See Photos From ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2024′

It’s not New Year’s Eve until the Times Square ball drops, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2024 celebrated the start of a brand-new year in style with dozens of performances and hundreds of thousands of partygoers gathered in New York City.

Among the night’s biggest performers in NYC were Megan Thee Stallion, who did a medley of “Body,” “Cobra,” “Her” and her breakthrough 2020 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Savage” just after the clock struck midnight ET. Times Square also saw performances from Jelly Roll (“Need a Favor” and “Halfway to Hell,” as well as “Wild Ones” with Jessie Murph); LL Cool J (a final salute to hip-hop’s 50th anniversary with “I’m Bad,” “Mr. Good Bar,” “Phenomenon,” “Rock the Bells” and “Mama Said Knock You Out”);  Tyla (“One and On,” “Truth or Dare” and her breakout top 10 Hot 100 hit “Water”); and Sabrina Carpenter (“Feather” and “Nonsense,” which included the updated outro “Clark is everybody’s favorite di– type/ Make a toast to everyone you dislike/ Balls are dropping everywhere at midnight”).

The show’s Hollywood party included performances from “Barbie Girl” duo Aqua, as well as Billboard Women in Music 2023 Rising Star Doechii; Ellie Goulding; Green Day; Janelle Monae; Loud Luxury and Two Friends with Bebe Rexha; Ludacris; Chic’s Nile Rodgers; Paul Russell; Renee Rapp, with a guest appearance from Coco Jones; and Thirty Seconds to Mars.

Finally, away from New York and Los Angeles, Cardi B performed from Miami, NewJeans performed from South Korea, Post Malone performed from Las Vegas, and Ivy Queen performed from Puerto Rico.

Below, find photos of the performers at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2024.

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Post Malone Delivers Celebratory New Year’s Eve Show At Las Vegas’ Hottest New Resort: 7 Best Moments

At 10:20 p.m. on Dec. 31, the sold-out crowd at Las Vegas’ newest venue the BleauLive Theater At Fontainebleau started to chant: “Posty! Posty!” 

The audience was so encouraging that, as a result of its efforts, the superstar emerged soon after – ahead of the scheduled 10:30 start time – to begin his hits-filled New Year’s Eve show. 

As one of the first artists to headline the relatively intimate, 3,800-capacity space (after 16 years of start-and-stop delays, the Fontainebleau Las Vegas celebrated its long-awaited grand opening in mid-December) – Post Malone made sure to deliver. 

As expected, Posty – wearing jorts and a zebra print top – walked on stage with a red Solo cup in hand, which he promptly tossed into the crowd. The 90-minute set that followed included staples from his signature, vibe-based dance moves and a special guest appearance from one lucky fan, to loads of sparklers and pyro. And come midnight, a confetti cannon helped ring in the new year.

“It’s f—ing New Year’s Eve!” exclaimed Post after warming up with hits including “Better Now” and “Wow.” He then told the crowd he came to Vegas with “the most beautiful musicians in the world,” including a string quartet that helped bring his songs, especially those off his latest album Austin, to life. 

“I just wanted to say how f—ing beautiful and how f—ing special it is to have everybody come out,” he continued. “Let’s kick this new year off bitchin’.”

And thanks to the below moments, Post, along with his thousands of fans in attendance, made sure to do just that.

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Selena Gomez Poses for Cozy Photo With Benny Blanco on New Year’s Weekend

It’s a happy new year for Selena Gomez, who shared an adorable new photo with Benny Blanco on Instagram Stories this weekend.

In the snapshot, the pair appear to be enjoying each other’s company and some fresh air. Blanco has his arms wrapped around Gomez and seems to be giving her a kiss, while the singer holds his arm and leans her head onto him. Gomez gives the camera a sweet smile.

Gomez and Blanco were also seen cuddling up together earlier in the week, in a date selfie.

The singer and actress first confirmed that she and Blanco were dating on Dec. 7, about six months into their romance. In a reply to fans on Instagram, she wrote that he “is my absolute everything in my heart” and that she is at her “happiest” in the relationship.

Gomez soon made their relationship fully Instagram official by giving a spot on her main feed to photos with Blanco, including one in which he hugs her among friends, and one in which she leans back to kiss him.

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Blanco co-produced Gomez’s “Single Soon,” which arrived in August and reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. They also worked together on Blanco’s “I Can’t Get Enough” with Tainy and J Balvin in 2019.

See the couple’s latest picture on Gomez’s Instagram Stories here before it disappears.

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Ed Sheeran & Chris Hemsworth Wield Thor’s Hammer in Singer’s 2023 Year-End Photos Recap

Ed Sheeran is looking back on some of his standout memories of 2023.

On Sunday (Dec. 31), the British pop superstar shared a photo gallery on Instagram with numerous throwbacks of the past year, including one of him and Thor star Chris Hemsworth posing with the superhero’s hammer Mjölnir.

“2023 dump,” Sheeran captioned the carousel. “See ya in 2024 have a good one yeah nice one love you.”

Earlier this year, the “Thinking Out Loud” singer gave Hemsworth a guitar in exchange for the God of Thunder’s famous weapon. The Australian actor documented the trade in a video on Instagram.

“Just an instrumental trade off between two blokes,” Hemsworth captioned the clip in February. “Ed Sheeran I’ll make this guitar sing like no other and you swing that hammer with all your soul.”

The photo dump also included a courtroom sketch of Sheeran’s testimony during his copyright dispute over Marvin Gaye’s soul classic “Let’s Get it On.” In May, a Manhattan federal jury cleared him on the allegations, allowing the star to avoid millions in potential damages.

Other reflective snapshots included Sheeran performing on the Today show, the time he crashed a couple’s wedding in Las Vegas, and numerous behind-the-scenes recording studio images.

Sheeran dropped his latest album, Autumn Variations, in late September through Gingerbread Man Records. The set, produced by the National’s Aaron Dessner, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.

The album arrived shortly after the North American leg of Sheeran’s Mathematics World Tour wrapped at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. The Asia leg of his trek is scheduled to launch in January 2024.

Autumn Variations is the singer-songwriter’s second album this year, following Subtract, which debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums in May. The album also launched at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart, with his largest sales week since 2017.

See Sheeran’s 2023 year-end post on Instagram here.

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Taylor Swift Spends New Year’s Eve Watching Travis Kelce at Chiefs-Bengals Game in Kansas City

What is Taylor Swift doing New Year’s Eve? Cheering on boyfriend Travis Kelce in Kansas City, as the Chiefs take on the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium.

The pop star, who is back at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and making history as the solo artist with the most weeks spent at No. 1 on the chart, was filmed by local fans and media arriving at the game Sunday afternoon (Dec. 31).

Swift, with her hair styled in loose waves, a small braid and side-swept bangs, topped an all-black outfit with the same Chiefs jacket Kelce was seen wearing recently.

‘Tis the damn season for Swift to be in her football era. She was also spotted at the Chiefs’ Christmas game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, with her family by her side.

Although the Chiefs were defeated — leaving Kelce to understandably admit he’s “had better” Christmases — the tight end said on the Dec. 29 episode of his New Heights podcast, “It ended well, with good Christmas cheer and great people. That’s always gonna save Christmas, no matter if you lose to the Raiders or not.”

See Swift’s New Year’s Eve arrival and game reactions below.

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Half of the Billboard 200’s Top 10 Are Holiday Albums

It’s a merry and bright top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated Jan. 6, 2024, as half of the region is populated by holiday titles. The top 10 last hosted five seasonal albums on the Jan. 7, 2023, ranking.

The Jan. 6, 2024, chart reflects the tracking week of Dec. 22-28, 2023.

Leading the holiday pack is Michael Bublé’s chart-topping Christmas, which climbs 4-2 with 78,000 equivalent album units earned (up 11%), according to Luminate. It’s the highest rank for the title in two years, since it spent two weeks in a row at No. 2 on the Jan. 1-8, 2022-dated charts. Christmas was released in 2011 and spent five consecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2011-12.

Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song hits a new peak, rising 8-4 with 64,000 units (up 15%). The album previously peaked at No. 5 a year ago, on the Jan. 7, 2023, chart. The set includes Cole’s classic title track, along with Billboard Holiday 100-charting favorites including “Deck the Halls,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Joy to the World” and “Caroling, Caroling.”

The classic multi-artist holiday album A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector jumps 14-7 — a new peak — with 56,000 equivalent album units earned (up 17%). The album, first released in 1963, previously peaked at No. 8 a year ago (on the Jan. 7, 2023, chart). It first reached the top 10 on the Jan. 8, 2022, chart, when it stepped 11-10. The album, produced by Spector, boasts familiar favorites heard during the holiday season that were initially recorded for the project. Among them are Holiday 100-charting hits including The Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride” and Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and “Winter Wonderland.”

Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas jingles 10-8 with 56,000 equivalent album units (up 7%). The album was released in 1994 and peaked at No. 3 that December. The set houses Carey’s classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which has topped the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart in each of the last five holiday seasons.

Rounding out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 is Pentatonix’s The Greatest Christmas Hits, which vaults 60-10, a new peak, with 51,000 equivalent album units earned (up 147%). The 31-song set is the vocal group’s latest release, and it includes 23 earlier-released holiday favorites, along with eight new recordings.

The Greatest Christmas Hits marks Pentatonix’s 11th top 10-charting set, and its first since its last compilation, 2019’s The Best of Pentatonix Christmas, peaked at No. 7 on the Dec. 28, 2019, chart.

Here’s a recap of Pentatonix’s 11 top 10-charting albums on the Billboard 200, six of which are holiday sets: PTXmas (No. 7, 2013), PTX: Vol. II (No. 10, 2013), PTX: Vol. III (No. 5, 2014), That’s Christmas to Me (No. 2, 2014), Pentatonix (No. 1, 2015), A Pentatonix Christmas (No. 1 for two weeks, 2017), PTX Vol. IV: Classics (No. 4), PTX Presents: Top Pop, Vol. 1 (No. 10, 2018), Christmas Is Here! (No. 7, 2018), The Best of Pentatonix Christmas (No. 7, 2019) and The Greatest Christmas Hits (No. 10, 2024).   

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Jan. 6, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 3, one day later than normal due to the New Year’s Day holiday on Jan. 1. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

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Taylor Swift Surpasses Elvis Presley for Most Weeks at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Among Soloists

As Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) ties up a fifth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated Jan. 6, 2024), Swift also carves out a new piece of chart history.

Swift’s total weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — across all 13 of her chart-topping releases — now climb to 68 weeks, surpassing Elvis Presley for the most weeks at No. 1 by a soloist. He logged 67 weeks at No. 1 across 10 chart-topping albums spanning 1956-2002. Only The Beatles have more weeks at No. 1, with 132 weeks on top, across 19 No. 1 albums in 1964-2001.

Swift’s first No. 1 album came with Fearless, which spent 11 weeks atop the list in late 2008 and early 2009. She followed it with the chart-toppers Speak Now (six weeks at No. 1, 2010-11), Red (seven, 2012-13), 1989 (11, 2014-15), Reputation (four, 2017-18), Lover (one, 2019), Folklore (eight, 2020-21), Evermore (four, 2020-21), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (two, 2021), Red (Taylor’s Version) (one, 2021), Midnights (six, 2022-23), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (two, 2023) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (five, 2023-24).

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Dec. 30, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Dec. 27, one day later than normal due to the Christmas Day holiday on Dec. 25. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

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Selena Gomez Looks Back on 2023 With ‘Moments in Time’ Photos of Sister Gracie & Friends

Selena Gomez is looking back on some of her favorite memories of 2023.

On Friday (Dec. 29), the 31-year-old pop star and actress shared a gallery of fun photos on social media of her little sister, Gracie Elliot Teefey, along with friends including Nicola Peltz Beckham and Sofia Carson.

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“Moments in time,” Gomez captioned the post on Instagram.

In one of the snapshots, the “Single Soon” singer is being sweetly embraced by 10-year-old Gracie at a Disney theme park. Another finds the siblings cuddling alongside each other while in a bed.

Elsewhere in the post, Gomez appears to be sharing a drink with Carson and sticks out her tongue while taking a selfie with Beckham. The two friends both took to the comments section to show some love to Gomez.

Cason commented with three white hearts and Beckham wrote, “I love you so much!!”

Earlier this year, the Only Murders in the Building star shared some special moments with Gracie. In addition to taking her little sis to Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour concerts in Texas and Los Angeles over the summer, Gracie made a cameo in Gomez’s “Single Soon” music video.

“Hi, I love you sissy. Never worry about boyfriends. At. All,” Gracie says on an answering machine in the beginning of the clip.

Speaking of boyfriends, the pop star recently confirmed that she and producer Benny Blanco are officially dating. In early December, she replied to fans on Instagram that Blanco “is my absolute everything in my heart” and that she is at her “happiest” in the relationship.

Although the producer didn’t appear in Gomez’s most recent Instagram post, she did spend one of the last days of 2023 cuddled up with Blanco on an artsy after-Christmas date. She recently shared a photo on her Instagram Story of the couple cozying up at what appeared to be Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy, an art exhibit in Los Angeles.

See Gomez’s latest post on Instagram here.

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Travis Kelce Got This Special Christmas Gift From Taylor Swift’s Brother Austin: ‘He Made Me Feel Like a Child’

Taylor Swift‘s brother Austin got a holiday stamp of approval from the Kelce family this week, thanks to his thoughtful Christmas gift for Taylor’s boyfriend Travis Kelce.

The Swifts spent Dec. 25 cheering on Kelce at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, where the Chiefs played against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders defeated the Chiefs, 20-14.

“The worst, I’m not gonna lie,” Travis said of Christmas on the Dec. 29 episode of New Heights, his podcast with his brother Jason. “I’ve had better. But it ended well, with good Christmas cheer and great people. That’s always gonna save Christmas, no matter if you lose to the Raiders or not.”

Taylor — who currently holds the top four spots on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart — donned a Santa hat featuring her boyfriend’s jersey number, 87, with a red sweater and plaid skirt for the holiday. Meanwhile, Austin went all out in full Santa gear at the game. He accessorized his festive look with a Chiefs scarf.

“It was a full commit,” Travis commented on New Heights. “He killed it.”

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The tight end then opened up about the Christmas present Austin gave him, a gift that made him feel nostalgic.

“He actually made me feel like a child because his gift to me was straight out of the bag, in the Santa sack. He whipped it out and handed me a VHS of my favorite football movie of all time, Little Giants.” Travis said, referring to the 1994 sports comedy.

Check out the moment in the latest episode of the Kelces’ New Heights podcast below.

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Paula Abdul Sues ‘American Idol’ Producer Nigel Lythgoe Over Sexual Assault Claims

Paula Abdul is suing Nigel Lythgoe over claims that the former American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance producer sexually assaulted her while she was filming the competition television shows.

The singer-dancer claims in the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday (Dec. 29) and obtained by Billboard, that Lythgoe sexually assaulted her on two occasions. The first instance allegedly occurred during one of the early seasons of American Idol and the second took place in 2014 when she was in talks to judge So You Think You Can Dance.

Abdul, 61, alleges in the suit that Lythgoe, 74, first sexually assaulted her in an elevator of a hotel where they were both staying while traveling for one of Idol‘s “initial seasons.” It does not state a specific year the alleged incident occurred.

“Lythgoe shoved Abdul against the wall, then grabbed her genitals and breasts, and began shoving his tongue down her throat,” according to court documents. “Abdul attempted to push Lythgoe away from her and let him know his behavior was not acceptable. When the doors to the elevator for her floor opened, Abdul ran out of the elevator and to her hotel room. In tears, Abdul quickly called one of her representatives to inform them of the assault, but ultimately decided not to take action for fear that Lythgoe would have her fired from American Idol.”

Abdul’s complaint claims that Lythgoe sexually assaulted Abdul again in 2014 when she was approached for a judging position on So You Think You Can Dance. The alleged incident took place during a dinner at his home where the two were supposed to discuss her professional opportunities, according to the lawsuit.

“Toward the end of the evening, however, Lythgoe forced himself on top of Abdul while she was seated on his couch and attempted to kiss her while proclaiming that the two would make an excellent ‘power couple,’” the complaint states. “Abdul pushed Lythgoe off of her, explaining that she was not interested in his advances, and immediately left Lythgoe’s home.”

The suit also alleges that Abdul witnessed Lythgoe sexually assault one of her assistants while filming So You Think You Can Dance in 2015. Lythgoe allegedly “pressed himself” against the woman and “began to grope her” without consent, court document states.

The “Straight Up” hitmaker’s suit further claims that Lythgoe taunted her on the phone about his alleged assaults and states that he “clearly knew that his assaults of Abdul were not just wrong but that he held the power to keep her silent.”

In addition to Lythgoe, the shows’ production companies American Idol Productions, Dance Nation Productions, 19 Entertainment and Fremantlemedia North America are also listed as defendants. Abdul is suing the defendants for sexual assault/battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and negligence.

In a statement obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday, Abdul’s lawyer Douglas Johnson applauded the singer and dancer for speaking out publicly.

“It was clearly a difficult decision to make, but Ms. Abdul knows that she stands both in the shoes and on the shoulders of many other similarly situated survivors, and she is determined to see that justice is done,” Johnson said.

Lythgoe said in a statement that he was “shocked and saddened” to hear of the allegations made by Abdul, who he said he considered a “dear” and “entirely platonic” friend, The AP reports.

“While Paula’s history of erratic behavior is well-known, I can’t pretend to understand exactly why she would file a lawsuit that she must know is untrue,” Lythgoe said in the statement. “But I can promise that I will fight this appalling smear with everything I have.”

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