Bruce Springsteen announced Wednesday (Sept. 6) that he’s postponing all his September concerts as he’s treated for symptoms of peptic ulcer disease.

“Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band have postponed all performances currently scheduled for September 2023, beginning with tomorrow’s show scheduled for the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, NY,” a statement on the band’s social media reads. “Mr. Springsteen is being treated for symptoms of peptic ulcer disease and the decision of his medical advisors is that he should postpone the remainder of his September shows.”

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Some of the symptoms of peptic ulcer disease include pain or discomfort in the upper part of your abdomen, feeling uncomfortably full after eating a meal, nausea and vomiting.

The Instagram post also included this quote from Springsteen: “Over here on E Street, we’re heartbroken to have to postpone these shows. First, apologies to our fabulous Philly fans who we missed a few weeks ago. We’ll be back to pick these shows up and then some. Thank you for your understanding and support. We’ve been having a blast at our US shows and we’re looking forward to more great times. We’ll be back soon. Love and God bless all, Bruce.”

Springsteen and The E Street Band had nine dates scheduled this month, starting with Thursday’s show in Syracuse, New York, and wrapping Sept. 29 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

As Springsteen alluded to in his quote, two of the dates are rescheduled Philadelphia shows that were set for last month until the rocker fell ill and moved them to September. “Due to Bruce Springsteen having been taken ill, his concerts with The E Street Band at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on August 16 and 18 have been postponed,” a statement at the time read.

See the new Instagram post below:

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Britney Spears “can’t wait” for fans to read her forthcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, the pop star said in an Instagram post on Wednesday (Sept. 6).

Spears took to social media to plug her new book and share a tidbit about one of her “favorite” performances.

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“One of my favorite performances was with an albino python,” she captioned a clip from her legendary performance of “I’m a Slave 4 U” at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. “I still remember how scared I felt when I was handed this snake and took the stage!!! I talked more about this performance and other favorites in my book #TheWomanInMe. I can’t wait for you to read it on October 24.”

Spears’ debut memoir is a “brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope,” according to a press release from publisher Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

Announced in July, more than a year after Spears was released from a 13-year conservatorship, the book reveals “for the first time her incredible journey — and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history,” per the news release.

The Woman in Me will be available as a hardcover, e-book and audio book. You can pre-order the memoir at various retailers including Amazon (also available on Kindle), Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart and Bookshop.

The pop princess is turning a new chapter following her split from husband Sam Asghari after one year of marriage and six years together. Asghari filed for divorce in August citing “irreconcilable differences.”

Spears confirmed the split last month writing on Instagram, “As everyone knows, Hesam and I are no longer together… 6 years is a long time to be with someone so, I’m a little shocked but … I’m not here to explain why because its honestly nobody’s business !!!”

Pre-order The Woman in Me below. 

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Buy: The Woman in Me (Hardcover) $20.37

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Megan Fox is taking her acting skills to the Outworld. Fox will voice the vampire Nitara in Mortal Kombat 1, NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. Games announced on Wednesday (Sept. 6).

“She comes from this weird realm. She’s a type of vampire creature,” Fox explains in a teaser for the game released Wednesday. “She’s evil but she’s also good. She’s trying to save her people.”

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Nitara is described as a “manipulative vampire” who wants to separate her home from the Outworld, a fictional realm within the Mortal Kombat Universe. The character made its debut in the Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance video game released in 2002.

“I really like her, she’s a vampire, which resonates for whatever reason,” Fox adds with a laugh. “It’s cool to be in the game because I’m not really just voicing [the character], she’s kind of…me.”

The video game will be released on Sept. 19, via Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC. Warner Bros.You can pre-order Mortal Kombat 1 online at Amazon below, click here to pre-order from Best Buy.

Amazon

Buy: Mortal Kombat 1 – PlayStation5 $69.99

Mortal Kombat 1 was announced back in May. Aside from Nitara’s return, the game will feature other “reimagined versions of iconic characters as they’ve never been seen before,” per a news release.

“With Mortal Kombat 1 we are bringing a reimagined universe to the legendary franchise which has captivated gamers for more than 30 years and continues to top itself,” said Warner Bros. Games president David Haddad. “The talented team at NetherRealm Studios continues to push the series forward in bold ways that have consistently expanded the global audience, and we believeMortal Kombat 1 will continue to attract new players as well as thrill our core fans.”

In addition to Mortal Kombat 1, Warner Bros. Game will also be introducing its new Kameo Fighter system, featuring a “unique roster” of partner characters.

Mortal Kombat 1 Standard Edition will be available for $69.99 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The premium edition is $109.99 (it drops on Sept. 14, per Amazon) and Mortal Kombat 1 Kollector’s Edition will be available for $249.99.

Check out a preview of Fox as Nitara in the video below.

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Beyoncé played three sold-out nights at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., over the holiday weekend — and Billboard was there for all three shows.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, we’ve put together a roundtable discussion about the trio of concerts with Gail Mitchell, Billboard‘s executive director, R&B/hip-hop; Cat Johnson, Billboard‘s business development and talent relations manager; along with your two regular Pop Shop hosts Katie & Keith. Katie attended Friday night, Gail and Keith attended Monday night, and Cat attended all three nights and covered the shows (read her Friday/Saturday recap and birthday concert recap now).

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Listen to our full discussion below to hear about all the surprises, all the standout moments, and all the silver, sparkly fashion.

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Zach Bryan takes over the top of both the Billboard 200 albums chart and Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, thanks to his new self-titled album and its breakout track “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves. It’s Bryan’s first No. 1 on both charts and Musgraves’ first Hot 100 No. 1 (and top 10!) too. Plus, Miley Cyrus’ “Used to Be Young” debuts straight into the top 10 on the Hot 100, marking her 12th top 10 hit.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

Final nominees for the 57th CMA Awards will be announced Thursday at 8 a.m. ET. It’s been an exceptional year for country music, with artists like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs dominating the pop and country charts. Newer acts like Zach Bryan and Oliver Anthony Music have seemingly come out of nowhere to top the charts and, in some cases, the national conversation. 

Many of the acts who have broken through this year, like Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson, who swept the Academy of Country Music Awards, don’t sound like anyone who has come before them. 

While it’s easy to predict a handful of the nominees, several of the categories are harder to figure out because in some cases, like new artist of the year, there is such a wealth of talent to be considered. 

The CMA Awards, which are voted on by eligible CMA members, will be handed out Nov. 8. Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning return as co-hosts on the program, which will air live on ABC. The eligibility period for the 2023 show is July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023. According to CMA rules, “singles, albums, music videos and qualified music products for the annual show must have been released or reached peak national prominence during the eligibility period.” 

Below are my predictions for the artist categories. I decided to go young this year, given the strength of some of the artists coming up. 

Spotify is currently testing a feature that would put song lyrics on the app behind a paywall for free users, the company has confirmed to Billboard.

“At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests, some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning,” said a Spotify spokesperson in a statement sent to Billboard. “In keeping with our standard practices, we’re currently testing this with a limited number of users in a pair of markets. We don’t have any further news to share at this time.”

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The Verge was first to report on the test.

The paywall test has been noted by Spotify users in the free (ad-supported) tier for more than a week on platforms including Reddit and X (formerly known as Twitter), with some decrying the move as “ableist” against the deaf community. Spotify did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment on that criticism.

Spotify developers are beginning to test lyrics restrictions for free users (1.2.19)
by u/Hidden_pool_ in truespotify

With the test, Spotify seems to be looking at ways to potentially convert more free users into premium subscribers on the service, which in the most recent quarter reported an 11% increase in revenue from premium subscriptions and 10 million net new accounts — amounting to a total of 220 million premium subscribers. During the same period, the company also reported a 12% increase in ad-supported revenue. Critically, average revenue per user fell 3% in the quarter while operating losses were €247 million ($272.7 million), leading to some disappointment from investors (its stock has since regained nearly all of those losses).

In July, Spotify announced it would institute a $1 price hike for its premium individual plan in North and South America, Europe and Asia following repeated calls from investors and the music industry to do so following price increases by competitors including Apple, Amazon and Tidal. On its July earnings call, Spotify executives said the move would improve the company’s quarterly operating losses through the remainder of 2023.