Pop
A Timeline of Lady Gaga & Elton John’s Decade-Long Friendship
Before Lady Gaga and Elton John drop their “Sine From Above” duet off the former’s sixth studio album Chromatica this Friday (May 29), their friendship has felt destined from above since the two hit the stage at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards together. Whether the iconic pop stars are performing across from each other on separate pianos or John is recruiting her to be the “Gaga-mother” of his children, Billboard compiled a timeline of how these two pop peas in a pod came to be. January 2010: Lady Gaga performs at the Grammys for the first time with Elton John. Before she became Mother Monster, the Fame Monster singer made her Grammy debut by opening the awards show with her Fame Factory performance, a well-oiled machine p...
Lana Del Rey Reveals New Album Title, Name-Checks Marianne Williamson in Latest Attempt to Clarify Controversial IG Post
Lana Del Rey took to Instagram on Friday to announce a new album and poetry collection — but the message was largely lost in the context of the rest of the post. The singer drew the Internet’s ire for framing a rebuff against critics by comparing herself to other female singers, mostly naming women of color like Doja Cat and Beyoncé, “who have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating, etc.” Meanwhile, Del Rey argued, she is met with allegations of glamorizing abuse “when in reality I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent abusive relationships all over the world,” The pop star insisted that modern feminism should allow for her point of view, too: “There has to be a place...
Carly Rae Jepsen’s Dedicated Side B Delivers More of the Same: Review
The Lowdown: To maintain her almost decade-long reign as the ultimate trustworthy, sword-toting synth pop songwriter, Carly Rae Jepsen has had to write a lot of songs. Like, a lot of songs. For her latest record, Dedicated, which was longlisted for last year’s Polaris Music Prize, Jepsen told Rolling Stone that she wrote around 200 tracks. “You have to promise you won’t think I’m a maniac,” she warned her interviewer before displaying a series of post-it-covered poster boards of song titles. Since the full-length version of the album was narrowed down to a mere 15 songs, it’s safe to assume that Jepsen was keeping a couple of bangers in her back pocket. And considering the success of Emotion: Side B, which turned out to be even more critically acclaimed than the 2015 album it referenced, f...
After Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande’s ‘Rain On Me,’ Which Other Superstars Still Need to Team Up?
Plus: In an era of wall-to-wall collaborations, why “Rain On Me” is an event record that breaks through the pop culture noise. Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s new single “Rain On Me,” and its dance-filled video, not only operates as the latest offering from Gaga’s upcoming Chromatica album, but also as a pop event record. As Billboard previously wrote, the clip is a “superstar video summit,” while the song is a “full-on diva showcase” and a “huge dance record” that “captures the enormity of these two voices.” In a time of wall-to-wall collaborations, where artists frequently team-up, what makes certain pairings break through the pop culture noise and elevate to an event record? On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), the team discusses why a song like “Rain On Me” has event-rec...
Elon Musk and Grimes Change Baby’s Name to Comply with California Law
Earlier this month, Grimes and Elon Musk welcomed a healthy baby boy, and they promptly set him up for years of therapy by naming him X Æ A-12. Now, without much explanation, the child has undergone a rebranding: X Æ A-Xii. There, that clears things up, doesn’t it? Via The Guardian, there’s been speculation that the child’s original name violated California law, which stipulates that only the 26 letters of the alphabet can be used. The new appellation would seem to fit the rule of law, swapping as it does a 12 for an Xii. Neither Musk nor Grimes has confirmed this as the reason, though in responding to an Instagram comment about the CA mandate, Grimes wrote, “Roman numerals. Looks better tbh.” Using the roman numerals for 12 instead of the modern English symbols won’t change...
Whitney Houston’s Self-Titled Debut Introduced a Voice for All Times: Classic Review
The Opus: Whitney Houston premieres on Thursday, May 28th and you can subscribe now. You can also prep for the experience by listening to Whitney Houston via all major streaming services or enter to win a copy of Vinyl Me, Please’s 35th anniversary Whitney Houston box set. Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Follow on Facebook | Podchaser Music allows us to feel an array of emotions and is one of the universal aspects of the human experience. It can be the cause of laughter or the reason for momentary sadness. It sparks fond memories and serves as a time stamp of the most pivotal points in our lives. The music industry is forever changing, and even the most skilled of artists can fade into obscurity if they fail to adapt. Musicians come ...
How to Cook Pasta, Wash a Dog & More: 8 Things We Learned About Justin & Hailey Bieber From Their Facebook Show
It’s been an eye-opening month for Beliebers who have been watching Justin Bieber and wife Hailey Bieber dive into their love story during their fly-on-the-wall Facebook series The Biebers on Watch. Hunkered down during the COVID-19 lockdown at their Toronto mansion, the couple has gone fishing, applied each other’s skin and makeup regimens, and practiced for a future child by bathing their dog. What did we learn from the series? Here are eight important takeaways: He Didn’t Know How to Cook Pasta The superstar needed a lesson in boiling pasta water in order to make his favorite carb-heavy dish featuring sausage, tomato sauce and a healthy dose of heavy cream. “So the water is getting to a boil. Once that’s, like, fully going — partying — then...
Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff Share Cryptic “Look What You Made Me Do” Cover for Killing Eve: Stream
The latest episode of Killing Eve contained a cryptic cover of Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” by previously unknown band Jack Leopards and the Dolphin Club. Via Pitchfork, a trail of clues suggest that the song actually comes from Swift and Jack Antonoff, while Swift’s brother Austin may be the vocalist. T-Swift left the first breadcrumb herself, when she tweeted about being “VERY STOKED” for the cover by Jack Leopards and the Dolphin Club. Jack Antonoff, a co-writer of the original version of “Look What You Made Me Do”, is listed in the credits as a producer, along with a certain Nils Sjöberg. Swifties will recall Sjöberg as the pseudonym Taylor used for her co-writing role on Calvin Harris and Rihanna’s “This Is What You Came For.” But what about Austin? There are tw...
Fans Pick BTS Member Suga’s ‘D-2′ Mixtape as This Week’s Favorite New Music
A new mixtape from BTS member Suga dominates this week’s new music poll. In the poll, published Friday (May 22) on Billboard, music fans voted for Suga’s most recent solo project, D-2, as their favorite new release from the past week. The mixtape, his second, brought in more than 72% of the vote. It follows 2016’s Agust D. “My previous mixtape focused more on being better at rap, better at making music, sound, mix, master and so forth. I’ve worked on a lot more projects since then and didn’t really try to become perfect,” Suga recently told Billboard. “Perfection is an elusive term. I simply just did my best.” Coming in second with 23% of the vote was Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande‘s first collaborative song “Rain On Me.” The track w...
Future Flies ‘High’ With Seventh No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart
Plus: Polo G’s “The Goat” debuts at No. 2, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit’s “Reunions” surges into top 10 after wide release. Future flies in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with his seventh chart-topper, as High Off Life enters at No. 1. The album, which was released via Freebandz/Epic Records on May 15, earned 153,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending May 21, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data — Future’s biggest week, in terms of units, for a solo album. Of High Off Life’s first-week units, 16,000 are in album sales, while nearly all of the remaining units are from streaming activity. Also in the new top 10: Polo G’s The Goat bows at No. 2 with 99,000 units, and Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit’s Reunions jumps from No. 149 to No. 9 after its first week ...
Cody Simpson Drops Miley Cyrus-Directed ‘Captain’s Dance With the Devil’ Video While in Quarantine: Watch
Cody Simpson appears in drag in his new “Captain’s Dance With the Devil” music video, directed by Miley Cyrus. The singer-songwriter tells the story of a sailor “yearning for freedom” on his latest track, and the new clip, filmed in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic and released on Thursday (May 21), offers an intimate, moody portrait of the song’s character. “The song can be interpreted in myriad ways and this was my primary idea. Miley interpreted the song, which is reflected in the newly released visual, as the Captain’s struggle with societal norms regarding masculinity, and his secret affinity for dressing as a woman at a time when this was not as widely accepted as it now has become,” Simpson explained (quote via Rolling Stone)...
Song of the Week: Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande Welcome the Storm on “Rain on Me”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. Just like local governments and health officials across the country have spoken of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of phases, it seems like artists are also slowly venturing back to normalcy in phases. If this week taught us anything, it’s that strumming a guitar from your living room on Instagram is totally last phase. This week instead saw notable names like Carly Rae Jepson, Owen Pallett, Jeff Rosenstock, and Dave Harrington (of Darkside) release surprise albums. Another trend finds many of our favorite artists pairing up for surprise singles. Just this week collaborations included Soccer Mommy and Jay Som, Local Natives and Sylv...
