana/Folk Albums charts.

Warner back at No. 1: With “I Remember Everything,” Warner Records rules the Hot 100 for the first time since the label notched three No. 1s in 2013, when Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” (featuring Wanz) and “Can’t Hold Us” (featuring Ray Dalton) led for six and five weeks starting that February and May, respectively (with the songs on ADA/Warner); in between, Baauer’s “Harlem Shake” (Jeffree’s/Mad Decent/Warner) reigned for five frames beginning that March.

The label formed in 1958 and first reached No. 1 with The Everly Brothers’ “Cathy’s Clown” in May 1960. It rebranded from Warner Bros. to Warner Records in 2019, making “I Remember Everything” its first leader under its newer name.

Bryan’s Belting Bronco imprint scores its first placement atop the Hot 100.

We ‘remember’ ‘everything’: Here’s something to remember. Thanks to “I Remember Everything,” the word “remember” is in the title of a Hot 100 No. 1 for the first time. Previously, Madonna notched the highest charting such song, as “I’ll Remember” reached No. 2 in 1994.

Meanwhile, the word “everything” appears atop the Hot 100 for a ninth time (and for a second time by an artist with Bryan in his name):

  • “I Remember Everything,” Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves, 2023
  • “Give Me Everything,” Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer, 2011
  • “Everything You Want,” Vertical Horizon, 2000
  • “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” Bryan Adams, 1991
  • “I’ll Be Your Everything,” Tommy Page, 1990
  • “Everything She Wants,” Wham!, 1985
  • “I Just Want to Be Your Everything,” Andy Gibb, 1977
  • “Everything Is Beautiful,” Ray Stevens, 1970
  • “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season),” The Byrds, 1965

Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s self-written 1988 Hot 100 top 10 “Fast Car” adds an eighth week at its No. 2 high, steady in rank. It concurrently crowns the Radio Songs chart, rising 2-1 with 78.8 million in audience.

As it led Country Airplay for five weeks, the song is just the fifth – and the first by a solo male with no accompanying acts – to have topped the Country Airplay and all-format Radio Songs charts, dating to the surveys’ 1990 inceptions (and the latter list’s 1998 expansion to include country panelists, among other format reporters). Here’s a recap, with all five songs having achieved both country and pop radio success.

Radio Songs No. 1s That Also Topped Country Airplay:

  • “Fast Car,” Luke Combs, one week to date atop Radio Songs, 2023
  • “I Hope,” Gabby Barrett feat. Charlie Puth, one, 2020 (Barrett was solely credited on Country Airplay; Puth joined for its pop remix)
  • “Meant to Be,” Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line, five weeks, 2018
  • “Need You Now,” Lady A, two, 2010
  • “You Belong With Me,” Taylor Swift, two, 2009

(As a writer, Chapman previously peaked as high as No. 2 on Radio Songs with her own single “Give Me One Reason,” in 1996.)

Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” pushes from No. 5 to a new No. 3 Hot 100 high, as it wins top Airplay Gainer honors (up 25% to 28.2 million in airplay audience). It leads the multimetric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a second week each.

Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” descends 3-4 on the Hot 100, following 16 weeks at No. 1 – the most ever for a non-collaboration; Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” slips 4-5, after reaching No. 3; and Oliver Anthony Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” falls to No. 6 after spending its first two weeks on the chart at No. 1 (down 8% to 21.2 million streams and 71% to 34,000 sold, although it leads Digital Song Sales for a third week; it’s up 7% to 2.4 million in radio audience).

SZA’s “Snooze” returns to the Hot 100’s top 10, at a new No. 7 best, from No. 11, up 64% to 17.3 million streams following the Aug. 25 premiere of its official video, good for the chart’s top Streaming Gainer award. It leads the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart for a seventh week.

Miley Cyrus’ “Used to Be Young” bounds onto the Hot 100 at No. 8, with 25.9 million in airplay audience, 17.8 million streams and 19,000 sold from its release Aug. 25 through Aug. 31. It opens at No. 2 on Digital Song Sales, No. 9 on Streaming Songs and No. 19 on Radio Songs – it’s the second song to start in the Radio Songs top 20 this year, after Cyrus’ “Flowers” began at No. 18 in January (on its way to an 18-week command, the longest ever for a song by a woman).

Cyrus collects her 12th Hot 100 top 10. Her previous top 10s, including one under her former Hannah Montana alter ego: “Flowers” (No. 1, eight weeks, 2023); “Without You,” with The Kid LAROI (No. 8, 2021); “Malibu” (No. 10, 2017); “Wrecking Ball” (No. 1, three weeks, 2013); “We Can’t Stop” (No. 2, 2013); “Can’t Be Tamed” (No. 8, 2010); “Party in the U.S.A.” (No. 2, 2009); “He Could Be the One” (Hannah Montana; No. 10, 2009); “The Climb” (No. 4, 2009); “7 Things” (No. 9, 2008); and “See You Again” (No. 10, 2008).

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” holds at No. 9, after reaching No. 7, and Gunna’s “Fukumean” drops 7-10, after hitting No. 4.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Sept. 9), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 6).

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.

05 Sep 2023

Calibre 50, Manuel Turizo, Myke Towers, Peso Pluma & More to Perform at 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards

Calibre 50, Chiquis, El Alfa, Eladio Carrión, Justin Quiles, Los Ángeles Azules, Manuel Turizo, Marshmello, Myke Towers, Peso Pluma, Tini and Yandel are confirmed to perform at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards, set to take place Thursday, Oct. 5.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Billboard and Telemundo announced Tuesday (Sep. 5) the first round of performers who will take the stage at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida. The show will be broadcast live on Telemundo and simultaneously on the Spanish entertainment cable network Universo, on Peacock and on the Telemundo app. Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, it will be available on Telemundo Internacional.

This year, Mexican music sensation Peso Pluma leads the list of finalists with 21 nods across 15 categories, including Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Global 200 Latin Artist of the Year and Top Latin Album of the Year. His collaboration with Eslabon Armado, “Ella Baila Sola,” is up for six awards, including Hot Latin Song of the Year, Global 200 Latin Song of the Year and Sales Song of the Year. And his hit with Yng Lvcas, “La Bebe,” competes in five categories, including Hot Latin Song of the Year and Latin Rhythm Song of the Year.

Following Peso Pluma are Bad Bunny and Grupo Frontera with 15 nods each, including four together for their collab “un X100to,” while Karol G has 13, and Shakira and Fuerza Regida 12 each. See the complete list of finalists here.

As announced recently, Los Ángeles Azules will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Latin Billboard Music Awards 2023, while Ivy Queen will be recognized with the Icon Award.

As has been the case for more than 20 years, the Billboard Latin Music Awards coincide with Billboard’s annual Latin Music Week, the single largest and most important gathering of the Latin music industry, taking place Oct. 2-6. The event will feature panels, conversations and workshops at the Faena Forum and exclusive performances and fan experiences throughout the week in Miami. Shakira, Myke Towers, Vico C, Grupo Frontera, Peso Pluma, Nicki Nicole, RBD and many more are confirmed to participate.

Purchase tickets to the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week here.

05 Sep 2023

Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’ 30th Anniversary Remastered Collection to Feature 53 Unreleased Tracks

Nirvana will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the trio’s final studio album, 1993’s In Utero with a massive box set. The raw collection that solidified the band’s mix of shimmering, urgent pop songwriting (“Sever the Servant,” “Heart-Shaped Box,” “Pennyroyal Tea”) and scorched earth punk (“Scentless Apprentice,” “Rape Me,” “Milk It”), will be reissued in a number of formats on Oct. 27 with a slew of previously unreleased material.

The bonus features on the remastered collection include 53 previously unreleased tracks, including two never-before-released full concerts from the In Utero tour. The album, originally released on Sept. 21, 1993, became Nirvana’s first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 album charts following the surprise global success of their 1991 major label debut, Nevermind. The anniversary formats will include an 8LP super deluxe box set, 5CD super deluxe box, as well as a 1 LP + 10″ edition, 2CD deluxe edition and a digital super deluxe edition.

The super deluxe editions will include 72 tracks, including the Live in Los Angeles (1993) concert and the band’s final Seattle performance, 1994’s Live in Seattle; there will also be six additional bonus live tracks from shows in Rome, Springfield and New York. Seattle producer and engineer Jack Endino — who was behind the boards for the band’s 1988 debut, Bleach — reconstructed the live tracks from stereo soundboard tapes, according to a release announcing the sets.

The album’s original 12 songs — which also include “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle,” “Dumb,” “Very Ape,” “Tourette’s” and “All Apologies” — as well as five bonus tracks and b-sides were newly remastered from the original analog master stereo tapes by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Services; Weston assisted In Utero engineer Steve Albini during the original sessions.

The physical super deluxe edition box also has a removable front acrylic panel with the album’s iconic angel cover art, as well as a 48-page hardcover book with unreleased photos, a newly designed 20-page fanzine, an L.A. tour poster lithograph by hot rod artist Coop and replicas of the 1993 record store promo angel mobile. The sets will also pack in three gig fliers, two ticket stubs for L.A. and Seattle shows, an all-access tour laminate and four cloth sticky tour backstage passes.

The second LP will feature five bonus tracks and b-sides: “Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip,” “Marigold,” “Sappy,” “Moist Vagina” and “I Hate Myself and Want to Die.”

Check out the track listing for the 8-LP super deluxe edition below (and the rest of the editions here):

LP 1
IN UTERO
Original Album Remastered

SIDE 1

1. Serve The Servants
2. Scentless Apprentice
3. Heart-Shaped Box
4. Rape Me
5. Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle
6. Dumb

SIDE 2

1. Very Ape
2. Milk It
3. Pennyroyal Tea
4. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
5. tourette’s
6. All Apologies

LP 2:
BONUS TRACKS & B-SIDES
Remastered

SIDE 1

1. Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip
2. Marigold
3. Sappy 
4. Moist Vagina
5. I Hate Myself And Want To Die

BONUS LIVE 1993/1994

SIDE 2

1. Serve The Servants (Live in Rome)*
2. Scentless Apprentice (Live in Rome)*
3. Heart-Shaped Box (Live in Rome)* 
4. Very Ape (Live in Rome)*
5. Milk It (Live in Springfield)*
6. tourette’s (Live in New York)*

LP 3-5
LIVE IN LOS ANGELES
Great Western Forum – December 30, 1993

SIDE 1

1. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter*
2. Drain You*
3. Breed*
4. Serve The Servants*

SIDE 2

1. Come As You Are*
2. Smells Like Teen Spirit*
3. Sliver*
4. Dumb*

SIDE 3

1. In Bloom*
2. About A Girl*
3. Lithium*
4. Pennyroyal Tea*

SIDE 4

1. School*
2. Polly*
3. Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle*
4. Rape Me*
5. Territorial Pissings*

SIDE 5

1. Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam*
2. The Man Who Sold The World*
3. All Apologies*
4. On A Plain*

SIDE 6

1. Heart-Shaped Box
2. Blew*
3. Feedback Jam*

*previously unreleased

05 Sep 2023

Did Offset Tease Solo Album Release Date With Michael Jackson-Inspired Outfit at Beyoncé Renaissance Tour Date?

Fans have been eagerly awaiting any information about Offset‘s upcoming solo album, his first full-length since 2019’s Father of Four. After the recent release of his latest team-up with wife Cardi B, “Jealousy,” the timing seemed right for an update on the as-yet-untitled album and some fans think the Migos member secretly spilled the news via a Michael Jackson-inspired outfit he wore to Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour show in Los Angeles over the weekend.

In a series of Instagram photos posted on Saturday, Offset stood on a street in a black outfit covered with a silver breastplate, arm shields and several silver belts that were reminiscent of the military-like costumes favored by the late King of Pop. But what caught fans’ eyes was a white armband ‘Set sported on his left arm.

It read “1013,” leading to speculation that the collection could be released on Oct. 13, which is a Friday, the day that albums typically drop; at press time Offset had not revealed any additional details about the release date and a spokesperson for the rapper could not be reached for comment. The photos also included Offset standing with four male dancers dressed in black pants and white jackets, their faces obscured by white gas masks.

The final slide was from the rapper’s performance before Beyoncé’s set — with the masked dancers — of Migos’ 2016 hit “Bad and Boujee” with DJ Khaled during the latter’s pre-Bey warm-up set, which also included slots from 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, Coi Leray and others.

Offset was also front-and-center in what will surely be one of the most famous electric slide videos of all time, shot on Friday’s opening night of the three-night stand at L.A.’s SoFi Stadium. In the clip, ‘Set moves side-to-side alongside Jay-Z and Kris Jenner while Bey performs her take on Frankie Beverly and Maze’s “Before I Let Go” behind them.

Check out Offset’s outfit below.

05 Sep 2023

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to receive Global Icon Award & Perform at 2023 VMAs

Sean “Diddy” Combs is set to receive the Global Icon Award and perform at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, airing live from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Tuesday, September 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Diddy is third recipient of the Global Icon Award, following Foo Fighters (2021) and Red Hot Chili Peppers (2022). MTV got the idea for the award from MTV’s Europe Music Awards (EMAs).

This will mark Combs’ first performance on the show since 2005, when he did double duty as host and performer. Diddy led an orchestra into a performance featuring Snoop Dogg on stage and the late Notorious B.I.G.  on video.

Combs opened the VMAs in 1997 with a memorable tribute to Biggie, who had been shot to death just six months previously. Combs performed Big’s “Mo Money Mo Problems” with Ma$e, and then performed “I’ll Be Missing You” with Faith Evans, 112 and Sting, who wrote “Every Breath You Take,” the song on which “I’ll Be Missing You” was based. Combs returned to the VMAs stage in 2002 to perform a medley of “Bad Boy for Life,” “Pass the Courvoisier (Part 2)” and “I Need a Girl (Parts 1 & 2).” He was joined in that segment by Usher, Busta Rhymes and Pharrell.

 

Diddy is nominated for four competitive VMA awards this year – best collaboration for both “Gotta Move On” (featuring Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Miami) and Metro Boomin’s “Creepin’ (Remix),” on which he is featured along with The Weeknd and 21 Savage. “Gotta Move On” is also nominated for best rap; “Creepin’ (Remix)” is also nominated for best R&B.

In 1997, Diddy won a Moonman for best R&B video for “I’ll Be Missing You.” The following year, he won the Viewer’s Choice award for “It’s All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)” (featuring The LOX, Lil’ Kim, The Notorious B.I.G. and Fuzzbubble).

Diddy’s VMAs performance comes just three days before he drops The Love Album: Off the Grid. The new album is Diddy’s first major album release since Last Train to Paris, a 2010 collab with Dirty Money.

In addition to hosting the 2005 VMAs from Miami, Diddy hosted the 2002 MTV Europe Music Awards 2002 from Barcelona, Spain.

Combs has had two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 (No Way Out in 1997 and Press Play in 2006). He has amassed five No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” (featuring Ma$e), “I’ll Be Missing You (a collab with Faith Evans featuring 112), The Notorious B.I.G’s “Mo Money Mo Problems” (on which he was featured along with Ma$e), “Bump, Bump, Bump” (a collab with B2K) and “Shake Ya Tailfeather” (a collab with Murphy Lee).

Diddy isn’t the only rapper who will perform on this year’s VMAs. Lil Wayne is also on the bill. And there have been reports, not yet confirmed by MTV, that there will be (yet another) 50th anniversary salute to hip-hop.

The VMAs’ performer lineup also includes Doja Cat, whose sound incorporates hip-hop, as well as Anitta, Demi Lovato, Karol G, Kelsea Ballerini, Måneskin, Shakira, Stray Kids and TOMORROW X TOGETHER. Additional performers to be announced.

Shakira will receive MTV’s Video Vanguard Award and will perform live on the show for the first time since 2006. MTV has yet to announce the host of this year’s show. Last year’s show was co-hosted by LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow

Taylor Swift leads the 2023 VMA nominations with 11 nods, counting three she received on Friday (Sept. 1) in social categories. She is followed in the total nominations count by SZA (eight); BLACKPINK, Doja Cat, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo (six each); Kim Petras and Sam Smith (five each); and Beyoncé, Diddy, Drake, Ice Spice, Karol G, Metro Boomin, Shakira and TOMORROW X TOGETHER (five each).

General fan voting is now closed; voting remains open for social categories and best new artist.

Bruce Gillmer and Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic are executive producers of the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards. Barb Bialkowski is co-executive producer. Alicia Portugal and Jackie Barba serve as executives in charge of production. Wendy Plaut is executive in charge of celebrity talent. Lisa Lauricella is music talent executive.

Check out the Diddy Global Icon video preview below.

05 Sep 2023

Miley Cyrus Didn’t ‘Make a Dime’ on Bangerz Tour: ‘I Paid For It All to Make It Exactly What I Thought I and The Fans Deserved’

Miley Cyrus learned early on that if you’re going to invest, invest in yourself. As part of her ongoing “Used to Be Young” TikTok series, Miley dove into the money-losing 2014 Bangerz Tour, the surreal 78-date celebration of her hip-hop inspired album of the same name featuring the hits “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball.”

“The Bangerz tour was an investment in myself. A lot of these ideas were kind of so outlandish that no one really wanted to support me in making these pieces,” Cyrus said of the wild show that opened with her sliding down a giant slide in the shape of her own tongue and also included a parade of furries, a life-sized puppet of Big Sean and a giant flying hot dog, among other amusements.

“So I had big puppets, oversized beds, I came out of my own face on my tongue,” Miley recalled. The trippy fantasia was cooked up by Cyrus and creative director Diane Martel, with the latter asking Miley how she wanted to end the concert each night and getting an answer she likely didn’t expect.

“[Martel] goes, ‘How would you want to end this concert?’ Like, ‘The show is so big, how do you want to end it?’ And I wanted to end it in a Truman Show reference,” the singer said of the beloved 1998 Jim Carrey movie about a mild-mannered insurance salesman who slowly begins to realize his whole live has taken place inside a reality TV series.

“So I flew out on a giant hot dog, obviously, and I left through all the clouds and the exit sign, the way Jim Carrey does, because I felt like The Truman Show was really a reflection of my life.” The singer, who, like Truman Burbank, has spent her entire life in front of the cameras, was savvy enough at that age (21) to realize that the best money she could spend to promote her passion project was on her own, admittedly quirky, vision.

“‘Why are you doing this? You’re going to do like 100 shows and not going to make any money,’” Cyrus recalled being told. “I said there’s no one I would rather invest in than myself. So I paid for it all to make it exactly what I thought I and the fans deserved.”

Watch Miley talk Bangerz tour below.

05 Sep 2023

Nicki Minaj Shares Sci-Fi Cover Art For ‘Pink Friday 2’

Nicki Minaj’s s long-awaited fifth album Pink Friday 2 is coming soon, and pink is definitely the mood.

The Grammy Award-nominated rap star rides the sky train for the album’s cover art, which she shared on her social channels.

In the image doing the rounds, Minaj holds on tight in an all-white combo, traveling on a roofless carriage that’s floating above the (pink) clouds. A gleaming city is visible in the distance.

Destination: Pink Friday 2.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Curiously, there’s more to come. “Album cover #1 of 2,” she writes on her Instagram post.

Pink Friday 2 is scheduled to arrive Nov. 17, though Minaj has released a few cuts from it, “Super Freaky Girl,” “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” and “Last Time I Saw You”.

Minaj already got her pink on for “Barbie World,” her hit collaboration with Ice Spice and Aqua, which appeared on the Barbie soundtrack.

Pink Friday 2 is the sequel to Minaj’s Billboard 200-topping debut studio album from 2010, and will serve as her first LP since 2018’s Queen, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned singles including “Chun-Li” and “Good Form.”

She’s not lacking any confidence ahead of release date. “Just know that ‘Pink Friday 2’ is going to be the best album that’s been released in years,” she recently announced.

Earlier in the year, the Trinidadian artist expressing gratitude toward her fans and teased plans for a new tour slated for 2024. “I love you guys so much,” she said. “I am so grateful for the years of support & love you guys have given me. At times maybe I didn’t even deserve all that you have poured into me. Nonetheless, you. will. love. this. album. I will give tour deets closer to that time, but obviously the tour will start around the first quarter of 2024.”

Initially, she revealed the new LP would arrive in October, before the release date was pushed back to mid-November.

See the Pink Friday 2 artwork below.

05 Sep 2023

Royal Blood Leads Midweek Chart With ‘Back to the Water Below’

Royal Blood is flowing in the U.K., where the British rock duo is favorite for the chart crown with Back to the Water Below (via Warner Records).

Comprising Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher, Royal Blood takes a solid advantage into the second half of the week. According to the Official Charts Company, Back to the Water Below is currently outselling its nearest rival, The 1975’s self-titled LP, by a ratio of more than 2 to 1.

If it stays on course, Back to the Water Below will mark Royal Blood’s fourth consecutive leader, a streak that dates back to, and includes, their eponymously titled debut from 2014.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The 1975 (Dirty Hit/Polydor) blasts to No. 2 on the midweek tally thanks to a multi-format reissue, timing to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The album originally debuted at No. 1 following its release in 2013, triggering the British band’s own streak of five consecutive No. 1 studio albums.

A midweek podium place is snagged by Everything Is Alive (Dead Oceans), the fifth album from veteran British shoegaze exponents Slowdive. It’s new at No. 3 on the Official Chart Update, and is set to give the Reading-raised band their first appearance in the U.K. top 10. Slowdive has cracked the top 40 on two occasions, with 1991’s Just for a Day (No. 32) and their 2017 comeback effort, Slowdive (No. 17).

Meanwhile, Sigur Rós’s latest release Atta (BMG) is on track for a No. 4 debut, for what would be the Icelandic act’s fourth top 10 appearance on the national tally.

Further down the chart blast, Jethro Tull’s 14th studio album The Broadsword and the Beast (Parlophone) is poised for a return at No. 6, thanks to its 40th anniversary reissue. The album peaked at No. 27 after its original release back in 1982.

Also eyeing a top 10 berth is Rivers of Heresy (Roadrunner), the first album from Empire State Bastard, a collaboration of Biffy Clyro vocalist Simon Neal and former Oceansize frontman Mike Vennart. It’s new at No. 7 on the midweek chart.

Finally, veteran Scottish pop band Deacon Blue could bag a seventh top 10 album with All The 45s: The Very Best of Deacon Blue (Cooking Vinyl). The career retrospective is set to drop in at No. 8, just in time for Deacon Blue’s new U.K. tour.

All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday, Sept. 8.

04 Sep 2023

Vanessa Amorosi Signs With Dave Stewart’s ‘Bay Street Records,’ Preps New Bluesy Chapter With ‘Memphis Love’

For her next project, Vanessa Amorosi will unleash some Hall of Fame vibes.

The Australian artist’s new full-length studio album Memphis Love is slated for release Nov. 17, her first through Bay Street Records, Dave Stewart’s independent music label.

With Memphis Love, the powerhouse singer goes eight albums deep into a recording career that exploded out the gates in the late 1990s with “Absolutely Everybody.” Amorosi was just a teen at the time. The world opened up all at once, as the song crashed the U.K. top 10, and she was invited to perform on the biggest stages of them all, including the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Amorosi has called Los Angeles home for the past 13 years. Now she calls Bay Street Records her label home, joining such artists as Joss Stone.

During her time Stateside, she has immersed herself in gospel music, soul, funk and blues, sounds that influence this forthcoming collection. “It’s very, very different to what people are used to hearing me do in Australia,” she tells Billboard. “I’m really excited for this chapter to begin.”

Memphis Love is co-produced with Stewart, was recorded at Willie Mitchell’s Royal Studios in Memphis, TN, and features the gorgeous tones of Tennessee Mass Choir.

Lead single “Wolf,” which Amorosi co-wrote with Stewart one afternoon in downtown L.A., is a confident, blues number. It rolls with the punches and gives out a few of its own. At the top, Amorosi flexes with a howl, the kind of swagger that comes with having been there, done it. That animal instinct “kind of lightened the mood in the studio,” she recounts.

Stewart is a good guy to have your corner. As one half of the Eurythmics, the legendary British synth pop act elevated last year into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, Stewart is a creative force. He’s a real-deal multi-hyphenate, whose resume includes production across TV, stage, feature films, operating venues, and a thirst for technology. The Brit also owns Dave Stewart Entertainment (DSE), a full-service production and management company, involved in music, commercials, film, music videos, documentaries, independent productions and more.

“He is fearless,” she explains. “He understands technology. He’s always looking for ways for artists to be able to generate income to make more art. And he’s always very proactive on trying to keep an artist making art. I learned so much from him, and he’s just the most incredible human being.”

Stewart feels the same way. “I’ve stood on stage next to Vanessa Amorosi on several occasions and I’m always immediately taken aback by the intensity and the power of her vocal delivery,” he says in a statement announcing the new LP. “In getting to know her as a friend and as a true artist, I’ve found that her vocal capabilities are just the tip of the iceberg.”

Memphis Love is the followup to Amorosi’s City Of Angels, which debuted at No. 7 on the ARIA Albums Chart in March 2022, for her fourth career top 10 appearance. Prior to that, her last top tier appearance on the national survey was with 2009’s Hazardous, also peaking at No. 7.

European dates are on the slate, and Amorosi is looking forward to a homecoming jaunt that includes the Grapevine Gathering festival tour, and a performance at the 2023 AWMA in Brisbane, on Sept. 27. Expect her to share some of that Memphis Love.

“It has all the soul and the feel and the groove,” she enthuses. “I’m really, really proud of this record. And I feel like it’s gonna make people feel good.”

Memphis Love tracklist
Wolf
How Long
Lift Us Up
Don’t Judge Me
Only So Much
Memphis Love
Shake
Too Much of a Heartache
Serious
What Do I Get

04 Sep 2023

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion Announce ‘Bongos’: Here’s the Release Date

Get ready for Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion to team up again, this time for “Bongos.”

“Bongos” will be here Friday (Sept. 8), Cardi and Megan just announced. The new track can be pre-saved now via streaming services Spotify and Apple Music.

They unveiled “Bongos” artwork with the announcement. The colorful visual shows the two rappers in coordinating blue and purple one-pieces and high heels, with their hair styled in playful, multi-colored curls, and lollipops in hand.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Cardi and Megan haven’t shared further details yet, but this is their second collab — so fans are already hyped. Their first song together — the NSFW smash hit “WAP,” released on Atlantic Records — spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020.

“Y’all remember when the FCC almost sued me cuz I performed WAP at the Grammys? What about when all the republicans literally harassed me over it? On the news everyday… Y’all remember? Oooohhh cuz I do,” Cardi reminisced over the summer. Last week, Cardi B and Megan won a court ruling tossing out a lawsuit that accused them of stealing the lyrics to “WAP” and Meg’s “Thot Shit” from an earlier track called “Grab Em by the P—-.”

Also in August, Cardi gave an update on her sophomore album that interestingly turned out to be a decoy — or maybe “Bongos” just came to be very recently.

“I’m not going to release any more collaborations,” she said for her Vogue México y Latinoamérica cover story. “I’m going to put out my next solo single. Right now, I’m working on the cover art and ideas for the next record because it’s definitely coming up. Everyone always tells me I should put the record out now. They did when I released ‘WAP’ [with Megan Thee Stallion] and when I released ‘Up,’ but I always let them know I’m not going to wait long after all these singles. So stay tuned because it’s coming out very soon.”

See the pair’s “Bongos” announcement and artwork below.