Rock
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Jack White often prefers the inscrutable, twisty gesture over the obvious, spell-it-out one. Which is why the singer/guitarist’s seeming counterpunch to a blow-up about his former White Stripes bandmate Meg White’s drumming skills is a chef’s kiss “nothing to see here, and, by the way, you are wrong” response.
In case you haven’t been paying attention, earlier this week political journalist Lachlan Markay opined in a since-deleted tweet that “the tragedy of the White Stripes is how great they would’ve been with a half decent drummer… I’m sorry Meg White was terrible and no band is better for having a sh—y drummer.”
That unprovoked broadside against the timekeeper who has all-but-vanished from public view since the dynamo duo called it quits in 2011 drew a torrent of support for Meg from, among others, Roots drummer Questlove, Against Me’s Laura Jane Grace, Jack White’s ex-wife singer/model Karen Elson and many others; Markay has since apologized for the comment he said was “petty, obnoxious, just plain wrong.”
But it was Jack White’s pointed, subtle rejoinder on Wednesday night (March 15) — in the form of a poem, of course — that shut it down in an artful manner. Check out the text of White’s poem below.
“To be born in another time,any era but our own would’ve been fine.100 years from now,1000 years from now,some other distant, different, time.one without demons, cowards and vampires out for blood,one with the positive inspiration to foster what is good.an empty field where no tall red poppies are cut down,where we could lay all day, every day, on the warm and subtle ground
and know just what to say and what to play to conjure our own sounds.and be one with the others all around us,and even still the ones who came before,and help ourselves to all their love,and pass it on again once more.to have bliss upon bliss upon bliss,to be without fear, negativity or pain,and to get up every morning, and be happy to do it all again.”
The poem was accompanied by an image of Meg White peeking out from behind a curtain of hair while thwacking a kit featuring the duo’s signature peppermint swirl color scheme. The White Stripes are among the nominees for this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Shinedown pulls ahead of Foo Fighters for sole possession of the most top 10s tallied on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, as “Dead Don’t Die” leaps from No. 12 to No. 8 on the March 18-dated survey.
In the March 3-9 tracking week, “Die” earned 3 million audience impressions, according to Luminate. That’s a 19% boost over the previous period (2.5 million).
Shinedown adds its 15th top 10, breaking the band out of a tie with Foo Fighters for the most in the chart’s 14-year history. The Brent Smith-led Shinedown first hit the top 10 with “Sound of Madness,” which peaked at No. 2 in July 2009. The act has one No. 1: “The Crow & the Butterfly,” a four-week ruler in 2010.
Most Top 10s, Rock & Alternative Airplay:15, Shinedown14, Foo Fighters13, Cage the Elephant13, Imagine Dragons13, twenty one pilots11, The Black Keys11, Muse10, Weezer
“Die” makes three top 10s in a row for Shinedown, following “Daylight” (No. 4, last August) and “Planet Zero” (No. 5, March 2022).
“Die” concurrently rises 6-5 on Mainstream Rock Airplay, continuing Shinedown’s streak of sending every one of its entries to the top five – 30 in all, dating to 2003. Of those, a chart-record 18 have hit No. 1.
“Die” also jumps 25-19 on the multi-metric Hot Hard Rock Songs survey. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 323,000 official U.S. streams March 3-9.
The track is the third rock radio single from Planet Zero, Shinedown’s seventh studio album. The set bowed at No. 1 on the Top Hard Rock Albums tally last July and has earned 164,000 equivalent album units to date. A pop radio-only single from the LP, “A Symptom of Being Human,” concurrently starts at No. 36 on Adult Pop Airplay.
On Tuesday (March 14), amid Austin’s South By Southwest music conference and festival, a few lucky Boygenius fans were treated to quite the special treatment upon landing in the city.
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At the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the band had set up shop at baggage claim. The trio of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker surprised fans with an acoustic set of new material off its upcoming album, including singles “True Blue,” “Emily I’m Sorry” and “Not Strong Enough.”
Performing in front of a simple backdrop with the official SXSW 2023 banner and a white poster that read “boygenius,” the supergroup proved how little they need to deliver a stunning set.
For Bridgers, it’s just the latest in a series of surprise performances. She joined SZA on stage this month at New York’s Madison Square Garden, performed alongside Billie Eilish in December at the Los Angeles Forum, and guested with The 1975 and Lorde in separate appearances in November.
Boygenius formed in 2018 and released its self-titled EP that October. Its upcoming debut album, The Record, will be released on Interscope March 31.
As for the rest of the week in Austin at SXSW, Billboard has returned for three nights of star-studded concerts: Billboard Presents The Stage at SXSW. Lil Yachty (presented by Doritos) will get things going on Thursday, March 16, with opening acts Lola Brooke and Armani White; Latin stars Feid and Eladio Carrión (presented by Samsung Galaxy) will perform on Friday, March 17; and electronic giants Kaskade and deadmau5 will perform as Kx5 (presented by Carnival) on Saturday, March 18.
Each show will take place at Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park in Austin. Tickets are available here.
Check out a clip from Boygenius’ airport set below:
Robert Smith is explaining the serious measures The Cure is taking to avoid outrageous ticket prices for their upcoming North American tour. In a shot across the bow at re-sellers, when the tickets for the 30-date run of Shows of a Lost World Tour went on sale Wednesday morning (March 15) to those who pre-registered using Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system, will be non-transferrable in order to minimize resale and keep prices at face value.
The singer went on a tweet spree on Tuesday (March 14) in which he explicitly described how and why the veteran goth rockers decided to go their own way on this outing. “TM HAVE JUST TOLD ME ‘ALL tickets for The Cure Shows Of A Lost World Tour will be made available during tomorrow’s Verified Fan Sale,’” Smith tweeted, adding, “SEEMS THE RESPONSE TO REGISTRATION HAS BEEN PRETTY OVERWHELMING – THANKS! HOWEVER, I REALISE THERE ARE PROBLEMS, SOME MORE REAL THAN OTHERS…”
He then noted that the group had “final say” in all the ticket pricing for the tour, with Smith determined that those prices would not be “INSTANTLY AND HORRIBLY DISTORTED BY RESALE.” Smith referred to touts as being part of a “sophisticated business” expert at acquiring tickets and reselling them on marketplaces such as Vivid, Stubhub and Seatgeek.
Smith also revealed that the Cure were told that TM’s Verified Fan platform “has been used more than 400 times to qualify buyers and reduced the % of tickets on the secondary market” and that using VF has regularly reduced scalping by 80%, with less than 5% of tickets typically ending up on the secondary market.
By making the tickets non-transferable, scalpers will be unable to purchase tickets and then resell them for a profit since the original owner will have to be present to enter the venue. For fans who purchase tickets but can’t make it to the event, they will be able to resell the ticket on a face-value ticket exchange.
“WE WERE CONVINCED THAT TICKETMASTER’S ‘Verified Fan Page’ AND ‘Face Value Ticket Exchange’ IDEAS COULD HELP US FIGHT THE SCALPERS,” Smith wrote. “(WE DIDN’T AGREE TO THE ‘DYNAMIC PRICING’ / ‘PRICE SURGING’ / ‘PLATINUM TICKET’ THING… BECAUSE IT IS ITSELF A BIT OF A SCAM? A SEPARATE CONVERSATION!).”
When the band announced the world tour earlier this week, they established that “there will be no ‘Platinum’ or ‘Dynamically Priced’ tickets on this tour,” which includes stops at Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Moody Center in Austin, Madison Square Garden in New York and State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The singer also tweeted that though TM’s Verified Fan is a “far from perfect system,” the reality is that if there aren’t enough tickets on sale, some fans will miss out no matter what system the Cure use. “At least this one tries to get tickets into the hands of fans at a fair price,” he said. In the final comment in the Twitter run, Smith noted he’d been told that TM will continued to sell tickets to Verified users “until there are no more tickets to sell.”
The Cure’s efforts to combat resale ticketing comes after a season of in-demand tours facing astronomical price increases due to dynamic ticketing and scalpers. Ticketmaster is currently facing government inquiries into its handling of the disastrous Taylor Swift Eras Tour presale, which left many fans outraged when service delays and website crashes (caused in part by bots) prevented many of them from securing tickets.
See Smith’s tweets below.
TM HAVE JUST TOLD ME “ALL tickets for The Cure Shows Of A Lost World Tour will be made available during tomorrow’s Verified Fan Sale” SEEMS THE RESPONSE TO REGISTRATION HAS BEEN PRETTY OVERWHELMING – THANKS! HOWEVER, I REALISE THERE ARE PROBLEMS, SOME MORE REAL THAN OTHERS…— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
WE HAD FINAL SAY IN ALL OUR TICKET PRICING FOR THIS UPCOMING TOUR, AND DIDN’T WANT THOSE PRICES INSTANTLY AND HORRIBLY DISTORTED BY RESALE – WE WERE TOLD “In North America the resale business is a multi-billion $ industry.— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
The touts are sophisticated businesses that are expert at acquiring tickets, and the major marketplaces like Vivid, Stubhub and Seatgeek spend tens of millions of dollars on marketing. The touts get an unfair share of tickets and resell them on these marketplaces.”— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
WE WERE TOLD “Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform has been used more than 400 times to qualify buyers and reduce the % of tickets on the secondary market.— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
Using Verified Fan scalping is regularly reduced by 80%, with typically fewer than 5% of tickets on the secondary market after a Verified Fan campaign. Listed below are a few of the artists who have effectively used VF to limit resale.”— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
WE WERE CONVINCED THAT TICKETMASTER’S “Verified Fan Page” AND “Face Value Ticket Exchange” IDEAS COULD HELP US FIGHT THE SCALPERS— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
(WE DIDN’T AGREE TO THE ‘DYNAMIC PRICING’ / ‘PRICE SURGING’ / ‘PLATINUM TICKET’ THING… BECAUSE IT IS ITSELF A BIT OF A SCAM? A SEPARATE CONVERSATION!)— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
WE KNOW IT IS A FAR FROM PERFECT SYSTEM – BUT THE REALITY IS THAT IF THERE AREN’T ENOUGH TICKETS ONSALE, A NUMBER OF FANS ARE GOING TO MISS OUT WHATEVER SYSTEM WE USE; AT LEAST THIS ONE TRIES TO GET TICKETS INTO THE HANDS OF FANS AT A FAIR PRICE…— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
Yo La Tengo made a statement during the second half of their show at The Basement East in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday night (March 14). In a rebuke of Gov. Bill Lee’s recent signing of a bill that puts restrictions on drag performances in public, the New Jersey trio’s male members, singer/ guitarist Ira Kaplan and bassist James McNew, came out after a short intermission dressed in women’s clothing.
According to the Tennessean, Kaplan wore makeup, a red dress and along black wig, while McNew donned a shawl and a sun hat, while drummer Georgia Hubley kept her same outfit. The paper said the band did not mention Lee or the controversial new law, which prohibits, “adult-oriented” entertainment, including “male and female impersonators” on public property, as well as limiting such entertainment to age-restricted venues.
And while they didn’t specifically explain their action, in a statement (via Pitchfork), said, “What we did last night coldn’t have been clearer, and requires no further comment.”
The law, which takes effect on April 1, is among a flurry of new laws being passed by conservative politicians across the country taking aim at the LGBTQ community, including a number that seek to deny gender-affirming health care to transgender children; Lee also signed a total ban on such care the same day as the drag bill. According to the Human Rights Campaign, Tennessee has passed more anti-LGBTQ laws than any other state in the U.S.
Cyndi Lauper and The B-52s also recently joined the rising chorus of voices speaking out against new laws being passed by Republicans targeting the trans community and seeking to ban drag artists.
“Equality for everybody, or nobody’s really equal,” longtime LGBTQ alley Lauper told ITK according to The Hill. “This is how Hitler started. just weeding everybody out.” Hitler’s Nazi Germany tagged gay people as “enemies of the state” and many were jailed or killed in concentration camps and Lauper said it’s imperative that we keep “fighting for civil rights.”
In a sharply worded statement issued on Wednesday (March 8), the B-52’s — also longtime advocates for LBGTQ causes — wrote, “We, The B-52’s, are deeply concerned about the numerous new bills that promote transphobia and discrimination against transgender individuals and drag artists, which have been introduced in the United States. We strongly denounce these bills and stand in solidarity with out LGBTQ+ community.”
Paramore singer Hayley Williams, a native of Tennessee, criticized her state’s governor in an Instagram story this week, writing, “Once again our state has passed two regressive and unfathomably harmful bills. We stand in solidarity with our LGBTQIA+ family and local LGBTQIA+ orgs in this fight, not only for inclusion for our friends and family in the queer community, but for radical acceptance and empowerment for each of them. Drag is not a crime. Gender-affirming healthcare for all, including our youth, is a necessity.”
Williams will perform at the March 20 Love Rising benefit show supporting Tennessee-based LGBTQ organizations that will also feature Maren Morris, Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell, Brittany Howard, Julien Baker and many more.
Check out photos of the Yo La Tengo show below.
Ira and James playing in drag yesterday in Tennessee, in response to the anti-drag bill that passed just some weeks ago.Yo La Tengo for president, someone said at Yellowjackets, and I agree.[Photo by Chris Conrad, via FB] pic.twitter.com/Za6LTr2Jie— Ethel Baraona Pohl (@ethel_baraona) March 14, 2023
Brian May said he had “no words!” for the honor of being knighted by England’s King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday (March 14). In a photo posted on Instagram of the gilded ceremony, May smiled beatifically as Charles laid a ceremonial sword tap on the Queen guitarist’s left shoulder.
May, 75 — who will now be known as Sir Brian — was knighted for his services to music and charity during the investiture ceremony where he received the title of Knight Bachelor. The official Queen Twitter account shared a congratulatory note, writing, “Arise Sir Brian May. Brian’s investiture as a Knight of the Realm took place at Buckingham Palace. The knighthood was presented to Brian by His Royal Highness, King Charles. Many congratulations, Sir Brian!”
Queen drummer Roger Taylor has also been honored with a royal title, following his appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2020; May was also previously given the title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2005.
May joins a long list of English rock stars who’ve been knighted, including Live Aid organizer/Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof, Cliff Richard, producer and “Fifth Beatle” George Martin, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Elton John, Placido Domingo, Mick Jagger, Tom Jones, Rod Stewart, Bono, Van Morrison, the Kinks’ Ray Davies and the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb.
Becoming a knight or a dame is one of the highest-ranking awards in the British honours system, followed by CBE, the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). A knighthood or damehood entitles recipients to use the title of sir or dame if they wish to do so.
Check out a snap from May’s ceremony below.
Welcome to the jungle — in Sacramento’s Discovery Park! The 2023 Aftershock music festival announced on Tuesday (March 14) that rock heavyweights Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Avenged Sevenfold and Korn are set to headline the annual event.
The festival, which will be held Oct. 5-8, will also feature Godsmack, Pantera, Queens of the Stone Age, Rancid, The Cult and many more. According to the press release, more than 95 bands are set to perform. Jose “Metal Ambassador” Mangin is set to host for the second year in a row.
Avenged Sevenfold will be the opening day headliner, while GnR will close the event Oct. 8.
“Godsmack is coming in hot this year. Come join us and Guns N’ Roses! Tool! Korn! and so many other killer bands at this year’s massive AFTERSHOCK!” Godsmack frontman Sully Erna said in a statement. “We can’t wait for everyone to hear our new album Lighting Up the Sky, which just came out! LET’S DO THIS!!!”
Danny Hayes, the CEO of Danny Wimmer Presents — which is producing the festival — also shared his enthusiasm for this year’s event and lineup. “We are so excited for what will be the biggest Aftershock in the festival’s 11-year history,” he said in a statement. “We are grateful for our partnership with the city and county of Sacramento and together we have built an amazing brand that showcases Sacramento to attendees from all over the globe.”
Passes are already on sale at AftershockFestival.com, starting at $10 down.
See the full lineup below:
Thursday, Oct. 5:
Avenged Sevenfold, Incubus, Turnstile, The Cult, AFI, Pennywise, Nothing But Thieves, L7, White Reaper, Senses Fail, Don Broco, The Bronx, Nothing, Nowhere., DeathByRomy, Beauty School Dropout, Bob Vylan, Holding Absence, Pinkshift, Thousand Below, Starbenders, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Static Dress, Letdown.
Friday, Oct. 6:
Tool, Godsmack, Limp Bizkit, Megadeth, Coheed and Cambria, Skillet, Bad Omens, The Hu, Deafheaven, Memphis May Fire, Converge, Fire From the Gods, Polaris, Rain City Drive, Gideon, Currents, Varials, Strange Kids, Dragged Under, Tallah, HANABIE., Widow7, Death Valley Dreams
Saturday, Oct. 7:
Korn, Pantera, 311, Corey Taylor, Parkway Drive, Babymetal, Polyphia, Dethklok, Avatar, Fever 333, The Amity Affliction, Sleep Token, Escape the Fate, Boston Manor, Fame on Fire, Catch Your Breath, Ten56., Reddstar, Holy Wars, ’68, Ithaca, Devil’s Cut, Traitors, Fox Lake, All Waves, As You Were
Sunday, Oct. 8:
Guns N’ Roses, Queens of the Stone Age, Rancid, I Prevail, Dance Gavin Dance, Daughtry, Badflower, Billy Talent, Mayday Parade, Suicide Silence, Movements, Ayron Jones, You Me At Six, Dead Poet Society, Austin Meade, Alpha Wolf, Jehnny Beth, Redlight King, Tigercub, Call Me Karizma, Ryan Oakes, Gnome, Luna Aura, Asava
While playing Wheel of Musical Impressions on Jimmy Fallon’s That’s My Jam on an upcoming episode, Sarah Hyland is put to the ultimate test — sing a Christina Aguilera song as if she were Avril Lavigne — and she passed with flying covers.
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In a preview video of the Tuesday (March 14 episode), the Modern Family actress started out a little nervous, especially when she saw the randomly generated pair of artists she needed to pay tribute to. “They’re my two favorites, I love them!” she exclaimed anxiously after receiving her prompt: perform “Genie in a Bottle” in the pop-punk style of Lavigne.
It took Hyland a moment to get comfortable singing with the show’s band accompanying her, but by the time she got to the song’s chorus, she was fully rocking out. “If you wanna be with me/ Baby, there’s a price to pay,” she belted as Fallon and fellow guests Darren Criss, Patti LaBelle and Billy Porter cheered her on.
“I’m a genie in a bottle/ You gotta rub me the right way,” she continued, fully embracing the challenge. “If you wanna be with me / I can make your wish come true.”
Released in 1999, “Genie in a Bottle” was the lead single off Aguilera’s self-titled debut album. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, marking the pop star’s first career No. 1.
Watch Sarah Hyland show off her Avril Lavigne impression while singing Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle” above.
That’s My Jam airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.
Courtney Love is going for credit in the real world. The Hole frontwoman is calling out what she feels is the lack of female representation in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in an Instagram carousel shared March 10.
Citing a tweet from author Jessica Hopper, from the same date, in which the journalist criticized the institution’s programs celebrating Women’s History Month, Love captions a screengrab of Hopper’s post, “So over these ole boys. #fixtherockandrollhalloffame.”
The author’s original post says that of the 719 Rock Hall inductees, only 61 — roughly 8.5 percent — are women. Hopper goes on to report that the representation of women in the Rock Hall is “worse than women-artists-on-country-radio numbers (10%) and women headliners at major music festivals (13%).”
“Thanks so much @msjesshopp I’ve been begging someone to do this math for decades,” Love added.
In 2020, ahead of the year’s Rock Hall induction ceremony, NPR reported on a similar — though lower — percentage. That year, according to the nonprofit media organization, less than 8 percent of inductees were women.
Janet Jackson also spoke out on the lack of women in the Rock Hall during her 2019 induction speech, closing with, “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, please: 2020, induct more women.” Whitney Houston, Pat Benatar and Chaka Khan (with Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan) were nominated for the 2020 class. Of the three, only Houston was inducted that year.
In the second image of her carousel post, the Grammy-nominated rocker shares what appears to be a text message she sent to Dave Grohl, who was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2021 with the Foo Fighters, and in 2014 with Nirvana. “Have fun at rock hall Dave. Make sure and hold the seats of Tina turner & carole king, both who have been eligible for 30! Years each,” her text reads. (Both Turner and King were inducted as solo performers in the 2021 class; the former was previously inducted as part of Ike & Tina Turner in 1991, while the latter was inducted as part of the songwriting duo Goffin/King in 1990.)
Billboard has reached out to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Grohl’s rep declined to comment.
Six women have been nominated for the Rock Hall’s class of 2023: Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, Cyndi Lauper, Gillian Gilbert (with New Order) and Meg White (as part of The White Stripes). The inductees are set to be revealed in May; the ceremony will happen in the fall.
Check out Love’s Instagram post below:
The National is No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay for the first time since 2017 thanks to “Tropic Morning News,” which rules the ranking dated March 18.
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“News” is the Matt Berninger-fronted band’s second Adult Alternative Airplay leader. It follows “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness,” which reigned for seven weeks beginning in August 2017.
In between, the group charted five entries on Adult Alternative Airplay, with three top 10s in that span, paced by the Bon Iver-featuring “Weird Goodbyes” (No. 6 last November).
Concurrently, “News” bullets at No. 31 on Alternative Airplay, having hit No. 28 two weeks earlier. It’s the veteran rockers’ highest-ranking song yet, surpassing the No. 33 peak of “Darkness” in 2017.
On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, “News” pushes 27-25 with 1.3 million audience impressions, a gain of 4%, March 3-9, according to Luminate. That’s also the band’s career best, outperforming “Darkness” (No. 29).
“News” is the lead single from First Two Pages of Frankenstein, The National’s ninth studio album. Due April 28, it features guest spots from Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens. Its predecessor, I Am Easy to Find, debuted and peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Alternative Albums chart in June 2019 and has earned 144,000 equivalent album units since its release.
All March 18-dated Billboard charts will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, March 14.