Pop
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Sure, Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck (aka the Joker) in 2020. But even an award-winning actor gets nervous on set when he has to sing in front of one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Luckily for Phoenix, when it came to giving the greasepaint goon a voice voice, his partner in crime, Lady Gaga, was totally there for him.
“I do seem to remember her spitting up coffee the first time I sang, so that felt good, that was exciting, and made me feel confident,” Phoenix told Empire magazine about the Grammy-winning singer’s reaction on the set of the upcoming Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux. “Gaga was always very encouraging of just, ‘Go with what you feel, it’s fine.’ For somebody who’s not a performer in that way, it can be… uncomfortable to do that, but also very exciting.”
It was important that they bond that way because director Todd Phillips wanted to bring the music out of the Joker, who at his core is a mercurial, failed comedian whose violent acts land him in Arkham Asylum, where he strikes up a lyrical love story with Gaga’s Harley “Lee” Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn.
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“Arthur has become this symbol to people,” Phillips told the magazine. “This unwilling, unwitting symbol now paying for the crimes of the first film, but at the same time finding the only thing he ever wanted, which was love. That’s always what he’s been about, even though he’s been pushed and pulled in all these directions. So we tried to just make the most pure version of that.”
That expression of love comes through in musical numbers in the film, because, as Phillips said, Fleck has “music in him,” which explains why the latest trailer has Gaga singing the classic tune “Get Happy” and Phoenix tackling “When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)” in Fleck’s raspy croon.
“It was important to protect that with poor phrasing and occasional bum notes,” Phoenix said in an echo of a recent interview with Gaga where she admitted to purposely tanking her award-winning voice to get into character. “Arthur grew up hearing his mother play these songs on the radio. He’s not a singer, and he shouldn’t sound like a professional singer. He should sound like somebody that’s taking a shower and just bursts out into song.”
Joker: Folie à Deux will open in theaters on Oct. 4.
The 2024 Summer Olympics only kicked off on Friday, and already we’ve seen huge moments from Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, Beyoncé and more music A-listers. It all started with the Opening Ceremony, which included all-French performances from Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, set in scenic landmarks across Paris, as well as a Team USA introduction […]
Halsey is more vulnerable than ever with her art, as seen in her most recent single “Lucky,” but the superstar is struggling with the backlash she’s receiving from people claiming to be their fans. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The singer took to Tumblr this week […]
Mariah Carey and Dem Babies absolutely can’t get enough of Olivia Rodrigo — if only there was a word to describe how they’re feeling.
About a week after attending the Guts World Tour stop in Atlanta, Mimi posted a photo she snapped with her 13-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe backstage alongside the 21-year-old pop star, with whom she says her family is “obsessed” — a nod to both of the singers’ songs of the same name. Carey also shared a picture of just her and Rodrigo, as well as one of her daughter posing alone with the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series alum, both girls wearing matching sparkly star tights.
“We are OBSESSED with @oliviarodrigo 🔥❤️,” the vocalist wrote in her caption on Instagram Monday (July 29).
“ur the absolute greatest!!!” Rodrigo commented. “thank u sm for coming❤️❤️❤️”
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Monroe — whose dad is Nick Cannon, Carey’s ex-husband — also shared the photos on her personal account, including a snap of the “Drivers License” singer’s personal autograph on a T-shirt. “Roe, all my love!” Rodrigo signed, adding a heart doodle.
“last tuesday was the best night of my life WHATT like @oliviarodrigo i love u so much i had the time of my life it was a dream fr,” Monroe captioned the post.
Since performing in Atlanta, Rodrigo has brought her Guts trek to Lexington, Ky.; Kansas City, Mo.; and Oklahoma City, Okla. She has just 14 shows left on the final U.S. leg of her tour — including four nights at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles — after which she’ll close out with runs in Asia and Australia ending in October.
One of the highlights of her show every night is when she rocks out to her envy-indulging single “Obsessed,” which Rodrigo added to the setlist after dropping the deluxe version of her Billboard 200-topping album Guts in March. The track debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Fifteen years prior, Carey’s enduring smash of the same name reached No. 7 on the chart. Last week, the Songbird Supreme kicked off a new run of her Las Vegas residency, The Celebration of Mimi Live, which has dates scheduled through Aug. 10.
For just the second time since Billboard launched the Billboard Artist 100 ranking in 2014, the top two musical acts in the U.S. are K-pop artists.
On the Aug. 3, 2024-dated Artist 100, Stray Kids and Jimin each re-enter, at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. The only other week in which Korean pop acts took the top two positions was on the chart dated Oct. 17, 2020, when BLACKPINK and BTS – the latter of which Jimin is a member – ranked at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. (That week, BLACKPINK also became the first all-female group to lead the list.)
The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.
Stray Kids rule as the top musical act in the U.S. for a fourth total week thanks to their new release, Ate: Mini Album. The set, released via JYP/Imperial/Republic Records, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 231,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States July 19-25, according to Luminate. It’s Stray Kids’ fifth total and consecutive No. 1 – as the ensemble becomes the first group, and second act overall, joining DMX, ever to debut five initial entries on the Billboard 200 at No. 1.
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With four total weeks spent at No. 1, Stray Kids have logged the second-most time atop the Artist 100 among K-pop acts, after BTS (21).
Jimin re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 2, powered by his new album Muse, which likewise opens at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 96,000 units. Outside of BTS, Jimin has spent one week at No. 1 on the Artist 100 as a solo act, in April 2023.
Rounding out the top five spots of the latest Artist 100, Taylor Swift ranks at No. 3 – following a record 117 weeks at No. 1 – Morgan Wallen rises 5-4 and Zach Bryan dips 4-5.
King of darkness Ozzy Osbourne has shown his light side once again. The metal legend offered up a mea culpa to Britney Spears on the latest episode of The Osbournes podcast after daughter Kelly Osbourne asked her dad if their family owed Spears an apology.
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After first replaying Ozzy’s offensive comments, Ozzy offered up a less appeasing peace offer than offspring Jack and Kelly. “Britney, I really owe you an apology,” Ozzy said. “I’m so sorry for making that comment. However, it would be better if you didn’t do the same f–king dance every day! Change a few movements… I love Britney Spears, but it’s the same dance every day!”
That comment drew a loud guffaw from Jack, while Kelly noted that she is a fan of Britney’s dancing — “Britney, never stop dancing, I love your dancing it makes you happy” — while apologizing on behalf of the family if she felt offense, with wife Sharon adding “I like Britney a lot.” The family also objected to Ozzy’s claim that it was, literally, the same dance every day, with Kelly and Jack noting that sometimes “there’s knives.”
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Ozzy then leaned into a less strings-attached amends, adding, “I really do apologize. I love you and I think you’re beautiful.”
The spat originally began two weeks ago when Ozzy criticized Spears’ dancing videos, saying on his family’s podcast that he was, “fed up of seeing poor old Britney Spears [dancing] on YouTube every f–kin’ day. It’s sad, very, very sad,” with Sharon adding, “poor little thing.” At the time, Spears shot back with a terse Instagram post that has since been deleted, in which she said, “I’m gonna… tell the Osbourne family who is the most boring family known to mankind to kindly f–k off!”
Spears has long made a habit of posting dance videos from her home in which she does interpretive moves to her favorite songs.
See Ozzy’s apology below.
Trigger warning: The following story describes details of violence against children.
Taylor Swift is “completely in shock” after the horrific stabbing attack at a dance class celebrating her music in Southport, England that left three children dead and eight others wounded. The singer posted a handwritten note on her Instagram Story on Tuesday morning (July 30) reacting to the incident.
“The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I’m just completely in shock…” Swift wrote. “The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders. These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”
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According to the Associated Press, Merseyside police said a 17-year-old boy from Cardiff was arrested in the incident a the community center and a knife was seized following the attack in the seaside town in Northwest England near Liverpool. Police said that the suspect was in custody on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attack “horrendous and deeply shocking.” At press time the suspect’s name had not been released and there was no information on a motive for the attack, though officials do not believe it was terror-related.
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Witnesses described a scene in which bloodied children were seen running from the center where the Swift-themed dance and yoga event for children 6-11 was taking place with the promise of “a morning of Taylor Swift-themed yoga, dance and bracelet making.”
According to CNN, two children died on Monday and a third died of their injuries as of Tuesday. “The nine-year-old girl died in hospital in the early hours of this morning, Tuesday, 30 July. We can confirm that the children who died yesterday were girls aged six and seven years,” the police said in a statement. “Eight other children suffered stab wounds sustained during the attack, and five of them are in a critical condition. Two adults are also in a critical condition after being injured during the incident.”
Merseyside Police Chief constable Serena Kennedy said that officials believe the adults who were injured were “bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked.” King Charles and wife Queen Camilla released a statement saying they were, “profoundly shocked to hear of the utterly horrific incident in Southport.”
Following a mass shooting at a primary school in Scotland in 1996 that killed 16 students and a teacher, Parliament banned private ownership of most handguns and semi-automatic weapons; since then there have been no school shootings in the U.K., though attacks with blades remain a serious issue.
At press time Swift fans had set up a Swifties for Southport fundraiser for the families of victims that had raised almost $93,000. Swift is on the final run of European shows on her Eras Tour, with the next gig scheduled for Thursday (August 1) in Warsaw at the PGE Narodowy, where, after three shows she will move to a three-night stand in Vienna before closing out with five nights at London’s Wembley Stadium from August 15-20.
07/29/2024
The group’s latest Billboard 200 chart-topper shows SKZ’s determination towards experimentation while remaining true to their core messages.
07/29/2024
While the past weekend’s KCON festival offered K-pop fans the rare opportunity to see their favorite artists in person through three days of convention and concerts, ZEROBASEONE took full advantage of the Los Angeles audience by surprise announcing a new album on the fest’s final day on Sunday (July 28).
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After the nine-member boy band performed the singles “Feel the POP” and “In Bloom” at the Crypto.com Arena, a mysterious video appeared across the KCON marquee with the phrases “Cinema Paradise” and “August 2024” below it. The guys quickly confirmed that the tease was a “comeback spoiler” to the audience.
Cinema Paradise will be ZB1’s fourth K-pop release since debuting just over a year ago on July 10, 2023, with their Youth in the Shade EP. See the comeback spoiler “film” below:
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ZEROBASEONE wasn’t the only artist to utilize KCON LA to tease new music.
Not long after ZB1 made the surprise album announcement, next KCON performer Jeon Somi revealed at the end of her set that she would be returning to the K-pop scene with “a “fun summer song.” The soloist shared the melody and lyrics from the upcoming track, telling the audience to sing along with the call-and-response lines: “Come and get your ice cream… / Too cold!”
Somi’s agency, THEBLACKLABEL, quickly confirmed that the singer’s new single “Ice Cream” would drop on Aug. 2 and shared the following photos.
Elsewhere during KCON, Billboard 200–charting boy band P1Harmony hyped up fans when leader Keeho shared the group’s “comeback is coming faster than you think” during the “red carpet” ceremony on Saturday, July 27.
Plus, the Japanese girl group ME:I (created on Produce 101 Japan The Girls, a local version of a K-pop singing competition developed by KCON organizer CJ E&M) shared a live performance of their new single “Hi-Five” ahead of its official release on Aug. 28. Previously, the 11-member outfit peaked at No. 2 on the Japan Hot 100 so far with their debut single “Click” in April.
The music video to “Hi-Five” dropped a few hours after making its live debut to KCON-ers in attendance.
KCON reports that a combined 5.9 million fans showed up in person and online from more than 170 countries across the three days of this year’s festivities, which is in line with the 5.9 million viewers from 176 regions from last year’s fest. With the bonus of surprise announcements and new song reveals this year, the upcoming KCON Germany 2024 in September should also boast millions of fans tuning in.
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STAY have made their way to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Team Mexico’s Alexa Moreno took the mat on Sunday for the ultimate Stray Kids-themed gymnastics floor routine. In a now-viral clip, the 29-year-old athlete is seen performing a series of flips, twists and rolls to the K-pop superstars’ hits including “S-Class,” “Maniac” and “LALALALA.” It’s […]