Pop
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Stars, they’re just like us! As the world continues its love affair with Beyoncé‘s record-breaking Cowboy Carter album, Emmy winner Sarah Paulson is still stuck on the “II Most Wanted,” the LP’s rousing Miley Cyrus-assisted ballad.
“Can’t stop listening to this,” Paulson wrote in an Instagram Story Tuesday (April 9) featuring a screenshot of her playing “II Most Wanted” on Apple Music and tagging both Beyoncé’s and Cyrus’ Instagram accounts. “But does anyone know why it makes me cry?”
The new track is clearly in Paulson’s rotation as she makes her way through a characteristically busy year on screen and on the stage. As she completes her starring turn in the 2023-24 run of Appropriate on Broadway, Paulson also guest starred on Donald Glover‘s Mr. & Mrs. Smith re-imagining for Prime Video.
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A heartfelt ode to ride-or-die friendships, “II Most Wanted” is the 16th track on Cowboy Carter, marking the first collaboration between the two powerhouse vocalists. On the Billboard Hot 100 (chart dated April 13), “II Most Wanted” launched at No. 6, becoming the second of three top 10 hits from Cowboy Carter and the first all-female collaboration to reach the the Hot 100’s top 10 in 2024. In the same week, Cowboy Carter became Beyoncé’s record-extending eight consecutive studio album to debut atop the Billboard 200, with the biggest first-week units total of the year. All 23 of its chart-eligible tracks also made the Hot 100.
On Cowboy Carter release day, Cyrus celebrated the collaboration with a sweet Instagram message, writing, “I’ve loved Beyonce since long before I had the opportunity to meet & work with her. My admiration runs so much deeper now that I’ve created along side of her. Thank you Beyoncé. You’re everything & more. Love you. To everyone who spent time making this song so special thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
At the 2024 CMT Awards, Brandi Cyrus, Miley’s older sister, revealed that she found out about “II Most Wanted” right before the rest of the world. “Usually, I know about [Miley’s] projects a year or so in advance,” she said. “I found out like two months before, I was like, ‘Wait, say what? Why didn’t you tell me this at the Grammys, when we sat right next to [Beyoncé]?’ She kept it under wraps!”
Cyrus is one of a plethora of guest stars on Cowboy Carter — many of whom are now Hot 100 first-timers — including Tanner Adell, Willie Jones, Tiera Kennedy, Post Malone, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Reyna Roberts, Brittney Spencer and Shaboozey.
Click here to see Sarah Paulson’s Instagram story.
While Madonna‘s globe-spanning tour is meant to be a “Celebration,” the singer took a moment on Tuesday night (April 9) to have a serious conversation with her fans about one of the worst shootings in American history.
During her final show in Miami, Fla., Madonna delivered an emotional speech to her fans in honor of the victims of the 2016 shooting at Pulse nightclub, the second-deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. “I want to remind you that we have not all been so lucky,” Madonna said somberly to her audience, according to a fan-captured video. “I want to draw attention to that moment because nightclubs and music and dance are what bring us together. They shouldn’t be places or things that we do that bring us sadness and tragedy and murder and death and pain and suffering and trauma.”
Along with paying tribute to the 49 people killed in the attack, the legendary pop star also shared her support for the LGBTQ+ community, saying, “I will always stand for the gays, because the gays have always stood for me.”
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“That was the biggest terrorist attack in America after 9/11,” she said. “People getting together to dance in a club that was inclusive and full of love. It was Latin Night, people were dancing to Latin music, and some motherf–ker came in there with two guns and started shooting at people.”
Madonna went on to share that she invited survivors and their families, as well as the families of those who did not survive to attend her show that night, calling out a few of their names and thanking them for attending. In the middle of her speech, her voice began to crack with emotion. “I make dance music. My job is to bring people together, to make people dance, to make people happy, to not judge,” she said. “This s–t is not supposed to happen. Don’t forget about it.”
It’s far from the first time Madonna has honored victims and heroes during her Celebration Tour. When her trek stopped at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in January, the pop icon shared the stories of Ellen Matzer and Valery Hughes, two New York nurses who treated and advocated for AIDS/HIV patients at the height of the epidemic the 1980s.
Watch the fan-captured video of Madonna’s speech below:
Amy Winehouse is in her classic mode in a new video for her jazz-pop lament “Tears Dry On Their Own.” The track from the late singer’s breakthrough 2006 sophomore album, Back to Black, has gotten a refresh thanks to a new lyric video featuring previously unseen B-roll and footage from the recording of the original […]
Ryan Gosling is a Swiftie onscreen and off — and so is his Fall Guy costar Emily Blunt. In an interview with Fandango posted on YouTube Tuesday (April 9), the two actors revealed their favorite Taylor Swift songs while discussing their new film alongside director David Leitch and stunt doubles Ben Jenkins and Logan Holladay. […]
Kelly Clarkson got into her rock bag on Monday’s (April 8) episode of the Kelly Clarkson Show, taking the stage for her daily Kellyoke segment in a black leather skirt and vintage Billy Joel concert tee for a rousing run through Miley Cyrus‘ 2020 hit “Midnight Sun.” The smoldering lead single from Miley’s seventh studio […]
André 3000 will bring his big bag of flutes to the 2024 Newport Jazz Festival, which the former OutKast rapper will headline along with Nile Rodgers & Chic, Kamasi Washington, Elvis Costello, Brittany Howard and Robert Glasper. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news This year is the 70th […]
Olivia Rodrigo closed out her epic four-night stand at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night (April 10) by bringing out yet another surprise guest. The final show on the first North American run of Rodrigo’s GUTS tour found the singer sharing the stage with Jewel, who joined her for a run through the […]
Last week, pop star Conan Gray released his vibrant third album Found Heaven — and soon before, he stopped by Billboard News to discuss everything from falling in love for the first time to working with Max Martin to bring that feeling to life.
“It very much affected how I made the music,” says Gray, who also shares that “this whole album is highs and lows.”
He says he started the ideation process during his Superache Tour nearly two years ago. As he recalls, after each performance he would retreat to the basement “because there’s always a piano in the basement of these theaters I was playing… that’s when I would notice these different themes I was writing about.”
He later tapped the MXM songwriting and production crew of Max Martin, ILYA and Oscar Holter to help flesh those various themes out, saying they “really opened up my eyes and wings to all of the different sides of myself that I could try out. … They wanted to push me to do something that was the whole array of me.”
And while Found Heaven does boast power-pop hits like “Never Ending Song” and “Lonely Dancers,” the album also features more intimate songs like “Forever With Me,” album closer “Winner” and standout track “Alley Rose.” As Gray says, “When I first recorded [‘Alley Rose’], I recorded it in the same voice as the rest of the album, a bit more energetically. And then I was like, ‘Wait, I need to not do that. I need to sing it as calm and tender as possible — each song requires a different part of me. … I feel lucky that people give me the space to do both.”
Gray also opened up about the love that inspired much of this album — and the heartbreak he had to process soon after. As he tells it, after flying to London for their scheduled meet-up, he landed to a text ultimately ending the relationship. And yet, he wouldn’t change a thing about his experiences surrounding Found Heaven — and his necklace of a star cutout inside a teardrop is a reminder of exactly that.
“In all the things that make you cry, the happiest moments of your life and the saddest moments of your life, there is a magic in the fact that you even got to experience it at all,” says Gray. “I’ve spent so many years of my life hiding in my room and not doing anything and being so afraid of ever getting hurt or rejected or feeling bad, that I ended up living no life. I kept this on my neck the whole time I was making this album [as a reminder] that I have to live my life.”
To hear what else Gray said of his latest album, watch the full interview above.
Jessica Simpson enjoyed a relaxing beach vacation with her family in Los Cabos, Mexico, and the star took to Instagram on Monday (April 8) to share a photo dump from the trip. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “2024 Spring Breakin’ with the fam was EPIC! Thank […]
Billie Eilish is about to hit fans with her most sustainable release yet. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are joined by Billboard deputy editor Lyndsey Havens, who has interviewed Eilish twice ahead of the announcement of her third full-length studio album Hit Me Hard and Soft, out May 17. Both […]