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Earlier this year, fans speculated that Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department got its title inspiration from ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn‘s group chat with fellow actors Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, aka “The Tortured Man Club.” And while the jury is still out on whether or not that’s true, Scott did recently set the record straight […]
Stars: they’re just like us. In that we all have old social posts that we would probably like the world to forget, especially when they resurface at the worst possible time. That was the dilemma faced by award-winning The Bear star Ayo Edebiri, who found herself in hot water earlier this year when, on the eve of her first hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, some unflattering comments she’d made four years earlier about the night’s musical guest, Jennifer Lopez, were revived to her mortification.
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The Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning Bottoms actress addresses the rumors of tension on the set during the February episode in a new Vanity Fair cover story in which she throws cold water on the suggestion that her years-old Lopez diss caused issues on the episode. “That would be like Mr. Bean and Mick Jagger beefing,” Edebiri told the magazine about the power imbalance between her and the global pop superstar/actress. “And I’m obviously Mr. Bean. She’s J.Lo!”
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For a refresher, the former stand-up comedian said, “I was actually thinking about one of my favorite scams of all time because J.Lo is performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Her whole career is one long scam,” during an episode of the 2020 Scam Goddess podcast. To prove there was no ill-ill, she made fun of the dug-up comment that night on SNL in a sketch.
“It’s wrong to leave mean comments or post comments just for clout — or run your mouth on a podcast and you don’t consider the impact because you’re 24 and stupid,” Edebiri joked in the bit titled “Why’d You Say It.”
“She was very chill and nice about it,” Edebiri told VF.
In a Variety story a few days after SNL, Lopez laughed the whole thing off, saying, “I’ve heard similar things said about me throughout my career, so it really didn’t affect me.”
Lopez told a reporter that the actor had apologized before the episode, adding that Edebiri was, “mortified and very sweet. She came to my dressing room and apologized with tears in her eyes, saying how terrible it was that she had said those things. She felt really badly and loved my performance because we had just done my soundcheck and she actually got to hear me perform. She was just like, ‘I’m so f–king sorry; it was so awful of me.’”
Though it likely made for an awkward week, Edebiri told VF that it didn’t ruin her long-held dream of taking her place on the SNL stage. “SNL is something that in my bones, I dreamed of as a comedian, as a young kid. That to me is a pinnacle of success,” she said.
Cincinnati is going all-in on getting a pop king to the Queen City. Mayor Aftab Pureval and Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney were joined by leaders from the Cincinnati Opera and a variety of regional partners on Wednesday morning (May 22) at Cincinnati Music Hall to announce a full-court-press effort to persuade Paul McCartney to visit the city this summer for the Opera’s upcoming world stage premiere of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio.
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The summer-long “Come Together, Cincy! Get Paul to Music Hall!” effort aims to get Sir Paul to say “yes” to the invitation to celebrate the premiere in July after the former Beatle agreed to allow his first classical piece — a 1991 tribute to his hometown co-written with composer Carl Davis — to be staged in the city.
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“This is a special time in Cincinnati, and the world stage premiere of Sir Paul’s Liverpool Oratorio is an incredible example of the excitement building around the Queen City,” Mayor Pureval tells Billboard. “Cincinnati’s vibrant cultural community helps put us on the map, and our reputation as a world-class arts destination brings real eyes and real tourism into our region. Folks from around our community, and around the world, are ready to Come Together and celebrate a truly one-of-a-kind experience here in town.”
The Oratorio will be presented on the opera stage for the first time from July 19-27 at Music Hall. According to a release announcing the effort, McCartney, 81, endorsed the new production in a letter to the Opera, in which he wrote, “I am writing to express my wholehearted support for this project. I believe that the Cincinnati Opera is uniquely positioned to bring this work to life in a new way, and I have no doubt that your production will be an inspiring experience for all who see it.”
At press time it was unclear if McCartney was planning to travel to the city for the debut.
In the meantime, the region will be blanketed with “Get Paul” enticements in an effort to convince the singer to return to Cincy for the first time since a 2016 arena show. The project announced on Wednesday morning will include a barrage of ads this summer featuring the Opera and McCartney on Metro buses, at the CVG international airport, at Reds and FC Cincinnati soccer games, as well as a number of iconic downtown locations. The fanfare will kick off this weekend at the city’s traditional summer kick-off event, Taste of Cincinnati, which typically draws more than half a million visitors to the streets of downtown.
Local residents are also encouraged to record a video tribute to Sir Paul and to post it on their socials using the hashtag #GetPaulToMusicHall, with the release saying that tagged videos amplified by the Opera and “Come Together” partners will be shared with McCartney’s team.
“We’re looking forward to launching the ‘Come Together, Cincy!’ campaign this weekend at Taste of Cincinnati, courtesy of our partners at the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber,” said Cincinnati Opera CEO Chris Milligan in a statement. “Attendees can stop by the Opera booth and record their video tribute to Sir Paul by sharing a favorite memory or singing a snippet of a McCartney tune… Let’s get Paul to Music Hall!”
The Liverpool Oratorio live album was released in 1991 as part of a commemoration of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s 150th anniversary. The eight-movement piece that follows a character named Shanty as it roughly sketches out McCartney’s life story had its American premiere in Nov. 1991 at Carnegie Hall.
Check out the full calendar of “Get Paul to Music Hall!’ events here.
About two fortnights after it first dropped, Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department lead single is getting a makeover. The 34-year-old pop star teamed up with Canadian DJ BLOND:ISH to release a club-ready remix of “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone Wednesday (May 22). The revamped version speeds up Swift’s moody original, adding a dance-inducing beat and […]
It’s only been a few days, but it seems like Katy Perry is already pivoting from American Idol to the KP6 era. KatyCats were quick to notice on Tuesday (May 21) that the singer had changed her social media profile pic to a sleek, futuristic silver logo on a deep red background with her shiny initials floating inside a pair of parentheses. On X, the new logo was accompanied by a red bar filled with bubbles.
At press time Perry had not commented on the switch or explained what it means, but last month Perry teased that she’s preparing a new single, one that she promised could be one of her biggest hits ever. She described the unnamed track, whose release date has not yet been announced, as “one of my biggest songs that has yet to come out.” She revealed that the song was co-written by 28-year-old Canadian-Congolese singer Lu Kala, best known stateside for her feature on Latto’s 2023 song “Lottery.”
Perry also told Access Hollywood that same night that the long-awaited follow-up to her 2020 album Smile is one of her happiest LPs to date. “I just have yet to make a record from a place of feeling really happy and whole and full of love,” she said. “Sometimes artists are like, ‘Oh, that’s boring, you want to make music from kind of like a tougher place,’ but actually it’s very bright and joyful, like pure joy and fun and playful and celebratory and a party.”
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Last August during a show on her now-shuttered Las Vegas residency, Perry told the crowd, “If you can’t love me at my Witness and Smile era, then you can’t love me in my KP6 era.” Technically, the upcoming album is the singer’s seventh, though she did release her debut LP, Katy Hudson, in 2001, which had a more Christian rock-themed vibe than her subsequent major label albums.
Around that time she also told GMA that despite not putting out any new material since the birth of daughter Daisy Dove three years earlier, “I think that I’m writing a lot and have written a lot from a place of love because I’m feeling so much of it – so much unconditional love, that love you never knew existed,”
Check out the new logo below.
Billie Eilish is not what you think she is. Except now, she told Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night’s (May 21) The Late Show, she finally is what she’s always wanted to be. “I think that with Hit Me Hard and Soft it’s like the first time since I’ve been an adult and maybe ever in my kind of creative life… it truly is the most genuine thing I’ve ever made,” she said of her just released third studio album.
“It feels very, very me and it feels like all of the music is exactly who I am, all the visuals are exactly who I am and that’s honestly terrifying and that’s why I’m literally shaking right now,” she told Colbert, who parried back that exposing yourself like that requires vulnerability and removing the mask from the character you’re created to protect you.
Asked what she meant in a recent Rolling Stone cover story in which she said up until now she felt like she was playing a character, Eilish said after putting out her first songs as a “very young” teenager, she felt like audiences thought of her as “one thing,” leaving her little room to do anything but what people thought she was.
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She called her previous album, 2021’s Happier Than Ever, a “reaction of, ‘you can’t tell me what to do! I’m gonna do whatever I want to do and here it is!’ And I think I may have gone a little… I really wanted to prove a point and so I think I went so far, but that’s kind of what I needed to do. I needed to play this whole thing of, ‘I’m not what you think I am.’ I thought at the time that it was very me and I realized in hindsight I was just trying to be seen and express myself and show that people can be multi-faceted and I am one of those people.”
Eilish also noted that she’s willing to suffer for her art, describing waking up at 7 a.m. the day after the most recent Grammy awards and driving to some “random” place in Santa Clarita to spend six hours inside a 10-foot deep water tank, fully clothed, to shoot the cover of the album. “Dude, I was wearing big, long pants, like giant Pro Club shorts. I was wearing a thermal long sleeve, a button-up flannel, a tie, rings, arm warmers, bracelet and a weight. I had a weight strapped to me,” she said, proudly affirming that it was all her idea.
In another segment, Eilish had a laugh when Colbert asked about a quote from her 2021 doc, The World’s a Little Blurry in which she described her family as “a song” in painting her musical upbringing. “Dude, my family is so musical and we always have been, and we remain that way,” Eilish said. “I grew up thinking that every family was like that. I thought that everyone was singing all the time and playing music with their family.”
When the audience chuckled, Eilish turned to them and swore that she actually thought all families were like that. “We’re big fans. Our whole family, we are music fans,” she said. “We love music and I think that’s really what it all stems from.” The night before, she noted, the whole fam sat around singing and playing guitar while harmonizing to the Beatles. “That’s what it’s always been and it’s so wonderful.”
Colbert also mentioned that Lana Del Rey introduced Eilish at Coachella last month, calling the 22-year-old singer “the voice of our generation. No pressure. How did it feel to have an artist you admire describe you that way?” he asked.
Eilish said it was “ridiculous,” returning the compliment by calling LDR the voice of her own generation, doubling-down by saying that Del Rey is one of the “top three reasons” that she is the person and artist that she is, as well as the reason she started making music to begin with. “It was crazy to hear her say that,” Eilish said. “I love her so much.” Then, while ticking off her early musical inspirations — which included such throwback legends Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Julie London and Johnny Mathis — Colbert asked if Eilish would ever consider recording a standards album and she lit up with a sly smile.
“Yeah, yeah, I would love to do that some day,” Eilish said with a happy grin.
When Colbert asked what song she was planning to perform that night, Eilish blushed a bit, laughed and said she would be performing “Lunch.” She then closed out the night with brother/producer Finneas and her band, singing the homage to sapphic love on a dark stage lit by strobing lights while rocking a backwards plaid cap, oversized baseball jersey and striped tie and plaid culottes.
Watch Eilish perform “Lunch” and talk about her new album below.
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There’s a long history of country-to-pop crossovers, from Dolly Parton to Shania Twain to Taylor Swift. But 2024 is proving to be the year of the pop-to-country crossover, from Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter album to Post Malone‘s twangy “I Had Some Help” to Dua Lipa‘s surprise ACM Awards duet with Chris Stapleton. On the new Billboard […]
A lot rests on the nine pairs of shoulders that make up TWICE.
As one of K-pop‘s leading girl groups, the members have worked for years to juggle their personal lives, full-band activities and, in the case of a few of them, solo careers — all of which Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu opened up about in their new Teen Vogue cover.
Named one of the publication’s top girl bands of all time, TWICE got candid in the cover story published Tuesday (May 21) about finding balance between stardom and mental health in the years since their 2015 debut. “We’re completely different [from our idol selves],” said Nayeon. “Idols do have to use a lot of energy, and there is kind of a limit to how much a person can use their energy. We push all of that [away] while being an idol.”
“During our debut era, it was really busy,” Sana shared. “When people ask, ‘Are you tired?’ we’ll say, ‘Oh no, we’re not tired.’ ‘Are you busy?’ ‘Oh, we’re not busy.’ Now I express myself better when I’m tired. When I look back on it, I think, Did I really have to say the opposite of what I was feeling all these years?”
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“During concerts, I give my all,” added Momo. “But when I come back down the stage, I [take it easy] and relax right after.”
“I’m trying to be more generous to myself,” Jeongyeon chimed in. “Although that’s not always working, I’m trying really hard.”
A spectrum of public scrutiny bookended by overzealous fans and harsh critics also comes with the territory of international stardom, something the girls of TWICE know all too well. But that’s where having nine members comes in handy, according to Jihyo, as it allows the bandmates to share the burden amongst themselves.
“We’re really thankful [that we have] nine members,” she explained. “For one person, one member can be their favorite and they might not like the rest, but because we push our team of nine together, the team vibes are really good. We’re really thankful because of that. And because of that, we actually get a lot closer.”
TWICE recently scored its first-ever No. 1 entry on the Billboard 200 with With YOU-th, which debuted in the top spot earlier this month. The six-track EP features the songs “I Got You,” “One Spark,” “Rush,” “New New,” “Bloom” and “You Get Me.”
Earlier this year, the group also returned for one last show in the U.S. for the Ready to Be Tour at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, performing songs from their own discography as well as covers of Dua Lipa’s “New Rules” and Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings.”
See the members of TWICE on the cover of Teen Vogue, plus photos from the shoot, below.
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So long, Liverpool. Ahead of Taylor Swift‘s upcoming Eras Tour shows, the English city is now known as “Taylor Town.”
The city is currently in the process of unveiling a temporary makeover to prepare for the pop star’s three performances slated for June 13-15 at Anfield Stadium, starting with the tailored — or should we say, Tay-lored — name change. Plus, local creatives are designing 11 individual art installations inspired by each of Swift’s studio albums to form a “Taylor Town Trail,” including a playable moss-covered grand piano representing Evermore, a “red room” encapsulating Red and a Fearless mural based on the singer’s lucky number, 13.
Banners spelling out “Taylor” have also already gone up across the front of St. George’s Hall in the center of town, as captured in photos from local Swifties.
“One of the biggest stars on the planet is coming to the birthplace of pop,” reads a notice on the Liverpool City Council website. “And to mark this musical moment for the ages, there are plans in place to give Swifties a proper scouse welcome.”
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The city is also planning a series of ticketed craft workshops — aka Liverpool Loves Taylor (Craft Version) — where fans can make origami pieces that will be added to one of the 11 main art installations. Participants will also be able to work on homemade Swif-tee shirts, collages and cupcakes inspired by the “Anti-Hero” singer.
The University of Liverpool is getting involved, too, by hosting a free “Tay Day” symposium for academics, students and fans to “unpack the cultural phenomenon that is Taylor Swift,” according to the city council’s notice. “The event will include critical karaoke sessions, where researchers perform their findings to some of Taylor’s biggest hits and a series of interactive talks on subjects including her song lyrics, her award-winning albums and her place in feminism and the LGBTQ+ community.”
Liverpool is just the latest Eras Tour locale to go all out ahead of Swift’s arrival. For instance, Glendale, Ariz., temporarily changed its name to “Swift City” in lieu of the 14-time Grammy winner’s kickoff show there in spring 2023, while Rio de Janeiro projected the image of a Taylor-themed T-shirt onto its iconic Christ the Redeemer statue in November.
Take a peek at Liverpool’s Swiftie celebrations below.
Liverpool to transform into Taylor Town this June 😍👇Of course Liverpool will celebrate the arrival of Taylor Swift this summer. The Taylor Town Trail will be the centrepiece with 11 art installations, each inspired by a different Taylor Swift Era. 🥳 pic.twitter.com/d30WgJBnrP— The Guide Liverpool 🌇 (@TheGuideLpool) May 21, 2024
Only bought this dress so she could take it off … on stage in front of tens of thousands of fans, in order to address a technical difficulty. At Taylor Swift‘s final show in Stockholm Sunday (May 19), the pop star expertly handled a wardrobe malfunction in between surprise songs, as captured in a recently posted fan video.
In the TikTok clip, a smiling Swift tells the crowd in Friends Arena stadium, “Just talk amongst yourselves,” before darting over to her piano, setting down her guitar and unwrapping her ruffly blue gown to seemingly adjust her microphone pack, revealing the sparkly gold bra she sported for the Tortured Poets Department set minutes prior. After a moment, a crew member joins her onstage to help, after which the singer flashes a big smile and does a little dance before sitting down once and for all at her piano.
All the while, fans in the audience cheered on Swift as she expertly and efficiently handled the blip.
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The “Fortnight” singer went on to sing “How Did it End?,” which appears on the extended anthology version of her Billboard 200-topping Tortured Poets, on piano. Just before the wardrobe fix, she’d performed what she dubbed a “Max Martin medley” of “Message in a Bottle,” “How You Get the Girl” and “New Romantics” on guitar.
The 14-time Grammy winner is currently closing in on 100 Eras Tour shows following her trio of performances in Sweden, meaning she has had some experience handling performance hiccups. During a November concert in Rio de Janeiro, for instance, her high heel snapped off, after which Swift simply continued with the rest of her Lover set on tip-toe.
The musician has also handled rain-related piano malfunctions and stage equipment errors, which at one point forced her to sprint offstage instead of being lowered beneath the stage on her usual lift following the Reputation set. “Still swift af boi,” she hilariously commented on a TikTok video of the latter incident in July.
The “Anti-Hero” singer will next bring her three-hour-plus Eras Tour show to Portugal for two shows May 24-25, after which she’ll spend the rest of the summer touring throughout Europe. In October, she’ll return to the U.S. and Canada for a second North American leg.
Swift recently took to Instagram to shower her Stockholm fans with gratitude for attending her first-ever performances in Sweden over the weekend. “Thank you for being the most generous, excitable, magical crowds, and for breaking the all time attendance record for the stadium all 3 nights,” she wrote on Instagram, sharing photos from the shows.
“Can’t believe this was our first time playing in Sweden,” she added. “But it won’t be our last… 🇸🇪 🥰”
Watch Swift expertly handle a wardrobe malfunction in Stockholm below.