In honor of Aaron Carter, who died at the beginning of November, his twin sister, Angel Conrad, and Lance Bass are co-hosting a charity concert to raise awareness for mental health.
In a lengthy Instagram message posted on her birthday on Wednesday, Conrad expressed the heartache of losing her twin brother and remembering the last moment she spoke with him, saying, Carter’s death “was the worst day of [her] life.”
“Almost 11 years ago, I lost my sister, Leslie. I remember feeling broken, confused, and I questioned how I was going to continue on without her in my life … And now, over a decade later, I am forced to once again deal with the extreme grief of the death of a sibling. This time, it’s my beloved twin, Aaron. We had an indescribable bond … and now … he is gone,” Conrad wrote in the post.
She went on to say, “It feels unfair … I feel too young to carry the weight of losing two of my siblings. When we lost Leslie, I was blindsided and shocked. With Aaron, however, we had tried everything.”
Conrad says she spoke with Carter two days before he died, noting that she didn’t realize it would be the last time. She explained that she begged Carter to let them help him.
“And now, I sit here on our birthday, trying to navigate this unimaginable loss because of untreated mental illness and the addiction that it led to,” Conrad said in the lengthy post.
The Aaron’s Party (Come Get It) singer died on Nov. 5. He was 35. At the time, a representative from his management team confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Carter was found dead in his California home. No cause of death has been revealed.
“I have loved him [Carter] since we were born … it feels like a piece of my soul is gone. And yet, despite all this pain, his passing has lit a fire within me. I feel a calling and responsibility to help other families and continue the conversation to further break the stigmas that surround mental illness,” Conrad added.
The “Songs for Tomorrow” benefit concert is set for Jan. 18, 2023, in West Hollywood. Conrad said that all proceeds will be donated to On Our Sleeves, a national movement to break stigmas around children’s mental health.
Bass also posted on his Instagram Story Wednesday, saying that it is “going to be such a special event” and that he is “glad to be apart of this.” He ended it, adding, “Aaron would be so proud.”
At the concert, there will be special performances and appearances by Nick Carter, members of the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, members of O-Town and LFO, Ryan Cabrera, B. Howard and more. Find more information on the charity concert here.
In November, Nick Carter also launched a mental health fund in his brother’s memory to benefit On Our Sleeves.
LeAnn Rimes’ has an unwelcome early Christmas surprise — a bleed on her vocal cord which has caused her to delay several concerts.
In a social post, the country star explains how, during her recovery from flu, doctors found another ailment.
“It completely and utterly breaks my heart to have to announce that I will be rescheduling this weekend’s shows,” reads a handwritten letter posted to Instagram.
“While sick with the flu, my doctor discovered a bleed on my vocal cord, caused by the violent cough that came along with being sick. I am getting better, but I am unable to talk or sing… doctor’s orders!”
The message continues, “I am devastated to have to do this as there was nothing more that I was looking forward to than celebrating the holidays with you. Please check your emails for rescheduled information and I will see you very soon.”
Rimes’ show Friday (Dec. 9) at the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort is rescheduled for Sept. 29, 2023, and her concert at the The Ryman Auditorium on Saturday will now take place April 8, 2023.
The 40-year-old singer and songwriter’s Joy: The Holiday Show trek is scheduled to continue Dec. 16 at Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City, OR.
Rimes has been in the public eye since her early teens.
In February 1997, at age 14, Rimes won two Grammys – best new artist and best female country vocal performance for “Blue.” She is, to this day, the youngest individual Grammy winner in a lead role. Ten months later, she was named artist of the year at the Billboard Music Awards. She has won 12 BBMA Awards in total.
Also, Rimes has won two Country Music Association Awards, three Academy of Country Music Awards, one Dove Award and two World Music Awards, and more.
She has tallied two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 in 1997 – Unchained Melody: The Early Years and You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs, and five leaders on Top Country Albums – those two LPs plus Blue (1996), LeAnn Rimes (1999) and I Need You (2001).
In October of this year, Rimes received the ASCAP Golden Note Award in a special ASCAP Experience, soon after the release of her latest studio album God’s Work.
Kanye West has had a lot to say over the past few months, facing backlash over his antisemitic interviews and social media posts since early October, but the one place he hasn’t been sounding off is in song.
That changed Wednesday (Dec. 7) when Ye posted a new song titled “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” which samples Donny Hathaway’s 1973 song of the same name, to his Instagram and also shared it with Alex Jones to play on his far-right talk show InfoWars.
Related
A Timeline of the Consequences Kanye West Has Faced for His ‘WLM’ Shirts & Antisemitic Hate…
The lyrics address much of the last two months’ controversy, including his strained relationship with ex-wife Kim Kardashian and his now-banned Twitter account.
“Tweeted deathcon, now we past three,” he repeats to end the song, referencing the antisemitic tweet that first got him banned on the now-Elon Musk-run Twitter.
After causing ire with “White Lives Matter” T-shirts in early October at Paris Fashion Week, West tweeted that he was going to go “death con 3” on Jewish people on Oct. 16. This kicked off a string of hate-speech-filled interviews that alienated his many business partners (Adidas, Gap, CAA and more dropped him) and fans alike (the r/Kanye subreddit account has begun sharing educational literature about the Holocaust and posts about his sometime rival Taylor Swift instead of Ye news). The interviews reached an even more disturbing level last week when West appeared on Jones’ InfoWars and said “I see good things about Hitler,” among other harmful statements.
On the music front, West’s most recent album, Donda 2, was released in February. He’s also featured on a few tracks from other artists, including Cardi B’s “Hot Sh–,” also featuring Lil Durk, from July.
See the lyrics (as posted on West’s Instagram) below:
Verified Waking up to I can’t do this anymore text And The Bible said I can’t have anymore sex Till marriage And no drip till Paris And the meek shall flurish So where is my aris You wouldn’t understand How thin this air is friends just staring And everyone’s a Karen When they claim they care and Wasn’t given a fair hand Getting calls from parents God calls for prayer rants Temptation at a mere glance I forgot what fear is I forgot what fear is I forgot what fear is Other than the fear off almighty yashua Who knew ya Before you knew who you was
Wear a Donda tee For you respond to me
You know honostly Yall all honor me
I know it’s cause the headlines Why she wanna leave
You know I follow God So you should follow me
I ain’t never rock with none of y’all no way And I’m pulling up in that white OJ And the watch filled up with Oshays That’s Jackson cause it’s nasty Tweeted deathcon Now we past three Tweeted deathcon Now we past three
To millions of K-pop fans, hello82 has been a destination to watch their favorite idols take on viral challenges, play celebrity babysitter to kids, attempt karaoke in foreign languages and star in other ready-to-share videos. But in the past year, the company behind the multi-language YouTube channels has expanded its e-commerce offerings to better meet its’ viewers’ wants. The results have led to success for the four-year-old company on the Billboard charts and, as of last week, completing their first “tour.”
When ATEEZ‘s first U.S. shows since 2019 kicked off in January for The Fellowship: Beginning of the End tour, the band was selling out arenas but had yet to break into the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 like many of their K-pop peers. While a relationship with Korean management label KQ Entertainment led to the channel’s top-watched video (an 11-minute prank of ATEEZ member San disguised as a break-dancing senior has over 32 million views), hello82 saw an opportunity to better connect to the band’s ATINY fans directly in the States.
With offices in Los Angeles, hello82 spent 2021 becoming a trusted hub for international K-pop fans to shop for physical album imports, merch, and virtual experiences like live events and artist-fan calls during the pandemic after COVID-19 concerns forced the company to expand into different offerings. Physical-album distribution in the U.S. has helped Korean artists soar high on the Billboard albums chart (largely thanks to being issued in collectible deluxe packages, each with a standard set of items and randomized elements). hello82 saw how expanding their e-commerce channels could create a new business opportunity and simultaneously deliver the same communitive aspect they looked to develop with their video content.
“We just wanted to go meet where the demand was with the supply,” says Sang H. Cho, co-founder of hello82’s parent company KAI Media and its current COO, from his Beverly Hills office. “We just felt like few K-pop groups are well represented and were getting the sort of recognition or credit they deserve when it comes to things like charts. Obviously, we’re a business that wants to make money, but we also understand the fans, their psychology, and their needs too. Having them getting involved and getting them to feel the sense of accomplishment and community. And we obviously knew the opportunity was there for all of us to achieve that together.”
What began in 2021 as distributing two ATEEZ albums from a virtual storefront—September’s Zero: Fever Part.3, which peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard 200, followed by December’s Zero: Fever Epilogue at No. 72—turned into larger ambitions for ATEEZ’s The World EP.1: Movement album released this past July. Not only was this ATEEZ’s first release after reuniting with their ATINY fans during their early 2022 tour, but also ignited a new musical era for the group.
“We saw the potential to make it much, much bigger,” Cho says with his team looking to both traditional, big-box retailers alongside local, fan-driven pop-up stores to activate beyond the virtual.
Chain department stores have been increasingly carrying more K-pop content, but almost exclusively by those with label deals or representation in the U.S. While RCA Records under Sony Music signed ATEEZ in 2019, the group had yet to have its music available in retail stores stateside. (RCA declined to comment by time of publication on its relationship with ATEEZ) With Cho’s background in retail finance, plus other internal relationships, hello82 quickly made inroads.
“There are a couple of retailers that understand and know the K-pop market pretty well: Target is one, Barnes & Nobles is another, and we’ve worked with those two pretty extensively,” Cho says. “Those guys don’t necessarily buy from new suppliers very easily—especially when it comes to physical media, but we were lucky enough to know some people that could get us in front of these buyers fairly quickly in an official manner and make sure we check all the boxes to make sure we’re qualified for them.”
The move instantly connected hello82 and, finally, an ATEEZ album into some of the world’s biggest retail giants. The World EP.1: Movement was available online and in Barnes & Noble stores, plus in online stores for Target, Walmart and FYE. “The margins are thin at these big-box retailers,” Cho says. “But they also give you a lot of coverage and you get a lot more fans who aren’t close to places like big cities so we’re happy about that.” There are hopes for upcoming ATEEZ projects to be in actual Target stores.
Yet perhaps the most meaningful part of their chart goals was creating more than a dozen pop-up stores across the country directly alongside fans. With a hello82 rep at each store, local ATINY volunteered (some reaching out on social media before the company could even make the call for help) after being vetted by the team to help work at their local locations that were decorated with photo walls, giveaways and customized merch.
“We knew that we could probably do a few pop-up stores on our own, but we really wanted to activate the fans and make them one of the stakeholders in the entire campaign,” Cho says of the 19 pop-up stores they held in hotspots like Chicago and Atlanta, but also in smaller cities like Yuma, Ariz. and Southfield, Mich. Utilizing cafes and existing stores (some very familiar to K-pop fans like NYC and LA’s LINE Friends stores that sell BTS‘ BT21 and TREASURE‘s TRUZ products), fans could pick up their copy of The World EP.1, an exclusive box version prepared by hello82, and connect with other ATINY in person.
“Doing pop-ups has its own merits; it can be flexible in terms of locations, timing and all of that,” Cho reflects. “I just feel like K-pop fans in certain areas now deserve a place that they can go to to hang out, not just access to all the products and albums. These fans like to just get together. And it’s not just K-pop fandom, I feel like it’s all most fandoms: I’m a big Philadelphia Eagles football fan and I would go to a sports bar just to hang out with other goofy MFers from Philly.”
The strategy broke ATEEZ through with The World EP.1: Movement opening at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 (behind Beyoncé and Bad Bunny) with 50,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 4, with album sales comprising 47,000 of that total, according to Luminate. The set has earned 86,000 U.S. equivalent album units through Dec. 1.
The first week marked a massive jump from the opening sales of Fever Epilogue (which earned 16,000 units in the first week) and Fever Part.3 (13,000). Along with KAI Media co-founder and current CEO Jae Yoon Choi, Cho emphasizes ongoing dialogue with Billboard and Luminate to ensure “we’re doing everything by the book.”
“It’s the first time for us doing it this scale so obviously there were some hiccups but release week was actually pretty calm,” he recalls. “We kind of knew where we were gonna go, but you never know…when we were at the top of the charts, I mean, we were obviously ecstatic. Not just us, but with the fans that we got a lot of ‘thank-yous’ and ‘great jobs.’ Our community manager who talks to a lot of those guys directly also shared an almost tears-of-joy moment on release day, and then, ultimately, when the charts officially came out. So, it was exciting.”
The company kept that energy alive with pop-up stores throughout the 11 dates in the North American leg of ATEEZ’s The Fellowship: Break the Wall tour, the group’s second tour in 2022 and most expansive run yet. Each of seven cities on the trek, along with two that weren’t on the tour route, set up shop for at least two days each as the official pop-up for tour merchandise.
“After the successful album distribution, we are now distributing merch in association with their upcoming North American tour,” Cho explains. “We have always looked at ourselves as a bridge for management companies between South Korea and the U.S. market, where we can help them connect directly with their fans here and create a lasting fandom.”
Stores in LA and Oakland opened ahead of ATEEZ’s Nov. 7 and 8 shows at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Fans could grab new items like jackets and T-shirts while participating in activities like writing sticky note messages for ATEEZ.
By the tour’s final stop in Toronto on Dec. 2, hello82 showcased what may be their most visible project yet when they played their “Project Star 117 – From ATINY to ATEEZ” video played during the show with on-camera messages from fans and the sticky notes written by pop-up attendees. The band themselves watched with a heartfelt gaze and led to leader Hongjoong crouching down in tears. The official upload video has more than 50,000 views in under five days.
hello82 isn’t a dedicated music-service company, but they watch industry trends and consumer behaviors to consider new business.
“The music industry is now sort of maturing into this real combination of on-demand, ubiquitous consumption of music, but also this very active and passionate sorts of fandom activities as well that drives a lot of commerce,” he adds. “I think all of these things have always been part of music business, but it’s coming back with the vengeance now and we’d like to partake in all of that. The K-pop audience, K-pop fans, they’re sort of at the forefront of all of these activities so, we see a bright financial future and our investors do as well.”
Cho notes that the ATEEZ strategies have caught the interest of other artists and labels looking to impact America. However, the company is interested in partners who will engage heavily with fans and “be a little bit experimental.” There are also hopes for the company to take the business beyond North America and “hopefully, eventually expand out to other underserved markets around the world.”
While Cho and colleagues are directly discussing high-level plans with Team ATEEZ (“Credit goes to KQ for having the foresight and ATEEZ for being a great band—they were kind enough to give us the opportunity, and they were willing to risk a lot”), they are also putting in work at hello82’s retail stores themselves.
“We make sure that everybody does a rotation,” Cho says. “The look and joy you see on fans’ faces—especially when you’re pulling the right photo card for them—that’s what makes our day.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A criminal complaint was filed today in the Western District of Missouri Federal Court charging two individuals with escaping confinement and a third individual with assisting them.
Trevor Scott Sparks, 33, Kansas City, MO, and Sergio Perez Martinez, 43, Panorama City, CA, were charged in a two-count criminal complaint with escape from confinement and aiding or assisting in escape from confinement. A third individual, Steven Lydell Williams, Sr., 64, Kansas City, MO, was also charged in the complaint with a single count of aiding or assisting in the escape. Copies of the complaint and supporting affidavit are attached.
As of the drafting of this release, Sparks and Perez Martinez remain at large. Williams, Sr. is scheduled to make his initial appearance before a federal Magistrate Judge this afternoon and will remain in federal custody pending a detention hearing next week where the United States will argue for his continued pretrial detention pending resolution of the charge.
Anyone with information regarding the two escaped individuals are urged to contact law enforcement or the TIPS hotline at (816) 474-TIPS, 1-800-Call-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov if they wish to remain anonymous. The U.S. Marshals is offering a $5,000 reward for each individual for tips that lead to their capture. In order to receive the U.S. Marshal’s reward you must contact them directly at (816) 512-2000.
The charges contained in this complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bruce Rhoades and Robert Smith. It is being investigated by the United States Marshal Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Kansas City Police Department, and the Cass County Sheriff’s Department with other law enforcement agencies also assisting.
She’s practically levitating! Dua Lipa‘s latest wax figure got its grand unveiling on Wednesday (Dec. 7) at Madame Tussauds in New York City.
Related
Music Stars’ Wax Figures: Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Britney Spears & More
“I absolutely am honored to have my new wax figure displayed at the world’s greatest wax museum, Madame Tussauds New York in Times Square,” the pop star shared in a statement with Parade. “It has been a privilege to work closely with the artists and creatives on making the figure just right. I hope guests of the museum enjoy her as much as I do!”
Leaning both arms above her head on a giant pink hoop, Lipa’s third figurine is dressed for Studio 2054, the “Don’t Start Now” singer’s livestream concert event held back in late 2020. A few months after that virtual show in support of Future Nostalgia, Dua gave fans a sneak peek at the creation process for the wax figure on Instagram, revealing studio artists “took more than 200 measurements” to get the lifelike statue just right.
Last month, fans started buzzing online over the possibility that Lipa — who was recently granted her Albanian citizenship — has a collaboration with none other than Mick Jagger on the way.
The singer was also on hand in November for Elton John’s final U.S. tour date at Dodger Stadium in L.A. For the special concert, the duo performed their smash Top 10 hit “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix).” The entire show, which also included appearances by Brandi Carlile and Kiki Dee, was broadcast live on Disney+ as Elton John Live From Dodger Stadium.
Get a look at Dua’s new Madame Tussauds creation as well as a glimpse of its making below.
Google released its Year in Search for 2022 on Wednesday (Dec. 7), and the trends in the United States throughout the year paint a picture of the most popular stories, songs and events of the year.
The top musician that was searched on Google this year was Adam Levine, most likely in connection to his alleged affair with Instagram model Sumner Stroh that made waves throughout the Internet back in September. Following Levine, Mary J. Blige, Lil Tjay, Kendrick Lamar and Migos wrap up the top five.
For people in general, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard both made the top five, as their defamation trial was made available for the public to livestream throughout the spring. Will Smith was also in the top five searched people, as a result of his headline-making incident at the 2022 Academy Awards, during which he stormed the stage and slapped Chris Rock across the face.
As far as songs, the Encanto hit, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” topped the list. The film’s “Surface Pressure” followed, and the TikTok-viral track “Jiggle Jiggle” by Duke & Jones and Louis Theroux. Rounding out the top five are Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ collaboration, “Unholy,” and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House smash, “As It Was.”
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” also came in at No. 3 on the year’s top trends on Google’s “Hum to Search” feature. The top song on that list was Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreets Back),” followed by “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley.
See Google’s full Year in Search 2022 report here.
BTS‘ V has been a superstar in the 2010s and 2020s, but what if he traveled back in time to the ’40s or ’50s?
In the K-pop idol’s photo folio concept film, which arrived on Wednesday (Dec. 7), fans see him donning some of the classy hallmarks of yesteryear in a stunning video. To fit the vintage theme, the video — titled “Me Myself and V, ‘Veautiful Days’” — starts off in a sepia tone before cutting to black-and-white footage of him reading an elaborately bound book in the grass while wearing an all-white suit and a hat with a wide brim.
Some of vintage V’s interests include gazing through telescopes, riding a bicycle through the countryside and spending time with majestic horses.
Related
A Complete List of BTS’ Solo Projects (So Far)
Fans were impressed by the beauty of the concept film. One Twitter user wrote, “V is breathtakingly beautiful and his old soul comes right through with his concept. Thank you #V…If Tae ever decides to do a period drama/movie (actually I’d watch no matter what) I will be first in line to watch.” Another user added, “Taehyung’s soul is genuine and romantic. It’s elegant, royal and veautiful like I’m lost for words right now.”
The release date for V’s forthcoming book of photos has yet to be announced, but the photo folio gives fans something to look forward to while they wait for his solo album. The K-pop singer hopped on Korean media platform Weverse in March and answered a couple of questions regarding the anticipated release of his solo music. He told an inquiring fan that he will “release it within the year,” according to a translation by Koreaboo.
Christmas is a time for giving. And for boy bands, that usually means putting on their chunkiest sweaters, adhering to all the chestnut-roasting and kissing under the mistletoe cliches and complementing their multi-part harmonies with enough sleigh bells to give Santa Claus tinnitus.
But which pin-ups over the years have delivered the best musical present?
It could be argued that Wham!’s “Last Christmas” – a song so ubiquitous it sparked a survival game based on avoiding it throughout the whole of December – was the progenitor of the trend. But to avoid the debate about whether George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s chart-topping duo could really be described as a boy band, our Christmas list only focuses on the heartthrobs who emerged from the late 1980s onward, when the concept of the all-singing, all-dancing, all-male group truly kicked in.
To narrow things down further, were only rewarding those who came up with something original. That means there’s no place for The Wanted’s take on Bing Crosby’s classic “White Christmas” or The Vamps’ cover of Wizzard’s “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.” And to prevent the domination of those who truly committed to the season by recording a full-length holiday album, we’re being Scrooge-like and limiting each boy band to just one track.
So if you’ve grown sick of the yuletide staples that clog up the Hot 100 at the end of every year, here are ten teenybopper-friendly alternatives.
And to check out our list of stone-cold candy cane classics, head here for Billboard’s 100 Best Christmas Songs of All Time.
SZA called into HOT 97 on Tuesday (Dec. 6) to talk through her upcoming album S.O.S and clear the air on the Doja Cat collab that didn’t come together.
Originally, SZA hinted while performing at Mad Cool Festival in July that Doja Cat would possibly appear on what became the album’s lead single, “Shirt.” However, when the song finally dropped at the end of October, her pal was nowhere to be found on the track.
Related
SZA Teases ‘Nobody Gets Me’ Ahead of ‘S.O.S’ Release
“She had surgery, she had to have that emergency, like, vocal cord surgery and she wasn’t ready in the time that we needed to get the song done,” the recent Billboardcover star shared with host Nessa. “There was a crossfire between, I think, her management and my management and they had told us it was done, but it wasn’t actually done.
“It was just a lot of confusion,” she continued, “but don’t know. I hope for the best, and I’m still, like, a major fan of her and her artistry. And I think she’s so incredible and I would love to get her on the deluxe [version].”
Previously the duo struck Grammy gold with their 2021 collab “Kiss Me More” off Doja’s Planet Her, which won the award for best pop duo/group performance, and also scored additional nominations for record of the year and song of the year.
The R&B star also opened up about upcoming album S.O.S. “I just want what’s good, that’s it. I literally just want what’s good. Or what tells a new side of me … and isn’t redundant,” she told Nessa about the approach she took to crafting her long-awaited follow-up to 2017’s Ctrl.
As for how she avoids that redundancy, the singer explained, “The sonics dictate that, the way you express it and over what beats you choose to express it and, like, that type of s–t. You know, the subject matter, that kind of dictates your perspective sometimes. Like what perspective you take on the issue itself.”
Watch SZA’s full interview ahead of S.O.S dropping this Friday (Dec. 9) below.
Are you still listening?
3628718242
Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
