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The time has finally come, Beyoncé is gearing up for what’s sure to be yet another culture-shifting tour.
After showcasing her Billboard 200-topping Cowboy Carter album through a bombastic Netflix-streamed NFL Christmas Day halftime show, Queen Bey uploaded a mysterious teaser promoting a Jan. 14 announcement date across her official social media accounts. Fan theories went wild, and, unfortunately, the devastating Los Angeles wildfires forced Beyoncé to delay her announcement.
Then came the first day of Black History Month (Feb. 1), the day Beyoncé and Netflix slyly edited the very end of her Beyoncé Bowl standalone special to include the official announcement of the Cowboy Carter Tour. The following day (Feb. 2), Queen Bey picked up three Grammys for her historic country and Western-infused LP, including her long-elusive album of the year trophy.
The last time Beyoncé hit the road was for 2023’s Renaissance World Tour in support of her four-time Grammy-winning 2022 Renaissance LP. That trek grossed a jaw-dropping $579 million from 56 shows across North America and Europe. Beyoncé played the entirety of her edifying dance music LP, molding her larger setlist around the record’s narrative and flow. The Renaissance World Tour — which also famously began with Beyoncé serving as her own opening act with an enrapturing ballad section — later topped the domestic box office as Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, an acclaimed documentary concert film chronicling the conception and execution of the iconic tour.
Sparkly, silver cowboy hats were all the rage for the Renaissance World Tour, so what will be the color for the Cowboy Carter Tour? Perhaps some of the golden brown hues that have been present throughout the era — from the “Texas Hold ‘Em” single cover to Beyoncé’s dress at the 2025 Grammys. A Beyoncé tour is destined to include new infectious choreography and genius mashups, but she’s never toured an album this downtempo or this outside of her home genre of R&B — so the world truly is her oyster with the Cowboy Carter Tour.
Below is our dream setlist for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour. The setlist covers Beyoncé’s discography (yes, including Destiny’s Child, The Gift, and Everything Is Love) and key musical connections to her country music foremothers. When scrolling through this setlist, envision country-fried arrangements of Queen Bey’s pre-Cowboy Carter catalog, and expect the album to be performed largely in tracklist order like Renaissance was at its tour.
We’re aware this show would probably be over three hours (let’s be real, who wouldn’t watch the world’s greatest living entertainer for that long), but considering that there are markedly fewer dates for this tour (at press time), maybe Queen Bey will keep the show going for just a little bit longer!
Act I: Welcome to the Rodeo
An Instagram user recently used artificial intelligence to make it sound like Rihanna said things that never actually came out of her mouth — and the star isn’t happy. On Wednesday (Feb. 5), the Fenty mogul jumped in the comments on a video doctored to sound like she was listing out her “most expensive purchases” […]
Paramount will pause a handful of awards shows for 2025, including the CMT Music Awards, the MTV Europe Music Awards and more, Billboard has confirmed. Other awards shows being impacted are the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards Mexico and the MTV MIAWs (previously known as the MTV Millennial Awards).
As The Hollywood Reporter first reported, the news came as part of a memo from the office of Bruce Gillmer, Paramount Global’s president of music, music talent, programming and events, media networks/chief content officer, music, Paramount+. According to the memo, the changes come as the company seeks “to reimagine and optimize our events slate going forward.”
Gillmer’s memo added, “Our world-class events remain a key component of Paramount’s music offering as we continue to raise the bar in delivering iconic, unforgettable performances and moments that drive pop culture.”
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In 2022, the CMT Music Awards shifted from CMT to CBS; the annual event had aired on CMT since 2002. In 2023, the show relocated from Nashville to Austin. Last year’s big winners during the CMT Music Awards included Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson and Dan + Shay.
At the 2024 MTV EMAs, held in November, artists including Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter emerged as top winners.
The memo follows rounds of layoffs that began last year after Paramount Global co-CEO Chris McCarthy noted plans for the company to reduce its U.S.-based workforce by approximately 15%, including at CMT. In August, Paramount also shuttered Paramount TV Studios amid the restructuring and layoffs. The shifts came after Paramount Global agreed to a merger with David Ellison‘s Skydance in July 2024.
See Gillmer’s memo to staffers below.
Team,
We want to share some news. We are pausing a few events for 2025, as we look to reimagine and optimize our events slate going forward. These include the MTV EMAs, MTV MIAWs, Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in Mexico, and CMT Music Awards.
Our world-class events remain a key component of Paramount’s music offering as we continue to raise the bar in delivering iconic, unforgettable performances and moments that drive pop culture. We have the best team in the business, and we are grateful for your hard work and dedication in bringing these events to life.
Thank you,
Bruce
Linkin Park lands its 12th No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, as “Heavy Is the Crown” lifts a spot to the top of the tally dated Feb. 15.
The song is the band’s fourth No. 1 in as many tries dating to 2023, when “Lost” reigned for eight weeks. “Friendly Fire” followed for a week last April and “The Emptiness Machine” ruled for six frames beginning in October.
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With 12 total Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1s, the sextet ties Disturbed for the eighth-most leaders in the chart’s history (which dates to 1981). Of those, 10 came with vocals from late singer Chester Bennington or rapper/singer Mike Shinoda, while new vocalist Emily Armstrong has taken the reins of the two most recent rulers alongside Shinoda.
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Most No. 1s, Mainstream Rock Airplay:19, Shinedown18, Three Days Grace15, Five Finger Death Punch14, Foo Fighters14, Metallica13, Godsmack13, Van Halen12, Disturbed12, Linkin Park
Linkin Park first led Mainstream Rock Airplay in 2003 with “Somewhere I Belong.” The group first appeared on the survey in 2000, when “One Step Closer” debuted; it peaked at No. 4 in January 2001, marking the band’s first of 21 top 10s.
Concurrently, “Heavy Is the Crown” rises 13-12 on Alternative Airplay. On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, it reigns for a fourth week via 5.3 million audience impressions in the week ending Feb. 6, according to Luminate.
On the most recently published Hot Hard Rock Songs list (dated Feb. 8, reflecting the Jan. 24-30 tracking period), “Heavy Is the Crown” ranked at No. 2; “The Emptiness Machine” led for 21st week. In addition to its radio airplay, the former drew 1.7 million official U.S. streams, up 3%.
“Heavy Is the Crown” is the second single from From Zero, Linkin Park’s eighth studio album and first with Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain. The set launched at No. 1 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart in November and has earned 287,000 equivalent album units to date.
All Billboard charts dated Feb. 15 will update Tuesday, Feb. 11, on Billboard.com.
Kendrick Lamar will return to the Super Bowl stage on Sunday (Feb. 9), but this time, the Compton native is slated to headline the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show in New Orleans.
Between the Drake battle, arrival of GNX and “Not Like Us” taking home five Grammy Awards — including song of the year and record of the year — it’s quite possibly been the most decorated 10-month stretch of Lamar’s career.
As detailed in this episode of Billboard Explains, the 37-year-old West Coast hip-hop titan has long laid the foundation, with decades of work honing his craft and refining his flows to get to this point at the top of the rap food chain.
Born in 1987, Kendrick took an interest in poetry and released his first mixtape as a teenager in 2003 titled Y.H.N.I.C. (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year) under his initial K-Dot alias.
It wasn’t until his fourth mixtape, Overly Dedicated, that he made his Billboard chart debut in 2010 and changed his rap name to Kendrick Lamar.
Following his Billboard 200 debut (No. 113) with Section.80 in 2011, Lamar unleashed his major label studio album under Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope Records when Good Kid, M.A.A.D City arrived in October 2012 and debuted at No. 2 on the all-genre albums chart.
The cinematic LP earned Kendrick seven Grammy nominations and was led by singles such as “Swimming Pools (Drank),” which was his Billboard Hot 100 debut, reaching the top 20.
To Pimp a Butterfly saw Lamar continue to elevate his profile when he scored his first Billboard 200 chart-topper in 2015. Two years later, DAMN. hit the streets and made history as K. Dot became the first artist to win the Pulitzer Prize for a hip-hop album.
He curated the Black Panther soundtrack in 2018, and Kendrick returned in 2022 following a hiatus with the poignant Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
2024 proved to be his biggest year yet, as his Drake diss “Not Like Us” topped the Hot 100, and he spun the block before the year ended with the release of GNX, which produced the No. 1 “Squabble Up” and occupied the entire Hot 100’s top five.
Explore more about Lamar’s rise in the video above.
We all remember the hits, but what about the fan favorite street singles?
The first week of February concludes with a smattering of new music, featuring releases from LISA, Doja Cat and Raye, Anitta and more. To start with what is already one of the biggest team-ups of the year, the BLACKPINK star has released her latest single, “Born Again,” featuring a heavy lift from two all-star collaborators. […]
The streaming partners of FireAid, the mega-concert that has so far raised more than $100 million for LA wildfire victims, have extended on-demand access to the Jan. 30 concert for a year, with donations made during the streams matched dollar for dollar. Those streaming partners include Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, iHeart, KTLA+, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock/NBCNewsNow, SiriusXM, TikTok, Veeps and YouTube.
Fans of Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Green Day or any of the dozens of other acts that performed at the five-hour-long concert can also still donate to wildfire relief through FireAidLA.org. Billionaire ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie extended their commitment to match every streaming donation, thereby doubling the fundraising effort.
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The concert, which featured performances from 30 artists at two Los Angeles venues, the Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum, attracted 50 million viewers across 28 streaming platforms on Jan. 30. Organizers of the event said proceeds raised by the shows will go to support the L.A. region’s immediate needs and long-term recovery from a series of wind-whipped wildfires that killed 29 people and destroyed more than 16,000 homes and other structures.
FireAid’s grants advisory committee, led by the Annenberg Foundation and other experienced regional philanthropic individuals, is charged with distributing the aid, and they expect the first phase of grants to be awarded by mid-February, according to a press release.
“The committee has been listening daily to affected communities, assessing local resource gaps to ensure aid reaches those most in need, and researching the handling of other fire disasters, such as those in Maui and Northern California,” according to the statement.
FireAid was organized by Shelli and Irving Azoff and the Azoff family, Live Nation, and the Los Angeles Clippers, with Joel Gallen of Tenth Planet serving as executive producer and Rick Krim as talent producer.
Contemporary Christian music stars Matthew West, Jeremy Camp, Mac Powell and Bart Millard are set to host the 12th annual K-LOVE Fan Awards on May 25 at the iconic Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. West and Camp, both 47, have each had six No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart. Powell and […]
Bad Bunny can’t help but flash his pearly white smile in new Super Bowl ad for Ritz Crackers that also features Aubrey Plaza and Michael Shannon. But his positivity and happy-go-lucky attitude make him an outsider at the Ritz Salty Club, a lounge located in Utah’s salt flats where everyone is … salty. The ad […]
