All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Time to pull out your wallets one last time. Prime Day 2025 is coming to an end, but there’s plenty of last-minute deals still kicking around. If you were late to the sale party, the house of Bezos kicked off its annual savings event earlier this week and extended its deals from two days to four. With the official dates for the Amazon-issued sale are between July 8-11, we’ll be updating our guides with the plenty of splurge-worthy Prime Day deals worth shopping until they turn the lights off.

To help you sneak in some last-minute savings, ShopBillboard has sorted through all the good, the great, and the best Prime Day deals worth shopping on the final day. From Adidas and Crocs to Apple and Dyson, this list includes deals up to 50% off on highly sought-after, tech-savvy gadgets, trendy fashion and beauty deals, and stylish home upgrades. So get shopping before you miss out!

Keep checking back here throughout the week as we’ll be updating our guide with more and MORE sweet deals.

Shop the Best Prime Day Deals, At a Glance:

What Is Amazon Prime Day 2025?

Prime Day is Amazon’s annual members-only shopping event. It offers limited-time deals, lightning deals, and exclusive discounts on products across nearly every category. Unlike past Prime Day events, this is the first year the event has been extended from two days to four days.

When Is Amazon Prime Day 2025?

Amazon Prime Day 2025 begins on Tuesday, July 8, and will end on Friday, July 11. However, shoppers can browse many early deals right now.

Best Prime Day Tech Deals

Looking to upgrade your hardware? There endless amounts of must-have Prime Day tech deals worth exploring. Save big on Apple, Beats, Samsung, and Toshiba products below.

50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle

$499.99 $649.99 23% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Yes, you read that right. The newly released Nintendo Switch 2 is already on sale, plus a bundle with Mario Kart World as a cherry on top.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Sonos Beam Gen 2

$384.00 $499.00 23% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Upgrade movie night with this premium Sonos soundbar. Experience vibrant bass, crystal clear audio, and an impressive 3D surround sound with Dolby Atmos for under $400.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Apple AirPods Pro 2 Wireless Earbuds

$149.00 $249.00 40% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Apple’s fan-favorite earbuds are finally under $200.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Samsung Galaxy AI Smart Ring

$294.99 $399.99 26% off

Buy Now On Amazon

An AI smart ring that tracks a slew of health-related data.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Marshall Middleton Portable Bluetooth Speaker

$179.99 $319.99 44% off

Buy Now On Amazon

The portably Middleton speaker utilizes True Stereophonic, a unique form of multi-directional stereo sound to deliver an immersive experience wherever you roam.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Beats Solo 4 Cloud Pink

$97.99 $199.95 51% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Beats’ over-the-ear headphones in a summer-ready cloud pink.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Samsung 50-Inch Class QLED 4K The Frame LS03B Series

$747.89 $1,297.99 42% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Turn your living room into an art gallery by shopping Samsung’s flagship Frame TV for almost 50% off.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

MSI Codex Z2 Gaming Desktop

$1,599.99 $2,199.99 27% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Tap into your gaming side with this impressive PC that features an AMD R7-8700F, GeForce RTX 5070, 32GB DDR5, 2TB m.2 NVMe SSD, USB Type-C, VR capabilities and Windows 11


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Fire TV Stick HD + Luna Controller

$52.98 $104.98 50% off

Buy Now On Amazon

This gaming bundle includes a Fire TV Stick HD and a Luna Controller, the essentials to get you started with Amazon’s game streaming service.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet

$69.99 $139.99 50% off

Buy Now On Amazon

This super affordable tablet is equipped with a 10.1″ 1080p Full HD display, a 13-hour battery life, 32 or 64 GB of storage and up to 1 TB expandable storage with micro-SD card, all for $70.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro AI True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds

$157.60 $249.99 37% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Bluetooth wireless earbuds with AI capabilities.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Apple AirTag

$19.99 $29 31% off

Buy Now On Amazon

An airtag you can stow away in your luggage or bag to keep track of your items.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones

$193.00 $348.00 45% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Sony’s flagship line of headphones has always had impressive, industry-leading noise-cancellation. For under $200, there’s no better over-the-ear headphone deal better than this.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Samsung 55-Inch Class OLED 4K S90D Series HDR+ Smart TV

$997.99 $1,797.99 44% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Under $1000 this smart TV is equipped with Dolby Atmos, object tracking sound Lite, a real depth enhancer, 4K AI upscaling and the Alexa assistant built-in.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Lenovo 15.6″ FHD Laptop

$429 $599.00 28% off

Buy Now On Amazon

This affordable laptop is a great entry computer Intel Dual Core Processor, 32GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB PCIe SSD.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 44mm Bluetooth AI Smartwatch

$189 $329.99 43% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Keep a close eye on your daily steps, health and notifications right from your wrist. The smartwatch provides wellness tips, heart rate tracking, a sleep monitor and a fitness tracker.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Toshiba 75-inch Class C350 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV

$429 $649.99 34% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Upgrade your entertainment space with this massive 75-inch smart TV with an LED screen and 4K UHD output.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, 512GB Smartphone

$1,054.99 $1,419.99 26% off

Buy Now On Amazon

A smartphone with a stilus wand.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Marshall Major IV On-Ear Bluetooth Headphones

$64.99 $99.46 35% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Give your next listening session a more classic, vintage look with Marshall’s Major IV headphones.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Apple iPad 11-inch Model

$279.00 $349.00 20% off

Buy Now On Amazon

If you want a device more portable than a laptop, the iPad is a great choice. The Apple tablet features an A16 chip, an 11-inch liquid retina display, 128GB, Wi-Fi 6, 12MP front/12MP back camera, touch ID, and all-day battery life.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Amazon Fire TV 50″ 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV

$259.99 $399.99 35% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Want a 4K UHD smart TV without breaking the bank? This Amazon Fire TV is currently at a super low price point for under $400.


Best Prime Day Beauty Deals

Having a sophisticated beauty regimen doesn’t need to be expensive. Level up your skincare with these impressive Prime Day beauty deals from medicube, Starface and Revlon.

50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Medicube Deep Vita C Facial Pads

$14.90 $32 53% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Worried about enlarged pores and greasy skin? These toner pads will help exfoliate your skin.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Crest 3D Whitestrips

$29.99 $44.95 33% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Keep your smile brighter than the sun.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Sol De Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream 240ml

$38.40 $48.00 20% off

Buy Now On Amazon

The smell of this body cream alone makes it worth the splurge. Add to the fact that the product is currently 20% off and it instantly becomes a must-have.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Revlon ColorStay Multi-Liner in 010 Mischief Maker

$6.83 $8.97 24% off

Buy Now On Amazon

A burgundy liner in a creamy blendable formula.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Salt & Stone Natural Deodorant in Santal & Vetiver

$16.00 $20.00 20% off

Buy Now On Amazon

If you’re prone to sweating like I am, not to fear. Salt & Stone is currently having a major sale on their beloved long-wearing scented deodorant in the heady scent santal and vetiver.


Version 1.0.0

Starface Hydro-Stars Hydrocolloid Pimple Patches

$10.48 $14.97 30% off

Buy Now On Amazon

These patches are both cute and effective, formulated with a singular ingredient, hydrocolloid, a substance borrowed from surgical dressing that’s clinically proven to improve the appearance of pimples overnight.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Wavytalk Hair Dryer in Cyber Rose Pink

$31.83 $54.99 42% off

Buy Now On Amazon

A hair dryer with comb with three attachments.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

medicube Collagen Jelly Cream

$14.90 $33.00 55% off

Buy Now On Amazon


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Glow Recipe Plum Plumping & Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum

$30.40 $45 32% off

Buy Now On Amazon

There’s no excuse for dry skin, especially when Glow Recipe Plum Plumping & Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum is only $38 on Amazon.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Clinique Almost Lipstick Tinted Lip Balm in Black Honey

$17.50 $25.00 30% off

Buy Now On Amazon

A sheer glossy balm in a burgundy hue.


Best Prime Day Style and Sneaker Deals

There’s never a bad time to add to your wardrobe, especially when products are over 40% off. Shop fan-favorite brands like Levi’s and Crocs below before sizes run out.

50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Levi’s Men’s 501 Original Fit Jeans

$39.61 $79.50 50% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Levi’s popular 501 jeans are currently half off right now. There’s no better time to add this essential menswear staple into your wardrobe.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Merrell Men’s Moab 3 Hiking Shoe

$92.38 $120.00 23% off

Buy Now On Amazon

This popular hiking shoe is ready for all summer adventures.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Madewell Workwear Overshirt

$88.78 $148 40% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Never too early to star shopping for Fall, especially when must-have Madewell overshirts are 40% off.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Hanes Mens Beefyt T-shirt

$14.90 $24.00 38% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Restock your basic tees for fraction of the cost.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Casio MW240 Series Watch

$16.88 $29.95 44% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Don’t waist time, grab this super affordable Casio watch before it’s gone.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Crocs Unisex-Adult Classic Clogs, Black, 11 Men/13 Women

$34 $49.99 32% off

Buy Now On Amazon

It’s hard to fine a more cozier clog than Crocs, and you many never find these shoes at such a low price.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Calvin Klein Men’s Cotton Classics 3-pack Boxer Brief

$24 $46.00 48% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Yes, it’s time throw away those old boxers.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

PUMA Easy Rider Sneakers

$57.37 $90.00 36% off

Buy Now On Amazon

If you need a great summer shoe, these Puma’s Easy Riders are a hidden gem and typically overlooked as a great everyday walking shoe.


Best Prime Day Home Deals

Want to give your home an HGTV makeover? These Prime Day home deals will help spruce up your living space without breaking the bank. With deals up to 49% off, you can fully redecorate without going over your budget.

50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Cozy Earth Luxury Bed Sheet Set

$261.10 $439.00 41% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Have the best sleep of your life knowing that you just saved almost $200 on these luxe, ultra-soft sheets.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Amazon Echo Spot

$44.99 $79.99 44% off

Buy Now On Amazon

A sleek smart alarm clock with Alexa and big vibrant sound with clear vocals and deep bass. Just ask Alexa to play your favorite music, podcasts, and audiobooks in seconds.


Version 1.0.0

Ring Spotlight Cam Plus

$114.99 $184.98 38% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Stop intruders in their tracks with this on sale bundle of 2 motion-activated LED spotlights. Each camera turns on when they detect motion, and sound the built-in security siren with just a few taps.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Philips Hue Smart Light Starter Kit

$89.69 $129.99 31% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Set the ultimate mood lightning in your home with with dynamic light effects and millions of color options at your fingertips.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Ninja Foodi 6-in-1 FlexBasket Air Fryer

$149.99 $199.99 25% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Cooking made easier.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Hydro Flask Wide Flex Cap Black 64 Oz

$41 $64.95 37% off

Buy Now On Amazon

You know what’s cooler thank drinking water and staying hydrated? Nothing. Take advantage of this Hydro Flask sale and make sure you’re hitting your daily water intake.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Amazon Smart Thermostat

$51.99 $79.99 35% off

Buy Now On Amazon

With summer finally here, take control of the temperature in your home through Alexa voice controls and remotely via an app.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Dyson V8 Plus Cordless Vacuum, Silver/Nickel

$299.99 $469.99 36% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Keep you floors spotless with this powerful cordless vacuume.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Nespresso Vertuo Plus Coffee and Espresso Maker by De’Longhi

$109.85 $169 35% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Your caffeine fix will thank you.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Cozy Earth Bubble Cuddle Blanket

This ultra-soft blanket is the ultimate snuggle buddy. With a comfortably weighted design and cozy plush material, wrapping yourself in this oversized throw feels like a big, warm hug.


50 Last-Minute Prime Day Deals to Shop Before the Sale Ends

Samsonite Freeform 28-Inch Large Luggage

$209.88 $279.99 25% off

Buy Now On Amazon

A luggage so good you won’t to check it in.


Yungblud is showing his fans some love after experiencing a health setback while on tour. The musician announced via his Instagram Stories on Thursday (July 10) that he’s currently battling tonsillitis, and is following his doctor’s advice to postpone both the Thursday show in Dundee, Scotland, and Friday set in Liverpool.

Related

“Please understand i hate letting you down. I wanna say f–k it and just do it but they said I could really do damage to my voice,” the British musician wrote, noting that he’s getting a steroid treatment and plans to have his tonsils taken out when his schedule permits. “I love you all and I will DEFINITELY be at. Bristol and Southampton next week.”

“I cannot believe what’s happening at the minute,” he concluded in his Story. “Beautiful.”

Shortly after, Yungblud shared another message to his Story, this time offer a token of appreciation for fans in Liverpool who had tickets to the now postponed concert. “To make it up to you I’ve put some money behind the bar at @motel_bar,” he wrote. “If you go tomorrow night and show your ticket you get a free drink on me. I know some of you have travelled.”

He continued: I’m so sad I can’t be there but at least you can be together and celebrate each other, as that’s what Yungblud is all about. Go to the bar play the tunes and have a good time. I love you. Again, I’m truly sorry.”

The musician released his genre-blurring fourth studio album, Idols, on June 20. The 12-track set — which is the first part of a double album — debuted at No. 1 on the U.K’s Official Albums Chart, his third consecutive to summit the tally. The North American leg of his Idols World Tour kicks off Aug. 23 in Los Angeles.

Bob Geldof was in a French cafe recently when a man came up to him and said, “Thank you for the best day of my life.”

“I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I assumed it was Live Aid — I don’t think it was our third hit single,” Geldof tells Billboard via Zoom. “And I go, ‘Thank you very much.’ What else do you say?”

Related

That’s happened a lot to Geldof over the past 40 years, since the Live Aid concerts — benefitting the Band Aid Charitable Foundation’s continuing efforts to combat famine in Africa — took place on July 13, 1985 in London, Philadelphia and other locations around the world. Following the all-star Band Aid “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” benefit single the previous December, it was 20-odd hours of music transmitted globally by 16 satellites to 169 countries, for a reported audience of nearly two billion. With legendary performances by a who’s-who roster that Geldof branded a global jukebox, it raised $140 million during the shows and the following week.

Live Aid is being celebrated on its anniversary by rebroadcasts of the concert by the BBC and 80sCentral.com, while CNN debuts a new four-week documentary, Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took on the World, at 9 p.m. ET on July 13. (It will air in three episodes on the BBC.) And an original cast recording from Just For One Day — The Live Aid Musical, which is back on London’s West End, comes out July 11.

Four decades later, Geldof proclaims that, “I’m not interested in the nostalgia of it. It’s a vivid thing to me.” But he understands what happened on that day, when many felt united across the globe.

“It’s that sense of being there, and connected,” he explains. “Everyone just felt this sense of humanness — not humanity, but humanness. For the first time in 300,000 years, since we all left the Rift Valley, we were all talking to each other about a common problem and using a common language, the lingua franca of rock ‘n’ roll. Everyone in the world understands ‘a wop bop a lula, a bop bam boom.’ Rock ‘n’ roll is beyond language; it’s an attitude and it’s a sense, and it’s universal.”

He adds that, “The number of people who have watched Live Aid on YouTube has far exceeded the huge numbers that watched it initially, and they keep going back. It’s constantly referred, like in the Queen movie (Bohemian Rhapsody) or Just For One Day. Occasionally what rock ‘n’ roll achieves hits you really hard.”

“If anybody could have pulled that miracle off, it was Bob and no one else,” says Sting, one of the many Band Aid artists who also performed at Live Aid. “His passion, his energy, his bloody mindedness…all of us were just passengers on his coattails. We saw the logic of what he was saying, but we wouldn’t have got it together, singly or as a group, without him — and that’s not false modesty. This was Bob’s thing.”

The Next Step

A concert was not on Geldof’s agenda when “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” came out. “I thought (with) Band Aid, I’d get to Christmas, make $100,000 pounds, give it to OXFAM, job done,” he recalls. But with its huge success and the appearance of other songs from the U.S. (“We Are the World”), Canada (“Tears Are Not Enough”) and other territories, the idea began to take root; during the “We Are the World” sessions Geldof even told those artists he’d “be back knocking on the door” for a potential concert.

“You think, ‘Okay, how serious are you about actually stopping this (famine)?’ So Live Aid was both the practical means of stopping the horror and the political lobby to bring that sort of thing to a close.”

George Thorogood, who performed in Philadelphia, offers a blunter assessment: “It was really a crying shame that the world has so much money and resources, yet there are people on our planet that are starving. That doesn’t make sense. And what do they do when they want to make money? They call a rock ‘n’ roll band.”

Starting in the spring of 1985, Geldof enlisted British promoters Harvey Goldsmith and Maurice Jones for London and also presented the idea of a global telethon that would take place there and in the U.S. “I stepped back and said, ‘He’s barking mad!’ Goldsmith recalls in the CNN documentary. The late Bill Graham handled the U.S. show with Larry Magid of Electric Factory Concerts firm in Philadelphia. Like Goldsmith, he was not a little apprehensive about what had to be accomplished in a very short amount of time.

“For five weeks (after announcement), you had to figure, ‘Well, the one thing I’m not gonna get is a lot of sleep,’” says Magid, who also helped produce Live 8 in 2005. “When it first came up, I was numb just sitting there and listening for three hours. The idea of doing something 10 or 15 time bigger than you’ve ever done, with the eyes of the world on you, is staggering. It was either going to be a great success we could all bask in, or we were gonna look…stupid. Logistically it was daunting, but we had a lot of experience putting on shows and we had a plan, and we executed that plan perfectly.”

Geldof readily acknowledges that “I was out of my depth. My mouth had written the check my brain couldn’t cash. All I really remember is being frightened; the fear was failure, and personal failure was the least of it. I’d asked these bands to help, and they all had and I really didn’t want to let them down. But much important was the fear of failing those in whose name we were doing it for in the first place, and that would have been catastrophic.”

Best-Laid Plans

Fortunately, with the help of Michael Mitchell — who’d been involved with sponsorship and networking for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles — Live Aid put together an unprecedented network of support from media, including MTV, the BBC and an ABC primetime telecast hosted by Dick Clark. The logistics — chronicled in Geldof’s memoir Is That It? and the Just For One Day musical — were dizzying and mind-numbing. “I was on an organizational continuum,” he says, and that included fatigue and a pinched nerve that hampered his movements on the day but did get him a backstage massage from David Bowie. (“Alternative career — David Bowie, masseuse,” Geldof quips.)

Quite a few acts had agreed to be part of a show even in advance of Live Aid’s conception, while others were roped in in short order. “I knew the kids from Band Aid would come, so there were all your ‘80s hits,” Geldof says. He harangued others, including Queen, the Who and, unsuccessfully, Bruce Springsteen. And despite Goldsmith’s desire to “keep it very opaque or obscure” when Live Aid was first announced, Geldof went ahead and included names that weren’t formally secured yet.

“Harvey was there kicking me under the table and literally squeezing my leg and screaming at me afterwards,” Geldof remembers, “and I said, ‘They can’t really refuse now,’ ’cause it was everywhere.” Several acts on the first edition of the event poster wound up not playing, however, including Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Huey Lewis and the News, Paul Simon and Tears For Fears. As the Wembley lineup filled up, some groups, including Pretenders and Simple Minds, were sent to Philadelphia, where Graham and Magid also worked on putting together a roster.

“We just set out to figure out who were the best people and try to convince them,” Magid says. “Obviously one of the first things you say is, ‘Who does the public want to see? Who can we get to balance out what this London show is?’ The Beach Boys came right to mind. We knew Clapton was in the States, and then Jagger wanting to do something but not to compete with the show in London, so he thought it was a better fit for him to do this (Philadelphia) show.

“Not everybody we wanted could do it, and there were people who in the beginning turned us down and came back and said, ‘We can be on the show,’ but at that point we pretty much had it booked.”

While there was some jockeying to be primetime on ABC, Geldof says that mostly “no one moaned about where they were in the bill. The answer was, ‘There’s no bill.’ Who do you put over this person? It’s not possible. It doesn’t mean if you’re on third you’re actually third. It just means that’s the only spot we can stick you in. And all of them played way beyond their normal concert ability — all of them. They played real good for free.”

Live Aid’s highlights went on to become legend: Queen’s galvanizing set; Mick Jagger’s solo set that included Tina Turner and Hall & Oates, plus his “Dancing in the Street” video collaboration with Bowie; Phil Collins crossing the Atlantic Ocean on Concorde to play both shows; Sting’s stripped-down collaboration with Collins and Branford Marsalis in London (and guesting with Dire Straits on “Money For Nothing”); U2’s epic, unintentionally extended rendition of “Bad”; Patti LaBelle’s soaring vocals; Teddy Pendergrass’ first performance since being paralyzed in a car crash three years prior; and Paul McCartney closing London with “Let It Be” in his first live performance in six years, with Geldof, Bowie, Pete Townshend and Alison Moyet stepping in to help out when his microphone failed.

Even acts that fell short — Led Zeppelin’s semi-reunion and Bob Dylan’s meandering set with Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood — are still spoken about now. “They dropped the curtain in front of the monitors, so we couldn’t hear ourselves,” Richards explained a few years later. “Here’s three guys with acoustic guitars and they were getting ready for (sings) ‘We Are the World’ with 50 people behind us…Bob and I kept looking at each other, like, ‘Where’s the blindfolds and last cigarettes?’ But it was all for a good cause, so what the hell?”

Those About to Rock

The Beach Boys’ Mike Love says his band definitely felt the global connection between the Live Aid concerts during its five-song afternoon set, which featured Brian Wilson in a then-rare live appearance with the band. “We were playing in Philadelphia and they were singing along to our songs at Wembley Stadium, thousands of miles away. The whole thing was so euphoric and inspiring.”

Joan Baez began Live Aid in Philadelphia with, “Children of the ‘80s, this is your Woodstock,” but Graham Nash, who also performed at both concerts, drew a stark contrast between them.

“There was a feeling at Woodstock that we weren’t alone,” says Nash, who walked away with the day’s dressing trailer assignment chart as a souvenir (and still has it). “Yeah, we knew that Richard Nixon was crazy, that his administration was corrupt. But when we were at Woodstock we realized that here’s almost a half a million kids that felt the same way we did. There was a certain amount of that in Philadelphia, but not as much as Woodstock. It was a different purpose.”

Meeting Baez was a personal highlight for Rob Halford of Judas Priest, who had covered her “Diamonds & Rust” in 1977. “She was very cool,” remembers Halford, who watched part of the show with the rest of the crowd on the JFK field. “I was sh-tting myself. I’d just got a Budweiser and a cigarette and I see this lady getting closer and closer — ‘Omigod, that’s Joan Baez!’ My immediate thought was, oh, Christ, she’s gonna go, ‘You massacred my song’ but she comes up and we had a hug and she said, ‘I just want to tell you my son said, “If you see anybody from Judas Priest, can you tell them I prefer their version of ‘Diamonds & Rust?”’ I just thought, how sweet she is, so beautiful and self-effacing. It was a great moment.”

Sting’s Live Aid performance came less than a month after the release of his first solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, and found him trading off songs with Collins during a stripped-down set that also included Blue Turtles collaborator Branford Marsalis, who was part that project. “It was pretty easy,” recalls Sting, who rehearsed with Collins via phone. “We know our songs. I like the idea of the impromptu. It was completely the opposite of what Queen did, which was staggering and wonderful and crystal clear. But we were, in the spirit of the original Band Aid record, kind of amateurish and thrown together — genuine passion, but not particularly polished. It was good to get it over with and just enjoy the show.”

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were among the Live Aid bands on tour at the time, fitting it in between Southern Accents Tour stops in Florida and New York. “That was overwhelming. I felt very honored we were part of it,” says guitarist Mike Campbell. “Backstage there was this tent with (Bob) Dylan and Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, and this tent over here was Jimmy Page and his entourage. And then Madonna had a tent in another area and she came marching over and wanted to be in our camp but there was no room for her, so she had to go back to her area. But we had all cool people in our spot.”

Nash also had a Madonna moment. While standing with emcee Jack Nicholson backstage when Madonna and then-husband Sean Penn were approaching, “This roadie says, ‘Look the other way, look the other way.’ And me and Jack said, ‘What?!’ (laughs) Yeah, look the other way. Sure.”

Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr, who was married to Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde at the time, had a more pleasant encounter, however. “We were in our dressing room/cabin or whatever,” he says, “and we heard this voice from behind us, this Glasgow accent, and we turn around and it’s Sean Penn! He had just studied a Glaswegian play and had been practicing the accent — which is a very hard thing to get — and had it down. We became friends that day and hung out and all that.”

Kerr, whose band was riding high on the Billboard Hot 100-topping success of its The Breakfast Club hit “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” adds that while he and his mates “knew it was a big deal” to be part of Live Aid, “it didn’t feel mind-blowing, as you think of it now. We turned up and played; that’s what we do. We didn’t think 40 years later we’d be looking on it like this. If we had thought about that I’m sure we would’ve been beside ourselves with nerves, but I don’t recall that on the day.”

“The Best Day Of My Life”

For Geldof, meanwhile, playing early at Wembley with the Boomtown Rats — declaring “I just realized today is the best day of my life” — “was the only time of the day I felt relaxed. Walking on stage, I was perfectly at home, ’cause that was my job. This is what I do. But about halfway through our set I realize, ‘No, no, this isn’t a huge crowd — dude, this is everybody! F—k!’ So that pulled me up short. That was the only time I felt, I suppose, what everybody felt.” (Geldof will play a dozen U.K. shows celebrating the Rats’ 50th anniversary this October and November.)

Four decades later the world is still feeling it. The Band Aid Charitable Trust is continuing its efforts (donations can be made to bandaidtrust.co.uk). Twenty years after Live Aid, Geldof and company put on Live 8, a series of eight global concerts in front of the 2005 G8 Summit in Scotland that he feels “were more important politically and economically.” And while Dylan rankled some with his concert-ending suggestion to send some of the money raised at Live Aid to American family farmers, it did spawn Farm Aid and its annual concerts.

Yet the template remains Live Aid. In the CNN documentary, Bono notes that, “Something went on at Live Aid that is still with us….It began a journey for all of us from what you might call charity to what you might call justice.”

“The world tilted that day,” Philadelphia promoter Magid adds. “We can all say we changed the world. (Geldof) is the guy that led the way, but this was a main contribution of our lives, to be involved in such an incredible undertaking, not just for African famine relief but all of social consciousness…and what you can do to help. We were just happy to be part of it.”

Country singer-songwriter Conner Smith has issued his first public statement following his involvement in a fatal car accident in June in Nashville, in which 77-year-old pedestrian Dorothy Dobbins died due to injuries.

Related

In an Instagram post on Friday (July 11), Smith wrote, “Four weeks ago, I was involved in a tragic vehicle accident that resulted in the loss of a life. Not a day has gone by that I haven’t grieved, prayed, and mourned for Ms. Dobbins and her family. My heart is broken in a way I’ve never experienced, and I still struggle to fully process the weight of it all. I ask that you continue to lift the Dobbins family up in prayer by name, asking for God’s peace to surround them each day.”

He also noted that he had not been playing shows in recent weeks. “Out of respect for everyone involved and to give space for grieving, I made the decision to step away from shows these past few weeks,” he shared. “I have always found that making music and playing shows is a place of healing for me – but for this moment, it was important for me to take time away.”

Smith had been issued a misdemeanor state citation on Thursday night (July 10) by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, according to Smith’s attorney. Sources also told Billboard that Smith was charged with a misdemeanor traffic offense of failure to yield resulting in a fatality, which underscores a lack of criminal intent.

Smith’s attorney Worrick G Robinson IV said in a statement on Thursday, “A misdemeanor state citation was issued tonight by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department to Conner Smith. Conner is incredibly grateful to the MNPD for their time and efforts to carefully investigate this tragic accident and has continued to cooperate at all times. His thoughts remain with Ms. Dobbins’ family, and he remains committed to honoring her memory with compassion by supporting efforts to improve pedestrian safety and help prevent future tragedies.

Smith ended his public statement on Friday by referencing a Biblical scripture, Psalm 91. “I’m thankful to serve a God who is near to the brokenhearted, and I have leaned on Him every step of the way,” he wrote. “Through tragedy, I have learned that God is more faithful than I could have ever known before.”

The musician, who is signed to Big Machine Label Group, earned his all-genre Billboard Hot 100 debut with the song “Creek Will Rise,” and has also released songs “I Hate Alabama,” “Learn From It” and “Roulette on the Heart,” a duet with Hailey Whitters.


Dave “Baby” Cortez, a piano player and songwriter best known for his rollicking 1959 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “The Happy Organ” has died at 83. According to The New York Times, Cortez actually passed more than three years ago, but the news of his death has not been confirmed until recently.

Despite scoring two chart hits, the performer born David Cortez Clowney on Aug. 13, 1938 in Detroit who came up on the 1950s Motor City doo-wop scene was something of a ghost for decades, rarely speaking to the press after quitting the music business in the early 1970s. His daughter, Taryn Sheffield, told the paper that she hadn’t heard from her dad since 2009, describing him as a “recluse for many, many years.”

Though he initially left his music career behind more than 50 years ago, the founder of New York independent label Norton Records, Miriam Linna, said she just recently learned that Cortez had been dead for three years. New York city records reportedly show that Cortez died on May 31, 2022 at his home in the Bronx and that he is buried in a potter’s field off the coast of the borough, where more than one million bodies are buried in unmarked graves.

It was Linna who persuaded Cortez to dip back into music in 2011 when the label released his first album in nearly 40 years, Dave Baby Cortez with Lonnie Youngblood and his Bloodhounds. It is unknown what the publicity shy performer was up to in those intervening decades, with Linna saying he sometimes performed as a church organist in Cincinnati.

Encouraged by his piano-playing father to take up the instrument, Cortez joined the local doo-wop vocal group the Five Pearls — later known as the Pearls — when he was 16, scoring minor hits with the songs “Please Let Me Know,” “Bells of Love” and “Shadows of Love,” the latter of which Cortez co-wrote. After moving to New York and joining another vocal group, the Valentines, Cortez began shopping his songs around town under the name the David Clowney Band.

His first effort was the bouncy, 1956 boogie woogie instrumental “Movin’ and Groovin’,” which he followed up with the slow-rolling “Soft Lights” in 1957 before taking on his stage name in 1958 and beginning work on the song that would define him in the public imagination and make history on the Billboard charts.

According to the Times, in a rare interview, Cortez explained that he first recorded the instrumental track for “The Happy Organ” in 1958, but scrapped a vocal he was unhappy with before noticing a Hammond organ in the studio that he decided to add to the song. “They played the track back a couple of times, and I started playing with this melody,” he told the National Association of Music Merchants in the interview. “I guess God gave me this melody.”

The two-minute track that emerged was a joyous, bouncy instrumental with a circus-like keyboard and rubbery guitar groove that became a surprise hit and the first instrumental to top the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The Times noted that the use of the Hammond on the song helped transform the instrument typically associated with Sunday church service into a reliable part of the rock arsenal on such organ-forward hits as Booker T. and the M.G.’s 1962 No. 3 Hot 100 classic “Green Onions” and the Doors’ 1967 No. 1 smash “Light My Fire.”

And while the song could have been a footnote in history, Cortez managed to score another organ instrumental hit in 1962 with the jaunty No. 10 charting “Rinky Dink.” Cortez would release a string of albums on a series of labels throughout the rest of the 1960s, pivoting to a more soul/funk sound on what would be his final recording for nearly four decades, 1972’s Soul Vibration. He scored one more charting song in 1973 with the gospel-y “Someone Has Taken Your Place,” which topped out at No. 45 on the Billboard R&B tally.

According to the Times, Cortez then vanished, refusing to do interviews due to the bad taste the music industry left him with until 2009, when Linna reached out and he shockingly agreed to get back in the studio to record the album with saxophonist Youngblood and perform at the label’s 25th anniversary party in 2011. He then vanished again.

When Linna mentioned Cortez on her “Crashing the Party” radio show last month, Australian teen doo-wop fanatic Liam Waldon went on a search to find out what had become of Cortez and discovered that he’d died and his body had been unclaimed.

Listen to “The Happy Organ” and “Rinky Dink” below.

Saddle up, Atlanta — Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter Tour has officially kicked off its run of shows in Georgia, featuring a brand new flying horse prop that gallops over the crowd.

Related

As debuted at the superstar’s first concert in ATL on Thursday (July 10), Bey now rides a golden animatronic stallion while performing “16 Carriages.” She previously sang the Cowboy Carter single on a levitating car each night, but following a technical mishap with the vehicle a few shows back, it looks like the horse is here to stay.

In clips from the performance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium — where she’ll play three more shows July 11 and 13-14 — the 35-time Grammy winner effortlessly croons the lyrics to “16 Carriages” while straddling the robotic horse, whose legs actually move up and down as if it were prancing over the heads of concertgoers. Bey also showed off her new steed by sharing photos of the number on Instagram.

The kickoff show in the Peach State comes a couple of weeks after Bey experienced a rare technical difficulty on her well-oiled Cowboy Carter trek. During “16 Carriages” at her June 28 show in Houston, the vocalist’s red car started to tilt downward at a concerning angle while she was sitting in it, suspended many feet up in the air. Like a pro, Bey kept singing before eventually telling her crew to lower her down, later joking to the crowd, “If ever I fall, I know ya’ll catch me.”

“Tonight in Houston, at NRG Stadium, a technical mishap caused the flying car, a prop Beyonce uses to circle the stadium, and see her fans up close, to tilt,” Bey’s Parkwood Entertainment wrote in a statement afterward. “She was quickly lowered and no one was injured. The show continued without incident.”

Bey’s ongoing trek is absolutely flying by, with Atlanta marking the second-to-last stop on the route. Three months after kicking off the tour in Los Angeles on April 28, the Destiny’s Child alum will close out the run with two shows at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on July 25 and 26.

The tour is also proving to be highly successful for the performer, whose 12 shows in May alone grossed $157.4 million with 567,000 tickets sold, according to Billboard Boxscore. It marks nearly the highest monthly gross ever reported to Boxscore in history, coming second only to Bey’s own 2023 record with the Renaissance Tour, which raked in $179.3 million that August.

Shaboozey notches his second top 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Good News” rises two spots to No. 10 on the list dated July 19. The song increased by 18% to 19.3 million audience impressions July 4-10, according to Luminate.

Shaboozey co-wrote the song with Sean Cook, Michael Pollack, Sam Roman, Nevin Sastry and Jake Torrey. It’s from Shaboozey’s album Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, which arrived at its No. 2 high on Top Country Albums and No. 5 on the all-genre Billboard 200 in June 2024; it has earned 1.8 million equivalent units in the United States through July 3.

Shaboozey’s rookie entry, the multi-genre smash “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” dominated Country Airplay for seven weeks  beginning last August — surpassing Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel” (six weeks at No. 1, 2006) as the longest-leading hit on the chart ever to establish a country career (counting acts’ first Country Airplay entries as a lead artist or their initial songs promoted to country radio).

“A Bar Song” also ran up 45 weeks atop the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart starting in May 2024. It claimed the longest command for a song by a single artist; overall, it trails only Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be,” which led for 50 weeks in 2017-18, for the top No. 1 run since Hot Country Songs became the genre’s singular songs survey in 1958. “A Bar Song” also ruled the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-tying 19 weeks.

Shaboozey has charted two other Country Airplay entries: “Highway” reached No. 49 in January and newest single “Amen,” with Jelly Roll, ranks at No. 55 (1.3 million, up 10%) on the July 19 tally.

‘Case’ Study

Morgan Wallen’s “Just in Case” tops Country Airplay for a second week (32.8 million, up 12%). Of the Sneedville, Tenn., native’s 18 No. 1s, it’s his 10th to lead for multiple weeks.

Kaash Paige is officially signing a deal with Rostrum Records, marking a new chapter in her artistic evolution.

Rostrum, a label renowned for launching the careers of artists like Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa, announced the venture on Friday (July 11). The announcement also coincides with Paige’s first release through the label: her new single “2BADBITCHES.”

“I’m truly grateful and excited for this new chapter with Rostrum Records,” Kaash Paige said in a statement to Billboard. “It means a lot to me to partner with a label that not only believes in my vision but is genuinely passionate about what I bring to the table. From the beginning, their energy matched mine – they really see me for who I am as an artist. It’s also special to me that they once signed one of my biggest inspirations, Mac Miller. With this partnership, fans can expect nothing but authenticity, growth, and consistent heat. I’m ready to level up and show the world what’s next.”

Related

The artist’s latest deal comes after Kaash Paige departed Def Jam in 2023, noting that her exit was due to a desire for more creative freedom and control. She previously stated in an interview back in April that the major label system caused her internal team to always be in flux.

“There was always change,” Paige said. “Things slipped through the cracks.” Still, she says: “It wasn’t a horror story. I just started craving something new.”

Now on Rostrum, the label confirmed Paige will be dropping an EP in August, followed by a full length project later this year.

It may be hard to believe, but as Malice rapped on “Trill,” “It’s me ma, you ain’t dreaming.” After months of fashion shows, teasers, rumors, interviews and more, Clipse is really, truly, finally, back. The duo’s new album Let God Sort Em Out is its first project since 2009’s Til the Casket Drops, and it boasts plenty of coke-infused bars, subliminal digs, and a sleek array of beats courtesy of longtime artistic partner Pharrell to tie it all together.

Let’s back up: For the first half of the 2000s, Clipse was one of hip-hop’s biggest disruptors. Drug-honed lyrical content had been a mainstay in rap for years, but Pusha T and Malice shook up that thematic snow globe from the jump. What followed were bars about coke, guns and seedy street tales that carried the refined elegance of Jean-Claude Killy skiing his way to Olympic gold. From 2002’s “Grindin’” to 2006’s “Mr. Me Too” and beyond, the pair used their run — aided by The Neptunes, who relentlessly battered away at them with their MPCs — to leave an indelible mark on hip-hop, before disbanding in 2010.

So after more than a decade apart, how do two brothers reunite and take Clipse into the 2020s? They sprinkle in some rambunctious new talent, with guest verses from Stove God Cooks, Tyler, the Creator and Kendrick Lamar, but otherwise they keep it pushin’ in more ways than one. With 13 new songs, and plenty of slick news bars to unpack, Billboard has dove in and ranked all the songs on Let God Sort ‘Em Out. Check out our full ranking below.

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

This week, Justin Bieber returns with an unexpected new album and an unexpected new sound, Clipse reunites for a triumphant set of new bangers, Deftones re-emerge as potent as ever and much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below.

Justin Bieber, Swag

It’s about as surprising as surprise drops get — Justin Bieber, one of the 10 greatest pop stars of the 21st century, returning from a four-year absence with a 21-track new set on about 10 hours’ notice. And within a couple tracks of Swag, it’s pretty clear this is Bieber as we’ve never really heard him before — stripped of most of his usual big pop trappings, with a much more organic-sounding, alt-R&B-focused sound aided by recognizable sonic architects like Dijon, Mk.Gee and new primary artistic partner Carter Lang supporting his tender ballads of love and devotion. Fans hoping for an album full of “Sorry”s (or even “Peaches”es) may be disappointed, but Beliebers who never stopped returning to the eerie confessionals of Journals or the hushed intimacy of Changes will undoubtedly be elated.

Clipse, Let God Sort Em Out

The first album for legendary rap duo Clipse in over 15 years, Let God Sort Em Out sees Pusha T and Malice reunited and locked in like the time off was just a long battery recharge. The first two tracks alone show the kind of purpose and focus few rap albums can manage across 10 times that long: opener “The Birds Don’t Sing” finds the brother duo paying heart-rending tribute to a late parent each, while explosive second cut “Chains & Whips” invites the biggest rapper in the world along to take aim at their collective foes — including one obvious common enemy between at least two of them. It helps immensely, of course, that this reunion also includes another crucial member of the extended family: regular producer and occasional hook-singer Pharrell, whose beats invoke the grimy urgency of his ’00s work for the duo without ever sounding like he’s just playing the hits.

BLACKPINK, “Jump”

After the solo bows of all four of its members over the past year — and with heightened global excitement around K-pop girl groups in general, thanks to the runaway success of Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters and its HUNTR/X protagonists — the time couldn’t be much better for a BLACKPINK comeback. And luckily, the quartet has the song to do it with: “JUMP” eschews the slowers, dubsteppier drops that have characterized most of BLACKPINK’s biggest singles for a more frenetic, hardstyle-indebted synth breakdown and quaking beat that feels as exciting as anything the group has ever released. “Are you not entertained?” LISA asks on the second verse, no doubt rhetorically.

Deftones, “My Mind Is a Mountain”

“We’ve been waiting here, patiently/ Locked in this state, clocking our time,” Deftones frontman Chino Moreno howls on the band’s new single. Indeed, “My Mind Is a Mountain” comes five years after the band’s most recent album, 2020’s Ohms, and sees the quintet immediately returning to its strengths: simultaneously lush and punishing guitar grooves over crashing-wave drums, with Moreno’s anguished sensuality tying it all together. The millions of new fans the band has picked up over a half-decade of seemingly perpetual TikTok virality should be thrilled with their first taste of new Deftones.

GIVĒON, Beloved

Following his return to the Billboard Hot 100 this year with both the Teddy Swims collab “Are You Even Real” and his own solo “Twenties,” R&B hitmaker GIVĒON returns this week with the new album Beloved — his first 2022 debut Give or Take. The sound of Beloved is more classic ’70s soul than modern R&B — check out the Al Green horns on “Rather Be” of the Stylistics electric sitar of “Twenties” and “Numb” — but kept fresh by the distinctiveness of GIVĒON’s voice, sonorous, soaring and forever exquisitely pained.

Tyla, “Is It”

The new single from the South African global pop star slithers around a winding beat, with an earworm chorus of Tyla asking “Is it wrong/ That I wanna get right with you?” and a requisite breakdown section that you can already tell is going to make for some highlight moments during live performances. “We outside. We’re catching party vibes,” Tyla told Billboard in June, and “Is It” is strong evidence that those vibes have already been caught.