All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
WWE Backlash 2026 is here and the wrestling event is already turning out to be one of the most anticipated events of the season. Roman Reigns is put to the test as he defends his WWE World Heavyweight Championship title after just won the belt during WrestleMania 42. Now, he is set to go up against Jacob Fatu during WWE Backlash.
Keep reading to learn more about the event including how to watch WWE Backlash online.
WWE Backlash kicks off on Saturday (May 9), beginning at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT with coverage starting at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. The event takes place at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida.
How to Watch WWE Backlash 2026 Online?
WWE Backlash exclusively livestreams on ESPN Unlimited. Not a subscriber? You can get the sports streaming service for just $29.99 per month. It features every ESPN network, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network, ACC Network, as well as ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SEC Network+ and ACC Network Extra — all in one app. Sign up for ESPN Unlimited below.
Although he’s not performing, rapper Lil Yachty is scheduled to appear The Gingerbread along side Trick Williams in a title match to defend his WWE United States Championship belt against Sami Zayn.
Meanwhile, John Cena is set to appear during the event to make a major announcement.
What’s the Match Card for WWE Backlash 2026?
Check out the full WWE Backlash match cards, below.
Roman Reigns (champion) vs. Jacob Fatu, World Heavyweight Championship, Main Event
Danhausen and Surprise Tag Team Partner vs. The Miz and Kit Wilson
Iyo Sky vs. Asuka
Trick Williams (champion) with Lil Yachty vs. Sami Zayn, WWE United States Championship
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.pngYveto2026-05-09 03:31:502026-05-09 03:31:50WWE Backlash 2026 Livestream: How to Watch Roman Reigns vs. Jacob Fatu Live Online
A few weeks back, it was the Game. Now we can add DJ Whoo Kid to the list of people saying that the rap game is missing Drake on the charts.
Whoo Kid sat down with Diverse Mentality recently, and was asked about the Toronto rapper using his drop for the Kendrick Lamar diss track “Push Ups,” revealing that Drake hit him up randomly for permission while he was on a cruise with a significant other. He also said the moment helped younger fans become familiar with his mixtape days before equating it to the battle between the two rap titans. “You know, the thing I’ve learned when you do stuff like that? It’s just a moment, man. Everything is a moment. Kendrick had his moment,” Whoo Kid said. “Six months, he’s the man. Then the Super Bowl, he’s the man.”
However, according to him, the genre is in dire need of Drake making his return to chart dominance.
“But the thing about Drake, he uses patience as a way of getting back,” he explained. “As you can see, I mean, where has hip-hop been? There’s no Billboard charts, there’s nothing. I think French Montana and Max B barely is like in the 80s and thank God they there in the Hot 100, but I don’t know. I think Sexyy Red is back up now because she just dropped, but there’s not really nobody like…I don’t know. You tell me. I’m not an expert in this, but I know when he’s here, we’re on the charts. If you wanna talk numbers and facts, whether it’s inflated or whatever ’cause labels been inflating sh– for years.”
The wait is almost over, though, as Drake’s ninth solo album Iceman is set to drop next week, on May 15.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Two world-class heavyweights go head-to-head in England with British boxer Fabio Wardley (20-0-1) defending his WBO Interim World Heavy title against fellow Brit Daniel Dubois (22-3-0) in a highly anticipated championship match on Saturday, May 9. The bout is scheduled for 12 rounds.
Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois takes place at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England, starting at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. The main event begins around 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.
However, if you sign up for the “Ultimate Tier,” you can get access to the PPV livestream for $49.99 per month with an annual plan. The package comes with 12 PPV events, High Dynamic Range (HDR) 4K Ultra HD video quality with Dolby 5.1 surround sound for select events, access more than 100 live fights every year, along with fight replays, highlights, documentaries and much more.
DAZN is home to worldwide sports, such as International Federation of Association Football, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, National League, UEFA Women’s Championship League, European Rally Championship and World Rallycross Championship, The Ring Boxing, Riyadh Season Boxing and other sports leagues. Learn more about DAZN here.
Main Card, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT
Fabio Wardley (champion) vs. Daniel Dubois, WBO Interim World Heavyweight Title Bout, Main Event
Jack Rafferty vs. Ekow Essuman, Super Lightweight
Bradley Rea vs. Liam Cameron, Light Heavyweight
David Morrell vs. Zak Chelli, Light Heavyweight
Khaleel Majid vs. Gavin Gwynne, Super Lightweight
Bakhodir Jalolov vs. Agron Smakici, Heavyweight
What Is Wardley’s and Dubois’s Walkout Music?
While Queensberry Promotions has yet to announce each boxer’s walkout music for the main event, they usually approach the ring to the same songs during their matches. Wardley typically walks out to “Can’t Be Touched” by Roy Jones Jr., while Dubois prefers to walk out to “I Don’t Want to Be a General” by Dennis Brown. It’s likely that these songs will make an appearance during the event.
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.pngYveto2026-05-09 03:01:202026-05-09 03:01:20Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois Livestream: How to Watch the Pay-Per-View Boxing Event Online
The Red Hot Chili Peppers has sold its recorded music catalog to Warner Music Group (WMG) for more than $300 million, a source confirms with Billboard. The company purchased the catalog via its $1.2 billion joint venture with Bain Capital, which is aimed at acquiring both recorded music and publishing rights.
Billboard was first to report that the Chili Peppers was shopping its recorded catalog in February 2025, with sources saying the band was seeking up to $350 million. At the time, some sources told Billboard a deal had already been reached, and that WMG was the most likely buyer, but money hadn’t yet changed hands.
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Sources previously told Billboard the band owns its 13 studio albums and other releases issued by WMG in the U.S., but Billboard couldn’t determine if it owned its first four studio albums (also part of the sale) released by EMI in the U.S. It’s also unclear if the deal includes name, image and likeness rights for the band.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported news of the sale finally being executed on Friday (May 8), after WMG announced it had acquired $650 million in recorded music and publishing catalogs via the Bain joint venture so far.
According to Billboard estimates published last year, the Red Hot Chili Peppers master recording catalog generates about $26 million in revenue annually, with the majority of that coming from WMG’s part of the catalog, including such smash albums as Blood Sugar Sex Magik and Californication.
News of the sale to WMG comes five years after the band sold its music publishing catalog to Hipgnosis for between $140 million and $150 million. The publishing assets and recorded music catalog were both shopped by law firm Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobster Younger & Light, according to sources.
WMG declined to comment. Eric Greenspan, the lawyer who had been shopping the Red Hot Chili Peppers deal, didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.
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.pngYveto2026-05-09 03:01:202026-05-09 03:01:20Red Hot Chili Peppers Sells Recorded Music Catalog to WMG for Over $300 Million
Punch, Top Dawg Entertainment’s president, stopped by The Joe Budden Podcast recently and was asked directly about “the bot allegations” that have been levied by fans online in a Patreon clip that has surfaced online.
“I don’t got nothing to say about it,” he answered. “We don’t bot.”
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Budden then peppered him with a series of questions where he asked if he ever purchased bots, if he knows where to purchase bots, and if he’s aware of people in the industry using bots to their advantage, with Punch answering “no” to every question except the last one, to which he added that juicing numbers has been an industry practice since the days of Myspace. “But our whole thing was like, if we do that, how are we going to know who the actual fan is?” he continued. “Like, we do a show, don’t nobody show up because it was all fake. So we purposely chose not to do that back then.”
The conversation then went into how something like bots could benefit an artist if they were in a close race to No. 1 on the charts, to which Punch replied, “If that’s your aim, then yeah, I could see that, but we never been based on actual numbers. Our true metric is seeing people in them seats at the show.”
In another clip, Punch was asked why Kendrick Lamar‘s decision to move on from the label that helped become a superstar happened so seamlessly. “It goes back to what you were saying earlier about being principled,” he answered. “We all cut from similar cloth. We understand. Kendrick fulfilled all his contractual obligations and he wanted to expand what he was doing. So, yeah, let’s do it.” He added that they still consider themselves family and pointed out that SZA was featured on “Luther,” made an appearance at the Super Bowl, and co-headlined a stadium tour.
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.pngYveto2026-05-09 03:01:202026-05-09 03:01:20TDE’s Punch Addresses ‘Bot Allegations’ on ‘Joe Budden Podcast’: ‘Our True Metric Is Seeing People in Them Seats at the Show’
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
aespa is embarking on their fourth world tour and this time it’s titled SYNK: COMPLaeXITY.
The four-member K-pop girl group, consisting of Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning, announced their tour on April 21, alongside the news of their second studio album titled LEMONADE. The album is set for release on May 29, while aespa will make stops in North America, Latin America, Europe and Taipei.
The group will begin their North American stint on Sept. 15 in Hamilton, ON at TD Coliseum before making stops in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities. Afterwards, aespa goes on a nine-city European run, which will open in Manchester, England in January 2027. The tour closes in Paris on Feb. 2, 2027.
During the tour, fans can expect solo, as well as group performances of tracks from their past albums, along with songs from their upcoming album LEMONADE.
Below, we’ll be showing you where you can buy affordable tickets to the girl group’s 2026 world tour. Keep reading to learn more.
Where to Buy Affordable Tickets to aespa’s SYNK: COMPLaeXITY 2026 Tour
General admission for aespa’s tour went on sale Wednesday, May 6. Ticketmaster is the official retailer to snag tickets to the K-pop girl group’s tour. The platform has a slew of tickets readily available, but competition for seating is often fierce. However, it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for deals. The ticketing service offers a fan guarantee, which allows for cancellations, refunds or exchanges within 24 hours of booking. However, these options are subject to certain exclusions.
StubHub is another good option. As of this writing, we’ve seen pricing for as low as $123. The platform makes buying tickets easy with its “FanProtect Guarantee,” which protects purchases with authentic tickets and refund policies. Plus, if your event is canceled and not rescheduled, you will receive a credit worth 120% of the amount you paid, or the option of a cash refund.
On SeatGeek, a quick click through the website reveals tickets for aespa’s tour go for as low as $110, as of this writing. Right now, you can use promo code BILLBOARD10 at checkout to receive $10 off. The ticketing service features a buyer guarantee that ensures smooth ticket purchases every time.
Another great option is Vivid Seats. At the time of publication, aespa’s tickets are selling for as low as $100 for venues like UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. The site has some of the lowest pricing we’ve seen on our search thus far.
If you’re looking to make ticketing on Vivid Seats even more affordable, you can use our promo code BB30 to snag $30 off 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.
TicketNetwork is great for those seeking out aespa tour tickets. When you search for tickets on TicketNetwork, you can use our code BILLBOARD300 to save $300 off orders of $1,000 or more, or code BILLBOARD150 to save $150 off orders of $500 or higher. Pricing for ticketing start around $124 and above, as of this writing. The third-party retailer has lots of seating still available too.
During our search for aespa’s tour tickets, we’ve seen pricing for as low as $107 on Gametime, at the time of publication, which is pretty great. To make shopping for the perfect ticket even easier, Gametime will notify you when certain venues and dates are discounted. You’ll also see indicators on your search that will tell you which venues are in high demand, a helpful tool for preplanning your attack plan when purchasing tickets.
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.pngYveto2026-05-09 03:01:192026-05-09 03:01:19Here’s Where to Buy Affordable Tickets to aespa’s SYNK: COMPLaeXITY Tour Online
Jieun Kim has been elevated to president of Warner Music Korea, Warner Music Group announced. She will report directly to Lo-Ting Fai, also known as Lofai, president of Warner Music APAC.
Prior to her promotion, Kim served as CFO of Warner Music Korea after joining the company in 20223 from Tiffany & Co. While at Tiffany, Kim served in senior finance and retail operations leadership roles.
“It’s a privilege to lead such a talented and passionate team at a pivotal moment when Korean music continues to define the global cultural landscape,” Kim said in a statement. “Our mission is to significantly scale our presence in this vital market while providing a sophisticated global platform for artists from a variety of genres. I want to thank Lofai for his unwavering support and partnership as we enter this next phase of strategic growth.”
Lofai added, “Jieun is an exceptional executive who possesses a rare blend of financial rigor and creative vision. The deep trust she’s already established with key partners across Korea makes her the ideal leader to drive our ambitious agenda. With Jieun at the helm, supported by her brilliant team, I’m confident that we’ll unlock unprecedented opportunities for our Korean artists both at home and on the world stage.”
Warner Music Korea shares they are accelerating their local investment with plans to boost Korean artists.
Lofai was named president of Warner Music APAC last August, joining the company from telecoms company PCCW, where he served as CEO of its subsidiary, MaKerVille. — Ariel King
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.pngYveto2026-05-08 17:50:582026-05-08 17:50:58Executive Turntable: Warner Music, AEG Presents Name New Korea Heads & More Industry Hires
From the start of Dancing On the Wall (out today via Saddest Factory Records), the LA-based band’s fourth studio album drops listeners into a sweaty warehouse of queer power pop filed with heartbreak and lust. And it only accelerates from there, hardly letting up until the closer “Buzzkiller” — save for two interludes that serve as brief intermissions across the albums 40 minutes.
“This record is super propulsive. We want you to be able to digest everything,” says Josette Maskin, noting that the first break comes before the politically charged “Big Stick.” “You need a moment to take it in, like what has occurred and what is about to occur. We use any interlude to give the listener a break from the information.”
The album is a departure from the delicate strumming of “Silk Chiffon,” the Phoebe Bridgers’ collaboration that put the band on the mainstream map. The song – along with MUNA’s triumphant self-titled third album that welded ballads, dance hits and a little bit of country together with unapologetically queer force – multiplied its fanbase and placed MUNA in front of massive audiences as an opening act for Kacey Musgraves, Lorde and Taylor Swift.
Instead of attempting to recreate the intangible alchemy of “Silk Chiffon,” MUNA doubled down on the sound that launched the band, what Katie Gavin calls “MUNA’s actual DNA.”
“There is an element of all three of us, where we all have a part that’s a little bit like the rebel artist spirit. There’s an urge to defy understanding. There’s an urge to be like, ‘you don’t know the whole story,’” Gavin tells Billboard. “That led to this impulse of like, we need to go back to our roots instead of leaning into, ‘Oh, you guys like “Silk Chiffon?” We’ll make 10 “Silk Chiffons.”‘”
“There is a reality in which, if you love ‘Silk Chiffon’ and you don’t know any of our other music, you might not like our first album. And that’s fine. There is a world in which that song could pull you into the other stuff in our catalog or it could be the only song of ours that you like, which is totally fine,” says Naomi McPherson. “We’re not complaining about having a popular song that people like, but we wanted to hone the band sound on this album.”
From the first track, “It Gets So Hot,” this album takes off and doesn’t relent until the end. Was the consistent up-tempo intentional?
Josette Maskin: We’ve been a touring band for forever, since our inception. We feel like songs really have a use in how they feel in the body that could be some sort of physical release. So, it was definitely intentional. Push the BPM [beats per minute] and make things feel good. You get reinforced in the show. People respond differently to a faster BPM than they do a slow one. And it is where we are at and what we’re interested in.
Naomi McPherson: It was also a reaction to a little bit to Katie having done a solo record of folky stuff. So for this one, we were like, “okay, we’re not gonna have a country ballad. We’re gonna push further into the dance world,” which we’ve always straddled. We wanted to push it hard towards more up tempo dance inspired music.
Hearing that you record with live in mind makes sense given the undeniable electricity of a MUNA show.
Katie Gavin: We’re so lucky with that because it’s really not us. At a certain point, it’s the fans. They are coming to shows, knowing every word of every song and really performing to us to the same extent we’re performing to them. It creates such a special atmosphere. A band can be giving 110%, but if the crowd isn’t going just as hard…we can’t create that feeling on our own.
The first single “Dancing On the Wall” really delivered on that signature MUNA sound of ‘80s electro pop with a handful of modern embellishments.
Maskin: It felt like the most MUNA song that we’ve ever actually made. More than it being any of our favorite songs, which I think it’s Katie’s favorite song, but it’s the most MUNA thing we’ve ever done. So, I guess that is the sound.
McPherson: Emotional, yearning synth pop is where we shine.
Historically, a lot of mainstream music for women and non-binary queer people has been more on the folk, singer-songwriter, softer side. Where do you find inspiration in queer musical ancestry?
Gavin: I’ve never really thought about it in that way but it’s helpful in terms of conceptualizing the way in which we as a band straddle a few sounds and cultures. There’s always a bit of tension there because we have the heart and spirit of Tegan and Sara and the Indigo Girls, but we have the BPM and the energy of…one of my queer ancestors is that ‘80s band Erasure. It was a Queenie guy and he made pop sounding music but it is sad. We’re Trojan Horsing the sad lesbian music into the gay club.
It doesn’t feel totally natural to us to make music that is singularly fun and joyful. Or if we are, it is in the same way that anybody who lives in struggle needs to make something that’s fun and joyful. It’s out of necessity. There’s always going to be layers to it.
The aesthetics for this album have been warehouses with red lights and a bit of Flashdance. What was the inspiration for these looks, especially for the music videos?
McPherson: We went into this cycle specifically with the hope of being able to create a world for these songs to live in that felt and feels cohesive and like an extension of the music. We were really attracted to the idea of creating this slightly surreal, heightened, somewhat abstract version of the warehouse club city thing. Shooting the videos in 16mm feels a bit like an extension of what we were attempting to do with the music, which was create this gritty but beautiful universe that had some texture to it. Red came to mind pretty early on and it ended up taking shape across the record in different ways as a very emotional color.
Gavin: We like to portray queer power in some sort of way. And I like that when we sent this album to our drummer, Sarab [Singh], he texted us being like, “Every song feels like a f–ing punch to the gut.” It’s quite a robust record. We wanted to create a powerful and strong image.
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.pngYveto2026-05-08 17:15:592026-05-08 17:15:59MUNA Discuss the ‘Queer Power’ Of New Album ‘Dancing On the Wall’: ‘We’re Trojan Horsing Sad Lesbian Music Into the Gay Club’
Cher is not known for mincing words. And to hear her frequent musical collaborator songwriter Diane Warren tell it, the legendary singer doesn’t hold back at all, even when it comes to her most trusted chart consigliere.
“‘You’re annoying but U write great songs,’” Warren wrote in an Instagram post early Friday morning (May 8) about what sounds like a sweet/spicy compliment Cher paid to her. The post included a seemingly recent smiling pic of the dynamic duo hanging out, along with Warren’s reaction to the star’s backhanded praise: “haha thnx Cher😛🎶🎵✍️♥️.”
At press time it was unknown if, as fans speculated in the comments, the chummy pic was a hint of yet another team-up to come and a spokesperson for Cher had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on the post and whether it’s a tease of a potential future project.
Despite her reported irritating qualities, Warren, who earlier this year fully embraced being the “biggest loser” in Oscar history after her 17th nomination for best original song at the Academy Awards resulted in a 17th loss, has been a bit of a lucky charm for Cher over the years.
The singer’s Warren-penned and produced massive 1989 hit “If I Could Turn Back Time” ran up to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and they’ve teamed up for more than a dozen other classics, including the Golden Globe-winning Burlesque soundtrack hit “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me,” the country-leaning 1989 song “Just Like Jesse James,” as well as 1991’s “Save Up All Your Tears,” 1987’s “Perfection,” “Does Anybody Really Fall in Love Anymore?,” “Love and Understanding” and several others.
Cher has not released an album of original material since 2013’s dance-heavy Closer to the Truth, which featured production from Paul Oakenfold, Timbaland and Billy Mann, among others. Her most recent project was her 2023 Christmas album, which debuted the Top Holiday Albums chart in 2023.
Warren was recently included in The New York Times‘ list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters, earning praise for the song she’s written (or co-written) for everyone from Taylor Swift to Chicago, Patti LaBelle, Aerosmith, Toni Braxton, and, of course, Cher. “I’m usually not into these lists, but this one is a pretty f–king cool one to be on! Thank U @nytimes! 🙌🎶✍️🎼🎵,” Warren wrote on Instagram.
I first discovered Abeer Nehme through her music nearly 20 years ago. I met her in person only 24 hours before our Billboard Arabia cover interview, and it didn’t take long to realize the artist and the person were inseparable, that I was sitting across from someone who had made music not just her profession, but her identity and entire way of life.
I had been anticipating this interview for more than a year, replaying countless conversations in my head: all the things I hoped to ask an artist like her. For months, I drove around listening almost obsessively to the live album from her Cairo Opera House concert, a performance filled with some of my favorite songs in her voice. I imagined asking why she chose to open the night with “Wainak,” (Where Are You?) whether she worked closely with the musicians on the orchestral reinterpretation of “Wadda’t El Leil” (I bid farewell to the long night) or what it felt like to perform the operatic section of “Ghani Qalilan Ya Asafir” (Sing a Little, O Birds), the song that ultimately convinced me Abeer truly is the songbird of Arabic music.
But when the moment finally arrived and I watched her walk into the room, I decided not to tell her any of that. Not about the songs, the admiration, or the first time I heard her voice. I chose instead to do my job as professionally as possible, and let her tell her story in her own words.
Abeer agreed to meet at a small café someone had recommended to her. She arrived on time and still apologized repeatedly. She gave everyone in the room her full attention, asking thoughtful questions, listening carefully, studying each of us as though she wanted to make sure whatever she was about to share would land on receptive ears. An hour later, I realized I — the interviewer — had spoken about myself far more than she had.
Long before she had hit songs or charting albums of her own, Abeer Nehme was already a voice recognized across the Arab world, from the Levant to the Gulf and North Africa. Not in the sense of mainstream celebrity, but as an exceptional vocalist admired by musicians, composers and listeners drawn to depth and craftsmanship. She first appeared publicly through a talent show, though by then she was already immersed in formal academic music studies. She lent her voice to projects by Charbel Rouhana, Marcel Khalife and Jean-Marie Riachi, and spent years performing classical Arabic repertoire and tarab reinterpretations for audiences around the world. She also traveled to unconventional destinations for music research and archival work.
Then, slowly, the butterfly emerged from the cocoon.
In recent years, Abeer stepped in front of that same audience as a fully realized pop star, and her biggest breakthrough arrived just as she entered her forties. Late-blooming success is not unheard of in Arabic music, but what makes Abeer’s story different is that the delay was intentional.
“I don’t believe in instant fame,” she tells Billboard Arabia. “I was working on myself as an artist and as a human being. I was experimenting through travel, through discovering different cultures and musical traditions. I think all of it was building, stone by stone, toward this moment. Maybe I was preparing for it subconsciously.”
Before this wave of mainstream success, Abeer was often described as an “elite artist,” a label tied to her technical precision and years spent performing vocally demanding styles ranging from opera to classical Arabic repertoire. But once she crossed into commercial success, she became more than capable, both through her music and in conversation, of challenging that perception.
“Sometimes people said it lovingly,” she says. “Like they were giving me a prestigious label I was supposed to be proud of. But it upset me… what does ‘elite’ even mean? I sing for older people, younger people, for everyone. Music is a message that reaches every human being.”
Then she pauses before adding with a smile: “But deep down, I always smiled and thought: just wait.” It’s the smile of someone whose confidence ultimately proved justified.
Over the last six years, Abeer’s stardom has reached new heights. A string of songs amassed tens of millions of streams and secured her a steady place on the Billboard Arabia Artist 100 chart. Tracks like “Wainak” (Where Are You?), “Bisara7a,” (To Be Honest) and “Bala Ma N7es” (Without Feeling It) have become emotionally embedded in the lives of audiences who continue requesting them at every concert, songs capable of bringing both listeners and Abeer herself to tears.
Abeer grew up during the Lebanese Civil War, becoming familiar early with hardship and circumstances beyond her family’s control. But she also learned that nothing was powerful enough to silence music.
She learned that from her father, who lived with a lifelong war injury after losing his leg, yet never abandoned his passion for singing, a passion he passed on with discipline and determination to his nine children, especially his eldest daughter, Abeer. His voice guided hers throughout childhood, shaping her phrasing and introducing her to the styles of legendary Arab singers including Asmahan, Umm Kulthum and Fairuz. Their techniques became embedded in her disciplined voice, allowing her to move fluidly across styles while always sounding unmistakably like herself.
By the time her father eventually lost his own voice after years of illness, thousands around the world were attending Abeer’s concerts searching for a voice that could reconnect them to home, and transport them somewhere beyond the present moment.
Just weeks before our interview, Abeer stood onstage at Royal Albert Hall before a massive audience while her home country, Lebanon, remained under attack. She performed “Li Beirut” (For Beirut), the iconic Fairuz song first released during the Lebanese Civil War nearly 50 years ago, and was overcome with emotion.
After the performance, she boarded a plane and returned home to the Beirut suburbs after speaking to the London audience about her country and its complexities. It wasn’t the first war the Lebanese artist had lived through, a reality that led me to ask what it means to create music in joyless times. She answered by quoting Friedrich Nietzsche: “Without music, life would be a mistake.”
Then she continued: “In times of violence, we need to create music with even greater depth, greater beauty, and greater devotion than ever before. Music doesn’t necessarily save the world. But music saves human beings.”
For all the softness of her presence and the poetic calm that fills the room when she speaks, every answer leaves behind the same impression: this is an incredibly strong woman, someone who approaches emotion, art and sensitivity with the precision of an expert.
And “expert” is a word worth lingering on. Abeer did not arrive at this moment — this seat, this cover — through shortcuts or compromise. Hers has been a long journey shaped by discipline, curiosity, individuality, and a refusal to follow convention.
As our conversation reached that point, one final question suddenly came to mind: Would she change anything about the journey?
Less than 24 hours with Abeer Nehme was enough for me to already know the answer before she ever said it.
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.pngYveto2026-05-08 17:15:582026-05-08 17:15:58Abeer Nehme on Billboard Arabia’s Cover: A Voice Guided by Feeling