Pop
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Gracie Abrams tops Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart for the first time, as “That’s So True” rules the Nov. 23-dated list. “That’s So True” lifts 4-1 in its fourth week on the chart (following its Oct. 18 release) with 23.5 million official U.S. streams earned in the week ending Nov. 14, a gain of 25%, according […]
Singing an Ariana Grande song with the pop star herself? Imagine a world like that.
Except one lucky fan doesn’t have to — he lived it in real life. In a recent moment captured in a video posted to Grande’s Instagram Story, the “Yes, And?” singer overheard a nearby driver listening to her Thank U, Next fan-favorite “Imagine” on full volume. She then had her car pull up parallel to the fan’s vehicle and rolled down her window to say hi.
“What’s your name? Edwin, nice to meet you!” Grande said after singing along to her own whistle notes for a moment. “I was like, ‘How is this real? Is that me?’ This made my day!”
Edwin — whose filmed POV has also been circulating on social media — replied breathlessly, “Oh my god, I adore you. I can’t believe … I’m this close to you!”
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Afterward, the Grammy winner shared a video taken by someone who was in the car with her and wrote that she’d “made a friend.” “i couldn’t believe my ears !!!!!!” she added. “it was blasting. thank you edwin for making my day. im still crying.”
It’s been a long time since fans got to hear Grande sing even a little bit of “Imagine,” which peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019. She hasn’t toured since December of that year, when she concluded her global Sweeter trek in support of albums Sweetener and Thank U, Next — both of which topped the Billboard 200.
The Wicked star has since released two more LPs: 2020’s Positions and 2024’s Eternal Sunshine. Though she’s teased that a smaller run of performances may be in the works for the latter project, Grande has also leveled with fans recently about wanting to focus more on acting and musical theater and less on pop star activities going forward.
“I’m always going to make music, I’m always going to go on stage, I’m always going to do pop stuff, I pinky promise,” she said on the Nov. 6 episode of Las Culturistas. “But I don’t think doing it at the rate I’ve been doing it for the past 10 years is where I see the next 10 years … Whatever makes sense, or whatever roles we see fit, or where I could really do a good job or honor the material, I would really love to [act more]. I think it’s a lot better for me.”
Watch Grande and Edwin’s spontaneous meet-and-greet below.
K-pop boy band Stray Kids announced 20 new stadium dates across Latin America, North America and Europe on Monday (Nov. 18) that will take the group to new territories on their world tour.
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The show will be the Stray Kids’ first full stadium run of gigs, following on the heels of their second world tour, 2022-2023’s MANIAC OUTING. The Live Nation-promoted tour will kick off in Chile at the Estadio Bicentenario La Florida on March 28, before moving on to stops in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil, as well as Lima, Peru and Mexico City before shifting to North America.
That run will launch on May 24 in Seattle, WA at T-Mobile Park before hitting stadiums in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Arlington, TX, Atlanta, Orlando, New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago, and winding down in Toronto at Rogers Stadium on June 29. The tour will then hop over to Europe for gigs in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid and a final show slated for July 26 at Stade de France in Paris. The U.S. run will feature the eight-man group making their debuts at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium and Citi Field in New York.
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Presale and onsale date information is available here; North American fans can register for first access to tickets in the artist presale now here, with a general onsale slated for Friday (Nov. 22) at 3 p.m. local time.
The Stray Kids will finish out 2024 with dates in the Philippines, Japan, Bangkok and Jakarta.
Check out the Stray Kids’ 2025 North American dates below.
March 28 — Santiago, CL @ Estadio Bicentenario La Florida
April 1 — Rio de Janeiro, BR @ Estádio Nilton Santos
April 5 — São Paulo, BR @ Estádio MorumBIS
April 9 — Lima, PE @ Estadio San Marcos
April 12 — Mexico City, MX @ Estadio GNP Seguros
May 24 — Seattle, WA @ T-Mobile Park
May 28 — San Francisco, CA @ Oracle Park
May 31 — Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium
June 6 — Arlington, TX @ Globe Life Field
June 10 — Atlanta, GA @ Truist Park
June 14 — Orlando, FL @ Camping World Stadium
June 18 — New York City, NY @ Citi Field
June 23 — Washington, DC @ Nationals Park
June 26 — Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field
June 29 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Stadium
July 11 — Amsterdam, NL @ Johan Cruijff Arena
July 15 — Frankfurt, DE @ Deutsche Bank Park
July 18 — London, UK @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
July 22 — Madrid, SP @ Riyadh Air Metropolitano
July 26 — Paris, FR @ Stade de France
ROSÉ of BLACKPINK is gearing up to release her first-ever solo album Dec. 6, but before she takes the leap, the 27-year-old K-pop star says she got a little advice from one of the most successful pop soloists to ever do it: Taylor Swift.
Just a couple weeks ahead of the arrival of Rosie — ROSÉ’s 12-track debut LP independent from her famous girl group — the performer opened up about the bond she forged with the 34-year-old “Anti-Hero” singer while at a New York City hangout in a cover story interview with I-D published Monday (Nov. 18). “I told her I’m such a huge fan, and I just had some questions,” she recalled of introducing herself to Swift. “As soon as she met me, she’s like, ‘Spill, let me help you out.’”
The “APT.” singer added that Swift “was so ready to help me” and even passed along her number as the two conversed during the gathering, which was hosted by producer Jack Antonoff at Electric Lady Studios. “Who does that? Like, you’re Taylor Swift!” ROSÉ gushed in retrospect.
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“I’m really grateful for her, because I was at a moment where I was drowning a little,” the K-pop star added. “She is literally the coolest, and she’s such a girl’s girl. She was telling me – ‘make sure to take care of this, this and this’ – like, logistics. She was trying to protect me. Me becoming solo, being independent, it’s not an easy thing. There are a lot of things I should be careful with, and she gave me a rundown on all the things I have to look out for. That was the coolest part – she’s killed it in the game, and she was kind enough to walk me through.”
The interview isn’t the first time ROSÉ has expressed her admiration for the 14-time Grammy winner, whose Eras Tour show she caught in Tokyo in February. Afterward, the girl group member shared a five-minute video of herself singing along to Swift’s performance of “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” and wrote on TikTok, “Best 10 minutes in tokyo.”
More than a year prior to that, Swift proved that she’s a BLINK by using BLACKPINK’s “Pink Venom” in a TikTok video while on her way to the 2022 VMAs, where the “Karma” artist would later announce her 10th studio album, Midnights. That night, the show’s cameras also captured Swift dancing along to the same track as it played over the speakers.
See ROSÉ’s I-D cover and photos from the shoot below.
There were plenty of highlights and unique moments at Tyler, the Creator‘s 10th Camp Flog Gnaw festival at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles over the weekend. But one of the biggest surprises occurred during Matt Champion’s set when BLACKPINK’s Jennie popped out to join him for a run through their collaboration, “Slow Motion.” Explore See […]
Sir Rod Stewart has another run of North American shows in the works. The “Maggie May” singer announced the dates for his One Last Time 2025 tour on Monday morning (Nov. 18), which will make its U.S. debut in Austin, TX on March 7.
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After rolling the tour out across Europe and Asia earlier this year, the 79-year-old pop icon will play 20 amphitheaters and arenas in the spring and summer as part of an encore North American run of the tour, which will feature opening act Cheap Trick. The outing will bring Stewart to Lake Tahoe, NV, as well as Philadelphia, Toronto, Charlotte, NC, Birmingham, AL and Nashville before winding down on August 15 with a gig at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in St. Louis, MO.
A release announcing the tour promises an “unprecedented evening of iconic hits” including such fan favorites as “You Wear It Well,” “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” “Every Picture Tells a Story,” “Young Turks,” “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” and “Forever Young,” among others.
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Rod Stewart Fan Club members will have access to a presale beginning on Tuesday (Nov. 19) at 10 a.m. local time here. A series of additional presales will take place throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning on Friday (Nov. 22) at 10 a.m. local time. Citi cardmembers will also have access to a presale beginning on Tuesday beginning at 10 a.m. local time through Thursday (Nov. 21) at 10 p.m.; information is available here.
Stewart released his 33rd studio album, Swing Fever, last year, which he promoted with dates in Asia and Europe, as well as the final shows in his 13-year Las Vegas residency, Rod Stewart: The Hits. The singer will be back at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace from March-June 2025 for “The Encore Shows” run, which will mix Stewart’s biggest hits, with surprises from the Great American Songbook, swing tunes and deep cuts.
Check out the dates for Stewart’s 2025 North American summer tour below:
March 7 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center ATX
June 14 — Lake Tahoe, NV @ Outdoor Arena at Harveys*^
June 15 — Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amp*^
July 8 — Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park
July 11 — Gilford, NH @ BankNH Pavilion
July 12 — Philadelphia, PA @ TD Pavilion at the Mann
July 15 — Saratoga Springs NY @ Broadview Stage at SPAC
July 19 — Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
July 22 — Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
July 25 — Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena^
July 26 — Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
July 29 — Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
August 1 — Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
August 2 — Birmingham, AL @ Coca-Cola Amphitheater
August 5 — Brandon, MS @ Brandon Amphitheater
August 8 — Tinley Park, IL @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
August 9 — Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
August 12 — Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
August 14 — Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater
August 15 — St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
*Not A Live Nation Date | ^Cheap Trick not on these dates
The first trailer for the upcoming Beatles 64 documentary chronicling the band’s arrival on U.S. shores six decades ago captures the hysteria that greeted John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all those years ago.
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The nearly two-and-a-half-minute clip opens with black and white footage of the band doing bits on a train ride before cutting to footage of McCartney wailing on a cover of Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally.” The film directed by David Tedeschi (Personality Crisis: One Night Only) and produced by Martin Scorsese will premiere on Disney+ on Nov. 29.
The doc folds in footage shot by famed documentarians Albert and David Maysles (Gimme Shelter), as well as new interviews with living members McCartney and Starr, as well as with Smokey Robinson, Motown founder Berry Gordy and the late Ronnie Spector. “We’re in America! America!,” Starr says enthusiastically to Scorsese at one point in describing the Beatles’ exuberance about making their trip across the Atlantic. Cue archival footage of Ringo raving about arriving in New York only to be told he’s actually in Washington, D.C.
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“It was like being in the eye of the hurricane. It was happening to us and it was hard to see,” Lennon says in voiceover in the film that includes footage of the band’s first American concert. The trip included, of course, the Fab Four’s historic appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, where more than 73 million people tuned in to what would be the big bang of Beatlemania in the U.S.
A synopsis of the film reads: “On February 7, 1964, The Beatles arrived in New York City to unprecedented excitement and hysteria. From the instant they landed at Kennedy Airport, met by thousands of fans, Beatlemania swept New York and the entire country. Their thrilling debut performance on The Ed Sullivan Show captivated more than 73 million viewers, the most watched television event of its time. Beatles ’64 presents the spectacle, but also tells a more intimate behind the scenes story, capturing the camaraderie of John, Paul, George, and Ringo as they experienced unimaginable fame.”
Director Tedeschi told Rolling Stone that the doc features more than 17 minutes of never-seen-before footage — mostly from the Maysles — with the music produced by Giles Martin. He said the movie covers the three week period the Beatles were in America, from their arrival in New York, where they stay four four or five days, before moving on to Washington and then Miami. The Washington show at D.C. Coliseum was the Beatles’ first-ever arena concert, with Tedeschi promising that the Martin-restored sound on the D.C. gig has made it sound “better than it ever has.”
“There’s footage from the Maysleses all the way through, but there’s other stuff. We had a great researcher who found a lot of local Miami footage from local archives — a lot of footage was buried, and he really had to go digging in order to find it. So that’s exciting,” the director said of the cleaned-up tape that was remastered by Peter Jackson’s WingNut Studios, which did the same for Jackson’s Get Back Beatles series.
In a fresh interview, McCartney notes that the Beatles’ visit came shortly after President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated, speculating that “maybe American needed something like the Beatles to be lifted out of sorrow.”
Watch the Beatles 64 trailer below
Katy Perry will play her first full U.K. tour in seven years on her upcoming Lifetimes arena tour. The slate will see her play five shows throughout the U.K. in Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham and London in October 2025.
Perry released her seventh studio album, 143, in September and the LP charted at No. 6 on both the Billboard 200 and the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, her lowest positions for over a decade.
The announcement says that the Lifetimes tour will be a “career-spanning run of live shows, including all the hits from across her multi-million selling albums.” Perry is due to launch the outing in Mexico next year, before heading to Australia for a string of shows and then additional Latin America dates next September. She will be performing at Capital FM’s Jingle Bell Ball at London’s O2 Arena on Dec. 8.
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Perry has also announced that £1 from every ticket sold on the tour’s U.K. leg will be donated to the Music Venue Trust, an organization that champions and supports grassroots music scenes and venues throughout the U.K. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. (GMT) on November 22 here.
Speaking on the donation, Perry said, “I’m proud to donate £1 from every ticket on the U.K. leg of The Lifetimes Tour to Music Venue Trust so that venues like Water Rats and Scala, where I played my first U.K. shows, can continue to usher in the next generation of music talent.”
Mark Davyd, CEO of the MVT, added, “We want to say a huge thank you to Katy and her team for stepping up to support grassroots music venues, artists and promoters. The contribution from these shows will keep venues open, get new and emerging artists out on tour, and enable promoters to bring the best in new music to our communities.”
Perry is the latest act to partner with the MVT to help support the future of grassroots music spaces. Earlier this year, Coldplay announced that 10% of all proceeds from their upcoming 10-night stand at Wembley Stadium in London next summer will be donated to the grassroots music scene.
Speaking to Billboard, Davyd said that “our door is very open to anyone” when it comes to donations. He added: “I want this to become the new normal – I don’t think that’s stupidly ambitious. There are lots and lots of examples of industries – all properly functioning industries – to reinvest to get future gains. As soon as you start talking about it as an investment program into research and development, I don’t think companies should be resistant to that but should be thinking, ‘that makes perfect sense.’”
Last week, the British government backed the idea of a voluntary levy on all stadium and arena tickets sold in the U.K. live music industry as “as soon as possible” to “safeguard the future of the grassroots music sector.”
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said in a report that, “We believe this would be the quickest and most effective mechanism for a small portion of revenues from the biggest shows to be invested in a sustainable grassroots sector.”
Katy Perry’s Lifetimes U.K. 2025 Tour Dates:
Oct. 7 – Glasgow, Scotland @ OVO HydroOct. 8 – Manchester, England @ AO ArenaOct. 10 – Sheffield, England @ Utilita ArenaOct. 11 – Birmingham, England @ Utilita ArenaOct. 13 – London, England @ The O2
Last week, supergroup Band Aid – organized by Sir Bob Geldof and Ultravox’s Midge Ure – announced that they would be releasing an “ultimate mix” of festive charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” for its 40th anniversary. The new release will feature vocals from across the four recorded versions from 1984, 1989, 2004 and 2014, including takes from Bono, George Michael, Harry Styles (as part of One Direction) and more.
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Ed Sheeran, who performed on the 2014 edition of the single alongside Coldplay, Sam Smith, Rita Ora and more, has since said that his vocals are being used without his permission on the latest remix.
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Writing on his Instagram Stories, Sheeran said, “My approval wasn’t sought on this new Band Aid 40 release,” Sheeran said. “Had I had the choice I would have respectfully declined the use of my vocals.”
He added: “A decade on and my understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed, eloquently explained by @fuseodg. This is just my personal stance, I’m hoping it’s a forward-looking one. Love to all x.”
Sheeran was quoting a post by Ghanian-English afrobeats musician Fuse ODG, who says he declined to take part in the Band Aid 30 version back in 2014. “I refused to participate in Band Aid because I recognised the harm initiatives like it inflict on Africa,” he wrote.
“While they may generate sympathy and donations, they perpetuate damaging stereotypes that stifle Africa’s economic growth, tourism, and investment, ultimately costing the continent trillions and destroying its dignity, pride and identity.”
He continued, “By showcasing dehumanizing imagery, these initiatives fuel pity rather than partnership, discouraging meaningful engagement. My mission has been to reclaim the narrative, empowering Africans to tell their own stories, redefine their identity and position Africa as a thriving hub for investment and tourism.”
“Today, the diaspora drives the largest funds back into the continent, not Band Aid or foreign aid providing that Africa’s solutions and progress lies in its own hands.”
The song was first released in 1984 following a report by the BBC into famine in Ethiopia, but has since been criticized as an example of white-savior narrative towards issues in Africa. Moky Makura, executive director of non-profit organization Africa No Filter writing in The Guardian that “[Live Aid’s] portrayal of Africa triggered the birth of a patronizing industry whose mission it was to ‘save Africa.’”
Over the weekend, Geldof responded to a report by New Zealand’s 1 News. “This little pop song has kept hundreds of thousands if not millions of people alive,” he said.
“In fact, just today Band Aid has given hundreds of thousands of pounds to help those running from the mass slaughter in Sudan and enough cash to feed a further 8,000 children in the same affected areas of Ethiopia as 1984.
“Those exhausted women who weren’t raped and killed and their panicked children and any male over 10 who survived the massacres and those 8,000 Tigrayan children will sleep safer, warmer and cared for tonight because of that miraculous little record.
“We wish that it were other but it isn’t. ‘Colonial tropes’, my arse.”
Billboard has contacted Band Aid for comment.
Live from the Short n’ Sweet Tour, it’s Domingo.
On Sunday night (Nov. 17) at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, Sabrina Carpenter brought out a very special guest straight from Miami for her tour segment where she arrests a crowd member for being “too hot” ahead of her frisky song “Juno.” This time, it was Domingo, the seductive Saturday Night Live character played by Marcello Hernandez who originated in a viral sketch last month to the tune of Carpenter’s smash hit “Espresso.”
“My name’s Domingo,” Hernandez said from the crowd to wild cheers, after catching Carpenter’s attention. When Carpenter asks where he’s from (“I’m from Miami, baby,” he growls), she replies, “I wish you were from my bedroom.”
Hernandez then riffs off Carpenter’s lyrics yet again by paraphrasing the words to the saucy Short n’ Sweet cut “Bed Chem”: “I’m the cute boy with the blue jacket and the thick accent.”
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“Is there anything you want to say before I arrest you, Domingo?” Carpenter asks, which sends him straight back to that original SNL sketch: “Came all this way had to explain direct from Domingo/ Sabrina’s a friend, she’s like my sis… but I would hook up though.”
Domingo’s first appearance on SNL came Oct. 12 and featured host Ariana Grande singing an uncharacteristically out-of-tune bridesmaid group song. Carpenter reacted to the bit last month, joking on her Instagram Story alongside a clip: “Very nice and on pitch.” Sharing the singer’s appraisal on her own Instagram Story, Grande replied, “tysm we tried.”
Hernandez’s tour appearance was especially timely since Domingo resurfaced on the latest episode of the long-running comedy series Saturday night, when host Charli XCX starred in a new sketch set to Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go” (“D-O-M-I-N-G-O” was a perfect fit all along).
Previously on the tour, Carpenter “arrested” Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown at her Atlanta stop, saying, “I’m really distracted right now because I see this gorgeous girl,” as she interacted with the actress on the big screen.
Sunday’s show was one of three stops for Carpenter’s tour in the Los Angeles area, starting Friday night at Crypto.com Arena – where she brought out Christina Aguilera for “What a Girl Wants” and “Ain’t No Other Man” – and wrapping Monday night back at the Forum.
Watch Carpenter’s moment with Domingo below: