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Shawn Mendes surprised the crowd at Ed Sheeran‘s concert at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday night when the Ontario-bred singer performed live for an audience for the first time since announcing a break from performance last year to focus on his mental health.
In his first live performance in a year and a half, Mendes strolled out as Sheeran performed his 2011 single “Lego House,” and after collaborating on Ed’s song, the two men enthusiastically strummed their acoustic guitars for a run through Mendes’ 2017 hit “There’s Nothin’ Holding Me Back.” In a fan video of the moment, Sheeran said that he and Mendes were messaging last week and Shawn asked if he could attend the show. “And I was like, ‘you can’t just come to the show, you gotta come up a sing a song,’” Sheeran said he told Mendes.
“And he said, ‘can we sing ‘Lego House?’ And I said, ‘we’ll only sing ‘Lego House’ if we can sing one of yours.’”
“What a moment. Me and @shawnmendes on stage in his home town,” Sheeran wrote in a caption to a clip of the special moment, which ended with the two men enjoying a long on-stage hug. “Wish I could bottle the feeling and keep opening it to feel that buzz again, so much fun. Thank you for singing with me man, so good to have you back.”
In an accompanying clip the two men are seen hanging out backstage and Mendes reflects on the moment, saying, “I started shaking, I was like what the… I feel a bit speechless about it to be honest right now.” The video also contained footage of Sheeran asking Mendes how it will feel to be on stage for the first time in more than a year during the pre-show rehearsals.
“Dude I feel insane, I feel crazy,” a smiling Mendes said as Sheeran promised, “It’s gonna explode.” After some footage of the performance, Sheeran shared the wild response to the viral moment while chilling backstage afterwards.
“What a reaction!” he said. “I’ve had that three times in my life at gigs: Paolo Nutini in Glasgow, Stormzy in London and now Shawn Mendes.”
Mendes cut his planned 2022 Wonder: The World Tour outing short after seven dates last year after sharing that he needed a mental health break. The singer has mostly avoided the spotlight since, but dropped the new single “What the Hell Are We Dying For?” earlier this month.
Watch Sheeran’s video of the performance below.
Adele is legendarily an open book when she chooses to share the details of her life. But on Saturday night the singer got way honest with the crowd at her “Weekends With Adele” show in Las Vegas when she shared a recent diagnosis that sent her to the doctor for a problem she didn’t even […]
Celebrities and friends are uniting in support for Bebe Rexha in the comments section of her latest Instagram post, a closeup of a painful-looking face injury. The singer-songwriter suffered the injury when someone hurled a cell phone at her on stage this weekend. Rexha was rushed to the hospital Sunday night (June 18) from New […]
A$AP Rocky gave a rare glimpse into his family life with Rihanna on Father’s Day. On Sunday (June 18), the rapper took to social media to share numerous adorable photos and videos featuring his 13-month-old son RZA and RiRi, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child. “EVERYDAY FATHERS DAY,” Rocky captioned the gallery on […]
Bebe Rexha is giving fans an update on her condition after being struck by a phone while performing in New York City. The pop star was rushed to the hospital on Sunday night (June 18) after a flying cell phone from the audience hit her in the face during a concert at The Rooftop at […]
Madonna‘s Father’s Day message is a thoughtful and inclusive tribute that really celebrates “all the dads out there.” “Happy Father’s Day to. All the Dad’s out there!!! She’s, He’s, Them’s and They’s!!” Madonna wrote on Instagram Sunday afternoon (June 18), making sure that no one who identifies as a dad was overlooked on their special […]
Taylor Swift took a moment to honor the dads in the crowd at her Eras Tour concert in Pittsburgh on Saturday (June 17).
During the surprise songs portion of her set at Acrisure Stadium, the pop superstar brought out special guest and collaborator Aaron Dessner for the first-ever performance of “Seven.” While introducing the 2020 Folklore track, Swift shouted out all the “amazing dads here” — including The National frontman — who brought their kids to The Eras Tour, in honor of Father’s Day on Sunday (June 18).
“I have a really, really incredible dad, like hasn’t missed a show type of dad. He’s the best and I love him so much,” Swift told the audience. “The song we’re going to play has to do with really fond memories of childhood.”
The singer added, “I know people have complicated relationships with their dad, or with the concept in general, but if you want to think of the people who have played a father figure role in your life, tomorrow and tonight. I’m really grateful for my dad — for anyone out there who spent hours and hours preparing to be at the show with their kid.”
Dessner previously joined Swift onstage during Eras Tour stops in Tampa Bay, Fla., and Nashville for surprise song performances of “The Great War” and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” respectively.
Saturday’s show in Pittsburgh also found Swift confirming that her next official single will be “Cruel Summer,” from her 2019 Lover album.
“You guys have streamed ‘Cruel Summer’ so much right now in 2023” that Republic Records, the star’s label, “just decided to make it the next single.”
Billboard confirmed the news on Friday that Republic will officially start promoting “Cruel Summer” to pop radio stations as of Tuesday (June 20), while continuing to promote her Midnights single “Karma.”
Watch Swift give a shout-out to the dads in her Pittsburgh audience here.
Taylor Swift took a minute before singing “Champagne Problems” to take things back a few eras Saturday night (June 17) at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium.
“The weirdest, most magical thing is happening,” Swift said from the Eras Tour stage. “It’s never happened to me in the whole time I’ve ever been doing this.”
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“‘Cruel Summer’ is a song, I just played it a second ago. I don’t know if you remember. We had a blast, yeah? The one with the bridge where we all screamed,” she reminded fans, referring to the opening Lover section of her live set.
“‘Cruel Summer’ was on the Lover album. That album came out four years ago. And I just need to let you know something: ‘Cruel Summer,’ that song was my pride and joy on that album,” she said of the track featured on her 2019 album, a song that also happens to be a longtime fan-favorite.
Swift explained, “You have conversations before the album comes out. Everybody around weighs in on what they think should be singles. I was finally, finally about to have my favorite song become the single — off of Lover.”
But before summer 2020, which would have been a logical time to drop a cathartic summer anthem, came COVID-19. “I’m not trying to blame the global pandemic that we had,” Swift said, “but that is something that happened that stopped ‘Cruel Summer’ from ever being a single.”
She continued, “No one understands how this is happening, but you guys have streamed ‘Cruel Summer’ so much right now in 2023” that Republic Records, her label, “just decided to make it the next single.”
Billboard confirmed the news on Friday that Republic will officially start promoting “Cruel Summer” to pop radio stations as of Tuesday, June 20, while continuing to promote Midnights single “Karma.”
“Cruel Summer” returned to the Billboard Hot 100 dated June 3, after it spent two weeks on the chart in September 2019. On the June 17 Hot 100, it ranks at No. 47, with 9.6 million official streams, 2.6 million radio airplay audience impressions and 1,500 downloads sold in the United States June 2-8, according to Luminate.
“Thank you to anyone who’s been listening to that song like 500 times a day,” Swift joked in Pittsburgh.
Lady Gaga “can’t wait” for Little Monsters to experience her upcoming Chromatica Ball film.
The pop superstar and Oscar-winning actress confirmed in an Instagram post on Friday (June 16) that she is 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.”
Her Instagram post also included a black-and-white snapshot of a still frame from the The Chromatica Ball edit. “I can’t WAIT for you to experience it,” she wrote.
The 2022 Chromatica Ball grossed $112.4 million and sold 834,000 tickets from 20 concerts, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. It marked her first outing since the Joanne World Tour in 2017.
Initially slated for summer 2020, the trans-continental Chromatica Ball was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour — which visited North America, Europe and Asia — was in support of Gaga’s sixth album, Chromatica, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2020.
The 13-time Grammy winner recently partnered with pharmaceutical company Pfizer for a new commercial in an effort to raise migraine awareness. The clip features some of the first professional footage of her Chromatica Ball tour, which wrapped in September.
Gaga also teased on Instagram that she “wrote and produced music for a special project,” without revealing additional details. “I’ve been experiencing my creativity ever since last summer in a really special and private way,” she wrote.
“Thank you for being willing to grow with me so that I can change and transform with the community I love so much,” Gaga concluded her post. “I hope you love all the things I’ve been creating for you and I hope this is a small reminder to you of my deep passion and commitment to art.”
See Lady Gaga’s Chromatica Ball film update on Instagram here.
Ed Sheeran extends his mark for the most No. 1s among solo males in the history of Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay chart, as “Eyes Closed” rises to the top of the list dated June 24. The song, released on Atlantic Records, becomes Sheeran’s eighth Adult Pop Airplay leader. Among solo males, he pulls further ahead […]
