Music

13 Jan 2023

First Stream: New Music From Miley Cyrus, Bizarrap & Shakira, Sam Smith and More

Billboard’s First Stream serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

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This week, Miley Cyrus grows with “Flowers,” Shakira doesn’t hold anything back alongside Bizarrap, and Sam Smith recruits two pals to keep evolving. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:

Miley Cyrus, “Flowers” 

Throughout her career, Miley Cyrus has remade her image and sound at the start of a new album era, from the grown-up synth-pop of Can’t Be Tamed to the audacious hip-hop influence of Bangerz to the pensive country-pop of Younger Now to the homage-paying guitar-rock of Plastic Hearts. As a sleek, disco-adjacent midtempo pop track, “Flowers,” the first taste of upcoming album Endless Summer Vacation, doesn’t tip its hand and reveal a radical sonic reinvention for Cyrus — but that lack of transformation actually benefits the superstar, who sings of changing course and finding self-fulfillment after a breakup, in this context. Singing with wisdom and a steady sense of space on “Flowers,” Cyrus shows that she can still conjure pop magic, but can also feel comfortable in her own skin.

Bizarrap & Shakira, “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” 

“This is for you to be mortified, to chew and swallow, swallow and chew,” Shakira declares on volume 53 of Bizarrap’s acclaimed (and increasingly popular) music sessions — and indeed, the collaboration is intended as an evisceration, with several haymakers directed at Shakira’s ex-husband, soccer star Gerard Piqué, already making the rounds on social media. However, don’t let the tabloid fodder outshine Shakira’s most vibrant single in years: “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” is rich with hooks, beat changes and invigorated singing, as if dunking on her ex has unlocked the most dazzling version of an all-time superstar.

Sam Smith feat. Koffee & Jessie Reyez, “Gimme” 

The Sam Smith Renaissance continues with “Gimme,” a lush dancehall riff on which the singer-songwriter, having recently tinkered with their microphone persona on the sweaty hyperpop smash “Unholy,” downplays their crooning for a more subtle, sensual delivery, to great effect. Instead of sacrificing the intimacy of a sexually charged song like “Gimme,” guest stars Koffee and Jessie Reyez switch up the song’s chemistry and make every second of the track, from the chiming refrain to the bumping second verse, as impactful as possible.

Moneybagg Yo & GloRilla, “On Wat U On” 

Give Moneybagg Yo and GloRilla, two rock-solid Memphis rappers increasingly crucial to mainstream hip-hop, a bass-heavy beat with a menacing piano line, and the results are probably going to be stellar. Yet “On Wat U On” represents more than a reliable head-knocker from the CMG label mates: as the pair justify their kiss-offs while cosplaying in an unstable relationship, they form a symbiotic relationship of loners who know what they want and can toss in the right ad-libs to demonstrate as much (GloRilla earns extra points for dropping “Hate yo’ ass!” to punctuate a line).

Margo Price, Strays 

In the summer of 2020, during the throes of the pandemic, Margo Price and her husband/collaborator Jeremy Ivey spent six days in South Carolina taking a ton of hallucinogenic mushrooms and furiously penning the album that would eventually become Strays; that backstory explains the inhibited songwriting at the heart of the country-folk mainstay’s fourth album, but also underscores how nuanced the album can be in between more free-wheeling moments. Tracks like the kicky “Been to the Mountain” are balanced out with “County Road,” a poignant message to a young victim of a car accident, and “Lydia,” a powerhouse ballad about abortion that stands among Price’s best work.

PartyNextDoor, “Her Old Friends” 

About 95 seconds into new single “Her Old Friends,” PartyNextDoor locks into a groove that reminds casual fans why he’s still such an exciting presence in popular R&B: his voice floats up then twists back down, and stacked vocals circle in and out of harmonizing, as if a ghostly chorus can’t decided whether or not to support him. The new track follows singles like “Sex in the Porsche” and “No Fuss,” hinting at the first PND full-length since 2020… but regardless of when that arrives, moments like that in the middle of “Her Old Friends” are worth savoring.

13 Jan 2023

Robin ‘Robbie’ Bachman, Bachman-Turner Overdrive Drummer, Co-Founder Dies at 69

Robin “Robbie” Bachman, the co-founder and drummer of 1970s rockers Bachman-Turner Overdrive, has died at 69. The news was announced by Bachman’s older brother, former Guess Who singer and BTO vocalist Randy Bachman in a statement on Thursday (Jan. 12), in which he wrote, “Another sad departure. The pounding beat behind BTO, my little brother Robbie has joined Mum, Dad & brother Gary on the other side. Maybe Jeff Beck needs a drummer! He was an integral cog in our rock ‘n’ roll machine and we rocked the world together. #RIP #littlebrother #family.”

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The Winnipeg, Manitoba-bred band (also known as BTO) formed in 1973 and blazed a trail through the prog rock and disco era with a series of hard-charging AM radio rock hits including the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” as well as “Takin’ Care of Business,” “Roll on Down the Highway” and “Let It Ride.” The original lineup included another Bachman sibling, guitarist Tim Bachman (replaced by Blair Thornton in 1974), as well as bassist Fred Turner.

BTO released their self-titled debut in May 1973, but it was their second album, Dec. 1973’s Bachman-Turner Overdrive II that broke them in the U.S., thanks to signature hits “Takin’ Care of Business” and “Let It Ride.” The group’s third effort, 1974’s Not Fragile, hit No. 1 on the Billboard album charts and spawned the driving, stuttering No. 1 hit “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” and another enduring classic rock radio staple “Roll on Down the Highway,” co-written by Robbie Bachman.

Singer Randy Bachman split after the release of 1977’s Freeways, replaced by bassist Jim Clench, with the group forced to perform as BTO due to the ex-singer’s rights to the full name. The band split up in 1980 and reunited three years later, with Robbie Bachman replaced by former Guess Who drummer Gary Peterson; he returned in 1988 for another three-year run.

Due to ongoing tensions between the Bachman brothers, the revolving door of band lineups continued throughout the late 1980s through a second break-up in 2005; that break-up marked the official end of Robbie Bachman’s run with BTO. Randy Bachman returned for a fourth stint on the mic in 2009, leading the group through its final split in 2018.

See Randy Bachman’s tribute and listen to “Roll on Down the Highway” below.

13 Jan 2023

Meek Mill Pardoned By Philadelphia Governor: ‘I’m Only Gone Do More For My Community on God!’

Meek Mill celebrated a momentous day on Thursday (Jan. 12) when he announced that outgoing Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf had granted him a pardon on the 15-year-old drug and gun charges that for years bedeviled the rapper’s life and career. The moves means the offenses will be permanently expunged from his criminal record. “Thankyall. I’m only gone do more for my community on God!,” Meek wrote on Instagram alongside a slightly redacted copy of the official pardon document. “#newlevelsunlocked,” he added.

Over on Twitter, Meek, 35, added, “I got pardoned today…, I’m taking things really far from being a trench baby!” The pardon reads, “Therefore, know ye that in consideration of the premises and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the [redacted] said Robert R. Williams (Alias: Meek Mill) born on May 6, 1987, identified [redacted]… crime(s) whereof he was convicted as aforesaid, and he is thereby fully pardoned [redacted].

Mill (born Robert Rihmeek Williams), was convicted on drug and weapons charges in 2008 — when he was 18-years-old — and sentenced to 11-23 months in prison and released after serving eights months of his sentence and was later placed on probation for five years. What followed was a years-long series of legal entanglements that helped transform the rapper into an advocate for criminal justice reform.

Mill was arrested again in 2012 after cops said they smelled marijuana coming from his car, then was back in court two years later on a probation violation for booking performances outside of his native Philly without a judge’s approval, resulting in another prison sentence. The same judge sentenced him to 90 days of house arrest in 2016 for another alleged violation for traveling outside Philly, and once more in 2017 for violating his terms of probation, netting him a two to four year sentence in state prison.

In July 2019, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania granted Mill’s appeal, thereby overturning his 2008 conviction and ordering a new trial to be overseen by a different judge. That same year, Mill launched the non-profit REFORM Alliance, whose mission is to “transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing.”

See a copy of the pardon document below.

13 Jan 2023

SZA, Taylor Swift Rule Australia’s Charts

SZA cleans-up on the Australian singles chart with “Kill Bill” (via RCA/Sony), while Taylor Swift enters a 10th non-consecutive week at No. 1 on the national albums survey with Midnights (Universal).

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Swift’s 10th and latest album becomes her longest-reigning No. 1 on the ARIA Chart, eclipsing the nine-week run for 1989’s 2014. On the latest chart, published Friday, Jan. 13, 1989 dips 19-20.

“Congratulations Taylor! Ten weeks at No. 1 is a great achievement and 10 chart-topping albums in just 12 years is incredible,” comments ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd. “Australia’s love affair with Taylor and her music is not slowing down.”

Midnights manages to hold off SZA’s SOS from a first stint on the albums chart throne, as it holds at No. 2 — though the U.S. R&B star goes one better on the ARIA Singles Chart.

In a week that saw SZA drop a bloody music video for “Kill Bill,” the track lifts 2-1 on the ARIA Chart for her first leader in Australia.

Until now, SZA’s best was a No. 2 placing for “All The Stars” with Kendrick Lamar, lifted from the Black Panther soundtrack in 2018. She also featured on Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More,” which peaked at No. 2 in 2021.

“Kill Bill” switches places with Sam Smith & Kim Petras’ “Unholy” (Capitol/Universal), which slips 1-2, just days after Smith performed an exclusive, intimate concert at the d’Arenberg Cube winery in McLaren Vale, Adelaide.

Raye’s “Escapism” (Orchard) featuring U.S. rapper 070 Shake reaches a new high, up 7-4. The British singer and songwriter snagged the U.K. No. 1 this week with “Escapism,” released independently after her public split with Polydor, part of Universal Music Group.

Meanwhile, Dean Lewis’ “How Do I Say Goodbye” (Island/Universal) is the best-placed homegrown track on Australia’s official singles chart, up 26-16, just two places removed from its peak position.

Also noteworthy is Stephen Sanchez and Em Beihold’s dark horse “Until I Found You” (Universal), which races 30-12, six months after it first impacted the top 100, while Skrillex, Fred Again and Flowdan bag the week’s highest debut, as “Rumble” (Atlantic/Warner) starts at No. 35.

13 Jan 2023

Rihanna Roars Into Action For New Super Bowl Halftime Teaser: Watch

Rihanna is ready to own 2023.

The superstar Barbadian singer and songwriter will make her long-awaited live comeback next month when she graces the biggest stage of them all, the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

The NFL and Apple Music, the league’s partner for the entertainment slot, ratchet-up the hype with a new 30-second spot.

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In the clip, posted to Rihanna’s social accounts, the returning star twirls and snakes to a montage of broadcasters commenting on RiRi and her lengthy absence from the spotlight.

As the voices overlap and form a cacophony, a dramatic pause. Rihanna gets her close-up with her hair in a dramatic twist, she stares down the barrel and gives us the universal sign for “shush”.

The promo closes out with a snippet of “Needed Me,” lifted from her eighth studio album, Anti — a possible nod to her setlist for the newly rebranded Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, 

As previously reported, RiRi will perform Feb. 12 during the long break for Super Bowl LVII, which is being produced by DPS with Roc Nation.

State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona will host the big game.

Just last week, Rhianna used the platform of football’s showpiece event to show off a new limited-edition collection of football-inspired Fenty gear under the “Game Day” banner. The sporty drop features 17 styles, from hoodies to boxers, sweatpants, two-tone varsity jerseys, beanies, bandanas and tube tops, with sizes ranging from XXS to 4X. 

There’s a good chance Rhianna will back up the Super Bowl with a performance at the 2023 Academy Awards on March 12, assuming “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is nominated for best original song.

“Lift Me Up,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, was co-written with Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coogler and Tems, and is one of 15 songs shortlisted in that category last month.

Across her career, Rihanna has bagged 14 No. 1s on the Hot 100, and two leaders on the Billboard 200 chart, including Anti.

Watch the latest Super Bowl teaser below.

12 Jan 2023

Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor Talks Cancer Battle: ‘No One Can Be Prepared For That’

When Duran Duran was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame last November, just reward for a 40-year-plus career of hits and flashy music videos which helped ignite the format, one essential bandmate was missing from the picture — founding guitarist Andy Taylor.

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Duranies — the enduring collective noun for Duran Duran fans — had hoped for an on-stage reunion with Taylor and his former bandmates, the first in 17 years. It wasn’t to be.

As Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor (none of the Taylors are related) accepted their Rock Hall induction, a message was read out from the axeman, addressing for the first time his cancer battle.

“Four years ago, Andy was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer,” LeBon said, breaking the news, before reading a portion of a letter.

Taylor returns to his health battles for a new interview for U.K. TV, and explains how music and creativity has lifted his spirits.

The diagnosis came when Andy was 56 years old, and presented when he went jogging and felt what he describes as “arthritic sort of pain.” He began to “have these symptoms, and didn’t recognize them for what they could be.” Lumps would appear on his neck, a troubling sign that the cancer had metastasized. The biopsy results confirmed the worst, an illness he describes as “a death sentence.”

On hearing the extent of his illness, “no one can be prepared for that.”

Due to his poor health, Taylor missed the ceremony in Los Angeles, for which he’d planned to break out a new guitar.

Now that the word is out, Taylor, 61, uses his platform to tell others to get checked, and urges female fans to apply gentle pressure on the men in their lives. “Give him a nudge, go get a test,” he tells 5 News.

In a fight with cancer, time is precious. “Every minute is like an hour, every day is like a week,” he explains. “You really want to get the most out of life. And I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve had so much in terms of living the dream.”

Taylor has lived the dream like few others. With a string of hits, including “Girls On Film,” “Rio,” “Hungry Like The Wolf,” “Is There Something I Should Know,” “The Reflex,” “Wild Boys,” Duran Duran was arguably the most popular band on the planet in the first half of the 1980s. All those numbers came with slick music videos which either looked like shorts from blockbuster movies, or, in the case of “Girls On Film” and “The Chauffeur,” were too risqué for mainstream TV.

With his rock ‘n’ roll attitude and playing style, Taylor was something of an outlier in the band, contributing a rawness to Duran Duran’s sound during those golden years.

Without Andy Taylor’s contribution, many fans and critics argue, Duran Duran wouldn’t be the Hall of Famers they are today.

When the group split in two in 1985, following the release of the James Bond theme “A View to A Kill,” Taylor and bassist John Taylor formed The Power Station with the late Robert Palmer and Tony Thompson, while the others created Arcadia.

Taylor contributed to sessions for the 1986 album Notorious, then went his own way with a solo career. He’d reunite with DD for 2004’s Astronaut album, and for tour dates in support.

Taylor has recorded three albums since learning of his illness, and continues to perform when possible.

Playing guitar has had an unexpected benefit. “It’s really helped me to live with the pessimism of an incurable disease,” he notes, “but the optimism of creating music.”

Watch the interview below.

12 Jan 2023

Taeyang and Jimin Unleash ‘Vibe’ & It’s Definitely a Vibe: Watch

Taeyang and Jimin joined forces to release their new collaborative single “Vibe” on Friday (Jan. 13).

On the track, the two boy band veterans trade verses, singing and rapping, “You know we got that vibe baby/Look at you, look at you/You got the vibe, I can feel it, It’s a vibe.”

Accompanying the song is a suitably vibey visual, which captures the pair’s slick dance moves and charisma. 

“Vibe” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Trending Songs Powered by Twitter chart (dated Jan. 14) before it was even released, largely thanks to the collab’s announcement and its accompanying swoon-worthy teaser posters featuring the two idols.

The track marks Taeyang’s first solo track since he was discharged from his mandatory service in the South Korea military in Nov. 2019. Last year, the BIGBANG member inked a new deal with YG Entertainment subsidiary The Black Label, and the boy band also returned from their four-year-long hiatus with their single “Still Life.”

Meanwhile, Jimin’s 2022 collaboration with Ha Sung-woon already holds the record for the second-longest reign at No. 1 on the Hot Trending Songs chart, tied with SB19’s “Bazinga.” The BTS member rang in his 27th birthday — which was celebrated by ARMY worldwide — last fall, just weeks after releasing the first preview images of his solo photo folio Me, Myself, and Jimin: ‘ID : Chaos.’

BIGBANG may have their years in the military behind them, but the members of BTS are just starting to begin the enlistment process required by their home country. In Dec., Jimin and his band mates sent Jin and his freshly buzzed locks off to basic training at the army base in Yeoncheon in a heartwarming video shared to the group’s official YouTube channel.

Watch Taeyang and Jimin’s “Vibe” below.

12 Jan 2023

Lisa Marie Presley’s Death Mourned by Questlove, LeAnn Rimes & More: ‘I Hope She Is at Peace in Her Dad’s Arms’

Her death at age 54 was confirmed Thursday by her mother, Priscilla Presley.

Lisa Marie Presle

Lisa Marie Presley poses at the Wonderwall portrait studio during the 2013 CMT Music Awards at Bridgestone Arena on June 5, 2013 in Nashville.

Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Wonderwall

After the news broke late Thursday (Jan. 12) that Lisa Marie Presley had died at age 54, tributes to the singer/songwriter and Elvis Presley‘s only child poured onto social media.

It was reported earlier in the day that Lisa Marie Presley was rushed to the hospital and had suffered cardiac arrest. Her mother, Priscilla Presley, announced her death on Thursday night. “It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”

Among the stars remembering Lisa Marie was Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, who struggled to put his grief into words. “There is heartbreak and then there is sorrow,” he tweeted. “This would be sorrow and on more levels than I can count. Please send your prayers out for her family and children at this difficult time. I truly cannot fond the words to express how sad this truly is.”

LeAnn Rimes took solace in the fact that Lisa Marie would be reunited with her father, Elvis. “I hope she is at peace in her dad’s arms,” Rimes tweeted. “My heart goes out to her family. Too much grief in just a couple of years,” Rimes added, referencing the death of Lisa Marie’s son, Benjamin Keough, at age 27 in 2020.

See all the tributes to Lisa Marie Presley below.

12 Jan 2023

Lisa Marie Presley, Singer/Songwriter & Elvis’ Only Child, Dies at 54

Lisa Marie Presley — the only child of Elvis Presley — died Thursday (Jan. 12) after being hospitalized earlier that day, her mother said in a statement. The singer was 54.

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“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”

The announcement came just hours after Priscilla Presley had confirmed that Lisa Marie Presley was rushed to the hospital earlier Thursday.

Los Angeles County paramedics were dispatched to a Calabasas home at 10:37 a.m. following a report of a woman in full cardiac arrest, according to Craig Little, a spokesperson for the county’s fire department. Property records indicate Presley was a resident at that address.

Paramedics arrived about six minutes later, Little said. A subsequent statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said paramedics performed CPR and “determined the patient had signs of life” before taking her to the hospital immediately.

The city of Calabasas is nestled between the foothills of the Santa Monica and the Santa Susanna Mountains, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Presley, 54, attended the Golden Globes on Tuesday, on hand to celebrate Austin Butler’s award for playing her father in Elvis. She called his performance “mind-blowing” during a red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight.

“I really didn’t know what to do with myself after I saw it,” she told ET of Baz Luhrmann’s movie. “I had to take, like, five days to process it because it was so incredible and so spot on and just so authentic that, yeah, I can’t even describe what it meant.”

Just days before that, she was in Memphis, Tennessee, at Graceland — the mansion where Elvis lived — to celebrate her father’s birth anniversary on Jan. 8.

A representative for Lisa Marie Presley had no comment when reached by The Associated Press.

Presley recently penned an essay published in People about “the horrific reality” of her grief following her son Benjamin Keough’s death by suicide in 2020.

“I’ve dealt with death, grief and loss since the age of 9 years old. I’ve had more than anyone’s fair share of it in my lifetime and somehow, I’ve made it this far,” she wrote in August.

Presley is also the mother of actor Riley Keough and twin daughters. Keogh’s representatives didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

12 Jan 2023

Megan Moroney, ERNEST & 49 Winchester Land on Spotify’s 2023 Hot Country Artists to Watch List 

On Thursday (Jan. 12), Spotify released its Hot Country Artists to Watch list, and making this year’s list is Megan Moroney, who just released a music video for her viral hit “Tennessee Orange, which currently ranks at No. 43 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart.

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“I remember when I moved to town, I dreamed of being on the Hot Country Playlist,” Moroney said in a Spotify video. “To be on that playlist now is very cool for me and I’m very grateful.”

“Narcissist” singer-songwriter Avery Anna makes the list too, as does Dylan Marlowe (known for his remake of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” and new song “Goodbye Gets Around”).

ERNEST, who earned a top 20 Billboard Country Airplay hit with “Flower Shops” (featuring Morgan Wallen) and recently launched his own music publishing venture, also makes the list.

“There have been a ton of awesome names on this list and it’s an honor to be one of them,” ERNEST says in the video.

Country-rock group 49 Winchester’s high-octane sound puts the group on the list, while they are joined by “Don’t Come Lookin’” hitmaker Jackson Dean, whose music was recently featured on the hit series Yellowstone.

Also landing on the Spotify Artists to Watch list this year is the group Restless Road, known for “Take Me Home” (a collab with Kane Brown inspired by the John Denver classic “Take Me Home, Country Roads”), as well as “Growing Old With You.”

Others making the list include Ella Langley (“Country Boy’s Dream Girl”), Josh Ross (“First Taste of Gone”) and Tanner Adell (“Honky Tonk Heartbreak”).

See more from this year’s honorees below: