Categoría: Billboard

From reggae legends like Sizzla and Buju Banton to innovative breakout stars like Lady Lava and dancehall upstarts such as Armanii, the third annual Caribbean Music Awards certainly weren’t lacking in star power and memorable performances. The Aug. 28 ceremony, which unfolded at Brooklyn’s Kings Theater ahead of a BET telecast on Sept. 12, celebrated the biggest artists and buzziest records across Caribbean music over the past year, with over 40 categories honoring genres like reggae, dancehall, soca, zess-steam, konpa, calypso, gospel and R&B. Shenseea, who tied Masicka as this year’s most-nominated artist (seven apiece), was the night’s biggest winner, with five victories, including dancehall album, song and collaboration of the year. King of Dancehall Vybz Kartel, who kicked off 2025 with a revelatory Billboard cover story, took home three awards, including male dancehall artist of the year and music event of the year for his seismic Kingston-conquering Freedom Street concert last December. Lady Lava, whose “Ring Finger” earned an effusive co-sign from Cardi B, won the inaugural zess-steam artist of the year award, and Yung Bredda and Armanii took home this year’s impact awards for soca and dancehall, respectively. Outside of the hardware, this year’s ceremony also featured a slew of roof-raising performances from acts such as Elephant Man, Full Blown, Lady Lava, Lila Iké, Romain Virgo and more. Although Spice and Kes were named performers of the year for dancehall and soca, respectively, neither act graced the stage. Additionally, none of the night’s special honorees (Busta Rhymes, Bounty Killer, Sizzla, Kerwin Du Bois, Shirley Ann Cyril-Mayers, Austin “Super Blue” Lyons and Carimi) performed, save for an impromptu freestyle from Bounty near the end of his lifetime achievement award acceptance speech. All of their on-stage absences were certainly felt, but this year’s Caribbean Music Awards featured a lineup that pleased music lovers across generations and genres. Here’s Billboard’s ranking of every performance at the 2025 Caribbean Music Awards. Romain Virgo, “Soul Provider” & “Fade Away” For the “Voices of the Caribbean” segment, Jamaican singer-songwriter and reggae fusion artist Romain Virgo graced the stage with solid renditions of “Soul Provider” and “Fade Away,” two cuts from his 2015 Lifted LP. While his performance certainly flaunted his vocal chops, Virgo made an interesting, if not confusing, choice to ignore his most recent album, 2024’s The Gentle Man. That record earned Virgo three awards at this year’s ceremony, including reggae album of the year, male reggae artist of the year, and reggae song of the year for the Masicka-assisted “Been There Before.” It’s always nice to honor an album anniversary, but it would have been even sweeter to see The Gentle Man get its moment in the spotlight. Maureen, “Tic” Maureen scored a major global hit alongside Blaiz Faiyah and DJ Glad with the shatta-inflected “Money Pull Up.” Considering we didn’t get “Hit & Run” (Shenseea, Masicka & Di Genius) or “Shake It to the Max” (Moliy, Shenseea, Skillibeng, Disco Neil and Silent Addy) performances — after all, those are probably the two biggest global Caribbean hits of the past year, alongside “The Greatest Bend Over” — it would have been nice to see “Money Pull Up” get a shining moment. Regardless, Maureen absolutely rocked Kings Theater with a fiery rendition of 2020’s “Tic.” Complete with high-octane choreography (including the splits!) and electric stage presence sourced from music’s greatest divas, the France-based Martinican artist pulled off one of the strongest solo performances of the night. Maureen may have lost French-Caribbean artist of the year to Joé Dwèt Filé, but she still left the ceremony a winner. Lila Iké, “Where I’m Coming From” Similar to Virgo’s performance, Lila Iké’s part of the “Voices of the Caribbean” segment was an impressive display of her singing and performance prowess. As soon as she stepped on stage, Iké instantly enchanted every ear in Kings Theater with hef smoky, earthy timbre. It’s always a treat to hear “Where I’m Coming From,” one of the most resonant hits from her 2020 ExPerience EP, but Iké had a slew of new music she could have performed. That night, she took home her third consecutive trophy for best female reggae artist, which coincided with her additional nominations for reggae song of the year (“Fry Plantain,” with Joey Bada$$) and reggae collaboration of the year (“Bruises,” with Mortimer & Kabaka Pyramid). Moreover, the Manchester Parish-bred star dropped her debut full-length album, Treasure Self Love, just six days before the ceremony (Aug. 22). Virgo and Iké are two of contemporary reggae’s brightest stars and strongest voices. Hearing them amplify their newest releases would have brought the night to another level. Lady Lava, “Ring Finger” Between “Ring Finger” and “Bob the Builder,” most of 2025 has belonged to fast-rising Trinbagonian zess star Lady Lava. With that in mind, it’s no surprise the Cardi B-approved artist was tapped to close out the ceremony. Donning a bright pink ball gown-esque number, Lava strutted out onstage to the tune of the humming “Ring Finger” intro, waving a wand as she turned Kings Theatre into her personal zess-steam royal court. Although her background dancers were giving their all, they were simply no match for Lava’s presence and charisma — or the infectious nature of her irresistible smash hit. Elephant Man & Ding Dong, Opening Medley Elephant Man and Ding Dong have ruled dancefloors around the world for two decades with “Pon de River, Pon de Bank” and “Badman Forward, Badman Pull Up,” respectively, so it only makes sense that the two dancehall icons joined forces to open the third annual Caribbean Music Awards. Beginning his performance in the Kings Theater lobby, Elephant Man, decked out in a glitzy navy blue sweatsuit, paraded into the main theater to the tune of “Pon de River,” trailed by a procession of dancers that included Tanisha Scott, a three-time nominee for the MTV Video Music Award for best choreography. As Elephant Man made his way to the main stage, Ding Dong pulled up to perform “Badman Forward,” the song that

Although Shenseea dominated the night with five wins, including dancehall album, collaboration and song of the year, the third annual Caribbean Music Awards certainly spread the wealth. Hosted by Majah Hype at Brooklyn’s King Theatre (Aug. 28), this year’s Caribbean Music Awards honored performers and works across reggae, dancehall, soca, R&B, gospel, bouyon, zess-steam, konpa and more, highlighting the myriad styles that have helped Caribbean music and culture remain a global force. Thanks to his collaborations with Shenseea (“Hit & Run”) and Romain Virgo (“Been There Before”), Masicka was the second most-awarded artist of the night with four trophies. Nearly every artist who earned at least three nominations took home something, except for Nailah Blackman, Chronic Law, Kranium, Bunji Garlin, Problem Child, Trinidad Killa and Jada Kingdom — all of whom were completely shut out. Notably, all three of last year’s female artist of the year winners repeated in their respective categories, with Shenseea taking home the dancehall honor, Lila Iké snagging the reggae award and Patrice Roberts winning the soca trophy for a third consecutive year. In addition to over 40 competitive awards, several Caribbean music legends were honored for their towering contributions to the culture. DJ Khaled and Swizz Beatz honored Bounty Killer with the lifetime achievement award, Mýa presented Sizzla with the humanitarian award, and Buju Banton celebrated Busta Rhymes with the elite icon award. Additional special honorees included Austin “Super Blue” Lyons (calypso honors), Kerwin Du Bois (producer honor), Carimi (legacy award) and Shirley Ann Cyril-Mayers (gospel honors). Here are six of the biggest snubs and surprises from the 2025 Caribbean Music Awards. SNUB: Chronic Law From spinning out hits like “NY Girls” to his ongoing clash with Malie Donn, Chronic Law has been one of the buzziest names in dancehall over the past year. His slick lyricism and slinky melodies have garnered him a faithful fanbase, and, according to Jamaica Observer, he was the most-streamed artist of 2024 in JA on YouTube with over 163 million views. All that is to say, it was quite shocking to see Chronic lose all five of his nominations. The St. Thomas-bred star earned nods for dancehall collaboration of the year (“Higher Life,” with Kranium and “St. Thomas Native,” with Popcaan), dancehall song of the year (“Higher Life”), reggae/dancehall video of the year (“Higher Life”), and male dancehall artist of the year. Considering Shenseea, Masicka and Di Genius’ “Hit & Run” swept every category that “Higher Life” was nominated in, Chronic’s best shot at a win was in male dancehall artist of the year, where he was unfortunately up against the legendary Vybz Kartel in his comeback year. Nonetheless, Chronic Law deserved to go home with something. SURPRISE: Rutshelle Guillaume Beats Out Joé Dwèt Filé for Konpa Honor Joé Dwèt Filé earned a global konpa smash — and a Burna Boy remix! — with “4 Kampé,” and that should have been enough to push him over the finish line in the race for konpa artist/band of the year. Nonetheless, Rutshelle Guillaume, who earned a top 10 hit on World Digital Song Sales last year alongside Michaël Brun and John Legend (“Safe,” No. 6), emerged victorious. All was not lost for Filé, however, considering he took home French-Caribbean artist of the year, beating out stiff competitors like Maureen and Blaiz Faiyah. SNUB: Bunji Garlin Let’s be real: “Carnival Contract” alone should have secured Trinbagonian soca superstar Bunji Garlin at least one win. And that’s not to mention “Carry It” and “Thousand,” which placed second and third at Trinidad’s 2025 Road March competition, respectively. Even Nicki Minaj hopped on a remix of “Carry It!” Despite four nominations — soca song of the year (“Carnival Contract”), male soca artist of the year, soca video of the year (“Carnival Contract”) and soca performer of the year – Bunji came up short in every single race. If we had to choose one category for him to win, male soca artist of the year would have been well-deserved — and Kes would still have taken home soca performer of the year! SURPRISE: Trinidad Killa Shut Out Despite Major Chart Success A select few soca stars made a resounding international impact this year, and Trinidad Killa was unquestionably a part of that crop. At the top of the year, he teamed up with fellow Trinbagonian Nicki Minaj for a remix to his hit “Eskimo,” which reached No. 2 on World Digital Song Sales this spring (chart dated March 15). He later appeared on Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column with the DJ Big Skipp and Moyann-assisted “Enjoy Yourself.” This year, Killa earned nominations for zess-steam artist of the year, the 2025 soca impact award, and best new soca artist. Realistically, no one was going to beat out Yung Bredda for the impact award, nor was anyone going to best Lady Lava for zess-steam artist of the year. Nonetheless, one would think the Barbz would rally around Killa for best new soca artist. SNUB: Jada Kingdom After heating up the dancehall space at the top of 2024 with her clash against Stefflon Don, Jada Kingdom unleashed one of the year’s most popular dancehall hits in “What’s Up (Big Buddy),” which earned a nod for dancehall song of the year. Also nominated alongside Govana for “Pull Over” (dancehall collaboration of the year), Twinkle was unfortunately shut out at this year’s ceremony. Truthfully, this was Shenseea’s year, and Jada was up against her in all three of her races. It’s hard to say which category she had the strongest odds in, but it would have been nice to see Jada get some kind of award recognition this year. SURPRISE: Buju Banton, Bugle & Damian Marley Win Reggae Collaboration of the Year On paper, this win wasn’t too much of a surprise; Buju, Bugle and Marley are three of the most lauded voices in contemporary reggae music. But this was a very stacked category. Romain Virgo and Masicka’s “Been There Before” was a formidable competitor (and probably a more

Akon‘s wife Tomeka Thiam has filed for divorce, just shy of the couple’s 29th wedding anniversary. Thiam cites irreconcilable differences as the reason behind the divorce, in documents obtained by Billboard. (TMZ first reported the news.) Of Akon’s nine children, according to the documents, the couple share one minor child — a 17-year-old daughter named Journey — and Thiam is seeking joint legal custody and sole physical custody of the teen. She’s also seeking spousal support and is trying to get the court to block Akon from receiving any from her. According to the filing, Akon (legal name: Aliaune Badara Thiam) and Tomeka Thiam have been married since Sept. 15, 1996 — meaning the filing comes just days ahead of their 29th wedding anniversary. Billboard has reached out to Akon’s team for further commentAkon’s wife Tomeka Thiam has filed for divorce, just shy of the couple’s 29th wedding anniversary. A couple of years ago, while sitting down with DJ Vlad, the subject of how many wives and children Akon has was brought up, but the Senegalese artist only confirmed that he had nine children. “I have seven boys and two girls,” he told Vlad before joking that he enjoys the public’s curiosity around his love life. “I’mma let it stay a rumor. I like this. I like the fact that people are guessing now, I love it. I’m not confirming nor denying. You go online, you may see nine, you might see seven, you might see four. I love it, though.” In other Akon news, he said earlier this year that he’s planning to remix his entire catalog into country songs. “I’m actually redoing my whole catalog in country,” Akon told TMZ. “I’m not even joking… This has been an idea for years like forever. The project has been in motion for the last five years. But starting next month, y’all gonna start seeing all the releases.” He added: “They’re country artists featuring me. They’re the ones performing them.” Source link

David Byrne tested his cooking skills while gathering ideas for the songs that ended up in his latest album, Who Is the Sky? “I should get out my cookbook and tell you what recipes I tried. Of course, I knew how to make a very traditional mole, the dark one,” Byrne tells Billboard Español in reference to mole negro during a video call from his home in Brooklyn, New York. The British-American musician, producer, avant-garde rock pioneer and intellectual shares that he primarily cooked Mexican and Indian dishes during the pandemic, when the first notes of the tracks included in his first album since the acclaimed American Utopia (2018) began to take shape. “I learned how to make tortillas, not so good at first. I decided, ‘OK, I’m going to try maybe for health not using the lard fat in the tortilla and see if I can put something else in,’” continues the 73-year-old artist. “But it didn’t work out so at all. So I had to go back to the more traditional method.” When it comes to music, though, the former Talking Heads frontman never follows a traditional method. Who is the Sky?, released Sept. 5 under Matador Records, features 12 songs as colorful as the album’s cover art. The rhythms used turn Byrne’s voice into yet another instrument in these subtle melodies, infused with avant-pop touches and orchestral textures. The lyrics are characterized by their ironic but always intelligent sense of humor. “Everybody Laughs,” with sublime backing vocals from St. Vincent, offers a joyful and hopeful moment. For this project, Byrne enlisted Grammy-winning producer Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus), telling him, “I want this to be a good-sounding, accessible record, but I also want to do something a little bit unusual.” The orchestral arrangements, meanwhile, are courtesy of the New York-based chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra. “I heard a record [from them] I guess in 2023 — a record of compositions and songs by a guy named Moondog, who was kind of a street poet and he wrote really beautiful music,” he explains. “They did an interpretation of his music. I really liked it.” Longtime friends and new collaborators — including Paramore’s Hayley Williams on “What Is the Reason for It?”, drummer Tom Skinner from The Smile and percussionist Mauro Refosco from American Utopia — also contribute to the album. Byrne and St. Vincent — whose real name is Annie Clark — previously collaborated on the 2012 album Love This Giant, with most of the songs co-written by the two. “She was always doing really interesting things and she lived just a few blocks from the studio where I was, so I called her up and said, ‘Annie, can you come by for just a little while, maybe sing on a song?’” Byrne says. “And we had a great time. She did great. She wanted to do more, but she had to get back to her baby.” Collaborating with younger musicians has become increasingly common for the “Psycho Killer” singer. Pop star Olivia Rodrigo invited him to perform a duet of the Talking Heads classic “Burning Down the House” at the Gov Ball festival in June. “When I talked to her, I said, ‘Do you have time to rehearse a little bit of choreography? Can we work out some movement at the same time?’ And she said yes. So we had some rehearsals and worked out some movement. Some of it I think was inspired by [the Talking Heads’ 1983 concert film] Stop Making Sense.” These collabs have shown the How Music Works author that many young artists appreciate what he and his band did in their time. “It’s very flattering and very exciting, that kind of mutual appreciation,” he says with satisfaction. “I like what they do too.” Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Talking Heads, Byrne has explored many genres and global rhythms including from the Latin scene, with collaborations with artists like Celia Cruz, Café Tacvba, Los Amigos Invisibles, Los de Abajo, and Marisa Monte — some of them through his Luaka Bop label, founded in the late 1980s. “Some months ago, I went to a concert here in New York of Mon Laferte. I know she’s Chilean, but she lives in Mexico. I like her music as well. I have to say, I was surprised at the concert. It was really, really good,” says Byrne. He also revealed that he’s a big fan of Natalia Lafourcade’s music, whom he met during the recording of Café Tacvba’s second MTV Unplugged in Mexico City in 2019. Amid a busy work schedule, Byrne announced recently his marriage to financier Mala Gaonkar and the tour accompanying the release of Who Is the Sky?, which will take him to stages across the U.S., Canada, and Europe between 2025 and 2026. He also hopes to include Mexico on the trek next year. “I think in the spring,” he notes. “The dates are not set, but they are coming soon.” Source link

CAAMP earns its fifth No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart, as “Mistakes” rises a spot to top the Sept. 20-dated ranking. The song marks the Ohio band’s second leader in a row, following the three-week reign of “Let Things Go” in May. The group has also led with “Peach Fuzz” (2019), “Officer of Love” (2020) and “Believe” (2022), ruling with five of its seven charted songs. Since its first week at No. 1 (Nov. 2, 2019), CAAMP is now tied for the most Adult Alternative Airplay leaders, alongside Hozier. The Black Keys, The Lumineers, Phoenix and Nathaniel Rateliff (solo and with the Night Sweats) follow with four each in that nearly six-year span. CAAMP and Phoenix are the only acts of the lot to have scored a first Adult Alternative Airplay No. 1 during that span. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Concurrently, “Mistakes” jumps 39-32 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 1.3 million audience impressions in the week ending Sept. 11, up 32%, according to Luminate. “Mistakes” is the lead single from Copper Changes Color, CAAMP’s fifth studio album. The set debuted at No. 1 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart in June and has earned 29,000 equivalent album units to date. All Billboard charts dated Sept. 20 will update Tuesday, Sept. 16, on Billboard.com. It’s free Billboard charts month! Through Sept. 30, subscribers to Billboard’s Chart Beat newsletter, emailed each Friday, can unlock access to Billboard’s weekly and historical charts, artist chart histories and all Chart Beat stories simply by visiting the newly redesigned Billboard.com through any story link in the newsletter. Not a Chart Beat subscriber? Sign up for free here. Source link

Simply the best new dance tracks of the week. 9/12/2025 John Summit Ian Buosi This week in dance music: DJ Snake made a cameo during J Balvin’s performance at the VMAs to perform the duo’s collab “Noventa,” a new venue in Los Angeles called Reframe Studios Outdoors announced that it will open in November with a set from Solomun and Kygo’s Palm Tree Crew received a $215 million valuation after a Series B funding round from investors, including WME. Meanwhile, Seth Troxer and Bill Patrick launched a new podcast called Flirting With Friendship in which the pair and a weekly special guest will wax poetic from the comfort of Troxler’s parents living room in Ibiza. “Friendships are funny, our life is based on connections. In many ways those connections determine who we are,” Troxler said upon the show’s announcement. “At some point meeting new friends or opening up to existing friends becomes more rare the older you get. Flirting with Friendship is about breaking down that barrier.” Also, we also spoke with Hot Chip frontman Alexis Taylor about the band’s new compilation album Joy In Repetition, and the backstory of six of the songs on it. In addition: Major Lazer announced that it’s doing a free Major Lazer Soundsystem performance today in Las Vegas as part of 12-hour Twitch stream, LCD Soundystem announced a New York City residency happening in November and December and Yves Tumor told the world that “if anyone’s curious how the show went, I just got booed offstage for playing the best set of the night by a bunch of the corniest people I’ve ever seen in my f–king life” after opening for Swedish House Mafia in New York City on Sept. 11. And finally, these are the best new dance tracks of the week. John Summit feat. Inéz, “Crystallized” John Summit and Inéz, Summit’s collaborator on March’s “Light Years,” deliver their latest teamup, “Crystallized.” Summit’s first release since August’s “Is Everybody Having Fun” with Gorgon City and rhys from the sticks, the song finds Summit taking a turn into bloghouse, a newer genre for the star who’ll put on the debut edition of his Experts Only festival next week in New York City and play The O2 in London tomorrow, Sept. 13. “I wanted to bring back the energy of the blog house era with a fresh twist,” Summit wrote on Instagram. “Went full electro on this one w the amazingly talented Inez.” “Crystallized” is out on Experts Only/Darkroom Records. Listen to it here. Rezz, As the Pendulum Swings The past and present meet on Rezz’s fifth studio album, As the Pendulum Swings. The 13-track project finds the producer in the most evolved iteration of the dark/pummeling wheelhouse she’s carved out over the last 10-plus years, with several tracks on the project being early demos that the artist born Isabelle Rezazadeh pulled from the vault and finalized for the new LP. Rezz calls the album “a more mature version of my project. It reflects where I am in life as a 30 year old. I feel I have the clearest vision and desires and musically, this album plays a major role in that, as well as the aesthetics to my visual content and performances. This album means a lot to me because there’s quite a few old songs that were revamped for this. It feels nostalgic but also new. It really showcases the type of music I’m currently influenced by which feels great to say. I feel like I’ve evolved in the quality of the songs, and the direction is very specific. It capitalizes on industrial/slow techno elements.” As The Pendulum Swings is out on Rezz’s own HypnoVizion label. Listen to it here. Nimino feat. Manta “Better” Nimino, Billboard‘s Dance Rookie of the month from January, continues making good on that one to watch status with his latest, “Better.” Featuring British musician Manta and an absolutely undeniable contribution from the U.K.’s Young Notes children’s choir, the song is a punchy, piano stab and brass-laden house jam teased at a recent Nimino set at Electric Forest, Lollapalooza and Outside Lands. “Better” is out on Ninja Tune. Listen to it here. Sam Gellaitry feat. Toro y Moi, “Curious” After releasing a pair of winning mixtapes, Viewfinder Vol. 1 and 2 in 2019 and 2022, respectively, Scottish fav Sam Gellaitry announces his debut album is coming in November. The project, Anywhere Here Is Perfect, includes August’s “Start Up a Rumor” and the latest “Curious” featuring Toro y Moi. Simultaneously breeze and resonant, the song is a indie electronic joyride with a music video that finds the guys nailing the song during a karaoke bar performance. “Curious” is out on Major Recordings. Listen to it here. Ray Volpe, Forever, Volpetron Dubstep titan Ray Volpe brings the thunder with his debut album, Forever, Volpetron, which follows his 2022 smash “Laserbeam” and a 15-year career that’s never diverged from the genre. The album’s 16 absolutely punishing tracks range from hard to harder and were made over the last 18 months, with Volpe say that he spent “endless nights on it to make sure it’s perfect.” “I wanted to make a project that epitomizes my journey,” Volpe continues. “From brostep, melodic dubstep and bass, heavy dubstep, bass house to everything in between, you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of everything I love and everything I’ve been through. The past few years have been beyond imaginable and now I get to say I have an album out.” The album follows a sold out headlining tour from Volpe earlier this year and comes ahead of festival sets at Lost Lands and Escape Halloween along with a run of standalone shows through the end of 2025. Forever, Volpetron is out on Volpeverse. Listen to it here. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up The Daily A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors

When Jake Worthington performed at the Grand Ole Opry recently, he brought a special guest with him —a bit of family history, as he played his late grandfather’s guitar, while standing on the famed six-foot diameter oak circle embedded in the center of the Opry House stage. Explore See latest videos, charts and news “My papaw was a big reason why I got the itch for a song,” Worthington tells Billboard, noting that his grandfather raised him on the sounds of George Jones, Merle Haggard and Ray Price. “He played dance halls in Texas, and he was a singer-songwriter. My dad has had [the guitar] for a while, and it wasn’t about maybe two months ago, he said, ‘Hey, you need to take this home.’ So ever since I’ve had it, I’ve been using it. To be playing the Opry, I thought it was appropriate.” On the La Porte, Texas native’s (just southeast of Houston) second album When I Write The Song, out today (Sept. 12) on Big Loud Texas, Worthington also brings bit of history to the fore, with his throwback sound that feels pulled directly from dusty honky-tonks and barrooms that inspired Texas country greats such as George Jones and Willie Nelson. Alongside contemporaries including tourmate Zach Top, Worthington has played a key role in reinvigorating modern country music with a sterling shot of old-school country sounds. “I like my music to sound like live music,” Worthington says. “And to me, it’s not a specific sub-genre of a type, It’s just country music to me. For the last good while, it seemed almost d–n near impossible to get anybody behind that idea, within country music. And I think I’ve never been more inspired with the world of music right now. I think it’s still the Wild West, and I like that it’s hairy and it’s a ‘Nobody’s going to do it for you’ type of thing. I just want to make music that I love and something I believe in, and I can only hope folks take to it.” His new album continues to showcase Worthington’s growing star power as an ardent devotee of country music’s timeless sounds. His warm vocal, an instrument he can effortlessly bend to his will in old-school singing reminiscent of Jones or Mark Chesnutt, anchors Western swing in “My Home’s In Oklahoma,” ‘90s country-esque sounds in the humorous “Two First Names,” and somber, honky-tonk self-reflection on “I Only Drink When It Rains.” Fiddle, steel guitar, piano, and acoustic guitars flow throughout the album. Worthington is a currently nominated for entertainer of the year at November’s Texas Country Music Association Awards, while the new album’s “It Ain’t The Whiskey” is nominated for the TCMA’s country single of the year accolade. Worthington has been signed with Big Loud since 2021 and when Miranda Lambert and Jon Randall teamed with Big Loud to form Big Loud Texas in 2023, they quickly brought Worthington into the fold. “I feel like it just garnered me more champions within the company,” Worthington says. “I feel really grateful for that.” As the album’s title nods to, Worthington had a hand in writing nearly every song on the album. The lone exception is a song Lambert wrote with Jesse Frasure, Dean Dillon and Jessie Jo Dillon. “She told me the story that she had gotten the write with Dean and they had tossed ideas out and nothing was happening. I guess it started raining and Dean is pretty well known to just go light a cigarette, walk away and come back with brilliance. I guess he lit a cigarette and said, ‘Hello, shitty day,’ and Miranda had said, ‘I want to write that.’” Lambert sent the song to Worthington, who immediately decided to record it and asked Lambert to sing on it. “When it’s all said and done, there will never be no one like her, and I feel really fortunate that I’ve gotten to see that firsthand. I just thought, hearing her sing, ‘She’s one of the best singers I’ve ever heard in my life,” Worthington says. Country Music Hall of Famer Marty Stuart joins him on “I’m The One,” which has its own piece of guitar history embedded in the recording. “Marty’s the coolest guy out there, and he is a steward of country music,” Worthington says. “When we did the [recording] session, he had brought the Clarence White Telecaster [which belonged to late Byrds musician Clarence White] and that’s cultural architecture right there. They had put me in the vocal booth with Marty and they had an old reverb. I was singing, and he had the Clarence White going and you could feel the air off the amp, like I was getting baptized in it.” Worthington says Stuart also brought to the session a Martin D-45 guitar once owned by Hank Williams, Sr. “It had this bow tie inlay at the top by the bridge. Marty’s the type of guy that’ll be wearing a $50 gig bag around his neck, and it’s got a million-dollar guitar in it. It could be Jimmie Rodgers’ guitar, it could be Merle Haggard’s guitar.” The tender, piano-led track “I Feel You,” featuring harmonies from stellar vocalist Mae Estes, was written by Worthington with Roger Springer and Jacob Weinschenk — though Worthington says it also led to an eyebrow-raising, humorous situation when he played it for his wife Sophie. “They really got started on that. I’m writing it with them and I’m just smelling the brownie points,” he recalls. “I’m thinking, ‘Sophie’s gonna love this because they are true feelings and things that I probably don’t say enough.’ I got home to play it for her, she’s listening to it and I’m thinking she’s just going to be knocked out by it. She goes, ‘Who the f—k’s got auburn hair?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, s—t. That’s Jacob’s wife.’ So for me to sing it, we had to change that lyric to ‘golden.’ So that was a fun little part of that.”

It’s the stuff of nightmares. Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil reveals in a new interview that he suffered a stroke while asleep on Christmas night, and woke up the next day unable to get up. “My whole left side went out,” the rocker told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, explaining that the stroke was why the band announced March 4 that its residency at Sin City’s Dolby Live at Park MGM — set to run March 28 through April 19 — had been delayed until September. At the time, Mötley Crüe’s statement said only that the singer “required medical procedure.” The Crüe also canceled May’s planned performance at Maryland’s Boardwalk Rock festival. “I had to learn to walk again, and that was tough,” Neil added, noting that things appeared pretty dire at first. “The doctors said they didn’t think I’d be able to go back on stage again. I go, ‘No, no, I’m gonna do it. Watch and see.’” At first, the musician, who did not lose the use of his voice after the stroke, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, things were so bad he couldn’t even walk himself to the bathroom, and people had to carry him. Eventually, he was able to move enough to use a wheelchair, then a walker and finally a cane. Now, after months of physical therapy at his Nashville home? “I don’t need anything,” he shared. “But it’s like a full-time job getting back to where you feel good again.” Mötley Crüe’s Las Vegas residency kicks off Friday (Sept. 12) and runs through Oct. 3. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link

Shinedown adds to its chart-leading tally of Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1s, ruling the ranking dated Sept. 20 with “Killing Fields.” “Killing Fields” becomes Shinedown’s 21st No. 1 on the list, two ahead of its next-closest competitor, Three Days Grace, since the ranking began in 1981. Shinedown earns its first leader since “Dance, Kid, Dance” led for a week in March. The Brent Smith-led band first hit No. 1 in 2005 with “Save Me.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news Most No. 1s, Mainstream Rock Airplay:21, Shinedown19, Three Days Grace16, Five Finger Death Punch14, Foo Fighters14, Metallica13, Disturbed13, Godsmack13, Linkin Park13, Van Halen Concurrently, “Killing Fields” ranks at No. 11 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 2.8 million audience impressions in the week ending Sept. 11, up 5%, according to Luminate. The song’s peak on the list so far is No. 6, achieved the week before. In addition to its Mainstream Rock Airplay success, the song has spent a week on Alternative Airplay (No. 39, Sept. 13). The track placed at No. 23 on the most recently published, multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart (after it hit No. 14 in August). In addition to its radio airplay, it earned 391,000 official U.S. streams Aug. 29-Sept. 4. “Killing Fields” is currently a standalone single. Shinedown’s most recent LP, Planet Zero, debuted at No. 1 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart in 2022 and has earned 415,000 equivalent album units to date. All Billboard charts dated Sept. 20 will update Tuesday, Sept. 16, on Billboard.com. It’s free Billboard charts month! Through Sept. 30, subscribers to Billboard’s Chart Beat newsletter, emailed each Friday, can unlock access to Billboard’s weekly and historical charts, artist chart histories and all Chart Beat stories simply by visiting the newly redesigned Billboard.com through any story link in the newsletter. Not a Chart Beat subscriber? Sign up for free here. Source link

Yves Tumor has responded after being booed by the crowd during the artist’s opening set for Swedish House Mafia. The performance happened on Thursday (Sept. 11) at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, N.Y. Videos posted of the opening set show the experimental electronic artist playing industrial electronic music and also lying on the decks during parts of the show, with other footage showing members of the large crowd booing Tumor’s performance. The situation got messier after the show, when Tumor posted a video to Instagram Stories saying that “if anyone’s curious how the show went, I just got booed offstage for playing the best set of the night by a bunch of the corniest people I’ve ever seen in my f–king life.” “This city is truly hell on earth,” the artist continued in the video that showed debris being thrown at a poster of New York City. “I thought L.A. was bad. I thought Berlin was bad. I thought Paris was bad. Berlin is definitely worse.” In a series of other Stories posted to Instagram, Tumor shared a screenshot of negative reactions to the set and wrote, “these subhumans are already spamming my comments. That’s how much they loved it they had that much energy to search me. I truly love my stalkers.” Another Story shows Tumor’s response to the question “What’s the genre called” to which they write “blatant racism.” Another appears to be a screenshot of a text message sent by Swedish House Mafia’s creative director Alexander Wessely saying, “I’m so sorry, that was f–ked up…. You killed it me and the guys loved it.” Meanwhile, in the charged comments section of a post about about the situation on the Instagram account of EDM House Network, deadmau5 wrote that “This entire comment section is a great litmus test of what EDM is all about right here,” a statement nodding to the culture wars that are common within the scene as underground and more commercial scenes and sounds collide. A representative for Tumor did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment. Swedish House Mafia is performing in New York City again Friday (Sept. 12) Under the K Bridge Park in Brooklyn. Their performance at Arthur Ashe Stadium made them the first electronic act to ever headline the venue. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link