Lemon City is an ancient neighborhood by Miami standards. Named after the unusually sweet lemon trees that grew in the area, it was home to one of the county’s oldest … Click to Continue »
It was a Hot Girl Fall for concertgoers at the first weekend of ACL Fest 2021, where Megan Thee Stallion’s set welcomed a surprise guest: Miley Cyrus.
Miley rushed onto the stage to dance with Meg, and the pair shared a hug in front of the crowd.
“Dreams DO come true! Me & @theestallion doing hot girl s—!” she posted on Instagram, where she uploaded a video clip from the Friday’s (Oct. 1) show.
“Love youuuu,” Megan wrote back.
“ACL WEEKEND 1 was Maybbbbe just A LITTLE TOOOOO ICONIC!” Cyrus said in another post that included clips from her own performance (and a video of Shawn Mendes singing along).
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is taking places over two weekends, Oct. 1-3 and Oct. 8-10, at Austin’s Zilker Park. See the full lineup here.
Watch the fun footage Cyrus shared from Austin City Limits below.
From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
J Balvin Radio
For SiriusXM, J Balvin has curated an exclusive two-week, limited edition channel featuring anecdotes from the making of his album Jose. He’s also flaunting his radio host abilities with two original shows, “Head Bang with Jose,” where he will feature some of his favorite rock tunes, and “La Hora Rumbera,” where he will feature classic tropical tunes. Part of SiriusXM and Pandora’s Small Stage Series, an exclusive Balvin performance will air at 10 p.m. ET on Oct. 13 via satellite and on the SXM App. J Balvin Radio will be available from Oct. 7-14 on the SiriusXM App and via satellite on channel 104.
Red Table Talk Returns
Red Table Talk returned to Facebook Watch with an emotional episode called “Betrayed by Trusted Adults.” Co-hosted by Gloria, Lili and Emily Estefan, the new episode featured special guest Clare Crawley, the first Latin Bachelorette. Both Crawley and Gloria opened up about their personal traumatic experiences of being molested in their childhood. In addition to the powerful conversation, Dr. Ramirez detailed the warning signs to identify abuse in children.
Blessd’s First Tour
Colombian newcomer Blessd announced his first-ever international tour, Hecho en Medellin, kicking off Nov. 4 in Europe. Throughout the fall, the former Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise will visit cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Zurich, Milan, Rome and Paris, among others. “God is rewarding us with these new triumphs that we are getting little by little, and without a doubt, Europe will mark a before and after in my career,” he expressed in a statement.
Nathy Peluso’s Daddy Yankee Cover
This week, the Argentine-born rapper Nathy Peluso dropped her version of Daddy Yankee’s 2010 “La Despedida.” As part of her Spotify Singles, where she also shared another version of her female salsa anthem “Mafiosa,” Peluso gave the timeless reggaeton hit a hip-hop and pop twist. “‘La Despedida’ is a classic that I’m proud to revisit,” she said in a press statement. “I really admire Daddy Yankee and I’ve always loved the lyrics, the harmonies, and the rhythms of the song.” Peluso’s cover comes on the heels of her four nominations at the 2021 Latin Grammys.
Chris Perez Partners With PETA
Chris Perez joined PETA’s new campaign to remind people that animals can die of heatstroke inside parked cars in as little as 15 minutes. “That connection I feel with dogs is something special to me. I consider them as part of the family,” the former Selena y Los Dinos guitarist said in the clip. “When I hear about a dog [who] gets left in a car, it’s really upsetting. It’s sad. It happens so fast.” In the one-minute video, he also encouraged pet owners to take the right measurements or leave them at home. For more information, visit www.peta.org.
Harry Styles confirmed the meaning of his hit ‘Watermelon Sugar’ on stage Friday night (Oct. 1).
“It doesn’t really matter what it’s about,” Styles began at one of his Nashville concerts, attempting to leave things somewhat up for interpretation before stating that “Watermelon Sugar” is about “the sweetness of life … It’s also about the female orgasm.”
“But that’s totally different. It’s not really relevant,” he added. Delighted fans caught the “Watermelon Sugar” introduction on video at the show.
Styles shared that “Watermelon Sugar” tidbit while starting to sing the Grammy-winning, chart-topping track from Fine Line with the audience’s help. “Watermelon Sugar” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020, becoming Styles’ first song to do so.
Previously, when asked about the song’s sensual undertones — Apple Music’s Zane Lowe once made a reference to “the joys of mutually appreciated oral pleasure” — Styles had simply responded, “Is that what it’s about? I don’t know.”
His rescheduled Love on Tour trek has been one brimming with live music and memorable moments — like the time he helped a pregnant fan reveal the sex of her baby in front of the crowd earlier this week, and the time he gave some golden dating advice to a fan at a show in September.
Check out the clip of Styles talking about the meaning of “Watermelon Sugar” below.
TLC’s T-Boz is recovering from an allergic reaction that has forced the group to reschedule shows on their Celebration of CrazySexyCool Tour.
“TLC has rescheduled the Saturday, October 2nd show at the Smart Financial Center in Houston, TX to Monday, October 4th,” read a notice posted on TLC’s Twitter account on Saturday.
The note explained the circumstances: “Due to extreme cigarette and recreational smoke being present backstage at a previous show, T-Boz suffered an allergic reaction. The group has always enforced a strict no smoking policy at their shows in an effort to prevent any health related issues for the group and/or crew.”
The venue announced on Twitter that “all previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new date.”
Later Saturday night, TLC announced a second show had been postponed: “TLC has rescheduled the Sunday, October 3rd show at the Pavilion at Toyota Music in Irving, TX to Tuesday, October 5th. We are so excited to see all our TLC fans there!!!”
T-Boz (Tionne Watkins) and Chilli (Rozonda Thomas) have been on the road with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony since early September.
The trek comes nearly 27 years after the release of their classic 1994 album CrazySexyCool, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and featured four Billboard Hot 100 top 5 hits, including the No. 1s “Creep” and “Waterfalls.” (TLC’s third member, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, died at age 30 in a car crash in 2002.)
“We love what we do until this day,” Chilli told Billboard in an interview ahead of the tour.
See the tour dates on TLC’s website, and read their updates below.
On Friday (Oct. 1), a project dropped on Netflix that is unlike any other: Diana: The Musical. What sets it apart is not just that it tells the story of the late Princess of Wales’ life through song and dance, although that is certainly a unique approach. It’s also the way in which it is being released to the world.
“It’s the first time a play is opening on Netflix before opening on Broadway,” explained Frank Marshall, one of the producers of the show and the film, in an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Friday while en route to the film’s premiere — complete with tea — at the Crosby Street Hotel in New York. “That’s never happened before.”
Diana: The Musical was one of the dozens of Broadway projects derailed when the pandemic shuttered the Great White Way on March 12, 2020. “We were in previews,” says Marshall. “We had done nine previews, and we were due to open in 10 days, but we shut down on the 12th. Of course, back then, we thought it was going to be for two weeks or something, not 18 months.”
Before long, Marshall and his collaborators got restless. He recalls, “It seemed to me, as a movie producer, we’ve got the sets, and we’ve got the cast ready to go — everything was kind of in place at the theater. And it had just been announced that Hamilton [the filmed version for Disney+] had been moved up a year. I thought, ‘Maybe we could try to do this ourselves.’ So Beth [Williams, one of Marshall’s Broadway partners] and I called [Come from Away Tony winner] Chris Ashley, our director, and he said, ‘I’m in.’ And then I called Netflix.”
The streamer signed on, and then it was up to Marshall and his team to carry out a safe shoot. As it turned out, his work as a producer of major motion pictures helped him to prepare. “At that same time,” he says, “we were trying to get Jurassic World: Dominion back up and running in London, so I was able to learn from that experience how to film in COVID times.”
The Diana shoot took place over four days in September 2020. Marshall emphasizes, “It really wasn’t what’s called ‘live capture,’ which Hamilton was, because we didn’t have an audience. We shot it much more like a film. We were able to put the camera in the right places and not have to shoot around the audience, and we didn’t have reaction shots, we didn’t have to wait for applause or anything, so Chris Ashley designed into the show cinematic transitions. It’s much more like a movie.”
Marshall says the experience of filming Diana has convinced him to pursue a similar course with future theatrical productions, even if or when COVID is no longer a consideration.
“This is a way to reach a broader audience with a Broadway show,” he argues. “I don’t think it competes at all with the stage version; I think they actually help each other. We saw that with Hamilton and even, looking back, Chicago. The movie Chicago didn’t impede the Broadway production at all. It actually helped. And they also saw ticket sales on Hamilton go up after the Disney+ release. So I just think of it as another way to see things. Now, millions of people around the world get to see our show.”
But will they check out another project about Princess Diana coming off of an Emmy-winning season of Netflix’s The Crown in which she figured prominently or with Pablo Larrain’s film Spencer, which centers on the late princess, currently rolling out on the film fest circuit? “Well, she was an amazing woman, and there’s a lot of ways to celebrate her life, and we’re one of them,” Marshall says. “She’s fascinating, and I think the public is really interested in seeing behind the curtain.”
Diana: The Musical is on Netflix now. Broadway previews will resume on Nov. 2 with opening night on Nov. 17.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
The U.S. government announced on Friday that registration for the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program for Fiscal Year 2023 (DV-2023), popularly known as the visa lottery, will officially open up next … Click to Continue »
A Florida Keys man involved in a head-on collision with an ambulance on the Seven Mile Bridge Monday was arrested Friday on an auto theft charge. Monroe County Sheriff’s Office … Click to Continue »
People 65 and older and other high-risk groups can now get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine booster at all of the drive-thru and walk-up sites run by Miami-Dade County. “The booster is … Click to Continue »
After Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany received backlash for posting photos of her kids wearing anti-President Biden T-shirts, the country star took to Instagram to defend his family and his beliefs.
“I will never apologize for my beliefs or my love for my family and country,” Aldean wrote Thursday alongside a photo of his silhouette in front of an American flag. “This is the greatest country in the world and I want to keep it that way. #unapologetic #phoenixwasfire”
The singer’s statement comes after Brittany Aldean posted a photo wearing a shirt that reads “Anti Biden Social Club,” while another picture showed the couple’s children, 4-year-old son Memphis and 2-year-old daughter Navy, wearing black shirts emblazoned with the message “Hidin’ From Biden.” Though Aldean himself was not pictured wearing anti-Biden clothing in the photos, he did comment on a photo of his son wearing one of the shirts, writing, “My boy!”
When one Instagram user accused Brittany of using the couple’s children as “political props,” Aldean also defended his family. According to The Washington Post, Aldean commented, saying, “Watch ur mouth lady! We will teach our kids what we think is right and what we think is best for their future. If you think what is happening right now is ‘great’ for the future of our kids and grandkids, u are delusional!” When a commenter stated, “If you thought Trump’s path for America was any better, you’re delusional!,” to which Aldean responded, “Definitely better than what we got now! Please tell me one thing that the current administration has done that is positive? Just 1!!!”
Previously, Aldean has kept his political beliefs close to the vest so as not to alienate a portion of his fanbase, like many other country artists. In 2016, Aldean told Rolling Stone he did not vote in the presidential election, as he had recently moved and was not registered to vote in the correct county. When asked if he would have voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, Aldean said, “I don’t know if I’m going to cross that road with you. That’s one subject I do stay away from. Politics is a no-win.”
However, in August, during his first weekend back on tour in 17 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Aldean did tell a concert audience, “The coolest thing right now is I’m looking out seeing all you guys, and I don’t see one f—ing mask. I’ve had just about enough of that sh–.”
Brittany Aldean has been open about her political beliefs, saying in an Instagram Story video in August, “I personally don’t give a damn if people don’t agree with me. I think it’s important now more than ever to stand for what you believe, even if it goes against the grain. Do your research, and form your own opinion — speak out if you wish. But most importantly, don’t bully people who feel differently than you.”
Aldean’s current single, “If I Didn’t Love You,” a duet with Carrie Underwood, currently sits inside the top five on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Next year, he is set to release the 30-song double album Macon, Georgia.
