State Champ Radio Pop
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Looking for some motivation to help power you through the start of another work week? We feel you, and with some stellar new pop tunes, we’ve got you covered. These tracks from artists including Mabel, Lauv, Nilüfer Yanya and more will get you energized to take on the week. Pop any of these gems into your […]
Gracie Abrams‘ new album is a secret no more. That’s because the 24-year-old rising pop star announced Monday (April 29) that her sophomore record, The Secret of Us, is arriving this summer, led by the single “Risk,” which drops later this week. The “I Miss You, I’m Sorry” singer broke the news with a post […]
With season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race officially over, fans finally know who won the crown. But which recording artist managed to win in terms of streaming bumps?
Throughout the latest season of the franchise, songs featured in lip syncs have earned a 28.1% increase on average in total on-demand streams, including UGC (user-generated content), according to Luminate.
The song that earned the biggest bump of the season was Cher‘s “Dark Lady,” which featured as the Lip Sync For Your Life song for episode four (aired Friday, Jan. 26). On the day the episode aired, “Dark Lady” earned 9,180 streams; the following day (Jan. 26), on-demand streams for the song spiked to 38,183, marking a 315.9% increase in on-demand streams for Cher.
Janet Jackson’s “What About” also earned a triple-digit percentage increase in streams thanks to Drag Race. After being featured as one of the lip-sync songs in April 12’s “Lalaparuza” episode, the song shot from 1,056 streams to 3,946 streams, netting Jackson a 273.7% increase.
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Meanwhile, two Donna Summer songs nabbed similarly impressive streaming bumps thanks to a pair of lip-sync showdowns on this season of Drag Race. “This Time I Know It’s for Real,” Summer’s song used in a lip sync on April 12, secured a 180.9% increase in on-demand streams the day after the episode aired. “Dim All the Lights,” used in the episode 11 lip sync on March 15, also earned a 96.4% increase in on-demand streams the day following the episode.
The finale episode of season 16 (aired Friday, April 19) saw the franchise crown Nymphia Wind as America’s Next Drag Superstar following a heart-racing lip sync to Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam,” (which earned a 56.5% bump in streams the day after being featured on the show). The queen made history with her crowning, becoming the first-ever East Asian winner of the American franchise.
Speaking to Billboard shortly after her victory, Wind said it felt “crazy to be able to live this out for my community and my country,” adding that “it really means a lot to me to be able to live this.”
It’s about time! On Sunday (April 28) Charlie Puth finally appeared to respond to the unexpected shout-out he got on Taylor Swift‘s Billboard 200 No. 1 album The Tortured Poets Department. And while his nod to the lyrical reference on the album’s title track was low-key, the “Light Switch” singer’s Instagram Story post said it […]
K-pop group SEVENTEEN dropped their anticipated greatest hits album, 17 Is Right Here, on Monday morning (April 29), along with the futuristic video for the lead single, “Maestro.” The two-CD, 33-track compilation pulls together the Korean versions of eight previously released Japanese singles, 20 singles from the 13-man band’s Korean releases, as well as four new tracks and a digital-only instrumental version of the boy band’s 2015 debut single, “Adore U.”
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Fresh single “MAESTRO” will be followed by the hip-hop team’s “LALALI,” the performance team’s “Spell” and the vocal team’s “Cheers to youth.” The edgy “MAESTRO” visual, directed by Han Sungsoo, drops group members Woozi, S. Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, Vernon, Jeonghan, Jun, DK, Joshua, Hoshi, Dino, The8 and Seungkwan into a sleek future scape filled with dancing robots and mechanical dogs in which they bust out high-energy choreo with their machine companions and conduct a gothic symphony orchestra through the hip-hop-influenced track’s dance attack.
“Aligning with the group’s core message around solidarity, this captivating dance R&B track illustrates how together, we can orchestrate our own universe like a ‘maestro,’” read a statement announcing the clip. To further the message, it aded that the video is set in a dystopian future where “anything, including music and art, can be easily created with technology.”
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According to the band’s label, 17 Is Right Here got more than three million pre-orders as of April 19. During a press conference announcing the album on Monday, SEVENTEEN also announced plans for a world tour int he fall, with the full roster — including U.S. dates — to be announced later.
Listen to the album and watch the “MAESTRO” video below:
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Billie Eilish announced the dates the world tour in support of her third album on Monday (April 29). The Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour is slated to kick off on Sept. 29 at the Centre Videotron in Quebec and take the singer across North America through late December, with stops in Toronto, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Detroit, Newark, Boston and Pittsburgh before a three night-stint at Madison Square Garden (Oct. 16-18) and two nights at State Farm Arena in Atlanta (Nov. 2-3).
The Tour in support of Hit Me Hard and Soft (May 17) will continue to criss-cross the nation, hitting Nashville, Cincinnati, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Portland and San Jose before winding down with two shows at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA on Dec. 16-17. Eilish will then hop to Australia for a run of shows in Brisbane (Feb. 18, 19, 21, 22), Sydney (Feb. 24, 25, 27, 28) and Melbourne (March 4, 5, 7, 8).
The dates will pick up again in April 2025 for a European run of shows on the Live Nation-promoted tour that will keep the singer on the road through a July 27 gig at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Tickets for the tour will go on sale beginning with an American Express presale on Tuesday (April 30), with additional presales slate for the rest of the week. Any remaining tickets will be available during a general onsale starting May 3 here.
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The tour will feature a number of sustainability efforts, including the continuation of Eilish’s long-running partnership with environmental nonprofit Reverb, which has so far resulted in $1 million in donations to environmental, greenhouse gas reduction and climate justice projects according to a release announcing the dates. On the upcoming tour sustainability efforts will include reducing greenhouse gas pollution, decreasing single-use plastic waste, supporting climate action and updating concession offerings to promote plant-based food options.
In addition, a portion of ticket proceeds from sales in North America will go to Reverb to support its efforts to address food insecurity and the climate crisis. There will also be a Billie Eilish Reverb eco village set up on two locations on the main concourse of every show where fans can participate in the tour’s sustainability efforts and connect with nonprofits.
Support + Feed will also continue their previous collaboration with Eilish and offer an expanded version of their Support+Feed Pledge aimed at inspiring fans to eat one plant-based meal a day for 30 days. Eilish’s fans are being encouraged to take public transportation and/or carpool to shows to reduce their carbon footprint and to bring an empty reusable water bottle or donate to receive a custom RockNRefill Nalgene bottle they can fill up for free at water refill stations at every venue. Eilish is also encouraging fans to fight the tremendous waste caused by fast fashion by dressing up for the gigs in thrifted, upcycled or borrowed clothes instead of buying new ones.
In an effort to keep tickets out of the hands of scalpers, the tour is using Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange, which will allow fans who purchase tickets for the North American tour they can’t attend to resell them to other fans at the original price; click here to find out more about this program.
Check out the dates for Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour 2024-2025:
2024 North America
Sept. 29 – Québec, QC @ Centre Videotron
Oct. 1 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
Oct. 2 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
Oct. 4 – Baltimore, MD @ CFG Bank Arena
Oct. 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
Oct. 7 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
Oct. 9 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
Oct. 11 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
Oct. 13 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
Oct. 16 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Oct. 17 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Oct. 18 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Nov. 2 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
Nov. 3 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
Nov. 6 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
Nov. 8 – Cincinnati, OH @ Heritage Bank Center
Nov. 10 – Saint Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
Nov. 11 – Saint Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
Nov. 13 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
Nov. 14 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
Nov. 16 – Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center
Nov. 17 – Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center Omaha
Nov. 19 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
Nov. 20 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
Dec. 3 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
Dec. 5 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
Dec. 6 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
Dec. 8 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center
Dec. 10 – San Jose, CA @ SAP Center at San Jose
Dec. 11 – San Jose, CA @ SAP Center at San Jose
Dec. 13 – Glendale, AZ @ Desert Diamond Arena
Dec. 15 – Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum
Dec. 16 – Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum
Dec. 17 – Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum’Nov. 16 – Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center
2025 Australian dates:
Feb. 18 – Brisbane, Australia @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Feb. 19 – Brisbane, Australia @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Feb. 21 – Brisbane, Australia @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Feb. 22 – Brisbane, Australia @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Feb. 24 – Sydney, Australia @ Qudos Bank Arena
Feb. 25 – Sydney, Australia @ Qudos Bank Arena
Feb. 27 – Sydney, Australia @ Qudos Bank Arena
Feb. 28 – Sydney, Australia @ Qudos Bank Arena
March 4 –Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena
March 5 – Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena
March 7 – Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena
March 8 – Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena
2025 European dates:
April 23 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Avicii Arena
April 24 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Avicii Arena
April 26 – Oslo, Norway @ Telenor Arena
April 28 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Royal Arena
April 29 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Royal Arena
May 2 – Hannover, Germany @ ZAG Arena
May 4 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
May 5 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
May 7 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
May 9 – Berlin, Germany @ Uber Arena
May 29 – Cologne, Germany @ Lanxess Arena
May 30 – Cologne, Germany @ Lanxess Arena
June 1 – Prague, Czech Republic @ O2 Arena
June 3 – Kraków, Poland @ Tauron Arena
June 4 – Kraków, Poland @ Tauron Arena
June 6 – Vienna, Austria @ Stadthalle
June 8 – Bologna, Italy @ Unipol Arena
June 10 – Paris, France @ Accor Arena
June 11 – Paris, France @ Accor Arena
June 14 – Barcelona, Spain @ Palau Sant Jordi
June 15 –Barcelona, Spain @ Palau Sant Jordi
July 7 – Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
July 8 – Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
July 10 – London, UK @ The O2
July 11 – London, UK @ The O2
July 13 – London, UK @ The O2
July 14 – London, UK @ The O2
July 16 – London, UK @ The O2
July 17 – London, UK @ The O2
July 19 – Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live
July 20 – Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live
July 22 – Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live
July 23 – Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live
July 26 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena
July 27 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena
When you truly love someone, you love everything about them. Even the sad parts. Hailey Bieber provided a perfect example of the latter over the weekend when she left a loving comment on a tear-stained post from husband Justin Bieber. “A pretty crier,” Hailey wrote alongside a crying face emoji on a carousel of pics […]
Taylor Swift beamed up to a historic debut on the Billboard 200 with The Tortured Poets Department, the ambitious 31-song collection that she apparently wrote, recorded and released while preparing for and embarking on The Eras Tour (and, to quote track 13, she did it “with a broken heart”).
“What do you MEAN,” she wrote in her immediate reaction to the headline published by Billboard, which she reposted on Sunday (April 28).
As reported earlier, Swift not only has the 14th No. 1 album of her career with TTPD, and the top-selling album of 2024 so far, year-to-date — but also the largest streaming week ever, the second-biggest week for any album by units earned, the third largest sales week in the modern era, and the biggest sales week for vinyl in the modern era.
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The Tortured Poets Department launched with 2.61 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in its first week.
“My mind is blown,” Swift posted on her various social media platforms (X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) Sunday afternoon. “I’m completely floored by the love you’ve shown this album. 2.6 million ARE YOU ACTUALLY SERIOUS?? Thank you for listening, streaming, and welcoming Tortured Poets into your life. Feeling completely overwhelmed.”
“I was already so fired up to get back to the tour but you doing THIS?? May 9th can’t come soon enough,” wrote Swift, who took the opportunity to upload some behind-the-scenes photos from the making of the album, including snapshots with Post Malone and Florence Welch.
My mind is blown. I’m completely floored by the love you’ve shown this album. 2.6 million ARE YOU ACTUALLY SERIOUS?? Thank you for listening, streaming, and welcoming Tortured Poets into your life. Feeling completely overwhelmed.I was already so fired up to get back to the tour… pic.twitter.com/L7lS7WTa2Y— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 28, 2024
Of TTPD’s 2.61 million sum, traditional album sales (purchases of digital download albums, CDs, vinyl LPs and cassettes) comprised 1.914 million, SEA units comprised 683,000 (equaling 891.37 million on-demand official streams) and TEA units comprised 14,000. Get the full breakdown on the numbers, and why it’s a historic release for Swift, here.
Swift’s May 9 shout-out is for her return to tour after a two-month break. Some are guessing she’ll work in at least some kind of a Tortured Poets era, tracing the evidence in a tour rehearsal clip set to “Fortnight” that Swift shared on Friday. (Looking at you, railing designed like the TTPD logo, and dancers practicing an unfamiliar top-hat-and-cane number.)
She’ll bring The Eras Tour to Paris for a series of four consecutive concerts at La Défense Arena from May 9-12 as she sets off on the European leg of her career-spanning trek, with Paramore opening the show.
Eras will also make its way to Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the U.K., Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland and Austria by the end of the summer. All of Swift’s upcoming tour dates are listed on her official website.
The Tortured Poets Department sold 1.914 million copies in traditional album sales in its first week (purchases of digital downloads, CDs, vinyl LPs and cassette tapes). That marks the third-largest sales week for an album in the modern era — since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991.
The Tortured Poets Department’s sales were bolstered by its availability across 19 different physical configurations (nine CDs, six vinyl LPs and four cassettes, with four of the physical configurations exclusively sold by Target stores) and two digital download offerings (the standard 16-song album, and a surprise deluxe 31-song edition that was released two hours after the original album bowed). All of the variants are itemized later in this story.
Of The Tortured Poets Department’s first-week sales of 1.914 million, physical sales comprise 1.64 million (859,000 vinyl LPs — a modern-era single week record for an album on vinyl, 759,500 CDs and a little over 21,500 cassettes) and digital downloads comprise 274,000.
The Tortured Poets Department is the seventh Swift album to have sold at least 1 million copies in a single week, following the debuts of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Midnights, reputation, the original 1989, Red and Speak Now. She is the only act with seven different albums to each sell at least 1 million copies in a single week in the modern era. In total, there have been 26 instances — by 24 different albums — in which an album has sold at least 1 million copies in a week in the modern era. One of those albums, Adele’s 25, sold more than 1 million in three separate weeks.
Six of the top 10 million-selling weeks occurred in the early 2000s, in the pre-digital and pre-streaming heyday of the CD — when essentially the only way to listen to music on-demand was by purchasing an album. The year 2000 was the high-water mark in the modern era for album sales, when 785 million albums were sold in the U.S. Comparably, in 2023, there were 105.32 million albums sold, and Swift sold the most of any act — accounting for 6% of all U.S. album sales in 2023. (Popular streaming services Spotify and Apple Music did not launch in the U.S. until 2011 and 2015, respectively.)
Here’s a recap of the top 10 biggest-selling weeks by albums in the modern era (1991-present), ranked in order by sales volume.
Rank, Artist, Title, Sales, Chart Date1, Adele, 25, 3.378 million, Dec. 12, 20152, *NSYNC, No Strings Attached, 2.416 million, April 8, 20003, Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department, 1.914 million, May 4, 20244, *NSYNC, Celebrity, 1.88 million, Aug. 11, 20015, Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP, 1.76 million, June 10, 20006, Backstreet Boys, Black & Blue, 1.591 million, Dec. 9, 20007, Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), 1.359 million, Nov. 11, 20238, Eminem, The Eminem Show, 1.322 million, June 15, 2002*9, Britney Spears, Oops! …I Did It Again, 1.319 million, June 3, 200010, Taylor Swift, 1989, 1.287 million, Nov. 15, 2014(Sales source: Luminate. *All weeks are debuts, except for The Eminem Show, which debuted on the chart dated June 8, 2002, from a partial week of sales due to an off-cycle early release. The June 15, 2002, chart reflected the album’s first week of availability.)
Rihanna talked music, makeup, motherhood and the Met Gala at the launch of her new Fenty Beauty Soft’lit Foundation in Los Angeles on Friday (April 26), a celebration ringing in what she called “a new era in foundation for the brand.”
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The singer and businesswoman talked up the new cosmetics product’s “soft, luminescent finish, like a nice, glowy, natural-skin look” inspired by what sounds like very lovely golden hours in Barbados.
But this is what you came for: a music update! Rihanna seems aware everyone has long been pining for R9, which would be the long-awaited follow-up her 2016 album Anti, and humored some questions about her next album in an interview with Extra on the carpet at Friday’s event.
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In a nutshell, Rihanna is firm on making a new album worth the wait.
“It’s gonna be amazing,” she said of what’s to come from her as an artist. “It has to be — that is the only reason it’s not out yet. If I’m not feeling it and I’m not feeling like it represents the evolution, the time I spent away …There should be a show of growth, right?”
“I want to play, and I feel like music is a playground, and I want to have fun with it and show truly where I am at,” Rihanna said, adding that she only intends to collaborate with another artist if it’s “very intentional. I’ll know when I have the record.”
Just a week and a half ago, it should be noted, Rihanna stated, “I already got stuff that I feel like I could make hits out of.” She referring to her work in progress as “so good.”
While Rihanna’s new music master plan remains unknown, she did confirm plans to attend the Met Gala, and revealed right now she’s got two options for her dress on the big night — but don’t expect anything too wild.
“I’m actually just keeping it real simple this year,” said Rihanna of what she’s got in mind for the prestigious May 6 event. “Very simple. I think it’s gonna come to what my makeup and what my hair is going to do. We wanna play with that, but I have no idea what I’m gonna do with that.”
“Very simple-ish, compared to everything I’ve ever done,” she said of her idea to arrive in an understated look. “I’m showing up for dinner! Shout out to Anna Wintour.”
The star, who’s a mother to an almost two-year-old (son RZA turns two in May) with A$AP Rocky, explained her experience with fashion since entering parenthood.
“When you become a mom, your style goes from like ‘blah’ to ‘let’s see what fits’ to ‘I’m gonna be a bad bitch today,’” said Rihanna. “You’ve got to remind yourself a little bit sometimes, you know, bad bitch is still in there somewhere.”
