Music News

Young Thug is wonderful at many things — rapping, singing, screeching, howling, mumbling, ad-libbing, AutoTune, friendship, complicated hand signs and fixing collars on catwalks. But when it comes to being a firefighter, Thug is extraordinarily terrible. The music video for “Hot,” featuring Gunna and Travis Scott, is one long and elaborate how-to manual on what not to do when your house is burning to the ground.

Thug doesn’t try to save anyone throughout the Christian Sutton-directed visual. Instead, he raps his verse from “Hot,” while his YSL-signee, Gunna, sits calmly in the inferno. Luckily, Travis Scott is smart enough to let himself burn on an expansive football field. The marching band behind him doesn’t do anything to help. Maybe they’re still in shock that one of the most famous rappers in the world wants to deliver a performance, while his arm burns to a crisp.

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“Play our f-ckin’ records. Please and thank you.”

So read the inside of Jennifer Nettles’ cape on the CMA Awards red carpet, while the back of the Sugarland singer’s suit jacket bore the words “equal play.” Early in the evening, it seemed as if the sartorial statement may indicate a more outspoken tone than in CMAs past. As the night went on, however, it was clear that wasn’t the case.

Conversations about the gulf between the representation of male and female artists on country radio have reached fever pitch in recent years, and this year the CMA Awards tried to catch up. The show dedicated a sizable chunk of the telecast to showcasing women, and even trumpeted the evening as one “celebrating legendary women in country music.”

To that end, producers recruited a truly impressive lineup to open the show with a blockbuster medley. Hosts Carrie Underwood, Dolly Parton, and Reba McEntire sang “Those Memories of You,” a song that Parton recorded with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris for their 1987 Trio album, while the Highwomen, Tanya Tucker, Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Gretchen Wilson, Crystal Gayle, Terri Clark, and Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman offered a mix of signature hits (Evans’ “Born to Fly,” McBride’s “Independence Day”) and influential anthems (Tammy Wynette’s “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad,” Loretta Lynn’s “You’re Lookin’ at Country”).

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Peterson, one of the most accomplished pianists in jazz history, played with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Count Basie, among other luminaries. On this 1995 album, he found that the true meaning of Christmas was cool jazz instrumentals. At age 70, he no longer needed to prove his virtuosity; instead, he plays with a light touch and leads a swinging six-piece band. When Peterson finds emotional depth in "Jingle Bells," you know he's operating at a higher level.

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas trees are going up, the decorations are out and artists are sharing their Spotify “Wrapped” results.

Earlier this week, the streaming service released its annual "Wrapped" insights, which explore the top performers of the year and decade. Ariana Grande, Lizzo and John Mayer are among the artists who've unwrapped their own Spotify presents early. And they’re thrilled and surprised with their gifts.

“Not usually a nut for posting numbers, but this one is special,” writes John Mayer in an Instagram post. “Something beautiful happened this year, and I felt it every night, on every stage. You have all brought so much depth to these songs.” Mayer has reason to be happy. More than 54 million people played his songs, totaling more than a billion streams in 2019 alone.

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Christmas is officially around the corner and if you’re a last-minute gift buyer, don’t stress because Billboard’s here to save the day.

Check out the presents below that any Latin music junkie will love, including tour merch from reggaeton’s hottest artists, celebrity fragrances and hand-picked jewelry.

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'Bombshell' also came in behind expectations at $5.1 million, although the true test for all three pics will be their performance over the holidays.

Jedi Knights and singing felines made for a wild, curious ride at the pre-Christmas box office.
Though coming in notably behind the last two films in the trilogy, J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker easily banished the competition to a galaxy far, far away with a huge weekend launch of $175.5 million at the North American box office and $373.5 million globally.

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Neil Peart, the legendary Rush drummer known for his intricate and instanty recognizable solos, has died at age 67 after a battle with brain cancer, the CBC reports. In addition to being behind the kit, Peart was also the primary lyricist for the Canadian prog rock band.

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The Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey, got a late present from Santa this week when she was announced to the Songwriters Hall of Fame class of 2020. Carey is now doing exactly what the rest of us would get up to: she’s celebrating.

The pop superstar shared a picture of herself having a blast with her kids Moroccan and Monroe, with an appropriately oversized “Hall of Fame” balloon behind them. The balloons are gold, of course.
“Always celebrate the happy moments in life,” she writes in a social media post.

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When a typhoon hit Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island in August last year, Epizode festival’s organizers braced for the worst. Typhoons are turning more treacherous in Southeast Asia, and the worst flooding in the island’s history, which local officials attributed to climate change, left the beach site a muddy, debris-strewn mess.
“We thought it was going to be another Fyre Festival,” Epizode producer Roy Fridman recently told a dinner table of journalists, flashing photos on his phone of collapsed stages and uprooted trees.

The Russia-based team rushed to Vietnam, rebuilding everything just in time for the 11-day minimal techno marathon’s fourth edition (December 27th, 2019-January 7, 2020). With climate catastrophe battering down their shores, it couldn’t have been a more opportune occasion for the festival to kick off their eco-policy for the first time.

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Johnny Depp is set to produce an upcoming doc about legendary Irish folk-punker (and his friend) Shane MacGowan.

Julien Temple (Glastonbury, The Filth and the Fury, London: The Modern Babylon) will direct Shane, a feature documentary about the man, the music, the Irish diaspora and what the filmmakers describe as his "seemingly effortless facility for writing lyrics to some of the world’s most listened to songs including 'Fairytale of New York,' capturing the spirit of Ireland whilst on his own very personal voyage into the heart of darkness."

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