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Billie Eilish stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night (Sept. 3) to chat about her new album Hit Me Hard and Soft, her creative process, and the connection she shares with her fans. At just 22, the singer-songwriter already boasts seven Grammy Awards and has broken streaming records worldwide.
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“I’ve always been such an album lover,” she told Kimmel, explaining why she prefers to release full-length projects. “I really love when something feels like one piece and is cohesive and thought through.”
Eilish, who made history as the youngest person to sweep the top four Grammy categories in 2020, shared how she carefully arranges the flow of each album. “I’ll write down all the names, tear them up, move them around… it’s all about dynamics and the flow.”
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The “Lunch” singer also touched on her long-standing relationship with her fans, likening seeing familiar faces at her concerts over the years to “seeing old friends again.”
“What’s been so cool is that all of these fans, all of my little family, we’ve been growing up at the same time,” she told Kimmel. “So many kids, especially in L.A. because I’m from here and I’m around and stuff, when I was first starting out there would be certain kids that I would see at everything I would do, and we were all the same age.”
Eilish continued, “So they would come to stuff and I would see them multiple times a year and then not for a couple years, and then I’d see them again. Over the years I’ve seen the same faces multiple times, and it feels like seeing my old friends again.”
Elsewhere in the interview, she treated the audience to an exclusive behind-the-scenes clip of her and her brother, Finneas, working on the track “Birds of a Feather” while in the back of an SUV in Brazil.
“This is such a normal thing for me and Finneas,” she said, referring to their sibling collaboration that has produced multiple hit records, including the James Bond theme “No Time to Die.” “We’ve recorded everywhere—from a tour bus bunk to little hotel rooms. It’s casual, but we love it.”
With her Hit Me Hard and Soft World Tour kicking off Sept. 29 in Quebec, Eilish shared how she balances life on the road. “I don’t ever want to resent it,” she explained. “I love touring, but you can start hating yourself if you’re gone for too long, so I make sure to take breaks in between.”
Eilish’s latest album Hit Me Hard and Soft debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in June, marking the biggest weekly album units of her career. All 10 tracks from the album made it into the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40, including “Lunch” at No. 5, her highest debut to date. The album also secured 90,000 units in vinyl sales, earning Eilish her fifth consecutive No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
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After Britney Spears‘ former assistant suggested that Emma Roberts should star in the upcoming Britney biopic, the actress called it her “true dream” to play the pop princess. Well, Billboard also picked our dream cast for the biopic, and (sorry to Emma), we have a different Britney in mind: Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney. On the […]
Sabrina Carpenter achieved a career milestone this week as her latest studio album, Short n’ Sweet, topped the Billboard 200 albums chart, marking her first leader on the tally. To celebrate, the 25-year-old pop star took to social media to thank fans for their support. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest […]
Taylor Swift is slowly becoming a football mastermind. Travis Kelce recently sat down for an interview on The Rich Eisen Show, where the Kansas City Chiefs tight end revealed that his pop superstar girlfriend has learned so much about football, that she started making play suggestions. “She had just been so open to learning the […]
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Sabrina Carpenter’s new studio album, Short n’ Sweet, blasts in atop the Billboard 200 (dated Sept. 7), while all 12 songs from the set hit the Billboard Hot 100.
The set debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 362,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States its opening week (Aug. 23-29), according to Luminate. Carpenter earns her first career leader, which opens with the third-largest debut, by units, of 2024.
Concurrently, all 12 songs on Short n’ Sweet land on the Hot 100, including three in the top five and 11 in the top 40. Here’s a recap (with all songs debuts except where noted):
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No. 2, “Taste”
No. 3, “Please Please Please” (up from No. 9; spent one week at No. 1, becoming Carpenter’s first Hot 100 leader, in June)
No. 4, “Espresso” (up from No. 7; peaked at No. 3 in June)
No. 14, “Bed Chem”
No. 15, “Good Graces”
No. 21, “Sharpest Tool”
No. 22, “Juno”
No. 26, “Coincidence”
No. 27, “Slim Pickins”
No. 32, “Dumb & Poetic”
No. 35, “Don’t Smile”
No. 41, “Lie to Girls”
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Carpenter becomes just the third woman to chart at least three songs in the Hot 100’s top five simultaneously, after Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande. The only other acts to log at least three entries in the top five simultaneously are The Beatles, 50 Cent, Justin Bieber, Drake and 21 Savage.
As “Taste,” “Please Please Please” and “Espresso” mark Carpenter’s first three top five Hot 100 hits, she becomes only the second act to ever chart her first three top five hits in the region simultaneously. She joins only The Beatles, who first tripled up on the chart dated March 7, 1964, with “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You” and “Please Please Me” at Nos. 1, 2 and 4, respectively.
With 10 debuts, Carpenter ups her count to 15 career Hot 100 entries. Along with “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” she previously charted with “Feather” (No. 21 peak in April), “Nonsense” (No. 56, 2023) and “Skin” (No. 48, 2021).
Plus, with 13 Hot 100 entries in 2024, Carpenter ties Grande for the third-most among women, after Swift (36; the most among all acts) and Beyoncé (23).
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Lady Gaga‘s got a packed schedule right now, between promoting her new single and preparing for the premiere of her new film. But Mother Monster still made sure there was enough time to keep her fans fed. In a post to her X account on Tuesday (Sept. 3), Gaga shared a glimpse at her itinerary […]
With the first quarter of the 21st century coming to an end, Billboard has been looking back on the 25 Greatest Pop Stars of the Past 25 Years. Below, we take a deeper look into the solo career of Louis Tomlinson — one of the members of our No. 22 pop stars, One Direction — and how his songwriting, originally honed in 1D, has helped him develop into one of the group’s strongest breakout artists.
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When One Direction officially went on hiatus in 2015, Zayn Malik dropped Mind of Mine in 2016, Harry Styles’ eponymous LP dropped in 2017, Niall Horan followed with Flicker later that year and Liam Payne’s First Time EP arrived in 2018. Louis Tomlinson, however, took his time with releasing a full project – and entered an era of healing and self-discovery that saw him realizing his potential as one of 1D’s most self-actualized artists, even if not necessarily the starriest.
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Even before going solo, Tomlinson showed he was meant for breakthrough success while in One Direction. Longtime Directioners know that Tomlinson wrote more songs in One Direction than any other member, penning long standing hits including “Perfect,” “History” and “Fool’s Gold” and proving his fortitude as a songwriter who understands lyrical cleverness and crafting the indescribably catchy refrains necessary to produce arena-ready hits. Beyond his musical abilities, Tomlinson’s sense of humor and friendship with fellow 1D members also ensured fans had a soft spot for him.
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However, when he did go solo, the road was slippery at first. He teamed up with Steve Aoki for his first solo release “Just Hold On” in December 2016, and just three days before its release, Tomlinson’s mother died of leukemia. He still took the stage to perform the song on The X Factor, the first public testament to the star’s strength and dedication to his musical craft.
Tomlinson’s resilience amid adversity continued as he navigated the music industry. The star signed with Epic Records in 2017 and released a few singles – including “Miss You” and the Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals-assisted “Back to You.” While the infectious hooks to both tracks could have easily solidified Tomlinson as a pop mainstay, the two singles didn’t perform as well as expected on the charts: “Just Hold On” peaked at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and “Back to You” hit No. 40, while “Miss You” missed the chart altogether. Ultimately, a full-length album never materialized with Epic Records.
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Tomlinson shortly got back on his feet, as he always does, and signed with Arista Records in 2019 – where he honed his talent as a songwriter, this time feeling comfortable enough to tackle more vulnerable topics in his music. His first release under the label was “Two of Us,” a heart-wrenching tribute to his late mother. “I know you’ll be looking down/ Swear I’m gonna make you proud/ I’ll be living one life for the two of us,” he sings in the chorus, giving a glimpse into what would soon become a musical career full of honesty and vulnerability.
Unfortunately, shortly after its release, another hardship struck Tomlinson’s life when his 18-year-old sister Fizzy died of an accidental overdose. Both the release of “Two of Us” and the tragedy that followed showed just how close Tomlinson’s community of fans is, as they showered him with online love and support in the months that followed.
After taking some much-deserved time to heal, he announced in August of that year that his debut solo album was on its way – and shortly after, he released a follow-up single, the rock-leaning, drumline-driven “Kill My Mind.” Tomlinson admitted that he finally found his stride. “I’m actually really proud and relieved to finally find my place, find my lane musically,” he told Hits Radio Breakfast at the time, indicating a moment of relief amid his turbulent few years.
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Tomlinson’s debut solo album, Walls, arrived in January 2020 and while it hit the Billboard 200‘s top 10, it was met with mixed reviews from critics, who suggested that the heart he wanted to portray wasn’t quite there. His growth outside of commercial success proved otherwise, as he had been spending the past few years building a solid identity not only as an artist, but also as a person. While some of the other One Direction alums are still finding their footing with their solo sounds to this day, Tomlinson grew strongly into an instrumentation-focused pop-rock artist whose lyrics go beyond the cookie cutter sentiments you might expect from a former boy band member.
And soon, all the hard work – both personally and musically – finally paid off. Faith in the Future, his 2022 sophomore solo album, debuted at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart. In the United States, Faith In The Future debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, and at No. 5 on the all-genre Billboard 200, his highest-charting set yet on both tallies. The album’s success, as well his sold-out live shows on its accompanying tour, not only showed the still-standing Directioner devotion to Tomlinson, but also made it clear that he picked up a slew of new fans along the way.
Tomlinson’s self-awareness was evident on the album’s lead single, “Bigger Than Me.” “When somebody told me I would change/ I was afraid, I don’t know why/ ‘Cause so does the world outside, I’ve realized/ It’s bigger than me,” he sings – indicating that the key for solo success all along was being himself, and letting go of the pressure that fame brings.
While Tomlinson has still yet to score the major chart hits stateside that his 1D bandmates essentially achieved right away – and has been more focused on his 28 clothing line the past couple years – he’s proven that he doesn’t need traditional pop crossover success to have a bright future ahead of him. With another couple albums and tours that continue to establish his identity and expand his artistry, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him making the jump to arenas in the not-distant future. Louis’ solo career may not have gotten off to the perfect start, but it just might end up being perfect for him in the long-term anyway.