Calling all RBD fans! The Mexican pop group has unleashed their new single “Cerquita De Ti,” which comes just days before kicking off its highly anticipated reunion tour on Aug. 25 in El Paso, Texas.

The track starts off with a melancholic piano note that then meets a subtle dembow beat for an explosive fusion of sounds. The title of the song translates to “close to you,” which perfectly captures RBD’s long-awaited reunion. “So great that we meet again, nobody believed us but we did it. It’s been hard but we’re here … You know I’ll always be close to you,” they sing.

After splitting in 2008, RBD — comprised of Anahí, Dulce María, Christian Chavez, Maite Perroni and Christopher von Uckermann — announced their comeback tour in January confirming stadium and arena shows in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil.

“There’re cycles in life and each one of us had to focus on our careers as actors and musicians and that meant we had to give those projects time, energy and a lot of dedication,” Perroni previously told Billboard. “It also allowed each one of us to grow professionally and personally. Now, the time [for the reunion] is perfect because we’re now more conscious, more mature, we’ll enjoy it from a different perspective now as adults.”

Earlier this week, Billboard announced that RBD’s Maite Perroni, Christian Chávez and Christopher von Uckermann will be part of the 2023 Latin Music Week, set to take place Oct. 2-6 at the Faena Forum in Miami. The three RBD members will take center stage to share how their reunion tour came to fruition. This RBD marquee appearance follows another first as this month, all five members will sit down with Billboard and Billboard Español for their first interview as a group. Purchase tickets to Latin Music Week here.

Below, stream RBD’s “Cerquita De Ti.”

Lizzo’s Big Grrrls dance crew have officially spoken out in support of the singer amid a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by her former dancers.

“We had the time of our lives on The Special Tour. We have been so honored to share the stage with such amazing talent,” reads the statement posted to the Big Grrrls Instagram page on Thursday (Aug. 17). “The commitment to character and culture taking precedence over every movement and moment has been one of the Greatest lessons and Blessings that we could possibly could ask for.”

The lengthy note, which thanks Lizzo for “shattering limitations and kicking in the door way for the Big Grrrl & Big Boiii Dancers to do what we love,” continues: “You have created a platform where we have been able to parallel our Passion with a purpose! Not only for Us, but for Woman and All people breaking barriers.”

The note is signed from “the Big Grrrls and Big Boiiis,” so it is unclear which of the dancers are included in the supportive message.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Los Angeles by dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, accuses Lizzo (real name Melissa Jefferson) and her Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc. of a wide range of legal wrongdoing and included dozens of pages of detailed factual allegations.

In one allegation, the lawsuit claims that Lizzo pushed the dancers to attend a sex show in Amsterdam’s famed Red Light District and then pressured them to engage with the performers. The lawsuit also detailed alleged outbursts by Lizzo, including an “excruciating re-audition” in April after she accused the dancers of “drinking alcohol before shows”; one dancer claims the ordeal continued for so long that she wet herself because she feared she would be fired if she left the stage. The case also claims Lizzo repeatedly told dancers “none of their jobs were safe” and raised “thinly veiled concerns” about a dancer’s weight gain.

Lizzo denied the claims in a response shared to Twitter, calling them “false allegations” and “sensationalized stories.”

“I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days,” Lizzo wrote. “I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not.”

See the full statement from the Big Grrrls’ Instagram account below.

After news of the death of legendary music executive Jerry Moss on Wednesday (Aug. 16), many of the artists he worked with over the decades shared remembrances and tributes.

Moss worked closest with Herb Alpert, with whom he co-founded A&M Records in 1962 as an independent music company. The label was behind classic albums such as Alpert’s Whipped Cream & Other Delights, Carole King’s Tapestry and Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive!, among many others. Alpert shared this simple statement with Billboard on Wednesday: “I never met a nicer, honest, sensitive, smart and talented man then my partner Jerry Moss.”

Frampton shared his reaction to the news on X (formerly Twitter), writing in part, “Jerry was a true gentleman and if it weren’t for him, so many lives might have turned out very differently.”

Below, find tributes from Amy Grant, Quincy Jones, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (which inducted Moss and Alpert in 2006) and more.

Amy Grant: “My first awareness of A&M Records was seeing the iconic logo on the inside of a Carole King record. A&M Records was known by all to be the “artist label” and it was a dream come true when they signed me. In getting to know Jerry Moss over the years, I was amazed by the breadth of his interests. Whether it was music, horse racing or trekking thru Africa, excellence defined everything in which he invested his talents and passions. Jerry – I will remember you.”

Herb Alpert: “I never met a nicer, honest, sensitive, smart and talented man then my partner Jerry Moss.”

Peter Frampton: “I am so sorry to hear Jerry Moss has left us. Jerry was a true gentleman and if it weren’t for him, so many lives might have turned out very differently. He loved great music and went out of his way to make a place where artists could find themselves and create with his lovely encouragement and patience. I love you, Jerry, and my thoughts are with wife Tina and the entire family. Rest now my dear friend.”

Quincy Jones: “Jerry Moss was the consummate music man, [whose] love of all genres of the art-form was unabashed. That was why when I decided to get off the soundstage and back into the recording studio in 1969, I knew there was only one record label for me to go to that would give me the creative freedom that I was seeking, and that record label was A&M with Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. In my almost 70 years in the music business, I can say without a doubt that my time at A&M was one of the most artistically and professionally fulfilling times of my life and I attribute that in large part to the environment that Jerry created on that hallowed ground that was A&M Records. His spirit will live on forever through the great records that he helped bring to the world.”

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: “In Memoriam: 2006 Inductee Jerry Moss founded A&M Records in 1962 with partner Herb Alpert and led it to become the most successful independent record company in history. The company’s legendary culture focused on the artist first and became a home for many innovators to thrive, including fellow Inductees Janet Jackson, Quincy Jones, Cat Stevens, Carole King, The Go-Go’s, and the Police.”

The Music Center: “The Music Center mourns the loss of Jerry Moss, co-founder of A&M Records, who passed away on Tuesday. Jerry was an incredible inspiration for artists and had a keen ability to help them explore and hone their craft. His remarkable talent and his partnership with Herb Alpert led to the creation of one of the record industry’s most successful labels. The Music Center is very grateful for the longstanding support of Tina and Jerry Moss and honored to name our expansive plaza as Jerry Moss Plaza in 2020. Jerry was dedicated to giving back to the community by supporting arts experiences that resonate in the hearts and minds of all Angelenos and meaningfully impact their lives. His artistic influence and business savvy, along with the opportunities he provided for numerous extraordinarily talented artists, changed the course of music forever. That was his gift to us all. We offer our heartfelt sympathies to Tina and the entire Moss family.”

Bradley Cooper is stepping into the producer and director’s seat for Netflix’s Maestro, in which he stars as American conductor and cultural icon Leonard Bernstein. The film, which details the lifelong relationship between Bernstein and wife Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein — played by Carey Mulligan — released its first trailer this week.

The trailer starts out with Bernstein and Montealegre sitting back to back in the middle of a grassy field, playing a number-guessing game. After shouting out multiple wrong numbers, Montealegre suggests the budding star “try to just concentrate.” Bernstein quips, “Maybe I should stop and think for a second,” to which she replies, “You should stop and think because I am sending it to you … oh, we need to build up a very strong connection.”

Scenes from Bernstein’s life then play in succession, from him falling in love with Montealegre and conducting a young choir, to receiving high praise from people within the music industry and having extramarital affairs with men. The trailer concludes with the pair walking with their hands wrapped around each other toward an area surrounded by trees.

Following the trailer’s arrival, Cooper and the film received some backlash for the prominence of the prosthetic nose Cooper wears, with some claiming it to be an anti-Semitic costuming choice. “The genuinely insane part is that standard pre-prosthetic Bradley Cooper looks much more like the historical Leonard Bernstein than the film version,” one Twitter user wrote. Another added, “This isn’t about making a non-Jewish actor look more like Leonard Bernstein; it’s about making a non-Jewish actor look more like a Jewish stereotype.”

Bernstein’s three children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein, chimed in on the discourse, stating that they were largely included in the process of the film. The family additionally stated that their father would likely not have an issue with the use of a prosthetic nose being used to bring his character to life.

“It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts. It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose,” the children shared in a statement posted to Instagram. “Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well. Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch — a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father.”

Maestro is scheduled to arrive Dec. 20 on Netflix and will be shown in select theaters starting Nov. 22. The film will premiere at the New York Film Festival on Oct. 2 at David Geffen Hall, where the New York Philharmonic, which Bernstein led for over a decade, plays.

Watch the trailer for Maestro in the video above, and see comments about Cooper’s appearance — as well as the statement from the Bernstein family — below.

Chris Daughtry could have been a member of Aerosmith.

The American Idol star joined The Dave Rickards Podcast as a guest recently, per Blabbermouth, where he shared a story in which he was approached by Aerosmith’s Joe Perry during a tough time when it appeared as though frontman Steven Tyler might leave the band. “I get this random call from Joe Perry. Joe Perry and Steven were apparently at odds with each other. It was all in the news; this isn’t private information,” Daughtry recalled, adding that Perry called him.

“I’m, like, ‘First of all, I didn’t know Joe Perry had my number. This is incredible.’ I thought it was a joke at first, but he didn’t even take time to, like, ‘How’re you doing?’ He just went into his reason for calling me,” he continued. “‘And I don’t know what Steven’s doing, but we wanna work. How would you feel about hitting the road with us? You’ve got some cool songs we could play too.’”

Daughtry said he was “speechless” at the offer, ultimately declining. “First of all, I don’t consider myself any caliber of singer that Steven Tyler is as far as I would not be able to tackle those songs the way Steven Tyler tackles him,” he said. “He is irreplaceable, in my mind. Furthermore, Steven Tyler’s alive. This whole fear of pissing off one of my heroes was just looming, and I was, like, ‘There’s no way I can do this, Joe.’”

Listen to the full podcast below.