Month: July 2022

Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti bounces back to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated July 9) for a third nonconsecutive week on top, as the set climbs 2-1 in its eighth week. The album earned 115,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending June 30 (down 5%), according to Luminate.

With a third week at No. 1, Un Verano Sin Ti has the second-most weeks at No. 1 in 2022, following the Encanto soundtrack, with nine.

Un Verano Sin Ti’s third week at No. 1 also marks its third total visit to the top, as the album debuted at No. 1 on the May 21-dated chart, then stepped away from the top slot for three weeks. It then returned to No. 1 on June 18, and then moved aside for two more weeks, until coming back to No. 1 on the new chart. Un Verano Sin Ti is the first album with three separate visits to No. 1 since Drake’s Certified Lover Boy also had three distinct stays at No. 1 in 2021, for a total of five weeks atop the list (three weeks: Sept. 18-Oct. 2, then Oct. 23 and Nov. 6, 2021). The all-Spanish-language Un Verano Sin Ti is also the second mostly-or-all-non-English-language album to spend more than a single week at No. 1. The first was The Singing Nun’s self-titled all-French-language album — it concluded its 10-week run at No. 1 in February of 1964. (They are two of the 15 total mostly-or-all-non-English albums to reach No. 1.)

Un Verano Sin Ti has earned over 100,000 in each of its first eight weeks on the chart. The last title to do so was nearly six years ago, when Drake’s Views saw its first 10 weeks all exceed 100,000 units (May 21-July 23, 2016 charts).

Un Verano Sin Ti has yet to fall below No. 2 in its eight weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. The last album to spend its first eight weeks on the chart in the top two was Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, which spent its first nine weeks in the top two (Sept. 18-Nov. 13, 2021-dated charts).

On the new Billboard 200 chart, Bad Bunny leads a busy top 10, as the latest releases from Luke Combs, Chris Brown, NAYEON and Conan Gray arrive, while Lil Durk’s chart-topping 7220 jumps back into the region following its deluxe reissue with bonus tracks.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new July 9, 2022-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Wednesday, July 6 (a day later than usual due to the July 4 holiday in the U.S.). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of Un Verano Sin Ti’s 115,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 114,000 (down 5%; equaling 160.18 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), and album sales and TEA units comprise less than 1,000 units each.

Luke Combs scores both the highest debut of the week and the highest debut for a country album in 2022 as his new studio effort Growin’ Up launches at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The set enters with 74,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 44,000 (equaling 56.33 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 tracks), album sales comprise 28,000 and TEA units comprise 2,000.

Growin’ Up is Combs’ fourth album to reach the top five on the Billboard 200, following What You See Is What You Get (No. 1 in 2019), The Prequel (No. 4, 2019) and This One’s for You (No. 4, 2018).

Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind falls 1-3 in its second week on the Billboard 200 with 73,000 equivalent album units earned (down 64%).

Chris Brown logs his 12th top 10 album on the Billboard 200, as his latest release Breezy bows at No. 4 with 72,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 66,000 (equaling 87.36 million on-demand official streams of the album’s 24 tracks), album sales comprise 5,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000.

Lil Durk’s chart-topping 7220 jumps back into the top 10, climbing 18-5 with 68,000 equivalent album units earned (up 217%) after the album was reissued on June 24 with 13 additional tracks. (The album’s total track count now stands at 31.) Harry Styles’ former leader Harry’s House falls 3-6 with 63,000 units (down 21%).

NAYEON’s debut solo effort IM NAYEON: The 1st Mini Album debuts at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 with 57,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 52,000 (making it the top-selling album of the week); SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 6.56 million on-demand official streams of the set’s seven tracks) and TEA units comprise less than 1,000. NAYEON is a member of the vocal group TWICE, which has visited the top 10 two times (Taste of Love: The 10th Mini Album, peaking at No. 6, and Formula of Love: O+T=<3, The 3rd Full Album, No. 3, both in 2021).

Like many K-pop releases, the CD configuration of IM NAYEON was issued in collectible deluxe packages (17 total, including exclusive editions for Target and Barnes & Noble), each with a standard set of items and randomized elements (such as photocards, postcards and a poster). 98% of the album’s first-week sales were on CD. The other 2% were digital album sales. (The set was not released in any other format, such as vinyl or cassette.)

Morgan Wallen’s former No. 1 Dangerous: The Double Album falls 5-8 with 51,000 equivalent album units earned (down 3%).

Conan Gray lands his second top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as his sophomore full-length effort Superache starts at No. 9 with 43,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 27,000; SEA units comprise 16,000 (equaling 22.47 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 tracks), and TEA units comprise less than 1,000.

Rounding out the new top 10 is Future’s former No. 1 I Never Liked You, which falls 6-10 with 43,000 equivalent album units earned (down 12%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes exhaustive and thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data, removing any suspicious or unverifiable activity using established criteria before final chart calculations are made and published. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious and unverifiable is disqualified prior to the final calculation.

Federal authorities are pushing back on R. Kelly’s claims that he was placed on suicide watch as a form of punishment last week after a judge sentenced him to 30 years behind bars for using his fame to sexually abuse young girls.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn filed court papers late Saturday (July 2) saying the disgraced R&B superstar remains on suicide watch “for his own safety” following a psychological assessment.

Kelly’s “current life circumstances undoubtedly bring emotional distress,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanie Speight wrote in a court filing.

“He is a convicted sex offender who has been sentenced to spend the next three decades in prison,” she added. “In the immediate future, he faces another federal criminal trial in Chicago for charges related to child pornography.”

Kelly’s attorney filed a lawsuit Friday alleging prison officials placed him on suicide watch at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center “solely for punitive purposes and because of his status as a high-profile inmate,” adding that Kelly has had no thoughts of harming himself.

“Nothing occurred during sentencing that came as a surprise to Mr. Kelly,” attorney Jennifer Bonjean wrote in the lawsuit. “While the conditions of suicide watch may be appropriate for individuals who are truly at risk of hurting themselves, they are cruel and unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment for individuals who are not suicidal.”

J-Hope‘s new song “More” has topped this week’s new music poll.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (July 1) on Billboard, choosing the BTS member’s ’90s-inspired solo single as their favorite new music release of the past week.

“More” brought in nearly 93% of the vote, beating out new music by Cardi B featuring Kanye West and Lil Durk (“Hot S–t”), City Girls featuring Usher (“Good Love”), Calvin Harris featuring 21 Savage (“New Money”), and Luke Bryan (“Country On”).

The South Korean singer’s “More” marks the first solo track released in the wake of BTS‘ announcement in June that they would be taking a hiatus after nearly a decade of nonstop work together to focus on their individual projects.

The track will be featured J-Hope’s upcoming solo album, Jack in the Box, which is scheduled to arrive on July 15. After that, he’ll headline the main stage at Lollapalooza in Chicago, marking the first time a South Korean artist will headline a major U.S. music festival.

Placing second on the past week’s tally with 4% of the vote was Cardi B’s aptly titled “Hot S–t,” featuring Ye and Lil Durk. The song from Cardi’s highly anticipated, as-yet-untitled sophomore album, which is the follow-up to her Grammy-winning debut Invasion of Privacy.

“Hot S–t” marks Cardi’s first solo release in 2022 after being featured on a series of singles, from the extended version of Summer Walker’s “No Love,” featuring SZA, to “Shake It” with Kay Flock, Dougie B and Bory300. Her last solo release was the hit single “Up,” which peaked at No. 1 for a week on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 2021.

See the final results of this week’s new music release poll below.

Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean joined forces to perform a handful of Fugees classics at the 2022 Essence Festival.

The surprise reunion occurred during Wyclef’s unannounced set at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome on Friday (July 1). Midway through his performance, Hill stepped out for a solo rendition of “Killing Me Softly” before being joined by her Fugees bandmate on “How Many Mics,” “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready or Not.”

The Fugees, including bandmate Pras, last performed together during a surprise pop-up concert in New York as part of a Global Citizen event in September 2021. The brief show marked the group’s first show since 2006.

The beloved hip-hop trio had planned on embarking on a 12-date international reunion tour this year to celebrate the anniversary of their landmark 1996 album, The Score, but the trek was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We anticipate and understand disappointment but our anniversary tour will not be able to happen. The continued Covid pandemic has made touring conditions difficult, and we want to make sure we keep our fans and ourselves healthy and safe,” the Fugees said in a statement. “An idea sparked to honor and celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Score but we see now it may not currently be our time for revisiting this past work.”

The Score, the Fugees’ second and final studio album, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and scored hits with “Killing Me Softly,” “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready or Not.” The collection also won the Grammy for best rap album and another for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals for “Killing.”

After splitting in 1998, the Fugees reunited in 2004 for Dave Chappelle’s Block Party concert film, came back together the next year for a 12-minute medley to open the 2005 BET Awards and played their final show in Feb. 2006 at a free gig for fans in Los Angeles.

Watch a portion of Hill and Wyclef’s Essence Festival reunion here.

Adele is addressing the backlash over her last-minute decision to postpone her Las Vegas residency earlier this year.

The 34-year-old British songstress opened up to BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs about the guilt she felt after abruptly halting the January through April run at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, but says she has no regrets about the difficult choice she made.

“I definitely felt everyone’s disappointment and I was devastated, and I was frightened about letting them down,” Adele said. “I thought I could pull it together and make it work and I couldn’t, and I stand by that decision.”

The superstar singer called off her Weekends With Adele residency in a tearful Instagram video just one day before it was scheduled to begin on Jan. 21, citing production delays caused by COVID-19.

“I’m not going to just do a show because I have to or because people are going to be let down or because we’re going to lose loads of money. I’m like, the show’s not good enough,” Adele told BBC Radio 4.

Despite being confident in her decision to postpone the residency, the singer says the aftermath of the ordeal left her feeling despondent. “I was a shell of a person for a couple of months,” she said. “I just had to wait it out and just grieve it, I guess, just grieve the shows and get over the guilt, but it was brutal.”

The Vegas residency had not been rescheduled as of press time.

“Of course I could be someone on TikTok or Instagram Live every day being like, ‘I’m working on it’,” Adele explained. “Of course I’m working on it! I’m not gonna update you if I ain’t got nothing to update you with because that just leads to more disappointment.”

On Friday, the “Hello” singer triumphantly return to the stage at London’s BST Hyde Park Festival, marking her first public show in five years. Her two-hour set included such hits as “Rumour Has It” and “Rolling In the Deep,” as well as the live debut of the 30 album track “Oh My God.”

“My God, I’m back at home,” the multi-Grammy Award winner told the sold-out audience. “It’s so strange to be in front of a crowd again. I get so nervous before each show but I love being up here.”

BST Hyde Park marked Adele’s first public show since a pair of performances London’s Wembley Stadium in 2017. She last performed at the Brit Awards in February, and appeared at televised events leading up to the release of 30 in November 2021.

Backstreet Boys welcomed a hometown hero onstage during the group’s recent visit to Toronto.

Prior to closing their concert at the Budweiser Center on Saturday (July 2), the quintet introduced “sixth member” Drake for a duet of the boy band’s 1999 hit song “I Want It That Way.”

After walking out to thunderous applause from the surprised crowd, the superstar rapper explained how the track played a significant role in his adolescence.

“At 13 years old, I had a bar mitzvah … and at my bar mitzvah, for the first time in my life, this girl I was in love with came up to me while one of the greatest songs in the world was playing, and she asked me if I would dance with her,” Drake told the audience. “It was the first time I ever felt acknowledged, and it was the first time I ever felt like I had a shot at being cool.”

Drizzy added that it was “one of the greatest songs of all time” before joyfully performing the classic tune alongside the act. During the rendition, the rapper included parts of his own song “Hold On, We’re Going Home.”

“I Want It That Way,” from Backstreet Boys’ third studio album, Millennium, topped Billboard‘s Pop Airplay chart following its release in 1999. The track peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 that same year.

Drake recently dropped his seventh studio album, Honestly, Nevermind, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in late June. The dance-influenced project marks the hip-hop giant’s 11th No. 1 on the chart.

Watch Drake and Backstreet Boys perform “I Want It That Way” here, and see a snippet of the performance below.

What’s better than I Want It That Way?

I Want It That Way…. f/ @Drake #BSBTO #DNAWORLDTOUR pic.twitter.com/pKVQK2XtDN

— Backstreet Boys (@backstreetboys) July 3, 2022

A judge has issued a restraining order against Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin, police said Saturday (July 2).

The order was signed Friday, and authorities visited an upscale neighborhood in the north coastal town of Dorado where the singer lives to try to serve the order, police spokesman Axel Valencia told The Associated Press.

“Up until now, police haven’t been able to find him,” Valencia said.

Martin’s publicist did not immediately return a message asking for comment.

It was not immediately known who requested the restraining order. Valencia said he could not provide further details because the order was filed under Puerto Rico’s domestic violence law.

El Vocero, a Puerto Rico newspaper, said the order states that Martin and the other party dated for seven months. The report quotes the order as saying they broke up two months ago, but the petitioner says Martin did not accept the separation and has been seen loitering near the petitioner’s house at least three times.

“The petitioner fears for his safety,” El Vocero quoted the order as saying.

AP has not obtained a copy of the order.

Valencia said that the order prohibits Martin from contacting or calling the person who filed it and that a judge will later determine at a hearing whether the order should remain in place or be lifted. He added that usually orders are implemented for at least a month.

Valencia noted that the person who filed for the restraining order did not contact police, which would have involved prosecutors determining if there was enough evidence to file charges. Rather, the request went straight to the court.

A 35-year-old New York man is facing trespassing and stalking charges after authorities said he entered two New York City residences linked to the famed singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.

Police say the suspect, who was arrested Friday (July 1), entered one of the residential buildings, located in the city’s Tribeca neighborhood, on March 26. He walked “through an unlocked door and remained unlawfully” before fleeing on foot when security told him to leave, investigators said.

On June 12, the same man entered another residential building linked to Swift, located on the same street, and “made threats through the intercom toward a 32 year-old female,” according to a spokesperson for the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information.

Swift, 32, has had prior issues with alleged stalkers. In 2018, police said a man broke into her Tribeca townhouse and took a nap. That same year, a Colorado man was arrested outside a Beverly Hills home owned by Swift with a knife, a rope and ammunition.