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Trending on Billboard In this episode of Billboard On The Record, director Jon M. Chu and music editor Jack Dolman join host Kristin Robinson to talk about bringing the iconic musical ‘Wicked’ to the big screen. They dive into the process of adapting a beloved story, from working closely with Stephen Schwartz to deciding how […]
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Adolescence can be a trying, sometimes terrifying time for many teens. But on Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed podcast this week, Sam Smith revisited a particularly challenging time they went through as a young teenager struggling with painful physical changes.
“I had surgery on my chest when I was 13 years old, because I had a growing chest,” Smith told Badgley about the procedure they first talked about in a 2019 interview. “There were all sorts of reasons why, but mainly, I was just getting so teased, I couldn’t go swimming in school, and I couldn’t — like, getting changed in the locker room was hell. So I got liposuction when I was 13 years old.”
As a non-binary, queer child trying to find their way in the world, Smith praised their parents for being “hugely supportive of the whole thing, because they just saw how much it was crippling everything about me.” Describing the “brutal” years in a Catholic school at 12 while being “so obviously gay,” Smith said they were popular, “really chubby, round a pink” and totally comfortable with their queerness after coming out to a female friend at 10.
But their weight was always a burden. “My queerness was something that I could handle and could have a grasp on it, but my weight as a kid was the hardest thing for me in school and weirdly the thing I got teased most about,” Smith said.
The singer recalled that it was “just all a struggle with food and stuff. And the liposuction, it worked, but it was also a nightmare because they gave me a bandage,” describing a kind of bra that they were originally meant to wear for a month while healing that turned into a year of binding. “If I wore the bandage, it meant that I would get to the front of the lunch queue,” Smith laughed. “So I just kept this bandage on for nearly a year, and I’d be like, ‘Oh, don’t come close to me,’ and then I’d just get first at lunch and I’d eat more and eat more and eat more… so the surgery never really worked because I just love food.”
Smith has long been open about their history of struggle with body issues, including in a 2019 post in which the singer posed shirtless on a beach and described a reluctance early in their career to take photos without a shirt on. “In the past if I have ever done a photo shoot with so much as a t-shirt on, I have starved myself for weeks in advance and then picked and prodded at every picture and then normally taken the picture down,” Smith said at the time, adding that the near-unanimous support from fans has helped them be open about their struggle.
Smith is gearing up to kick off a 12-show To Be Free residency at the Warsaw in New York City on Nov. 26 before moving on to a 20-night residency at the refurbished Castro Theatre in San Francisco.
Click here to listen to the Podcrushed Smith interview (liposuction discussion begins at 26-minute mark).
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Snoop Dogg will not be ringing in the new year on NBC. After previously announcing that the rapper would host a two-hour musical variety special from Miami titled Snoop Dogg’s New Year Eve as an extension of the hip-hop icon’s larger deal with NBCUniversal, Deadline reported on Wednesday (Nov. 5) that the network has decided not to proceed with the project.
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The show, which was slated to be carried live by the network and stream on Peacock, has reportedly been shelved in order to allow Snoop to focus on his gig as a Winter Olympics correspondent. “Sometimes the calendar gets in the way of the celebration, which is why my NBC family and I decided this winter was time for us all to focus on the Olympics,” Snoop told Deadline in a statement. “But don’t worry, we’ll party together bigger and better later in 2026. Ya dig.”
Though NBCUniversal’s announcement of the NYE special in May promised, “a night packed with unforgettable music, iconic performances and surprise artist collaborations,” up until the cancellation, no lineup or performer details of the planned special were revealed.
Snoop, who delighted audiences with his dispatches from the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, will be back on his ring game next month as a roving correspondent for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. According to the announcement from NBC in September, Snoop will “explore northern Italy, from the vibrant streets of Milan to the breathtaking Dolomites, providing his unique perspective to viewers during NBCUniversal’s Winter Olympic primetime coverage.”
The opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Games will air on Feb. 6 on NBC and Peacock and for the duration of the 17 day games, Snoop will appear alongside NBC Olympics host Mike Tirico and bring primetime audiences his unique perspective on Northern Italy winter games.
“I am excited to be back with my main man Mike Tirico for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina,” said Snoop in a statement when his winter games gig was announced. “The D O double G will be on the scene, and I am looking forward to celebrating with the athletes and their families. The Olympics is the biggest stage in the world and, as everyone knows, I’m all about sports, bringing people together, and unifying while bringing the fun. I’ll be bringing my puffy jackets, snow pants, goggles, skates (and will definitely be iced out).”
Deadline reported that it is currently unclear what NBC will air to replace the Snoop NYE special. Last year, NYE fell on Sunday and NBC carried Sunday Night Football instead of a live variety special after airing Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party live from Miami with Miley Cyrus the previous two years.
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Trending on Billboard First the good news: You have not seen the last of Rumi, Mira, Zoey and the Saja Boys. Then the not-so-good news: but you’ll have to wait four years. According to a brief mention at the end of a story about how KPop Demon Hunters reportedly fumbled toy merchandising for the smash […]
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Metallica knows that the easiest way to a fan’s heart is through a taste of homegrown rock.
The metal giants are currently pounding their way through a long-overdue tour of Australia and New Zealand, a six-date coast-to-coast swing for the M72 World Tour.
When the “One” rockers visited Adelaide Oval on Wednesday night, Nov. 5, the setlist included many favorites from across their decorated, Rock Hall-inducted career — plus some legendary local music.
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Fan-filmed footage shows Metallica pumped out a cover of INXS’ Billboard Hot 100 leader “Need You Tonight”. Then, a segue into the Angels’ classic from 1976, “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again,” led by bass player Robert Trujillo at the mic.
It’s a song that courses through the bloodstream of every Australian weaned on guitar music, and has somehow evolved with a call-and-respond that has passed down the generations. When the song is played, tradition requires fans to roar “no way, get f—ed, f— off.”
Of course, that happened in the City of Churches.
At the height of their powers, the Angels were the prototypical Aussie pub-rock band, a group blessed with a captivating singer, the late Bernard “Doc” Neeson, and memorable, grinding songs.
The Angels were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1998. The following year, Neeson suffered a severe spinal injury. He died in 2014 following a years-long battle with brain cancer, aged 67. Bass player Chris Bailey died of throat cancer a year earlier, in 2013. In August of this year, the city of Adelaide’s lord mayor Jane Lomax-Smith unveiled to the public The Angels Lane, close to Hindley Street Music Hall in the CBD.
INXS needs no introduction. The new wave stars climbed the highest mountain of contemporary music with six U.K. top 10 albums (including a No. 1 with Welcome To Wherever You Are from 1992) and five U.S. top 20 albums, a BRIT Award (in 1991 for best international group) and, in 2001, elevation into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Surely Rock And Roll Hall of Fame elevation is in the cards.
It’s not the first time on this tour that Metallica has dished some homestyle cooking. During the opener Nov. 1 at Perth’s Optus Stadium, the Bay Area legends served up a rendition of John Butler’s “Zebra,” which the Western Australian native responded to with his own cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
Produced by Live Nation Australia, the tour continues Saturday (Nov. 8) at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, then visits Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium (Nov. 12), Sydney’s Accor Stadium (Nov. 15) and wraps up Nov. 19 at Auckland’s Eden Park. It’s Metallica’s first Australian run since 2013.
Evanescence and Suicidal Tendencies are the support on this leg of the M72 World Tour.
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Ninajirachi’s I Love My Computer wins the 21st Australian Music Prize, celebrating the outstanding Australian album of original work for the past year.
The Australian musician’s debut full length album, issued by Nina Las Vegas’ NLV Records, was announced Thursday afternoon as the 2025 AMP champ, as decided by a music industry panel.
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With the victory spoils, Ninajirachi (real name: Nina Wilson) collects A$50,000 ($32,000) in prize money, courtesy of headline sponsor Soundmerch.
“Thank you so much to the Australian music prize for awarding me this year, this truly means a lot to me!! I’m so proud to have produced an Australian album,” she comments in a statement. “I Love My Computer drew from my growing up on the central coast and the Australian dance music I heard in my childhood. To sincerely contribute to the awesome story of Australian music was one of my highest hopes. I hope I can keep making albums and telling stories forever. Thank you so much, I’m so honored to receive this award.”
The AMP could trigger a gold rush for Ninajirachi in the month of November — Ausmusic month, the annual celebration of Australian music and its creators. The 26-year-old songwriter, producer, DJ and artist will compete for a leading eight trophies at the annual ARIA Awards, where she’s nominated for album of the year, best solo artist, the Michael Gudinski breakthrough artist, best independent release, best dance/electronic release and more.
Modeled on the U.K.’s Mercury Prize, the AMP launched in 2005 as a platform to “discover, reward and promote new Australian music of excellence,” and is today recognized as the most prestigious national award for the album format.
Also shortlisted for the AMP were LPs by Tropical F*** Storm, Folk B**** Trio, Mudrat, and others released during the period Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2026.
Earlier in the three-stage judging system, a longlist of 465 eligible albums was boiled down to 50 nominees, focusing on creative merit over mainstream popularity. The final shortlist of nine was announced last month.
Previous winners include efforts byThe Avalanches, Sampa the Great (twice), Gurrumul, A.B. Original, Courtney Barnett and last year’s recipient, Kankawa Nagarra for Wirlmarni.
The 22nd Soundmerch AMP is open for Australian artist albums released from Oct.1, 25 to Sept. 30, 2026.
Soundmerch Australian Music Prize 2025 shortlist:
Bleak Squad — Strange Love
Divide And Dissolve — Insatiable
Floodlights — Underneath
Folk B**** Trio — Now Would Be A Good Time
Mia Wray Hi — It’s Nice To Meet
Mudrat Social — Cohesion
Ninajirachi — I Love My Computer
Ruby Gill — Some Kind Of Control
Tropical F*ck Storm — Fairyland Codex
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All hail Daniel Caesar.
Just hours after he was crowned on Billboard’s Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, Caesar stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for a performance of “Who Knows.”
Wearing a red beanie and a blue hooded jacket, and wielding an acoustic guitar, the late-night musical guest commanded the spotlight for this soul-filled number.
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“Who Knows” is housed by Son of Spergy (via Hollace/Republic Records), which bowed atop the list dated Nov. 8, for his first leader. Son of Spergy, the title for which is a nod to the nickname of Caesar’s father, gospel singer Norwill Simmonds, is the fourth album by the Canadian singer-songwriter.
The collection also enjoys splashes across various Billboard tallies, including a No. 1 start on the Top R&B Albums chart, his first time atop that tally; plus a No. 4 entry on the all-genre Billboard 200, for his first top 10 visit on the main survey; a No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, and No. 11 on the Top Streaming Albums ranking.
Meanwhile, 10 of the album’s tracks crack the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, led “Who Knows,” which debuts at No. 23 — his best result as a lead artist.
Caesar (real name: Ashton Simmonds) has already reaped serious rewards in his career. He won a 2019 Grammy Award for “Best Part,” featuring H.E.R.; was featured alongside Giveon on Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” which debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021; and his fruitful collaboration with Tyler, The Creator played a big role in sending the rapper’s 2024 album, Chromakopia, the leadership on the Billboard 200.
Son of Spergy was two years in the making, shaped during sessions in Oracabessa, Jamaica and at Paris’ Rue Boyer and New York’s Electric Lady studios.
“It’s about religion, but more importantly, it’s about my father,” he told Billboard of the new album. “In your childhood, your father is a lot like God. He’s the person you fear the most on earth and also the person whose love and respect you desire more than anyone else on earth. It’s the source from where all your blessings come.”
Watch Caesar’s late-night performance below.
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Sounds Right, a charitable cross-DSP playlist featuring music that incorporates the sounds of nature, will now allow any artist to submit their music to the project, it was announced Wednesday (Nov. 5).
Sounds Right initially launched in April 2024 with a playlist featuring new and older tracks with sounds like bird calls, waves, wind and other greatest hits of the mother nature soundscape, woven into music by artists like David Bowie, Brian Eno, Hozier and Ellie Goulding. Royalties generated by this music, which includes 36 original songs that were added this past April, are directed to conservation efforts.
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Now, as scientists and activists from around the world gather in Belem, Brazil for the COP30 UN Climate Conference (Trump administration officials recently announced that no high-level representatives from the U.S. government will attend the event), Sounds Right has announced an update that allows artists to help fund conservation work by officially crediting “Nature” in their music and submitting it for inclusion on the playlist.
Accepted submissions will be incorporated into the Sounds Right playlist, with 50% of royalties raised from any given song going to the artist and the other 50% going to environmental causes. Submissions are open now.
This past Saturday (Nov. 1), Sounds Right announced that the project has so far raised a total of $400,000 for Indigenous and community-led conservation in the Amazon and Congo Basin regions, building on $225,000 it directed to projects in the Tropical Andes in 2024. The funds were announced on stage at Saturday’s Global Citizen Amazonia concert in Belem, which was broadcast throughout Brazil.
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Sounds Right has now added 14 new tracks to the playlist, all of which celebrate the natural world of the Amazon and Africa. The Amazonian contributions come from artists Alexia Evellyn, Pedrina, Antonio Sanchez, Chancha Via Circuito, Systema Solar and Monte (aka Simon Mejia), while the music of artists Juls, Phila Dlozi, Olivetheboy, Bien, Blinky Bill, and Lady Donli showcases the sounds of the Congo Basin region.
“This collection of tracks is a powerful expression of how artists can use their creativity to celebrate and protect the natural world at such a critical moment for our planet,” EarthPercent co-executive director Cathy Runciman tells Billboard. “From Alexia Evellyn recording the rhythms of the Amazon’s rivers and birds to Juls blending Congo Basin forest ambience into Afrobeats, and Antonio Sánchez turning birdsong into percussion, it’s inspiring to see such diverse artists uniting to honor these vital ecosystems and leading a movement to bring nature back into music and culture.”
“It’s an honor and a thrill to be part of Sounds Right,” adds the Grammy-winning Sanchez, whose contribution “Drumming with the Birds” explores the percussive rhythms of Amazonian birdlife. “I believe it’s vital to keep opening new avenues for people to connect with the importance of preserving and protecting Mother Nature. This collaboration, inspired by the Amazon and its remarkable avian life, celebrates that connection. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it.”
Brazilian producer Alok will also soon release a special track for the Sounds Right project, with the artist saying in a statement that “nature has always played an essential role in music, and the time has come for it to be recognized for that.”
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MELBOURNE, Australia — Oasis won’t look back in anger at their first visit to Australia in two decades.
The Britpop era superstars on Tuesday, Nov. 4 wrapped up the Melbourne leg of their swing down under, a three-concert stand at Marvel Stadium which produced three sellouts, playing to 180,000 fans, reps say.
The rock ‘n’ roll stars have made themselves at home, and made their feeling clear on dodgy ticket resales, which didn’t materialize due to the state of Victoria’s tough anti-touting laws.
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Under those rules, tickets can’t be resold for more than 10 per cent above the face value, or face fines from A$908 to A$109,044 for individuals or A$545,220 to A$545,000 for corporations.
The Oasis tour was listed as a “major event,” and with it was protected under the Major Events Act 2009.
As a result, those fans were guarded from paying obscene fees through StubHub or Viagogo, which remains one of live entertainment industry’s mortal enemies.
Oasis has applauded the intervention. “It’s great to see Victoria’s Major Events Declaration doing exactly what it’s meant to — Viagogo can’t list our Melbourne shows — and that’s a huge win for real fans,” reads a statement from the band.
“When government and the live industry work together, we can stop large-scale scalping in its tracks. We’d love to see other states follow Victoria’s lead so fans everywhere get a fair go.”
The Sydney chapter of the Oasis Live ’25 tour begins Friday, Nov. 7 with the first of two back-to-back shows at Accor Stadium, tickets for which are also protected from secondary-market price gouging by New South Wales’ anti-scalping laws. In NSW, it’s an offence to resell a ticket for more than the original retail price, plus transaction costs up to a maximum 10 percent of the original price.
Those laws have “been really successful for the Melbourne show,” a rep for the band’s management tells Billboard.com. “And continues to be a really important thing for the band and team throughout the Live ’25 campaign.”
Scalpers were reportedly forced to try to sell tickets at a loss overseas because they couldn’t sell them in Australia.A limited number of tickets are available for the final Sydney shows, according to Live Nation Australia, which is producing the domestic swing, and fans can still sell tickets at face value on approved platforms, including Tixel, Twickets and Ticketmaster.
Oasis then heads to Argentina, Chile and Brazil, where the global tour wraps up Nov. 23 in São Paulo.
Read Billboard.com’s recap of Oasis’s opening night concert in Melbourne.
