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A sonic mirage? The mysterious reverb of distant guitar? A hazy musical apparition? However the ear perceives the initial seconds of Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” the six-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 and record-breaking streaming smash, the seed behind the runaway track was planted during a simple writing exercise.
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“The idea really began with the word ‘flowers’ itself,” says “Flowers” co-writer Michael Pollack, speaking to Billboard from a music camp ahead of the release of Cyrus’ new album Endless Summer Vacation. “It’s been really incredible to watch,” he says of the fervent reaction to the song. “This is the kind of record you dream about having your whole career and I’m so grateful to be a part of it.”
Pollack has enjoyed a charmed rise. When he was just a student at Vanderbilt University, he accompanied his idol Billy Joel on the piano during an audience Q&A (he asked to come up to the stage, Joel accepted, and the subsequent video went viral). Since that auspicious introduction to the public sphere a decade ago, he’s been a close collaborator to artists like Lauv, Ben Platt, Justin Bieber and Maroon 5. For the latter band he co-wrote “Memories,” and with Bieber he collaborated on his Justice track “Holy.” As a result of Pollack’s prolific discography, he shared the title of songwriter of the year for 2022 at the BMI Pop Awards, tying with fellow chart-topper Omar Fedi.
When it comes to Pollack’s harmonious musical relationship with Cyrus, the two first met in May 2021 during a writing session. “We started working together periodically then, but really hit our stride in January of 2022,” Pollack says. “There’s an endless list of what makes Miley special as a collaborator, but one of her greatest strengths is her taste. Miley has impeccable taste. She listens to and loves such a wide breadth of music. Because of that, I don’t have to guess if something is great or not when we’re writing. If Miley says something is great, I trust her wholeheartedly.”
Pollack, who says he almost always writes on the piano (“It’s where I feel most comfortable and it’s where my best ideas have come”), is credited as a co-writer on “Flowers” alongside Gregory “Aldae” Hein and Cyrus. When it comes to the song’s birth, the songwriter says the majority of the track easily came into view.
“Compared to other songs, the lyrics for ‘Flowers’ came relatively quickly,” he notes. “The only line that gave us trouble was the end of the pre-chorus.” Pollack is referring to when Cyrus potently muses, “I didn’t wanna leave you, I didn’t wanna lie.” “I think it was really important to contrast the empowerment of the chorus with a little bit of sadness and vulnerability, and that line ‘started to cry, but then remembered I’ does exactly that. I also love that the sentence is incomplete. It’s a subtle cliffhanger to take you to the chorus.”
Perhaps that’s why “Flowers” soars with its singular sound, presenting a blend of genres that simultaneously compete and gel together. While a friend told him it brought to mind Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (alluding to its crescendos, disco violins and empowering theme, no doubt), many have also pointed out similarities to Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man.” Pollack won’t comment on the connection (perhaps that’s Miley’s story to tell), but any listener can detect that the song boasts a chorus that is the inverse of what Cyrus sings on “Flowers.” (Bruno croons, “I should have bought you flowers and held your hand.” Interestingly, Mars’ co-writer Philip Lawrence once said that “When I Was Your Man” was inspired in part by the artistry of Billy Joel.)
Pollack will say that the original chorus was initially less empowering than what it evolved into. “I remember singing the tagline with the lyric, ‘But I could never love me like you can,’ and Miley and Greg wanted to flip the script and say, ‘Yeah, I can love me better than you can.’ Once we had the tagline established, the rest of the lyric came rather quickly.”
With that, a breakup anthem morphed into a hardy independent roar as opposed to something sorer. According to Pollack: “That was without a doubt one of the biggest moments of the writing process.”
Riding that inspiration, an ephemeral and anthemic moment in “Flowers” comes in the form of a cacophony of voices where Cyrus proudly announces to the world, “I can love me better, baby, I can love me better.” Pollack says the discovery of that puzzle piece was his favorite moment in the (excuse the metaphor) blossoming of the song. It came late in the process. “We had finished writing the entire song and sang it down to see how it flowed from top to bottom,” he recalls. “After the second chorus, Miley freestyled the post-chorus (when she says “I can love me better”), but the way she originally sang it was in this cool, talky tone. That section brought a sexiness to the record that we didn’t even know it needed.”
While Pollack said he “felt the magic” on the demo he recorded with Cyrus, the songwriter was taken aback by its success. “We were also so engulfed in the writing process for the album that I didn’t really overanalyze any of the individual songs we made, but instead just focused on what we were going to write next.”
In addition to other cuts on Endless Summer Vacation, Pollack has other major tracks floating around, ranging from the melancholy (Selena Gomez’s “My Mind and Me”) to the romantic (“Marry Me” from Jennifer Lopez and Maluma). But it’s the record-breaking success of “Flowers” that has grown highest; not just on the charts, but to become one of the biggest success stories in Cyrus’ already blockbuster legacy. (Rolling Stone went so far to say that “Miley’s whole career has been building to this moment.”)
“I think they’re all easy types of songs to write, as long as there is a genuine emotion to tap into and an authentic muse,” says Pollack. “I personally struggle to write songs when no one in the room can tap into the source of the emotion. Each of these songs is rooted in truth.”
BTS‘ Jimin is gearing up to release his debut solo album, FACE. But in the tradition of K-pop, the singer’s label BigHit Music shared a series of concept photos on Thursday (March 9) to get ARMY even more excited for the album’s release.
Fans were treated to the “Hardware ver.” pictures in a series of three: The first features a stylish snap of the BTS vocalist wearing a black leather moto jacket, staring directly at the camera through his bangs. Another shows Jimin fitted in studs placed on his brow bone and a piercing through the center of the bottom lip. The final one has the singer seemingly shirtless, with silver studs cascading down from his face to the neck and collarbone area.
Ahead of the album’s release, a second set of concept photos — the “Software ver.” — is scheduled to arrive on March 11.
The images arrive after BigHit revealed the album art and tracklist for Jimin’s solo LP on Feb. 23. The album will contain a total of six tracks, including main song “Like Crazy” and pre-release single “Set Me Free Pt. 2,” which will drop March 17. According to a press release, the latter song will see the BTS member exploring “his resolution to free himself from various emotions hidden deep inside him.”
FACE will be released on March 24. See the “Hardware ver.” concept photos below.
Calling all Stanford students! You’ll officially be able to take a class next quarter on Taylor Swift‘s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version).”
The course, cleverly titled “All Too Well (10 Week Version),” is being offered during the elite university’s upcoming winter quarter as one of the classes taught under the umbrella of Stanford’s Introductory Studies, and promises an “in depth analysis” of the No. 1 hit’s emotive lyrics taught by alum Nona Hungate.
According to the Stanford website, each of the ITAL 99 courses “offer students an introduction to topics taught by alumni of the program. With each quarter offering unique courses, these student-led classes are focused on hands-on learning and have included topics such as travel sketching, watercolor, music composition, improv acting, animation, and digital art, among many others.”
Swift’s artistry has increasingly been a topic of study at numerous universities across the country. In February 2022, NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music launched its first-ever class on the superstar taught by Rolling Stone writer Brittany Spanos. Last August, the University of Texas at Austin rolled out a new liberal arts course entitled “Literary Contests and Contexts — The Taylor Swift Songbook,” where the singer-songwriter’s work was studied alongside the likes of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Wyatt, Coleridge, Keats, Dickinson and Plath with “required texts” including four of her most recent albums.
Meanwhile, Swift herself is gearing up for the start of her wildly anticipated The Eras Tour, which kicks off next Friday (March 17) at State Farm Arena in Glendale, Ariz., with openers Paramore and GAYLE.
With less than two months to go before the arrival of Ed Sheeran‘s Subtract, the singer revealed on Thursday (March 9) when the project’s first single, “Eyes Closed,” is scheduled to arrive.
“Eyes Closed. 24.03.23 (March 24),” Sheeran captioned a video of himself on Instagram playing the song on the piano, adding that fans can catch another preview of the track over on his TikTok account with a separate video of him performing the song’s parts in a duet with himself.
“So I’m dancing with my eyes closed/ Cause everywhere I look I still see you/ Time is moving so slow/ And I don’t know what else that I can do/ So I’ll keep dancing with my eyes closed/ Oh I keep dancing with my eyes closed,” he passionately sings, while playing acoustic guitar.
“Eyes Closed” will be the first track released from Subtract (or as Sheeran prefers to stylize it, –). The four-time Grammy winner revealed the final album in his decade-long mathematics era — previous installments are 2011’s +, 2014’s x, 2017’s ÷ and 2021’s = — on March 1, stating that the forthcoming LP came to be after a series of difficult, personal events impacted his life.
“I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art,” he shared in the album announcement. He added that “in just over a week, I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.”
“Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumor, with no route to treatment until after the birth,” Sheeran continued. “My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiraling through fear, depression and anxiety.”
In light of the events, the singer-songwriter stated that Subtract is an album of him making songs “that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life” for the first time.
Subtract will arrive on May 5. Listen to the first snippet of “Eyes Closed” below.
It’s not about the pasta, but it is about Raquel! James Kennedy compared the ongoing drama from Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules to one of Taylor Swift’s signature moves in a social media post on Wednesday night (March 8).
“It’s safe to say that this season of Vanderpump Rules has turned into a Taylor Swift album,” the DJ told his nearly 600,000 Instagram followers in a hilarious Story. “There’s easter eggs left and right, you’ve got to come find your easter eggs! You know, or should we start a sticker album book everyone can put their little stickers in? ‘Oh, found another one, found another easter egg.’”
Easter eggs, as Swifties know, are something that the pop superstar likes to leave for her eagle-eyed fans to discover in many of her projects. The hidden clues have been found in her music videos, TikTok clips, carefully chosen outfits and more.
Kennedy isn’t wrong about the easter eggs on the show: Watching back the current season of the reality hit certainly became a whole different experience for Bravoholics in the wake of the cheating bombshell that ripped through the Bravoverse on March 3. In case you’re somehow not caught up on the gossip, that’s the day news came that Tom Sandoval, one of the show’s original stars, had been cheating on Ariana Madix, his girlfriend of nine years and a perennial fan favorite, with their castmate and close friend Raquel Leviss — who just so happens to be Kennedy’s ex-fiancée — allegedly for the past seven or so months. (Both Sandoval and Leviss have since issued apologies for hurting Madix.)
As that stunning revelation set SUR, TomTom, Schwartz & Sandy’s, Los Angeles’ Valley Village and the entirety of the Bravo-related social media ecosystem ablaze, the network scrambled to put the show back into production to capture the fallout — all as PR-crafted apologies were released by Sandoval and Leviss, long-gone cast members came out of the woodwork to offer their hot takes on the drama (Hi, Kristen Doute!), restraining orders were filed and more.
While the exact timeline of the affair has yet to be fully verified, Leviss (whose real name is Rachel) has already found herself in hot water on screen for setting her sights on the other Tom in the group, Tom Schwartz, who’s not-even-quite divorced yet from his wife of five years, Katie Maloney. (Accused of being a “home-wrecker” on the show for openly admitting to Maloney on a recent episode that she was considering hooking up with Katie’s soon-to-be-ex-husband, Leviss simply asked, “How am I a home-wrecker? There is no home to wreck.”)
And in case you thought the twisted #Scandoval couldn’t possibly get any more diabolical, fans have now started questioning whether Raquel’s professed interest in Schwartz was all just a cover-up for the sordid affair happening behind closed doors between her and Sandoval. Coachella is involved; trust me, it’s a whole thing …
Now that you’ve gotten a crash course on all the Pump Rules drama, raise your glass, put on a #TeamAriana shirt and check out DJ James Kennedy’s hilarious Instagram Story below.
Lewis Capaldi is coming to a screen near you. The “Before You Go” singer is the latest musician to team up with Netflix for a documentary. Titled Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now, the project will go behind the scenes with the star in the midst of his career success.
Capaldi shared the news on Thursday (March 9) in a video of himself dressed in costumes from some of the streaming platform’s biggest shows — Bridgerton, Squid Game, Tiger King, Orange Is the New Black, Money Heist and Wednesday — before donning a gray hoodie to tell fans the news of the forthcoming release.
“I made a NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY!!! it’s called ‘How I’m Feeling Now’ and comes out on April 5th!” the Grammy nominee captioned the video. “Pretty terrified for everyone to see this if I’m quite honest, but I’m so so proud of it.” Capaldi also reposted the news to his Instagram Story, adding, “As if this is actually happening. So buzzing, @netflix @netflixuk x.”
Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now will highlight the Scottish singer returning to his roots and reconnecting with friends and family. The press releases teases that the project will follow him “at a pivotal moment in his career,” including his return to Scotland and his parents house to begin work on upcoming album Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent, and grappling with matching the success of his 2019 debut, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent (which peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard 200).
Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent will be released on May 19 via EMI.
See Capaldi’s announcement below.
Cyndi Lauper and The B-52s have joined a rising chorus of voices speaking out against new laws being passed by Republicans targeting the trans community and seeking to ban drag artists.
“Equality for everybody, or nobody’s really equal,” longtime LGBTQ alley Lauper told ITK according to The Hill. “This is how Hitler started. just weeding everybody out.” Hitler’s Nazi Germany tagged gay people as “enemies of the state” and many were jailed or killed in concentration camps and Lauper said it’s imperative that we keep “fighting for civil rights.”
In a sharply worded statement issued on Wednesday (March 8), the B-52’s — also longtime advocates for LBGTQ causes — wrote, “We, The B-52’s, are deeply concerned about the numerous new bills that promote transphobia and discrimination against transgender individuals and drag artists, which have been introduced in the United States. We strongly denounce these bills and stand in solidarity with out LGBTQ+ community.”
The band went on to say that it is, “unacceptable that in the 21st century, we are witnessing such blatant attempts to undermine the rights of individuals based on their gender identity and sexual orientation. These bills not only violate the fundamental human rights of the affected individuals but also perpetuate a toxic culture of hate and intolerance that has no place in our society.”
The statement from Kate Pierson, Fred Schneider and Cindy Wilson came a week after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed two controversial laws — one banning gender-affirming care from being performed on minors, another aiming to prevent drag queens from performing in public spaces where the “adult cabaret performances could be viewed by a person who is not an adult.”
The legislation defines these displays as any performance that “features topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, or similar entertainers, regardless of whether or not performed for consideration.” Critics of the legislation have called this statue a violation of the performers’ First Amendment rights, claiming the law is an unwarranted attack on LGBTQ performers who pose no threat to children.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, Tennessee has passed more anti-LGBTQ laws than any other state in the U.S.
MSNBC reported that just months into the year almost 300 bills aimed at discriminating against transgender people have been introduced in statehouses across the country. At last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), speaker Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire told the crowd, “for the good of the poor people who have fallen prey to this confusion, transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely.”
The comments came during a week in which numerous speakers at the conference lashed out at the LGBTQ and trans community at a time when governors in Utah, South Dakota, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas and Tennessee have banned gender-affirming care for minors, with 18 states passing laws banning trans students from playing sports on teams that align with their gender identities. The actions targeting the community also include a bill approved by the Oklahoma House last week that would prohibit insurance companies from covering any gender-affirming care for citizens of any age.
The B-52s then asked their followers to join them in denouncing the bills and supporting the LGBTQ+ community. “Together, let us work towards building a society that reflects our shared being and is truly just, inclusive, and welcoming for all.”
Their statement came after drag icon RuPaul called Tennessee’s new law banning drag artists from performing in public a “distraction technique” being employed by Republican lawmakers. “[It’s] distracting us away from the real issues that they were voted into office to focus on — jobs, healthcare, keeping our children safe from harm at their own school,” he said.
Calling drag queens “the Marines of the queer movement,” Ru urged viewers to take action rather than watching what happens next. “Register to vote so we can get these stunt queens out of office and put some smart people with real solutions into government,” he said. “And by the way — a social media post has never been as powerful as a registered vote.”
Paramore singer Hayley Williams, a native of Tennessee, criticized her state’s governor in an Instagram story this week, writing, “Once again our state has passed two regressive and unfathomably harmful bills. We stand in solidarity with our LGBTQIA+ family and local LGBTQIA+ orgs in this fight, not only for inclusion for our friends and family in the queer community, but for radical acceptance and empowerment for each of them. Drag is not a crime. Gender-affirming healthcare for all, including our youth, is a necessity.”
Williams will perform at the March 20 Love Rising benefit show supporting Tennessee-based LGBTQ organizations that will also feature Maren Morris, Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell, Brittany Howard, Julien Baker and many more.
Check out the B-52s’ statement below.
Dear fellow citizens,We, The B-52’s, are deeply concerned about the numerous new bills that promote transphobia and discrimination against transgender individuals and drag artists, which have been introduced in the United States. We strongly denounce these bills and stand in pic.twitter.com/mzMROe4pxE— The B-52s (@TheB52s) March 8, 2023
Inquiring minds want to know what exactly is up with Tyga and Avril Lavigne? Just days after the “Girlfriend” pop-punk singer and the rapper were spotted kissing at the Mugler X Hunter Schafer Party during Paris Fashion Week, it looks like Tyga has made their Paris match Instagram official.
In a pair of pics posted on Wednesday (March 8), Tyga is seen posing in an all-black leather outfit in an ornate ballroom, as well as walking down a hallway with Lavigne by his side, also rocking head-to-toe black leather and dark shades. The first snap depicts the couple side-by-side walking towards the camera, while a second shot captures them from the back, with Lavigne’s platinum blonde hair cascading down past her waist.
Tyga’s caption for the post from paris read “Shout out to Dallas…,” while Lavigne appeared to confirm that love was in the air by posting up three black heart emoji. The two also held hands on their way into the Mugler party, according to photos shared by TMZ. The publication previously reported about the duo eating dinner together at Nobu restaurant in Malibu, California.
The snogging comes in the wake of Lavigne’s split from producer/singer and fianceé Mod Sun, who addressed the issue on Instagram on Feb. 28. “In 1 week my entire life completely changed…I just know there’s a plan for it all. I’ll keep my head up + always listen to my heart, even when it feels broken,” he wrote alongside a carousel of photos and videos posted to his Instagram feed. His caption did not specifically mention Lavigne or the break-up, but Billboard confirmed it was about their relationship ending.
Lavigne, 38, announced her engagement to Mod Sun in an April 2022 Instagram post, revealing that he popped the big question in Paris just outside the Eiffel Tower. The “Sk8er Boi” singer was previously married to Sum 41 singer/guitarist Deryck Whibley for three years and Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger for two years. Tyga, 33, has a 10-year-old child (King Cairo) with his ex, Blac Chyna, and has been linked to Kylie Jenner, Iggy Azalea, Bella Poarch and Amina Blue, among others.
Check out Tyga’s post below.
Fans are so close to finally enjoying Miley Cyrus‘ eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, and the singer has been teasing her next single, “River.”
In a clip shared on Wednesday (March 8) from her upcoming Disney+ special Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions), the 30-year-old star gave a glimpse into the inspiration behind the track. “It was a time in my life where I was going through just a lot emotionally and personally,” she revealed. “All of my songs evolve. They can start as something that was a trouble, like, it just feels like it’s an April shower, it never stops raining and then it started raining down love.”
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At the end, Cyrus gets cheeky and says, “‘River,’ sometimes we just need a dance floor banger a.k.a. they don’t want me to talk about the fact the song is about [bleep]. It’s f—ing nasty.”
Earlier this week, the singer teased “River” with a 13-second, black-and-white teaser in which she’s seen with her hair blowing in the wind as guitars and triumphant keyboards swell to introduce the song’s title in a screen-filling, blocky, font.
The follow-up to Cyrus’ 2020 LP Plastic Hearts was recorded in Los Angeles with producers Kid Harpoon, Greg Kurstin, Mike WiLL Made-It and Tyler Johnson. The “Midnight Sky” singer describes Endless Summer Vacation as a love letter to L.A. that showcases the confidence she’s found since focusing on her mental and physical well-being. The LP is led by Cyrus’ empowering lead single and Billboard Hot 100 chart topper, “Flowers.”
Watch Cyrus talk “River” below.
BLACKPINK keeps on taking over the music scene. The four-piece girl group is officially the most-streamed female band on Spotify, according to a report by Guinness World Records on Wednesday (March 8).
Their songs have an incredible 8,880,030,049 individual streams.
The newest accomplishment is just the latest milestone for the quartet of Lisa, Jennie, Rosé, and Jisoo, who have been collecting history-making firsts throughout their careers. Four years after becoming the first K-pop girl group to play Coachella, the festival announced in 2023 that BLACKPINK would be returning to headline the annual music event, making the quartet the first Asian act to do so. The group is set to headline on April 15 and 22.
BLACKPINK also debuted atop the Billboard 200 dated Oct. 1 (released Sept. 25) with their sophomore album Born Pink. The eight-song set is the first by an all-female group to top the all-genre chart since Danity Kane’s Welcome to the Dollhouse launched at No. 1 on the April 5, 2008, tally.
“It’s very surprising to us. All the records are the results of our fans, BLINKs, and their unconditional support,” Jennie told Grammy.com of their success in September 2020. “Every day we try to acknowledge how grateful we are, but more than the pressure, we are ready to give them back as much as they gave us. It just gives us more motivation to go further than we ever dreamed of.”
