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“Because you can can can!” is the hedonistic rallying cry of Parisian club owner Harold Zidler at the outset of Broadway’s adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s celebrated 2001 film Moulin Rouge!. And through July 16 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in Manhattan, Joanna “JoJo” Levesque is currently proving she can can can soar in a sumptuous major musical despite no previous credits on the Gay White Way.
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Yes, experiencing JoJo in Moulin Rouge! involves a few moments of processing that the Satine in front of you is the same person who, at age of 13 in 2004, earned a No. 1 on Pop Airplay with the punchy “Leave (Get Out).” But that biographical tidbit quickly fades as you lose yourself in Satine’s journey as she sheds her performative shield and embraces love, death and everything in between.
It’s a triumphant transformation that Levesque subtly reveals through shifting reactions to the world around her — while, naturally, showing off her substantial vocal range and a nuanced ability to interpret hit songs from other artists. It’s such a convincing sublimation of her pop star identity that my companion at the Hirschfeld, despite several assurances, refused to believe it was THAT JoJo on stage in front of us and not a Broadway pro (eventually, she was convinced, and cried at the end of the play).
Of course, casting a known pop, film or TV star in a Broadway play is nothing new — and lately, it’s been a boon for theatrical box offices as they recover from the pandemic. Earlier this year, two-time Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon pulled in packed, enthusiastic audiences for Chicago as Mama Morton. But rarely do outsiders make their Broadway debut playing the lead role in a musical, which makes JoJo’s 14-week run as Satine even more impressive – and a sparkling diamond of a delight on Broadway.
Before we talk about the play, I want to ask about your initial reaction to the movie when it came out in 2001.
Obsessed. Baz Luhrmann is one of my favorite filmmakers. I love the energy, the pulse you can feel throbbing in all of his work. Nicole Kidman just shattered me with Satine. I was like 10 years old when it came out, but I revisit it time and time again because it’s so delicious. I saw the Moulin Rouge! musical theater production when it opened in L.A. at the Pantages [in 2021], and I went back and rewatched the movie again I was like, “Ugh, it’s so good!” I’m totally in love with the Baz stuff.
When you auditioned for the role of Satine on Broadway, how did you feel? Were you confident about what you delivered?
I workshopped with the producers and director and I knew that I had prepared as much as I possibly could have. I walked away feeling, “If I don’t get it, I can feel good about the work I did going into it.” And that’s what I’m looking to feel at this point in my life in general: I laid it all out there and come what may. But I was hoping that it would work out, and when it did, I was so relieved. I really wanted the opportunity to use all the different things I love that I’ve been working on since I was a little girl at once: Singing, acting, performing. This is the perfect opportunity for that.
As you rehearsed and prepared for the role, what was the hardest part for you?
The quick costume changes backstage are one of the most challenging components. Some of the changes are 25 seconds and there’s wig changes, shoe changes. That stressed me out a little bit because I didn’t want to throw anybody else off – not hit a mark and set the whole show back. But I learned. There’s a whole squad of people who are there to help it all move seamlessly. And that’s my favorite part of musical theater, the community aspect of it – we’re all parts in this living, breathing organism.
Twice in the musical you descend from the ceiling on a swing. Is that terrifying?
I have a safety harness. Sometimes I don’t click it exactly right and it gets stuck, and that gives me a little nervousness. But being up in the air is okay. It’s fun. I don’t love roller coasters, but it’s the perfect dose of a roller coaster. It sets my character up for the audience to understand who she is at the Moulin Rouge. And it helps me get into character, honestly, coming down from the ceiling. JoJo hasn’t done that before, but Satine does. That makes me feel better. I’m not myself, I’m not Joanna; I’m embodying Satine.
JoJo in Moulin Rouge
Evan Zimmerman
What’s your favorite song to perform each night?
I love doing “Elephant Love Medley” with Derek [Klena]. It’s such a cute moment of him trying to win her over and her being like, “You don’t understand what life is actually like, bro. You’re crazy.” But there’s something charming about his purity and how he has not been wounded by life the way she has. I love that moment. It’s when they’re really falling in love and when she decides she’s going to follow her heart for once as opposed to trying to do what she needs to do to survive.
The next time you hit the stage as you, do you think you might incorporate some of the Moulin Rouge! stuff?
I have a festival performance coming up May 6 for Lovers & Friends in Las Vegas, while I’m doing this [Broadway run]. It has informed that. I have a couple ideas I’m going to bring into my set in Vegas. I think this is making me a more well-rounded performer, getting to play with different people every night, sometimes two times a day. I love that repetition and finding freedom within it. And doing your own play on other people’s songs is a treat.
What have you learned about yourself doing this?
I learned how much I was yearning for some aspect of community that I haven’t had in my life before. I started so young as a solo artist and I’m an only child. I still had that sense of being an outsider, the odd girl out, and I was bullied in middle school. I was like, “Will I be embraced?” I did have those fears. And to let myself be vulnerable and be open, let people know my heart and get to know other people’s hearts, that’s been a nice experience. And [I learned] how to pace myself. If you’re doing 7-8 shows a week, you have to learn how to take care of your instrument, your body, everything.
What informs your portrayal of Satine?
I want to always keep in mind how difficult her life has been. The fact that she is performing most of her life, whether it’s on the streets or for men or at the Moulin Rouge, she doesn’t really get a moment to let her guard down. There was a time in my life where that was very much the truth for me. I didn’t even know how to be honest; I didn’t even know how to get in touch with myself. I’m still trying to find the most authentic version of myself.
Do you want to do more acting on Broadway?
I love it here. I love doing stuff like this. If they’ll have me, I’ll be here. I’d love to originate a role, I’d love to be part of writing the music for original shows. To be a part of this has been a highlight of my life. I feel like I’m growing, I’m learning, and that’s what makes me happy: to be where these amazing performers are and where we’re stretching and growing. I could definitely see more of it.
Part of Taylor Swift‘s magic is her ability to make individual fans feel like she’s singing directly to them. But in Gracie Abrams‘ case, Swift actually was when she dedicated “Clean,” the April 1 Eras Tour show surprise song and a favorite of Abrams’, to the 23-year-old indie pop star.
Abrams has previously shared that she had no idea Swift — her idol since childhood — was going to make such a sweet gesture that night in Arlington, Texas, which marked the “21” singer’s first of several nights as an opener for the Eras Tour‘s North American leg. And in a recent interview with Teen Vogue, she reflected on how special the moment was for her as a lifelong Swiftie.
“I don’t think I realized the scale at which that one means something to everyone,” she told the publication. “That’s the thing about Taylor’s music. When one of her songs lands in a specific place in your life, it feels like you’re the only person in the world who has that extreme of a connection to the song.”
“I felt so grateful to hear it in that way, so stripped and raw,” Abrams continued. “That song has been kind of a constant security blanket since it came out. I have so many little memories listening to that song at times when I needed it. To hear her so thoughtfully dedicate it, I was like, ‘I could die now and be totally thrilled.’”
The L.A. native also got candid about how nerve-racking it can be to warm up a stadium-sized audience before Swift’s shows, saying she stays grounded while performing by keeping her eyes trained on the fans closest to her. “Otherwise,” says the “21” singer, “I think I would only be able to think about how I’m playing on the same stage as my favorite artist in the world, and she’s granting me that opportunity, and how did life get from being 10 years old and crying to her music in my room to being on this stage and celebrating her career in this way?”
Abrams has fully embraced how her fandom for Swift has become a core part of her own artistic identity, never shying away from the topic in interviews. In February, as she was gearing up to release her debut album Good Riddance, the “I Know it Won’t Work” artist told Billboard that Swift’s friendship and professional solidarity “means so much” to her.
“She’s as spectacular a person and friend as she is an artist, writer, director,” she continued. “She’s really that great. To be able to lean on her in any capacity really means a lot. The opportunity [to open for the Eras Tour] is so outrageous… I feel like I don’t even really believe it’s real. I’m so stoked to watch her crush it every single night. To see her up close in that way and be able to study that is the greatest gift.”
See photos from Gracie Abrams’ Teen Vogue shoot below.
Priyanka Chopra opened up about the start of her relationship with Nick Jonas in a new interview on Thursday (April 27), and revealed it was a relationship that almost wasn’t!
“I didn’t give it much of a chance because, I was like, ‘He’s 25 years old, he’s a rockstar. I want to get married, I want to settle down, I want to have a baby,’” the Citadel star explained in TODAY‘s first-ever cover story. “I was 35 at the time. I wanted stability, and I didn’t give Nick enough credit until I went out with him on our first date. We spent the whole evening together, and I realized my husband is just like an old soul. He’s stability in human form.”
The Jonas Brothers singer persevered, and they were eventually married in two separate, lavish ceremonies in Jodhpur, India — one Hindu and one Christian — back in 2019. Nowadays, they’re parents to baby Malti Marie, and Chopra reflected in her conversation with Hoda Kotb about the tot’s scary, premature arrival.
Priyanka Chopra
Phylicia J. L. Munn for TODAY
“I remember he just held me by my shoulders,” she said of Jonas, “and I said, ‘Just tell me what to do, because I don’t know what to do.’ And he’s like, ‘Just get into the car with me.’ And we drove to the hospital. She was born, and from the moment she took her first breath to now, she’s never been without one of us, ever.” (The newborn spent 100 days in the newborn intensive care unit following her 2022 birth.)
While Citadel, Chopra’s new action series on Amazon’s Prime Video, premieres Friday (April 28), her husband’s new album with his fellow JoBros, The Album, is set to be released May 12.
Gayle used to have trouble dealing with hate, but recently, she’s learned how to shake it off. That’s thanks to some advice given to her by idol-turned-confidante Taylor Swift, whom the 18-year-old Nashville musician credits with helping her put backlash into perspective when it comes to her success or her polarizing smash hit “abcdefu.”
Gayle revealed in an interview with Teen Vogue published Thursday (April 27) that, in touring with Swift and sitting next to her at award shows, she has gleaned some well-earned wisdom from the 33-year-old pop star about tuning out negativity. “She’s like, ‘Baby child. Come on. What controversy could you have had for the five minutes you’ve been making music?’” Gayle recalled Swift telling her.
“And that’s true,” the “Everybody Hates Me” singer continued. “That’s fair. It was really, really nice for her to say, when I’ve told her my biggest, deepest worries, she’s like, ‘You’re right. And it’s fine.’”
Gayle’s career skyrocketed after her angsty breakup chart-topper blew up on TikTok in 2021. There was already some people who openly scorned the trendiness and success of “abcdefu” before the 2023 Grammy nominations were announced last year, but when Gayle earned a nod for song of the year alongside Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version),” her critics got even louder. (Both she and Swift lost the category to Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That.”)
According to Teen Vogue, though, Swift’s advice was simple, that Gayle had to make the music she wanted and grow as a musician, and learn how to deal with people’s responses.
“[I had to decide] if I won’t take advice from you, I won’t take criticism from you,” Gayle added. “I can’t not give it all I got just because I’m scared of the possibility of people not liking it. … My music, at the very least, is supposed to make you feel something. If it’s hatred, you’re still feeling something. I’m still winning a little bit. I’ll take it.”
The young star also recounted the story of how Swift asked her to be one of the Eras Tour openers, an invitation that essentially went down the very first time Gayle met her hero at the Nashville Songwriter Association International awards ceremony last year. “She was like, ‘Oh my God, are you touring? Do you tour?’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God. Yeah, I do tour,’” she said.
“She’s like, ‘Oh my God, are you touring next year?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I am.’ She’s like, “That’s amazing. Do you open up for people?’ I don’t know why my dumb a– said this, but I was like, ‘I open up for people who ask me to open up for them.’ She was like, ‘I’ll call you.’ I was like, oh my God, I’m going to die.”
Coachella 2023 was a rollercoaster ride — at least as far as the headliners were concerned. After Frank Ocean was announced for the 2023 edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival even before the 2022 fest took place, Bad Bunny and BLACKPINK rounded out the slate of headliners upon the lineup announcement earlier this year. Then, an abrupt change between the first and second weekend of the fest: Ocean pulled out of the latter due to an ankle injury, with Blink-182 and the trio of Skrillex, Four Tet and Fred Again.. instead closing out the main stage.
After months of anticipation, Coachella 2023 is in the rearview. Naturally, it’s time to start wondering who will top the 2024 lineup.
We’ve got a full year until Coachella 2024 and roughly nine months until its lineup is unveiled, but we can start daydreaming about which A-listers could possibly be en route to the desert in April 2024. These 10 artists could feasibly top next year’s lineup, thanks to a mix of star status, recent commercial wins and/or clues that new music is in the works. For the sake of simplicity, this list doesn’t include any past Coachella headliners who are currently active, like Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd or Drake — so while Beychella Part II would be welcomed by all far and wide, we’re only thinking of artists who would be making their debuts as Coachella headliners, which is often the case for these bookings anyway.
So who are some names to keep in mind for 2024? Here’s a preliminary list of A-listers who would headline next year’s Coachella:
Rihanna
After rocking the Super Bowl halftime show in 2023, could Rihanna finally be headed to the desert as a Coachella headliner in 2024? Rih was heavily rumored to top the 2023 festival lineup in the spot that ultimately went to BLACKPINK, and perhaps the baby bump that she revealed during her Super Bowl LVII extravaganza last February can help explain why.
Rihanna is about to become a mother of two, but not much is otherwise known about her next 12 months – including any timetable for the release of new music, after she issued a pair of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack cuts late last year, as well as any non-Super Bowl shows planned. Anytime she wants to headline the fest, Coachella will presumably be happy to have her; we’ll see whether or not the Navy can find love in a hopeless place in 2024.
Dua Lipa
“I gotta get out the studio more and see some sunlight,” Dua Lipa wrote on social media in February – a good indication that new music from the UK pop star, and perhaps the follow-up to her 2020 sophomore album Future Nostalgia, are very much in the works. Whenever Lipa does return, she’ll be able to add her new music to an arsenal of hits, spread out across her two studio albums (“Don’t Start Now,” “Levitating,” “New Rules”) and one-off collaborations (“Cold Heart” with Elton John, “One Kiss” with Calvin Harris).
If Lipa’s LP3 is ready to roll by this time next year, she would fit into the mold of recent headliners like Ariana Grande, Harry Styles and BLACKPINK – ultra-cool A-listers with new material to promote and/or premiere at Coachella. The shortlist of potential pop headliners at Coachella should undoubtedly include her name.
SZA
The artist behind the biggest song in the country — which hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 after eight weeks in the runner-up spot — is on a hot streak that extends far beyond “Kill Bill.” SZA’s long-awaited sophomore album SOS has been one of the biggest albums of the year thus far and has been showered with critical acclaim, setting up a potential awards-season run pushing into 2024.
The success of SOS has also pushed SZA into arena-headliner territory, as her tour in support of the album has added more dates due to high demand. Headlining Coachella would be the ultimate victory lap for a singular artist who has long been beloved by R&B fans, but has recently leveled up her commercial profile in every conceivable way.
Doja Cat
At the 2022 edition of Coachella, Ye backed out as the Sunday night headliner, and Swedish House Mafia with special guest The Weeknd shifted into the empty space at the top of the bill. Before the replacement became official, however, some fans pointed to another potential headliner already scheduled for the main stage on Sunday: Why not Doja Cat? After all, her 2021 album Planet Her spun off five top 20 Hot 100 hits, in addition to previous smashes like “Say So” and “Streets”; furthermore, Doja is a force of personality, and although she hasn’t been in the spotlight for too many years, she commands its presence.
Since Coachella 2022, Doja Cat has earned another top 10 entry with the Elvis soundtrack single “Vegas,” and hopped on hits with Post Malone and SZA. If she releases the follow-up to Planet Her before the end of the year, it will be one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2023. And a Coachella 2024 headlining booking would be a slam dunk, for both Doja Cat and the festival itself.
Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo’s 2021 debut album, Sour, became such a commercial triumph that her sophomore LP, whenever it arrives, will be greeted with feverish enthusiasm. That’s why the Grammy winner for best new artist could headline Coachella next year even with a limited catalog: Rodrigo has a finite number of released songs, but everyone in a headliner crowd would know them all by heart, from “Drivers License” to “good 4 u” to “Deja Vu” to whatever she deems to release next.
Consider a potential Rodrigo booking in 2024 similar to Billie Eilish’s headlining gig at Coachella in 2022: a young superstar with a sky-high approval rating, running through the ubiquitous hits and beloved album cuts that recently made her a household name. And as a nod to the festival’s rock roots, maybe Veruca Salt can join Rodrigo for her cover of “Seether,” too!
Cardi B
A few weeks ago, Cardi B celebrated the five-year anniversary of the release of her 2018 debut album, Invasion of Privacy… as well as the five-year anniversary of fans asking her when the follow-up will finally arrive. It’s hard to blame them: Invasion of Privacy remains one of the most cohesive, engrossing hip-hop debuts in recent memory, featuring No. 1 hits like “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It.” While the wait continues for Album No. 2, the rap superstar has been able to tide fans over with chart-topping one-off singles like “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion and “Up.”
If a sophomore LP materializes for Cardi B in the next 12 months, expect her name to show up in the Coachella Possibility conversation. Honestly, it could show up even if an album doesn’t arrive — such is her continued, all-encompassing appeal.
Shakira
This year, Coachella made history by booking Bad Bunny, its first headliner who records predominantly Spanish-language music. The festival should consider giving future opportunities to Latin music artists as well — and who better to lead the potential 2024 headliners than Shakira, an international superstar currently experiencing a renaissance near the top of the Hot 100?
Shakira could have headlined any recent iteration of Coachella, thanks to her decades-long track record of hits. But in 2023, the Colombian star has returned to mainstream pop prominence with a pair of top 10 singles, thanks to her fiery Bizarrap team-up “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” and her Karol G collaboration “TQG,” which peaked at Nos. 9 and 7 on the Hot 100, respectively. Although Shakira’s relevance within the Latin pop community has never flagged, that one-two punch has returned her to the U.S. mainstream in exciting fashion — and a Coachella slot could punctuate that run.
Miley Cyrus
Speaking of a veteran star coming off a rejuvenating hit: Miley Cyrus scored the biggest smash of her career earlier this year when “Flowers,” the lead single to her Endless Summer Vacation album, logged eight nonconsecutive weeks at the top of the Hot 100. In the past, Cyrus has headlined festivals like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits thanks to a slew of past hits and audacious stage persona — could she head to Indio next year armed with her longest-running chart-topper yet?
Cyrus has yet to announce a tour in support of Endless Summer Vacation, so we’ll see how exactly she plans to support her latest full-length on the road. If she ends up snagging a Coachella ’24 headlining slot, though, expect the set to become one of the more must-see (and potentially star-studded) performances of the festival.
BTS Members & Friends
A proper BTS headlining set at next year’s Coachella is going to hit an obvious roadblock: the mandatory military service required of their members, which has already halted larger group activities for the time being. While members have embarked on solo projects and performances over the past year, a full-on reunion isn’t likely until at the very least 2025, based on the members’ own comments on the matter.
Maybe that precludes BTS from having a presence at next year’s Coachella… or maybe the members who can perform at the 2024 festival get creative, with a one-of-a-kind set that functions as both a showcase to recent solo endeavors and a stopgap salute to ARMY before a globe-conquering group return. Imagine a headlining set featuring BTS members playing their solo material off of each other, special guests arriving to deliver features, and a few see-you-soon performances of the collective’s biggest hits to date. That type of show is unlikely at this moment, but it would also be the ultimate care package to fans if they can pull it off.
Taylor Swift
I mean… this works all too well, right? The superstar behind the most in-demand tour of 2023, capping things off with her Coachella debut in 2024? The festival constantly wants to one-up its collection of headliners, and after a blockbuster trio in 2023, no artist would raise the stakes quite like Taylor Swift would as a 2024 bill-topper.
Swift has long favored headlining tours over festival appearances, and this year is no exception with her Eras stadium run. So, no, Taylorchella isn’t likely for 2024. But we can dream.
Tones and I just keeps dancing. On Wednesday (April 26), the music video for the Australian indie sensation’s smash single “Dance Monkey” officially hit 2 billion views and counting on YouTube.
The amusing clip finds the artist otherwise known as Toni Elizabeth Watson donning old-age makeup and a gray beard to play an old man who escapes from a nursing home with his gaggle of buddies for a wild day out on the golf course.
“They say dance for me, dance for me, dance for me, oh-oh-oh/ I’ve never seen anybody do the things you do before/ They say, move for me, move for me, move for me, ay-ay-ay/ And when you’re done, I’ll make you do it all again,” she sings as the group goes joyriding in golf carts, throws back beers at the clubhouse and boogies on the putting green.
The grooving single was an instantly viral hit when Tones and I unleashed it back in 2019 as the second single from her debut EP The Kids Are Coming. While it charted at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song hit No. 1 in more than 30 countries around the world and also earned the pop singer her first top 10 hit on Billboard‘s Pop Airplay, Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Dance/Mix Show Airplay charts.
Since then, Tones and I released her debut studio album Welcome to the Madhouse, collaborated with Macklemore on “Chant,” and contributed “I Made It” to the soundtrack of the 2023 biographical drama True Spirit.
Rewatch Tones and I’s “Dance Monkey” music video below.
P!nk put a far-right commentator in his place on Wednesday (April 26) after he attempted to troll her on social media over her appearance.
The Twitter back-and-forth started when Stew Peters posted a photo of the pop star performing on stage in a midriff-baring costume and snidely wrote, “Those aren’t child-bearing hips.”
Known for not holding back on social media, the “Never Not Gonna Dance Again” singer — and proud mom of daughter Willow Sage and son Jameson Moon, for the record — let the troll off relatively easy, merely quote-tweeting his post and writing, “Oh, Stewie. Stewie Stewie Stewie. You’ve got too much free time,” followed by a clown emoji.
Her fans, on the other hand, were less apt to let the body shaming slide. “When Stew finds out you have a child his mind gonna be blown…” one responded, while another tweeted, “Indeed those are not ‘child-bearing’ hips, those are ‘boss mom hips’! My favourite female/mom artist by far!” A third fan pointed out, “It’s mind-numbing that people actually think this way and say these things.”
Of course, P!nk has much more than misogynistic Twitter trolls to keep her busy and winning these days. Not only did she recently release Trustfall, her ninth top 10 album on the Billboard 200, but she’s also gearing up for not one, but two tours in support of the project.
Additionally, she and pal Kelly Clarkson just raised $60,000 to benefit nonprofit No Kid Hungry by donating a signed, one-of-a-kind soundwave artwork of their duet “Broken and Beautiful.”
Read P!nk’s classy clap-back to put the Twitter troll in his place below.
Lizzo stripped down to nothing but swimwear to dance it out ahead of her show in St. Louis on Tuesday.
In the clip posted to TikTok, the singer wears a blue-and-white tie-dyed bikini, pink swim cap and oversize black shades as she gets down to “Shake Ya Tailfeather,” Nelly, P. Diddy and Murphy Lee’s 2004 single from the Bad Boys II soundtrack. In the background from her rooftop view, the famous St. Louis arch is clearly visible as sirens blare and the song starts with the rappers chanting, “We do it for fun/ We just do it for fun/ We Derrty ENT/ We do it for fun/ Bad Boy/ Nelly, Diddy, Murphy Lee!”
Lizzo is currently back on the road for another leg of her ongoing Special Tour, which has recently kicked off again with stops in Knoxville, Tenn. — where she trotted out drag queens Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Kandy Muse, Aquaria and Asia O’Hara to protest the state’s discriminatory anti-drag and anti-LGBTQ+ laws — and Lexington, Ky. Next, she’s headed to Canada for a show at Montreal’s Bell Centre on May 4 before continuing on to Hartford, Conn.; Baltimore; Raleigh, N.C.; and beyond.
The pop star’s carefree dance moves prove she continues to remain determinedly unbothered by the recent onslaught of fat-phobic insults and other body-shaming commentary sparked by conservative commentator Candace Owens and perpetuated by swarms of online trolls.
Over the weekend, Lizzo emerged as the big winner at the 2023 Detroit Music Awards by taking home four awards and sweeping the night.
Watch Lizzo’s bikini-clad dance to “Shake Ya Tailfeather” below.
It takes three different people to help perfect the translation, but Taeyang is eventually satisfied with the explanation of his Down to Earth album title. Almost two decades after his music-industry debut, a time that’s included historic accolades such as being the first K-pop soloist to send a Korean-language album to the Billboard charts, the singer-songwriter-dancer emphasizes the details because now, more than ever, it’s personal.
Until last year, Taeyang and his generation-defining group BIGBANG (which BTS’ Suga recently cited as having “practically made” his chart-topping band) hadn’t released new music since 2018. TY’s last solo album, White Night from 2017, spent two weeks atop the World Albums chart and after the single “Louder” was released in conjunction with the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, the star began his mandatory military service for the country.
In what should have been a routine enlistment required for all able-bodied men, unforeseen events such as the departure of original bandmate Seungri and the COVID-19 pandemic canceling BIGBANG’s comeback performance for Coachella 2020 complicated a simple musical return. Frustrated with an inability to address the situations or express himself musically during enlistment, it nearly turned the star off from music entirely.
“It was a pretty devastating time for me,” Taeyang tells Billboard during a morning call from Seoul the weekend before Earth‘s release. “Five years ago, I couldn’t make music in the military. But it wasn’t just the outside limitations like the army or COVID. It was also internal and things going on in my personal life that were out of my control that made me even more anxious and that much harder to deal with the situation. At one point, I even thought, ‘Maybe this is the end of my career as an artist.’”
Not confident he’d find his voice as a more mature, now-married K-pop star with a boy band shaken up while serving his country, Taeyang struggled to find a viewpoint.
“I was unsure about what messages to put in the music,” he says, not naming any specific instance that affected him, but an overall unease during the period. “I couldn’t create a song with a ‘We are the best’ kind of message, and I also couldn’t make heartbreaking music. It was really awkward and weird. I had a lot of thoughts and was having quite a difficult time getting started. I contemplated a lot on the direction and story of the music, so I was stuck for a period of time where I could barely do anything.”
An unconventional approach was able to pull him out of his hole thanks to producers and other creatives at THEBLACKLABEL (the subsidiary agency under mega-label YG Entertainment, whose roster includes a range of Korean talents such as Zion.T, Jeon Somi, LØREN and, now, Taeyang), the star began to find his groove again.
“THEBLACKLABEL producers started making some music for me, really fun songs where we were just messing around with the music almost in a joking type of way,” the singer explains. “That’s how the process started, very organically. I was going through so much and I was being so serious about music, but the producer would throw out these funny melodies and lyrics. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s really fun.’ I’d respond to them like, ‘Oh, what about this? Like that?!?’ and we’d just be playing. I found the true joy of making music then. I was like, ‘This is really fun — let’s just start this way.’”
His super catchy, trap-heavy new single “Shoong!” with Lisa of BLACKPINK, Back to Earth‘s international focus track following Taeyang’s signing with Interscope Records, was created in this style and set the path for the project. “The song that played the most important role in making the album was ‘Shoong!’” he says. “That’s how the album process started.”
It all speaks to his all-important album title, Down to Earth, which Taeyang (whose real name is Dong Young Bae) landed upon for his most personal yet.
“Whenever I started the ideation for an album, I really did think it was important to use the sun as a main starting point,” he says, referencing his stage name (Taeyang means “sun” in Korean, and he performs in Japan as SOL, or sun in Spanish) as well as past solo records (Hot, Solar, Rise, White Night).
“But for this album, instead of it starting for ideation and choosing a concept necessary for the album, it really stemmed out of my life experiences,” he shares.
“There are a lot of limitations as to what you can do in the army. One of the things I found was to go for a run around the time the sun was setting. It wasn’t like I always loved running, but that was all I could do; I wasn’t really in control. One day, I saw a beautiful sunset I had never seen before in Korea, and a lot of thoughts crossed my mind. The sunset meets the darkness, right? It meets the night and I saw myself as the sunset because that was how my life was at that time. The setting sun can’t complain; it has no say in where it’s going. I found solace in that and realized that I could also meet my darkness in a similar way, and I decided to be more peaceful throughout these stressful experiences. I wanted to create a new morning, which meant resetting my approach and mindset.”
In the process of coming down to Earth, and returning to music, Taeyang notes how “going back to basics and going back to my core” during his time in the military comes through in new songs like the moving piano ballad “Seed,” a throwback to ’80s and ’90s South Korean music to let TY’s vocals shine unaccompanied, and the surging feel-good anthem “Inspiration” with clever references to his biggest artistic influences. Undoubtedly one of Taeyang’s tightest collections to date, Down to Earth not only sounds like an artist refreshed and reminded of his superstar abilities but also one who’s back to expressing himself in the only way he knows how.
Read on for more from Taeyang’s journey, including his favorite new song, reaction to hitting the Hot 100 and comforting news on what’s next.
First, congratulations on entering the Hot 100 with “Vibe” earlier this year. It was both your and Jimin‘s first entry. Do you remember where you were when you heard the news?
Taeyang: I was at home eating lunch with my family when I first heard the news. I was pretty startled at first and didn’t quite understand what that meant because, well, I had been away for so long. It didn’t hit me that hard — not that I wasn’t thankful, but I wasn’t sure about the degree of successfulness. I had to call my producers and ask what it meant. They said, “Oh, this is such an amazing result,” and that’s when I really realized.
It’s been a long time since my last comeback and, thankfully, K-pop and the industry have grown a lot, so I was unsure to what the new standard of how a track does well. But I put all my best in it and to be able to get such a nice result with Billboard, it’s quite a miracle. And it was possible through the people that I works with; I was really glad to have gotten such good feedback for “Vibe,” but I did not expect that.
Do you have any new reflections on “Vibe” now that it’s been out for a few months?
After “Vibe” was completed, the specific plans for the album and the timing of the release were all set. The fact that I collaborated with Jimin is very, very special and, on top of that, “Vibe” played a huge role in completing my album. It’s a meaningful song to me and I am very grateful.
It’s pretty impressive to have a BTS member featured on your album and a BLACKPINK member with Lisa on “Shoong!” It feels like only Taeyang could pull this off.
Actually, it’s not that I planned to get features from BLACKPINK and BTS in one album. It was a very natural process. And I’m really, really thankful for that.
Tell me about the Korean focus track “Seed.” It has that classic Taeyang ballad vibe.
Although K-pop has a certain image now, like what the current generation now knows as K-pop with boy groups and girl groups, what I believe is true to K-pop is the golden era of the ’80s and ’90s [music in South Korea] because music from that era was entirely in Korean and the lyrics are really beautiful. I thought it’d be good to express in that modern way.
That’s how [BIGBANG’s 2022 comeback single] “Still Life” was created. After that song was released, I read a lot of comments from fans and thought about how I could express my thoughts honestly in my new solo music [too]. That’s how “Seed” was created too. If you listen, you can tell that I had a lot of thoughts and feelings put into the song. I’m expressing the feelings of what I went through in the past, but there’s also what I see and think about the future.
“Inspiration” feels very special for shoutouts to artists we know you love, like Michael Jackson. What went into this song?
“Inspiration” is the song I created with Beenzino, a friend I met during the military. He’s a really great rapper, and we share many similarities, so I wanted to collaborate with him. I’ve always wanted to create a song with the color and mood of Michael Jackson and Prince for a song about what I am most inspired by in my own life. I wanted to connect the dots and all the sources of my inspiration, I mentioned the artists’ names from all different genres, but I tried to combine them into one story and in the lyrics.
Do you have a favorite song on the album?
Wow, that’s really hard to say because every song is my own, but if I have to pick one, it would be the last track, “Nightfall” featuring Bryan Cha$e, because it describes my thoughts very well on my album. Many fans like the intros of my albums, but in this EP, I do not have an intro. When I first started to work on “Nightfall,” I thought of putting it as the intro to my album, but when I was finishing creating the song, I thought it should be an outro as the mood of the song really fits as the outro — it explains about the album and my thoughts.
Earlier this year, you and Suga of BTS bonded over how you write out what’s on your mind, which shaped your lyrics on Down to Earth. What are you writing about lately?
I am really, really busy these days due to promotional activities, so I don’t have much to write. [Laughs] But I can say, thankfully, after finishing this album, I already have a vision for the upcoming albums and about the theme, concept and mood. I’m already gathering the thoughts to motivate myself for the next album.
Olivia Rodrigo is a Katy Cat who might have a new kitty cat. In an adorable Tuesday (April 25) Instagram post, the 20-year-old pop star showed off a little feline using Katy Perry lyrics from “Last Friday Night.”
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“there’s a stranger in my bed. there’s a pounding in my head,” the “Drivers License” singer captioned a photo of her under the covers. In this case, the “stranger” is a teeny tiny kitten dozing at Rodrigo’s side.
It’s not clear whether or not the feline belongs to Liv. Her close friends appear to confirm in the comments that the kitty’s name is Kumo — “Kumo hard launch,” wrote Courteney Cox’s daughter, Coco — and some fans theorized that Rodrigo shares the cat with longtime best friend and roommate Iris Apatow.
“Auntie liver,” Apatow commented, while one fan wrote, “liv & iris live together so maybe it’s both their cat.”
Because the people want answers, Billboard has reached out to Rodrigo’s rep for comment.
The singer has been keeping a low profile in recent months, aside from some appearances at the Grammys, the Vanity Fair Oscars party and the Billboard Women in Music event, where she presented Lana Del Rey with the night’s Visionary Award. In less than a month, it’ll be exactly two years since she dropped her blockbuster debut album Sour, which spawned two No. 1 hits, topped the Billboard 200 for five weeks and made the former Disney actress the first female artist to simultaneously chart 12 songs in the Hot 100 Top 30.
And while Rodrigo did possibly tease she’s working on a new project by posting a studio selfie in February, fans are getting super antsy for new music. “WE NEED AN ALBUM GIRL,” one impatient Livie commented on the star’s photo with Kumo.
“olivia hun i’m staving i need more music asap,” wrote another.
See Olivia’s adorable post with Kumo the kitten below:
