Yasuhisa Hara’s Kingdom Vol. 78 hits No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Book Hot 100 chart released Jan. 29.

The Japan Book Hot 100 is a comprehensive chart combining physical sales, e-books, library loans, subscription data, and social media activity. This week, the latest volume of Kingdom, which marks the series’ 20th anniversary, takes the top spot. The volume leads both physical stores and e-books, while also coming in at No. 6 for EC (e-commerce).

Debuting at No. 2 is Tsurumaikada’s Medalist Vol. 14. With Season 2 of the anime adaptation currently airing, the latest volume of the figure-skating manga comes in at No. 2 for e-books, No. 3 for physical stores, and No. 11 for EC. Meanwhile, HANA’s “Cold Night,” featured as the opener for the TV anime, also debuts on the Japan Hot 100 song chart this week. Synergy between the original work and the anime series is expected to continue.

EBiDAN Visual Dictionary 2026 follows at No. 3. The book features newly shot photos and interviews of 60 members of EBiDAN, including popular acts such as Bullet Train and M!LK. Also charting at No. 8 is the Japanese version of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary Vol. 1. The paperback edition of the gripping space survival odyssey was released Jan. 22, and a live-action film adaptation is slated for release in March.

Check out the top 10 titles on this week’s Japan Book Hot 100, tracking the period from Jan. 19 to 25 below.

(Numbers in parentheses indicate the title’s metric placements for physical stores, EC, e-books, subscriptions, and social media, top 20 only. English title given if translations or adaptations exist.)

1. Kingdom Vol. 78, Yasuhisa Hara (1・6・1・-・-)

2. Medalist Vol. 14, Tsurumaikada (3・11・2・-・-)

3. EBiDAN Visual Dictionary 2026, EBiDAN (-・1・-・-・-)

4. Blue Lock Vol. 37, Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Yusuke Nomura (2・-・9・-・-)

5. Isekai Meikyu de Harem wo (Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World) Vol. 12, Issei Hyoju, Shachi Sogano, Shikidouji (5・-・3・-・-)

6. Shangri-La Frontier Vol. 25, Katarina, Ryosuke Fuji (4・-・-・-・-)


7. Naruse wa Tenka wo Toriniiku, Mina Miyajima (-・-・-・1・2)

8. Project Hail Mary Vol. 1, Andy Weir, Kazuko Onoda (16・20・-・-・4)

9. In the Megachurch, Ryo Asai (-・-・-・20・1)

10. Konjiki no Gash!! 2 (Zatch Bell! 2) Vol. 6, Makoto Raiku (6・-・-・-・-)


Mötley Crüe has won a key ruling in its bitter breakup with guitarist Mick Mars, saying that the band was legally allowed to fire him – and that Mars actually owes his ex-mates hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The civil war inside the iconic heavy metal band burst into the open in 2023, when Mars filed a lawsuit accusing co-founders Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil of unfairly terminating him and failing to pay him after he could no longer tour due to a chronic illness.

But in a ruling made public on Tuesday and obtained by Billboard, an arbitrator says the band did nothing wrong. He says Crüe was legally entitled to remove Mars after his guitar playing had severely “deteriorated” — and that the band had long ago agreed that only touring members would be paid.

“I find that the contracts, the law, and the equities lead to the conclusion that band members who stop touring are not entitled to share in the proceeds from touring,” writes Patrick J. Walsh, a retired federal judge. “Mars voluntarily stopped touring and, as a result, he is not entitled to share in the tour proceeds.”

On the contrary, Walsh says it’s actually Mars who owes the band money. In 2019, the guitarist received $1.5 million as his portion of a $7 million advance Crüe received from Live Nation for an upcoming tour – a sum that was to be recouped by the band’s performances. Since Mars skipped 69 shows, Walsh says he must pay back much of that advance.

“It was not a payment for services. It was not a gift. It was not an honorarium. It was an advance,” Walsh writes. “And Mars knew it and knew that he had to pay it back.”

Under that ruling, Mars owes the band more than $750,000 in unrecouped advance money. But since Crüe must also pay him $505,737 for his 25 percent stake in the band after removing him, Walsh says the final bill is for Mars to pay the band $244,293.

In a statement, Mötley Crüe’s attorney Sasha Frid said: “This dispute was about protecting the integrity and legacy of one of the most successful bands in rock history. With the arbitrator rejecting every claim and enforcing the parties’ agreements as written, the band has been fully vindicated—legally, financially, and factually.”

An attorney for Mars did not immediately return a request for comment.

Formed in 1981, Mötley Crüe was one of the top rock bands of the 1980s, reaching the top of the Billboard 200 with 1989’s Dr. Feelgood. But in April 2023, Mars claimed that his former “brothers” had tossed him to the curb after he said he could no longer tour due to a “tragic” disability called ankylosing spondylitis.

The band strongly denied the allegations, saying they had offered Mars “generous compensation” and had tried to “keep these matters private to honor Mick’s legacy,” but that he had chosen to file an “ugly public lawsuit.” They claimed Mars made serious errors on stage before he exited the band, including suddenly “playing a different song in the middle of another one.”

For years, the dispute moved ahead in private arbitration, where Walsh considered the disputed requirements of the band’s operating agreement and sorted out who owed what to whom. Over the past year, the arbitrator has issued a series of sealed rulings siding with Crüe. On Tuesday, those decisions were made public when Crüe’s attorneys asked a Los Angeles court to confirm them.

In seeking to keep getting paid after stepping away from touring, Mars argued that other iconic musical acts like Earth, Wind & Fire and The Beach Boys had kept paying their founding members even after they were unable to keep performing. In his ruling, Walsh says that very well may be true, but that it had no bearing on the battle over Crue.

“Mars argues that it is immoral for him to be cast aside after forming the backbone of this group for more than four decades merely because his age and AS symptoms precluded him from performing,” the retired judge writes in his decision. “I am not unsympathetic to this argument but it is not for me in the context of this arbitration to weigh in on the morality of the band’s decision.”

The judge pointedly notes that it was Mars himself who was the “architect” of the contract provision requiring payment of tour revenue only to band members who actually performed in concert. And Walsh says that provision makes perfect sense because touring can be “rigorous, monotonous, and onerous.”

“It requires them to be separated from their family and friends for long stretches of time and sleep in a bed not their own night after night. In fact, these are some of the very reasons why Mars elected to stop touring,” the judge writes. “It seems inequitable that three members of a band would be subjected to the hardships of the road yet all four would share in the spoils.”

As for Mars’ removal from the band, the judge says the band’s operating agreement gives the other three members broad powers to decide when a member should be removed “for cause” — and that they had cited valid reasons for doing so.

“The testimony established that they terminated Mars because they believed that his guitar playing had so deteriorated that they had to make provisions to cover for his mistakes when he strayed during
concerts,” Walsh writes. “The decision by Sixx, Lee, and Neil to terminate him as an officer and director for legal cause is entitled to deference.”

AI music company Suno has hired Sam Berger as senior director of artist partnerships, where he will report directly to chief music officer Paul Sinclair.

In the role, Berger will be tasked with developing partnerships with artists, managers and creative teams, “exploring how AI can thoughtfully support modern music creation,” according to a press release. He most recently worked at Patreon, where he led music strategy. Prior to that, he founded and led the music team at Moment House, where he worked on building out livestreams for artists including Justin Bieber, Tame Impala and Anderson .Paak — a job that led directly to his role at Patreon, which acquired Moment House in 2023. Earlier in his career, he served in a key role on Spotify’s global artist and label partnerships team and also worked in artist management.

“I’ve known Sam for more than 15 years and he is without a doubt one of the most respected artist and label partners in the industry,” said Sinclair in a statement. “We’re thrilled he is joining our growing team as we continue to invest in deepening our relationships with the music industry. Like most of our music team, Sam has spent his career shepherding artists through new technology and has earned a reputation for putting artists and their creative vision first, with a proven track record of bringing to life and scaling new experiences that deepen the relationship between artist and fan.”

Added Berger, “We’re at a critical point in time where the future of music is being actively shaped and establishing trust with our industry partners is more important than ever. Suno is a company that is building alongside artists with real intention, and empowering creatives with the best tools and technology available. I’m excited to be joining this team who have inspired me throughout my career.”

With his hire, Berger joins a team that also includes CJ Smith, who previously served in roles at Snap, 88rising and Encore, among others; Athena Yasaman, previously of Twitch and Spotify; Leanna Bremond, a former music supervisor at Peloton; Kenneth Herman, formerly of Splice; Elena Louvis, who previously served as an A&R at companies including Atlantic Records; and Brianny Aybar, a former A&R at Motown, Capitol and Sony Music.

Berger arrives at Suno just two months after the company signed a licensing deal with Warner Music Group (WMG), effectively settling WMG’s part of the $500 million copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Suno by the three major labels (Universal Music Group and Sony Music’s part of the lawsuit is ongoing). Under that agreement, WMG artists and songwriters will be able to “opt-in” to having their names, images, likenesses, voices and compositions used in AI-generated music. Along with that news, Suno announced that it would make changes to the platform in 2026, including launching new and improved licensed music-making models.

A$AP Rocky will receive the Vanguard Award for Fashion at the 57th NAACP Image Awards Fashion Show on Friday, Feb. 27, the day before the 57th NAACP Image Awards’ telecast. Previous Vanguard Award honorees include ESSENCE magazine, June Ambrose, Bethann Hardison and Ruth E. Carter.

The award to Rocky is fitting: His song “Fashion Killa” was the fourth single from his 2013 debut studio album Long. Live. ASAP. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

“This year’s Vanguard Award honoree, A$AP Rocky, embodies the power and evolution of Black artistry,” Karen Boykin-Towns, vice chair, NAACP national board of directors said in a statement. “As a creative force who consistently pushes culture forward, he has redefined the intersection of music and fashion, shaping global trends and inspiring new generations.”

“A$AP Rocky represents the fearless evolution of Black creativity,” said Connie Orlando, evp of specials, music programming & music strategy at BET. “His influence extends far beyond fashion. He has reshaped how culture, music, art, and personal expression intersect on a global stage.”

Rocky is nominated for three NAACP Image Awards this year for his performance in Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest – outstanding supporting actor in a motion picture, outstanding breakthrough performance in a motion picture and outstanding ensemble cast in a motion picture. He is nominated in the latter category alongside costars Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright and Ilfenesh Hadera. Rocky also demonstrated his acting prowess in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, directed by Mary Bronstein.

On Jan. 16, Rocky released his fourth studio album DON’T BE DUMB, which enters the Billboard 200 this week at No. 1. Rocky’s first studio album in eight years features cover art by filmmaker and illustrator Tim Burton and collaborations with BossMan Dlow, Brent Faiyaz, Danny Elfman, Doechii, Gorillaz, Jessica Pratt, Jon Batiste, Slay Squad, Thundercat, Tyler, The Creator, Westside Gunn and will.i.am.

Rocky co-chaired the 2025 Met Gala with the theme of “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” showing off a full wardrobe of his own brand AWGE. Later in the year, he received the 2025 CFDA Fashion Icon Award. He is currently the creative director of both Ray-Ban and PUMA and has been a part of high-profile commercial campaigns for such clients as Bottega Veneta, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Gucci, Courvoisier, Mercedes Benz, Guess and Fenty Skin. He was also the first Black male face of Dior Homme.

Rocky’s partner since 2021 is style icon Rihanna. The two superstars have three children together, two boys and a girl.

By visiting the NAACP Image Awards site, the public can vote to determine the winners of the 57th NAACP Image Awards in select categories. Voting closes on Feb. 13 at 12:00 p.m. ET. Winners will be revealed during the 57th NAACP Image Awards’ telecast on Saturday, Feb. 28. The show will air live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on BET and simulcast on CBS. NAACP will also recognize winners in non–televised categories at the 57th NAACP Image Awards Creative Honors on Thursday, Feb. 26 and virtually on YouTube/NAACPPlus from Monday Feb. 23 to Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Pusha T kept it simple and direct with his two-word message, taking aim at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while walking the red carpet at Billboard Power 100 in Los Angeles on Wednesday night (Jan. 28).

“Jan. 28, 2026, f—k ICE,” Push said. “Gotta keep it 100. Got to.”

Push is far from the only artist to condemn ICE’s actions recently. Tyler, The Creator slammed ICE with a post earlier this week on his Instagram Story, which featured a Paid in Full scene that repeatedly states, “f—k ICE.” He added a jab at Donald Trump to his caption as well. “Again. And anyone who voted for that man,” Tyler wrote.

Olivia Rodrigo recently spoke out against ICE as well. “ICE’s actions are unconscionable, but we are not powerless. Our actions matter. I stand with Minnesota,” she wrote on social media.

Pusha’s anti-ICE statement comes on the heels of the shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE agents in Minneapolis earlier in January.

Pretti, 37, was fatally shot by a federal agent during a Minneapolis protest on Jan. 24. The ICU nurse appeared to be protecting a woman from an agent, and was wrestled to the pavement before being shot, which has only intensified protests against ICE across the United States.

The Trump administration claimed that the officer who killed Pretti acted in self-defense, alleging that he was a threat since he had a handgun on him; his family has said that the ICU nurse had a permit to carry the firearm in the state. However, witness videos show that Pretti did not appear to be holding a gun during the confrontation.

Pusha T also presented By the Way’s Alex DePersia with the Breakthrough Executive award at Billboard Power 100. “Alex has always been tapped in. Now, it’s a full-circle moment for my brother and I to be working alongside Alex and the team in the next phase of our careers,” the Virginia rapper said.

Other honorees include UMPG’s Jody Gerson for Executive of the Decade, as well as Sharon Osbourne for the Clive Davis Visionary award and PlaqueBoyMax, who won the Disruptor award.

It could be a weekend for the record books for the Clipse, as Pusha T and Malice are up for five Grammy nominations on Sunday (Feb. 1) behind their critically acclaimed comeback album Let God Sort Em Out.

Watch Pusha-T’s statement on the red carpet at the Billboard Power 100, as well as his speech on stage below: