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Budweiser Crowns Halsey as Its ‘King’ For Latest Campaign
Being a king is all about chasing after a dream and making a name for yourself, whether it’s rearranging the letters in your name to make a moniker that matches a subway station in the next state over, or it’s leaving your home country in pursuit of making the best beer in the world, like Budweiser founder Adolphus Busch set out to do in 1876. “Budweiser views being a king as a mindset, and I was honored that they choose me to break down the gender association of the word ‘King’ and allow me to tell my story,” the Hopeless Fountain Kingdom singer tells Billboard. “I think being a king is about finding self-confidence, embracing your power and celebrating all of the little things that have made you who you are. Nothing is ‘...
Hozier Surprised a Busker Performing ‘Take Me to the Church’: Watch
A spokesman for the Irish artist’s label Sony Music confirms to Billboard that it is indeed Hozier in the video. Watch below. “Take Me to the Church” was an international smash, and a career launching pad for Hozier (full name Andrew Hozier-Byrne). Following its release, the song peaked to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the album it was lifted from, Hozier, went to No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The Irishman went on to collect a pair of Billboard Music Awards in 2015, for top rock song and top rock artist, and he performed “Church” on the night. His sophomore album from 2019, Wasteland, Baby!, went one better when it bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins wit...
BTS Faces Uproar In China Over Korean War Comments
“After 70 years, the world we are living in is much closer than before. Boundaries in many aspects are getting more blurred,” RM said. “As members of the global community, we should build a deeper understanding and solidarity to be happier together.” Chinese internet users and state media took RM’s comments as a slap at China, whose soldiers fought alongside North Korean forces during their failed attempt to annex South Korea in the 1950-53 war. They accused RM of ignoring the role played by China in the war, which Chinese Communist Party propaganda blames on the United States, instead of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung’s attack on South Korea. “Before, I thought some BTS songs were pretty good. Now, they seem to be covered in excrement,” said a commenter on the microblog service Sina Weib...
Billie Eilish Shares Racy Photo With Cryptic Message
The 18-year-old “Bad Guy” singer would do fine going back in time. She pretty much owned 2019 with the debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, which hit the pinnacle of sales charts around the globe and scooped five Grammys earlier this year, including a rare sweep of the Big Four categories: album, record and song of the year plus best new artist. Along the way, she smashed records left and right. Among them, she became the youngest album of the year winner in Grammy history (at 18), and the youngest singer of a Bond theme, “No Time to Die” (also 18). Unlike most of us, Eilish has been productive during the pandemic. During a recent interview for The Tonight Show, Eilish and her brother and collaborator Finneas revealed they’ve been in the zone....
BTS Co-Writer Ryan Lawrie Signs Publishing Deal With Peermusic UK
As BTS make history by notching the top two slots on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, indie publishing company peermusic UK has signed one of the K-pop group’s collaborators — singer, songwriter and producer Ryan Lawrie — to an exclusive global music publishing deal. The Glasgow, UK, native has co-written several songs for BTS, including Map of the Soul: 7‘s “Inner Child” (which has 52 million Spotify streams) and Map of the Soul: Persona‘s “Mikrokosmos” (125 million Spotify streams). Lawrie is now working with BTS’ label Big Hit Entertainment on the K-pop band ENHYPEN, the winners of Big Hit’s reality television competition I-LAND. Lawrie will also release his own debut album under the moniker KOOLKID later th...
John Lennon’s ‘Gimme Some Truth’ Challenging for U.K. Chart Title
Lennon has three No. 1s as a solo artist, and a whopping 16 with the Beatles, more than any act in Official Chart history. If Travis hold on, it’ll give the four-piece their first No. 1 in almost two decades. All but one of the band’s eight previous albums have cracked the Top 5 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart. At the midweek stage, North London rapper Headie One holds the No. 2 position with his debut studio album Edna (Relentless), the market leader on streams. Further down the list, Queen + Adam Lambert’s Live Around The World (EMI) slips 1-4, and Brit Award-nominees D-Block Europe are at No. 5 with their debut The Blue Print – Us vs Them (D-Block Europe), while new releases from classic British bands Tears For Fears, Dire Straits, Iron Maiden and Suede are set for Top 10 entries. Sev...
Lime Cordiale, Tame Impala Lead 2020 ARIA Awards Nominations
Kevin Parker’s Tame Impala also snagged top spot on the national chart this year with The Slow Rush (Modular Recordings / Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia), his psychedelic-pop outfit’s fourth LP. It’s the highest-selling homegrown album in 2020 so far, and its up seven ARIAs, including album of the year. Zambian-born, Botswana-raised, Melbourne-based hip-hop artist Sampa The Great is in the running for six ARIAs for her debut album, The Return (Ninja Tune / Inertia Music). Sampa is already a multiple award winner in her adopted homeland. She’s the only two-time winner of the Australian Music Prize (including victory for The Return), and last year she became the first woman of color to win an ARIA Award in the best hip-hop release category, for “Final Form.” Win...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘Everybody’s on the Extreme End of Being Tired’
How did Record Store Day go on Saturday? It went really well. The same sort of pattern that we had with the first date worked well and seamlessly, and people were happy. And we did a give away five cases of New Belgium beer, [which] made people happy as well. What were some of your big sellers? Brandi Carlile is this year’s Record Store Day ambassador, and she had a 12-inch that had two covers of Soundgarden songs. That was a really big seller for us. The Bill Evans was a big seller. There was the release by the Yardbirds that did really well. One of the last times we spoke, we talked about how we couldn’t see businesses including retail getting shut down again given that people are so used to having more freedom now. But Wisconsin is becoming a really big hotspot for the ...
BTS’ Virtual Map of the Soul ON:E Concert Garnered Nearly 1 Million Viewers Across the Globe
In addition to hits like “We Are Bulletproof: the Eternal,” “DNA” and their No. 1 hit “Dynamite,” the concert also featured solo moments by all seven members for the group — from RM (“Intro: Persona”) and Jimin (“Filter”) to Jin (“Moon”) and Jungkook (“My Time”). Meanwhile, Suga and J-Hope performed “Interlude: Shadow” and “Outro: Ego” while V delivered “Inner Child.” BTS also dedicated the entire encore of the digital concert experience to their fandom, closing out with “Butterfly” and “Run” on day one and “Spring Day” and “Idol” on day two. (All in all, the two-day event drew a total of 993,ooo viewers from 191 count...
Queen Reigns on U.K. Albums Chart
With their latest feat, Queen draw level with Eminem, Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart and U2, all of whom have bagged ten U.K. No. 1s. For Lambert, it’s his first stint in the top spot. Coming in at No. 2 on the latest frame is BlackPink with their their Korean-language LP, The Album (Interscope). The K-pop girl group snagged an “impressive” 5,700 cassette sales, the OCC reports. Meanwhile, Britpop legends Oasis reenter the chart at No. 3 with their sophomore album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (Big Brother), boosted by its 25th anniversary vinyl reissue, the leader on the current Official Vinyl Albums Chart. British TV personality Amanda Holden earns a No. 4 entry with Songs From My Heart (EMI). It’s the U.K.’s highest-charting debut album of 2020 by a British female, according to the OC...
Queen Takes Australian Chart Crown
Close behind is K-pop stars BlackPink with their debut Korean language LP The Album, new at No. 2, while fresh sets from Bon Jovi (2020 at No. 3), 21 Savage & Metro Boomin (Savage Mode II at No. 4) and Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor (CMFT at No. 8) impact the Top 10. Prolific homegrown prog-rock outfit King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard take out their fifth and sixth Top 50 entries for the year as Demos Vol. 1 + Vol. 2 and Live In Asheville ’19 enter at No. 14 and No. 30, respectively. Over on the ARIA Singles Chart 24kGoldn’s “Mood” featuring Iann Dior bags a second straight week at No. 1. It’s also the best-seller in the U.K., for a third-successive cycle. Late rapper Pop Smoke has the highest new entry on the Australian survey with “What You Know Bout L...
L.A. Lakers Win 17th NBA Title: Snoop Dogg, Flea and More React
This was a particularly memorable win in an unusual year. NBA titles are typically won in June. This is no typical year. After a long break due to the pandemic, the competition restarted in a special “bubble” built in Florida to keep teams and their staff healthy. James and Co. gave the Lakers their first championship since the late superstar Kobe Bryant won his fifth and final title a decade ago. After the game, The King and fellow star Anthony Davis dedicated the trophy to Bryant, who died January in a helicopter crash. The Lakers’ 17th title tie the Boston Celtics franchise for the all-time record. Lakers fans partied well into the night as fans from the music community and across the entertainment worlds shared their thoughts on this historic season. Check out reaction from Snoop Dogg,...
