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Jelly Roll is off the grid — and his phone is somewhere at the bottom of the Cumberland River. In an effort to reduce stress, the country star recently chucked his cell into the water and has no plans to replace it, he revealed on the latest episode of Bunnie XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast.
On the episode posted Monday (Dec. 16), Jelly began by saying, “I can confidently tell people I’m not gonna have a phone all of ’25.”
The “Son of a Sinner” singer then recounted to Bunnie — whom he married in 2016 — a recent drunk night out that ended with him asking his driver to pull over so that he could get out of the car and lob his phone into the Cumberland, which runs through Kentucky and Tennessee — not that it was an on-the-fly decision. “I was determined,” Jelly recalled, laughing. “I talked about this in interviews all year. I was like, if this tour goes the way I want it to, I’m gonna throw my phone off the Shelby Street Bridge.”
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Jelly went on to explain why it’s more “healthy” for him to be phoneless, noting that he’ll probably downgrade to a simple flip phone in 2025. “I was getting to a point that I was getting hundreds and hundreds of text messages a day,” he shared. “And I just was overwhelmed. I would just feel like such a bad human for missing them. I was carrying a lot of guilt. This phone was causing me a lot of guilt.”
“I would use my phone as a way to avoid,” the Nashville native added. “I would be missing text messages and know there were so many over there that it was too stressful to go check. So I would avoid that by mindless scrolling or, you know, I had these news alerts on my phone, and then we become big news stories all the time. I started getting caught up in that. It doesn’t make me a better person.”
Jelly is currently on break from his Beautifully Broken Tour, which picks back up in Canada in March following a festival performance at Coors Light Birds Nest in Scottsdale, Ariz. In April, he’ll join Post Malone on a two-month joint North American stadium trek.
While on tour, the musician — who recently performed two tracks at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards — has been open about his weight-loss journey. On Dumb Blonde, Jelly explained why he’s stayed so public about the process, telling Bunnie, “I want to be honest about my struggles with it for people.”
“I think that people that become as big as I became, when they lose the weight, they’re so ashamed that they go and hide and lose the weight,” continued Jelly, who revealed he’s now lost 140 pounds. “I wanted to lose [weight] in front of everybody, I wanted to talk about it. I want to bring people along with me.”
Listen to his episode on Dumb Blonde below.
50 Cent, Davido and Mary J. Blige have announced a special gig scheduled to take place July 3 at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The date will see the three global superstars perform together as co-headliners for the first time. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. GMT this Friday (Dec. 20) via Ticketmaster.
For Blige, the show will follow her spring North American headlining tour in support of new LP Gratitude. On Nov. 29, the R&B legend also celebrated the 30th anniversary of her sophomore album, My Life, which spawned the singles “Be Happy,” “I’m Goin Down” and “Mary Jane.”
Speaking to Billboard earlier this year, Blige described the record as being “pivotal” to her success, adding that its creation allowed her to find herself as an artist. “My fans have given me so much, and when I say, ‘We did it,’ I mean my fans and I,” she said.
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50 Cent, meanwhile, has another huge U.K. show scheduled for July. The following week will see him headline Glasgow’s TRNSMT Festival (July 11), alongside Irish pop act The Script. The rapper recently landed his second video in the YouTube Billion Views Club with 2005 hit “Candy Shop,” joining “In Da Club.” His last studio album arrived in the form of 2014’s Animal Ambition.
In March 2023, Davido released his Timeless LP, which peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for best global music album at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Its Musa Keys-assisted track “Unavailable” went on to hit No. 3 on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart.
The Nigerian-American artist is slated to drop his next album, 5ive, early next year. He unveiled lead single “Funds” with Odumodublvck and Chike earlier on Dec. 5; it featured a sample of the 1997 track “Vuli Ndlela” by South African singer-songwriter Brenda Fassie.“This one is straight from the heart – my story, my truth, my growth,” Davido wrote on Instagram uponn the song’s release. “This one’s for the dreamers, the go getters and everyone chasing what’s theirs! Thank you for riding with me.”
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Chris Rock’s monologue for SNL jabbed at multiple figures in the news, including Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the CEO of UnitedHealthcare who was killed in midtown Manhattan.
Last Saturday’s (Dec. 14) episode of Saturday Night Live was hosted by veteran comedian Chris Rock. His opening monologue wasted no time in going after multiple people prominent in today’s news but started off with a playful jab at show director Lorne Michaels for “25 great years of Saturday Night Live!” (The show is currently celebrating 50 years on the air.) Rock was a former cast member on the show from 1990 to 1993 and has hosted SNL three times in 1996, 2014, and 2020. He took a shot at Diddy first by bemoaning having to walk by a pack of “baby oil-sniffing dogs.”
He continued by talking about the capture of Luigi Mangione, the suspected shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan earlier this month. “I really feel sorry for the family,” Rock began. “Everybody’s fixated on how good-looking this guy looks. If he looked like Jonah Hill, no one would care. They’d already given him the chair already — he’d be dead. But he actually killed a man — a man with a family, a man with kids. I have condolences. This is a real person, you know? But you also got to go, ‘You know, sometimes drug dealers get shot.’”
The Top Five actor also made sure to roast President-elect Donald Trump and his base of supporters by calling out the history of past American presidents and his proposed plans for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. “Menendez brothers are getting out of jail — just in time to get deported. Trump is going to deport their ass, you murdering Mexicans!” he quipped before taking aim at tech billionaire Elon Musk. “He’s working with the number one African American in the world. The richest African American in the world: Elon Musk. That’s right. He is African American. Elon’s got more kids than the Cleveland Browns. That’s right. Nobody knows how to get rid of people like a South African.”
Check out the entire monologue above.
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Andrew Schulz still has his sights on Kendrick Lamar. The comedian has labeled the rapper the Taylor Swift of Rap.
As reported by Rap-Up, the media personality is not letting up on the “Not Like Us” MC. During the most recent episode of the Brilliant Idiots podcast, Andrew Schulz had a very hot take on Kung-Fu Kenny. “Kendrick really is the Taylor Swift of Hip-Hop. No matter what he does, he’s still the victim,” he explained. “You know how Taylor is always the victim? She’s the biggest in music in history, yet she’s a victim to the label, she’s a victim to Scooter, she’s a victim to her boyfriends. Yet, she’s still the biggest in the world. Somehow Kendrick is the victim here.”
His commentary follows a recent creepy statement he made after Kendrick Lamar took a shot at him on “wacced out murals” about the comedian’s criticism of Black women. “Kendrick’s people and the gang affiliate, you know, everybody, his security, they will kill me, they will destroy me,” he added. “They’ll find me in the street, they’ll f**king cut me up, they’ll shoot, they’ll do whatever, I’m not a tough guy … But just Kendrick? I would make love to him and there’s nothing he could do about it. Just Kendrick Lamar? I would make love to him. And the only thing that he could do is decide if it’s consensual or not.”
You can hear Andrew Schulz’s explain his comparison of Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift below.
Comedian Andrew Schulz reveals Kendrick Lamar’s team contacted Charlamagne Tha God to “clarify” things and thinks Kendrick is playing the victim like Taylor Swift in their beef. pic.twitter.com/pOEf9Qyldu
— Wiztohfem Unplugged (@wiztohfem) December 16, 2024
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Beyoncé now has more Recording Industry Association of America certified titles than any other female artist, the organization announced Tuesday (Dec. 17). With the superstar earning dozens of new badges Tuesday — including a 2x-Platinum certification for Billboard Hot 100-topper “Texas Hold ‘Em” and Platinum honors for Billboard 200 No. 1 album Cowboy Carter — […]
Lily Allen has long been an open book about her mental and physical health, but in a new chat on her and Miquita Oliver’s Miss Me? podcast, the “LDN” singer said that she’s currently going through a rough patch that she was initially reluctant to discuss with her therapist.
“I don’t think that I lie in therapy, but I do often not talk about things I should be talking about,” the singer said in this week’s episode. “It’s not intentional. I’ve been going through a tough time over the last few months and my eating has become a real issue.” Allen said her eating issues have been going on for almost three years, but she only recently opened up about them to her therapist.
“She was like, ‘Why haven’t you mentioned it before?’” said Allen, who tagged her creative pursuits as a form of “performative therapy,” because she finds it easier to sing about those things than to have “honest, vulnerable” conversations with people she cares about. “It’s not because I have been lying about it. It’s just because it hasn’t seemed at the top of the list of important things that I needed to talk about. But obviously it is.”
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Acknowledging that she sometimes struggles to paint the “big picture” when looking at her mental health — which, she noted, might have to do with her ADHD diagnosis — Allen said, “My body and my brain are two very separate things to me. I know a lot of people feel those two things are very connected to each other, but for me, it’s very different. I spend a lot of time in my head, and not a lot of time thinking about my body.”
Allen then got very candid about her current state of mind and the ways that has manifested physically. “I’m really not in a great place mentally at the moment, and I’m not eating. But I’m not hungry,” she said. ” I obviously am hungry, but my body and brain are so disconnected from each other that my body… the messages of hunger are not going from my body to my brain. I’m not avoiding food, I’m just not thinking about it because I’m so in my head. My body’s like, a few steps behind me.”
Allen, 39, married Stranger Things actor David Harbour in 2020 and has two daughters, ages 13 and 10, with her ex-husband Sam Cooper.
Oliver reminded her pod partner and lifelong friend Allen — who said that she did family therapy when she was young when her mom went tor rehab and then returned to therapy as an adult to deal with the initial rush of fame –that her awareness of what’s going on in her body is one step toward healing, a message the singer appreciated. In 2021, Allen opened up about her long battle with addiction, which she said started in school whens she turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with the resentment she felt from her classmates when she dropped out to pursue music.
Allen revealed her ADHD diagnosis in 2023, saying it “sort of runs in my family,” after sharing that she was suffering from PTSD after a stillbirth in 2010.
In July, Allen revealed that she had begun selling pictures and videos of her feet on OnlyFans, later saying that just a few months in she was earning more with her toes than her music streams. “imagine being and artist and having nearly 8 million monthly listeners on spotify but earning more money from having 1000 people subscribe to pictures of your feet,” she wrote in October.
Listen to the episode below (food discussion begins at 9:55 mark).
If you or someone you know are struggling with disordered eating or an eating disorder you can contact the ANAD helpline at 1 (888) 375-7767 or the National Alliance for Eating Disorders at 1 (866) 662-1235.
The RIAA revealed its yearly certification announcements on Monday (Dec. 16), identifying 65 artists receiving honors for the first time, including Latin artists such as Rauw Alejandro, FloyyMenor, Quevedo, The Marías and Carla Morrison.
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Puerto Rican sensation Rauw Alejandro is recognized for his album Cosa Nuestra, which achieved Gold status. Additionally, his collaboration with Bad Bunny on the single “Qué Pasará” was notably popular. However, it was his 2023 single “Aloha” — with Maluma and Beele, featuring Darell, Mambo Kingz and DJ Luian — that achieved six-times Platinum status, and a few more others such a early 2024 singles “Déjame Entrar” and “Touching the Sky” were also certified Platinum. Spanish rapper Quevedo received a nine-times Platinum accolade for his single “Pero Tú” with Karol G, along with Platinum recognitions for other tracks including “OA” in collaboration with Anuel AA and Maluma (with contributions from Mambo Kingz, DJ Luian).
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Breakout Chilean star FloyyMenor proudly acknowledged his inclusion in the RIAA Class of 2024, celebrating the double Platinum success of his song “Gata Only” with Cris MJ. “I am so proud to be a part of the RIAA Class of 2024 and for my double platinum song making me the only Chilean artist to achieve platinum or higher certification for a Latin title in the RIAA’s Gold and Platinum program’s 66 years,” said FloyyMenor in a statement shared with Billboard Español. “This is not just mine, it is Chile’s and everyone who has supported me since day one. I am very grateful for UnitedMasters, RIAA and my fans for helping me bring my music to the whole world. This last year has been a dream come true.”
Meanwhile, The Marías landed three singles — “No One Noticed,” “Un Millón” and “Lejos de Ti” — in the prestigious program; and Carla Morrison enters this year’s class for her participation in Karol G’s hit song “Mañana Será Bonito,” which went nine times Platinum.
“There’s nothing like the first time! The RIAA Gold and Platinum Class of 2024 is our largest to date — with 65 artists whose talents broke through in amazing ways — proving how new music discovery and creative partnerships are driving the next generation of icons,” added RIAA chairman/CEO Mitch Glazier in a press release. “We are so proud of this group of artists and their label teams for their inspiring work that fans love. We look forward to celebrating their next milestones soon.”
Moreover, the Class of 2024 also features Shaboozey, Chappell Roan, Sexxy Red, Cassö and others.
As for standout Latin releases this year, Peso Pluma’s album Éxodo reached 11 times Platinum, and Fuerza Regida’s single with Marshmello “Harley Quinn” went 27 times Platinum.
Initiated 66 years ago, the Gold and Platinum Awards by the RIAA were designed to acknowledge artists and track sales of sound recordings. These awards have since become a benchmark of success for artists at all stages, from debut tracks to career-spanning compilations.
See the complete list of recipients of the Class of 2024 below on the second slide:
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Donald Trump hosted a news conference this week at his Mar-a-Lago residence that covered a variety of topics for the incoming president-elect. Of Donald Trump’s comments made during the conference, some took note of the fact that he said he would consider pardoning New York Mayor Eric Adams if he is convicted.
Donald Trump, 78, was asked by media in attendance at the conference if he would consider pardoning Mayor Adams, who has been accused of abusing the power of his office by taking travel benefits from Turkey’s leadership and was accused of asking for illegal campaign donations from the nation. Trump said that Adams had been targeted unfairly by federal prosecutors, something he feels has happened to him as well regarding his legal matters in the state of New York.
Shortly after Trump’s event, Mayor Adams held a news conference on Monday and believes that he shouldn’t face charges in connection with his dealings with Turkish officials.
“I have an attorney that is going to look at every avenue to ensure I get justice,” Adams said. “I did nothing wrong.”
Adams’ defense attorney is Alex Spiro, who also represents Jay-Z and has done so for Elon Musk, a Trump ally, in the past.
Some observers believe Adams is cozying up to Trump and his political agenda concerning illegal immigration in exchange for a potential pardon should he face legal ramifications in connection to the donations from Turkey.
[h/t New York Times]
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The 2024 Billboard Music Awards surpassed 330 million cross-platform views, up 14% year over year, generating record viewership in a groundbreaking, multi-distribution model across broadcast, streaming and social channels.
The Dec. 12 special, presented by Marriott Bonvoy, amassed 6.7 million views. It aired live on Fox, Amazon’s Fire TV Channels, Billboard.com and Harmony and on-demand on Paramount+, Hulu, Amazon’s Fire TV Channels and Billboard.com. Content was also distributed via BBMAs and Billboard social channels, including YouTube, X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
The 2024 Billboard Music Awards was the No. 1 social program across all of TV and streaming on Dec. 12. It ranked No. 1 in total interactions (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube); No. 1 in earned interactions (Cross-platform Key Opinion Leader [KOL] + Organic Twitter); and No. 1 in total video view counts (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube).
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The BBMAs saw increased social engagements throughout the duration of the campaign (+54% year over year).
The top-performing video on demand clips on BBMAs Instagram included Stray Kids’ “Chk Chk Boom” and “JJAM” (30 million), Fuerza Regida’s “Pero No Te Enamores” and “NEL” (10.6 million) and Linkin Park’s “The Emptiness Machine” (5 million).
The fact that two of the top-performing VOD clips were by a K-pop group and a regional Mexican band underscores the how pop music has become a global enterprise, and confirms the wisdom of the global approach the show took. Artists took the stage from locations around the world, including Brazil, London, Australia, South Korea and the U.S., delivering original, curated performances exclusive to the BBMAs.
According to data from Luminate, the songs performed on the 2024 BBMAs saw an increase in total on-demand streams (Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, Pandora, YouTube, etc.) on the day following the BBMAs (when compared to the day of the show). Examples include Coldplay’s “All My Love” (up 45%), Jelly Roll’s “I Am Not Okay” (up 28%), and two songs by Tyla: “Shake Ah” (with Optimist and Ez, up 19%) and “Push 2 Start” (up 11%).
Taylor Swift was the top winner at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards, taking home 10 prizes, including a record fifth win for Top Artist. These 10 trophies make her the most decorated BBMAs winner of all time with 49 wins.
Zach Bryan won five awards, including two wins in country and two in rock, reflecting his genre-bridging appeal. Morgan Wallen won four awards, bringing his career total to 19, just one shy of Garth Brooks’ record as the country artist with the most wins.
Shaboozey, Bad Bunny, Drake and the Christian music group Elevation Worship each won three awards. Benson Boone, CeCe Winans, Chandler Moore, Charli XCX, Fuerza Regida, Jung Kook, Kacey Musgraves, Linkin Park, SZA, Teddy Swims, Tommy Richman and Tyla each won two awards.
The tracking period for the 2024 Billboard Music Awards was Oct. 13, 2023, through Oct. 10, 2024, which corresponds to Billboard chart dates from Oct. 28, 2023, through Oct. 19, 2024.
The Billboard Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Corporation. PMC is also the parent company of Billboard.
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” notches its 20th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart dated Dec. 21, tying the record for the most weeks atop the tally since its 2013 inception. Carey’s holiday classic reigns with 42.7 million official U.S. streams earned in the week ending Dec. 12, […]