Touring
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Post Malone announced the title and release date for his upcoming fifth album, Austin, on Tuesday (May 16). The MC’s follow-up to 2022’s Twelve Carat Toothache will drop on July 28 and be preceded by the single, “Mourning,” which is due out this Friday (May 19). Posty also revealed the dates for his upcoming If […]
Apple Music wants to guide you to your next concert. On Tuesday (May 16), the platform launched a pair of new live music discovery tools intended to deliver users to global shows. The first of these tools lives on Apple Maps, where the service has launched guides for 14 global cities — Chicago, Detroit, Los […]
Jimmie Allen‘s management company The Familie and booking agency UTA both announced they were suspending their work with the country singer-songwriter on Friday (May 12), following a new lawsuit alleging him of rape, sexual assault and battery.
“Given the nature of the allegations in the lawsuit filed on Thursday, The Familie has decided to suspend management activities with Jimmie Allen effective immediately,” a spokesperson for the management firm told Billboard in a statement. The Familie began working with Allen in 2022, after he parted ways with his former management company, Wide Open Music.
“We have suspended our representation of Jimmie Allen due to the recent allegations against him, which we take seriously,” said a UTA spokesperson in a separate statement.
In a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Tennessee federal court, an anonymous “Jane Doe” accuser says that Allen “manipulated and used his power” over her job as a day-to-day manager in order to “sexually harass and abuse her” over a period of 18 months from 2020 to 2022.
“Plaintiff expressed in words and actions that Jimmie Allen’s conduct was unwelcome, including pushing him away, sitting where he could not reach her, telling him she was uncomfortable and no, and crying uncontrollably,” the woman’s attorneys wrote in the complaint. “However, Allen made clear that plaintiff’s job was dependent on her staying silent about his conduct.”
Allen denied the allegations in a statement to Billboard, saying, “It is deeply troubling and hurtful that someone I counted as one of my closest friends, colleagues and confidants would make allegations that have no truth to them whatsoever. I acknowledge that we had a sexual relationship — one that lasted for nearly two years. During that time she never once accused me of any wrongdoing, and she spoke of our relationship and friendship as being something she wanted to continue indefinitely.”
The artist continued to say he intends to “mount a vigorous defense to her claims and take all other legal action necessary to protect my reputation.”
Since the report came to light, Allen has also been suspended by his record label, BBR Music Group, which includes halting of promotion for his latest radio single, “Be Alright,” which fell 57-60 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart dated May 20. He has also been pulled from the performer lineup at CMA Fest, which is slated from June 8-11 in downtown Nashville.
The suit follows previous news that Allen and his wife Alexis Gale announced their separation on April 21; at that time, they also shared that Gale is pregnant with their third child.
Assistance on this story provided by Melinda Newman.
Stories about sexual assault allegations can be traumatizing for survivors of sexual assault. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can reach out to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization provides free, confidential support to sexual assault victims. Call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) or visit the anti-sexual violence organization’s website for more information. (edited)
Get ready to rattle and hum if the previously announced run of U2 Las Vegas residency dates didn’t work for you, because the band has added eight more shows to U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere, which was originally announced in a Super Bowl commercial. Citing “unprecedented demand,” the band — who have nearly two […]
Beyoncé‘s long-awaited Renaissance World Tour kicked off on Wednesday night (May 10) in Stockholm, Sweden, with a jaw-dropping, three-hour showcase featuring dozens of career-spanning hits. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Queen Bey celebrated the big day on Wednesday night (May 10) with a teaser clip featuring several scenes from […]
Beyoncé‘s Renaissance World Tour kicked off in Stockholm on Wednesday (May 10). The star gave a dazzling, three-hour showcase of tracks from recently released LP Renaissance, iconic hits from her solo career across two decades, and even delighted fans with a few songs from her time in Destiny’s Child. In addition to the hits, the […]
Beyoncé‘s long-awaited Renaissance World Tour kicked off on Wednesday night (May 10) with an opening show at Stockholm’s Friends Arena, and the superstar surprised fans with robotic dancing arms, a musical nod to Britney Spears and much more.
She also did not disappoint when it came to her setlist. The jaw-dropping, 37-song set featured a wide range of tracks from throughout her illustrious career, with a heavy focus on her 2022 album, Renaissance, of course.
Night one included every one of Renaissance‘s 16 tracks, three songs from 2003’s Dangerously in Love, three songs from 2006’s B’Day, one song from 2008’s I Am… Sasha Fierce, five songs from 2011’s 4, three songs from 2013’s Beyoncé, two from 2016’s Lemonade and many more. She even through in some Destiny’s Child hits, Lion King: The Gift tracks and some of her popular collaborations.
The Renaissance World Tour will continue throughout Europe until July 9, with stops in London, Barcelona, Brussels and Amsterdam before heading to Toronto for two dates at Rogers Centre. The tour heads to the United States, starting with Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field and making stops in Chicago, East Rutherford, N.J., Atlanta, Houston and more before concluding Sept. 27 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
See below for the full setlist from the tour’s opening night in Stockholm, Sweden.
“Dangerously in Love”
Album: Dangerously in Love (2003)
“Flaws and All”
Album: B’Day (2006)
“1+1” / “I’d Rather Go Blind” / “I’m Goin’ Down”
Album for “1+1”: 4 (2011)
Etta James’ 1968 song “I’d Rather Go Blind,” covered by Beyoncé in 2008’s Cadillac Records
Mary J. Blige’s 1994 song “I’m Goin’ Down”
“I Care”
Album: 4 (2011)
“I’m That Girl”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Cozy”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Alien Superstar” / “Sweet Dreams”
Album for “Alien Superstar”: Renaissance (2022)
Album for “Sweet Dreams”: I Am … Sasha Fierce (2008)
“Lift Off”
Album: Kanye West & Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne (2011)
“7/11”
Album: Beyoncé: Platinum Edition (2014)
“Cuff It”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Energy”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Break My Soul”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Formation”
Album: Lemonade (2016)
“Diva”
Album: I Am … Sasha Fierce (2008)
“Run the World (Girls)”
Album: 4 (2011)
“My Power”
Album: The Lion King: The Gift (2019)
“Black Parade”
Album: The Lion King: The Gift deluxe edition (2020)
“Savage (Remix)”
Album: Megan Thee Stallion’s Suga (2020)
“Church Girl”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Get Me Bodied”
Album: B’Day (2006)
“Before I Let Go”
Album: Homecoming: The Live Album (2019)
“Rather Die Young”
Album: 4 (2011)
“Love on Top”
Album: 4 (2011)
“Crazy in Love”
Album: “Dangerously in Love” (2003)
“Green Light”
Album: B’Day (2006)
“Freedom”
Album: Lemonade (2016)
“Plastic Off the Sofa”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Virgo’s Groove”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Naughty Girl” / “Say My Name” / “Rocket”
Album for “Naughty Girl”: Dangerously in Love (2003)
Album for “Say My Name”: Destiny’s Child’s The Writing’s on the Wall (1999)
Album for “Rocket”: Beyoncé (2013)
“Move”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Heated”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Thique”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“All Up in Your Mind”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Drunk in Love”
Album: Beyoncé (2013)
“America Has a Problem”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Pure/Honey”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
“Summer Renaissance”
Album: Renaissance (2022)
The price tag on opening the much-anticipated Sphere arena in Las Vegas is now at a whopping $2.3 billion after the company added an additional $125 million recently, according to documents filed with the SEC on Wednesday (May 10).
That’s more than $1 billion increase from the original projection of $1.2 billion when the Sphere was first announced in 2018, although industry experts say the more realistic estimate came the following year when architects from architecture firm AECON estimated the actual cost of the project would likely be $1.7 billion.
The project’s price has continued to rise since breaking ground in 2021 due to negative effects on the construction business caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the the one-of-a-kind entertainment complex’s unusual nature and design. Company officials cited the “overall complexity of the project” for the current increase while noting they had made “significant progress,” including completing the “LED installation on the Exosphere earlier in the third quarter” that will allow the venue to make dramatic design and appearance changes at the push of a button. Company officials have also made significant progress building out “the venue’s interior spaces, including the suites and hospitality areas,” the filing states.
U2 will open the venue on Sept. 29 with a five-week, 17-show run that has already generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales with tickets averaging between $1,200 to $1,500 apiece.
On March 30, Madison Square Garden Entertainment finalized plans to spin off its live entertainment business, and launch a new company called Sphere Entertainment Co. that included the Sphere venue, as well as its MSG’s sports television network MSG Networks and Tao Group Hospitality. Shortly after, the company sold its majority interest in Tao Group to Mohari Hospitality for about $300 million.
As of Tuesday, the Sphere Entertainment Co. had over $230 million in cash available, according to the SEC filing, thanks in part to the Tao Group sale, as well as $65 million in funds in a delayed draw term loan facility with Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. The recently spun-off company reported revenues of $363.3 million for its first quarter as Sphere Entertainment Company — a 3% increase of $10.8 million as compared to the same business sectors in prior year quarter. The company reported a 1.1% decrease in operating loss to $70.3 million and a 2.1% increase in adjusted operating income to $19.4 million.
Morgan Wallen shared some hard news with fans on Tuesday morning (May 9) in an Instagram video in which he revealed that he needs to take six weeks off from his current tour. “I’m just gonna go ahead and get straight to it. I got some bad news from my doctors at the Vanderbilt Voice Center yesterday. After taking 10 days of vocal rest I performed three shows last weekend in Florida and by the third one I felt terrible,” the singer said.
“So I went in and go scoped yesterday and they told me that I re-injured my vocal cords and that I have vocal fold trauma,” he added, swallowing hard. Wallen said his doctor’s advice was that he go on vocal rest for six weeks. “So that’s what I’m gon’ do,” he said, noting that that his team advised him not to talk at all, but that if he needed to it was okay for something like his announcement.
He added that he tore his lat muscle while on tour in Australia and while he’s been trying to work through that injury in private, the upcoming time off should help with that issue as well. Wallen said his team is almost finished rescheduling all his current and upcoming dates, with news about all the shows expected soon. Following last week’s trio of shows in Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and Tampa, Wallen was not scheduled to perform again until a May 18 gig at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, PA.
In addition to two shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, Wallen had gigs on tap in Austin and Houston, TX on May 24 and 26, a pair of shows in Atlanta on June 2-3, an appearance at the Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam in Panama City Beach, FL, two shows at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater in Virginia Beach, VA on June 8-9 and a June 10 spot at the Carolina Country Music Fest in Myrtle Beach, SC on June 10. The singer was booked to play a series of stadium shows in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit through the end of June. At press time spokespeople for Wallen had not announced which shows have been impacted or potential replacement dates.
In addition to his headlining shows, Wallen is also forced to bow out of the Thursday’s (May 11) ACM Awards and the ACM’s Lifting Lives event on Wednesday (May 10), where he was slated to take the stage alongside Hardy, Lainey Wilson, Ernest and Bailey Zimmerman at the annual charity function for those struggling with health issues.
“They told me that if I do this the right way, I’ll get back to 100% and they also said that if I don’t listen and I keep singing, then I’ll permanently damage my voice,” Wallen said of his doctor’s advice. “So for the longevity of my career, this is just a choice I had to make. I hate it. But I love you guys, and I appreciate all the support that you always give me.”
According to a release from Wallen’s spokesperson, tickets for the original dates will be honored for all rescheduled performances and a 30-day refund window will open at the point of purchase when the new dates are announced; missed festival dates will be rescheduled for 2024.
Wallen made news last month after canceling a planned show at Oxford, MS’s Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on April 23 after his opening acts performed and just moments before he was to take the stage. “I thought I was going to be good to go and I just wasn’t,” he said in a message to the 60,000 disappointed fans who were sent home that night without seeing him.
See Wallen’s Instagram statement below.
The Cure‘s Robert Smith is not done fighting the good fight on behalf of his band’s fans. The British goth rock legend who is about the launch his Shows of a Lost World North American tour in New Orleans on Wednesday (May 10) posted a series of tweets on Monday (May 8) in which he lashed out at a bill under consideration by the Louisiana legislature (HB 341) that would restrict the resale of tickets between fans.
“THE LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE (HB #341) IS CONSIDERING A RESELLERS-BACKED BILL TO BAN FAN-TO-FAN EXCHANGES (LIKE THE ONE WE ARE USING ON OUR 2023 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TO TRY AND LIMIT/STOP SCALPING AND BOTS),” Smith said of the bill sponsored by Republican Paula P. Davis that has already passed the GOP-dominated State House which would allow tickets to concerts and sporting events to be legally resold at a profit under specified conditions.
Smith noted that the bill is now headed to the State Senate — which also features a GOP majority — with a hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning. “LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS! PLEASE DON’T PASS THIS BILL! EMPOWER THE ARTISTS, NOT THE SCALPERS AND THE BOTS!,” the singer wrote. “COMMERCIAL LOBBYING CORRUPTS DEMOCRACY X.”
Am abstract of the bill reads: “Proposed law provides for certain definitions with respect to event ticketing. Additionally, proposed law defines ‘nontransferable ticketing’ as prohibiting the resell or exchange of a ticket or limiting the ticket holder to exchange the ticket exclusively through means provided by the ticket issuer. Proposed law provides that a ticket issuer may use a nontransferable ticketing system only if the ticket holder is offered to purchase the same ticket in a transferable form at the initial time of sale.”
Smith’s issues with the proposed bill make sense given his recent broadsides against what he called Ticketmaster’s exorbitant extra fees on tickets for the band’s tour. Earlier this year the bandleader said he’d hoped to keep seat-buying fair and simple for fans by opting out of TM’s dynamic pricing model while shielding them against scalpers with non-transferable tickets. But when the sale opened mid-March, disappointed customers found that TM had added sky-high fees to tickets that sometimes totaled more than the face-value price of the original tickets.
In a series of follow-up tweets, Smith revealed that approximately 7,000 tickets across more than 2,000 orders had been canceled in early April, with the bandleader claiming those tickets were acquired with fake accounts and/or listed on secondary resale sites.
See Smith’s tweets below.
THE LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE (HB #341) IS CONSIDERING A RESELLERS-BACKED BILL TO BAN FAN-TO-FAN EXCHANGES (LIKE THE ONE WE ARE USING ON OUR 2023 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TO TRY AND LIMIT/STOP SCALPING AND BOTS). THE BILL HAS ALREADY PASSED THE HOUSE…— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) May 9, 2023
…AND IS UP FOR CONSIDERATION IN THE STATE SENATE. THERE IS A HEARING THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING… LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS! PLEASE DON’T PASS THIS BILL! EMPOWER THE ARTISTS, NOT THE SCALPERS AND THE BOTS! #ShowsOfALostWorld2023— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) May 9, 2023
COMMERCIAL LOBBYING CORRUPTS DEMOCRACY X— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) May 9, 2023