Nile Rodgers Re-Elected Chairman of Songwriters Hall of Fame

Nile Rodgers was unanimously re-elected to a second three-year term as chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame by the group’s board of directors at its annual board meeting on June 11. Rodgers was first elected to the post in 2018, when he succeeded Philly soul architects Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff.

“Three years ago, I was honored and humbled to be elected by my peers as the chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame,” Rodgers said in a statement. “It has been one of the most important experiences of my life to represent and advocate for the songwriting community. To now be given the opportunity to serve for another three years is a responsibility I take very seriously. We’ve done great work in the first three years despite the pandemic but we are just getting started. There is no music industry without the song and I’m delighted to serve the songwriters that have delivered the most iconic songs of all time.”

“Nile is tremendously respected and admired by his peers and fans of all generations for being a musical pioneer,” said Linda Moran, SHOF president and CEO. “…Having him as a partner has been a very special and rewarding experience and the Songwriters Hall of Fame can ask for no better representative, both to the songwriting community and to the world at large.”

Rodgers, 68, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016. He was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in the award for musical excellence category, the following year. He has won three Grammys — all for his work on Daft Punk’s 2013 smash “Get Lucky” and the duo’s Random Access Memories album.

As a songwriter and producer, Rodgers has been responsible not only for many hits with his former group Chic, such as “Le Freak” and “Good Times,” both of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but also also hits for Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Madonna, INXS and Duran Duran, among many others.

Other re-elected officers are Moran as president and CEO; Tom Kelly as CFO and treasurer; senior vice presidents David Israelite, Beth Matthews and Mike O’Neill; secretary Mary Jo Mennella; and deputy secretary April Anderson.

Elected members to the board of directors who will serve three-year terms are Paul Williams, Desmond Child, Steve Dorff, Ne-Yo, Martin Bandier, Caroline Bienstock, Donna Caseine, Samantha Cox, Charlie Feldman, Fletcher Foster, Pete Ganbarg, Randy Grimmett, John Josephson, Jody Klein, Evan Lamberg, Carianne Marshall, Nancy Munoz, Jon Platt, Irwin Z. Robinson, Patrice Rushen and John Titta. Barry Slotnick will continue as counsel.

Four of these board members have been honored by the SHOF. Williams was inducted into the SHOF in 2001, followed by Child in 2008 and Dorff in 2018. Ne-Yo received the Hal David Starlight Award in 2012. Williams is slated to receive the organization’s top honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 2022. The award has been delayed two years because of the pandemic.

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Which of Taylor Swift’s Re-Recorded ‘Red’ Songs Are You Most Excited to Hear? Vote!

Now that Taylor Swift has announced her next album re-recording project, Billboard wants to know: Which Red song are you most excited to hear all over again?

The album includes four Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including Swift’s first-ever No. 1 on the chart: “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”; the other three to make it to the top 10 were “Begin Again,” “I Knew You Were Trouble” and the album’s title track.

There were three other singles released from the album too: “22,” “Everything Has Changed” with Ed Sheeran and “The Last Time” with Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody. And while it was never released as a single, “All Too Well” has become a true fan favorite since Red’s 2012 release — especially Swift’s live performances of the brooding piano ballad, most notably at the 2014 Grammys telecast.

In her note announcing her next re-recording, Swift wrote: “This will be the first time you hear all 30 songs that were meant to go on Red.” But for today’s poll, we’ll just focus on the core 16 tracks from the original release since we don’t know what those bonus 14 songs (!) will include.

So ahead of the Nov. 19 release of Red (Taylor’s Version), which track are you most excited to hear? Vote below!

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Amythyst Kiah on Her Powerful New Album ‘Wary + Strange’: ‘I’m What I Needed to See When I Was Younger’

For a significant portion of her career as a singer-songwriter, Amythyst Kiah was a Black woman from  Chattanooga imprisoned by her passionate, queer human desires and the closet in which they were trapped. Alcohol abuse and depression clouded her mind even further.

But her new album Wary + Strange, out Friday on Rounder Records, is a raw, crystal-clear statement of Black power and gay pride that is intensely personal, yet also speaks directly to America’s current sociopolitical moment and quest for racial justice.

Lead single “Black Myself,” which was nominated for a Grammy for best American roots song, finds Kiah making bold, self-aware statements about her hard-lived experience, finally assessing and repossessing her self-worth and self-respect.

The brackish rock serving as the underbelly of Kiah’s countrified timbre, announcing that “I don’t creep around, I stand proud and free/ ‘Cause I’m black myself/ I go anywhere that I wanna go/ ‘Cause I’m black myself.” The song serves as a clarion call, shining a light on Black liberation and Kiah’s reclamation of her physical and mental health. Other tracks, namely “Soapbox,” “Sleeping Queen” and Firewater,” continue this navigation down the, yes, “wary and strange” road to her Black, femme, queer and uniquely American freedom.

“Hiding myself to please everybody wore me down. In order to truly be happy and fulfill my purpose in life, I had to embrace who I honestly am, in every way,” Kiah says, smiling via Zoom.

And in doing so, others are embracing her. Last month, Kiah earned three nominations for September’s  Americana Music Awards — the most nods earned by any artist this year (tying with Jason Isbell). Her nods include emerging act of the year, song of the year for a solo rendition of “Black Myself,” and duo/group of the year as part of collective Our Native Daughters (Rhiannon Giddens, Kiah, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell).

On a day off in southern Florida after opening for the Indigo Girls, her conversation with Billboard was poignant, revelatory and, overall, Black and proud.

This album feels like a statement of self-actualization that has broader human potential. Is that a correct read?

I’d agree. This album serves as a way to cope with the crippling anxiety I’ve felt about my identity, who I was and where I fit in. For me, music has always served as a way to try to deal with that. [Moreover] my music — and especially this album — serving as part of a solution to not just my own issues, but possibly to achieving greater Black visibility [in country and Americana] is amazing. I’m what I needed to see when I was younger. To be the artist that proves that there are funny-talking, sci-fi-loving, queer Black people who look like me and who thrive outside of mainstream Black culture and mainstream expectations of Black people is important.

Throughout your career, and especially with Our Native Daughters and the collective’s 2018 release, Songs of Our Native Daughters, rootsy folk music has been intrinsic to your sound. How did that impact the creation of Wary + Strange?

My professional career has been a progression of me figuring myself out. When I first got interested in roots music, it was cathartic to play traditional songs that I didn’t write myself but still felt connected with. In hindsight, I realized that served as a barrier because I wasn’t yet able to channel and share my own feelings with my own songs that sounded like the ones I was singing. With this record, I’ve finally — after five years of therapy — [been] able to tell my story, while also calling back to the music that aided me in helping me understand my personal and creative evolution.

Sonically, this album — especially tracks like “Firewater” and “Black Myself” — sounds much heavier and harder than anything you’ve made before. It’s diverse, but the funk, the grooves, for lack of a better term, feel larger. Was it intentional?

These players — alongside producer Tony Berg and engineer Will McClellan — love all types of music and adapted without hesitation to whatever the songs needed. They look at music the way I look at music: Regardless of genre, does it move me? Kane Ritchotte is the drummer on this album too. He’s played with Portugal. The Man, plus is a fantastic session musician. We recorded the album at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, and when we recorded the drum parts, Tony put the drums out in the main studio room to create this big sound. I’ve never quite had my drums sound so heavy, but I knew I always wanted it. On [Wary + Strange], it finally happened. I’m a very rhythmic musician, so I always wanted my music to pack a greater “punch,” so to speak.

Speaking of songs packing a punch, “Soapbox” bookends the album, and the songwriting here is particularly pointed. You rhyme “sophistry” with “atrophy,” which absolutely feels like you chose lyrical violence. What does that song mean?

“Soapbox” was the last song I wrote before recording. For most of my life — in high school, in Chattanooga, Tennessee — I was out as queer. However, when I moved to Johnson City, Tennessee, in my 20s, I thought, “This is a smaller town, so I don’t know how this will be received,” so I went back into the closet for, like, seven years. However, as I got deeper into roots music, I started to realize something: “I’m already Black, androgynous, gay, a woman, and I’m holding in so much about myself and not being open with people.” So I decided to make a proclamation and not be afraid of people believing these truths of who I am. I realized that every time that I’ve been truthful about who I am, I end up gaining the support of more people than I lose.

If you were to sum up the goals of crafting this album as a mission statement to your fans, new listeners and other artists, what would that be?

If you’re using something to impose legislation or make people feel like they don’t belong, that’s problematic. We can no longer allow things that the public uses against us to have power over our lives. We all have a greater purpose that’s being limited. We have to break free from that. Also, to help people achieve these goals, we, as artists, have to bare our souls. When we bare everything, we create strong, emotional music that allows people to grieve, feel less alone and discover themselves.

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Phoebe Bridgers & Run the Jewels Are Top Winners at 2021 A2IM Libera Awards

Alternative rock star Phoebe Bridgers and rap duo Run the Jewels were the top winners at the 10th annual A2IM Libera Awards, which were presented Thursday (June 17). The awards, now in their 10th year, celebrate the independent recorded music sector.

Both acts won three awards. Bridgers took record of the year and best alternative rock record for Punisher and best live/livestream act. Run the Jewels won best hip-hop/rap record for RTJ4, best sync usage for “Ooh LA LA” (from season 3 of Netflix’s Ozark), and the inaugural A2IM humanitarian award, which was presented to duo members Killer Mike and El-P as individuals.

Bridgers also performed “Kyoto” on the show, which aired on YouTube. Most of the performances were pre-taped, but Fantastic Negrito performed “Chocolate Samurai” live. Other performances were by Arlo Parks (“Hope”), Black Pumas (“Colors”), Mavis Staples (“Who Told You That”), Lido Pimienta (“Te Queria”), Lecrae (“Drown”), Yuna (“Don’t Blame It on Love”) and Stax Academy Rhythm Section (medley).

Staples received the independent icon award during the program. Staples, 81, fronted The Staple Singers, the famed gospel-turned-R&B family group, and has gone on to a significant solo career. Staples’ Grammy nominations span nearly the entire history of that awards show. She received her first, with The Staple Singers, in 1961 (the fourth year of the show) and her most recent this past year. The Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (by Lauryn Hill) in 1999 and received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2005.

The founders and principals of Memphis-based Stax Records received a lifetime achievement award. The award was accepted by Al Bell, former co-owner of the legendary label; Jim Stewart, co-founder of the label; Doris Fredrick, daughter of the late Estelle Axton, the label’s other co-founder; and Deanie Parker, a former Stax executive who, in her acceptance remarks, said that the label’s success was especially noteworthy because it was “situated in the bigoted Deep South.”

The Stax Academy Rhythm Section performed a medley of timeless Stax classics including “I’ll Take You There,” “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me),” “Hold On, I’m Comin’” and “Memphis Train.”

Two awards were posthumous. Gil-Scott Heron, who died in 2011, won best jazz record for an album he recorded with Makaya McCraven. His award was accepted by his son, Rumal Rackley. The estate of the late record producer and rapper J Dilla, who died in 2006, accepted the award for best re-issue.

The best acceptance speech may have been the one made by Katie Crutchfield of the indie project Waxahatchee, which took best country record. “Thanks for having such a loose definition of country music,” she said.

The show ran a taut and seamless one hour and 45 minutes. The 2021 Libera Awards were presented by Merlin. This marks the second year that the awards were presented as a livestream ceremony.

Here’s a full list of 2021 Libera Award winners:

Record of the year: Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (Dead Oceans)

Video of the year: FKA twigs – “Sad Day” (Young Turks)

Best live/livestream act: Phoebe Bridgers (Dead Oceans)

Breakthrough artist/release (presented by Ingrooves): Arlo Parks (Transgressive/[PIAS])

A2IM humanitarian award: Killer Mike & El-P of Run the Jewels (Jewel Runners, Inc.)

Best alternative rock record: Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (Dead Oceans)

Best Americana record: Bonny Light Horseman – Bonny Light Horseman (37d03d)

Best blues record: Fantastic Negrito – Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? (Cooking Vinyl Ltd.)

Best classical record: Erik Hall – Music for 18 Musicians (Steve Reich) (Western Vinyl)

Best country record: Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud (Merge Records)

Best dance/electronic record: Caribou – Suddenly (Merge Records)

Best folk/bluegrass record: Angel Olsen- Whole New Mess (Jagjaguwar)

Best hip-hop/rap record (presented by Virgin Music): Run the Jewels – RTJ4 (Jewel Runners, Inc.)

Best jazz record (presented by Qobuz): Gil-Scott Heron & Makaya McCraven – We’re New Again – A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven (XL Recordings)

Best Latin record: Gabriel Garzón-Montano – Agüita (Jagjaguwar in partnership with Stones Throw Records)

Best metal record: Architects – “Animals” (Epitaph Records)

Best outlier record (presented by The Orchard): Khruangbin – Mordechai (Dead Oceans)

Best punk record: IDLES – Ultra Mono (Partisan Records)

Best R&B record: Thundercat – It Is What It Is (Brainfeeder)

Best rock record (presented by Mitchell; Silberberg & Knupp LLP): Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death (Partisan Records)

Best spiritual record: Sun Ra Arkestra – Swirling (STRUT)

Best world record (presented by Redeye Worldwide): TIE: Altin Gün – “Ordunun Dereleri” (ATO Records) and Songhoy Blues – Optimisme (Fat Possum Records)

Best re-issue: J Dilla – Donuts (Jelly Edition) (Stones Throw Records)

Best sync usage: Run the Jewels (Jewel Runners, Inc.) – “Ooh LA LA” – Season three of Netflix’s Ozark

Creative packaging: Soccer Mommy – Color Theory limited edition back to school binder (Loma Vista Recordings)

Independent champion (presented by Merlin): Bandcamp

Marketing genius: Beggars Group – Supporting Indie Retail #loverecordstores Campaign

Label of the year (big–15 or more employees globally) (presented by ADA): Sub Pop Records

Label of the year (medium—6 to 14 employees globally): Light In The Attic

Label of the year (small—five or fewer employees globally) (presented by Spotify): Daptone Records

Independent icon: Mavis Staples

Lifetime achievement award: Stax Records

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Everything That’s Happened Since Morgan Wallen Got Caught Saying the N-Word on Camera

After Morgan Wallen was caught on camera yelling the N-word and other expletives on Feb. 2, the embattled country star said he was spending the rest of the year out of the spotlight to work on himself. But he has since popped up more than a few times.

“I’m embarrassed and sorry,” Wallen told TMZ in a statement after the outlet posted the video. “I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better.”

Whether it’s surprise performances, new songs or breaking chart records, the 28-year-old artist is making efforts to build things back up after his fall from grace. Billboard has compiled a timeline of the direction Wallen’s life and career have taken since the controversy.

Feb. 3: Music Pulled From Radio & Streaming, Suspended by Label, Declared Ineligible for ACM Awards

Just one day after the video surfaced online, iHeartMedia and Entercom pulled Wallen’s music from hundreds of radio stations. And Wallen, country music’s most popular artist for streaming, was pulled from the leading platforms’ curated playlists, including 14 playlists from Spotify and 21 from Apple Music. Furthermore, his label Big Loud Records suspended his recording contract “indefinitely.” In a statement posted to both Twitter and Instagram, Big Loud wrote, “In the wake of recent events, Big Loud Records has made the decision to suspend Morgan Wallen’s recording contract indefinitely. Republic Records fully supports Big Loud’s decision and agrees such behavior will not be tolerated.”

The Academy of Country Music also announced that Wallen would be ineligible for the 56th annual ACM Awards, which were presented April 18. It also barred him from appearing on the ACM Awards for one year. “The Academy does not condone or support intolerance or behavior that doesn’t align with our commitment and dedication to diversity and inclusion,” the ACM said in a statement. Even though Wallen was declared ineligible, digital billboards in support of the singer being named entertainer of the year at the ceremony began popping up around Nashville.

Feb. 4: Dropped by Booking Agent 

His booking agent WME dropped him from its roster at a time when Wallen’s team was plotting an arena-headlining North American tour for late 2021-22, which would more than triple the size of the venues he was playing pre-pandemic.

Feb. 5: Airplay Plummets, Streams Steady, Sales Surge 

His U.S. airplay continued to evaporate, while streams stayed mostly steady and sales exploded in the wake of the TMZ video. Looking at airplay Jan. 30-Feb. 5, his song catalog was averaging 1,500 to 1,600 plays daily on reporters to Billboard’s Country Airplay chart through Feb. 2, according to MRC Data, and on Feb. 3, as multiple radio groups dropped his music, his catalog fell by 74% in plays that day. His totals then cratered to a relatively minuscule 55 and 25 plays on Feb. 4 and 5, respectively. Wallen’s streams experienced light daily gains, despite the removal of his songs from over 30 influential playlists across Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Pandora. On Feb. 4, Wallen’s songs tallied 28.66 million on-demand streams (audio and video combined), according to reports to MRC Data — his best daily streaming total since Jan. 29. And his sales increased dramatically after Feb. 3. According to MRC Data, Wallen’s total sales — across all of his albums and songs — vaulted from 5,100 on Feb. 2 to 35,200 on Feb. 4.

Feb. 10: First Apology Video Released

Wallen broke his silence in a five-minute video, announcing that he had spent the nearly two weeks after the video’s release being sober (since he confirmed he was under the influence of alcohol in the video, saying, “The video you saw was me on hour 72 of 72 of a bender”) and meeting with Black leaders that have left him with an understanding of how deeply painful his words were. “I accepted some invitations from some amazing Black organizations, some executives and leaders, to engage in some very real and honest conversations,” he said. “This week I heard first-hand some personal stories from Black people that honestly shook me, and I know what I’m going through this week doesn’t compare to some of the trials I heard about from them. I came away … with a clearer understanding of the weight of my words.”

And he told his fans to heed his words by pleading with them to not defend him and his actions: “It’s on me to take ownership for this and I fully accept any penalties I’m facing. The time of my return is solely on me and the work I put in.”

Feb. 19: Major Sales Boost 

Billboard estimated that the Dangerous artist’s catalog garnered $8.005 million in revenue from U.S. sales and streams in 2021, with a quarter of that number — $2,028 million — being generated during the nine full days after the video of Wallen yelling the N-word surfaced online.

Feb. 20: Breaks Artist 100 Record for Country Artists 

Wallen ruled the Billboard Artist 100 chart for five weeks, passing Jason Aldean (three) for the most weeks spent on top among core country artists.

March 27: Dangerous: The Double Album Spends 10 Weeks on Billboard 200

Regardless of the controversy, Wallen continued to thrive on the Billboard charts. His sophomore set Dangerous: The Double Album spent 10 weeks on top of the Billboard 200, making it the first album to spend its first 10 weeks at No. 1 since 1987. It also had the most total weeks at No. 1 since Drake’s Views spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks in the lead in 2016. Dangerous is one of just four country albums to spend at least 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The album also spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on Top Country Albums.  

April 13: Note About Live Summer Performances 

Wallen posted a four-page handwritten letter on his socials, saying he has spent the past few months out of the spotlight to reflect on his various misdeeds and will use the rest of the year stepping away from performing live and continuing to work on himself. His announcement also confirmed that Wallen would no longer accompany Luke Bryan on the Proud to Be Right Here Tour slated to kick off this summer, nor would he headline country music festivals such as the Kicker Country Stampede in Kansas and Country Jam USA in Wisconsin as originally announced.

April 29: Not Included in the Billboard Music Awards Ceremony, But Still a 6-Time Finalist 

dick clark productions, which produces the Billboard Music Awards, released a statement explaining why Wallen was a BBMA finalist six times in five categories, and why he wouldn’t appear on the show this year. “Morgan Wallen is a finalist this year based on charting. As his recent conduct does not align with our core values, we will not be including him on the show in any capacity (performing, presenting, accepting),” the statement read. “It is heartening and encouraging to hear that Morgan is taking steps in his anti-racist journey and starting to do some meaningful work. We plan to evaluate his progress and will consider his participation in future shows.”

May 19: First Live Performance 

Wallen surprised the crowd at Kid Rock’s Nashville honky tonk on May 19 with his first performance since the video of him using a racial slur was caught on camera. The performance seemed to contradict what the country singer said in an April 13-dated statement about not hitting the stage this summer, though he specifically ruled out tour dates and festivals, not all performing.

May 21: Eligibility Reconsidered by CMA 

The Country Music Association’s board of directors opened up about Wallen’s eligibility for the 55th annual CMA Awards in November. The ruling declared he will be eligible in categories that honor artistic works (single, song, album, musical event, and music video of the year), “so as not to limit opportunity for other credited collaborators,” in the words of the CMA. But he won’t be eligible in individual artist categories (entertainer and male vocalist of the year).

May 22: Reportedly Skips NAACP Meeting & Previews New Song

After saying in his first apology video that he accepted “invitations from some amazing Black organizations, some executives and leaders to engage in some very real and honest conversations,” Wallen was a no-show at a meeting with the Nashville chapter of the NAACP. NAACP Nashville President Sheryl Guinn told TMZ that her team reached out to the country singer in February after he expressed a desire to educate himself, and his team was willing to schedule a sit-down, which was likely to include multiple Black leaders. But no further details were ever hashed out after the initial phone call.

Meanwhile, Wallen checked in with his 2.5 million Instagram followers to tease a new song titled “Thought You Should Know.” In the song — which Miranda Lambert  revealed in the comments section of his IGTV clip that she and Nicolle Galyon co-wrote — he updates his mom on his life and questions the “bad decisions” he’s made. “I wrote this song for my mom a while ago, seemed like an appropriate time to share it,” Wallen said before breaking out into the emotional solo acoustic performance.

May 23: Wins 3 BBMAs

Wallen won three BBMA trophies, for top country artist, top country male artist and top country album with Dangerous: The Double Album.

June 14: Second Live Performance

Wallen performed at the afterparty of the inaugural Brett Boyer Foundation Invitational, where earlier in the day at Marshwood Club in Georgia, Wallen participated in a charity golf tournament with fellow country singer Luke Bryan. In addition to his Hot Country Songs chart-topper “Whiskey Glasses” and other hits, he also performed his unreleased song “Thought You Should Know.”

June 16: Airplay More Than Doubles

Four months after his airplay initially plummeted following the release of the TMZ video, his radio presence has now surged. At the beginning of May, his number of weekly spins across the nearly 150 radio stations that report to Billboard’s Country Airplay chart was still in the low 1,000s. But after lifting from 1,100 in the week of May 7-13 to 1,500 the week of May 14-20, they’ve risen each subsequent week, and are now at 2,900 for the week of June 4-10 — a total gain of 164% over the same period a month earlier.

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