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JoJo Siwa is used to be in the red hot spotlight. The Dance Moms alum who began her career a decade ago is in the midst of what she has described as a new musical era, one that she promised will continue to evolve with her next single. In a cheeky video posted on Wednesday […]
As he prepares for the Friday (May 31) release of Honeymind — his third studio album (and first on Interscope) — and settles into his just-opened, 18-date run of concerts reopening Broadway‘s iconic Palace Theatre, singer-songwriter and actor Ben Platt recently sat down with Billboard News to discuss creating his new music, the relationships and artists inspiring him now, and his upcoming projects.
The Honeymind creation process occurred in Nashville, during what Platt calls a “point of transition personally and career-wise, reinvestigating my reasons for being an artist, relearning the importance of following passion and doing things that feel authentically fulfilling and not necessarily checking boxes.” It was also a happy time, Platt says, of settling into the comfort of his relationship with his now-fiancée, fellow actor Noah Galvin — and he found himself exploring, through songwriting, “that crossroads between what it feels like to arrive in your real relationship and have a partner who you feel really understands you holistically, and how do you need to work on yourself as a person to be ready for a relationship like that?”
His Honeymind collaborators include beloved Nashville writers Natalie Hemby and Hillary Lindsey, as well as executive producer Dave Cobb, who worked with Platt at his home studio in Savannah, Ga. Platt praises Cobb’s “barometer for honesty and authenticity … he’s very much no bulls–t. If something feels put-on, or like a bell or whistle, he has no problem being very forthright about that.”
Platt opens up as well about the singular experience of filming the very personal music video for single “Cherry on Top,” in which he enjoys a day out around Los Angeles with Galvin. “I was apprehensive at first — I love to keep some things sacred and private,” he explains. But he ultimately realized that, since song was written specifically about his experience with Galvin, “nothing felt as true as the actual relationship itself that brings that joy about.”
An unabashed fan of pop, Platt also gushes about his own favorite music right now, mentioning perennial favorites Maggie Rogers and Chappell Roan (he’s a vocal longtime fan: “I’ve known she was a superstar the whole time!”). He’s also big on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well (Musgraves made a surprise appearance at Platt’s opening night at the Palace to duet with him on her “Rainbow”), and Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine (“Ari is one of the greatest pop voices of this generation, and it’s such a sharp, delicious bubblegum album that is like, harkening back to Mariah….it’s always in my head”).
Additionally, Platt shares the inspiration he takes from seeing two of the biggest tours of the past year: Beyoncé’s Renaissance trek and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Swift “shares her own experiences and makes us feel like we’re in her living room … in a way that feels very off the cuff but is clearly very thought out and well-crafted,” he says; Beyoncé is “an unbelievable live singer … and on top of that the level to which she exerts and gives of herself no matter what show she’s doing? You’ve never seen her half-ass a performance in her life!”
Platt will be occupied promoting Honeymind for some time — after his Palace residency, he will embark on a tour of the U.S. and Canada (with album collaborator Brandy Clark supporting) through late July. Meanwhile, he reveals to Billboard that Richard Linklater’s twenty-years-in-the-making film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Merrily We Roll Along — announced in 2019, in which Platt stars alongside close friend Beanie Feldstein and Paul Mescal — is progressing.
Platt says two of “eight or nine” sequences have been filmed with, he adds with a laugh, just “another 16 or so years to go.” Linklater, he says, “puts a lot of emphasis on not looking too far ahead … it becomes too daunting, so I just treat it as this gift of getting to have little checkpoints in my life to check back in with Sondheim, with Paul, and obviously Beanie.” Platt praises Mescal, who makes his major musical onscreen debut in Merrily, as a “gorgeous, kind, amazing actor, beautiful voice — he’s the real deal.”
See what else Platt had to say in the video above.
Elton John is gearing up to give one of his fans an LGBTQ+ Pride Month for the books. Ahead of next month’s festivities, the rock star announced Wednesday (May 29) that he and his Elton John AIDS Foundation are challenging fans to take on his hit “Your Song” as part of a new “Speak Up Sing Out” campaign, giving one entrant the chance to meet him and David Furnish, who is his husband and the foundation’s chairman, in June.
Designed to help end the stigma against LGBTQ folks on social media, the challenge asks participants to post vertical videos of personalized renditions of the icon’s 1970 song, which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was co-written by John and his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin. More specifically, the foundation is calling on fans to sing one of the track’s final lines — “I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind, that I put down in words how wonderful life is while you’re in the world” — and mark their clips online with the hashtag #SpeakUpSingOutGiveaway.
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After finishing the song, contestants are to name and tag someone who has inspired them to embrace their authentic selves. Fans should also make sure they’re following the Elton John AIDS Foundation on Instagram before entering.
“Living boldly and fearlessly is what I strive for every day, but I know firsthand the importance of having a support system that empowers you to do so — a privilege I’m immensely grateful for,” John said in a statement. “This Pride Month, I extend a heartfelt invitation to stand with me and the Foundation to honor the champion in your life.”
The giveaway ends June 18 at 8 p.m. ET. Afterward, one contestant will be chosen to win a trip to meet John and Furnish later that month.
“Add your unique touch to one of my songs and spread waves of love and support throughout the LGBTQ+ community,” the five-time Grammy winner added. “As a special thank you, one participant and their guest will have the chance to join me and David in New York City during Pride Month — an opportunity to celebrate love, acceptance, and all that makes us who we are!”
In addition to spreading awareness amid the influx in anti-LGBTQ legislation introduced across the U.S. in the past year, the “Speak Up Sing Out” challenge will support the foundation’s Rocket Fund. The $125-million, multiyear initiative was launched in 2023 in response to rising stigma and growing rates of HIV in vulnerable communities, causes for which the organization has already raised $100 million of its goal.
See John’s announcement below.
For most of his career, Adam Lambert has been playing characters. Whether in his musical theater roots, his touring role as the frontman of Queen or even on American Idol, the 42-year-old singer says much of his career has been about performance.
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But he’s ready to change that. “I’ve watched other artists express this very real, authentic part of themselves over the last few years,” he tells Billboard. “Now, it’s my turn.”
Lambert’s new solo EP Afters (due out July 19) sees the singer embracing a new, dance-focused sound to talk about sex, desire and romance in a more honest way than he ever has before. The first pair of singles off the project, “Lube” and “Wet Dream” (both due out Friday, May 31), give audiences a glimpse of what the singer has in store for them, with Lambert’s rock-inspired sound swapped out for pounding club beats and uncensored lyrics.
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“I wanted to make a project that felt like the kind of music I listened to with my friends, talking about the things I talk about with my friends,” Lambert explains. “Sometimes, things get a little naughty, and I wanted to capture that energy.”
Below, Lambert breaks down the inspirations behind his new project, what it means to be rediscovering himself 15 years into his career, and how advancements for LGBTQ artists in the music industry have fundamentally changed the way he approaches music.
Let’s talk about your new project, Afters. This is a very different direction that you’re taking — can you tell me a little bit about where the idea for this project came from?
I’ve experimented with so many different sorts of directions and genres and sounds over the years. I’ve done a lot and for this, I was like, “Okay, what have I not really done?” I wanted whatever I did next to feel as authentic as possible — I wanted it to feel real to my life. I started my career on stage playing different characters and then stepping onto American Idol, and then stepping in with Queen. I get to sing the most amazing music and tour the world with them. But it’s all serving specific audiences, you know what I mean? And I wanted to do something that sounded like my social life.
Here in West Hollywood, I love going out, I love having after parties at my house, I love nightlife. I love dressing up and and interacting with people and and getting that charged up and flirty feeling with people. So I just was like, “I want to capture that energy of sexuality and desire for connection and liberation.” And that’s the after party.
That’s an interesting point about you playing “roles” in your past music career — was there any trepidation in making this project about fan or industry reactions to this very raw sound?
Yeah, there might be some fans out there that might go, “Whoa, what is all this” and not understand it. But it’s the most honest that I’ve gotten to be in a really long time because there’s no filter. When I first came onto the scene in 2009, the scene was very different. The music industry was very different, and being a gay man in the music industry was uncharted territory in some ways. We had other greats before us in other genres, but doing contemporary pop, I felt like I didn’t have anybody else to sort of see as an example in that world.
It was a trial and error experience; I had that first single that was kind of sexy, and then the performance where I kissed a guy and I got a big slap on the wrist for it. I had so much support from the industry coming off of Idol, and I think there was this collective sort of gasp and clutching of the pearls at that performance. They didn’t turn their back on me, but it felt like the audience took a collective step back.
I had to play the game at that point, because I wasn’t going to lose my opportunity. So I just kept moving forward and doing my thing. And obviously there’s a lot more to me than just my sexuality, but that is a big part of who I am. Romance and sex and heartbreak, we see all of our favorite hetero artists sing about all that stuff all the time. So I was always a little frustrated with the double standard early on, because I was like, “Well, why can’t I?” The game, for a while, became me asking how I could push things.
I feel like [now] we’re in 2024, and the rules have completely been tossed out the window. It’s a totally different playing field. Now, the way people get music and find music is completely different. I think the fact that we can go straight to the listener as an artist changes the politics of all of it. Back in the day, radio was this gatekeeper — and it was like, and if you really wanted to be successful, you had to play the game on the radio. Now that’s completely different, too. So there are less hurdles you have to jump over.
When it comes to “playing the game” and the rules changing, do you think the industry has reached a point where the old playbook when it comes to artist authenticity is entirely outdated, or are we still in a transition phase?
I mean, it’s still a bit of a game — you still have to strategize, and you still have to figure out what people like and how they’ll respond to things and marketing and all that. But I think that identity politics has become such an important part of an artist’s whole package. People are not stupid: They know when someone’s being who they are, and when they’re not. If anything, with this next project, the people that know me will go, “Oh, yeah.” The other thing is that in today’s world, where we’re showing so much more of ourselves with social media, the audience want in on our lives. So in a way, this is a glimpse. This is my experience.
I was listening to “Lube” right before we started, and even as a queer person who’s been following you for a long time, I was like, “Whoa, okay, we’re going there!”
Yeah, I really did sing the words “gonna make you nut.” [Laughs.] I actually wrote this song with Vincint and Parson James, and we had a different chorus originally. I walked away with the song, and I was like, “That chorus is not really doing it for me.” So I had the producer take the chorus vocal off of it, leaving it as an instrumental, and I just kept listening to it. I opened the program up and I just started running the track and recording ideas. When I thought of the rhyme and I was like, “Oh, that’s crazy, I can’t say that.” And then I was like “…maybe I should just say it? Just f–king say it! Why am I editing myself?”
I recognize that this is literally a dance song about lubrication; it’s ridiculous, I’m aware. But there was a part of me that was like, “I want to make music that sounds like the way I dress.” Sonically, like the aesthetic, I want it to sound like how I like to look. Because I’ve been very inspired by fashion lately, and I keep finding things that are just really weird. And I get inspired by that, as well.
I also love that you let fans get an early listen of “Wet Dream.” How closely were you watching the fan reaction to it? How much were you letting that dictate the rest of your release strategy?
I was definitely taking note, and I think the overall impression was really strong. People were surprised by it, because it’s different. It’s a different sound for me, and it really goes off in a way the audience seemed to like. It was so fun to perform live down in Australia — and that’s sort of why we put it out. I really wanted to perform it on stage, especially for Pride Month. So that was why I was like, “Let’s kind of put it out. If you want to check it out, you can on SoundCloud, let’s just have it around.”
Part of what I love about the songs is that you are really leaning into the gay club aesthetic — because oftentimes, this house, dance-pop sound has a tendency, especially when coming from queer artists, to be written off as “gay music” and taken less seriously. It feels like that has changed a lot in recent years where that brand of music has become much more high profile — why do you think that is?
That’s a really good point, and I actually hadn’t thought a lot about that. Even before American Idol, the music that I was listening to in my 20s was a lot of electronic music. It was all dance-y electronic stuff. To be honest, I don’t really listen to classic rock in my free time, but when I auditioned for Idol, it was a lane that I saw opened up for me. And I was like, “I can do that. I like classic rock.”
I think when I first started wearing makeup and heels and all of that, the “rock star version” of all that was like a way to justify looking that way and wanting to express myself that way. It got me past certain people. I think even artists of those genres — like Freddie Mercury, first and foremost, and Bowie — gave me permission to express myself that way. It made sense for me to go and sing glam rock and classic rock, because that era was such a beautiful expression of men being able to be feminine and messing with gender. It made it feel safer for me to go there.
As you get older, you get way more comfortable in your own skin and you accept everything about yourself. Now I’m just like, ”This is just who I am — I’m basically a blouse, a feminine top.” It’s amazing the way that society has shifted, because you go online and you see tons of boys doing makeup tutorials. The idea of of expressing yourself in any way shape or form — whether it’s your feminine side, your masculine side, the queer umbrella — [has] gone through this prism and expanded. There’s so much more visibility on all corners of it right now than there has ever been. That’s one reason why I feel like it’s just completely blown open, especially when it comes to music.
These songs are going to be coming out right at the same time that you’re going to be doing your headlining performance for WeHo Pride. What does that mean for you to be getting to headlining this event, and what can fans expect to see?
The lineup over the weekend is crazy. When I saw that I’m on the bill with Kesha, it made me smile so hard, because we go so far back — when I first got signed to RCA, she was on RCA, right after “TiK ToK” had come out. We were at a lot of these industry events together and we just totally clicked, and so it’s it’s a pretty full circle moment. I mean, the fact that Kylie’s playing on Saturday, I just … it’s gonna be a really amazing weekend.
The female ensemble of Jacques Audiard’s crime musical Emilia Pérez — Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz — received the best actress honor at the prestigious 2024 Cannes Film Festival gala ceremony Saturday night (May 25).
“Women together — that’s something we wanted to honor when we made this award,” Cannes jury president and Barbie director Greta Gerwig said of the shared win, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Each of them is a standout, but together transcendent.”
In a groundbreaking moment for the trans community, Emilia Pérez star Gascón, who accepted the ensemble cast’s award with a tearful speech, is the first transgender actress to win at Cannes. The Spanish-language musical/crime pic about a Mexican drug lord (Gascón) embracing her true identity as a woman also received the jury prize at this year’s festival.
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Gomez was in Cannes for the film‘s premiere, press and photo calls earlier in the week, but not in attendance at Saturday’s gala. She portrays the wife of Gascón’s character in the film.
The singer-actress got the news of the win through a phone call from co-star Saldaña. “When @zoesaldana told me we all won best actress!!” Gomez captioned an Instagram Story reaction video, in which she’s seen sitting outdoors, and in which her excitement is palpable.
The Palme d’Or, the festivals’s top honor, was given to Sean Baker’s Anora. The Grand Prix went to Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light. Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig received a special award from the jury, and Jesse Plemmons won best actor for his work in Yorgos Lanthimos‘ Kinds of Kindness.
George Lucas was presented with an honorary Palme d’Or on Saturday, for his contribution to cinema since 1971, when his directorial debut, THX-1138, received a nod in the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes.
Cannes 2024 Winners List:
Palme d’Or
Sean Baker, Anora
Grand Prix
All We Imagine As Light
Jury Prize
Emilia Pérez
Best Director
Miguel Gomez, Grand Tour
Best Screenplay
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Best Actress
Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Emilia Pérez
Best Actor
Jesse Plemons, Kinds of Kindness
Honorary Palme d’Or
George Lucas
Special Award
Mohammad Rasoulof, The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Camera d’Or for Best First Film
Halfdan Ullman Tondel, Armand
Palme d’Or for Best Short Film
Nebojsa Slijepcevic, The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
Much has changed in the 55 years since the The Stonewall Uprising — and Cynthia Erivo is ready to celebrate the progress we’ve made. In an announcement on Tuesday (May 21), LGBTQ+ advocacy group Pride Live announced Erivo as the official headliner for the Stonewall Day 2024 benefit concert, taking place Friday, June 28. The […]
With Donald Trump spending much of his time in court as of late, internet sensation Randy Rainbow decided to serve up his latest take on the former president’s legal troubles with a little help from Dolly Parton. In his new video published Monday (May 20), Rainbow parodied Parton’s iconic work anthem “9 to 5,” replacing […]
In need of some new tunes from your favorite queer artists? We’ve got your covered. Billboard Pride is proud to present the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ artists.
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From Billie Eilish’s long-awaited new album to Omar Apollo’s moody new single, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:
Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft
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With her third studio album, Billie Eilish has made one thing abundantly clear — she’s not slowing down any time soon. Hit Me Hard and Soft feels like a purposeful progression from the unabashed eccentricity of When We All Fall Asleep, and the confessional dreaminess of Happier Than Ever. The 22-year-old star simultaneously embraces her fears (“Chichiro”) and her confidence (“The Greatest”) to thrilling effect with each successive song, while maintaining the vocal flourishes and production flair (courtesy of Finneas) that made her a star to begin with. But the star also takes a more candid look at her sexuality throughout the album, allowing herself to declare that she wants to “eat that girl for lunch” and singing about the unrequited love of the girl she sees “in the back of my mind all the time,” offering a new level of intimacy to an already stunning body of work.
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Omar Apollo, “Dispose of Me”
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Omar Apollo wants to slow it down, and after hearing “Dispose of Me,” you’ll be sure to understand why. This moving R&B ballad serves as a testament to the rising star’s vocal prowess, as he shows off as much of his impressive range as possible. Flowing from flawless falsetto to rumbling baritone, Apollo evokes the heartbreaking feeling the title promises within the first few seconds of this number, making “Dispose of Me” an absolute must-listen for anyone in need of a good cry.
Monét X Change, Grey Rainbow Vol. 1
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The exchange rate just went up with Monét X Change’s stunning new R&B album Grey Rainbow Vol. 1. Throughout the Drag Race winner’s new project, Monét takes control of her own narrative with confessional songwriting about heartbreak (“Streetlight”), sex (“Rotation”) and moving forward (“Grey Rainbow”), all while utilizing her silky-smooth, classically-trained voice to thrilling effect. With part two due out later this year, Grey Rainbow Vol. 1 promises even more excellence from a drag superstar to watch.
VINCINT feat. Adam Lambert, “Another Lover”
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VINCINT and Adam Lambert is the kind of artist pairing that spins your head with even the thought of them collaborating. So it’s all the more thrilling when the final product of that collaboration, “Another Lover,” is even better than you would have imagined. This pounding dance-pop track perfectly utilizes both artists’ stratospheric voices, as VINCINT and Lambert trade sultry verses about their powers of provocative persuasion. By the time you reach the final chorus, where both stars are riffing and running their hearts out over a thrilling beat, you’ll be feeling the ecstasy they keep singing about on this phenomenal pop banger.
Ben Platt feat. Brandy Clark, “Treehouse”
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When you take a Broadway star and pair him with a once-in-a-generation folk singer, you get something magical. Ben Platt and Brandy Clark are a match made in heaven on the stunning new single “Treehouse,” as they duet together on a lovestruck ballad about finding love in all the right places. Neither artist allows the delicate mood to break, keeping their respective voices as tender as possible for this moving ode to building a foundation of love.
Towa Bird, “Time to Pretend” (MGMT cover)
There’s something ingenious about Towa Bird’s Spotify Singles cover of MGMT’s 2007 space-rock jam “Time to Pretend.” Where the original relied on synth arpeggios and electronic distortion, Bird’s version sees the singer embracing her top-tier guitar skills to make a thrilling, markedly-different version of the track. With her own distorted voice filtering through the driving guitar licks that provide the cover its internal engine, Towa Bird takes “Time to Pretend” to a new level on this thrilling new rendition.
Girli, Matriarchy
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Rising alt-pop singer Girli has approximately zero time for bulls–t on her entrancing new album, Matriarchy. Across 14 songs, the singer-songwriter embraces a more electro-pop sound to help her talk about self-love (especially on the immediately arresting “Feel My Feelings”), queer crushes (“Nothing Hurts Like a Girl”) and embracing the fact that sometimes, things are just deeply messy (“Lose My Cool”). For anyone dealing with the harsh realities of learning to be an adult, Matriarchy is absolutely essential.
Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:
A viral question aimed at women has spread around the internet over the last few weeks: Would you rather be alone in the woods with a man or with a bear? After listening to Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s bigoted commencement address at Benedictine College, singer Maren Morris has her answer.
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In a post to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday (May 15), Morris shared a clip from Butker’s address, in which the footballer claimed that the graduating women had “the most diabolical lies” told to them, and encouraging them to consider taking on “one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.” Morris summed up her feelings on Butker’s comments — and on the aforementioned question — in just four words: “I choose the bear,” she wrote.
Morris is far from the only celebrity to criticize Butker’s comments. In a post to his X account on Tuesday (May 14), rapper Flavor Flav called out Butker and encouraged him to, respectfully, stop talking. “Sounds like some players ‘need to stay in their lanes’ and shouldn’t be giving commencement speeches,” he wrote.
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Meanwhile, Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD, responded to Butker’s anti-LGBTQ comments made throughout his address — including saying that Pride Month represented “deadly sins” — calling them “a clear miss,” as well as “inaccurate, ill-informed, and woefully out of step with Americans about Pride, LGBTQ people and women.”
The speech began blowing up online thanks, in part, to the fact that Butker quoted lyrics from Taylor Swift’s “Bejeweled” during his speech. Speaking about bishops who derive pleasure “from the adulation they receive from their parishioners,” Butker made sure to quote “my teammate’s girlfriend” in saying “‘Familiarity breeds contempt.’”
After many called for the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs to comment on Butker’s speech, Jonathan Beane, senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer for the league, shared a statement with People on Wednesday. “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” he said. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
Billboard has not yet heard back from the Chiefs after a request for comment.
After Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker made a series of misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic remarks while quoting Taylor Swift during his commencement address at Benedictine College on Saturday (May 11), GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis decided to set the record straight. In a statement Wednesday (May 15) reacting to Butker’s speech — in which […]
