Swifties have been long anticipating “Opalite” outdoing its No. 2 October debut on the Billboard Hot 100 to become the second No. 1 hit off Taylor Swift‘s The Life of a Showgirl album, following the 10-week reign of “The Fate of Ophelia.” Next week, they may get their opportunity to celebrate. 

“Opalite” jumped 11-8 on this week’s Hot 100 (dated Feb. 21), following the Feb. 6debut of its star-studded music video, which includes turns from Domnhall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Lewis Capaldi and other co-stars from her 2025 appearance on The Graham Norton Show (including Norton himself). The jump would have likely been a bigger one if not for the huge gains enjoyed by Bad Bunny following his performance at halftime of Super Bowl LX, which resulted in the superstar enjoying his biggest global streaming week ever, and also nabbing four of the top six spots on the Hot 100, including his first unaccompanied No. 1 with set-closer “DtMF.” 

But with Bad Bunny’s numbers receding some in his first full week following the Super Bowl, the opportunity is there for “Opalite” to zoom in and grab the top spot — and it’s one Swift looks to be capitalizing on, with the release of several new versions of the song, as well as the shipment of fan-preordered “Opalite” vinyl 7-inches, and newly announced CD singles. 

While the “Opalite” 7-inches had been originally scheduled to be shipped “on or about February 9,” according to Swift’s website, they ultimately got delayed a week, instead shipping by this Monday (Feb. 16). In addition, Swift released multiple CD singles featuring new remixes of the song, including versions with dance producers Chris Lake and Skream. The “Life Is But a Song” acoustic version of “Opalite,” included on the B-side of the vinyl single, was also released to iTunes at a discounted price of 69 cents. 

The result of all this is that the sales numbers for “Opalite” next week should be extremely robust — possibly even in the six figures. (For comparison’s sake, the best U.S. song sales week of 2026 thus far was posted this past tracking week by Kid Rock’s “‘Til You Can’t,” with 51,000, according to Luminate.) That sales number, combined with the song still pulling daily streams in the millions and also still growing in radio airplay, should make it a very strong contender for No. 1 on next week’s Hot 100 (dated Feb. 28). 

If “Opalite” does top the Hot 100 next week, that would mark Swift’s 14th career No. 1 on the chart — breaking her tie with Drake and Michael Jackson for fourth-most in chart history, and moving her into a tie with Rihanna for third-most, behind just The Beatles (20) and Mariah Carey (19). (It would also tie her with Rihanna for most No. 1s by any artist this century.) 

Additionally, “Opalite” reaching pole position on the Hot 100 would make Showgirl Swift’s first album since 2014’s 1989 — which topped the chart with three singles, “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood” (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — to notch multiple No. 1 hits. In the 12 years since that album, Swift has racked up a whopping nine No. 1s, but each of them has come from a different album. 

Liza Minnelli is opening up about the viral moment at the 2022 Oscars where the now-79-year-old stage and screen legend appeared to stumble over her words while presenting the best picture Oscar alongside superfan Lady Gaga. If you recall, Minnelli, seated in a wheelchair, earned a standing ovation from the room as Gaga stood to the side and applauded her artistic godmother.

“You see that? The public, they love you,” said Gaga as a seemingly confused Minnelli shuffled a stack of papers in her hand and said, “But what am I … I don’t understand.” Gaga quickly stepped in and said, “I got it,” gently placing her hand on Minnelli’s shoulder, as the honorary EGOT star grabbed Gaga’s hand and said, “oh my baby!”

After Gaga gave Minnelli her props on the 50th anniversary of her Oscar-winning role in Cabaret, Liza began to read the copy in the Teleprompter setting up the nominees, stumbling over the words and appearing confused as Gaga sweetly dipped down and assured Minnelli, “I got you.”

Well, there is much more to the story, as it turns out.

In an excerpt from her new memoir, Kids, Wait Til You Hear This (March 10) published by People on Friday (Feb. 20), Minnelli, 79, reveals that the seeming flub was not her doing, and, honestly, she still seems pretty peeved about how it all went down.

Minnelli says she was expecting to sit in a director’s chair for the presentation, but at the last minute she was “ordered — not even asked — to sit in a wheelchair or not appear at all. I was told it was because of my age, and for safety reasons, because I might slip out of the director’s chair, which was bulls–t. I will not be treated this way, I said,” she says.

The actress writes that she was “heartbroken” by the decision. “I was much lower down than I would have been in the director’s chair. Now I couldn’t easily read the teleprompter above me,” she recalls. “How would you feel if you were wheeled out, against your will, to perform in front of a live audience, and unable to see clearly?”

And so, she stumbled over a few words, praising Gaga for not missing a beat, “to play the kindhearted hero for all the world to see,” remembering those three kind words Mother Monster said as she leaned down in support. Afterward, when Gaga got wind of how distressed Minnelli was by the incident, the “Abracadabra” singer came to Liza’s dressing room to ask if she was OK.

“I looked at her and said simply, ‘I’m a big fan,’” Minnelli writes. “I learned this lesson years ago from Mama and Papa. At a moment of high stress, you stay gracious.”

Minnelli’s memoir is based on more than a decade of stories and interviews collected by her longtime best friend and pianist Michael Feinstein. It includes tales of her early years taking care of her mother, screen legend Judy Garland, as well as her wild decades in the spotlight, a long struggle with addiction, a string of love affairs — including a tragic, drug-addled marriage to late producer David Gest, whom she calls a “clown” — and her many trips to rehab before getting sober 11 years ago. The book’s co-authors include journalist Josh Getlin and Pulitzer Prize winner Heidi Evans.

Lee Brice is one of a few artists facing backlash for participating in Turning Point USA’s halftime show, which the conservative Christian organization hosted as an alternative to Bad Bunny‘s official Super Bowl program, but according to the country artist, he didn’t mean any harm.

While calling in to the Big D and Bubba radio program on Friday (Feb. 20), Brice clarified his intentions and performance in the widely criticized TPUSA event titled the “All-American Halftime Show.” “I was never out to hurt anyone … and I didn’t say anything that did that,” he said in response to critics.

“I said something on stage for one time. I said, ‘Guys, this wasn’t meant for that,’” continued the musician, who shares three children with wife Sara. “‘This is just me being a daddy and just saying my truth, just like everyone else has their truth.’ So here we go.”

After performing his 2014 song “Drinking Class” at Turning Point USA’s event, the musician commented directly to the audience and mentioned the group’s polarizing late founder, Charlie Kirk, before he dove into his new song, “Country Nowadays.” He was the only performer that evening to mention Kirk, saying at the time, “Charlie gave people microphones so they could say what’s on their minds. This is what’s on mine.”

The new song about the struggles of “being country in this country these days,” according to the lyrics, also includes lines that some listeners consider divisive, such as “I just want to cut my grass, feed my dogs, and wear my boots/ Not turn the TV on, sit and watch the evening news/ Be told if I tell my own daughter that little boys ain’t little girls/ I’d be up the creek in hot water in this ‘cancel your a–‘ world.”

Brice also spoke on the radio program about the new track — which was officially released Feb. 20 — and how some viewers of the “All-American Halftime Show” misheard one of his lyrics, which includes the line, “I just wanna catch my fish,” but a few people thought he’d said “I just wanna kiss my fish.”

But the South Carolina native is choosing to embrace the confusion and has a line of “Kiss My Fish” hats coming to his merch store soon, he shared on the show.

The TPUSA alt-halftime show aired on the group’s YouTube channel between halves of this year’s Super Bowl on Feb. 8 at the same time as Benito’s performance. The former was pre-taped and drew in about 6.1 million concurrent viewers, while the Puerto Rican superstar performed live on the field at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., and had an estimated 128.2 million viewers.

Also on the “All-American” bill were Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert and Gabby Barrett.

Watch Brice’s interview above.

If you happened to wander through New York’s Times Square this week and glanced up at a billboard that cryptically read “WHAT IS YOUR LOVE SONG?” you might have wondered what the romantic message was all about.

The answer, as it turns out, is all about BTS.

On Valentine’s Day, the seven member K-pop supergroup posted a snippet of an untitled, emotional new ballad on Instagram along with images of people gathering around a giant wall of red roses. As they pulled the flowers out one-by-one and tucked them into commemorative white paper cones with a card reading “My Love Song Is ( ),” the result was a rose-y message: “What Is Your Love Song?” with the BTS logo underneath. The rose-filled walls went up in COEX in Seoul, Covent Garden in London and The Grove in Los Angeles.

Then, earlier this week, they doubled down in a post with a snippet of what sounded like another new tune, a midtempo track on which they sing, “Yeah, just one day, one night,” over more footage of people pulling roses out of displays and the caption, “Nothing but love in this space.”

The previews continued with a brief bit of another new song, an up-tempo pop track cued to footage of the group’s members taking selfies in the snow, dancing, working out and checking their phones, with ARMY encouraged to join in on the “Love” campaign by sharing “your daily moment with full of LOVE,” and a request to replace the music in the clip with “your favorite LOVE SONG.”

What is it all about? On Friday (Feb. 20), the group officially confirmed the launch of the global “WHAT IS YOUR LOVE SONG?” campaign, consisting of large-scale installations in their native Seoul, as well as New York and London to ramp up anticipation for BTS’ upcoming fifth studio album, Arirang (March 20).

According to the release, the intriguing question popped up across the three cities recently in the form of a building in Seoul near the Seongsu Station that was wrapped with the phrase, as well as on billboards in Times Square, large-scale posters across the East Village, Soho and Brooklyn and a projection mapping in Union Square. It showed up in London with the question lighting up LED screens at the Waterloo Station and London Bridge, as well as the Westfield building.

The campaign also showed up on digital platforms including Meta, Spotify, YouTube Music and Weverse with interactive templates and curated playlists hawking the love message. While BTS kept things cryptic at first, the mystery was revealed on Friday to be part of the global campaign to welcome Jung Kook, V, Jimin, Suga, j-hope, RM and Jin back from a nearly four-year hiatus in form of yet another Instagram post featuring footage of fans around the world grabbing their roses set to the tune of a midtempo track on which they sing, “I can make it better/ I can hold you tighter/ I can make it right.”

“A ‘love song’ goes beyond a simple track about love. It’s a song that brings back memories, offers comfort, and gives strength,” read a statement from label BIGHIT Music. “We hoped that ‘WHAT IS YOUR LOVE SONG?’ would inspire everyone to rediscover the song that lives in their hearts.” The release noted that the “LOVE” campaign reflects the central message of Arirang, “an album that encapsulates BTS’ identity and the universality of the emotions they encounter. By inviting audiences to reflect on their own ‘love song’ that evokes cherished memories, comfort, and strength, BTS extend the album’s message beyond music into a shared global experience.”

The campaign is slated to run through Sunday (Feb. 22), with QR codes attached to posters throughout Seoul, New York and London allowing ARMY to visit the promotional stunt’s website and share their own love song. Personalized street posters featuring common local first names — alongside ones incorporating the group members’ names — have also been put up in New York, London and L.A.

In addition to the “Love” blitz, BTS is gearing up to return to the road on their upcoming massive 2026-2027 world tour, slated to kick off on April 9 in Goyang, South Korea in support of their first new full-length studio album since 2022’s Map of the Soul: 7. The Bangtan Boys will also drop a pair of Netflix specials, beginning with their first live show in three years, which will stream on the day after the LP’s release. BTS the Comeback Live | Arirang will debut on the streamer at 7 a.m. ET on March 21, followed by a full-length documentary chronicling their comeback, BTS: The Return, which will premiere on March 27.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, BTS will be back on movie screens around the world on April 11 and 18 with a global live cinema event, BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’ LIVE VIEWING, which will present two of their full-length concerts in theaters.