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18 Jul 2023

Dead & Company Raises $2 Million for Charity Through Memorabilia Auctions During Final Tour

Dead & Company is selling its greatest possessions, all for a noble cause. The group — which consists of former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart alongside John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane — has raised a total of $2 million from memorabilia auctions held during various stops on its Final Tour.

Dead & Co.’s Final Tour officially concluded on July 16 with a sold out show at San Fransisco’s Oracle Park. By the end of the tour run, which included stops in Colorado, Washington, California, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois and more, auctions from the group’s Participation Row — the charity social action village which has traveled with the Dead & Company tour over the past eight years — raised $2 million in new funding from selling memorabilia, bringing its cumulative sum to $4,000,984 in proceeds raised for charities since 2015.

According to HeadCount, a non-profit promoting voting rights where Weir serves a board member, the San Francisco shows “raised over $700,000 to benefit HeadCount, Reverb, and more favorite Dead Family non-profit organizations. This included a remarkable $275,000 for the official tour guitar, $238,000 for the guitar commemorating the final shows in San Francisco, over $150,000 for unique pieces of Mickey Hart’s fine art, and other [miscellaneous] items tallied up the remaining numbers.”

In addition to the Participation Row auctions, Dead & Co. donated two dollars from each ticket sale to HeadCount and ran multiple promotions through their official website to further get DeadHeads involved.

See HeadCount’s post following the conclusion of the auctions below on Instagram.

18 Jul 2023

Post Malone’s ‘Overdrive’ Rules Hot Trending Songs Chart

“Overdrive,” the latest taste of Post Malone’s upcoming album Austin, debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s July 22-dated Hot Trending Songs chart.

Billboard’s Hot Trending charts, powered by Twitter, track global music-related trends and conversations in real-time across Twitter, viewable over either the last 24 hours or past seven days. A weekly, 20-position version of the chart, covering activity from Friday through Thursday of each week, posts alongside Billboard’s other weekly charts on Billboard.com each Tuesday, with the latest tracking period running July 7-13.

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“Overdrive” debuts at No. 1 after being teased on social media prior to its July 14 release, first on July 12.

It’s the third song to be released from Austin, which is out July 28. First came lead single “Chemical,” which debuted at No. 5 on the Top Trending Songs tally dated April 22 and has peaked so far at No. 13 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100. Then came “Mourning,” which debuted at No. 36 on the Hot 100 in June.

More chart activity for “Overdrive” will be reflected on the Billboard rankings dated July 29.

After “Overdrive” comes “Militerian,” from J Hus’ new album Beautiful and Brutal Yard. The song, which features Naira Marley, was released on July 13 ahead of the LP’s July 14 premiere.

Jung Kook’s “Seven” vaults 10-3 due to more teases of the song before its official release on July 14, while NMIXX’s “Party O’Clock” bows at No. 4 after being uploaded July 11. The chart’s previous No. 1, EXO’s “Cream Soda,” rounds out the top five at No. 5.

Keep visiting Billboard.com for the constantly evolving Hot Trending Songs rankings, and check in each Tuesday for the latest weekly chart.

18 Jul 2023

Toby Keith to Receive Country Icon Award at Inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards

Toby Keith will receive the country icon award at the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards on Sept. 28.

Keith, famous for such songs as “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “How Do You Like Me Now,” “As Good As I Once Was,” and “Beer for My Horse,” will be honored for his 30-year career as a musician, humanitarian and entrepreneur. Fellow Oklahoman Blake Shelton will present the award.

The honor is the latest in a long list of accomplishments for Keith, including being named a BMI icon last year, receiving the National Medal of Arts in 2021, and being inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2021 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015. 

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“We’re overjoyed to honor legendary artist Toby Keith with the first-ever country icon award,” said Cassandra Tryon, senior vp, of entertainment live events for NBCUniversal television and streaming in a statement. “As a talented songwriter and powerhouse performer, Keith has touched the hearts of fans across the globe. His illustrious career and passion for philanthropy has cemented his place as an icon in country music history.”  

The recognition comes as Keith is returning to the public arena after successfully battling stomach cancer for the 18 months. He recently announced that he hopes to return to the road this fall. 

The awards show, an expansion of the People’s Choice Awards, will be hosted by Little Big Town and will air and stream at 8 p.m. ET/PT across NBC and Peacock, live from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. The telecast will be produced by Den of Thieves with Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski serving as executive producers.

The show is being touted as an example of collaboration resulting from the new partnership between NBCUniversal and the Opry Entertainment Group, following NBCUniversal’s equity investment OEG parent company Ryman Hospitality Properties last year. RHP sold a minority stake, valued at nearly $300 million, to NBCUniversal and Atairos.

It also gives NBC its own country focused awards show. ABC airs the CMA Awards, while CBS now broadcasts the CMT Awards after the ACM Awards moved to Amazon in 2022. 

18 Jul 2023

CMT Pulls Jason Aldean’s Controversial ‘Try That In a Small Town’ Video: Exclusive

CMT has pulled Jason Aldean’s incendiary video for his new single, “Try That In a Small Town.”

The visual, which his label Broken Bow Records/BMG, released on Friday (July 14), was in rotation on CMT through Sunday (July 16), playing in the morning music video hours. It is unclear how many times CMT played the video before pulling it on Monday. Other than confirming the outlet had yanked the video, CMT declined to comment on the decision to cease playing the clip.

The video, which has received more than 346,000 views on YouTube since its release, features Aldean performing in front of courthouse with an American flag hanging from the entrance. The performance is interspersed with footage of a flag burning, protesters screaming and attacking police in various scenarios, and robbing a convenience store. It’s unclear where the footage was taken from, but at one point, a Fox News chyron appears with the words “state of emergency declared in Georgia.” Aldean is from Macon, Ga.

Toward the end, the violent scenes are juxtaposed against images of Americana such as a small girl playing hopscotch and a flag rising, as a news anchor’s voice comes on talking about farmers dropping their crops for the day to help a neighbor. A wizened male face comes on screen and earnestly says, “It’s what this community and a lot of farm communities stand for: Somebody needs some help, they’ll get it.”  

Aldean’s representative did not immediately respond for comment.

Upon the release of the video on Friday, Aldean posted on Instragram: “When u grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of ‘we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.’ It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way. Go check it out!”

Written by Kelly Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Michael Allison, the song is an often confrontational take, with lyrics challenging those who “carjack an old lady at a red light” or “pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store” or “cuss out a cop” to try that in a small town and “see how far ya make it down the road/ around here, we take care of our own.”

In a later verse, Aldean, who was on stage when the worst gun massacre in U.S. history took place at the Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, sings, “Got a gun that my granddad gave me/ They say one day they’re gonna round up/ Well, that sh-t might fly in the city/ Good luck.”

The single, which will be featured on Aldean’s forthcoming album, debuted on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart eight weeks ago and rises 26-25 for the chart dated July 22. 

Aldean kicked off a new amphitheater tour this weekend. He succumbed to heat stroke at his July 15 show, but will return to the road on July 20.

18 Jul 2023

Troye Sivan Responds to Body Diversity Critiques of His ‘Rush’ Music Video: ‘It Wasn’t a Thought We Had’

After receiving some online criticism for his latest music video, Australian pop star Troye Sivan is responding in kind.

In a new interview with Billboard on Tuesday (July 18), Sivan talked about his new single “Rush” and its subsequent music video, which garnered some significant criticism online for not showcasing a diverse array of body types. Speaking about the backlash, Sivan said that he and his creative director Gordon von Steiner simply didn’t think about the issue when making the video.

“I definitely hear the critique,” Sivan said in the interview. “To be honest, it just wasn’t a thought we had — we obviously weren’t saying, ‘We want to have one specific type of person in the video.’ We just made the video, and there wasn’t a ton of thought put behind that.”

Sivan also clapped back at critics who used the opportunity to mock the singer for his appearance. “There was this article … and they were talking about [the lack of body diversity], and in the same sentence, this person said ‘Eat something, you stupid twinks,’” he said. “That really bummed me out to read that — because I’ve had my own insecurities with my body image. I think that everyone’s body is as beautiful as it is, including my own, and it just sucks to see people talking about other people’s bodies.”

The singer wasn’t the only one who was disappointed by the discourse surrounding the “Rush” video — in a tweet that seemed to reference the backlash on Friday (July 14), pop singer Charli XCX appeared to defend her past collaborator from critics. “I feel like we live in a world where audiences feel like expression or art isn’t worth their time unless it appeases every single unspoken requirement,” she wrote. “IT IS SO BORING. if something breaks common aesthetics it’s “weird” or “try hard” if something conforms it’s “offensive” and “not diverse enough”. What a boring discourse.”

Check out Sivan’s full interview here.

18 Jul 2023

The Mayan Warrior Art Car May Have Burned Down, But Its Creators Are Hosting One Last Party

Burning Man’s famous Mayan Warrior art car was destroyed in a fire this past April, but that’s not stopping its creators from throwing one final party.

On Tuesday (July 18), the Mayan Warrior announced its last ever show: a Halloween party in Los Angeles. The Oct. 28 event is being produced in partnership with Los Angeles-based production company Stranger Than, Mayan Warrior’s longtime partner on its off-playa tour stops.

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The event will happen at downtown Los Angeles’ Grand Park, where Mayan Warrior hosted its first West Coast event in 2017. While the actual Mayan Warrior art car will obviously not be on-site for the event, the party will be thrown in the tradition of its longstanding festivities. The event is a fundraiser for the Mexico City-based Mayan Warrior community, with money going toward this community’s next Burning Man camp and art project.

No artists have yet been announced for the show, with Mayan Warrior parties typically not revealing lineups until immediately before the event. Tickets go on sale Aug. 1.

The Mayan Warrior show will be just one of several events Stranger Than will host in Los Angeles over Halloween weekend. Since expanding to Los Angeles from New York in 2018, the company has made a name for itself by hosting dance shows in locations not often used for music events, including the beach and local museums.

Since debuting at Burning Man in 2012, Mayan Warrior had become one of the event’s prestige art cars, with a high-level soundsystem and a rotation of DJs representing Mexico and the global electronic scene.

The car caught fire and burned to the ground on April 5 while en route to a fundraiser in Punta de Mita — a beach town on the country’s central Pacific coast. The cause of this fire has not been given.

18 Jul 2023

Snoop Dogg & E-40 Are Teaming Up for a Cookbook: Here’s When It Arrives

Looking for something new to try in the kitchen? Snoop Dogg and E-40 got you covered.

The rap duo are teaming up for a new cookbook, titled Snoop Dogg Presents Goon With the Spoon, which is set to arrive on November 14 via Chronicle Books, according to People.

The book, which serves as a follow-up to Snoop’s popular cookbook, From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg’s Kitchen, will feature more than 65 recipes inspired by both Snoop and E-40’s music, as well as some tasty dishes the hip-hop superstars enjoy cooking and eating together.

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“E-40 is my big homie, my brother, my mentor,” Snoop wrote in the book’s foreword, per People. “Watching him expand his love for food and cooking over the years to his many successful businesses is some boss-level shit. Which is why Snoop Dogg Presents Goon with the Spoon had to be the next cookbook, ya dig?”

Snoop is no stranger to the culinary arts. Beyond his cookbooks, the “Drop It Like It’s Hot” rapper’s 2017 Emmy-nominated cooking show with his pal Martha Stewart, Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party, featured a series of special guests such as Wiz Khalifa, 50 Cent and Bella Thorne.

If you’re looking for more tasty musician-approved recipes, we at Billboard have compiled a whole list of musician cookbooks you need to try for your next dinner party. Check out our list here.

18 Jul 2023

John Calipari & His Kentucky Wildcats Practice & Live It Up At Drake’s $100M Toronto Mansion

HipHopWired Featured Video

Drake Lets The Kentucky Wildcats Hold Practice At His Mansion

Source: Cole Burston / Getty / Drake

Being friends with Drake has its perks. Just ask John Calipari and his Kentucky Wildcats college basketball program.

Spotted on HipHopDX, legendary college basketball coach John Calipari isn’t shy about taking advantage of his decades-long relationship with the Canadian Hip-Hop star.

While he is on tour with 21 Savage, Drake invited Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats basketball program to practice at his $100 million mansion that features a basketball court called “The Sanctuary” while using Drizzy’s massive pool to help beat the unprecedented Canadian heat.

Rocking his OVO polo because you have to be rocking Drake’s gear while at his crib, Calipari shared a video of himself and his Wildcats enjoying time at the pool after practice.

“Alright, we’re at Drake’s relaxing,” Cal flexed in a video shared on his Twitter account.’ “Really wish you were with us. What is that? Is that a hotel? Oh my gosh, and here comes goofballs. You would think these are a bunch of 18-year-olds. I ain’t going in,” while “Having Our Way” played in the background.

In other videos shared on the Kentucky Wildcats Twitter account, forward Tre Mitchell revealed that his favorite Drake record is “Champagne Poetry” off his 2021 project, Certified Lover Boy.

Why Were The Kentucky Wildcats Up North?

HipHopDX reports the team was fresh off winning the gold medal while competing in the Global Jam tournament, so that should qualify all suspicions as to why the Kentucky Wildcats were north of the border.

We’re sure even though Drake is currently breaking fan’s hearts and pockets during his tour; he is secretly hating he is not at his crib practicing with the Wildcats so he could get some revenge following the poor layup performance when Coach Cal let him cosplay as a player for a day.



Never forget!

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18 Jul 2023

Jason Aldean’s New Track & Video Criticized as a Pro-Gun, ‘Modern Lynching Song’ by Some Listeners

Over the weekend, Jason Aldean made an early exit from his concert in Hartford, Conn., due to intense heat, but now the singer-songwriter is again catching heat — this time for his new song and music video, “Try That in a Small Town,” which is garnering a flurry of responses and criticism on social media.

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Aldean posted the video on social media along with the message, “When u grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of ‘we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.’ It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way. Go check it out!”

“Try That in a Small Town” was written by Kelley Lovelace, Kurt Allison, Neil Thrasher and Tully Kennedy, and produced by Aldean’s longtime producer Michael Knox.

The song and video have riled some listeners, who are taking issue with lyrics that some fans are considering pro-gun and racist. The lyrics begin by describing how those in a small town might react to various incidents — including carjackings and robberies. But the song also lists other infractions in lyrics such as “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face/ Stomp on the flag and light it up/ Yeah ya think you’re tough.”

From there, the chorus seemingly issues a warning to social justice warriors, advising them not to try their mischief in the rural South, most notably on lyrics including “Try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road … you cross that line it won’t take long for you to find out/recommend you don’t.”

The video features Aldean performing in front of a small-town courthouse draped with an American flag, interspersed with footage of protests, cars and flags burning, and smash and grab robberies, followed at the end with images of people raising American flags and talking about showing up to help neighbors.

Many on social media criticized the song’s messaging, with one commenter noting the choice of filming location for the music video, while another commenter called the track a “modern lynching song.”

Others criticized Aldean for releasing a song with a pro-gun message, when it was Aldean who was onstage at Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest Festival in 2017, when a gunman killed more than 60 people. Additionally, many called out Aldean for recording a song that seemingly supports “small town values,” and pointing out the many mass shootings that have occurred in smaller towns.

“Uvalde? Small town. VA Tech? Small college town. Newtown? Small New England town. Parkland? Small town that had just been voted Florida’s safest town. Most mass shootings occur in small towns,” another user wrote, tagging Aldean. “Your listeners are dying,” she criticized.

Others praised the song as opposing left-leaning politics.

Billboard has reached out to Aldean’s reps for comment.

The official music video for the song has been viewed more 300,000 times so far on YouTube. See the full video below:

18 Jul 2023

‘The Little Mermaid’ Is Ready to Splash Its Way Onto Prime Video & Other Digital Platforms: How to Watch from Home

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The Little Mermaid is swimming towards a digital release! Disney’s live-action adaptation of the classic mermaid tail will be available to on Prime Video and other digital platforms starting July 24, per Amazon.

THE LITTLE MERMAID

Under the Sea: All the Best ‘Little Mermaid’ Merch to Buy Online

A modern reimagining of the fairytale, The Little Mermaid, stars Halle Bailey as Ariel, a spirited mermaid who swims to shore (against her father’s wishes), saves a prince from drowning, and makes a deal with a sea witch, Ursula, to become human. Jonah Hauer-King plays Ariel’s love interest, Prince Eric.  

Melissa McCarthy stars as Ursula and Javier Bardem plays King Triton, Ariel’s father and Ursula’s estranged brother. Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina and Jacob Tremblay round out the cast as Ariel’s friends Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle.

The Little Mermaid debuted in theaters over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Since its May release, the Rob Marshall-directed movie has raked in more than $550 million worldwide becoming the seventh-biggest film of 2023. It’s unclear when The Little Mermaid will be released on Disney+.

In the meantime, audiences will officially be able to stream The Little Mermaid on Prime Video ($19.99) starting next Monday, July 24, at 9:00 p.m. PT. The movie will also be available on other digital platforms like Apple TV.

Prime Video has a large roster of entertainment — including a ton of movies streaming free for Prime members, movies that you can buy and rent including blockbuster hits such as The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. and John Wick 4.

The Little Mermaid joins other Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, Babylon: The Road Home, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1, Joy Ride, Insidious: The Red Door and other new movies that you can pre-order on Prime Video and stream from anywhere.

The Little Mermaid (Includes Bonus Content)

$19.99 (pre-order)

The Little Mermaid will be released on Blu-ray/DVD ($24.99) on Sept. 19, according to Target. The Blu-ray includes the theatrical release and a singalong version of the movie. Fans will also be able to peek inside the making of the film with behind-the-scenes footage showcasing how the swimming sequences were filmed, song breakdowns and more.

The Little Mermaid Collectible Steelbook Edition ($29.99), which is available exclusively at Best Buy and includes a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray and a digital copy of the movie, drops on Oct. 3 (click here to pre-order from Best Buy).

The Blu-ray/DVDs is currently available at Walmart and Target, and Barnes & Noble. Pre-order below.

The Little Mermaid Collectible SteelBook Edition ($29.99), which is available exclusively at Best Buy and includes a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray and a digital copy of the movie, drop on Oct. 3 (click here to pre-order from Best Buy).