Pop
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande Perform “Rain on Me” at 2020 MTV VMAs: Watch
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande poured it on at the 2020 MTV VMAs with a stirring rendition of their smash hit “Rain on Me”. When it comes to pop collaborations, some big-name blockbusters are all thunder and no lighting. Not so with “Rain on Me”; this Chromatica standout lights up the dance floor with electrifying hook after electrifying hook. The pair’s moves Sunday night were nothing to mess with either; Gaga, while in a bondage-like outfit, strutted across a stage made to look like an otherworldly planet. Grande, meanwhile, twirled effortlessly in enormous white heels. In addition to “Rain on Me”, the MTV VMAs Artist of the Year also performed “911” and “Stupid Love”. For the latter single, Gaga kicked things off by playing a piano shaped like a brain (really!), before stepping into a gree...
Adele Posts Photo Wearing Jamaican Flag Bikini, Bantu Knots and the Internet Is Not Happy
If not for the pandemic, today would have marked the start of Notting Hill Carnival, a celebration of West Indies culture in Britain that dates back to the 1960s. But while the coronavirus has cancelled those plans, Adele chose to participate anyway, with a picture of herself in a Jamaican flag bikini and a Bantu knot hairstyle. The Internet, which posses infinite judgment if not quite infinite wisdom, thought she looked even more strained than the roots of her honey-colored hair. Adele posted the flamboyant image to Instagram Sunday evening. She captioned the picture, “Happy what would be Notting Hill Carnival my beloved London,” and punctuated the remark with the British and Jamaican flags. The Twit wits quickly provided captions of their own. Comedian Jaboukie Young-White pretended to q...
Katy Perry Drops New ‘Smile’ Videos for ‘Champagne Problems’ & ‘Tucked’: Watch
Katy Perry continues to treat fans with new music videos for songs on her latest album, Smile. In the days leading up to — and following — the Friday (Aug. 28) release of Smile, the 35-year-old pop star has dropped daily installments as part of her “Smile Video Series” on YouTube. So far, she’s shared visuals for songs “Never Really Over,” “Harleys in Hawaii,” “Cry About It Later,” “Tucked” and “Champagne Problems.” Perry unveiled her fifth studio set just days after giving birth to her first daughter, Daisy Dove, with fiancé Orlando Bloom. In the lead-up to Smile‘s release, Perry dropped the trippy animated video for “Never Really Over,” which takes viewers on a VR journey thro...
Selena Gomez & Blackpink Bring Fans Behind the Scenes of ‘Ice Cream’: Watch
Selena Gomez kicked off her weekend with an inside look at the making of her sweet new “Ice Cream” video with Blackpink. “Blackpink, they’re very known for their videos and they’re known for their personalities, so I felt like I got to step into their world a little bit,” she said from the set in Los Angeles, where she was fanning herself off on a very hot day. “Ironically,” Gomez joked, “hot enough to have ice cream.” The singer got to speak over video chat to the girls of Blackpink, who were in Korea, and offered a glimpse of their adorable virtual meeting to fans. “I wish that I was there with them… I guarantee you there’s this energy that we could have if we could be in the same place, but we’re being s...
If ‘Folklore’ Turned You On to Taylor Swift, These Are the Deep Cuts You’ll Like
So, maybe you were never into Taylor Swift. But you were intrigued by Folklore, and somehow it’s become your quarantine soundtrack. Would you like the rest of her discography? Where should you begin? Folklore is an album of stories, of (as Swift’s liner notes explain) “fantasy, history and memory,” crafted with some of her finest lyrics to date. But Swift has been writing fine songs for a long time. If you haven’t ventured far into her albums, and if you’ve only heard the biggest radio hits, consider this a crash course on what to listen to from Swift’s back catalog. The “deep cut” definition here is a little liberal: They’re all older Swift selects, but one or two suggestions that made this list were singles, ...
John Legend, Mariah Carey, The Weekend & More Pay Tribute to Chadwick Boseman
Tributes are pouring in for late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who died Friday (Aug. 28) after a four-year battle with colon cancer. He was 43. In the hours after his passing, music stars like John Legend, Mariah Carey, The Weekend and G-Eazy took to social media to honor Boseman, who also starred in roles portraying funk legend James Brown in 2014’s Get On Up and baseball icon Jackie Robinson in 2013’s 42. “I’m so shocked and heartbroken about Chadwick,” Legend tweeted. “He was such a bright light, such a gifted performer. He brought grace, elegance and power to everything he did. He always seemed to carry our ancestors with him. And now he joins them far too soon.” Boseman died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his wife and family by his ...
Jennifer Lopez Is ‘So Disappointed’ After Pulling Bid to Buy the NY Mets
Jennifer Lopez and fiancé Alex Rodriguez are expressing their disappointment after losing out on buying the New York Mets. The singer/actress and former Yankee star, who led a group of investors to buy the Major League Baseball franchise, announced Friday night (Aug. 28) that they were withdrawing their bid to buy the Mets. “Alex and I are so disappointed!! We worked so hard the past 6 months with the dream of becoming the first minority couple and the first woman owner to buy her father’s favorite Major League Baseball team with her own hard earned money. We still haven’t given up!!” Lopez wrote on Instagram. The J-Lo-Rodriguez group bid was for $1.7 billion, with the couple putting in $300 million of their own money, ESPN reported in July. With Lopez and Rodriguez out of the ...
Ariana Grande Congratulates Selena Gomez on ‘Ice Cream’ With Tasty Flower Arrangement
Ariana Grande is melting over Blackpink and Selena Gomez‘s new song “Ice Cream.” Grande celebrated the release of the highly-anticipated collaboration, which she helped write, by sending Gomez a huge flower arrangement shaped like an ice cream cone. “Obsessed,” Gomez captioned a photo of the pink-and-white flowers in her Instagram Stories. Gomez also shared a snapshot of the sweet congratulatory note Grande sent along with the flowers. “Selena, Congratulations ice queen! Love & Gratitude, Ari,” the card reads. “Ice Cream” is the second pre-release single off Blackpink’s long-awaited debut album, Blackpink: The Album, scheduled for release on Oct. 2 through YG Entertainment. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Onl...
Rick Astley Takes on Post Malone’s ‘Better Now’ With Acoustic Cover
Rick Astley has been spending quarantine uploading a variety of covers onto YouTube, but on Friday (Aug. 28), the “Never Gonna Give You Up” star took on an unlikely track for his latest at-home performance. There are a lot words in this song. It’s not my song. I don’t really know it properly, but I love it so I’m going to give it a go,” Astley admitted before delving into a stripped-back rendition of Post Malone‘s “Better Now” on acoustic guitar. Other covers on Astley’s channel include Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” and Sia’s “Titanium.” Watch “Better Now” below. [embedded content] You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looki...
Rick Astley Turns Post Malone’s “Better Now” into an Acoustic Banger: Watch
Rick Astley has gone from RickRolling to rollin’ with his brothers like it’s Jonas. The 54-year-old British musician has shared a cover of Post Malone’s “Better Now”, and dare we say it might be better now. “There are a lot of words in this song. It’s not my song, I don’t really know it properly,” Astley says in the YouTube video capturing the performance. “But I love it, so I’m gonna give it ago. Here we go, let’s see what happens.” What happens is perhaps a more impactful version of the Beerbongs & Bentleys hit. By turning the track into an acoustic banger instead of the trap-y pop of the original, Astley highlights the blues nature in the lyrics. He gives the words a bit of a country twang and growls out the chorus, really bringing the song’s melancholy to the forefront. Honest...
Blackpink Tease Upcoming Album, Talk Churning ‘Ice Cream’ With Selena Gomez: Watch
Selena Gomez and BLACKPINK hopped on the air with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe on Friday morning (Aug. 28) to talk about their superstar collab on “Ice Cream” and what a blast it was to blend their voices. “I’m so excited. The girls are so cool, and I love their music. I just think that they know… They have this thing about them… I had such a good time with them over FaceTime,” Gomez said in her video chat with Lowe. And while the original plan was for all of them to be together, but of course the COVID-19 pandemic changed all that. “But it felt so fun,” Gomez added, dipping into the fun she had filming the colorful, playful video for the track, which dropped Friday morning. “Recording the song, having a blast doing that, but then also...
First Stream: New Music From Blackpink & Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, The Weeknd & More
Billboard’s First Stream serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. This week, Blackpink and Selena Gomez combine for a delicious treat, Katy Perry returns with an ear-to-ear grin, and The Weeknd teams up with Calvin Harris for some mood music. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below: The Song That Will Give You an Instant Sugar High:Blackpink & Selena Gomez, “Ice Cream” [embedded content] After guesting on Lady Gaga’s Chromatica track “Sour Candy” and scoring a top 40 hit with their own single “How You Like That,” K-pop group Blackpink continues its steady U.S. takeover with “Ice Cream,” a new collaboration with Selen...
