Month: March 2023

What conscious uncoupling? Gwyneth Paltrow took to social media Thursday (March 2) to ring in ex-husband Chris Martin‘s 46th birthday.

“Happy birthday to the sweetest father and friend,” the Oscar winner wrote on Instagram alongside a casual smiling selfie with the Coldplay frontman, ending the note with “We love you, cajm.” (The acronym likely stands for the singer’s full name, Christopher Anthony John Martin.)

The couple — who famously coined the phrase “conscious uncoupling” upon announcing their split in 2014 — shared kids Apple and Moses. Paltrow has since remarried Brad Falchuk, whom she worked with on the set of Glee, and Martin has been in a relationship with Dakota Johnson since 2017.

Late last month, the “My Universe” singer was named a co-chair for Global Citizen’s upcoming NOW Summit — an additional responsibility on top of his current role curating the nonprofit’s annual festival in Central Park. Along with fellow co-chair Hugh Jackman and an array of leaders across politics, philanthropy and business, Martin will be “focused on turning ideas into impact and driving urgent action to end extreme poverty” during the April 27-28 event.

Ahead of his birthday, the pop-rocker and his bandmates also returned to Saturday Night Live in February, marking their seventh time performing on the long-running sketch series. As musical guests, they performed “The Astronaut,” their collaboration with BTS member Jin, and were later joined by Jacob Collier and the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers on a choral version of “Fix You.”

Check out Paltrow’s sweet birthday wishes for Martin below.

Eight years ago, Mike Bahía and Greeicy did their first joint concert in Colombia with a very theatrical concept — storytelling, acting, singing, dancing and more — rather than doing just another concert. Since, the two Colombian artists, who have shined in their individual careers, have made the rounds all over Latin America with their very successful “Amantes Tour.” 

Now, for the first time, they are touring the U.S. in key theater venues with their 10-month-old baby, Kai. 

“After the first show we did in 2015, we realized that it’s a show for the family,” Greeicy tells Billboard. “We saw children, we saw the grandmother, the cousin, the parents, and today that Kai is part of our lives it makes more sense because it’s aimed at the family represented by a family. I feel that with the years, ‘Amantes Tour’ gains more strength.” 

Presented by Loud and Live, the U.S. trek kicked off Feb. 23 at the Colden Auditorium in New York and wraps March 3 at Houston’s Arena Theatre. Hitting the road has been possible thanks to the couple’s beloved family, who travels with them to take care of their baby backstage. 

“If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to leave for three days, my peace of mind wouldn’t be good if it wasn’t for our family,” the singer and actress adds. “I feel we are privileged because we have a son who adapts to our lifestyle and we have people who support us and help us. I love the job of being a mom but I also love all of this. I think that during my pregnancy I did more things than I have ever done in my life and it’s very nice because I feel that as the years go by, we are going to look back at all the memories with Kai.” 

In the midst of their touring life, Greeicy and Bahía released a new collaborative effort called “Mi Pecadito” (my little sin). The playful bachata narrates the story of two people who like each other but have other commitments — think a sequel to their 2017 hit “Amantes.” 

“The musical exploration has continued,” says Bahía, whose recent solo single happens to be a salsa track. “I feel that we have given a lot of priority to the songs more than the rhythms but we feel comfortable making tropical music. When I listen to it, it makes me want to dance and that’s why we explore these rhythms with more confidence.” 

“The musical exploration has continued,” says Bahía, whose recent solo single happens to be a salsa track. “I feel that we have given a lot of priority to the songs more than the rhythms but we feel comfortable making tropical music. When I listen to it, it makes me want to dance and that’s why we explore these rhythms with more confidence.”

Following their U.S. tour, the family-of-three plans to move to Miami, Fla., and leave behind their countryside lifestyle in Medellín, for the time being. 

“I feel that this city is going to do us very well,” explains Bahía. “In addition to that it will do Kai very well. Kai will begin to acquire the [English] language. We’re going to live near the sea and let our careers grow and explore other things we haven’t done before. Back in Colombia, we reached our comfort zone. We could continue there or challenge ourselves to meet new goals.”

Charli XCX has a confession to make. When Harry Styles thanked her and her contemporaries during his artist of the year acceptance speech at last month’s Brit Awards, she was nowhere to be found — and now she’s revealing why.

The “Crash” singer appeared on the Thursday (March 2) episode of The Project and shared that her appearance at the Brits was meant to be spicy from the start. “I was just gonna go and cause trouble because I feel like if they’re not going to take female artists seriously, then why should I take them seriously? So I just went to stir the pot, basically,” she recalled on the program.

Ahead of the awards show on Feb. 11, Charli went viral for calling the awards show out for a lack of female representation in the artist of the year category. “I’ve heard a lot of chat about the fact there weren’t enough females in album cycle and that’s why no one was nominated. But I was in album cycle and I had a [U.K.] No. 1 album [with Crash],” she told a reporter on the red carpet.

When Styles accepted the artist of the year award, he used his speech to highlight the women left out of the category. “I’m really, really grateful for this and I’m very aware of my privilege up here tonight,” the “As It Was” singer said during his acceptance. “So this award is for Rina [Sawayama], Charli [XCX], Florence [Welch], Mabel and Becky [Hill].”

According to Charli, she was not mentally present for Styles’ show of admiration during his acceptance speech. “I have such a confession — I was actually under the table at that point…with my friends, we just had too many bottles of champagne and we were doing bad things, so I actually missed that,” she told The Project. “And then Rina, who Harry also mentioned in that speech, was kicking me: ‘Get up, get up! Harry Styles is saying your name!’ and then I was like, ‘Oh that’s so lovely,’ but I missed it. That’s very sweet of him. It’s cool of him to use his platform to acknowledge my point.”

Up next for Charli is a new two-album contract, though she has yet to share what record label she has signed to. Watch Charli talk about her time at the BRITs in the video above.

Ariana DeBose, who won an Oscar for best supporting actress last year for West Side Story and received even more attention recently after performing a piece of special material at the BAFTAs on Feb. 19, is set to present on this year’s Oscars on March 12. Will DeBose address the social-media brouhaha over her BAFTAs performance? Place your bets.

Other presenters include: Dwayne Johnson (The Rock), who made an appearance on last month’s Grammy Awards, meeting superfan Adele and later presenting her with the award for best pop solo performance; Janelle Monáe, who has juggled film and recording careers, finding success in both; and Questlove, who served as music supervisor of the 2021 Oscar telecast and won an Oscar last year for his directorial debut, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), which won best documentary feature.

Riz Ahmed, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Deepika Padukone, Zoe Saldaña, Donnie Yen and Troy Kotsur will also present.

Kotsur won best supporting actor last year for CODA. Last year’s best actress winner, Jessica Chastain, wasn’t included in this first batch of presenters. Last year’s best actor winner, Will Smith, was barred from attending any Academy events for 10 years after slapping Chris Rock on last year’s show.

The announcement was made on Thursday (March 2) by executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner and executive producer Molly McNearney. The producers will continue to announce talent joining the show in the run-up to the ceremony.

The producers have announced performances from four of the five nominees for best original song. The only one they haven’t yet announced is Lady Gaga performing “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick.

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the 95th Oscars will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 12 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The show will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.