Pop
Page: 306
Hozier and the OVO Arena Wembley have apologized and responded to a fan’s complaint about an incident in December in which she was reportedly told to remove a “Free Palestine” scarf before attending one of the singer’s shows. “Thank you to OVO Arena Wembley for clearing up this misunderstanding,” Hozier wrote early Monday morning (Feb. 26) after the venue posted an apology last week to attendee Hiba Ahmad, who said in an earlier X post that she was “pulled aside and escorted to wardrobe” in December while attending a show at the venue while wearing the scarf.
“The team and I have zero policy of prohibiting signs of any kind and I’m sorry to Hiba and her friends that they experienced this at the London show,” Hozier added.
Trending on Billboard
The venue also apologized to Ahmad on Feb. 22, writing, “This was an isolated incident where venue policy wasn’t followed as intended. The decision to stop the guest was not following artist wishes. We have apologised to those involved and are making a donation to the UNICEF Children in Gaza appeal.”
On Dec. 15, Ahmad posted on X about her experience seeing Hozier at the venue, writing, “So tell me why I got pulled aside and ESCORTED to wardrobe w/ a body cam for wearing a Palestine solidarity scarf at @Hozier’s concert? Not even a kiffiyeh, just a Free Palestine scarf that I *literally* wear everywhere as a show of solidarity AND BECAUSE IT IS F–KING COLD!”
She added, “They then proceeded to tell me they are taking my scarf for my own protection as I might get ‘hate crimed’ for wearing it. One of the security staff doing this told me they are Arab, and told me he didn’t like doing it, while doing it calling for more security on me. LOVELY.” At the time, Ahmad noted that on her way in she saw other people entering with “all sorts of political slogans — especially one memorable tote bag about animal cruelty and testing. But hey, animals > Palestinians right?”
Ahmad claimed that an unnamed person from the venue “insisted” it was Hozier’s team that “demanded” the scarf be removed, reportedly concerned that she would “launch” the scarf at the stage; another tweet from Ahmad appeared to show that her seats were quite far from the stage.
After Ahmad again claimed in a separate tweet on Dec. 15 that Hozier was responsible for the incident, the singer responded the next day, writing, “thanks for bringing this to our attention. We’re looking into this with the venue but I can state categorically that no request came from me about this, and my tour gave no directive about refusing entry of certain items of clothing or indeed flags.”
Ahmad (born Andrew John Hozier-Byrne) thanked the singer after his Dec. 16 post, writing, “Thank you so much Andrew, I really appreciate you reaching out directly, shows the person and artist you are. Solidarity!”
The original incident at the arena came two months after Hamas militants stormed Israel and killed more than 1,200 mostly civilian Israelis and took more than 240 hostages, igniting a now five-month old response from Israel’s military that has reportedly killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Check out the Hozier post below.
Thank you to OVO Arena Wembley for clearing up this misunderstanding. The team and I have zero policy of prohibiting signs of any kind and I’m sorry to Hiba and her friends that they experienced this at the London show. https://t.co/Ggrr6orBFI— Hozier (@Hozier) February 26, 2024
Having a platinum pedigree is one thing. But showing that you can use it is a whole different ballgame. Emmy Russell, 24 proved more than up to the task on Sunday night (Feb. 25) when the shy Nashville native, and granddaughter of country icon Loretta Lynn, stepped up to her mark on American Idol to perform an original piano ballad called “Skinny.”
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Smiling from ear-to-ear, Russell told the judge’s panel it was a “dream” to be on the reality singing competition as Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan struggled to hear the singer’s quiet speaking voice. “Tell us about yourself, other than being quiet,” Bryan said. “Growing up, I sang music my entire life,” she said modestly.
“I just love writing. I’m 24 years old. Songwriter. I love music,” Russell added. “I don’t really sing out as much anymore, but growing up I sang on the road with — my grandma’s a country singer so I grew up singing.” Which, of course, elicited the obvious question from Bryan, leading to the revelation that Russell’s grandma was the Grammy-winning country “Coal Miner’s Daughter” superstar, who died in Oct. 2022 at age 90. “Your grandma is… what?!” Richie said in disbelief.
Trending on Billboard
The show then unspooled a montage of Russell taking viewers on a tour of her “meemaw” Lynn’s historic Hurricane Mills, TN ranch and home, where the singer’s mom, singer Patsy Lynn, grew up. “She’s one of the biggest country music singers of all time, but to me she’s just my grandma, and growing up on the bus and all that was very normal to me,” Russell said.
Embracing her timidity, Russell explained that one of the reasons she is kind of shy is because she wants to be her own person and “own my own voice.” Counseled by Perry that, like her gran, Russell needs to find her own unique path, the singer then went to the piano to perform a moving original she wrote about eating disorders called “Skinny.”
“Haven’t eaten in days/ God I hate how you made me/ So scared to confess, been so hard to undress lately/ These oversized T-shirts don’t work like they used to/ Sleeping on scales is just what I’m used to,” Russell sang urgently on the ballad that had a touch of Olivia Rodrigo’s keyboard-driven confessional songwriting.
Perry was super impressed with the audition, calling Russell an “A+ songwriter… so was your grandma, you’ve got the gift. I don’t think you need to compare yourself to what grandma was… you’re totally different, you shouldn’t give yourself all that pressure. I think you came in like a mouse.”
“A baby mouse,” Bryan added, as Perry asked Russell to say her name again, but louder this time.
Richie agreed, saying, “My dear, you have promise. And I like your promise. Each one of us is trying to battle something that we’re trying to overcome. In your case you have big shoes. Now if I can just get you to put those shoes back in the closet, that’s not your size.” Bryan said the task will be to boost Russell’s confidence and help her “own it.”
It was a tearful yes for Russell, who will advance to the Hollywood round on the current 22nd season of the long-running series, which Perry recently announced will be her final one with the show.
See Russell’s audition below.
[embedded content]
After Selena Gomez played a trivia game about herself against a fan (and lost) in a segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the “Love On” singer revealed that she’s got a history of being a superfan as well. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news A fan named Ashley appeared […]
TWICE‘s With YOU-th tops this week’s new music poll. Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (Feb. 23) on Billboard, choosing the K-pop group’s latest mini-album as their favorite new music release of the past week. Fans showed their support for the girl group in a big way: With YOU-th won this poll by a landslide, […]
Melissa McCarthy was fangirling over Billie Eilish at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
While presenting the award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series to Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), the Little Mermaid actress, 53, hilariously asked the pop star, 22, to sign her face with a permanent marker.
Prior to the autographing, McCarthy reminded Eilish that the pair had already met several times prior to the SAG Awards, which streamed live on Netflix from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Saturday (Feb. 24).
“I actually met you in utero because your mom was my first improv teacher,” McCarthy said excitedly, referring to Maggie Baird. “Guess who she was pregnant with? It was you!”
“Wow, OK,” Eilish responded. “That’s a lot.”
Trending on Billboard
McCarthy then asked the “Bad Guy” singer if she would sign her shiny colored gown. “I’m just trying to be more present in making memories and I’m trying for more YOLO-ing and less FOMO-ing,” McCarthy said.
When Eilish politely declined, the actress made an even more bizarre request: to sign her face instead. The singer agreed and proceeded to scribble her signature on McCarthy’s forehead with a black Sharpie.
As the actress attempted to ask more questions about her brother Finneas’ songwriting process, Eilish covered her mouth and attempted to contain her laughter.
“So, when you and Finneas are putting down sick tracks or hot, hot beats…,” McCarthy’s began to ask. “I think that’s better,” the singer replied while holding her hand over McCarthy’s mouth.
The big winners at the SAG Awards included Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) and Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), who took home outstanding performance by a male and female actor in a leading role, respectively. Both won in what were seen as close races with Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) and Emma Stone (Poor Things), respectively.
Watch Eilish and McCarthy at the 2024 SAG Awards below.
[embedded content]
Travis Kelce is living his best life in Las Vegas.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end spent part of his weekend partying in Sin City with his NFL teammates, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes, after arriving in Vegas on Saturday (Feb. 24) following a short visit to Sydney, Australia, where he attended his girlfriend Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour concert.
Kelce and his teammates hit up XS nightclub at the Wynn Las Vegas, where the Super Bowl champ hung out in the DJ boot alongside chart-topping producer and songwriter Marshmello and was seen belting out classics like Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” Swift’s “Love Story” and Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right.”
Earlier in the day, Kelce and Mahomes attended a brunch event at LAVO at the The Palazzo, according to People. The NFL stars were returning to Sin City following their Super Bowl win against the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11.
Trending on Billboard
Just before his Las Vegas trip, Kelce was supporting Swift on the first night of her Eras Tour stint in Sydney. The tight end was one of more than 80,000 people Friday (Feb. 23) at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, where he watched from a VIP tent as his superstar girlfriend commanded the stage. Fan videos captured him exchanging friendship bracelets, passing out guitar picks, interacting with the crowd and dancing along to Swift’s three-hour show alongside Katy Perry, Rita Ora and Baz Luhrmann, who were also guests of honor that night.
Toward the end of her concert, Kelce got a special shout-out from the 14-time Grammy winner. While singing “Karma,” Swift once again changed a lyric to say, “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs,” something she first did when the athlete attended her Buenos Aires show in November.
After the concert wrapped, Kelce waited in the wings for Swift to emerge from backstage, after which she wrapped him in a hug and the couple kissed as lingering fans cheered.
The New Heights podcaster has been with the “Cruel Summer” singer in Australia since Wednesday, when his plane touched down in the land down under. On Thursday, the couple visited the Sydney Zoo, where they were spotted holding hands and taking selfies.
Cameras spotted Kelce getting off a private jet the day before, marking the second time the three-time he has hopped on a plane to go see Swift on her globe-hopping Eras Tour. Swift is playing four dates at Sydney’s Accor Stadium through Monday (Feb. 26), with Sabrina Carpenter as the opener.
Taylor Swift was full of new surprises in Sydney, Australia.
On Saturday (Feb. 23), the second night of her Eras Tour stint at Accor Stadium, the pop superstar — who at each tour date performs two tracks that are not often heard during the show — delivered another pair of mashups during the acoustic section of her set.
For her first surprise track of the evening, Swift performed a mashup of “Should’ve Said No,” from her 2006 self-titled debut, and “You’re Not Sorry,” from 2008’s Fearless. The second mashup featured the singer sitting down at the piano for a medley of Reputation‘s “New Year’s Day” and “Peace” off Folklore.
Friday’s show also found Swift announcing a third edition of her upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, titled “The Albatross,” which features a limited bonus song of the same name. She dropped the news during her nightly surprise song section before bringing out opener Sabrina Carpenter to assist in singing a mashup of “White Horse” and “Coney Island.”
These aren’t the first mashups Swift has performed during the surprise songs portion of her Eras Tour concerts. The first unexpected medley arrived during her Feb. 17 show at Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground, where she gave a three-song mashup of “Getaway Car,” “August” and “The Other Side of the Door.”
Trending on Billboard
“I just really want you to be happy because you’re making me happy,” the pop star told Swifties before the medley. “So I figured you might want to hear this one, let me know though.”
The following evening, Swift combined “Come Back… Be Here” from her Red era with Lover closing track “Daylight” at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
During the Feb. 18 show, Swift also issued a PSA about getting “creative” with the surprise songs. The singer previously told fans she’s given herself permission to repeat songs she’s already played this tour for the trek’s international leg, which she’s currently on. But she’s still set on bringing some element of chaos to her nightly song choices.
“That was to challenge me to really get to all the ones that I just don’t naturally gravitate towards, and I feel really proud about having done that,” Swift said at the Melbourne show, referring to her original plan to avoid surprise song repeats throughout the tour.
“But this is sort of a public service announcement to everyone who might be anywhere else on the tour, or whatever, or watching this — we have a lot of people, we’re very lucky to have a lot of people watch this on the internet and care about these shows if they’re not here,” she continued. “I’ve just been kind of rethinking, and I’ve been thinking I want to be as creative as possible with the acoustic set moving forward.”
Fifth Harmony is showing some love to Normani.
The former pop group’s members expressed their support in the comments section of the singer’s recent social media announcement that she will finally be releasing her long-awaited solo album, Dopamine, in the coming year.
“cryingg typing this rn. DOPAMINE THE ALBUM,” Normani captioned her Instagram post on Wednesday (Feb. 21).
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
In addition to her elated fanbase, the announcement also drew positive comments from the artist’s former Fifth Harmony members Camila Cabello, Ally Brooke, Lauren Jauregui and Dinah Jane.
Trending on Billboard
“Let’s gooooo🔥,” Jauregui wrote, while Cabello added a series of rocket emojis. “there she is 🥹🔥🔥,” Jane added. And Brooke shared several sparkling heart emojis and clapping hand.
Normani’s post also featured a photo of the artwork, which features the black-leather bikini-clad singer riding on top of a black rocket. She also reposted a June 30, 2018-dated message from X, in which she wrote, “I have my album title y’all,” and shared the album’s pre-save link wheresthedamnalbum.com.
Normani has yet to reveal Dopamine‘s release date, but according to the rapidly changing date counter on the aforementioned website, it will be released in 2024.
Since embarking on her solo career in 2018, Normani has released only seven singles as a lead artist, with 2019’s “Motivation” and 2022’s “Fair” being the only songs she’s released without another artist on it. She’s had two Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits with the Sam Smith-assisted “Dancing With a Stranger” (No. 7) and the Khalid-assisted “Love Lies” (No. 9). “Motivation” and “Wild Side,” featuring Cardi B, have also charted on the Hot 100, peaking at No. 33 and No. 14, respectively.
Her Dopamine album announcement also arrives six months after signed a new management deal with Brandon Creed and Lydia Asrat through Creed’s Good World Management and Asrat’s Q10. Normani and her former management company, Brandon Silverstein‘s S10 Entertainment, parted ways last May.
Travis Kelce has left the building. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end is returning to the U.S. after supporting his girlfriend Taylor Swift on the first night of her Eras Tour stint in Sydney, Australia. On Saturday (Feb. 24), Kelce flew on a private jet to Las Vegas to meet up with his Chiefs teammates […]
The ultimate all-American b—- kicked off the North American tour of her long-awaited Guts world tour on Friday (Feb. 23), as Olivia Rodrigo took the stage at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Following the release of her 2023 Billboard 200 chart-topping sophomore album, Guts, the newly 21-year-old superstar is now a veteran to the touring scene, and she proved it as early as the set’s opening track, “Bad Idea Right?,” during which Rodrigo strutted around the U-shaped stage with the confidence of a pop pro, complete with her standout vocals that didn’t waver throughout the full hour-and-a-half performance.
With two albums out, Rodrigo had the 11,000 fans in the crowd belting out the lyrics to every song in the career-spanning set, which included her Billboard Hot 100-chart topping lead single ballads like Sour’s breakout hit, “Drivers License” and her blood-sucking Guts opera-tinged track, “Vampire.” She also amped up the energy with her high voltage, head bang-ready songs like “Get Him Back!,” “All-American B—-,” “Bad Idea Right?” as well as “Brutal,” “Deja Vu” and more.
Trending on Billboard
Rodrigo will continue to perform in North America through April, where she’s scheduled a pair of dates for April 5 and 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, then heads overseas, beginning her international dates on April 30 in Dublin, Ireland. The pop star returns to the United States with a July 19 show in Philadelphia, and wraps her world tour with two concerts at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Aug. 13 and 14.
See below for the best moments from Rodrigo’s Guts tour kickoff in Palm Springs, Calif., from tender moments of gratitude to the introduction of pop’s brightest rockstar.
“Drivers License”
There is nothing more special than a star singing their breakthrough hit to an arena full of fans. The Rodrigo who released “Drivers License” in 2021 was heartbroken and unaware of the whirlwind three years ahead of her. The Rodrigo who performed “Drivers License” in 2024, however, was visibly self-assured and proud of how far she’s come. With just a piano and her characteristically heartfelt vocals, the full circle moment of performing her first mega-hit during her second sold-out tour felt particularly special.
“Teenage Dream”
During the performance of her Guts closing track, “Teenage Dream,” the screen behind Rodrigo played a montage of videos of the star when she was a child — dancing ballet and smiling with friends, or singing into a microphone. “They all say that it gets better, it gets better the more you grow / Yeah, they all say that it gets better, it gets better, but what if I don’t?” she repeated to wrap up the track, before she looked out to the crowd, teary-eyed.
Rodrigo then stepped offstage, as a voiceover played throughout the arena of a five-year-old Rodrigo stating that she’s excited for her first show. “I dedicate this song to my friends and family,” the tiny tot is heard saying, marking another moment of gratitude and physical representation of growth during the show.
The Moon
Coincidentally, it was a full moon outside Acrisure Arena, but inside the venue, Rodrigo sat on a crescent moon and floated above the crowd for dreamy renditions of “Logical” and “Enough for You.”
“Obsessed”
Rodrigo’s Guts deluxe track quickly became viral on TikTok, and the second Rodrigo sang the opening line of “Obsessed,” the crowd ruptured into venue-shaking screams from the surprise setlist addition. At the end of the track, Rodrigo grabbed a guitar and delivered an impressive guitar solo, amplifying the rock-leaning sound of her sophomore album.
“All-American B—-”
“For this next part, I want you think of someone or something that really pisses you off and I want you to scream your heart out,” Rodrigo told the crowd after the song’s bridge. All 11,000 people in the crowd then joined the singer in soul-wrenching screams to let out the anger, marking a hilarious and healing moment of emotion during the set.