Spacey Jane have released a new single, “Do You Really Love Her,” alongside a music video, and announced an extensive run of U.S. summer tour dates — the Australian indie rock band’s first new music since their critically acclaimed third album If That Makes Sense.

Frontman Caleb Harper explained the song was left off the album but always destined to surface. “For some reason the song didn’t feel like the right fit for the album but we always wanted it to see the light of day,” he said in a statement.

Written on Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills with collaborators Sarah Aarons and Joel Little, and produced by John Hill, “Do You Really Love Her” draws on classic Australian pub rock. “Bands like INXS, The Church and Icehouse are both nostalgic and inspirational to us,” Harper said.

Harper described the single — and what follows — as a deliberate creative experiment. “This release and the others to follow are almost experiments,” he said. “Songs we love that didn’t end up on an album. Something we want to share while we take stock and reset.”

The If That Makes Sense Tour kicks off June 2 in New Haven, Conn., with festival appearances at Governors Ball Music Festival (June 6), Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (June 14) and Osheaga Festival (Aug. 2). The band will also support Rainbow Kitten Surprise on a run of amphitheater dates through July, including stops at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles (July 21) and Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Denver (July 25). Artist presale begins March 17 at 10 a.m. local time; general on-sale follows March 20.

Additionally, the band will release Live at The Hordern Pavilion (Sydney, NSW) 2025 on Record Store Day this April — a live album drawn from three sold-out nights at the legendary Sydney venue.

If That Makes Sense debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart and earned nominations for Best Rock Album and Best Video at the 2025 ARIA Awards, while Spacey Jane was named the most played artist on Triple J for the year.

The band’s 2020 debut Sunlight produced the signature single “Booster Seat,” which won the ARIA Award for Song of the Year and has since been certified 7x platinum.

The Pretty Reckless are back with new music and a new album.

The Taylor Momsen-fronted rock band has announced their fifth studio album, DEAR GOD, due June 26 via Fearless Records, and released its lead single “When I Wake Up” on Saturday (March 14).

Described by the band as one of their most raw and uncompromising records yet, DEAR GOD was built around diaristic songwriting, vulnerability and artistic freedom. The 14-track set will also include “For I Am Death,” the band’s chart-topping single from last year.

A headlining world tour in support of the album was also announced, with North American dates in New Orleans, Dallas and Los Angeles before heading to Europe.

Momsen described the new single as a cautionary descent. “It’s the story of a dream becoming a nightmare,” she said in a statement. “When a life of excess leads you on a rollercoaster that is doomed to crash but you just can’t see it. It’s a good time…” Musically, “When I Wake Up” leans into a punk-driven sound while retaining the band’s signature explosive guitars and Momsen’s powerhouse vocals.

The announcement follows a busy stretch for the group. The band performed at the 2026 MusiCares Person of the Year gala honoring Mariah Carey, appeared at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony — where Momsen performed alongside Soundgarden for their induction — and completed a two-year run as direct support on AC/DC’s PWR UP Tour.

The Pretty Reckless’ “For I Am Death” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart (dated Nov. 8), making it the band’s eighth No. 1 and fourth consecutive — a streak that dates to 2020, when “Death by Rock and Roll” led the chart for three weeks, followed by reigns for “And So It Went” and “Only Love Can Save Me Now” in 2021.

With eight No. 1s, The Pretty Reckless holds the record for the most chart-toppers by a woman-fronted act in the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart’s 44-year history, surpassing Halestorm. DEAR GOD arrives June 26.

Don Toliver made the quantum leap to rap’s A list with the arrival of the Houston native’s OCTANE album in January. Toliver’s fifth LP topped the Billboard 200 with 162,000 album units earned — his first No. 1 — and all 18 tracks landed on the Billboard Hot 100.

The 31-year-old stopped by the Billboard House @ SXSW on Friday (March 13) ahead of his headlining performance later that night at The Stage at SXSW.

Sitting down with Billboard staff writer Michael Saponara, Toliver discussed OCTANE‘s success, having Travis Scott as a mentor, sampling Justin Timberlake on “BODY” and already starting to work on his next album.

Even six weeks after its arrival, “BODY” currently remains inside the Hot 100’s top 25 (No. 23). Toliver gushed about his fandom of Timberlake, but admitted he didn’t initially recognize the “Rock Your Body” sample when he was recording the track.

“Honestly, I love Justin Timberlake a lot. My mom played him, Pharrell and Outkast and all these crazy great artists when I was growing up as a kid in the car,” Toliver explained. “I got a lot of fond memories of that. Justin Timberlake is always one of my favorites. Justified, that album is literally in my top 10 favorite albums of all time.

He continued: “I didn’t think that deep into it. As I sat with it for like a week, I was like, ‘Hold on, this is literally one of my favorite songs of all-time.’ ‘Rock Your Body’ is one of those songs that triggers an endorphin in my body. To put those two together was so iconic for me.”

Toliver reconnected with his Cactus Jack mentor, Travis Scott, on OCTANE standout “Rosary,” but it was an 11th-hour appearance from La Flame, who sent over his vocals nearly at the buzzer. Their relationship has grown since Don T signed to Cactus Jack in partnership with Atlantic Records in 2018.

“I really try to keep the relationship that me and him have as far away from music as I can sometimes,” he said. “At the end of the day, we are human beings.”

Toliver added: “This album, I was like, ‘Whatever Travis wanna do — he could pull up however he wanna do it. I just wanted to make sure he understood my journey with the music when I played it for him. He just caught a vibe for ‘Rosary’ and he understood my idea for it. It was crazy, I really love his verse on the song.”

Even though OCTANE arrived less than two months ago, Toliver revealed he’s already working on his next album.

“I am already working on my next album,” he said. “To be honest, bro, I just realized within myself that I just love music and I just feel like right now if I don’t put out anything, I just need to capture this moment because it’s a lot going on in my life when I was making this album and when it came out and it’s just fueling me to be as creative as I can possibly be.”

In addition to panel conversations all weekend, Billboard House is also hosting daily performers, with Dizzy Fae, Alicia Creti, Kairo Keyz and Babyfxce E taking the stage on Friday’s day 1. DJ Cortez also provided daytime sounds for the space.

Watch the full interview with Don Toliver below.

With The All-American Rejects‘ comeback continuing into 2026 with AAR’s first album since 2012, Sandbox, which arrives in May, band members Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler stopped by the Billboard House @ SXSW on Friday (March 13).

In a conversation with Billboard co-chief content officer Jason Lipshutz, the band members discussed a range of topics, including shifting to an independent model in the current landscape after dominating the mainstream, their viral backyard tour, and making their first album nearly 14 years ago.

Clips from performances on the backyard tour took over social media and packed on a heavy dose of nostalgia and brought the band closer together.

“While we were in the belly of that beast, when we were a week in and it was popping off, it felt like we were holding the tail of the dragon, man,” Ritter raved. “Those shows were the greatest things I’ve ever been a part of, let alone been to, let alone performed in.”

The idea for the backyard tour across America came from their manager, Meghan Kraemer. “That created something — especially being from Oklahoma — it felt like the shows we were playing when we were kids,” Ritter added.

After dominating the 2000s with Interscope Records, the band chose to pursue an independent route for its new music out of necessity.

“Nobody wanted to touch us,” Ritter revealed. “Nobody wanted to really roll the dice on us as far as new music is concerned, including the management we had at the time… Independence was what we had to do to continue the story of this band.”

With their first album in 13 years, Ritter and Wheeler focused on ensuring the band could grow its artistry through new music, rather than attempting to recreate the magic of decades past.

“My fear for this band was can we grow together musically? The last thing we wanted to do was reach into some bag and be like, ‘Cool, this looks just like it used to and sounds like it used to, let’s go make a transactional experience for our fans of the lackluster watered-down concentrate of the juice they were drinking 20 years ago,” Ritter continued. “I’m happy I believe in what we’re doing.”

Wheeler echoed a similar sentiment. “That’s the only reason we’re doing it. We would’ve been happy to ride off into the sunset and play state fairs and casinos,” the guitarist said. “We always said we wouldn’t even attempt this again unless we really wanted to and we were excited about it and wanted to challenge ourselves again.”

In addition to panel conversations all weekend, Billboard House is also hosting daily performers, with Dizzy Fae, Alicia Creti, Kairo Keyz and Babyfxce E taking the stage on Friday’s day 1. DJ Cortez also provided daytime sounds for the space.

Look for Sandbox to arrive on May 15. Watch the full interview with The All-American Rejects here.

Richard Grenell, an ally of President Donald Trump who oversaw far reaching changes at the Kennedy Center that prompted many artists to abandon the iconic performing arts venue, will step down as the institution’s president.

Trump announced the change in a social media post on Friday after it was first reported by Axios. The president said Matt Floca, who manages the Kennedy Center’s facilities operations, will succeed Grenell. The moves are expected to be finalized at a board meeting scheduled for Monday at the White House, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss plans that are not yet public.

Grenell’s departure comes as the Kennedy Center prepares to close this summer for a two-year renovation.

“Ric Grenell has done an excellent job in helping to coordinate various elements of the Center during the transition period, and I want to thank him for the outstanding work he has done,” Trump said online. “THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER will be, at its completion, the finest facility of its kind anywhere in the World!”

Grenell was a central player in Trump’s push to dramatically overhaul the Kennedy Center following the president’s return to office. After mostly ignoring the center during his first term, Trump made it a focal point in his war against “woke” culture. He ousted the Kennedy Center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a hand-picked board of trustees who voted to rename the facility the Trump Kennedy Center, a change scholars and lawmakers say must be initiated by Congress.

More recently, Trump’s name was physically added to the building’s iconic facade.

The fallout from the arts community was swift and intense, with prominent musicals, such as “Hamilton,” canceling performances. Actor Issa Rae and author Louise Penny also withdrew from appearances while consultants such as musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming resigned. Last week, the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Jean Davidson, left to head the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

The Kennedy Center was long known as an apolitical space

Perhaps best known for its annual honors program, the Kennedy Center was long one of the few places in Washington where political differences were put aside. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg — ideological opposites — famously attended the opera together.

But the venue became something of an extension of Trump’s White House during his second term. The president was instrumental in convincing FIFA President Gianni Infantino to hold the World Cup draw there in December. Just a few days later, Trump himself hosted the Kennedy Center honors, the first for a president.

Since then, Trump has addressed House Republicans at the Kennedy Center. The documentary of first lady Melania Trump also premiered there.

Grenell is a longtime Republican foreign policy adviser. During Trump’s first term, he was the U.S. ambassador to Germany and special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations. He also served as acting director of national intelligence and was considered a contender for secretary of state in Trump’s second term, a post that ultimately went to Marco Rubio.

In his position at the Kennedy Center, Grenell emphasized what he called “common sense” programming, aiming to steer the venue toward events that appealed to a broad audience and didn’t lose money. But his moves prompted criticism from many Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, released documents in November showing the Kennedy Center entered into an agreement giving FIFA “exclusive” use of the facility from Nov. 24 through Dec. 12 at no cost, arguing that the venue was at risk of losing millions in potential revenue because of the arrangement.

The Kennedy Center told the AP at the time that it was being paid $7.4 million to host the draw, including a $2.4 million donation from FIFA, as well as sponsorship opportunities and expenses. In a response to Whitehouse, Grenell said he raised $117 million last year.

But the wave of cancellations proved difficult to sustain. Without mentioning the abandoned performances, Trump said in February he would close the Kennedy Center for two years after this summer’s July Fourth celebrations to repair what he has described as a dilapidated building.
Ahead of the closure, Grenell warned staff about impending cuts that will leave “skeletal teams.”
According to Floca’s LinkedIn page, he joined the Kennedy Center in January 2024, during the Biden administration.

A center press release from the time describes him as “an experienced facilities management professional with a construction management background and an appreciation for whole building design principles.”

Previous experience for Floca listed on LinkedIn includes a handful of positions with the District of Columbia government, among them associate director of sustainability and energy and director of facilities management. He graduated from Louisiana State University in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science degree in construction management.

This story was first published by The Associated Press.


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The All-American Rejects’ Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler discuss their new album, the surprising success of their House Party tour, longevity in modern rock music and how up-and-coming artists can find creative ways to amplify their voices.

Access Hollywood and Access Daily were canceled on Friday (March 13) as part of  NBCUniversal’s decision to end all first-run syndication programs produced by the network. The programs will continue to produce new episodes until September.

Access Hollywood was launched by NBC in 1996 as a competitor to CBS Media Ventures’ Entertainment Tonight, which debuted in 1981. Access Hollywood was created by former ET executive producer Jim Van Messel.

Related

Access Hollywood gained infamy in the 2016 election cycle. On Oct. 7, 2016, one month before that year’s presidential election, The Washington Post published a video and article about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and TV host Billy Bush having a lewd conversation about women. In the video, which was recorded in September 2015, Trump and Bush were on a bus on their way to film an episode of Access Hollywood.

News of the recording broke two days before the second presidential debate between Trump, the Republican nominee, and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. For his part in the conversation, Bush was fired from his position as a host on Today, another show owned by NBCUniversal. Trump was not similarly penalized. On Nov. 8, he won the 2016 election.

NBCUniversal is also cutting several of its other daytime talk shows, effectively ending its first run syndication business. Talk shows Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show, produced out of NBC’s facility in Stamford, Conn., are shutting down. The programs have already completed their production for the season and will run through the summer.The Steve Wilkos Show ran for 19 seasons.

NBC previously announced that The Kelly Clarkson Show is ending later this year after seven highly successful seasons.

Related

Francis Berwick, chairman of Bravo and Peacock unscripted, said in a statement that the company will continue to distribute library episodes of its talk programs and network shows such as Law & Order. But NBCU’s days of launching series for daytime and the hour before prime time have come to an end.

“NBCUniversal is making changes to our first-run syndication division to better align with the programming preferences of local stations,” Berwick said. “The company will remain active in the distribution of our existing program library and other off-network titles, while winding down production of our first-run shows.”

Access Hollywood, and its counterpart Access Daily, are both produced in Los Angeles. They are currently hosted by Mario Lopez, Kit Hoover and Scott Evans. Correspondents are Zuri Hall, Jason Kennedy and Tim Vincent.

Former on-air staff, besides Billy Bush, includes such notable TV personalities as Michelle Beadle, Steven “Cojo” Cojocaru, Giselle Fernández, Liz Hernandez, Jill Martin, Larry Mendte, Maria Menounos, Natalie Morales, Nancy O’Dell, Pat O’Brien, Amy Powell, Jeff Probst, Tony Potts, Shaun Robinson, Sibley Scoles and Liliana Vazquez.

Access Live officially debuted under that name on Dec. 11, 2017. The show has undergone several name changes and refreshes throughout its history. Since 2019, it has been called Access Daily.  A spinoff show, Access Daily with Mario & Kit, debuted in 2022.

In April 2021, Access Hollywood and Access Daily were both renewed for four additional seasons through 2025. In 2024, they were renewed, though this time only for two years, through 2026.

Don Toliver sits down with Billboard’s Mike Saponara for the Superstar Q&A at SXSW 2026 to chat about his chart-topping fifth album, ‘Octane.’ The Houston artist reflects on the album debuting at No. 1 with 162K units, all 18 tracks landing on the Hot 100, his evolution into producing, the story behind “Body” and sampling Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body,” Travis Scott’s last-minute verse on “Rosary” and their 5-album collaboration streak and more!

This week in dance music: A litany of lineups and events were announced, with ADE announcing that French master Jean-Michel Jarre will open ADE 2026 with a performance at concert hall AFAS Live on Oct. 21. Presented by MOJO and Insomniac, the concert will feature a venue-scale immersive performance with stage mapping, large projections and elaborate lighting architecture.

Later this month, LP Giobbi will become the first woman in history to lead the superjam at Florida’s Okeechobee, where she’ll be joined by  by Goose‘s Rick Mitarotonda, Big Gigantic‘s Dominic Lalli, the Disco Biscuits‘ Aron Magner and other surprise guests. In September, artists including Sara Landry, The Blessed Madonna, Michael Bibi, Chris Stussy and more will play Chicago’s ARC Music Festival, which is expanding from three to four days in 2026.

And around both weekends of Coachella next month, artists including Green Velvet, Afrojack, Pawsa and David Guetta will play the private Desert Nights 2026 parties. Also happening on the Coachella ground in October will be the Head Trip, a new one time only festival from Goldenvoice that will feature Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia, Calvin Harris, Peggy Gou b2b Four Tet and more. Across the country in NYC, We Belong Here’s Brooklyn edition in June will feature Above & Beyond, Oliver Heldens and more.

Meanwhile, Ninja Tune has been acquired by Concord, with the label’s iconic catalog and publishing arm being added to the Concord operation. The nominees for the 2026 IDMAs were revealed, and we caught up with Illenium’s agent Guy Oldaker to talk about the producer’s current residency at Sphere.

And last but not least, these are the best new dance tracks of the week.

After three decades living outside of Uruguay, Jorge Drexler felt the urge to strengthen his connection with his homeland. The moment coincided with several significant events in his life: the death of his father, as well as the discovery of a new generation of Uruguayan musicians that fascinated him and the notable evolution of candombe, a traditional Uruguayan music and dance declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.

Organically, candombe ended up being the thread that ties his new album, Taracá, together. The 11-track set, released on Friday (March 13) under Sony Music Spain, offers listeners a complete sonic experience, with lyrics and drums as protagonists in almost all the songs. The title comes from an onomatopoeia for the sound of the small drum or tambor chico. The other possible translation is more symbolic and means “estar acá,” “to be here.” Or, as they would abbreviate colloquially in the Río de la Plata region, “tar acá.”

“This is an album of mourning, but for some strange reason, it has a clear celebratory nature,” Drexler tells Billboard Español. “It’s an album very much for the body, for dancing. Grief and despair take unpredictable forms, and sometimes what one does to save oneself from despair is singing.”

Taracá is the first album he has recorded in Uruguay in 20 years, although he also worked on it in Puerto Rico and Spain. For this production, the Oscar and Latin Grammy-winning artist collaborated with guest ranging from Puerto Rican urban star Young Miko to Uruguayans Rueda de Candombe, Américo Young, the murga group Falta y Resto, guitarist Julio Cobeli, and the Spanish cantaora Ángeles Toledano. As for producers, it features names like Lucas Piedra Cueva, Facundo Balta, Mauro, Tadu Vázquez, Gabo Lugo, Andrés “Fofo” Story, and Carles “Campi” Campón.

Drexler explains that his new LP is presented as a work of generational and geographical, stylistic, and temporal bridges. An example of this is the track “¿Qué Será Que Es?,” a Spanish adaptation of the iconic “O Que É, O Que É?” by Brazilian Gonzaguinha.

Below, Drexler delves into five key tracks from his latest project. To listen to the full album, click here.