Music

03 Jan 2023

Fall Out Boy Tease 8th Album in Poetic New Year’s Fan Note: ‘We Spent the Last Year Jamming Ideas in a Tiny Room’

Fall Out Boy spent last year doing some serious woodshedding. We know this because in a poetic new year’s note to fans entitled “A Homeboy’s Life,” the Chicago-bred band promised that new music is coming in 2023.

“We spent the last year jamming ideas in a tiny room [and] can’t wait to share them with you,” they wrote in the new year’s day note to their email list signed by all four members, which ended with a teasing P.S. that read, “Thanks for always sticking around. Thanks for working the beat. Spoiler alert: we got more than a gold watch coming for you next year.”

The update was the follow-up to a nearly two-minute animated claymation video they dropped last week — A Claymation Fall Out Boy Celebration — starring a cute black dog, vomiting neon hands and a magical land of bizarre, shape-shifting creatures with what sounded like a brief snippet of new music. The video and note appear to be part of a long tease for the as-yet-untitled album, whose release date has not yet been announced.

The update for fans was also preceded by a website announcing “greetings from pink seashell beach,” with an image of a shell (inscribed with the hint “the answers are all inside of this”) that flips over when clicked to reveal a baseball on the other side and the message “the beach was never real. None of it is”; some fans also received cryptic postcards with the words “Pink Seashell Beach” on them and the message, “I saw you in a bright clear field. Hurricane heat in my head. The kind of pain you feel to get good in the end. Inscribed like stone and faded by the rain: ‘Give up what you love give up what you love before it does you in…’”

Before that, fans also posted images of a full-page ad FOB took out in their hometown Chicago Tribune in late November that read “FOB 8: If you build it, they will come.” At press time no additional information was available on follow to MANIA, which featured the singles “Young and Menace,” “Champion” and “The Last of the Real Ones.”

Check out a copy of the note below.

03 Jan 2023

Jennifer Lopez Shares 2022 Year-In-Review Photo Series Featuring Unseen Ben Affleck Wedding Shots

Jennifer Lopez had a massive 2022. In addition to marrying her former-and-current love actor Ben Affleck — not once, but twice — the 53-year-old singer/actress also announced her upcoming album (This is Me… Now), dropped a documentary about her 2020 Super Bowl halftime show with Shakira and starred in a return-to-form big screen rom-com.

“2022 was one of the best years yet!!! I cannot wait for all that’s to come next year,” Lopez wrote on New Year’s Day alongside an Instagram post featuring a series of snaps from last year, including never-before-seen images from her engagement and wedding to Affleck. “#HappyNewYear #ImJustGettingStarted #WaitingForTonight #ThisIsMeNow,” she added.

Lopez and Affleck got married on July 16 at Las Vegas’ famed Little White Wedding Chapel. The couple then did it again during a second ceremony at Affleck’s Georgia mansion in August. The year in review video opens with images of Affleck and Lopez kissing and a brief glimpse of the poster for her Owen Wilson/Maluma wedding comedy Marry Me, as well as images of the couple chilling at home and on vacation.

There is copious kissing, as well as Lopez accepting the Generation Award at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards, her flexing in a cut out pantsuit combo on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, a shot of that gigantic green ring Affleck put on her finger and footage of her wedding dress fittings and styling.

We get a few more looks at the first wedding in Vegas via some candids of the happy couple in their big day finest, as well as glam shots of Lopez posing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris while rocking a gigantic pearl necklace. And then there are more wedding dress sketches, some bathing suit snaps and a few pics of the singer’s 14-year-old twin children from her previous marriage to Marc Anthony, Max and Emme.

Check out Lopez’s year-in-review below.

03 Jan 2023

Michael Buble Enters 2023 With ‘Christmas’ No. 1

Michael Buble’s Christmas (via Reprise) is back on familiar territory — at No. 1 in the U.K.

The Canadian crooner’s holiday classic lifts 3-1, for its fifth non-consecutive week at the summit. Christmas first led the Official U.K. Albums Chart following its release in 2011, and last reached the top in December 2021.

With Christmas in the rearview, holiday albums are enjoying mixed fortunes. On the way down are Cliff Richard’s Christmas With Cliff (2-12 via EastWest/Rhino), the Bocellis’ A Family Christmas (5-20 via Decca), and Andre Rieu & Johann Strauss Orchestra’s Silver Bells (7-36 via Decca), while the late Bing Crosby bucks the trend with Christmas Classics (UMC/Virgin), up 91-27.

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In the absence of any new releases, hits collections figure prominently on the latest survey, published Friday, Dec. 30.

Among the best-sellers are Elton John’s Diamonds (Mercury/UMC), up 14-5; and the Weeknd’s The Highlights (Republic Records/XO), which lifts 12-7 following the release of his Avatar 2: The Way of Water soundtrack single, “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength).”

Also climbing are Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (up 13-8 via Rhino/Warner Bros) and 50 Years – Don’t Stop (up 25-15 via Rhino); Eminem’s Curtain Call – The Hits (up 18-11 via Interscope); ABBA’s Gold – Greatest Hits (up 20-13 via Polydor in its 1,078th week on the chart, a record); the U.K.’s top-selling album of all time, Queen’s Greatest Hits (up 23-16 via EMI); Oasis’ Time Flies – 1994-2009 (up 38-23 via Big Brother), Elvis Presley’s Elv1s – 30 Number 1 Hits (up 60-31 via BMG) and George Michael’s Twenty Five (up 74-40 via Aegean).

02 Jan 2023

Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ Returns to No. 1 In U.K.

Wham’s “Last Christmas” (via RCA) is the gift that keeps giving, as the ‘80s classic returns to No. 1 in the U.K.

The holiday standard lifts 2-1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Dec. 30, for its second stint at the summit in 2022.

According to the Official Charts Company, “Last Christmas” scoops over 79,000 combined chart units, including a market-leading 18 million streams, to bag the last No. 1 of the year.

Less than a year earlier, “Last Christmas” was finally crowned on the survey, setting a new mark for the longest journey to the top, at 36 years.

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The latest survey is brimming with Christmas spirit. Indeed, holiday numbers swamp the Top 40, taking out 34 spots, including nine of the top 10. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (Columbia) improves 4-2; Ed Sheeran & Elton John’s “Merry Christmas” (Atlantic) is up 5-3; Brenda Lee’s 1962 hit “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” (MCA) lifts 8-4, for a new peak; Michael Bublé’s “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas rebounds” (Reprise) is up 11-6; Bobby Helms bags a posthumous top 10 — his first in the U.K. — with “Jingle Bell Rock” (MCA) up 14-7; Lizzo lifts 15-8 with her Amazon Music “Original Someday At Christmas” (Atlantic); The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl’s “Fairytale of New York” (Warner Bros) gains 13-9; and Andy Williams’ “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of Year” (Sony Music) soars 21-10. 

LadBaby set a new chart record when “Food Aid” (BMG) bowed at No. 1 last week, the husband-and-wife duo’s fifth Christmas leader. The charity fundraised falls sharply in its second week, down to No. 85.

Expect an entirely different looking chart this Friday (Jan. 6), as Christmas songs make their annual exodus.

The highest charting non-Christmas-themed song belongs to Stormzy, whose This Is What I Mean ballad “Firebabe” (0207/Merky) lights up 10-5, for its equal peak position.

02 Jan 2023

Bad Bunny Responds After Throwing Fan’s Phone: ‘It’s a Disrespect’

Bad Bunny kicked off 2023 defending himself on Twitter after a mishap with a fan went viral on social media. 

In a recent video that began circulating the Internet, the superstar Puerto Rican artist is seen walking with his group of friends and team when an excited fan approached him with her phone and began recording in selfie mode. Just seconds later, an annoyed Bunny grabbed the phone and threw it into the bushes. “You have to respect his space,” said someone from the crew. 

The fan encounter occurred in the Dominican Republic, where the artist spent the holidays.  On Monday (Jan. 2), the “Tití Me Preguntó” singer took to Twitter to express his point of view. 

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“The person who comes up to me to say hello, to tell me something, or just to meet me, will always receive my attention and respect,” he wrote. “Those who come to put a freaking phone in my face I will consider it for what it is, a disrespect, and I will treat it as is.” He also used the hashtag #SinCojonesMeTiene, which loosely translates to “I don’t give a damn.” 

Meanwhile, the Bad Bunny fandom has mixed feelings about his actions. 

“Let’s normalize the fact that artists are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect always,” tweeted one fan. “You are the number one artist in the world and you hope people don’t want a picture with you? Get your feet on the ground,” said another. 

The incident comes just days after the reggaeton artist was spotted handing out toys to children in Puerto Rico as part of his “Bonita Tradición” event held by his Good Bunny Foundation, and later offered an impromptu concert on top of a gas station alongside urbano veteran Arcangel and newcomer Yovngchimi. 

See his tweet below:

02 Jan 2023

Fred White, Drummer of Earth, Wind & Fire, Dies at 67

Fred White, the former drummer of Earth, Wind & Fire, has died. He was 67.

The percussionist’s brother and bandmate Verdine White shared the sad news through social media on Sunday (Jan. 1). Neither the date nor the cause of White’s death had been disclosed at press time.

“Our family is saddened today with the loss of an amazing and talented family member. Our beloved brother Frederick Eugene ‘Freddie’ White,” Verdine White wrote on Instagram alongside photos of his brother.

“He joins our brothers Maurice, Monte, and Ronald in heaven and is now drumming with the angels!” he added. “He was the wonderful bro that was always entertaining and delightfully mischievous! And we could always count on him to make a seemingly bad situation more light-hearted.”

Fred White was born on Jan. 13, 1955 in Chicago. He began drumming at the age of 9 and later performed with Linda Ronstadt and Donny Hathaway before joining Earth, Wind & Fire in 1974. He was the fourth of the White brothers to perform in the Grammy-winning R&B band.

White sat behind the kit for some of Earth, Wind & Fire’s most successful songs, including “Shining Star,” which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1975. He also scored top 10 hits with “Let’s Groove,” “September,” “Sing a Song,” “After the Love Has Gone,” “Boogie Wonderland” and others.

White left Earth, Wind & Fire in the mid-1980s, but he returned for the band’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2000.

During his career, White also lent his drumming talents to recordings for Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat, Deniece Williams, the Emotions, Ramsey Lewis, Jennifer Holliday, and Diana Ross. Most recently, he collaborated with Ross on her 2021 album, Thank You.

Verdine White’s tribute post drew a slew of responses from fellow musicians, including Questlove, Lenny Kravitz and Nile Rodgers.

“Sending my love and deepest condolences to you and the family,” Kravitz commented. “I was blessed to have been in his presence and blessed to have been influenced by him. A true king. Rest in power.

See Verdine White’s tribute to his brother Fred on Instagram here.

02 Jan 2023

Drake, Missy Elliott, Ty Dolla $ign & More Pay Tribute to Gangsta Boo

The hip-hop community is mourning the death of pioneering Southern female rapper and former Three 6 Mafia member Gangsta Boo, who has died at the age of 43.

Drake, Missy Elliott, Ty Dolla $ign and Freddie Gibbs are among the many musicians remembering Boo, who was found dead on Sunday (Jan. 1) at a home in Memphis, Tennessee, according to Fox 13 in Memphis, Commercial Appeal and other reports. The cause of her death had not been released at press time.

“Rest in heaven Gangsta Boo,” Drake captioned a throwback photo of the late pioneering rapper in his Instagram Story.

Elliott shared a similar sentiment, tweeting, “Rest Peacefully @GangstaBooQOM.”

Ty Dolla $ign also took to Twitter to remember the late artist. “Long live my home girl Gangsta Boo Queen of the M,” he wrote.

Gibbs, meanwhile, shared what appeared to be a recent photo of himself hanging out with Boo. “Damn we was just together,” the rapper tweeted. “RIP Queen.”

Shortly after the news of her passing, Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul and Juicy J posted tributes to their former bandmate on Instagram. DJ Paul shared an captionless photo of the late rapper, while Juicy J posted a snapshot of the pair accompanied by a broken heart emoji.

“Man we was jus together three weeks ago,” Lil Jon commented in DJ Paul’s post. “Rest well quenn.”

The Three 6 Mafia members’ tribute posts also garnered comments from Ludacris, Bun B, Outkast’s Big Boi, Ty Dolla $ign, Jay Rock, Krayzie Bone, Cypress Hill’s B-Real, and others.

On New Year’s Eve, Boo shared a video on Instagram about her accomplishments from the past year. “Some of the things that I did in 2022! So fun and productive, climbed out my shell alot!! 2023 go be 23’n! #JORDAN #BOOPRINT #recap Happy New 2023 everyone!” she captioned the clip.

Boo, whose real name was Lola Mitchell, was born in the Whitehaven section of Memphis on Aug. 7, 1979. She joined local hip-hop collective Three 6 Mafia — founded by DJ Paul, Juicy J and Lord Infamous — at the age of 15 in 1994. That same year, she recorded her first solo song with the group, “Cheefa Da Reefa.” The track would set the tone for the Memphis femcee, who later unveiled her most popular hit “Where Dem Dollas At?” from her 1998 debut album, Enquiring Minds.

She went gone through a number of transformations during her career, renaming herself Lady Boo in 2001 and releasing numerous solo albums. In 2013, she joined Da Mafia 6ix before the passing of band member Lord Infamous in December of that year. In 2014, she and Da Mafia 6ix’s other femcee La Chat, also recorded Witch together.

In recent months, Boo was featured on GloRilla and Latto’s collaboration “F— The Club Up,” a play off Three 6 Mafia’s “Tear Da Club Up.”

“This one hit different,” Latto tweeted after discovering her passing. “I’m just glad I got to feel your embrace & give u ur flowers before u left us BIG BOO 4L.”

See more musician reactions to Boo’s death below.

02 Jan 2023

Rapper Gangsta Boo, Former Member of Three 6 Mafia, Dies at 43

Gangsta Boo, a pioneering Southern female rapper and former member of hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, has died, according to Fox 13 in Memphis, Commercial Appeal and other reports. She was 43.

Boo, born Lola Mitchell, was reportedly found dead on Sunday (Jan. 1) at approximately 4 p.m. at a home in Memphis. The cause of her death had not been released at press time.

Shortly after the news of her passing, Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul and Juicy J shared tributes to their former bandmate on Instagram. DJ Paul shared an captionless photo of the late rapper, while Juicy J posted a snapshot of the pair accompanied by a broken heart emoji.

“Man we was jus together three weeks ago,” Lil Jon commented in DJ Paul’s post. “Rest well quenn.”

The Three 6 Mafia members’ tribute posts also garnered comments from Ludacris, Bun B, Outkast’s Big Boi, Ty Dolla $ign, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s Krayzie Bone, Cypress Hill’s B-Real, and others.

On New Year’s Eve, Boo shared a video on Instagram about her accomplishments from the past year. “Some of the things that I did in 2022! So fun and productive, climbed out my shell alot!! 2023 go be 23’n! #JORDAN #BOOPRINT #recap Happy New 2023 everyone!” she captioned the clip.

Boo was born in the Whitehaven section of Memphis, Tennessee, on Aug. 7, 1979. She joined local hip-hop collective Three 6 Mafia — founded by DJ Paul, Juicy J and Lord Infamous — at the age of 15 in 1994. That same year, she recorded her first solo song with the group, “Cheefa Da Reefa.” The track would set the tone for the Memphis femcee, who later unveiled her most popular hit “Where Dem Dollas At?” from her 1998 debut album, Enquiring Minds.

Boo went gone through a number of transformations during her career, renaming herself Lady Boo in 2001 and releasing numerous solo albums. In 2013, she joined Da Mafia 6ix before the passing of band member Lord Infamous in December of that year. In 2014, she and Da Mafia 6ix’s other femcee La Chat, also recorded Witch together.

In recent months, Boo was featured on GloRilla and Latto’s collaboration “F— The Club Up,” a play off Three 6 Mafia’s “Tear Da Club Up.”

Boo spoke with Billboard in December 2022, revealing that she was working on a new project called The BooPrint, which she hoped to release early this year. She also touched on her legacy as a rapper in the hip-hop scene.

“I would honestly say that I have to admit, respectfully and humbly, that I am the blueprint. I hear my cadence in a lot of men and female rappers,” Boo told Billboard. “My sound is a Memphis sound. It’s a Gangsta Boo sound, it’s a Three 6 Mafia sound. So, I am the blueprint and I wear that badge proudly as f—.”

02 Jan 2023

Sara Bareilles Says ‘Yes to Marrying’ Joe Tippett

Sara Bareilles is ringing in 2023 by announcing plans to marry longtime boyfriend Joe Tippett.

The musician and Girls5Eva star took to Instagram on New Year’s Day to reveal that she said “yes to marrying” the Mare of Easttown actor.

“You are exactly who I want,” Bareilles wrote of Tippett in an Instagram caption alongside a photo of the two of them looking into each other’s eyes, with Bareilles wearing a gold band on her left ring finger.

“The more I know you the more I know I love you…and you have introduced me to parts of myself I was afraid to love. And now I love ME more because of you,” she continued before joking. “So really this is all about me. Just kidding.”

Getting serious again, she wrote, “What a gift you are. Let the games begin. Onward into absolutely everything with you.”

In her Instagram Story, Bareilles wrote that her New Year’s resolution was to “marry this man,” posting a carousel of photos of the two of them in which they “tried to be normal.”

A few months ago, Bareilles celebrated the pair’s seven-year anniversary, writing on Instagram, “The world that is burning has somehow brought me someone like @joetipps who I am constantly in awe of and inspired by and challenged by and infuriated by and loved by in a way I can’t even describe except I know it is Truth with a capital T.”

And earlier this month, Tippett — whose credits include Spirited, Alaska Daily, The Morning Show and Rise — called Bareilles his “absolute favorite person” in a post marking her birthday.

“Happy Birthday to the sunshine in my eyes. The star at the center of my solar system. My lighthouse in a storm. The laugh that melts away my cynicism,” Tippett wrote on Instagram of the Grammy winner.

According to reports, the two met while working on the Broadway musical adaptation of the Adrienne Shelly film Waitress. Bareilles wrote the music and lyrics for the production while Tippett played Earl. Bareilles also spent time starring in the production as Jenna.

It was recently announced that after two seasons on NBCUniversal’s Peacock, Girls5Eva is moving to Netflix for its third season.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show earlier this year, Bareilles talked about how Tippett helped calm her nerves over acting in the comedy series executive produced by Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Meredith Scardino and Jeff Richmond.

“I was struggling with insecurities about being able to meet the challenge of it and I felt really out of my depth,” Bareilles said. “And he’s like, ‘If Tina Fey believes that you can do this, why don’t you just trust her? If you can’t find it in yourself, just trust that one of your heroes is not going to put you in a position to fail.’ And that was really good advice.”

The pair previously sparked engagement rumors when Bareilles commemorated their three-year anniversary on Instagram, writing, “Can’t wait for it to be forever.”

She later clarified that the pair were not engaged, sharing a photo of her ringless hand and writing, “Not engaged everyone but thank you for all the cute wishes and the reminder that my post may have [misled] you. Haha sorrryyyyyyy.”

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

02 Jan 2023

SZA’s ‘SOS’ Tops Billboard 200 for Third Week in a Row

SZA’s SOS rules the Billboard 200 chart (dated Jan. 7) for a third straight and total week as the set earned 128,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 29 (down 29%), according to Luminate. Plus, five holiday albums populate the top 10 — the most in a year — led by Michael Bublé’s former No. 1 Christmas.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Jan. 7, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 4 (one day later than usual, due to the New Year’s Day holiday on Jan. 1). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of SOS’ 128,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 126,500 (down 29%, equaling 168.73 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 1,000 (down 20%) and TEA units comprise 500 (up 3%).

SOS is the first R&B album by a woman to spend three weeks at No. 1 since Beyoncé’s self-titled effort also spent its first three weeks atop the list in 2013. (R&B albums are defined as those that have hit Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart.)

Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Midnights is a non-mover at No. 2 with 106,000 equivalent album units (down 32%), while Bublé’s Christmas rises 5-3 with 62,000 units (down 14%). Christmas is one of five holiday albums in the top 10, the most in the region since the chart dated Jan. 2, 2022, when the top 10 also housed five festive sets.

Metro Boomin’s chart-topping Heroes & Villains is stationary at No. 4 with 58,000 equivalent album units earned (down 24%). Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song hits a new peak, rising 7-5 with 57,000 units. It previously topped out at No. 6, first achieved on the Jan. 2, 2021-dated list.

Drake and 21 Savage’s former leader, Her Loss, holds at No. 6 with 50,000 equivalent album units earned (down 16%) and Bad Bunny’s former No. 1 Un Verano Sin Ti climbs 10-7 with 48,000 (down 9%). A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector climbs to a new chart high, rising 11-8 with 47,000 units (down 1%). The set had earlier plateaued at No. 10 on the Jan. 8, 2022-dated tally. Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas is a non-mover at No. 9 with 47,000 units (down 10%) and Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack falls 8-10 with 45,000 units (down 20%).

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.