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With a little help from his friends, and fans, Joe Cocker may finally get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year.
He’d be pleased, according to his widow.
“Joe was never anxious for it,” says Pam Cocker, who married the British singer in 1987 and was with him until his death from lung cancer in 2014 at the age of 70. “The awards and accomplishments and all of that kind of stuff were not his thing — not to say that he wouldn’t be very pleased, as I am, just thrilled. But you just didn’t think about it.”
Cocker has been eligible since 1989 but was nominated for the first time this year; he’s currently sitting in the top seven selections of the online fan vote that’s being conducted by the Rock Hall. The campaign, such as it is, got a significant boost this week when Paul McCartney issued a public letter endorsing Cocker as “a great man and a fine singer whose unique style made for some fantastic performances.”
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Praising Cocker’s legendary 1968 rendition of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends,” McCartney continued that “whilst he may not have ever lobbied to be in the Hall of Fame, I know he would be extremely happy and grateful to find himself where he deserves to be amongst such illustrious company.”
“What a sweet, sweet letter,” says Pam Cocker, who met McCartney once, briefly. “I know he’s always been a big supporter. I was very proud.”
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McCartney, a two-time inductee, has a winning record for supporting Rock Hall nominees. He successfully lobbied for Beatle-mate Ringo Starr’s 2015 award for musical excellence and was part of last year’s campaign for the induction of another longtime snub, Foreigner. Over the years Cocker has also been publicly championed by Billy Joel.
Pam Cocker, who met Joe when he moved to Santa Barbara, Calif., during the late ‘70s (they married Oct. 11, 1987), says she was “really surprised” by Cocker’s inclusion among this year’s nominees. “It’s just one of those things that every year it comes up and every year you just go, ‘Oh, well, not again….’ Joe always applauded the people who were getting in; he’d be the first to say, ‘I can’t believe they’re not in there already’ or hadn’t been nominated before. So it was very much a part of our life, knowing about it. But it’s never something that he campaigned for or asked his management, ‘Why aren’t I in it?’ or ‘Can’t you do more?’ There was never anything like that, ever. But he’s been eligible for a long, long time, so it’s about time.”
The elevator pitch for Cocker’s inclusion is certainly long. Born in Sheffield, England and influenced by R&B (Ray Charles in particular), Cocker first sang with his older brother Victor’s skiffle group when he was 12 years old, then played in bands while working as a gasfitter in England. He began recording in 1964 but his career accelerated after he formed the Grease Band in 1966 and then signed with producer Denny Cordell, who helmed “With a Little Help From My Friends” in 1968 — and famously became the theme song for TV’s The Wonder Years 20 years later.
Cocker’s soulful delivery and spasmodic performing style made him a live favorite as well, and his appearance at the first Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in 1969 and in the subsequent movie elevated him to star status. His Leon Russell-led Mad Dogs & Englishmen band was legendary in 1970, and Cocker maintained a steady career that included 22 studio albums and hit renditions of the Box Tops’ “The Letter,” Julie London’s “Cry Me a River” and Billy Preston’s “You Are So Beautiful.” Cocker won a Grammy Award in 1983 for “Up Where We Belong,” his Billboard Hot 100-topping duet with Jennifer Warnes for the film An Officer and a Gentleman, and received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2007.
“Music was paramount to him,” says Pam Cocker, who says she’s been voting for him every day and adds that Victor Cocker, who still resides in England, is equally excited about the nomination. “He had a lot of interests…but he was really just about making music and thinking about the next song, listening to songs all the time. It was just everything to him. He deserves this; he certainly was a legend. We just have to see what happens and hope it’s his time.”
Fan voting is being conducted via vote.rockhall.com until April 21. Voters can vote once per day and choose up to seven of the 14 nominated acts.
Lady Gaga is in a new era, and while her upcoming album is called Mayhem, she has found peace at home thanks to her fiancé Michael Polansky.
The superstar sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to discuss her eighth studio album, where she revealed that she’s been “healthier” recently. “I have good people in my life. I fell in love with Michael,” she explained, before sharing a special moment with Polansky that inspired a song on Mayhem. “As a songwriter you need life to inspire your writing and if everything is promotion, then I’ll write about promotion and I won’t write about that special moment I shared with you where Michael asked me how I would want him to propose to me one day. We were in our backyard and I said, ‘Just take a blade of grass and wrap it around my finger’ and then I wrote ‘Blade of Grass’ because I remembered the way his face looked and I remembered the grass in the backyard and I remember thinking he should use that really long grass that’s in the center of the backyard.”
She continued of now feeling confident in her artistry, “I needed to go live life to have a full life and also to give back to my true gift. That’s one of the sweetest things that I think Michael ever said to me as my partner is he was like, ‘You who you are is that you’re an artist. That’s the thing that makes you the most happy, so we need to nurture that part of you.’ He reminded me that the other stuff was maybe sometimes hard for me and making it more difficult, so keeping me away from what I love.”
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The “Rain on Me” singer and businessman started dating shortly after meeting at a party in 2019, five years after which Polansky proposed in April 2024. The Joker: Folie à Deux actress has previously credited her fiancé with pushing her to make a new pop album, and while speaking to Elle in January, she revealed that Polansky helped pen “like, seven songs” on Mayhem — including single “Disease,” on which he’s credited as a songwriter.
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“My home used to only be the stage,” she told Lowe. “It was so lonely. And also it is so much more fun to take somebody up there with you, someone that loves you, that knows what you’re capable of in all the various aspects of life. I think that there’s nothing that could bring a tear to my eye than knowing that I mean so much to somebody in a way that isn’t about what I’m doing on stage or my song or what I’m wearing. He’s so grateful if I make him a double decaf espresso over ice because that’s his favorite, and that’s a huge part of who I am.”
Gaga concluded, “Mattering to somebody just for being me, like a girl, that means a lot. […] He just wants me to be OK and he’s my real friend.”
Watch the full interview below via The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music 1. Mayhem arrives on Friday (March 7).
Billboard Unfiltered returned on Wednesday (March 5) with another live episode, but the guys added a special guest into the mix — Hot 97’s DJ Drewski makes his debut on the newest iteration of the show.
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Wiz Khalifa’s recent run of fiery freestyles and features has the crew feeling nostalgic as they discussed Wiz possibly forcing his way back into the mainstream, which led to a debate surrounding The Blog Era.
“There is a commercial appetite for Wiz,” senior charts & data analyst Trevor Anderson said. “I would love to see Wiz get another hit … Just to cap off this era, how crazy would it be if there was a comeback single that made its way… If he was able to sneak back into a top 40, top 20 kind of hit, that, to me, would only solidify when you look at that 15-year run.”
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For deputy director, editorial Damien Scott, he appreciates that Wiz has found what fans love about him, and is continuing to fill the void.
“It’s good to see an artist realize what people love about them and understand there is something they could still give to the game,” Scott added. “Wiz sounds like he wants to rap again. He got so successful … I don’t think he has anything to prove, but he sounds reinvigorated and wants to prove to people that he can still do this.”
The fellas highlighted a Blog Era artist they’d like to see make a comeback: Damien Scott went with Charles Hamilton while Trevor Anderson highlighted B.o.B. Carl Lamarre went down to Atlanta for Ace Hood and Drewski chose Asher Roth.
Scott got another discussion going when recalling a viral tweet comparing Jay-Z, Nas and The Notorious B.I.G. as the best lyricists. “I would go with Biggie as a lyricist,” Scott said. “I think Big had everything. I think he had every aspect of rap. Big was so nasty, I don’t think rap has dramatically moved on from what he’s done.”
Lamarre chimed in with a spicy take when claiming that “from a dexterity level,” J. Cole could go “toe-to-toe” with Biggie and hold his own on a track. “I think he could go toe-to-toe with a Jay,” he said. “Especially this new version of Cole we’re getting.”
Another heated discussion came off of the theory of Drake being planted in the ’90s and seeing how much success he’d have with his singing-rapping hallmark in the Golden Era. Drewski believes Drake would’ve thrived on a Bad Boy Records under Diddy’s tutelage, while Damien Scott isn’t so confident.
Scott thinks Drake owes a series of thank-yous to Kanye West for paving the way and breaking down sonic barriers in the years prior to his ascension. “The change that took place because of Kanye, Drake benefitted from greatly,” he said. “Back then, that s–t wasn’t flying.”
Watch the full episode below:
California’s largest rock festival has released its lineup, featuring some of the biggest names in metal, hardcore and punk. 2025’s Aftershock Festival at Discover Park in Sacramento will include 115 bands, headlined by four of the biggest artists in the genre — pop-punk legends Blink 182, hard rock pioneering band Deftones, nu-metal veterans Korn and British hardcore legends Bring Me The Horizon.
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“Aftershock is the biggest rock, punk, and metal festival on the West Coast, and this year, it lined up perfectly for California fans. We’ve got legendary reunions, rare performances, and more California bands on this lineup than any Aftershock before,” said Aftershock promoter Danny Wimmer, who has staged the festival for 13 years, in a statement. “Year after year, we’ve broken attendance records, and this one is set to be the biggest yet. Trust me, you don’t want to miss it. I hope to see you there.”
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Other big names appearing at this year’s festival include pop-punkers Good Charlotte and All Time Low performing on the opening Thursday for Aftershock, Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan’s band A Perfect Circle and east coast hardcore outfit Turnstile performing Friday. Saturday will feature performances from Bad Omens and Gojira, while Sunday boasts sets by hard rock legends Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson.
This year’s festival features more than a dozen reunion shows, including the first West Coast performance for recently reunited East Coast hardcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan, as well as a 40th anniversary celebration for gross-out rock legends GWAR.
Tickets are on sale now at Aftershock’s website for both general admission and VIP. This year, Aftershock is continuing to offer layaway ticket purchases with just $1 down, as well as discounted four-day and single day passes to first responders, active duty military and medical professionals and nurses. A full lineup for this year’s festival can be found below:
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In the new “The Stars Behind the Stars” franchise, Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors share stories that have yet to be told, directly from those who aren’t often in front of the spotlight. Think “todo lo que no se ve detrás de cámaras” or “everything that happens behind the scenes.” These unsung heroes are essential to an artist’s team and its foundation. Today, we highlight CEO Juan Martín Salazar, creative director of 9F agency.
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9F’s CEO and creative director, Juan Martín Salazar, has directed campaigns for such game-changing albums this decade as Beyoncé’s Renaissance and Cowboy Carter albums and Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti. He was also in charge of the exhibition of Mañana será Bonito by Karol G in Madrid, and the pop-up of Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos in New York (at the Caribbean Social Club in Toñitas) and Miami in association with Amazon Music Latin.
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In addition, he was in charge of creating a spectacular event during the week of the Latin Grammys 2023 in Spain with Carín León, at the cultural landmark Setas de Sevilla. Salazar and his team designed a backdrop from the entrance stairs, leading to an “acoustic” stage and creating a welcoming atmosphere, surrounded by colonial buildings.
“For me it was like a Louis Vuitton show,” Salazar tells Billboard Español. “That was the goal, and I always told the home team, ‘This has to be Louis Vuitton-type.’ They didn’t want to do the carpet-lined ladder thing, and I’m super-exaggerated in some things. There are many agencies that do many things. Still, there is always that ‘rainbow touch’ that makes things look much better — and that they don’t necessarily have to be very expensive or giant; it’s like that little detail.”
The CEO began his career studying business administration in Colombia, and then spent a stage of his life in Argentina. Years later, he moved to Miami to work directly with labels such as 5020, Sony Music Latin, Amazon and Columbia Records.
“My first project was for Becky G,” he recalls. “She released a song called ‘Dollar’ with Myke Towers, and I came up with a super crazy idea — that, to this day, I sometimes say, ‘What was I thinking about doing something like that?’ It was installing an ATM on a corner, and of course, the fans came and took out bills. In other words, the ATM worked perfectly; it was not connected to the bank, but people could put their card, and Becky G bills would come out with a receipt that said: “Becky G and Dollar…’ When you listen to the song, it talks about a guy who was always pretending, and in the end, it was all super fake.”
One of the moments that Juan has also enjoyed has been being able to create campaigns for English-language artists. Another opportunity opened up after doing a project for Rosalía: “There was a time when someone from Columbia Records asked Sony, the regional company, for help to do Rosalía’s Motomami project,” he explains. “Because of that, at Columbia, we’ve been recommended internally — and ended up doing both Beyoncé campaigns for Cowboy Carter and Renaissance.”
Salazar adds, “When the Renaissance campaign came to me, for the first time, it was like, ‘Wow! Already.’ God, I mean, I’m an immigrant. I come from Colombia, and never in my life I thought I would do something for Beyoncé.” He is preparing something special with Oscesa, for the 10 sold-out shows that Shakira will soon have in Mexico City. A museum that opens on March 19 will be open for the 10 days of Shakira’s show in Mexico City.
After seven years of positioning itself within the U.S. entertainment industry, 9F Agency took a crucial step in its international expansion with the opening of operations in Mexico, led by the prominent Spanish executive Cristina Martín.
Juan Martín Salazar tells us a little about the creative process behind some of these great projects.
How do you come up with inspiration for each project?
I like to go to fairs that don’t have to do with music, for example, exhibition fairs. Just last year, I was there — because my husband is an architect, and I accompanied him to Milan for the furniture fair. I always go to exhibitions, and there I go.
Many things, that fair, that one, were biotechnical things that had transparent fabrics, and when I came back here, I said, “Let’s do [something] with fabrics.”
How much do you get involved with each artist?
Well, almost not. It’s like the team. In the case of Karol, for example, I always work with Luis Mesa, the Marketing Director. He is like the intermediary between the artist and that. For me, there is no need to speak directly to them. I respect the communication channel very much. And in the case of a label, I always go to the project manager.
What has been your favorite project?
For me, one of the highlights was Beyoncé’s. I don’t know if you’ve seen the one at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. That was wild.
The Cowboy Carter album was coming out and we were asked to do some screenings. So, she wanted to make some projections in emblematic places of Black culture. When I went in to see, I said, “This doesn’t make any sense… They’re in Alabama, they’re in Mississippi.” I say to her team: no one is going to see it there.
So, I said, “Why don’t we do it at the Guggenheim, at the New Museum, at the Whitney Museum, in [this place and that place]? So, they said, all at once, “Let’s do it there.” When we started doing the rehearsal at the Guggenheim on the computer, they sent us a file, but they didn’t want to send us the final file. Afterward, they did not want to send the file through WeTransfer. Then, they sent someone on a plane from Los Angeles to New York with the flash drive.
This was the day we had to go out with the ad. It was 4:00 in the afternoon, and the person did not land in New York… In other words, the plane was delayed, I have no idea what happened, and they sent it on WeTransfer. And when I opened the file, it was a completely different file than the one we had rehearsed with. And this was at 6:00 in the evening, and we had to go live at 8:00. And in the end, it went super well.
[The museums] were like, “We’re so glad that Beyoncé is interested in art and black art.” Because there were art exhibitions by Black artists in museums.
Naniwa Danshi’s “Doki it” blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated March 5.
The J-pop boy band’s eighth single is being featured as the theme song for AOKI’s “Freshers Fair” commercial starring the seven members. The single launched with 336,529 copies to rule sales, while coming in at No. 4 for downloads and No. 9 for radio airplay. This is the band’s third single after “UBU LOVE” and “The Answer” to hit No. 1 (and the fourth week, as “UBU LOVE” stayed atop the chart for two weeks). and “The Answer”).
Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” follows at No. 2. Streaming and video for the track are down from the previous week, but downloads gained by 104%, radio by 117%, and karaoke by 107%. The Oblivion Battery opener has coasted along in the top 5 for the 46th consecutive week, with six of them at No. 1.
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Sakanaction’s “Kaiju” slips a notch to No. 3. While overall points for the Orb: On the Movements of the Earth opener have decreased, streaming rises 3-2 (up 119%) and radio jumps 4-1 (up 147%).
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=LOVE’s “Tokubechu, shite” shoots to No. 4 from No. 56. The track marked the girl group’s highest first week sales with 302,589 copies, coming in at No. 2 for the metric.
timelesz’s “Rock this Party” debuts at No. 5. This is the first new song by the now eight-man group formerly known as Sexy Zone, after five new members joined through the audition called timelesz project. It’s also the first digital release by the boy band since their debut as Sexy Zone. The buzz around the new-member audition powered the track to No.1 for downloads, No. 8 for streaming, No. 53 for radio, and No. 86 for video. In addition, the release of the introductory digital compilation album Hello! We’re timelesz including songs from the group’s Sexy Zone years has sent “RUN” and “Jinsei Yugi” back into the Japan Hot 100. It’s been about four and a half years since the former entered the charts (No. 57 this week), and about a year and three months for the latter (No. 95).
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Feb. 24 to Mar. 2, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
“Don’t leave when you’re hot, that’s how Mase screwed up.”
We all remember that famous line from Ye’s (formerly Kanye West)= “Devil in a New Dress” — a line he has since apologized for — and on Wednesday (March 5), the Harlem rapper talked about his meteoric rise after he signed to Bad Boy.
During an episode of his sports talk show It Is What It Is, co-host Trysta Krick asked Mase what was the first moment in his rap career that gave him confidence during a conversation about athletes becoming more confident after winning a championship. “For me it was instant,” he answered. “I worked so hard behind the scenes that when I did hit the scene, it was instant. To people, it looked like it happened overnight.”
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He then recalled a moment when he went to check out a Junior M.A.F.I.A. show at Nassau Coliseum with a friend and couldn’t get in. “That moment lit a fire in my belly,” he said. “A year later, I just started working on my flow, working on my bars, working on my delivery, and I worked on it for like six months. I studied people like Method Man. I studied people like LL. I got my waves from Nas. I got my bounce from Method Man. I got my songwriting from LL.”
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However, it wasn’t until The Notorious B.I.G. decided to let him hit the stage during a show at the Apollo that he really took off. “And then one day, he was performing at the Apollo and he brought me out and that was the part that changed everything,” he remembered. “What else can you be solidified by other than the greatest rapper ever to bring you out on stage and say that you’re the next one? And once he said I was the next one, I never looked back. I got better every day. I got better on every song. Every freestyle was great. It was like I couldn’t miss for like two years straight. Anything I got on was just gone. It was nonstop.”
He added: “My hand was hotter than probably Drake‘s. I’m not gonna lie to you. I mean from the beginning. Now Drake has had a way better career, did major things, but I’m saying, my initial start was hotter than Drake’s.”
Mase started his rap career as a member of Harlem rap group Children of the Corn alongside the late Big L, Cam’ron, Herb McGruff, the late Bloodshed and producer Six Figga Digga. He made his Bad Boy debut on 112‘s “Only You (Remix)” and his debut Harlem World sold 273,000 copies in its first week and is certified four times platinum.
Watch the full episode of It Is What It Is below.
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
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This week: The Oscars leads to gains for songs from winners Anora and Emilia Perez, Bob Dylan gets another wave of A Complete Unknown gains (as does the guy who plays him in the movie), and listeners say farewell to one of the greatest pop, soul and jazz singers of the 20th century.
Oscars Boost ‘El Mal,’ Take That’s ‘Anora’ Anthem And… Indie Band Yuck
The 97th Annual Academy Awards may have been the rare Oscars telecast to shrug off any performances of the best original song nominees, but that doesn’t mean some wide-ranging tunes didn’t benefit from their ties to Hollywood’s biggest night. For one, the song that actually did emerge victorious in that category — “El Mal,” from Emilia Pérez — did earn a major streaming bump. The spiky rap-rock track, performed in the French musical by Zoe Saldaña and written by Clément Ducol, Camille and director Jacques Audiard, experienced more than a 2,000% increase in official on-demand U.S. streams thanks to the Oscar win, according to initial data from Luminate – from fewer than 1,000 streams on the Monday before the awards ceremony (Feb. 24) to nearly 20,000 streams the day after the Oscars (Mar. 3).
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Meanwhile, the enormous night for indie dramedy Anora — five Academy Awards, including Best Picture — coincided with an uptick for Take That’s “Greatest Day”: the 2008 single received a euphoric remix from Robin Schulz and Calum Scott in 2023, and the reworked version appears multiple times in Anora. As director Sean Baker enjoyed his “Greatest Day” with a record-tying four Oscar wins in a single night, the updated Take That track shot up 500% in daily streams, from 6,000 on Feb. 24 to 41,000 one week later. Elsewhere, Shirley Bassey’s “Diamonds Are Forever” earned a similar percentage bump thanks to Doja Cat’s performance of the classic during a James Bond medley at the Oscars; “Diamonds” was up 441% on the day after the Oscars, from over 3,000 streams to over 18,000 streams.
Yet the most surprising recipient of an Oscars streaming increase is Yuck, the noise-rock-leaning indie band that released three albums between 2011 and 2016; as astute blogosphere scholars pointed out on Sunday night, Daniel Blumberg, the composer who won the Best Original Score Oscar for his work on The Brutalist, used to be Yuck’s frontman before he pivoted to the film world. As a result, Yuck’s streaming catalog soared 432% post-Oscars, from 7,000 total streams on Feb. 24 to nearly 39,000 streams on Mar. 3. That’s probably not quite enough to convince Blumberg for a reunion, but indie rock diehards can dream. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Despite Oscars Shutout, ‘A Complete Unknown’ Continues to Boost Tracks From Its Stars – And From Bob Dylan Himself
Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown may have lost all eight of its nominations at Sunday night’s Academy Awards (March 2), but the film is pulling off a few notable wins on streaming and in sales.
According to initial data from Luminate, streams for Dylan’s catalog rose 15% during Oscar weekend. From Feb. 21-24, Dylan’s catalog earned 7.02 million official on-demand U.S. streams. For the similar period the following week (encompassing Oscars weekend), his catalog pulled 8.11 million streams. His digital song sales also nearly doubled over that period, shooting from 1,600 to over 3,200.
A Complete Unknown was accompanied by an official soundtrack, featuring covers of Dylan and Joan Baez classics sung by Oscar-nominated stars Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro. “It Ain’t Me Babe,” the 1964 classic notably performed by the duo in the film, has steadily risen in streams over the past month. During the period of Feb. 7-13, the cover pulled just 177,000 official on-demand U.S. streams. Two weeks later, that figure exploded by 310% to over 727,000 streams earned during the period of Feb. 21-27.
And it’s still rising, as both the song and the movie continue to find new fans. Over that Feb. 28-Mar. 3 period, the song’s streams leapt nearly 80% over the equivalent period the prior week, from 315,000 to over 565,000. – KYLE DENIS
Roberta Flack’s Catalog Up Over 400% in Streams, 4,600% in Sales Following Her Death
The great pop, soul and jazz singer Roberta Flack died from cardiac arrest at age 88 on Feb. 24. Flack was a four-time Grammy winner – including back-to-back record of the year wins in 1973 (“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”) and 1974 (“Killing Me Softly With His Song”), making her the first artist to ever win the award in consecutive years. She also topped the Billboard Hot 100 with both of those singles, in ‘72 and ‘73, respectively, as well as with “Feel Like Makin’ Love” in ‘74 – making her the first woman to score No. 1s on the chart in three straight years.
Following her passing last week, fans of course flocked to DSPs and retailers to stream and buy her classic hits. Her catalog more than quintupled in official on-demand U.S. streams for the tracking week ending Feb. 27 – up from just over a million streams the week before to over 5.4 million, according to Luminate – and also rose nearly 4,600% in digital sales, from under 400 total to over 18,000. The biggest risers included those two record of the year winners, “The First Time” (up 284% to 769,000 streams and over 5,000% to 5,900 in sales) and “Killing Me Softly” (up 220% to 1.3 million streams and nearly 4,900% to 6,700 in sales), as well as one of her signature Donny Hathaway duets, 1978’s “The Closer I Get to You” (up 244% to 584,000 streams and over 4,600% to 1,900 in sales). – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Bhad Bhabie Rides New Feud to a Catalog-Reviving Surprise Hit Diss Track
Seven years after scoring her first Billboard Hot 100 entry, Bhad Bhabie could be gearing up for her first appearance of the 2020s on the chart. Taking a page out of Kendrick Lamar’s book, Bhad Bhabie has spun a legitimate streaming hit out of her beef with Alabama Barker, daughter of blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.
On Feb. 25, Bhad Bhabie dropped “Ms. Whitman,” a blistering diss track that samples Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival” and accuses Barker of a litany of things, including an unconfirmed abortion from a Tyga pregnancy. During its first full week of release (Feb. 25-March 3), “Ms. Whitman” earned 7.8 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to initial data from Luminate – essentially working out to a little over a million streams a day.
“Ms. Whitman” is also boosting Bhad Bhabie’s back catalog, which includes the Hot 100 hits “These Heaux” (No. 77), “Gucci Flip Flops” (No. 79, with Lil Yachty) and “Hi Bich” (No. 68). During the week of Feb. 14-20, Bhad Bhabie’s discography pulled 1.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams. The following week (Feb. 21-27), streaming activity for her catalog more than doubled to over 3.57 million streams. With streams still pouring in and the beef still active, “Ms. Whitman” could very well threaten to become Bhad Bhabie’s highest-peaking Hot 100 hit yet. – KD
Antioch, Tenn., native and Billboard 200 chart-topping artist Jelly Roll has some specific artists in mind when it comes to dreaming up his ideal potential Super Bowl Halftime Show.
During an appearance on the podcast Bussin’ With the Boys alongside his friend and fellow singer-songwriter Ernest, Jelly Roll discussed how, if the Super Bowl were to be held in his hometown of Nashville, he would love to see a country music-focused, multi-generational Super Bowl Halftime Show.
“You know what my dream would be?” Jelly Roll said. “When it comes to Nashville, they do a country music Super Bowl. And it’s not even about an artist — like it cuts to Garth [Brooks] on one stage, and he’s doing ‘[Friends in Low Places],’ then it cuts to Reba [McEntire] and then Lainey [Wilson], and then me and then Morgan [Wallen]. It’s like, 18 minutes.”
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“The whole landscape,” adds Ernest.
Notably, country artists have been well-represented in singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, thanks to performances over the years from Brooks, McEntire, Charley Pride, Chris Stapleton, Mickey Guyton and more. But Super Bowl Halftime Show performances from country artists have been rare. In 1994, the Rockin’ Country Sunday Super Bowl Halftime Show was led by Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt and The Judds. In 2003, Shania Twain was on the halftime show bill alongside Sting and No Doubt.
During the Jelly Roll/Ernest episode of Bussin’ With the Boys, they also discussed the artists they feel are going to be huge in country music over the next few years, naming artists including Ernest’s Big Loud labelmate Jake Worthington (on Big Loud Texas), Leo33 artist and “I Never Lie” hitmaker Zach Top and newcomer Chandler Walters. (Worthington and Top spearheaded a country music revival at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium recently.)
Asked how important it might be for modern-day country artists to appreciate the history of the genre, Jelly Roll and Ernest noted how they are drawn to artists who respect the genre’s rich canon of enduring songs and artists.
“In the grand scheme of things, I guess it doesn’t matter, but it’s something that matters to me,” Ernest said.
“It matters to me,” Jelly Roll agreed.
“I appreciate and gravitate towards the people it does matter to, and I feel like it is our responsibility to –I like doing covers of old records to keep those songs alive,” Ernest continued. “Jamey Johnson said it, too, he said, ‘As country singers, it is our responsibility to keep the spirit of those before us alive through songs’ — whether it be writing in that spirit, or covering those songs. Those songs are meant to be sung. Merle Haggard died, that doesn’t mean you can’t go cut his songs. The lifespan of a song has no cap on it. It’s gonna outlive all of us, either way.”
“My second Grand Ole Opry performance, I sung [a song by] Waylon [Jennings],” Jelly Roll added. “It was important to me. One, when I did it the first time … I thought this is a once-around-the-sun for me. When they brought me back [for a second Opry performance], I was doubling down, because I believe, like he said, that probably in the grand scheme it don’t matter, but to the community, it matters to some. I just love country music. Always have, so I just naturally … we flock towards the people [who love country music] … Dude, you’ve been out with me. I turn every bar into a honky tonk. As soon as I get into a bar, hook up my phone or show me where the TouchTunes is. I’m fixin’ to put $100 in this thing and run the gauntlet on y’all for the next two hours.”
Ernest added, “We’ll sit on the front porch at [Nashville venue] Losers [Bar & Grill] ’til four in the morning, hooked up to Bluetooth, playing old Hank Williams songs.”
Watch the full episode of Bussin’ With the Boys below:
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