Music

30 Jun 2023

A ‘Captain America’ Musical Has Arrived at Disneyland — And Nick Fury Sings!

If you ever wanted to see the Avengers’ Captain America and Nick Fury sing and dance their way through a mini-musical about Cap’s life, well, it’s time to head to Disneyland.

Disney and Marvel have teamed up for Rogers: The Musical, a half-hour stage show at Disney California Adventure’s Hyperion Theater in Anaheim, Calif., that premiered on Friday (June 30).

The new one-act show – which is full of goofy humor and a range of musical styles – grew out of a brief sequence in an episode of the Disney+ series Hawkeye in 2021. In the show, the title character (an Avenger himself, played by Jeremy Renner) attends a showing of Rogers: The Musical, and the song “Save the City” is performed by characters playing Avengers. Both the musical and “Save the City” became fan favorites, with the latter generating just over 1 million on-demand official streams in the U.S., according to Luminate.

Billboard got a sneak peek at the new production the day before its premiere, which was followed by a panel discussion with the show’s creative team.

“We were like every fan,” said Dan Fields, executive creative director, Disney Live Entertainment during the panel. “We saw [‘Save the City’] and said, ‘I want to see the rest of it! I want to see all of Rogers: The Musical!’ But then we realized, ‘Hey, we’re Disney Live Entertainment, we can do that!’ So that’s what we set out to do.”

Fans will be happy to know: “Save the City” appears in full in the real-world Rogers: The Musical production, along with seven other musical numbers.

Rogers: The Musical is scheduled to run through Aug. 31 at Disney California Adventure. It’s the first show at the nearly 2,000-seat Hyperion in more than three years, since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down its previous production, Frozen – Live at the Hyperion, on March 14, 2020. Nothing has been announced by Disney if Rogers: The Musical will be staged in other Disney Parks or properties (such as Disney Cruise Line).

In Rogers: The Musical, we follow Steve “Captain America” Rogers over 70-plus years – from his origin as a scrawny soldier-turned-beefy superhero in the 1940s through his teaming with the rest of the Avengers and his long-simmering love story with Peggy Carter. The show’s book was written by Hunter Bell, while Christopher Lennertz is the musical’s composer, conductor and arranger.

“[It] was really important to all of us, [show creator and director] Jordan [Peterson] and Hunter and I … to give everyone — both musical theater fans and superhero fans — something they would love about the music,” Lennertz said. “And the fact that we get to span 70 years and do everything from ‘40s-style big band jazz to a singer/songwriter style pop tune and obviously the Nick Fury patter song meets ‘Uptown Funk’ — it’s the idea of giving everyone something that they can grab onto and really feel like it’s part of their story too.”

The Nick Fury patter song Lennertz calls out is the tune “What You Missed,” in which Fury explains – through song and dance – to a just-awakened Rogers (who has been asleep for 70 years but hasn’t aged) what’s happened over the last seven decades.

Dave Bushore, vice president of franchise creative and marketing, Marvel Studios, recalled during the panel a memorable moment when he and Fields presented a preliminary version of Rogers: The Musical to Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios.

Bushore said, “We’re sitting in Kevin’s office, me and Dan…” Fields: “And Kevin says, ‘Nick Fury sings? That should be on the billboard!’ He said, ‘Embrace that, lean into that!’”

Rogers: The Musical

Rogers: The Musical

Sean Teegarden/Disneyland Resort

In addition to the show’s songs, theatergoers will be treated to pre-show music piped in from an onstage radio. It plays period-appropriate jazzy tunes, including a song that references “Elias & Co.,” a store inside Disney California Adventure, named after Walt Disney’s middle name, Elias. There’s no word on if any of the music from the show (including the pre-show selections) will be released commercially or through streaming services.

With Rogers: The Musical bringing a stage show back to the Hyperion after more than three years, it’s another way visitors to the park – often young fans – will get to experience live musical theater, perhaps for the first time.

“For a lot of people who come to our parks, they may not have had a lot of experience coming to theater — to traditional theater,” said Fields. “But here’s an opportunity to combine a love of theater with a love of superheroes right here in a theme park. This is a real show for families, whether you already knew the story of Steve Rogers or not. So hopefully everyone’s found something to enjoy in the show.”

30 Jun 2023

ENHYPEN to Enter the Pokémon Universe With Collaborative Single

ENHYPEN is ready to catch ’em all with the Pokémon Music Collective, as they’re teaming up for a fun new single, “One and Only.”

The track is set to arrive on July 12 along with a music video, and is “inspired by the sounds of the Pokémon series video game universe by artists across multiple genres,” per a press release. The music video teaser will be revealed on ENHYPEN’s official YouTube channel a week before the song’s release, on July 5. 

It’s been a big year for ENHYPEN, as the seven-member boy band dropped their fourth mini album, DARK BLOOD, in May. The project peaked at No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, and gave the group its fifth top 10-charting effort on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, coming in at No. 2.

Ahead of the group’s mini album release, they spoke with Billboard News and revealed that fans would be treated to a brand new style. “Our choreography is also very different from our previous ones. It’s very new. Out of everything we’ve done after debuting as ENHYPEN, I think its by far the most original,” Jungwon told host Tetris Kelly. “I think the quality of our video content is even higher this time around. I feel like they’re not going to expect this from us.”

ENHYPEN is also set to head off on their second world tour this summer, with the U.S. leg scheduled to kick off in October.

30 Jun 2023

New Music Latin: Listen To Releases from Becky G, Shakira, DannyLux & More

New Music Latin is a compilation of the best new Latin songs and albums recommended by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors. Check out this week’s picks below.

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Becky G and Gabito Ballesteros, “La Nena” (Kemosabe Records/RCA Records)

Becky G has teamed up with Mexican newcomer Gabito Ballesteros to release “La Nena” (the girl), the latest single from her upcoming regional Mexican album. Her new corrido navigates from trumpets to strings, resulting in an enticing rhythm complemented by the harmonizing voices of Becky and Gabito to create a new female anthem. Co-written and co-produced by Edgar Barrera and Ballesteros, the lyrics in “La Nena” tell the story of an empowered woman who chooses to continue dancing through life despite having her heart broken “She dances alone, but if she only knew how beautiful she looks single,” goes the chorus. — INGRID FAJARDO

Shakira and Manuel Turizo, “Copa Vacía” (Ace Entertainment)

In their first collaborative effort, Colombian artists Shakira and Manuel Turizo present an infectious song about unrequited love, in which they sing about not getting enough affection from their loved ones. “Drop your phone, use your hands with me,” Shakira sings, while Turizo replies “I’m looking in the streets who can fill this emptiness I feel”. The pop-reggaeton banger, which will make you dance for sure, comes with a movie-like music video co-directed by Shakira and Jaume de Laiguana in which the pop star plays an abandoned mermaid and Turizo a prince coming to the rescue. — SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS

Peso Pluma x Grupo Frontera, “TULUM” (Double P Records)

Two of Música Mexicana’s hottest acts, Peso Pluma and Grupo Frontera, have united on “TULUM” — one of three tracks on Peso’s Génesis deluxe album. Produced by Edgar Barrera, the collab finds “La Doble P” steering away from his signature corridos bélicos sound and dipping his toes into Frontera’s very catchy norteño-cumbia fusions. “TULUM,” cleverly referenced at the beginning of the song as “a lot of vacations in Tulum but I know your heart doesn’t go ‘tulum, tulum,” narrates the story of a man who’s after a girl who’s in a relationship where she’s not desired. “Tell him you have another man/if you want to tell him my name/that the food gets cold when no one eats it,” goes the chorus. In the vibrant music video, Peso and Frontera are enjoying the summer days in a backyard fiesta. — JESSICA ROIZ

DannyLux ft. Pablo Hurtado, “ZAFIRO” (Warner Music Latina/VPS Music)

Mexican-American crooner DannyLux has delivered his most eclectic song yet. In “Zafiro,” a collaboration with Pablo Hurtado (of the Mexican band Camila), the sierreño artist incorporates orchestra, complex requinto lines and an epic rock guitar solo by Hurtado. Although it may sound like a bit too much, DannyLux doesn’t exactly fuse all genres at the same time, instead, he allows all three to shine giving them their own moment throughout the song — and that’s why it works. “This song has so many emotions put into it, it talks about being in love with a person that truly did hurt you, and every time you look into their eyes it reminds you of that,” DannyLux said about “Zafiro,” on which he sings with such passion, “those sapphire eyes, they shine and they lie.” The genre-defying track is the latest single from his upcoming album, set to drop this summer. — GRISELDA FLORES

De La Ghetto and Myke Towers, “No Quiero Saber” (Latin Nation Entertainment)

“Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente,” or “out of sight, out of mind,” is the vibe of De La Ghetto and Myke Towers’ “Me Dijeron,” an R&B/hip-hop number with an arresting reggaeton thump. The throwback track, from DLG’s latest album GZ, is also a wonderful Spanish rendition of 2004’s “I Don’t Want to Know” by Mario Winans, a Bad Boy Entertainment classic. Together, the Puerto Rican pair interplay poetic rhymes about vulnerability and denial — a refreshing take from música urbana’s usual boastful banter. It underlines the painful feeling of infidelity but is delivered with conviction and confidence. — ISABELA RAYGOZA

Pablo Alborán, “Somos Dos” (Disney Enterprises/Pixar)

Pablo Alborán gives his personal touch and a heartfelt interpretation to “Somos dos”, the Spanish version of “Steal the Show” by Lauv, which is the main theme of the Disney/Pixar film Elemental. “We are two, no one else matters. If there is love, the rest will come,” says part of the lyrics in Spanish followed by a contagious melody. The romantic pop song sets the scene for the love story of Candela (Ember) and Nilo (Wade), the protagonists of the story, who live in Element City along with residents of Water, Fire, Air and Earth. “Happy to have adapted and sung the original song from the movie ELEMENTAL for @disneyspain !! Thank you for wanting to count on me!! I want to be Nilooo!!! On July 14 Only in theaters!!!!!!” shared the Spanish singer on his social media. The beautiful music video shows various scenes from the film and Alborán in various settings that symbolize the four elements. — LUISA CALLE

Check out more editor’s picks in the weekly playlist below!

30 Jun 2023

Tainy’s ‘Data’: Billboard Editors Pick Seven Best Songs

Tainy’s 19-track solo debut is a layered, sophisticated set that yields surprising sounds — best heard on these seven standouts chosen by Billboard editors.

Tainy

Tainy

Elliott Muscat/Courtesy of Imagine It Media

Tainy has spent years producing for seemingly every major hitmaker in the Latin music market, and in the process, has defined the sound of contemporary reggaetón. What was left for him to do? Release an album all his own. Today (June 30), he has finally done just that with his debut solo set, Data.

The goodwill and good reputation cultivated by working tirelessly with the best has yielded a list of A-list collaborators on the 19-track set, including reggaetón mainstays Bad Bunny, Feid, Rauw Alejandro, Jhayco, Myke Towers, Daddy Yankee and Arcángel alongside a slew of newcomers, too. Plus, a handful of non-urban acts who respect the Tainy ethos such as Kany García, Skrillex and Julieta Venegas.

Tainy’s skill and good taste are the defining factors of his unexpectedly layered album. While it would have been so easy to push out reggaetón bangers, instead fans get carefully textured, thought-out tracks built around synth-based dance and pop that incorporate many styles and yet manage to sound like a cohesive whole.

In an effort to help navigate Data’s 19 tracks, Billboard’s Latin editors have each selected their favorite from their album. Here are our picks.

30 Jun 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Gets a Prom Invite & Introduces ‘Vampire’ Video Live: Inside the YouTube Premiere

As it turns out, Olivia Rodrigo‘s fans have a lot of GUTS. Ahead of the live premiere of Rodrigo’s new “Vampire” video at YouTube headquarters in Playa Vista, Calif., on Thursday night, one brave fan approached the singer/songwriter with a promposal.

“You wanna, like, go to prom with me?” he asked as Rodrigo walked through a crowd of YouTube creators and fans at the event, broadcast live for her Livies around the globe. “I’ve always wanted to go to prom,” she responded, adding to wild cheers: “Give me your number!”

We’ll have to wait and see whether Rodrigo ends up at prom next spring, but for now, she’s focused on her OR2 Era, premiering the “Vampire” song and video first thing Friday ahead of the release of her sophomore album, GUTS, on Sept. 8.

In addition to the video premiere, the intimate crowd of creators and fans also had the chance to shoot photos and videos around YouTube’s Spruce Goose airplane hangar, which was transformed into a series of vignettes inspired by the Petra Collins-directed music video. There were banners from the ill-fated “19th Annual Awards,” where Rodrigo’s in-video performance ends in blood-soaked fashion, as well as a grassy knoll and vintage microphone to re-create the idyllic opening scene.

“I hope you guys had fun at all the little stations,” Rodrigo told the crowd ahead of the premiere. “I know it doesn’t really make a ton of sense right now, but trust that it will make sense once you watch the video.”

Rodrigo marveled at reuniting with Collins, who also directed her 2021 visuals for “good 4 u” and “brutal” from her debut album Sour. “I made this video with my friend Petra Collins, who’s amazing,” Rodrigo said. “I’ve been following her for years. I’ve been saving her photos on my Pinterest since I was 15, so I feel really lucky that I get to make art with her now.”

See a photo of Rodrigo posing with YouTube creators and fans at the event and watch the “Vampire” video below.

Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo and guests attend the revealing of the #vampireOR2 Shorts challenge and premiere the video for her single “vampire”, (Geffen Records) at YouTube Space LA on June 29, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Timothy Norris/Getty Images for YouTube

30 Jun 2023

Here’s Who Fans Think Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Vampire’ Is About

On her new single “Vampire,” Olivia Rodrigo bitterly recounts the very specific ways in which a much-older ex-boyfriend took advantage of her — and now, fans are out for blood.

Released at midnight Friday (June 30), the rock opera-inspired track — which serves as the lead single off Rodrigo’s upcoming sophomore album Guts — looks back at the 20-year-old pop star’s relationship with someone she likens to a “bloodsucker, fame f–ker” who “sold [her] for parts.” She also alludes to an age gap (“Went for me and not her/ ‘Cause girls your age know better”) as well as the duration of the relationship (“Six months of torture you sold as some forbidden paradise”) in the lyrics.

The whole situation described in the song sounded familiar to fans who’ve kept tabs on Rodrigo’s dating life in the past couple years — maybe even a little too familiar. That’s because the former Disney actress has been linked in the past to not one, but two men who were significantly older than her whom she reportedly dated for about six months: producer Adam Faze when she was 18, and then DJ Zack Bia when she was 19.

The internet is pretty split on which of the two men “Vampire” is about, if not both of them. On the one hand, Rodrigo and Faze, who was 24 at the time, reportedly made their relationship public at a June 30 film premiere — exactly two years to the day before “Vampire” was released. On the other hand, Rodrigo has stated that the songs on Guts were made “during my 19th year on this earth,” which was the age at which she allegedly dated Bia, who was 26 at the time.

And while fans online can’t quite agree on which of the two men “Vampire” concerns, the general consensus seems to be that it could be either Faze or Bia — and not for positive reasons. “can’t tell whether vampire is about adam faze or zack bia cause they were both way older than her and both creepy,” one fan tweeted following the single’s release.

“Was being a hater to Adam faze and remembered zack bia also happened omfg why is there two of them it was bad for her,” wrote another.

See more fan comments on who “Vampire” might be about below:

30 Jun 2023

Jenni Rivera’s Children Release Banda-Powered Posthumous Album ‘Misión Cumplida’: ‘We Feel Proud To Be Able to Complete This For Her’

Jenni Rivera‘s new album Misión Cumplida has been a long time coming. In fact, the five children of the Mexican-American icon spoke to Billboard about its making last September during Latin Music Week in Miami. There — Chiquis, Jacqie, Mike, Jenicka, and Johnny — talked at length for the very first time about how the album captures their mother’s true legacy. The posthumous album, released today (June 30), is a banda album through and through — just how La Diva de la Banda would have wanted it to be. The 16-track set, which included previously unreleased songs, was produced by Banda MS’ Pavel Ocampo (producer, songwriter and clarinetist) and Sergio Lizárraga (CEO and founder).

“My mom was very picky with her music, the arrangements,” said Johnny, the youngest of the five who has been super involved in the production of the album after finding unreleased songs on a hard drive. “What my mom loved was la banda sinaloense and Sergio is a master at that, so them together, it fit like a glove. More than anything, we wanted to have the consistency of the sound across her music and we wanted to make sure Jenni’s songs sound like before she left us.”

Jenni’s five children have been working on putting the album together since Jacqie Rivera took over as head of the Jenni Rivera estate in January 2022. After discovering original recordings of unreleased music, they decided as a family that the songs they had found would see the light of day.

“It’s definitely been healing,” Jacquie said back in September. “To be able to do this with my siblings, to be a representation of her…I think she’d feel proud and, in return, we also feel proud to be able to complete this for her. I love to see Johnny on the creative side, selecting the name and the order of the album, the arrangements. It’s beautiful to see him grow into his own.”

Jenni — at the pinnacle of her career — tragically died in 2012 at 43 years old. The most successful woman in regional Mexican on the Billboard charts — she has a total of 19 entries on Top Latin Albums, 12 of which reached the top 10 and seven of which topped the chart. She has earned a total of 12 entries on the Billboard 200 and has 14 top 10 hits on the Regional Mexican Airplay tally.

Given her career, coming into the project wasn’t an easy decision, Ocampo tells Billboard. “Sergio and I talked about the responsibility of doing an album for someone so important to Mexican music. The challenge here was for Jenni to sound like Jenni with the material they gave, which included recordings where she sang a cappella and not professionally-sounding; you hear background noise, people talking. We had to clean all that up,” he says. “Musically speaking, it was made how she worked, recording everything with her banda, those are small details that were part of her style and essence. I’m very satisfied with the results and I think Jenni’s kids are, too. They put their heart into this project, their mom’s legacy is being very well taken care of.”

“Pedacito de Mí” in particular — an interlude on the album — is heart-wrenching. You hear Jenni’s raw, passionate vocals singing over a guitar line something she had written for her kids. “Mami, I see you struggle, I see you cry alone. Pedacito de mí (little piece of me), I love you so much and I’ll love you till the very end … You’re my blood, I’m your mother, I’m here,” she sings.

“I used to have this feeling a few years ago, like anxiety, that everything would run out one day because she’s not here anymore,” Johnny said. “So when you find something new it becomes all the more special.”

While the album was set to drop last year, Jenicka, one of the youngest siblings, added that Misión Cumplida comes at the perfect time. “It may feel a little late, but we’ve been healing on our own. It was supposed to come out two years ago, then a year ago and now that we’re in charge, it’s here. This is us, this is what we have to offer.”

Additional reporting by Tere Aguilera.

30 Jun 2023

CeCe Winans to Receive Aretha Franklin Icon Award at 2023 Stellar Gospel Music Awards

CeCe Winans is set to receive the Aretha Franklin Icon Award at the 2023 Stellar Gospel Music Awards, which will be presented at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 15.

Winans has won 15 Grammy Awards, just three shy of the number received by Franklin, who died in 2018. Though Franklin will forever be known as the Queen of Soul, she also made a lasting impression with her gospel recordings, including the 1972 classic Amazing Grace and the 1987 album One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. Both of those live, double-disk recordings won Grammys for best soul gospel album.

Dr. Bobby Jones will receive the Thomas A. Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award. As previously announced, Rev. Dr. Milton Biggham will receive the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award. Biggham is pastor of the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., and founder of several mass choirs – The Miami Mass Choir, The Mississippi Mass Choir, the Dallas Fort Worth Mass Choir and the Georgia Mass Choir.

The show will be hosted by Jonathan McReynolds and Tasha Cobbs-Leonard for the second year in a row.

Performers set to appear on the show include Kierra Sheard-Kelly, Naomi Raine, Pastor Mike, Jr., Maranda Curtis, Tim Bowman, Jr. & Faith City Music, DOE, Dorothy Norwood and Zacardi Cortez. The emerging voices stage will showcase HLE and Lena Byrd Miles. Additional performers and presenters will be announced.

The Stellar Awards red carpet special pre-show will be televised on the newly launched Stellar TV Network on Sunday, July 30, at 5 p.m. ET, followed by the 38th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards telecast at 6 p.m. ET. The Stellar Network can be found on Charter Spectrum and Verizon Fios. Both shows will be available on-demand via Xumo Play at a later date. The ceremony will also air in national broadcast syndication from Aug. 7 through Sept. 10. 

Tickets for the Stellar pre-show and main awards ceremony are now available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets range from $59 to $229.

In addition to the main awards ceremony, the Stellar Gospel Music Awards is introducing the Stellar+ Experience (Stellar+EXP), which will provide participants with a personalized experience, featuring concerts, discussions, master classes, and more. The Stellar+ Experience events will take place at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas from Wednesday, July 12, to Friday, July 14. Limited-edition passes are now available for purchase, ranging from $60 to $250, at www.eventbrite.com. For the full event schedule and more information, visit stellarplusexperience.com.

As previously reported, Pastor Mike, Jr. and Tye Tribbett are the leading nominees for the 2023 Stellar Gospel Music Awards, with 10 and nine nods, respectively.

Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin received six nominations for their collaborative album Kingdom Book One. Cobbs-Leonard, Zacardi Cortez and DOE each received five nominations. Tamela Mann is nominated in four categories for her album Overcomer Deluxe.

The 38th Stellar Gospel Music Awards show is executive produced by Don Jackson, with Jennifer J. Jackson serving as executive in charge of production and producer. Michael A. Johnson will produce and direct this year’s show.

For more information, visit www.stellarawards.com.

30 Jun 2023

5 Essential Songs from Jenni Rivera’s ‘Misión Cumplida’

Jenni Rivera‘s posthumous album Misión Cumplida is here, and producer Pavel Ocampo breaks down some of its most prominent songs.

Released on Friday (June 30) under Sony Music Latin, Misión Cumplida includes 16 tracks with the distinctive sound of La Gran Señora of regional Mexican music. Songs such as “Q.T.M.L. (El Corrido de la Diva)” show the temperament that made her unique, while “El Que Hoy Está En Tu Lugar” shows off her unrivaled boldness and “Pedacito De Mí”, dedicated to her children, reveals her tenderness. There are also new versions of “Engañémoslo” and “Aparentemente Bien.”

Ocampo, lead producer of Banda MS, was chosen to bring to fruition the recordings that Rivera left incomplete, and to give the right sound to others, with the help of Sergio Lizárraga and the children of the late Diva de la Banda.

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“We worked together with Sony Music, Jenicka, Johnny, Jacqie and Chiquis. This led to very good results,” Ocampo tells Billboard Español, explaining that they had to “clean up” noises of people talking and other sounds to rescue the iconic singer’s voice. “The challenge was to keep Jenni sounding like Jenni.”

Misión Cumplida arrives on time to celebrate Rivera’s birthday — she who would have turned 54 this Saturday (July 1). The chart-topping singer of No. 1 Billboard hits such as “De Contrabando” and “Dos Botellas de Mezcal” died in a plane crash on December 9, 2012 at the age of 43.

Below, Ocampo breaks down five essential songs from Jenni Rivera’s Misión Cumplida.

“Misión Cumplida”

“‘Misión Cumplida’ (Mission Accomplished) is my favorite because of what it represents and the way they discovered it. It was a 30-minute audio that showed the creative process. It wasn’t a studio recording, it was about how she was creating it. The feeling of hearing Jenni singing after 10 years was amazing. The title also says a lot of things. For this one, [her son Johnny] suggested we include a piano part and that gave it a special touch.”

“Q.T.M.L. (El Corrido de la Diva)”

“‘Quisieran Tener Mi Lugar’ (They Would Like to Have my Place) is a song that represents her, her style, her way of thinking and her way of being: a woman of strong convictions. In this song we respected her way of composing and musicalizing. It is very much her, starting with the title.”

“Pedacito De Mí”

“Pedacito De Mí’ (Little Piece of Me) was also written by Jenni and is one of the audios that were in storage and were not designed to be part of an album. In fact, the song was not finished. It is a very special song because it is the connection between Jenni and her children, it is pure love. On the musical side, we wanted to respect the idea she had; in those audios they sent us, we could appreciate the creative process and her ideas and that is what we worked on.”

“Aparentemente Bien”

“In the case of ‘Aparentemente Bien’ (Apparently OK), it’s a song that the Rivera family had already released [in 2019] and they asked us to do a new version. I think this one has more of Jenni’s essence. The previous one sounds very good, but I think this one was particularly challenging because there was something [before]. We wanted the song to sound more like Jenni and achieving that was very satisfying.”

“Engañémoslo”

“I really like ‘Engañémoslo’ (Let’s Fool Him) for the melody, for what it says, for the way she sings it. This one does have vocals designed for recording because in reality, it had already been recorded. The challenge was similar to that of ‘Aparentemente Bien’: to make a new concept of something that had already been released. Sergio and I were given the opportunity to be part of this production and we did it with great pleasure, and hopefully it won’t be the only time we work with them. We feel very fortunate that they have taken us into account to create the album of an icon of Mexican and Latin music.”

Listen to all the songs from Misión Cumplida here:

30 Jun 2023

Little Big Town to Host & Perform at Inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards

Little Big Town will host the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on Sept. 28. The quartet, whose members were inducted into the Opry in 2014, will also perform a medley of their greatest hits during the show. The two-hour ceremony will air live on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and will stream on Peacock.

“We are honored to host the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards, especially on one of our most beloved stages in the entire world,” Little Big Town said in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming so many of our talented peers to take the Opry stage for this magical night of music.”

The group – consisting of Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman and Jimi Westbrook – hosted the CMT Music Awards in 2018 and 2019 from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

They have also won many awards, including three Grammys for best country duo/group performance for “Pontoon,” “Girl Crush” and “Better Man.” They won vocal group of the year six years running (2012-17) at the CMA Awards and came out on top in that category four times at the ACM Awards.

The Grand Ole Opry House has hosted many awards shows through the years, including the CMA Awards (1974-2004) and the (TNN) Music City News Awards, forerunners to the CMT Music Awards, (1980-99). In 2020-21, the ACM Awards were staged at three landmark Nashville venues – the Grand Ole Opry House, the Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Café).

Little Big Town have had three No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart – “Pontoon,” “Girl Crush” and Taylor Swift‘s “Better Man” (the same songs that brought them their three Grammy Awards). They have amassed four No. 1 albums on Top Country Albums – The Reason Why, Tornado, The Breaker and Nightfall. 

“Little Big Town is a force in country music and a beloved staple on Music Row,” Cassandra Tryon, senior vice president, entertainment live events, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said in a statement. “As Opry members, they’ve delighted fans for years on the world-famous stage and we’re honored to have them host, perform and bring this inaugural ceremony to life.” 

The People’s Choice Country Awards is an outgrowth of the People’s Choice Awards, which originated on CBS in 1975 and remained on that network through 2017. (Little Big Town was the 2017 winner for favorite country group.) That show moved to E! in 2018 and has aired on both NBC and E! since 2021. It bills itself as “the only award show for the people and by the people,” a slogan that also applies to this spin-off.

The People’s Choice Country Awards is produced by Den of Thieves with Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski serving as executive producers, along with RAC Clark as executive producer and showrunner.  

The show will extend to social platforms with Backstage Live, bringing fans at home behind the scenes as well as interactively connecting country’s most popular stars with their biggest fans.  

This project is seen as an example of collaboration resulting from NBCUniversal’s equity investment in Opry Entertainment Group alongside Atairos, which was finalized last year.