Pop Shop
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When Lauren Spencer Smith started crafting her new song “Fantasy,” she had a feeling that it could use an extra dose (or two) of girl power to really drive home its “teenage, angry feelings about a breakup.”
“I kind of knew that I wanted a collaboration, but it just sat in a folder for a while and I hadn’t reached out to anybody. I didn’t really know who or what exactly it was going to be,” Smith told Billboard‘s Pop Shop Podcast, chatting on a Zoom call alongside eventual collaborators GAYLE and Em Beihold.
“And then throughout like a couple months, me, GAYLE and Em met each other on so many different occasions and became friends and we had a group chat,” Smith added of the ongoing text thread they dubbed the “Powerpuff” chat. “And I’ve been a fan of GAYLE and Em forever. I always listened to their music since way before I met them. So after we had had a group chat for a while, and we were like kind of a little friend group, I was like, ‘I’m just gonna ask because these seem like the perfect girls to have like a woman-empowerment moment on this song.’”
And so she did, texting her very own Powerpuff Girls with the idea. “I, like, freaked out,” Beihold recalls. “I was laying down on my bed, and then Lauren texted and I like bolted right up and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, she wants me to be on a song with her and GAYLE!’ And I was just super stoked because I love them and I love both of their music. And I just think it was such a fun opportunity. And also just going through all this together as friends is amazing. Because sometimes you do collabs with people that you don’t know too well and it’s fun, but to do it with people that you can just laugh with is amazing.”
“We only replied in all caps,” GAYLE adds. “We flipped out. So many exclamation points, like so, so much excitement.”
They also teamed up for an angsty music video, each starting out in their own scenes before coming together onscreen — including one perfect moment where they huddle together to yell the “OH, CONGRATULATIONS” line from the visceral chorus.
“When we were on set, I was like, ‘OK, if they asked me to be in a girl group tomorrow, I would say yes,’” Smith recalls.
Elsewhere in the interview, we discuss where each artist is in the process of making their debut full-length albums and about how well they relate to each other being young female pop stars who all broke out in the music industry in 2022 (Smith with “Fingers Crossed,” GAYLE with “ABCDEFU,” and Beihold with “Numb Little Bug”). Plus, GAYLE tells us all about hitting the road with Taylor Swift for her epic Eras Tour. “I’ve never really performed in a stadium before, so it’s such an honor and it’s definitely not something that I take lightly,” she says. “And so I’ve been trying my best to just do the best that I possibly can.”
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Drake’s “Search and Rescue” debuts at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking his 68th top 10 hit, how a regional Mexican song is in the top 10 of the Hot 100 for the first time as Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” jumps 17-10, and how both NF and Linkin Park make a splash in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard’s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard’s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Coachella returns this weekend to Indio, Calif., with Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK and Frank Ocean headlining.
So what can we expect from the three-day festival? On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are looking ahead to what surprises might be in store from the stacked lineup. Could BLACKPINK bring out one of their many pop-star collaborators, like Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga or Dua Lipa? Might Bad Bunny call up one of this high-profile friends, like Drake, Cardi B or J Balvin?
Billboard will be on the ground covering all three days of weekend 1, and you can tune in live on YouTube to follow along with all the fun. Listen to the new Pop Shop Podcast below:
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Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Morgan Wallen is back at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “Last Night” while he continues atop the Billboard 200 albums chart with One Thing at a Time. Melanie Martinez and Boygenius, meanwhile, debut in the top five on the Billboard 200 with their new albums. Plus, Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” hits a new high on the Hot 100, Lady Gaga is back in the top 10 on the Pop Airplay chart with her viral 2011 song “Bloody Mary,” and Depeche Mode reach the top 10 on the Alternative Airplay chart for the first time in over 25 years with their latest single “Ghosts Again.”
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard’s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard’s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
There’s never a dull moment in Las Vegas, but this past weekend was a particularly jam-packed one for Sin City.
Taylor Swift brought The Eras Tour to Allegiant Stadium for two nights, Adele performed the last two nights of her Weekends With Adele concerts at Caesars Palace’s Colosseum (and announced that she’ll be back in June for more), Maroon 5 opened their hits-packed Dolby Live at Park MGM residency, and Kelly Clarkson announced a string of dates around her next album Chemistry starting in late July at Planet Hollywood’s Bakkt Theater.
5 Best Moments From Maroon 5’s Hits-Packed Las Vegas Residency
03/28/2023
On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are breaking down all the Vegas action — including our very own Pop Shop field trip to see T-Swift and Katie’s review of Maroon 5’s opening weekend. Listen below:
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how U2 becomes just the fourth group with new top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 in every decade from the 1980s onward, how Coi Leray and Bailey Zimmerman score their first top 10s on the Billboard Hot 100, and how Swift scores an impressive seven albums in the top 40 of the Billboard 200 for the first time.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard’s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard’s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Ever since Taylor Swift announced The Eras Tour back in November, fans have had a lot of questions. The biggest one: With six albums released since her Reputation Tour back in 2018, how could she possibly do each project justice in a limited setlist?
Well, after she kicked off the first two tour dates on Friday and Saturday in Glendale, Ariz. — or Swift City, ERAzona, as it was ceremonially renamed — we discovered that the setlist wasn’t so limited after all. Over the course of the three-hour-plus concert, Swift performs all or portions of 44 songs.
The 13 Best Moments From Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Kickoff
03/21/2023
On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), Katie & Keith are talking all about the much-anticipated tour launch, thanks to on-site reporting from founding Pop Shop host Jason Lipshutz. Plus, we’re looking ahead to our own Pop Shop field trip for this weekend’s Las Vegas dates.
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Rema and Selena Gomez hit the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 together with “Calm Down,” how Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” is back at No. 1, how both Miley and TWICE make splashy debuts in the top three on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and how women dominate the top of the Billboard 200 in a way we haven’t seen in over a decade.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard’s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard’s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour might be opening on Friday night, but the best pop concert of this past weekend was Sunday’s Oscars. Both Rihanna and Lady Gaga performed their best original song nominees at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre for a packed room of movie A-listers — and Billboard was there to see it all.
On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Keith peppers Katie with questions about her night at the 95th annual Academy Awards, from arriving at the red carpet through toasting the winners at the Governors Ball afterparty and all the movie moments in between.
Snubs & Surprises at 2023 Oscars
03/14/2023
Listen below:
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Morgan Wallen not only has a massive debut atop the Billboard 200 albums chart with One Thing at a Time, but all 36 songs on the album are on the Billboard Hot 100 — setting a new record for the most concurrent songs by a single artist on the chart. One of those songs, “Last Night,” shoots all the way to No. 1 — his first Hot 100 chart-topper. With Miley Cyrus and TWICE on the horizon, can Wallen stay at No. 1 for another week? We talk about all that and more.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Of Ariana Grande’s 72 Billboard Hot 100 hits, nearly half (32) are collaborations. In fact, more than half of her top 10-charting hits — 10 of 19 — are collabs.
Her latest hit team-up is The Weeknd‘s “Die for You” remix, which debuts at No. 1 on the Hot 100 this week — Grande’s fourth collab to top the chart.
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All this to say, Grande is clearly a collaborative queen. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking about why Ari and The Weeknd are a potent combination, why she came out of musical retirement for this remix, and what dream duets we’d love to see her tackle next.
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Karol G makes history atop the Billboard 200, scoring not only her first No. 1 album, but the first No. 1 all-Spanish-language album by a woman.
Plus, the Oscars are this Sunday! Will Rihanna become a first-time winner? Could Lady Gaga take home her second win? Will Austin Butler win best actor for playing Elvis Presley? And what are we going to be watching out for during the show?
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
In January, Jennifer Lopez shared that she was invited to join Madonna‘s unforgettable 2003 MTV Video Music Awards performance — you know, the one where the Queen of Pop shared the stage with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and passed the pop torch with a kiss to each of the stars. Then, last week, P!nk revealed that she was also asked to be part of the performance — and that Gwen Stefani was invited too.
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Who will we find out was invited next? On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are revisiting the lightning-rod moment — don’t forget that Missy Elliott was there too, but was the full “Lady Marmalade” crew invited? — and wondering just what it would have looked like if the stage were a little more crowded.
Listen to the new episode below:
Also on the podcast, we’ve got chart news on how SZA’s SOS hits a milestone 10th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and who her biggest competition might be in the coming weeks. Plus, speaking of P!nk, she lands her ninth top 10-charting set on the Billboard 200 as Trustfall arrives at No. 2. Plus, Taylor Swift achieves a rare feat on the Billboard 200 as the superstar has 10 albums on the chart at the same time — but, who else has managed this unique feat?
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
A newly released Linkin Park song hits this week’s Billboard Hot 100, as “Lost” starts at No. 38, marking the band’s first new top 40-charting hit since “Burn It Down” debuted and peaked at No. 30 in 2012.
The track features the lead vocals of the band’s late frontman Chester Bennington, who died in 2017 at age 41.
Linkin Park’s ‘Lost’ Is First Song to Debut at No. 1 on Rock & Alternative Airplay in Over…
02/21/2023
“Lost” — which was recorded during sessions for the band’s 2003 album Meteora and was kept in the vaults until its release this year on Feb. 10 — will be included on a 20th-anniversary deluxe reissue dubbed Meteora 20, due April 7.
On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking about a swath of posthumous music releases — from Prince, Whitney Houston, 2Pac, Biggie, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Juice WRLD, Pop Smoke and more — and how to weigh the insatiable fan hunger for new music from late legends with the tricky ethics around releasing music without an artist’s blessing. Is there a right and a wrong way?
Listen now:
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how SZA’s SOS now has the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart among albums by women in seven years and how Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show yielded some major chart results — including her biggest streaming week ever in the U.S.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
After Rihanna’s hits-filled Super Bowl halftime show performance — and unexpected pregnancy reveal! — what could be next for the superstar?
On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, we’re talking all about the buzzy 13-minute set — like what she did perform (“All of the Lights”) and what she surprisingly didn’t (her Oscar-nominated Black Panther song “Lift Me Up”).
Watch Rihanna’s Full 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show
02/15/2023
We’re also wondering: Where does the halftime show go from here? Who could be next year’s headliner? We’ve got questions! So listen to our full chat below.
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on SZA’s SOS bouncing back to No. 1 for an eighth total week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, how a whopping 35 albums all see unit gains on the list thanks in part to the Grammy Awards’ broadcast, and how best new artist winner Samara Joy jumps to No. 1 on multiple charts after her surprise win.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
When we first met John Legend as a solo artist, it was through the quiet 2005 piano ballad “Ordinary People” — so it only makes sense that, nearly two decades later, Legend is going back to basics for his next project, LEGEND (Solo Piano Version).
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The singer/songwriter took 10 songs from his most recent album, September’s LEGEND, and stripped them down to new piano versions, adding a pair of fresh covers to the Friday (Feb. 10) release. After years of performing with just a piano, Legend thought the idea made perfect sense.
“Half of my gigs are solo gigs. Even though we’ve done a huge production in Vegas, we’ve done big tours with like a nine-piece band all around the world, often a lot of my favorite shows are the ones where it’s just me and a piano,” he tells Katie & Keith on the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below). “And I think my fans like it, because it strips the songs down to their essence and they hear my voice, the lyrics, the melodies really purely.”
One revelation in making the album was LEGEND‘s second single “Honey,” originally featuring brand-new Grammy winner Muni Long, which Legend decided to bump up to the piano project’s opening track.
“The one I changed from the original the most was ‘Honey,’” he says. “I made it more kind of slow, I did it without a tempo, and it’s just kind of free and a little more jazzy. And I loved doing that spin on the song. It’s much different than the original, and it feels really fresh and new.”
The two covers Legend recorded for the album are Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and Sade’s “By My Side,” which he’s planning to include on the setlist for his upcoming Feb. 13 and 14 pair of Valentine’s Day concerts at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall.
“One of my managers loves Sade, and she suggested that I try a Sade song,” Legend tells the Pop Shop. “And she even suggested ‘By Your Side,’ among a few other ideas that she had. And that was the one that just stuck out to me and I just kept humming it in my head and just felt like, ‘I would feel really good singing that melody and those lyrics.’ And I sat at the piano and started working it out. And I just loved the feeling that it gave me. I love Sade anyway, but this song, particularly, I think is really special and beautiful. I love the sentiment of it, and I really loved performing it.”
Is Legend — who performed as a supporting act on Sade’s last tour in 2011 — impatiently waiting for Sade’s first album since 2010 Soldier of Love like most music fans? “You know she’s gonna take her time,” he laughs. “I literally was on the last tour. That was 12 years ago!”
While Legend would love to take his piano show to other venues besides the Walt Disney Concert Hall, he’s trying to stay close to home at the moment, with the Jan. 13 birth of his new baby Esti. “We’ll do more,” he promised. “It’s gonna be sporadic since we had a baby and I’m trying to work a little bit less. I’ll probably do occasional weekends where we’ll go off to different cities and do shows. But it won’t be kind of a steady tour.”
Legend is staying plenty busy around L.A. this week, performing at Friday night’s MusiCares Persons of the Year gala honoring Motown founder Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, taping the Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys on Wednesday night (Feb. 8), and joining DJ Khaled, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and Fridayy for a pre-taped Grammys-closing performance of their song of the year nominee “God Did.” The Pop Shop spoke to Legend ahead of Sunday’s Grammy Awards, when he marveled at the unifying powers of Khaled.
“Everyone is so gifted and so powerful as an artist in their own right,” he said. “And for us all to be together — that’s the genius of DJ Khaled. He’s really great at putting all of us together. He’s like the world’s greatest A&R for hip-hop. He’s such a great convener. He brings us all together and makes magic happen.”
Listen to the latest Pop Shop Podcast episode above for the rest of the conversation, including his thoughts on the final Voice season for Blake Shelton, who’s “been the heart and soul of the show for so long.”
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how new songs from The Kid LAROI, Zach Bryan and Maggie Rogers, and P!nk all debut on the Billboard Hot 100, while TOMORROW X TOGETHER notches its first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and both Sam Smith and Lil Yachty bow in the top 10 with their latest releases.
Plus, we talk all about last Sunday’s Grammy Awards and this Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime spectacular, where Rihanna will headline the show.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)