SYDNEY, Australia — Ziggy Alberts is the latest signing to the Warner Chappell Music roster, Billboard can exclusively reveal.

The Australian singer and songwriter strikes a global deal with the domestic company, through Warner Chappell Music Australia, for representation of his complete catalog and future works. Also, Warner Chappell Music Nashville is on hand for what’s described as a close collaborative partnership to support the next chapter of Alberts’ career.

The three-time APRA Award-winning blues and roots artist “is one of Australia’s most captivating songwriters, and I’m thrilled to welcome him to Warner Chappell Music,” comments Dan Rosen, president of Warner Chappell Music Australasia. “This partnership reinforces our commitment to providing global opportunities and support for local songwriters.”

According to Rosen, the Warner Chappell teams in Australia and Nashville, alongside the music publishing giant’s global network of songwriters and producers, “will work closely with Ziggy to amplify his creative voice and vision to ensure he continues to build his fanbase across the globe.”

Alberts already boasts a global fanbase. Career streams top 1 billion, and his 2023 Rewind World Tour shifted upwards of 78,000 tickets, including a sold-out show at London Hammersmith Apollo, and has toured Europe with Jack Johnson.

Last year on his appropriately named Homecoming Tour, Alberts played his first-ever arena show in Melbourne, completing the graduation from busking on the streets of Byron Bay to playing the biggest rooms in the country.

Alberts also promotes and champions sustainability through his Green Touring Initiative, which focuses on reducing environmental impact, educating fans on local causes, and giving back to the communities that host his shows.

The new deal follows the release last February of his seventh studio album, New Love, which peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Australian Albums Chart, where it remained in the Top 10 for four weeks; and at No. 18 on the all-genres ARIA Albums Chart. He reached No. 9 in 2018 on the national tally with Laps Around The Sun and No. 27 in 2021 with Searching For Freedom.

“Ziggy is one of the most authentic and consistent artist-songwriters to emerge from Australia in the last decade,” comments John Halstead, senior A&R manager at Warner Chappell Music Australia. “His independence, work ethic and connection with fans is genuinely rare. We’re incredibly proud to be partnering with him at Warner Chappell and excited to help support the next phase of his global journey.”

On signing with the major publisher, Alberts enthuses: “I am super excited to start this new chapter with Warner Chappell Music. I felt a genuine connection with both the Australian and Nashville team, and can’t wait to meet the rest around the world over the coming year. After spending a decade working hard on the touring and label side of the business, I can’t wait to grow the publishing side of my career and I feel Warner Chappell is going to be the perfect partner to bring that vision to life.”

Katy Perry has been awarded a court judgment of $1.94 million after more than five years of warring with a Texas millionaire over the sale of a mansion in Montecito, Calif.

The Los Angeles court ruling, entered on Dec. 30, ends the long real estate litigation between Perry and 1800Flowers founder Carl Wescott. Judge Joseph Lipner says that as a penalty for improperly trying to back out of their sale contract, Wescott must deduct nearly $2 million from the $15 million purchase price he and Perry agreed to back in 2020.

The saga began in July 2020 when Perry inked a $15 million contract to buy the 9,285-square-foot Montecito home through her business manager, Bernie Gudvi. A month later, Wescott sued Gudvi to invalidate the deal, claiming painkillers from a recent back surgery had made him too foggy to properly consent.

Years of litigation ensued, and a first-phase trial was held before a Los Angeles judge in 2023. Judge Lipner ruled that Wescott was indeed in his right mind when he made the deal, noting that the Texas businessman was cogent in communications with a real estate agent and had rejected a lower offer from former California First Lady Maria Shriver just days before selling to Perry.

A second-phase bench trial was held over a series of days in August and October to decide financial penalties. Judge Lipner tentatively arrived at a $1.84 million judgment in November, then bumped the number up to $1.94 million on Dec. 30 after Perry’s team pointed out math errors.

The final number mainly represents the amount of money Perry could have earned if she’d been able to rent out the Montecito house during the years-long legal battle when it was sitting empty.  

“There is no reason to believe that this unique and attractive property would not rent for all 43 months,” wrote the judge in his opinion.

Perry’s reps have already paid $9 million to Wescott out of the original $15 million purchase price. As a result of this ruling, they’ll now only have to pay $4 million more, for a total of $13 million.

Reps for Perry, Gudvi and Wescott did not immediately return requests for comment on Tuesday (Jan. 6).

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman have finalized their divorce, legally ending their union on Tuesday (Jan. 6) after 19 years of marriage.

According to documents obtained by Billboard, the absolute dissolution of their marriage was granted by the Fourth Circuit Court of Davidson, Tenn., where the pair shared a Nashville residence. Neither party will pay spousal report or receive alimony, and both will be responsible for their own legal fees and expenses.

Billboard has reached out to Urban and Kidman’s reps for comment.

The musician and actress first confirmed that they were separating in September, with Kidman filing for divorce that same month. In the original documents, the Oscar winner cited “marital difficulties and irreconcilable differences,” and both parties agreed at the time to “amicably” divide up their assets.

As for their two teenage daughters, a signed parenting plan included in the final documents delegates primary custody to Kidman for 306 days a year, while Urban will spend every other weekend with the kids. Both parents retain joint responsibility for making decisions affecting the girls’ lives, but there is a note clarifying that “in the unlikely event that the parties do not agree on a major decision for either minor child, Mother shall have final decision-making authority.”

Urban and Kidman first started dating in 2005, tying the knot in Sydney in June the following year. They welcomed first daughter Sunday in 2008, followed by second daughter Faith in 2010.

“I met him later in life and it’s been the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Kidman told CBS Mornings of her then-husband in 2022. “That man is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

One of the former couple’s last public outings together was at a FIFA Club World Cup game in June 2025. In May, they attended the Academy of Country Music Awards together, about two months after their home in Beverly Hills, Calif., was burglarized on Valentine’s Day.

Both Urban and Kidman have remained quiet about their split in the months since, although fans did notice that the latter appeared to hint at a big life change in an interview with Vogue conducted shortly before their separation went public. “How many times do you have to be taught that you think you know where your life is going, and then it isn’t going in that direction?” she reportedly told the publication at the time with a “rueful” edge in her voice.

During a concert in October, Urban pointedly changed the lyrics to his song “The Fighter” — which he’d previously said he wrote about Kidman — while singing it with tourmate Maggie Baugh on stage. “When they’re tryna get to you, Maggie I’ll be your guitar player,” he sang in place of the original line: “When they’re tryna get to you, baby I’ll be the fighter.”

You can tell the holidays are over from all the Christmas trees, wreaths and other decorations finally starting to come down — or you can just look to the Billboard Hot 100, where a chart once dominated by holiday songs (46 out of the top 50 on last week’s chart, dated Jan. 3) now boasts nary a seasonal title.

Instead, newer and more secular hits have once again swarmed the chart’s top regions — including “Choosin’ Texas,” the late-2025 breakout hit for rising singer-songwriter Ella Langley. The catchy and quintessentially country heartbreak lament had previously peaked just outside the Hot 100’s top 10, but now rebounds all the way from 48-5 — marking Langley’s highest career peak to date, and her first visit to the top 10.

How big a deal is this for Langley? And is her success part of Nashville turning a corner in its gender representation? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.

1. With the holiday rush finally clearing out of the Hot 100’s top tier, Ella Langley’s late-2025 runaway hit “Choosin’ Texas” jumps 48-5 on the Hot 100 this week. On a scale from 1-10, how big a deal is this accomplishment for Langley at this point in her career?
 
Kyle Denis: Gotta be around an 8! Obviously, Ella isn’t lacking in hits or awards, but a solo top five placement on Billboard’s all-genre singles chart — especially as a female country artist — is a particularly impressive achievement. And she did it without tapping a pop star for a remix! 

Jason Lipshutz: A 9. “Choosin’ Texas” represents a breakthrough moment for a country artist who may have been a household name in Nashville but was still a largely unknown entity to pop fans and mainstream consumers. “Choosin’ Texas” is not only a terrific showcase for Langley’s wistful storytelling and subtle tenderness, but now it’s a bonafide crossover smash that will clue in tons of unfamiliar listeners and grow her overall platform. It’s hard for a country artist like Langley to ask for much more from a single.

Melinda Newman: I’d give it a 7. If the song hits No. 1, it will be a much bigger deal. This week’s chart is a bit of an outlier because, as noted above, all the holiday songs that had clogged up the Hot 100 for the last few weeks fall off, leaving room for huge leaps by songs that had been waiting in the wings: for example, while Langley’s jump is impressive, Kehlani’s “Folded” similarly leaps from No. 51 to No. 6. But it is clearly Langley’s time to shine and after her success with Green, it’s great to see her reach this milestone as a solo artist. 

Jessica Nicholson: 8. That is a huge jump for Ella, and it is one more testament to the solid career she’s been steadily building. Her breakthrough hit was a collaboration with Riley Green (“You Look Like You Love Me”) that hit the top 30 on the Hot 100. “Weren’t For The Wind” did even better, breaking into the top 20 and she had two other songs reach the top 30. But “Choosin’ Texas” has been a runaway hit for Ella, earning six weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. It solidifies Ella as an artist fans are resonating with. She was one of the most-nominated artists at 2025’s CMA Awards and took home multiple trophies for “You Look Like You Love Me” — don’t be surprised if “Choosin’ Texas” picks up nominations or even wins of its own.

Andrew Unterberger: An 8 sounds right. Making the jump from a charting artist who reliably hits the top 40 to one now in contention for the top 10 — or even the top five — is one of the hardest for a mainstream artist to make. For her to do it with a song not yet tied to an album or major viral moment, and one that still feels like it has considerable room to grow, is a very big deal for her career and her future prospects.

2. Though Langley has enjoyed a handful of impressive Hot 100 runs with various hits of the past couple years — most notably “Weren’t for the Wind” and her two Riley Green teamups, “You Look Like You Love Me” and “Don’t Mind If I Do” — “Texas” is her first to reach the top 10, let alone the top 5. What do you think is the biggest factor that’s put “Texas” over the top for her? 
 
Kyle Denis: I think the residual good will over her other 2020s hits set the stage for “Texas” to fly. But there’s also something to be said about the way the song’s lyrics mirror the rumored love triangle between Langley and fellow country stars Riley Green and Megan Moroney. Whether the song is autobiographical isn’t the point. The mere suggestion of “Texas” being true-to-life offers fans lore to sink their teeth into, which extends the overall reach and lifespan of the song. Lastly, that hook is simply undeniable; shoutout co-writer Miranda Lambert!

Jason Lipshutz: It’s a pop-song tale as old as time — a love triangle in which the protagonist gets unceremoniously shrugged off. “Choosin’ Texas” updates the narrative of something like Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own,” but instead of stilettos and broken bottles, Langley has a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a geographical quandary. The state lines within “Choosin’ Texas” make for a clever lyrical device, but Langley is telling a classic story in a way that’s direct and effective.

Melinda Newman: Langley’s success has been steadily rising, and the one thing each of her songs has in common is that they are good, solid tunes that have showcased her melodic twang and tough vulnerability. “Texas” was the perfect follow-up to her previous efforts because it brings her voice to the fore and tells a compelling story. It doesn’t hurt that Miranda Lambert co-wrote the song and it has fun throwbacks to classic heartache country songs including Ronnie Milsap’s “Smoky Mountain Rain” and George Strait’s “Amarillo By Morning” that give the listener an instant sense of familiarity. There’s a reason it was Billboard staff’s pick as the No. 1 country song of 2025. 

Jessica Nicholson: The song has been an undeniable hit, a perfect mesh of a catchy melody, Ella’s rich, husky voice, a relatable heartbreak story and a vibe that is both fresh and traditional-leaning. Also, it doesn’t hurt at all that Alabama native Ella wrote the song with Luke Dick, JoyBeth Taylor and ACM triple crown winner and Texan Miranda Lambert, who knows about writing songs with both heart and authentic Lone Star state swagger.

Andrew Unterberger: It was the right song at the right time — perhaps her most undeniable single yet, at the end of a very impressive run of hits, starting to crest right as the Hot 100 is at its most welcoming. And as with most pop breakout stories in the mid-2020s, it’s the story of several years of work leading up to the big hit as much as it is the story of the big hit itself.

3. Country has struggled in the streaming era to mint female breakout stars on the level of its biggest male hitmakers. With the success of Langley, as well as other recent breakthrough stars like Megan Moroney and Dasha, does it feel like the genre is finally starting to turn a corner in terms of its gender representation? 
 
Kyle Denis: I sure do hope so! Country is home to some of my favorite female vocalists, and I’ve love to see some newer stars rising to the heights of the Twains, Swifts, Underwoods and Lamberts before them. This year, I think Moroney and Langley will solidify themselves as this era’s defining country female artists alongside Lainey Wilson — and I’d love to see Brittney Spencer join them in earnest. 

Jason Lipshutz: Yes — although those success stories are a by-product of country music becoming more entrenched on streaming services as a whole. After the genre translated over to Spotify and Apple Music more slowly than pop and hip-hop a decade ago, country is now a streaming behemoth, as evidenced by the mind-boggling numbers that artists like Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and Zach Bryan regularly post. Female artists like Langley, Moroney and Dasha have deservingly benefited from country’s overall growth, but hopefully a success story like “Choosin’ Texas” suggests that we really are headed towards more gender representation in country’s top tier.

Melinda Newman: There is still tremendous room for women to break through. There are only a handful of women, including Lainey Wilson, Kelsea Ballerina, Ella and Megan, on the upper reaches of the charts at any given time, and there are also a few very talented women who are coming up behind them — including Carter Faith and Meghan Patrick — both of whom have been around for a number of years, but are making significant strides now. There are three songs in the Top 10 of the Country Airplay chart dated Jan. 10 by women, which is fantastic and hopefully a reminder to programmers that listeners want to hear female voices. However, the genre has a long way to go to turn the corner and shouldn’t fool itself into thinking that a handful of names are leading to parity. 

Jessica Nicholson: It is great and deserved that these women are finding success, but the country genre still has a long way to go to rectify the gender imbalance. According to data released in 2025 from Dr. Jada Watson’s SongData, songs by women artists played on U.S. country radio only continued to decline in 2024, earning a scant 8.39% of airplay that year. There are so many women artists making great country music who are not getting the recognition they deserve.

Andrew Unterberger: It’s a start. So many good to great women country artists of the past decade have managed one major country hit, or one album’s worth of such hits, but seemed like they had to prove themselves every time out. For Langley (and to an only slightly lesser extent Moroney) to now have multiple such hits over the space of a couple of years, and for her to seemingly still be gaining momentum with each one, feels like a sea change of some kind is afoot. Still a ways to go there of course, but very good to see, and long overdue.

4. Do you think “Texas” can climb higher on the chart still, or will No. 5 end up being its Hot 100 peak? 
 
Kyle Denis: “Texas” is by far the youngest song currently in the Hot 100’s top 10; it dropped mid-October! The sky is certainly the limit for “Texas.” A proper music video that leans into the “love triangle” could help the song surge, as could a well-timed remix with a country-adjacent pop star like, say, Sabrina Carpenter. Even if “Texas” doesn’t go past No. 5, that’s still a mighty fine peak for a mighty fine song. 

Jason Lipshutz: Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” may be entrenched in the Hot 100’s top 3 for a long time — especially now that it regain some momentum post-holiday music season — but otherwise, “Choosin’ Texas” is the type of new song that still has room to grow on the chart. We’ll see if the song can not only scoop up greater daily streaming numbers, but also cross over to pop radio in a way that’s rare for a core country track these days. If it can, though? The sky’s the limit for Langley.

Melinda Newman: This week’s Hot 100 chart is a little bit of an outlier, as mentioned before, so it is going to depend on if streaming activity continues to rise. Streams for “Texas” rose 5% this week to 15.7 million, according to Luminate, and the song has been No. 1 on BIllboard’s Top Country Songs chart for six weeks, so it could — but the song probably needs some kind of boost to keep its climb going, such as a high-profile appearance, synch placement or a fun remix. 

Jessica Nicholson: I am hopeful that it will continue to climb higher, given its strong streaming and airplay numbers.

Andrew Unterberger: I could see it climbing another spot or two on its own — then it comes down to how much pop radio wants to throw its arms around it, or if the song can find extra life with a big new moment in 2026. My recommendation, if anyone asks? Getting co-writer Miranda Lambert to hop on a sequel remix.

5. Country has a proud legacy of “Texas”-themed songs, as do some other genres — do you have a particular personal favorite such song? 
 
Kyle Denis: I love The Chicks’ “Texas Man,” Tanya Tucker’s “Texas (When I Die)” and, of course, George Strait’s “All My Ex’s Live in Texas,” but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Beyoncé’s historic “Texas Hold ‘Em,” as well!

Jason Lipshutz: “Texas Man” by the Chicks, off their wildly underrated 2020 comeback LP Gaslighter. History will be kind to that song and album!

Melinda Newman: It’s almost impossible to pick just one given the wealth of songs about the Lone Star State. Lainey Wilson came on strong last year with the wistful “Somewhere Over Laredo” and Marty Robbins’ murder ballad, “El Paso” is an unsurpassed classic, but George Strait has created a whole canon of songs about Texas, whether it be “All My Exes Live in Texas,” “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind” or “Amarillo By Morning.” Topping my list is “Amarillo By Morning.” Langley and her co-writers knew what they was doing when they referenced the Texas anthem. 

Jessica Nicholson: There are so many to choose from, but Willie Nelson’s “No Place But Texas” would be one.

Andrew Unterberger: Hard to resist getting back to the basics of love with Waylon and Willie and the boys in “Luckenbach, Texas” — but for another 2025 single, I was a much bigger fan than I expected to be of Blake Shelton’s snarling “Texas,” another tale of losing a former lover to the Lone Star State. Lotta room to hide down there, I suppose.