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Mariah Carey hit yet another extra-festive milestone Wednesday (Dec. 22) as she celebrated “All I Want for Christmas is You” reaching a whopping 1 billion streams on Spotify. Yes, that’s billion, dahlings.
“Thank you @spotify, the #lambily, and everyone who streams this song to add a little bit of festivity to the season! I truly appreciate each and every one of these 1 billion streams!” the icon captioned the photo of herself posing with the commemorative plaque marking the achievement dressed in a glam metallic puffer coat, sparkling beanie, sheer black leggings and matching boots.
Currently on her annual December trip to Aspen with Dem Babies and boyfriend Bryan Tanaka, the Queen of Christmas certainly has more than a few things to jubilate over this holiday season. As of the chart dated Dec. 25, her modern Christmas classic made a historic return to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a third consecutive year. Ever the trailblazer, the unprecedented achievement officially makes Carey the first artist in history to land the same song at No. 1 on the chart three separate times.
She’s also been spreading holiday cheer around the country for the last couple of weeks thanks to the McDonald’s Mariah Menu, which gives fans a free daily treat with a $1 purchase when they order on the McDonald’s app through Christmas Eve (Dec. 25). (Ten-thousand lucky Lambs also got their hands on a limited-edition Mariah x McDonald’s T-shirt earlier this week as part of the campaign.)
Check out Mariah’s latest mind-blowing Spotify achievement below.
Court officials are edging closer to dividing up pop superstar Prince’s estate.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday (Dec. 22) that November tax filings show the Internal Revenue Service and Comerica Bank & Trust, the estate administrator, reached an agreement in November on the total value of Prince’s assets.
The specific number hasn’t been disclosed but it could be more than $100 million. The IRS last year determined Prince’s assets were worth $163.2 million. Comerica put the number at $82.3 million. IRS officials felt Comerica’s total was so low they imposed a $6.4 million accuracy penalty on the estate.
The Carver County probate court still must approve the agreement. The court is set to begin discussions in February on how to divide up the assets.
The estate likely will be divided between New York music company Primary Wave and Prince’s three oldest heirs or their families. Primary Wave bought out all or most of the interests of Prince’s three youngest siblings.
Prince died of a fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park home in Carver County in April 2016. He didn’t have a will.
On Tuesday, Jay-Z shared his unfiltered thoughts on his potential participation in a Verzuz battle — or lack thereof.
See, when he crashed Alicia Keys’ interview with Genius‘ Rob Markman, the rap legend insisted that “ain’t nobody” had a chance against him in a head-to-head clash. “There’s not a chance in hell that anyone can stand on that stage for… I don’t know how long it is. Two hours? Two hours… . That’s ain’t gonna never happen,” he added, squashing fans’ hopes they’d see him on the Verzuz stage one of these days.
However, Billboard rounded up five other artists we could see stepping up to Hov’s challenge, and now we want to know who you’d like to see face off against the “99 Problems” hitmaker.
Would a rematch against former classmate Busta Rhymes be worth the watch? Who would be a more legendary opponent: Kanye West (aka Ye) or Eminem? Could Lil Wayne‘s discography stand up against the artist otherwise known as Shawn Carter? Would Beyoncé come out on top against her husband, frequent collaborator and potential rival for next year’s best song Oscar? Or maybe you’d rather see Jay go toe-to-toe with someone else altogether!
Either way, vote in Billboard‘s poll below for your dream artist in a hypothetical Verzuz showdown against Hova.
Britney Spears is ready to be her own cheerleader — and make some new music.
In a new Instagram video posted late Wednesday (Dec. 22), the pop superstar films herself in front of a bathroom mirror while belting out some sky-high notes and finishing with a soulful low run.
“I just realized this today guys … after what my family tried to do to me three years ago … I needed to be my own cheerleader !!!!” she wrote in the caption. “God knows they weren’t …so I just read up on my self and this is what I found.”
Spears goes on to quote her RCA Records artist bio, which reads in part: “Multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning pop icon Britney Spears is one of the most successful and celebrated entertainers in pop history with nearly 100 million records sold worldwide. In the U.S. alone, she has sold more than 70 million albums, singles and songs, according to Nielsen Music.”
Spears says she’s finally realizing just how successful she’s been in her music career. “I’m not auditioning for anything !!!! I’m reminding myself and the world of who I am !!!!” the caption continues. “Yes … I will be my own cheerleader … why ???? I’m here to remind my white ‘classy’ family that I haven’t forgotten what they did to me nor will I ever forget !!!!”
And that’s not all: For the first time since the #FreeBritney movement put a spotlight on the star’s controversial and now-scrapped 13-year conservatorship, Spears says she’s working on new music.
“Pssss new song in the works,” she writes. “I’m gonna let you know what I mean 😉 !!!!!”
Spears hasn’t released a new album since 2016’s Glory. And as her lawyer Mathew Rosengart said outside the courthouse on Nov. 12, the day her conservatorship ended, Spears’ future in music is finally in her own hands. “What’s next for Britney –– and this is the first time that this could be said for about a decade –– is up to one person: Britney.”
See the new video below:
Grimes‘ new era is finally upon us. On Wednesday (Dec. 22), the singer shared a music video for her new single “Player of Games” to her YouTube page after teasing snippets of the visual via her social media accounts.
The stunning video opens with Grimes — in a white blonde wig and no clothing — embracing an enigmatic figure (named the Dark King) in an all-metal suit with a sword behind her back. But their relationship appears to be a tumultuous one: The otherworldly video later paints the pair as foes, as they embark on several intense battles of chess, sword and lightsaber fighting.
“If I loved him any less/ I’d make him stay/ But he has to be the best/ Player of games/ If I loved him any less/ I’d make him stay/ Player of games,” Grimes sings on the chorus of the song.
The 33-year-old has yet to announce plans to drop a new album but did hint that the song is “Chapter 1 of Book 1,” according to the video’s description. The Canadian singer shared ethereal imagery of her dressed as a mythical being to her Instagram earlier this month, captioning the Dec. 3 post, “And so the Book 1 era begins.”
Grimes’ most recent album, Miss Anthropocene, was released Feb. 12, 2020. The album spent two weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and peaked in the No. 32 spot. In other music-related projects, Grimes announced she formed an AI girl group called NPC in November and shared their first official song “A Drug From God.”
Watch “Player of Games” below.
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