Music
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The Weeknd is ready for a change. As the release of new album Hurry Up Tomorrow approaches, the 34-year-old hitmaker is saying it will most likely be his last under the persona that made him a star.
In a new Variety cover story published Friday (Jan. 10), the artist — born Abel Tesfaye — addressed his plans to retire his stage name following the conclusion of his ongoing album trilogy, which began with 2020’s After Hours, continued with 2022’s Dawn FM and will end Jan. 24 with Hurry Up Tomorrow. The first LP debuted atop the Billboard 200 and spawned smash hit “Blinding Lights,” which spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, logged a record 57-week run in the Hot 100’s top 10 and was recently revealed as the No. 1 song on Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century chart.
After hinting in the interview that the final trilogy installment would represent a broader chapter close, Tesfaye clarified that the chapter in question is “my existence as the Weeknd.”
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“It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he said of his moniker. “You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.”
The musician previously hinted that his days as The Weeknd were coming to a close in late December, when billboards reading “The End Is Near” started popping up in cities all over the world. In a May 2023 interview with W Magazine, Tesfaye also forewarned: “It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter. I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd.”
To Variety, the “Blinding Lights” singer echoed that he still plans on making music no matter what, emphasizing, “I don’t think I can stop doing that.” “But everything needs to feel like a challenge,” he added. “And for me right now, the Weeknd, whatever that is, it’s been mastered. No one’s gonna do the Weeknd better than me, and I’m not gonna do it better than what it is right now.”
Tesfaye added that his headline-making 2022 concert at SoFi Stadium — during which he had to stop and cancel midway through the show after losing his voice on stage — partially inspired his decision to hang up his Weeknd hat for good. “Part of me actually was thinking, ‘You lost your voice because it’s done,’” he told the publication. “You said what you had to say. Don’t overstay at the party — you can end it now and live a happy life … I just want to know what comes after.”
See Tesfaye on the cover of Variety below.
Koe Wetzel and Jessie Murph’s “High Road” rules Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Jan. 18) for a fourth total and consecutive week. The collaboration drew 32.2 million in audience (down 1%) Jan. 3-9, according to Luminate.
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The song became the first Country Airplay No. 1 for both Wetzel, 32, and Murph, 20, in each artist’s initial trip up the tally. It is the first freshman track to reign for four or more weeks since Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which commenced its seven-week command last August, the longest for a breakthrough hit at the format. Overall, only 10 country career-establishing No. 1s have led for four-plus weeks since the list started in 1990 – with “High Road” the first by two acts each charting for the first time.
Wetzel and Murph co-wrote “High Road” with Amy Allen, Carrie K, Josh Serrato, Gabe Simon and Laura Veltz. It’s from Wetzel’s album 9 Lives, which became his fourth top 10 on Top Country Albums when it opened at its No. 5 best last August. It’s also on Murph’s That Ain’t No Man That’s the Devil, which arrived at its No. 24 high on the all-genre Billboard 200 in September.
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Meanwhile, Murph, who hails from Huntsville, Ala., is the first woman to dominate Country Airplay for four or more weeks with an introductory hit at the format in almost 19 years. On Jan. 21, 2006, then-reigning American Idol champ Carrie Underwood began a six-week No. 1 stay with her launch single promoted to country radio, “Jesus, Take the Wheel.”
That’s One High ‘Bar’
Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” ranks at No. 5 on Country Airplay (22.9 million, down 3%), adding a record-tying 28th week in the top 10. It matches Dustin Lynch’s 2021-22 hit “Thinking ‘Bout You,” featuring MacKenzie Porter, for the longest top 10 run in the chart’s history.
Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan said he is among the nearly 200,000 people in Los Angeles who’ve been forced to evacuate due to the historic wildfires burning around the city. The singer/guitarist posted a video on Thursday night (Jan. 9) of airtankers flying over the hills dropping water on a giant plume of white smoke in the distance.
“Footage I shot the other night of a fire near where we’d been temporarily staying,” wrote Corgan. “High praise for how the LAFD put this out; as the fire had spread from what you see here to the right and down the ridge. Please pray for everyone who has been hurt or displaced or lost homes and properties in this unprecedented situation.”
In an earlier selfie video, Corgan shifted the camera over his shoulder and noted that the white puffs behind him were not clouds, but smoke from the fires that have killed 10 people to date while destroying more than 10,000 homes and businesses and causing an estimated $57 billion in damage.
“I wanted to kind of give everyone a little message today, I’m feeling better. Thank you for all your well wishes,” Corgan said. “I’m out here in LA right now, and it’s kind of the apocalypse. I think about 1,000 structures built burned last night. People I know I’ve had to evacuate and it’s a pretty intense situation.”
Corgan noted that he and his family were safe where they were staying, seemingly out of the “zone of concern” in the midst of a number of raging fires (Hollywood Hills, Pasadena, Altadena, Sylmar, Calabasas) that are barely contained and which have been whipped up by near-hurricane strength Santa Ana winds in the city that has seen a fraction of an inch of rain over the past six months.
“We lost power last night and that was pretty intense because obviously, with the power out, it’s hard to get information and you know, you’re kind of almost fearful of going to bed, lest you miss an alert or something,” the Chicago-bred Corgan continued. “With this dry brush, the fires can move very quickly. So lots of love, of course, to all our friends and family that have been affected. The air quality where I’m at is not too bad. It hasn’t helped the recovering cough, but this at very minor against all this incredible and fearful devastation. So just wanted to give everyone an update, as I get tired of texting or writing things out, just seemed easier to put this in a video. So lots of love. Check in with you later.”
In the accompanying caption, Corgan also noted that he and his family had to evacuate the night before amid a situation he said was “at times chaotic,” revealing that one fire came within 250 yards of where they were staying. He also sent his thanks and love to the first responders who are tirelessly working to save homes and citizens in what has been described by many as an apocalyptic situation.
“Praying for everyone today as hopefully this can come under control for the entire area, which is vast in scope and so full of nature. The loss overall is awful and unspeakable and that is what I wish to highlight; as the fires touch every strata of society,” Corgan wrote.
The fast-spreading fires obliterated the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, with a growing list of celebrities sharing that their homes have been completely destroyed, including Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton, Tina Knowles, Diane Warren, Eugene Levy, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, Jhené Aiko, Milo Ventimiglia, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, Billy Crystal, Brad Paisley and Anna Faris joining tens of thousands of others who’ve been displaced or lost their homes.
The Recording Academy and MusiCares have launched the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort to support music professionals impacted by the crisis, making a combined pledge of $1 million to launch the effort.
See Corgan’s posts below.
Cast recordings are a crucial part of supporting a musical’s life, during its initial run on or off-Broadway, as well as far beyond that. While a show is running, a recording available on streaming platforms can reach a wide ticket-buying audience and thus potentially help increase its performing lifespan; the recording is also often the way that regional theaters first discover shows they might produce — which proves especially important to shows that have shorter lives on Broadway.
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But while shows have ample platforms for releasing their original cast recordings — from boutique labels specializing in theater to major labels getting in on the next big hit — a trio of journeyman theater musicians noticed a gaping hole in the market for a new kind of label: one that would support a show from its earliest writing stages all the way through is fully realized production.
That new label — aimed at amplifying new voices in musical theater as well as individual solo performers — is Joy Machine Records, co-founded and run by Ian Kagey, Sonny Paladino, Brian Usifer and Will Van Dyke.
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The quartet have musical theater bonafides in spades. Kagey is a Grammy-winning engineer and mixer who has engineered numerous Broadway cast recordings in addition to working in TV, film, and with artists including Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney; Paladino is a seasoned arranger and producer who most recently was music supervisor, arranger, orchestrator and conductor for Neil Diamond bio-musical A Beautiful Noise; Usifer is an orchestrator, arranger, music director, pianist, producer and composer who recently worked on the acclaimed (but short-lived) Swept Away and Huey Lewis’ The Heart of Rock and Roll musical; and Van Dyke is a Grammy-nominated producer, songwriter, music supervisor, orchestrator and arranger who was music director of Swept Away and is music supervisor/orchestrator/arranger for the long-running off-Broadway hit Little Shop of Horrors.
“Our approach comes from our experience being on many sides of the table in that process, and understanding what it takes to see a show from inception through opening night and beyond,” says Usifer. “We approach every project with not only a high bar musically but an emphasis on kindness and transparency throughout the process.”
Joy Machine, which will be distributed by The Orchard, is launched as a full-service record label which will offer what it calls “three tiers of support for musical development.” As Van Dyke explains, “from the first piano/vocal demos through fully produced tracks,” Joy Machine’s team will “help producers think about budgeting for these recordings from the jump. That kind of awareness will also help teams build a cast recording into their budget to be able to fully preserve their final product.”
The label’s current and upcoming client roster includes The Avett Brothers’ original Broadway cast recording of Swept Away; Huey Lewis’ OBCR of The Heart of Rock and Roll; and solo projects with Joy Woods (currently starring as Louise in Gypsy on Broadway), composer Joe Iconis (Be More Chill), Corey Cott (a star of The Heart of Rock and Roll) and more.
Thus far, the team has recorded at Kagey’s own Renaissance Recording in New York for demos and smaller concept albums, and at the storied Power Station studios for original Broadway cast albums. (“They really know how to make a cast album and make it a seamless and un-chaotic experience,” says Usifer of the latter). Joy Machine is currently working on a concept album for the new musical Joy, meant to give audiences an insight into the show’s music before it ventures to Broadway.
Grimes is reflecting on the state of the world amid the ongoing wildfire crisis in Los Angeles, from which she and nearly 200,000 other Californians have been forced to evacuate this week.
In a tweet posted Thursday (Jan. 9), the musician wrote that she thinks “the vibe is rather Biblical out here,” positing that “we might be outta time w regards to twiddling our thumbs whilst every level of our culture, environment, government, institutions, mental health, etc have obviously crumbled.”
“Luckily unlike all previous dark ages, we have an immunity against lost information,” she continued. “Printing press, hard drives etc. but what are we going to do about it?”
Grimes’ post comes about two days after wind-fueled flames first broke out in the Pacific Palisades area Tuesday (Jan. 7), quickly spreading across L.A. County and claiming an estimated 10,000 homes and structures. More fires have since torn through the Hollywood Hills, Pasadena, Altadena, Sylmar and Calabasas, with at least 10 people reported dead in the destruction, according to CNN.
As of Thursday, about 180,000 residents had been placed under evacuation orders or warnings — including the “Oblivion” singer, who tweeted the day prior, “Just had to evacuate, tried to go to a friends place / it got an evacuation warning on the way there – now aimlessly driving out of the city.”
“is the whole city gna be gone?” she’d added. “This is a serious tragedy for LA – I feel profoundly sad for everybody.”
In the replies to her tweets, Grimes sympathized with the “billions of climate [refugees] from less wealthy areas of the world” who might also be affected by similar environmental disasters outside of L.A. and said that the wildfires feel “like a weird invisible hand poking the dominoes.” And when one commenter tried to pivot the climate conversation to her past relationship with Tesla boss Elon Musk — with whom she shares three young children — the Elf Tech founder shut it down.
“He’s pretty vocal about climate change and is primarily known for, in part, revolutionizing electric vehicles,” she replied to a person who’d called the billionaire “one of the most evil climate deniers of all time.”
“I think there’s plenty to be angry about but when you stray from fact and reason, your critique loses power,” Grimes continued of her ex partner, who has reportedly taken up near-permanent residence in Florida near soon-to-be-inaugurated President Donald Trump, a vocal climate change critic.
“The biggest challenge right now is not falling into creating and consuming dopamine rage bait on social media and focussing on thoughtful, rational, truth based discourse so that we can properly diagnose and solve our problems,” Grimes wrote.
The “Miss Anthropocene” musician and the Tesla CEO had an on-again, off-again relationship between 2018 and 2022. In 2020, they welcomed their first child — a son named X Æ A-Xii — and later became parents to daughter Exa Dark Sideræl (now 3) and son Techno Mechanicus (2). Musk is also Dad to seven children he shares with his first wife, Justine Wilson, and twins Strider and Azure, whom he shares with Neuralink director Shivon Zilis.
In December, Grimes touched on their breakup during an exchange with Azealia Banks on X. “i didn’t ‘get dumped,’” the former wrote of Musk at the time. “I bounced. My amazing baby is asleep in my bed beside me, I’m in love. no regrets. Life is as beautiful as u want it to be.”
Click here for a list of organizations providing assistance for music industry workers during the fire emergency.
See Grimes’ tweets about the L.A. wildfires below.
The vibe is rather Biblical out here. I think we might be outta time w regards to twiddling our thumbs whilst every level of our culture, environment, government, institutions, mental health, etc have obviously crumbled. Luckily unlike all previous dark ages, we have an…— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) January 9, 2025
Just had to evacuate, tried to go to a friends place / it got an evacuation warning on the way there – now aimlessly driving out of the city. is the whole city gna be gone? This is a serious tragedy for LA – I feel profoundly sad for everybody 🙏🏻— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) January 9, 2025
He’s pretty vocal about climate change and is primarily known for, in part, revolutionizing electric vehicles. I think there’s plenty to be angry about but when you stray from fact and reason, your critique loses power. The biggest challenge right now is not falling into…— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) January 9, 2025
01/10/2025
From international superstars to that Oasis reunion, it’s set to be a busy year for music lovers.
01/10/2025
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Teddy Swims is still delivering the soul, Lil Baby has even more WHAM and Wallows drop a new favorite. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Teddy Swims feat. Giveon, “Are You Even Real”
Following the smash success of “Lose Control,” which topped the Hot 100 chart last year and helped yield a best new artist Grammy nod, Teddy Swims is kicking off 2025 with some more snappy soul-pop: “Are You Even Real,” which previews the upcoming I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy, Part 2, sways delicately between the singer-songwriter’s earnest croon and guest star Giveon’s booming flourishes, with some pinpoint harmonies in the back half.
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Lil Baby, WHAM (Extended Edition)
A week after making his return with the concise, rock-hard WHAM, Lil Baby has added four new tracks to the album by way of a deluxe edition, with the sizzling Future team-up “99” serving as both the highlight of the new collection and an instant follow-up to “Dum, Dumb, and Dumber,” the Baby-Future-Young Thug summit challenging for a strong Hot 100 debut next week.
Wallows, “Your New Favorite Song”
Wallows’ upward trajectory continues with “Your New Favorite Song,” a dreamy slice of pop-rock that could serve as a crossover hit for a Los Angeles trio that’s become a sizable touring act over the past few years. Following 2024’s Model, “Your New Favorite Song” nudges Wallows forward with subtle details in the arrangement, including horns that accentuate instead of trying to dominate the mix.
JADE, “IT Girl”
“Angel of My Dreams,” JADE’s 2024 debut solo single, established the Little Mix star as a bold, forward-looking pop auteur; that reputation remains intact with new single “IT Girl,” which immediately showcases the pop star’s expansive voice before slamming into thick drums and wobbly harmonies — creating a sonic juxtaposition that worked so well with her breakthrough track, and once again succeeds here.
Warren Zeiders, “Can a Heart Take”
With new album Relapse, Lies, & Betrayal due out in March, rising country star Warren Zeiders prepares for a potentially major year with “Can a Heart Take,” a wistful rumination on loss that demonstrates the singer-songwriter’s range in the span of its chorus — he starts off speak-singing the line “How much pain can a heart take?,” then brings the sentiment to life with a wounded roar.
Editor’s Pick: Blondshell, “T&A”
Sabrina Teitelbaum’s next album as Blondshell promises to be a major leap forward from a songwriting and production standpoint, and lead single “T&A” hints at the evolution to come: with glum recollections of a regretful hook-up, an anthemic chorus that asks unanswerable questions and electric guitar work that charges up the song’s energy, “T&A” is a home run of an opening statement, and the sound of Blondshell becoming an indie star.
What sonic characteristics led to The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” claiming the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century chart?
In 2021, Hit Songs Deconstructed, which provides in-depth analysis of Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits, held its Max Martin Deconstructed Masterclass, led by Hit Songs Deconstructed co-founder Dave Penn. Martin co-wrote and co-produced “Blinding Lights” (with The Weeknd, among others), which contributed to his 27 No. 1s as a writer and record 25 leaders as a producer.
“Blinding Lights” led (LED?) the Hot 100 for four weeks in 2020, logged a record 57-week in the top 10 and charted for a dazzling 90 weeks total.
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Class is in session again (spit out your gum): Here’s a reprinted rundown, according to Penn’s insights as presented in 2021, of the songwriting and production elements and more that helped “Blinding Lights” beam brighter than any other song on the Hot 100 over the first 25 years of the century.
David Penn of Hit Songs Deconstructed: “Like most hits, ‘Blinding Lights’ features a meticulous combination of the typical and the atypical, which helps the song sound familiar to people while still standing out from the pack. But when it comes to this song, it’s really the writing and production team’s stellar arrangement techniques, along with Max Martin’s melodic genius, that make it such an interesting and captivating hit.
“For instance, its 28-second intro is almost unheard of currently; the average [intro on a] Hot 100 top 10 in 2020 was just 13 seconds. So, it really comes down to the way that the ‘Blinding Lights’ team arranged the intro to keep the listener engaged, all while establishing many key aspects of the song, including its atypical instrumental hook; most hooks in today’s hits are vocal.
“Another atypical quality is its, what I call, disappearing chorus. While many top 10 hits give the listener more chorus as a song progresses, the ‘Blinding Lights’ creators actually shorten the chorus as the song progresses. Like with everything else, there is purpose behind this. In this case, it makes the listener long to hear that full chorus again and return for another listen.
“Also, the song’s 1980s-influenced production qualities, a la ‘Take On Me’ by a-ha, come across as new and fresh to younger audiences while creating a sense of nostalgia for older audiences, which ultimately broadens the song’s reach across demographics.
“But perhaps the song’s most notable quality is the expert use of motifs and hook foreshadowing techniques that take its catchiness and memorability to the next level, whether the listener realizes it or not. This is a hallmark of Max Martin’s melody writing throughout his career. For example, the synth hook in the intro melodically foreshadows lines two and four of the chorus vocal melody. And the verse that follows rhythmically foreshadows lines one and three of the chorus.
“So, by the time listeners arrive at the first chorus, they’re already familiar with the entire melody, which makes it that much easier for them to sing along and remember it. And this goes on throughout the entire song; almost every line relates to some other line in the song, which gets it ingrained in the listener’s head without ever becoming monotonous.
“Along with promotional factors, these are just of a few of the many qualities that helped ‘Blinding Lights’ achieve its mass success.”
Browse Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century chart, Top Artists of the 21st Century chart and Top Billboard 200 Albums of the 21st Century chart, as well as all coverage of Billboard’s 21st Century charts here.
Billboard’s Top Artists, Top Billboard 200 Albums and Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century recaps reflect performance on weekly charts dated Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 28, 2024. The Top Artists category ranks the best-performing acts in that span based on activity on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100. (Titles released prior to mid-1999 are excluded, although such entries that appeared on the Billboard 200 or Hot 100 in that span contribute to the calculation of the Top Artists chart.)
The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” shines brightly as the No. 1 hit on Billboard’s recap of the first 25 years of the 21st century, leading Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century chart. The survey is based on performance on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart from the start of 2000 through the end […]
Maná has spoken out about the devastating ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles, asking their fans and colleagues to make donations. “Los Angeles is like hell. There are devastating fires that are affecting the houses…it’s tremendous how the fire is raging,” frontman Fher Olvera said in a video message posted on Thursday (Jan. 9). He continued: […]