Music

19 Jan 2023

C.J. Harris’ Cause of Death Revealed Following Sudden Passing

C.J. Harris’ cause of death was made public on Thursday (Jan. 19), less than a week after his sudden and tragic passing.

The singer died at just 31-years-old after suffering a heart attack on Sunday (Jan. 15), according to reporting by People. (Billboard has reached out to the Walker County Coroner’s Office in Harris’ native Alabama for confirmation.)

Harris first made waves across the nation by competing on Season 13 of American Idol in 2014, when he auditioned for judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and newcomer Harry Connick Jr. with a cover of “Soulshine” by The Allman Brothers Band. After earning his golden ticket, he progressed through Hollywood week and the semifinals to become one of the three Wild Card contenders to make the season’s crop of 13 finalists.

During the live shows, Harris often performed with his trusty guitar, churning out country-soul covers of Darius Rucker’s “Radio,” “Can’t You See” by Toy Caldwell of The Marshall Tucker Band, Hunter Hayes’ “Invisible,” The SteelDrivers’ “If It Hadn’t Been For Love” and more. Eventually, he was eliminated in sixth place behind eventual winner Caleb Johnson, runner-up Jena Irene and fellow finalists Alex Preston, Jessica Meuse and Sam Woolf.

Following his stint on Idol, Harris embarked on the post-season American Idols LIVE! Tour 2014 with the rest of the top 10 and even duetted with Rucker — one of his major inspirations — at the Grand Ole Opry. In 2016, the singer faced legal troubles after being arrested in a drug bust in Walker, Ala., where he was charged with three counts of alleged felony distribution of a controlled substance, including oxycodone and marijuana. His debut single, “In Love” was released in 2019, and just weeks before his death he hinted at new music he was planning to release later this year.

19 Jan 2023

The 1975’s ‘The City’ Skyrockets in Streams Following Taylor Swift Live Cover

If The 1975 wanted to find love for one of their earliest hits, then they know what the secret weapon is: a co-sign from the biggest pop star in the world, via a live rendition at their own concert.

Taylor Swift, who has long shared a mutual appreciation with the U.K. alt-pop quartet (and who may have even worked with them on still-unreleased Midnights sessions), made a surprise appearance at the first of their two headlining gigs at London’s O2 Arena last Thursday (Jan. 12). She played an acoustic version of her Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Anti-Hero” — technically the song’s live premiere — and then treated 1975 fans to a solo cover of “The City,” the group’s first-ever single and a highlight of their self-titled 2013 debut album.

Unsurprisingly, the performance — which enraptured social media and made headlines around the world — led to a considerable bump in consumption for The 1975’s original “City.” The song’s daily official on-demand U.S. streams nearly quadrupled from last Wednesday (Jan. 11, the day before the concert) to the following Friday — from 13,000 to 49,000, a gain of 276%, according to Luminate. The daily streams fell back from there, but still remained in the 20,000s, well above where it was before it got the Swift bump.

As for “Anti-Hero,” the other song Swift played — well, it probably doesn’t need any additional exposure to help its streams at this point. But it does hold on for an eighth week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 this week, making it her longest-running No. 1 to date.

19 Jan 2023

Depeche Mode’s ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ Flying High After ‘Last of Us’ Streaming Bump

Did you know that Depeche Mode‘s 1987 Music for the Masses single “Never Let Me Down Again” was a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit? Neither did we — in fact, our records show that the song actually peaked at No. 63 in Feb. ’88 — but according to HBO’s new post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us, it’s one of the songs featured in Fred Bronson’s essential The Billboard Book of Number One Hits compendium, which characters on the video game adaptation play over the radio in order to send coded messages to fellow survivors.

Regardless of its chart peak, the use of Depeche Mode’s dark synth-rock classic in the pilot episode’s chilling final scene — an ’80s song is meant in the show’s universe as a message of trouble — inspired many of the new video game adaptation’s millions of viewers to go play it themselves. “Never Let Me Down Again” more than tripled in official on-demand U.S. streams overnight, from 26,000 on the day of the premiere (Jan. 15) to 83,000 the next day — a gain of 220.5%, according to Luminate. (Depeche Mode even helped welcome the newly interested by adding a “Heard on Episode 1 of The Last of Us” parenthetical to the title of the song’s official YouTube video.)

Of course, when you start talking about minor crossover hits from the ’80s alt-pop underground being revived by blockbuster TV shows in 2023, all minds naturally go to Kate Bush and Stranger Things. The song has a long way to go still before showing that kind of renewed impact just yet — but it’s certainly a message that when it comes to catalog hits being given new life by dramatic TV syncs, a lot of artists are going to want to be taking a ride with The Last of Us.

19 Jan 2023

Gloria Gaynor Gives Miley Cyrus‘ ’Flowers‘ Her Seal of Approval: ‘Well Done Miley!’

Gloria Gaynor is giving Miley Cyrus her flowers. Since its release less than a week ago, the former Disney Channel star’s brand new single “Flowers” has been drawing a lot of comparisons to the former’s iconic 1978 hit “I Will Survive” — and Gaynor approves.

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In a recent Instagram post, the 79-year-old disco icon shared her love for Cyrus’ new track, which dropped Friday (Jan. 13) and leads the way for the 30-year-old pop star’s eighth studio album Endless Summer Vacation to arrive March 10. “I’m in Nashville working on new music and just heard, “Flowers,” for the first time, @MileyCyrus …,” the Masked Singer alum wrote in a Jan. 17 Instagram post, sharing a snippet of the “Flowers” music video.

“Your new song carries the torch of empowerment and encourages everyone to find strength in themselves to persevere and thrive,” Gaynor continued. “Well done Miley!”

Fans were quick to note the similarities between “Flowers” and “I Will Survive,” and a mashup of the two songs have started circulating on Twitter in the past few days. Some think that Cyrus purposefully interpolated Gaynor’s self-love anthem at certain moments in the song, particularly during the choruses — a tribute that would make sense given “Flowers” is very similar in message to “I Will Survive.”

Some have also pointed out lyrical and melodic similarities between “Flowers” and Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man.”

The first few weeks of January have been a whirlwind so far for Cyrus’ fans, who first kicked off her new musical era during her New Years’ Eve special on NBC, which she hosted alongside her country music legend godmother, Dolly Parton. During the special, she announced “Flowers” and its release date, which sent fans into a tailspin upon realizing that it was on Cyrus’ ex husband Liam Hemsworth’s birthday. Five days later, she unveiled the release date and cover art for her forthcomign studio album, Endless Summer Vacation.

See Gloria Gaynor’s post about Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” below.

19 Jan 2023

Elvis Presley & Britney Spears‘ ‘Toxic Las Vegas’ Debuts on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart

Elvis Presley and Britney Spears debut on Billboard‘s multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated Jan. 21) with “Toxic Las Vegas (Jamieson Shaw Remix)” at No. 26. The track earned 493,000 U.S. streams and sold 500 downloads in the Jan. 6-12 tracking week, according to Luminate.

Heard in the 2022 Presley biopic Elvis, and released Jan. 6, the track is a mash-up of two classics from different eras: Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas” and Spears’ “Toxic.” “Viva,” credited to Presley with the Jordanaires, reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964; “Toxic” rose to No. 9 in 2004.

Elvis director Baz Luhrmann compared the King of Rock and Roll to the Princess of Pop in an interview with entertainment.ie last June. “Just like Britney, who creates the quintessential ’90s pop music, you’re richer than God and you’re in the Hollywood bubble,” he said. “That’s what happens to Elvis. He’s gone from being this rebel, this punk, deeply steeped with his Black music friends doing radical music, to suddenly being isolated in Hollywood doing pop.”

The star pairing gives Presley his inaugural appearance on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, which premiered 10 years ago this month. It’s the eighth placement for Spears, who earned her second No. 1 last September, alongside Elton John on “Hold Me Closer.” (Spears first led with “Scream & Shout,” with will.i.am, on that inaugural survey, dated Jan. 26, 2013, beginning a five-week reign.)

Concurrently, “Toxic Las Vegas” opens at No. 12 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart, eclipsing the peak of Spears’ original “Toxic”; although its release predated the chart’s 2010 inception, “Toxic” hit No. 31 on that chart’s first edition in 2010.

On Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales, Spears has three No. 1s and nine top 10s among 23 appearances. “Toxic Las Vegas” is Presley’s second hit there, following “Don’t Fly Away (PNAU Remix),” billed as by Presley and PNAU (No. 18, last July).

Meanwhile, “Toxic” marks the latest revival as a mash-up for the enduring song: In early 2022, “Toxic Pony,” a blend with Ginuwine’s No. 1 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs smash, and a No. 6 Hot 100 hit, from 1996, reached No. 7 on R&B Digital Song Sales and No. 40 on Pop Airplay, among other showings.

19 Jan 2023

Skrillex, Fred Again.. & Flowdan’s ‘Rumble’ Rolls Into the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart’s Top 10

Skrillex, Fred Again.. and Flowdan fly into the top 10 on Billboard‘s multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated Jan. 21) with “Rumble,” up from No. 15 to No. 10. The song, released Jan. 4 and which debuted on the Jan. 14 tally from just two days of data, reaped 2.8 million streams and sold 1,000 downloads Jan. 6-12, according to Luminate.

“Rumble” marks the sixth top 10 for Skrillex and the first each for Fred Again.. and Flowdan. Skrillex boasts one leader: “Where Are You Now,” with Diplo and Justin Bieber, for two weeks in 2015.

Concurrently, “Rumble” roars on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (13-4) and enters Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs (No. 11).

But there’s more from Skrillex: His “Way Back,” with PinkPantheress and Trippie Redd, opens at No. 13 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. The track, which starts with 1.8 million streams, is Skrillex’s 38th entry, dating to “Right In,” which hit No. 24 just after the chart began in January 2013. “Back” marks the third appearance for Trippie Redd and the first for PinkPantheress.

‘Seventeen’ at 50

Wuki, aka DJ/producer Kris Barman, debuts on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with “Edge of Seventeen” at No. 50. It’s Wuki’s first solo Billboard charted title, following a run with Innerpartysystem, which hit the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart with EP Never Be Content (No. 15, 2011).

“Seventeen” – with unbilled vocals by U.K. singer Clementine Douglas – is a cover of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Fleetwood Mac legendary singer Stevie Nicks’ classic “Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove),” which scaled Mainstream Rock Airplay (No. 4, September 1981) and the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 11, April 1982). More recently, Miley Cyrus interpolated the song, with Nicks, in “Edge of Midnight (Midnight Sky Remix),” a reworking of Cyrus’ “Midnight Sky,” a No. 14 hit on the Hot 100 in 2020.

‘Dice’ Is Winning

Shifting to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, Armin van Buuren bursts into the top 10 with “Roll the Dice,” featuring Philip Strand (14-8). van Buuren’s 11th top 10 and Strand’s first, the song is drawing core-dance airplay on Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel, iHeartRadio’s Evolution and KMVQ-HD2 San Francisco, among other outlets. (The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 70 top 40-formatted reporters.)

19 Jan 2023

TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s ‘The Name Chapter: Temptation’ EP Includes a Coi Leray Collab

With less than 10 days until the release of TOMORROW X TOGETHER‘s forthcoming mini album, The Name Chapter: Temptation, more goodies hinting at the project’s contents continue to arrive. Thursday (Jan. 19) saw the K-pop group unveil the project’s tracklist, which includes a feature from rapper Coi Leray.

The tracklist was revealed in a poster shared to the K-pop group’s social accounts, and revealed the songwriting credits. The new tracks on the studio set include “Sugar Rush Ride” — the project’s lead single — “Devil by the Window,” “Happy Fools (feat. Coi Leray),” “Tinnitus (Wanna Be a Rock)” and “Farewell, Neverland.”

While MOA will need to wait a little while longer for the release of “Sugar Rush Ride,” the idols shared a snippet of the track via their TikTok account in videos of each member

The Name Chapter: Temptation and its lead single “Sugar Rush Ride” will arrive on Jan. 27, with an album preview to be released on Jan. 22. Two additional teasers for the project’s lead single will be shared on Jan. 24 and 25. Following the EP’s release, the K-pop group will perform a special showcase on Jan. 28.

The Name Chapter: Temptation will be the group’s first music release since the arrival of its fourth mini EP, minisode 2: Thursday’s Child. That project was a hit for the K-pop stars. It spent a total of 14 weeks on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at No. 4. Thursday’s Child achieved even more success on the Top Current Album Sales chart, where it spent 20 weeks on the tally and hit No. 1.

See TXT’s tracklist for The Name Chapter: Temptation, and get an early taste of “Sugar Rush Ride”:

19 Jan 2023

BLACKPINK Drops Limited-Edition ‘Born Pink’ Vinyl

BLACKPINK used social media on Wednesday (Jan. 18) to unveil the limited-edition vinyl of their sophomore album Born Pink.

The girl group announced the release on both Weverse and Instagram, revealing the baby pink vinyl will come with a plethora of extras, including a 72-page photo book, a BLACKPINK-branded vinyl protector grip, cork mat, double-sided poster, a set of six large photo cards, a random selfie photo card featuring one of the members, a photo sticker set of four and a pop-up card — all in a pink package box of the album’s artwork.

According to the post, the special vinyl is being released on Thursday (Jan. 19) and BLINKs couldn’t order it fast enough. “ITS NOT A WANT, ITS A NEED,” one wrote on Instagram in all caps, while another added, “All my money’s go-o-o-o-o-oneee~.” A third joked, “Blackpink fr knows how to make my pockets hurt.”

At the start of the year, reports surfaced that Jisoo’s long-awaited solo debut may finally be in the works, which would make her the fourth and final member of the group to branch out with her own music, following Jennie’s “SOLO” in 2018 and both Rosé’s single album -R- and Lisa’s self-titled Lalisa in 2021.

This spring, the idols will continue to make history by becoming the first Asian act to ever headline Coachella, along with Bad Bunny and Frank Ocean. The announcement came just four years after the foursome made their debut at the Indio, Calif.-based festival back in 2019, and less than a week after the music video for their early hit single “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” surpassed an astonishing two billion views on YouTube.

Check out BLACKPINK’s Born Pink vinyl announcement below.

19 Jan 2023

Elevation Worship’s ‘Same God’ Tops Hot Christian Songs & Christian Airplay Charts

Elevation Worship earns its second No. 1 on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Christian Songs chart and its third leader on Christian Airplay as “Same God” ascends to the top of both lists dated Jan. 21.

The song increased by 10% to 8 million audience impressions among Christian Airplay reporters in the Jan. 6-12 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also drew 1.5 million U.S. streams and sold 1,000 downloads.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based collective previously ruled Christian Airplay with “Rattle!” for a week in September 2021 (as it also hit No. 4 on Hot Christian Songs), and “Graves Into Gardens,” featuring Brandon Lake. The latter also topped both charts at once, on the tallies dated Feb. 6, 2021. It dominated Hot Christian Songs for two frames, while pacing Christian Airplay for a week.

Elevation Worship now sports two of the three select instances in which a track has dominated both charts simultaneously. Prior to “Same God” and “Gardens,” Mandisa first achieved the feat in September 2013 when “Overcomer” spent its first of 10 weeks atop Hot Christian Songs and its first of 12 frames in the Christian Airplay penthouse.

Notably, the act has released a studio version and a live version of “Same God,” the latter of which credits Jonsal Barrientes, a member of the group, in a featured role. Chris Brown, Elevation Worship frontman, sings lead vocals on the studio mix. (Both renditions contribute to the song’s singular chart listing.)

Brown co-wrote the track with Pat Barrett, Steven Furtick and Brandon Lake.

19 Jan 2023

Here’s Why Sadie Sink Thought Working With Taylor Swift on ‘All Too Well: The Short Film’ Was ‘Bizarre’

Sadie Sink is used to acting alongside demogorgons and shadow monsters on Stranger Things, but it was working with Taylor Swift that she thought was “bizarre.” During her Wednesday (Jan. 18) appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, the 20-year-old star opened up about how she was scouted for the singer’s All Too Well short film, which Sink explained was one of the most unexpected roles she’s ever been offered.

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“I was a fan of hers before,” she recalled. “Her team reached out and I guess she had me in mind for this video. I said, ‘Yes, of course.’”

When asked by Meyers whether Swift’s invitation had been the “trippiest” offer she’s ever told friends and family about receiving, she immediately said it was. “You would never think that our paths would really cross, someone being in the music industry and then in the film industry,” she explained.

“It was like two different worlds,” she added. “It was kind of a bizarre mashup, but everyone was very excited.”

The Whale actress starred alongside Dylan O’Brien in Swift’s All Too Well: The Short Film, which was released on YouTube in November 2021, and marked the longest motion picture project the “Anti-Hero” singer had yet directed. The short went on to win video of the year at last year’s VMAs, and Swift has since signed a deal with Searchlight Pictures to write and direct her first feature-length film.

The 11-time Grammy winner explained how important it was to her to get Sink onboard the All Too Well project when she made her own appearance on Late Night in 2021. “The only two people I imagined playing the two characters, it was Sadie and Dylan,” she told Meyers.

“If Sadie had said no, I don’t think I would have made it, I don’t think I would have made the film,” she continued. “I think I would’ve just been like, this is a sign.”

Watch Sadie Sink talk about working with Taylor Swift on Late Night With Seth Meyers above.