Rising star Gracie Abrams talks about being starstruck by Robert Pattinson at a show, wanting to write with SZA, loving Joni Mitchell, her stacked girl group line up and more!
Hailey Bieber is heading from the bathroom to the kitchen. Following the success of her YouTube interview series Who’s In My Bathroom?, the Rhode founder launched on Wednesday (April 12) the first season of What’s In My Kitchen?
The six-episode installment features the model sharing recipes for her favorite dishes, including chicken wings and an at-home version of her popular Erewhon Skin Smoothie. “What’s In My Kitchen? was a natural spinoff to Who’s In My Bathroom? because our audience was ready for us to stop eating in the bathroom!” Bieber said in a press statement, per The Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve loved cooking and sharing meals with friends on my social channels for years, and I can’t wait to bring this experience to the fans of our network with OBB and HexClad. Creating new formats and IP for my channel has been really empowering, as my team and I get to truly create everything from concept to screen, and I can’t wait for everybody to see what’s next.”
The show will also give back, as Bieber will source her cooking ingredients from Village Market Place from Community Services Unlimited, which works to “address the inequalities and systemic barriers that make sustainable communities and self-reliant life-styles unattainable,” according to their website. Hexclad will also make a donation to the Accion Opportunity Fund, which allows female-owned and POC-owned small businesses in the food industry to leverage $100,000 in microloans.
Watch the first episode of What’s In My Kitchen? below.
Taylor Swift‘s The Eras tour is taking over Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday night (April 13), which happens to be a school night. That’s why Hillsborough County Superintendent Addison Davis sent out a letter of caution to students, in a language only Swifties can understand.
The letter, which let students know that an absence to attend the concert will not be excused, was filled with references to various Swift songs. “I understand I am the ‘Anti-Hero’ here, and ‘Call It What You Want,’ but ‘You’re on Your Own Kid’ if you think being a Swiftie is a good excuse for missing important instruction,” the note posted to Reddit reads. “You know ‘All Too Well’ you ‘Should’ve Said No’ to attending a Thursday night concert. Especially one from an artist who is known for putting on a three-hour AMAZING show.”
Read the full letter here.
Davis had a similar idea to a Texas legal-service provider named Karen Vladeck, who wrote her own pun-filled letter for exactly what the superintendent was dreading: asking that her first-grader be excused from school to attend The Eras tour. According to Vladeck, the teacher simply responded in all caps, “THIS MADE MY ENTIRE DAY.”
Swift is currently a month into her Eras Tour shows, which she kicked off in Glendale, Arizona. Following sets in Las Vegas and Arlington, the “Anti-Hero” musician is headlining three shows in Tampa on April 13, 14 and 15.
Melanie Martinez notches her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated April 15) as her new studio album Portals bows atop the list – and with her biggest sales week ever. The set sold 99,000 copies in the United States in the week ending April 6, according to Luminate.
Portals’ first-week sales was supported by 21 different physical variants of the album – six vinyl LPs, 14 CDs and one cassette. The audio content across all of the editions is the same – the variations are mostly distinguished by their packaging (including color vinyl editions, alternative covers, a signed CD and four deluxe boxed sets with either a tank top or a shirt along with a CD).
Also in the top 10 of the Top Album Sales chart: Super group Boygenius arrives at No. 2 with its first full-length album, The Record; xikers debuts at No. 7 with House of Tricky: Doorbell Ringing – The 1st Mini Album; Tyler, the Creator’s former No. 1 Call Me If You Get Lost leaps 49-8 after it was reissued with additional tracks and Polyphia’s Remember That You Will Die – released in 2022 – re-enters the chart at No. 10 after its vinyl LP release.
Plus, Taylor Swift’s chart-topping Midnights has seen a 25% sales gain in the three weeks since her Eras Tour launch.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Boygenius’ The Record bows at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 53,000 copies sold – with 85% of that sum (45,000) on vinyl. It was available in eight different-colored variants, including exclusives for indie stores, Target and Urban Outfitters.
Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. dips 2-3 in its second week (25,000 sold; down 71%. Jimin’s FACE falls 1-4 in its second week (20,000; down 84%).
Swift’s Midnights rises 9-5 with 14,000 copies sold in the latest tracking week (up 13%). In the three tracking weeks since her Eras Tour launch on March 17, Midnights has sold 39,000 copies in the U.S. – a 25% gain compared to its sales in the three weeks leading up to the tour kickoff (31,000).
TWICE’s former No. 1 Ready to Be: 12th Mini Album rises 7-6 with 13,000 (down 15%). Xikers starts at No. 7 with House of Tricky: Doorbell Ringing – 1st Mini Album (12,000).
Tyler, the Creator’s chart-topping Call Me If You Get Lost rebounds 49-8 with 11,000 sold (up 302%) after the album – first released in 2021 – was reissued on March 31 with eight previously unreleased songs. The set was reintroduced to retail as both a digital download album and a CD (the latter was exclusively sold through the artist’s webstore).
TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s former leader The Name Chapter: Temptation bumps 10-9 with nearly 11,000 sold (down 4%) and Polyphia’s Remember That You Will Die re-enters the chart at No. 10 with nearly 10,000 sold (up 4,127%) following its vinyl LP release. The album, released last October, previously debuted and peaked at No. 6 (Nov. 12, 2022-dated chart) from sales generated by its digital download, CD and cassette formats.
In the week ending April 6, there were 2.110 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 3.9% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.774 million (down 1.6%) and digital albums comprised 336,000 (down 14.7%).
There were 731,000 CD albums sold in the week ending April 6 (up down 7.6% week-over-week) and 1.031 million vinyl albums sold (up 3.4%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 9.075 million (up 3% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 12.561 million (up 27.8%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 26.749 million (up 9.2% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 21.774 million (up 16%) and digital album sales total 4.975 million (down 12.9%).
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BLACKPINK made music-festival history during their Coachella 2019 performance as the first female K-pop group to play at the iconic festival. Four years later, the quartet set a new standard entirely with a headlining slot at the Indio, Calif., fest.
Alongside Bad Bunny and Frank Ocean, BLACKPINK reign as one of the three main headliners for Coachella 2023 and the main musical affair for day 2 of both festival weekends on Saturday, April 15 and 22. While 2019 saw the act less than three years into their journey together for their Coachella debut with two EPs, Jennie‘s “Solo” debut and a handful of singles, the BLACKPINK ladies now boast two full-length albums, solo music from each member and multiple world tours to draw on for experience.
Ahead of the meaningful moment this weekend, each BLACKPINK member reflected with Billboard about their first performance in 2019, their feelings about playing in the desert this time and more.
While Jennie wowed with her group and “Solo” performances at Coachella in 2019, the singer-rapper says her anticipation of returning to the festival stage surpasses any butterflies.
“We’re so excited and honored to be able to return to Coachella as headliners,” The Idol star says. “We had the best time in 2019 and can’t wait to experience the energy of the audience again. There are some nerves, but more than anything, we’re just ready to have fun.”
Rosé says she’s still coming to terms with the opportunity to come back as headliners but recalls how substantial their first performance was in fueling the quartet’s ambitions.
It feels absolutely unreal,” the “Gone” singer-songwriter says. “I think performing for Coachella in 2019 was a moment that really woke us up as BLACKPINK—to be motivated, to dream on and dream big. But we never expected anything as big as being the headliner of a festival we’ve all grown up admiring and hoping someday we could find ourselves in the crowd of.”
Fresh off her solo debut with “Flower,” Jisoo says with a laugh how “it’s always so happy to meet BLINKs up close” before adding, “2019 Coachella was full of fascination and excitement, but we have no clue how 2023 Coachella will be. We try all the time to show a new side of ourselves for each stage to repay the love from BLINKs. It is an honor to perform as a headliner for Coachella festival; we want to show our improvement as BLACKPINK on stage — and will — so, stay tuned.”
Despite the hundreds of thousands that attend Coachella, BLACKPINK’s youngest member Lisa says she’s sticking to the group’s mantra when approaching any performance, including anything unique for this weekend.
“Our motto is to enjoy every stage and moment, ‘as if it’s the last,’ [by] interacting with the audience by energy and doing our best while performing,” the “Money” superstar says while referencing a beloved BLACKPINK single from 2017. “We’re working hard on various performances for 2023 Coachella; look forward to it!”
While Rosé also wants to keep the focus on simply returning to the stage, she and her band mates know they must meet the moment. “We’re honestly just excited to be back at Coachella performing, period, but the deal here is—we’re headlining,” she explains. “We feel honored for this opportunity as much as we feel the immense responsibility. We’ll be bringing something fun to the table.”
After photographers snapped Jisoo and Lisa leaving for the U.S. from South Korea’s Incheon International Airport together earlier this week, the members have stayed relatively quiet – both from public view and on their social media – as they put in final preparations for Weekend 1.
Jisoo closes by saying, “Hope you enjoy 2023 Coachella with BLACKPINK,” before Jennie signs off with, “See you in the desert!”
Mariah Angeliq opens up to our R&B / Hip-Hop reporter Neena Rouhani about the success of her tracks ‘Ricota’ and ‘Perreito’, being named after Mariah Carey, her love for Ivy Queen, and more!
