News

Christina Aguilera Gets Cozy With Daughter Summer Rain in Sweet Photos

Christina Aguilera is spending some quality time with her little girl. The pop star shared pictures of herself and daughter Summer Rain on Instagram that look to be from the star’s residency at Voltaire Las Vegas.

“Me & Mine,” she captioned the carousel of photos on Wednesday (Jan. 3), which featured her in full glam, wearing a cream colored coat, flesh-toned sequin top and thigh-high boots; Summer wears a fuzzy black sweater and a black ’90s-inspired tattoo choker necklace. In the pictures, Aguilera and her daughter make kissy faces at the camera and share a side-arm hug in an elevator.

This isn’t the first time that Summer has been featured on the five-time Grammy winner’s Instagram. Back in August, Aguilera wished her daughter — whom she shares with fiancé Matthew Rutler — a happy birthday with a dedicated post on her feed that stated how happy she is to be her mother.

“Happy 9th birthday to our sweet Summer Rain,” she wrote on Aug. 16. “Today I find myself reflecting on how fast time has gone by. These 9 years have been filled with boundless love, heartwarming hugs, staying up too late, Disney adventures, and most recently, the joy of gracing the stage alongside you.”

“Every day, I thank the universe for gifting me the privilege of being your momma, a role that stands as my ultimate accomplishment,” the pop star continued. “Witnessing the remarkable young woman you are evolving into fills me with immense pride. Mommy loves you so much!”

Aguilera is also mom to son Max, whom she shares with ex-husband Jordan Bratman. She and Rutler have been engaged since 2014.

Destiny’s Child Reunited at Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour: See the Photo

Reunited and it feels so good! Since they debuted in 1997, Destiny’s Child has become one of the most successful, beloved and acclaimed girl groups in music history. The group formally disbanded in 2006 — although they’ve since reunited at Beyoncé‘s 2013 Super Bowl Halftime Show and 2018 Coachella headlining performance — but fans have been aching for a public reunion of all of the key original members. Thanks to a pic posted by OG group member LeToya Luckett on Wednesday (Jan. 3), fans finally got their wish.

“[All love.] This was hands down my favorite moment of 2023,” Luckett captioned the post. “[The love, the joy, the prayer, the healing.] May we all experience beautiful moments like this in 2024.” In the picture, Luckett, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, and LaTavia Roberson pose backstage at Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour stop in Houston.

Beyoncé, Luckett and Roberson threw up H-Town hand signs to highlight their hometown of Houston, and Rowland and Williams opted for simple peace signs. While Beyoncé was dressed down in a simple black hoodie and sweats — she did just perform a nearly three-hour set, after all! — the four other Destiny’s Child members were decked out in glittery silvers and blacks to keep in line with the Renaissance dress code.

Fans got a brief glimpse at the moment behind the reunion picture in Beyoncé’s box office-topping Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé documentary concert film. While Beyoncé didn’t reveal exactly what the five ladies caught up on, her narration echoed the sentiments of healing that Luckett expressed in her caption. While the picture has delighted fans, it’s also sparked some rumors about more concrete reunion plans — but those remains just that, rumors.

Destiny’s Child has earned 10 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the No. 1 hits “Say My Name” (three weeks), “Independent Women, Part I” (11 weeks), “Bills, Bills, Bills” (one week) and “Bootylicious” (two weeks). On the Billboard 200, the Grammy-winning vocal group has scored four top 10 entries, including the chart-toppers Survivor (two weeks) and #1’s (one week).

Check out the Destiny’s Child reunion picture and some of the best fan reactions below:

Las Vegas Judge Attacked In Court After Denying Probation, Caught On Video

HipHopWired Featured Video

Felon Attack

A judge in Las Vegas, Nev. was attacked in court after denying a man probation, and the entire moment was caught on camera. Judge Mary Kay Holthus handed down a sentence for Deobra Redden on a charge of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm and denied his probation, which prompted Redden to shout curses and leap over the judge’s desk while landing on top of her.

Local outlet KSNV reports that Judge Mary Kay Holthus was overseeing the sentencing hearing for Deobra Redden on Wednesday (January 3) and told his legal team that she believes jail time was best for their client. After Redden’s attorney suggested probation and Redden himself said he was in a better place, Judge Holthus thought otherwise.

“I think it’s time that he gets a taste of something else,” Holthus responded. “Because I just can’t with that history,” this after prosecutors shared Redden’s criminal history with the judge.

It was then that Redden began cursing at the judge and then leaped over the desk on top of her before the court marshal and another person was able to split the pair apart.

Court Information Officer Mary Ann Price offered the following in a statement to the outlet:

Deobra Redden was present for a sentencing hearing this morning, with regard to the charge of attempt battery with substantial bodily harm. During the hearing, Mr. Redden attacked Judge Mary Kay Holthus. Judge Holthus experienced some injuries and her condition is being monitored.

The marshal sustained injuries and has been transported to the hospital. Our understanding is that he is in stable condition. We commend the heroic acts of her staff, law enforcement, and all others who subdued the defendant. The court remains committed to a safe and secure courthouse and courtrooms. We are reviewing all our protocols and will do whatever is necessary to protect the judiciary, the public and our employees.

Redden was hit with 13 new charges after the attack, which includes six felonies and is due in court today (January 4).

Photo: Screenshot/Clark County District Court

6 Latin Collaborations We Want to See in 2024: Nicki Nicole & Peso Pluma, Shakira & BLACKPINK and More

Here are the collabs our Latin editors are hoping for this year.

Collaborations like Bizarrap and Shakira‘s “BZRP Music Sessions #53,” Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma‘s “Ella Baila Sola” and Karol G and Shakira’s “TQG” ruled the Billboard charts in 2023, and some even made history along the way. Such was the case for “Ella Baila Sola,” the biggest Latin song of the year, which became the first ever regional Mexican track to enter the top five on the all-genre Hot 100 chart.

The aforementioned epic collabs, along with team ups by Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny; Maluma and Carin Leon; Manuel Turizo and Marshmello; and Fuerza Regida and Shakira, marked a year of dream collabs we didn’t know we needed. As we’re ringing in the new year, Billboard Latin editors have put together a list of six pairings that, while have not been confirmed, we’d love to see happen in 2024.

Some have already collaborated — such as Nicki Nicole and Peso Pluma, who made their couple status official in November walking down the Latin Grammys red carpet together in Seville, Spain. While the pair released a remix to Peso’s “Por Las Noches” last year, we’re hoping that an EP is in the works. When asked by Billboard if they had any plans of releasing anything together in the future, Peso didn’t give too much away, simply allowing, “there are some surprises” — which opens the door to endless possibilities.

Another dream collab on our list is Becky G and Grupo Frontera, who could team up for a tejano-norteño tune. Both Becky and Frontera have worked closely with hitmaker Edgar Barrera, so we know that there’s a connection already there.

From Shakira and BLACKPINK to Karol G and Feid, below are our editors’ picks for dream collaborations in 2024 (in no particular order):

Virgin Music Group Acquires Saban Music Latin

Virgin Music Group has acquired Saban Music Latin, it was announced on Thursday (Jan. 4). The deal comes five years after entertainment mogul Haim Saban invested $500 million to launch Saban Music Group, and two years after the music company launched its Latino division.

Under the terms of the transaction, Virgin Music — a division of Universal Music Group — will acquire Saban Music Latin’s catalog, which includes such artists as Jon Z, Reykon and German Montero. It will also release future albums by Saban Music Latin artists.

Saban Music Latin’s roster includes emerging L.A.-based pop artist Loyal Lobos, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Chesca — who has scored two No. 1 songs on Billboard‘s Latin Airplay chart (“Súbelo” and “Te Quiero Baby”) — and rapper-producer YoGambii.

Saban Music Group launched in 2019 as a music company with a Latin focus and with veteran music executive Gustavo Lopez as CEO. Lopez was the longtime GM and executive vp Universal Music Latin, where he launched Latin urban label Machete Music, home to artists like Wisin & Yandel and Don Omar, and also ran Universal Music Latin Entertainment’s regional Mexican labels, Fonovisa and Disa. After leaving UMLE in 2017, he launched indie music company Talento Uno, which was acquired by Saban.

In 2020, Saban Music Group entered into an exclusive global administration agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group — and in February 2022, it announced it was launching a Latin division with Alejandro Reglero in the role of executive vp/GM, reporting to Lopez.

The acquisition follows Virgin Music Group’s recent partnerships with other Latin labels, including DEL Records, the West Coast-based independent label home to Latin music’s biggest song of 2023, “Ella Baila Sola” by Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma. In November, Virgin Music also announced a worldwide agreement with Pepe Aguilar‘s two regional Mexican labels, Machin and Equinoccio Records.

The Virgin Music Group roster already includes such Latin stars as Espinoza Paz, Sech, Grupo Firme, Tainy and Angela Aguilar.

Taylor Swift’s Resurfaced 2009 Interview Has Swifties Speculating She Totally Manifested Travis Kelce Relationship

Swifties have a legendary gift for finding hidden clues in every word that comes out of Taylor Swift‘s mouth. And, sometimes their intense, code-breaking treasure hunts take them down truly unexpected paths, such as a tweet from a fan on Wednesday (Jan. 3) resurfacing a 2009 Glamour magazine interview with Swift in which she appeared to manifest some aspects of her current love match.

The chat with the then 19-year-old singer included a question about whether she would have to date someone at a “similar level of success” in the wake of the release of her 2008 sophomore album, Fearless, which sold more than 2.1 million copies in two months. Less than a year after her break-up with the Jonas Brothers’ Joe Jonas, Swift said that any relationship she enters into is always going to have to be “long-distance, even if I date the boy who lives next door to me in Nashville. I’ll be flying to see him and flying him places to see me.”

Of course that teenage love speculation came 14 years before Swift would fly across the country several times in late 2023 to watch current beau Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce play, with Kelce returning the favor by jetting to Argentina to see Swift on her Eras Tour. “It feels like it would involve more scheduling, and I already deal with a lot of scheduling in my life,” Swift added at the time of the logistics needed to move a pop star (and, not for nothing, an NFL top-liner) around the country without getting hounded by the press.

“Of course, if I met somebody who was worth it, I would probably stop thinking that way!” the singer told the magazine.

It was the next question-and-answer that really got Swifties activated, though. When the interviewer wondered if Swift — who subsequently was linked to “You Belong With Me” video co-star Lucas Till, Valentine’s Day co-star Taylor Lautner, John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Harry Styles, Calvin Harris, Tom Hiddleston and Joe Alwyn — felt like she needed to date someone at a “similar level” of success, the now-34-year-old singer gave a response that fans thought kind of manifested the Kelce love match.

“I think it’s more a question of confidence. I wouldn’t want to be with a pushover who would let me make all the plans and have all the control,” Swift said. “It’s really natural for me to go into planning mode, but I’d rather be with someone who has his own voice and passion and ambition.” Swift — recently named TIME magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year, as well as the newest member of the billionaire star club thanks to her Eras Tour grosses — appears to have found such a striver in two-time Super Bowl champ Kelce, who also hosts a popular podcasts and has a number of high-profile endorsement deals.

Though Swift kept a low-profile during her six-year relationship with Boy Erased actor Alwyn, in her TIME interview the singer said she’s not shy about talking up her connection with Kelce, while also trying to keep some things private. “When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care,” she told the mag in the December cover story. “The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other.” 

Check out the fan tweet that helped spark the speculation below.

Michael Jackson’s Name Comes Up in Unsealed Jeffrey Epstein Documents

Michael Jackson‘s name has surfaced in recently unsealed court documents tied to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein — though the late pop star was not accused of any wrongdoing in the documents. The files, which were unsealed late Wednesday (Jan. 3), are part of the 2015 lawsuit victim Virginia Giuffre filed against Ghislaine Maxwell, the late financier’s girlfriend, who was convicted in 2021 of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse underage victims. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The late King of Pop — who was acquitted in 2005 of allegations that he molested underage boys, and vehemently denied the allegations during his life — comes up during the deposition of a witness, which took place May 18, 2016, according to the documents obtained by Billboard. In the transcript, Giuffre’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley questions the witness — who is also an Epstein accuser — about the bold-faced names she had encountered with the financier, who was known for his connections to the rich, famous and powerful.

“Did you ever meet anybody famous when you were with Jeffrey?” McCawley asked.

“I met Michael Jackson,” the witness responded. “At his house in Palm Beach. At Jeffrey’s house in Palm Beach.”

McCawley also asked whether the witness had given Jackson a massage, which she denied doing.

Later during the deposition, Laura Menninger — an attorney for Maxwell — followed up the line of questioning regarding the 13-time Grammy winner: “You were asked about the famous people. You said you met Michael Jackson?”

Once again, the witness confirmed she had met the musician, and denied once more having ever given him a massage. There are no allegations of any wrongdoing on Jackson’s part in the documents.

Billboard has reached out to the Michael Jackson Estate for comment.

A judge ruled in December that the previously sealed documents could be made public. Since the files were unsealed Wednesday, people on social media have alleged the unsealed documents include several prominent musicians — but a search of the official court documents failed to confirm the social media rumors.

Epstein, 66, died by apparent suicide in August 2019. He was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York while awaiting trial. He had been charged with sexually abusing multiple underage girls.

Mariah Carey & Wham! Lead Christmas-y TikTok Billboard Top 50

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” holds atop the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart dated Jan. 6, while Wham!’s “Last Christmas” rises to No. 2 to complete a one-two sweep for holiday songs on the tally for the first time.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity Dec. 25-31. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.

The beginning of the latest TikTok Billboard Top 50’s tracking week was on Christmas Day, so it’s only natural that Christmas-related tunes dot the chart, led by Carey and Wham! at Nos. 1 and 2. It’s the second week at No. 1 for “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” while “Last Christmas” reaches a new peak after previously rising to No. 4 the preceding week (Dec. 30, 2023).

Concurrently, Carey’s holiday standard appears at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (down from No. 1 after being passed by Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” as previously reported), while Wham!’s “Last Christmas” spends a fourth week at No. 4.

The two songs are chased on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 by Lesley Gore’s 1963 song “Misty,” which debuts at No. 3. The jazz standard was originally recorded in 1954 by Erroll Garner and has also been recorded by artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, Aretha Franklin and, more recently, Laufey.

Gore’s “Misty” makes major strides via a variety of trends and posts, including one where the user posts themselves without something (glasses, curls, etc.) and another with those things, sometimes using a photo of them with a friend that actually has that feature.

As such, some of the uploads also reference creators waiting to be used as their friends’ reference photos in the trend.

The latest Billboard tracking week (Dec. 22-28) saw “Misty” jump 23% to 244,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate.

Adele’s “When We Were Young” joins “Misty” as songs making their first appearances in the TikTok Billboard Top 50, leaping from a No. 24 debut to No. 8 in its second week. A trend using the song involves showing off older photos of themselves with loved ones. The No. 14 hit on the Hot 100 in March 2016 sports a 4% jump in streams to 1.7 million listens.

A song zooming toward the top 10 is Grace Potter’s “Something That I Want,” which like “When We Were Young” debuted on the Dec. 30, 2013, survey (at No. 32), rising on the latest list to No. 12. Potter’s track is part of the soundtrack to Disney’s 2010 animated film Tangled. As of now, the song is mostly being used in a variety of trending uploads, including one that features the creator pretending to hold someone up at gunpoint on the “I want something that I want” verse.

See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.

Here Are 5 Things You Didn’t Know About D4vd | Billboard

D4vd reveals five things you didn’t know about him to Billboard!

D4vd:
Hey everybody, I’m D4vd, and here are five things you may not know about me.

D4vd:
No. 1: I trained in gymnastics and parkour for six years of my life. I was on a professional — not professional — but I was on a gymnastics team for five of those years and competed in tournaments around Houston.

No. 2: I started making music a little under two years ago.

No. 3: I am a big fan of Japanese manga and anime, super big fan since I was 7 years old.

No. 4: My favorite food is a Japanese dish called kare pan. It’s like a curry bread in, like, this crust. It’s like a honey bun, but it has curry in it.

No. 5: My favorite song of all time would have to be “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.

And those are five things that you may not have known about me.

Watch the video above!

Iann Dior and Maejor Join Black Music Action Coalition to School Students on Mental Wellness

On a recent balmy December afternoon in Los Angeles, The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) sponsored a panel discussion on wellness for students at King/Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science. BMAC co-founder and chair Willie “Prophet” Stiggers was joined on the panel, titled Healing Through Music, with other music industry professionals who shared their wellness journeys.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The students at King/Drew are held to high standards and face a rigorous curriculum. They’re also teenagers who are navigating all that comes with this stage of growing up, including their fast-approaching post-high school lives. While this can be exciting, it can also bring up uncertainty and anxiety.

Moderated by entertainment attorney, activist and BMAC founding member Dina LaPolt of LaPolt Law, P.C., the panelists included LaPolt’s client artist and songwriter Iann Dior, wellness and mental health expert Rebecca Kordecki, and songwriter/producer Maejor. The panelists discussed their mental health struggles and how they learned to cope. LaPolt has long been a supporter of King/Drew High School and has been a mentor to several students.

“I want to talk to you about something that’s very important in today’s world, especially after the pandemic, which is wellness,” LaPolt shared in her opening remarks to students just before holiday break. “Emotional, physical, and mental wellness. Anxiety, all kinds of depressing disorders can happen… it’s a lot.”

Songwriter, producer and podcast host Maejor travels to underserved communities and teaches about breath work, wellness and the importance of “setting intention.” Maejor’s journey to wellness began when he was diagnosed with cancer. It was during this time that he was bombarded with info on healing, some of which he had a hard time taking seriously. His interest was piqued by what he was learning about the effects of sound on well-being, and he highlighted the chanting of monks as an example. He was inspired to use what he was learning from science, the spiritual community and the music industry.

For several minutes, Maejor filled the auditorium with one of his compositions that he described as utilizing the A444 frequency — the relaxation frequency.

Wellness and mental health expert Rebecca Kordecki has worked as a motivational speaker for over 20 years. It was during this journey to wellness, that she discovered the importance of breath work. “We breathe involuntarily,” Kordecki told students. “The beautiful thing about breath is that we can voluntarily manipulate the breath to do things for us. For instance, we can manipulate the breath to give us energy, we can manipulate it to calm us down, we can manipulate to put us to sleep at night. So, learning how to use the breath is a really powerful tool.”

She added, “Eight years ago, I discovered breath work and it changed the game for me. I was doing fitness training, working with celebrities and doing all these amazing things but from the outside in. Helping people get six pack abs, feel stronger, and make better movies and all those things, but they were still unhappy inside, I would notice. I thought, how can I get people to connect with their inside while working with them on the outside? That’s when I started to incorporate breath work into the work I do with clients so that they can connect to themselves.”

Kordecki lead everyone in a few breathing exercises, including “box breathing”, which she demonstrated as a four-count inhale, a four-count hold, and then a four count exhale. The technique is often used to help young children learn to regulate their emotions. It is also a great tool for handling anxiety.

Iann Dior, who was impressed the students got out of class to attend the event, was the most in his element, and related easily with the students. At only 24, Dior has already achieved multi-platinum status with “Mood,” his 2020 Hot 100 No. 1 with 24KGoldn.

“One way that I find myself, calming myself down before I go out on stage and everything, is just being by myself,” Ian shared. “I go into the room, and I chill and kind of talk to myself. I remind myself, ‘You’ve been through a lot. You’ve seen a lot of things that normal kids don’t have to see’ … and I remind myself that I’m thankful for all those bad times.”

“Anytime something bad happens, or something doesn’t go my way, I’m thankful for it,” he continued. “I talk to myself, and ask myself, why is this happening, because I need to overcome this and next time something happens again, I move past it.”

He invited the audience to share their stories of what is troubling them. A student near the front shared how it’s been a stressful week due to final exams, and how her academic performance affects her self-esteem. Another shared, through nervous giggles and tears, that she’d been fighting with her friends and learned that her boyfriend had been cheating on her.

Prophet acknowledged from the stage that everyone has experienced that pain and that everyone could relate.

Ian asked the audience to raise their hand if they had a goal or a dream for their life. He shared that at one point he was homeless while living in Puerto Rico. He shared that focusing on what would happen if he didn’t do something to achieve his dreams and advised setting realistic goals and working towards them.

LaPolt then gave the audience a parting task: “When you get home tonight, I want you to look into the mirror and give yourself a high-five and say you got this. That’s want we got to do. We’ve got to motivate each other, but the first thing you have to do is motivate yourself.”