Month: January 2023

The Reytons finally rock on to No. 1 in the U.K. with What’s Rock And Roll? (via The Reytons), their third LP.

The South Yorkshire-formed indie group, comprising Jonny Yerrell, Lee Holland, Joe O’Brien and Jamie Todd, blast to the summit of the Official U.K. Albums Chart with What’s Rock And Roll?, the market’s best-seller on wax.

It’s a career high for the band, whose previous albums both cracked the top 40 — 2021’s May Seriously Harm You And Others Around (No. 27) and Kids Off The Estate (No. 11).

“This is everything,” says frontman Jonny Yerrell in a victory post. “The door’s wide open. We’re about to change everything. No label, no backing, all Reytons.”

Further down the list, 2021 Eurovision winners Måneskin snag their first top 5 appearance with Rush! (Columbia). It’s new at No. 5.

The rockers — Damiano David, Victoria De Angelis, Ethan Torchio and Thomas Raggi — made history when, in June 2021, they landed two singles in the U.K. top 10 (“I Wanna Be Your Slave” and the cover “Beggin’”), becoming the first Italian act to do so. Måneskin previously impacted the Official U.K. Albums Chart with Teatro d’ira – Vol. I (No. 49), also from 2021.

Meanwhile, Black Star Riders bag a second top 10 with their fifth set Wrong Side Of Paradise (Earache). It’s new at No. 6 on the latest chart, published Jan. 27.

Featuring several members of Thin Lizzy, Black Star Riders bagged top 40 appearances with each of their previous four LPs: 2013’s All Hell Breaks Loose (No. 25), 2015’s The Killer Instinct (No. 13), 2017’s Heavy Fire (No. 6) and 2019’s Another State Of Grace (No. 14).

Dublin outfit The Murder Capital miss out on the top 10, but still score a career-best with Gigi’s Recovery (Human Season), new at No. 16.

Finally, electronic-leaning veterans Ladytron make a long-overdue appearance on the chart with Time’s Arrow (Cooking Vinyl). It’s new at No. 67, a new career high. Time’s Arrow is the group’s fourth appearance on the survey, and first in almost twelve years.

Miley Cyrus now has a bunch of U.K. No. 1s with “Flowers”.

The post-disco hit blooms with upwards of 121,000 chart units, the Official Charts Company reports, to lead the national chart for a second week.

That volume outperforms the first week for “Flowers,” and includes over 13 million streams, making it the market leader in that format for the second straight week.

A hit around the world, “Flowers” becomes Cyrus’ longest-running U.K. No. 1 single, besting her previous leaders “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball,” which each logged a single week at the chart summit in 2013.

Further down the list, published Jan. 27, Afrobeats star Rema bags a new chart beat with “Calm Down” (Mavin), up 8-6, while Headie One has the week’s highest new entry on the chart, with “Martin’s Sofa” (Relentless). It’s new at No. 9, for the London rapper and songwriter’s fifth top 10 appearance — and first as a solo artist. 

Miguel’s TikTok-powered revival is in full swing, as “Sure Thing” (Jive) lifts into the top 10. It’s up 11-10, for the U.S. artist’s first appearance in the top tier. “Sure Thing” first dropped in 2010, and has grown wings that’s to its viral turn on the short-video platform.

Also on the climb is Irish singer-songwriter Cian Ducrot with “I’ll Be Waiting” (up 22-19 via Polydor), Mimi Webb’s “Red Flags” (up 23-21 via Epic); and Coi Leray “Players up 19” (up 45-26 via Uptown/Republic Recordings), for the rising U.S. artist’s first U.K. top 40 appearance.

Sabrina Carpenter’s viral, love-struck number “Nonsense” (Island) is making its move on the U.K. It’s the week’s biggest gainer, charging 38 places to No. 32, for the U.S. pop singer’s second top 40 (her 2021 release “Skin” reached No. 28).    

Finally, Ed Sheeran makes his 68^th impression on the U.K. top 75 with “F64” (Atlantic), his tribute to his late friend Jamal Edwards, the founder of SBTV who died in February 2022, at the age of 31. “F64” bows at No. 50 on the national survey.  

Harry Styles will perform on the 2023 Grammy Awards, set for Sunday, Feb. 5. The announcement was made on Sunday (Jan. 29) during the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs. The game aired on CBS, the Grammys’ network since 1973.

Styles is nominated for six Grammys, including album, record and song of the year. These are his first nominations in Big Four categories.

The Recording Academy made its first performers announcement on Wednesday (Jan. 25) – Lizzo, Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs, Steve Lacy and Sam Smith & Kim Petras.

All of these are artists are nominated in Big Four categories this year except for Smith & Petras and Combs. “Unholy” by Smith & Petras would almost certainly have been nominated for record and song of the year, but the single was released just eight days before eligibility closed on Sept. 30, 2021 – a bit too late to fully register with Grammy voters. As it is, it is nominated for best pop duo/group performance.

The Grammys are getting a jump on the Brit Awards, which will be telecast from the O2 in London six days later (on Feb. 11). The Brits have also booked Styles, Lizzo and Smith & Petras, among other acts.

Styles performed “Watermelon Sugar” on the Grammy telecast two years ago. He also won his first Grammy for the track  – best pop solo performance.

The 65th Annual Grammy Awards will air live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and will be hosted for the third year in a row by Emmy-winning comedian Trevor Noah. The show will be broadcast live on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

The 65th Annual Grammy Awards are produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy. Raj Kapoor serves as showrunner and executive producer, alongside Ben Winston and Jesse Collins as executive producers. Phil Heyes joins the team for the first time as director. Eric Cook is co-executive producer with Tabitha Dumo, Tiana Gandelman, Patrick Menton. David Wild is producer.

Prior to the telecast, the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony will be broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater at 12:30 p.m. PT and will be streamed live on live.grammy.com. Randy Rainbow, a first-time Grammy nominee this year for best comedy album for A Little Brains, A Little Talent, is co-hosting the show. His co-host has yet to be named.

More than 73 years ago, Barrett Strong, as a singer, declared “Money (That’s What I Want)” — for the first hit single from the Motown empire.

What he actually wound up getting was musical immortality. As a songwriter.

Strong — who passed away Sunday, Jan. 29, at the age of 81 in Detroit — co-wrote some of Motown’s most enduring hits, with a variety of collaborators but primarily the late Norman Whitfield. Those included “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” for Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips, “War” for Edwin Starr, the Undisputed Truth’s “Smiling Faces Sometimes” and a wealth of material form the Temptations — “I Wish It Would Rain,” “Just My Imagination,” “Cloud Nine,” “Psychedelic Shack” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” for which Strong shared a Grammy Award.

The transition from performer to songwriter suited him well. “I never felt comfortable with myself as a recording artist,” Strong told Billboard in 2016. The father of six and grandfather of 13 noted, “I had to work to support my family. I’m not looking for the spotlight and all the glamour and stuff like that. I just like to work in my studio and see what we can come up with.”

In a statement issued Sunday, Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. — who described Strong as “shy” in his memoir, To Be Loved, said that, “I am saddened to hear of the passing of Barrett Strong, one of my earliest artists, and the man who sang my first big hit … Barrett was not only a great singer and piano player, but he, along with his writing partner Norman Whitfield, created an incredible body of work, primarily with the Temptations. Their hit songs were revolutionary in sound and captured the spirit of the times … Barrett is an original member of the Motown Family and will be missed by all of us.”

In addition to the Grammy, Strong was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Songwriters in 1990 and a Songwriters Hall of Fame induction in 2004. BMI celebrated his legacy during a special event in 2016.

The son of a Uniroyal plant worker and a housewife, Strong grew up on Detroit’s west side and sang in a gospel group with his four sisters. They toured the local church circuit and befriended stars such as Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke. “When they’d come to town they’d stop by the house and visit with us,” Strong recalled. “We would all sit around the piano and play and sing.”

It was Wilson who introduced Gordy to the Strongs in 1957. Gordy hit it off with the ambitious Strong, who often walked to Gordy’s east side home to exchange song ideas. One day Gordy told Strong, “I like what you can do. I’m gonna do something with you.”

The first thing was a single called “Let’s Rock”/”Do the Very Best You Can,” which received some local airplay but didn’t make a national impact. “Money,” however, was a Top 50 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the R&B charts, later covered by the Beatles and during the ’80s by the avant-garde group the Flying Lizards. Gordy and Janie Bradford wrote the song, but there are three different stories about how it came to be.

In his memoir To Be Loved, Berry claims the “shy” Strong, who plays piano as well as sings on the track, joined the session “uninvited.” Bradford, meanwhile, recalls Gordy inviting Strong into the room and asking him to “give me something,” which became the opening piano riff for the song. Strong? HE remembers jamming on the piano, riffing off of Ray Charles‘ “What’d I Say?” “I was playing, and then that little thing came up and everybody said, ‘What was that?!’” he says. “They said, ‘Let’s write some lyrics,’ and we had a song.”

The rest of Strong’s time at Motown was just as memorable. He recalls that Motown initially didn’t want to release “Grapevine,” which he began writing during a brief tenure working for Vee Jay Records in Chicago. “They didn’t think it was a hit record,” said Strong, adding with a chuckle, “You know how it goes: They say, ‘We don’t like that,’ but when it’s a hit, everybody takes credit.” The Miracles were actually the first to record the song, in 1966, and Gaye recorded it the following year. But it was Knight’s raucous version that came out first, during September of 1967, followed by Gaye’s slowed-down groove 11 months later; Knight’s reached No. 2 on the Hot 100, while Gaye’s topped the chart. Creedence Clearwater Revival turned in an 11-minute version of “Grapevine” on its 1970 album Cosmo’s Factory, while the California Raisins covered it for a TV commercial in 1986, which launched a “career” for the cartoon group.

“Just My Imagination,” meanwhile, was something of a desperation project for Strong and Whitfield after a couple of other songs they wrote for the Temptations didn’t do well. “We had to get our band back,” Strong said. “If we didn’t come up with something they’d have someone else writing for ’em.” Stress aside, Strong had little but positive memories of his songwriting heyday. “It was a great time,” he said. “We were just kids, and we did it for the fun, not the money. We enjoyed being at the studio all day, working.”

“Nowadays people want the money first, which I can understand,” he said. “But we used to put the product first and figured if we worked hard we would get paid. It was just an era.”

Strong left Motown during the early ’70s and resumed his performing career, recording for the Epic and Capitol labels. He also co-wrote singles for the Dells. For a time Strong operated a production company called Boomtown in Detroit, mentoring and partnering with younger artists, and in 2010 he released Stronghold II, his first album in 30 years.

“You don’t quit. You just slow down,” Strong said in 2016. “You take your time more. But you have to keep up, too, and relate to the younger people now. I don’t want to be left behind.”

No cause of death has been revealed for Strong. Funeral details are pending.

SZA’s SOS racks up a seventh consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Feb. 4) – the entirety of its chart run. The last album by a woman with seven weeks at No. 1 was Taylor Swift’s Folklore, more than two years ago, as it notched its eighth and final week atop the list on the chart dated Oct. 31, 2020.

SOS earned 111,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 26 (down 7%), according to Luminate.

Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200 chart: Trippie Redd logs his seventh top 10-charting effort with the No. 3 debut of Mansion Muzik, while HARDY clocks his first top 10 with the No. 4 arrival of The Mockingbird & The Crow.

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 Feb. 4, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 31. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of SOS’ 111,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Jan. 26, SEA units comprise 109,500 (down 7%, equaling 148.87 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 1,000 (up 37%) and TEA units comprise 500 units (down 8%).

In the last year, only three albums have spent at least seven weeks at No. 1: SOS, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (13 nonconsecutive weeks) and the Encanto soundtrack (nine nonconsecutive weeks).

Here are a few statistics about SOS’ seven-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard 200:

SZA Meets Whitney in Chart History: SOS is the first R&B/hip-hop album by a woman, or R&B album by any act, to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1 since Whitney Houston’s Whitney in 1987. The latter debuted at No. 1 on the June 27, 1987-dated list and spent its first 11 weeks at No. 1 (its total run at No. 1). Whitney was the first R&B/hip-hop album by a woman, or R&B album by a woman, to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

R&B/hip-hop and R&B albums are defined as those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top R&B Albums charts, respectively.

Drake’s Views was the last R&B/hip-hop set to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1 — it spent its first nine weeks at No. 1 (May 21-July 16, 2016 charts).

Most Consecutive Weeks at No. 1 in Nearly a Year: The last album, regardless of genre classification, with seven weeks in a row at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 was the Encanto soundtrack, with eight straight weeks atop the list (Jan. 29-March 19, 2022-dated charts). The Encanto soundtrack spent a total of nine weeks at No. 1, as it logged one earlier frame at No. 1 on the Jan. 15, 2022 chart.

The last album by a woman with seven consecutive weeks at No. 1 was Adele’s 25, which spent its first seven weeks at No. 1 in late 2015 and early 2016 (Dec. 12, 2015-Jan. 23, 2016). 25 spent 10 total nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.

Most Weeks at No. 1 for an Album by a Woman Since 2020: Taylor Swift’s Folklore was the last album by a woman to score seven weeks atop the list. The album topped the list for its first six weeks (Aug. 8-Sept. 12, 2020) and then returned for two more nonconsecutive weeks (Oct. 3 and Oct. 31, 2020).

‘SOS’ Is the First Album by a Woman With its First Seven Weeks at No. 1 Since 2016: Adele’s 25 was the last album by a woman to spend its first seven weeks on the chart at No. 1. The 25 album ruled the list in its first seven weeks (Dec. 12, 2015-Jan. 23, 2016) and then logged three more later frames at No. 1, for a total of 10 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1. (The last album with its first seven weeks at No. 1 was Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, which spent it first 10 weeks at No. 1 [its total run at No. 1] from the Jan. 23-March 27, 2021-dated charts.)

Only Three Women Have Had Albums With Seven Weeks at No. 1 in the Last 20 Years: In the last two decades – from February 2003 through the latest chart – only three women have spent at least seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Before SZA’s SOS, there was Swift’s Folklore (eight weeks, 2020), Adele’s 25 (10, 2015-16), Swift’s 1989 (11, 2014-15), Adele’s 21 (24, 2011-12) and Swift’s Fearless (11, 2008-09). Before Fearless, the last album by a woman with seven weeks at No. 1 was Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, with 12 weeks in 1995-96.

Most Weeks at No. 1 for an R&B/Hip-Hop Album Since Drake’s ‘Views’ in 2016: The last R&B/hip-hop album with seven weeks atop the list was Drake’s Views, which spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 (May 21-Oct. 8, 2016). Views was also the last R&B/hip-hop set to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1 (it spent its first nine weeks at No. 1: May 21-July 16, 2016).

SOS has the most weeks at No. 1 for an R&B/hip-hop album by a woman, or an R&B album by a woman, since Mariah Carey’s Music Box spent eight nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in late 1993 and early 1994. SOS has the most weeks at No. 1 for an R&B album by any act since Usher’s Confessions ruled for nine nonconsecutive weeks in 2004.

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Swift’s former No. 1 Midnights is a non-mover with 67,000 equivalent album units earned (down 8%). It has spent the entirety of its 14 weeks on the chart inside the top two. The last album by a woman to spend its first 14 weeks at either Nos. 1 or 2 was Swift’s own 1989, with its first 15 weeks in the top two (Nov. 15, 2014-Feb. 21, 2015).

Trippie Redd notches his seventh top 10-charting effort on the Billboard 200 as Mansion Muzik debuts at No. 3 with 56,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 50,000 (equaling 68.1 million official on-demand streams of the set’s 25 tracks), album sales comprise 5,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000. Mansion Muzik is the hip-hop artist’s seventh consecutive top five-charting effort, stretching back to 2018’s Life’s a Trip, which debuted and peaked at No. 4 (Aug. 25, 2018-dated chart).

HARDY hits the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the first time as his new double album The Mockingbird & The Crow arrives at No. 4 with 55,000 equivalent album units earned – easily his best week ever in terms of units. Of the starting sum, SEA units comprise 34,000 (equaling 44.68 million official on-demand streams of the set’s 17 tracks), album sales comprise 19,500 and TEA units comprise 1,500. The half-country/half-rock project includes guest turns from Jeremy McKinnon (of A Day To Remember), Lainey Wilson and Morgan Wallen.

The Mockingbird & The Crow marks the highest-debuting rock album since Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Return of the Dream Canteen entered at No. 3 (Oct. 29, 2022) and highest-bowing country album since Luke Combs’ Growin’ Up started at No. 2 (July 9, 2022).

Four former No. 1s are next on the Billboard 200, as Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains falls 3-5 (53,000 equivalent album units; down 4%), Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss dips 4-6 (46,000; down 4%), Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti falls 6-7 (41,000; down 4%) and Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album descends 7-8 (nearly 41,000; down 2%).

Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak falls 8-9 with 32,000 equivalent album units (though up 2%) and Lil Baby’s former No. 1 It’s Only Me slips 9-10 with 28,000 (down 5%).

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

Before the Eagles-49ers NFC championship game kicked off, Anita Baker performed the national anthem on Sunday (Jan. 29).

“Thank You @Eagles for this Personal, Invitation. My Birthday weekend, is Unsurpassed and Filled with JOY, to Sing for You!” Baker, who turned 65 on Jan. 26, wrote in a tweet after her performance.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had previously proclaimed his love for Baker’s music, saying that he’d be enjoying her tunes on a flight home in December. Baker was seemingly happy to retweet a clip of the interview.

The singer will be hitting the road for her first tour in 28 years in February, for a run of 15 shows spread out throughout the year. The first concert is on Feb. 11 in Hollywood, Florida. 

Watch Baker’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” from Philadelphia’s Lincoln Field below.

Lil Baby made his Saturday Night Live musical guest debut on Jan. 28, performing a pair of tracks from his latest Billboard 200-topping album, It’s Only Me.

Following an introduction from host Michael B. Jordan, the Atlanta rapper stepped onto the stage of Studio 8H to deliver “California Breeze” and “Forever,” both of which reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in October 2022.

Baby previously made an appearance on SNL while assisting on DJ Khaled’s performance of “You Stay” in 2019.

Upon its release in October, Baby’s It’s Only Me album topped the Billboard 200 with all 23 tracks appearing on the Hot 100 songs chart, making it one of the year’s most dominant streaming releases.

SNL, which opened last week with musical guest Sam Smith, enters 2023 after an impressive 2022, in which the NBC sketch comedy series won an Emmy Award for outstanding variety sketch series. SNL is the most Emmy-nominated show in television history and currently holds 93 Emmy wins.

Watch Lil Baby’s SNL performances below. For those without cable, the broadcast will also stream on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans on demand access to previous SNL episodes as well.

The lineup for Tomorrowland 2023, set for two weekends in Belgium this summer, has been revealed — and it’s a big one.

This year’s festival revolves around the theme “Adscendo,” takes place on July 21-23 and July 28-30 and features more than 600 artists across 14 stages.

Performers include an eclectic mix, including Afrojack, Alesso, Armin van Buuren, Black Coffee, the Chainsmokers, Claptone, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Dom Dolla, Don Diablo, Eric Prydz, Hardwell, John Newman, Martin Garrix, Netsky, Nicky Romero, Oliver Heldens, Paul Kalkbrenner, Purple Disco Machine, Robin Schulz, Sebastian Ingrosso, Shaquille O’Neal as DJ Diesel, Steve Angello, Steve Aoki, Tiësto, Timmy Trumpet, Topic and W&W, just to name a handful out of the hundreds.

Fans should mark their calendars now: worldwide ticket sales begin on Feb. 4 at 17:00 CET, which is 11:00 a.m. EST.

Tomorrowland 2023 is the 17th edition of the Belgian festival, held at the De Schorre grounds in Boom. Considered one of the world’s leading dance music events, the fest can host roughly 75,000 people per day.

Take a look at the full lineup below. Plus, get more info about the artist list, the schedule and tickets on Tomorrowland’s website.