Pride
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Everything is not as it seems. Turns out, Selena Gomez‘s Wizards of Waverly Place character, Alex Russo, was supposed to be part of the LGBTQ community — and she was intended to be in a relationship with Stevie Nichols, a guest character played by fellow Disney star-turned-musician Hayley Kiyoko.
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The revelation came in the latest episode of Wizards of Waverly Pod, on which cohosts Jennifer Stone and David Deluise — who played Harper Finkle and Jerry Russo on the Disney channel sitcom, respectively — sat down with head writer and executive producer Peter Murrieta to talk about the show’s arc. When Stone asked about a storyline he wished the Wizards team had explored further before the show concluded in 2012, Murrieta knew his answer immediately.
“Easy,” he said. “I wished we could have played more with what was quite obvious to a lot of us was the relationship between Stevie and Alex. But we weren’t able to in that time, but it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was. That would’ve been fun.”
Though the writers ended up being unable to explicitly say Alex had romantic feelings for Stevie, fans of the show may remember there was definitely an undeniably flirty chemistry and intensity shared between the two characters. “Disney Channel has had [LGBTQ] characters, they did it,” Murrieta added. “At the time, it wasn’t a thing. We got as close as we could. It was pretty close. It was pretty much right there.”
Recently, Gomez herself stopped by the podcast to talk about her experience on Wizards, which debuted in 2007 and propelled the Rare Beauty founder to meteoric stardom at a young age. While speaking with Stone and DeLuise, she opened up about regretting how she lost touch with the cast after the show wrapped.
“I think I slowly became kind of shamed. I felt ashamed of the decisions that I made,” Gomez said. “I didn’t want you guys to see me in the state that I was in, because A) you would have told me the truth, which terrifies me, and B) I didn’t want to let you down.”
Listen to Peter Murrieta talk about Alex and Stevie’s Wizards of Waverly Place relationship below:
Pride Month may be a few months away, but Mariah Carey and Megan Thee Stallion are ready and waiting to celebrate.
On Tuesday (March 28), L.A. Pride announced that the two superstars would serve as the headliners for 2023’s L.A. Pride in the Park event. Taking place at Los Angeles State Historic Park over two days, Pride in the Park will feature the “WAP” rapper leading the show on Friday, June 9, while the Elusive Chanteuse will receive top-billing for Saturday, June 10. Additional artists have yet to be announced for the concert.
In a statement posted to her Instagram, Carey celebrated the news under a poster of herself and Megan. “I’m thrilled and honored to be a part of LA Pride 2023,” she wrote. “I am happy to be back in-person celebrating with the LGBTQIA+ community here in Southern California and throughout all of the lands!!! Let’s come together to celebrate love, inclusion, and Pride.”
The “Savage” rapper also put out a statement, writing, “I can’t wait to headline LA Pride in the Park and celebrate the phenomenal LGBTQIA+ community. This incredible event advocates for diversity, inclusivity and equality, so I’m honored to perform and have a blast with all of the Hotties in attendance.”
Along with announcing the pair of artists as this year’s headliners, L.A. Pride also shared that the official theme of the festivities this year is “All Out With Pride,” aiming to celebrate “the LGBTQIA+ community’s diversity, resilience, and joy,” according to a statement.
“Mariah Carey and Megan Thee Stallion are the perfect artists to headline L.A. Pride in the Park this year as we expand to two days,” L.A. Pride’s board president Gerald Garth said in a statement. “These empowering and iconic women are sure to take the stage by storm to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and will undoubtedly make this year’s L.A. Pride in the Park an unforgettable experience.”
Last year’s L.A. Pride festivities culminated in a headlining Pride in the Park set from Christina Aguilera, which featured guest appearances from stars like Mya, Kim Petras and Paris Hilton. “I’m so proud to call you my family,” Xtina said during her set last year. “You are a part of me and I’m so happy to bring this to you.”
Tickets for 2023’s L.A. Pride in the Park are now available to purchase on the L.A.Pride website. Check out Mariah’s Instagram statement below:
After 13 episodes and the introduction of 16 queens, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 has finally revealed our top four queens.
On last week’s episode (aired Friday, March 24), the top five contestants took part in the now-iconic makeover challenge, transforming teachers from around the country into fabulous drag queens bearing a strong family resemblance to their respective queens.
Transforming her teacher into a sickening drag daughter named Alektra, Anetra immediately wowed the judges not only for her phenomenal makeup skills, but for constructing two iconic outfits that conveyed the family resemblance they were looking for in this challenge. The star took home her third maxi challenge win, tying her for the most wins of the season with frontrunner Sasha Colby.
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Meanwhile, after a hair-splitting critique, Luxx Noir London and Loosey LaDuca found themselves in the bottom for their makeovers of Asia Azul and Lala LaDuca, respectively. Lip-syncing to guest judge Hayley Kiyoko’s “For the Girls,” Luxx pulled out all the stops, earning a spot in the top four, leaving Loosey as the eliminee.
Billboard caught up with Loosey following her elimination to talk about her song “Let Loose” going ultra-viral following her talent show performance in episode one, whether or not she was “delusional” during her Drag Race run, and which queen she felt should have been lip syncing against Luxx instead of her.
Congrats on making it to the top five! How are you feeling about your Drag Race journey?
I feel really great — I’m so incredibly proud of the job that I did. Of course, I would love to be top four … but other than that, I really look back and am just so proud of myself for everything that I did.
Before we get into anything else, we have to talk about the sensation that is sweeping the nation — “Let Loose” is inescapable on social media at this point. What has it been like to watch this song absolutely blow up?
It’s so weird! I wasn’t sure about what the fanbase’s take would be on me, and then I was sick on the couch with COVID, when my phone just started blowing up. And it has not stopped since — every day I think, “Alright, I’m sure it’s passed.” Nope. It’s truly insane. People are now congratulating me, not for Drag Race, but saying, “Congratulations on ‘Let Loose,’ I mean, my god.”
I mean, I get it — the song just passed 100,000 streams on Spotify, so it’s worth congratulating you on!
Yeah, it’s wild. I’m getting videos of people all over the world performing it, it’s actually crazy. All credit to my very good friend Andrew Barret Cox, he wrote and produced the track; he also did “Jantasy” for Jan. He is absolutely incredible and a certified bop-maker.
Along with “Let Loose” going viral, another Drag Race moment caught the attention of none other than Kevin Bacon, who applauded your performance in the Rusical challenge! How gagged were you?
That was absolutely incredible, 100 percent the best moment of my mom’s life. I had COVID all last week, I was firmly planted on my couch with my dog, and sure enough, Kevin Bacon came up in my notifications. I was like, “Oh, I’m sure this is a Kevin bacon fan account or something.” And sure enough, it was actually him, which is absolutely insane. So now I’m one degree away from Kevin Bacon.
It helps that the Rusical was genuinely so good — from the performances to the music, it was top-to-bottom excellent.
Oh, I am so proud of the Rusical. I look back and I’m like, “God, we did so good.” The music was so good, and such earworms! They were bops, Leland and the entire team and all of the vocalists on those tracks were so talented and wonderful. I’m very honored to have been a part of, I think, one of the best Rusicals.
Now, another thing that’s being flying around the internet are accusations of “drag delusion” in your direction. After being on set and after watching the show, do you think that you were experiencing said delusion?
I think … hmm, how to put this? I think what was shown looks like delusion. That’s all! [laughs] I trust that folks can read between the lines.
In the latest episode, getting to do the makeover challenge with teachers is such a lovely idea, especially with all of the anti-LGBTQ classroom laws being passed around the country. What do you feel like you got to learn from working with teachers who are having to deal with all of this legislation?
Yeah, completely. My teacher who I got to work with — Miss Lala LaDuca, thank you very much — was just so wonderful and so sweet. You could tell that she was the type of woman who was just born to be a teacher. I think what I really gained from that was that, a lot of times, teachers are the people who teach all of their students about the world. If kids are only getting the scope of what’s at home, that’s a very small, narrow point of view. School and teachers, it is sort of their job to open kids up to the rest of the world — if they’re not being legally allowed to teach about sexuality or identity, then these laws are stifling teachers’ jobs, which is to help cultivate who these kids are! No laws should be getting in the way of that.
I do hope people understand how difficult the makeover challenge is — can you explain what it is about this challenge that makes it so tough?
Completely! I think, first of all, you’re putting drag makeup that has been designed to be perfect for your face on another human being. So now, it might not look the same — luckily, I thought my teacher looked sickening. She looked fully like a LaDuca. But the thing that’s especially hard about it is that you need to have a family resemblance, but it can’t be exact, but it can’t be too subtle. There’s so many factors in there that the judges can really pick apart, and that means there’s not usually a very clear winner or loser in these challenges, because there’s such a grey area.
Before you go, I want to talk about the placements in this episode. You mentioned in your confessional that you were shocked to be in the bottom this challenge — full tea, who did you think should have been in your spot in the bottom two?
Ooh. I think, for lack of originality, probably Mistress — she wore that gown several times on the show, so if I had to say someone, I would say her.
A language teacher at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha, Wisconsin has called out her school’s administration after saying that they vetoed the inclusion of a pair of rainbow-themed songs in the spring concert. “My first graders were so excited to sing ‘Rainbowland’ for our spring concert but it has been vetoed by our administration. When will it end?,” she tweeted last week along with hashtags for the school system, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, GSafe (which create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth in Wisconsin schools) and civil rights.
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Teacher Melissa Tempel also included the lyrics to “Rainbowland,” the Cyrus/Parton duet about acceptance that appeared on Miley’s 2017 album Younger Now. “Living in Rainbowland/ Where you and I go hand in hand/ Oh, I’d be lying if I said this was fine/ All the hurt and the hate going on here/ We are rainbows, me and you/ Every color, every hue,” they sing on the song. Why was that track about living in harmony together reportedly banned?
On March 24, Tempel wrote, “The latest I heard is that the song was banned bc @MileyCyrus is controversial. D’oh, I thought for sure it was @DollyPartonvand her beautiful drag queen followers! Oh well, I can’t stop my students if they still sing ‘Rainbowland.’ It’s a fun, catchy song!” First grade teacher Tempel later said her guess as to why the duet was pulled was because of its “beautiful LYRICS. Because saying an ARTIST is controversial would be a very slippery slope and they wouldn’t want to go there. Amirite?,” she wrote.
When a commenter asked why the song was pulled from the concert Tempel responded, “no reason given.” A day later, Tempel reported that the administration also banned the Muppet Movie classic “Rainbow Connection,” writing, “so it seems the reason is rainbows.” Tempel provided another update on March 23 when she reported that “Rainbow Connection” had been unbanned after “parents sent emails to admin,” though it seems “Rainbowland” is still off the menu.
At press time spokespeople for Heyer Elementary and the Waukesha Country board of Education had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on the reported song bans. At press time it also did not appear as if Parton or Cyrus had responded to the reported “Rainbowland” ban on their socials.
In a statement to People, the Alliance for Education’s Becky Gilligan said that their organization, “continues to advocate for our community… This is the most recent decision by a school district administration intent on stifling the diversity and denying equality to the community it serves, further ostracizing Waukesha in the eyes of the nation.”
The mother of a first-grader at the school, Sarah Schindler, told the Los Angeles Times that her daughter came home last week with a list of songs she was going to perform at the spring concert. Among the tracks Schindler pulled up on YouTube were “Rainbowland,” Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection” and Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” Schindler said both she and her daughter were very excited because they love Parton.
Then a few days later, her daughter came home and told Schindler, “we can’t sing it anymore. We can’t sing ‘Rainbow Connection’ and we can’t sing ‘Rainbowland.’” Schindler said she reached out to Tempel, her daughter’s teacher, and the school’s principal as well as the district superintendent for answers and was told that the administration had pulled the songs because they were too “controversial.”
Schindler told the Times that the school board had undergone a “conservative flip” recently in the wake of COVID-19 mitigation strategies during the global pandemic that has has killed more than 1.2 million Americans to date. “One of those is a controversial topics policy saying that teachers can’t have any kind of signage that could be deemed political. … Discussion of pronouns with students was another thing that came up. And teachers aren’t allowed to wear rainbows,” Schindler said.
Another parent with a student enrolled in the district told the paper that the Waukesha school district has “really cracked down on anything LGBTQ… so this song being an ‘issue’ has not in any way come as a surprise… My daughter is 17 and has been in the marching band community for four years. It’s a very welcoming community for kids that are LBGTQ. She has a lot of friends that identify as part of that community so it hurts her deeply. All that Miley and Dolly are saying is that they want to live in a world that is accepting, with no judgment and where people can be who they want to be.”
See Tempel’s tweets below.
Today they banned Rainbow Connection, so it seems the reason is rainbows.— Maestra Melissa (@melissatempel) March 23, 2023
The latest I heard is that the song was banned bc @MileyCyrus is controversial. D’oh, I thought for sure it was @DollyParton and her beautiful drag queen followers! Oh well, I can’t stop my students if they still sing Rainbowland. It’s a fun, catchy song!— Maestra Melissa (@melissatempel) March 25, 2023
Pop icon Madonna won’t allow a troubling trend of state legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community impede her career-spanning Celebration Tour, announcing plans to perform in Nashville just weeks after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a law restricting drag shows in the Volunteer State.
Tennessee Senate Bill 3 creates a new felony offense for anyone engaging in an “adult cabaret performance” on public property or in any location where the performance “could be viewed by a person who is not an adult.” In announcing her plans to perform at the Bridgestone Arena on Dec. 22 — one of nine new shows added to the sellout tour that now stretches to 80 dates across North America and Europe — Madonna and tour opener Caldwell Tidicue, who performs as Bob the Drag Queen, seem prepared to confront and possibly break the law. Maybe.
Madonna addressed the issue in a press release announcing the Nashville show, among others.
“The oppression of the LGBTQ+ is not only unacceptable and inhumane; it’s creating an unsafe environment; it makes America a dangerous place for our most vulnerable citizens, especially trans women of color,” she said. “Also, these so-called laws to protect our children are unfounded and pathetic. Anyone with half a brain knows not to f–k with a drag queen. Bob and I will see you from the stage in Nashville where we will celebrate the beauty that is the queer community.”
Madonna noted that there are over 100 anti-LGBTQ+ bills currently making their way through various state legislatures around the country, with the longtime activist committing to donating a portion of proceeds from her to show to support trans rights organizations.
Madonna has performed in Nashville just once as part of a major tour — in 2016 on the Rebel Heart trek, selling out the Bridgestone Arena and grossing $1.5 million, according to Billboard Boxscore.
Besides the new Music City show, Madonna also announced two new dates on the East Coast, a new run of shows in California and tour stops in Las Vegas and Phoenix. The Celebration Tour has sold out over 40 shows and counting across Toronto, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and more.
Citi cardmembers and fan club members will have access to presale tickets for the new dates starting tomorrow at noon local time through Thursday at 6pm local time. The general on sale for most of the shows starts on Friday (March 31) at 10am local time on Madonna’s website, while the Philadelphia date goes on sale at noon.
Fans can also purchase VIP Packages, which may include premium tickets, behind the scenes tours, group photos on-stage, a pre-show reception and more.
New Dates for The Celebration Tour
Dec. 18 Washington, DC Capital One ArenaDec. 20 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center – On Sale at 12pm Local Time 03/31Dec. 22 Nashville, TN Bridgestone ArenaJan. 7 2024 Los Angeles, CA Kia ForumJan. 8 2024 Los Angeles, CA Kia ForumJan. 11 2024 Palm Springs, CA Acrisure ArenaJan. 13 2024 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 CenterJan. 15 2024 San Francisco, CA Chase CenterJan. 18, 2024 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden ArenaJan. 20, 2024 Phoenix, AZ Footprint Center
In need of some new music from your favorite queer artists? We’ve got you 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.
From Victoria Monét’s long-awaited return to Demi Lovato’s rocked-out reinvention of a classic song, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below.
Victoria Monét feat. Lucky Daye, “Smoke”
Victoria Monét is back, and she’s ready to serve up some delicious R&B with her latest single “Smoke.” The undulating, funk-filled single picks up right where Monét left off with her 2021 single “Coastin’” — with delectable bass lines accentuating her silky smooth vocals as she compares loving her to lighting up a fat blunt. With guest vocals from fellow R&B star Lucky Daye, “Smoke” is sending off a signal that you can’t ignore; Victoria Monét’s superstar era is here.
Demi Lovato, “Heart Attack (Rock Version)”
Over the last 10 years, Demi Lovato has practically become a different person than she was when she unveiled her 2013 album Demi. Just take one listen to the new rocked-out remake of their hit single “Heart Attack” and you’ll see why. The singer reimagined every aspect of the fan-favorite single, swapping out 808s and synths for fiery guitars and pounding drums, while also giving re-recording her vocals to flex her matured pipes. It’s a recontextualization that puts the old track in a brand new light, all while delivering all the thrills you could ask for.
Rina Sawayama, “Eye for an Eye”
Ahead of her co-starring role in the new John Wick movie, Rina Sawayama would like to set the tone. “Eye for an Eye” brings the hard-rock stylings that appeared more in the background of the star’s debut album Sawayama to the forefront, as she spins a tale of revenge and retribution familiar to anyone who’s seen Keanu Reaves’ deadly hitman in action.
Billy Porter, “Baby Was A Dancer”
Put on your dancing shoes, folks, because Billy Porter wants to see you getting down to his brand new disco single. The crux of “Baby Was A Dancer” is a third-person autobiographical exploration of Porter’s own upbringing, as he recalls the preachers, teachers and naysayers who tried to shame him for being who he was. But it’s on the unavoidable chorus where the Pose star gets to the meat of the matter, resolving to be himself and dance all that pain and heartache away — a feeling we in the LGBTQ community can definitely relate to right now.
Saucy Santana, “1-800-Bad-Bxtch”
Saucy Santana’s number might be toll-free, but that doesn’t mean you’re getting away without paying up. On the rapper’s latest bop, “1-800-Bad-Bxtch,” Santana takes charge by taking calls from his prospective partners, listing off one by one the things he’s looking for from a lover. Add onto that a ferocious beat and some of Saucy’s slickest verses, and you’ve got a certified banger on your hands.
Donna Missal, “Flicker”
With her frenetic new single, Donna Missal is taking advantage of the ephemeral while she still can. From the moment it starts, “Flicker” refuses to let up — a driving beat sinks into every second of the track, providing a sense of urgency that’s only ratcheted up by the increasingly chaotic production. By the time reaches its first chorus, it has already exploded into a euphoric hyperpop symphony, before Missal’s otherworldly vocals bring you right back down to start the process all over again.
MAY-A, “Your Funeral”
Self-sabotage is a pretty surefire way to wind up alone, as indie rock artist MAY-A points out on her latest track. “Your Funeral” takes on a cynical, sardonic point of view from it’s first few bars, and spends the rest of the song proving why it’s probably not the best way to approach your own love life. The banging drums and skittering guitars further punch up the declaration that “loving me is your funeral,” before using an excellently crafted bridge to get real about self-doubt and lowered expectations.
Wrabel, “One Drink Away”
Sobriety is a life-long journey — which means that it’s also a life-long struggle. That’s the argument that Wrabel poignantly sends home on his deeply personal new song “One Drink Away.” Looking back on his life before getting sober, Wrabel perfectly communicates the mixed feelings of dread at the person he was and frustration at how hard it is to maintain the person he is now. It’s only a further testament to the singer-songwriter’s skill with his pen that in just 3 short minutes, he can translate the struggles of staying clean with such eloquence on this heartbreaking single.
Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:
Lizzo is once again using her platform to speak out about important issues. This time, she’s reminding followers not to lose focus when it comes to the numerous political shifts happening all at once in the United States, from the government’s plan to potentially ban TikTok to the resurgence of outdated anti-LGBTQ and Jim Crow era laws.
“Hi!” the 34-year-old musician wrote on her social media platforms Thursday (March 23), going on to list out three concerning developments that are playing out “as we speak.”
“The ceo of tiktok is being interrogated by congress with intent to ban TikTok in America,” she continued. “Anti lgbtqia legislation is being passed banning gender affirming health care & drag shows.”
And finally, “Jim Crow era laws are being reinstated in Mississippi,” referring to a bill passed earlier this month by the state’s House proposing that judges in Hinds County Circuit Court in Jackson be appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court chief justice — a conservative white man — rather than the city’s predominantly Black population, who for years have chosen the judges themselves through elections.
The “About Damn Time” singer’s latest tweet came the same day members of Congress grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew for hours about ByteDance, the social media platform’s parent company, and its alleged ties to the Chinese government, which both Democrats and Republicans worry pose a threat to user privacy and national security. The Biden administration has even put forward pending legislation that would give the president the power to ban TikTok nationwide if ByteDance doesn’t divest its stake in the app.
Chew and other spokespeople for the platform, however, have been adamant that ByteDance has never shared, or been asked to share, user data with the Chinese government.
Meanwhile, anti-LGBTQ — specifically, anti-trans and anti-drag — laws have been cropping up across the U.S., most notably in Tennessee. The state’s governor, Bill Lee, recently signed controversial laws banning minors from receiving gender-affirming care and preventing drag queens from performing in certain public spaces, which numerous musicians have publicly denounced.
Lizzo herself spoke about transphobia in a tweet earlier this month, writing, “I’ve never heard a reason why someone is transphobic.. I think if we knew ‘why’ these people felt this way there would way less support for these ideals.” “The ‘why’ is more insidious than we realize,” she’d added.
See Lizzo’s tweet about the TikTok hearing and anti-LGBTQ legislation and the resurgence of Jim Crow laws below:
Hi! As we speak:– the ceo of tiktok is being interrogated by congress with intent to ban TikTok in America – anti lgbtqia legislation is being passed banning gender affirming health care & drag shows– Jim Crow era laws are being reinstated in Mississippi— FOLLOW @YITTY (@lizzo) March 23, 2023
Sitting in a studio with Demi Lovato in 2012, songwriter-producer Mitch Allen wanted her to hear something. The rising star was there to record “Two Pieces,” a track to be included her soon-to-be-released album Demi. After hearing her “gigantic vocal” on the emotional pop anthem, Allen pressed play on a demo he’d been workshopping and pitching around called “Heart Attack.”
“She looked me, her eyes lit up, and she just said, ‘Oh my God, I love it. I wanna cut it,’” he recalls in a conversation with Billboard. Looking back on that moment herself, Lovato remembers the same feeling. “I knew I wanted to record it,” she says. “I could hear what I wanted to do with the song — I just loved it.”
10 years after its official release in 2013, “Heart Attack” stands as one of the biggest hits of Lovato’s career (one of the star’s three top 10 solo hits on the Billboard Hot 100) and a well-established fan favorite in their discography. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of her signature, the singer decided it was time to give the song an update.
On Friday (March 24), Lovato unveiled the “rock version” of her hit single, first teased to fans who attended her latest tour dates. Swapping swelling synths for raging guitars and scintillating trap beats with double-time pop-punk drums, the updated anthem keeps the bones of the original while turning up the heat on the aesthetics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP0CB_2QjGo
Oak Felder, a longtime collaborator of Lovato’s and the executive producer of their 2022 rock opus Holy Fvck, struggled with how to approach remake a song that he “loved” already. “No matter what happens to it or how it’s changed, you just can’t get the original version outta your head,” he says. “To be truthful with you, that’s kind of what made it a challenge.”
The sound that Felder couldn’t shake was that of production duo The Suspex, made up of Allen and Jason Evigan. The duo wrote “Heart Attack” with Sean Douglas, Aaron Phillips and Nikki Williams, the latter of whom the song was originally intended for.
From the moment they first produced the demo, Allen says he knew that “Heart Attack” was a left-field pop song for 2013’s radio landscape, especially with its nods towards light rock and EDM sounds. But after hearing Lovato’s earth-shattering vocals, he knew they had to pare it down.
“We had a dubstep drop right after that massive bridge; it went to this crazy Skrillex-esque … I don’t even know what to call it, this dubstep break that Jason just sat down and just went nuts on,” Allen explains. “That was the first part that we ended up having to cut, because we realized as much as we loved the choppiness and aggressiveness, it wasn’t what was on the radio and it wasn’t right for Demi.”
What ended up being right for the singer was ad-libbing — once everyone was in the studio together, Lovato asked Allen if they could improvise a few runs on the song’s bridge. “They were pretty off-the-cuff, they kind of just came to me in the moment. It was a pretty simple and easy thing,” Lovato says, before adding with a laugh, “Well, actually, some of the notes were really hard. I remember kind of struggling to hit a few of those in the studio.”
Whatever struggle Lovato was feeling, Allen says he didn’t notice it. “That very last note [of the bridge] was the highest note I’d ever heard a human being hit with full voice, and she just did it,” Allen says, still amazed. “It was perfect. I’m the kind of producer that will always say, ‘That was awesome. Do it again.’ I don’t think I cut it a second time, I just sat there slack-jawed, staring at her and saying, ‘Oh my God.’”
That bridge went on the not only impress Allen, but fans as well — over the last few years, the bridge to “Heart Attack” has spawned a TikTok challenge where aspiring singers attempt to hit the stratospheric G5 in full voice at the end of the run, to varying effect.
For Lovato, that kind of legacy for the song means a lot to her. “It feels amazing, being able to see the song continue to reach people and inspire people to hit those high notes,” she says. “I used to try and hit those high notes in my favorite songs — it’s really cool that people are starting to do the same with mine.”
With that legacy came a set of unspoken expectations for a new rock version — but Felder says he quickly solved the problem he was facing by listening to “La La Land,” another fan-favorite song from Lovato’s discography.
“I realized Demi, in that era, sounded like a completely different person … Demi’s voice now is a witness and a testament to the things that she’s been through as a person,” he says. “Once you’ve gone to hell and you’ve come back, you really appreciate life … when I hear her sing about things that are emotional or painful or joyful, there is a lot more experience and understanding of those emotions behind the way that she’s singing it now. Once I got there, the production just came right out.”
Lovato agrees with Felder’s assessment, and takes it a step further — it’s not just their voice that has changed in the last 10 years. “I was so young, and I was a completely different person back then,” they explain. “I hadn’t come out as non-binary yet, so when I look back, I see a totally different person than I am today. But I still love that girl, I love that part of me.”
With the added context of all Lovato’s been through over the last few years — a public overdose, stints in and out of rehab, publicly coming out and more — the rock version of “Heart Attack” bears plenty more grit and anger where the original didn’t. When Lovato sings “It’s just not fair, pain’s more trouble than love is worth,” this time, you genuinely believe her.
That added context is everything Allen says they were aiming for when reinventing the song in the studio. “It was about capturing what she feels now,” he says. “I think that’s the magic that comes from a great song, where you get to go, ‘Okay, we did that version. We don’t need to rely on it. How do we feel today, and does it still hold up?’ I think it does.”
From her experience playing the new version of the song live on her Holy Fvck Tour, Lovato knows for a fact that it still holds up. “I saw [my fans] rocking out to it, and it just brought a lot of joy to my heart,” she says. “I wouldn’t have believed that I would be re-recording this song for a 10 year anniversary because it was that special. But being able to see it from that perspective today is really exciting to me.”
Since joining forces in 2011, Queen + Adam Lambert have quickly become one of the most successful touring acts in the world — and now, they’re ready to prove why.
On Friday (March 24), the internationally beloved rock group announced the latest North American expansion of the Rhapsody Tour, set to take place this fall. Kicking off at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena in October, the tour will make 14 stops throughout the U.S. and Canada, including shows in New York, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Nashville and Dallas, before closing out at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium in November.
For fans who saw the first North American leg of The Rhapsody Tour in 2019, fear not; the new set of dates promises an “expanded and updated” show, with guitarist Sir Brian May adding in a statement, “Our last tour featured our most ambitious production ever. So we decided to rip it apart and get even more ambitious.”
Billboard caught up with May, Lambert and Roger Taylor ahead of their official announcement, where the trio talked about what fans can expect from the new show, their favorite songs to perform live, and why “this is not a farewell tour,” according to May.
This is the first time in four years that the three of you will be touring the U.S. together, following your European tour last year — how are you feeling ahead of hitting the road this fall?
Brian May: It’s incredible, yeah. I think we all learned in COVID how much we really missed this. It was really tough for everybody. We already did our big outing in Europe, but with a lot of restrictions on that; we had a very strict protocol just to get through, because people were going down like flies. But we managed to get through that whole tour without losing a date, and it was all sold-out, packed, fantastic and better than ever, I think. So we thought, “Well, we just have to get back to the states.”
Outside of those restrictions, were there any significant learning curves you had to navigate in a post-COVID touring environment last year?
Roger Taylor: Not really, no, I think it was a huge relief to just get back to something approaching normality. That made up for the fact that we did have to have a lot of mask-wearing, and we temporarily lost a few people along the way. And it was a long tour wasn’t it?
May: Oh, yeah.
Taylor: We were changing it and improving it as we went, and we are now going through all of those improvements again when it comes to this American leg.
I’ve noticed that the phrase “one more time” has been thrown around quite a bit when it comes to this tour — are you planning on this being Queen + Adam Lambert’s final outing?
May: Let me be clear, this is not a farewell tour. You can always do one more time … and then one more time … and then another time after that!
Adam Lambert: [laughs] Yeah, why limit yourself, guys?
Taylor: It’s just a simple, five year farewell tour, right?
When it comes to the “improvements” you’ve made to the show, what can fans expect to see that’s new with this leg of The Rhapsody Tour?
May: Well, we’re not gonna tell you that much, we don’t want to spoil it. [laughs] But the nice things is that the material is what ultimately gives the ideas, and we’re able to develop those ideas as we go along. We get to throw more and more stuff in, production-wise.
Lambert: I will say, the technology has come so far, even in the 10 years that we’ve worked together. It gives us so much freedom when it comes to what we want to create, what environment we want to put around a song. We have all of these toys that we get to play with, which we all get a big kick out of. We have an amazing creative team that work with us — I mean, we add something in a couple of days if we have a cool idea. Once the show kicks off, the show is never locked. It’s never the same show every night, we have the ability to throw a new song in, move the set around, change the visuals. There’s so much freedom.
That’s really interesting — how exactly do you go about adding new songs or new moments on the fly like that?
Lambert: I’d say a couple of glasses of wine and a chat, yeah?
May: [laughs] I mean, we also always do a soundcheck. The soundcheck is the key thing for us, I think. Every time we go into a new city and set things up, we’ll go into a soundcheck for two or three hours sometimes. When we’re doing that, we’ll try new stuff out, and our team is so flexible with us, that we’ll just throw out, “Can you give us a certain lighting effect, can you do stuff on the screens?” And they’ll build it on the spot for us. We don’t work on backing tracks or anything, which means we can kind of do anything we want. And we’re really fortunate to have a technical team that can handle that — a lot of this stuff is programmed to work at pretty exact intervals, and ours is all human touch, which gives it that live feel.
Lambert: Also, when we add a song sort of impromptu, we don’t like to over-rehearse it. We play it in that soundcheck and maybe one more soundcheck, and then we throw it in. It makes it really fun, like it’s a thrill-seeking activity, where we just go for it and see what happens.
Brian, I wanted to congratulate you on your recent knighting from King Charles III — what was that experience like for you?
May: It was nice! It was a lot more exciting that I thought it would be, really. We’ve interacted with King Charles a lot — he was at Live Aid! We’ve worked with him on the Prince’s Trust, which is a wonderful charity that takes care of young people, over the years. So meeting him and having him actually do that for me, was actually a really big deal for me. We had a pleasant chat about how old age was treating us, because we’re about the same age [laughs]. It’s quite nice, I feel like it’s given me a little bit more power to do the work I do with animals. I view it in that light — not so much as a prize, but as a kind of empowerment.
And Adam, congratulations on your High Drama covers album — were there any big covers you wanted to include that didn’t quite make the cut?
Lambert: There were definitely a couple others I was considering, but it was a very thought-out project, so we weren’t wasting a lot of time or energy in the studio. We did it so quick, probably recorded those over about two months. I’m so happy with it, even though I did not write those songs, it felt like I was getting creative in the studio to find new ways to make them sound. That was such a cool challenge for me.
Queen has one of the most prolific songbooks in modern rock music. Obviously there are the core set of hits that you’re gonna play almost no matter what — do you have any favorites in particular to perform that maybe aren’t as monolithic?
May: You know, there’s some stuff that we know would be very difficult — Roger mentioned “The Millionaire Waltz” once.
Taylor: [laughs] Oh yeah, I don’t know if we could pull that off.
May: But a lot of the stuff we do anyways is fairly complex — the key is you don’t play the record. We really play how we feel on the stage. It’s funny, some people would call that a bluff, but there’s a lot of multi-track guitar harmonies in a lot of our songs, and I don’t do that onstage and I don’t use trickery to achieve it. I play what I’m feeling, and people hear that and get a purely live version of the song. No extra frills, because to me, recording has always been different than performing live.
Taylor: Sometimes, the song gains a whole new dimension of excitement from that. But the live version will not be exactly the same as the record — that’s not what we’re about.
May: Some people will do that — they’ll have clicks and backing tracks and make everything sound perfect, but why do that? Why not do something that’s real and in the moment and ready to fall off the edge?
Lambert: As far as the setlist goes, I think we’re all aware of what the fan favorites are. But the most important thing here is that, sure, we need to have fun, but the audience is buying a ticket to see the show. This is about their evening and giving them a show that feels fresh. We are keenly aware of what the favorites are and we try to include the big hits every night — they have a lot of hits, so it’s a lot to choose from. But it’s a two-plus hour show, so we’ve got plenty of time to get those big hits.
Tickets for The Rhapsody Tour officially go on sale Friday, March 31 at 10 a.m. local time on LiveNation.com.
Lil Nas X may be known for his no-holds-barred online personality, but even his fans are letting him know to pump the breaks following a recent tweet.
On Wednesday (March 22), Lil Nas tweeted out a simple message to his followers: “where do the gays be in africa,” he wrote. “i wanna come there.”
Fans quickly pointed out that the timing of the rapper’s tweet wasn’t great, especially considering a new law in Uganda punishing homosexuality.
The Ugandan parliament passed a sweeping anti-LGBTQ law on Wednesday, criminalizing “identifying as LGBTQ+, or the so-called promotion of gay identity,” according to a report from NPR. Performing sexual acts with a person of the same sex was already illegal in Uganda, but the new law would punish the mere act of identifying as queer with up to 20 years in prison, or the death penalty in cases of “aggravated homosexuality” — a broad definition that includes “repeat offenders,” having sex with an HIV-positive person and more.
A number of users responded to Lil Nas’ tweet pointing to the new Ugandan law. “The Uganda gays need love and solidarity today,” wrote singer-songwriter Simon Curtis, while another person wrote, “nah bro. stay home, be safe.” Others called out the “Industry Baby” rapper’s statement through quote tweets, with one fan asking that he “read the room,” while another pointed out his “terrible timing.”
The latest backlash comes shortly after Lil Nas X published an apology for another tweet he posted joking that he had transitioned. “apologies to the trans community i def handled that situation with anger instead of considering why it was not cool,” he wrote. “much love to you guys. sorry.”
Check out Lil Nas X’s tweet below:
where do the gays be in africa i wanna come there— pussy (@LilNasX) March 22, 2023