State Champ Radio Music
Page: 315
Today’s music executives pay particular attention to on-demand consumption. If a listener chose a particular song, rather than simply hearing something that came up randomly, it’s fairly safe to assume that the song had greater value to them.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
But, new artist Chase McDaniel argues, real-time listening might very well have more impact on listeners in certain situations since there’s a surprise element involved in the experience.
“There’s probably three times in my life that I can say a song changed my life, and it was always on country radio,” he says. “In this day and age, when you can go and select the song and play it yourself, or you go to some playlist and it’s this [artificial intelligence]/robot thing, it takes away the meaning. But when you hear it played on the radio, and it’s at the right time, and you don’t know why it’s on right now, and it feels like it’s for you, it feels divine.”
Trending on Billboard
McDaniel hopes his first radio single — “Burned Down Heaven,” released by Big Machine to country radio through PlayMPE on March 17 — has that kind of effect on those who hear it. It certainly had psychological value for McDaniel, since it forced him to confront a painful chapter from his past.
“[It was] this low point, just covered in shame and in guilt and loneliness, knowing what you’ve done and not being able to fix it,” he says. “That’s truly what that lyric’s kind of pointing to.”
Just as McDaniel’s been surprised a few times by a song on the radio, he was surprised by “Burned Down Heaven.” It emerged from a conversation with his grandfather, who was reflecting on his relationship with his wife.
If he were forced to choose, his grandfather said, “I think I would turn down heaven for your mamaw.”Preparing on Feb. 13, 2024, for the next day’s writing appointment, McDaniel started working with that “turn down heaven” phrase as a possible title. But on one run-through, he was shaken by a small mistake.
“I accidentally said the phrase ‘burned down heaven,’ as if it fell from the sky,” he remembers. “It was like it came from my subconscious. I literally felt like I got struck by lightning, because saying the phrase ‘burned down heaven’ felt like the worst imaginable thing that anyone could say.”
If the thought hit him that hard, then it might have some emotional value for other people, too, so he considered bringing it up the next morning, though he had some reservations: The idea of setting fire to heaven might offend some listeners. So he held it back when he showed up to write with Jon Nite (“Dancin’ in the Country,” “Break Up in the End”) at the Nashville studio of writer-producer Lindsay Rimes (“World on Fire,” “Heaven”). After they ran through some other ideas, McDaniel finally brought up “Burned Down Heaven,” and when he explained the metaphor, both co-writers were up for it. They started with the chorus, to make sure they landed the idea effectively, and to make the best use of McDaniel’s range.
“He’s got some of the [Jon] Bon Jovi [power] up there, but he’s also got some of the Josh Turner [richness],” Rimes says. “It’s those kinds of dynamics in his vocals. I wanted to bring both of those through, because they’re kind of a strong part of his brand.”
They pitched the chorus in a high range to create an explosive effect. They also massaged the stanza’s opening lyric to better address McDaniel’s nervousness about the title.
“It was really Jon’s idea to say, ‘Hey, let’s bring this back to Earth,’” McDaniel recalls. “When I said, ‘Feels like I burned down heaven,’ he said, ‘Where was it at?’ And I was like, ‘It was in this driveway.’ He’s like, ‘There it is: Feels like I burned down heaven in that driveway.’ It brought it back to planet Earth. It made it real.”
They focused on the fiery part of the title in the chorus, incorporating “matches,” “ashes” and “smoke,” though the words were slipped in subtly. When they got to the lower-pitched verses, they shifted to the spiritual part of the title, though they handled the religious allusions so lightly that they almost go unnoticed. “You want to feel like it’s real,” Nite says. “You want to feel like you’re in the emotion of this moment, rather than cute little sayings about heaven.”
McDaniel didn’t talk much about it during the write, but he built the storyline around a difficult breakup from his past. “It was definitely the best thing — I realized that over time — but it was something that I still hadn’t forgiven myself for,” he says. “Anytime that I feel like I’ve made a mistake or hurt somebody, it just weighs on me, and so I carried it for years.”
Despite all of McDaniel’s concerns going into the appointment, it all developed easily. They started at 11 a.m. and had a demo and vocal performance of the completed song by 1:30 p.m. In fact, while Rimes and McDaniel worked on the demo, Nite went to the backyard and started another song that also got finished that day.
The “Burned Down Heaven” demo was so well developed that they used it as a foundation for the final tracking session at Nashville’s Sound Stage with drummer Evan Hutchings, bassist Tony Lucido, keyboardist Alex Wright and guitarists Ilya Toshinskiy and Sol Philcox-Littlefield.
“I don’t think a lot changed once the band was on there,” Rimes says. “Obviously, there’s live drums and stuff like that, but the basic bones of the song were in there.”
McDaniel recut his vocal for the master version, singing the first verse and first chorus separately, so that his voice could overlap with itself as he transitioned into that chorus. The final touches were provided by Gideon Klein, a musician that Rimes hired to arrange strings and overdub all of the parts.
Big Machine released it on Valentine’s Day — exactly one year after it was written — and it performed well enough that the label issued it to radio a month later as fans presumably gravitated toward the honesty in McDaniel’s story.
“All the guys that listen to it are like, ‘You know what? I’ve been this sometimes, and I just have been too proud to say it,’” Nite says. “All the girls are like, ‘I’ve had five boyfriends that do this, and they’ve been too proud to say it, and it’d be amazing if somebody actually said it was their fault.’ I think that’s why it’s caught fire a little bit.”
For his part, McDaniel hopes that someone might hear “Burned Down Heaven” on the radio and have the same unexpected life moment that he’s experienced with the platform.
“I’m on a mission now in country music to spread the light and tell people that they matter and that they’re important,” McDaniel says. “This song isn’t straight up about mental health and survival, but it is reflective of shame. Anytime that you can’t live with your mistakes and you can’t accept the past and you can’t forgive yourself, it makes it hard.”
Selena Gomez could barely calm down when she kissed fiancé Benny Blanco for the first time, with the singer-actress recently recalling how the moment got her so worked up, her skin broke out in a reaction that left her “a little embarrassed.”
While appearing on an episode of Table Manners With Jessie and Lennie Ware posted Wednesday (April 30), Gomez and the producer both gushed about the day they first locked lips early on in their relationship, which started in mid-2023. According to Blanco, the two were playing the get-to-know-you game We’re Not Really Strangers on their second date when one of the prompts directed them to take a selfie.
“She got right on my chest and took a selfie, and then right after, I just looked at her and I said, ‘I gotta kiss this girl,’” Blanco said, with Gomez adding, “It was a very good kiss.”
Trending on Billboard
It was so good, in fact, that the Only Murders in the Building star’s face immediately started to betray her. “Her heart started beating quickly, she started getting a rash on her face, and she was so nervous,” the “Eastside” musician recalled, joking that the rash was actually because “I was so disgusting and repulsive.”
In reality, Gomez says her skin became inflamed simply because she “hadn’t liked anyone in a very long time.”
“When you feel something behind the kiss, it’s completely different,” she explained. “I had been alone for about five years with the exception of a few s–tty dates here and there, but never felt that way … I was a little embarrassed, but he was like, ‘Are you OK?’ And I was like, ‘No, no, I’m fine.’ I didn’t want to be like, ‘I like you, I really like you.’”
The couple has been together ever since, with Blanco asking his fiancée to marry him in December. Shortly after their engagement, the couple dropped a joint album titled I Said I Love You First, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
Listen to Gomez and Blanco recall their first kiss below.
Twenty-five years ago, Thalia welcomed the new millennium with Arrasando, an album that would redefine her career and take her to new heights in the music industry, despite already being a star.
With an eclectic tracklist of 12 songs that fused pop with elements of dance, R&B, and Latin rhythms, Arrasando spent two weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Albums chart and reached No. 4 on Top Latin Albums. It also topped the charts with “Entre el Mar y una Estrella,” its most successful single, which hit No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs, Latin Airplay and Latin Pop Airplay, while tracks like “Arrasando,” “Regresa a Mí,” and “Rosalinda” also made appearances on the charts.
Released on April 25, 2000, by EMI Latin, the album was produced by Emilio Estefan, Roberto Blades, Kike Santander, and Thalia herself, who also co-wrote eight of the songs.
“The songs on this album are a turning point in my career as a performer, producer, and especially as a songwriter,” Thalia tells Billboard about her sixth studio album. “It’s one of my greatest sources of pride, and knowing that it’s still ‘Arrasandooo’ (triumphing) after 25 years confirms that when things are made with passion and with a team that understands your vision, they resonate in people’s hearts forever.
“This album represents an unforgettable and powerful moment in the music industry at the start of the new century,” the Mexican superstar adds. “It explores those early musical fusions in the industry in 2000 that back then weren’t as common as they are today.”
With more than 2 million copies sold, Arrasando received a wave of accolades, including the Latin Grammy for best engineered album (by engineer Juan Carlos “Charly” Ríos), the Star Award for Thalia at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, and the Premio Lo Nuestro Artist of the People Award, among others.
A quarter of a century later, the Billboard Latin staff dives back into its songs, counting them down below and ultimately getting to our very favorite.
Thalia
Courtesy Photo
“Pata Pata”
Lil Durk remains behind bars in California, counting down the days until his trial is set to begin in October for his murder-for-hire case.
Durk’s family posted a clip to Instagram on Tuesday (April 29) giving fans an update on the Chicago rapper’s legal situation, and they claimed that the prosecution is building a case that uses his own lyrics against him.
“The recent developments in Durk’s legal case have brought a harsh truth to light: the government presented false evidence to a grand jury to indict him,” a statement from Durk’s team in the video reads. “This isn’t justice. That’s a violation of the very system that’s supposed to protect all of us.”
The clip goes on to explain that Durk has always been a vivid storyteller with his music, and his creative art shouldn’t be held against him in a court of law.
Trending on Billboard
“Durk has always used music to tell stories, to express pain to heal — and yet those same lyrics are now being used against him. We refuse to stay silent as Black artists continue to be criminalized for their creativity. Rap is art,” the video continued before calling for public support. “As a family, we are asking the public, the fans and the culture to stand with us. Stand for truth. Stand for fairness. Stand for The Voice.”
Lil Durk’s legal team continues to fight for his freedom. Earlier in April, Durk’s attorneys called for the case’s dismissal and claimed that “false evidence” was given to a grand jury.
Prosecutors are attempting to tie lyrics from Durk and Babyface Ray’s “Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy” to the murder of Lul Pab. While the track was released in December 2022, which would be a few months after Pab’s death, but Durk’s team says those lyrics were penned long before the shooting in January 2022.
“Told me they got an addy (go, go)/ Got location (go, go)/ Green light (go, go, go, go, go)/ Look on the news and see your son/ You screaming ‘No, no,” he raps on the track in question.
“The government told the grand jury that Mr. Banks, through specific lyrics in his music, celebrated and profited from a revenge murder that he had ordered,” Durk’s attorney, Drew Findling, said in the filing. “That claim is demonstrably false. Unless the government is prosecuting Banks on a theory of extra-sensory prescience, the lyrics could not have soundly informed the grand jury’s finding of probable cause.”
Lil Durk was arrested in Florida in October on a murder-for-hire charge hours after a few of his Only the Family associates were also indicted.
Prosecutors believe Durk plotted to have Quando Rondo killed as retaliation for the death of his friend King Von, who was murdered by Rondo’s associates in Atlanta in 2020, but the 2022 Los Angeles shooting ended up leaving Rondo’s cousin Lul Pab dead.
With Durk behind bars awaiting trial, the rapper’s team pieced together his Deep Thoughts album, which arrived in March and debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 64,000 album-equivalent units earned.
See his family’s statement below:
Post Malone and Jelly Roll kicked off their BIG ASS Stadium tour on Tuesday night (April 29) with a three-and-a-half hour extravaganza at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, UT that featured both men playing their hits and fan favorites as well as Jelly jumping up on stage for a duet with Posty. Coming off […]
Lorde has released three albums, but it’s been so long since she dropped one that her fourth full-length effort, Virgin — which the star announced at long last Wednesday (April 30) — might just make you feel like she’s doing it for the very first time.
The New Zealand native shared the news via a posting on her website, revealing the LP’s blue-toned cover art and sharing that it will arrive June 27. “100% WRITTEN IN BLOOD,” she wrote, revealing that the project’s collaborators include Jim-E Stack, Fabiana Palladino, Andrew Aged, Buddy Ross, Dan Nigro and Dev Hynes of Blood Orange.
The album’s artwork marks Lorde’s first since 2013’s debut project, Pure Heroine, to not feature the “Royals” singer on the cover. Instead, the photo shows what appears to be an X-ray of a crotch area with a zipper showing up on the scan in the front; between the bones that make up the pelvis, an IUD is visible.
Trending on Billboard
In a release, Lorde further teased the direction of the record. “THE COLOUR OF THE ALBUM IS CLEAR,” she wrote in an all-caps statement. “LIKE BATHWATER, WINDOWS, ICE, SPIT. FULL TRANSPARENCY. THE LANGUAGE IS PLAIN AND UNSENTIMENTAL. THE SOUNDS ARE THE SAME WHEREVER POSSIBLE. I WAS TRYING TO SEE MYSELF, ALL THE WAY THROUGH. I WAS TRYING TO MAKE A DOCUMENT THAT REFLECTED MY FEMININITY: RAW, PRIMAL, INNOCENT, ELEGANT, OPENHEARTED, SPIRITUAL, MASC.”
“I’M PROUD AND SCARED OF THIS ALBUM,” she added. “THERE’S NOWHERE TO HIDE. I BELIEVE THAT PUTTING THE DEEPEST PARTS OF OURSELVES TO MUSIC IS WHAT SETS US FREE.”
The announcement comes just more than a week after Lorde dropped Virgin‘s lead single, “What Was That,” on April 24. The track arrived with an accompanying music video filmed in New York City, featuring footage of the singer meeting up with fans in Washington Square Park.
Lorde hasn’t released an album since 2021’s Solar Power, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
See Lorde’s announcement below.
Before she was one of the most recognizable voices in pop music, Chappell Roan was just one of countless aspiring singers whose hopes were dashed by the audition process for competition shows such as The Voice and America’s Got Talent.
In her W Magazine cover story published Wednesday (April 30), the pop star recalled her disappointing experiences trying out for both shows back when she was a teenager, with Roan not even making it past the first round for either. “When I auditioned for The Voice, I was 15 and I sang ‘Stay’ by Rihanna,” she began. “The producer or whoever the f–k was watching did not even look up from his phone. He was like, OK, next.’”
“I went up there and sang a cappella, the scariest thing ever,” she added. “He never really looked at me.”
Trending on Billboard
At that point, Roan had already auditioned for America’s Got Talent two years prior. “I was 13, and we flew to Austin, Texas, and waited in line with thousands of people at 4 a.m.,” Roan recalled of that experience. “I sang ‘True Colors’ by Cyndi Lauper. Did not make it either.”
The Missouri native wouldn’t get her big break until more than a decade later, and not before she’d endure even more setbacks (such as being dropped from her label, Atlantic Records, in 2020). In 2024, Roan’s career exploded with a hot streak of festival sets and the success of single “Good Luck, Babe!” on the Billboard Hot 100 — it peaked at No. 4 in September — with the star going on to win best new artist at the 2025 Grammys in February.
During her acceptance speech at the ceremony, Roan used her time on stage to challenge the music industry to take better care of developing artists, reading out of a well-loved notebook, “Labels, we got you — but do you got us?” To W, the “Casual” singer confirmed that the book was her actual diary, revealing that she’s been journaling since she was in middle school.
Roan also opened up about her first kiss in the interview — she was 15 and in her parents’ driveway, though she now says that “kissing girls is funner” — as well as her biggest pet peeve. “When people name-drop,” said the vocalist, who recently confirmed that she has a serious girlfriend. “I immediately don’t trust them.”
“I’m not the girl to care about that stuff,” she added. “It is an immediate turnoff in a romantic or a friendship way. I’m like, ‘If you name-drop, I’m probably not going to be your friend.’”
See Roan on the cover of W below.
On its face, Kendrick Lamar and Playboi Carti seemed like an unlikely duo until King Vamp recruited K. Dot for a few features on his Music album. They hit the stage together for the first time on Tuesday night (April 29) when Lamar brought out Carti as a special guest in Atlanta to perform their […]
More than a year after revealing that he had undergone surgery to remove a tumor from his brain, Michael Bolton is opening up about his cancer battle at length for the first time.
Speaking to People for a cover story with his family published Wednesday (April 30), the 72-year-old icon shared new details about being diagnosed with glioblastoma — an aggressive form of cancer that “starts as a growth of cells in the brain or spinal cord” and “can invade and destroy healthy tissue,” according to Mayo Clinic — in December 2023. After receiving the diagnosis, he quickly underwent surgery, something he shared with fans while announcing that he’d be postponing his upcoming concerts in a January 2024 Instagram post.
Fortunately, Bolton’s doctors were able to remove the tumor in its entirety during surgery, and after a second brain surgery in January 2024 to treat an infection — plus a combination of radiation and chemotherapy — the musician has had no new tumors as of early April, when he had his last scan. But the road ahead will still be challenging, with Bolton now undergoing MRIs every two months to stay vigilant against glioblastoma’s high recurrence rate.
Trending on Billboard
Fifteen months after surgery, Bolton reflects, “You’re reaching into your resources and your resolve in a way that you never would have thought.”
“Succumbing to the challenge is not an option,” he added to the publication, which noted that Bolton’s short-term memory, speech and mobility have suffered as a result of his treatments. “You’re really quickly drawn into a duel. I guess that’s the way you find out what you’re made of.”
Amid the life-changing experience, Bolton says he’s been redefining his definition of legacy. Rather than thinking about it in terms of his career — which includes two Grammys, 19 Billboard Hot 100 hits and two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 — the “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” vocalist is now choosing to focus on what he’s leaving behind for his family.
“How do I give things that they can take forward?” he told People. “Life lessons, love, any kind of validation that I can give [them] — I want to be on the right side of that so they feel great about who they are. It’s a reality of mortality. Suddenly a new light has gone on that raises questions, including ‘Am I doing the best that I can do with my time?’”
“I want to keep going. I feel there’s still a lot to do on the fight side,” added Bolton, who has deliberately not received a prognosis to keep his hopes high. “I got a title for a song: ‘Ain’t Going Down Without a Fight.’”
Also featured in the cover story were the musician’s daughters Isa, Taryn and Holly, who remembered how their dad started singing in his hospital room just minutes after waking up from surgery. Bolton and his family — which also includes six grandchildren — posed together in a photo for the piece, which Bolton shared on Instagram Wednesday and wrote, “My hope in sharing this part of my journey is that it might offer comfort to other families facing similar challenges, and perhaps even inspire those navigating their own adversity.”
“I also want to thank all of you for the love, support, and patience you’ve shown over this past year,” he added. “I’ve drawn strength from your encouragement, and I continue to draw strength from it every day as I move forward on this journey.”
The interview marks the first time Bolton has shared an in-depth update on his health. In March 2024, he simply wrote on Instagram, “I am healing well and doing better every day,” adding that he was “enjoying the company of my daughters and grandkids during this time at home and practicing on my putting green whenever it’s not raining!”
The following May, he announced that his postponed Greatest Hits Live concert at the O2 Arena in London would be rescheduled for July 5 this year. “Thank you all for your continued support during my recovery!” he wrote at the time. “Although I wanted to be there sooner I’m so looking forward to spending a special evening together at the O2 London next summer!!!”
The Tony Awards, in partnership with Audience Rewards, Broadway’s loyalty program for theater fans, has announced the return of the Official Tony Awards Challenge game. Beginning at noon ET on Thursday (May 1), following the announcement of the 2025 Tony Award nominations, Broadway fans can participate in an interactive ballot-style game in which they try to predict the winners of the Tony Awards in each of the 26 categories. Fans will have a chance to win a number of prizes, including a Dream Week on Broadway that includes airfare, hotel and tickets to five Broadway shows of their choice.
This year, all entrants who complete a ballot will automatically receive 500 Audience Rewards ShowPoints, regardless of the number of correct guesses. That’s enough points to redeem for an orchestra seat to a Broadway show for as low as $36. To play, visit the Tony Awards Challenge’s website. Players must be Audience Rewards members to enter. The program is free to join.
Trending on Billboard
“Audience Rewards brings theater fans insider access to Broadway tickets and theater experiences all season long, with the Tony Awards Challenge as the exciting grand finale to a wonderful year,” Katie Dalton, executive vice president of Audience Rewards, said in a statement. “This is always a fan-favorite, and this year is even more exciting since participants will get points just for participating!”
“We’re so excited to partner with Audience Rewards once again for the Official Tony Awards Challenge, which is an amazing opportunity for Broadway fans to become part of the action,” said Jason Laks, president of The Broadway League and Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing. “We hope that all theater lovers all over will participate in the Challenge and continue to support the wide array of incredible Broadway productions.”
By guessing all 26 categories correctly, one grand prize winner could receive a Dream Week on Broadway, including:
Roundtrip airfare for the winner and a guest to New York City
Seven days/six nights in the Tony Awards Terrace Suite at Sofitel New York
Tickets to five Broadway shows of the winner’s choice for that person and a guest
Tickets to the Museum of Broadway and a gift card for iconic Broadway eatery Sardi’s
In addition to the grand prize winner, the runner-up will receive 20,000 Audience Rewards ShowPoints redeemable for Broadway tickets, merchandise and exclusive experiences of their choice.
Hosted by Tony Award-winner Cynthia Erivo, the 78th Annual Tony Awards will return to Radio City Music Hall in New York City, broadcasting live to both coasts, Sunday, June 8 (8-11 p.m. ET/5-8 p.m. PT) on CBS, and streaming on Paramount+.
Audience Rewards is Broadway’s Official Loyalty Program, providing benefits and rewards for more than 3 million members. Free and easy to join, Audience Rewards allows ticket buyers to earn ShowPoints on every purchase, to be redeemed for free tickets, theater collectibles, unique experiences and more. Founded in 2008 by Broadway’s prominent theater owners, including Nederlander, Shubert and ATG, Audience Rewards has offered members first-access presales to more than 100 Broadway shows and 200 VIP experiences and events.
See below for rules and guidelines:
The Official Tony Awards Challenge, hosted by Audience Rewards in partnership with The Tony Awards, will begin on Thursday, May 1, at approximately 12 p.m. ET.
To play, entrants must either be pre-existing Audience Rewards members, or they can join the program for free to participate.
Players will guess/predict who they think will win in each of the 26 Tony categories. The grand prize for correctly guessing all 26 categories is the Dream Week on Broadway package.
Once players complete their ballot, they can adjust their predictions until 3 p.m. ET on Tony Sunday, June 8.
Submit your guesses online and then tune in to the Tony Awards live on Sunday, June 8 to see how many you guessed correctly!
Full terms and conditions are available at the Tony Awards Challenge site.
