Prepare for a behind the scenes look at Jennifer Lopez’s music…
The 53-year-old Puerto Rican superstar will be featured in one of the new episodes of Paramount+’s Behind the Music.
In addition to J.Lo, new installments of the documentary series will also feature Boy George, Jason Aldean and Remy Ma.
The new installments of the documentary series will hit the streamer on November 29.
Additionally, remastered episodes spotlighting Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, Gloria Estefan, Hootie & the Blowfish, Mötley Crüe, Pink and TLC will drop the same day.
Here are the loglines for the new episodes:
After three decades, Jennifer Lopez is at the very top of her game and shows no signs of slowing down. J.Lo reflects on key moments of her iconic career in music, film and fashion while celebrating her present with husband Ben Affleck.
Boy George reflects on his meteoric rise from outcast to ‘80s global superstar with Culture Club. A tumultuous love affair, intense fame and addiction almost destroyed his career – but 40 years on, he remains an LGBTQ+ pop icon.
Jason Aldean is a small-town kid turned country superstar who never backed down in life, and changed the country music genre forever.
Remy Ma shares her journey to becoming the queen of New York hip hop. Her road to fame with the Terror Squad was paved with loss – a prison sentence almost ended it all – but her comeback inspired millions.
For 14 seasons, Behind the Music has provided an intimate look into the personal lives of pop music’s greatest and most influential artists. Since moving to Paramount+, the series has gone behind the scenes into the lives of stars like Bret Michaels, Busta Rhymes, Duran Duran, Fat Joe, Huey Lewis, LL Cool J, New Kids on the Block and Ricky Martin.
The series is executive produced by Bruce Gillmer, Jennifer Demme and Michael Maniaci for MTV Entertainment Studios.
The 28-year-old Puerto Rican rapper/singer’s El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo repeats at No. 1 on Billboard’s monthly Top Tours chart.
Bad Bunny rules in March with El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo earning $64.8 million from 337,000 tickets across 20 shows, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
That makes him the first artist to ever reign over back-to-back months. And one month after claiming the second-highest monthly gross for an arena tour ($39.8 million in February), his March figures rewrite the record entirely, blasting pass Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s $47 million run in December 2019.
Overall, it’s the second-highest monthly total since the charts launched in March 2019. Only The Rolling Stones stand in Bad Bunny’s way with their $95 million stadium sum in August 2019. Still, Bad Bunny’s March arena earnings stand above chart-topping stadiums runs by Ed Sheeran (April ’19), BTS (May ’19), Spice Girls (June ’19) and P!nk (July ’19).
The gargantuan $65 million haul is more than double the gross of his next closest competitors this month.
As previously reported, Bad Bunny’s February dates in Inglewood, Calif., and Dallas, among others, set local records for per-night gross and overall earnings.
In March, he continued to set regional high marks, including the three-night run at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. (20 miles outside of Chicago), which grossed $11.2 million and sold 51,400 tickets from March 10 to 12. More records were set in San Jose ($7.9 million on March 3-4), Phoenix ($3.2 million on March 6), and Orlando ($5.6 million on March 30-31).
While it didn’t quite reach the top, Bad Bunny’s double-header at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center earned $7.2 million immediately after his $3.8 million take the night before at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. That adds up to $11.1 million over three nights in the New York area.
These and other shows from the tour flood the Top Boxscores ranking, where Bad Bunny takes up seven spots. The Rosemont, San Jose and Brooklyn shows hit the top 10 at Nos. 2, 8 and 10, respectively.
El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo wrapped after two months on April 3 with $116.8 million. Its final triple-header in Miami will likely be the run’s last appearance on next month’s Boxscore report before yielding to Bad Bunny’s own next tour — World’s Hottest Tour. His follow-up level-up to stadiums in North and Latin America launches later this year.
In March, Bad Bunny narrowly took the No. 1 spot on Top Boxscores over a Latin American festival, keeping Mexico City’s Electric Daisy Carnival at No. 2. One month later, despite the record-setting overall haul, he is dethroned by Sao Paulo’s Lollapalooza Brasil. The three-day event grossed $23.2 million with a weekend attendance of 267,000 over March 25-27.
London’s O2 Arena is the month’s top-grossing venue with earnings of $26.8 million. It’s the first venue outside the U.S. to take the top spot on the 15,001+ capacity chart since Mexico City’s Foro Sol ruled over March 2020. Before that, you have to go back to May 2019, when the O2 itself topped the list with a slightly less massive $22 million.
Mariah Carey has the write stuff, and could soon have the prize to prove it…
The 48-year-old half-Venezuelan American songstress is one of the 2019 Songwriters Hall of Fame nominees.
Carey, a five-time Grammy winner, has penned or co-written some of her biggest hits, including her insta-classic holiday song “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “Fantasy,” “We Belong Together,” “Emotions,” and “Make It Happen.”
In all, Carey wrote or co-penned 17 of her 18 Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers:
Songs, Weeks at No. 1 “Vision of Love,” Four Weeks
“Love Takes Time,” Three Weeks
“Someday,” Two Weeks
“I Don’t Wanna Cry,” Two Weeks
“Emotions,” Three Weeks
“Dreamlover,” Eight Weeks
“Hero,” Four Weeks
“Fantasy,” Eight Weeks
“One Sweet Day,” Sixteen Weeks
“Always Be My Baby,” Two Weeks
“Honey,” Three Weeks
“My All,” One Week
“Heartbreaker,” Two Weeks
“Thank God I Found You,” One Week
“We Belong Together,” Fourteen Weeks
“Don’t Forget About Us,” Two Weeks
“Touch My Body,” Two Weeks
Joining Mariah Carey as performing nominees are Missy Elliott, Chrissie Hynde, Vince Gill, Mike Love, Jimmy Cliff, Jeff Lynne, Cat Stevens, John Prine, Lloyd Price, Tommy James and The Eurythmics (Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart).
Non-performing nominees are Jack Tempchin, Dean Dillon, Jerry Fuller, Tom T. Hall, Roger Nichols and Dallas Austin, who wrote hits for TLC, Madonna, Monica, Pink and Boyz II Men.
Nominated non-performing songwriting duos include P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, Russell Brown and the late Irwin Levine, musical theater writers Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, Bobby Hart and the late Tommy Boyce.
Songwriters are eligible for induction after writing hit songs for at least 20 years.
Six songwriters, or songwriting groups, will be officially inducted at the Hall’s 50th annual Induction & Awards Gala in New York on June 13, 2019. Eligible members can vote for three non-performing songwriters and three performing songwriters until December 17.
The 37-year-old Grammy-winning rapper is heading to the intergovernmental organization’s offices to discuss the global water crisis on World Water Day.
The organization Clean Water Here announced that the international pop star will be named Clean Water Here Ambassador on March 22, when he visits the U.N. in New York City.
Pitbull also will receive the 2018 World Water Champion Award for his global humanitarian efforts. He is leading the celebrity-driven social media campaign dubbed “Clean Water Here Cause Flash,” in hopes of raising awareness of the water crisis. Other participants include Bruno Mars, Pink, Maroon 5, Demi Lovato, Monica and Juanes.
On March 22, U.N. General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak will launch a 10-year plan focused on sustainable development of water resources.
The 25-year-old Mexican American singer has been named Billboard’s 2017 Woman of the Year.
Gomez, a two-time Billboard 200 chart-leader will be presented with the award on November 30 at the annual Women in Music dinner and awards gala, held at Los Angeles’ Ray Dolby Ballroom.
Gomez, an award-winning singer, producer and actress, will join an all-star cast of previous Woman of the Year honorees including Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Pink, Katy Perry, Fergie, Beyoncé and last year’s winner, Madonna, who delivered a moving speech that touched on feminism, sexism and much more.
“Not only is Selena soaring on the charts, but she continuously inspires young women everywhere to be authentic, give back and to not be afraid to use their voice,” said John Amato, president of The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group. “She is never afraid to speak her mind and has used her platform to advocate for the needs of others. We are thrilled to be able to honor her as our Woman of the Year.”
Gomez’ career has never been in better shape. In 2015 and 2016, she enjoyed top 10 Billboard Hot 100 smashes with “Same Old Love” and “Hands to Myself” and “We Don’t Talk Anymore.” The trend continues, with hits “Bad Liar,” “Fetish” (featuring Gucci Mane) and “It Ain’t Me” (with Kygo) in the past year.
Five of her albums have cracked the top 10 of the Billboard 200, with the studio albums Revival (2015) and Stars Dance (2013) leading the chart.
Not confined to music, Gomez also executive-produced the Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why, launched partnerships with Coach and Puma, and worked tirelessly across various philanthropic endeavors, from the Step Up Foundation to coaching for World Kindness Day, and raising more than $500,000 for the Lupus Research Alliance. Also, Gomez has been an active ambassador for UNICEF since 2009.
The event, held in conjunction with the publication of Billboard’s Women in Music issue, also recognizes the most powerful female executives in the industry. Additional Women in Music honorees will be revealed at a later date.
For the first time, the Women in Music event and a red-carpet pre-show will be broadcast live for on Twitter from 9:00 pm-midnight EST on November 30.
Selena Gomez is lending her hands to help the victims of the Orlando Shooting.
The 23-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actress is among 24 artists featured on a new recording to raise money for the victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre.
The all-star release, entitled “Hands” — a charity single from Interscope Records with support from GLAAD — was conceived by hit songwriter Justin Tranter, co-writer of Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” and hits for Gomez, DNCE, Fall Out Boy and Gwen Stefani.
The June 12 shooting at the gay nightclub in Orlando, which killed 49 people and injured 53, is the most deadly mass shooting in American history and the deadliest act of violence against the LGBT community.
Funds from the song will aid families with medical care, counseling and will also be used for education.
“Like the rest of the world I woke up to the news that morning and was horrified and sad and scared,” says Tranter, who has raised money and awareness for LGBT causes since coming out at age 14.
“Hands” is available on iTunes.
Proceeds will be distributed by Equality Florida Pulse Victims Fund, the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida and GLAAD.
The idea for the all-star project came together one day after the shooting.
L.A.-based Tranter and songwriting partner Julia Michaels had been on the road with Gomez writing songs aboard her tour bus in Miami the weekend of June 11 when news of the bloodshed prompted Tranter to switch course. That afternoon he signed on as a volunteer at The Center Orlando, the region’s chief LGBT community center.
“I called them and said, ‘If I fly up is there something for me to help with?'” he tells Billboard. “They say, ‘We need as many hands as we can possibly get.'”
“Hands” took hold the next day when Tranter met GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis who had arrived at the center from New York.
Beyond their immediate efforts — distributing food and water and GLAAD’s work with media — both were looking to make contributions that would have ongoing benefits. They point out that the massacre was also a profound attack on people of color, as that Saturday evening had been a popular “Latin Night” at Pulse. Most of the victims were of Latin heritage and Ellis says she does not want that point forgotten.
“When you hear the song it talks about hate being the driver here,” she says, “and that’s important because we have to be able to identify what’s driving these cruel acts in order to stop them. Artists using their platforms to accelerate acceptance is very powerful.”
Aligning with Interscope for the release, Tranter, GLAAD and Interscope president of A&R Aaron Bay-Schuck put the word out that a fundraiser was in the works. Within days artists from all spheres of the business had lined up — also among them Halsey, Ty Herndon, Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons, Adam Lambert, The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, MNEK, Alex Newell, Mary Lambert, Prince Royce, Jussie Smollett, Nate Ruess and RuPaul — all recording separately from their homes, local studios, touring locations or wherever they happened to be at that moment.
“We assigned everybody what we thought would be the best part for their voice,” Tranter says, “and we asked them all to sing an additional part, just in case. But everybody got it done in time so we ended up with extra vocals.”
In Los Angeles “Interscope let us use their studio,” he notes. “Mary J. Blige recorded in New Orleans. Britney Spears in Thousand Oaks, I think. Pink in Santa Barbara. MNEK recorded at home in London. Selena recorded in her studio bus. Dan Reynolds recorded in his home. Adam Lambert was in Luxembourg. Ty Herndon the country star was in Spain. Kacey Musgraves, Nashville. Everyone just got it done.”
Another goal of the record, according to GLAAD, is to fund educational programs.
“This was an American guy who was born in Queens,” Ellis says of the gunman, Omar Mateen, 29, who was killed by police after a three hour stand-off. “He learned that hate here in America. This happened on American soil, against a particular community.”
While politicians and lobbyists have focused in recent weeks on Islamic terror and familiar narratives about gun ownership, Ellis, Tranter and others in the LGBT community want people to remember that this was a hate crime.
“I’m not educated enough to speak on the political details,” Tranter says. I’m a songwriter, not a politician. It could have been a million things but clearly, 100 percent, this was an attack on the LGBT community and people of color.”
“Hands” grew out of an unfinished piece that Tranter, Michaels and co-writer and producer BloodPop (formerly known as Blood Diamonds) had been working on and then shelved.
“The song didn’t ever finish itself and it didn’t ever feel right,” Tranter says of their initial efforts. “Now we know why.”
Mark Ronson also co-produced, while vocal engineer Benjamin Rice finessed the disparate tracks: “He helped us find the structure and make sense of it all.”
Warner/Chappell publishing executive Katie Vinten brought in numerous artists, among them P!nk, whom Tranter calls “a lifesaver,” adding, “Her vocal on the chorus is like from heaven directly.”
Spears opens the song with the plaintive line, “Can hold a gun or a hold a heart.” RuPaul is heard quietly toward the end, saying “take my hand baby.”
The songwriters had no specific plan as they entered the studio — only that they didn’t want the piece “to ever sound dated.”
“We didn’t want to have any trendy electronic elements,” Tranter notes. “We wanted it to sound classic, timeless and human. We want this anthem of positivity to be played for years to come.”
Miguel is ready to shine a light on race issues in America…
The 30-year-old part-Mexican American Grammy-winning singer-songwriter is set to perform at “Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America.”
The concert will be broadcast across more than 135 countries on Lifetime and A&E Network beginning November 21 and continuing through December 15.
A+E and IHeartRadio are partnering to bring together Miguel, the Zac Brown Band, Eric Church, Jamie Foxx, Rhiannon Giddens, Tori Kelly, John Legend, Pink, Jill Scott, Ed Sheeran, Sia, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and Pharrell Williams for the concert sparked by tragic shootings in Charleston, Baltimore, Chicago and Ferguson.
Performances will include a once-in-a-lifetime series of duets, focused on reconciliation and positive change around the world.
Additional performers will be announced in coming weeks.
The concert will be recorded at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Wednesday, November 18th. The event will kick off A+E Networks’ worldwide campaign to confront issues of race, and to promote unity and progress on racial equity.
The concert and its ancillary programming will help raise money for the Fund for Progress on Race in America powered by United Way Worldwide. The fund will provide grants to individuals and organizations as well as provide support to Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in South Carolina and the broader A.M.E. denomination. The fund will support efforts to address racism and bias through public policy change, individual innovation, and community mobilization.
In the U.S., the two-hour special event will air across A+E Networks’ brand portfolio, including A&E, History, Lifetime, H2, LMN and FYI, as well as on iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations and the iHeartRadio digital platform.
Immediately following the concert broadcast, A&E Network will air the one-hour special, Shining a Light: Conversations on Race in America, (tentative title) featuring artists engaging a diverse group of residents in local communities at the center of the national conversation on racial inequality and violence.
Tickets for the November 18 concert are available through AEG Live at AXS.com and shrineauditorium.com.
Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Fund for Progress on Race in America powered by The United Way Worldwide.
The Argentinean actress and her Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-stars are slated to appear on Top Chef Duels, another Top Chefseries from Bravo.
Top Chef Duels pits 18 of the best and most talked-about personalities frompast seasons of Top Chef andTop Chef Mastersfor a “battle royale” in the kitchen.
The 10-episode Top Chef Duels, hosted by celebrity chef Curtis Stone, will premiere on Wednesday, August 6, at 10:00 pm ET, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Stone will serve on the judges’ table withGail Simmons, with chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Hugh Acheson rounding out the panel on a rotating basis.
Beatriz and her Brooklyn Nine-Nine team (Andy Samberg, Melissa Fumero, Chelsea Peretti and co-creator Dan Goor) will serve as celebrity guests for one episode.
Other celebrity guests this season include Shailene Woodley, Pink, Scott Ian Rosenfeld, Gary Holt, Rob Zombie and the Grey’s Anatomy gang (James Pickens Jr., Sarah Drew, Camilla Luddington, Jerrika Hinton and Kevin McKidd).
As the title suggests, Top Chef Duels will have two chefs facing off in three rounds of head-to-head battles, with the competitors picking “mini duels,” targeting the other’s perceived weaknesses. The third challenge then decides who moves on to compete in the season finale, which will crown the sole winner of the $100,000 grand prize and a Food and Winefeature.
Bravo is also borrowing from its Top Chef online companion series Last Chance Kitchen, which pits eliminated contestants against each other for a chance to compete in the finale, with the Top Chef Duel equivalent: The Knockout, hosted by Puck.The same essential rules apply, though there is one twist. Unlike Last Chance Kitchen, a chef only needs one battle win to quality for a place in The Knockout online finals, though the more wins a chef has, the better their chances are in earning the sole return spot on the show.
Naya Rivera is preparing to reinterpret one of her most memorable Glee performances…
The 27-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/singer will offer a new take on her acclaimed performance of Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson’s version of “Valerie” for the Fox musical dramedy’s 100th episode.
In the second season episode entitled “Special Education,” Rivera sang lead on the track by The Zutons during the New Directions’ performance at the 2010 Western Ohio Sectional Championship.
Rivera also performed the track in the Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, which was released in 2011.
This time around, she’ll perform the song alongside Heather Morris (Brittany).
In addition, Rivera will also perform Britney Spears’ “Toxic” with Morris and Diana Agron (Quinn), and “Be Okay” with Lea Michele.
The music in the two-part episode was chosen by the show’s fans, who were asked to pick 10 of the show’s 30 most beloved performances to be remixed and featured on the series’ landmark episode.
Set to air on March 18 and 25 at 8 p.m., the 100th episode will center on Jane Lynch‘s principal Sue Sylvester, who after years of disdain for the New Directions and Matthew Morrison‘s Will Schuester, finally succeeds in ending the glee club in Lima.
Many original castmembers — Morris (Brittany), Harry Shum Jr. (Mike), Mark Salling (Puck), Dancing With the Stars winner Amber Riley (Mercedes), Agron (Quinn) as well as Kristin Chenoweth (April) and Gwyneth Paltrow (Holly Holliday) — will return to say their final goodbyes to Will and each other in the emotional episode.
To honor the milestone, Columbia Records will release Glee:The Music Celebrating 100 Episodes, which will include brand-new versions of Glee favorites from the original cast — including Journey‘s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Pink‘s “Raise Your Glass” and the original song “Loser Like Me.”
The album will be released on March 25.
Here’s the complete 100th Glee tracklist:
1. “Keep Holding On”* featuring Mark Salling (Puck)
2. “Valerie”* featuring Naya Rivera (Santana) and Morris (Brittany)
3. “Defying Gravity”* featuring Lea Michele( Rachel), Chris Colfer (Kurt) and Riley (Mercedes)
4. “Raise Your Glass”* featuring Morrison (Will) and Chenoweth (April)
5. “Toxic”* featuring Rivera (Santana), Morris (Brittany) and Agron (Quinn)
6. “Happy” featuring Paltrow (Holly), Chenoweth (April), Morrison (Will), Darren Criss(Blaine) and Riley (Mercedes)
7. “Party All the Time” featuring Paltrow (Holly)
8. “Total Eclipse of the Heart”* featuring Morrison (Will) and Chenoweth (April)
9. “Loser Like Me”* featuring Criss (Blaine), Kevin McHale (Artie), Chord Overstreet(Sam) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina)
10. “Be Okay” featuring Michele (Rachel) and Rivera (Santana)
11. “I Am Changing” featuring Riley (Mercedes) and Colfer (Kurt)
12. “Just Give Me a Reason” featuring Agron (Quinn) and Salling (Puck)
13. “Don’t Stop Believin’”* featuring Michele (Rachel), Criss (Blaine), Colfer (Kurt), Morrison (Will), McHale (Artie) and Ushkowitz (Tina)
* Season-five version
Glee returns from its midseason break on February 25 in its new night and time on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox.