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Stevie Nicks made her grand return in September with the release of “The Lighthouse,” a song inspired by the fight for abortion access following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. And in a new interview with CBS Sunday Morning airing Oct. 27, the star explained why she decided to champion a historically polarizing cause.
When asked why she even took “the risk” of releasing “The Lighthouse” by correspondent Tracy Smith, Nicks was self-assured. “Because everybody kept saying around me, not to me, just around me, ‘Well, somebody has to do something,’” she told the program. “‘Somebody has to say something.’”
“And I’m like, ‘Well, I have a platform,’” she continued. “I tell a good story. So maybe I should try to do something. I was also there. I was, been there, done that.”
Nicks has previously been open about having sought reproductive care when she was younger. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, she reflected on getting an abortion in the late ’70s after getting pregnant by her “Leather and Lace” collaborator Don Henley.
“Don was the first guy I actually went out with after Lindsey [Buckingham] and I broke up,” she told the publication. “I go to my GYN, and he says, ‘Well, you’ve been protected by your Copper-7 IUD, but you have a tipped uterus. That IUD is only protecting half of you, and we didn’t know that.’”
“Now, what the hell am I going to do?” she continued. “I cannot have a child. I am not the kind of woman who would hand my baby over to a nanny, not in a million years. So we would be dragging a baby around the world on tour, and I wouldn’t do that to my baby. I wouldn’t say I just need nine months. I would say I need a couple of years, and that would break up the band, period. So my decision was to have an abortion.”
Women’s healthcare is one of the reasons the “Edge of Seventeen” singer is backing Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Shortly after Taylor Swift shared her endorsement of the Democratic candidate in September, Nicks wrote on Instagram, “As my friend @taylorswift so eloquently stated, now is the time to research and choose the candidate that speaks to you and your beliefs … Your vote in this election may be one of the most important things you ever do.”
Watch Nicks talk about the importance of supporting abortion rights below:
“I have a platform, I tell a good story…I was also there.” Singer Stevie Nicks opens up about the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the 2024 election, and her personal experience with abortion. pic.twitter.com/sjQvTpeDf0— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) October 25, 2024
Luis Miguel has postponed a series of concerts scheduled across several cities in Mexico, including two performances in the capital, due to health reasons, the Mexico City Arena said in a statement on Thursday night (Oct. 24). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Mexican-raised superstar was […]
Many in Nashville’s elite country music songwriting community were honored at the Country Music Hall of Fame on Thursday evening (Oct. 24), as the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) held its 2024 Gold and Platinum Gala, honoring many of the songwriters behind several RIAA-certified singles within the 2023-2024 eligibility period.
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Prior to the beginning of the ceremony, guests and honorees mingled during a reception, noshing on hors d’oeuvres. NMPA president/CEO David Israelite ushered in the evening in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s sixth-floor reception space overlooking downtown Nashville, calling the certifications the “most definite measurement of songwriters’ success.”
The evening feted nearly 120 multi-platinum honoree songwriters from Nashville’s songwriting community, with over 150 gold, platinum and multi-platinum-certified writers in attendance. Ninety-one songs were honored that have earned double-platinum or higher certification for the eligibility period.
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Uniquely, the evening’s honored songs spanned decades, feting new certifications for Toby Keith’s 1990s signature hit “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” while other honored songs, such as Shaboozey’s “A Bar song (Tipsy),” were released only months ago.
Israelite also recognized the essential advocacy work and support of the RIAA’s chair/CEO Mitch Glazier and Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) executive director Bart Herbison in making the evening honoring songwriters possible.
Bailey Zimmerman brought his joyous energy to the stage, recalling a bit of his songwriting process, and how he merged the chorus from one song idea with the verse of another idea to form one of his breakthrough hits, his 4x platinum “Fall in Love.” “Show up every day and keep writing songs because you never know which will be the one,” Zimmerman said, before also performing “Rock and A Hard Place.”
“My first-ever platinum record, y’all!” singer-songwriter Hailey Whitters said earlier in the evening, before performing her RIAA platinum-certified song “Everything She Ain’t.”
Ashley Gorley
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Breland performed his Gold-certified “For What It’s Worth,” turning in one of the best vocals of the night. He followed with his new song “Same Work,” from his new album 2024 Project.
Throughout the evening, NMPA Exec. VP and general counsel Danielle Aguirre recognized those writers celebrating 2x platinum-certified songs, while NMPA senior vp, external affairs Charlotte Sellmyer revealed more multi-platinum songs.
Later in the evening, the late Country Music Hall of Famer Toby Keith’s longtime manager TK Kimbrell accepted on behalf of the late Keith, for Keith’s 3x platinum-honored “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” and the 2x platinum “How Do You Like Me Now?!,” while Keith’s longtime song collaborator Scotty Emerick accepted for songs including the 3x platinum “As Good As I Once Was,” and the 2x platinum “Beer For My Horses,” and “I Love This Bar.”
Also celebrated was late songwriter Kyle Jacobs, for his work in crafting the 5x multi-platinum song “Rumor.” Jacobs’s parents Reed and Sheri Jacobs accepted the honor on his behalf, and drew a standing ovation from the crowd of Nashville music publishers and songwriters, many of whom have collaborated with Jacobs over the years.
The male songwriter of the year accolade went to Ashley Gorley. Notably, the prolific Gorley beat singer-songwriter Zach Bryan to win the NMPA honor by a single song certification this year.
Israelite called Gorley a “primary crafter of today’s country sound and why it’s reached unprecedented crossover appeal.” Gorley briefly thanked his co-writers, as well as publishers at Sony Music Publishing, and his Tape Room Music colleagues, saying simply and earnestly, “Thank you for this.”
The female songwriter of the year honor was awarded to Jessi Alexander, for her work on songs including Luke Combs’s “5 Leaf Clover,” Little Big Town’s “You, Me and Whiskey” and Morgan Wallen’s “The Way I Talk.”
“I thought I’d work at Subway forever, but thank you for giving me my dream job, which is writing songs,” Alexander said, before thanking her husband, songwriter Jon Randall, as well as her publishers, including Warner Chappell Music Nashville’s president/CEO Ben Vaughn and vice president, A&R and digital Jessi Vaughn Stevenson.
The evening closed with Israelite introducing Jordan Davis, who performed his double platinum-certified “Next Thing You Know” and the 4x platinum-certified “Buy Dirt.” “I always say this song was written about the three most important things in my life: my faith in Jesus, my wife, my kids-my family-and my friends,” Davis said of “Buy Dirt.”
Addressing the songwriters, publishers and other industry members in the room, Davis added, “Thank you for what you do day in and day out. I’m grateful to be in Nashville, Tennessee and get to be a songwriter alongside all of y’all.”
See the full list of the honored songwriters and songs below:
Double-platinum songs:Chase McGill and Jaren Johnston for “5 Foot 9”Blake Pendergrass for “865”Danny Orton for “19 You + Me”Jerrell Jones and Mark Williams for “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”Brandon Kinney and Josh Thompson for “Ain’t Always the Cowboy”Carson Chamberlain and Wade Kirby for “All Over The Road”Hillary Lindsey and Jordan Davis for “Almost Maybes”Chris DeStefano for “Aw Naw”Chris Lane and Jacob Durrett for “Big, Big Plans”Drew Parker for “Doin’ This”Luke Laird for “Down To The Honkytonk”Ben Burgess and Mark Holman for “Flower Shops”Ben Johnson for “Give Heaven Some Hell”Barry Dean for “Heartache Medication”Jonathan Singleton for “Houston, We Got A Problem”Brett Jones and Rob Hatch for If “Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away”Chris DeStefano and Josh Hoge for “Losing Sleep”Billy Montana and Brian Davis for “Memory I Don’t Mess With”Daniel Breland, Devon Barton, Edrick Miles, Kalvin Austin, Tatiana Zeigler and Troy Taylor for “My Truck”Chase McGill, Greylan James and Jordan Davis for “Next Thing You Know”Chris DeStefano for “Nothin’ Like You”Brett James and Tony Lane for “On My Way to You”Jared Keim and Ryan Beaver for “Pretty Little Poison”Alexander Palmer, Austin Shawn, Bailey Zimmerman, Frank Romano and Marty James for “Religiously”Josh Kerr for “She Likes It”Sergio Sanchez for “Spin You Around”Ben Williams, David Fanning and Paul Jenkins for “Tennessee Orange”Gary Hannan for “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off”Andy Albert, Dustin Lynch and Will Weatherly for “Thinking ‘Bout You”Jordan Schmidt and Renee Blair for “wait in the truck”Jordan Davis and Ryan Hurd for “What My World Spins Around”Lindsay Rimes for “Whiskey on You”Paul Jenkins for “Who I Am With You”Tofer Brown for “Wine, Beer, Whiskey”
3x platinum songs:Johnny Bulford, Jon Stone and Phil Barton for ‘A Woman Like You”Jordan Reynolds and Nicolle Galyon for “All To Myself”Wayne Kirkpatrick for “Boondocks”Dave Barnes and Julian Bunetta for “Craving You”Eric Paslay for “Even If It Breaks Your Heart”Chris DeStefano for “From the Ground Up”Brock Berryhill, Shy Carter, Taylor Phillips and Will Weatherly for “Good As You”Brock Berryhill, Matt McGinn and Taylor Phillips for “Homesick”Chase McGill and Will Weatherly for “Lose It”Billy Montana and Tofer Brown for “Night Shift”Hillary Lindsey and Jake Mitchell for “One Beer”Brad Warren, Brett Warren and Jim Beavers for “Red Solo Cup”Mark Sanders and Tim Nichols for “She Had Me At Heads Carolina”Jacob Durrett for “Somebody’s Problem”Christian Stalnecker and Josh Hoge for “Thank God”Dan Isbell, Reid Isbell and Jamie Davis for “The Kind of Love We Make”Ben Hayslip, Chase McGill and Jessi Alexander for “The Way I Talk”Charlie Handsome and Taylor Phillips for “Thinkin’ Bout Me”Anthony Smith for “Tomorrow”Brian White, Rodney Atkins and Steve Dean for “Watching You”
4x platinum songs:Jacob Davis, Jordan Davis and Joshua Jenkins for “Buy Dirt”Austin Shawn, Bailey Zimmerman and Gavin Lucas for “Fall In Love”Rachel Thibodeau for “Good Directions”Bart Butler for “Heartache On The Dancefloor”Ben Hayslip and Rhett Akins for “Huntin’, Fishin’, and Lovin’ Every Day”Corey Crowder and Josh Hoge for “I’m Comin’ Over”Jason Matthews and Marty Dodson and for “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right”Ben Johnson for “One Of Them Girls”Nicolle Galyon for “Thought You Should Know”Charlie Handsome for “You Proof”
5x platinum songs:Ben Glover, Billy Montana and John Ozier for “Hard to Love”Sammy Mitchell and Steven Battey for “One Number Away”Heath Warren and Jet Harvey for “Rock and a Hard Place”Kyle Jacobs for “Rumor”Brad Clawson for “Up Down”
6x platinum songs:Jonathan Singleton for “Beer Never Broke My Heart”Jamie Moore for “Chasin’ You”Joshua Jenkins and Shane Stevens for “Fancy Like”Charlie Handsome for “More Than My Hometown”
7x platinum songs:Charlie Handsome and Ryan Hurd for “Heartless”Charlie Handsome for “Last Night”Channing Wilson and Rob Snyder for “She Got The Best of Me”Jordan Reynolds and Laura Veltz for “Speechless”
8x platinum song:Charlie Handsome and Josh Thompson for “Wasted On You”
9x platinum songs:Taylor Phillips and Thomas Archer for “Hurricane”Jordan Schmidt and Matthew McGinn for “What Ifs”Ben Burgess and Kevin Kadish for “Whiskey Glasses”
10x platinum songs:Lindsay Rimes, Matthew McGinn and Shy Carter for “Platinum Heaven”Trent Tomlinson and Tyler Reeve for “In Case You Didn’t Know”
12x platinum Song:Charles Kelley for “Need You Now”
Billie Eilish just reacted exactly how anyone would to Rihanna saying she wants to collaborate — with utter disbelief. Shortly after the Fenty Beauty said that the “Bad Guy” singer is her dream duet partner, Eilish reposted the former’s remarks on Instagram Stories Thursday (Oct. 24) and wrote, “what in the absolute f–k.” “oh my […]
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, Lady Gaga supplies an antidote for hungry fans, Halsey channels the greats and Megan Thee Stallion unveils another act. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Lady Gaga, “Disease”
Lady Gaga’s new single was produced and written with Andrew Watt, a guitar virtuoso who’s become a guru to rock veterans, as well as Cirkut, one of pop’s most prolific studio whizzes; that pedigree informs a stomping new track that balances arena heft with nimble melodies, as Gaga sings, “Screamin’ for me, baby / Like you’re gonna die / Poison on the inside, I could be your antidote tonight!” in between fluttering vocal refrains and booming percussion.
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Halsey, The Great Impersonator
Most new albums are knowingly influenced by the artists that predated their creators, but few of them are enacted as purposeful homages quite like Halsey’s The Great Impersonator, which hopscotches across personal heroes ranging from Dolly Parton to David Bowie to Britney Spears; the track list can be a guessing game of who-inspired-what, but more often, Halsey’s own songwriting and perspective power the brightest spots.
Megan Thee Stallion, Megan: Act II
Following her June album Megan with a 13-track deluxe edition, Megan Thee Stallion has given fans an embarrassment of riches to cap off a highly successful year: “Bigger in Texas” sets things off with classic trash-talking Meg and “Mamushi” receives a giddy remix featuring TWICE, but “Roc Steady,” a flip of Ciara’s “Goodies” featuring Flo Milli, is the clear highlight.
Summer Walker, “Heart of a Woman”
Even though Summer Walker’s upcoming album will be called Finally Over It, but the R&B star still isn’t on “Heart of a Woman,” a sumptuous showcase for her complex emotions as she recognizes a relationship she can’t quit: “I try to be strong,” Walker sings, “but how much can I take?”
Addison Rae, “Aquamarine”
As Addison Rae continues making the transition from TikTok superstar to aspiring music A-lister, her pop aesthetic is coming into focus, with “Aquamarine” extracting the breathy flirtations from previous single “Diet Pepsi” and applying them to a sleek, futuristic dance-pop sheen.
Kelsea Ballerini, Patterns
A meditation on personal strength and moving on from divorce, Patterns may be Kelsea Ballerini’s most moving collection of songs to date, as the country-pop star sharpens her pen while examining her regrets and hopes; the opening run of songs on Patterns, including the poignant “Sorry Mom” and rousing “Baggage,” demonstrates why Ballerini remains such a captivating presence in the genre.
Gigi Perez, “Fable”
With “Sailor Song” a viral smash and an Island Records deal in hand, Gigi Perez has quickly returned with “Fable,” an acoustic sing-along searching for answers that replicates the rawness of her breakout single and sounds like it could be another hit for the singer-songwriter.
Jin, “I’ll Be There”
Jin’s upcoming album is titled Happy, and pre-release track “I’ll Be There” certainly lives up to that adjective: here, the BTS member is all smiles while reveling in pop-rock bliss, deploying a woo-oo-oo post-chorus that lodges in your brain before your first listen is even complete.
Linkin Park, “Over Each Other”
On “The Emptiness Machine” and “Heavy is the Crown,” the first two songs released from Linkin Park’s upcoming album From Zero, Mike Shinoda is the first voice heard, a steadying force before new vocalist Emily Armstrong arrives; with “Over Each Other,” however, Armstrong delivers an impressive vocal showcase, unleashing her frustration over miscommunication as the production blinks and shudders.
Editor’s Pick: Soccer Mommy, Evergreen
On her fourth Soccer Mommy album, Sophie Allison expertly finds a middle ground between the lo-fi production of her early work and the hearty, pop-adjacent rock of her more recent output; with personal loss as a central focus, Evergreen feels like Allison’s most complete record to date, and a standout during a crowded season for indie releases.
With Billboard Hot 100 hits like “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Union of the Snake,” “New Moon on Monday” and “A View to a Kill,” Duran Duran’s catalog is frighteningly fitting for spooky season. So in 2022, when the English quartet found itself playing a Halloween-night gig in Las Vegas ahead of its induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the band decided to don costumes, sprinkle in seasonally appropriate covers and embrace the darkness.
The show was successful enough to inspire the band’s 2023 album, Danse Macabre, a top 10 hit on the Top Album Sales chart. With an expanded version of the album out now, the veterans — who have grossed $118.6 million and sold 1.8 million tickets since 1987, according to Billboard Boxscore — are set to play a show at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 31 that keyboardist Nick Rhodes promises “will be entirely different than any other Duran Duran show you will ever see.”
Is Halloween as big in the United Kingdom?
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We don’t celebrate it in such grand style as you do in America. I remember the first time I came to America was over the Halloween period. I literally thought, “Wow, they’re so far ahead of us. Why don’t we have these giant blow-up things outside our houses? Why can’t bats be 20 feet wide?” I love the sense of fun, the absurdity and that everybody gets to be a villain for a day.
The deluxe Danse Macabre has “New Moon (Dark Phase),” a moodier take on one of your classics; a cover of ELO’s “Evil Woman”; and “Masque of the Pink Death,” which I’m guessing is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe.
I’ve always been a great admirer [of Poe]. We grew up in England in the ’70s, where Hammer horror movies on [TV on] a Friday night, whether it was a Dracula or a mummy movie, were the thing you looked forward to all week. Plus, [I love] Tim Burton’s great contribution to everyone who loves goth. Those things shape the way you feel about life and the possibilities creatively. That’s what makes artists unique — their influences and the different areas they take from, even if it’s subliminal.
The Madison Square Garden show will be your second Halloween-themed concert. Do you see this becoming a tradition?
I don’t know. It’s a lot of work for one show. But Madison Square Garden just happened to be available, and New York is such a good place to be for Halloween. It was irresistible. We are going to make it something unusual and special. It won’t be like a regular show at all. The fans in Europe have been writing in already saying, “When are you going to do one in Europe? This is the second one in America; that’s not fair.” I sympathize with that. We always like to try to balance things, so maybe [we’ll do] one in Europe next year.
You have several other U.S. shows this fall beyond MSG. Will Halloween elements work their way into those?
I suspect some of them will feature a few bits that we’re preparing for Halloween. We didn’t think we’d be back in America this year, but when we decided to do the Halloween one, we slotted some more in. I rather like that way of working. For many years, we haven’t been a band that announces big world tours and ends up on the road for 18 months. But we do seem to play a lot of shows. We just add them when we want to, and somehow the chaos is working.
This story appears in the Oct. 26, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Some people remember DMX for the late Ruff Ryder boss’ snarling, take-no-prisoners bars about the dangers of coming at him. But the MC born Earl Simmons was also memorably a deeply spiritual man whose lyrics often focused on the push-and-pull between sin and salvation.
The latter, more sacred, side of the born again rapper’s personality will be on display on the upcoming posthumous album Let Us Pray: Chapter X. The eight-track collection from Def Jam/UMe due out on Dec. 13 will combine DMX’s prayers with original music created by Grammy-winning gospel songwriter/producer Warryn Campbell (Kanye West, Alicia Keys).
“Working on Let Us Pray: Chapter X has been one of the most fulfilling experiences for me as a creative,” said Campbell in a statement. “When you hear the voice of DMX, it inspires instant creativity and what better way to showcase who X really was than through prayer. I believe I can speak for MC Lyte, Killer Mike, Snoop Dogg, LeCrae, Mary Mary, Lena Byrd Miles, and Terrace Martin when I say it was an honor and privilege to be part of this amazing work.”
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According to a release, “Campbell notably crafted new original music to accompany the signature prayers of DMX and instrumentally scored these spoken-word messages straight from the artist’s heart.” The album features a number of additional vocals from artists including rappers Snoop Dogg, Killer Mike, MC Lyte and LeCrae, MC/producer Terrace Martin, as well as gospel acts Mary Mary, Lena Byrd Miles and the RoyzNoyz Orchestra.
“Ultimately, Let Us Pray: Chapter X reflects upon the depth, emotionality, and spirituality of DMX, and it invites fans to celebrate his legacy from a new standpoint altogether,” according to a statement about the album from the ordained pastor MC who died at 50 in April 2021 of a heart attack. “Let us pray/ Father, thank you for making me righteous/ And accepted through the blood of Jesus/ Because of that, I am blessed and highly favored by you/ I am the object of your affection,” DMX intones over sweeping strings on the emotional first single “Favor.”
The collection is the follow-up to 2021’s Exodus, the first posthumous album from the late “Party Up” rapper; X’s seventh, and final album released in his lifetime, was 2012’s Undisputed.
Listen to “Favor” here and check out the full track list below:
1. “Favor” (feat. Killer Mike, Mary Mary, & RoyzNoyz Orchestra)
2. “Bear” With Me (feat. LeCrae)
3. “One Life To Do It” (feat. MC Lyte & RoyzNoyz Orchestra)
4. “Until I’m Gone” (feat. Snoop Dogg, Terrace Martin, & Lena Byrd Miles)
5. “Favor” (Instrumental)
6. “Bear With Me” (Instrumental)
7. “One Life To Do It” (Instrumental)
8. “Until I’m Gone” (Instrumental)
On Oct. 27, 1984, Alabama’s “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas” rose to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. The classic was co-written by Murry Kellum and Dan Mitchell and produced by the band and Harold Shedd.
Formed near Fort Payne, Ala., in the early ‘70s, Alabama was initially billed as Wildcountry, consisting of cousins Jeff Cook, Teddy Gentry and Randy Owen. They recruited drummer Mark Herndon in 1979.
Starting with Alabama’s 1980 Hot Country Songs No. 1 “Tennessee River” and through its featured turn on Brad Paisley’s “Old Alabama” in 2011, the band banked 33 leaders, among 51 top 10s, both the most among duo/groups. Also beginning with “Tennessee River,” Alabama rattled off a record 21 No. 1s in a row (counting proper, nonseasonal singles) through 1987.
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“We were lookin’ for a song that would use a fiddle,” “Texas” co-producer Shedd shared in Tom Roland’s The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. “After ‘Tennessee River’ and [Alabama’s ninth No. 1, 1983’s] ‘Dixieland Delight,’ it became a trademark, so we wanted to do some of those things. If it’s working, you don’t want to get too far away from that. You gotta touch your home base. [“Texas”] was something we could out a fiddle on that would not sound manufactured or contrived.”
“Texas” was released as the third of four singles – all of which topped Hot Country Songs – from Alabama’s eighth LP, and fourth Top Country Albums No. 1, Roll On. It followed “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)” and “When We Make Love” and preceded “(There’s A) Fire in the Night.”
In 2015, Southern Drawl, Alabama’s first set of new music since 2001, arrived at its No. 2 peak on Top Country Albums. It became the group’s 26th top 10 set, a sum that includes 11 No. 1s logged between 1981 and 2006.
Alabama was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Cook passed away on Nov. 8, 2022, at his home in Destin, Fla. He was 73. Currently touring, the band makes its next stop in St. Augustine, Fla., on Nov. 8.
Billboard Latin Music Week 2024 celebrated its 35-year anniversary and paid tribute to this year’s Power Players List on Monday, October 14. The intimate event, which took place at Casadonna Miami, was dedicated to the annual list of honorees across various sectors of Latin music with networking, speeches, awards, alongside custom cocktails like the Johnnie […]
Nicole Scherzinger may have been one of the last people to communicate with Liam Payne before the singer’s death on Oct. 16 following a fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In an interview with Billboard about Scherzinger’s “one-of-a-kind” Broadway performance in Sunset Blvd., composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber revealed that Scherzinger — who met Payne when she was a judge on the English X-Factor, where One Direction were formed — had been in communication with Liam on the day of his death.
“She was still texting him that day, and [that evening] the reviewers came in [to SUNSET], she’d just heard that he died,” said Webber of the previews for the musical in which Scherzinger stars as Norma Desmond. “And the fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean she is an amazing, amazing woman. She is without any question one of the finest performers I’ve ever worked with.”
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On Thursday (Oct. 24), Scherzinger posted a tribute to Payne on Instagram in the form of a letter to her late friend. “Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from fifteen years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago,” she wrote. “It was such a blessing to get to work with you recently. We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had.”
The accompanying photo showed a smiling Payne posing with Scherzinger and former Destiny’s Child member and solo star Kelly Rowlands from the set of their Netflix series Building the Band. The music competition series — which also features host Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean — began filming this summer with the premise of talented singers tasked with forming their own bands without seeing each other first. At press time a spokesperson for the series had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on plans for airing the series in the wake of Payne’s passing.
“It’s been so hard to process that you’re no longer here, but I am grateful to have known your kind heart, sweet soul and character,” Scherzinger continued. “You brought so much joy, light, and laughter to the lives of those that truly knew you. I will ‘miss you’ my friend and carry you in my heart. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.”
In 2022, a previously unseen clip from 1D’s formation on X-Factor revealed that it was Scherzinger who was instrumental in putting solo singers Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson together as a group. “We thought of each of you as individuals, and we just feel that you’re too talented to let go of,” Scherzinger said at the time. “We think it would be a great idea to have two separate groups,” she continued as judge Simon Cowell broke the tension by announcing that the newly formed band would be going through to the next round.
The unseen portion of the video showed that Scherzinger was heavily involved in putting together the members of the group that she gushed at the time would be the “cutest boy band ever! The little girls are gonna love them!… They’re just too talented to get rid of. And they’ve got just the right look and the right charisma on stage. I think they’ll be really great in a boy band together,” she said.
At the time, Cowell predicted that confident Payne would likely the “leader” of the newly formed group. “They’re like little stars,” Scherzinger said of the five boys who had initially auditioned as solo acts; Payne had also auditioned as a solo act two years earlier in 2008. “So you can’t get rid of little stars. You put them all together,” Scherzinger said.
On Wednesday, Buenos Aires police raided the luxury hotel where Payne was staying when he died, reportedly taking away a number of items, including hard drives and CCTV footage. Payne, 31, died after falling from a third-floor balcony, with an autopsy report revealing that he died from a number of injuries, including internal and external bleeding caused by the fall. Investigators reportedly found a number of substances in his body at the time, including a recreational drug called “pink cocaine,” a mixture of substances that often contains ketamine combined with MDMA, methamphetamine, cocaine, opioids and/or psychoactive substances. Full autopsy details are not expected for several more weeks.
Scherzinger is the latest star to post a tribute to Payne, following on the heels of statements from his former 1D bandmates, 5 Seconds of Summer’s Ashton Irwin, Justin Bieber and the singer’s girlfriend of two years, Kate Cassidy, among many others.
