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First Country: New Music from Garth Brooks, Morgan Wallen, Lee Brice, Chris Young and More
Garth Brooks, Fun (Only available to Amazon Music subscribers, but listeners can sample the album here) From his self-titled debut album 31 years ago, Brooks has always known his strength: not trying to be anyone but himself, not even his hero George Strait (though “That’s What Cowboys Do” sounds like it fell off a Strait album). He’s never paid attention to trends or fads to curry radio’s favor. But when you’re the top-selling solo artist in the U.S., calling your own shots is not only your prerogative, it’s mandatory. Many of the oft-delayed Fun’s 15 songs, including previous singles “The Road I’m On,” “All Day Long” and “Dive Bar” with Blake Shelton, live up to the upbeat title, as does Cajun twister “Party Gras (The Mardi Gras Song),” but there’s a lot more going on in this diverse se...
First Spin: The Week’s Best New Dance Tracks From Anabel Englund & Lee Foss, Pharrell & Black Coffee & More
New Music Friday is intense. Hundreds of songs drop from artists around the world, and you’re supposed to somehow find the best ones. It’s fun work, but it’s time-consuming — so we at Billboard Dance want to give you a hand. Each week, we sift through the streams and dig in the digital crates to present the absolute must-hears from the wide breadth of jams. Dance music is all about the community, and in that spirit, this week is delivering a litany of heavyweight collabs. There’s Louisahhh getting a heavy-ass edit from Imogen, Oliver Heldens big upping his excellent new Heldeep signee Aspen King and the unusually long list of group efforts below. Grab a friend, and let’s dig in. Armand van Helden & Chris Lake Feat. Arthur Baker & Victor Simonelli...
How Shawn Mendes’ ‘In Wonder’ Doc Strips Away the ‘Mythology’ of a Star & Reveals the Human Underneath
Shawn Mendes spent the majority of 2019 on his 109-show, world arena tour. The nine-month trek, which grossed $96.7 million and sold 1.3 million tickets, was his biggest yet. But a tour of that magnitude came with its fair share of highs, lows, mental pressure and physical demands. Netflix’s upcoming documentary, In Wonder, follows the 22-year-old superstar’s journey to self-discovery over the past year, and how he channeled it all into a creative new album. To capture his story, Mendes enlisted director Grant Singer, who is best known for his work on high-profile music videos such as The Weeknd’s “The Hills,” Lorde’s “Green Light,” Zayn and Taylor Swift’s “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” Troye Sivan’s “My My ...
Radiohead Speaks Out on ‘Negligence’ in Deadly 2012 Stage Collapse
Radiohead has given their thoughts on engineer Domenic Cugliari, who was responsible designing the Toronto Downsview Park stage that collapsed in June 2012, killing drum tech Scott Johnson. The band noted that on Instagram on Friday (Nov. 20) that earlier this week, the Discipline Committee of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) conducted a hearing to investigate the engineer. {“nid”:”9459335″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”20 Years Ago, Radiohead's 'Kid A' Changed The Way Albums Were Marketed”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/columns\/rock\/9459335\/radiohead-kid-a-album-strategy\/”,”media”:{“width”:1548,”height”:1024,”extensio...
For Robbie Williams, Coronavirus ‘Can’t Stop Christmas’
Happy quarantined holiday from Robbie Williams! The singer unveiled his new holiday song “Can’t Stop Christmas” on Thursday (Nov. 19), but with a 2020 twist. “You can’t take away our season, like you can’t take away our wine,” he sings in the all-too-familiar chorus. “Santa’s on his sleigh, but now he’s two metres away.” {“nid”:”9487243″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Here Are All the Livestreams to Watch This Holiday Season”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/news\/holiday\/9487243\/livestreams-holiday-season\/”,”media”:{“width”:1548,”height”:1024,”extension”:”jpg”,”mime_type”:”...
Every Song Ranked on Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Good News’: Critic’s Picks
Though 2020 has proven to be a whirlwind for Megan Thee Stallion, on Friday (Nov. 20) she placed a bow on her banner year with her debut album, Good News. With two Hot 100 No. 1 records (“Savage and Cardi B’s “WAP”) in tow, the burgeoning superstar looks to maintain her rap supremacy on the 17-track collection. Though Megan experienced her share of controversies this year, including a July shooting incident involving Tory Lanez, she flips her tragedies into poetic gold, as proven on the album’s intro “Shots Fired.” With a fistful of features including Beyonce, Big Sean, SZA, 2 Chainz and more, Megan Thee Stallion does an admirable job in putting together a solid rookie effort. See how Billboard ranked her album tracks below. {“nid”:...
Bad Bunny & Chester Cheetah Chill at the Studio in New Cheetos Commercial: Exclusive
Bad Bunny and Chester Cheetah are the best of friends in a new Cheetos commercial, premiering exclusively on Billboard. In the 30-second spot, the Puerto Rican singer is seen making music at the recording studio. He’s then handed a bag of Flamin’ Hot Crunchy Cheetos by Chester, which sparks immediate inspiration for his new song. “I dress like this, I’m not going to change/ If you don’t like it, you don’t have to see,” he chants in Spanish. Speaking Spanglish and rocking Cheetos fingers, he then says: “In life, you can choose to leave things just like they are or you can choose to leave your mark.” {“nid”:”9484887″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez's 'Dakiti' Is First Latin Hit to Simultaneous...
Fiona Apple and Long-Lost Classmate Lovingly Reunite on ‘Shameika Said’ Remix
After Fiona Apple paid tribute to a guardian angel former classmate on a Fetch the Bolt Cutters song, Shameika Stepney has returned the favor on “Shameika Said.” You might recall that Apple stormed back onto Billboard’s Adult Alternative Songs chart for the first time in two decades back in May with the dizzying ode to the woman who said Apple “had potential” in the song “Shameika.” Well, on Friday (Nov. 20) Stepney returned the favor to her childhood schoolmate with “Shameika Said,” which, of course, also features vocals from Apple. Stepney’s low-key hip-hop jam continues the story, only this time Shameika is in the driver’s seat dropping the jewels, “I know you’re building yourself sis/ But love every flaw/ The...
Shawn Mendes & Justin Bieber Face the ‘Monster’ Inside In Powerful New Single: Watch
Shawn Mendes called on his musical idol Justin Bieber to collaborate on a poignant new song, “Monster,” which details the pitfalls of superstardom. “I think I was coming off the back of a couple of big songs and definitely just so driven by my ego and just feeling like something in this feels not right,” Mendes recently told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe of the collaboration. “And it’s always resonated with me. This song has always resonated with me and it just never found its way out. And now all of a sudden I was listening to it one day, and I just started my relationship with Justin. It just started forming properly in the last three months. And I called him and I was like, ‘Look, I have this song. It’s kind of going there.’ We go th...
Jimmy Fallon Truly Captures Harry Styles’ Mystique in Hilarious ’73 Questions’ Parody
Harry Styles appears on the December 2020 issue of Vogue, rocking a skirt as the first solo man to appear on the cover in the magazine’s 127-year run. One of Vogue’s most popular series is its “73 Questions” video segment, in which a camera crew follows celebrities around their home as they answer, you guessed it, 73 questions. While Styles has yet to participate in the series, Jimmy Fallon imagined what it would be like on a new episode of The Tonight Show. Dressed as the One Direction singer with his loose wavy hair and a pearl-decorated sweater, Fallon answers the cameraman’s very simple questions with hilariously ethereal, philosophical responses. {“nid”:”9486150″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Ever...
Shawn Mendes Tells Elton John How Camila Cabello Became a ‘Calming Presence’ in His Life
Four years after performing together at an LA concert, Elton John and Shawn Mendes are back together — this time to chat about music, love and just about everything in between. For the new cover of VMan magazine, Mendes was interviewed by the pop legend about his upcoming album Wonder, his career so far, and how his girlfriend Camila Cabello has become a “very calming presence,” as John put it, in his life. {“nid”:”9485598″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Shawn Mendes Shares How Quarantine 'Stillness' in Miami Sparked Inspiration for 'Wonder'”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/columns\/pop\/9485598\/shawn-mendes-quarantine-stillness-wonder-apple-music\/”,”media̶...
This Is How Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood Are Celebrating Thanksgiving This Year
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are keeping it low key and safe this Thanksgiving. Brooks dropped by Good Morning America on Thursday (Nov. 19) to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their holiday plans, which “are going to be the same and totally different at the same time.” “She’s still going to cook for 20 people, it’s just going to be me,” he joked. “I’m excited.” {“nid”:”9466052″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Icon Garth Brooks Delivers a Rousing Medley of Hits at 2020 Billboard Music Awards”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/news\/bbmas\/9466052\/garth-brooks-2020-billboard-music-awards-icon\/”,”media”:{“width”:1548,...
