State Champ Radio Music
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Taylor Swift can come back anytime she likes to record at Marcus Mumford’s home studio, with the Mumford & Sons bandleader revealing that the pop superstar was an ideal guest when she recorded parts of Evermore there a few years ago.
In a clip from his recent appearance on the Table Manners podcast, Mumford recalled how his pal and frequent Swift collaborator Aaron Dessner arranged for the Eras Tour headliner to use the personal recording space Mumford has at the home in England he shares with wife actress Carey Mulligan. “Aaron called me and said, ‘I’ve got someone I’m working with that needs a studio in the U.K.,’” Mumford began.
“And I was like, ‘Cool. Well, if it’s one of your homies, then I’m sure it’ll be fine,’” Mumford continued. “‘Like, what is it? Beyoncé or something?’ He was looking for a discreet studio in London. I was like, ‘I don’t think there really are any.’ And he was like, ‘Can they come and use yours?’”
The folk-rock musician was surprised to learn that the artist Dessner was talking about was none other than the biggest pop star on the planet. “She came down right at the end of COVID, and was the most phenomenal houseguest,” Mumford said. “Burned a lot of vegetables for her. And she brought a killer candle. Her candle game was excellent.”
During her time there, Swift would finish the second half of Evermore, according to Mumford. “And then she asked me to sing on one [of the songs] and I said yes,” he added, referring to fan-favorite “Cowboy Like Me.”
The album would go on to debut atop the Billboard 200 in December 2020, remaining in the No. 1 spot for four weeks. Years later, the 14-time Grammy winner would bring Mumford up on stage at one of her Eras Tour shows to perform “Cowboy Like Me” in front of tens of thousands of fans.
Mumford is now gearing up to release his band’s next album, Prizefighter. As announced at the end of October, the project will feature collaborations with Gracie Abrams, Chris Stapleton, Gigi Perez and Hozier.
Watch Mumford reflect on sharing his space with Swift below.
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One of these days, women will hopefully stop getting blamed for their partners’ actions — but today is not that day. After a former NBA star referred to Megan Thee Stallion in a derogatory way while suggesting that she is the reason why Klay Thompson hasn’t had an ideal basketball season this year, the Dallas Mavericks player came to his girlfriend’s defense.
The exchange took place on Instagram after former NBA champ Jason Williams remarked in a clip from his Hoopin’ N Hollerin’ podcast posted Wednesday (Nov. 12) that it “only takes one p—y to drag a battleship across the desert … That’s how powerful it is.”
The comment was seemingly in reference to how Thompson — who began dating the Hot Girl Coach this summer — was recently benched by the Mavericks due to poor performance on the court. Also on the podcast, the ex-Miami Heat point guard said, “Klay Thompson, I ain’t sayin’ that’s what it is… but that might be what it is.”
Thompson, however, was having none of it. In the comments, he defended Meg by writing, “Referring to my GF as a ‘p—y’ is so disgusting and disturbing.”
“Especially from someone who played in the NBA,” he continued. “How would yall feel if I referred to your wives in such a way ? Do better fellas. Very disappointing.”
Though Williams was the one who made the comment about Ms. Stallion, his cohosts, Patrick Beverley and Adam Ferrone, laughed along in agreement as he said it. It’s far from the first time a famous female musician has been blamed for supposedly affecting her athletic partner’s performance in a sport. Just ask Taylor Swift, who’s also had fingers pointed at her at times when fiancé and three-time Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce underperformed on the field.
Commentary aside, MTS and Thompson seem to be happier than ever months into their romance. In October, fans noticed that the couple appeared to have moved in together. Shortly prior, Meg professed her love for her partner on a lovey-dovey track called “Lover Girl.”
“I have never dated somebody so kind,” she told Page Six in July. “This is my first relationship where I’ve ever been with somebody who’s genuinely a nice person, and he makes me genuinely happy.”
Trending on Billboard Eminem and his longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg, have inked a multi-year partnership with the Detroit Lions to executive-produce the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Halftime Show. Explore See latest videos, charts and news The Lions announced on Thursday (Nov. 13) that Slim Shady and Rosenberg will “consult” the franchise on all aspects of the […]
Trending on Billboard The 1985 Chicago Bears are shuffling into a new HBO documentary. HBO announced plans for The Shuffle doc on Thursday (Nov. 13), which will explore the Super Bowl XX champions’ iconic “Super Bowl Shuffle” rap song and memorable music video. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Set to premiere on Nov. […]
As he gears up to release his new EP Appaloosa on Friday (Nov. 14), country singer Orville Peck broke down the current phase of his career in the latest episode of Billboard‘s Takes Us Out.
Peck sat down with Billboard’s Tetris Kelly at Los Angeles’ Beachwood Café, where the pair chowed down on comfort food and took a look at the state of Peck’s career today. “[I’ve been] going back to my roots, in terms of just diving into the creativity and the artistry and the references that I grew up loving,” Peck says. “[Appaloosa]’s also got a very constant air through it in terms of lyrics, of just kind of being unconcerned with what things should sound like or look like. I’m really just making music for myself again.”
The singer, who spent the last few years rising through the ranks of country music and becoming a breakout star in his own right, says that his work with friends and former collaborators such as Noah Cyrus and Willie Nelson only further helped bolster his confidence about his own artistic output. But he points to one country superstar as his dream collaborator.
“I mean, I always say Dolly [Parton], I would love to work with Dolly,” he says. “I got Willie Nelson, he was really neck-and-neck with her, so she is the last one on my absolute bucket list that I would die to work with.”
As a disruptive force in the country space, and one who has often advocated for greater diversity and equity within the genre, Peck points out that he’s happy to see some progress finally being made for the genre he calls home. “I feel better about it. I think there’s a lot more people now feeling like they can make country music and not be within the sort of homogenized idea of what country ‘needs’ to be,” he says. “That’s amazing, not just for queer people, but for black people, for brown people, there’s a lot more artists who feel validated to be a part of that.”
But, he points out that country is “tricky” when it comes to progress, and says that the work is far from over. “There is some attachment to country with the culture of country,” he says. “In some ways we’re making a lot of progress, and then in some ways, that progress is making some people want to stand firm in their gatekeeping of country. It’s a constant conversation.”
He points to the recent rule change at the Recording Academy, dividing the previously existing best country album category into two separate lanes for “traditional” and “contemporary” country albums, as an example of his point.
“I actually think it makes sense, personally,” he says. “I think in the last 10-15 years, there has been more of a split between radio-pop country, which tends to be more about a certain type of culture than a sound. And then I think there’s the other side of country that is a more traditional, referenced type of country that’s more about the songwriting … that feels like it’s more open culturally to anyone who wants to express themselves in that.”
During the new interview, Peck also chats about his time playing the Emcee in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway, his favorite song off of his new album and the “diet illegal” activities he and his friends got into growing up. Watch the full episode of Takes Us Out above.
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One of the unfathomable tricks D’Angelo pulled off on his beloved trio of studio albums was somehow sounding simultaneously like a lost R&B classic from the 1960s as well as a soul sonic space signal from some distant, funky future.
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If you couldn’t get enough of that silky retro-futurism on Brown Sugar (1995), Voodoo (2000) or Black Messiah (2014), The Roots’ Questlove has some good news for you. Speaking to The National News Desk outlet on the red carpet at last weekend’s 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, the drummer, Oscar-winning documentarian and frequent D’Angelo collaborator teased that there’s more to come.
“You’ll see soon,” Quest said with a grin when asked if there were any unreleased tracks in the vault amid reports last year that the legendarily time-taking “Devil’s Pie” musician was slowly accumulating tracks for the long-awaited follow-up to the Grammy-winning Black Messiah. “It’s always the sound of yesterday, but for the future,” Quest added. “This record is no different.”
Though no additional information on the project was available at press time, in a 2024 chat with the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, collaborator Raphael Saadiq reported that the enigmatic singer was “in a good space” at that time. “I talk to him a couple times. He’s excited. We don’t talk much, but when we do talk it’s crazy, like, ‘Oh, you gotta hear this!’ He’s like, ‘You gotta play bass. I’ve got this track. I’m telling you, you got to get on it. It got your name all over it,’” Saadiq said.
He added that at that time D’Angelo was working on “six pieces right now and he seems super excited. He’s in control of his own destiny at this point. He has a management team, but they can’t make him do anything that he don’t wanna do. He knows it’s on him now and I think that’s a different angle that he’s coming from.”
Among the songs Saadiq said they were working on was an old track from their early days when they formed a short-lived group with A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip. “I think it’s going to be a record on D’Angelo’s new album when it comes out, a record that we all did together,” Saadiq said. “I’m playing bass, D’s playing, me and D is singing backgrounds. It’s funky as hell too. D is a bad boy. … It’s aged well. Good music ages well.”
As he was wont to do, D’Angelo went off-the-radar after releasing his last album more than a decade ago, popping up in 2018 to contribute the song “May I? Stand Unshaken” to the Red Dead Redemption 2 video game soundtrack. He also did a non-competition D’Angelo & Friends Verzuz set at the Apollo in 2021 that was pretty much a solo affair featuring collabs with Method Man & Redman, H.E.R. and The Vanguard backing band trumpet player Keyon Harrold.
D’angelo, who died on Oct. 14 following a battle with cancer, also teamed up with Jay-Z for “I Want You Forever” for the soundtrack to the movie The Book of Clarence.
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Lady Gaga‘s Grammy-nominated LP Mayhem has been lauded by critics as a return to form for the pop superstar. But according to Mother Monster, the album wouldn’t have seen the light of day if it weren’t for the very different critical response her third studio album received.
In a new Rolling Stone cover story, Gaga revealed that the criticism she received for Artpop — and her subsequent turn away from pop music that resulted in the albums Cheek to Cheek and Joanne — provided a direct source of inspiration for Mayhem. “Mayhem as a piece of music, I never would’ve made it without the 10 years of experience that I had,” she said. “What would Mayhem sound like if I hadn’t become a jazz singer? What would it have sounded like if I hadn’t made Artpop?”
Reflecting on her experimental 2013 album, which became a fan-favorite in the years since its release, Gaga called the resounding critical panning of the project “very impactful” on the rest of her career. “Like, much more impactful than any other criticism for any artwork. That was the first time that I ever had major criticism about a piece of work that I’d made,” she said.
Gaga described Artpop as her “EDM opus,” and said that the album’s confrontational tone was created because she was being treated as a “business” rather than an artist at the time. “People don’t like it if I say, ‘I won’t dress the way you want me to dress. I won’t have the hair you want me to have, and I’m going to not make pop music the way that you want me to make it. ‘Cause you want everything to sound like ‘Bad Romance,’ and I’m never doing that again.’”
As for the sexist undertones of that criticism, Gaga pointed out that when male artists make new choices in their music, they are heralded as “radical thinkers discovering new territory,” while female artists are mocked. “I was sort of heralded as, like, over,” she said.
After a decade of detours, including multiple film roles in A Star Is Born, House of Gucci and Joker: Folie a Deux, Gaga said she and her co-producers on Mayhem — Andrew Watt and her fiancé Michael Polansky — knew that diving back into pop music meant she had to address that part of her career head on.
“One of the things I’m most grateful for is gaining all my artistic faculties back to make this record,” she said. “I had to dig very, very deep, and I had to change a lot of my life and recenter around what I needed as a human being.”
Trending on Billboard In 2012, popular music was at a point of major transition. Rock was fading from the mainstream, R&B was getting weird, rap was entering its middle age, and EDM was suddenly at the center of everything. All of these trends were reflected at that spring’s Coachella, where some of the defining artists […]
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Mexican music star Netón Vega wraps up a successful 2025 with the release of an ambitious project: his second studio album, Delirium. In it, he experiments with a variety of sounds and teams up with renowned songwriters and producers such as Edgar Barrera and Benny Blanco.
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Coming out on Thursday night (Nov. 13) under La Josa Records — just three weeks after Vega won the Billboard Latin Music Award for artist of the year, debut — Delirium features 15 tracks, including the previously released single “Qué Motor,” the focus track “Lentes” and several standout collaborations: “AQNGP” with Ryan Castro, “90 60 90” with Myke Towers, “Baby de los 2 Miles” with Jowell & Randy, and “Perro Fiel” with Benny Blanco.
In addition to Mexican music — the genre that first launched his career as a songwriter for stars like Peso Pluma and Tito Double P, and later as a singer with last year’s hit “Loco” — the album brings reggaetón, rap, and bachata, brimming with lyrics about love and heartbreak designed to resonate with anyone.
Delirium follows Mi Vida Mi Muerte, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Regional Mexican Albums chart and No. 2 on the Top Latin Albums chart dated March 8.
In an exclusive interview in Las Vegas, the city he chose to debut his new music, Netón Vega talks about his year of successes, his new album, how his collaboration with Benny Blanco came about, and more.
What’s your take on how this year has been for your career?
It’s been a year full of changes, surprises, and very fast growth since the release of my first album. Thank God, people really liked it.
You just won the Billboard Latin Music Award for artist of the year, debut. What was that experience like for you?
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it — it was a big surprise. I had eight nominations, so I was hopeful to win something, and it happened. I was really excited and nervous, especially because I didn’t have anything prepared to say. I’m truly grateful to the people.
Was having Edgar Barrera as one of the producers of your new album Delirium meant to create global and commercial music?
I had already worked with him. In fact, we have a great friendship, so when I told him about what I wanted to do with my new album, he supported me all the way. Edgar brought his intelligence and experience; he knows what people like. I always respect people with a strong track record and learn from their knowledge. I’m still learning, so I truly value other people’s work.
It’s surprising that Benny Blanco is another one of the producers and even collaborated on a track. How did that connection come about?
I never would have imagined meeting him, let alone recording with him. It happened thanks to someone on my team who made the connection. We had two sessions, nothing planned — everything just came together in the moment. The first song we created was “Perro Infiel,” which is the collaboration, and the next day we worked on another track for him, and he produced several more for the album.
How did you manage to work together without knowing each other?
He only speaks English and I only speak Spanish, but someone on my team translated for us. There was good energy from the start. He gives you your space — we have different ways of working, but in the end, we both stepped out of our comfort zones and created things we really liked. He’s used to working with very big artists, but he took the opportunity to work with me.
You’re already a big artist. Are you aware of that?
Yes, I know. And there are many things I don’t know, but I’m learning. Everyone, in any profession, starts from scratch and builds experiences over time — same with me.
Your album Delirium has a bit of everything. Anyone, from any age group, can enjoy one or more songs.
I mainly focused on making the album enjoyable, with positive energy, and something more people could listen to. I don’t want to stick to just one thing — you have to try and experiment. This album is a reflection of everything I’m experiencing. I wanted to break away from the usual and explore new sounds.
What’s left to do for the rest of this important year in your career?
On November 28, I’ll be at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles — it’s my last show of the year. After that, I’ll take some much-needed vacation time and go to Mexico to be with my family, because they are the driving force that keeps me going.
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Speakers were widely attuned to Taylor Swift when her third studio LP, Speak Now, debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and Top Country Albums dated Nov. 13, 2010.
The set followed 2008’s Fearless as the second of six Swift albums that have started atop both lists.
Speak Now’s release was heavily publicized, as Swift made performances at New York’s Kennedy Airport, on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and on Los Angeles’ Hollywood Boulevard as she shot an NBC special, Taylor Swift – Speak Now.
Five Speak Now singles reached the top five on the Hot Country Songs chart: “Mine” (No. 2 peak, November 2010), “Back to December” (No. 3, March 2011), “Mean” (No. 2, June 2011) and two No. 1s, which led for one week each: “Sparks Fly” (November 2011) and “Ours” (March 2012), the latter from a Target-exclusive CD version of the album.
On the Billboard Hot 100, four Speak Now songs hit the top 10, including the title track, with “Mine” charting the highest (No. 3).
Amplifying Speak Now’s legacy, Dan + Shay’s new cover of “Back to December” debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart dated Nov. 1.
Speak Now logged 13 weeks at No. 1 on Top Country Albums. Meanwhile, the re-recording, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), led for two weeks in 2023.
In addition to Swift’s six albums that have topped both the country and all-genre album lists, her self-titled debut dominated Top Country Albums for 24 weeks beginning in August 2007 and her EP Beautiful Eyes went No. 1 on the chart for a week in August 2008.
Nine more of Swift’s titles have led the Billboard 200 but not Top Country Albums, including The Life of a Showgirl, currently ruling (on the Nov. 15-dated survey) for a fifth week. Her 15 Billboard 200 No. 1s are the most among soloists and second overall only to the Beatles’ 19.
