Month: July 2023

Ricky Martin jumped for joy when he saw his twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, join him on stage during his show in Switzerland on Monday (July 17).

In a video the Puerto Rican superstar posted on social media, his 14-year-old boys take the stage to hype up the crowd and start jumping along with their father, whose facial expression says it all. “What a beautiful surprise! When my twins jumped on stage with me for the first time in Locarno, Switzerland,” he captioned the short clip with a crying emoji.

The “Tiburones” singer has been touring in Europe with shows in Spain, Switzerland and Monaco, where Martin posted another video with Matteo and Valentino writing, “Bonding time w the twins, before the show tonight.”

Earlier this month, Martin and Jwan Yosef announced in a joint statement that they are divorcing after six years of marriage. “For some time, we have considered transforming our relationship, and it is after careful consideration that we have decided to end our marriage with love, respect, and dignity for our children — preserving and honoring what we have experienced as a couple all of these wonderful years.” Martin and Yosef share two kids: daughter Lucia, born in 2018, and son Renn, born in 2019. Before meeting Yosef, Martin welcomed twin sons Matteo and Valentino in 2008.

Following his show dates in Europe, Martin will co-headline The North America Trilogy Tour with Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull. The 19-date arena trek is set to kick off Oct. 14 in Washington, D.C., and will make stops in major cities such as New York, Miami, Houston and Las Vegas before wrapping up Dec. 16 in Vancouver, B.C.

Watch Martin’s sweet video of his twins joining him on stage.

Chicago-based drill rapper FendiDa Rappa is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist as she scores her first appearance on the list with her new collaboration with Cardi B, “Point Me 2.”

The song, released July 7 through Giant Music (which relaunched in 2022), debuts at No. 82 on the Hot 100 with 7.3 million official U.S. streams and 4,000 downloads sold through July 13, according to Luminate. It also enters at No. 14 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 20 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (which use the same multimetric methodology as the Hot 100). The track becomes Fendi’s first appearance on any Billboard charts.

“Point Me 2” is a remix to Fendi’s 2022 breakout track “Point Me to the Slut’s” (both versions are combined into one listing on Billboard‘s charts).

Prior to that, Fendi released her debut 15-track album, Str8 From Da Raq, in 2021.

As for Cardi B, the song becomes her 44th career charted hit on the Hot 100, and second this year, after her featured turn on Latto’s “Put It on Da Floor Again,” which debuted and peaked No. 13 in June and ranks at No. 54 this week.

NewJeans jump from No. 6 to No. 1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart (dated July 22), as the South Korean pop group becomes the top emerging act in the U.S. for the first time, powered by its new single “Super Shy.”

The song, released July 7 via ADOR/Geffen/Interscope Records, debuts at No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 9.2 million official U.S. streams and 2,000 downloads sold through July 13, according to Luminate. It also opens at No. 2 on World Digital Song Sales and No. 45 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart.

Internationally, the song debuts at No. 2 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. It’s the act’s third top 10 and highest-charting entry on each survey.

“Super Shy” is NewJeans’ third and highest charting title on the Hot 100 after “OMG” and “Ditto,” which reached Nos. 74 and 82, respectively, in February.

In the Emerging Artists chart’s six-year history, NewJeans are the 10th K-pop group to hit No. 1, following NCT, BLACKPINK, NCT 127 (all in 2018), TOMORROW X TOGETHER, NCT DREAM (both 2019), ATEEZ (2021), xikers, (G)I-DLE and P1Harmony (all this year).

NewJeans formed in 2022 and is comprised of members Danielle, Haerin, Hanni, Hyein and Minji.

Among other moves on Emerging Artists, FendiDa Rappa debuts at No. 9, thanks to her new collaboration with Cardi B, “Point Me 2.” The song starts at No. 82 on the Hot 100, as well as No. 14 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 20 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, becoming her first-ever Billboard chart appearances.

The Emerging Artists chart ranks the most popular developing artists of the week, using the same formula as the all-encompassing Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across multiple Billboard charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200. (The Artist 100 lists the most popular acts, overall, each week.) However, the Emerging Artists chart excludes acts that have notched a top 25 entry on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200, as well as artists that have achieved two or more top 10s on Billboard’s “Hot” song genre charts and/or consumption-based “Top” album genre rankings.

DMA’S cover of Cher’s ‘90s dance hit “Believe” is the winner of triple j’s inaugural Hottest 100 “Live A Version” countdown.

With their rendition of the Autotuned classic, the Sydney trio took off — and never came back down. The live performance clip, shot back in 2016 at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s studios, has amassed more than 12.5 million views on YouTube, and more than 40.5 million streams on Spotify.

The cover, which strips the song back and showcases O’Dell’s impressive pipes, is now certified two-times ARIA platinum in Australia. What can’t be so easily measured is the joy it brings to fans every time the band performs it live.

“Thanks for the support for this cover,” the trio enthuse in a statement. “We never thought going into triple j it would get this kind of love – can’t wait to sing it all with you soon.”

“Like A Version” is a beloved weekly segment on triple j, Australia’s popular youth-focused network. For each episode, the musical guest is asked to play an original and a cover a favorite song. Since 2004, the likes of Childish Gambino, Lorde, CHVRCHES, Tame Impala, HAIM, Halsey, Arctic Monkeys and many others have answered the call.

DMA’S cover was something of a sweet accident. The bandmates “weren’t really prepared, but when I listen back to it,” O’Dell says in a backstory clip, “the fact we weren’t prepared, I feel kind of helped the [studio] performance, you can kind of hear that it has a bit of vulnerability to it.”

And when did it first stick? “We did it in soundcheck in Germany and it sounded good. And we had a laugh,” O’Dell explains. “It was kinda funny.”

Victory is no laughing matter for the indie-rock outfit, which is signed to I Oh You, a division of the Mushroom Group.

Earlier this year, the band’s fourth studio LP How Many Dreams?, blasted to No. 2 on the ARIA Chart, beaten only by Melanie Martinez’s Portals, for their fourth top 10.

In the U.K., where the group has a sizeable following, How Many Dreams? hit No. 3 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, and was supported by a tour of city centers and regions, including a headline spot at London’s OVO Arena Wembley and the main stage of Reading and Leads Festival, for the band’s second top 5 U.K. slot.

Meanwhile, Triple j’s listeners voted Denzel Curry’s cover of Rage Against The Machine’s “Bulls On Parade at No. 2, and Ocean Alley’s cut of Player’s “Baby Come Back” at No. 3.

This September and October, DMA’S will make a triumphant homecoming with a national tour, spanning 18 shows across 16 cities and towns. Frontier Touring is producing.

See the full Hottest 100 countdown here and read more on DMA’S winner.

It’s tight at the top of the midweek U.K. albums chart, as J Hus’s Beautiful and Brutal Yard (Black Butter) takes the lead.

Beautiful and Brutal Yard leads Official Chart Update and, if it holds its spot, would give the Stratford, England rapper his second leader following 2020’s Big Conspiracy. J Hus enjoyed a critical and commercial breakthrough with his 2017 debut Common Sense, which peaked at No. 6 on the national survey and was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize.

Close behind is Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (via EMI), last week’s leader which dips to No. 2 on the chart blast.

Coming in at No. 3 on the midweek survey is Rita Ora’s long-awaited third studio album You & I (BMG), which could give the British pop star a second top 10, after her debut Ora from 2012 which went all the way to No. 1. You & I is the followup to 2018’s Phoenix, which peaked at No. 11 on the weekly list.

According to the Official Charts Company, fewer than 2,000 chart units currently separate the top three albums.

Meanwhile, Glasgow, Scotland singer-songwriter Gerry Cinnamon is set to arrive at No. 4 with Live At Hampden Park (Little Runaway); American alt-pop artist Pvris who could bag a second top 10 with Evergreen (Hopeless), poised to debut at No. 5; Lauren Spencer Smith’s debut full-length album Mirror (Island) could bow at No. 6; and Mahalia’s second record IRL (Atlantic) is on course for No. 9, for what would be the British R&B artist’s first top 10 entry.

Finally, U.S. rapper Lil Tjay could snag a third top 40 with 222 (Columbia), new at No. 24 on the chart blast, while Joel Corry’s singles collection Another Friday Night (Atlantic) is at No. 28, and could give the British DJ and producer his first appearance on the Official Albums Chart.

All will be revealed when the national survey is published this Friday, July 22.

BTS‘s Jung Kook is enjoying a healthy start to his solo career in the U.K., where “Seven” (via BigHit Entertainment) is challenging for the chart title.

Featuring U.S. rapper Latto, “Seven” is just 2,000 chart sales behind the leader on the midweek chart, Dave and Central Cee’s “Sprinter” (Live Yours/Neighbourhood).

“Seven” could go where no member of BTS has gone before – to the summit of the U.K. singles survey.

All seven members of the K-pop phenomenon – Jin, Jimin, Suga, Jung Kook, RM, V and J-Hope – have shared solo material, with Jimin setting the bar with a top 10 for “Like Crazy” (peaking at No. 8); he separately landed a top 40 hit with “Set Me Free Pt. 2,” hitting No. 30. Bandmate j-hope was the first member of BTS to secure a U.K. top 40 single, with his J. Cole collaboration “On The Street” peaking at No. 37.

All told, BTS has accumulated nine U.K. top 40 singles, including four top 10s (with a No. 3 best for 2020’s “Dynamite,” plus “Butter” and “My Universe” with Coldplay, both from 2021). Two BTS titles have led the national albums chart.

Dave and Central Cee’s hip-hop hit “Sprinter” has proven hard to beat. It’s reigned over the Official U.K. Singles Chart for six consecutive weeks.

Meanwhile, Billie Eilish is making a play for the top 10 with “What Was I Made For?” (Interscope), lifted from the Barbie movie soundtrack. If it holds its position, “What Was I Made For?” will give the U.S. pop star her ninth top tier appearance.

Finally, J Hus is poised to make a noise on the U.K. chart, thanks to the release of his third and latest album, Beautiful and Brutal Yard.

His current single “Who Told You” (Black Butter/OVO/Republic) with Drake is unmoved at No. 4, while album cuts “Militerian” with Naira Marley (No. 21) and “Masculine” with Burna Boy (No. 22), both via Black Butter, are set for top 40 debuts.

All will be revealed when the Official Chart is published late Friday, July 22.

Toni Watson, the chart-busting Australian singer and songwriter who, as her alias Tones And I, set records around the globe with “Dance Monkey,” is one of the finalists for the 2023 Australian Women In Music Awards (AWMAs).

Watson is up against Tanya Batt and The Superjesus leader Sarah McLeod for the songwriter award, which recognizes an outstanding female songwriter or composer.

Other high-profile artists nominated for this year’s event include Kate Ceberano, the one-time ARIA Award winner for best female artist, who is a finalist for the AWMAs lifetime achievement award, a category that also includes Jeannie Lewis and Clare Moore.

Meanwhile, chart-topping pop artist Jessica Mauboy will face-off with Beccy Cole, and Vika & Linda for the artistic excellence award, which celebrates “exceptional creative achievement from a female artist/musician across any genre.”

Established in 2018, the AWMAs acknowledges the contributions and shines a light on the accomplishments of women across all areas of industry from on stage, including those behind the scenes, technicians, leaders, elders, performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, filmmakers and photographers, music journalists and more.

One of those awards is the inaugural ARIA executive leader game changer, which rewards the “exceptional leadership” of an executive leader who “creates significant and positive change to bring about equality for women in the Australian music industry,” and is open to a CEO, CFO, COO, CMO, MD or GM.

“I have seen the industry of music in this country change so much and the education and delivery of music through the eyes and hearts of Australian women, my peers Renée, Chrissie, Olivia, Colleen, Kylie and more,” says Ceberano in a statement.

“It has been an education and at times a baptism by fire. But we are hardy and the Australian singers that are striking notes globally, not only with their music but with their minds, is outstanding.” She continues, “I’m glad to be a part of this modern community of likeminded artists who wish to share their wisdom and prevail despite all provocation to do otherwise.”

Twenty AWMAs will be handed out at a ceremony Sept. 27 in Meanjin/Brisbane, the designated 2032 Olympic city, and broadcast later on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Each category is assessed by a 37-seat jury, with representation across a diverse range of music disciplines and cultures.

The 2023 AWMAs and conference program is supported by the Queensland government together with corporate, industry and community partners.

The event “not only celebrates the most innovative, committed, and visionary singers and songwriters in Australian music, it provides an opportunity to further promote gender equality and diversity including the voices of First Nations women,” comments Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. “The future looks bright for the music industry as our government invests in a 10-year roadmap to promote arts, culture, and creativity.’’

AWMA is an initiative of the not-for-profit Charity Cicada International Ltd, and is spearheaded by AWMA founding executive producer and program director Vicki Gordon.

“AWMA has raised the collective voice – demanding equitable access, safety and recognition for women in the Australian music industry,” explains Gordon, noting “gender equity is still a long way in the future and we all need to remain vigilant.”

For the full list of nominations visit womeninmusicawards.com.au.

Taylor Swift’s third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), was a hot seller in its first week of a release in the U.S., according to the data tracking firm Luminate. In the week ending July 13, the set sold 507,000 copies across all of its physical and digital retail formats (CD, vinyl, cassette and digital download album). That sum represents nearly a quarter of all album sales in the U.S. that week (2.131 million).

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’s share of the album sales market is similar to when she dominated the landscape during the debut week of Midnights in 2022. That album sold 1.14 million copies in the week ending Oct. 27, 2022 – accounting for 41% of all albums sold in the U.S. that week (2.79 million).

Swift can capture a large chunk of the album sales market in a given week because she remains a solid seller at a time when yearly album sales have declined in 10 of the last 11 years, as more music fan adopt streaming services as their primary means of consuming music. Thus, Swift’s outsized album sales dwarf the rest of the industry.

In 2022, Swift was the top-selling act for the year in terms of total album sales, with 2.93 million copies sold across her entire catalog – about 3% of total album sales across all albums from all artists (100.09 million). She also had the year’s top-selling album, with Midnights selling 1.818 million copies (more than twice the sum of the year’s second biggest seller, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, with 757,000).

In 2023 so far, through July 13, Swift’s total album sales across all of her releases stands at 2.096 million – 3.8% of all album sales this year, by all artists (54.519 million).

Swift’s selling power is further evidenced on Billboard’s latest 100-position Top Album Sales chart (dated July 22, reflecting the sales week ending July 13), where Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) debuts at No. 1 with 507,000 copies sold, the Nos. 2-100 titles – combined – sold just 381,000.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. The new July 22, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on July 18. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is a re-recorded version of Swift’s 2010 studio album Speak Now, which topped both the Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales chart. The 22-track re-recorded edition includes new recordings of the original album’s 14 standard tracks, along with bonus cuts and previously unreleased “From the Vault” recordings. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) follows Swift’s re-recorded Red and Fearless albums, released in 2021.

Of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’s 507,000 copies sold, physical sales comprise 410,000 (268,000 on vinyl; 134,000 on CD and 8,000 on cassette) while digital album download purchases comprise 97,000. The album’s vinyl sales mark the second-largest week for a vinyl album since Luminate began tracking data in 1991 – only the debut week of Midnights posted a bigger vinyl week (575,000).

Swift announced the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on May 5, the same day she began taking pre-orders for the album via her official webstore. The set sold as a digital download album, double-CD, double-cassette and in three color vinyl LP variants (orchid marbled, violet marbled and a Target-exclusive lilac marbled color). The iTunes Store also carried an exclusive edition of the album with a short video clip as a bonus feature. On the final day (July 13) of the album’s debut tracking week, Swift released a deluxe digital album download of the set exclusively sold through her official webstore, which added two bonus live tracks recorded during her ongoing The Eras Tour (“Dear John” and “Last Kiss,” both of which were originally released in their studio form on the Speak Now album in 2010).

All told, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is the 12th No. 1 on Top Album Sales for Swift.

Elsewhere on the latest Top Album Sales chart, Swift has five more titles in the top 10, as her former No. 1s Midnights (a non-mover at No. 3 with 18,000; up 49%), Folklore (8-6 with 13,000; up 45%), Lover (10-7 with 12,000; up 50%), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (14-9 with 11,000; up 81%) and Red (Taylor’s Version) (19-10 with 10,000; up 89%). It’s the second time Swift has placed at least six titles in the top 10 concurrently. She did it previously on the July 22-dated list. No other act has charted six or more albums in the top 10 at the same time.  

As for the non-Swift titles in the top 10: Stray Kids’ former No. 1 5-STAR is a non-mover at No. 2 (27,000; up 70% after the release of a new CD edition), aespa’s MY WORLD falls 1-4 in its second week (14,000; down 65%), Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. jumps 33-5 (13,000; up 265% after a new vinyl edition of the album was released) and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation debuts at No. 8 (11,000).

In the week ending July 13, there were 2.131 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 22% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.729 million (up 21.8%) and digital albums comprised 402,000 (up 23.2%).

There were 705,000 CD albums sold in the week ending July 13 (up 8% week-over-week) and 1.008 million vinyl albums sold (up 33.4%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 18.893 million (up 4.1% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 25.371 million (up 21.7%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 54.519 million (up 8.1% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 44.556 million (up 13.4%) and digital album sales total 9.962 million (down 10.5%).

It all begins with a song — and according to Miranda Lambert, that’s where the focus should stay.

Lambert had just begun to perform her 2018 ACM song of the year winner “Tin Man” as part of her current Miranda Lambert: Velvet Rodeo The Las Vegas Residency on Saturday night when she noticed a few ladies near the stage who seemed more intent on taking selfies rather than listening to Lambert’s music.

“I’m gonna stop right here for a second, I’m sorry,” Lambert told the audience gathered at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino at Zappos Theater. “These girls are worried about their selfie and not listening to the song.”

She added, “It’s pissing me off a bit. Sorry, I don’t like it. At all. We’re here to hear some country music tonight. I’m singing some country d–n music.”

After motioning for the girls to put their phones away, she asked the crowd, “Shall we start again?” She restarted the song as the audience cheered.

Prior to launching her Las Vegas residency in September 2022, Lambert said, “When you’ve been touring as long as I have, there’s something really creative about imagining a residency in a city like Las Vegas. I’ve had a lot of fun designing our sets, merchandise and clothing and boot lines – and even my place on Broadway in Nashville, Casa Rosa – so, this opportunity allows me to lean in a bit more into that side of myself and think about how to really bring country music to life in this room. I think everyone will like what we’ve dreamed up. I’m really excited about this!”

In addition to the residency, Lambert recently launched her first cookbook, Y’all Eat Yet? Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin’ Kitchen. She also performed during CMA Fest in June, welcoming Avril Lavigne, Elle King and Leon Bridges to join her at various points during her performance.