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12 Oct 2023

U2 Extends Alternative, Mainstream Rock Airplay Records With ‘Atomic City’

U2 pads its record for the most entries on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock Airplay charts as “Atomic City” debuts on multiple tallies dated Oct. 14.

The song premieres at No. 27 on Alternative Airplay. It’s the Bono-led band’s 43rd chart appearance, extending its mark for the most visits to the ranking, which began in 1988.

Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam are the next-closest acts, earning 40 entries each.

Most Appearances, Alternative Airplay:

  • 43, U2
  • 40, Foo Fighters
  • 40, Pearl Jam
  • 37, Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • 36, Green Day
  • 34, Weezer
  • 30, Coldplay
  • 30, Linkin Park
  • 29, The Offspring
  • 27, The Smashing Pumpkins

U2’s Alternative Airplay chart run began on the Sept. 17, 1988, survey – the list’s second week of existence – when “Jesus Christ” debuted at No. 11. With entries now in the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s, the band matches Depeche Mode and Red Hot Chili Peppers as the only acts with appearances in each decade of the list’s archives.

Of U2’s 43 appearances, 23 have reached the top 10 and eight have gone No. 1, beginning with the five-week ruler “Desire” in October 1988. The band last led the chart with “Vertigo” (four weeks, November 2004) and most recently hit the top 10 with “Get On Your Boots” (No. 5, February 2009).

On Mainstream Rock Airplay, “Atomic City” debuts at No. 38, the quartet’s record-extending 51st appearance. Tom Petty, solo and with the Heartbreakers, is next with 48.

Most Appearances, Mainstream Rock Airplay:

  • 51, U2
  • 48, Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers)
  • 47, Van Halen
  • 46, John Mellencamp
  • 45, Pearl Jam
  • 44, Aerosmith
  • 43, Metallica
  • 42, Rush
  • 42, Bruce Springsteen (solo and with the E Street Band)

U2 gains entrance to a select club of acts that have appeared on Mainstream Rock Airplay every decade of its existence, since it began in 1981, joining AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Rolling Stones.

As with Alternative Airplay, U2 was on Mainstream Rock Airplay during the ranking’s inaugural year (starting in the tally’s fifth week), peaking at No. 20 with “I Will Follow” in April 1981. The act boasts 21 top 10s and seven No. 1s, last leading with “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” in August 1995 and last hitting the top 10 with “Vertigo” in November 2004.

But unlike Alternative Airplay, where U2 had gone just under six years between appearances (“You’re the Best Thing About Me” peaked at No. 21 in October 2017), the band until this week had not made Mainstream Rock Airplay since “Invisible” debuted and peaked at No. 27 in early 2014.

“Atomic City” also premieres at No. 17 on Adult Alternative Airplay, U2’s 32nd entry since the ranking began in 1996, behind only Dave Matthews (solo and with Dave Matthews Band) with 36 entries.

Most Appearances, Adult Alternative Airplay:

  • 36, Dave Matthews (solo and with Dave Matthews Band)
  • 32, U2
  • 29, Coldplay
  • 27, Jack Johnson
  • 25, Sheryl Crow
  • 25, John Mayer
  • 19, Beck
  • 18, Death Cab for Cutie
  • 18, R.E.M.

First ranking on Adult Alternative Airplay in 1997 with “Discotheque” (No. 7, February 1997), U2 has notched 13 No. 1s, most recently the seven-week leader “You’re the Best Thing About Me” beginning in November 2014. Prior to “Atomic City,” U2 last appeared with the No. 34-peaking “Your Song Saved My Life” in January 2022.

“Atomic City” bows at No. 5 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, U2’s highest rank dating to the tally’s 2009 inception. It earned 3.7 million radio audience impressions Sept. 29-Oct. 5, according to Luminate.

U2’s previous best on Rock & Alternative Airplay had been a pair of No. 12 peaks in “Invisible” and “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone),” both in 2014.

The combination of airplay, streams and sales in its first week allows “Atomic City” to debut at No. 38 on the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 1.1 million official U.S. streams and sold 3,000 downloads, the latter count good for a No. 1 debut on Alternative Digital Song Sales – U2’s first ruler dating to the chart’s 2011 debut. (U2 first led a Billboard list when “With or Without You” rose to No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Airplay in April 1987.)

“Atomic City” is currently a stand-alone single for U2, which last released a full-length of new material in 2017 with Songs of Experience. Most recently, Songs of Surrender was released this March and features re-recordings of the band’s catalog.

12 Oct 2023

Watch Lenny Kravitz Bare It All in His Steamy New NSFW ‘TK421’ Music Video

Lenny Kravitz just seems to get better with age — and he keeps proving it. The Grammy-winning rocker unveiled an eye-popping NSFW music video on Thursday (Oct. 12) in support of his new single, “TK421.”

Kravitz appears in various stages of undress throughout the video, with ample shots of his bare rear end making up a solid chunk of the clip. In fact, he doesn’t start to put clothes on until a minute into the song — and that’s after he rolls out of bed nude, flashes a balcony (viewers still only see him from the back), hops in the shower and mimes playing the guitar with a towel that’s barely hanging on to his chiseled waist. Given that the song is built on a foundation of chugging synths, funky guitars and a dance-floor-ready beat, it’s only right that the music video further exemplifies the track’s freewheeling spirit.

“TK421” is the first official taste of Kravitz’s forthcoming 12th studio album. His first studio effort since 2018, Blue Electric Light is currently slated for release on March 15, 2024. The set will also serve as Kravitz’s first double album. Blue Electric Light will include 12 tracks that the four-time Grammy winner crafted in his studio in the Bahamas; he wrote and played most of the instruments himself, alongside longtime guitarist and collaborator Craig Ross.

The new single arrives a few weeks after Kravitz made his TikTok debut with the revival of his famed giant scarf. “Grab your big scarf, it’s the first day of fall,” Kravitz said in the five-second clip, a nod to a decade-old meme stemming from his choice of elaborate outerwear in 2012.

Kravitz has earned 16 career entries on the Billboard Hot 100, including a pair of top 10 hits: 2000’s “Again” (No. 4) and 1991’s “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” (No. 2). On the Billboard 200, he has notched 12 entries, including the top 10 titles: 1995’s Circus (No. 10), 2000’s Greatest Hits (No. 2) and 2008’s It Is Time for a Love Revolution (No. 4).

Check out Lenny Kravitz’s NSFW “TK421” music video above.

12 Oct 2023

Check Out Some Rare Photo Outtakes From Cyndi Lauper’s ‘She’s So Unusual’ Ahead of Its 40th Anniversary

This Saturday (Oct. 14) marks 40 years since one of the greatest debut albums of all time introduced the world to the, well, unusual talents of a Brooklyn singer-songwriter. With the Oct. 14, 1983 release of She’s So Unusual, Cyndi Lauper announced she had arrived — and pop music would never quite be the same.

Over nine tracks that encompass exuberant pop, delirious new wave, off-kilter torch songs and empowerment anthems, Lauper invited listeners to flaunt conventions, follow their own arrows and let their freak flags fly. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” – one of six singles from the album – quickly became an era-defining anthem, hitting No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and giving us a gleefully unhinged music video that helped define early MTV (and recently joined the billion views club on YouTube). Soon after, the timeless pop ballad “Time After Time” became her first Hot 100 topper, giving Reagan Era prom-goers a slow dance staple. Before the blockbuster LP’s run was done, it became the first album from a female artist to produce four top 5 Hot 100 singles.

On the Van Gogh-painted heels of the album’s success, Lauper won the best new artist Grammy at the 1985 Grammy Awards, where the cover art – which is in the top 10 of Billboard’s list of the 100 Best Album Covers of All Time – nabbed Janet Perr the Grammy for best recording package.

Shot by rock photography GOAT Annie Leibovitz in front of a shuttered Coney Island wax museum, the cover art features a shoeless Lauper clad in explosively colorful clothing that she thrifted from Screaming Mimi’s, an NYC vintage shop she worked at before catapulting herself into the pop stratosphere.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of an indelible album, Billboard is sharing three rare outtakes from the She’s So Unusual cover shoot, all photographed by Leibovitz on Coney Island during the summer of 1983. For Record Store Day acolytes, a blue vinyl version of the album will hit shelves soon.

Cyndi Lauper

Cyndi Lauper

Annie Leibovitz c/o Sony Music Archives

Cyndi Lauper

Cyndi Lauper

Annie Leibovitz c/o Sony Music Archives

Cyndi Lauper

Cyndi Lauper

Annie Leibovitz c/o Sony Music Archives

12 Oct 2023

Mitski Claims No. 1 on TikTok Billboard Top 50 | Billboard News

Mitski takes over as the latest No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 with “My Love Mine All Mine,” which vaults 5-1 on the Oct. 14-dated ranking.

Tetris Kelly
Mitski makes her way to the top of the chart while a pair of tracks breaks their way into the top 10.

Tetris Kelly
Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine” climbs to No.1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 for the week posting October 12. Fans have posted moments of their life using Mitski as the perfect soundtrack.

Tetris Kelly
Elsewhere on the charts SUICIDAL-IDOL’s “Ecstacy (slowed)” breaks into the top 10 at No.3.

Tetris Kelly
girl in red gives us “we fell in love in october” at No. 5 appropriate for this time of year.

Tetris Kelly
And the rest of the top 10 sees quite a few familiar faces. Every Thursday Billboard will bring you the verified list of the hottest songs on TikTok by monitoring music discovery and engagement on the platform in the United States. To find the TikTok Billboard Top 50 each week, users can simply go to any sound detail page and tap the top right button to access the charts page.

12 Oct 2023

PinkPantheress Announces Debut Album ‘Heaven Knows’: Here’s When It Arrives

PinkPantheress announced her highly anticipated debut album Heaven Knows on Thursday (Oct. 12), and it’s slated to arrive Nov. 10.

“What an intense insane moment ! my first album is coming out and you know i love a pun so it’s called ‘heaven knows’, out on november 10th. this album is an accumulation of music i’ve made over the last two years, with some beloved tunes that might sound familiar and some cutie features who i can’t wait to announce,” she wrote on Instagram. “I love everyone here, i cried the other day thinking of how lucky i am to have people willing to listen to me, you are never taken in vain. to my fanpages, i love you, you’re always there for me and i will never forget about how safe you make me feel. it’s been a long time comin from pain to capable of love, i hope you love each song you hear from me!”

The announcement of Heaven Knows arrives close to the two-year anniversary of her debut mixtape To Hell With It, which she released on Oct. 15, 2021, via Parlophone and Elektra Records. She dropped the remixes version on Jan. 28, 2022. Since then, the English singer-producer — whose music synthesizes bedroom pop, drum-n-bass, 2-step garage, ’90s R&B and more and has become viral on TikTok over the last couple of years — has released a slew of singles, including “Boy’s a Liar” and its famous sequel with Ice Spice that has since peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“I feel like I don’t have that many peers that exist in a similar space to me. I’m not talking about levels. I’m talking about internet space. I think a lot of people see me as being this, like, internet cutesy teen-pop girl,” she told Billboard in a recent interview. “I feel like she was one of the newcomers whom I got drawn to because, even though she does drill and rap, it still feels like she’s in the same cutesy world to me. And she’s Black too, and that was a big important part of it to me. I prefer to collaborate with other Black artists.”

See her announcement below, and pre-order Heaven Knows here.

12 Oct 2023

Rolling Loud Partners With Basketball League Overtime Elite

After delving into the world of sports with its partnership with WWE and the Miami Heat through their festival flagship, Rolling Loud will dive deeper into athletics by teaming with the professional basketball league Overtime Elite.

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Overtime Elite is a basketball league based in Atlanta, Ga., where the top prospects in the country, ages 16-20, showcase their talents. Team Rolling Loud will be the first brand to receive naming rights for an Overtime Elite team. Based in LA, the Rolling Loud team will feature two prominent high school players, Nassir Cunningham and Larry Johnson. Both players are ranked in the top 100 of the 2024 class. Rolling Loud will have creative control team designing the jerseys and merchandise. NBA trainer, Julius V, will lead the team.

“The sport and spirit of basketball is an important part of the Rolling Loud experience, so we’re excited to expand that connection beyond the festival grounds with Overtime Elite. We’re proud to join with this exciting new league and help support the next generation of athletes in Los Angeles — our second hometown,” Matt Zingler and Tariq Cherif, co-founders at Rolling Loud, said in a shared statement to Billboard.

Overtime is equally pleased with the arrival of team Rolling Loud. “As we continue to expand Overtime Elite’s brand and innovate with like-minded partners, we are excited to grow our partnership with team Rolling Loud in Season Three,” said Tyler Rutstein, chief brand officer of Overtime. “There’s an undeniable intersection between basketball, music, and fashion, and partnering with Rolling Loud allows us to be in the center of it all, creating new experiences for both our players and our fans.”

Check out Rolling Loud’s roster below:

  • Nasir Cunningham
  • Larry Johnson
  • Omer Dahan
  • Demarco Johnson
  • Martin Somerville
  • Dominick Stewart
  • CJ Clayman
  • Nico Kodjoe
  • Kellen Hampton
  • Miles Goodman
  • Dio Blakely
  • Stefan Sherman
  • Kye Davis
  • Amani Ndilima
  • Sean Blakely
  • Michael Price
  • AJ Econonu
  • Michael Oaks

Rolling Loud Partnership with OTE

Naas Cunningham

Courtesy of Rolling Loud and OTE

12 Oct 2023

Sabrina Carpenter Signs Global Publishing Deal With UMPG

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has announced a worldwide publishing agreement with Sabrina Carpenter, Billboard can announce exclusively. The news comes in between international stadium dates for Carpenter, who is opening for Taylor Swift‘s Eras tour through the remainder of the year.

“I am so thrilled to have joined the UMPG family and to be a part of an organization that has such a diverse and iconic catalog,” Carpenter says in a statement. “I look forward to bringing my music into a company that houses so many inspirational song writers and artists.”

The publishing deal follows last year’s critically acclaimed Emails I Can’t Send, Carpenter’s first album with Island Records, which debuted at No. 23 on the Billboard 200. “Nonsense” became a viral hit in the months following the album release, and peaked at No. 56 on the Hot 100.

“Sabrina is a next-generation artist,” says Jody Gerson, UMPG chairman and CEO. “She has the unique ability to translate a spectrum of emotions and experiences into culturally impactful songs. Along with our UMPG family around the world, I am so pleased to be able work closely with Sabrina and her team for years to come. She’s that special!”

Carpenter embarked on her Emails I Can’t Send headlining tour – with legs in North America, Europe and Asia – last fall, prior to being announced as an opening act on Swift’s blockbuster tour.

“It’s so funny, I’ve been growing up with her advice in her songs because it’s very much a how-to book on how to survive as a young woman, which is really special,” Carpenter recently told Billboard of Swift’s influence. “Watching her in and of itself is how you learn. I admire her work ethic and her talent and she’s just so amazing.”

After making her debut on the stadium run in Mexico City in August, Carpenter will join Swift at stops in Argentina and Brazil before the end of the year, as well as in Australia and Singapore in early 2024.

12 Oct 2023

All the Stars at the ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ Movie Premiere

Taylor Swift hosted the world premiere of her record-breaking Eras Tour concert film Wednesday (Oct. 11), joining fans and fellow stars in viewing the first-ever screenings of her bestselling global trek caught on camera.

The event took place at AMC theaters at The Grove in Los Angeles, where multiple rooms of people enjoyed synchronous showings of the nearly three-hour program. The seats were filled with Swifties who’d been handpicked by the pop star and her team to attend, but several celebrities also dotted the audience: Maren Morris, Hayley Kiyoko, Simu Liu and the queen herself, Beyoncé, to name a few.

Before sitting down to watch the film, which captured almost an entire Eras Tour concert via footage compiled from Swift’s SoFi Stadium stops (minus the songs “The Archer,” “No Body No Crime” feat. HAIM, “Long Live,” “Cardigan” and “Wildest Dreams”), the 12-time Grammy winner stopped in each theater to make a speech. “I can’t believe I get to do music as a career,” she told the crowds. “That’s crazy. I’ve always had so much fun doing it. I’ve never had this much fun in my life as I have had on The Eras Tour. It is far and away just the most electric experience of my life.”

The star-studded premiere marked a triumphant send-off for the Eras Tour movie, which had already crushed existing AMC sales numbers well before its release. Similar with the Eras concert tickets, the company experienced an unprecedented demand for tickets to the film — so much so, Swift announced that the project would hit theaters a whole day early, now opening Thursday (Oct. 12).

“I can’t really wrap my head around this but…. Look what you genuinely made me do,” wrote the singer in a pre-premiere Instagram post.  “I can’t thank you enough for wanting to see this film that so vividly captures my favorite adventure I’ve ever been a part of: The Eras Tour. And the best part is, it’s an adventure we’re still on together. Getting in the car now…”

See photos of the stars who made it out to Swift’s Eras Tour movie premiere below.

12 Oct 2023

Las Vegas Aces Up 2-0 Over New York Liberty In 2023 WNBA Finals

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2023 WNBA Finals - Game Two

The 2023 WNBA Finals was thought to be a slugfest between two elite squads that would potentially go for the entire length of the series. However, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces are up 2-0 in their best-of-five series against the New York Liberty after a lopsided win on Wednesday (October 11).

Led by A’Ja Wilson, who notched a double-double with 26 points and 15 rebounds, the Aces routed the Liberty 104-76 despite hope that New York’s star players would likely bounce back from the Game 1 loss on Sunday (October 8). As it stands, the Aces are one game away from repeating as the WNBA champions and would be the first team since the 2001-02 Los Angeles Sparks to win back-to-back titles.

Aces head coach Becky Hammon expressed admiration for her team’s execution and play in toppling the Liberty with relative ease.

“The character of this team and their absolute buy-in to the person to the left or right’s success is authentic,’ Hammon said in a postgame press conference as reported by the Associated Press. “And it’s tough to deal with when you share the ball and people are skilled and competitive. They were good tonight. They don’t leave me speechless very often, but they executed defensively, offensively shared it – everything we’ve been asking them to do.”

Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello congratulated the Aces on their win.

“Vegas is playing their best basketball at the moment,” Sandy Brondello said. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence, you see the chemistry that they have. And for us, we haven’t taken the steps forward, we haven’t shown it. We’re disappointed, very disappointed, because we’re a way better team [than] what we showed.”

Game 3 of the WNBA Finals heads back to New York on Sunday (October 15) with the Liberty hoping to extend the series and snatch back momentum. To do so, the team will need more heavy lifting from stars Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, and Breanna Stewart.

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Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty

12 Oct 2023

Nicki Minaj Teases a Special Surprise for ‘Pink Friday the 13th’: See What She’s Potentially Offering

As the home stretch of the lead-up to Nicki Minaj’s forthcoming fifth studio album, Pink Friday 2, approaches, the “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” rapper has some surprises in store. The Queens rapper tweeted on Thursday (Oct. 12) to tease a few possible surprises set to arrive on Friday (Oct. 13).

“Pink Friday the 13th,” she captioned the poll — a reference to Pink Friday 2 — which is the following day in her pledge to “make every Friday from now until the album drops a special Pink Friday.” It’s also a nod to her Grammy-nominated “My Chick Bad” verse, in which she raps, “Friday the 13th, guess who’s playing Jason.”

The polls options include “Big Difference full song,” “a freestyle” and the “name of one Pink Friday 2 feature.” The first choice is a request many fans have been making since Minaj first previewed a minute-long snippet of “Big Difference” immediately following her rendition of “Last Time I Saw You” — which peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 — at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, where she won the best hip-hop Moon Person for “Super Freaky Girl.” The second option would be in line with the “Pinkprint Freestlye” the Head Barb dropped before the release of her third studio album of the same name. Finally, the last choice is fairly self-explanatory.

On her Instagram Story, Minaj posted a screenshot of a poll showing “a freestyle” as the winning option. “Almost 150k votes with 8 hours left ?,” she wrote. “Ion feel like doing no freestyle right now my G!!!! ?? Go vote yall!”

Pink Friday 2, the sequel to Minaj’s Billboard 200-topping debut studio album, is slated for a Nov. 17 release. The album will serve as Minaj’s first full-length album since 2018’s Queen, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the Hot 100 top 10 single “Chun-Li.”

The new album will bookmark yet another banner year for Minaj. In addition to standalone singles such as “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” and “Last Time I Saw You,” the Grammy-nominated rapper also snagged a pair of Hot 100 top 10 hits with Ice Spice: “Princess Diana” (No. 4) and the AQUA-assisted “Barbie World” (No. 7). Minaj also appeared on Hot 100 hits from Kim Petras (“Alone,” No. 55), Sexyy Red (“Pound Town 2,” No. 66), Lil Uzi Vert (“Endless Fashion,” No. 20) and YoungBoy Never Broke Again (“WTF,” No. 99).

Check out Nicki Minaj’s poll and cast a vote below: