News

28 Feb 2023

Jordan Davis’ ‘Bluebird Days’ Flies Onto Top Country Albums Chart

Jordan Davis achieves his highest rank to date on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, as Bluebird Days swoops in at No. 3 on the list dated March 4.

Released Feb. 17, the LP opens with a weekly career-best 19,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Feb. 23, according to Luminate. Concurrently, it debuts at No. 19 on the all-genre Billboard 200, also a career-best placement.

Bluebird Days sports 17 songs, 15 of which Davis co-wrote. It follows Buy Dirt, which arrived at its No. 11 Top Country Albums best in June 2021; his self-named EP (No. 16, June 2018); and his first full-length, Home State (No. 6, April 2018).

Davis’ single “Buy Dirt” (featuring Luke Bryan), which ruled the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs survey for four frames and Country Airplay for two beginning in January 2022, is included on both Bluebird Days and its namesake set.

Bluebird Days has also yielded “What My World Spins Around,” which paced Country Airplay for two frames this January, giving Davis his fourth No. 1, after reaching No. 8 on Hot Country Songs in December, marking his sixth top 10.

Davis’ latest single, “Next Thing You Know,” hops 26-19 on Hot Country Songs, up 37% to 7.3 million streams, and leaps 59-51 on Country Airplay (1.3 million, up 95%).

Olivia & Dolly’s Duet Debuts

“Jolene,” the Dolly Parton classic originally a No. 1 hit on Hot Country Songs in 1974, is one of 17 tracks on Olivia Newton-John’s duets album Just the Two of Us: The Duets Collection, Volume One (due May 5). The remake arrives on Country Digital Songs at No. 13 with 2,000 sold.

The beloved Newton-John passed away Aug. 8 at age 73 after a long battle with breast cancer.

Newton-John originally recorded “Jolene” for her Come on Over set, which hit No. 2 on Top Country Albums in May 1976.

In addition to Parton, Newton-John’s other duet partners for the upcoming LP include Paul Anka, Jim Brickman, Mariah Carey, Barry Gibb, Richard Marx, Michael McDonald, Jon Secada and others.

28 Feb 2023

Omarion Warns Fans to ‘Be Smart’ After Catfishing Victim Thinks They Were Engaged on ‘Dr. Phil’

Omarion just wants his fans to be safe online.

A recent guest on Dr. Phil was invited to come on the show after being catfished by a person online pretending to be the singer, requesting money from her and even asking to marry her.

The fan, a woman named Simone, shared that the catfish’s “manager wants me to pay $3,000 to meet him.” Despite never meeting in real life, the person Simone spoke with asked to marry her, leading her to believe Omarion purchased a ring for her hand in marriage. Simone revealed that over the two years that she and Omarion’s impersonator started talking online — they first began having conversations in October 2020 — she spent $300 on a fake fan club membership, while her friend sent around $4,500 to the scammer during the duration of their relationship.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

After the episode aired, Omarion took to his Instagram Stories to share a word of caution to his followers. “Be smart family,” Omarion said in an Instagram update shared shortly after the episode debuted. “So many people have stories saying they spoke with me online. I don’t take advantage of people. I respect and appreciate people who support me.”

In addition to the note, Omarion appeared on the episode to share a message with the Dr. Phil audience.

Coming up for the star is the release of his forthcoming album, Full Circle: Sonic Book One, scheduled to arrive in May.

See Omarion’s Instagram Story before it disappears here, and see a preview of the episode below:

28 Feb 2023

Here Are All the Oscar Winners for Best Animated Feature

Animated films have a rich history at the Academy Awards. Walt Disney received a special award in 1938 for the previous year’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was “recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon.”

Fifty years later, Richard Williams received a special achievement award for the animation direction of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The film also won three competitive Oscars.

But it wasn’t until 1991’s Beauty and the Beast that an animated film was nominated for best picture. That same year, the rival Annie Awards added a category for best animated feature. Beauty and the Beast was their first winner, followed by such smash hits as Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1993-94), Pocahontas (1995) and Toy Story (1996).

Throughout the ’90s, the Oscars resisted adding a category for animated features, though John Lasseter received a special achievement award in 1995 “for his inspired leadership of the Pixar Toy Story team, resulting in the first feature-length computer-animated film.” It wasn’t until 2001 that the Academy finally added a category for best animated feature.

This year’s nominees in that category are Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Sea Beast and Turning Red. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio won the Annie Award in this category on Feb. 25 in a ceremony at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles, which makes the Guillermo Del Toro-directed film the Oscar front-runner (though the two shows do not always agree, as you will see.)

Here’s a year-by-year recap of all the Oscar winners for best animated feature film.

28 Feb 2023

Taylor Swift Takes a Trip ‘Through the Eras’ for New Tour Merch Collection

Taylor Swift unveiled another merch collection Tuesday (Feb. 28) ahead of her Eras Tour.

The “Through the Eras” collection features 10 T-shirts, each themed to a separate album by the superstar — from her 2006 self-titled debut and 2010’s Speak Now to 2020’s dual Folklore and Evermore and 2022’s Midnights. Each shirt features graphics of Taylor from the particular album era on the front and the list of cities on the hotly anticipated tour route on the back. (For the record, both 2008’s Fearless and 2012’s Red get a (Taylor’s Version) remake in the drop.)

In addition to Swifties being able to choose a shirt that represents their favorite era, the line also includes a black long-sleeve, white hoodie and gray crewneck sweater showing the “Lavender Haze” singer through the years of her 17-year career. Plus, fans can purchase everything from blankets, sweatpants, phone cases, nail gems, mugs and tumblers to luggage tags, stickers, coasters, notebooks, bandanas, activity books, colored pencils and ponchos in case of rain.

As the March 17 start date for The Eras Tour draws closer, Swift achieved another pair of impressive milestones this week. First, she became only the second woman to ever place 10 albums on the Billboard 200 at the same time after Whitney Houston. And second, she tied the record for the most top 10s in the history of the Adult Pop Airplay chart as “Lavender Haze” landed at No. 9 on the chart dated March 4.

Ahead of The Eras Tour, Billboard also rounded up our picks for the 20 songs from Swift’s discography that deserve a spot on the setlist but likely won’t make the cut considering just how much ground she has to cover over the course of the show.

Get a look at Taylor’s “Through the Eras” collection and prepare to pick your favorites below.

28 Feb 2023

Natanael Cano’s Los CT Label Signs Global Distribution Deal With Downtown Music Services

Downtown Music Services has inked a global distribution, creative marketing and synch licensing deal with Natanael Cano‘s record imprint, Los CT, it was announced Monday (Feb. 27). The label’s current roster includes Gabito Ballesteros, Alejandro Buelna, Tyan G and more.

Under the deal, Downtown Music Services will be responsible for all aspects of global distribution, creative marketing and synch for Los CT. This includes providing listeners with access to new music releases, securing strategic marketing and synch opportunities and ensuring that Los CT artist releases are available on all major digital streaming platforms.

Cano launched Los CT last year amid a public dispute with his former label, Rancho Humilde, as an opportunity to continue broadening the Mexican music style he’s been actively internationalizing.

“I am always very happy to work with people who supported me from the beginning,” Cano said in a press release. “Now being able to distribute my music with some of the same people who always believed in me, I am extremely grateful and motivated to continue giving my all alongside the Downtown Music Services team.”

Downtown Music Services vp of A&R Latin, Ray Tapia, worked side by side with Cano’s manager, Ramon Emilio Hernández, to make this partnership a reality. A subsidiary of Downtown Music Holdings, Downtown Music Services offers bespoke distribution, publishing administration, creative marketing and finance solutions to entrepreneurial creators and their partners.

Tapia said, “We are thrilled to partner with Natanael Cano and the Los CT record label team. The Mexican music scene is undergoing a transformation with an increasing number of collaborations and a growing number of artists attracting millions of monthly listeners. This genre remains one of if not the most independent, and we are super excited to have the opportunity to contribute to its success. ¡Ánimo!“

“We have been working on this for a minute and I am really excited about this partnership and how we are helping put this new era of the culture out there,” added Hernández. “There is so much promising talent in this space and we look forward to working with some of these artists and the team at Downtown Music. They really knew the genre, the music and understood our goals from the beginning.”

This year, Cano has achieved three entries on the Billboard Global 200 chart, including “AMG” with Gabito Bastelleros and Peso Pluma which hit No. 35 on the tally. He’s also scored two entries on the Billboard Hot 100.

28 Feb 2023

No, Pete Davidson Is Not Munching On Ice Spice, Twitter Has Jokes Anyway

HipHopWired Featured Video

CLOSE

Celebrity Sightings In New York City - February 13, 2023

Source: Raymond Hall / Getty / Ice Spice

Former SNL star Pete Davidson is famous for his comedic exploits and legendary for dating history because he always has a baddie on his side. A rumor came out of nowhere, implying Davidson is now dating Ice Spice, and Twitter, of course, reacted.

Ice Spice is arguably one of the hottest Hip-Hop artists out right now, so why not link up with one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors?

Well, sorry to break it to those excited about Ice Spice and Pete Davidson, but the rumor of these two hooking up was another Twitter joke that someone decided to run with, according to TMZ.

Sometimes Twitter misses the whole “satire” element embedded in tweets, and this situation is one of those cases.

Pete Davidson, who collects hotties like Thanos collects infinity stones, is currently dating Chase Sui Wonders and was recently showcasing public displays of affection with her at the Daytona 500.

Ice Spice has been romantically linked with many people coming out, like Drake, Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin and fellow rapper Lil Tjay, who blessed the “In Ha Mood” crafter with a custom-made rose gold Richard Millie RM-05 watch.

Even though the rumor was flat-out false, that didn’t stop Twitter from making jokes and having ridiculous reactions to the idea of Pete Davidson possibly munching on Ice Spice.

Lol.

This is good news for those who think they got a shot at bagging Hip-Hop Annie. You can peep more reactions to the false dating rumor in the gallery below.

—

Photo: Raymond Hall / Getty

1. Lol, gotta love a good Future meme.

4. No chill.

28 Feb 2023

Ben Kweller Announces His Son Dorian Has Died: ‘He Was Only 16 & He Was a True Legend’

Ben Kweller, singer/songwriter and former frontman of the band Radish, revealed Tuesday (Feb. 28) that his 16-year-old son Dorian has died. The singer-songwriter shared the news via Instagram but did not offer any additional details regarding what led to his death.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“There’s no way that I can be typing this but I am…. Our son, Dorian Zev Kweller, was killed last night,” Kweller captioned a photo of his late son smiling into the camera. “He was only 16 and he was a true legend. Kindest, gentle soul, a friend to all. If you knew him, you know. We’ll never get over him as long as we’re here on earth.

“Please keep his spirit alive with your memories and the music he made: @reallyzev. Dorian Zev wrote and recorded songs every day. A true poet from the day he started speaking. Only a few of his recordings were released but he was on a path and excited about his journey. He had so many plans!!! His first gig was in two weeks, at SXSW. My last text with him was about the merch he wanted to make. My baby boy was at the starting line with so much life ahead of him… I have no idea why things like this happen. We’re in complete shock and don’t know what the future holds. Lizzy, Judah, and I have no idea how to deal with this disaster. Thank you for your prayers and support and we apologize if we are slow to respond to messages.”

Dorian’s label, The Noise Company, also issued a statement following the young musician’s death via Facebook. “It’s with great sadness that we have to even say this… in a tragic event last night, we lost Dorian Kweller, who on this page we know as @reallyzev … this young man represented everything positive in life and the future. A kind heart, a smile that illuminated the world and passion for life and music,” the company wrote. “If you have kids, hug them. If you have a partner, squeeze them extra hard. Love yourself and live every moment with the passion that Zev did every day of his life. We are just in shock and send BK, Liz and Judah all our love and support.”

As Zev, Dorian’s music career kicked off in 2022. The 16-year-old released his first single, “Parachute,” in July and followed up the track with “How I Am,” “4th of July,” “SH3,” “Nobody’s Perfect” and his most recent release, “Hickeys,” on Feb. 24.

Dorian is survived by his parents, Ben and Lizzy Kweller, and his younger brother Judah.

28 Feb 2023

Every Woman Nick Cannon Has Had Kids With, From Mariah Carey to Alyssa Scott

It takes a village to raise children, as the saying goes. And in Nick Cannon‘s case, that village includes not one, not two, but six baby mamas (so far).

In recent years, the Masked Singer host has become famous for being, well, fertile. He was already a dad to three kids when he welcomed his fourth in December of 2020, an occasion that marked the start of a baby-making marathon during which he fathered eight more children in the span of two years. Need a math check? That’s a total of 12 kiddos, starting with the twins he shares with superstar ex-wife Mariah Carey and ending, for the moment — ’cause who knows if another pregnancy announcement is coming? — with a baby girl he and model Alyssa Scott welcomed in December 2022.

Billboard has been covering the Nick Cannon baby beat since day one, from his many birth announcements to his vasectomy deliberations to the jokes famous friends such as Kevin Hart and Ryan Reynolds have made at his expense.

But it’s about time his children’s mothers got some recognition of their own, because — let’s be honest — when it comes to actually carrying the baby and giving birth, they do all of the work. But on top of that, these women are impressive in their own rights and should be highlighted for their accomplishments as singers, actresses, models and moguls on top of being loving mothers.

So, in the spirit of giving some due respect on the title “baby mama,” keep reading to find out more about the six women Nick Cannon has had children with.

28 Feb 2023

The 8 Best Record Players & Turntables for the Ultimate Listening Experience

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Nothing beats the sound of a vinyl turntable, right?

For music lovers, having a vinyl setup in your home is the ultimate way to enjoy your favorite albums, but with all the turntables out there, it’s hard to find the perfect one.

Fear not, Billboard has your back! To make it easy for you, we searched to find a selection of our favorite turntables (click here funky, sleek ways to store and display your record collection in your home or studio).

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Some of the products below are from retailers such as Amazon where Prime members can get free shipping (start your 30-day free trial here) and other benefits — including discounts and access to Prime Video and Prime Music.

See below for a list of eight of the best record players and turntables to buy in 2023. For more product recommendations, check out our tips on how to clean your vinyl records and the best speakers for music lovers.

Crosley CR8017B-BK Voyager Vintage Portable Vinyl Record Player Turntable with Bluetooth

$59.88 $99.95 40% OFF

Heyday turntables are budget-friendly favorite among TikTokers, but they’re currently out of stock at Target. If you don’t mind shopping pre-owned options, HeyDay turntables are available on resale sites like eBay. Plus, there are tons of other record players under $100 such as the Crosley CR8017A Voyager Portable Turntable pictured above and the ByronStatistics 3-Speed Vinyl Record Player ($51.24).

Amazon

Fluance RT81 Elite High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable Record Player

$249.99

Fluence RT81 is another highly rated record player. Features include an Audio Technica AT95E diamond elliptical tipped stylus (designed to track your record grooves with greater precision and accuracy for a high-definition audio experience) and a rubber slip mat for “superior isolation from unwanted vibrations.” Although Fluence record players do not include Bluetooth, you can connect them external speakers or click here to shop the Fluence RT81 turntable with five-inch bookshelf speakers ($489).

Amazon

U-Turn Audio – Orbit Plus Turntable with Built-in Preamp (White)

$399.00

Time for U-Turn! The U-Turn Orbit (available in white, red, black and blue) is known for it’s “balanced and neutral sound” and they’re popular on TikTok. This sleek turntable is equipped with an OA2 gimbal arm that utilizes “precision bearings” to ensure that the stylus moves freely, a low-resistance acrylic platter for “speed consistency” with anti-skate preset and an adjustable counterweight. The external, two-speed belt drive (33 1/3 RPM and 45 RPM) is designed to separate the “low-noise motor from the rest of the turntable.”

Sony PS-LX310BT Turntable

$249.99

Moving up on the price scale, Sony’s PS-L310BT wireless turntable lets you experience vinyl in full stereo. This $250 turntable features a single button press, high-quality audio, Bluetooth connectivity and both operating speeds (33 1/3 rpm and 45 rpm).

Amazon

Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT-RD Fully Automatic Belt-Drive Stereo Turntable, Red/Black, Bluetooth, Hi-Fi, 2 Speed

$219.00

Interested in Audio Technica? The AT LP-60 is discontinued but the AT-LPX60BT is a good alternative for beginners and intermediate listeners. Merging hi-fi audio and Bluetooth technology for wired and wireless listening, the AT-LP60XBT easily pairs with speakers and headphones. The turntable is available in several different colors including red, white, black, blue, silver and lilac.

Victrola

Victrola Revolution GO Portable Rechargeable Record Player

$199.99

Need a portable record player? Check out Victrola’s portable, rechargeable Bluetooth record player. It features a three-speed belt driven turntable and an Audio Technica moving magnetic cartridge. The rechargeable battery lasts for up to 12 hours.

Amazon

Rega Planar 1 Record Player

$595

If you can afford to go up in price, the Rega Planar 1 is a good starting point on the scale of high-end turntables. It features a brand new RB110 tonearm, built with the new Rega designed bespoke bearings with ultra-low friction performance and a 23mm, higher mass, phenolic platter equipped with an improved flywheel effect for better speed stability. The turntable runs on a 24v, low noise, synchronous motor designed to reduce the vibration transfer.

B&H Photo

Technics SL-1200MK7 Turntable

$1,099.95 $1,299.99 15% off% OFF

For DJs looking to invest in a quality turntable, Technics is the way to go. Last year, the brand unveiled the Technics SL-1200M7LPA Turntables celebrating the 50th anniversary of the popular series. The limited edition turntables — which were available in seven colors including red, black, blue, white, green, beige and yellow — were only around for a limited time but if you want an alternative from the same brand, go for the the SL-1200MK7.