Pop
Page: 75
11/15/2024
See how we broke down every song from the BTS superstar’s long-awaited solo album.
11/15/2024
Lady Gaga very well may have earned herself a noise complaint during a recent hotel stay, during which she performed a snippet of intense choreography to her new single “Disease.” In a video posted Thursday, the pop star leaves her hotel room and tiptoes into the hallway before suddenly tossing her belongings to the floor, […]
With a simple but hearty title, Happy is not just Jin‘s debut album — the seventh and final member of BTS to release a full-fledged solo project — but a statement on his creative journey and his fans’ significance throughout it.
While the 31-year-old is known to keep BTS’ ARMY at the forefront of his work, mind and in interviews, making his first public appearance after completing his mandatory military service at an event to hug 1,000 fans this past summer, Jin shares his love of rock music in hopes to inspire joy within listeners further. Described as an “organic and seamless” process, Jin tapped a range of international collaborators to complete his musical vision on Happy: New York City singer-songwriter and past BTS collaborator Max co-wrote the buzzy single “I’ll Be There,” Gary Barlow of British boy band Take That worked on the focus track “Running Wild,” Taka and Toru of Japan’s ONE OK ROCK co-produced and played instruments on “Falling,” while “Heart on the Window” is a duet with K-pop girl group member Wendy of Red Velvet, who grew up in South Korea, Canada and the States.
“Putting the album together has allowed me to pause and reflect on just how much ARMY means to me,” Jin tells Billboard. “As I worked on each track, I thought about what I wanted to convey to them, how I want to bring joy and happiness to them, while also expressing how much I missed them during our time apart.”
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With Happy, Jin proves his capacity to creatively grow and explore fresh musical landscapes while still staying deeply connected to the roots of his BTS journey. With warmth, optimism and universal messages, Happy has the qualities to not only enchant loyal fans, but entertain entirely new audiences — and does so while conveying his most authentic self.
Read on to see what the “Worldwide Handsome” superstar tells Billboard about Happy‘s sounds, timing and meaning, and much more.
How are you doing at this exciting time? Was making your comeback to music after a break difficult, or was it a natural return?
JIN: I’m happy to be back with my first solo album, Happy. Making this comeback, my first thought was to reconnect with ARMY. Creating the album was a way for me to share something with them, and the whole process just felt like a return to something natural.
With the release of Happy, all of BTS’ members will have officially released a full solo project! While we’ve got a lot of great solo singles from you, can you share insight as to why we are getting your first solo album now?
Before enlisting, I was focused mainly on our group activities, so a solo album didn’t feel right at the time. But with all the members now taking turns serving, it felt like the right time to share something personal with ARMY who have supported us all along. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I’ve enjoyed making it.
I know you’re a big fan of and emotionally connected to BTS’ 2016 single “Spring Day.” Was finding music that resonated with you like “Spring Day,” whether emotionally or with rock influences, an inspiration?
“Spring Day” has always had a special place in my heart, but for this album, I wanted to explore something a little different. I set out to create a more vibrant, upbeat atmosphere, so the overall feel of the album is more lively and energetic. I’d probably consider exploring the emotional tone of “Spring Day” in the future.
Happy is described as “Jin’s journey to true happiness” and “an authentic portrayal of Jin as a solo artist.” What did that journey entail?
The journey behind revolved heavily around my connection with ARMY. As I worked on each track, I thought about what I wanted to convey to them, how I want to bring joy and happiness to them, while also expressing how much I missed them during our time apart. Putting the album together has allowed me to pause and reflect on just how much ARMY means to me.
You introduced the LP with “I’ll Be There,” which has a rockabilly and rock n’ roll sound. Why was this the song to reintroduce yourself?
I just really connected to the track and felt it was the right one to share with ARMY first. The fun, catchy vibe of the track felt like a good way to start things off. I wanted to bring joy and comfort to those who might be feeling down, and it’s my way of offering a little cheer before the full album comes out — sharing a song I like.
“Running Wild” has a lot of energy and universal themes that will appeal to so many people. What are your goals or hopes for Happy‘s main single?
With “Running Wild,” I wanted to create a track full of energy. I hope it inspires people to keep moving forward — whether that means running, working out or just pushing themselves to overcome a challenge.
You brought a range of international collaborators on Happy. What were you looking for in your collaborators?
That’s a tough question since I simply wanted to work with people whose music and talents I admired. Each collaborator brought something unique to the table, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have worked together with such talented artists to bring Happy to life.
As I listened, I wondered if you had ever considered creating your own band in the past or teaming up with a rock act as a side project.
The only band I, now and forever, will be part of is BTS. Band music is a genre I’m personally interested in, and I enjoy exploring different styles as a solo artist. But at the end of the day, my roots and connection to music will always be with BTS.
Thinking about your solo songs — including four No. 1s on Billboard‘s World Digital Song Sales chart with “Astronaut,” “Super Tuna,” “Yours” and, last week’s chart-topper “I’ll Be There” — are you able to pick a favorite?
All of my solo projects are meaningful, but if I had to choose a favorite, it would be “The Astronaut.” It is especially close to my heart, thanks to the incredible opportunity I had to collaborate with Coldplay, whom I deeply admire. I’ll never forget the moment when I first heard the song, the things I felt when Chris [Martin] first played the song.
Anything else to share with international ARMY at this time?
I’ll keep giving my all so that I can connect with all of you in person soon!
K-pop boy band NCT 127 announced the North American dates for their fourth world tour on Friday (Nov. 15), NCT 127 4TH TOUR ‘NEO CITY – THE MOMENTUM.’ The six-show run of dates will kick off on Feb. 28 with a show in Duluth, GA at the Gas South Arena, before moving on to the […]
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” bounds four spots to No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart (dated Nov. 23).
The ballad, on Streamline/Atlantic/Interscope/ICLG, reigns with Greatest Gainer honors, up 10% in plays at the format Nov. 8-14, according to Luminate. The song drew an average of 77 plays per reporter playing it in that span (translating to a play roughly every two hours).
The Pop Airplay chart ranks songs by weekly plays on over 150 mainstream top 40 radio stations monitored by Mediabase, with data provided to Billboard by Luminate.
Notably, Gaga rules Pop Airplay for the first time since the chart dated April 9, 2011, with “Born This Way.” She rewrites the mark for returning to No. 1 after the longest break: 13 years, seven months and two weeks. (In between, she logged six top 10s.) Mariah Carey previously held the distinction, with a wait of nine years, four months and three weeks between “One Sweet Day” with Boyz II Men in 1995-96, and “We Belong Together” in 2005. (Last year, Miley Cyrus ended a nine-year, two-month and two-week break between the reigns of “Wrecking Ball” in 2013 and “Flowers.”)
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Mars last led Pop Airplay with “Finesse,” with Cardi B, in 2018.
Gaga now boasts eight career Pop Airplay No. 1s and Mars, 10 – tying him with Justin Bieber for the most among solo males. Here’s a look at the acts with the most leaders since the chart began in October 1992:
13, Taylor Swift11, Maroon 511, Katy Perry11, Rihanna10, Justin Bieber10, Ariana Grande10, Bruno Mars9, P!nk8, Doja Cat8, Lady Gaga8, Justin Timberlake7, Beyoncé
Plus, Gaga becomes only the third act to have topped Pop Airplay in the 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s, joining Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift. Gaga scored a career-launching-record six No. 1s on her first six tries in 2009-10, beginning with “Just Dance” featuring Colby O’Donis.
As previously reported, “Die With a Smile” crowned the Billboard Global 200 chart for eight weeks in September-October, the most for any song this year. It drew 119.6 million streams worldwide Nov. 1-7 and has tallied over 100 million streams globally in each of the last 10 weeks (through the Nov. 16-dated chart), the longest such streak since the survey began in September 2020.
Meanwhile, Gaga’s new solo single “Disease” holds at its No. 18 high on the Nov. 23-dated Pop Airplay chart (up 12% in plays).
All charts dated Nov. 23 will update Tuesday, Nov. 19, on Billboard.com.
It’s best to let Darren Criss describe the simply complex story of Maybe Happy Ending, the new musical he co-stars in with Broadway newcomer Helen J. Shen. “There’s what the story is and then there’s what the show is about,” the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning singer/actor/songwriter tells Billboard in an interview you can watch above.
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“Those aren’t necessarily the same things,” he notes about the musical love story from Will Aronson and Hue Park, in which the former Glee star and Shen appear as obsolete Helperbot robots who meet cute and fall in love. “Thematically, it’s about two elderly people in hospice who decide to break out of the situation to go connect with their family,” says Criss about what sounds like a potentially dark theme.
And while that “grim, depressing construct for a show” doesn’t sound like the stuff of uplifting Broadway magic, Criss promises that the musical’s creators have somehow morphed that idea about the chilly march of time and hard lessons about love and life into a “really charming, kind little world” filled with Helper robots who are living embodiments of our iPhones and other digital assistants.
Because many of us imbue our inanimate digital devices with human-like qualities, sometimes holding on to them well past their best-by use date, Criss says the musical asks what happens when those objects become more like us?
Shen makes her Broadway debut in the play alongside theater/TV/movie veteran Criss, 37, after turning heads last year in the ensemble of the Off Broadway musical Teeth. She says one of the most exciting parts of performing in the show is the chance to take the lead in a completely new piece of theater not based on any existing intellectual property or a reboot/revival, but something that theatergoers have never seen before.
“It’s super overwhelming. The idea of it has been something that I’ve dreamed about my whole life,” says Shen, 24 of originating a character on Broadway. “And to have it come to fruition with this particular story, with this particular group of people I just feel… abundance. I feel so lucky and grateful.”
Both say they feel really blessed to be part of the show, with Criss noting that he has typically starred in “iconic” roles in his previous Broadway runs, including as Harry Potter in A Very Potter Musical, J. Pierrpont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors and Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, among others. “These are things people know and love,” he says of those classics.
“[Which] were great, with or without me. I now go in there trying to do my own thing and make it my own and there’s the excitement of the challenge, but also the pressure of living up to a certain thing and wanting to do your own thing,” he adds about trying to find something of yourself in a well-known role people may have seen many other times with other performers. “Whereas this, it’s an open canvas, not only for us, but for the audience. They don’t have any preconceived notions. That’s the best thing about this.”
Because it is a new experience, audiences don’t know what to expect, which both actors say makes attendees really listen and sit up in their seats to take in all the nuance of the show that also heralds the Broadway debuts for creators Aronson and Park; it began its life on stage in Seoul, South Korea in 2016 and was later produced in Japan and China as well.
Maybe Happy Ending, directed by Michael Arden (Parade), is open now at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway.
The Weeknd is a trip. More specifically, Abel Tesfaye (as the singer now refers to himself, using his birth name) is on a wild voyage in the trippy new video for his electro-pop single “Open Hearts.” The singer released the video for the new single on Friday (Nov. 15), which is part of an immersive experience maximized for the Apple Vision Pro reality headset.
According to a release, the collaborative “The Weekend: Open Hearts” project with Apple was shot in the 180-degree Apple Immersive Video format and is optimized for viewing on the company’s VR headsets; fans are invited to get the full ultra-high-res video and Spatial Audio experience by booking an Apple Vision Pro demo at their local Apple store starting today, or by checking it out for free with the Apple TV app on Apple Vision Pro.
Based on fan-captured footage of the video directed by Anton Tammi — who also directed the video for “Dancing in the Flames,” the first single from Tesfaye’s upcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow album — is yet another journey into a dark netherworld in which the singer fights his demons and other seemingly sinister forces.
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It opens with Abel strapped to a gurney in the back of an ambulance looking shell-shocked as the tune’s bubbling synth pop groove chugs behind him and he sings, “I can hear the wind blow, even through the window/ I can hear the whisper, even with my ears closed.” As the EMS crew work to revive the singer, taking off his sunglasses and checking his pupils, Abel croons the falsetto chorus, “Where do I start?/ When I open my heart?/ It’s never easy falling in love again/ Cover my scars/ When I open my arms/ It’s never easy falling in love again.”
Because nothing is ever what it seems in Abel World, the next time we see the ambulance crew they are dressed in black and have glowing orange eyes, hinting at something sinister afoot. The trip down a desert highway includes an escort from wild horses to the streets of Los Angeles, where the singer wakes up and finds himself seemingly floating above the city.
After a mysterious figure appears in the window, Abel opens the door to the passenger cabin, which transports him to a room full of glowing eye creatures as the song devolves into a spooky psychedelic wash and he confronts a hooded, eyes blazing cult-like leader who is, of course, him.
The Weeknd’s upcoming sixth studio album will be accompanied by a feature film-length psychological thriller of the same name directed by Trey Edward Shults (It Comes At Night), which will mark the singer’s feature-starring debut; Jenny Ortega and Barry Keoghan will also star in the film that will be distributed by Lionsgate.
Check out the teaser for the Vision Pro experience here.
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide 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, Linkin Park leaps back into view, Tate McRae does not want conversation, and Shawn Mendes bares his soul. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Linkin Park, From Zero
With new co-vocalist Emily Armstrong and drummer/co-producer Colin Brittain in the fold, guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, turntablist/producer Joseph Hahn and singer/rapper/producer/sonic architect Mike Shinoda have revived Linkin Park, and From Zero imagines a new beginning for one of the biggest bands of the past few decades in a way that any fan can appreciate. Click here for a full review of the new album.
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Tate McRae, “2 Hands”
“Want your two hands on mе / Like my life needs savin’,” Tate McRae sings on her sensual new single, her desperation for physical touch animating another rhythmic pop delicacy that will delight fans of hits like “Greedy” and “Exes.” Shawn Mendes, Shawn
With his new album, Shawn Mendes has paused what’s been a whirlwind career thus far — from viral Vine clips to global arena performances — and looked inward, returning with a rustic folk-rock sound, prodding self-examinations and the most intimate album of his career.
Shaboozey, “Good News”
While “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” continues to set Hot 100 history, now as the longest-running No. 1 song by a solo artist, newly minted best new artist nominee Shaboozey is not resting on his laurels, offering “Good News” as a somber refraction of his smash hit’s clap-along formula.
Jin, Happy
Years after BTS crossed over to top 40 radio in the U.S. with bright, bubbly pop anthems, Jin’s first solo album leans in to similar positivity, as Happy functions as both an injection of cheeriness and a lovely showcase for another one of the group’s talented members.
Gwen Stefani, Bouquet
Working with a live band at Smoakstack Studios with producer Scott Hendricks, Gwen Stefani hints at a full-blown country crossover on fifth solo album Bouquet — but more than any genre-hopping, the pop great’s voice sounds fuller when surrounded by expert instrumentation.
Rauw Alejandro, Cosa Nuestra
Puerto Rican superstar Rauw Alejandro opened up his Rolodex for his fifth studio album, with Bad Bunny, Pharrell Williams, Feid and Romeo Santos all stopping by — but the greatest strengths of Cosa Nuestra rest on Alejandro’s shoulders, his airy voice powering the most magnetic hooks here.
Lil Nas X, “Light Again!”
Lil Nas X’s flow sounds more effortless than it has in years on “Light Again!,” which applies his knack for enormous choruses to throbbing dance music and relies on his effervescent persona to maintain the listener’s attention.
Sam Fender, “People Watching”
Produced with The War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel and serving as a tribute to a late friend and mentor, “People Watching” allows Sam Fender to dive into his big Boss influence while showcasing his emotional slant on anthemic pop-rock; this one could be big.
Editor’s Pick: 070 Shake, Petrichor
WIth Petrichor, the unbridled greatness of 070 Shake has fully emerged: unconfined by sonic boundaries and unafraid of addressing heavier topics, the singer-songwriter gets psychedelic, toys with hip-hop ideas, covers Tim Buckley alongside Courtney Love (!) and generally pours her entire being into her art, in a way any music fan must respect.
Kelly Clarkson‘s star was born a long time ago. In fact, 2025 will mark 23 years since America voted to make Clarkson the very first — and still in many minds the very best — American Idol winner. So even though she had nothing to prove on Thursday (Nov. 14) in the latest Kellyoke segment […]
While it was largely assumed that Taylor Swift’s 1989 would have a big debut when it arrived on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated Nov. 15, 2014 — after all, she was coming off three straight No. 1 sets that had sold in the millions — no one knew just how big it would be.
And then … it exploded atop the chart.
After 1989’s release on Oct. 27, 2014, the project not only sold more than a million copies in its first week in the United States — 1.29 million to be exact, according to Luminate — but also cleared the largest sales week for an album in over a decade (since Eminem’s The Eminem Show debuted with 1.32 million in 2002).
“Another way to look at it,” Billboard further noted at the time, “1989 outsold the Nos. 2-107 albums on the Nov. 15-dated Billboard 200 combined.”
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In fact, in the 10 years since 1989’s arrival, there have only been three weeks in which an album has sold more copies — and two of those weeks are also by Swift: the debuts of 2023’s rerecorded 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department. (The third: the opening week of Adele’s 25 in 2015, when it logged a Luminate-era single-week record 3.38 million.)
Swift called 1989 a “bit of a rebirth” when she announced the set during a livestream event on Aug. 18, 2014. She said that she “woke up every single day that I was recording this record not wanting, but needing, to make a new style of music than I had ever made before.”
She added: “And for the record, this is my very first documented official pop album.”
While that may seem quaint today, as the Swift we know in 2024 is a globe-trotting, stadium-filling, mega-mega Pop star with a capital P, back in 2014, she was following four albums that straddled the worlds of country and pop. She had reached No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart with her first four studio full-lengths, while also topping the Pop Airplay chart with “Love Story,” from her second LP, Fearless, and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” from her third, Red.
But with her decisive “official pop album” declaration, Swift was moving into new territory. Would the move pay off? Would the sonic shift influenced by pop of the late-1980s yield even bigger success than she had already experienced? Turns out, yes! The set spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200, generated three No. 1s on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, the most from any Swift album, and five enduring No. 1s on Pop Airplay: “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Style,” “Bad Blood” and “Wildest Dreams,” also the most from a Swift LP.
1989 would also garner Swift her first nomination, and win, for best pop vocal album at the Grammy Awards. Plus, it won for album of the year — the second of her record four trophies in the coveted category.
1989 arrived with a wall-to-wall promotional blitz and media campaign. During release week, Swift engaged with her fanbase on social media, heavily leaning into Twitter (now called X) and Tumblr to reach existing and newly converted Swifties. She blanketed terrestrial media during the album’s rollout, including appearances on the MTV Video Music Awards, ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS’ The Late Show With David Letterman. She had promotional tie-ins with Subway and Diet Coke, while the album was carried in non-traditional sellers such as Kroger supermarkets, Starbucks and Walgreens.
Notably, 1989’s first-week sales were bolstered by its lack of availability on streaming services; a deluxe edition exclusive to Target, with six bonus tracks; its CDs being packaged with one of five sets of 13 collectible Polaroid-like images of Swift (with fans not knowing which set they would get); and a contest, dubbed the “1989 Swiftstakes,” whereby every purchase of the album through the final day of the set’s first week could be entered to win one of 1,989 prizes. (Such contests are no longer allowed to count toward Billboard’s charts.)
1989 has gone on to spend more than 500 nonconsecutive weeks on the Billboard 200, the most of any Swift album. It’s one of her 14 leaders on the list, the most among women. She boasts 12 No. 1s on the Hot 100, having tied Madonna and The Supremes for the sixth-best sum among all acts.
In 2023-24, 1989 has been showcased as one of the eras in Swift’s retrospective The Eras Tour. The trek began on March 17, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz., and is scheduled to conclude on Dec. 8 in Vancouver, B.C. On Aug. 9, 2023, during her final Los Angeles-area show at SoFi Stadium, Swift announced the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version). It arrived at retail and via streamers on Oct. 27, 2023 — exactly, nine years after the original 1989 was released. The rerecorded album continued the epic 1989 story, as it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, buoyed by an even larger first-week sales figure than the original 1989: 1.36 million sold.