Pop

Katy Perry to Perform at 2024 AFL Grand Final

It’s a whole new ballgame for Katy Perry, as the “Roar” singer is confirmed as the headline performer for the AFL Grand Final.

The U.S. pop star will perform this September at the imposing Melbourne Cricket Ground, the venue for the ’s showpiece event.

On Thursday, July 25 the league announced her appearance at the grand final, confirming weeks of speculation.

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“The sound of millions of Aussies roaring at the same spectacle, I’d like to hear that,” she says in a promo, a reference to the code’s “I’d Like to See That” campaign in the ‘90s. “100,000 passionate fans roaring at the mighty MCG,” says adds in the clip posted by the AFL, “I can’t wait to hear that.”

The AFL’s big day is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28.

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It won’t be the first time Perry has performed at the MCG for a major sporting event. In March 2020, just days before the pandemic shut borders and venues everywhere, Perry sang at the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, an abbreviated format of cricket.

Whether she wraps her head around Aussies rules’ unique gameplay and terminology remains to be seen.

Perry is, of course, on the musical comeback trail. Earlier this month, she dropped “Woman’s World,” her first new music since 2020’s Smile, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200.

The song serves as the lead track to her upcoming, long-awaited dance-pop album, 143, which is code for “I love you” and is due to arrive on Sept. 20. “Woman’s World” hasn’t set the charts on fire. The track bowed at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100, one of her 36 appearances on the tally, and No. 47 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart.

Kesha Claims New Album Will be Even Better Than ‘Animal’

She may have only released her Joyride EP, but Kesha is now gearing up for what could be the most defining release of her career, hinting at a new album released on Kesha Records that she claims features “the best songs, I think, of my entire career”.

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In a recent interview with Paper Magazine, the singer opened up about the significance of her upcoming album – her first as an independent artist following her legal battle with Kemosabe Records founder Dr. Luke, whom she accused of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse in 2014.

The producer has consistently denied Kesha’s allegations and sued her for defamation, but the two settled the case before it went to trial last year.

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Now, fresh off the release of her Joyride EP on July 4, which included her independently released single of the same name, Kesha is reveling in her newfound creative freedom ahead of another album release. “This is the first album I’m making where I’m 100% in control of everything,” she told Paper. “It feels like it’s my first album.”

“It feels divine; it feels like it stands for a lot. It’s really beautiful, and I cannot wait to share it. It’s maybe the most beautiful time of my entire life! I am so excited I got to work with the people I did and capture this moment in time, and put it onto something other people can listen to.”

“It’s been deeply life-changing and profound to make this album, but it’s also the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. If you thought Animal was fun, just fucking wait.”

The “TiK ToK” hitmaker also drew parallels between her current creative state and the mindset that produced Animal, her 2010 debut that stormed to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve felt similarly to how I did in that point in my life, when I was making music from a purely joyful place,” Kesha explained.

“It’s all really 100% me. That feels really good, just to step into my own worth, and my own power and not have anything in my mind or the external world say it’s anything but me. It’s pretty unavoidable that whether people like or hate ‘Joyride,’ it’s all me.”

“Joyride” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs chart and No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

All Billy Joel’s Guests and Milestones During His Record-Breaking Madison Square Garden Residency

His choices of onstage friends and cover versions made his decade-long MSG run a celebration of pop music history.

Billy Joel, the legendary singer-songwriter who is concluding his decade-long residency at Madison Square Garden Thursday (July 25), has a lot of friends — in addition to the nearly two million ticket-buying fans who have flocked to his repeat performances at the Manhattan arena he’s called home since 2014.

And through the course of his record-setting run at the Garden, Joel has welcomed many of his fellow artists — and family members, including daughters Alexa Ray Joel and Della Rose Joel — onstage for choice songs and unforgettable moments. The staggering list of big-name guests he’s invited to join the MSG stage with him over the past 10 years includes such legends as Sting, John Mellencamp, Elvis Costello, Tony Bennett, Paul Simon and John Fogerty, along with more 21st century hitmakers like John Mayer, Miley Cyrus, Gavin DeGraw and even Olivia Rodrigo.

Collectively, these famous buds and music luminaries have helped Joel host an ongoing celebration of his decades of success within pop and rock — one that’s lasted a decade in its own right by this point. In the meantime, he’s also managed to rack up an impressive number of milestones as one of the most esteemed and popular live performers of his era, particularly in conjunction with the Manhattan venue familiarly known as The World’s Most Famous Arena.

Here’s a look at all Joel’s guests and milestones during his MSG residency, organized by date — from the beginning of his run all the way back in January 2014, right up to the final show tomorrow night.

Karlie Kloss Reveals Her Favorite Taylor Swift Song

Karlie Kloss is still a Swiftie.

The model sat down for an interview with Yahoo! News recently, nearly a year after she surprised fans by attending Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Los Angeles, despite longtime rumors of a feud between the two former besties. When asked by the publication about her favorite song from Swift’s most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department, Kloss replied, “I’d say the whole album. I mean, her music is classic.”

As a follow-up, she was asked about her favorite Swift song. “She’s got so many hits. I definitely love ‘Shake It Off,’” Kloss replied.

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Kloss and Swift had one of the most memorable friendships during Swift’s 1989 era, and the model even appeared alongside other members of the pop star’s “girl squad” in the “Bad Blood” music video. Rumors have swirled in recent years that Swift and the former Victoria’s Secret supermodel had a falling out, and even though it’s been a long time since the two were photographed together, Kloss shut down theories of a feud back in 2018.

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In an interview with The New York Times, the model briefly cleared the air on the Internet gossip, noting that they’re still pals and talk often. “Don’t believe everything you read,” she said.

Following the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in 2023, Swift addressed an often intrusive subject of the Swiftie fandom that speculated on Swift’s sexuality for years and maintained that Swift and Kloss were in a secret romantic relationship that dates back to 2014.

“If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would,” Swift wrote in the album’s prologue. “Maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult).”

‘Cher: The Memoir’ Will Be a Two-Parter, With First Volume Due Out This Year

Cher‘s life has been so epic that one volume won’t suffice. The singer posted the cover of her upcoming two-part memoir on her Instagram on Wednesday (July 24), revealing a throwback pic from early in her six-decade career and her name splayed in color-shifting font just above.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Cher: The Memoir, Part One, is due out on November 19 through Dey Street Books, an imprint of the William Morrow Group at Harper Collins. “After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir,” the publisher wrote in a statement about the book that will chronicle the 78-year-old singer’s childhood and tumultuous marriage to late partner Sonny Bono. “With her trademark honesty and humor, Cher: The Memoir traces how this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century.”

The second part of the anticipated autobiography is slated for release in 2025.

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The singer cemented her pop icon credentials further in December when she earned a No. 1 hit on the Billboard songs chart with “DJ Play a Christmas Song,” tying her with the Rolling Stones as the only acts to have at least one new No. 1 on a Billboard songs chart in each of seven decades from the 1960s through the 2020s.

The road to the memoir has been a long one, with the Cher tweeting in 2018 that the first part of the book would drop in 2020, while also hyping a biopic whose details have not yet been confirmed; in 1998, Cher released a memoir entitled The First Time, a collection of essays that recounted a number of the major first-time events in her life.

Then, on the Tonight Show in November, Cher told Jimmy Fallon that she wasn’t quite ready to share her full story with her fans, saying she didn’t have a title for the book at the time. “I just totally chickened out. I didn’t put in some things that need to be in, and they’re not comfortable,” she told Fallon. “But they need to be put in, so I have to go back and man up… I’ve lived too long and done too much, and so it’s like it should be the encyclopedia.”

The Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning singer/actress who rose to fame in the 1960s as part of the duo Sonny & Cher with Bono is best known for their signature duet “I Got You Babe,” as well as solo hits “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,” “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “Believe,” and acting in films such as Silkwood, Mask, Moonstruck and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

Check out the cover of Cher: The Memoir, Part One below.

Miley Cyrus’ ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ Music Video Surpasses 1 Billion Views on YouTube

Put your hands up, they’re playing her song — a billion times and counting. Miley Cyrus‘ smash “Party in the U.S.A.” has surpassed the nine-zeros mark on YouTube, marking her second music video to reach the milestone.

Uploaded in September 2009, the Chris Applebaum-directed video finds the then-16-year-old pop star, well, partying in the U.S.A. Joined by a litany of backup dancers, Cyrus sports cowboy boots, and belts out her famous tune in a crowded drive-in movie lot, in front of a huge American flag banner and on a swing set structure, all of it culminating in one final patriotic concert at the end.

“So I put my hands up/ They’re playin’ my song, the butterflies fly away,” she sings on the Dr. Luke-produced banger. “I’m noddin’ my head like, yeah/ Movin’ my hips like, yeah.”

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Released as the lead single of Cyrus’ 2009 EP The Time of our Lives, “Party in the U.S.A.” remains one of the Grammy winner’s biggest hits to date, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It marked the beginning of the star’s transition away from the family-friendly persona she cultivated on Hannah Montana — a pivot she would later cement with 2010’s Can’t Be Tamed and 2013’s Bangerz — and goes down in pop-culture fame as the song Cyrus sang during her controversial “pole dance” performance at the ’09 VMAs.

Speaking of Bangerz, Cyrus’ only other visual to reach a billion views so far is 2013’s “Wrecking Ball.”

Add your view to more than a billion others by watching Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” above.

Paramore’s Hayley Williams Thinks It’s ‘So Lame’ That Music Fans Are Caught Up in ‘Stan-War’ Drama

If you’re on the couch with your popcorn just aching for some more drama between pop singers, do not invite Paramore singer Hayley Williams to your party, because she’s not interested. In an Instagram Story recorded after a show in Hamburg on Tuesday (July 23), Williams hopped on camera to give her no-holds-barred take on the attempts by some to pit female pop stars against each other.

Sliding off screen to change, Williams gave a two-minute treatise on why she hates the internet, but also on the irrational focus on competition between artists. “Something I’ve been thinking about a lot, and why I don’t really love it [the internet]… Especially in the music world, like when it comes, to like, music, whether it’s the pop girls or any scene, really. People only give a f–k about numbers now, and stats. And that is so lame. It’s very fun, don’t get me wrong. It’s sick. We’ve had a #1 album and top this and that albums, yes. That s–t is great…,” she said.

After a quick change into sweatshirt, Williams continued, “But I just remember a time when that was not so important, and that also wasn’t like a gotcha for a stan-war type of situation. Anyway, I just think it’s really f–king annoying… My side of the internet, which is basically not really the internet. Where I just get to support all the pop girls. Maybe that’s privilege. because I’m not a pop girl, but I just think everyone should cool it and let people make really great music and s–t… I’m over it.”

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With just the top of her head visible as she hung upside down in the frame to give a view up her nostrils, Williams concluded that she is, “over it.” (Watch the whole video here.) As noted by Stereogum, the Story has since disappeared, but a residual tile remains on which Williams added, “witnessing stan wars makes me so happy pmore is not really in the pop world. i just get to enjoy the good s–t thats come out this year and im sorry some of yall cant thats gotta be tough damn.”

Paramore’s great summer adventure opening for Taylor Swift rolls on tonight (July 24) with the final show in Hamburg, Germany, before the outing moves on to Munich’s Olympiastadion for gigs on Saturday(July 27) and Sunday (July 28). The group will stay touring with Swift through a fifth and final gig at Wembley Stadium in London on August 20.

Sabrina Carpenter Praises Halle Bailey’s ‘Perfect’ Cover of ‘Please Please Please’

Sabrina Carpenter couldn’t contain her excitement over Halle Bailey’s recent cover of her mega-hit “Please Please Please.”

In the 45-second clip posted on July 24, Halle is seen effortlessly belting the chorus while playing the guitar, adding her own vocal runs to some of the lyrics. “woke up with this song in my headdd i love itt,” she captioned the post.

Sabrina was quick to repost the video on her Instagram Story, writing, “Heart eyes and heart ears !!!” On the post, Carpenter commented, “heavenly perfect angel.”

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Halle’s unique spin on the track, which is set to feature on Carpenter’s upcoming album Short n’ Sweet, also received praise from artists like Perrie Edwards, GloRilla, Kehlani, as well as her sister Chlöe.

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“Angelic!!!! My angel,” wrote her sister Chlöe. “Wow,” wrote singer Perrie Edwards. “My goodness,” commented Kehlani. “Yessss,” added GloRilla.

Sabrina Carpenter celebrated her first No. 1 on the Hot 100 with “Please Please Please,” which topped the chart on June 29.

The pop star took to Instagram to share the news, posting a three-item carousel featuring the Hot 100 graphic, and a video of her performing the song’s signature claps with co-writer and producer Jack Antonoff, co-writer Amy Allen, and engineer Laura Sisk.

“MY FIRST #1 on the @billboard HOT 100!!!!!!!” reads Carpenter’s caption. “And espresso at #4.. I’m very immensely grateful so i will surely always remember this day for the rest of my life! @jackantonoff @amyallen i deeply love this song and i love you both!!!!! I love our pitchy claps!!!!! I love @sharp_stick [Sisk] !!!! good things come in three’s. thank you everyone who’s listened and made it so much fun to have these songs out in the world. more to come soon.”

Currently, Sabrina Carpenter boasts the top song in the world, as “Espresso” rebounds for a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and brews up an eighth week atop the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey.

Notably, “Espresso” ties for the longest command on Global Excl. U.S. this year, matching the No. 1 run of Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things.”

Halle Bailey Delivers Angelic Rendition of Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Please Please Please’ on Guitar

It’s no secret that Halle Bailey can sing anything flawlessly, and she proved it once again when she took to social media to put her spin on Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please.”

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In the 45-second clip, the 24-year-old star is seen effortlessly belting the chorus while playing the guitar, adding her own vocal runs to some of the lyrics. “woke up with this song in my headdd i love itt,” she captioned the post.

Carpenter scored her first Hot 100 chart topping song with “Please Please Please,” which made its way to the top of the tally on the chart dated June 29, 2024. The pop star celebrated the news of the accomplishment on Instagram, posting a three-item carousel to her feed. The first photo is the graphic of the Hot 100, followed by a video of Carpenter performing the signature claps in “Please Please Please” with co-writer/producer Jack Antonoff and co-writer Amy Allen, plus engineer Laura Sisk off camera.

“MY FIRST #1 on the @billboard HOT 100!!!!!!!” reads Carpenter’s caption. “And espresso at #4.. I’m very immensely grateful so i will surely always remember this day for the rest of my life! @jackantonoff @amyallen i deeply love this song and i love you both!!!!! I love our pitchy claps!!!!! I love @sharp_stick [Sisk] !!!! good things come in three’s. thank you everyone who’s listened and made it so much fun to have these songs out in the world. more to come soon.”

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Bailey, meanwhile, has also had an exciting year. In January, she announced the birth of her first child, a son named Halo whom she shares with rapper DDG. She shared a photo of his tiny hand on Instagram, writing, “Even though we’re a few days into the new year, the greatest thing that 2023 could have done for me, was bring me my son.”

Jimin’s ‘Muse’: Every Song Ranked

The BTS star’s sophomore solo release explores romance in all its facets while pushing the singer’s musical, creative and vocal limits.

After BTS committed to releasing solo projects in the group’s “Chapter Two,” Jimin set the bar for creative ingenuity and commercial success with his Face EP from last spring. The brilliantly unconventional dark-pop lead single “Like Crazy” marked the first time a K-pop soloist hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the 164,000 equivalent album units Face sold in its first week, resulting in a No. 2 debut on the Billboard 200, created another set of new records for Korean artists.

Despite serving his mandatory Korean military service obligations at the moment, Jimin is still showing his willingness to expand and push himself with what he prepared with the release of his second solo record. A sharp contrast to the dark themes of his solo debut, Muse explores Jimin’s journey to find true inspiration to deliver an exploration of love through seven tracks.

Incorporating everything from R&B grooves and light hip-hop to Latin and Afrobeat flair, Muse flexes Jimin’s versatility as a genre-less artist. Meanwhile, the songwriting within the record feels intimate and introspective. With Jimin co-writing on six of the EP’s seven tracks, the opening song, “Rebirth (Intro),” sets the multifaceted theme of romance in searching for a lover as part of one’s self-improvement while the focus track “Who” explores the longing and confusion in love via Jimin’s first solo English single.

With “Who” and “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” being Muse’s singles, all of the EP’s full tracks could fulfill that duty for their ability to successfully represent new sides of Jimin. Here’s our ranking of the songs on the BTS vocalist’s latest solo album, Muse.