Inside Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ Event, 4 Out of 40,000 Fans Got COVID-19 Vaccine

Last week, Kanye West held his second album listening event for Donda at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with more than 40,000 ticketed fans in attendance. The event provided vaccinations for those who haven’t already taken the shot to help slow the transmission of COVID-19, and on Wednesday (Aug. 11), a stadium rep told Billboard that four people got a vaccine shot that evening.

The listening event provided Pfizer shots for those in need inside the stadium, and the venue promoted its efforts on social media, offering vaccines in sections 340-347 until 9:30 p.m. Thursday night.

Before the event, the stadium remained active in its attempts to get fans vaccinated. On Aug. 4, the venue announced a two-hour pop-up for Atlanta Falcons fans looking to attend that weekend’s team open practice. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium rep informs Billboard that “about 30″ vaccines were distributed for the Falcons Open Practice and that they “will continue to have vaccines available for Falcons games this NFL season.” From January to June, the sports and entertainment stadium has served as a community vaccination site for Atlanta residents.

On Saturday, a mobile vaccination clinic operated for four hours ahead of Garth Brooks’ concert at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, and only 35 of the more than 70,000 concertgoers took advantage of the chance to get a COVID-19 vaccine, even though they were offered upgraded floor seats to the show to get a shot.

The Donda listening party was West’s second preview of his 10th studio album. The first event took place July 22, and West has since resided in the stadium to finish his latest project. 

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Of 7 Female Collabs Ever Nominated for VMA Video of the Year, Which is Your Favorite? Vote!

The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards announced nominations on Wednesday (Aug. 11), and for the first time in the show’s history, two female collaborations are vying for the coveted video of the year accolade.

“WAP” by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion and “Kiss Me More” by Doja Cat featuring SZA are both up for the honors this year, competing against “Popstar” by DJ Khaled featuring Drake (starring Justin Bieber), “Bad Habits” by Ed Sheeran, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” by Lil Nas X and “Save Your Tears” by The Weeknd.

Besides “WAP,” other all-female collabs that were nominated for video of the year and also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 include: “The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy & Monica; “Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa & P!nk (featuring Missy Elliott); “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX; and “Rain On Me” by Ariana Grande & Lady Gaga.

“Lady Marmalade” is the only all-female video to have won in this VMA category, and the clip from the box-office smash Moulin Rouge! also took home the trophy for best video from a film.

So which award-nominated female collab is going down in history as your favorite? Vote!

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The Weeknd’s Next Album Is Taking Inspiration From These 2 Britney Spears Songs

The Weeknd is taking our breath away with his latest single, and he’s taking inspiration from another superstar on his next project: Britney Spears.

During the Wednesday (Aug. 11) episode of his Apple Music 1 radio show Memento Mori, The Weeknd played “Everytime” and “Toxic” from Spears’ 2003 album In the Zone. According to a description of the new episode, The Weeknd played “a mix of music that showcases tracks inspiring the new Dawn era.”

In addition to Spears, the singer also played two songs by Nas (“Star Wars” and “Thief’s Theme”), as well as tracks by Swedish House Mafia, Kid Cudi, Kanye West and Tyler, the Creator.

Spears’ fourth studio LP contains similar electronic-laced dance-pop flavors to the disco production of The Weeknd’s latest single “Take My Breath,” which could drive the sonic direction of the rest of his new album, the follow-up to his Billboard 200 chart-topper After Hours.

On the Memento Mori episode, The Weeknd announced that he’s nearly finished with the project. “Album is pretty much done,” he said. “Just doing some final tweaks, some mixing notes, additional vocals.”

He previously announced “the dawn is coming” at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards in May, hinting at his next era. “I just want to say the After Hours are done and the dawn is coming,” he said during his acceptance speech after winning the top Hot 100 song award for “Blinding Lights.”

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Kanye West’s Latest ‘Donda’ Event Is Most-Watched Apple Music Livestream Ever

Kanye West’s Donda listening party at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta last Thursday, Aug. 5, set a new livestream record for Apple Music, pulling in 5.4 million viewers, sources tell Billboard.

For context, the total is more than double the current livestream record on Twitch — and approaches the 2020 Primetime Emmys, which pulled in an audience of 6.1 million people across the U.S. last September — making it one of the biggest livestream events in the past year. Sources say the Donda listening party generated over 1.1 million tweets at its peak, outpacing Twitter activity for the 2020 MTV VMAs.

West held a first Donda listening event on July 23 and since then has been living at Mercedes-Benz Stadium while putting the finishing touches on Donda, his 10th studio album. Between the two listening parties, West made considerable tweaks to the album, adding and removing features and entire songs, so it remains to be seen what the definitive version of Donda will sound like once the album is released. After numerous delays, Donda is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

The second event on Aug. 5 also pulled in $7 million in revenue from in-person merchandise sales, sources say. The highest-grossing U.S. tour since 1990 — when Billboard Boxscore began tracking touring data — is Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018, which grossed just under $7 million per show. That number also matches the revenue for the first drop from Yeezy x Gap, West’s new collaboration with the Gap, which former Gap CEO Mickey Drexler told Yahoo Finance generated $7 million overnight when a $200 blue puffer coat was released in June.

The upcoming project is filled with features from a plethora of artists including Jay-Z, Travis Scott, Kid Cudi, Playboi Carti, Baby Keem, Roddy Ricch, and Jay Electronica, among others. West also partnered with Apple-subsidiary Beats on commercials featuring American track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson to announce the album, which a source says have generated over 35 million views to date across platforms. Since the album was announced, it has generated over 6 million tweets on Twitter, sources tell Billboard.

Apple and Beats did not respond to requests for comment.

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Man riding bicycle in Hallandale Beach was killed by hit-and-run driver, cops say

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LA sets goal of 25,000 new housing units for homeless people

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Billie Eilish Leads Trio of Teens at the Top of Billboard 200 — Has That Ever Happened?

Billie Eilish is Happier Than Ever on her latest No. 1 album — but is the Billboard 200 top three younger than ever?

Nineteen-year-old Eilish leads the way, debuting at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart this week with Happier Than Ever, and she’s followed by two fellow teenagers: 17-year-old The Kid LAROI at No. 2 with F*ck Love and 18-year-old Olivia Rodrigo at No. 3 with Sour.

So has that ever happened before? On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Keith takes a trip down memory lane to see if there’s ever been another trio of teenagers in the top three before. Listen to the new episode to hear his findings:

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on Prince’s new album Welcome 2 America scoring the late legend his highest-charting new album in more than a decade and The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber taking over at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Stay.” Plus, we’ve got news about The Weeknd’s latest single “Take My Breath,” new music coming from Lizzo and a very special guest this week, and drama surrounding the 2014 hit song “Bang Bang” from Jessie J, Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande.

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 deputy editor, digital, Katie Atkinson and senior director of Billboard charts 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.)  

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