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This is an S.O.S. — the Jonas Brothers are turning 20, and they’re celebrating in a massive way.
To kick it all off, thousands of fans gathered at New Jersey’s American Dream Mall on Sunday (March 23) for the first-ever JONASCON, a free fan event filled with performances, surprise guests, themed activations (like G.I. Jonas laser tag and Jonas Pizza), branded merch and much more. Joe, Nick and Kevin were of course in attendance — making multiple appearances throughout the mall all day long. It was a full-circle experience for the three brothers from Jersey — whose first performances ever (before they became who we know now as “the Jonas Brothers”) were in this same mall, but to much smaller audiences.
“This is, in a lot of ways, is 20 years in the making, and just a culmination of a lot of things going right and a lot of people believing in us,” Nick tells Billboard about the event right before their first performance of the day at Jonas Beach, which took place at the mall’s DreamWorks Water Park.
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Later in the day, the Brothers welcomed previously-announced performers, The All-American Rejects and Franklin Jonas, to the stage, but also had several other surprises up their sleeves. Big Time Rush traveled to Jersey for a mall-ready performance of “Boyfriend,” while Camp Rock cast members M Dot, Meaghan Martin, and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle joined podcasters Chicks in the Office on stage for a surprise chat down memory lane.
During their final keynote performance, Joe, Nick and Kevin treated fans to a slew of other special announcements — meaning much more for fans to get excited about for the band’s 20th year. The band revealed that their next studio album, Greetings From Your Hometown, will arrive on Aug. 8. They also announced the release date for Joe’s long-awaited solo album, Music For People Who Believe in Love, on May 23, their Disney+ film A Very Jonas Christmas (arriving later this year), a new song celebrating Disneyland’s 70th anniversary, a London Live album (out June 13) and a new song in collaboration with ESPN for Sunday Night Baseball called “I Can’t Lose.”
Even with so much to look forward to in their 20th year, the lessons they’ve learned aren’t lost on them — and they hope to pass on what they’ve learned to the next generation.
“I think speaking to any musicians and artists, really believe in your craft and what you’re creating. We had people around us that really lifted us up and [let us] go in the studio and create them. It’s important to have that, because even after time, 20 years later, people are still gonna have opinions,” Joe tells Billboard. “You have to be able to just remember that: This is why you love it, and you create something for yourself.”
Read their full interview with Billboard below.
I’m sure there are countless memories over the past 20 years, but do you have any favorites?
JOE: We can’t pick one, but I think probably […] the van/trailer that we also would drive around the Northeast playing in front of anyone that listened to us — usually in malls. We started in malls, and we would sound check at about 4 or 5 a.m. and mall walkers would yell at us, and then we perform about 10 times throughout the day in front of Build-A-Bear. And now we’re doing it again, just a different size of mall.
KEVIN: There are so many to count. We walked through the Jonas Museum last night while it was completely empty and so fun to see memories from so long ago. My Takamine guitar is there. That was like my first purchase of a guitar ever. It’s the [guitar] we wrote “Please Be Mine” on all together. So it was pretty cool to see that.
NICK: [JONASCON] has actually got to be up there, just seeing the excitement from the fans … and our family is here today with us. Our parents are here. Our dad’s doing a sing along later with the fans, and [our brother] Franklin is performing.
What do you remember about recording your first album?
JOE: Well, I’m gonna go with the album that John Fields recorded with us [Jonas Brothers], because that was one of the launching pad albums for us — we had It’s About Time earlier. But I think when we were really able to define our sound as a band, and those were some of the most heartwarming memories for us […] we had our buddy John Taylor doing belly flops in the pool almost every day. The pool was like 102 degrees. It was our first real experience in Los Angeles.
NICK: I think the early memories of recording and writing music, we really didn’t know what we were doing, to be honest … we still don’t know what we’re doing. We had a bunch of people, to Joe’s point, that just said, you can do it and pushed us. And that was our dad, John Fields, our record label at the time Hollywood and John Lind. We were surrounded by people that just said, ‘You can do it,’ and believed in us, and that’s what took us to the next stage.
Even now, looking up and seeing what these songs mean to people so many years later, even though they were written when we were teenagers, is so incredible to us, and they resonate for us in different ways as we look out and see how the fan base has grown and changed and evolved over the years.
You guys started out around the same time social media started popping off. How do you reflect on having that personal connection with fans from the jump and those early days making YouTube videos?
KEVIN: Short-form content on YouTube. We figured it out quickly.
JOE: If only we were smart enough to create an app. We missed out on that … Our writers room was great, which was actually that van. We flipped the two back seats facing each other, and we’d come up with all these fun ideas. We would always be pitched things that we’d need to promote, but we felt kind of weird trying to sell ourselves like that. So we always said, ‘Let’s just make it fun and come up with stupid ideas.’ Jackass was really popular time. A lot of fake injuries, sometimes that became real injuries, and trying to make it feel natural and put into our own words. Our fans really, I think, gravitated towards that. We still do that stuff.
What do you remember about “Bounce,” the song/music video you put out while filming Camp Rock 2?
NICK: Sidebar — One of funniest checks I ever received was for “Bounce,” and it was for like $10 [because I was credited as the producer].
JOE: Did it go Gold or Platinum?
NICK: I think it went Gold.
JOE: We have a Gold plaque for “Bounce,” which is ridiculous … It was literally made on Garage Band in our Camp Rock dressing room. We had a lot of hours spent on that set, which we didn’t realize at the time, it was our first real movie to be a part of. You’re sitting around a lot, so “Bounce” was created.
Will there be a “Bounce” part 2?
JOE: There is time, you know. We’ll see, the next 20 years might have it.
KEVIN: Only time will tell.
You guys announced your massive JONAS20: LIVING THE DREAM tour, kicking off at MetLife Stadium. What does it mean to be headlining that massive venue in your home state? And do you have plans to bring the tour internationally?
JOE: We do have plans to bring the tour internationally. We also are overwhelmed to be playing MetLife Stadium. We’ve done it with radio shows and things like that, and popped up here and there, we’ve seen countless New York Giants football games there. I remember buying nosebleed seats when we had just enough in our allowance to go and watch a game. So to be Jersey guys who grew up 10, 15 minutes away from the stadium, MetLife. It’s a dream come true — to celebrate with our fans as well. And then we’re starting there, it’s now tradition. We have to start with New York.
[Note: This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.]
Camila Cabello is heading to Australia for two massive shows this August as part of her global Yours, C tour.
The pop star will perform in Sydney and Melbourne, bringing her latest album C,XOXO to life onstage following her recent run of festival appearances across Europe.
The Yours, C tour marks Cabello’s first as a solo artist, with her previous performances in the country as part of Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour. Since then, she’s continued to evolve as a solo artist with hit singles like “Bam Bam” and her genre-blurring fourth studio album C,XOXO, which blends pop, trap, reggaeton and punk.
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Following a string of memorable performances at major international festivals last summer, including Glastonbury Festival (UK), Rock in Rio Lisbon (Portugal), and Tinderbox Festival (Denmark), Camila will kick off the Yours, C tour in Marbella, Spain, before hitting Australia.
Speaking about the tour in February, Cabello wrote on Instagram: “I have been dying to tell you this. You have been so patient, and now it’s finally happening. I haven’t seen you guys on tour in so long, I wanted it to be a love letter to you guys for the summer. For the summer I’m yours.”
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At the BAFTAs in London in February, the “Havana” singer dropped a hint on the red carpet that she would be heading Down Under as part of the tour.
“I’m actually going on tour this summer, for the first time in a very long time, so I’m gonna be on tour all over Europe.” She added, “I’ll be playing some festivals, but a lot of headline shows. I’m gonna be in London July 8th, so I’m excited about that.”
Her latest singles “I Luv It” and “He Knows” have been making waves online and teasing a bold new era for the former Fifth Harmony star.
Camila Cabello – Yours, C Tour Australia Dates
Aug. 20 – Sydney, Qudos Bank ArenaAug. 22 – Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena
Fred Again.. and Justin Bieber were recently seen in the studio together, according to footage shared by U.K. artist Sekou — and while no collaboration has been confirmed, the brief moment has prompted renewed interest in both artists’ current creative phases.
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On March 21, Sekou posted several Instagram Stories documenting a recording session. Though the focus was on the rising artist himself, fans quickly noted the presence of both Fred Again.. and Justin Bieber in the background of one clip. The story has since expired, but screenshots began circulating across Reddit and X (formerly Twitter), drawing attention due to the pair’s history of working together — and their individual reputations for shaping global hits.
Fred Again.., born Fred Gibson, previously co-wrote and co-produced Bieber’s 2019 hit “I Don’t Care” with Ed Sheeran. The track debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, both stars’ best ranking on the chart since 2017, spending 22 weeks on the chart and reaching No. 1 in multiple countries, including the U.K., Australia and Canada. The collab also topped the Adult Pop Songs airplay tally dated Aug. 3.
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It remains one of Bieber’s most commercially successful releases — and was a key early writing credit for Gibson before he launched his solo career under the Fred Again.. moniker.
Since then, Fred Again.. has become one of the most innovative voices in electronic music. With albums like Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022) and collaborative projects alongside Skrillex and Four Tet, the producer has built a cult following through emotionally raw production and unpredictable live performances.
His 2022 breakout track “Delilah (Pull Me Out of This)” reached the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and helped propel him to a spot on Billboard’s year-end Top Dance/Electronic Artists list.
Bieber’s last full-length project, Justice, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2021 and produced multiple Hot 100 hits, including “Peaches” (No. 1), “Ghost” (No. 5), and “Anyone” (No. 6). While the singer has yet to announce a new album, he’s been spotted in the studio on several occasions over the past year.
Sekou, who posted the story, is a fast-rising British R&B talent who released his debut EP Out of Mind in 2023 to critical acclaim. His presence alongside two high-profile artists has only amplified curiosity — but for now, no official release or project involving the three has been confirmed.
In 2024, producer Mk.gee confirmed he had been working with Bieber, telling The New York Times, “Anything that comes out of his mouth: That’s pop music. You can really do pretty wild stuff behind that, just because it represents something.”
After launching a world tour in February 2022 in support of Justice, and his 2020 Changes album, Bieber revealed in June of that year that he’d been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which had resulted in “full paralysis” on one side of his face, leading to the postponement of some dates. Though he hit the road again, Bieber was forced to come off the road again in September after the Rock in Rio festival due to ongoing health issues.
He appeared as a guest on a few singles since then, including Don Toliver’s “Private Landing” and an acoustic version of SZA’s “Snooze.”
Bieber has been busy with fatherhood lately. The star and his wife, Hailey Bieber, welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Jack Blues Bieber, in 2024.
Even LISA isn’t immune to Bieber Fever. In a recent interview about her favorite songs, the BLACKPINK star shouted out Justin Bieber‘s breakout hit before recalling how starstruck she was the first time they met. While speaking to The Guardian in a piece published Monday (March 24), LISA shared that the American pop star’s “Baby” […]
Mariah Carey is taking her Celebration of Mimi tour overseas. The singer announced on Sunday (March 23) that she’ll honor the 20th anniversary of her 2005 album with a run of international dates in Asia in May and this fall. “We’re taking The Celebration of Mimi worldwide! I can’t wait to see you all during […]
*NSYNC fans got a special treat on Friday (March 21), when Vevo chose “Bye Bye Bye” as the subject of their newest Footnotes episode, giving an inside look at the beloved track on its 25th anniversary. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The song peaked at No. […]
“It’s beautiful, how I have nothing to lose,” Grace VanderWaal says. After winning America’s Got Talent as a precocious, ukulele-toting 12-year-old in 2016, VanderWaal was fast-tracked into a major-label pop career, which stalled following her 2017 debut, Just the Beginning.
Eight years later, VanderWaal, now 21, has prepared a very different follow-up: Childstar, out April 4 on Pulse Records. After releasing the single “Babydoll” last month, VanderWaal unveiled “Proud” on Friday (Mar. 21), as well as spring tour dates that kick off in Chicago on May 4.
Childstar is a concept album with dark edges that unpacks the uncomfortable truths of growing up in the spotlight — and provided some long-overdue catharsis. “I did whatever I wanted,” VanderWaal says, “and made something I was proud of.”
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When did you start working on Childstar?
A little more than a year ago, but I wrote the album stupid quick. That was unexpected, but I was at a point where, due to some trauma development, all of this s–t about my childhood started spilling out. It’s what my subconscious was doing, but I wasn’t mad at it. I thought it was raw and vulnerable, so I leaned into it.
On a song like “Proud,” you sing about seeking validation as a child and feeling controlled, and the listener can’t help but think about how your career began.
I wanted to talk about subliminal conditioning and how nothing is black and white. What makes something so complicated is when there’s no one to blame — that would be so easy. If you’re getting exposed to millions of people who are saying, “You’re great at this, you’re doing good,” while your brain is literally forming — of course there would be repercussions of that. But no one did anything wrong.
What made you partner with Pulse Records?
I brought the Childstar concept to every label you can imagine, and some people liked it and some people really didn’t like it. Then I went to Pulse, and they were the first ones to not only like it, but take it more extreme. I didn’t want to sign with people who would hold back an idea, but a lot of the art and visual ideas you see have been collaborative or fully from the Pulse team.
What would you tell longtime fans who are surprised by this album’s thematic focus?
I don’t know if they would be surprised. I think there’s a very small crowd that will feel like I’m stealing a narrative. As a child, I was very aware of the purpose that I served for people — I was this hope and happiness, this innocent angel. But it’s my story to tell, so whatever thoughts those people have, I don’t really care. I’m not a symbol for you.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
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, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco hoist up their love, Jack Harlow and Doja Cat have a blast collaborating, and J-Hope keeps pushing forward. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco, I Said I Love You First
I Said I Love You First is a creative collaboration between two halves of a shared heart, and Benny Blanco’s sonic influence exists in direct conversation with Selena Gomez’s lyrical delivery. There’s a reason why the album artwork is a glimpse of Gomez and Blanco through a keyhole — I Said I Love You First is presented as an intimate glimpse, not big-budget spectacle. Read the full review here.
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Jack Harlow feat. Doja Cat, “Just Us”
Part of the reason why Jack Harlow and Doja Cat were able to corral top talent like Matt Damon, John Mayer and PinkPantheress for the music video to “Just Us” is because they’re both top talent themselves; their new collaboration crackles with the energy of A-listers who can toss out hooks and sexual innuendos with ease, because they’ve done so plenty of times before.
J-Hope, “Mona Lisa”
J-Hope is getting more adept at finding the intersection between pop, hip-hop and R&B: new solo single “Mona Lisa” finds the BTS star melding genres with ease, dipping into his falsetto, tossing out some whoa-oa-oa’s to punctuate his passion and offering a breezy check-in that will fit right in on summer playlists.
Morgan Wallen, “I’m a Little Crazy” & “Just in Case”
To cap off the week in which he unveiled the May release date of his album I’m the Problem, Morgan Wallen released a pair of new songs that will make its 37-song (!) track list: “I’m a Little Crazy” allows the country superstar to waxing poetic about his place in the world, “Just in Case” grows into an earnest anthem, and both tracks feature Wallen’s voice dominating the mix.
Jonas Brothers, “Love Me to Heaven”
With the Jonas Brothers kicking off their 20th anniversary tour in North America, the boys decided to cook up something new to commemorate the occasion, and “Love Me to Heaven” sounds tailor-made for the stage, a zippy pop-rock sing-along complete with falsetto runs and backing vocals that will sound even better when sung by a crowd of thousands.
Editor’s Pick: Japanese Breakfast, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)
If 2021’s Jubilee turned Michelle Zauner into an indie-pop star, the long-awaited follow-up For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) is the sound of the singer-songwriter settling in to the spotlight without sacrificing any of her songwriting nuance. The new album explores moodier territory, but refracts the melancholy through Zauner’s ever-engaging lens, her voice more self-assured and trustworthy than ever.
Before her 2024 world tour had wrapped up, Tate McRae already had thoughts on how to level up her next live outing. “It’s a lot of back and forth and a lot of just brain dumping,” she says of her scattered ideating process with her creative director, Parker Genoway. “I come with a whole bunch of mood boards and random ideas… You dream as big as you can until you get the budget, then you have to narrow it down.”
Fortunately for McRae, that budget expanded, thanks to a massive first quarter of 2025. The 21-year-old singer’s So Close to What, her most mature and introspective album to date, arrived in February and gave McRae her first No. 1 entry on the Billboard 200, with 177,000 equivalent album units earned — which at the time was the largest debut week for a studio album by a woman artist in five months — according to Luminate.
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The chart-topping debut — along with a dozen Billboard Hot 100 entries from So Close to What and a high-octane performance of top 20 hit “Sports Car” on Saturday Night Live — helped cement McRae’s leap to pop’s A-list. It also set up her Miss Possessive arena tour, which began in Mexico City on March 18 and was followed by a handful of South American dates. She will head to Europe in May and will begin a North American run in Vancouver in August.
McRae pulled from a wide range of influences for her tour themes, including classic dance showcases. “It’s been really fun to dive into old musicals and old TV shows,” she says, “and bring out Fosse references and old Chicago references, and tap into that geeky musical side I think we all have.”
Meanwhile, Genoway — who collaborated with McRae on her Think Later tour and spearheaded her SNL and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon performances earlier this year — points to McRae’s “It’s ok I’m ok” music video as an example of the singer’s opposing aesthetics, showcasing the intersection of grungy and glamorous. McRae says, “I’m referencing rap shows, I’m referencing Kendrick [Lamar] shows, Post Malone shows, and then I want to feel like a glam pop girl. It’s finding a cool in-between.”
The new tour includes a “thrust stage” in the shape of a giant T, and there are also cranes involved. “You try to make people walk in and be like, ‘What are we looking at right now?,’ and create your own world in there,” McRae says. Genoway adds that McRae should “feel like she’s in the middle of everything” surrounding the show, which also includes a B-stage and a mix of stage elevations.
As for McRae’s dance skills, “[Her] technical ability is unmatched,” says Genoway, who works as part of Silent House Productions. “Tate levels everyone up who works with her. She’s going to be at rehearsals late at night and so are you. She’s going to work hard and so are you.”
And although McRae is playing her biggest venues to date, her preshow routine has remained consistent. “I always take one Grether’s Pastille and suck on it,” she explains. Prior to a group prayer and a moment of meditation, McRae will warm up her voice by performing the ad-libs to Rihanna’s “B—h Better Have My Money.” “My dancers probably think I’m f–king crazy,” she says with a chuckle.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Selena Gomez figured it out five years ago. With Rare, her third solo studio album, the former Disney Channel breakthrough-turned multi hyphenate superstar distilled her skills as a recording artist into a slinky, sumptuous dance-pop record, full of self-empowering lyrics and midtempo earworms that understood precisely how to utilize her singular tone. Gomez earned the […]