Pepe Aguilar has taken on the task of keeping his father’s legacy alive, this time producing ¡Que Viva Antonio Aguilar!, a compilation album featuring iconic songs by the Mexican music legend reimagined by stars from various generations, from Banda El Recodo and Banda MS to Carín León, Pepe himself and his children.

“It’s a very special album,” he says in an exclusive interview with Billboard Español. “A record like this of Antonio Aguilar has never been done before. We’re showcasing the artist’s interpretation of songs my father once performed.”

In ¡Que Viva Antonio Aguilar! — to be released Thursday (May 28) at 8 pm ET under Equinoccio Records/Virgin Music — Ángela Aguilar and Leonardo Aguilar perform “China de los Ojos Negros” and “El Adolorido,” respectively, while Pepe Aguilar sings “Noches Tenebrosas.”

Among the album’s 14 tracks, Luis R Conríquez lends his voice to “4 Meses,” Banda El Recodo to “La Cama de Piedra,” Chuy Lizárraga to “Ánimas Que No Amanezca” and Banda MS covers “El Chivo.” Carín León takes center stage with the focus track “El Chubasco,” while Edén Muñoz performs “Albur de Amor” and Alfredo Olivas reimagines “El Alazán y el Rosillo.”

Two other women also appear on the tracklist: Lucero with “Triste Recuerdo” and Guadalupe Pineda with “Yo Ya Me Voy de Mi Tierra.” Additionally, a non-Mexican artist, Jessi Uribe, delivers his rendition of “El Hijo Desobediente.”

Also noteworthy is the inclusion of Vicente Fernández — another iconic, now-deceased figure of Mexican music — who shared a friendship with the patriarch of the Aguilar Dynasty and even attended his funeral. On the LP, his voice can be heard on “Ando Que Me Lleva,” in a version previously released on his 2024 posthumous album, Pa’ La Parranda.

“The idea to include Don Vicente Fernández came from my wife,” Aguilar explains. “[My daughter] Ángela participated in the tribute album to Don Vicente, and we thought it would be important to have him on my father’s tribute album since they were very good friends.”

Born in Villanueva, Zacatecas, on May 17, 1919, Antonio Aguilar remains a cultural and musical icon of Mexico, with over 150 recorded albums and hits like “Un Puño de Tierra,” “Caballo Prieto Azabache” and “Lamberto Quintero.” Known as “The Charro of Mexico,” Aguilar was also an undisputed figure of the golden age of Mexican cinema, appearing in over 160 films. A lover of charrería — a traditional Mexican equestrian sport he showcased across the U.S. and Latin America through a equestrian show that has become a family legacy — he passed away on June 19, 2007, at the age of 88.

“I deeply admire my father’s career not only because I’m his son but also because of everything he represented for Mexican music, for how he elevated ranchera music and his unique style of interpreting it, making it a part of our culture,” Aguilar, an icon of the genre in his own right, adds. “He was a proud Mexican who loved his homeland and traditions.”

Below, Aguilar elaborates on the making of ¡Que Viva Antonio Aguilar!

How challenging was the process of creating this album?

We’ve been independent artists for many years, so every album is a challenge. My wife is my partner and helps me along with the great team we have. What I wanted to do with this album was select the songs I most remember hearing in my father’s voice — Antonio Aguilar has many songs that have become part of Mexican culture, so I felt a responsibility to choose carefully what I wanted to present to people. There are representatives from different generations, which makes this compilation even more interesting. The idea is to preserve authentic Mexican music.

As a producer, what challenges did you face with the participating artists?

I had to analyze which songs hadn’t been recorded yet and determine which ones suited whom. My father was a very prolific artist, so there was plenty to choose from. As a producer, I needed to have a song proposal for each artist. I sent them a couple of options, and two or three artists requested specific tracks because they had personal reasons to perform them. Honestly, everyone was very eager and happy to participate.

Was it intentional for each song to bear the artist’s unique stamp?

Absolutely, because these aren’t collaborations; they’re new versions. That was the idea. For example, Edén Muñoz asked me to produce his track, and of course, I said yes. Most artists wanted to interpret the songs in their own style, which I understand because when I’m invited to tribute albums, I end up doing it my way. Poncho Lizárraga also suggested making “La Cama de Piedra” in Banda El Recodo’s signature style, and I was thrilled.

The same goes for Carín León; I sent him the arrangement for “El Chubasco” but he said, “Let me try something crazy.” I told him to go for it. The result is incredible — he even added a touch of tumbado. In my case, with “Noches Tenebrosas,” I remember hearing it on the radio as a child and my dad singing it at his shows. I created a more modern version, and I really liked how it turned out.

Did any artist have a special anecdote about Don Antonio Aguilar?

Actually, they’re all fans of his, but two cases stand out: Chuy Lizárraga has admired my father since he was a child, and it was very important to him to contribute his style to this tribute, which he did beautifully. Similarly, Alfredo Olivas recalls singing a verse from “El Alazán y el Rosillo” differently as a child, and I told him to perform it however he liked because the artists genuinely enjoyed participating in this project. The same goes for Luis R Conríquez.

How important was it to include women on the album?

It’s essential to have female representation. In Lucero’s case, she released a mariachi version of “Tristes Recuerdos” early in her career shortly after my father released it with banda, and it was very successful, so it made perfect sense for her to be part of this project. Ángela created “China de los Ojos Negros” in her unique style, and people love it. As for Guadalupe Pineda, she’s admired and sung my father’s songs from a young age in several films, so she couldn’t be left out.

Why was Jessi Uribe, a Colombian artist, included on the album?

I wanted to include a Colombian artist because my father and Colombia had a beautiful relationship. That country was so important to his career that many of his songs are still sung and played on the radio there — it’s incredible. Yeison Jiménez was initially planned to participate, but it didn’t work out. However, Jessi is a very successful young artist and a fantastic singer. He did an excellent job performing “El Hijo Desobediente” with great admiration.

Some tracks have already been released ahead of the album launch. How has the audience responded?

People have received each song we’ve released so far very warmly, which makes us believe the response to the full album will be even better. It’s incredibly gratifying that almost 20 years after his passing, Don Antonio Aguilar continues to move hearts, make people feel connected to him and inspire new generations to discover traditional Mexican music and great Mexican artists.

Do you feel like the positive response from the audience affirm that the Aguilar family is still seen as significant representatives of Mexican music, despite other news related to your personal lives?

What we do is music, and that’s what we need to keep doing. We focus on that, and this album is proof of it. This year, each of us has many songs to release individually. We do what’s necessary for Mexican music. Each of us has our own message, and we’ll continue to share it in the best way possible. That’s how we respond; the rest is just gossip that’s out of our control.

Yasuhisa Hara’s Kingdom Vol. 79 hits No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Book Hot 100 released May 28, claiming the top spot by a commanding margin.

The volume surpasses 30,000 points in a single tracking week, the first title to do so in 11 weeks since Eiichiro Oda’s ONE PIECE Vol. 114 topped the chart on the list released Mar. 12. The title sweeps brick-and-mortar and e-books for a double crown, while also placing No. 2 in e-commerce (EC) and landing in the top 50 on the social media metric.

Debuting at No. 2 is Soryu’s Kouiu no ga Ii Vol. 13, which places No. 2 in e-books and No. 6 in brick-and-mortar. Ryo Asai’s In The Megachurch holds at No. 3, entering its 30th consecutive week on the chart, having remained in the top 100 every week since the tally’s launch last November. Also hitting their 30th week on the list this week are Ryunosuke Matsushita’s Ichijigen no Sashiki (Labyrinth of Hortensia and the Minotaur, No. 14), Asako Yuzuki’s BUTTER (No. 20), Shugo Hotta’s Harvard, Stanford, Oxford… Kagakuteki ni Shomeisareta Sugoi Shukan Daihyakka (No. 39) and Akiko Abe’s Cafuné (No. 42).

Mamekichimameko’s Mero to Tabi, which has been drawing attention on Instagram, debuts at No. 4. Satoshi Ogawa’s Kimi no Quiz, whose live-action film adaptation is currently in theaters, makes its first top 10 appearance at No. 10.

The Billboard Japan Book Hot 100 is a comprehensive chart combining physical sales, e-books, library loans, subscription data and social media activity. See the top 10 titles on this week’s list, tracking the period from May 18 to May 24, below.

(Numbers in parentheses indicate the title’s metric placements for brick-and-mortar, EC, e-books, subscriptions, and social media, top 20 only. English title given if translations or adaptations exist.)

1. Kingdom Vol. 79, Yasuhisa Hara (1/2/1/–/–)

2. Kouiu no ga Ii Vol. 13, Soryu (6/–/2/–/–)

3. In The Megachurch, Ryo Asai (10/–/–/2/1)

4. Mero to Tabi, Mamekichimameko (2/–/–/–/–)

5. Draft King Vol. 25, Tetsuro Kuromatsu (–/–/3/–/–)

6. Blue Period Vol. 19, Tsubasa Yamaguchi (5/–/5/–/–)


7. Dogsred Vol. 8, Satoru Noda (13/–/6/–/–)

8. Silver Mountain Vol. 4, Kazuhiro Fujita (3/–/–/–/–)

9. Yubisaki to Renren (A Sign of Affection) Vol. 14, Suu Morishita (8/–/–/–/–)

10. Kimi no Quiz (Your Own Quiz), Satoshi Ogawa (–/–/–/–/9)

Miranda Lambert has basically done it all in her 20-plus years of country stardom: chart-topping albums and singles, countless award show wins and unforgettable performances, and plenty of songs that have stood the test of time and then some. But one thing she’s never had — at least as a lead artist — is the thing that Ella Langley scored her very first time working with Lambert as a cowriter and co-producer: a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Choosin’ Texas,” which took Langley to another level of stardom upon its late 2025 release and has only continued growing bigger throughout the first half of 2026, has already topped the Hot 100 for 10 weeks and brought country music to places few would have imagined. “My cowriter, Luke Dick, was in San Francisco at a dumpling house, and the guy making the dumplings was wearing a ‘Choosin’ Texas’ ball cap,” Lambert shares with Billboard about the song’s ubiquity.

“Choosin’ Texas” went on to be the lead single on Langley’s Billboard 200-topping Dandelion LP, and Lambert has been with her protégé every step of the way — coproducing and executive producing the set, dueting with Langley on the “Butterfly Season” track, and even appearing in the “Texas” music video. But when it comes to advising Langley on how to handle the next-level success of her breakout hit, she feels there’s a country alum who can probably speak to that better than she can.

“When Ella calls and is like, ‘What does this mean?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know,’” she tells Billboard as part of a larger interview in our Country Power Players issue, before sharing the words of wisdom she did feel comfortable sharing with Langley: “You might need to call Taylor Swift right now. Because this is, like, that kind of big.”

“Choosin’ Texas” currently resides at No. 5 on the Hot 100 — the only song in the top 10 not by Drake on this week’s chart (dated May 30). Lambert also appeared on the Hot 100 this month as a featured artist on Kacey Musgraves’ “Horses and Divorces,” which debuted at No. 84 on the May 16 chart.

A news anchor on KCBD Fox34 in Lubbock, Texas is in hot water with ARMY after a xenophobic joke he made about BTS‘ new collaboration with Oreo cookies. Anchor James Eppler has gotten major pushback from the K-pop superstars’ fanbase after a segment this week in which he first explained that the new team-up between the cookie and the band comes flavored in Hotteok, a popular Korean street food that features a pancake stuffed with brown sugar and cinnamon that the group’s members have said they ate as kids, then amended what appeared to be his attempt at a hot take joke.

“It does sound good, right?,” Eppler said in a fan-posted grab of the segment. “The cookie’s wafer is BTS’ signature color, purple. The wafers are also engraved with one of 13 designs, which spell out a message to fans when put together. And that is: ‘death to America,’ which I think is really strange.”

After someone else in the studio laughed, Eppler quickly backtracked and denied that the cookies had a nefarious, anti-American slogan, adding, “no, it’s not,” but not before one of his co-anchors called him out and asked, “Why would you say that?”

As you can imagine, the attempt at humor did not go over well with the fiercely loyal ARMY, who flooded the comments on reposts of the video with furious anger over what they deemed a racist and xenophobic comment. At press time, spokespeople for BTS, Fox34 and Oreos parent company, Mondelēz International, had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.

“Come on that is just not a right thing to say and he knows it. Even his co-hosts knows it,” wrote one, with another saying simply, “THIS IS NOT FUNNY,” and a third opining, “JAMES EPPLER RACIST.”

ARMY were incensed, posting such comments as: “I think @Oreo should ask @fox34 why they’re are attaching a vile message like that to the oreo brand on national TV. It’s defamatory and damaging to both your brand and your brand ambassadors,” “We respectfully ask @Oreo
if their brand endorses this type of hateful and xenophobic comment; otherwise, we demand a response and an apology from @fox34” and “James Eppler’s racist comment about BTS & Oreo collaboration is dangerous and incites hate toward BTS. Racism and xenophobia cannot be ignored. Hold him accountable publicly @fox34 @KCBD11 @TTU_CoMC This shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

Earlier this week, as part of a new collaboration with Oreo, the group announced a limited-edition BTS Oreos brown sugar-pancake-flavored cookie featuring 13 unique embossed messages honoring the group’s 13th anniversary.

“For Oreo to be the first snacking brand we’ve collaborated with globally is a huge honor,” the Grammy-nominated group said in a statement about the collaboration that will reach more than 80 global markets. “We ate them as kids, we eat them in the studio, and now OREO is helping us share a taste of home with the world. We’re just so proud to add our own chapter to OREO’s amazing story.”

The cookies be available for presale starting on Monday, June 1 here. Fans will also be able to purchase the limited-edition cookies at retailers, while supplies last, beginning June 8. BTS is in the midst of a world tour in support of its chart-topping Billboard 200 album Arirang, which will have them playing their fourth show this week at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas before taking a break before a pair of shows at Busan Asiad Main Stadium in Busan, South Korea on June 12-13.

Ever since country music was recorded commercially for the first time more than 100 years ago, it’s recycled the past.

In its earliest incarnations, it was referred to by such terms as “old-time” music or “old familiar tunes,” owing to its nostalgic value at a time when the world was changing fast. With each successive generation, what passes as nostalgia changes, and that necessarily influences the sound of country. The traditional pop of the 1940s and ‘50s had an impact on the smooth Nashville Sound of the mid 1960s, early rock ‘n’ roll could be felt in the textures and remakes of country’s early ‘70s, Eagles shaped much of ‘90s country, and 21st-century pop acts — including Creed and Justin Bieber — have been cited as inspirations for several current performers.

With Graham Barham’s “Breakup (Down),” the nostalgia breaks a new chronological barrier, interpolating Jay Sean’s 2009 dance-pop single “Down,” which originally featured a rap by Lil Wayne. Barham has received some heat for the song online — it’s not like he’s reverently covering a Willie Nelson classic — but “Down” is, for a 27-year-old like Barham, nostalgic. He remembers grinding to it as a teen.

“They played it when I was probably 13 or 14,” he says. “I was at a school dance, and I was like, ‘May I have this dance?’ I was like, ‘This is the coolest song ever,’ because I love that era of music — Jason Derulo and Jay Sean — but yeah, I was a young tot when that one was a smack.”

“Down” fit among a series of songs with a positive-sounding veneer — including Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling,” Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” and Jessie J’s “Domino” — that inspired listeners to release their anxieties in the middle of a horrible economy.

“It’s recession pop,” songwriter Cole Miracle says. “It was this aspirational thing that was so popular.”

On the surface, it seems ill-suited as a country music blend, but that’s the case with every nostalgic pop element that’s been combined with country — until, of course, it’s done successfully. While they knew they were pushing boundaries, at least two of the “Breakup (Down)” songwriters, who also include Sam Bergeson and Lydia Vaughan (“Bar None,” “Don’t Tell on Me”), recall hearing “Down” as kids while riding in the backseat, so it occupies a space in their musical vocabularies.

“The whole idea of the song is just to be a big nostalgia bomb,” Barham says.

The “Breakup (Down)” writers all have somewhat different memories of its emergence — Barham, in fact, doesn’t remember the first writing session at all. He had decided as he developed songs for his debut album — Club Country, due June 12 — that he wanted to include an element of recession pop, according to Miracle, and “Down” was one of the songs they used as a reference. Around August 2025, they met up at Bergeson’s home studio. Vaughan had a phrase with a classic country twist, “breakup down,” and Bergesen had created a spirited melody while showering that very morning. That became a B section for the ultimate chorus.

“We’d only been in the room like 10 minutes and had a chorus, but the chords were similar to ‘Down,’” he says. “I don’t remember who it was, but they started, as a joke, ending the melody that we had written with the melody from ‘Down.’ We were just kind of laughing.”

They worked to find another way to end the chorus, but every time they tried a different path, it didn’t feel quite right. The “Down” chorus is “one of the best-written melodies ever,” Bergeson says. “We kept on trying to beat that melody and just couldn’t do it, and so we were like, ‘Let’s just interpolate it.’”

Once they accepted that idea, it came together quickly. They incorporated the “Down” chorus melody to start and to end the stanza around Bergeson’s B-section top line, they borrowed the fluttery “dow-ow-ow-ow-own” answer voice at the end of the chorus, and they ended each of the first three lines of the chorus with the same word as the original. They also used the “Down” verse melody in the opening section, which they started with the same phrase — “You oughta know” — as Sean’s song.

Still, it was different. For starters, the transcendent attitude of the recession-pop version was replaced with gritty, post-relationship regret, and they insisted on adding their own extra elements. In addition to the B section, the back half of the first verse uses a new melody, even as it incorporates a reflection — “I was just a stupid kid” — that hints at the song’s nostalgic intention.

One of the remaining similarities came when Barham wrote a new rap section for verse two, where Lil Wayne resided in the recession-pop version.

Bergesen created a pinging guitar riff for the intro, and Barham circulated the demo to his team. The reaction was mostly enthusiastic, though the rap seemed too much, and Barham was down to replace it. “I’ve rapped before,” he says. “Everybody’s heard me rap. Let’s sing more.”

They reconvened in the fall and replaced that second-verse rap with a melody that differed from verse one. The new section used “down” in new ways thematically — rain and alcohol pouring down — and added yet another new, bouncy hook: “They’ll keep bringin’ you up, I’ll keep shootin’ ‘em back.”

“That’s the whole thing with interpolations,” Miracle notes. “You’re trying to hit this magical sweet spot between familiar and nostalgic while offering something new.”

Bergeson built a demo with programmed drums, bass and several guitars, then brought in musicians one-by-one to clean it up. Russ Pahl applied atmospheric steel guitar, Matt Menefee replaced a pinging guitar intro with a banjo/mandolin mixture, and veteran Lonnie Wilson inserted real drums into the percussion. Bergeson and Barham layered perhaps a dozen background vocals on top of Barham’s lead performance.

Sean and his “Down” co-writers originally rebuffed the interpolation, but Barham persisted. “I’m like a toddler,” Barham says. “I want to know why I can’t do something, you know. I needed these guys to understand that I had no interest in changing what they already thought was perfection, I just wanted to add to it.”

He told Sean’s reps that it would be a single — not just an album cut — and envisioned it working like Shaboozey’s J-Kwon-interpolating “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” He was persuasive. They granted permission, and he did indeed release it as a single. Sony Music Nashville issued it to country radio on March 26.

Barham also shot a video that paid homage to Sean’s original clip, reprising a few of its club scenes and wearing a grill on his teeth as a tribute to Lil Wayne. As he’s played it live, Barham has seen “Breakup (Down)” connect as he’d hoped, the recession-pop influence breaking through during the country’s latest economic slide.

“The parents may be my age or close to it, so they know the original song, and then the kids, they don’t really know the original,” Barham says. “To see the two generations collide has been so freaking cool.”