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Mexican Singer-Songwriter Silvana Estrada Becomes First Latin Artist Signed to Glassnote Records: Exclusive
Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada has become the first Latin artist signed to Glassnote Records, Billboard can confirm. Joining the indie label’s roster, which includes award-winning artists like Phoenix and Mumford & Sons, the artist-to-watch signed with Glassnote following a quick visit to New York back in February. “After meeting the team, and a spontaneous performance, both parties left mesmerized,” according to a statement issued by Glassnote. “She officially joined the Glassnote family shortly after.” Born and raised in Veracruz, Mexico and inspired by artists like Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, Estrada began her musical career at a young age experimenting with different instruments — both her parents were luthiers. “My music i...
The 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time: Staff List
It’s been nearly four decades since our best and brightest stars first made the jump from our stereos to our televisions, changing the course of popular music in the process. In the course of that time, music videos have come to define what we love and remember about our favorite artists as much as anything short of the music itself — creating icons, reinventing careers, sparking imaginations and inspiring untold millions of Halloween costumes worldwide. On the verge of this Sunday’s (Aug. 30) MTV Video Music Awards — the one time a year where we’re still guaranteed to celebrate one of media’s most influential-but-under-recognized artforms — Billboard wanted to take a look back at the artists who have given the most to the music video, wh...
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Resigns Amid White House Pressure to Sell App
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigned Thursday amid U.S. pressure for its Chinese owner to sell the popular video app, which the White House says is a security risk. In a letter to employees, Mayer said that his decision to leave comes after the “political environment has sharply changed.” His resignation follows President Donald Trump’s order to ban TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells its U.S. operations to an American company within 90 days. “I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” he said in the letter. “Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company...
Kanye West Sues Ohio Election Head to Get on November Ballot
Rapper Kanye West sued Ohio’s election chief Wednesday in an effort to be placed on the November presidential ballot after the Secretary of State deemed him unqualified as an independent candidate. West’s emergency filing against Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose comes days after the election’s chief rejected the nearly 15,000 signatures and other paperwork the rapper submitted earlier this month in an attempt to run for president, citing mismatched information on the signature-gathering documents. In the complaint, attorneys for West’s campaign in Ohio allege that it is LaRose’s duty to accept any petition for an independent candidate as long as there is no protest filed against the petition and it doesn’t violate Ohio law. Ohio was one of a number of stat...
Mike Noga, Solo Artist and Former Drummer With The Drones, Dies at 42
Mike Noga, the Australian singer, songwriter and former drummer with celebrated alternative rock outfit The Drones, has died at the age of 42. The sad news was announced on social media by Noga’s sister, Ali. “We are absolutely devastated to inform you of the passing of our beloved brother, son, uncle and dearest friend Mike,” the message reads. “We know how much he and his music meant to so many of you and there’s nothing we can say to make this hurt any less. We miss you and love you so much, Mike.” We are absolutely devastated to inform you of the passing of our beloved brother, son, uncle and dearest friend Mike. We… Posted by Ali Noga on Wednesday, August 26, 2020 The cause of death has not been revealed. Taking his spot behind the kit for the Drones, Noga...
Smash Mouth Received Angry ‘Fan Mail’ After Their South Dakota Performance
Smash Mouth got bad press for their concert in South Dakota earlier this month. They also got hate mail. Despite the raging pandemic which has taken more than 170,000 lives across the U.S., and against conventional medical advice, Smash Mouth went and performed Aug. 9 at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally’s Buffalo Chip concert series. Images from the show traveled fast on social media, in particular footage of singer Steve Harwell who could be can be heard saying, “We’re all here together tonight. F–k that COVID s–t!” The message fell flat with some. Earlier this week, the California rockers uploaded a photo of an angry hand-written letter, framed by a Smash Mouth CD snapped into small pieces. “Recent fan mail,” the post reads. The “All Star” band and th...
Australia’s Falls Festival Will ‘Raincheck’ Due to COVID-19
The 2020/2021 edition of Australia’s Falls Festival has been shelved due to the pandemic. Falls Festival, one of Australia’s biggest annual touring fests, was meant to go ahead with multiple dates on either side of New Year’s, featuring an all-Australian lineup. Those plans, however, proved too optimistic. “Falls Festival will no longer be taking place this year,” reads a statement from Falls Festival producers Jess Ducrou and Paul Piticco. “In May, as the nation seemed to be moving into recovery mode, we were optimistic about forging ahead and supporting our local industry with an all Aussie edition of Falls Festival,” the message continues. “We were especially excited to reunite many live music fans, get industry crew back on the job, and contribute to the economies of the co...
Sheldon Riley Reimagines Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ on ‘AGT’: Watch
Sheldon Riley hides his face behind a mask, but there’s nothing shy about his performances. As the quarter-finals continued Tuesday night on America’s Got Talent, the mysterious Australian singer chose a particularly dramatic crystal mask for the occasion, and delivered a powerhouse cover of “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” Riley totally reimagined Kylie Minogue’s pop classic as an epic heartbreaker. The son of an Aussie mother and a Filipino father, Riley (real name Sheldon Hernandez) amassed a following during his run on The Voice Australia in 2018, earning a spot in the final four. He returned to the series last year as an All-Star and competed for a chance to represent Australia at the 64th Eurovision Song Contest. Watch his latest AGT performance below. [embedded content] You Deserve t...
Joe Biden Presidential Campaign ‘Flooding the Zone’ with Celebrity Backers
Poised over the piano, Carole King was set to play “I Feel the Earth Move” during a recent virtual fundraiser for Joe Biden when the Democratic presidential nominee himself beat her to it. “On my playlist, Carole!” Biden proclaimed, holding up his phone and letting a few seconds of the song blast. “Oh, well, I’ll just sit back and let you play your playlist,” King said with a laugh. The four-time Grammy winner isn’t the only Biden playlist mainstay helping his campaign against President Donald Trump. Jimmy Buffett noted that “Come Monday” was among the hits stored on Biden’s phone before singing it at another recent fundraiser. And James Taylor told another group that he learned to play “America the Beautiful” for President Barack Obama’s 2013 inauguration, when Biden was sworn in for four...
Dirty Hit Launches In Australia
Dirty Hit, home to The 1975 and Wolf Alice, expands its global footprint with a new affiliate in Australia. Leading the Sydney office is Rachel Jones-Williams, who oversees label activities for the region as General Manager, Asia Pacific. Jones-Williams joins the independent music company from Sony Music Entertainment, where she most recently served as senior manager, national promotions & communications at Sony Music. Prior to that, she worked as national promotions manager at Caroline Australia, Universal Music’s label services business. Launching a new record label in a pandemic isn’t without its challenges. “It’s definitely a strange time,” Jones-Williams tells Billboard. “In a normal world we would be seeing a debut tour from Beabadoobee and The 1975 would have been returnin...
Universal Music Group Launches Youth Task Force in Honor of Civil Rights Pioneer John Lewis
Universal Music Group (UMG) has established the Youth Task Force for Meaningful Change (YTFMC), paying homage to recently deceased civil rights pioneer and U.S. Rep. John Lewis. The new initiative is an offshoot of the music company’s social justice and equality-focused Task Force for Meaningful Change (TFMC) that launched globally June 4 and is co-chaired by UMG executive vp, general counsel and Def Jam interim chairman and CEO Jeff Harleston and Motown Records president and Capitol Music Group executive vp Ethiopia Habtemariam. As outlined in a staff memo obtained by Billboard, the 24-member YTFMC is comprised of “dedicated, entry-level employees” ranging from UMG’s °1824 — a division of student employees from various college campuses, working in creative and marketing roles —...
Bette Midler Takes Melania Trump to Task on Day 2 of RNC
Day two of the Republican National Convention is now done and dusted, but millions of onlookers are continuing the conversation online. Speakers included Mike Pompeo, Eric and Tiffany Trump, all of whom made their pitch for why Donald Trump should remain in the White House. But it was the final act that remains the hottest talking point, a rare speech from Melania Trump, from the Rose Garden. Various computations of the night’s headline speaker trended on Twitter, including “Did Melania” and “Melanie,” as armchair critics scrutinized the First Lady’s language, her outfit, her gardening skills and just about everything in between. Bette Midler kept her followers entertained with a tweet storm throughout the broadcast. Check out some of her comments below. #Eric didn’t seem like he was...
