Pop

14 Jun 2023

Luke Bryan Defends Katy Perry After Season 21 ‘American Idol’ Backlash: ‘Katy Gets Picked on For… Trying to Have Fun Making a TV Show’

Luke Bryan wishes people would give Katy Perry a break. In a Fox News interview, the country star weighed in on some of the criticism his fellow judge got this season on American Idol and why he doesn’t think it’s fair.

“Katy gets picked on for going out and trying to have fun making a TV show,” he said. “You can’t be so safe in the moment that you’re so homogenized, you can’t ever go for a joke. Or go for a fun moment. Sometimes you just gotta say stuff. It may be my year next year.” Perry, Bryan and Lionel Richie have anchored the judge’s desk since Idol jumped from Fox to ABC in 2018 and this year the “Roar” singer came in for some criticism for her comments about several contestants, some of which resulted in her gettin booed by the studio audience.

“Katy Perry’s been dealing with stuff like that her whole career,” Bryan added. “We all get it.… I mean we’re judging kids that people at home fall in love with.… We’re not gonna bat 1,000 as judges.” In fact, Bryan said he thinks the judges get “set up” and sometimes they have to “fall on the sword” to keep the train rolling amid a torrent of commentary on socials.

“My thing is, I think when me and Lionel and Katy sit down at the desk, in our hearts, we’re doing the best we can,” he said. Perry was criticized this season when she joked that singer and mother of three Sara Beth Liebe had been “laying on the table too much.” Liebe accused Perry of “mom-shaming” her and later dropped out of the show even after Katy tried to convince her to stay. Perry also took heat — and got booed — during another episode when she told contestant Nutsa Buzaladze to tone down the glitter on stage.

“You can’t be so safe in the moment that you’re so homogenized, you can’t ever go for a joke. Or go for a fun moment,” Bryan continued, saying that entertainers get conditions and “calloused” to the backlash they often face. “It makes me appreciate her even more, just how big of a scale she’s had to deal with that her whole career.”

Season 21 recently wrapped with the crowning of Hawaiian singer Iam Tongi.

13 Jun 2023

She’s ‘Popular,’ She’s ‘Vulgar,’ She’s Madonna: Queen of Pop Delivers Back-to-Back Bops

Thanks to The Weeknd’s new song “Popular,” Madonna is back where she’s been many times before: on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Popular” (also featuring Playboi Carti) from the new HBO series The Idol lands at No. 43 on this week’s Hot 100 — Madonna’s highest-charting song in more than a decade, since “Give Me All Your Luvin,” featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., peaked at No. 10 in February 2012. Also thanks to “Popular,” Madonna now joins Cher as the only women to have debuted on the Hot 100 in five separate decades.

But that’s not Madonna’s only new music. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, we’re also talking about the Queen of Pop’s club-friendly collab with Sam Smith on “Vulgar.” Plus, Madonna is all over Christine and the Queens’ new album Paranoia, Angels, True Love too. What is it like for Keith and the rest of Madonna’s fans to get all this new material in the year 2023? Listen below.

Also on the show, we’re talking about the major Glee moments from Sunday’s Tony Awards, including Alex Newell (who played Unique Adams on the show) winning best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical for Shucked and Lea Michele closing the show with “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from Funny Girl. Plus, we’ve got chart news on how there are a whopping six debuts in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart — and it’s the first time that’s happened in more than two and a half years. And over on the Hot 100 songs chart, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” hits double-digit territory at No. 1, as the song spends a 10th week in charge.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

13 Jun 2023

Stray Kids Break Down Their Billboard 200 No. 1 Album ‘5-STAR’ Track-by-Track: Exclusive

Following the news of Stray Kids earning their third consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with their biggest sales week yet, 5-Star confirms the importance behind the intense attention the K-pop boy band put into each song — even when the songs take years to make it on an album.

“2022 was filled with so many unbelievable events; it all feels like a dream,” HAN tells Billboard when reflecting on the group’s chart success ahead of their new project. “All I can think about is how deeply thankful we are for everything and how much this experience has motivated us to work even harder and grow even more. The goal of this album is to emphasize Stray Kids’ unique color, which can be defined as ‘strange yet special.’ I hope that 5-STAR will be yet another breakthrough for our group and become an album that many people acknowledge as a legendary one.”

The new, 12-track project is the band’s first full-length LP since 2021’s Noeasy and sees SKZ challenge themselves in new ways, like their ambitious, genre-hopping lead single “S-Class”; standout B-side “TOPLINE” (which includes their first-ever album feature in Korea’s legendary rapper Tiger JK); and “THE SOUND (Korean Ver.),” which transforms their beloved Japanese single for K-pop audiences.

“The idea for the title 5-STAR came from the lyrics of ‘S-Class,’ playing around the words ‘special’ and ‘star,’” says Stray Kids leader Bang Chan. “5-STAR represents the uniqueness and confidence that we put into our work.”

Stray Kids members Bang Chan, HAN, Changbin and Felix have songwriting, composition and production credits across every track on 5-STAR. Still, the group emphasizes the teamwork required to bring together all their new music.

“Feedback where everyone needs to be involved is really important when it comes to a project,” Bang Chan adds. “If some people made songs, then the others play an important role to give feedback about the songs—extra thoughts and ideas around performance, recording, concepts are all vital in the whole process and the other members participate perfectly.”

The group’s vocal star Seungmin adds, “I helped bring the wonderful songs our members made to life by singing my heart out,” while youngest member I.N notes, “I didn’t really participate in the production process this time, but I did push very hard for ‘S-Class’ to be the title track [single].”

Looking ahead, the group isn’t putting additional pressures on themselves beyond pushing further with their future music and live shows. Hyunjin promises, “We will continue to perform many stages and will expand to even larger venues so that we can meet and interact with more people.” At the same time, Lee Know says, “Stray Kids’ next [step] will be filled with many new challenges, just like what we’ve shown the world so far.” While Felix concludes, “We just hope to be healthy in order to get through the challenges that await us.”

Felix concludes, “We just hope to be healthy in order to get through the challenges that await us.”

Celebrate Stray Kids’ latest five-star album by going with the members track by track through 5-STAR.

13 Jun 2023

What’s Your Favorite BTS Song? Vote!

Happy anniversary, BTS! The superstar boy band is celebrating 10 years since their debut on Tuesday (June 13).

To honor the group’s decade of accomplishments, we at Billboard have updated and extended our list of our favorite BTS songs to include 60 album-spanning hits. From Hot 100 hits to beloved B-sides like “Run BTS” and “Blue & Grey,” tracks for every type of ARMY have made our list celebrating RM, Jin, J-Hope, Suga, Jimin, V and Jung Kook.

We want to know which BTS song is your favorite. Take a look at our list here, and let us know by voting below.

13 Jun 2023

Hailey Bieber Asks Fans to Stop Leaving ‘Mean or Rude Comments’ on Her Behalf

Hailey Bieber is speaking out to stop social media toxicity.

The model took to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday (June 13) to ask her fans to stop sending negative comments to others. “If you’re leaving mean or rude comments on my behalf on anyone’s posts just know that I don’t want that, nor do I ever or will ever support or condone hateful, mean or nasty comments,” she wrote in her statement. “Doing that is not supporting me … if you are participating in that you are part of a culture that I want no part of.” 

While she didn’t mention what her post was specifically about, the Rhode founder’s thoughts come just three months after Selena Gomez, who previously dated Hailey’s husband Justin Bieber, also shared a lengthy message amid reports of a rumored feud between the two women. Gomez revealed that Hailey had recently reached out to the Only Murders in the Building star to let her know that she’d been receiving death threats and “such hateful negativity.”

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“This isn’t what I stand for,” Gomez said unequivocally. “No one should have to experience hate or bullying. I’ve always advocated for kindness and really want this all to stop.”

Ever since, Gomez and Hailey have followed each other on Instagram, with the model even liking one of the “Rare” singer’s recent posts.

13 Jun 2023

NCT DREAM Announces New Album ‘ISTJ’: Here’s When It Arrives

NCT DREAM is coming back with new music. On Tuesday (June 13), the K-pop group announced that it will be releasing a brand new album this summer, with a single from the forthcoming LP to be released six days from now on June 19.

“The return of NCT DREAM! Third full length-album ‘ISTJ’ releases on July 17th! B-side track ‘Broken Melodies’ pre-releases on June 19th!” the group’s official Twitter account shared, along with an image of the seven members — Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Chenle, Jaemin and Jisung — wearing baseball jerseys and gazing up at the scoreboard for the “Dream Stadium.”

The message also promised that the new era for the K-pop group will mark “the beginning of a full-scale comeback promotion” and is a look at “the impact NCT DREAM will bring to the music industry.”

NCT DREAM’s previous studio album release was Glitch Mode. The set — which arrived in March of last year — peaked at No. 5 on Billboard‘s Top Current Album Sales and at No. 2 on the World Albums chart. The reissued version of the album, Beatbox, peaked at No. 8 on World Albums.

NCT DREAM most recently hit the stage earlier this month as part of its The Dream Show 2: In A Dream tour with a series of three sold out performances at the Gocheok Dome in Seoul June 1-3. The Latin American leg of the tour will continue between July 4-11, with stops in São Paulo, Santiago (Chile) and Lima before concluding in Mexico City.

See NCT Dream’s announcement below.

13 Jun 2023

Niall Horan’s ‘Science’ Claims No. 1 on Hot Trending Songs Chart

Niall Horan’s “Science” paces Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs chart dated June 17, ahead of the song’s June 9 premiere as part of the One Direction member’s new album, The Show.

Billboard’s Hot Trending charts, powered by Twitter, track global music-related trends and conversations in real-time across Twitter, viewable over either the last 24 hours or past seven days. A weekly, 20-position version of the chart, covering activity from Friday through Thursday of each week, posts alongside Billboard’s other weekly charts on Billboard.com each Tuesday, with the latest tracking period running June 2-8.

“Science,” the ninth track on The Show, had not been heard in full prior to June 9. But the song received pre-release buzz due to a brief teaser of Horan singing the song on social media on June 7.

It’s Horan’s first No. 1 on Hot Trending Songs and his second appearance, following the No. 20 debut of “Heaven” in March. One other song from the album reaches the tally June 17: “Must Be Love” at No. 5.

Horan reigns over SHINee, whose “The Feeling” bows at No. 2. The K-pop boyband’s new single was released June 9, but its music video was first teased June 8.

The rest of the top five includes Slipknot, whose “Adderall” bows at No. 3 after a new EP featuring the song was released June 9 (the song originally premiered as the lead track on Slipknot’s 2022 full-length The End, So Far) and BTS’ “Take Two,” which ranks at No. 4 after starting at No. 1 June 10.

Keep visiting Billboard.com for the constantly evolving Hot Trending Songs rankings, and check in each Tuesday for the latest weekly chart.

13 Jun 2023

Doja Cat Finally Reveals Release Date for New Single

New Doja Cat music is finally on the way.

The star took to social media on Tuesday (June 13) to share that her new single will be arriving on Friday (June 16). While she didn’t reveal the name of the song, she included a blood drop emoji and a corresponding cover art with a bloody, upside down letter “A.”

Leading up to the news, Doja’s been sharing some The Scarlet Letter-themed hints, tweeting back on May 24 that “scarlet was here” along with the same blood drop emoji. On June 9, the emoji made another appearance with the tweet, “scarlet’s watching.” Finally, over the weekend, she wrote, “let myself heal, scar finally sealed.”

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

A full-length album would follow her 2021 breakthrough project Planet Her, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated July 10, 2021, and produced a number of long-lasting hits including “Need to Know,” “Woman,” “Ain’t S—” and “Get Into It (Yuh).”

Doja surprised fans in May when she took a dig at the highly successful album, as well as her 2019 project Hot Pink. “Planet her and hot pink were cash-grabs and yall fell for it,” she wrote. “Now i can go disappear somewhere and touch grass with my loved ones on an island while yall weep for mediocre pop.”

See her new single announcement below.

13 Jun 2023

Billie Eilish Shares Playful Response to Bikini Photo Showing Off Tattoo

Billie Eilish is getting her tan on. In a new summertime photo shared by a friend on Instagram, the 21-year-old pop star basks in the sun while looking stunning in a designer bikini — showing off an edgy tattoo that usually stays hidden.

The photo was shared on Sunday (June 11) by Eilish’s pal Annabel Zimmer (yes, that Zimmer, as in she’s the daughter of Interstellar composer Hans Zimmer). Wearing a patterned Miaou swimsuit top and black Versace sunglasses with her dark hair slicked back, the “Happier Than Ever” singer looks, well, happier than ever smiling up at the sky.

Right underneath the bikini top, the musician’s “Eilish” tattoo, spelled in jagged black letters, peeks through. In the comments, Eilish left one simple emoji in response to the snap: a monkey emoji playfully covering its eyes (?).

Zimmer also shared another off-duty photo of Eilish a week prior. In a June 5 collection of Instagram captures, the Grammy winner cuddles with an orange cat, not realizing that her photo is being taken.

It’s good to see Eilish with a big smile on her face, especially after the star faced a number of comments criticizing her appearance last month. As expected, those people earned a characteristically blunt response from Eilish: “suck my absolute c— and balls you women hating a– weirdos,” she wrote on Instagram Stories at the time.

The “Bad Guy” musician also recently went through a breakup, splitting from The Neighbourhood’s Jesse Rutherford after dating for seven months. A rep confirmed the separation in May, adding that the two “remain good friends” and “all cheating rumors are false.”

See Eilish’s bikini photo below.

13 Jun 2023

Demi Lovato Explains the ‘Exhausting’ Process That Led to Them Re-Adopting Feminine Pronouns

It’s been two years since Demi Lovato publicly came out as nonbinary, and the star is ready to break their silence on a recent change they made to their pronouns.

In a new interview with GQ Hype Spain, Lovato broke down the reason why she changed her pronouns to she/her and they/them back in August 2022, a little more than a year after she came out publicly. “I constantly had to educate people and explain why I identified with those pronouns. It was absolutely exhausting,” she said in a quote translated from Spanish. “I just got tired. But for that very reason I know that it is important to continue spreading the word.”

During an interview on the Sprout podcast back in August, Lovato announced that they were “feeling more feminine” and had decided to update their pronouns to include she/her. “I felt like, especially last year, my energy was balanced in my masculine and feminine energy,” she said at the time. “I didn’t feel like a woman, I didn’t feel like a man. I just felt like a human.”

In her new interview, though, Lovato expressed their ongoing frustration with the lack of understanding in the wider world for life as a person existing outside the gender binary. “Having to access the women’s bathroom, even though I don’t completely identify with it — I would feel more comfortable in a genderless bathroom,” she said. “Or it also happens when filling out forms … where you have to specify your gender; you only have two options, male and female, and I feel like none of that makes sense to me.”

Still, Lovato said that the strife she’s been through in regards to their gender would be “worth it” if it meant that people “learn more about themselves and feel more comfortable in their skin” thanks to the example she set. “That is the most meaningful thing to me,” they explained. “The safe space I’ve created in the industry is proof of the safe space I’ve created in my life as well. And I think no matter what industry you’re in, you have to be comfortable to evolve.”