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GAYLE is just one week away from opening for Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour, and in a new interview, the singer-songwriter opened up about just how much the superstar’s invitation to join her on tour meant.
“Taylor has been such an icon, period, but especially in Nashville,” the 18-year-old told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 on Friday (March 10). “She’s done so much for women in pop music for Nashville and for songwriters. And the fact that she can look at me in Nashville and just be like, ‘You, come with me.’
“It just means the world to me and it just was really validating for me, and especially at a very overwhelming time,” she continued. “I had no clue what I was going to do this year. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I had the best year of my life. What am I going to do next year?’ And she was like, ‘Here’s something to add to your calendar.’”
Memorably, GAYLE first crossed paths with her new tourmate at the Nashville Songwriter Awards last September, where she took the stage to perform her breakout hit “abcdefu.” Swift, meanwhile, was honored at the ceremony as the NSAI Professional Songwriter Members’ Songwriter-Artist of the Decade.
Since that meeting, GAYLE actually competed against Swift for song of the year at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Swift’s The Eras Tour is set to kick off March 17 with two back-to-back shows at State Farm Arena in Glendale, Ariz. Along with GAYLE, Paramore, Beabadoobee, Phoebe Bridgers, Girl in Red, MUNA, HAIM, Gracie Abrams and more are all set to open on select dates across the U.S.
Hello…you. The season 4 finale of Netflix’s You contained an epic needle drop of Taylor Swift‘s “Anti-Hero,” and now the show’s creator is dishing on how she nabbed the song.
“We had finished most of the episodes and sent them off to Netflix,” Sera Gamble, who also serves as You‘s showrunner, told E! News on Friday (March 10), “and then we needed this last big song at the end of the final episode and we had one in that was different.” (Don’t worry, no spoilers going forward about the second batch of season 4 episodes, which just premiered on the streamer.)
At first, the thriller’s music team was planning to use one of several “really iconic British songs,” given the season’s London setting, but Gamble changed her mind the moment Swift dropped her 10th album Midnights and its lead single — with its self-loathing refrain of “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me” — back in October. “I was like, ‘I feel like it’s almost too good what she’s saying and we have to at least try to get this song in.’ Because really, what is You but a Taylor Swift fan love letter disguised as a show?”
There’s no word yet on whether Swift has binged Joe Goldberg’s murderous antics on the latest season of the Netflix hit, but it’s safe to say she’s probably been a bit busy prepping for The Eras Tour, which kicks off on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) at Glendale, Ariz.’s State Farm Stadium.
To celebrate the musical mastermind’s arrival, Glendale Mayor Jerry P. Weiers announced earlier this week that the town will temporarily be changing its name through her second show on Saturday, March 18.
Selena Gomez sat down for the newest episode of the Apple TV+ series Dear… on Friday (March 10) to discuss her experience with lupus and body-shaming trolls.
The superstar explained that after she was first diagnosed with the disease, she “didn’t quite understand what that meant” at the time. “I knew I had an autoimmune disease, it was just my body fighting itself on the inside,” she said. “And that was the most surreal part because I had never felt fatigue, I was young, I felt completely fine. So hearing from a doctor that, ‘Oh, you could’ve had a stroke onstage, you could’ve died,’ it was a lot.”
As a side effect of the medications she was prescribed for lupus, Gomez’s weight would often fluctuate, and she found herself being attacked online over her body and physical appearance. “It was like they couldn’t wait to find a thing to bring me down,” she said. “I lied. I would go online and post a picture of myself and I would say, ‘It doesn’t matter. I’m not accepting what you’re saying,’ all the while being in the room posting that crying my eyes out, ’cause nobody deserves to hear those things.”
During the episode, the Selena + Chef star also looked back on her 2017 kidney transplant, which she received from her best friend Francia Rasia. “I will never, ever, ever be more in debt to a person than Francia,” she said. “The idea of someone not even second-guessing to be a donor was unbelievably overwhelming. … I think it had to happen the way that it did. In order for me to get to where I am, I was meant to go through it to do something for others.”
Gomez just returned to social media this week after taking a brief break in the wake of perceived drama with Hailey Bieber. “Please, please be kinder and consider others’ mental health,” she shared on TikTok. “My heart has been heavy and I only want good for everyone. All my love.”
The singer’s episode of Dear… is now streaming on Apple TV+.
Meghan Trainor dropped her “Mother” music video on Friday (March 10) and, of course, she took Hollywood’s most famous mom along for the ride.
In the Charm La’Donna-directed clip, Kris Jenner appears in a blonde ‘do wearing a stunning white gown, surrounded by dancers in suits, channeling a Marilyn Monroe “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” inspired scene. “I am your mother /You listеn to me / Stop all that mansplainin’ / No one’s listening,” the momager sings along to the female empowerment anthem, which samples The Chordettes‘ classic, “Mr. Sandman.” Jenner then joins Trainor, both rocking velvet dresses with sparkling details, musing the lyrics as they dance along to the beat.
Jenner is mother to Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob Kardashian as well as Kendall and Kylie Jenner. Trainor, meanwhile, is expecting her second baby with husband Daryl Sabara, two years after welcoming their son Riley. She even shows off her ultrasound in the music video.
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The “All About That Bass” musician’s experiences being pregnant with and giving birth to Riley will serve as the focus of Dear Future Mamas, her upcoming book that will also include “TMI real talk” about body image, the newborn days and more.
Watch Trainor’s “Mother” music video below.
This week’s new music Friday is filled with brand new albums from Miley Cyrus and TWICE, a long awaited collaboration between dance powerhouse duo Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding, and more.
Cyrus has returned with Endless Summer Vacation, which sees her expanding and diving into elements from her multifaceted sound of past album eras, all while delivering danceable — and infectious — pop hits. Buoyed by lead single “Flowers,” Cyrus’ first Billboard Hot 100 chart topper in nearly a decade, the star gives fans a love letter to Los Angeles and a solid look at what’s ahead for her musically.
Women in Music Breakthrough Artist award winners TWICE are back with 12th mini album Ready to Be. The K-pop stars have supported the release through U.S. television performances, and are embarking on a world tour in April, which will allow ONCEs to hear the pop hits and strong hooks on the new EP. “Set Me Free” and “Blame It On Me” serve as clear standouts from the new set, while the previously released single, “Moonlight Sunrise,” continues to be a fresh, infectious listen.
Past collaborators Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding reunite on “Miracle,” the third from the pair since “I Need Your Love” in 2012 and “Outside” in 2014. The track is a clear showcase of trance sensibilities, with Goulding’s vocals serving as a warm vehicle to accompany the song’s instrumentals.
Lauren Daigle and Fever Ray also return with new material this week. With so much to choose from, we want to know: Which release is your favorite? Vote in our poll below.
Some fans think Liam Hemsworth’s fingerprints — or should we say, footprints — are all over Miley Cyrus‘ new album Endless Summer Vacation, which dropped midnight Friday (March 10).
More specifically, many have speculated that track nine on the album, “Muddy Feet,” calls out Hemsworth for being unfaithful during their relationship. “You smell like perfume that I didn’t purchase,” Cyrus sings on the record, a collaboration with Sia. “Now I know why you’ve been closing the curtains/ Get the f–k out of my house.”
Later on the song, she sings, “Always questioning my questioning/ Get thе f–k out of my head with that s–t.”
Of course, Cyrus doesn’t mention the Hunger Games actor by name; however, her former romance with Hemsworth is objectively the musician’s longest and most well-known public relationship. The two first met in 2009 on set of The Last Song, and dated on and off for the better part of a decade. In 2018, they got married before promptly splitting a few months later in 2019.
The length and rockiness of the former couple’s relationship has led fans to connect much of Cyrus’ new music to Hemsworth, including her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 Endless Summer Vacation lead single. On “Flowers,” the Hannah Montana star confidently sings about her ability to love herself better than her former partner, believed by many to be Hemsworth, ever could.
There’s also the not-so-subtle fact that Cyrus literally released “Flowers” on Jan. 13 this year, aka Hemsworth’s 33rd birthday. So, there’s that.
Check out some of the best reactions to Miley Cyrus potentially confirming Liam Hemsworth cheated on her below.
oh Liam Hemsworth you will crumble for your sins, Miley went into muddy feet mad mad! CALL HIM OUT MOTHER . Miley Cyrus Muddy Feet instant classic pic.twitter.com/gmOFGcA08Q— Butterfly Candy Paint (@BlackNormani) March 9, 2023
Liam should be terrified of muddy feet miley was PISSEDDD— john 🌊 (@mileyfIower) March 9, 2023
Muddy Feet Ft. Sia, I love this song so much. The moment she knows Liam is cheating on her. hahaha Endless Summer Vacation— Rex (@rexhausted23) March 9, 2023
Muddy Feet – oh she was MAD! She’s called Liam a cheater in like 28 different ways now and I eat it up every time. “IMMA HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.” we ride at dawn!!! Sia killed her little ohhhhhs btw 9/10 pic.twitter.com/OhW2IFGv7g— kayla (@mckaylaknows) March 10, 2023
Jonas Brothers opened up about the sound of their upcoming album, The Album, in a new interview on Wednesday (March 8).
“We’re taking the roots of what our sound is, but also going back to our roots and pulling from those ‘70s influences we grew up listening to,” Nick Jonas teased at Spotify’s Stream On event to E! News.
Joe Jonas jumped in to add: “A lot of things happened obviously in the last couple of years, so we never got the time to just connect, stay in one room and work on new music. To be able to do that and have that outcome that we had, we are so thrilled.”
Among the references the siblings point to on The Album include sounds from the 1970s like the Bee Gees, Boston and Stevie Wonder.
Kevin Jonas also teased the Brothers’ plans to hit the road later this year to promote the studio set. “We haven’t announced the tour, but it will be coming very soon,” he said. “We are going to be doing a bunch of shows leading up to the album release as well. A lot of exciting things this year and the years to come.”
Prior to The Album‘s May 12 release, Joe, Kevin and Nick will also be taking over the Marquis Theater in New York City for a five-night residency on Broadway. Each night starting next Tuesday (March 14), they’ll highlight one of of their past albums — from 2007’s Jonas Brothers to 2019’s Happiness Begins — before performing their new album live for the first time. This week, they also announced a one-night-only show at London’s Royal Albert Hall set for April 14.
During one of the sessions for Emails I Can’t Send, Sabrina Carpenter’s 2022 album full of post-heartbreak contemplations, she hit a mental wall. “We were writing, and I was like, ‘This isn’t how I’m actually feeling right now,’ ” the singer recalls. “I had to get outside of my head.”
Over the next two hours, Carpenter and co-writer Steph Jones created “Nonsense,” a cheeky, sumptuous rhythmic-pop track about being so flustered around someone that she gets tongue-tied. But then she shrugged off the song, figuring it didn’t fit with the tone of the album, and nearly left it off the tracklist altogether.
“That laid-back approach,” she reflects now, “is what I think actually made it special.”
Much like Carpenter, 23, listeners didn’t immediately latch on to “Nonsense” — but since the July release of Emails, the song has turned into the album’s biggest hit. Late last year, a sped-up version went viral, prompting Carpenter to release an official accelerated take.
“There’s something addictive about hearing a song sped up,” she says. “It gives it new life and more energy.” She then uploaded a holiday version of “Nonsense” to streaming services, building toward its breakthrough in 2023, beginning with a highly choreographed performance on the Jan. 4 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as well as a TikTok dance routine pegged to the second verse.
The single has reached a No. 56 high on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned 77.2 million U.S. on-demand streams through March 2, according to Luminate. It has also given Carpenter — who released four albums on Hollywood Records before making her Island Records debut with Emails — her best-performing pop radio hit, with four weeks in the top 20 of the Pop Airplay chart.
There’s still more “Nonsense” to come: Carpenter announced a deluxe edition of Emails will be out next Friday (Mar. 17), one day after she kicks off her 2023 headlining tour, and confirms that a remix to the song with another artist is on the way. No matter how high the song climbs, Carpenter says that the unexpected reaction to it has been extremely gratifying.
“When you’re seen for things that feel so close to who you are at your deepest, darkest self,” Carpenter says, “it’s a beautiful thing.”
This story will appear in the March 11, 2023, issue of Billboard.
When Suga announced his Agust D tour in February, Japan was notably the only country on the trek whose dates were labeled “to be updated.” Now, BTS fans in the island country have a chance to catch the rapper on his global trek, as the BTS official fan club announced on Friday (March 10) how fans in the country can secure tickets.
Suga will perform a series of three dates — June 2-4 — at the Pia Arena MM in Kanagawa. Fans who secure tickets through the BTS Japan official fan club presale advance will pay 15,400 yen including tax ($114.33 USD), while non advance tickets will cost 16,500 yen including tax ($122.50 USD). VIP seats for the Japan dates will cost 26,400 yen ($195.99 USD).
A fan club lottery reception will be held on March 16 at 1 p.m. Japan standard time (11 p.m. ET March 15) through March 23 11:59 p.m. Japan standard time (10 a.m. ET). Tickets are not on a first-come, first-served basis; results of the lottery will be revealed March 31 through April 4. Fans are allowed up to two tickets per member, and applying for the same performance more than once will result in disqualification from the lottery.
See the full list of Suga’s Agust D tour dates, including Japan, below.
April 26 — Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena
April 27 — Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena
April 29 — Newark, N.J. @ Prudential Center
May 3 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
May 5 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
May 6 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
May 10 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
May 11 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
May 14 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
May 16 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
May 17 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
May 26 — Jakarta, ID @ Indonesia Convention Exhibition Hall 5-6
May 27 — Jakarta, Indonesia @ Indonesia Convention Exhibition Hall 5-6
May 28 — Jakarta, Indonesia @ Indonesia Convention Exhibition Hall 5-6
June 2-4 — Kanagawa, Japan @ Pia Arena MM
June 10 — Bangkok, Thailand @ Impact Arena
June 11 — Bangkok, Thailand @ Impact Arena
June 17 — Singapore, SG @ Singapore Indoor Stadium
June 18 — Singapore, SG @ Singapore Indoor Stadium
June 24– Seoul, KR @ Jamsil Indoor Stadium
June 25 — Seoul, KR @ Jamsil Indoor Stadium
Billboard’s First Stream serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Miley Cyrus makes summer last forever, TWICE prepares for their biggest year yet, and Calvin Harris re-teams with a pop-star pal. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
Miley Cyrus, Endless Summer Vacation
Miley Cyrus’ new album, Endless Summer Vacation, is many things: a self-described love letter to the city of Los Angeles, a full day in two distinct halves (the track list is divided into “AM” and “PM” songs), a fresh start on the new label home of Columbia Records, a commercial comeback thanks to lead single “Flowers” becoming Cyrus’ first Hot 100 chart-topper in nearly a decade. Above all, however, Endless Summer Vacation is an apotheosis. After spending the decade following her Disney Channel rise by trying on different styles of popular music, from hip-hop to country-pop to guitar-rock, Cyrus positions her latest full-length as a culmination of her experiences and strengths, with a variety of sonic approaches folded into the mix. Cyrus, one of the more gifted pop artists of her generation, knows exactly who she is, and Endless Summer Vacation reckons with both where she’s been and where she might be headed next.
Click here for a full review and preliminary track ranking of Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation.
TWICE, Ready To Be
Although Ready To Be marks TWICE’s 12th mini album, the K-pop stars have been making notable recent strides as both a commercial unit and recording group: as they make the rounds on U.S. television and prepare to embark on a world tour next month, TWICE is expanding the boundaries of their pop aesthetic and delivering some of their strongest hooks to date. Ready To Be highlights like “Set Me Free,” “Blame It On Me” and the previously released hit single “Moonlight Sunrise” will get stuck in your head, but more importantly, they’ll pull you into TWICE’s world by showcasing what they do best as individual members and a cohesive unit.
Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding, “Miracle”
After previously conjuring dance magic with “I Need Your Love” in 2012 and “Outside” in 2014, Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding have once again teamed up on “Miracle,” a trance track that instinctively plays to the best qualities of both artists. Goulding is able to inject warmth into the heart of the song’s intro before sending her voice skyward on the chorus, and Harris provides the throbbing blueprint — when the drop arrives on “Miracle,” the listener feels overwhelmed with movement, and unable to resist.
Lauren Daigle, “Thank God I Do”
With her 2018 album Look Up Child, Lauren Daigle became of the biggest breakout stars of the contemporary Christian music scene in recent memory; then, she stepped away, taking multiple years to finish her follow-up. “Thank God I Do” not only previews that self-titled full-length, due out on May 12, but also suggests an evolution of Daigle’s approach: the piano ballad features the signature soar that fans have been waiting to return, but her voice has deepened with time, matching the epic sweep of the strings on the track and readying the masses for a prolonged showcase this spring.
Fever Ray, Radical Romantics
As one-half of The Knife and within their Fever Ray project, Karin Dreijer has made some of the most urgent electronic music of this century — and on Radical Romantics, the follow-up to 2017’s Plunge, they are able to both recall some of their career’s most indelible moments (Siren Shout fans are going to love this project) as well as forge ahead with provocative new questions. Dreijer contemplates legacy, identity and the contours of love, with tempos shifting and then collapsing, and pop exercises giving way to experimentation; Radical Romantics builds upon a towering career with one of the most well-rounded projects in Dreijer’s catalog.
