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The winners of the 55th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards for outstanding books, articles, liner notes and broadcast programs were announced on Friday (Oct. 31). They included works that explored such music greats as Donna Summer, Sinéad O’Connor, John Williams and Miles Davis.
The 2024 award recipients are as follows:
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The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in pop music: Directors Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano, for their HBO documentary, Love to Love You, Donna Summer.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in concert music: Journalist and author Jon Burlingame for his interview with John Williams on the Disney Music Group podcast, Disney for Scores.
Additionally, a Special Recognition Award in the above category is given in memory of “the alt-country impresario” Jeremy Tepper, musician, producer, programmer and executive director of SiriusXM’s “Outlaw Country” and Willie’s Roadhouse” channels.
The ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams “Loved the Liner Notes” Award for pop music: Deanie Parker and Robert Gordon for “Scribble and Hum” from Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos on Craft Recordings.
Special Recognition Awards in the above category are also given to Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt for Matmos: Return to Archive on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and also Jeff Place and John W. Troutman for Playing for the Man at the Door: Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick, 1958-1971, on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
The “Loved the Liner Notes” Award was established in 2016 and is funded by ASCAP Foundation president Paul Williams.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in pop music: John Szwed for Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and also Allyson McCabe for Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters, published by University of Texas Press.
A Special Recognition Award in the above category goes to Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards for Threadgill’s memoir Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music, published by Alfred A. Knopf.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in concert music: Denise Von Glahn for Circle of Winners: How the Guggenheim Foundation Composition Awards Shaped American Musical Culture, published by University of Illinois Press, and also Lois Svard for The Musical Brain: What Students, Teachers and Performers Need to Know, published by Oxford University Press.
Special Recognition Awards in the above category are given to Dan Gutstein for Poor Gal: The Cultural History of Little Liza Jane, published by University Press of Mississippi, and also Howard Pollack for Samuel Barber: His Life and Legacy, published by University of Illinois Press.
The award recipients for articles published in 2023 are as follows:
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an article in the pop music field: Jeffrey Magee for his article “’Honor the Source’: Race, Representation and Intellectual Property in Jelly’s Last Jam,” published in the journal Studies in Musical Theatre.
The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an article in the concert music field: Tina Frühauf for her article “The Dialectics of Nationalism: Jaromír Weinberger’s Schwanda the Bagpiper and Anti-Semitism in Interwar Europe,” published in Cambridge Opera Journal.
The Virgil Thomson Award for outstanding music criticism in the pop music field: Lewis Porter for his article, “Miles Davis Did Not Exactly Steal Tunes,” published by Playback with Lewis Porter! on Substack.
The Virgil Thomson Award for outstanding music criticism in the concert music field: Kerry O’Brien and William Robin for their work, “On Minimalism: Documenting a Musical Movement,” published by University of California Press.
Established in 1967 to honor the memory of composer, critic, commentator and former ASCAP president Deems Taylor, The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards are made possible by the generous support of the Virgil Thomson Foundation. Thomson was a noted American composer and critic and a former member of the ASCAP board of directors.
Música popular Colombiana made its debut at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards, with a show-opening performance by Luis Alfonso. It was a historic moment for the fast-growing genre that fuses Regional Mexican music and the string music known as carrilera in Colombia.
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“The achievement and magnitude of how important this was for the Colombian popular genre is indescribable,” Alfonso tells Billboard. “For me, having been at such an important space is a feeling of gratitude to all the beautiful people who make this possible. Thank you Billboard for giving me the confidence, the opportunity, and being able to show the world our music, culture, and essence.”
During the opening set, the artist hailing from Popayán, Colombia performed a medley of his hit “Tequila Con Cerveza,” originally recorded with urban star Blessd, followed by current viral hit “Chismofilia.” Prior to performing at the awards ceremony, Alfonso also spoke about música popular Colombiana at a panel during Billboard Latin Music Week that also featured country-mates Paola Jara, Yeison Jiménez and Pipe Bueno.
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But long before making waves at Latin music’s biggest event, Alfonso made a name for himself in the Regional Colombian genre with a subgenre he created known as “contentoso,” where he laces feel-good and fun melodies with música popular.
His best representation, up to now, is his viral track “Chismofilia,” which earned his first Billboard entry on the Latin Pop Airplay chart this year.
“We were going to do something that people can identify with. What are we missing in our lives? An envious person, a gossiper,” he explains. “Every person in life has a gossiper who is paying attention to what you are doing. I thought, I am going to make an important song in the market, and thanks to the envious people, we are trending every day. ‘Chismofilia’ is love of gossip.”
Alfonso’s love for music derives from his grandfather, a man he describes as humble and who had great knowledge of Mexican culture and its music. He credits Regional Mexican legends such as Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, Antonio Aguilar, and Vicente Fernandez as some of his first inspirations.
His biggest influences, however, are his compatriots Jhonny Rivera and Arelys Henao. The former because of his humility and transparency, and the latter because of her advice as a mother figure—both which he admires for their long-lasting and inspirational careers in música popular Colombiana.
In 2020, Alfonso inked a deal with La Industria Inc., after being discovered at a birthday party by the cousin of Juan Diego Medina (CEO of La Industria). Since, he’s unleashed three live albums and his debut studio album Contentoso in 2024.
At the heart of his flourishing success, Alfonso takes heartfelt pride in being a “montañero” (mountaineer).
“It’s everything. It’s the glue that unites all my passions,” he notes. “Being a mountaineer is a person who loves the countryside, the town, horses, animals, eating rice with egg, writing poems. I think that is all that my music means, because the music I make is music for the bars and for the town.”
Below, learn more about Billboard’s Latin Artist on the Rise for October:
Name: Luis Alfonso
Age: 30
Recommended Song: “Chismofilia”
Major Accomplishment: Performing for the first time at Coliseo Medplus in Bogotá on Oct. 26, where he sang to more than 15,000 fans. “It’s a pride, a dream come true, and a goal in life that inspires all my colleagues,” he notes. “It was a turning point in my personal and professional life. It was the key that opened the door to take a step towards other horizons. When I opened my ticketing sale, we had three months until the date to achieve the sold-out date, but we did it in the first month. I still can’t take in the huge achievement we made. I’m still on a cloud of happiness.”
What’s Next?: Luis Alfonso promises upcoming collaborations, albums and a tour in Europe, but above all, “many beautiful things and music for ‘berracos.’” (Berracos is slang in Colombia for someone who is determined and hardworking).
Billy Corgan posted a note from his wife Chloe on Wednesday (Oct. 30) about an incident at the Smashing Pumpkins singer’s suburban Chicago tea shop in which a car crashed through the front window. “Important notice about Madame Zuzu’s! Thank you for your support and understanding,” Corgan wrote on X in a post that included the note from his wife.
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“This afternoon at Madame Zuzu’s, a car (in circumstances which remain under investigation) drove over the curb and into Madame Zuzu’s and sadly injuring one person — my mother, Jenny; who was spending the day and lunching with my son Augustus,” wrote Chloe Mendel Corgan. “Thankfully, he was able to leap out of the way and was not injured.”
The couple thanked the Highland Park and Deerfield first responders for their help and Chloe noted that the shop will be closed until further notice, with an update coming soon. Madame Zuzu’s, which serves a variety of teas and vegan items, opened in its current location in Sept. 2020.
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In August, Corgan and his wife announced that they are expecting their third child, who will join son Augustus, 8 and daughter Philomena, 5. “We are overjoyed to announce that our family is growing!” Mendel Corgan, 31, told People magazine. “It’s an exciting time for us, although unexpected!” Corgan, 57, added, “On Sunday, we shared the news with our children, Augustus Juppiter and Philomena Clementine. While Augustus was overjoyed, Clementine, the younger of the two, asked if the baby was made already and shed a few tears of concern, which was honestly adorable. Now, both kids are beaming, and it makes it so much fun to share the joy of bringing more love into our family. We are truly blessed.”
The Smashing Pumpkins are gearing up to launch the South American run of their The World Is a Vampire tour, which will kick off in Brasilia, Brazil at the Arena BRB on Friday (Nov. 1).
See Corgan’s post below.
Chloe Fineman has a well-established reputation for doing wickedly funny celebrity impressions, from her killer Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears takes to her wacky, mega-energy JoJo Siwa, eerily accurate Timothée Chalamet, as well as perfect takes on Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth Olsen and, of course, her daffy Jennifer Coolidge.
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So when Entertainment Tonight asked the comedian earlier this week if she was working on dialing in an impression of over-the-top pop star Chappell Roan for this weekend’s episode where the “Hot To Go” singer will be the musical guest alongside six-time host comedian John Mulaney, the typically game-for-anything Fineman wasn’t so sure.
“I might have one [an impression], but I also respect her too much that I’m like, ya know….” Fineman said of Roan, whose brash, colorful stage persona seems ripe for a Fineman take. “I feel like I have to get a temperature check,” Fineman added about what sounds like a game-time decision.
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Fineman also said she was psyched for the combo of Roan and Mulaney — a stand-up star who was is also a former SNL writer — admitting, “that wasn’t necessarily on my vision board, the two of them together, so I’m excited.” In September, Fineman wore her Roan fandom on her sleeve, telling People that she ” definitely had a Chappell Roan summer, as we all did… So, I was like, I can’t believe I might get to be in the same building and sing ‘Pink Pony Club,’ you know? So we’ll see. Hopefully that will happen.”
Saturday’s show will mark Roan’s SNL debut. The singer appeared to tease her next era on Tuesday in an Instagram post in which she shared some selfies and hinted at the follow-up to breakthrough The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess album.
“Album kinda popped off imo but it is time to welcome a hot new bombshell into the villa,” she captioned the pics, in a reference to the Love Island catchphrase welcoming new contestants that led fans to speculate that she’s working on her sophomore LP. Producer Dan Nigro also revealed that the album is in the works earlier this month when he said the pair had completed five songs already, including a “fun, up-tempo country song,” a “couple of ballads” and a “mid-tempo rock song.”
Radiohead singer Thom Yorke left the stage at his solo show in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday night (Oct. 30) after a heckler yelled at him about the war between Israel and Hamas. According to fan footage of the incident at the Sidney Meyer Music Bowl, after the man yelled comments about the “Israeli genocide of Gaza” and made references to the deaths of children during the now year-long war between Israel and militant group Hamas, Yorke stopped the show and challenged the person to say it to his face on stage.
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“Come up here and say that. Right here, come on,” said a peeved sounding Yorke as he stood on stage holding his acoustic guitar while some fans booed the heckler, with one telling the person to “shut the f–k up.”
“Hop up on the f–king stage and say what you wanna say,” Yorke continued. “Don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it. You want to p–s on everybody’s night?”
After the person then reportedly responded with another comment about the war in Gaza, Yorke seemingly had had enough and said, “OK, you do it, see you later then” and walked off stage. According to The Guardian, the singer returned a few minutes later to play the final song of his set, Radiohead’s “Karma Police.”
Yorke is on his Everything tour, on which he’s playing solo material as well as songs from Radiohead and spin-off group The Smile.
Back in 2017, Yorke defended Radiohead’s decision to perform in Tel Aviv, Israel against critics who have called for a boycott of performances in the country over the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians; Yorke has also criticized the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement, saying that BDS prevents necessary dialogue and cultural interactions that could create a positive impact.
In June, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood posted a lengthy note in response to renewed criticism of his long-running collaboration with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa after the pair played a show in Israel in May in the midst of the war sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre of more than 1,200 Israeli women, children and civilians during a raid by Hamas fighters who also took more than 250 hostages.
In the ensuring war, Israeli forces have reportedly killed more than 42,000 Palestinians according to Palestinian authorities, while also laying waste to much of the infrastructure in Gaza in a war that has now widened to include airstrikes in Iran and Lebanon.
Jordyn Woods independently released her debut single “Be With You” on all digital streaming platforms Thursday (Oct. 31).
She first teased the R&B love song in May when she used it to soundtrack her heartwarming Instagram Reel for her boyfriend and New York Knicks player Karl-Anthony Towns to commemorate their four-year anniversary. “I’ll be everything you need/ You know that I’m on your team/ Glad heaven sent you to me/ ‘Cause all I wanna do is/ Be with you/ Be with you/ Be with you/ ‘Cause all I wanna do is/ Be with you/ Be with you/ Be with you, baby,” she sings in the chorus.
Vince Staples commented “Drop the album” under the video, which has currently amassed nearly four million views on Instagram – and Woods exclusively tells Billboard that’s the ultimate “goal. Maybe an EP, an album, who knows? The possibilities are endless, and I think with the positive response, why not keep putting out music? I already have a bunch of songs recorded.”
There’s a bunch of rap songs that reference Woods, from Rick Ross’ “NumbNumb Juice (Freestyle)” (“Got the shooters with me when I be in foreign hoods/ Got a new two seater just for Jordyn Woods”) to Buddy’s “Shameless” (“Jon & Vinny’s on a lunch date/ I need Jordyn Woods on my dinner plate”). But she revealed her singing voice for the first time when she competed on season three of Fox’sThe Masked Singer in 2020. “Someone I knew worked at The Masked Singer. And he’s like, ‘You need to be on the show. They need to hear your voice.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’ll never do it,’” she recalls. “One day, they reached out. And I was just like, ‘You know what, should I just take this chance?’ This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, let me just take it and try it.’”
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During her 11-week tenure on the singing competition series, Woods performed “No Air” by Jordin Sparks after the judges previously guessed she was actually that Jordin and delivered stirring performances of Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” and Rihanna’s “Diamonds” – all while under disguised as “Kangaroo.” She previously told Billboard following her elimination that Robin Thicke even compared her to India.Arie, whom she grew up listening to along with Sade, Luther Vandross and Anita Baker.
“I really broke out of my shell when I did The Masked Singer. You’re really performing, and not only that, you’re wearing a huge, heavy, hot costume!” she reflects. “In a way, it made it easier that it wasn’t me center stage, but then it also showed me that if I can do this in this huge costume, I can do this without the costume. It definitely helped boost my confidence, but it still took years for me to even put anything out.”
Four years later, she’s mustered up the courage to put out her first official single, and it’s not surprising that her boyfriend Towns was the inspiration behind it. “He’s one of the biggest people to motivate me to get in the studio to make music because he knows that I can and that I’m just scared. He himself has actually recorded some songs, too,” she adds. “The first song I actually recorded, we went to the studio together. And we’re both very competitive. I was getting really scared to get in the booth, and he was like, ‘Oh, well, I bet I can go in the other studio and record a song.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, bet! It’s a competition: Let’s see who finishes their song first.’ I ended up finishing my song and that was my motivation to just say ‘f—k it’ and get in the booth.”
Woods kept going back to the studio and recording more songs like “Be With You,” which was produced by Grammy-nominated producer MyGuyMars, who’s worked with Chris Brown, Nipsey Hussle, Kehlani, Mýa and more, and written by him and Woods. She says a mutual friend who knew she was interested in pursuing music connected the two, and they got to work at his recording studio in Van Nuys, California.
“I forced myself to put out ‘Be With You’ because if I didn’t, then it might just sit in the vault,” she explains, adding that her biggest priority was “finding what my sound is as an artist. What makes sense for me? Just being experimental, trying some pop, trying some R&B.”
One person commented underneath her Reel suggesting Ty Dolla $ign as a featured artist on “Be With You.” “Oh my gosh, I would love that! Ty Dolla $ign is amazing,” says Woods. “There’s so many times I’ve been in the studio with friends, I’m like a mini A&R. I have an ear for music and a way where I can hear so many different people on different songs. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” Woods’ artist friends are equally supportive of her. “One of my biggest motivators is Jaden [Smith]. He’s like, ‘Jordyn, I don’t know what the hell you’re waiting for. I’ve been waiting for you to do this for years,’” she adds.
Even though she released “Be With You” six months after she first posted a snippet of the song on Instagram, Woods could be dropping more new music before 2024 is over. “You might get an album this year, or you might get five singles,” she teases. While she’s long considered music to be “therapy,” she realized things were getting serious when labels started reaching out following the “Be With You” teaser. “I’m friends with a lot of people at labels, so it feels pretty organic, it doesn’t feel forceful. But I’m definitely more of an independent artist type of person where I don’t want anyone to force me or ruin it for me. I want to have full leverage and creativity on exactly what I want to do,” she says. “As of right now, I’m just doing me.”
Watch the Roger McKenna-directed music video for “Be With You” below.
Queer pop icons Scissor Sisters have announced a 2025 reunion tour slated to hit the U.K. and Ireland. The concerts will be their first since they went on hiatus in 2012 and will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their self-titled debut album, which went to No.1 in the U.K. upon release.
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After teasing a comeback by projecting their iconic logo onto arenas across the U.K. in recent days, the band have shared the full run of dates they’ll be performing next year. The tour will begin on May 16 with a show in Nottingham and continue on to Glasgow, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Manchester, London, Leeds, Birmingham, Belfast before concluding in Dublin on May 28. See the full run of dates below. Tickets will go on sale on Nov. 8 from the band’s official website.
The group – composed of Jake Shears (vocals), Babydaddy (bass) and Del Marquis (guitar) – also confirmed that former bandmate Ana Matronic will not be a part of the reunion. A statement to accompany the announcement says that vocalist Matronic “has decided not to join the tour as she has other projects she is focusing on right now.”
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“We’ve spent a lot of time collectively thinking about what we can add to our show that isn’t a ‘replacement’ for Ana in any way,” Marquis adds. “She’s part of the spirit of this band and we want to honour that.”
Matronic has responded to the news on her social media profile: “People familiar with my story and career arc will know that in the heart of this Showgirl lies a giant Nerd. In the past decade my Nerd self has taken the wheel and is now driving my career. I am currently finishing production on the first season of my history podcast Good Time Sallies which has grown into several long-term research & writing projects.”
She added: “With contracts signed and schedules agreed on these commitments, the timing of a Scissor reunion does not allow me to join my former bandmates on this tour. I wish the band and our fans all the best – I will be there in spirit to kiki with you!”
The group are planning to perform their 2004 debut Scissor Sisters in full alongside a selection of tracks from their three other studio efforts, 2006’s Ta-Dah, 2010’s Night Work and 2012’s Magic Hour. Scissor Sisters was the U.K.’s best-selling album in 2004 and has racked up more than three million in sales globally.
Speaking to The Independent, the band explained further why they decided to bring the anniversary celebrations and reunion to the U.K and Ireland. “The U.K. has always been a place where you don’t really have to fit into something that already exists,” said Marquis. “They appreciate idiosyncrasy, and appreciate a character, a personality. If anything can be said about our band, it’s that it’s not really like any other band. We didn’t make sense anywhere else, and it’s just like we clicked here.”
2025 Scissor Sisters Tour Dates
May 16 – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
May 17 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro
May 19 – Bournemouth, International Centre
May 20 – Cardiff, Utilita Arena
May 21 – Manchester, Co-Op Live
May 23 – London, The O2
May 24 – Leeds, First Direct Arena
May 25 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
May 27 – Belfast, SSE Arena
May 28 – Dublin, 3Arena
Halsey is speaking out about a disturbing incident from earlier in their career, where a “powerful” music executive invaded their privacy by going through nude photos on their phone without consent.
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The singer-songwriter, who uses they/them pronouns, shared the story on the Call Her Daddy podcast, revealing that the incident left them feeling “demoralized” and deeply unsettled.
The “Lucky” singer explained that it happened several years ago while they were with the executive and two of their male managers.
“I mean, I guess it was quite a long time ago, but I was out and I was with this executive, like this really powerful executive who works in music in some capacity. It was very just celebratory, and there was a lot of industry talk,” Halsey said. “I didn’t feel weird about it at all. I never felt unsafe or anything.”
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The evening took a dark turn, however, when the unnamed executive asked Halsey to send a photo of them together to his niece. Halsey took the picture, then handed over their phone, telling him, “Text it to yourself. I have to pee.”
But when Halsey returned, they immediately sensed something was off.
“I saw he was going through my nudes on my phone,” they recalled. Halsey admitted that the moment left them in shock.
“I was just frozen…I didn’t even know what to do. I was like, ‘Did I just imagine that? Was that an accident?’” They continued, “I was thinking, ‘Did the phone scroll up? What the heck just happened?’”
The thought that the executive might have even sent the photos to himself lingered heavily with Halsey. “I was like, ‘Did he text them to himself and then delete the messages? I don’t even know where these are now,’” they added, describing the disorientation and helplessness that washed over them in that instant.
The entire experience was so invasive that Halsey found themselves questioning their self-worth. “I went from being like, ‘Yeah, I’m like f—ing hot s— and I’m one of the big players.’ And then I sat down.”
“And when that happened, in that moment, I was like, ‘You’re nothing. You’re nothing. You’ll always be nothing. You’re still just that f—ing girl who’s getting taken advantage of, or like men are talking about you behind your back, or you’re some sort of like, collateral,’” she continued. “I was like, ‘You’re nothing.’ It was so demoralizing.”
Halsey shared that, although they’ve faced “worse” incidents in their career, this one stands out. “It was so demoralizing,” they emphasized. “So many worse things have happened to me than that, but that one stuck out for some reason because it was so nonchalant.”
Reflecting on the dark side of power dynamics in the industry, Halsey noted, “I’m in this exclusive space, thinking I’ve reached the ranks where I am protected…and then this invasive thing just happens on a whim.” They explained that the incident made them feel as though they had “regressed.”
Halsey recently released their latest album, The Great Impersonator, on Oct. 25.
In addition to previously released singles “The End,” “Lucky,” “Lonely Is the Muse” and “Ego,” the LP also features songs such as “Only Girl Living in LA,” “Dog Years,” “Panic Attack,” “I Believe in Magic,” “Hometown,” “I Never Loved You,” “Darwinism,” “Arsonist,” “Life of the Spider (DRAFT)” and “Hurt Feelings.” The Great Impersonator marks Halsey’s fifth studio album. It follows 2021’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
Three days after former president/felon Donald Trump held a vengeful, race-baiting rally at Madison Square Garden, Cyndi Lauper – a musical icon and champion of LGBTQ and women’s rights – sought to cleanse the air at the iconic New York City venue on Wednesday (Oct. 30) during her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour.
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“It’s about time [women] start stepping forward and voting for ourselves. We need equality – and I ain’t going back, that’s for sure,” she said early in the evening, before alluding to Sunday night’s MAGA rally: “We need a lot of love here tonight to dissipate a lot of the hate that was here. I wasn’t going to say this, but then I did,” she added with an unapologetic shrug. And she’s putting her money where her mouth is, too, donating proceeds from wig sales at her merch table toward her Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights Fund at the Tides Foundation, which collects funds for “safe and legal abortions… women’s healthcare, prenatal care, postnatal care, cancer screenings — women’s health.”
The Billboard Hot 100-topping, EGT-winning musical icon has never shied away from being politically, creatively and musically outspoken – and the world has been better off for it. So while a Cyndi Lauper farewell tour is a bittersweet affair (one audience member vehemently screamed “no!” when she talked about this being her last major trek), you can’t blame her for wanting to go out while still in peak musical form.
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At 71, Lauper has not lost an iota of her distinctive vocal power. She roared through “She Bop,” belted “I Drove All Night” with 100mph gusto and brilliantly wove through her vocally fragile yet formidable cover of Prince’s “When You Were Mine.” For those ‘80s classics, her band – led by musical director William Wittman, who played on her career-launching classic debut She’s So Unusual (1983) – wisely hewed close to the original arrangements, bringing a crackling new wave punch to the material instead of trying to recast them through a modern lens. When you’re hearing these songs, you want those floating synths, snap percussion and sprightly guitars – not to mention the sublime recorder solo on “She Bop” that Lauper herself performed onstage.
Having a band that tight and well-oiled also afforded Lauper the freedom to stretch out vocally and let loose physically – which was abundantly clear toward the end of an ass-walloping “Money Changes Everything” where she hammered out various riffs on the chorus while writhing around on the ground.
Lauper’s setlist doesn’t shortchange on the hits, but half of the fun of the show is her off-the-cuff banter, delivered in that indelible, no B.S. Brooklyn fashion. “I still can’t parallel park for sh-t,” she quipped after “I Drove All Night”; while sharing a story about a famous actor who told her he was a big fan of The Goonies, she assured the crowd she would never namedrop, then paused significantly and said “Andrew Garfield” before singing the bouncy “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough”; and when introducing “I’m Gonna Be Strong,” a Gene Pitney cover she used to sing with her pre-fame band Blue Angel, she joked about struggling to figure out the song before learning proper key changes: “I tried to sing like him and I kinda sounded like Ethel Merman.” Rolling her eyes, pulling faces and delivering one-liners out of the corner of her mouth, Lauper is a naturally hilarious human who effortlessly commands an audience’s attention. (It’s a shame the 1988 adventure comedy Vibes, which she starred in alongside Jeff Goldblum and Peter Falk, was a box office flop, because she’s genuinely fantastic in it — you can’t help but wish she’d done more big screen work.)
Like so many funny people, Lauper can also use humor to help land an emotional gut punch. “Can you imagine if men could get pregnant?” she asked before singing “Sally’s Pigeons,” a harrowing, real-life-inspired tale of a back-alley abortion that ends in death. “What did Gloria Steinem say? It would be a sacrament.” Eyes were also glistening during “True Colors,” which Lauper performed on a small stage in the middle of the arena while a colorful scarf twisted through the air; her extended pause after delivering the “don’t be afraid” lyric at the end was particularly poignant.
And, of course, “Time After Time” had more than a few people wiping their eyes – not to mention dropping their jaws when surprise guest Sam Smith came out to join Lauper on the Hot 100 No. 1, blending their dulcet tones with her restrained, emotive delivery. (Smith watched the remainder of the show completely rapt from the side of the stage.)
The show wrapped, naturally, with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” which Lauper performed in a red polka dot outfit from Yayoi Kusama. After singing the line about “boys [who] take a beautiful girl and hide her away from the rest of the world” and wailing “I want to be the one to walk in the sun,” Lauper added a post-Roe appropriate lyrical update: “Everyone wants to have fundamental rights.” Before leading fans in a final sing-along of the chorus, she urged the crowd to give it their all: “Say it loud enough to get rid of all the bad energy in here,” she shouted, smiling. Based on the vitality, power and joy she brought to the MSG on Wednesday, it’s safe to say that the famed Manhattan arena has gone through the musical equivalent of a sage burning, fumigation and re-sanctification under her watch.
BLACKPINK’s Rosé is crowned on Australia’s singles chart for the first time, a feat that etches her name in the history books.The New Zealand-born, Australia-raised superstar singer ends Sabrina Carpenter’s reign on the ARIA Single Chart, as “APT.” (via Atlantic/Warner), her collaboration with Bruno Mars, debuts at No. 1.With that, Rosé becomes the first solo female K-pop star to top the ARIA Chart. She’s just the second solo artist from South Korea to climb the chart ladder after PSY’s “Gangnam Style” spent six weeks on top back in 2012.
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Born in Auckland and raised in Melbourne, Rosé (born Roseanne Park) made the move to South Korea aged 15, when the world of K-pop came calling. At her father’s suggestion, she auditioned for South Korean music company YG Entertainment. It was a shrewd move. The rest is music history.BLACKPINK – comprising Rosé, Jisoo, Jennie and Lisa — smash records for fun. In 2022, BLACKPINK set the mark for the highest-debuting single by a K-pop group in ARIA Chart History when “Pink Venom” hit No. 1, beating the No. 2 start for BTS’ 2020 hit “Dynamite.”BLACKPINK’s two studio albums, The Album (from 2020) and Born Pink (2022), both debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Australian albums survey. In support of Born Pink, the pop group last year embarked on an east coast arena tour of Australia. “APT.,” a reference to the Korean drinking game aparteu, or apartment in English, is the first single from Rosé’s debut album Rosie, which lands on Dec. 6. The track lands at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, and arrived at No. 4 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, setting a new record in the process.
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In the United States, “APT.” powers to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. That too is a history-making achievement; Rosé becomes the first female solo artist prominent in K-pop (Korean pop) to hit the top 10.