Spanish Broadcasting System Launches New Salsa Radio Station in Miami: ‘It Fills a Need’

Salsa lovers, rejoice: Spanish Broadcasting System launched a new radio station in Miami that will play salsa music at all times, Billboard has learned.

Salsa 106.3FM, which began its broadcasting transmissions on Nov. 25, targets South Florida’s Hispanic adults from 18 to 34 years of age and the 25 to 64 demographic, rotating salsa gems from icons like Marc Anthony and Oscar D’ Leon to the newer generation of tropical artists such as Luis Vazquez.

“Listeners were asking for more salsa,” Jesus Salas, SBS’ EVP of programming, tells Billboard. “Most of the audio radio stations have gone the Latin urban route.”

The brand-new station, with the slogan “Donde la Salsa Vive” (where salsa lives), becomes the second SBS Radio station broadcasting a market-specific genre, following Puerto Rico’s salsa station Zeta 93FM.

“It’s a different station than all the others in the market and fills a need,” Salas elaborated. “Salsa music spans many decades and hundreds upon hundreds of proven super salsa hits. It already is a salsa success.”

Salsa 106.3FM now complements SBS’ other three radio stationsL Z-92.3 FM (Spanish Adult Contemporary and News), El Zol 106.7 (Tropical Latin Urban and Top 40), and Ritmo 95.7 (Cubaton y mas).

/by

How Taylor Swift & Lil Nas X Landed Big Grammy Nominations Without Nods in the Pop Field

Taylor Swift achieved something very unusual in the nominations for the 64th annual Grammy Awards: She received an album of the year nod for evermore, an album that received no other nominations.

Swift has one other Grammy nod this year, as one of the songwriters on Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour, a credit she was granted because two songs on the album contain interpolations of old Swift songs.

Swift isn’t alone in being nominated in a marquee category after being passed over in a subordinate category. Lil Nas X received an album of the year nod for Montero, which was passed over for a nod for best pop vocal album. He also received a record of the year nod for “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” which was passed over for a nod for best pop solo performance. In Lil Nas X’s case, there’s a plausible explanation for why he may have failed to register in those pop categories.

Lil Nas X’s only nomination in a genre-specific category was best melodic rap performance for “Industry Baby,” featuring Jack Harlow.

Grammy voters were allowed to vote in up to three musical fields, in addition to the General Field, the Academy’s name for the Big Four categories: album, record and song of the year, plus best new artist. It’s possible that some of Lil Nas X’s supporters in the Academy simply didn’t vote in the pop field, focusing instead on rap and R&B.

Two other record of the year nominees were passed over for nominations in performance categories this year. They are ABBA’s “I Still Have Faith in You” (which was passed over for a nod for best pop duo/group performance) and Jon Batiste’s “Freedom” (which was passed over for a nod for best R&B performance).

ABBA’s record of the year nod is the group’s first Grammy nomination in any category, so its failure to land a nod for best pop duo/group performance is not a surprise. But Batiste’s failure to land a nod for best R&B performance is a surprise. He was this year’s leading Grammy nominee, with 11 total nominations, the most by any artist since Kendrick Lamar amassed 11 nods six years ago.

Justin Bieber’s soul/pop jam “Peaches,” featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon, is nominated for song of the year, but was passed over for a nod for best R&B song. That could be in part because his supporters in the Academy are more apt to vote in the pop field than in R&B, but “Peaches” was nominated for best R&B performance – Bieber’s first nomination ever in an R&B category.

Kacey Musgraves and Brandi Carlile both made headlines in the run-up to the announcement of the Grammy nominations when they or their representatives expressed displeasure that their recordings had been moved.

Musgraves’ star-crossed was moved from best country album to best pop vocal album. It wound up not being nominated in that category, though a track from the album, “Camera Roll,” was nominated for best country solo performance and best country song. Those were Musgraves’ only nominations this year. It’s possible that her voters would have been more inclined to find her and vote for her in the country album category.

Carlile’s “Right on Time” was moved from the American roots music field to pop. That didn’t deter her voters. She is nominated for three awards for “Right on Time” – record of the year, song of the year and best pop solo performance. Carlile is also nominated for song of the year for co-writing “A Beautiful Noise,” her collab with Alicia Keys, and as a guest artist on Brandy Clark’s “Same Devil,” which is vying for best American roots performance.

When the Recording Academy announced the 64th annual Grammy nominations on Tuesday, they simultaneously announced that they were bumping the number of nominees in each of the Big Four categories from eight to 10. They acknowledged then that this was a last-minute decision but framed that as a positive.

“Perhaps in the past, the leadership would have waited for the next awards cycle to make a change,” Harvey Mason jr., Academy CEO, and Tammy Hurt, chair of the board of trustees, said in a joint statement. “But one thing that we’ve heard loud and clear from you is that you are tired of waiting for big changes. You asked for – and you deserve — an organization that is as nimble and brave as you. In that spirit, we went to the board of trustees and made the case for this direction, and just minutes ago, they adopted it.”

In an interview with Billboard last week, Mason denied that the decision was made based on knowing what finished No. 9 and No. 10 in the Big Four categories.

The New York Times published a report on Wednesday, authored by Ben Sisario and Joe Coscarelli, in which those reporters said they had gotten hold of a copy of the initial nominations list, when there just eight nominees in each of the Big Four categories, and thus could see what was added.

According to The Times’ story, the entries that moved up were: for record of the year, “I Still Have Faith in You” and “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”; for album of the year, evermore and DONDA; for song of the year, “Kiss Me More” (co-written by Doja Cat and SZA, who performed it, and five more writers) and “Right on Time” (co-written by Carlile, who performed it, and three more writers); and for best new artist, Arooj Aftab and Baby Keem.

On Thursday, Mason issued the following statement. “Realizing that today is a time to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, we reluctantly felt compelled to respond to the suggestive and sometimes erroneous reports we have seen in the media regarding the Academy’s decision to expand our general fields from eight to 10 nominees…

“I applaud our board of trustees, for having the agility and foresight to approve this expansion as a way to honor more music, more artists and more genres. And yes, they did it quickly and decisively, and they did it without knowing who the additional nominees would be. For those who would suggest any counter-narratives to stir drama and drive clicks, I would ask that you please take a fresh look at the new Recording Academy.”

Turning back to this year’s nominees, three of the 10 nominees for best new artist are nominated for the best album award in their respective genres. Rodrigo’s Sour is nominated for best pop vocal album (as well as album of the year), Arlo Parks’ Collapsed in Sunbeams and Japanese Breakfast’s Jubilee are both nominated for best alternative music album.

Four other nominees in that category received other nominations on this year’s ballot. Finneas has four other nominations — three for work with his sister, Billie Eilish, and one for his work as a producer on Bieber’s album Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe). Baby Keem has two other nominations – one as a featured artist on West’s DONDA and one for best rap performance for “Family Ties” (featuring Lamar). Aftab and The Kid LAROI each have one other nomination. Aftab’s other nod is for best global music performance for “Mohabbat.” The Kid LAROI’s other nod is as a featured artist on Bieber’s album.

The three other best new artist nominees — Jimmie Allen, Glass Animals and Saweetie — received no other nominations.

/by

Ed Sheeran & Elton John Reveal ‘Merry Christmas’ Duet Release Date With ‘Love Actually’ Spoof

Ed Sheeran and Elton John are teaming up to give fans a new holiday song for their festive playlists.

After teasing the release of Christmas music, the English musicians announced Monday (Nov. 29) that their new song “Merry Christmas” will be released on Friday. In addition, the duo revealed in a joint Instagram post that all U.K. profits from the song this holiday season will go to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

The post features a video of Sheeran doing his best Love Actually impression, borrowing the famous scene where Andrew Lincoln’s Mark silently professes his love to Keira Knightley’s Juliet with romantic cue cards. This time, though, Sheeran is just announcing his and John’s “Merry Christmas” song.

The pair posted a second joint post, in which John and Sheeran shared a sneak peek of the corresponding video for the track, which contained a short snippet of the song. “Filled up with so much love/ All our family and friends are together where we all belong/ Merry Christmas, everyone,” the 71- and 30-year-old are heard singing. “This was an absolute blast! Our music video for ‘Merry Christmas’ is coming this Friday,” they captioned the post.

During Sheeran’s Nov. 8 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he revealed that John, who recently released a hit collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions, pitched him a Christmas duet idea. The collaborators would later go on to write three Christmas songs together.

“I’ve always been quite against it,” Sheeran recalled. “Not that I don’t like Christmas, I love Christmas, but in terms of doing a Christmas song, you need to chuck the kitchen sink at it.”

John already has a holiday hit under his belt: “Step Into Christmas” topped Billboard‘s Christmas Singles chart in 1973 and also hit the top 10 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart that same year.

See John and Sheeran’s new posts below.

/by

Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers finally get to see someone face a trial: Ghislaine Maxwell

Victims of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein are finally getting their day in court. The long-awaited trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell begins Monday in Manhattan. Prosecutors allege that Maxwell, 59, … Click to Continue »
/by

One dead, one in custody after a Coral Gables Sunday morning police shooting, chief says

Two Coral Gables police officers opened fire on a suspected car burglar early Sunday morning, killing one man inside a U-Haul truck and finding another uninjured who was hiding underneath … Click to Continue »
/by

Carrie Meek, pioneering Miami congresswoman and champion of Black communities, dies at 95

Former U.S. Congresswoman Carrie Pittman Meek, the first Black person to represent Florida in Congress since the post-Civil War Reconstruction and a fierce advocate for South Florida’s Black communities, Haitian … Click to Continue »
/by

Lindsay Lohan and Bader Shammas Are Engaged: ‘My Future’

Lindsay Lohan has announced her engagement to fiancé Bader Shammas.

The actress and singer posted several photos on Instagram Sunday morning (Nov. 28), with the couple snuggling and showing a glimpse of the engagement ring on her hand.

“My love. My life. My family. My future. @bader.shammas #love,” she captioned the photo gallery.

Lohan and Shammas, who is an assistant vice president at Credit Suisse, have reportedly been dating for two years.

Last year, Lohan released her first official single in 12 years, “Back to Me.” Her debut album, 2004’s Speak — which featured the single “Rumors” — peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart. Her sophomore album, 2005’s A Little More Personal (Raw), peaked at No. 20.

Netflix recently revealed that Lohan will play Chord Overstreet’s love interest in an untitled, upcoming romantic comedy “about a spoiled hotel heiress who gets total amnesia in a skiing accident and finds herself in the care of a handsome lodge owner.”

See the photos of Lohan and Shammas sharing their engagement news below.

/by

Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett’s ‘MTV Unplugged’ Gets a Premiere Date: Watch the First Promo

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett are coming to MTV Unplugged on Dec. 16, MTV announced on Sunday (Nov. 28) — and you can watch the first promo below.

The new episode, which marks the return of the MTV Unplugged franchise, was filmed earlier this year in New York. The duo performed songs from their Billboard 200 top 10 album Love for Sale, which just earned Gaga and Bennett six 2022 Grammy nominations on Tuesday, including for album of the year. The project — which topped Billboard‘s Traditional Jazz Albums and overall Jazz Albums charts after its September debut — follows their first joint project, 2014’s Cheek to Cheek.

MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga will air Thursday, Dec. 16, at 9 p.m. ET on MTV in the U.S. and across its global platforms. Its premiere takes place during “Love Music With MTV,” a month-long celebration of the brand’s top music series and moments, from the VMAs to Unplugged.

The MTV Unplugged episode is part of a talent deal Viacom announced with Bennett and Gaga, which also includes the Sunday night CBS concert special One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, where the promo below first aired. Also included in the partnership is the upcoming documentary The Lady and The Legend, which will stream on Paramount+ in 2022.

Bennett previously recorded an MTV Unplugged TV special and accompanying album in 1994, which went on to win album of the year at the 1995 Grammys. This marks the first time Gaga has recorded for MTV Unplugged.

Watch the first MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga promo below:

/by

Adele’s ‘30’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With Biggest Week of the Year

Adele’s new album 30 blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, debuting with the largest week of 2021 for any album, while the set is already the biggest-selling album of the year. It’s the third No. 1 for the superstar, following 25 (10 weeks on top in 2015-16) and 21 (24 weeks in 2011-12).

30 is Adele’s first album in six years, since she released 25 on Nov. 20, 2015.

30 starts with 839,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 25, according to MRC Data. That’s by far the largest week of the year for any album by units earned, surpassing the debut of Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, which earned 613,000 units in the week ending Sept. 9.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Dec. 4, 2021-dated chart (where 30 debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Nov. 30. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of 30’s 839,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 25, album sales comprise 692,000, SEA units comprise 141,000 (equaling 185.39 million on-demand streams of the set’s 12 tracks) and TEA units comprise 6,000 units.

30’s 692,000 album sales’ total is easily the largest sales week of the year for any album. It nearly doubles the year’s previous biggest sales week, when Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) sold 369,000 in the week ending Nov. 18.

Further, 30’s sales of 692,000 immediately make the set the biggest-selling album of the entire year, surpassing the total sales of any album over the past 11 months combined. The year’s previous biggest-selling album was Swift’s 2020 release Evermore, which has sold 471,000 in 2021.

Of 30’s total album sales (692,000), physical album sales account for 487,000 of that figure (378,000 in CDs; 108,000 in vinyl LPs; and just under 2,000 in cassette tapes) and digital album sales comprise 205,000. (30 has the second-largest sales week for a vinyl album since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991. Only Swift’s Red [Taylor’s Version] has sold more copies on vinyl in a single week since 1991, with 114,000 sold in the week ending Nov. 18, as reflected on the charts dated Nov. 27.)

The standard 12-track edition of the 30 album was available as a CD, digital album and black vinyl LP widely in the U.S. Adele’s official webstore exclusively sold the cassette tape edition of the album, as well as two deluxe boxed sets.

Beyond the standard widely available editions of the album, and Adele’s webstore offerings, the only other variants of the album available in the U.S. were a 15-track CD exclusive to Target and two vinyl LP variants – one exclusive to Amazon (a white-colored vinyl LP) and the other solely available through Walmart (a clear-colored LP). The Target CD contains three exclusive audio tracks, including a version of the album’s lead single “Easy on Me” featuring Chris Stapleton; the song is by Adele solo on all other versions of the set. Target is the only U.S. retailer with any bonus audio tracks for 30.

30’s first-week sales of 692,000 not only mark the single-largest sales frame of 2021, but the largest sales week for any album since 2017. The last time an album sold more copies in a single week was when Taylor Swift’s Reputation debuted with 1.216 million copies sold in the week ending Nov. 16, 2017 (reflected on the Dec. 2, 2017-dated charts).

In its debut week, Reputation was not available in full on streaming services, and its digital album was exclusively sold via the Apple iTunes Store and Swift’s webstore. The album was also available in two Target-exclusive zine/CD editions, but not on vinyl or cassette. No bonus tracks were featured on any version of the album in its release week. First-week sales of Reputation were also likely enhanced by fan participation in the Taylor Swift Tix powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan program, where the purchase of an album would help secure greater access to Swift’s then-upcoming stadium tour. (Such a promotion is no longer eligible to count toward charted sales, as of Oct. 9, 2020.)

In terms of streams, 30 debuts with 141,000 SEA units – totaling 185.39 million on-demand streams of the album’s 12 tracks. That’s the fourth-largest streaming debut of 2021 for an album by a woman, after the opening weeks of Red (Taylor’s Version) (303.23 million), Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour (300.73 million) and Summer Walker’s Still Over It (201.07 million). (Each of those figures is a weekly total of streams for each album’s songlist. The sum of Red [Taylor’s Version] reflected 30 tracks in its debut week, Sour had 11, Still Over It had 20 and 30 has 12.)

Comparably, Adele’s last album, 25, was not available to listen to in full on streaming services in its first week of release. 25 didn’t arrive in full on streamers until seven months later, in June of 2016.

30 was ushered in by the single “Easy on Me,” which has spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart (through the most recently published list, dated Nov. 27). The album was also supported by a 90-minute CBS TV special on Nov. 14, in which Adele performed songs in concert and sat down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Adele has also recently graced the magazine covers of American Vogue and Rolling Stone.

Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) falls from No. 1 to No. 2 in its second week, with 159,000 equivalent album units earned (down 74%). Drake’s former No. 1 Certified Lover Boy climbs 5-3 with 53,000 units (though down 7%), Silk Sonic’s An Evening With Silk Sonic dips 2-4 in its second week with 50,000 (down 52%), Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album rises 6-5 with 48,000 units (up 6%) and Summer Walker’s former leader Still Over It falls 4-6 with just under 48,000 (down 25%).

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ second collaborative album, Raise the Roof, debuts at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. It’s the ninth top 10 for Plant as a solo artist, and the fifth for Krauss (including her work with Union Station). Raise the Roof follows Plant and Krauss’ first teaming, on the 2007 album Raising Sand, which debuted and peaked at No. 2. The set later won the Grammy Award for album of the year. (Legendary rock band Led Zeppelin, with Plant as a member, has banked 13 top 10s on the tally, including seven No. 1s, beginning in 1969.)

Raise the Roof starts with a little over 40,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 38,000, SEA units comprise 2,000 (equaling 2.17 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs) and TEA units comprise less than 1,000.

Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Sour climbs 11-8 with 40,000 equivalent album units earned (up 23%).

Michael Bublé’s chart-topping Christmas album jingles its way back to the top 10, as the album, first released in 2011, bolts 22-9 with 39,000 equivalent album units earned (up 77%). The set gets a boost courtesy of promotion around a 10th anniversary deluxe reissue that was released on Nov. 19, which includes additional tracks.

Christmas spent five weeks at No. 1 in late 2011 and early 2012 and has returned to the top 10 in every Christmas season since.

Closing out the new top 10 on the Billboard 200 is The Weeknd’s hits compilation The Highlights, which re-enters the chart at No. 10 with 37,000 equivalent album units earned (up 724%). The album debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Feb. 20-dated chart. The Highlights was sparked in the latest tracking week by its release on vinyl LP, as 91% of the album’s sales for the week were on vinyl (a little over 5,000 of a nearly 6,000 sold).

/by

Drake, Justin Timberlake, BTS & More React to Virgil Abloh’s Death

The tributes are pouring in following the death of fashion designer Virgil Abloh, who passed away Sunday (Nov. 28) at the age of 41.

Musicians like Drake, Justin Timberlake, BTS, Offset, Bruno Mars and many others took to social media to pay their respects to Abloh, who founded the streetwear-focused luxury label Off-White and most recently served as men’s artistic director of Louis Vuitton.

A post on Abloh’s verified Instagram account announced his death, explaining that he battled a rare, aggressive form of cancer, cardiac angiosarcoma, for more than two years.

“My plan is to touch the sky 1000 more times for you…love you eternally brother thank you for everything,” Drake captioned photos on Instagram of himself with Abloh.

In addition to his contributions in fashion, Abloh was a DJ and served as Kanye West’s longtime creative director. He also helped design iconic album covers by West, A$AP Rocky, Lil Uzi Vert and Pop Smoke.

Abloh recently collaborated with Cudi on the Kurt Cobain-inspired floral print dress worn by the rapper during his appearance earlier this year on Saturday Night Live.

“What can you say when a force like @virgilabloh is taken too soon?” Timberlake wrote on Instagram. “You gave the world so much, in so little time. And created with intensity… knowing better than the rest of us that life is short, but anything is possible. I’m honored to have known you. Thank you for sharing your gift with us.”

BTS added on Twitter, “RIP Virgil Abloh, you will be missed. It was an honor to work with you. A true creative genius.”

In another remembrance, Pharrell Williams described Abloh as a “kind, generous, thoughtful creative genius. Your work as a human and your work as a spiritual being will live forever. Sending love and light to your wife, children, family and day ones. You’re with the Master now, shine.”

Abloh is survived by his wife Shannon, his children Lowe and Grey, his sister Edwina and his parents Nee and Eunice.

See more tributes to Abloh below.

 

/by