State Champ Radio Music
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Keke Palmer had a moment on the red carpet at this year’s Met Gala. And while she looked fabulous and enjoyed the evening, it wasn’t without its stressors. Chief among them was being called out by none other than Nicki Minaj on the red carpet. The Nope star stopped by The Tonight Show on Tuesday […]
The Tammy Faye Broadway musical is closing just weeks after making its debut. According to the New York Times, the show about the scandal-plagued 1970s-80s televangelist/singer who became a camp icon thanks to her outrageous makeup and sartorial style will dim the lights after a surprisingly short run.
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The Times reported that the $22 million show featuring music by Elton John and lyrics by Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears — with a book by James Graham (Ink, Finding Neverland) — scored decent reviews in its premiere run in London in 2022, but was plagued by poor reviews in New York, where it failed to find an audience.
And so, the show that opened on Nov. 14 will go dark on Dec. 8, after just 24 preview and 29 regular performances due to what the paper described as a “disastrous” box office performance that included being the lowest-grossing show on Broadway last week, where it played to 37% empty houses at the Palace Theater, one of the largest theaters on the Great White Way.
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In its review last week, the Times called the show a “bland, tonal mishmash” and a “disjointed, strangely bland musical.” Former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe begged to differ, however. Writing on Instagram over the weekend, Stipe said he was moved by the show’s opening night, calling it a “tour de force” and “beautifully moving and soulful telling of the Tammy Faye Bakker story” in a post that that featured a snap of the singer with John and Roseanne Cash.
On Tuesday (Nov. 19), Shears posted a tribute to the cast and crew of the show on Instagram. “What a ride these last 12 years (and 12 weeks) have been. Getting Tammy Faye up on Broadway has been one of the most thrilling experiences of my life,” he wrote. “What a joy working with this entire cast, their stamina and talent staggering… and beautiful to watch. Thank you to all the collaborators, cast and crew.. I’m immensely proud of our work. I believe that musical theatre is one of the most archaic forms of art: complicated and managerially elaborate.”
Sir John also wrote about being chuffed for the Broadway bow, congratulating the cast and crew for their “extraordinary hard work and talent… it’s been a true honour to collaborate with you all.”
John wrote the music for one of Broadway’s most enduring modern hits, The Lion King, as well as for the Tony- and Grammy-winning Aida, Billy Elliot: the Musical, The Devil Wears Prada and Lestat, with the latter also having a brief run on Broadway, closing after 33 preview and 39 performances in 2006.
Soul legend Al Green has turned his attention to college rock favorites R.E.M., sharing a cover of the Georgia outfit’s 1993 single, “Everybody Hurts”.
Released on Tuesday (Nov. 19), Green’s cover of the song sees the veteran singer reimagining the original in his trademark soul style, backing his delivery of the hopeful lyrics with a full band, including strings and backing vocalists.
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“Recording ‘Everybody Hurts,’ I could really feel the heaviness of the song and I wanted to inject a little touch of hope and light into it,” Green wrote on social media. “There’s always a presence of light that can break through those times of darkness.”
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Originally released on the 1992 album Automatic for the People, “Everybody Hurts” was issued as the record’s second single, becoming its most successful. While the album itself peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, “Everybody Hurts” reached No. 29 on the Hot 100, and peaked at No. 13 on the Pop Airplay charts.
It’s since been utilized by a number of charitable organizations, including the Samaritans in the U.K., and the Helping Haiti fund and the Disasters Emergency Committee, who organized a cover version to aid in support of the devastation from the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The cover featured contributions from the likes of Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Rod Stewart, Jon Bon Jovi, Kylie Minogue, and many others, eventually peaking at No. 21 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
In February 2019, the song became embroiled in slight controversy when President Donald Trump shared clips from his State of the Union address cued to the track over a montage of congressional democrats looking dejected. R.E.M. later protested his usage of the song, evoking the title of their 1988 track “World Leader Pretend” in their response, and ultimately convincing Twitter to take down Trump’s original clip.
The cover of “Everybody Hurts” is Green’s first single to be released since last year’s cover of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day”, which in turn followed his first new music in a decade with 2018’s cover of Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls”. Green’s last studio album, Lay It Down, was released in 2008 and peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200.
Morrissey has asserted that his lack of recorded output in recent years isn’t due to a lack of inspiration or ideas, but rather due to a war on “free speech”.
The comments were made by the former Smiths frontman at a concert in Newark, New Jersey last Wednesday (Nov. 13), with the Asbury Park Press reporting that the musician vented his frustrations in the midst of his 20-song set.
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“As you know, nobody will release my music anymore,” Morrissey told the crowd. “As you know because I’m a chief exponent of free speech. In England at least, it’s now criminalized.
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“You cannot speak freely in England. If you don’t believe me, go there. Express an opinion, you’ll be sent to prison. It’s very, very difficult.”
Morrissey’s comments are likely in reference to both the backlash he faced following his apparent support of far-right political party For Britain, and the fact he has not issued a new album since 2020’s I Am Not a Dog on a Chain.
In February 2023, however, the singer was scheduled to release his 14th record, Bonfire of Teenagers, which was reportedly completed in mid-2021. Alongside appearances from Miley Cyrus and Iggy Pop, the album reportedly featured production by Andrew Watt and musical assists from the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith, bassist Flea and former RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.
Three months before its planned release, Morrissey issued a statement noting the record was “no longer scheduled for a February release”, claiming its “fate is exclusively in the hands of Capitol Records (Los Angeles.).” These claims were soon followed by news that Cyrus had requested her vocals be removed from the record.
He later issued another statement claiming he was “too diverse” for for Universal Music Group, noting that “although he does not believe that Capitol Records in Los Angeles signed Bonfire of Teenagers in order to sabotage it, he is quickly coming around to that belief”.
While Bonfire of Teenagers remains unreleased, Morrissey has since reportedly completed an additional album titled Without Music the World Dies. Despite offering the album to “any record label or private investor [that] has interest in releasing this project” due to his split with Capitol, that album too remains unreleased.
The combined might of Eric Benét and Tamar Braxton helps both artists reclaim the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart after a considerable absence. Their duet, “Something We Can Make Love To,” climbs from the runner-up spot to lead the list dated Nov. 23 and was the most-played song on U.S. monitored adult R&B radio stations in the Nov. 8 – 14 tracking week, according to Luminate.
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With its ascent, “Something,” released on Benét’s JBR label, bumps Tyrese’s “Wildflower” from the summit after the latter’s two-week command.
“Something” gives Benét his fourth No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay and first leader in 14 years. He first ruled in 1999 with “Spend My Life With You,” featuring Tamia, a five-week champ, and followed with “You’re The Only One” (five weeks, 2008) and “Sometimes I Cry” (five, 2010).
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The decade-plus wait for a new No. 1 puts Benét among peers who recently completed spells between leaders: Wildflower” was Tyrese’s first Adult R&B Airplay No. 1 in nine years, while Kenny Lattimore’s “Take a Dose” topped the chart in February 2023, the performer’s first coronation since “For You” in April 1997 – just two months shy of 26 years.
Braxton, meanwhile, achieves her second No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay, after “Love and War” conquered the radio ranking for nine weeks in 2013.
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Between their last leaders, both Benét and Braxton have been within one spot of adding a new No. 1 to their counts. Benét’s “Sunshine” reached a No. 2 peak in 2016, having been held back from the top spot by Ro James’ “Permission.”
In Braxton’s case, both of the singer’s two most recent entries on the chart, 2020’s “Crazy Kind of Love” and 2023’s “Changed,” both peaked at No. 2. The former parked in the runner-up rank for two weeks, unable to overcome Charlie Wilson’s “What I Got,” while the latter’s five-week stretch with the silver medal fell behind Janelle Monae’s “Lipstick Lover” for one frame and October London’s “Back to Your Place” for a month.
Elsewhere, “Something” drives 19-15 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from the panel-monitored adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, the single jumps to 5.9 million in format audience, up 9% from the prior week.
Airplay gains, in turn, power the track’s No. 24 debut on the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart, which blends streaming, radio airplay and song sales for its calculations. The entrance marks Benét’s second visit to the 12-year-old list, after “News for You” in 2013, and Braxton’s ninth appearance.
Dame Dash claims Drake offered $6 million for his Roc-A-Fella shares, but “disappeared.”
In a recent video uploaded to Dash’s America Nu Network YouTube page, the Harlem businessman talked about the controversial auction. “So, the auction happened yesterday and basically no one showed up,” he began. “Only Jay‘s lawyers, the state [of New York], and the crew that was initially suing me.” He then mentioned that he wasn’t there because it was his son’s birthday and that he “just wanted this thing to be done.”
According to the New York Post, the state of New York made a $1 million bid and won as they continue to try and collect the $8 million in back taxes Dash owes the state. “No one showed up,” Dame reiterated. “And the state made a bid for it and that’s really what it was worth.” He then continued by throwing some shade towards his former business partner Jay-Z, “What this really taught me was that, in the world, homie isn’t as big as he portrayed. I thought more people would be interested in buying it because of the art value of it. And that’s the only thing I was selling, because of how everyone portrays they love this dude… I thought people would at least show up. No one even showed up.”
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Dash then revealed Drake made a hefty offer over DM, but went ghost. “At the end of the day, I don’t really understand it,” he said of the situation. “My child support, I guess, will get paid. And in my mind, I wasn’t getting any of that bread anyway. If I could sell it, I thought people really loved homeboy, pause, way more than they did. People did not show up. Drake did put a bid in for $6 million but then he disappeared. It’s in my DM… I don’t know what happened. But other than that, no serious people. No one wanted that sh—t. Period.”
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Back in August, Dame offered an original Roc-A-Fella chain to anyone who bids over $10 million, but obviously that scenario never came to fruition. Also, there have been rumors swirling about whether or not Roc-A-Fella Inc.’s main asset Reasonable Doubt would eventually land in the hands of Jay-Z, ultimately scaring potential buyers off. However, a judge refused to give a ruling in that regard. “The asset that is the subject of the auction is Dash’s one-third interest in RAF [Roc-A-Fella] itself, not the work owned by RAF,” the judge wrote. “The Court does not presently have jurisdiction over the validity of Carter’s copyright termination notice.”
You can watch the full video below.
These celebrities have the right to remain silent! Sabrina Carpenter wrapped up the U.S. leg of her popular Short n’ Sweet tour in support of her recent her Billboard 200-topping sixth studio album in Los Angeles on Monday night (Nov. 18), and amid the hilarious bits she sprinkles throughout the show is a viral one that […]
Mexican opera singer Esteban Baltazar, who has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in Italy, was arrested over the weekend by agents of the capital’s Attorney General’s Office at the Mexico City International Airport, accused of sexual abuse by his former romantic partner, the […]
Before Hanumankind started making waves on the Billboard Hot 100 with his Kalmi-assisted “Big Dawgs” (No. 23), Jay Sean was making history for South Asian artists on Billboard’s marquee singles chart.
In 2009, Jay Sean (born Kamaljit Singh Jhooti) topped the Hot 100 with “Down,” his Lil Wayne-assisted debut single. The achievement helped Sean become the very first South Asian artist to top the Hot 100 and helped kick off a fruitful pop career that includes Hot 100 hits like “Do You Remember” (No. 10, with Sean Paul and Lil Jon), “2012” (No. 31, with Nicki Minaj) and “Hit the Lights” (No. 18, with Lil Wayne).
15 years later, Jay Sean is back with a new album and an exciting new venture that he detailed for Billboard staff writer Kyle Denis on the latest edition of Billboard News.
“First of all, I’m South Asian. A lot of people still don’t know that. When I came here from England, people were speaking to me in Spanish a lot because they thought I was Puerto Rican or Dominican — I had the shaved head then,” Sean quips. “[They didn’t realize I was] South Asian, and the first-ever South Asian in history to have had a No. 1 Billboard record.”
The genre-melding singer continues, “When I was coming up and telling people I wanted to do music, they were like ‘Are you stupid? Look around you bro, do you see anyone like you onstage with Justin Timberlake and Usher? There’s no brown dude.’ So, I took it upon myself to create a platform for brown people. We’re the largest demographic [on] planet Earth, why aren’t we taking the scene over? That’s why I set up 3AM, so I can provide that structure for us.”
Co-founded by Sean, The Heavy Group’s Jeremy Skaller and Range Media’s Jared Cotter, 3AM Entertainment aims to support artists from the South Asian diaspora as they work to break through global music markets. The record label will operate under Virginia Media, with big releases from both Sean and Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan already available.
Over the summer (June 28), the actress dropped “Shoes… More Shoes,” a campy novelty track produced by New York DJ Ellis Miah. Proceeds for the song were donated to two LGBTQIA+ charities: Not A Phase and the Trevor Project.
Sean has already launched two singles under 3AM previewing his forthcoming new album. “Heartless,” which features Punjabi hitmaker Ikky, is a guitar-inflected trap&B banger, while the Jai Dhir-featuring “Piche Piche” effortlessly blends Punjabi, Hindi and English into a smoldering R&B groove. The latter track also features a team of A-listers behind the scenes; it was co-written by two-time Grammy-nominated R&B maestro Eric Bellinger and co-produced by Sean Cook, one of the minds behind Shaboozey‘s historic smash “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Both “Heartless” and “Piche Piche” will appear on Last Call, Sean’s forthcoming new album, which is due in 2025.
“When I did songs like ‘Piche Piche’ and ‘Heartless,’ it was very easy for me to do that because I live and breathe that,” he explains. “I speak Punjabi, I can sing in Punjabi, I can also rap and sing in English, it’s all very natural to me. To work with Eric TKTK — who’s obviously such an OG in the game — I’ve got so much respect and love for him. It was just great to work with an R&B legend like that. And Sean Cook is my boy. The whole album is basically me and Sean.”
Although he’s putting out a major project of his own next year, Sean remains focused on uplifting and highlighting rising South Asian artists and making sure that the door he cracked ajar with “Down” remains open.
“I hope that I can look back and say all the years that I dreamt of this happening have finally come true,” he muses.
When one door closes, another opens. Or rather, when one Post Malone tour finishes, another much bigger one announces.
Through closing night on Oct. 27, Post grossed $63 million and sold 470,000 tickets on the F-1 Trillion Tour, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. And on Tuesday morning (Nov. 19), he announced The Big Ass Stadium Tour, which kicks off on April 29.
The move from amphitheaters to stadiums is a big one. The average capacity of Post’s fall shows was 18,786 seats, and the football stadiums on his 2025 route generally exceed 50,000. But all the F-1 Trillion Tour shows sold out – including two sprinkled-in stadiums in Boston and Nashville – and it appears he’s left some meat on the bone.
Post played a swift 25-show run in September and October, which is significantly less than the 39 shows on last year’s If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying Tour ($81 million; 802,000 tickets), which immediately followed the 63-date Twelve Carat Tour ($138.6 million; 1.1 million tickets) that stretched from 2022 into 2023. Post is a proven road warrior, and his brief fall trek simply whetted his base’s appetite.
Plus, his fanbase is expanding, as Post further transitions from hip-hop to pop to country. His fall tour – and presumably his upcoming one – is in support of F-1 Trillion, a country album that hosted more than a dozen of the genre’s cross-generational superstars, from Dolly Parton to Tim McGraw to Lainey Wilson.
The pivot was successful, as F-1 Trillion topped the Billboard 200 with 250,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week, more than doubling each of his previous two studio LPs. And while 2023’s Austin didn’t land a top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100, this year’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, spent its first six weeks at No. 1 and remains in the top 10 half a year later (as of the Nov. 23-dated chart). If he was selling out arenas and amphitheaters off less successful albums and starved his audience of a robust 2024 tour on the back of a comeback, the stage is well set for next year’s stadium trek.
And if he needs some help, he has it in the form of special guest Jelly Roll. Featured on F-1 Trillion’s “Losers,” he’s on his own fall tour navigating arenas and amphitheaters across the United States. Through Nov. 17, the Beautifully Broken Tour has earned $71.9 million and sold 615,000 tickets. Five shows are left on the schedule, wrapping up on Nov. 26 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
Quite notably, Jelly Roll’s 2024 tour has out-grossed and outsold Post’s own trek, positioning him as more than just an opening act as both artists prepare to play the biggest stages of their careers. But total volume does not tell the whole story: While Post has perhaps intentionally kept his routing sparse, Jelly hasn’t held back, as the latter’s show count is more than double the former’s. On a per-show level, Post is the stronger earner ($2.5 million vs. $1.4 million) and the bigger seller (18,786 vs. 12,291).
The initial announcement for The Big Ass Stadium Tour includes 25 dates, matching the length of Post’s fall tour. But while Post played to 470,000 fans in 2024, next year’s run will bring him to well over 1 million. It will all-but-certainly play as his highest-earning tour, flirting with a $200 million gross.
Dating back to Post Malone’s first show reported to Boxscore, a 2016 performance at Emo’s in Austin, Texas ($16,449; 660 tickets), he has grossed $415.6 million and sold 3.9 million tickets across 254 shows.
