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16 Oct 2024

Liam Payne: His Life in One Direction & Beyond in Photos

After a 14-year career in music that began with the formation of One Direction in 2010 and continued with a successful solo run, Liam Payne has died at age 31. The pop singer/songwriter died after falling from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, local police confirmed to CNN.

Before his untimely death, the star made a name for himself in pop music, beginning as one-fifth of the wildly popular British boy band One Direction, which was pieced together in 2010 from the five individual members auditioning for the U.K. version of The X Factor singing competition. In fact, Payne had previously auditioned for the show in 2008, when he was just 14 years old. The judges passed on him, but Simon Cowell encouraged him to return to the show in two years, setting up his eventual 1D future.

One Direction would become one of the most successful pop vocal groups of all time, scoring four sold-out world tours, four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and six Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits.

Payne came out of the gate swinging for his solo debut, enlisting Migos rapper Quavo for his lone solo Hot 100 top 10 “Strip That Down,” which peaked at No. 10 in September 2017. It was one of four Hot 100-charting solo songs for Payne.

Following the news of Payne’s death, celebrities including his “Get Low” collaborator Zedd and Paris Hilton mourned the loss of their friend. “RIP Liam… I can’t believe this is real… absolutely heartbreaking …,” Zedd wrote on X alongside a broken-heart emoji, while Hilton tweeted, “So upsetting to hear the news of @LiamPayne passing … Sending love and condolences to his family & loved ones. RIP my friend.”

To relive happier times for Payne, find photos from his life and career below, from his days in One Direction to his time as an adult pop star.

15 Oct 2024

A Full Gallery of Benson Boone’s Impressive Onstage Backflips

Benson Boone is not only a dynamic vocalist, but an equally powerful onstage performer. The 22-year-old singer has been blowing fans away during his performances with his wild, off-the-piano backflips.

The Freddie Mercury-esque stage presence has helped catapult Boone into pop stardom, following the release of his Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit, “Beautiful Things.”

“I think I knew after I heard the chorus with production that this could be a really big song,” he previously told Billboard of the enduring hit. “With teasing on social media, and with promoting your music, you never really know what’s gonna go. All I can do is try my best to push it. But I was really hoping this one would go, because I do love this song. And outside of any TikTok video, it just feels like a big change for me — a change in the right direction, that’s more like my other music that will be coming out.”

Following the success of his debut album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, Boone has recently expanded his world tour — which launched in the spring — with additional U.S. dates. He has one week left touring across the nation, before he heads to Europe, Asia, and Australia in 2025. Boone’s September 2024 shows in Australia and New Zealand have been rescheduled to January 2025 due to a scheduling conflict, with upgraded venues to meet demand.

With so many exciting opportunities to see Boone flip on stage in the coming months, we’ve compiled some epic photos of his high-flying backflips at recent shows. Check out the gallery below.

09 Oct 2024

A Timeline of Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck’s Relationship

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s love story is a long one, full of highs and lows and lots of passion.

However, Billboard confirmed on August 21, 2024, that the “Waiting for Tonight” singer officially filed for divorce from the actor after two years of marriage. The documents list the date of separation as April 26, 2024.

The marriage marked Lopez’s fourth wedding, following Ojani Noa, Cris Judd and Marc Anthony. Lopez shares twins Emme and Max with Anthony.

Affleck was previously married to Jennifer Garner. Together, they share Violet, Seraphina and Samuel.

Lopez and Affleck first began dating in 2002 after meeting on the set of Gigli, the first of two movies they would star in together (the second being Jersey Girl in 2004), before getting engaged. The couple delayed their planned 2003 wedding before calling it quits in 2004.

Nearly two decades later, the couple rekindled their romance in 2021. Just a month after the couple tied the knot in Las Vegas, Bennifer celebrated their marriage in August 2022 in front of family and friends at their home in Riceboro on the Hampton Island preserve outside of Savannah, Ga.

See below for a full timeline of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s relationship.

07 Oct 2024

Austin City Limits Festival 2024: Photos From the Star-Studded Event

This year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival kicked off its first weekend on Oct. 4 – 6, taking over Zilker Park in Austin, Texas.

This year’s headliners included Tyler the Creator, Dua Lipa, Chris Stapleton and Blink-182, as well as performances from artists including Carin Leon, Benson Boone, Renee Rapp, Norah Jones, Teddy Swims, Chappell Roan, Fletcher, The Red Clay Strays, Orville Peck, Vince Staples, Mickey Guyton, Dasha, Dexter and the Moonrocks, Rett Madison, Tanner Adell, Emily Nenni and Hermanos Gutiérrez.

Lipa, who recently issued her third album Radical Optimism on May 3, made her ACL Fest debut, as did Blink-182. Stapleton released his most recent album, Higher, in November. Tyler, the Creator was added to the ACL Fest at the last minute in 2021 (replacing DaBaby), but returned for his own full-fledged ACL performance this year.

The event, which was launched back in 2002, continues for a second weekend on Oct. 11-13. In the meantime, check out the high-energy photos from weekend one below.

30 Sep 2024

Harry Styles, Cardi B, Rosé, Jisoo & More Musicians Arrived to Paris Fashion Week 2024 in Style: See the Photos

Paris Fashion Week is underway, with designers showing off their womenswear looks ahead of the new season in the City of Light.

Paris Fashion Week — running from Sept. 23 to Oct. 1 — is hosting its annual event where a number of designer brands are presenting Womenswear Spring/Summer 2025 collections. And, of course, along with the high-end fashion comes attendance from today’s biggest stars as they pose for photos together and watch the new collections come to life from the front row of the runway.

Besides appearances from stars like Ice Spice, Future, Dove Cameron, Rosalia, Cardi B, Lenny Kravitz, Travis Scott and many more, the week also featured some special team-ups. At the Vetements runway show in the French capital on Friday (Sept. 27), Camila Cabello reunited with her former Fifth Harmony bandmate Normani to snap photos together near the catwalk. For her look, the “June Gloom” singer sported a black balaclava that covered her entire head, minus cutouts for her eyes, mouth and glitzy earrings. She paired the daring accessory with a lacy bodysuit, black jacket and miniskirt.

From Harry Styles and Katy Perry to Rosé and J Balvin, see below for our gallery of photos featuring all the musicians who attended shows at Paris Fashion Week.

27 Sep 2024

35 Years of Billboard Latin Music Week in Photos: Shakira, Rauw Alejandro & More

Billboard Latin Music Week — the single most important, and biggest, gathering of Latin artists and industry executives in the world — is celebrating its 35th anniversary, taking place Oct. 14-18 at the Fillmore Miami Beach.

This year’s coveted event will feature superstar speakers J Balvin, Young Miko, Gloria Estefan, Alejandro Sanz, Peso Pluma, JOP (Fuerza Regida), Eden Muñoz, Bad Gyal, Mon Laferte,Thalia and Maria Becerra, among many others. As tradition holds, the week coincides with the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards airing Sunday, Oct. 20, via Telemundo.

Over the past 35 years, Latin Music Week has become the one, steady foundation of Latin music in this country and for the world.

Tracing back to 1990, the star-studded conferences and showcases, initially named Latin Music Seminar, sponsored by Billboard, kicked off as a one-day event in Miami featuring a two-artist showcase and awards show. In 1992, the event took place in Las Vegas, where artists such as Selena Quintanilla and Jon Secada performed at the new-artist showcase. Shakira made her debut in 1996 at a conference showcase, and that same year, José Feliciano received El Premio Billboard; Juan Gabriel was inducted into the Hall of Fame; and Gloria Estefan received the Spirit of Hope award.

Some of the biggest names in Latin music history, including Celia Cruz, Ricky Martin, Chayanne, Tito Puente, Jenni Rivera and Emilio Estefan, to name a few, have participated at Billboard Latin Music Week throughout the years. Most recently, Daddy Yankee, Bad Bunny, Karol G, Romeo Santos and Peso Pluma have also joined the celebration.

Below, check out a photo gallery of 35 years of Billboard Latin Music Week. To register for this year’s event, go to Billboard Latin Music Week.

23 Sep 2024

Camila Cabello, Dua Lipa, Keith Urban, New Kids on the Block & More Photos From 2024 iHeartRadio Music Festival

The 2024 iHeartRadio Music Festival brought the biggest voices on radio to the stage for two music-packed nights on Friday and Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and Billboard was backstage and in the pit for all the action.

Night 1 saw Dua Lipa and Camila Cabello hit the stage, and Billboard‘s camera caught the pop powerhouses backstage for a sweet embrace, as well as Cabello’s meet-up with fellow Friday performer Gwen Stefani. We also captured Shaboozey walking the halls backstage after performing his now-11-week Billboard Hot 100-topping breakout hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”

Night 2 kicked off with New Kids on the Block, who just announced last week that they’ll launch their first-ever Las Vegas residency on June 20 at Dolby Live at Park MGM. So was the iHeart set a good preview of what fans can expect? “A really small preview, because this was 20 minutes,” Donnie Wahlberg told Billboard backstage. “We’re going to do a very long, very intricate, hopefully very exciting and fun and energetic set with a lot of songs, a lot of hits, a lot of feels. But it was also a sample for us of the audience. Because it’s a real good example of what it might be like. A lot of New Kids fans showed up, and a lot of fans who were experiencing us for the first time. We pride ourselves on the fun and the energy that we bring to a show, and this was a great opportunity for us to share that with this crowd.” We also caught up with Donnie’s wife, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, backstage who is ready to house-hunt in Sin City: “Now I just get to come to Vegas and find a place to live, because we’re absolutely going to be finding houses to station ourselves here for a few months — or a few years, maybe.” The New Kids also invited Flavor Flav out onstage for their “Hangin’ Tough” finale, and we caught the Public Enemy hype man backstage with Wahlberg and bandmate Danny Wood.

Keith Urban also played on Saturday night, making the most of a brisk 20-minute set by playing three songs from his just-released High album: “Messed Up as Me,” “Wildside” and “Straight Line.” “We just packed ’em in as quick as possible,” Urban laughed backstage, adding that fans have been quick to embrace the new material. “It’s been immediate, which i haven’t seen that in a long time. It is what it is with songwriting — you write songs and some connect immediately and some take awhile — but when we did ‘Messed Up as Me’ from this record, it was immediate, because we were playing festivals, and it was immediate. ‘Wildside’ was immediate, the first night we did that. ‘Straight Line’ — it’s a different record.”

Before night 2 kicked off, Billboard caught up with OBB Media CEO Michael D. Ratner, whose team produced the festival livestream, which broadcast both nights on Hulu in real time. After teaming up with iHeart for livestreams of the New York and Los Angeles stops of Jingle Ball late last year, Ratner said his team was able to jump in seamlessly to take the reins of the iHeartRadio Music Festival for the first time in the fest’s 14 years. “The reason we work so well together is iHeart knows music,” he said on Saturday. “They have amazing talent relationships, as do we, but the idea that we’re able to storytell and make these shows more layered … it’s not just watching performance after performance after performance.” One key to that was adding some Vegas-specific touches, like teaming up mentalist Max Major with Cabello or enlisting the Blue Man Group for an intro. “You get these fun moments, and it’s embedded in the history of Vegas. … You mix that with what Vegas is today, which is residencies and EDM and lights and day parties and the Sphere, I think making it new and fresh while having a nod to old Vegas is cool. It’s a really good balance and team that makes the show very unique.”

If you weren’t in Vegas or just want to relive the two days of hits over again, find Billboard‘s best photos from backstage and onstage below.

20 Sep 2024

Big Ocean: See Exclusive Photos of the September 2024 K-Pop Rookie of the Month

HyunJin, ChanYeon and JiSeok came together as Big Ocean to debut in April this year as the first Deaf/Hard of Hearing group in K-pop. The group’s warm embrace onto the scene by superstars, production and executives across Korea points towards a more inclusive global music scene.

Brought together by Korea’s only agency representing talent with disabilities Parastar Entertainment, Big Ocean sees three stars with different backgrounds and hearing abilities as a sign of hope and possibility.

The group’s main vocalist Park HyunJin lost hearing in his left ear after a childhood accident, but a cochlear surgery led him to learning to play the piano, speak some English, and break out as a YouTube creator and TV personality educating viewers about hearing disabilities. Main rapper Lee ChanYeon, who underwent cochlear implant surgery for both ears, developed his musical interest after experiencing the positive side effects of music therapy. Meanwhile, youngest member and main dancer Kim JiSeok was born Hard of Hearing and attended a special school for those with disabilities before becoming a professional ski racer for Seoul skiing team.

Big Ocean admits that the members’ varying auditory perceptions can present challenges when it comes to learning choreography, singing in rhythm and performing live, but it’s inspired innovative ways for the group and their Parastar team to find new ways to rehearse successfully like utilizing vibrating smartwatches as metronomes or flashing lights for rhythmic counting.

Get to know the rookies more with exclusive photos by Billboard Korea and fun questions below.

11 Sep 2024

Best Photos From the 2024 MTV VMAs

From Katy Perry making out with her husband to Sabrina Carpenter making out with an alien, there were countless must-see moments from Wednesday night’s (Sept. 11)  2024 MTV Video Music Awards — and we have all the best photos here so you can relive the highlights.

Perry was the night’s Video Vanguard Award winner, and in addition to performing a career-spanning medley of hits — and debuting her brand-new song “I’m His, He’s Mine” with guest rapper Doechii and an interpolation of Crystal Waters’ early ’90s dance hit “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)” — she was also introduced by her husband, Orlando Bloom. The Australian movie star made sure to introduce his wife by her birth name — Kathryn Hudson — and after she performed, Perry greeted her man with a passionate kiss.

But that was just one onstage lip-lock, the other being Carpenter’s kiss with an E.T. during her medley of Short N’ Sweet singles “Espresso,” “Please Please Please” and “Taste,” while surrounded by a group of astronaut dancers for an otherworldly performance.

And did you see Benson Boone defy gravity as he backflipped from his piano onto the stage? Or host Megan Thee Stallion rock a Team USA leotard in honor of Simone Biles and Olympic women’s gymnastics squad? Or how about Taylor Swift catching up with her producer Jack Antonoff and his wife, Margaret Qualley, in the VMA crowd?

And that’s only the half of it. Below, find a gallery of photos that show the best, most eye-popping moments from the 2024 MTV VMAs.

09 Sep 2024

Usher, Victoria Monet, Tyla & More at Billboard R&B No. 1s: Photos From Inside the Party

Billboard hosted its first-ever R&B No. 1s party at The Box in New York on Sunday night (Sept. 8).

Usher accepted the Entertainer of the Year award, after his “Good Good” collaboration with Summer Walker and 21 Savage became his sweet 16th No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, extending his record for the most among all singers. Luther Vandross was posthumously honored with the Icon award that his friend Fonzi Thornton accepted on his behalf. Vandross’ Billboard chart history includes eight No. 1 albums on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and seven No. 1 hits on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

Victoria Monét received the Hitmaker award three days after she presented her manager Rachelle Jean-Louis with the Executive of the Year award at Billboard‘s 2024 R&B Hip-Hop Power Players. In the last year, her Grammy-nominated hit “On My Mama” has topped Adult R&B Airplay, Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. Lucky Daye received the Torchbearer award, after earning his first No. 1 in a lead role on any Billboard chart when “That’s You” from his latest album Algorithm topped Adult R&B Airplay. And Tyla accepted the Global Force award, as “Water” has spent the last 46 weeks (and counting) at No. 1 on U.S. Afrobeats Songs as well as eight weeks atop Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay.

The star power extended beyond the stage, as Muni Long, Yung Miami, Shenseea, Fireboy DML, Libianca and other artists filled the room as well.

Go inside Billboard’s 2024 R&B No. 1s Party in the photos below.