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Fred Again.. and Justin Bieber were recently seen in the studio together, according to footage shared by U.K. artist Sekou — and while no collaboration has been confirmed, the brief moment has prompted renewed interest in both artists’ current creative phases.
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On March 21, Sekou posted several Instagram Stories documenting a recording session. Though the focus was on the rising artist himself, fans quickly noted the presence of both Fred Again.. and Justin Bieber in the background of one clip. The story has since expired, but screenshots began circulating across Reddit and X (formerly Twitter), drawing attention due to the pair’s history of working together — and their individual reputations for shaping global hits.
Fred Again.., born Fred Gibson, previously co-wrote and co-produced Bieber’s 2019 hit “I Don’t Care” with Ed Sheeran. The track debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, both stars’ best ranking on the chart since 2017, spending 22 weeks on the chart and reaching No. 1 in multiple countries, including the U.K., Australia and Canada. The collab also topped the Adult Pop Songs airplay tally dated Aug. 3.
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It remains one of Bieber’s most commercially successful releases — and was a key early writing credit for Gibson before he launched his solo career under the Fred Again.. moniker.
Since then, Fred Again.. has become one of the most innovative voices in electronic music. With albums like Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022) and collaborative projects alongside Skrillex and Four Tet, the producer has built a cult following through emotionally raw production and unpredictable live performances.
His 2022 breakout track “Delilah (Pull Me Out of This)” reached the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and helped propel him to a spot on Billboard’s year-end Top Dance/Electronic Artists list.
Bieber’s last full-length project, Justice, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2021 and produced multiple Hot 100 hits, including “Peaches” (No. 1), “Ghost” (No. 5), and “Anyone” (No. 6). While the singer has yet to announce a new album, he’s been spotted in the studio on several occasions over the past year.
Sekou, who posted the story, is a fast-rising British R&B talent who released his debut EP Out of Mind in 2023 to critical acclaim. His presence alongside two high-profile artists has only amplified curiosity — but for now, no official release or project involving the three has been confirmed.
In 2024, producer Mk.gee confirmed he had been working with Bieber, telling The New York Times, “Anything that comes out of his mouth: That’s pop music. You can really do pretty wild stuff behind that, just because it represents something.”
After launching a world tour in February 2022 in support of Justice, and his 2020 Changes album, Bieber revealed in June of that year that he’d been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which had resulted in “full paralysis” on one side of his face, leading to the postponement of some dates. Though he hit the road again, Bieber was forced to come off the road again in September after the Rock in Rio festival due to ongoing health issues.
He appeared as a guest on a few singles since then, including Don Toliver’s “Private Landing” and an acoustic version of SZA’s “Snooze.”
Bieber has been busy with fatherhood lately. The star and his wife, Hailey Bieber, welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Jack Blues Bieber, in 2024.
Even LISA isn’t immune to Bieber Fever. In a recent interview about her favorite songs, the BLACKPINK star shouted out Justin Bieber‘s breakout hit before recalling how starstruck she was the first time they met. While speaking to The Guardian in a piece published Monday (March 24), LISA shared that the American pop star’s “Baby” […]
Mariah Carey is taking her Celebration of Mimi tour overseas. The singer announced on Sunday (March 23) that she’ll honor the 20th anniversary of her 2005 album with a run of international dates in Asia in May and this fall. “We’re taking The Celebration of Mimi worldwide! I can’t wait to see you all during […]
*NSYNC fans got a special treat on Friday (March 21), when Vevo chose “Bye Bye Bye” as the subject of their newest Footnotes episode, giving an inside look at the beloved track on its 25th anniversary. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The song peaked at No. […]
“It’s beautiful, how I have nothing to lose,” Grace VanderWaal says. After winning America’s Got Talent as a precocious, ukulele-toting 12-year-old in 2016, VanderWaal was fast-tracked into a major-label pop career, which stalled following her 2017 debut, Just the Beginning.
Eight years later, VanderWaal, now 21, has prepared a very different follow-up: Childstar, out April 4 on Pulse Records. After releasing the single “Babydoll” last month, VanderWaal unveiled “Proud” on Friday (Mar. 21), as well as spring tour dates that kick off in Chicago on May 4.
Childstar is a concept album with dark edges that unpacks the uncomfortable truths of growing up in the spotlight — and provided some long-overdue catharsis. “I did whatever I wanted,” VanderWaal says, “and made something I was proud of.”
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When did you start working on Childstar?
A little more than a year ago, but I wrote the album stupid quick. That was unexpected, but I was at a point where, due to some trauma development, all of this s–t about my childhood started spilling out. It’s what my subconscious was doing, but I wasn’t mad at it. I thought it was raw and vulnerable, so I leaned into it.
On a song like “Proud,” you sing about seeking validation as a child and feeling controlled, and the listener can’t help but think about how your career began.
I wanted to talk about subliminal conditioning and how nothing is black and white. What makes something so complicated is when there’s no one to blame — that would be so easy. If you’re getting exposed to millions of people who are saying, “You’re great at this, you’re doing good,” while your brain is literally forming — of course there would be repercussions of that. But no one did anything wrong.
What made you partner with Pulse Records?
I brought the Childstar concept to every label you can imagine, and some people liked it and some people really didn’t like it. Then I went to Pulse, and they were the first ones to not only like it, but take it more extreme. I didn’t want to sign with people who would hold back an idea, but a lot of the art and visual ideas you see have been collaborative or fully from the Pulse team.
What would you tell longtime fans who are surprised by this album’s thematic focus?
I don’t know if they would be surprised. I think there’s a very small crowd that will feel like I’m stealing a narrative. As a child, I was very aware of the purpose that I served for people — I was this hope and happiness, this innocent angel. But it’s my story to tell, so whatever thoughts those people have, I don’t really care. I’m not a symbol for you.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco hoist up their love, Jack Harlow and Doja Cat have a blast collaborating, and J-Hope keeps pushing forward. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco, I Said I Love You First
I Said I Love You First is a creative collaboration between two halves of a shared heart, and Benny Blanco’s sonic influence exists in direct conversation with Selena Gomez’s lyrical delivery. There’s a reason why the album artwork is a glimpse of Gomez and Blanco through a keyhole — I Said I Love You First is presented as an intimate glimpse, not big-budget spectacle. Read the full review here.
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Jack Harlow feat. Doja Cat, “Just Us”
Part of the reason why Jack Harlow and Doja Cat were able to corral top talent like Matt Damon, John Mayer and PinkPantheress for the music video to “Just Us” is because they’re both top talent themselves; their new collaboration crackles with the energy of A-listers who can toss out hooks and sexual innuendos with ease, because they’ve done so plenty of times before.
J-Hope, “Mona Lisa”
J-Hope is getting more adept at finding the intersection between pop, hip-hop and R&B: new solo single “Mona Lisa” finds the BTS star melding genres with ease, dipping into his falsetto, tossing out some whoa-oa-oa’s to punctuate his passion and offering a breezy check-in that will fit right in on summer playlists.
Morgan Wallen, “I’m a Little Crazy” & “Just in Case”
To cap off the week in which he unveiled the May release date of his album I’m the Problem, Morgan Wallen released a pair of new songs that will make its 37-song (!) track list: “I’m a Little Crazy” allows the country superstar to waxing poetic about his place in the world, “Just in Case” grows into an earnest anthem, and both tracks feature Wallen’s voice dominating the mix.
Jonas Brothers, “Love Me to Heaven”
With the Jonas Brothers kicking off their 20th anniversary tour in North America, the boys decided to cook up something new to commemorate the occasion, and “Love Me to Heaven” sounds tailor-made for the stage, a zippy pop-rock sing-along complete with falsetto runs and backing vocals that will sound even better when sung by a crowd of thousands.
Editor’s Pick: Japanese Breakfast, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)
If 2021’s Jubilee turned Michelle Zauner into an indie-pop star, the long-awaited follow-up For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) is the sound of the singer-songwriter settling in to the spotlight without sacrificing any of her songwriting nuance. The new album explores moodier territory, but refracts the melancholy through Zauner’s ever-engaging lens, her voice more self-assured and trustworthy than ever.
Before her 2024 world tour had wrapped up, Tate McRae already had thoughts on how to level up her next live outing. “It’s a lot of back and forth and a lot of just brain dumping,” she says of her scattered ideating process with her creative director, Parker Genoway. “I come with a whole bunch of mood boards and random ideas… You dream as big as you can until you get the budget, then you have to narrow it down.”
Fortunately for McRae, that budget expanded, thanks to a massive first quarter of 2025. The 21-year-old singer’s So Close to What, her most mature and introspective album to date, arrived in February and gave McRae her first No. 1 entry on the Billboard 200, with 177,000 equivalent album units earned — which at the time was the largest debut week for a studio album by a woman artist in five months — according to Luminate.
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The chart-topping debut — along with a dozen Billboard Hot 100 entries from So Close to What and a high-octane performance of top 20 hit “Sports Car” on Saturday Night Live — helped cement McRae’s leap to pop’s A-list. It also set up her Miss Possessive arena tour, which began in Mexico City on March 18 and was followed by a handful of South American dates. She will head to Europe in May and will begin a North American run in Vancouver in August.
McRae pulled from a wide range of influences for her tour themes, including classic dance showcases. “It’s been really fun to dive into old musicals and old TV shows,” she says, “and bring out Fosse references and old Chicago references, and tap into that geeky musical side I think we all have.”
Meanwhile, Genoway — who collaborated with McRae on her Think Later tour and spearheaded her SNL and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon performances earlier this year — points to McRae’s “It’s ok I’m ok” music video as an example of the singer’s opposing aesthetics, showcasing the intersection of grungy and glamorous. McRae says, “I’m referencing rap shows, I’m referencing Kendrick [Lamar] shows, Post Malone shows, and then I want to feel like a glam pop girl. It’s finding a cool in-between.”
The new tour includes a “thrust stage” in the shape of a giant T, and there are also cranes involved. “You try to make people walk in and be like, ‘What are we looking at right now?,’ and create your own world in there,” McRae says. Genoway adds that McRae should “feel like she’s in the middle of everything” surrounding the show, which also includes a B-stage and a mix of stage elevations.
As for McRae’s dance skills, “[Her] technical ability is unmatched,” says Genoway, who works as part of Silent House Productions. “Tate levels everyone up who works with her. She’s going to be at rehearsals late at night and so are you. She’s going to work hard and so are you.”
And although McRae is playing her biggest venues to date, her preshow routine has remained consistent. “I always take one Grether’s Pastille and suck on it,” she explains. Prior to a group prayer and a moment of meditation, McRae will warm up her voice by performing the ad-libs to Rihanna’s “B—h Better Have My Money.” “My dancers probably think I’m f–king crazy,” she says with a chuckle.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Selena Gomez figured it out five years ago. With Rare, her third solo studio album, the former Disney Channel breakthrough-turned multi hyphenate superstar distilled her skills as a recording artist into a slinky, sumptuous dance-pop record, full of self-empowering lyrics and midtempo earworms that understood precisely how to utilize her singular tone. Gomez earned the […]
The Jonas Brothers are hitting the road to celebrate two decades two decades of rocking together. The trio hit Good Morning America on Friday (March 21) to announce the first date of their 20th anniversary Jonas 20: Living the Dream Tour. “Our journey really began in New Jersey, it’s where we grew up,” Nick Jonas said during their GMA spot.
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Which is why, after playing malls and anywhere else they could find an audience back in their early days, Nick, Joe and Kevin will kick-off their upcoming tour at the venue they always dreamed of playing back in the day: MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on August 10.
In an Instagram video after the GMA stop, Nick promised that the rest of the dates for the tour will be revealed on Sunday (March 23) at JONASCON in New Jersey, which will take place at the sprawling American Dream Mall just across the street from MetLife.
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The brothers are also celebrating today thanks to the release of their upbeat new pop single, “Love Me To Heaven,” on which they sing “Could give me everything, but it ain’t enough / You can’t put a price on the human touch / I could be down, but you love me to heaven / Turns out the Northern Lights don’t impress me much / Guess I’m just a fool for the human touch / I could be down, but you love me to Heaven.”
In addition to rolling out the tour dates, JONASCON will be an extravaganza of all things JoBro. It will feature live performances, DJ sets, Q&A panels, fan activations, pop-up surprises, retail takeovers, a Jonas trading post, trivia, games, immersive experiences, an interactive art installation, keynote event, karaoke, a Camp Rock bar, special guests, mini golf and exclusive merch. “From their early beginnings to global pop icons, JONASCON will honor the band’s incredible journey while also showing their appreciation to the fans who have been with them from the beginning,” a statement promised.
Check out the JoBros MetLife announcement below.
Celine Dion has not yet fully re-emerged from her three-year battle with debilitating Stiff-Person Syndrome. The rare neurological disorder that caused the singer painful, uncontrolled muscle spasms that made it hard to move and were so intense that they sometimes broke ribs has kept Dion mostly off-the-radar since she announced her diagnosis in 2022.
But after a few recent high-profile gigs in which she dipped her toe back into performance, Dion looked fit and feisty this week in a video with her three sons, René-Charles, 24, and twins Nelson and Eddy, 14, from the golf course. In the clip, Dion rips what sounds like a killer tee shot as one of her boys yells “YES ma!” from off camera.
“You like that one?” Dion says enthusiastically, flipping up her driver to play some air guitar in celebration, shaking her hips and goofing off while displaying her nimble moves as the voice off camera assures her, “that one was so good!”
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“I had a beautiful day with my boys out on the course,” Dion wrote in the caption. “Getting back into the swing of things!! [heart emoji],” she added, along with the playful shout-out for feedback: “PS: @pgatour, how’s my swing?”
Dion’s battle with Stiff-Person Syndrome not only impacted her body, but also caused spasms in her vocal cords that she has said made if feel like “somebody is strangling you,” leading the singer to postpone all of her 2023 and 2024 tour dates. She began her slow re-emergence into the spotlight at last year’s opening ceremony for the Paris Summer Olympics, where she wowed crowds, followed by a surprise set at the City of Hope’s 2024 Sprit of Life Gala in October and a November appearance at the “1001 Seasons of ELIE SAAB” event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Last Saturday, she also marked International Stiff-Person Syndrome Awareness Day, sharing a clip in which she talked about the rare disorder. “I want to remind you: no matter what challenges or conditions you face, you are not alone. Please hold onto hope, because it will guide you through the hardest times,” Dion wrote alongside a clip of her discussing her Celine Dion Foundation’s $2 million gift last year to establish the Endowed Chair in Autoimmune Neurology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Check out Dion’s swing below.