California residents are still recovering after deadly wildfires swept through the Los Angeles area in January, so Dawes is working on a way to help out.

As announced Monday (Oct. 27), the band is teaming up with a number of famous friends for A Concert for Altadena, which will take place at the Pasadena Civic Center on the one-year mark of the disaster. Brandon Flowers of The Killers and Brad Paisley are also on the bill, as are Eric Krasno, Aloe Blacc, Jackson Browne, Judith Hill, Jenny Lewis, Mandy Moore, Stephen Stills, Everclear and Ozomatu.

Proceeds from the show will benefit the Altadena Builds Back Foundation, which works to recover and rebuild homes destroyed in the fires.

“January 7th marks a year to the day that our sweet town got ravaged by the Eaton Fire,” Dawes wrote on Instagram when sharing the news. “It’s gonna be a heavy night, but it’s going to be a beautiful one too.”

Bandmates/brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith have previously been open about how the wildfires impacted them personally. A few days after the blazes broke out — and weeks before the L.A. fire department would fully be able to contain them — the latter shared on Instagram that his family had “lost everything,” including their entire house, in the catastrophe.

Taylor was also hit hard, with the fires burning down his home studio and much of Dawes’ recording equipment. At the February Grammys, the band honored the city by opening the ceremony with a performance of “I Love L.A.,” joined by Paisley, John Legend, Sheryl Crowe, Brittany Howard and St. Vincent.

See the Concert for Altadena announcement below.

Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, visit the event’s website.

Bad Omens are hitting the road early next year for a North American headlining tour with support from Beartooth and President. The hard-rocking Virginia band announced the dates for the arena swing on Tuesday morning (Oct. 28), with the outing slated to kick off on Feb. 22 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Tickets for the tour from the “Specter” band will kick off with an artist pre-sale beginning today at 12 p.m. local time, with additional pre-sales running throughout the week ahead of a general on-sale beginning on Friday (Oct. 31) at 10 a.m. local time.

Earlier this month, the Noah Sebastian-fronted band made their quickest trip to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, with “Specter” hitting the top on the Oct. 18-dated chart after rising two spots, landing the group their second leader on the tally. “Specter” reached the pinnacle in its eighth week, easily leap-frogging the 27 weeks it took their previous No. 1, “Just Pretend,” to hit the top in 2023.

Bad Omens’ most recent proper studio album was 2022’s The Death of Peace of Mind, which was followed by 2024’s guest-heavy companion to the Bad Omens — Concrete Jungle, Volume 1 graphic novel, Concrete Jungle.

The 20-date 2026 arena tour will hit Denver, Kansas City, Detroit, Minneapolis, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville, Dallas, Oklahoma City and Los Angeles before winding down on March 27 at Oakland Arena in Oakland, Calif. The band will then gear up for the North American tour by kicking off their Do You Feel Love European swing on Nov. 21 in Dublin, Ireland.

Check out the dates for Bad Omens’ 2026 North American arena tour below.

Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here.

“I work for every bit of applause I get,” Usher told Billboard on the eve of his first Las Vegas residency in 2021. “I try my hardest to give people an incredible experience.”

That philosophy has propelled Usher’s 28-year touring career, which has taken him to arenas, residencies and the world’s largest stage: the Super Bowl. As a 19-year-old wunderkind in the late ’90s, he scored his first opening gigs for Mary J. Blige, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Janet Jackson. Fast forward to this year, when the 47-year-old superstar completed his most recent arena tour, Usher: Past Present Future.

The eight-time Grammy winner’s latest outing was the highest-grossing and best-selling tour of his career, according to Billboard Boxscore, grossing $183.9 million and selling 1.1 million tickets over 80 shows. All told, Usher has a reported career gross of $422.6 million from 3.3 million tickets over 334 shows. That’s a whole lot of singing and dancing — both of which are an innate part of Usher’s DNA.

Usher will appear in conversation during Billboard‘s Live Music Summit, held Nov. 3 in Los Angeles. For tickets and more information, click here.

Drawing comparisons to Michael Jackson while honing lithe dancing skills and his supple tenor, Usher graduated from opener to solo headliner in 2002 with his 8701 Evolution Tour in support of his third studio album, 8701. Two years later, The Truth Tour, in support of his smash-hit album Confessions, became one of the period’s highest-grossing outings, with $31.4 million earned. Usher more than doubled that return with the 2010-11 OMG World Tour, which grossed $75 million; the trek landed in seventh place on Billboard’s Top Tours chart in 2011.

But it was a post-pandemic foray into Las Vegas’ residency scene — suggested by manager Ron Laffitte well after Usher’s last tour in 2014 — that reintroduced and reinvigorated the R&B star’s musical legacy this decade. The first residency, Usher: The Las Vegas Residency, at Caesars Palace, did $18.8 million and sold 84,000 tickets over 20 shows (2021-22). The second, My Way: The Vegas Residency, staged at the Dolby Live theater at Park MGM, garnered $95.9 million and sold 394,000 tickets over 80 shows (2022-23). Those successes sparked a chain reaction that culminated in Usher’s critically acclaimed Super Bowl LVIII halftime performance and Past Present Future.

Usher’s singular status as a dynamic performer has led to his recognition as Billboard’s 2025 Legend of Live. For him, however, it’s the connection with his audience that counts most — and fuels his ongoing passion for performing.

“When it all comes together — the song, the connecting message to the audience, the dance — it almost feels like classical music,” Usher said ahead of his Super Bowl performance last year. “I just want to love what I do, make what I love, allow people to come to my space and see what I have to offer.”

This story appears in the Oct. 25, 2025, issue of Billboard.

Sometimes singers on The Voice move the celebrity judges with the power or emotion in their voice. But on Monday night (Oct. 27), Team Reba’s Aubrey Nicole got right to the heart of the matter for her crew’s leader by singing a tune whose lyrics hit home in the most personal way.

Nicole brought a hush over the studio audience when she sang the 2011 Martina McBride country ballad “I’m Gonna Love You Through It,” an emotional anthem of strength and support about a woman being held up by her husband as she battles cancer.

Nicole, who told the story of her father fighting cancer when she was preparing to move away to college — he is now in remission — got to fellow judge Snoop Dogg as well, who said he was moved despite never hearing the song before. According to NBC, that’s when Reba McEntire revealed her personal connection to the track.

“I do know this song. Martina’s… I’ll need it, thank you, Snoop,” a clearly emotional McEntire said as Snoop handed her a tissue to dab her tears. “Martina’s a good friend of mine. I lost my oldest son because he did not win with cancer,” McEntire said in reference to late stepson Brandon Blackstock, who died in August 2025 from melanoma; Blackstock was formerly married to singer Kelly Clarkson and is the son McEntire’s ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock.

“That was a real reminder that life goes on, and we sing songs about it so we can remember the ones around us that we love so much, that we lean on at times like this. You did a great job,” added McEntire, who awarded Nicole the win in her Knockout round.

The Voice airs at 8 p.m. ET on NBC on Mondays and Tuesdays, with all episodes available to stream the next day on Peacock.

Check out Nicole’s performance below.

What time is it? Almost Winter Olympics time, which these days means that Public Enemy hype man Flavor Flav is picking which Team USA squads he’s going to support in the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Flav, 66, who has cooked up a high-profile side gig as a rabid vocal, and financial, supporter of a number of American olympians, was announced as the official hype man for USA Bobsled and Skeleton on Monday (Oct. 27) according to the Associated Press.

“The partnership is a blessing. It’s cooler than Cool Runnings,” Flav said in reference to the beloved 1993 sport comedy loosely based on the story of the 1988 Jamaican bobsleigh team. “It’s Coolest Runnings.” The AP reported that Flav spent time with the bobsled and skeleton teams this past week, traveling to Park City, Utah, where he raced down the track in a bobsled and also wanted to try out skeleton, in which athletes roar down the icy track at speeds that can reach 80 m.p.h. or above.

In an accompanying video announcing his new gig, Flav, wearing his red, white and blue official team gear, said, “Just to let y’all know I am definitely excited to be a sponsor of the bobsled/skeleton team, boy. Yeah g, it’s going down for real! I’m a sponsor, I’m a sponsor!”

“We are thrilled to welcome Flavor Flav as an official sponsor and hype man for USA Bobsled/Skeleton,” USA Bobsled and Skeleton CEO Aron McGuire said in a statement. “It’s clear he has a genuine passion for sports and an authentic love for the USA team. Flavor Flav embodies the same grit, dedication, and pride that define our athletes, and we’re excited to have him bring that excitement to our team and fans across the country.”

While team officials wanted first-time slider Flav to start from a low spot on the track for safety reasons, the veteran rapper wasn’t having it, insisting on starting higher up as he managed to hit 67 m.p.h. on his second run. In the video after his thrilling run, Flav can be heard howling in delight at the white-knuckle ride down the icy shoot.

“Oh my gosh, he’s one of the coolest, most adventurous men that I’ve ever met,” U.S. skeleton athlete Dan Barefoot told the AP. “He was upset that he couldn’t go from higher up on the track. … I was kind of upset at how good he was. It’s a sport that takes a lot of skill, but he made it look straightforward.”

Flav plans to be with the team at the XXV Olympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, which will take place from Feb. 6-22.

“We have all been so hyped to have him with us,” Barefoot added. “Put aside the fact that Flav is one of the greatest hype men of all time, the energy in the room… you had people who often aren’t talking to each other high-fiving and hugging because of the experience of being around him. There’s a lot of energy and a lot of confidence around us right now.”

Not only is Flav promising to be in the stands in February, he also gave many members of the team his personal cell pone number and invited a few to join him at a Maroon 5 show over the weekend in Salt Lake City.

It won’t be Flav’s first turn as an Olympic supporter. He was all over the 2024 Paris summer games, acting as the hype man for the U.S. women’s water polo team, giving them financial support and free cruises and helping to cover rent for discus thrower Veronica Fraley. Flav has also put in his bid to be one of the official USA torchbearers at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Check out video of Flav watching practice, posing with members of Team USA and ripping down the track in a bobsled and skeleton.