Pop
WME Partner Richard Weitz’s Pandemic Parties Surpass $2 Million Raised With Star-Studded Nashville Edition
Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Michael McDonald and more performed before music execs and first responders. Six weeks ago with the coronavirus shutdown already in full effect, WME partner Richard Weitz celebrated his daughter Demi’s 17th birthday with a virtual party with guests including as LL Cool J. The event proved so popular, Weitz and his daughter knew they were on to something and turned their Zoom party, dubbed RWQuarantunes, into a nationwide invite-only weekly event with a charitable tie in for COVID-19 relief. Each subsequent edition has drawn more entertainment industry insiders and big name performers — including Josh Groban, John Mayer, Rick Springfield, Boy George, Michael Bolton and Fantasia — to what has become Friday night’s hottest ticket and the feel-good e...
Billie Eilish Working on New Song in Quarantine
Billie Eilish is making the most of her time in isolation at home by fostering puppies and recording new music. In a video uploaded to YouTube on Saturday (May 9), the singer chatted with Beats 1’s Zane Lowe about launching her father-daughter Apple Music show, but they mostly talked about how she’s feeling in quarantine. “I know that everybody, like the beginning of this really got to people,” Eilish said. “I didn’t really have that experience because I cheated. I rescued two puppies, or fostered two puppies. I was completely distracted.” And when she’s not spending time in the yard with the pups, she’s been getting the creative juices flowing. “We’ve been in the ‘stu,’ which just means Finneas’ basem...
Noah Cyrus, Hanson & More Set For Billboard Live At-Home Concerts: See the Schedule
Billboard’s Live At-Home series is continuing into May. The performances for the week of May 11 will feature at-home sets from Hanson, Noah Cyrus and more via Billboard‘s Facebook page. Loud Luxury will kick things off on Monday (May 11) with a set at 1 p.m. EST. Other acts slated to perform during the week include: Natanael Cano & Junior H and Camilo. The Billboard Live series launched on March 19 with the help of JoJo, Josh Groban and Russell Dickerson, who selected nonprofits to support during their livestream to benfit those most affected by COVID-19. Billboard Live At-Home series thus far has helped charities such as Meals on Wheels America, Downtown Women’s Center, My Friend’s Place and more. Tune...
Justin & Hailey Bieber Discuss Channeling ‘Unique Strengths’ While in Quarantine
Justin Bieber and wife Hailey’s third installment of their Biebers on Watch Facebook series was a bit different. On Friday (May 8), instead of a pre-recorded clip, the couple went live on Facebook and answered questions from fans about how they are coping during quarantine, their overall thoughts on Justin’s Lyme disease diagnosis and more. “Some tips on how to stay busy – I’d say, all of us have our unique strengths and our unique things we’re good at and using our gifts in this time and also being creative is a good way to keep busy and also feel like you are getting something done,” the singer said about his time in quarantine. Hailey mirrored the sentiment by adding, “I just think that quarantine is a good time if you feel like there’s stuff you want to jump...
Taylor Swift’s City of Lover Concert Special Coming to ABC
Like all other major touring artists, Taylor Swift won’t be performing any of her planned concerts this year due to the pandemic. Fortunately for her fans, they will still have a chance to see the pop star “live” when the Taylor Swift City of Lover Concert special airs next weekend on ABC. The special will premiere on Sunday, May 17th at 10:00 p.m. EDT, and will be available on demand, on Hulu, and on Disney+ the following day. City of Lover captures Swift’s intimate performance at Paris’ 2,000-capacity L’Olympia Theater from September 9th, 2019. The show featured the live debuts to a number of songs off her latest album, Lover, which had come out two weeks prior. Airing immediately following the American Idol season finale, the hour-long special will likely leave out some of the 76-minute...
Ranking: The Beatles’ Albums from Worst to Best
Almost everybody has a Beatles moment. Mine came when I was 10 years old, riding in the middle row of a 1994 Dodge Caravan on a family road trip from Indiana down to the Great Smoky Mountains. My step-brother had just gotten cassette copies of 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, better remembered as “The Red Album” and “The Blue Album” by anyone who grew up with parents who’d spent the ’60s as teenagers. We played those tapes non-stop from Kokomo to Gatlinburg and back again, the sounds of “Love Me Do” and “Ticket to Ride” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” on a continuous week-long loop. I remember tears welling in my eyes during “In My Life”, the hairs raising on the back of my neck at the start of “Eleanor Rigby”, the strange kaleidoscopic friendliness that radiated off of “Penny Lane” and “All Y...
Ariana Grande, BTS & More: Who Should Do a Concert Special Next? Vote!
Following news that ABC will be airing a Taylor Swift City of Lover Concert special this month, we got to thinking of what other artists we’d like to see on screen while stuck at home. Ariana Grande teased back in October that a Sweetener tour film is in the works, so Arianators are surely itching to relive Grande’s biggest tour yet, plus have a chance to see some behind-the-scenes footage. While Shawn Mendes (and Alessia Cara) had been uploading mini-documentaries to his YouTube channel throughout his 2019 world tour, it could be great quarantine entertainment to mash them all together into one big special. Similar to Taylor Swift, BTS, Camila Cabello, Justin Bieber, Madonna and Celine Dion were among the countless artists who had to reschedule concert dat...
Hayley Williams’ Petals for Armor Discovers the Strength in Vulnerability: Review
The Lowdown: Hayley Williams once said on the writing of Paramore’s Brand New Eyes album, “Some of it hurt, some of it was like, ‘Am I being too honest even with myself?’’’ Honesty has long been a trend with Williams’ approach to music-making; she’s been the principal songwriter for Paramore since 2005, and her scathing, dynamic vocals have granted her ever-evolving lyrics the perfect expression of painful, angry, at times heartbroken truth. On Petals for Armor, she dives inward at a new level, using dark pop melodies to not only vocalize her innermost thoughts, but also battle them, untangle them, and reckon with them in a way that feels personal to her own experience. She sings on the blistering “Watch Me While I Bloom”, “You only got one side of me/ Here’s something new/ I’m alive in sp...
Christine and the Queens Sings “People, I’ve been sad” on Colbert: Watch
Christine and the Queens has spent the global lockdown perfecting the art of the intimate at-home performance. Last night, she showcased all she’s learned by singing “People, I’ve been sad” on Colbert. Perched on a windowsill in her Paris abode, Chris sang the track off the La Vita Nuova EP while golden-hour light cracked through the clouds on the other side of the glass. Even sitting still, her foot propped up against the frame, she proved to be one of the most emotive and graceful artists working in pop. Watch the replay below. If Christine and the Queens seems particularly comfortable with these sort of isolated performances, it’s likely because she’s been regularly delivering livestream performances for fans. Included in the streams have been covers of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights”, T...
First Stream: New Music From Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber, Kehlani, Hayley Williams & 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, Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber are happily stuck with each other, Kehlani releases her definitive statement and Hayley Williams tries on her ‘Armor’ as a solo artist. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below: The Song That You’ll Dance To With Your Quarantine Partner This Weekend:Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber, “Stuck With U” [embedded content] Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber are two of the defining pop artists of the past decade, each accruing regular top 40 smashes and packing arenas. Yet their new collaboration, “Stuck With U,” does not try to conque...
Will.i.am Promises the New Black Eyed Peas Album is ‘On Some Next Level-ness’: Exclusive
The Black Eyed Peas took over Billboard‘s Instagram on Friday (May 8) to dish about life in quarantine and their long-awaited new album. “I’m really excited about this Black Eyed Peas album,” Will.i.am teases exclusively in Billboard‘s latest IGTV video. “RITMO’s a smash. ‘Mamacita’? Smash. Last time I was excited about a project like this was [2009’s] The E.N.D., when we did ‘Boom Boom Pow’ and ‘I Got a Feeling,’ ‘Meet Me Halfway,’ ‘Imma Be,’ ‘Rock That Body’ — I feel the same way. Lordy, lordy, lordy! It’s on some next level-ness.” Meanwhile, newest member J. Rey Soul, who’s replaced longtime member Fergie as the lone female singer of the gr...
Justin Bieber & Ariana Grande’s ‘Stuck With U’ Is the Loving Soundtrack for a Quarantined Prom: Listen
2020’s pop royalty came together–for a good cause. A week after announcing their collaboration, Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande unveiled “Stuck with U,” which will benefit the First Responders Children’s Foundation. The tune is the first of a musical compilation benefitting charitable organizations from the duo’s manager Scooter Braun’s SB Projects that will be released over the course of the year. First Responders Children’s Foundation funds grants and scholarships for children of healthcare workers, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, police officers and firefighters serving on the front lines during the global pandemic. “i can’t fully articulate ……… howwwww happy i am that we waited this long to do this (the duet th...
