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Billie Eilish leaves it all on the stage during her concerts. But unlike some of her peers — or even such elder statesman as Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney — the “Lunch” singer has no interest in pushing her concerts into the three-hour zone. At a time when Taylor Swift is regularly pushing past the […]
Taylor Swift is adding extra support acts for her upcoming Eras Tour dates in London.
The pop superstar will be performing a total of eight shows at Wembley Stadium this summer as part of her blockbuster world tour. The first three concerts take place from June 21-23 and the remaining five are scheduled for Aug. 15-17 and Aug. 19-20.
On Sunday (May 27), Swift announced that three additional artists will be opening for her alongside Paramore on the June dates. Joining the lineup are Mette (June 21), Griff (June 22) and Benson Boone (June 23).
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“I just found out Fortnight is #1 on the UK airplay chart!!!! You guys are amazing and I can’t wait to see you so soon! Thought this might be a fun time to announce the first group of opening acts I’ll be adding to the London shows, going on before Paramore,” Swift wrote in her Instagram Story. “I chose artists whose music I love listening to, and I can’t wait for them to add an extra jolt of excitement to our shows at Wembley Stadium in June.”
The “Cruel Summer” singer added, “Mette, Griff, and Benson Boone, welcome to The Eras Tour!!”
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The three artists excitedly responded to the news on their respective social media accounts.
“TAYLOR SWIFT HAS INVITED ME ON THE ERAS TOUR!!!!!! 8 yr old me who had fearless on repeat wouldn’t believe this,” Griff wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “So unbelievably grateful to Taylor for all the love she’s shown me and my music. See you at Wembley on June 22nd”.
Mette added on X, “It’s a new ERA for ya girl… Opening the ‘Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour’ on June 21st at Wembley Stadium in London. Thank you @taylorswift13 – Never been so excited in my entire life!!! #TSTheErasTour.”
Boone reposted Swift’s announcement on his Instagram Story, writing, “@taylorswift so excited to be a part of the show thank you for having me,” alongside a face with tears and red heart emojis.
Swift is currently in the middle of the European leg of her global Eras Tour, on which she recently premiered the brand-new Tortured Poets miniset at her Paris shows. In addition to “Fortnight,” the updated setlist features “Down Bad,” “So High School,” “But Daddy I Love Him,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” and “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”
The 14-time Grammy winner wrapped shows in Lisbon over the weekend and will spend the rest of the summer traveling through Europe before returning to the U.S. and Canada for a second North American leg this fall.
With more than 24 million users globally, the digital note-taking app Goodnotes is expanding into an even wider reach with a new collection themed around BTS. Billboard can exclusively reveal the news and give a first look at the collection.
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In collaboration with BTS’ management company HYBE and Goodnotes’ digital-stationery partner Webudding, the line will debut four digital planners, three notebooks and one sticker pack boasting BTS’ signature logo and fonts, and heavily incorporating their beloved animated TINYTan characters wearing looks inspired by the K-pop group’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single “Dynamite” to mark the first-ever global branded collection for Goodnotes. A press release notes that additional collections are expected to be released throughout the year, giving fans time to predict what other iconic BTS singles or looks might be featured next.
This new collab developed through Goodnotes’ strategic partnership with Webudding that took hold in February 2023, included a $1.9 million investment last September, and has since integrated more than 18,000 different digital stationery items into the Goodnotes Marketplace in the companies’ ongoing effort to develop a global digital-paper ecosystem. Since launching in 2011, the AI-powered Goodnotes has been a technology trailblazer, becoming South Korea’s largest digital stationery platform offering journaling, planning and scheduling in its app as well as different calendar templates, digital planners, stickers and notebook covers to blend the worlds of traditional and digital paper.
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“We’re beyond thrilled to bring BTS-themed stationery to the millions of BTS fans among our Goodnotes community,” says Steven Chan, founder and CEO of Goodnotes, in a statement. “We are deeply grateful to HYBE and Webudding for their partnership in creating this extraordinary and exclusive line of BTS digital stationery for the Goodnotes Marketplace. We can’t wait to bring even more beloved cultural icons to the Goodnotes Marketplace, further empowering our users to express their passion and creativity.”
Donghwan Shin, the CEO and founder of Webudding, hints that more artist collaborations could soon follow this initial partnership with BTS and HYBE, who also house popular artists like SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans and ZICO in its multi-label system.
“We’re excited to collaborate with HYBE, especially given their artists’ enormous cultural impact, both in Korea and internationally,” Shin adds. “Celebrating their universal appeal and ability to unite people across the globe, we’re grateful to be able to create this content for Goodnotes’ more than 24 million users worldwide, bringing so many people the ability to customize their notebooks with their favorite artists. Users can expect many more collaborations like this in the future.”
The BTS-themed digital stationery collection will be available in the Goodnotes Marketplace by the end of May 2024. Goodnotes’ Chan adds that the company “can’t wait to bring even more beloved cultural icons to the Goodnotes Marketplace, further empowering our users to express their passion and creativity.”
Peep some of our favorite items below and find more here.
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RM‘s “Right Place, Wrong Person” has topped this week’s new music poll that features artists in various genres of music.
Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (May 24) on Billboard, choosing the BTS singer’s second solo album as their favorite new music release of the past week.
RM’s latest release brought in 86% of the vote on the poll, securing a notable edge ahead of new releases from Twenty One Pilots (Clancy), PinkPantheress (“Turn It Up”), Clairo (“Sexy to Someone”), Zach Bryan (“Pink Skies”), and others.
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The K-pop star’s Right Place, Wrong Person, arrived on Friday, bringing with it 11 new tracks for fans to enjoy amid BTS’ military obligations.
Led by the single “Come Back to Me,” Right Place, Wrong Person also features the alternative-based songs “Nuts,” “Groin,” “Heaven,” “LOST!” and more. Overall, the album reflects a “raw and honest presentation of RM’s distinctive sensibility, aesthetics, and beliefs,” per a BigHit news release, and follows the South Korean artist’s 2022 debut album, Indigo, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
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RM and his BTS bandmates Jin, SUGA, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook are currently serving in the South Korean military, which mandates an 18-month military enlistment for all able-bodied men by the time they turn 28. A few of the members have pursued various solo projects amid their service, and the full group is planning to reconvene for band activities in 2025.
Trailing behind Right Place, Wrong Person on this week’s poll is Twenty One Pilots’ seventh album, Clancy, with nearly 10% of the vote. The set follows 2021’s Scaled and Icy — which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 — and concludes the duo’s long-running album saga that started with 2015’s Blurryface and 2018’s Trench.
See the final results of this week’s poll below. Check out Billboard‘s Friday Music Guide to catch up with more must-hear releases from this week.
Lizzo is sharing her thoughts on the new South Park episode.
On Friday (May 24), the long-running animated comedy series released its latest special, titled “The End of Obesity,” through Paramount+. The episode takes aim at the Ozempic craze and uses the pop-rap star singer as an alternative to the popular weight loss drug.
The special begins with South Park character Eric Cartman visiting his doctor’s office in an effort to get Ozempic as a way to drop some weight. Since he can’t afford the pricey drug and his insurance won’t cover it, the physician offers him another solution.
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“I’m going to write you a prescription for Lizzo,” the doctor says. “She’s a really good singer who talks about body positivity, and just being happy with the way you look. I want you to listen to Lizzo five times a day, and watch her videos just before bedtime. I’m afraid you’ll have to be on Lizzo for the rest of your life.”
Lizzo caught wind of the joke and reacted to it with a TikTok video of herself watching a portion of the South Park episode and giving her thoughts.
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“That’s crazy. I just feel like, damn, I’m really that b—-,” she says. “I really showed the world how to love yourself and not give a f— to the point where these men in Colorado know who the f— I am and put it on their cartoon that’s been around for 25 years.”
Earlier this month, Lizzo gave an update on her mental health amid lawsuits against her and frustration over public criticism toward.
“I’m the happiest I’ve been in 10 months,” she wrote on Instagram. “The strange thing about depression is you don’t know you’re in it until you’re out of it. I’m definitely not all the way as carefree as I used to be.. But the dark cloud that followed me every day is finally clearing up. My smile reaches my eyes again and that’s a win. I thought my album was finished.. but I gotta get some of these good vibes off in a banger real quick. Thanks for your patience.”
The “Good as Hell” singer has been under scrutiny over the past year, as she’s been involved in a harassment lawsuit brought by three of her former dancers in August 2023. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles by dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, accuses Lizzo and her Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc. of a wide range of legal wrongdoing and included dozens of pages of detailed allegations.
Lizzo denied the claims in a response shared to Twitter, calling them “false allegations” and “sensationalized stories.”
Watch Lizzo’s reaction to South Park on Instagram below.
“The Tortured Poets Department” (the song) got its live debut at Taylor Swift‘s concert Saturday night (May 25) in Lisbon, Portugal. The Tortured Poets Department album has already spent a month at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart since its release, but even with the recent addition of several of Swift’s new songs to […]
RM is fresh off the release of his brand new album, and the BTS superstar continued the celebration by dropping a new music video for the project’s track, “LOST!” In the Aube Perrie-directed clip, the musician tries to navigate himself as he’s trapped in maze-like building with various floors and rooms. Eventually, he finds an […]
Throughout May, SEVENTEEN released three new music videos — “Cheers to Youth,” “Spell” and “LALALI” — highlighting each of the K-pop boy band’s distinct units. If you’re new here: the three subsects of SEVENTEEN are the Vocal Unit, Performance Unit and Hip-Hop Unit. Making up the first are bandmates WOOZI, JOSHUA, DK, JEONGHAN and SEUNGKWAN, […]
Last week, New Kids on the Block made their long-awaited return with Still Kids, their first full-length album in 11 years — and a project on which the long-running pop quintet sounds reinvigorated. During a sit-down with Billboard News, Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood discussed how NKOTB’s first album in over a decade came together slowly but surely.
“Donnie kind of kicked it off,” McIntyre, who co-wrote roughly half of the songs on Still Kids, told Billboard, “and we’ve had success with singles, one-offs. The last song we had was [2022 single] ‘Bring Back the Time,’ great reaction there. And that sort of kicked off, ‘Maybe let’s do some more music.’ Donnie started writing, and Jordan started recording vocals. … It did take a lot! There was a lot of passion, and I heard a lot of passion. But there was a lot of give-and-take, and space to feel what this was gonna become when we all got involved.”
Instead of flying to one location and working on the album together, New Kids tinkered with Still Kids remotely — and instead of allowing that recording process to result in a disjointed project, the guys said that they pushed themselves to deliver their best material to the rest of the group.
“There’s a sense of not wanting to let each other down,” Wahlberg explained. “There’s an urgency that I think you can sometimes hear in the voices, of wanting to deliver the best of a performance. I think that’s present in this record, even in the writing.”
Next month, New Kids on the Block will kick off the Magic Summer 2024 tour, also featuring Paula Abdul and DJ Jazzy Jeff. The latter was featured on the Still Kids highlight “Get Down.”
Ahead of the tour kick-off on June 14, watch the group discuss their relationship with boy bands who have come before and after them, playing their enduring smashes on the road, the changing landscape of the music industry and, of course, their beloved Boston Celtics.
Nelly Furtado trekked from Canada to the Washington, D.C. NPR offices to make her long-overdue Tiny Desk concert debut. Furtado bundled her decorated two-decade long career into a soothing 11-track medley performance, which arrived on Friday (May 24) ahead of the holiday weekend. The set list ranged from her greatest hits like the Timbaland-produced “Promiscuous,” […]