On Saturday, July 18, 2026, the RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, Italy, one of the largest open-air venues designed specifically for big concerts and festivals, will host Ye’s first European concert since 2014. It promises to be the biggest show of Kanye West’s career.
The RCF Arena can accommodate up to 103,000 spectators. Tickets will be available for early bird presale starting Monday, Dec. 22, at 10am CET on Ticketmaster.
Ye will return to Italy to headline the brand new Hellwatt Festival, which will take place at the RCF Arena over three weekends, from July 4-18, and will be officially presented in late January or early February 2026. Organizers describe it as an unprecedented immersive event, with cinematic staging, that will bring Reggio Emilia and the Italian live music scene to the forefront of major global music events.
The news of Ye’s concert in Italy comes nearly two years after the lengthy back-and-forth over the live presentation of Vultures, his Billboard 200-topping joint album with Ty Dolla $ign, which concluded without a concert but with a listening party held at the Unipol Forum in Milan and the Unipol Arena in Bologna in February 2024.
Zamna Festival, the prestigious international format born in Tulum, Mexico, widely recognized as a key reference of the global electronic music scene, will be the official partner of the RCF Arena events, hosting all pre- and after-parties of the Hellwatt Festival.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-12-19 15:38:592025-12-19 15:38:59Ye Announces Concert in Italy, His First in Europe Since 2014
Sphere Entertainment has named Felicia Yue as executive vice president and chief technology officer for Sphere. She will be based in Burbank and report to Jennifer Koester, Sphere’s president and COO.
As CTO, Yue will oversee technology powering Sphere’s immersive experiences and advanced infrastructure across its Las Vegas venue and Sphere Studios, including display, playback, interactive and audio systems. She will also lead enhancements to Sphere Studios’ content tools supporting multi-sensory experiences.
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Yue joins Sphere from Infinite Athlete, having previously served as head of live event and immersive experiences at Amazon Prime Video, where she led development of X-Ray technology — ie, real-time insights on every play — for Thursday Night Football. She previously held roles at the NFL, ESPN and Sportvision, where over the years she helped develop innovations including the NFL’s first-down “yellow line,” MLB’s “K Zone” and CNN’s “Magic Wall.”
“Technology is at the core of everything we do at Sphere, and Felicia’s experience will be invaluable as we continue to build on our capabilities as an experiential medium,” said Ms. Koester. “Felicia’s track record of developing breakthrough technologies and leading teams that deliver high-impact experiences for audiences will ensure Sphere remains at the forefront of what’s possible in immersive entertainment.”
Sphere recently reported that Q3 revenue was up 15% year-over-year, driven by The Wizard of Oz screenings and the Backstreet Boys residency, though it posted a $129.7 million operating loss. Since opening in 2023, Sphere has hosted residencies by U2, Phish, the Eagles and Anyma, with Backstreet Boys extending their run into February 2026.
Check out a rundown of this week’s staffing news below, including big departures at Warner Classics, [PIAS], RMLC and Superstruct, a wave promotions at UTA, an Island elevation and more.
Clave Especial talks about new music for 2026 with Fuerza Regida and shares why they enjoy working with JOP.
Alex from Clave Especial: For 2026 we have a lot of new music planned. We don’t have a title yet, but there are good tracks coming, good songs and I know that my people are going to like it.
With Fuerza Regida something new is coming. We already have two songs that did very well for us. I think people are waiting for the third one and our album is coming. He’s grown since we met him. I mean, I still see him as a boss, right, because, well, he’s our boss, but he’s given us a very beautiful friendship. In fact, the other day was my birthday back where I’m from in Salinas and he’s a very, very good person, truly, and I feel very happy to work with him.
My quinceañera? Almost, it was almost a quinceañera. I celebrated it like a quinceañera. Uh, well, we had Roberto Tapia, who is an artist I admire a lot. So, we had him singing at my birthday, surrounded by friends, by colleagues, by my family. I mean, it was a very beautiful night. I think we’re seeing a … a great advancement in Mexican music, because all the second generation people, Mexican Americans, are supporting what represents us, our roots, Mexico, so corridos, they’re all killing it right now and they’ll keep killing it.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-12-19 15:04:002025-12-19 15:04:00Clave Especial Reveals They Have New Music With Fuerza Regida Coming in 2026 | Billboard News
AI artist Xania Monet returned Friday (Dec. 19) with her prickly “Say My Name With Respect” single, which claps back at critics like Kehlani, who previously slammed AI artists.
Monet, who is operated by writer Telisha “Nikki” Jones, is looking for the industry to put some respect on her name and not undermine the powerful art that’s being released into the world, regardless of its approach.
“Funny how you went to the media first/ Talking about my pen like you know my work/ You don’t know the nights I cried to write/ Or how many songs healed somebody’s life/ You say I ain’t real/ You say I don’t create/ But your voice shake a little every time you create because deep down you know I’m destined to shine,” Monet sings.
Monet doesn’t list Kehlani by name, but appears to be taking aim at the “Folded” singer, as well as others who have condemned AI artists.
She continues: “You keep saying I’m not a real artist, right/ But somehow my songs still change somebody’s night/ People say my lyrics saved them, that’s real art.”
It will be interesting to see if and how Kehlani goes about responding to an AI artist. Could there be a back-and-forth with an AI artist that will bring R&B into uncharted waters?
Billboard has reached out to Kehlani’s reps for comment.
“There is an AI R&B artist who just signed a multimillion-dollar deal… and the person is doing none of the work. This is so beyond out of our control,” Kehlani told followers on social media. “Nothing and no one on Earth will ever be able to justify AI to me. I don’t respect it.”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-12-19 14:40:492025-12-19 14:40:49AI Artist Xania Monet Fires Back at Kehlani & AI Critics on Prickly ‘Say My Name With Respect’ Single: Listen
After playing 41 raucous, sold-out stadium shows around the world with Oasis this year you could forgive guitarist Gem Archer for being a bit winded. “I still don’t know my ass from my elbow,” said Archer, who first joined the band in 1999 following the departure of founding guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs and performed with them until their break-up in 2009.
Speaking to Guitar World magazine, Archer said it’s now time to “decompress” after what he described as an overwhelming experience. “None of us expected it to get this kind of reaction. It’s kind of unprecedented that the feeling between us and the crowd was the same in every city. Every gig was just this joyous celebration,” said Archer about the rapturous response from crowds in every city, where streets were packed with bucket hat-wearing fans who lustily sang along to every song.
“At one gig, just before ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger,’ Noel said to the crowd, ‘Now you’re gonna feel what it’s like to be in the band,’ or something like that. And that’s what it was – 80,000 people in the band at that moment. That didn’t really hit us until maybe three gigs in,” Archer added.
Archer also weighed in on the tour’s famously rigid 23-song setlist, which did not deviate from show-to-show, despite fans having lots of ideas about which tunes should be added to the roster. The guitarist said he knew as soon as he saw the setlist that the tour would be mega, revealing that there actually were more songs in the mix before the tour kicked off.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Wow – and we haven’t even gotten to ‘Supersonic’ yet!,’” he remembered thinking. “It was just ridiculous from there. The boys had been sorting it out for ages. It got amended; we’d started with, I think, 27 songs, and it ended up being 23.” Though it didn’t happen, that was good news for diehards who are hoping for more shows in the future, including ones with a switched-up setlist. “Those songs, played in that order, are just unbeatable,” he said of the crowd-pleasing mix of huge hits and album tracks.
Archer also confirmed what the nightly brotherly hug seemed to show us, that the formerly battling Gallagher brothers “absolutely” enjoyed sharing the stage again. “They’d immediately start cracking each other up on the ramp while we were walking up,” he said. “It’s almost like they were just in each other’s ears and faces. But when the curtain opens it all changes; it becomes the show. But they’re brothers – and that’s tangible.”
One thing Archer did not do is answer the one question on everyone’s minds: when are the next shows? Singer Liam Gallagher has been playing a sometimes frustrating game of definitely, maybe with fans for the past few months, suggesting that he and brother guitarist/songwriter Noel are definitely going to play again, at some point, but probably not next year.
“It’s not just something you can flick on. We’ve all said we won’t know what this was ‘till next year. It really was a bit of a whirlwind,” Archer said while swatting away questions about what he knows about future plans. “I’d be up for more,” he added. “But right now, it’s only a couple of weeks since we were doing a gig in Brazil. I’ve got stuff laid all over the floor that’s from the tour. It’s still kind of like, ‘What just happened here?’”
Spokespeople for Oasis have not returned Billboard‘s repeated requests for comment on potential future tour dates.
Pressed again, the guitarist swore that he doesn’t “know anything about what’s coming up,” while leaving the door open just a crack. “It’s not my place to say. Anything could happen, which could include nothing,” he added. “If stuff was happening, I think I might already know about it. But Noel has said, ‘No rest for the immensely talented’ — so take that how you want!”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-12-19 14:11:202025-12-19 14:11:20Oasis Guitarist Gem Archer Reveals Original Oasis Reunion Tour Setlist Had Four More Songs: ‘Every Gig Was Just This Joyous Celebration’
In mid 2024, there was talk that the U.K. wasn’t producing future stars nearly fast enough and that its reputation as a great exporter of music was threatened. Then, Charli xcx’s Brat happened and encouraged the industry to be bullish with its next crop of artists and to back them in the long run.
2025, then, saw the best-case scenario of that vision with a run of outstanding LPs from British and Irish musicians to reclaim its place at the centre of pop music culture. Olivia Dean’s sophomore album The Art of Loving rapidly established her as a main pop girl to contend with, while Yungblud’s Idols placed him at the centre of the rock universe. Sam Fender’s People Watching was both a critically acclaimed masterpiece and commercially successful to boot, and earmarked him as a musician with serious long-term potential.
There were storming comebacks for artists like Lily Allen whose shocking and salacious West End Girl dominated online discourse for weeks, while Pulp’s first album in over two decades was a reminder of the band’s capabilities in the studio after an indefinite hiatus. That these artists made their case via stunning full-length collections that demanded attention is vital for the health of the entire ecosystem.
The future appears bright too, as Dove Ellis, Jacob Alon and Jim Legaxcy all released stunning debuts, while CMAT and Lola Young came good following years of excitement behind the scenes. A relatively dry creative period feels like a long, distant memory after a year of music from this truly original cast of characters. Find our 20 favorite U.K. and Ireland albums below, listed alphabetically by artist.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-12-19 14:08:052025-12-19 14:08:05The 20 Best U.K. & Ireland Albums of 2025: Staff Picks
The ceremony will be held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday Jan. 31, the afternoon before the 68th annual Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A.
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“It’s a true honor to recognize this year’s Special Merit Award recipients — an extraordinary group whose influence spans generations, genres and the very foundation of modern music,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Each of these honorees has made a profound and lasting impact, and we look forward to celebrating their remarkable achievements.”
Palmieri, a Latin music legend, will be honored less than six months after he died at age 88. Two other artists are being honored posthumously – Afrobeats pioneer Kuti, who died in 1997, and Houston, who died in 2012.
Simon is being honored as a solo artist. Simon & Garfunkel received a lifetime achievement award as a duo in 2003. Simon joins the short list of people who have been honored both solo and in groups or duos. Others include Diana Ross (the Supremes) and Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison (The Beatles).
Houston receives the honor seven years after her cousin Dionne Warwick was honored.
Taupin is this year’s only Special Merit Award recipient who is also a 2026 Grammy nominee. The night after he picks up this honor, he’ll win or lose for best song written for visual media for “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late. Incredibly, Taupin has yet to win a competitive Grammy.
Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented to performers who have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. Trustees Awards are presented to individuals who have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording. Both are voted on by the academy’s national trustees.
Technical Grammy Awards are presented to individuals, companies, organizations or institutions who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. They are voted on by the Producers & Engineers Wing Advisory Council and chapter committees and ratified by the academy’s national trustees.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-12-19 14:03:292025-12-19 14:03:29Whitney Houston, Cher, Carlos Santana & More to Receive Lifetime Achievement Awards from Recording Academy: Full List
Universal Music Group and Roblox have struck a new strategic partnership aiming to deepen connections between artists, fans and music on the 19-year-old gaming platform, as more and more labels seek engagement beyond traditional streaming.
The agreement focuses on enhanced music and commercial integrations within artist experiences, including new monetization tools. A key feature is Shopify integration, enabling digital and physical merchandise sales directly inside Roblox. The companies said they will also streamline collaboration for artists and labels, offering creative support and early access to new features.
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Both companies emphasized their commitment to ethical AI practices and the protection of intellectual property, with the goal of creating a secure environment in which artists can experiment with new formats while retaining control of their work. UMG said the partnership with Roblox is rooted in shared goals of fostering innovative ways to empower artists and strengthening connections with fans.
“With this new framework, we are strengthening our commercial, creative and operational collaboration and unlocking new opportunities for our artists and labels,” explained Michael Nash, UMG’s evp and chief digital officer. “Built on this foundation and highlighted by the impending launch of UMG’s flagship ‘Tastemaker’ experience, this agreement ensures that UMG continues to lead the industry in shaping the future of music in immersive environments.”
UMG said on Friday that will debut a series of activations in the coming months, starting today with K-pop group Stray Kids. The deal builds on UMG’s prior Roblox ventures, including Beat Galaxy in 2023 and Boombox a year later, which introduced the all-important licensed music streaming into gameplay.
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Founded in the early 2000s and launched in 2006, Roblox has evolved into a global creator ecosystem averaging more than 85 million daily users by 2025, according to the company, and has emerged as a hub for music fandom, hosting artist activations from Lady Gaga, Chappell Roan, Glass Animals and Sofi Tukker, among others
UMG is not alone in continuing to bet on Roblox’s potential, following Warner Music’s launch of Rhythm City in 2023, partnerships from Sony Music and BMG in 2021, and Spotify’s entry onto the platform in 2022 with its “Island” environment.
“We have worked closely with Universal Music Group over the years to bring some of their top artists to Roblox to engage with next-gen fans in innovative and creative ways,” said Enrico D’Angelo, chief business officer at Roblox. “This strategic agreement represents a major step forward in building the future of immersive entertainment, with this partnership significantly expanding the commercial and creative opportunities for UMG artists and labels on our platform.”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-12-19 13:52:482025-12-19 13:52:48UMG and Roblox Deepen Ties on Merch, Monetization and Artist Activations
Pete Davidson is a dad. The Saturday Night Live alum and King of Staten Island actor welcomed a baby girl with girlfriend Elsie Hewett last week, Scottie Rose Hewitt Davidson. The happy couple announced the news on Thursday (Dec. 18), revealing that their “bundle of joy “perfect angel girl” was born on Dec. 12.
“My best work yet, i am absolutely overflowing with love and gratitude and disbelief,” Hewitt wrote in an Instagram post. The first glimpse of their newborn came in the post featuring a picture of Hewitt kissing the bundled-up baby’s head as a smiling Davidson looks on with joy. There are also shots of model Hewitt cradling the baby in front of a big picture window with a snow-dusted vista in the background, a shot of Davidson kissing Hewitt in the hospital after the baby’s birth, as well as the traditional image of the newborn’s tiny fingers wrapped around dad’s pinkie.
According to E! News, the baby is named after Davidson’s late father, N.Y. firefighter Scott Davidson, who died while responding to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the Twin Towers when his son was only seven-years-old; Rose is Hewitt’s middle name.
For his part, Davidson announced the news in typically irreverent fashion, adding “Wu Tang forever,” to Hewitt’s comments on the post, which also included a snap of Davidson feeding Scottie a bottle, leaning in with Hewitt to give her a big kiss on her forehead and holding up a teeny, tiny bottle of soy sauce in the foreground as Scottie dozes just behind.
The couple, who went official in March, announced they were expecting a child in July.
While she’s still trying to navigate the whole sleeping/eating thing, Scottie already has at least one built-in playmate: Machine Gun Kelly’s 10-month old daughter Saga. Back in July, just hours after the news broke that Davidson was going to be a first-time dad, MGK said he was super excited about the news.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-12-19 13:31:232025-12-19 13:31:23Pete Davidson and Girlfriend Elsie Hewitt Welcome Baby Girl: Absolutely Overflowing With Love and Gratitude’
You should forgive Ariana Grande if you’re on her Christmas list and your present doesn’t come exactly on time, or wrapped like you might expect. She’s, you know, kind of busy still promoting Wicked: For Good and her return to Saturday Night Live this weekend for the fifth time with musical guest Cher. But she did take time out on Thursday night (Dec. 18) to chat with Seth Meyers for the first time on Late Night, where she explained what kind of Christmas person she is while also revealing the one Wicked tie-in item that kind of gives her the willies.
Asked if she manages to buy gifts for everyone on her list amid her busy schedule, Grande said she tried to get as much of her shopping done as possible before the brutal scheduled of her SNL week. “I’ve been managing to wrap some of the gifts in the morning before I leave for SNL, and then when I get home I’m usually too tired,” said Grande.
Meyers, who thanked Grande for showing up in exactly the kind of outfit he’d expect from good witch Glinda, a long, gauzy princess dress fit for a ball, wondered if she had magical wrapping skills as well.
“I think it looks… well-intentioned,” Grande admitted of her gift wrapping skills. “I think it’s the thought that counts. And I do feel guilty about the amount of tape used. That’s gotta be bad, but I make up for it in other ways… It’s hideous, but it’s with love.”
As for her favorite Christmas tradition, Grande paid homage to her beloved Nonna — who died in June at 99 years old — revealing that her go-to holiday activity was baking traditional Italian Zeppole donut-like treats with her late grandma. “My mission this year is to come up with a plant-based Zeppole. She would not like that, maybe I won’t actually.”
After talking about the emotionally taxing filming of the Wicked movies and how the role of Glinda came at the perfect time in her career, Meyers asked Grande to pivot to the mountain of Wicked tie-in merchandise that many boys and girls (and men and women) will likely find under their trees this year. “Was there a particular piece of merch that you were most covetous of when you saw it?,” he wondered.
“First of all, my mom has everything,” Grande said. “She went a little too hard. And I was like, ‘Mom, it’s okay, Universal, they’re gonna send it, it’s okay!’ And then she’d be like, ‘No, no, no, no, I need, like, 30!” Grande said a few of the items, though, were “a little disturbing. Like the pink and green — I hope this is okay to say — the pink and green, was it mac and cheese that they did?”
“Yeah, I think it’s fair to say that’s disturbing,” Meyers assured Grande.
“That was when I knew, ‘Oh, this is big!’,” Grande said. “It’s a little bigger than I thought.”
Grande also revealed that she had just been introduced to this weekend’s musical guest on SNL, Cher, who she had not met until they filmed the promos for the show earlier this week. “I mean, she’s just the one and only. It was so spectacular. And she’s just brilliant and I’m so excited,” Grande said of the music icon who will be marking her return to the sketch show for the first time in nearly 40 years this weekend.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-12-19 13:08:192025-12-19 13:08:19Ariana Grande Loves Everything About Her ‘Wicked’ Journey, Except For This ‘Disturbing’ Tie-In Meal