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An explosion of urban and flamenco sounds from artists including Chilean Katteyes and Los Ricos, and an unexpected birthday celebration from Argentine singer Yami Safdie sealed the “Latin Music Week Opening Night Showcase” presented by Boombastic at Miami’s MAD Club Wynwood on Monday night (Oct. 20).
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The showcase that kicked off the week of the prestigious annual music industry gathering also featured Asturian Mateo Eraña with his folk-rock offering, singer and actress Yas Gagliardi with her pop ballads, Puerto Rican GALE with her enchanting electropop and Argentine Luck Ra with an exciting fusion of trap and cumbia. In addition, the show also spotlighted one of the newest urban music stars, Puerto Rican J Álvarez.
GALE performs at the Billboard Latin Music Week 2025 Opening Night Showcase presented by Boombastic at Mad Club Wynwood in Miami on October 20, 2025.
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Yami Safdie was surprised by the event organizers, who brought her a cake for her 28th birthday. The emotional moment also included a duet between Safdie and her colleague and compatriot Soledad, with whom she performed “Alma, corazón y vida” (Soul, Heart, and Life) by the composer of the Creole waltz Adrián Flores.
The event was hosted by Bröther, the Argentine musician, producer, DJ and founder of Bresh, the global phenomenon known as “The Most Beautiful Party in the World,” who livened up part of the evening and the breaks between performances with a lively mix of the best of current Latin music.
Another surprise came with the presence of Puerto Rican urban music star Álvaro Díaz, who was seen among the VIP guests.
Spanning more than 30 years, Latin Music Week is the single-most important and largest gathering of Latin artists and industry executives in the world. This year’s star-studded lineup includes: Aitana, Alofoke, Anuel AA, Bebeshito, Carlos Vives, Carín León, Danny Ocean, DJ Khaled, Daddy Yankee (DY), Emilia Mernes, Ivy Queen, Gloria Estefan, Grupo 5, Kapo, Laura Pausini, Luck Ra, Netón Vega, Olga Tañón, Óscar Maydon, Ozuna, Pablo Alborán, Rawayana, Suzette Quintanilla, Tokischa, Xavi, and Yailin La Más Viral, among many others.
Latin Music Week also coincides with the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, set to air Thursday, Oct. 23, on Telemundo and Peacock, where Bad Bunny will be honored as Top Latin Artist of the 21st Century.
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here.
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Last week, Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop team shared our nominee predictions in three of the five R&B categories for the 68th annual Grammy Awards: best R&B performance, best traditional R&B performance and best R&B song. Here, we’re going to forecast which projects are most likely to make the cut in the best R&B album category.
Recent best R&B album winners include Jazmine Sullivan (Heaux Tales, 2022), Robert Glasper (Black Radio III, 2023), Victoria Monét (Jaguar II, 2024) and Chris Brown (11:11 [Deluxe], 2025). Before we predict the five nominees for the 2026 Grammy derby, which will be presented Feb. 1, here’s a quick refresher regarding the Recording Academy’s category definition for best R&B album.
It’s been four years since the Grammys’ best contemporary R&B album category was discontinued and its name changed to best R&B album. The revamped category brought together albums featuring infusions of contemporary hip-hop and those featuring more traditional R&B leanings under one roof. According to the academy’s current rulebook, best R&B album — vocal or instrumental — “recognizes artistic excellence in albums of R&B music.”
This year’s crop of R&B albums represents a diverse range of styles, long-anticipated returns and breakthroughs by a mix of established and rising stars — including several prior Grammy winners and nominees.
Among the long-anticipated returns is that of Teyana Taylor. Winning raves for her role in the Leonardo DiCaprio thriller One Battle After Another, she elicited strong buzz this summer for her BET Awards performance of “Fire Girl” and “Long Time.” Those songs plus the single “Bed of Roses” are from her anticipated first new album in five years Escape Room.
Another long-awaited moment arrived this year with the release of Justin Bieber’s seventh studio album SWAG. While one of its notable tracks, “Yukon,” is entered in the R&B category, the album is instead among the pop vocal album entries. This calls to mind the 2020 Grammys when Bieber questioned his Changes album being placed in the pop category versus R&B.
On the breakthrough front, one of this year’s heralded arrivals was Ravyn Lenae with the R&B/pop crossover lead single “Love Me Not,” alongside another popular track “Love Is Blind” — both from her critically acclaimed sophomore set Bird’s Eye. Her album, however, isn’t eligible for a nod as it was released Aug. 9, 2024, and the eligibility period for the 68th annual Grammys was Aug. 31, 2024-Aug. 30, 2025.
Additional artists who received attention this year include Alex Isley (WHEN), Thee Sacred Souls (Got a Story to Tell) and Eric Benét (The Co-Star).
So now let’s have a drumroll, please, as we share our fearless forecast of who will comprise the five slots when the best R&B album nominations are revealed on Nov. 7.
Leon Thomas, Mutt
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The crowd at M2 in Miami didn’t need warming up — they were already lit by the time Anuel AA took the stage for Billboard En Vivo on Tuesday night (Oct. 21).
The Latin trap pioneer, arriving just before midnight, wasted no time proving why he’s built a reputation as one of the genre’s most dominant players. Backed by booming production, he charged through a whirlwind set that doubled as both nostalgia and foreshadowing, nodding to past hits and his forthcoming Real Hasta la Muerte 2 album — teased via silver-font graphics glimmering behind him.
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Striding onstage with all the swagger fans expect, Anuel AA sported a black leather jacket and jeans, a gem-encrusted baseball cap and sunglasses that shielded his face — not that he needed to make eye contact to hold the crowd. And, in keeping with his bad-boy persona, a red cup for sippin’ rarely left his hand as he launched into the opening number, “Reloj” — the Rauw Alejandro-collab hit from 2020.
But Anuel did not lean solely on smash singles. Half of his power lies in his ability to explore outside the mold, pushing through reggaetón into dancehall and Latin trap without losing command of the audience. A standout song was “Delincuente,” a head-boppin’-inducing interpolation of Chaka Demus & Pliers’ 1992 hit “Murder She Wrote,” originally also starring Ñengo Flow and Tokischa. Anuel, however, flipped the track on its head, rapping his own bars in their place.
The pacing shifted midway through when he delivered “WYA Remix Black and Yellow,” a slow-burning cut packed with glossy collaborations from Pirlo, Blessed, J Abdiel, and iZaak. While iZaak didn’t appear alongside Anuel during the track, the former artist had already prepped the crowd earlier that evening during his 9 p.m. opening set with serenely smooth vocals. Donning baggy blue jeans, a matching vest, and a silver chain, iZaak pulled fans into his orbit with his heart-on-sleeve delivery of the same remix, setting the tone for the meticulously curated lineup ahead, while performing other songs.
Then came FloyyMenor, who tore through his signature hits like Billboard No. 1 hit “Gata Only” and the Chilean reggaeton cut “Peligrosa.” His set leaned heavily into Y2K aesthetics with throwback visuals of old-school headphones and early cell phones looping overhead as choreographed dancers flanked him. Dressed simply in a black bomber and flashing a colossal gold chain, Floyy commanded the room during his 20-minute set.
The Billboard En Vivo event was part of Latin Music Week, the largest gathering of Latin artists and industry executives in the world. Latin Music Week also coincides with the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, set to air Thursday, Oct. 23, on Telemundo and Peacock, where Bad Bunny will be honored as Top Latin Artist of the 21st Century.
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information click here.
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Just days after the death of Limp Bizkit co-founder bassist Sam Rivers at age 48 of undisclosed causes, TMZ is reporting that a spokesperson for St. Johns County, Florida Fire Rescue said they responded to a call on Saturday (Oct. 18) for a “nonresponsive person in cardiac arrest.”
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At press time no official cause of death had been announced and the gossip site added that a spokesperson for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s office said that deputies responded to what is referred to as an “attended death” at Rivers’ address, meaning a call in which the deceased was a patient under medical care for a serious or life-threatening illness likely to result in a near-term death.
Billboard reached out to the St. Johns Country Fire Rescue and Sheriff’s offices — as well as Limp Bizkit’s spokesperson — for comment, but had not heard back at press time.
Rivers, 48, was diagnosed with liver disease in 2011 due to excessive drinking and received a liver transplant in 2017 after taking a temporary leave from the nu-metal band in 2015, before returning in 2018.
Singer Fred Durst posted an emotional tribute to Rivers on Monday saying, “it’s so tragic he’s not here now” and admitting that he’d gone through “gallons and gallons of tears since yesterday and I’m thinking, ‘my God, Sam’s a legend,’ you know? He did it. He lived it.” Earlier, the band — which also features guitarist Wes Borland, DJ Lethal and drummer John Otto — released a joint statement paying tribute to their beloved compatriot.
“Sam Rivers wasn’t just our bass player — he was pure magic,” the group said. “The pulse beneath every song, the calm in the chaos, the soul in the sound. From the first note we ever played together, Sam brought a light and a rhythm that could never be replaced. His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart enormous.”
At press time it appeared the band planned to carry on with its planned late 2025 Gringo Papi South American tour dates, which will resume on Nov. 29 at Explanada del Estadio Banorte in Mexico City before moving on to Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina before winding down on Dec. 20 in Sao Paulo, Brazil; no replacement for Rivers has been announced yet.
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information click here.
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Stevie Nicks is celebrating 43 years of her album Bella Donna and she’s doing it with help from Mattel.
In celebration of the monumental anniversary, the musician collaborated with Mattel to create a Barbie doll inspired by the solo project. The latest doll pays tribute to Nicks’ iconic Bella Donna album, released in 1981, marking the star’s first solo project. The doll retails for $59.40, but the price varies depending on the retailer, and is available to shop at Walmart, Target, Mattel Shop and Mattel Creations. As of writing, the doll is out of stock on Amazon.
The doll is dressed in an extremely detailed replica of the gown seen on the cover of Nicks’ first solo album, capturing the ethereal style and timeless spirit of the garment and the singer wearing it. The dress is flowing and white, worn over a layered skirt. The doll is further accessorized with some of Nicks’ on-stage essentials, including high-heeled boots, her iconic top hat, and, of course, her microphone in hand. If you or a loved one is a big fan of Nicks or the Bella Donna album, we’d highly suggest you snag this doll before it’s gone for good.
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Stevie Nicks Barbie Doll
A doll inspired by Stevie Nicks’ Bella Donna album
“I’m so honored to be part of the Barbie universe once again. As I return to the stage and reflect on therelease of Bella Donna, my very first solo album, I’m reminded of the courage it took to step into theunknown and discover my voice as a solo artist,” Nicks said in a Mattel press release. “My Stevie Nicks Bella Donna Barbie is more than a doll -she symbolizes my musical journey, and the strength that comes from staying true to yourself. My hope is that she inspires fans, and especially young dreamers, to take that leap of faith and believe in their limitless potential,” Nicks added.
This isn’t the first time Nicks has been given her own doll. In 2023, Nicks’ likeness from the 1977 Fleetwood Mac Rumours album cover was made into a doll. The collector’s item sold out in under 24 hours. The tambourine-wielding doll wears a witchy, all-black look inspired by the ever-iconic cover of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album Rumors, one of the band’s most popular works.
Nicks’ Bella Donna album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 charts in Sept., the same year it dropped. The album spent nearly three years on the Billboard 200 charts, from July 1981 to June 1984. The solo project features 10 tracks, including hits like “Edge of Seventeen,” “Kind of Woman” and “The Highwayman.” Nicks enlisted help from fellow artists Tom Petty and Roy Bittan to write and compose certain tracks, including “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and “Leather and Lace” respectively.
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The government has been shut down for more than three weeks, the president just took a wrecking ball to the White House and more than 40 million Americans are potentially a month away from losing their food assistance unless Congress acts soon. Those scenarios, and many more, are why frequent Donald Trump antagonist and punk prodder Ken Casey says we need to focus on the real problems in the country, not who is performing the halftime show at next year’s Super Bowl.
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The Dropkick Murphys lead singer is the latest artist to fully back Bad Bunny‘s booking for what is traditionally one of the most-watched televised musical performances of the year, telling Rolling Stone that he hadn’t really listened to the global superstar’s music, but became a fan after watching Benito chew up the scenery in Happy Gilmore 2.
“I will go to the mat for that guy,” Casey said of his support for Bad Bunny in the wake of his hilarious turn in the cameo-packed Adam Sandler sequel. “God bless his heart. He is a true, true American” he added of the Puerto Rican singer who is an American citizen. The latter comment was a pointed asterisk seemingly aimed at the many MAGA supporters and Trump administration figures who have bashed the Benito booking, including Sec. of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who has threatened a heavy ICE presence at the Feb. 8 game in Santa Clara, Calif.
“[This administration] just wants to control everything, every narrative,” Casey said of Trump 2.0. “There’s way bigger problems in the world than who is at the halftime show at the Super Bowl,” warning that, “if you don’t get involved now, you might lose your chance to get involved.” The latter comment came after an estimated seven million Americans turned out over the weekend for massive “No Kings” protests across the country decrying the authoritarian actions of the current administration.
Casey was also speaking out to shine a light on his drive to mobilize the punk community to join him in supporting Home of the Brave, a nonprofit founded by former Republicans to speak out against the Trump administration and lend a voice to those whose lives have “been directly harmed” by its actions.
The singer will join the org’s advisory board, taking his place alongside board members including frequent Trump antagonist George Conway, former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and D.C. Metro Police Dept. officer Michael Fanone (who was injured in the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters), former Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice and former Trump 1.0 deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews.
In a video announcing his board membership, Casey says, “I’m so outspoken about what Trump’s doing to America because I have a platform, the band has a platform,” noting that the Murphys’ message of support for worker’s rights and social injustice has been consistent over 30 years. “If we’ve been outspoken even in times nowhere near as drastic as this, why would we not step up our level of activism as the stakes raise?”
Casey admits that speaking out against Trump has probably cost the band fans, but expressed hope that maybe things will “come around” some day, adding that he’s not afraid to call out the silence from other bands because if the Murphys can influence one band, or 10 fans, or 100 fans, to change their minds the movement could gain critical mass.
The Murphys have definitely not been shy about their feelings about their dislike for Trump, dedicating their single “First Class Loser” to the former reality star in July during a Warped Tour show in Long Beach, Calif. where they played videos tying the President to teen sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein. Earlier this year the singer also called out a fan for waving around a “true Nazi edition” MAGA hat at one of their St. Patrick’s Day shows in Boston in March, then slamming “rat and a coward” Trump against just weeks later.
The right-wing mediasphere and the Trump White House have been lashing out about the Bunny booking, with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski calling the pick “shameful,” and Trump dubbing it “absolutely ridiculous.” Amidst the ongoing government shutdown, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson took time to say that tapping Benito was a “terrible decision,” while claiming that the reggaeton megastar who is tied with Taylor Swift for having the most No. 1s on the Billboard Global 200 of any solo artist as lacking appeal to a “broader audience.”
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After a 2025 edition was called off six months to go , the Sick New World festival will be back in 2026 with two huge one-day concerts in Las Vegas and Fort Worth, Texas, with System of a Down headlining both events.
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The Vegas show will take place on April 25 at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, and in addition to SOAD, the show will feature Korn, Bring Me the Horizon, Ministry, AFI, Evanescence, Acid Bath, Underoath, Coal Chamber, Knocked Loose, Cypress Hill, KMFDM, the Melvins, Filter, Clutch, Danny Elfman, Marilyn Manson and others.
Fans can sign up now for a pre-sale for the Vegas date that kicks off on Thursday (Oct. 23) at 10 a.m. PT.
The Forth Worth show will take place at Texas Motor Speedway on Oct. 24 with SOAD at the top of the bill, along with Deftones, Slayer — celebrating 40 years of Reign in Blood — Evanescence, Ministry, AFI, Underoath, The Prodigy, Mastodon, Knocked Loose, Power Trip, Down, Melvins, Orgy, Filter, Kittie, Snot, P.O.D. and many more.
Fans can sign up now for a pre-sale that starts on Friday (Oct. 24) at 10 a.m. CT.
Sick New World debuted in 2023 at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds with SOAD as its headliner along with fellow hard rockers Korn, Deftones and Incubus and a similar mix of metal, industrial, hardcore and goth rock. It returned the next year with SOAD again at the top, joined by Alice in Chains, A Perfect Circle, Swans, Primus, Code Orange and Knock Loose, among others.
The 2025 edition, which was to feature Metallica and Linkin Park, was slated to take place in April of that year, but was cancelled in Nov. 2024 due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
Check out the full lineups below.
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information click here.
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If Charlie Puth is nervous about becoming a dad, he’s not showing it.
The pop artist was the musical guest Tuesday night on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he performed his new song “Changes” and sat for a chat with the late-night show’s host.
At the top, Puth confirmed what many of his fans already. “I’m gonna be a dad,” he told Fallon.
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We’re aware of the good news because Puth used the music video for “Changes” as the platform for his big reveal. Around the 2:30 mark in the Charlotte Rutherford-directed clip, Puth and his wife Brooke Sansone both place their hands on her belly, a sign that changes are coming.
“I didn’t leave much up to the imagination there,” he admitted to Fallon. “But yeah, we’re expecting a baby in March.”
He’s not giving away the gender just yet, but it’s safe to say the bub will be immersed in music. Puth plans to revisit what him mom did for him, by placing headphones on Sansone’s pregnant tummy.
“I hope baby likes music, because it’s the only thing I’m good at,” he quipped. “I think I listened to James Taylor and Luther Vandross, I got a wide array of music. So I’ll do the same thing, whether Brooke likes it or not.”
This will be the first child for the Puth and Sansone, who began dating in 2022 and were married in September 2024.
Puth stuck around the NBC studios for a performance of “Changes,” lifted from his forthcoming fourth studio album Whatever’s Clever!, also due out next March, for what will be a busy month for the growing family.
Whatever’s Clever!, will be Puth’s fourth album and a follow-up to 2022’s Charlie, which yielded the Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles “Light Switch” and “Left and Right” (with BTS’ Jung Kook).
Watch Puth’s performance of “Changes” and his goofy Hundred Percent sketch with Fallon.
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Robert Irwin tangles with snakes during the day, nails dolphin dives at night. And based on his latest performance on Dancing With The Stars, the Australian wildlife conservationist should go far in the competition.
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On Tuesday night (Oct. 21), the DWTS celebrities celebrated the forthcoming sequel to Jon M. Chu’s Wicked with routines set to songs from the popular musical-turned-film. Chu even stopped by to join regular judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli.
Irwin gave it his best shot with a jazz performance of “Dancing Through Life”. The 21-year-old and his professional partner Witney Carson completed an energetic, free-flowing performance with smiles glued to their faces. Irwin gave viewers a little more than they bargained with a perfect dolphin dive early in their routine, and pulled off a floor slide that’d make Bruce Springsteen proud.
When the votes were counted, 39 out of a possible 40 points went to the pairings of Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa, and Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas, while Irwin and Carson nabbed nines from all four of the judges, for 36/40.
Irwin, the son of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, will be hoping to emulate the success of his older sister Bindi, who won the 21st season of DWTS, in 2015.
The remaining contestants in this 34th season of Dancing With the Star includes TV personality Dylan Efron and influencer Jen Affleck. However, Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold are no longer competing for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, following their elimination on Tuesday evening.
Dancing with the Stars airs live Tuesdays on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu. The finale will be on Nov. 25.
See the full list of scores from “Wicked Night” (week six) of DWTS season 34 below.
Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy: 35/40
Robert Irwin and Witney Carson: 36/40
Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas: 39/40
Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach: 32/40
Andy Richter and Emma Slater: 27/40
Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten: 36/40
Jen Affleck and Jan Ravnik: 32/40
Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov: 36/40
Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa: 39/40
Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold: 28/40 (ELIMINATED)
