Five years after he first headlined New York City’s Governor’s Ball, A$AP Rocky returned in his full glory for a rousing finale on Sunday night (June 7). And though he spent part of his weekend cheering the Knicks onto their second consecutive 2026 NBA Finals victory, Rocky put down the jersey, picked up the microphone, and locked back into superstar rapper mode for his career-spanning set.

After Saturday night’s flash thunderstorm cut the night short — STRAY KIDS’ set was bumped two hours earlier; Blood Orange eventually rescheduled for Sunday, and Kali Uchis and Amyl and the Sniffers had sets canceled — Rocky’s finale had to make up for circumstances he had no control over.

“I came to get disrespectful,” proclaimed the Grammy-nominated rap star as he lorded over the packed festival crowd from an elevated onstage platform. Armed with a bullhorn-microphone and sporting an off-white AWGE tee, white-and-black balaclava and light wash blue jeans (which he later pulled down to reveal a “Harlem” waistband), Rocky came ready to start a riot. What exactly he was rioting against (or for?) was still unclear by the close of his set, but at least the multihyphenate reminded audiences why he has one of the strongest aesthetic eyes in his entire genre.

Originally set for an 8:45 p.m. ET start time, Rocky didn’t take the stage until a little after 9:00 p.m., closing out a festival that was notably light on hip-hop acts (just five played across the fest’s three days) and homegrown headliners. He exacerbated that delay with increasingly clunky transitions that left the crowd literally in the dark without so much as an instrumental track playing in the background — but when things clicked, Rocky harnessed some truly irresistible energy.

Serving as the de facto NYC stop for his ongoing Don’t Be Dumb Tour — which kicked off on May 27 at Chicago’s United Center — Rocky anchored his headlining performance with his latest LP, drawing on its frenetic, expansive and still-polished energy. Don’t Be Dumb, his first studio album in nearly eight years, debuted atop the Billboard 200 in January, spawning Billboard Hot 100 hits like “Stay Here 4 Life” (No. 23, with Brent Faiyaz), “Helicopter” (No. 24), “Stole Ya Flow” (No. 33) and “Punk Rocky” (No. 56).

It would take Rocky nearly nine songs to finally play something outside of the Don’t Be Dumb era, but the raucous energy of that album’s songs made for a lively first half of his set. He kicked things off with the scathing “Stole Ya Flow,” before transitioning into “Helicopter” and “Trunks” to maintain that, well, riotous energy. Clipse may have given a live rapping masterclass during the set just an hour prior, but Rocky was more concerned with using his master of ceremonies status to call for both mosh pits and for people to take off their shirts and wave them in the air “like a helicopter.”

Comprised of American flags — with his face superimposed on them, no less — and a massive Don’t Be Dumb-branded helicopter, in addition to warring “riotters” (dressed in all white) and SWAT “personnel” (dressed in all back), Rocky’s Gov Ball stage explicitly drew from U.S. military aesthetics. And Rocky’s bullhorn-microphone only emphasized those visual notes, with the Harlem MC moving more like a commanding officer than a rap superstar at the beginning of his set. That militant energy couldn’t save him from production cutting his mic as he approached the 10:00 p.m. ET curfew with seemingly no haste.

While the transitions certainly dragged, Rocky made up for it during moments like “A$AP Forever,” when the SWAT team followed him down the runway, nailing each image the choreography demanded. Other times, like during “Punk Rocky,” the staging felt a bit nonsensical. How do you play a song called “Punk Rocky” and not have your band front and center for its duration? Like any good festival headliner, however, Rocky knew that one surprise guest or song could remedy those inconsistencies. While he didn’t tap Rihanna, though she enjoyed the show in the crowd alongside JENNIE, Rocky did call up Dominican rapper Tokischa for the live performance debut of “Flackito Jodye,” their saucy, dembow-infused Don’t Be Dumb collaboration. As she ripped through her verse and popped her butt for good measure as Rocky’s sole guest (and surprise) of the night, Corona Park turned into Uptown for a split second.

After spending the bulk of his set playing Don’t Be Dumb, Rocky transitioned into “Praise the Lord,” seemingly kicking off a retrospective section that would span his generation-defining career. While he did find time to fit in “Peso,” “Fashion Killa,” “Wassup” and “Purple Swag,” Rocky’s set was ultimately cut short, with his mic’s audio getting pulled as he was gearing up to follow “Jukebox Joints.” Once it was clear that he wouldn’t be able to charm or pressure festival producers to extend his set, Rocky tossed his gloves and wave cap into the office, right before he attempted to unscrew the microphone from the bullhorn. Once that proved unfeasible, Rocky lobbed the entire contraption into the audience and walked off stage without another word.

Given the day had already been slightly delayed due to weather (Slayyyter’s set was notably postponed earlier that afternoon), Rocky should have at least gotten ten minutes extra to tear through signature hits like “1 Train,” “No Limit” and “F—kin’ Problems,” none of which he got the chance to perform. Between that debacle and the eyebrow-raising lack of hip-hop on the lineup, this year’s Gov Ball finale didn’t quite live up to the downright euphoric mood established by the Knicks’ two consecutive NBA Finals victories. Nonetheless, Rocky turned up for his city, and they beamed that energy right back to him.

Fans who weren’t able to make Rocky’s Gov Ball set can still catch him on his Don’t Be Dumb Tour. After hitting Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena for the next stop (June 8), Rocky’s latest trek will take him to major cities across the U.S. and Canada, before concluding on July 11 at Newark’s Prudential Center. The tour’s European leg will commence on Aug. 25 at Brussels’ ING Arena, and visit iconic metropolises like Milan, Copenhagen and Paris, before coming to a close on Oct. 11 at Athens’ Telekom Center.

See A$AP Rocky’s setlist at the 2026 Governor’s Ball below.

Morgan Wallen‘s Still the Problem Tour added another headline-making moment to its run on Friday night (June 5), when the country superstar grabbed a cellphone out of a security guard’s hand mid-performance and flung it across the stage at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium.

Video of the incident, posted to TikTok by user jcroo419 and rapidly circulated on social media, shows the guard holding up a phone while recording Wallen perform — reportedly at the request of a fan who had passed the device forward in the hopes the guard would hand it to the singer.

Instead, Wallen gestured toward the phone, walked away, then returned, removed it from the guard’s hand and dramatically launched it across the stage. “I get it… security should be doing security things, but…,” the user captioned the clip. Billboard has reached out to representatives for Wallen for comment.

@jcroo419

Well that just happened… Amy gave her phone to the lady to hand to Morgan Wallen and he launched it. I get it… security should be doing security things, but….

♬ الصوت الأصلي – وحيد

The phone-throwing came at the end of a turbulent week on the road for the I’m the Problem tour. Just days earlier, Wallen experienced an onstage meltdown during his Denver show, when his piano appeared to malfunction during a performance of “Sand in My Boots,” forcing him to finish the song a cappella. He then walked back to the piano, shoved it about a foot, and flipped it over — breaking it on the stage.

The next day, Wallen posted a TikTok video addressing the moment, showing himself at a new piano. “Hey, I just want you to know that right now this piano is working,” he said. “That’s what they told me last night, too.”

Wallen also abruptly canceled his Saturday show in Pittsburgh, citing high winds and stage safety concerns rather than the swirling “nonsense” speculation about his behavior.

“My team walked on the bus and told me they had been consulting with local officials and that I should cancel my show in Pittsburgh tonight,” he explained in a video posted to his Instagram Stories. “They said that there was going to be strong winds in the area… I’ve been seeing a lot of nonsense about me that is simply not true, and I just wanted to clear the air.”

The Pittsburgh phone moment is the latest in a string of headline-grabbing incidents tied to Wallen’s chart-dominating 2026. His current album I’m the Problem, released in May 2025, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with the largest streaming week ever for a country album, and produced the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “I’m the Problem.”

He had previously topped the Hot 100 in 2024 with “I Had Some Help” featuring Post Malone, which spent six weeks at the summit. One Thing at a Time (2023) spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, one of the longest-running chart-toppers of the streaming era.

The Still the Problem Tour continues across the U.S. throughout the summer.

Tony Awards host P!nk brought an iconic pop culture reference from 25 years ago to 2026’s ceremony, opening the televised show with a leading lady-themed remake of “Lady Marmalade.” Megan Thee Stallion, who recently took an early exit from her run in Moulin Rouge, took the stage next to P!nk in her Broadway costume and reworked Lil’ Kim’s rap from the 2001 pop supergroup single during Sunday night’s (June 7) lively performance.

The parody of “Lady Marmalade” (based on the song P!nk once recorded with Lil’ Kim, Christina Aguilera and Mya) was referred to as “Leading Lady Marmalade,” and had P!nk highlighting several of Broadway’s best in the tune’s “gitchie, gitchie” chorus.

Lea Michele, who wasn’t nominated for an award this year, also joined in for a cameo to hit Xtina’s big vocal note from the original “Lady Marmalade,” but swapped in a fitting lyric, all things considered: “We don’t do it for the awards.”

June Squibb, nominated in the best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play and seated in the front row at Radio City Music Hall, also had a scene-stealing moment. When the mic was pointed her way, Squibb — who’s the oldest acting nominee in Tony Awards history — quipped to the tune of “Mocha Chocolata, ya-ya“: “All the parts I’ve played, I’ve slayed ’em.”

Backed by a full-stage ensemble that included familiar faces like Broadway’s Dylan Mulvaney, Shoshana Bean, Neil Patrick Harris and more, the opening number ended with a soaring “Welcome to the Tony Awards!” from P!nk.

Harris, who’s had several turns hosting the awards ceremony himself, had helped P!nk lead into the “Leading Lady Marmalade” scene after the pop star first made an entrance spinning in the air, dressed as Peter Pan.

P!nk had hinted at a “wild” Tony Awards opening number in interviews in the days leading up to this year’s ceremony. Without spoiling the “Lady Marmalade” nod, P!nk told Broadway.com, “It’s just a full-blown ridiculous celebration. I told them my one caveat was that immediately as soon as I step onto the stage, I have to make fun of myself, and make it absolutely just about fun and celebrating everyone.”

Follow a complete list of the 2026 Tony Awards winners, updating live as they’re announced, here.

After exiting the group Salty Peppers, Maurice White moved to Los Angeles from Chicago and created a new band. A strong believer in mysticism, the Sagittarian sought inspiration from his astrological chart in divining the band-to-be’s name. Three elements caught his attention: earth, fire and air.

“I changed air to wind,” late founder White says in a clip from the HBO Original documentary Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World). “And the rest is history,” he continues. “Earth, Wind & Fire is basically the true elements of the universe.”

And what a history it’s been as director-producer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson relays in the illuminating, two-hour documentary premiering Sunday night (June 7; 9 p.m. ET/PT). In the nearly 60 years since White’s vision took shape, the nine-time Grammy Award-winning and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band has achieved global acclaim and legendary status.

Via spirited fusions of jazz, R&B/soul, Afro-funk, pop and disco, the band mined a deep vein of classic gold and platinum hits and fan faves like “September,” “Shining Star,” “Let’s Groove,” “After the Love Is Gone” and “Beijo” (aka Brazilian Rhyme interlude). In fact, Questlove pegged another iconic EWF hit, “That’s the Way of the World,” in crafting the title for his latest Questlove Jawn.

“I love a good pun,” said the Academy Award-winning music historian during a Zoom interview with Billboard following the documentary’s June 3 premiere at the 25^th Tribeca Film Festival. “All of my documentaries have a long title continuation that also explains what you have to consider [while watching]. Sly Stone was about the burden of Black genius. With Summer of Soul, the revolution was happening, but it couldn’t be televised. In this particular case, it’s about human beings. We’re all celestial; all light shiners. But oftentimes, we dim our light to blend in and be part of the ecosystem.”

“Maurice White is basically an orphan, given away by his mother to a neighbor,” Questlove continued, “yet he somehow gets a metaphysical belief at the age of seven in Memphis … a calling to say, ‘It’s my job to bring positivity and love into the world.’ But however well-intended the mission, you must learn not to hold within any pain. That’s what I want people to learn from this: Do not dismiss your dreams. But you also have to let things go. And Maurice never let that anger go of being given away. He was crumbling inside because he had a broken heart.”

Through strikingly candid conversations with group members, family, friends and high-profile fans — and access to a cache of treasures including the group’s recordings, outtakes and unreleased live shows plus Maurice’s diaries, affirmations and favorite books — Questlove delivers a riveting look at the hard work and joy behind the band’s ascension. But he leans into the creative tensions and personal issues that arose as well. Viewers will witness the magic tricks and psychedelic/space-age costumes that became hallmarks of EWF’s showmanship. They’ll also learn what EWF smash inspired one of Stevie Wonder’s own classic hits, among other insightful tidbits.

Above all, “Earth, Wind & Fire taught us how to dream,” says Questlove. “As we continue to search for answers in these very tense times, their music always s same conclusion: the answers are inside yourself. It’s the same metaphysical story as The Wizard of Oz. Listening to their songs during the pandemic was my eureka moment; I realized what they were doing: they tricked us into positivity. This is the story of a band that tricks you into eating your vegetables.”

Ahead of the film’s Tribeca premiere and their performance with The Roots that same evening, EWF original members Verdine White, Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson — the doc’s co-executive producers (Maurice’s son Kahbran “KB” White is a producer) — also sat down for a Zoom interview with Billboard, printed below. Later this summer, the indefatigable Earth, Wind & Fire will launch their “Sing a Song All Night Long” tour with fellow icon Lionel Richie on June 24.

What was your immediate reaction after viewing the documentary?

Bailey: Questlove is really a music historian. Talk to him for five or 10 minutes and you recognize he has an innate gift for knowing a lot of facts about music history. He’d bring stuff up about EWF, and I’ve been there all the time [with the group]. But I’d be like “How’d you know that?” So he was the perfect person to do this because he goes deep below the surface. It’s surreal.

White: He’s an historian and a musician. That combination particularly works well when it comes to the music and the message. He captured our essence and spirits, our manhood and humanity. I’m really proud of it.

Johnson: It’s a job well done.

The documentary also doesn’t shy away from the thorny issues the group — and Maurice — encountered along the way.

Bailey: That’s the way of the world, right? You can’t live life without experiencing the highs and lows, the good and bad, the pretty and ugly. It’s part of what makes us what who we are. And it’s really a testament to the fact that we’re still here, doing music on a very high level some 50+ years later.

Johnson: Philip covered it. The ups and downs all get back to the duality of the universe.

White: When you have a long career, it’s not linear. It moves around; grows as you grow. It has its own rhythm mechanism. [The documentary] shows that we were living our truth.

What is one lesson or affirmation learned from Maurice that you still follow?

Johnson: Three things: commitment, trust and humility. If you believe in something, then you’ve got to commit to it. And you must trust that in the end it’s going to be OK. Then if things get so great for you that your ego goes out of control, then you’ve got to turn on the humility and put yourself back in check.

White: Love for your brothers, particularly Ralph and Philip. The love, the connection, the trust, the bond:  that’s what I’ve come away with.

Bailey: When we were first together, practicing and hoping to go out on the road, there were several times when on the way to the airport, we’d literally get a call that it [a gig] was canceled. I’m living with people and primarily eating oatmeal; I got a new baby. Yet every time things would happen, Maurice would always say, “There’s something better for us.” He never complained; never had a defeatist attitude or statement.

How would Maurice feel about the documentary?

Johnson: He’d feel the story has been told the right way.

Bailey: He’d be proud of it. It’s indicative of who we are.

White: Reese would be really proud that the three of us are still together — from almost teenagers to adults.

And what lasting impression do you hope fans will have after seeing the documentary?

Johnson: Vintage fans will be happy. They’ll think the story was told correctly. New fans will be very enlightened because they’ll find out some stuff about this group they just didn’t know.

Bailey: That the documentary makes the music real and gives people a deeper understanding of the music.

White: Vintage fans will remember that this journey was part of their lives too. And newer fans will learn something about being able to have a mission — as Maurice did — of rendering a service to humanity and actually bringing people together. When people mention our name, there’s a smile that comes to their faces.