2026’s BRIT Awards is poised to be the most anticipated ceremony since 2022, where Adele juked it out with Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran and Sam Fender in a bombastic contest that was sorely needed after a COVID-impacted ceremony the proceeding year. While recent years have provided crowning moments for nascent superstars (RAYE, 2024; Charli XCX, 2025) a shake-up has felt necessary, and we’re certainly due one next Saturday (Feb. 28).
For the first time in its history, the ceremony will take place outside of London and head to Manchester, the English city with a musical heritage and pedigree that few on earth can match. The event will take place at the Co-op Live Arena which was first opened in 2024, and is pitching itself as the U.K.’s premier events space.
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And then comes the talent. Following a strong showing at the Grammys earlier this month, there’s a pep in the step of the U.K. music industry, which has weathered change and trusted the process of investing in emerging talent. New stars like Olivia Dean, Lola Young and Central Cee have all taken on the world, and proved that this island still has the talent to go toe-to-toe with major global stars.
Harry Styles will be in the house to give his first comeback performance ahead of his new album. Local hero Noel Gallagher will also collect songwriter of the year, and Mark Ronson will be honored with the outstanding contribution to music prize.
There are 13 trophies up for grabs at the 2026 ceremony, with general fields for U.K. acts, international names and a number of genre-specific contests to keep an eye on. Young and Dean lead all nominees with five each, followed by Sam Fender (four), Dave, Wolf Alice, Lily Allen, Jim Legxacy and Fred again.. (three each). One winner has already been announced: Jacob Alon scooped the Critics’ Choice prize, seeing off competition from Rose Gray and Sienna Spiro.
Ahead of the big night, these are how we see the races unfolding and our predicted winners in each category.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-02-18 19:10:352026-02-18 19:10:352026 BRIT Awards: Here Are Our Predictions in Every Category
Professor Kehlani is here to serve up an R&B history lesson. The musician stars in the Wednesday (Feb. 18) episode of Celebrity Substitute, as the Grammy-winning singer pulled up to P.S. 33 in New York City to teach the elementary school kids a thing or two about rhythm and blues.
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Kehlani is a strong believer that more children need to be listening to R&B growing up because “it helps you express big feelings.” They added, “It taught me that I can be vulnerable and in a lot of cases, it teaches certain people that aren’t always offered the space to be vulnerable to be vulnerable.”
The two-time Grammy winner met the students, who peppered her with questions about fame, life as a celebrity and whether they knew Michael Jackson. One student even tried to pry the name of the former lover that Kehlani wrote “Out the Window” about, but she wouldn’t spill the tea.
The singer harped on the importance of three areas of R&B: groove and sound, soul and motion, as well as the difference between riffs and runs.
The kids also got suited up in neon threads — giving off the vibes of a ’90s R&B video — and brought their rambunctious energy to film an alternate edition of the “Out the Window” visual alongside Kehlani. As a mother, the star expressed plenty of patience working with the children.
After picking up their first two Grammy wins thanks to “Folded,” Kehlani looks to parlay her momentum into the Oakland native’s highly anticipated album, which is set to be released in late March.
Watch the full episode of Celebrity Substitute below.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-02-18 19:10:342026-02-18 19:10:34Kehlani Serves Up an R&B History Lesson & Films ‘Out the Window’ Music Video With Elementary Students
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Robyn is back with a new album and an accompanying tour.
The Swedish singer-songwriter is returning with her 2026 Sexistential Tour in support of her ninth studio album of the same name, set to release on March 27. Robyn’s last full-length album, Honey, dropped in 2018, marking eight years since the singer released anything.
The “Dancing on My Own” singer previewed the project with singles “Talk To Me” and “Sexistential,” following the earlier track “Dopamine.” Robyn previously described the project as “a spaceship coming through the atmosphere at a really high speed and crash landing” in a statement. “That’s how I felt — like I’d been searching too far out into space, and now I’m crashing back into myself.”
The accompanying tour will make plenty of stops in North America, starting in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 8 and concluding her stint in Los Angeles for two nights on Sept. 23-24. Robyn will also make stops in Paris, London, Dublin, Oslo, Sydney and Copenhagen, among others.
While the tour will mainly focus on her new music, it’s not unlikely that Robyn will throw in a few iconic dance-pop and electro-pop hits, from “Dancing on My Own” and “Missing U” to “Love Is Free.”
If the singer wasn’t busy enough in 2026, she’ll also be a special guest for Harry Styles’ 2026 Together, Together tour, specifically for his six-night residency at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam from May 16 to June 5.
If you’re looking to snag tickets to the Swede’s tour, we’ve compiled a list of ticketing sites to check out to get the best bang for your buck. We’ve also included a few promo codes that should make pricing more affordable. Keep reading to shop Robyn’s 2026 Sexistential tour tickets.
Where to Buy Tickets to Robyn’s 2026 Sexistential Tour
StubHub has a slew of affordable options for those looking to see Robyn live without breaking the bank. After a quick search, we’ve seen some in-demand venues with prices as low as $85. While searching for tickets on third-party sites can be a bit scary, StubHub makes buying tickets easy and painless with its FanProtect Guarantee. This initiative protects fan’s purchases by ensuring valid tickets or your money back. Plus, if your event is canceled and not rescheduled, you will receive a credit worth 120% of the amount you paid for the impacted event, or the option of a cash refund.
Vivid Seats also has a ton of affordable options with prime pricing on some venues starting at just $69. Right now, you can use promo code BB30 to snag $30 off of your purchase. The ticketing service offers a 100% Buyer Guarantee that vows your transaction will be secure, that your tickets will be delivered before your event and that those tickets will be valid and authentic.
SeatGeek is another great option, especially for those looking to save some cash on concert tickets. Right now, you can use promo code BILLBOARD10 at checkout to receive $10 off. We’ve seen tickets at some venues for as low as $47, the lowest pricing we’ve seen thus far. The ticketing service features a Buyer Guarantee that ensures smooth ticket purchases every time. The site also offers you venue options based on your location, giving you the closest venue to you.
More savings on us, this time with TicketNetwork. You can use code BILLBOARD300 at checkout to save $300 off orders of $1,000, and BILLBOARD150 to save $150 off orders of $500. If you don’t have the money to buy your tickets just yet, you can also buy the tickets on the website now and pay later with help from Affirm, giving you flexible spending options on top of our code. Plus, the website includes all-in pricing that lets you see exactly what you’ll be paying upfront (fees included).
Gametime is yet another great option, but for people looking for great seating no matter the price. Yes, pricing is great on the site; however, the seating options are more attractive than the pricing this time around. Given how in demand the tour is for some venues, seating can be sparse. Gametime has a ton of seating options for in-demand venues from New York to Washington, D.C. Gametime guarantees the lowest prices, event cancellation protection, job loss assurance and on-time ticket delivery for a smooth ticket-buying experience every time, no matter the occasion.
Ticketmaster often has a ton of tickets, but pricing can be a bit expensive. It is worth keeping your eyes peeled for deals or even added dates. Thus far, we’ve seen some inexpensive ticketing for $70 and up for some venues. The ticketing service offers a Fan Guarantee, which allows for cancellations, refunds or exchanges within 24 hours of booking, subject to certain exclusions.
Robyn’s 2026 Sexistential Tour Dates
June 24 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena June 26 – Glasgow, United Kingdom @ OVO Hydro June 27 – Manchester, United Kingdom @ Co-op Live June 30 – Brussels, Belgium @ ING Arena July 1 – Paris, France @ Adidas Arena July 3 – London, United Kingdom @ The O2 July 8 – Berlin, Germany @ Uber Arena July 11 – Oslo, Norway @ Unity Arena July 14 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Royal Arena July 16 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Avicii Arena July 17 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Avicii Arena July 18 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Avicii Arena Sept. 8 – Washington, D.C. @ The Anthem Sept. 10 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Barclays Center Sept. 12 – Chicago @ United Center Sept. 15 – Toronto, Ontario @ Scotiabank Arena Sept. 19 – Mexico City, Mexico @ Palacio de los Deportes Sept. 23 – Los Angeles @ Kia Forum Sept. 24 – Los Angeles @ Kia Forum Oct. 30 – Torino, Italy @ C2C Festival Nov. 21 – Sydney @ Qudos Bank Arena Nov. 24 – Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-02-18 19:05:342026-02-18 19:05:34Here’s Where to Buy Tickets to Robyn’s Sexistential Tour
Raye says she was just as blindsided as 65 of her fans after they were turned away from her concert in Paris despite having tickets to the event.
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In a post on her Instagram Story on Tuesday (Feb. 17), the British singer-songwriter explained that she was “completely devastated” for the more than five dozen concertgoers who were apparently barred from entering her Accor Arena show two days prior. “This is completely unacceptable and wrong,” she wrote.
“I have been told this was a system error at Ticketmaster, meaning 65 tickets were not fully validated when they were purchased,” she continued. “This was outside of anything I could control and I feel saddened and let down.”
Raye went on to announce how she’d personally be making it up to the fans who were turned away, despite Ticketmaster already doling out refunds and vouchers to those affected.
“I’d like to offer all of these 65 people who didn’t get in to the show complimentary tickets to any Raye future show of their choice and a signed vinyl, you will be contacted shortly about this,” she wrote. “I know this doesn’t even remotely make up for this mess, but it’s all I can think of in this moment to soften the blow.”
It’s unclear what exactly happened on the ticketing site that led to the snafu, but Ticketmaster told Peoplein a statement, “A small number of fans experienced a technical issue when entering the show. While we know it doesn’t replace the show, we have fully refunded those affected and provided a gift card.”
Billboard has also reached out to Ticketmaster for comment.
The musician has been on her This Tour May Contain New Music trek since late January, playing a series of dates across Europe. In March, she’ll head overseas for a North American run lasting through mid-May.
The tour comes ahead of Raye’s new album, This Music May Contain Hope, which is set to drop March 27. It’ll feature her hit single “Where Is My Husband!,” which reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January — her highest peak on the chart to date.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-02-18 18:40:402026-02-18 18:40:40Raye Feels ‘Let Down’ by Ticketmaster After Site Error Causes Fans to Miss Show: ‘Unacceptable’
Jaden Smith is a Grammy-nominated singer/rapper, actor and model, but for his next act the 27-year-old son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith has his eyes set on making a difference. In a TikTok video posted over the weekend, the first-ever men’s creative director for fashion house Christian Louboutin said he wants to leverage his I LOVE YOU brand to help feed Los Angeles’ unhoused population.
“Honestly, my dream in life is to have a building on Skid Row where I can give out free meals every single day: breakfast, lunch, dinner,” he said in the post. “I can do things inside of it — I can create jobs and, like, a good vibe. That’s my real dream, that’s my long-term goal.”
He invited his fans to come on his journey with him, stressing that at the moment he doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar store for his brand now or a permanent spot for his charitable work, but that he hopes to have one in the future.
Smith launched his vegan “I Love You Restaurant” food truck in 2019, offering healthy options for the nearly 4,000 unhoused Angelenos living on the city’s Skid Row. According to the non-profit’s website, the goal is to some day have an HQ where they can serve three free meals every day and then eventually spread the love to other cities in the U.S. and around the world. The site is currently selling a black graphic T-shirt and hoodie with the company name on the front and the message “Not a volunteer just a person trying to be the change I want to see in the world” on the back, with all profits earmarked for reinvestment into providing meals through the mobile restaurant.
In an interview with Hypebeast earlier this week, Smith said I LOVE YOU gets donations from unspecified “big corporations that actually want to be involved,” positioning the merch drop as a way to allow people who haven’t had a chance to volunteer on the ground to feel part of the community he’s trying to build. “It’s more of a spiritual purpose. And that’s what I think fashion is about, an indication, from afar, of the kind of person you are,” he said.
Smith added that the idea of giving back to people who live on Skid Row dates to his time filming his first movie, his dad’s 2006 drama The Pursuit of Happyness, which featured real unhoused people as extras. “That also just really engraved the realities of Skid Row in my brain,” he explained.
His bigger goal, he said, was to have an annual I LOVE YOU gala somewhere different around the world as well as a “matrix” of non-profits. “I just want to create a world where everyone can go outside, celebrate and change the world together,” he said.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-02-18 18:35:352026-02-18 18:35:35Jaden Smith Wants to Feed the Unhoused on L.A.’s Skid Row and Spread Positivity Through His ‘I LOVE YOU’ Brand
In an era of texting shorthand, most people can probably agree with that statement, featuring a now-familiar acronym and another that a songwriter made up. God was the starting point for “I’ll Take You,” a song that Stone Country artist Ben Gallaher reimagined, turning the original ballad into a pulsing, good-natured take on commitment.
“A great song can be transformed at different tempos or feels and still be a great song,” Gallaher says. “That’s what makes it great, if you can take it and do it in different forms, and it still conveys that emotion.”
“I’ll Take You,” started out with a title, “G.O.D.,” that felt much heavier than the final, gravel-voiced version. Songwriter Wendell Mobley (“Fast Cars and Freedom,” “Tattoos on This Town”) supplied that “G.O.D.” idea as an acronym for “God over the Devil,” and when co-writers Neil Thrasher (“Fly Over States,” “There Goes My Life”) and Tony Martin (“Just to See You Smile,” “You Look Good in My Shirt”) got a hold of it in 2022, “I’ll take God over the Devil” became the opening line and established the device at the center of the song. At its heart, it’s a series of choices – I’ll take one thing over another – that sets up the chorus’ promise: “I’ll take you over anybody any day.”
“It’s a foxhole song: I’ll be in a foxhole with you,” Martin says. “If the elevator is going to get stuck, I would want it to be with you.”
The opening items establish the tone. The guy prefers “whiskey over wine” and takes “Hotel California over The Long Run every time.” That latter pairing is a classic-rock reference that isn’t necessarily a knock on The Long Run.
“There’s not really a bad Eagles album, I don’t think,” says Mobley, “but we all have our favorites.”
After using the this-over-that lyrical device throughout the first verse, they continued it into the chorus with the opening line, “I’ll take you over anybody.” But even though it’s the same basic approach, it changes the focus of the song. “It’s just got to make it all about her,” Thrasher says. “You ultimately got to what the song was really about. The chorus is all about her.”
Writing on guitars, the song took on a slower pace initially after the opening “God” phrase put them in a contemplative mood. “I used to joke all the time,” Martin deadpans. “Why does it sound like a ballad? Because I can’t write that fast.”
Verse two infused more “over”-tures – “home grown over store-bought,” “down home over downtown” – but the singer got a little wobbly with the next pairing, “huntin’ over fishin’,” confessing that he might flip his preference on some days. So when he maintains he’s “set in his ways,” the singer actually seems more flexible than he recognizes.
“It’s hard to dog huntin’ and fishin’ in a country song,” Mobley says. “You got to give them both their space.”
As they finished writing, they dropped in a two-line bridge, breaking the this-over-that device in the first “ride-or-die” line, while underscoring the core sentiment. Mobley produced the demo with Thrasher singing lead, and turned it in that November. Nothing really happened with it, and the writers – truth be told – didn’t fully feel as if it was finished. They couldn’t even settle on a title – was it “You Over Anybody” or “I’ll Take You”? But Gallaher kept coming back to the demo.
“There’s just something about that song,” he says, adding that he’d “listened to it 100 times” in its original ballad form. As he collected songs for his forthcoming album, Gallaher and Thrasher, his producer, wanted more uptempo titles, but instead of trying to write them, Thrasher leafed through some of his ballads, looking for lyrics that might adapt well to a faster cadence. When he suggested speeding up “I’ll Take You,” it resonated with Gallaher immediately.
“I started playing this guitar riff – that intro riff – and it happened so fast and organic,” Gallaher says. “It’s like that riff was made to be melded into that song.” “It was,” Thrasher adds, “totally a God thing.”
The writers re-shaped it a bit, dropping a few lines from the original first verse so they could get to the chorus quicker, and – along with Gallaher – they collectively rejiggered the melody a bit, too. Gallaher, at the start of the chorus, inserted a pause that added some subtle drama: “I’ll take… you over anybody any day.”
It wasn’t a complete overhaul. The song felt more joyful, less weighty, but the bridge still sounded like the original. “We were turning an old classic car into a hot rod,” Martin says “We weren’t taking it and trying to turn it into a space shuttle.”
Thrasher produced the final version with his cousin, producer-engineer Patrick Thrasher (Cole Swindell, Metallica), recording the instrumental tracks on June 23, 2025, at Nashville’s Sound Stage. They played the ballad-paced demo for the musicians, then Gallaher and Neil performed it at the new tempo.
The players picked it up right away. “The first pass going down,” Gallaher recalls, “I looked at Neil and Pat, and I was like, ‘That’s it. That’s it right there.’ We just knew.”
Gallaher sang his final vocals at Patrick’s Thrashville Studio with ease under Neil’s direction, and he also layered in the opening guitar riff, a solo and all the fills. With an acoustic guitar and two other electrics already in place from the original tracking session, Gallaher purposely developed a consistent tone for those parts so that listeners could better identify his place in the instrumental mix.
“I spend a lot of time trying to dial in those tones, and I try to keep them pretty consistent, but not so consistent that it’s like, ‘Well, you know, that’s the same exact thing,’” he says. “They’re all in that same world. I definitely used the same guitar for the intro and the solo.”
He also used Neil as a harmony singer as they put the final touches on the song, with Gallaher and his team ultimately settling on “I’ll Take You” as the title. Stone Country released it to country radio via PlayMPE on Jan. 26 with an official add date of March 9. And while Gallaher didn’t write it, he’s deeply involved in its development and feels personally connected to the “I’ll Take You” message.
“For me, it’s my wife and my family, but, you know, ‘I’ll take you over anybody any day’ – that could be a newlywed couple, or they could be married 50 years with grandkids,” Gallaher says. “Maybe it’s a bachelor with his dog. It could even be a career. That’s the coolest part, I feel. The song really can relate to all of that, depending on how the listener correlates it to their life.”
That feels like how an energetic G.O.D. thing ought to work.
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When Zach Bryan married Samantha Leonard just before the new year, one thing some fans couldn’t help but notice was how much his new wife seemed to resemble one of his exes — podcaster Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia.
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And in an interview on the Impaulsive podcast posted Tuesday (Feb. 17), LaPaglia finally shared her thoughts on her former boyfriend — whom she’s previously accused of emotional abuse — tying the knot with her purported look-alike. When asked by host Logan Paul how she felt about Bryan marrying someone who “looks very identical to you,” the influencer called Bryan a “narcissist” and said, “This is what they do.”
“His whole entire literal wedding … all of that was a dig at me,” she continued. “It’s so apparent and obvious. Dating [Leonard] was to get at me.”
Shutting down the idea that maybe Bryan simply has a “type” in whom he dates, LaPaglia said, “No one [he dated] before me ever looked like me.”
“He is a psychopath and a narcissist and a very scary person,” she added.
Billboard has reached out to Bryan’s rep for comment.
The musician and LaPaglia dated from 2023 to 2024. When they broke up, the Barstool Sports content creator accused Bryan of emotionally abusing her and allegedly offering her more than $12 million to refrain from saying anything about their relationship.
When asked on Impaulsive whether she regretted turning down the money, LaPaglia held strong. “No,” she said. “I know that no one believes me, but if I’d wanted to, I would have f–king taken it. To have that hanging over my head for one more second and to be in a contract with him for five more years … I would’ve been under surveillance with his team and him for the next five years of my life until the payout was complete.”
Her appearance on the podcast comes more than a month after Bryan released his latest album, With Heaven on Top, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Some of the tracks find him lovingly singing about his romantic partner — presumably Leonard, whom he married in Span on New Year’s Eve — while others appear to be disses aimed at LaPaglia.
“I’m taking a blade to my old tattoos/ I’m draining the blood between me and you … And I ain’t never touching yours again,” he sings on “Skin,” possibly referencing one of LaPaglia’s tattoos that turned into a lyric on another of his songs. “Do you love people just to win when it’s over? … Do you still talk s–t on all your friends?”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-02-18 18:00:412026-02-18 18:00:41Brianna Chickenfry Reacts to Ex Zach Bryan Marrying Her Alleged Look-Alike: ‘He Is a Psychopath’
Cardi B brought the stars out in Los Angeles for her pair of sold-out Kia Forum shows. Later, the Grammy-winning rapper thanked Am I the Drama? collaborators Kehlani and Tyla for popping out and always having her back with a heartfelt post to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday night (Feb. 17).
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Cardi referred to Kehlani as “one of the baddest b—hes in California” and welcomed her to the stage to perform their “Safe” collaboration at Monday’s show (Feb. 16). The Bronx native then briefly headed backstage to give Kehlani a moment to perform her Grammy-winning “Folded” track solo.
Kehlani later took to IG on Tuesday to give Cardi and her team their flowers for putting on “one of the best shows” she’s ever seen.
“One of the best shows i’ve ever seen in my life, one of the most incredible house hold names of our time,” Kehlani wrote. “BRAVO @iamcardib EVERY SINGLE PART of this show rocked me. @itsbankhead you are absolutely out of your mind, @kollincarter you are absolutely out of your mind.”
She continued to gush: “I’ve been watching this undeniable thing build for years, from Ring to Safe and you will always have me in your corner Big Bardi! you are A SUPER STAR. i was emotional as hell for you. i laughed, i cheered, i lost my voice. there ain’t a day on this earth you gon shine and i wont be cheering! EVERYBODY PLEASE GO SEE THIS SHOW IT WAS 11/10 !!!”
Cardi B returned the favor, showing her appreciation to Kehlani for continuing to show up for her time and time again. “Kehlani!!! You’re such a beautiful soul a talented artist and amazinggg performer!! Your reaction to my show meant the world to me! I can’t thank you enough for always showing up and giving me the most genuine love and support,” Cardi wrote in an IG Story.
Tyla also blessed the Kia Forum with her presence. The Queen of Amapiano performed her “Nice Guy” collaboration with Cardi B, which landed on Bardi’s sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, as well as her 2025 hit “Chanel.”
“Thank u mama @iamcardib,” Tyla captioned her IG photo dump featuring her performing with Cardi and the adventures of NBA All-Star Weekend across Los Angeles.
“Tyla babyyyy!! You bring the perfect energy to any stage thank you so much for bringing it to mine! Soo pretty and soo talented… You deservre all the Chanel and more,” Cardi replied in her own Story.
In addition to Kehlani and Tyla, Cardi also brought Blueface and GloRilla as surprise guests during the L.A. shows. There could be plenty more on the way, with the Little Miss Drama Tour hitting Portland, Ore., on Thursday (Feb. 19) before heading north of the border.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-02-18 17:45:352026-02-18 17:45:35Cardi B Pens Heartfelt Thank You to Kehlani & Tyla for Joining Her at L.A. Show: ‘Most Genuine Love & Support’
Hook, an AI-powered social app that allows fans to remix and mash up songs from their favorite artists, has announced that it raised $10 million in a Series A funding round, led by Khosla Ventures. Other investors in this round include Point72 Ventures, Imaginary Ventures and Waverly Capital, a fund co-founded by former Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
These new supporters join a cadre of music-focused investors who have already put money behind Hook, including Kygo’s Palm Tree Crew, Three Six Zero, Avex, The Raine Group and KSHMR, bringing total funding to $16 million to date.
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For years, internet users have made unauthorized user-generated remixes of their favorite songs, and Hook strives to offer a solution, giving users the ability to remix and mash up fully cleared and licensed songs in an easy-to-use interface. Those creations can then be shared to social media through Hook’s integrations with TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and SoundCloud — or posted within the app itself. To date, the company has completed direct collaborations with The Weeknd, Joji, Metro Boomin, Lil Wayne and Empire of the Sun to help artists better engage their fans, and it has formed licensing deals with Downtown, Too Lost, Primary Wave and Avex.
With the new funding, a press release notes that Hook will invest in its platform and in driving user growth by expanding its offerings. This includes a new Android app, community features and native video and recording capabilities. It also plans to continue making deals with more music businesses to keep adding to its library of 20 million songs.
Hook is also investing in its personnel. It has elevated Simmi Singh, who has been at the company since 2023, to Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer, where she will lead the company’s growth strategy.
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“Hook was built on a simple idea: fans want to express themselves with the music they love, and artists deserve to stay in control of how their work is used,” Gaurav Sharma, founder and CEO of Hook says in a press release about the fundraise. “We’re building the social music platform where creativity can thrive, and where ownership and monetization remain artist-led from day one.”
“Hook is solving a hard problem at the center of modern music: enabling remixing and social distribution in a way that works for rights holders at scale,” adds Samir Kaul, Khosla Ventures’ founding partner and managing director. “The team has built a platform that pairs a consumer-native experience with licensing, attribution, and reporting infrastructure that the ecosystem can rely on. We’re excited to lead this round and support Hook’s next phase of growth.”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-02-18 17:45:342026-02-18 17:45:34Hook Announces $10M Series A Funding Round
From 1983’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” to 1984’s “Pride (In the Name of Love),” 1987’s “Mothers of the Disappeared” and “2000’s “Walk On,” U2 have always stepped boldly up to share their views on the state of the planet. And, in a world that often feels like it’s gone mad lately, the veteran band have done it again with Wednesday’s (Feb. 18) release of the urgent, literally ripped-from-the-headlines surprise EP Days of Ash.
The emotional, classically stirring U2 collection of five songs and a poem is described as “an immediate response to current events inspired by the many extraordinary and courageous people fighting on the frontlines of freedom.”
In a statement, frontman Bono wrote, “The songs on Days of Ash are very different in mood and theme to the ones we’re going to put on our album later in the year. These EP tracks couldn’t wait; these songs were impatient to be out in the world. They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation. Songs of celebration will follow, we’re working on those now… because for all the awfulness we see normalized daily on our small screens, there’s nothing normal about these mad and maddening times and we need to stand up to them before we can go back to having faith in the future.”
The collection kicks of with the pealing sounds of The Edge’s signature guitar chiming on “American Obituary,” an homage to Renée Macklin Good, the 37-year-old mother of three and American citizen killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis in January. “Renée Good born to die free/ American mother of three/ Seven day January/ A bullet for each child, you see,” Bono sings urgently over a track that sounds like it could have appeared on a classic early aughts album such as 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind.
The song’s final verse is like a zen koan (spiced with a tribute to Patti Smith’s “People Have the Power”) in which Bono repeats, “The power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power.”
The band is joined by Ed Sheeran and Ukrainian solider-turned-musician Tara Topolia on the uplifting “Yours Eternally,” inspired by Bono and Edge’s trip to Kyiv in the spring of 2022 to busk in a train station at the invitation of besieged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where they first met and befriended Topolia. The song is written in the form of a letter written from a active-duty soldier on the frontlines of war.
“As your so-called companion/ The worst jokes and the greatest times/ You got me high/ And the stars got me home/ Your faith in me was blinding,” Sheeran sings over the crackling drums and a swelling gang chorus of vocals on the refrain: “Don’t sleep/ Don’t even think about it/ No need/ Maybe a little bit.”
The acoustic ballad “The Tears of Things” imagines a conversation between Michelangelo’s David statue and his creator, in which the young man with his sling full of stones pushes back against the notion that he has to “become Goliath to defeat him.” It is followed by the driving “Song of the Future,” which pays tribute to 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh, one of the thousands of Iranian schoolgirls who joined the nationwide 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement, driven to speak out after the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, who died in Tehran in 2022 of injuries suffered following her arrest by the “morality police.”
“If you put a man into a cage and rattle it enough/ A man becomes the kind of rage that cannot be locked up,” Bono sings on the track.
Also included is “Wildpeace,” a poem by Israeli author and poet Yehuda Amichai, read by Nigerian artist Adeola of Les Amazones d’Afrique over an squelchy arrangement written by U2 with producer Jacknife Lee (Weezer, Taylor Swift). The collection also features “One Life at a Time” a moody track written in honor of Palestinian father of three Awdah Hathaleen. The non-violent activist and teacher was killed in his village in the West Bank by an Israeli settler in July 2025 in the midst of the ruinous Israeli-Gaza war sparked by militant group Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The songs all have their own vivid lyric videos and a short documentary film to accompany “Yours Eternally” is slated for release on Feb. 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In addition to the EP, the band rebooted their official Propaganda ‘zine, dropping a 40th anniversary edition titled “U2 Days of Ash: Six Postcards From the Present… Wish We Weren’t There.” In a pointed allusion to the still-roiling controversy about the Jeffrey Epstein files chronicling the convicted child sex offender’s decades-long friendship with Donald Trump and other powerful and important world figures, the magazine’s table of contents, like the Epstein files, is heavily redacted.
Singer Bono weighs in on the people who inspired the songs on the EP, their first set of new songs since 2017’s Songs of Experienece, noting that they are very different in theme than the 25 or so in consideration for the group’s next proper album, or albums. He wrote that the in-process LP tracks are “more songs of celebration than lamentation,” tagging EP’s mood as “reactions to present day anxieties.”
It also features contributions from guitarist The Edge, who writes in an essay that, “we believe in a world where borders are not erased by force. Where culture, language and memory are not silenced by fear. Where the dignity of people is not negotiable.”
Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. addresses the injury that kept him sidelined from U2’s gigs opening Las Vegas’ Sphere in 2023, saying “it wasn’t easy” missing out on the gigs, as well as the changes he made to his kit, and approach, in the wake of the injury and time off. “Who needs to hear a new record from us?” he asks in answer to a question about the proper LP due out after the surprise EP. “It just depends on whether we’re making music we feel deserves to be heard. I believe the new songs stand up to our best work.”
Bassist Adam Clayton shared some books he’s been reading, what he’s been listening to (Geese, Fela Kuti, the Waterboys’ Mike Scott), lessons he’s learned about “tolerance, freedom and not to jump to judgement,” as well as the flower he’s looking forward to in the spring (daffodils, the Magnolia campbelli). The 52-page ‘zine — which will have a limited-edition print run — also features the lyrics to the EPs songs, links to articles about ICE’s militant immigration tactics against U.S. citizens and legal residents, a chat with the Ukrainians behind the documentary short the band filmed for “Yours Eternally” and the EPs full credits.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-02-18 17:10:352026-02-18 17:10:35U2 Meet the Moment With ‘Days of Ash’ EP Spotlighting Renée Good Killing, Gaza, Ukraine Wars: ‘These EP Tracks Couldn’t Wait’
