Peso Pluma accepts the award for Top Latin Song award at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards Presented by Marriott Bonvoy.
Mike Tyson:
Give it up to the people’s champion, Peso Pluma!
Peso Pluma:
Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thanks, Mr. Tyson for being here. Thank you to all the fans. Thank you for all the love, for the support and I would like to thank the Billboard Awards for having me here.
Thank you very much!
Although the loss of a fan at the first of three scheduled Taylor Swift concerts in Rio de Janeiro left the singer “with a shattered heart,” at the Friday night (Nov. 17) show she had made her acoustic set special when she debuted “Suburban Legends” live.
Swift surprised the crowd with the vault track from 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on piano at the city’s Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos.
The song might be new, but Swifties screamed in excitement from the first line.
Smiling through the chorus as she went through it live for the first time in Brazil, the pop star sang, “I didn’t come here to make friends/ We were born to be suburban legends/ When you hold me, it holds me together/ And you kiss me in a way that’s gonna screw me up forever.”
Before “Suburban Legends,” Swift pulled a song out of her earliest catalog, one that hadn’t been played live in probably 15 years: “Stay Beautiful,” which is on her debut, self-titled album.
“I wanted to play something to honor the fact that so many amazing Brazilian fans have been with me since day one, since the first album,” she said.
“It’s because you, just this crowd, Rio, you’re just so beautiful,” she continued. “And I hope you stay that way.”
Swift’s second concert in Rio de Janeiro was postponed from Saturday to Monday, Nov. 20, due to extreme temperatures. From her dressing room at the stadium, Swift wrote on social media: “The safety and well-being of my fans, fellow performers, and crew has to and always will come first.”
On Friday night, Swift expressed her grief over the loss of 23-year-old fan Ana Clara Benevides Machado, who died the first night of the singer’s Eras Tour in Rio, where temperatures reached 102.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The young woman was treated by paramedics at the stadium after she said she wasn’t feeling well, and later taken to a hospital, where she passed away, according to an Instagram post by concert promoter T4F. The exact cause of Machado’s death had not been revealed at press time.
“I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this. There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young,” she wrote in a statement she released that night. “I’m not going to be able to speak about this from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
See a clip of Swift’s “Stay Beautiful” and “Suburban Legends” performances below.
Nashville songwriter and musician Abe Stoklasa, known for writing songs for Tim McGraw, Charlie Worsham, Chris Lane and trio Lady A, has died at age 38, Billboard has confirmed. He passed away on Nov. 17 of undisclosed causes.
The Princeton, Missouri, native found his passion for music early, playing in his father’s band by the age of six.
“I have always been a musician,” Stoklasa previously told The Shotgun Seat of his musically formative years. “My dad had a little ransom style show in the midwest — we did like 70 shows a year — so from two years old I was singing on the stage. At like six years old my dad threw me in the band as the keyboard player, sink or swim. So that’s how I learned to play music.”
He grew up immersed in the music his father loved — music from 1950s through 1970s — soaking in the influence of Elvis, Merle Haggard, The Beatles and James Taylor.
Stoklasa’s family moved to Tennessee when he was a teen, and he soon enrolled at Nashville’s Belmont University. After graduation, he joined David Nail’s road band as a steel guitar player. He briefly spent time pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music in Coral Gables, Florida — though soon, his passion for doing music, not just studying it, drew him back on the road. He joined Billy Currington’s band for three years, including a stint opening for Kenny Chesney’s 2011 Goin’ Coastal stadium tour.
In 2013, Stoklasa decided to leave the road to focus on songwriting. His writing talents would catch the ears of Nashville mainstays such as Mike Reid (a writer on Ronnie Milsap’s “Stranger in My House”) and Mark D. Sanders (Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance,” Reba McEntire’s “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter”).
Stoklasa was a writer on Chris Lane’s 2016 No. 1 Country Airplay hit “Fix” and crafted songs recorded by Tim McGraw (“Portland, Maine”), David Nail (“Lie With Me”), Billy Currington (“Give It To Me Straight”), Charlie Worsham (“Call You Up,” “The Beginning of Things”), Scotty McCreery (“Here and Ready”), Blake Shelton (“A Girl”) and Lady A (“Ocean”).
Stoklasa told Music Row in 2016, “For a long time, ‘Beginning of Things’ was my favorite song that I was very proud of. I wrote it with Donovan Woods and Charlie Worsham just cut it. It’s so songwriter-y, in that there are two or three levels and meanings to the lyrics that you will not get on one or two listens, which is a fun puzzle to put together. The whole story is made up with some influences in real life, but it was just an exercise in a certain way to be Shakespearean in a way. But I would feel confident handing that to Paul Simon, and I wouldn’t do that with any of my other songs.”
At the time, Stoklasa also expressed his gratitude for artists including Currington, Nail and Kelley working with him, saying, “Billy Currington, he was the first person to care about my songwriting. David Nail is a good friend, we don’t even have to talk about music. We both experienced a lot of firsts together on a tour bus. Charles Kelley has always been like a brother to me. He’s an amazing writer. We’ve written songs other people have cut… and he likes to cut my songs!”
Stoklasa contributed heavily to Lady A member Charles Kelley’s 2016 solo album, The Driver, including “Leaving Nashville,” “Your Love,” “Dancing Around It” and the Grammy-nominated title track, which also featured vocals from Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay.
“Abe was otherworldly,” Kelley said in a tribute posted on his Instagram page. “I always knew his mind moved at a pace I could never comprehend. He was confidence and self doubt all wrapped in one. He frustrated me and inspired me all at the same time. He was a true enigma in every sense of the word, but aren’t the most talented musicians and artists that way? He was a musician’s musician and carried one of the most authentic voices in this town. I’ll never listen to the songs we shared together the same or forget the moments we had onstage and on the late night bus rides. Nashville will never see another Abe Stoklasa. I’ll miss you my soft spoken friend.”
Nail said of Stoklasa in an Instagram post, “He was beyond unique, and beyond talented. He was a true genius. That word gets tossed around a lot these days, but he was the definition! In the early years of me touring, many of you will remember we had a steel guitar player. That was Abe. He could make it sound like anything you needed. He was brilliant. We weren’t meant to be on the road together, and once he left The Well Ravens, we got closer than ever before. I was so proud when he got off the road for good, to focus on songwriting, something that he was a natural at. He immediately became a hit in the songwriting community. His voice? Oh, he sang like a 50 year old. Soulful, and weathered beyond anything I’d ever heard from a 25 year old young man.”
Worsham also offered up heartfelt memories of his friendship with Stoklasa, saying in a social media video, “I first met Abe Stoklasa through Derek Wells, when I was putting a band together to play the Ernest Tubb Record Shop Midnight Jamboree. He was wickedly hilarious and wickedly talented. I’d never met anyone who could play steel guitar and saxohone really well, and who loved Vince Gill and Aretha Franklin with equal depth … he was so principled and so kind and caring.” Worsham recalled that the last time they wrote together, they penned a song inspired by the television series The Golden Girls, called “Dorothy and Rose.” “It was probably the best song I wrote in six months,” Worsham said, “’cause that’s just how good Abe was … I loved him dearly, as we all did, who knew him.”
Fans who tune in to the 2023 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday will see performances by Morgan Wallen, Mariah Carey, Peso Pluma, Tate McRae, Bebe Rexha & David Guetta, Stray Kids, NewJeans and KAROL G. Performances and awards will roll out across BBMAs and Billboard social channels, as well as via BBMAs.watch, on Sunday (Nov. 19) beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Find the full schedule for Sunday below.
The performances will be tailored to each artist. Wallen will perform “98 Braves” from the Braves’ home field, Truist Park in Atlanta, while the country superstar is in the midst of his sold-out U.S. tour.
Carey will give a festive, Aspen-inspired performance of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which will mark the first time the holiday perennial has ever been performed on an awards show. Legendary choreographer (and onetime R&B chart hitmaker) Debbie Allen will oversee creative direction of the sequence.
Peso Pluma’s performance of “Rubicón” will include a special guest appearance by boxing legend Mike Tyson, who is a self-declared Pluma superfan. Over the summer, Tyson posted a video promoting Pluma’s album, Génesis, saying, “Ahhh, it’s my sh–!” when one of the songs started playing.
McRae will make her BBMAs debut by performing her hit “greedy,” which leaps from No. 22 to No. 11 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100. The performance was filmed at the new Moxy Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Rexha and Guetta will perform their global hit “I’m Good (Blue)” and their follow-up “One in a Million.”
Stray Kids will make their BBMAs debut with an action-packed performance featuring two of their hit singles, “S-Class” and “LALALALA.” This will mark the first time “LALALALA” has been performed on an awards show.
NewJeans will perform “Super Shy” and “OMG,” two of their five songs that made the Hot 100 this year.
The lineup includes two K-pop acts (NewJeans and Stray Kids) and two Latin artists (Peso Pluma and Karol G), which says a lot about the increased diversification of the contemporary music scene.
Below, find the full schedule — starting with exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes content at 8 a.m. PT, followed by select winner reveals starting at 2 p.m. PT, performances at 5 p.m. PT, and a Hip-Hop 50 celebration at 8 p.m. PT. Tune in to BBMAs.watch to see it all.
Taylor Swift is the top finalist at the 2023 BBMAs with nods in 20 categories. Wallen and SZA are runners-up, with 17 entries each. They are followed by The Weeknd (16); Drake and Zach Bryan (14); Luke Combs (10); 21 Savage, Metro Boomin and Miley Cyrus (nine each); Beyoncé and Rema (seven each); Bad Bunny and Pluma (six each); and Ariana Grande, Guetta, Eslabon Armado, Karol G, NewJeans and Selena Gomez (five each).
The 2023 BBMAs will honor the year’s hottest names in music determined by year-end performance metrics on the Billboard charts. The program, produced by Dick Clark Productions, will deliver a reimagined award show concept that will entertain fans with music and exclusive content. Performances and award celebrations will take place in global locations, in the midst of sold-out tours, and in custom venues.
In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, the BBMAs and Spotify Fans First have teamed up to identify fans who have consumed the most hours of music over the past year and helped drive their favorite artists to the top spots on the Billboard charts. These fans received a “golden ticket” granting them access to attend a performance curated by their favorite artists, expressly for the 2023 BBMAs.
Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott’s travel program and marketplace, is presenting this year’s BBMAs. Other sponsors include Lexus, who surprised one lucky fan with VIP treatment with a private ride in a luxury Lexus vehicle to the one-of-a-kind performance.
Here’s the full list of 2023 Billboard Music Awards performers:
Mariah Carey
KAROL G
Tate McRae
NewJeans
Peso Pluma
Bebe Rexha & David Guetta
Stray Kids
Morgan Wallen
Taylor Swift has postponed the second night of her Eras Tour concert in Brazil on Saturday (Nov. 18) due to “extreme temperatures” in Rio de Janeiro.
The last-minute delay arrives one day after the death of a fan attending the pop superstar’s opening night at Rio’s Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos on Friday (Nov. 17).
“I’m writing this from my dressing room in the stadium,” Swift shared in a handwritten note on her Instagram Story Saturday. “The decision has been made to postpone tonight’s show due to the extreme temperatures in Rio. The safety and well-being of my fans, fellow performers, and crew has to and always will come first.”
Brazilian concert promoter T4T noted in a statement on Instagram that Saturday’s concert will be scheduled for Monday (Nov. 20). Further information about rescheduled event will be shared through taylorswifttheerastour.com.br.
On Friday night, Swift expressed her sorrow on social media over the loss of 23-year-old fan Ana Clara Benevides Machado, who died after attending the opening night of the singer’s Eras Tour in Rio. The woman was treated by paramedics after she reported not feeling well and was later taken to a hospital, where she died, according to an Instagram post by T4T. The exact cause of Machado’s death had not been revealed at press time.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” Swift wrote on her Instagram Story. “I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this. There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
She continued, “I’m not going to be able to speak about this from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
Many concert-goers complained that they were not allowed to bring in water bottles to the stadium despite a record-breaking heat wave in Rio, the Associated Press reports. Temperatures reached 102.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the city on Friday.
During Friday’s show, her first of three at Rio’s Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos, Swift paused her performance to request water for a group of fans who indicated they needed it.
“There’s people that need water right here, maybe 30, 35, 40 feet back,” the singer said, as seen in fan-captured footage on X. “So whoever is in charge of giving them that, just make sure that happens. Can I get a signal that you know where they are?”
This marks the second time Swift has been forced to postpone dates on the South American leg of her Eras Tour. Just hours ahead of her second show at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday (Nov. 10), the “Cruel Summer” singer announced that the concert was being delayed due to “truly chaotic” rainy weather conditions in the region.
HYBE x Geffen’s The Debut: Dream Academy has announced the final six members of new global girl group KATSEYE.
During the two-hour finale on Friday (Nov. 17) in Los Angeles, it was revealed that the sextet will consist of international members Daniela Avanzini, Lara Rajagopalan and Megan Skiendiel (United States); Yoonchae Jeong (South Korea); Sophia Laforteza (Philippines); and Manon Bannerman (Switzerland).
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“This has been a long journey and an unprecedented collaboration between HYBE and Geffen,” HYBE chairman Bang Si-Hyuk said in a statement. “We are very proud of the results and of all the contestants who joined us in this project. We wish KATSEYE much success as we are sure they will inspire fans across the globe.”
The finalists were chosen for KATSEYE were determined by a combination of early votes and real-time votes during the live finale, as well as evaluators’ scores. The event livestreamed through YouTube, Weverse and Abema. Fans who missed it can watch here.
KATSEYE will now begin working on its forthcoming album, which is scheduled for release in 2024. Three songs that debuted during the finale — “Dirty Water,” “Girls Don’t Like” and “All the Same” — are now available on YouTube.
The process of developing KATSEYE will be the subject of an upcoming Netflix documentary series, set to premiere in summer 2024. The film will be directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Nadia Hallgren and produced by HYBE, Interscope Films and Boardwalk Pictures.
Ahead of Friday’s finale, the top 10 contestants sat down with Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly to reflect on their time in the competition.
“I feel like it’s a bond like no other,” Emily Kelavos said of her relationship with fellow contestants. “Having girls from all over the world is such a special and unique experience, and to be able to share these moments that we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives together has created a bond that’s truly unbreakable. It’s such a blessing to be able to experience it with such amazing girls.”
Watch the full interview here.
ENHYPEN sits down with Billboard News’ Tetris Kelly to talk about their new mini-album ‘Orange Blood,’ making their first songs in English, their collabs with Pokemon and Prada, being in the ‘Baby Shark’ movie, and more!
ENHYPEN:
Hello, we are ENHYPEN, and this is Billboard News.
Tetris Kelly:
Hey, it’s Tetris with Billboard News and for the first time in our studio, I got my friends ENHYPEN. What’s up, guys? I am so happy to have you guys here finally. And I mean, I was at the show the other night, I had the time of my life. So tell me about your first time playing a stadium in the States. How did you feel?
ENHYPEN:
Yeah, first of all, I just want to say the energy was so amazing.
Tetris Kelly:
Well, you talked about their energy — your energy was crazy. There was so much dancing. I think Jungwon, one time you were like on the ground doing choreo and you looked at the camera and I was like, “How do you guys do all of this?” So how was it to concentrate on the dancing, the singing, the fans? How do you balance all of that?
ENHYPEN:
We can perform because of ENGENES’ cheers, ENGENES’ energy. I think we get used to it the more we do it. The cheers really pump us up, and the adrenaline rush keeps us going.
Tetris Kelly:
“Bite Me” towards the end of the show — I love seeing you guys perform that. So let’s talk about that single and how has it been to perform that for the ENGENES?
ENHYPEN:
The fans’ chants were mind-blowing. They were cheering so loudly.
Tetris Kelly:
Tell me Heeseung: How was it to direct the song in studio?
Watch the full video above!
ENHYPEN is fresh off the release of Orange Blood, the K-pop stars’ fifth mini album, and the group sat down with Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly to discuss their exponential growth in the music industry and their love for their fanbase, ENGENEs.
“We had Orange Blood in mind when we dropped our last album, Dark Blood,” member Jungwon explained. “The songs, much like the title, carried a darker theme overall, but Orange Blood has this warm vibe to its name. It reflects our desire to get closer to ENGENEs on a deeper, more personal level.”
About the single, “Sweet Venom,” Jake opened up about writing on the track. “I’m so glad to be part of our album. I thought about some of our old songs and how the lyrics were then, so boom. It just happened,” he shared.
After two sold sold-out shows in Seoul and a Japanese dome tour, ENHYPEN completed the U.S. leg of their Fate World Tour on Oct. 22, during which the singers played to over 85,000 fans, reps say, across seven shows in six cities: Los Angeles, Glendale, Houston, Dallas, Newark, and Chicago. Their previous mini album, Dark Blood, earned the act its highest charting release to date, peaking at No. 4 and spending a total of 10 cumulative weeks on the Billboard 200 in June.
Watch Billboard‘s full interview with ENHYPEN above.
While most music stocks have posted gains over the last two months, or at least have treaded water, K-pop stocks are floundering in the closing stretch of 2023.
Four South Korean music companies — HYBE, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment — had an average loss of 13.3% this week and have fallen an average of 21.4% in the last eight weeks. SM Entertainment has performed particularly poorly, falling 29.4% in eight weeks. Those losses occurred despite a rally two weeks ago after South Korean regulators’ ban on short selling until 2024 sparked a surge in the country’s stock prices.
Elsewhere, music stocks are generally surging in late 2023. Non-Korean stocks in the Billboard Global Music Index have gained an average of 9.1% over the last eight weeks. Only two of those 18 stocks — iHeartMedia and Deezer — have suffered double-digit losses, and 11 of the 18 have posted gains over those eight weeks. Companies’ latest earnings reports have been mostly positive. Stocks also reflect both investors’ enthusiasm for music industry trends and larger macroeconomic trends such as a slowdown in inflation and an expectation that central banks will stop hiking interest rates.
While South Korea’s KOSPI composite index has held steady over the last 8 weeks with a 0.2% gain, South Korean music companies have suffered from a string of headline-grabbing news that appears to have dampened demand for their stocks and eroded what were large year-to-date gains. This week, a Kakao executive was arrested for allegedly manipulating SM Entertainment’s stock price to help Kakao beat out HYBE to become the K-pop agency’s largest shareholder. In previous weeks, K-pop stocks faltered when a member of the group EXO broke away from SM Entertainment, and also when G-Dragon, a member of the YG group BIGBANG, was arrested on charges of illegal drug use.
Even after the eight-week decline, the four K-pop companies have an average year-to-date gain of 20.2%. Non-Korean stocks in the Billboard Global Music Index have an average gain of 6% this year (excluding Madison Square Garden Entertainment, which spun off from Sphere in April).
The Billboard Global Music Index rose 2.6% to 1,426.49 this week, falling just 1.4% shy of the all-time high of 1,447.32 set on July 21. The index has had a remarkable three-week run, gaining 9.3% since Oct. 27 and erasing most of a 9.9% decline since the July 21 peak. Its year-to-date gain stands at 22.1%.
Music stocks outperformed many other major indexes this week. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite gained 2.4% and the S&P 500 improved 2.2%. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 gained 2%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 2.5%.
One of this week’s biggest gainers, iHeartMedia, rose 25.4% to $2.52 after the company announced a multi-year podcast partnership deal with Global, a U.K.-based media company, that will make iHeartMedia’s podcasts available on Global’s podcast player and its digital advertising exchange. Perhaps more importantly, CEO Bob Pittman purchased 100,000 iHeartMedia shares on Tuesday (Nov. 14), according to an SEC filing, at an average price of $2.06 per share. At Friday’s closing price, Pittman’s investment has already gained over 22%.
Abu Dhabi-based music streamer Anghami gained 27.2% to $1.17 — the latest in a series of large fluctuations since September. In October, the company was warned of a potential de-listing for failing to trade above $1. At the time, Anghami shares were trading at $0.82. Over the next five weeks, the share price gained 42.2% without an earnings report, news release or management change that would typically coincide with such a large swing.
Shares of SiriusXM rose 9.7% to $5.08 after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed on Tuesday that it purchased nearly 9.7 million shares with a market value of approximately $44 million. Investors pay close attention to the famous stock picker, who is known for seeking undervalued companies with competitive advantages (Berkshire Hathaway has large stakes in Apple, Coca-Cola, Bank of America and Kraft Heinz, among other public companies). In May, Capital One Financial shares jumped 13.5% on news that Berkshire Hathaway bought a $900 million stake.
Warner Music Group fell 2.6% to $31.81 after reporting earnings for its fiscal year on Thursday. Tencent Music Entertainment, which announced it had reached 103 million subscribers in its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, gained 13.6% to $8.37.
Coming, up German concert promoter CTS Eventim will report third-quarter earnings on Tuesday (Nov. 21).
Heath, the bassist of legendary Japanese rock band X Japan, died on Oct. 29 after a battle with colorectal cancer. He was 55 years old.
The news of his death was announced in a statement issued by the band on Friday (Nov. 19). “His cancer was found during an examination in June of this year. Despite his efforts to battle the disease, his condition declined suddenly in October, and he took his last breath in the hospital,” the statement reads. Additionally, the band notes that Heath’s funeral will be private and attended by immediate family members only, and that his family asks for any visits, donations or flowers to be withheld.
Heath played bass for X Japan from 1992 up until the band’s split in 1997, and reunited with the group in 2007. He was with the group through the releases of albums like 1993’s Art of Life and 1996’s Dahlia. In 2018, the group performed at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
X Japan’s frontman Yoshiki Hayashi also shared a personal statement of mourning to his Instagram page, writing, “He was such a wonderful bass player, a band member, and a wonderful human being.
“Heath and I got closer than ever over this past year,” he continued. “On my birthday last year, he appeared as a guest on my program, and we talked endlessly afterwards in my dressing room. There was also a time after that when we talked on the phone for hours until daybreak. This summer, on August 20th, Heath performed as a guest at my dinner show. How could I have known that that would be my last performance with him? I couldn’t help make Heath’s wishes come true, and for that I feel fully responsible. I apologized to him when I bid farewell.”
Yoshiki’s statement continues, “Speaking as Yoshiki personally, I am so mentally and physically drained, so drenched in sorrow, that I don’t know what to say right now. I feel that if I stop now, I won’t be able to go any further, so I’m immersing myself in my busy schedule. But as the leader of the band, there are still some things that I must do. Heath’s family conveyed his words to me: ‘Don’t be sad,’ he said. ‘Cheer up, and say goodbye to me with a smile.’ Heath also requested that I, Yoshiki, be in charge of his memorial concert. I will discuss this further with his family to make sure that that is accomplished. There are also several things I need to fight for in order to make that happen.”
He concluded, “My story with Heath keeps going on and on. I wish I knew how to express the depth of my feelings here, but first I need to learn how to live with this profound loss. I will have more to say in the future. Thank you for everything, Heath. And may you rest in peace. I hope that someday we can play music together again.”
Read Yoshiki’s full statement here.
