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13 Nov 2023

The Beatles’ ‘Now And Then’ Set to Extend Its U.K. Chart Reign

The Beatles are set to prove once again why they’re the champions of the U.K., as “Now And Then” (via Apple Corps) takes pole position in the current chart race.

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Based on sales and streaming data published by the Official Charts Company, “Now And Then” is the leader at the halfway point, and is forecast to snag a second week at No. 1.

The Fab Four has some work to do. “Now And Then” has the edge over new releases from Jack Harlow (“Lovin’ On Me” at No. 2 via Atlantic) and Dua Lipa (“Kinetic Houdini” at No. 3 via Warner Records) on the Official Chart Update, with roughly 2,000 chart units splitting the top three.

The Fab Four’s “last” song,” “Now And Then” took the elevator to No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Friday, Nov. 10, having opened the previous week at No. 42 based on just 10 hours of sales and streams.

On its way to the top, the Beatles busted a string of records. Among them, the track leads the chart some 60 years and six months after the Beatles’ first No. 1, “From Me To You,” marking the longest span between an act’s first and last chart-topping hit, the OCC reports.

Also, “Now and Then” is the Beatles’ 18th U.K. No. 1, extending their record as the British act with the most leaders, and it’s the longest-ever gap between No. 1 singles for any act (54 years).

From tape to the top of the charts, “Now And Then” is the stuff of legend. Originally a demo recorded by the late John Lennon in the 1970s, the project was brought to the studio by the surviving Beatles, then shelved in the mid-1990s due to technical limitations. Led by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the surviving members of the Beatles, the project was recently revived and completed with the help of computer learning software created by Peter Jackson’s team at WingNut Films.

Beatlemania doesn’t end at the singles survey. The legendary band is on track for a U.K. chart double, as the Red and Blue collections dominate the top two spots on the midweek albums tally.

All will be revealed when the Official Charts are published late Friday, Nov. 17.

13 Nov 2023

BTS’s Jung Kook Sets ‘Golden’ U.K. Chart Record

Though he missed out on top spot, thanks to the juggernauts that are Taylor Swift and Oasis, Jung Kook stakes a claim to U.K. chart history with Golden (via BigHit Entertainment).

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The BTS star’s solo debut album bowed at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart last Friday, Nov. 10, behind Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via EMI) and Oasis’ The Masterplan (Big Brother), respectively.

With that solid start, Golden becomes the highest-charting album by a Korean solo artist, including the cuts by his BTS bandmates, the Official Charts Company confirms.

Golden shines with four U.K. top 10 singles – “Seven” featuring Latto (No. 3 peak), “3D” with Jack Harlow (No. 5), “Too Much” with The Kid Laroi and Central Cee (No. 10) and the latest release, “Standing Next to You,” which opens its account at No. 6 on the national singles chart, also published Friday.

That’s four U.K. top tier tracks in just four months, extending Jung Kook’s record as the Korean solo artist with the most U.K. top 10 singles.

As a member of the all-conquering BTS, Jung Kook has five U.K. top 10 albums, including two leaders (2019’s Map of the Soul: Persona and 2020’s Map of the Soul: 7), and four top 10 singles (2020’s “Dynamite” and “Life Goes On”; and 2021’s “Butter” and Coldplay collaboration “My Universe”).

Jung Kook goes one better on Australia’s albums chart, where Golden (via ING/Universal) drops in at No. 2, behind Swift’s latest release. That result matches the record for the highest solo debut LP from a Korean artist in the land Down Under, matching the effort from his BTS bandmate Suga (aka Agust D), who entered at No. 2 on the ARIA Chart with his 2000 D-2 mixtape.

As previously reported, “Standing Next to You” flies in at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. songs charts.

13 Nov 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Unveils Pensive ‘Can’t Catch Me Now’ Music Video

Olivia Rodrigo is here, she’s there, she’s everywhere — and now has a music video to go along with her powerful The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes track, “Can’t Catch Me Now.”

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The clip, which was released on Monday (Nov. 13), finds the singer leaving a cottage and wandering through a field as she sings about her omnipresence in someone else’s life. “But I’m in the trees, I’m in the breeze / My footsteps on the ground / You’ll see my face in every place / But you can’t catch me now,” she muses in the chorus.

“Can’t Catch Me Now,” which dropped earlier this month, serves as the opening track to the 17-song film soundtrack due out November 17 via Geffen Records, which is also the date the Hunger Games film hits theaters. The soundtrack includes songs performed in the film by The Hunger Games star Rachel Zegler, as well as tracks by young artists in the folk/Americana genre.

The upcoming movie stars Zegler alongside Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis, and follows the story of Coriolanus (Blyth), who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol.

Watch Rodrigo’s “Can’t Catch Me Now” music video below.

13 Nov 2023

Jason Sudeikis & Hannah Waddingham Team Up Onstage to Perform ‘Shallow’ Duet

Ted Lasso fans, AFC Richmond had a mini reunion over the weekend.

Jason Sudeikis teamed up with his AppleTV+ show’s co-star Hannah Waddingham on Saturday (Nov. 11) at the actor’s annual Thundergong! charity show in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, to perform a surprise rendition of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s Hot 100 chart topper, “Shallow,” from the 2018 film, A Star Is Born.

“There is nobody I would rather sing this song with,” Sudeikis said onstage to former Saturday Night Live star Wille Forte, who thought Sudeikis was talking about him before Waddingham stepped out to sing the track’s second verse.

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Sudeikis’ Thundergong!, which raises money for amputees in need, raised $800,000 this year for the Steps of Faith foundation, according to KMBC. The show featured additional appearances from Brendan Hunt, Sam Richardson and Summer Breeze.

Waddington and Sudeikis’ duet comes just a few months after Ted Lasso wrapped its third and final season in May. In the show, the duo play Rebecca Welton and Ted Lasso, respectively, who grow into a loving friendship after years of working together at the AFC Richmond soccer team. The show has had an impressive 61 Emmy nominations over its three-season course, and has won 11 awards, including Sudeikis taking home the 2022 award for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series and the series winning the 2022 and 2021 award for outstanding comedy series. Waddington won the 2021 award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series.

Watch the “Shallow” duet below.

13 Nov 2023

2 Chainz & Lil Wayne “Long Story Short,” Killer Mike ft. CeeLo Green “Down By Law” & More | Daily Visuals 11.13.23

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2 Chainz album release party

Source: Prince Williams/ATLPics.net / ATLPics.Net

This Friday (November 17) Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz will be dropping their highly anticipated duet album, Welcome 2 Collegrove, and to get their fans hype the duo have been dropping off new visuals for some of the album’s cuts.

Keeping that work coming, Weezy and Chainz drop off a new visual for “Long Story Short” where the two style and profile in some fancy two-seaters as they burn up the highway while burning down some of that sticky-icky. Living life on the edge in the South.

Keeping the scene down there, Killer Mike reminds us he’s that dude and for his CeeLo Green assisted clip to “Down By Law,” Mike Bigga takes to his hood to turn up with some classic cars behind him while sporting some Mr. T jewelry that would make a lesser man hunchback.

Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from Ear Drummer/88rising artist Spence Lee, T-Pain and Snoop Dogg, Antha Pantha, and more.

2 CHAINZ & LIL WAYNE – “LONG STORY SHORT”



KILLER MIKE FT. CEELO GREEN – “DOWN BY LAW”



T-PAIN & SNOOP DOGG – “THAT’S HOW WE BALLIN”



ANTHA PANTHA – “YAYO”



SPENCE LEE – “WHITE TEE”



JOSH X – “MONEY UP”



TRIPPIE REDD – “7AM IN OHIO”



K CAMP – “SPIN THE BLOCK”



FATPOCKET – “TYPE”



13 Nov 2023

Taylor Swift Is ‘Never Beating the Sorcery Allegations’ After Perfectly Timed Eras Tour Moment

Taylor Swift is proving time and time again that she’s the ultimate “Mastermind.”

The pop superstar took to Twitter to share a hilarious video from her Eras tour stop in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this weekend, in which she’s seen singing “Labyrinth” off her 2022 album, Midnights. In an instance of serendipity, right when Swift sings, “I thought the plane was going down / How’d you turn it right around,” the camera pans to the sky and an airplane is seen flying right over the venue.

“Never beating the sorcery allegations,” Swift jokingly captioned the video, referring to some viral TikTok clips playfully alleging that her performances of “Willow” look like she’s performing a spell with her coven.

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Swift’s Latin American leg of her wildly popular Eras Tour kicked off back in August with four shows in Mexico City. She performed at Buenos Aires’ River Plate Stadium on November 10, 11 and 12 (featuring an appearance by rumored boyfriend Travis Kelce). Swift is next scheduled to head over to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Nov. 18 and 19 before wrapping up in São Paulo, Brazil, on Nov. 24, 25 and 26. Sabrina Carpenter is the opener for the Latin American tour dates.

See her divinely timed “Labyrinth” moment below.

13 Nov 2023

Kakao Executive, Company Indicted for Alleged SM Entertainment Stock Manipulation Scheme (Report)

In a stunning wrinkle in the fevered battle between Kakao Corp. and HYBE for a controlling stake in K-pop company SM Entertainment, Kakao’s chief investment officer was indicted Monday (Nov. 13) for allegedly manipulating the stock price to ward off HYBE’s rival bid.

Bae Jae-hyun, Kakao’s chief investment officer, will face a trial for violating South Korea’s Capital Markets Act, according to reports. He allegedly inflated the price of SM Entertainment shares by purchasing 240 billion won ($181.3 million) of shares while HYBE, home of K-pop group BTS, was attempting to buy a large stake in the company. Prosecutors also charged Kakao using a provision in the law that allows both a company and its employees to be punished.

The scheme to manipulate SM Entertainment’s share price stemmed from a heated competition between Kakao and HYBE to become the largest shareholder in SM Entertainment — home to such K-pop acts as NCT Dream and Red Velvet — to help rebuild the company after it terminated a production contract with its founder, Lee Soo-man. In February, HYBE acquired a 14.8% stake in the K-pop giant from Lee and attempted to acquire an additional 25% stake through a tender offer at 120,000 won ($92.36) per share. HYBE’s bid was too low, however, and the tender offer gave HYBE less than 1% of outstanding shares.

Bae allegedly acquired SM Entertainment shares to drive up the price above HYBE’s tender offer price, thus thwarting its efforts to obtain a larger stake. On March 6, Kakeo and Kakao Entertainment followed with a tender offer of 150,000 won ($115.46) per share — 25% above HYBE’s tender offer price — and ended up acquiring an additional 25% stake, bringing its ownership of SM Entertainment to 40%. HYBE abandoned its bid to control SM Entertainment on March 13 and announced on March 28 that it would sell nearly half of its stake in SM Entertainment to Kakao for 248.8 billion won ($191.8 million).

Kakao is a South Korean tech conglomerate that owns the country’s dominant chap app, KakaoTalk, and a popular taxi-hailing app, Kakao Mobility, among other products. A subsidiary, Kakao Entertainment, owns Starship Entertainment, home to such K-pop groups as Monsta X, as well as South Korea streaming app Melon. In August, Kakao Entertainment and SM Entertainment revealed their plans to create a North American joint venture by the end of 2023.

The investigation into stock manipulation started soon after Kakao and Kakao Entertainment beat out HYBE for the SM Entertainment stake. South Korean officials raided the offices of Kakao and Kakao Entertainment on April 6 and SM Entertainment’s headquarters on April 18. Bae was arrested for suspected stock manipulation on Oct. 19 before being indicted on Monday. Other executives were suspected of working with Bae to inflate SM Entertainment’s share price, according to a Reuters article at the time of his arrest, but to date no one else has been charged.

13 Nov 2023

Taylor Swift Kisses Travis Kelce, Troye Sivan Reacts to ‘SNL’ Sketch & More | Billboard News

Taylor Swift changes the lyrics to “Karma” and kisses Travis Kelce after her concert in Buenos Aires. The singer also made a speech imploring people not to throw things onstage. Drake announces dates for the ’It’s All A Blur Tour – Big As The What?” with J. Cole. Troye Sivan reacts to an ‘SNL’ sketch starring host Timothée Chalamet about the TikTok trend he started with his song “Got Me Started.” Billboard announces country superstar Morgan Wallen as the fifth performer at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, November 19th. We also reveal the top 10 for this week’s Hot 100 chart.

Tetris Kelly:
Drake’s hitting the road with a new tour partner. Taylor Swift brings her man to Argentina and continues to dominate the charts. Troye Sivan gets the ‘SNL’ treatment. Morgan Wallen is set to take the BBMAs stage.

Welcome to another week of Billboard News. I’m Tetris Kelly. It’s Monday, November 13th, and we’re kicking things off with Taylor Swift’s time in Argentina.

Big weekend for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce fans, as she changes her lyrics, and they share some sweet PDA. She also addresses fans throwing gifts onstage. This is Tetris Kelly reporting for your Eras Tour update.

How sweet! In a viral clip we’ve seen from multiple angles, Taylor Swift ran up to boyfriend Travis Kelce after her show and gave him a kiss. The Chiefs player flew all the way to Argentina to catch her Eras Tour, where multiple fans caught him vibing in the crowd with Taylor’s dad. Taylor even shouted him out from the stage, changing her lyrics in “Karma” to say “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me,” as the internet, her dancers and even Travis fell apart. And lastly, Taylor’s mostly avoided things being thrown at her but now that it’s happened, she addressed the crowd.

Taylor Swift:
“It really freaks me out when stuff gets thrown on the stage because if it’s on the stage, then a dancer can trip on it. I love that you brought presents and that is so nice but just can you please not throw them on the stage? I love you so much.”

Watch the full video above!

13 Nov 2023

FBI Seizes Mayor Mixxy Eric Adams’ Phones As Part of Ongoing Federal Investigation Into Fundraising

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Veteran's Day Parade Held In New York City

Source: Spencer Platt / Getty / Eric Adams

New York City Mayor Eric Adams could be in some serious trouble.

The socialite who sometimes masquerades as New York City’s Mayor had his phones seized by the FBI as part of an ongoing federal investigation into fundraising. 

Spotted on CNN, the feds popped up Mayor Eric Adams and seized phones and an iPad after securing a court-authorized warrant, a person close to the matter said.

Per CNN:

The seizure is a dramatic escalation of the federal probe into whether foreign money was funneled to his campaign, bringing it directly to the mayor, a Democrat. The investigation is being handled by the FBI and the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. Adams has not been accused of any wrongdoing so far, but he is the latest politician to come under scrutiny for ties to foreign governments – in his case Turkey.

The seizure came days after the FBI raided the home of Adams’ chief fundraiser as part of the investigation to determine whether the mayor’s 2021 campaign conspired with a Brooklyn-based construction company to funnel foreign money into campaign coffers.

Prosecutors Had To Convince A Judge There Was Probable Cause To Seize Adams’ Phones

According to the New York Times, to seize Mayor Adams’ devices, prosecutors had to convince a judge they had probable cause that there was evidence of a crime on the electronic devices.

Adams said he had nothing to hide in a statement sent to CNN on Friday, November 10.

“As a former member of law enforcement, I expect all members of my staff to follow the law and fully cooperate with any sort of investigation — and I will continue to do exactly that,” the mayor said. “I have nothing to hide.”

Two sources close to the matter told CNN that FBI agents “walked right up to him” on the street and seized his devices following him giving a speech at New York University’s Kimmel Center Monday. ]

Welp.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

—

Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty

13 Nov 2023

Gospel Singer Bobbi Storm Called Out for ‘Entitlement’ After Singing, Announcing Grammy Noms on Delta Flight

Bobbi Storm came under fire this past weekend after she shared a video of herself performing on a Delta flight after finding out that she is nominated for two Grammy Awards.

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In the clip posted to Instagram on Friday (Nov. 10), the gospel artist is told to sit down by the flight attendant. “I sing for the Lord,” she said. “I’m doing what the Lord is telling me to do.”

The flight attendant eventually told her,  “If you’re not able to follow my instructions, you will not be able to take this flight.” When she took her seat, Storm announced to the fellow passengers that she’s “up for two Grammys,” and proceeded to sing her new song “We Can’t Forget Him” at a soft volume.

Storm is a is a featured vocalist on Maverick City Music’s The Maverick Way, which is nominated for best gospel album at the 2024 Grammys. The group’s “God Problems” is also up for best contemporary Christian music performance/song, though Storm is not listed in the credits.

“At the end of the day God is glorified!!!! Tell me, how are you choosing love on purpose??? Blessings to you all from your #FearlessFlightSinger,” Storm captioned her Instagram post, noting in the comments that “no laws” were “broken.”

“Imagine the entitlement of thinking you are the only one with something that can bless folks and it happens to be in an airplane where they have no choice but to hear you because they can’t go anywhere?!? This is wildly out of pocket sis! You held these people hostage and used God’s name in a manipulative manner,” one user wrote in the comments, while another added, “This is one of the most egotistical things I’ve ever seen. You think because you’re Grammy nominated that rules don’t apply to you and the plane is your stage? Work on that ego sis.”

In a follow-up video posted on Sunday (Nov. 12), Storm noted that Delta executives reached out to her following the controversial video. She said that she did not want the flight attendant to get fired, but wanted him to “learn a valuable lesson on how to treat other people.”

See her response video here.