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The Billie Eilish multi-media blitz in advance of the upcoming release of her third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, will kick off in earnest on Friday (May 10) with the launch of Billie Eilish Radio on SiriusXM. The dedicated streaming channel will debut at noon E.T. with a mix curated by the “What […]
Cyndi Lauper never considered another option. The flame-haired singer whose colorful sartorial flare and Betty Boop voice had music writers desperately searching for synonyms for “quirky” in the 1980s will tell her life’s story in the upcoming biopic Let the Canary Sing.
The feature-length film that debuted at last year’s Tribeca Festival in New York was directed by Emmy-winning documentarian Alison Ellwood (Laurel Canyon) and will debut on Paramount+ on June 4. “Over the years I’ve been asked to do a documentary about my life and work, but it never felt like the right time,” Lauper, 70, said in a statement about the film. “Until now. When I first met Alison Ellwood, I knew right away I could trust her to tell my story honestly, which was incredibly important to me, and she succeeded in that. I’d like to thank Alison, the producers, and all of the amazing documentary participants who agreed to be interviewed!”
The trailer for the doc dropped on Tuesday and it opens with a scene from the video for Lauper’s 1983 ballad “Time After Time,” in which the singer is seen schlepping her giant duffel as she leaves a trailer park. “Everyone always said, ‘what will you do if you fail?’ And all of a sudden we all heard it,” Lauper says in voiceover over the irresistible strains of her 1983 breakthrough hit, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
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The 90-second trailer takes us all the way back to little Cyndi’s Catholic school days, during which it became apparent, she says, “how stubborn I could be.” Singer/actor Billy Porter weighs in on Lauper’s embrace of queer culture in the sneak peek, noting that at that time, “queer people weren’t allowed to be queer and out. It was our allies having the conversation.”
The trailer also features Culture Club singer Boy George praising Lauper for doing whatever she wanted to and legendary R&B singer Patti LaBelle calling “Time After Time” one of her “favorite songs ever.”
Legacy Recordings will release a career-spanning companion album that takes listeners from the singer’s early days in the group Blue Angel (“I’m Gonna Be Strong”) through the global breakout success of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and other iconic hits such as “True Colors,” “I Drove All Night,” “Money Changes Everything,” “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough,” “She Bop,” “All Through the Night” and more.
Watch the trailer for Let the Canary Sing below.
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There’s a lot of fresh blood in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 this week, with Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” debuting at No. 2, Shaboozey‘s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” rising to No. 3, and Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Espresso” rising to No. 4 (all behind a second week at No. 1 for Taylor Swift’s […]
Even rockers are Swifties! Pearl Jam’s frontman Eddie Vedder and bassist Jeff Ament joined Bill Simmons on his self-titled podcast this week, where they praised Taylor Swift — especially since Vedder attended Swift’s Eras tour with his wife and two daughters. “She’s an artist who’s respectful of her audience and I know from my daughter […]
Hey now, this is what dreams are made of! Hilary Duff announced Tuesday (May 7) that she and husband Matthew Koma welcomed their new daughter last week, sharing photos from the singer-actress’ home water birth and revealing the little girl’s unique name on Instagram. In the pictures, an emotional Duff sits in a tub while […]
Billie Eilish has something special planned for fans counting down the seconds until her third studio album Hit Me Hard and Soft arrives May 17. To couple with her recently announced listening parties scheduled for May 15 and 16 in New York City and Los Angeles, the singer revealed Tuesday (May 7) that fans who […]
Charli XCX confirmed longtime rumors that she worked on new music for Britney Spears. During a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live, the “Von Dutch” singer clarified that she did write music for the pop princess, but Spears never recorded the tracks. “It leaked to the press. Britney then did this post where she was like, […]
The 30th anniversary edition of the TODAY Show‘s summer Citi Concert Series will kick off on May 24 with a show by rock trio Wallows. The long-running morning show event will feature an eclectic mix of rock, pop, country, Latin and hip-hop acts performing at TODAY Plaza at Rockefeller Center including Anitta, Meghan Trainor, Kehlani, Lainey Wilson, Gracie Abrams, Bleachers and Rauw Alejandro.
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Viewers interested in attending one of the shows can register for Fan passes beginning today (May 7) here; Fan Passes allow priority access to the show before general admission opens. Those without Fan Passes can queue up in the G.A. line on the morning of each show for admission if space allows.
Other acts slated to appear this summer include: Maggie Rogers, Little Big Town & Sugarland, Chance the Rapper, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, LL Cool J and more acts to be announced at a later date.
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Last summer’s lineup was equally stacked with shows by the Jonas Brothers, Ed Sheeran, Niall Horan, Kim Petras, Karol G, Brad Paisley, TWICE, Reneé Rapp and Jung Kook, among others.
Check out the full announced list of the 2024 TODAY Show Citi Concert Series performers below.
May 24 Wallows
May 31 — Anitta
June 10 — Meghan Trainor
June 21 — Kehlani
June 25 — Lainey Wilson
June 28 — Gracie Abrams
July 4 — Bleachers
July 12 — Rauw Alejandro
August 9 — Maggie Rogers
August 12 — Little Big Town & Sugarland
August 16 — Chance The Rapper
August 23 — Thomas Rhett
Sept. 27 — Chris Stapleton
TBD — LL Cool J
Ava Max is proudly stepping into her new era without any baggage. “I hope my music continues to heal,” the 30-year-old “Sweet But Psycho” singer tells Billboard about preparing for her third album cycle with “no heartbreak attached and no man attached.”
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She says that crucial element is tied to the vibe of the untitled collection’s debut single, the bouncy “My Oh My,” which feels like “the beginning of me.” In fact, things are so fresh that Max feels like she’s preparing to release her first album all over again.
The upcoming collection is, of course, not her debut, but rather the follow-up to 2023’s sophomore effort, Diamonds & Dancefloors, which featured the singles “Maybe You’re the Problem,” “Million Dollar Baby” and “Weapons,” among others. “For the first time I’m really finding myself, honing in on healing… I really feel like this is everyone’s healing era,” Max says of the in-process album she hopes will make her fans feel incredible so that they can go out and have fun with their friends without any relationship drama hanging over them.
“My Oh My” definitely hits that vibe, with its throwback dance pop vibe, lyrical nods to “90s paparazzi” and dancing in a room full of strangers in a scene straight out of a movie. The mood she wanted to strike in the video for the song was “90s grunge dance,” with no storyline and a focus on just busting out fun choreo with her dancers, which, not for nothing, Max choreographed herself.
“I wanted people to feel the energy,” she says of the clip directed by Hunter Moreno, noting that growing up she watched a lot of Britney Spears videos, which clearly inspired the “My Oh My” visual.
Max also dove into the story behind her January collab with DJ Kygo on the tropical house banger “Whatever,” which contains an interpolation of Shakira’s titanic 2001 hit “Whenever, Wherever.” After chasing a potential team-up with Kygo for years, Max says when the Norwegian producer sent over the “Whatever” track she freaked out, realizing it was a great match. Now, after working with such EDM superstars Kygo, David Guetta (“Let It Be Me”) and Tiesto (“The Motto”), Max says the other names on her bucket list include Bad Bunny and J. Balvin.
“I just love the culture so much,” she says. “I would love a Spanish feature.”
In addition to talking about her eternal love of Spears, Max also got into the way-back machine to remember how “Sweet But Psycho” took her around the world after the self-described “studio rat” spent the previous decade in the studio perfecting her craft. Recalling the track going No. 1 in Europe and being on her first trip overseas to promote the song, Max described riding around in a Sprinter van in Finland and freaking when she heard the song on the radio for the first time.
“I remember crying because I was like, ‘This isn’t real’,” she says, describing a touch of imposter syndrome at her long-awaited overnight success. “It wasn’t real.” Then again, the track did represent her pretty well, she says, because, to be honest, she cops to being both sweet and psycho. Max also describes jumping so high up in the air she almost hurt herself when she was tapped to record a song (“Choose Your Fighter”) for the Barbie soundtrack.
“I was freaking out, I mean who doesn’t love Barbie?… Of course I’m gonna do this!” she says of the track that took just two hours to record and got “no notes” from director Greta Gerwig and soundtrack boss Mark Ronson.
Most importantly, Max confirms that she’s in the studio working on the new album now, but says she can’t talk about it too much. “I’m excited, there’s so much more… This album definitely has a couple record that style, lyric-wise, melody-wise that I’ve never touched on,” she promises.
Watch the “My Oh My” video below and the interview above.
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Attendees of the 2024 Met Gala weren’t just treated to a rare Ariana Grande concert Monday night (May 6), but also an exclusive sneak peek at how the singer and Cynthia Erivo‘s voices will sound together as Glinda and Elphaba in the upcoming Wicked films.
The 30-year-old pop star was charged with delivering an ethereal performance to match this year’s event theme, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and she more than delivered. First, a “sleeping” Grande was carried into the Metropolitan Museum of Art event space after the red carpet by a troupe of fairy-like dancers as a gorgeous orchestral arrangement played, as captured in a video the Grammy winner later posted on Instagram and TikTok.
After making her entrance, Grande “woke up” and began singing “Once Upon a Dream” from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty as the audience applauded. Swathed in a teal chiffon gown, she went on to perform her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends” from her new album Eternal Sunshine, as well as some of her older smashes, “7 Rings” and “Into You.”
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One of the biggest highlights from her whimsical showcase was when Erivo — with whom Grande had walked the red carpet on the Met steps earlier that evening — joined her on stage. The pair synced their voices for a duet of “When You Believe” by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, joined by a group of backup gospel singers.
“@cynthiaerivo i love you,” the R.E.M. Beauty founder wrote on Instagram Stories, sharing a clip of the show-stopping duet.
She also gushed about the performance on TikTok. “had the honor and most special time performing at @metmuseum in @maisonmargiela by the one and only, most brilliant angel of all @jgalliano (how i wept in our fitting !!!!)… working on this performance was an experience i will cherish forever,” she captioned one video. Her note included thank you messages to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Baz Luhrmann and others. Last but not least, she gave a shout-out to Erivo. “thank you to the divine and magical @cynthiaerivo for joining me in the end and for lighting up the museum brighter than any star in the sky ever could. it was my honor to have you and to sing with you as always. i love you !”
Grande and Erivo weren’t the only Wicked stars to show out at the Met Gala. The two women were also joined by Jeff Goldblum, who will play the Wizard of Oz in Jon M. Chu’s two-part duology — the first installment of which hits theaters this Thanksgiving — as well as Jonathan Bailey, who will play Fiyero.
Her first Met since 2018, Grande attended the event – which was co-chaired by Zendaya, Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and and Chris Hemsworth — in a custom white gown designed by Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson, accented by a sculpted bodice made entirely of mother of pearl. “I loved the tie-in of the opalescence and little hues of pink and green for Glinda’s bubble and for Wicked,” she told Vogue of the dress on the red carpet. “Pearls are just made in the most unexpected of ways. You never know what beautiful things you will find in unexpected places.”
See clips from Grande’s Met Gala performance below.
@arianagrande 🥹🫧 had the honor and most special time performing at @metmuseum in @maisonmargiela by the one and only, most brilliant angel of all @jgalliano (how i wept in our fitting !!!!)… working on this performance was an experience i will cherish forever. thank you so much @voguemagazine, Anna Wintour and @metmuseum for having me. ♡ my sincerest of thank yous to @bazluhrmann, i love you so much i could cry… to Michael Arden, @_natural__, @sergiokletnoy, Keith!!!, @justinlevine, to Cree & Lauren & @willloftis & our incredible group of dancers, musicians and to Broadway Inspirational Voices. and last but most ~certainly~🫧 not least, thank you to the divine and magical @cynthiaerivo for joining me in the end and for lighting up the museum brighter than any star in the sky ever could. it was my honor to have you and to sing with you as always. i love you ! 🫧 ⋆｡°‧🫧 ⋆ ˚｡⋆🦪 ⋆ ‧🫧 ˚｡𓇼.˚ ♬ original sound – arianagrande