Music News

Brooklyn-based, Philadelphia-raised MC and model Chynna Rogers has died at the age of 25.
“I can regrettably confirm Chynna passed away,” her manager John Miller told Billboard’s sister title Stereogum via email. He added that her family said, “Chynna was deeply loved and will be sorely missed”.

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A Florida kindergarten teacher took his virtual classroom to new levels on Monday when rock icon Jon Bon Jovi popped in on a writing lesson about life in the coronavirus quarantine.

Last month, the Grammy award-winning '80s rocker released an incomplete version of “Do What You Can,” which is a ballad about the nation’s battle to contain the virus, and asked fans to submit verses to help complete it, the Palm Beach Post reported.

Michael Bonick, a teacher at Marsh Pointe Elementary School in Palm Beach Gardens and life-long Bon Jovi fan, saw the singer’s invitation and found contact information online for a member of Bon Jovi’s staff. He sent along his students’ writings about being stuck at home in quarantine.

A staffer replied that Bon Jovi wanted to meet the kids, and he popped onto their laptop screens at 10 a.m. Monday.

“Mr. B got you guys writing and I was very excited to hear that,” the former Bon Jovi frontman told the students, “because if you get to put your feelings down on paper sometimes they’ll turn into songs, sometimes they’ll turn into stories and you never know where it might lead you.”

So far, the singer has received thousands of proposals online, some of which he works into performances of the song that he broadcasts online from his home in New Jersey.

As the 20 kindergartners — and their parents — watched, Bon Jovi strummed an acoustic guitar and sang out three kindergartners’ writing prompts about life in quarantine, each one touching on themes of idleness and isolation.

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"It's cool that people appreciate our characters and dialogue."

In the K-pop world, releasing a full-length album is a career milestone and The Boyz should have enjoyed their biggest era yet. After seven releases singles and EPs, the 11-member boy band delivered their first LP in Reveal last February that showcased their growing promise as both artists and one of Korea's next-generation superstars. But the record battled difficult timing.

From the sophisticated pop style of the title track along with genre experimentations in the AutoTuned alt-bop "Salty" or the synth-R&B groove of "Break Your Rules," the album delivered the group's most impressive collection of songs to date along with a new peak on Billboard's Social 50 chart, better-than-ever YouTube views, and No. 1 on Korea's local album charts.

But the LP also dropped just as coronavirus concerns spiked in Korea that forced all television performances to record without audiences (including the music programs that K-pop acts perform on daily while promoting). In that climate, they postponed what would have been their first headlining concert in Seoul (the planned performances for March in Korea and Japan will be rescheduled).

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Tame Impala maestro Kevin Parker, Courtney Barnett, The Wiggles, Marlon Williams, Vance Joy and Tim Minchin lead a starry lineup for Music From The Home Front, a televised concert spectacular set for this Saturday.

Other big names confirmed include Dean Lewis, Missy Higgins, Paul Kelly and Delta Goodrem, who performed last weekend for the historic One World: Together at Home benefit concert.

Unlike One World, the Australasian event exists to pay tribute to those working at the frontline fighting the novel coronavirus, and servicemen and women from Down Under, who are remembered every year on Anzac Day, April 25.

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The next round of artists set for the Billboard Live At-Home series will provide some much-needed fun while we're still bored in the house and in the house bored.

The performances for the week of April 27 will feature at-home sets from Jason Mraz, Vanessa Carlton and Jesse McCartney to Chloe x Halle, Max and more via Billboard's Facebook page. Biffy Clyro will kick things off on Monday (April 27) with a set at 1 p.m. EST, followed by Vanessa Carlton at 3 p.m. EST. Other acts slated to perform during the week include: Carly Pearce, K. Camp and Joss Favela.

The Billboard Live series launched on March 19 with the help of JoJo, Josh Groban and Russell Dickerson, who all selected a nonprofit to support during their livestream to help those most affected by COVID-19. Billboard Live At-Home series thus far has helped charities such as Meals on Wheels America, Downtown Women's Center, My Friend's Place, Feeding America and more.

Monday (April 27)
1 p.m. ET -- Biffy Clyro
3 p.m. ET -- Vanessa Carlton
Tuesday (April 28)
1 p.m. ET -- Jason Mraz
3 p.m. ET -- Jesse McCartney
Wednesday (April 29)
1 p.m. ET -- Carly Pearce
3 p.m. ET -- K. Camp
Thursday (April 30)
1 p.m. ET -- Chloe x Halle
Friday (May 1)
1 p.m. ET -- Max
3 p.m. ET -- Joss Favela

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A sale promotion in the iTunes Store lifted a number of older albums to sales increases, and fans took notice.

It might be the year 2020, but if you glanced at the U.S. iTunes Store’s Top Albums tally this past week, it’d be hard to tell what decade you were in.

Thanks to sale pricing and fan promotion, a trio of older albums by Mariah Carey, Madonna and Janet Jackson all jumped into the iTunes Store's always-updating Top Albums tally. On April 27 and 28, Carey’s 2008 album E=MC2 was No. 1 on the iTunes Store’s Top Albums tally, while Madonna’s 1994 set Bedtime Stories visited No. 1 on April 30. Meanwhile, Jackson’s 1986 album Control also visited the top 10 during the week -- and at one point, all three albums were together in the top 10.

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Andre Harrell, music mogul and founder of influential R&B and hip-hop label Uptown Records, has died. Details are if his death are not yet known, but Harrell's passing was first announced by DJ D-Nice on his Instagram Live early Saturday morning (May 9), and sources have separately confirmed it to Billboard. He was 59.

Raised in the Bronx, New York, Harrell started a career in music as half of the early-'80s hip-hop duo Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (with Alonzo Brown). The pair had a handful of minor hits on Billboard's Hot R&B Songs chart -- the biggest being the No. 31-peaking, Tom Tom Club-sampling "Genius Rap" in 1982 -- but Harrell soon found other career aspirations, particularly after meeting Def Jam records founder Russell Simmons.

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The American Idol finale had some massive moments, not all of them involved the contestants.
Idol judge Katy Perry delivered her debut live performance of “Daises,” inside of a spectacular digitally-enhanced environment.

Wearing a pink dress, no shoes and showing her baby bump, Perry looked like Alice in her animated wonderland, as walls and cartoon furniture appear around her and steep falls appear under her feet.
“Daises” dropped last week, a triumph against the haters.

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Steve Priest, founding bass player with Sweet, the British glam rockers who bagged hits with “Ballroom Blitz,” “Fox on the Run,” “Teenage Rampage” and more, has died at the age of 72.

Riding the British ‘70s glam scene alongside the likes of David Bowie, T-Rex and Mott the Hoople, Sweet were in the rarest of company.

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Lady Gaga’s Chromatica (Interscope/Universal) hangs on for a second week at No. 1 in Australia, as DaBaby’s “Rockstar” (Interscope/Universal) completes a month at the top.

Chromatica, which also snares the U.K. chart lead for a second week (by a narrow margin), is Gaga’s fourth No. 1 Down Under.

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