Pop
The Legacy of Whitney Houston in 10 Duets
Subscribe now to our ongoing Whitney Houston season of The Opus. 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 The term “diva” was not coined or derived for Whitney Houston. That being said, nobody’s ever been more worthy than her to don that honorific. Our best memories of Houston recall a performer with grace, humor, and a voice that could leave a crowd speechless with both its power and range. However, the images of Houston burned in our mind — in true diva fashion — don’t see her often sharing a stage. The hits that’ll go on long af...
Lady Gaga’s Chromatica Dances Through the Pain and Trauma: Review
The Lowdown: It feels strange listening to dance music at a time when dance clubs themselves, nights out with friends, and, for many, friends in general are impossible to access in person. Like so many of the joys people have managed to find in quarantine, kitchen-floor dance parties and celebrations shared via Zoom and FaceTime — while necessary reliefs and real, genuine joys — can also sometimes feel tinged with a hint of delirium. But Chromatica feels like an appropriate answer to the vacancy created by this dissonance — as a lot of Lady Gaga’s work has done in the past, it offers up some honest-to-God bangers side by side with some honest-to-oneself reckonings with trauma, pain, addiction, and the very idea of what it means to be flawed and how this idea shifts depending on who’s defin...
Halsey Calls Out Police Violence Against Protestors at L.A. Demonstrations: ‘This Is War on Americans’
The singer was on the scene, providing first aid assistance to injured protestors. On Monday (June 1), Halsey shared a number of powerful images of her experience on the ground at Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles. “It’s become very clear to me that some of you need to see what I’ve seen,” she captioned a slideshow of videos and photos featuring peaceful protestors being tear-gassed and shot at by police. “It’s easy from the comfort of your home to watch looting and rioting on television and condone the violent measures being taken by forces. But what you don’t see is innocent peaceful protestors being shot at and tear gassed and physically assaulted relentlessly. “You think it’s not happening, it’s only the ‘thugs’ and the ‘riots,’ ...
Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande’s ‘Rain on Me’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100
The song sparks Hot 100 history for both superstars. Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande‘s new duet “Rain on Me” storms onto the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart at No. 1. Gaga achieves her fifth Hot 100 leader and Grande earns her fourth, among other honors for each star. The duet was released to digital service providers for streaming and purchase at midnight EST Friday, May 22, while its official video premiered that afternoon. The song is the second single from Gaga’s album Chromatica, which arrived Friday, May 29; first single “Stupid Love” debuted and peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100 in March. Here is a rundown of the top 10 of the newest Hot 100, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and sales data. [embedded content] “Rain” is the 1...
Billie Eilish: “If I Hear One More White Person Say ‘All Lives Matter’ … I’m Gonna Lose My Fucking Mind”
In an impassioned post on Instagram, 18-year-old pop star Billie Eilish eviscerated the All Lives Matter movement, writing, “If I hear one more white person say “aLL liVeS maTtEr” one more fucking time I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.” The message was captioned with the hashtags #blacklivesmatter and #justiceforgeorgefloyd. Like millions of Americans, Eilish was incensed after George Floyd’s killing by a white Minneapolis police officer on May 25th. Ex-officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, continuing almost three minutes after Floyd went unconscious. After Floyd died, Chauvin was subsequently fired, but only placed under arrest after several days of sustained protests. Eilish began her post by writing, “I’ve been trying to take this week to figure out a way ...
Billie Eilish Shares Passionate Message Following George Floyd’s Death
Billie Eilish is joining the long list of artists speaking out after the death of George Floyd. On Saturday morning (May 30), as protests over Floyd’s controversial death spread nationwide, the 18-year-old “Bad Guy” singer took to social media to share her frustration over the situation. “I’ve been trying to take this week to figure out a way to address this delicately,” Eilish began her post on Instagram. “I have an enormous platform and I try really hard to be respectful and take time to think through what I say and how I say it…But holy f—ing shit I’m gonna just start talking.” The singer particularly took aim at white people using the phrase “all lives matter” in response to the death of Floyd, a black man wh...
Mariah Carey Sings ‘There’s Got to Be a Way’ in Response to George Floyd’s Death: Watch
Like many others, Mariah Carey is searching for answers following the death of George Floyd. The iconic singer took to social media Saturday (May 30) to sing a snippet of her 1990 song “There’s Got to Be a Way” while demanding justice for Floyd, a black man who was recently killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis. “I wrote this song for my first album. Still looking for answers today. We have to make a change. We can’t be silent,” Carey captioned the video, adding the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Earlier this week, a video of Floyd’s death surfaced, showing officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of Floyd for eight minutes. Chauvin was later charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Floyd. In her post, Carey encoura...
Ranking All 16 Songs From Lady Gaga’s ‘Chromatica’: Critic’s Picks
After teases, delays, leaks, and surprise drops, the wait is finally over; Lady Gaga‘s sixth studio album Chromatica has finally arrived. From front to back, Chromatica plays as a return to form for Gaga, as she not only embraces the dance pop that once made her a global superstar overnight, but twists it, splits it in half, sews it back together and reforms it as something else entirely. With thrilling production throughout (courtesy of her executive producer BloodPop) and some exceedingly personal songwriting, Chromatica is just about everything that fans could have hoped for. But which of the album’s songs stand head and shoulder’s above the rest? Take a look at our definitive ranking of all 16 songs off of Lady Gaga’s Chro...
Here Are the 10 Most Classic Lady Gaga Lyrics on ‘Chromatica’
Happy Chromatica release day! On Friday (May 29), Lady Gaga finally unveiled her long-awaited sixth LP filled with euphoric pop banger after pop banger. Following the stripped-down dive bar singer-songwriter detour of 2016’s Joanne and the piano-driven balladry of 2018’s A Star Is Born soundtrack (notwithstanding the pop absurdism of “Why Did You Do That?” and “Hair Body Face”), Chromatica signals a return to the type of maximalist dance-pop that rocketed Gaga to superstardom in the late 2000s with early hits like “Poker Face,” “Bad Romance” and “Born This Way.” That return to form isn’t found solely in Chromatica‘s turbo-charged sonic palette, either. The superstar’s new album also finds her rev...
Lady Gaga and BLACKPINK Drop Collaborative Single “Sour Candy”: Stream
Lady Gaga will drop Chromatica tonight at midnight, and yet the blockbuster star continues to rain singles on us. This morning, she’s unveiled her collaboration with BLACKPINK: “Sour Candy”. Stream it below via YouTube. The South Korean girl group truly takes over the track, allowing Gaga to slink her way in and out. Similar to lead single “Stupid Love” and her Ariana Grande collaboration “Rain on Me”, “Sour Candy” is another banger from the Oscar winner, proving Chromatica will bring the party to our pandemic. As the song suggests, take a bite, take a bite below. Editors’ Picks After a minor delay, Gaga’s fifth album Chromatica arrives tonight at midnight on May 29th. Sir Elton John is also expected to appear on the Joanne follow-up, which is said to be “a return” to Gaga’s dan...
Whitney Houston’s Historic Billboard Run Contains Multitudes
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS It’s hard to underestimate Whitney Houston’s stardom. For better and for worse, the world knows so much more about the late diva than we do about most artists from her era. Houston’s meteoric rise would eventually place her own personal life under a microscope, and it’s the tragic details that all too often overshadow her unparalleled legacy and groundbreaking influence. Looking back, though, Whitney Houston wasn’t just a pop star. She wasn’t just an incredible voice. No, she was a trail blazer, the first of her kind, who opened the door for so many artists to follow. For its highly anticipated 10th season, The Opus plans to trace those footsteps, and put a spotlight on the star t...
Lady Gaga Doesn’t Need Pop (Pop Needs Lady Gaga)
Lady Gaga is a living legend. Only a little over a decade since the release of her 2008 debut album, The Fame, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta has cemented her place among the best of the best — not only in music, but entertainment itself. Critical acclaim, a legion of fans, and a slew of awards (including tough Grammy and Oscar victories toward an eventual EGOT) are just the shallow end of Gaga’s dominion. Her versatility, her creativity, her skill, and her work ethic all make her a standout from her contemporaries — far more than any of her much-publicized outfits. More than anything, though, Gaga is an artist who’s not afraid to fail, and any past failures have only made her stronger. Looking back, they’ve become an extension of her idiosyncrasies, the likes of which she’s shared to ...
