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Liam Payne is being remembered by his former secondary school after the 31-year-old singer’s shocking death Wednesday (Oct. 16).
The morning after Payne suffered a fatal fall from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires — where the star appeared to have been staying on a trip with his girlfriend, influencer Kate Cassidy — St Peter’s Collegiate Academy posted a statement on Facebook mourning the loss in its community.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of our former student, Liam Payne,” the message reads. “During his time at St Peter’s Collegiate Academy, Liam was not only well-liked by his peers and teachers, but also recognized for his talents. He made a positive impact on our school community, and his contributions will be remembered.”
“Our thoughts are with Liam’s family and friends during this difficult time,” the school added. “We extend our sincere condolences to all those affected by his passing.”
St Peter’s is located in Wolverhampton, England, where Payne grew up. He found fame in 2010 when an audition on The X Factor led to a six-year pop-music takeover as part of One Direction, after which the musician embarked on his own solo career.
The statement from Payne’s school is just one of countless messages of grief that have taken over social media since Argentinian police confirmed his passing, with Zedd, Paris Hilton, Ty Dolla $ign, Rita Ora and more musicians joining hordes of fans in remembering the boy band star online. His family also spoke out Thursday morning (Oct. 17), telling the BBC: “We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul. We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space at this awful time.”
A recent preliminary autopsy affirms that Payne died from the multiple hemorrhages he sustained as a result of his fall, which occurred around 5:07 p.m. Wednesday. Examiners are still waiting for further toxicology reports to determine the extent to which drugs or alcohol played a part in the sequence of events; however, investigators did find substances in his hotel room that at first glance appeared to be narcotics and alcoholic drinks.
In the moments leading up to Payne’s death, a hotel manager also placed a frantic 911 call to report that a guest was “overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol” and “destroying [their] entire room.” By the time police arrived, the musician had already fallen and died at the scene due to his injuries.
Payne is survived by a 7-year-old son, Bear, whom he shared with ex-partner Cheryl Cole.
Liam Payne’s tragic death at the age of 31 on Wednesday (Oct. 16) has provided the pop world a sorrowful opportunity to reflect on his legacy as a member of One Direction and as a solo artist. Payne helped 1D conquer the world as an integral part of the five-piece pop group, then moved on recording on his own with his debut single, “Strip That Down” featuring Quavo, which became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2017.
Less clear, however, is the status of Payne’s unreleased solo material — and whether a follow-up to his debut album, 2019’s LP1, was completed upon his passing.
Following One Direction’s final studio album, 2015’s Made In The A.M., Payne signed a solo deal with Republic Records in 2016, and “Strip That Down” streaked to a No. 10 peak on the Hot 100 upon its May 2017 release. Payne’s debut solo album, LP1, arrived through Republic in December 2019 and featured a wide array of collaborators, including Zedd, J Balvin, A Boogie wit da Hoodie and Rita Ora.
This March, Payne released “Teardrops,” a snappy rhythmic pop track with a booming chorus that allowed the singer to showcase his falsetto. “Teardrops” — which was co-written with Jamie Scott and *NSYNC star JC Chasez — marked Payne’s first single since 2021’s “Sunshine,” which he contributed to the soundtrack for the animated film Ron’s Gone Wrong.
“‘Teardrops’ is about the vulnerability of heartbreak and the challenge of overcoming those moments,” Payne said in a press statement upon the new single’s release. He added that the track was “the start of a new beginning,” with more music planned for 2024.
Prior to the release of “Teardrops,” Payne had spent extended time in the studio with Scott, the British songwriter-producer who had contributed to One Direction smashes like “Story of My Life,” “Night Changes” and “Drag Me Down,” and co-written hits like “Cold Water” by Major Lazer and “This Town” by Payne’s 1D band mate Niall Horan. In a press release, Payne had described working with longtime collaborator Scott on new music as a “year-long process of self-reflection.”
“Teardrops” has earned 3 million official U.S. streams to date, according to Luminate, but did not chart on the Hot 100. Outside of an acoustic version of “Teardrops” released later in March, no other material from Payne had been released in 2024, and an official follow-up to LP1 had yet to be announced.
Reps for Republic Records did not respond to requests for comment about the status of Payne’s unreleased music, although the label did release a statement on Thursday morning (Oct. 17) honoring the singer: “We are deeply saddened and devastated by the tragic passing of Liam Payne, an extraordinary artist whose music touched millions. His legacy will live on through the timeless work he created, and he will forever be remembered as an icon of his generation. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fans during this difficult time.”
Meanwhile, fans have flooded the comments of Payne’s official YouTube videos with remembrances and appreciations. “Liam Payne, You have put smiles across billions of fans,” reads the highest-rated comment on the clip for the “Teardrops” acoustic version. “I hope you rest in peace.”
Cardi B is loving the new chapter in life as she dives into being a single woman following her July split from estranged husband Offset, when she filed for divorce for a second time.
The Bronx bombshell joined an X Spaces Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 16), during which she provided fans with an update on all things Cardi B as she navigates motherhood for a third time after giving birth in September.
“Life has been really weird,” she said. “I’m single and I’ve been having fun, but I feel like me being single and me having fun, I have to stop it because I don’t want it to get in the way of my work … I’m paranoid to give people my time, I’m just playing around right now. [laughs] I just want peace.”
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Cardi B and Offset’s relationship issues got messy and spilled over into social media while she was in France for Paris Fashion Week in late September, when the Migos rapper accused Cardi of cheating on him while pregnant.
“I feel like two weeks ago, there was a lot of beef. I feel like things are calming down right now. I don’t want to have beef with anybody that I love,” she added. “All the divorce things that happen, I want peace and I want friendship. I just want, like, a healthy co-parenting relationship, and co-parenting means no f–king, no flirting … I want peace. I want to be like my mom and my dad, they don’t f–k with each other, they just there for me and my sister.”
While she’s having fun as a single woman for the first time since becoming a superstar, Cardi doesn’t want to lose focus of her career goals.
“Baby, I’m in heat right now,” she admitted. “So far I’m having a lot of fun. Somebody gave me a reality check yesterday: ‘You out here having fun, and it could distract you from your personal life, but don’t let it distract you from your work!’”
Cardi continued regarding juggling motherhood: “I’m also balancing my motherhood right now. I feel like I gave birth five months ago, but I really have a baby, baby. Sometimes my body be feeling weird, but of course, I gave birth six weeks ago. A lot of balancing going on right now.”
On the music side, the wait continues for Cardi B’s anticipated sophomore album. She also promised that the project is coming soon, but hasn’t shared a release date yet. “Album is coming really, really soon, announcements is coming really really soon,” she vowed. “Things are getting more done now! I’m not pregnant no more.”
Listen to the full Spaces below.
Eslabon Armado received a special recognition during the Una Noche de Música Mexicana event — part of Billboard Latin Music Week 2024 — on Wednesday night (Oct. 16), for taking their song “Ella Baila Sola” to No. 1 globally. The group received the award from Pedro Zamora, CEO of the entertainment company Zamora Live, and Rosy Oros, director of Iconos magazine, in the presence of Leila Cobo, Billboard‘s chief content officer for Latin/Spanish.
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The Azteca nightclub in South Beach served as the venue where emerging artists from independent labels Vizual and Infinifox also performed.
Vizual, the company led by Víctor Zambrano, a renowned producer of regional Mexican music who was instrumental in the rise of Carin León, introduced the audience to Héctor Rubio, one of the new promises of corridos tumbados. Rubio recently joined Peso Pluma, with whom he collaborated in “Se Volvieron Locos,” on 10 dates of the Mexican star Exodus Tour. He has also written songs performed by artists such as Alex Favela, Grupo Selectivo, Octavio Cuadras and Yeri Mua.
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Also from Vizual, Arsenal Efectivo showcased their unique blending style of trap and corridos. The Mexican-American band started in 2015 and shortly after their debut album, En La Fuga, reached the top 10 on Billboard‘s Regional Mexican Albums chart.
Infinifox also presented two of its talents, one of them Juan Carlos “El Conde,” who has written songs for acts such as Banda MS and Chuy Lizárraga. El Conde’s offer includes romantic songs accompanied by band and mariachi as well as an equestrian show, as he is an expert in charrería. He recently released the song “A Rienda Suelta,” a collaboration with Bronco’s vocalist Lupe Esparza, which he performed solo at Una Noche de Música Mexicana.
The cumbia group La Sonora Vainilla added a cheerful touch to the night with their versatility. Formed in Jalisco, Mexico, they have established in the U.S., where they continue to gain followers.
Una Noche de Música Mexicana was a journey through different musical currents, from trap, to corridos tumbados, traditional styles, and even cumbia. The event was organized by Zamora Entertainment and Zamora Live, companies headed by Pedro Zamora, who was recently included in the Billboard Latin Power Players list. A major promoter of regional Mexican music for nearly 30 years, he also serves currently as president of the association Promotores Unidos USA. Based in New York, he has dedicated his life to creating shows to present Mexican artists.
Latin Music Week coincides with the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards set to air at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20, on Telemundo. It will simultaneously be available on Universo, Peacock and the Telemundo app, and in Latin America and the Caribbean through Telemundo Internacional.
Zach Bryan recently said that he doesn’t want to be known as strictly a “country musician.” Luckily, an upcoming collaboration with one of hip-hop’s greatest living legends (Snoop Dogg!) might just help with that.
On Thursday (Oct. 17), the 52-year-old rapper revealed on Today that he and the “I Remember Everything” singer-songwriter have a little something in the works. “Zach sent me a song,” he shared with the show’s hosts. “I gotta put a verse on it.”
“I’m inspired, seeing that with him, with The Boss, Bruce Springsteen,” Snoop added of Bryan’s recent conversation with the “Born to Run” icon for Rolling Stone, in which the younger musician explained why he doesn’t like to be labeled under any given genre.
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“I want to be a songwriter, and you’re quintessentially a songwriter,” Bryan told Springsteen at the time. “No one calls Bruce Springsteen — hate to use your name in front of you — but no one calls Bruce Springsteen a freaking rock musician, which you are one, but you’re also an indie musician, you’re also a country musician. You’re all these things encapsulated in one man. And that’s what songwriting is.”
The Boss agreed that Bryan has potential beyond the country landscape, telling the “Something in the Orange” artist he sees “so much — and I don’t want to call it rock — just energy in your performance.” “You bust all those different genre boundaries down,” Springsteen added in the Musicians on Musicians feature.
If Bryan is looking to expand his sound further, he’s come to the right collaborator. The Doggfather is one of music’s most versatile duet partners, guesting on songs with everyone from Katy Perry to Bruno Mars, Mariah Carey, Benny Blanco and BTS, Jason Derulo, Akon, The Pussycat Dolls and more. Most recently, Snoop worked with a number of artists on the soundtrack for Peacock’s film Bosco.
Watch Snoop talk about working with Bryan below.
The air was thick on Wednesday (Oct. 16) with anticipation at Wynwood Marketplace as attendees of the Billboard Latin Music Week 2024 gathered for what was billed as Next Gen Reggaetón: An Evening Curated by J Balvin. The event, sponsored by Cheetos and part of a series entitled the House of Huella, promised to spotlight rising stars in the reggaetón genre: Omar Courtz, Saiko, and Dei V.
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Little did the crowd know, they were in for a massive surprise. The night kicked off with fiery sets from fresh talents Omar Courtz, followed by Saiko and then Dei V, each bringing their unique flavors and rhythms to the eager audience. Yet, the atmosphere shifted dramatically when J Balvin himself took the stage, unannounced, sending an electrifying charge through the crowd.
Dressed casually yet strikingly in a white T-shirt and light blue jeans, Balvin — with his hair in cornrows — looked every bit the reggaetón titan he is. He opened with “Mi Gente,” a global hit that normally never fails to pump up the volume. Despite a brief hiccup with the audio system at the very start, Balvin’s charisma and energy quickly overcame the technical glitch, and he had the crowd dancing with fervor.
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His performance of “Doblexxo,” a hit from his latest album Rayo, originally featuring Feid, was particularly riveting. Balvin delivered the song with such passion and precision that it arguably surpassed the recorded version, resonating deeply with the audience and confirming its place as a new reggaetón classic.
Not content to rest on his laurels, Balvin also dipped into his reservoir of revered hits. Tracks such as “I Like It” and “Reggaetón” had attendees shouting lyrics in unison, while his rendition of “Tata” showcased the potent Latin drill style that has been captivating the urban music landscape. Furthermore, collaborations such as “Loco Contigo” and “Con Altura” reminded everyone of Balvin’s versatility and global appeal.
Later on, Saiko joined the Colombian artist to perform “Gaga,” Dei V on “La Noche” and last but not least, Omar Courtz jumped in to deliver heady verses with J Balvin on “En Alta,” all from his latest album.
The event underscored J Balvin’s role as a torchbearer for the genre. His ability to bridge the old with the new, all while promoting the next generation of artists, testified to his influence and dedication to the music that has shaped his career.
Earlier that day, Balvin participated in a Superstar Q&A during the Billboard Latin Music Week 2024 panels.
Watch his opening set below:
Latin Music Week coincides with the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards set to air at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20, on Telemundo. It will simultaneously be available on Universo, Peacock and the Telemundo app, and in Latin America and the Caribbean through Telemundo Internacional.
Gracie Abrams’ Emily in Paris synch earns the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind (a Songtradr company), for September 2024.
Rankings for the Top TV Songs chart are based on song and show data provided by Tunefind and ranked using a formula blending that data with sales and streaming information tracked by Luminate during the corresponding period of September 2024.
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“Close to You” appears in the fourth-season finale of Emily in Paris, the Lily Collins-starring Netflix series. The full season premiered Sept. 12.
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The song earned 21.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams and sold 3,000 downloads in September, according to Luminate. It peaked at No. 49 on the June 22-dated Billboard Hot 100 and ranks at No. 90 on the most recently published, Oct. 19-dated chart.
Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain,” which appears in the debut season of fellow Netflix series Nobody Wants This, places at No. 2 on Top TV Songs. It racked up 16.4 million streams and sold 2,000 in September.
The track, from her album Anti, is heard in the third episode of the series, which stars Kristen Bell and Adam Brody. The single hit No. 5 on the Hot 100 in 2017.
The song is one of three from Nobody Wants This on the 10-position Top TV Songs chart, joined by Frank Sinatra’s “Theme From New York, New York” (No. 8; 3.4 million streams, 1,000 sold) and HAIM’s “Now I’m In It” (No. 10; 515,000 streams).
Netflix continues its domination of Top TV Songs’ top three with Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” at No. 3 after playing in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The song, a No. 2 Hot 100 hit in 1987, drew 8.1 million streams and sold 2,000 in September.
The classic also reaches Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart dated Oct. 19 (with older songs eligible to make Billboard’s multimetric song charts if ranking in the top half and with meaningful reasons for their resurgences). It enters at No. 16 and finds its way onto Rock Digital Song Sales at No. 14 and Alternative Streaming Songs at No. 23.
Milli Vanilli’s “Blame It on the Rain,” also featured in Monsters, likewise hits Top TV Songs, at No. 6 (3.4 million streams, 2,000 sold). Catalog gains for the duo — multiple songs by the pair are featured in Monsters — drives its 4 EP onto the Billboard 200 at No. 197 with 8,000 equivalent album units. It marks Milli Vanilli’s first appearance on the chart in nearly 34 years, since the chart dated Oct. 27, 1990.
See the full Top TV Songs top 10, also featuring music from The Penguin, Tell Me Lies and Agatha All Along, below.
Rank, Song, Artist, Show (Network)1. “Close to You,” Gracie Abrams, Emily in Paris (Netflix)2. “Love on the Brain,” Rihanna, Nobody Wants This (Netflix)3. “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” Crowded House, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)4. “9 to 5,” Dolly Parton, The Penguin (HBO)5. “Ms. Jackson,” OutKast, Tell Me Lies (Hulu)6. “Blame It on the Rain,” Milli Vanilli, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)7. “Heads Will Roll,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Agatha All Along (Disney+)8. “Theme From New York, New York,” Frank Sinatra, Nobody Wants This (Netflix)9. “The Promise,” When in Rome, The Penguin (HBO)10. “Now I’m In It,” HAIM, Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
Tim Heidecker sees a continuum between comedy and music.
“They’re just different modes of expression and communication,” he says. “All I’ve ever done in my creative life is when an idea comes — it could be a funny idea, a sad idea or a musical idea — the goal is to convey that to as many people clearly and in the most interesting way possible. People ask me, do I like comedy or music better, and I’m like, I wish I could exist in a place where I just make stuff,” he continues. “This year it’s the record, next year hopefully it’ll be a show or a movie. I’m just trying to put out interesting things that are coming from my weird brain.”
Heidecker’s latest project is not particularly weird — or funny. It’s a thoughtful, semi-autobiographical album in the classic-rock vein that tackles existential anxieties about growing older and losing one’s mojo: Slipping Away, which Bloodshot Records will release on 18.
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For those who know Heidecker solely from his surreal comedy, such as the Adult Swim series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, his acting (Bridesmaids, Ant-Man and The Wasp) or his Office Hours Live With Tim Heidecker podcast, Slipping Away is actually already the sixth solo studio music album the Glendale, Calif.-based multi-hyphenate has released under his name. He spoke to Billboard about his inspiration for the songs, his song “Trump’s Private Pilot” (which Father John Misty has covered) and the 2025 North American headlining tour he will embark on with his Very Good Band.
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You first became prominent through comedy but when I was researching you, I learned that music was your first passion.
They were concurrent, but music definitely felt more attainable, and it was something you could actually do as a teenager. I remember feeling a great love of comedy but not having any understanding of how to actually do it. I mean, the world doesn’t really want to hear what funny ideas 16-year-olds have. But you could get together with your friends and some practice amps and go in the basement and make sounds and music. I started writing songs at that age.
In college, things kind of shifted towards film — and not even comedy, really. Comedy was a dirty word for us in the ‘90s. It represented something very lame and mainstream. We were just making stuff that we thought was funny and made us laugh, but it wasn’t comedy. That is where we put all our energy, and I stopped focusing on music. But even in making all those shows, there was always music running through it. It was always a big part of the way I express myself.
Who were your musical heroes when you were 16?
The Beatles, Dylan, Pavement, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, Velvet Underground. I loved my parents’ music. And then, very reluctantly, I started accepting the modern bands, Nirvana and Pavement — that Matador Records prime era.
You didn’t mention Eric Clapton, but listening to the new album your vocals remind me of him.
It’s so weird. You know who told me that? Randy Newman. We had him on my podcast, which was a great honor because he’s one of my heroes. He was like, “Yeah, I listened to your music and you kind of sound like Eric Clapton.” I had never heard that before, and now you are saying it. I’m not emulating him. It may be more of a J.J. Cale influence.
If you were going to draw a Venn diagram of your comedy fans and music fans, how much of those two circles would overlap?
There’s a fair amount of comedy fans that don’t fall into the music category. And I’m just starting now to find the people who are maybe finding the music first. I’ve been doing opening tours with Waxahatchee, and it has been interesting to see people that really don’t know me warming up to my music. She attracts a slightly older, norm-y audience. And I was like, “Oh yeah, I’m kind of making classic-rock genre-sounding music — that’s in their wheelhouse.” I think I’m winning that crowd over. Meanwhile, there’s plenty of younger Tim & Eric younger fans who, well, it’s just not the kind of music they like. It’s taken a little bit of time to warm up my crowd to what I’m doing here.
Tim Heidecker, “Slipping Away”
Bloodshot Records
On Slipping Away, you described the album’s arc as “before the fall and after.” A number of the songs are about losing one’s mojo. Did those feelings originate with you or from observations of others?
I’m 48 years old, and I have the perspective of being a creative adult for 20 years now. I’m past the stage of wondering how this is all going to go. Not that there are no surprises ahead and hopefully, a long career, but the mystery of this business and of this world is not as dark. It’s a little more like, “OK, I’ve actually lived a life for a while.” So when I’m writing, I’m accessing dark, quiet, often unsaid emotions and thoughts, writing them down and then moving on with my life. It’s like the songs are expunging fears, anxieties and questions.
It’s cathartic.
It’s cathartic, yeah. I think all those questions that are in the record are hopefully, like you said earlier, observations or questions or fears that the audience might not know they have. The lesson I’ve learned lately, not only about the music but comedy, too, is we enter these dark or uncomfortable areas, and the benefit of that is getting them out into the sunlight and talking about them. It’s healthy to have these thoughts.
I understand a lot of people have approached you to say, essentially, you are singing about my life. Do you think there’s a lot of anxiety in the world today over the subjects you’re expressing on the album?
A hundred and ten percent. A lot of these songs were written a couple of years ago — closer to the pandemic — and everybody I know was feeling versions of this, while also fantasizing or imagining how they would deal if things got worse. Post-apocalyptic media is fairly popular and that reflects what’s on our minds.
How many cities are you going to play on the tour?
Like 30 or something like that. I’ve done it a couple of summers now and this will be a winter tour, but it’s the most fun thing ever. I’ve done it with my standup character, and this time I’m doing without, but I’m bringing along some friends who are going to open that I hope people are excited to see – Neil Hamburger and DJ Douggpound. I’m trying to be serious about this. We put an album out, we need to hit the road.
You do look like you are having fun onstage. Do you feel like you’ve achieved that dream of really being seen as a musician now?
No, I’m just getting started in a way. On the Waxahatchee tour, I was definitely like, oh, this is paying my dues a little bit. I’ve ridden the coattails of my Tim & Eric fanbase, but I can’t settle for that. We all have huge ambitions and mine are going to be bigger than reality, I guess, but my ambition is to be up there like Phish or Goose. But also when I’m up there with my band, and we’re really cooking and having a good time, I’m like, “This should appeal to a lot of people.”
My career has oftentimes been confrontational, and clearly not for everybody. I don’t think this is for everybody either — but on this tour, I felt a real interesting urge to just put on a good show and not be a d–k. Not that I’m a d–k, but not actively engaged in turning people off for the sake of humor. For example, we did an Asbury Park SummerStage show, and in the middle of the show, somebody passed out. It was a medical emergency, and in the past, it would have been hard to resist goofing on that. I just said, “I’m just going to hang back.” It’s an act of self-control just to be like a proper, professional entertainer, instead of [being] a firestarter all the time.
At Central Park SummerStage, you played a song that you said you’d never recorded. I thought it was fantastic, and the crowd loved it. So why haven’t you recorded it?
It’s called “Why Am I Like This.” It’s a self-examination of, “Why am I like this?” There are a lot of answers for that. Is it my parents? Is it… whatever? It’s just another anxiety song really — but it hasn’t been recorded, because I wrote it right before our last tour and hadn’t gotten into the studio with anything else.
I threw it into the set because it feels like a good live number. We have some recordings of it from that tour, but it loses something when you listen to it at home. It really feels like it’s meant to be a shared communal experience. In the live version we get everybody to sing it. I had people that never saw me before on this tour all standing up and singing it. That’s just a great feeling. I joke that if I release it, it would be a Billboard No. 1 hit. I’m not putting it out. I love having a song out there that people only can really experience in the room.
My goal is to have that kind of career where there’s bootlegs and s–t out there. I’m glad you got to see the show live, because it’s something I’m very proud of. For years, I’ve made music and would go out and play a set in L.A. for fun or to promote something, and it would just be a nightmare the whole time, because you’re nervous and not rehearsed. And to be able to do it every night is such a joy, and I feel like I can just have fun.
Your bassist is also Waxahatchee’s bassist?
Eliana Athayde. She’s been with the band since 2022, when we did our first Very Good band tour. She’s a very important part of my musical career of late. She’s a big key to it, and I’m very grateful. She’s a big part of the record, of course, singing a lot with me and co-producing a lot of it. You know, my career is filled with partners. Comedy and music are collaborative things, and she’s become a true partner.
You’ve said that making the album was outside your comfort zone. Can you elaborate?
Making the album was very fun and very much in my comfort zone. I’ve worked with great people in the past, but it never felt truly collaborative. This album did with everyone there for the majority of the sessions, everyone chiming in, adding their own flavor to it. But the more records I make, the more I’m going into absolute vulnerable, sincere territory which is when I land outside my comfort zone. And there are certain songs — the inclusion of my daughter Amelia at the end of the record felt like I might as well be like John and Yoko nude on the cover of their Two Virgins record.
How did that song “Bells Are Ringing” come about?
We finished the record, and I thought, “This is kind of a copout to end the record on such a downer.” It ended on just, Oh, it’s over. The party’s over. The band is breaking up. And I was like, “Now is the opportunity to really decide if that’s the statement I want to make.” You have an opportunity to say whatever you want on your little record that you’re putting out, and I decided, “No, I don’t want to end on that note.” Meli and I often make little songs in my garage together and I just had this little line and I thought it would be lame for me to say it. It kind of wrote itself in a way.
At the show you did a funny J.D. Vance imitation that was based on his stilted visit to a donut shop. Are you keeping close track of the presidential campaign?
Yes, I’m monitoring it hourly. How can you resist the show? It’s an incredible thing to watch and think about. It’s very stressful and hilarious in a lot of ways. I mean the dogs and the cats and the concepts of plans. It’s all stuff that feels like we wrote seven years ago, and it’s now happening in the world in real time. At the same time, it’s incredibly serious and vital and important to the future of me and my children.
I played a song at the last show of the Waxahatchee tour called “Trump’s Private Pilot.” It’s about the pilot who flies Trump around deciding to crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania — a very important state or commonwealth in the election — as an act of patriotism. It’s a very emotional song that had the audience cheer, in sort of a bloodlust way. At the end, I said, “Please help keep that motherf–ker away from my kids.” That’s where it comes down to.
Pennsylvania is also where the passengers on United Flight 93 rose up against the hijackers on 9/11 and crashed the plane into a field.
Yeah, I know. It’s a song I rightfully get s–t for, but it also feels really good sometimes to go to that dark place.
With the first quarter of the 21st century coming to a close, Billboard is spending the next few months counting down our staff picks for the 25 greatest pop stars of the last 25 years. You can see the stars who have made our list so far here, and now we remember the century in Ariana Grande — whose standard-defying approach to pop music saw her withstand expectations and stigma to become one of the most prolific examples of what pop sovereignty can look like in the streaming era.
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It’s easy to view Ariana Grande’s rise to the highest echelons of pop stardom as a classic, uncomplicated success story within the music business. The child-actor-turned-pop-sensation route is well-trodden, after all, and at first glance, the 31-year-old singer-songwriter appears to be yet another benefactor of that industry pipeline.
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Yet once you dig further into her career, it becomes clear that her success was far from guaranteed. Over the course of the last decade-and-change, Grande created lasting hits amidst a mercurial musical landscape, endured unimaginable hardships and deftly navigated an industry that seemed to grow more volatile by the minute. Her standing today as a veritable icon is less a reflection of the efficacy of established systems that promoted her rise, and more a testament to her enduring, generational talent.
The star’s achievement came in part thanks to her drive for greatness from an early age. Born and raised in Boca Raton, Fla., Grande began her work towards a music career earlier than most — at age eight, she was already publicly performing on cruise ships, sporting events and her own personal YouTube channel, catching the attention of her family, her peers and even icons like Gloria Estefan. By the time she turned 13, the aspiring star had already booked her first professional gig as the bubbly, popular cheerleader Charlotte in the 2008 Broadway production of Jason Robert Brown’s musical 13.
Ariana Grande
Getty Images/Dave Hogan for One Love Manchester
Her foothold in the entertainment industry firmly established, Grande soon landed her breakthrough role as the loveable ditz Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon’s Victorious. With a sing-song voice proclaiming increasingly zany one-liners over the course of the show’s run, the character quickly rose among the ranks of the children’s network’s beloved characters — thanks, especially, to the impressive vocal chops Grande got to occasionally flaunt throughout the three season run. Valentine became so popular among the network’s fans that she earned her own spinoff series with iCarly’s Sam Puckett (Jennette McCurdy) on 2013’s Sam & Cat.
The standout support for her character provided a natural on-ramp to Grande’s own musical aspirations — who better than the perky-best-friend-type to deliver a string of uncomplicated pop songs? For her 2011 debut single “Put Your Hearts Up,” Grande and her team at Republic Records aimed to capitalize on that progression with a bubblegum anthem in the style of the day’s superstars like Katy Perry and Justin Bieber. But “Hearts” came and went, missing the Billboard charts and falling to bigger, bolder turbo-pop anthems of the era. Grande herself would later acknowledge that “Hearts Up” made more sense coming from her character than it did from her, making the entire experience feel “inauthentic and fake.”
So when it came time for her to reintroduce herself, Grande stepped away from the saccharine schtick of her Nickelodeon persona and leaned into her love of R&B. 2013’s “The Way,” featuring rising alt-hip-hop star Mac Miller, provided Grande with a streamlined, ebullient palette cleanser, placing the singer’s stratospheric four-octave range front and center. Vague, kid-friendly proclamations about giving a little love to change the world were exchanged for lyrics depicting a more mature, albeit still unspecific, approach to romance. Employing curated ‘90s sounds — including a lift of the central piano riff from Big Pun’s 1998 hit “Still Not a Player” — Grande happily aged herself up, gleefully drawing early comparisons between her airy, whistle-toned voice and The Voice, Mariah Carey. This, she told her eager fans, was the Ariana Grande she wanted to be.
Her audience certainly took that message to heart, earning the star her first of many top 10 debuts on the Hot 100. With “The Way,” Grande was ushered forth as a soon-to-be-star. Her subsequent debut album Yours Truly confirmed that “The Way” was the rule, not the exception — for every track on the record that didn’t quite work (like the doop-wop-meets-EDM strangeness of “Daydreamin’”), there was another that shined (the surefire R&B-pop killer “Piano” still stands out to this day), signaling the singer-songwriter’s vast potential in the pop space. With a No. 1 debut on Billboard 200, Yours Truly heralded the advent of Grande’s oncoming dominance.
Where 2013 saw Ariana arrive, the summer of 2014 saw her quickly start to take over. Her face adorned the covers of Billboard, Cosmopolitan and Teen Vogue, wherein she earnestly began to separate herself from her child star roots — never quite falling into the stereotypical “good girl gone bad” persona, but instead offering new context to buffer between the public’s introduction to her through Cat Valentine and the pop star she aimed to be. As her pop persona developed, so did her image; gone were the flame-red locks that defined her Nickelodeon career, replaced now by her natural brunette hair tied up in a stratospheric ponytail.
All the while, her music became utterly inescapable: “Problem,” her funk-fueled dance-pop diatribe featuring rapper-of-the-moment Iggy Azalea, dominated the airwaves in the early summer (bolstered in part by a whisper hook from her then-beau Big Sean); “Break Free,” her Zedd-produced EDM-pop anthem, gained steam shortly thereafter; and “Bang Bang,” her girlboss team-up with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj, exploded into the zeitgeist.
As each of her three singles peaked within the Hot 100’s top three slots at the end of August, Grande became the second woman in the history of the chart (alongside Adele) to maintain three tracks simultaneously in the top 10 as a lead artist. By the time Grande’s powerhouse sophomore LP My Everything arrived — along with its fourth-straight top-10 hit “Love Me Harder” featuring a then-lesser-known alt-R&B act called The Weeknd — the singer had already been ordained as the Next Big Thing in pop music, just one year after her debut album dropped.
With that attention came a predictable wave of controversy. Fans accused Grande of acting like a “diva” to her fans, with some drawing comparisons to her pop idol Mariah Carey. Rumors swirled of a feud with her Sam & Cat co-star Jennette McCurdy. A September 2014 headline in The Washington Post warned that the pop star was “on the brink of a major image problem,” stating that, as undeniable as Grande’s talent was, she was still a “very, very new name” in an industry with “a strange fascination with seeing the ‘fall’ of a newcomer as much as the ‘rise.’”
Ariana Grande
Courtesy Photo
But nothing could have prepared us for one of the most deeply bizarre celebrity scandals of the 2010s — Donutgate. A leaked security video caught Grande licking a donut on display at a bakery in Lake Elsinore, Ca., while proclaiming that she “hates America” and kissing her backup dancer Ricky Alvarez. The public reaction came swiftly, with fans, pundits and industry professionals alike asking, what the hell is a rising star doing tonguing a donut she didn’t buy? A drop from Wikileaks would later reveal that even the Obama White House kept their distance, rejecting a proposal for Ariana to perform. The star made multiple apologies for the incident, assuring the public that her actions were those of a dumb kid, promising that “I’m going to learn from my mistakes.”
Still, it wasn’t until 2016’s flirtatious and sonically fluctuating Dangerous Woman that Grande faced diminishing returns. Its intended lead single “Focus” earned too little attention on the charts, and too much attention as a reskin of 2014’s “Problem,” that the label decided to cut it wholecloth from the album. The set became her first not to clinch the top spot on the Billboard 200, failing to dethrone Drake’s Views for its reign atop the chart. Critics, meanwhile, were divided over the album’s sound. Some praised the singer for taking a bolder, more daring approach to her established pop-n-b aesthetic, singling out the bombastic retro-soul title track “Dangerous Woman” and provocative reggae-pop Nicki Minaj duet “Side to Side.” Others heard the sound of a would-be superstar still struggling to figure out her sound three albums later.
A slight career dip certainly didn’t deter Grande from cementing her position as the pop star of the day. In March 2016, she served double duty as host and musical guest on SNL, poking fun at Donutgate; a few months later, she dazzled audiences with her spot-on impersonations of Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears on The Tonight Show; in September, she showcased her blissful romance with now-boyfriend Miller on his “My Favorite Part;” she even closed out the year on NBC’s telecast of Hairspray Live, playing the role of Penny Singleton alongside stage and screen stars like Jennifer Hudson, Harvey Fierstein and Martin Short. As she embarked on her second arena tour in 2017 — which would go on to gross $71 million, according to Billboard Boxscore — Grande appeared to be an unstoppable force.
Tragedy, as it turned out, is an immovable object. On May 22, 2017, minutes after Grande’s live performance concluded at the UK’s Manchester Arena, a terrorist detonated a suicide bomb in the arena’s foyer. 22 people were killed in the attack — twelve of whom were under the age of 16 — marking the deadliest act of terrorism on British soil since the 7/7 bombings of 2005. A public inquiry revealed in 2022 that more than 800 people were injured as a result of the attack. Grande escaped the attack physically unharmed, but emotionally “broken,” as she wrote in a tweet the day following the attack.
In the years to come, Grande would describe her experience with post-traumatic stress disorder following the attack, and the immense anxiety she suffered as a result. “I know those families and my fans, and everyone there experienced a tremendous amount of it as well … I shouldn’t even be talking about my own experience,” she told British Vogue. “I don’t think I’ll ever know how to talk about it and not cry.”
After successfully hosting her One Love Manchester benefit show — featuring artists including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus to help raise over $13 million for the attack’s victims — Grande finished out the remainder of her postponed tour and retreated from the public eye. Where her Twitter and Instagram accounts were once littered with personal messages recounting her day-to-day experiences with fame, now there was a deafening silence.
Perhaps that’s why so many view “No Tears Left To Cry” as the turning point in Grande’s already impressive career. Over the course of three and a half minutes, the singer reset the narrative, acknowledging the abject horror she and her fans had been through while defiantly promising to move forward with light and optimism. House and disco stylings delivered the burst of joy she so earnestly sought on the track, bringing Grande’s vision for herself and her fans firmly into the forefront of the cultural consciousness. Yet what made “Tears” so remarkable was Ariana’s deft handling of tone: The song never comes across as a purely enthusiastic rallying cry, nor does it fit the mold of mournful reflections on loss — instead, Grande pulled off its own galvanizing message of picking it up and moving on.
Ariana Grande
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Ariana Grande
With the album that followed, 2018’s Sweetener, Grande found something deeper than any of her past works. Albums like My Everything and Dangerous Woman took a kitchen-sink approach to finding what sounds produced hits, with Grande trying on new pop diva personas to best fit each package. Sweetener, by contrast, provided no artifice: It was just Ariana, the confessional, sometimes goofy, always-earnest singer-songwriter embracing the most vulnerable parts of herself. Though the album never quite achieved the level of chart domination exhibited during My Everything’s undeniable 2014 run, it exhibited an evolution, both artistic and personal, that once eluded Grande.
The album’s commercial success was certainly helped by the fact that Ariana had become the hottest topic in the months leading up to and following its release, thanks in no small part to her whirlwind romance with SNL star Pete Davidson. Tabloids, paparazzi, social media and the public at large were obsessed with the odd couple. When they were in public together, photos appeared online in seconds; when Ariana shared a one-minute interlude on Sweetener named after the comedian, articles appeared dissecting its romantic lyrics; and when the pop superstar bragged about her sudden fiancé’s “BDE,” fans turned it into a meme.
But a question arose from Sweetener’s shift — could Ariana Grande, Serious Artist coexist with Ariana Grande, Cultural Phenomenon? Within four months of the album’s release, a resounding answer crash-landed in the form of an out-of-nowhere, cycle-breaking single that smashed through Ariana’s own release pattern and her audience’s presuppositions. “Thank U, Next,” Grande’s cheeky response to the media storm around her breakup with Davidson and the death of her ex-boyfriend and collaborator Mac Miller, deftly toed the line between her blockbuster era and her newfound emotional honesty. Memes, think pieces, reviews and shot-by-shot analyses of its Mean Girls-inspired video poured out in the weeks to come, only further bolstered by the song’s No. 1 debut on the Hot 100 — somehow the first of the pop star’s career.
From that point forward, Grande became the invincible pop juggernaut that had been promised since her debut. The track’s follow-up — the Sound of Music-interpolating hip-hop jam “7 Rings” — immediately earned Grande her second No. 1; the release of her lauded fifth studio album Thank U, Next saw Ariana beat Cardi B’s record for the most simultaneous top 40 hits by a female artist. She even became the first solo artist in the history of the Hot 100 to simultaneously occupy the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 spots, and then the only act in 55 years to do so since The Beatles. Perhaps the most telling records that Grande managed to smash in 2019 came from Spotify: Upon its release, Thank U, Next shattered streaming giant Ed Sheeran’s record for the most weekly streams of any pop album, while within a year, Grande became the most streamed female artist on Spotify, surpassing pop superhero Rihanna.
Ariana Grande
Nicholas Hunt/FilmMagic
Where Adele had revitalized the art of album sales in 2010, Grande became proof of concept at how the streaming era could generate gargantuan pop idols in the modern music business. Curating the social media experience for her army of Arianators over the course of her career paid dividends in Grande’s modern eras, as her loyal fan base rallied to support their fave at all costs, even as they occasionally crossed the line with comments about her image and personal life. She learned from the prolificacy of her hip-hop contemporaries like Drake that more was more when it came to content creation. Putting those two skills together, Grande became the artist to beat in the streaming game.
A global pandemic couldn’t even seem to stop Grande’s cultural takeover. A pair of early-lockdown collaborations — the retro-pop Justin Bieber duet “Stuck With U” and the French house Lady Gaga banger “Rain on Me” — earned Grande another pair of Hot 100-toppers. A year later, her sultry turn on renewed superstar The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears” turned the slow-burning hit into an immediate chart-topper, sending the song to No. 1 on the Hot 100 within two weeks of its release. Even when her sixth LP Positions fell short of critics’ newly lofty expectations, she still took both the album and its title track to the summit of the Billboard 200 and Hot 100, respectively.
Today, even if her commercial power has waned from its 2019-2020 zenith, Grande has found a level of consistency amongst her cultural ubiquity. Eternal Sunshine, the singer’s sparkling meta-narrative on the pitfalls of public image, spawned yet another pair of No. 1 hits for the singer-songwriter, as well as earning a debut atop the Billboard 200. And as she gears up for her lifelong dream of playing Glinda in the long-awaited film adaptation of Wicked, it seems that Grande has come full circle, all the way back around to her theater roots.
Trace that ring from start to finish, and you’ll witness something fascinating; a young woman who managed not only to transform her pain into prosperity, but created a mold-breaking model for success. The career framework Grande built has only benefitted recent pop ingénues like Sabrina Carpenter and Tate McRae, who’ve capitalized on her streaming-focused strategies and sweetly melodic (and slyly winking) pop&B sound to rocket-launch their own music. Ariana Grande consciously changed how pop music is perceived and enjoyed by the masses, in a way a new generation of fans and artists will forever be so f–king grateful for.
Read more about the Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century here — and be sure to check back Thursday as we reveal our No. 9 artist!
THE LIST SO FAR:
Honorable Mentions
25. Katy Perry24. Ed Sheeran23. Bad Bunny22. One Direction21. Lil Wayne20. Bruno Mars19. BTS18. The Weeknd17. Shakira16. Jay-Z15. Miley Cyrus14. Justin Timberlake13. Nicki Minaj12. Eminem11. Usher10. Adele
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