Music

06 Feb 2023

Harry Styles & Lizzo Had the Sweetest Bestie Reunion at the 2023 Grammys: See the Photos

It’s uncertain whether Lizzo‘s “I Love You Bitch,” the fifth song on her 2022 album Special, was written about Harry Styles — but it easily could have been. The two stars — and recent Grammy winners — are certifiably besties for the resties, as demonstrated by their adorable reunion at the Grammy Awards Sunday night (Feb. 5).

The pair was photographed wrapping each other in the biggest hug once they saw each other on the floor of Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, where this year’s ceremony was held. Though both Styles and Lizzo were competitors in the categories for some of the night’s biggest awards, they could be seen celebrating each other’s wins.

The “As It Was” singer was captured on camera beaming and excitedly clapping for Lizzo when her name was called for record of the year, which she won for her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “About Damn Time.” The feat made Lizzo the first Black woman since Whitney Houston in 1994 to win the award, something she later pointed out and celebrated on Instagram.

“I don’t take this lightly,” the Yitty founder wrote, sharing a selfie with Adele in the carousel. “Thank you.”

And when Styles was announced the winner of album of the year for Harry’s House, the “Truth Hurts” musician/flute extraordinaire could be seen holding up her own phone to record her pal as he made his way to the stage, stopping on his way up to give her a huge hug.

Lizzo also posted a couple selfies taken with the former boyband moments before he won. She also snapped pics with Adele and Beyoncé, who scored wins of their own that night.

Styles and Lizzo have been friends since 2020 and mutual fans of one another’s music before that. They’ve covered each other’s songs, complimented each other numerous times publicly and performed together onstage at Coachella 2022, when the “Watermelon Sugar” singer-songwriter invited Lizzo to join him as a guest.

See their winning moments at this year’s Grammys below:

06 Feb 2023

Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ Adds Third Week at No. 1 on Billboard Global Charts

Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” remains the biggest song in the world, as it logs a third week at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. The song now claims three of the five biggest worldwide streaming weeks for any title since the Global 200 began in September 2020.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the U.S.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

‘Flowers’ Has 3 of 5 Biggest Global 200 Streaming Weeks

“Flowers” holds at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 with 185.6 million streams (down 15%) and 72,000 sold (down 35%) worldwide in the Jan. 27-Feb. 2 tracking week.

“Flowers” now claims three of the five biggest streaming weeks since the Global 200 started in September 2020.

Biggest Worldwide Streaming Weeks in Global 200 History:
289.2 million, “Butter,” BTS, June 5, 2021
217.1 million, “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus, Feb. 4, 2023
212.1 million, “Pink Venom,” BLACKPINK, Sept. 3, 2022
185.6 million, “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus, Feb. 11, 2023
179.1 million, “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus, Jan. 28, 2023
178.2 million, “Easy on Me,” Adele, Oct. 30, 2021
170.8 million, “Permission To Dance,” BTS, July 24, 2021
169.8 million, “Butter,” BTS, June 12, 2021
152.8 million, “Shut Down,” BLACKPINK, Oct. 1, 2022
152.6 million, “Lalisa,” Lisa, Sept. 25, 2021

Cyrus first announced during her Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party NBC special that “Flowers” would be released Jan. 13, which fans noticed doubles as her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth’s birthday. That enticing narrative and interaction on TikTok have helped swell the profile of the song, which introduces Cyrus’ eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, due March 10.

Bizarrap and Shakira’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” keeps at its No. 2 Global 200 high; SZA’s “Kill Bill” holds at No. 3, after two weeks on top; Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” lifts 5-4, after it notched four weeks at the summit in October; and Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” dips 4-5, after reaching No. 3.

‘Flowers’ Also No. 1 for Third Week on Global Excl. U.S.

As on the Global 200, “Flowers” rules the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart for a third week, with 142.7 million streams (down 12%) and 35,000 sold (down 23%) outside the U.S. Jan. 27-Feb. 2.

Bizarrap and Shakira’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” continues at its No. 2 Global Excl. U.S. best; SZA’s “Kill Bill” is steady at No. 3, after reaching No. 2; Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” repeats at No. 4, following two weeks at the summit; and Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” rises 7-5, after it dominated for eight weeks beginning in October.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Feb. 11, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Feb. 7). For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard‘s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

06 Feb 2023

Liam Payne & Niall Horan Are ‘Very Proud’ of Harry Styles’ Big Grammys Win: ‘God Bless You Brother’

Liam Payne and Niall Horan each took to social media on Monday morning (Feb. 6) to celebrate Harry Styles winning album of the year at the 2023 Grammy Awards.

“Wow… this image is really something to wake up to,” Payne wrote alongside a black-and-white shot of his one-time bandmate gazing in awe at the Grammy in his hands, “and when you write music like you do Harry you deserve every millisecond of that moment looking down smiling at the trophy you’ve earned. God bless you brother congratulations.”

Horan, meanwhile, posted an aerial shot from the ceremony at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles during Styles’ big win, writing, “very proud @harrystyles” with a red heart emoji on his Instagram Stories. (As of press time, the other two-fifths of One Direction — Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik — have yet to post anything publicly about Styles.)

In addition to winning the biggest award of the night, Styles also took home the golden gramophone for best pop vocal album and performed his No. 1 smash “As It Was” during the telecast.

Visibly awestruck at beating out the likes of Adele, Beyoncé, Lizzo and more in the race for album of the year, he said, “Man, I’ve been so, so inspired by every artist in this category with me. A lot of different times in my life, I listened to everyone in this category when I’m alone…This is really really kind … this doesn’t happen to people like me very often, and this is so nice, thank you very much.”

See Payne’s shout-out to Styles below and check out Horan’s here before it expires.

06 Feb 2023

Here Are the English Lyrics to Bad Bunny’s Party Anthem ‘Despues De La Playa’

Bad Bunny opened the 2023 Grammy Awards on Sunday night (Feb. 5) with a party-starting performance of his tracks “El Apagon” and “Después de la Playa.” Far beyond, his energetic set—where he was joined by around 40 dancers and a 10-musician live band—was a homage to the Caribbean culture, especially Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

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In the audience, an amused Taylor Swift was seen shimmying her shoulders and swaying her hips to the fast-paced mambo and merengue fusion.

A full-fledged party track about making plans after the beach, “Después de la Playa” is one of the most experimental tracks on Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, which nabbed the Grammy award for best música urbana album. The historic set debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and all 23 tracks entered the top 25 on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart. “Despues de la Playa” debuted at No. 3.

Below, read the full lyrics translated into English.



You say I’m not a risk-taker
If you only knew that I’m on fire
Tell me what’s your game and I’ll play
Let’s not leave this for later
That the light’s already off
I wanna know if you want the same thing I do

Tell me where do we go after the beach
If we get dry, I’ll bring the towel
And later we get wet but in my bed
I’m going to give it to you hard
Tell me where do we go after the beach
If we get dry, I’ll bring the towel
And later we get wet but in my bed
I’m going to give it to you hard

Tell me, are we going to the mambo or not?
You tell me, baby
Zumba
What?
Ey-ey-ey
Today’s the day
Uh, ey

Tell me where do we go after the beach
If we get dry, I’ll bring the towel
And later we get wet but in my bed
I’m going to give it to you hard

Baby, you live far
But however, I’ll look for you
Because you’re fine and you deserve it
I want to give it to you in front of the ocean
So that the fishes can get happy
And you’re wet, I’m ready to ride you
Relax, I know this is once in a while
The other time you got drunk on the beach
And asked me to kiss you

How?
Ey-ey-ey-ey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Turn that on, turn that on, turn that on
How?
I’m with the apecha’o
No one call me today, ok?
I’m going to drink it all

Ey, everyone is drunk, dancing on the beach
Feeling the heat, feeling the heat
You’ve been looking and looking
It’s better if you get close, if you get close
We talk about that butt at all the barbershops
And in the corner store, the corner store (how?)
Ey, your boyfriend thinks he’s Romeo [Santos]
But I’m going to pull a Don [Omar]
I’m going to pull a Don, what, what, what?
I went out with your girl
God already forgave me, only you’re left

What, what, what?
I’m drunk, drunk
Ey-ey-ey-ey-ey-ey
What do you think about this?
I’m not going to stop, ok?
Don’t stop, don’t stop
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah (¿cómo?)
Ey-ey-ey-ey-ey
How exciting
Ey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Don’t turn off
Ey-ey-ey-ey
Where are we going?
Where are we going?
Tell me, after here
Wait,
Who’s this guy?
Who’s getting beers from our cooler, you
Are you with us?
Oh, okey-okey-okey-okey, go for it

06 Feb 2023

Lizzo Snaps Selfies With Beyoncé, Adele & Harry Styles at the Grammys: ‘I Won’

It’s safe to say that Lizzo had a very special night at the Grammys. Not only did the 34-year-old bop star take home the grand prize for record of the year with her chart-topping hit “About Damn Time” Sunday night (Feb. 5), but she also got to party with a star-packed group of friends — Adele, Beyoncé and Harry Styles — all of whom, by the way, also earned a golden Gramophone or two of their own.

The Yitty founder posted a handful of photos she took while at the ceremony to Twitter, and posed for several more snapped by professional photographers at the event. In one that will surely become a flagship picture of 2020s glamour one day — in the same way that black-and-white photos of Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn have lived on to symbolize old Hollywood allure — Beyoncé stands with Lizzo on her left and Adele on her right, each of them looking glossy and gorgeous in shimmering gowns.

The “Truth Hurts” singer-songwriter posted a couple of these professional-grade photos to Instagram, writing, “I won.”

In her selfies, Lizzo and her famous friends look less poised, but appears they’re having a whole lot of fun. She snapped photos with Adele, whose “Easy On Me” won best pop vocal performance, big smiles on both their faces. Beyoncé can be seen standing onstage in the background accepting best dance/electronic album, which officially made her the most awarded artist in Grammys history.

“Selfie as Beyoncé casually makes herstory,” Lizzo tweeted.

In another Instagram post, Lizzo and Adele celebrated her win for record of the year. “The last time a black woman won Record of the Year was Whitney Houston for ‘I Will Always Love You’… I don’t take this lightly. Thank you,” she captioned the carousel, which featured the twosome in the second selfie with Lizzo’s trophy.

And of course, the “Good as Hell” musician had to pose for some selfies with her bestie Harry Styles, who later won album of the year for Harry’s House. In one, she makes a funny face while the “As It Was” singer, who last year had Lizzo join him as a surprise guest during his Coachella performance, smiles with his mouth wide open.

In addition to winning big and making memories with some of the biggest names in music, Lizzo delivered a stunning performance of “Special” — the title track of her fourth studio album, which was also up for album of the year Sunday night — and parts of “About Damn Time.” When her name was read off as the winner for record of the year, she tearfully thanked her family, producers and her idol, who just so happened to be right there in the audience cheering her on.

“Beyoncé,” she said from onstage. “In the fifth grade I skipped school to see you perform … You changed my life. You sang that gospel medley and the way you made me feel, I was like, I want to make people feel this way with my music. So thank you so much! You clearly are the artist of our lives.”

See Lizzo’s Grammy pictures with Adele, Beyoncé and Harry Styles below:

06 Feb 2023

Matthew McConaughey to Voice Elvis in Netflix Cartoon Produced by Priscilla Presley: See the Trailer

Alright, alright, alright, Matthew McConaughey is going to be the next Elvis — thank you, thank you very much. As announced Monday (Feb. 6), the 53-year-old actor will voice the King in an upcoming adult cartoon by Netflix, executive produced and co-created by the late rock ‘n’ roll legend’s wife, Priscilla Presley.

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The show will be a far cry from Baz Luhrmann’s acclaimed 2022 Elvis biopic starring Austin Butler, though. While McConaughey’s Elvis will still be the world famous performer we all know and love, he’s also going to have a super secret side to him that his millions of fans don’t know about: he’s a spy. Titled Agent Elvis, the series will premiere this March and will follow Elvis as he balances his superstar duties with undercover vigilante activities.

“Elvis Presley trades in his jumpsuit for a jet pack when he is covertly inducted into a secret government spy program to battle the dark forces that threaten the country he loves – all while holding down his day job as the King Of Rock And Roll,” reads a description of the cartoon, billed by Netflix as being “offbeat,” “violent” and “raunchy.”

The Interstellar star is listed alongside Priscilla Presley as an executive producer of the project, as is John Eddie, writer and co-creator. Sony Pictures is to credit for the animation, the likes of which was previously showcased in the studio’s award-winning film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Viewers can get a first look at Agent Elvis in a minute-long trailer posted to Netflix’s YouTube channel on the day of the show’s announcement. “Every once in a while, man accomplishes the impossible,” McConaughey’s distinct southern drawl narrates, followed by shots of Elvis’ animated likeness landing on the moon, fist-fighting bad guys and flying around in a jetpack. “All it takes is someone with a dream. ‘Cause when a man dreams, he can change the world.”

Watch the trailer for Agent Elvis in the video above.

06 Feb 2023

Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ Tops Billboard Hot 100 for Third Week, Lil Uzi Vert’s ‘Just Wanna Rock’ Hits Top 10

Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” leads the Billboard Hot 100 for a third week, encompassing its entire run on the chart so far, dating to its launch at No. 1. With its continued command, it ties the three-week rule of her prior leader, “Wrecking Ball,” in 2013.

Meanwhile, The Weeknd’s “Die for You,” back up to its No. 6 best on the Hot 100, becomes the most-heard hit on radio, reaching the top of the Radio Songs chart, and Lil Uzi Vert notches his seventh Hot 100 top 10 as “Just Wanna Rock” rises from No. 12 to No. 10.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Feb. 11, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Feb. 7). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

“Flowers,” released on Smiley Miley/Columbia Records, drew 56.4 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 38%) and 48 million streams (down 20%) and sold 37,000 (down 43%) Jan. 27-Feb. 2, according to Luminate.

The single spends a third week at No. 1 on both the Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales charts and blasts 11-6 on Radio Songs, where it becomes Cyrus’ fourth top 10 – and first since “Wrecking Ball” (No. 4 peak, 2013). She first reached the region with “The Climb” (No. 7) and returned with “Party in the U.S.A.” (No. 8), both in 2009.

With “Flowers” having drawn 48 million weekly streams in the latest tracking week, after it posted 59.7 million the week before and 52.6 million the week before that, it’s the first non-holiday song with three consecutive weeks of 40 million streams or more since Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” logged four such frames in a row (May 29-June 19, 2021).

“Flowers” likewise links a sales streak not achieved since 2021, as it’s the first song to sell over 30,000 in three consecutive weeks, after moving 65,000 a week ago and 70,000 the week prior to that, since Coldplay and BTS’ “My Universe” sold over 30,000 in each of its first four weeks (Oct. 9-30, 2021).

“Flowers” introduces Cyrus’ eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, due March 10.

SZA’s “Kill Bill” ranks at its No. 2 Hot 100 best for a fourth week, with 48.6 million in radio reach (up 28%), 32.5 million streams (down 5%) and 2,000 sold (down 3%). It tops Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100, for an eighth week each. The track also becomes her first top 10 as a lead artist on Radio Songs (15-10), and her third overall, following her featured roles on Maroon 5’s “What Lovers Do” (No. 5, 2017) and Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” (No. 2, 2021).

Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage’s “Creepin’ ” rises to a new No. 3 high on the Hot 100, from No. 4; Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” slips 3-4, after leading for a personal-best eight weeks; and Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” holds at No. 5, after it ruled for a week in October.

The Weeknd’s “Die for You” rebounds to its No. 6 Hot 100 best, from No. 7, as it hits No. 1 on Radio Songs, up 5% to 85.2 million in airplay audience. The track tops Radio Songs over six years after its original release on The Weeknd’s album Starboy, sparked by a surge of interaction on TikTok in recent months, which led Republic Records to officially promote it to radio.

The Weeknd adds his fifth Radio Songs No. 1, following “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)” (for four weeks), “Can’t Feel My Face” (seven) and “The Hills” (five), all in 2015, and “Blinding Lights,” which dominated for a record 26 weeks in April-October 2020.

Starboy previously generated two top-three Radio Songs hits: its title cut (No. 2, 2016) and “I Feel It Coming” (No. 3, 2017), both featuring Daft Punk. (“Die for You” completes the longest journey from a title’s release to its coronation on Radio Songs since the chart began in 1990.)

David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” descends 6-7 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 4, as it leads the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 20th week; Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex” is steady at No. 8 on the Hot 100, after it reached No. 2, as it tops the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart for a 12th week; and Harry Styles’ “As It Was” holds at No. 9 on the Hot 100, following 15 weeks at No. 1 beginning last April, the fourth-longest rule in the chart’s history.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top tier, Lil Uzi Vert’s “Just Wanna Rock” jumps 12-10 with 28.7 million in airplay audience (up 10%), 15 million streams (up 5%) and 1,400 sold (up 14%).

The rapper lands his seventh Hot 100 top 10 with the stand-alone single, following his featured turn on Migos’ “Bad and Boujee” (three weeks at No. 1, 2017) and his own “XO TOUR Llif3” (No. 7, 2017), “Futsal Shuffle 2020” (No. 5, 2019), “Baby Pluto” (No. 6, 2020), “Lo Mein” (No. 8, 2020) and “Silly Watch” (No. 9, 2020).

Rock on: “Just Wanna Rock” is the first Hot 100 top 10 with “rock” in its title since … well, just last month, when two holiday classics decorated the tier: “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” by Brenda Lee, and “Jingle Bell Rock,” by Bobby Helms, ranked at their respective Nos. 2 and 3 peaks. One other such song has rolled to the top 10 in the ’20s: DaBaby’s “Rockstar,” featuring Roddy Ricch, reigned for seven weeks beginning June 2020. Not that “Just Wanna Rock” is considered a rock song (having not appeared on any of Billboard’s rock-based charts; it holds at its Nos. 2 and 5 highs on Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, respectively). The last rock chart hit with “rock” in its title to hit the Hot 100’s top 10? Nickelback’s “Rockstar” smashed its way to No. 6 in 2007.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Feb. 11), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Feb. 7).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

06 Feb 2023

How Christian Breslauer Became a Go-To Director For SZA, Lizzo & Doja Cat

Growing up in south Florida, the closest Christian Breslauer got to Hollywood was a nearby beach named after it. The cinephile looked up to renowned film director David Fincher, who also helmed music videos for Madonna and Billy Idol early in his career. After high school, he started directing clips for local artists. He moved to California in 2016 with sights set on working with London Alley Entertainment, a full-service production company behind award-winning videos for artists including Kendrick Lamar (“Alright”) and Logic (“1-800-273-8255”). Breslauer jokingly recalls that he reached out to founder/executive producer Luga Podesta dozens of times before first working with the company on a 2019 Cîroc commercial. However, London Alley didn’t start representing him until the following year, after Podesta saw the video for Roddy Ricch’s “The Box,” which earned an MTV Video Music Award nomination for best hip-hop video. “Our job as a company is seeing a director’s career long term instead of just per project,” says Podesta. “We strategize about who are the artists they want to work with and who manages those artists.”

Since then, Breslauer has become a go-to creator of visuals that are equally eye-popping and purposeful, working with superstars including The Weeknd, Doja Cat, John Legend and Lil Nas X (The latter’s “Industry Baby” clip with Jack Harlow won three VMAs). At the beginning of 2023, Breslauer directed the video for SZA’s “Kill Bill,” which has over 20 million views — and most recently, he helmed the ultimate Black girl superhero visual for Lizzo’s Special title track. “We helped [Christian] form the relationships with Lizzo and SZA,” says Podesta, also noting that the team “did four or five videos with SALXCO management and then finally got [him] to work with The Weeknd.” Adds Breslauer: “We try to build little Marvel universes for every artist I work with. That’s why artists like to come back and keep working with me.”

Tyga x Doja Cat, “Freaky Deaky”

Christian Breslauer, Doja Cat

Christian Breslauer and Doja Cat on the set of the “Freaky Deaky” music video.

Virisa Yong

After Tyga texted Breslauer about shooting a “futuristic” video for “Freaky Deaky,” a Doja Cat collaboration from his forthcoming album, Breslauer imagined a sexy cat-and-mouse game, with Doja capturing Tyga in various traps during a late-night rendezvous. The lyrics helped inspire some of them, including “Black Barbie, perfect and you gnarly,” which reminded Breslauer of a scene from Joe Dante’s 1998 film Small Soldiers when action figures punch out of their plastic boxes. “I put a lot of intention in breaking down the song,” says Breslauer. He often leans on artists to bring their own flair during shoots, noting that Doja Cat’s chastity belt lock featuring a phallic keyhole was an addition by her stylist Brett Alan Nelson.

Lizzo, “About Damn Time”

Lizzo, Christian Breslauer

Lizzo and Christian Breslauer on the set of the “About Damn Time” music video.

Micayla Catanzariti

Last year, Lizzo’s team asked Breslauer to direct three videos for her Grammy-nominated album Special. But once the newly minted record of the year “About Damn Time” went viral and subsequently reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, that visual took priority. The two set out to make something uplifting, with Breslauer running with Lizzo’s idea to open in a support group setting. The visual won video for good at the 2022 VMAs, with Lizzo dubbing Breslauer “Tittylauer” during her acceptance speech. “We have so many funny moments. She brings such a bubbly energy where you just can’t help but love her,” he said, calling the recent “Special” video his favorite one from her album.

SZA, “Kill Bill”

Christian Breslauer, SZA

SZA and Christian Breslauer on the set of the “Kill Bill” music video.

Micayla Catanzariti

For SZA’s latest video, Breslauer wanted to incorporate the singer’s idea of shibari rope bondage during the outro — a second sequence soundtracked by fellow SOS track “Seek & Destroy” — while still largely referencing Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films. “It seemed too on-the-nose to have an Uma [Thurman] cameo, but Vivica [A. Fox] was right to me,” says Breslauer of one of its driving scenes. “She’s got the look, she’s got the swagger.” He adds that they wrapped that shot around 5 a.m. as part of a 19-hour-long shoot that happened just days before Christmas. The video came out two weeks later — which Podesta says is “definitely the fastest video we’ve done in a while.”

A version of this story originally appeared in the Feb. 4, 2023, issue of Billboard.

06 Feb 2023

From Bad Bunny to Harry Styles, Which Performance at the 2023 Grammy Awards Was Your Favorite? Vote!

Stars descended on L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena on Sunday (Feb. 5) for the 65th annual Grammy Awards, with everyone from Bad Bunny and Lizzo to Harry Styles and Mary J. Blige taking the stage to perform.

And now that this year’s biggest night in music has officially come and gone, Billboard wants to know which star-studded performance still had you talking come Monday morning.

The artist otherwise known as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio opened the ceremony with a delightful mash-up of “El Apagón” and “Después de la Playa” off his bestselling album Un Verano Sin Ti, paying tribute to his native Puerto Rico with a colorful entourage of cabezudos and merengue dancers.

Ahead of her win for record of the year, Lizzo brought the house down with a joyful revisiting of “About Damn Time” and the title track off Special, just before Styles recreated the music video for “As It Was” by bringing the giant red turntable to the stage.

Of course, one of the most-talked-about moments of the night came when LL Cool J introduced the all-star tribute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, which brought pioneers and legends such as Salt-N-Pepa, Public Enemy, Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes together with the new guard of GloRilla, Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Baby for a 23-song medley that was nothing short of electrifying — gigantic Ruff Ryders flag flying high about the Grammys stage included.

This year’s In Memoriam segment was also particularly touching as Quavo memorialized the late Takeoff in between Kacey Musgraves‘ restrained performance of “Coal Miner’s Daughter” for Loretta Lynn and Mick Fleetwood teaming up with Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt to honor Christine McVie with “Songbird.”

Elsewhere in the telecast, Sam Smith and Kim Petras opened the gates of hell for “Unholy” after making history with their win for best pop duo/group performance, Blige belted out “Good Morning Gorgeous” looking nothing less than absolutely glam, and DJ Khaled rounded up a rogue’s gallery of Fridayy, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne John Legend and Jay-Z to close out the show with “God Did.”

Vote for your favorite musical number of the 2023 Grammys in Billboard‘s official poll below!

06 Feb 2023

Here’s What Harry Styles Had to Say About Winning 2023 Album of the Year Grammy Over Beyonce

As he was during his acceptance speech at the 2023 Grammy Awards on Sunday night (Jan. 5) after winning album of the year for his Harry’s House LP, after the broadcast Harry Styles was humble and gracious in talking about coming out on top over some serious competition. In a press room interview following the awards, Styles was asked by Billboard about the many headlines going into the night focused on the possibility that Beyoncé would finally score an album of the year prize for her dance-heavy Renaissance collection.

“I think… you never know with this stuff… I don’t think you can look at any of the nominees and not feel like they’re deserving,” said Styles while cradling his golden gramophone in his left hand. “When I look at this category it’s all people who’ve inspired me at different times. It’s not like.. you would understand anyone winning. I’m really grateful they chose us.”

Styles won out over albums from Bey, Adele (30), a rebooted ABBA (Voyage), Bad Bunny (Un Verano Sin Ti) Mary J. Blige (Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe), Brandi Carlile (In These Silent Days), Coldplay (Music of the Spheres), Kendrick Lamar (Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers) and Lizzo (Special). Styles also took home the best pop vocal album award for House. And though Queen Bey was thwarted a fourth time in her bid for an AOTY honor, she became the most-decorated artist in Grammy history when she scooped her 32nd trophy for best dance/electronic album on Sunday; her win vaulted the singer over late conductor Georg Solti for most Grammy wins of all-time.

At the same press appearance, Styles was asked if he and his co-producers (Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson) have begun work on the follow-up to Harry’s House. “We’ve always tried to not really stop writing because it feels like you have this big stop and then you come back to it and it can feel like you’re either trying to prove something or trying to follow something up, so we’re kind of just always writing.”

Check out Harry’s answer below.