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Olivia Rodrigo is officially moving into her next era, but will Lana Del Rey be coming with her? One seemingly innocent but possibly revealing Instagram post has convinced fans that the answer is yes.
The grounds for speculation are simple enough: On Wednesday (June 14), Rodrigo posted a mirror selfie posing next to a bright red lipstick kiss print on the glass in front of her, using lyrics to Lana’s “Venice Bitch” in her caption. “Bang bang kiss kiss,” the “Drivers License” singer wrote.
Now, it could just be the makings of a simple, cute Instagram post on Rodrigo’s part, but some fans think there’s definitely more to the story. First of all, the 20-year-old singer-songwriter shared the lyrics just one day after announcing that her highly anticipated next era kicks off June 30 with a new single called “Vampire,” her first release since her 2021 blockbuster debut album Sour. It’s also the first thing she’s posted since the announcement.
Second, Rodrigo and Del Rey are friends and fans of one another, as displayed at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music event earlier this year, where the two were filmed multiple times chatting and hugging in the audience. The former High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star presented Lana with the Visionary Award at the March ceremony and told the crowd, “Lana has raised an entire generation of music lovers and songwriters like me, and taught them that there’s beauty in their vulnerability and power in their melancholy.”
Accepting the award, the 37-year-old “A&W” musician gushed, “I can’t tell you how much it means that someone who wrote ‘Drivers License’ is standing next to me.”
In conclusion, whether or not it’s actually happening, a collaboration between the two artists on Rodrigo’s upcoming sophomore album is definitely possible — at least, it is in the eyes of fans. “THE CAPTION? COLLAB W LANA??” commented one on Rodrigo’s post.
“BANG BANG KISS KISS?? VENICE BTC??? COLLAB WITH LANA?!!! OMG,” wrote another.
“GIRL DONT U DARE TELL ME IM GETTING A LANA COLLAB,” one fan added.
See Olivia’s post below:
Remember when Jerry Seinfeld refused to hug Kesha? She definitely hasn’t forgotten.
In a recent interview, the 36-year-old pop star finally opened up about Seinfeld’s viral snub at David Lynch’s 2017 benefit event, and called it one of the “most depressing” experiences she’s ever had. It’s especially so because she’d been a major fan of the comedian’s popular sitcom Seinfeld, and even used to carry DVDs of the show with her on tour to keep her company.
“Whenever it would get bumpy on the plane, I would pop in Seinfeld and feel like everything’s OK in the world and watch my buddy Jerry,” Kesha explained to Tom Scharpling Wednesday (June 14) on The Best Show podcast. “I get to the f–king charity event and I got really excited [to see him] because he brings me peace and love and all things good in the universe.”
The “Praying” singer thought she was about to embrace one of her heroes, but instead, he turned down her request for a hug — then again, and again. “It was the most depressing — and hilarious — but also so sad. It was the saddest moment of my life,” she added.
The awkward encounter was captured in a video, which afterward blew up on social media. In the clip, the singer approaches Seinfeld while he’s doing a red carpet interview and says, “I’m Kesha. I love you so much! Can I give you a hug?”
The Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee star proceeds to repeatedly say, “No thanks,” dodging Kesha’s persistent attempts to touch him. Eventually, she sadly says, “Oh” and scurries away, after which Seinfeld admits, “I don’t know who that was.”
In Kesha’s defense, it’s not just her. Seinfeld has since revealed that he doesn’t really hug anybody he doesn’t personally know. “I don’t hug a total stranger,” he said in 2017. “I have to meet someone … I have to start somewhere. A hug is not the first moment of … two humans.”
Watch Kesha open up about the Seinfeld incident below:
Madonna had the music industry burning up so fast after she released her first single in 1982 that a short item about it in the Nov. 6 issue of Billboard introduced her as “a young New York duo.” (Forty-one years later, we’d like to offer an immaculate correction: Madonna is one person.) Since then, Billboard has lived to tell about the Queen of Pop’s 14 studio albums and 12 No. 1 Hot 100 hits. Now, as she prepares to embark on her career-spanning Celebration Tour, which starts July 15 in Vancouver, we’re sharing some confessions from our dance lore.
‘Borderline’ Praise
By the time Madonna’s 1983 debut album came out, Billboard had figured out she was a person — a “young blonde singer/songwriter whose music is in the R&B/dance mode,” to be specific — and offered qualified praise in the Aug. 27 issue. “The songs here are pretty standard dance tunes,” read a ‘Top Album Pick,’ “but Madonna has the pipes and presence to make them a bit special.”
Lucky Spar
Not all Billboard critics were hung up on the future Queen of Pop. A Nov. 24, 1984, review of the Like a Virgin album clucked that “her come-hither image and vivid video profile have made Madonna Ciccone a pop provocateur regardless of her musical gifts.” On the other many-braceleted hand, however, a May 18, 1985, review of The Virgin Tour in Los Angeles gave her props as a performer: “Those of us who figured that Madonna was strictly a studio creation and would fall apart onstage were in for a pleasant surprise.”
Like a Player
“Controversy becomes Madonna,” noted the April 22, 1989, Billboard, after Pepsi pulled a TV ad that featured her following “complaints by Christian groups upset by the use of religious imagery” in her “Like a Prayer” video. But “with Madonna pocketing big money for an ad that aired twice, she is widely perceived at having beaten Madison Avenue folk at their own game.” That game was up, however, by the time she unveiled her coffee-table book, Sex. “Madonna has been jolting the public so consistently for so long now,” said a piece in the Oct. 31, 1992, Billboard, “that we’ve become almost numb to the juice.
Ray of Might
Madonna returned to her club roots in 1998 with Ray of Light. And in a Feb. 28 dance column, Billboard reported on how she introduced “her latest hippie chick/Earth mama persona” at “New York’s brutally hip Roxy nightclub.” The album set a record for first-week sales by a woman. Interviewed about her follow-up, Music, Madonna admitted in the Aug. 5, 2000, Billboard that “I can’t lie; I care about whether or not this record sells a little or a lot.” She needn’t have worried — it outperformed Ray of Light.
Take a Bow
“I don’t ever think about my age until someone says something about it,” Madonna told Elizabeth Banks for a Dec. 10, 2016, cover story after Billboard named her Woman of the Year. “I feel that I have wisdom, experience, knowledge and a point of view that is important. Can a teenager relate to that? Probably not. But that’s OK.” Besides, “I think the most controversial thing I’ve ever done,” she said, when receiving the honor at a Manhattan event, “is to stick around.”
This story originally appeared in the June 10, 2023 issue.
Don’t dwell on the past, because a behind-the-scenes video of the making of Halsey and Suga‘s collab of “Lilith (Diablo IV Anthem)” is about to drop, and Billboard has an exclusive first look at the BTS rapper’s time filming the visual.
During an interview taped while making the music video, Suga shares what a big fan he is of the Diablo video games, and how Diablo IV — which arrived June 6 — will play into his downtime while he’s on his first solo world tour. “I played Diablo 1, 2 and 3,” he tells the camera. “Back then, I spent a lot of time in the Cow Level.” (According to PC Gamer, Cow Level in Diablo 3 is a secret level event that honored artist Kevin Kanai Griffith, who died in October 2014 from a rare form of cancer. In that level, players battle against a horde of — yup, you guessed it — armed cow warriors.)
“I am preparing to play [Diablo IV] once it releases and I am touring,” continues the K-pop star, who is currently on the road supporting his solo album, D-DAY. “I bought a new laptop and I am just waiting. Once it releases, I will be playing, even as I am touring.”
The music video featuring the BTS member originally dropped on June 5, and since then, has already raked in more than 8 million views on YouTube. The moody visual — which was done in collaboration with Blizzard Entertainment, the video game developer behind the popular Diablo series — features Halsey walking through the Chapelle des Jésuites in Cambrai, France, while draped in dark hooded cloak before dropping it to reveal her fierce warrior garb and eventually becoming the game’s Blessed Mother Lilith. The reworked, darker version of “Lilith” — originally from her critically acclaimed 2021 album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power — has Suga joining Halsey for the chorus and rhyming a new verse about mid-song.
“Step out of the moment that’s been trapping you in/ All this negativity of hatred and insanity/ Don’t dwell on the past/ It’s time to make a change/ Look around believe in what you see/ I have returned to hell,” he raps before duetting with Halsey.
“I’m thrilled that I got to collab with SUGA of BTS on a reimagined version of ‘Lilith; for the Diablo IV anthem!” Halsey previously said in a statement of working with the K-pop star. “Having spent countless hours in Sanctuary with my family, I’m here as both a fan and a collaborator. Plus, I’ve always wanted to do a concept with SUGA with this type of dark mythology. Hopefully, fans of Diablo, SUGA, and myself will love Lilith’s embrace.”
Watch Billboard‘s exclusive clip of Suga talking about his love for the game above, and check out the full behind-the-scenes video of the making of his and Halsey’s “Lilith (Diablo IV Anthem)” when it arrives later today.
In the meantime, revisit Halsey and Suga’s full music video for “Lilith (Diablo IV Anthem)” below:
Thursday’s (June 15) “Can’t Cancel Pride 2023 — The Future Starts Now” concert will feature Brandi Carlile, Adam Lambert, Ciara, Big Freedia, Kesha and more. The fourth annual concert, hosted by JoJo Siwa “will focus on the LGBTQ+ community’s past achievements, the urgency of the present moment and hope for our future,” according to a statement on the event’s site.
Other acts slated to perform or appear at the show that will take place at 8 p.m. ET include: Billy Porter, Kayley Kioko, Fletcher and Kelsea Ballerini. In addition, Carlile will be presented with the 2023 Elton John Impact Award for her humanitarian work with the Looking Out Foundation, which amplifies the impact of music by funding and empowering frequently overlooked organizations.
The one-hour concert, which will stream on iHeartRadio’s YouTube and Facebook pages, will also be available on demand through June 30 on iHeartRadio’s Facebook and YouTube pages, Revry, the Roku Channel and the Advocate Channel.
“This year we shine a spotlight on how far we’ve come and how much more there is to do to fuel equality and inclusion in support of these important organizations making the world better for the LGBTQ+ community everyday around the nation,” said Gayle Troberman, chief marketing officer for iHeartMedia, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The event began during the COVID-19 pandemic and has raised more than $11 million to date for the six participating charitable organizations: GLAAD, The Trevor Project, National Black Justice Coalition, SAGE, Centerlink and OtRight International.
“I’m proud that Can’t Cancel Pride has raised over $11 million dollars to help fund organizations that offer critical support, from youth services to elderly care, and to continue to partner with some of the world’s best and brightest LGBTQ+ and ally performers to support and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community,” said Brent Miller, Can’t Cancel Pride co-founder and P&G senior director, global LGBTQ equality & inclusion.
See the event poster below.
BTS is turning the page with Beyond The Story, a special book to mark the K-pop superstars’ 10th anniversary.
Beyond The Story is slated for release July 9, to coincide with “ARMY day,” and unwraps around interviews with BTS, according to BigHit Music.
The book “demonstrates their effort, hardship, and growth starting from the band’s first gathering to becoming the 21st century pop icons,” reads a statement. “The changes and progress in the K-pop industry are also discussed in it.”
To build the buzz, BigHit Music shares an official trailer which breaks down the band’s journey in seven chapters: “Seoul”, “Why We Exist”, “Love, Hate, Army”, “Inside Out”, “A Flight That Never Lands”, “The World Of BTS”, and “We Are”.
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Watch to the end and you’ll spot seven glowing lines, symbolizing the seven-strong band — RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook.
The book will be published in 23 languages including Korean, English, with pre-orders now open.
Beyond The Story gives fans something tangible to remember the lads by, news of which arrives during a burst of activity.
To celebrate their milestone 10th anniversary, the Bangtan Boys gifted ARMY a live performance music video on Tuesday, June 13 for their latest single “Take Two,” which dropped last week. “Take Two” serves as BTS’ second musical release of the year; on May 12, the boys released “The Planet,” a single for the Bastions soundtrack.
Also, the BTS 10th Anniversary FESTA will kick off on June 17 in Seoul, South Korea. The event, which will be open to the public and held on Yeouido, is set to turn the entire country purple — from Dongdaemun Design Plaza to the Lotte World Tower.
Since exploding out the blocks a decade ago, BTS has emerged as one of the most popular groups of their generation. Along the way, they’ve smashed recorded and earned six No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including the Grammy-nominated singles “Dynamite” and “Butter.” On the Billboard 200, the group has scored six No. 1 titles in just five years.
Watch the Beyond The Story trailer below.
Lady Gaga has partnered with Pfizer for a new commercial in an effort to raise migraine awareness, the pharmaceutical company announced this week.
Their partnership is in recognition of this year’s “Educate Yourself, Educate Others” theme of June’s Migraine and Headache Awareness Month. Often misunderstood as an especially intense headache, migraine is a debilitating and recurrent neurological disease that, according to one study, is also considered the second-most disabling condition in the world.
A 13-time Grammy-winner, Gaga was first diagnosed with migraines when she was just 14-years-old.
“My experience with migraines was debilitating. I would be in bed for days with tremendous pain in my head, behind my eyes, and all throughout my face,” the pop star told Pfizer. “I couldn’t read or have any lights on, and I needed to be alone in a quiet room for hours that could lead to days until the pain subsided.”
No stranger to being vulnerable with her fans, Gaga has regularly been transparent about her various health issues. In 2013, she opened up about the hip injury that cut her Born This Way Ball tour short.
In a new ad in support of the Pfizer collaboration, the singer/actress unveils some of the first professional footage of her Chromatica Ball tour, which wrapped in September. “I know what it’s like to perform through pain,” Gaga sympathized in a voice-over before launching into promotion for Pfizer’s Nurtec ODT medication.
Last year, Gaga packed out stadiums across Europe, Asia, and North America as she toured in support of Chromatica, her sixth studio album which spawned hit singles like “Stupid Love” and the Grammy-winning Hot 100 No. 1 smash “Rain On Me” (with Ariana Grande).
Lady Gaga has earned five No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 from 17 top ten entries. On the Billboard 200, the Golden Globe-winning actress has notched six chart-toppers dating back to 2011’s Born This Way.
Olivia Rodrigo‘s new single may not be coming out for another two weeks, but it’s already shaping up to be an anthem for Twihards. In the hours since the 20-year-old pop star announced that her long-awaited new single “Vampire” is on its way this summer, everyone from Conan Gray to Twilight‘s own Jacob Black — aka Taylor Lautner — have chimed in with comments referencing the blockbuster book-turned-film series.
Rodrigo unveiled details about the track in a Tuesday (June 13) Instagram announcement, including its June 30 release date and its black-and-white cover art, on which the singer poses with two Band-Aids covering up a vampire fang puncture wound on her neck. Within 24 hours, the post garnered nearly four million likes and tens of thousands of comments, including one hilarious quip from Lautner.
“K WHO TF BIT YOU,” wrote the actor, who portrayed the werewolf third of the supernatural teen love triangle in the late 2000s film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight book series.
Gray, the “Drivers License” singer’s best friend and fellow rising pop star, left a comment quoting one of Kristen Stewart’s most famous lines in the film franchise, in which she played the human third of the love triangle opposite Rob Pattinson’s Edward Cullen: “i know what you are….,” alongside a vampire emoji.
The “Heather” singer also shared a homemade meme on his Instagram Story, which Rodrigo then re-posted on her own Story. Taking screenshots from a scene in the first Twilight film when Stewart’s Bella discovers that Edward is secretly a blood-sucking immortal, Gray’s version pasted the phrase “Olivia Rodrigo’s new single” over the word “Vampire” in the subtitles.
Gray wasn’t the only one cracking Twilight jokes in Rodrigo’s comment section. The official account for Lionsgate, the production company behind the The Twilight Saga films, also commented with a line from the first film: “SAY IT!! OUT LOUD!!”
The jokes almost definitely don’t go unappreciated by Rodrigo, who herself is a proven Twihard. In 2020, she posted an Instagram video of a song she wrote inspired by the series, dubbed by fans as “The ‘Twilight’ Song.” She’s also theorized that Jacob Black’s favorite song on her 2021 debut album Sour would be “Traitor,” and she and Gray hilariously recreated a scene from the films together last year.
Check out Rodrigo’s “Vampire” announcement below:
Keke Palmer isn’t done with the Taylor Swift praise. In a recent episode of her podcast Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, the actress once again gushed about the pop star’s “lethal” songwriting and noted how impressive she thinks Swift’s career longevity has been. “I know that people hate her or love her,” Palmer began in […]
If you found yourself suppressing a laugh, angry yell or covering your eyes from embarrassment during the sex scenes in the second episode of The Weeknd‘s HBO music drama The Idol over the weekend, then the series’ co-creator and co-star is fine with all of that.
“No. There’s nothing sexy about it,” Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd’s real name, which he now goes by), told GQ in a new interview about the mixed reaction to his long-in-the-works erotic music industry critique in which Lily-Rose Depp’s fallen pop star Jocelyn falls for creepy sex cult leader Tedros Tedros (Tesfaye).
The scene in question makes up the final 10 minutes of the most recent episode, in which Tedros put Jocelyn through her male gaze sex paces, ordering the blindfolded singer to strike a series of provocative poses while reciting cringey dialogue that sounds too obvious for even an actual adult film. “Let me see those t—es,” Tesfaye leers at one point in the character’s dead-eyed, deadpan voice as another member of his cult spies on them from a closet.
The GQ writer mentions that the scene comes after Jocelyn and her assistant watch the Sharon Stone 1992 erotic thriller Basic Instinct, whose influence seems to be all over the show. “When we use Basic Instinct as a reference, we’re using [director Paul ] Verhoeven. Verhoeven is the king of ‘90s satire thriller — yes, there’s moments of ‘sexy’ in his films but there are other moments that are very cheesy and hilarious,” Tesfaye said. “How ever you’re feeling watching that scene, whether it’s discomfort, or you feel gross, or you feel embarrassed for the characters. It’s all those emotions adding up to: This guy is in way over his head, this situation is one where he is not supposed to be here.”
As for the wince-y bedroom talk, when it’s suggested the oily, rattail-wearing Tedros is freestyling it, Tesfaye said, “exactly,” noting that the tone the team is trying to strike is a blend of camp, satire and some more straightforward seriousness to keep viewer’s off-balance.
“With this show, we love to play with the emotions. We’re puppet-mastering your feelings through the show,” he said of what appears to be a determination to keep the audience uncomfortable, a bit confused and unsure if the dialogue and scenarios are meant to be taken seriously or not. “It’s never a consistent tone, and that’s on purpose. No matter how dark a scene is, you can find the comedy in it. That’s why we love actors like [co-stars] Rachel Sennot, Hank Azaria, and Da’Vine [Joy Randolph]. These are incredibly talented comedic performers who can shift the tone in just one monologue.”
“We love to play with the comedy of it but then it’s like… don’t get too comfortable,” Tesfaye added of the show that has already featured a number of choking-related sex scenes. “That should be the logline for the show: Don’t get too comfortable watching this.”
And though ratings were initially tepid and critical response almost wholly negative, Tesfaye said so far he’s “loving” the reaction, calling the discussion about The Idol “healthy,” no matter what is being said. “It’s definitely shaken up the culture for sure. We knew we were making something dark and controversial but true to what we want to say,” he said.
The singer also hinted that information about the vampire-like Tedros is being leaked out slowly on purpose, which Tesfaye said is important for the character’s development. “You try to be as mysterious as possible about who the character is so that you can take [the audience] on this journey,” he explained. “But piece by piece, week by week, we’ll reveal who he is. But he’s what you see on screen. He’s definitely a challenge. He’s despicable, a psychopath — why sugarcoat it? But he’s somehow useful to this girl, and it’s unfortunate and we hate to see it.”
In reality, though, he said there’s nothing mysterious or particularly hypnotic about Tedros. “And we did that on purpose with his look, his outfits, his hair — this guy’s a douchebag,” he said, tacking on that the club owner is a “loser” who is attracted to “gluttonous” sex. “You can tell he cares so much about what he looks like, and he thinks he looks good. But then you see these weird moments of him alone—he rehearses, he’s calculated. And he needs to do that, or he has nothing, he’s pathetic. Which is true of a lot of people who are a fish out of water, put into these scenarios.”
And, don’t worry, he promised, you’ll find out more about that rodent-inspired hairdo later.
