Music

03 Sep 2023

Taylor Swift Celebrates ‘Cruel Summer’ Hitting 1 Billion Streams on Spotify: ‘Love You All So Much’

Taylor Swift‘s “Cruel Summer” is the latest song to enter Spotify’s Billions Club.

The music streaming service announced on Sunday (Sept. 3) that the hit single from the pop superstar’s 2019 album, Lover, has surpassed 1 billion streams.

“It’s been no cruel summer for @taylorswift13 this year,” potify wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Congratulations on another track in the #BillionsClub.”

Swift took to her Instagram Story on Sunday morning to celebrate the achievement. “Summer just got a BILLION TIMES CRUELER,” she wrote under a repost of Spotify’s congratulatory message. “Love you all so much for this.”

The addition of “Cruel Summer” to the streaming platform’s billion-streams club marks Swift’s fifth song to hit the milestone, which has been achieved by a total of 468 tracks (according to Spotify’s own playlist).

It follows her Midnights lead single “Anti-Hero,” and 1989 songs “Blank Space” and “Shake It Off,” as well as her Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack collaboration with Zayn, “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever.”

Originally released on Swift’s 2019 album, Lover, and later being promoted by Republic Records as a single, “Cruel Summer” reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The track also topped Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart, becoming her 12th leader on the ranking.

In late August, Swift broke another record on Spotify, becoming the first female artist in the streaming platform’s history to reach 100 million monthly listeners.

02 Sep 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Reacts to Theories That ‘Vampire’ Is About Taylor Swift

Is Olivia Rodrigo‘s “Vampire” about … Taylor Swift? Rodrigo commented on fan speculation that the lead ballad from Guts, on which she scathingly sings about an unnamed “bloodsucker, famef—er,” is somehow about one of her childhood idols.

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“How do I answer this?” Rodrigo reportedly whispered to Guardian journalist Laura Snapes, when the question about “Vampire” arose during an interview ahead of the Sept. 8 release of Guts.

“I mean, I never want to say who any of my songs are about,” said Rodrigo. “I’ve never done that before in my career and probably won’t. I think it’s better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing.”

“I was very surprised when people thought that,” she added in the article that was published on Saturday (Sept. 2).

Swift championed Rodrigo, who was a self-proclaimed Swiftie, very early on. “I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud,” she sweetly shared on social media when Rodrigo’s breakout smash “Drivers License” first started appearing on charts next to Swift’s music. Swift gifted her a ring like the one she wore when working on her Red album — “She is absolutely the kindest individual in the whole world,” Rodrigo gushed at the time — and the pair met in person and posed together for a cute photo at the 2021 Brit Awards.

After Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour, dropped, interpolations found in her work proved costly. Rodrigo ended up retroactively sharing songwriting credits for “deja vu” with Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) for its reminiscence of Swift’s “Cruel Summer.” She also gave writing credits to Swift and Antonoff on “1 step forward, 3 steps back” before Sour‘s release for including an interpolation of Swift’s “New Year’s Day” on the song.

Rodrigo and Swift seemingly haven’t associated with each other since, at least publicly. In a recent New York Times profile, Rodrigo said she hasn’t seen a show on Swift’s Eras Tour.

Back to the song meaning of “Vampire”: To her point, Rodrigo’s lyrics could have been inspired by a number of personal experiences the singer-songwriter might have encountered since “Drivers License” made its mark in 2021 — so her answer to the question doesn’t really answer much at all.

“Hate to give the satisfaction, asking how you’re doing now/ How’s the castle built off people you pretend to care about?” she sings in the opening of the song.

Later in the profile about Rodrigo and her sophomore album, Guardian writer Snapes, in her own words, notes that “‘Vampire’ is primarily about a romantic relationship with an older guy.” Many of its lyrical barbs do point toward this interpretation: there’s a line directed at a “cool guy,” and one pointing out that “every girl I ever talked to told me you were bad, bad news.” In the track’s second verse, Rodrigo says, “Went for me, and not her/ ‘Cause girls your age know better.”

Read the full piece at The Guardian here.

02 Sep 2023

Burning Man Gates Close, Thousands Told to Shelter in Place Due to Heavy Rain & Muddy Conditions

The .8 inches of rain that fell on Burning Man Friday afternoon (Sept. 1) and early Saturday morning (Sept. 2) have left the event at a relative standstill.

Burning Man officials have closed the event’s gates, making it impossible to enter and exit. All vehicles, other than emergency transport services, have been told to not move. The event’s airport is also currently closed.

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Rain turns the ground of Burning Man, an arid desert playa, into thick, sticky mud, making it difficult for vehicles to move without getting stuck. The forecast in Nevada’s Black Rock City, which is what the temporary city of Burning Man is called, calls for a 60% chance of rain between Saturday afternoon and Sunday at 5 p.m.

An information official at the information tent on-site says that the ground typically needs 12-24 hours after the last rain to become drivable. The source says that their best guess for when the roads may reopen is Monday or Tuesday, depending on the weather over the next 24 hours or so.

Katie Bain

The current population of Black Rock City is roughly 73,000, based on details shared in the city’s information booth. Burners have been advised to conserve food and water in the event that those inside the city will not be able to leave for several days. The ice tent is currently limiting people to buying one bag only.

Approximately 20,000 people arrived to Black Rock City via the Burner Bus, which transports people from cities including San Francisco and Reno. The information authority notes that these busses will return on a first-come, first-served schedule when roads reopen.

Diplo was at Burning Man, but managed to leave — apparently with Chris Rock — and then hitched a ride from a fan. “just walked 5 miles in the mud out of burning man with chris rock and a fan picked us up,” he tweeted Saturday afternoon.

While the man traditionally burns at the event on Saturday night, an information official says that this burn is unlikely to happen today, given the wetness and the fact that emergency vehicles and fire trucks cannot currently drive out to the man structure.

Inside the city, spirits are relatively high. Music is playing from many camps, with dance parties taking place under tents and in the mud itself. Many of the people out walking around the city are barefoot, with others covering their shoes in plastic bags or wearing just socks.

Information is being disseminated to Burners via the city’s pair of radio stations. Burners have also been advised that there will likely be a citywide cheer when the gates reopen.

Billboard will keep reporting from Black Rock City as is possible.

02 Sep 2023

President Joe Biden Pays Tribute to Jimmy Buffett, an ‘American Music Icon’ and ‘Poet of Paradise’

The White House issued a statement from President Joe Biden on the passing of Jimmy Buffett.

“A poet of paradise, Jimmy Buffett was an American music icon who inspired generations to step back and find the joy in life and in one another,” says the note published on Saturday (Sept. 2). “His witty, wistful songs celebrate a uniquely American cast of characters and seaside folkways, weaving together an unforgettable musical mix of country, folk, rock, pop, and calypso into something uniquely his own.”

The “Margaritaville” singer-songwriter died at age 76 on Sept. 1. The news of Buffett’s death was confirmed on his website and social media accounts. He was “surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs.” No cause of death was given.

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Biden, who was among many public figures to remember Buffett on Saturday, recalled, “We had the honor to meet and get to know Jimmy over the years, and he was in life as he was performing on stage – full of goodwill and joy, using his gift to bring people together.”

The tribute continued: “Over more than 50 studio and live albums and thousands of performances to devoted Parrot Heads around the world, Jimmy reminded us how much the simple things in life matter – the people we love, the places we’re from, the hopes we have on the horizon. A two-time Grammy nominee and winner of multiple country music awards, he was also a best-selling writer, businessman, pilot, and conservationist who championed the waters and Gulf Coast that he so loved.”

Buffett had 13 Billboard Hot 100 charting singles, including seven top 40 hits and one top 10, as well as 40 entries on the Billboard 200 albums chart throughout his career.

“Jill and I send our love to his wife of 46 years, Jane; to their children, Savannah, Sarah, and Cameron; to their grandchildren; and to the millions of fans who will continue to love him even as his ship now sails for new shores,” said Biden.

02 Sep 2023

Jimmy Buffett, Billboard’s Most Famous Alumnus, on ‘The Only Real Job I Would Have in My Adult Life’

Before Jimmy Buffett appeared on Billboard’s charts, he was writing about other artists who did.  

Buffett, who died Friday (Sept. 1) at age 76, worked as a Nashville reporter for Billboard from 1969 to 1970. He quit when his first album, Debut to Earth, was released because he was told that continuing, would be a conflict of interest. 

Among the concerts he reviewed was Isaac Hayes at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, writing, “The Hot Buttered Soul Man combined his songs and his keyboard work on both organ and piano with a full and powerful voice range that created a style [that] was truly his own.”

In 2021, Buffett revisited his time as a reporter, telling Billboard during an interview that as a burgeoning artist, he couldn’t bring himself to write anything negative about a fellow performer. 

“I can never give anybody a bad review because I knew how hard it was to get up there,” he said. “Now, there has to be something toxic that [a review] says, but I can never do it because I knew how hard it was. I know performers who are scared to death to get up there and still do it. And I go, “Why are you that scared to get up there?” I mean, you should be doing something else if you get scared to go up there. It’s one of the greatest joys you could ever have on planet earth to me.”

The best part of the job was the free music. Although unbylined, Buffett believed he reviewed Elton John’s 1970 album, Tumbleweed Connection, glowingly writing, “Although this is but his second LP, Elton John’s track record already speaks for itself and the album is sure to be one of the biggest of the new year.” 

Talking to Billboard again in 2022, Buffett recalled the thrill of getting John’s album in the mail while writing for the magazine. “People were sending me free albums because I was the reporter for Billboard, and that album came in a stack of records from I think it was MCA,” he said. “When I got [to Billboard], my editor told me, ‘Just let them know you’re a Billboard reporter and give them your address and they’ll give you records so hopefully you review them or you’ll say something about them.’ So I went ‘free albums? No sh—!’” 

He also wrote of his time at Billboard in his 1998 autobiography, A Pirate Looks at Fifty, calling it “the only real job I would have in my adult life.”

From the first day, he was wined and dined as he traveled with his boss, Bill Williams. “In twenty-four hours, I had gone from just another nobody songwriter who couldn’t get his foot into a music publisher’s door to the assistant Southern Editor of Billboard,” he wrote. “Hell, people took me to lunch. I had business cards. I flew to New York for editorial meetings. I had an expense account. I had a WATTS line at work on which I called all my friends after working hours, and I got free albums from the record companies. Not bad for a real job.” 

Buffett even managed to break some news, including bluegrass titans’ Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ split. 

After switching from covering country music to pop, Buffett interviewed Otis Redding and James Brown, reviewed Led Zeppelin at the Palladium, and learned a little about the importance of taking care of business. “What I mainly saw were a lot of wonderfully talented artists and writers who let somebody else worry about ‘all that stuff,’ and I saw the trouble it got them into,” he wrote in the book. 

Billboard threw Buffett a going away party when his album came out, gifting him a guitar case. Even though that chapter of his life was over, it’s clear his time at Billboard remained a treasured memory and set him on his way: “One of the true joys of my later success was going back and sharing it with Bill,” he wrote in the autobiography. “He was as proud as a parent when I finally broke out.” 

02 Sep 2023

Jimmy Buffett’s 6 Best Country Collaborations

Jimmy Buffett, the musical troubadour known for his island-tinged, rum-soaked hits including “Margaritaville,” “A Pirate Looks at Forty” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” as well as his empire of businesses including his chain of Margaritaville cafes, died on Friday (Sept. 1) at age 76.

“Jimmy passed away on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” an early Saturday morning (Sept. 2) post on his official website read. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

The Mississippi-born, Alabama-raised Buffett was a globally-known star, thanks to his carefree hits and colorful stage shows, but much of his musical roots ran through Nashville. In 2021, Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band played a private show at Exit/In — five decades after he made some of his first performances at the tiny club on Elliston Place in Music City. The club would serve as a launching pad for Buffett’s musical career, while Buffett and artists including Steve Martin would help Exit/In become one Nashville’s most venerable music clubs, thus helping to launch what would be known as the city’s historic “Rock Block,” alongside businesses including The End and The Gold Rush.

Buffett moved to Nashville in the late 1960s with ambitions of a career in country music. He became a Nashville reporter for Billboard from 1969-1970, where he is credited with breaking the news of the breakup of bluegrass duo Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs in 1969. His tenure at Billboard was brief, due to the release of his 1970 debut album, Down to Earth.

His follow-up, 1973’s A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (the title is a twist on a Marty Robbins hit) was recorded at Tompall Glaser’s Nashville studio, which would later be dubbed “Hillbilly Central.” Though the album owed more to Nashville than the islands, listeners can hear beginnings of the Key West vibes Buffett would become known for. The album also testifies to Buffett’s impact as a songwriter; it includes the Buffett/Jerry Jeff Walker-written “Railroad Lady,” which was also recorded by artists including Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. Waylon Jennings covered another of the album’s songs, “He Went to Paris,” on his 1980 album, Music Man, while Doug Supernaw recorded the track in 1994. Buffett would also co-write “Happiness Alone” with Clint Black, a song that appeared on Black’s album No Time to Kill.

The 1970s and 1980s saw several of Buffett’s songs rank on Billboard‘s country charts, including “The Great Filling Station Holdup” (1973), “Come Monday” (1974) and his star-making 1977 songs including “Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude” and “Margaritaville,” which would reach the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs chart. He also earned a top 20 country hit in 1985 with “If The Phone Doesn’t Ring, It’s Me.”

During his five-plus decades in music, Buffett earned two No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, as well as three top 10 hits, in part thanks to his willingness to maintain ties within the country music community, collaborating with a range of artists.

Buffett’s 2003 collaboration with Alan Jackson — “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” about an overworked, underpaid blue collar worker who dreams of escaping to the islands — became an eight-week No. 1 Country Airplay hit. The song also reached the top 20 on the Hot 100. That same year, Kenny Chesney earned a major hit with the island-themed “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” further proving Buffett’s brand of island escapism was a key influence on the genre.

But even as far back as his 1998 hit “How Forever Feels,” Chesney paid homage to Buffett with the lyric, “Now I know how Jimmy Buffett Feels,” while the video’s tropical vibe helped cement cowboy hat-meets-puka shell necklace, “Island Kenny” persona Chesney would become known for in later songs and videos such as “When the Sun Goes Down.” Also in 1998, Garth Brooks also earned a hit with the tropical-themed “Two Pina Coladas,” a song written by Benita Hill, Shawn Camp and Sandy Mason; the writers had originally thought of pitching the song to Buffett, before it was ultimately pitched to Brooks. With songs like 2009’s “Toes,” “Jump Right In,” and their 2011 No. 1 hit collaboration with Buffett, “Knee Deep,” Zac Brown Band forged their own island jam band vibe.

“When contemporary country took it to the beach, obviously we were a big part of that,” Buffett told Billboard during a 2021 interview.

Notably, Buffett earned the sole Billboard 200-topping album of his career in 2004, with License to Chill, a collection of mostly country collaborations with artists including Chesney, George Strait, Clint Black, Martina McBride, Jackson and Toby Keith.

Chesney, who was a surprise guest during Buffett’s 2021 Exit/In show, paid tribute to Buffett on social media, stating, “So goodbye Jimmy. Thanks for your friendship and the songs I will carry in my heart forever. Sail On Sailor.” The two hitmakers previously collaborated on “Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season.”

“To me that song is true poetry, and a true reflection of Jimmy’s ability to tell a story and to capture a moment and to paint a picture of that moment,” Chesney later said in a video about the song. He added, “I’m not sure that Jimmy gets the credit that he deserves as being a poet, like a true songwriter, storyteller poet, a lot like [Ernest] Hemingway was in his time.”

Below, we look at some of Buffett’s top country collaborations:

02 Sep 2023

Jimmy Buffett Mourned by Kenny Chesney, Elton John, Alan Jackson & More: ‘Sail on Sailor’

Musicians are mourning the loss of legendary singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who has died following an undisclosed illness.

Superstar artists like Kenny Chesney, Elton John, Alan Jackson and many others took to social media to honor the “Margaritaville” singer, who passed Friday night (Sept. 1), according to a post on his website. He was 76.

“Jimmy passed away on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” the statement reads. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

Sitting on a beach in Key West, Fla., Chesney paid tribute to Buffett by singing the first verse and chorus of Buffett’s 1974 track “A Pirate Looks at Forty.” He also shared a video of himself performing “Margaritaville” — which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977 — alongside the late singer-songwriter.

“So goodbye Jimmy. Thanks for your friendship and the songs I will carry in my heart forever. Sail On Sailor,” the country star captioned the post on Instagram.

Chesney and Buffett teamed up for a remake of Buffett’s “Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season,” which was featured on Chesney’s 2018 album, Songs for the Saints. Chesney also appeared with Buffett on the star-studded track “Hey Good Lookin’,” alongside Jackson, Keith, Clint Black and George Strait. The Hank Williams cover was part of Buffett’s 2004 album, License to Chill.

Jackson took to X (formerly Twitter) to honor Buffett, quoting lyrics from “Boats to Build,” another song he sang with Buffett for License to Chill. The post also featured a snapshot of the pair at the 2003 CMA Awards, where they took home vocal event of the year for “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.”

Keith added on Instagram, “The pirate has passed. RIP Jimmy Buffett. Tremendous influence on so many of us.”

Renowned for his wildly enthusiastic audiences, known as “Parrotheads,” Buffett — a former correspondent for Billboard magazine — charted 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. After tallying five top 40 entries in the 1970s, reaching No. 8 with his signature anthem “Margaritaville,” he tallied other hits thanks to turns on Jackson’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” (No. 17 in 2003) and Zac Brown Band’s “Knee Deep” (No. 18 in 2011). Buffett also scored 40 entries on the Billboard 200 albums chart during his lengthy career.

In addition to music, Buffett also built a billion-dollar personal fortune with a series of Margaritaville and LandShark Bar & Grill restaurants across the U.S., as well as licensing agreements for Margaritaville tequila, shoes, cruises, pre-packaged food items and an Atlantic City casino.

Below, find more tributes to Buffett:

Elton John via Instagram Story: “Jimmy Buffett was a unique and treasured entertainer. His fans adored him and he never let them down,” he said in an Instagram story. “This is the saddest of news. A lovely man gone way too soon. Condolences to (his wife) Jane and the family from (my husband) David (Furnish) and me.”

Oak Ridge Boys via X: “Rest Easy Jimmy … Thanks for the fun …”

Hillary Clinton via X: “Fair winds and following seas, dear Jimmy.”

02 Sep 2023

Jimmy Buffett’s Biggest Billboard Hits: ‘Margaritaville,’ ‘It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere’ & More

“At a moment like this, I can’t help but wonder … What would Jimmy Buffett do?,” Alan Jackson ponders in his and Buffett’s 2003 smash “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.” Buffett then joins in to offer his sage advice, and Jackson’s handoff reflects the revered status to which Buffett rose in music and pop culture overall.

As previously reported, Buffett died on Friday (Sept. 1) at age 76. As announced on his website and social media accounts, “Jimmy passed away on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” the early Saturday morning (Sept. 2) post reads. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

Buffett became a force on Billboard’s charts over six decades — after working as a correspondent for Billboard magazine. He made his chart debut just over 50 years ago, when “The Great Filling Station Holdup” entered the Hot Country Songs chart dated May 12, 1973. Later that year, he reached the Top Country Albums and Adult Contemporary charts for the first time, and in 1974 he made his way to the Billboard Hot 100, as “Come Monday” marked his first entry, and first top 40 hit, climbing to No. 30.

Buffett charted 13 Hot 100 hits during his lifetime, through 2011. After tallying five top 40 entries in the ’70s, reaching the top 10 with his signature anthem “Margaritaville” (No. 8, 1977), he tallied his second- and third-biggest hits thanks to turns on Jackson’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” (No. 17, 2003) and Zac Brown Band’s “Knee Deep” (No. 18, 2011). The latter two tracks also became Jackson’s first and second No. 1s on Hot Country Songs, where Buffett logged 20 hits, including eight top 40 titles.

The Pascagoula, Miss., native, raised in Mobile, Ala., also sent 40 albums onto the Billboard 200 chart during his lifetime, including 12 top 10s, from Son of a Son of a Sailor (No. 10, 1978) through Life on the Flip Side (No. 2, 2020). He led the list with License to Chill in 2004. He charted eight top 10 sets on Top Country Albums, led by three No. 1s: License to Chill, Take the Weather With You (2006) and Life on the Flip Side.

Meanwhile, Buffett became the rare Billboard alum to segue from the edit department to the chart well. He resigned as a Nashville reporter when his first album was released in 1970. As he explained in 2020, “There was a conflict of interest. When I signed to Barnaby (Records), I couldn’t still write for Billboard, so that was the end of my days there.” (Of his assignments at Billboard, he said in 2021, “I can never give anybody a bad review because I knew how hard it was to get up there.”)

“But I’m glad I got 50 years of albums in me,” he mused in 2020. “This thing’s been an absolute joy. We’ve figured out ways to keep it going. I think it’s really about learning to be a performer before anything else and always trying to better yourself on stage. That’s the key, that core experience, and what’s kept me going. It’s been a good run.”

Below, spotlighting Buffett’s beloved catalog, are his 10 biggest hits on the Hot 100, ranked from No. 10 to No. 1. (The recap is based on actual performance on the weekly Hot 100 chart. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. To ensure equitable representation of the biggest hits from each era, certain time frames were weighted to account for the difference between turnover rates from those years.)

02 Sep 2023

The Latin Recording Academy’s Leading Ladies Announced & More Uplifting Moments in Latin Music

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

The Latin Recording Academy Announces 2023’s Leading Ladies of Entertainment 

On Tuesday (Aug. 29), the Latin Recording Academy announced their 2023 Leading Ladies of Entertainment honorees. This year includes Latin Grammy winner, Chilean singer-songwriter Mon Laferte; RondenePR founder Róndine Alcalá; Grammy-nominated engineer and vocal producer Simone Torres; and Ana Villacorta López, SVP of Marketing and Promotion at Sony Music México. 

“This diverse group of outstanding and successful women have made great contributions to Latin music,” said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy, in a press release. “We are proud to celebrate them with this and other initiatives that seek to promote gender parity and honor the important role women play in the entertainment industry.” 

The initiative was created in 2017 to recognize the “professional and socially conscious” ladies in the music field who have made “significant contributions and inspired the next generation of female leaders,” states the press release. The accompanying luncheon and private ceremony will be held in Sevilla, Spain on Monday (Nov. 13) as part of Latin Grammy Week. 

The Return of RBD

Latin music’s biggest pop group breaks its 15-year silence. For Billboard Español‘s latest cover, RBD — composed of Anahí, Dulce María, Maite Perroni, Christian Chávez and Christopher von Uckermann — talks all things tour, new music and shares the story behind their highly-anticipated reunion.

“All five of us have very different personalities, and with the years, we’ve learned to embrace our differences. But in the end, it’s when we come back together that this grows and this magic explodes,” Maite said. “The key is, back then, we came together as the result of an audition; this time, it’s something we chose to do.”

Special Awards at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards

The Icon and Lifetime Achievement Awards recipients have been unveiled. At the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Ivy Queen will be honored with the Icon Award. Meanwhile, Los Ángeles Azules will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was also announced that Ivy Queen and Los Ángeles Azules will perform during the awards ceremony, set to take place Thursday, Oct. 5.

Besides airing live on Telemundo, the show will air simultaneously on the Hispanic entertainment cable channel, Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional. 

Bad Bunny’s Billion Spotify Streams

Bad Bunny is the latest artist to celebrate their streaming success by visiting Spotify’s newly launched Billions Club series. The Grammy-winning global superstar stopped by the series to enjoy a “Billions Brunch” with some of his closest friends and collaborators. “The feeling of having 1 billion streams for this song right now is the same emotion I felt when I got 5,000 plays for the first time,” Bad Bunny said. “For me, it’s just as big knowing that there are people who want to listen and want to enjoy what you make.”

“Tití Me Preguntó,” a track from his historic Un Verano Sin Ti album, officially reached 1 billion Spotify streams on Jan. 23. According to Spotify, Bad Bunny has 12 songs with more than 1 billion streams each on the platform — more than any other artist in Spotify history. He has accumulated 58 billion streams on the service, reigning as Spotify’s most-streamed artist of the year for the past three years.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=29R34Hd-PHc&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

02 Sep 2023

Jimmy Buffett, ‘Margaritaville’ Singer-Songwriter and Entrepreneur, Dies at 76

Jimmy Buffett, the easygoing “Margaritaville” singer/songwriter who transformed his no-worries, beachy lifestyle into a five-decade endless road trip as a performer and entrepreneur, has died at age 76. The news, announced on his website and social media accounts, follows Buffett’s May cancelation of a show in South Carolina to get treatment for an undisclosed illness.

“Jimmy passed away on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” the early Saturday morning (Sept. 2) post reads. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

Renowned for his wildly enthusiastic audiences — known as “Parrotheads” — Buffett parlayed his cheeky, rum-soaked songs about pirates (“A Pirate Looks at Forty”), boozy beach bums (“It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere”), captains and sand-caked rogues (“The Captain and the Kid”) into a permanent vacation journey where every port of call was loaded with fruity drinks, colorful summer-themed outfits and precisely no cares in the world.

With a laconic songwriting style that leaned into his guy-you-wanna-have-six-beers-with persona (and vice versa), Buffett penned such memorable lines as “I took off for a weekend last month just to try and recall the whole year,” from 1977’s “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitude” single. The primary thrust of his career could be summed up by the title of his 1992 box set: Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads.

In addition to his 13 Billboard Hot 100 charting singles — including seven top 40 hits and one top 10 — as well as 40 entries on the Billboard 200 album chart, Buffett’s no-worries mien belied a killer business instinct that parlayed the popularity of his island-spiked bar band folk rock anthems into a billion-dollar personal fortune. His sprawling ancillary business org chart included a series of Margaritaville and LandShark Bar & Grill restaurants across the U.S., as well as licensing agreements for Margaritaville tequila, shoes, cruises, pre-packaged food items and an Atlantic City casino.

There were also his personal Margaritaville and Mailboard Records imprints, a trio of charitable organizations that funded personal growth through music and manatee rescue, as well as a pair of musicals (1997’s Don’t Stop the Carnival and 2017’s Escape to Margaritaville), his signature LandShark lager beer and three Latitude Margaritaville retirement communities in Daytona Beach, Hilton Head and Watersound, FL.

Born James William Buffett on Christmas Day 1946 in Pascagoula, MS, and raised in Mobile, Alabama, the singer was one of three children born to James Delaney Buffett Jr. and Mary Loraine (Peets), who both worked for the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding company. He grew up listening to his grandfather steamship captain J.D. Buffett’s tales of high seas adventure, to whom he paid homage in “Son of a Son of a Sailor.” The latter features the memorable, salt-caked lines, “I’m just a son of a son, son of a son/ Son of a son of a sailor/ The sea’s in my veins, my tradition remains/ I’m just glad I don’t live in a trailer.”

Inspired by the attention a college fraternity brother earned from women for playing guitar, Buffett began his first band and quickly graduated from street busking to playing six nights a week at Bourbon Street clubs in New Orleans and then working as a correspondent for Billboard magazine in Nashville from 1969-1970; he was the reporter who broke the news that legendary bluegrass duo Lester Flat and Earl Scruggs were breaking up in 1969.

He released his debut album, the country-leaning folk collection Down to Earth, in 1970, followed by 1973’s A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean, which featured the fan-favorite novelty song “Why Don’t We Get Drunk (and Screw),” as well as “He Went to Paris” and “Grapefruit Juicy Fruit.” The singer finally hit the top 40 with the No. 30 Hot 100 swaying single “Come Monday” from his third album, Living and Dying in 3/4 Time which contained another live staple, “Pencil Thin Mustache.”

The release of his sixth album, Havana Daydreamin’, in 1976, marked Buffett’s highest Billboard 200 album chart placement to date — at No. 65 — but it was the next year’s Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes that proved to be his best-selling breakthrough album thanks to the “Margaritaville” single. The song features a kind of shorthand for the Buffett way of life (and the origins of his fans’ nickname) courtesy of the sand-packed first verse, “Nibblin’ on sponge cake/ Watchin’ the sun bake/ All of you Parrotheads covered with oil,” which flip-flops into the iconic chorus: “Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville/ Searchin’ for my long lost shaker of salt.” That song, which spent 22 weeks on the singles chart, topped out at No. 8 on the Hot 100 in July 1977, marking Buffett’s highest charting career single.

His hot streak continued on 1978’s Son of a Son of a Sailor, which featured another iconic laid-back hit, “Cheeseburger in Paradise” (No. 32 on the Hot 100), as well as “Livingston Saturday Night” (No. 52) and “Mañana” (No. 84). In all, Buffett released 29 studio albums and 14 live albums over his career, including his final studio collection, 2020’s fan-curated B-sides, Songs You Don’t Know By Heart; at press time Buffett had been teased his 30th studio album, Equal Strain on All Parts, though a release date had not yet been set.

Buffett’s career peak on the Billboard 200 album chart came in 2004 when License to Chill hit No. 1, besting his previous career high on the album tally, 1996’s Banana Wind (No. 4); his 2020 collection, Life on the Flip Side topped out at No. 2. The singer also crossed over onto the country charts with 20 songs, including 2003’s ACM-winning No. 1 Alan Jackson duet “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” as well as 2011’s No. 1 hit “Knee Deep” with the Zac Brown Band and 2004’s “Hey Good Lookin’,” a Hank Williams cover that hit No. 8 with some help from Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and George Strait. In addition, Buffett landed 15 entries on the Adult Contemporary charts — including a No. 1 with Margaritaville in 1977 and 17 entires on the top country albums chart, with eight top 10s and a No. 1 with License to Chill.

While Buffett’s album and single sales later waned, he remained a huge live draw, playing an endless series of tours with his beloved Coral Reefer Band to his legion of colorfully dressed fans, whose devotion rivaled that of the Grateful Dead’s indefatigable “Deadhead” followers. He also launched the Radio Margaritaville channel on SiriusXM and spun off a series of best-selling books, including the short story collection Tales From Margaritaville (1989), his first fiction novel, Where Is Joe Merchant? (1992), the 1998 memoir A Pirate Looks at Fifty and the novels A Salty Piece of Land (2004) and Swine Not? A Novel Pig Tale.

According to the New York Times, he was one of only six writers — along with Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and William Styron — to top both the Times’ fiction and nonfiction best-seller lists. Buffett also dipped his toes into two children’s books written with his daughter, Savannah Jane, The Jolly Mon (1988) and Trouble Dolls (1991).

Over the years, Buffett also contributed original songs to a number of movies, including Summer Rental, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Urban Cowboy, Jurassic World and FernGully, as well as filming cameos for Repo Man, Hook, Congo and Rancho Deluxe.