Categoría: Billboard

We are closing out the summer with the Greatest Pop Stars of August 2025 — and we are very happy to be ending the summer in a much better place with pop stardom than when it began, with the return of a few major pop stars and the announcements of more exciting things to come in the months ahead. Explore See latest videos, charts and news This week, we look back at the August that was in pop stardom, as host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard staffers Stephen Daw and Danielle Pascual to share and debate our respective August top five lists, while also naming some honorable mentions, some disappointments, and some artists who we’re looking forward to in the months to come. (If you missed our recaps of the first seven months of 2025, check them out here, including our review of the entire first half of the year in pop stardom.) Along the way, of course, we ask all the most important questions about August 2025 in pop stardom: Is the early online blowback for Sabrina Carpenter fair based on our early impressions of Man’s Best Friend? Will Life of a Showgirl end up doing better or worse than Tortured Poets Department (and how do we even judge what “better” means for Taylor Swift at this point)? Are there parallels to be had with Laufey in 2025 and Adele in 2010? How are we feeling about the Jonas Brothers and Maroon 5 at this point in human history? And perhaps most importantly (and surprisingly): Is it really time to start considering the KPop Demon Hunters cast’s case for being the Greatest Pop Stars of 2025? Check it out above, along with a YouTube playlist of some of the greatest moments in August 2025 pop stardom — all of which are discussed on the pod — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom! And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights: Transgender Law Center Trans Lifeline Destination Tomorrow Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on 5Calls.org. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link

Ice Spice and Latto have ended their feud, surprising fans with a thumping collaboration, “Gyatt,” that hit streaming services on Thursday (Sept. 4). It’s unclear exactly what caused the pair of rappers to turn the page and get back on good terms, but fans welcomed the admirable team-up with open arms. Explore See latest videos, charts and news “Lord, have mercy, shape real curvy/ My man buy me sticks and stones, words can’t hurt me,” Latto shrewdly rhymes. Ice Spice takes the baton, rapping about how her figure and beauty always keep the guys fawning over her every word. “N—s be so damn thirsty, tryna jump head first into this fountain,” she raps. The cover art finds Latto and Ice Spice in the wrestling ring with “Gyatt” splattered across the top in WWE font, which could be a hint at where the direction of the music video is going when it arrives on Friday (Sept. 5). The Ice Spice/Latto feud dated back to 2023 and they continued to exchange shots last year on Billboard Hot 100 hits like “Sunday Service” and “Think U the Shit (Fart).” Latto also sniped at Ice in her 2024 Billboard cover story while seemingly dissing her rapping ability by saying she wouldn’t even be worth engaging in a rap battle. “If I was to do [a battle], it would have to be with somebody I feel like Imma go tit for tat with,” Latto said. “I really don’t mean it as shade. Would she even want to do that?” Latto’s last single arrived in May with “Somebody,” but she’s dished out some assists like her recent appearance on Young Nudy’s PARADISE album. Ice Spice has kept relatively quiet in 2025 until “Gyatt”; the Bronx native didn’t release a single all year until joining forces with Latto (though she hopped on KATSEYE’s “Gnarly” remix in June). Listen to “Gyatt” below.   Source link

Peso Pluma is no stranger to history-making moments in music but today, the música mexicana star marks a new milestone in the fashion world. The 26-year-old hitmaker makes history as the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s (CFDA) first Mexican ambassador for New York Fashion Week. Peso Pluma (born Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija) will help kick off the spring/summer 2026 season alongside CFDA Chairman Thom Browne, designers Michael Kors and Anna Sui and fellow ambassadors Anok Yai and Young Miko. According to a press release, as ambassador, Peso Pluma — who made his New York Fashion Week debut earlier this year at Thom Browne’s fall/winter 2025 show — will be featured in NYFW Live at Rockefeller Center, a “groundbreaking” initiative presented by Genesys that will stream the collections to the public from Sept. 11–16. Joining the CFDA as an ambassador is another feather in Peso’s cap as he continues to expand his influence beyond music and double down on his efforts to globalize música mexicana. Since his major breakthrough in 2023, the CAA-signed artist, managed by George Prajin, has headlined major festivals across the U.S., including Coachella, Rolling Loud California and Chicago’s Sueños Festival. He is also set to headline ComplexCon 2025 in Las Vegas on Oct. 25. Pluma has scored 25 top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart and 33 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. Landing at No. 3 on Billboard‘s Top Latin Artists of 2024, Peso Pluma has been on a signing spree for his Double P Records, launched alongside Prajin, with new artists joining his roster, including Julian Mercado, Reynaldos de la Sierra and Your Favorite Color. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link

Mariah the Scientist achieves her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart with Hearts Sold Separately, which enters atop the list dated Sept. 6. The set, released on Buckles Laboratories/Epic Records, begins with 36,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States for the tracking week of Aug. 22-28, according to Luminate. Streaming activity contributes 32,000 units of the first-week total, equaling 42.3 million official on-demand audio and video streams of the album’s songs. The remaining 4,000 units derive from traditional album sales, with a negligible number of track-equivalent albums for the week. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription tier or 3,750 ad-supported tier of official on-demand audio and video streams for a song on the album.) Hearts Sold Separately is the Mariah the Scientist’s second appearance on Top R&B Albums. Her previous album, 2023’s To Be Eaten Alive, debuted and peaked at No. 14 that November. Elsewhere, Hearts Sold Separately opens at No. 3 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at No. 11 on the all-genre Billboard 200; both represent new career highs. The new album era launched with the single “Burning Blue,” which generated career-best results for the singer-songwriter, born Mariah Buckles. In May, it debuted at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 for her first top 40 result and was her first top 10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Thanks to the album’s arrival, “Burning Blue” reaches new peaks of No. 2 on this week’s Hot R&B Songs chart and No. 3 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, sparked by gains in streams and sales. “Burning Blue” leads 10 total cuts from Hearts Sold Separately on Hot R&B Songs. Previous release “Is It a Crime,” a collaboration with Kali Uchis, climbs 8-7 for a new peak, while eight tracks debut on the list. Here’s a recap of all 10 entries on this week’s Hot R&B Songs chart. No. 2, “Burning Blue”No. 7, “Is It a Crime,” with Kali UchisNo. 8, “Sacrifice”No. 10, “Rainy Days”No. 11, “United Nations + 1000 Ways to Die”No. 13, “Like You Never”No. 14, “Eternal Flame”No. 15, “All I Want + In Pursuit”No. 16, “No More Entertainers”No. 20, “More” Source link

Losing a parent is one of the hardest things most people will go through in their lives. But when that person is also one of the most beloved rock stars of all time, someone you’ve had to share with the world your whole life even as you made your own private, cherished memories with them, is infinitely harder. Explore See latest videos, charts and news That’s why Jack Osbourne explained in a new 16-minute YouTube video that he’s had to take some time out of the spotlight to process his grief over the loss of his father, Ozzy Osbourne. “It’s been about six weeks since my father passed. I know a lot of my listeners and a lot of people were waiting for me to release a podcast, do something and I haven’t really known what to do,” said Jack, 39, about his struggle to wrap his head around losing Ozzy, who died on July 22 at age 76. Osbourne, a married father of four who said his priority was to take care of his family, described going back to Los Angeles a week after attending what would be his dad’s final live performance at the all-star Back to the Beginning show in Ozzy’s native Birmingham, U.K. on July 5. Scheduled to go on a family trip to Portugal two days after the gig, Jack said that outing was scotched when his kids got a nasty stomach bug, which gave them time to hang out for a bit at the family home in England during what would turn out to be his dad’s final weeks. “It was awesome. It was sunny. My dad was in an amazing mood, he was really happy every day,” Jack said of Ozzy in the days after the triumphant show where he performed while seated on a bat-covered throne. “It was great. It was a lot of fun and I kind of look back on that now and I’m so grateful,” Jack said of the special time. “I’ve never been so grateful for my kids to have the stomach flu.” Jack said Ozzy was “great” when he left him on July 13, then described waking up in his L.A. home to a knock on his door at 3:45 a.m. by someone who has worked with the family for more than three decades. “When I looked through my window and I saw it was him, I just knew something bad had happened. I was informed that my father had passed,” Jack recalled, describing feeling sad, frustrated and angry before reaching a place where he was thankful that “‘he’s [Ozzy] not suffering anymore, he’s not struggling,’ and that’s something.” Appearing to hold back tears, Jack added, “I wish he was still here. I wish he was still with us all, but he was having a rough go and I think people saw that at the show.” Ozzy was determined to perform a solo set and a reunion set with his original Black Sabbath mates at the show, despite not being able to stand up due to a variety of health issues. The rock icon did more than manage, delivering the kind of emotional, powerful final bow that few artists get to have when they know that their curtain call is fast approaching. “He got to say goodbye in such a profound way. He got to thank his fans. He got to see his friends he hadn’t seen in such a long time,” Jack said of Ozzy’s last performance, which was surrounded by tribute sets from his musical progeny, including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Mastodon, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Alice in Chains and many more. “No one expected it to happen as quickly as it did and when it did, it was not anything that was on our radar,” Jack said of Ozzy’s death two weeks after the show. Inundated with texts and calls from friends, Jack described the outpouring of love he received, which he called “validating,” tearing up as he called Ozzy “a special guy… [who] meant a lot to a lot of people.” Though he prefers to keep the details of the funeral private for now, Jack shared a quote he recited at Ozzy’s private family funeral from, of all people, actor and sometimes rocker Keanu Reeves. The bit of wisdom came from a 2019 Late Show show interview during which Stephen Colbert asked Reeves what he thinks happens when we die. “‘I don’t know what happens when you die, but what I do know is that the people that love you miss you the most,’” Reeves said. “I felt that… immensely,” Jack said through tears. “He wasn’t just a father to me. He was my colleague, we worked together in so many capacities,” he added, recalling being housemates with his dad when he moved back into the Osbourne estate with is own family in his late 30s for a bit. “A friend, a text buddy, a joke cracker… I was so lucky. I had such a great relationship with him and I’m so grateful.” In a bright note from Jack, he said “there was so much accomplished” before Ozzy’s death, projects he said the family will discuss when the time is right. Though hampered by the effects of Parkinson’s disease and the aftermath of a number of spine and neck surgeries, Osbourne was very busy in his final year working on a number of now-posthumous projects. First up will be the rocker’s second memoir, Last Rites, due out on Oct. 7, followed by the Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape From Now doc chronicling the singer’s six-year struggle to recuperate from a devastating 2019 fall — due out on Paramount+ later this year. In addition, the 100-minute concert film, Back to the Beginning: Ozzy’s Final Bow, is slated to hit movie theaters in early 2026. “The price we pay for loving someone so much is grief,” Jack said. “And the pain of grief when they’re gone. I’m okay with that… My father’s legacy will continue… Ozzy Osbourne does not

Irving Azoff is set to receive the BMAC Icon Award from the Black Music Action Coalition at its fifth annual BMAC Gala taking place Thursday, Sept. 18, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. Grammy-nominated country trailblazer Mickey Guyton and cultural curator Kenny Burns will co-host the event. The BMAC also identified recipients of two awards that are named in memory of Black luminaries who have died since 2023. John Legend will receive the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award, while Sherrese Clarke of HarbourView Equity Partners will receive the BMAC Harry Belafonte Change Agent Award. Two other awards that will be presented at the gala are the BMAC Social Impact Award, to Kai Cenat and Apple/Apple Music; and the BMAC 365 Award to Primary Wave Music. Related “This year’s honorees are not just innovators and changemakers; they are warriors for justice and visionaries of a future we refuse to stop fighting for,” said Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, co-founder/president/CEO of BMAC. “They have stood fearless and unapologetic on the frontlines, dismantling barriers, rewriting the rules, and protecting the voices that shape our culture. They are the living embodiment of BMAC’s mission: equity without compromise, economic justice without delay, and creative expression without fear. As we celebrate five years of impact, this Gala is not our victory lap, but our rallying point. The movement is alive, the mission is urgent, and history is watching.” “I am truly honored to receive the Icon Award from the Black Music Action Coalition,” Azoff said in a statement. “The work BMAC is doing is increasingly vital — not only within the music industry but in our daily lives as well. Their relentless efforts to promote racial equality and justice have never been more important, serving as a beacon for diversity and inclusion across the industry and beyond. I am deeply grateful to BMAC for this meaningful recognition and proud to support their mission.” “It’s an honor to be recognized by the Black Music Action Coalition, an organization that not only uplifts artists but fights for justice, equity, and lasting change in our industry and beyond,” Legend said in a statement. “Championing these causes has been central to my own journey, and to receive an award bearing my friend and mentor Quincy Jones’s name is deeply humbling. His legacy reminds us that music can be a force for joy, beauty, love and empowerment.” “Harry Belafonte understood the transformative power of culture,” Clarke, founder/CEO of HarbourView Equity Partners, said in a statement. “To stand in his legacy and in his shadows, and to receive the Change Agent Award in his name, is an honor humbling beyond belief. It is truly my deepest desire, greatest hope, and highest ambition to live in his legacy and carry his mission forward.” Since its founding shortly after Juneteenth 2020, BMAC has distributed more than $4 million in direct economic relief, reached more than 5,500 students and mentored more than 500 emerging music artists and industry professionals through its initiatives and pipeline programs. BMAC has transformed advocacy into measurable impact by launching guaranteed income programs; building mentorship pipelines for emerging talent with cultural leaders like Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Victoria Monét, the Luther Vandross Foundation, the James Brown estate, the late Chubbie Baby and hip-hop superstar Gunna; and creating paid internships, jobs and industry access through its accelerator partnerships with such music companies as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Academy of Country Music, Live Nation and Rolling Loud. BMAC also drives policy change to protect artists’ rights, defend creative expression and amplify marginalized voices in every corner of the industry. The organization’s legislative support includes the CREATE Art Act, the NO FAKES Act, the RAP Act and the recently passed HITS Act. Previous BMAC Gala honorees include LL COOL J, Usher, H.E.R., Lil Baby, Lizzo, The Weeknd, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Trae The Truth, Sylvia Rhone, Aurora James, Nikole-Hannah Jones, BET, Keke Palmer, Jermaine Dupri, Jon Platt and The Recording Academy. The 2025 BMAC Gala is produced by the BMAC board (Stiggers, Ashaunna Ayars, Caron Veazey, Naima Cochrane, Shay Lawson, Shawn Holiday and Damien Smith) alongside Donna Grecco for Primary Wave Music and Rikki Hughes for Magic Lemonade. The event is presented by Live Nation. Source link

Several years ago, Ravyn Lenae found herself backstage at a House of Blues, in tears. With a minute left in her opening set, the crowd had started booing and chanting for the headliner to come out — and the venue had cut off her mic. “It’s funny now,” the 26-year-old singer-songwriter says with a laugh while recalling that fateful evening. “I remember tearing up backstage afterward, asking myself if I was built for this … Can I really get past the embarrassment and into the winning-people-over aspect of music?” Eventually, Lenae wiped away her tears. “Deciding I could was a pivotal point for me.” Now, 10 years removed from her self-released debut EP, Moon Shoes, Lenae is winning over a much bigger audience and breaking through on the Billboard charts. In April, “Love Me Not,” from her second Atlantic Records album, Bird’s Eye, became her first-ever single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The ethereal yet vibrant song became the rare R&B single to explode on the pop charts, rising from a No. 81 entry to a No. 6 Hot 100 peak while also reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Global 200 (No. 7), Pop Airplay (No. 3) and Radio Songs (No. 7) charts. Those are major milestones for the Chicago native, who wrote her first song, “Greetings,” (which she says she still loves) in middle school. At that time, the confessed SoundCloud junkie also loved digging for artists and producers — her favorites included Kaytranada and Flying Lotus — who were experimenting with different beats and sounds. “That was the first moment where I realized what type of production I liked,” Lenae says. She also calls church her “first stage” for solo performances, thanks to her paternal grandfather, who was a local pastor. By the time she was a sophomore at the Chicago High School for the Arts in 2015, Lenae independently released Moon Shoes, collaborating with producer Monte Booker. (He and Lenae are also members of rapper-singer Smino’s musical collective, Zero Fatigue.) The underground buzz sparked by Lenae’s pure, soaring soprano and insightful, relatable lyrics prompted Atlantic Records to sign her and reissue the EP in 2016. Two more EPs, Midnight Moonlight (2017) and Crush (2018), followed, as did opening gigs for Noname and SZA tours, festival performances and collaborations with artists including Steve Lacy. Lenae further connected the alt-R&B dots with her 2022 debut studio album, Hypnos. The set’s strong critical acclaim (and No. 1 Adult R&B Airplay single, the Lacy collaboration “Skin Tight”) underscored what day-one Lenae fans had long known: Her appeal wasn’t only about her vocal and lyrical skills, but also her fearless experimentation beyond R&B’s traditional color palette. Altuzarra dress, SHAY Jewelry rings. Ssam Kim In crafting her musical world — one she describes as “eclectic, with bubbles, rough terrain and a rusty sky” — Lenae delineates her style through potent fusions of R&B, pop, dance, rock, Afrobeats and reggae, among other genres. “She’s constantly experimenting with sounds and ideas, wanting to challenge herself in a way that I found exciting,” says John Bogaard, who began managing Lenae almost six years ago. She has continued to push those boundaries, including on 2024’s Bird’s Eye, which boasts collaborations with Ty Dolla $ign and Childish Gambino (the latter on “One Wish,” her first Hot R&B Songs entry last year, at No. 21) and sleeper hit “Love Me Not.” After its initial release and remix last year, the riff on the age-old “he loves me, he loves me not” theme received a boost in April after going viral on TikTok. “ ‘Love Me Not’ is resonating with fans because they recognize when a record is made authentically,” Bogaard says. “And it was an important moment for Ravyn because it’s a sound she wanted to explore but hesitated to release due to its difference from her previous work. Her future sound and aesthetic will continue to reflect what her music has always expressed: her complex, varied and sincere self.” “She’s authentic,” adds Atlantic COO Zach Friedman. “She writes what people feel but can’t always say, and she delivers it with a voice you can’t ignore. That’s why it’s connecting.” Luar coat, Agent Provocateur underwear, Saint Laurent belt, Jimmy Choo shoes, Wolford tights, SHAY Jewelry necklace and rings. Ssam Kim Grammy Award winner Dahi (whose credits include Kendrick Lamar, SZA and 21 Savage) produced “Love Me Not” and executive-produced Bird’s Eye. “There’s something so special about his ear,” Lenae says. “The idea of genre and staying within borders doesn’t exist in the studio with us. ‘Love,’ with its whimsical talk about love and lyrics being a little dark, is for me a timeless record. I like to merge things that kind of contradict each other; something that feels old and familiar but also new and fresh.” “We clicked from our first sessions,” adds Dahi. “Musically, I’m a bit left of center, always looking to make it have a twist. Ravyn is very similar: We’re fans of all types of music. And that’s built a trust. We’re definitely not afraid to try things, wanting to just follow the feeling.” “When I recorded Bird’s Eye, I let go of all the rules and expectations,” Lenae says. “I wanted to fly free without this preconceived notion of myself and what my music had to feel like. Seeing how that music is moving people has given me the green light to keep going.” And she has come a long way from those boos at the House of Blues. She made her Coachella and Lollapalooza debuts this year, and she’s selling out dates on her own current headlining tour, including a recent four-show residency at New York’s storied Blue Note jazz club. She’ll further showcase her dynamic live show and atmospheric alt-R&B as the opener on select dates for this fall’s Reneé Rapp and Sabrina Carpenter tours. “I see the road map and the finish line,” Lenae says. “This is the start for me.” This story appears in the Aug. 30, 2025, issue of Billboard. Source link

In the past six years, the creative polymath Devonté Hynes has kept remarkably busy. Despite a global pandemic flatlining the music industry, Hynes contributed to albums by Lorde and Turnstile, crafted film scores for Passing and Master Gardener, and just last year penned some original music for the Broadway play Job. In 2023, Hynes was even set to perform alongside the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Australia. The passing of his mother derailed those plans, and as grief turned into nostalgic reflection, the ever expansive artist started to shift his gaze back into the R&B realm of Blood Orange. Explore See latest videos, charts and news As Blood Orange, Hynes hadn’t released anything in over six years. His last outing as the gauzy R&B savant, 2019’s Angel Pulse, was labeled more as a mixtape, as a muted collage of moods that didn’t thematically stitch together quite like 2018’s Negro Swan — which dealt heavily with Black queer identity at a time when law enforcement abuse was a fiery political focal point. On “Look at You,” the intro track off Blood Orange’s latest album Essex Honey, which finally came out last week, Hynes coos: “How can I start my day/ Knowing the truth/ ‘Bout love and a loss of youth?” His new album puts aging and grief under a microscope, and Hynes admits at first he wasn’t incredibly eager to dive back into the personal examination required for a Blood Orange record. He more did so because he felt that he “should.” “I got to this place where I’m very lucky,” Hynes tells Billboard on the eve of Essex Honey‘s release. “I should at least honor that luck.” Below, Dev Hynes chats with Billboard about how his new Blood Orange record came together, and how aging and nostalgia inspired his rawest album yet. This is by far the longest break you’ve taken between Blood Orange projects. I’m curious as an artist known for working on multiple things at once why you felt it was time for Blood Orange to take a backseat for a bit? It was quite natural. It was lots of different factors kind of working in tandem. I was always working on music and doing things and just initially it was more that I was working on kind of a lot of [other projects]. Like the first couple of years it was the kind of thing that, I love doing it, but you know you sign on to two jobs then suddenly that’s like a year gone. [Laughs.] I was also just getting older and I started to question why did [Blood Orange] need to exist. There was always music, and I was always working on things but I could never really work out a good reason for it to exist. Then I started thinking about how much of a span of music I am and how much I enjoy different types of things for different reasons. But then I started thinking it’s quite — I work hard — but I’m also at a place where I feel quite blessed that I even know how to make music and that I have a channel to release it and there’s even people there that would want to receive it. I started looking at it like that. I started to feel like I should make music, because even the younger me wouldn’t necessarily believe the position I’m in. I guess in that regard, what was the vision behind Essex Honey, and when did it start to creatively emerge that you were making a new Blood Orange album — or that you “should” make a new Blood Orange album? It’s this kinda thing where I’m essentially always kind of working on an album, even if I don’t necessarily know the end of where it’s gonna be or where it’s gonna land. So I was working on things and I started leaning into this place of where I was looking back on where I grew up, family, and grief and all of these things. I have all these names and album titles crazy far in advance, and usually they’re purely out of phonetics and things like that, and I had the Essex Honey title ready, like, seven years ago. But I didn’t think at the time that I was actually gonna be writing a record about where I was from. It was more just — I liked how it sounded, but naturally my life ended up pivoting that way. It sounds like your creative process is almost stream of consciousness, like a flow state. Yeah, it’s going wherever it goes. I feel like the intentional aspect comes when I look at everything and I see that there’s something. When it gets to that place, it’s usually the last few months of a process, then I’m a bit more decisive. Before that it’s really whenever, wherever, really! How was the process of creating a broadway musical different or similar to working on a Blood Orange album? Did that experience help at all with Essex Honey? I don’t know, it’s very different just in the sense that when I’m working on my music I’m excavating. I’m trying to get something out inside of me. On other people’s things, I like to be more of service. I like to be used however they want me to be. Whether they just want ideas, or maybe they just want me to play bass or cello. Wherever they are comfortable with and that they want me to be involved, that’s honestly my favorite state of music making is being of service. It’s interesting to hear you talk about it like that, because there are so many features on Essex Honey it feels almost like an ensemble album. Like without a keen ear, you might miss hearing Daniel Caesar on “The Field.” The way the features are layered it feels like they’re in service of the song. Why did you believe layering other artists in this way was the best

Olé! The latest round of the America’s Got Talent 2025 quarterfinals has come and gone, and one standout musician got the biggest possible stamp of approval from the famously hard-to-impress Simon Cowell thanks to a high-energy performance of the hopeful’s original ode to soccer. As it turns out, America seemed pretty impressed too, since that singer, Micah Palace, punched his ticket directly to the finals on Wednesday night’s (Sept. 4) results show. After getting the entire audience involved by asking them to sing “Olé” as he rapped about people from all over the world coming together on a FIFA-coded song called “Rodeo,” Palace earned high praise from the judges on Tuesday. Howie Mandel gave him a standing ovation and Sofia Vergara also had a big thumbs up. Mel B, though, confessed that she didn’t quite “get it,” as Cowell 100% disagreed. “I think that was such a clever song,” Cowell told Palace. “The World Cup’s coming, maybe that should be the anthem.” Cowell then asked Palace, “What color is the World Cup?” When the aspiring performer responded, “It’s gold,” Cowell got out of his seat and hit the Golden Buzzer button, sending Palace straight to the final round of the competition. As gold confetti rained down, the young musician teared up on stage. Palace’s triumph was just one of several memorable moments on the episode, which on Wednesday night’s results show also saw improv rapper Chris Turner, eight months pregnant singer Jessica Sanchez and masked mentalist Mastermind advance to the semifinals. Anna Saranina, Austin Brown, Benn Family Band, Girish and The Chronicles, Jacqueline & Wagner, Maceo Harrison and Messoudi Brothers were sent home. The last round of the quarterfinals will air on Sept. 9, featuring the Birmingham Youth Fellowship Choir, country girl group The BoykinZ, singer Chuck Adams, musical duos Cole Swensen & Judy and Crash Adams, as well as magician Zak Mirz, dance group Team Recycled and four others. The live semi-final rounds will start on Sept. 16. Watch Palace’s Golden Buzzer-winning performance above.    Source link

In folklore, “grateful dead” refers to the spirit of a deceased person who is given a proper burial by the protagonist of a story, then does him a favor down the road. In rock, for six decades, it has also been the name of a restless-spirited band that has received its last rites but keeps on keeping on as a living — and jamming — part of American culture. For three days in August in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the Dead celebrated six decades of the longest, strangest trip in pop music, which Billboard has been trackin’ since the band started truckin’. Drinking the Electric Kool-Aid “Can the expanding pop/hippie movement turn [San Francisco] into a major music center?” Billboard asked in its May 6, 1967, issue. The article cited Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Grateful Dead (“a local favorite of the acid set”) as part of “an atmosphere of new things happening.” The piece also mentioned “Topsy’s Topless Band, a female rock quintet which swings exposingly in North Beach.” Dark Stars “It was a religious experience,” raved a reviewer in the Dec. 12, 1970, issue of Billboard, testifying that 6,000 Chicago fans “freaked and frolicked for four hours to music by the Warner Bros. sextet, easily the most underrated rock band in the world.” The Dec. 4, 1971, Billboard reported that the Dead — whose “Truckin’ ” would soon reach No. 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 — “have only just begun to receive mass recognition.” Hailing the Dead as “the best dance band in the country,” the writer backhandedly complimented the “gnome-like Jerry Garcia” for his “exhilarating enthusiasm.” In the Charts By 1987, the Dead was a live act known for epic performances and the devoted ’Heads who saw as many as possible — but the band didn’t have a big hit single until “Touch of Grey.” The song reached No. 9 on the Hot 100 and No. 15 on the Adult Contemporary chart, sending the In the Dark album to No. 6 on the Billboard 200. As an executive at Arista, the group’s label, noted in the July 25, 1987, issue: “It’s going way beyond the band’s customary base.” Still Truckin’? “The band grossed more than $32 million from January-August this year,” reported the Sept. 9, 1995, Billboard, about a month after Garcia died at the age of 53. Without him, however, “the future of the group is in question. The group has canceled its fall tour, and its plans remain uncertain.” But promotion veteran Danny Zelisko envisioned life after death. “If they didn’t continue to play,” he told Billboard, “I’d be very surprised.” Good Company Ain’t no grave can hold this band down, to paraphrase an old song. By 1998, the surviving band members reunited as The Other Ones, which in 2003 became the Dead, then — with the addition of John Mayer — morphed into Dead & Company in 2015. The group did a “final tour” in 2023, then a 2024 and a 2025 run of shows at Sphere, plus the Golden Gate concerts. The trip hasn’t stopped: Last year, the ongoing Dave’s Picks live series helped the Dead score a record high number of albums in the top 40 of the Billboard 200. Not bad for a former Bay Area jug band. This story appears in the Aug. 30, 2025, issue of Billboard. Source link