olympics
From Usher’s Super Bowl showcase to the most musically talented Met, appearances related to major sporting events helped artists across genres — and at different career points — earn sizable streaming gains in 2024. (All data according to Luminate.)
And the trend has continued so far in 2025: Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show on Feb. 9 was a major boost for the rapper.
UsherSuper Bowl LVIII (Feb. 11)
The combination of Usher’s career-spanning medley during his spectacular Super Bowl halftime show and the release of his album Coming Home two days earlier helped his streaming catalog skyrocket 299% compared with the previous week, with his 2004 smash “Yeah!” among the biggest gainers.
Jennifer HudsonNBA All-Star Game (Feb. 18)
The R&B veteran’s halftime show medley of her songs “Remission” and “I Got This” at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse helped give her catalog a 4% boost in weekly streams.
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Candelita“OMG” On-Field Performance (June 28)
New Yorks Mets infielder Jose Iglesias moonlights as the recording artist Candelita, and his live debut of his single “OMG” following a Mets game at Citi Field helped the song move over 1,000 weekly downloads and top the Latin Digital Song Sales chart.
Gojira2024 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony (July 26)
Lady Gaga and Céline Dion were among the stars helping ring in the Summer Games in Paris, but French rockers Gojira grabbed headlines by becoming the first metal band to perform at the Olympics. Its catalog earned a 283% streaming bump over the next four days in the process.
Kavinsky2024 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony (Aug. 11)
As athletes said au revoir to Paris by joining Phoenix, Air and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig onstage, French producer Kavinsky dropped his 2010 synthwave single “Nightcall,” causing a Shazam sensation and boosting the track’s streams by 74%.
BeyoncéNFL Christmas Day Halftime Show (Dec. 25)
During Netflix’s first NFL Christmas showcase, Queen Bey presented songs from her Cowboy Carter album live for the first time at NRG Stadium in her hometown of Houston — and the album shot from 7.4 million weekly streams to 17.6 million during the following week, up 137%.
Kendrick LamarSuper Bowl LIX
Kendrick Lamar was already one of the world’s most-streamed artists, but his riveting halftime show at Super Bowl LIX on Sunday (Feb. 9) helped his biggest hits — and his entire discography — climb even higher. On Feb. 10, the day after his performance at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome, Lamar’s streaming catalog earned 70.9 million official U.S. on-demand streams — a 153% increase from the previous Monday’s total (27.5 million on Feb. 3), according to Luminate. Similar spikes occurred for halftime highlights “Squabble Up” (up 159% in daily streams) and “TV Off” (up 139%), while “Not Like Us” earned an even greater uptick (up 222%); meanwhile, Lamar’s costar SZA, who joined him on two songs during the showcase, saw her own streaming catalog soar, up 58% to 30.3 million streams on the day after the big game.
This story appears in the Feb. 8, 2025, issue of Billboard.
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Raygun, a b-girl who competed for Australia at the inaugural breaking competition at this year’s Summer Olympics, turned heads during the event with some questionable dance moves and went viral in memes. Raygun announced during an interview with an Australian outlet that she is no longer going to compete in breaking and will retire.
Raygun, real name Rachael Gunn, was a guest on The Jimmy & Nath Show and explained why she’s walking away from the sport of breaking after receiving negative commentary regarding her time in the competition. In so many words, Gunn says that her love of dancing led her to the world stage but that competing is no longer on the table for her after the backlash.
“I’m not going to compete anymore, no,” Gunn said earlier this week. “I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems really difficult for me to do now to approach a battle.”
Away from breaking, Gunn is an educator for Macquarie University Faculty of Arts for its Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language, and Literature. Gunn famously penned her PhD thesis, “Deterritorializing gender in Sydney’s breakdancing scene: a B-girl’s experience of B-boying,” from her standpoint of becoming involved with breaking in her home country.
Raygun didn’t score one point during her time in the Summer Olympics breaking event, prompting many online to believe she was placed on the stage as a means to draw ratings or cause controversy. Gunn has since shot down the claim.
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Photo: Getty
Celine Dion‘s heart will definitely go on for Kelly Clarkson. Following the Kelly Clarkson Show host’s powerful Kellyoke cover of the icon’s classic Titanic ballad “My Heart Will Go On,” Dion shared a tearful reaction to the tribute in a video posted to social media on Tuesday (Oct. 8). “I just saw you singing ‘My […]
Australian breaker Rachael Gunn, or “b-girl Raygun,” holds the top spot in her sport’s latest world rankings despite Olympic performances that led to online ridicule. On Tuesday, the sport’s governing body issued a statement to “provide clarity” on why Raygun tops the rankings. Raygun, a 37-year-old university lecturer from Sydney, failed to score any points at […]
The closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympics Games leaned fully into French electronic music, and with dazzling results. The ceremony, which happened at Paris’ Stade De France on Sept. 8, assembled not only athletes, but a legendary crew of French dance producers that included the pioneering Jean Michel Jarre, Ed Banger founder Busy P, […]
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Source: John Walton – PA Images / Getty
Australian Olympic “breaker” Rachael Gunn, aka Raygun, has, apparently, been having a rough go of it ever since she embarrassed herself in front of the world by flopping around on the Olympic stage, doing what looked like an impersonation of either a kangaroo, bunny or velociraptor while hopping around like a toddler trying to get her mother’s attention — and calling it breakdancing.
We all saw the way Gunn’s performance prompted an onslaught of memes, gifs and relentless mocking on social media. There was even a petition against her that some 58,000 people signed. The internet dragging was well-deserved, but it appears it put the 37-year-old in a state of distress that she’s still working her way out of. Apparently, the worldwide reaction to Gunn’s culture-vulturing nonsense on social media and on late-night television has harmed her mental health, which is why she has made an effort to stay away from all of it — but she still felt the need to tell us all about it, of course.
From Deadline:
And she hasn’t even seen the Jimmy Fallon-Rachel Dratch parody. “I don’t think I’m in the place yet to watch it,” she says in a new interview with the Australian network television show The Project.
“I knew that I was going to get beaten, and I knew that people were not going to understand my style and what I was going to do,” the 37-year-old breaker said. “The odds were against me, that’s for sure.”
“Fortunately I got some mental health support pretty quickly and I also went off social media,” she added.
Elsewhere during the The Project interview, Gunn apologized for the negative attention she’s brought to the new Olympic sport. “I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced,” she said, “but I can’t control how people react.”
I mean, one could argue that she absolutely could have controlled how people reacted — by not taking her talentless, rhythmless self up on that stage in the first place.
It’s arguable that all Gunn did when she (literally) hopped up on that stage was single-handedly ensure that the breaking completion never had a fair shot at being taken seriously at the Olympics.
Gunn—who holds a PhD in Cultural Studies and examines the cultural politics of breaking, bringing both academic and artistic perspectives—had also previously defended herself in a way that indicates she cares nothing about the culture she supposedly studied and was more concerned with the spotlight and what it did for her personally.
“What I wanted to do was come out here and do something new and different and creative — that’s my strength, my creativity,” she said. “I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves, so I wanted to move differently, be artistic and creative because how many chances do you get in a lifetime to do that on an international stage.”
If Gunn really cared about the culture she supposedly studied, she wouldn’t want to be the only thing people would remember about the time breaking came to the Olympics, which will likely not happen again in 2028.
But, sure, I guess it’s good she’s taking care of her mental health or whatever. Good luck with all that.
Flavor Flav served as a hype man and official sponsor of the U.S. water polo Olympic teams at the 2024 Games. Now, he’s looking to take his involvement to another level when the 2028 Olympics return to the USA in Los Angeles. The Public Enemy rapper joined iHeart’s Politickin podcast hosted by California’s Gov. Gavin […]
The 2024 Summer Olympics are but a memory at this point, but for Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav the flame burns on. The excitable hip-hop hype man isn’t done boosting the names and stories of U.S. athletes, including the paralympians who are gearing up to take the stage in Paris next week.
“THIS is just one of the many @gofundme for the @Olympics and @Paralympics that I support,” tweeted Flav about the games that will take place from August 28-Sept. 8. “Imagine spending 18 years taking ya kid to every practice and game and working 2-3 jobs to buy equipment,,, and then not being able to watch them play the biggest game of they life.”
Flav was responding to a post from Paralympic sprinter Nick Mayhugh, who earlier this month wrote, “HELP SEND MY PARENTS TO PARIS! [gold medal emoji]. I created a @gofundme to help pay for expenses to send my parents to the #Paralympics! They’ve never been out of the country, & couldn’t watch me compete in Tokyo due to COVID. Any & all donations are appreciated!” The rapper was one of more than 300 people who’ve donated anywhere from $5-$500 to the cause; he appears to have donated $100 under his birth name, William Drayton. So far, the campaign has raised $11,126 of its $10,000 goal.
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Three-time gold medalist Mayhugh is a 28-year-old Paralympian who just qualified for his second Paralympic team. The athlete who discovered he had cerebral palsy at age 14, helped the U.S. Men’s National Para Soccer team win its first bronze medal at the 2019 Para Pan American Games and then switched to track for the Tokyo Olympics, where he won a trio of golds in the 100M T37, 200m T37 and the 4X100m medley at the 2021 Games.
“I am humbly asking for any and everyone’s help to get my parents over to Paris to watch me compete for Team USA and bringing home more gold medals!” Mayhugh wrote in his GoFundMe.
Flav has been all-in with the U.S. squad this year, pledging $1,000 and a cruise for all the members of the U.S. Women’s Water Polo team and helping to cover rent costs for 24-year-old discus thrower Veronica Fraley and, before it was restored, offering gymnast Jordan Chiles a giant, bejeweled bronze clock in place of the bronze medal that was briefly stripped from her over a technicality.
The friendship with the water polo squad rambled on to Las Vegas recently, where the PE hype man got hype with the athletes at Resorts World on Saturday night, after being welcomed to the resort with a giant American flag display on the hotel’s facade. “imma so proud of all these women. Look at all the support and attention brought to this sport and women’s athletics. We changing the game and that is something BIG to celebrate,” Flav wrote on Instagram alongside video and photos of him partying with the women.
See Flav’s tweet and Vegas party video below and check out Mayhugh’s GoFundMe here.
THIS is just one of the many @gofundme for the @Olympics and @Paralympics that I support. Imagine spending 18 years taking ya kid to every practice and game and working 2-3 jobs to buy equipment,,, and then not being able to watch them play the biggest game of they life. https://t.co/xnZWGABNbs— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) August 15, 2024
WOOWWW,!!! Y’all we did it,!!! FULLY FUNDED within a day. This is the power of unity and community. Y’all helping make some dreams come true,!!! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾@nickmayhugh @gofundme https://t.co/BiFE6VJNot— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) August 16, 2024
Dr. Dre wants to suit up for Team USA when the 2028 Summer Olympics come to Los Angeles. The West Coast rap legend recently opened up about his hopes to compete on the archery team, and a two-time gold medalist is willing to help him.
California’s own archery savant Justin Huish spoke to TMZ Sports about potentially training Dr. Dre with the goal of getting the musician to the Olympic Games, and Huish thinks it’s possible the rapper could thrive.
“Archery is kind of like golf — anyone can do it at any age. There’s not really an age limit. I’m gonna be 50 years old myself and I’m still competing at a high level,” he said. “We’ve had times where someone has made the team where someone isn’t in the archery team in years past.”
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Huish continued: “It really would matter would he be able to put the time and effort in fast-tracking that … It’s a six- or seven-hour per day endeavor to really get good. You can be a phenom and you don’t really know.”
Huish was the first male archer to win double gold medals when he claimed the top spot in the individual and team events at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He also offered a helping hand to Dre if he wants to take his game to another level.
“Dr. Dre, hit me up. I’ll be there. I live in SoCal. I’ll come to your house,” Huish added to TMZ Sports. “I will train, I will dedicate my time to train with you. I will give you all my top sponsors for the best equipment money can buy … I can get you in contact with our top U.S. Olympic coaches. Anything you need. If you’re really serious about this, hit me up.”
Dr. Dre — who performed alongside Snoop Dogg during the 2024 Summer Olympics’ Closing Ceremony on Aug. 11 — recently put his cards on the table when telling Entertainment Tonight about his plans to suit up for Team USA. His relationship with the sport goes back to junior-high school, and he has a setup in his backyard.
“I’m trying to try out for the Olympics in 2028 … archery. I’m dead-a– serious,” he insisted. “I actually started playing around with archery in junior high. I stopped for a while and my son bought me a setup I don’t know if it was for my birthday or Father’s Day or something like that, so I have it set up in my backyard. And I heard qualifying for the Olympics is 77 feet and I practice at 90 [feet].”
Dre went on about the potential feat: “Yeah, wouldn’t that be interesting to go, especially with it being here in L.A. and win the gold medal … I feel like I could do anything.”
If Dre can pull it off, he’ll be 63 years old at the time of the 2028 Olympics, which is taking place on the USA’s home soil.
Watch Huish make his offer below:
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Breakdancing debuted as an Olympic sport at the 2024 Olympics in Paris — and a Canadian competitor won a gold medal in its first year.
The Vancouver-based Phil Wizard, born Philip Kim, took home the gold in breaking, beating France’s own Dany Dann in the final.
Breaking won’t be at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, but the art form that began on the streets of the Bronx as one of the four pillars of hip-hop was well represented at this year’s event. The men’s tournament, which took place on Saturday (Aug. 10), was filled with impressive moves as dancers battled each other one-on-one.
Unlike other music-based events like rhythmic gymnastics or synchronized swimming, the breakers didn’t know which songs they would be dancing to, which meant there was a heavy dose of improv. The DJ played plenty of hip-hop classics, from A Tribe Called Quest‘s “Scenario” to Method Man‘s “Judgement Day” to “Live at the Barbeque” by New York/Toronto group Main Source.
Wizard and his competitors busted out some head-spinning moves, showing off the art of breaking to the world after a competitor at the previous day’s women’s tournament made news for different reasons. After going viral for her less-than-crisp bunny hops and sprinklers, Raygun (a.k.a. Australia’s Rachael Gunn), has faced significant backlash and accusations of rigging the process to get to the Olympics.
“I didn’t realize that would open the door to so much hate,” Gunn said in a statement this week. “Which has frankly been pretty devastating. While I went out there and I had fun, I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics and I gave my all, truly.”
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The tone was different for Wizard, who expressed his thanks on Instagram this week.
“The sheer amount of love and support from this past week has warmed my heart,” he said. “My goal winning aside was to enjoy the moment as much as possible, as it was years in the making coming down to one moment. I didn’t want to let that one moment define me ever, and I wanted to show how much love I have for this art, dance, community, sport. Looking back I can’t help but be in awe of everyone that showed up, both on and off the field. The camaraderie between all the competitors was truly beautiful, all knowing how hard it was to get here.” – Richard Trapunski
Tragically Hip Docuseries ‘No Dress Rehearsal’ Will Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival
A beloved Canadian band is shedding new light on their journey. The Tragically Hip, who are celebrating 40 years since their founding, will premiere a long-promised new Prime Video docuseries at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.
The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal is directed and produced by late frontman Gord Downie‘s older brother Mike and features never-before-seen footage of the band. It tells the story of their rise to popularity — the band has nine No. 1 albums in Canada and 17 Junos, and is synonymous with Canadian music for many listeners — and the tragic loss of Downie from brain cancer in 2017.
“This project is a labour of love,” said Mike Downie in a statement. “We set out to understand what held the band together, what pushed them apart and how they captured the hearts and minds of so many fans both in Canada and around the world.”
The brand new trailer for the four-episode series features reflections from the band members on The Hip’s ups and downs as well as their final tour with Downie in 2015 after his diagnosis. The interviews are accompanied by concert footage and commentary from well-known Canadians like actor Will Arnett and broadcaster George Stroumboulopoulos. The band’s longtime manager, Jake Gold, serves as an executive producer.
After its TIFF premiere, the series will stream on Prime Video, though no date is available yet. Incidentally, the series follows another recent Prime Video documentary on a Canadian icon dealing with illness: I Am: Céline Dion.
TIFF 2024 is also set to feature appearances from musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and Pharrell Williams. The festival runs Sept. 5-15. – Rosie Long Decter
PartyNextDoor Re-Enters Canadian Albums Chart Following Drake Collaboration News
A local star is back on the Canadian Albums chart this week after a headlining-grabbing performance at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage.
PartyNextDoor‘s PartyNextDoor 4 (P4) has re-entered the chart at No. 87 following that headlining show, which saw a special appearance by Party’s longtime collaborator Drake.
After playing his own set, Drake brought PartyNextDoor back to the stage before the show’s end to duet on “Come and See Me” and announce some special news: “We’ve been working on something for y’all,” he said. “When it gets a little chilly, PartyNextDoor and Drake album will be waiting right there for you.”
In the meantime, Party’s own album has seen a resurgence, re-entering the chart where it spent three previous weeks and peaked at No. 13. The album is also on the Billboard 200 albums chart at No. 152 (Canadian Albums only has 100 spots).
Also on the Canadian Albums chart this week, Punjabi artist Navaan Sandhu has debuted at No. 97 with his album, The Finest. Amritsar-born Sandhu has been racking up millions of streams with the album, and the music video for its title track, released two weeks ago, has 2.9 million views.
The chart debut is yet another indicator of Punjabi music’s popularity in the country, with artists like Diljit Dosanjh, Karan Aujla and AP Dhillon seeing similar success on Canada’s charts over the last year.
Ye and Ty Dolla $ign‘s Vultures 2 is the No. 1 album in Canada this week. – RLD