Pop
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When RIIZE goes out to dinner, it’s a 20-person affair.
On this particular Sunday evening, the pioneering South Korean mega-label SM Entertainment has reserved a private room at a hot spot in Los Angeles’ Koreatown popular with music artists for its new boy band. The six members file in around a long table — along with an SM-associated translator (who is occasionally assisted by two other team members), a publicist from RCA Records (an SM partner for RIIZE), a veteran manager from Seoul and eight additional crew members who sit in a nearby booth.
The Korean group is in town for its RIIZING DAY Fan-Con Tour tomorrow — a “fan-concert” where the group intersperses choreographed performances of its own K-pop hits with casual games, informal onstage chats among themselves and special covers of both K-pop classics and global boy band hits, like One Direction’s “One Thing.” It’s RIIZE’s first time headlining a show in the United States, but its third group visit to L.A. Before the May 20 concert, the group flew here in August to attend the city’s annual KCON K-pop mega-fest and also filmed two music videos in town: the jovial “Memories” (a pre-debut single that generated buzz for the group that month) and its official debut single, “Get a Guitar,” a slick, bubblegum earworm released in both Korean and English that’s now RIIZE’s most streamed song globally, with 219.6 million official on-demand streams since its September release, according to Luminate.
“Not even a year has passed since our debut, but so much has happened,” says RIIZE’s youngest member, 20-year-old Anton, as his bandmates nibble on naan bread and citrus-splashed hamachi crudo. “Back then, our group was, like, innocent, you know? Now, we’ve sort of adjusted to traveling and visiting other countries.”
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Shotaro
Munachi Osegbu
Sungchan
Munachi Osegbu
In fact, RIIZE’s members weren’t totally green when the group made its official debut on Sept. 4, 2023, through K-pop giant SM in a partnership with RCA. Shotaro and Sungchan had previously debuted in NCT, the ambitious boy band project that SM launched in 2016, becoming its two newest members in 2020 and contributing to Resonance, Pt. 1, NCT’s highest-charting Billboard 200 release. Two years later, SM’s board of directors moved to terminate the company’s production contract with founder Lee Soo-Man (from whom SM gets its name) in 2022 in an effort to shift SM away from Lee’s creative authority. In May 2023, Korean multimedia conglomerate Kakao became the company’s largest shareholder after a heated bidding war with K-pop titan HYBE (which initially bought Lee’s stake in the company but then sold it to Kakao during a tender offer) for access to SM’s nearly 30 years of K-pop glory, including an extensive catalog, dedicated divisions for nonmusic opportunities like acting, technology and the metaverse, as well as dozens of active artists — soon to include its newest addition, RIIZE.
Just days before Kakao became majority shareholder, SM CEO Jang Cheol-Hyuk revealed that as part of a company restructuring, NCT — originally pitched as a group with infinite members splintered into localized subunits worldwide — would no longer infinitely expand and that Shotaro and Sungchan would leave to debut in a new group, joining previously announced SM Rookies (the company’s team of trainees) Eunseok and Seunghan, along with other Korean and American members. In July 2023, excitement mounted when K-pop media outlets reported that the son of acclaimed Korean singer-songwriter-producer Yoon Sang — later revealed to be Anton — would also join the project.
Finally, on July 27, 2023, SM introduced RIIZE. The group (whose name is a portmanteau of “rise” and “realize”) launched its Instagram with 27 photos — casual selfies and mirror pics without the flashy fashion, perfect makeup or glossy finishes that often characterize K-pop photo shoots even on social media — revealing the seven-member lineup of Shotaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Seunghan, Sohee and Anton. (Six are at dinner tonight; in November, SM placed Seunghan on “indefinite suspension,” though he is still listed as a RIIZE member on the label’s website.)
RIIZE has sought to present itself as more down-to-earth — a noticeable change from previous, high-concept SM artist launches like the supernatural-inspired boy band EXO; the girl group aespa, which sings about straddling the real and virtual worlds; and other larger-than-life K-pop idols the label has served up since the late 1990s. RIIZE describes its music as “emotional pop,” a phrase it uses, Anton says, “because we hope that people can relate to it emotionally. The members all do, and I think that’s what our fans want from us as well.”
Clockwise from top left: Wonbin, Shotaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Anton, and Sohee.
Munachi Osegbu
But RIIZE differs from other K-pop outfits in ways that go beyond the aesthetic or concept. For one, its social media approach is far more hands-on than that of its contemporaries, who tend to have marketing-approved captions; @riize_official sprinkles comments across fans’ TikTok accounts. The members also filmed the #GetAGuitarChallenge with influencers including Merrick Hanna (who has 32.5 million followers on TikTok), reacted to tasting Indonesian snacks with Jerome Polin (8.2 million followers on Instagram) and shot charming content with South Korea’s most prominent openly gay celebrity, the tastemaker Hong Seok-Cheon, who predicted Wonbin as a “face” to watch in 2024.
“We have a concept called ‘real-time odyssey,’” Eunseok explains. “We post a lot of pictures of our daily life and intimate [moments] on social media.” Anton clarifies: “We don’t really think of it as a concept — we’re just trying to show our authentic selves.”
Unlike many of its peers, RIIZE also does not have a designated “leader,” even if the Tokyo-raised Shotaro — at 23, the group’s eldest and only Japanese member — naturally steps up. At dinner, he ensures everyone around him (including this reporter) has water and their drink of choice. He’s the first to speak at the meal and divulges the most about his musical tastes; Sam Smith is a favorite. To his left is his fellow ex-NCT member, Seoul-born Sungchan, 22, whose beaming smile helped him become a host of the weekly K-pop performance TV program Inkigayo while he was in NCT. One day, he hopes Pharrell Williams will collaborate on a track for RIIZE. Shotaro likens Sungchan to the color sky blue because he has “a very clear heart… and is very innocent.”
Sohee
Munachi Osegbu
Wonbin
Munachi Osegbu
RIIZE’s four other members sit across from the duo. Born and raised in Seoul, Eunseok, 23, prefers calm ballads and the music of Ed Sheeran. While his outside demeanor matches his musical taste, his bandmates reveal he has a more lighthearted side: As Sohee describes, Eunseok is known for giving “very random and fantastical” nonsensical nicknames to everyone he meets. Anton calls them “basically video-game character names,” which makes everyone laugh.
The 22-year-old Wonbin — or “Dark Bean,” as Eunseok has dubbed him, to the rest of RIIZE’s amusement — was born in Seoul but raised in South Korea’s southern port city of Ulsan; he digs Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience-era singles like “Mirrors” and “Suit & Tie.” Baby-faced powerhouse vocalist Sohee, 20, grew up in Siheung, located in the country’s most populous province, Gyeonggi; he is not only “really bright,” Anton explains, “[but] his mindset is always really positive as well.”
Last is Anton, 20, son of singer Yoon Sang and the actress Shim Hye-Jin. While Anton has appeared on South Korean TV since childhood (Yoon Sang is based in South Korea), he was born in Boston and raised in New Jersey; growing up in the United States fostered his appetite for music discovery and exploration, which ultimately became the foundation for his K-pop career. “I don’t really think I have a favorite artist per se,” he says, soft-spoken but self-assured. “I just like to explore as many genres [as I can] and try to listen to a lot of different music even if I don’t understand the language. People who enjoy K-pop might not understand Korean.”
From left: Anton, Sohee, Wonbin, Eunseok, Shotaro, and Sungchan of RIIZE photographed May 21, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Munachi Osegbu
Anton’s musical philosophy encapsulates the growing mindset of the young audience with whom RIIZE, as well as SM and RCA, hope to connect. As U.S. listeners become increasingly interested in foreign-language music, RIIZE has earned 37.8 million official U.S. on-demand streams — contributing to 641.2 million globally — according to Luminate. And it hopes to continue expanding its fan base (known as BRIIZE, pronounced “breeze”) with the June 17 release of RIIZING – The 1st Mini Album. Its new single, “Boom Boom Bass,” incorporates the same hooky energy of “Get a Guitar” while adding shimmery disco vibes and an irresistible bassline. Sungchan and Wonbin both say it’s their favorite RIIZE song yet.
After five different K-pop releases topped the Billboard 200 last year, driven by K-pop fans’ love of physical product and labels delivering collectible album packages in multiple versions, RCA Records COO John Fleckenstein says the label is “absolutely focused on delivering physical versions for RIIZE” in the United States — but as just one way to elevate the group’s presence.
“The vision behind our global partnership was to marry what both our companies do best across all areas to bring additional opportunities, reach, resources and growth to support RIIZE,” Fleckenstein adds. “Our passion lies in exploring the intersection of music, art, culture and then connecting that to an audience. SM have been incredible partners who truly understand the market.”
Eunseok
Munachi Osegbu
Anton
Munachi Osegbu
As the members of RIIZE dip into Basque cheesecakes for dessert, they share their personal goals for the future, both near and distant. They hope that “Boom Boom Bass” can crack multiple Billboard charts and are looking forward to their first original Japanese-language single, “Lucky,” due in July, calling it “a perfect song for the summer.” Shotaro dreams of someday performing at the Super Bowl and the Billboard Music Awards.
RIIZE wants fans to understand that the Fan-Con Tour is only the beginning, and that the members plan to visit many countries. When Shotaro and Anton burst into tears during the band’s two sold-out dates at Tokyo’s Yoyogi National Gymnasium arena in May, it brought new meaning to the group’s “emotional pop” — and conveyed how much RIIZE wants an offline fan connection that is as strong as its online one.
“I really did not plan on crying whatsoever,” Anton reflects. “That was our biggest concert to date, and seeing the fans far away holding up our signs and stuff was just sort of overwhelming.” At the concert the day after dinner, the members manage not to break into tears — but their performance is no less heartfelt. Amid heart-stopping choreography, Anton pauses to address the audience. “We’ll work hard,” he says, “to become a RIIZE that BRIIZE can be proud of.”
When RIIZE goes out to dinner, it’s a 20-person affair. On this particular Sunday evening, the pioneering South Korean mega-label SM Entertainment has reserved a private room at a hot spot in Los Angeles’ Koreatown popular with music artists for its new boy band. The six members file in around a long table — along […]
Sam Smith is gearing up to celebrate the tin anniversary of their debut studio album with In the Lonely Hour 10 Year Anniversary Edition. The collection due out on Capitol Records on August 2 will include the original’s 10 songs, as well as the exclusive new track, “Little Sailor.”
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A collector’s edition of the refreshed LP will feature 25 songs on four LPs and two CDs, including live versions of the some of album’s original songs and special features with Mary J. Blige, A$AP Rocky and John Legend.
The six-times-platinum original album that was originally released on June 17, 2014 — and which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart — featured Smith’s breakthrough Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Stay With Me,” as well as the No. 5 hit “I’m Not the Only One” and Lay Me Down” (No. 8) and fan favorites “Money On My Mind” and “Like I Can.” The collection garnered six Grammy nominations, including bids in the “big four” categories, with Smith snagging gold for best new artist, best pop vocal album, song of the year (“Stay With Me”) and record of the year (for the Darkchild remix of “Stay With Me”).
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“This year marks a decade since the release of my debut album. I feel so incredibly lucky to be celebrating this milestone with you,” Smith wrote on X. “My team and I have created this beautiful anniversary edition for us all, and for the last 10 years. Today is only the beginning ‘Sailors,’ we have so much to celebrate with you between now and August. I can’t wait to look back on In The Lonely Hour together.”
Smith debuts their first podcast, The Pink House, today (June 13), with each episode promising a sit-down between the singer and friends/queer icons sharing how they “all found their own places in the world and share stories of belonging, chosen families, and the journeys we take to become who we’re destined to be,” according to a statement. The Lemonade Media-produced show named after Smith’s childhood home in Great Chisill, England will feature guest appearances from Elliott Page, Joel Kim Booster, Ben Platt, Gloria Estefan and others, who will explore their own Pink Houses on the pod, explaining how they “navigated early struggles and ultimately found their place in the world.”
The first two episodes are available now, with a new ep dropping every week.
See Smith’s announcement and the full track list below.
In The Lonely Hour (10th Anniversary Edition)This year marks a decade since the release of my debut album. I feel so incredibly lucky to be celebrating this milestone with you. My team and I have created this beautiful anniversary edition for us all, and for the last 10 years.… pic.twitter.com/46VVpFF4sU— SAM SMITH (@samsmith) June 12, 2024
In the Lonely Hour 10 Year Anniversary Edition Collector’s Edition Tracklist:
Vinyl 1Side A 1. “Good Thing” 2. “Stay With Me” (Re-record)3. “Leave Your Lover” Side B 4. “I’m Not The Only One”5. “I’ve Told You Now”6. “Like I Can”7. “Not In That Way”
Vinyl 2Side A1. “Make It To Me” 2. “Lay Me Down”3. “Little Sailor” Side B4. “Money On My Mind”5. “Life Support” 6. “Restart”
Vinyl 3Side A1. “Safe With Me” 2. “Nirvana” 3. “I’ve Told You Now” (Live at St Pancras Old Church, London) Side B 1. “Latch”2. “La La La”3. “How Will I Know”
Vinyl 4Side A1. “Latch” (Acoustic)2. “Drowning Shadows” 3. “Writing’s On The Wall”Side B 1. “Stay With Me” (feat. Mary J. Blige) 2. “I’m Not The Only One” (feat. A$ASP Rocky) 3. “Lay Me Down” (feat. John Legend)
Camila Cabello came to The Tonight Show to play on Wednesday night (June 12), with robot dogs, ice cold stories and killer dance moves. In addition to performing her frenetic single “I Luv It” with help from blindfolded dancers, Cabello talked about her upcoming album, C, XOXO (June 28)) played a new game with host Jimmy Fallon and cleared up some rumors about her viral frozen Met Gala purse.
Cabello and Fallon reminisced about running into each other at the annual fashion fantasia earlier this year and the singer admitted that by the time she saw Jimmy she was “very drunk” because she was so stressed from what happened earlier. Fallon then pulled out a picture of Cabello’s purse from that night, which consisted of a rose frozen in a block of ice.
“I didn’t think about the fact that ice, very quickly, melts,” Cabello said. “And so I get there and it’s my worst, the nightmare situation where suddenly the clutch breaks. I think it was Ed Sheeran was there he was telling a joke or something and somebody accidentally moved it and before I get my picture taken the clutch completely breaks.”
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Cabello described being surrounded by shocked A-listers including poet Amanda Gorman, actress Rachel Sennott and model Kaia Gerber, who all gasped when the purse’s straps broke off. “This is the thing you least want to happen — a bunch of famous people looking at you having a breakdown during the line before you take your picture at the Met Gala!” So Camila said she turned to Gerber and a few others for advice, landing on the solution of converting it into a (very slippery) clutch instead.
Fallon then assured Cabello that she was “glamorously” holding the block of ice, putting up a picture of a stone-faced Camila cradling the drippy purse. Also, for the record, she threw cold water on the viral report that her purse cost $25,000. “Guys! It’s water frozen!” she yelled. “You can make it at home!”
Cabello also explained her fourth album’s title, saying the new collection is a chapter in her life that feels “personal to me and authentic to me and like signed by me. Like writing a letter to someone. This is me, like it or not.” When Jimmy asked Cabello about her writing process, after noting that she has no co-writers on this album, Cabello gave an example of her skills by busting out her phone to sing a tune she wrote for the show on her way to the studio.
The voice note featured Cabello humming lightly while she sang, “New suit, same chair, new dress, blonde hair/ We’ve seen each other through some phases/ Past lives, debuts, Met Ball, saw you/ Good to have a friend in scary places/ Jimmy-a, Jimmy-a, Jimmy alright/ They came for a show well Jimmy alright/ It’s another late night/ It’s another late night talkin’,” as an astonished Fallon looked on.
The singer came back for a round of the new game Dance Charades, in which one player wore headphones and danced to a song whose title the other player had to guess. Cabello proved to be quite adept at the game, acting out Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” while pretending to bite her arm as Fallon shimmied awkwardly to Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie.”
Cabello came back one more time to sing “I Luv It,” the first single from her follow-up to her 2022 LP Familia, which features guest spots from Drake, Lil Nas X, Playboi Carti and City Girls. The set opened with Cabello in a silver dress, baggy leather gloves and a black blindfold with white x’s over her eyes — a spooky look her four dancers mirrored — in the high-energy performance that featured her back-up crew holding a pair of dancing Unitree robot dogs on leashes as giant fans sent their strappy costumes flying.
Watch Cabello on The Tonight Show below.
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At this point, Charli XCX should just officiate Matty Healy and Gabbriette Bechtel’s wedding. The “Von Dutch” singer is permanently tied to the 1975 frontman and model’s love story following Wednesday’s (June 12) news that the couple are engaged — starting with the fact that Charli mentions Gabbriette in the first few seconds of her new album Brat.
On the LP’s opening track, “360,” Charli uses Gabbriette as an example of an effortlessly cool tastemaker, singing, “I went my own way and I made it/ I’m your favorite reference, baby/ Call me Gabbriette, you’re so inspired.”
Bechtel also stars in the “360” music video alongside several other internet “it girls,” such as Julia Fox, Rachel Sennott and Emma Chamberlain. In the eclectic visual, she repeatedly hits a vape, poses next to a man lying in a gurney and tells Charli to “fulfill the prophecy of finding a new hot Internet girl.”
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The “Fancy” singer is also connected to Bechtel through their respective romances. Charli got engaged to The 1975’s George Daniel in November, which means both women are marrying into the band family.
Everything came full-circle, though, when Bechtel announced her engagement to Healy by posting a photo of her ring taken at Charli’s Brat release party in Brooklyn on Tuesday night. The influencer wrote in her caption, “MARRYING THE 1975 IS VERY BRAT.”
Healy’s mother, Loose Women host Denise Welch, later confirmed the news on her talk show Wednesday morning, according to People. “I have known for a few weeks that Matty got engaged,” she said. “Black diamond [ring], he had it made for her. I couldn’t be more thrilled. We couldn’t be happier — she is everything I would want in a daughter-in-law.”
Charli and Bechtel were friends long before the latter started dating Healy in September, however. In 2019, the “Boom Clap” artist cast Bechtel as the lead singer of Nasty Cherry, a now-inactive girl group assembled in the Netflix documentary I’m With the Band.
Watch the “360” music video below.
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It’s May 4, 1999, and Jennifer Lopez releases “If You Had My Love,” the song that marked her embarkation to a fruitful dual-track career.
The Rodney Jerkins-produced single came as a surprise to critics then, as Lopez became one of the relatively few actors to effectively crossover from the screen to a successful recording career. “I embraced all of it to be who I was and offer something really different,” Lopez told Billboard in 2020.
“When I started working in my early 20s, it was size 0 models on the cover of magazines,” Lopez mused. “Tall, blonde, white, sometimes Black. But never Latina. I didn’t shy away from being from the Bronx, I didn’t shy away from my humble beginnings.”
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The single, the opening track from Lopez’s 16-track debut studio album, On the 6, her first of eight top 10s on the Billboard 200 chart, was initially intended for Michael Jackson, but the King of Pop passed as he thought it was a better fit for a female artist, and he was right.
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With “If You Had My Love” — written by Rodney Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III and Cory Rooney — Lopez broke the surface of the mainstream as the commercial hit propelled her to a maiden entry on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, It debuted at No. 81 on the May 15, 1999, chart and hit No. 1 on the June 12-dated survey, beginning a five-week command.
The 2020 Billboard Women in Music icon joined Ricky Martin for the longest-leading Hot 100 No. 1 of 1999 to that point, as the Puerto Rican’s fellow Latin pop explosion “Livin’ La Vida Loca” ceded the top spot to “If You Had My Love.”
The song’s 25-year anniversary arrives on the heels of the star’s recently canceled This Is Me… Live Tour, which was scheduled to be her first concert run in five years, in support of her ninth studio album, This Is Me… Now, her first in a decade.
To date, “If You Had My Love” has pulled in 3.8 billion in radio audience, 122.8 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 263,000 downloads sold, according to Luminate.
Lopez, who also boasts three No. 1s among seven top 10s on the Hot Latin Songs chart over 1999-2020, subsequently led the Hot 100 with “I’m Real,” for five weeks in 2001, “Ain’t It Funny” (six, 2002) – both feature Ja Rule – and “All I Have,” featuring LL Cool J (four, 2003). She has notched 10 top 10s, through the No. 3 hit “On the Floor,” featuring Pitbull, in 2011.
French pop singer, actress and model Françoise Hardy died on Tuesday (June 11) at 80 after a long battle with cancer. Her son, musician Thomas Dutronc, announced her passing in a touching Instagram post featuring a picture of him as a baby in the arms of his mother with the message “Maman est partie (mom is gone).”
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One of the most versatile and beloved French artists of her generation, Hardy went public with her lymphatic cancer diagnosis in 2004 and was briefly put in an induced coma in 2015 when her condition worsened.
Hardy was born in Paris on Jan. 17, 1944 in the midst of an air raid on the Nazi-occupied city and by most accounts had a melancholy childhood whose spell was broken when her absent father gifted her a guitar after her early high school graduation at 16. The singer got her break in 1961 when the Disques Vogue label signed the then-18-year-old and released the single “Tous les garçons et les filles,” which became an instant hit and sold more than 2.5 million copies.
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Best known for her melancholy ballads, Hardy became one of the leading lights of the Yé-yé style of music, whose name was a spin on the frequent “yeah, yeah” chants in English language pop songs of the era by the likes of the Beatles. More hits followed, including “Je Suis D’Accord” and “Le Temps de L’Amour” and in 1963 Hardy came in fifth place as the entry from Monaco in that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
With her stylish, androgynous look and a deadpan, breathy style that landed with young audiences thanks to lyrics about the heartache and angst of adolescence, films came calling and the singer was cast by director Roger Vadim in his 1963 comedy Château en Suède (Nutty, Naughty Chateau), alongside established star Monica Vitti. As a testament to her growing popularity, Hardy began translating her songs into English (as well as German and Italian), scoring her first top 20 UK hit in 1964 with “All Over the World.”
In addition to influencing (and being fawned over by) everyone from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger, Hardy became a muse for fashion designers Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne as well, with famed photographers Richard Avedon and William Klein shooting her over the years. Dylan was so entranced by her, in fact, that in the liner notes of his 1964 Another Side of Bob Dylan album he included a poem in her honor that began, “For Françoise Hardy, at the Seine’s edge, a giant shadow of Notre Dame seeks t’ grab my foot.”
David Bowie was similarly smitten, once saying that he was “passionately in lover with her. Every male in the world, and a number of females, also were.”
After releasing a series of albums and EPs in France, Hardy’s debut full length release in the U.S. was 1965’s, The ‘Yeh-Yeh’ Girl From Paris!, a repackaging of her 1962 French debut album, Tous les garçons et les filles; her early albums were often released without titles and were frequently known by their most popular tracks. Her first English-language album, 1965’s In English, featured “All Over the World” and a number of other songs she co-wrote with collaborator Julian More, including “This Little Heart,” “The Rose” and “Another Place.” It was followed in 1968 by another English album known as The Second English Album and Will You Love Me Tomorrow. She scored her biggest English-language hit in 1968 with the Serge Gainsbourg-penned “It Hurts to Say Goodbye,” which hit No. 1 in France and the U.K.
Working with a series of collaborators throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Hardy released a dozen albums exploring Brazilian funk, rock, disco, jazz and electronic pop before taking a six-year break before 1988’s Décalages LP, which was followed in 1996 by Le danger, which she said at the time would be her final album. She continued to release albums throughout the early 2000s, though, issuing her 28th and final studio collection, Personne d’autre, in 2018.
Speaking to the Associated Press in 1996, she explained her unusual approach to songwriting, in which she emphasized the importance of melody. “I always put the words on the music. It’s always like that. I don’t write before, and then, I’m looking for music,” she said at the time of the method that gave her songs a unique quality mixing poetry-like lyrics with entrancing melodies. “First, I get the music and (then) I try to put words on it.”
In addition to collaborating with everyone from Iggy Pop to Blur, Hardy also appeared in films by such acclaimed directors Jean-Luc Godard (1966’s Masculine Feminine) and John Frankenheimer (Grand Prix). The singer also developed an interest in astrology, authoring a series of books on the subject as well as publishing fiction and her autobiography, The Despair of Monkeys and Other Trifles, in 2018. She was the only French singer to be named on Rolling Stone‘s 2023 list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time, coming in at No. 162 thanks to what the magazine said was “a breathy, deadpan also that wafted like Gauloises smoke.”
See Dutronc’s post and some of Hardy’s performances below.
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Celine Dion was so desperate to alleviate the pain from severe muscle spasms during her secret, nearly two-decade-long battle with the rare neurological and autoimmune disease Stiff-Person Syndrome that she took near-lethal doses of Valium in search of relief. In her one-hour primetime NBC special on Tuesday night (June 11), Dion said she took up to 90 milligrams of the medication used to treat anxiety, seizures and muscle spasms, an amount that is more than twice the recommended daily dose.
“I did not know, honestly, that it could kill me. I would take, for example before a performance, 20 milligrams of Valium, and then just walking from my dressing room to backstage — it was gone,” Dion said of the instant pain relief the medication offered at levels, however that “could have been fatal” if she’d continued at that pace. “At one point, the thing is, that my body got used to it at 20 and 30 and 40 [milligrams] until it went up. And I needed that. It was relaxing my whole body. For two weeks, for a month, the show would go on… but then you get used to [and] it doesn’t work anymore.”
Dion was taking such high doses of Valium every day that, she said, the amounts, “can kill you. You can stop breathing.” The 56-year-old singer said she began to cut back on her intake during the COVID-19 pandemic when the world went into lockdown and she was unable to perform.
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Though she leaves the door open during the special that she will return to the stage this year, Dion has not performed on stage since March 2020, when the global pandemic arrived just in time to give her time away to focus on her health and wean off her dangerously high doses of Valium. “It was an opportunity for me to take a break,” she said. “Do not be brave… I stopped everything with the help of doctors. I was weaning off all the meds, and especially the bad ones. I stopped everything because it stopped working.”
Though the doctors helped her wean off the drugs, Dion noted that even that process can kill you if not done correctly. “You cannot just, like, stop everything,” she said. Another downside, she revealed, was that once she weaned off the medication her symptoms got much worse.
Dion has said that the symptoms of the chronic, incurable disorder began appearing in the mid-2000s, getting progressively worse until she finally revealed her struggle in a December 2022 announcement after cancelling her planned tour that year.
In the emotional NBC special, Dion describes being gripped by fear when the disorder’s symptoms began to affect her in 2008, affecting her mobility and causing spasms so intense they caused broken ribs and sometimes made it feel like “somebody is strangling you.” In a scary moment, she said that “anything” could trigger the painful symptoms. “Too much work, not enough work. If I sit all day long I’ll be wobbly. Walking wobbly.” Shockingly, Dion said even joyful moments could lead to pain. “Happiness, sound, a touch unexpected,” she said.
She described first noticing the symptoms of her body getting “more rigid” during a before a show in Germany on her 2008 Taking Chances world tour. “I said to my assistants and to my people, ‘I don’t know if I can do the show. I don’t know what’s happening,’” she told Kotb, sending her voice into a higher register to imitate the effects on her voice. “I was very, very, very scared. And then you panic, and the more you panic, the more you spasm. I went onstage… of course. And I started to sound more nasal.”
She said the panic led to more spasms, which forced her to lower the keys on some songs in order to gain some control over the situation, lamenting that she had to lie to her beloved fans at the time by blaming her issues on a sinus infection. During the pandemic, Dion’s team struggled to figure out what was going on, with the symptoms persisting even after she stopped performing and the singer worrying that she might be facing the end of her four-decade career.
It was at that point she began working with director Irene Taylor Brodsky on the upcoming Prime Video documentary I Am: Celine Dion (June 25) in which she vows to find a way to make it back on stage for her fans. “If I can’t run, I’ll walk,” she says in the film. “If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl… I won’t stop.” In the NBC special, Brodsky talked about seeing one of Dion’s attacks in person, saying it came on quickly and then, just as quickly, progressed in a scary fashion.
“She was giggling, and five seconds later, we were in a totally different stratosphere,” Brodsky told Kotb. “She had a cramp in her foot, and I thought, ‘That doesn’t look right.’” Then, just minutes later, Dion couldn’t talk because her body had stiffened up so badly. “It was the most extraordinary and extraordinarily uncomfortable moment in my life. As a filmmaker, but also as a mother, as a fellow human, because I didn’t know what was happening,” Brodsky said. “We were this close, and her body was enduring something that was unimaginable, and I wasn’t sure if she was aware of it, and I wasn’t sure if she was going to survive it.”
You can watch the full NBC News interview with Dion now on Peacock.
BTS member Jin, 31, celebrated the end of his mandatory 18-month South Korean military service on Wednesday (June 12). The seven-member group’s oldest singer is the first to complete his hitch in the army and a video posted by Reuters from his final day, he gleefully marked the moment by reuniting with his bandmates, who […]
In both America and South Korea, June marks Pride Month, with the 2024 celebration seeing one of K-pop‘s rare representatives deliver a universal anthem honoring global pop icons.
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The first-ever LGBTQ+ boy band to come from the K-pop scene, LIONESSES has been bravely pushing for representation in Korea and reaching the world with its consistent string of all-inclusive anthems like “It’s OK to Be Me” and “Show Me Your Pride” since debuting in 2021. Minus the group’s leader and music producer Damjun, LIONESSES’ countertenor Kanghan, vocalist Lee Malrang, as well as its former member and rapper Foxman who exited in late 2022, all perform in masks to conceal their identities in the socially conservative South Korea where LGBTQ+ people face prejudice, discrimination, and social stigmas with few protections compared to other developed democracies. But the music video to LIONESSES’ latest single “Like Christina Taught Me” not only shines a spotlight on a range of pop icons — including the titular Christina Aguilera — but sees Malrang stepping into the international spotlight by taking his mask off for the first time on camera.
“Like Christina Taught Me” has a bouncy, R&B-pop beat to back the trio’s range of vocals delivering encouraging words and finding comfort in the music of larger-than-life superstars that so many queer kids do. Referencing two of Xtina’s singles from her defining Stripped album from 2002, they sing on the chorus: “Know that you’re ‘Beautiful,’ like Christina taught me in that song / Trust ‘The Voice Within’” followed by an Aguilera-esque growl.
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With the mix of English and Korean lyrics, LIONESSES also pay tribute to Mariah Carey (“Yes, MC, I believe within my soul, hold on tight I won’t let go’ / I can ‘Make It Happen’”), Whitney Houston (”Learning to love yourself,’ like Whitney taught me in that song / ‘The Greatest Love of All’”), and Michael Jackson (“Yes, MJ, I’mma start to love that man/ That ‘Man in the Mirror”).
Inspired by the band members’ actual experiences, the accompanying music video depicts the LIONESSES members in a classic Korean school setting, navigating bullies and ridicule from their classmates but finding secret solace in a smiling partner and coming closer to their true selves — like Kanghan showcasing her drag persona and Malrang removing his mask in the final seconds of the video in a beautiful moment of public courageousness.
Despite wins like successfully repealing bans from Korean-television broadcasters for their music, LIONESSES and their associates also deal with an onslaught of abuse from religious zealots in South Korea. Whether or not LIONESSES tops the charts, the representation and stories that Damjun, Kanghan and Malrang bring in a public setting are important steps in creating a greater music industry and world where all are accepted regardless of sexuality, gender identity or the other aspects that make each human precious.
Watch the “Like Christina Taught Me” music video below and read on for an extensive interview with LIONESSES members.
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Congratulations on your new single, LIONESSES! What does the song mean to you all personally?
Kanghan: “Like Christina Taught Me” is about inner beauty and embracing it. As the title indicates, it’s a collection of artistic energy that brings together musicians talking about “beauty.” I needed time to accept myself, especially during my career in LIONESSES and taking off my mask and showing my drag queen ego to the public. But that’s when I got courage and hope from watching the drag queens who were already active in Korea. It’s the same for music, for drag, for dancing: being able to fill that courage indirectly to someone who needs it, which inspired me to bring that into my life. In particular, I know that this song was inspired by the lyrics “You are beautiful, no matter what they say” from Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful.” I remember Damjun introducing us to this song about all our beauty.
Lee Malrang: It seems to be the hardest song to sing live out of all the songs released so far, but since it’s named after the diva we admire the most, I’m always practicing hard to sing more perfectly. [Laughs]
Damjun: I made this song to give back to my fans the courage that all the great musicians cited in this music, including Christina. So I went back to Young Damjun from my childhood era in this music video, and even appeared in the video wearing my school uniform! [Laughs]
Even after I debuted in LIONESSES, I still work as a vocal coach at some art high schools because I can’t just send my students off to another coach so easily. I thought just having one actor playing the role of my friends was not enough, so I brought my students to the set and asked for their help. It was a special experience for me to act in the same uniform next to my students — but my students will still laugh when we talk about it.
“Beautiful” and “The Voice Within,” Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror,” Mariah Carey’s “Make It Happen,” Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All,” Korea’s legendary diva Yoon Bok-hee’s “You,” and BTS‘ “Answer: Love Myself” — the message that all these songs have given me is, “It’s OK.” No matter how much you are loved by others, I think accepting yourself is the beginning of all courage. I want to remind anyone who will listen to this song that all this music has told me and that if you feel OK about yourself, everything’s going to be OK.”
Damjun, you wrote, co-produced and vocal directed “Like Christina Taught Me.” Can you tell me about creating the song?
Damjun: “Like Christina Taught Me” is a song that I made to return the comfort given by Christina Aguilera, our great diva, and to our fans DEN. Almost three years have passed since my debut, time flies so fast but Christina is an artist who is almost everything to me. I’m sure my fans have often seen me say in live streams and Instagram posts, “80% of what raised me was Christina Aguilera.” That’s how much she’s incorporated into my singing skill — I’m still way short of her but I’m trying to do my best. Sometimes just humming her songs that I sing to fans on live streams such as “I Turn to You”, “Beautiful,” “The Voice Within,” “Ain’t No Other Man,” “Hurt,” and her version of [James Brown‘s] “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” in her whistle register. [Laughs]
I’ve been dreaming of becoming a K-pop idol ever since I was a little boy and I’ve had a lot of opportunities come my way — come to think of it, I auditioned singing “The Voice Within” when I was in high school — but when I thought about if I was ever caught being bisexual, I thought Korean society, back then, would destroy my music career and all my loved ones. So, I gave up opportunities every time. For a long time, I worked as a singer in advertisements, a wedding singer and vocal coach but with my debut with LIONESSES, I accepted a lot of things. I accepted by myself. I thought, “I can make my story into music and tell it to people” and a lot of stories that I had suppressed have been made into music.
Just like how [Christina] helped me not to let go of my dreams, singing “You are beautiful, no matter what they say,” I want to give courage to my younger fans: “Know that you’re beautiful, like she taught me.”
Why did LIONESSES want to honor Christina Aguilera not just in the lyrics, but also in the title?
Kanghan: Because we all love Christina! [Laughs] She is an icon of our generation. Especially for me as a drag queen, she is an important figure who taught me how to be a diva.
Damjun: For me, Christina has been the vocal teacher I’ve never met for the past 20 years. When I have to sing a new song that I made, rather than cover someone else’s song, there are times when I just don’t know how am I supposed to sing it. Every time I face that kind of pinch, I find an answer thinking, “What would Christina do?”
When I first auditioned to become a singer in 2007, I was a little gay boy in ninth grade. Before that, I had opera singing training, but I wanted to be a pop star just like her. That’s when Christina came to do a concert in Korea — it was a world tour when the Back to Basics album was released and tens of thousands of people flocked to Seoul’s Olympic Stadium to see her. She appeared in a white suit — oh, all of a sudden, I feel like a ninth-grade boy talking about this! [Laughs] — but I wanted to go to that show so my mother paid me an advance for almost a year’s worth of allowance, I borrowed money from my friends, and managed to buy a ticket. And yes, she took the stage with her baby bump and touched tens of thousands of people.
I fell in love with her Back to Basics character of “Baby Jane” with songs called “Candyman” and “Ain’t No Other Man.” She introduced to me retro-vibe music when she released that album and that’s when I first started searching for and listening to music from earlier generations of musicians such as Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald and James Brown. Recently, I participated in CUMA 2024, a joint concert of Korean and Japanese LGBTQ+ jazz musicians…it was also Christina who first introduced the jazz music I sang in this performance!
I will love her music forever. You know, if you have someone you love, you want to share it with them when you watch a good movie or eat something delicious, right? I wanted to share the music that I love with my beloved DENs, just like that. And if there is anyone who is a little boy like younger me who is torn between dreams, talents, and fears, I want to tell him this: “It’s OK to chase a dream,” as Christina told me through her music.
You’ve shared a couple songs already, but what is everyone’s favorite Xtina songs and videos?
Malrang: Oh god…I really feel like I’m a teen-girl fan of Christina. I like “What a Girl Wants”, “Come on Over (All I Want Is You)” and “Genie in a Bottle.” Of course we discuss, “Who’s going to be Christina’s part when we sing ‘Lady Marmalade?’” every time we meet. [Laughs]
Kanghan: Actually, I didn’t know much about pop music before I was an opera singer, but I mainly liked Christina Aguilera’s most popular ballads then. Now, I love her boldness and I’m turning into a big fan, but “Like Christina Taught Me” in particular gave me a chance to reflect on “Beautiful” and think again about the huge comfort it gave us. My favorite song right now is “Dirrty.”
The music video of “Beautiful” has many outsiders wandering, not feeling positive about themselves, being bullied by many people, but eventually finding their true selves. That’s what I’ve been through in my life too so I think this song has the most special meaning to all LGBTQ+ people of my generation.
Damjun: I especially like all the songs in the Back to Basics album, I guess I can’t forget the first time I actually saw her at a concert. My biggest goal in high school was to sing “Candyman” perfectly once…it’s still hard to sing! I also remember practicing notes one by one, while performing the intro line of “Ain’t No Other Man,” playing it a halfspeed. I also like her version of “Climb Every Mountain” [from The Sound of Music] and “Do What U Want” with Lady Gaga. Actually, I like her music from start to finish, so this answer is just a list of her songs that come to mind right now.
I also liked the recently remade version of the “Beautiful” music video. Is it OK to call the entire animation Mulan as the music video for “Reflection”? [Laughs] Her music was also used as a theme song in the movie…I liked the red background of “Loyal Brave True” and the background production using Chinese characters because it felt like modern art. My favorite, though, is definitely “Candyman.” Everything about it makes me feel like I’m an American Navy [SEAL] from another era.
Malang: I like “Candyman,” too! I once dreamed of being an American pin-up girl. I wanted to be a pin-up girl to make guys stand up — just kidding!
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You also honor Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson in the song. Can you share how these artists are inspirations too?
Kanghan: Michael Jackson is the “King of Pop” that all earthlings know, right? I remember when I was young I would play along with his dances. As a performer, I respect him so much for being a sensation that will go down in history. One of my role models, Korean gospel singer Sohyang, specifically mentioned that the singer she respect the most is Whitney Houston so I listened to all of her music. Sohyang and Whitney are the singers who inspired me a lot in my life.
Malrang: I especially really like MJ’s “You Are Not Alone.” I used to cry a lot when I first heard it when I was little and I actually listen to it every time I had to endure something by myself. This song always gives me a lot of strength.
Damjun: Before our comeback in the second half of last year, I talked to my fans about sponsoring a UNICEF campaign together. I said, “All pop musicians, including K-pop artists, are like Michael Jackson’s children. Everyone inherited his great legacy and is making their own music. So, I wanted to do ‘Heal the World’ with DENs just like Michael did to the world.” The same goes for Whitney Houston’s voice. Perhaps Christina, whom I keep referring to as an icon, is also considered to be the greatest diva to have inherited her legacy. My entire life has been a practice process to sing like them.
The quote from “Make It Happen” by Mariah Carey was a little more significant to me. My other two members are Christians, but I have no religion. However, after releasing “It’s OK to Be Me” in 2022, I became strongly opposed to religion in my mind when the song was banned from broadcasting on the grounds of “homosexuality” by MBC. When fans around the world protested, the broadcaster reversed it and I was attacked a lot by Christians in Korea for the reversal. Pastors incited the congregation by praying that “We should call [broadcasters] as a group to get those gay singers out of the entertainment industry.” Thousands of them went to the broadcasting companies and protested to get us out of the K-pop industry. Since Han and Malrang are Christians, so I don’t know how they would feel, but I was at the height of my aversion toward Christianity at the time — I had death threats messages from Christians in Korea and malicious complaints where they systematically attacked me. From that, I hated a lot of music, including “Make It Happen,” which had a Christian message.
However, I couldn’t deny the consolation and courage Mariah gave me. It’s the homophobics that attacked me that are bad, but not all religion and religious music is bad. Eventually I even listened to the great gospel songs that Mariah released — her music comforted me so much that I felt so stupid in the moments when I turned a blind eye to it because it had a religious message. So, I quoted “Make It Happen” in our [new] song, as opposed to any of her countless other songs, intending to forgive everything I suffered and give a hand of reconciliation to Christianity. The Korean diva Yoon Bok-hee’s “You” quoted in this song also had a religious message but I thought that ultimately, her willingness to be a comfort and joy as a voice for everyone was more important.
And as I’ve mentioned since my debut, as an ARMY — an old ARMY [Laughs] — I wanted to include the message that BTS gave me. They’re the idols of all idols now, but when I was working as a vocal coach and rejecting debut offers before I debuted as LIONESSES, I was unhappy and pessimistic about everything in the world. When BTS first came out with the message “Love Yourself,” I thought to myself, “It’s easy for you guys because you’re straight.” Then, I came to know about the hardships they’ve been through, saw their efforts, and fell in love with their music. I felt so ashamed of myself for not accepting the messages that BTS had conveyed simply because they hadn’t had experiences as LGBTQ+ and that’s how special all the songs in the album Love Yourself: Answer are to me. When I listened to their music and sincerity in the past, I felt so grateful for the messages that told me to overcome. Everyone has their own struggles, and we’ve concluded that the way to overcome them is to “love yourselves,” as all the great musicians mentioned in this song have said.
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Thank you for sharing all your stories. Have you dealt had any comments or bans with “Like Christina Taught Me”?
Damjun: [LIONESSES’ 2021 single] “Christmas Miracle” was banned by the Korean broadcaster CBS [The Christian Broadcasting System] on the “charge” of being LGBTQ — or, to be more precise, “a singer who harms the Christian spirit.” Exactly a year after that, “It’s OK to Be Me” went through the same thing at MBC, Korea’s largest broadcasting station, but MBC resolved the misunderstanding when the director called our company directly and apologized after complaints from fans and the media. The deliberations corrected it as a broadcast-approved song, but as a result the aforementioned attacks persisted for months. There were Christians who filed complaints with the school and education office where I worked as a coach and begged me to fire them. But now that I think about it, not everyone has the experience of being worshipped by pastors, right? [Laughs] So, I think I’ll have fun accepting it even if it happens in the future? “Like Christina Taught Me” has not faced any problems yet, but even in the face of discrimination, I want to sing this song firmly and convey more of the message to the world.
Malrang: Actually, “Like Christina Taught Me” has scenes revealing bits and pieces of my school years. My actual high school years were hell. They’d call me “lady” and “transgender” as insults, and I was sexually harassed a lot by them. I cursed and swore a lot so I wouldn’t get beat up by the bad guys, and even now, I still end up saying things that aren’t very refined, so my boss and Damjun used to be concerned about me. [All laugh] But even when a celebrity with LGBTQ+ image appeared on TV, bullies rushed to hit me. One day when news of a queer celebrity’s suicide was reported, they said, “This is your future; you won’t die comfortably.” But now it’s all in the past — I like how much happier I am after overcoming all of this in the music video.
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The video is also significant because Malrang removes his mask for the first time and Kanghan shares her drag persona. Congratulations on this big step! What inspired these decisions?
Malang: Last year, when my grandmother passed away, I had a lot of think about my life. During that time, it occurred to me that I had lived my life lying to my family for 30 years, as if I had put a thin layer on my life. I was wearing a mask and coming out to the fans and the world, and bravely starting my career, but I couldn’t muster the courage to come out to my family. So, there were many conflicts with the label about unmasking. As such, my grandmother’s passing was a turning point for me since I felt I was constantly lying to the public and to my family. I then addressed my concerns to Damjun who, in producing of this wonderful song, gave me the opportunity to come out again to my family and the public. I felt that I no longer wanted to play a deceiving role, but more than anything, I feel relieved to be able to proudly stand in front of my family now.
Damjun: There was a Christian who attacked us before said, “They hide behind the mask because they know they are ashamed of themselves.” But you know, our mask was rather in solidarity with fans anywhere who could not come out immediately. Of course, I’ve shown my face since our debut but they tried to spread the argument that “they’re hiding behind the mask because they’re ashamed of themselves”, and they only captured and watched footage of the other members wearing masks except my face on the Internet.
Kanghan: My alter ego, the drag queen “Rooya,” was also first revealed to the world through LIONESSES’ music videos. In fact, I’ve dressed up in full drag-queen makeup and outfits for Rooya, but pre-LIONESSES I was only dressed up alone in my room and was never seen by people. I’ve been admiring the queens in the musicals Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Kinky Boots and I believe that revealing the drag queen as a LIONESSES member is a way to bring back the inspiration I’ve received from them. I hope that I can continue to show you the new Rooya through LIONESSES.
Malrang, I’ve heard you’re related to another famous singer, Jeon Soyeon of (G)I-DLE! Have you two connected over music?
Malrang: We are cousins, so we met often on holidays. When she and I were very young, I taught her how to play the piano just once and she has already become the best composer in the K-pop industry so I am always proud of her and her talent. If that short memory is a musical connection to her, it can be said that it is a connection, but as you know, family members don’t usually talk about work.
I originally made my debut in 2009 in the past, and Soyeon supported and listened to me a lot. After that, I was growing my world as an indie musician and as Soyeon prepared to become a K-pop idol, I talked with her about her mindset as an artist and attitude on stage. But when my little sister became a successful musician and started (G)I-DLE‘s world tour, I cried a lot when I came back from the concert hall. I was so proud of her and for being able to so perfectly connect with such a large audience.
So, when I released this single, I decided to reveal my bare face to the public and, at the same time, I came out to her. She has given me a warm support and has given me a lot of support for my future as a K-pop artist. If I could say a word to my little sister Soyeon as an older brother, through this interview, I would like to say, “As your older brother, I will always try to be a good, fellow singer that you are not ashamed of.”
Anything else you would like to share with Billboard readers or maybe Xtina herself?
Malrang: Christina unnie! Next time you visit Korea, make sure to have a glass of soju with mala xiang guo [the spicy Chinese spicy dish that’s popular nowadays). And let’s sing a “spicy” song together!
Kanghan: I still vividly remember how you came out on RuPaul’s Drag Race and supported the drag artists. Because you are the goddess of all the drag queens, I am honored to continue to love your music as great as you have given the LGBTQ+ community.
Damjun: Christina, you’ll have no idea how much you are loved by singers who come after you. Especially for LGBTQ+ boys and girls, like me, who got the hope to live by hearing “You are beautiful” from your music…as a singer who wanted to be like Christina, I think the best I can do is to share the courage and comfort I received from you to my fans again. So, I’m still working hard to resemble you. Christina, I believe that beauty comes from love. Everything that is loved becomes beautiful. That’s why I, as a crooked adolescent boy, was able to become as beautiful as I am now based on the love you gave me through music. I was reluctant to love myself, but your music did so I want to make this song that conveys the message to someone, “Oh, this song loves me.” Because if someone’s having a hard time loving yourself, you can be loved by these kinds of songs first. I love you — to “the voice of our generation” from “the boy of your generation.”
And I’m especially grateful to the people who are fans of countless stars, including my dear DEN, and I want you to know that your presence gives us the strength to live and to create. We, all the musicians can be exist because we have fans. Also, my solo songs will be released in the second half of this year or the first half of 2025…I feel I will be able to sing about more personal things in my solo.
Kanghan: My dear DEN, you know we are always together, right? I hope this year’s Pride Month will have happier and more queer days.
Malrang: Our new single needs a lot of attention, right? [Laughs] We always try to read all the comments. We’ll wait for you, we love you!