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Sorry, the old “Look What You Made Me Do” can’t come to the phone right now. Why? ‘Cause the song has been fully updated and re-recorded ahead of Taylor Swift‘s upcoming Reputation (Taylor’s Version), and it got its premiere in the latest episode of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
The song comes at the very beginning of the new episode, which opens with the handmaids staging an uprising led by June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) against the Commanders. Soundtracked by the revamped version of the pop star’s Reputation lead single — featuring re-creations of Jack Antonoff’s original synths and thrumming drum beat, plus a new vocal take from an older, more experienced Swift — the women of the show remain stoic as they walk in formation, with June at one point barely escaping into the back of a truck as explosions go off behind her.

Emmy-winning Handmaid’s star and executive producer Elisabeth Moss tells Billboard in an exclusive statement that this musical moment has been a long time coming.

Trending on Billboard

“I’ve been wanting to use a Taylor song for many years on the show and we finally found the perfect spot for a track from her, and I’m so glad we waited because there could not be a more perfect song for a more perfect moment,” says Moss, who attended a Toronto stop of The Eras Tour alongside her Handmaid’s co-star Bradley Whitford last year. “Taylor has been such an inspiration to me personally. As a Swiftie myself, and I think I can speak for [co-star] Yvonne [Strahovski] and our entire cast as well, who are all Swifties, it’s such an honor to be able to use her music in the final episodes of our show.

“I said to my editor, Wendy, ‘I really want to find a place for a Taylor track in the last 2 episodes of the show’ and we wanted to find a music queue for the opening of 9, and all the credit goes to Wendy for picking this track for this moment!”

Emmy-winning Handmaid’s Tale editor Wendy Hallam Martin said sometimes music synchs are just “meant to be,” as they agree this one was.

“In trying many songs for this specific moment in our series and knowing how much Lizzie wanted a strong female voice and message, Taylor was really the artist that delivered both lyrically and tonally,” Hallam Martin tells Billboard in an exclusive statement. “Our badass main character June in this scene, really was saying ‘look what you made me do’ and the song couldn’t have been more on point. A perfect pairing. When I laid the song up against the scene, it just landed perfectly thematically, rhythmically and magically hit all the edit points which sometimes happens if it’s meant to be. I shared it with Lizzie and we both knew immediately that this was the one!”

Watch the opening scene of season 6, episode 9 of The Handmaid’s Tale — and listen for the new version of “Look What You Made Me Do” — below.

The feature marks one of the first tastes of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) that Swifties have gotten — and it’s a big one at that. The entire sequence includes the full first and second verses of “Look What You Made Me Do,” plus two choruses.

Released in 2017, “Look What You Made Me Do” was the starting point for Swift’s edgy Reputation era. The track spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album topped the Billboard 200 for four weeks.

Along with the 14-time Grammy winner’s self-titled 2007 debut album, Reputation is just one of two LPs Swift has yet to re-record as part of her ongoing mission to reclaim the rights to her first six albums’ masters. So far, all four of the re-recordings she has completed — Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) — have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

This October will mark two years since Swift last dropped a Taylor’s Version album, with the 1989 re-record, leaving fans antsy for the next one in the sequence. As far as Reputation (Taylor’s Version) is concerned, the musician has only given out a few breadcrumbs so far; in March 2024, she premiered a brief snippet of the revamped “Look What You Made Me Do” in an episode of Apple TV+’s The Dynasty: New England Patriots, and in August 2023, she contributed “Delicate (Taylor’s Version)” to Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty.

Thanks to a string of possible clues on the pop star’s website and social media accounts. However, a lot of Swifties are convinced that she’s going to announce something — possibly a release date for Reputation (Taylor’s Version) — at the American Music Awards on Memorial Day (May 26).

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky had to break out their trusty umbrella at Monday night’s (May 19) rainy Highest 2 Lowest world premiere at France’s Cannes Film Festival. Rocky wore a black suit, black Ray-Bans and a full set of grillz to the premiere of the Spike Lee-directed film — in which he co-stars opposite Denzel […]

Scarlett Johansson kicked off the season 50 finale of Saturday Night Live with a musical monologue set to the tune of Billy Joel‘s “Piano Man.”
The Jurassic World Rebirth star, who hosted the May 17 episode alongside musical guest Bad Bunny, opened the iconic sketch comedy show with a heartfelt cast singalong celebrating the show’s five-decade legacy.

“It’s 11:30 on a Saturday, finale of season 50,” Johansson sang. “It’s chaotic and crazy, the whole week is hazy, but there’s no place I’d rather be.”

The 40-year-old actress was soon joined by cast members Bowen Yang, Sarah Sherman, Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day, Ego Nwodim and Chloe Fineman, who harmonized with her. “Sing us a song, it’s your monologue, sing us a song tonight, as we made 50 years of great memories, every Saturday Night,” they all sang.

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Johansson then teased a surprise appearance by the Piano Man himself, saying, “Ladies and gentleman, Billy Joel… wrote this song.” Day, visibly disappointed, responded, “I thought Billy Joel was going to come out,” Johansson, a seventh-time SNL host, said, “Oh, Mikey. So cute, so simple.”

The monologue took a comedic turn as Fineman expressed her love for musical monologues, while Gardner noted her preference for audience questions. Kenan Thompson, pretending to be a fan in the audience, asked the Jurassic film actress to introduce him to a dinosaur, prompting Johansson to jokingly regret calling on him.

New season 50 cast members Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline made cameo appearances, singing about their gratitude for joining the iconic show — only for Johansson to hilariously forget their names. She also gave shoutouts to cast members Marcello Hernandez and Devon Walker, calling them her friends, and acknowledging Andrew Dismukes and James Austin Johnson.

Toward the end of the number, Johansson dropped a surprise bombshell, singing that season 50 would be Sherman’s last. “We’re all gonna miss you next year,” the cast sang in unison. A stunned Sherman replied, “Wait, what? Did you guys hear something or…?” The joke about the comedian’s departure was not mentioned again during the episode.

Elsewhere in the show, Bad Bunny delivered performances of “NUEVAYoL” and “PERFuMITO NUEVO,” both from his sixth album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos. Watch the performances here.

Watch Johansson’s SNL monologue below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.

Ever wondered what a reunion between Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Mike Myers might look like nearly 20 years after their infamous Hurricane Katrina telethon moment? Saturday Night Live has the answer.
In a hilariously awkward sketch during the SNL season 50 finale on May 17, the Austin Powers star finds himself trapped in an elevator with the embattled rapper — and does everything he can to escape the uncomfortable encounter.

The four-minute skit, titled “Mike Myers Elevator Ride,” opens with Myers (playing himself) stepping into an elevator alongside two star-struck passengers, played by host Scarlett Johansson and cast member Marcello Hernandez. After a few stops, Ye (portrayed by Kenan Thompson) enters mid-phone call, complaining about Spotify pulling his controversial new track “Cousins.”

Trending on Billboard

“Oh, my God. Is that Kanye West,” Myers whispers in horror as Johansson’s character quickly exits. “You can’t leave me alone in here with him,” he pleads.

Once alone, West turns to Myers, noting it’s the first time they’ve seen each other since their 2005 Hurricane Katrina telethon — when West famously declared on live TV that then-President George Bush didn’t care about Black people, leaving Myers stunned on screen.

You “had to stand there looking stupid,” Thompson’s West reminds him. Trying to shift the mood, Myers asks, “So what have you been up to?” “Oh, me? I’m in the KKK now,” the rapper replies.

The awkward exchange continues with small talk about their kids, before Ye abruptly shifts topics to Diddy, who’s currently on trial for sex trafficking.

“This Diddy stuff crazy, right?” West says. “Diddy, he’s on trial right now for, like, a bunch of stuff. It’s so crazy, man. You think you know a guy. Turns out to be a full crazy monster.”

When Myers asks, “So what happened to you?” Thompson’s West seeks clarification, only for Myers to quickly brush it off.

The encounter spirals further as Ye questions whether Myers’ last name is Jewish, the elevator appears to get stuck, and the hip-hop star takes a hit from a canister of nitrous oxide. Moments later, Myers bolts for the exit.

Watch SNL‘s “Mike Myers Elevator Ride” sketch below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.

Bad Bunny helped close out Saturday Night Live’s milestone 50th season with a memorable appearance on the show’s May 17 season finale, hosted by actress Scarlett Johansson. The 31-year-old Puerto Rican superstar took the stage twice during the NBC sketch comedy series, performing a pair of tracks from his history-making album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos. […]

The Weeknd shares how his music from his album Hurry Up Tomorrow helps tell the story of his new movie of the same name, his inspiration for how the song works through the movie, why he decided to include his older songs in the movie and more with Billboard‘s Senior R&B, Hip-Hop & Afrobeats Writer Heran Mamo.

Heran Mamo:Heran Mamo from Billboard, as you know …

The Weeknd:Yes, how are you?

Heran MamoI’m good. How are you?

The Weeknd:I’m good, I’m good.

Heran Mamo:Good, well, congratulations on the film.

The Weeknd:Thank you.

Heran Mamo:Exciting to see you venture out into, you know, different mediums. But also I feel like knowing how much you love film, it’s such a natural progression to see your career go this way.

The Weeknd:Thank you.

Heran Mamo:One thing I wanted to know is, obviously you said in previous interviews that the film came before the album. Yeah, and you hear a lot of the like, the songs in the film, like, “Wake Me Up,” Cry for Me,” “Drive,” etc. Were those made specifically for the film and then later appeared on the album, and then all the other songs on Hurry Up Tomorrow the album, like, “Enjoy the Show,” “Reflections,” “Laughing,” etc., made when you realize, “Oh, OK, now this is gonna become an album”?

The Weeknd:Yeah. So there are certain songs that we needed completed for the film. Obviously, that performance drive was actually it wasn’t complete, but the idea was there, but we always wanted a performance song, like it was like, “What’s a concert song that we can open the film with, and in the vein of a pop record of live performance,” and “Wake Me Up,” was kind of the inspiration some of the stuff that Justice was doing. We always wanted that to kind of hit in that type of way. So, so there are certain songs, and then, of course, the the title track, the title song. That’s that idea.

You know, I was really inspired by, by Robert Altman, The Long Goodbye, where there’s this one song that you you hear it throughout the entire film. That’s what different iterations of it. When you hear it on the radio, you hear like a pop version of it, and you know, subjectively in the score, you know, diegetically, like a mariachi band will sing it every time he’s like when he goes to Mexico. And I kind of wanted to do that with Hurry Up Tomorrow, where you know, you hear, you know, pieces of this song throughout the film. It’s essentially you’re you’re seeing the making of it, not literally me making it, but like the themes and the concept and the melody and the soul of it is being made throughout the film. And you hear it the DNA is you. You hear it in the in the in the score. But eventually, by the end of it, it’s fully blossomed into this, this song, which essentially is what the film is saying. And funny enough, I actually had to finish the lyrics so that the night before, I had to perform it at the end. So yes, this music is very much a big part of the film. It came after, but it is like a sister piece. They don’t exist without each other.

Watch the full video above!

The following story contains spoilers from Hurry Up Tomorrow.
Four months after The Weeknd released his Billboard 200-topping album Hurry Up Tomorrow, XO fans are finally able to watch the film that inspired its inception in theaters, starting Friday (May 16).

Directed by Trey Edward Shults, Hurry Up Tomorrow follows a fictional version of the superstar (also named Abel) who’s “plagued by insomnia” and “is pulled into an odyssey with a stranger who begins to unravel the very core of his existence,” according to the official synopsis. But what’s soundtracking his nightmarish journey digs even deeper into The Weeknd’s lore.

“Wake Me Up,” the Justice-featuring synth-pop album opener, also serves as the film’s opening “concert song.” The show The Weeknd performs at a that looks identical to the ones he held in Brazil and Australia last fall, where he wore a black and gold kaba — a hand-embroidered Ethiopian robe historically worn by royals and traditionally worn at weddings — and sang atop a rock-hewn church, resembling Lalibela, in the northern region of his motherland. He debuted “Wake Me Up” at his São Paulo show in September.

“We always wanted a performance song that we can open the film with, and in the vein of a pop record, and ‘Wake Me Up’ was the inspiration,” The Weeknd tells Billboard. He performs the song again at a different concert later in the film, where he ends up losing his voice – mimicking The Weeknd’s real-life experience at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium in September 2022, when he had to cut his concert short for the same reason. That incident, as well as The Weeknd’s sleep paralysis diagnosis, are key influences in Hurry Up Tomorrow.  

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The film’s Oscar-winning sound designer Johnnie Burn says they remixed the first “Wake Me Up” performance in the film “35 times, trying to get the balance of how much crowd sound you would hear, how the music would come across. Are you hearing it from Abel’s perspective? We tried that. Are you hearing it from the audience’s perspective? No. Are you hearing it from a deeply psychological, emotional ride? Yeah, you are.”

Burn, who says he went from “dancing around my kitchen to Abel’s music” as a fan to “dancing around the mixing room” with the man himself, says the process involved everything from asking Mike Dean for “a new synth line that sounds a bit more live” to miking The Weeknd while he recorded new lyrics that better suited the storyline. When The Weeknd was changing up a few lyrics during the cutaways, “I said, ‘Well, you’re probably in quite an adrenaline state when you go out in front of 80,000 people.’ So I made him do push-ups to get kind of worked up,” Burn recalls with a chuckle. “He was like, ‘What, now?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, get down and give me 20.’”

Burn says the song that required the most fine-tuning was the cathartic centerpiece “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” which The Weeknd explains was inspired by the titular track from Robert Altman’s 1973 satirical noir film The Long Goodbye, because of how frequently it appears. “You hear it throughout the entire film, different iterations of it. You hear it on the radio, you hear a pop version of it, subjectively in the score, diegetically, a mariachi band will sing it every time he goes to Mexico. And I wanted to do that with ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow,’” he explains.

Abel first plays Anima (played by Jenna Ortega) a stripped-down draft of it off his phone in a hotel room. Moved to tears, Anima admits she relates to its autobiographical lyrics — because her father left when she was a kid, her mother struggled to raise her alone and she abandoned home to forge her own path that’s fraught with inescapable loneliness. The next morning, Abel turns around while sitting on the hotel bed and faintly hears Anima singing some of the first verse in the shower behind closed doors. He later encounters his younger self, who’s swaddled in a gabi, a white handwoven Ethiopian cotton blanket, and singing a few lines in Amharic, the primary language of Ethiopia. But after Anima douses him and the hotel bed he’s tied to with gasoline — and right as she holds a lighter above him — Abel belts an a cappella version that feels like he is literally singing for his life: “So burn me with your light/ I have no more fights left to win/ Tie me up to face it, I can’t run away, and/ I’ll accept that it’s the end.”

“You’re seeing the making of it, not literally me making it, but the themes and the concept and the melody and the soul of it is being made throughout the film. By the end of it, it’s fully blossomed into this song, which essentially is what the film is saying,” says The Weeknd, who adds that he had “to finish the lyrics the night before I had to perform it at the end.”

Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as Abel and Writer/Director Trey Edward Shults in ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow.’

Andrew Cooper for Lionsgate

But outside of the Hurry Up Tomorrow tracks, fans will be surprised to hear two earlier songs from The Weeknd’s discography in the film: his 2021 blockbuster hit “Blinding Lights” – which is the top Billboard Hot 100 song of all time – and “Gasoline,” the first track from his 2022 album Dawn FM. Anima analyzes the emptiness and heartache in the songs as she hysterically lip-syncs and dances to them, and she later questions Abel if he’s the true toxic subject behind his music.

“What I am doing by the end of the film is, I’m lighting my persona up on fire. But to tap into that, you need to go into the back catalog a little bit, and take in what I’m saying in some of these lyrics and how they’re masked by pop elements,” he says. “It’s always been a joke that joke with The Weeknd music, where it makes you sing and dance and it feels jolly. And then when you actually get into the themes of it, it’s something much deeper — and maybe a call for help, who knows. That’s how [Anima’s] reading it, and essentially forcing myself to face myself.”

There are other callbacks to his catalog in the sound design. The guttural shrieks heard right after Anima swings a champagne bottle over Abel’s head and knocks him out when he first tries leaving the hotel room sound reminiscent of the title track of his 2013 debut studio album Kiss Land. The “Easter eggs,” as Burn calls them, extend beyond the film — as fans pointed out online that the ending of “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” which serves as the final track of The Weeknd’s album, seamlessly transitions into the beginning of “High For This,” the first track off his 2011 debut mixtape House of Balloons.

While Hurry Up Tomorrow bids farewell to the character Abel Tesfaye has played for over a decade, it also underscores the long-standing symbiotic relationship between music and film in The Weeknd’s world. “When you hear the screams in the record and you hear all these horror references and you feel scared, listen to the music — because I want you to feel what I’m feeling. Kiss Land is like a horror movie,” The Weeknd told Complex in his first-ever interview back in 2013.

“We wanted to do something we’ve never seen or heard on screen before,” he says now. “We were able to do these big swings, and I think they landed well in the film. I’m really proud of the music, and I’m proud of the sonics of it. It’s much different from the album. It’s like its own experience.”

Bad Bunny is ready to take summer by storm, but first, he’s performing as the musical guest during the season finale of Saturday Night Live this weekend. In promos for the May 17 finale of season 50 shared on Thursday (May 15), the superstar appears alongside host Scarlett Johansson and SNL mainstay Kenan Thompson, with […]

Miley Cyrus is headed to the big screen. On Thursday (May 15), the pop star announced that the accompanying film to her upcoming visual album, Something Beautiful, is coming to theaters for one night only, releasing a new trailer featuring her boyfriend, drummer Maxx Morando. In the preview posted to Instagram, Cyrus appears in various […]

Amyl and The Sniffers delivered a characteristically unhinged performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week, taking the late-night stage for a rowdy rendition of their latest single, “Tiny Bikini.”

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Frontwoman Amy Taylor brought her statement punk flair to the late-night stage, pairing her explosive vocals and fearless energy with a cheeky fashion statement – thong sandals repurposed as a top. Styled in leather lace-up shorts, knee-high boots, bold blue eyeshadow and her unmistakable mullet, Taylor delivered the kind of explosive presence that’s become a hallmark of the band’s live performances.

“Tiny Bikini” features on the band’s third studio album Cartoon Darkness, released in March via Rough Trade. The album marks a new high point in their trajectory, blending their snarling pub-rock energy with a sharper sense of songwriting and production. It follows 2021’s Comfort to Me, which landed in the top 10 of the ARIA Albums Chart and earned international acclaim.

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Their Fallon appearance comes at a peak moment for the Melbourne punk outfit. Earlier this week, Amyl and The Sniffers scored three nominations at the 2024 AIR Awards, including Independent Album of the Year and Best Independent Rock Album or EP for Cartoon Darkness, as well as Independent Song of the Year for “U Should Not Be Doing That.” The latter already took out Song of the Year at the recent APRA Music Awards, and have won three ARIA Awards, including Best Group in 2022. 

The band also performed at Coachella last month, earned a Brit Award nomination for Best International Group, and graced the cover of Rolling Stone AUNZ in March after picking up two trophies at the 2024 RSA Awards.

Known for pushing the envelope, Amyl and The Sniffers previously made headlines with the uncensored version of their music video for “Jerkin’,” which featured full-frontal nudity and a disclaimer emphasizing body positivity over titillation.

From raucous club gigs to mainstream U.S. television, the Aussie band continues to prove that they’re not here to tone things down. In fact, they’re just getting started.