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For the first time since it happened, Zayn Malik has spoken about his explosive falling out with Gigi and Yolanda Hadid. For the most part, the former One Direction star has remained tight-lipped about the fall 2021 altercation with the 59-year-old Hadid matriarch, which ended with Malik pleading “no contest” to four counts of harassment. […]
Colorado Governor Jared Polis has a message for Taylor Swift ahead of her Eras Tour shows this weekend: “Welcome to Denver, it’s been waiting for you!” In a clever letter posted recently to his official Instagram account, Polis tied in dozens of Swift’s song lyrics and titles to officially greet the Grammy winner before she […]
Less than a week after debuting a set of sultry photos in support of his forthcoming new single “Seven,” Jung Kook has revealed that Grammy-nominated rap star Latto will feature on the track. The BTS member announced the news by launching the first official teaser of the “Seven” music video, which Latto does not appear […]
Birds of a feather stick together, and pop superstar Adam Lambert is happy to see the similar plumage between himself and Lil Nas X. On Tuesday night’s episode (July 11) of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Lambert gave a shout-out to the “Industry Baby” star. When a fan asked on-air about Lambert’s reaction […]
March 25, 2015, lives on in infamy for One Direction fans as the beginning of the end — aka, when Zayn Malik decided to leave the band. But in a candid new interview on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, the 30-year-old pop star hinted that if he hadn’t separated from the group to pursue his own solo career, one of the other five guys probably would have sooner rather than later.
“There was a lot of … look, I don’t want to go into too much detail, but there was a lot of politics going on,” Malik told Cooper on the Wednesday (July 12) episode, careful not to call out ex-bandmates Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson by name. “Certain people were doing certain things, certain people didn’t want to sign contracts, so I knew something was happening. So I just got ahead of the curve.”
“If I’m being honest with you, I was like, ‘I’m just going to get out of here.’ I think this is done and I just seen it, and I completely selfishly wanted to be the first person to go and make my own record if I’m being completely honest with you,” he added. “I’m a passive dude, but when it comes to my music and my business, I’m serious about it and I’m competitive, so I wanted to be the first to go and do my own thing.”
Malik — who announced earlier this week that his new single “Love Like This” will drop July 21 — also admitted that by the end of his run with the boy band, everyone was little bit tired of one another. “We’ve been together every day for five years and we’ve got sick of each other, if I’m being completely honest,” he admitted.
“We were close. We done crazy things with each other that nobody else in the world will ever understand or have those experiences that we’ve shared with each other, and I look back on it now in a much fonder light than I would’ve as I just left,” he continued. “There were great experiences, I had great times with them, but yeah, we just run our course.”
Listen to the full episode below:
The Las Vegas residency is the new staple in the careers of pop icons — superstars such as Adele, Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson are currently lighting up the Strip with their shows. Now, Kylie Minogue is teasing that she might be joining their ranks soon. On the Tuesday (July 11) episode of Watch What […]
Britney Spears has promised to be super-candid in her upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me. That radical honesty has also seemingly extended to her feelings about the recent incident in which she alleged that she was struck by highly touted NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama’s security detail in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Police Department concluded its probe last week into the incident and said in a statement that no charges would be filed “against the person involved.”
In an Instagram video posted on Tuesday night (July 11), the singer addressed what she said was a recent comment about the run-in in Vegas “that a lot of people are talking about.” Without naming names, Spears said she heard a news report about a radio station “talking smack… and talking s–t” saying that “I deserved to be smacked” because Wembanyama’s security detail were just doing their job and protecting their client.
“I’ve been with the most famous people in the world… *NSYNC at one time, girls would like literally throw themselves at them on my way into the place actually I was knocked down by three 12-year-olds trying to get my picture,” the singer said about her 1998 Second II None Tour, on which she opened for future boyfriend Justin Timberlake’s boy band.
“My security, not one time, touched them or even came near them,” she explained. The point or relaying that story, she said, was that, “I didn’t appreciate the people saying that I deserved to be hit. Because no woman ever deserves to be hit.” Spears explained that she tapped the 7′ 5″ tall San Antonio Spurs center on the back and then was “backhanded.. hit my face,” causing her to fall to the floor, where her best friend scooped her up and held her.
She said she got an apology at her table 30 minutes later, but noted that she has yet to receive a public apology. Before the LVPD investigation, Spears filed a police report alleging battery after she claimed that she was stuck in the face by a member of Wembanyama’s security team while trying to greet him in a Vegas hotel.
According to TMZ, which first reported the news, Spears was dining with husband Sam Asghari and two friends at Catch at the Aria Hotel when she saw the Spurs No. 1 pick and wanted to take a photo with him. When she tapped Wembanyama on the shoulder, Director of Team Security for the Spurs Damian Smith reportedly pushed her, hitting her in the face and causing the singer to fall to the ground.
As Britney noted, Smith then reportedly apologized to her, saying he didn’t recognize the pop star at the time of the incident, with Spears reportedly accepted the apology. TMZ reported that law enforcement checked the Aria Hotel’s security footage, which reportedly showed Smith pushing Spears’ hand away from Wembanyama, causing her own hand to strike her in the face before she fell.
In a statement shared by Associated Press, Wembanyama said that Spears “grabbed me from behind,” and that he didn’t know it was the “Womanizer” singer until several hours later. “I just know the security pushed her away. I don’t know with how much force but security pushed her away. I didn’t stop to look so I could walk in and enjoy a nice dinner,” he said.
In an Instagram post last week, Spears first recounted her Beatlemania-style experiences while touring with *NSYNC and praised herself for resisting the instinct to hit the security guard back, even as she said she was still a “huge fan” of the preternaturally gifted Wembanyama. “It’s not his fault his security hit me … s— happens !!!,” she said.
Billboard has reached out to Spears’ team and the Spurs for additional information and comment on the incident, with neither responding at press time.
Watch Spears discuss the Wembanyama run-in below.
Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” is back on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated July 15) for the first time since its initial chart run in 2009-10, thanks to annual Fourth of July gains.
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The song (released on her former label Hollywood Records; she’s now signed to Columbia Records) re-enters the Hot 100 at No. 50 with 8 million U.S. streams (up 64%), 5.2 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 34%) and 6,000 downloads sold (up 560%) in the June 30-July 6 tracking week, according to Luminate. The sales sum helps it also re-enter the Digital Song Sales chart at No. 7.
“Party in the U.S.A.” was a smash hit during its original chart run. It debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in August 2009, becoming Cyrus’ highest charting song at the time. She had previously reached the top 10 with “See You Again” (No. 10 peak in 2008), “7 Things” (No. 9; 2008), “The Climb” (No. 4; 2009) and “He Could Be The One” (No. 10; 2009).
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The re-entry is an added bonus to an already huge year for Cyrus. In March, she dropped her eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 after its debut, becoming her 14th top 10. Ahead of the LP’s release, lead single “Flowers” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in January and spent eight weeks on top. It ranks at No. 5 this week in its 25th consecutive week on the chart — all of which has been spent in the top five. The song became her second No. 1, after the three-week reign of “Wrecking Ball” in 2013.
“Flowers” also hit No. 1 on four individual radio formats: Adult Pop Airplay (for 17 weeks), Adult Contemporary (14 and counting), Pop Airplay (10) and Dance/Mix Show Airplay (four). It ruled the all-format Radio Songs chart for 18 weeks, setting a new record for a title by a woman. In the chart’s history, only The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” has spent more time at No. 1, with 26 weeks.
In total, five songs from Endless Summer Vacation have charted on the Hot 100: “Flowers,” “River” (No. 32 peak), “Jaded” (No. 56), “Thousand Miles” featuring Brandi Carlile (No. 68) and “Rose Colored Lenses” (No. 91).
Older songs such as “Party in the U.S.A.” are eligible for the Hot 100 if they rank within the top 50 and have a meaningful reason for their resurgences. We occasionally see this phenomenon during the year if catalog songs go viral and/or are newly promoted, as with Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” (from 2019 and now in the Hot 100’s top 10) or have notable TV/film synchs that generate newfound interest, as was the case with Kate Bush’s 1985 classic “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” last year. And we see it during every holiday season, when festive songs storm the higher ranks of the Hot 100.
The title of Britney Spears‘ hit 2013 single “Work Bitch” isn’t just a provocative call-to-arms. For the pop superstar it is also a personal mantra that could serve as the subtitle to her upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me.
“My book is coming out very, very soon. I worked my ass off for this book,” she told fans in a video posted on Tuesday night (July 11), just hours after the memoir was announced. “I had a lot of therapy to get this book done, so you guys better like it. If you don’t like it, that’s fine too.” Either way, she added cheekily, “I’m going to Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama, Miyago, Machigo, baby why don’t we go,” she said before running out of sight after, kind of, singing the refrain from the Beach Boys’ beloved 1988 late-period hit single “Kokomo.”
Sliding back into frame wearing a pair of white sunglasses and continuing with the gibberish lyrics, she sang, “Koko, koko, masasees,” before a voice off camera said, “too much, too much.”
Fans are likely hoping for much more after Simon & Schuster imprint Gallery Books announced an Oct. 24 release date for the anticipated tell-all, which was described as a “brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith and hope.” The cover features a picture of a topless Spears, 41, wearing silver pants, with her arms covering her breasts.
“Britney’s compelling testimony in open court shook the world, changed laws, and showed her inspiring strength and bravery,” Gallery Books senior VP and publisher Jennifer Bergstrom said in a statement shared with Billboard. “I have no doubt her memoir will have a similar impact — and will be the publishing event of the year. We couldn’t be more proud to help her share her story at last.”
In a second, close-up video, Spears again relayed that she just finished writing the book and repeated her playful warning about liking it, as well as some more made-up “Kokomo” lyrics. She also posted the official book teaser trailer, which reads, “It’s coming… My story… On my terms… At last… Are you ready?”
The announcement got a thumbs-up from the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.i.am, who tweeted, “Congrats @britneyspears… I can’t wait to read your book… i know it’s going to inspire so many people… I’m #inspired already…”
The writing in The Woman in Me is described as having “remarkable candor and humor” in a “groundbreaking book” that “illuminates the enduring power of music and love — and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.”
Watch Spears’ book promo below.
Taylor Swift has tried very hard to make every night of her Eras Tour memorable for fans. From the surprise song sections of each show to special guests and video premieres, the massive stadium outing has often had the feel of a much more intimate gathering. That warm feeling has also extended to backstage where, […]