Pop
Page: 269
After returning to the upper echelons of popular music in 2023, Kylie Minogue is ready to bask in her achievement as one of the most influential people in the world. On Wednesday (April 17), TIME announced its annual list of the 100 most influential people of the year. Along with music peers such as Dua […]
Much like the musician herself, the Taylor Swift academic canon is only continuing to expand. As announced Monday (April 15), American University will offer an economics course studying the pop star’s financial impact this fall, following in the footsteps of schools such as Harvard, Stanford and more.
Dubbed “Swiftonomics,” the course was proposed by econ students Megan Wysocki and Mackenzie Shultz, both of whom are proud fans of Swift. Department chair Kara Reynolds will oversee the class as scholars explore the “Anti-Hero” singer’s business footprint, earnings from her near billion-dollar Eras Tour, her impact on the Ticketmaster monopoly debate and more.
Interested students can sign up online, so long as they’ve completed a Principles of Microeconomics prerequisite.
Trending on Billboard
“Many other universities are creating Taylor Swift classes, but mostly in subjects such as sociology or literature,” Wysocki said in a statement. “I figured that this was a unique topic and an opportunity to capitalize on an academic trend. My hope was to get people more interested in an economics course by focusing on someone as popular as Taylor Swift.”
“I think as faculty we get tied up with the issues that we think are important and sometimes forget that these might not be the same issues that students really care about,” added Reynolds. “Economics impacts so much of society, and the competition was designed to help the department discover what students want to know about economics.”
As referenced by Wysocki, AU joins an ever-growing number of colleges who have introduced Swiftian studies into their curriculums in recent years. New York University, UT Austin, Arizona State, UC Berkeley and the University of Florida have all unveiled courses inspired by the 14-time Grammy winner, examining everything from her songwriting prowess to her impact on world culture.
Swift is currently nearing the end of a two-month break from touring as she gears up to release her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. A follow-up to her 2022 Billboard 200-topping record Midnights, the 16-track LP features collaborations with Post Malone and Florence + the Machine.
If you’ve ever heard even one note from Fantasia Barrino‘s mouth, you know that the American Idol season three winner and The Color Purple star is a force to be reckoned with. That explains why in her essay celebrating Fantasia for TIME magazine’s 2024 list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World Golden […]
Taylor Swift announced Tuesday night (April 16) that her new music video is set to drop shortly after her 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department arrives later this week — but she didn’t stop there. The pop star also posted a cryptic video on Instagram filled with what appears to be Easter eggs about her new era, leaving Swifties scrambling to decipher them in time.
The mysterious clip begins with an animated, first-person view of a room full of crumpled papers, colorful vinyls, photos and more items alluding to Swift’s most recent album, Midnights. It then simulates the viewer exiting the room, walking down a stark hallway and entering another wing labeled “The Tortured Poets Department,” in which a wall-hanging calendar reveals that the singer’s new visual will drop at 8 p.m. ET Friday (April 19), 20 hours after Tortured Poets arrives on streaming services.
The calendar doesn’t specify which of the 16 songs on Swift’s new record is getting the music video treatment, but it does provide a possible clue. Toward the bottom, someone jotted down 14 tally marks, potentially indicating that the song in question comes 14th on the tracklist, aka “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”
Trending on Billboard
Or, it could be a reference to track one, “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone. (How many days are in a fortnight? That’s right, 14.)
The video comes as Swifties continue to pore over clues hidden at Spotify’s Tortured Poets library pop-up in Los Angeles, which is adorned with texts, dried flowers, figurines and more. Most enticing is a book of stationary on display in a clear case, the pages of which are turned on an unknown schedule to reveal one new lyric at a time. Recently, it bore the message, “One less temptress, one less dagger to sharpen.”
But fans may be remiss not to search for Easter eggs in Swift’s new animation, too, especially when it comes to what gets left behind in the Midnights room. Swiftie sleuths online have already begun concocting theories about the sunshine streaming in through the windows, the time displayed by a wall clock and the gel pens littered on the table (which tie back to something the pop star once said about how she mentally categorizes her songs).
See the clip, as well as a few Swiftie theories it’s inspired, below.
all the crumpled papers in the midnights room… I can’t decide if it’s the hundreds of thrown out speeches she almost said to him or the representation of her feeling like she couldn’t express herself like she wished she could pic.twitter.com/bzyufaHuQS— Fany (Taylor’s Version) 🤍✍️ (@repsgrammy) April 17, 2024
it is fascinating that we enter the TTPD room through the key hole and not the door itself…..why is it locked….why don’t we have the key….is it because the album isn’t out yet OR is there something more…..or is it just a fun little visual that means nothing pic.twitter.com/2vc2BgDkE8— hannah (tortured poet 🪶) (@hantalkstaylor) April 17, 2024
the tortured poets department room is so stark and boring because she used her best colors for his portrait & he tolerated it. I feel like the lack of color and character in this room means something🥲 #TSTTPD pic.twitter.com/XYDygHG0Xn— morgan⸆⸉ (@morgan13TV) April 17, 2024
🔍 The new “Tortured Poets Department” room also features TWO desks PLUS a second timetable on the desk that has not yet been shown up close. pic.twitter.com/8CJ7n7rXW0— SpotifySwiftie (@SpotifySwiftie) April 17, 2024
Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” leads a constellation of sun- and moon-related songs on Billboard’s charts in the wake of the solar eclipse seen across parts of North America April 8, ranking at No. 1 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs tally dated April 20.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The track drew 4.2 million official streams earned (up 34%) and 2.5 million in radio airplay audience (up 19%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 166%) in the U.S. April 5-11, according to Luminate.
The song becomes Soundgarden’s first No. 1 on the ranking, which began in 2020. (Older songs are eligible to appear on multimetric Billboard charts if ranking in the top half and with meaningful reasons for their resurgences; “Black Hole Sun” was released in 1994 on the band’s album Superunknown.)
Trending on Billboard
The track also appears at Nos. 13, 15 and 19 on the Hot Rock Songs, Hot Alternative Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs surveys, respectively.
It flares 20-4 on Hard Rock Digital Song Sales, marking its best rank since 2017 (following the death of frontman Chris Cornell), and 14-5 on Hard Rock Streaming Songs, its first time in the top five since the list began in 2020.
“Black Hole Sun” was Soundgarden’s first No. 1 song on any Billboard chart, ruling Mainstream Rock Airplay for seven weeks in 1994.
It’s not the only eclipse-adjacent title on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” reaches the chart at No. 24 via 3.3 million streams, 164,000 in radio reach and 1,000 sold, with boosts of 7, 88 and 118%, respectively. The song hit No. 2 for the John Fogerty-led act on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.
Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” also rotates back onto the all-format Digital Song Sales chart at No. 5, its second week on the tally (which began in 2004); it ranked at No. 13 for a week in September 2017 – also following a solar eclipse that Aug. 21. It sold 6,000, a vault of 634%. The single, a No. 1 for four weeks on the Hot 100 in 1983, also bounded by 133% to 4.1 million streams and 47% to 3.2 million in airplay audience.
Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” a No. 3 Hot 100 hit in 1971, boasts new chart activity, too. It debuts at Nos. 136 and 151 on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S., respectively. It earned 13.3 million streams globally, up 33%, with 5.4 million from listeners in the U.S., up 25%. On the U.S. side, it returns to R&B Digital Song Sales at No. 4 with 1,000 sold, up 45%.
The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” gets in on the action via the Rock Digital Song Sales survey, returning at No. 11 with 1,000 sold, up 114%. King Harvest’s “Dancing in the Moonlight” holds at No. 10 (2,000, up 23%) and Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse” re-enters at No. 14 (1,000, up 512%).
The Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart features a different version of “Total Eclipse of the Heart”: Nicki French’s, from 1995, new at No. 8 (1,000, up 830%).
Interest in the lyrics of eclipse-themed music drives Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse” onto Billboard’s LyricFind U.S. chart, at No. 18. It joins Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which appeared on the previous ranking at No. 22 and jumps to No. 16.
According to LyricFind, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” snagged a 3,712% increase in lyric usages and searches, while “Eclipse” earned a corresponding 3,153% bump.
Zendaya might have two Emmys to her name, but she may have received her highest honor at the Challengers premiere in Los Angeles Tuesday (April 16) — and it came from Ms. Tina Knowles.
During a conversation with Variety on the red carpet, Knowles — who recently appeared in an Essence cover shoot in support of Beyoncé‘s Cécred haircare line — gushed over the Euphoria actress and her evolution from child star to leading lady.
“I love Zendaya!” she said. “The first time I saw her, I used to watch her in the Disney series with my grandson [Solange‘s son Julez Smith] and she just reeked of stardom. She is just the most gracious, beautiful girl, and she reminds me of my daughter — she’s a Virgo like my daughter [Beyoncé]!”
Trending on Billboard
Zendaya, of course, is a card-carrying member of the Beyhive. She appeared in Queen Bey’s 2016 Lemonade film, paid tribute to her iconic “Crazy In Love” Versace look at the 2021 BET Awards and attended her blockbuster 2023 Renaissance World Tour alongside boyfriend Tom Holland.
Challengers, helmed by Academy Award nominee Luca Guadagnino, finds Zendaya starring as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach who must balance both a love triangle and the quest to break her husband’s losing streak as he prepares to play against his former best friend (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend). Co-starring award-winning actors Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, Challengers opens in theaters April 26 with a score crafted by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
The film’s tennis themes also offer another bridge between Beyoncé and Zendaya. In 2022, the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer earned her first Oscar nomination for “Be Alive,” an original song she co-wrote with DIXSON for King Richard, the Will Smith-starring biopic of Venus and Serena Williams‘ father and coach, Richard Williams.
No stranger to the music world, Zendaya has landed several entries across the Billboard charts. On the Billboard Hot 100, the thespian has logged six entries including 2013’s “Replay” (No. 40), 2016’s Chris Brown-assisted “Something New” (No. 93) and 2022’s “I’m Tired” (No. 53, with Labrinth). Over on the Billboard 200, Zendaya’s 2013 self-titled debut album debut and peaked No. 51.
Watch a clip of Ms. Tina Knowles praising Zendaya below.
Tina Knowles on watching Zendaya’s evolution: “She is just the most gracious, beautiful girl, and she reminds me of my daughter — she’s a Virgo like my daughter [Beyoncé].” pic.twitter.com/MMB1hrSVlO— Variety (@Variety) April 17, 2024
They took you back to “1999” and flung you forward to “2099.” Now, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan want to make you sweat in the present tense.
On Wednesday (April 17), the pop star duo announced their co-headlining arena tour, Charli XCX & Troye Sivan Present: Sweat, set to kick off this fall. The 21-date excursion will start at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich., on Sept. 14, with the pair heading through Toronto, New York City, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Dallas and plenty more stops, before wrapping up with a final show at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Oct. 23.
Sharing the stage with special guest Shygirl, Charli and Sivan will transform arenas into raves throughout the Sweat tour, with a press release adding that the show will be “not only a celebration of their individual successes, but it is also a testament to their commitment to inclusivity and diversity within the music industry.” Fans can sign up for the advance presale until April 25 at the tour’s official website.
The news comes on the heels of Charli announcing the official dates for her own international arena tour in support of her forthcoming album Brat (due out June 7 via Atlantic), with shows set to start on June 1 in Barcelona. Sivan, meanwhile, will embark on his long-awaited European tour supporting his 2023 LP Something to Give Each Other starting in May.
Trending on Billboard
In an interview with Billboard in March, Charli teased that fans can expect her new album to sound “aggresive and confrontational,” while also remaining “conversational and personal.” Speaking about the writing, she said, “I’m over the idea of metaphor and flowery lyricism and not saying exactly what I think, the way I would say it to a friend in a text message. This record is all the things I would talk about with my friends, said exactly how I would say them.”
Artist presale for Charli XCX & Troye Sivan Present: Sweat begins Thursday, April 25, at 10 a.m. local time, with the general on-sale beginning Friday, April 26, at 10 a.m local time on Live Nation’s website. Check out the official dates for the tour below:
Troye Sivan and Charli XCX
Courtesy Photo
The 2024 Tribeca Festival is just around the corner and this year’s selections feature a number of anticipated documentaries about musical luminaries from the rock, pop, country and EDM worlds.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The festivities will kick-off on June 5 with the world premiere of Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge, a profile of the life of the fashion designer and cultural icon directed by Tribeca alum Trish Dalton and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
Over the course of nearly two weeks (June 5-16) the fest will feature screenings of a number of important music docs, including They All Came Out to Montreux, a look at the half century-old annual jazz festival in Switzerland featuring Prince, Carlos Santana, Sting, Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards.
Attendees will also be able to check out Linda Perry: Let It Die Here, a look at the mega-successful former 4 Non Blondes singer-turned-songwriter-producer featuring Dolly Parton, Brandi Carlile and Christina Aguilera, as well as a film about late EDM superstar Avicci, Avicii – I’m Tim, featuring Coldplay’s Chris Martin and David Guetta. In addition to screening the doc Satisfied about actress/singer Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton, Girls5eva), Goldsberry (and Perry) will perform after the world premieres of their respective films.
Trending on Billboard
Other music films will look at the careers of techno producer Carl Craig (Desire: The Carl Craig Story), civil rights activist/singer Harry Belafonte (Following Harry), Bruce Springsteen guitarist and actor “Little” Steven Van Zandt (Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple), performance artist/singer Genesis P-Orridge (S/He Is Still Her/e – The Official Genesis P-Orridge Doc) and 1990s alternative goddess Ani DiFranco (1-800-ON-HER-OWN), as well as a doc about the the new crop of country insurgents, Rebel Country, featuring Blanco Brown, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson and BRELAND.
“Each year, the Tribeca Festival reflects our culture, capturing the essence of the present moment. We’re thrilled to showcase our 23rd edition, delving into captivating explorations of artificial intelligence with Demis Hassabis, thought-provoking discussions on the future of democracy, and so much more,” said Tribeca CEO/co-founder Jane Rosenthal in a statement. “Storytelling possesses a remarkable ability to bring us together, offering hope in these challenging times. We eagerly anticipate engaging with audiences on difficult yet timely subjects.”
Among the features on tap this year are a film about a young woman growing up on the Oglala Lakota reservation in South Dakota, Jazzy (Lily Gladstone), Daddio (Dakota Johnson, Sean Penn), the Brat Pack doc Brats (directed by Andrew McCarthy and featuring Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald and Lea Thompson), Sacramento (Michael Cera, Kristen Stewart, Maya Erskine) and Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story featuring archival footage of Liza Minnelli.
Other films on tap include Group Therapy (Neil Patrick Harris, Mike Birbiglia, Tig Notaro), All That We Love (Margaret Cho, Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and a deep dive into the world of queer stand-up, Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution (Lily Tomlin, Wanda Sykes, Rosie O’Donnell, Hannah Gadsby and Joel Kim Booster).
According to a release, this year’s films “speak to today’s political moment and inform voters ahead of the upcoming election,” including the screening of Hacking Hate, a Simon Klose film that “questions the role of social media in amplifying hate speech and extremism.” Among the other politically charged films are McVeigh, an exploration of chilling modern implications of right-wing extremism directed by Mike Ott and America’s Burning, in which Michael Douglas narrates director David Smick’s look at the roots of hate and division.
The Cranes Call is a profile of war crimes investigators for the Clooney Foundation For Justice in which director Laura Warner gives a look at the brave staffers for the organization founded by George and Amal Clooney as they risk their lives traversing war-torn Ukraine to gather evidence for cases against Russian soldiers and commanders. There will also be a look into Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s deadly, repressive regime (Antidote) and a doc about the daring rescue of animals trapped behind enemy lines in Ukraine, Checkpoint Zoo.
This year’s sprawling program will include 103 features from 114 filmmakers from 48 countries — out of a record 13,016 submissions — including 86 world premieres, two international premieres, six North American premieres and eight New York premieres; in addition, half of the films in competition were directed by women and 35% (36) were directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Check out a 2024 Tribeca sizzle reel below.
More than six decades into her storied career, Barbra Streisand is still finding ways to challenge herself. The legend has recorded a new song, “Love Will Survive,” for the upcoming Sky/Peacock original series The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The track recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra (conducted by William Ross) was composed by two-time Oscar-winner Hans Zimmer in collaboration with Emmy-nominee Kara Talve (Prehistoric Planet) and Grammy-winning producer/songwriter Walter Afanasieff (Mariah Carey); the song’s lyrics were penned by Grammy and Golden Globe nominee Charlie Midnight; Afanasieff and Peter Asher produced the track.
“Because of the rise in antisemitism around the world today, I wanted to sing ‘Love Will Survive’ in the context of this series, as a way of remembering the six-million souls who were lost less than 80 years ago,” Streisand said in a statement. “And also to say that even in the darkest of times, the power of love can triumph and endure.”
Trending on Billboard
The song, Streisand’s first-ever recording for a TV series, will be released by Columbia Records on April 25, a week before the series launches globally on streaming on May 2. Zimmer also composed the original score for the six-part limited series starring Harvey Keitel, Melanie Lynskey, Jonah Hauer-King, Anna Próchniak and Jonas Nay.
The series tells the story of a Slovakian Jewish man, Lali (Hauer-King), who in 1942 was deported to the Nazi death camp where more than one million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. According to a summary, the drama series follows Lali as he is made one of the camp’s Tätowierer (tattooist), whose job it is to ink identification numbers on the arms of fellow prisoners. It then follows Lali as he falls for fellow prisoner, Gita (Próchniak), “leading to a love that defied the horrors around them.”
The story shifts 60 years into the future to find the now 80-something recently widowed Lali meeting an aspiring writer, Heather Morris (Lynskey) to whom he tells his improbable story of finding love in the “darkest of places.”
“Barbra Streisand is one of the most renowned artists in the world, and we are deeply honoured to be working with her,” Synchronicity Films executive producer Claire Mundell said in a statement. “Barbra and her team have crafted the most beautiful song, based on Hans’ and Kara’s main theme for the show, and it sums up the key message of the series – love will survive. Recording the song with Barbra’s iconic vocals and William Ross conducting the LSO at Abbey Road Studios was an unforgettable moment and a memory I will treasure forever. We are thrilled to be able to honour the memory of Lali and Gita in this way, with this beautiful original piece of music.”
The series will be available beginning May 2nd on Sky Atlantic and the NOW streaming service in the UK and Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as Peacock in the U.S. and Stan in Australia.
Kelly Clarkson got emotional on Monday (April 15) when talking to former First Lady Hillary Clinton about the challenges she faced during her two pregnancies and the shocking recent decision by Arizona’s Supreme Court to set the stage for a near-total abortion ban in the state based on a law from 1864.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“Did you ever think in your lifetime we would see that happen?” Clarkson asked Clinton of the situation in Arizona that has drawn widespread criticism from abortion rights supporters for its lack of exceptions for rape and incest. “It’s just insane to me, the thinking that went on in 1864. It’s a very different world. We know a lot more now. We are going backwards.”
Former Sec. of State Clinton was on The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote her new Broadway musical about the woman’s suffrage movement, Suffs, which she co-produced. “It is horrifying. I feared it would happen but I hoped it wouldn’t happen,” Clinton said of the latest fall-out from the conservative majority Supreme Court’s striking down of Roe v. Wade two years ago. “Now here we are in the middle of this very difficult period for women in about half the states of our country, who cannot get the care that they need.”
Trending on Billboard
In the wake of the Roe decision, 21 states have enacted laws to either ban or severely restrict abortion earlier in a pregnancy than the standard set by the law that codified abortion protection in 1973.
Clinton noted that the Arizona law — which was codified before Arizona was even a state — has no exceptions for rape or incest and serves as a potential danger to women. “And the danger to women’s lives as well as to our right to make our own decisions about our bodies and ourselves is so profound,” said Clinton. “And there’s another element to it, which I find so troubling. I mean, there’s a kind of cruelty to it. No exceptions for rape, incest, really?”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Clarkson got emotional when talking about her two pregnancies, during which she said she was hospitalized and feared for her life. “I literally asked God, this is a real thing, to just take me and my son in the hospital for the second time, because I was like, ‘It’s the worst thing,’” Clarkson said, apologizing for being overcome with emotion while discussing the difficult births of daughter River Rose, 9, and son Remington Alexander, 7, who she shares with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock.
“It was my decision and I’m so glad I did it, I love my babies, but to make someone …” Clarkson added. “And you don’t realize how hard it is. The fact that you would take that away from someone, that can literally kill them. The fact that if they’re raped by their family member and they have to — it’s just like insane to me.”
Speaking to the former 2016 presidential candidate, Clarkson then encouraged her viewers to get involved in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, saying it’s sometimes uncomfortable to keep hammering away at the importance of voting, but fearing that things could dramatically escalate over subjects we should be able to agree on.
“It’s hard to preach at someone that you have to care about something but at the same time, I feel like we’re going to end up in some kind of — not to sound dramatic but — some kind of civil war over things that I feel like we shouldn’t be divided on,” Clarkson said. Clinton agreed and said “all you can do” is try to inform people and let them know that, for instance, the Arizona legislature had a vote to try and repeal the 1864 law.
“So that there could be a much more sensible approach. It lost. It matters who is representing you,” Clinton counseled, urging viewers that voting is “your superpower — and it may not seem like it but it really is.”
The conversation had some lighter moments as well, including Clinton talking about her early days dating husband former President Bill Clinton and why Clarkson would never, ever write a memoir.
Watch Clinton and Clarkson below.
[embedded content]