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Maggie Lindemann’s Boots Were Made For Creeping
In 2019, she released “Friends Go,” a ska-tinged throwback that brought Lindemann’s preference for a guitar-driven sound to the forefront. The track “opened this door to something new, and I started writing more pop-alternative-rock-leaning music,” she says. “Friends Go” gained even more attention once super-drummer Travis Barker joined a version of the track, an experience that Lindemann calls “surreal” — and which turned out to be transformative for her. “When Travis hopped on it, I got a real taste of what it would be like to do that,” she says of accessing her punk rock side. “I immediately loved it, and I never want to go back to what I was doing.” Emboldened by a co-sign from rock royalty, Lindemann steadily released singles throughout 2020, each one edgier than the last —...
Believe in Music: What to Expect From NAMM’s First-Ever Virtual Gathering
Highlights of the five-day event, which is free to attend, include opening sessions with Garth Brooks and Melissa Etheridge at 9 a.m. PT on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22, respectively; conversations with artists including Jackson Browne, Perry Farrell, Deadmau5, Nathan East, LZZY Hale , Anthrax‘s Scott Ian and Charley Pride (in one of his last interviews); a products preview on Jan. 20 at 4 p.m. PT featuring merchandise from C.F. Martin & Co., Roland, Yamaha, Avid, Gibson, Shure and more; and the Grand Rally for Music Education, an annual event that brings together music education advocates “for a celebration of the benefits and pleasures of making music.” The NAMM Show’s long-running annual events and awards ceremonies will also be incorporated. These include the 36th TEC Awards, whi...
Warner Music Makes a Play for India’s Regional Music Market
The partnership with Sky Digital is part of Warner Music’s mandate of “taking the Indian sound global,” Jay Mehta, Warner Music India managing director, tells Billboard. The tie-up follows a similar distribution deal with Bollywood label Tips Music and a licensing agreement with Punjabi music aggregator Ziiki Media, which were announced in May and October 2020, respectively. In addition to running an in-house label whose roster includes such Punjabi singing stars as Sunanda Sharma, Sky Digital currently serves as the aggregator for over 40 Punjabi music labels as well as several Hindi, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri ones. Sky Digital also manages a suite of regional music YouTube channels in those languages that collectively have over 15 million subscribers. Among the recent big Punjabi hits distri...
Martin Luther King Jr. Was Assassinated 4 Days Before the 1968 Oscars: The Show Did Not Go On
The Oscars initially planned to go forward as scheduled, but it became increasingly apparent that the show simply couldn’t go on. The show was pushed back two days, to April 10, the day after the funeral. With that, these four stars agreed to appear on the show in these roles. The Oscar telecast opened, appropriately, on a serious note. Gregory Peck, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences at the time, offered some sober remarks. “This has been a fateful week in the history of our nation. We join with fellow members of our profession and men of goodwill everywhere in paying our profound respects to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Society has always been reflected in its art and one measure of Dr. King’s influence on the society we live in is that of t...
Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers License’ Fast-Tracks to No. 1 In Australia
Rodrigo is all that stands in the way of The Kid Laroi bagging his first No. 1. The Sydney-raised rapper’s “Without You” holds at No. 2 on the singles survey. Also soaring on the national singles survey this week is Tones And I’s “Fly Away,” up 8-7 for a new chart peak. It’s the multiple ARIA Award-winner’s joint second-highest chart entry, equaling the best for 2019’s “Never Seen The Rain.” Tones’ breakout hit “Dance Monkey” is by far the longest No. 1 in the history of the ARIA Singles Chart, at 24 non-consecutive weeks, and it finished 2020 as the best-selling homegrown tune, ARIA reports. Meanwhile, Barry Gibb leads the ARIA Albums Chart as a solo artist for the first time with Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers’ Songbook, a collection of Bee Gees classics performed as country ...
The Supremes at 60: Mary Wilson Says Reunion ‘Up to Diana Ross’
In Artist Development, they were taught poise and polish by Maxine Powell, who ran a Detroit modeling agency; moves by Cholly Atkins, who also choreographed labelmates The Temptations; and harmonies by Maurice King, musical director at Detroit’s legendary Flame Showbar. The mood at Motown was competitive but “supportive, because Motown was magic. Everybody was talented,” says Wilson. The group was overshadowed by acts like The Marvelettes, but all that changed in 1964 when they scored five of their 12 No. 1 hits, including “Baby Love” and “Stop! In the Name of Love.” Says Wilson: “The Civil Rights Act was passed around then. We became divas and citizens in the same year.” The Vegas farewell, which made way for Ross to embark on a solo c...
Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers License’ on Track For Another Week at No. 1 In U.K.
It’s early days, but there is a challenge from Anne-Marie, KSI and Digital Farm Animals‘ “Don’t Play,” which opens at No. 2 on the chart blast and is on track to be this week’s highest new entry, at No. 2. If it holds its momentum, it would become Anne-Marie’s highest-charting single as a lead artist, following a No. 3 best for “2002,” and the best for both KSI and Digital Farm Animals. Another track that’s hit overdrive is Ariana Grande’s “34+35,” which is on course for a new peak. “34+35” rockets 11-3 following a new cut released last Friday featuring Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat. The Official U.K. Singles Chart is published late Friday local time. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begi...
The Weeknd, Harry Styles, Tame Impala Light up Australia’s 2020 Year-End Charts
Released in November 2019, “Blinding Lights” ruled the weekly ARIA Singles Chart for a full 10 weeks in 2020, longer than any other record during the year, earning him an ARIA Award nomination for best international act. When Aussies were keen to extend the mood, their album of choice was Harry Styles‘ Fine Line, which rules the 2020 ARIA Albums Top 10. The former One Direction star’s sophomore album spent just one week atop the weekly ARIA Albums Chart during the year, but critically, it had staying power. By year’s end, the LP had logged 48 weeks in the Top Ten, and Styles took out fan-voted best international act at the 2020 ARIA Awards. Aussies also loved Taylor Swift’s folklore, the No. 2 ranked album of the year, while collections from Billie Eilish (When We All Fall Asleep, Wh...
Morgan Wallen’s ‘Dangerous: The Double Album’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200, Breaks Country Streaming Record
Of Dangerous’ 265,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week ending Jan. 14, SEA units comprise 184,000 (equaling 240.18 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs), album sales comprise 74,000 and TEA units comprise 7,000. (Of Dangerous’ 74,000 in album sales, digital download album sales comprise 50,000.) Dangerous is Wallen’s second full-length album, following 2018’s If I Know Me, which peaked at No. 13 on the Aug. 29, 2020-dated chart. It has spent over 110 weeks on the tally and earned 1.7 million equivalent album units, while its songs have accrued 2.4 billion on-demand streams. Prior to Dangerous’ release, the singer-songwriter had snared 13 charting hits on the Hot Country Songs chart, including eight top 10s (two of which reached No. 1). On the all-genre Billboard...
Chris Murphy, Longtime Manager of INXS, Dies at 66
“CM celebrated an illustrious career over 40 years and made an incredible impact on the global music and entertainment industry,” the statement continued. “Best known for taking his ‘band of brothers’ INXS to worldwide stardom, CM Murphy influenced the lives of many around the globe with his endless passion and drive. He will be greatly missed.” Led by the late Michael Hutchence, INXS was one of the most successful groups to emerge from Australia in the late 1970s and sold approximately 70 million records worldwide during their career. The surviving band members wrote in a tribute to Murphy, “Without Chris’s vision, passion and hard work, the INXS story would be totally different. Chris’s star burned very bright and we celebrate a life well lived and send all ...
If Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers License’ Gets a Remix, Who Should Co-Star?
But of course, there was a crucial element that provided that extra bit of fuel in sending “Old Town Road” straight to the moon: a remix. Well, several remixes actually, but only one that permanently changed the song’s trajectory — a team-up with country icon Billy Ray Cyrus, which fleshed the song out structurally and paired Lil Nas X with the perfect co-star and foil. The song was already a runaway smash by the time of the remix, but no one would argue that the new version didn’t take it to another level. Could a remix like that be in store for “Drivers License”? It might not even need it — after all, it’s already making history on its own — but if it does end up getting one, we have some thoughts about the guest artists who cou...
Olivia Rodrigo Makes Historic No. 1 Debut on U.K. Chart With ‘Drivers License’
“I just want to say thank you guys so much. It means the absolute world to me that you guys are listening to and loving ‘Drivers License.’ So sending you all the love in the world,” the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star said in a video message celebrating the news while blowing a kiss and showing off her U.K. No. 1 plaque. And there’s more: The 17-year-old singer-songwriter also had the biggest opening week of overall chart sales for a No. 1 debut in five years, since Zayn‘s “Pillowtalk” in 2016. And she’s one of the youngest artists to score a No. 1 song in the U.K. before their 18th birthday, at 17 years and 10 months old. Jawsh 685 joined the 18-and-under chart-toppers club in July when he scored a No. ...
