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Coldplay captures its fifth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, and first in over a decade, as Moon Music debuts atop the list (dated Oct. 19). The set launches with 120,000 equivalent album units earned, of which 106,000 are in traditional album sales. Both figures represent the biggest week, by units and album sales, for the group since 2015.
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Overall, Moon Music marks the 10th top 10-charting effort for the band. The act previously led the list with Ghost Stories (2014), Mylo Xyloto (2011), Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008) and X&Y (2005).
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Oct. 19, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Oct. 15). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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Of Moon Music’s first-week units of 120,000, album sales comprise 106,000 (it’s the top-selling album of the week at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 13,000 (equaling 16.71 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise 1,000. The group last garnered a larger week, in either overall units or album sales, with the debut frame of 2015’s A Head Full of Dreams, which bowed with 210,000 units, of which 195,000 were in traditional album sales.
The new album’s opening-week sales were bolstered by its availability across at least eight vinyl variants (including two signed editions, and a Target edition with three bonus tracks) and in six CD variants (including a signed edition, and a “notebook edition” in collectible packaging with bonus voice notes) — all of which were manufactured with eco-friendly initiatives. The set was also available in at least four digital download variants. Of the digital editions, there were two versions that each included 10 bonus tracks each. Coldplay’s official webstore offered the download editions at a discount during release week.
The album’s vinyl sales total 29,000 for the week — Coldplay’s best sales week on vinyl ever.
The new album was preceded by the single “feelslikeimfallinginlove,” which reached No. 81 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart in July. It also reached the top 10 on Alternative Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay, the act’s 15th and 12th top 10 on those tallies, respectively.
The new album’s Oct. 4 release was ushered in with a flurry of media looks, including appearances and/or performances by the band or its frontman Chris Martin on CBS’ Sunday Morning (Sept. 29), QVC (Oct. 2), NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Oct. 3), NBC’s Saturday Night Live (Oct. 5) and NBC’s Today (Oct. 8).
Notably, among British groups, Coldplay ties for the fourth-most No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. Leading the pack are The Beatles, with 19 leaders. The Rolling Stones are second, with nine, while Led Zeppelin is third, with seven No. 1s. Coldplay, Pink Floyd and Wings (counting albums billed to either Wings, or Paul McCartney and Wings) are tied with five No. 1s each.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet falls a spot to No. 2 (with 93,000 equivalent album units; down 8%) after four nonconsecutive weeks atop the list. It’s No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart for a sixth nonconsecutive week. Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess dips 2-3 on the Billboard 200 (56,000; down 12%), Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 4 (50,000; down less than 1%), and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft is stationary at No. 5 (50,000; up 1%).
Three former leaders are up next, with Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department rising one spot to No. 6 (45,000 equivalent album units; up 1%), Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion dips 6-7 (43,000; down 8%) and Future’s Mixtape Pluto falls 3-8 (40,000; down 28%).
Rounding out the top 10 are Noah Kahan’s Stick Season, descending 8-9 (37,000 equivalent album units; down 2%), and Wallen’s former No. 1 Dangerous: The Double Album, holding steady at No. 10 (32,000; down 2%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Stevie Nicks has made her triumphant return to Saturday Night Live. The iconic Fleetwood Mac frontwoman performed on the long-running NBC sketch comedy show for the first time in 41 years during the Ariana Grande-hosted episode on Oct. 12. Dressed in her usual all-black ensemble, the 76-year-old singer-songwriter opened with a powerful performance of her […]
A founding member of the experimental rock band Mr. Bungle was found guilty Friday (Oct. 11) of first-degree murder in the killing of his girlfriend after prosecutors in California found an audio file the victim recorded on her phone as she fought for her life.
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A jury in Santa Cruz deliberated for a day before finding Theobald “Theo” Lengyel guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of his girlfriend Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann on the night of Dec. 4, 2023, inside her Capitola home, KSBW-TV reported. Lengyel faces life in prison and is set to be sentenced in November.
Lengyel, 55, was arrested in January after investigators found Herrmann’s remains in a wooded area of Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley. Herrmann was reported missing the previous month after she didn’t show up to a family gathering in Hawaii.
On Oct. 1, prosecutors played an audio recorded on Herrmann’s phone begging for her life as her boyfriend strangled her to death, KRON-TV reported.
It is unclear if Herrmann, 61, intentionally recorded the audio or if the app inadvertently recorded it.
District Attorney’s Office Inspector Steven Ryan testified that investigators did not discover the chilling audio file until Sept. 22, 2024, a month after Lengyel’s murder trial began.
The recording starts with Lengyel playing piano before growing angry at Herrmann because she doesn’t want to go out to play pool. Herrmann repeatedly says she does not want to go because she has to work in Berkeley the next day.
A few minutes into their argument, Lengyel can be heard threatening his girlfriend stating, “I could mash your f(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk)ing brain.”
According to prosecutors, the verbal argument escalated into a physical altercation. Herrmann could then be heard pleading for her life, gasping for air.
Lengyel left Mr. Bungle in 1996 after playing saxophone, clarinet and keyboards on several recordings, including the band’s self-titled 1991 debut album and Disco Volante in 1995. He did not participate in any of the band’s recent reunion tours, which began in 2020.
Mr. Bungle was formed in Northern California’s Humboldt County in 1985 by high school friends including guitarist Trey Spruance, bassist Trevor Dunn and vocalist Mike Patton, who went on to perform with Faith No More. Mr. Bungle experimented with funk, heavy metal, electronic, jazz and other musical styles, gaining popularity during the alternative rock boom of the 1990s.
In a 2005 Q&A, Dunn said Lengyel left the band on bad terms, SF Gate reported.
For the fourth straight week, the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart has a new No. 1 — this time Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps,” which reigns on the Oct. 12-dated survey.
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The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity from Sept. 30-Oct. 6. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.
“Maps” rules the chart in its second week on the list, following a No. 20 debut on the Oct. 5 tally. Its rise is attributed to a recent trend using the song wherein creators use a filter to remove their facial features and then have them cascade back down onto their face, often with uncanny results.
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A previous, continuing trend that began in September also sets a sped-up version of “Maps” to a dance trend.
“Maps” peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2004, and it appeared on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ debut album Fever to Tell in 2003. In the week ending Oct. 3, the song earned 1.5 million official U.S. streams, up 40%, according to Luminate.
“Maps” follows the reigns of Alphaville’s “Forever Young” (Oct. 5), BabyChiefDoit’s “Rollin’” (Sept. 28) and Surf Curse’s “Disco” (Sept. 21), which each ruled the TikTok Billboard Top 50 for one week.
NLE Choppa and 41’s “Or What” lifts one spot to rank at No. 2 on the Oct. 12 survey, followed by Alphaville’s “Forever Young,” which drops 1-3. “Or What” is mostly driven by lip-synching uploads to the 2024 song (it was released a month ago on Sept. 6), with the tune concurrently leaping 79% in official U.S. streams to 5.7 million in the week ending Oct. 3, begetting its No. 91 debut on the latest Hot 100.
The latest TikTok Billboard Top 50 is the first chart of the year to incorporate October data, and that can only mean one thing: the return of Girl in Red’s “We Fell in Love in October.” The song re-enters at No. 4, a new peak, after rising as high as No. 5 last October. The song trends on TikTok, as well as other platforms, every year around this time, sans any sort of dominating trend other than the changing of the month.
The top debut of the week belongs to J. Cole, whose “She Knows,” featuring Amber Coffman and The Cults, bows at No. 7. The 11-year-old song (it was released as part of the rapper’s album Born Sinner in 2013) is largely being used in content about the arrest of Sean “Diddy” Combs and allegations that he was involved in the deaths of multiple musicians (honing in on the lyric “Only bad thing ‘bout a star is they burn up/ Rest in peace to Aaliyah/ Rest in peace to Left Eye/ Michael Jackson, I’ll see ya/ Just as soon as I die” (other videos also bring Beyoncé into the fold, alleging she was aware of Diddy’s alleged crimes).
“She Knows,” which peaked at No. 90 on the Hot 100 in 2014, sports a 133% jump in streams to 2.8 million in the week ending Oct. 3.
A pair of Milli Vanilli songs also debut on the TikTok Billboard Top 50: “Blame It on the Rain” and “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You,” which start at Nos. 34 and 37, respectively. The songs’ rise on the chart runs concurrent with the duo’s catalog gaining in streams after multiple tunes’ synchs in Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story series, which was released on Sept. 19.
See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.
After 25 years, Disturbed still can’t shake The Sickness. The hard rockers announced on Thursday (Oct. 10) that they will embark on a 34-date North American tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 2000 debut album, on which they’ll perform the entire LP and a second set of greatest hits each night.
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The Live Nation-produced The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour is slated to kick off in Nampa, ID on Feb. 25 and hit arenas in Denver, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Toronto, San Antonio, Seattle, San Francisco and Phoenix before winding down on May 17 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Three Days Grace and Sevendust will open the first half of the tour, with Daughtry and Nothing More doing the honors for the second half.
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The Sickness, which topped out at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified five-times platinum, featured such fan favorites as “Down With the Sickness,” “Stupify” and “Voices.”
Ticket sales will kick off with an artist presale beginning Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. local time; fans can pre-register here. Additional pre-sales will take place throughout the next week before a general onsale begins at 10 a.m. local time on Oct. 18. Additional European/UK dates will be announced soon.
Earlier this year, the David Draiman-led band’s churning cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” passed the one billion mark on YouTube, marking their first entry into the Billion Views Club.
Check out the dates for Disturbed’s The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour below:
Feb. 25 — Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Arena*Feb. 27 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena*March 2 — St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center*March 4 — Milwaukee, WI @ Fiserv Forum*March 6 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center*March 8 — Chicago, IL @ United Center*March 10 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena*March 12 — Louisville, KY @ KFC Yum! Center*March 14 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden*March 17 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena*March 19 — Montreal, QC @ Centre Bell*March 21 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden*March 29 — Cincinnati, OH @ Heritage Bank Center^March 31 — Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse^April 2 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center^April 4 — Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center^April 5 — Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena^April 7 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena^April 9 — Indianapolis, IN @ Gainbridge Fieldhouse^April 12 — Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center^April 14 — Raleigh, NC @ Lenovo Center^April 16 — Birmingham, AL @ Legacy Arena at The BJCC^April 18 — Sunrise, FL @ Amerant Bank Arena^April 23 — Duluth, GA @ Gas South Arena^April 25 — San Antonio, TX @ Front Bank Center^April 26 — Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena^April 28 — Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center^May 5 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena^May 7 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center^May 9 — Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center^May 10 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center^May 13 — Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum^May 15 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center^May 17 — Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena^
*with special guests Three Days Grace and opener Sevendust^with special guests Daughtry and opener Nothing More
The countdown to the Cure‘s return is just a few weeks away and on Wednesday (Oct. 9) the Robert Smith-led group pulled back the black curtain a bit more on their anticipated Songs of a Lost World album by revealing the track list and latest single, “A Fragile Thing.”
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The swirling, midtempo rocker is classic Cure, with a morose, nearly minute-long instrumental intro that sets up a most on-brand tale of devastating love. “Every time you kiss me/ I could cry she said/ Don’t tell me how you miss me/ I could die tonight of a broken heart/ This loneliness has changed me/ We have been too far apart,” Smith sings.
In a clip from an upcoming interview about the band’s 14th studio album — its first since 2008’s 4:13 Dream — Smith talked about the inspiration behind the latest taste of the long-awaited LP. “It’s the ‘love song’ of the album, but it’s not really a love song in the way that [1989’s] ‘Lovesong’ is a love song,” he said. “It’s about love and how love is the most enduring of emotions, I think. It’s the most powerful emotion, and it’s incredibly resilient. And yet at the same time, incredibly fragile.”
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Realizing that that sentiment sounds like a paradox, Smith added, “I know, and doesn’t really make much sense. But I think you know what I mean. You feel sometimes you’re in danger of destroying something, and yet you kind of know that it can’t be destroyed.” Smith also noted that he struggled to write the song, which was originally titled “Kill the Sun,” before it drastically changed into a final form that admittedly might be a bit too specific to his brand of heartache.
“But I’m hoping that it resonates with other people because it’s a universal thing,” Smith said.
The eight-song album will feature the previously released single “Alone,” as well as “A Fragile Thing,” three tracks the band debuted live on their 2022-2023 tour, “I Can Never Say Goodbye,” “And Nothing Is Forever,” and the recently teased “Endsong,” and three no one has heard yet: “Warsong,” “Drone:NoDrone,” and “All I Ever Am.”
The band recently announced two intimate pre-release shows in the UK slated to take place on Oct. 30 and 31. Songs of aLost World is due out on Nov. 1.
Watch the “A Fragile Thing” lyric video and Smith’s interview snippet below.
More than 100 artists have banded together for the massive Cardinals at the Window compilation featuring previously unreleased recordings to benefit the victims of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina. Proceeds from sales of the $10 album — which is out today on Bandcamp — will go to a number of organizations on the ground in hard-hit Asheville, N.C., including Rural Organizing and Resilience, BeLoved Asheville and the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.
Among the artists who provided previously unreleased songs for the record are: the Mountain Goats (“Hand of Death”), Sharon Van Etten (“Weather”), Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (“Smilin’”), the Go-Betweens (“Ashes on the Lawn”), Sylvan Esso (“One More”), Real Estate (“Pink Sky”), Hotline TNT (“Candle”), Geologist (“Route 9 Falls”) and Lonnie Holley (“Tonky’s Rocket Ship”).
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Others offered up live recordings or covers, including: R.E.M. (“King of Birds”), Phish (“Sand”), Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit with Jerry Douglas (“Children of Children”), Jeff Tweedy with Karly Hartzman (“How Hard It Is For Desert to Die”), the War on Drugs (“Harmonia’s Dream”), Fleet Foxes (“Blue Ridge Mountains”), King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard (“Change”), Feist (“Borrow Trouble”), the Decemberists (“William Fitzwilliam”) and Tune-Yards (“Hypnotized”).
The compilation also featured songs from Angel Olsen, S.G. Goodman and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Lambchop, Tyler Childers, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Helado Negro, the Avett Brothers, Kevin Morby, Drive-By Truckers and many more; click here to see the full track list and to contribute.
A number of artists have stepped up to offer help to the wide swath of Americans who were impacted by hurricanes Helene and Milton, including Taylor Swift, who donated $5 million to relief efforts in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, according to a statement from Feeding America on Wednesday.
Helene made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26 and brought with her historic storm surge and lashing winds that resulted in 230 deaths to date and billions of dollars in damage to homes and infrastructure. Milton’s landfall in Florida on Wednesday (Oct. 9) as a category 3 storm is expected to leave an equally destructive path in its wake.
Other acts doing their part include Luke Combs and Eric Church, who announced their Concert for Carolina benefit show this week, which will take place on Oct. 26 at North Carolina’s Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, where they’ll be joined by James Taylor and Billy Strings. In addition, Metallica pledged $100K to Helene relief and Dolly Parton donated $1 million of her own money to help relief efforts, as well as another $1 million through her various business entities to help affected areas.
Morgan Wallen donated $500,000 to the Red Cross‘ hurricane relief efforts through his Morgan Wallen Foundation, Miranda Lambert’s MuttNation Foundation donated $100,000 to help animals impacted by the hurricane and Sturgill Simpson announced a one-off Oct. 21 benefit show at the Koka Booth Amphitheater in Cary, N.C. with proceeds earmarked for the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund.
If you’ve noticed that since announcing their Live ’25 world reunion tour Oasis have not done a single interview, well, get used to it. According to singer Liam Gallagher, he and older brother Noel Gallagher are not interested into being baited by reporters into re-igniting the sibling rivalry that broke up the band and led to a 16-year lay-off, so they’re keeping mum.
“We don’t want to do interviews coz we’re scared of the media asking us intrusive questions and trying to pick holes in our relationship,” wrote Liam early Thursday morning (Oct. 10). When a fan cheekily responded with some Liam-boosting flattery, the “Wonderwall” vocalist was totally there for it.
“I think Noel doesn’t want to do interviews with you because you’re funnier,” the fan wrote, with Liam responding, “RESPEK.” He had a cheekier response to another X user to asked about a potential joint interview. “Can’t be arsed,” Liam explained, adding “we’re not doing any” and “they ain’t getting 1” as fans persisted with the same line of questioning.
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Liam’s cheeky X persona has been wholly in evidence since the brothers reunited, including last month when a fan asked if he was going to stop “tweeting s–t about Noel” now that they’ve made up. “Nope it’s all done, peace has prevailed, he’s the man,” Liam wrote. “I can’t wait to be on stage with him blowing him kisses in between each song.”
Oasis, who split in 2009, recently expanded their 2025 reunion tour, announcing two stadium dates in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. “People of the land down under. You better run – you better take cover… We are coming. You are most welcome. Oasis will tour Australia in 2025!” the band announced earlier this week.
The Gallaghers will kick off the North American leg of their tour with a two-night stand at Toronto’s Rogers Stadium (Aug. 24-25), followed by a gig at Chicago’s Soldier Field on August 28. They’ll then move on to two nights at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey (August 31, Sept. 1), before winding down the U.S. run with two shows at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles (Sept. 6- 7).
The tour will kick off with a run of UK/Irish dates, beginning on July 4-5 with two shows at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, followed by a five-night stand in their hometown Manchester at Heaton Park (July 11, 12, 16, 19, 20).
Check out Liam’s comments below.
We don’t want to do interviews coz we’re scared of the media asking us intrusive questions and trying to pick holes in our relationship— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) October 10, 2024
Retired KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons is known for unapologetically wagging his legendarily long tongue and for his self-described reputation as a lusty Lothario. But during a guest judging stint on Tuesday night’s (Oct. 8) “Hair Metal Night” on Dancing With the Stars some commenters thought he went too far by focusing on pulchritude instead of Paso doble.
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First, Simmons reportedly got a loud round of boos on air after he gave a bewigged Reginald VelJohnson (Family Matters, Die Hard) a lowly score of 5 for his stiff cha cha to Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock.” According to EW, the studio audience did not take kindly to fellow permanent judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli posting the same score — Carrie Ann Inaba gave them a more magnanimous 6 — but when Simmons followed suit, the boos reportedly got significantly louder.
The low score came after Simmons had previously been generous to the fellow septuagenarian, saying before the dance, “Hey Reggie, you’ve got a beautiful woman right beside you who can twist it and turn it and knows how to move it and all that. But I want to tell you, as a guy that’s been on the stage for half a century around the world, I’m kind of a big deal, Reggie. It’s all in the attitude. And you’ve got something in that beautiful face. They love you.”
VelJohnson — who was eliminated on Tuesday night — had had consistently low scores so far this season, but EW said Inaba noted that he’d been a season 33 fan favorite as he hoofed alongside such fellow stars as previous eliminees con artist Anna Delvey, actors Eric Roberts and Tori Spelling, as well as still-active contestants Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, NFL player Danny Amendola, NBA center Dwight Howard, Olympic rugby star Ilona Maher, model Brooks Nader and Bachelorette star Jenn Tran, among others.
Simmons was repeatedly called out by viewers in comments on X for what they dubbed his “creepy” remarks, which some said treated the female dancers as if they were in a beauty pageant. The pointed to Simmons saying he couldn’t decide which one was more “hot hot hot” among Amendola and pro dancer Witney Carson and telling 24-year-old actress Chandler Kinney (Pretty Little Liars) that she “fogged up my glasses” and that she “moved me — not just with your gyrations, but with your beautiful face.”
“ABC needs to issue an apology after having Gene Simmons on there and subjecting their cast to that . Why didn’t a producer tell him to knock it off,” wrote one X user, while another joked, “Gene Simmons comments about the ladies are giving the energy of the gross uncle who corners you at the reunion.” A similar comment read, “it’s only the first dance and i’m already over gene simmons being a creep,” as one added, “Gene Simmons is seriously sucking all the energy out of the ballroom with his creepy comments about the female dancers.”
Well known for speaking his mind on all manner of subjects, Forbes noted that Simmons has been called out before for his thoughts on the opposite sex, including over a passage in his 2017 book, On Power: My Journey Through the Corridors of Power and How You Can Get More Power, in which he wrote that leveraging sexuality is still the fastest route to the top for women.
“Women have a choice,” he said in an interview with the New York Post while promoting the book in 2017. “They can dress in potato sacks, [but] as soon as they pretty themselves up with lipstick, lift and separate them and point them in our general direction, they’re gonna get a response. Guys are jackasses — we will buy them mansions and houses . . . all because of sex.” In that same interview, Simmons told women to “get over” their biological urges, opining, “It’s natural to want to have kids, but, sorry, you can’t have it both ways. You have to commit to either career or family. It’s very difficult to have both.”
KISS said that after five decades on tour their End of the Road Tour — which wrapped in December — would be their last go-round. The group then sold its name, image and likeness rights and announced a virtual Las Vegas performance set to launch in 2027.
Watch VelJohnson’s routine and see some of the comments about Simmons below.
If Gene doesn’t think the woman is hot, she gets a low score. Get this man off my screen. No reason he tried to give Brooks a ten and THE Phaedra Parks a five? #DWTS— Shelby🌻 (@shelbykvosburg) October 9, 2024
Dear @officialdwts ,Shame on Gene Simmons for treating this like a beauty pageant. Never have him on the show again. EVER. He ruined it. #gross #DWTSWith love, Everyone— StarSamantha21 (@StarrSamantha21) October 9, 2024
underscoring the asian and black female contestants relative to the other judge’s scores after inflating scores all night??? gene simmons you may just be a racist #dwts pic.twitter.com/8MuuMVLeu2— lau (@kodylavenders) October 9, 2024
Last week, rising British pop acts Rachel Chinouriri and Cat Burns released the emotional new single “Even.” The song addressed the pair’s respective rise over the last few years. Chinouriri released her debut album What A Devastating Turn Of Events in May and enlisted actor Florence Pugh for the “Never Need Me” music video; Burns, meanwhile, hit No. 2 on the U.K. Singles Charts with “Go” and was nominated for a Mercury Prize for her debut LP, Early Twenties.
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The song speaks to the double standards Black artists are held to in the U.K. music industry, as well as the mislabeling of their releases. Despite their love of indie music and varied inspirations across genres, they’ve been frustrated with the battles they’ve faced to be heard.
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“Wish I didn’t have to climb twice as high / For them to see me, isn’t it crazy,” Burns reflects on “Even,” while in the chorus, the pair asks: “We talk the same, dress for fame / Why does no one else believe in / Us the same?”
Fellow British artist Master Peace – real name Peace Okezie – is credited as a songwriter on “Even” and knows the issues all too well. He released his debut album, How To Make A Master Peace, earlier this year, which featured contributions from alternative legend Santigold and dance producer Georgia. The record was infused with indie rock stylings and nods to Bloc Party and The Streets, but he says he still faces misrepresentation of his music and feels some opportunities have passed him by.
“We are from a place where we have to work a hundred times harder than the average white guy, because people see as Black artists and just chuck us in the R&B space. It’s a cop-out,” Peace tells Billboard.
In 2020, Tyler, The Creator spoke out against the categorization of his music as rap while collecting a Grammy Award and criticized the use of the ‘urban’ music category. There’ve been similar issues in the U.K. A 2021 study by Black Lives In Music reported that 63% of Black music makers had faced racism in the U.K. music industry, and included testimonies by artists of microaggressions and mislabeling of their music.
“For the work that we’ve put in, we should be further than we already are,” he says of Chinouriri, Burns and himself. “You can easily fall victim to it and think ‘it’s never going to work because there’s no Black U.K. pop stars,’ or you could be like us and step up and cut through.”
How to Make A Master Peace was released in March this year and charted at No. 30 on the U.K.’s Official Album Charts. He’s since landed an Ivor Novello Award for their rising star trophy, collecting alongside fellow ceremony winners like Bruce Springsteen. He supported Kasabian at their massive homecoming show in Leicester, England, earlier in the summer and recently landed a nomination at the Independent Music Awards (AIM) in the best music video category. A run of live dates is now taking place in the U.K., but he still feels like people within the industry and potential listeners need convincing of his credentials.
“On paper when you look at all the achievements you think ‘why would he complain?’”, Peace says. “I wouldn’t say I feel like an outsider in my scene, but do I feel like I’m held up the same way as certain bands or artists? Probably not.”
He signed to Universal’s EMI in 2020 and had a string of releases under the label. He says that hype around his live shows – particularly given the lack of releases – was what got the majors involved. “As a result,” he says, “people had nothing to reference [my music] to” beyond a YouTube freestyle which saw him creatively rap over a-ha’s “Take On Me.”
When his A&Rs left EMI, he followed them and inked a deal with PMR Records, whose previous success stories include Disclosure, SG Lewis and Jessie Ware.
“At EMI it was about dropping tunes, but I don’t think they understood what we wanted to build; maybe at the time I didn’t even understand.” He started again from scratch as an independent artist, but refined his direct, party-starting sound and continued collaborating with songwriters and producers like Julian Bunetta, who has credits on Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and her 2022 single “Nonsense.”
His album’s release dovetails with the ‘indie sleaze’ hype in recent years, a moment where younger fans on have revisited works by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes and more, and been enraptured by Lizzy Goodman’s Meet Me In The Bathroom oral history and documentary. “Where I’ve come from and my background, I’ve always been in fight-or-flight mode. I’ve always wanted to take a leap and risk things,” he says. “It was a big risk making an indie sleaze-inspired album when no one knew about what that was all about.”
Now Peace is keeping the momentum up with How To Make A(nuva) Master Peace, a new EP that acts as a deluxe record to his debut. “Dropping the album when I did got me so many amazing opportunities, so I want to keep it up,” he tells Billboard.
But most of all, he wants the music world to recognize his work and what his contemporaries are doing without stereotyping. “I’m a Black, alternative artist that makes pop music and sits in that space. I want to be that guy who people look at and think, ‘His thing is valid’.”