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It’s been a minute since former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland released a full-length pop album. Way more than a minute, actually, more like over a decade. But on the Kelly Clarkson Show on Friday (Feb. 23) “Kisses Down Low” singer explained her long absence from the studio and why she’s gearing up to get back to it.
When Clarkson asked if there was any new music on the horizon, Rowland coyly answered, “coming… later,” as the host and audience broke out into applause about the tease of the long-awaited follow-up to 2013’s Talk a Good Game LP.
“I’m finally inspired,” Rowland explained. “I’m finally inspired, you can’t just be like writing about anything and I don’t want just another sexy song. I want to talk about so many different things and I’m really excited about the topic this album [unintelligible].”
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The singer was on the show to promote her co-starring role in the new Tyler Perry Netflix legal thriller Mea Culpa alongside Trevante Rhodes (Birdbox), and she agreed with Clarkson’s riff about the need to “break up the monotony” of the music industry grind to keep your inspiration and passion burning. That might explain why Rowland, 43, who also co-produced the film, has been off the music radar for a bit.
After releasing her debut solo album, Simply Deep, in 2002 and launching the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single “Dilemma” (feat. Nelly) and the singles “Stole” and “Can’t Nobody,” Rowland has been ping-ponging between music and film in the years since. She appeared in 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, 2012’s Think Like a Man, 2020’s Bad Hair and 2022’s The Curse of Bridge Hollow, while also dabbling in reality TV mentoring on Clash of the Choirs, X Factor UK (and U.S.), The Voice Australia and a guest spot on ABC sitcom Grown-Ish as Edie last year.
She followed up her solo debut with 2007’s Ms. Kelly and 2011’s Here I Am and then Talk a Good Game, on which she co-wrote all but one of the 12 tracks. Though her solo album output has slowed, Rowland has continued to drop one-off singles over the past decade, including “Conceited” (2016), “Crown” (2019), “Crazy” (2020) and “Black Magic” (2021).
Watch Rowland on the Kelly Clarkson Show below.
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Being a member of a nine-person K-pop group is hard work. In addition to the endless hours of vocal and dancing prep, touring, 12-hour press days and the rigors of staying healthy on the road, there is also the mental toll of being in the global spotlight 24/7.
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“It was our recognition that at the end of the day, this is our job,” TWICE‘s Jihyo told the Today Show during an interview on Friday (Feb. 23) that also included two in-studio performances. “It’s what we do for a living. But I know that I cannot live the rest of my life only as Jihyo from TWICE, so I had to learn how to take care of myself mentally and physically … and when to stop when I need to. I think my health and my good energy is shown very frankly to our fans. Our fans see that. So taking care of myself is part of my job, too.”
That is why member Mina took a mental health break in 2019, with Jeongyeon doing the same in 2020 and 2021, unafraid that the pause might create the kind of negative reaction from fans that an earlier generation of idols worried about. “We talked a lot amongst ourselves and we also talked with our management. All of that helped us individually and as a group to cope with whatever is going on,” Chaeyoung said.
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“It meant the world to me when the girls addressed why they were taking a break,” Tara, a devoted Korean American fan who was in high school at the time told the morning show. “My parents didn’t take my depression seriously and told me to eat something delicious and get more sleep. I felt very isolated and alone. But seeing idols like Mina telling us that they need rest, too, made me feel like I was seen.”
The band also featuring members Nayeon, Momo, Sana, Dahyun and Tzuyu, released their 13th mini-album, YOU-th, on Friday, fronted by their third English-language single, “I Got You.”
TWICE will play a one-off show at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on March 16, which housed Super Bowl LVIII earlier this month. “It might seem like we started off really big, but we did a lot of small stage performances when we started out,” Momo said. “It was only last year that we did our first stadium concert. So all of this has been nerve-wracking for us.” Last year they became the first female K-pop group to headline NFL and MLB stadiums in the U.S. when they performed at SoFi Stadium in L.A. and MetLife Stadium in New York to sold-out crowds of 50,000 fans.
And because they know that not all their devoted fans, who are called Once, can get tickets to every show, the group tries to keep visiting new places. “With every tour, we really try to visit as many places as possible,” said Sana. “That’s why we went to Europe for the first time last year, and that’s why we are doing another concert in Las Vegas this year.” Mina noted that they will also be the first K-pop girl group to play Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan on July 27-28.
“We always try to visit more countries with each tour,” Sana added. “If there are places that we haven’t visited yet but you want us to come there, please let us know. We will talk to the management and we’ll (try to) make it happen!”
In their ninth year in the group, the members who range in age from 24-28 also talked with pride about representing diverse backgrounds, with three South Korean members (Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Nayeon), three Japanese performers (Mina, Momo, Sana) and one Taiwanese representative (Tzuyu).
“I’m so grateful for the diversity in our group,” Nayeon told Today. “If it wasn’t for TWICE, I don’t think I would’ve had the opportunity to observe other cultures so closely or have developed as much of an interest in them. Because of the exposure that we got to other cultures so early on, I think that enabled us to communicate with ONCE better when we meet global fans. The communication is deeper because of our understanding of other cultures.”
TWICE
Michelle Watt
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, SZA makes her return to “Saturn,” Selena Gomez is living her happily ever after, and Justin Timberlake has one ready for longtime fans. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
SZA, “Saturn”
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First previewed in a commercial that aired during a Grammys ceremony where SZA took home three trophies, new single “Saturn” exists in conversation with the blockbuster R&B formula of her 2022 album SOS while also peering ahead into a daring artist’s unwritten future. SZA spends the song searching for answers, creeping in front of the slower tempo and trying to get ahead of karma: “If there’s a point to being good / Then where’s my reward?” she wonders. Considering the fact that SOS arrived five-and-a-half years after SZA’s previous album, “Saturn” should be treated as a sumptuous gift from an artist who isn’t in the habit of tossing out any old single.
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Selena Gomez, “Love On”
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Selena Gomez has released love songs before, but she’s never sounded quite as giddy as she does on new single “Love On”: around its radio-friendly chorus, the pop star plays a clip of French dialogue, shrugs off steak tartare for a makeout session, and explains, “This doesn’t have to be some sort of mathematical equation / Slip off your jeans, slide in the sheets, screaming ‘yes’ in quotations.” Although listeners will undoubtedly connect the release of “Love On” to Gomez’s budding romance with super-producer Benny Blanco, the song harnesses Gomez’s veteran pop instincts and pushes them into a euphoric new direction.
Justin Timberlake, “Drown”
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There is no signature Justin Timberlake sound, considering all of the iterations of the pop star’s career — yet fans of the mid-‘00s rhythmic pop classics that kicked off his solo career should heartily embrace “Drown,” the latest offering from his upcoming album Everything I Thought It Was. Over blinking beats and streamlined synthesizer, Timberlake revels in his hurt and morphs his pain into chewable hooks; the switched-up outro, in which the a drums-heavy deconstruction captures JT’s emotional breakdown, acts as a final nod to those multi-part Futuresex/LoveSounds hits.
TWICE, With YOU-th
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It’s lucky number 13 for TWICE, as the best-selling K-pop group has now reached a baker’s dozen worth of mini-albums but has not stopped developing its winning approach. The six songs of With YOU-th roll through a handful of energetic synth-pop productions without ever sounding trite or tired; “One Spark” is an easy highlight, full of shuffling beats and vocal wonder, but don’t sleep on project finale “You Get Me,” with production that stacks higher as the TWICE members express fizzy enchantment.
MGK, “Don’t Let Me Go”
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During his rap ascent and exploration of pop-punk, Machine Gun Kelly always kept his personal trials and tribulations easily identifiable, but new single “Don’t Let Me Go” may be one of the most personal compositions of his career: following a somber piano intro, MGK (who has seemingly formalized his nickname as his official artist name) sings and raps about heartbreak, family abandonment and violence, identity crises and, most crushingly, the loss of a child. Regardless of where you stand with his various sounds and styles, “Don’t Let Me Go” makes for a deeply affecting check-in.
Editor’s Pick: Bleachers, “Me Before You”
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The strongest track yet released from Bleachers’ upcoming self-titled studio album, “Me Before You” whittles down the big-band excitement of Jack Antonoff’s outfit and creates a lush, intimate portrayal of an incomplete life before a partner was found. Multiple voices and instruments Antonoff’s open-hearted ode, with the saxophone blasts that have highlighted recent Bleachers singles turned into wandering thoughts and feelings; soon enough, the song collapses into a warm puddle of guitar, capturing a feeling of exhausted contentment.
Now that the NFL season is finally over, three-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce finally had time in his schedule to attend another Eras Tour show to cheer on Taylor Swift. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was one of more than 80,000 people Friday (Feb. 23) at Accor Stadium in Sydney, Australia, where he […]
The surprises just kept coming at Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour show in Australia Friday (Feb. 23). During the pop star’s first night at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, she unveiled yet another version of her upcoming album The Tortured Poets Department titled “The Albatross” — complete with a limited bonus track of the same name — before […]
Take a look — it’s definitely mad love! Katy Perry attended Taylor Swift‘s first show of the Eras Tour in Sydney, Australia, on Friday (Feb. 23) and showed everyone that she’s a Swiftie. In fan-captured videos, the “Dark Horse” singer is spotted singing along and dancing at Accor Stadium to the pop superstar’s hit “Bad […]
Justin Timberlake was scheduled to play a one-off show in London at the Roundhouse in Camden on Friday night (Feb. 23), but had to cancel the gig announced last week at the last minute due to illness. The singer revealed the news to fans in a video in which he apologized for the late notice.
“Hi everybody,” he said with a hoarse voice in the Instagram Story post. “This is an unfortunate video to have to send out, but I’m sure you can tell from the sound of things that I am not going to be able to make it to the show on Friday, which I’m gutted about.” He noted that he’s been in London all week and was “so excited” to perform at the legendary theater.
“But as you may or may not know, I’ve been battling some kind of bug,” he added. “And I thought it was getting better but it just took a turn for the worse.” He promised his London fans he would make it up to them, after he was able to “power through” his visit to Graham Norton’s chat show, which also nearly got scotched. But on Friday morning, he said he woke up feeling “worse than ever,” pledging that the next time he comes through he can hopefully make it up to them and “rock the Roundhouse” with his fans.
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“But for now I feel terrible… I hope none of you get this flu,” he said.
Earlier this week, Timberlake posted a preview of his just-released new single, “Drown,” playing a bit of it solo on a piano while acknowledging his illness. “Made it out to London, still recovering from this flu. But trying to power through. So excited for new music and everything coming this week,” he wrote at the time.
The news came on the same day that JT released his introspective new single, “Drown,” the second song so far from his upcoming Everything I Thought It Was album (March 15); the first single, “Selfish,” debuted at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Timberlake’s upcoming North American tour is slated to kick off on April 29 in Vancouver and keep him on the road through a July 9 gig in Lexington, KY before hopping over to Europe for his just-announced 13-gig run of overseas dates. The singer also recently expanded the North American run, adding 15 more shows that will keep him on the road through a Nov. 20 show at KFC Yum Center in Louisville, KY.
It was a rollercoaster of a night on Friday (Feb. 23) for Taylor Swift as the singer kicked off her four-show stand at Sydney, Australia’s Accor Stadium in front of 81,000 soggy, determined Swifties. Before the show could kick off, the stadium floor and lower bowl were evacuated due to storms — and a nearby lightning strike — which meant that opening act Sabrina Carpenter‘s set was cancelled in order to get Swift on stage in time.
“Please note, due to weather, show start time has been delayed. Stay undercover until further notice and follow venue screens and staff instructions. Stay safe and remember to be kind to those around you,” the venue announced on X in describing the delay.
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But, according to the Sydney Herald, the show did go on, with Swift taking the stage just before 8 p.m. local, and yes, boyfriend Travis Kelce was in the house, accompanied by Swift’s dad, Scott Swift. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end — wearing an electric blue, wildly patterned matching shorts and t-shirt combo –made his way to his seats accompanied by the rabid screams and shouts from Swifties on the stadium floor. Fans also got excited to see Rita Ora and Katy Perry (as well as Rita’s husband director Taika Waititi and beloved Australian director Baz Luhrmann) sharing a private box and exchanging friendship bracelets with admirers; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was also in the house.
On to the show, though. According to the Herald, Swift immediately nodded to the resiliency of her audience, telling them, “We have a little bit of a weather situation, a little bit of rain but I have never known an Aussie crowd that let anything get in the way!” Later, in what has become a signature moment in the set, Swift picked a nine-year-old named Scarlett — who was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer in October — as the recipient of her black hat during “22.”
The show progressed as usual after the storm delay, and the night’s first surprise song was “How You Get the Girl” from 2014’s smash 1989 album. “I kind of pick the song for each individual crowd and hope I get it right,” Swift told the audience of the song she first played during the stripped-down portion of the night in Atlanta last April.
Swift then brought out Carpenter to help her on a mash-up of Fearless‘ “White Horse” and Evermore‘s “Coney Island,” with Taylor telling the crowd that Carpenter “heroically sacrificed her show, which I think is a crime against Sydney.” The singer also took a moment during the surprise piano acoustic section to shout out her new favorite destination: the Sydney Zoo, which she visited the day before with Kelce. “We really love the Sydney Zoo – we’ve been 100 per cent of our days off here,” Swift said of her back-to-back visits. “I don’t think you guys don’t understand how cool kangaroos really are. They are so cool, so strong, so bouncy.”
Swift’s Accor stand will continue with shows on Saturday (June 24), Sunday (June 25) and Monday (June 26) before moving on to Singapore on March 2.
Justin Timberlake’s Forget Tomorrow World Tour will cruise through the U.K. and Europe this summer for a run of arena shows.
Just hours after dropping “Drown,” the second single from his forthcoming LP, Timberlake unveiled a 13-date pan-European itinerary kicking off July 26 at Tauron Arena Krakow, Poland, and wrapping Sept. 8 at LDLC Arena in Lyon, France.
“When I said WORLD tour, I meant it,” reads JT’s social post announcing the run, acknowledgment that the first waves of his “world tour” announcement covered only cities in the United States and Canada.
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Earlier this month, the “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” singer added 15 more concerts to his growing trek. The tour will launch April 29 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., and visit major cities such as Las Vegas (May 10-11), New York (Jun. 25-26) and Atlanta (Nov. 16), before concluding Nov. 20 at KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Ky.
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With the announcement of his European jaunt, eight more countries are added to his plans.
“Selfish” and “Drown” are the first cuts from Everything I Thought It Was, JT’s first solo album release in more than six years.
Due out March 15, EITIW is Timberlake’s sixth studio LP, and the followup to Man of the Woods which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 following its release in February 2018, for his fourth consecutive solo leader.
“I worked for a long time on this album and I ended up with 100 songs,” he told Zane Lowe in a recent interview for Apple Music 1. “So narrowing them down to 18 was a thing, and then, yeah, I’m really excited about this album. I think every artist probably says this, but it is my best work.”
The 10-time Grammy Award winner warmed-up for his live return with a performance last month in New York at the 1,100-capacity Irving Plaza.
A month after launching the campaign for Everything I Thought It Was with lead single “Selfish,” Justin Timberlake has revealed a new taste of his forthcoming LP. Co-written and co-produced by Louis Bell, Cirkut, Kenyon Dixon, Amy Allen and Timberlake himself, “Drown” finds the *NSYNC alum squarely at home on an atmospheric electro-pop&B instrumental. “Got […]