After what have surely been the strangest 14 months in recent memory for Ibiza, there is some forward motion — and a few steps backwards — for clubs on the famed island dance music mecca.

In a June 1 interview with Spanish radio station La Cadena SER, Eivissa Leisure Association manager José Luis Benítez said that a 2,000-capacity outdoor pilot event will happen either this June 25 or July 2. This event will serve to test the safety of outdoor gatherings on the island going forward, with Benítez telling La Cadena that if this event goes well and the safety protocols prove viable, venues on the island could start hosting outdoor events roughly two weeks after the test run.

To gain entry into the pilot event, attendees will be required to have received at least one vaccination dose, or must provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test result. The as-yet-unannounced host venue will also provide testing for attendees. Five hundred people will be allowed on the dance floor, while drinks will be confined to a designated seating area.

While this news presents a bit of hope for clubs on the island, when the island’s full slate of club events might return remains unclear, with Balearic Islands Health Minister Patricia Gómez on Thursday (June 3) saying that nightlife presents a “lot of risk.” While the island’s 2021 season is currently stalled, some venues including nightlight institutions Amnesia and Hï have announced closing events for September and October. 

While promoters are trying to be optimistic, the U.K. government dealt a blow to Ibiza tourism today by announcing that it’s keeping the Balearic Islands (of which Ibiza is a part of along with Formentera, Mallorca and Menorca) on its “amber” list of its traffic light system for international travel. This means that a 10-day quarantine is required for those flying from Spain to the U.K. The news is another setback to Ibiza’s return to normalcy, with UK tourists making up a sizable amount of overall visitors to the island each year.

According to Johns Hopkins University, just 20% of the Spanish population is currently vaccinated.

Investor and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has made and lost billions making bold risk. He famously lost a billion-dollar bet shorting shares of Herbalife, was called an a–hole by now-President Joe Biden following a joke gone awry at a high-end Las Vegas dinner in 2017 and commands a cult-like reverence from some retail investors who call their unflinching belief in his investment strategy “hopium” because of his basic-to-the basics approach to growth investment. 

After months of signaling his plans to make a large investment through his special purpose acquisition company Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, on Thursday (June 3) the Wall Street Journal reported Ackman, 55, now plans to help take Universal Music Group public at a $40 billion valuation — a potential record for the hyped-up SPAC market. 

PSTH is sponsored by three investment funds managed by Pershing Square Capital Management, the storied New York-based hedge fund. PSTH has $5 billion available to invest in UMG through a $4 billion IPO on Sept. 11, 2020, on the New York Stock Exchange, at $20 a share and an additional $1 billion investment by Pershing Square. In addition, Pershing Square purchased $1 billion of units, each worth one share of Class A common stock and one-third of a redeemable warrant, at $20 per unit. It can buy an addition $2 billion of units in private placements.  

The PSTH-UMG deal would be unusual because SPACs typically target companies that want to go public. The SPAC, nothing more than shell company, acquires the target in what’s called a reverse merger, thereby allowing the target to trade on a public market without going through the usual expensive, time-consuming process. In this case, Vivendi will spin off UMG on the Amsterdam Euronext exchange by Sept. 27, 2021, Vivendi revealed in May. For the spin off, Vivendi shareholders will get a fixed number of shares in UMG. PSTH would presumably get its equity in UMG through a private placement through Vivendi. Tencent Corp. owns 20% of UMG’s equity. Vivendi investors will get 60% of UMG shares in the spin off. Vivendi has the remaining 20% of equity and revealed in May it may sell 10% to a U.S. investor ahead of the spin off.  

Ackman and Pershing Square should get a healthy payday, if the deal goes through. With PSTH, Pershing Square has warrants for 6.21% of the company, for which it paid $67.8 million, with a $24 strike price, meaning they would not be redeemable until the investors received a 20% return on their investment. 

PSTH peaked at $34.10 per share on Feb. 16. It closed at $25.05 on Thursday and dropped 5.3% to $23.71 in after-hours trading. UMG accounting firms each estimated UMG’s valuation at €33 billion ($40 billion). 

What’s more, Pershing Square will not exercise its warrants until three years after the deal closes, ensuring it will be a long-term shareholder in UMG or another target company if the deal falls through.

Four Pershing Square directors own a total of about 314,000 shares. Michael Ovitz, CAA co-founder and former president of The Walt Disney Company, owns 250,000 shares. Jacqueline Reses, former executive chairman of Square Financial Services, owns 50,000 shares. Michael Gonnella, Pershing Square Capital’s chief financial officer and Joseph Steinberg, chairman of Jeffries Financial Group, own 14,000 shares between them. PSTH’s largest institutional investors include Guggenheim Capital, The Baupost Group and Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan Board. PSTH’s board of directors also includes Lisa Gersh, co-founder of Oxygen Media and former CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

While most SPAC investors have focused on finding the rare “unicorn” investment that can disrupt an industry and skyrocket in value, Ackman has promised to find what he calls a “mature unicorn,” meaning an undervalued legacy company with room for growth. In April he sold his 1% state in Starbucks to fund his SPAC ambitions and has been dropping hints about his intended target on earnings calls and during investor summits. After a rough year produced disappointing yields for SPACs, meanwhile, investors have been closely monitoring Ackman’s Tontine fund for signs of which company he would take public.

A Harvard MBA grad, Ackerman hails from Chappaqua, New York, and has spent much of his life in finance, turning his $54 million investment in his fund Pershing Square Capital into a personal fortune worth $3.3 billion thanks to early bets in companies like Chipotle and Wendy’s, as well as some more controversial bets. In 2013 he accused Herbalife of being a Ponzi scheme and announced a short position on the company’s share that initially drove the price down 20%, only to regain its value thanks to involvement from Ackman’s longtime nemesis Carl Icahn. Icahn’s investment in Herbalife, essentially the counter bet to Ackman’s short position, launched a battle that the Wall Street Journal called the “Hedge-Fund Equivalent of Stalingrad.” 

“I’ve always had the view that how successful you are is really a function of how you deal with failure,” Ackman told Shane Parrish on his popular Knowledge podcast in April 2020. “If you deal with failure well and you persist, you have a high probability of being successful.”

On Thursday night’s (June 3) new episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kim Kardashian opens up to her sisters about feeling “like a f—ing failure” amid her marriage issues with Kanye West.

Much of the 20th and final season of the E! reality series was filmed ahead of the February announcement that Kardashian had filed for divorce from West after six-plus years of marriage. In the new episode, we see the Kardashian-Jenner family on a December vacation to Lake Tahoe, and Khloe Kardashian reveals that Kim and Kanye had a big fight before the trip.

In a flashback scene to Kardashian crying, surrounded by sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner and Kourtney Kardashian, Kim says through tears, “I think he deserves someone who can go support his every move and go follow him all over the place and move to Wyoming. I can’t do that! He should have a wife who supports his every move and travels with him and does everything, and I can’t.”

Since 2019, West has spent the bulk of his time on a 1,400-acre ranch in Cody, Wyoming, while Kardashian is based at their home in suburban Los Angeles.

Before her 2014 marriage to West, Kardashian was previously married to songwriter Damon Thomas and NBA player Kris Humphries. “I feel like a f—ing failure that it’s, like, a third f—ing marriage,” Kardashian tells her sisters. “I feel like a f—ing loser, but I can’t even think about that. Like, I want to be happy.”

Kardashian and West share custody of their four children together: 7-year-old daughter North, 5-year-old son Saint, 3-year-old daughter Chicago, and 1-year-old son Psalm.

Watch the scenes from Thursday’s episode about Kim and Kanye’s marriage starting at the 1:45 mark in the video below:

Cameo, the app and tech company that allows users to pay celebrities for personalized videos, has struck a charitable partnership with ACM Lifting Lives, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music. The resulting campaign, “Cameo Goes Country,” will benefit ACM Lifting Lives’ COVID-19 Response Fund and music therapy programs for both physical and mental health-related issues.

Going live today and running through June 30, “Cameo Goes Country” allows fans to book personalized messages and purchase virtual meet-and-greet tickets in support of the charitable campaign. Participating country artists, who will donate 100% of their proceeds to the cause, include Carrie Underwood, Chrissy Metz, Deana Carter, Jon Pardi, Lauren Alaina, Mickey Guyton, Trace Adkins and Tyler Hubbard, among many others.

The first-come, first-served limited-time offers can be accessed by visiting www.cameo.com/tags/acm-lifting-lives. Additional exclusive offers from new artists will be added over the course of the month.

Created in April 2020, ACM Lifting Lives’ COVID-19 Response Fund has distributed over $3.5 million to assist workers in the country music industry who have suffered financial hardship due to the pandemic.

Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) and rapper Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group (CMG) have partnered to further develop and support CMG’s roster of artists including Moneybagg Yo, 42 Dugg and EST Gee, it was announced today.

The collaboration has already produced successes for Moneybagg Yo, who recently earned his first-ever Billboard 200 No. 1 album with A Gangsta’s Pain, which sat atop the chart for two weeks last month. 42 Dugg also scored a win with his mixtape Free Dem Boyz, which debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 this week.

“With 25 years under his belt as a successful artist, label head, manager and entrepreneur, Yo Gotti has built an impressive legacy in hip hop and remains one of the most exciting voices in music,” said IGA chairman John Janick in a statement. “We look forward to working closely with Gotti’s team to continue to build upon CMG’s incredible run in our business.”

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for John Janick, Steve Berman, Nicole Wyskoarko and the entire Interscope team and their track record of success,” added Gotti. “We share the same vision about winning – we want to break barriers, disrupt the industry and develop the next generation of superstars. I’m thrilled to partner with them as I continue focusing on CMG’s expansion.”

Founded in 2012, CMG has also worked to develop the careers of Blac Youngsta and BlocBoy JB.

“Gotti’s decades long ability to consistently identify the next important wave of talent is very rare in our business,” said IGA co-head of A&R Nicole Wyskoarko. “We’re excited about all of the new artists he and his team are currently developing and can’t wait to get started.”

Love Rocks NYC is coming together for its fifth annual concert on Thursday (June 3) to support a multitude of causes.

Jeff Garlin, Michael Imperioli and Bernie Williams will host the show this year, with special guest Tina Fey. The concert will benefit God’s Love We Deliver, which was founded during the AIDS epidemic in 1985 in efforts to deliver meals to vulnerable people and is celebrating its 36th anniversary this year. Love Rocks NYC will not only support and honor the work of the nonprofit, but also NYC frontline workers who have been tirelessly aiding the city throughout the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year.

The star-studded lineup for Love Rocks NYC 2021 includes Sara BareillesJon Bon JoviGary Clark Jr.YolaJoe BonamassaBilly GibbonsWarren HaynesEmily KingLedisiPedrito MartinezTash NealFantastic NegritoIvan NevilleRobert RandolphNathaniel Rateliff and Jimmy Vivino.

The 2021 Love Rocks NYC is set for Thursday, June 3 at 8 p.m. ET, and it will stream live from the historic Beacon Theatre on Fans.Live. The theater will be open at 30% capacity for a small in-person audience consisting of only artists and sponsors. All in-person attendees will have to abide by COVID guidelines.

Fans can also sign up for a free livestream link here, while $20 donations (which equal two meals) are highly encouraged.

At each year’s Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy distributes a program book to attendees. It’s mostly devoted to nominees and special merit honorees, but it also includes a full page of head shots of past chairs of the academy’s board of trustees. The list goes all the way back to James B. Conkling, who was acting national chairman from the academy’s founding in 1957 to 1961. The joke among Grammy insiders is that it’s a sea of white men until you get to Leslie Ann Jones, who served as chairwoman from 1999–2001.

That isn’t quite true. The roster of past chairs includes Nesuhi Ertegun (1964-65), a Turkish-American who was born in Istanbul when it was part of the Ottoman Empire, and George Avakian (1966-67), an Armenian-American who was born in present-day Russia.

But if it isn’t literally true, it sure feels true, as you can see on page 131 of this year’s program book.

But things are changing in the Recording Academy, just as they are in America. The announcement on Wednesday (June 2) that Tammy Hurt has been elected to succeed Harvey Mason Jr. as chair marks the first time in academy history that back-to-back chairs have been people other than white men.

Jones, the first woman to serve as chair, was followed in that post by three white men: Garth Fundis (2001-2003), Daniel Carlin (2003-2005) and Terry Lickona (2005-2007).

Jimmy Jam, the first Black man to serve as chair (2007-2009) was followed by a white man, George J. Flanigen IV, who served a double term (2009-2013).

Christine Albert, the second woman to serve as chair (2013-2015), was followed by a white man, John Poppo, who also served a double term (2015-2019). Poppo was followed by Mason and now Hurt.

The changes go beyond just the chair role. As Billboard reported, for the first time in academy history, no white men were elected to any of the four key board positions. Two Black men, Rico Love and Om’Mas Keith, were elected vice chair and secretary/treasurer, respectively. Albert continues as chair emeritus.

The academy didn’t call attention to these history-making moves in its press announcement. Nor did Mason, who was named the academy’s president/CEO last month. They preferred to let the moves speak for themselves.

“I’m in awe of the amazingly talented group that’s been elected to lead this new era of the Academy and really excited at the possibilities as I start this journey with Tammy, Rico, Om’Mas, and Christine,” said Mason in a statement. “I know this group is going to do great work as we continue to transform the Academy and support the music community.”

The 43rd annual Kennedy Center Honors broadcast is set to air Sunday, and Billboard wants to know: Which musician do you think deserves to receive the honors next?

At Sunday’s ceremony, Garth Brooks, Joan Baez, violinist Midori, Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Allen will be honored. The Kennedy Center Honors cover all aspects of arts and entertainment in addition to music, and there’s still a bevy of legendary groups and solo performers who are overdue to be recognized.

Swedish pop group ABBA, British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, and American hip-hop group Run-D.M.C. are among the ensembles who could be up next. Godmother of Soul Patti LaBelle and Empress of Soul Gladys Knight, who competed in a Verzuz battle in September, are also worthy, as well as their “Superwoman” collaborator Dionne Warwick.

So which music star deserves to receive Kennedy Center Honors at next year’s ceremony? Vote below!

Hailey Bieber chatted with Insecure actress and comedian Yvonne Orji on Wednesday (June 2) about navigating their relationship with God in the entertainment industry.

During one of her “A Conversation With” segments on YouTube, Bieber opened up about struggling to stick to the modest profile of a Christian as a model and how some of her shoots and social media posts have attracted negative attention from other religious people.

“I’ve met Christian people that are just super judgmental and made me feel like I’m a bad person because I don’t live my life the way they think I should live my life,” Bieber said. “And I felt weird about posting certain photos of myself or feeling like, ‘People in the church are gonna see this. Am I doing something wrong? Am I setting a bad example?’ And the reality is no!”

The reality is that hers and husband Justin Bieber’s faith is “the biggest thing” that grounds their relationship. “If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t even be here. We wouldn’t even be together.”

The 24-year-old model also talked about how she’s feared some of her shoots that require showing more skin and wearing lingerie would receive backlash from other Christians who don’t label her as “modest.” While Orji recalled the struggle to sign the nude waiver required for shooting sex scenes on Insecure, Bieber revealed she would never model while completely nude.

“I think I also take a place where I’m like, ‘OK, I wouldn’t want to ever be shot naked, but props to any woman who’s comfortable doing that,’” she told the Bamboozled by Jesus author.

Watch their conversation below.

The 43rd annual Kennedy Center Honors broadcast is set to air on Sunday, nearly six months later than usual — the delay due, of course, to the COVID-19 pandemic. Garth Brooks, Joan Baez, violinist Midori, Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Allen are this year’s honorees. Gloria Estefan, who received the honor in 2017, is hosting for the second time.

The Kennedy Center Honors are highly competitive because they cover all aspects of arts and entertainment – not just music. When the awards program originated in 1978, the focus in its music selections was on classical, opera, jazz and traditional pop. The Honors slowly came to also acknowledge more popular forms of music. In 1991, Roy Acuff became the first country honoree. In 1994, Aretha Franklin became the first R&B honoree. In 1997, in the program’s 20th year, Bob Dylan became the first rock honoree.

The Kennedy Center Honors don’t, as a rule, award artists posthumously – though they have made two exceptions in the past five years for key members of top groups: Glenn Frey of the Eagles (2016) and Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire (2019). But they have never inducted a solo artist posthumously, so Michael Jackson, Prince and Whitney Houston, among many others, appear to be out of luck.

Because the Kennedy Center Honors were slow to embrace popular music forms, and because they also honor non-music performers, they are terribly backlogged in their music honors.

To remind their selection committee of the wealth of music talent still waiting to be honored — and to get the rest of us primed for this year’s show — here’s a list of 40 music stars who are overdue for Kennedy Center Honors.  They’re listed in alphabetical order.

ABBA
Aerosmith
Alabama
Herb Alpert
Burt Bacharach
Bee Gees
Eric Clapton
Judy Collins
The Everly Brothers
Roberta Flack
Fleetwood Mac
John Fogerty
Four Seasons
Vince Gill
Emmylou Harris
The Isley Brothers
Janet Jackson
Gladys Knight
Kris Kristofferson
Patti LaBelle

Brenda Lee
Madonna
Barry Manilow
Johnny Mathis
Sérgio Mendes
Bette Midler
Ronnie Milsap
Joni Mitchell
Van Morrison
Queen
Run-D.M.C.
The Rolling Stones
Bob Seger
Rod Stewart
Sting
George Strait
Randy Travis
U2
Dionne Warwick
Neil Young

The Kennedy Center Honors will be broadcast Sunday, June 6, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. The show will also be available to stream live and on demand on the CBS app and Paramount+.