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Country music songwriter Larry Bastian, known for penning songs including Garth Brooks’ “Unanswered Prayers” and “Rodeo,” died on Sunday (April 6) at age 90, Billboard has confirmed. Bastian’s passing was previously reported by the Porterville Recorder.
Bastian, a longtime writer for Major Bob Music, was born Sept. 1, 1934, in Porterville, Calif. He was born into a family who farmed in California’s San Joaquin Valley. After graduating from Porterville High School in 1952, he went on to work as a biologist for 15 years at the Department of Agriculture in Kern and Tulare counties. He also harbored a love for music and songwriting.
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He launched his songwriting career in the 1970s, when he connected with Bonnie Owens and other musicians forging the Bakersfield Sound. He soon became friends and cowriters with Jim Shaw, and together they wrote a song called “This Ain’t Tennessee and He Ain’t You,” that was recorded by Janie Fricke and released in 1980 (Eddy Arnold and Tom Jones would later also record the song).
He has written songs recorded by Merle Haggard and David Frizzell (“Lefty”), Tammy Wynette (“Back to the Wall”), Conway Twitty (“Saturday Night Special”), Tracy Byrd (“Why”) Sammy Kershaw (“If You’re Gonna Walk, I’m Gonna Crawl,” “Yard Sale”), Reba McEntire (“The Girl Who Has Everything”), Rhett Akins (“Somebody Knew”), Moe Bandy (“Nobody Gets Off in This Town”), George Jones (“Forever’s Here to Stay”) and Craig Morgan (“Look at Us”).
Some of his biggest country chart successes came in the 1990s as a writer on Brooks’ “Unanswered Prayers” and “Rodeo.” Bastian solo wrote the latter, which, according to Garth Brooks: The Anthology Part 1, was originally titled “Miss Rodeo” and written for a female artist.
“This was a song I had written probably six or seven years before I met Garth … it was about a gal lamenting the fact that her guy was in love with the rodeo rather than her,” Bastian wrote in the Brooks anthology. “Finally, Garth said to me, ‘I’m going to record it.’ I said, ‘You can’t record it. It’s a girl’s song.’ He said, ‘Just watch me.’” The song became a top five Billboard Country Airplay hit in 1991.
Garth Brooks: The Anthology Part 1 also notes Bastian provided a key lyrical hook for “Unanswered Prayers” (co-written by Brooks and Pat Alger), which became a two-week Country Airplay chart No. 1 in 1991. Beyond those hits, Bastian also wrote and/or cowrote other songs recorded by Brooks, including “I’ve Got a Good Thing Going,” “The Old Man’s Back in Town,” “Cowboy Bill,” “Nobody Gets Off in This Town” and “Man Against the Machine.”
“That type of drive, first off you have to know that you can do it,” Bastian said during an interview on The Paul Leslie Hour in 2020. “There was no doubt in my mind that I could write a song. I think you have to be that driven to succeed, and then there’s a lot of luck. They have a saying, ‘You can’t get out of the way of a hit song,’ and that’s so right.”
A celebration of life is pending.
Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour has been making waves across the globe, selling out stadiums, smashing records, and solidifying the Colombian superstar’s legacy as one of the most powerful voices in music and culture. But behind the eye-popping performances, emotional highs and dazzling fashion, French photographer Nicolas Gerardin has been translating the energy, intimacy and humanity of it all into images that speak louder than words.Known for his work with celebrities across industries — including Lisa of BLACKPINK, Nick Jonas, Jeff Bezos, Leo Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo — the fashion and celebrity photographer brings a unique mix of precision and emotional storytelling to his photography. His collaboration with Shakira began two years ago, right around the time of her groundbreaking Bizarrap release that marked a new milestone in her career. Since then, Gerardin has become an integral part of her creative team, joining her on her current world tour, which kicked off in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 11.
“When photographing Shakira, I focus on capturing what makes her a legend — her presence, energy, and the essence that has made her an icon for decades,” Gerardin tells Billboard Español, who also shot her on recent magazine covers for GQ, Elle, and Marie Claire. “It’s about telling her story in every shot. I always aim to showcase her true essence, her artistry, and the depth of her impact.”
“She’s aware of everything, from production to lighting. She knows everything about cameras. She knows what’s best for her,” he explains, noting how her hands-on approach ensures every moving piece of her tour aligns with her meticulously curated vision.
Despite her global fame, Gerardin credits her sensitivity and emotional connection with her art as the driving force behind her appeal. “She’s very involved emotionally in everything. She always wants the best for her fans. She’s a woman full of emotion, very sensitive. She’s caring for everyone… She wants to give the best for the fans,” he shares.
His dedication to capturing Shakira’s tour goes beyond the stage or performance photography. Gerardin’s work often focuses on backstage moments, the quieter fragments of her life away from the spotlight that tell their own story. “My vision is to create an iconic image that’s going to stay forever,” he says. “It can be her putting her makeup on or her after finishing the last song exhausted.” These fragments come together to create a portrait of a woman in motion — a legend embracing transformation in real-time.
Among his favorite images he took is a high-concept promotional shoot for her latest album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran. In one particularly striking shot, Shakira is captured arm wrestling a man. “It was an exciting challenge because I wanted to capture both her strength and the bold energy of the album while keeping the visual storytelling dynamic and impactful,” recalls the photographer.
For this shoot, Shakira granted him full creative freedom, an example of the trust and respect their working relationship has cultivated.
Despite touring with Shakira, Gerardin emphasizes that he does not define himself as a concert photographer. His background in fashion photography shapes the unique angle he brings to his work — whether backstage or during live shows. “Most global artists that work in the music industry, when they take me on tour, they don’t expect me to shoot the live show. I’m here to capture the fashion side of the tour,” he explains. With Shakira, he adds, “We just want to create history at this point.”
Check out the gallery below for an exclusive look at Gerardin’s stunning photography.
04/14/2025
XG, Ty Dolla $ign, Zedd, BigXthaplug were among those to hit the desert on Sunday (April 13).
04/14/2025
Katy Perry blasted off into space on Monday morning (April 14) with an all-female crew on a Blue Origin rocket. The flawless lift-off from the Jeff Bezos-owned company’s West Texas facility on a perfect blue sky day found the space tourists hurtling through the atmosphere at nearly mach 3.
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In the lead-up to the flight, CBS aired footage of the women sitting in the windows of an SUV and waving to the gathered crowds as the were driven up to the launch pad. Nearly three minutes into the flight, the crew module separated from the booster, sending the rounded cone into near space approximately 62 miles above Earth in the area called the “Kármán line,” an imaginary boundary that’s viewed as the dividing lien between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.
The all-female flight had Perry joined by Jeff Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez, as well as CBS Mornings co-anchor Gayle King, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen, producer and entrepreneur Kerianne Flynn. CBS News cameras captured the moment when the capsule separated from the booster, with King’s longtime best friend Oprah Winfrey bursting into tears of joy.
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The crew experienced about three to four minutes of weightlessness before the fliers strapped back in for their descent back to Earth. CBS aired broken audio of the crew marveling at the sight of Earth from space, as well as footage of the booster returning to Earth for a soft, perfectly upright landing.
At the eight and half minute mark the capsule’s parachutes deployed and viewers could hear screams of joy from within the nose cone as they made a soft touchdown in the desert. Within minutes, Blue Origin staffers raced to the capsule in trucks filled with the fliers’ friend and family to celebrate the trip.
Bezos opened the hatch on the capsule and greeted Sanchez with a big hug and kiss as she emerged, with Perry emerging and appearing to thrust a tiny daisy into the air before dropping to her knees to kiss the ground.
In an interview with the crew after their final training on Sunday, CBS sat down with the women and asked them to describe how they were feeling in one word. Perry chose “worthiness,” while Gayle King went with “blessed,” as well as “surrender.” She explained, “this is such an unlikely place for me to be and so in my mind I’ve said okay, I feel well-prepared for this moment after the training we’ve had for the last couple of days. But it still hasn’t eased the fear that I have.”
Asked what surprised her about the training — which she’s been doing in between rehearsals for her upcoming world tour — Perry joked “so many seatbelts!” Perry, 40, was also asked if she planned to sing in space and she said she had an idea that would not be “about me or for me. It will be for the beautiful Earth that we get to see. Because I think the perspective that we’re all gonna walk away from is like, ‘oh my gosh, we have to protect our mother. Fiercely.”
Speaking to the AP last week, Perry explained her reason for taking the trip. “I am talking to myself every day and going, ‘You’re brave, you’re bold, you are doing this for the next generation to inspire so many different people but especially young girls to go, “I’ll go to space in the future.” No limitations,’” said the singer. “I’m really excited about the engineering of it all. I’m excited to learn more about STEM and just the math about what it takes to accomplish this type of thing.”
Check out footage of the launch below.
Sometimes you just have to go for it. And sometimes when you do that, things go horribly wrong. But, if you’re like d4vd, you can laugh at yourself and not get too hung up on the particulars. During the 20-year-old “Feel It” singer’s set at the Coachella Festival on Friday, he got super hyped and […]
Doja Cat was in a generous mood this weekend, giving fans what appears to be the latest preview of her upcoming Vie album. After seemingly sharing the track list in November, when she posted and then quickly deleted a 13-song roster that included the songs “Break My Heart,” “Take Me Dancing,” “Anything,” “Ain’t News,” “Turn the Lights On,” “Slow Burn,” “Wood Holly” and “Appreciation,” Doja was at it again on Sunday (April 13).
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This time around the list included 16 songs, some of which matched the earlier roster, with no additional information on a release date or first single. “dont ask me where crack is rn,” she captioned the weekend post, which did not include one of the songs on the earlier roster, “Crack.” While “Turn the Lights On” matched the earlier run-down, other songs appear to have dropped off, including “Break My Heart,” “Take Me Dancing,” “Anything,” “Aint News,” “Slow Burn,” “Wood Holly,” “Did I Lie” and “Appreciation.”
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The new apparent track list includes: “Turn the Lights On,” “Slide,” “One More Time,” “Make It Up,” “Lipstain,” “Kink,” “Jealous Type,” “I Like You,” “Happy,” “Gorgeous,” “Couples Therapy,” “Come Back,” “Cards,” “Amen,” “All Mine” and “Acts of Service.”
Fans recorded an Instagram live over the weekend in which Doja previewed the bouncy “Jealous Type,” a Janet Jackson-like pop funk jam. “Boy, let me know if this is careless/ I could be torn between two roads that I just can’t decide/ Which one is leading me to hell or paradise?/ Baby, I can’t hurt you, sure, but I’m the jealous type/ I’m the jealous type,” Doja sings in a breathy register on the song.
Back in March, Doja also previewed the slow-burn jams “Acts of Service” and “Lipstain.”
Doja Cat’s last album, 2023’s Scarlet, was the follow-up to 2021’s hit-packed Planet Her. Scarlet reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and hit No. 2 on the Top Rap Albums chart. She also dropped Scarlet 2 CLAUDE deluxe edition in May and earlier this year teamed up with BLACKPINK’s LISA and RAYE on “Born Again” and Jack Harlow on his song “Just Us.”
Katy Perry is almost ready for launch — and she’s giving fans a peek inside the capsule before liftoff.
The pop star is set to board Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission on Monday morning (April 14), joining a groundbreaking, all-female crew for the company’s 11th human spaceflight.
Ahead of launch, Perry shared a behind-the-scenes look from inside the capsule, posting a video to Instagram where she appears in full flight gear with her fellow passengers.
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“I think I’m gonna sing,” she says in the clip. “I’ve got to sing in space!” As the camera pans to show the six-woman team seated together, Perry adds, “These are all of my astronaut girly friends,” flashing a grin as the capsule runs through final simulations.
Joining Perry on the mission are journalist Lauren Sánchez, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen, producer and entrepreneur Kerianne Flynn, and CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King. The crew is scheduled to launch at 7 a.m. CT from Blue Origin’s West Texas facility, where they’ve spent the past several days completing astronaut training.
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This will mark the first all-women crewed mission to space since Valentina Tereshkova’s historic solo flight in 1963.
Earlier this week, Perry described the emotional resonance she felt while preparing for the mission, explaining that she experienced what she believed were signs from the universe that confirmed she was on the right path.
“When I was invited to come on this voyage, I looked up the capsule. On the very front of it is the outline in the shape of a feather and when I saw that it was like a total confirmation because my mom has always called me Feather,” she said.
“Then they reveal the capsule name… The capsule’s name is Tortoise. A wave, just the most energetic wave, just shot through my body. My mom calls me two nicknames. Feather and Tortoise. What are the chances that I’m going to space on a rocket in a capsule with my symbol, the feather, called Tortoise?”
“There are no coincidences,” she added. “And I’m just so grateful for these confirmations and so grateful that I feel like something bigger than me is steering the ship.”
Perry has embraced the symbolism and style of the mission, joking in a separate post, “There will be lash extensions flying in the capsule… Mine are glued on. They’re good.” She added, “Space is going to finally be glam.”
Lauren Sánchez echoed the sentiment, saying, “We’re going to put the ‘a**’ in astronaut.”
For Perry, the mission also serves as a message to young women. “I’m motivated more than ever to be an example for my daughter that women should take up space — literally and figuratively,” she wrote on Instagram.
After the short journey into space — which will include four minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth — Perry will begin her Lifetimes Tour in support of her upcoming album 143, launching April 23 in Mexico City.
The flight will be broadcast live on CBS with coverage beginning at 7 a.m. ET with a special edition of CBS Mornings, followed by the “Gayle Goes to Space” special at 9 a.m. ET. Paramount+ will also stream the entire Blue Origin launch and flight.
Awich dropped a new song called “Butcher Shop feat. FERG” on digital platforms last Friday (April 11) at midnight Japan time.
RZA, founding member of Wu-Tang Clan who has greatly influenced hip-hop history, produced the track, the first single from Awich’s album that he produced in full. The collaborative track is a bold number with a global and classic hip-hop feel.
The “Bad B***h Bigaku” rapper and Gravediggaz artist first met when the latter visited Japan a few years ago. They felt a deep resonance both musically and spiritually from the beginning and hit it off immediately. For RZA, who has incorporated Asian culture into his work with Wu-Tang Clan, and for Awich, who was preparing to make her U.S. debut, it was a natural progression from there to start collaborating. The YENTOWN MC spent time at RZA’s base, Wu Mansion, to take in his ideas and sound approach, and over time she built the foundation for her new album.
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Awich had been interacting with FERG, the featured artist on her new release, since before, when she performed at music festivals overseas and visited New York. At a live event hosted by Jordan Brand earlier this year, the rapper made a surprise appearance on stage with Awich and the two performed this song for the first time. Awich and FERG’s the backgrounds and skills clash in the mic relay of this track, thrillingly developed by RZA’s precise and cinematic production.
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“Butcher Shop is a place where the three realities of Okinawa, where I was born and raised, Tokyo, where I live now, and New York intersect,” says Awich about this single. “Together with the legendary RZA and FERG, a supreme artist who embodies the streets, we’ve carved out today’s borderless atmosphere with cutting words and beats. This song is a crossroads where everything collides: Japan and New York, culture, fashion, luxury, fun, sin and its price. Everyone brings their own ‘meat’ and carves up the truth. Welcome to our Butcher Shop.”
The accompanying music video, which the press release says is immersive like a short film featuring performances by Awich and FERG set to RZA’s signature dark and majestic worldview, was unveiled Monday (April 14) at 8 p.m. Japan time.
Awich’s new single follows her recent collaborative track called “ASIAN STATE OF MIND” featuring South Korea’s Jay Park, India’s KR$NA, Masiwei, the leader of the Chinese group Higher Brothers, and Cambodia’s VannDa released at the end of February.
The rapper has also been giving back to the community, organizing the Know The World – Awich Global Education Project – (Study Abroad in Atlanta & Study Abroad in the City) program for the second year in a row. This project reflects her wish to contribute towards solving the issues of child poverty, experience discrepancy and education in her home prefecture of Okinawa by providing free English learning opportunities to young people.
The program aims to foster a spirit of “turning adversity into strength” through international exchange experiences and studying abroad. 100 young people from low-income households in Okinawa, from first year high school to those aged 22, will be provided with free “study abroad in the city” homestay experiences with foreign families in the prefecture, and three people will be provided with free short-term study abroad experiences in Atlanta, where Awich studied, after the local homestay stint.
It’s been almost one year since Post Malone saddled up and dropped his chart-topping country set, F-1 Trillion. But on Sunday (April 13), on Coachella’s main stage, his headlining performance felt celebratory and emotional enough to be release night.
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Though Posty has been booked and busy since he served up F-1, his set felt like the long-awaited main course — plus dessert. For the gig, Post fittingly brought a reimagined Forumla 1 racetrack to the desert that extended all the way from the stage through the crowd. He also leaned into his love for pyro, with various trash bins spread across the stage that, of course, would catch fire throughout the set. As for sparklers – why wait? Post tossed them in for his opening song, the thumping “Texas Tea.”
Starting with a song from his 2023 album Austin was certainly not the most expected, but it was absolutely the most fitting. Austin is sandwiched in Post’s fast-growing catalog between Twelve Carat Toothache and F-1, and in many ways bridged the gap between where Post had been as an artist and where he was heading. Opening with “Texas Tea” set the tone, immediately answering the question on the minds of many: What kind of show will he deliver?
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Striking balance between his older hip-hop leaning material with his more recent country sound was surely on Post’s mind, too. But, as he told Billboard the day before his set: “That’s always been the thing about me, is it’s all just f—ing music.” And tonight, he endlessly thanked his fans for seemingly feeling the same. “I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who has listened to the music for such a long time,” he said after a run of album-spanning songs including “Wow” (Hollywood’s Bleeding), “Better Now” (Beerbongs & Bentleys), “Lemon Tree” (twelve carat toothache) and “Wrong Ones” (F-1 Trillion). “I know it’s been a crazy f—ing journey and I just wanted to express how grateful I am to each and every one of you.”
The weekend-closing slot was not only a testament to Post’s decade-long career, but was also crafted in a way that helped contextualize how an artist who debuted with a song like “White Iverson” ended up recording alongside country’s biggest superstars and sounding right at home. His nine-piece backing band surely helped, illustrating how his sound has grown both literally and figuratively, as did his raw vocals — especially on songs that were originally recorded quite differently.
“Auto-tune is a hell of a drug,” Post said with a smile said after apologizing for the second time for his “pitchiness,” which seemed to go entirely unnoticed by anyone else. In fact, in the absence of auto-tune, Posty’s signature warble sounded stronger and more melodic than ever.
But perhaps the best way in which Post offered a glimpse into how he landed where he is today was through his use of the fog machine. Yes, really. Oftentimes, Post was entirely engulfed in thick layers of engineered fog; but the thing is, without the ability to see him clearly, it allowed fans to listen more closely. And if Post’s set proved anything, it was that no matter what genre, style or sound he explores, he has always been an incredible songwriter right to his core.
And while a Post Malone headlining set may have seemed like the perfect time and place for him to welcome any number of guests – he has hits with everyone including fellow festival headliner Travis Scott, Halsey, Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll and many more – given how grateful Post was for the opportunity, he had every right to keep it all for himself. (In fact, all of this weekend’s headliners opted to do exactly that.)
Sure, Post’s No.1 hit “I Had Some Help” (with Wallen) may have seemed like an on-the-nose moment to indeed bring some help on stage, but there was something poetic about doing the exact opposite. In a way, performing the song alone – and following his gushes of gratitude – helped it sound more like a thank you than a screw you. Because of course Post had plenty of help to get to this moment, and it’s one that he said never felt like a guarantee.
“Lots of motherf—ers called me a one hit wonder,” said Post, “and I just wanted to say that if you don’t believe in yourself, then nobody f—ing else will. No one can f—ing stop you.”
Post repeated the last line several times, growing louder and more impassioned with each utterance. By the end, it was as if he was only speaking to himself. Because while tonight was a celebration, it’s clear Post has no plans of slowing down. Rather, having just performed on a makeshift racetrack, nothing is stopping him from continuing full speed ahead.
Shirley Manson is pushing back against media commentary about her appearance, calling out what she describes as “weaponised” language used to diminish women in music as they age. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news On Saturday (April 13), the Garbage frontwoman took to Instagram to share a […]
