In the early ’60s, Neil Sedaka was one of the biggest hitmakers in pop music, scoring smash hits like “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Calendar Girl” and the Billboard Hot 100-topping “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” while also penning additional hits for pop peers like Connie Francis. But by the mid-’60s, popular music had shifted, and Sedaka underwent a commercial dry period that lasted well into the next decade, causing him to head overseas to try to revive his career. Then, in the mid-’70s, an old Sedaka fan — one who’d become quite the pop-rock superstar in his own right — would help facilitate his return to the U.S. market, leading to a year where he not only rediscovered his hitmaking mojo, but became bigger than ever before.

On this Vintage Pop Stardom episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, we pay tribute to the late great Neil Sedaka by diving deep on the singer-songwriter’s unlikely comeback year. Host Andrew Unterberger is joined by legendary Billboard historian Fred Bronson — who not only covered Sedaka’s biggest songs in his essential Billboard Book of Number One Hits, but ended up becoming a personal friend of the singer-songwriter — to discus Sedaka’s incredible career reinvention, where he dusted off a decade-long cold streak and found his way back to top 40’s center with a pair of Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s (and a third penned for another hitmaking duo).

Along the way, we answer all the biggest questions about the year of Sedaka being Back: Which was the quintessential Neil Sedaka run, ’62 or ’75? Why were Australia and the U.K. up on Sedaka’s comeback before the U.S.? Just how valuable was an Elton John co-sign (or an Elton John backing vocal) in 1975? Did Richard Carpenter really boot Sedaka from the Carpenters’ tour for breaking some unspoken (and possibly imaginary) showbiz rule? How absurdly cool is it to get your comeback specifically shouted out over the outro to the biggest hit you ever wrote for another artist? And perhaps most importantly: Where does ’75 Sedaka rank among the greatest comebacks in pop or rock history?

Check it out above — along with a YouTube playlist of some of the most memorable moments of Bowie’s 1983, all of which are discussed in the podcast — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!

Also, find Fred’s Writer: Neil Sedaka playlist below — and follow him on Spotify here.

You can also find Fred’s Rockin’ the Kremlin book here.

And if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:

Transgender Law Center

Trans Lifeline

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

The Trevor Project

If you’re out there waiting for the long-rumored sequel to Madonna‘s Grammy-winning 1998 album Ray of Light, you can stop, because it is definitely not happening. At least not with the LP’s original producer, William Orbit.

Orbit took to his Facebook page on Wednesday (March 18) to spill the tea on the purported sequel to the album that won the best pop album Grammy and another for best dance recording for the title track nearly 30 years ago.

“Right. Let’s put this Madonna ROL 2.0 thing to rest here and now folks. Can get exhausting
Is NOT going to happen,” wrote Orbit. “Look, why don’t I just lay it out, cos I get asked constantly
I have an album ready that imho is indeed the successor to ROL. Everything about how it was made and how it sounds yells that from the first few bars.”

Orbit said he reached out to Madonna’s camp with the music, but, alas, he said he’s gotten “Nil response. A week later. I speak with many close to her, including fam, but have not had a single syllable back in over two decades. There I said it.”

At press time a spokesperson for Madonna had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.

Orbit continued, suggesting that he “only sort of hint we’re pals so’s not to ignite a firestorm of speculation,” noting that he doesn’t want to come off as bitter because in his life and art he is “finally where I want to be and the very opposite of bitter. Sweet as a nut.” The producer wished Madonna well, saying he believes she is “very happy, she looks fabulous and full of life in recent pics i’ve seen.”

He said the last time they spoke was in New York at MSR Studios, during sessions for the singer’s 12th studio album, 2012’s MDNA. And while the post appeared to be spiced with a soupçon of underlying peevishness, Orbit assured his FB followers that he has “Zero zero absolute zero hard feelings. Are you kidding, I will always love that woman. For real. She made my career But am I crying? Look at me. Crying with mirth and glee these days. You can’t shut me up squeaking and squawking about the table of lovely musical goodies laid before me.”

Orbit finished by saying he is writing a book, where he plans to tell the full story of the scotched sequel, alongside “candid reflections,” “Some deep chapters. Some pop goss. Some cartoon art” and pithy “one-liners.”

In addition to debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart at the time of release, Ray of Light, Madonna’s seventh studio album found the singer embracing an electronica vibe on an LP many consider to be one of her finest. The single “Frozen” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the title track topped out at No. 5 and “The Power of Good-Bye” hit No. 11 and “Nothing Really Matters” hit No. 93.

While the Ray of Light follow seems like toast, Madonna confirmed in September that she had re-signed with Warner Records and is working on Confessions on a Dance Floor Part 2, whose release date has not been announced. In November, she dropped the digital album Confessions on a Dance Floor Twenty Years Edition, revisiting the 2005 electropop classic that featured such beloved hits as “Hung Up,” “Sorry” and “Get Together.”

Though it seems she will not be back in William’s Orbit any time soon, Madonna has definitely been in a reflective mood over the past year. Last July she released her long-rumored Veronica Electronica album, a collection of eight rare and unreleased remixes of songs from Ray of Light, followed in November by the revamp of her 1994 Bedtime Stories album on the eight-track Bedtime Stories — The Untold Chapter EP.

This week it was revealed that Madonna was spotted on the Venice set of the Emmy-winning Apple TV comedy The Studio, marking the singer’s first live-action acting gig in more than two decades.

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The 2026 NCAA women’s March Madness tournament tips off this week. The reigning National Champions, UConn Huskies, have been a dominating force in women’s basketball since last season with Paige Bueckers and are a clear favorite to win again. With the star now in the WNBA, her now alma mater continues to play top-level basketball with an impressive undefeated 34-0 record and a 50-game win streak.

UConn’s road to glory won’t be easy though. Other top-seeded favorites in March Madness are UCLA (31-1), Texas (31-3), and South Carolina (31-3). UCLA is UConn’s clear No. 1 challenger. With their only loss coming against then-No 4 Texas back in November, the Bruins have gone on a 25-0 run defeating twelve ranked opponents, compared to UConn’s five. Will we see an upset later in the tournament? You must tune in to find out.

Where to Watch Women’s March Madness, At a Glance:

The first round of the March Madness tournament doesn’t start until tomorrow, March 20, but the remaining two First Four games to decide the last couple seeds in the tournament tip-off today. Tune into watch Samford vs. Southern (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and Virginia vs. Arizona State (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2) later today and prepare your brackets for the first round to begin.

This year, basketball fans can watch every NCAA game on ABC and ESPN’s network of channels, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN News. Luckily, there are plenty of streaming platforms to that offer live TV coverage, such as DirecTV, ESPN Unlimited, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV.

Keep reading to how to watch the March Madness 2026 online.

Where to Watch Women’s March Madness 2025 Online

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament airs on ESPN and ABC. If you don’t have cable, cord-cutters can also take advantage of free trials and promos from live TV streamers like DirecTV, Sling TV, Fubo and Hulu + Live TV to stream the Women’s NCAA March Madness without cable. Learn more below.

DirecTV is offering a five-day free trial, which will let you watch ESPN for free. The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network is included in all of the streaming packages. In addition to unlimited DVR storage, you’ll get access to local channels and the ability to stream on as many devices as you want.

Right now, you can sign up starting at $89.99 per month. Another great, affordable plan option is DirecTV’s MySports Genre Pack, which carries over 20 key sports channels for $44.99 for the two months ($69.99 a month afterwards).

ESPN Unlimited is the official streaming platform for ESPN and women’s March Madness. A subscription includes instant access to NCAA tournament games and more exclusive content for $29.99 per month. You can save almost 17% off by purchasing an annual subscription for $299.99 per year. There is no free ESPN Unlimited trial, but it does include exclusive on-demand videos and access to content from what was formerly known as ESPN Insider.

In addition to live sports, ESPN Unlimited has original shows to stream on-demand, plus game recaps and analysis, a shorter version of NFL Primetime and full replays of historic NFL matchups.

To expand your savings and content offerings, currently, you can bundle ESPN Unlimited with Hulu and Disney+ for a single monthly price of just $29.99 per month for all three services for 12 months of streaming.

With prices starting at just $4.99 for a day pass, Sling TV includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN 3 (for ABC simucast) with it Sling Orange and Sling Orange + Blue packages — which features dozens of channels that can be streamed on up to three devices at the same time. Sling Orange + Blue features FS1 and the NFL Network too for even more sports content.

Please note: Sling TV’s pricing and channel availability depends on your local TV market.

Fubo offers a five-day free trial for new users who sign up, and the streaming service includes a live feeds for Women’s NCAA March Madness online. The service offers a promo that’ll get you up to $30 off the first month, which can get you access to ESPN and more for as low as $45.99 (reg. $55.99 per month). Once set up, customers get access to ESPN and more than 240 live TV channels.

For the most content options, Hulu + Live TV gives you access to the entire Hulu library in addition to more than 95 live TV channels — including ESPN for just $82.99 per month.

And, unlike the rest of the options, you can also expand your content library by bundling Hulu + Live TV with Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited. You’ll not only have all of the Hulu library to watch, but also exclusive and original programming available exclusively on ESPN Unlimited.

ESPN is also good to watch for surprise celebrity appearances. Every now and then, musicians have been know to drop in and give their thoughts and opinions on the latest going in the sports world. Famous recording artists, like Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo, J. Cole, John Legend, Imagine Dragons, Fall Out Boy, Drake and others.

2026 NCAA Women’s March Madness Game Schedule:

All times Eastern.

Wednesday, March 18

Thursday, March 19

Friday, March 20

Saturday, March 21

2026 NCAA Women’s March Madness Schedule:

The schedule and locations for the women’s tournament:

Two worlds collided in Melbourne on Wednesday evening (March 18) when Mark Hoppus welcomed on stage Amy Shark for a performance of Blink-182’s 1997 classic “Dammit.”

On the night, Shark, the Gold Coast-based singer and songwriter, slung an acoustic guitar and got to work with Hoppus, playing his regular bass. “Thank you Mark Hoppus for inviting me to play such an iconic punk rock song with you!,” she writes in a social post, which shares the special moment. “What an incredible evening. Extremely EMOtional.”

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Hoppus is in Australia for his FAHRENHEIT-182 book tour, which kicked off with a sell-out at Melbourne’s Recital Hall and sees the Blink-182 co-founder delve into his mental health throughout the band’s rise; the fallout with fellow bandmate Tom DeLonge, and his subsequent return to the fold; his public battle (and triumph) over cancer, and more. The classic lineup of Blink-182 — Hoppus, DeLonge, and Travis Barker — played arenas for the Australian leg of of their “One More Time” world tour in 2024.

Shark has collaborated with all three members of the pop-punk trailblazers. She teamed up with Hoppus on the song “Psycho,” featured on her debut first album from 2018, Love Monster. Then, she cut “C’MON” with Barker, released in 2020 and later housed on her 2021 LP Cry Forever. More recently, DeLonge joined forces with the Aussie on “My Only Friend” from her third studio album Sunday Sadness, which dropped in 2024.

All three of Shark’s album have gone to No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart.

Her fourth album, soft pop, is due out Friday, July 31, and is led by the single “The Biggest Dick.” The forthcoming collection was written solely by Shark, produced by Dann Hume and is “a completely different sound, topics I finally found the words and melodies for,” she writes in a separate social post.

Live Nation is producing Hoppus’s FAHRENHEIT-182 run, which continues Thursday, March 19 in Melbourne, and wraps up Saturday, March 21 at Sydney Opera House.