Pop
Page: 272
When Lizzo posted a frank statement to Instagram last week declaring “I QUIT,” many fans assumed that the “Truth Hurts” singer meant that she was stepping away from the public eye for good. That’s why, when just two days later she started posting promo photos for her shapewear brand Yitty, some people were a little confused.
But in a new video posted Tuesday (April 2), Lizzo cleared things up for good. “I just need to clarify — when I say I quit, I mean, I quit giving any negative energy attention,” she said, facing the camera in an aquamarine bodysuit. “What I’m not gonna quit is the joy of my life, which is making music, which is connecting with people.”
“I know I’m not alone,” she continued. “In no way, shape or form am I the only person who is experiencing that negative voice that seems to be louder than the positive … I’m going to keep moving forward, I’m going to keep being me.”
Trending on Billboard
The video comes about four days after the singer shared a message to Instagram signed, in all-caps, “I QUIT.” “I’m getting tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the Internet,” read the note, posted March 29. “All I want is to make music and make people happy and help the world be a little better than how I found it. But I’m starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it.”
“I’m constantly up against lies being told about me for clout & views…,” she continued at the time. “Being the butt of the joke every single time because of how I look… my character being picked apart by people who don’t know me and disrespecting my name. I didn’t sign up for this sh–.”
Though the Grammy winner never specified which instances of “being dragged” she was referring to, it’s true that she’s been the subject of much scrutiny in recent months. In August last year, three of her former tour dancers filed a harassment lawsuit against her, alleging sexual misconduct and hostile work conditions.
Lizzo has been adamant that the accusations are false, deeming them “sensationalized stories” in a statement shortly after news of the suit went public. Following her “I QUIT” message last week, the plaintiff’s attorney Ron Zambrano issued the following statement: “It’s a joke that Lizzo would say she is being bullied by the internet when she should instead be taking an honest look at herself … Her latest post is just another outburst seeking attention and trying to deflect from her own failings as she continues to blame everyone else for the predicament she is in.”
However, the musician’s own lawyer followed up with a response shared with Billboard, “With nearly half his case dismissed, 18 independent witnesses siding with Lizzo and no settlement on the way to get him his tasty contingency fee, Ron has started making wild personal attacks that have absolutely nothing to do with the clients who he is supposedly representing.”
No matter what happens, it looks like Lizzo is determined to stay focused on the positive going forward. “I just want to say thank you,” she added in her new video, getting choked up. “The love that I’ve received, it means more than you know.”
See Lizzo’s post below.
Taylor Swift has yet another milestone to add to her endless list of accomplishments — she’s now officially a billionaire. The superstar was included on Forbes World’s Billionaires List published this week, and Swift amassed an estimated $1.1 billion fortune this year, according to the publication. The revenue is based on earnings from her record-breaking […]
It’s been a exciting few months for Chelsea Cutler, as the 27-year-old singer-songwriter dropped her third studio album, Stellaria, in October and embarked on a tour to support the fan-favorite project. Since then, her track “Your Bones” has blown up on TikTok, and to celebrate all her recent achievements, she sat down with Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly for a wide-ranging interview.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
As for whether or not she knew that her song “Your Bones” would be an online representation of love, Cutler said that she did and didn’t at the same time. “I probably expected — just given the nature of my relationship, I’m obviously in a relationship with a woman, so I think a lot of my fanbase is probably part of the LBGTQ community. I definitely expected that, but I think what’s really cool is we were seeing the song be used on social media for everything, like dogs, babies, relationship, self-love, everything. That was more surprising than anything,” she shared, adding that Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown used the song to soundtrack a montage with one of her foster dogs.
For Stellaria, Cutler knew that she wanted a Western aesthetic to go along with the project. “I knew I wanted the content to be kind of Yellowstone inspired, so we ended up going out there and that word ‘stellaria’ kept coming up,” she recalled. “There was a Stellaria Lane and a Stellaria Creek. Me being a Latin nerd, I saw that and I was like, ‘That’s a fascinating word.’ I fell in love with it, it means ‘starlight,’ and it just felt like such a great representation for the world that I wanted to make.”
Cutler is also no stranger to being open about her mental health, and she says that her vulnerability goes hand-in-hand with her creativity. “I feel so selfish, because writing music and being honest in my music is so for me and it’s such an awesome byproduct that the vulnerability translates into a greater narrative around being open with my mental health,” she said. “I think it’s cool that when I sit down to make music, it’s just an outlet for all of these big feelings that I’m having and I feel no shame around sharing that at all. It led to so many amazing conversations surrounding mental health.”
Watch Billboard‘s full interview with Chelsea Cutler above.
With a couple hundred songs across 10 albums — plus one more on the way — Taylor Swift definitely has enough music to have her own radio channel. And pretty soon, she will.
SiriusXM announced Tuesday (April 2) that it plans to launch “Channel 13 (Taylor’s Version)” this month, allowing listeners to hear selections from the pop star’s 17-year discography 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Nothing is off limits, too, with the broadcaster promising to play both original and “Taylor’s Version” editions of her older hits as well as From the Vault songs, live recordings, bonus tracks and more.
Plus, Swifties will come on-air to share their own “personal and meaningful experiences with Taylor and her music,” according to a release.
Trending on Billboard
The channel will go live on April 7 and remain available through March 6. On the 13th day of its run — April 19 — Swift will drop her highly anticipated 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. To tune in, fans need only download the SiriusXM app and select Channel 13.
“The versatility of Taylor’s music and the phenomenal impact she’s had in her career across so many musical genres will be on full display,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM president and chief content officer. “We’re all experiencing a legend at work and are so thrilled to work with Taylor to present a one-of-a-kind channel that connects her fans with her extraordinary body of work.”
The news comes in the midst of a break in the 14-time Grammy winner’s ongoing global Eras Tour, which will pick back up in May with a four-night stint in Paris. In the meantime, Swift is gearing up to release Tortured Poets, which features collaborations with Post Malone and Florence + the Machine as well as four bonus tracks spread out across different extended versions of the album.
On Monday (April 1), the “Anti-Hero” singer won artist of the year at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards, which she accepted via a pre-recorded speech. “It’s completely up to you to choose how you spend your time, what concerts you want to go to, what music you want to make the soundtrack to your life,” she said in the video, which played during the ceremony.
She added, “To anyone who has included me in those choices, I’m so, so, so thankful for that.”
Taylor Swift took home the artist of the year, pop artist of the year and favorite tour style at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Monday night (April 1), and while the 34-year-old superstar was not at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre in person, she gave a heartfelt virtual acceptance speech. Explore Explore See latest videos, […]
Justin Timberlake’s Everything I Thought It Was era is fully upon us, and the superstar celebrated his freshly released sixth studio album by opening the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on Monday night (April 1). Starting off sitting on a metal barrel alongside one of his band members, JT delivered a […]
Looking for some motivation to help power you through the start of another work week? We feel you, and with some stellar new pop tunes, we’ve got you covered. These tracks from artists including Leigh-Anne, BABYMONSTER, Frank Turner and more will get you energized to take on the week. Pop any of these gems into your […]
Billie Eilish is setting the record straight after her comments about vinyl in Billboard‘s recent sustainability issue caused a bit of a stir.
In response to fan speculation over who she may have been referring to in the interview, during which the 22-year-old pop star called out the “wasteful” practice of releasing numerous album variants to drive sales, Eilish took to Instagram Stories Sunday (March 31) to clarify what she meant. “okay so it would be so awesome if people would stop putting words into my mouth and actually read what i said in that billboard article,” she began, writing in white text over a black background.
“i wasn’t singling anyone out,” she continued. “these are industry-wide systemic issues. & when it comes to variants, so many artists release them – including ME! which i clearly state in the article.”
Leading up to her new comments, Eilish and her mom, Support + Feed founder Maggie Baird, spoke to Billboard about their desire to see more sustainable practices in the music industry. Their past initiatives have included using 100% recycled black vinyl, as well as recycled scraps for colored variants and shrink-wrap made from sugar cane, when releasing different variants for the Grammy winner’s Billboard 200-topping album Happier Than Ever.
Trending on Billboard
“We live in this day and age where, for some reason, it’s very important to some artists to make all sorts of different vinyl and packaging … which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money,” Eilish said in the interview, published Thursday (March 28). “I can’t even express to you how wasteful it is.”
“It’s some of the biggest artists in the world making f–king 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more,” she continued at the time. “It’s so wasteful, and it’s irritating to me that we’re still at a point where you care that much about your numbers and you care that much about making money — and it’s all your favorite artists doing that sh-t.”
After the piece went live, some fans on social media assumed that Eilish was targeting specific artists with her comments. Some thought that the two-time Oscar winner was indirectly shading Taylor Swift — whose upcoming album The Tortured Poets Department has four different deluxe editions available for purchase — while musicians such as Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, Olivia Rodrigo and more have all released a variety of different pressings for single albums in recent history.
But as Eilish clarified in her new post, protecting the environment is a global issue that — much like her comments in the article — doesn’t come down to any one artist. “the climate crisis is now and its about all of us being part of the problem and trying to do better,” added the nine-time Grammy winner in her post, linking off to Billboard‘s site. “Sheesh.”
Read Eilish and Baird’s interview with Billboard here.
Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson has reached the milestone of 1,000 NHL games, and pop singer Vanessa Carlton lent her voice to be part of the celebration.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Carlton remixed her hit song “A Thousand Miles” with Carlson-themed lyrics as part of a collaboration between the team and the production company Fresh Tape Media.
On Saturday night against the Boston Bruins, Carlson became the 128th defenseman in league history to skate in 1,000 regular-season games. Through his first 999, the 34-year-old has played the 41st-most minutes of any player in the league since ice time started being tracked officially in 1997-98, totaling just under 24,000 minutes — plus 3,005 more in the playoffs.
“He’s not just a point producer that is just playing the top of the power play and able to play that for 20 years,” coach Spencer Carbery said. “He’s playing that, plus he’s playing penalty kill, plus he’s playing 5 on 5 when you need to defend a lead and when you need to score a goal. That ability and uniqueness, there’s very few that log minutes in all those situations like he has throughout his career.”
Trending on Billboard
Carlson, who is originally from Natick, Massachusetts, but spent much of his childhood in New Jersey, has taken more than 26,000 regular-season shifts, all with Washington, since getting drafted in the first round in 2008 and making his debut in 2009.
“You try not to think about it like that,” Carlson said Saturday morning when told that stat.
Carlton’s song remix was released after the player with a similar sounding last name spoke to reporters following the team’s morning skate.
Carlson is the 80th player to dress in 1,000 games with one team. His milestone comes a couple of weeks after teammate T.J. Oshie hit 1,000, and going through that helped prepare Carlson for what to expect not only Saturday night but next weekend (April 7 vs. Ottawa) when the Capitals hold a ceremony to honor him.
“You got so much going on now, in the now, in this league and where we are and just worrying about what’s at stake all the time,” Carlson said. “Just trying not to be a distraction to what we have on our plate right now and where we are.”
The Capitals are trying to return to the playoffs after missing last year for the first time in Carlson’s pro career. He was a huge part of their 2018 Stanley Cup run, playing in all 24 games and recording 20 points while averaging nearly 26 minutes a night.
Sheryl Crow has a friend in Olivia Rodrigo. While chatting about her new album Evolution on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Thursday night (March 28), the 62-year-old singer-songwriter opened up about her bond with the “Drivers License” singer.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“I met her at Billboard Women in Music and I just really liked her,” Crow recalled. “I’d already had her record and I loved the way she wrote. It’s very punk, it’s like the Breeders meets Deborah Harry.”
Both women were present at the 2022 Billboard Women in Music ceremony, where the “Strong Enough” artist presented Rodrigo with Woman of the Year. “Sheryl, I am such a massive fan of you and your songwriting and I’m so grateful that you’re here,” the former Disney star said in her acceptance speech. “It really means the world.”
Trending on Billboard
In November, it was Rodrigo’s turn to show up for her friend, with the pair performing “If It Makes You Happy” together at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in honor of Crow’s 2023 induction. Since then, the duo have sung the 1996 hit side-by-side at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville and, most recently, at one of the “Vampire” artist’s Guts World Tour shows.
Backstage at the RRHOF ceremony, Crow told Billboard of her connection with Rodrigo: “All I can say is I paid homage to the women that were before me, and I know how much they mean to me. I don’t take it lightly at all. I still look to them — my friendship with Stevie Nicks is genuine, but I’m still in awe of her. Yeah, I don’t take it lightly.”
“I’m so impressed with how down to earth and together she is, like unfazed by it,” Crow added of Rodrigo to Meyers. “I’ve gotten to know her since then, and I adore her.”
Released Friday (March 29), Evolution marks Crow’s first album since 2019’s Threads. Rodrigo also recently unveiled a new set, dropping the deluxe version of her Billboard 200-topping sophomore record Guts last week.
Watch Crow’s Late Night With Seth Meyers interview above.