TobyMac’s “Cornerstone” featuring Zach Williams rises to No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart (dated July 15). The song drew 6.7 million audience impressions in the week ending July 6, according to Luminate. It’s the former’s 12th No. 1 on the survey and the latter’s fifth.
TobyMac (real name Toby McKeehan) co-authored the hit with Brian Fowler and Micah Kuiper. It’s from TobyMac’s album Life After Death, which arrived at the Top Christian Albums summit last September, becoming his sixth No. 1.
“When a song that begins in your heart is released as a radio single, then becomes a No. 1 hit, it is truly a special moment for an artist,” TobyMac tells Billboard. “Believe me, it takes teamwork. I am grateful for the people I get to work with every day. ‘Cornerstone’ is a song about what promises we choose to build our lives on, the ones this world has to offer, or the promises of God. I once saw a quote that read, ‘Until we have learned to be satisfied with fellowship with God, we will be restless with our place in the world.’ I am so thankful this song is resonating with listeners because I know there is hope in the lyric. Big shout-out to Zach Williams for collaborating and bringing the powerhouse vocals to take it home.”
TobyMac tops Christian Airplay for the first time since “The Goodness” featuring Blessing Offor dominated for three frames starting in September 2022. He first reigned with “Made to Love” for nine weeks beginning in December 2006.
As TobyMac banks his 12th Christian Airplay No. 1, he ties Jeremy Camp and Matthew West for the most among soloists over the chart’s 20-year history. Overall, only MercyMe (18) and For King & Country (13) have more No. 1s.
Williams had last led Christian Airplay with “Less Like Me,” which was No. 1 for a week in May 2021. He has a second song on the July 15-dated ranking, “Sunday’s Comin’,” at No. 25 (1.2 million).
A man from Springfield is in custody after allegedly trying to stab multiple people outside of the Springfield Police headquarters.
Investigators say an SPD officer was leaving the building when he heard multiple people screaming. He rushed to the scene and found 60-year-old Darryl Turner trying to stab someone.
Turner was arrested at the scene before anyone was injured.
Officers say the victim was attempting go get Turner to sign some documents when he became upset.
Turner is charged with first-degree domestic assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
He is being held in the Greene County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
The FBI — yes, that FBI — just called on Swifties specifically to report federal crimes. And honestly? Resorting to a fanbase of millions who are well accustomed to decoding easter eggs and compiling evidence about their favorite singer’s next move isn’t the worst idea if you’re trying to sniff out bad guys.
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In a Monday (July 10) Taylor Swift-themed post on Twitter, the FBI’s Washington, D.C., Field branch issued a mock Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) album cover encouraging people to submit tips regarding possible criminal activity. In place of a real tracklist, Speak Now (FBI’s Version) includes nine song titles detailing what sort of offenses they’re looking for: terrorism, cybercrime, counterintelligence, civil rights, public corruption, weapons of mass destruction, organized crime, violent crime and white-collar crime.
“Justice is better than revenge,” reads the tweet, referencing actual songs — “Better Than Revenge,” “Speak Now” and the title track — from Swift’s latest re-recorded LP, which dropped July 7. “You may not be Superman, but you can help the #FBI protect the country. If you have information about a federal crime, speak now. Call 1-800-225-5324 or visit http://tips.fbi.gov to submit a tip.”
Although there’s no evidence to show that Swift herself had any involvement in the tongue-in-cheek post, lyrics from her most recent fully original album, Midnights, suggest that she would probably support cooperation with the FBI. On “Vigilante Shit,” she fantasizes about doing exactly that: “While he was doing lines and crossing all of mine/ Someone told his white-collar crimes to the FBI.”
See the FBI’s post below:
Justice is better than revenge. You may not be Superman, but you can help the #FBI protect the country. If you have information about a federal crime, speak now. Call 1-800-225-5324 or visit https://t.co/t8G7LO4hxu to submit a tip. pic.twitter.com/kn9QhlNhGx
Britney Spears‘ long-awaited memoir is finally on the books. On Tuesday morning (July 11) Simon & Schuster imprint Gallery Books announced the release date for the pop icon’s anticipated tell-all, The Woman in Me, which is due out on Oct. 24.
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People magazine was first to report the news on the title that’s described as a “brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith and hope.” The cover features a picture of a topless Spears, 41, wearing silver pants, with her arms covering her breasts.
“Britney’s compelling testimony in open court shook the world, changed laws, and showed her inspiring strength and bravery,” Gallery Books senior VP and publisher Jennifer Bergstrom told the magazine. “I have no doubt her memoir will have a similar impact — and will be the publishing event of the year. We couldn’t be more proud to help her share her story at last.”
On Monday night Spears appeared to tease the big news in one of her signature bikini dance videos, in which she rolled on the group, flipped her hair (and the bird) alongside a caption that read, “Great news coming tomorrow [sneaky eye, shh and speak no evil monkey emoji]… I’m so excited… can’t wait to share this new with you all!!!!”
The Gallery site’s synopsis teased a collection that will pull back the curtain on the interior world of an artist whose private life has long been on display in the tabloids, but whose true feelings and thoughts have trickled out only sporadically through social media posts since the dissolving of her restrictive 13-year conservatorship in Nov. 2021.
“In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court,” it reads in reference to the dramatic testimony Spears gave during the proceedings to dissolve the legal arrangement that gave her estranged father and legal team full control over the singer’s private and professional lives. “The impact of sharing her voice — her truth — was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey — and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.”
The writing in The Woman in Me is described as having “remarkable candor and humor” in a “groundbreaking book” that “illuminates the enduring power of music and love — and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.”
Spears teased the memoir last April in a lengthy Instagram post in which she wrote, “Well I’m writing a book at the moment and as it’s actually healing and therapeutic … it’s also hard bringing up past events in my life … I’ve never been able to express openly !!! I can only imagine that I do sound childish but I was extremely young when those events took place … and addressing it now … I’m sure it seems irrelevant to most and I’m completely aware of that !!!”
At the time, Spears referenced Justin Timberlake‘s public apology to both herself and Janet Jackson in the wake of 2021’s The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears on Hulu, and in advance of the release of The New York Times Presents: Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson in November that same year.
“Instead of using my heart … I’m using the intellectual approach as Justin so respectfully did when he apologized to Janet and me … although he was never bullied or threatened by his family … he took the opportunity to apologize 20 years later !!!” she wrote, also taking the time to throw shade at memoirs written by her then-estranged mother, Lynne Spears, and younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears at a time when she “couldn’t even get a cup of coffee or drive [her] car or really anything” due to the conservatorship.
In March 2022, People reported that the singer had signed a $15 million deal with Simon & Schuster for the tell-all. At press time spokespeople for Spears and Gallery Books had not returned Billboard‘s request for further information on the book.
Taylor Swift Extends Record for Most Hot 100 Top 10s Among Women With ‘Cruel Summer’
On the Billboard 200, Swift’s 2022 LP Midnights ranks at No. 4 with 54,000 equivalent album units earned June 30-July 6, according to Luminate, after it spent six weeks at No. 1. Her 2006 debut self-titled studio album re-enters at No. 186 (8,000, up 6%), returning to the chart for the first time since May 20. Before that week, the album last appeared on the chart in 2014.
This marks the fourth time in Swift’s career that she’s charted 10 titles on the Billboard 200, after achieving the feat on the charts dated March 4, May 6 and May 20 this year. She becomes the first act — since the survey became a combined stereo and mono listing in August 1963 — to land at least 10 albums on the chart simultaneously four separate times, surpassing The Beatles and Prince (three each). David Bowie and Whitney Houston have each earned the honor once. Prince, notably, holds the record for the most albums on the Billboard 200 in a single week: 19, on May 14, 2016 (the first tracking week after his death).
Here’s a recap of Swift’s current Billboard 200-charting titles.
Rank, Title:
No. 4, Midnights
No. 9, Lover
No. 13, Folklore
No. 19, 1989
No. 22, Reputation
No. 25, Speak Now
No. 26, Red (Taylor’s Version)
No. 36, Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
No. 43, Evermore
No. 186, Taylor Swift
Swift is slated to make a splash on next week’s chart listings after releasing Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on July 7.
On the Hot 100, Swift’s “Cruel Summer” jumps 13-7, becoming her 41st career top 10, extending her record for the most among women; “Karma” featuring Ice Spice dips 8-9 after reaching No. 2; and “Anti-Hero” drops 16-18 following eight weeks at No. 2.
Among other Artist 100 chart moves, Lil Uzi Vert vaults 86-2 on the strength of their new LP Pink Tape. The set debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (167,000 units), becoming their third leader and the first No. 1 rap album of 2023. They also debut 18 songs on the Hot 100, led by “Flooded the Face” at No. 11.
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Aespa re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 5 thanks to the group’s new mini album MY WORLD, which debuts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, becoming the act’s second top 10.
Plus, Olivia Rodrigo re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 8 thanks to her new single “Vampire.” The song launches at No. 1 on the Hot 100, marking her third leader, after “Drivers License” and Good 4 U,” both in 2021. The new track is the lead single from her forthcoming second LP, Guts, due Sept. 8.
The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.
Australians love Tina Turner. And they proved it en masse, when almost 6,000 fans showed up at an outback party to dance the “Nutbush,” setting a new record in the process.
The Big Red Bash in Birdsville, a remote Queensland town 1,000 miles west of the state capital, Brisbane, has raised the record in years past.
But on this occasion, just weeks after Turner’s death, on the 10th anniversary of the festival, and the 50th anniversary of “Nutbush City Limits,” the old mark was squashed.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 5,838 dancers did their thing — many wearing colorful outfits for the occasion. That figure easily eclipses the old mark of 4,084 people, set at the same site in 2022, and the 1,719 people recorded by Guinness World Records in 2018.
“It’s a military operation trying to get them lined up in rows and dancing for five minutes,” says Greg Donovan, founder of the Big Red Bash, held July 4-6.
Helen Taylor, co-founder of the Australian Book of Records, caught all the action.
“Everyone was in the spirit of things today. It was the best I’ve ever seen,” she recounts. “We had people on crutches dancing, there was a girl dancing the Nutbush and hula hooping at the same time.”
The record-setting effort also raised more than A$100,000 for charitable causes.
Australia has a deep, lasting connection with Turner. Her extraordinary solo comeback in 1984 was engineered by Roger Davies, the great Australian artist manager who has guided the careers of Pink, Olivia Newton-John, Janet Jackson, Cher and many others.
The rock icon also starred as Auntie Entity in 1985’s Beyond Thunderdome, the third in George Miller’s Mad Max action movie franchise, and from 1989 to 1995, Turner was the face of the National Rugby League (then the New South Wales Rugby League or NSWRL). Followers of the sport remember Turner as “The Queen of Rugby League.”
Based on sales and streaming data published by the Official Charts Company, Swift’s Lover single “Cruel Summer” could hold at No. 5; “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version)” is tracking to become the highest new entry, at No. 6; and “Mine (Taylor’s Version)” is close behind, new at No. 8.
As previously reported, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), the third in TayTay’s rerecorded “Version” series, is currently outselling the rest of the top 10 combined. Good luck to anyone chasing it. If the second half of the chart week plays out as expected, Swift will snag her 10th consecutive U.K. No. 1 album.
None of Swift’s singles have the legs of Dave and Central Cee’s “Sprinter,” which leads the race once again. “Sprinter” is on its way to a sixth straight week at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart; it leads an unchanged top three on the chart blast, ahead of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire,” and J Hus featuring Drake’s “Who Told You,” respectively.
Meanwhile, Kylie Minogue’s infectious hit “Padam Padam” is upwardly mobile, and could sneak back into the top 10, at No. 9, while Jorja Smith’s “Little Things” (No. 13); the Weeknd, Madonna and Playboi Carti’s “Popular” (No. 14); Gunna’s “Fukumean” (No. 16) and Tom Grennan’s “How Does It Feel” (No. 17) are on the rise.
All will be revealed when the weekly chart is published this Friday (July 14).
Taylor Swift is in complete control of the U.K. chart race with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), the third instalment of her “Version” LPs.
Based on midweek sales and streaming data captured by the Official Charts Company, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has already accumulated 48,0000 combined units (sales and streams), to lead the Official Chart Update.
It’s highly unlikely Swift can be caught. The new set, a rerecording of her third album, 2010’s Speak Now, is outselling the rest of the top 10 combined, the OCC reports.
Should it hold its spot when the chart proper is published, Swift would nab a tenth consecutive U.K. No. 1. That feat stretches over a little more than a decade, and would extend Swift’s lead as the female solo artist with the second most No. 1 albums in U.K. chart history, behind only Madonna, with 12.
Swift’s chart domination is especially impressive when considering her U.K. leg of The Eras Tour is booked for almost a year from now. Anticipation is sky-high for her live shows in Australia, where Swift currently locks up the entire top five on the ARIA Chart, a never-seen-before phenomenon.
Coming in at a distant No. 2 on the U.K. chart blast is Wham’s retrospective The Singles: Echoes From The Edge of Heaven, which benefits from the debut of the ‘80s pop duo’s Netflix documentary. Echoes should give Wham, comprised of the late George Michael with Andrew Ridgeley, their sixth top 10 album as a duo.
Completing the podium at the midweek stage is California soul trio Gabriels’ debut set Angels & Queens, new at No. 3, while iconic British singer and songwriter PJ Harvey’s I Inside The Old Year Dying is on course to become her first top 10 in seven years (the last was The Hope Six Demolition Project, which summited in 2016). Dying is new at No. 4 on the midweek survey.
Also eying top 10 berths are D-Block Europe’s fresh mixtape DBE World, at No.7, and the Pigeon Detectives’ TV Show, at No. 10, for what could become the alternative rock band their first top 10 showing since 2008.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published Friday (July 14).
A man has died from injuries suffered in a head-on crash last week.
The Highway Patrol says 82-year-old Mance Wilkerson of Aurora died Sunday at a Springfield hospital from injuries received in a crash on US 60 near Verona last Thursday.
Another driver crossed the centerline and struck Wilkerson’s vehicle head-on.
