Music News

Crossover country hitmaker Shaboozey and rising Mexican band Fuerza Regida are the newest artists added to the list of live performers at the upcoming 2024 Billboard Music Awards, airing on Thursday, December 12, at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Shaboozey and Fuerza Regida join previously announced performers SEVENTEEN, Teddy Swims, Tyla, Coldplay, Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney, and Stray Kids, who will all be performing live during the broadcast. In addition to performing during the awards ceremony, Shaboozey is also a finalist for six BBMA awards that night: Top New Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, and a total of four awards for his record-tying 19-week No. 1 hit, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Top Hot 100 song, Top Streaming Song, Top Selling Song, and Top Country Song. Shaboozey will be featured in a special performance from W Hollywood that will air during the broadcast, which will be hosted by actress and comedian Michelle Buteau. (Billboard)

On Tuesday (December 10), an Argentinian judge charged two additional hotel workers in relation to Liam Payne‘s death, according to new court documents. The new filings come two months after the former One Direction singer suffered a fatal fall from the third-story balcony of his hotel in Buenos Aires. The new charges are both filed against two CasaSur Palermo employees, one is apparently the hotel’s manager, while the second person is reportedly the head receptionist who called 911 prior to Payne’s death on October 16. The documents don’t specify what the charges are, with the judge only requesting that they be notified of the charges and questioned by the local authorities as part of their ongoing investigation. “Since there is sufficient reason to suspect that they have participated in the investigated act, we ask that the following people give a statement,” reads the filing. (Billboard)

During a new interview with Anthony Mason on CBS Mornings, Billie Eilish gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what her tour life looks like backstage at the United Center in Chicago. The 22-year-old music superstar also shared two previously unheard snippets of new songs that she is currently working on, while showing Mason the traveling recording studio she sets up in her green room at every venue while she's on the road. Eilish revealed that she and her brother, Finneas, both experienced writer's block and were “pretty stuck” while struggling to make the Grammy-nominated Hit Me Hard And Soft. “It happens and you’re like, ‘what the hell?! I’m never going to create again,'” Eilish shared. The creative breakthrough came when the duo started working on new songs, “Wildflower” and “The Greatest,” with Finneas recalling that “it started to become clear that we were telling the truth.” (Billboard) 

ABC and Dick Clark Productions announced on Tuesday (December 10) that they have added more artists to the performance lineup for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. Alanis Morissette, Reneé Rapp, Blake Shelton, Luis Fonsi, and TLC will all take part in the holiday broadcast. Shelton will perform from Las Vegas, along with previously announced special guest  Lenny Kravitz. Fonsi will perform from his home country of Puerto Rico, while TLC will perform in New York. Morrissette and Rapp will take part in the West Coast celebration, joining Ja Rule, Ernest, Hardy, Kesha, Laufey, Natasha Bedingfield, and T-Pain. Carrie Underwood will headline the celebration in TImes Square, where she will be joined by Megan Moroney and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Tinashe, Teddy Swims, Thomas Rhett, and Cody Johnson will also be performing during the broadcast. Ryan Seacrest will host this year’s New Year’s Eve festivities for the 20th year alongside co-host Rita Ora, while Dayanara Torres co-hosts from Puerto Rico. (Rolling Stone)

On Monday (December 9), the Knowles-Carter family attended the premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King, in Los Angeles, as Beyoncé and her daughter Blue Ivy both have roles in the film. Jay-Z was there alongside his wife and daughter, a day after he and Sean “Diddy” Combs were accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in a sexual assault lawsuit. 50 Cent mocked the rap superstar about his legal troubles in a since-deleted post on Instagram that featured a photo of Jay-Z, Blue Ivy Carter, and Beyoncé at the event, along with the caption, “Jay said they said I rapped [sic] a kid, everybody get dressed we going to see Mufasa LOL.” There was some friction within the family at the event as well, as Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, was also in attendance after her Instagram account liked a post discussing the rape allegations against Jay-Z earlier that day. Tina later took to Instagram to claim that her account was hacked, writing: "As you all know, I do not play about my family. So if you see something uncharacteristic of me. Just know that it is not me!" (People)

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly’s volatile relationship has apparently come to an end, shortly after the couple announced they were expecting a baby together. The actress announced that she was pregnant back on November 11, sharing a photo of her baby bump as well as a picture of her positive pregnancy test on Instagram. Fox captioned the post, “nothing is ever really lost. welcome back 👼🏼❤️,” while also tagging MGK. “They broke up in late November,” a source disclosed to Us Weekly on Tuesday (December 10). “They were trying to make it work again after the pregnancy, but they are both too hot-headed and fell back into their constant fighting. They can’t get on the same page and it’s not easy for them being together.” Fox is expecting her fourth child, sharing three kids – Noah, 11, Bodhi, 9, and Journey, 7 – with ex-husband Brian Austin Green. (Us Weekly)

Nelly took to Instagram on Monday (December 9) to announce dates and details of his worldwide 2025 Where The Party At Tour. The St. Louis rapper’s sprawling 56-date international tour is in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the release of his diamond-certified, chart-topping debut studio album, 2000’s Country Grammar. Nelly will be joined by a series of his friends and frequent collaborators on various dates of the tour, including Ja Rule, Eve, St. Lunatics, Fabolous, Jermaine Dupri, and Chingy, with additional surprise special guests to be named later. The Where The Party At Tour gets underway on March 21 in Auckland, New Zealand, then travels to Australia, Canada, and Europe. The North American leg of the tour starts up on July 23 in Bristow, Virginia, before winding down in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 19, with high-profile shows scheduled in Toronto, Denver, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and Nashville along the way. (Billboard)

Gracie Abrams just finished her run as opening act for Taylor Swift’s historic The Eras Tour, and is capitalizing on that newfound level of superstardom by announcing a headlining arena tour of her own in 2025. Abrams made the tour reveal on Instagram on Monday (December 9), which includes the biggest headlining shows of the pop star’s breakout career. The Secret of Us Deluxe Tour – which features opening act Role Model – is in support of the expanded edition of Abrams’ Billboard No. 2 charting sophomore album. The jaunt gets underway on July 24 at the TD Garden in Boston, with other high-profile dates on the brief 6-show tour including a Madison Square Garden performance on July 28, a gig at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on August 6, and an outdoor show at Colorado’s legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater on August 11, along with two international shows in Toronto and Mexico City. Abrams will also be the musical guest on the upcoming December 14 episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Chris Rock. (Variety)

On Monday (December 9), Sean “Jay-Z” Carter responded to the recent sexual assault allegations made against him. A woman, identified as Jane Doe, claims that Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs drugged and raped her at an after party following the Video Music Awards in 2000 when she was 13-years-old. Carter released a public statement on X calling the lawsuit a “blackmail attempt” and the allegations “so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!!” Carter claims that he is “a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn” which has “very strict codes of honor,” including protecting children. Carter’s attorneys filed a motion requesting the judge require Doe either reveal her identity or dismiss the lawsuit. “Mr. Carter should not have to defend himself in the brightest of spotlights against an accuser who hides in complete darkness while leveling allegations that describe the purported acts occurring in the plain sight of witnesses who could refute the plaintiff’s claims if only her identity was revealed,” the filing states. (Billboard)

Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 this week after jumping up nine spots to reach No. 1. This is the festive classic’s 15th total week topping the singles chart, spread out over six holiday seasons. Christmas tunes dominate this week's Billboard Hot 100, as Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” jumps up 13 places to No. 2, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” leaps 15 spots to No. 3, Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” bounds up 14 places to No. 5, and Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” vaults up 23 places to No. 10. A week after claiming the entire Top 5 and seven of the Top 10, Kendrick Lamar places three songs in the current Top 10, with “TV Off” featuring Lefty Gunplay at No. 4, “Luther” with SZA at No. 6, and “Squabble Up” at No. 7. Shaboozey’s record-tying former chart-topper, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” slips down two spots to No. 8, and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” falls two slots to No. 9. (Billboard)

On Sunday night (December 8), Taylor Swift performed her final show on her record-setting Eras Tour, which grossed more than $2 billion over the course of its 21-month, 149-show run. During that time, Swift handed out $197 million in bonuses to the cast and crew of The Eras Tour. These bonuses were issued to everyone associated with the tour, from the musicians and dancers who shared the stage with Swift every night, to the truck drivers, caterers, instrument techs, merchandise team, lighting, sound, and production staff, carpenters, security, choreographers, pyrotechnics, hair and make-up stylists, wardrobe, physical therapists, and video team. Swift’s production company, Taylor Swift Touring, confirmed that 10,168,008 people attended The Eras Tour, and that it sold $2,077,618,725 in total tickets, making it the bestselling tour of all time and “double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history.” (People)

During Variety’s 8th annual Hitmakers Brunch in Los Angeles on Saturday (December 7), industry insiders responsible for the biggest songs of the year were celebrated. Charli XCX was awarded Hitmaker of the Year, with the Brat star taking time to praise The Velvet Underground & Nico during her speech. “This record is one of the most influential and groundbreaking records of our time,” Charli said. “It’s the apex of fine art and dirty culture.” Lana Del Rey presented her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff with Producer of the Decade, joking that he will “be richer than all of us with your 50% on everything.” Antonoff praised his new wife, the actress Margaret Qualley, while saying, “We all make our best work when we’re being decent.”

Lainey Wilson was recognized as Storyteller of the Year, presented the award by Reba McEntire. “The cool thing about storytelling is, it outlives us,” Wilson said. Olivia Rodrigo presented her Guts collaborator Dan Nigro with Producer of the Year, Shaboozey and Benson Boone were both awarded Newcomers of the Year, while Quavo received Humanitarian of the Year for his work to stop gun violence following the 2022 shooting death of his Migos bandmate Takeoff. (Variety)

On a recent appearance on the Politickin podcast, Lance Bass revealed that after he came out as gay in 2006, creative opportunities that were once available to him started to be taken away. Bass was in talks at the time to film a pilot episode of a new sitcom for the CW, but once the former *NSYNC singer announced he was gay, the network scrapped their plans for the show. “They were like, ‘We can’t do the show anymore. They have to believe that you’re straight to play a straight character,’” Bass said. That prejudicial treatment shocked Bass, who only knew the runaway success of his boy band career. “I was confused for sure. I was such a young person. And all I knew was NSYNC,” Bass recalled. “When we decided that the group was no longer, it was very confusing for me because I didn’t know where I belonged. It took awhile to figure out who I was and where I needed to go.” (Rolling Stone)

Sabrina Carpenter's A Nonsense Christmas premiered on December 7 on Netflix. One of the highlights of the holiday special is Carpenter’s duet with Chappell Roan on the Wham! classic, “Last Christmas.” The retro-themed performance was set in the aftermath of a rowdy holiday party, with wine bottles and empty red solo cups discarded on the floor. The two pop superstars delivered the 1984 holiday hit while reading the lyrics of the song karaoke-style off of a vintage TV. Wham!’s “Last Christmas” was written and produced by George Michael, and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2023.

The premiere of Carpenter’s holiday special follows the recent news that she and former boyfriend Barry Keoghan have broken up. The couple’s relationship came to an end after a year of dating, with an insider claiming, "They are both young and career-focused, so they've decided to take a break.” After Keoghan received online harassment for the break-up, the actor deactivated his Instagram “because I can no longer let this stuff distract me from my family and my work.” (Billboard)

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, boosted by the first physical release of the album’s Anthology edition sold exclusively at Target beginning on Black Friday. TTPD jumps from No. 8 to No. 1, topping the charts for the 16th week overall. TTPD Anthology sold 405,000 equivalent album units, the biggest sales week for any album since Poets’ second week of release when it moved 439,000 units.

Elsewhere in the Billboard 200 Top 10, Juice WRLD’s The Party Never Ends debuts at No. 4, while two holiday albums reached the charts, as Michael Bublé’s Christmas jumps to No. 7 and Bing Crosby’s Ultimate Christmas reaches No. 9, Crosby’s first top 10 album in nearly 64 years. Kendrick Lamar’s GNX falls a spot to No. 2, the Wicked film soundtrack slips a spot to No. 3, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet falls two spots to No. 5,  Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft slides down a spot to No. 6, Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess moves up two spots to No. 8, and Tyler, The Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA drops six spots to No. 10. (Billboard)

JAY-Z has dismissed a newly-filed lawsuit alleging he raped a 13-year-old girl in 2000 as a "blackmail" attempt by attorney Tony Buzbee, citing a "terrible error in judgment." The lawsuit, originally against Sean "Diddy" Combs, was refiled to include JAY-Z as a co-defendant, accusing both musicians of the assault at an MTV afterparty. JAY-Z preempted the lawsuit by filing a legal action against Buzbee for extortion. In a statement, JAY-Z vehemently denied the claims and refused a settlement, seeking to publicly expose Buzbee as a "fraud." Buzbee responded, asserting the facts will be litigated in court, "not in the media." (Rolling Stone)

Taylor Swift wrapped up her record-setting The Eras Tour with a celebratory, emotional final show in Vancouver on Sunday night (December 8). Fans from all over the world flocked to the city to see the final Eras Tour shows, with officials claiming that up to 70 percent of ticket holders were not from the Vancouver area, including about 40 percent of international travelers. The Eras Tour – which began in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17, 2023 – is the highest grossing concert tour of all time, with an estimated $2.2 billion earned. Merchandise sales alone totaled over $440 million.

Swift performed 149 total shows over the course of 21 months to an estimated 10 million fans, with each of her shows featuring over 40 songs during the 3.5-hour sets. The Eras Tour featured live dates held in five different continents throughout the world during its historic run, with estimates that between tickets, travel, outfits and lodging, the average Swiftie spent $1,300 per show. The Eras Tour movie also set a record for a concert film by bringing in more than $261 million worldwide. (Today)

Carrie Underwood has been announced as the headlining performer for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2025. Underwood joins the other newly announced performers – CMA Awards Best New Artist Megan Moroney and Saltburn’s “Murder on the Dancefloor” viral sensation Sophie Ellis-Bextor – who will all perform during the holiday TV broadcast. The trio of music stars join the previously announced performers Lenny Kravitz, Teddy Swims, Tinashe, Cody Johnson, and Thomas Rhett, along with Rita Ora, who will co-host the event with Ryan Seacrest. “I have such fun memories of performing on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in Times Square in both 2007 and 2015, and I’m so excited to perform just before the ball drops again this year,” said Underwood. “I’m thrilled to celebrate 20 years since winning American Idol by joining Ryan as he hosts his 20th New Year’s Eve in Times Square.” Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest will air on ABC on December 31 beginning at 8 p.m. ET. (Billboard)

“Rich Men North of Richmond” singer Oliver Anthony posted a video on YouTube on Wednesday (December 4) where he didn’t hold back his intense dislike of Beyoncé’s multiple-Grammy nominated album, Cowboy Carter. Anthony shared insight into a music industry executive’s plan to try and make the singer “cool.” “One of the guys I worked with, he wanted me to make some stupid f**king post about Beyoncé’s country album, about how it was good, even though it was complete trash," Anthony ranted. "It makes me just want to throw up.” He went on to express his criticism of Beyoncé’s reworking of Dolly Parton’s country classic “Jolene,” calling it “total cringe.” “It represents how degenerative our society has become,” Anthony continued. “That a song like a Beyoncé version of ‘Jolene’ can come out and anybody actually listen to it and think it’s not just complete trash.” (Billboard)

Reading & Leeds Festival announced the first round of artists set to appear at their 2025 joint events. The headliners for these celebrated English music festivals will be Travis Scott, Chappell Roan, Hozier, and Bring Me the Horizon. Those artists will top the bill at the dual-festivals held in Reading, Berkshire, and Leeds, Yorkshire, on August 21-24. The festivals will take place at Little John's Farm in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds, with the same lineups performing at both locations throughout the course of the weekend. Scott’s appearance is being touted as a European festival exclusive, while Hozier and Bring Me the Horizon will be U.K. exclusive performances. Roan’s high-profile set will be an English headlining exclusive, as well as her first ever performance at Reading & Leeds. Bloc Party will also be performing the inaugural Icon Set at Reading & Leeds, which the festival said in a press release “will celebrate the defining acts synonymous with the festival.” (Billboard)