CMT is set to pay tribute to the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd with a power-packed performance during Sunday’s (April 2) CMT Music Awards. Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist Slash will join Wynonna Judd, Billy Gibbons, Chuck Leavell, Cody Johnson, Paul Rodgers, Warren Haynes and LeAnn Rimes as part of the performance, which comes half a century after the 1973 launch of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s self-titled debut album.
The Lynyrd Skynyrd album included many of the group’s signature hits, including “Simple Man,” “Gimme Three Steps” and “Free Bird.” The tribute performance also follows the death of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s final original founding member, guitarist Gary Rossington, who passed away on March 5 at age 71.
Johnson and Rodgers will lead vocals with Gibbons, with Slash and Haynes on electric guitar for a one-time-only performance of a pair of timeless Lynyrd Skynyrd hits. Nashville studio musicians Ethan Pilzer and Rich Redmond will round out the lineup on bass and drums. Rimes and Judd will fill the role of The Honkettes.
Rossington’s wife and band member Dale Krantz Rossington is set to attend the event, along with fellow Lynyrd Skynyrd members Johnny Van Zant and Rickey Medlock.
In 2016, Lynyrd Skynyrd appeared on CMT Crossroads with Brantley Gilbert. The CMT Music Awards will air live on CBS, from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, and will stream live and on-demand on Paramount+.
The tribute performance joins previously announced performances from Darius Rucker with The Black Crowes, as well as sets from Carrie Underwood, Jelly Roll, Tyler Hubbard, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce and CMT Music Awards co-hosts Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown.
The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation revealed on Thursday (March 39) the winners of the 48th annual Gracie Awards, which recognize outstanding programming and achievements by women, for women and about women.
Among the winners this year are Faith Hill, Meghan Markle, Christina Applegate, Ava DeVernay, Amanda Seyfried, Danielle Monaro, Shelley Wade, Abbott Elementary,TODAY, The Drew Barrymore Show, frontline journalists and more. The theme of the 2023 celebration is “storytelling,” which highlights the narratives shared by the inspiring, informative winners.
Additionally, the Showtime series The First Lady will be honored with the prestigious Grand Award, which signifies a distinct level of talent, dedication and production. During the ceremony, the Gracie Awards will feature a special in-show moment dedicated to recognizing women directors, following a record number of women director submissions, serving as an important reminder of the crucial role that women play in molding the stories that we see on screen.
“As we close out Women’s History Month, it is important to remember the legacy of Gracie Allen, the inspiration behind these esteemed awards,” AWMF President Becky Brooks said in a press statement. “This year’s recipients exemplify Gracie Allen’s spirit through their exceptional talent, innovation, and vision. Their steadfast dedication to their craft and their tenacious resolve to break boundaries serve as a compelling testament to the essential role women play in molding the cultural landscape. We eagerly anticipate celebrating their outstanding accomplishments.”
The Gracie Awards Luncheon will take place at Cipriani in NYC on June 20. See the full list of honorees here.
Add another entry to Missy Elliott’s already lengthy list of credits. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee and Grammy-winning artist will guest star on Cartoon Network’s hit series Craig of the Creek. The episode will premiere Monday, April 3 (5 p.m. ET/PT).
Titled “The Jump Off,” the episode finds series characters Craig, Cannonball, Sparkle Cadet and Diane gearing up for a Double Dutch tournament. When the group asks Craig’s mom Nicole for a few pointers, she tells them a story about her own Double Dutch rivalry with a girl named Carla Frazier, voiced by Elliott, at the regionals (pictured holding the trophy in the art above).
“I’m so excited to be part of this Craig of the Creek episode,” Elliott tells Billboard exclusively via email. “Voicing the Carla character was perfect for me as I am a huge Double Dutch fan. I hope the fans enjoy the episode!”
According to Jeff Trammell, one of the writers of “The Jump Off” episode, the idea of Elliott voicing a guest role on the series took shape while the team was working on the show’s Halloween episode, “Trick or Creek.” Supervising director Tiffany Ford had pitched the notion of having Craig’s mom, Nicole, dress up as Elliott’s iconic image from the rapper’s video for “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly).”
“The second the [costume] idea came up,” Trammell tells Billboard, “we knew we had to pay homage to one of the greatest musicians of our lifetime and thought it would be cool if Missy somehow saw it. The fact that she not only saw it but was a fan of our shoutout meant the world. So we were hopeful she’d agree to do an episode of ‘Craig of the Creek.’ Needless to say, once Missy agreed, we were thrilled and thought a fun twist on Nicole’s costume would be to have Missy voice Nicole’s (extremely one-sided) rival Carla Frazier, jump-rope extraordinaire. As with everything, Missy knocked it out of the park. We couldn’t have been more excited to work with her; a dream come true for the entire crew.”
In the fall of 2012, Richie Hawtin took to the road in the United States for CNTRL, a college campus tour intended to educate young audiences about the history of dance music. The run included lectures by day — and, naturally, dancing after dark.
The timing wasn’t accidental. This was the dawn of the EDM era, with big room sounds lighting up mainstages at emerging festivals and mega-clubs around the U.S., pulling in a new generation of dance music fans like moths to a pyro flame.
Hawtin, sensing which way the wind was blowing, organized CNTRL to show nascent dance music fans electronic sounds beyond EDM, with Hawtin serving as a key figure of techno and minimal techno since the Canadian producer first got into the sound in the late ’80s. (His hometown in Windsor, Ontario was, after all, just a short drive from Detroit, the birthplace of techno.)
Over the last decade, Hawtin’s vision of getting the masses into techno worked — in fact, maybe too well. Over the last half decade the sound has thumped out of the underground and onto mainstages, with one strain of it in particular — tech house — becoming the United States’ most trendy and hyped dance music genre of the moment, supplanting EDM.
“It feels like what’s happened is, the sound of techno was actually influenced by that EDM boom,” Hawtin says over Zoom. “What’s happening in the scene is really a mixture of techno from the ’90s and EDM sensibilities of big drops and personality-led music. It’s been a huge kind of jumbled-up, even confusing development the last four or five years.”
Once again reading the room, Hawtin decided it was time for another tour intended to educate audiences via the dancefloor. Wrapping earlier this month, this eight-show run — From Our Minds — hit cities in the U.S. and Canada and featured a crew of rising techno producers (“other like-minded weirdos,” Hawtin calls them) who he selected for their skills in making techno with a “faster, ferocious type of tempo and strength, but it’s much more minimal.” (One of the featured artists, Lindsey Herbert, in fact discovered techno while attending a CNTRL set back in 2012.)
Hawtin sees this crew — Herbert, Barbosa, Declan James, Decoder, Henry Brooks, Jay York, Michelle Sparks, with support from Deep Pedi, Huey Mnemonic and Jia — as part of a network of underground producers that gelled during the pandemic. He calls this time “a great incubator for new talent, as it kind of leveled the playing field. Anybody who could plug in a computer and stream or make good set had a better opportunity to reach fans sitting at home, and not going to clubs, and not expecting international tours. I think that was the thing, especially in North America, that helped a new generation of artists come through more than they had in the last couple of years.”
The post-pandemic moment in fact reminded Hawtin of his own early days in the scene — just one more full circle moment inherent in From Our Minds. Here, Hawtin reflects on the tour, and and on techno at large.
Given the prevalence of techno currently in the States, do you feel satisfied with where it’s all at? Are you satisfied with the sound?
Yeah, that’s a good question. “Satisfied” is a good word. I think part of me is satisfied that electronic music and even a form of techno has now really become mainstream. It’s huge. Where you could have said in the past on the big stages that it was a form of trance, or some form of house — now it is definitely a form of techno. And yeah, that satisfies the kid who always wanted to see more people come into the door of techno.
But it doesn’t satisfy my need to feel that I’m part of something which is alternative. Because I don’t think all the music that is played on the bigger stages now is actually made, created or enjoyed by people who feel a little bit different than the masses.
How do you mean?
I was talking to everyone on the tour, and we all kind of got into this music because we didn’t really fit in. We felt like we were the weirdos. I guess I don’t feel as weird as I used to be — maybe I’m pretty normal now — but that was a big part of the attraction, that it wasn’t what everybody else was listening to. So although part of my psyche can accept some satisfaction, part of my of my inner being was very excited and satiated and inspired to go back on tour with other like-minded weirdos playing stripped down, minimalistic music, and playing to crowds that when you looked out, felt like they were a bit of the outcasts and had found themselves on another dirty dance floor.
It’s almost like what you were trying to do with CNTRL, in terms of educating mainstream audiences about the roots of dance music, worked too well, and it’s like, “oh, no — it’s so big now that it’s become mainstream too.”
Yeah. Be careful what you wish for. I’ve thought about that a lot — how the juggernaut of techno grew to this size. I remember certain decisions [I made]; I even I reread a couple of old interviews back from 20, 25 years ago, and things I said or did to actually welcome people into this world. I never wanted it to be just so insular and insider that it became hierarchical.
Electronic music, techno music, the music that started my career and that grabbed me back in the late ’80s, was something very different than what else was going on [then.] It made me feel welcome and invited lots of diversity and introduced me to people I never would have met in any other circumstance. I hope those ideals are still on the dance floors I’m playing to. I think as the music and the scene gets bigger and does welcome all types of people, the bigger it gets, the less that happens and the more homogenous the dance floor becomes.
Why do you think size and growth induces homogenization?
Is there an answer? Can I make one without, like, talking down on someone? I think an open, eclectic, free-forming dance floor needs to be led and/or inhabited by lots of very open-minded people. And I actually think as much as the internet and social media has spread the idea of “let’s all be different,” it’s also spread the idea of “let’s all be the same.” When social media and these platforms are our main source of promotion, and marketing, and letting people know what’s out there — the bigger you get, the more focused it becomes on the image, on the sound, on the personality, on everything else.
The globalization facilitated by social media kind of flatlines things in a way where it all looks the same, regardless of territory.
When you’re thinking about music, and places like Spotify, and this long tail that they speak about, it’s all the weird stuff at the end [of that tail.] And the mass stuff isn’t just like, great pop music — it’s a lot of things that sound the same. It’s the same artists over and over again. I was just talking to a friend of mine about a rather large electronic musician who just had a new album out. I was like, “It just seems like they’ve invited a bunch of other people in to collaborate, just like every other pop album seems to do.” It’s so much the same.
You mentioned house big techno has gotten, but how is it evolving into those weirder spaces that you like?
Really, what I intended to showcase on the tour is the type of music I’ve always loved. It takes cues from what’s happening and from other strains of electronic music right now, which is definitely based upon a much faster, ferocious type of tempo and strength — but it’s much more minimal, which of course, I love. It’s stripped of most vocals and any other kind of sample references, and it’s just hypnotic.
I was talking recently with another artist who’d just done a gig in New York. It was a big warehouse party, but they were playing more of that [hypnotic] style of music and weren’t sure about the reaction, because people weren’t putting their hands up in the air. And nothing against hands in the air — [at] an outside venue or big festival, that makes sense. But in a warehouse where it’s dark and pummeling, I think the best thing you can do is let people lose themselves in music and maybe not react, maybe not look at you. Maybe you shouldn’t be on stage. At all of our events, we had everyone basically on the floor, or maybe one step up, just so people could see their heads.
A set-up that de-emphasizes the artist.
Yeah, it does. I don’t know if we want or need to go back to the the faceless DJ in the corner who never got any actual notice or respect — maybe that would be too far. As part of the tour we brought on a company called Aslice, which allows [artists] to upload [the setlist] after the event, and [people can] donate money to those songs — kind of like a tipping jar — to bring some more money to the producers who are making music, and who are just not making enough through all the different avenues out there, specifically streaming.
I’m part of [the company], and I feel very strongly about that kind of initiative. Because one, the artists and producers need that money, but two, it also reminds us that no matter how good the superstar DJ is at the head of the dance floor, if they’re not playing great music, they’re not gonna go anywhere.
Right. It also de-emphasizes the artist onstage and reminds people that it took a lot of artists to create that set.
This tour is also to remember and celebrate that we’re all wrapped up in music [made by people] who aren’t actually there. That’s a really special situation, where other people’s music is being played, and somebody else is controlling it and that people are losing themselves on music they’ve maybe never heard before or will never hear again. That’s not like 99% of people who go to 99% of the concerts out there, who are hoping to hear and sing along with their favorite song.
It sounds like this tour allowed you to present artists you’re excited about in a format you really believe in.
The the format of the dance floor, the dark warehouse, the simplicity of that, is the foundation of where this whole scene came from. As we said, we can be satisfied that it’s actually [become] so many different things. But if the foundation isn’t kept going, and if the foundation isn’t respected, and if the unseen artists and producers [aren’t respected], then it all starts to unravel. If I’ve played a little bit of a part in helping things grow over the last 30 years, and I also want to be part of making sure that foundation stays strong for the next 30 years.
College of the Ozark hosted Mike Rowe of the popular television show, Dirty Jobs, Tuesday night in their Spring Work Ethic Forum.
Rowe spent the day visiting the various student-run work stations around campus, participating in jobs such as tending to the livestock, baking the campus’ famous fruitcake, and more.
“We don’t come into the world fully formed with the kind of work ethic that you all celebrate here at College of the Ozarks,” Rowe said. “That has to be taught, and that’s why I wanted to come here because you are teaching it. It’s not just a lecture or a sermon, you’re actually doing it.”
Rowe encouraged College of the Ozarks students to change their mindset when looking at what it means to work a job.
“I think we all have to find our own path,” Rowe said. “If you want to look at it as something more than merely transactional, then you have to love it. You have to be passionate about your job, even if your job isn’t your passion.”
In August 1989 — 26 years after releasing their first single, and seven years since their last tour — The Rolling Stones hit the road. Over the next calendar year, the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour took the rock legends around the world, playing over 100 shows and reaffirming their commercial clout.
Two similarly epic yearlong treks — 1994-95’s Voodoo Lounge world tour and 1997-98’s Bridges to Babylon tour — followed; the three outings grossed $661.7 million combined, according to Billboard Boxscore, or roughly $1.3 billion today, adjusted for inflation. In the process, the Stones defined what middle age could look like for rock artists and proved that established acts with deep catalogs and legions of fans still had touring potency.
As the Stones crisscrossed the globe in the ’90s, new rock heroes like blink-182 and Weezer were making names for themselves. Now, three decades later, those acts are as deep into their careers as the Stones were into theirs in the ’90s. And as older touring stalwarts like Paul McCartney, Elton John and the Stones stare down their golden years, alt-rock’s now middle-aged lodestars have started to assume the mantle of reliable, top-grossing arena and stadium artists (and at roughly the same time that their most loyal fans, who’ve aged along with them, have deeper pockets to afford such tickets). But the blueprint they’re using isn’t identical to their precursors.
The 2021-22 Hella Mega Tour took Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer to stadiums in the United States and Europe — proving along the way to fans and industry insiders alike that alt-rockers of the ’90s and early aughts could now fill the kinds of venues that were once only the provenance of pop stars and classic rock acts.
“Hella Mega obviously laid some framework for, ‘Hey, these rock tours are still really, really big; these songs are still so relevant,’ ” says Live Nation global tour promoter Steve Ackles, who worked on the team behind the stadium run. “Green Day, blink-182, a lot of those bands in that genre, the songs really never went away. I think there’s an authenticity in their songwriting that has just created timeless music.”
With a gross of $92.2 million, according to Billboard Boxscore, the bill also proved the commercial viability of package tours, the format that forgoes lesser-known openers in favor of support artists who themselves can drive substantial ticket sales. “It was one plus one plus one equals five,” says Crush Music co-founder Bob McLynn, whose company manages Hella Mega’s three marquee bands. “I definitely know it influenced a lot of the different tours out there. A package is nothing new, but I think a package of that nature was definitely groundbreaking.”
On Hella Mega, Weezer played before Fall Out Boy and Green Day, but this year, the band will headline amphitheaters on its Indie Rock Roadtrip, a package offering with rotating support from Modest Mouse, Spoon, Future Islands, Momma, Joyce Manor and White Reaper. “I think their touring is stronger than ever,” McLynn says of Weezer, which toured the United States every year from 2008 to 2019. “I think the fan base is stronger than ever, and I think continuing to put out great new music is a part of that.”
Since 2019, Weezer has released four albums and four EPs, which have spawned four No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart. McLynn recognizes that “there’s legacies tied to all these acts” but emphasizes the importance of “not just playing defense with the brand, [but] playing offense with it.”
“There’s definitely acts out there that just kind of rest on their brand and their catalog, and they go out and they do successful tours,” he continues. “But most of the acts we work with really are about innovating, and they’re still hungry to make new and better music.” In doing so, a band like Weezer can remain front of mind for existing fans while, critically, reaching new ones — who, thanks to the accessibility that streaming offers, can become superfans in short order.
Pop-punk legends blink-182 co-headlined the Bleezer Tour with Weezer in 2009, and this year will set out on a hotly anticipated trek of its own. While blink-182 toured in the latter half of the 2010s, it hasn’t hit the road with founding member Tom DeLonge since 2014, making its 2023 arena outing — which coincides with an upcoming new album by the original trio and a 13-week Alternative Airplay No. 1 in October’s “Edging” — a must-see for fans.
“This was by far the fastest-selling tour of their career,” says CAA co-head of North American touring and music agent Darryl Eaton, who has booked the band since 1999. “We’ve done the numbers in the past, but we’ve never done the numbers at this velocity.” For Eaton, while blink-182 has a strong foundation of classic hits and longtime fans, it’s far from a nostalgia act, narrowly defined. “I’ve always marveled at how they absolutely regenerate a young fan base,” he says.
Blink-182 hasn’t embarked on its tour yet — drummer Travis Barker sustained a gnarly finger injury in rehearsal, forcing a postponement of the run’s first leg, in South America, until 2024 — but Eaton makes informed predictions about its audience today based on the success of 2022’s pop-punk-focused Las Vegas fest When We Were Young, which blink-182 will headline along with Green Day this fall. At When We Were Young, “it was a lot of young kids,” he says. “Yeah, a lot of people in their 30s and 40s [were] going and reliving it, but it was also a huge amount of energy and interest in a much younger audience.”
Death Cab for Cutie debuted slightly later than Weezer or blink-182 — its first album, Something About Airplanes, dropped in 1998 — but has followed a similar path to becoming a road fixture: consistent touring, reverence for its catalog, commercially successful new material and a big-tent approach that welcomes returning fans along with new ones. This fall, Death Cab will embark on one of its biggest tours to date, and one that was informed partly by industry trends — albeit with a twist.
“COVID-19 happened, but even before then, we started seeing the proliferation of these package tours,” says Brilliant Corners founding partner Jordan Kurland, who has managed Death Cab since 2003, citing Hella Mega as an example. But for Death Cab frontman Ben Gibbard, this fall’s package tour will be an unusual co-headline — one with himself. Shortly before the pandemic, Gibbard had broached the idea of a tour featuring Death Cab and The Postal Service (his one-off project with producer Jimmy Tamborello and singer Jenny Lewis), pegged to the 20th anniversaries of their respective 2003 classics, Transatlanticism and Give Up, to Kurland and longtime agent Trey Many of Wasserman. “It took a little while to settle in, and then as we started seeing this trend, touring these packages, we’re like, ‘Holy sh-t, this is a great idea,’ ” Kurland says.
The tour announcement earned an immediate and passionate response as elder millennials cheered the sentimental bill — Gibbard will play the entirety of both albums at a mix of arenas, amphitheaters and theaters — and younger fans delighted in the opportunity to see The Postal Service, which has only toured twice (in 2003 and 2013) for the first time. But while the rare Postal Service outing, along with Death Cab’s decision to play Transatlanticism, make this tour unique, the latter band has, through reliable performances and consistent releases (including 2022’s acclaimed Asphalt Meadows, which yielded the Alternative Airplay No. 1 “Here to Forever”), cultivated the kind of loyal live following that transcends nostalgia. When Death Cab played Denver-area Red Rocks Amphitheatre in September 2021, “there were a lot of high school kids,” Kurland recalls. “Death Cab has now become a band that gets handed down, whether it’s from parents or older siblings. The band is still finding new people.”
“Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, boomers; it’s a little bit of everybody,” Many adds. “Death Cab has continued to gain those younger fans as they continue to work and play great shows and make great records.”
That may ultimately be the key to touring longevity for rock’s new classics. Acts like Weezer, blink-182 and Death Cab have matured without sacrificing creative vitality or commercial relevance; by comparison, consider Billy Joel, who hasn’t released a rock album since 1993 but still tours a beloved catalog that spanned 22 years in stadiums and arenas, or other peers whose token new songs have long been derisively classified as fodder for bathroom breaks.
“Songs will outlast any sort of genre spike,” Many says. “Great songs go beyond the initial scene that maybe helped make them popular.”
“These catalogs have always stood the test of time,” notes Live Nation’s Ackles. “And now, I think you might have more and more of these bands saying, ‘Hey, let’s go out on a tour.’ ”
Grammy Award winners Flume and Rufus Du Sol are among the artists and songwriters scoring multiple nominations for the 2023 APRA Music Awards, set for April 27 at ICC Sydney.
Also twice nominated for circular trophies are Spacey Jane, King Stingray, Sarah Aarons, Vincent Goodyer, Ruel, M-Phazes, Vance Joy and others, according to APRA, which published its roll call in full on Thursday (March 30).
This year, the most performed international work category will be contested by songs by Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles and Lil Nas X, as well as Adele and GAYLE.
The top prize, the peer-voted song of the year, features works recorded by Daniel Johns (“I Feel Electric”), King Stingray (“Lupa”), Julia Jacklin (“Lydia Wears a Cross”), Flume (“Say Nothing” featuring MAY-A) and the late Archie Roach “One Song”.
Established in 1982, the Australasian Performing Right Association’s annual songwriters’ ceremony is one of the Australian music industry’s most treasured events, a worthy counterpart to Britain’s Ivor Novello Awards.
The special moments in the APRAs program includes the performance of those song of the year nominees, often completely reimagined, by another star from Australia’s scene.
Celia Pacquola, Fred Leone and Henry Wagons are co-hosts on the night, and François Tétaz is musical director.
See the full list of 2023 APRA Awards nominees below.
Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year
Title: I Feel Electric Artist: Daniel Johns Writers: Daniel Johns / Laura Raia / Maxwell Bidstrup^ / Mark Landon+ Publishers: BMG^ / Concord Music Publishing+
Title: Lupa Artist: King Stingray Writer: Yirrŋa Gotjiringu Yunupingu Publisher: Sony Music Publishing
Title: Lydia Wears a Cross Artist: Julia Jacklin Writer: Julia Jacklin Publisher: Mushroom Music
Title: One Song Artist: Archie Roach Writer: Archie Roach Publisher: Mushroom Music
Title: Say Nothing (feat. MAY-A) Artist: Flume Writers: Flume* / Sarah Aarons Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Future Classic* / Sony Music Publishing
Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year
Writer: 18YOMAN (Vincent Goodyer) Publisher: Universal/MCA Music Publishing
Writers: Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu, Caleb Harper, Kieran Lama & Peppa Lane (Spacey Jane) Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Dew Process
Writer: Budjerah Publisher: Mushroom Music
Writers: Roy Kellaway & Yirrŋa Gotjiringu Yunupingu (King Stingray) Publisher: Sony Music Publishing
Writer: Sampa the Great Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing
Most Performed Australian Work
Title: Clarity Artist: Vance Joy Writers: Vance Joy / Joel Little* Publishers: Mushroom Music obo UNIFIED / Sony Music Publishing*
Title: Growing Up Is ___ Artist: Ruel Writers: Ruel Van Dijk / Mark Landon* / Julian Bunetta^ Publishers: Universal Music Publishing / Concord Music Publishing* / Mushroom Music obo Hipgnosis^
Title: Hurtless Artist: Dean Lewis Writers: Dean Lewis / Jon Hume* Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing / Concord Music Publishing*
Title: On My Knees Artist: RÜFÜS DU SOL Writers: Jonathon George / James Hunt / Tyrone Lindqvist / Jason Evigan* Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing / Sony Music Publishing*
Title: STAY Artist: The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber Writers: The Kid LAROI / Justin Bieber* / Isaac De Boni# / Omer Fedi* / Magnus Hoiberg^ / Michael Mule# / Charlie Puth+ / Subhaan Rahman^ / Blake Slatkin* Publishers: Sony Music Publishing / Universal/MCA Music Publishing* / Warner Chappell Music^ / Kobalt Music Publishing+ / Concord Music Publishing#
Most Performed Alternative Work
Title: Apple Crumble Artist: Lime Cordiale and Idris Elba Writers: Louis Leimbach* / Oli Leimbach* / Dave Hammer^ / Idris Elba* Publishers: Universal Music Publishing* / Kobalt Music Publishing^
Title: Hurtless Artist: Dean Lewis Writers: Dean Lewis / Jon Hume* Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing / Concord Music Publishing*
Title: The Man Himself Artist: Gang of Youths Writers: Dominik Borzestowski / Maxwell Dunn / Thomas Hobden / Jung Kim / David Le’aupepe* Publisher: Universal Music Publishing*
Title: Superstar Artist: Sycco Writer: Sasha McLeod pka Sycco Publisher: Sony Music Publishing
Title: Touch Back Down Artist: Ocean Alley Writers: Nicholas Blom / Baden Donegal / Lachlan Galbraith / Mitchell Galbraith / Angus Goodwin / Tom O’Brien Publisher: Warner Chappell Music
Title: Waste A Day Artist: The Rubens Writers: Scott Baldwin / Elliott Margin / Sam Margin / Zaac Margin / William Zeglis Publishers: Mushroom Music obo Ivy League Music
Most Performed Blues & Roots Work
Title: I Believe Artist: Ziggy Alberts Writer: Ziggy Alberts Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing
Title: I Want You To Know Artist: Ash Grunwald Writers: Ash Grunwald / Fergus James Publisher: Mushroom Music
Title: Livin’ Like Kings Artist: The Black Sorrows Writers: Joe Camilleri / Nicholas Smith* Publishers: Mushroom Music / Jesharo Music*
Title: My Heart Is In The Wrong Place Artist: Vika & Linda Writer: Ben Salter Publisher: Universal Music Publishing
Title: We Deserve To Dream Artist: Xavier Rudd Writer: Xavier Rudd Publisher: Sony Music Publishing
Most Performed Country Work
Title: Get It Girl Artist: Taylor Moss Writers: Taylor Moss / Michael Delorenzis* / Michael Paynter* / Alys Edwards Publisher: Mushroom Music*
Title: God Took His Time On You Artist: Casey Barnes Writers: Casey Barnes / Kaci Brown* / Samuel Gray* Publishers: Mushroom Music / Kobalt Music Publishing*
Title: Good Beer Artist: Seaforth Writers: Jordan Dozzi / Thomas Jordan / Mitchell Thompson / Rocky Block Publisher: Warner Chappell Music
Title: Love Is Real Artist: Morgan Evans Writers: Morgan Evans / Parker Nohe / Jordan Reynolds Publisher: Warner Chappell Music
Title: Raised Like That Artist: James Johnston Writer: James Johnston
Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work
Title: Heavy Artist: Flight Facilities feat. Your Smith Writers: Hugo Gruzman* / James Lyell* / Jono Ma / Caroline Smith^ Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Future Classic* / Concord Music Publishing^
Title: On My Knees Artist: RÜFÜS DU SOL Writers: Jonathon George / James Hunt / Tyrone Lindqvist / Jason Evigan* Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing / Sony Music Publishing*
Title: Say Nothing (feat. MAY-A) Artist: Flume Writers: Flume* / Sarah Aarons Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Future Classic* / Sony Music Publishing
Most Performed Hip Hop / Rap Work
Title: LET’S TROT! Artist: Brothers & Joel Fletcher Writers: Bassam Ahmad / Issam Ahmad / Joel Fletcher* Publisher: 120 Publishing*
Title: Not Sober Artist: The Kid LAROI feat. Polo G & Stunna Gambino Writers: The Kid LAROI* / Khaled Rohaim^ / Stunna Gambino / Polo G* / Subhaan Rahman+ Publishers: Sony Music Publishing* / Universal/MCA Music Publishing^ / Warner Chappell+
Title: Show Business Artist: Hilltop Hoods feat. Eamon Writers: Barry Francis (DJ Debris)* / Matthew Lambert (Suffa)* / Daniel Smith (MC Pressure)* / Andrew Burford Publishers: Sony Music Publishing* / Universal Music Publishing
Title: Wicked Artist: Say True God? Writer: Nixon Jackson
Title: Wish You Well Artist: Baker Boy feat. Bernard Fanning Writers: Baker Boy / Bernard Fanning* / Pip Norman^ Publishers: Universal Music Publishing* / Mushroom Music^
Most Performed Pop Work
Title: Clarity Artist: Vance Joy Writers: Vance Joy / Joel Little* Publishers: Mushroom Music obo UNIFIED / Sony Music Publishing*
Title: Complete Mess Artist: 5 Seconds of Summer Writers: Michael Clifford / Luke Hemmings / Calum Hood / Ashton Irwin Publisher: Sony Music Publishing
Title: Glow Artist: Jessica Mauboy Writers: Jessica Mauboy / Jessica Higgs* / Cosmo Liney* / Patrick Liney* Publishers: Universal Music Publishing / Kobalt Music Publishing*
Title: Growing Up Is ___ Artist: Ruel Writers: Ruel Van Dijk / Mark Landon* / Julian Bunetta^ Publishers: Universal Music Publishing / Concord Music Publishing* / Mushroom Music obo Hipgnosis^
Title: STAY Artist: The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber Writers: The Kid LAROI / Justin Bieber* / Isaac De Boni# / Omer Fedi* / Magnus Hoiberg^ / Michael Mule# / Charlie Puth+ / Subhaan Rahman^ / Blake Slatkin* Publishers: Sony Music Publishing / Universal/MCA Music Publishing* / Warner Chappell Music^ / Kobalt Music Publishing+ / Concord Music Publishing#
Most Performed R&B / Soul Work
Title: Bang My Line Artist: Cosmo’s Midnight feat. Tkay Maidza Writers: Cosmo Liney / Patrick Liney / Tkay Maidza / Brett Ramson* Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing / BMG*
Title: Safety Artist: Becca Hatch Writers: Becca Hatch / Hau Latukefu / Jamie Muscat / Willie Tafa / Solo Tohi* Publisher: Sony Music Publishing*
Title: Send My Love Artist: Jordan Rakei Writers: Jordan Rakei* / Imraan Paleker / Jonathan Harvey / Christopher Hyson / James Macrae Publisher: Sony Music Publishing*
Title: Still Dream Artist: Miiesha Writers: Miiesha* / Lucy Blomkamp* / Stephen Collins Publisher: Sony Music Publishing*
Title: Tuesday Artist: KYE feat. Jerome Farah Writers: Kylie Chirunga* / Jerome Farah^ / Jacob Farah^ / Vincent Goodyer+ Publishers: Sentric Music Publishing* / Mushroom Music^ / Universal/MCA Music Publishing+
Most Performed Rock Work
Title: Around in Circles Artist: Jimmy Barnes Writers: Jimmy Barnes / Jane Barnes* / Mark Lizotte* Publishers: Sony Music Publishing / Mushroom Music*
Title: Lunchtime Artist: Spacey Jane Writers: Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu / Caleb Harper / Kieran Lama / Peppa Lane Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Dew Process
Title: Milkumana Artist: King Stingray Writers: Roy Kellaway / Yirrŋa Gotjiringu Yunupingu Publisher: Sony Music Publishing
Title: Rising Seas Artist: Midnight Oil Writer: Jim Moginie Publisher: Sony Music Publishing
Title: Struck By Lightning Artist: The Chats Writers: Matthew Boggis / Joshua Hardy / Eamon Sandwith Publisher: Universal Music Publishing
Most Performed International Work
Title: abcdefu Artist: GAYLE Writers: Taylor Rutherfurd / Sara Davis* / David Pittenger^ Publishers: Universal/MCA Music Publishing / Peermusic* / Downtown Music^
Title: As It Was Artist: Harry Styles Writers: Harry Styles / Thomas Hull / Tyler Johnson* Publishers: Universal Music Publishing / Concord Music Publishing*
Title: Easy On Me Artist: Adele Writers: Adele / Greg Kurstin* Publishers: Universal Music Publishing / Sony Music Publishing*
Title: Shivers Artist: Ed Sheeran Writers: Ed Sheeran* / Kal Lavelle* / Steve Mac^ / Johnny McDaid* Publishers: Sony Music Publishing* / Universal Music Publishing^
Title: That’s What I Want Artist: Lil Nas X Writers: Lil Nas X / Keegan Bach* / Omer Fedi^ / Blake Slatkin^ / Ryan Tedder+ Publishers: Sony Music Publishing / Kobalt Music Publishing* / Universal/MCA Music Publishing^ / Downtown Music+
The fast-flying, all-world success of Stray Kids truly is oddinary.
The K-pop stars were one of the biggest acts on the planet in 2022, proof of which was confirmed in recent weeks by the IFPI, which ranked the singers at No. 7 in its top 10 chart for recording artists, ahead of Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran.
After blasting to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with Maxident (via JYP/Imperial/Republic Records), the group’s second leader, Stray Kids’ hit album went on to crack the year-end global top 10, ahead of LPs by BlackPink and Olivia Rodrigo.
The eight-strong South Korean group — Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N. — is hot, and they’re here.
The lads are currently stateside to make up the previously-postponed dates in Atlanta and Fort Worth as part of their Maniac World Tour, and hold their first-ever stadium concerts in the United States for a pair of shows at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium on March 31 and April 2.
But first, a late-night TV warmup. Stray Kids stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday night (March 29) for a tightly-choreographed performance of “Maniac,” lifted from the 2022 mini album ODDINARY, the band’s first leader on the all-genres Billboard 200.
Wisin & Yandel and Rosalía take over Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart as “Besos Moja2” rises 2-1 to lead the April 1-dated ranking. The new champ hits the top after the song’s domination on Latin Rhythm Airplay, where it holds strong at No. 1 for a fourth week.
“Besos Moja2” is a contemporary reggaetón version of Wisin & Yandel’s “Besos Mojados” produced by Luney Tunes and originally released as part of the duo’s sixth studio album, La Revolución (No. 1 on Top Latin Albums, May 2009). The new Rosalía-assisted version stems from the Puerto Rican’s 10th and farewell full-length set as a duo, La Última Misión, which debuted and peaked at No. 14 on Top Latin Albums and reached top 10 on Latin Rhythm Albums last October.
“Besos Moja2,” produced by the same team plus Los Legendarios and Noah Goldstein, stretches to No. 1 on Latin Airplay, after two weeks in the runner-up slot, with a 3% increase in audience impressions, to 12 million, earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 23, according to Luminate.
The collab gives Wisin & Yandel their 16th No. 1. The duo extends its record for the most champs among groups, ahead of Mana’s 11 leaders, and Zion & Lennox’s eight No. 1s. Among all acts, J Balvin continues to lead with 35 No. 1s. “Besos Moja2” arrives atop of the chart following Wisin & Yandel’s one week command through “Mayor Que Usted,” with Natti Natasha and Daddy Yankee, in September 2022.
Rosalía, meanwhile, secures her seventh No. 1, and sixth consecutive, after conquering Latin Airplay also for one week with the bachata “El Pañuelo,” with Romeo Santos on the survey dated Feb. 25.
Songwriter Keith Reid — the lyricist for Procol Harum, who co-wrote the band’s highest-charting hit, “A Whiter Shade of Pale” — has died at age 76, his family and the band announced Wednesday (March 29).
“We are sad to hear of the death of Keith Reid,” a statement on Procol Harum’s Facebook page read. “An unparalleled lyricist Keith wrote the words to virtually all Procol Harum songs, as well as co-writing the John Farnham hit ‘You’re the Voice.’ His lyrics were one of a kind and helped to shape the music created by the band. His imaginative, surreal and multi-layered words were a joy to Procol fans and their complexity by design was a powerful addition [to] the Procol Harum catalogue. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.”
The news was initially revealed in an email from Reid’s wife, Pinkey, to friends of the lyricist, according to BestClassicBands.com. The cause of death was cancer.
Reid co-founded the band with his friend Gary Booker, Procol Harum’s lead singer, pianist and composer who died last year, also at age 76.
The band is likely best known for their 1967 debut single “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Singles category in 2018. The track sold 10 million copies worldwide, spent six weeks atop the U.K. singles chart, and reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Procol Harum had two other top 40 Hot 100 hits, both co-written by Reid: “Homburg” (No. 34 in 1967) and “Conquistador” (No. 16 in 1972).
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