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02/14/2025
Countless chart smashes have had the ideal tempo of 100-120 BPM over the years.
02/14/2025
Jelly Roll achieves his seventh No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Liar” rises 2-1 to the top of the ranking dated Feb. 22. It increased by 1% to 30.3 million impressions Feb. 7-13, according to Luminate. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Nashville native co-authored “Liar” […]
Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show was one of the most watched shows of all time. We’re taking you inside the big day with an exclusive interview from the NFL’s Head of Music sharing how the show was created, talking with the hottest stars about his performance and more! What did you think of Kendrick’s […]
Looking for some tunes to help you celebrate a queer-inclusive Valentine’s Day? Allow us to help: Billboard Pride is proud to present the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ+ artists.
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From Sam Smith’s lovestruck new single to Lucy Dacus’ stunning new track, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:
Sam Smith, “Love Is a Stillness”
Throughout their decade-plus in the music business, Sam Smith quickly became defined as a once-in-a-generation singer turning heartbreak into gorgeous ballads. Their most recent LP took Smith in a new, more joyous direction, embracing high-camp club pop aesthetics and lighter emotional these. Now, Smith is bringing those two worlds together on “Love Is a Stillness,” their new song marketed as a Valentine’s Day gift to fans. Bringing the beautiful balladry of In the Lonely Hour and melding it with the jubilant lyricism of Gloria, “Love Is a Stillness” sees Smith stripping themself down to their sparest elements in order to deliver a short, gorgeous ode to the simplicity of love.
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Lucy Dacus, “Best Guess”
When you take away the admittedly excellent artifice surrounding Lucy Dacus’ new single “Best Guess” — including its star-studded music video paying homage to “hot mascs” everywhere — you’re left with a rich love song that deserves more credit for its gorgeous lyricism. Dacus has long been one of the best songwriter’s currently working in the business, and that poetic streak certainly does end here. Add onto that the singer’s emotionally resonant and understated alto voice, and you’ve got a must-hear love song for this Valentine’s Day.
Japanese Breakfast, “Mega Circuit”
Got any toxic men in your life that need to be checked really quick? Press play on Japanese Breakfast’s new single “Mega Circuit,” and you’ll hear Michelle Zauner commiserating right along with you. Over a sometimes-spooky, always-catchy shuffle provided by legendary guitarist Jim Keltner, Zauner looks at the state of masculinity in 2025 with a rueful shake of her head: “Plotting blood with your incel eunuchs,” she sighs. “I could be the home you need.”
Jake Wesley Rogers, “God Bless”
It’s a sentiment that you do not need a reminder for yet bears repeating all the same: the world is chaos right now. But instead of succumbing to the inherent pain of that idea, Jake Wesley Rogers wants to embrace it. On “God Bless,” the singer invokes an original gospel-style hymn to point out all the inherent contradictions and paradoxes in our modern society, both good and bad, before settling on a mantra we all can get behind: “God bless, it’s a beautiful f–king mess.”
Rainbow Kitten Surprise, “Espionage”
After releasing their excellent album Love Hate Music Box in 2024, Rainbow Kitten Surprise is taking a victory lap with their new single “Espionage.” Over some truly groovy pianos and guitars, frontperson Ela Melo lets her laid-back vocal speak for itself, as she and the rest of the band join in to deliver this “anti-love anthem’s” irresistible chorus. If you’re not really feeling the love this V-Day, then let Rainbow Kitten Surprise take you somewhere else entirely.
Morgan Saint, Out of the Blue
Morgan Saint’s debut album Out of the Blue is an LP that might take some time to digest — the singer herself says that it took her a while to untangle all the emotions involved. But that’s also what makes this album such a remarkable listen; across 11 tracks, Saint explores a series of constant themes in all of our lives, from love (on the stunning title track in particular) to trauma (“Deep”), all over a series of increasingly great indie-pop tracks. She may have appeared Out of the Blue for you, but keep an eye on Morgan Saint. Now that she’s here, she’s sticking around.
Madison Rose, “She’s the One”
Let’s close this out with a certified club banger, shall we? Queer pop paragon Madison Rose’s “She’s the One” isn’t interested in being taken seriously, or being taken in any particular way for that matter — as Rose cooly declares halfway through the track, “if you call her a bitch, but that in front of it.” A growling beat, some banging production and Rose’s unparalleled confidence make for the perfect strut soundtrack. Looking for a pick-me-up this weekend? Look no further, because this song is, in fact, the one.
Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:
Rosalía is set to join the cast of HBO’s hit series Euphoria for its third season, set to premiere in 2026. First reported by Deadline on Friday (Feb. 14), the Spanish singer-songwriter and producer will act alongside returning original cast members including Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney and Hunter Schafer. New cast additions also include […]
02/14/2025
Billboard rounded up rap, R&B and Afrobeats songs by Rema, MF DOOM, Snoop Dogg, Burna Boy, Ashanti, Nipsey Hussle and Queen Latifah that sample and interpolate Sade.
02/14/2025
Dolly Parton and Sabrina Carpenter are the shortest and sweetest girls in Hollywood. Following the release of Carpenter’s deluxe edition of Short n’ Sweet on Friday (Feb. 14), Parton shared a video of the blonde duo meeting for the first time after the country icon lent her vocals to a remix of the pop star’s […]
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. NewJeans are back in the headlines, but not for the reasons you may think. The K-pop girl group haven’t released new […]
Pete Davidson is in the midst of a major make-over. The Saturday Night Live veteran and star of the new box office-topping animated flick DogMan has been showing off the results of hours of painful laser sessions to burn of the more than 200 tattoos that once riddled his torso while making the rounds to promote this weekend’s SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration special.
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He’s also talking, a bit, about his string of high-profile romances and how his tabloid-target dating life while on the show turned into a huge distraction, including his whirlwind romance, engagement and break-up with Ariana Grande. “It was pretty humiliating and upsetting, honestly,” he told Page Six of the attention and noise that his personal life got during his eight seasons (2014-2022) on the show. “Everyone is dating everyone and it’s Hollywood. Look at Paul Mescal, Timmy [Chalamet], Barry Keough,” he said. “But because I’m ugly, they wrote about me. I was harassed for like five years and it made my life a living hell.”
Davidson, 31, said the focus on his off-screen romances with Kim Kardashian, Kaia Gerber, Kate Beckinsdale and Cazzie David became “embarrassing,” because he wanted people to focus on his comedy and sketch work on SNL as one of the youngest, some might say rawest, performers to ever take the stage at Studio 8H. “All that got pushed to the side because of who I was dating,” said Davidson, who auditioned for the show when he was 20.
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In one of his rare public comments about the blink-and-you-missed-it 2018 romance with Grande that began in the spring, led to an engagement in June and a break-up that October — during which he got four tattoos dedicated to Grande and she wrote a song for him, “Pete Davidison,” for her Sweetener album — Davidson said things are good these days.
“When we see each other, which is few and far between, because we’re not in the same circles, it’s all love,” Davidson said of the singer/actress, who is nominated for her first Oscar for best supporting actress in Wicked. “I hope she wins the Oscar, I hope she takes the gold,” he added. “I’ve had some pretty adult relationships with some pretty amazing women, and when it’s ended it’s been cool.”
As for that phrase that has followed him around since that time in reference to his Grande-confirmed endowment with “BDE” (aka big d–k energy), Davidson said that, too, is a bit much. “I’m a very sensitive person and it’s humiliating to see a picture of yourself eating a sandwich in a pink T-shirt with the headline ‘This is what BDE is,’” Davidson said.
Davidson is showing off his newly blank skin canvas in revealing ads for women’s clothing company Reformation and he told Page Six that after breaking up with Outer Banks actress Madelyn Cline last summer he hasn’t been dating anyone. “I’m starting to turn my life around,” said the comedian who has been open about his longtime struggle with substance use and mental health issues.
Clean and sober and out of the glare at the moment, Davidson said he feels for other stars who get descended on by the paparazzi, specifically calling out the attention focused on Justin Bieber and wife Hailey Bieber. “I look at other celebrities and I’m less judgy. They’re dogging Bieber now — leave the kid alone, he’s clearly exhausted and just trying to be a father to his kid,” said Davidson, who added that he dreams of one day having a life like his friend comedian and former SNL writer John Mulaney, who has two children with actress Olivia Munn.
“I hope that happens for me,” Davidson said.
SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration will air live on NBC at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday (Feb. 16) and then stream on Peacock.
2025 is already off to a wild start in the hip-hop world, and Billboard Unfiltered is back to break it all down with a new episode on Friday (Feb. 14), tackling all things Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance and Ye’s (formerly Kanye West) crashout.
Billboard‘s Damien Scott gave his stamp of approval to Lamar’s performance, as he loved to see Kendrick bring an “unadulterated rap show” to the biggest stage in America.
“We’ve had rappers before, but we’ve never had a rapper headline, and I’m glad it was Kendrick because what we got was a real rap show. He didn’t lean into his pop bag,” Scott said. “He kept his setlist outside of the SZA collabs it was super rap. You know how hard it is to rap ‘DNA’? I can’t imagine doing that in a leather jacket.”
Staff writer Kyle Denis enjoyed Kendrick remaining in his “imperial phase” and performing his new album rather than “mining for hits,” as we’ve seen plenty of other artists turn their Super Bowl sets into a greatest hits medley of sorts to appease the wide-ranging audience.
“You’re at the top of your game right now. As much as I wanted to hear the old stuff, I really respect what he did up there,” Denis said.
Unfiltered newcomer and hip-hop editor Angel Diaz admitted he was initially “underwhelmed” by the show, but after leaving the chaotic environment he was watching the game at and ran it back, he developed more of an appreciation for what Lamar delivered.
“It was impressive,” he said. “His wind, voice control — I kinda wanted some of the features to pop out like the mariachi singer, AzChike — I wanted to see him do ‘Peekaboo.’ When he announced SZA and people were trashing him, I thought she was gonna do more.”
Scott wonders how Kendrick’s set will translate to stadiums across the country on the Grand National Tour because of how “tightly wound” the songs are he performs. He even compared the tracks to “Swiss watches.”
Scott declared the Kendrick-Drake beef over and warned the 6 God to never say Kendrick’s name again going forward. “Don’t ever mention his name again. Just leave this alone, it’s over, bro,” he said.
Where does Ye go from here? West delivered a series of antisemitic, homophobic and hate-filled rants on X over the weekend ,which saw him praise Hitler and call for Diddy’s freedom.
“I don’t know how Ye gets back if you don’t have a built-in base to bolster you when you need it,” Scott adds. “Because we’re done. We should be the ones, ‘Get some help and we’re here for you.’ We’re like, ‘It’s over, peace.’”
Denis thinks we’ve hit a point where we have to ask ourselves if it’s worth covering Ye to this extent if he’s looking for attention.
Watch the full episode above.