Pop

24 Jul 2023

Harry Styles Reflects on Love On Tour Following Final Show: ‘Greatest Experience of My Entire Life’

Harry Styles wrapped up a mammoth tour over the weekend, closing out nearly two years of shows with a finale in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

And following his emotional goodbye on stage, the pop star shared a lengthy thank-you message on Instagram to the millions of fans who attended. “It’s been the greatest experience of my entire life,” he wrote in a Monday (July 24) note on his Story. “Thank you to my band, and all the crew who made the last few years so special. It’s been an absolute pleasure.”

“To everyone who came out to see us play, thank you,” Styles continued. “I feel so incredibly full and happy, it’s all because of you. You have given memories that will last a lifetime, more than I could have ever dreamed of.”

Deemed one of the 10 best-selling tours of all time, Love On Tour kicked off — after some delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — in September 2021. More than 4.5 million fans came out to see the show, and the trek brought in nearly $600 million as of a week ago.

The global tour started out as support for Styles’ sophomore record Fine Line, which came out in 2019. When Harry’s House arrived in May of 2022, his shows refocused to serve both albums.

“Thank you for your time, your energy, and your love,” the “As It Was” singer added. “It’s been an honor to play for you, I hope you had as much fun as I did.”

Styles concluded, “Look after each other, I’ll see you again when the time is right. Treat People With Kindness. I love you more than you’ll ever know.” Signed, “-H.”

But that’s not all the Don’t Worry Darling star left his fans with. Styles also shared a video on YouTube and Instagram full of clips from various Love On Tour stops, including shots of the singer traveling to the stage in his infamous box, as well as footage of fans interacting with each other and telling stories of friendships made in the audience.

“To the most inspiring people I know,” Styles captioned the video on Instagram. “Goodbye for now. Love On Tour forever.”

Watch the video above.

24 Jul 2023

Watch Taylor Swift Laugh During This Revenge Song at Her Seattle Concert

She can’t even sing it with a straight face. Taylor Swift dusted off one of her best revenge songs at her Seattle Eras Tour show on Saturday (July 22), during which she had to take a pause to let out some maniacal laughter.

Singing “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” — which has long been rumored to be about her feud with Kanye West, now known as Ye, and Kim Kardashian — as the night’s surprise song, the 33-year-old pop star got all the way through to the bridge without stopping. Then, at the lyric “Here’s to you, ’cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do,” she paused playing completely, taking her hands off her guitar and letting out an uproarious “Ha!”

Swift then took a full 20 seconds to cackle, leaning on the microphone stand for support as the crowd at Lumen Field joined in on the laughter. “I can’t even say it with a straight face,” the singer-songwriter eventually resumed. “This is why we can’t have nice things!”

One fan video from the performance featured Swift’s mom, Andrea, singing along in the audience to the lyric, “Here’s to my momma, had to listen to all this drama,” which the “Anti-Hero” artist sings just before the big laugh.

To be clear, the laughter was all part of the performance and is even featured on the original track, released in 2017 as part of Swift’s Reputation album. But the Grammy winner did take a significantly bigger pause in the Saturday acoustic performance than she does on the recording.

While “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” is rumored to be about the rapper and his now ex-wife, it does contain what are probably the most incriminating lyrics tying the track back to their clash with Swift. “It was so nice being friends again/ There I was giving you a second chance,” she sings. “And therein lies the issue, friends don’t try to trick you/ Get you on the phone and mind-twist you.”

Ye and Swift first fell out in 2009 after the former notoriously stormed the VMAs stage upon the latter’s victory for best female video, taking the microphone and interrupting her speech to declare that Beyoncé should have won instead. Swift later penned “Innocent” about the Yeezy founder and the two reconciled, although things fell apart again in 2016 after Ye released his “Famous” single featuring the lyric: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/ Why? I made that b—- famous.”

Kardashian proceeded to leak video footage of Ye telling Swift about the song before its release over the phone, but Swift maintained she was never made aware of the second half of that lyric, which she took issue with, saying on social media that the clip was “edited and manipulated.”

Flash forward to present day, and Swift is fresh off the release of her most successful Taylor’s Version re-recorded album yet, with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) surpassing 715,000 album unit sales in its first week. She also has two more stops on the U.S. leg of her blockbuster Eras Tour — Santa Clara and Inglewood — before she’ll take the trek global.

Meanwhile, Ye recently lost his billionaire status, with many of his brand partnerships cutting ties following his antisemitic hate speech and endorsement of “White Lives Matter” earlier this year. Kardashian filed for divorce from Ye in 2021.

Watch the moment below:

24 Jul 2023

Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’ Hits One Billion Streams on Spotify

Britney Spears is officially the member of the Spotify Billions club. The singer scored her first billion-streaming song on the service on Sunday (July 23) when her beloved 2003 banger “Toxic” reached a billie.

This would normally be the spot where we refer to Spears’ latest post on her Instagram account, but Brit deleted her Insta again over the weekend, shortly after the release of her new single with will.i.am, “Mind Your Business.”

The page went dark on Saturday and remained offline on Monday (July 24) in the latest example of Spears, 41, shutting down her social media accounts with no warning; in the past they have typically come back on-line within days, or weeks. The stealth mode came just as Spears released her first new music since last year’s hit collab with Elton John on “Hold Me Closer”; before that Spears’ most recent release was her 2016 album Glory.

The third collaboration between Brit and the Black Eyed Peas rapper/producer is a bouncy club track with a minimal beat that seems to be a broadside against those that can’t stop sticking their noses into Spears’ private life with the no-reading-between-the-lines refrain, “Mind your business b—h.”

The song dropped with just one day’s notice, more than a decade after the pair first worked together on the 2012 single “Scream & Shout.” The song also reprises the iconic phrase from “Scream & Shout” in which Will says the tagline, “You are now rockin’ with Will.i.am and Britney, b—h.”

While Spears has not announced a new album to go with the seemingly one-off single, she did recently confirm the upcoming release of her memoir, The Woman in Me, which is due out on Oct. 24.

Listen to “Mind Your Business” below.

24 Jul 2023

Selena Gomez Celebrates 31st Birthday With Paris Hilton, Christina Aguilera, Saweetie & Private ‘Barbie’ Screening

Selena Gomez celebrated her 31st birthday over the weekend by doing what a lot of us did: seeing Barbie. Of course, The Only Murders in the Building star had a private screening of the record-setting Greta Gerwig smash that brought in more than $155 million and celebrated with some of her famous friends, including Paris Hilton, Diplo, Saweetie and many more.

She, of course, hosted all of them at a major party — pink-themed, naturally — with the gang of famous attendees including Hilton, Christina Aguilera, Diplo, Sabrina Claudio, Benny Blanco, Karol G, Tyga and many more, according to snaps from the soiree posted by attendees.

In the party pics, Gomez posed on a set of stairs in a frilly red dress and danced the night away with her A-list guests, blowing out the candles on a giant flower-bedecked cake. According to People magazine, Gomez also posted some images from the private screening of Barbie with her little sister Gracie on her Instagram Story, with the whole girl gang rocking pink outfits for the movie that easily topped the weekend box office.

Earlier in the day, Gomez shared a thankful message alongside a pic of her blowing out the candles on an elaborate cake covered with edible flowers. “I am thankful for so much in my life and one of the things I am most thankful for is the work we’ve been able to do with the Rare Impact Fund through @Rarebeauty,” she said of her beauty line that helps to support the fund that focuses on mental health and self-acceptance.

“Because of YOU we’ve been able to raise awareness and increase access to mental health services for young people,” she added. “This is my true passion in life. People keep asking me what I want for my birthday, and I tell everyone the same thing please do not get me anything but if you want to do something for my birthday, please donate to the Rare Impact Fund. If you have the means, consider donating to help us make a difference.”

Check out Gomez’s posts below.

24 Jul 2023

Tony Bennett’s Widow Susan Fondly Recalls Singer’s ‘Wonderful Soul,’ Shares Favorite Picture

Tony Bennett‘s widow, Susan Benedetto, share some of her favorite memories of the “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” singer with People magazine just days after the beloved pop singer died at age 96 following a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Susan, who married Bennett in 2007 after 20 years with the singer, shared one of her treasured photos with the magazine in which Bennett stared out of a window in Italy during their 2007 honeymoon.

“This is one of my favorite personal photos of Tony taken during our honeymoon in 2007 in Villa San Michele, in Florence,” Benedetto wrote alongside the snap in which the always dapper crooner and 20-time Grammy winner wore a dark blue suit with matching sky blue tie. “Tony, naturally, loved visiting his ancestral homeland, and we spent many summers in Italy over the years, and it was always a special time for us to be together, just the two of us.”

Susan opened up about some of her late husband’s favorite things, telling People, “Tony would paint all day, and then we would eat pasta, which was his favorite meal. I love how this photo captured his thoughtful demeanor….everyone knows Tony had heart, but he also was a wonderful soul.” She also shared that Bennett’s birth name, Benedetto, translates into “the blessed one,” adding that “I was most certainly blessed to have Tony in my life.”

Many of Bennett’s musical peers also paid tribute to the incomparable singer following his passing. “Rest in peace, Tony. You were the epitome of a gentleman with a God given one-of-a-kind voice. It was truly a great honor of my career and of my life to get to share the stage with you,” wrote Carrie Underwood on Instagram. The country star appeared on Bennett’s 2011 Billboard 200-topping Duets II album.

Oscar and Grammy winner Elton John also weighed in on Instagram, writing, “Without doubt the classiest singer, man, and performer you will ever see. He’s irreplaceable. I loved and adored him.”

24 Jul 2023

Tones And I, BIA and Diarra Sylla Kick Off FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 With ‘Bring It On’

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 is underway, with 32 teams competing for the biggest prize in the sport. Tones And I helped get the ball rolling.

The Australian singer and songwriter teams-up with American rapper Bia and French-Senegalese singer-songwriter Diarra Sylla on the competition’s official walkout anthem, “Bring It On,” which dropped in full Friday (July 21).

Produced by multi-Grammy Award-winner RedOne, the tune will play before all 64 games across the tournament and will enjoy sync opportunities on free-to-air commercial TV in Australia.

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The triumvirate of artists represents “different continents and a variety of musical influences,” explains FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura, pointing out the tune will be used for future tournaments.

“By bringing together voices from Africa, Australia, Europe and North America, this song symbolises how music – and football – can unite the world,” comments Samoura.

“Bring It On” premiered ahead of the opening match last Thursday, July 20 between New Zealand and former World Cup champion Norway at Eden Park, Auckland.

“Being able to bring different people and cultures together through music is just the best thing for me,” comments Bia, whose homeland is the reigning World Cup champion.

Though Senegal missed out this time, “there will be four African teams taking part and I will be proud to represent my country through music,” adds Sylla.

Stream “Bring It On” below.

Tones cut her teeth busking on Australia’s east coast before landing a global smash with “Dance Monkey,” which swung to the top of sales charts in at least 30 markets. Along the way, the track clocked a record 24 weeks at No. 1 on Australia’s ARIA Singles Chart, and, in the U.K., logged 11 weeks at the summit, an all-time mark for a solo female artist.

The hitmaker (real name: Toni Watson) led Billboard’s Hot 100 Songwriters Chart in January 2020, as the song cracked the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Global combined streams top 10 billion across her catalog, which includes “Fly Away,” which peaked at No. 11 in the U.K. in 2021.

Tones is currently in the studio recording her sophomore album, due out in 2024. It’s the followup to 2021’s Welcome to the Madhouse, which led the ARIA Albums Chart.

But first, a new song, “The Greatest,” is slated to arrive Aug. 4.

The World Cup is co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand for the first time. For the record, both home teams got their campaigns off to winning starts.

The hosts are represented in music by Kiwi pop artist BENEE and Aussie singer and songwriter Mallrat, whose collaboration “Do It Again” is the “official song” of the tournament.

Stream “Do It Again” below.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=lhGgq20oACQ&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&start=2&wmode=transparent

23 Jul 2023

Harry Styles Ends Love on Tour With New Instrumental Song, Heartfelt Speech in Italy

It’s a wrap for Harry Styles‘ Love on Tour. The Harry’s House hitmaker ended his massive tour in Reggio Emilia, Italy, at RCF Arena on Saturday night (July 22), and he topped the last concert off with an extra encore.

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Styles closed the show with an as-yet-untitled song that was new to fans: It went on for about 10 minutes and it was an instrumental ballad, with Styles on piano.

His name and the phrase “new song” trended on Twitter on Saturday as fans reacted to hearing new music from Styles at his final Love on Tour date. It was an emotional end to a tour that went on for nearly two years.

“I don’t get to do this if you guys don’t come,” Styles told the audience during a speech that had fans in tears. “I know that more than anyone else. You guys being here tonight, I know you wanted to make it special for me. You make it special for me every single night.”

“The atmosphere that you have created, the family that you have created, this safe space that you have created,” he said during his speech. “I want to thank you for everything.”

Styles continued, “I know feeling so incredibly small in this world it can be really, really difficult to feel like anything you can do can make a difference. I promise you, I see it all the time in the little things that you do and the way that you treat each other. How it has affected all the people around me, how it has affected people out there, it is so much bigger. It does not end when this tour ends. I want you to continue it. Put love out into the world. It needs it a bit right now. I love you all so much, and I’m gonna miss you. I will be loving you so, so much — if you’ve been supporting me for one year, five years, 13 years, whatever it is. Not only have you changed my life over and over again, but you’ve made me the happiest. I’m so thrilled and happy to be here tonight. I’m so, so happy.”

The trek, which launched on Sept. 4, 2021 in Las Vegas, brought Styles to five continents and has become one of the 10 highest-grossing tours of all time, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. The former One Direction singer had earned almost $600 million from the tour as of a week ago.

Watch him perform his new song and see a clip from his thank you speech below.

23 Jul 2023

Fans Choose Britney Spears & Will.i.am’s ‘Mind Your Business’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music

Britney Spears and Will.i.am‘s “Mind Your Business” has topped this week’s new music poll.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (July 21) on Billboard, choosing the collaboration between the pop superstar and Grammy-winning producer as their favorite new music release of the past week.

“Mind Your Business” brought in nearly 48% of the vote, beating out new music by Travis Scott, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd (“K-Pop”); the Barbie movie soundtrack; Chris Stapleton (“White Horse”); ZAYN (“Love Like This”); and others.

After giving fans just a one-day heads up, the two all-star musicians dropped their new single “– a full decade after first working together on 2012’s “Scream & Shout.”

On the track, Brit and the Black Eyed Peas founder riff over spacey synth ripples, with the Princess of Pop declaring, “Mind your business, b—-.” “Mind Your Business” also recycles a tagline featured throughout “Scream & Shout”: “You are now rockin’ with Will.i.am and Britney, b—-.”

The project was only announced one day ahead of time, with Will.i.am simply tweeting out a 16-second snippet of the electronic dance track. “UH OH!!! You are now NOW rocking with will.i.am and @britneyspears…,” he captioned the sneak peek.

Trailing behind “Mind Your Business” on the poll is Scott, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd’s collaboration “K-Pop,” which brought in 15% of the vote.

See the final results of this week’s new music release poll below.

23 Jul 2023

‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’ Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200

Taylor Swift’s third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), spends a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated July 29). It’s the first time a re-recorded Swift album has spent its first two weeks at No. 1. The pop superstar’s re-recorded Fearless and Red each bowed at No. 1 in 2021, and then fell from the top slot in their second frames — though the former returned to No. 1 six months later after its release on vinyl and signed CD.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) earned 121,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending July 20 (down 83%), according to Luminate.

Swift leads a quiet top 10, where the region hosts zero debuts for the first time in six months. The top 10 was last absent of debuts on the Jan. 28-dated list, when SZA’s SOS led the chart for a sixth week.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new July 29, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (July 25). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’s 121,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending July 20, SEA units comprise 73,000 (down 65%, equaling 95.6 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 22 songs), album sales comprise 47,000 (down 91%) and TEA units comprise 1,000 (down 72%).

For a second week in a row, Swift has four albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. A week ago, she became the first living artist to chart four albums in the top 10 at the same time since 1966. On the latest chart, those same four sets (all former No. 1s) are still in the top 10, as Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is joined by Midnights (rising 5-4 with 51,000 units; down 7%), Lover (7-6 with 44,000; down 2%) and Folklore (a non-mover at No. 10 with 34,000; up 5%).

Morgan Wallen’s former No. 1 One Thing at a Time is stationary at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 105,000 equivalent album units (up 2%). One Thing at a Time has earned in excess of 100,000 equivalent album units in all 20 of its chart weeks. It extends its own record as the album with the most weeks of 100,000-plus units since the Billboard 200 began ranking titles by units in December of 2014.

Peso Pluma’s Génesis returns to its peak, rising 4-3 (55,000 equivalent album units; down 5%); Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album climbs 6-5 (48,000; up 3%); SZA’s SOS ascends 8-7 (43,000; down 1%); Lil Uzi Vert’s former leader Pink Tape dips 3-8 (40,000; down 34%); and Gunna’s A Gift & a Curse is steady at No. 9 (nearly 40,000; down 6%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

23 Jul 2023

Taylor Swift Debuts ‘No Body, No Crime’ With Haim at Eras Tour Concert in Seattle

Taylor Swift gave the first live performance of her Evermore song “No Body, No Crime” with Haim during her Eras Tour stop at Seattle’s Lumen Field on Saturday (July 22).

To assist with the live unveiling, the pop superstar brought out longtime friends the Haim sisters, who were featured on the studio version of the 2020 track and serve as the opening act for the remainder of her Eras Tour in North America.

“No Body, No Crime” — which peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 2020 — replaced “Tis the Damn Season” during the Evermore portion of Swift’s usual Eras Tour setlist.

Swift’s team-up with Haim in Seattle arrived almost exactly one year after the sibling trio invited Tay to help perform “Gasoline” and “Love Story” at London’s O2 Arena on July 21, 2022. Swift appears on the recorded version of “Gasoline, which was originally on the expanded edition of Haim’s 2020 album, Women in Music Pt. III.

Swift and Haim have been best pals dating back to the 1989 World Tour, when the multi-Grammy winner first had the sister band open for one of her tours. Since then, the four women have collaborated on “No Body, No Crime” and joined forces again in 2022 for Swift’s “Bejweled” music video.

The North American leg of Swift’s Eras Tour will continue at Seattle’s Lumen Field on Sunday (July 23) before heading to Santa Clara, Calif.’s Levi’s Stadium (July 28-29) and closing at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium (Aug. 3-5 and 7-9). Haim is among the opening acts for the remaining dates.

Watch Swift debut “No Body, No Crime” with Haim in Seattle here.