Regional Mexican singer Lupillo Rivera has just released his autobiography Tragos Amargos: Gloria e Infiero de El Toro del Corrido, a retrospective of his life in which he makes deeply personal revelations — from a health issue that could jeopardize his career to details of his last encounter with his late sister, Jenni Rivera.

With her, he shared a touching moment just a few days before her tragic death in a plane crash, when at one of his performances — he writes — she arrived unexpectedly and went up on stage to sing with him “Tragos Amargos,” the classic song by norteño legend Ramón Ayala, which now serves as the title of his book.

With his raspy voice and unique style, Lupillo Rivera (real name: Guadalupe Rivera Saavedra) is known for hits like “El Moreño,” “Baraja de Oro,” “Fondo, Fondo,” and “Grandes Ligas.” His rise to stardom allowed him to help launch his sister Jenni’s career. The siblings worked at their family’s record label, Cintas Acuario, while waiting for their opportunity to record.

Through 33 chapters, Tragos Amargos (Bitter Moments) — released in Spanish the U.S. on Sept. 16 via Penguin Random House and soon to arrive in Mexico — offers an emotional journey through the artist’s childhood, his time at Cintas Acuario, and his complicated family relationships — especially with his father, Pedro Rivera, with whom he severed ties over business matters. He also discusses his past loves, confirming a previous relationship with pop star Belinda. (A Billboard message to a representatives of the singer hasn’t been answered.)

“I just share what I lived, I talk about everything, and I know many people won’t like what I say,” Rivera admits. Below, he discusses some of those revelations with Billboard.

You worked alongside your father at Cintas Acuario. What did that experience teach you?

I learned the music industry from the ground up. From my father, I learned the value of hard work to support a family. Back then, my dad didn’t do anything wrong. He made deals to buy and sell songs. At the end of the day, artists sell their talent.

You had the chance to meet singers like Chalino Sánchez and Valentín Elizalde at Cintas Acuario, both of whom became major stars. What special memories do you have of them?

Chalino was an honorable man. He always carried a gun, but he never looked for trouble. He was serious in his dealings and incredibly talented. Many people think his singing style meant he didn’t know music, but he didn’t need to — he understood exactly what he had to do.

Things started going well for me in 1999, and by 2000, my career had taken off. Valentín used to complain to my dad, saying he only promoted me. I’d tell him to be patient, that his time would come. I knew he’d succeed. He had something special, his presence was striking. When he moved to another label, we competed at fairs and events, but we got along really well.

In your book, you mention recording demo vocals, which led to your father giving you the opportunity you’d been waiting for as a singer. But this happened during a difficult time in your life.

I became a father at a very young age. I was already signed up to join the Marines, but my girlfriend was pregnant. This was during the Gulf War; my friends who went didn’t survive. I stayed behind and started my music career. My relationship with Maria, my first wife, was wonderful for many years, though she didn’t want me to be a singer, even when I started earning a good income.

I used to look at my parents’ marriage, where they always worked together, and I wanted that with my wife. But it didn’t happen. I was unfaithful multiple times, and she didn’t deserve that — she’s a good woman. We had four daughters together. Later, I remarried and had two more children. I have six children and nine grandchildren, whom I love to spoil.

What’s the current situation with your career?

My father and I had an agreement to split the earnings from the music I recorded for Cintas Acuario 50/50, but he didn’t honor that. That’s why I decided to re-record all my music, so I could leave something for my kids. A record label approached me three months ago and bought 20 songs. The label is Hyphy Music, which specializes in acquiring master recordings.

Is this related to the lawsuit your nephews filed against your father over Jenni’s music?

My sister Jenni is no longer with us; it’s my responsibility as an uncle to guide them. This situation affected me because I also lost all my music [when Cintas Acuario kept it]. I don’t want to fight with my father or mother, which is why I decided to re-record my work.

Speaking of Jenni and her absence, in the book you suggest her death could have been foul play.

It was intense, very intense. Sometimes it’s better to protect those of us who are still here because we won’t win. You have to learn to lose and accept things in order to move forward. My father was determined to find out what happened, but I told him that if we kept pushing, it would destroy us all.

In another striking moment in the book you recount the last time you saw Jenni. You describe how she made a surprise appearance at your show.

That day in Texcoco, she asked for my forgiveness many times on stage. Back in the dressing room, she apologized again. I told her, “Don’t say that. Look at how much the people love us.” For me, that moment is more important and beautiful than anything else.

Why did Jenni ask for your forgiveness?

A lot of people have misinterpreted this, unfairly. During my last performance at what is now the Microsoft Theater, I invited my dad, and he told me he needed to talk to me. I remember he came into the dressing room and said, “You need to be very careful, son.” I asked why, and he replied, “Because they’re doing things to harm your career. Your brother Juan and your sister Jenni are doing things that aren’t right.” I remember crying and telling him, “Don’t worry.”

I always supported her, but she never invited me to one of her shows. These are harsh truths, but they’re real.

Some of your comments might upset people. Are you aware of that?

Yes. I was very careful with what I wrote. It’s not my intention to offend my sister’s fans. I’m just sharing what I lived. I talk about my ex-partners, everything. I know many people won’t like what I say. My professional life has been on top of the world, while my personal life has been in shambles — it’s always been that way.

In the book, you confirm rumors about a months-long relationship with Belinda. Will she be upset about the details you share?

I don’t want to speak poorly of Belinda in any way. She’s a very beautiful woman and part of this industry. I don’t want what I say to affect her, but I think she will be upset. Or rather her team will be upset. On that subject, the media painted me as obsessed, but it was a beautiful relationship.

You reveal that you have hearing problems and might have to stop singing.

When I got the news, I asked myself, “What am I going to do now?” I took such good care of myself, and it didn’t help. I didn’t want to tell my kids to avoid worrying them, but when [my older ones] found out, they wanted to live with me.

When I joined [TelevisaUnivision’s reality show] La Casa de los Famosos [in 2024,] I had already lost 40% of the hearing in one ear and 80% in the other. During the show, I lost it completely. I’ve been recording [music] with a very talented engineer who knows me well and helps ensure everything is perfect. Some might think my condition is from stage noise, but one doctor told me it’s stress-related — everything I’ve lived through is taking its toll at 53 years old.

What will you do if you can no longer sing?

A few weeks ago, I started producing for a young woman named Tita Medina. I saw her on social media. She’s not a professional singer but went viral, so I decided to contact her. I don’t see myself as a record executive, but I consider myself an advisor because of my experience. For new artists, we’ll work with equal profit splits — that’s only fair.

What will happen to the Rivera family when your father is no longer here?

I’ll be sitting back watching everything unfold from afar, eating popcorn.

A shining beacon of consistency and success for women in the contemporary reggae scene since the turn of the 2020s, Jamaican multihyphenate Lila Iké, 31, has, at long last, unveiled her debut full-length studio album.  

Titled Treasure Self Love, the new LP — which arrived on Aug. 22 via her own Wurl Ike Records, Protoje’s In.Digg.Nation Collective and Ineffable Records — finds Iké eschewing the poignant sociopolitical commentary of 2020’s breakthrough The ExPerience EP in favor of much more personal ruminations on navigating mental health struggles, in a world that demands a constant balance of militancy and femininity from its women. 

Featuring a mélange of cross-genre collaborators (H.E.R., Joey Bada$$ and Masicka) and nods to pillars of Jamaican music (Peter Tosh, Patra and Garnett Silk), Treasure Self Love further solidifies Iké’s knack for bridging generations of music listeners through her piercing lyricism and earthy, grounded tone. Less than a week after sharing Treasure Self Love (Aug. 28), the Manchester Parish-hailing star won her third consecutive Caribbean Music Award for female reggae artist of the year. She’s the only artist to win the category since the ceremony’s inception — a testament to her dominance and allure, with or without a formal LP. 

“My first Caribbean Music Award was the first time I’ve ever won an award that’s directly tied to my music,” she gushes. “It’s amazing to be celebrated for what I’m doing alongside a lot of my inspirations, like Buju Banton and Sizzla Kalonji. It felt great seeing other Black Caribbean people go up and collect their awards and be celebrated in our own communities.” 

In several ways, Iké’s third Caribbean Music Awards victory is a stamp on her latest career chapter. No longer with RCA Records after a four-year stint with the label — and on the precipice of a Coney Island show with Kabaka Pyramid (Sept. 27) and a few additional North American concerts — Protoje’s protégé stands wiser and more self-assured than ever before. From bouncy dancehall riddims and hip-hop production inflections to tender country and western guitar licks, Treasure Self Love distills Iké’s wide range of childhood music into a succinct 11-track study of achieving wholeness by unflinchingly examining the darkest parts of your past. 

Below, Iké speaks with Billboard about her debut album, playing her first solo Reggae Sumfest show, and how her bipolar disorder diagnosis shaped the album’s creation.

When did your working relationship with RCA end? When did you sign with Ineffable? 

[I left RCA] late last year and started working with Ineffable immediately after. They came on board when we did the second single, “Fry Plantain,” [which dropped in November 2024]. It was natural. RCA served the purpose for what it was, and it was time to start a new chapter. 

How would you compare the creative process for Treasure Self Love to that of The ExPerience EP? 

I started working on The ExPerience during COVID. It was a lot of me being in the studio at home working with people I normally work with here in Jamaica: me, Proteje and a couple of our in-house producers. For Treasure Self Love, I was free to travel wherever. I was also signed to RCA at the time, and they put me in rooms with different producers I wasn’t necessarily familiar with. I’d say I was a bit more involved and paid attention to more things as it relates to the production of the music this time around. I spent a lot more time working on the music, which allowed me to do more than just write the songs. 

Did you feel any particular pressure around this being your debut full-length album? 

[The ExPerience], for my merits, did really well, and people connected with it. Because I toured that one EP for five years, along with other collaborations, it cemented me in the industry as a trusted artist whom people accepted they could be fans of. Personally, I felt that my first album needed to be amazing, especially since it’s been five years. No matter what I’m working on, I always have that pressure on myself to meet the expectation of greatness. But I also understood this didn’t necessarily feel like a debut album to the public; a lot of people were like, “Didn’t she already have an album?” 

Looking back, I really shouldn’t have taken this long to put out an album. It wasn’t a deliberate effort; life just happened the way it did. But it’s also not like I disappeared after dropping the EP. 

Did you find it challenging to focus on your own experiences on Treasure Self Love instead of prioritizing broader social commentary? 

The EP had more social commentary in it because, at the time, those were things that I wanted to speak on. Not that I don’t want to comment on those right now, but I think music is a natural relationship between an artist and their inspiration, which usually has a lot to do with what’s going on with them personally. For [Treasure Self Love], it was more of me going within myself and speaking on emotional experiences I’ve had because, at that time, that’s what was real to me.  

I discovered a lot about myself. I learned more about the mental struggles that I have endured my whole life. I got diagnosed with bipolar disorder. While dealing with all of that, I learned to truly treasure self-love. 

There are musical nods to Jamaican music icons from Peter Tosh to Patra. Why was it important for you to pay homage to the greats across this album? 

I feel like I’m always paying homage to my culture and the people who laid the foundation for what’s going on in Jamaican music right now. Songs like [2020’s] “Second Chance” and “Thy Will” were both sampled from Dennis Brown. I like to use music that inspired me on my journey and put my own twist on it. A lot of things also just happen; it’s never a deliberate effort. 

For [“Romantic,” which samples] Patra, I was in a London studio. JulS played the beat, and I wrote three or four different songs to it, but none of them were connecting. On the last attempt, I sang Patra’s “Romantic Call” over the beat and liked how it sounded. I wasn’t thinking I needed it for my album; I was just making music. Since we decided to use it for the album, I invited Patra to the studio to hear the song and see if she liked it. She ended up loving it, so I got her to do the intro along with a few other bits throughout the song. 

The Barrington Levy sample [on “All Over the World”] was Protoje’s idea. He was working on that song for himself. I walked into the studio and heard it, loved it, and it kinda became my song. Because of my genuine love for the great history and contributors to Jamaican music, I’m always going to be that person who will pay homage one way or another. 

How did you get Joey Bada$$ on “Fry Plantain?” 

Protoje also started the idea for this song; the warped, pitched sound in the chorus is actually his voice. He was in the studio one day [back in 2023], and the beat caught my attention because it was so different from my usual sound. I came up with verses, and for a good while, it was just me on the song.  

As we got closer to finalizing the album, Protoje kept saying he could hear a rapper on “Fry Plantain.” The original producer of the riddim, D.K. the Punisher, works with SiR a lot. I’m a huge fan of SiR and tried to get him on it, but it didn’t work out. About a year later, when we were finalizing “He Loves Us Both,” and shooting that video, we were trying to find a lead male, and H.E.R. suggested Joey [Bada$$]. I was familiar with his music, but I didn’t know him personally at the time. I asked him to be in the video; he agreed, and I met him on set. 

During the shoot, we spoke about music, and the collaboration manifested itself with him reaching out to me a couple of months later, like, “I was serious, let me send something!” Protoje pushed me to send “Fry Plantain” because of the hip-hop vibe, and Joey’s also Jamaican and Lucian, so he connected with it. He sent me back the verse in under a week. 

Why do you think you’re one of the few new-generation Caribbean artists who connect with listeners of all ages? 

I’d love to know that too, because I need to keep that formula in practice! It’s intention. When I make music, I deliberately make it to connect with people. If I go into a room and nobody knows who I am, at the end of singing any piece of music that I make, someone should be able to at least sing the chorus back to me. I think people connect with the relatability of my songs and the things that I speak about. I pull from my real-life experiences in a way that everyone can understand, whether I’m singing in patois or not.

How has your relationship with Protoje evolved since you first signed with his label in 2017? 

It’s like iron sharpening iron. Protoje has become not just a mentor, but also a friend, especially in creating a project like Treasure Self Love, where it’s deeper and more vulnerable. Based on our relationship, it was easy for me to speak to him about certain things or create certain songs that required that vulnerability. I probably wouldn’t have been comfortable sharing that with somebody I wasn’t that close with. It made the music ten times more genuine. 

The key change in “Brighter Days” is one of the best moments on the album. How did that track come together?  

It was one of those sessions where RCA told me to go to L.A. and meet different producers. Every day, I was in the studio around producers I wasn’t familiar with. I wasn’t in my comfort zone with Protoje. So, I started throwing ideas around and, at the time, I was in a very emotional state, learning about my mental health and everything. The day we made “Brighter Days,” I did not want to go to the studio; I did not feel like making music. 

When I went to the studio and I met the producer [Noah Ehler], I was pleased to see that it was just me and him in there. In other sessions, a producer would play a bunch of riddims and I would pick one, but [Ehler] just had his guitar and bass and wanted to make something on the spot. And that’s my favorite way of making music: raw, organic, you pick up an instrument and use the live download of inspiration from the Creator. When he got to the bassline, I was like, “What in the rock is going on here?” But I was excited to try something different, so I just started talking to myself about what I was feeling, and those became the lyrics to the song. 

We didn’t have a key change originally; that first session was just us cutting the first and second verses and the hook. The song actually sounds quite unorthodox because the second verse feels like a bridge. We kept it that way for a while, but I knew it was incomplete. I told Protoje the song needed a key change, and it took a while for us to achieve the right modulation because we needed a proper bridge to lead into it. We brought the song back to Jamaica with Protoje’s band, and Monty, one of his guitarists, cracked the key change. It starts a bit melancholy, and then the dramatic sunshine comes out at the end; that’s exactly what I wanted to achieve with that song. 

You recently made your solo Reggae Sumfest debut. What are you taking from that experience to your next couple of live shows? 

It was always a dream to do Sumfest. It’s a rite of passage for any Jamaican artist. It was a great accomplishment for me because it was the last of the standard, legendary festivals in Jamaica for me to do. It was a bit of a rough weekend because I got into some little things with the police, and one of my band members lost a friend of theirs. For a while, I didn’t watch the performance back because I’m always very critical of myself. On a flight to London, I decided to finally watch it, and I had to message the band members and tell them how amazing they were. 

My next big show in Jamaica will be Protoje’s festival next year, which has a crazy lineup. It’ll also be my first live presentation of Treasure Self Love in Jamaica. I’m going to New York in a few weeks for a show with Kabaka Pyramid at Coney Island, and then I start prepping my own headlining tour in North America for the end of October. 

Shinedown is something of an anachronism. The veteran rock band arrived at the tail end of the CD era, lived through the download era and has thrived in the streaming era. Over those years, radio became less important as digital platforms gained influence and short-form video apps such as TikTok turned into hitmakers. 

But while much of record labels’ promotional efforts have shifted to platforms including TikTok, Shinedown has remained adamant about the importance of terrestrial radio. Earlier in September, the band notched its 21st No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with “Killing Fields.” In March, the band became the first artist with 20 No. 1s on the chart with “Dance, Kid, Dance” — two more than the next band on the list, Three Days Grace.

“Streaming will get your music played, but radio will give you a career, because it gave us a career and it continues to do that,” Shinedown singer Brent Smith tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast. “Radio is a big part of the success of the band in North America.”

It helps that Shinedown is a rare rock band that appeals to a broad audience, which gives it airplay on a variety of radio formats. “We’re very, very lucky because we’ve always looked at Shinedown as everyone’s band,” says Smith. “So even from the beginning, that ideology of, ‘Is it a rock band?’ Yes, it’s a rock band. But that’s not everything that we are. Because we’re not influenced by just one style of music or one genre. We have a pretty vast palette. We swim in a pretty big ocean.”

Being a radio-oriented band is a lot of work, though. Smith explains that the group will tailor its touring and album cycles to allow visits to stations in cities across the U.S. “We need to be able to go in and say ‘Hi,’ say ‘Thank you.’” And rather than focus on a few big markets, Shinedown visits smaller markets that are nevertheless filled with rock fans. 

“I think it’s really, really important for people to understand that in this business,” he says. “Nobody owes you anything. You gotta work for it. And honestly, man, sometimes you have to take it. Are you willing to outwork the other people? I mean, that’s really what it comes down to. Sometimes it’s just pure tenacity more than anything.”

The payoff to decades of radio promotion is being able to sell thousands of tickets in most any market in the U.S.. Radio is local, Smith explains, and getting airplay helps build a fanbase in that market. On the first leg band’s recently concluded Dance, Kid, Dance Tour, Shinedown played in Des Moines, Iowa, which has a metropolitan population of approximately 540,000 people. On the tour’s second leg, the band played Boston’s TD Garden and New York City’s Madison Square Garden for the first time. 

According to Smith’s math, an arena filled with fans is the same regardless of where it’s located. “Yes, they’re different markets, but the reality is that the Des Moines arena holds 15,000 people, and the Boston [TD] Garden and Madison Square Garden [each] hold 15,000 people.”

Listen to the entire interview with Brent Smith using the embedded Spotify player below, or listen at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart, Podbean or Everand.

Cardi B has revealed the tracklist for her upcoming sophomore album, Am I the Drama?. The Bronx native posted the tracklist on Thursday (Sept. 18), just over 12 hours before the project finally lands come Friday (Sept. 19).

The album boasts 23 tracks in total, including a pair of features from Summer Walker (“Dead,” “Shower Tears”), Selena Gomez( “Pick It Up”), Kehlani (“Safe”), Lizzo (“What’s Goin On”), Cash Cobain (“Better Than You”), Lourdiz (“On My Back”), Janet Jackson (“Principal”), Tyla (“Nice Guy”) and Megan Thee Stallion (“WAP”).

Fans seemed to be upset in Cardi’s IG comments section, as they thought a brand new collab with Megan was on the way, rather than 2020 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “WAP.” She addressed similar criticism in June, writing on X at the time, “WAP and Up are two of my biggest songs, my fans have been asking me to put them on an album, and people search for them on IOP all the time… they deserve a home.”

Cardi’s been putting on a clinic with her album rollout, which continued this week with an appearance on The Tonight Show. “Tell people on your show to get my album. Thank you,” she quipped. “Tell your audience or I’m gonna be homeless.”

The 32-year-old also revealed this week that she’s pregnant with baby No. 4, which will be her first child with NFL star boyfriend Stefon Diggs.

“Yes, I am [pregnant]. I’m having a baby with my boyfriend, Stefon Diggs,” Cardi told Gayle King on CBS Mornings. “I’m excited. I’m happy. I feel like I’m in a good space. I feel very strong. I feel very powerful that I’m doing all this work. But I’m doing all this work while I’m creating a baby, and me and my man, we’re very supportive of each other.”

It’s been more than seven years since Invasion of Privacy and the wait is nearly over. Find the Am I the Drama? tracklist below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib)

Earlier in September, Ed Sheeran wrapped his gargantuan four-year stadium tour. The +-=÷x Tour (The Mathematics Tour) launched in 2022 after the release of the previous year’s = (Equals) and continued through the releases of 2023’s – (Subtract) and Autumn Variations. Over three album eras and 188 shows across four continents, Sheeran grossed $875.7 million and sold 8.8 million tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. That makes it the highest grossing tour of his career and thus, one of the biggest tours of all time.

Sheeran has only been a global touring figure for less than 15 years, but mounting his most successful tour yet was no easy feat. His previous trek, The ÷ Tour (The Divide Tour), ran from 2017 to 2019 and set records in its final stretch as the highest grossing and bestselling tour in history. More shows in a shorter timeframe, The Divide Tour grossed $776.4 million and sold 8.9 million tickets, breaking U2’s longstanding records in both metrics for the U2 360° Tour ($736.4 million and 7.3 million tickets in 2009-11).

On the other side of the pandemic, Sheeran was surpassed as the biggest earner, first by Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour ($939.1 million) and then by Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour ($2.1 billion) and Coldplay’s ongoing Music of the Spheres World Tour ($1.5 billion through Aug. 31). In terms of attendance, both Coldplay and Swift surpassed 10 million tickets, with the former now up to 12.8 million and counting.

The Mathematics Tour finishes fourth all-time in gross (behind Swift, Coldplay and John) and attendance (Coldplay, Swift, The Divide Tour). Like his prior tour, this one took Sheeran around the world and back with five legs in the U.K. and Europe, two in Asia, 25 shows in North America and 15 in Oceania.

Europe and the U.K. were the obvious standouts for the British singer, accounting for 59% of the tour’s total gross and 63% of its attendance. Combined, the five legs grossed $517.1 million and sold 5.5 million tickets over 117 shows. Next was North America with $170.7 million and 1.6 million tickets. Asia’s 31 shows earned $102.4 million and sold 753,000 tickets. The one leg of dates in Oceania added $85.5 million and 810,000 tickets.

The expanse of The Mathematics Tour includes various warm-up shows in the weeks leading up to its stadium launch, plus a Subtract promo breakout in 2023, putting Sheeran in relatively intimate arenas in the U.K. and Ireland to specifically promote his then-new record. It does not, however, include The Subtract Tour in North America, which hit U.S. theaters in the same cities of some of his Mathematics stadium shows. Also outside of the proper tour, there was an isolated date at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on May 22, 2024, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of x (Multiply). From Dublin’s Whelans (357 capacity) to four nights at London’s Wembley Stadium (420,000 tickets), Sheeran adapted his live show to maximize his tour’s reach.

But that’s not all! Sheeran released Play last week (Sept. 12) and is already plotting a tour to follow. He announced the Loop Tour, which will commence before the year is even over. Five arena shows are set in December across Paris, Munich and Dublin, plus two in England. Then, it’ll be 17 stadium dates in Australia and New Zealand in the early months of 2026. While no dates have been officially announced, he teased a leg of U.S. concerts next year during a live performance on TikTok.

Dating back to Sheeran’s first reported concert at QPAC Concert Hall in Brisbane, Australia (July 31, 2012 – $101K; 1,488 tickets), he has grossed over $1.7 billion from 18.9 million tickets sold. He is one of the 10 highest grossing and bestselling acts in Boxscore history.