Pop
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Christina Aguilera has two kids of her own, but she’s claiming Sabrina Carpenter as her third. In a new TikTok shared by the “Genie in a Bottle” singer, the two pop stars are hanging out — or perhaps on a “mom-daughter” date. In the clip, the “Espresso” musician lip-synchs to an audio snippet seemingly from […]
Dolly Parton has nothing but fondness for the world’s biggest country-dabbling pop stars: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
In a new interview with Variety published Tuesday (Sept. 17), the 78-year-old country legend gushed about both superstars as well as weighed in on the CMA Awards snubbing Bey’s Cowboy Carter this season. “Taylor Swift is amazing what she has done with her career,” she said of the “Anti-Hero” singer, who started out as a country artist before transitioning to pop in 2014. “I just admire her very much and how she’s handled her business, her personal life and what all she has meant to so many young people. [She’s] been a great inspiration.”
As for the “Texas Hold ‘Em” musician, Parton thinks Cowboy Carter — which featured a voice recording from the “9 to 5” artist as well as Bey’s cover of “Jolene” — is a “great album” that she was “fortunate” to be a part of. “[Beyoncé’s] a country girl in Texas and Louisiana, so she grew up with that base,” Parton said. “It wasn’t like she just appeared out of nowhere.”
Even so, Parton thinks that the CMAs — which angered fans Sept. 9 by failing to acknowledge Cowboy Carter in any of its 2024 categories — didn’t necessarily shut out the Destiny’s Child alum “on purpose.” “There’s so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, ‘Well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that,’” Parton told the outlet. “I don’t think it was a matter of shutting out, like, doing that on purpose. I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album.”
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“But it was a wonderful album,” Parton added. “She can be very, very proud … I think everybody in country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good.”
The 10-time Grammy winner also added that she’s “open to anything” when it comes to performing “Jolene” with Beyoncé at some point in the future. And whether it’s the “Break My Soul” singer or Swift — or any of the newer female singers finding success, such as Chappell Roan or Sabrina Carpenter — Parton says she’s “proud of all the gals.”
“I’m old enough to feel like their aunt or somebody that’s kind of looking down and saying, ‘Yay, you go!’” she added. “I think they’re all great in their own way.”
Zayn Malik is hitting the road. The former One Direction singer and solo star made another one of his patented silent walk-on appearances on The Tonight Show on Tuesday (Sept. 17), in which he strolled onto the set during host Jimmy Fallon’s post-monologue desk time to make a very special announcement.
In keeping with his previous no words pop-in earlier this year when he strolled onto set in March with a coffee mug in hand and cued up his then-new ballad “What I Am” on Fallon’s laptop before handing him a note announcing his fourth solo album, Room Under the Stairs, last night’s appearance was short on words but big on news.
Wearing a black leather jacket and missing the voluminous beard that has been covering his face lately, Zayn, 31, again with a white coffee mug in hand, casually walked out to screams from the studio audience and handed Fallon a note. “Zayn! Zayn, what are you…,” Fallon said in mock surprise at the unexpected (but clearly planned) visit.
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Malik smiled and waved at the crowd before cueing up his Room Under the Stairs single “Stardust” on Fallon’s computer. He then walked to the front of the desk, swapped out Fallon’s black coffee mug for his own white Z-branded one, waved to the crowd and walked off stage.
“Hey Jimmy, great to see you, mate,” Fallon read the note left behind by the English singer in what sounded like an Australian accent via Liverpool that eventually downshifted into his regular voice. “I’m going on my first-ever tour this autumn. So maybe when you’re done picking apples with your buds, you can come check out my Stairway to the Sky tour across the U.S. and UK.”
While at press time the dates had not yet been revealed, the note said the official announcement was coming Wednesday morning (Sept. 18).
Hours before, the singer also teased the outing with a cryptic 24-second black and white video captioned “Tomorrow” in which he schlepped an old timey antenna to the top of a hill, twirled the dials on a reel-to-reel tape machine and pulled out a walkie talkie as a voice intoned, “I know it took a while, but we’re here.”
When he does hit the road, Zayn will have four solo albums of material to choose from, from his 2016 debut, Mind of Mine, to 2018’s Icarus Falls, 2021’s Nobody Is Listening and this year’s Room Under the Stairs.
This story will be updated when the dates are officially announced.
Check out the Tonight Show walk-on and preview video below.
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Before Katy Perry‘s 143 album arrives on Friday, she’s released three singles — and she might have saved the best for last. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking about Perry’s “I’m His, He’s Mine,” featuring Top Dawg singer/rapper Doechii on a fiery duet that made its live debut on […]
If you’re tempted to wish Chappell Roan some good luck, babe, at the 2025 Grammys, save it. The 26-year-old pop star isn’t gunning for any other major awards this cycle, even after winning best new artist at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards.
In her cover story interview with The Face published Monday (Sept. 16), Roan explained why she’s “kind of hoping” she doesn’t take home any trophies for her massive debut album era with The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. “My mom would love to go to the Grammys or the Brits,” she told the publication. “[But] I’m kind of hoping I don’t win, because then everyone will get off my a–: ‘See guys, we did it and we didn’t win, bye!’ I won’t have to do this again!”
The “Hot to Go!” artist went on to explain what’s more important to her than a golden gramophone statuette: sustainability. “That’s my biggest goal right now,” she said. “My brain is like: Quit right now, take next year off. This industry and artistry f–king thrive on mental illness, burnout, overworking yourself, overextending yourself, not sleeping. You get bigger, the more unhealthy you are. Isn’t that so f–ked up?”
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“The ambition is: How do I not hate myself, my job, my life, and do this?” she added. “Because right now, it’s not working. I’m just scrambling to try to feel healthy.”
Roan has been open about feeling overwhelmed in the face of sudden super fame, the negative aspects of which she compared to an “abusive ex-husband” in the cover story. But whether she’s ready for it or not, the Missouri native is expected to snag nominations for many of the major Grammy categories ahead of February’s ceremony, particularly best new artist.
And if the Sept. 11 VMAs are any indication, Roan is a shoo-in. After delivering a fiery Joan of Arc-inspired performance of her Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Good Luck, Babe!” on the UBS Arena stage in New York, the musician beat out Tyla and Gracie Abrams for best new artist.
“I dedicate this to all the drag artists who inspire me, and I dedicate this to queer and trans people who fuel pop,” she said during her acceptance speech. “To the gays, who dedicate my songs to someone they love or hate … for all the queer kids in the Midwest watching right now, I see you. I understand you, because I am one of you.”
Tito Jackson, 70, one of the five founding members of the beloved Motown group the Jackson 5, died on Sunday (Sept. 15) of a suspected heart attack in Gallup, NM. Billboard contributor Fred Bronson interviewed Tito over three days in 2016 for his book, The Jacksons Legacy. Check out a few excerpts from their many hours together, including Tito talking about his brothers, signing to Motown, his missed chance to pursue a career in baseball and what he believed his legacy would be.
Before there was a Jackson 5, it was just you, Jackie and Jermaine. Did you play ang gigs as a trio?
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No, we weren’t doing any gigs. It was just us singing around the house, Jackie, Jermaine and me. Then we heard Michael sing at a school function, an elementary school play, and that’s when we put him in the band. Marlon said, “me too!” Both of them has been asking. We had been telling them they were too young. It was for big boys.
Did any of your sisters ask to be a part of your group?
No, the girls hung out with each other. They were around mama all the time. The five of us worked out our harmonies, and with Michael singing songs, it started sounding even better. Father would tell us to be quiet, and our mother told him, “Joe, you need to listen to them. I think they really can sing. I think they have talent.” He would say, “Those boys don’t have any talent. Those boys can’t sing.” [She said] “No, Joe, I really think you should listen to them. They sound pretty good.” So one day, we sang for him and he was blown away. The next day when he got his paycheck, he bought all kinds of equipment. He rehearsed us every day. After school, we’d drop our books. He had the mics already set up, the amps on standby. The guitars were out already.
What do you remember about being signed to Motown?
We had heard that Motown wasn’t going to sign us because Stevie Wonder was on the label and there were a lot of laws about minors working. You could only work so long and then you had to take a break. If you are there longer than six hours, your day is over. You’ve got to go to school for an hour now. Producers hate it. With Stevie they only had one minor. There were five of us.
But that didn’t stop from Motown signing you.
We did the audition for Berry, and he was there. Suzanne de Passe was there. [Motown artist] Bobby Taylor was there and Berry was in the corner, checking it out and listening, trying to not like it. But he really enjoyed it. He wanted us to sing at Diana Ross’s party that he was giving. He told us our first four or five records were going to go to No. 1.
That party for Diana Ross was at Berry’s home in Detroit. I understand he offered you a hundred dollars to make a hole-in-one in his back yard.
He gave us the wrong iron. Some putter or something. We tore the yard up trying to do that.
Is that the first time you met Diana Ross?
Yes. That was the first time we met any of the stars. Marvin Gaye was there and Tammi Terrell. Some of the Four Tops and some of the Temptations. It was like a family. The Motown staff was very kind to us. They treated us like children. That’s what we were. Everybody was our father and mother. They were just very nice to us. We did our performance, singing their songs to them and watching their reactions, and they seemed to really like it. They told us, “You guys are great, but remember, don’t get a big head.” They would give us little tips like that, and we looked up to them, of course. I remember going back to Indiana, bragging to all of our friends that we signed to Motown and our friends were very supportive.
Tell me about your relationships with your brothers.
Our relationships were always good because we did everything together. We hung out together. We stayed together. When we went on the road, we shared rooms. If we were going to the movies, we all went to the movies together. We made our own fun and had our little basketball team, the five of us. We also played a lot of baseball and softball.
Were you good at baseball?
That was my whole thing. I enjoyed playing the game, and I played about two years in Little League before the music took off. I could’ve done something with it if I had kept playing, but I stopped playing at a young age. I guess the music looked better to our father. Jackie was really good at baseball. But I learned when I got older that I was probably just as good, if not better. Especially if I had kept playing, because I was always trying to keep up with my oldest brother.
After three bubblegum pop songs – “I Want You Back,” “ABC” and “The Love You Save,” your fourth single was very different. Tell me about “I’ll Be There.”
I think it was a good move to show the versatility in the group, that we weren’t just about up-tempo young songs. We could deliver love songs and “I’ll Be There” was perfect. It was an adult lyric, but it sounded good for the young voice of Michael with us doing the backgrounds. We didn’t know it was going to be a single. We just recorded the songs that they gave us and we would finish an album and the company chose the songs that it felt strongly about.
What does it mean to you to have been a part of the Jackson 5?
A person comes into this world and it’s what you leave behind, I don’t know if I left enough behind, because what I have left behind is music and if you can bring happiness to some people, that’s more than most people have brought. So I look at it in that context, but it’s not everything that I can leave behind. I’m always trying to do something that’s going to help myself or help society and make myself a better person. But to be a part of the Jacksons, to have that and bring smiles to people’s faces who enjoy the music, who enjoy the image or to name a kid after one of our family members is a good feeling. It means a lot. It means that you’ve done something with your life, other than just lived a life. At the end of the day, when we get called, it’s all about what we did with our time. I still have a lot to give as do the brothers, because the music just flows through our family. I think I was put here to do music.
Justin Timberlake was back in comfortable confines on Monday night (Sept. 16) when he visited The Tonight Show to hang with his good pal and frequent sketch partner host Jimmy Fallon. After a lengthy, laudatory pre-interview wind-up running down the multi-hyphenate singer’s resumé, Timberlake took a seat as Fallon assured his friend “you’re well-liked here.”
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The visit was Timberlake’s first public appearance since pleading guilty to impaired driving in New York’s Sag Harbor Village Court on Friday, where he was sentenced to 25 hours of community service and hit with $760 in fines and court fees. “I did not live up to the standards that I try to hold for myself,” he told the court, before addressing the judge, “I should’ve had better judgment. I understand the seriousness of this.”
Timberlake did not address the plea deal or the DWI incident during the visit, which focused on the singer’s Forget Tomorrow world tour; on Tuesday morning (Sept. 17), JT announced a string of 10 new 2025 dates for the outing (see below).
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The friends mostly joked around, with Fallon demurring when Timberlake repeatedly suggested that the host would come out and do a mandatory warm-up set before Justin’s upcoming Barclays Center show in New York on Oct. 7. “I’m not doing anything,” Fallon assured him. “I’m going as a fan… screaming.”
“Shouldn’t Jimmy come out and do a 15-minute set?” JT baited Fallon as the studio audience howled at the idea.
Fallon also noted that he’s always giving Timberlake advice about touring, for example, suggesting he sit on a stool and play for 45 minutes. Instead, Timberlake plays for more than two hours and as Fallon noted, does a dramatic bit during “Mirrors” where he flies out over the crowd on a giant robotic arm that looks cool, but has led to some regrets from the singer.
“I’m going to say that was my idea… After 53-54 shows,” Timberlake said haltingly before standing up and getting into an arms wide open, leaning forward pose, “I was up there one time, just, like, suspended over everyone. I was like, ‘I could be on a stool right now.’”
“Yes! I told you that!” Fallon said enthusiastically, requesting that when he comes to the show he would like to not be able to see Timberlake that well. Clarifying, Jimmy said he doesn’t want such good seats next time, getting up from his desk and standing within a foot of JT to demonstrate his usual VIP status.
“I don’t know what to do with myself,” Fallon admitted of being so up-close-and-personal. “I don’t dance… and so I just stand there and I bore your wife (actress Jessica Biel), so she leaves me [and] I’m by myself. It’s too much pressure for me.”
“Do you not want to come to the show?” Timberlake wondered. Amid the giggles and the inside jokes, Fallon teased a new holiday song the pair recorded for the host’s upcoming Christmas album, tracked at New York’s Electric Lady studio. “You’ll Be There,” described as a a “holiday bromance” tune, mixes sleigh bells and ukulele for a chilled-out island vibe, with JT singing, “The only thing on my wish list/ Is that you’ll be home for Christmas.”
The pair also played a round of “Playlist Playoff,” in which Fallon and Timberlake competed to pick the perfect song for different scenarios, including a pre-workout jam and the track they’d want on repeat if stuck in an elevator together, which prompted Justin to pay tribute to recently deceased R&B icon Maze frontman Frankie Beverly.
Check out Timberlake on The Tonight Show below.
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Timberlake’s new 2025 North American Forget Tomorrow world tour dates:
Jan. 13 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center
Jan. 15 – Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center
Jan. 18 – Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
Jan. 20 – Palm Springs, CA @ Acrisure Arena
Jan. 23 – Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
Jan. 25 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Delta Center
Jan. 28 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
Feb. 3 – Austin, TX @ Moody Center
Dua Lipa is known for her dance floor-ready hits more than for her personal life, and she intends to keep it that way. In a new, wide-ranging 60 Minutes interview with the “Levitating” pop star, journalist Anderson Cooper asks her for her response to critics who say her songs don’t “have a sense of who […]
Chappell Roan has been open about the downfalls of fame amid her meteoric rise to household-name status this year — but luckily, she has people like Lorde in her corner.
In her The Face cover story published Monday (Sept. 16), the 26-year-old musician opened up about a time the 27-year-old “Green Light” singer came to her rescue during a recent situation that made Roan compare stardom to a toxic relationship. “I feel like fame is just abusive,” Roan told the publication. “The vibe of this – stalking, talking s–t online, [people who] won’t leave you alone, yelling at you in public – is the vibe of an abusive ex-husband. That’s what it feels like. I didn’t know it would feel this bad.”
While crying in an airport bathroom after a man berated her for refusing to sign posters — just one of several instances of toxic fan behavior Roan has endured over the past few months — the Missouri native says she texted Lorde for advice. “She sent me a list of things I should do [in that situation],” Roan continued. “Literally wrote down eight things she wished someone would have told her when she was going through it. And she went through f–king hell. She was a baby!”
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Lorde is one of many female musicians who’ve rallied around Roan this year, in addition to Lady Gaga, Charli XCX, Lizzo, Katy Perry and Phoebe Bridgers, who’ve individually offered her their support since the “Good Luck, Babe!” vocalist’s star exploded this spring. In another recent interview with Rolling Stone, Roan also noted that she and fellow 2024 breakout Sabrina Carpenter have been commiserating over their recent career booms.
“No one understands that it truly falls all on you,” she told The Face of the “Espresso” singer. “No one understands except other artists … Sabrina [Carpenter] even texted me: ‘Hey, I feel crazy. I know you feel crazy.’ So it’s, like, girlies leaning on each other.”
Through it all, the public has watched as Roan has grown more confident speaking out about what makes her uncomfortable. In August, for instance, she called out the “predatory behavior” of certain boundary-crossing fans in a series of posts on social media, and on Sept. 11, she yelled “Shut the f–k up!” at a photographer on the VMAs red carpet before going on to win best new artist during the ceremony.
“They were immediately, immediately supportive,” Roan added of her fellow female pop stars. “It’s been so amazing, because I’m very scared and confused.”
See Roan’s The Face covers below.
There are so many reasons Cyndi Lauper loves Chappell Roan. But if you’re looking for a starting point, it’s “the hair alone.” That’s what Lauper told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live on Sunday (Sept. 15) when asked about the mutual admiration society the “She Bop” 1980s legend has with the rising “Good Luck, Babe!” singer.
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“And the fact that it’s performance art,” continued Lauper, who made a name in the early 1980s with her outrageous sartorial sense and quirky sensibility in videos from her 1983 She’s So Unusual album that helped push the boundaries of what artists could do in the then-new music video format. “And it’s visual, it’s so visual. You know I love those visual things, obviously,” added Lauper.
Asked to share some advice for Roan now that her profile has blown up and paparazzi are chasing her all over, fellow guest Paris Hilton said she doesn’t think the “Hot To Go” singer needs any advice from her, but she did say, “I think everyone should always be nice with everyone,” noting that she’s also a huge fan of Roan’s.
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Roan proved that she’s more than up to the task at last week’s VMAs, when she made her awards show performance debut with a Joan of Arc-like look for a run through “Good Luck, Babe!” that included swords, flaming arrows, knights and medieval mania that proved her best new artist win was well deserved.
In the midst of her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun farewell tour, Lauper was also asked by a call-in fan if she’d ever consider doing a Las Vegas residency. Without much dithering, the 71-year-old pop icon groaned, “I don’t know,” with host Andy Cohen saying, “kinda seems like a no from her response.”
“It’s just, you know what? The weather is really tough,” said native New Yorker Lauper, lamenting that the frequent triple-digit temperatures are too much for her. After playing Rock in Rio on Friday (Sept. 20), Lauper will kick off her final tour in earnest on Oct. 18 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Watch Lauper talk Roan on Watch What Happens Live below.
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