Women in music

Selena Gomez is celebrating both the release of her new album, Rare, this weekend and the upcoming opening of her latest film project, Dolittle.

Gomez voices the character of a giraffe named Betsy in the movie, which hits theaters on Jan. 17. The film's premiere was held on Saturday (Jan. 11) in California.

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Selena Gomez is giving fans a look at the making of the "ethereal, iridescent universe" created for her "Rare" music video.

The singer uploaded a behind-the-scenes clip from the set on YouTube on Monday (Jan. 20)
"I am so glad that it worked out the way that it did," Gomez, who dropped her album of the same name on Jan. 10, said of the single's release. "It's such an important song, but I'm so glad I released 'Lose You to Love Me; and 'Look at Her Now' because it was more of a parting. This is the first moment into this era for me, personally and for the music."

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Before Billie Eilish even took the stage at the 2020 Oscars on Sunday night (Feb. 9), she already stole the show -- well, at least on social media.

The "Bad Guy" singer's reaction to Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph's off-the-wall medley immediately went viral, with her "what is going on?" expression becoming a hilarious meme across Twitter and Instagram. Not long after that, upon Eminem's surprise (and somewhat confusing) performance of the Oscar-winning 8 Mile hit "Lose Yourself" resulted in another meme-worthy Billie face.

While several Twitter and Instagram users had fun with Eilish's puzzled and unenthused faces, there were clearly several Billie fans tuned into the Oscars specifically to catch her highly anticipated performance. "This is actually my mood throughout the oscars I am not a movie person I am all music and I am only here to watch Billie perform but it’s taking years please hurry Idk these people," one Instagram user captioned a pic of her reaction to Wiig and Rudolph.

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The Queen of Pop is the first act ever to score as many as 50 No. 1s on any single Billboard chart.

Madonna earns her record-extending, landmark 50th No. 1 on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart, as "I Don't Search I Find" rises 2-1 on the Feb. 22-dated survey.
The chart, and all rankings dated Feb. 22, will refresh on Billboard.com on Wednesday, Feb. 19 (a day later than usual due to the Presidents' Day holiday in the U.S. on Monday, Feb. 17).
"Search" was remixed for clubs by, among others, Honey Dijon, Endor and DJLW.
With 50 No. 1s on Dance Club Songs, which measures reports submitted by a national sample of club DJs (and which launched as a national survey in the Billboard issue dated Aug. 28, 1976), Madonna outpaces runner-up Rihanna, who has notched 33 No. 1s. Beyoncé and Janet Jackson follow with 22 and 20 leaders, respectively.

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Rihanna may have been the recipient of one of the biggest honors at the 51st annual NAACP Image Awards on Saturday night (Feb. 22), but she humbly turned the focus towards a powerful and crucial message.
The pop star, actress and beauty and fashion mogul received the President's Award at the ceremony for her extraordinary philanthropic efforts across the globe: she's raised millions of dollars for disaster relief, education abroad and awareness for issues affecting communities all over the world, and she stressed that she didn't make this impact by working on her own.

"Tonight is not really about me, because the purpose is bigger than me, right?" she said upon accepting her award. "It’s not bigger than us together, but it’s bigger than me, because my part is a very small part of the work that is being done in this world and the work that is yet to be done."

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The all-female Japanese rock band SCANDAL released their ninth studio album, Kiss from the darkness, earlier in February, the first set recorded under their own private label established under Victor Entertainment, a long-standing rock label in Japan.

The four-member band was formed in 2006 in Osaka and debuted two years later. They founded their new label, called "her," in 2018 on their 10th anniversary, and share that recording the new album in their new environment last year was like "making music feeling really relaxed in our own atelier.

"The result is an album that the members say "embodies how we live as a band and as individuals," and also "redefines what 'all-girl bands' are." Japanese society is gradually shifting toward a more gender-free mindset in general, but the members of SCANDAL don't mind being called an "all-girl band."

SCANDAL World Tour International Dates
May 23: Seoul, South Korea - West Bridge Livehall
May 30: Singapore - The Coliseum, Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa
June 6: Manila, Philippines - New Frontier Theater
June 13: Bangkok, Thailand - Lido Connect (Hall 2)
June 21: Hong Kong - MacPherson Stadium
Sept. 4: Paris, France - YOYO - Palais de Tokyo
Sept. 6: London, U.K. - O2 Academy Islington
Sept. 9: Berlin, Germany - Musik & Frieden
Sept. 17: Anaheim, California - HOUSE OF BLUES
Sept. 19: Dallas, Texas - Canton Hall
Sept. 21: Atlanta, Georgia - The Masquerade
Sept. 23: Toronto, Canada- Queen Elizabeth Theater

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J-pop girl group Nogizaka46 shared its new music video accompanying "Shiawase no hogoshoku," the last single for main member Mai Shiraishi before she leaves the group in March.

The concept of the video, shot in early February at a Yamanashi studio, was to visualize what it would be like for the rest of the group to see Shiraishi off "prom-style." The video-specific choreography features the departing 27-year-old dancing with small groups of members from the first to the fourth generations before converging as the group as a whole toward the end.

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Lady Gaga would love to be spending time with her parents and grandparents at the end of this week, especially considering how rapidly the coronavirus pandemic is spreading in this trying time -- but that's exactly why she won't be making plans to visit with them anytime soon.

Along with a photo of her posing with her dogs at home, the "Stupid Love" singer posted some thoughts on COVID-19, and what she's learned in her conversations with some healthcare professionals about it, on Instagram on Saturday (March 14).

"It’s not the easiest for everyone right now but the kindest/healthiest thing we can do is self-quarantine and not hang out with people over 65 and in large groups," she writes. "I wish I could see my parents and grandmas right now but it’s much safer to not so I don’t get them sick in case I have it."
She closed her brief note with an optimistic and hopeful sign-off: "I love you world, we’ll all get through this. Trust me, I talked to God -- she said we’re gonna be ok."

Check out Gaga's post below.

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Rita Wilson was casually reading a copy of Ender's Game in isolation when Naughty by Nature's "Hip Hop Hooray" came on. With a "hey, ho" she launched into a full-on sing-along in the latest update from her coronavirus quarantine.

"Quarantine Stir Crazy," Wilson, who tested positive for COVID-19 along with husband Tom Hanks, captioned an Instagram video of the moment on Sunday (March 22). "See it to believe it."

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J-pop artist Haru Nemuri's new song "Seventh Heaven" will be featured as the theme of an upcoming Japanese movie called Colorless (Japanese title: Sarugakucho de aimasho).

The bittersweet love story, set in modern-day Shibuya, stars Daichi Kaneko as a struggling photographer who falls for an elusive aspiring model, played by Ruka Ishikawa, depicting their intense relationship that gradually begins to unravel after he takes a portrait of her that launches his career.

The trailer, edited by director Takashi Koyama himself, features Haru Nemuri's dreamy yet steady narration over scenes tracing the lovers' ephemeral romance, ending with the words: "That love, that emotion, that impulse, that wish, that lie… are they true?" Colorless opens in Japanese theaters June 5.

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