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Zach Bryan knows all too well he made a mistake, and he’s acknowledging it. The country star shared a lengthy explanation and apology on Thursday (Sept. 19) after tweeting two days earlier “eagles > chiefs / Kanye > Taylor,” then asking followers, “who’s with me.”
“for the record guys I wasn’t coming for Taylor the other night,” he wrote in an Instagram Story he paired with the pop superstar’s Post Malone Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 collab “Fortnight.” “I was drunkenly comparing two records and it came out wrong. I know there’s a lot of stuff that clouds around Ye and I was speaking purely musically. I love Taylor’s music and pray you guys know I’m human and tweet stupid things often. Hope one day I can explain this to her.”
The country singer — has since deactivated his X account — went on to explain that he gets in trouble on the social media platform too much, and will be staying off of it. “I’m sorry to any Taylor fans I pissed off or let down.” he added.
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In a second Story featuring “The Albatross,” the “I Remember Everything” singer explained that he’s been going through a tough time, and shared his appreciation for the 14-time Grammy winner. “To be completely honest, it just came off as rude and desensitized to Taylor. I respect her so much as a musician that the last thing I want is people thinking I don’t appreciate and love what she has done for musician,” he wrote, before offering a public service announcement. “Love you guys and hope you guys understand. Don’t drink and tweet. Don’t drink and tweet!”
But he wasn’t done there. The country star continued to express his love for Swift in a third Story. “Taylor has been a force of nature for as long as we’ve all been growing up and I admire that,” Bryan wrote in part. “I never want people to think I have a hint of malice or meanness towards anyone, ever, that’s why I’m saying all this.”
Bryan, who won the Grammy for best country/duo performance for his No. 1 Hot 100 hit “I Remember Everything,” went on to elaborate on the tough time he’s had in a fourth Story. “This year has been an awful lot on me in personal ways that no one knows and I’ve been trying to cope and balance too many things at once,” he explained. “So I’m going to take a breather from tweeting stupid stuff, finish my tour, and ground myself somehow in the midst of all this. I feel very, very blessed each day.”
Billboard has reached out to Swift’s rep for comment.
The pop superstar and Ye have a long had bad blood, dating back to the 2009 VMAs, when the rapper grabbed the mic from Swift as she was accepting the award for best female video, and made his infamous “Imma let you finish” speech. Then there was the “Famous” lyric by the controversial rapper — who in recent years has faced mounting criticism for his hate speech — calling the “Anti-Hero” singer a “b—h” that included what Swift in 2023 called the “frame job” phone call of her allegedly approving the lyric, and more.
Bryan is set to perform at the Bourbon & Beyond music festival in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday (Sept. 21). His Quittin Time tour then resumes Nov. 17 in Canada, before swinging back into the U.S. for a series of shows beginning Nov. 22 in Tacoma, Wash.
The Eagles paid loving tribute to their late friend and collaborator J.D. Souther on Wednesday (Sept. 18) in a heartfelt message posted just a day after the singer/songwriter/actor died at 78. “We have lost a brother, a friend and a brilliant collaborator, and the world has lost a great songwriter, a pioneer of the Southern California sound that emerged in the 1970s,” the veteran easy rocking band wrote. “J.D. Souther was smart, talented, well-read, and in possession of a wicked sense of humor. He loved a good meal, a good movie, and a good Martini … and he loved dogs, adopting many, over the course of his lifetime.”
The band — whose current lineup includes founding singer/drummer Don Henley, as well as guitarist Joe Walsh, bassist Timothy B. Schmit and guitarist/vocalists Deacon Frey and Vince Gill — continued with an homage to the versatile Souther’s many loves and contributions to their legendary songbook.
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“Born in Detroit and raised in the Texas Panhandle, he was a student of the deep roots of the best American music – from country, to jazz, to classical, as well as ‘Standards’ from the Great American Songbook – and that knowledge and appreciation informed his work,” they wrote. “He was a crucial co-writer on many of our most popular songs, including, ‘The Best of My Love,’ ‘New Kid in Town,’ and ‘Heartache Tonight.’ J.D. also collaborated on many of Don Henley’s solo works, including ‘The Heart of the Matter,’ ‘Little Tin God,’ ‘If Dirt Were Dollars’ and ‘Talking to the Moon.’”
According to a statement on his official website, John David “JD” Souther — also known for his collaborations with Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, Bonnie Raitt, Roy Orbison and for his acting roles in My Girl 2 and Postcards From the Edge — died peacefully at his home in New Mexico on Tuesday. Souther’s longtime friendship with Frey resulted in his collaborations on many Eagles songs, including “James Dean” and “Doolin-Dalton,” helping to make Souther — whose voice bore an eerily similar tone to Frey’s — a staple of the 1970s California country-rock scene.
“We mourn his loss and we send our condolences to his family, his friends, and his many fans around the world,” the Eagles added. “He was an extraordinary man and will be greatly missed by many. Adios, old friend. Travel well.”
Former Eagles guitarist/vocalist Don Felder also posted a tribute, writing, “It is with heavy heart to start the day with the news of JD’s passing. The invisible Eagle has left the nest. His writing contribution and vocal contributions to the music industry has been a blessing to the whole world. He will be missed but his songs will live on forever.”
Souther was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013, but never reached the pinnacle of success with his solo work as the Eagles’ lofty heights, landing his biggest chart success with his 1979 No. 7 Billboard Hot 100 single “You’re Only Lonely.”
Donations in Souther’s honor can be made to the Best Friends Animal Society.
LISA is heading to the runway. The BLACKPINK superstar is set to take the stage and perform at the highly anticipated return of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The announcement comes amid an exciting year for LISA, as the K-pop icon stepped into a new phase of her solo career outside of BLACKPINK with “Rockstar,” which […]
The Lincoln Project has spent the better part of five years warning Americans about what they see as the danger of second Donald Trump administration. The political action committee made up of moderate conservatives and former GOP members — including George Conway, ex-husband of Trump’s former senior counselor, Kellyanne Conway — will release its latest broadside against twice-impeached, convicted felon Trump on Thursday morning (Sept. 18).
And in keeping with the raft of headlines over the past few weeks, it involves Taylor Swift. Specifically, the minute-long “Bad Blood” spot — which Billboard is exclusively previewing today — paints Trump’s recent rant against the pop star as being in line with what the group says is Trump’s long-running contempt for successful women.
The ad — whose landing page features the all caps subtitle: “THE MISOGYNISTIC PRESIDENTS’ DEPARTMENT” in a nod to the title of Swift’s most recent studio album — is titled “Bad Blood,” a reference to Swift’s 1989 single of the same. It opens with a shot of Swift accepting an award at last week’s 2024 MTV VMAs as a voiceover notes, “Taylor Swift isn’t the first successful woman Donald Trump has attacked… she’s just the most recent.” The screen then fills with a shot of a post from Trump’s Truth Social account from Sunday in which he said in all caps: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
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The rest of the spot is a super-cut of Trump’s most well-known put-downs of famous and prominent women over the years, including his reference to what he called comedian Rosie O’Donnell’s “fat, ugly face. The narrator continues, “Trump has a problem with women… disrespectful…insulting…even violence,” over images of Trump during his contentious 2016 presidential debate with former Senator and Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, in which he referred to her as “the devil.” It also includes the time the reality TV host insulted Celebrity Apprentice contestant Brande Roderick with the crude oral sex reference, “must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees.”
“It’s ugly,” the female narrator says over footage of a smiling Trump telling ABC reporter Cecilia Vega, “I know you’re not thinking, you never do.”
“It’s cruel,” the narrator adds as the subject turns to a 2016 MSNBC interview in which then-candidate Trump said “there has to be some form of punishment [for women],” for having an abortion; the Supreme Court reversed the half-century-long constitutional right to abortion two years ago after Trump’s appointment of three conservative justices, a ruling he called “the biggest win for life in a generation.”
“One thing he’s proven is that he’ll never change,” the narrator says over footage of Trump signing a document on the back of a bent-over woman as well as putting his signature on the upper half of a female supporter’s dress. It also includes the infamous leaked Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragged that when you’re a celebrity women allow you to “grab ’em by the p–sy,” which surfaced before election day in 2016.
“Is this how you would want a man to treat your daughter?” the narrator asks over Trump’s crude description of former Fox News anchor and 2016 debate moderator Megyn Kelly having “blood coming out of her whatever” after she pressed him on his past history of referring to women as “fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.”
“You know the answer, you know the truth,” the ad concludes as Swift fills the screen again, along with audio from a recent Fox News segment in which Trump said he was never a fan of the billionaire pop star and predicted that her endorsement of rival Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris will find her “pay[ing] a price for it” in the marketplace.
“He says he hates Taylor… but the truth is he hates all of us.”
Watch the Lincoln Project’s “Bad Blood” ad below.
British singer Yola has signed with S-Curve Records and returns with her first new music in three years today (Sept. 19) with “Future Enemies.”
The song, the live video of which premieres below, is a spiky tale, delivered in Yola’s inimitably rich vocals, about a relationship that she pre-emptively calls quits on before it can turn sour. Expanding beyond her rootsy, groove-laden past songs like “I Don’t Wanna Lie,” “Diamond Studded Shoes” and “Faraway Look,” “Future Enemies” combines synth-driven electronica with R&B and dance vibes and signals a new musical direction for the six-time Grammy nominee. Yola wrote and produced the song with Sean Douglas and Zach Skelton.
“There is a moment when you realize you’re not going to get on with someone. They haven’t noticed yet, so you have a unique opportunity to disappear from their lives before they ever realize you were destined to be enemies. It’s a luxury to not have an endless supply of negative memories about someone ‘cause you never made them,” Yola says in a statement about the song. “I choose to save my time for situations, spaces and people that have no ticking timer of inevitable doom because they don’t see me or center a reality that does not serve me or my wellbeing. Of course, when you’re a woman, culturally black (as well as physically black), dark skinned (and feminine in energy), plus size (and willfully main character in energy), from a whole different continent and living in the West, let’s say you’re going to have to be both vigilant and choosy in life, in love [and] in work.”
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Yola’s new direction draws from her past as part of London’s Broken Beats scene that extended from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s and of which she was a part as a member of electronic collective Bugz in the Attic. It’s reflected in “Future Enemies” and her new EP, My Way, out Nov. 15. The EP also draws on her love of various R&B eras, including ‘70s soulful pop and ‘90s neo soul, while thematically exploring creative autonomy and even historic movements, including the Windrush Generation of immigrants who came from Caribbean countries to the U.K. after WWII through 1973.
“I’ve been purposefully hinting about this direction for years. From covering Soul II Soul for Apple Music to my covers on tour and reworkings of my songs, the broad church of soul music through the ages has always been the narrative,” she says. “I’ve covered Yarborough and Peoples’ ‘Don’t Stop the Music’ as a throwback nod to my time with Bugz In The Attic (we used to cover that song).
“This time I’m exploring my love of soul music through influences like Chaka Kahn, Janet Jackson, Sade, Prince, Minnie Riperton and various luminaries of rare groove and progressive RnB,” She continues. “Layering programming and synths with organic instrumentation is at the core of the sonic landscape, and as usual I have metabolized these elements into a concoction very much of my own.”
“For the past few years, Yola has been one of my favorite contemporary artists,” said Steve Greenberg, founder/CEO of S-Curve Records, in a statement. “So, when I learned she’d fulfilled her previous recording commitments [with Easy Eye Records], we jumped at the opportunity to sign her to S-Curve. The music she’s been recording for this new project is classic Yola, yet she expands her musical palette by incorporating funk and late 80’s R&B influences in a very natural way. It’s an exciting evolution and I think her new music will delight Yola’s long-time fans, while simultaneously bringing lots of new listeners into the fold. We’re ready to do everything we can to help Yola build this next phase of her career.”
Yola, who is currently starring in Hadestown on Broadway as Persephone through mid-October, is managed by Range Media Partners and booked by Wasserman.
For years in her 20s, Lady Gaga says she was constantly asked if she was a man. A strange question, to be sure, but one the singer, 38, says she faced with certainty and a sense of humor. In the second episode of the new Netflix series What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates, the singer explained to the billionaire Microsoft co-founder that she never bothered to refute the rumors.
“When I was in my early 20s there was a rumor that I was a man,” Gaga told Gates. “I went all over the world. I traveled for tours and for promoting my records and almost every interview I sat in — there was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored — they were like, ‘There’s rumors that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?’”
The explanation tells you everything you need to know about Gaga and why she’s been such an ally to the LGBTQ+ community for her entire career, as well as a beacon for Little Monsters who don’t fit into society’s preconceived notions. “The reason why I didn’t answer the question is because I didn’t feel like a victim with that lie and I thought: What about a kid who is being accused of that who would think that a public figure like me would feel shame?,” Gaga said.
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“I’ve been in situations where fixing a rumor was not in the best interest of the well being of other people. In that case, I tried to be thought provoking and disruptive in another way. I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point,” she explained.
The singer who stars as Harley Quinn in the upcoming Joker sequel Joker: Folie à Deux (Oct. 4) brushed off a question about the rumor in an 2011 interview with Anderson Cooper in 2011, telling the anchor, “Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis? My fans don’t care and neither do I.”
To be fair, Gaga said she got used to “lies being printed about me since I was 20-years-old. I’m a performer. I think it’s kind of funny.” This, you might recall, is the chin-up style of the same artist who recently responded to an old Facebook group titled “Stafani Germanotta, you will never be famous,” created by some ex-classmates from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts who mocked her dreams of stardom a few years ago.
The 13-time Grammy winner and Oscar winner got the last laugh, of course, commenting on the hate she endured early in her career: “Some people I went to college [with] made this way back when. This is why you can’t give up when people doubt you or put you down — gotta keep going.”
Moving right along, after the upcoming release of the anticipated second turn by Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, Gaga will be gearing up to release the first single from her untitled seventh album. She recently revealed that the album is due out in February, with the untitled first listen due out in October.
In the meantime, Gaga recently scored a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Charts with her Bruno Mars collab “Die With a Smile.”
Watch Gaga on What’s Next here.
Gwen Stefani is ready to bloom! The superstar revealed on Wednesday (Sept. 18) that her fifth studio album, Bouquet, will be arriving on November 15. She also unveiled the album’s cover art and track list. The photo features Stefani in a cowboy hat and a brown plaid suit, laying across a bed while holding a […]
The pumpkins and skeletons are just starting to fill the aisles, but Jennifer Hudson is fully in Christmas mode thanks to two big announcements on Wednesday (Sept. 18). The singer and daytime talk show host is teaming up with Hallmark to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their annual “Countdown to Christmas” roll-out of holiday movies and content and the 2024 “Joy To Your World” holiday campaign by teasing the new song “Let There Be Joy.”
In a preview shared with Billboard of the raucous, gospel-tinged holiday anthem, the EGOT performer joyfully wails, “Let there be joy to your world/ Every boy and girl/ Peace on Earth, good will to men/ And may we wall shine our light, make the season bright/ Share a little love again.”
In addition, Hallmark announced that songs from Hudson’s upcoming debut holiday album, The Gift of Love (Oct. 18), will appear across upcoming Hallmark holiday programming. “No one does the holidays quite like my friends at Hallmark, so I couldn’t be more thrilled to celebrate the season together with my new song ‘Let There Be Joy,’ as we Countdown to Christmas,” Hudson said in a statement. “Music and movies have always been a favorite holiday tradition for me and my family, so I hope this song can become the same tradition for everyone on Santa’s list this year!”
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Hallmark chief brand officer Darren Abbott added, “As we mark 15 incredible years of Countdown to Christmas, we continue to focus on our mission of bringing joy and happiness to the world during the holidays. Partnering with Jennifer Hudson couldn’t be a more perfect fit. The original song ‘Let There Be Joy’ captures the heart and soul of what we aim to share each holiday season — pure, genuine joy. We’re excited to share this magical experience and continue our tradition of making the holidays brighter and more joyful than ever.”
In addition, Hudson announced a limited-engagement holiday tour, The Gift of Love: An Intimate Live Experience, which will launch on Nov. 24 in Brooklyn, followed by shows in her native Chicago (Dec. 13), Los Angeles (Dec. 18) and Las Vegas (Dec. 21-22); tickets for the gigs will go on sale on Friday (Sept. 20) at 10 a.m. local time here.
Hudson’s first holiday album will feature covers of such standards as “Jingle Bells,” “O Holy Night,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Little Drummer Boy” and “Auld Lang Syne,” along with a number of originals.
Check out Hudson’s tour announcement below.
Christina Aguilera has two kids of her own, but she’s claiming Sabrina Carpenter as her third. In a new TikTok shared by the “Genie in a Bottle” singer, the two pop stars are hanging out — or perhaps on a “mom-daughter” date. In the clip, the “Espresso” musician lip-synchs to an audio snippet seemingly from […]
Dolly Parton has nothing but fondness for the world’s biggest country-dabbling pop stars: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
In a new interview with Variety published Tuesday (Sept. 17), the 78-year-old country legend gushed about both superstars as well as weighed in on the CMA Awards snubbing Bey’s Cowboy Carter this season. “Taylor Swift is amazing what she has done with her career,” she said of the “Anti-Hero” singer, who started out as a country artist before transitioning to pop in 2014. “I just admire her very much and how she’s handled her business, her personal life and what all she has meant to so many young people. [She’s] been a great inspiration.”
As for the “Texas Hold ‘Em” musician, Parton thinks Cowboy Carter — which featured a voice recording from the “9 to 5” artist as well as Bey’s cover of “Jolene” — is a “great album” that she was “fortunate” to be a part of. “[Beyoncé’s] a country girl in Texas and Louisiana, so she grew up with that base,” Parton said. “It wasn’t like she just appeared out of nowhere.”
Even so, Parton thinks that the CMAs — which angered fans Sept. 9 by failing to acknowledge Cowboy Carter in any of its 2024 categories — didn’t necessarily shut out the Destiny’s Child alum “on purpose.” “There’s so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, ‘Well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that,’” Parton told the outlet. “I don’t think it was a matter of shutting out, like, doing that on purpose. I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album.”
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“But it was a wonderful album,” Parton added. “She can be very, very proud … I think everybody in country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good.”
The 10-time Grammy winner also added that she’s “open to anything” when it comes to performing “Jolene” with Beyoncé at some point in the future. And whether it’s the “Break My Soul” singer or Swift — or any of the newer female singers finding success, such as Chappell Roan or Sabrina Carpenter — Parton says she’s “proud of all the gals.”
“I’m old enough to feel like their aunt or somebody that’s kind of looking down and saying, ‘Yay, you go!’” she added. “I think they’re all great in their own way.”