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Fuerza Regida is preparing to debut in Latin America with their Esto No Es Un Tour, Billboard Español can exclusively announce. The seven-date tour begins March 28 and includes stops in arenas and stadiums in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Colombia. In Colombia, the group will perform in two cities, Bogota […]
Former Vice President Kamala Harris will make her first major appearance since leaving office on Jan. 20 to accept the Chairman’s Award during the 56th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, Feb. 22. The show will air live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif., at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET and CBS. This year, the broadcast will be extended 30 minutes to 2.5 hours.
The Chairman’s Award honors individuals who “excel in public service and leverage their unique platforms to ignite and drive meaningful change.” Past honorees include then-Sen. Barack Obama (2005), former VP Al Gore in tandem with Kenyan social, environmental and political activist Wangari Waathati, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the late Rep. John Lewis, Rev. James Lawson, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Rep. Maxine Waters and former Surgeon General Regina Benjamin.
Previously announced special award recipients at this year’s NAACP Image Awards are comedian Dave Chappelle (President’s Award) and The Wayans Family (NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame).
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Harris made history as the first woman, Black person and South Asian person to become vice president. She previously served as U.S. Senator and California Attorney General. In 2024, she became the first Black and South Asian woman nominated for president by a major party, receiving more than 75 million votes in what BET reminds us was “the shortest modern general election campaign.” President Biden was fully expected to be the Democratic nominee until a shaky debate performance on June 27 caused many, even in his own party, to call for a new nominee. Biden withdrew on July 21. Harris was voted the party’s nominee by delegates on Aug. 5, just three months before Election Day.
“Vice President Kamala Harris is more than a leader – she is a force of change, driven by an unwavering passion to shape a brighter, more equitable future,” Leon W. Russell, chair, NAACP national board of directors said in a statement. “… Her legacy is built on courage, compassion, and a profound commitment to uplifting those who need it most. Her tireless advocacy for the most vulnerable among us has made her a beacon of hope and progress.”
“Vice President Harris is deeply deserving of the NAACP Chairman’s awards for both her historic accomplishments and her incredible legacy of service to America and our community,” added Scott Mills, president and CEO of BET Media Group. “… Her unwavering commitment to justice, equity and progress has inspired millions, and her journey is a powerful testament to that which can be achieved through resilience, strength and brilliance.
“Vice President Harris embodies the power, grace and unyielding courage that Black women have long brought to the heart of the United States,” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO. “With bold determination, Vice President Harris fights for justice, amplifies the voices of the marginalized and stands as a beacon of hope. She embodies the resilience and brilliance of Black women, uplifting their legacy as the driving force behind change in this country. VP Harris reminds us all that when Black women lead, the entire nation rises.”
Cynthia Erivo, Keke Palmer, Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Hart and Shannon Sharpe are competing for entertainer of the year at this year’s NAACP Image Awards. GloRilla received the most nominations in the music/recording categories, with six, followed by Doechii, Lamar and Usher, with four nods each. RCA Records received 11 nominations, the most among record labels.
NAACP will recognize winners in non-televised categories virtually on Tuesday, Feb. 18, and Wednesday, Feb. 19, on its YouTube channel and at the 56th NAACP Image Awards Creative Honors Friday, Feb. 21.
D’Angelo (alongside The Roots), Meek Mill and Lenny Kravitz will headline the 2025 Roots Picnic, marking the festival’s 17th iteration.
Curated by Grammy-winning hip-hop group The Roots and produced in collaboration with Live Nation Urban, Roots Picnic will return to The Mann in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Penn. on Saturday, May 31, and Sunday, June 1, 2025. Presale tickets will be available starting Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 10 a.m. ET through Thursday, February 20, at 10 p.m. ET. General on-sale begins Friday, Feb. 21, at 10 a.m. ET. All tickets will be available at the official Roots Picinic website.
Notably, this year marks Philly MC Meek Mill’s first appearance at Roots Picnic. He was slated to headline the 2020 show before the COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to pivot to a virtual production. D’Angelo last appeared at the festival in 2016 during its first-ever New York edition. Rock god Lenny Kravitz is fresh off the release of Blue Electric Light, his funky and fearless twelfth studio album.
This year, the two-day festival will also celebrate several landmark anniversaries. Jeezy will celebrate 20 years of his Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 LP, which topped both Rap Albums and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums back in 2005, with a special set. Similarly, Musiq Soulchild will play a set commemorating the 25-year anniversary of his timeless debut studio album Aijuswanaseing. Never ones to miss the party, The Roots will play a set built around the 30-year anniversary of their towering sophomore album, Do You Want More?!!!??!
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In addition, J. Period’s Live Mixtape series will return with special guests Black Thought, Pusha T and 2 Chainz, while Adam Blackstone and Jagged Edge will join forces for a special collaborative set. House music legends Crystal Waters and Cece Peniston will appear at Rich Medina’s Black House set, and CeeLo Green will play Baller Alert’s go-go stage.
Other acts slated to hit the stage include: GloRilla, Miguel, Tems, Latto, Kaytranada, Elmiene, Lay Bankz, Funk Flex, Diamond Kuts and Laila!
Outside of performances, Roots Picnic is also introducing a new day party lineup this year. Attendees can keep the festivities going at Trap Karaoke, Chill Vibes featuring DJ Active, Doo-Wop …That R&B Party, Dear Summer Festival, Kirk Franklin’s Sunday School w/ DJ Mal-Ski, Philly Black Pride, and more.
Last year, Roots Picnic featured a collection of sets that celebrated the breadth of Black music history. André 3000 performed his Grammy-nominated alternative jazz album New Blue Sun, Shaboozey brought “A Bar Song” and the Black country renaissance to Philly and Sexyy Red made a triumphant Roots Picnic debut after her inclusion on the lineup was initially met with some ire and disdain. The 2024 Roots Picnic headliners included Lil Wayne, André 3000, Nas and Jill Scott.
See the full lineup below.
Paul McCartney made a grand return to Saturday Night Live for its SNL50: The Anniversary Special, delivering a stirring performance of the Abbey Road medley, “Golden Slumbers” / “Carry That Weight” / “The End.”
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The former Beatle, who was a musical guest on the show in 1980, 1993, 2010 and 2012 and made cameos in 2006, 2013 and 2015, also previously appeared on SNL’s 40th anniversary special. The legendary rocker again took the stage at Studio 8H on Sunday night (Feb. 16), closing out the three-hour event with a historic nod to one of the most celebrated albums in rock history.
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McCartney’s appearance followed a star-studded night of musical performances, including Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard’s cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” and a surprise duet from Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter.
Lil Wayne performed with The Roots and DJ T. Lewis for his performance, which opened with the 2018 single “Uproar,” and saw Weezy run through other tunes from his Tha Carter series of albums, including his lone Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper as a solo artist “Lollipop”, followed by “6 Foot 7 Foot” and “Mrs. Officer”. The night also featured an unexpected SNL moment when Nirvana joined Post Malone for a performance of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
The 50th anniversary of SNL also brings about one of rock’s most legendary what-ifs: the time McCartney and John Lennon nearly reunited on the show.
In 1976, SNL creator Lorne Michaels famously offered The Beatles $3,000 to reunite during the show’s first season. Lennon later recalled in a Playboy interview that he and McCartney were watching the show together that night at Lennon’s apartment in The Dakota and briefly considered making a surprise appearance. “We nearly got into a cab, but we were actually too tired,” Lennon admitted. “We went, ‘Ha-ha, wouldn’t it be funny if we went down?’ But we didn’t.”
Though that reunion never happened, McCartney’s SNL history remains rich. Beyond his musical performances, he’s been a frequent comedic guest, appearing in sketches over the years—including a memorable bit with Chris Farley in which the late comedian nervously interviewed him on The Chris Farley Show.
McCartney’s latest appearance at SNL 50 comes as he continues to celebrate The Beatles’ lasting legacy. In 2023, The Beatles scored their first No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Now and Then,” a long-lost track featuring Lennon’s vocals. The song also topped Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart and became the band’s 35th Hot 100 top 10 hit.
SNL50: The Anniversary Special aired on Sunday, Feb. 16 on NBC and will be available to stream on Peacock.
Pantera’s latest stop on their European tour came with a legendary surprise when the metal heavyweights were joined on stage by none other than Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson for a rendition of their 1992 classic “Walk.”
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The metal legends took over Adidas Arena in Paris on Feb. 15, treating fans to a career-spanning set. Before launching into “Walk,” frontman Phil Anselmo addressed the crowd, noting that Dickinson was in attendance. Midway through the track, the Iron Maiden vocalist stormed the stage, mic in hand, to sing the song’s iconic chorus alongside Anselmo. The Pantera frontman even bowed in front of Dickinson in a moment of mutual metal respect.
Fan-shot footage of the moment quickly made waves online, with fans praising the crossover between two of metal’s most influential ac
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The surprise guest appearance came just days before Pantera kicks off their first U.K. and Ireland headlining tour in 20 years, with shows in Glasgow (Feb. 18), Leeds (Feb. 19), Dublin (Feb. 21), Birmingham (Feb. 23), and London (Feb. 25). The band will also return to the U.K. this July, supporting Black Sabbath at their final reunion show alongside Metallica, Slayer, Gojira, and Mastodon.
Pantera’s reunion tour, featuring core members Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown alongside Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante filling in for the late Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, has been a point of both celebration and controversy. While the tour has been met with strong demand, the band faced backlash in 2023 over Anselmo’s past actions, leading to festival cancellations in Germany and Austria.
Despite the controversy, Pantera has continued to sell out major venues across the globe, and Dickinson’s unexpected cameo only added to the excitement surrounding their current run.
Beyond their dominance on the live stage, Pantera’s legacy is solidified in the charts. The band made history in 1994 when Far Beyond Driven debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making it the first extreme metal album to ever claim the top spot. The record, fueled by tracks like “I’m Broken” and “5 Minutes Alone,” marked a turning point for metal’s mainstream acceptance.
Their follow-up albums continued their chart success, with The Great Southern Trendkill (No. 4, 1996) and Reinventing the Steel (No. 4, 2000) reinforcing their standing in heavy music. Meanwhile, their seminal 1992 release Vulgar Display of Power—featuring classics like “Walk” and “Mouth for War”—remains a defining album of the genre, certified double platinum by the RIAA.
Lil Wayne has joined the eclectic roster of musical guests to share a career-spanning singles medley on Sunday night’s (Feb. 16) SNL50: The Anniversary Special. Wayne was joined by The Roots and DJ T. Lewis for his performance, which opened with 2018 single Uproar, and saw Weezy run through other tunes from his Tha Carter […]
It was a Bay Area showcase at the NBA All-Star Game. DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live! delivered a tribute to the Bay with a West Coast-themed 2025 NBA All-Star Game Halftime Show on Sunday night (Feb. 16) inside San Francisco’s Chase Center. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and […]
If you need someone to put the perfect words into song, just call Adam Sandler. The movie star, who got his start as a Saturday Night Live castmember from 1991 to 1995, returned to his 30 Rock stomping grounds on Sunday night (Feb. 16) for SNL50: The Anniversary Special, pulling out his trusty acoustic guitar […]
Fans hoping for a full-scale Black Sabbath reunion at Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell show may need to temper their expectations, with the heavy metal pioneer revealing he won’t be playing a full set with the band.
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Osbourne made the announcement on his Ozzy Speaks program on SiriusXM channel Ozzy’s Boneyard, where he provided an update as to his plans for the recently-announced “Back to the Beginning” concert.
Described as “the final show” on the poster artwork, the lineup features both Black Sabbath and Osbourne alongside other big names such as Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax. Other high-profile artists, such as Pantera, Lamb Of God, Mastodon, Alice In Chains, Halestorm and recent Grammy Award-winners Gojira are also included.
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“I’m not planning on doing a set with Black Sabbath but I am doing little bits and pieces with them,” Osbourne explained. “I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable.”
Osbourne hasn’t performed a full set since Dec. 31, 2018 on the final date of his No More Tours tour. Just two months later, the metal pioneer was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and any plans for further large-scale performances have been affected by numerous cancellations and health issues
“I am trying to get back on my feet,” Osbourne added. “When you get up in the morning, you just jump out of bed. I have to balance myself, but I’m not dead. I’m still actively doing things.”
These comments track with a previous update from Osbourne earlier this month, where he told listeners that he’s still soldiering on despite his myriad health issues.
“I have made it to 2025. I can’t walk, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all my complaining, I’m still alive,” he said. “I may be moaning that I can’t walk, but I look down the road, and there’s people that didn’t do half as much as me and didn’t make it.”
Speaking to the BBC following the announcement of the July concert, Osbourne’s wife and manager Sharon explained that the show was a chance for Osbourne to end a career which has been affected in recent years by numerous cancellations and health issues.
“He’s doing great. He’s doing really great,” she said. “He’s so excited about this, about being with the guys again and all his friends. It’s exciting for everyone.”
“Ozzy didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to his friends, to his fans, and he feels there’s no been no full stop. This is his full stop.”
Lizzo might have teased her new era during a recent Twitch stream, but she also gave fans a preview of a SZA-featuring supergroup that could have been.
The “About Damn Time” singer revealed this bit of her musical past during her Valentine’s Day Twitch stream. Alongside technical difficulties, fan interaction, and the promise of new music at the end of the month, Lizzo also focused on the song “F2F’, which she co-wrote with SZA before it appeared on the latter’s chart-topping 2022 album SOS. While “F2F” was never issued as a single, it became one of the 20 songs from the album to hit the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately peaking at No. 55.
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During her stream, Lizzo turned her attention to the song, noting how it had come about after almost a decade of friendship with SZA, and how it almost aligned with an unrealized rock trio the pair were a part of.
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“We’ve just always been friends, and it’s a sacred space for me in this industry,” Lizzo recalled. “We got this little period of time where we were just linking up in the studio, and eating pasta and drinking.
“This one particular night, mind you, we were gonna start a rock band, called Pussy Lasers. Oh my gosh, she’s not gonna get mad if I say this,” she added. “We were going to start a rock band called Pussy Lasers with an incredible other artist who I don’t know if she even wants to be mentioned, so I’m not going to mention her.”
As Lizzo continued, she explained that while “F2F” wasn’t necessarily set to be a part of the Pussy Lasers project, it was “jokingly” considered so due to the track’s “‘90s grunge kind of rock feel”.
“I was like, ‘This shit is hard, though’, so I was in the studio and I was like, ‘Man, pull that Pussy Lasers shit up,’” she continued. “And let me tell you something: I sat and watched this girl freestyle the whole fucking song, everything except for the chorus.”
Finalizing the song together in a later session, Lizzo also noted that she recorded a “mumble verse” which never made it into the track, though some of her harmonized vocals did make it into the finished product. “After that, I thought about that song all the time,” she added. “I was just like, ‘I hope, I hope she puts it on the album. And then one day out of the blue she just texted me the finished version and I was just like, ‘And this is why you’re the GOAT’.”
“She writes the craziest, most insane shit that you’re thinking and feeling, but she just finds a way to say it, and she sings it so beautifully out the gate, out of her mouth the first time.”
Currently, it’s been almost three years since the release of Lizzo’s last studio album, with fourth album Special becoming her second released via a major label, and second to hit the top ten of the Billboard 200 – peaking at No. 2. Earlier in her Twitch stream, Lizzo confirmed that Feb. 28 will see her waving farewell to her Special era at long last.
“I’ve been working on music for the last two years, and took my time and I did it right. The new era begins today,” she told fans. “I truly am coming to gag throats.”