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Ariana Grande has confirmed that fans can expect sunny skies for the indefinite future. Exactly one month after dropping her seventh studio album Eternal Sunshine, the 30-year-old pop star shared a behind-the-scenes video of her in the studio and revealed that she’s definitely not done promoting the project — in fact, she’s only just getting […]
Billie Eilish is getting ready to make a splash with her third studio album, which the 22-year-old pop star finally announced is coming this spring in a post on social media Monday (April 8).
Sharing the cover art — which finds the singer sinking underwater, seemingly seconds after being dropped from the other side of a door that’s visible at the top of the frame — Eilish confirmed that the album, titled Hit Me Hard and Soft, arrives May 17.
“MY THIRD ALBUMMMMMMMMMMMMM COMES OUT MAY 17THHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHH🥹🥹🥹,” she excitedly captioned the post. “so crazy to be writing this right now i’m nervyyyyy & exciteddd 🫣”
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The nine-time Grammy winner also confirmed that, just like her first two albums, 2019’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and 2021’s Happier Than Ever, her brother Finneas produced the new LP. She also warned fans that she won’t be releasing any singles ahead of the project’s release, noting, “i wanna give it to you all at once.”
“finneas and i truly could not be more proud of this album and we absolutely can’t wait for you to hear it,” she added. “love you love you love you.”
The announcement comes hours after Eilish shared an eerie video teasing the album, in which she descends deeper and deeper into an abyss of dark blue waves, her hands reaching in vain toward the surface. Just as it seemed that she was about to sink into oblivion, another hand came into the frame and grabs her arm.
Meanwhile, a piece of music with a video game-like beat – over which Eilish gently riffed – played.
“READY?” the “What Was I Made For?” artist captioned the video.
A few hours before she posted the teaser, Eilish had written on Instagram Stories, “I’M TELLING YOU SOMETHING TOMORROW.”
Leading up to her big announcement, the Oscar winner teased her next era via mysterious billboards in Los Angeles and New York City, advertising what appeared to be new lyrics. One of them read, “She’s the headlights I’m the deer,” while others displayed the messages, “I try to live in black and white” and “Did I cross the line?”
Eilish also recently added all 100-million-plus of her Instagram followers to her “Close Friends” Story, a move that earned her 7 million new followers in just two days. There, she’s been posting blue-hued artwork and cryptic messages alluding to a pending announcement.
Watch Eilish’s announcement and teaser video below.
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter gallops in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 13), debuting with 407,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 4, according to Luminate. It’s the superstar’s eighth No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
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With 407,000 units earned, Cowboy Carter claims the biggest week of 2024 and the largest since Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) bowed with 1.653 million units on the Nov. 11, 2023-dated list. Cowboy Carter’s launch is also Beyoncé’s biggest week, by units, since her Lemonade album debuted at No. 1 with 653,000 units (mostly from traditional album sales) on the May 14, 2016, chart. The new effort also lands Beyoncé her biggest streaming week ever.
Cowboy Carter also launches at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums, Americana/Folk Albums and Top Album Sales charts. She’s the first Black woman ever to have led the Top Country Albums list, dating to its January 1964 inception. Cowboy Carter also claims the biggest week for a country album, by units earned, since last July, when Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), opened at No. 1 on the July 22, 2023 chart with 716,000 units.
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Cowboy Carter was introduced by the singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” which were released during the Super Bowl festivities on Feb. 11. The tracks debuted and have peaked (through the charts dated April 6) at Nos. 1 and 9, respectively, on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, marking Beyoncé’s first entries on the tally. They have also reached Nos. 1, for two weeks, and 38 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new April 13, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 9. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of Cowboy Carter’s first-week unit sum of 407,000, SEA units comprise 232,000 (equaling 300.41 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), traditional album sales comprise 168,000 and TEA units comprise 7,000. With 300.41 million on-demand official streams, Cowboy Carter earns Beyoncé her biggest streaming week ever and the fourth-largest for a country album.
Cowboy Carter marks Beyoncé’s eighth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. She previously led the list with Renaissance (in 2022), Lemonade (2016), her self-titled album (2013), 4 (2011), I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008), B’Day (2006) and Dangerously In Love (2003). Beyoncé breaks out of a tie with Janet Jackson for the fourth-most No. 1s among women. Swift has the most, with 13, followed by Barbra Streisand (11), Madonna (nine), Beyoncé (eight) and Jackson (seven).
Cowboy Carter’s sales were supported by the album’s availability across a number of configurations, released on March 29. It was issued as standard 19-track edition on vinyl (across four variants, each pressed on different color vinyl [black, red, white and blue] with alternate back cover artwork), a CD with an additional song (“Flamenco”) and a digital download and streaming edition (both in clean and explicit versions, with three bonus songs “Flamenco,” “Spaghetti” and “Ya Ya,” plus two interludes). The CD edition was issued in four variants (each with different back cover art). Two of the variants were sold as stand-alone items, while two of the CDs were only available inside two deluxe boxed sets (each with a different branded T-shirt contained inside a branded box). All physical configurations of the album were sold exclusively through Beyoncé’s official webstore, while the digital download and streaming editions were widely available.
The vinyl edition of Cowboy Carter sold 62,000 copies (across its four variants combined), marking Beyoncé’s biggest week on vinyl and the largest week for any vinyl album in 2024.
Cowboy Carter boasts an eclectic lineup of billed guest artists, including Tanner Adell, Beyoncé’s daughter Rumi Carter, Miley Cyrus, Willie Jones, Tiera Kennedy, Linda Martell, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Post Malone, Reyna Roberts, Shaboozey, and Brittney Spencer. Among the many additional players on the album: 070 Shake, Jon Batiste, Ryan Beatty, Gary Clark Jr., The-Dream, Rhiannon Giddens, Paul McCartney, Pharrell, Robert Randolph, Nile Rodgers, Raphael Saadiq, Sara Watkins and Stevie Wonder.
Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You falls to No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200 after debuting atop the list a week ago. The set earned 131,000 equivalent album units in its second week (down 48%). Morgan Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time rises 4-3 with 69,000 (up 2%) and Ariana Grande’s chart-topping Eternal Sunshine dips 3-4 with 58,000 (down 19%).
J-Hope’s Hope On the Street, Vol. 1 debuts at No. 5 with 50,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s J-Hope’s second top 10-charting effort, and highest-charting set, following Jack In the Box, which peaked at No. 6 on the Sept. 2, 2023-dated list. Of Hope On the Street’s 50,000 units earned, album sales comprise 44,000, SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.7 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise 2,000. The album’s sales were supported by eight collectible CD editions (including exclusive variants for Target, Walmart and the Weverse store), all containing branded paper merchandise.
Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Guts falls 2-6 on the new Billboard 200, with 49,000 equivalent album units earned (down 32%), Noah Kahan’s Stick Season descends 5-7 with 44,000 units (down 2%) and Taylor Swift’s chart-topping Lover falls 7-8 with 40,000 units (down 1%). Rounding out the top 10 are two former leaders: SZA’s SOS (6-9 with 39,000; down 3%) and Zach Bryan’s self-titled album (8-10 with nearly 39,000; down 1%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
RAYE made her Saturday Night Live debut, performing songs from her Brith Award-winning debut album. During the Kristen Wiig-hosted episode on April 6, the London-born singer-songwriter passionately delivered “Escapism” and “Worth It,” which appear on her 2023 studio release, My 21st Century Blues. RAYE opened her SNL musical guest debut with a stirring performance of […]
Taylor Swift is counting down the days until the release of her new album. On Saturday (April 6), the 34-year-old pop superstar used her lucky number to remind Swifties that there are only 13 days left until the arrival of her highly anticipated album, The Tortured Poets Department. The “Cruel Summer” singer took to her […]
Kelly Clarkson paid homage to a classic during The Kelly Clarkson Show.
For the episode’s Kellyoke segment on Friday (April 5), the 41-year-old pop star and TV personality performed an awe-inspiring rendition of Judy Garland‘s “Over the Rainbow.”
Donning a long-sleeved black dress, Clarkson captivated her audience with a passionate delivery of The Wizard of the Oz ballad, originally performed by Garland in the 1939 film.
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“Away above the chimney tops/ That’s where you’ll find me,” the Grammy winner belted out while backed on guitar by Jaco Caraco.
The beautiful performance ended with a flash of rainbow-colored lights in the background as the crowd cheered approvingly.
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“Please put this on the next Kellyoke album so I can dance to it at my wedding,” one fan wrote in the comments section on YouTube.
Another added, “HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!!! Ok, Judy Garland is the Standard and no one will ever beat her, but (for me) this is the BEST VERSION of the many, many, many, many, many covers we all have heard!!! OF COURSE IT HAD TO BE KC!!!!”
“I think Judy would be proud of this. Knowing her legacy still lives on in this rendition made me smile,” a third user wrote.
“Over the Rainbow” holds special meaning for Clarkson. During an appearance on Today in 2017, she revealed that she often sings the 20th-century standard to her children, River Rose, 9, and Remington “Remy” Alexander, 7. The singer shares the kids with her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock.
“She’ll always cut me off and go, ‘Birds, mommy, birds.’ She always wants me to get to the bird part,” Clarkson said during the interview.
Watch Clarkson cover “Over the Rainbow” below.
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The morning of the Guts World Tour’s first night at Madison Square Garden, a perplexing, 4.8-level earthquake tore through New York City. Minutes later, the famed arena tweeted from its official account, “that was just the earth prepping for Olivia Rodrigo tonight.” That was exactly right, as far as the 21-year-old pop star’s fans were […]
Billie Eilish may have just pioneered an incredibly effective social media growth tactic with one simple move on Instagram.
According to CrowdTangle, the 22-year-old pop star gained 7 million new followers in just a two-day span. The spike comes after Eilish added all 100-million-plus followers to her “Close Friends” Story, where she’s been posting cryptic teasers for her upcoming third studio album this week.
The data tracking company found that, between Wednesday (April 3) and Thursday (April 4), 3.17 million people pressed “Follow” on the “What Was I Made For?” singer’s account in order to join her exclusive Story-viewing pool. Between Thursday and Friday (April 5), 3.9 million more users tagged along.
In total, Eilish saw a growth of 6.4% on the platform.
The posts the singer has been sharing on her Close Friends outlet have included fuzzy fragments of artwork, most of them awash in blue hues. The aesthetic of the pictures matches certain billboards that have popped up in New York and Los Angeles this week, displaying what many fans feel certain are lyrics from Eilish’s next LP.
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One of them, for instance, blasted in bright blue lettering, “She’s the headlights I’m the deer.” Others read, “I try to live in black and white,” and “Did I cross the line?”
The nine-time Grammy winner hasn’t dropped an album since 2021’s Happier Than Ever, which followed her 2019 debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? Both records spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Ahead of her new era, Eilish spoke about her sustainability efforts in an interview with Billboard. After one of her quotes from the article about the wastefulness of releasing too many vinyl variants was misinterpreted by countless fans online, she took to Instagram Stories to clarify, “I wasn’t singling anyone out.”
“These are industry-wide systemic issues,” she added at the time. “when it comes to variants, so many artists release them – including ME! which i clearly state in the article.”
Fans may have been on to something when they theorized that Taylor Swift‘s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, was inspired by the five stages of grief. Ahead of the LP’s April 19 release, the pop star shared a quintet of playlists she personally curated for Apple Music on Friday (April 5), each of them featuring songs from her first 10 albums representing a distinct phase of heartbreak.
Four of the playlists are named after the taglines of previously announced deluxe editions, with the fifth one dubbed “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” after one of the song titles on Tortured Poets. Firstly, the “I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life” roundup features tracks such as “Style” and “Treacherous,” designed by the 14-time Grammy winner to embody the “denail” stage.
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“This is a list of songs about getting so caught up in the idea of something that you have a hard time seeing the red flags, possibly resulting in moments of denial and maybe a little bit of delusion,” she said in a statement. “Results may vary.”
Secondly, anger is soundtracked by a playlist called “You Don’t Get to Tell Me About Sad,” including “Vigilante Shit,” “Bad Blood,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and more. “These songs all have one thing in common: I wrote them while feeling anger,” Swift continued. “Over the years, I’ve learned that anger can manifest itself in a lot of different ways, but the healthiest way that it manifests itself in my life is when I can write a song about it, and then oftentimes, that helps me get past it.”
Next up in the “Five Stages of Heartbreak” — modeled after Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ famous five stages of grief theory — is bargaining. For this phase, Swift gathered tracks like “Soon You’ll Get Better,” “Say Don’t Go” and “This Is Me Trying” in a playlist titled “Am I Allowed to Cry?”
“This playlist takes you through the songs that I’ve written when I was in the bargaining stage, times when you’re trying to make deals with yourself or someone that you care about,” the “Anti-Hero” singer explained. “You’re trying to make things better, you’re oftentimes feeling really desperate, because oftentimes we have a gut intuition that tells us things are not going to go the way that we hope, which makes us more desperate, which makes us bargain more.”
The fourth stage is depression, encapsulated by Swift on songs such as “Champagne Problems,” “We Were Happy” and “Forever Winter” on her “Old Habits Die Screaming” playlist. “We’re going to be exploring the feelings of depression that often lace their way through my songs,” she added. “While these things are really, really hard to go through, I often feel like when I’m either listening to songs or writing songs that deal with this intensity of loss and hopelessness, usually that’s in the phase where I’m close to getting past that feeling.”
Finally, Swift’s “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” playlist — which matches the name of track 13 on Tortured Poets — marks the last stage of grief/heartbreak, aka acceptance. “Here we finally find acceptance and can start moving forward from loss or heartbreak,” Tay said of the mix, which ropes in songs including “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” “Closure,” “Now That We Don’t Talk” and “Long Story Short.”
“These songs represent making room for more good in your life, making that choice because a lot of time when we lose things, we gain things too,” Swift added.
Swift is currently taking a two-month break from her global Eras Tour trek to prepare for the release of her 11th studio album, which she first announced while accepting best pop vocal at the 2024 Grammys for her previous LP, Midnights. Since then, she’s shared the new project’s main cover plus details on the four deluxe editions, as well as confirming that Post Malone and Florence + The Machine are both featured on the album.
Listen to all five of Swift’s Apple Music playlists ahead of The Tortured Poets Department here.
The old JoJo Siwa can’t come to the phone right now. The 20-year-old singer released her new dance pop song “Karma” on Friday (April 5), along with a truly wild music video for the upbeat track that marks an extreme departure from the kid-friendly persona she’s played since finding Dance Moms fame in 2015. The […]