Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Received 125 FCC Complaints

Kendrick Lamar’s historic Super Bowl Halftime performance may have broken records — but it also ruffled some feathers.

The Grammy-winning rapper’s appearance at Super Bowl LIX drew 125 formal complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), according to a newly obtained report cited by The Hill. Complaints ranged from accusations that the performance was “provocative dancing” to claims of “racism” and “gang affiliation,” with several viewers citing Lamar’s lyrics, choreography, and guest appearances as points of concern.

The Feb. 9 show — which made Lamar the first solo rapper to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show — featured cuts from his acclaimed discography and his recent album GNX, including a censored version of “Not Like Us,” his widely publicized diss track aimed at Drake.

One viewer wrote that their children “should not have been subjected to seeing and hearing the language and gestures,” while another said, “It is tiresome to have to send children out of the room during what should be a family event due to possible vulgarity and inappropriate language/gestures.”

Another complaint criticized the show for being “divisive, downgrading, and filled with profanity,” while others took issue with the racial composition of the performance. One viewer wrote, “There wasn’t one white person in the whole show. They get away with it but if it was all white it would be a different story… This was a disgrace and it gets worse every year.”

A separate complaint reportedly referenced Serena Williams, who made a brief appearance during the show, alleging that her “crip-walking” promoted “gang affiliation.”

Despite the backlash, Lamar’s halftime appearance was met with widespread critical acclaim and quickly became the most-watched Super Bowl Halftime Show in history. His performance also served as a defining moment in his GNX album era, which debuted atop the chart dated Dec. 7, 2024, and returned to the top on the Feb. 22-dated chart in the wake of its physical release and Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show (Feb. 9).

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New Billy Joel Documentary ‘And So It Goes’ to Air on HBO

A new documentary about Billy Joel is set to air on HBO this summer, it has been confirmed.

As Deadline reports, the two-part series, titled And So It Goes, will be produced and directed by Susan Lacy, who is best known as the creator of the long-running American Masters, and for directing HBO documentaries such as Jane Fonda in Five Acts and Spielberg. Producer Jessica Levin – who produced the latter documentaries – is also slated to co-direct.

The forthcoming documentary is reportedly set to provide “an expansive portrait of the life and music of Billy Joel,” while focusing on the love, loss, and personal struggles that have informed his creative process. Filmmakers have also been given access to previously unseen performances, home movies, and photographs for the production.

“For those who think they know Joel’s story, as well as those who are not as familiar, I believe this two-part film is both a revelation and a surprise,” Lacy stated in a press release. “I was drawn to his story as someone who knew little at the outset, and was astounded at how autobiographical his songs are and how complex his story is.”

Billy Joel: And So It Goes arrives via Lacy and Levin’s Pentimento Production, Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner’s Hazy Mills Productions, and Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone for HBO Documentary Films. The documentary also credits Hanks, Goetzman, Milliner, Hayes, Steve Cohen, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Sara Rodriguez as executive producers

News of the documentary also comes just weeks after Joel announced he would be postponing a number of tour dates due to a need for recovery and physical therapy necessitated by a recent surgery for an undisclosed medical condition 

“While I regret postponing any shows, my health must come first,” Joel said in a statement posted to Instagram. “I look forward to getting back on stage and sharing the joy of live music with our amazing fans. Thank you for your understanding.”

Joel will return to the stage at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on July 5.

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Children of Dean and Gene Ween Announce Live Performance: ‘We Are Not Ween’

The respective children of Dean Ween (aka Mickey Melchiondo) and Gene Ween (aka Aaron Freeman) are set to perform together this weekend, but make no mistake, the duo are adamant they “are not Ween.”

The performance was announced on social media on Tuesday (March 26) by Michael Melchiondo, who also performs as Bugger. The event takes place on Saturday (March 29) at the Soupcon Gallery in Lambertville, NJ, and features Hover and Rubix Pube on a lineup that also names Ashton Freeman.

“My good friend Ashton Freeman has asked me to join them in playing a show this Saturday in Lambertville,” Melchiondo. “We’ve come up with a very unique collaborative set. So come and witness the genetic duo merge our sounds… We are Not Ween.”

The pair have previously made music separately, with Melchiondo sharing a photo of his father on social media last week, pairing it with the caption, “in the studio with dad, feeling great and making music.” His current project includes Bugger, while previous music was also released under the name Veal Marsala. Freeman, meanwhile, has released a small handful of releases under their own name between 2016 and 2020.

Ween were first formed by the elder Melchiondo and Freeman in 1984 as teenagers, with a large array of independent releases preceding the arrival of debut album GodWeenSatan: The Oneness in 1990. The group would largely escape widespread commercial success over the next 22 years, with final album – 2007’s La Cucaracha – giving them their career peak of No. 69 on the Billboard 200.

The group would announce their disbandment in 2012, though reformed again in 2015. In late 2023, it was announced that Ween would undertake a 40th anniversary tour the following year that would also double as a 30th birthday celebration for their fourth album, Chocolate and Cheese. 

A number of those tour dates were cancelled in March 2024, with Dean Ween citing a need to preserve his “mental and spiritual wellbeing.” The band would later return to the road, though they announced in August that “Ween must make the decision to step away from the stage for the foreseeable future,” adding that “it’s become clear that touring and performing is too taxing on Deaner’s mental health to continue.”

Currently, no further news in regard to Ween’s return to the live stage has been announced.

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Sublime Working With Travis Barker for First New Album Since 1996

Almost three decades after the release of their final album, a newly-active Sublime have revealed they’re currently in the studio working on a new record.

The group, which disbanded in 1996 following the passing of frontman Bradley Nowell, found themselves active once again in late 2023 when it was reported Nowell’s son Jakob was fronting the group. Following live performances at the likes of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2024, the group have now told Rolling Stone the reformation is set to feature a new record.

The 29-year-old explained that he had recently spent a week working with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and producer John Feldmann penning tracks for the new album. Founding members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh will reportedly join for recording sessions soon.

“Travis is an old-school fan and scholar of the Sublime catalog,” Nowell said. “They feel like family members now too, man. There was that feeling from everyone that what we’re doing here is something generational and special on an emotional, spiritual, familial level.” 

In a statement, Barker noted that the project was “going to be really special,” with the spirit of the group’s late frontman still present within the band. “Bradley comes through his son Jakob,” he added. “Chills every day in the studio when he sings and plays guitar.”

Cynical fans who might be expecting the album to be a poor imitation of what was once was have also had their fears assuaged somewhat, with Nowell specifically noting that the plan isn’t to create a modern, updated version of the band. “No, just more of a solid respect and homage to the works of Sublime,” he says.

Wilson and Gaugh co-founded Sublime with the late Bradley Nowell in 1988, with the group’s first two albums – 1992’s 40oz. to Freedom and 1994’s Robbin’ the Hood – released on the independent Skunk Records label, which Nowell co-founded. 

Nowell died of a heroin overdose in May 1996 at the age of 28, just two months before the release of their self-titled major label debut. The record would peak at No. 13 on the Billboard 200, while lead single “What I Got” would top the Alternative Airplay chart in August 1996. Their sole Hot 100 entry came by way of “Doin’ Time” in December 1997, when it hit No. 87.

In 2009, Wilson and Gaugh reunited under the Sublime name with vocalist Rome Ramirez. Use of the band’s name was denied by the Nowell estate, leading to the creation of Sublime With Rome, which would continue with varying lineups until their official dissolution in 2024.

In May 2024, the reformed Sublime issued the track “Feels Like That,” which features Stick Figure alongside vocals from both Bradley and Jakob Nowell. According to Jakob’s latest comments, this archival discovery process has been integral to his new role up the front of thee acclaimed band.

“We’re combing through and trying to distill down what makes a Sublime song a Sublime song,” he explained. “It’s been this fun learning process to get close to and get to know my lost family member in a spiritual sense. I think we leave so much of ourselves, like this blueprint of our DNA, in the work that we create and put out there. So really it’s been also a fact-finding mission.”

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LE SSERAFIM Scores Second No. 1 on Top Album Sales With ‘HOT’

LE SSERAFIM scores its second No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated March 29) as the ensemble’s new HOT debuts atop the tally. The set sold 38,500 copies in the U.S. in the week ending March 20, according to Luminate, marking the best sales week yet for the act. It’s the fifth top 10 in total for the group, which previously reached No. 1 with its last chart entry, 2024’s Crazy.

Also debuting in the top 10 of the latest Top Album Sales chart: new releases from Playboi Carti, Coheed and Cambria, Steven Wilson, Charli xcx and Charley Crockett.

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

The first-week sales of LE SSERAFIM’s Crazy were bolstered by its availability across more than 20 CD variants (all containing collectible paper ephemera, some randomized). 98% of the album’s first-week sales were from CD purchases. (The album was only available to buy as a CD and a digital download.)

Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM falls to No. 2 with 24,000 sold (down 82%) after debuting at No. 1 a week ago.

Playboi Carti’s MUSIC debuts at No. 3 with 14,500 copies sold – the rapper’s best sales week. It was available to purchase only as a digital download in its opening week – a widely available standard 30-song set, as well as three variants exclusive to the artist’s official webstore (the variants each have between one or two bonus tracks each).

Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping GNX climbs 6-4 with nearly 13,000 sold (though down 18%).

Coheed and Cambria clocks its 11th top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales, as the rock outfit’s latest album The Father of Make Believe bows at No. 5 with 12,000 sold. Its first-week sales were aided by the album’s availability across five vinyl variants, a CD, a widely available download edition and two cassette tapes.

Sabrina Carpenter’s former No. 1 Short n’ Sweet rises a rung to No. 6 with 10,000 sold (though down 13%).

Steven Wilson lands his first top 10-charting set on Top Album Sales as his new studio effort The Overview enters at No. 7 with nearly 10,000 sold – his best sales week since 2015. The album was available in three vinyl variants, a standard CD, a deluxe boxed set, a blu-ray audio, a cassette tape and two download editions.

Charli xcx’s remix album Brat and It’s Completely Different – comprising only remixes of material from her Brat studio album – debuts at No. 8 with just over 8,000 sold, solely from vinyl sales.

Chappell Roan’s former leader The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess dips 8-9 on Top Album Sales with 8,000 sold (down 8%).

Charley Crockett rounds out the top 10 with his new album, Lonesome Drifter, debuting at No. 10 with nearly 8,000 sold – his best sales week ever. It’s the first top 10 for the artist, and eighth charting set overall. The set was available across four vinyl variants (including a signed edition), a standard CD, download and a cassette tape.

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Shakira Announces Four Additional Dates in Mexico for a Total of 15 Shows

Shakira continues breaking records in Mexico, where she will perform four additional shows as part of her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran world tour, including one more date at the capital’s GNP Seguros Stadium on August 29, OCESA announced on Wednesday (March 26).

“11 dates are not enough; the She-Wolf will return with four more dates in August and September,” the promoter said on social media.

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With this, the Colombian superstar will reach the historic milestone of eight performances at the aforementioned venue (previously known as Foro Sol) over two separate phases of her tour. The feat surpasses shows by other international icons such as Paul McCartney, Metallica, Coldplay, and Taylor Swift.

The other three tour dates in Mexico will be at Estadio Corregidora in Querétaro on September 2, Estadio Akron in Guadalajara on September 6, and Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla on September 12. Presale tickets for Banamex cardholders will take place on March 28, while general ticket sales will begin on March 29, added the promoter.

On Tuesday night (March 25), Shakira performed the fourth of seven concerts that make up her unprecedented residency at Estadio GNP Seguros, making her the first artist to sell out such a number of nights at the imposing venue, which will bring together a total of 455,000 attendees, according to OCESA.

Launched on February 11 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour is set to visit the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Colombia before arriving in the United States on May 13.

In an interview with Billboard Español in Mexico City, Shakira said that the tour has become something more intimate and profound. “These are more than just concerts. They are deep encounters where healing happens,” she said, adding that, with each performance, she feels “stronger and happier.”

Check out OCESA’s announcement below.

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SZA Reacts to Chappell Roan Naming Her a Dream Collaborator: ‘Pls We Must’

Chappell Roan named SZA as her dream collaborator on the latest episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, and the “Kill Bill” superstar is returning the love.

SZA took to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday (March 26) to share the snippet from the podcast, writing over the clip, “Actually didn’t believe this quote when I saw it written til I saw it come out her mouth [just] now ’cause DEAD A– SAME.”

She continued, “pls we must,” with a string of sparkle emojis. See the Story before it disappears here.

SZA has been Roan’s longtime fan, often gushing over her on social media. After the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer performed at Lollapalooza last summer, SZA wrote over Roan’s post via her Instagram Stories, “She makes me wanna keep making new music n art forever.”

Roan isn’t the only potential collaborator in SZA’s future. The singer stopped by The Jennifer Hudson Show this week, where she discussed posing with Taylor Swift at the Grammys. “Every time she walks up to me or approaches me, I’m just like, ‘All right, this is happening, because that’s fully Taylor Swift,’” gushed the R&B hitmaker. “I think I mentioned that I would love to write with her and build some things together. I love her storytelling. She was open to it. I think she’s awesome. She’s so bossed up.”

She even named Roan in the same interview among her favorite singer-songwriters who use their music as avenues for storytelling, additionally including Gracie Abrams, Lola Young, Doechii and Olivia Rodrigo. 

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Johnny Mathis Is Retiring From Concerts Due to ‘Age & Memory Issues’

Johnny Mathis is taking a step back from live performances.

His retirement from the stage was announced via a Facebook post on Wednesday (March 26), which notes that all shows scheduled after June 2025 will be canceled, as his final show will take place May 18 at the Bergan Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ. “As many of you may already be aware, Johnny Mathis is approaching his 90th birthday this year,” the statement reads. “So, it’s with sincere regret that due to Mr. Mathis’ age and memory issues which have accelerated, we are announcing his retirement from touring and live concerts.”

The statement concludes, “Johnny Mathis and his entire staff send their heartfelt gratitude to all Mathis fans worldwide for your continued love and support of his music! It’s truly been ‘Wonderful, Wonderful.’”

See the post here.

The legendary singer is known for songs including “Wonderful! Wonderful!” and “It’s Not for Me to Say.” In 2003, he was honored by the Recording Academy with the Lifetime Achievement Award and he was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for three separate recordings: in 1998 for “Chances Are,” in 2002 for “Misty” and in 2008 for “It’s Not for Me to Say.”

In 2014, Mathis was inducted into the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame. On the Billboard charts, his 1963 album, Johnny’s Greatest Hits, spent a whopping 215 total weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart and notched the top 40. Over on the Hot 100, he reached the summit with his Deniece Williams collaboration, “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late,” in 1978.

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Billboard Staffers Debunk Theory That Doechii Is an Industry Plant | Billboard News

With Doechii being honored at Billboard Women in Music this upcoming Saturday as Woman of the Year, Billboard staffers share their take on the internet debating if she’s an industry plant, and explain why she isn’t.

Keep watching to see their take!

What do you think an industry plant is? Let us know in the comments below!

Jerah Milligan:

Yo, y’all see Twitter going crazy talking about Doechii and Billboard? 

Evan Burke:

Oh, my god, yeah. I gotta show you this one. Someone said “kind of awesome that it’s only March and Billboard’s like’ we’ve seen enough it’s Doechii.’” I mean, but it’s legit though. I mean, she just won a Grammy that only two other women has ever won. 

Ciara Zimring:

She’s killing it. 

Evan Burke:

And I mean, Women in Music always happens every March. So it’s not like we just decided.

Stefanie Tanaka:

It’s not like this is, like, the first time we’ve done it. We kind of did something similar, with SZA like, ‘SOS’ came out at the very end of, like, 2022 when she was our Woman of the Year in March, and then she had that great run in 2023 with ‘SOS.’ 

Tetris Kelly:

But I feel like what they’re really doing is just putting Billboard in the conversation that they were already trying to have about Doechii being an industry plant.

Evan Burke:

I mean, they’ve always been trying to discredit her success. I mean, she has been like in the game forever. She was our Rising Star two years ago. So it’s not like she is brand new. 

Tetris Kelly:

Oh my god. Two years ago, I was talking to her at Coachella. 

Ciara Zimring:

Oh, right! 

Jerah Milligan:

Oh, well five years ago I saw her on Twitter. I saw her post “ I lost my job. I’m going to go knock on doors” 

Keep watching for more!

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Joe Jonas Moves Up the Release Date for His ‘Music for People Who Believe in Love’ Album

It’s time to listen to some Music For People Who Believe in Love.

Joe Jonas‘ upcoming solo album is officially arriving on May 23, as revealed in an Instagram video the superstar shared on Wednesday (March 26) showing off the vinyl edition of the project. The album was previously scheduled to arrive on October 18.

”This album is a celebration of gratitude, hope, and love. These songs reflect on my life from a bird’s-eye view acknowledging the many blessings around me,” Jonas wrote in a lengthy statement announcing the project in July 2024. “This album speaks to the experiences of being a father, being a friend to oneself and others, and the happiness I’ve found in doing what I love for a living. I feel incredibly fortunate to travel the world and connect with people through my music, as well as having had the opportunity to work with some of the most talented musicians, songwriters, and producers on this project.”

Between Jonas Brothers and DNCE, Joe is a part of several musical collectives, but it’s been 13 years since he released his only solo album, 2011’s Fast Life. Led by the Chris Brown-penned “See No More,” which peaked at No. 92 on the Billboard Hot 100, the LP peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200. Jonas would go on to oscillate between Jonas Brothers and DNCE releases, while younger brother Nick Jonas enjoyed a more consistent solo career before the brothers reunited in 2019

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