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Something fortuitous happened for Role Model during the second North American stop of his No Place Like Tour live run on Feb. 27. Jake Shane happened to be in Dallas at the same time — and with some last-minute coordination, the influencer ended up onstage with the singer for “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out.”
“People loved it — like, lost it,” recalls Role Model, chatting while still on the road. “We were like, ‘Why not do this every night? We don’t need a cameo. It will be fun to do a Justin Bieber “One Less Lonely Girl”-type of moment.’ ”
Throughout the tour, Role Model has welcomed one lucky fan onstage to dance around with the artist during the bridge of the sun-kissed pop-rock song. At one of two sold-out shows at Los Angeles’ The Wiltern in April, he welcomed friend Reneé Rapp to play the part.
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Later that month, when the 27-year-old made his late-night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he scored an appearance from Bowen Yang for the role. The stunt resulted in viral social media moments, with the unintentional strategy helping sustain the song.
“Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” arrived on Feb. 14 as part of the deluxe edition of Role Model’s second album, Kansas Anymore. (As was much of the album, the song was co-written with close collaborator Noah Conrad, alongside Annika Bennett and Harrison Whitford.) The deluxe, titled Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye), featured four new tracks — but “Sally” emerged early on as “something we could jump off of,” says Sam Riback, Interscope Geffen A&M co-president and head of pop/rock A&R. “We were like, ‘Here we go.’ ”
By early May, Role Model made his Billboard airplay debut when “Sally” entered at No. 36 on the Alternative Airplay chart. The song also cracked the top 20 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and reached a No. 12 high on Hot Alternative Songs.
Riback first heard of Role Model, born Tucker Pillsbury, in 2018; at the time, Benny Blanco had an imprint with the label called Friends Keep Secrets, and one of its employees tipped Riback off to the then-unknown artist from Cape Elizabeth, Maine making music in his college dorm room. “I heard this demo, which we inevitably put out, of a song called ‘Minimal,’ ” recalls Riback. “It just immediately captivated me,” he says of the stripped-down, hip-hop inspired indie track. Later that year, Role Model signed to Interscope Records. (He signed with Best Friends Music for management in 2020, though parted ways with the firm this April).
Four years after signing, Role Model released his debut album, Rx, in 2022, where he showcased an edgier look and more alternative sound. But Kansas Anymore took a turn towards softer, more Americana-inspired indie-pop and highlighted his sensibilities as a songwriter.
“People who have been listening to me since 2017 have gotten to watch me slowly figure out music,” he says. “When I put out [‘Minimal’], that was really the first song I had made. I didn’t know what I was doing. So I feel like, truly, I did not find my sound until Kansas Anymore. It’s something I’m proud of and it feels like the most genuine thing I’ve made, ever.”
After the album arrived last July, Role Model was eager to stay in the sonic world he had built. While writing the album, he had two “rough ideas that were not fleshed out” but fit into the same universe. So he saved them (they ultimately became “Old Recliners” and “Some Protector”). But as he toyed with the idea of a deluxe, he knew he would need more: “I don’t wanna half-ass it,” he remembers thinking. Weeks after its release, he started writing again, and out came “Longest Goodbye” and “Sally,” the latter of which he calls “a new ending to the chapter…I think that this song felt like a breath of fresh air in that way of, ‘Oh, there’s somewhat of a positive spin here.’ ”
The most fun-loving song to come from the Kansas Anymore chapter, Role Model says “Sally” is “based off some truth,” with the song detailing his re-entry into the dating pool. “Lyrically, it was me being hesitant and doubtful,” he says, “not being sold on someone.”
Role Model
Daniel Prakopcyk
Role Model teased the track in the days leading to its release, and when he kicked off his No Place Like Tour dates in New Zealand/Australia in early February, added it to his set. “The very first time I did it, people were singing the words. It got louder and louder every show,” he says. “It was the bridge specifically, but it felt like a big moment in the set and the song wasn’t out yet. And that’s when I started to be like, ‘Oh, maybe this is bigger than I can imagine.’ ”
“[‘Sally’ is] an entryway for all these people to see what Tucker’s been building so sturdily over the past seven years,” says Riback. “He hasn’t skipped any steps and he has meticulously put together a fan base that I think is so onboard and along for the ride, wherever this goes next.”
In terms of the next onstage Sally, Role Model has his eyes on Kacey Musgraves, teasing that they’re on a few of the same festival lineups this summer, including Iowa’s Hinterland and Aspen’s Up In the Sky, both scheduled for August. “There’s gotta be some strings we can pull,” he says with a laugh. Riback adds: “We are always planting seeds and hoping things bloom into what we would like them to bloom into.”
In between legs of his tour, he’s also been writing a bit: “I finally had some days to lock myself in the studio again,” he says, “which was incredible and inspiring in itself.” But, much like his career, Role Model is not rushing a thing, calling his rise “a very slow incline — with bumps, of course.” He admires the way his tourmate Gracie Abrams, for whom he’s opened, has navigated her own career, saying she is “an amazing example…I feel like she has just skyrocketed and has handled it incredibly.
“It’s always scared me, the idea of a moment and a giant peak in a career, because it’s the hardest thing to keep up with,” he continues. “And I think oftentimes, you see it go away. So I’m trying not to live in it, but at the same time, I’m doing everything in my power to make sure it does stick around.”
This story appears in the May 17, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Kelly Clarkson has a simple message to her human resources department: she’s happier than ever and quit telling her to shut up about it. According to People, during her show at Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in Atlantic City, NJ on Saturday (May 10), the singer took a moment during the gig to chat with an audience member who praised her “sexy” appearance.
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Clarkson, 43, said she appreciated the compliment, but noted that she has had a hard time complimenting other people’s looks on the set of her eponymous NBC daytime talk show because HR keeps telling her it’s not appropriate.
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“Every time I go to an HR meeting, I’m like, ‘How have I not been fired?’ I grew up on the road at 19 years old, you know what I’m saying? I’m like, ‘Oh, that is inappropriate. I would never,’” she said of the conversations. Last May on her show, Clarkson and Whoopi Goldberg bonded over their use of the prescription medication Ozempic for weight loss, with Kelly saying she’s lost a “lot” of weight on the drug.
“But they also say you’re not allowed to say someone looks attractive, and I say f–k that,” Clarkson told the crowd. “Because some of those b–ches are out here working, and we’re trying, and I want every motherf–ker that passes me to go, ‘Damn. Well done.’” To be fair, Clarkson added, she doesn’t think there is anything wrong with anyone’s bodies, whatever shape, telling her fans that she felt “very confident” at her previous weight.
“I felt fine both ways, but I’m just saying it’s a lot more fun with clothes now. And I’ve been working on it,” she said. According to People, she thanked the fan for the compliment and quipped that she will “not be calling HR” about their interaction. “It is not a joke. I know HR is not a joke, but it is really funny some of the things they talk about,” she said. “And we’re like, ‘Oh no. We would never.’”
The Saturday show was one of two she played in Atlantic City, where, during the Friday night gig she lamented to the audience that she is bummed she can’t tour like she used to due to the schedule of her TV show. “We haven’t done a show in a while, y’all, ’cause I have a talk show. It’s like a whole other job,” said Clarkson, who has not mounted a full tour since 2019. “We are bummed ’cause we love doing shows, and it’s hard to fit it in, so it’s cool when it does work out with the schedule. And it’s cool to get to see your faces and feed off y’all. Thank you so much for having so much energy.”
Ed Sheeran has found yet another novel way to promote his upcoming Play album. After opening a pop-up pub in Ipswich, MA and encouraging fans to share archival messages and videos from their “Old Phone” and recording several international takes on the album’s first single, “Azizam,” the singer dialed up a new clever idea over […]
Tina Arena was forced to pause her Melbourne concert on Friday (May 10) after a physical altercation broke out near the front of the stage at the Palais Theatre, prompting security to intervene and the singer to directly address the crowd.
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The incident took place during Arena’s Don’t Ask Again 30th Anniversary Tour, where she was performing material from across her decades-long career. According to reports from 7News and the Herald Sun, the disruption began when a man and a woman began shouting at each other, with the woman reportedly punching and kicking audience members around her.
Arena halted the show immediately after noticing the commotion. “Darling, you need to leave the show,” she told the disruptive concertgoer before addressing the rest of the audience.
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“Ladies and gentlemen, if we could please just have some calm in this hall, I would really, really appreciate it,” she said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in 50 years.”
The concert paused as venue security escorted the parties involved out of the venue. Witnesses said the woman resisted, at one point reportedly throwing herself to the ground and yelling at guards not to touch her. Arena remained onstage, refusing to resume the show until the situation was fully handled.
“If there’s something that needs to be discussed, please do it outside. I won’t commence the show until this is the case,” she told the crowd.
Entertainment reporter Peter Ford described the moment as “startling” during a segment on Australian breakfast show Sunrise, adding, “It’s not what you expect at a Tina Arena concert. But she stayed composed and was resolute in getting control of the room.”
The disruption came just one night after another unexpected moment on Arena’s tour. During her Thursday (May 9) performance at the same venue, the singer paused mid-show to reprimand audience members for leaving to use the restroom.
“Back in my day, you wouldn’t leave to go to the toilet unless you were sh—ing your pants,” Arena said from the stage, drawing gasps and laughs from the crowd.
Arena is currently touring nationally to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her 1994 breakthrough album Don’t Ask, which was certified 10-times Platinum in Australia and included hits such as Billboard Top 50 single “Chains,” “Sorrento Moon (I Remember),” and “Wasn’t It Good.” The tour continues this week with shows across Queensland.
Arena has sold over 10 million albums worldwide and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2015.
No matter how many hit songs Halsey writes, she might never live down singing Blink-182 at her local mall.
The pop star reflected on the viral video from their teenage years, affectionately dubbed “Mallsey” by fans, during a Friday (May 9) appearance on Owen Thiele’s In Your Dreams podcast.
“Word of caution to those seeking virality is that, when you’re trying anything hoping one thing will go, you don’t get to decide what that one thing is,” Halsey said on the podcast. “And that one thing might define you forever.”
Halsey went on to suggest one of those things in her own career will likely be her No. 1 single “Without Me,” which she still counts as “one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.” However, the musician also quickly pointed out, “I sang at the mall once when I was a kid and everyone will remember that until I die, probably.”
The nonbinary pop star then went on to explain the context of the “Mallsey” clip, saying, “Here’s the thing that sucks about it, right? Is that I was starting to get really popular on Tumblr, and this was the time where everyone was doing meet-ups. … You didn’t have to do anything, you didn’t have to have a talent. It didn’t matter. You were just big on the internet.”
So at the suggestion of several Tumblr users, Halsey decided to host their very first impromptu meet-up at Pennsylvania’s King of Prussia Mall. “I went and met all these fans,” the singer continued. “It was the first time I’d ever met a fan before, and they were like, ‘Will you sing?’ and I was like, I never sang outside of my bedroom before.”
Put on the spot, she bravely launched into an a cappella cover of Blink-182’s 2004 classic “I Miss You” — complete with Tom DeLonge’s unforgettable vocal affectations — which was captured on camera by a fan and the rest, as they say, is Internet history.
Elsewhere during the interview, Halsey confirmed they’re in the process of working on new music that will serve as a follow-up to 2024’s The Great Impersonator, and also dished on her mom’s hilarious reaction to her early Tumblr-era fame.
Meanwhile Halsey just teamed up with Evanescence singer Amy Lee for their new collaborative single “Hand That Feeds“
Watch Halsey’s full chat on In Your Dreams below.
On Thursday, the Catholic Church elected a new pope after a two-day conclave in Rome. But while only 133 cardinals from across the globe were able to participate in the decision to make Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago the first-ever American pope history has ever seen, anyone can participate in another vote that’s happening this […]
This summer, Lorde will finally deliver what fans are sure is going to be an immaculate conception: Virgin, her long-awaited fourth studio album. As revealed April 30, the New Zealander’s next LP is set to arrive soon via Universal Music New Zealand and Republic Records, bringing an end to a four-year album drought during which […]
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, Miley Cyrus returns with a ballad, Sleep Token unveil an opus and ROSÉ joins the F1 fun. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Miley Cyrus, “More to Lose”
As she collected pop smashes over the course of her career, Miley Cyrus has also demonstrated a richness as a balladeer — and with “More to Lose,” a stirring new sample from her upcoming album Something Beautiful, Cyrus drifts above a complex tangle of classic pop production and smashes home the emotion as the song ramps up, making for a song that’s going to sound spectacular whenever it’s performed live.
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Sleep Token, Even in Arcadia
Whether you’re steeped in the lore, headbanging through the breakdowns or both, the masked British alt-metal group Sleep Token has turned its singular combination of detailed backstory and rock ambition into arena-headliner status — and with Even in Arcadia, the group is not only poised to have its biggest commercial moment to date, but will do so with a sprawling, uncompromising collection of songs.
ROSÉ, “Messy”
One week after Don Toliver and Doja Cat dropped “Lose My Mind” to kick off the rollout of the F1 soundtrack, ROSÉ has gotten in on the racing-drama fun with “Messy,” a cinematic love ballad in which the BLACKPINK star declares “If it’s messy / Then you know it’s really love,” while learning to understand her partner’s flaws, on a song that sounds primed to play over a contemplative second-act montage.
Kali Uchis, Sincerely,
On her first full-length since becoming a mother last year, Kali Uchis slows down the tempo from 2024’s Orquídeas and offers the most intimate glimpse of her mental and emotional state yet: Sincerely, revels in its personal flourishes, a new stance from a genre-hopping singer-songwriter who has written anthems in English and Spanish but has never navigated her own feelings this deftly.
PinkPantheress, Fancy That
From the super-short pop tracks of To Hell With It to the commercial breakthrough of “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” to the sonic exploration of Heaven Knows, PinkPantheress has darted through different eras with lightning speed — and Fancy That, a bright, engrossing mixtape that riffs on ‘90s dance and garage, sounds like an artistic reset in the best way, taking the UK pop star back to the effervescent songwriting of her beginnings.
Kid Cudi, “Neverland”
Kid Cudi is a stylistic godfather in modern hip-hop, but that doesn’t mean the veteran is resting on his laurels: “Neverland,” a new single that precedes a short film of the same name, aims at summer-anthem territory, with Cudi gently crooning in the verses and then singing his lungs out on the chorus as trap drums sizzle beneath his full-throated cries.
Maren Morris, Dreamsicle
Maren Morris has described fourth album Dreamsicle as “a love letter to myself,” which explains the new set’s healing aura: Morris has changed up her style and spoken openly about her process of self-discovery over the past few years, and her latest full-length complements that journey with warmth and optimism, briskly moving forward as Morris does the same.
Editor’s Pick: Halsey & Amy Lee, “Hand That Feeds”
During the same week that Evanescence was back in the news — thanks, The Rehearsal! — band leader Amy Lee has released a harrowing new collaboration with Halsey that accentuates both artists’ respective talents: “Hand That Feeds,” from the upcoming Ballerina soundtrack, harkens back to Halsey’s alt-rock streak while giving Lee a much-deserved new platform to showcase her soaring delivery, resulting in what sounds like a no-brainer rock-radio staple.
Ed Sheeran has long known that the line between pleasure and pain is a thin one, best traversed with care and a healthy regard for the surprises life throws at you. That sentiment is essentially the thesis for the singer’s new video for his nostalgic ballad “Old Phone.”
The Emil Nava-directed clip that dropped on Thursday morning (May 8) for the second single from Sheeran’s upcoming Play album (Sept. 12) opens with Sheeran in a wistful mood. Sitting on his hotel bed, Ed flips through old conversations on his dusty, recently recovered Blackberry, saying in voiceover, “I was finding text messages from people that aren’t even here anymore and reading conversations with people I wish I could have conversations with now.”
So, he explains, he did what anyone would do in that situation: he build a bespoke, pop-up pub in Ipswich, MA in March, which fans could gain entry into by sending a video or message from an old phone that had some meaning to them. “I found my old phone today/ In a box that I had hidden away/ Nostalgia trying to lead me astray/ Maybe I’ll unwrite some wrongs,” he sings over gentle acoustic guitar and footage of fans lining up for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to join Sheeran in the pub.
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We watch the construction of Old Phone Pub and the delighted look on the singer’s face as he sees it taking shape, as well as Sheeran reaching out to the many fans lined up outside and visiting some local neighborhood spots to spread the word. In addition to playing an impromptu Ipswich street jam, the video finds Sheeran sitting in solitude inside a bowling alley, as well as testimonials from those who submitted clips to be projected onto the walls of the bar.
One was from a mom who sent in a video of her two deceased daughters, 12 and 4 in the clip, saying, “they were just goofin’ off just being sisters,” over footage of the home movie being screened on the outside of the temporary venue. Other testimonials are from a woman who shared footage of her with her old boyfriend and a man who offered a movie of him dancing with his beloved late grandma at a wedding; at one point Sheeran can be seen chatting with the man outside the bar.
“It was really cool to watch that and to be able to share with him some of our stories. That was nice,” the mom says. The video winds down pivoting from Sheeran smiling at his old home movies, to fans sitting mesmerized as he performs the song in the pop-up with a back-up band of Irish musicians. “I wanted to make it feel like the song does… raw, stripped-back, emotional, nostalgic and special,” Sheeran says at the end.
Over the past month Sheeran has made headlines by playing surprise mini-concerts at other bars in Boston and Nashville, as well as hitting Nashville’s Santa’s Pub a few weeks ago with Noah Kahan for a short dual set and reconstructing the pop-up pub at Coachella.
Watch Sheeran’s “Old Phone” video below.
Longtime alt-pop star Lorde boasts two new entries on the Billboard Hot 100 this week (dated May 10). One of them is predictable: “What Was That,” her first totally new solo song in nearly a half-decade (and presumed lead single from her upcoming Virgin album, due in June) bows at No. 36, following a big […]