It may be winter for the rest of us, but it’s “Eurosummer” at The Jennifer Hudson Show — all thanks to Zara Larsson.

The Swedish pop star made her debut on the daytime talk show Tuesday (Feb. 24) when Larsson sat down with Hudson to talk Grammys, achieving childhood dreams, and her latest album Midnight Sun.

After the interview, Larsson taught Hudson and the live studio audience the viral dance to her 2017 song “Lush Life.”

@jenniferhudsonshow

@iamjhud.official and @zaralarsson jump on the viral “Lush Life” dance trend! 🔥

♬ original sound – Jennifer Hudson Show – Jennifer Hudson Show

“Zara, I can’t dance!” Hudson exclaimed as she struggles to keep up with Larsson’s moves.

The wholesome dancing moment was foreshadowed earlier when staffers sang a remixed version of “Lush Life” to Larsson as she danced down the show’s viral “Spirit Tunnel.“

“We got Zara Larsson at J-Hud, so we gotta show her all the love,” the team sang. “We love her album Midnight Sun, and ‘Lush Life’ is our No. 1.”

Though “Lush Life” is nearly a decade old, the accompanying dance rose in popularity at the end of last year after a clip of Larsson inviting a fan onstage to perform the routine with her went viral. “She joined my dancers. She ate us up,” Larsson explains in her interview with Hudson.

As a result, “Lush Life” was reintroduced to the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing its original peak of No. 75 and hitting No. 36 earlier this month.

“Lush Life” is just one example of Larsson’s recent success. Alongside the 2017 track, she landed two other spots on the Hot 100 with “Stateside” (alongside PinkPantheress, No. 30) and “Midnight Sun” (No. 69) this month. “Midnight Sun” also scored Larsson her first Grammy nod, a nomination for best dance pop recording at this year’s awards.

Larsson’s ascent shows no sign of slowing down: On Tuesday (Feb. 24) Billboard announced that she will receive the Breakthrough Award at this year’s Billboard Women in Music Awards.

On Feb. 28, Larsson will embark on the sold-out North American leg of the Midnight Sun Tour with a stop in Portland, Oregon.

Cardi B gave Miley Cyrus‘ aughts classic “Party in the U.S.A.” new life during a recent stop of her Little Miss Drama Tour.

In a now-viral moment, the “WAP” rapper floats above the crowd while expressing love for her fans. She then, out of nowhere, bursts out an a cappella rendition of “Party in the U.S.A.” — but with a twist.

“There’s a party in my pus-say,” the rapper belts to raucous applause from the audience. In case anyone didn’t hear it the first time, Cardi then sings the refrain one more time.

Cardi B puts her own spin on Miley Cyrus’ “Party In The U.S.A.” during ‘Little Miss Drama’ show:

“It’s a party in my *****” pic.twitter.com/5uuxwPz5wY

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) February 24, 2026

A video of the scene was shared to X by Cardi B fan pages and pop culture news accounts like PopCrave. The clip, of course, has garnered mixed reactions. Some fans laughed at the remix, with one going so far as to tag Cyrus, suggesting, “we need a remix.” Meanwhile, detractors responded by saying that Cardi’s take on the song was “trashy” and that Miley should sue.

As for the song’s original singer, Cyrus has not yet responded to “Party in the U.S.A. (Cardi’s Version).”

This is not the first viral moment from the Little Miss Drama Tour. Amid an online feud between the rapper and the Department of Homeland Security, Cardi addressed ICE directly during the tour’s opening night on Feb. 11. “Bi—! If ICE comes in here, we gon’ jump they a–es,” she said to major cheers from the crowd. “I’ve got some bear mace in the back! They ain’t taking my fans, bi—.” 

Just two days later, while performing at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Cardi took a tumble off a chair during “Thotiana.” She recovered effortlessly, continuing the song and joking about what happened as soon as she stood up. “That was the government!” she exclaimed while pointing at the offending chair. The next day on X, she replied to a PopCrave post about the moment saying “Can someone put a community note on this ? This video is clearly Ai.“

Cardi will resume the Little Miss Drama Tour this week with more California dates, in Sacramento and San Francisco, before continuing her cross-country adventure and concluding in Atlanta on April 18.

Google has announced the acquisition of ProducerAI, which allows users to create and refine music using generative AI. It will now be available as part of Google Labs suite of tools, the company revealed today (Feb. 24).

Over time, ProducerAI amassed a list of prominent musical advisors, including The Chainsmokers, Lecrae and slenderbodies. It is described as a “creative collaborator” employed to help a user write and refine new songs, according to a Google blog post about the acquisition. “The experience is just as much about the joy of making music as the results, and it utilizes Google DeepMind’s Gemini, Lyria 3, Veo and Nano Banana models,” the post reads.

ProducerAI was launched in July 2025 as an evolution of Riffusion, a free AI musicmaking tool that generated audio from images, using a machine learning technique known as diffusion. Riffusion was launched by co-founders Seth Forsgren and Hayk Martiros first as a hobby, but after the tool gained viral popularity, beginning in 2022, the two decided to develop the project.

News of the acquisition arrives one week after Google launched its AI music model, Lyria 3, as part of Gemini. Lyria 3 is considered Google’s “most advanced music generation model” yet, according to the company, and it allows users to create 30-second tracks using texts or images in beta.

ProducerAI employee Kendall Rankin revealed in a LinkedIn post about the deal that all employees of ProducerAI will join Google Labs and Google DeepMind to continue the development of the company’s AI music tools.

ProducerAI will use Lyria 3’s technology to allow users to work with an AI agent to generate sounds, remix tracks and render new lyrics. Google’s blog post notes that its goal with ProducerAI is to create a platform that is focused on allowing users to have granular controls of the product, including through a feature like Spaces, which conjures completely new instruments from text prompts.

“We are so grateful to see how this platform continues to evolve,” Alex Pall of The Chainsmokers said in a statement. “It’s truly crafted around the musician’s experience. The founders are incredibly technical, but natively musicians, and understand the nuances of what makes a platform truly be an additive tool in the creation process.”

Taylor Swift‘s “Opalite” jumps from No. 8 to No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100, dated Feb. 28. The breezy pop-rock hit, which originally debuted at No. 2 on the Hot 100 dated Oct. 18, 2025 (following the release of parent album The Life of a Showgirl) was propelled by a surge in song sales, with new physical editions of it shipping out to fans, and new remixes of it from producer/DJs like Chris Lake and Skream being made available for digital purchase and streaming.

With its rise to No. 1, the song becomes the second Showgirl single to top the Hot 100 — following “The Fate of Ophelia,” which debuted at pole position and ruled for a Swift-career-best total of 10 weeks between 2025-26. That makes Showgirl just Swift’s second album to boast multiple Hot 100 leaders, following 2014’s 1989, which topped the chart with three singles: “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space” and the Kendrick Lamar-featuring “Bad Blood.”

How big a deal is getting her second Showgirl No. 1 to Swift? And what song might she use to go for No. 3? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.

1. “Opalite” becomes the second single off Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl to reach the Hot 100’s No. 1 spot, making it her first album since 1989 to snag multiple No. 1s. On a scale of 1-10, how meaningful do you think that accomplishment is for her?

Katie Atkinson: I’m going to say 5, only because it feels impossible to top the unheard-of records set when this album debuted back in October. The enduring success of “Opalite” proves the staying power of the album itself, but if we look back at her other recent albums, there might have been pathways to other Hot 100 No. 1s — whether it was through music videos or remixes or physical releases — and Team Taylor didn’t make those moves for whatever reason. Or maybe her album pace was just so quick that there wasn’t time to dwell on a previous cycle. So while this is a big look for the project, I think the legacy of this album will remain that massive first week.

Hannah Dailey: I’ll say 8! Clearly, it’s meaningful enough to her that she specifically posted about it on Instagram, but there are also so few commercial milestones left for her to achieve — so it’s extra cool when she does find one to achieve. 

Kyle Denis: A 6? It helps her tie a pretty massive all-time Hot 100 record, but neither of the Showgirl songs hold a candle to how vital “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood” felt to the wider culture in 2014-15.

Danielle Pascual: 7. I honestly might have said even lower if it weren’t for her Instagram post, where she specifically calls out the feat. Taylor has scored so many Billboard chart records over her career, one might think another No. 1 (out of the 14 she already has) might be small potatoes. However, she is clearly very proud of this album, and 1989 has been her one album whose feats have been difficult to match or beat. The fact that TLOAS was able to achieve this, especially over four months post-release, says a lot about the album’s staying power.

Andrew Unterberger: Like a 7.5? It might not feel like a huge accomplishment for an artist who now has 14 total No. 1s to their credit to get two off the same album, but the list of artists who have done that with an album this decade is shorter than you might think, and Swift herself had gotten close so many times without quite getting there — as when “Karma” off Midnights rebounded to No. 2 following the release of its remix with Ice Spice, but couldn’t quite get past Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” at No. 1.

2. What do you think is the biggest reason “Opalite” was able to become a relatively late-arriving No. 1 for Swift, when she (along with nearly every other pop star) has had significant trouble generating post-album-release No. 1s in recent years?

Katie Atkinson: The cameo-packed visual’s buzzy release did seem to generate new interest in the song just as its radio airplay was hitting a peak and the 7-inch singles were delivered. But of that trio of factors, what’s the biggest reason? I would say the Swifties never met a vinyl they didn’t need to add to their collection, so the physical push gets the edge for me. (I mean, look no further than the whopping 2,290% gain in sales for proof.)

Hannah Dailey: The way she executed the music video was absolutely ingenious. Not only did she nail the project artistically – everything about the casting, storyline and ‘90s drab was perfect – but she also was incredibly smart to premiere the visual on Spotify and Apple rather than YouTube. Even if YouTube views still counted the same towards the Billboard charts as they used to, I think this strategy would have still given people more incentive to seek out the song/video on streaming services, just for the novelty of it.

Kyle Denis: Relentless strategy and timing. Team Swift’s decision to shift the shipment of “Opalite” physical singles a week allowed her to dodge last week’s Bad Bunny takeover. Those sales were necessary to vault “Opalite” to the No. 1 spot; the song currently ranks outside of the top 15 on Streaming Songs, despite its current No. 3 peak on Radio Songs.

Danielle Pascual: Her thoughtful release strategy. She didn’t really start promoting her second single until the numbers for “The Fate of Ophelia” began to fall. Since then, it was all systems go on “Opalite”: she’s dropped a big music video, multiple remixes (the Chris Lake remix is a banger) and even two “extended” versions of the music video, which include bloopers and behind-the-scenes footage tacked on to the end. I think the music video was the biggest player because she was able to get not one, but six famous faces to make cameos, which isn’t something most pop stars could pull off.

Andrew Unterberger: There’s a bunch of release strategy-related explanations as to why Taylor Swift was able to pull this off, but the biggest and simplest reason this song was able to get to No. 1 is that people were still streaming the hell out of it — and radio was just starting to play the hell out of it — four months after the album’s release. “Opalite” succeeded where “Karma” failed in large part because it had a much shorter distance to travel to the Hot 100’s top spot from the No. 8 position; before the latter jumped to No. 2, it was all the way down at No. 27.

3. Do you think Swift will try to push for a third No. 1 (or at least a third big hit single) off Showgirl? If so, which song would you advise her to try with?

Katie Atkinson: I would be surprised if there’s a push for a third chart-topper, but I think the most likely contender would be the title duet with Sabrina Carpenter. It feels like the combo of Taylor and Sabrina would be irresistible for pop radio, and if they decided to make another music video, there’s already a built-in visual opportunity: Since the track ends with onstage audio from The Eras Tour, they could edit together clips of Swift and Carpenter together during the landmark trek. Video’s already made!

Hannah Dailey: Of course I do. This woman doesn’t stop.

“Elizabeth Taylor” is right there, but I think the smartest single would be “Father Figure.” We already know it has virality potential thanks to all the edits on TikTok it inspired after Showgirl dropped, and the lyrical prompts for a truly cinematic, Sopranos-style music video are almost too exciting to think about. Plus, it breaks up the similar sounds of “Ophelia” and “Opalite” a little bit more than any other obvious single choice would.

Kyle Denis: Probably. This is all sport for Tay at this point, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes with “Elizabeth Taylor” or “Father Figure,” both of which have lingered around the Hot 100’s bottom rungs post-Showgirl release, as the third single. I suppose there’s also a world where she goes with “Wood,” but that’s not one I’d like to live in.

Danielle Pascual: I hope so! “Ruin the Friendship” would be a great single ahead of summer. It’s my personal favorite song from the album, and carries the sort of care-free, driving down the Pacific Coast Highway feeling that all great summer jams have. 

Andrew Unterberger: “Actually Romantic” remix with a provocative guest! (Maybe Kendrick Lamar feels like reviving his 1989-era third-single magic? He knows a thing or two about diss tracks.)

4. If you were a fellow pop artist trying to learn from Swift’s success with “Opalite” in terms of garnering interest for a second (or first-post-release) single off an album, what lessons might you take from it? Or does Taylor Swift’s strategy only work because she’s Taylor Swift?

Katie Atkinson: There are things that only Taylor can attempt and attain, and I think this No. 1 was a particularly Swiftian feat. Without the YouTube-to-No. 1 pathway, Swift had to deploy multiple tactics at once to make this one work – and the most invaluable one was that this song was already an active radio hit that just needed a push over the edge.

Hannah Dailey: For however long YouTube’s doesn’t factor towards Billboard’s charts, I think artists will follow suit and continue premiering music videos on Spotify/Apple — whether or not they realize it was Taylor who set the precedent. But more generally speaking, “Opalite” was an immediate fan-favorite – even more than “Ophelia” was, at least from what I saw online and experienced with the people in my life. It’s always smart to keep an ear to the ground regarding which songs fans are flocking to on their own.

Kyle Denis: Taylor Swift’s strategy is contingent upon a relatively broad fan base with deep commitment and deeper pockets. If you’re missing one of those three elements, her strategy probably won’t be of much help. Regardless, pop stars who are looking to follow in her chart-dominating footsteps should take note about how closely Team Swift follows the charts. It’s not likely a coincidence that the “Opalite” music video initially premiered exclusively on Spotify and Apple Music after YouTube announced that it would no longer provide their data for Billboard chart tracking. Just look at her celebratory Instagram caption, which basically reads like a Wikipedia summary of her post-2014 Hot 100 chart history. Don’t be afraid to embrace the numbers game of it all!

Danielle Pascual: I think it’s a bit of both, but moreso the latter. If Taylor Swift wants a No. 1, a No. 1 she will get. She has a fanbase big enough to help her get there, and the marketing resources that not all artists have access to. The biggest takeaway would be to ride the wave of what’s trending and build up from there.

Andrew Unterberger: It’s not so easy for anyone not named Taylor Swift to find similar success running the Taylor Swift playbook. But her level of planning and attentiveness when it comes to timing the chart moves that she makes is something that other artists could certainly look towards.

5. Which of the two Showgirl No. 1s will ultimately be more fondly remembered: “Ophelia” or “Opalite”?

Katie Atkinson: I think I’ll always associate “Ophelia” with Showgirl, especially since it so sweetly recalls the Shakespearean themes of her global breakthrough hit “Love Story” but through a more grown-up lens, nearly 20 years later. That sort of full-circle narrative is what Swift’s success is built on.

Hannah Dailey: That’s such a good question, because “Ophelia” will always be the song that beat her prior career record for longest run at No. 1 on the Hot 100 – but like I said, it seems like listeners simply have more pure love for “Opalite.” Even the people I know who weren’t big on Life of a Showgirl all seemed to say something to the effect of, “But I did really like ‘Opalite,’ it’s so fun.” 

To answer: My brain says “Ophelia,” but my heart says “Opalite.”

Kyle Denis: This is a tough one. But I’m going to go with “Ophelia.” I think it has the advantage of being the lead single and the first music video of the Showgirl era and that will help its legacy in the public consciousness. And you can’t exactly scoff at 10 weeks at No. 1.

Danielle Pascual: Probably “Ophelia.” I’d be surprised if “Opalite” comes close to 10 weeks at No. 1. I think a lead single will almost always perform best for big pop stars — and therefore needs to be chosen wisely. Although, Swift’s own “Cruel Summer” is a huge exception, of course. 

Andrew Unterberger: “Opalite.” I predict a parallel trajectory for these two singles to “We Are Never Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble” off Red — the first single is the bigger chart hit, but the second one becomes the more unshakeable one in the culture, and ultimately the more streamed one on DSPs.