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Put American actor Nicolas Cage and Australian musician Nick Cave in the same room, and it seems no one can tell the difference – at least that’s what the former has claimed in a recent interview.
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Cage (that’s the actor, not the musician) is currently promoting his recently-released film The Surfer, which was both filmed and set in Cave’s home country. Speaking to The Guardian, Cave responded to a reader’s question about a 2022 tall tale from Cave which recounts the pair apparently meeting based on their similar names.
“I don’t think there’s a day that goes by where I’m not mistaken for Nick Cave,” Cage explains. “People also say: ‘Hey, Nick, you were great in The Hunger,’ which is this great David Bowie movie.”
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Though Cage didn’t appear in Tony Scott’s 1983 film The Hunger (and neither did Cave), the actor turned his attention to an anecdote in which he claims to have met the musician.
“I do remember that Cave was very nice,” he continued. “We were at an animal sanctuary, I believe – I think Sealy Animal Hospital in Texas – and he was terrific. I said hello and wanted to shake his hand. I said: ‘Only one letter separates us – G. Nick Cave, Nick Cage.’”
Cage’s comments somewhat echo the 2022 story which Cave shared on his Red Hand Files website, responding to readers who respectively asked if Cave has ever met Cage, or added an “untrue component to a story to make it more interesting than it actually is.”
“People mix me up with Nicolas Cage all the time,” Cave recalled. “Like, I’ll be going through customs and the customs officer will look at my passport and say, ‘Happy to have you with us, Mr Cave. Loved you in Face/Off’. Or whatever. Sometimes it can be a bit of a pain in the neck, but you get used to it.”
Cave then continued with a lengthy tale about how he was apparently mistaken for Cage while purchasing a didgeridoo for his late son Arthur from the gift shop of the Healesville Sanctuary in his home state of Victoria. On their way home to Melbourne, Cave claims their meal at a local pub was interrupted by an apparent interaction with Cage.
“I follow the security guy into a small private room, adjacent to the main bar. Sitting there is Nicolas Cage,” Cave writes. “He is wearing a pork-pie hat and holding a didgeridoo. Nicolas Cage shouts, ‘Only one letter separates us!’ and leaps from his seat and eagerly pumps my hand. I’m pretty confused by all of this, but say, ‘It’s an honour to meet you, Mr Cage. Have you just been to Healesville Sanctuary?’ and he shouts, ‘Yes!’ and I say, ‘Well, me too.’”
Though it remains to be seen whether Cage’s own claims of mistaken identity are truthful (and for that matter, where the truth – if any – lies in Cave’s own story), Cage also used his interview with The Guardian to comment on the existence of Australian band Nicolas Cage Fighter.
“I think they’re terrific,” he explained. “Their songs are empowering. The lyrics are all about taking ownership of your mistakes, never being a victim, figuring out how you can fix your problems.”
After winning the Latin Grammy for best new artist in 2024, Colombian singer-songwriter Ela Taubert finally released Preguntas a las 11:11, her debut album, on Friday (May 9). The 16-track set, which took two years to bring to life, is a reflection of her deepest thoughts and her tendency to overthink.
All the song titles are framed as questions except for one, which is simply titled “Pregunta” (Question) and is the 11th track on the album.
“I’ve always overthought things since I was little, and that hasn’t changed now that I’m an adult,” explains the 24-year-old artist to Billboard Español. “When I started writing [these songs,] I realized all that came out were questions, which I think reflect my tendency to question everything. Obviously, when all the songs started to have this kind of title, we said, ‘Well, it’s going to be Preguntas, and a las 11:11 (at 11:11) because at home we always make a sacred wish at 11:11. So we unified these two universes.”
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Sonically, Taubert says that for this album — released under Universal Music Latina and featuring the singles “¿Cómo Pasó” (with and without Joe Jonas, and in a third live version with Morat), “¿Quién Diría?” and “¿Cómo Haces?”, among others — she drew inspiration from the pop superstars she grew up listening to.
“I used to watch the Hannah Montana movies. I literally wanted to be like that, a pop star. I’d wear sparkly gloves and everything,” she says enthusiastically. “Maybe I’m still holding on to that childhood dream of bringing the sound of the artists I listened to as a kid, like Miley [Cyrus], Taylor Swift, and Adele, to our language, Spanish — obviously while keeping my Latin roots super present, because I also grew up listening to Reik and Jesse & Joy. So I’d say it’s like a fusion.”
Designed to be listened to from start to finish, the LP weaves a narrative that feels both intimate and universal, addressing themes like love, heartbreak, and the complexities of human connection in songs like the focus tack “¿Trato Hecho?” as well as “¿Es En Serio?”, “¿Te Imaginas?”, “¿Qué Más Quieres?”, “¿Si Eras Tú?”, and more.
“This album is like a midnight diary for me. It’s about those moments when there’s no TV, no phone, nothing, and you can’t sleep, so you start thinking about 45,000 things at once,” Taubert summarizes. “I hope that the people who listen to me, who support me, find refuge in each of these songs and see themselves reflected in them. That’s been one of the most beautiful things about these last two years — growing the family, realizing I’m not the only one who feels the way I feel, and learning to grow together through this whole process.”
Below, Ela Taubert breaks down five essential tracks from Preguntas a las 11:11. Listen to the full album here.
“¿Quién Diría?”
Contextually, the album as a whole is a love story with all its ups and downs and emotions. But “¿Quién Diría?” (Who Would Say?) is precisely the track that starts it all. It’s the only love song on the album, so it opens up this universe and speaks about the first time I truly felt I was in love. I was always very rebellious about that kind of thing on a personal level — like, “I’m not going to fall in love, I’m not in love, I don’t like anything romantic.” And in the end, I fell in love, and that’s how the story begins. That’s why it’s so special, because it opens up this world. And also because fans were always asking me, “When are you going to release a love song?” So it’s like giving them a little taste of the fact that love has existed in my life — and it still does.
“¿Cómo Pasó?”
I think this was one of the most fun songs to make and also one of the quickest. It’s about my first heartbreak as a teenager, the first time I felt like my heart was broken. But it’s very beautiful, because when we started writing it — obviously I’m in a different place now. The idea behind this song was that I wanted people to feel exactly what I felt during that strong heartbreak. I wanted to share how I truly felt. That’s why at first it gives you the sense that it’s a love song — just like how I felt when I got my hopes up — and then suddenly, your world falls apart and you think, “Wow, this is a heartbreak song.” I wanted to allow people to navigate that emotion with me, the way I felt that intense disappointment.
And the twist with Joe Jonas — well, that was a dream come true for me. Joe was one of my childhood idols. I think he was for everyone, honestly, for people who watched Camp Rock and all those kinds of childhood series. It was a blessing, and I’m proof that dreams really do come true. Right when I got nominated for the Latin Grammy, I decided to look for a video of myself as a little girl singing, and I found one of me singing “This Is Me” from Camp Rock. So I wrote him thanking him for inspiring me, and then it was crazy, because a few days later, he replied — which blew my mind, because I never thought he’d reply. And the rest is history. This version is something I’ll carry in my heart forever, thinking about how it fulfilled my inner child’s dream.
“¿Cómo Haces?”
This is a very special song for me. It’s track No. 7 on the album because, for me, 7 is the number of my family. Everything has its reason. I wrote it for my mom, because my mom has been my anchor and my grounding force — she’s always there. It’s a very beautiful song, and I also realized it’s a song for all the people who’ve been there for me — the fans, everyone. So when we announced the album, the most beautiful way to do it was paying homage to her, to my whole family, my friends, and everyone who’s been there. That’s why, at the end of the song, during last year’s tour, after 40 attempts during the show in Bogotá where my mom was, where the fans were, everyone learned the song and we were able to record them and include them in the song [with a live snippet at the end].
“Preguntas”
Well, “Preguntas” (Questions) is the epicenter of the album. “Preguntas” represents where I’m at in my life right now on a very personal and emotional level. It’s the 2.0 version of a song I wrote for my first EP called “Crecer”. It talks about that difficult moment I experienced back then, about how hard I found it to grow up. I left my country alone at 18 or 19. It was really hard for me as an only child. So this song is very special to me, and honestly, “Preguntas” feels like the answer, almost three years later, to what I’m living now and how I see growth now. The fans will understand it deeply because they know what this symbolizes for me. That’s why it’s the 11th track, because it’s the most vulnerable part of me, and it’s the epicenter where questions are born.
“¿Trato Hecho?”
This is one of my favorites. To me, writing music is immortalizing memories, but this song specifically — the lyrics teleport me over and over again to that same place and bring me so much peace, for some reason, [even though] is a super sad song. Sonically, it’s one of the ones I feel most proud of as well, in the sense that I was able to pour all the emotions I felt in that moment into the song. That’s why it’s the focus track and why it’s the third track — it connects the whole story of the album very well. It’s been one of those promises, so to speak, that I’ve broken. It’s like a trato hecho (done deal) that we wouldn’t see each other again, but we saw each other again and tried again.
Even before the ACM Awards got underway Thursday (May 8), winners had been announced in six categories. And in one of those categories, the voters delivered a big surprise. Country traditionalist Zach Top took the award for new male artist of the year, beating Shaboozey, whose “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” had spent 19 weeks at […]
Lainey Wilson and Ella Langley were the big winners at the 2025 ACM Awards, which were held on Thursday (May 8) at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Wilson won four awards, including entertainer of the year and album of the year. Langley won five, including four for “you look like you love me,” her flirty duet with Riley Green.
Wilson won entertainer of the year for the second year in a row. She’s the first person to win back-to-back awards in that top category since Jason Aldean scored a threepeat from 2016-18. She’s the first woman to win back-to-back awards for entertainer of the year since Taylor Swift achieved the feat in 2009-10.
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Wilson also won album of the year for Whirlwind. She had also won for her previous studio album, Bell Bottom Country. She’s the seventh artist in ACM history to win for back-to-back studio albums (whether they won the awards in consecutive years or not). Miranda Lambert won with five consecutive studio albums. Chris Stapleton won with two consecutive studio albums – and he did that twice. Winning with two consecutive studio albums once were Alabama, Alan Jackson, George Strait and The Chicks.
Wilson won female artist of the year for the third year in a row. She’s the first artist to achieve that feat since Lambert won nine years in a row from 2010-18. Wilson’s fourth award was for artist-songwriter of the year.
Langley and Green won in three categories for their hit “you look like you love me.” The duet won single of the year, music event of the year and visual media of the year. (Langley won two awards in the visual media category, as both artist and one of the directors.) Oddly, they didn’t perform the song on the show, perhaps because they performed it on the CMA Awards in November. Langley’s fifth award on the night was new female artist of the year.
Hosted by Reba McEntire, the ACM Awards streamed live on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch.
Here are other acts that made history at the ACM Awards:
Old Dominion won group of the year for the eighth year in a row, which allowed them to break out of a tie with Rascal Flatts for the most wins in the history of that category. By coincidence, Rascal Flatts was among the nominees this year. Old Dominion’s eight-year winning streak is the longest in any category since Lambert won female artist of the year nine years in a row from 2010-18.
Brooks & Dunn won duo of the year for the first time since 2010. The award had gone back and forth between Dan + Shay and Brothers Osborne for the past eight years. This extends Brooks & Dunn’s record number of wins in this category to 17. Brooks & Dunn won duo of the year at last year’s CMA Awards, setting the stage for this win.
Chris Stapleton won male artist of the year for the fifth time, which puts him in a four-way tie with Merle Haggard, George Strait and Brad Paisley for the most wins in the history of the category.
“Dirt Cheap,” written by Josh Phillips and recorded by Cody Johnson, won song of the year. It’s the first song written by a solitary songwriter to win since Jennifer Nettles won for “Stay” in 2008. Just one other song written by just one writer has won since 2000: Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” in 2002.
Moreover, “Dirt Cheap” is the first song in 11 years that was not written or co-written by the artist to in in this category. The last was “I Drive Your Truck,” written by Jessi Alexander, Connie Harrington and Jimmy Yeary, and recorded by Lee Brice.
As previously announced, Zach Top won for new male artist of the year; The Red Clay Strays for new duo or group of the year; and Jessie Jo Dillon for songwriter of the year. This was the second year in a row that Dillon, the daughter of songwriting great Dean Dillon, has won in that category. She is the fourth two-time winner in that category, following Dallas Davidson, Shane McAnally and Hillary Lindsey.
Two non-competitive awards were also presented – a lifetime achievement award to Alan Jackson and a Triple Crown award to Keith Urban (signifying that he has won a new artist of the year award; an award for male, female, duo or group of the year; and entertainer of the year).
Morgan Wallen, Post Malone and Kelsea Ballerini were completely shut out, despite going into the show with a total of 16 nominations between them – seven for Wallen, five for Posty and four for Ballerini.
Talk about the trailblazers! Country icon Reba McEntire joined Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert to debut the trio’s emotional new collaboration “Trailblazer” toward the end of the 2025 ACM Awards Thursday (May 8) at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The song had dropped on streaming services just hours earlier, at 8 p.m. ET.
The celebrated country artists took to a stage that was dressed to appear like a barren desert, the skies behind them a warm orange as the silhouettes of birds fluttered through the the scene. Dressed in matching brown suede outfits accented with turquoise, the three women traded lyrics before harmonizing on the chorus, singing, “Talk about a trailblazer, cuttin’ one half at a time/ Running like a dream chaser, living on a prayer and a rhyme/ Put a flag in the ground to the country sound, to the rhythm of your own highway/ Talk about a trailblazer, I’m rolling down the road you paved.”
At the end of the song, McEntire, who was also hosting the show for the 18th time, took the hands of her collaborators, and together, the three women walked to the front of the stage and took a bow together.
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The day before the ACM Awards, the trio spoke to Billboard‘s Melinda Newman about their new ballad, which pays tribute to those who influenced them and paved the way. “We wanted to lean in pretty hard to paying tribute to each person,” shared Lambert, who was the focus of Billboard‘s inaugural Power Pets feature alongside her dog Bellamy. “We had to do it strategically, though, because we didn’t want it to be so blatant — but more like a secret thing that you would have to listen to it twice.”
“We were just having a conversation about how [Lambert and McEntire] have influenced me and [about] passing the torch and blazing trails for each other,” Wilson also noted. “Generation after generation, it’s going to continue, but we got to keep blazing those trails for the next one.”
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Shortly after taking the stage to give her three-way collaboration with Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert, “Trailblazer,” its live debut, Lainey Wilson was called back up to the mic at the 2025 ACM Awards when Blake Shelton revealed that she was the evening’s big winner, nabbing the entertainer of the year award. Accepting the award, […]
Some of the best harmonies in pop and country music joined forces on Thursday night (May 8) when Backstreet Boys hit the ACM Awards stage to close the 2025 show alongside Rascal Flatts. The eight men teamed up for four songs, starting with 2006’s “What Hurts the Most” — which the two groups just re-recorded […]
With 16 Hot Country Songs No. 1s and 21 Country Airplay No. 1s, Keith Urban has been a force in country music in the 21st century. On Thursday (May 8) night’s ACM Awards broadcast, the Aussie legend was saluted with the Triple Crown Award. That award goes to an artist who has been named new artist of the year, artist of the year and entertainer of the year, which Urban has – making him just the 12th person to do so.
Before Urban took the stage to accept the award, Megan Moroney, Chris Stapleton and Brothers Osborne hit the stage of the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, to perform three of Urban’s many hits. Moroney sang an affecting, lovely version of “Stupid Boy,” with her voice in fine form as she delivered the bittersweet song. Chris Stapleton crooned “Blue Ain’t Your Color” as Urban and his wife, Nicole Kidman, held each other and swayed; Stapleton’s signature rasp suited the song beautifully, and Urban himself couldn’t help but sing along whenever the camera was on him. “We love you, Keith,” Stapleton said after he wrapped. Concluding the Triple Crown musical salute, Brothers Osborne rocked through “Where the Blacktop Ends,” ripping up the 2001 hit and ending the tribute on an energetic note.
Accepting the award, Urban thanked the Academy of Country Music and, of course, his wife. “I love you, babygirl,” he told the Oscar winner (and Babygirl star) as she looked on and smiled. “Our girls watching at home, Sunday and Faith, I love you both. I have a massive team I couldn’t possibly thank by name,” Urban said. Still, he made a point to shout out his behind-the-scenes players, noting that “there’s no such thing as a self-made man.” Additionally, ever the gentleman, he thanked Moroney, Stapleton and Brothers Osborne, as well as the other musicians on stage. “We’re gonna be out on tour by the end of the month!” he said before leaving.
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As Billboard’s Paul Grein noted in his exclusive on this year’s Triple Crown Award, Urban qualified by winning top new male vocalist in 2001, male vocalist of the year in 2005 and 2006. and entertainer of the year in 2019. Additionally, he’s the first singer to get the Triple Crown Award on the ACM Awards telecast since 2010.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Some of the world’s biggest country music stars descended on the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on Thursday (May 8) for the 2025 ACM Awards. This year’s ACM Awards is a big one, too, as the show is celebrating 60 years of country music excellence. As everyone from Reba McEntire, who hosted for the 18th time in her career, to ACM Triple Crown Award honoree Keith Urban rolled up, Billboard was there — and we’re giving viewers an exclusive look at all of the best snapshots from the official Boot Barn portrait studio.
Opening with 12 straight minutes of music honoring past song of the year winners, the 2025 ACM Awards featured performances from Clint Black, Dan + Shay, LeAnn Rimes, Little Big Town and Wynonna Judd, as well as collaborative showcases from Jelly Roll and Shaboozey, the Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts and Brooks & Dunn with Cody Johnson.
The ceremony was filled with awards, too, naturally. Ella Langley has the most nominations of anyone this year with eight, while Johnson, Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson, Chris Stapleton have six; Riley Green, Post Malone and Kelsea Ballerini each have multiple nods as well. Among the biggest-ticket prizes being given away are entertainer of the year, male and female artist of the year, best duo and song and album of the year. Alan Jackson was honored with a lifetime achievement award — one the Academy of Country Music introduced this year called the Alan Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award, no less, and Keith Urban was saluted with the Triple Crown Award.
Below, see the best photos — the fabulous looks and dazzling smiles attendees wore at the 2025 ACM Awards.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Jelly Roll was living the dream on Thursday (May 8) when he performed “Heart of Stone,” the third single from his sophomore album, Beautifully Broken, at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards held at at Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas.
“I’m wide awake and I’m dreamin’/ Wonderin’ where and when I fell apart/ Oh, I fell apart/ I had enough of my demons/ Angels only meet you where you are,” he sang emotionally, his voice powerful, during the chorus from the track about some very dark days in his life. As he belted out the chorus, Bunnie XO, who is married to the country star, sang along in the audience. “And I’m in the dark/ Least for now, Lord, I ain’t losin’ hope/ That somehow you can make a heart of gold/ From this heart of stone.”
As the tune ended, Jelly pointed to the heavens and mouthed, “Thank you.” The cameras then shifted to Shaboozey, who stood alone as he began his new single, the two men’s collaboration “Amen,” off the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going. After the chorus, Jelly joined in as he walked through the crowd, giving Wynonna Judd a hug before he made his way onto the stage next to ‘Boozey to finish the upbeat tune as Keith Urban and Nicole kidman sang along from the audience.
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At the end of the Jelly and Shaboozey’s duet, the “Need a Favor” singer turned to his song partner, who turns 30 on Friday (May 9), and said, “Happy birthday, ‘Boozey!” before giving him a big hug.
Jelly Roll — who is nominated for entertainer of the year, male artist of the year and album of the year for his Billboard 200 chart-topper Beautifully Broken — spoke about “Heart of Stone” while appearing on The Jennifer Hudson Show in April. “I love the lyrics of this song,” he explained to the host, specifically pointing out the lyrics to the second verse. “When I hear ‘Lord, can you hear me? I’m shackled in these chains/ I’m haunted by the lies of every time I said I’d change.’ Wow, that just reminds me of all the times that I went and looked in the mirror and said, ‘I’m gonna be different today’ and I wasn’t different that day. … It still gives me goosebumps and it makes me want to stand up and do something about it. It makes me want to quit being a man that puts it off and start being a man that does it right now.”
Country icon and 16-time ACM Awards winner Reba McEntire is the host of the show; it is her 18th time helming the ceremony. The show streamed live on Amazon’s Prime Video.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
