Pop

21 Apr 2024

The Starting Line Reacts to Taylor Swift’s ‘The Black Dog’ Lyric About the Band’s Song Being ‘Intertwined’ in Her Relationship

The Starting Line, the group behind the 2003 pop-punk classic “The Best of Me,” got a name-check on Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department album and posted a response to the pop star after hearing the song.

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Swift references The Starting Line on the emotional ballad “The Black Dog,” found on one of four deluxe editions of her Tortured Poets physical release, and as track No. 17 on Swift’s complete 31-song The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, made available on streaming services and via digital download on April 19.

The song begins with Swift’s realization that her former flame forgot to disable location tracking on his phone. It goes on to set the scene of what she imagines is playing out without her at a London pub.

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“I just don’t understand/ How you don’t miss me in The Black Dog/ When someone plays The Starting Line/ And you jump up, but she’s too young/ To know this song that was intertwined/ In the magic fabric of our dreaming,” Swift sings on the chorus of “The Black Dog.” “Old habits die screaming.”

Later, Swift’s hurt turns to anger as her words shift to “And I hope it’s shitty in The Black Dog/ When someone plays The Starting Line/ And you jump up, but she’s too young/ To know this song that was intertwined/ In the tragic fabric of our dreaming/ ‘Cause tail between your legs, you’re leavin’.”

In a note posted on The Starting Line’s Instagram account on Friday, the band wrote: “Dear Taylor, we heard the song, thank you for name checking our band. We feel flattered and humbled by the reverberations of love that have come back to us as a result. It’s an honor to have TSL memorialized on such a lovely song. You didn’t have to do that, but you did, and we appreciate it wholeheartedly. Respect!”

Although Swift doesn’t name the song by The Starting Line she’s hearing in her head on “The Black Dog” — nor does she identify the romantic interest the song is about — her lyric could be alluding to “The Best of Me,” the lead single from TSL’s debut album, Say It Like You Mean It.

The 1975’s Matty Healy — who by all appearances Swift briefly dated in 2023 after also briefly being linked together a decade ago — happened to play a snippet of “The Best of Me” live on tour in New Zealand on April 21, 2023, and again on May 3, in the Philippines. On May 5, Healy was spotted attending Swift’s Eras Tour in Nashville. This was the first of several times he was photographed around or with her during the time period, sparking dating rumors for the pair.

“Shout-out to people in their 30s,” Healy said with a smile after his short “The Best of Me” cover, as seen in the clip above from The 1975’s show a year ago.

Fans have pointed out signs indicating Healy as the possible muse of title track “The Tortured Poets Department,” among other songs, on Swift’s latest release.

“Tell me what you thought about when you were gone/ And so alone/ The worst is over/ You can have the best of me,” The Starting Line’s Kenny Vasoli sings on the group’s “The Best of Me.” “We got older/ But we’re still young/ We never grew out of this feeling that we won’t give up.”

See the band’s thank-you letter to Swift for the shout-out on “The Black Dog” below.

21 Apr 2024

Fans Choose Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music

Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department has topped this week’s new music poll.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (April 19) on Billboard, choosing the pop superstar’s new double album as their favorite new music release of the past week.

The Tortured Poets Department brought in nearly 75% of the vote, beating out new music by DJ Snake featuring Peso Pluma (“Teka”); Nicki Minaj featuring Travis Scott, Chris Brown and Sexyy Red (“FTCU (Remix)”); Pearl Jam (Dark Matter); and Cloud Nothings (Final Summer).

The Tortured Poets Department is Swift’s eleventh studio album and her her first release of new music since 2022’s Grammy-winning Midnights. The 31-track double album features collaborations with Florence + the Machine and Post Malone, as well as writing and production contributions from Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner.

On Instagram, Swift described the project as “an anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure. This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.”

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Although The Tortured Poets Department is Swift’s first album of new music since Midnights, she has steadily pumped out her re-recorded Taylor’s Version albums in the interim. In between the two aforementioned albums, Swift topped the Billboard 200 with both Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the latter of which became the star’s record-extending sixth album to debut with over one million pure sales in its first week.

The Tortured Poets Department is already off to a stellar start in the U.S. Upon its first day of release on Friday (April 19), the set sold 1.4 million copies in traditional album sales, according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate. That marks Swift’s biggest sales week ever for any album in the U.S.

The Tortured Poets Department had also broken numerous Spotify records at press time, including becoming the first album in the streaming service’s history to have more than 300 million streams in a single day. The set’s first single, “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone, also became Spotify’s most streamed song in a single day.

Trailing behind The Tortured Poets Department on the poll is DJ Snake and Peso Pluma’s dance floor hit “Teka,” which dropped just in time for Peso’s performance at Coachella weekend two. The team-up brought in 10% of the vote.

See the final results of this week’s new music release poll below.

21 Apr 2024

Spice Girls Reunite for Impromptu ‘Stop’ Performance at Victoria Beckham’s 50th Birthday Party

The Spice Girls reunited for an impromptu performance during Victoria Beckham’s 50th birthday party on Saturday (April 20).

All five members of the legendary 1990s girl group — Beckham, Geri Halliwell-Turner, Emma Bunton, Melanie “Mel C” Chisholm, Melanie “Mel B” Brown — rejoined for a brief dance routine to their 1997 song “Stop” during the celebration, held at the private club Oswald’s in London.

The surprise moment was caught on video by Victoria’s husband, David Beckham. “I mean come on,” the retired soccer star captioned the clip on Instagram.

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Victoria Beckham, who performed as Posh Spice in the group, also shared the video on Instagram. “Best night ever! Happy Birthday to me! I love you all so much!” she captioned the post, adding the hashtag #SpiceUpYourLife.

Mel B (aka Scary Spice) reposted the clip on her Instagram Story, writing, “About last night” and including the hashtag #tourdatescomingsoon.

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The Spice Girls formed in 1994, and had a global phenomenon two years later with their debut single, 1996’s “Wannabe.” The catchy track logged four weeks at the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1997, and is one of the group’s nine U.K. No. 1 singles. The Brits’ debut LP Spice spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and 15 weeks at the summit of the Official U.K. Albums Chart (followup Spiceworld logged three weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. in 1997).

The group went on hiatus in 2000, returning in 2007 for a global tour and again in 2018-2019, though without Beckham, who has not participated in the Girls’ activities for more than a decade. The last time all five women shared a performance stage was at the London Olympics in 2012.

In early January, Mel B teased that the Girls were planning yet another reunion this year to mark three decades of empowerment. “I’ve been saying it forever. But now we’re actually going to be releasing some really good news in about a few weeks that involves all five of us,” she said at the time on Today. “It’s going to be the gift that keeps on giving, without saying too much about it. I’m going to get myself into so much trouble.”

See the Spice Girls reunite at Victoria Beckham’s birthday party on Instagram below.

20 Apr 2024

Here’s What Patti Smith Thinks of Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Lyric Naming Her

Patti Smith has acknowledged being named alongside Dylan Thomas on Taylor Swift‘s “The Tortured Poets Department,” the title track from the prolific pop poet’s 31-song anthology released on Friday (April 19).

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“You’re not Dylan Thomas/ I’m not Patti Smith/ This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel/ We’re modern idiots,” Swift broods out loud in the chorus of the track, on which she asks her lover who else will be there to hold him and to know him in the way that only she does, then just answers the question herself: “Nobody. No-f—ing-body.”

Friday night, Smith sent a note Swift’s way via her Instagram page, where she shared images of herself reading Dylan Thomas’ Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog, a collection of his short stories first published in 1940.

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In fittingly poetic form, Smith posted:

“This is
saying I was
moved to be
mentioned in
the company
of the great
Welsh poet
Dylan Thomas.
Thank you Taylor.”

Swift’s Tortured Poets Department mentions various artists in the lyrics heard throughout the double set. Smith and Thomas’ names come up first on “The Tortured Poets Department” (song), which also brings up a personal conversation about Charlie Puth — plus references to Jack Antonoff and Lucy Dacus, associates from Swift’s social circle.

As the album goes on, listeners will pick up on the obvious name-drops of Clara Bow and Stevie Nicks on the song “Clara Bow. “Guilty as Sin?” opens with a line about The Blue Nile’s “The Downtown Lights,” and anthology track “The Black Dog” sets the atmosphere in its reference of a song by The Starting Line.

Nicks makes a genuine mark on The Tortured Poets Department, having penned a poem “For T — and me…” that Swift opted to print and showcase on the album case.

See Patti Smith’s message to Taylor Swift below.

20 Apr 2024

Post Malone Reacts to ‘Fortnight’ Release With Words of Love for Taylor Swift

Post Malone, Taylor Swift‘s duet partner on The Tortured Poets Department opener and lead single “Fortnight” — and the leading man in Swift’s new music video for the track — posted a heartfelt message for Swift on Saturday (April 20).

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“It’s once in a lifetime that someone like @taylorswift comes into this world,” Post, also a co-writer on “Fortnight,” wrote alongside a snapshot of the two. “I am floored by your heart and your mind, and I am beyond honored to have been asked to help you with your journey.”

“I love you so much,” he wrote. “Thank you Tay.”

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The pair’s “Fortnight” music video premiered Friday night.

A “cinephile in black and white” Tortured Poets Department muse from album track “loml” seems to inspire Swift’s first visual from her new 31-song anthology. The video introduces more color only when it comes to all the creative energy billowing out from the typewriters of two poet protagonists, portrayed by Swift and Malone.

Swift wrote and directed the music video, with Rodrigo Prieto taking lead on cinematography. Primarily a director of photography in film (most recently credited for Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon), Prieto’s resume previously crossed paths with Swift’s for her “Cardigan,” “Willow” and “The Man” music videos.

“Pretty much everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to one corner of the album or another,” Swift wrote of the “Fortnight” video on Instagram, explaining that the artistic clip is representative of more than just the single. “For me, this video turned out to be the perfect visual representation of this record and the stories I tell in it.”

She added, “@postmalone blew me away on set as our tortured tragic hero and I’m so grateful to him for everything he put into this collaboration.”

“Fortnight” on Friday became Spotify’s most streamed song in a single day, while The Tortured Poets Department became Spotify’s most streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far, the only album in Spotify history to see over 300 million streams in just a day.

When Swift announced the first single from The Tortured Poets Department, her 11th original studio full-length that dropped on April 19 and turned out to be a double album, she said, “I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever. I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight.”

20 Apr 2024

Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets’ First Album in Spotify’s History With 300M Streams in Single Day

Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department continues to break records on Spotify.

On Friday (April 19), the pop superstar’s latest release became the first album in the streaming service’s history to have more than 300 million streams in a single day.

As previously reported, in less than 12 hours after its release, The Tortured Poets Department become Spotify’s most streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far. The 31-track double album snagged the honor from the previous record-holder, Beyoncé’s Billboard 200-topping Cowboy Carter, which ultimately earned 300.41 million on-demand official streams in its first full week of release.

But that’s not all. The Tortured Poets Department broke yet another Spotify record on Friday as the album’s first single, “Fortnight” (featuring Post Malone), became the streaming service’s most streamed song in a single day. The track was co-written by Swift, Malone and Jack Antonoff, and co-produced by Swift and Antonoff.

Swift announced “Fortnight” as the first single early Thursday. “The first single from The Tortured Poets Department is…………. Fortnight featuring @postmalone,” Swift wrote on X. “I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever. I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight.”

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The Tortured Poets Department is Swift’s eleventh studio album and her her first release of new music since 2022’s Grammy-winning Midnights. The new LP features collaborations with Florence + the Machine and Malone, as well as writing and production contributions from Antonoff and Aaron Dessner.

Although The Tortured Poets Department is Swift’s first album of new music since Midnights, she has steadily pumped out her re-recorded Taylor’s Version albums in the interim. In between the two aforementioned albums, Swift topped the Billboard 200 with both Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the latter of which became the star’s record-extending sixth album to debut with over one million pure sales in its first week.

20 Apr 2024

Lana Del Rey & Camila Cabello Sing ‘I Luv It’ During Second Weekend of Coachella 2024

Lana Del Rey was joined by surprise guest Camila Cabello during her weekend two performance at Coachella 2024.

During her headlining set on Friday night (April 19), the “Summertime Sadness” songstress welcomed Cabello to the stage to sing her new track “I Luv It.”

After Del Rey temporarily left the stage following a performance of “Bartender,” Cabello emerged with backup dancers for a lively delivery of her hyper-pop collab with Playboi Carti (who didn’t make an appearance at the Indio. Calif., festival).

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Del Rey mostly watched with admiration, but joined in on some of the verses and at one point placed her hands on Cabello’s waist and playfully spun her around.

“I luv it, I luv it, I luv it, I luv it,” Del Rey sang to Fifth Harmony alum after she closed the song. “This is my girl. I have so much fun with her. I love this song to death. Thank you so much, angel, for coming to sing with me.”

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Cabello replied, ”This is an honor me, you’re one of my favorite artists of all time. Thank you so much.”

In late March, prior to the release of “I Luv It,” Del Rey showed some love for the energetic single on social media. “i luv it,” the singer-songwriter captioned black-and-white photos of the “Senorita” singer on Instagram. Cabello took to the comments section of the post, leaving a series of crown emojis.

Del Rey’s weekend two performance at Coachella follows her guest-filled set at the popular music fest’s opening day on April 12. During the performance, she welcomed Jon Batiste for “Candy Necklace,” Jack Antonoff for “Hope Is a Dangerous Thing,” and duetted with Billie Eilish on “Ocean Eyes” and “Video Games.”

Del Rey’s roughly 90-minute Coachella set last weekend also boasted some truly stunning set design, a bizarrely alluring hologram moment, her trademark sultry vocals, a generous helping of faded glamour and even some stripper pole twirling by the singer herself for good measure.

Check out a video of Del Rey and Cabello singing “I Luv It” at Coachella 2024 via TMZ.

19 Apr 2024

Fans Are Loving Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department class is finally in session, as the superstar dropped the project in the form of a surprise double album on Friday (April 19).

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“An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure,” Swift wrote of the track upon its release via Instagram. “This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it. And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.”

The Tortured Poets Department 31-song tracklist features two major collaborations: Post Malone, whose name is billed on the lead single, “Fortnight,” as well as Florence + The Machine on track eight, “Florida!!!”

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Following the release of the album, Swifties flooded social media with positive reactions and messages of support for the “Karma” singer. See some of the best fan reactions below.

19 Apr 2024

What’s Your Favorite New Music Release of the Week? Vote!

Calling all tortured poets! This week’s round-up of new music is filled with heavy hitters.

Taylor Swift’s long-awaited 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, arrived in the form of a surprise double album on Friday (April 19), which features two major collaborations: Post Malone, whose name is billed on the lead single, “Fortnight,” as well as Florence + The Machine on track eight, “Florida!!!” On Instagram, Swift described the project as “an anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure. This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.”

Over in the hip-hop world, Nicki Minaj tapped the star-studded trio of Travis Scott, Chris Brown and Sexyy Red to join her for the “FTCU (Sleeze Mix).” In its 18th week on the Hot 100, “FTCU” sits at No. 79 after peaking at No. 15. The Pink Friday 2 track should receive a chart boost thanks to the “Sleeze Mix.”

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In the rock genre, Pearl Jam dropped their 12th studio album, Dark Matter. The album, which arrive via Monkeywrench Records/Republic Records, spans 11 numbers, including the previously-released midtempo cut “Wreckage” and the title track, which powered to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay and Rock & Alternative Airplay Charts.

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DJ Snake and Peso Pluma also teamed up for the dance floor hit “Teka,” which dropped just in time for Peso’s performance at Coachella weekend two.

With so many great music options available this weekend, we want to know which is your favorite. Check out our Friday Music Guide here, and let us know by voting in our poll below.


19 Apr 2024

Ice Spice, Flavor Flav, Sophie Turner & More Are Loving Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Taylor Swift unveiled her The Tortured Poets Department double album on Friday night (April 19), and it’s already one of the year’s top albums.

In less than 12 hours, Swift’s 11th studio album has become Spotify’s most streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far, Spotify confirmed to Billboard. The project is also her first album of new music since 2022’s Grammy-winning Midnights. Swift’s new LP features collaborations with Florence + the Machine and Post Malone, as well as writing and production contributions from Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner. On Thursday (April 18), Swift revealed that the Post Malone-assisted “Fortnight” would serve as the set’s first single, with a music video to follow on Friday (April 19) at 8 p.m. ET.

Beyond support from Swifties, the superstar’s famous friends and supporters immediately flooded social media with love for The Tortured Poets Department, with her “Karma” remix collaborator Ice Spice sharing an Instagram Story with the volume turned up on her speakers as she listened to the album. Meanwhile, Sophie Turner showed love for the track “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”

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Gracie Abrams, one of Swift’s opening acts during the Eras Tour, posted a screenshot listening to “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” tagging Swift and her musical collaborator, The National’s Aaron Dessner.

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See more reactions to The Tortured Poets Department below from Flavor Flav, Jack Antonoff and many more.