Pop
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As “Flowers” continues to hang around the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 half a year after its initial release, Miley Cyrus is readying a brand new single to continue her “endless summer vacation.” On Thursday (Aug. 17), Cyrus announced that her latest single, “Used to Be Young,” is set for an Aug. 25 […]
Olivia Rodrigo is giving fans a glimpse at all the good ideas that went into filming the “Bad Idea Right?” music video, as well as a closer look at some of the Easter eggs they might have missed (or so it seems). In a recent behind-the-scenes video, Rodrigo is working closely with director Petra Collins […]
As SEVENTEEN prepares to bring its Follow Tour to Japan in September, the chart-topping K-pop group experienced a setback. On Thursday (Aug. 17), PLEDIS Entertainment revealed that SEVENTEEN member S.COUPS “will be unable to participate in the majority of official activities for the foreseeable future” due to a torn ACL in his left knee.
“On Aug. 10, S.COUPS sustained an injury to the left knee as he was landing while playing a ball game for a content shoot. He was immediately taken to the hospital where he underwent a comprehensive medical examination including an MRI scan. During the examination, a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was identified in the left knee,” wrote PLEDIS in a statement posted on Weverse. “The artist is receiving necessary medical treatment prior to the surgery as recommended by the medical staff, and will undergo surgery as soon as possible. We will provide another update on the progression of treatments and his rehabilitation schedule at a later time.”
SEVENTEEN was in the midst of a very packed year. In April, the group released FML, its tenth EP, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. By July, the group launched its Follow Tour in Seoul, South Korea, with a pair of shows at Gocheok Sky Dome on July 21-22. In addition to prepping for the Japanese leg of the Follow Tour this month, SEVENTEEN is also slated to release Always Yours, their second compilation album, on Aug. 23 in celebration of the five-year anniversary of their Japanese debut.
While SEVENTEEN’s busy year is far from over and S.COUPS “is highly determined to attend all of the group’s prearranged engagements,” according to PLEDIS, he will be moving at much slower pace compared to his bandmates, and “his participation will be adjusted depending on the circumstances.” “S.COUPS will be unable to participate in the majority of official activities for the foreseeable future, and will focus on his recovery through surgery and rehabilitation.”
Even in the midst of sharing the bad news, PLEDIS still sought to empathize with fans, writing, “We would like to extend our deepest apology to his fans for any distress or worry this may have caused.”
SEVENTEEN has earned three top 10 titles on the Billboard 200 from five overall entries: 2022’s SEVENTEEN 4th Album: Face The Sun (No. 7) and SEVENTEEN 4th Album Repackage: ‘Sector 17’ (No. 4) and 2023’s SEVENTEEN 10th Mini Album: FML (No. 2). The group has also scored 22 top 10 hits on World Digital Song Sales, including “Nice Very Nice” (No. 2), “Don’t Wanna Cry” (No. 3) and “Clap” (No. 4).
In one fell swoop, Selena Gomez is returning to music and casting a last-minute bid for song of the summer. The pop star announced Thursday (Aug. 17) that her new song “Single Soon” is set to arrive next Friday, Aug. 25, tiding fans over until Gomez is able to finish her highly anticipated third album. […]
The three children of late conductor/composer/pianist Leonard Bernstein have defended Bradley Cooper‘s artistic choices amid criticism that the actor/director’s portrayal of their father in the upcoming biopic Maestro leans into an antisemitic stereotype.
After the first trailer for the long-awaited film starring and directed by Cooper dropped earlier this week, some commenters questioned the star’s choice to wear a large prosthetic nose, an image that they said amplified a hurtful Jewish stereotype.
“Bradley Cooper included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father,” Jamie, Alexander, and Nina Bernstein said in a statement; while Cooper is not Jewish, Bernstein was born to Jewish parents. “We were touched to the core to witness the depth of his commitment, his loving embrace of our father’s music, and the sheer open-hearted joy he brought to his exploration. It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts.”
They added that, “It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well. Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch — a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father.”
The Netflix film co-written by Cooper as well, is focused on the beloved composer’s relationship with Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), who the conductor married in 1951; the film is co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, among others.
One of those criticizing the choice was Joel Swanson, a Jewish History PhD student at the Univ. of Chicago, who wrote, “This isn’t about making a non-Jewish actor look more like Leonard Bernstein; it’s about making a non-Jewish actor look more like a Jewish stereotype.” After his comment was picked up by a number of major news outlets — including in a Time magazine article that asked a representation question about whether “only actors of a certain ethnicity or marginalized group” should portray characters with that same background — Swanson clarified on Wednesday that he was not advocating for that position.
“I just think the nose is a little gross, that’s all,” Swanson wrote of the use of the nose prosthetics as other commenters noted that when Cooper starred in The Elephant Man on Broadway in 2015 he chose not to wear prosthetics to portray John Merrick, who suffered from severe physical deformities.
Maestro is slated to premiere at the Venice Film Festival later this month and hit select theaters on Nov. 22 and Netflix on Dec. 20. So far Cooper has not made a public statement about the controversy and a spokesperson for Netflix had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.
Bernstein’s children also noted in their post that “at all times” during the making of the film they could “feel the profound respect and yes, the love that Bradley brought to his portrait of Leonard Bernstein and his wife, our mother Felicia. We feel so fortunate to have had this experience with Bradley, and we can’t wait for the world to see his creation.”
See Swanson and the Bernstein’s tweets and the movie trailer below.
Left: Bradley Cooper with his prosthetic nose, playing Leonard Bernstein.Right: The actual Leonard Bernstein.This isn’t about making a non-Jewish actor look more like Leonard Bernstein; it’s about making a non-Jewish actor look more like a Jewish stereotype. https://t.co/WrYWuweosW pic.twitter.com/WxspPtHktj— Joel S. (@jh_swanson) August 15, 2023
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Post Malone got the ultimate shout-out this week when his debut breakthrough 2016 single, “White Iverson,” crossed the 1 billion streams mark on Spotify and the man who inspired it gave Austin some love.
“Congrats on 1 billion Spotify streams,” retired 11-time NBA All-star Allen Iverson said in a video tribute posted by Spotify. “The whole world loves this song and I’m honored to be a part of it. Keep that same form, Post.”
According to the commemorative clip, “White Iverson” became the 10th song to cross that magic mark back on April 10, a momentous occasion that was celebrated with a memorial plaque sent to the rapper during his two-night stand at London’s O2 Arena in May.
In the video — which was part of Monday’s roll-out of the second episode of Spotify’s Billion Club: The Series show — we see Malone unwrap his latest shiny honor, and in typical fashion he wonders if he could shotgun a whole beer through it. He then promptly sets up a game of Backstage Plaque Pong, using the Spotify honor as an excuse to play his favorite drinking contest. He also takes time to tell the story behind the music.
“I made the beat and I wrote the song but I didn’t know how to work ProTools and so I took it over to my buddy’s house,” he explains as he, of course, pours a full beer into the plaque after promising to find a “cool spot” for his new hardware in the studio he’s building at home.
“It’s such a cool thing looking at something and saying ‘we did that… the team did that and the people like the music that much enough to play it a billion times,’” he said. “I couldn’t be more… I guess grateful is the word I’m looking for. It feels super cool that the song does connect with people, and I’m just happy to bring joy into anyone’s life when I can. It’s an amazing feeling for me, and that really gave me the confidence and courage to keep attempting to do what I love. I just appreciate all the support, and it’s the most beautiful feeling in the world for me.”
Malone also noted that beloved point guard Iverson’s shooting inspired his own legendary lights-out beer pong game — which AI also gave props to in his message — ending with footage of Iverson miming a jumper fading into Posty arcing a perfect shot into the suds-soaked plaque. “White Iverson” debuted on Malone’s SoundCloud channel in 2015 and then served as the lead single from his 2016 debut album, Stoney.
The singer is currently on tour in support of his Austin album, with the final show on his North American summer tour slated for Saturday (Aug. 19) at Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino, CA.
Check out the Spotify video below.
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Nick Jonas had a rough day at work on Tuesday. The Jonas Brothers singer and solo star was minding his own business during the group’s The Tour date at Boston’s TD Garden gig while singing “Sail Away” when a trap door opened up behind him and, well, there’s no easy way to say it, he […]
Famed Game of Thrones extra Ed Sheeran has flipped the script on Westeros’ favorite wintry warning with his recent “Autumn Is Coming” teaser campaign. Now he’s finally confirmed that his weeks of cryptic Instagram photos and videos — including a bit last week where he worked a shift at a Minneapolis LEGO store and flashed a minifig wearing a shirt with the fall-themed slogan — has a pay-off.
Kind of.
The “Eyes Closed” singer made Sheerios work for it a bit, though. The information came in the form of a fake 90-second informercial from the Gingerbread Man Shopping Channel that dropped on Wednesday (Aug. 16) in which Ed plays a cheesy pitchman whose tagline is: “if you like it a bit damper, check out my hamper!”
In a fast-talking bit where he talks up the wonders of the season of leaves and soggy rain, Sheeran promises a “brand new product” that will help you – yes, you! — deliver the “glum of autumn to the folks you love most.” Okay, so what he technically appears to be selling is an apple box filled with dirty, wet clothes, mashed potatoes, a warm pint, a rake, scarf, frozen pies and other miscellaneous items.
The wind-up leads to what appears to be the album title, Autumn Variations, with an accompanying phone number (917-909-4498) revealing that while all damper hampers are currently sold out, the shop will be re-stocking on Aug. 24. At press time a spokesperson for Sheeran had not returned a request for additional information on the project.
Before the commercial dropped, Sheeran shared more details about the album in an interview with Andy Cohen for his Deep & Shallow SiriusXM podcast. When Cohen asked if “Autumn Is Coming” was a reference to new music coming in October, Sheeran said “not in October. No, but there is new music coming.”
To clarify, Sheeran said, “It’s an album about Autumn and… I kind of have no expectations for it. I sort of, I made it whilst basically I, it was the album I was trying to make and then – (subtract) happened. And then, so I kind of like have finished it over the last year and, yeah, it’s ready to come out, so I’m gonna put it out.”
The interview came ahead of an exclusive show on Monday for SiriusXM subscribers and a group of special guests at Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, NY that included Howard and Beth Stern, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi, John Mayer, Brooke Shields, Paul McCartney, Stella McCartney, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cohen, James Corden, Michael J. Fox, Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld and others.
Sheeran dropped his latest maths-themed album, – (subtract), in May of this year.
Check out Sheeran’s informercial below.
Breakups are never easy. Some folks keep calm and carry on. Some of us heal by cutting our hair, hitting the gym, or eating the contents of the fridge. Britney Spears, it would appear, is indulging in some retail therapy. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In her […]
Westlife is going west for a first-ever tour of North America.
The hitmaking Irish boyband will embark on a multi-date trek in 2024, timed around St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s national day of celebration.
Westlife: The Hits Tour is scheduled to kick off March 13 at Meridan Hall in Toronto, followed by dates at Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway (March 14), New York’s Radio City Music Hall (March 16), and Chicago Theatre (March 18).
“North America, we can’t wait to see you! It’s gonna be EPIC,” reads a message on the group’s socials.
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According to a statement, the brief run will feature the band’s many hits, including “Swear It Again,” “Flying Without Wings,” “World Of Our Own,” “My Love,” “If I Let You Go,” and “Hello My Love.”
But first, a U.S. TV debut on Monday, Aug. 21 with a spot on Good Morning America.
Formed in 1998, Westlife made an immediate, and sizeable, impact in the British Isles.
They hold the record for most consecutive No. 1s in the U.K. (seven) and most singles to debut at the summit.
All told, they’ve scored eight No. 1 albums in the U.K. and have an impressive haul of 14 No. 1 singles, one of the biggest for any act, surpassed only by the Beatles and Elvis Presley. Twenty-five Westlife singles have hit the U.K. top 10.
According to Warner Music’s EastWest division, which signed the act in 2021 — also on St. Patrick’s Day — the group has sold over 55 million records worldwide.
The foursome of Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne (past member Brian McFadden is no longer with the band) reunited for the 2019 album release Spectrum, which again ruled the Official U.K. Albums Chart. Their career trophy collection includes two Brit Awards, four MTV Awards and a venue record at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, which they sold-out five times.