Anderson Cooper is a hard-nosed professional journalist, a serious guy by-day. But he’s also got a rock-solid sense of humor.
Back in 2015, Cooper was the center of attention when, during Madonna’s Rebel Heart concert at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, he was pulled on stage for a fun moment with the Queen of Pop.
The CNN host’s time in the spotlight had an unexpected twist, as Madonna playfully spanked and humped him during her performance of “Unapologetic Bitch.”
After the song ended, the Material Girl extended the laughs when she forced Cooper to stand and wait while she gifted him a banana.
Of course, fans captured the action on their devices, ensuring Cooper’s dance moves will live on for eternity.
This week, the TV star reflected on his funny business with Madonna for bestie Kelly Ripa’s Sirius XM podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera.
“That I choose to forget. I’m mortified,” Cooper recounts. “I mean, I loved the whole idea, I love the experience of it. I don’t love the video that exists of it, the reality.”
The 19,000-capacity venue lapped it up. Though Cooper “didn’t know what the hell was going on. I was terrible. I danced terribly. It was mortifying,” he remarks.
Madonna, on the other hand, made it look easy. “We all watch people perform at these stages and they make it look like it’s all so natural and normal,” Cooper adds. “Even the way they’re like dancing, running, walking down the stage. I’m like, ‘I don’t, do I skip?’”
As for the piece of fruit. Well, “all of a sudden you find yourself like you’re standing on this thing, and then she hands you a banana, and right before that she like pushed me over and humped me. Which I didn’t expect it all” he says.
“So I open it up and I start to peel it and eat the banana, and then all of a sudden I start lowering down on this little electronic elevator disappearing on the stage just like eating this banana,” Cooper quips. “I don’t know. To this day, I don’t know what happened.”
All jokes aside, Cooper and Madonna go way back. In 2013, gay advocacy group GLAAD tapped Madonna to present Cooper with the Vito Russo Award, saluting openly gay media professionals.
Madonna won’t be getting up to any on-stage shenanigans for a little while yet. The 65-year-old diva is on the mend following a bacterial infection that kept her in hospital for several days and forced back her touring schedule. Rescheduled dates for her massive, career-spanning Celebration tour have already been announced.
The House of Blues Music Forward Foundation is celebrating its milestone 30th anniversary in a big way.
The nonprofit organization under Live Nation aims to inspire youth and build careers in a more inclusive music industry by providing scholarships, workforce opportunities, relief funds and more. To date, the Music Forward Foundation has provided more than $42 million in support and aid. To honor 30 years of giving back, the foundation will be hosting two major fundraising events. The Music Forward Brunch will take place on October 1 at the Hollywood Bowl, before the inaugural Celebrity Golf Tournament will take over the El Caballero County Club in Tarzana, Calif. on October 2.
The brunch will honor people in music industry who spread a positive impact by moving their communities, industry and society forward. Guests will enjoy a brunch buffet curated by James Beard Award-Winning chef Suzanne Goin and restauranteur Caroline Styne, while enjoying performances from some of Music Forward’s alums.
The Celebrity Golf Classic will allow players to meet youth from Music Forward Foundation programs on-site. Following the tournament, golfers, sponsors and guests can enjoy dinner, cocktails and a live performance.
“Live Nation has backed Music Forward since day one, and we congratulate them on 30 years of helping youth discover and build careers in live music. The industry is growing and diversifying faster than ever, which means there are even more opportunities to support the next generation and we look forward to continuing our work together,” says Michael Rapino, President and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, in a press statement.
For tickets and sponsorships, see the Music Forward Foundation’s website here.
Stromae has added another achievement to his list. The Belgian singer’s video for “Papaoutai” has hit 1 billion views on YouTube, since its release in 2013.
The Adam Nael-directed video features a young boy who abandons a clay version of Stromae — who, at first, does not physically participate in any actions, from catching a ball to washing a car — to go outside and play with his neighbors in a close-knit, picturesque neighborhood. A set of twins and an older and younger brother dance in the center of the sandy cul-de-sac, much to the amazement of the little boy, who eventually gets frustrated with clay Stromae’s lack of activity, despite feeling saddened by the singer’s inability to move.
By the end of the video, Stromae finds movement again, and the pair join each other in dance.
“Papaoutai” serves as a play on the phrase “Papa où t’es” — which translates to “Papa, Where Are You?” — and marks the Belgian artist’s first Billion Views Club entry. The track was notably the most-viewed French-language song until this year, when it got dethroned by Indila’s song “Dernière danse”; “Papaoutai” is now the second French-language video to pass 1 billion views on the video platform.
“Papaoutai” was released as the lead single from Stromae’s second studio album, Racine carrée, in 2013. The set peaked at No. 19 on the Heatseekers Albums chart, spending a total of five weeks on the tally. “Papaoutai,” meanwhile, hit the top 40 of Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs — the track peaked at No. 25 on the the chart and spent a total of 20 weeks on the tally.
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
This week: Zach Bryan puts up undeniable star numbers with his new album release, Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus square off with their simultaneous single releases, G-Eazy helps fans flash back to a different time in social media and more.
Zach Bryan Scores a Self-Titled Streaming Takeover
It’s fitting that, on the Billboard charts, the summer will end with a male country artist once again reaching new commercial heights. Capping off a season of such success stories for Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Jason Aldean and Oliver Anthony, Zach Bryan is poised to debut big with his self-titled new album following its release last Friday (Aug. 25), if early streaming numbers — particularly those for the Kacey Musgraves duet “I Remember Everything” — are any indication.
The 16-song Zach Bryan earned a whopping 54.4 million U.S. on-demand streams on its release date, according to Luminate – and while its daily streams dropped a bit over the next few days, the follow-up to last year’s American Heartbreak had cleared nine-digit total streams by the end of Sunday, and had earned nearly 147 million streams by the end of Monday. Meanwhile, “I Remember Everything,” in which Bryan and Musgraves narrate a romance that has slipped away long ago, has been the album’s breakout track on streaming services, earning 18.1 million on-demand plays over its first four days of release.
How high can “I Remember Everything” climb? On the Hot 100, Bryan has made it to No. 10 with “Something in the Orange,” and Musgraves has peaked at No. 60 with “Follow Your Arrow,” so both artists could earn new career highs with the same song. And after American Heartbreak peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 last year, Bryan, who announced a slew of stadium and arena dates for 2024 earlier this week, has his sights set on a potential first No. 1 on that chart. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Miley Leading Selena in Disney Star Single Showdown
When pop heads noticed that pop stars Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus – once known for their respective starring roles on the ‘00s Disney teen shows Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana – were both releasing new singles on Friday (Aug. 25), it naturally brought out the spirit of competition between the longtime fans. The artists leaned into themselves on social media, with Cyrus reposting a video shared by one fan of her and Gomez trading barbs in an old episode of Hannah Montana where the latter guest starred, along with the message “@selenagomez and I are both dropping our new SINGLEs SOON…. I SAY WE #USEDTOBEYOUNG.” (“Single Soon” and “Used to Be Young” being the names of Gomez’s and Cyrus’ new releases, respectively.)
Well, the early returns are in, and so far it appears that Cyrus’ “Young” has the lead on Gomez’s “Single” in both sales and streams. Through its first four days of release, “Young” has racked up over 10.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams and over 15,000 digital song sales, according to Luminate, while “Single” has amassed over 8.1 million streams and nearly 6,400 in sales – leads of 28% and 144%, respectively. (Both should be due for debuts in the top half of the Hot 100 next week, though they will probably be overshadowed somewhat by Bryan and Musgraves’ even more resounding bow.)
And they’re not the only two kids-TV-to-adult-pop crossover stars with likely chart triumphs for next week. Ariana Grande, former Nickelodeon Victorious and Sam & Cat actress, has also seen huge spikes for her 2013 debut album Yours Truly upon its 10th anniversary, which she commemorated with a deluxe reissue and a series of commemorative festivities. The album skyrocketed to nearly 3.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams on Friday, up a resounding 946% from the previous Friday (323,000). – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
G-Eazy’s “Tumblr Girls” Rides the TikTok Nostalgia Wave
“pov: it’s 2014, ur 8 years old and see all the teenage girls with their Starbucks, PINK and striped crop tops and u wish u were a teenager!” Two weeks ago, a TikTok user posted this caption to a clip of themselves grooving out in their bedroom and earned 770,000 likes and 5,000 comments; the soundtrack to that adolescent memory was G-Eazy’s 2014 track “Tumblr Girls,” featuring Christoph Andersson, which has become a sort of nostalgia anthem in recent weeks as TikTok users look back on their mid-2010s memories.
G-Eazy actually isn’t featured in the trending part of the song; instead, it’s the song’s outro – crooned by the rapper’s frequent studio collaborator Andersson, with the lines “Never knew her name, they’re looking all the same to me/ They only chase the fame, there’s no one left to blame but me” – being highlighted in TikTok clips. As more videos of 2014 flashbacks accumulate, “Tumblr Girls” has shot up in overall listens, with weekly streams basically quadrupling from 552,000 the week ending Aug. 10 to 2.25 million two weeks later, according to Luminate.
“Tumblr Girls” never charted upon its debut, but it’s become a fan favorite — so much so that two years ago, G-Eazy released a sequel, “Running Wild (Tumblr Girls 2),” although TikTok has yet to scoop that one up in the same way. – JL
Beyoncé’s “XO” Gets Streams ‘Turned’ Up by Teen TV Sensation
We’ve written plenty on Billboard about the extensiveartisticpartnership Amazon Prime’s hit coming-of-age drama The Summer I Turned Pretty has developed with Taylor Swift, having featured over a dozen of Swift’s songs across its two seasons. But the show’s second season proved that it can also deploy the music of another pop icon currently on a globe-conquering world tour: Beyoncé, whose 2014 classic “XO” is featured in the finale’s climactic scene, resolving the long-building love triangle between the characters Belly (Lola Tung) and brothers Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and and Conrad (Christopher Briney).
The scene had an unsurprising impact on viewers, who then proceeded to stream the Beyoncé self-titled ballad en masse. The song jumped from 388,000 official on-demand streams for the tracking week ending Aug. 17 (the day before the finale was released to streaming) to nearly 990,000 streams for the following week – a jump of 155%, according to Luminate. With Summer already having been renewed for a third season, you can bet that pop stars of all shapes and sizes will be angling to get a prime sync on the Prime smash. – AU
Q&A: Christine Rogerson, SVP of Business Operations at Vibee, on What’s Trending Up in Her World
A very hectic season in the live industry is coming to a close. What was Vibee’s focus over the summer?
Vibee spent the summer hosting and engaging with our fans at several festival integrations like Lollapalooza in Chicago, Day Trip in Long Beach, TidalWave in Atlantic City, and BeachIt! in Virginia Beach. We were also in the thick of our planning processes for the monumental U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere run of shows in Las Vegas, Lionel Richie’s Dancing on the Sand in the Bahamas, the inaugural EDSea cruise, and Tiesto’s Chasing Sunsets in Cabo San Lucas.
Can you speak a little bit about the newly announced immersive U2 fan portal and what attendees can expect?
Fans are in for a real treat with the Zoo Station fan portal. The portal was developed by Vibee in collaboration with Gavin Friday, who is U2’s longtime creative director, and with insight and input from the band. Fans will move throughout 12,000 square feet of immersive exhibits over two floors. Key attractions include the incredible Anton Corbijn Gallery featuring photos and videos from the famed photographer as well as the Zoo Station Cinema which is curated by The Edge himself! For those fans who love memorabilia, the U2 Pop-Up Shop will be a must visit with a variety of collectibles, including a capsule collection of limited edition exclusive U2:UV items. It’s truly a special experience for newer or those dedicated fans of U2.
What industry-wide trends did you notice this summer in terms of the evolution of immersive fan experiences?
Right now, fans are still prioritizing entertainment and travel in their personal budgets but, as discretionary dollars become more precious, we have to ensure that we are presenting people with standout experiences that meet or exceed their needs and expectations on multiple levels. People are looking for memory-making opportunities and bucket list moments. As a destination experience company, Vibee is seeking out those ways that we can engage with fans, curate an experience, weave in a story, and connect great music with amazing destinations. The feedback that we received from fans is that they were searching out those unique experiences and shared moments at the events that they were able to attend. We aim to deliver on that.
Fill in the blank: in the next few years, concertgoers will be surprised by ______.
…the ways in which immersive experiences continue to enhance live music events, which is exactly what Vibee is committed to accomplishing through our artist partnerships, thoughtful curation, destination selection, and bespoke inclusions. – JL
Trace Cyrus is opening up about his famous family, which includes father Billy Ray Cyrus, and sisters Miley Cyrus and Noah Cyrus.
The Metro Station musician reportedly posted a Q&A to his Instagram Stories on Monday (Aug. 28), where he revealed that he believes his career would have taken off more if it weren’t for his well-known family. “I love my family so much, but I think I’d be much more successful if I wasn’t part of a famous family. People immediately want to judge me and discredit all my hard work because of who I’m related to. But that’s so far from the truth. I got a record deal without anyone from my label even knowing who I was related to ’til after they signed me,” he said of his former pop-rock band.
Trace added that he “never put my last name online anywhere for the first years of my career until people started finding out.”
Earlier this week, Trace took to Instagram to share a photo from his mother Tish Cyrus’ wedding to actor Dominic Purcell. In the sweet snap, he’s seen smiling with his arms around his mom and sisters Miley and Brandi. “I feel extremely blessed to be part of such an amazing family,” he captioned the post. “Congrats to my my mom on a beautiful wedding. Life is unpredictable & always full of changes. I think the most important thing to do is cherish the past, look forward to the future, & always be happy in the present moment because that’s really all we have. Yesterday is gone & tomorrow is never promised. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my mom so happy & that makes me genuinely happy. I love you @tishcyrus.”
LEO’s star is on the rise. The K-pop idol made his first appearance at KCON LA earlier this month, and backstage, he caught up with Billboard News to share who some of his musical inspirations are, his reasons for getting into the K-pop genre and what’s on the horizon for his career.
Host Tetris Kelly enquired about what LEO’s typical day looks like since signing to 131LABEL, to which the budding star replied, “We’ve been busy just making music. We’ve had a lot of sessions and filmed a music video, song’s out a few days ago so it’s been busy.”
LEO moved from Australia to Korea to kick-start his career in the music industry, inspired by his love for the K-pop genre. “Obviously I was inspired a lot by Korean culture, Korean music, so it was a natural [thing],” he explained.
The Korean music inspiration resulted in his latest single, “One Look,” which he shared has been positively received by his fans. “A lot of people have been showing it a lot of love, so I’m very happy,” LEO added.
As for his American music inspirations, LEO flocks to artists in the R&B and hip-hop genre, stating that his “favorite artists are Drake, PARTYNEXTDOOR and Bryson Tiller, just to name a few.”
LEO concluded the interview with a sweet message to his fans: “Thank you for listening to ‘One Look,’ showing it a lot of love. Thank you for supporting me, and I can’t wait to see you guys on stage.”
Watch his full interview with Billboard News in the video above.
Bad Bunny is the latest artist to celebrate their streaming success by visiting Spotify’s newly launched Billions Club series. The Grammy-winning global superstar stopped by the series to enjoy a “Billions Brunch” with some of his closest friends and collaborators.
“The feeling of having 1 billion streams for this song right now is the same emotion I felt when I got 5,000 plays for the first time,” Bad Bunny said. “For me, it’s just as big knowing that there are people who want to listen and want to enjoy what you make.”
The song in question is “Tití Me Preguntó,” a track from his historic Un Verano Sin Ti album that officially reached 1 billion Spotify streams on Jan. 23. According to Spotify, Bad Bunny has 12 songs with more than 1 billion streams each on the platform — more than any other artist in Spotify history. He has accumulated 58 billion streams on the service, reigning as Spotify’s most-streamed artist of the year for the past three years.
In the video, Bad Bunny feasted on a lavish meal set on several plaques that commemorated his other songs with over 1 billion Spotify streams, including “Yonaguni,” “Dákiti” (with Jhayco) and “MIA” (with Drake). In addition to basking in his recordbreaking streaming success, the “Después de la Playa” singer also recounted the story behind the creation of “Tití Me Preguntó.” When tasked with telling the story of the song in 10 seconds, he replied, “That’s impossible. That’s a lifetime of love and romance.”
“It’s a song that was born very spontaneously,” he added. “All of the people mentioned in the song exist in real life. Nothing I say in that song is a lie, including the part where I say I want to fall in love, but I can’t.”
Nonetheless, Bad Bunny declined to specify which aunt he was singing about, because “they’ll get jealous and create a mess.”
Toward the end of his Billions Club episode, Bad Bunny made sure to thank his fans for their continued support, as well as his mother and father for believing in him “not just in music, but with every decision [he’s] made” in his life.
Bad Bunny has earned 11 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including his sole No. 1 single “I Like It” (with Cardi B & J Balvin). On the Billboard 200, he has notched five top 10 projects, two of which have reached the ranking’s summit: El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo (one week) and Un Verano Sin Ti (13 weeks).
