Sombr, Brandi Carlile and Billy Corgan are among those set to present and/or perform at the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction & Awards Gala slated for Thursday (June 11) at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The SHOF reports that the event is sold out.

The roster of presenters and performers includes three people who have already been inducted into the SHOF — Nile Rodgers (2016), Dallas Austin (2019) and Steve Miller (2022) — as well as such likely future inductees as Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins and Carlile. Rodgers is also the SHOF chairman.

The list of presenters and performers includes a past winner of the Hal David Starlight Award — Johnny Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls (2008). According to the SHOF site, the award is presented to “gifted songwriters who are at an apex in their careers and are making a significant impact in the music industry via their original songs.”

Taylor Swift, who received the Hal David Starlight Award in 2010, is being inducted into the SHOF this year, making her the first Starlight Award recipient to graduate to full membership status in the SHOF. Sombr, a potential future Starlight Award recipient, is also set to appear.

The roster of presenters and performers also includes two-time Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner.

Inductees at this year’s event are Walter Afanasieff; Terry Britten and Graham Lyle; Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS; Kenny Loggins; Alanis Morissette; Christopher “Tricky” Stewart; and Swift.

RAYE will receive the Hal David Starlight Award. John Fogerty will receive the Johnny Mercer Award, the organization’s top honor.

Here’s a complete list of presenters and performers at the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction & Awards Gala.

With the kick-off of the 2026 FIFA World Cup just a few days away, SiriusXM is rolling out a unique way for football fans to get hyped for the matches. In addition to airing live broadcasts of the matches, SiriusXM has tapped a number of players from this year’s U.S. men’s team to cook up curated DJ sets featuring their favorite artists.

In addition to playing some of their musical picks, the men also talk about why the songs and artists are meaningful to them and share some stories from their careers. The selections come from two of the team’s goalkeepers, New England Revolution teammates Matt Turner and Matt Freese, with Turner’s choices slated to show up on The Heat (channel 46), where he’ll play songs from Drake, Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Tems, Justin Bieber and John Summit.

Defender Mark McKenzie’s picks will hit Hip-Hop Nation (ch. 44), where he’ll play tracks from Jaz Donell, 2Jayz and Koffee, while FC Cincinnati star defender Miles Robinson’s roster for that channel will include songs by Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Frank Ocean, J Cole, Burna Boy, Ye and Chance the Rapper; Columbus Crew winger Max Arfsten will also be participating.

In addition, some international players will get in on the action as well, including New Zealand native and Portland Timbers defender Finn Surman, who selects songs from Tame Impala, Drake, Nelly Furtado and Rihanna for the 10s Spot (ch. 11). Soccer coach and commentator Eric Wynalda — who suited up for the U.S. squad in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups — injects some metal into the proceedings with his choices for Ozzy’s Boneyard (ch. 38), where he’ll be spinning tunes from namesake Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. Another former player and current Fox Sports analyst, Alexi Lalas, is also participating in the playlist stunt.

In addition, Ecuadorian forward Leonardo Campana — who plays for the New England Revolution and the Ecuadorian national team — and Paraguayan midfielder Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United, Paraguay national team) will serve up DJ sets on the Caliente channel (152). Also look for sets from Emil Forsberg (Sweden), Kamal Miller (Canada), Derrick Etienne Jr. (Haiti) and several more. The Guest DJ sets will air multiple times on each channel throughout the tournament.

SiriusXM will also air English-language broadcasts of all 104 matches from the tournament provided by FOX Sports, with the broadcasts originating from the U.S., Canada and Mexico airing primarily on Fox Sports on SiriusXM (ch. 83); when two matches are happening simultaneously, one will air on SiriusXM FC (ch. 157).

The first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place on Thursday (June 11), with the U.S. Men’s National Team opening their campaign with a Group D match against Paraguay on Friday (June 12) at 9 p.m. ET. In addition to the live match broadcasts, SiriusXM will also give listeners daily in-depth coverage throughout the tournament on their 24/7 soccer channel, SiriusXM FC. The FIFA World Cup Final will take place on July 19.

This story is part of Billboard’s Global World Cup Series, a collection of 11 cover stories which pairs top soccer stars across the world competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup with highly-touted musicians in accompanying countries.

Zeca Pagodinho is an endless source of stories and anecdotes. One of the most remarkable took place in 2012, during the celebrations of Corinthians’ world title, when he asked for a round of applause for Luiz Felipe Scolari, the coach of Palmeiras, Corinthians’ archrival. After many boos, a kind soul explained that Scolari was their coach, while Corinthians was led by Tite.

It’s almost ironic that this 67-year-old Carioca — one of the greatest names in Brazilian music of all time, and admittedly averse to soccer (“I don’t have the patience to watch matches, and whenever I do watch, my team concedes a goal,” he deflects) — ended up being the interpreter of one of the biggest anthems in recent Brazilian soccer history. The samba “Deixa a Vida me Levar” (“Let Life Take Me”), by Serginho Meriti and Eri do Cais, which Zeca recorded on his 2002 album of the same name, was adopted as an anthem by the team that won the World Cup that year. And the sambista, of course, has no idea how the song ended up there. “My son told me the players were singing it. Then they threw a party with it,” he says.

Pagodinho welcomed Billboard Brasil on a Tuesday afternoon at his headquarters, the Pagode do Zeca, and was joined by two four‑time world champions: Romário and Bebeto, the striker duo that delivered plenty of samba at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Zeca once took part in a tryout for Everest Atlético Clube, a club founded in the 1950s in Rio’s North Zone. “I didn’t last 10 seconds on the field. I was right back. The coach looked at me and told me to get out,” he confesses. Romário, for his part, also tried to trade the ball for the microphone. In 1995, he and fellow striker Edmundo recorded the funk track “O Rap dos Bad Boys.” “You can believe he was a better fullback than I was a singer,” Romário jokes.

Zeca even tried to score a goal. A while back, he arranged it with the opposing goalkeeper. “There was a soccer tournament in Irajá at the end of the year. I said, ‘Look, I’ll give the keeper a little something to let me score.’ It was all set. But the Irajá field back then was really bad — there was a puddle on the penalty spot. When I went to shoot, the ball stopped on the spot, and I kept sliding all the way to the goal. And I still had to pay the keeper his little bonus.”

Good samba and well‑played soccer are practically a science: the right pass, the well‑crafted verse, the play and the catchy chorus. There’s a shortage of stars in both categories. “There’s a lack of passion — people don’t fall in love anymore,” he laments. “Nowadays, whoever has more followers is good. You don’t need to sing well, have quality, or anything,” Romário chimes in, recalling the days when he would materialize in the opponent’s box.

Bebeto joins the conversation. And when a star enters the game, it’s only proper to pass the ball to him. “I love samba. Too bad that as a sambista, I was a great player,” he says, passing the ball back to samba. “Many of my hits came from Bahian songwriters,” Zeca praises.

Samba and soccer demand a trusted partner. For Zeca, one of them was singer-songwriter Arlindo Cruz (1958‑2025). “Sometimes he’d come up with a tune, and I’d write the lyrics. Sometimes we’d do it all together. Whenever we met, a samba had to come out. The last time I saw him, I went to his house, and we wrote five sambas in one night,” the sambista says. For Romário, the best attacking partner he ever had was Bebeto, his teammate from the 1994 World Cup. “He was my best passer.”

The man born Jessé Gomes da Silva Filho, however, is a master at what he does. And he tends to bring luck. So much so that he was called up to participate in “Bate no Peito” (“Hit the Chest”), the anthem meant to rally the Brazilian national team during this World Cup. Produced by Papatinho, the song brought together stars like Ludmilla, João Gomes and Samuel Rosa, each aces in their musical styles: funk-pop, piseiro and a blend of reggae with Brit-pop and Clube da Esquina flavors.

Samba is an inexhaustible well of themes. But for such a rich genre, it has approached soccer with surprising shyness. One rarity is “Samba Rubro‑Negro (O Mais Querido)” by Wilson Batista, Jorge de Castro and Alvarez, which became a huge success in the voice of João Nogueira. João updated the lyrics, which originally said: “The most beloved has Dida, Henrique and Pavão, I prayed to Saint George for Mengo to be champion.” He replaced the old stars with Zico, Adílio and Adão.

The marriage of samba and soccer also produced beautiful songs of reflection and protest. João Nogueira (1941‑2000), father of singer Diogo Nogueira, wrote “Espelho” (“Mirror”), an autobiographical song about his interrupted dream of becoming a soccer player. “And I held onto the ball and thought that one day/ I’d become a star when I became a man/ One day I kicked badly and hurt my toe/ And without my old man to take away the fear/ That was one more dream left behind,” the lyrics read. Gonzaguinha (1945‑1991), in turn, used the nation’s passion to denounce the oppressive climate of the military dictatorship in “Geraldinos e Arquibaldos” (1975). “On the opponent’s field/ You must play calmly/ Looking for a gap/ So you can win/ Man, it’s a cat’s cradle/ Look at his claws/ It’s a cat’s cradle/ Better watch yourself,” the lyrics say, using metaphors (“geraldinos” and “arquibaldos” refer to those who can afford the grandstands versus the less wealthy crowd in the general section of Maracanã Stadium) to speak of the repression in the country.

Does Brazil’s national team stand a chance of winning the World Cup? “It’s been 24 years since we won this title, right? But that’s how it is — any moment now, we can wake up. When we wake up like that…” says Bebeto.

Zeca Pagodinho intends not to watch the World Cup from his home in Barra da Tijuca, but rather at his farm in Xerém, a district of Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro. “It depends on where I am, doesn’t it? If I’m in Xerém, it’s better — I put the TV in the backyard and throw a party there. Beer is never lacking. Barbecue is never lacking. So everyone stays there. Win or lose, there’s a party. And that’s what’s good, right?” he jokes. If it’s at his home in Barra, the scene is different. “It’s another vibe — the family, my son’s friends.” The four‑time champions don’t mind Zeca’s lack of interest in their profession. “He’s Zeca. Zeca can do whatever the hell he wants,” Romário sums up.

Grammy-winning songwriter Talay Riley has died in a stabbing in London, the Metropolitan Police has confirmed.

The 35-year-old born Mark Orabiyi had songwriting credits on tracks by Britney Spears, Dua Lipa, Khalid, FLO, H.E.R. and more.

Orabiyi was found with stab wounds at a residence in Silvertown, east London, on Friday morning (June 5). He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. A second victim, a man in his 20s, is also being treated for stab wounds, but his injuries are not life-threatening, the police confirmed to the Billboard U.K.

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of murder. A 27-year-old man has been released on bail pending further inquiries, and a man aged 24 and woman aged 25 have been released with no further action.

Detective Chief Inspector Joanna Yorke, from the Metropolitan Police, said in a statement: “Our investigation continues at pace. I would like to appeal for anyone who was in the area at the time of this incident to speak to police.

“We are particularly interested in hearing from anyone who might have CCTV or other footage from the morning of the incident that could assist our investigation.”

Riley’s songwriting credits include work by Spears (“Clumsy,” 2016), Lipa (“Last Dance,” 2016), Chris Brown (“Zero,” “Fine By Me,” 2016) and Khalid (“Young Dumb & Broke,” 2017). 

Alongside his brother Scribz Riley (born Michael Orabiyi), he had a songwriting credit on “Lights On” from H.E.R ‘s self-titled 2017 album; the LP won best R&B album at the 2018 Grammys and was also nominated for album of the year.

Scribz Riley paid tribute to his late brother in a message posted to Instagram. “You inspired so many people and your legacy will continue to live on through your music, your family, your friends, and everyone blessed enough to have known you,” he wrote. “Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me and my family, we appreciate you all. Even with everything you accomplished this was far too soon. Until we meet again.”

Kehlani was one of the artists to comment on the post, writing “big hugs,” while Khalid commented that he was “so sorry” and “sending so much love.”