It was an early round knockout for Adrien Broner when Cam’ron removed the boxer from an episode of It Is What It Is on Tuesday (Sept. 16) after AB repeatedly disrespected co-host Treasure “Stat Baby” Wilson.
Cam and Mase had Broner on to recap the Canelo Álvarez and Terence “Bud” Crawford fight over the weekend in Las Vegas, but things got awkward when the show attempted to transition into looking back at week 2 in the NFL.
Broner cheekily addressed the show’s NFL analyst, a woman named Saudi. “If that’s Arabia, I, Saudi,” he said. He then focused on Treasure “Stat Baby” Wilson, where he asked about her weight and then proceeded to comment on her looks.
“What you weigh, Stat?” he said. “I love you, I swear to God. Ay Stat, could you stop smiling? … I’m mesmerized by Stat.”
Cam’ron told Broner to knock off the flirting, letting him know that Stat Baby’s boyfriend was on set, but he didn’t listen. Within a matter of minutes, Killa Cam pulled the plug on Broner and kicked him off the show.
“We gon’ have to ask you to go, my n—a. I’ma pay you for your time for being here. I appreciate you and I love you, my n—a. I asked you the first time,” he said. “I don’t have no problems with you, but I’ma pay you for your time, but you can’t violate.”
Cam took out a bag filled with cash and counted up what he owed Broner before removing him from the set. “I told you n—s boyfriends was here, but I appreciate your time,” he added. “But I’m not gonna sit here and not value your time neither.”
On Tuesday (Sept. 16), Billboard and Samsung TV Plus announced the launch of BillboardTV — a 24/7 streaming destination for music culture and news.
The exclusive channel will feature nonstop updates from Billboard News, never-before-seen interviews, red-carpet coverage and live concert specials.
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“Billboard has always been at the center of music culture, capturing the moments that shape the industry and the artists who define generations,” said Mike Van, CEO of Billboard. “With BillboardTV, we’re taking that mission even further — bringing our storytelling, our events, and our unparalleled access directly to fans’ living rooms. Partnering with Samsung TV Plus allows us to build a channel that’s as dynamic and always-on as music itself, creating a destination where fans can experience the energy, creativity, and passion that only Billboard can deliver.”
BillboardTV will include the television premiere of Billboard News episodes, Billboard Live concerts available only on Samsung TV Plus, exclusive interviews with music’s biggest stars, red-carpet event coverage from the industry’s most-talked-about nights, and top music stories, trends, and insider insights curated by Billboard‘s award-winning editorial team.
The first major BillboardTV livestream of the fall will be an extended edition of Billboard Unfiltered, with top artists and creators unveiling and debating the 2025 year-end No. 1 songs across several key Billboard charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and Billboard 200 albums chart.
“With BillboardTV, we’re advancing our vision of Samsung TV Plus as a home for live exclusive content and cultural experiences,” said Salek Brodsky, SVP & Global Head of Samsung TV Plus. “This new channel brings the full weight of Billboard’s influence into our ecosystem, giving fans direct access to the moments that matter, and is a powerful step in expanding our leadership as the go-to destination for premium entertainment.”
BillboardTV will be exclusive to Samsung TV Plus, which is available on Samsung TV, Galaxy, Smart Monitor and Family Hub devices. Samsung TV Plus recently made headlines as the exclusive livestream destination of Fifth Harmony’s surprise reunion at the Jonas Brothers’ JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown tour stop in Dallas on Aug. 31.
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It will be shoot, score and dance next month when the dance industry’s lauded charity soccer tournament Copa del Rave returns to Los Angeles.
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Teams will be made up of artists and execs from around the industry, with the current roster including SG Lewis, Chris Lorenzo, TEED, Luchero from Apple Music, Ocho On The Beat and Nikita the Wicked. Additionally, teams will be made up of squads representing companies including Beatport, CAA, Capital Records, Red Light Management, Infamous, Symphonic Distribution and Stratasonic.
Nigerian dance artist Kah-Lo will play the halftime show, with sets from Bolo, Juos, Karaba, Life on Planets, Thee Mike B and Soraya happening around the on-field action.
The tournament happens on Oct. 9 at Evolve Soccer Los Angeles and is open to the public, with RSVPs now open. Copa del Rave is presented by Adidas.
2025 marks the sixth edition of Copa del Rave, which has raised more than $60,000 in charity donations over the years. Each team must make a donation in order to compete, with the winning team earning not just bragging rights, but the opportunity to select the organization that will receive the money raised.
The 2024 tournament was won by Red Light Management, who selected Education Through Music and All Hands And Hearts as the two recipients of their $14,000 winnings. Previous organizations who’ve received funds through Copa del Rave include Lewy Body Dementia Association, L.A. Mission, MusiCares and Give a Beat.
Players in previous tournaments have included Diplo, The Chainsmokers, GG Magree and other star artists/athletes.
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Singers Rachel Platten and Judith Hill, bassist Rhonda Smith and guitarist Sophie Burrell are the first honorees announced for the 14th annual She Rocks Awards, which will take place on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, at the Hilton Hotel in Anaheim, Calif. during NAMM. The awards are presented by the Women’s International Music Network.
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Platten is best-known for the anthemic “Fight Song,” which she co-wrote with Dave Bassett. The song reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 2015. Platten received a Daytime Emmy Award for a live performance of the song on Good Morning America. Her follow-up single, “Stand by You,” also made the top 40 on the Hot 100.
Hill is a vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has worked with Prince, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Josh Groban. In 2009, she was chosen as Jackson’s duet partner for “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” during rehearsals for his planned This Is It concert residency. After Jackson’s death that June, she, along with other This Is It cast members, performed at Jackson’s memorial service. In 2014, she was featured in the Oscar-winning film 20 Feet From Stardom. The following year, she and her co-stars Darlene Love, Merry Clayton and Lisa Fischer won a Grammy for best music film for their work in the film.
Smith is a bassist, born in Canada, who has collaborated with Prince, Jeff Beck and Chaka Khan, among others. She first worked with Prince on his Emancipation album in 1996. She went on to record and tour with the legendary musician for almost 10 years.
Burrell is a rising guitar and social media star.
More honorees will be announced soon. The show is open to the public. Tickets are on sale now.
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On the heels of releasing her Hearts Sold Separately album, Mariah The Scientist is hitting the road for a global trek in support of the LP. Mariah announced plans for the Hearts Sold Separately Tour on Monday (Sept. 15), which will find her kicking off the 36-city run in Europe at the top of 2026.
A pre-sale for Verizon customers started on Tuesday (Sept. 16), while the general public tickets will be on sale on Friday (Sept. 19) at 10 a.m. local show time on Live Nation.
The Hearts Sold Separately tour will begin with a shortened European run of shows, which starts in Paris on Jan. 12, before heading to Manchester, Birmingham, London and the Netherlands.
The singer returns to the U.S. just in time for Valentine’s Day with a show in Miami Beach on Feb. 13. Mariah continues to build on the success of her 40-date To Be Eaten Alive Tour in 2024 with larger venues on tap for 2026.
She’s slated to hit markets like Virginia Beach, Nashville, Philly, Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Montreal, Denver, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Austin, Houston, Dallas and the trek wraps up in her hometown of Atlanta on April 10.
Mariah’s Hearts Sold Separately album arrived in August when her fourth studio album debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200. The project was paced by lead single “Burning Blue,” which notched Mariah’s highest-charting hit of her career at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Mariah The Scientist Hearts Sold Separately Tour dates:
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Billboard’s Live Music Summit Presented by VENU is set to return this fall with a spotlight on Rauw Alejandro. The annual conference will once again take place at the 1 Hotel West Hollywood on Monday, Nov. 3. Tickets are available now.
The one-day event will bring together top executives, artists and innovators from across the live entertainment industry for panels, networking opportunities and a special awards ceremony. Both the summit and awards will be programmed by Billboard senior editor Eric Renner Brown.
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The 2025 edition of the conference will feature Spotlight Conversation — The Rise of Rauw Alejandro, with the Puerto Rican singer discussing his Cosa Nuestra World Tour alongside Live Nation svp Hans Schaefer. Their conversation will cover the star’s high-concept stage production, as well as his emergence as one of the live sector’s most sought-after artists.
This year’s panels will also include a discussion on the return of Vans Warped Tour with founder Kevin Lyman, Vans executive Steve Van Doren, Honey Revenge’s Devin Papadol and Pennywise‘s Fletcher Dragge as they look back on the touring festival’s 2025 return and its enduring legacy.
Maggie Baird – actress and mother of Billie Eilish and Finneas – will detail how she instilled an eco-conscious approach in her kids and have helped them keep the momentum going. In 2020, Baird founded Support + Feed, which aims to mitigate climate change and increase food security by increasing accessibility to plant-based foods, including at large-scale events like concerts.
“Billboard’s Live Music Summit is an exclusive opportunity for concert-industry leaders, touring legends and rising stars to come together and shape the future of live entertainment,” said Hannah Karp, Editor-in-Chief, Billboard. “We’re thrilled to convene such a dynamic and powerful group of talent in Los Angeles this fall.”
Additional panels this year include “No Bots Allowed: Inside Chappell Roan’s Fan-First Ticketing Strategy” sponsored by AXS with Dean Dewulf (AXS), Lauren McKinney (Foundations Artist Management) and Kristen Mitchell (Wasserman Nashville). Agents Jenna Adler (CAA), Marsha Vlasic (Independent Artist Group) and Elisa Vazzana (UTA) will take the stage to talk about navigating the live business, their clients’ touring strategies and the status of the glass ceiling for “The Women Leading The Booking Space” panel sponsored by Allegiant Stadium.
The day will also feature a networking lunch sponsored by AEG, an evening cocktail hour presented by Live Nation, and an awards ceremony recognizing leaders and innovators in live entertainment. Sponsors for the 2025 Live Music Summit include VENU, AEG Presents, Live Nation, Allegiant Stadium, AXS, Moody Center, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Tacoma Dome and Gila River Resorts and Casinos.
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.pngYveto2025-09-16 16:04:562025-09-16 16:04:56Rauw Alejandro & More Set for 2025 Billboard Live Music Summit Conversations
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are helping No. 15 ring in his 30th. As seen in a photo shared by Kane Brown, the newly engaged couple recently stepped out in Kansas City for Patrick Mahomes’ birthday celebration, posing together at a party held at the two Chiefs players’ new 1587 Prime restaurant.
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In the snap posted to Instagram on Monday (Sept. 15), the pop superstar looks elegant in a matching plaid skirt and vest, which she paired with a Chanel choker. She stands with one arm wrapped lovingly around her pal Brittany Mahomes, a beaming Kelce leaning in with his arm around his fiancée on her other side.
Patrick grins at the camera from behind the 14-time Grammy winner, while Brown and his wife, musician Katelyn Jae, stand toward the left. “happy birthday Pat,” the country singer wrote, adding in reference to Swift and the tight end’s August engagement announcement, “& congrats TT.”
“thanks for hosting us Britt,” Brown also wrote, tagging 1587 Prime — the Kansas City steakhouse opened by the quarterback and Kelce this month.
In a separate video shared by Brown, Mahomes — whose actual birthday is on Wednesday (Sept. 17) — blows out his cake candles while the group sings to him and Brittany claps at his side.
Swift has been good friends with the Mahomeses since she first started dating Kelce in 2023, oftentimes sharing a box suite at Arrowhead Stadium with Brittany as they cheer on their significant others during home games. In September last year, the foursome attended the U.S. Open together.
“I just know Taylor better now and I feel like I’ve built a great friendship with her,” Patrick said in February. “And my wife and Taylor have a built a friendship as well. It’s just cool to see how football can bring people together from every aspect of life.”
The group also recently stepped out together at a University of Cincinnati football game, which just so happened to be Swift and Kelce’s first public outing since announcing their plans to get married with an internet-shattering post on Instagram in August. “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” they wrote at the time.
The Eras Tour headliner attended her first Chiefs game of the year shortly afterward, though her presence at Arrowhead on Sunday (Sept. 14) for the match-up against the Philadelphia Eagles was kept much more lowkey than her past appearances at games, according to reports.
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Complex Shop is celebrating some of Selena Gomez’s early career defining moments with the launch of their throwback merch collection.
We’ve seen Gomez through many eras, from child star to multi-facited singer and entrepreneur. It’s time to celebrate those eras in style. True Selenators will absolutely die for these cozy pieces that make reference to iconic eras of Gomez’s early career from Barney and Friends to Wizards of Waverly Place and Spring Breakers. The limited-edition drop is available to shop now at Complex Shop’s website and on the Complex App.
The collection centers around comfy cozy apparel like hoodies, sweatpants and tees with colorful iconography printed throughout, making reference to some of Gomez’s iconic pop culture moments. We’ve picked out a few of our favorites from the collection that you can shop below. Whether you’re a die-hard Selenators, or you’re looking to add a bit more color and fun into your wardrobe, there’s something for everyone.
First up on our list of picks, we’ve got Barney and Friends-inspired Starbright sweats and hoodie. Both pieces are a purple-ish pink, like the friendly dino, and feature nostalgic motifs throughout. On the hoodie, you’ve got a graphic affixed to the front depicting Barney, along with the words “Selena × Barney.” The sweats are littered with star graphics in blue, yellow and green along with that same Selena x Barney graphic. On the side of the pant leg, the phrase “friends forever” can be seen in blue lettering, boxed in with two pink hearts. Both pieces are roomy, equipped with an oversized fit.
The Barney and Friends section of the collection also includes a I Love You Tees and Rainbow Tank Topnot pictured here. For those that didn’t know, Gomez was on the beloved children’s show from 2002 to 2004 when she was just 10 years old. If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse, she appears in season seven and eight as a recurring character named Gianna. It was Gomez’s first major acting role, and one that helped her make her way to Disney Channel.
Complex Shop x Selena Gomez ‘Spring Breakers’ Hoodie
A black tee in reference to Gomez’s movie Spring Breakers.
Next up, we’ve picked the “Good Girls Gone Bad” Tee and ‘Spring Breakers’ Hoodie in reference to Gomez’s role as Faith in the 2012 crime thriller film Spring Breakers. Directed by Harmony Korine, the film is a cult-classic in many ways for its iconic lines and even more iconic neon fashions. All the pieces in this section of the merch drop make reference to those neon fashions with pops of bright pink, green, purple and blue, giving each piece an eye-catching feel.
One of our favorites is the hoodie, an oversized black item with the words “Selena Gomez Spring Breakers” on the front and an impactful image of Gomez on the back with even more Spring Breakers logo detailing. Set on a black background, these neons really pop. The same impactful design is seen in the “Good Girls Gone Bad” Tee, what with the neon kiss print and halo effect on a black background accompanied by a still of Gomez from the film. Both the front and back feature the phrase “Good Girls Gone Bad.” The tee, along with the hoodie, are statment pieces for sure. They’d make great additions to any wardrobe, especially if you’re looking to spruce up your basics.
Complex Shop x Selena Gomez “Always Trouble” Ringer Tee
A white tee with black trim in reference to Gomez’s time on Wizards of Waverly Place
Finally, we’ve chosen the “Always Trouble” Ringer Tee in reference to Gomez’s stint on Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place. The tee is white with black trim around the collar and on the sleeves. A magical graphic is affixed to the front in shades of purple, pink and blue along with the words “Always Trouble.” Gomez’s run on the 2007 sitcom is a major one, living rent-free in the minds of Gen Z at any given point in time. The show ran for four seasons and saw 15 year old Gomez take center stage as Alex Russo. The show concluded in 2012 when Gomez was 20. It’s safe to say that the show was a big moment in the singer’s life and one her fans will never forget.
When the 2026 Grammy nominations are announced on Friday, Nov. 7, three rap albums could be in the running for album of the year for only the second time in Grammy history. If Kendrick Lamar’s GNX; Tyler, The Creator’s Chromakopia; and Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out all make the final cut, this will be the first time that three rap albums were nominated in the same year since 2019, when Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy, Drake’s Scorpion and the Black Panther soundtrack were nominated. (Lamar was nominated as a featured artist, producer and songwriter on Black Panther.)
There have been two rap nominees on four occasions, which we list below.
If GNX is nominated, Lamar will become the first rapper to land five album of the year nods as a lead artist, pulling ahead of Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, who has received four. Lamar would also become the first solo artist – from any genre – to be nominated for album of the year with five consecutive studio albums. (Donald Fagen also achieved that feat, but only if you combine two solo album and three albums he recorded as half of Steely Dan.)
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Lamar is a 22-time Grammy winner. Tyler, The Creator has yet to be nominated in a marquee Grammy category, but he won best rap album with his two albums preceding Chromakopia: Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost. Clipse’s only Grammy nod to date was for best rap/sung collaboration as a featured artist on Justin Timberlake’s “Like I Love You” in 2003. (Clipse’s Pusha T has received five additional Grammy nods.)
Coincidentally, both Lamar and Tyler, the Creator are featured on Clipse’s album, along with such other past Grammy winners as John Legend, The Dream, Pharrell Williams and Nas. Pharrell, the sole producer of the Clipse album, is a three-time winner of the Grammy for producer of the year, non-classical – twice on his own and once as half of The Neptunes.
The other two albums that have a strong chance at album of the year nods also feature multiple past Grammy winners. Lamar’s album features SZA and Roddy Ricch. Tyler, The Creator’s self-produced album features Daniel Caeasar, Lil Wayne and Doecchi.
Tyler, The Creator released two albums in the eligibility period for the 68th annual Grammy Awards, which runs from Aug. 31, 2024 to Aug. 30, 2025 — Chromakopia (released on Oct. 28, 2024) and Don’t Touch the Glass (July 21, 2025). Only one of them can be nominated for album of the year, according to Recording Academy rules.)
Several other rap albums could conceivably make the album of the year finals. They include Central Cee’s Can’t Rush Greatness, Party Next Door & Drake’s $ome $exy $ongs 4U, Playboi Carti’s Music and Lil Baby’s WHAM.
The Recording Academy’s ongoing efforts to diversify its membership make it seem entirely possible that three rap albums could be nominated this year. On Oct. 3, 2024, the academy revealed that 66% of the Grammy voting body at that point had joined since the academy introduced its new membership model in June 2019. Under that model, the academy invites large new member classes to join each year, with an eye on boosting the numbers of women, people of color and people under 40 in the academy.
On July 7, the academy announced that it had extended membership invitations to nearly 3,600 additional music professionals spanning, in its words, “diverse backgrounds, genres and disciplines.” According to the academy, this year’s class of invitees is 49% women, 56% people of color and 60% under the age of 40. That 3,600 total includes about 2,600 who are being invited to join as voting members and about 1,000 who are being invited to join as non-voting professional members. To put that 3,600 figure into perspective, the Academy reported last year that it has 16,000+ total members, of which 13,000+ were voting members.
Two notes: It has become easier to have multiple album of the year candidates from any one genre in recent years as the Grammys have expanded the number of nominees in each of the Big Four categories. The Grammys generally had five nominees for album of the year each year through the 2018 ceremony. The number jumped to eight in 2019 and then to 10 in 2022, before (mercifully) dropping back to eight in 2024.
Also, I’m adhering to Grammy classifications of the albums in question — where they competed in that year’s Grammy process. They classified Lil Nas X’s two album of the year nominees, 7 and Montero, as pop; Doja Cat’s Planet Her and Post Malone’s Beerbongs and Bentleys also as pop; and Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You as urban contemporary.
Here’s a complete list of all the times that multiple rap albums received Grammy nominations for album of the year in the same year. The years shown are the years of the Grammy ceremony. We also show you who won the award each year.
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“It’s kind of like being in a long-term relationship,” Jonathan Groff muses of portraying the late Bobby Darin in the Tony-nominated musical Just in Time. “Is this working? Is this not working? Should we continue what’s happening here? My love, admiration, respect and passion for Bobby continues to deepen. The way that he lived the 37 years of his life, he’s a never-ending source of inspiration.”
Hot off his Tony win for Merrily We Roll Along in 2024, Groff returned to Broadway in April as the Grammy-winning, Billboard Hot 100-topping pop chameleon behind hits like “Mack the Knife,” “Beyond the Sea” and “Dream Lover.” While the show has found a home at the Circle in the Square Theatre for the past six months, the germ of this project began to take shape much earlier, in 2017, born out of a kinship Groff felt with the late singer. “He just innately had a real old-school showbiz thing that I personally relate to,” Groff explains Billboard.
You might have to squint, but similarities exist: Like Darin, Groff is a student of the Great American Songbook – and living proof that in the right hands and in the right setting, old songs can be as electric today as they’ve ever been. Like Darin, Groff enjoyed a mainstream breakthrough singing featherweight pop to a youth audience (was Glee his “Splish Splash?”) before quickly demonstrating he could do so much more to the wider world. And like Darin, who played to cross-generational crowds during his lifetime, Groff is packing seats with everyone from kids (some wearing “I love Jesse St. James” shirts) to fellow Millennials to 80-year-olds who caught the real Darin onstage when they were young.
Darin was both a songwriter and an interpreter, which means the musical palette of Just in Time is expansive. There’s a world of difference between the novelty rock of “Splish Splash” and the swinging, murderous “Mack the Knife,” but it’s all sonically unified thanks to a tight, expert band of pros led by music supervisor and arranger Andrew Resnick, who ensures that Just in Time feels less like Broadway and more like a Las Vegas residency from the Rat Pack era.
“There’s no electronics — we wanted it to feel like no matter what, a live band was playing,” Resnick says. Working with director Alex Timbers, Resnick – who has been with the project since its 2017 genesis at the 92nd Street Y – helped determine which songs would be deployed as storytelling devices and which ones as jaw-dropping showcases. “Mack the Knife,” the Brecht/Weill tune from 1928’s The Threepenny Opera that Darin took to the top of the Hot 100 for nine weeks in 1959, is decidedly the latter: “66 years later, it swings just as hard,” Resnick says.
“Andrew really is one of those music directors that listens to your voice and shapes an arrangement to your talents and your vibes specifically,” says Gracie Lawrence, who earned a Tony nom for her portrayal of Connie Francis in the show (she recently left the production to focus on her sibling-duo band Lawrence). To that end, Resnick added a key change moment for Lawrence in Francis’ signature hit, “Who’s Sorry Now.” “I think it was such a smart story idea to have a show-stopping moment in Connie’s first scene, so that we leave feeling like we’ve established that she’s an important person musically to Bobby and vice versa. Andrew and Alex’s choices were so story driven, it doesn’t feel superfluous,” Lawrence says.
Prior to Francis’ death on July 16 at 87, the pop legend – the last living person to be portrayed in this musical — sent Lawrence and Groff signed photographs as gifts on the show’s opening night (April 26). Lawrence said the first show after her death was “all the more real,” and a reminder that “we have such a responsibility to do right by these people and share their intense love of performing. It made me reflect on how lucky I am to have this job.”
Groff and Lawrence aren’t the only ones portraying old-school icons. Erika Henningsen took on the role of cinema legend Sandra Dee, who was married to Darin from 1960-67, for the musical (her run with the show wrapped just last week). Intent on delivering a performance that didn’t “become scenery or just a plot line, but a fully fleshed woman,” Henningsen focused on “the true woman inside the very girlish doll the studios made her out to be,” she says. “I come out and look like a cupcake… but want people to know the Sandra who become an adult much sooner than most people do.”
Erika Henningsen and Gracie Lawrence pose at the opening night after party for the new Bobby Darin musical “Just in Time” on Broadway at Guastavino’s on April 23, 2025 in New York City.
Bruce Glikas/WireImage
Having grown up listening to Groff on the Spring Awakening cast album, Henningsen is thrilled to be immortalized alongside him on the Just in Time cast album (out now on Atlantic — Darin’s longtime label, fittingly). She hopes this cast album serves as a “beautiful gateway drug” to the era and the “grit that Bobby Darin has on his recordings.”
The grit and gusto that Groff brought to the cast album was hard-earned. He went into the studio the week after the 2025 Tony Awards, “bone-tired” on a Sunday night after doing his eighth show of the week. Not that you’d know from listening to the recording. “There was something really magical in the air from the first downbeat that sustained through the all the next day on Monday. It didn’t feel stressful. It didn’t feel tired,” Groff says wonderingly. (“Even one of the A&R people at Atlantic was like, I’ve never seen a session be that stress free,” Resnick said separately.) “Bobby had such a relationship with his band members through the years, and I’ve never had a relationship with a band like this,” Groff says.
When the final recording wrapped on the 21-song cast album, Groff – who at this point has been working on this project for years — burst into tears, exclaiming, “Who needs therapy?”
“Doing eight shows a week is probably the best practice for how you want to sing the song in the official version of it,” Lawrence points out. “Particularly with Jonathan, every nuance in his voice, every growl and color comes out,” Henningsen raves of the recordings.
“This is an album that you can play front to back and just lose yourself in the experience of these really fun, joyful songs that this one man really helped bring into the world,” Resnick says. “I hope we’ve honored (Darin) in a way that he would be proud.”
Spit Takes: A Just in Time Sidebar
Early in the show, Groff warns audiences members sitting close to the stage that they’re in the splish-splash zone – he’s a wet performer, and liable to sprinkle some saliva while singing. Below, his colleagues offer first-person testimonials of that experience.
Erika Henningsen: I believe Jonathan can control it. When he’s talking to a scene partner, it’s just a leaky faucet. When he’s front and center, spotlight on him, it’s like a sprinkler system. We [duet on “Irresistible You”] and ‘irresistible’ is a salivating word, lots of Rs and Ss. One day it was just a stream. As a teenager who listened to the cast album of Spring Awakening, I have these little moments where it’s like, “You’re literally across from Jonathan Groff right now getting spit on.” Never in my 15-year-old brain was that on the horizon.
Gracie Lawrence: I don’t get spit on that much. It might be a height difference; I think it clears my head. There have been a few shows where I’ve gotten (hit), but very few. We do eight shows a week and I can think of two times where I’ve been hit directly in the eye or something like that. Because he’s the most amazing performer and loves embracing the reality of what’s happening, I wiped my face and then wiped it on his shirt. And he loved that so much. I welcome Jonathan Groff spit – I feel like I’m being baptized every time I get showered by his talent juice – but it doesn’t happen that often because he’s like 5’11” or something.
Andrew Resnick: There are a few songs where I go off stage and he plays the piano. He learned how to play the piano specifically for this. He’s singing while he’s playing, and then when I return to the piano, there are keys covered in spit. Also, oftentimes he is sucking on a Halls cough drop, a cherry cough drop, so the spit is tinged with red when I come back, which makes it very easy to see in the light. I often have to bring tissues with me to wipe down the keys because otherwise my hands are covered in his saliva. But whatever makes the magic work.
Jonathan Groff: They released a video on YouTube of us performing “This Could Be the Start of Something Big” [in the studio]. I’ve done sex scenes on TV shows before, but I cannot believe… like, my nipples are hard in this video, I’m spitting all over the microphone. I was like, “They released this thing? This is the most pornographic video that has ever been released of me.” I know I’m feeling it while I’m doing it, but I’m not thinking of how it’s coming across visually. But because they recorded it and put it out in the world, I can say I was lit up. You know, Bobby Darin used to — apparently, rumor has it — wear a condom on stage in case he ejaculated while he performed. And so I’m always trying to bring that energy.
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.pngYveto2025-09-16 15:41:432025-09-16 15:41:43A ‘Beautiful Gateway Drug’ to Bobby Darin: Jonathan Groff & Cast Talk Bringing ‘Grit’ to the ‘Just in Time’ Broadway Cast Recording
