Month: February 2023

Warren Zevon’s daughter Ariel says that “tears came to my eyes” when she learned that her father was finally nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But she and her brother Jordan were all smiles as they discussed the nod with Billboard via Zoom on Wednesday (Feb. 1).

The consideration has been a long time coming. Zevon — who died in 2003 at the age of 56 from mesothelioma, a type of cancer — has been eligible since the mid-90s, and his exclusion from the ballot has been among the most controversial through the years. Social media groups were started to protest and also promote a nomination — echoing good friend and early producer Jackson Browne, who once told Billboard, “Why the fuck isn’t he in there? Come-on!”

Most recently it was revealed that Billy Joel wrote a letter to the Rock Hall in praise and support of Zevon.

And there were huzzahs from many corners of the music world when the nomination was formally announced on Wednesday morning.

Zevon’s legacy certainly merits the celebration. He left 15 studio albums — including The Wind, recorded after his terminal diagnosis. It won Grammy Awards — Zevon’s first — for best contemporary folk album and best rock performance from the track “Disorder in the House,” featuring Bruce Springsteen. Linda Ronstadt, Bob Dylan and Browne are just a couple of the artists who have covered Zevon’s songs over the years. And former manager/producer Andrew Slater is moving forward with a family-approved documentary.

Both of Zevon’s children have followed in their father’s footsteps and released music of their own. Jordan, who resides in Los Angeles, contributed tracks to the tribute albums Enjoy Every Sandwich and Hurry Home Early, and Ariel, who’s in Vermont, also has acting credits in Silence & Darkness, My Little Assassin and TV’s ER. And while they’re not getting ahead of themselves, both are happy that their father’s finally getting this long-awaited opportunity…

Billboard: How are you feeling about the nomination?

Jordan: I’m excited. I had to wake up at 4.50 in the morning to get the news firsthand, so I’m very caffeinated and possibly a little dizzy, but I’m excited.

Ariel: When I first saw it, tears came to my eyes first and then sort of the shock of it being 20 years later since he passed away. It feels definitely, like, significant. I don’t pay much attention to any of this type of stuff; I’ve removed myself from the whole business aspect of it. But it feels like a significant moment for the Zevon family.

How would he have felt about it?

Jordan: There’s this misconception that dad wouldn’t have cared. I think maybe, to be blunt, the later records didn’t sell a million copies; that didn’t mean he hated the industry. It just meant he was on the fringes because he wasn’t Britney Spears. But he wouldn’t have been, like, “Who cares about that?” It’d be like, “Hey Johnny, hey Ariel, guess what?!” It would have been, “It’s a big deal.” It was his business. He wanted to be good at it. You want to win, you know, best plumber of the year. (laughs)

He’s been on so many lists over the years of someone who’s nomination was overdue. Did you feel that way as well?

Jordan: I’ve respected the choices that they’ve made. It’s been such a broad range of people that I kind of didn’t think it would happen. I thought he was worthy of it, but it seemed like there were so many boxes they were trying to check that getting around to dad might not have happened. It was such a grassroots thing, people rooting for it, that I was excited for them. There’s been Facebook groups and stuff like that for years.

Ariel: I have been asked — and Jordan might have had this similar experience where some of the fans ask me in this, like accusatory way, like I’ve stood in the way somehow, allowing (the exclusion) to happen. And It’s like, “No, I would love it. It’d be great!” So, yeah, I’m especially thrilled for all of those fans who have been pounding their fists saying, “Why hasn’t this happened yet?!” It’s great for them.

Do you have any sense about why it finally happened this year?

Jordan: I don’t know exactly what’s happening right now. I get notifications form the Facebook groups, just so I can post things once in awhile. They’re hosted by other people. But the people asking to join his group and the amount of people that have gone to his website over the past few months has just skyrocketed. So I don’t know.

I think there is a feeling from awhile back, like strike while the iron is hot. But I’ve seen this resurgence lately that I can’t really account for. It’s been amazing to watch. But before any of this…I just kept wondering, “Where is everybody coming from?” It’s pretty exciting. It’s just something in the air, I guess.

What’s today been like? Have you been hearing from a lot of people?

Jordan: Yeah, I have. It’s just some of the people like Roger Bell and Duncan Aldrich, and some of the crew that he’s worked with. I haven’t heard from, like Jackson (Browne) or Waddy (Wachtel) or anybody like that. But it’s bene nice.

Ariel: Some, although again I’m pretty removed from everything. But yes, I have gotten calls and messages saying congratulations. There is definitely a buzz about it, and it’s exciting. It’s an exciting thing to share with my kids. My kids are actually almost 20, so for them it’s like, “Look what’s going on!” They’re pretty psyched about it. They’re passing around the voting thing to all their buddies at college. That’s great.

Jordan: I’m the older one but Ariel is the smarter one, and she’s distanced herself from social media and stuff, which I should really be doing at my age. (laughs) But I’ve been more kind of tuned into all the Facebook hits and sharing and everything else and, yeah, that part has been a little out of control. My 14-year-old is excited, but her biggest question is, “If he does get in, will Billie Eilish be at the ceremony?” (laughs)

Were the two of you aware of the Billy Joel letter that had been sent?

Jordan: No.

Ariel: No, I didn’t know. He’d be cool to see play a song.

Jordan: OK, we’ll put that one out there.

Ariel: That’s one I hadn’t even thought about but that’d be really cool. (laughs)

It is just a nomination at this point, but are you allowing yourselves to think about what the induction night might be like?

Jordan: I do. It’s been a while since I’ve attended or done one of those things, and you know it may be a little geeky, but that’s kind of like a like a sports game, or something like that. I know the energy and the way they’re put together. So I can just kind of picture it almost on the technical aspect and basically the adrenaline of the entire evening, and I kind of picture it that way.

It’s almost a rhetorical question, but what’s your stump speech to the voters? Why does your dad deserve to get in?

Ariel: For one thing, you know, great artists, great writers, great songwriters, write things that echo again and again throughout the ages, right? And I feel like probably some of that momentum happening right now is that his words are still resonating, maybe truer than ever, his view on his perspective on the world.

It resonates in a whole deeper, broader sense, I think, for a lot of people nowadays given where we’re at globally and everything else. So I would say that’s a good sign of somebody who probably deserves to be recognized, for a contribution to the arts, just generally speaking.

Jordan: You know, I’ve been just engulfed in music all my life, and listening to so many different genres. And I just think the quality of the music and the songwriting, it’s such a different level, and I think that he put so much care into it. He didn’t flippantly write songs. When he was writing songs there was a typewriter. There was a lot of little balled up pieces of paper. He even told me, “It’s really hard.”

And I think that when you put his education, musically and intellectually, along with his experiences, it just combined to make something that is really in, and of its own. You can have, like, the dangerous songs and the party songs, and then the more fore-thinking songs like “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” and “My Shit’s fucked up,” which means so much more even now than they did then. I just think his view and the way that he managed to keep writing for such a long time. And commercial put aside, quality-wise he still kept writing some songs that I think are just really, truly amazing, throughout his career. I just think he is pretty fucking good!

At the upcoming 65th annual Grammy Awards, legendary rocker Ozzy Osbourne is nominated in four categories for his Patient Number 9 album, including its title track, which features the late Jeff Beck.

In a recent interview with Billboard, Osbourne discussed his good fortune with collaborations, having worked with most of his heroes. However, he has yet to work with his biggest inspiration: Paul McCartney. A devoted Beatles fan, Osbourne has indeed reached out to McCartney in the past. “I did ask him one time,” he says, “but he came up with the excuse of, ‘Well, I couldn’t beat the bass player that was already on there.’ I went, ‘Maybe you’re right.’”

Patient Number 9 is indeed a star-studded affair. Beck, Mike McCready, Eric Clapton and former Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi, plus many more, all contributed instrumentals. The co-writers are just as impressive, with Osbourne tapping Chad Smith, Ali Tamposi and the late Taylor Hawkins, among others.

“He died literally a week or two after he worked on my album,” Osbourne recalled of the Foo Fighters drummer. He shared with a laugh how Hawkins would repeatedly tell him, “Dave Grohl is my boss.” Says Osbourne, “I didn’t know if he was joking or what.”

He also discussed working with Post Malone and Miss Piggy, who according to the rocker said he “stunk.”

He also touched on what having a hit reality TV show did for his career (and to his family) and most importantly, addressed how his fans have been there for him every step of the way. “That’s the thing I really miss about not doing gigs,” he says. “I’m a hands-on guy. I like talking to my fans, I miss them terribly.”

On Wednesday (Feb. 1), Osbourne posted a note to fans on social media, saying, “This is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to share with my loyal fans…” In it, he announced that his touring days have come to an end and that his scheduled European/UK tour dates have been canceled. “Believe me when I say that the thought of disappointing my fans really f—s me up, more than you will ever know.”

“My team is currently coming up with ideas for where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city or country to country,” he continued in the note, which echoes a hope he shared during his Billboard interview.

“My goal is to get back onstage as soon as possible.”

Watch the full interview in the video above.

With the Jan. 27 release of Elle King’s Come Get Your Wife, the expansiveness of modern country is firmly on display.

The album melds a banjo-toting female artist who emerged in rock and adult alternative genres with a country format that is increasingly testing its boundaries. The project mixes a range of sounds and influences — Southern rock, blues, bluegrass, classic soul and folk/pop — in a manner that’s impressively cohesive, built around King’s gritty vocal and spacious, funky approach to the banjo.

Come Get Your Wife comes at a time when country artists are pushing the genre’s borders in multiple directions, taking risks but maintaining enough of its identity that the outlier material still holds a connection to country’s core.

Chris Young’s current “Looking for You” utilizes a pitch-shifted version of an Emily Weisband vocal to create an other-worldly sonic hook. Jordan Davis’ “What My World Spins Around” incorporates a tremolo electric guitar effect that mirrors The Smiths’ 1984 new wave piece “How Soon Is Now?” Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor” and the HARDY collaboration with Lainey Wilson, “wait in the truck,” rely on haunting gospel choirs to bring home their drama. And Walker Hayes’ “Y’all Life” features a washed-out drum sound while employing loose gang vocals to carry the lead melody.

The developments aren’t exactly new, but the volume of outside sounds and techniques at work in country reflects changing attitudes among artists and fans, as well as a wider array of available tools and easier access to music through streaming platforms.

King, in fact, felt more freedom to combine her multiple influences while making a country album than in her previous recordings. That represents a major change from the past, when artists have at times complained that the format is too stifling.

“I realized that I could pull from each of [my influences] and make this sound, which is country music to me,” King says. “This album doesn’t sound that far off from anything that I would have [previously] made, but I felt like because I could have this, I don’t know, shell to put on it, I could bring in what I wanted from each place and each feeling.”

The cooperative marketing effort for Come Get Your Wife, involving Sony offices in New York and Nashville, is representative of a friendlier cross-genre atmosphere. Warner/Chappell and Big Machine similarly cross-pollinate between Nashville and Los Angeles, and Music City songwriters are increasingly meshing with composers from other industry centers.

“Nashville is lending to L.A., and L.A. is lending right back to Nashville,” notes Laura Veltz, a Nashvillian currently nominated in the Grammys’ new songwriter of the year category, recognizing her work with country artists Maren Morris and Ingrid Andress, as well as pop singer Demi Lovato.

Technology plays a major role in the development, as the rise of the internet changed the way music is both created and consumed. On the production side, musicians and producers have far more sounds available through a wider selection of sound-shaping pedals and computer plug-ins, particularly compared with previous eras, when studio pros were expected to churn out four songs in a three-hour session, usually applying the same instruments to each of the tracks.

“Harold Bradley might play guitar on one song and turn around and play a banjo on the next one,” says Bill Anderson. “So they did change instruments a little bit and sometimes played two instruments on the same song. But all the things they have available to them now, we didn’t have that. I don’t know if we’d have used it or not.”

On the consumer end of the equation, the ability to identify, locate and sample music online is extraordinarily fast, matched up against the pre-internet age, when less music was available and the music fans heard beyond the radio was mostly proportionate to their willingness to purchase albums.

Now consumers can speed through genres and catalogs, cross-reference studio work against live recordings and find artists and sounds that would have been obscure to their grandparents. Like the artists themselves, fans are thus more willing to hear Queen or Beach Boys influences in country, as happens in some Dan + Shay recordings.

“We’re very fortunate, I feel like, to live and breathe in a time in music where we aren’t so segregated and isolated,” says Joel Smallbone of contemporary Christian act For King + Country, appropriately nominated in the Grammys for a collaboration with Hillary Scott of the country trio Lady A.

One reason that country is arguably able to maintain its identity now that the walls are falling down is that many of its artists — such as Young, Tyler Hubbard or Thomas Rhett — retain their Southern accents no matter what non-country sonics surround them.

“Chris is a great example,” says Chris DeStefano, co-writer and co-producer of “Looking for You.” He has a very country voice. I think Morgan Wallen is another amazing example. He’s got the cheat code for country music. He could sing anything, you can put a [hip-hop] 808 beat under him; it still sounds country.”

King’s new album puts the trend in focus most clearly with two songs that appear back-to-back on the project: “Try Jesus” weaves a church organ and thick gospel choir into an otherwise-country production, while “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home),” her Grammy-nominated duet with Miranda Lambert, leans heavily on the interplay between tribal drums and an unusual two-note bass guitar riff. Country’s increasing openness was perfectly timed for her appearance in the format.

“I’ve noticed a difference in wider-open sliding doors even since 2016, 2017, when I first met Dierks [Bentley],” she says. “I feel like country makes room for good music, a good song. I don’t want anyone to kick me out.”

Bizarrap and Shakira’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart (dated Feb. 4). Their in-studio diss track has now topped nine U.S. Billboard charts, including Latin Digital Song Sales, Latin Pop Digital Song Sales, Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs, Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales, Hot Latin Songs, Latin Streaming Songs, Latin Pop Airplay, Latin Pop Streaming Songs, and now Latin Airplay.

“Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” advances 5-1 in its second week on Latin Airplay after a strong 35% gain in audience impressions, to 10 million, earned in the week ending Jan. 26, according to Luminate.

The new coronation extends Shakira’s record among women, with 18 No. 1s. Bizarrap clocks his second after “Vol. 52,” with Quevedo, reached the top of the chart last November where it remained for four weeks.

Shakira, meanwhile, replaces herself at No. 1 as “Vol. 53” sends “Monotonía,” with Ozuna, to No. 5, after six weeks in charge, the most since Daddy Yankee’s “Con Calma,” featuring Snow, dominated the tally for eight weeks in 2019. Notably, it’s the first time a woman replaces herself at No. 1 since the chart launched in 1994.

Plus, the last time an act replaced itself at No. 1 on Latin Airplay was Farruko when “Pepas” dethroned his featured turn on Enrique Iglesias’ “Me Pasé” in October 2021.

As mentioned, “Vol. 53” continues its winning streak across Billboard charts. It remains at No. 1 on Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs, Hot Latin Songs, Latin Pop Airplay, and Latin Streaming Songs and Latin Pop Streaming Songs for a second week, while on Latin Digital Song Sales and Latin Pop Digital Song Sales, the track holds atop for a third week.

Over on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, the track dips 9-13. Further, it holds steady at No. 2 on both Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts.

Beyoncé released Renaissance, her seventh solo studio album, in July 2022 to rapturous acclaim and No. 1 status on the Billboard 200 and, for lead single “Break My Soul,” No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. But unlike 2016’s Lemonade and 2013’s Beyoncé, there were no concerts and no televised performances — not even a music video.

But six months later, days ahead of a potentially pivotal Grammy ceremony (Feb. 5) where she’s the year’s leading nominee, Beyoncé has announced the Renaissance world tour. It’s bound to be one of the year’s biggest concert events, aiming to be her fourth tour to gross more than $200 million based on forecasts estimated by Billboard Boxscore. In fact, the tour could easily sail past the $275 million mark. The all-stadium trek is currently scheduled to play 41 shows in 10 countries from May 10 through September 27.

A Beyoncé tour used to be a given every couple of years, but the Renaissance world tour will launch seven years after her last solo outing, 2016’s The Formation World Tour. That was her first solo trek in stadiums, though neither the show’s stellar reviews nor fans’ insatiable demand hinted at her rookie status. The tour earned $256.1 million and sold 2.2 million tickets, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, finishing atop Billboard’s year-end Top Tours chart.

In the years since, Beyoncé mounted On the Run II, her second stadium tour alongside Jay-Z following 2014’s On the Run. The stadium trek came close to Beyoncé’s solo high mark but finished with $253.5 million and 2.2 million tickets — coming within 1% of Formation’s gross and 3% of its attendance despite the doubled-up star-power. The strength of Beyoncé’s solo tour among her entire live history perhaps speaks to her unique draw as one of the century’s most singular live entertainers.

The Formation World Tour marked a 21% improvement upon the $212 million take of 2013-14’s The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, which spanned 126 dates in arenas.

This summer’s Renaissance world tour was announced with 15 shows in Europe in May and June, followed by 26 shows in the U.S. and Canada.

That 41-show sum is slightly shorter than The Formation World Tour’s 49 and On the Run II Tour’s 48. But while Renaissance could trail her previous outings in cumulative gross because of a more compact schedule, that scenario is unlikely considering the industry’s plumped-up ticketing.

In efforts to redirect second-and-third-party ticket sales to the artist, dynamic pricing, platinum ticketing and fan-to-fan re-sale have sent grosses soaring in the post-pandemic era. Beyoncé’s 2016 and 2018 tours averaged $114 and $116 per ticket, but that number will likely be far closer to, if not more than, $200 in 2023.

And like with Billboard’s early projections for Taylor Swift and Madonna, Beyoncé’s initial routing announcement may just be the singer playing coy. Per the first announced round of shows, London is the only market with more than one show, while previous Beyoncé tours also doubled up in New York, Chicago, Paris, Houston and more. More dates could be announced in some of the routing’s open spaces due to expectedly high demand. As the routing stands at press time, there are often four or five days between shows, with long stretches between May 30 (London) and June 8 (Barcelona), and September 2 and 11 (Inglewood, Calif. and Vancouver).

The continental splits for Formation and OTR2 were similar to that of Renaissance, with slightly more than a third of the entire tour in Europe and the other 60-65% in North America. Grosses and attendance lined up, too — $86.9 million and 867,000 tickets in Europe on Formation and $87 million and 871,000 tickets on OTR2, versus $169.1 million and 1.4 million tickets in North America on Formation and $166.5 million and 1.3 million on OTR2.

Given her consistent sell-out stadium business and an expected 30%-plus lift on ticket prices, the Renaissance world tour could be earning $6.8-$7.5 million per show. At the low end of that projection, with no additional shows, total gross would be heading for a personal-best $275 million. With just a few extra shows, at the top of that range, she’d notch her first $300 million tour.

Across her career, Beyoncé has grossed $767.3 million and sold 8.9 million tickets across 375 shows, including those with Jay-Z and the Verizon Ladies First Tour, a co-headline run with Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys in 2004. That means that the Renaissance world tour is setting her up to be one of three women to potentially cross the billion-dollar mark this year. Swift’s Eras Tour is sure to push her over the edge, while P!nk’s Summer Carnival Tour could do the trick as well.

Renaissance was Beyoncé’s seventh No. 1 album, while “Break My Soul” marked her eighth No. 1 song. When album cut “Cuff It” shot to No. 10 on the Hot 100 last month, it became the 21st top 10 Hot 100 song of her solo career. The Renaissance world tour is scheduled to kick off May 10 at Stockholm’s Friends Arena and wrap on September 27 at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome.