Jody Gerson, chairman/CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), is set to receive the 2025 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons honor at The Recording Academy and Clive Davis‘ annual Pre-Grammy Gala, which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 1, the night before the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. This is the 50th anniversary of the high-profile event.

Gerson is just the third woman to receive the honor, following Debra L. Lee (2017), then-chairman/CEO of BET Networks, and Julie Greenwald (2023), then-Atlantic Music Group chairman/CEO, who received the award in tandem with Craig Kallman, Atlantic Records chairman/CEO.

“Jody is an inspirational leader who champions integrity and inclusivity in everything she does and is a revolutionary executive,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “She has opened doors for and propelled the careers of many of the world’s greatest songwriters, while simultaneously serving as one of the biggest advocates for women in music. We are thrilled to host an extraordinary evening that not only celebrates her remarkable impact but also marks the gala’s incredible 50-year milestone.”

“Jody Gerson is one of the music industry’s most illustrious leaders and I am thrilled that she will be this year’s Salute to Industry Icons honoree,” added Davis. “Jody’s longtime trailblazing commitment to supporting songwriters across the music spectrum as well as her tireless dedication to advocacy, diversity and equality in the music business are exemplary. Artists and the industry at large are fortunate to have a leader with such tremendous insight and passion at the helm.”

Davis originated the pre-Grammy Gala in 1976 when he was looking for a way to celebrate the success of Barry Manilow’s “Mandy,” Arista Records’ first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (and its first Grammy record of the year nominee).

Since joining UMPG in 2015, Gerson has transformed the company into a global powerhouse that owns and administers more than five million copyrights. She leads a global company with 48 offices in 40 countries and more than 850 employees. She made history as the first female chairman of a global music company and the first woman to be named CEO of a major music publisher.

Gerson is a member of Universal Music Group’s (UMG’s) executive management board.

Gerson ranked No. 14 on Billboard’s 2024 Power 100 list. Kristin Robinson, Billboard’s senior writer (publishing), led her essay about Gerson by saying, “As UMPG’s CEO, a National Music Publishers’ Association board member and co-founder of She Is the Music, an organization committed to empowering female creators, Gerson is one of the most trusted voices in music publishing.”

That was backed up with hard facts. From 2013 to 2023, UMPG’s U.S. revenue grew from $900 million to more than $1.9 billion. In that same time frame, the company narrowed the revenue gap between it and market leader Sony Music Publishing from $400 million to $188.5 million.

Gerson received a Primetime Emmy nod in 2021 as an executive producer of HBO’s The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, which was nominated for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special. A year ago, she received a Grammy nod as one of the video producers for 2Pac’s Dear Mama, which was nominated for best music film.

Gerson has signed and works with many of the world’s biggest music stars, including Adele, Bee Gees, Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Lana Del Rey, Ariana Grande, Coldplay, Drake, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., Elton John, Alicia Keys, Steve Lacy, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, Maren Morris, the Prince estate, Rosalia, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, SZA and The Weeknd. She also led UMPG’s acquisitions of the hit-studded catalogs of Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond and Sting, among others.

As a champion for women in music and an advocate for education, Gerson co-founded the global nonprofit She Is The Music. She also serves on boards for the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the National Music Publishers Association, New Roads School and Project Healthy Minds.

Gerson jointly oversees Polygram Entertainment, a film and TV development and production division of UMG that produces feature-length films and music-centric series. In 2024 alone, she served as executive producer on a broad array of projects, including Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary; The Beach Boys; STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A.; and Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It. Other recent projects that Gerson executive produced include the aforementioned The Bee Gees: How to Mend a Broken Heart and HBO’s Music Box series. Among her and Polygram’s many projects in development are documentaries on Bernie Taupin and Prince.

In January 2020, Gerson became the first woman and first music publishing executive to be named Billboard’s executive of the year on its annual Power 100 list. She is the recipient of numerous other honors, including Billboard‘s Power Players’ Choice Award; Variety’s Hitmakers Executive of the Year; Billboard‘s 2015 Executive of the Year for its Women in Music issue; Rolling Stone’s “Future 25”; Variety’s Power of Women L.A.; and the 2016 March of Dimes Inspiring Woman of the Year.

The invitation-only Pre-Grammy Gala is sponsored by Hilton, Mastercard and IBM.

Jon Platt, Sony Music Publishing chairman/CEO, was last year’s Grammy Salute to Industry Icons honoree.

Here’s a complete list of previous honorees at the pre-Grammy Gala.

2005: Ahmet Ertegun

2006: Mo Ostin

2007: Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss

2008: Berry Gordy

2009: Clive Davis

2010: David Geffen

2011: Doug Morris

2012: Sir Richard Branson

2013: Antonio “L.A.” Reid

2014: Sir Lucian Grainge

2015: Martin Bandier

2016: Irving Azoff

2017: Debra L. Lee

2018: Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter

2019: Clarence Avant

2020: Sean “Diddy” Combs

2022: Rob Stringer

2023: Julie Greenwald & Craig Kallman

2024: Jon Platt

Rihanna was just a regular ol’ member of the Lambily on Tuesday night (Dec. 17) when she was spotted freaking out during Mariah Carey‘s final Christmas Time tour show at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The “Love on the Brain” singer was filmed having the time of her life at the gig where MC returned to the stage after missing a trio of holiday gigs while battling the flu.

The two had a mid-show superstar summit when Carey came down off stage to greet Rih Rih, who, naturally, invited Mariah to sign her breast with a marker. “I need a signature, who has a sharpie?” Rihanna asked as Carey — dressed in a glittering silver gown — made her way over and asked if she could have, or buy, Rih’s stylish black sunglasses. “What do you want me to write?,” Carey asked, as Rihanna pulled down her white top to make room for the autograph. “Mariah,” Rihanna responded. “What the f–k do you think? Whatever you want. Wow, this iconic.”

As if the whole surreal spectacle wasn’t hard enough to believe, Rihanna then grabbed MC’s sparkly microphone and narrated the scene, informing the sold-out crowd: “Mariah Carey is signing my t-t y’all. This s–t is f–king epic!… Look at that s–t y’all!” The unexpected moment ended with Rihanna expressing her love for Mariah and the two women hugging it out to wild cheers from the arena crowd.

In another video of the moment, Rihanna said that her longtime love, rapper A$AP Rocky, suggested she make her way to the front of the arena floor. “Should I have her sign my shirt or my t-t?” she asked her friend as Carey slowly made her way over.

The special moment came as Carey wrapped up her Christmas Time tour after cancelling the previous three shows in Newark, N.J., Belmont Park, N.Y. and Pittsburgh due to a battle due to illness. Earlier this week, though, MC promised Lambs that she would close out the tour at Barclays. “Lambs, thank you for making my #Christmastime so special,” Carey wrote in a post on Monday (Dec. 16) featuring photos and videos from previous stops on the tour. “I’ve loved singing with you every night, and I can’t wait to see you all tomorrow in Brooklyn for the last show of the tour.”

Watch the whole signing scene below.

@mjjsource20

Mariah Carey signing Rihanna’s boobs at her concert in Brooklyn: #JenniferLopez #dualipa #beyonce #madonna #jlo #mariahcarey #selenagomez #michaeljackson #reels #рекомендации #janetjackson #rihanna

♬ оригинальный звук – mjjsource

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No performers have been announced yet, but if the Oscars come calling, Ariana Grande says she’ll be there. The singer, who recently received her first-ever Golden Globe nomination as best supporting actress in Wicked, is a frontrunner for the same category at the Oscars in March.

Though the songs from Wicked are not eligible for the best original songs category at the Oscars, where all five nominees are typically performed during the show, The Hollywood Reporter asked the singer if she’d be up for performing at the March 2 awards with co-star Cynthia Erivo if they were invited.

“Of course, we love singing with each other,” Grande told THR at the Globes’ First-Time Nominee Celebration on Tuesday (Dec. 17) of her co-star, who is also a Globe nominee for her role as Elphaba in Wicked and generating Oscar buzz as well. “I’ll sing together absolutely anywhere anytime, especially in celebration of Wicked, and I love her, that’s my sister. Say the word and we’ll be there.”

Grande attended Tuesday’s luncheon in Beverly Hills with her mom, Joan Grande, where she spoke about the success of the biggest-ever Broadway musical adaptation and some of her most cherished reactions to the film.

“Imogen Heap, my musical idol since I was a young girl; hearing that she saw it with her daughter and loved it, that was very exciting,” Grande told the magazine. “We got to meet Steven Spielberg, that was also incredibly overwhelming and such an honor. And he was so kind, and it was just really exciting. You have these idols in music and film, and then to hear a kind thing said about your work is really extraordinarily special.”

The second part of the film, know titled Wicked: For Good, is due out on Nov. 21 of next year.

Kygo‘s work has long been the musical equivalent of a waterfront resort, and now he in his team have created the real thing.

Palm Tree Club is a hotel and restaurant project by Palm Tree Crew, the sprawling company created by the Norwegian producer and his manager Myles Shear. Set to open in Miami on Dec. 21, the property is in the former Shuckers Waterfront Bar & Grill, a 150-room hotel that’s been entirely remodeled to reflect Kygo and Palm Tree Crew’s laid-back, tropical aesthetic.

Built in the 1970s, the building reflects the Miami Modern (or MiMo) style of architecture common in the city and South Florida at large in the post World War II era. The hotel also embraces Art Deco with rooms styled in the aesthetic and also features a restaurant, a 24-hour fitness center, a 20-ship marina (so guests can cruise up in their boat for dinner) and other amenities.

See exclusive images of the property below.

“Hospitality has always been at the heart of the live experiences produced by Palm Tree Crew,” Shear tells Billboard. “We’re thrilled to extend this ethos to a Palm Tree Crew venue, offering a curated year-round experience that combines exceptional hotel, dining and entertainment. Having grown up visiting Shuckers, I’m excited to honor its legacy while creating an elevated experience for both the local community and visitors.”

The resort opening also marks a new expansion the Palm Tree Crew empire, which also includes its ongoing Palm Tree Festival (which takes place in luxe locations like the Hamptons and Aspen), along with an artist management division, a record label and other food and beverage projects.

A resort has long been part of the plan, with Kygo and Shear telling Billboard in 2022 that they’ve taken inspiration from the late great Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville empire of music, resorts, restaurants, events and other lifestyle offerings.

“He created so many areas where [his fans] can come together — it doesn’t even need to be at his shows. It can be at his hotel or a Margaritaville bar,” Kygo said in 2022. “That’s what we’re trying to create: something that’s bigger than the music. A community, a movement.”

Palm Tree Club Miami is a collaboration between Palm Tree Crew, Miami-based management firm Think Hospitality and the Miami and New York City-based real estate development firm Continuum Company.

Billie Eilish recently reflected on the powerful connection she feels when performing her song “The Greatest” during her ongoing Hit Me Hard and Soft tour.

In an interview with Apple Music, where she was celebrated as Artist of the Year, Eilish shared how hearing fans sing the track back to her has been an unforgettable experience.

“When I did the first show of my tour that I’m on right now, specifically, ‘The Greatest’ just has a lot of—it’s just a special one to us,” she said. “But I did ‘The Greatest’ and I took one of my in-ears out and I just like, heard this giant arena filled with people singing it. They were singing every other song too, but something about hearing that song that has this meaning for me and this memory for me, and also like the memory of us making it and what it gave us in our kind of creative spirit.”

She continued, “And just hearing that crowd sing it, it really made me like, have, you know, in front of me proof. I could see it with my eyes, I could hear it with my ears. And that is something that I hold so close to me. And every time I get a chance to really see how what I do or whatever impacts people in real time, that’s the stuff.”

“The Greatest,” which debuted live on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in June 2024, has become a highlight of her setlist. The song’s reflective lyrics include the chorus, “Man, am I the greatest/ My congratulations/ All my love and patience/ All my admiration,” have led fans to speculate whether it’s about a romantic relationship or her complex relationship with fame—something Eilish has spoken openly about throughout her career.

Eilish also touched on the emotional weight the song carries for her. “I love that song so much. It’s really, really special to me. I literally performed it the other day and cried after,” she said during a previous interview on BBC Radio 1’s New Music Show with Jack Saunders.

The live acoustic set, filmed in Los Angeles with her brother and longtime collaborator Finneas, featured a Q&A as well as renditions of hits from Eilish’s third studio album, Hit Me Hard & Soft, including “The Greatest” and “Birds of a Feather.”

Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft tour has been a global phenomenon, with sold-out dates and critical acclaim. Upon release, the album soared to No. 1 on Apple Music’s all-genre albums chart in 138 countries worldwide. The project also hit No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart.

Going into 2025, she’s nominated for seven Grammys. Hit Me Hard and Soft is up for album of the year and best pop vocal album, while “Birds of a Feather” snagged nominations for record of the year, song of the year and best pop solo performance. The “Over Now Extended Edit” of “L’Amour De Ma Vie” is nominated for best dance pop recording, while her Charli XCX “Guess” collaboration received a nod for best pop duo/group performance.

Fans can watch the Apple Music Artist of the Year performance, which aired live on Dec. 17, now available on demand for subscribers.