Pop

24 May 2023

Watch Ed Sheeran Blow Florida High School Band Members’ Minds By Crashing Their Practice

Ed Sheeran took a few minutes between gigs in Florida this week to blow the minds of some high school band members when he casually strolled into their practice with his guitar as they performed his latest hit, “Eyes Closed.” The singer — who played Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on Saturday — not only crashed the band practice last week, but also surprised the students by handing out tickets to all of them for last weekend’s stadium gig in their hometown.

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“I thought I’d come and play some songs for you,” Sheeran told the high schoolers. “I’ve also brought some guitars to give to you guys for [your] music department,” he said to whoops from the room. “Tomorrow is to 72,000 people, but right here I’m gonna play a tiny [unintelligible] if that’s okay.”

As some openly teared up, Sheeran played his new single, “Perfect,” while the Blake High School band captured the shock moment on their phones, then he stuck around for selfies and autographs. In footage on the school’s Facebook page, Sheeran was even seen signing the back of one student’s midnight blue electric guitar. As if that wasn’t enough, Ed provided some expert backing vocals to a quartet of kids playing his hit “Photograph” on acoustic guitars while allowing one of the students to confidently take the lead.

In the midst of his massive North American stadium tour, Sheeran is also sprinkling in more intimate gigs, including a show on Friday (May 26) at the 2,600-capacity Tabernacle club in Atlanta; the next night he will be back to the big time with a gig at the city’s 71,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Watch the high school drop-in video here.

23 May 2023

Here’s What the Jonas Brothers Almost Named ‘The Album’

Jonas Brothers took to social media on Tuesday (May 23) to reveal the alternate title the band almost chose for their new studio set The Album.

The pop trio shared the nugget after one fan asked on Twitter, “If The Album wasn’t called the album what would you name it,” prompting them to reply, “We actually almost named it ‘Blue Jeans and Marijuana.’”

The line is borrowed from the opening lyrics of album cut “Americana,” on which they sing, “Americana, blue jeans and marijuana/ Type of friends that show their love by picking on ya/ On the phone or on the lawn or on the corner/ Springsteen to Billie Jean,” over plucky acoustic guitar.

Plenty of Jonatics replied to the tweet with their own ideas for The Album’s other titles, including “The 7th Album” in hilarious reference to the bridge of the JoBros’ early hit “Year 3000.” (“I took a trip to the year 3000/ This song had gone multi-platinum/ Everybody bought our seventh album/ It had outsold Kelly Clarkson.”)

Containing singles “Wings” and “Waffle House,” The Album bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 (chart dated May 27) behind Morgan Wallen’s seemingly unstoppable One Thing at a Time and Taylor Swift’s Midnights and also earned the trio their fourth consecutive No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart, following 2008’s A Little Bit Longer, 2009’s Lines, Vines & Trying Times and their 2019 comeback effort Happiness Begins.

On Tuesday night, the JoBros are set to return to their New Jersey roots for a special concert at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City ahead of kicking off their North American tour in support of The Album later this summer with two back-to-back shows at Yankee Stadium.

Check out the Jonas Brothers’ original idea for the name of The Album below.

23 May 2023

BLACKPINK’s Jennie On Making Her Acting Debut on ‘The Idol’: ‘It Was Like Breaking a Wall’

BLACKPINK‘s Jennie opened up in a new profile on Tuesday (May 23) about making her acting debut on the forthcoming HBO series The Idol.

“It’s overwhelming, but I’m grateful and thankful. All of those things at the same time,” the K-pop idol told WWD for their latest cover story. “Especially as it’s the first step in my acting career, I was honored to be able to come.”

Speaking to the outlet while attending her first Cannes Film Festival, Jennie said that she’s “been admiring” Idol co-creator Sam Levinson “for a very long time.” The BLACKPINK singer added that the Euphoria creator took the subject matter seriously.

“I trusted Sam to be collaborative with all the scenes that we would be working on together, because it was about the industry. The fact that it was about the music industry fascinated me, and I thought I could bring something to the role,” she said. “It was an opportunity to just be myself and be brave. I didn’t really train for it, or prep anything. Sam wanted me to just be myself.”

Jennie added that being in front of the camera in the music industry drama was a completely different experience than starring in BLACKPINK’s magnetic music videos for hits like “Ddu-Du, Ddu-Du,” “Pink Venom” and more. “It definitely was a challenge, because I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” she said. “It was like, breaking a wall for me.”

Along with Jennie, The Idol also stars Lily-Rose Depp, The Weeknd, Troye Sivan, Rachel Sennott, Dan Levy and more. Following its star-studded premiere at Cannes, the show will hit MAX (formerly HBOMax) starting June 4.

See more from Jennie’s WWD cover story below.

23 May 2023

Nick Jonas Set to Headline ‘Salute to Summer’ Concert for U.S. Army

NBCUniversal announced “Salute to Summer,” its new concert special to honor members of the U.S. Army, on Tuesday (May 23) with headliner Nick Jonas.

Hosted by Erin Lim Rhodes of E! News’ The Rundown, the event will air on the NBC’s streaming platform Peacock on July 7 from Universal CityWalk — adjacent to Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles — and feature a solo performance by the Jonas Brothers singer.

“I am so honored to be headlining the upcoming ‘Salute to Summer’ concert on Peacock this July to celebrate the active U.S. Army soldiers and V=veterans that have served our country and made us all so proud,” the pop star said in a statement.

“Salute to Summer” will also include a number of activations and “special augmented reality experience through WebAR” with Jonas as the star, according to the press release. Additionally, fans and attendees who visit Universal CityWalk will have the opportunity to unlock a three-dimensional bonus performance by the “This Is Heaven” crooner on their phones, and take part in NBCUniversal’s growing NFT collection.

Though Nick’s been busy as of late releasing the Jonas Brothers’ new studio set The Album with his older siblings, he recently collaborated solo with British-Indian singer King on the bilingual “Maan Meri Jaan (Afterlife),” which finds the Disney Channel alum trading verses with the fellow artist in Hindi and English.

Earlier this week, Jonas looked back on his disastrous performance with Kelsea Ballerini at the 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards, revealing on Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard that his off-key guitar solo during the moment ultimately sent him to therapy after it went briefly viral across the internet.

23 May 2023

Stevie Nicks Thanks Taylor Swift for This ‘Midnights’ Song That Helped Her Grieve Christine McVie

Taylor Swift has a fan in Stevie Nicks, especially after one of her newest songs hit very close to home for the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman. At a recent performance, Nicks publicly thanked the “Anti-Hero” singer for writing “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” which she explained has helped her mourn her late friend and bandmate Christine McVie.

“Thank you to Taylor Swift for doing a favor for me, and that is, writing a song called ‘You’re on Your Own, Kid,’” Nicks began, addressing fans in Atlanta from onstage. “That is the sadness of how I feel.”

The 74-year-old musician went on to reflect on how close she and McVie were during their friendship, even through periods of separation. “Even on the other side of the world, we didn’t have to talk on the phone,” the “Edge of Seventeen” singer explained. “And then we’d go back to Fleetwood Mac and we’d walk in and just be like, ‘Little sister, how are you.’ It was like never a minute had passed. Never an argument in our entire 47 years.”

Now that Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” is gone, Nicks shared that she keenly relates to the specific kind of loneliness described in Swift’s Midnights track. “The two of us were on our own, kids,” she said, referencing the song’s chorus. “We always were. And now, I’m having to learn to be on my own, kid, by myself. You helped me to do that. Thank you.”

McVie passed away at age 79 in November after suffering a stroke, with a secondary cause of death found to be cancer. At the time, the members of Fleetwood Mac released a joint statement mourning their longtime keyboardist, writing, “She was truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure … the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life.”

Co-written and produced by Jack Antonoff for Swift’s 10th studio album, “You’re on Your Own, Kid” isn’t the first song that Nicks has connected with since the death of her friend. On the day McVie died, the “Silver Springs” songwriter penned a personal tribute, borrowing lyrics from Haim’s “Hallelujah”: “You were there to protect me like a shield/ Long hair, running with me through the field/ Everywhere, you’ve been with me all along.”

“See you on the other side, my love,” she’d added in the note. “Don’t forget me.”

Watch the sweet moment Stevie Nicks shouted out Taylor Swift below, and listen to “You’re on Your Own, Kid” here.

23 May 2023

Watch ‘The Voice’ Finalist Gina Miles Take on Taylor Swift & Sinead O’Connor Hits for the Live Finale

The Voice entered its live finale on Monday night (May 22), and contestant Gina Miles gave her last pair of performances, dazzling the crowd with two very different song selections — Taylor Swift‘s “Style” and Sinéad O’Connor‘s “Nothing Compares 2 U.”

For her first performance, Miles rendition of Swift’s “Style” was full of color. She appeared on the stage in a bright orange dress and matching platform heels, and was assisted by background singers and instrumentalists to flesh out the technicolor showcase.

“You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye/ And I got that red lip classic thing that you like/ And when we go crashing down, we come back every time/ ‘Cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style,” the Team Niall member sang with ease on the chorus.

In Miles’ performance of O’Connor’s hit single, she wore a purple gown and was in dim lighting on the stage as television screens behind her featured video of her singing the slow burning track. “I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant/ But nothing/ I said nothing can take away these blues/ ‘Cause nothing compares/ Nothing compares to you,” she emotively sang, finishing the song to full applause from the crowd.

Miles is up against four other finalists: Grace West and NOIVAS (Team Blake), Sorelle (Team Chance) and D. Smooth (Team Kelly). On the Tuesday night finale, Miles will perform a duet with her coach, Niall Horan.

Watch Miles’ performances of “Style” and “Nothing Compares 2 U” below.

23 May 2023

Jonas Brothers Let Their Sibling Rivalry Fly During Hilarious ‘Song Association’

The Jonas Brothers made their own rules during a memorable game of “Song Association” with Elle.

To start, the siblings pulled a song out of their own catalog by singing “Lovebug” for the prompt “Love.” “It’s been around in our discography for over 15 years, and we don’t get tired of playing it,” Nick Jonas said of the fan-favorite single off 2008’s A Little Bit Longer. “We love that one,” Joe Jonas agreed.

The agreements stopped there though, as the two singers amusingly butted heads on the next word after Nick launched into “True to Your Heart” and Joe couldn’t identify the track by 98 Degrees and Stevie Wonder from Disney’s Mulan. “I don’t know this song. You could be making this up,” Joe insisted, leading his younger brother to emphatically point out, “We’re on a team.”

Only then did Joe change his tune by immediately responding, “I love that song. Yeah, I danced at prom to that song, I remember.”

“And you went to prom in what year? What year was that?” Nick probed while whipping out his phone to look up the artist. (Sorry, Joe, 2013 was not the right answer.)

After Kevin Jonas served up a rare helping of his own vocals on Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” the trio got into a hysterical tiff over starting their songs in the game on completely separate notes. “Here’s the problem: You asked us to sing. We all start in different keys,” Nick said, cutting off their a capella rendition of the Bee Gees classic “How Deep Is Your Love.” “You usually do this with one person, you don’t have that issue. So we look like idiots.”

“I was trying to find your key,” Joe poked, stirring the pot, but it was Kevin who got in the final, lol-worthy dig by quipping, “Still lookin’ for it!”

Elsewhere during the game, the JoBros riffed through everything from Jason Derulo’s “Talk Dirty” and *NSYNC’s “Gone” to “Gotta Find You” from Camp Rock and “Little Bird” off their brand-new studio set The Album.

Watch the Jonas Brothers work as team — well, sometimes — on “Song Association” above.

23 May 2023

Lewis Capaldi Sings Powerful ‘Wish You the Best’ on Night One of ‘The Voice’ Season 23 Finale

There were a lot of high points during Monday night’s (May 22) first night o The Voice‘s season 23 two-episode finale. In addition to The members of Team Kelly, Team Chance, Team Niall and Team Blake laid it all on the line while performing an uptempo tune and a ballad in a bid to make it to Tuesday night’s (May 23) winner’s circle.

And, as always, there were some ringers in the house to inspire the singers, with Alex Newell performing “Independently Owned” from the Broadway musical Shucked and Lewis Capaldi amping up the drama with a moving performance of his new ballad “Wish You the Best.”

Standing alone on a circular stage in a bright spotlight, Capaldi grabbed the mic stand with both hands as he crooned the song’s wistful chorus over a haunting piano figure, “But oh my love/ I wanna say I miss the green in your eyes/ And when I said we could be friends I guess I lied/ I wanna say I wish that you never left/ Oh, but instead I only wish you the best/ I wanna say without you, everything’s wrong/ And you were everything I need all along.”

Capaldi’s “Best” debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart in late April, which gave the Scottish singer/songwriter his fifth U. K. leader on the tally following “Someone You Loved” (from 2019), “Before You Go” (2019), “Forget Me” (2022) and “Pointless” (2023).

The finale marks the end of Blake Shelton’s epic run on the show, with the country star leaving after 12 years and 23 seasons when the confetti falls on Tuesday. To celebrate, the series will host Dolly Parton, previous Voice coaches Usher, Pharrell, John Legend, Nick Jonas, Camila Cabello and Jennifer Hudson on the finale, with original coach CeeLo Green and Diplo with Lily Rose performing, along with longtime former judge Adam Levine and Maroon 5, who will play their new single, “Middle Ground.”

Watch Capaldi’s performance of “Wish You the Best” on The Voice below.

23 May 2023

Taylor Swift Scores Record-Extending 66th Week at No. 1 on Artist 100 Chart

Taylor Swift extends her record run as the top musical act in the United States, as she spends a 66th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated May 27).

Swift rebounds from No. 2 to No. 1, thanks in large part to nine albums on the Billboard 200, all of which rank in the chart’s top 40. A week earlier, she became the first artist to chart nine albums in the Billboard 200’s top 40 simultaneously, and now she becomes the first artist to achieve the feat twice (since the chart became a combined stereo and mono albums survey in August 1963). Here’s a recap.

Rank, Title:

  • No. 2, Midnights
  • No. 10, Lover
  • No. 14, Folklore
  • No. 19, 1989
  • No. 22, Red (Taylor’s Version)
  • No. 23, Reputation
  • No. 27, Speak Now
  • No. 28, Evermore
  • No. 32, Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

Swift also charts two songs on the Billboard Hot 100: “Anti-Hero,” at No. 10, after it became her longest-leading No. 1 hit (eight weeks), and her new radio single “Karma,” which climbs 35-32 with top Airplay Gainer honors for a third consecutive week, up 24% to 29.5 million in all-format radio audience May 12-18, according to Luminate. Both songs are from Midnights, which earned 60,000 equivalent album units (up 1%) in the tracking week. It previously led the Billboard 200 for five weeks.

Swift has spent the most weeks at No. 1 in the Artist 100’s nine-year history. Drake is next with 37, followed by The Weeknd (28), BTS (21), and Adele (20).

Elsewhere on the Artist 100, Jonas Brothers re-enter at No. 5, thanks to their sixth LP, The Album. The set launches at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 52,000 units, becoming the trio’s seventh top 10.

Daft Punk returns at No. 7 on the Artist 100, hitting the top 10 for the first time, thanks to a new 10th anniversary deluxe reissue of the duo’s seminal LP Random Access Memories. The set re-enters the Billboard 200 at No. 8 (40,000 units) and the Vinyl Albums chart at No. 1 (26,000 sold on vinyl) for a fifth total week on top. It spent two weeks atop the Billboard 200 during its original chart run in 2013, becoming the first and only leader for Daft Punk, which disbanded in 2021.

Bailey Zimmerman jumps 20-10 on the Artist 100, nearly besting his No. 9 peak, thanks to Religiously: The Album. The 16-song set arrives at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 with 47,000 units, becoming his second top 10, after his 2022 release Leave the Light On.

The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

23 May 2023

Kim Petras Is Ready to ‘Feed the Beast’ With New Album Art & Tracklist Reveal

With a few hit songs and a headline-making Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover under her belt, Kim Petras is ready to make her next big move.

On Tuesday (May 23), Petras unveiled the album artwork and tracklist for her forthcoming debut album, Feed the Beast. In the new art, the “Coconuts” singer can be seen standing with damp hair and wearing nothing but a wrought-iron chain wrapped around her torso, as she covers herself with her well-manicured hands.

If you were getting damsel-in-distress vibes from the image alone, it seems that was intentional. On the back cover of the forthcoming album as shown on Petras’ Twitter account, the official tracklist is shown next to a picture of a glowing, crystalline sword leaning against an obsidian rock. Paired with the pop star’s use of a castle emoji in announcing the project’s art — as well as the fact that there’s a song called “Castle in the Sky” on the project — it would all seem to hint at a more fantastical setup for the album.

As for the tracklist, Petras’ recent set of collaborations with Sam Smith and Nicki Minaj — “Unholy” and “Alone,” respectively — both make appearances on the forthcoming project. The pop princess is also teaming up with alt-pop singer BANKS for an upcoming song titled “BAIT.”

Feed the Beast is out June 23 via Republic Records/Amigo Records. Check out the official album art and full tracklist for Feed the Beast below:

Kim Petras 'Feed The Beast'

Kim Petras ‘Feed The Beast’

Courtesy Photo

Feed the Beast tracklist:

  1. “Feed the Beast”
  2. “Alone” feat. Nicki Minaj
  3. “King of Hearts”
  4. “Thousand Pieces”
  5. “Uh Oh”
  6. “Revelations”
  7. “BAIT” feat. BANKS
  8. “Sex Talk”
  9. “Hit It From the Back”
  10. “Claws”
  11. “Minute”
  12. “Coconuts”
  13. “Castle In the Sky”
  14. “Brrr”
  15. “Unholy” with Sam Smith