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Charlie Puth seems to be taking Taylor Swift‘s recent lyrical shout-out as a sign to release his new song.
On Friday (May 3), the “See You Again” singer teased his upcoming single “Hero” just days after responding to Swift name-dropping him on the title track of her record-breaking double album, The Tortured Poets Department.
“These last couple weeks have been really crazy for obvious reasons, but I wanted to share something with you,” Puth wrote over a TikTok clip of himself crooning his forthcoming track.
“This is a song I wrote about my friend called ‘Hero.’ Sometimes I get a little nervous being overly honest in my music which is why this was sitting on my hard drive for awhile,” Puth added. “But I think someone out there was giving me a sign that I needed to release it.”
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The “Light Switch” single concluded his post, writing, “So…. I declare ‘Hero’ will be out everywhere on May 24th as the first single of my new album. Thank you for your support…you know who you are.”
Swift references Puth in the title track of her 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department, which dropped on April 19.
“You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate/ We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist,” she sings on the song, which many fans have speculated features veiled references to Taylor’s reported brief 2023 fling with The 1975’s Matty Healy.
Puth first reacted to Swift’s unexpected mention in a post through social media on April 28. After Swift posted an image of the herself in the studio with TTPD scrawled in sharpie across the CD version of the sprawling collection, Puth put his own spin on it by grabbing one of the other studio images of a smiling Swift at work with the album’s title scrawled in black marker across the front.
“My mind is blown. I’m completely floored by the love you’ve shown this album,” Swift wrote alongside behind-the-scenes photos of images taken during the album’s recording.
“2.6 million ARE YOU ACTUALLY SERIOUS?? Thank you for listening, streaming, and welcoming Tortured Poets into your life. Feeling completely overwhelmed,” she continued. “I was already so fired up to get back to the tour but you doing THIS?? May 9th can’t come soon enough.”
Puth’s image came from Swift’s celebration of TTPD‘s record-setting run after Swift learned that the album marked her 14th debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
See Puth tease his upcoming single “Hero” on Instagram below.
Even Ryan Gosling isn’t immune to the tear-jerking powers of Taylor Swift‘s “All Too Well.” In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly published Thursday (May 2), the actor opened up about shooting a scene in Fall Guy in which his character, Colt, has a good crying session in the car while listening to the pop star’s Red ballad, revealing that he ended up sobbing a little too much for the upcoming film’s final cut.
“I remember I cried too hard, and they cut it out,” he told the publication. “There were so many tears. It was a moment for Colt to really get it out. ‘All Too Well’ came on, and he had a good car cry. I mean, he’d been through a lot. He was jet-lagged.”
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“So yeah, that song comes on, you’re going to let it rip,” the Barbie star continued. “A little Taylor Swift comes on, you’re alone in your car in the parking lot …”
Gosling’s costar Emily Blunt added, “The amount of tears they cut in post was almost hysterical, actually.”
A snippet of the scene in question appears in one of the Fall Guy trailers. Colt, a stunt double in love with Jody (Blunt), the director of a film he’s working on, takes a moment alone to let out some tears in his car as Swift’s Billboard Hot 100-topping breakup track plays on the radio. All of a sudden, Jody approaches the car and knocks on the window, startling Colt.
“Have you been crying to Taylor Swift?” she asks, to which Gosling’s character replies, “Doesn’t everyone?”
In another recent interview, the Canadian thespian revealed that “All Too Well” also happens to be his own personal favorite Swift track, telling Fandango that it “has a real soft spot in [his] heart.” Meanwhile, Blunt said she prefers “Cruel Summer.”
Shortly afterward that interview, the two stars performed a spoof version of “All Too Well” on Saturday Night Live, earning Swift’s praise. “All Too Well (Ryan and Emily’s Version)!!!” the pop superstar wrote on Instagram after the Gosling-hosted episode aired. “Watch me accidentally catch myself singing this version on tour. This monologue is everything.”
It’s been 10 years since Ed Sheeran unveiled his massively successful sophomore album, x, which gave fans enduring hits including “Thinking Out Loud,” “Don’t” and “Sing.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I think at the time you don’t really realize what’s happening,” he tells Billboard of his Billboard […]
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Dua Lipa gets the party re-started, Kendrick Lamar is drinking Haterade, and Gunna drops another zonked-out hit. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Dua Lipa, Radical Optimism
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In the four years since the release of her sophomore album Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa has become an A-list celebrity — popping up in blockbuster films and at fashion shows, owning magazine covers and arena stages — and it’s all thanks to the smashes that came from that disco-revival opus, as well as the one-off singles (like “Cold Heart” and “Dance the Night”) that followed. Lipa’s hits are the engine of her increasing visibility, and Radical Optimism attempts to pile up more W’s while revealing more of the artist behind them: operating over candy-coated dance production and attacking each chorus with full-throated vigor, Lipa sings about desire and betrayal — although sometimes the quieter moments of the album, like on the understated guitar-pop of “Maria,” cut the deepest.
Kendrick Lamar, “6:16 in LA” and “Euphoria”
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Kendrick Lamar has had a productive week while staring at a photo of Drake on his bulletin board: as the rap-superstar feud continues, K. Dot has dropped a pair of snarling diss tracks aimed at questioning the very fiber of his opponent’s being. Earlier this week we received “Euphoria,” a six-minute-plus takedown of the way that Drake talks, walks and dresses, among other things; this morning, Lamar dropped “6:16 in LA,” which plays off Drizzle’s timestamp song series and goes for the jugular (“Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person / Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it”).
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Gunna, “Whatsapp (Wassam)”
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One week before the release of new album One of Wun, Gunna is back with a delightfully chilled-out new single, as “Whatsapp (Wassam)” returns the rap star to the spacey heights of Wunna highlights like “Skybox” and “Wunna Flo.” Nobody in hip-hop is as adept at tossing out these type of relaxed, stream-of-consciousness flows as actual hits, and after “Fukumean” became the biggest solo hit of his career last year, Gunna has likely scored another rap-playlist staple.
Imagine Dragons feat. J Balvin, “Eyes Closed”
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Imagine Dragons have never been shy about mashing up their guitar-heavy pop-rock with hip-hop via guest rappers, from “Sucker for Pain” to “Enemy,” but a new version of “Eyes Closed” brings in J Balvin to drop bars in Spanish and provide the pummeling song with a new direction. Dan Reynolds capably hoists the hook above the head-snapping percussion and production wobble, but Balvin highlights the track, making “Eyes Closed” a showcase for his own skill set as he visits another artist’s universe.
Kane Brown & Marshmello, “Miles on It”
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Kane Brown and Marshmello have already mashed up their country-pop and dance stylings to great success thanks to the 2019 single “One Thing Right,” and with new collaboration “Miles on It,” the duo are both trying to recapture the magic as well as supply the world with a not-very-subtle song of the summer. “Just you and me in a truck bed wide like a California King / We could break it in, if you know what I mean,” Brown sings on the chorus before the tempo turns double-time, suggesting that “Miles on It” is not exactly referring to his Chevy’s odometer.
Editor’s Pick: WILLOW, Empathogen
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Following her preteen beginnings with “Whip My Hair,” WILLOW has spent more than a decade upending expectations of her recording career, swiveling from family-friendly pop to sumptuous R&B to riotous pop-punk. New album Empathogen adds jazz, art-pop and indie-rock flourishes into her expanding palette, but WILLOW’s personality drives the entire project, powering songs like “Run!” and “The Fear is Not Real” with jittery energy and resplendent charm; she’s a veteran at this point, but she’s still serving up the unpredictable.
In case you missed it the first time around, Melissa McCarthy is not at all mad at Barbra Streisand for that Ozempic comment. Just a few days after a TMZ photographer asked McCarthy how she felt about Streisand suggesting the comedian might have taken the weight-loss drug — “I think Barbra is a treasure and I love her” she said — McCarthy made it crystal clear that it’s no harm, no foul.
“The takeaway — Barbra Streisand knows I exist? She reached out to me. And she thought I looked good. I win the day,” McCarthy said in an Instagram post on Wednesday in which she’s wore a floral gown and matching headband in front of a frond-covered wall while holding up a magazine with vintage images of the singer/actress on the cover.
The post, captioned “@barbrastreisand fan club members only!!! [four heart emoji],” elicited a string of hand clap emoji from musical satirist Randy Rainbow, and a “love it” from comedian Fortune Feimster, as well as a supportive “You DO win!” from Broadway icon Kristin Chenoweth. There were also supportive comments from Rosie O’Donnell and actors Richard E. Grant, Sharon Stone, Elizabeth Banks and Elizabeth Perkins, among others.
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The playful back-and-forth began when McCarthy posted two pics on Instagram on Monday taken at the Pastels Center Theatre Group gala with Hairspray director Adam Shankman. “Pastels only to honor the incredible @matthewbourne13 at the @ctgla gala last night with this fella @adamshankman !!” she wrote in the caption. “Thiiiiis much closer to my dream of dancing on stage 💃🏻💚.”
Streisand, 82, perhaps thinking she was sliding into McCarthy’s DMs and not making a public comment, wrote, “Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?” Diabetes drug Ozempic has been repurposed as an anti-obesity treatment that has exploded in popularity and led to a parlor game in which people speculate on which suddenly slimmer stars might be taking the medicine off-label.
Streisand quickly deleted the comment and apologized on X, writing “OMG – I went on Instagram to see the photos we’d posted of the beautiful flowers I’d received for my birthday. Below them was a photo of my friend Melissa McCarthy who I sang with on my Encore album. She looked fantastic! I just wanted to pay her a compliment. I forgot the world is reading!”
McCarthy sang a duet on the Annie Get Your Gun tune “Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better),” on Streisand’s 2016 Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway album. Since then, Streisand has frequently commented on McCarthy’s posts.
See McCarthy’s post below.
Ed Sheeran is going to go away for a little bit. The “Galway Girl” singer told People magazine this week that he’s not planning on releasing any new music this year. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to hit the studio to record new songs, just that he isn’t planning on sharing them for now. […]
Sia breaks a seven-year drought with Reasonable Woman, her collaborative-jammed tenth studio album.
Arriving at the stroke of midnight, Reasonable Woman (via Atlantic Records) houses 15 works including previously released cuts “Fame Won’t Love You” (featuring Paris Hilton), “Dance Alone” (with Kylie Minogue) and “Incredible” (featuring Labrinth), which, combined, have amassed over 200 million streams globally so far, according to Warner Music.
Highlights include previously unreleased tunes “Immortal Queen” (with Chaka Khan) and “Champion” (with Tierra Whack, Kaliii, and Jimmy Jolliff).
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Reasonable Woman was forged with a who’s who of producers, co-writers and engineers, including Jesse Shatkin, Greg Kurstin, benny blanco, Jim-E Stack, Rosalía, bülow, Mark “Spike” Stent and others.
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It’s Sia’s first pop LP proper since This Is Acting, which was mostly comprised of songs she wrote for other artists that were not released on their albums and featured the singles “Alive,” “Cheap Thrills,” “The Greatest” and “Unstoppable.” This Is Acting hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the ARIA Chart in 2016.
The following year, the South Australia-raised singer and songwriter jingled into the holiday period with Everyday Is Christmas, her first with WMG’s Atlantic and first Christmas-themed album, followed by 2021’s companion soundtrack to the feature film Music, for which Sia made her directorial debut.
It’s already been a winning week for Sia Furler; on Wednesday night, May 1 in Sydney, the Aussie superstar singer and songwriter won an APRA Music Award for most performed Australian work overseas, with “Unstoppable”.
Across her career, the “Chandelier” singer has amassed more than 50 billion audio streams, and landed 14 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including a No. 1 with 2016’s “Cheap Thrills,” which led the tally for four weeks. Six of her LPs have impacted the Billboard 200, including a No. 1 for 2014’s 1000 Forms Of Fear, and six of her songs have joined Spotify’s Billions Club. She’s such a star, the city of Adelaide is home to Sia Furler Lane, unveiled in 2021.
Stream Reasonable Woman below.
Dua Lipa is in a happier era, and that’s reflected on her brand new album, Radical Optimism, which arrived on Friday (May 3). The 11-track Radical Optimism — Lipa’s first proper LP since 2020’s Future Nostalgia — features previously released singles “Houdini,” “Training Season” and “Illusion.” “[Releasing the album] feels good. It feels for lack of a better word […]
Dua Lipa is looking for love. Not some sort of toxic fling or fleeting romance — she wants real, old-school love. “We all got too many options/ Remember when we used to do anything for love?” she asks on “Anything for Love,” her mid-tempo breakdown track that appears toward the end of Radical Optimism, Lipa’s […]
Britney Spears sparked concern early Thursday morning (May 2) when she was photographed exiting the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles barefoot around the same time an ambulance was dispatched to the hotel. Now, the pop star is saying she simply twisted her ankle — and she isn’t happy with the events that followed.
In a new statement posted to Instagram hours after the incident, Spears wrote, “Just to let people know … the news is fake !!! I would like respect at this time for people to understand I am getting stronger everyday. … I also twisted my ankle last night and paramedics showed up at my door illegally,” she continued. “They never came in my room but I felt completely harassed. I’m moving to Boston !!!”
The message comes after the Los Angeles Fire Department received a 911 call from the premises at around 12:42 a.m. early Thursday morning requesting aid for an injured adult female, as confirmed to Billboard by a spokesperson for the LAFD. Prior to Spears’ post, it wasn’t clear whether she was the one the paramedics had been called to examine.
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The spokesperson added that the 911 caller did not provide specifics regarding the injury. A single ambulance was subsequently sent to 8221 Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, but the fire department says it isn’t clear whether the paramedic crew ever encountered the injured person or offered any medical assistance.
Around that time, photos from the scene captured Spears walking out of the hotel barefoot, accompanied by a man who appears to be Paul Richard Soliz, the “Toxic” singer’s rumored boyfriend. In the photos, Spears has a brown blanket wrapped around her shoulders and is holding a pillow in her arms.
According to the LAFD, the ambulance eventually departed the Chateau Marmont at 1:17 a.m. without transporting anyone to the hospital. There was no law enforcement response to the initial 911 call.
Billboard has reached out to representatives for Spears and to the Los Angeles Police Department for further information.
Also on Thursday, news broke that the Woman in Me author had settled her divorce with ex-husband Sam Asghari less than a year after the pair announced they were ending their 14-month marriage. Per court documents obtained by Billboard, the legal split is bound by “a written agreement” regarding the ex-couple’s property and spousal support arrangements.
See Spears’ post below.
