Chris Brown has seen some of the criticism of his upcoming joint summer stadium tour with his friend Usher and he’s responded with pointed words for those haters. In a post on his Instagram Story on Sunday (April 26), Brown 36, minced no words in pushing back against what he painted as the online backlash to the outing.

“The funniest and weirdest s–t ever to me is the fact that people have the option to come to my tour and the option not to,” Brown wrote. “I know everyone who is a fan of me and USHER will definitely be in the building and it will be PACKED just like last year,” he added in seeming reference to his 2025 Breezy Bowl XX world tour, Brown’s highest-grossing tour to date with nearly $300 million in ticket sales.

Brown continued, “But I’m scrolling through insta and tik tok and I come across rage bait pages and or these fake woke stand up for nothing pages bashing people for wanted to come have a good time. The dudes hating, I can understand that (thinking we gone steal ya girl and s–t). BUT THE KARENS, and the self hating hoes be making me LAUGH. I CANT WAIT TO RUB THIS S–T IN YALL FACE.” The post ended with three laughing crying emoji.

While Brown did not cite any specific complaints or comments, he appeared to be alluding to those who’ve pushed back on the news about the singer who has a long rap sheet of assault cases in his history, including a guilty plea for felony assault tied to his attack on then-girlfriend Rihanna in August 2009 on the eve of that year’s Grammy Awards; he was sentenced to five years’ probation and six months of community service in that case.

In the comments about the first tease of the tour on Brown’s official TikTok, some of the comments appeared to allude to Brown’s history, including one that read “people, did ya’ll forgot?” and a similar one reading “don’t think we forgot,” as well as quite a few complaining about the price of tickets for the joint outing.

Since the Rihanna assault, Brown has had several more run-ins with the police over violent incidents, including an arrest in May 2025 in the U.K. on a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm tied to a 2023 London nightclub assault in which the singer is accused of smashing a promoter over the head with a bottle and kicking him.

In addition, a 2024 lawsuit filed in Texas charged that Brown and several accomplices “brutally and severely beat” four men backstage at Dickies Arena in an unprovoked backstage attack. Police also responded in June 2021 to a report of a domestic argument at Brown’s San Fernando Valley home address in which a woman said Brown smacked the back of her head so hard her weave came off; police declined to file charges due to insufficient evidence in that case.

Brown is teasing a new album, Brown, due out on May 8 and Usher has recently hopped on the remix of Breezy and Bryson Tiller’s “It Depends.” The R&B tour (named for the singer’s last names, Raymond and Brown) is slated to kick off on June 26 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.

For the last few years, Post Malone has been consistently popping up in Indio, Calif. – and each time, his presence becomes greater. 

In 2023, he was a surprise weekend one guest at Coachella during Bad Bunny’s historic headlining set. In 2024, while teasing his first foray into country music, he was booked to perform at Stagecoach. In 2025, Post returned to the desert to headline Coachella himself, and on Sunday (April 26), he returned to the desert to close out the third and final night of Stagecoach. In doing so, Post Malone became the first artist to ever headline both Coachella and Stagecoach — let alone in back-to-back years.

“It makes sense that Post has headlined both events,” says Paul Tollett, president and CEO of Goldenvoice, which promotes the fests. “He’s perfectly comfortable performing to such different audiences.”

Following Post’s Stagecoach debut in 2024, during which he performed a set of country covers, Goldenvoice/AEG executive VP Stacy Vee was eager to book him again – and for an even bigger role.

“We had Post play after Willie Nelson and before Miranda Lambert at Stagecoach 2024,” she recalls. “The Stagecoach fans loved his set of covers, [but] at the time he had yet to release a solo country project. After the weekend finished, I wasted no time talking about the right time to bring him back to headline the show.”

For his headlining set on Sunday night, Post pulled out his biggest country hits from his 2024 album F-1 Trillion, including the Country Airplay chart-topper “Pour Me a Drink” and Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “I Had Some Help.” And despite having teased a second upcoming country album to Billboard last year — and even more recently revealing on social media the possible title of the two-disc set to be The Eternal Buzz — no new music made its way into his Stagecoach performance.

Still, even without different material, Tollett says Post managed to make the show feel entirely different from when he headlined Coachella one year ago. “[It was] interesting to see how he has uniquely built his live show based on the setting,” he says. Adds Vee: “I feed off of his energy. He is so genuinely happy to be in the country space when out at the show.”

As further proof, next month Post is heading out on his Big Ass Stadium Tour Part 2 – teaming again with Jelly Roll and also welcoming opener Carter Faith. “There’s nothing Post Malone can’t do, and he does it all with total sincerity, versatility and commitment,” says Vee. “Whatever he does, he does it his own way.”

That singularity is exactly why Tollett says he hopes to “see him again in the desert – it’s always a good time.”

Alicia Keys has been working in the music industry for more than two decades, but according to her, it’s still as much of a boy’s club as it was when she first started out.

In a recent interview with The Times, the 17-time Grammy winner opened up about the inequality she’s witnessed as a woman who writes, sings and produces. “The music world becomes a good old boy network, and all the incredible women working as engineers and producers are not given an open door,” she told the publication. “Women make up 2 per cent of the entire business. I’m a producer and here we are, doing a bunch of work, killing it, so it’s shocking that the number is so small.”

Merriam-Webster defines “old boy network” as an “informal system in which wealthy men with the same social and educational background” help one another advance professionally. “No one tells you these things,” Keys continued in the interview. “You deal with all these executives and lawyers who love to take their percentages and overcharge you, but they never say, ‘How can we ensure you’re here to stay?’”

“Rather than just being pissed off about that,” she added, “it was time to create opportunities.”

The four-time Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping musician is referring to She Is the Music, a nonprofit she cofounded that facilitates songwriting sessions, mentorships and educational opportunities for women in music. In February, the organization hosted its second annual Women Sharing the Spotlight event, where Keys honored Megan Moroney and her all-women team.

“Tonight’s event is about being able to say, ‘Wait, I do have this position, and I can open the door,’” Keys said at the ceremony. “It’s one thing when you’re banging on a door to be let in; it’s another thing when someone opens the door and says, ‘Come in and join me.’”

The multi-hyphenate last dropped an album in 2021, with Keys reaching No. 41 on the Billboard 200 — a chart she’s topped five times. She told The Times that she’s currently working on a new LP.

“The music is very close to being cooked, and I’m excited,” she said. “There is a craft, an ability to write songs that mean something to people, which has given me longevity and you’ll hear that in the new album.”

Lexie Brown is distancing herself from the online gossip mill amid rumors linking her to Klay Thompson, whom Megan Thee Stallion recently alleged cheated on her.

In a Sunday (April 26) post on Instagram Stories, the WNBA star wrote, “I’ve seen what’s being said online, and I want to be clear, none of it is true.”

“I have no involvement in this situation,” she continued. “This week marks the start of an important and exciting new season for me, and my focus is fully on that.”

At press time, it’s unclear where the speculation tying Thompson to Brown came from. One person on X alleged that the Seattle Storm guard had shared screenshots of incriminating messages between herself and the NBA player on her private Story, but Billboard was unable to verify. Billboard has reached out to Thompson for comment.

Brown’s statement comes one day after Meg put Thompson — whom she dated for a little under a year — on blast, writing on Instagram Stories, “Cheating, had me around your whole family playing house… got ‘cold feet.’”

The hip-hop star also accused the Dallas Mavericks athlete of “HORRIBLE mood swings and treatment towards me during [his] basketball season,” adding, “Now you don’t know if you can be ‘monogamous’????”

In a statement shared with Billboard shortly afterward, Meg confirmed that she’d “made the decision to end” things with Thompson. “Trust, fidelity and respect are non-negotiable for me in a relationship, and when those values are compromised, there’s no real path forward,” she continued.

The breakup was shocking to fans, as the hitmaker had seemed blissfully in love with Thompson in the months leading up to the split. After first getting together in summer 2025, the now exes often shared sweet videos together, such as Meg filming their (now-deleted) couple’s workout routine at one point. While making their red carpet debut together in July at the musician’s Pete & Thomas Foundation Gala, she told Page Six, “I have never dated somebody so kind. This is my first relationship where I’ve ever been with somebody who’s genuinely a nice person, and he makes me genuinely happy.”

Billboard unveiled a slate of presenters and additional honorees for its 2026 Women in Music event on Monday (April 27), broadening the scope of the annual ceremony with a mix of established artists, global acts and industry figures set to take part.

The presenters announced are Bella Poarch, Brandi Carlile, Cara Delevingne, Ciara, Coco Jones, Dionne Warwick, Eva Longoria, Victoria Monét, Kim Petras, Lainey Wilson and Tyla.

The event, set for April 29 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, will stream live on Billboard.com and the Billboard YouTube channel.

In addition to the presenter lineup, Billboard revealed the new Global Force honorees, with BINI receiving the Billboard Philippines Global Force Award and The Beaches set to be recognized as Billboard Canada’s Global Force, presented by FACTOR.

The announcement builds on a previously revealed list of award recipients, highlighting a wide cross-section of artists and executives across genres and markets. Among the key honors, KPop Demon Hunters‘ HUNTR/X (EJAE, AUDREY NUNA and REI AMI) will receive Women of the Year, while Elizabeth Matthews has been named Executive of the Year.

Other honorees include Kehlani (Impact Award), Laufey (Innovator Award), Mariah the Scientist (Rising Star Award), Tate McRae (Hitmaker Award), Teyana Taylor (Visionary Award), Thalía (Icon Award) and Zara Larsson (Breakthrough Award).

Host Keke Palmer is also set to perform during the ceremony, alongside appearances from several honorees.

On the digital side, Billboard is expanding audience engagement around the event. Creator Drew Afualo and Billboard executive editor Lyndsey Havens will cohost the red carpet livestream, with Afualo inviting fans to submit questions via social media for use during the broadcast.

The Global Force additions further emphasize Billboard’s international strategy, spotlighting artists who have built audiences beyond their home markets. The inclusion of BINI and The Beaches reflects the increasing role of regional scenes in shaping global pop consumption, particularly as streaming continues to blur geographic boundaries.

Now in its latest iteration, Women in Music remains one of Billboard’s flagship events, bringing together artists, executives and creators to recognize achievement across the industry while also serving as a platform for performance, collaboration and cross-market visibility.