“We’re in for nasty weather,” prophesied David Byrne 42 years ago on his band Talking Heads‘ biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit. He probably wasn’t making specific predictions about 2025’s Governors Ball festival in New York, but that’s certainly what was in store for attendees Saturday (June 7), as heavy rain and possible thunder and lightning forced the fest to delay its Day Two start time by four hours.

As a result, headliner Olivia Rodrigo didn’t take the stage at Gov Ball until 9:35 ET — but the packed audience showed that few if any fans had been deterred by the bad weather and late start time. And along with her usual captivating set of heart-rending acoustic ballads and stomach-punching alt-rock riffers, Rodrigo had a surprise in store for those who’d stuck around with a Byrne guest appearance, as he came out to duet with the singer-songwriter on the Heads’ 1983 smash “Burning Down the House.”

After being introduced by a starstruck Rodrigo, Byrne — who could be seen earlier in the night checking out Feid’s performance at the Kiehl’s stage — emerged in an all-white outfit, covered by red overalls to match Rodrigo’s own two-piece getup. The two traded off lines throughout the always-incendiary new wave classic, and then Rodrigo joined Byrne in some of his signature on-stage moves — bending her knees, running in place, and generally looking his traditional combination of charmingly stilted and impossibly cool.

Watch some clips of the performance captured on social media, watch the original song’s music video below, and check back for more Billboard coverage of Governors Ball all weekend.

As rain poured down outside, within downtown Nashville’s Category 10 multi-level bar it was warm and cozy — and ultimately packed to the rafters — on day two of Billboard Country Live. Billed as On the Rise, Friday’s (June 6) lineup featured seven hot newcomers who, based on their infectious sets, all have promising futures.

Day two followed Thursday’s (June 5) Billboard Country Live Presented by Bud Light, which highlighted six acts, including Mitchell Tenpenny, Reyna Roberts, Alexandra Kay, Drew Baldridge, Max McNown and Ashley Cooke.

CMT host Carissa Culiner emceed both evenings, keeping things lively between sets, with assistance from DJ Grant Fisher.

Annie Bosko

Bosko, whose new Stone Country Records album arrives in October, was the perfect opener to kick off the afternoon with her warm, welcoming presence and denim shorts and vest.  

The California native opened with the spirited “California Cowgirl,” explaining “because I think no matter where you’re from, you’ve got a cowgirl inside,” before launching into her inspirational current single, “God Winks.” “I’ve hit low points in my life when I wanted to give up and I got a sign from God to keep going,” Bosko said, as fans held up their lighted cell phones, waving their arms in the air. She closed her short set with “(Country Girls) Who Runs the World,” an empowering twangy successor to Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls)” that saw her accompanying herself on harmonica.  

Harper Grace

Sporting a T-shirt that read, “Country music makes you live longer,” the Curb Records artist opened with a sassy, thumping version of “Mr. Mystery” and followed up with the fiddle-laden “Take It Like a Truck,” which would fit right in on a Lainey Wilson album. Grace then went old school with a gorgeous version of the classic heartbreaker “Tennessee Waltz,” first made famous by Patti Page in 1950, before closing out with “IDK,” her current duet with Franklin Jonas, who, dressed in a dapper suit, joined her to the audience’s delight. The two roamed the stage as they sang the searching ballad about trying to find a love that has previously eluded them.

Graham Barham

Barham, backed with a full band, kicked the energy up with his blend of country, rock and trap beats on songs like the intoxicating “MIA” and the driving “Camo.” The Sony artist showed off his sense of humor as he introduced “Whiskey,” admonishing the audience to “please remember everything you see on screen isn’t necessarily true. With that being said, this is about me getting hammered.” He followed with a faithful version of Brooks & Dunn’s “Red Dirt Road,” before finishing strong with his boisterous hit, “Oil Money,” as accomplices shot fake money into the audience.

Cooper Alan

Alan brought the party with him in a ridiculously high-energy, fun set, which started with the loping “To the Bar,” adding he used to play in the location before it became Combs’ Category 10. His cover of choice was a galloping version of Avicii/Aloe Blacc’s “Wake Me Up,” which he admitted he goofed up, but made up for it by inviting the audience to jump along with him in a unifying moment. He then launched into “the stupidest thing we’ve ever done,” his TikTok viral novelty hit, “Cold 45,” which was inspired by Afroman’s “Because I Got High.”

Alan and the audience caught their collective breaths when he turned serious, slowing it down and strapping on a guitar to play the sweet ballad “Take Forever (Hally’s Song),” which he wrote about his wife, whom he married in September 2023. But he finished by raising the roof again with “Plead the Fifth,” a hilarious ditty sung to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne,” with rapid-fire lyrics, from which he segued, appropriately enough, into John Michael Montgomery’s “Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)” and Eminem’s “Without Me.” Alan wasn’t on stage for a long time, but he was definitely there for a good time.

Timmy McKeever

There was cause for celebration for Big Loud artist Timmy McKeever, who had moved to Nashville exactly a year ago and showed why he’d already made great strides in that time. In a striking acoustic set with just him and his guitar, the 18-year-old deliberately slowed down the pace and showed off his sweet voice and fine writing skills with such tunes as the earnest, romantic “I’ve Known Better,” his first song to go viral on TikTok (“for the first two lines,” he joked) and the vulnerable “Bulletproof” (an original, not a cover of the recent Nate Smith hit). He then delivered a tasty cover of Megan Moroney’s “Tennessee Orange” — dubbed “Tennessee Orange (Breakup Version)” — that had not only a gender flip, but a twist, where he’s a Georgia boy in love with a girl who is now wearing Tennessee orange for her new beau, before going into a softer, less aggressive version of Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue.”

He finished with three originals that showed off his promise as a budding talent, the yearning, infectious “Cravin’ You,” the upcoming single “Hold You to It,” and “Lightning Speed,” a song about losing yourself to the music industry.

Jake Worthington

Armed with just an acoustic guitar, the 2014 The Voice contestant and Big Loud artist conjured up the ghosts of country legends like George Jones and Waylon Jennings with his twangy, authentic traditionalism and big voice.

Even breaking a guitar string early on (which he eventually was able to replace) didn’t slow down Worthington on songs like the irrepressible, upbeat “I’m the One” (the recorded version of which features Marty Stuart) and the aching “Hello S—ty Day,” which would have felt just right performed by Jones.  

His 30-minute set was filled with such chestnuts, including the up-tempo, yet downtrodden “It Ain’t the Whiskey” and “Not Like I Used To,” before the Texan played “Ain’t Got You a Hold,” a western swing twirler that would have done George Strait proud. His cover of Merle Haggard’s “Half a Man” fit perfectly in his wheelhouse and was delivered with just the right amount of pathos.

Tayler Holder

From the time he stepped on stage, Holder had the audience eating out of his hand. With more than five million Instagram followers, it felt like all the influencer-turned-country- singer’s fans were crammed into Category 10.

Holder prowled the stage as he launched in the hypnotic “Neon,” immediately hand-slapping with the front row with a bad-boy appeal that connected with the audience.

His set showed off his ease tackling various tempos and styles, including “Time in This Truck,” which conjured up a windows-down, wind-in-your-hair feel, as well as the slowed down breakup song “Someone You Knew,” followed by another breakup song he wrote about a four-year relationship that went south, “California Tennessee.”  (Happy ending: There’s a new girlfriend in the picture.)

Holder, who moved to Nashville three years ago, and his band did a blazing mini-set of covers that opened and closed with a few bars of “Sweet Home Alabama” and a raucous “Freebird,” with a sweet version of One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful,” Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” (delivered by Holder’s gruff-voiced guitarist) in between.

Holder than ended his set — and day two of Billboard Country Live — with a new song that has already garnered more than a million stream in a few days, the mid-tempo, propulsive “Ain’t You Leaving,” and “Dyin’ Flame,” which has more than 12 million streams. Holder penned the song with Barham. “We sent it to Morgan [Wallen] and [he] politely sent it right back to me,” Holder said. “I’m glad he did.”

As the SXSW festival made its London debut this week, a group of top music industry leaders convened for an intimate dinner hosted by Luminate — the data and insights company that powers the Billboard charts — and Music Business Worldwide.

The mix of music company CEOs and entrepreneurs — many of whom had just been named to Billboard‘s 2025 UK Power Players list — mingled over drinks at the Little House Mayfair social club before sitting down to a seated dinner in cozy booths, discussing new ventures, challenges and opportunities ahead.

The evening was hosted by Luminate’s CEO Rob Jonas and Music Business Worldwide‘s founder and publisher Tim Ingham. Billboard, Luminate and MBW share the same parent company, PMC. 

“It was a room you had to be in,” said Jonas. “With growth and disruption happening in equal measure in the music industry right now, discussions and collaboration is more important than ever.”

The Music Leaders Dinner included a number of guests who attended Billboard’s first-ever Global Power Players event the night prior honoring the most influential music executives outside the U.S. At that party, Elton John and his husband and manager David Furnish blasted U.K. lawmakers in a rollicking speech as they received the Creators’ Champion Award for their fierce advocacy for artist rights, as the British government considers amendments to copyright law that could threaten the income of music creators and companies while tech firms train their AI algorithms on copyrighted works without permission.

Ingham, who launched his site dedicated to global music industry news, analysis and jobs in 2015, declared the Music Leaders Dinner “a great night with unanimously great people. And a room full of laughter! Looking forward to the next one.”

The first time Broadway director and choreographer Sergio Trujillo heard about Real Women Have Curves, he didn’t pay much attention. His husband, producer Jack Noseworthy — with whom he runs Truworthy Productions, focused on finding Latino stories to empower the community through musical theater — had watched the America Ferrera-starring 2002 movie and asked him to see it, thinking it would make “a really interesting musical.”

“Mostly because he’s been growing up with my family — my mother, my sisters, all of them — and he said he saw something in it,” Trujillo, who was born in Colombia, tells Billboard Español. “I was so absorbed with so many other projects, that I sort of saw it but I didn’t pay attention.”

One night, he decided to give it another shot, learning that it was originally a play by Josefina López – which he read immediately. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is a musical! Mostly because the characters were bigger than life. The language was so buoyant, it was like music. The story was beautiful,” he recalls joyfully. “And there is a phrase that [the protagonist] Ana says in the play — ‘Women are most powerful when they work together’ — that resonated with me deeply, more than anything else.”

Set in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles in 1987, Real Women Have Curves follows Ana García, a cutely chubby, uber-smart daughter of immigrant parents who struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her mother for her to get married, have children and oversee the small, rundown family-owned textile factory. The show deals with gender politics and the Latina immigrant experience, with immigration agents messing with their husbands, judgment from other characters, and dreams that for many undocumented seem simply impossible to achieve.

Trujillo, both as an immigrant and as one of the few men in his family, felt a profound connection. “I thought, ‘What a great way to,’ first of all, in the mission to empower our community, ‘to empower women, but also celebrate all of my mother and my sister and my aunts, all of the women that have made so many sacrifices so that I could have the life that I have.’” And that is what he did.

After formally opening on April 27 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical is now nominated for two Tony Awards at Sunday’s show: best original score, by Latin music star Joy Huerta (half of the Mexican pop duo Jesse & Joy) and Benjamin Velez, and best performance by an actress in a featured role for Justina Machado — who in a full-circle moment plays Carmen García, the mother of Ana, more than 30 years after playing Ana herself at the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago.

The fact that both Huerta and Machado received nominations this year is remarkable. The former is a Grammy-winning singer who had never done theater before. The latter — whom Trujillo worked with more than two decades ago and was completely convinced she was his Carmen — was initially reluctant to accept the role because she couldn’t see herself in it.

“When I did the play when I was 20 years old, it was just a different kind of role. And when I saw the movie, you know, with the wonderful, iconic Lupe Ontiveros [as Carmen], I just didn’t think that was something that I would want to do or that I would fit with,” Machado explains to Billboard. “I had to be talked into coming and doing a 29-hour reading — one of the first things you do when you’re developing a new musical or a new play.”

So the actress, known for TV series like Six Feet Under and One Day at a Time — and whose only previous Broadway credit was as a replacement for In The Heights‘ Daniela for a couple of months in 2009 — flew from Los Angeles to New York.

Once there, she not only found a less serious, less judgmental Carmen, but also a set of inspiring songs — from the soaring coming-of-age tune “Flying Away” to the humorous “Adiós Andes,” sort of a funny ode to menopause which she performs brilliantly during the show. (You can listen to the full album of Real Women Have Curves: The Musical here.)

“Really, what made me fall in love with the role was the music,” Machado admits. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love this music.’ But I had to be convinced that I was the person to play this role.”

And as much as she loved the music, the music creators loved her. Huerta, who was recruited early on as a songwriter and was there during that first reading of the show, recalls how the actress made her feel. “Justina was the first person I remember saying, ‘This is a non-negotiable for me,’” she tells Billboard. “I had never felt – I mean, I had felt it with music, but seeing a person perform that really made me forget about the world? I was like, ‘Please, please make sure to get her. … What do you have to do to make this happen?’”

“Sergio really was the one, he really kept on,” Machado says of what convinced her. “They were very persistent, and I’m so very happy that they were. … I never thought that I would be revisiting this play again in another form, and it really works as a musical. It’s almost like it should have always been a musical. It’s just so beautiful.”

Although it did not receive a Tony nomination for best musical or best actress, despite widespread acclaim for the show and for Tatianna Córdoba, who plays Ana in her Broadway debut, the cast of Real Women Have Curves will be performing at the awards ceremony on Sunday night.

Trujillo hopes the effort he’s put into representing Latinos on Broadway doesn’t go unnoticed by his target audience. “I’m on this mission to empower our community, to try to create content and stories in which they can see themselves,” he says. “But I need them to come to the theater. I need Latinos to do their part and support us.”