Pop

20 Jun 2024

BLACKPINK’s ‘World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas’ Concert Film Coming to Screens Worldwide

A 92-minute concert film celebrating K-pop girl group BLACKPINK‘s eighth anniversary, BLACKPINK WORLD TOUR [BORN PINK] IN CINEMAS, is slated to hit screens worldwide on July 31. The movie from Trafalgar Releasing and CJ 4DPLEX will celebrate the highest-grossing tour from an Asian act and a female group in history in a variety of formats, including ScreenX, 4DX and ULTRA 4DX.

Tickets for the movie will go on sale beginning at 11 a.m. ET on June 27, with tickets going on sale in Korean beginning July 17. The movie directed by Yoondong Oh and Geun Min will chronicle the world tour that played to 1.8 million fans across the globe in support of BLACKPINK’s chart-topping 2022 sophomore album, BORN PINK. The film will premiere in more than 110 countries, which a release said will make it the largest-ever global cinema event release for a female group.

“We are delighted to collaborate once again with our longstanding partner, CJ 4DPlex, for the new BLACKPINK release,” said Trafalgar CEO Marc Allenby in a statement. “Since their debut, we have witnessed BLACKPINK’s exponential rise to become one of the biggest names in music with a massive global appeal. Cinemas are the perfect venue to harness the power of their dedicated fanbase, and we look forward to welcoming BLINKs from around the world to enjoy this unmissable theatrical event starting July 31.”

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The movie will feature the tour’s iconic “Hanok” set — which mimicked the look of a traditional Korean house — with a release noting, “mesmerized fans and press worldwide… [showcasing] an unprecedented production scale, presenting exclusive versions of BLACKPINK’s hit songs unique to this concert. It includes performances from Seoul’s Gocheok Dome alongside footage from cities across the global tour.” The Born Pink tour criss-crossed the globe from Oct. 2022 through Sept. 2023.

“I am delighted to announce the release of BLACKPINK’s world tour film in theaters globally,” said DJ 4DPLEX CCO Jun Bang in a statement. “ScreenX, 4DX, and ULTRA 4DX are the optimal formats to capture the essence and liveliness of a concert. We eagerly anticipate immersing audiences in the spectacular performances of BLACKPINK, showcasing their talent as world-class touring artists, across cinemas worldwide.”

Click here for additional details on buying tickets.

20 Jun 2024

BTS’ Jimin Reveals Tracklist for Seven-Song Solo Album ‘MUSE’

On Thursday (June 20) BTS‘ Jimin revealed the full track list for his upcoming second solo album, MUSE. The seven-song LP due out on July 19 will feature the intro song “Rebirth,” as well as “Interlude : Showtime,” the pre-release song “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” (featuring Loco), “Slow Dance” (featuring Sofia Carson), as well as “Be Mine,” “Who” and “Closer Than This” (which dropped in December.)

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Jimin, 28, helped write six of the song according to a release, which also noted that the announcement from BIGHIT Music featured a vintage feel via images of old-school cassette tapes representing each song, with an overarching theme of “love” connecting all the tracks.

The hip-hop/R&B-leaning focus song, “Who,” was produced by Grammy-nominated singer/producer Jon Bellion, along with Pete Nappi, Tenroc, Pdgogg and GHSTLOOP, with a vibe described as “intense bounce and guitar sound.” In addition, the pre-release song “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” draws inspiration from marching bands, “blending hip-hop elements with the big band sound characterized by a large-scale orchestra, creating an upbeat, lively rhythm and dynamic atmosphere thanks to an assist from South Korean rapper Loco.”

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Other contributors to the album include Tommy Brown (Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber), as well as producers Pdogg, GHSTLOOP and EVAN, who also worked on Jimin’s first solo album, 2023’s FACE, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. Jimin’s official solo debut came with the 2018 single “Promise.” Five years later, he became the first South Korean soloist to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Like Crazy,” followed by FACE‘s “Set Me Free, Pt. 2” reaching No. 30 on the chart.

Jimin is still in the midst of his 18-month mandatory South Korean military service, which he began in December; bandmate Jin recently became the first member of BTS to finish his service.

Check out the announcement below.

20 Jun 2024

Cyndi Lauper Perches in Top 10 of Billboard’s Soundtracks Chart With ‘Let the Canary Sing’

Cyndi Lauper spends a second week in the top 10 of Billboard’s Soundtracks chart (dated June 22) with the companion album to her new documentary, Let the Canary Sing, which premiered June 4 on Paramount+. The set, at No. 8 after a week after it debuted at No. 7, earned 5,000 equivalent album units in the United States June 7-13, according to Luminate.

The collection includes Lauper’s eight Billboard Hot 100 top 10s, achieved in 1984-89, including her breakthrough classic “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and the No. 1s “Time After Time” and “True Colors.” It also features such deep cuts as 1993’s acclaimed “Sally’s Pigeons,” which she wrote with Mary Chapin Carpenter.

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The set has brought Lauper to the top 10 of another Billboard tally. Here’s a look at her uncommon versatility, as reflected in the scope of top 10s – spanning over 40 years – that she’s notched on Billboard rankings.

Cyndi Lauper’s Top 10s on Billboard Charts:

  • Billboard 200: She’s So Unusual (No. 4, 1984), True Colors (No. 4, 1986)
  • Billboard Hot 100: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (No. 2, 1984), “Time After Time” (No. 1, two weeks, 1984), “She Bop” (No. 3), “All Through the Night” (No. 5), “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough” (No. 10, 1985), “True Colors” (No. 1, two weeks, 1986), “Change of Heart” (No. 3, 1987), “I Drove All Night” (No. 6, 1989)
  • Blues Albums: Memphis Blues (No. 1, 13 weeks, 2010)
  • Top Country Albums: Detour (No. 4, 2016)
  • Independent Albums: Memphis Blues (No. 2, 2010)
  • Indie Store Album Sales: Detour (No. 4, 2016)
  • Internet Albums: Memphis Blues (No. 10, 2010)
  • Soundtracks: Let the Canary Sing (No. 7, 2024)
  • Adult Contemporary: “Time After Time” (No. 1, three weeks, 1984), “All Through the Night” (No. 4), “True Colors” (No. 5, 1986)
  • Blues Digital Song Sales: “Crossroads,” feat. Jonny Lang (No. 1, one week, 2010)
  • Dance Club Songs: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (No. 1, one week, 1984), “She Bop” (No. 10), “Change of Heart” (No. 4, 1987), “Disco Inferno” (No. 8, 1999), “Walk On By” (No. 10, 2004), “Same Ol’ Story” (No. 1, one week, 2008), “Into the Nightlife” (No. 1, one week, 2008), “Sex Is in the Heel” (No. 6, 2012), “Time After Time (2014)” (No. 2, 2014)
  • Dance/Mix Show Airplay: “Into the Nightlife” (No. 5, 2008)
  • Mainstream Rock Airplay: “Time After Time” (No. 10, 1984)
  • Music Video Sales: To Memphis With Love (No. 9, 2011)

Lauper is set to kick off her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour Oct. 18 in Montreal. “I’d like to say ‘thank you’ and come up with things that people are gonna have fun and laugh with,” she recently told Variety. “Laughter is so important, and having a good time is important, because life gets hard, very hard, for people. So I want them [to] celebrate them, you know? Because we always used to have a good time together.”

Additional reporting by Keith Caulfield

20 Jun 2024

Bowen Yang Says Chappell Roan Was Scouted as a Potential Musical Guest By ‘SNL’s Talent Team

Between climbing the charts and making headlines for her festival performances, rising pop star Chappell Roan is having a moment — and one cast member at Saturday Night Live would like to be a part of that narrative.

In the latest episode of Las Culturistas, his podcast with Matt Rogers, Bowen Yang revealed that he attended a pair of the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer’s concerts with the show’s talent team to try and persuade them that she might make a good musical guest.

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“I went to both of her Brooklyn Steel nights,” Yang said, referring to Roan’s pair of shows at the Brooklyn venue in October 2023. “I went to see her two nights in a row, the first night was the only time I’ve skipped a Tuesday writing night … because the talent people at SNL were like, ‘We’re gonna see Chappell, do you wanna come with?’”

Yang said that while he wasn’t “pressing my thumb on the scale” when it came to the issue, he did offer his input on the singer as a potential SNL guest. “I did wanna be there to talk to them about, like, ‘What would booking her be like?’” he said. “It was just me being like, ‘You guys should experience her.’ So I went with them, and during ‘Casual,’ this person on the talent team — Grace Shaker, love you — turns to me and goes, ‘She’s special.’”

Billboard has reached out to representatives for SNL and Roan for comment.

Over the last two months, Roan’s star has risen quickly. Her breakout single “Good Luck, Babe!” recently broke into the Billboard Hot 100′s top 40, and is currently sitting at No. 21 on the chart dated June 22. Meanwhile, nine months after its release, her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess ascended to No. 10 on the Billboard 200 on the chart dated June 22.

During a recent concert appearance in Raleigh, N.C., Roan commented on her sudden rise, saying she was feeling a bit overwhelmed: “I think my career is just kind of going really fast and it’s really hard to keep up.”

Listen to Yang talk about Roan on the latest episode of Las Culturistas below

20 Jun 2024

Sabrina Carpenter Announces Dates for 2024 Short N’ Sweet North American Arena Tour

Sabrina Carpenter announced the dates for her upcoming fall 2024 North American headlining arena tour on Thursday (June 20), with the Short n’ Sweet outing slated to kick off on Sept. 23 in Columbus, Ohio. The 29-date tour will travel across the U.S. and Canada from September through mid-November, with stops in Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, Vancouver, Seattle, San Diego and Phoenix before winding down on Nov. 15 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

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Support acts on the tour include Amaarae, Griff and Declan McKenna, with the singer partnering with PLUS1 to launch the Sabrina Carpenter Fund to support the well-being of people and animals to provide support for mental health, animal welfare and the LGBTQ+ community on the swing.

Presales for the tour will kick off on Monday (June 24) with the Cash App presale at 10 a.m. local time followed by the Team Sabrina presale on Tuesday (June 25) at 10 a.m. local time. The general onsale will launch on June 28 at 10 a.m. local time. The singer has also teamed up with Spotify to create the first-ever Top Listener Fan Pit at all the shows, as well as the official Sabrina On Tour playlist curated by the singer, featuring her ow songs, as well as influential tracks by Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Shania Twain, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Jungle and more.

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The Spotify Fans First Front Row presale — with tix for the Listener Pit on the floor — will launch on June 26 at 1 p.m. ET, with a very limited quantity of presale tickets available for the singer’s biggest listeners. The same day at 2 p.m. E.T. access to the Spotify Fans First Presale will give a wider range of top listeners access to presale tickets throughout the venue.

“My fans are the best, and I’m excited to share Spotify’s exclusive ticket access with them as a thank you,” Carpenter said in a statement. “For the first time, Spotify created a Top Listener Fan Pit at the front of every North American show, and we’re offering tickets to my top listeners. You’ve all been there for every step of my journey, and I can’t wait to celebrate with you on tour.”

The tour will support Carpenter’s upcoming sixth full-length studio album, Short n’ Sweet, which is due out on August 23. To date, Carpenter has released two singles from the collection, the No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Please Please Please” and her No. 3 Hot 100 hit “Espresso.” Carpenter will kick off her road trip on August 10 when she headlines San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival for the first time on a bill that also includes main stage headliners The Killers and Sturgill Simpson; Carpenter replaces Tyler, the Creator, who announced on Thursday that he was dropping off the bill.

Check out the Sabrina Carpenter Short n’ Sweet 2024 North American tour dates below:

Sabrina Carpenter, THE SHORT N’ SWEET TOUR

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20 Jun 2024

The Weeknd, Madonna & Playboi Carti’s ‘Popular’ Is Certified Platinum

The Weeknd, Madonna and Playboi Carti‘s “Popular” just got a whole lot more popular: The song has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

According to the RIAA, platinum certification for a song recognizes 1 million units certified in the U.S. for a song, and one unit equals either one permanent download sold, or 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams. This marks The Weeknd’s 42nd platinum hit, Madonna’s seventh and Carti’s fourth.

“Popular” was released a little over one year ago on June 2, 2023 via XO and Republic Records as the second single from the scrapped soundtrack album The Idol, Vol. 1 from The Weeknd’s HBO drama series The Idol. The official “Popular” music video exclusively debuted in February during Fortnite Festival, during The Weeknd’s takeover of the event’s Season 1.

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The song peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 14 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. With “Popular,” Madonna joined the elite company of artists who have earned Hot 100-charting hits in five distinct decades. The song also represents the first Madonna song to be certified platinum since August 18, 2008 with “Hung Up”; her most recently released song to reach platinum status was the Justin Timberlake collab “4 Minutes,” which was released in 2008 and certified platinum in June of that year. Also this week, Madonna’s 1986 “Papa Don’t Preach” single was certified platinum.

“We had a different version of this song prior, so I’ve had these vocals for a while and I’ve kind of worked around it and then kind of kept it in the tuck. But now, it was time. And it felt right,” the “Blinding Lights” hitmaker (real name Abel Tesfaye) told Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe in an interview last June. “[Madonna is] the ultimate co-sign for this song, for this album, and for this TV show.” With “Popular” — as well as new diamond certifications for his singles “Save Your Tears” and “Die For You” — Tesfaye becomes the first Canadian artist to notch seven RIAA diamond certifications and the third overall to score that many, joining Rihanna and Drake, with Post Malone alone at the top with nine diamond records.

Tesfaye also received platinum certifications for his 2023 The Idol hit “One of the Girls” with BLACKPINK’s Jennie and Lily-Rose Depp; the honor also makes Jennie the first female K-pop solo artist to earn a platinum single from the RIAA and marks Depp’s first platinum certification.

20 Jun 2024

Swifties Can Collect Digital Friendship Beads in New Taylor Swift TikTok Eras Tour Interactive Experience

As if your feed wasn’t already filled with enough Taylor Swift Eras Tour content, TikTok has launched a new in-app experience featuring a series of challenges for Swifties over the next 11 weeks. That, of course, is the number of studio albums Swift has released, with each LP getting its own themed profile frames and beads that will allow fans to make their own digital keepsakes.

The #TSTheErasTour experience will give fans the chance to complete new album-themed tasks each week in which they will earn themed-profile frames and digital beads that will add up to their own bespoke in-app friendship bracelets. Swifties who complete all 11 weeks of tasks will get a final Swiftie profile frame as a gift.

The experience will also feature video highlights from each tour stop during the 11 week run and a playlist tied to each week’s album theme, according to a release announcing the project. Swifties can access the Eras Tour experience by clicking on the anchor symbol on Swift content on TikTok or by interacting with the search banners when looking for Eras Tour-related terms.

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The effort is the follow-up to another Swift initiative TikTok launched in April in connection with the singer’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, which allowed fans to celebrate the LP together; according to TikTok, to date there are more than 3.2 million creator videos using the Tortured Poets hashtag.

In the meantime, Swift continues to pack houses across Europe on the Eras Tour, including during a gig in Cardiff, Wales on Tuesday (June 18), during which the singer performed the live debut of the Anthology edition of the Tortured Poets song “I Hate It Here,” which was paired with the Folklore track “The Lakes” during a mash-up in the acoustic section of the show.

20 Jun 2024

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Will Melt Your Heart With His Acoustic Taylor Swift ‘Lover’ Cover in Honor of Wife’s Birthday

Joseph Gordon-Levitt knows that sometimes a card just won’t do. Which is why the Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F star and music lover took a moment during his visit to The Tonight Show on Wednesday night (June 19) to pull out an acoustic guitar and offer his absent wife a very special tribute.

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“Today is actually my wife’s birthday,” the actor told Jimmy Fallon. “I’m so sad because she’s not here in New York with me. I’m here working and she’s back home. I feel so terrible. I texted Jimmy and I said, ‘Can I give her a special birthday present on the show?’” The host then obliged by pulling an instrument out from behind his desk.

“We’re here to make dreams come true,” Fallon said in granting Levitt’s wish to give a musical shout-out to wife Tasha McCauley. “This is a song by a singer-songwriter she really, really loves that you all might know,” Gordon-Levitt said, before adding, “Babe, you’re the most luminous soul I’ve ever met. I’m so grateful you were born and I’m coming home soon. Love you.”

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Levitt then performed a sweet unplugged cover of Taylor Swift‘s “Lover,” with Fallon joining in on the chorus and drumming on his desk as JGL strummed his heart out with a giant smile on his face. Gordon-Levitt and McCauley were married in December 2014 and have two sons.

Gordon-Levitt, 43, of course, also talked about what a joy it is to appear in the new reboot of one of his most beloved childhood franchises, telling Fallon he has long made playlists for each of his movie characters to get into their headspace. For his latest, though, the only song on that list was, of course, Harold Faltermeyer’s iconic 1984 instrumental theme, “Axel F,” which the Roots played as Gordon-Levitt’s entrance music and reprised later in the interview as the star jumped up to dance to the synth classic.

Watch Gordon-Levitt on the Tonight Show below.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=c8YPq9qh-_0&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

19 Jun 2024

Lana Del Rey & Quavo Preview New Song ‘Tough’: Listen

Is Lana Del Rey and Quavo‘s “Tough” almost here? The pair unexpectedly teased the new track Wednesday night (June 19), leaving fans of both artists shaking in the comments on Instagram.

Quavo unveiled a clip of “Tough” that will be, well, tough to get out of your head once you’ve hit play. He tagged Lana on the post.

Together, they sing: “Tough like the scarf on a pair of old leather boots/ Like the blue-collar, red-dirt attitude/ Like a .38 made out of brass/ Tough like the stuff in my grandpa’s glass/ Life’s gonna do what it does/ Sure as the good lord’s up above/ Cut like a diamond shining in the rough, tough.”

A release date for “Tough” has not been announced. Billboard reached out to reps for comment.

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Though details at press time are scarce, fans appreciated the new song sneak Tuesday night.

“The way you can seamlessly mix genres and not make it seem like a gimmick is TALENT!! This sounds so goodddddddddddd,” one follower praised, while another complimented, “No, like this sounds insane.” Someone compared it to the kind of top-tier pairing you get “when the teacher picks for the group project.”

“oh my lust for life roots are SHAKING,” a Lana fan wrote, referencing the singer-songwriter’s 2017 album that had features with A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti, among others.

Quavo uploaded a brief bit of “Tough” on Instagram last month, but Lana’s vocal hook on the track hadn’t been shared until now. In that first clip of the song, posted on May 9, the Migos star talks over a Western-guitar-and-trap-beat outro, with Lana in the background. He tells her, “I’ll show you around … Come take a ride with me. Whenever. Whenever you ready, call on me.”

“If u come from where u come then u were born….Tough!” he captioned the post, which pictured a Polaroid of the two hanging out on the front porch of a house.

Lana — who’s recently spoken of an upcoming country album, Lasso, the follow-up to 2023’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 — is scheduled to perform at Boston’s Fenway Park on Thursday (June 20). She’s been on the spring/summer festival circuit, having played this year’s Coachella, Hangout, I-Days and Primavera Sound, with Reading, Leeds and Rock en Seine to come; the one-night-only, sold-out show at Fenway will mark her first U.S. stadium headlining concert.

Listen to Lana Del Rey and Quavo’s latest preview of “Tough” below.

19 Jun 2024

Taylor Swift Plays ‘I Hate It Here’ Live for the First Time, Paired With ‘The Lakes’

The Tortured Poets Department met Folklore, on which Taylor Swift sings wistfully of “the lakes, where all the poets went to die,” at the star’s Eras Tour stop in Cardiff, Wales, Tuesday night (June 18).

Swift’s surprise song set, the acoustic section of the show, at Principality Stadium featured the live debut of The Anthology edition of Tortured Poets‘ “I Hate It Here” paired in a melancholy piano mashup with Folklore bonus track “The Lakes.”

At her piano Tuesday night, Swift checked to make sure her mic was working and then playfully commented, “This is a song I’ve never played live before. Wish me luck!”

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“Quick, quick, tell me something awful/ Like you are a poet trapped inside the body of a finance guy,” she sang. “Tell me all your secrets, all you’ll ever be is/ My eternal consolation prize/ You see, I was a debutante in another life, but/ Now I seem to be scared to go outside/ If comfort is a construct, I don’t believe in good luck/ Now that I know what’s what.”

The “I Hate It Here” chorus followed: “I hate it here so I will go to secret gardens in my mind/ People need a key to get to, the only one is mine/ I read about it in a book when I was a precocious child/ No mid-sized city hopes and small-town fears/ I’m there most of the year ’cause I hate it here/ I hate it here.”

Instead of singing the song’s second verse, though, she switched over to “The Lakes”: “Is it romantic how all my elegies eulogize me?/ I’m not cut out for all these cynical clones/ These hunters with cell phones/ Take me to the lakes, where all the poets went to die/ I don’t belong, and my beloved, neither do you/ Those Windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry/ I’m setting off, but not without my muse.”

Later in the performance, she again pleaded, “I hate it here, so take me to the lakes/ Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die/ I don’t belong, and my beloved, neither do you.”

Like she’s done several times on the European leg of the tour, with general admission standing room only on the floor, Swift paused mid-performance to flag security for a fan in the crowd who needed help.

“I’m not gonna sing until they get help,” she said, “but you guys are so awesome and so on top of it.”

Before her piano number, Swift played an acoustic mashup of Lover‘s “I Forgot That You Existed” with Reputation‘s “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” complete with audience-amplified laughter as she tried to sing, “And here’s to you, ’cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do” and topped it off with “I can’t even say it with a straight face.” (Fans pointed out the timing of Swift’s song choice falling on June 18, which happens to be Scooter Braun’s birthday.)

Watch Swift’s Cardiff acoustic set below. The clip to the left includes “I Forgot That You Existed” with “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” while the video on the right has “I Hate It Here” with “The Lakes.”