State Champ Radio Music
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Matty Healy is stepping back after a heated back-and-forth social media exchange with Azealia Banks.
“Guys I don’t have the right kind of intelligence / emotional maturity etc for social media I literally just end up saying stuff that immediately regret etc,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday (Dec. 4). “I’m actually just gonna stick to music cos I’m good at that. Having manic episodes on twitter at 35 is kinda pathetic.”
Guys I don’t have the right kind of intelligence / emotional maturity etc for social media I literally just end up saying stuff that immediately regret etc. I’m actually just gonna stick to music cos I’m good at that. Having manic episodes on twitter at 35 is kinda pathetic ❤️— Truman Black (@Gooodmorninguys) December 4, 2024
The post was seemingly in reference to his feud with Banks, which started when the “Liquorice” rapper took aim at Charli XCX, who is engaged to Healy’s The 1975 bandmate George Daniel. Banks called out the “360” singer’s looks, saying she “used to be soooo pretty. Ugh.”
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In response, Healy wrote, “Azealia you seem to have a blind spot when it comes to your ‘reads’. All the women you attack seem to be culturally relevant, attractive, divisive and NICE people. I think this makes you jealous cos you’re so talented but everything else about you is a failure. Just rap bro.”
Azealia you seem to have a blind spot when it comes to your ‘reads’. All the women you attack seem to be culturally relevant, attractive, divisive and NICE people. I think this makes you jealous cos you’re so talented but everything else about you is a failure. Just rap bro https://t.co/xKe9b71UV1— Truman Black (@Gooodmorninguys) December 3, 2024
The reply spawned a sequence of aggressive words between the two, and while Healy deleted a number of his posts in the feud, he at one point threatened to “slap” Banks after she began throwing jabs at his fiancée, Gabbriette. “The b—- look like Frankenstein to me. You both look like you share needles. Lmao,” Banks wrote when Healy claimed he would “use my mental illness to full affect” and “dox” anyone who were to attack Gabi.
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Healy then wrote to Banks, “I now you think your life is some episode of the library is open but I am not the one. Talk to me like that I’m not gonna side eye you at an awards do I’m going to f—ing slap you so hard I’ll get a Guinness world record for the highest a rat some b—- calls a wig has ever flown.”
However, the “So American” singer quickly took back his words and deleted the post, then asking Banks to “sort this out on the remix,” adding, “Nah I can’t be saying I’m gonna hit a girl that’s insane I’m sorry. You just can’t keep being so mean about my mates and my mrs it’s really hurtful gets me well defensive.”
“She’d f—in batter me tbf,” he continued.
Banks then threatened to sue Healy, and leaked DMs in which he apologized to her. She concluded by attacking The 1975 frontman for getting “fined 4m for kissing a man on stage In Malaysia, doing a nazi salute, watching violent porn, being a heroin addict, writing s—ty songs, randomly attacking black women and caping for trash white b—-es. I question the women who associate with him. I’m signing off for today, because my anger is really really really boiling.”
Some of Banks’ post was in reference to Healy stirring up controversy in 2023 when he made racist and sexist remarks about rapper Ice Spice on the Adam Friedland Show, during which he and the hosts made jokes about the rapper sounding like an “Inuit Spice Girl” and looking like a “chubby Chinese lady” before performing racist accents. After one of the men suggested Healy should have asked the MC about her ethnic background while dropping an Inuit ethnic slur, Healy called Ice Spice “dumb.” He later somewhat apologized for his comments.
Healy also kissed his bandmate Ross MacDonald for an extended period of time onstage at Good Vibes Festival in Malaysia in July 2023, but the set came to an abrupt end after he spoke out against the country’s stances on LGBTQ+ rights.
Shenandoah, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean recorded a new, collaborative version of Shenandoah’s 1989 song “Sunday in the South” earlier this year. Now, they’ve teamed up for the corresponding music video. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The video clip was directed by Edde Brothers, with segments of […]
Spaniard Quevedo claims his highest-charting album on any Billboard tally, as his second studio album, Buenas Noches, launches at No. 2 on Latin Pop Albums (dated Dec. 7), for his first entry and top 10 there. The 18-track set concurrently opens at Nos. 29 and 11 on Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums, respectively.
Buenas Noches, released Nov. 22 via DQE/Rimas, is Quevedo’s most pop-inclined project to date, and first album with Rimas. Exploring Latin pop sounds with Spanish singer-songwriter Aitana and Pitbull, the 22-year-old also paired with Latin rhythmic greats De La Ghetto, Sech and Rels B.
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“It’s an eclectic album,” Quevedo told Billboard. “Since I had not released music for a long time, what I most wanted was to flow in the studio and do things that I felt like doing. Make a fun album above all, not so introspective.”
Buenas Noches debuts at No. 2 on Latin Pop Albums with 4,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. during the Nov. 22-28 tracking week, according to Luminate. Streaming contributes most of the debut week activity, which equates to 5.3 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs.
One unit equals to one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.
While Quevedo secures his first entry and top 10 on Latin Pop Albums with Buenas Noches, the 22-year-old Canarian artist previously scored a top 10 on Latin Rhythm Albums through their debut set Donde Quiero Estar, which also peaked at No. 12 on Top Latin Albums in February 2023.
Notably, with the new album launching in the top 10 on Latin Pop Albums, Quevedo becomes the first artist who primarily records Latin rhythmic songs to secure a No. 2 start on Latin Pop Albums in 2024. Here are all the artists who debuted in the list’s top 10 this year:
Debut Pos., Title, Artist, Debut DateNo. 1, Orquídeas, Kali Uchis, Jan. 27No. 1, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, Shakira, April 6No. 6, Final, Vol. 2, Enrique Iglesias, April 13No. 4, Música Buena Para Días Malos, Jay Wheeler, May 11No. 8, García, Kany Garcia, May 11No. 2, Buenas Noches, Quevedo, Dec. 7
Though none of the songs from Buenas Noches preceded the album across the songs charts, Quevedo took the stand-alone single “Columbia” to the stage at the recent Latin Grammy awards. The song earned him his last top 10 the Billboard Excl. U.S. chart, reaching No. 7 high in August 2023.
Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour is set to end this weekend after nearly two years on the road — but a new show will soon set up shop after being directly inspired by the trek.
During an interview with SiriusXM’s Hits 1 Miami With Mack & Jen, will.i.am revealed that The Black Eyed Peas‘ upcoming Las Vegas residency wouldn’t be happening had he not checked out the pop superstar’s blockbuster concert tour earlier this year — even though he was an Eras skeptic at first. “I’m like, ‘Everybody’s talking about that Taylor Swift show,’” he told listeners. “And they’re really hyping it. Like, ‘How dope can it actually be? It’s just a show.’ When people praise stuff that much, there’s no way that it’s that dope. It’s impossible.”
At this point in time, the “I Gotta Feeling” group had already been offered a residency slot in Las Vegas, but he and his bandmates apl.de.ap and Taboo were reluctant to take it. When they happened to be in town for Swift’s duo of July performances in Italy, will.i.am decided to tag along to one of the concerts — after which his mind was quickly changed on more than one front.
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“I went to Taylor Swift, like, with super heavy skeptics goggles on,” the rapper said before giving his honest review of the “Anti-Hero” singer’s three-hour-plus performance. “That was hardcore, bro. The best sh– in the world.
“I left like, ‘Yo, we definitely doing Vegas. Let’s do it,’” will.i.am continued. “That’s how transfixed I was [with] that Taylor Swift show. And then from there I called our management like, ‘Yo, that Vegas offer still there? Say yes to it … I just came from Taylor Swift’s show, and we’re gonna do it.’
“I’ve been freaking energized and inspired,” he added. “So thank you Swift.”
Following the pop star’s lead, The Black Eyed Peas are now set to kick off their residency at Planet Hollywood starting in February. As of now, the trio has dates scheduled through the end of May next year.
As for Swift, the 14-time Grammy winner’s incredible global run is just three shows away from its close. After performing a trio of concerts in Vancouver Dec. 6-8, Swift will finally tie a bow on a historic global sweep that found her performing songs from almost all her 11 studio albums each night. By its end, some reports estimate that the trek will gross well over $2 billion.
Watch will.i.am. explain how The Eras Tour inspired The Black Eyed Peas to do a residency above.
Selena Gomez gave a thoughtful speech about what representation and inclusion mean to her while accepting the Equity in Entertainment Award at The Hollywood Reporter‘s Women in Entertainment Gala on Wednesday morning (Dec. 4). After an introduction from her Only Murders in the Building co-star Molly Shannon, the 32-year-old singer/actress took the event stage at […]
BTS’ latest accomplishment is smooth like butter! The group notched their seventh entry into YouTube‘s Billion Views club with their 2021 music video for “Butter.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Their previous videos to hit one billion views on the platform include “Dynamite,” “Boy With Luv” featuring Halsey and “DNA,” among […]
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” ascends three spots to No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay chart (dated Dec. 7).
The ballad, on Streamline/Atlantic/Interscope/ICLG, becomes Gaga’s first leader on the radio ranking, and Mars’ fourth. He previously reigned as featured on Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!,” for a week in 2015, and with his own “When I Was Your Man” (two weeks, 2013) and “Just the Way You Are” (five, 2010).
Among her 12 Adult Pop Airplay top 10s, Gaga had reached a prior No. 2 best with two hits: “Shallow,” with Bradley Cooper, in 2019, and “The Edge of Glory,” in 2011.
Gaga tops Adult Pop Airplay 15 years, 11 months and two weeks after she first appeared on the chart dated Dec. 20, 2008, when “Just Dance,” featuring Colby O’Donis, debuted (on its way to a No. 7 peak). She ends the longest wait for a first No. 1 dating to an initial visit to the chart since Elton John and Britney Spears’ “Hold Me Closer” led for a week in March 2022. John ranked (with “Blessed”) on the chart dated March 16, 1996, when the list first published in Billboard’s print edition. Spears arrived on the survey in March 1999 with her breakthrough classic, “…Baby One More Time.”
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The Adult Pop Airplay chart ranks songs by weekly plays on 80 adult top 40 radio stations monitored by Mediabase, with data provided to Billboard by Luminate.
Gaga burnishes her overall radio chart résumé, as she also boasts eight No. 1s Pop Airplay, four on Dance/Mix Show Airplay and two on the all-format Radio Songs ranking.
“Die With a Smile” crowned the Billboard Global 200 chart for eight weeks in September-October, the most for any song this year. It has tallied over 100 million streams globally in each of the last 13 weeks (through the Dec. 7-dated chart), the longest such streak since the survey began in September 2020.
On the Billboard Hot 100, “Die With a Smile” has hit a No. 2 high. It has ranked in the top 10 for all 15 of its weeks on the chart so far, dating to its late-August entrance – the most frames in the region consecutively from a debut week for any of Gaga’s 18 top 10s, one-upping “Applause,” which spent its first 14 weeks on the chart in the top 10 in 2013.
Holiday music is one area of pop music where being dead isn’t a hindrance. A slight majority of the songs on Billboard’s Holiday 100, which relaunches this week, are by artists who have passed on. (The exact tally is 52 out of 100 – and six of the top 10.)
Several of the artists who provide the soundtrack to holiday specials, parties and trips to the mall have been dead longer than most of the current pop audience has been alive. Bing Crosby, who sang the Oscar-winning “White Christmas” in the 1942 film Holiday Inn, died in 1977. Elvis Presley, who gave us “Blue Christmas” in 1957, also died that year.
Vince Guaraldi, whose music for A Charlie Brown Christmas has been a part of every holiday season since that Peabody-winning TV special first aired in 1965, died in 1976. Judy Garland, whose “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” has made us misty she introduced it in her 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis, died in 1969. Nat “King” Cole, who introduced “The Christmas Song” in 1946 when he was fronting The King Cole Trio, died in 1965.
Crosby has seven songs on the current Holiday 100, more than any other departed artist. Cole is tied for second place with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams, with four songs each.
Holiday music has greatly extended these and many other artists’ era of relevance. Williams’ last non-holiday song to crack the Hot 100 was in 1976. Martin last charted with a non-holiday song in 1969; Crosby in 1957, the year before the inception of the Hot 100.
When it comes to holiday music, whether an artist is alive or dead doesn’t matter very much. In a way, that’s fitting. Family members who are no longer with us are still frequently part of our holiday traditions. You may serve your holiday dinner on your Grandma’s treasured china, or always make your aunt’s special cranberry sauce, or make a point of playing your mom’s favorite Johnny Mathis Christmas album. You may remember these departed family members when you say grace before dinner – or even bother to say grace at all because they would have wanted it that way.
More than any other time of the year, it’s a time for tradition. And music is very much part of those traditions.
Here are all the artists on the current Holiday 100 (dated Dec. 7, 2024) who are no longer with us. They are ranked in order of the current chart position of their highest-charting song, with other charted songs by the same artist grouped with them. Songs by duos and groups are included if the lead singer on that song has died. We also include the departed leaders of two mostly instrumental acts – Guaraldi, the leader of the Vince Guaraldi Trio, and Paul O’Neill, the founder, instrumentalist and composer of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The year shown in parentheses is the year the song was first released by that artist. (Some were re-recorded by the same artist multiple times.)
George Michael
Chappell Roan was on countless people’s 2024 Spotify Wrapped roundups, but who was on hers?
On Wednesday (Dec. 4), the 26-year-old pop star revealed which artists were in her top five at the close of the year, sharing an old photo of herself posing next to a car decked out in camo-print decals on Instagram and writing, “this pic kind of insane.”
“Ps,” she added. “My Spotify wrapped most listened to artists were 1. Ariana [Grande] 2. Charli [XCX] 3. Heart 4. Justice 5. Kacey Musgraves.”
“Top song was barracuda ofc,” Roan added, referencing her third-most-streamed artist’s 1977 hit.
The Missouri native’s post comes on the same day Spotify unveiled its annual Wrapped feature, allowing users to see which artists and songs they streamed the most over the course of 2024 through specially curated playlists and shareable data cards. The platform also revealed its most-streamed artists overall — Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, Drake and Billie Eilish, in that order — as well as its most popular songs of the year.
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Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” garnered the most listens globally on Spotify this year, followed by Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things,” Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather,” FloyyMenor and Cris Mj’s “Gata Only” and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control.” In the U.S., however, Roan scored the sixth-most streamed song with breakthrough single “Good Luck, Babe!” — which surpassed one billion streams just a few days prior to Wrapped arriving — bested only by “Espresso,” Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help” and Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” nationally.
The “Hot to Go” singer’s debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, was also the fifth-most streamed album in the U.S. Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology was No. 1 at home, followed by Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and Noah Kahan’s Stick Season.
Roan has previously expressed her fandom of Grande, calling herself an “Arianator” in an August livestream and adding that she was “so excited” to see Wicked. She also gave Charli a shout-out in her September Rolling Stone cover story, naming the “Von Dutch” artist as one of several female stars who had reached out to her with support during the emotional low-points of her rise to fame, along with Katy Perry, Lorde, Muna, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga and more.
The Saudi National Orchestra and Choir held a performance of the “Marvels of Saudi Orchestra” in Tokyo on November 22 at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall: Takemitsu Memorial.
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The Saudi National Orchestra and Choir was formed in 2019 and began its “Marvels of Saudi Orchestra” world tour to share Saudi Arabian musical culture with the world. The Tokyo concert was its fifth, following performances in Paris, Mexico City, New York, and London.
The concert presented a fusion of the two countries, with performances of traditional Saudi Arabian and Japanese music by the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir, the Orchestra Academy of Tokyo College of Music, and special guest, guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei. The audience was enthralled by the sounds of the traditional Arabic instruments, which there are few opportunities to hear in Japan, and the unique melodies they played.
The concert began with words from Paul Pacifico, CEO of the Saudi Music Commission. 2025 will mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Saudi Arabia, and Pacifico expressed his gratitude for being able to perform in Tokyo before this momentous occasion. He also spoke of the importance of music as a shared language that can bridge the world.
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In the first part of the show, a Japanese gagaku court music group performed “Ryo-o,” a court music and dance piece. A ryuteki flute began playing the melody and was joined by drums and a small metal gong. A dancer, bedecked in red and wearing a mask, appeared on stage and began to dance. Sho panpipes, hichriki flutes, and other instruments joined in, and the energy mounted. The audience was overwhelmed by the stately dance performance, a tradition carried on for over a thousand years.
Part two of the concert consisted of performances by the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir. Along with typical orchestral instruments like the violin and cello were traditional Arabic instruments, like the oud, the zither-like qanun, and the daf, a percussion instrument made of leather stretched over a circular frame, creating a grand spectacle.
The first piece, the rhythmical “Al-Hawa Al-Ghaib,” began with a short introduction on the strings, which were then joined by the other instruments of the orchestra. The tremolo and intricate performance techniques of the ouds and the solo performed on the qanun made the song a pleasant and soothing one.
This was followed by “Wardak Ya Zaar Al-Ward.” The violin solo with which the piece began danced nimbly between low and high notes, an example of superb playing with a complex rhythm that wound its way through tight tonal intervals. Then the orchestra and chorus came in, performing passionate, soaring music.
The next piece was the up-tempo “Shaqni Jaw Al-Janub,” followed by “Tarahib Bi Ghayri,” with a beautiful delicate qanun solo over a rich backing of string instruments playing in unison, and then “Al-Qaid,” a piece that stood out for its fun interplay of cheery flute melodies and men’s and women’s choirs.
Part two ended with an anime medley. The orchestra, choir, and a female solo vocalist performed Arabic versions of Japanese anime theme songs such as UFO Robot Grendizer, Captain Tsubasa, Case Closed, and Pokemon. When the performance ended, the audience showered the performers with cheers and whistles, a testament to the popularity of Japanese anime.
The musical language of classical music, which is now used in countries throughout the world, cannot be applied to Arabic music. There are musical intervals smaller than semitones, making them unplayable on a piano. There are unique scales. The Saudi National Orchestra is a relatively new orchestra, yet it is unique in the way it flexibly combines traditional Arabic music with the orchestra of classical music to share that music with the world. This show, as well, was notable for the way it deftly brought together classical music, popular music, and traditional Arabic music to entertain the audience.
In the third and final part of the show, the orchestra collaborated with Japanese musicians. The stage was packed with the members of the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir and the Orchestra Academy of Tokyo College of Music. This was the first time the Saudi National Orchestra had played with a Japanese orchestra, and this momentous occasion began with a fanfare of brass instruments playing the march-like “Opening of Al-Ula.” After this, the audience enjoyed a rousing medley of famous Saudi Arabian songs, winding through tune after tune.
With passions still high, special guest Tomoyasu Hotei took to the stage, clapping for the two nations’ orchestras, and together they performed “Battle Without Honor or Humanity,” from the film Kill Bill. The sound of Hotei’s guitar melted seamlessly into the two orchestras, and he showed the full range of his virtuoso skills, including a blazing guitar solo.
The concert ended with the Saudi national song “Ammar Ya Darna.” The Saudi Arabian flag fluttered on the monitors and many members of the audience raised their phone flashlights and swung them back and forth in time with the music.
The concert was a demonstration of the way music transcends barriers of language and culture to be enjoyed by all. Through the medium of music, the “Marvels of Saudi Orchestra” showed a new beginning of deeper relationships between the people of Saudi Arabia and Japan.
—This article by Misuzu Yamashita first appeared on Billboard Japan
