Pop
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Oliver Anthony, who earned a two-week Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper with his song “Rich Men North of Richmond” in August 2023 and became a viral sensation, didn’t hold back in offering his thoughts on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album.
In a video he posted on YouTube on Wednesday (Dec. 4), Anthony spends much of it discussing his experiences with the music industry, including mentioning an unnamed management company that he had begun working with following the success of “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
“In their own words, it was like, ‘We gotta figure out how to make you cool,’” Anthony said, noting that one of the ideas an unnamed music industry member pitched to him involved having the singer-songwriter praise Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album — an idea Anthony rejected.
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“One of the guys I worked with, he wanted me to make some stupid f–king post about Beyoncé’s country album, about how it was good, even though it was complete trash. It makes me just want to throw up,” Oliver said. He also disparaged Beyoncé’s reimagining of Dolly Parton’s classic “Jolene,” saying, “Even half trying to listen to the beginning of, like, her version of ‘Jolene,’ it’s just total cringe.”
Anthony added, “It represents how degenerative our society has become, that a song like a Beyoncé version of ‘Jolene’ can come out and anybody actually listen to it and think it’s not just complete trash. So I was supposed to make a post, basically trying to associate myself with Beyoncé in hopes of us doing some kind of song together, but you know, how many people do that? How many artists do you follow on social media that have never even looked at their social media, and you’re just reading words and posts and things that were written by somebody that you’ve never even met, that aren’t the artist, that don’t even necessarily work directly for the artist … It’s so much theatrics and illusion and characterizations that are built in this whole thing to like keep people hanging on for more.”
Billboard has reached out to Beyoncé’s rep for comment.
Elsewhere during his video, he noted that his approach of keeping his concert ticket prices affordable for fans has been monetarily successful, despite industry members who told him he would not be able to make a profit. “It’s ridiculous how greedy these people are. We did this whole tour for this year, we had a $25 ticket option at every show that I did that was mine, and everybody was like, ‘You can’t do that. You won’t make any money.’ I got so sick of listening to everybody who told me how stupid I was for trying to do it,” he said. “I mean, we made great money this year. I made enough money in one year of touring to never have to work again. So, you don’t have to charge $200 for a ticket. It’s just crazy how it is.”
In October, Anthony stated in a separate YouTube video that he was intent on walking away from aspects of the music business to focus on traveling ministry work, though he clarified that he would still be playing shows and making music. In that video, he stated how his involvement with the music business since the launch of “Rich Men North of Richmond” had “opened my eyes to how much control and how much visibility there is on the top down.”
He also said that upcoming music would come as part of his The Rural Revival Project, an organization that he noted would “be set up legally as a ministry,” while helping to revitalize farming and other rural communities. He noted as well his intent to set up his touring in a way that would allow him to visit towns “that haven’t had music in them in a long time. It stimulates their economy, showcases their culture, it uses local vendors and local musicians.” Added Anthony, “You’re not having to drive out to Pittsburgh to a concrete amphitheater to see a show. It’s done out on a farm or on a main street that desperately needs the economic impact.”
On Easter Sunday, Oliver Anthony released the project Hymnal of a Troubled Man’s Mind, which featured a mix of songs and recitations of Bible verses. The set reached No. 13 on Billboard‘s Heatseekers chart.
In April, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200, marking her eighth No. 1 on that chart. Cowboy Carter also launched at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums, Americana/Folk Albums and Top Album Sales charts. Meanwhile, the album’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Cowboy Carter featured collaborations with Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, while spotlighting country music trailblazer Linda Martell and highlighting the talents of Shaboozey, Willie Jones, Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, Brittney Spencer.
Beyoncé was also just named Billboard‘s Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century, and is up for several Grammys at next year’s ceremony, including album of the year and best country album.
See Oliver Anthony’s full video below:
Ariana Grande and The Weeknd couldn’t love each other harder.
The “Blinding Lights” singer sang the praises of his longtime friend and collaborator in a recent post on Instagram Stories, sharing a poster for Wicked — in which the R.E.M. Beauty founder stars opposite Cynthia Erivo — and writing, “this was fantastic.”
“congrats @arianagrande so proud,” The Weeknd added.
Shortly afterward, Grande reposted the The Idol star’s words on her own Story. “thank you, my friend,” she wrote, adding a bubble emoji to emulate Glinda’s famous method of travel in Wicked.
The “Yes, And?” vocalist and The Weeknd have been working together for years, starting with “Love Me Harder” in 2014. Six years later, the Canadian musician jumped on Ari’s Positions track “Off the Table,” while she helped propel his “Save Your Tears” to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by joining him on a remix.
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In 2023, while Grande was still filming Wicked, she again gave one of The Weeknd’s tracks a lift by adding her magic to “Die for You,” which then shot up to the top of the Hot 100. “Wrote and recorded a verse for my friend after a 14 hour day on set,” she wrote of the project at the time. “This certain exception had to be made….”
The Weeknd is just one of many fans who are loving Wicked. Following its Nov. 22 premiere in theaters worldwide, its soundtrack album opened at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 — the highest ever debut for a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical on the chart — and the film has brought in over $260 million in North America so far, making it the highest grossing movie ever at the domestic box office based on a Broadway musical.
Grande’s performance in the film is also being widely lauded, and the star will soon receive the the Rising Star Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards. “In Wicked, Ariana Grande’s portrayal of Glinda elevates her to new heights with a powerful acting performance that beautifully combines her outstanding musical talent, brilliant characterization and impeccable comedic timing,” chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said in a recent statement. “Ariana is an iconic global performer, who has seamlessly transitioned to film in her first major starring role, proving herself to be a multifaceted and undeniable talent.”
Billboard‘s Joe Lynch felt similarly. “Grande is a revelation,” he wrote in his review. “This performance signals the arrival of a formidable cinematic talent with a lot more to show us.”
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Rihanna recently said that she wants to collaborate with Billie Eilish — and according to the 22-year-old pop star, she’s waiting by the phone for the Fenty mogul’s call.
In a new cover story interview with Complex published Thursday (Dec. 5), Eilish gushed about the moment RiRi shouted her out in October — “If I could only do a song with Billie Eilish, she’s so good,” the superstar said at the time — which the two-time Oscar winner said she “literally thought … was AI.”
“I’ve never met Rihanna,” Eilish continued to the publication. “She’s literally my idol. She’s the greatest of all time. She’s my complete dream collab.”
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“I don’t even answer that question when people are like, ‘Who would you like to collab with?’” she added. “But I always think Rihanna. I’m not going to say that, though! Why would I say that?! It’s not real. I would think, like, ‘She probably doesn’t even like me.’ I’ve never heard from her, and I’ve never had any interaction with her, so why would I have ever even thought about it?”
When the “Umbrella” singer first sang Eilish’s praises, the latter simply wrote in disbelief on Instagram Stories, “what in the absolute f–k.”
A few weeks later, the “Birds of a Feather” artist says she finds the whole thing funny. “I was like, ‘Well, b—h, I’ve been sitting here this whole time!’” Eilish told Complex, laughing. “What the f–k is she even talking about? Like, as if I’ve been saying, ‘No.’ Rihanna! Riri!? I’ll literally do anything you want. That’s insane.”
The interview comes about six months after Eilish released her third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The star — who is currently on tour in support of the LP — also recently sat down with CBS News Sunday Morning and spoke about how she came into her own as a songwriter while working on the project with her older brother and producer, Finneas.
“My passion has never been songwriting,” she said in a video snippet from the interview airing Dec. 8. “My passion is music, and performing, and singing. And songwriting is something that I do so that I can then sing it and perform it … I did way more writing on this album than anything ever.”
Watch the clip from the upcoming episode of CBS Sunday Morning below.
Superstar singer-songwriter and two-time Oscar winner Billie Eilish opens up about her evolving view of songwriting. While her brother Finneas has always had a deep passion for it, Ellish saw songwriting as a means to perform and express herself. pic.twitter.com/CsnVg1NtAa— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) December 5, 2024
Charli XCX gives her all on stage, but it comes with a cost.
In a new video interview with Variety posted Wednesday (Dec. 4), the 32-year-old pop star opened up about suffering nerve damage from how intensely she performs, noting, “I find touring really hard emotionally.”
“I find the stage — especially these days — to be a very angry place for me,” she continued. “I’ve done a lot of physical damage to my body from performing, and I’m often in a lot of pain when I perform. Physically, I have nerve damage in my neck from things I’ve done on the stage.”
Charli is currently gearing up for a run of 2025 dates in support of her critically acclaimed album Brat. This year, she hit the road with Troye Sivan for their joint Sweat trek, an arrangement the “Von Dutch” artist called “a lot easier and less of an emotional battle for me.”
“For me to give a performance I feel is good enough, I have to really physically throw myself around and that makes me very upset when I do it,” she added. “It’s kind of this hellhole, but being with Troye softens that a lot.”
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The video comes alongside a feature interview with Variety, in which the musician opened up about the surprising success of Brat, her insecurities and more. At one point, she shared that her “Sympathy Is a Knife” remix collaborator Ariana Grande gave her advice on multiple fronts, including kick-starting her acting career and hosting SNL. (The “Yes, And?” singer helmed the show in September, followed by Charli in November.)
Charli also recalled bonding with the Wicked star over the “Sympathy Is a Knife” lyrics. “She had a lot to say,” the “365” artist said of Grande, who “gravitated” toward the track, according to Charli. “We went back and forth on the lyrics, talking about all the knives that we both felt in this industry.”
Watch Charli open up about her nerve damage above.
Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour Book is following in the footsteps of her record-smashing global tour of the same name. According to the Associated Press, Circana BookScan reported that the $39.99 Target exclusive book chronicling the career-spanning outing moved an eye-popping 814,000 copies over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. That made it the biggest publishing launch […]
The holiday season hasn’t truly begun until the iconic Rockefeller Center tree has been lit, and NBC’s annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center telecast on Wednesday night (Dec. 4) brought together a list of all-star performers to celebrate. The Backstreet Boys took the stage to perform a heartwarming rendition of Nat King Cole’s holiday classic “The Christmas Song […]
BTS’ latest accomplishment is smooth like butter! The group notched their seventh entry into YouTube‘s Billion Views club with their 2021 music video for “Butter.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Their previous videos to hit one billion views on the platform include “Dynamite,” “Boy With Luv” featuring Halsey and “DNA,” among […]
Chappell Roan was on countless people’s 2024 Spotify Wrapped roundups, but who was on hers?
On Wednesday (Dec. 4), the 26-year-old pop star revealed which artists were in her top five at the close of the year, sharing an old photo of herself posing next to a car decked out in camo-print decals on Instagram and writing, “this pic kind of insane.”
“Ps,” she added. “My Spotify wrapped most listened to artists were 1. Ariana [Grande] 2. Charli [XCX] 3. Heart 4. Justice 5. Kacey Musgraves.”
“Top song was barracuda ofc,” Roan added, referencing her third-most-streamed artist’s 1977 hit.
The Missouri native’s post comes on the same day Spotify unveiled its annual Wrapped feature, allowing users to see which artists and songs they streamed the most over the course of 2024 through specially curated playlists and shareable data cards. The platform also revealed its most-streamed artists overall — Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, Drake and Billie Eilish, in that order — as well as its most popular songs of the year.
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Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” garnered the most listens globally on Spotify this year, followed by Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things,” Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather,” FloyyMenor and Cris Mj’s “Gata Only” and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control.” In the U.S., however, Roan scored the sixth-most streamed song with breakthrough single “Good Luck, Babe!” — which surpassed one billion streams just a few days prior to Wrapped arriving — bested only by “Espresso,” Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help” and Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” nationally.
The “Hot to Go” singer’s debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, was also the fifth-most streamed album in the U.S. Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology was No. 1 at home, followed by Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and Noah Kahan’s Stick Season.
Roan has previously expressed her fandom of Grande, calling herself an “Arianator” in an August livestream and adding that she was “so excited” to see Wicked. She also gave Charli a shout-out in her September Rolling Stone cover story, naming the “Von Dutch” artist as one of several female stars who had reached out to her with support during the emotional low-points of her rise to fame, along with Katy Perry, Lorde, Muna, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga and more.
On today’s (Dec. 4) episode of the Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century podcast, we finally get to No. 1 on our list with the period’s true standard-setter, a pop star who set the bar 25 years ago and has only continued to raise it in the years since. (Read our No. 1 Greatest […]