Music News
Coachella Co-Founder Says Kanye West Dropping Out Was a ‘Good Decision for Him’
Nearly two weeks before Kanye West was supposed to headline Coachella 2022, the rapper pulled out of his set on April 4 without a public statement or explanation. In a new interview with the LA Times, Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett shared his thoughts on Ye’s last-minute removal, noting that he’s still “good with Kanye.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I Zoomed with him a couple days prior, and I think it was a good decision for him,” Tollett said. Thankfully, The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia’s manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby called Tollett right after the lineup change, asking what he was looking for as a replacement. “Abel [Tesfaye] and Sal called and said, ‘What do you need?’” Tollett recalled. “I said, ‘I actually don’t know yet...
Here’s How Sarah Michelle Gellar Reacted to Billie Eilish Revealing the Actress Was Her Childhood Celebrity Crush
Sarah Michelle Gellar is happier than ever now that Billie Eilish has named the star as her childhood celebrity crush. In a Wednesday (April 27) Instagram post, the actress shared her gushing reaction to the 20-year-old singer’s prior declaration of love by saying she was “dead” — much like the supernatural creatures she used to hunt on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Eilish first confessed her admiration for Gellar on Instagram Story, where she was answering questions sent in from fans. When one of them asked who her celebrity crush had been when she was a kid, she simply posted a photo of Gellar holding her trademark wooden stake back when the actress was starring as Buffy Summers on the Warner Brothers...
ENHYPEN Sings Hits by Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, BTS, SEVENTEEN & More: Watch
ENHYPEN is putting its members music skills to the test. The K-pop stars appeared on the latest episode of Elle‘s Song Association, published on Thursday (April 28), and per the game rules, was given a series of words and was then tasked with singing a song with the given word in 10 seconds or less. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The first word, “Polaroid,” was an easy one for members Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo and Ni-ki get straight out of the gate, and they launched into their viral TikTok hit “Polaroid Love” with just one second to spare on the clock. “It’s like a polaroid love/ Love, that old-fashioned feeling/ But my heart is racing/ Why am I like this?” the guys sing in Korean. ENHYPEN also had an easy time for the sec...
Chopper From ‘Making the Band’ Facing Sex Trafficking Charge in Las Vegas
A rapper and former reality TV figure is facing a felony sex trafficking charge in Las Vegas in an ongoing criminal investigation alleging that he used his large social media following to recruit women as prostitutes, according to police. Records showed Wednesday that Kevin Lamont Barnes Jr., 37, was arrested Monday and released Tuesday without bail from the Clark County Detention Center pending a preliminary hearing of evidence May 10. Barnes, who uses the name Chopper and was featured on the early 2000’s MTV reality series “Making the Band,” was represented in court by a public defender. It was not immediately clear later if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Details of the investigation were not immediately made public by police or prosecutors. The celebrity website ...
Adam Levine Reveals He’s ‘Technically the Reason’ Why Ellen DeGeneres Is With Portia de Rossi
Adam Levine and Ellen DeGeneres have a lot to thank each other for. During the Maroon 5 singer’s Tuesday (April 26) appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, he and the daytime talk-show host discussed about their history — a conversation that ultimately led to Levine revealing that he is largely responsible for why DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi are together. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news After talking about how Levine gifted DeGeneres one of his few articles of clothing during his second appearance on the show, the host said, “What I’ve done in exchange is, I named your first born child.” “I know that it was definitely a name that you recommended and I brought it up to [wife] Behati [Prinsloo], and she didn’t get it at first and then ...
Lady Gaga Confirms She Wrote a Song for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’: ‘I’ve Been Working on It For Years’
It’s been three years since she took home an Oscar for her songwriting work on A Star Is Born, but Lady Gaga isn’t done making music for film. On Wednesday (April 27), the 36-year-old pop icon confirmed rumors that she would be contributing an original track to Top Gun: Maverick with an emotional Instagram post announcing that her next single, “Hold My Hand,” will indeed be featured in the film. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “When I wrote this song for Top Gun: Maverick, I didn’t even realize the multiple layers it spanned across the film’s heart, my own psyche, and the nature of the world we’ve been living in,” she wrote, sharing a photo of the track’s black-and-white, military-themed art. “I’ve been working on it for years, per...
Michael Stipe Reveals the Lyric Switch on R.E.M.’s ‘Losing My Religion’ That Changed Everything
Turns out, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe wasn’t always in the “spotlight” for his 1991 classic, “Losing My Religion.” Stipe was recently a guest on the Broken Record podcast, where he revealed a minor, but equally major, lyric change to host Rick Rubin. It all started when Rubin asked Stipe if he knew the song was special as he was writing it, which the R.E.M. artist quickly denied. “We released it as a first single thinking it was going to set up the next song,” he said. “It’s such a weird song, we had no idea it was going to resonate the way that it did.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news On memories of making the track, Stipe delved into changing the lyrics in the chorus. “I changed one lyric,” he recalled. “‘That’s me in the...
Hikaru Utada Makes Festival Debut at Coachella With 88rising: Interview & Recap
On the first day of Weekend One at Coachella this year (April 15-17), J-pop superstar Hikaru Utada surprised fans by announcing they would be performing the next day in 88rising’s Head in the Clouds Forever showcase. The event would be streamed live on YouTube, meaning fans around the world who couldn’t make it to the festival grounds could tune in to witness the Japanese-American hitmaker’s special set online. The following is a report by Billboard Japan of Hikaru Utada’s first-ever Coachella performance, along with excerpts from an interview they gave immediately after their performance. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news I was one of the lucky ones who got to see the show on-site, and moved forward to a position next to the runway where...
Harry Styles Reveals How One Direction Struggles and Speculation Over His Sexuality Influenced ‘Harry’s House’
Harry Styles‘ next album is all about finding a sense of home. In his Better Homes & Gardens cover story published Tuesday (April 26), the 28-year-old singer-songwriter revealed that his May 20-slated third record Harry’s House includes cozy lyrics about “sitting in the garden” and “maple syrup, coffee, pancakes for two,” all having to do with his realization that “home feeling isn’t something that you get from a house.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “It’s more of an internal thing,” he told the publication. “You realize that when you stop for a minute.” But what, exactly, is the chaos in his life he’s now working to move away from and toward stability? Turns out, a lot. Styles spoke in the interview at length about how Harry...
Fitz and the Tantrums, Modest Mouse & More Set for 2022 SummerStage
City Parks Foundation announced the return of Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage on Tuesday (April 26), as the annual outdoor performing arts festival is set to take over New York City with 90 free and benefit shows in Central Park and 12 neighborhood parks across the five boroughs. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Kicking off the season on Saturday, June 11 in Central Park will be a free performance from legendary jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock with Keyon Harrold opening in association with the Blue Note Jazz Festival. Among the other artists set to perform throughout the summer are Fitz and the Tantrums, Modest Mouse, The Cribs, Big Freedia, Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, J...
Meet 2022’s ‘American Idol’ Top 10
Just three days before the finalists on the current season of American Idol competed in a live broadcast to narrow the top 14 down to a top 11, they sat down with Billboard for their first in-depth interviews of their Idol run. One by one, over almost eight hours, they filed into dressing room 36G at CBS Television City in Los Angeles to be grilled about their lives, their hopes and dreams and their Idol journeys to date. Although each contestant was interviewed privately, they named many of the same series alums as their favorite Idols. Alejandro Aranda received the most mentions, with Kelly Clarkson right behind him. Last year, it was a three-way tie for first place among Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson and Katharine McPhee. With the revelation of who made the current top 10 now announced on t...
Elon Musk to Buy Twitter: Questlove, Ice T, Scooter Braun & More React
Elon Musk reached an agreement to acquire Twitter for approximately $44 billion, the social media company announced on Monday (April 25). The Tesla CEO, who is also the world’s wealthiest person, has previously noted that he wants to buy Twitter because he thought that it’s not a platform for “free speech.” He says it needs to be transformed as a private company in order to build trust with users and do better at serving what he calls the “societal imperative” of free speech. Over the past few weeks, Musk has shared a number of proposed changes that he hopes to implement in the company, from relaxing content restrictions — such as the rules that suspended former President Donald Trump’s account — to removing fake and automated accounts from Twitter. “Free speech is the bedrock of a fu...
