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Lady Gaga is headed back to Las Vegas for a summer run of more Jazz & Piano shows. The singer announced the news on Tuesday morning (March 19), revealing that she will be back on the stage at the Dolby Live theater at Park MGM for eight shows between June 19 and July 6. Explore […]
Between Renée Rapp (Mean Girls), Halle Bailey (The Color Purple) and Ariana Grande (Wicked), the lines between Broadway, film and pop music aren’t really lines at all — and Ben Platt is ready to ride that wave with his forthcoming new album, Honeymind.
Announced via his official Instagram page last Tuesday (March 12), Honeymind marks the third studio effort from Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner. Both of his prior LPs — 2019’s Sing to Me Instead (No. 18) and 2021’s Reverie (No. 84) — reached the top half of the Billboard 200.
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“I’ve been working on this record for the last two years alongside my executive producer Dave Cobb and some brilliant co-writers and musicians across Nashville, Savannah, Los Angeles and New York,” he wrote in the Instagram announcement. “I began writing it during a period of major personal growth and transition. I wrote about all the ways that I’ve started to shed other people’s notions and perceptions of who I am, and really settle into myself from the root, earnestness and all. I wrote about growing out of the naiveté and aimlessness of childhood without resigning to the jaded and wonder-less feeling of adulthood… Most importantly, I wrote about finding real love… and all of the work we have to do as individuals to find security in who we are so that we’re ready for that real love when it comes along.”
That same day, Platt debuted “Andrew,” the set’s self-reflective lead single, while a plot-driven music video followed a few days later (March 15). The emotional video was crafted under the direction of Sam Wrench, known for his directorial work on Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour film and Billie Eilish‘s Live at the O2 concert film.
In support of his record, Platt will also launch an 18-show concert residency at Broadway’s newly renovated Palace Theatre. Michael Arden — the Tony-winning director with whom Platt previously collaborated on the 2023 Tony-winning revival of Parade — will direct the residency, which will last from May 28 through June 15. During his stay at The Palace, Platt will perform selections from all three of his studio albums, as well as a few surprises and fan favorites.
“It is far beyond my wildest imagination to play a residency of my own music in a house as storied as the Palace,” gushed the Dear Evan Hansen star in a press release. “I feel blessed to be part of the theater community, and to have the opportunity to perform as myself and from my own perspective on a Broadway stage is one of the greatest honors of my life. I can’t wait to introduce my new record on the beautifully revived stage. My hope is to bridge my musical theater roots that I hold so dear with the world of classic Americana songwriting that I’ve fallen so deeply in love with.”
Watch the “Andrew” music video above and click here to purchase tickets for Ben Platt’s upcoming Palace residency.
Adele took to Instagram on Tuesday (Feb. 27) to announce that due to an unspecified illness, she will be postponing the March dates of her popular Las Vegas residency. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Sadly I have to take a beat and pause my Vegas residency,” […]
It’s no secret that Adele has one of the most respected voices in music and can write a heartbreaking ballad with the best of them. But what music fans only aware of her chart-topping hits from the radio might not know is just how hysterical she is.
At opening night of her new Weekends With Adele residency in Las Vegas, there were countless moments of Adele’s brilliantly bawdy sense of humor, with the F-bombs flying freely as she briskly bantered with the crowd between songs in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
In Billboard’s seven best moments from the show, we highlighted one such moment when she hilariously focused on her love for a certain AMC show.
“I’ve got a lot to tell you. It’s a bloody massive week for me, this week,” she said. “It’s the Walking Dead finale on Sunday! Do we have any Walking Dead fans here?” She was surprised to get a lot of feedback, thinking the opening-night group might be a little too highbrow for the zombie show. “Oh! I thought this was going to be a stiffer crowd than that. I’ve been obsessed with The Walking Dead for like over a decade, and on Sunday it’s all coming to an end.
“And obviously it’s opening night, and it was the Grammys [nominations], and it’s the World Cup — f—ing hell, there’s a lot going on!” she said, offhandedly mentioning the seven 2023 Grammy nods she picked up on Tuesday and her beloved England squad playing in the global soccer tournament starting Sunday.
But that was just the tip of the chatty iceberg. Below, find Billboard’s favorite one-liners and between-song banter from night 1 of Weekends With Adele.
We’ll never know what Adele’s Las Vegas residency looked like back in January when she tearfully canceled the shows on the eve of opening night. But after Friday’s (Nov. 18) first performance of Weekends With Adele at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace, we know exactly what it looks like now: utterly and breathlessly spectacular.
The beloved British singer/songwriter addressed the cancellation toward the end of the two-hour-plus concert, calling it “the worst feeling I’ve ever had but the best decision I’ve ever made.” It’s hard to argue with her after seeing all the massive technical flourishes and tiny thoughtful touches that color the 20-song set. It’s clear that Adele lovingly dedicated the past 10 months to creating the intimate show of her dreams, and the lucky 4,000-plus fans who got to be in the room returned the love tenfold, reducing the singer to tears more than once throughout the poignant night.
“I’m truly sorry for any inconvenience or any disappointment that I caused,” she told the crowd. “But we’re here tonight, together.”
Of course, the show wasn’t all waterworks – this is Vegas, after all, and this is Adele, whose concerts frequently double as a stand-up comedy routine, with her trademark cockney one-liners and between-song banter. She also wielded a T-shirt gun to launch merch, a handwritten note and a $50 bill for cocktails to four fans, seamlessly working in a Rambo reference between her heart-achingly personal breakup ballads. And the audience got out of their seats on more than one occasion too, with Adele reminding the crowd ahead of “Water Under the Bridge”: “I don’t have many uptempos, so if you want to dance, now’s the time.”
But the true centerpiece of any Adele performance is her inimitable voice, and on Friday, her powerful and nimble vocals sounded up to the challenge of carrying two shows a weekend into the new year and beyond — and when she needs a break, her fans are always more than happy to sing every word.
As she kicks off five months of shows in Sin City, come inside the room with Billboard for the seven best moments of Weekends With Adele opening night.
Robert Glasper had quite the busy October… or should we call it Robtober? From Oct. 4 to Nov. 6, the pianist took over New York’s legendary Blue Note Jazz Club for his fourth annual “Robtoberfest” residency.
Over the course of 26 nights, the Grammy winner performed 52 shows, with special guests including Dave Chappelle, Jill Scott, Andra Day, Lalah Hathaway, Common, Rapsody, Miguel and more. “My approach to Robtober is kind of, like, anything goes,” Glasper says of organizing the residency. “I get to curate my favorite musicians, my favorite artists. Literally, it’s a musical playground, so it’s like all of the thoughts that are in my head, I can actually do those.”
Blue Note’s director of programming Alex Kurland tells Billboard: “This year’s fourth iteration of Robert Glasper’s annual month-long fall residency at Blue Note was another mesmerizing experience. Every night was a feast of unbelievable artistic and culturally iconic moments led by Robert. This residency is more than a series of shows, it’s a playlist of unique happenings and experiences within our intimate jazz club setting with the greatest artists and bands bobbing and weaving in and out of Blue Note, and on and off stage.
“Robert is a legend and embodies what it means to be authentic as an artist and as a person,” he continued. “With this iconic residency, we are literally watching history unfold in real time – led by truly the coolest person alive.”
Glasper’s five-week run of shows also attracted many a famous face to the longstanding Greenwich Village hotspot, from Chris Rock, Lupita Nyong’o and married couple Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost to Questlove, Sway and more.
Below, check out exclusive videos of Glasper performing with Chappelle, Hathaway, Day, Scott and more — plus, see the backstage perspective as A-listers rub elbows before and after the shows. Take a step inside the residency with these clips.
Bruno Mars is not ready to leave Las Vegas. After previously announcing a pair of New Year’s Eve shows at the Dolby Live at Park MGM Grand on Dec. 30 and 31, the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter has added 10 more gigs to his solo run in January and February.
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Tickets are on sale now for the shows, which will take place on Jan. 25, 27 and 28 as well as Feb. 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11 and 14. The gigs with his Hooligans band follow on the heels of this summer’s Vegas residency by Mars’ Silk Sonic side project with Anderson .Paak at the MGM. The New Year’s Eve and early 2023 shows will be the first time that Mars has hit the stage for a proper fun of solo gigs in the U.S., since Silk Sonic released their debut single “Leave the Door Open” last year.
His last solo album was 24K Magic, released in 2016. The multi-platinum album spawned singles such as “That’s What I Like,” “Finesse,” “Versace on the Floor” and the title track. Mars recently wrapped a stadium/arena tour of Australia and Japan that included him officially opening the new Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
One place you probably won’t find Mars is at next year’s 65th annual Grammy Awards, after the singer announced last month that he was choosing to sit out this year’s ceremony after opting to not submit Silk Sonic’s acclaimed debut, An Evening With Silk Sonic, for Grammy consideration.
“Andy and I, and everyone that worked on this project, won the moment the world responded to first single ‘Leave the Door Open.’ Everything else was just icing on the cake,” Mars — who has won 15 Grammys on 31 nominations to date — said of the retro soul track that won four Grammy awards in April: song of the year, record of the year, best R&B song and best R&B performance. The album was released in November 2021, which would have made it eligible for nominations at the 2023 ceremony.
“We thank the Grammys for allowing us to perform on their platform — not once, but twice — and awarding us at last year’s ceremony. We’d be crazy to ask for anything more,” he said of the duo’s spirited performance at this year’s show of “777” and “Hot Music” and a run-through of “Leave the Door Open” for the 2021 broadcast. “Thank you to everyone that supported this project and championed for it. We truly put our all on this record, but Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album this year. We hope we can celebrate with everyone on a great year of music and partake in the party. Thank you for letting Silk Sonic Thrive.”
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