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Among the more unlikely global hitmakers of 2023, Jack Black scores his first entry on the April 29-dated Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, one week after debuting on the Billboard Global 200. “Peaches,” Black’s contribution to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, arrives at No. 91 on the former chart and zooms from No. 106 to No. 48 on the latter.
In the week ending April 20, “Peaches” yielded 18.6 million streams and sold 8,000 downloads worldwide, according to Luminate. Those figures represent a 58% streaming increase and a 10% dip in sales from one week prior.
Concurrently, the original motion picture soundtrack for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which includes “Peaches,” ascends to No. 1 on the U.S.-based Soundtracks chart (9,000 equivalent album units).
“Peaches” was released on April 7, following Mario’s April 5 premiere. In its first week, the song took 70% of its sales and 49% of its streams from the United States. In its second week, those percentages slipped to 68% and 43%, respectively, with the song increasing its international reach as the film continued atop the global box office.
Mario grossed a historic $376 million upon its opening, breaking down to 54% domestic and 46% international. Its second weekend added $194.9 million to its total, and in the weekend of April 21-23, another $132 million. From frame to frame, its international earnings climbed from 46% to 52% to 55%, similar to its standout song’s streams growing from 51% to 57%.
On next week’s May 6-dated global charts, based on the tracking week of April 21-27, international streams for “Peaches” should further outdo its domestic clicks as Mario’s box office followed the same path in its third weekend. The film’s strongest non-U.S. markets include Mexico ($66.2 million through April 24, according to Box Office Mojo), the U.K. ($51.7 million) and Germany ($38 million).
Soundtrack songs have a long history on the Billboard charts. Even within the still-brief two-year-plus history of the Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S., Academy Award winning songs by Billie Eilish, Eminem and a Lady Gaga–Bradley Cooper collab have made their stamp. Meanwhile, Black’s global triumph pairs blockbuster associations with the comedy-tinged success of Bo Burnham’s “All Eyes on Me” and “Bezos I,” both of which hit the Global 200 in 2021 on the back of his Netflix special Inside. Black has a history of his own on Billboard’s comedy charts as a member of Tenacious D, though “Peaches” marks his first solo chart hit.
The Kardashians are returning for season three of their popular Hulu reality series, and the first trailer dropped on Thursday (April 27), highlighting some darker moments the famous sisters have faced over the past year.
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Most notably, Kim Kardashian is seen struggling through her divorce from Kanye West, breaking down in tears when her sister Khloé asks if she’s OK. “I don’t know how Kim handles everything with her ex-husband,” Kendall Jenner tells the camera, before a scene in which matriarch Kris offers Kim support at a moment where she feels “the weight of the world” on her shoulders.
“He has made up the most insane narrative. We stay silent through all the lies for my kids,” Kim tells the camera while crying. While the trailer doesn’t specify what exact “narrative” Kim is referring to, Ye publicly alleged in February 2022 that the SKIMS founder had tried to “kid nap” their daughter Chicago for the child’s birthday, claiming that she hadn’t invited him to the birthday party and didn’t tell him where it was.
Kim later addressed his public criticisms. “From the beginning I have wanted nothing but a healthy relationship because it is what is best for our children and it saddens me that Kanye continues to make it impossible every step of the way,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories at the time. “I wish to handle all matters regarding our children privately.”
Season three of The Kardashians premieres on Hulu on May 25. Watch the new trailer below, which also addresses Khloé’s melanoma scare and the sisters setting unrealistic beauty standards.
Step aside, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Bashir Salahuddin has treated A Star Is Born fans to a new, very different version of “Shallow.”
On the next episode of That’s My Jam, premiering Monday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, the Top Gun: Maverick actor took on the “Barry-oke” challenge, in which stars sing a popular song in the style of two famous Barrys: Barry White and Barry Gibb. When Gibb’s face appears above the song’s lyrics, the contestant must sing in a high-pitched tone to mimic the Bee Gees superstar, and if White’s face appears, the contestant channels the “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love Baby” singer’s distinctly deep vocals.
Salahuddin seamlessly flowed through pitches during the game, even switching between Barrys mid-word.
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Season 2 of NBC’s variety show premiered in early March. The show, hosted and executive produced by Jimmy Fallon, features challenges inspired by popular Tonight Show musical segments. In each episode, two teams of two celebrities compete for a charity of their choice in a series of music, dance and trivia-based games and musical performances.
Watch Salahuddin’s Barry-oke exclusively via Billboard below, and catch the full episode of That’s My Jam on Monday, May 1, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, before it becomes available to stream the next day on Peacock, which you can sign up for here. You can also catch the entire first season and previous episodes on Peacock.
Kelly Clarkson‘s Kellyoke covers are always incredible, and — despite the title of her latest song of choice — her Thursday (April 27) performance is no exception. The three-time Grammy winner sounded absolutely stunning while passionately belting out Paramore‘s hit bittersweet love song “The Only Exception,” singing on stage with no accompaniment other than a solo acoustic guitarist.
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Just like Hayley Williams does on the original track, Clarkson starts off soft and effortlessly before ramping up the intensity for the choruses and angst-filled bridge. “I’ve got a tight grip on realitybut I can’t let go of what’s in front of me right here,” she belts, hitting each high note with crystal clear resonance. “I know you’re leaving in the morning when you wake up/ Leave me with some kind of proof it’s not a dream.”
Released in 2009, “The Only Exception” holds up as one of Paramore’s biggest hitss. The soft-rock ballad peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2010 and remained on the chart for 20 weeks; it also earned the band a Grammy nod for best pop performance by a duo/group with vocals in 2011.
Williams and bandmates Taylor York and Zac Farro are currently touring in support of their first group album in nearly six years, the February-released Billboard 200 No. 2 This Is Why. The global stint included an opening slot for the first couple shows of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Glendale, Ariz.
Clarkson is also about to make a comeback of her own. She also hasn’t released a proper (non-Christmas) album since 2017, but that’s set to change when Chemistry drops June 23. Earlier this month, she released the album’s double lead singles, “Me” and “Mine,” the latter of which she performed live for the first time on Kellyoke.
Watch Kelly Clarkson nail Paramore’s “The Only Exception” below:
The 2023 Tribeca Festival announced the star-studded lineup for its gala events and the opening, closing and centerpiece selections on Thursday (April 27). This year’s fest will kick off on June 7 with the North American premiere of Kiss the Future, a documentary following a group of underground musicians and creatives during the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo and the 1997 U2 concert celebrating the liberation of the Bosnian capital.
The doc, produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Sarah Anthony — and featuring U2’s Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton — will officially open the 12-day event’s theme of artists-activists.
“We know U2’s marquee is helpful in getting the lives of these local heroes to a wider audience, but even at my most puffed up I couldn’t have imagined our tiny role being given so much care, attention, and screen time by Nenad Cicin-Sain,” U2 singer Bono said in a statement. “If defiance is the essence of romance, then the people of Sarajevo are the most romantic figures. Viva Sarajevo!”
Damon added that he and childhood friend and producer/writing partner Affleck are proud that Kiss the Future was selected to open this year’s festival. “We are grateful to the people of Sarajevo and to U2 for giving us the opportunity to help tell this special story,” he said in a statement. “Though this event happened almost 30 years ago, we feel it has strong relevance to today’s world, serving as a powerful reminder that human creativity can provide a powerful antidote to even the most horrific of situations.”
The Centerpiece Gala will spotlight the NY premiere of Disney/Pixar’s Elemental, as well as musical documentaries about Carlos Santana (Carlos), Cyndi Lauper (Let the Canary Sing) and French Montana (For Khadija), with each artist performing after the screenings. Megan Thee Stallion will also be on hand for a Storyteller’s conversation on June 14.
“Music is an instrumental form of storytelling, and the Tribeca Festival is thrilled to weave dynamic performances into our Gala events. Our lineup features the best of soul, rock & roll, pop, and hip-hop,” Tribeca Festival Director and VP of Programming Cara Cusuamno said in a statement. “We hope our audiences are inspired by activism in art and riled up by the electrifying acts paired with the screenings.”
This year’s festival will take place from June 7-18 in New York and feature 109 films, including documentaries about Alicia Keys, Gogol Bordello, Milli Vanilli, Gloria Gaynor, Biz Markie, the Indigo Girls and Tierra Whack.
Spoiler Alert: The following story contains the identities of the two contestants who were eliminated on Wednesday night’s (April 26) episode of The Masked Singer.
The “Battle of the Saved” night of The Masked Singer amped up the drama on Wednesday (April 26) when a trio of season 9 contestants who’d gotten a second chance earlier in the season — Medusa, Gargoyle and Mantis — squared off to move on to the next round. The night began with Medusa crushing Shawn Mendes’ “Mercy,” which judge Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg said was so good it “alone could win this.”
Gargoyle was next, taking on Usher and Pitbull’s “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love,” followed by Mantis rocking through The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me.” After the audience vote, the first one to get sent packing was Mantis, who was revealed to be actor Lou Diamond Phillips, no stranger to the music game thanks to his breakout role as Ritchie Valens in the 1987 musical biopic La Bamba and roles on Broadway in the 1996 revival of The King and I.
Following a head-to-head-battle with Medusa on Fall Out Boy’s “Centuries,” Gargoyle was next to fall, with the reveal unmasking Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen. The pair joined this season’s other eliminated celebs including: Dick Van Dyke (Gnome), Sara Evans (Mustang), Howie Mandel (Rock Lobster), Debbie Gibson (Night Owl), Grandmaster Flash (Polar Bear), Michael Bolton (Wolf), Malin Akerman (Squirrel), Lele Pons (Jackalope), Alexa Bliss (Axolotl), Holly Robinson Peete (Fairy), George Wendt (Moose), Christine Quinn (Scorpio), Dee Snider (Doll), Alicia Witt (Dandelion) and Melissa Joan Hart (Lamp).
Next week’s British-themed quarter finals episode will celebrate the upcoming coronation of King Charles III with the four remaining singers — Macaw, California Roll, UFO and Medusa — competing for a spot in the semi-finals.
Check out Mantis and Gargoyle’s unmasked interviews below.
Halle Bailey is gearing up to make her Disney debut in the live-action version of The Little Mermaid next month, and ahead of the movie’s official release, fans were treated to her rendition of “Part of Your World” on Wednesday (April 26).
In a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, the singer — one-half of sister duo Chloe x Halle — revealed that she tried to keep her version of the track as close to Jodi Benson’s original in the 1989 animated film.
“Every time I hear Jodi Benson sing it, the nostalgia that I get is just amazing and it fills me up with so much joy,” she told the host. “I get goosebumps all over so I was very excited to do my own rendition of this song and try my very best to give the song justice, you know, because it’s an amazing work of art. I took inspiration from the original, really based off of the amazing base that we had of the original already.”
Bailey continued: “Jodi Benson is an iconic singer and she’s just such a lovely person inside and out as well. So when you are redoing a song that’s already great, you just have to really try your best to honor the original, as well as not be afraid to make it your own. So that’s truly what I tried to do.”
Leading up to the release of The Little Mermaid, the 23-year-old revealed that she has had some issues with controlling her nerves before the premiere. “I’m a little bit nervous just because this has been so long in the making. I mean, I auditioned for this film when I was 18, and I turned 23 this year,” she said. “Now that it’s finally here, I’m like, whoa, I can’t believe it. And it’s a very, very big pinch-me moment. I’m so excited. And I just can’t wait for people to see what we did to this film.”
Listen to Bailey’s version of “Part of Your World” in the video below.
Catch her in the fridge right where the ice be, because Selena Gomez has just snagged another Emmy nomination! This time, the singer-actress’ HBO Max cooking show, Selena + Chef, has received a 2023 Daytime Emmy nod for outstanding culinary series. Nominations were announced Tuesday (April 26).
The star is up against some stiff competition from some celebrated food personalities. The other cooking shows nominated in the category are Andrew Zimmern’s Family Dinner, Martha Stewart’s Martha Cooks, Jose Andres and Family in Spain, and Roadfood: Discovering America One Dish at a Time. The winner will be announced during the 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards, which will air live June 16 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Selena + Chef is currently available to stream on HBO Max. The most recent season — the show’s fourth — features the star learning how to cook from various all-star chefs at a Malibu beach house. As with previous seasons, the chefs on each episode highlight a different charity to benefit. (The program has so far raised $400,000 for 26 non-profit organizations.)
This is Gomez’s second Emmy nod. She received a nomination in 2022 as an executive producer for the hit Hulu series Only Murders in the Building, which was up for best comedy series. She did not receive an acting nomination for her portrayal of Mabel Mora, while co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short were both nominated in the best actor in a comedy series for their roles on the show.
Martin and the rest of the Only Murders team were disappointed by Gomez’s acting snub. “Marty and I, and the whole team at ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ are thrilled with our nominations,” he said in a statement to Billboard at the time. “We’re also loving that our crucial partner Selena Gomez is recognized as a producer in the Best Comedy Series category.” But, he went on to tell The New York Times, “We’re dismayed that Selena was not nominated because she’s so crucial to our performances, really.”
Jimmy Fallon doesn’t think Tucker Carlson is ever returning to Fox News, like ever. During his Tuesday night (April 26) opening monologue, the Tonight Show host employed the perfect breakup song to describe the conservative media personality’s messy split from the news network: Taylor Swift‘s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
Fallon started the bit by noting Fox News’ decision to let Carlson go following a couple of lawsuits, one of which exposed him for disparaging his colleagues. Another, filed in March by his ex-employee Abby Grossberg, accused him of sexism on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
“When asked about the split, Tucker had some very interesting things to say,” Fallon joked before cutting away to a highly edited video piecing together clips from episodes of Carlson’s show. Complete with background music, the final product shows him “singing” the chorus of Swift’s 2012 smash.
“We are never ever getting back together / You go talk to your friends talk to my friends talk to me,” Carlson mechanically says in the Mod Podge of clips.
“There you go,” Fallon shrugged after the video finished rolling. “Thanks for clearing that up.”
Up until Monday (April 24), Carlson had been a top-rated host at Fox News since 2016. He has not yet commented on his departure, while Fox has only released a brief statement thanking him “for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
Watch Jimmy Fallon’s hilarious take on Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” above.
April 26 marks a decade since Country Music Hall of Fame member George Jones died in 2013 at age 81. PBS stations are gearing up to honor the life and career of the iconic country music vocalist with the upcoming television special Still Playin’ Possum: Music & Memories of George Jones to premiere on PBS’ Great Performances, Billboard can reveal.
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On Tuesday (April 25), artists including Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley, Wynonna, Travis Tritt, Jelly Roll and Tanya Tucker gathered before an audience at the Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala., to honor the late Jones with renditions of his hits, including “The Grand Tour,” “Tennessee Whiskey,” “White Lightnin’” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Fans who couldn’t make it to the show will get a chance to see the special evening when it is turned into this new PBS television special. A release date for the PBS special has not been set.
“Thank you to the fans and artists who traveled from all over to be in Huntsville, Ala., for this incredible tribute to George,” said Jones’ widow, Nancy Jones, who is an executive producer on the television special. “Everyone from the producers to the performers created an evening we will never forget and for those who couldn’t be there in person, this is your chance to have your own front-row seat. I hope everyone that attended or gets to see it on television will enjoy it and remember their favorite George song.”
Other artists on the lineup are Trace Adkins, Sara Evans, Justin Moore, Jamey Johnson, Joe Nichols (who performed with Jones on the Grand Ole Opry in 2007), Aaron Lewis (who released the song “Country Boy” in 2010, featuring Jones, Charlie Daniels and Chris Young), Michael Ray, Uncle Kracker, Lorrie Morgan (who had a hit with a cover of Jones’ “A Picture of Me (Without You)” in 1991), Tracy Byrd, Tracy Lawrence, The Isaacs, Dillon Carmichael, T. Graham Brown, Gretchen Wilson, Sam Moore, Janie Fricke and Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke. Randy Travis, who collaborated with Jones on the track “A Few Ole Country Boys” in 1990, will also make a special appearance. T. Graham Brown and Tritt previously appeared as part of the all-star group of artists who sang in the chorus with Jones on his 1992 release “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair.”
Jones, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient for lifetime achievement in 2008, was known for his unique baritone and catalog of hits that included “She Thinks I Still Care,” “Walk Through This World With Me,” “A Good Year for the Roses,” “The Race is On” and “Tender Years.” The Texas native earned his first top 10 with the Starday-released single “Why Baby Why,” in 1955, and recorded over 160 charting singles. His first chart-topper on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart came in 1959 with the five-week No. 1 “White Lightnin,’” which he released via Mercury Records. He then joined United Artists and later Musicor, adding “She Thinks I Still Care,” “The Race is On” and more to his catalog of hits.
He inked a deal with Epic Records in 1971, working with producer Billy Sherrill to record songs including “The Grand Tour” and “Bartenders Blues,” as well as duets between Jones and his then-wife, fellow country artist Tammy Wynette. Their electrifying, vulnerable vocal entwinement led to numerous hits in the 1970s including “We’re Gonna Hold On” and “Golden Ring.” Jones and Wynette divorced in 1975, and Jones’ music career hit a rough patch until he returned with the 1980 hit “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” which earned a CMA Awards honor for single of the year, and earned Jones CMA male vocalist of the year wins in 1980 and 1981. His recording of “He Stopped Loving Her Today” also earned Jones a Grammy for best country vocal performance, male, in 1981.
During his career, Jones would earn 13 No. 1 Billboard Hot Country Songs hits. His final top 20 hit on the chart came with his guest vocal on Patty Loveless’ “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me,” which won a CMA Award for vocal event of the year in 1998.
