Four days after Jamie Lynn Spears spoke out in support of her big sister Britney Spears, she’s pleading with people to stop sending her family death threats.

“Hi, I respect that everyone has the right to express themselves, but can we please stop with the death threats, especially the death threats to children,” she wrote in a short note on her Instagram Story with her initials “JLS.”

Jamie has two daughters, Maddie Briann Aldridge, 13, and Ivey Joan Watson, 3.

In an emotional Instagram Story video on Monday, days after her big sister’s powerful testimony, the 30-year-old actress addressed her highly criticized silence on Britney’s conservatorship, which gave their father Jamie Spears control over Britney’s life and career for the last 13 years.

“I think it’s extremely clear that since the day I was born that I’ve only loved adored and supported my sister. This is my freakin’ big sister before any of this bulls—,” the Zoey 101 star said in her video from June 28, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’ve made a very conscious choice in my life to only participate in her life as her sister. Maybe I didn’t support her the way the public would like me to with a hashtag on a public platform. But I can assure I have supported my sister long before there was a hashtag, and I’ll support her long after…. I’m not my family — I’m my own person. I’m speaking for myself. I’m so proud of her for using her voice.”

During Britney’s first public testimony since her conservatorship began more than a decade ago, the 39-year-old singer expressed her desire to end the conservatorship to Judge Brenda Penny and went into painstaking detail about the level of control she’s under. She also argued how her family and management has been taking advantage of her for years and exploiting her situation for their own financial gain.

“I would honestly like to sue my family, to be totally honest with you. I also would like to be able to share my story with the world, and what they did to me, instead of it being a hush-hush secret to benefit all of them. I want to be able to be heard on what they did to me by making me keep this in for so long, is not good for my heart,” the pop icon told the judge. “I’ve been so angry and I cry every day, it concerns me, I’m told I’m not allowed to expose the people who did this to me.”

After a 15-hour hiatus, the search-and-rescue effort at Champlain Towers South Condo resumed Thursday evening, just as President Joe Biden boarded a plane and concluded his visit to South Florida. … Click to Continue »
Tropical Storm Elsa, a record-breaking fifth named storm of the season, formed early Thursday in the Atlantic — with South Florida in its cone of uncertainty for early next week. … Click to Continue »

K-pop group Seventeen lands its first No. 1 on  Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, as the 13-member act’s latest effort, Your Choice: 8th Mini Album, opens atop the tally (dated July 3). It sold 20,500 copies in the U.S. in the week ending June 24, according to MRC Data — the act’s best sales week yet.

Your Choice is the third K-pop album in a row to hit No. 1 — the first time that’s happened. It displaces TWICE’s Taste of Love (which falls 1-3 in its second week), which itself bumped Tomorrow x Together’s The Chaos Chapter: Freeze from No. 1 (on the latest chart, it rises 9-8 in its third week).

Like many K-pop releases, the sales of Your Choice were bolstered by the availability of collectible CD packages (four, including one exclusive to Target), each with a set of standard internal paper goods (lyric book, sticker, bookmark, etc.) and randomized elements (photo book, photo card, poster, etc.). Ninety-five percent of the album’s 20,500 copies sold were the CD editions (19,500), while its digital download sold the remaining 5% (1,000).

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 MRC Data. Pure album sales were the measurement solely 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.

Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Sour rises 6-2 on Top Album Sales with 12,000 sold (though down 20%). TWICE’s Taste of Love falls 1-3 with 11,000 (down 75%) and Taylor Swift’s former leader Evermore climbs 7-4 with nearly 10,000 (down 34%).

Veteran rock band Styx returns with its 17th studio album Crash of the Crown bowing at No. 5 on Top Album Sales. The album, the group’s first studio set since 2017, arrives with 9,000 sold. It’s the first top 10 for the act in the 30-year history of Top Album Sales.

A pair of archival live albums from Phish are next up on Top Album Sales, as the first two titles in the group’s vinyl-only LP On LP series bow at Nos. 6 and 7. LP On LP 01: Recorded Live, July 14, 2019, Alpine Valley Music Theatre debuts at No. 6 while LP On LP 02: Recorded Live, May 26, 2011, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts enters at No. 7. Both titles sold about 8,000 copies each. The sets also bow at Nos. 1 and 2 on the Vinyl Albums chart.

Rounding out the new top 10 on Top Album Sales: Tomorrow x Together’s The Chaos Chapter: Freeze rises 9-8 with a little under 8,000 (down 43%), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours bounds 28-9 (6,000; though down 3%) and Queen’s Greatest Hits jumps 36-10 with nearly 6,000 (up 4%).

Yale University has announced it is eliminating tuition for its drama students thanks to a $150 million gift from entertainment magnate David Geffen.

The gift to what is being renamed the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is believed to be the “largest on record in the history of the American theater,” the school said in a news release Wednesday.

It will allow the drama school to eliminate tuition for all degree and certificate programs, the university said.

“David Geffen’s visionary generosity ensures that artists of extraordinary potential from all socioeconomic backgrounds will be able to cultivate their talent at Yale,” Yale President Peter Salovey said.

Geffen is best known for founding Asylum Records, Geffen Records, Geffen Pictures and co-founding the film studio DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

His relationship with Yale dates back to the 1978-79 academic year when he led a semester-long seminar on the music industry.

“Yale already provides some of the best professional training available to actors, writers, directors, designers and theater managers from diverse backgrounds,” Geffen said in a statement. “Removing the tuition barrier will allow an even greater diversity of talented people to develop and hone their skills in front of, on, and behind Yale’s stages.”

He added that he hopes the gift will inspire others to join him in making advanced arts and theater education accessible and affordable to all students.

Theater studies at Yale began in 1925 and graduates of its drama school include actors such as Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand, Angela Bassett and Paul Giamatti.

Salovey said Yale is also committed to pursuing additional fundraising for the school, with plans to build a state-of-the-art facility for theater education and production.

Ten years ago, 5-year-old Luis Vázquez stepped foot on a stage in Puerto Rico as the lead singer of Los Bravitos de la Plena, a kids music group that included seven other members and was founded by Vázquez’s father, who is also a musician.

“All my life I’ve been surrounded by music. Since I was a little kid, we used to sing in the holiday parrandas,” says the now-15-year-old salsa singer who kicked off his career singing plena, a folkloric genre born in Puerto Rico powered by hand drums, or panderetas in Spanish. “I grew up with plena, which is somewhat similar to salsa, so for me to transition into salsa now isn’t really a major change.”

After being part of Los Bravitos from age 5 to 14, Vázquez split from the group to focus on his career as a solo salsa singer. In February, he released his debut album, Comienzos, which includes the chart-topping track “Tu Fan,” an urban-infused salsa anthem that scored Vazquez his first No. 1 on any Billboard chart. The track currently tops the Tropical Airplay chart (dated July 3). At 15 years old, the Puerto Rican becomes the youngest soloist to arrive at the summit since the chart began in October 1994.

“All my life I’ve dreamed of growing as a singer, so when there was an opportunity to cross over to salsa as a soloist, my parents and I agreed it was for the best,” he says. “It’s a new world for me but I want to keep growing and experimenting.”

Since dropping Comienzos, he had been keeping up with the Billboard charts, checking every night before bed to see if any of his songs had entered the charts. “When I saw that ‘Tu Fan’ had reached No. 3, I thought that was already huge and I was proud. But earlier this week, my phone started blowing up one morning and when I checked my entire family and team had sent me messages saying we were No. 1. My heart was full and I started crying. It’s a major feat.”

Vázquez, who enjoys spending time with family during his free time, is among the few young salseros of this generation who is making waves in the industry. With reggaeton and trap still among the top genres to date, Vázquez thinks young artists incline toward what’s popular.

“Because they get caught up in the trends, they don’t see other genres like salsa. That’s a major reason why we decided to go this route. And I know I’m not the only one, but there isn’t many of us. We want to see more young artists singing salsa. We hope my story serves as inspiration for upcoming artists.”

Meet this week’s Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise below:

Name: Luis Vázquez

Age: 15

Major Accomplishment: To participate in my first ever Día Nacional de la Zalsa event in Orlando. It’s one of the biggest events for salsa singers and to have been able to sing there is just incredible. Also, to be No. 1 on Billboard, I still haven’t wrapped my head around that.

Recommended Song: “Tu Fan” because it’s a really refreshing song and also very catchy. It’s a nice fusion between salsa and urban, which gives it a different touch and makes it different from anything out there.

What’s Next: Keep recording more music, and specifically record more salsa in all its facets. From hardcore and traditional salsa to something like “Tu Fan” that has an urban touch to it.

Get you a friend who respects and defends your pronouns. That’s the kind of friend Demi Lovato has in Lizzo.

While out to dinner at Catch LA, Lizzo popped out wearing a shirt with Demi’s face on it, took a few selfies with fans waiting outside and let the paparazzi know not to misgender her friend and fellow pop star ever again. In May, Lovato announced that they identify as non-binary and changed their pronouns to they/them.

“Is that a message to Demi? Should she reach out?” one of the photographers is heard asking in a clip that made the rounds online Thursday (July 1). Lizzo holds out her finger and says, “They.” Again, the paparazzo failed to heed her correction and went about asking, “Have her team contact your team?”

Their team,” Lizzo responded, setting the record straight once more and adding, “Demi goes by they now.” While the photographer thanked her for catching the mistake, Lovato felt extra grateful for Lizzo coming to their defense.

”@lizzobeeating you f—ing queen I love you,” Lovato wrote on her Instagram Story while sharing a social post that had the video capturing Lizzo and the pap’s interaction. “Thank you.” Lizzo reshared their post with a heart emoji on her own Story.

In December, the Dancing With the Devil singer sang Lizzo’s praises after she bared it all for a self-love PSA video. “Thank you for the inspiration we all needed today you legend,” Lovato wrote under the video.

BTS prepared a two-course performance of their biggest hits — “Butter” and “Dynamite” — for SiriusXM, and no fan has to worry about missing it (or dessert).

The K-pop septet chatted with SiriusXM hosts Tony Fly and Symon for an exclusive interview on Thursday (July 1) before their special two-song set of Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 English-language hits. During the minute-long interview portion, the members confirmed the July 9 arrival of the CD single for “Butter,” which is currently spending its fifth week on top of the Hot 100.

The ARMY first snacked on a delectable performance of “Dynamite,” which BTS casually breezed through in a loft apartment setting, replete with red Solo cups, a glass jar of milk and bowls of snacks like popcorn (perhaps with butter?) and cheese puffs.

Shortly after their “Dynamite” performance wrapped, the nearby booming bass of “Butter” confused the boys. Trickling into the room next door, which was oozing yellow from a 3-D animated version of the spread, BTS stood in formation in sharp gray and yellow suits, which they had smoothly changed into from their laid-back attire. But toward the end, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook got caught in their own reflection, as the wall separating the two “rooms” that held their performances magically disappeared and the group tried outperforming themselves.

The special, which aired on SiriusXM Hits 1, will replay again at 8 p.m. ET.

Watch BTS’ performances of “Butter” and “Dynamite” on SiriusXM below.

Relatives of a father missing in the Surfside condo collapse filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, and want a judge to allow a drone to record the scene of the catastrophe … Click to Continue »
Within days of the catastrophic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, as a search and rescue operation expanded with over 150 people unaccounted for, the building’s condo association retained … Click to Continue »