ABC Music News

Music notes: Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift and more

Posted today at 4:30pm

Sheryl Crow is a Billie Eilish fan. After Billie posted photos from her Rolling Stone cover shoot to Instagram, Sheryl took to the comment section to send her some love. "Man, I love what you do so much! So glad you are on the cover!!" Sheryl wrote.

Selena Gomez's boyfriend, producer and songwriter Benny Blanco, is set to receive the BMI President's Award at the 2024 BMI Pop Awards, the organization has announced. “Benny’s numerous contributions to the art of music and songwriting across all genres are unparalleled,” BMI Vice President Barbara Cane said. “His artistry and dedication to his craft have profoundly inspired and influenced many in our creative communities and we are thrilled to be honoring him."

David Guetta and OneRepublic have released the music video for their new single, "I Don't Wanna Wait." The music video features footage from Guetta's Ultra Miami event, where he premiered the track with OneRepublic front man Ryan Tedder.

Travis Kelce's mom, Donna Kelce, says Taylor Swift doesn't need her advice on growing older, People reports. "She doesn’t need my advice on anything," Donna said. "In fact, I hope she will give me advice."

Pet Shop Boys singer says Taylor Swift's catalog lacks "famous songs": "What is [her] 'Billie Jean'?"

Posted today at 4:00pm

Gilbert Flores/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images

Neil Tennant, the lead singer of U.K. duo Pet Shop Boys, must have some kind of social media death wish: At a London event on April 22, he publicly dissed Taylor Swift's songwriting ability.

Tennant, who used to be a music journalist, took part in a live discussion Monday organized by the U.K.'s The Guardian. He said of Taylor, "I have listened to Taylor Swift’s album. ... Taylor Swift sort of fascinates me as a phenomenon because she’s so popular and I sort of quite like the whole thing. But then when I listen to the records, [bandmate Chris and I] both have the same feeling actually, for a phenomenon as big [her], where are the famous songs? What is Taylor Swift’s ‘Billie Jean’?”

When someone at the event suggested "Shake It Off" is Taylor's "Billie Jean," Tennant asked, "Is it, though? No, ’cause I actually even know that’s the answer. ... But I listened to that the other day, and it’s not ‘Billie Jean.’ It’s not."

"Melodically — she’s got a great voice, by the way, and the production’s beautiful ... but melodically it’s all ... sung one or two notes going up and down. But anyway, it’s a fascinating thing.”

Tennant allowed that he likes the fact that Taylor's music "brings all these people together, even multigenerational," but added, "I just think that the one disappointing thing is the music. Not even, not the lyrics, the music.”

If you're now wondering what some of Pet Shop Boys' famous songs are, their hits in the U.S. include "West End Girls," "Opportunities," "It's a Sin," "What Have I Done to Deserve This," a remake of Elvis Presley's "Always On My Mind" and "Domino Dancing." They're the most successful duo in U.K. chart history and have sold over 50 million records.

Selena's boyfriend Benny Blanco says falling for her was a 'Clueless' moment

Posted today at 2:00pm

Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Remember when Taylor Swift sang, "Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find/ That what you're looking for has been here the whole time?" Apparently that's what happened between Taylor's BFF Selena Gomez and Selena's boyfriend, Benny Blanco.

Speaking to WSJ. Magazine, Benny says he and Selena had known each other professionally and as friends for nearly 10 years before they fell for each other. "I was the last one to know,” says the producer.

"It’s crazy how your partner could just be sitting there the whole time, right in front of your eyes, and you don’t even notice," he continues. "And then you have that Clueless moment where you’re like, 'Wait, I’m in love.’"

These days Benny is switching up his focus from his songwriting and producing career to his cooking career, readying his first cookbook, Open Wide: A Cookbook for Friends. He tells WSJ. Magazine that he and Selena, who has a cooking show on the Food Network, cook together all the time. In fact, they made a steak dinner for both their families that included Selena's corn casserole and Benny's corn bread with honey butter.

"I just love entertaining and pleasing people," he says. "Doesn’t everyone want to be cared for, whether it’s your friend or a lover or your family? Doesn’t it feel good when someone makes you something?”

Fun fact: Open Wide includes a recipe for deep-frying a watch, because one of his best friends, Ed Sheeran, once gave him a $16,500 Rolex and that's what he did with it. He claims it still works.

Sia, Jason Mraz, Billie Eilish and more sign letter protesting "predatory resellers" of concert tickets

Posted today at 11:00am

Artists including Jason Mraz, Billie Eilish and Sia have signed an open letter supporting the proposed Fans First Act, which aims to "combat predatory resellers and the use of illegal bots" in the concert ticket industry.

The letter was released by a coalition called Fix the Tix, organized by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA).

"As artists and members of the music community, we rely on touring for our livelihood, and we value music fans above all else," the signees write. "We are joining together to say that the current system is broken: predatory resellers and secondary platforms engage in deceptive ticketing practices to inflate ticket prices and deprive fans of the chance to see their favorite artists at a fair price."

"Predatory resellers have gone unregulated while siphoning money from the live entertainment ecosystem for their sole benefit," the letter continues. "They use illegal bots, speculative ticket listings, and deceitful advertising, which cause real harm."

It concludes, "We, as artists, as music lovers, and as concert attendees ourselves, urge you to support the Fans First Act to combat predatory resellers’ deceptive ticketing practices and the secondary platforms, which also profit from these practices. Predatory resellers should not be more profitable than the people dedicating their lives to their art."

Others who signed include Lorde, Billie's brother FINNEAS, Train, Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, Diplo, Fall Out Boy and Dave Matthews.

To read the whole letter, visit NIVAssoc.org/fixthetix.

Florence Welch "had such a fun time" recording "Florida!!!" with Taylor Swift

Posted today at 10:35am

Florence Welch got a taste of what a Taylor Swift release day is like with The Tortured Poets Department.

The Florence + the Machine frontwoman guests on the album track "Florida!!!" Speaking with British Vogue about the response to the song, Welch shares, "I almost didn't think of the scale of it."

"There's the sort of bigness of [Taylor Swift the phenomenon], and then there's the Taylor I spend time with in the studio, who is just the sweetest and most down to earth," she adds.

Welch explains that the song came together when Swift approached her with "a concept and a story."

"[That's] my favorite way to start songwriting," Welch says. "We had such a fun time. And then when it came out I was like, 'Oh, s***!'"

As for whether the London-born Welch might pop up during the upcoming U.K. leg of Swift's Eras Tour, she teases, "If I was gonna do it, it would be a surprise."

By the way, the Eras Tour will come to Florida in October, though Swift is playing Miami, not Destin.

Welch, meanwhile, just announced an orchestra-accompanied concert taking place September 11 at London's Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms classical music series. The show will celebrate the 15th anniversary of Florence + the Machine's 2009 debut album, Lungs, which includes the single "Dog Days Are Over."

Travis Kelce's mom says TTPD is "probably [Taylor's] best work," says Tayvis vacationed with Gigi & Bradley

Posted today at 10:00am

Travis Kelce's mom, Donna, is spilling the tea about what her son and Taylor Swift do in their downtime: hang with other power couples, apparently.

People reports that during the QVC Age of Possibility summit in Las Vegas on April 24, Donna revealed that Travis sent her a photo showing him and Taylor on the beach in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, with Taylor's pal Gigi Hadid and her boyfriend, Bradley Cooper.

Why did he send the pic? Well, on that beach day, Travis found out Cooper and his mom would both be at the event in Vegas. When Cooper showed up, Donna was able to greet the Oscar-nominated actor/director saying, "Travis told me you were going to be here."

At the event, Donna told People that she's listened to Taylor's new album, The Tortured Poets Department. "I was just very impressed," she said. "She is a very talented woman, and I think it is probably her best work."

At least two songs on the album are thought to be about Travis: "The Alchemy" and "So Like High School."

On the other end of the spectrum, People reports that The 1975 singer Matty Healy, who is thought to have inspired numerous tracks on the album, told paparazzi on April 24, "I haven't really listened to that much of it, but I'm sure it's good."

Dua Lipa plans sit-down with Drew Barrymore to talk 'Radical Optimism'

Posted today at 9:17am

Dua Lipa is going to have a heart-to-heart with Drew Barrymore.

She sent a message to members of her mailing list announcing that she's going to sit down with the talk show host on April 26 to chat "through all things Radical Optimism." It's not clear when the chat will air.

The Drew Barrymore Show records in New York City, where Dua is currently ensconced to do promotion for the new album and prepare to host and perform on Saturday Night Live on May 4.

Dua, who was chosen by TIME as one of the World's Most Influential People for 2024, will also perform at the TIME100 Gala, hosted by Taraji P. Henson.

TIME will celebrate the 2024 TIME100 list of the World’s Most Influential People at the TIME100 Summit on April 24 and the TIME100 Gala on April 25 in New York City; the gala will air as an ABC special on May 12. Other performers and attendees include Fantasia Barrino, Michael J. Fox and Patrick Mahomes.

Artists mentioned by Taylor Swift get streaming boosts — but should Charlie Puth's be bigger?

Posted today at 5:00am

After Taylor Swift mentioned a bar called The Black Dog in her new song of the same name on The Tortured Poets Department, fans started flocking to a pub of that name in London. And there's real-time data showing how Taylor's mention of certain musicians on her new album is sending fans to streaming services to check them out.

Taylor mentioned the song "Downtown Lights" by the Scottish band The Blue Nile in her TTPD song "Guilty as Sin. According to Billboard, streams of the 1989 song experienced a 1,400% increase in four days. The song had 3,000 streams from April 12 to April 15, but from April 19 — TTPD release day — to April 22, streams rose to more than 48,000.

Along the same lines, Taylor mentions the Philadelphia pop-punk band The Starting Line in the song "The Black Dog." According to Billboard, the band's catalog experienced a 55% increase after the album came out.

But despite Taylor singing about how "Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist" in the album's title track, his streams didn't increase as much as you might think. According to Billboard, his entire catalog got a bump of slightly less than 4% in the four days after the album came out.

However, Billboard points out that Charlie was already getting millions of streams every week, so the mention didn't have as big of an impact as the more obscure acts.

So far there's no data on whether the music or book sales of poet and artist Patti Smith, also mentioned in the title track, have increased.

Watch her dance the charts: Dua Lipa makes history with top three spots

Posted today at 5:00am

Dua Lipa may have said that her new album, Radical Optimism, is a departure from her signature disco sound, but try telling that to Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart — where she currently holds the top three spots.

Dua's latest single, "Illusion," is #1 on the chart, followed by her previous two singles: "Houdini" is #2 and "Training Season" is #3. That makes her the first woman ever to have the top three spots on that particular chart. The only other artists who've done it are The Chainsmokers and Drake.

In addition, Dua is now tied with Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga for the most number ones on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart by a female artist since its inception in 2013.

Plus, "Illusion" has set a record: last week it entered the chart at #42, and now it's #1. That's the biggest jump to the top in the history of the chart, breaking the previous record of #22 to #1 for "Rain On Me" by Gaga and Ariana.

Radical Optimism comes out May 3; the following day, Dua will host and perform on Saturday Night Live.

Music notes: Selena Gomez, Charlie Puth and more

Posted yesterday at 4:30pm

Selena Gomez spoke about her cosmetics brand Rare Beauty while at the annual TIME100 Summit in New York City on Wednesday, April 24. “I didn't want to really enter the cosmetics world without a mission. It was actually a dream that kind of happened within this brand, and on top of it we were able to make hopefully decent products.” Despite rumors she'll sell the company now that its worth $2 billion, Selena said she has no plans to do so. “I don't think I'm going anywhere. I am enjoying this a little too much,” Selena said.

According to Taylor Swift, Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist, but he's decided his house will have a smaller price tag. The singer's home has been on the market for almost $17 million for more than five months without any takers. It's now up for sale again, this time with different agents and a reduced ask of $14 million.

In celebration of the release of Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville opened a new display honoring the 2023 run of Taylor's Eras Tour shows. Among the featured artwork are posters dedicated to specific concert dates and hundreds of friendship bracelets Taylor was gifted by concertgoers, People reports.

Speaking of Taylor, it seems her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, listened to her new album early. Multiple sources confirmed to People that Travis listened to songs from The Tortured Poets Department before it dropped on April 19. "He is always in awe of her," one of the sources said of Travis' reaction to the new music.

Fans think Beyoncé may perform at Stagecoach Festival

Posted yesterday at 4:15pm

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartRadio

Stagecoach Festival will be taking place April 26-28 in Indio, California, and fans seem to think Beyoncé may show up.

Billboard reports those in the Beyhive have noticed several clues that suggest Bey's possible appearance at the festival. For one, Cowboy Carter collaborators Brittney Spencer, Post Malone, Tanner Adell, Willie Jones and Willie Nelson have sets at the event.

Another potential clue: A name, Backwoods Barbie, is featured in the lineup and the website, where a link connects to an Instagram account with 15 pictures, and several mentions of Beyoncé and Cowboy Carter.

Posts include photos of Beyoncé in Western attire, and pictures of Dolly Parton and Grace Jones, who respectively appeared on Cowboy Carter and Renaissance. The most recent post displays a map of the Stagecoach Festival grounds. “Catch me on Saturday night at 7pm out in Diplo’s Honky Tonk!” the caption reads.

If that's not all, the account only follows Beyoncé, Parton, Wallen, Diplo, the Stagecoach Festival and restauranteur Guy Fieri. A banner and hauler promoting Cowboy Carter were also seen during Coachella weekend.

"Dj Backwoods Barbie on Ig is def giving very much Beyonce lol we see you gworl," one fan wrote on social media.

Another asked the question, "Hive we at Stagecoach this weekend or nah?!?"

In other Bey news, she sent out another set of flowers, this time to a young fan named Tyler who was captured on video asking his mother questions like, “Where’s Beyoncé?” and “Can I visit Beyoncé?” He also insisted, “Beyoncé is our friend!”

Tyler's mom shared the news, adding the flowers were sent with a stuffed animal and a note that read, "I see your halo, Tyler." In a DM exchange between the mom and Bey's publicist, Yvette Noel-schure, she was told Bey "loved the video."

Lauv releases new song and video for "Potential," his first song "about a boy"

Posted yesterday at 4:00pm

Lauv's first new song and video of 2024, "Potential," shows him coming to terms with his sexuality.

Ahead of the release of the song, Lauv wrote on Instagram, "it’s genuinely a big deal to me, i’ve been writing songs for so long and have always seen myself as someone who was only allowed to be into girls. and then i started opening that up and now i feel just so so so much. and this song is the first one im gonna put out about a boy. so yeah, hope u love."

In the video, Lauv is pulled this way and that by both male and female dancers, until finally he and a male dancer end up embracing.

Lauv says in an official statement, "'Potential’ is about realizing you have feelings for someone and dreaming about the potential of what it could be. It’s the beginning of my next, most authentic chapter, and I can’t wait to share this and everything that’s coming next.”

In March 2024, Lauv posted on Instagram, "i finally, around age 29 have reopened the door to the part of myself that feels…well…into men. and i don’t know where its gonna go but i think it’s important to talk about because i literally spent A LIFETIME blaming my anxiety & eventual really bad OCD for all my thoughts that had to do with being into men, always shoving it back down."

He added, "But here i am, a few kisses and some fun in, a lot of songs in, and confused as ever but at least so much happier and more comfortable and less anxious because i’ve started to embrace a part of myself that i ran away from for so long."

Nick Jonas' new movie, 'The Good Half,' to get nationwide sneak preview screenings this summer

Posted yesterday at 3:00pm

In 2023, Nick Jonas' movie The Good Half premiered at the Tribeca Festival. Now it's finally hitting theaters.

The drama will have nationwide sneak preview screenings on July 23 and July 25 in over 900 theaters. Each screening will come with a virtual conversation between Nick and director Robert Schwartzman, moderated by Kiernan Shipka. You can sign up at FathomEvents.com to be notified when tickets become available.

The movie stars Nick as a struggling writer named Renn, who finally has to face his issues when he goes back home to Cleveland to attend the funeral of his mother, played in flashbacks by Elisabeth Shue.

On the plane trip home, he starts a new relationship with a fellow passenger, played by Alexandra Shipp. But once he arrives, he has to interact with the family he's been avoiding for years: his dad, played by Matt Walsh; his sister, played by Brittany Snow; and his stepdad, played by David Arquette.

Taylor Swift's 'TTPD' is now first album to hit 1 billion Spotify streams in one week

Posted yesterday at 2:00pm

It's hard to keep up with all the records that Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department album keeps breaking.

On April 22, the album became the most streamed in a single week in Spotify history; but as of April 24, it is the first album in Spotify history to hit 1 billion streams in a single week. It actually accomplished that in less than a week: the album's only been out for five days.

A few of the other records the album has broken include being the first in Spotify history to rack up 300 million streams in a single day and the most-streamed album in a single day. Meanwhile, Taylor is now the most-streamed artist in a single day.

Over on the Billboard side of things, The Tortured Poets Department now ranks #5 on the list of the biggest sales weeks for any album in the modern era, which Billboard dates back to 1991, the advent of electronic sales tracking.

Adele still holds the record, with 3.378 million copies in one week for 25, followed by *NSYNC's No Strings Attached with 2.416 million, *NSYNC's Celebrity with 1.878 million and Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP with 1.76 million. Taylor's album has now sold 1.6 million, but the week isn't over yet.

In addition, Billboard reports that the album's 31 tracks have racked up a combined 602.3 million streams, setting the record for highest single-week streams for an album by a female artist. The only other albums that have scored more streams in a week are both by Drake: 2018's Scorpion and 2021's Certified Lover Boy.

But Billboard notes that Taylor could still surpass Drake, who called her the "biggest gangster in the music game right now" on his new song “Taylor Made Freestyle.”

Nick & Aaron Carter's troubled lives inspire Investigation Discovery docuseries 'Fallen Idols'

Posted yesterday at 1:00pm

Nick Carter's little brother Aaron died in November 22 at the age of 34, and in recent years, Nick has been dogged by accusations of sexual assault. Now, both brothers' troubles are being examined in a new four-part docuseries on Investigation Discovery called Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter.

The main focus of the docuseries concerns the accusations against Nick, Aaron's struggles with substance abuse and what happened between the brothers when Aaron decided to publicly support Nick's accusers. The series includes interviews with Melissa Schuman, Ashley Repp and Shay Ruth, the three women who've made accusations against Nick, which he has denied. Among other things, they discuss the backlash they've faced from Nick's fans since they decided to come forward.

Also interviewed is Nick's former girlfriend Kaya Jones, Aaron's former fiancée, Melanie Martin, and members of the Carter family.

Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter premieres Monday, May 27, and Tuesday, May 28, from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT on Investigation Discovery; it'll also stream on Max.

If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.