Pop
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Ava Max loves her fans, but she doesn’t love it when they leak her music. So on Thursday morning (Jan. 2), the “Sweet But Psycho” singer made a plea to her followers to stop leaking unreleased demos. In an Instagram Story, Max shared a screenshot of what she said was a visualizer for an as-yet-unreleased song called “Phenomenon.”
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“ok yes I have a lot of demos I’ve written that are not finalized records, and I’d appreciate it if you stop leaking these records ^ like this one,” Max wrote alongside a snippet of the mid-tempo dance number with an alluring, Middle Eastern-inspired groove. “It’s a phenomenon-on/ One dance and then it’s gone-on/ One touch can make you wonder, wonder, what’s going on,” she sings on the track.
The note continues: “A lot of records I write do not ever see the light of day and I understand your frustration, but this is not right. I write a lot of records I wish I could put out. This is one of 5 songs I have found today. It’s not right.” Max did not name the other four songs she said she found, but the post ended with a stern warning.
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“I will find out who did this,” she wrote. “Like I usually do. So plz Stop.” A follow-up slide expanded on her plea to fans, adding, “I’ve never posted about this since the leak of my second album prematurely. Plz respect my art so I can keep working on making the songs I wanna put out that make sense for my project, and who I am perfect for you.”
Max broke through in 2018 with her Billboard Hot 100 No. 10 single “Sweet But Psycho,” followed by her 2020 debut studio album, Heaven & Hell. Her sophomore LP, Diamonds & Dancefloors, was released in January 2023 after a several-month delay caused by she said at the time was a leak. She addressed the incident in a since-deleted TikTok in which she explained the delay.
“I wanted to come on here personally and talk about all the leaks that have been happening [with] Diamonds & Dancefloors. I am extremely upset about it, obviously,” she wrote. “I don’t want anyone thinking I am trying to avoid this or anything. I see what is happening. I, personally, haven’t seen the leaks or where they’re coming from online. I just know that it’s out there and — I don’t know… My team and I are trying our hardest to bring it down. We’ve all worked so hard on Diamonds & Dancefloors and I can’t wait for everyone to hear every single song on the album.”
Last May, Max told Billboard that that she was preparing for her third album cycle with “no heartbreak attached and no man attached.” She explained then that those crucial elements are tied to the vibe of the untitled collection’s debut single, “My Oh My,” which she described as feeling like “the beginning of me.”
“For the first time I’m really finding myself, honing in on healing… I really feel like this is everyone’s healing era,” Max said of the in-process album, whose release date has not yet been announced. She released the dance pop banger “Spot a Fake” in September 2024.
Nearly 300 songs have peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, and despite not hitting No. 1 or even the top 10, many remain memorable years or even decades later. In the 1960s, Rat Packers Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra each extended their iconic legacies with notable No. 25 Hot 100 hits: “You’re […]
New year, same Rihanna. Less than one day into 2025, the superstar has already punched in with one of her characteristic comebacks, shutting down a troll who demanded new music and called her a rude name on Instagram Wednesday (Jan. 1).
The exchange went down on Ri’s latest post, a video she filmed of herself celebrating with friends as the clock ticked down to midnight on New Year’s Eve. “Y’all, I didn’t drink all year,” she excitedly tells the camera in the clip.
“New Year, New Me,” the Fenty mogul captioned the post.
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One person in the comments, however, seemed intent on raining on her parade. “We want an album forehead,” they wrote.
But Rihanna being Rihanna, the “Umbrella” singer was quick to shut him down. “listen Lorenzo!” she replied. “You ain’t cute enough to be calling me by my black name you dizzy f–k!”
The Barbadian musician hasn’t released an album since 2016’s Anti, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Since then, she’s appeared on a couple sparse remixes and contributed “Born Again” and “Lift Me Up” for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. The latter tune earned Ri a Grammy nomination for best song written for visual media as well as an Oscar nod for best original song.
Rihanna has been hinting that a new LP has been in the works for years, but fans have had to get used to taking her updates with a grain of salt. In April, she told Interview that she had “a lot of visual ideas” for her next musical project, but not the songs to match. “Maybe the visual ideas are leading me to the songs that I need to make,” she added at the time.
Two months later, Ri told Entertainment Tonight that she was “starting over” the album-making process. “I don’t want to neglect the songs that I have, so I actually want to go back and listen to stuff with new ears, with my new perspective and then see what applies and what I’m still in love with,” she told the outlet in June. “I have been working on the album for so long that I kinda put all that stuff aside, and now I’m prepared to go back in the studio. I’m gonna start — give me a second!”
See Ri’s post below.
It has been more than six years since Lily Allen’s most recent studio LP — but that could be about to change. In a new update, the British pop star has said that she is “trying to manifest” releasing a new album by “the end of the year.”
Speaking on her Miss Me? podcast, a show she hosts with TV presenter and longtime friend Miquita Oliver, the 39-year-old musician discussed the potential follow-up to 2018’s No Shame, which landed at No. 8 on the U.K.’s Official Album Charts.
“Firstly, I’m going to go and get my head straight for a bit,” she said on the show’s latest episode, which was released Thursday (Jan. 2). “I’m doing a little bit of work on myself in this beginning period of the year, then I’m going to do some more writing, then I’m going to do my play [Allen will star in a new production of Hedda Gabler in Bath, England, in July], hopefully, maybe get an album out by the end of the year. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
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She continued, “It’s not real, I’m just trying to manifest it now.” Later, she added, “Listen, I’ve got this. We’re bringing Lily Allen back in 2025.”
Across her career, Allen has released four studio albums: 2006’s Alright Still, 2009’s It’s Not Me, It’s You, 2014’s Sheezus and 2018’s No Shame. Three of her singles have charted at No. 1 on the Official Singles Chart in the U.K. – “Smile” (2006), “The Fear” (2008) and a cover of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” (2013).
On a previous episode first released in April 2024, Allen revealed that she had been working on new music in Nashville. “I’m in Nashville, where everyone is really good. There’s so much legacy,” she told her co-host Oliver. “I have to say it’s quite intimidating being here. People are really talented.” Prior to that, she also said on X that she had written up to 50 songs for a new album.
In July 2024, Allen shared that she had begun selling pictures and videos of her feet on OnlyFans and that she was receiving more revenue from her pictures than from her music streams. “Imagine being and artist [sic] and having nearly 8 million monthly listeners on spotify but earning more money from having 1000 people subscribe to pictures of your feet,” she said on social media.
Listen to the episode below (music discussion begins at the 6:00 mark.)
Britney Spears‘ ex-husband Sam Asghari has gone Instagram official with his new girlfriend. The 30-year-old The Traitors actor posted a series of celebratory New Year’s pics on Wednesday (Jan. 1) in which he is seen getting up-close-and-personal with his blonde lady love.
In the first snap, the couple, both dressed in all white, are seen staring deep into each other’s eyes under a palm tree beneath a starry sky next to a caption reading “Happy New Year to All.”. According to US Magazine, Asghari’s new partner is realtor Brooke Irvine, whose social feeds are set to private.
In another picture, Irvine lays her head on Asghari’s stomach as the couple recline on the trunk of a palm tree. The reel also features a snap of the pair in all-black at what looks like a party, followed by another cuddly image of them sitting on a carnival-like ride and a final pic of Asghari with his arm around Irvine’s neck, standing behind her as they take a mirror selfie while dressed in all-white again.
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In December, Spears celebrated her 43rd birthday on the same day a California court declared her officially single. The declaration came seven months after her divorce from Asghari was finalized in Los Angeles. Spears and Asghari separated in July 2023, 13 months after their wedding and six years after they first started dating. Asghari filed for divorce in August 2023, citing irreconcilable differences.
Two months earlier, Spears announced that she’d “married” herself in a throwback video that appeared similar to one from 2022, in which she wrote, “The day I married myself … Bringing it back because it might seem embarrassing or stupid, but I think it’s the most brilliant thing I’ve ever done !!!
The divorce from Asghari was the third for spears, who was also briefly married to childhood friend Jason Alexander in 2004 before tying the knot with dancer Kevin Federline that same year; she and Federline had two sons, Sean Preston, 19 and Jayden James, 18, before splitting in 2007.
While Asghari spent the new year with his new love, Spears revealed over the Christmas holiday that she’d reunited with Jayden, calling their reconciliation the “best Christmas of my life!!! I haven’t seen my boys in 2 years!!!”
Justin Bieber rang in the new year by rededicating himself to wife Hailey Bieber. After the model posted a spicy NYE pic in which she wore a pink bikini under a fur coat, Justin hopped into the conversation in his Instagram Stories on Wednesday (Jan. 1) by commenting “Goin anywhere with u bb,” according to […]
London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display was, apparently, brat. The celebration took pace on the River Thames as Big Ben struck midnight and 2024 shifted to 2025.
Charli XCX‘s big year made it into the city’s annual fireworks display airing on BBC and ITV; her influence on the fireworks show is immediately recognizable as Brat green lights the sky, as captured in the photo above.
The night’s Brat-inspired moment can be seen in full here, via a clip Charli’s fans shared on X (formerly Twitter). Along with that familiar shade of green, album track “Apple” plays and “london” appears typewritten in the style of Charli’s album art.
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Elsewhere on New Year’s Eve, Charli shared reflections on Brat‘s massive success over the past year on Instagram.
“So many highs in 2024 and i cba to post them all but here’s some of my fav memories and fav people. love you all so much and thank you for everything. sorry i’m a lot sometimes xx,” she wrote on Dec. 31.
The caption went along with a photo carousel looking back at the year of Brat, with snapshots with friends and from the rollout of the album — and its companion release, Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat. Some highlights included pictures with her fiancé (The 1975’s George Daniel) and a behind-the-scenes cue card shot from her SNL hosting gig.
Brat arrived in June, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It also led the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 29 weeks.
Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat, a variation of the original album featuring collaborations with Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, The 1975, Lorde, Robyn, Troye Sivan, Bon Iver, Julian Casablancas, Caroline Polachek and more, followed in October.
Charli’s fall Sweat Tour with Sivan earned $28 million, with 297,000 tickets sold over the course of 22 shows in the U.S. and Canada, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
The Jonas Brothers are gearing up for a busy 2025. On Tuesday (Dec. 31), the sibling trio of Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas reunited for a special appearance at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest in New York City. Ahead of their high-energy performance, the group — celebrating their 20th anniversary this […]
Rihanna surprised fans with an impromptu visit to a New York City karaoke bar.
On Saturday (Dec. 28), the 36-year-old singer and entrepreneur made an unexpected stop at Manhattan’s Girls Love Karaoke, where she took the stage to perform “Needed Me” and “Sex With Me” from her 2016 album, Anti.
In fan-captured footage from the event, RiRi can be heard telling the excited crowd that she only had about five minutes to spare, joking that her “battery” was “about to burn out.” The Grammy-winning superstar, also a mother of two, added a dose of star power to the evening while playfully teasing fans who have been eagerly awaiting new music, nearly nine years after the release of Anti.
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Following the performance, Rihanna’s Navy flooded social media with reactions to the karaoke surprise. “Imagine going to [karaoke] night and you get a free Rihanna performance,” one fan wrote on X. Another added, “Awee she’s having fun.” Someone else gushed, “Her voice reminds me of Whitney Houston.”
But not all responses were so positive. “Chii 😭 the mic was bleeding,” one commenter quipped on X. Another person wrote, “Help this is horrible 😭😭.” A third user critiqued, “I didn’t know singing a simple note was this hard.” And yet another questioned, “Is this really Rihanna? My cat can sing better.”
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Some disgruntled fans took to social media to call out the Fenty Beauty founder for performing at a karaoke bar instead of focusing on new music.
“So she wanna f— around with karaoke instead of getting her ass in the booth. wtf Rihanna 😒,” one person wrote on X. Another added, “Karaoke to your own 2016 hits with nothing new released?!!?” alongside a Simpsons meme that read “Pathetic.”
Earlier this year, Rihanna — who shares two young children with boyfriend A$AP Rocky — teased that her upcoming music will be worth the wait.
“I already got stuff that I feel like I could make hits out of,” she told ET in April. “Me and Rocky are really trying to figure out who’s gonna use what because it’s so good.”
In March, Rihanna performed live for the first time in eight years when she took the stage for a pre-wedding celebration for the son of Asia’s richest man.
Charli XCX had a landmark 2024, and she’s looking back on the best moments of her year on social media. “So many highs in 2024 and i cba to post them all but here’s some of my fav memories and fav people. love you all so much and thank you for everything. sorry i’m a […]