Myles Smith earns his first No. 1 on a Billboard songs chart, ruling the Alternative Airplay tally dated Sept. 28 with “Stargazing.”

The song became Smith’s first Alternative Airplay entry when it debuted in June. The British singer-songwriter is the first act to reign in a first appearance this year and the first since Bad Omens with “Just Pretend” in September 2023.

Smith is also the first artist to score a first Alternative Airplay No. 1 in 2024.

Smith scores the second straight Alternative Airplay leader for RCA Records, after Cage the Elephant’s “Rainbow” ruled for two weeks. It’s the first time that a label has linked two consecutive No. 1s since April 2021, when MGK and blackbear’s “My Ex’s Best Friend” led for two weeks, followed by Imagine Dragons’ “Follow You,” both via Interscope Records.

RCA last led in succession with three titles in December 2014-March 2015: “Something From Nothing” by Foo Fighters, “Cigarette Daydreams” by Cage the Elephant and “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon.

Concurrently, “Stargazing” jumps into the top 10 of Adult Alternative Airplay (12-8) to become Smith’s first top 10, also on his first try. On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, it bullets at its No. 3 high with 5.1 million audience impressions, up 5%, in the week ending Sept. 19, according to Luminate.

A multi-format radio hit, “Stargazing” also lifts 18-16 on Adult Pop Airplay and 26-24 on Pop Airplay, both new best ranks.

“Stargazing” ranks at No. 6 on the latest multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. In addition to its radio airplay, it earned 8.3 million official U.S. streams and sold 2,000 downloads in the week ending Sept. 19.

All Billboard charts dated Sept. 28 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

After 12 years of appearing on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart, Michael Kiwanuka achieves his first No. 1, as “Floating Parade” marches to the top of the tally dated Sept. 28.

The British singer-songwriter and producer first reached the chart with “I’m Getting Ready,” which peaked at No. 8 in October 2012. He logged his previous best with “Hero,” a No. 3-peaking track in March 2020. He has earned seven career top 10s, including an ongoing streak of five in a row dating to “Love & Hate” in 2017.

Kiwanuka’s dozen-year wait for his first No. 1 marks the longest on Adult Alternative Airplay since an exceptionally fab break: The Beatles went a record 27 years, 10 months and two weeks between “Free as a Bird,” which ranked on the inaugural list in January 1996, and the coronation of “Now and Then” in December 2023.

Kiwanuka is also the first artist to claim a maiden Adult Alternative Airplay No. 1 since Pharrell Williams, the co-lead act alongside Mumford & Sons on “Good People,” in April. Prior to Smith, Noah Kahan last did so with no accompanying acts, with “Dial Drunk” in September 2023.

Concurrently, “Floating Parade” rises 26-25 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 1.2 million audience impressions, up 4%, in the week ending Sept. 19, according to Luminate. It’s Kiwanuka’s highest-charting song on the list, having surpassed the No. 42 high of “Rolling” in 2020.

“Floating Parade” is the lead single from Small Changes, Kiwanuka’s fourth studio album, due Nov. 15. Predecessor Kiwanuka peaked at No. 3 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart in November 2019 and has earned 100,000 equivalent album units to date.

All Billboard charts dated Sept. 28 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

Incubus, Lollapalooza and music entrepreneur Steve Rifkind are among those who will be honored by Music Forward Foundation at its second annual awards brunch on Sunday, Oct. 6 at City Club Los Angeles. Music Forward Foundation is a national non-profit and Live Nation’s charity partner.

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The awards brunch will honor these six individuals or organizations:

Incubus will receive the tour award celebrating not only their music but also their philanthropic efforts through the Make Yourself Foundation. That foundation, established in 2003, supports a wide range of causes including sustainability, disaster relief and arts education.

Lollapalooza will receive the festival award for revolutionizing the music festival landscape – growing a small, innovative festival in Chicago’s Grant Park in 1991 that blended genres and introduced multiple stages into a global phenomenon, all while supporting arts education in Chicago public schools through the Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund with programs like Immersion Day and the Lollapalooza & Sueños Festival Job Fair.

Rifkind will be presented the executive award by Grammy-winning musician and producer Eric Krasno for his impact on the industry through Loud Records, SRC Records and Spring Sound. Rifkind has been instrumental in the success of such hip-hop acts as Wu-Tang Clan, Remy Ma and Mobb Deep.

BMG will receive the corporate award for its dedication to creating equitable opportunities and supporting the next generation of industry professionals. The company’s innovative approach extends to its partnership with Music Forward, providing paid internships and mentorships to diverse youth since 2020.

Actress, producer and civil rights activist Gina Belafonte and Sankofa.org will be presented the community award by actor Jesse Williams. Founded by Gina’s father, the late Harry Belafonte, Sankofa.org is dedicated to empowering artists to use their voices for meaningful change while addressing social justice issues.

Brooklyn Bowl, co-founded by Peter Shapiro in 2009, will receive the venue award. With locations in Brooklyn, Las Vegas, Nashville and Philadelphia, Brooklyn Bowl has become an institution. The venues are also a leader in sustainability, as the first bowling alley in the world to achieve L.E.E.D. certification, utilizing wind-powered lights and incorporating recycled materials.

The catered brunch will feature live performances.

The charity’s second annual golf classic is set for Monday, Oct. 7 at El Caballero County Club in Tarzana, Calif. Meals, cocktails, activations and gifting will be provided by local vendors. For more information, visit musicforwardfoundation.org.

Last year’s inaugural events raised more than $350,000 for programs empowering youth in the music industry.

Over more than 30 years, Music Forward Foundation has sought to transform young lives, inspire careers and champion a more inclusive music industry. To date, the organization has served over one million young people and provided more than $42 million in scholarships, workforce opportunities, relief funds and more.

A Los Angeles man who was convicted of sending his then-17-year-old son to shoot and murder PnB Rock in 2022 has been sentenced to 31 years to life in prison, per ABC7.

Freddie Lee Trone, 42, was found guilty of one count of murder, two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery in August before he was sentenced in court on Monday (Sept. 23).

PnB Rock — born Rakim Allen — was dining with his girlfriend in Sept. 2022 at a South Central Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles in L.A. when he was approached by Trone’s son in an armed robbery attempt of his jewelry, which turned fatal after he struck Rock with gunfire. The rapper was transported to a local hospital, but succumbed to his injuries.

The prosecution ruled that Trone’s son wasn’t fit to stand trial and believe he was fulfilling his father’s orders, which led to him being charged in the case. Video footage caught Trone inside the parking lot 30 minutes before the murder. 

A second defendant, Tremont Jones, was also sentenced to 12 years behind bars for his role in the murder on multiple robbery charges.

PnB Rock’s mother, Deannea Allen, made the trip to the hearing where she delivered a poignant victim impact statement addressing Trone, per Rolling Stone.

“I want to address you Mr. Trone, even though you’re talking [to your lawyer]. As a parent, I do not understand – and I’ve been trying these two whole years – I do not understand how a parent could directly put their child in danger,” she said. “I just can’t comprehend it. That one action had a ripple effect, and it has ruined many lives.”

Allen continued: “I hope that you can feel my pain, as a parent. I’ve watched your son’s life unfold. He has had a horrible life. I shouldn’t feel sorry for this young man, but I do. He has two parents, but he was in foster care. He had a rough go of it. And I shouldn’t feel bad for him, but I do. Just as a parent. I just want you to put yourself in my shoes and our family’s shoes.”

Rock’s mom also added that his 10-year-old daughter wanted to be in attendance, but couldn’t get on the plane to make the trip due to suffering an anxiety attack.

PnB Rock was just 30 years old. The Philly native meshed his melodic raps with a star-studded cast of collaborators including Nicki Minaj, the late Pop Smoke and XXXTENTACION, Lil Durk Quavo, Trippie Redd, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and more.

Rock broke through with his “Selfish” hit in 2017, which peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100. He made other top 40 Hot 100 appearances the rest of the decade on YFN Lucci’s “Everyday We Lit” (No. 33), Ed Sheeran’s “Cross Me” (No. 25 and Meek Mill’s “Dangerous” (No. 31).

Some of musics biggest stars went out to perform at Farm Aid 2024 in support of family-centered farms. Keep watching for the details!

Tetris Kelly:

From Nelson to Young, Matthews to Mellencamp, some of music’s biggest legends teamed up for Farm Aid to help family-centered farms and Billboard was there to bring you all the access. Willie Nelson brought out the whole family for his set while Dave Matthews kept it sweet and simple. They, along with fellow Farm Aid board members, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, did some major work for family-centered farms, hosting the third year of the festival in Saratoga Springs, New York. Governor Kathy Hochul was on site to welcome the 21,000 attendees. It was a night to remember. Full of great food and amazing music with performances from acts like Margo Price and American Icon Mavis Staples. Who doesn’t love epic performances with your locally grown produce.

Over the weekend, Dame Dash addressed Diddy‘s arrest and old pictures of himself out partying with the fallen mogul that have gone viral.

Late last week, Drake fan X account @keep6ixsolid, resurfaced photos of a bunch of celebs hanging out — which included the likes of Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Dame, Jay-Z, and Aaliyah — with a caption that read: “Bro, this is getting DARK! Dame Dash, Aaliyah, Jennifer Lopez, Jay-Z and Diddy all sharing a giant bed.”

The pictures in question are from an annual Fourth of July party Diddy used to throw in the Hamptons. According to one of the photos on Getty Images, the date of the party was July 2, 2000.

Dame Dash seemed to confirm the location when he was asked about partying with Diddy on Instagram Live on Saturday (Sept. 21.) “Nah, I didn’t go to those parties…I went to one about 20 years ago in the Hamptons with Aaliyah but that’s about it,” he said. “A lot of people were at those, you know what I mean?”

Later in the video he was asked again about the photos and revealed that specific party was one of the first times he and the late singer hung out. “Ain’t sh—t happen in the Hamptons. That’s the day I met…that me and Aaliyah…we hung out there and then we left and that’s what happened,” he said. “That was 20 years ago, that was not in LA or Miami. I know they gonna play games with those pictures. It’s all good, I don’t really care.”

He was then later asked about Diddy getting arrested and said the situation is “sad,” “crazy,” and “shocking.”

Diddy was taken into custody after a grand jury indicted him on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He has been denied bail as he awaits trial.

The 2024 iHeartRadio Music Festival brought the biggest voices on radio to the stage for two music-packed nights on Friday and Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and Billboard was backstage and in the pit for all the action.

Night 1 saw Dua Lipa and Camila Cabello hit the stage, and Billboard‘s camera caught the pop powerhouses backstage for a sweet embrace, as well as Cabello’s meet-up with fellow Friday performer Gwen Stefani. We also captured Shaboozey walking the halls backstage after performing his now-11-week Billboard Hot 100-topping breakout hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”

Night 2 kicked off with New Kids on the Block, who just announced last week that they’ll launch their first-ever Las Vegas residency on June 20 at Dolby Live at Park MGM. So was the iHeart set a good preview of what fans can expect? “A really small preview, because this was 20 minutes,” Donnie Wahlberg told Billboard backstage. “We’re going to do a very long, very intricate, hopefully very exciting and fun and energetic set with a lot of songs, a lot of hits, a lot of feels. But it was also a sample for us of the audience. Because it’s a real good example of what it might be like. A lot of New Kids fans showed up, and a lot of fans who were experiencing us for the first time. We pride ourselves on the fun and the energy that we bring to a show, and this was a great opportunity for us to share that with this crowd.” We also caught up with Donnie’s wife, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, backstage who is ready to house-hunt in Sin City: “Now I just get to come to Vegas and find a place to live, because we’re absolutely going to be finding houses to station ourselves here for a few months — or a few years, maybe.” The New Kids also invited Flavor Flav out onstage for their “Hangin’ Tough” finale, and we caught the Public Enemy hype man backstage with Wahlberg and bandmate Danny Wood.

Keith Urban also played on Saturday night, making the most of a brisk 20-minute set by playing three songs from his just-released High album: “Messed Up as Me,” “Wildside” and “Straight Line.” “We just packed ’em in as quick as possible,” Urban laughed backstage, adding that fans have been quick to embrace the new material. “It’s been immediate, which i haven’t seen that in a long time. It is what it is with songwriting — you write songs and some connect immediately and some take awhile — but when we did ‘Messed Up as Me’ from this record, it was immediate, because we were playing festivals, and it was immediate. ‘Wildside’ was immediate, the first night we did that. ‘Straight Line’ — it’s a different record.”

Before night 2 kicked off, Billboard caught up with OBB Media CEO Michael D. Ratner, whose team produced the festival livestream, which broadcast both nights on Hulu in real time. After teaming up with iHeart for livestreams of the New York and Los Angeles stops of Jingle Ball late last year, Ratner said his team was able to jump in seamlessly to take the reins of the iHeartRadio Music Festival for the first time in the fest’s 14 years. “The reason we work so well together is iHeart knows music,” he said on Saturday. “They have amazing talent relationships, as do we, but the idea that we’re able to storytell and make these shows more layered … it’s not just watching performance after performance after performance.” One key to that was adding some Vegas-specific touches, like teaming up mentalist Max Major with Cabello or enlisting the Blue Man Group for an intro. “You get these fun moments, and it’s embedded in the history of Vegas. … You mix that with what Vegas is today, which is residencies and EDM and lights and day parties and the Sphere, I think making it new and fresh while having a nod to old Vegas is cool. It’s a really good balance and team that makes the show very unique.”

If you weren’t in Vegas or just want to relive the two days of hits over again, find Billboard‘s best photos from backstage and onstage below.

After Usher’s X account was cleared over the weekend, the singer explained his account got hacked. Keep watching for the full story.

Tetris Kelly:

Did Usher let it burn on his social media? Well, he’s saying not so fast, as fans were speculating about the reason his X page went away. Here’s the story: Billboard chart-topper Usher was caught up in conversation Sunday as his X account was cleared and the good ol’ social media conspiracy theorists debated why, ranging from his connections with Diddy to maybe releasing new music. Usher cleared the air, posting, “Account got hacked and d*mn y’all ran with it! See you tonight at Intuit Dome.” The prolific artist is in the middle of his highly successful ‘Past Present Future’ tour and has several dates at LA’s new Intuit Dome this week.

The excitement over the music of iconic Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel overflowed on Sunday (Sept. 22) in Mexico City’s Zócalo. More than 70,000 people gathered at the country’s main public square, according to figures from the capital’s government, for the screening of Mis 40 en Bellas Artes.

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Although what they witnessed was a recording of his 2013 concert at Mexico’s most important cultural venue, the audience seemed to be in front of the “Divo de Juárez” himself, chanting and dancing to the songs of that special performance, with which the late artist celebrated his four decades of artistic career.

“Querida,” “Caray,” “Siempre En Mi Mente,” “¿Por Qué Me Haces Llorar?” and, the hit that launched him to international fame, “El Noa Noa” were played at the Zócalo, where young people arrived, many of who perhaps never went to a Juan Gabriel concert, but who keep his artistic legacy very much alive.

According to Mexico City’s Ministry of Culture, the screening of the concert celebrates a decade since the release of this material recorded in Bellas Artes with the International Orchestra of the Arts, as well as the 20th anniversary of the concert given by Juan Gabriel in Mexico City’s Zócalo in March 2004, as part of the Noche de Primavera Festival.

In front of a giant screen, fans of all ages, people in wheelchairs and several impersonators arrived hours before at the Zócalo to look for the best spot. The fan club Las Viudas de Juan Gabriel placed a banner of the late artist and a dozen members dressed in pink t-shirts and hats were enthusiastic about the recognition of the singer.

On social media, users also expressed happiness about being part of this massive event. “I love you Juan Gabriel, we all forgot it was a video [we were watching],” wrote on X a user identified as @MelanieMishell_. “He is a genius. An artist who transcends time and generations. Juan Gabriel is immortal,” added @diosdadoooooooooooo on the same platform.

The screening of Mis 40 en Bellas Artes at the Zócalo took place after hundreds of people were locked out of the Cineteca Nacional on Sept. 13 during a screening there, forcing the organizers to cancel another screening scheduled for the following day (Sept. 14).

Organizers estimated that some 6,000 people had arrived at the Cineteca Nacional to participate in the event. Videos on social media showed a large number of attendees who remained outside the venue, dancing and singing at the top of their lungs to the songs included in the concert — published by Virgin Music — regardless of the rain that covered much of the city that afternoon.

Arnel Pineda is letting the fans decide his fate.

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The Journey singer took to Facebook on Sunday (Sept. 22) to respond to criticism surrounding his performance at Rock in Rio earlier this month, sharing a video in which the vocalist appeared to be struggling with his ear monitors, which led to his inability to hit a few of the notes in “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

“No one more than me in this world feels so devastated about this,” he wrote. it’s really amazing how 1 thousand right things you have done will be forgotten just cause of THIS..and of all the place, its in Rock In Rio… mentally and emotionally, I’ve suffered already, and I’m still suffering ..but I’ll be OK….”

Pineda then offered to leave the band if fans want him out, requesting them to comment “Stay” or “Go” on the post as a vote. “If GO reaches 1million…I’m stepping out for good..are you game folks?” he said.

See the post here.

The vast majority of the comments voice support for Pineda, who joined Journey in 2007. The band’s guitarist Neal Schon also uplifted Pineda in a Facebook comment about the criticism. “Arnel dont listen to these blogs. They are all bought. You’ve kicked a–!” he wrote, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.