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.

Igloo may be best known for their coolers, but the drinkware and accessories brand is coming in hot for the holidays with a new Little Mermaid-inspired collection of tumblers and travel mugs.

The Igloo x Little Mermaid cooler and drinkware collection dropped earlier this fall but the collectible pieces are now on sale for more than 20% off online, just in time for Christmas gift-giving. The collection includes a stainless steel travel mug and tumbler, which both feature double-wall vacuum insulation to keep your drinks hot or cold. Both are also designed with a grippy, non-slip rubber base that easily slots into your car cup holder, or stays put on your desk. What we like: Igloo says its unique “dual-threaded lid and ergonomic handle design” supports both left-handed and right-handed people, making it easy to grab and sip.

This is an officially-licensed collaboration between Igloo and Disney, and comes on the heels of other Igloo collaborations with the likes of Tupac, Run-DMC, Hello Kitty and more. As with the other collabs, this is a limited-edition release that’s selling quickly online. And it comes on the heels of other trending water bottles like the musician-loved Stanley Cup and the viral Owala.

Here’s a look at what’s still available to shop from the Igloo Little Mermaid collection, including pieces that are on sale. These make great gifts for kids, Disney adults and movie fans alike but you’ll want to add them to cart before they sell out.

If all the nostalgia is making you want to rewatch the original Little Mermaid animated film or the Halle Bailey-starring live-action remake, both versions are streaming now on Disney+.

Death-defying acts are usually performed at the circus, but watching the off-Broadway musical, Slam Frank, is like witnessing a handful of actors juggling scalpels while traversing a tightrope strung over a field of burning truck tires… and singing and dancing to some very catchy music.

The lead Wallenda of this production: Andrew Fox, who has created with Joel Sinensky one of the most daring, controversial and original musicals produced in a long time.

“Free speech is in the blood, baby,” says Fox, whose great-grandfather, Cook County, Illinois Superior Court Judge Samuel Epstein ruled that Henry Miller’s controversial 1934 autobiographical novel, Tropic of Cancer, could not be banned by Chicago bookstores.

In addition to composing the music and lyrics for Slam Frank — which were influenced by a wide range of artists, including Kanye West, Stephen Sondheim and Wilson Phillips — Fox frequently co-stars in the production. The plot: a progressive theater troupe that presents Anne Frank as a pansexual Latina with a Black mother, a neurodivergent gay father, an ultra-orthodox Jewish sister and a gender-fluid love interest as they hide from the Nazis with another family in an Amsterdam attic. (Fox plays the father of the other family, Mr. Van Daan.)

Inspired in part by a 2022 tweet that asked whether Frank ever acknowledged “her white privilege,” Slam Frank satirizes the often performative culture which produced that tweet, as well as a a word salad of terms and pronouns that the comedian Chris Rock described in his 2023 Netflix special, Selective Outrage, as “woke traps.” But what’s brilliant about the play — in addition to the songs and dialogue (Sinensky wrote the book) — is its refusal to clobber theatergoers with an explicit message.

As a result, Slam Frank, which is running through Dec. 28 at Asylum NYC in Manhattans Flatiron District, has amassed fans and critics of all political and cultural stripes.

“We have people going, ‘This is left-wing propaganda,’ and we have people going, ‘This is right-wing propaganda,’” Fox says. “I have had people accuse me of making anti-Zionist propaganda. Others have said it’s Zionist propaganda. Other comments I’ve gotten: ‘He’s fascist,’ ‘He’s on the dirtbag left,’ ‘He’s a disillusioned progressive.’” And they’re all coming to the same show.

Fox adds that it doesn’t occur to those drawing such conclusions that, “One, people with different political beliefs can work together to make a work of art. Two, it is possible for a work of art to not have a cohesive political outlook. Three, it is possible for a work of art to contain many viewpoints and to support or tear down many viewpoints. It has never even occurred to them that art can be apolitical because we’re in the era of the personal is political.”

Slam Frank opened in September and has gained significant momentum over the last couple of months. It is now playing to full houses at Asylum NYC, but capacity there is just 150 people there, and Fox — who discussed the musical on a recent Zoom call — says the production will move to a larger space in the new year. “Barring some horrible catastrophe, we will be in a theater or theaters in 2026,” he says.

Did you know this was going to be a volatile production going in?

Absof–kinglutely.

At any point did you and Joel say, “Are we really going to do this?”

We never paused and said, “Are we really going to do this.” We were hurtling towards it. There was very much an attitude of we have nothing to lose. We’re both at the point of quitting and changing our careers, so let’s blow up the building as we’re walking away from it.

Also, part of it is if you’re reacting against an artistic environment where everyone is so clearly acting out of fear – fear of being disliked or having their intentions misread.

And when one of us would get cold feet and try to change costume pieces or words, the actors came back and said, “F—k you. I’m doing it, and you can’t stop me.” And it was almost always the person who was most likely to be offended by it. It was like if you assemble a group of Marines, it doesn’t matter if one of them gets scared, the rest of them are going to say, “Sack up, pussy, let’s go!” That’s what our team did.

In interviews, you’ve talked about “forced diversity,” and its connection to woke culture. Do you mind elaborating?

The word “diversity” is one of those words that’s meaningless because the context — who’s saying it, and what they mean by it — can go in so many different directions. Do you mean true diversity? Do you mean demographically representative casting, or do you mean this group and this group only. And for what purpose?

It becomes very clear to people — especially when they’re watching Disney movies, advertisements or low-quality Netflix slop — that frequently when people are trumpeting what they say is moral good, it is actually a marketing gimmick or decision.

There are a lot of contemporary music and Broadway musical references in the show.

I’m a pop, rock, hip-hop guy, and frequently when you’re watching a Broadway musical that claims, “We’re pop rock, we’re hip-hop,” if you’ve ever experienced the real thing, you’re like, are you? Musical theater is very much a bubble, and a lot of the people working inside of it don’t realize the extent to which it’s a bubble. So, a lot of their music is a Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox. There is nobody writing rap for musicals right now who’s influenced by Biggie Smalls. They’re being influenced by Lin-Manuel Miranda. They’re Xeroxing.

But our references — we’ve got early to middle period Kanye West. We’ve got Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights and Hamilton. We’ve got Once On This Island, the [Lynn] Ahrens and [Stephen] Flaherty musical. We have Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, and that gets pretty explicitly referenced in the show because it’s a major, major influence on us.

Pretty much anytime somebody makes a majority male historically accurate show with a lot of guns in it, I love it. So, Assassins and Dead Outlaw are big influences. What else do we have in there? There’s a lot of Jason Robert Brown. The show actually has an ongoing dig at Jason Robert Brown that runs through the show. He has has a very distinctive style heavily influenced by Stephen Sondheim meets Paul Simon, Shawn Colvin and middle period Joni Mitchell. So, whenever you hear that piano pattern ‘dun ga gat, ga gun ga gat, ga gun ga gat, ga gun,’ that’s Jason Robert Brown trying to make the sound of a guitar strumming on a piano. He did Songs for a New World, Parade, The Last Five Years. Those are his three biggest, most influential pieces.

We also have a good amount of Stephen Schwartz: Wicked and The Prince of Egypt. Wilson Phillips and Vonda Shepard are in there as well. [Charles] Strouse and [Lee] Adams, who wrote Bye Bye Birdie, but also the All in the Family theme. Although we cut the song that they influenced. It’s a little bit of everything.

What is important to you when you’re composing numbers for a musical?  

There’s this false belief that the way musicals work is when the emotion becomes too big, the character must break into song. That’s bulls–t, and that’s how you make a bad musical. What a song really does is give structure to a thought, an idea or a moment. So we approached everything in this show by asking, “What structure that we can give to this idea, and what would this fictional theater company make in this place?”

So, half of the show turns into celebratory anthems that have come to dominate pop and musical theater. I call it the “This is me” song: [Sara Bareilles‘] “Brave,” [Katy Perry’s] “Firework” and [Lady Gaga‘s] “Born This Way” — anthem after anthem. Not to say those are bad songs, but once you’ve heard a thousand of them, you’re like, I get it, you’re you.

And frequently, when people are making music in a comedic setting they think that the fact that the song exists at all is funny. One of the rules we set for ourselves is that every song we have in this show has to be at least as good as the thing that it’s parodying. If we’re making a feminist ballad, it has to be a f–king killer, catchy ballad. I have to see every woman in the room bobbing her head to it and dancing along before the song twists on them.

Have the Hamilton people given you any grief over the resemblance of the Slam Frank logo to theirs?

We did not hear from the Hamilton people, but there was a Jewish law student who lives in Toronto, who contacted me pretending to be the lawyer who worked on the trademark. She was threatening me and trying to shut me down.

When I got her phone number and called her and was like, “Hey, it’s Andrew Fox from Slam Frank. What’s up?” She had this tone in her voice of, “Oh my god, this is so scary.”  I find this is an ongoing pattern. The minute you contact people who are willing to break basic ethics and truth in order to shut down or sabotage a show, they start acting like they’re being harassed.

You call and say, “We found out that you don’t own the rights to this, so you’re threatening us for no reason.” And they go, “You need to stop this phone call right now. You are harassing me.” No, you’re harassing me. I’m responding.”

Wow.

There was one person who accused us of stifling free speech just because we said, “Hey, please don’t post spoilers in your review.” And then they served us with the beginnings of a SLAPP lawsuit to stifle our speech. I probably shouldn’t have said that, but who gives a shit. I’m speaking as myself individually and not as a representative of Slam Frank.

You’ve said you like that the ambiguity of Slam Frank is creating these different perceptions and opinions.

What people really don’t understand in this country is the extent to which most people actually agree with each other. They may not come from the same core principles, or they might not arrive at the exact same policy or same rhetoric, but most people have a tremendous amount in common. We crafted Slam Frank as a three-dimensional object. I can’t give them away, but there are very evocative moments with symbols onstage that, based on your life experience and ideology, will give you different messages. Two people with completely different politics and life experiences will laugh at the same thing, and each will think, “Those other people they don’t get it, but I got it.” It doesn’t occur to them that something can just be funny or shocking.  

The audience I saw it with were really enjoying it. I did not see anybody huffing or walkng out.

We should get you back for one of the shows that has the huffers and puffers. Some people just walk out, and that’s great. There were a few times where people have waited until silences to walk out so they can make a huff, and then there was one night —  I wasn’t present, but cast members told me that two women in the front row stood up at a transition in the middle of a song, pointed at the actors and said, “How dare you!” I love that.

And on Reddit theater threads — this tells you a lot about theater fans and how closed their world is. They’ll write something like, “I’ve heard rumors that sometimes when people walk out, the actors call attention to it, and that is so abusive and disrespectful.” I’m like, ever go to a comedy club? Go to a one-person show in a small theater. That’s how things work.

Will the actors call out somebody?

It’s not really calling out. The way the space works, it’s very difficult to exit or even go to the bathroom without everybody seeing you. And especially because we are a show within a show, there are some moments where the only truthful thing for us to do is to acknowledge the thing that all of us are experiencing. We’re not saying, “How dare you walk out of our show!” I knew I was writing a show people were going to walk out of, and they have every right to walk out of it. You’re not supposed to say that in theater because you’re all supposed to be supporting each other. No, if I’m not having a good time I get the f–k out of there because there are a million better things I could be doing.

I read a comment about the show that Slam Frank would have been relevant two or three years ago but is not today. What’s your reaction?

There’s a great memoryholing going on right now. Regardless of what you think its origins are, its intentions and what it achieved, I think we can all agree that from 2013 to 2023, we lived through an extremely strange and bizarre moment in American history —especially if you were working in the arts, academia, the nonprofit sector or journalism.

The last 10 years of American life fundamentally changed all of our institutions, our relationships to each other, the political alignments of both parties. Our politics split around gender lines and did a million other things. And the minute we began to exit that time, everyone started working very hard to pretend that they were never part of it and that it never happened. So there are all these people going well yes, all of these things happened, but it has calmed down in the last two years. Why are you still talking about it?

Yeah, try that with anything else. “Hey, formalized segregation is over. Why are you still writing a play about segregation.” “Hey, it’s 1976, why are you still making movies about the Vietnam War?” “It’s 1974, why are you making a play about the [Hollywood] blacklist?” There are a lot of people who were the worst participants in a lot of excesses who are now very invested in making sure that we never examine them. Also, there are a lot of people who think it’s still not happening. It doesn’t have political power anymore, but it’s still happening. If slavery still echoes in 2025, surely whatever was happening in 2022 can still echo in 2025.

Do you think the minefield of woke terminology and thought is clearing?

I’m loathe to give names to things. Once you name a thing, at least in the artistic world, people can lock you down. I call it, “This thing that some people call woke.” We’re no longer in a space where saying a very normal thing or doing a very normal thing will immediately ruin your life.

You said that “this thing that people call ‘woke’” doesn’t have political power anymore. Do you think that the current administration was a catalyst?

Marc Maron had probably the best quote about it which was, “Congratulations, you’ve annoyed everybody into fascism.” I think a certain number of people came to the conclusion that maybe there wasn’t actually a force pulling people towards the right. Maybe there was a force driving people away.

Policy is not terribly interesting to me in an artistic sense. I don’t know anything beyond how this project is being received, and I will tell you that in early 2024, when we were showing songs from this, people were acting like it was the most radioactive thing — parts of the show that everybody applauds for and loves now. The same song that got our show kicked out of the BMI musical theater writing workshop is now the song that people on Reddit go, “It feels kind of soft and dated.” That’s a transformation that happened in a year. I don’t think it got soft. I think it is because the room we presented it in was ready to get offended by anybody touching anything. That’s a musical theater room.

You’re clearly a very witty writer and a funny guy. You must have comedy heroes.

One of the things I really love about stand-up comedy is that with every other art form you can get away with some level of bulls–t. With Stand-up comedy you’re in front of a fucking brick wall with a microphone. If you aren’t making people laugh, you’re a failure. And you’ve got to make them laugh in Brooklyn, in Kansas City and in f–king Peoria.

In 2022, I said I need to see what’s going on in comedy because that’s the only reliable indicator I have of what’s going on in the world of what the audiences actually care about. And the gulf between what was happening in stand-up comedy and what was happening in my world was so enormous. Some major influences are Bill Burr, Michelle Wolf, Ryan Long — this show would not exist without Ryan Long and Danny Polishchuk’s work on YouTube. And Jad Sleiman, the owner of the Bushwick Comedy Club.

They are masters of this thing where they get you to agree with them, and then they make you very uncomfortable with what agreeing with them means. And I think that’s a lot of what Slam Frank does. We go hey, we all believe this, everybody starts applauding and chuckling, and then we take it one more step. Then they go, “Whoa!” And then you have to seduce them all over again.

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.

With the end of the NCAA Football season, college football bowl games are dominating the months of December and January going into the College Football Playoff starting on Friday, Dec. 19.

A majority of the games are broadcasting on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. We rounded up the best ways to watch ESPN online. ESPN is one of the easiest ways to get access to games and analysis, but sports fans who have become cord-cutters don’t have to reinvest in cable if they want to watch ESPN. There are a variety of affordable streaming options that can give you access to watch ESPN online.

These days, there are a number of live TV streaming platforms that include ESPN as well as hundreds of other channels that’ll get you access to NFL, NCAA College Football, NBA, WNBA, NHL, UFC and more online at home. Plus, most of the platforms include promos and free trials that’ll help save you additional money while allowing you to watch ESPN online for free.

Keep reading to learn how to watch ESPN at home without cable.

How to Watch ESPN Online Without Cable

ESPN Unlimited is the official streaming platform for ESPN, and a subscription includes instant access to games and more exclusive content for $29.99 per month. You can save almost 17% off by purchasing an annual subscription for $299.99 per year. There is no free ESPN Unlimited trial, but it does include exclusive on-demand videos and access to content from what was formerly known as ESPN Insider.

In addition to live sports, ESPN Unlimited has original shows to stream on-demand, plus game recaps and analysis, a shorter version of NFL Primetime and full replays of historic NFL matchups.

To expand your savings and content offerings, currently, you can bundle ESPN Unlimited with Hulu and Disney+ for a single monthly price of just $29.99 per month for all three services for 12 months of streaming.

How to Watch ESPN Online Free

While ESPN Unlimited doesn’t currently offer a free trial, there are other streamers that offer ESPN online free. If you want access to ESPN and additional channels, you can take advantage of DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and Fubo, which are all offering free trials or promos right now. Some of them can give you free access to ESPN for up to a week.

Here are all the ways to watch ESPN online, including ways to stream ESPN online for free.

DirecTV is offering a five-day free trial, which will let you watch ESPN and more for free. The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network is included in all of the streaming packages. In addition to unlimited DVR storage, you’ll get access to local channels and the ability to stream on as many devices as you want.

With prices starting at just $4.99 for a day pass, Sling TV includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN 3 (for ABC simucast) with it Sling Orange and Sling Orange + Blue packages — which features dozens of channels that can be streamed on up to three devices at the same time. Sling Orange + Blue features FS1 and the NFL Network too

Please note: Sling TV’s pricing and channel availability depends on your local TV market.

Fubo is another great option you can take advantage of to watch ESPN online. The streamer offers a seven-day free trial that’ll give you access to ESPN free and more than 240 live TV channels. The service offers a promo that’ll get you up to $30 off the first month, which can get you access to ESPN and more for as low as $54.99 (reg. $84.99 per month).

For the most content options, Hulu + Live TV gives you access to the entire Hulu library in addition to more than 95 live TV channels — including ESPN for just $82.99 per month.

And, unlike the rest of the options, you can also expand your content library by bundling Hulu + Live TV with Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited. You’ll not only have all of the Hulu library to watch, but also exclusive and original programming available exclusively on ESPN Unlimited.

ESPN is also good to watch for surprise celebrity appearances. Every now and then, musicians have been know to drop in and give their thoughts and opinions on the latest going in the sports world. Famous recording artists, like Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo, J. Cole, John Legend, Imagine Dragons, Fall Out Boy, Drake and others.

Want more? For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.

Bose is one of the most trusted names in audio engineering, and its earbuds and headphones have been seen on everyone from top musicians and world-class producers to star athletes.

The comfort level and audio performance of their products are unmatched, making the brand a go-to for all things music, something that ShopBillboard can totally get behind. If you’re still searching for holiday gifting ideas for music lovers in your life, the tech brand is offering major deals this holiday season, up to 45% off on some of its bestselling wireless headphones, earbuds, speakers and more.

We’re talking savings up to $300 on soundbars, earbuds in exlusive colorways and even the brand’s famed Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (30% off now), our editor’s top pick for listening to music on-the-go.

Gifting has never been so easy, and affordable too. Below, you can shop our picks from the holiday sale online. If you’re still stumped on what to get the music-lover in your life, why not try out our guide for Music Book Gifts, Gifts for Grateful Dead Fans and Gifts for K-Pop Fans?

Best Bose Headphone & Earbud Deals

Bose QuietComfort Headphones are a best-selling item, and it’s easy to see why. Top musicians like Normani and Steve Lacy have worn and used the style in the past, likely due to the model’s top-notch audio quality and noise-cancelling capabilities, letting you focus in on the music. Right now, you can get the musician-used OG Bose QuietComfort Headphones for 30% off and the all-new Gen 2 model for 20% off.

The original model and the Gen 2 come in a slew of colorways so you can make sure you get colors to please everyone on your list. The main differences between the new and old model include an added USB-C lossless audio, longer battery life ( from 24 to 30 hrs). You also have a better microphone for calls and a new Cinema Mode which utilizes Bose’s spatialized audio to transform stereo into theater-like immersive sound. The upgrade still retains that sleek and core design, but the finish is slightly glossier.

If you’re not a fan of over the ear models, we’ve included a few earbuds styles for up to 33% off. First up, we’ve got the pretty in pink QuietComfort Earbuds retailing for $129. These are your traditional noise-cancelling earbuds that fit inside the ear, filtering out unwanted noise so you can get back to the music. What drew us to this model, beyond the crisp audio performance and lightweight design, was the color options. You’ve got pink, our personal favorite, along with varying shades of blue, black and a smokey white hue. If we’re being honest, most people shopping for gifts focus on colorway, pricing and then quality. Wouldn’t you know it but these earbuds have all three in one tiny package.

These Bose Ultra Open Earbuds come in an exclusive Carbon Blue colorway, and they’re 33% off right now. That’s just $199 down from the OG price tag of $299. The colorway is a galaxy-esque style with rich blues and chrome purples. Beyond the interesting color, these earbuds boast a unique composition that leaves you alert, while OpenAudio technology delivers rich and immersive sound. It’s the best of both worlds.

Best Bose Portable Speaker Deals

If you’re tired of speakers looking clunky and unattractive, this Bose SoundLink Home Bluetooth Speaker might just be the answer to all your speaker-oriented problems. The style is currently 22% off and comes in this beautiful retro-inspired design, along with sculptural elements that make it more modern. The weightless and wireless model allows portability throughout your house, while the audio output is crisp and clear, filling a room with whatever artists you choose from Taylor Swift to Drake (we don’t judge). It’s a stylish investment that doubles as a decor piece.

Sleek, lightweight and super mini, this Gen 2 Bose SoundLink Micro Portable Speaker is made for music listeners on-the-go. Retailing for just $109 during Bose’s holiday sale, the mini speaker delivers room-filling audio despite its small package. You’ll be getting 12 hours of uninterrupted sound that can withstand water and dust and even a few drops here and there. Slip it into your pocket for a jog or in your tote bag to the beach and let the tunes play.

Another portable option in a larger size is the Gen 2 Bose SoundLink Flex Portable Speaker currently 25% off. This speaker also delivers a big sound and impressive base in an easy-to-pack size. You’ll get up to 12 hours of listening time along with a durable construction that can withstand water, dust and falls. If you want even bigger sound from your little friend, you can link two Bose speakers together to share tunes with friends on the fly. If the deep blue hue isn’t your thing, Bose has seven other colorways to choose from including a sunshine yellow and a dreamy sage.

If you’re always out and about, you’ll need portable speakers that work with you, not against you. That means clunky models that give out on you within the first hour of playtime or the first splash of water. You need something intuitive like this Bose Portable Smart Speaker, currently 20% off. While the word “Smart” makes it sound kind of intimidating, it basically means that the portable model is voice-controlled. You can also manipulate sound specifications via the Bose app or with the touch of your finger if you’d rather. The Smart Speaker delivers powerful 360 sound and comes with an ergonomic handle, making taking the speaker around a whole lot easier. If all that wasn’t enough, it’s waterproof and boasts a 12 hour battery life.

This Bose S1 Pro+ Portable Bluetooth Speaker System is one of the bigger portable models on our list, but don’t let that deter you. Retailing for $599, 14% off, the model offers larger-than-life sound wherever you go. We’d recommend this heftier model to those who are always hosting. This speaker will liven up any gathering from backyard barbeques to holiday parties. With a 3-channel mixer, this speaker allows you to stream playlists, plug in a microphone or even an instrument, giving you endless options for fun all from just one speaker.

Bose Soundbar Deals

So, we’ve covered personal sound for on-the-go, but what about in the comfort of your own home? Bose also offers pretty amazing soundbars like this Smart Ultra Soundbar, currently 30% off on the brand’s website. The soundbar offers theater-level audio thanks to a whopping nine total speakers, great for gaming and movie-watching, all from the comfort of your own home. The immersive soundbar also utilizes A.I. Dialogue Mode, which analyzes audio in real time, automatically adjusting tonal balance to boost speech clarity while preserving immersive sound effects without pushing a button.

Want even more deals on Bose products? We’ve also included some of the music tech deals we’ve spotted via Amazon. Shop those below.

Nothing tells a story quite like a photo, and Billboard has compiled more than 60 of the year’s most defining images.

In 2025, several of the music industry’s leading ladies graced the cover of Billboard. Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams and R&B icon Erykah Badu both fronted March’s Women In Music issue, Afrobeats superstar Tems posed for the May cover and Wicked: For Good star Cynthia Erivo appeared on the cover of June’s Pride issue. By August, hip-hop’s reigning queen Cardi B lorded over August’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players cover, while global crossover stars Rosalía and ROSÉ delivered stunning shoots for the November and December covers, respectively.

While the ladies certainly came to slay, the men also left quite an impression on Billboard’s covers this year. Jamaica’s King of Dancehall, Vybz Kartel, appeared on the year’s first digital cover, Khalid launched his new era on the cover of Billboard Canada, Leon Thomas made his cover debut for the R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players issue and EMPIRE founder and CEO Ghazi scored February’s Sports & Music issue.

Outside of the cover stars, several of the 2025’s buzziest breakthroughs were captured by Billboard, including rising pop star Aubrey Hobert, ambient artist Flawed Mangoes, “Burning Blue” singer Mariah The Scientist, country powerhouse Riley Green and Texas rapper BigXThaPlug. On the other end of the spectrum, Billboard also photographed industry icons such as Joni Mitchell and Daddy Yankee.

As other sectors continue to converge with music, several social media stars caught Billboard’s eye, including Kai Cenat and Druski, both of whom graced print covers in 2025.

Scroll through the following gallery to relive 2025 with a gorgeous collection of Billboard photographs.