News

14 Mar 2023

Avril Lavigne Wins Fan Choice Award at 2023 Juno Awards; Deftly Handles Topless Stage-Crasher

Avril Lavigne won the fan-voted Fan Choice Award for the fourth time at the 2023 Juno Awards on Monday (March 13). And she reminded fans why they love her with her deft handling of a topless stage-crasher.

When Lavigne was introducing a performance by AP Dhillon, the first Punjabi artist to perform at the Junos, a topless woman appeared on the stage behind her. According to a CBC News report, a message written on her back appeared to read “SAVE THE GREEN BELT” — an apparent reference to a controversial development plan by the Ontario government.

Lavigne turned around and told her to “get the f— off,” and the protester left the stage.

The moment recalled the most famous stage-crashing incident at a music awards show, when a stage crasher with the words Soy Bomb scrawled on his chest was able to get on stage at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York in 1998. He gyrated while Bob Dylan was performing “Love Sick.” Dylan endured the strange moment stoically and just kept on playing.

Lavigne, by contrast, put the woman in her place. When she later won the Fan Choice Award, Lavigne joked about her take-charge attitude. “Now nobody try anything this time. I’ll f— a b—- up.”

Marvel star Simon Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), who hosted the show for the second year, praised Lavigne for “handling that topless lady like a champion.”

The 52nd Annual Juno Awards were held at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Just five competitive awards were presented on the two-hour show. More than 40 awards had been presented at the Juno Opening Night Awards on Saturday (March 11), which allowed the Monday telecast to focus on performances by Tenille Townes, Alexisonfire, Aysanabee, Jessie Reyez, Tate McRae, AP Dhillon, Banx & Ranx, Preston Pablo and Rêve, as well as a 50th anniversary to hip-hop which focused on Canadian hip-hop talent.

The Weeknd won five awards over the course of the two nights. These five awards bring The Weeknd’s total of Juno Awards to 22, which puts him in second place on the all-time Juno leaderboard. Anne Murray continues to lead all artists with 25 Junos.

Abel Tesfaye won four of those awards at the Juno Opening Night Awards, which was livestreamed from the Edmonton Convention Centre. On the live telecast, he won one more award — album of the year for FM Dawn. It was his third win in the category, following Beauty Behind the Madness and After Hours. But he wasn’t on hand to accept his honor, which led to ringing boos from the audience.

The Weeknd has famously been on the outs with the Grammys since the annual ceremony gave him a grand total of zero nominations in the year of “Blinding Lights,” one of the biggest and best singles of recent years. But the Junos have showered him with awards. It’s easy to see why the audience felt he was disrespecting them by not showing up.

The Weeknd has yet to win the Fan Choice Award. Lavigne, by contrast, is one of only three artists to win it four or more times. Justin Bieber leads with five wins in the category. Shawn Mendes has also won it four times. (Either Lavigne or Mendes has won the award in each of the last seven years.)

Toronto singer Jessie Reyez won the first award of the night, contemporary R&B recording of the year for her 2022 album Yessie. The Weeknd had won the award in each of the last two years.

Nickelback was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Actor Ryan Reynolds called the band “the pride of Alberta” during a pre-taped segment, which was followed by an onstage introduction from Edmonton Oilers hockey player Connor McDavid.

The band closed the show with a performance with included such global hits as “Rockstar” and “How You Remind Me.”

Rappers Haviah Mighty and Kardinal Offishall introduced a 50th anniversary tribute to hip-hop in Canada.

“One of my favourite MCs went on to be the world’s favorite,” said Kardinal Offishall, referring to Drake. “The world would not look the same if it wasn’t for the unprecedented talent, influence and vision of [a man] like Drake. He continued to open doors and help focus the world’s attention on our thriving hip hop scene.”

Kardinal Offishall is best known in the U.S. for his 2008 single “Dangerous” (featuring Akon), a top five single on the Billboard Hot 100.

Maestro Fresh-Wes, who won the first Juno for rap album of the year (1991’s Symphony in Effect), announced this year’s winner, TOBi’s Shall I Continue?

Here are the nominees in the categories that were presented on the live telecast, with winners checked.

Here’s our report on the winners from Saturday’s Opening Night Juno Awards.

TikTok Juno Fan Choice

WINNER: Avril Lavigne, Warner

Lauren Spencer-Smith, Island/Republic*Universal

MacKenzie Porter, Big Loud*Independent

Preston Pablo, 31 East*Universal

Rêve, 31 East*Universal

Shawn Mendes, Island*Universal

Tate McRae, RCA*Sony

The Reklaws, Starseed*Independent

The Weeknd, XO*Universal

Tyler Shaw, Sony

Album of the year

Who Hurt You?, Ali Gatie, Warner

Love Sux, Avril Lavigne, Warner

Demons Protected by Angels, NAV, XO*Universal

i used to think i could fly, Tate McRae, RCA*Sony

WINNER: Dawn FM, The Weeknd, XO*Universal

Breakthrough artist of the year

Dax, Columbia*Sony

Devon Cole, Arista*Sony

WINNER: Preston Pablo, 31 East*Universal

RealestK, Columbia*Sony

Rêve, 31 East*Universal

Rap album/EP of the year

GONZO, Boslen, Capitol*Universal

Retrospected (Acoustic), Classified, Halflife*Universal

The Fleur Print Vol. 2, Jazz Cartier, Petal Garden*Believe

Demons Protected by Angels, NAV, XO*Universal

WINNER: Shall I Continue?, TOBi, RCA

Contemporary R&B recording of the year

“When Flowers Bloom,” Adria Kain, ArtHaus*Warner

“If I Get Caught,” dvsn, OVO

“No Longer in the Suburbs,” Dylan Sinclair, Five Stone*The Orchard

WINNER: “Yessie,” Jessie Reyez, Island*Universal

“WTF,” Savannah Ré, Universal

Canadian Music Hall of Fame Inductee Award

Nickelback

MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award

Jewel Casselman, Lakewood School, Winnipeg

14 Mar 2023

Garth Brooks Advises Radio Programmers to Lead with Love at CRS

Garth Brooks put forth a call for unity to radio programmers at Country Radio Seminar during a Monday (March 13) session, asking them to use their platform for good.

“How divided is this nation right now and who on the planet has a single voice to cover this entire nation? You do,” he said, in a session moderated by CRS executive director RJ Curtis. “Think about what you say when you open your mouth on those airwaves. Think about the music you play. Do the people listening to your station feel better about the future than they did [before]?”

He continued with a dire warning if cooler, more unified heads don’t prevail. “You’ve got a big voice. This country needs a big voice spreading the most important thing and that’s love. People, I’m telling you, with the Internet, people, if it keeps going the way it is civil war is waiting for this country again. It will be here before your children grow up,” he said. “Those are real voices behind those real microphones talking to those real people [at radio]. Unify them. Find that common ground. Amplify our similarities instead of our differences.”

He also gave programmers a tough love pep talk as terrestrial radio finds itself competing streaming. 

“You guys have convinced yourselves for some reason you are the victim of streaming. You have convinced yourself that your time is coming to an end,” he said. “People, I am promising you radio’s time is not coming to an end. What radio has that streaming will never have is discovery. I can’t ask for anything new on Alexa. Alexa doesn’t know how to play anything new. You guys get to play it all and we get to hear if first through you.”

He then went on to tell an anecdote that flies in the face of the popularity of on-demand listening about turning to terrestrial radio while working on his truck and, as the hours go by, hearing a new song repeatedly that he grows fonder of each time he hears it until it becomes his favorite song. “If I had the option of going ‘next,’ I would never have heard the song. That’s a gift you have. Do not take it lightly,” he said. “You guys will forever be discovery. That’s the coolest part of this business.”

The purpose for Brooks’ appearance was to tout the Garth Brooks “No Fences” Award, which was announced in November and will be handed out at CRS starting in 2024. The award will honor someone in the country music community who has “defied traditional standards and practices, positively changed the face of the industry, and established higher standards for measuring success,” as well as raised country music’s profile on a national level for a sustained duration.  

Curtis and Brooks looked back to the superstar’s first visit to CRS in February 1989, when his first single, “Much Too Young (to Feel This Damn Old),” was struggling at radio. Brooks and his team, including managers Bob Doyle and Pam Lewis, roamed the halls greeting programmers and handing out buttons, now collector’s items, with the song title on them. 

By the time he returned to CRS a year later in 1990 to debut “Friends in Low Places” at a luncheon, he’d scored four top 10s, including No. 1s with “If Tomorrow Never Comes” and “The Dance.” 

While much of the conversation was looking back on those early days, Brooks also gave hints at what is coming up for him, including his new Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace that begins in May. 

While he didn’t give a timetable for when his long awaited bar/entertainment space, Friends in Low Places, would open in Nashville, he said he “owed” Nashville the bar for all the town has given him. He also added, “If there was ever a song that described Lower Broadway…,” to strong audience laughter. 

He also alluded to another attraction—“it’s not a museum because I’m not dead”—that will house his archives and will feature interactive exhibits, spanning his entire career. “We’re very fortunate that we own every bit of music that we’ve ever played. We own every frame of footage… we own everything we’ve ever done,” he said. In addition to static displays, he brought up that fans will be able to take photos with his record-breaking seven CMA entertainer of the year awards and with his nine diamond RIAA awards, the most of any artist, for sales of 10 million or more for an album or song. “It’s coming, that’s where the archives live,” he said. 

13 Mar 2023

Miley Cyrus’ ‘Endless Summer Vacation’ Is Cruising to No. 1 In U.K.

Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation is about to kick off with a U.K. No. 1.

The U.S. pop star’s eighth studio album takes the lead at the midway point of the chart week, and is unlikely to be overpowered.

According to the Official Charts Company, Endless Summer Vacation (via RCA) nearly doubles the sales of its nearest competitor, Sleaford Mods’ U.K. Grim (Rough Trade), and is set to become her second chart leader.

Cyrus also led the Official U.K. Albums Chart back in 2013 with Bangerz.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Endless Summer Vacation is, of course, led by “Flowers,” which has reigned over the Official U.K. Singles Chart for the past eight weeks. Based on midweek singles chart data, “Flowers” is on track for a ninth week at the summit, and album track “River” could bow at No. 13.

As it stands, veteran electronic duo Sleaford Mods could nab a fourth U.K. top 10 — and a career best — with U.K. Grim, on track for a No. 2 start.

Further down the list, legendary Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison could earn a 17th top 10 with Moving On Skiffle (Exile), coming in at No. 5 on the Official Chart Update.

Also, homegrown country duo Ward Thomas is eyeing a No. 6 entry with Music In Madness (WTW Music), their fifth album release.

Finally, South Korean pop act TWICE is eyeing a slice of chart history with Ready To Be (Republic Records). The EP races to No. 7 on the chart blast, a position that would make TWICE just the second K-pop girl group to land a U.K. top 10 album. The first to do so was Blackpink, which made history in September 2022 when Born Pink debuted at No. 1.

All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday.

13 Mar 2023

Marshmello Scores First Entry on Any Latin Chart With Manuel Turizo Collab ‘El Merengue’

There is a new face on Billboard’s Tropical Airplay chart: Christopher Comstock, better known as Marshmello, makes his first chart visit with “El Merengue,” with Manuel Turizo, as the song debuts at No. 4 on the March 18-dated ranking. It also becomes the EDM music producer and DJ’s first top 10. Colombian Turizo claims his third straight top 10.

“El Merengue” is a tropical tune peppered with electronic beats and was released March 3 via Joytime Collective/Sony Music Latin. It starts with 6 million in audience impressions earned in the U.S. during the March 3-9 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The song is the first pair-up by the electronic DJ and Turizo. The latter previously spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on Tropical Airplay (starting the August 6, 2022-dated list) with his first official tropical attempt, “La Bachata.” Prior to “La Bachata” Turizo secured a first No. 1 through his featured turn on Piso 21’s “Déjala Que Vuelva” (two weeks at No. 1, 2021), when Tropical Airplay was a station-based chart.

As mentioned, Marshmello lands his first top 10 through his first foray on a Latin chart. He also becomes the third non-Spanish-language-speaking act to secure a top 10 on Tropical Airplay this year. He follows Justin Timberlake and Lil Jon. Timberlake spent five weeks in the top 10 since January through his Romeo Santos three-week champ collab, “Sin Fin,” which debuted and peaked at No. 1 last Sept. Lil Jon, meanwhile, completed three weeks in the top 10 this year through “Let’s Get Crazy,” his partnership with Don Omar. The track peaked at No. 5 last October and held strong in the upper tier for a total of 15 weeks.

“El Merengue” also contributes to the individual Latin Airplay ledgers for Marshmello and Turizo: as the song bows at No. 14 on the all-genre ranking, it becomes Marshmello’s highest start following two English-language tracks that peaked outside the top 40 in 2018. Turizo concurrently scores his highest start there after the No. 25 debut of “La Nota,” with Myke Towers and Rauw Alejandro, in Oct. 2020 (the song later reached No. 1, in Jan. 2021). In total, the Colombian singer-songwriter has landed nine top 10s there, with five of those reaching No. 1.

Elsewhere on Latin charts, “El Merengue” makes its No. 9 debut on Latin Digital Song Sales; a first chart visit and top 10 for Marshmello there.

Further, Turizo makes his debut on the Dance charts as “Merengue” debuts at No. 6 on Hot Dance/ Electronic Songs with 2.7 million U.S. clicks logged in its first tracking week plus 500 downloads.

All charts (dated March 18) will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (March 14).

13 Mar 2023

SWV Talk ‘The Queens of R&B’ & Still Being the Same ‘Around the Way Girls’

SWV and Xscape: The Queens of R&B premiered March 5 on Bravo, and to celebrate the reality series, SWV sat down with Billboard‘s Gail Mitchell to discuss their incredible career.

“It’s a blessing,” Lelee said of the trio’s success. “We didn’t even know we were going to make it, let alone be here 30 years later. I mean, as long as the fans want us here, we’re going to show up.”

As for what it is about SWV that still resonates with music fans after all these years, Taj says that it’s all about consistency. “We haven’t changed one bit from day one. This is us,” she shares. “We were always the quirky, around the way girls who just love to have fun and sing. We’re still that, but we’re just much older.”

The six-episode Queens of R&B series follows SWV and Xscape as they prepare for a joint concert and navigate personal drama that could derail their stage plans. The reality series explores “the inner working of putting on a live concert performance” while exposing “the discord and complex dynamics of sisterhood within singing groups.”

The hardest part, Taj says, was being away from their families during filming. “You just want to be portrayed the right way,” Lelee adds. “Everybody don’t take your life and your story serious. It’s not their baby. It’s television.”

“Don’t get caught up in the hype,” Coko replies when asked what she wants fans to take away from the show, before adding with a laugh, “Enjoy it and don’t at me.”

Watch SWV’s full interview with Billboard above, included a gorgeous a cappella rendition of “Weak.”

13 Mar 2023

Selena Gomez Uses a Miley Cyrus Song Title in Instagram Caption

Selena Gomez seems to be enjoying Miley Cyrus‘ new album just as much as everyone else.

The “Lose You to Love Me” singer took to Instagram on Monday (March 13) to share a stunning makeup-free selfie with the simple caption, “Violet Chemistry,” which is a track title from Cyrus’ freshly dropped eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation.

“Stay awhile, don’t deny the violet chemistry / Stay awhile, stay awhile with me / Stay awhile, put your arms around me,” Cyrus sings in the synth-filled, sultry song.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Gomez and Cyrus have been close for years, as both singers began their careers as Disney Channel stars, Miley on Hannah Montana — on which Gomez had a recurring role as Mikayla — and Selena on her series, Wizards of Waverly Place.

Cyrus first announced Endless Summer Vacation in January, with a post revealing steamy album cover, in which the 30-year-old star is seen in a black unitard, sunglasses and heels, swinging from a trapeze bar against a deep blue background.

Gomez took to the comments section at the time, writing, “Damn.”

Fans can experience the entire album live for the very first time by tuning into Miley’s Backyard Sessions concert special celebrating the release, as well as the fifteenth anniversary of “The Climb,” on Disney+.

13 Mar 2023

Audience for 95th Oscars Rebounds Slightly to 18.7 Million

Whether it was the lingering drama of The Slap or the prominence of blockbusters in the best picture race, a bigger audience was lured back to the Oscars this year.

The 95th Academy Awards, which aired Sunday night on ABC, was viewed by an estimated 18.7 million, according to preliminary Fast National Live+Same Day numbers released Monday by ABC. That’s up 12% from last year’s show, but still low compared to most years.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The evening’s main counterprogramming, the season finale of “The Last of Us” pulled in 8.2 million viewers across HBO and HBO Max. The show began at 9 p.m. EST, an hour after the Oscars started.

A frequent criticism of the Oscars is that the show celebrates films that don’t have wide appeal. This year was markedly different, however, with two billion-dollar blockbuster sequels in the mix: “Top: Gun Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” were both nominated for best picture. Angela Bassett was nominated for a Marvel movie, a first. Even the winning film, A24’s “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” made over $100 million at the global box office and played in theaters for months.

For many years, the Oscars were often the second most-watched television program of the year behind the Super Bowl. Until 2018, the Oscar telecast had never slipped below 30 million viewers, according to Nielsen records. The high-water mark was the 55 million people who watched “Titanic” clean up in 1998.

From the 43.7 million who watched in 2014, viewership declined steadily to 26.5 million in 2018, then went back up to 29.6 million in 2019, and 23.6 million in 2020. The bottom fell out with the pandemic-diminished show in 2021, seen by 9.85 million. It rebounded last year to 16.6 million, which was the second lowest-rated show ever.

Jimmy Kimmel, who presided over the ceremony in 2017 and 2018, returned to host the show, parachuting on to the Dolby Theatre stage. The show also featured performances from pop stars like Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

Broadcast television viewership has gone down across the board in the streaming era, and awards shows have illustrated that. The show boasted 27.4 million total social interactions across Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and was the No. 1 worldwide trending topic on Twitter for its duration.

By Monday afternoon, Ke Huy Quan’s acceptance speech had over 1.3 million views on YouTube, and Brendan Fraser’s was up to 2.6 million.

The ABC broadcast also had 1.8 million views of the American Sign Language live stream.

“What we wanted to do was go out and execute a show that people would really like and a show people would talk about,” Oscars producer Glenn Weiss told The Hollywood Reporter in the hours after the show. “We think we did accomplish that. I sure hope that (Monday) delivers good news in the ratings front, but either way, I think it was a successful evening.”

13 Mar 2023

Jurors See Cellphone Data of XXXTentacion’s Accused Killers

Jurors in the trial of three men accused of murdering rising rap star XXXTentacion concluded their fourth day of deliberations Monday by reviewing almost 1,200 text messages and several videos and photos seized from two of their cellphones.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Some of the videos and photos showed the defendants flashing fistfuls of $100 bills hours after the June 18, 2018, shooting of XXXTentacion outside a suburban Fort Lauderdale motorcycle dealership. He was killed by two armed robbers who stole $50,000 he was carrying in a Louis Vuitton bag.

There was also a photo of a story from a news website about the shooting, photos from shopping and dating apps, an apparently random photo of then-first lady Melania Trump, videos of one defendant in a pedicab with a woman and a Father’s Day greeting.

The jurors made their request in the afternoon, asking to see the data from the phones of alleged shooter Michael Boatwright, 28, and the accused getaway driver and ringleader Dedrick Williams, 26, from the day before and day of the shooting.

Williams sent and received more than 950 text messages during that time and Boatwright had more than 200. Jurors had to crowd near a projection screen at the front of the courtroom to read them; they could not be read from the gallery.

The jurors did not ask for any data from the phones of alleged second gunman Trayvon Newsome, 24, or alleged co-conspirator Robert Allen, 26. Allen testified against his former friends after pleading guilty last year to second-degree murder.

Boatwright, Williams and Newsome are charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery and face mandatory life sentences if convicted. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. The jurors have deliberated about 15 hours since getting the case late Wednesday at the end of four-weeks of testimony. Deliberations will resume Tuesday.

XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, had just left Riva Motorsports, where he had been looking at motorcycles to purchase, when his BMW was blocked by an SUV that swerved in front.

Surveillance video showed that two masked gunmen emerged and confronted the 20-year-old rapper at the driver’s window, and one shot him repeatedly. They then grabbed the bag with the money, got back into the SUV and sped away. The friend was not harmed.

Allen testified that the men set out that day to commit robberies and went to the motorcycle shop to buy Williams a mask. There they spotted the rapper and decided to make him their target. Allen and Williams went inside the shop to confirm it was him.

They then went back to the SUV they had rented, waited for XXXTentacion to emerge and ambushed him, according to testimony. Prosecutors said surveillance video from the dealership, cellphone data and the videos of the men flashing money ties them to the shooting.

The men’s attorneys said Allen is lying and that their DNA was not found on the artist. Attorneys for some of the men said that while the money-flashing videos were “stupid,” they don’t prove their clients were actually involved in the shooting and robbery.

The rapper, who pronounced his name “Ex ex ex ten-ta-see-YAWN,” was a platinum-selling rising star who tackled issues including prejudice and depression in his songs. He also drew criticism over bad behavior and multiple arrests, including charges that he severely beat and abused his girlfriend.

13 Mar 2023

Eladio Carrion ft. Future “Mbappe Remix,” Zito ft. Millyz “Cold Blooded” & More | Daily Visuals 3.13.23

HipHopWired Featured Video

Looks like Future is looking to get toxic with a whole new demographic to expose his toxicity to as the ATLien done linked up with Latin Trap/Reggaeton artist, Eladio Carrion for a brand new cut.

Teaming up for the new visuals to “Mbappe Remix,” Future and Eladio Carrion break bread with a squad of young women at a restaurant who twist up some joints in the bathroom before the men of the hour take to the street to floss their ice and spiffy automobiles.

Elsewhere Millyz keeps showing and proving he’s got bars for days and for the clip to Zito’s “Cold Blooded,” he heads to Zito’s mansion to kick it for a few while Zito has his female company cook up his work in his fancy ass kitchen. Dude truly got a Trap Mansion.

Check out the rest of today’s drops and some joints you might’ve missed over the weekend including work from BabyTron, Lil Keed, and more.

ELADIO CARRION FT. FUTURE – “MBAPPE REMIX”



ZITO FT. MILLYZ – “COLD BLOODED”



BABYTRON – “ICE SPICE”



LIL KEED – “SELF EMPLOYED”



KENZO B – “DEADGAME”



D4VD – “WORTHLESS”



DAX – “QUIET STORM”