Olivia Rodrigo rolled out the dates for a massive world tour in support of her upcoming third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, on Thursday morning (April 30). The 65-date Unraveled Tour will hit arenas for multiple night stands in North America, Europe and the U.K. this fall and winter beginning with a Sept. 25 show at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn.

The Live Nation-promoted tour promoting the album due out on June 12 will find the “Good 4 U” singer doubling-up for shows in Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Columbus, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, Sunrise, Fl., Nashville, Vancouver, Seattle, Oakland, Sacramento and Las Vegas, with four shows planned at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and four more at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in February 2027 before moving on to Europe and the U.K.

The tour, which will feature support on select dates from Wolf Alice, Devon Again, The Last Dinner Party, Grace Ives and Die Spitz, is slated to wrap up on May 2 with the second of two stops at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain on the follow-up to the singer’s 2024-2025 Guts world tour, which played 95 sold-out shows to over 1.4 million fans.

The first single from the upcoming LP, “Drop Dead,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, giving Rodrigo the distinction of being the first artist to debut lead singles from all of her studio albums at No. 1 on the Hot 100. Rodrigo will be the musical guest and host on Saturday Night Live this weekend.

An American Express presale will kick off on Tuesday (May 5) at 12 p.m. local time through May 6 at 10 p.m. local time, while supplies last; click here for information. A general on sale for North American tickets will begin on May 7 at 12 p.m. local time here, where fans can also find information on European and U.K. ticked presale dates.

Rodrigo will once again be offering Silver Star tickets for the tour, with a limited number of $20 tickets (or local currency equivalent, plus taxes where applicable) available at a later date. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the singer’s Fund 4 Good global initiative supporting community-based nonprofits working to build an equitable and just future for all women and girls.

Check out the dates for Rodrigo’s 2016-2027 Unraveled tour dates below.

Support Key

+ Wolf Alice

^ Devon Again

# The Last Dinner Party

~ Grace Ives

= Die Spitz

Songs on the Billboard Hot 100 are sounding more cynical and slower overall over the past five years.

The finding is one among many in ChartCipher’s in-depth trend report about Hot 100 hits, whether they peaked at No. 1 or No. 100, from 2021 through 2025. (“Using AI, ChartCipher extracts granular data for the compositional, lyrical and sonic qualities of songs and delivers insights into the qualities shaping today’s hits,” the company notes in its release.)

Below are three key takeaways from ChartCipher’s latest research.

More Cynical, Slower Songs

Perhaps it’s not the most uplifting revelation, but “the common lyrical moods that increased the most over the five-year period all point in the same emotional direction,” ChartCipher observed. “Cynical rose from 59% to 70%” of all charted songs in that span. “Anger increased from 26% to 36%. Nostalgic rose from 23% to 33%.

“Taken alongside the shift toward slower, less kinetic production, as well as the continued dominance of darker timbres,” the 2025 report spotlighted, “the Hot 100 is increasingly being defined by a moodier, more distant emotional tone.

“The chart as a whole moved toward lower-energy production,” ChartCipher stated. “Songs under 79 BPM increased from 35% in 2021 to 44% in 2025, while songs in the 80 to 99 BPM range fell from 33% to 24%. Darker timbres remained dominant throughout.”

High-profile examples of such hits in 2025 include Tate McRae’s “Tit for Tat,” Taylor Swift’s “Cancelled!” and Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem.”

To be more upbeat, romantics will find comfort in love’s sustained triumphant presence on the Hot 100. Noted ChartCipher, “Love remained the most popular lyrical theme across all five years,” with splendored takes of between 42% and 51%.

Hip-Hop/Rap Rules, Rock Rises

As covered in the 2025 analysis of top 10 Hot 100 hits by ChartCipher sister company Hit Songs Deconstructed, pop last year far outpaced hip-hop/rap in prominence among primary genres, 42% to 19%; the genres have alternated annual wins since 2018.

Among all Hot 100 hits, however, hip-hop/rap has reigned each year in 2021-25. As a primary genre, it claimed a 29% presence in 2025, following showings of 35% (2024), 31% (2023), 42% (2022) and 47% (2021). Despite its declines, it has led in each of those years over runner-up pop, largely steady at 24% (2025), 23% (2024), 25% (2023), 27% (2022) and 25% (2021).

On their heels, rock as a primary genre was “the most notable gainer across the period,” per ChartCipher, with increases each year and more than doubling in that span from 10% of all Hot 100 hits in 2021 to 22% in 2025.

‘Yes, And?’ No, Nothing More

The most common word count for a Hot 100 song title in each of the last five years? Two, continuing a trend toward brevity dating back more than a decade.

“Hot 100 song titles have remained short and consistent across the full 2021 to 2025 period, with one- and two-word titles collectively accounting for the majority of charting songs in every year,” ChartCipher reports.

Over that stretch, 16 No. 1 hits (or 23% of all leaders in that span) were two-word titles, from the first two new No. 1s in that timeframe — “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo and “What’s Next” by Drake — through “Squabble Up” by Kendrick Lamar in 2024. Others in between include “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals, “Last Night” by Wallen, “Cruel Summer” by Swift, “Yes, And?” by Ariana Grande and “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims.

(Rodrigo’s new Hot 100 No. 1, “Drop Dead,” and Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” down to No. 2, are the first such leaders since “Squabble Up.”)

Swift alone contributed to the haul with half of the top 10 on the Hot 100 dated Oct. 18, 2025, when The Life of a Showgirl made its chart entrance. The set that week was represented in the top tier by “Elizabeth Taylor” (No. 3), “Father Figure” (No. 4), “Wi$h Li$t” (No. 6), “Actually Romantic” (No. 7) and “Eldest Daughter” (No. 9).

Even two No. 100-peaking titles in 2025 were that concise: “Cowboy Songs” by George Birge and “Infinite Baths” by Sleep Token.

Great news for Michael Jackson fans who flocked to theaters over the past week to help boost the Michael biopic to a record-breaking $97 million domestic opening: they might get one more chance to revisit the singer’s story on the big screen. In an interview on The Town With Matt Beloni podcast this week, Lionsgate vice chair Adam Fogelson said it’s possible a sequel could start filming this year or next.

“There is a massive amount of music, some of his greatest music, and life experiences separate and apart from [sexual abuse] allegations, a ton of that would fill more than a second movie on its own,” Fogelson told Beloni. Fogelson was asked about the first part of the film sidestepping the sexual abuse allegations leveled against Jackson that reportedly made up a majority of the third act of the film, before that footage was scrapped due to a previously reached settlement with the estate that barred it from being depicted in future commercial projects. He said the public clearly voted with their wallets.

“It turns out the general public really wanted to see a movie that did not engage with those allegations and celebrated the man and his music and the, you know, the trajectory to the top,” Fogelson said of the film that covered the years 1960-1988, ending the story before Jackson was accused by then-13-year-old Jordan Chandler of sexual abuse; the singer and his legal team vehemently denied the accusations and reached a financial settlement in a civil suit with Chandler’s family in 1994, with no criminal charges filed against the singer due to a lack of testimony. The removal of the segment taking on the Chandler allegations reportedly resulted in a costly $50 million reshoot.

Belloni noted that a potential sequel has a “problem” in that it cannot dramatize the specifics of that case due to the settlement, as well as a huge audience that showed up for the first film, prompting a question about whether those die-hards even want to see the lurid allegations on screen. “Do they want to see the dark script that I read when I read the original Michael Jackson movie?” Belloni asked, noting that the original script had a “strip search” scene and negativity about the allegations that went to “dark places.”

“How do you make a second move and dramatize all that without alienating the audience that came to the first movie?” he wondered.

While he didn’t want to get ahead of what the creative team has planned for a potential second part, Fogelson acknowledged that some of the things Belloni read in the original script cannot be included. “But continuing to get a deeper understanding of who Michael was, I think there are any number of ways the filmmakers will be able to pull that off,” Fogelson said. “And over the next couple weeks, when we all sit down and talk about their full and complete vision for what this movie will be, I’ll be in a better position to answer the question.”

Noting the reports of the dancing in the aisles reaction of fans at screenings, Fogelson said Jackson’s fans would have been happy if there had been “50 performances” in the original performance-heavy film. “People could have stayed in this theater forever,” Fogelson said. “And there are giant albums left and we just one song out of, you know, Bad as the end of the first movie, the [1993] Super Bowl [halftime show, which was included in the original script] which has been talked about, the first Super Bowl halftime show that literally changed the Super Bowl and he NFL and I’m not guaranteeing any of these moments are or not in,” Fogelson said. “I’m just saying there’s a huge portion of his life separate and apart from allegations.”

Fogelson added that director Antoine Fuqua and the creative team have been paying attention to audience reactions and will listen to those audiences when they think about the structure of a sequel “if and when we green light it.” As for whether Fogelson and the team feel a responsibility to engage with the allegations in the second part given how they tarnished the latter half of Jackson’s career and life, Fogelson said it is a “really complicated question” and that he’s not the best person to answer it and now is not the time to take that issue on. He reiterated that the original screenplay did attempt to tackle that thorny issue. Jackson steadfastly denied any allegations of sexual impropriety and was never convicted or held legally liable in any of the lawsuits against him in his lifetime or in the years since.

“Irrespective of what people would think, that screenplay had the courage to address and not because of anything that the estate or the filmmakers wanted to do, but the revelation of the agreement that prevented it from being dramatized is what prevented it,” Fogelson said. “And I think that needs to be a part of any conversation about what the filmmakers or what the estate were willing to do.”

The movie ends with a credits card that reads “His Story Continues,” hinting at a part II, with director Fuqua confirming to Deadline that there is “absolutely” one-third or more of shot footage that could be rolled into a sequel. “We went pretty far,” he said in describing how deep into Jackson’s later years the film originally went. “We went through the Jordan allegations we couldn’t use. We went farther than that. Maybe a year or two after that (1995) when things turned against Michael.”

Though he is reportedly scheduled to work on a Netflix project with Denzel Washington next, Fuqua said he would love to direct the next chapter if the schedule works out. “It would kill me if somebody else did it,” he said.

Listen to Fogelson talk about a possible Michael sequel below.

PRS For Music has shared that its royalty collections for 2025 increased by 7.7% year-on-year to £1.24 billion ($1.6 billion) on Thursday (April 30).

The U.K. collection society, which represents 190,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, shared the figures as part of their financial results for the past 12 months.

The release says that PRS paid out against 7.8 million unique works in 2024, an increase of 41% (2.3m) since 2020. Royalty collections increased by 7.7%, or £88.2 million ($119.2 million) from 2024 to the £1.24 billion ($1.6 billion) total, and PRS reports a payout of £1.07 billion ($1.44 billion) to rights holders in 2025, a 4.9% increase making up £49.9 million ($67.5 million) on 2024. Of that amount, 4,541 songwriters and composers were paid out for the first time with £1.96 million ($2.65 million) in royalties.

The report also highlights that revenue collected from live music generated a £101.4 million ($137.2 million) lift of 13.2%, or £11.9 million ($16.1 million), on 2024. Revenue from public performance, including live and music played or performed in public (in shops, restaurants, bars etc.) represented a 9.1%, or £26.1 million ($35.3 million), year-on-year increase to £313.4 million ($424 million).

Streaming continues to dominate discovery and access to music, contributing £351.4 million ($475.4 million) of royalties collected, up 11.8%, or £37.1 million ($50.1 million), on 2024. Video-on-Demand revenue also saw a year-on-year increase, up by 20.1%, or £12.9 million ($17.4 million), to £77.2 million ($104.4 million). In total, PRS collected £447.2 million ($604.9 million) of online royalties, up by 9.6%, or £39.3 million ($53.1 million), on 2024.

Europe was the most lucrative market for PRS members’ music, with revenue crossing the £200 million mark at £200.6 million ($271.2 million), up 7.9%, or £9 million ($12.1 million), on 2024’s amount. International royalty income totaled £367.3 million ($496.5 million), an increase of 4.2%, or £14.8 million ($20 million), on 2024, of which 28% was collected for music used in North America.

Andrea Czapary Martin, PRS for Music’s chief executive said: “We’ve delivered another year of strong growth, with revenues up 7% and for the second consecutive year paying over £1 billion [$1.3 billion] to songwriters, composers and publishers. In just 10 years PRS has doubled the value flowing back to rightsholders, £621 million [$839.2 million] in 2016 to £1.24 billion [$1.67 billion] in 2025, by accelerating licensing in new markets and securing new terms with major existing customers.

She added: “I believe success for a society shouldn’t be measured by the money collected. It must be measured by how quickly, fairly and accurately the songwriters and composers receive the royalties they are due. In 2025, we saw particularly strong growth in live with more creators earning from performances than ever before, including many being paid for the first time. We moved to monthly payments for online streaming, giving creators faster access to the money they’ve earned and the insights they need to understand how their music is performing, all with the aim of continuing to deliver a world-leading royalty distribution service in a rapidly evolving music landscape.”

Amyl And The Sniffers snared a hattrick at the 2026 APRA Music Awards, presented Wednesday night (April 29) in Sydney, while INXS was feted with the lifetime achievement award.

For the past year, few Australian acts could touch Amyl And The Sniffers on the awards circuit. It was the same story at the Hordern Pavilion, as the loveable rogues collected the peer-voted APRA song of the year, marking the second consecutive year the punk rockers have won prestigious honor, having done so in 2025 with “U Should Not Be Doing That”. The Melbourne four piece also collected most performed rock work for their Cartoon Darkness hit “Jerkin’,” and lifted the coveted songwriter of the year award. Earlier in the day, Amyl’s managers Simone Ubaldi and Andrew Parisi (of Sundowner Artists)  jointly won manager of the year at the AAM Awards, also presented in Sydney.

Doubling up on the night was Guy Sebastian and co-writers Ned Houston and Robby De Sa, who won most performed Australian work and most performed pop work for “Maybe”. The victory marks Houston’s first APRA Award, and the fourth career win for Sebastian and De Sa.

Sia snagged the category for most performed Australian work overseas for the third consecutive year with “Unstoppable,” for the singer and songwriter’s 14^th donut-shaped award across her career. The Adelaide-raised artist is now APRA’s most-awarded writer member of all time.

Hitmaker Sarah Aarons made the trip from her base in Los Angeles to receive the international recognition award, her sixth APRA Award. While visiting the stage, Aarons, who was worked with the likes of Tame Impala, BTS, Flume, Gracie Abrams, ROSÉ and Maren Morris, told of her homesickness. Her favorite restaurant on the West Coast is the Qantas business lounge at LAX, she quipped. “Not being home is really hard.”

Emily Wurramara made history at the 2024 ARIA Awards, when Nara won for best adult contemporary album, the first time an Indigenous woman had won the category since its inception in 1987. The proud Warnindhilyagwa woman etched her name in APRAs history at the Hordern when she nabbed emerging songwriter of the year, a board-appointed award recognizing her incredible body of work over the past year.

The biggest cheers of the night, however, were directed at INXS, who were saluted with the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music. Long-time friend, artist and APRA chair Jenny Morris inducted the new wave band, with an emotional trip down memory lane.

“People ask me what made INX different. The honest answer is everything,” she remarked. “I’ve stood on the riser with these guys. I watched them from the wings, from the front of the house, from the stage door, from every single angle. They were extraordinary.” The six-piece’s “power, intelligence, and visceral effect of the music couldn’t be ignored.”

Holding back tears, Morris recounted the late, great frontman Michael Hutchence, who passed away in 1997, aged 37. “The Michael I knew was modest. As his friends will tell you, in his private time he liked nothing better than just being part of the cohort. One of the bunch. He was not someone who looked over your shoulder at the room full of glitz and glamor. He would look you in the eye. He genuinely wanted to hear what you had to say. He once said, ‘there is an integrity to INXS in the music, that makes it worthwhile.’” He claimed they were “worthwhile. A modest word from a modest man.”

The surviving members of the band were on hand to receive the award, ahead of what will be INXS’ 50^th anniversary. Each spoke. Andrew Farriss recounted a youthful conversation with his older brother and bandmate, Tim. “I said to him early in our career, you know, we’re going to have to get real job one day. And this is fun, we play music, have a few beers, a few laughs. We get away with it. Then we went and did all that. Incredible. You were right brother.” Kirk Pengilly, who spoke last, admitted the band made “amazing choices.”

As previously announced, the awards celebrated the 100^th anniversary of APRA, and were hosted by Julia Zemiro with guest presenters Bernard Fanning, Jessica Mauboy, Mark Coles Smith and Stella Donnelly, and music curated by François Tétaz.

Performers included Christine Anu, Ngulmiya and Rob Ruha; Barkaa; Ecca Vandal; Paul Kelly; and The Presets’ show-stopping electronic rendition of Midnight Oil’s “Power and the Passion,” featuring a special guest appearance by Peter Garrett, in tribute to the late Oils drummer, Rob Hirst.

“The 2026 APRA Music Awards were a fitting way to celebrate not only 100 years of APRA, but today’s biggest and brightest stars,” remarks Dean Ormston, CEO of APRA AMCOS. “It’s a privilege to look back at 100 years of service to our members and the incredible breadth and diversity of Australian talent. As a nation we derive so much, socially, culturally and economically, from our music creators, it’s imperative that we recognize and celebrate that contribution.”

The APRAs celebrate excellence in contemporary music, honoring songwriters and publishers who have achieved artistic excellence and outstanding success in their fields. At told, 18 awards were presented across three distinct selection processes: board selected, most performed (based on statistical analysis) and peer voted.

See all the winners at apraamcos.com.au/apramusicawards2026 and below.

Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by:       Jerkin’ Amyl and The Sniffers Declan Mehrtens / Amy Taylor / Bryce Wilson

Songwriter of the Year

Amyl and The Sniffers Declan Mehrtens / Fergus Romer / Amy Taylor / Bryce Wilson

Emerging Songwriter of the Year

Writer:    Published by:                       Emily Wurramara                Mushroom Music Publishing

International Recognition Award

Writer:    Published by:                       Sarah Aarons           Sony Music Publishing

Most Performed Australian Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by: Published by:      Maybe Guy Sebastian   Guy Sebastian / Robby De Sa* / Ned Houston* Universal Music Publishing / Sony Music Publishing*

Most Performed Australian Work Overseas

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by: Published by:      Unstoppable Sia Sia Furler / Christopher Braide* Sony Music Publishing / Concord Music Publishing ANZ*

Most Performed Alternative Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by: Published by:      Please Don’t Move to Melbourne                                   Ball Park Music Sam Cromack    Sony Music Publishing

Most Performed Blues & Roots Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by:  Survival            Karen Lee Andrews       Daniel March / Adam Ventoura

Most Performed Country Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by: Published by:      Who You Are    Rachael Fahim Rachael Fahim / Shawn Mayer / Liam Quinn / Vlado Saric / Keenan Te*   Sentric Music Publishing obo Acts Music Publishing*

Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by: Published by:        Tell Me Sonny Fodera & Clementine Douglas Stuart Crichton / Sonny Fodera* / Clementine Douglas^ / Ruth Cunningham^ Concord Music Publishing ANZ / BMG* / Mushroom Music Publishing^

Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by: Published by:      RAINDROP       Ocean Grove     Samuel Bassal* / Brent Hunter* / Luke Holmes  BMG*

Most Performed Hip Hop / Rap Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by: Published by:      Spinnin     ONEFOUR & Nemzzz     Jerome Misa* / Salec Su’a* / Hoi Tang / Nemiah Simms* / Robin Turrini   Sony Music Publishing*

Most Performed International Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by: Published by:      Timeless           The Weeknd & Playboi Carti                  Abel Tesfaye* / Jordan Carter^ / Raul Cubina+ / Mike Dean^ / Evan Hood^ / Jarrod Morgan^ / Chisolm Petty+ / Tariq Sharrieff+ / Mark Williams~ / Pharrell Williams^ Universal/MCA Music Publishing* / Sony Music Publishing^ / Kobalt Music Publishing+ / Warner Chappell Music~

Most Performed Pop Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by: Published by:      Maybe Guy Sebastian   Guy Sebastian / Robby De Sa* / Ned Houston* Universal Music Publishing / Sony Music Publishing*

Most Performed R&B / Soul Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by:Pity Party         PANIA   Pania Hika / Jake Amy / Chelsea Warner / Sam Verghese

Most Performed Rock Work

Title:                              Artist:                   Written by:Jerkin’ Amyl and The Sniffers Declan Mehrtens / Amy Taylor / Bryce Wilson

Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music

INXS

Licensee of the Year

The Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre