Anne Hathaway may be best known as a movie star, but she also grew up singing – and her latest role as fictional pop star Mother Mary in the A24 thriller of the same name casts her voice front and center.

Her skills were showcased early in her career. In 2004 she duetted with Jesse McCartney on the Ella Enchanted soundtrack (for which she sang on three songs) and in 2012, after landing the role of Fantine in Les Misérables, she made her Billboard Hot 100 debut with her rendition of showtune staple “I Dreamed a Dream.”

Still, Hathaway describes Mother Mary as “totally different” from such prior roles. “I’ve never really [considered] myself as a singer,” she says, while seated next to her on-screen and musical collaborator FKA twigs the day after the film’s New York premiere. “I’ve got a decent voice, can carry a tune, but I always felt that I was best in a choir.”

That belief is why she “studied everybody” in pop music while preparing to become a pop star herself. And fortunately, she worked alongside top talent — including Twigs, Jack Antonoff and Charli xcx — on the film’s seven original songs that comprise the soundtrack, Mother Mary: Greatest Hits, which arrived Friday (April 17) on streamers and vinyl. The film, directed by David Lowery, hit theaters the same day.

Hathaway says it took two years to discover Mother Mary’s sound, and that even after songs were finished and filmed, she couldn’t help but continue to tweak them. “I worked on the sound for another year because I wasn’t happy with it,” she admits. “And then, I had broken through to another place. I called David and Jack and I said, ‘I have to come back into the studio. I think I’m onto something – I think it’s finally happening.’ And I just remember going into the studio and Jack sitting up and turning around; he goes, ‘you’ve been working.’ We rerecorded everything.”

That drive is in large part what makes Mother Mary so believable – and is surely why the soundtrack stands so strongly on its own, separate from the film. Hathaway co-wrote four songs (“Holy Spirit,” “Burial,” “Holy Spirit 2” and “Cut Ties”) while Twigs contributed standout track “My Mouth Is Lonely For You,” which she co-wrote with Tobias Jesso Jr. and Jeff Bhasker, among others.

Below, Hathaway and Twigs discuss crafting the music for Mother Mary, what it means to embody a pop star and more.

Anne, you’ve been singing most of your life, but how did performing as Mother Mary compare to other singing roles that you’ve taken on? 

Anne Hathaway: I’ve just never taken myself seriously in that way. It was amazing to discover this type of pop music where you can be powerful but also not need to have to project the way that you have to in musical theater.

I also learned that I’m a completely different voice part than I thought. When I was in school, I got placed as a soprano and I could do all of that, but [while working on Mother Mary] everybody kept asking me, “What feels good?” And finally I was like, “Honestly, singing with the boys.” Like, singing like Thom Yorke feels good. And they said, “Okay, great. Then let’s sing that.” And I was like, “It’s okay that I’m a baritone?” That felt very new, that discovery of what felt good as opposed to an external idea of what is good.

Well, now I’d love to hear a Radiohead cover. 

We shall see. 

Twigs, in addition to writing a track for the soundtrack you also appear in the film as a medium named Imogene. Were you approached for the music or your role first?

Twigs: I was approached for the role first and I filmed everything, not knowing at all I was gonna help with any music. And then I just happened to speak to David, and he was like, “I feel like I need more songs and the deadline’s coming up soon” and I was like, “say less.” I was like, “let me send you some stuff. I’ve got some bits.” And so I just sent him “My Mouth Is Lonely for You,” and I sent him another ethereal song and he really loved it. But “My Mouth Is Lonely for You,” he just instantly was like, “That’s the one.” 

Anne, in addition to Twigs, you worked with top pop talent like Jack Antonoff and Charli xcx on the music for Mother Mary. Who did you consult with or study who didn’t directly work on this soundtrack? 

Hathaway: I listened to everybody, including Twigs, before I knew that I’d be working with her as a co-star and then musical collaborator, which is amazing. I really just immersed myself in the world of pop — not necessarily to try to sound like anybody, but to see if I could discover patterns. Like, what makes pop pop? Because it’s a very beguiling type of music. It seems so effortless. It seems like anybody could do it. And then, in my experience, when you go into the studio, you realize it feels next to impossible to have that kind of power and ease going for you at the same time, to really find a vibe and sing from that place.

I can hear it in different performers. I can hear how they express themselves through a phrase, how they find the right sound within a sound — and how extraordinary all of you are about how many layers of performance you have going on at the same time, that you’re able to do in a way that makes us believe we could do it too.

Twigs, what patterns of being a pop star did Mother Mary pick up on?

Twigs: I feel like Annie just embodied the confidence. Sometimes I think the best performance is the ability to do nothing. The ability to just stand on stage and not twitch or move your foot a little bit. Just be confident that your head is there, and you are in the light and you can just bask in it for a second. I always was taught when I first started performing, once you go on stage, unless it’s like part of the performance, you don’t fiddle with your bra strap. You go and you just stand. And sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do on stage.

So of course, Annie’s dancing and performance and voice and the whole thing was so beautiful — but the most confident thing is just the ability to just take four steps and stand there. Which I think, when you think of the best performers, like Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston or Tina Turner, you think of them strutting down a catwalk and stopping and hitting the note. It sounds simple, but I think it’s actually almost like a lost talent in this day and age. 

Hathaway: Did you ever get to see Tina Turner perform?

Twigs: Not in real life. 

Hathaway: I got to see her, and the thing that was amazing was I got to meet her before the show. She had a fever of 103, which they explained to us. And I stood next to her and her temperature was really borderline alarming. And she went out there, and she did a two hour set in heels up and down stairs. Just amazing. And I remember, that was really important to me when I started off on this — I’m just like, “Pop stars are different beasts.”

Twigs, you touch on that idea in the film, when your character Imogene asks Mary, “What does this do to you?” How did that question guide the music?

Twigs: I made the song before I knew of the line, so it didn’t affect me in that way. For me, it’s actually the intimacy of certain performances that can affect my energy more than really big ones. When I perform at a festival, to 60-80,000 people, you almost become a collective. It’s such a shared experience that the energy doesn’t affect me. Whereas times when I’ve performed for really small audiences, that’s when it can feel more chilling. You can really see someone’s look of approval or disapproval or enchantment or whatever it is they’re feeling… I don’t know whether it’s because I started singing in cabaret clubs. What was your experience? 

Hathaway: Everything I did with Mother Mary began from a place of such intense vulnerability, like, almost in a braced and crouched position of “what have I done? Why did I say yes to this? Why am I putting myself through this?” And then just again and again, the submission to, “Well, you did say yes, so you go out there and do it.”

For me, it’s actually a really positive question. I think the assumption was, “What does it take from you?” But in this case, it’s given me so much. I’ve learned to get out of the braced, crouched position that much faster. Believe in yourself a little bit more. Trust the people around you and just push yourself and maybe enjoy it more. Because the process can be humiliating, but hopefully, in this case, it did wind up making me a better performer, a more confident performer. And I’ve taken that with me on to other jobs.

Were you going into the studio as Mary, or who were you showing up as when you went to record these songs? 

Hathaway: I didn’t know, man. I didn’t know. I actually called Jack before I went in for my first [session], I’m like, “What do you wear?” And he was like, “Something you wanna sit in.” But I felt like I needed to have something that was a little swaggy — because if I don’t have any energy in my clothes, I think that my sound will be somehow flat. And so I tried to find things that made me feel a little elevated, but that I could be in for eight hours.

Twigs: Like what?

Hathaway: I have this black slip dress and I paired it with this beautiful Saint Laurent vest that I have, and I wore it with these mesh ballet flats. And I brought a big hoodie, but I just remember there was something about the strappiness of it that made me feel like… I love that it was like a nightgown, but it was a sexy nightgown. 

Anne, you’ve called “Like a Prayer” and “…Baby One More Time” the ultimate pop songs. Of Mother Mary’s catalog, which is her ultimate pop song?

Hathaway: It’s not really a pop song, it’s something else, but the song… it’s hard. I love them all… and it was fun, because there’s only seven of them. Each one of them has their own distinct personality. There’s no repeats. I love “My Mouth Is Lonely for You,” because I feel like I could drop it and everybody would stop what they were doing and just start to sway. There’s a song in there called “Dark Cradle” that just turns the whole world into a movie when you’re listening to it. Also I know the dance to it, so that feels really fun to be able to do.

But the song that touches me deeply in that way that you can’t really explain is “Cut Ties.” You only hear a snippet of it in the movie, but that was the most fulfilling creative experience I had recording it. We really went back again and again on that one. And I love that there’s an ugliness to the sound. I was happy for [Mary], because I feel like so much of her pop music was about delivering [for] other people, and “Cut Ties” was really expressing something savage inside of her. It’s probably not one of her most popular tracks, it’s a deep cut.

Anne, now that you know what to wear to a studio and you have these collaborators in your orbit, has it inspired you to keep working on music?

Hathaway: Oh, I feel like I’m more of a guest in this world. But honestly, just what it takes to do all of that, to keep your instrument at its top level, I find that the work I do on films pulls me away from it. The thing that was so beautiful about getting to do Mother Mary is I just pushed everything else that was taking time and my attention – with the exception of my family – off to the margins, and I kept it there for the years that we made this movie. So I could just focus on this.

But the truth is, that unless I fully change careers, I don’t have that level, that ability to offer myself to it. And I do think that it requires that. And also like, I got to work with FKA twigs. I got to work with Jack Antonoff and Charli xcx. I started at the top. What am I gonna do now? I think I’m just gonna quit while I’m ahead.

For more than 30 years, Ivy Queen has held the crown as the Queen of Reggaetón, starting her career in the early ‘90s when the genre was an underground movement dominated by men.

Her first Billboard entry arrived in 1999 with “In the Zone” featuring Wyclef Jean, debuting at No. 38 on the Rhythmic Airplay chart. She’s charted regularly since, landing 20 entries on Latin Rhythm Airplay and nine titles on Top Latin Albums, including three top 10s; and 11 solo entries on Latin Rhythm Albums chart, including eight top 10s and two No. 1s. Ivy’s most iconic song to date, “Quiero Bailar” — where she powerfully sings on how arousal and flirtation don’t translate to consent — peaked at No. 16 on the Tropical Airplay chart and debuted on Hot Latin Songs and Latin Airplay in 2005.

Ivy, who received the Icon Award at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music Awards, will now be honored with the Pioneer Award at Billboard‘s 2026 Latin Women in Music — which honors female artists who have reshaped the music industry, broken barriers, forged new paths and inspired future generations.  

Puerto Rican artist Wisin, who will soon drop a collaboration with Ivy Queen, speaks on the artist’s pioneering career as a force in the reggaetón movement.

Watch Billboard’s Mujeres Latinas en la Música live April 23, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Telemundo, and stream live on Peacock and the Telemundo app. Watch Billboard’s red carpet livestream on the Billboard.com and the Billboard Latin YouTube channel. For more coverage on Latin Women In Music click here.

I’ve been listening to Ivy Queen since I first dreamed of becoming an artist — right from her early days on The Noise (a rap collective formed by DJ Negro). She’s one of those figures who inspired the majority of us artists who made a living from our craft today. She was one of our key role models.

When I was starting out, there weren’t many women in the movement, and Ivy held the title of the woman amidst a sea of men. She was one of those women who rubbed shoulders with a crowd that was 90% male and 10% female — operating within a genre that was entirely dominated by men. She served as the sole female representation within that inner circle, which included artists like Daddy Yankee, Maicol & Manuel and Baby Rasta & Gringo. 

I believe it’s crucial to acknowledge the immense effort Ivy Queen has invested — not only on behalf of women but also in representing a movement that, at one point, was denigrated and rejected by many institutions.

It was people like her who raised their voices to pry open those gates, allowing so many of us to walk through. We owe her a great deal. Many of us are able to make a living through our art today thanks to people like her. What she has accomplished is truly incredible — not just for women, but for the entire urban music genre. 

When Wisin & Yandel first began achieving success, we would cross paths with her at various venues and events; she always treated us with the utmost respect and professionalism. Yes, Wisin & Yandel already have a collaboration with her (“Acércate,” 2010), but there is also a brand-new, unreleased track in the works featuring Wisin and Ivy — recorded in my own studio, La Base. It’s a reggaetón track that absolutely fascinates me — I love it. Ivy Queen delivered a sizzling performance — exactly the way I like it — infused with that classic ’90s rap DNA.

It’s a tremendous honor to be able to call her my friend and to be able to publicly acknowledge everything she has achieved. I do this not just for my own sake, but for the sake of the entire movement — a movement where, for so many years, countless dreamers have been striving to achieve greatness. To this very day, I hold her in the highest esteem.   

Moreover, she’s a very humble person — someone truly from the barrio (the hood). She never abandons her roots. She’s someone who may achieve economic and musical success, but she will always remember where she comes from and the struggles she had to overcome. She represents the hood. I believe that is extremely important — to represent people who perhaps do not have the opportunities that others do. 

Her legacy is undeniable. I believe that all historians — or anyone who follows the movement — understand what she has accomplished over the course of more than three decades. There is no need to say much about Ivy Queen, because her history speaks for itself.

Joe Jonas is a sucker for his girlfriend, model Tatiana Gabriela. We know this because the Jonas Brothers and solo star just went Instagram official by sharing a post and a vlog from their recent trip to Puerto Rico over the weekend.

On Saturday (April 18), the Jonas Brothers band member posted his first proper photo with Gabriela, who is from Puerto Rico. In the black-and-white snap, they pose together inside a photo booth, with the influencer’s arms wrapped lovingly around Joe.

“If you’re seeing this it means my puerto rico YT vid is up now,” he wrote in the caption.

The DNCE frontman’s video heavily features Gabriela, with the pair trying various local drinks and food and exploring Puerto Rico as a couple. “She’s helping me with my Spanish,” Jonas says at one point of his partner. (At the end, she attempts to coach him on phrases with which to sign off the video — and let’s just say he needs all the help he can get.)

Jonas and Gabriela have reportedly been dating since last summer, and the pair haven’t shied away from leaving flirty comments on each other’s posts in recent months. The musician was previously married to Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner for four years, and they share two daughters. In a joint statement announcing their split, the exes wrote in September 2023, “We have mutually decided to amicably end our marriage … There are many speculative narratives as to why but, truly this is a united decision and we sincerely hope that everyone can respect our wishes for privacy for us and our children.”

The former Disney Channel star last released music in 2025, unveiling Music For People Who Believe In Love — his first solo album since 2011 — in May. The project reached No. 24 on the Billboard 200.

He and brothers Nick and Kevin also dropped a new Jo Bros LP last year, peaking at No. 6 on the U.S. albums chart with Greetings From Your Hometown.

Check out Joe’s vlog featuring Gabriela above.

Coachella is legendary for its surprise pop-ins from major stars. But even the most jaded veterans couldn’t help but stomp their dusty cowboy boots when Madonna made an unannounced cameo during Sabrina Carpenter‘s set on Saturday night (April 18). Twenty years after her first performance at the festival in 2006, Madonna performed duets on her “Vogue” and “Like a Prayer” with Carpenter and teased a new song from Madonna’s upcoming Confessions II album.

On the heels of last week’s announcement of a release date for Confessions II (July 3) and the issuing of its first single, the trance-y “I Feel So Free,” the Carpenter cameo got longtime fans excited about a potential tour in support of the new album. But when Variety asked Madonna manager Guy Oseary if the pop superstar is gearing up for her first run of shows since the 81-date 2023-2024 Celebration tour, Oseary was vague on details.

“I’m not sure yet,” the singer’s longtime manager told the magazine after Saturday’s appearance when asked if a tour is in the works. Oseary added that, “I want to see her happy, so whatever makes her happy, I’m all there.” At press time a spokesperson for Madonna had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on a possible Confessions II tour.

While Oseary didn’t confirm any touring plans, he did note that Madonna and superfan Carpenter were the ones who came up with the idea to collaborate at the festival. “Madonna told me that she and Sabrina talked about it,” he said of the performance at which Madonna, 67, wore the same lavender corset and lace-up boots she wore for her 2006 Coachella set in the Dance Tent. “It was not my idea. It was a brilliant idea and I think the core of it is what was shown last night, which is love. Last night was just… I mean, I don’t think my feet touched the ground. It was so beautiful. I loved seeing the joy that she had. It was emotional. That opening was spectacular … It was a really special night and it was our 20^th [Coachella] anniversary.”

Madonna also hinted at the historical nature of her surprise set, telling the crowd during the show, “Twenty years ago today, I performed at Coachella. I was in the Dance Tent and it was the first time I performed Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part I in America, and that was such a thrill for me. So you can imagine what a thrill it is for me to be back 20 years later, so it’s a like a full circle moment, you know, very meaningful for me.”

Confessions II is the sequel to the 2005 fan favorite Confessions on a Dance Floor, which featured such hits as “Hung Up,” “Sorry” and “Get Together.”

Rosalía has spent the last decade redrawing the boundaries of global pop, and now, with Lux — her fourth studio album — the Spanish superstar demonstrates that there are no limits to her artistry. After fusing flamenco tradition with innovative pop architectures on 2017’s Los Ángeles and El Mal Querer the following year, and breaking ground with the audacious experimentalism of Motomami (2022), the Barcelona iconoclast delivers her most ambitious project yet: a heartfelt opus of avant-garde classical pop that explores the intersections of romance, religion and genre. 

Cementing her status as one of the most fearless creators of her generation, Lux has shattered records, debuting at No. 1 across five Billboard charts, including Top Latin Albums and Classical Albums. Rosalía is now the first Spanish-born woman to achieve this milestone in the modern era. And while the accolades are historic, it’s the album’s artful depth — sung in 13 languages and arranged in sweeping orchestral movements — that firmly establishes Rosalía as Billboard’s 2026 Latin Woman of the Year. 

Juanes, one of Rosalía’s earliest champions, shares a heartfelt reflection on his first encounter with the multihyphenate artist, his admiration for her creative evolution and her transformative impact on the world of music.

Watch Billboard’s Mujeres Latinas en la Música live April 23, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Telemundo, and stream live on Peacock and the Telemundo app. Watch Billboard’s red carpet livestream on the Billboard.com and the Billboard Latin YouTube channel. For more coverage on Latin Women In Music click here.

The first time I saw Rosalía was in Madrid. I had flown in for some promotional work of my own, and I ran into Bebe, an incredible singer as well. She said to me, “Let’s go see Rosalía at this theater where she’s performing today in the Suma Flamenca Joven,” a festival where young artists perform flamenco. 
 
I sat down in my seat, and next to me was the dancer Joaquín Cortés on one side and Bebe on the other. Then I started watching this woman, sitting on a stool, singing songs from Los Ángeles. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. To me, it was the most beautiful thing. Joaquín looked like a madman, completely losing it, saying, “I can’t believe this! What is this?” He was totally mesmerized. Bebe was crying, and I was just in shock, completely blown away by watching — but more than anything, listening to — this woman sing. 

Listening to her was what struck me the most. It was such a beautiful revelation: a woman singing like Edith Piaf or [Carlos] Gardel, those kinds of timeless artists who only come around once in a lifetime.

I immediately called Rebeca León, who was my management partner at the time. Rebeca went to Barcelona, met with Rosalía, and that’s where it all began. [León was Rosalía’s manager between 2017 and 2023.]

The first time she performed in the United States was in Los Angeles. I had a concert at the Hollywood Bowl that night, and Rosalía also performed there — I mean, I don’t want to call her the “opening act” because that feels embarrassing for me; I should’ve been her opening act (Laughs.) — but yeah, she sang before us at the Hollywood Bowl. And of course, the audience went crazy. Crazy, just like all of us were from the moment we first saw her.

As a Colombian and a Latin American, for me, flamenco feels incredibly exotic. It has always fascinated me — from Camarón de la Isla to Paco de Lucía and everything in between. It’s just totally mesmerizing. 

When I see a woman like Rosalía singing, coming from Barcelona — which has a completely different vibe — but bringing something modern into the way she sings, while still staying connected to flamenco, it’s impactful. Most flamenco singers, especially women, sing with so much force, with this kind of raw intensity. But Rosalía sings differently. Her voice feels soft, like she’s singing right into your ear, almost like a whisper. That blend of qualities was something completely new for me. 

Then came her album El Mal Querer, and wow, I was blown away. I couldn’t believe it at first; it felt so strange initially, but then I understood it. It was truly beautiful, what she created there. And then she released Motomami, which was completely different — bolder in many ways, but still incredible.

I vividly remember her Motomami world tour. I saw so many clips and performances with punk influences, distorted basslines and this daring energy. And then she released Lux, which was something else entirely. She keeps you guessing — you never know where she’s going next. And to me, that’s the most beautiful thing an artist can do: create something as bold and stunning as this album. It’s just incredible.

I’d highlight Lux because of the daring artistic decisions behind it. Incorporating classical music, opera and a variety of languages from different parts of the world — on one hand, you could call it ambitious. But on the other hand, you just have to stop and say, “Wait, this is incredible. Look at what she’s doing.”

I’ve seen some clips from her new tour — she’s dancing, acting, singing beautifully … I don’t know how to put it, but for me, she’s a truly, truly special artist. And I think whatever she does, no matter the direction, it will always have this impeccable quality because that’s just who she is.

In fact, I’ve even shown my daughters videos of Rosalía from when she was just starting out [at talent competitions]. She would sing off-key, it was awful, she would get mad at the judges. The transformation from that moment to where she is now is absolutely mind-blowing to me. I melt every time I hear her sing. I don’t even need to watch her perform; I’ll just put on headphones and let her music play, and it feels like my soul is crying with joy and emotion. Her voice is so beautiful, so unique … Honestly, very few people are blessed with that kind of gift.

I think her cultural impact has been massive. It’s not just about her music, but everything surrounding it — the fashion, the music videos, the lyrics. Everything matters. I see so many young people, especially girls, who follow her and are inspired by how music can have so many possibilities.

If Rosalía ever doubts anything, it will only be about where her limits are, because I don’t think she has any. She approaches art as a whole, and I find that amazing and so difficult to achieve. But she’s done it, and she’s paid attention to every single detail. I think that’s what truly makes her a singular artist in our time.