Music
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It’s late Monday (Sept. 9) night at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, and Bruce Gillmer, who is executive producing the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards alongside Jesse Ignjatovic, is hustling from one rehearsal to another.
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“We’ve been going since Saturday,” says Gillmer of the preparations to throw what will be the 40th anniversary of MTV’s signature award show on Wednesday (Sept 11). On Monday, Gillmer and his team rehearsed with the rapper LL COOL J. “He’s a legendary MTV artist returning to the stage to celebrate a milestone of one of hip-hop’s most groundbreaking labels: Def Jam,” he reveals of the tribute to the label which also celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, before teasing: “He may even bring some friends along.”
In the past four decades, the VMAs have stayed steady as a culture-moving, irreverent event, frequently sending shockwaves around the music world. (Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift! Miley Cyrus twerks! Britney Spears and Madonna kiss!) But while music videos used to be in heavy rotation on the network, these days the only time a video may air on MTV is during the annual show. Nevertheless, the ceremony has managed to soldier on despite changing consumption habits (certain award categories have dropped the keyword “video,” and some voting takes place over Instagram Stories) and societal norms (its signature trophy the Moon Man is now the Moon Person).
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“This might be the biggest scale production we’ve ever done,” says Gillmer of 2024’s iteration, which will acknowledge the four-decade milestone. “We’re going to be revisiting some of the show’s most iconic moments that made the VMAs the pop culture beast it is today,” he explains. That includes harkening back to its debut on Sept. 14th, 1984. (Hosts: Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler; video of the year: “You Might Think” by The Cars). “One of the look backs will be at that first show from Radio City Music Hall,” says Gillmer. “It’s a homecoming of sorts, so we’ll celebrate turning 40 by flashing back to moments on stage and screen.”
The homecoming comes in the form of the production setting up shop at UBS Arena after a stint in New Jersey last year, which marks the seventh overall VMAs in the tri-state area. (For those counting, its last west coast production occurred in 2017 when Katy Perry hosted from The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.)
Straddling the border of New York City and Long Island, UBS opened in November 2021 (Harry Styles was its first musical performer). According to Gillmer, UBS was a natural choice. “It has top notch acoustics, world class tech capabilities and excellent sightlines,” he says of the arena which normally hosts NHL’s New York Islanders. “It really is built for music and allowed us to create one of our most ambitious set-ups yet.” In addition to the main stage, there will be four performance stages including what they’re dubbing a ‘fandom’ stage built into the audience. “Wait until you see how we used the Moon Person as part of our set design,” he teases. “It’s literally busting out of the screen, into the audience.” Ever the production aficionado, Gillmer can’t help but gush about the stage rigging. “I’m told we’re up to 400,000 lbs.,” he says. “The heaviest VMAs yet! I’m blown away every time I walk into the room and can’t wait for everyone to see all the ‘wow’ factors we packed into the live show.”
Much like an eclectic playlist meant to please everybody at the party, this year’s roster of performers zigzags between past and present names. In one corner, you have your MTV legends: the aforementioned LL COOL J, as well as Katy Perry who is set to take the stage to accept the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award (the show’s version of the lifetime achievement award). “We also just announced Eminem will be our show opener,” says Gillmer of the legendary rapper.
But it wouldn’t be the VMAs without tapping into buzzy newcomers for possible superstar-making performances. Luckily for the producers, the past year has minted a variety of fresh talent. “(Since) the show always spotlights artists with the biggest impact over the last 12 months, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter were two names we unquestionably had to have this year,” Gillmer says of snagging two of 2024’s biggest breakouts (the former had to shake up her schedule to facilitate her VMA debut). “Sabrina blew us all away with last year’s pre-show performance.”
Other first-time VMA performers this year include two artists riding breakout singles, Benson Boone (“Beautiful Things,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100) and Teddy Swims (“Lose Control,” which topped the Hot 100), as well as VMA stalwarts with new albums, including Shawn Mendes (his fifth album, Shawn, drops Oct. 18) and Camila Cabello (promoting C,XOXO which came out this summer). K-pop superstar Lisa, Brazil’s Anitta and Puerto Rico’s Rauw Alejandro will also perform.
There’s also Megan Thee Stallion, who this year serves as the ceremony’s host and continues the trend of recruiting an artist to host the ceremony (Nicki Minaj and Doja Cat have both enjoyed recent honors). According to Gillmer, the gig came after plans for a more traditional role for the star. “We actually started talking about her performance on 2024’s show first after her VMAs debut alongside Cardi B last year,” recalls Gillmer. “Our conversation evolved from there. It was easy to see she was a perfect fit: she’s quintessential MTV and is leading (her) genre. Megan is this rare artist who has an unmatched presence and dynamic personality that allows you to dominate a performance and then carry on an extraordinary event like this.”
For months, everything was booked, set and scheduled for the show to kick off Tuesday, Sept. 10. Then, a curveball: in August, the date of the first (and possibly only) Presidential Debate of the 2024 election cycle between Vice President Harris and former President Trump was announced to take place that same night. Gillmer and his team knew they wanted to steer clear.
“With our brand’s decades-long history of leading non-partisan civic engagement, it was important to encourage our fans to tune in to the debate to help make educated decisions ahead of a historic election,” he says. With that, the team went into overdrive shifting their plans by a full 24 hours, with this year’s show moving to Sept. 11. “With the date shift, it again gave us the opportunity to partner with our friends at 9/11 Day to amplify their September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance with tickets to Tuesday’s Children,” says Gillmer of the long-standing association with the charity.
Aside from streaming on Paramount+, the VMAs air on BET, BET Her, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Nick at Nite, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land and VH1, with a rebroadcast to follow. “We’re also airing a live, hosted simulcast on Univision with entertainment reporter Alejandra Espinoza who is bringing audiences in on exclusive show access and rehearsal features from some of the top Latin talent,” Gillmer says.
In any case, Gillmer is bracing for the unexpected: “Anything can happen live on Wednesday.”
Ben Stiller has long been a rap fan, and he’s looking forward to seeing Kendrick Lamar headline the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show in New Orleans in February. The star offered a simple response to seeing Kendrick announce his Super Bowl appearance on Sunday (Sept. 8). “Yes,” the Dodgeball actor wrote. Fans flooded Stiller’s replies […]
BTS‘ Suga has been fined without a trial for driving an electric scooter under the influence of alcohol in August, officials told South Korean news agency Yonhap on Tuesday (Sept. 10). He also previously had his license suspended over the same incident.
Used for minor offenses, a summary indictment requests that the court impose a fine or confiscation through an expedited process without a full trial.
The news comes more than a month after the 31-year-old K-pop star was questioned by police after falling from his electric scooter in the Hannam neighborhood of the Yongsan district Aug. 6. According to Yonhap, the star’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.227 percent, nearly three times the 0.08 percent threshold. The news agency also reports that according to the Road Traffic Act, violations in which the BAC is above 0.2 percent indicates two to five years behind bars, as well as a fine of 10 million won (approximately $7,442) and 20 million won (approximately $14,884).
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Billboard has reached out to BTS’ reps for comment.
Shortly after the incident, Suga — who is currently in the middle of serving out his mandatory service in the South Korean military — revealed that his license had been revoked. He also said sorry to fans in two heartfelt posts on Weverse, explaining in the first that he didn’t realize he couldn’t operate an electric scooter while under the influence, which he’d attempted after going out to dinner.
“In the process of setting up an electric kickboard at the front door of the house, I fell alone, and there was a police officer around me, so I took a breath test,” he continued in the Aug. 7 post, apologizing to “everyone who was hurt by [his] careless and wrong actions.”
BTS’ record label, BigHit, also issued a statement at the time, apologizing “for the disappointment caused by the artist’s inappropriate behavior.” “As a social service agent during his military service, he is prepared to accept any disciplinary actions from his place of work for causing a social disturbance,” the label added at the time. “We will take greater care to ensure that such incidents do not happen again in the future.”
Toward the end of August, Suga again took responsibility for his actions. “It’s all my fault,” he wrote in his second post about the incident on Weverse. “My carelessness is giving everyone who cares about me a hard time. I will try not to do anything wrong again and live with repentance. Due to this incident, I have greatly damaged the precious memories I made with the members and fans and put a lot of pressure on the name of the BTS.”
Since the incident, BTS fans have stood behind the musician, even issuing a statement in support of all members of the global group in recent days. “Global ARMY fan bases, both domestic and international, have gathered to affirm with one voice that we continue to support all seven members of BTS,” read part of the statement representing 127 ARMY divisions globally.
Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini, Lady A, Parker McCollum and The War and Treaty have been added as performers for the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards, which will air Thursday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and Peacock. Kane Brown, who is set to receive the Country Champion Award, and Miranda Lambert, who is set to receive the Country Icon Award, had already been announced as performers.
The two-hour show, hosted by Shania Twain, will air live from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. A two-hour red-carpet pre-show, Live From E!: People’s Choice Country Awards, will kick off the night at 6 p.m. ET/PT on E!.
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Ballerini, Lady A and The War and Treaty received CMA Awards nominations in key categories on Monday (Sept. 9). Ballerini is nominated for female vocalist of the year, Lady A for vocal group of the year, and The War and Treaty for vocal duo of the year. A strong performance on the People’s Choice Country Awards could conceivably help them in the CMA voting. (CMA final-round voting opens on Tuesday, Oct. 1, five days after the People’s Choice Country Awards, and extends for four weeks.)
Additionally, Carly Pearce, Dan + Shay, Little Big Town and comedian Nate Bargatze have been announced as presenters. Additional names will be announced.
A limited number of show tickets and VIP packages are available now at Opry.com.
People’s Choice Country Awards is produced by Den of Thieves. Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski will executive produce along with RAC Clark as executive producer and showrunner.
The pre-show is produced by Den of Thieves with executive producers Ignjatovic, Prager and Bialkowski.
Here are all the performers and presenters that have been announced. This will be updated when additional names are announced.
Performers
Kane Brown
Keith Urban
Kelsea Ballerini
Lady A
Miranda Lambert
Parker McCollum
The War and Treaty
Presenters
Carly Pearce
Dan + Shay
Little Big Town
Nat Bargatze
Yesterday, Kendrick Lamar revealed that he’ll be headlining the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show in New Orleans next February. This won’t be his first time performing at the Big Game: Kendrick first popped out during the Dr. Dre & Friends set at the Super Bowl LVI Half Time Show in his hometown of L.A., where […]
Chase Matthew is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist thanks to his single “Love You Again.”
Released in December 2022, the song debuts at No. 91 on the Sept. 14-dated chart with 20.3 million all-format radio airplay audience impressions (up 12%) and 2.1 million official U.S. streams Aug. 30-Sept. 5, according to Luminate.
The track also rises 32-24 on Hot Country Songs for a new high. On Country Airplay, where it’s Matthew’s first entry, it returns to the top 10, jumping 12-9 for a new best in its 67th week on the chart.
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“Love You Again” appears on Matthew’s second studio album, Come Get Your Memory, which was released in June 2023 on Warner Music Nashville.
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Matthew first appeared on Billboard’s charts dated July 17, 2021, with “County Line,” released on Ryan Upchurch’s Holler Boy Records. The song, which he wrote after a breakup, went viral on TikTok, helping it to debut at its No. 29 peak on Hot Country Songs; it also hit No. 10 on Country Digital Song Sales that week.
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Matthew earned his second chart hit with “We Had It Good,” which reached No. 44 on Hot Country Songs in February 2022. The song is from his debut album Born for This, which reached No. 31 on Top Country Albums that month.
Following the success of Born for This, Matthew signed to Warner Nashville in October 2022. “Ryan Upchurch gave me an opportunity that put me on the map,” he said upon his signing. “Looking forward, we wanted to maintain how we work, but grow the team in order to build bigger. Warner Nashville understood our goals and provided the opportunity for a true partnership allowing me to maintain my creative control. I’m thrilled to be able to work with the Warner Nashville team and take this thing to a whole new level for the fans.”
Matthew was born in Sevierville, Tenn., and raised just outside Nashville in Ashland City. Before focusing on music, he was a full-time mechanic.
Billboard named Matthew its September Country Rookie of the Month, and he shared that he’s planning to drop his third album next year. “I’ve probably got 300 songs on my phone just begging to be released,” he said, adding that it’ll include some collaborations. “It’s going to be some really good songs and I’m being very selective on what’s going to end up on that project.”
Matthew is currently on his solo Born for This Tour. He has additional shows lined up supporting both Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan. Next year, he’ll join Keith Urban’s High and Alive World Tour.
The finalists for the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards are set to be announced on Thursday, Sept. 12, at 10 a.m. ET on Billboard.com and Telemundo.com.
This year’s finalists will be recognized in a wide range of award categories, including top Latin album of the year, artist of the year, Hot Latin Song of the year, tour of the year and songwriter of the year, among others. Additionally, the show will honor a few select artists with Billboard‘s special awards, which will be announced soon. The finalists, as well as the eventual winners, will be determined based on their performance on Billboard‘s albums and songs charts from Aug. 19, 2023, to Sept. 7, 2024.
Produced and broadcast by Telemundo, the Billboard Latin Music Awards stands as the only awards show that recognizes the most popular albums, songs, and performers in Latin music, as determined by Billboard‘s weekly charts. The awards ceremony will take place in Miami and air on Sunday, Oct. 20, at 9 p.m. ET.
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The awards will culminate Billboard Latin Music Week, which returns to Miami Oct. 14-18, celebrating Latin music, cultur, and entertainment all week long with exclusive performances, one-of-a-kind panels, workshops, showcases and exclusive fan experiences. The star-studded event, taking place at The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater, will feature Latin music’s biggest stars, including Peso Pluma, Alejandro Sanz, Young Miko, J Balvin, Gloria Estefan, among many others in its lineup.
Learn more about Billboard Latin Music Week and register at billboardlatinmusicweek.com.
It is a rare alignment of the stars that allows a self-proclaimed, multi-hypehnate “model, actress, whatever” to live both of their biggest dreams at the same time and then have one of them turn into her main gig. But that’s where English singer/actress/model Suki Waterhouse finds herself these days as she prepares to release her second studio album, Memoir of a Sparklemuffin.
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After a memorable turn as keyboardist Karen Sirko in the 2023 Amazon Prime musical drama series Daisy Jones & the Six, Waterhouse, 32, tells Billboard the show “definitely” helped her to get more focused on her musical dreams. “I guess that show was really special, because it kind of put me in that world for a long time,” she says of the courage the show about a fictional Fleetwood Mac-style battling band gave her to pursue her music with renewed energy.
“When I started doing that show, I still was, like… ‘you could never do that,’” she says of the pervasive thoughts convincing her that she couldn’t pull off her character, or a tour, or release a follow-up to her debut 2022 Sub Pop full-length LP, I Can’t Let Go. “I was very much in this like, ‘Oh no, you’re, you’re not good enough to do that. Or, like, you just that just won’t happen for you’… that was just where I was mentally.” But after spending hours and hours a day in L.A.’s legendary Sound City Studios working on songs for the series and learning new chords she realized that all that pretend rocking could be turned into the songs for her about-to-be-released sophomore album, which drops on Friday (Sept. 13).
“It as very special to be able to do something that combines [my two loves and] really moves you in your own life as well, it’s very unique,” says the veteran of such films as Detective Pikachu, A Rainy Day in New York and Billionaire Boys Club and one of the hand-picked opening acts on Taylor Swift’s August 17 Eras Tour gig at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The London native got her start as a teenage model before breaking into movies in 2012 and then pivoting to music in 2016 with her debut single, “Brutally.” She says the process for recording Sparklemuffin was a world away from that of her debut because when she first started in music she didn’t have a label or anyone behind her after nearly a decade of self-releasing songs.
“And then Sub Pop said yes, but I had to kind of really bang down the door,” she says. “It took like, six months of writing emails, and they said, ‘No, we don’t want to listen to any songs from models or actresses, whatevers.’ So it was a completely different experience this time. I’ve been able to collaborate with different people and have different artists that I could call up, and a few more people wanted to get in the room with me than they did before. So it was, like, very, very different in that way.”
The other thing that was very different was that Waterhouse was pregnant with her first child with fiancé actor Robert Pattinson; she gave birth in March of this year. That was news she was trying to keep secret until she got sick during a car ride to the studio, at which point the cat was out of the bag. “I was really like, glad to have a project that I was so into whilst also being pregnant, because it was like, you know, you’re just powering through,” she says. “And it was great to have a distraction. And I kind of had this thing in my head where I’m like, ‘I’m just going to power through. Who cares? I’m going to vomit sometimes.. and then you feel fine afterwards.”
For more about the album and the inspiration behind the guys-going-way-too-hard at the club single “Blackout” and the great tips Alison Wonderland gave her for touring with a baby check out the video above.
Attention for Linkin Park’s catalog has soared following the release of the rockers’ comeback single “The Emptiness Machine” on Sept. 5.
On Sept. 6, the first full day for U.S. streams after “The Emptiness Machine” premiered at 6 p.m. ET on Sept. 5 and following a multi-song concert and livestream introducing new band members Emily Armstrong and Colin Brittain, Linkin Park’s catalog earned 11.8 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to initial reports to Luminate.
That’s a 71% gain in streams over Sept. 5, which saw the band rack up 6.9 million streams. And it’s a 103% leap over Sept. 4, the day before the new song, livestream and album/tour announcement, when the band accrued 5.8 million streams.
Attention around Linkin Park’s catalog continued into the weekend, when the overall count was 10.1 million streams on Sept. 7, 14% down from Sept. 6. Its streaming sum on Sept. 6-7 was 21.8 million, nearly as much as the preceding four days (Sept. 2-5), during which period the band accumulated 22.8 million listens.
Of course, a not-insignificant chunk of those streams on Sept. 5-7 is from “The Emptiness Machine” itself; after a partial Sept. 5 of 680,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, the song received 2.8 million on Sept. 6, followed by 1.9 million on Sept. 7.
Removing “The Emptiness Machine” from the equation, the band’s pre-Armstrong and -Brittain catalog still sports meaningful movement: 9 million streams Sept. 6, up 46% from Sept. 5 (6.2 million) and 55% from Sept. 4 (5.8 million). On Sept. 7, its music earned 8.2 million streams, down 9% from Sept. 6, and its two-day count (17.2 million) nearly outpaced the preceding three days (Sept. 3-5, 17.5 million).
“Numb” is the most-streamed song of the group in the measured time frame. It received 858,000 official U.S. streams on Sept. 6, up 25% from Sept. 5 (689,000) and up 30% from Sept. 4 (662,000). On Sept. 7, it added another 851,000 streams. “Numb” is one of 12 No. 1s for Linkin Park on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, reigning for 12 weeks beginning in late 2003. It also peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100 in March 2004.
There’s interest in purchasing music from Linkin Park’s catalog past and present, too. On Sept. 5, digital song sales of the band’s output totaled 2,000 downloads, with 1,000 from “The Emptiness Machine.” On Sept. 6, that number swelled to 4,000 (2,000 from “The Emptiness Machine”), followed by another 4,000 on Sept. 7 (2,000 again from the new single).
As for digital album sales, the band sold 1,000 copies Sept. 5-7 across its entire catalog, a 791% leap from the previous three-day period (Sept. 2-4).
Myriad chart activity for Linkin Park will occur on the Sept. 21-dated Billboard rankings, which includes consumption from Sept. 6 to 12. That includes first-full-week numbers for “The Emptiness Machine,” which is challenging for strong starts on the Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock Airplay surveys after debuting at No. 24 on the Rock & Alternative Airplay list dated Sept. 14 after just one day of data, as previously reported. Its aforementioned stream and sales count was also enough for a No. 7 premiere on the multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs tally.
From Zero, Linkin Park’s eighth studio album, is due Nov. 15, the six-piece’s first release since 2017’s One More Light. Singer Armstrong and drummer Brittain join the band after the 2017 death of co-frontman Chester Bennington as well as the departure of longtime drummer Rob Bourdon this year.
Rap great Kendrick Lamar was announced as the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show headlining performer on Sunday (Sept. 8). Despite much criticism from the hip-hop world about the NFL’s decision — as some voiced their hopes to see Lil Wayne on the Super Bowl stage, with the big game being played in his hometown of […]