Fat Joe is in demand. The BET Hip Hop Awards have enlisted the Bronx legend to host their forthcoming awards show slated for Oct. 4 at the Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta.
“This will be the BIGGEST award show in history,” Fat Joe tells Billboard. “It’s truly an honor to host and produce the BET Hip Hop Awards, and I can’t thank Connie and the entire BET family enough for this opportunity. We’re going to celebrate music, culture, and entertainment, honor the biggest and brightest stars in the world and make this an unforgettable night full of laughs and surprises. Always remember that yesterday’s host is not today’s host.”
“Fat Joe is hip-hop royalty. He has represented the art form and the Bronx, the birthplace of hip-hop, throughout his outstanding musical career. He is a treasured friend of the network, and we’ve loved seeing and supporting his evolution to becoming the superstar he is today,” adds Connie Orlando, EVP, specials, music programming & music strategy at BET. “We can’t wait to watch him take the stage with his vivacious energy, standing together with today’s hottest and beloved hip-hop stars.”
In August, Joe announced his one-man stand-up show, which will highlight his life and career. The show is set to debut in New York City this fall, and Dave Chappelle will start the show with a special introduction, while Chris Robinson serves as the show’s director. Magic Lemonade and Roc Nation are co-producing the event. His autobiography will also drop Nov. 15.
As for the BET Hip Hop Awards, the event will be taped on Sept. 30, and premieres on air Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on BET.
Some State Lawmakers are expressing concerns about Governor Mike Parson’s proposed income tax cut.
The Governor has called a special legislative session to reauthorize tax credits for farmers and to lower the state’s income tax rate.
Senator Lincoln Hough of Springfield, the Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, says he is apprehensive about what a permanent tax cut will do to investments like education. Hough also says not all Missourians will benefit from the Governor’s plan.
It’s a Backstreet Boys Christmas, and the boy band is here to make things merry and bright — three whole months early. On Tuesday (Sept. 6), the quintet shared its new single, “Last Christmas,” which marks the first offering from the group’s forthcoming Christmas album.
The Backstreet Boys reimagined the beloved Christmas classic — originally released by Wham! in 1984, and most recently peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January — with a sleek, pop instrumentals tinged with R&B elements. All lyrics to the song’s original counterpart remain unchanged, though the boy band released a festive lyric video to accompany the track.
“Last Christmas” is the first single to be released from Backstreet Boys’ Christmas album, A Very Backstreet Christmas. The album — which notably marks the group’s first collection of yuletide songs and its first studio effort in three years — will be released on Oct. 14 via BMG.
In addition to “Last Christmas,” other holiday tracks such as “White Christmas,” “Silent Night,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” will be included on the record. There are also three original Christmas songs on the album titled “Christmas in New York,” “Together,” and “Happy Days.”
Fans can pre-save A Very Backstreet Christmas on streaming, and pre-order the album via Target, Walmart, Amazon and more. The Target version of the album will contain two additional tracks — “Feliz Navidad” and “Christmas Time Again.”
Until the album’s release, Backstreet Boys will continue on its 2022 tour, and will make stops in Nashville, Wichita, Oklahoma City and more before heading to Europe in October.
For any of those of you out there who still doubt that Jay-Z recorded his epic, four-minute verse on DJ Khaled‘s “God Did” in one take, Jigga’s longtime engineer, Young Guru, has the receipts. On Sunday (Sept. 4), Guru posted a long message on Instagram along with two pics from the sessions to prove his point.
“This is first and last time I’m gonna do this. I could care less if you believe me when I say that he did this @djkhaled verse in one take,” Guru wrote alongside of a picture of him at the mixing console with Jay chilling in the background enjoying a drink as YG does works his magic.
“Let’s be clear for the youth. Doing a song in one take is just a bonus of the level of talent. The song is what is important. You have to realize how much work is done before he goes in the booth,” he added. The second snap appears to show Jay’s completed vocal tracks and in his explainer, Young Guru preempted any additional doubts about what it takes to be one and done.
“Questions like, ‘are these the right words,’ ‘are you going in the right direction,’ ‘is this the best flow’ are all answered and addressed mentally way before you record. Then you say the verse over and over in the control room to memorialize it,” he explained. “Does jay do EVERY verse in one take? No. But has he done A LOT of verses in one take? Hell yes!!! I have no reason to [lie]! Look at the zoom in of the screen. There are no chops or breaks in that audio. This ‘I don’t believe you unless I see it’ thing is foreign to me. So here is your proof. It doesn’t matter if you believed me…..God Did!!!”
The ever-voluble Khaled also weighed in, writing in comments, “THIS GOD DID! THIS HOV DID!
GURU DID!!!!!!”
The chatter about Jay’s verse first started bubbling last week when Young Guru first discussed his amazement during the session in an interview in which he said, “This one was different because normally, we’ll sit down, we’ll do a song, three verses, two verses or whatever, and he’ll have a verse and then we’ll figure out what’s next.
“No, he walked in and this was completely, he’s spitting the verse to me. One take. He’s literally asking me, ‘Guru, put the beat on.’ I’m like, ‘Khaled didn’t send me the beat, you didn’t send me the beat. Send me the beat.’ So then he sends me the joint and I started trying to loop it, and he was just like, ‘No, no, no, hit Khaled and get the whole instrumental,’ so he could spit the whole verse.”
The 20-position Songs of the Summer running tally tracks the most popular titles based on cumulative performance on the weekly streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Billboard Hot 100 chart from Memorial Day through Labor Day (this year encompassing charts dated June 11 through Sept. 10).
“As It Was,” a 12-week No. 1, and counting, on the Hot 100 – and Styles’ first seasonal victory on the annual Songs of the Summer survey – takes top honors on the 2022 Songs of the Summer chart over Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” (No. 2); Jack Harlow’s “First Class” (No. 3); Future’s “Wait for U,” featuring Drake and Tems (No. 4); and Kate Bush’s Stranger Things-boosted “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” (No. 5).
Rounding out the 2022 Songs of the Summer top 10: Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone’s “Me Porto Bonito” (No. 6); Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” (No. 7); Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” (No. 8); Styles’ “Late Night Talking” (No. 9), his follow-up single to “As It Was”; and Bad Bunny’s “Tití Me Preguntó” (No. 10).
With Styles’ “As It Was” and “Late Night Talking” both from his LP Harry’s House, and Bad Bunny’s “Me Porto Bonito” and “Tití Me Preguntó” from his Un Verano Sin Ti release, 2022 marks the third consecutive year that an album has generated two entries in a season-ending Songs of the Summer top 10 – and the first in which two albums have each contributed two such titles. Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour was represented by “Good 4 U” (No. 2) and “Deja Vu” (No. 7) last year, while Styles’ own Fine Line yielded “Watermelon Sugar” (No. 6) and “Adore You” (No. 10) in 2021. (In 2018, Drake boasted a single-year record three top 10s from his album Scorpion: “In My Feelings,” “Nice for What” and “God’s Plan,” at Nos. 1, 4 and 6, respectively.)
Plus, thanks to Harry’s House and Fine Line, Styles is the first artist with multiple albums that have each spun off two season-closing top 10 singles on the Songs of the Summer chart.
As for the top titles this summer in each of the Hot 100’s, and the Songs of the Summer chart’s, three metrics, Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” was the most-heard on radio (1.1 billion audience impressions, according to Luminate, as reflected on charts dated June 11 through Sept. 10); Future’s “Wait for U” was the most-streamed (304.1 million); and Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” was the most-sold (162,000). (“As It Was” placed at No. 2 in airplay, No. 4 in streaming and No. 7 in sales in that span.)
Notably, “As It Was” topped the Songs of the Summer chart each week this year. It’s the third song in the last four years to sweep a season, following BTS’ “Butter” in 2021 and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, in 2019 – with all three singles released on Columbia Records.
Meanwhile, variety returned to the Songs of the Summer top 10 this year. The 2021 top 10 was dominated by pop songs, as of last year’s 10 titles, only two appeared on any of Billboard‘s genre-based weekly song charts that use the same methodology (Justin Bieber’s Peaches,” featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon, and Sink Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open,” both of which hit No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs).
This year, “About Damn Time,” “First Class,” “Wait for U” and “Break My Soul” all led Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs; “Running Up That Hill” and “Heat Waves” both ruled Hot Rock & Alternative Songs; and “Me Porto Bonito” topped Hot Latin Songs and “Tití Me Preguntó” reached No. 2 on that tally. In a year-to-year reversal, of 2022’s top 10 Songs of the Summer hits, just two did not place on a genre-based multi-metric chart: Styles’ pure-pop “As It Was” and “Late Night Talking.”
2022 is, thus, more on par with the rest of the five previous years aside from 2021. In both 2020 and 2019, seven of the top 10 Songs of the Summer hits appeared on weekly multi-metric genre charts, after eight did in 2018 and nine did in 2017.
Plus, three of the 20 biggest hits this summer were released over a year – or even decades – earlier. “Running Up That Hill” was originally released in 1985 (and hit No. 30 on the Hot 100 that November); “Heat Waves” arrived in June 2020, and completed a record 59-week climb to No. 1 on the Hot 100 this March; and, below the 2022 Songs of the Summer top 10, The Kid LAROI and Bieber’s “Stay” finishes at No. 14, after the song, released in July 2021, wrapped at No. 10 on the 2021 Songs of the Summer chart. (Last year, “Heat Waves” was the No. 20 title for the summer and The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” placed at No. 16 after ranking at No. 2 for 2020; previously, no hits appeared on multiple season-ending Songs of the Summer charts.)
Harry Styles‘ “As It Was” rules the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for a 12th week. The song claims outright the longest stay at the summit this decade, breaking out of a tie with Roddy Ricch’s “The Box,” which led for 11 weeks in 2020.
“As It Was” boasts the longest Hot 100 domination since Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, reigned for a record 19 weeks in 2019.
Plus, Steve Lacy‘s “Bad Habit” rises to a new No. 2 Hot 100 best and Elton John and Britney Spears‘ “Hold Me Closer” bounds onto the chart at No. 6. The latter, the latest mash-up of John classics, marks his 29th Hot 100 top 10 and Spears’ 14th, and her first in nearly 10 years. Earlier this year, John added his first top 10 since 1998, when his previous multi-song reworking of his own catalog, “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” with Dua Lipa, reached No. 7.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Sept. 10, 2022) will update on Billboard.com Wednesday (Sept. 7, a day later than usual due to the Monday Labor Day holiday in the U.S.) For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
“As It Was,” released on Erskine/Columbia Records, tallied 69.9 million radio airplay audience impressions (down 3%), 15.4 million streams (up 2%) and 4,000 downloads sold (up 9%) in the Aug. 26-Sept. 1 tracking week, according to Luminate.
The single, from Styles’ album Harry’s House, holds at No. 2 after four weeks atop the Radio Songs chart, beginning in May; dips 6-7 on Streaming Songs, after two weeks on top starting in its debut week in April; and rebounds 22-19 on Digital Song Sales, following a week in charge in May.
Longest Hot 100 reign this decade
“As It Was” moves into sole possession of the most weeks spent atop the Hot 100 in the 2020s. Here’s a recap of the longest commands so far this decade:
12 weeks at No. 1, “As It Was,” Harry Styles, beginning April 16, 2022
Notably, four of the six songs above were released on Columbia (with “The Box” on Atlantic Records and “Drivers License” on Interscope Records). (“Old Town Road,” as noted above, is also a Columbia release.)
Most weeks ever in Hot 100’s top two
In addition to logging the longest Hot 100 rule of the 2020s so far, “As It Was” ties the record for the most weeks spent in the chart’s top two positions over the list’s entire 64-year history, having logged 21 of its 22 weeks on the chart in the top two, from its April 16 debut through the newest, Sept. 10-dated survey.
Here’s a look at the titles to post the most weeks in the Hot 100’s top two spots:
21 weeks in the top two, “As It Was,” Harry Styles, beginning April 16, 2022 (12 weeks at No. 1, 9 weeks at No. 2)
21, “Stay,” The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, Aug. 14, 2021 (7, 14)
19, “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, April 13, 2019 (19, 0)
18, “Uptown Funk!,” Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, Jan. 17, 2015 (14, 4)
17, “Despacito,” Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber, May 27, 2017 (16, 1)
16, “Shape of You,” Ed Sheeran, Jan. 28, 2017 (12, 4)
16, “I Gotta Feeling,” The Black Eyed Peas, July 11, 2009 (14, 2)
The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” added its 21st week in the Hot 100’s top two on the chart dated this April 9, a week after becoming the first song to spend 20 weeks in the top two. “No one seems to be tired of this earworm,” Brady Bedard, Columbia senior vp of pop promotion, told Billboard of “Stay” at the time – with the label having released the hits with the three longest runs in the Hot 100’s top two spots.
No. 1 for 12 weeks over 22 weeks
Plus, as updated from a week earlier, “As It Was” has now ranked atop the Hot 100 for 12 weeks over a span of 22 weeks, from its debut through the current chart. (In its other 10 weeks on the tally, it placed at either No. 2 or No. 3.) That’s the third-longest span for a song topping the tally, over the chart’s archives – and the most for a song in a single release cycle.
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” holds the record for the longest stretch from a song’s first to its most recent week at No. 1: two years and three weeks (Dec. 21, 2019-Jan. 8, 2022), having passed Chubby Checker’s “The Twist,” which led in two distinct runs spanning a year and four months (Sept. 19, 1960-Jan. 20, 1962).
No. 1 Adult Contemporary
“As It Was” simultaneously tops the Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart, jumping from No. 4. Styles scores his second AC leader, after “Adore You” ruled for 10 weeks beginning in August 2020. Among other Billboard format airplay charts, “As It Was” has led Adult Pop Airplay (for eight weeks), Pop Airplay (seven) and Dance/Mix Show Airplay (two). (It also reached No. 14 on Adult Alternative Airplay and No. 34 on Alternative Airplay.)
Steve Lacy’s first Hot 100 hit, “Bad Habit,” bumps from No. 3 to a new No. 2 high, as it posts a third week at No. 1 on Streaming Songs (20.3 million, down 2%). The track also tops the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for a second week each and ascends to No. 1 on both the multi-metric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs charts – making history as the first song to rule all five lists, or even Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (each genre’s overarching songs survey), dating to October 2012, when Billboard‘s main genre-based song charts adopted the Hot 100’s methodology.
Being promoted to multiple radio formats, by RCA Records, “Bad Habit” concurrently hits the Pop Airplay chart’s top 10 (11-10) and climbs 20-19 on Rhythmic Airplay, 27-19 on Adult Alternative Airplay and 33-28 on Adult Pop Airplay, while building on both alternative and mainstream R&B/hip-hop stations. On the all-format Radio Songs chart, it leaps 24-19 (27.5 million, up 18%).
Elsewhere in the Hot 100’s top five, Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” descends 2-3, after two weeks at No. 1, as it adds a ninth week atop Radio Songs (70 million, down 7%); Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” is steady at No. 4 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 3, with top Sales Gainer honors (7,000, up 72%, sparked by a new CD single option and 69-cent sale-pricing during the tracking week); and Nicky Youre and dazy’s “Sunroof” reaches the region, rising 6-5.
Elton John and Britney Spears’ “Hold Me Closer” roars in at No. 6 on the Hot 100. The mash-up of three John hits, released Aug. 26, on Interscope, opens with 20.9 million in radio airplay audience, 11.1 million streams and 48,000 sold. It debuts at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales (marking Spears’ eighth leader and John’s second), No. 17 on Streaming Songs and No. 31 on Radio Songs.
John’s 29th Hot 100 top 10
John banks his 29th Hot 100 top 10, and his second this year. He notched his first top 10 since 1998 when his previous multi-song re-imagination of his own work, “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” with Dua Lipa, reached No. 7 in January.
John has logged the seventh-most Hot 100 top 10s. Among solo males, he has earned the third-most, after Drake and Michael Jackson, as he breaks out of a tie with (his good friend) Stevie Wonder.
Most Billboard Hot 100 Top 10s:
59, Drake
38, Madonna
34, The Beatles
31, Rihanna
30, Michael Jackson
30, Taylor Swift
29, Elton John
28, Mariah Carey
28, Stevie Wonder
27, Janet Jackson
John sports his highest Hot 100 rank since the chart dated Jan. 24, 1998, when his “Candle in the Wind 1997″/”Something About the Way You Look Tonight” placed at No. 5 after 14 weeks at No. 1. Additionally, John has now achieved two top 10s in a single year for the first time since 1992 (with “The One” from that year playing into his latest top 10, as well; see below).
John also expands his span of Hot 100 top 10s to 51 years, seven months and three weeks, dating to his first frame in the top 10 with “Your Song” (Jan. 23, 1971) – the longest such span among all acts not involving holiday titles.
Spears’ 14th Hot 100 top 10
Spears achieves her 14th Hot 100 top 10 and her first since “Scream & Shout,” with will.i.am, hit No. 3 in 2013. She first appeared in the top 10 on the chart dated Dec. 12, 1998, when her debut smash “…Baby One More Time” surged 18-9 (before becoming her first of five No. 1s). Overall, Spears places on the Hot 100 for the first time since the chart dated Dec. 10, 2016.
Spears also joins John and 10 other stars with Hot 100 top 10s in at least four decades, padding her résumé to include top 10s in the 1990s, 2000s, ’10s and now ’20s. The other acts in the exclusive (and eclectic) club: Aerosmith, Mariah Carey, Cher, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Barbra Streisand and Andy Williams.
Of those artists, Carey, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and now Spears have all tallied Hot 100 top 10s in the ’90s, ’00s, ’10s and ’20s.
‘Tiny Dancer’ & ‘The One’ hit new heights
Just as “Cold Heart” brought newfound chart success for four John classics, “Hold Me Closer” does the same for three more songs from his iconic catalog. The new mash-up blends the chorus of his 50-year-old “Tiny Dancer” and the verses of his 30-year-old “The One.” It also includes elements of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” his four-week 1976 Hot 100 No. 1 with Kiki Dee. (Says Erik Bradley, assistant program director/music director at WBBM-FM Chicago, citing the latest among numerous current hit reboots, “Familiarity always is a bonus.”)
While not outranking “Breaking,” “Hold Me Closer,” upon its No. 6 start, marks new Hot 100 highs for the songs that make up the bulk of the mash-up: “Tiny Dancer” fell a spot shy of the top 40, reaching No. 41 in April 1972, and “The One” rose to No. 9 in September 1992. Despite its relatively modest Hot 100 history, “Tiny Dancer” previously received renewed attention thanks to the composition’s prominent sync in the acclaimed 2000 film Almost Famous. Plus, Tim McGraw’s cover spent 15 weeks on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2002-03 (with he and John having performed it on the 30th American Music Awards in 2003, and McGraw having served up an impromptu version this February on CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert).
“The One,” meanwhile, marks John’s impressive fifth song to have hit the Hot 100’s top 10 via two interpretations each.
(“Breaking” previously returned to the Hot 100 thanks to John and RuPaul’s update, which hit No. 92 in 1994, and the Glee Cast’s cover, which spent a week on the chart at No. 50 in 2010.)
Just duet
John charts his fourth top 10 duet, and his fifth top 10 collaboration, on the Hot 100, as “Hold Me Closer” follows “Cold Heart”; “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” with George Michael (No. 1 for one week, 1992); and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” He also led for four weeks in 1986 with “That’s What Friends Are For,” credited to Dionne & Friends, the foursome of Dionne Warwick, John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder.
Spears scores her fourth accompanied Hot 100 top 10, after “Scream & Shout”; “Till the World Ends,” featuring Nicki Minaj and Kesha (No. 3, 2011); and her featured turn on Rihanna’s “S&M” (No. 1, one week, 2011).
No. 1 Dance/Electronic
“Hold Me Closer” additionally arrives at No. 1 on the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. John and Spears each claim their second leader on the list, after “Cold Heart” and “Scream & Shout,” respectively.
Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” holds at No. 7 on the Hot 100, two weeks after it premiered at No. 1, as it wins the chart’s top Airplay Gainer award (13.9 million, up 51%). It leads the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart for a third week.
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Post Malone’s “I Like You (A Happier Song),” featuring Doja Cat, pushes 10-8 for a new high; Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” slides 5-9, after two weeks on top in August; and Future’s “Wait for U,” featuring Drake and Tems, slips 8-10, following a week at No. 1 beginning in its debut week in May.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Sept. 10), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 7).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes an exhaustive and thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling 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 final calculations.
Bad Bunny leads the list of finalists for the 2022 Billboard Latin Music Awards, with 23 nods across 13 categories. The Puerto Rican hitmaker is up for artist of the year, tour of the year, Hot Latin Songs artist of the year, male, and top Latin album of the year for his album Un Verano Sin Ti, which has logged nine nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for album of the year at the recent MTV Video Music Awards. Bad Bunny won artist of the year — the first time a Latin artist has been in a marquee category at that show.
Following Bunny is Colombian star Karol G with 15 entries in 11 categories — a record number of nods for a female artist. Karol’s categories include artist of the year and Hot Latin Songs artist of the year, female, as well as Hot Latin Song of the year, vocal event, for her Becky G collab “MAMIII.” (See the complete list of finalists here.)
The 2022 Billboard Latin Music Awards, the longest-running awards show in Latin music, will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 29, preceded by a one-hour red carpet special. The awards will broadcast simultaneously on Spanish entertainment cable network Universo, throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional, the Telemundo App and on Peacock.
As has been the case for more than 20 years, the Billboard Latin Music Awards coincide with Billboard’s annual Latin Music Week, the single largest and most important gathering of the Latin music industry, taking place Sept. 26-Oct. 1. Latin Music Week will feature panels, conversations and workshops at the Faena Forum and exclusive performances and fan experiences throughout the week in Miami.
Artists confirmed to speak at Latin Music Week so far include Chayanne, Maluma, Grupo Firme, Camilo, Ivy Queen, Romeo Santos and Nicky Jam, among many others. It will also feature the launch of Billboard Español, Billboard’s new all-Spanish site, which will go live in September. For registration and information on Billboard Latin Music Week, go to billboardlatinmusicweek.com.
Luke Combs couldn’t finish his show in Bangor, Maine on Saturday night (Sept. 3), so he promised to give his fans a refund. But then the singer went ahead and performed for them anyway. “I have to let you know that I have refunded all of your tickets,” Combs said in video posted by fans of his statement at the top of the gig at Maine Savings Amphitheater. “At about 7 p.m. today, a few hours ago, I realized that I was not going to be able to sing as good as I normally do.”
Combs explained that his voice was not what he thought it should be for the paying patrons, so he offered to refund their tickets and play anyway, asking his fans to help him sing. “We’re still gonna play the show… So, we’re going to put on the best free show we could put on, and I want you guys to know how upset I am to have to tell you that tonight. But all I want you to know is that we’re going to do the very damn best. I’m gonna give you everything that I have. And I am so sorry,” he said, his voice audibly hoarse. The singer then took off his hat and appeared to wipe tears from his eyes as he began to tentatively sing.
As if that wasn’t enough, in another video from the second of two planned concerts to kick off the Middle of Somewhere Tour, Combs spotted a sign in the audience held up by young fans who said they’d made $100 stacking five cords of firewood to earn enough money to attend the concert, with one of them adding that he was there to celebrate his 12th birthday. Impressed by their hard work, Combs called the young men over and shook their hands.
“How much were your tickets?” he asked while taking out his wallet and handing over $140 in cash, then promising to pony up another $60 for the full refund as he signed some memorabilia for the young men and invited them back to say hello after the gig. Combs’ next scheduled tour date is a Sept. 16 show at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Watch video of Combs’ statement and his touching moment with the young fans below.
There’s a reason you can find similarities in successful people, even in different arenas.
Kelly Clarkson celebrated a milestone anniversary over the weekend when she marked the 20th anniversary of her American Idol win. The talk show host and pop star shared her gratitude with those who’ve helped her get where she is in an Instagram post on Sunday (Sept. 4) while reminiscing about her season one Idol victory over runner-up Justin Guarini.
“20 years ago today I won American Idol and it forever changed the course of my life,” Clarkson said about her Sept. 4, 2002 triumph during the first season of the show on Fox. “That moment was the door that opened up so much access and opportunity, and creative partnerships that I will be grateful for all of my days.”
Clarkson continued, “The family and friendships I have created over these 20 years in music and TV are priceless to me. We only get so many trips around the sun and while I am proud and feel abundantly blessed for the successes and failures that I have learned from, I am most proud and grateful for those friends that have become family, and for their arms that have held me when I needed it and their hearts that listened tome when I felt lost. Without them I would not be where I am. I would probably not be here at all.”
Clarkson, 40, who in addition to selling more than 25 million albums worldwide has also hosted her eponymous daytime talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, since 2019, signed off with additional appreciation for the day one fans who helped her get where she is today.
“Thank you so much to every single person that voted 20 years ago!” she wrote. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I hope all of you have people in your lives that fill you with laughter, and hope, and happiness, and if you don’t feel like you have that, then keep searching because I promise you they’re looking for you too.”
