Meghan Trainor re-entered the pop world with a blazing hit, “Made You Look,” which made its rounds on TikTok thanks to a viral dance trend started by users Brookie and Jessie. “It was one of the last songs I wrote for the album,” the star previously told Billboard of the track, which appears on her recent LP Takin’ it Back. “I knew I needed my self-confident banger that I always do on my albums, and I was really studying “All About That Bass.” I was like, “Why did this work so well?” I think everyone just loves to sing along to a song that’s like, “I am awesome, I am the sh-t, I am hot.” Especially after having a baby, I was already struggling to love my body. I was covered in a C-section scar crossing over all my stretch marks and I was really struggling to like myself...
HARDY and Lainey Wilson teamed up for a rare murder ballad in country’s modern era. “You rarely hear songs like this that bring light to heavy situations that people are really scared to talk about,” Wilson told Billboard of the track. “I feel, in my heart, that our job is to sing about the things that people are afraid to talk about. It’s a song that definitely starts a conversation.” If you need a guide to follow along with the lyrics to HARDY and Lainey Wilson’s “Wait in the Track,” find the lyrics below: I got turned around in some little townI’d never been to beforeWorking my way through a middle of JuneMidnight thunderstormThere was something in the headlightsIt stopped me on a dimeWell, she was scared to death So I said “Climb in” and in she climbedOh, yeah Well...
Kelly Clarkson took viewers back a few decades with her latest Kellyoke segment. For Thursday’s (Jan. 5) episode of her namesake show, the American Idol season one champ traded her sweetness for something a bit more nostalgic. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The “Since U Been Gone” singer, accompanied by her band Y’all, opened up the talk show with a cover of Ronnie Milsap’s “Lost in the Fifties Tonight.” The band kept things jazzy on the instrumentals, allowing for Clarkson’s voice to glide on the melody and allow her signature robust tone and vocal runs to steal the show. “In the still of the night/ Hold me, darlin’, hold me tight, oh/ So real, so right/ I’m lost in the fifties tonight,” the vocalist sang, with a classy saxophone addi...
A superstar A-team of iconic singers have teamed up for the upcoming single “Gonna Be You.” The Diane Warren-written song featuring Dolly Parton, Go-Gos singer Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan and Blondie’s Debbie Harry will be released on Jan 20 in advance of the upcoming Paramount Pictures road trip comedy 80 For Brady. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “When I wrote ‘Gonna Be You’ for 80 FOR BRADY, I wanted to write a song that celebrated these women’s deep friendship,” said Warren in a statement. “Since 80 was in the title I got a crazy idea, why not get some of the most iconic singers from the 80s, who are still amazing and always will be, to all sing it?!!!! Everyone I approached said yes and was just as excited as m...
Harry Styles completely surprised his fans last April when he brought out the one and only Shania Twain as a guest performer at Coachella. But it turns out, the two go way back. In a recent appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Twain opened up about how her friendship with the 28-year-old “As It Was” singer began long before their partnership at the music festival. “He was playing a show in New York,” she explained on Wednesday (Jan. 4). “This is before he really blew up.” “I went backstage to meet him became,” she continued. “We became texting friends.” Later, the “You’re Still the One” musician was asked by Styles to wish his mom a happy birthday over the phone, she recalled. “‘My mom was a big influence on me and why I grew up with your music,’” Twain remembered Styles...
A prominent ’90s hip-hop duo is suing Universal Music Group for withholding royalties tied to what they’re alleging is a “sweetheart” deal the label reached with Spotify in the late 2000s. Filed Wednesday (Jan. 4) in U.S. district court in New York by attorneys representing Andres Titus (Dres) and William McLean (Mista Lawnge), members of the hip-hop duo Black Sheep, the lawsuit claims UMG owes its artists approximately $750 million in royalties deriving from the company’s stock in Spotify. Under a licensing deal they claim UMG and the streaming giant reached in 2008, the label agreed to receive lower royalty payments in exchange for equity in the then-nascent streaming company. But Titus and McLean say the label breached their contract with Black Sheep and other artists by withholding wha...
At the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 5, Viola Davis could become the 18th person to achieve the EGOT. The Oscar, Tony and Emmy winner is nominated for a Grammy for the first time for best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording. The other four nominees in the category are all past Grammy winners. Questlove, nominated for Music Is History, is a six-time Grammy winner. Mel Brooks, nominated for All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks, is a three-time Grammy winner – as is Lin-Manuel Miranda, nominated for Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World. Jamie Foxx, who rounds out the category with Act Like You Got Some Sense, has won one Grammy. In 2001, Brooks became the eighth individual to become an EGOT winner. Davis has won a Primetime Emmy f...
Vic Mensa (and his dad) are bringing clear water to their homeland. Born Victor Kwesi Mensah, the Chicago-made rapper and creative remembers his roots, capitalizing on his success and resources to bring a better quality of life for his fellow Ghanaians through access to clean water. Mensa visited his ancestral village alongside his father who was born in Ghana and heads a non-profit called Let Them Drink Water, and bore witness to the community’s severe water contamination issue. The pair decided to develop a solution, by building a new Borehole — a manual pump which provide clean water, but are unfortunately rare across Africa. After one successful borehole that brought access to water for hundreds of thousands, Mensa decided to build two more in nearby villages. “We’re building 3 Borehol...
We’re only three and a half months away from the 2023 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, which means this year’s headliners should be announced any day now. However, before that big reveal comes, we want to know who you think should take the main stage in Indio, Calif. this April. Frank Ocean is, obviously, the best bet for this year’s festival in the desert, considering he was originally supposed to headline the 2020 iteration along with Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott before it was canceled by the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. He’s also previously been announced as one of the main acts this April, so if that holds true, two other headliners will be joining him on the lineup. Both Bad Bunny and Rihanna are also strong contenders among Billboard‘s predictions. T...
Following her beyond iconic baby reveal on SNL, loads of fans excitedly became unofficial aunties to Keke Palmer’s incoming bundle of joy. Now, we can collectively swoon over the carousel post Palmer’s boyfriend Darius Daulton Jackson posted to Instagram, featuring a sweet ultrasound photo of their baby. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “To 2022, thank you for giving me a family,” Daulton captioned the Instagram post, which also included photos of the happy couple sharing a smooch on the beach. Palmer even shared a celebratory year-end Instagram post of her own, showing the very pregnant 29-year-old resting surrounded by nature. “This baby moving thing is weirdddddd,” she said in the caption, referencing a selfie showing an uncomfortable...
Zach Bryan notches his first No. 1 on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart (dated Jan. 7) with “Something in the Orange.” In its 36th week on the survey, the song ascends from No. 2 with 15 million official streams (up 2%) and 4,000 downloads sold (up 11%) Dec. 23-29, according to Luminate. “Orange” debuted on the survey dated May 7, 2022, at No. 11 and reached the top 10 in June. Being promoted to country radio by Warner Music Nashville, the song marks Bryan’s first entry on the Country Airplay chart, where it ranks at No. 31 in its 26th frame with 2.4 million in reach. Meanwhile, Bryan’s new live album, All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live From Red Rocks), arrives on Top Country Albums at No. 14. Released Dec. 25, it earned 12,000 equivalent album uni...
The final two installments of Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries series ended with a pair of bombshell revelations about the imprisoned singer’s controversial marriage to a then-underage Aaliyah. The two episodes that debuted on Monday and Tuesday, focused in on Kelly’s 2022 federal trial, which included allegations that the singer and his team allegedly forced Aaliyah’s family to sign a non-disclosure agreement in the wake of the annulment of the performers’ brief marriage. Kelly and Aaliyah were married in secret in August 1994 when the “Rock the Boat” singer was just 15, even though their marriage certificate listed her age as 18; the marriage was reportedly annulled by Aaliyah’s parents in Feb. 1995. Interviews with some of Kelly’s and Aaliyah’s entourages revealed some of the de...