Music News
Ashanti Lives Her ‘Dream’ as She Receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
R&B star Ashanti was officially commemorated with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday morning (April 7) — a feat her mom, famous momager Tina Douglas, predicted decades ago. “It’s surreal,” Ashanti told Billboard, moments after unveiling her star and taking photos with longtime friends and collaborators Tichina Arnold and Ja Rule. “I’m shocked, stunned and over the top grateful. This is a staple in my career and the fact that it will be here forever is a big deal.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The historic honor comes 20 years after the release of Ashanti’s self-titled debut studio album, which premiered at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and charted for 55 weeks. The Grammy-winner and actress has since released 18 Hot 100 tracks...
Mariah Carey, John Legend & More Celebrate Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court Confirmation: ‘History Was Made Today!’
The Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on Thursday (April 7), making history by securing her place as the first Black female justice. Fifty-one-year-old Jackson was confirmed 53-47, with three Republican votes from Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mitt Romney (Utah). The new Supreme Court justice was formerly an appeals court judge with nine years experience on the federal bench. She is the third Black justice, after Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and the sixth woman. She joins three other women currently on the high court, including Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett. Jackson will also be the second youngest member of the court after Barrett, who is 50 years old. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos...
Mammoth WVH Cancels 6 Shows After Band & Crew Members Test Positive for COVID-19
Rock band Mammoth WVH announced on Wednesday (April 6) that they have canceled their six remaining performances on the Young Guns Tour because band and crew members tested positive for COVID-19. Their co-headliner, Dirty Honey, will continue the tour on their own, starting from tonight’s show at The Ritz in Raleigh, N.C. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Mammoth WVH is the solo project of Wolfgang Van Halen, the ex-bassist of the band Van Halen and son of the late guitarist Eddie Van Halen. In an Instagram post on April 5, Van Halen said that after spending a weekend in Las Vegas for the Grammys, where his single “Distance” was nominated for best rock song, he reunited with his band in North Carolina to pick up the Young Guns Tour. The crew took ...
Pusha T & Jay-Z Release New Pharrell-Produced Collab ‘Neck and Wrist’: Listen
Pusha T and Jay-Z released their all-new single “Neck and Wrist” first thing Wednesday (April 5). Teasing the song by quoting what appears to be a lyric by Jay-Z, Pusha T wrote on Instagram and Twitter, “‘We got different Saab stories, save your soliloquies…’ – Hov.” The track, produced by Pharrell, comes less than a week after Pusha T shared an Instagram photo posing with the hitmaker. “You ain’t got emeralds greener, you ain’t got Richard to sleeve ya… and I got a Rolls that’s in the grove that I ain’t drove, sh– I don’t know the reason,” he captioned the post. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Neck and Wrist” also comes just days after the Friday release of Pusha T’s new EP, G.O.O.D. — a 25-minute, five-track project complete with featur...
Matthew Broderick Tests Positive for COVID, Will Miss Broadway Performances of ‘Plaza Suite’
Matthew Broderick has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Tuesday’s (April 5) Broadway performance of Plaza Suite at the Hudson Theatre. A spokesperson for the production confirmed the diagnosis to The Hollywood Reporter, writing in a statement that the actor received the result “before today’s performance of Plaza Suite, despite strict adherence to COVID safety protocols.” They clarified that a second test confirmed the diagnosis. Performances will continue, with Broderick expected to return to the show on Friday, April 15. “Everybody wishes him a speedy recovery,” the statement read. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The actor’s wife and Plaza Suite co-star, Sarah Jessica Parker, tested negative and ...
Mike Dean Apologizes to BTS for Grammy Tweet, Says He Was ‘Just F—ing Trolling’
Mike Dean is sorry for “f—ing trolling” BTS after he seemed to take out his anger on the K-pop group for losing out on the album of the year Grammy. The legendary hip-hop producer took home a Grammy on Sunday at the 64th annual awards show for best rap song as a co-writer of Ye‘s “Jail,” featuring Jay-Z. But its parent album Donda, which he co-produced, didn’t win album of the year, and he felt some type of way about it. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Underneath the Recording Academy’s tweet with a photo of BTS’ buttery smooth performance at the show and the prompt “Name a group ~smoother~ than @bts_bighit, we dare you. #BTSARMY #GRAMMYs,” Dean wrote in a since-deleted tweet, “Anyone.” Members of the ARMY descended upon Dean and told him ...
Anthony Kiedis Weighs In on Will Smith’s Oscars Slap: ‘I Love Being Offended’
The Red Hot Chili Peppers visited Howard Stern‘s SiriusXM show on Tuesday (April 5) to talk about their new album, play a few songs and weigh in on the heaviness they’re feeling in the wake of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins’ death. Stern was especially eager, however, to hear their thoughts on the slap heard ’round the world, especially since their pal Chris Rock inducted the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Too much has been said already,” singer Anthony Kiedis demurred at first when Stern attempted to get their take on the Oscars incident where Will Smith slapped Rock on stage after the actor-comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair. “We love Chris Rock and I’ll stand forward ...
The Weeknd Says He Might ‘Pull a Ye’ & Change His Stage Name
The Weeknd wants to switch things up. On Sunday, the “Moth to a Flame” singer wondered via Twitter if he should change his stage name from The Weeknd in favor of being known by his first name, Abel. While chatting with fans leading up to the release of his “Out of Time” music video (out Tuesday), the singer tweeted, “you guys are hilarious. i feel like i should change my stage name to ABEL at this point lol.” He then followed his tweet up by saying that he’ll “maybe pull a YE and just legally change my name to ABEL. no last name. Like Madonna or Cher or Prince. I don’t know it seems like a lot.” Billboard has reached out to see if The Weeknd is seriously considering a name change. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news For what its worth, The ...
Britney Spears Calls Writing Her Memoir ‘Healing & Therapeutic’
Britney Spears gave her loyal fans an update on the process of writing her upcoming memoir on Monday (April 4). In a lengthy Instagram post, the pop star wrote, “Well I’m writing a book at the moment and as it’s actually healing and therapeutic … it’s also hard bringing up past events in my life … I’ve never been able to express openly !!! I can only imagine that I do sound childish but I was extremely young when those events took place … and addressing it now … I’m sure it seems irrelevant to most and I’m completely aware of that !!!” Spears then referenced Justin Timberlake‘s public apology to both herself and Janet Jackson in the wake of The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears premiering on Hulu in 2021, and ahead of the release of The New York Times Presents: Malfuncti...
Fans Choose Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music
Harry Styles‘ new single “As It Was” tops this week’s new music poll. Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (April 1) on Billboard, choosing the fresh track from Styles as their favorite new music release of the past week. His brand-new song is the first look at his much-anticipated third album, Harry’s House, which is set to be released on May 20. “As It Was” brought in more than 73% of the vote. Trailing behind were Kehlani and Justin Bieber’s collaboration “Up at Night” and Shawn Mendes’s new single “When You’re Gone,” both with just over 9% of the vote. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news See the final results of this week’s new music poll below. [flexi-common-toolbar] [flexi-form class=”flexi_form_style” title=”...
2022 Dance/Electronic Grammy Preview: Bonobo on Competing Against Himself & How the Awards Are ‘Catching Up’ With Electronic Music
Editors note: In this series, Billboard Dance is speaking with each 2022 Grammy nominee from the dance/electronic categories ahead of the 64th Annual Grammy Awards on April 3 in Las Vegas. While he’s not yet taken home a Grammy, Bonobo is a clear favorite amongst the dance/electronic categories at the awards. The Los Angeles-based producer, born Simon Green, has five total nominations across the two categories going back the past four years, a timeline that parallels these categories shifting away from bombastic EDM and towards the subtler form of IDM that has long been Green’s signature. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news This year his chances of winning are doubled, with Bonobo showing up twice in the best dance/electronic re...
Susan Genco Urges Future Lawyers to Be ‘Bold & Innovative’ at 2022 Entertainment Law Initiative Luncheon
“I don’t have to tell any of you that the best moments of my life were created by artists and enhanced by music, because this is true for all of you,” said Susan Genco, co-president of The Azoff Company, who received the Service Award at the 24th annual Recording Academy Entertainment Law Initiative luncheon Saturday afternoon (April 2) in Las Vegas. Her sentiments were echoed by keynote speaker Cameron Crowe, who wrote the Oscar-winning, semi-autobiographical screenplay for the 2000 film Almost Famous. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news He told what presumably was the real Almost Famous story, about a 12-year-old boy whose mother intentionally raised him across the street from a law school she so desperately wanted him to go to. I...
