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Billboard is expanding its global footprint in Asia. On Monday (Aug. 9), Billboard announced the launch of Billboard China along with plans for its rollout.
“We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Billboard brand in China,” Billboard President Mike Van said in a press release announcing the news. “We look forward to providing a platform for Chinese musicians to share their art and unique sound amongst a global audience. Today marks the beginning of another exciting chapter in Billboard’s evolution and we are eager to witness the proliferation of new artists shaping pop culture.”
Billboard China adds to the list of the publication’s international editions and music content in Asia, following Billboard Japan and Billboard Korea. Per the press release, Billboard will work closely with local industry partners in China to develop offerings geared toward Chinese music fans. The new edition will additionally aid in bringing global pop music to Chinese fans and expose Chinese artists and music to an international audience.
Billboard China will also launch with the Master Collection, which will serve as a bank of resources from industry leaders such as music critics, producers and artists to deliver a professional perspective on Chinese music.
The first official cover story for Billboard China is set to be published and unveiled later this week and will be shared on Billboard‘s website and social media accounts; the feature story — in addition to a teaser video and portrait pictures — will be shared on Chinese microblogging website Weibo, which has a reported 582 million users.
Shady’s back, and he wants another U.K. No. 1.
Eminem could get what he wants with Curtain Call 2 (via Interscope), which dropped last Friday (Aug. 5) and is well-placed for a run to the chart summit.
Based on midweek sales and streaming data, Curtain Call 2 is the U.K.’s No. 2 album, less than 100 combined units behind the leader, Beyonce’s Renaissance (Columbia/Parkwood Entertainment), the Official Charts Company reports.
Curtain Call 2 is the sequel to Em’s 2005 career retrospective Curtain Call: The Hits, which remains in the Top 20 after 512 weeks on the chart, a stretch that has included five weeks at No. 1.
With Curtain Call 2, the Detroit hip-hop star can extend on his record ten U.K. No. 1 albums to his name, all consecutive, dating back to 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP. No other act in U.K. chart history has ruled the chart with as many album titles in a row.
Meanwhile, Beyonce’s Renaissance leads the Official Chart Update, and is on track for a second week at No. 1, while Calvin Harris is chasing a fifth Top 5 album, with Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 (Columbia), opening at No. 5 on the chart blast.
ABBA’s Gold: Greatest Hits (Polydor) is on the rise following news of a 30th anniversary edition. Gold is slated for the reissue treatment Sept. 23 in several new formats, including special 2LP picture disc. The Swedish superstars’ hits compilation has lived on the chart for a record 1,057 weeks.
Further down the list, metal group Dub War could bag their first U.K. Top 20 with Westgate Under Fire (Earache), their third studio album. It’s new at No. 12 on the midweek chart.
Finally, Neil Young and Promise of the Real is set to start at No. 14 with Noise & Flowers (Reprise), recorded during their 2019 European tour, while U.S. ska outfit The Interrupters could impact the chart for the first time with In the Wild (Hellcat), their fourth studio album. It’s new at No. 17 on the chart update.
The Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday.
Britney Spears and Elton John‘s highly anticipated collaboration “Hold Me Closer” is produced by Grammy winner Andrew Watt, Billboard has learned from multiple sources. The news comes a year after Watt took home the Grammy for producer of the year, non-classical at the 2021 ceremony.
The collab was first rumored to be a “Tiny Dancer” duet, but when Elton John confirmed the team-up with Spears on Monday (Aug. 8) in an Instagram post, he revealed that the song’s title is actually “Hold Me Closer,” a lyric from the singer/songwriter’s 1972 classic. The song’s release date has yet to be announced.
Billboard has not yet confirmed if any other producers or songwriters contributed to “Hold Me Closer.”
While “Hold Me Closer” marks Watt’s first time working with Spears, the songwriter and producer previously worked with John on six songs from the singer’s 2021 collaboration album The Lockdown Sessions, including a new version of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” with Miley Cyrus, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo and Chad Smith.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Watt’s career: He has also contributed to Justin Bieber and DJ Snake‘s 2016 collaboration “Let Me Love You,” Camila Cabello‘s breakthrough solo single “Havana” and Shawn Mendes duet “Señorita,” 5 Seconds of Summer‘s “Youngblood,” Post Malone and Ozzy Osbourne‘s “Take What You Want,” Miley Cyrus‘ “Midnight Sky” and “Plastic Hearts,” Dua Lipa‘s “Break My Heart,” Bieber’s “Peaches” and many more.
Most recently, Watt produced Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder’s 2022 solo album, Earthling, which was released in February. In 2019, Watt won songwriter of the year alongside Ali Tamposi at the BMI Pop Awards.
“Hold Me Closer” will mark Spears’ first new music since her 2016 studio album Glory, which also included the deluxe tracks “Mood Ring,” “Swimming in the Stars” and the Backstreet Boys-assisted “Matches” released in 2020. The collaboration will be Spears’ official return to music since the end of her 13-year conservatorship in November 2021.
“Tiny Dancer,” which was released as a single from John’s 1971 album Madman Across the Water and peaked at No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, was originally produced by Gus Dudgeon. The song has grown in stature through the years and is now regarded as one of Elton’s classics. In 2000, the song was famously featured in a sing-along bus scene in Cameron Crowe’s film Almost Famous.
Billboard reached out to reps for John and Spears for further details.
With Beyoncé’s Renaissance debuting atop the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Aug. 13), it marks the first album by a solo woman to hit No. 1 in over seven months.
The last woman at No. 1 was Adele with 30, which ruled for its first six weeks on the list (charts dated Dec. 4, 2021-Jan. 8, 2022). Notably, both 30 and Renaissance were released via Columbia Records (with Renaissance issued through Parkwood/Columbia).
The 30-week gap between No. 1s is the longest the chart has been absent a No. 1 album billed to a solo woman since a little over five years ago, when there was a 31-week dry spell between Lady Gaga’s Joanne (one week at No. 1 on Nov. 12, 2016) and Halsey’s Hopeless Fountain Kingdom (June 24, 2017).
Notably, between Joanne and Hopeless, two albums whose songs included female performers did reach No. 1: the various artists compilation The Hamilton Mixtape (Dec. 24, 2016) and Pentatonix’s A Pentatonix Christmas (Jan. 7-14, 2017). (Pentatonix is a five-member vocal group act that includes female singer Kirstin Maldonado.)
While no albums billed to a woman hit No. 1 in 2022 between Adele’s 30 and Renaissance, the multi-artist Encanto soundtrack spent nine weeks atop the list. The set boasts an array of female singers who voice their characters in the film.
The last five years at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (from the chart dated Aug. 12, 2017 through Aug. 13, 2022) has been quite male-dominated: Of the 105 different acts that have been No. 1 in that span of time, only 17 were solo women. The other 88 acts were all solo men or male-led groups. (The 17 women who had a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 in the last five years are: Adele, Cardi B, Camila Cabello, Lana Del Rey, Celine Dion, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Kesha, Madonna, P!nk, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood and Summer Walker.)
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The Seekers’ lead singer Judith Durham will be remembered with a state funeral in Victoria.
State premier Daniel Andrews announced on social media that, after speaking with Durham’s family, they accepted the offer of a state funeral to “honor the life and contribution of a true icon of Australian music.”
I’ve spoken with Judith Durham’s family today and I’m pleased they have accepted the offer of a State Funeral to honour the life and contribution of a true icon of Australian music.
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) August 7, 2022
Durham died in Melbourne last Friday (Aug. 5), aged 79, after suffering complications from a long-standing lung condition.
Following her passing, prime minister Anthony Albanese led tributes, describing Durham as “a national treasure and an Australian icon” and a singer who “gave voice to a new strand of our identity and helped blaze a trail for a new generation of Aussie artists.”
A national treasure and an Australian icon, Judith Durham gave voice to a new strand of our identity and helped blaze a trail for a new generation of Aussie artists.
Her kindness will be missed by many, the anthems she gave to our nation will never be forgotten.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 6, 2022
The folk-pop trailblazers became the first Australian act to top the U.K. singles chart when their 1965 song “I’ll Never Find Another You” peaked out at No. 1.
Later that year, they hit the top spot again in the U.K. with “The Carnival Is Over.” In the space of just two years, they grabbed six U.K. top 10 hits, including their best-known track “Georgy Girl,” which was nominated for an Academy Award for original song and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In March 1967, at the peak of their powers, the group performed to an audience of 200,000 — still considered the biggest concert crowd in the southern hemisphere. Also during 1967, they were named “Australians of the Year.”
Durham embarked on a solo career in 1967, and reunited with the band on several occasions, including in 2013, for the Seekers’ 50th anniversary tour. Those best-laid plans, however, took a back seat when Durham suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.
She recovered, and the following year Durham and her bandmates Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley were individually recognized as Officers of the Order of Australia.
The Seekers were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1995, they received the Ted Albert Award for outstanding services to Australian music at the APRA Awards in 2013, and they’ve had a stamp issued in their honor.
