K-pop visionary J.Y. Park is making the leap into politics.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has appointed Park (Park Jin-young), CEO of JYP Entertainment, as co-chair of the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange.

Announced Tuesday, Sept. 9, the new presidential committee has a mission to promote South Korean culture abroad while expanding exposure to international pop culture domestically.

Park shared his thoughts on his Instagram account. “I thought long and hard about taking on a government role, as it felt burdensome and worrisome in many ways for someone from the entertainment industry. But with K-pop facing such a special opportunity right now, I decided to embrace it and make the most of it,” he added.

Widely loved by the public, Park debuted as a solo artist in 1994, and last year presented a solo concert in Seoul to celebrate his 30th anniversary.

After founding JYP Entertainment in 1996, he launched artists including Rain, Wonder Girls, 2PM, TWICE, Day6 and Stray Kids, elevating the company to one of Korea’s top entertainment agencies.

In 2009, at the height of the Wonder Girls’ domestic popularity, he moved to the United States and essentially started from scratch. He secured the group a spot as the opening act for the Jonas Brothers’ North American tour, and guided the English-language version of the Wonder Girls’ “Nobody,” which became the first Korean song to enter the Billboard Hot 100, debuting and peaking at No. 76, for what turned out to be a week-long stay on the chart.

Park also posted a photo of the Wonder Girls from 2009 on his Instagram, remarking “My dream remains the same as it was in 2003 when I went to the U.S. to promote Korean artists to American record labels, in 2009 when the Wonder Girls became the first Korean act to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and now: for K-pop to be loved worldwide.”

Park isn’t the first entertainer to enter politics in Korea. Yoo In-chon — a widely beloved actor from the 1980s through the 1990s — served twice as Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It is unprecedented, however, for someone who remains an active artist to be appointed to a minister-level position.

Meanwhile, shares of JYP Entertainment — where Park is the largest shareholder — were up 4.93% from the previous day as of 9 a.m. KST, and are currently trading 2.8% higher.

The company’s outlook itself also appears solid, thanks to the ongoing success of its frontline acts. Among them, TWICE, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and is currently on the road for their fourth worldwide concert tour. Stray Kids recently set a new K-pop record as Karma became their seventh consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200, beginning with ODDINARY in 2022 (all debuted at the top spot). Also, Park has introduced localized idol groups through the affiliates of JYP Japan, JYP China, and JYP America.

Team Recycled are heading to the Finals of America’s Got Talent.

The quarterfinals of AGT 2025 are all wrapped up, as fans got an eyeful Tuesday night (Sept. 9) with muscleman Mike Munz, vocal duo Crash Adams, acrobatic pair The TT Boys, dance act The Funkateers Dancers, singing ensemble The Birmingham Youth Fellowship Choir, and others getting down to business.

The evening’s highpoint belonged to Team Recycled, a modern dance act that combines breakdancing with big, dramatic synchronized routines, and enough energy to power the Las Vegas Strip for a couple hours.

The room loved what they saw, and three of the judges gave a standing ovation (Sofía Vergara stayed seated).

Howie Mandel went first and remarked that he was disappointed with how the evening had panned out, because he was “looking for an act that would step it up,” someone who had the magic to win the whole thing.

Nobody looked likely to do that, he explained, until Team Recycled took the stage.

“I thought to myself, can they do it? And the answer is yes!”

Mandel didn’t waste any time, or let his fellow judges speak. He reached over and slapped that Golden Buzzer, clearing a path for the dance troupe to progress straight into the Final.

There were tears and hugs among the 42-strong teammates, as confetti and streamers rained down.

Now, America votes. The results of which will be announced Wednesday evening, Sept. 10. Seven performers will be sent home from this fourth quarterfinal. Three will join the advancing group, which returns to the AGT stage on Tuesday, Sept. 16 to compete in the Top 12.

That lucky dozen will chase seven available positions the Final, which include one Semifinal Golden Buzzer, six America’s votes, and the four Quarterfinal Golden Buzzer Acts.

The ultimate winner of NBC’s talent competition gets more than bragging rights; they’ll collect a $1 million prize. AGT is currently celebrating its 20th season.

Watch the Team Recycled performance below.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year with a very special guest: The Who frontman Roger Daltrey.

The camp, which will take place Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2026, will also include The Who’s Simon Townshend. Daltrey has joined the camp six times previously, but not for the last 15 years.

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“I love it because it reminds you of where you came from,” Daltrey says. “It’s about having fun!”

“It’s an honor to celebrate 30 years of Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp with Roger Daltrey,” says David Fishof, founder of the camp. “This camp is about inspiring musicians and giving fans an opportunity to share the stage with their heroes. To have members of The Who join us for this milestone makes it truly historic.”

Since its founding in 1996, Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp has brought together aspiring musicians of all levels with rock legends for mentorship, jam sessions and live performances.

Attendees will perform with Daltrey and Townshend, as well as perform two shows at local Miami venues, including The Funky Biscuit.

The camp will also include an array of rock-star counselors who will host masterclasses, Q&As, jam sessions and mentoring. Joining Daltrey and Townshend are Tony Franklin (The Firm), Jimmy Vivino (Conan O’Brien), Gary Hoey, Eva Gardner (P!nk), Joel Hoekstra (White Snake), Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath), Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent), Joe Vitale (Joe Walsh) and Britt Lightning (Vixen).

Building up to the 30th anniversary will be three camps later this year: Alice Cooper and Judas Priest’s Rob Halford will headline two camps in Phoenix in November, while a December camp also in Miami will feature The Rascals’ Felix Cavaliere, Grand Funk Railroad’s Mark Farner, Chicago’s Jason Scheff and Billy Joel’s Liberty DeVitto.

The camps are open to musicians of all levels, who are evaluated beforehand to make sure they are placed in the appropriate band.

The Who are currently on its The Song Is Over-North American Farewell Tour, which concludes Sept. 28 in Las Vegas.

Halsey’s full-length debut album BADLANDS is back in the top 10 on multiple Billboard album charts following its 10th anniversary reissue. The 2015 set was reissued on Aug. 29 in multiple deluxe formats and reenters the top 10 on Top Album Sales (No. 5), Top Alternative Albums (No. 6), Vinyl Albums (No. 4), Catalog Albums (No. 9) and debuts in the top 10 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums (No. 7).

All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes.

In the tracking week ending Sept. 4, BADLANDS earned 17,000 equivalent album units in the United States, of which nearly 12,000 are in traditional album sales (about 9,000 in vinyl purchases).

BADLANDS is one of three reentries in the top 10 on the Top Album Sales chart, joined by Sabrina Carpenter’s emails i can’t send (No. 6) and Charli xcx’s how i’m feeling now (No. 8). Meanwhile, the only debut in the region is Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend at No. 1.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.

At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Man’s Best Friend arrives with 224,000 sold in its first week (the third-largest sales week of 2025 and Carpenter’s best sales week ever). Stray Kids’ KARMA falls to No. 2 (with 53,000, down 82%) after debuting atop the list a week ago. The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack climbs 5-3 (15,000, down 19%), Deftones’ private music dips 3-4 in its second week (13,000, down 80%) and emails i can’t send reenters at No. 6 (11,000, up 1,766% after a new vinyl variant was released).

Laufey’s A Matter of Time falls 2-7 in its second week (11,000, down 84%), Charli xcx’s how i’m feeling now reenters at No. 8 (9,500, up 2,613% following the release of a fifth anniversary color vinyl variant), KATSEYE’s Beautiful Chaos surges 20-9 (9,000, up 81% following a restock of certain editions of the album at retail) and Carpenter’s chart-topping Short n’ Sweet jumps 30-10 (9,000, up 115% in the wake of Man’s Best Friend’s arrival).  

The sheer number of artist signings announced on a weekly basis makes it difficult to keep up, no matter how closely one pays attention to the industry news cycle. That’s why every other Tuesday, Billboard compiles the latest signings to labels, distributors, agencies, management companies and more, in an effort to provide a snapshot of the latest moves in the artist space, from household names to indie stars to emerging acts.

This week’s roundup includes new deals for artists including Nigerian Afrobeats star Asake; R&B singer (and former B2K lead vocalist) Omarion; Japanese singer Yuki Chiba; legendary hip-hop DJ Grandmaster Flash; British rockers The Struts; Argentine duo CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso; aughts rockers Jack’s Mannequin; and Canadian singer-songwriter Johnny Orlando. Companies represented on the list include Double Eleven, Create Music Group, Warner Music Japan, Primary Wave, KMG Distribution, UTA, ONrpm and Position Music.

First up this week is Afrobeats star Asake, who entered a partnership with Alexa Perkins‘ management and creative agency Double Eleven. According to a press release, the Nigerian singer-songwriter has racked up more than 5.6 billion streams to date. His third studio album, Lungu Boy, was released last year, with the release noting that it currently ranks among the top 20 most streamed Nigerian albums of all time. This summer, he announced the release of his fourth studio album, MONEY, on his newly launched label, Giran Republic. Shortly after that, he was featured on Gunna’s track “satisfaction” off the rapper’s album The Last Wun.

Check out the rest of the latest signings below.


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What would rap be without iced-out grills?

New York City jeweler Eddie Plein is often credited with inventing the gold grill as we know it back in the ’80s. His early handiwork was most notably sported by Bronx rapper Just-Ice on the album cover of his sophomore project Kool & Deadly released in 1987. Plein then took his Eddie’s Famous Gold Teeth operation south to Virginia, then finally settling in Atlanta, where the gold grill has become a Southern staple. During the early 2000s, Paul Wall and his business partner Johnny Dang picked up where Famous Eddie left off and took the gold grill to another level, with the duo still being the go-to jewelers for custom grills nearly two decades later.

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Wall sat down with The Art of Dialogue recently and told a story about how he ended up on Nelly‘s hit record “Grillz” and revealed it all started with the St. Louis rapper getting tricked into purchasing a custom grill that he thought was made by Dang. The Houston rapper explained that he received a call from T.I. while the Atlanta rapper was on tour with Nelly and told Wall, “Yeah, man, I see my boy Nelly got a grill from you.” However, he recalled being “confused, ’cause I’m like, ‘Man, I never met Nelly a day in my life. I’d love to make him a grill,’” and asked Tip what he was talking about.

He then explained that it was a jealous rapper that was trying to creep into his and Johnny’s grill business that sold one to Nelly. “‘You want a Paul Wall grill? Yeah I’ll get you a Paul Wall grill. A Johnny? I’ll get you a Johnny grill,’” he said of other rappers that were also trying to sell grills during that period. “What they mean is the Paul Wall-style grill or a Johnny-style grill. So that essentially is what happened. It was another person who was selling grills who basically went to Nelly and was like, ‘Hey, wanna get you some Paul Wall grills?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, I want some Paul Wall grills,’ and they got him some grills but they weren’t Paul Wall grills. It was in the similar style, but they weren’t the same.”

Eventually, Wall ran into the St. Lunatics at a hotel in New York, who then put him in touch with Nelly after learning that his grill wasn’t made by Johnny Dang. He then said they decided to gift him a custom grill so he could see the difference between their work and the competition. “It was a helluva investment, because, let me tell you, that was hands down the most expensive grill we made to that point and it was a walking billboard, and as soon as Nelly got his grill he was like, ‘Hey, I love my grill. I got this song I’m doing. You wanna get on it?’”

And the rest, as they say, is history.

“Grillz” hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100, was nominated for best rap performance as a duo or group at the 2007 Grammys and further popularized the dental jewelry, making a custom grill from Paul Wall and Johnny Dang a must-have status symbol.

You can watch the full story below.

While Oasis was unspeakably massive in their native U.K. back in the 1990s, many wondered whether they could “break” the U.S. And while they had huge hits here — like their lone Billboard Hot 100 top 10 “Wonderwall” — they didn’t come close to matching their white-hot U.K. success.

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Fast-forward 30 years, and Oasis has now played five American stadium shows for their Live ’25 reunion tour, culminating with two nights this past weekend in Pasadena, California, at the Rose Bowl — the largest U.S. venue of their career.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking about their field trip for night 1 at the Rose Bowl and all the elements that built to this moment and made it possible for Oasis to crack into their biggest American audiences yet. And of course, Oasis superfan Katie had to return for night 2, where she tells Keith about wading into the beer-splashing GA floor section to be among the rowdiest die-hards at the show.

Also, after the Oasis show on Saturday night, Katie & Keith got to catch up with our most frequent Pop Shop guest, Emmy- and Tony-winning actor/musician Darren Criss, at his Hollywood piano bar Tramp Stamp Granny’s, where he got behind the keys for a sing-along cover of “Don’t Look Back in Anger” that you can watch here. Hear all about that unexpected afterparty on the new pod.

Also on the show, Sabrina Carpenter gets her second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 — and the biggest week of the year for an album by a woman — as Man’s Best Friend debuts atop the list. Plus, Carpenter scores the week’s highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 with her latest single “Tears.”

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

Accomplished steel guitar player and producer Robby Turner, who has played with artists including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, The Highwaymen and Chris Stapleton, died Thursday, Sept. 4, at age 63.

Turner’s son Bobby Turner confirmed the passing of his father on social media, writing, “We’re sad, but we know he’s walking without any help, and he’s no longer in pain.”

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Known as the “Man of Steel,” Turner played on projects including the 1976 album Wanted! The Outlaws, from Jennings, Nelson, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser, which spawned the Jennings/Nelson hit “Good Hearted Woman” and became the first country album to become certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Turner also recorded and toured with country supergroup The Highwaymen (Jennings, Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash) and contributed to the group’s 1990 project The Highwayman 2 and their 1995 album The Road Goes On Forever. He contributed to several of Jennings’ albums and became the Country Music Hall of Famer’s primary steel guitar player until Jennings’ death in 2002.

In 2019, Turner was honored as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Nashville Cats series. During his interview for the series, he said of working with Jennings, “Waylon never really told us what to do…we just played until he smiled.”

Turner contributed to albums by Tanya Tucker, Randy Travis, John Prine, Marty Stuart, Jim Lauderdale, Loretta Lynn, Travis Tritt, The Oak Ridge Boys, and more recently, projects from Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson and Colter Wall, playing on Stapleton’s CMA Awards album of the year-winning projects Traveller and From A Room: Volume 1, Simpson’s High Top Mountain, and Wall’s self-titled album. He also performed with artists including Johnny Paycheck and The Chicks.

Turner was surrounded by music from an early age; his parents Doyle and Bernice Turner were part of Hank Williams Sr.’s Drifting Cowboys from 1946-1948.

During the Nashville Cats series, Turner also spoke of why he loved both recording steel guitar in the studio and also playing onstage. “It was part of my learning process,” he said. “I had to. I wasn’t going to just fall right into the studio. [Steel guitar player, known for his work with George Jones, Tammy Wynette and others] Pete Drake, my mother would take me by there and drop me off at Pete’s place…when I was younger, [steel guitarist, known for work with artists including Dolly Parton and Charley Pride] Lloyd Green and Pete Drake owned the radio…Pete asked me when I was 12, ‘What do you want to be? A session player or a road guy, play with artists live?’…I thought about it and the next couple of months when I was down there…I said, ‘I want to be able to do both. I want to play on records and I want to produce records…I’ve had recording equipment since I was nine years old…I want to do both, but I really want to concentrate on studio stuff.”

Of performing with The Highwaymen, Turner said, “That was the greatest band that you could ever ask to play with…the American rhythm section and those four guys. Sometimes I would literally pinch myself, it was like a dream…it was one of the highlights of my life.”

Along the way, Turner also released his own projects, including 1996’s Man of Steel and 1998’s Steel Country.

Jennings’ son, musician/producer Shooter Jennings, wrote in tribute to Turner on X, “So sad to hear about Robby Turner. A once in a lifetime talent and the funniest guy I ever met. What a player. Was lucky to have toured and recorded with him many times. Rest in Peace, Robby.”

Maná returns to the top of Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart for the first time in nearly nine years, with a new version of the 1992 hit “Vivir Sin Aire,” with Carin León (ranking dated Sept. 13).

The reimagined version of “Vivir Sin Aire” rallies 14-1 on the overall Latin Airplay list after a 60% boost in audience impressions, to 9.4 million, earned in the United States, in the week ending Sept. 4, according to Luminate.

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The new No. 1 ends Mana’s hiatus from the summit since the band last ruled with “De Pies a Cabeza,” with Nicky Jam, in 2016. In sum, the band has banked 12 champs on Latin Airplay, including two eight-week rulers, “Labios Compartidos” and “Lluvia Al Corazón” in 2006 and 2011, respectively.

As the new song takes over, Maná ties with Gloria Estefan and Juanes for the fifth-most rulers among Latin pop acts since Latin Airplay began in 1994. They trail Enrique Iglesias (32), Shakira (24), Ricky Martin (18) and Luis Fonsi (13).

For León, the collaboration marks his fifth time reigning the chart, with three of those landing in 2025. Curiously, León’s path to No. 1 on Latin Airplay No. 1 seems to follow an “M” formula: from “Llorar y Llorar,” with Mau y Ricky (2012), “Según Quién,” with Maluma (four weeks atop in 2023) and now his team-up with Maná, the letter “M” has become a lucky charm in his collaborations.

“Vivir Sin Aire” surges to No. 1 assisted by three Univision stations: KCSA (Los Angeles), WOJO (Chicago), and KLNO (Dallas) are leading the charge as the song’s biggest promoters during the tracking week.

All three cities are part of Maná’s Vivir Sin Aire Tour which kicked off Sept. 5, in San Antonio. In addition to two nights in Chicago, the group sports four dates at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. (Los Angeles area) in November.

Beyond its coronation on the overall Latin Airplay chart, the song also rules the Regional Mexican Airplay with 6.6 million audience impressions, up 95%. Plus, it jumps 3-1 on the Latin Pop Airplay ranking.

All charts (dated Sept. 13, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Sept. 9. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

It’s free Billboard charts month! Through Sept. 30, subscribers to Billboard’s Chart Beat newsletter, emailed each Friday, can unlock access to Billboard’s weekly and historical charts, artist chart histories and all Chart Beat stories simply by visiting the newly redesigned Billboard.com through any story link in the newsletter. Not a Chart Beat subscriber? Sign up for free here.

The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards was the top-rated entertainment program of the night, hitting a six-year viewership high. The show was seen by more than 5.5 million viewers, between its broadcast on CBS, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+.

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This marked the first time the VMAs have aired on CBS, which could use a major pop music franchise. CBS will lose the Grammy Awards, which it has aired since 1973, after the upcoming 68th Grammy Awards telecast on Feb. 1. (In October 2024, The Recording Academy announced a new 10-year global deal for The Grammys to be exclusively simulcast on ABC, Hulu and Disney+ beginning in 2027.)

LL COOL J hosted last night’s VMAs. He previously co-hosted the show in 2022. (He also hosted the Grammys five times from 2012-16.)

Here are selected ratings highlights about the 2025 VMAs:

  • Watched by more than 5.5 million viewers, making it the night’s No. 1 entertainment program. The show competed with the Sunday Night Football time-period premiere (Raven vs. Bills) and finished second overall in its time period.
  • Most-watched day-of-event VMAs since the 2019 show, which was hosted by comedian Sebastian Maniscalco (the last time a comedian hosted the show). That was also the last pre-pandemic show. The pandemic was disruptive to TV viewing habits.
  • Audience was up 42% from last year’s airing on MTV and simulcast on other Paramount networks (3.91m). Last year’s show was hosted by Megan Thee Stallion.
  • Most-watched entertainment special on CBS since the Grammy Awards on Feb. 2.
  • Third-largest live-streamed entertainment event this year on Paramount+, behind only the Grammy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards (which aired on Jan. 11).
  • The VMAs’ voting campaign saw the best turnout in history, with 2.5 billion global votes, up 121% from last year (Source: Internal data via Telescope, 08/05/25-09/05/25).

On social media, the 2025 MTV VMAs set new records as the most viewed and most engaged VMAs in history.

  • 1 billion global video views, up 21% and 81.1 million engagements, up 6% from last year across owned social media accounts (Source: Sprinklr, 07/27/25-09/08/25).
  • #VMAs trended at No. 1 on X in the U.S. for three consecutive hours and in the top 10 for nine hours.
  • Globally, #VMA held the No. 1 worldwide trending spot on X for four consecutive hours, trended No. 1 in 12 countries (Source: Trends24, Getdaytrends, 09/07/25).

Ratings Source: Nielsen Time Adjusted Live+SD Fast National Data including Out-of-Home Viewing

Critics generally praised the show. Billboard’s Joe Lynch wrote: “Hosted by LL COOL J, the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards were one of the best VMAs in recent memory, a smart mix of newcomers who brought their A-game (and inventive visuals) and veterans who demonstrated why they’ve lasted in the game so long.” Lynch particularly praised the performances by four of the hottest female singers in pop (Tate McRae, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga and Doja Cat) as well as the salute to the late Ozzy Osbourne.

Billboard’s Andrew Unterberger also generally liked the show, though he thought it sometimes lavished attention on legacy acts at the expense of contemporary stars. “Those contemporary artists were there on Sunday night (Sept. 7), and basically in full effect — superstars who’d already made their share of VMA history, and rising hitmakers who already seem poised to potentially do so in the future. And yet it could be easy to lose track of them with all the stage and screen time given to legacy artists. … It felt like a missed opportunity to really showcase the present and future, and finally let the past take a bit of a backseat.”

The 2025 VMAs were produced by Gunpowder & Sky. Bruce Gillmer, Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic, and Barb Bialkowski were executive producers. Alicia Portugal was co-executive producer. Jackie Barba was executive in charge of production. Wendy Plaut was executive in charge of celebrity talent. Lisa Lauricella was executive in charge of music talent.