Rock
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Pretty soon, Kid Rock might be a devil without a case… of beer. After the conservative rapper-turned-country crooner posted a video earlier this week in which he blasted three cases of Bud Light using a semi-automatic AR-15-style rifle while intoning, “f– Bud Light and f–k Anheuser-Busch,” Jason Isbell had some bad news for the MAGA hat-wearing Bullgod.
“This is finally how we get him,” Isbell wrote. “Leave no bigoted beers to drink.” The comment came above a re-tweet of a post in which a user noted that Robert Ritchie’s beer of choice — Coors Light — is “guilty too!” The post featured an infographic noting that Coors “has had an anti-discrimination policy including sexual orientation since 1978, one of the first American corporations to do so.”
The image also said that the company “has financially supported its GLBT employees group since 1993,” while listing a number of LGBTQ-friendly bars where you can enjoy the brew that Rock promoted in a 2003 Super Bowl ad.
Rock’s rifle video came shortly after trans activist Dylan Mulvaney teamed up with Anheuser-Busch to promote the brand’s Easy Carry Contest, posting a video of herself talking about the campaign and even receiving “possibly the best gift ever” — a commemorative can of Bud Light with her face on it.
Mulvaney’s video immediately sparked outrage from right-wing commentators, who lambasted the brand for working with a transgender influencer. Anheuser-Busch responded to the backlash first in a statement to Fox News, which they reiterated to Billboard, saying the company works with “hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics and passion points,” and adding that Mulvaney’s commemorative can “was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”
The clip also came just weeks after a mass shooting at a private Nashville elementary school in which an assailant using a semi-automatic military-style rifle murdered three nine-year-old children and three adult staffers. Rock’s beer rant raised the ire of Fred Guttenberg, the father of a child who was killed during the Parkland shooting in Florida in 2018.
Guttenberg — who has turned into an outspoken gun control advocate in the wake of the massacre in which 14 teenagers and three staffers were killed — lambasted Rock for glorifying the kinds of war weapons often employed in mass shootings.
“Hey @kidrock, this dad is ‘feeling a little frisky today,” Guttenberg tweeted, mimicking Rock’s playful tone in a post that showed his late daughter trying to evade the murderous school shooter. “Let me be ‘as clear and concise’ as I can with you. This is my daughter Jaime (under the black oval) and these are the students running over her for safety to avoid getting shot by the AR 15 that killed her. F–K YOU!!!
Billboard has reached out to Kid Rock and Dylan Mulvaney for comment.
Rock’s video — which did not specifically mention Mulvaney or the LGBTQ-friendly Bud campaign — came amid amid a nationwide targeting of transgender people by conservative state legislatures around the U.S. Kentucky became the latest state to pass anti-trans legislation into law last week when lawmakers overrode Gov. Andy Beshear‘s veto of a bill banning gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18, while also compelling physicians to cease any ongoing gender-transition care for minors.
See Isbell and Guttenberg’s tweets below.
Hey @KidRock, this dad is “feeling a little frisky today.” Let me be “as clear and concise” as I can with you. This is my daughter Jaime (under the black oval) and these are the students running over her for safety to avoid getting shot by the AR 15 that killed her. FUCK YOU!!! https://t.co/Viv1Jzkuzu pic.twitter.com/OW9PDjETjW— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) April 4, 2023
Mod Sun got vulnerable about his breakup with Avril Lavigne at his Los Angeles tour stop on Sunday night.
“Ya’ll f—ing saved my goddamn life for the last six weeks,” he told his fans from the stage of the Fonda Theater in a video captured by TMZ.
“If any of y’all are going through some sh– right now, whether it be heartbreak, depression, addiction, anxiety, maybe you just have a negative voice in your head right now, I want you to know the one thing I have learned in the last almost four years: Do not be afraid to ask for help,” the pop-punk rocker continued. “So, thank you for helping me. It’s time for a new chapter.”
Mod Sun and the Love Sux songstress officially called off their engagement back in February after nearly two years together.
Since then, Lavigne has been spotted out and about with Tyga on multiple occasions, and while neither has publicly commented on their relationship, the rapper did seemingly make things Instagram official by posting a photo from their trip to Paris for Paris Fashion Week. For her part, the pop-punk princess left a cryptic comment on the post in the form of three black heart emojis.
Watch Mod Sun thank his fans for their post-breakup support here.
Kid Rock is taking out his frustration on a few dozen cans of Bud Light.
Late Monday night (April 3), the “Bad Reputation” singer posted a video of himself across his social media accounts, speaking directly to the camera. Wearing a white MAGA hat, the rock-rapper said that “Grandpa’s feeling a bit frisky today,” and promised to be as “clear and concise as possible” with his statement.
The “Devil Without a Cause” singer then lifted up a semi-automatic rifle and opened fire on three cases of Bud Light propped up on a wooden table. Ceasing his fire on the beer cans, Rock looked back into the camera to make his point clear: “F–k Bud Light, and f–k Anheuser-Busch.”
The video came shortly after trans activist Dylan Mulvaney teamed up with Anheuser-Busch to promote the brand’s Easy Carry Contest, posting a video of herself talking about the campaign and even receiving “possibly the best gift ever” — a commemorative can of Bud Light with her face on it.
Mulvaney’s video immediately sparked outrage from right-wing commentators, who lambasted the brand for working with a transgender influencer. Anheuser-Busch responded to the backlash in a statement to Fox News, saying the company works with “hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics and passion points,” and adding that Mulvaney’s commemorative can “was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”
The ongoing backlash comes at a time when transgender people are being targeted at a steady cadence by state legislatures around the U.S. Kentucky became the latest state to pass anti-trans legislation into law last week when lawmakers overrode Gov. Andy Beshear‘s veto of a bill banning gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18, while also compelling physicians to cease any ongoing gender-transition care for minors.
Billboard has reached out to Kid Rock, Dylan Mulvaney and Anheuser-Busch for comment.
Watch the Instagram videos below:
The second-annual FORMAT Festival will return to Bentonville, Arkansas on Sept. 22-24 with headliners Alanis Morissette, LCD Soundsystem and Leon Bridges. The event — whose name stands for “music art and technology” — will also feature sets from Modest Mouse, Jamie XX, Tash Sultana, Big Wild, Little Simz, Bob Moses, Poolside, Channel Tres, Paul Cauthen and more.
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Situated on the private Sugar Creek Airstrip, the fest in the heart of the Ozarks will once again incorporate unique performances, installations and art experiences from artists including Guerrilla Girls, JR’s Inside Out Project, Jeremy Deller, Ragnar Kjartansson, and Kameelah Janan Rasheed.
Ticket presale will begin Thursday (April 6) at 11 a.m. ET; fans can sign up for a presale code to get first access to three-day and one-day tickets and find out more about the art installations here.
Among the other acts on this year’s lineup are: Digable Planets, Madeline Edwards, Kari Faux, Theon Cross, Green Velvet, The Pharcyde, Nikki Lane, Sudan Archives, Franc Moody, Serpentwithfeet, Digitalism, Clasixx, Pedrito Martinez and Francois K, among others.
FORMAT takes place on a 250-acre of green space just minutes from downtown Bentonville, with two conventional music stages, as well as a number of unusual settings for performances with names including The Cube, Drag Me to the Disco, Next Door/Nova Heat and Smokey’s. There will also be underground discos and stages in the surrounding forest amid the art installations, as well as a Bizarre Bazaar with curated food, vendors, retail and experience booths, experimental light shows and therapeutic workshops according to a release.
Check out the full lineup below.
After earning his second Super Bowl ring earlier this year, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce just found the perfect way to celebrate his championship. The high-energy baller announced on Tuesday (April 4) that he’s behind the first-ever Kelce Jam, a music festival slated to take place on April 28 in Kansas City, Mo., with a lineup he curated from acts that have personal meaning for him.
Topping the bill is one of his old childhood neighbors who also happens to have blown up into a superstar, Machine Gun Kelly, who grew up down the street from Kelce in Cleveland.
“[I’ve] been following his success from the start of his career,” Kelce tells Billboard about of the “Emo Girl” rocker. “It’s been amazing to see a hometown hero selling out stadiums. So for me, MGK was a no-brainer and I personally drafted some of my favorite artists in the world alongside him.”
Those other acts include Loud Luxury, Rick Ross and special guest Tech N9ne. “Loud Luxury is one of the biggest DJ duos out there right now. Everyone loves [the pair’s 2020 single] ‘Body’ and they bring the energy, and I have no doubt they will get the crowd rocking,” the football star tells Billboard. Kelce also says that Ross is, of course, “the boss, a true legend,” and that there was no way he could throw a party in KC without one of the city’s hometown heroes, rapper Tech N9ne.
As for why he’s hopping into the already crowded festival space, Kelce says he wanted to time his event around the 2023 NFL draft, which will take place at Union Station in KC from April 27 to 29. “With the NFL Draft headed to Kansas City and as the perfect way to continue celebrating our Super Bowl victory, I am launching one of KC’s most unique festivals to date!” says the 33-year-old. “I really wanted to bring the whole city together and what better way to do so than with fire music, great food, tons of football attractions, interactive brand activations and so much more.”
Pre-sale opens on Friday (April 7) at 11 a.m. ET, with the general on-sale following at 1 p.m. ET. Check out the Kelce Jam website for more details on the show. “KC has supported me in immense ways throughout my career, and I wanted to throw a city wide celebration that truly represents the energy and people of this great city,” Kelce adds. “We are excited to grow this into one of KC’s biggest entertainment events with 20,000 attendees and who knows where we will bring it next!”
Kelce has teamed up with event producer Medium Rare, the company behind a number of pre-Super Bowl events, including Shaq’s Fun House with Shaquille O’Neal, Gronk Beach with Rob Gronkowski and Guy’s Flavortown Tailgate with Guy Fieri.
Courtesy Photo
Additional reporting by Anna Chan.
Even while on break, BTS scores a supremely fab week on the Billboard Hot 100.
As previously reported, Jimin’s “Like Crazy” blasts in at No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart (dated April 8), marking his first leader – and the first for a member of the superstar South Korean pop group. He’s also the first South Korean solo artist to lead the list.
With BTS having tallied six Hot 100 No. 1s, and Jimin notching his first, BTS joins The Beatles and The Supremes as the only groups with at least six leaders and at least one member having led the list solo.
The Beatles boast a record 20 Hot 100 No. 1s, while all four members have reigned solo: Paul McCartney (nine No. 1s), George Harrison (three), John Lennon and Ringo Starr (two each).
(Notably, on this date – April 4 – in 1964, The Beatles became the first act to monopolize the Hot 100’s entire top five. Drake, in 2021, and Taylor Swift, in 2022 – as she secured each spot in the top 10 – have each since matched the milestone.)
The Supremes amassed 12 Hot 100 leaders, while Diana Ross added six solo.
Here’s a recap of each group’s Hot 100 No. 1s and all the chart-toppers by their respective soloists.
BTS:
“My Universe,” with Coldplay, 2021
“Permission To Dance,” 2021
“Butter,” 2021
“Life Goes On,” 2020
“Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat),” with Jawsh 685 & Jason Derulo, 2020
“Dynamite,” 2020
Jimin:
“Like Crazy,” 2023
The Beatles:
“The Long and Winding Road”/“For You Blue,” 1970
“Let It Be,” 1970
“Come Together”/“Something,” 1969
“Get Back,” with Billy Preston, 1969
“Hey Jude,” 1968
“Hello Goodbye,” 1967-68
“All You Need Is Love,” 1967
“Penny Lane,” 1967
“Paperback Writer,” 1966
“We Can Work It Out,” 1966
“Yesterday,” 1965
“Help!,” 1965
“Ticket To Ride,” 1965
“Eight Days a Week,” 1965
“I Feel Fine,” 1964-65
“A Hard Day’s Night,” 1964
“Love Me Do,” 1964
“Can’t Buy Me Love,” 1964
“She Loves You,” 1964
“I Want To Hold Your Hand,” 1964
Paul McCartney:
“Say Say Say,” with Michael Jackson, 1983-84
“Ebony and Ivory,” with Stevie Wonder, 1982
“Coming Up (Live at Glasgow),” with Wings, 1980
“With a Little Luck” (Wings), 1978
“Silly Love Songs” (Wings), 1976
“Listen to What the Man Said” (Wings), 1975
“Band on the Run,” with Wings, 1974
“My Love,” with Wings, 1973
“Uncle Albert”/“Admiral Halsey,” with Linda McCartney, 1971
George Harrison:
“Got My Mind Set on You,” 1988
“Give Me Love – (Give Me Peace on Earth),” 1973
“My Sweet Lord”/“Isn’t It a Pity,” 1970
John Lennon:
“(Just Like) Starting Over,” 1980-81
“Whatever Gets You Thru the Night,” with the Plastic Ono Nuclear Band, 1974
Ringo Starr:
“You’re Sixteen,” 1974
“Photograph,” 1973
The Supremes:
“Someday We’ll Be Together” (Diana Ross & The Supremes), 1969
“Love Child” (Diana Ross & The Supremes), 1968
“The Happening,” 1967
“Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone,” 1967
“You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” 1966
“You Can’t Hurry Love,” 1966
“I Hear a Symphony,” 1965
“Back in My Arms Again,” 1965
“Stop! In the Name of Love,” 1965
“Come See About Me,” 1964
“Baby Love,” 1964
“Where Did Our Love Go,” 1964
Diana Ross:
“Endless Love,” with Lionel Richie, 1981
“Upside Down,” 1980
“Love Hangover,” 1976
“Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To),” 1976
“Touch Me in the Morning,” 1973
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” 1970
The Cure‘s Robert Smith continues to fight back against high concert ticket prices. After weeks of battling to knock out or knock down what he called Ticketmaster’s exorbitant extra fees for the band’s upcoming North American tour, Smith was at it again over the weekend.
Smith revealed that “approx. 7K tickets across approx 2200 orders have been cancelled.” The singer claimed those tickets were acquired with fake accounts and/or listed on secondary resale sites. “TM have identified specific locations from secondary postings,” he said. He then asked fans who think their tickets may have been wrongly cancelled to reach out to TM fan support (@TMFanSupport).
The Cure leader also had another notion about the ongoing imbroglio over ticket fees and the secondary market, writing, “A WEEKEND THOUGHT… THIS ONGOING TM ‘CONVERSATION’ IS NOT TAKING PLACE IN A VACUUM… THE SYSTEM THAT VALUES PROFIT OVER PEOPLE IS REALLY WHAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED…”
To date, spokespeople for Ticketmaster have not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on Smith’s ongoing battle against fees and the secondary market.
In the lead-up to the veteran group’s upcoming The Lost World North American tour, The Cure had hoped to keep seat-buying fair and simple for their fans by opting out of dynamic pricing and shielding against scalpers with non-transferable tickets. But when the sale opened mid-March, customers were disappointed to find that the Ticketmaster had tacked on sky-high fees to tickets that totaled more than the price of the actual tickets themselves.
At the time, Smith went on a similarly all-caps Twitter rant, writing that he was “AS SICKENED AS YOU ALL ARE BY TODAY’S TICKETMASTER ‘FEES’ DEBACLE” before promising to investigate what went wrong. Soon after, he took to social media again to announce that Ticketmaster would be offering refunds and lower fees.
Last week Smith warned fans of a scam in which scalpers offered to sell account login details to get around TM transfer limitations. ANY/ALL TICKETS OBTAINED IN THIS WAY WILL BE CANCELED, AND ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL NOT BE REFUNDED,” he wrote, adding that the fees from those tickets will be donated to human rights organization Amnesty International.
The Lost World tour is slated to kick off on May 10 at New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center and run through a July 1 gig at Miami’s Miami-Dade Arena.
See Smith’s latest tweets below.
‘IHBT’ #? “Approx 7k tickets across approx 2200 orders have been cancelled. These are tickets acquired with fake accounts / listed on secondary resale sites. TM have identified specific locations from secondary postings” #ShowsOfALostWorld2023— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 31, 2023
A WEEKEND THOUGHT… THIS ONGOING TM ‘CONVERSATION’ IS NOT TAKING PLACE IN A VACUUM… THE SYSTEM THAT VALUES PROFIT OVER PEOPLE IS REALLY WHAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED… X— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 31, 2023
It may be the last day of March, but we’re going out with a bang when it comes to new music thanks to releases by Jisoo, Boygenius, Chlöe and more.
The BLACKPINK singer became the final member of the the girl group to go solo with her single album ME, featuring songs “Flower” and “All Eyes on Me,” while Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers reunited for their full-length album The Record a full half-decade after forming their alt-rock supergroup for their self-titled 2018 EP.
Chlöe Bailey also unveiled her debut solo album, In Pieces, on the heels of previously released singles “Pray It Away,” Chris Brown collab “How Does It Feel” and the piano-driven title track. Plus, Tyler, the Creator re-upped on his 2021 opus Call Me If You Get Lost by dropping Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale — a deluxe edition with eight new tracks not on the original album, including single “Dogwood” and collaborations with Vince Staples (“Stuntman”), A$AP Rocky (“Wharf Talk”) and YG (the 2020 demo version of “Boyfriend, Girlfriend”).
Meanwhile, on the new song front, Taylor Swift stripped down her bombastic Midnights opener “Lavender Haze” for a ghostly acoustic version that could sound easily at home on her 2020 album Evermore.
Becky G and Peso Pluma delivered a horn-blasted Spanish-language duet with “Chanel,” and Charlie Puth teamed up with Dan + Shay for their boundary-setting ballad “That’s Not How This Works.” (A promised remix with Sabrina Carpenter is still a couple of weeks away.) Plus, rising U.K. pop star Maisie Peters offered yet another irresistible sneak peek of her upcoming sophomore album The Good Witch with the triumphant “Lost the Breakup.”
Vote for your favorite release in Billboard‘s latest new music Friday poll below.
The Coachella Valley in Indio, CA will be the epicenter of metal this fall when some of the greatest hard rock bands of all time converge for the first-ever PowerTrip Festival. The three-night Goldenvoice-promoted event will kick off on Oct. 6 with a double-bill featuring Guns N’ Roses and Iron Maiden, according to a release announcing the event on Thursday morning (March 30).
Night two will find AC/DC sharing the stage with Ozzy Osbourne, in the metal legend’s first announced show since Ozzy revealed that he will no longer tour due to health concerns. The final night (Oct. 8) pairs Metallica with Tool. In the release, Goldenvoice promised that the nighttime double-headliner shows will have “unmatched concert production [that] will amplify the experience beyond the traditional stadium or parking lot concert norm.”
Goldenvoice, which is also behind the iconic Indio-based Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Stagecoach country fest, teased the announcement on Wednesday with a cryptic post featuring the show’s metal fingers logo.
Three-day general admission tickets start at $599 (plus fees), with upgrades available to The Pit, reserved floor and grandstand seating options, as well as a number of VIP packages; click here to learn more and register for first access to tickets beginning today at 1 p.m. ET.
In February, Osbourne, 74, posted a note to fans on social media, saying, “This is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to share with my loyal fans…” In it, he announced that his touring days have come to an end and that his scheduled 2023 European/UK tour dates have been canceled. “Believe me when I say that the thought of disappointing my fans really f—s me up, more than you will ever know.”
“My team is currently coming up with ideas for where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city or country to country,” he continued in the note. “My goal is to get back onstage as soon as possible.” Ozzy previously revealed that though his voice is “fine,” after three operations, stem cell surgeries and other procedures to deal with a spinal injury he suffered four years ago he can no longer deal with the rigors of touring.
Check out the event poster below.
Sheryl Crow, Margo Price and Old Crow Medicine Show singer Ketch Secor performed at the “Nashville Remembers” vigil in the town’s Public Square Park on Wednesday night (March 29) honoring the lives of the three 9-year-old children and three adult staff members who were killed at the city’s Covenent School on Monday.
In the wake of Monday’s mass shooting, Crow responded to a tweet from Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s comment that her office was “ready to assist” by suggesting, “If you are ready to assist, please pass sensible gun laws so that the children of Tennessee and America at large might attend school without risk of being gunned down.”
Crow performed first, playing a solemn “I Shall Believe” while seated at a keyboard to a hushed crowd, ending with a bit of Dionne Warwick’s “What the World Needs Now is Love,” according to the AP, while Price thundered an emotional a cappella cover of The Band’s “Tears of Rage,” according to Rolling Stone. Secor played the banjo — with harmonica accompaniment from his son — as the audience joined him in a sing-along to the anthem of the Grand Ole Opry, the Carter Family’s “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By).”
The performances ended with Secor and Price joining for “Amazing Grace” and “I’ll Fly Away.” The 30-minute event included the repeated recitation of the victims’ names: 9-year-old students Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs, as well as custodian Mike Hill, 61; the school’s headmaster, Katherine Koonce, 60; and substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61; the latter were reportedly close friends of Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s wife, Maria, and Peak was scheduled to have dinner with the Lee’s on Monday night. Hill’s seven children were also on hand at the event.
Price is raising funds for Everytown for Gun Safety, writing in an emotional Instagram post that, “It doesn’t have to be this way, yet, guns are the leading cause of death for children in the US. In Tennessee, @govbilllee has made it easier than ever to procure weapons when he passed permit less carry in 2021. @marshablackburn has accepted over 1 million dollars from the NRA. Please vote them out and also donate to @everytown and let’s help end this nightmare. Children shouldn’t go to school and fear for their lives.”
The day after the shooting, Secor posted an emotional video in which he said the community was struggling to understand a reality that includes “murder in our school systems with assault rifles and kids dying in classes,” and imaging how heart-wrenching it must have been for the parents of the fourth graders who had to identify the bodies of their children.
“We’re not gonna be pushed around anymore by people that think that the right to have an assault rifle okay,” he added through tears. “F–k your assault rifle. If you need to defend your house with an assault rifle you must be crazy… You need a storm the beaches on D-day weapon to protect your family? F–k you!… Never again, this has to stop.”
First Lady Jill Biden was also on hand — but did not speak — at the event, where Mayor John Cooper called the shooting the “city’s worst day.” A number of Nashville musicians spoke out in grief and anger after the nation’s 132nd mass shooting so far this year, carried out by a 28-year-old former student at the private religious charter school while armed with one military-grade semi-automatic rifle and two handguns.
As conservative politicians mostly offered up thoughts and prayers and made comments including “emotion doesn’t solve problems,” Pres. Biden once again urged Congress to take any action to curb the easy access to military-style weapons. “We have to do more to stop gun violence. It’s ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation — ripping at the very soul of the nation. And we — we have to do more to protect our schools so they aren’t turned into prisons,” Biden said in remarks following the 17th school shooting so far this year.
Biden once again urged Congress to pass his assault weapons ban, an action that GOP lawmakers have steadfastly refused to take on.