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Lady Gaga, Carly Rae Jepsen, Madonna & More: Who Is Your Favorite Gay Icon? Vote!
To celebrate Pride Month this year, Billboard connected queer artists to their biggest musical heroes (who also happen to be major LGBTQ+ allies) to get career advice. Alanis Morissette talked Maddie Ross through writing about heartbreak, Jay Som picked Carly Rae Jepsen’s brain on creative freedom, and Mandy Moore told Samir all about balancing acting with music. Those were just a few conversations with gay icons that Billboard highlighted in their latest feature. Beyond the ally queens on the list, a number of other superstars have loved and supported the LGBTQ+ community throughout their careers, including Madonna, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Britney Spears (who recently took to Instagram to wish her fans a happy Pride Month). So, we at Billboard want to know: Who i...
Which Rescheduled Music Festival Are You Most Excited to Go to in 2021? Vote!
Coronavirus claimed music festival season, and regardless of festival organizers’ virtual events making up for the year in waiting, music lovers have been plotting their returns. The Manchester, Tenn.-based Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival joins the long list of live music events rescheduled for 2021 today (June 25). The San Franciso, Calif.-based Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival also announced the cancellation of this year’s three-day celebration yesterday (June 24) with Lizzo, Tame Impala and The Strokes set to headline next year. Promoter Goldenvoice pushed back both the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Festival in Indio, Calif. from April 2020 to October to now April 2021, a full calendar year behind due to the COVID-19 pandem...
YouTube Announces Demi Lovato Docuseries
At the ninth digital newfront and first-ever digital personalized event, Brandcast Delivered, on Thursday (June 25), YouTube announced its list of new and returning projects. Among them is a four-part docuseries in partnership with Demi Lovato. The Michael D. Ratner-directed series is a follow up to her 2017 YouTube Originals documentary, Simply Complicated. The currently untitled show will give fans a glimpse into the ups and downs of the star’s personal and musical journey over the past three years. Some of the other projects YouTube announced were season two of Instant Influencer With James Charles, a gaming tournament called The Creator Games Presented by MrBeats, an interactive special with YouTube creator Markiplier, season two of Retro Tech, a kids and...
Twenty One Pilots Post Origin Story of ‘Never-Ending’ Video For ‘Level of Concern’
For all of you who are new here, Twenty One Pilots want to help. After fans almost immediately cracked the code to figure out how to upload their videos for the new “never-ending” visual for “Level of Concern,” the Ohio duo posted a nearly seven-minute clip on Wednesday (June 24) to explain the process to the rest of us. “Recently our dads were asking what the heck was going on with those codes,” Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun tweeted along with a link to the video explainer. According to the clip, it all started on June 10, when the pair uploaded a short video teaser that included a seemingly incomprehensible string of letters and numbers (LOC-061-220-2012P), which, when you deciphered it, merely referred to the title of the song, that days’ date and n...
Michael Bolton Singing Excerpts From John Bolton’s ‘The Room Where It Happened’ on ‘Late Show’? Sure, Why Not?
Call it the Battle of the Bolton. Or Maybe Bolton Squared. Either way, on Wednesday night (June 24), The Late Show invited crooner Michael Bolton on to sing excerpts from the new White House tell-all The Room Where It Happened by former National Security Advisor John Bolton and the results were… hilarious. But also terrifying. In a bit they called “Bolton Sings Bolton,” the legendarily coiffed singer emoted such pop classic lines as “Trump begged President Xi to buy soybeans/ To help him win re-election” over tasteful acoustic guitar. Among the other smash hits on the fake Audible collection are: “Trump formed a pattern of fundamentally unacceptable behavior/ That eroded the very legitimacy of the presidency.” And who could forget that summert...
Kelly Clarkson Crushed a Beautiful Version of This TLC Classic in Her Latest Kellyoke: Watch
In case you forgot, Kelly Clarkson is still slaying it in quarantine. The singer proved that lockdown hasn’t sapped her creative superpowers again on Wednesday when she performed a picture-perfect cover of TLC‘s 1999 hit “Unpretty” on her daytime talk show this week. With her bandmates joining in from ornate digital frames, Clarkson gave the tune a bouncy island vibe. The track about appreciating the beauty that’s inside of you instead of focusing on the external gained a renewed relevance at a time when many of us are realizing that the masks we used to put on every day when we went to work were just that: illusions. Clarkson’s thoughtful, poignant take on the tune brought that message home as she sang it with her face unadorned by makeup or the usual H...
How To Watch ‘Can’t Cancel Pride: A COVID-19 Relief Benefit for the LGBTQ+ Community’
Tonight (June 25), fans can tune into Procter & Gamble and iHeartMedia’s “Can’t Cancel Pride: A COVID-19 Relief Benefit for the LGBTQ+ Community,” a virtual relief benefit designed to help raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities most impacted by COVID-19. The stream proves that even though in-person Pride Month celebrations may not be possible due to the ongoing pandemic, nothing can cancel the spirit of Pride and the LGBTQ+ community. The event, hosted by Laverne Cox and Elvin Duran, will feature some major A-listers like Adam Lambert, Big Freedia, Billy Porter, Katy Perry, Kim Petras, Melissa Etheridge, Sia, Ricky Martin and more. Catch “Can’t Cancel Pride” on June 25 at 9 p.m. local time on iHeartRadio’s Facebook and Instagram pa...
Demi Lovato Wishes ‘Positive Lil Beam of Light’ Max Ehrich a Happy Birthday
Demi Lovato‘s boyfriend, Max Ehrich, turned 29 on Wednesday (June 24), and the pop star took to Instagram to share a heart-melting birthday message for her “BAAAYYBEEE.” “I have so much fun with you and there’s so many things I want to say right now but I want to be present and spend this bday with you so I’ll be quick: Being with you makes life SO MUCH FUN,” she wrote alongside a series of photos featuring the happy couple. “We literally act like hooligans on the daily and don’t give a F— if we’re embarrassing ourselves if others are around!! I spend my days with you, bare faced and in a bathing suit.. I feel unconditionally loved and accepted by you in a way that I’ve never felt before.. I can’t explain it or you.. you’re indescribable, you beaut...
Fabolous and Jadakiss Will Face Off For Next Verzuz Battle
The Big Apple is where the next Verzuz is going down. Veteran New York rappers Fabolous and Jadakiss will rumble next Monday, June 29 for the latest instalment in the online hip-hop and R&B face-off. Announced on a fetching jersey in traditional New York Knicks colors, the FAB vs. JADA battle squares off at 8 p.m. ET on Instagram Live and Apple Music. Neither has a shortage of tracks to revisit. Fabolous has impacted the Billboard Hot 100 on 21 occasions, with five top 10s, including “Into You” and Can’t Let You Go.” Jadakiss has nine credits on the Billboard Hot 100, including his work on Jennifer Lopez’ No. 3 hit “Jenny From The Block.” Verzuz was launched in March by legendary hip-hop producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. Starting life as a 20-song showdown between evenly matched pro...
Reik, Farruko & Camilo Cap New Top 10 on Latin Airplay Chart With ‘Si Me Dices Que Sí’
The song reigns in its 16th week. After four months on the chart, Reik, Farruko and Camilo’s “Si Me Dices Que Sí” hits No. 1 on the Latin Airplay chart dated June 27. It’s tied with J Balvin’s “Blanco” for the longest climb to No. 1 in 2020 (it topped the list dated March 21). (For the 19 No. 1s this year, the average climb to No. 1 is 12 weeks.) “Si Me Dices Que Sí” is Reik, Farruko and Camilo’s first collaboration. The trio takes over with 11.8 million in audience impressions (up 31%) earned in the week ending 21, according to Nielsen/MRC Data. The song rises from the runner-up rank after spending six weeks in the top 10. For Reik and Farruko, it’s their third and seventh No. 1s, respectively, while it’s the first No. 1 for Camilo. “Si Me Dices” is Reik’s first No. 1 in over ...
Best Regional Mexican Albums of 2020 (So Far)
Despite COVID-19, quarantine and social distancing trying to ruin 2020 plans, this year has been a busy one for the Latin music industry. Many artists, including some of the top-notch in Regional Mexican, have even blessed fans with new albums, because let’s face it, music is not canceled. With 2020 in full swing, Billboard highlights 10 Regional Mexican albums that have debuted on the Top Latin Albums chart this year. Four of them entered the top 10, including Alejandro Fernandez’s Hecho en México which debuted at No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart dated Feb. 29, 2020. With his new coronation, Fernández became the first act to achieve No. 1s on Top Latin Albums in the 1990s, ‘00s, ‘10s, and ‘20s. The trap corrido movement is also killing the game with Fuerza Regida’s Adicto de...
Watch This 12-Year-Old Nail Tones And I’s ‘Dance Monkey’ During Her ‘AGT’ Audition
Annie Jones took the stage during Tuesday’s episode (June 23) of America’s Got Talent to audition with Tones and I‘s “Dance Monkey.” After admitting to judge Sofia Vergara that she was “a little” nervous, the 12-year-old singer stunned the audience with her take on her fellow Australian’s smash 2019 hit. “Dance for me, dance for me, dance for me, Oh-oh-oh/ Never seen anybody do the things you do before/ They say move for me, move for me, move for me, yeah-ah-ah/ When you’re done, I’ll make you do it all again/ All again,” the preteen delicately crooned before the beat dropped in and she began swaggering around the stage. By song’s end, the crowd inside Pasadena’s Civic Auditorium was on its feet, with Jones...
