Pop

10 Jan 2024

Reneé Rapp Says Megan Thee Stallion Has the ‘Best A–‘: ‘I’ve Actually Never Seen Anything Like This!’

We all know and love The Plastics: Regina, Gretchen, Karen and … Megan? In a new Extra interview, Mean Girls star Reneé Rapp gushes over Megan Thee Stallion and recounts her journey with the character of Regina George.

“It’s been like five years of my life now,” Rapp joked. “I’m milking this IP for jobs until I can’t anymore.” Before taking Regina George to the big screen in the new Mean Girls movie musical, Rapp portrayed the character in the Broadway stage musical for several months during 2019-2020. The original Broadway production of Mean Girls earned 12 Tony nominations. Although her stint on The Great White Way eventually gave way to her reprisal of the role in the film adaptation, Rapp quipped, “I’m tired of wearing pink! I’ve had it, I’m good on it!”

Rapp handles most of the film’s soundtrack — alongside co-stars Auliʻi Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey and Avantika — and she even co-wrote and recorded some new original songs for the album. In addition to co-writing “What If’s” with Nell Benjamin, Rapp collaborated with Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion for the single “Not My Fault.” Paired with a pink-tastic choreography-laced music video, “Not My Fault” features the two stars thriving in all of their plastic glory. The pair’s joint dance scenes have gone viral across social media, and those happened to be the scenes that made Rapp swoon.

“Actually best a– I’ve ever seen in my life,” she gushed. “We were in dance rehearsal and I was like, ‘Wow, this is incredible! ‘I’ve actually never seen anything like this.” “Not My Fault” has so far peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 — Rapp’s first entry on any Billboard singles chart. The “Tummy Hurts” singer — who unleashed Snow Angel, her Billboard 200-charting debut studio album last year (No. 44) — continued: “I’m a true Meg supporter. I hate that other man, so I love Megan Thee Stallion. I love her. If anybody tries her when it comes to that sorry a– man, it’s a do or die fight for me.”

Rapp is likely referencing Tory Lanez, the Canadian rapper and singer who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot back in 2020. On the Mean Girls premiere red carpet Monday (Jan. 8), Megan told Entertainment Tonight, “I love Reneé. As soon as I met her I was like, ‘Oh, you my friend. OK.’ I love it. I love her and I love Mean Girls!”

Mean Girls hits theatres this Friday, Jan. 12, and the accompanying soundtrack will be available on all digital streaming platforms the same day.

Watch Rapp chat about Megan Thee Stallion below.

10 Jan 2024

*NSYNC’s Joey Fatone and Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean Hitting Road Together for 2024 ‘Legendary Night’ Tour

Joey Fatone and AJ McLean are crossing over. The *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys members announced on Tuesday (Jan. 9) that they are hitting the road together in March for an eight-date joint tour they’ve dubbed “A Legendary Night.”

In a post announcing the one-of-a-kind outing, Fatone wrote, “This is going to be fun!!!! @aj_mclean my dude … here we go!!!!,” with the BSB singer responding, “LEGENDARY [sign of the horns emoji].

The outing is slated to kick off on March 15 at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, CA and hit the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, CA before moving on to the East Coast for gigs in Wallingford, CT, Boston and Newark before wrapping with a trio of shows in Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and Jacksonville, FL. Click here for details on the artist pre-sale and general on-sale, with the latter slated to kick off on Friday (Jan. 12) at 10 a.m. local time.

According to a release from promoter Live Nation, the tour will find the old friends teaming up to perform choreo, their beloved 1990s and early 2000s hits accompanied by a seven-piece band and “intimate conversations of never-before-told stories from their time on the road.” The singers, both 46, booked the tour after performing together at a gig dubbed “Joey Fatone & Friends — Welcome to Tampa 90s Party” in September; they also previously shared the stage in 2021 during Fatone’s “The AFTR PRTY” Las Vegas residency, which featured the *NSYNC member performing with McLean, Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men) and McLean’s BSB bandmate, Nick Carter.

In an Instagram Live chat hyping the tour on Tuesday, Fatone promised fans that the new dates will be a “crazy” twist on the previous team-ups, with plenty of songs from both men’s groups, as well as some tracks “that never really hit on albums or records” and some throwback 90s tracks. The show will also include a “wheel of songs” segment in which they’ll spin and sing different tracks ecah night. “Obviously a blast a lot of fun,” Fatone promised.

“You guys are in for one hell of a show,” McLean added, noting that fans will know “every song,” while teasing that he will also be performing a couple of his new tracks.

Fatone reunited with his *NSYNC mates at last year’s MTV VMAs in a surprise moment that preceded the release of the defunct group’s first song in 22 years, the Trolls Band Together single “Better Place.”

Check out the “A Legendary Night” tour announcement, teaser video and dates below.

March 15 – Temecula, CA @ Pechanga Theatre

March 16 – Rancho Mirage, CA @ The Show at Agua Caliente

March 21 – Wallingford, CT @ Toyota Oakdale Theatre

March 22 – Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues

March 23 – Newark, NJ @ New Jersey Performing Arts Center

March 28 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ AuRene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts

March 29 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live

March 30 – Jacksonville, FL @ Florida Theatre

10 Jan 2024

Selena Gomez Taking Another Social Media Break: ‘I’m Focusing on What Really Matters’

Selena Gomez is taking another social media break. According to People magazine, the Only Murders In the Building star posted an Instagram Story on Tuesday (Jan. 9) detailing her latest social rest in an attempt to focus on “what really matters.” The Story was accompanied by an image of of boyfriend producer Benny Blanco goofing around with two unidentified young children as Gomez announced, “I’m off social media for a while. I’m focusing on what really matters.”

Gomez announced a similar social time out in October due to what she dubbed the “hate, violence and terror” around the world, adding, that “people being tortured and killed or any act of hate towards any one group is horrific” and that “ALL people” need to be protected, “especially children.” That post came weeks after Hamas militants stormed into Israel and murdered more than 1,200 Israelis and took 240 hostages in the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, kicking off a three-month Israeli military response that has reportedly killed more than 22,000 Palestinians.

Gomez did not specify what prompted her latest social pause in Tuesday’s comment, though it came shortly after she took to the comments section on Insta to respond to rumors about the viral Golden Globes moment she shared with pal Taylor Swift at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards. The rampant, gossipy speculation about what the two women were discussing reached such a fevered pitch that Gomez felt it necessary to explain what she, Swift and Swift’s seatmate, Miles Teller’s Wife, Keleigh, were discussing.

“Was Selena Gomez Gossiping About Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet at Golden Globes?” asked an E! News headline on Instagram, to which Gomez responded: “Noooooo I told Taylor about two of my friends who hooked up. Not that that’s anyone business.”

Gomez previously announced a social pause in Feb. 2023 — telling followers on TikTok “I’m too old for this” — after telling InStyle in Jan. 2022 that, “Taking a break from social media was the best decision that I’ve ever made for my mental health.” At the time the singer/actress who currently has 429 million Instagram followers explained that she’d created a system “where I still don’t have my passwords. And the unnecessary hate and comparisons went away once I put my phone down. I’ll have moments where that weird feeling will come back, but now I have a much better relationship with myself.”

10 Jan 2024

Olivia Rodrigo Open to Acting Return: ‘I Love Movies, I Love Telling Stories’

Olivia Rodrigo is open to going back to the start. The “Vampire” singer who got her start as a kid and teen actor on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Bizaardvark told Variety magazine at the Academy’s Governors Awards on Tuesday night (Jan. 9) that she’d totally be up for a return to acting if the right part came along.

“I love movies, I love telling stories,” said the singer. “I really want to do a coming-of-age thing maybe before I’m actually of age. Maybe I am of age already,” added the star who turns 21 on Feb. 20. “I just love telling stories, whether that be in a song or movie, that’s really something that really excites me.”

Rodrigo was at the Awards show to hype her The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes soundtrack song “Can’t Catch Me Now,” which has been shortlisted for this year’s Oscars; nominations slated to be announced later this month. The singer — who won the best new artist Grammy in 2022 for her debut album, Sour — has six Grammy noms this year for her sophomore album, GUTS and also said she’d totally be down for recording a duet with one of this year’s best new artist nominees, Noah Kahan.

“I think he’s so great and he’s very inspiring,” she said of the “Dial Drunk” star, crossing her fingers and adding, “One of these days.”

While she waits for that dream to manifest, Rodrigo is gearing up to kick off her GUTS world tour on Feb. 23 in Palm Springs, CA, with The Breeders, Chapel Roan, PinkPantheress and Remi Wolf slated to open on select dates.

10 Jan 2024

Spice Up Your Life? Mel B Confirms ‘Really Good’ Spice Girls News Is Coming Soon

Thirty years after the Spice Girls formed, triggering a wave of Girl Power that spread the globe, the classic lineup will reunite for a project.

Though details remain under lock and key, founding member Mel B let the news slip out during her appearance on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna.

When asked about the chances of a Spice Girls reunion, Mel B (real name Melanie Brown) told Hoda Kotb, “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.”

A reunion isn’t a sinch, she continues. “There’s five of us, five separate diaries, we’re all parents.”

The famous five is, of course, Baby (Emma Bunton), Posh (Victoria Beckham), Ginger (Geri Halliwell-Horner), Sporty (Melanie Chisholm) and Scary Spice (Mel B) – an outfit that landed No. 1s on both sides of the Atlantic during a hot streak in the late 1990s.

Will Spicemaniacs be satisfied by what’s to come? Apparently so. “100%,” enthuses Mel B. “And 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.”

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The Spice Girls assembled 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. “Wannabe” is still powering along, passing one billion streams on Spotify over the recent holiday period. 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).

It takes something special to gather the girls. The last time all five performed together was for the London Olympics in 2012, though the pop act hit the road for a tour in 2019, doing so as a four-piece without Victoria Beckham.

The Spice Girls did reunite in 2022 for the occasion of Geri’s 50th birthday, an event that doubled-up as the 25th anniversary of their Spiceworld, their sophomore album. Geri had left the group in 1998 to embark on a solo career, but returning to the fold in 2007 for the Return of the Spice Girls Tour.

Reunion talk aside, Mel B used her stint on the Today with Hoda & Jenna couch to discuss her return to the America’s Got Talent judging panel, her MBE, her book, her forthcoming wedding and the Royal Mail’s special collection of Spice Girls stamps. “It is massive,” she says of the new stamp issue. “For the Royal Mail, it’s usually the Queen, and the King” on the stamps. “And now it’s the Spice Girls.”

Watch the interview below.

09 Jan 2024

How High Can Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ Shimmy Up the Hot 100 After ‘Saltburn’ Bump?

Just how high can Sophie Ellis-Bextor dance up the Billboard Hot 100 with her resurgent, Saltburn-powered hit “Murder on the Dancefloor,” 20 years after the song’s initial release?

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking about the buzzy early-aughts song, which this week debuts at No. 98 on the Hot 100 and rebounds to No. 8 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart (on which it peaked at No. 2 back in 2001). The “Murder” renaissance is all thanks to a scene in the Emerald Fennell-directed film in which star Barry Keoghan dances naked to the nu-disco track around the title English estate.

Listen to the new Pop Shop Podcast below for our discussion:

Also on the show, we’re recapping the music wins at Sunday’s 2024 Golden Globes, and we’re also talking about new Ariana Grande music coming this Friday. Plus, we’ve got chart news on how the holidays are fully gone from the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Hot 100 songs chart, as things get back to normal post-Christmas. And with that, two familiar faces return to the top slot on each list: Taylor Swift on the Billboard 200 and Jack Harlow on the Hot 100. Plus, Tate McRae’s “Greedy,” Tyla’s “Water” and Doja Cat’s “Agora Hills” all hit new highs in the top 10.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

09 Jan 2024

Lady Gaga Is Back in the Studio

Mother Monster is back!

Lady Gaga took to Instagram on Monday night (Jan. 8) to share a photo set of herself in a dimly-lit music studio, posing by the microphone in an oversized striped sweater, chunky black heeled boots and sunglasses. She captioned the post with a black heart and music notes emojis, confirming that she’s working on new music.

Fans have been itching for new music since Gaga’s last album, 2020’s Chromatica, but the 13-time Grammy winner has been spending the past three years on plenty of other projects that she’s been passionate about. Gaga’s recently relaunched Haus Labs makeup brand has been viral all over TikTok, continually coming out with inventive new products, from foundations and illuminating blushes to colorful lip crayons, glosses and everything in between.

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In June, the superstar teased that she’s working hard on numerous artistic projects, including an edit for a movie based on her 2022 headlining concert tour. “I prepared for months developing my character for Joker, I filmed [Joker: Folie à Deux] for many months (a very introspective time),” Gaga wrote in a lengthy message. “I have been running my start-up Haus Labs, doing philanthropic work, and additionally have been working on The Chromatica Ball film edit.”

She added, “I can say for the first time in many years that my love of making art, music, fashion, and supporting community has never been more fulfilling.”

Gaga has yet to confirm any more information about the music she’s working on. See her new Instagram post below.

09 Jan 2024

Madonna Plays ‘Express Yourself’ For First Time on Celebration Tour

Madonna swapped a fan favorite into her set list on Monday night (Jan. 8) in Boston during the fifth act of her career-spanning Celebration concert. In the slot where she typically performs an acoustic cover of Gloria Gaynor’s 1978 disco anthem “I Will Survive,” the singer offered the audience at TD Garden a surprise unplugged run through half of her empowering 1989 Like a Prayer single “Express Yourself.”

According to fan video of the moment, Madonna raised a bottle of beer to salute 2024 with “gratitude and appreciation” before picking up an acoustic guitar and momentarily setting aside her gigantic leather cowboy hat, joking, “I have too many props… I feel like I’m in a saloon and everyone is hootin’ and hollerin’.”

She then gave thanks that she gets to perform on stage every night with her four “beautiful, talented, intelligent, opinionated children,” lamenting that her eldest, daughter Lourdes and son Rocco, have “moved on,” but that she has twin daughters Estere and Stella Ciccone on the road with her, along with older sister Mercy James and son David Banda, every night.

“I’m very grateful, because while they may need me as a mother, I must admit that I need them,” she said. “And I need you, and we need each other, cuz family isn’t just what you’re born into. Family is the family that you create. And if you feel like you’re part of my family turn the lights on your phone.”

She then sang an a cappella verse of the 1920s folk song “This Little Light of Mine” with some help from the crowd before saying that while she was telling the audience what she needs, she also wanted to share what she doesn’t need. That cued up the No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit about pushing away material riches in lieu of women speaking up, and out for themselves.

“You don’t need diamond rings or eighteen karat gold,” she crooned in the instantly recognizable “Express Yourself” second verse. “Fancy cars that go very fast, you know they never last, no, no/ What you need is a big strong hand/ To lift you to your higher ground/ Make you feel like a queen on a throne,” she sang while strumming her guitar and hitting the iconic chorus and the next verse, pre-chorus and chorus about never going for “second best.”

The mini performance ended with an a cappella sing-along with the crowd to the line “express what he’s got, oh baby ready or not.”

The career-spanning tour plays TD Garden again on Tuesday night (Jan. 9) before moving on to Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday (Jan. 11).

09 Jan 2024

Post Malone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pretty Lights, Fred Again.. to Headline 2024 Bonnaroo

This summer’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will feature headlining sets from Post Malone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fred Again.. and Pretty Lights. The annual blowout event camping fest on the ‘Roo Farm in Manchester, TN will take place on June 13-16 will also host Megan Thee Stallion, Cage the Elephant, Maggie Rogers, Melanie Martinez, Carly Rae Jepsen, Diplo, T-Pain, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Diplo and Jon Batiste, among many others.

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The acts will take to 10 stages for the four-day event featuring sets running into the early morning, as well as sunrise performances. Other artists on this year’s poster include: Mean Girls star Reneé Rapp, Cigarettes After Sex, Fisher, Dominic Fike, Parcels, Idles, Joey Bada$$, Lizzy McAlpine, Interpol, Taking Back Sunday, Gary Clark Jr., Sean Paul, Gwar, BigXthaPlug, Michigander, The Mars Volta, Key Glock, Grouplove, Teezo Touchdown, Thundercat and Brittany Howard.

In an announcement on Tuesday morning (Jan. 9), organizers revealed that for the first time in the event’s history the main What Stage will be fired up for a special headlining set on Thursday night by Pretty Lights, who will also return for a second sunrise set on The Other Stage on the final night; Sunday’s lineup will also mark the only 2024 U.S. festival appearance by Fred again..

This year’s SuperJam (June 15) in the That Tent, “One More With Feeling(s) — The Dashboard Confessional Emo Superjam,” will feature a performance from the Chris Carrabba-fronted band with to-be-announced (as well as unannounced) guests.

Pre-sale tickets will be available starting Thursday (Jan. 11) at 11 a.m ET, with fans encouraged to sign up now for a pre-sale code here; a public on-sale will follow if any tickets remain. Ticket package options include a 4-day general admission, 4-day GA+, 4-day VIP, 4-day platinum and a variety of other camping and parking options starting at $25 down with a payment plan.

Bonnaroo 2024 will feature more than 150 performances across the campground, 150 food vendors (including vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options) and free water stations.

Check out the 2024 poster below.

09 Jan 2024

Sinead O’Connor’s Cause of Death Revealed

London’s Southwark Coroners Court announced on Tuesday (Jan. 9) that beloved “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer Sinéad O’Connor died of natural causes. The Hollywood Reporter reported that the coroner’s office revealed in a statement, “This is to confirm that Ms. O’Connor died of natural causes. The coroner has therefore ceased their involvement in her death. No further comments will be made.”

O’Connor, 56, died in her London home on July 26, where authorities said she was found “unresponsive.” The next day the police announced that they were not treating the singer’s passing as suspicious and had handed the investigation over to the coroner’s office to determine the cause of death.

O’Connor’s family released a statement at the time, which read: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”

O’Connor released her debut album, the bracing, Grammy-nominated, The Lion and the Cobra, in 1987, featuring the alt radio hits “Mandinka” and “I Want Your (Hands On Me),” followed by her breakthrough 1990 masterpiece, the Grammy-winning I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. The sophomore effort featured her global breakthrough hit, the No. 1 Prince-written smash “Nothing Compares 2 U,” as well as such enduring favorites as “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and the hypnotic “I Am Stretched on Your Grave.”

An all-star group of artists will pay tribute to O’Connor (and fellow late Irish punk bard Pogues singer Shane MacGowan) at a March 20 show at Carnegie Hall in New York. The show will feature sets from Cat Power, Glen Hansard, Dropkick Murphys, The Mountain Goats, Amanda Palmer and David Gray, among others.