Pop
Chloe x Halle Drop Futuristic ‘Ungodly Hour’ Video
Chloe x Halle dropped the futuristic video for the title track from their 2020 album “Ungodly Hour” on Wednesday night (Feb. 24). The eye-popping clip directed by Alfred Marroquín (Rosalia, Sech) opens with the sisters dressed in head-to-toe blue vinyl outfits inside a dark, mysterious laboratory, posing and twitching to the song’s heartbeat rhythm as the lights flicker around them. The scene then turns to a shallow pool, with both singers laying in the water wearing nude-colored, bedazzled body suits in between flashes of them in a spare expanse rocking silver gowns and Erykah Badu-like facial hardware. The whole thing feels like a glimpse of dystopian, fashion-forward future set to the song’s soothing flow and vocals, which have them warning, “You know ...
Listen to Shamir’s Thumping Cover of Billie Eilish’s ‘Ocean Eyes’
Shamir has put his own spin on Billie Eilish‘s breakthrough debut single, “Ocean Eyes” and it’s a jam. The sedate 2016 original is notable for its barely-there beat and spare, swirling instrumentation. But in the hands of Shamir, the whispery ballad is transformed into a percussion-heavy swoon, with the singer layering in more aggressive drums, thumping bass and ringing guitars under his soaring falsetto. The audio for the remake dropped on Tuesday, just weeks after Shamir teased it in a since-deleted Instagram post that read, “Have you ever said to yourself, ‘I love ‘Ocean Eyes’ by @billieeilish but I wish it was a haunted emo shoegaze rock song? Well come 2/23 I got you!” You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Da...
Iann Dior & Clean Bandit Perform ‘Higher’ From Bob Marley’s Jamaica Studio: Exclusive
“Traveling to Jamaica with Clean Bandit for the making of this track was an experience I’ll never forget,” the 21-year-old “Mood” singer tells Billboard in a statement. “It was super dope shooting the video and performing at Bob Marley’s old studio too – Marley was such a legend and a constant inspiration in my life.” “We’ve fallen in love with Jamaica,” Clean Bandit adds. “We spent a lot of time there last year. The people, the food, the culture, and the artistry and creativity especially. We’ve done a lot of recording and collaborating over there and shooting videos with Iann for our current single was really special.” “We shot a full, k...
Bella Thorne Blasts Public Scrutiny Britney Spears Faced: ‘No One Gives Disney Kids Enough F***ing Credit’
When Bella Thorne first watched Hulu’s Framing Britney Spears in early February, she was irate — and has yet to shake the feeling. “It made me so sad, just all the wrongs that society did to her,” she says. “It’s disgusting what she went through, what she is still going through, the whole nine yards, it is literally terrible. And thank goodness they made the documentary so that people can change their fucking perception on situations.” The actress, 23, shares some similarities with the pop star, after all. They both were groomed for stardom as children and came up through the Disney ranks, Thorne via “Shake It Up” (opposite Zendaya) and Spears as a Mouseketeer, and both suffered the predations of paparazzi and negative scrutiny. She vividly r...
Watch Rick Astley React to ‘The Voice’ Judges Covering ‘Together Forever’: Exclusive
You’ve got to wake up pretty early in the morning to Rick Roll the Rick Roller. That’s what happened when British singer Rick Astley was told that the coaches from The Voice had filmed a remake of his iconic 1988 video for “Together Forever.” In the clip, which opens with some crackly, vintage 1980s VHS vibes, Astley lights up when he sees Blake Shelton doing an awkward, hunched-shoulder dance as he’s joined by an acid wash-drenched Nick Jonas and a shoulder-pad rocking Kelly Clarkson. John Legend, decked out in a fringed leather jacket, pulls off his own Breakfast Club-worthy steps, which clearly delights Astley, who is checking it all out on his phone. “That is priceless,” Astley chuckles as Clarkson shakes her gold necklaces and matching chunky ...
‘Love Story,’ ‘The Twist,’ ‘Unchained Melody’ & More Re-Recorded Hot 100 Hits
The original was released from Swift’s second LP, 2008’s Fearless. The new take is from her forthcoming re-recording of the album, Fearless (Taylor’s Version). (Re-recordings of older songs or albums are treated separately from their originals, with independent chart histories for each version.) “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” is the second single ever to top Hot Country Songs in separate forms, after Dolly Parton’s iconic “I Will Always Love You” led in 1974 and, in a second take, in 1982. On the Hot 100, Swift’s new entry is the latest to chart more than once as re-recorded in-studio by an artist that previously made it a hit. Here’s a look at 20 other memorable such singles, listed chronologically by their updated ve...
Coldplay Were Full Of Love After BTS Covered of ‘Fix You’
Coldplay sent all the love to BTS after the K-pop superstars played a surprise cover of 2005’s “Fix You” during Tuesday night’s (Feb. 23) MTV Unplugged. The British group included a link to the special, writing “beautiful” in Korean and “Love” in English, along with the bandmembers’ individual initials. The half-hour performance was filmed on five different sets, each one matching the mood of each song, from an arcade to an indoor field and a retro living room. Along with acoustic versions of songs from Be, RM, Jimin, Jin, Suga, Jungkook, V and J-Hope slipped in the surprise Coldplay cover as a treat for their American viewers. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be...
BTS Bring the Fire and Set the Night Alight on MTV Unplugged: Review
Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation: Recently, there’s been a growing divide between millennials and gen-z: side parts and skinny jeans are out. Different emojis are in. End up on the wrong end of the divide, and you’re in a tough spot. MTV Unplugged feels much more associated with the millennials, first airing in 1989 and rising to prominence in the ‘90s, ushering in many performances that have since become the stuff of legend. In 1992, Eric Clapton’s Unplugged album became the best-selling live album of all time. Mariah Carey’s episode marked a shift in her public reception and launched her cover of “I’ll Be There” to No. 1. MTV as a whole now often feels associated with a nostalgic time of TRL, flannels, and Blockbuster, but rest assured, millennials — if BTS is doing it, it’s still cool. The m...
Bella Thorne Opens Up About Pressures of ‘Perfect’ Disney Image: ‘Kids Need to See Real’
In fact, Thorne said showing more of her true self, including her poetry, sexuality, past struggles with abuse and more, has allowed her to form a deeper connection with her fans. “My life has changed in a lot of really amazing ways. Now when fans come up to me, they don’t always say, ‘I love you from this movie, that movie.’ They say, ‘Oh my God, I read your book and I connected to it so much because of this terrible time.'” “They tell me these stories and we connect. We usually both cry a little bit, and we hug. The book has curated me these beautiful moments in time that I get to fully be in,” she continued. Nowadays, Thorne has mastered the art of brushing off haters. “You just can’t react,” she explained. “If...
Cardi B Was ‘Freaking Out’ While Talking to Mariah Carey About New Album, Hair Care
Cardi also ran down the laborious routine of keeping her team safe, which involves everyone getting tested three or four times a week and coordinating hair, makeup and fashion from a distance. But even with her high-flying lifestyle, when Mariah asked Cardi if she considers herself down to earth, the “WAP” rapper said, “I can vibe with anybody. I know hood chicks, I know college girls. I can relate to any type of vibe.” After describing how writing her memoir — The Meaning of Mariah Carey — helped Carey work through her “interesting, dysfunctional childhood,” things got real when Mariah asked Cardi if she felt beautiful as a little girl, or, like Carey, like an outsider. Bronx-bred Cardi said growing up Dominican/Trinidadian in New York made ...
Billie Eilish Announces Documentary Premiere Event, Shares Live Version of “ilomilo”: Stream
Ahead of the upcoming Apple TV+ documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, the pop star and the tech giant have announced a live premiere event featuring interviews, video previews, and special musical performances. It’s going down February 25th before the film receives a wider release on the 26th, and Eilish is heralding the news by releasing a live performance of “ilomilo”, the song which gives the documentary its name. Apple TV+ reportedly paid $25 million to pull Eilish under their umbrella, and they now seemed to determined to get their money’s worth. The documentary live premiere event will be hosted by Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and feature interviews with both Eilish and the film’s director R.J. Cutler. Also expect are video packages previewing the doc and a st...
Kate Hudson Calls Criticism of Sia’s ‘Music’ an ‘Important Dialogue’
“I think when people see the film, they will see the amount of love and sensitivity that was put into it,” Hudson told Kimmel. Sia’s decision to cast Maddie Ziegler as a nonverbal character with autism, as opposed to a performer on the autism spectrum, caused major backlash. Telling Kimmel she welcomed the larger conversation, Hudson noted that she felt “terrible” that some people felt left out over the casting and portrayal of Ziegler’s character. “The spectrum is so wide and should be approached with far more conversation and understanding of how can we be more representative, what are the best ways to do that,” the actress told Kimmel. “We want to tell the best stories we can. There is no one who wants to upset anybody. When people f...
