Olivia Rodrigo Tells the Stories Behind Several ‘Sour’ Songs on ‘Zach Sang Show’

Olivia Rodrigo, whose debut album, Sour, just launched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 2021’s biggest week so far, opened up about many tracks from the set in a new interview with Zach Sang.

Their conversation — in which the “Drivers License” hitmaker was eager to chat about her songwriting inspiration and process — was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday (May 30).

“I’m a very in-the-present songwriter,” Rodrigo said. “I write songs when I’m in the depths of my emotions.”

They discussed heart-wrenching ballads like “Enough for You” and “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back,” the somewhat surprising album opener, “Brutal,” and more.

Below, see a few highlights from the nearly 22-minute heart-to-heart about the songs of Sour.

‘Brutal’ Is the Opening Number, But It Was a Last-Minute Addition

“I actually wrote ‘Brutal’ like two weeks before we had to turn the record in, which is very late in the game,” admitted Rodrigo. “It’s one of my favorite songs on the record. I think it sounds really unique, and I love the songwriting of it — I think it really represents my teenage years very well. I really wanted to put it as the opening track. Everyone was like, ‘Olivia, are you sure you want to that? It’s kind of weird,’ and I was like, ‘Love it. I wanna do it.’”

She went on to explain to Sang what exactly an “ego crush” (from the song’s lyrics) is: “An ego crush is just like feeling like you’re so inadequate and inferior and getting angry about it … feeling like your entire is just like, gone, which I think is something that I definitely felt and something that teenagers feel, I suppose, as they’re growing up.”

Moreover, she said, “It’s a song about when you’re in that pity party and you’re just like feeling sorry for yourself — it’s stuff that you would say when you’re in that.”

“It’s sort of funny to have songs get big about like, how much you feel like nobody likes you,” noted Rodrigo. “It’s sort of ironic and weird.”

How Taylor Swift (And Those Birds) Ended Up on ‘1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back’

Chirping birds can be heard in the beginning of “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back,” an idea that Rodrigo’s Sour producer, Daniel Nigro, came up with — and she loved it.

“My producer Dan, he actually just like stuck a microphone out of his window of his house and recorded the birds in the morning and put them in the song, which I think is great and it sort of adds a cool ambiance,” Rodrigo said of the track that was overall inspired by a text message.

“I really sort of loved that concept of ‘1 step forward, 3 steps back.’ Somebody texted it to me once, and I was like, ‘Ooo, that’s really interesting. I’ve never heard somebody say something like that.’ I thought it would be a cool way to describe this toxic, sort of manipulative, relationship.”

Swifties will immediately recognize the piano from “New Year’s Day” on this tune. Rodrigo offered some details about how that came to be: “We interpolated ‘New Year’s Day,’ which is Taylor’s song from Reputation. I came up with the ‘1 step forward’ concept and I sort of wrote a verse and a chorus, and when I got home — I was in the car on a road trip, and when I got home, I decided to sing it over the chords of ‘New Year’s Day.’ I think they’re really beautiful chords. I was lucky enough to get that approved, and it’s on the record now.”

Don’t Assume That ‘Enough for You’ Is About a Romantic Relationship

“‘Enough for You’ is one of my favorite songs on the record,” Rodrigo revealed.

“I wrote that entirely by myself which I’m really proud of. It’s super, obviously, very insecure and vulnerable, but I also love how it’s really hopeful,” she said, referencing the turnaround point of the song, when she comes to the realization that “someday I’ll be everything to somebody else.”

“I don’t think it neccessarily has to relate to a romantic relationship. I think I feel inadequate in many sort of relationships, whether that be a work relationship or a friendship relationship,” said Rodrigo.

Why ‘Hope Ur OK’ Was Rodrigo’s Ideal Closing Track

“‘Hope Ur OK’ makes me really sad, in a great way — it just makes me really emotional. It’s a super personal song about people that I really love. That one gets me,” Rodrigo said of Sour’s sweet final note.

She continued: “I feel like it’s super hopeful. Sour is a very sort of sad, angry, emotional record, and I wanted to end it with a song that was like, you know, ‘We’re all gonna be all right. We’re gonna get over it. Everything’s gonna be OK, and we have each other.’ It was really important for me to end this sort of somber record on that note.”

Watch Rodrigo’s full conversation on the Zach Sang Show below.

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Ed Sheeran & Courteney Cox Recreate Ross & Monica’s ‘Friends’ Dance Routine

Ed Sheeran stepped in for David Schwimmer to hilariously reboot a classic Friends moment this weekend.

The singer-songwriter teamed up with his friend Courteney Cox for an Instagram video that shows off their best take on Ross and Monica’s dance routine — the one that was shown in season 6, episode 10 of Friends, “The One With the Routine.” He shared the results on Sunday afternoon (May 30).

“Had a reunion of our own this weekend @courteneycoxofficial #theroutine #iknow #friends4eva #obviouslybetterthanross,” Sheeran captioned the video, referencing the recent HBO Max Friends reunion special.

“Just some routine dancing with a friend… @teddysphotos,” Cox wrote on her own Instagram.

Watch them go all in for the dance routine over on Instagram, and see how it compares to the original Friends scene with a fan-made Twitter clip below.

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George Floyd’s Family to Hold Houston Concert Marking Death

George Floyd’s family is holding a concert Sunday evening (May 30) in Houston, where he grew up, to mark the anniversary of his death.

Floyd’s family will join Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams and others at The Fountain of Praise, a church that held one of his funeral services. The event will also feature performers including gospel singers John P. Kee and Tamela Mann, and rappers JaiCei and Trae Tha Truth.

Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinned down Floyd’s neck with his knee for several minutes as Floyd pleaded for air. Floyd’s death sparked worldwide protests and calls for change in policing in the U.S. Chauvin was fired after Floyd died and was later convicted of murder and manslaughter in his death.

The concert being held by the George Floyd Foundation is among events being held across the nation to mark the anniversary. The foundation was launched by Floyd’s siblings in his honor to help combat racial inequities in Black and brown communities.

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Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Sour’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart With 2021’s Biggest Week

Olivia Rodrigo captures the biggest week of 2021 for an album, as her debut release, Sour, opens at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 295,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending May 27, according to MRC Data.

Sour also launches with the second-largest streaming week ever for a non-R&B/hip-hop album, and second-biggest for an album of any genre by a female artist.

Sour is the singer-songwriter and actress’ debut album, and was preceded by a trio of top 10 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier in 2021, including two No. 1s: “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U.” Before “Drivers License” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in January, Rodrigo broke through with roles on Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark in 2016 and Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series in 2019 – along with contributions to those shows’ soundtrack albums.

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 June 5, 2021-dated chart (where Sour debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on Wednesday, June 2 (one day later than usual due to the May 31 Memorial Day holiday in the U.S.). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of Sour’s 295,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week ending May 27, SEA units comprise 218,000 units (equaling 300.73 million on-demand streams of the album’s 11 tracks), album sales comprise 72,000 (making it the top-selling album of the week) and TEA units comprise 4,000.

Sour was released on May 21 via Geffen Records/Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA). It’s the second No. 1 for Geffen this year, following Rod Wave’s SoulFly (Alamo/Geffen/IGA, April 10-dated chart).

Biggest Week of 2021 for an Album: With 295,000 units, Sour surpasses 2021’s previous biggest-week, tallied by Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) when it bowed 291,000 units (April 24-dated chart). (Swift herself has a writing credit on Sour, as the track “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back” samples the Swift-penned “New Year’s Day,” from Swift’s 2017 Reputation album.)

Dominant Debut: Sour captures the largest week, by units, for an act’s debut charting effort since the Billboard 200 transitioned from an album-sales only ranking to an equivalent album units-based chart on the Dec. 13, 2014 survey. It beats Cardi B’s debut studio set, and first Billboard 200 entry, Invasion of Privacy, which opened at No. 1 on the April 21, 2018 chart with 255,000 units. Rodrigo is also the first woman to see her debut charting album open at No. 1 since Invasion of Privacy.

Second-Largest Streaming Week for a Non-R&B/Hip-Hop Album: Sour starts with 218,000 SEA units – totaling 300.73 million on-demand streams of the album’s 11 tracks. That marks the second-largest streaming week for both a non-R&B/hip-hop album and second-biggest for an album by a woman of any genre. Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next continues to hold the record for the largest streaming week for a non-R&B/hip-hop set, and any album by a woman, with 307.07 million streams for its 12 tracks in its first week (chart dated Feb. 23, 2019).

Sour’s Short and Sweet Arrival: With just 11 tracks in total on Sour, the album is the shortest No. 1, by track count, since BTS’ eight-track Be debuted at No. 1 on the Dec. 5, 2020-dated chart. It’s fairly unusual for such a short album to crown the Billboard 200. Of the 27 No. 1 albums in the past 12 months (from June 6, 2020-onwards), 20 of them had at least 15 tracks in their opening week, and 11 of those had at least 20. (Some albums will garner a reissue in their first week of release, adding further tracks beyond their standard core tracklist. And many albums typically get reissued weeks and months later, with additional tracks. So far, Sour only has 11 tracks across all retailers and streamers.)

One last note on Sour’s debut: It brings just the second person named Olivia to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Before Olivia Rodrigo, the only Olivia to top the chart was Olivia Newton-John, with two No. 1 albums in 1974 and 1975 (If You Love Me Let Me Know and Have You Never Been Mellow).

J. Cole’s The Off-Season falls 1-2 in its second week on the Billboard 200 with 92,000 equivalent album units earned (down 67%).

Twenty One Pilots score their third top five-charting Billboard 200 entry, as the rock act’s latest studio album, Scaled and Icy, bows at No. 3 with 75,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 51,000, SEA units comprise 24,000 (equaling 33 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks) and TEA units comprise less than 1,000.

Morgan Wallen’s former No. 1 Dangerous: The Double Album is a non-mover at No. 4 with 55,000 equivalent album units (up 4%), while Moneybagg Yo’s previous chart-topper A Gangsta’s Pain falls 3-5 with 49,000 units (down 12%). Pooh Shiesty’s Shiesty Season returns to the top 10, vaulting 32-6 with 35,000 units (up 97%) after the album was reissued on May 21 with four additional tracks. The album was initially released on Feb. 5 with 17 tracks and peaked at No. 3 on the March 20-dated chart.

Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia slips 5-7 on the Billboard 200 with 34,000 equivalent album units earned (down 16%).

42 Dugg scores his first Billboard 200 top 10, and second charting album, as Free Dem Boyz bows at No. 8 with 32,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 31,000 (equaling 43.56 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks), album sales comprise 1,000 and TEA units comprise a negligible total. The album features his recent Hot 100 hit “4 Da Gang,” with Roddy Ricch.

Rounding out the new top 10 on the Billboard 200 are Justin Bieber’s former leader Justice (7-9 with 31,000 equivalent album units; down 10%) and Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon (holding at No. 10 with 30,000 units; down 1%).

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Tourists, locals gather in South Beach to enjoy Air & Sea Show for Memorial Day Weekend

Steps away from world-famous Ocean Drive and its usual party crowds, families with small children joined locals and tourists Saturday to enjoy Memorial Day Weekend at the annual Hyundai Air … Click to Continue »
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B.J. Thomas, ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head’ Singer, Dies at 78

B.J. Thomas, the Grammy-winning singer who enjoyed success on the pop, country and gospel charts with such hits as “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” and “Hooked on a Feeling,” has died. He was 78.

Thomas, who announced in March that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, died from complications of the disease Saturday (May 29) at his home in Arlington, Texas, a statement released by his representatives said.

A Hugo, Oklahoma-native who grew up in Houston, Billy Joe Thomas broke through in 1966 with a gospel-styled cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and went on to sell millions of records and have dozens of hits across genres. He reached No. 1 with pop, adult contemporary and country listeners in 1976 with “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.” The same year, his Home Where I Belong became one of the first gospel albums to be certified platinum for selling more than 1 million copies.

His signature recording was “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” a No. 1 pop hit and an Oscar winner for best original song as part of the soundtrack to one of the biggest movies of 1969, the irreverent Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Thomas wasn’t the first choice to perform the whimsical ballad composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David; Ray Stevens turned the songwriters down. But his warm, soulful tenor fit the song’s easygoing mood, immortalized on film during the scene when Butch (Paul Newman) shows off his new bicycle to Etta Place (Katharine Ross), the girlfriend of the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford).

“Raindrops” has since been heard everywhere from The Simpsons to Forrest Gump and was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013. But, at first, not everyone was satisfied. Thomas was recovering from laryngitis while recording the soundtrack version and his vocals are raspier than for the track released on its own. Redford, meanwhile, doubted the song even belonged in Butch Cassidy.

“When the film was released, I was highly critical — how did the song fit with the film? There was no rain,” Redford told USA Today in 2019. “At the time, it seemed like a dumb idea. How wrong I was.”

Thomas would later say the phenomenon of “Raindrops” exacerbated an addiction to pills and alcohol which dated back to his teens, when a record producer in Houston suggested he take amphetamines to keep his energy up. He was touring and recording constantly and taking dozens of pills a day. By 1976, while “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” was hitting No. 1, he felt like he was “number 1,000.”

“I was at the bottom with my addictions and my problems,” he said in 2020 on The Debby Campbell Goodtime Show. He cited a “spiritual awakening,” shared with his wife, Gloria Richardson, with helping him to get clean.

Thomas had few pop hits after the mid-1970s, but he continued to score on the country charts with such No. 1 songs as “Whatever Happened to Old-Fashioned Love” and “New Looks from an Old Lover.” In the late 1970s and early ’80s, he was also a top gospel and inspirational singer, winning two Dove awards and five Grammys, including a Grammy in 1979 for best gospel performance for “The Lord’s Prayer.”

Fans of the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains heard him as the singer of the show’s theme song. He also acted in a handful of movies, including Jory and Jake’s Corner, and toured often. Recent recordings included The Living Room Sessions featuring cameos from Lyle Lovett, Vince Gill and Richard Marx. He had planned to record in 2020 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, but the sessions were delayed because of the pandemic.

Thomas married Richardson in 1968, and had three daughters: Paige, Nora and Erin. He and his wife worked on the 1982 memoir In Tune: Finding How Good Life Can Be. His book Home Where I Belong came out in 1978 and was co-authored by Jerry B. Jenkins, later famous for the million-selling Left Behind religious novels written with Tim LaHaye.

Besides music, Thomas loved baseball as a kid and started calling himself B.J. because so many Little League teammates also were named Billy Joe. By his teens, he was singing in church and had joined a local rock band, the Triumphs, whom he would stay with into his 20s. He enjoyed Ernest Tubbs, Hank Williams and other country performers his parents liked, but on his own he was inspired by the soul and rhythm and blues singers he heard on the radio or saw on stage, notably Jackie Wilson, whose hit ballad “To Be Loved” Thomas later covered and adopted as a kind of guide to his life.

“I was raised in a fairly dysfunctional situation and I went through years of intense alcoholism and drug addiction so the song was always a touchstone for me. When you open yourself up to drugs and alcohol at such a young age it becomes something you have to deal with the rest of your life,” he told the Huffington Post in 2014.

“What a road block and heartbreak and times of failure these addictions have caused me. But I had that little piece of lightning from that song. That’s the essence of the whole thing. To love and be loved. And that takes a lifetime to accomplish. It’s always been an important part of my emotions.”

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B.J. Thomas’ Biggest Billboard Hits: ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head’ & More

Following a battle with stage-four lung cancer, B.J. Thomas, whose musical career endured for over 50 years, died May 29 at his home in Arlington, Texas. He was 78.

Thomas was a chart force beginning in the 1960s. He logged 26 hits, including two No. 1s among five top 10s, on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1966 through 1983 and achieved No. 1 singles across the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Adult Contemporary charts. His 1969 classic “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” became his first leader on any Billboard survey, spending four weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and seven frames atop Adult Contemporary.

Born in Hugo, Texas, and raised in Houston, Thomas also topped tallies with: “I Just Can’t Help Believing” (one week, Adult Contemporary, 1970); “Rock and Roll Lullaby” (one week, Adult Contemporary, 1972); “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” (one week each on the Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Hot Country Songs, 1975); “Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love” (one week, Hot Country Songs, 1983) and “New Looks From an Old Lover” (one week, Hot Country Songs, 1983).

Thomas last sang a top 10 Billboard chart hit that was known to millions before it even became a single: “As Long as We Got Each Other,” credited to Steve Dorff & Friends, was sung by Thomas and fellow multi-decade pop star Dusty Springfield. Serving as the theme song to the hit ABC sitcom Growing Pains, it rose to No. 7 on Adult Contemporary in February 1989.

Thomas initially appeared on a Billboard chart when his version, with The Triumphs, of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” entered the Hot 100 dated Feb. 19, 1966. It reached No. 8 that April. He returned to the top 10 in January 1969 with the No. 5-peaking “Hooked on a Feeling,” later a No. 1 for Blue Swede in 1974. Thomas’ next top 10, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” became his first Hot 100 leader in January 1970.

B.J. Thomas’ Biggest Billboard Hits
Rank, Title, Artist, Hot 100 Peak Position, Year

1. “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” No. 1 (four weeks), 1970
2. (Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” No. 1 (one week), 1975
3. “Hooked on a Feeling,” No. 5, 1969
4. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (with The Triumphs), No. 8, 1966
5. “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” No. 9, 1970
6. “Don’t Worry Baby,” No. 17, 1977
7. “Rock and Roll Lullaby,” No. 15, 1972
8. “No Love At All,” No. 16, 1971
9. “The Eyes of a New York Woman,” No. 28, 1968
10. “Everybody’s Out of Town,” No. 26, 1970

B.J. Thomas’ Biggest Billboard Hits recap is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted to account for different chart turnover rates over various periods.

Thomas scored his first success on Hot Country Songs in 1975 with his initial entry, “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” which led the list that May. In 1975-2000, he notched 16 Hot Country Songs appearances, including three No. 1s among five top 10s. Along with his additional No. 1s “Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love” and “New Looks From an Old Lover,” both in 1983, he reached the top 10 with “Two Car Garage” (No. 3) and “The Whole World’s in Love When You’re Lonely” (No. 10), both in 1984. He last visited the chart in 2000 with “You Call That a Mountain.”

Thomas also earned 10 entries on the Billboard 200 albums chart, led by the No. 12-peaking Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head in 1970.

Thomas posted his last Billboard chart appearance during his lifetime in 2013 when The Living Room Sessions hit No. 39 on Top Country Albums. The unplugged career retrospective includes collaborations with, among others, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, Richard Marx and Keb’ Mo’.

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Mariah Carey Gets Thumbs Up from Jennifer Aniston Over ‘Friends’ Hairdo Throwback Photo

Rachel approves! Mariah Carey got the thumbs up from Jennifer Aniston over the singer’s past attempt at recreating the hairstyle of the actress’ iconic Friends character.

On Friday (May 28), the 51-year-old superstar singer shared a throwback photo on Instagram of herself rocking wavy locks and a half ponytail similar to that of Aniston’s Rachel Greene in the 1990s sitcom.

“#FBF A sad attempt at the Rachel hairdo,” Mimi captioned the snapshot of herself on stage, adding the laughing-crying emoji and the hashtag #friends.

Aniston took notice of Carey’s post and left her seal of approval in the comments section. “LOVE IT,” the actress, 52, wrote alongside a flame emoji.

While Friends aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004, star Aniston made her character’s hairstyles popular. The most beloved ‘do was The Rachel, a layered shoulder-length look with plenty of body that perfectly framed the actress’s face; it became widely copied by fans.

Carey’s throwback post arrived just in time for the long-awaited Friends: The Reunion special on HBO Max, which aired Thursday. Hosted by James Corden, the special brought Friends stars Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, along with guest appearances by Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and BTS.

Check out Carey’s Friends-inspired hairdo here.

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Willow Meets a Strange Figure in ‘Transparent Soul’ Video Featuring Travis Barker

Willow rocks out with Travis Barker in her new, official music video for “Transparent Soul.”

The Blink-182 drummer is part of Willow’s band onstage in a dark, grungy club in the clip that was released on Friday (May 28).

As they play the pop-punk song, a version of Willow winds her way through the crowd and runs into a mysterious (and terrifying) figure. In what she calls “one of my favorite parts of the music video,” Willow finds herself making an emotional connection with the figure when it follows her out of the club.

Willow’s angsty “Transparent Soul” is a departure from some of the Smith family singer’s earlier music releases, which date back to her breakthrough jam “Whip My Hair” in 2010. She recently said a full album will drop this summer with “a lot of collaborations.”

“I am so grateful for this tune because it was created in such an introspective time (during the first couple months of quarantine). It was the song that proved to me that I needed to let go of the insecurities I had about making a project of this genre,” she previously explained.

Watch the “Transparent Soul” music video below.

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Nicki Minaj Shares Sweet New Video of Her Baby

Nicki Minaj is giving fans a rare glimpse at her adorable baby.

In a sweet video posted on social media on Saturday (May 29), in which Minaj’s baby is seen being held in a standing position — perhaps getting ready to support himself and to eventually take a step on his own — the rapper talks lovingly to her little one.

Minaj captioned the clip with a teddy bear emoji. Keeping his real name private, in public she’s affectionately referred to him as “Papa Bear.”

She welcomed her son with husband Kenneth Petty in late September. In October she first shared a photo of a tiny baby foot, followed by a full picture featuring his cute face in January.

See the new baby video Minaj shared below.

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