Month: May 2023

Harry Styles took to social media on Wednesday with a dirty, LOL-worthy joke referencing one of One Direction‘s biggest hits.

In an Instagram Story, the heartthrob posed oh-so-innocently next to a turquoise and gray portable restroom with a cheeky sign posted on the door reading “Best Schlong Ever” in all-caps letters. Wearing a shiny teal and pink running suit and framing his face with his hands, the pop star smiled widely at the naughty reference to his former band’s 2013 single “Best Song Ever.”

Though the snap has since expired, it was thankfully captured by a fan account, who promptly shared it to Twitter and garnered reactions from dozens of Harry’s fans. “HE NEEDS TO BE STOPPED LMFAO,” one wrote, followed by a series of laughing and crying emojis. Another declared, “THIS IS HILARIOUS,” while a third jokingly chided, “‘This is a family show.’”

Released in July 2013, the meta “Best Song Ever” served as the lead single from Harry and the gang’s third album Midnight Memories as well as a precursor to their documentary concert film One Direction: This Is Us. In the song’s music video, which tied into the movie’s theatrical release and was co-written by James Corden, each of the 1D guys played dual roles as themselves and another character from the movie studio — with Styles nerding out as Marcel the Marketing Guy and flirting with Zayn Malik’s Veronica the Sexy Assistant.

The song bowed at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release and was followed in the album cycle by fellow singles “Story of My Life,” “Midnight Memories” and “You & I.”

Check out Styles’ NSFW “Best Song Ever” joke below.

Grupo Marca Registrada nabs its first entry and top 10 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart, as Don’t Stop the Magic debuts at No. 9 on the May 27-dated ranking. The group is just the second act to start in the top 10 in its first visit with a regional Mexican album in 2023, after Yng Lvcas’ LPM (La Perreo Mixtape) bowed at No. 8 on the list dated April 8.

The full-length dropped May 12 via RB/Interscope, the quartet’s first album release after the regional Mexican indie label RB Music, home to Grupo Marca Registrada, teamed up with Interscope last October. The top 10 arrival concurrently gifts RB Music its first Top Latin Albums appearance and its first top 10 there. Interscope, meanwhile, returns to the ranking’s upper region following the No. 1 debut of Selena Gomez’s Revelación EP in March 2021.

Don’t Stop the Magic starts with 8,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending May 18, according to Luminate. Streaming powers most of the set’s debut. That sum equates to 13.1 million official on-demand streams of the album’s songs.

On the multimetric Top Latin Albums chart as measured in equivalent album units, 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.

As mentioned, Grupo Marca Registrada captures its first top 10 on any albums chart. Plus, Magic also arrives at No. 4 on Regional Mexican Albums, likewise securing the Sinaloans a first top 10 on their maiden chart visit there.

Magic includes a bevy of regional Mexican artists, including the partnership with Grupo Frontera, “Di Que Sí,” which conceded Registrada a first top 10 on Latin Airplay – currently on its second week at its No. 3 high. With the album cut, the group also secured a first No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay on the April 29-dated list, leading for three consecutive weeks.

Further, Registrada makes its Billboard 200 debut, with Magic’s start at No. 187.

Sueños Music Festival is all about having a lasting impact on the community of Chicago, and not just by producing an all-Latin music festival in the Windy City. Sueños, produced by C3 (Lollapalooza) and La Familia (Baja Beach Fest), is committed to giving back to local organizations across the city that serve predominantly Latino neighborhoods.

On Thursday (May 25), just days ahead of the second edition of Sueños — which will be headlined by Wisin Y Yandel, Feid, Nicky Jam and Grupo Firme — the two-day music event has announced $50,000 donations to four organizations, including the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center (SRBCC), one of the city’s longest-standing cultural centers that celebrates Puerto Rican and Afro-Latino traditions offering percussion classes, dance and culinary lessons and community workshops to both children and adults.

It’s the second year Sueños donates $50,000 to SRBCC. Last year, the money donated went towards the newly-renovated youth media center that includes a recording booth, radio and podcasting studio, and two performance spaces for music and dance programs. The center provides Latin youth access to instruments, recording tools, film equipment and performance space at little or no cost. This year, the donation will go to the center’s performing arts theater.

“This donation allows us to dream big,” Omar Torres Kortright, executive director of Segundo Ruiz, said during the presentation of the new $50,000 donation. “We’re always trying to get the attention of corporate donors to support this very important work but many times we’re invisible. We don’t speak the same language as the big corporations but Sueños did their homework. They found us.”

“When we were coming out to Chicago with the festival, the plan was always to be involved in the community,” Aaron Ampudia, co-founder of Sueños, tells Billboard. “We want to have a positive impact, it’s not just about the festival. It really comes from the heart and the desire to want to help these places that are doing great work for the community, especially for the youth because they are the future of these communities.”

As Ampudia spoke to Billboard, one of the students was already busy in the recording booth working on new beats. “The kids love it,” Torres Kortright says about the new media center. “Everything that we can do to have them spend more time here is huge for us. It keeps their imagination going. It helps them find their voice. They know there’s a place that will use their resources to take them to the next level.”

Other local organizations that will benefit from the donations, each will get $50,000 according to festival organizers, are The National Museum of Mexican Art, Pilsen Neighbors Community Council and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance.

The lineup for the Sueños Music Festival — which will take place over Memorial Day Weekend (May 27-28) in Chicago’s Grant Park — will also host reggaeton icon Ivy Queen, as well as Becky G, Eladio Carrion, Chencho Corleone, Junior H, Gera MX, Ryan Castro, Young Miko, paopao and more. 

Dolly Parton’s first rock-influenced album is off to a good start on Billboard’s charts, as its lead single, “World on Fire,” jumps to No. 1 on the Rock Digital Song Sales tally dated May 27.

In the May 12-18 tracking week, “World on Fire” sold 6,000 downloads in the United States, according to Luminate. That’s after it moved 1,000 downloads in its first day of release, May 11, sparking its No. 13 debut on the May 20-dated survey (reflecting sales May 5-11). At the time, it became Parton’s first appearance on a Billboard rock chart.

In addition to its first full week of tracking, the tune was also bolstered by Parton’s performance of it on the Academy of Country Music Awards late on May 11, with that live video uploaded to Parton’s YouTube page May 12.

The track concurrently opens at No. 3 on Country Digital Song Sales, Parton’s best rank since her Kenny Rogers duet “Islands in the Stream” hit No. 2 in April 2020 after Rogers’ death.

“World on Fire” also ignites at Nos. 21 and 26 on the multi-metric Hot Rock Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts, respectively. In addition to its download count, the song earned 1.5 million official U.S. streams May 12-18, as well as 98,000 radio audience impressions.

It’s the first taste of Parton’s LP Rockstar, due Nov. 17. The 30-song set features a score of collaborators, including Joan Jett, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Steven Tyler and more.

Parton recently chatted with NBC’s Today about the song, which she solely wrote and which touches on the divisive nature of politicians. “I just really think often that they worry more about their party than they do about the people,” she said, expressing hope that they – “All of ’em, any of ’em ” – would “just do what we felt was the right thing … what comes from the heart.”

Demi Lovato just gave an update to one of her chart-topping classics. On Thursday (May 25), the “29” singer released the rock version of their hit “Cool for the Summer.”

The new, rollicking version of the track swaps the original’s poppy synths and uptempo instrumentation for a darker sound backed by electric guitars and grittier lyric delivery from Lovato. “Take me down into your paradise/ Don’t be scared, ’cause I’m your body type/ Just something that we wanna try/ ‘Cause you and I, we’re cool for the summer,” she sings on the new version of the hit.

“Cool For the Summer” was originally released in 2015 as the first single from the artist’s fifth studio album, Confident. The track served as one of the biggest hits of Lovato’s career in the 2010s, peaking at No. 10 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100; it spendt a total of 20 weeks on the chart. The song’s suggestive and sexually explorative themes have also made it a Pride Month staple.

The rock version of “Cool For the Summer” arrives two months after Lovato released the rock version of her 2013 hit “Heart Attack” to celebrate its 10th anniversary. At the time, the singer explained they wanted a new version of the song that was more representative of the rock music presented on their newest album, Holy Fvck. “I’m so happy to be able to give a new life to ‘Heart Attack’ with a sound that reflects where I am with my music,” Lovato said in a press release at the time.

Listen to the rock version of “Cool For the Summer” in the video above.