Music News
Turkish Singer Gulsen Appears in Court Over Religious Schools Joke
A Turkish pop singer accused of “inciting hatred and enmity” with a joke about Turkey’s religious schools rejected the charge Friday (Oct. 21) during her first court appearance. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Singer-songwriter Gulsen was charged and briefly jailed over the joke she made during a concert in April, when she quipped that the “perversion” of one of her musicians came from attending a religious school. The 46-year-old singer, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was taken away from her Istanbul home in August after a video from the concert began circulating on social media, with a hashtag calling for her arrest. She was jailed for five days and later spent 15 days under house arrest despite having apologized for any offense...
How Taylor Swift’s Recent Album Releases Tell a Story of the ‘Midnights’ Rollout
Taylor Swift has been a regular fixture at the top of the Billboard 200 since 2008, when she notched her first No. 1 album with Fearless. Since then, she’s continued to break records, rack up No. 1s — 10 so far — and score eye-popping first-week unit totals. While it’s difficult to compare debut-week performances of any single artist’s albums over time — owed to changes in market conditions and music consumption patterns — it’s enlightening to take a look back at Swift’s last five charted releases, from 2019’s Lover through 2021’s Red [Taylor’s Version], and at what fueled their debuts on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The marketing and promotion techniques applied to those five releases likely informed the rollout plan of Swift’s 10th studio album, Midn...
Stacey Abrams Joins Latto on Stage With ‘My Body, My Choice’ Sign in Atlanta
Stacey Abrams held up a “my body, my choice” sign on stage as Latto performed “Pussy” in Atlanta Saturday night (Oct. 22). The Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia took the stage at the State Farm Arena, where Latto was opening for Lizzo on The Special Tour. The message on the sign Abrams held high was echoed with a speech given to the crowd. “I’m not gonna interrupt your fun. I just want to remind you that if you believe in my body, my choice, I need your vote,” Abrams said. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I need your big energy,” she added. “Let’s get it!” On Instagram, Abrams posted: “Thank you for sharing your stage with me, @latto777. Time to vote and protect a woman’s right to choose. StaceyAbrams.con/voting.” Abrams...
When We Were Young Festival Cancels Opening Day Due to High Wind Concerns
Organizers of Las Vegas’ When We Were Young canceled the music festival’s opening day on Saturday (Oct. 22) due to concerns over high winds. “When We Were Young Festival organizers have spend the last several days proactively preparing the festival grounds for a windy Saturday,” organizers wrote on the fest’s website and social media pages Saturday. “The National Weather Service has not upgraded their Saturday forecast to a High Wind Warning, including dangerous 30-40 mph sustained winds with potential 60 mph gusts. Under advisement of the National Weather Service and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, we have no other choice than to cancel today’s When We Were Young Festival. The safety of our fans, artists and staff will always be priority.” Explore See latest videos, charts a...
Joanna Simon, Acclaimed Singer, TV Correspondent and Carly’s Sister, Dies at 85
Joanna Simon, an acclaimed mezzo-soprano, Emmy-winning TV correspondent and one of the three singing Simon sisters who include pop star Carly Simon, has died at age 85. Simon, the eldest of four, died Wednesday (Oct. 19), just a day before her sister Lucy died, according to Lucy’s daughter, Julie Simon. Their brother Peter, a photographer, died in 2018 at 71. All three had cancer. “In the last 2 days, I’ve been by the side of both my mother and my aunt, Joanna, and watched them pass into the next world. I can’t truly comprehend this,” Julie wrote on Facebook. Joanna Simon, who died of thyroid cancer, rose to fame in the opera world and as a concert performer in the 1960s. She was a frequent guest on TV talk shows. After her retirement from singing, she became an arts correspondent for PBS’...
Drake & 21 Savage Announce Joint Album ‘Her Loss’ in New ‘Jimmy Cooks’ Music Video
Drake and 21 Savage are releasing an album together this week. The pair announced that Her Loss will be here on Friday (Oct. 28) in the middle of their new “Jimmy Cooks” music video, which arrived late Saturday afternoon, 21 Savage’s birthday. At the 1:25 mark in the Mahfuz Sultan-directed clip, the pair snuck in the title and release date for the new album. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news OVO Sound and Republic Records both shared screenshots of the Her Loss album news on Twitter. The Honestly, Nevermind track “Jimmy Cooks” (seemingly an ode to the character of Jimmy Brooks that Drake portrayed on Degrassi: The Next Generation) is the pair’s latest collab, and it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 over the summer,...
Madonna Reflects on ‘Sex’ Book Reaction From 30 Years Ago: ‘Now Cardi B Can Sing About Her WAP’
Madonna‘s 1992 album Erotica, released 30 years ago alongside her then-scandalous Sex coffee table book, paved the way for other female artists expressing their sexuality. Reflecting on that 30-year anniversary, Madonna shared her thoughts about the criticism she faced at the time of their release on Instagram Stories on Saturday (Oct. 22). “30 years ago I published a book called S.E.X. In addition to photos of me naked there were photos of Men kissing Men, Woman kissing Woman and Me kissing everyone. I also wrote about my sexual fantasies and shared my point of view about sexuality in an ironic way,” she wrote. “I spent the next few years being interviewed by narrow minded people who tried to shame me for empowering myself as a Woman,” Madonna continued in her note on Instagram. “I w...
5 Uplifting Moments in Latin Music This Week (Oct. 22)
From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Rosalía’s “Bizcochito” remix Amazon Music released the new Amazon Original “Bizcochito (Remix),” a collaboration between Spanish star Rosalía, featuring dembow artist Haraca Kiko. The new version of the track, featured in Rosalía’s Latin Grammy-nominated album Motomami, reimagines the song as a dembow hit powered by new beats. “I am so happy to share this remix of ‘Bizcochito’ that I did with my friends Haraca and the producer Leo RD,” said Rosalía in a statement. “I hope my fans at Am...
Mandy Moore Welcomes Second Child With Husband Taylor Goldsmith
Mandy Moore has welcomed her second child with Taylor Goldsmith, the actress announced the news on social media Friday (Oct. 21). Moore, who revealed the pregnancy in June, posted photos to Instagram of herself and her husband holding baby boy Oscar Bennett Goldsmith. She and Goldsmith, singer of the rock band Dawes, tied the knot in November 2018 and welcomed their first child, a son named August, in February 2021. “Ozzie is here! Oscar Bennett Goldsmith arrived a little late but with much aplomb (and an easier/speedier delivery than his big brother, much to the delight of his parents),” Moore captioned her post about the newborn. “Every adage is true: our hearts have doubled in size and the immediacy of the love is astounding. He is beyond words and we are so grateful for our family of f...
Kelly Clarkson Sounds Like an ‘Angel’ With This Monica Cover
Kelly Clarkson dipped into the R&B world on Friday’s (Oct. 21) “Kellyoke” installment, performing Monica‘s 1998 classic, “Angel of Mine.” Dressed in a sleek, camel-colored maxi dress and gold accessories, the superstar belted the track effortlessly, perfectly capturing Monica’s tender track. “Angel of Mine,” featured on Monica’s The Boy Is Mine album, topped the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for four weeks, and spent an impressive 30 weeks total on the chart. Following the success of her previous singles, “The Boy Is Mine” and “The First Night,” the song was the album’s third consecutive release to reach the Hot 100 summit. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Last month, the OG American Idol winner kicked off season four of ...
ATEEZ’s 2019 Single ’Say My Name’ Returns to World Digital Song Sales Chart Following Choreography Debate
With nearly 2 dozen entries on World Digital Song Sales, ATEEZ are no strangers to the Billboard chart, but their latest feat shows how fans are taking their support to the charts. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news On the World Digital Song Sales chart dated Oct. 22, 2022, ATEEZ’s “Say My Name” re-enters the ranking at No. 11 for its fifth week on the chart overall. The track sold an additional 500 downloads in the week ending Oct. 13 in the U.S., up from a negligible amount in the previous week, making a total of 1,000 downloads in the U.S. this year alone. Initially released in January 2019 as a single from the boy band’s Treasure EP.2: Zero to One album, “Say My Name” originally peaked at No. 8 on the chart and has sold 8,500...
First Spin: The Week’s Best New Dance Tracks From Bonobo, Gorgon City & More
This week in dance music: The first full-fledged Amsterdam Dance Event kicked off in the Dutch capital on Tuesday (watch for our full recap early next week), Claude VonStroke’s iconic Dirtybird label was acquired by the San Francisco-based EMPIRE, Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz hit the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, and we went deep with one of the actual inventors of electronic music Jean-Michel Jarre. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news And bangerz with a Z? We’ve got those too. Let’s dig in. Bonobo, “Defender” Before Bonobo completes his North American tour this weekend, he’s leaving a parting gift. New single “Defender,” out on his Outlier label in partnership with Ninja Tune, is another surprise drop following previous loosie “ATK.” Both deli...
