bbnews
First Country: New Music From Josh Turner, Brothers Osborne, Dolly Parton & More
Josh Turner, Country State of Mind Turner’s steady baritone is the perfect match for this collection of classic country tunes. It’s his first country album in three years and the set marks a welcome return, especially since it finds him paired with some of his musical heroes and contemporaries. John Anderson joins Turner for a remake of Anderson’s 1993 common-man theme on “I’ve Got It Made,” as does Kris Kristofferson on his standard “Why Me,” which is bolstered by an especially moving performance by Turner. Randy Travis, who lost his singing voice following his stroke years ago, shows up for Turner’s loving take on “Forever and Ever, Amen.” Maddie & Tae, Runaway June, Allison Moorer and Chris Janson also join Turner. Expertly curated selections and Turner’s rock solid vocals make for ...
Glass Animals Score First Top Rock Albums No. 1 With ‘Dreamland’
The set is also their first Billboard 200 top 10. Glass Animals nab their first No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Rock Albums chart, as Dreamland bows atop the list dated Aug. 22. Dreamland debuts with 60,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week ending Aug. 13, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. Of that sum, 43,000 units were via album sales. The England-based band previously reached a No. 2 high on the chart with Dreamland‘s predecessor, How to Be a Human Being, in September 2016. The new LP’s count of 17,000 streaming equivalent units is the best for a rock album since the chart dated Feb. 29, when Tame Impala‘s The Slow Rush opened with 30,000 of its overall 110,000 units from streaming. Dreamland also starts at No. 2 on Alternative Albums, equaling How to...
James Blunt Once Got Scurvy From Eating an All-Meat Diet
An attempt to spite the vegans went very, very wrong for James Blunt. Chatting with Jessie Ware on her Table Manners podcast, the singer revealed that he actually developed scurvy while eating an all-meat diet during his time at the University of Bristol in the 1990s. “On the sociology side of things there were 170 girls and only three boys, of which all the girls were vegetarian or vegans,” he explained. “So out of principle, I decided I’d become a carnivore and just lived on mince, some chicken, maybe with some mayonnaise.” “And it took me about six to eight weeks to get very unhealthy and see a doctor, who then said, ‘I think you’ve got the symptoms of scurvy,'” he continued. Scurvy, often associated with pirates who wouldn’t find nourishment out at se...
Machine Gun Kelly & Blackbear’s ‘My Ex’s Best Friend’ Scores No. 1 Rock Streaming Songs Debut
The song is the list’s first newly released leader since April. Machine Gun Kelly and Blackbear‘s “My Ex’s Best Friend” becomes the first new song in nearly four months to top Billboard‘s Rock Streaming Songs chart, debuting atop the Aug. 22-dated tally. The track, released Aug. 7, bows with 6.2 million U.S. streams in its first week, ending Aug. 13, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. “Friend” is the first first-time leader on Rock Streaming Songs since Twenty One Pilots‘ “Level of Concern” started atop the list dated April 25. Since then, the No. 1 spot was exchanged between “Level of Concern” and Journey‘s 1981 classic “Don’t Stop Believin'”; in that span, “Concern” ruled f...
How Well Do You Know Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘WAP’ Music Video? Take Our Quiz
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion have hosted a “WAP”-ping celebration of female sexuality with $1 million cash prizes after their collaboration debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (chart dated Aug. 22). And the music video attracted more than 120 million YouTube views (at publishing time of this piece), reeling in tributes to icons before them and ushering in new hotties to join them at the playful, splashy zoo-like house. “WAP” is being heralded as an empowering anthem and visual for Black women who unabashedly take the reins of their own narrative, one that’s typically untold or degraded in an industry ravaged by misogynoir, and paint their own watercolor picture of success with every color in the book. So to keep the celebration of “WAP” go...
Maluma Talks Stories Behind 5 Essential Tracks from ‘Papi Juancho’: Exclusive
On Aug. 19, in the thick of the second day of the Democratic National Convention, Maluma became a trending topic on Twitter. His Instagram, a formidable instrument with over 50 million followers, had gone dark. Was it because ex Natalia Barulich was dating footballer Neymar? Or because Neymar dissed Maluma by posting a video of his team singing his new single “Hawái” –a breakup song—on Instagram? Turns out Maluma was simply gathering steam prior to the surprise release of his new album, Papi Juancho, which dropped at midnight Aug. 21. Maluma recorded most of the set during the Covid-imposed lockdown with his longtime producer collaborators and co-writers The Rude Boyz (Kevin ADG and Chan “El Genio”). “All I could do during lockdown in Medellin was work alone in my studio,” Malu...
Nikki Sixx’s SIXX:A.M. Assembles Rock, Country, Metal All-Stars For a Great Cause
“Maybe It’s Time” is part of an industry-wide effort to spotlight National Recovery Month. Nikki Sixx has pulled together an all-star group of artists for a new version of the 2016 SIXX: A.M. song “Maybe It’s Time” in support of National Recovery Month. The Mötley Crüe bassist has roped in Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor, Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott, Brantley Gilbert, Five Finger Death Punch singer Ivan Moody, Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, AWOLNATION and Bad Wolves‘ Tommy Vext for a song that will be part of a music industry-wide effort to draw attention to the opioid criss while raising funds for the recovery community. The song’s release on Friday (Aug. 21) is timed to advance September’s National Recovery Month, which ...
‘The Masked Singer’ Wants You to Get in the Game For Season 4
We’ve all had to adjust to the new normal, and The Masked Singer is no exception. The hit Fox costumed singing competition is gearing up for its fourth season, and things will be a bit different this time around. For the first time the audience at home will get an opportunity to vote on their favorite masked celebrity performers as part of a virtual studio audience due to crowd restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Judge Robin Thicke revealed the changes on Twitter on Thursday (Aug. 20), writing, “To #TheMaskedSinger fans out there – we want you in our “At-Home Audience” for Season 4! We’re doing things a little different & you can help decide who stays and who goes home each week while you watch. Let’s go!!” Interested at home v...
Mariah Carey’s Ms. Lauryn Hill Collab ‘Save the Day’ Is Here: Stream It Now
Saving any given day in 2020 is a tall order, but if you combine the powers of Mariah Carey and Ms. Lauryn Hill, you’re off to a strong start. This New Music Friday (Aug. 21) sees the release of “Save the Day,” a new track from Mariah Carey featuring Ms. Lauryn Hill. “Save the Day” is the first release from Mimi’s double-disc archival deep dive The Rarities (Oct. 2), which comes hot on the heels of her memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey (out Sept. 29). With heartfelt, affecting vocals delivering a timely message (“We’re in this together”; “it’s curious, the fear still holding us down”), a few classic Mariah high notes and a sick beat drop courtesy Jermaine Dupri that accompanies the entrance of Ms. Lauryn Hill’s ...
What’s Your Favorite Demi Lovato Hit? Vote!
Demi Lovato was “Made in the USA” 28 years ago today, Aug. 20, and to ring in her birthday, Billboard wants to know which of her Hot 100 hits is your favorite! She’s spent over a decade on the chart, with her career-first entry being the Camp Rock highlight “This is Me” with Joe Jonas, who played Shane Gray in the 2008 Disney Channel Original Movie while Lovato portrayed the main character Mitchie Torres. The song went all the way to No. 9. But apart from her Disney Friends for Change anthems, Lovato continued churning out more hits with her Disney friends, from her Jonas Brothers collaboration “On the Line” from her 2008 debut studio album Don’t Forget to her joint bop with Selena Gomez “One and the Same&#...
‘Drag Race’ Stars Mourn the Loss of Chi Chi DeVayne: ‘Rest Well, Sister’
On Thursday (August 20), news broke that fan-favorite RuPaul’s Drag Race queen Chi Chi DeVayne, who appeared on season 8 of the show and on season three of the show’s All Stars spin-off series, had died at age 34 following a battle with pneumonia. In her two appearances on Drag Race, DeVayne (born Zavion Davenport) charmed audiences everywhere with her stellar lip syncing skills, along with her homemade couture. Following her fourth place finish in season 8, fans quickly began a campaign to see her appear on an All Stars season, which she did two years later on All Stars 3. Following the news of her passing, fellow stars from the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise took to social media to mourn DeVayne and celebrate her life, toasting...
Taylor Swift Donates $30,000 to 18-Year-Old Student to Help Pay Her Tuition
Vitoria Mario is a self-described “young Black 18 year old with a dream” on her GoFundMe page, in which she sought help to pay her university tuition. Luckily, Taylor Swift was there to help out her fan in need. “I have received a conditional offer to study Mathematics (MMath) at the prestigious University of Warwick,” Mario wrote, before noting that she is “in a position of uncertainty as I may not be able to attend university due to my circumstances.” “I have lived in the U.K. for 4 years now, after migrating from Portugal to live with family in Tottenham,” she continued. “The socio-economic barriers of not being eligible for maintenance loans/grants is due not only to not having ‘Home’ status, but also because my family are low incom...
