Music News – Billboard https://www.billboard.com Music Charts, News, Photos & Video Mon, 26 Jun 2023 02:46:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 Glastonbury Crowd Assists Lewis Capaldi as He Struggles to Finish ‘Someone You Loved’ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/glastonbury-lewis-capaldi-someone-you-loved-1235361118/ Mon, 26 Jun 2023 01:35:39 +0000 https://www.billboard.com/?p=1235361118

Lewis Capaldi returned to the stage for Glastonbury after taking a break to “rest and recover” over the past few weeks, and his return was aided by his fans.

As he closed his festival set with Hot 100-topper “Someone You Loved” this weekend, he appeared to be affected by involuntary movements and could not fully perform the song on his own. No worries, though: The audience stepped in where he left off.

Capaldi has been candid about his diagnosis of Tourette’s syndrome, which is a neurological disorder involving sudden repetitive movements or unwanted tics. In April, he revealed it might eventually force him to quit music altogether.

“My tic is getting quite bad on stage now,” Capaldi said in an interview with The Times that month. “I’m trying to get on top of that. If I can’t, I’m f—ed. It’s easier when I play guitar, but I hate playing guitar. I know, I’m a walking contradiction.”

“It’s only making music that does this to me,” he told the publication. “Otherwise I can be fine for months at a time. So it’s a weird situation. Right now, the trade-off is worth it.”

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“But if it gets to a point where I’m doing irreparable damage to myself, I’ll quit,” Capaldi added at the time. “I hate hyperbole, but it is a very real possibility that I will have to pack music in.”

In early June, Capaldi canceled gigs in Glasgow, Dublin, London and Norway in a message that he said “hurts me a lot to have to type.”

He wrote, “The last few months have been full on both mentally and physically, I haven’t been home properly since Christmas and at the moment I’m struggling to get to grips with it all. I need to take a moment to rest and recover, to be at my best and ready for Glastonbury and all of the other incredible shows coming up so that I’m able to continue doing what I love for a long time to come.”

“Someone You Loved” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in 2019. Capaldi recently released his sophomore studio album, Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent.

See the emotional Glastonbury moment below.

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Khalid Recovering After Car Accident, Ed Sheeran Covers for Him on Mathematics Tour https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/khalid-car-accident-ed-sheeran-opening-act-mathematics-tour-1235361086/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 23:56:07 +0000 https://www.billboard.com/?p=1235361086

Khalid was involved in a car accident this week, according to Ed Sheeran. Sheeran shared the unfortunate news with fans on Saturday (June 24), when he filled in for Khalid’s opening slot — and later played his own usual headlining set — on his Mathematics Tour.

“He’s recovering, and we wish him the best,” Sheeran said of Khalid onstage at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, this weekend.

Billboard has reached out to Khalid’s rep for an update.

“I’m going to say this after every song because if people don’t know I was going to be the opening act today, people are going to be walking in being like, ‘This show isn’t what I thought it was,’” said Sheeran at the concert. “‘I thought there would be more fireworks.’”

Sheeran made the best of the situation, and his fans at the show got to hear several additional songs live and acoustic off of his latest album, Subtract, that wouldn’t normally be on his main stadium setlist.

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During Sheeran’s opening set for himself, he joked that the audience would get to see him in two stage outfits — both a white T-shirt and a black T-shirt — that Saturday night. “I’m really pulling out the stops tonight,” he quipped.

“Usually when I start playing it’s like pitch black, and now I get to see everyone. It’s awesome,” Sheeran said of his early set time.

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Girl in Red & Taylor Swift Pose for Sweet Snapshot: ‘This Iconic Tour Is a Life Highlight’ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/girl-in-red-taylor-swift-eras-tour-photo-minneapolis-1235361032/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 21:41:15 +0000 https://www.billboard.com/?p=1235361032

Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis are four cities that should always be memorable for Girl in Red, as it was there that the Norwegian singer graced Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour stage as an opening act.

Girl in Red (aka Marie Ulven) had her last tour date on the U.S. leg of Swift’s trek Saturday night (June 24). The pair met up backstage to pose for a photo together: Swift, ready to take the stage in her sparkly Lover bodysuit, put her arm around Ulven, who looked somewhat starstruck.

“not the 30 seconds after show pic,” Girl in Red captioned their snapshot on Instagram.

“i adore taylor’s music and being a part of this iconic tour is a life highlight,” she wrote. “thank you so much.”

During her first weekend opening for Swift, at Chicago’s Soldier Field, she shared a video from Swift’s set and promised in her caption that “i could and i WILL watch this video on repeat until i die.”

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In the clip, the pop star is heard gushing over Girl in Red in a shout-out during her own set: “I actually have a really important thing happening tonight, which is it is the first show of the tour that Girl in Red opened up,” Swift told the crowd on June 2. “I absolutely love her … I know every single word to every single song on her album. She’s one of my favorite artists.”

See their cute photo together on Instagram.

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Lana Del Rey Apologizes to Glastonbury Fans After Showing Up Late: ‘My Hair Takes So Long’ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lana-del-rey-glastonbury-festival-cut-short-late-arrival-1235361014/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 19:21:32 +0000 https://www.billboard.com/?p=1235361014

Lana Del Rey‘s headlining set at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival on Saturday (June 24) was cut short after the singer showed up late to the performance.

The “Summertime Sadness” songstress, who was slated to perform at 10:30 p.m., according to the festival’s website, arrived about 30 minutes behind schedule, the Guardian reports. Del Rey blamed the tardiness on issues with her hair.

“I was so f—ing late that I am about to rush this set to death,” she told the crowd. “If they cut power, I’m super f—ing sorry, my hair takes so long to do. Let’s keep on running the set as it’s supposed to go.”

Del Rey’s microphone was cut off at midnight while she was performing her 2012 track “Video Games,” forcing her to sing it a cappella alongside festival-goers. She then walked around the stage for a brief time before being gently escorted away by what appeared to be security and stagehands.

The singer returned to the live stage for the first time in more than three years at Rio De Janeiro’s MITA Festival on May 27. She performed 20 songs in Brazil, while her Glastonbury set only made it to 15 songs before its abrupt midnight ending.

Del Rey’s ninth album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in March 2023. The 16-song release includes guest appearances by Jon Batiste, Bleachers, Father John Misty, Judah Smith, Tommy Genesis, and SYML.

She is scheduled to perform at numerous other music festivals this year, including Lollapalooza, Outside Lands and the All Things Go festivals.

Watch Del Rey’s apology to Glastonbury fans below.

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Kourtney Kardashian & Travis Barker Reveal Their Baby’s Sex in True Rock Star Fashion https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/kourtney-kardashian-travis-barker-baby-sex-reveal-gender-1235361005/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 17:52:30 +0000 https://www.billboard.com/?p=1235361005

Drumroll, please! It’s a boy for Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker!

The celebrity couple revealed the sex of their first baby together in a sweet video shared through Instagram on Saturday (June 24). In the clip, which was captioned with blue and pink heart emojis, the Poosh founder is seen sitting on the Blink-182 drummer’s lap as he rapidly taps away at his drums before the big reveal.

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“Is our pyro guy ready?” Barker, 47, asks his wife. “I don’t know what’s happening, whatever you guys had planned,” Kardashian, 44, replies.

After a brief drumroll and a passionate kiss, a stream of blue confetti and streamers shot into the air, confirming that the pair is having a baby boy.

In mid-June, Kardashian held up a poster during Blink-182’s concert at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles to announce that she’s pregnant. In big black letters, the sign read, “Travis I’m Pregnant.”

This marks the first baby for Kardashian and Barker, who confirmed they were married on May 16, 2022, before hosting a lavish wedding in Italy on May 22, 2022.

Both stars have children from previous relationships. Kardashian has son Mason, 13, daughter Penelope, 10, and son Reign, 8, with ex-boyfriend Scott Disick. Barker has son Landon, 19, daughter Alabama, 17, and stepdaughter Atiana, 24, with ex-wife Shanna Moakler.

Watch Kardashian and Barker reveal their baby’s sex on Instagram below.

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Taylor Swift Asks Fans Not to ‘Defend Me’ During Rare ‘Dear John’ Performance in Minneapolis https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-dear-john-eras-tour-performance-minneapolis-1235360987/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 16:19:02 +0000 https://www.billboard.com/?p=1235360987

Taylor Swift is urging Swifties to show “kindness and gentleness” on the internet ahead of her Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) album release.

The onstage request arrived during the surprise songs portion of Swift’s Eras Tour set at Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday (June 24), when the 33-year-old pop superstar introduced “Dear John,” her 2010 ballad about a toxic relationship with an older man, widely assumed to be the singer’s ex-boyfriend John Mayer.

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“I get to stand on this stage every single night of this tour and watch some of the most beautiful things happen,” Swift told the roaring audience. “I watch you guys make friends with each other. I watch you bond. I watch you give each other friendship bracelets.”

She continued, “I see so many beautiful interactions happen, and I hear so many stories about friends that were made at these shows. I watch it happen, and it’s the most unbelievable thing to watch.”

The “Anti-Hero” songstress then asked her fans to show “that kindness and that gentleness” on the internet when she drops Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on July 7.

“I’m 33 years old. I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19,” Swift said. “I’m not putting this album out so that you can go and should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 billion years ago.”

“Dear John” appears on Swift’s third album, Speak Now, in 2010. The track peaked at No. 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Swift and Mayer dated briefly in 2009 when she was 19 years old and he was 32.

The Minneapolis concert marked Swift’s first time performing “Dear John” since a 2012 concert in New Zealand, according to Rolling Stone. Watch the performance here.

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All the Surprise Songs Taylor Swift Has Performed on The Eras Tour (So Far) https://www.billboard.com/lists/taylor-swift-eras-tour-surprise-songs/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 15:01:02 +0000 https://www.billboard.com/?post_type=pmc_list&p=1235289245

Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour set list features a surprise song (or two), so far performed during a mini acoustic set, on each date of the the superstar’s 2023 trek.

Guitar in hand and making her way to the end of the stage’s catwalk at March 17’s Eras kickoff in Glendale, Arizona, Swift revealed her intentions for the acoustic portion of her long-awaited live show. She’ll perform a surprise song that will not be played again on this tour — probably.

“The plan, the goal, would be to play different songs every single night and never repeat one. Right? So that when you heard one on this tour, you would know it’s the only time that I was going to play it in the acoustic set, unless — caveat — unless I mess it up so badly,” she said with a small laugh, “that I have to do it over again in some other city. Send your best wishes towards me that I don’t do that.”

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The Eras Tour is her first real tour in five years, and the first time the prolific songwriter is getting to perform selections from Lover, Folklore, Evermore and Midnights to sold-out stadium crowds.

Eras Tour night one introduced a career-spanning, whopping 44-song setlist with a runtime of more than three hours, with Swift playing anywhere from one to eight tracks from all 10 of her full-length studio albums. The show’s nightly surprise is sure to keep her fans on their tallest tiptoes, waiting to hear what gem will be unveiled at their concert.

Below, check out the list of all the surprise songs she’s brought to The Eras Tour, courtesy of social media live streams and post-concert clips uploaded by Swifties in attendance. Bookmark this page, as the list will updated regularly as the tour goes on.

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Varnell Harris Johnson, Veteran Music Executive & Living Legends Foundation President, Dies at 76 https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/varnell-harris-johnson-dead-1235360962/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 02:14:13 +0000 https://www.billboard.com/?p=1235360962

Varnell Harris Johnson, who held senior executive roles at Capitol-EMI, Blue Note, Jive, Island, Elektra Records and more throughout his career in music and who was president of the Living Legends Foundation, has died. He was 76.

Johnson — or “VJ,” as his peers knew him — passed away on Wednesday (June 21) at 6 p.m. ET of congestive heart failure, Billboard has learned.

Johnson has been credited for recruiting many Black executives, including several women, into key music industry positions. He had an ear for talent and had a hand in bringing Tina Turner over to Capitol Records as a solo artist, and brought the Isley Brothers with him from Elektra to Island. With his knowledge of how influential gospel music was to the community, he helped establish the gospel-focused Verity Records.

“This is a major loss,” says David C. Linton, friend of Johnson and chairman of the Living Legends Foundation. “At the time he broke into the industry, he was able to work in every aspect of the business. Varnell was one of the first Black executives to have total autonomy within the label system. He not only signed some great artists, but he also hired other Black executives and molded so many of our careers. He had a lot of ‘firsts’ in his career. He was always caring, he promoted women, and you could always call him for advice – he was that great link.”

Living Legends Foundation vice president Jacqueline Rhinehart, a marketing professional, remembers him as “the quintessential record man. He was a straight shooter and someone who was great at maintaining relationships at all levels of the industry … He never lost his role as an influencer — it wasn’t reliant on what job he held at what label.”

“He was a people person, a good person to know,” Ray Harris, a veteran record promotion executive and a founding member of the Living Legends Foundation, says. “And I have such a deep appreciation for him because he got on board with the Living Legends Foundation right from the beginning. The organization grew substantially thanks to his participation and leadership. He was always a voice of common sense, wisdom, and calm, and we’re going to miss that voice.”

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Johnson was born in Philadelphia. He played football and basketball at Simon Gratz High School and graduated at 16. He then enlisted in the Army at 17, serving as a combat medic in the Vietnam War. Following an honorable discharge, he went to Temple University and graduated with a marketing and advertising degree. Harold Childs, a Philadelphia neighbor, influenced Johnson to get into the music business.

His career in music started as a gofer at A&L Record Distributors before becoming general manager for Philly Groove Records. His was then hired as a marketing/promotion director at GMC, which led to him landing at EMI/United Artists’ newly formed R&B division in Los Angeles in 1979.

Johnson moved to parent company Capitol Records as vice president of A&R, working with artists including René & Angela, A Taste of Honey, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, George Clinton, Freddie Jackson, Natalie Cole, Peabo Bryson, Roberta Flack, Tina Turner and Ashford & Simpson. His next gig, as vice president of promotion and marketing at Capitol’s Manhattan/Blue Note Records division, brought him back to the East Coast. There, he worked with Dianne Reeves, Bobby McFerrin, Phyllis Hyman, The O’Jays and Shirley Jones.

Johnson was hired as vice president of marketing and promotion at Jive Records in 1992. He worked with R. Kelly, A Tribe Called Quest, KRS One and Aaliyah at Jive. Next, he made his mark at Elektra Records, where he served as vice president and worked with Keith Sweat, Kut Klose and Ron Isley, and then was offered the position of senior vice president and general manager for Island Records’ Black music division; the Isley Brothers followed him, joining a roster with Dru Hill, Karen Clark Sheard and Kelly Price.

Johnson went on to run Junes Entertainment Inc., his own consulting firm, and most recently resided in New Jersey. He is survived by his wife Darlene, son Varnell, (nicknamed “June”) and daughter Tracey.

Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.

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Here Are All the Celebrities Who Have Attended Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour https://www.billboard.com/lists/taylor-swifts-the-eras-tour-celebrities-attendees-surprise-guests/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 00:40:00 +0000 https://www.billboard.com/?post_type=pmc_list&p=1235296517

It’s nice to have a friend, and Taylor Swift has plenty of famous pals that have been supporting her on her massive The Eras tour, which kicked off on March 17 in Glendale, Ariz.

Besides friends like HAIM, Laura Dern, Emma Stone and Shania Twain watching from the crowd and singing along to every word, Swift also surprised fans with onstage appearances. Despite telling fans during night one at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium that “we don’t have guests at this show,” the pop superstar invited the Mumford & Sons frontman for her debut live performance of “Cowboy Like Me,” from Swift’s chart-topping 2020 album, Evermore.

See below for all the celebrities who have made appearances at Swift’s The Eras tour stops, either in the audience or on stage, which we’ll be updating as the 12-time Grammy winner makes her way across the continent.

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Rina Sawayama Seemingly Calls Out Matty Healy, Dedicates ‘STFU!’ to Him at 2023 Glastonbury Festival https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/rina-sawayama-matty-healy-glastonbury-2023-1235360934/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 00:08:11 +0000 https://www.billboard.com/?p=1235360934 The Adam Friedland Show.]]>

Rina Sawayama seems to be publicly speaking out against Matty Healy, her labelmate at Dirty Hit Records. Sawayama made a statement dragging Healy on Saturday (June 24) during her set at Glastonbury Festival. Though she didn’t say his name, she referenced controversial comments The 1975 frontman has been a part of in recent months and dedicated her song “STFU!” his way.

“I wrote this next song because I was sick and tired of these microaggressions. So tonight, this goes out to a white man that watches ‘Ghetto Gaggers’ and mocks Asian people on a podcast. He also owns my masters,” she said. “I’ve had enough!”

Sawayama followed “STFU!” with her take on Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff.”

In her onstage outcry at Glastonbury, Sawayama was referring to Healy’s appearance on an episode of The Adam Friedland Show in February that has since been removed from Apple and Spotify. The episode had the show’s hosts making racist jokes about rapper Ice Spice sounding like an “Inuit Spice Girl” and a “chubby Chinese lady,” and they mockingly imitated Chinese and Hawaiian accents. Also in the episode, they joked about Healy watching “Ghetto Gaggers” pornography.

Healy later half-apologized for laughing at and engaging with the hosts’ remarks during an April concert in Auckland, New Zealand. “I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you,” he said at the time. “Ice Spice, I’m sorry. It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued. It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a d—. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry. I don’t want it to be misconstrued as mean.”

Healy commented on the situation again in a quote published by the The New Yorker in May.

“Nobody is sitting there at night slumped at their computer, and their boyfriend comes over and goes, ‘What’s wrong, darling?’ and they go, ‘It’s just this thing with Matty Healy. That doesn’t happen,” he said.

“You’re either deluded or you are, sorry, a liar,” he continued, addressing people who said they were offended by the remarks. “You’re either lying that you are hurt, or you’re a bit mental for being hurt. It’s just people going, ‘Oh, there’s a bad thing over there, let me get as close to it as possible so you can see how good I am.’ And I kind of want them to do that, because they’re demonstrating something so base level.”

Healy was formerly a director at Dirty Hit, the record label to which Sawayama and The 1975 are both signed, but in April reportedly stepped down from that role. The 1975’s manager, Jamie Oborne, is one of the founders of the British indie label.

Sawayama signed with the label in 2019, and in 2020 “STFU!” became the lead single from her debut album, Sawayama. She covered The 1975’s “Love It If We Made It” for the deluxe edition of Sawayama, released via Dirty Hit.

Watch a clip of Sawayama speaking to the Glastonbury crowd ahead of “STFU!” below.

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