Pop
Finneas to Mentor ‘American Idol’ Top 4: Here’s What They’ll Perform (Exclusive)
Bishop will perform her personal idol song “wish you were gay” by Finneas’ younger sister Billie Eilish, in addition to her original single “Love Me, Leave Me.” Beckham picked “Colder Weather” by Zac Brown Band for his personal idol song and will later sing his own song “23.” Kinstler picked inaugural Idol winner Kelly Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This” as her personal idol song, and she’ll also perform her original single “Love Someone.” Spence’s personal idol song is “Glory” by John Legend and Common, and he’ll later sing “Never Be Alone,” his original song. Caleb Kennedy, who was among the top five contestants, announced Wednesday that he’s leav...
Influence Media Buys Stake in Julia Michaels’ Song Catalog
Also included are Michaels’ publishing stakes in several of her songs as a solo artist, including “Issues,” “I Miss You” (with Clean Bandit), “Carry Me” (with Kygo) and “Friends” (with Justin Bieber and BloodPop). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Michaels acquisition is the second from Influence Media’s music fund with the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (MERS of Michigan), which boasts $100 million in initial capital to invest in the recording and publishing rights of commercially proven songs. Its first joint acquisition, of select copyrights from songwriter Ali Tamposi’s catalog, was announced in April. “Like Carole King, Sia and Bruno Mars before her, Julia Michaels belongs in the pantheon of great songwriters who can write classics for themselves as well as o...
Skrillex Drops New Pop-Punk Track With Swae Lee and Siiickbrain, “Too Bizarre”
Just three days after releasing his first official solo track since 2019, Skrillex is back with another release, a collab with Siiickbrain and Rae Sremmurd’s Swae Lee. The aptly titled “Too Bizarre” is a full-fledged pop song and even further of a departure from the bass-fueled Skrillex music of old. The arrangement here was made for radio, with Lee crooning over a number of guitar riffs and punk-inspired vocal harmonies. A jarring vocal at the halfway point courtesy of Siiickbrain brings the track into its final gallop before the last chorus takes it home, tying a bow on a catchy—and strange—new Skrillex release. As the road to Skrillex’s mythical sophomore album becomes more and more clear, it’s anyone’s guess where his sound is going moving forwa...
Kurt Cobain’s Hair, Eddie Van Halen Guitar Among Items in Rock Auction
The items are part of a slate of rock items being offered up by Iconic Auction, spanning Elvis to grunge. The auction closes Saturday (May 15). A portion of proceeds will benefit Crew Nation, a relief fund for live music touring and venue crews who are facing hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic. The item with the highest minimum is a collarless, dark blue jacket custom made for Paul McCartney that starts at $25,000. It was worn onstage over a six-night stand at Bournemouth, England’s Gaumont Theatre in 1963. Tricia Eaton, East Coast consignment director at Iconic Auctions, said the jacket is one of the Beatles’ earliest stage-worn garments ever to come to market and captures the band pivoting from jeans and leather jackets. There’s also a copy of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts C...
Russian Dolls Talk ‘Masked Singer’ Exit: ‘I’m Pretty Sure We’re Not Sugarland’
After talking about being ridiculed for trying to do their thing earlier in their career and laughing their way through guesses that ranged from Menudo to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Boyz II Men and the Jonas Brothers, when push came to shove, it could only be one family band under those massive heads: Hanson. The trio of Taylor, Isaac and Zac had the panel stumped for most of this season, but if you’ve followed the Tulsa-bred band’s 25-plus-year career at all, those harmonies were unmistakable. On Wednesday, the Grammy-winning “MmmBop” trio also announced their seventh studio album, Against the World, which will premiere in seven consecutive monthly singles throughout the rest of the year, beginning with lead single “Annalie,” out now. The brothers have ...
The Duo Behind 2021 Brit Awards Sets From Olivia Rodrigo, Arlo Parks & More Reveal How They Came Together
After launching in 2012, Tawbox scored its major break working with Stormzy in 2017. Now, the pair is working on the creative direction for his upcoming headlining slot at Reading and Leeds Festival this August. In spite of so many years and so much success, both Bronski and Rimmel say it doesn’t feel like they’ve been doing this for nearly a decade, largely because, as Rimell says, “We’re always evolving. We’re constantly working towards the next thing and how we can progress from the last thing that we’ve done.” Below, Tawbox breaks down how its three 2021 Brit Awards performances came together. Olivia Rodrigo One of Bronski and Rimell’s first Zoom calls was in fact with Rodrigo and her team. They say it didn’t take long to develop the idea for this performance — for which the 18-y...
Olivia Rodrigo Gets Silly With Taylor Swift After Finally Meeting at the 2021 Brit Awards: See the Photo
When Olivia Rodrigo finally met Taylor Swift backstage at the 2021 Brit Awards Tuesday (May 11), she did what anyone would do when connecting with their hero: She made a super silly face. The “Drivers License” singer posted a cute black-and-white backstage snap with Swift just after the show. In the photo shared on Instagram, the 18-year-old is sticking out her tongue and rolling her eyes to the ceiling as Swift wraps her arm around her and makes an eyes-closed kissy face at the camera. The post was accompanied by four pleading face emojis, and solicited plenty of A-list reaction from friends and fans. Conan Gray commented, “I love my sister and my mom,” with singer Ashe adding, “zero words i–I’m so happy for you,” and Hayley Kiyoko so seemin...
Carole King Reacts to Second Rock Hall Induction, Talks Potential Return to the Stage
While the honor is richly deserved, King never planned on becoming a famous singer in her youth. When she initially entered the music business as a Brill Building scribe in the late ’50s, she only saw herself as a songwriter. “I became an artist [in the late ’60s], not reluctantly, but it was just the right circumstances that brought me into being an artist,” King recalls to Billboard. “And really, as a songwriter, you’re always the artist when you’re presenting the song to another artist. Through Lou Adler and with James Taylor’s help, I took ownership of being the artist who sang my own songs.” Fans of King’s warm, wistful style will be thrilled to hear that she is not only planning on attending the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
Here’s How ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ Performed in Its Fourth Week Compared to Taylor Swift’s Original ‘Fearless’
Taylor Swift released Fearless (Taylor’s Version), her re-recording of her best-selling 2008 sophomore album, a little over a month ago, and scored a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart. In the month since its release, we’ve been keeping track of how the unprecedented chart-topper — the first re-recorded version of another album to reach the peak of the Billboard 200 — has performed as compared to the original Fearless, in terms of weekly listenership. In its fourth week on the Billboard 200, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) slips out of the top 10, coming in at No. 15 after posting at No. 9 on last week’s tally. The re-recorded Fearless earned 24,000 equivalent album units for the chart week dated May 15, according to MRC Data, down from 33,000 equivalent album units in the prev...
Louis Tomlinson Sets 2022 World Tour Dates
The English singer’s jaunt will take him across North America, then head to east for a European leg starting March 23 at Valsheimilio in Reykjavik, Iceland, and wrapping April 23 with a homecoming date at Doncaster Dome. Australasian dates are booked from July 20 at Brisbane’s Fortitude Hall. Fresh tour dates for South America and Asia have yet to be announced. Tomlinson’s first solo world tour was set to run through 2020, in support of his debut solo album Walls. That trek, like so many others, was scuppered by the health crisis. As a member of 1D, which called it a day in 2015, Tomlinson had a hand in over 100 million record sales. Streams of his solo music have blasted past one billion, and Louis isn’t looking back. “I feel like a new artist now,” he says. “It’s taken a while for m...
Billie Eilish Talks Wig Rumors, Favorite Song and Performs ‘Your Power’ on ‘Colbert’
On Monday night (May 10), Eilish was the musical guest on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Framed by a rugged desert, the Californian star and her brother/collaborator Finneas produced a dreamy, ambient cut. Just vocals, a single acoustic guitar and a barren landscape. Earlier, Eilish zoomed in for a chat with the late-night show’s host, her second interview with Colbert in about 10 weeks. At the top, Colbert sought to crush those rumors on her hairstyle during that previous appearance on his program. Yep, that green do was a wig. “I was just as blond then as I am now,” she admitted. For real, she continued, it was a Billie Eilish Halloween costume wig, bought on Amazon. “It was awful, it was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,” she said. There was method to all that madness. With all the...
