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Remember way back last year when Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs were all the rage thanks to high-dollar purchases of the digital images of cartoon apes that were snapped up by everyone from Snoop Dogg to Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and Paris Hilton?

Well, in the wake of the implosion of the FTX platform and a precipitous meltdown of digital currency prices over the past month, one of the celebrities who bet, and spent, big on Bored Ape is likely feeling pretty humbled this week. A video parody that opened The Late Show on Thursday night (Nov. 17) chronicled the reported precipitous plunge in value of Justin Bieber‘s Bored Ape.

The bit included tape from a report about the parallel tanking of crypto art that noted that an Ape purchased by Bieber in January for $1.3 million is now worth around $69,000, a calamitous come-down for the series of more than 10,000 NFTs that became the best-selling NFT art collection ever with a one-time reported value of more than $1 billion.

In one of their signature song parodies, Stephen Colbert and the gang re-purposed one of Bieber’s most beloved ballads to offer some gently stinging commentary on the latest celebrity crypto crack-up in the guise of a message to JB from his Bored Ape. “Is it too late not to say sorry?” the cartoon ape sang over the strains of Justin’s “Sorry.”

“‘Cause I lost you lots of money/ But you have to admit it’s funny/ I’m not even a real baboon/ A million bucks for a dumb cartoon,” the sad simian sang before offering another hot virtual stock tip: invest in a Cautious Cow NFT. NFT Price Floor reported that the floor price for the Bored Ape collection — the price of the cheapest-available NFT listed on the marketplace — is down to around 58.2 ETH, or around $69,800, marking a 33% dip in Bored Ape value in just the last month.

At press time a spokesperson for Bieber could not be reached for comment on the alleged plunge in worth of his digital investment.

Watch the Bored Ape bit below.

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, Pharrell Williams tosses out another major collaboration, Nicki Minaj and Maluma headline a World Cup anthem, and Saweetie toasts to the single life. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:

Pharrell Williams & Travis Scott, “Down In Atlanta” 

In addition to producing tracks for artists ranging from Rosalía to Kendrick Lamar to Omar Apollo this year, Pharrell Williams also dropped “Cash In Cash Out,” a masterclass from 21 Savage and Tyler, The Creator with one of the most icy-cold beats of the year. Like “Cash In Cash Out,” new single “Down In Atlanta” finds Williams ceding the floor to a fellow superstar — in this case, Travis Scott, who mixes zonked-out warbling with tales of luxury and fills each line with his larger-than-life persona — while the multi-hyphenate focuses on making each drum-and-synth interaction tingle the listener’s senses.

Nicki Minaj, Maluma & Myriam Fares, “Tukoh Taka” 

It’s World Cup season, and to celebrate the 2022 kickoff in Qatar, Nicki Minaj, Maluma and Myriam Fares have joined forces for a frenetic single that is the “Official FIFA Fan Festival Anthem” and sung in English, Spanish and Arabic. “Tukoh Taka” moves swiftly and tries to score efficiently: around the jittery hook, Minaj raps about a girl’s night out (with some soccer references tossed in for good measure), Maluma croons about scoring a goal in the 90th minute of play, and the beat throbs with the intensity of the tournament that the song is designed to celebrate.

Saweetie, The Single Life EP 

Saweetie is winding up for a major 2023, but before this year comes to a close, the ascendant MC demonstrates the combination of her current star power and artistic potential on the six-song project The Single Life. The California native sounds collected and charismatic on tracks like “Don’t Say Nothin’” and “Bo$$ Chick,” but it’s “Handle My Truth” — on which she opens up about staying single over throwback, G-funk-informed production — that reminds us of the lyrical depth that Saweetie is capable of achieving in addition to hits like “Best Friend” and “My Type.”

Disturbed, Divisive 

Overlook Disturbed at your own risk: the long-running, multi-platinum hard rockers are still catering to genre fans as well as a large group of casual listeners who can’t get enough of their inventive pummel. Divisive, their eighth studio album, contains all the hallmarks of a Disturbed project — in addition to the head-banging material, there’s also an effective ballad, this time a team-up with Heart’s Ann Wilson titled “Don’t Tell Me” — and is also a blast to listen to, regardless of how down with the sickness you may be.

Brockhampton, The Family and TM 

If new album The Family and surprise release TM represent the final works of the audacious hip-hop collective Brockhampton, who have been hinting at a going of separate ways for some time, then the group will have gone out with a creative bang: instead of getting lost in contemplation and wobbling toward new beginnings, Brockhampton uses both projects to get back to what made them captivating upon their breakthrough, from zany sing-alongs (the Nickelodeon homage “All That”) to R&B and dance riffs (“Man on the Moon,” which checks both boxes) to hardened bars about who they are and what they want to accomplish (the stirring coda “Brockhampton”). Safe to say that, no matter what happens next, Brockhampton’s music and character will endure.

P!nk has always been about having fun. But on her upcoming 9th studio album, TRUSTFALL, the singer says she’s having the most fun she’s ever had. “It’s very, very true to what I believe and where I am and what I’m feeling and what I think a lot of people are feeling,” she told Good Morning America on Friday morning (Nov. 18) about the vibe of the collection.

The follow-up to 2019’s Hurts 2B Human is due out on Feb. 17 and it will feature her bouncy new double-negative-into-a-positive single, “Never Gonna Not Dance Again,” produced by Max Martin and Shellback. In describing the inspiration for the collection, the singer told GMA that in addition to bringing the party, TRUSTFALL is her favorite album to date because of the leisurely time she had to make it during a difficult stretch in her personal life.

“I took time. I had time and I had a lot of really devastating things happen,” she explained. “My son and I got really sick with COVID. That sort of distilled down for me what actually matters. And it takes a crisis to do that. It takes your kids getting sick to be like, ‘Okay, none of this matters. I wanna see my kids grow up. That’s what I want.’ I want to only put truth into the world. I want to only be authentic. And I want to be kinder and a better person.” P!nk and husband Carey Hart are parents to daughter Willow Sage, 11 and Jameson Moon, 5.

After losing her father Jim Moore in 2021, P!nk said she was reminded that we all have “a certain amount of time left,” a potentially daunting thought that she used as motivation on the songs. “I just started making music and making — speaking in melody,” she said. “And it came together… My album is a piece of me, and I think that I am an example of how you can live authentically and fearlessly, in ways.”

The album will surely get a workout next summer when P!nk heads out for her Summer Carnival tour, which will hit North American stadiums with a lineup featuring Brandi Carlile, Pat Benatar and Neil Girlado, Grouplove and KidCutUp.

Check out the TRUSTFALL album cover below.

It will be a while before we know who is playing, but you can be sure the 20023 college football playoff national championship will have a hype soundtrack. The lineup for the AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! series of concerts around the championship game, slated to take place at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on Jan. 9 and air on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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The weekend will kick-off on Jan. 7 with a show featuring the Jonas Brothers and singer/songwriter Em Beihold. The next night will bring the heat from Pitbull and grammy-nominated singer Gayle. The free shows will take place at L.A.’s Banc of California Stadium. Fans will need to pre-register for tickets beginning on Dec. 2 at 1 p.m. ET, with access to the shows doled out on a first-come, first-serve basis based on a digital ticket.

If you can’t make it out to the shows, AT&T will bring it to you at home with the interactive livestream experience AT&T 5G Concert Lens. The feature will broadcast multiple camera angles simultaneously, letting fans select their own vantage point for the show; the concerts will also be streamed on the ESPN app.

After a virtual concert in 2021 in Miami featuring Jason DeRulo in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, last year’s concerts in Indianapolis featured Twenty One Pilots, Doja Cat, Ava Max, AJR, Pink Sweat$ and Huckleberry Funk. Other previous performers include Meghan Trainor, H.E.R., Nas and Trombone Shorty in 2020 and One Republic, Ellie Goulding, Logic, Leon Bridges, Alessia Cara and The Regrettes in 2019.

While some of history’s greatest artists have a distinct look for fans to recall instantly, many musical greats are shape-shifting chameleons, finding different looks, styles and eras throughout their careers.

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TEN falls strictly in the latter category, with the Thailand-born K-pop star using his songs and music videos to express the different creative concepts, characters, and, at times, confusion inside his mind.

After trying out shouty punk-pop with “Paint Me Naked,” festival-ready EDM on “New Heroes,” and the hypnotic “Dream in a Dream” with fusions of traditional East-Asian instruments, TEN has paired sultry R&B sound with vigorous group choreography. His new single “Birthday” dropped as part of the NCT LAB project under K-pop super-label SM Entertainment to spotlight the different members in its ever-expanding NCT boy-band project that currently boasts 23 members.

While TEN has already proven his superstar status as a part of groups like WayV and NCT U, as well as one of seven members in SM’s K-pop supergroup SuperM that hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, TEN refuses to sit comfortably as an artist.

“I get bored easily and the audience will get bored of me doing the same thing,” the singer says during a Zoom call from Seoul. “So I keep finding what kind of stuff I haven’t done yet.”

Wrapped in a flannel shirt for this giggly Billboard interview, TEN’s bubbly warmness strays far from the seductive, slithering soloist rocking chains and veils throughout the “Birthday” video. Even as TEN speaks with a lightness, there is compelling duality in his seriousness in accepting who he is while simultaneously wanting to level up in his work. Even when the star admits he’s lost inspiration, there’s still a guiding force pushing TEN into new, creative areas.

Read more from TEN on all the vocal, thematic and dance elements behind “Birthday” and what else is on the way.

Billboard: Congratulations on the new song. “Birthday” is your fourth solo single, what’s the difference this time compared to past releases?

TEN: This song has no connection with my past singles or whatever you see in “Paint Me Naked” or “New Hero.” They’re different in genre, style, makeup, and choreography. Even the use of my vocals changed. I’m not really interested in doing the same thing over again, like this deep and strong vocal that’s at the same time very soft. If you listen to the verses, I’m using a lower register and then a high falsetto on the chorus. I want to show the contrast between strong and soft.

I’m glad you brought that up because it was a great vocal performance and something we haven’t heard from you before. Was it a challenge or did you know how to approach it?

I did find recording the vocals very challenging because R&B is different, you know? “Paint Me Naked” is a pop song so you just hit the melody, which is simpler than R&B because when you sing R&B you need to have that delay and draw things out. At first, I was singing it similar to “Birthday,” but I thought, “This is not how I want it to sound.” So, we re-recorded after I listened to more R&B songs to see how they ride the rhythm. And I was trying too hard at first, but the next session was just chill; I just felt the lyrics, listened, and laid back.

There are many NCT members and a lot of SM Entertainment artists, but it seems like we can always look forward to a TEN single each year. Do these opportunities come because you always try to show something new?

I keep finding new concepts by watching movies, looking at tattoo pictures from Instagram, other artists’ photoshoots, fashion shows. If you see luxury brands’ fashion shows, they have their own concept and each year it changes. I’m into that. I’ll say, “Okay, I like this kind of stuff so let me keep it to myself, look at other stuff and mix it together.”

Do you save a lot of things on Instagram? 

I take a lot of screenshots on my phone! I was even watching an animation recently and was like, “Okay, I like this concept, let me do it like this guy here, then let me use this color as an outfit…”

How much of your inspirations came out in “Birthday”?

I was very lucky at this time with all the people that help me make “Birthday.” They really asked for my opinions, “What kind of stuff do you want to represent? How do you want to express yourself?” I chose all four outfits. There’s the suit because I want to show a mature side of me. Another one had the chain on my chest, an essential look; I need one look that is very sexy. The other one is an outfit where I wear a hat and there’s a black sheet covering my face. It’s a traditional, flowy kind of outfit because I don’t want to only show mature sides.

I wanted to show the fluid side of me too. It was very hard to find a lot of references at that time, it took me a week to find everything that I wanted, but I sent it to my stylist and video directing team. They just say, “Okay, let us figure everything out for you.” We had a lot of talking going on during the making.

Tell me about the choreography.

This one is mainly by my friends Bada Lee and Jrick [Baek]. They really helped make my vision come to life. I told them how there are a lot of K-pop groups out there with choreography that has a signature move. But for this one, I didn’t want it to be like that, I wanted it to be like artwork. I want fans to see little sparkles in the choreography and say, “Oh, I like that moment.”

Do you have a favorite moment throughout the whole video? 

Well, the first verse is very challenging for me. You can see the full choreography in the dance video and in the first verse there are so many B-boy-like moves. I got bruises all over my body, it’s very hard. But what was best about that is that I was working with my dancer friends on moves I can’t do alone. We’re all in contact as they pull me up, I kick out, there’s like a wave—it’s not just me doing the work but we are all connected as a team.

Like “Birthday” or “Paint Me Naked,” your songs are confident in their elements of sexuality. It’s not raunchy but very free and open. How do you prepare your mindset in these kinds of performances?

Wow, well, I don’t really think about that much. It’s like, “Okay, I want to wear these clothes.” It’s just me. This is my body and this is how I want to express it. Wearing too many clothes sometimes in dancing can block your body line. I don’t want to feel like I’m not confident with my body so I was like, “Let’s just do it.” That’s why I don’t really do fitness or try to build muscle for certain clothes. I’m skinny so that’s just me. I don’t need to build it up to impress someone else.

You want to show your natural self.

Yes, but maybe a little exercise for my belly fat. [Laughs] Just a little!

Oh, come on! Don’t worry about that. It sounds that you’ve found confidence in your own body which is great because many struggle with that.

It’s like, everyone has a charm, but I’m still trying to learn how to use mine. I also think about being seductive, right? In music videos, you can try everything—you can’t really do that in real life but there’s no right and wrong in the music video. It’s just, “Let’s try.”

It’s your opportunity to try things because everyone knows TEN’s personality as very bubbly. But on stage, you become very different.

Thank you. It just speaks to a different character of myself and the right time for me to express myself. I can’t do it at any time.

You mentioned you don’t want to be too covered up when dancing. I was wondering about the hat and veil look. Was it difficult to master that look? 

The veil was not the problem, but the hat kept falling off while dancing. I had to fix my hat all the time, but it’s fun to dance with a hat like that. I felt like I’m a mystery guy and no one knows me.

Outfits can help people to feel more confident. A different outfit helps you represent yourself and your personality differently. It helped me become that character. Every outfit has its own reason that I choose it, and I like every outfit, but this time the hat outfit is what I really enjoyed wearing. It really helped me embrace the concept. “Birthday” has a very strong drum and bass sound, but that outfit kind of helped to soften it down and become a bit more mysterious.

After “Birthday,” fans were saying they want a full album from you. Would that be something you’d be interested in?

Yes, I would. I love working as a team, but I also want to do my solo stuff because you can put in your thoughts and personality. Even though I sometimes didn’t write my song, I can check out the demos and say, “Okay. I want to try this or try that.” And when you read the lyrics, it’s like acting. You’re trying to change yourself for that song as you work on it. It’s like, a song can be very groovy or hip-hop or—can I say swag?—swag.

I can simply work on the song process and it’s going to be a lot of fun. As a group it’s also fun, but it’s different. As a team, you put in the element of yourself but you’re still trying to be in motion with your team. Both are fun for me to work so I have to do both.

Speaking of your teams, do you have any teasers about what’s coming with WayV and NCT?

Right now, WayV is preparing for their new comeback. And I can’t spoil anything about NCT yet. If I spoiled it, Mark will send me a text, “Hyung! Bro. What did you just say?!”

We can’t have Mark upset with us. But as we look to the end of the year, are there any ways you want people to remember you in 2022?

Right now, I’m just focusing on myself. To be honest, I don’t know what happened to me but I need more motivation right now. I need to inspire myself. After I filmed “Birthday,” I lost track of something that I don’t even know so I’m kind of figuring that out. I want to improve myself in singing and dancing so I can get to do more unique concepts and better songs in terms of a different genre.

If I don’t practice for that, it’s going to be harder for me to do different kinds of stuff. So, that’s my goal for this year to improve myself and figure out stuff that I’d been thinking about lately. The process for “Birthday” helped me to focus again and be more creative with my work. It was like a fuel that helped keep my engine moving.

That’s very honest. Many struggled with motivation during the pandemic, for example. Do you know what happened? Or do you have advice on how to get over the hump?

I think everyone has that moment in life. So, I don’t really think about it that much, I just need to figure it out. I don’t know what it is and I don’t know if I’d be able to give helpful advice to those who might be feeling down because realistically everyone has their own problems or confusion that only they can relate to.

But for me, I sit down, breathe slowly and talk to myself by asking myself questions in order to break down the situation into small fractions and better understand. That does help me figure things out most of the time! Sometimes I have these moments but it’s happening to me, like, now. So, let me figure it out and then I can tell you next time. 

It’s fitting that Jesse Collins is showrunner of the 50th iteration of the American Music Awards – which is set to air live from the Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles this Sunday, because he just may be the most in-demand producer of music awards shows, and music on television in general, since Dick Clark, who created the AMAs in 1973.
His 2022 credits as executive producer include the Super Bowl halftime show starring a bevy of hip-hop stars (for which he won his first Emmy Award), the Grammys (for which he was Emmy-nominated), the BET Awards and the BET Hip-Hop Awards. And right after the AMAs is the Soul Train Awards, followed in early 2023 by the Golden Globes, the Grammys and the Super Bowl halftime show starring Rihanna.

Just days before the AMAs, Collins was feeling pretty confident. He has a strong host in Wayne Brady, a broadly popular Icon Award recipient in Lionel Richie, and a show that has a little something for everybody. The show will have tributes to Richie and Olivia Newton-John — both past AMAs hosts and artists whose AMAs totals are in double digits — as well as performances by new stars Dove Cameron and GloRilla. The Richie tribute is centered on a medley of his songs performed by Stevie Wonder, 72, and Charlie Puth, 30. That’s the kind of range the AMAs look for.

Looking at your bookings, you seem to have something for everybody.

Listen, it’s the American Music Awards. Like the nation, this is supposed to be the melting pot of music where everybody comes together under one tent and celebrates excellence in all genres. We just try to do our best to give you the full tapestry of music. You want to get your new stars. You want to get your up-and-comers. You want to get your big stars like P!nk and Carrie Underwood. You just want to make sure that everybody’s getting a little piece of everything, and that to me is what the AMAs are all about.

That was always Dick Clark’s philosophy.

Let’s say you’re not that familiar with what the new pop or R&B or hip-hop or country acts are. You can watch the AMAs and you can learn about them. You can find out who is going to be your next big star. So maybe you walk in saying, “I’m not really a fan of a certain genre,” but then you see an artist in that genre and suddenly you’re a fan.

Since this is the 50th AMAs, you’re going to have a recurring element where artists speak to their musical inspirations. What form will that take?

We’re trying to spread it out throughout the show and make it organic. So it could be in presenter copy or our host Wayne [Brady]. Perhaps winners will do it. There are some ways that we’re doing it musically. We’re just trying to spread it out throughout the show so you get that story in different incarnations.

How did you decide on Wayne Brady as a host?

I [have] worked with Wayne a lot over the years. He’s just one of the most versatile people I know. First of all, he’s an amazing host, but then he also is an incredible singer, rapper, dancer, improv performer. He’s incredibly funny, so when you’re doing a show like this you want to get a host that has so many skill sets that no matter what you throw at him, he can succeed.

How did you decide on Lionel as your Icon Award recipient?

Lionel has a long history with the AMAs. He has hosted, he’s performed, he’s won [18] awards [counting this one]. That’s been in the works for a long time. I have to credit Mark Shimmel, one of our producers, who has a long relationship with Lionel. [Mark has] been on the AMAs with Larry [Klein] for many years. Last year we knew that we wanted for the 50th show to honor Lionel Richie.

Dick Clark died in 2012, which was the same year you founded your company [Jesse Collins Entertainment]. Did you ever meet him?

No, I never met him. I just grew up watching him on TV. Obviously, I was a big fan of everything that he created. Unfortunately, I never got to meet him.

Was he a particular role model or inspiration?

Listen, I grew up watching American Bandstand and Soul Train – so both him and [Soul Train creator] Don Cornelius were heroes of mine. So, to find myself in this awards show business is incredible. I never thought I’d be producing this show.

Has [longtime dick clark productions executive] Larry [Klein] filled you in on Dick Clark stories?

Larry has been a great mentor throughout this whole process, even before I got on this show. Larry is the gold standard of variety producers. He has great stories. All the things he’s been through with this show, it’s pretty incredible.

Do you ever say “What would Dick do?” or “What would he think of what we’re doing to his baby?”

Larry sometimes will say, “If Dick was here, this is what he would want this show to be. This is what he would do in this moment.” And Barry Adelman as well. He’s one of our producers. He was with Dick for many years and knew Dick from the AMAs, the Globes and all the shows. Those guys definitely make sure that the spirit of Dick Clark lives on.

This is the second AMAs you’ve worked on. You’ve also been on the Grammy team for a number of years. Back in the day, it wouldn’t have been possible to work on both shows. They were highly competitive with each other.

Fortunately, the shows are not on the same day, so people don’t have to choose. The AMAs and the Grammys are both awards shows, but their histories are different, their legacies are different and today the shows are different – and I think that helps each one. They have different points-of-view, definitely different personalities. It’s like picking between your kids.

One reason the shows were so competitive back then is they often aired just a month apart – sometimes just two weeks apart. Now, they’re a few months apart.

When Pierre [Cossette, longtime executive producer of the Grammys] and Dick were going back-and-forth about these shows, music had a longer run. You had the one song that was the song that an artist sang on TV and that performance was coveted. Now, music cycles are much faster. Music comes out at a higher frequency. So, someone can come on the AMAs and have an unbelievable performance and then go on the Grammys and do something completely different and shock the world again. I think that’s part of the reason that the attitudes have changed between the shows.

Last year’s AMAs was the most social telecast of 2021 with 46.5 million interactions. What do you attribute that to?

First of all, our host [last year], Cardi B, is one of the most electrifying people on social media. She really knows how to ignite that base. Between that and BTS and all of the other performances, and the way we designed the show, we were really able to take advantage of what social media can do for you in an awards show environment.  

With all the shows you work on, you must have an amazing team supporting you in your company.

Dionne Harmon is not only president of the company, she’s right here leading the charge on the AMAs. The show would definitely not come together without her. Jeannae Rouzan-Clay is a great producer as well. Between the three of us, it allows us to really try to make the best show possible. [All three are credited as executive producers on the AMAs, as is Larry Klein. In addition, Collins is showrunner.]

Have you announced all of the performers?

We have not announced them all. We still have a couple of surprises.

Most of the acts that you have announced fall into the broad genres that were always the backbone of the show – pop/rock, soul/R&B and country. Now, in addition, you also have hip-hop (GloRilla and Lil Baby) and Latin (Anitta). So, I think Dick is up there looking down and saying ‘you’re keeping it going.’

I hope so. With all of those genres that you mentioned, that music can be heard anywhere in America today. So, the show is living up to the title that he gave it.

This conversation has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.  

Dove Cameron visited Kelly Clarkson‘s talk show on Thursday (Nov. 17) to talk about her hit song “Boyfriend” and got quite the surprise from the American Idol champ in the process.

“(‘Boyfriend’) was such a huge part of me finding my own identity and embracing my queerness,” the Disney Channel alum told Clarkson during their interview. “And it makes me emotional every time I talk about it but, it was such a key to gate for me into stepping into myself wholly, in a way that I never knew if I was gonna be privileged enough to find those pieces of myself. And exist as that person, right?

“‘Cause that’s the fear,” she continued. “The fear is that you exist as yourself wholly and the world cracks open and everything ends, and all the lights go out. And when the song came out and I saw that people were emotionally connecting to it, I think I was really panicked for some reason, just ’cause I wasn’t expecting it. And then over time, it was like it melded into this gorgeous, like…something meaningful for me being something meaningful for others.”

After Cameron explained how she found the song’s success such a “beautiful surprise,” Clarkson revealed a surprise of her own, presenting the burgeoning pop star with the RIAA platinum certification for the track.

“I was so excited when we found out you were getting it, I was like, ‘I wanna give it to her!’” the host told a speechless and visibly emotional Cameron.

After a slow burn of nearly four months, “Boyfriend” ultimately peaked at No. 16 on the Hot 100 in June just in time for Pride, giving Cameron the first top 20 hit of her career. Additionally, the slinky single rose to No. 4 on the Radio Songs chart dated June 11.

Watch Cameron’s adorable reaction to Clarkson’s platinum surprise below.

Lady Gaga took to social media on Wednesday (Nov. 16) to react to her latest pair of Grammy nominations for “Hold My Hand” and the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack.

“I am so honored to be nominated for 2 Grammys for ‘Hold My Hand’ and the Top Gun: Maverick Soundtrack with my fellow composers,” the superstar wrote on Instagram alongside a black-and-white shot of the single’s cover art. “It’s a real dream to be included in this celebration of music with a song and musical theme so close to my heart thank you… I fully cried, this never gets old and I’m super humbled.”

Released ahead of the Top Gun sequel’s theatrical release, “Hold My Hand” is up for best song written for visual media at the 2023 ceremony while the soundtrack notched a nominated for best compilation soundtrack for visual media. The album peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the Soundtracks chart, while Gaga’s single ultimately flew to No. 2 on the Digital Song Sales chart.

Mother Monster’s track was also recently nominated in the song – feature film category at the 2022 Hollywood Music in Media Awards alongside Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Taylor Swift’s “Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing, Jazmine Sullivan’s “Stand Up” from Till and more.

Last month, Gaga wrapped up her Chromatica Ball world stadium tour with a stunning $112 million. Next, she’s set to portray Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker in the upcoming movie musical Joker: Folie à Deux.

Read Gaga’s emotional reaction to her newest Grammy nominations below.

It’s been nearly 15 years since Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas dated, but she’ll be in his life “Forever & Always.” That’s because the DNCE frontman’s wife, actress Sophie Turner, is a certified Swiftie, meaning he’ll likely soon be waiting in line on Ticketmaster for Eras Tour tickets with the rest of the world — at least, that’s what he told E! News at the Wednesday (Nov. 15) premiere for his Korean war drama Devotion.
When asked if he planned on securing seats at one of Swift’s 52 North American shows scheduled in 2023 for Turner, Jonas replied: “That’s a great idea, is that still an option? She would love that.”

Then, upon learning that Ticketmaster had experienced major technical difficulties during its Eras Tour presale that same day, the JoBro seemed impressed. “Wow,” he said, smiling just a little awkwardly at the mention of his superstar ex, whom he dated for a few months in 2008. “That’s to be expected. I’ll get in line now.”

“Even Mr. Perfectly Fine has to suffer in the queue,” E! captioned the video of the chat. “Taylor Swift, help Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner out.”

Any Swiftie who endured several hours in the Ticketmaster queue would agree that some extra help would have been very appreciated. So many millions of fans trafficked through the company’s website on the day of the presale, it experienced mass outages and extreme delays that left many fans unable to buy any tickets at all.

A few hours into the day, Ticketmaster even posted a statement announcing the postponement of a couple of the remaining Eras Tour presales, caused by a “historically unprecedented” demand for tickets.

Hopefully, Jonas can pull some strings to get in the door at one of the “All Too Well” singer’s highly anticipated shows. It was only a few months ago that Turner gushed over Swift’s 1989, calling the 2014 record “literally one of my favorite albums of all time.”

And when Swift dropped the previously unreleased “Mr. Perfectly Fine” — a 15-year-old song widely believed to be written about Joe — the Game of Thrones actress again shared her praise. “It’s not NOT a bop,” Turner joked about the track, to which Swift responded: “Forever bending the knee for the [queen] of the north.”

Watch Joe Jonas talk about getting tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour below:

When Christmas comes around…again! Kelly Clarkson unveiled her latest round of holiday merch on Wednesday (Nov. 16), complete with a festive bundle perfect for all your booze-related needs.

“My signature engraved wine tumbler is back in stock, y’all… and now it’s bundled with my engraved wine opener!” she wrote on Twitter followed by a string of drink emojis including a popped champagne bottle and clinking flutes.

The singer’s new batch of Christmas goodies also includes a cranberry red t-shirt emblazoned with “Santa, Can’t You Hear Me” — the title of her duet with Ariana Grande, which the pair recorded for 2021’s When Christmas Comes Again… while working together on Season 21 of The Voice. (They also performed the horn-infused bop live during Clarkson’s NBC holiday special last Christmas season.)

Speaking of the original American Idol winner’s second Christmas album, the studio set just picked up a 2023 Grammy nod for best traditional pop vocal album earlier this week, bringing the pop star’s total to 16 career nominations and three wins.

On The Kelly Clarkson Show — which has officially been renewed through 2025 — the talk show host has recently run through an impressively diverse string of “Kellyoke” picks, including “Dream a Little Dream of Me” by Mama Cass with The Mamas & the Papas, Florence + the Machine’s Twilight: Eclipse cut “Heavy in Your Arms,” the original version of “Lady Marmalade” by LaBelle, Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” Z.Z. Hill’s “Someone Else Is Steppin’ In” and more.

Get a look at Clarkson’s new wine-ready holiday merch and apparel below.