Maná, Alejandro Fernández, J Balvin, Los Ángeles Azules and Belinda will be part of the lineup gracing the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the Mexico City Stadium (Estadio Banorte) on June 11, the FIFA announced on Friday (May 8) on its social media channels.

Joining the star-studded lineup are Mexican-American singer-songwriter Lila Downs, Venezuelan star Danny Ocean and South African artist Tyla.

“The FIFA World Cup is a moment the world shares, and that begins with how we open it,” reads the post, which was also shared by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

“Mexico will kick-off an unprecedented Opening Ceremony with a celebration full of sound, colour, and meaning,” it adds. “It is the first note in a tournament that will echo across Canada, Mexico, and the United States, united by a shared passion for the game that connects millions worldwide.”

The statement highlights that after the start in Mexico City and continuing in the following days in Toronto and Los Angeles, these ceremonies “will bring together music, culture and football in a way that reflects both the individuality of each nation and the unity that defines this tournament. It is a powerful way to begin a truly global celebration.”

Organizers noted that each opening ceremony will begin 90 minutes before the kickoff of the match, starting in Mexico City on Thursday, June 11, at 11:30 a.m. local time. Gates will open four hours before the opening whistle, offering a full set of experiences including exclusive activations and rewards leading up to the game.

Mexico will face South Africa in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026, in a stadium that will go down in history as the first to host three FIFA World Cups. The FIFA World Cup 2026 will feature 104 matches in 16 host cities, starting on June 11 in Mexico City and concluding on July 19 in New York at the MetLife Stadium, which has been rebranded for the event as the New York New Jersey Stadium.

A few weeks back, it was the Game. Now we can add DJ Whoo Kid to the list of people saying that the rap game is missing Drake on the charts.

Whoo Kid sat down with Diverse Mentality recently, and was asked about the Toronto rapper using his drop for the Kendrick Lamar diss track “Push Ups,” revealing that Drake hit him up randomly for permission while he was on a cruise with a significant other. He also said the moment helped younger fans become familiar with his mixtape days before equating it to the battle between the two rap titans. “You know, the thing I’ve learned when you do stuff like that? It’s just a moment, man. Everything is a moment. Kendrick had his moment,” Whoo Kid said. “Six months, he’s the man. Then the Super Bowl, he’s the man.”

However, according to him, the genre is in dire need of Drake making his return to chart dominance.

“But the thing about Drake, he uses patience as a way of getting back,” he explained. “As you can see, I mean, where has hip-hop been? There’s no Billboard charts, there’s nothing. I think French Montana and Max B barely is like in the 80s and thank God they there in the Hot 100, but I don’t know. I think Sexyy Red is back up now because she just dropped, but there’s not really nobody like…I don’t know. You tell me. I’m not an expert in this, but I know when he’s here, we’re on the charts. If you wanna talk numbers and facts, whether it’s inflated or whatever ’cause labels been inflating sh– for years.”

The wait is almost over, though, as Drake’s ninth solo album Iceman is set to drop next week, on May 15.

You can watch the clip below.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers has sold its recorded music catalog to Warner Music Group (WMG) for more than $300 million, a source confirms with Billboard. The company purchased the catalog via its $1.2 billion joint venture with Bain Capital, which is aimed at acquiring both recorded music and publishing rights.

Billboard was first to report that the Chili Peppers was shopping its recorded catalog in February 2025, with sources saying the band was seeking up to $350 million. At the time, some sources told Billboard a deal had already been reached, and that WMG was the most likely buyer, but money hadn’t yet changed hands. 

Sources previously told Billboard the band owns its 13 studio albums and other releases issued by WMG in the U.S., but Billboard couldn’t determine if it owned its first four studio albums (also part of the sale) released by EMI in the U.S. It’s also unclear if the deal includes name, image and likeness rights for the band. 

The Hollywood Reporter first reported news of the sale finally being executed on Friday (May 8), after WMG announced it had acquired $650 million in recorded music and publishing catalogs via the Bain joint venture so far.

According to Billboard estimates published last year, the Red Hot Chili Peppers master recording catalog generates about $26 million in revenue annually, with the majority of that coming from WMG’s part of the catalog, including such smash albums as Blood Sugar Sex Magik and Californication.

News of the sale to WMG comes five years after the band sold its music publishing catalog to Hipgnosis for between $140 million and $150 million. The publishing assets and recorded music catalog were both shopped by law firm Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobster Younger & Light, according to sources.

WMG declined to comment. Eric Greenspan, the lawyer who had been shopping the Red Hot Chili Peppers deal, didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.

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aespa is embarking on their fourth world tour and this time it’s titled SYNK: COMPLaeXITY.

The four-member K-pop girl group, consisting of Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning, announced their tour on April 21, alongside the news of their second studio album titled LEMONADE. The album is set for release on May 29, while aespa will make stops in North America, Latin America, Europe and Taipei.

The group will begin their North American stint on Sept. 15 in Hamilton, ON at TD Coliseum before making stops in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities. Afterwards, aespa goes on a nine-city European run, which will open in Manchester, England in January 2027. The tour closes in Paris on Feb. 2, 2027.

During the tour, fans can expect solo, as well as group performances of tracks from their past albums, along with songs from their upcoming album LEMONADE.

Below, we’ll be showing you where you can buy affordable tickets to the girl group’s 2026 world tour. Keep reading to learn more.

Where to Buy Affordable Tickets to aespa’s SYNK: COMPLaeXITY 2026 Tour

General admission for aespa’s tour went on sale Wednesday, May 6. Ticketmaster is the official retailer to snag tickets to the K-pop girl group’s tour. The platform has a slew of tickets readily available, but competition for seating is often fierce. However, it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for deals. The ticketing service offers a fan guarantee, which allows for cancellations, refunds or exchanges within 24 hours of booking. However, these options are subject to certain exclusions.

StubHub is another good option. As of this writing, we’ve seen pricing for as low as $123. The platform makes buying tickets easy with its “FanProtect Guarantee,” which protects purchases with authentic tickets and refund policies. Plus, if your event is canceled and not rescheduled, you will receive a credit worth 120% of the amount you paid, or the option of a cash refund.

On SeatGeek, a quick click through the website reveals tickets for aespa’s tour go for as low as $110, as of this writing. Right now, you can use promo code BILLBOARD10 at checkout to receive $10 off. The ticketing service features a buyer guarantee that ensures smooth ticket purchases every time.

Another great option is Vivid Seats. At the time of publication, aespa’s tickets are selling for as low as $100 for venues like UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. The site has some of the lowest pricing we’ve seen on our search thus far.

If you’re looking to make ticketing on Vivid Seats even more affordable, you can use our promo code BB30 to snag $30 off your purchase. The ticketing service offers a 100% buyer guarantee that vows your transaction will be secure, that your tickets will be delivered before your event, and that those tickets will be valid and authentic. 

TicketNetwork is great for those seeking out aespa tour tickets. When you search for tickets on TicketNetwork, you can use our code BILLBOARD300 to save $300 off orders of $1,000 or more, or code BILLBOARD150 to save $150 off orders of $500 or higher. Pricing for ticketing start around $124 and above, as of this writing. The third-party retailer has lots of seating still available too.

During our search for aespa’s tour tickets, we’ve seen pricing for as low as $107 on Gametime, at the time of publication, which is pretty great. To make shopping for the perfect ticket even easier, Gametime will notify you when certain venues and dates are discounted. You’ll also see indicators on your search that will tell you which venues are in high demand, a helpful tool for preplanning your attack plan when purchasing tickets.

2026 SYNK: COMPLAEXITY North American Dates

To keep in the know on K-pop concerts happening this year, check out our comprehensive article here.

From the start of Dancing On the Wall (out today via Saddest Factory Records), the LA-based band’s fourth studio album drops listeners into a sweaty warehouse of queer power pop filed with heartbreak and lust. And it only accelerates from there, hardly letting up until the closer “Buzzkiller” — save for two interludes that serve as brief intermissions across the albums 40 minutes.

“This record is super propulsive. We want you to be able to digest everything,” says Josette Maskin, noting that the first break comes before the politically charged “Big Stick.” “You need a moment to take it in, like what has occurred and what is about to occur. We use any interlude to give the listener a break from the information.”

The album is a departure from the delicate strumming of “Silk Chiffon,” the Phoebe Bridgers’ collaboration that put the band on the mainstream map. The song – along with MUNA’s triumphant self-titled third album that welded ballads, dance hits and a little bit of country together with unapologetically queer force – multiplied its fanbase and placed MUNA in front of massive audiences as an opening act for Kacey Musgraves, Lorde and Taylor Swift.

Instead of attempting to recreate the intangible alchemy of “Silk Chiffon,” MUNA doubled down on the sound that launched the band, what Katie Gavin calls “MUNA’s actual DNA.”

“There is an element of all three of us, where we all have a part that’s a little bit like the rebel artist spirit. There’s an urge to defy understanding. There’s an urge to be like, ‘you don’t know the whole story,’” Gavin tells Billboard. “That led to this impulse of like, we need to go back to our roots instead of leaning into, ‘Oh, you guys like “Silk Chiffon?” We’ll make 10 “Silk Chiffons.”‘”

“There is a reality in which, if you love ‘Silk Chiffon’ and you don’t know any of our other music, you might not like our first album. And that’s fine. There is a world in which that song could pull you into the other stuff in our catalog or it could be the only song of ours that you like, which is totally fine,” says Naomi McPherson. “We’re not complaining about having a popular song that people like, but we wanted to hone the band sound on this album.”

From the first track, “It Gets So Hot,” this album takes off and doesn’t relent until the end. Was the consistent up-tempo intentional?

Josette Maskin: We’ve been a touring band for forever, since our inception. We feel like songs really have a use in how they feel in the body that could be some sort of physical release. So, it was definitely intentional. Push the BPM [beats per minute] and make things feel good. You get reinforced in the show. People respond differently to a faster BPM than they do a slow one. And it is where we are at and what we’re interested in.

Naomi McPherson: It was also a reaction to a little bit to Katie having done a solo record of folky stuff. So for this one, we were like, “okay, we’re not gonna have a country ballad. We’re gonna push further into the dance world,” which we’ve always straddled. We wanted to push it hard towards more up tempo dance inspired music.

Hearing that you record with live in mind makes sense given the undeniable electricity of a MUNA show.

Katie Gavin: We’re so lucky with that because it’s really not us. At a certain point, it’s the fans. They are coming to shows, knowing every word of every song and really performing to us to the same extent we’re performing to them. It creates such a special atmosphere. A band can be giving 110%, but if the crowd isn’t going just as hard…we can’t create that feeling on our own.

The first single “Dancing On the Wall” really delivered on that signature MUNA sound of ‘80s electro pop with a handful of modern embellishments.

Maskin: It felt like the most MUNA song that we’ve ever actually made. More than it being any of our favorite songs, which I think it’s Katie’s favorite song, but it’s the most MUNA thing we’ve ever done. So, I guess that is the sound.

McPherson: Emotional, yearning synth pop is where we shine.

Historically, a lot of mainstream music for women and non-binary queer people has been more on the folk, singer-songwriter, softer side. Where do you find inspiration in queer musical ancestry?

Gavin: I’ve never really thought about it in that way but it’s helpful in terms of conceptualizing the way in which we as a band straddle a few sounds and cultures. There’s always a bit of tension there because we have the heart and spirit of Tegan and Sara and the Indigo Girls, but we have the BPM and the energy of…one of my queer ancestors is that ‘80s band Erasure. It was a Queenie guy and he made pop sounding music but it is sad. We’re Trojan Horsing the sad lesbian music into the gay club.

It doesn’t feel totally natural to us to make music that is singularly fun and joyful. Or if we are, it is in the same way that anybody who lives in struggle needs to make something that’s fun and joyful. It’s out of necessity. There’s always going to be layers to it.

The aesthetics for this album have been warehouses with red lights and a bit of Flashdance. What was the inspiration for these looks, especially for the music videos?

McPherson: We went into this cycle specifically with the hope of being able to create a world for these songs to live in that felt and feels cohesive and like an extension of the music. We were really attracted to the idea of creating this slightly surreal, heightened, somewhat abstract version of the warehouse club city thing. Shooting the videos in 16mm feels a bit like an extension of what we were attempting to do with the music, which was create this gritty but beautiful universe that had some texture to it. Red came to mind pretty early on and it ended up taking shape across the record in different ways as a very emotional color.

Gavin: We like to portray queer power in some sort of way. And I like that when we sent this album to our drummer, Sarab [Singh], he texted us being like, “Every song feels like a f–ing punch to the gut.” It’s quite a robust record. We wanted to create a powerful and strong image.