George Prajin from Double P Records accepts the Top Regional Mexican Albums Label of the Year Award from Billboard’s Leila Cobo.
Lucas Barbosa from Rimas accepts the Hot Latin Songs Label of the Year Award from Leila Cobo at Latin Power Players 2026.
UMLE’s Angel Kaminsky & Ana accept the Regional Mexican Airplay Label of the Year Award from Ela Taubert at Latin Power Players 2026.
BMI now has a physical presence in the Miami area, in Coral Gables, Florida, where the performing rights organization opened its newest office on Miracle Mile on Thursday (Oct. 15). With the company’s new location in the Miami-Dade County, BMI aims to strengthen its commitment to serving music creators throughout South Florida, Puerto Rico and Latin America.
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An opening-day celebration featured a live performance by Zulia. Billboard chief content officer Leila Cobo introduced the Latin pop singer-songwriter and spoke on the impact of Latin music at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for BMI’s Coral Gables site.
Zulia performs at the official opening of the BMI office in Coral Gables, Florida, on Oct. 15, 2026.
Erick Quituizaca for BMI
“We think it’s a great place to welcome our amazing songwriters, composers, producers, and publishers, not just those here in the Miami area but from all over the country and the world,” Mike O’Neill, BMI’s chief executive officer, said at the event. “It’s what BMI is all about. We invest in our company, and we invest in our creative community, who we are so honored to serve. Welcome to your new BMI home in Miami.”
“Latin music is having a moment unlike anything we’ve seen. It’s not crossing over anymore, it’s leading. Miami is a creative epicenter, and we’re going to keep building on the musical foundation that is Miami,” said Mike Steinberg, chief revenue and creative officer of BMI.
“BMI’s commitment to Latin music didn’t begin with its global explosion. We’ve stood alongside its creators for generations,” added Jesús González, BMI’s vice president of creative, Latin. “Our decision to call Coral Gables home was intentional. We didn’t simply want an office. We wanted a home. A place where creators connect, ideas become songs, and the next generation finds opportunity.”
BMI, which represents the public performance rights in more than 25 million musical works by more than 1.5 million songwriters, composers and music publishers, has its headquarters in New York City. The organization also has offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, Atlanta, Austin and Washington, D.C., and an international location in London, U.K.
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Following Taylor Swift‘s Saturday night performance in Los Angeles, where she played a song from The Life of a Showgirl live for the first time, the superstar arrived in Kansas City to take in the Chiefs-Chargers game Sunday night (Oct. 18).
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Swift was in good company in a suite at Arrowhead Stadium, with pals Caitlin Clark and Este Haim by her side. Travis Kelce’s mom, Donna, was also in attendance; Swift was seen giving her mother-in-law a hug.
She went luxury designer-casual in red in support of the Kansas City Chiefs, who played the Los Angeles Chargers. Swift’s outfit was built around a bright red Louis Vuitton turtleneck bodysuit, which she paired with black bottoms and her matching red signature lip.
Swift surprised the audience at the 2026 Academy Museum Gala with the live debut of “The Fate of Ophelia” during a short set on Saturday. Though it’s been more than a year since the Showgirl single’s release, fans had yet to see her perform “Ophelia,” or any track from the chart-topping collection, until this weekend. She also performed “I Knew It, I Knew You,” plus longtime hits “Blank Space” and “Love Story.”
The Life of a Showgirl returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week. The album returned to the top after Swift added four new bonus tracks — “Patient Zero” (which also got the music video treatment), “Pink Clouding,” “Cleveland!” and “Babylon” — to a deluxe edition of the original LP in a late September 2026 release. It’s now accumulated a total of 15 nonconsecutive weeks on the chart.
Wolfmother, Ball Park Music and Yothu Yindi will headline the inaugural Aloha Festival, a new all-ages surf, music and culture event coming to Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 2027.
The festival takes over Dee Why Beach on March 6, 2027, with the three headliners joined by Dune Rats, The Terrys, The Beautiful Girls, Mid Drift and The Beefs. With a capacity of up to 15,000, organizers say it has the potential to become the largest music festival ever staged on the Northern Beaches, and the region’s biggest in more than two decades. Tickets go on sale Monday, Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. AEDT, following a presale from Oct. 23.
In a first-of-its-kind feature, curated surf films will screen on the main stage between live sets, including works by John Florence, Jack Johnson and Stacy Peralta, several digitally remastered in 4K. The event is built around a range of community initiatives spanning shark education and ocean safety, First Nations and Hawaiian culture, environmental sustainability and mental wellbeing — including a Bush to Beach program giving First Nations youth their first festival experience. It will also honor Hawaiian waterman Duke Kahanamoku, who helped introduce surfing to Australia at nearby Freshwater Beach in 1914.
“Aloha Festival is a celebration of everything that makes the Northern Beaches, and the Australian coastline, so special,” said festival founder and Long Reef local Luke Campbell. “Our community has been rocked in recent times, and we want to create an event where everyone from 5-year-olds to 85-year-olds can come together, connect and share the spirit of Aloha.”
The bill brings together three generations of Australian rock. Wolfmother — fronted by Andrew Stockdale — broke through with their five-times-platinum 2005 self-titled debut and became one of the country’s biggest rock exports internationally: the album reached No. 22 on the Billboard 200, and the single “Woman” hit No. 7 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart and won the 2007 Grammy for best hard rock performance. Yothu Yindi, inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2012, made history with 1991’s “Treaty,” the first song by a predominantly Aboriginal band to chart in Australia — it reached the ARIA top 20 and even crossed over to No. 6 on Billboard’s Dance Club Play chart. Ball Park Music, the Brisbane indie-pop favorites, have scored multiple top-five ARIA albums, including the 2020 chart-topper Ball Park Music.
ALOHA FESTIVAL 2027
March 6 — Sydney — Dee Why Beach
Headliners: Wolfmother, Ball Park Music, Yothu Yindi
With: Dune Rats, The Terrys, The Beautiful Girls, Mid Drift, The Beefs
“Housewife,” the just-released new single from Tate McRae, tops this week’s new music poll.
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Listeners voted in a poll published Friday (Oct. 16) on Billboard, choosing McRae’s song about providing the life she wants to live herself, as their favorite new music.
The track rose above new releases from Olivia Rodrigo with Chappell Roan, Ashe, U2, Zach Bryan and more on the poll, landing a solid 51% of the vote by closing time on Sunday.
“Housewife” arrived on Friday, with the Canadian singer delivering a track she’s previously said is about “a woman who can’t be contained.”
“I just wanna make a lot of money, be my own housewife,” she sings. “You, you, you, you could be the one I’m calling honey/ Be my sex on the side/ You, you, you, you/ Acres of open stars, headlights of prеcious cars, life imitating art/ I, I, I, I, I just wanna make a lot of money, bе my own housewife.”
McRae shared lots of behind-the-scenes photos from the “Housewife” music video shoot on Sunday, noting on Instagram that she has “so many pics from this day” on her camera roll that “idek what to post!!!!!!!”
She’s slated to perform the song, which is expected to appear on her upcoming fourth studio album, at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on Sunday night (Oct. 18).
Coming up behind “Housewife” on Billboard‘s poll are Olivia Rodrigo’s “Expectations” remix with Chappell Roan, with nearly 35% of the vote, followed by Ashe’s The Girl of Your Dreams album and U2’s new song “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
See the final results of this week’s poll below.
Zach Bryan is opening up about his sobriety journey in a new interview with Matthew McConaughey.
The 30-year-old country star sat down with the Oscar-winning actor for a two-hour conversation, reflecting on his relationship with alcohol and the experience that ultimately led him to quit drinking.
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“I always thought sobriety was a joke because it’s people who couldn’t control themselves celebrating not being able to control themselves,” Bryan told McConaughey. “When I was drinking a lot, I thought, ‘Why can’t you control yourself?’ I never realized I had a problem.”
The interview arrives following the release of Bryan’s new eight-song EP, Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs, which dropped Friday (Oct. 16) through Warner Records.
In the conversation, uploaded to Bryan’s YouTube channel Friday, the singer-songwriter recounted a month-long motorcycle trip he planned to take with friends from New York City to Los Angeles. When his friends couldn’t make it, he decided to hit the road alone.
“One night I was drinking at the Grisly, this bar in the West Village and I was like, ‘I’m leaving tomorrow’ … I wake up, get on my motorcycle and I stayed at all these national parks,” Bryan said.
Although the trip included memorable experiences, such as dining with veterans and skydiving from vintage planes, Bryan said he spent much of his time drinking at local bars.
“I was stopping at all these bars and drinking myself to sleep,” the musician said. “Waking up every morning, getting on my motorcycle thinking I was on some sort of soul journey.”
The trip took a turn when Bryan arrived in Seattle. After weeks on the road, he found himself sitting outside a truck stop with a beer, questioning what the experience had actually given him.
“After all this beautiful scenery, all these nights, all these bars I’ve been to, all this s—t that I’ve done, I was at this Pilot truck stop right outside of Seattle. I’ll never forget this for as long as I live,” he said. “I go into this Pilot and I grab a 40 Budweiser and I’m sitting on the curb with my motorcycle in front of me. I’m drinking [the beer] and I’m thinking ‘What the hell was all that worth? Why did I do any of that? I feel emptier than when I left.’”
Bryan said he felt he had “wasted 30 days” chasing a defining moment, prompting him to confront his drinking habits.
“It was just me in a f—king truck stop parking lot. And that’s when I said, ‘Why am I drinking right now? What am I celebrating?’ That’s when I kind of looked in the mirror,” he said. “I’m not the f—king sober type either.”
Despite once believing sobriety wasn’t for him, Bryan said giving up alcohol has left him happier and more creatively fulfilled.
“Quitting drinking has been really great. I’ve had a lot of fun,” he said. “I enjoy writing again, I haven’t felt [like this] since I was 17. I feel like a kid again. I wake up and I’m ready to go, I want to jump in the pond. I want to play with the dog. I want to do everything.”
Bryan’s Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs features collaborations with Lana Del Rey (“Lies”) and Turnpike Troubadours (“Plainsman”), along with tracks including “Robot Killed the Working Man” and “Backwards.” The EP marks his first new music since his sixth studio album, With Heaven On Top, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in January.
Watch Bryan’s full interview with McConaughey below.
Bette Midler sang her updated version of Woody Guthrie’s 1940s protest classic “All You Fascists (Bound to Lose)” as she accepted the 2026 Woody Guthrie Prize at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Friday (Oct. 16). Just so no one missed the message, she wore a T-shirt embossed with the blunt song title.
“Justice doesn’t always come from the courthouse,” Midler said in accepting the award. “Sometimes the law is late, overdressed, and on the wrong side. Justice comes from a beat-up guitar instead… So, when I wanted to say something about what I was seeing going on today, I took his [Woody’s] song, and I put new words in its mouth, because the old fights came back in new suits. They always do.”
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She continued, “Thank you for accepting me, and for letting me rewrite the song, that became my small contribution to the Resistance. We’re having a knife fight in a phone booth. These are hard and terrible times. A war is being waged against us, and we are all being drafted. Whether the letter arrives or not. Thank you for noticing that I showed up for duty.”
Midler released her spirited version of Guthrie’s song on YouTube in April, accompanied by this message: “You know I’ve been around a long time, but I have never lived through what we are living through now. The great Woody Guthrie wrote this song many years ago. I changed some of the words to fit our times, and I hope you’ll sing it when you are marching. Because sometimes people, sometimes you just gotta SING OUT!”
Midler had teamed with Eric Kornfeld to write her derivative of Guthrie’s protest classic. She also executive produced the video, which was directed by Toni Basil and Seanne Farmer. The video featured cameos by such celebrities as Barbara Hershey, Midler’s co-star in Beaches, and David Hyde Pierce, her co-star in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!
“She [Midler] woke up our neighborhood this year with her powerful rendition of ‘All You Fascists (Bound To Lose),’” Guthrie’s granddaughter, Anna Canoni, said at the event. “She brought Woody back to the fight, back to the protest, the rallies, the ongoing struggle for democracy, and humanity. We are absolutely honored that she has joined our remarkable community of artists who have also carried Woody’s words and music to the fight.”
Cady Shaw, senior director of the Woody Guthrie Center (which hosts the annual award presentation), added: “Because beneath the glamour, the spectacular voice, and that sharp sense of humor is a woman who understands something Woody knew all along. That we all have a responsibility to leave this world a little better than we found it. And that is precisely what the Woody Guthrie Prize celebrates. It recognizes artists whose contributions extend far beyond their creative achievements, individuals who have demonstrated the courage to speak up, and the determination to turn their convictions into meaningful action. Bette Midler embodies that spirit beautifully.”
Preceding the presentation, Midler was interviewed onstage by music journalist Rona Elliot.
A silent auction featured a signed ukulele from Midler’s personal collection, along with other items from her archive; a signed lithograph by Bob Dylan; rare prints of Dylan and related artists; a premium ticket package from the Oklahoma City Thunder; and tickets to one of Garth Brooks’ upcoming Tulsa shows.
Rising country artist Bryan Andrews performed a selection of original songs including “Yeehaw,” as well as leading an audience sing-along of Guthrie’s most famous song, “This Land Is Your Land.”
The event served as a fundraiser to support the center’s educational programs, public concerts, and exhibitions.
The Woody Guthrie Prize seeks to recognize artists who reflect Guthrie’s belief that music can be a force for social justice and change. Guthrie died in 1967 at age 55.
Midler, 80, has won three Grammys, three Primetime Emmys and a Tony (plus a non-competitive Tony). She has received two Oscar nominations. She would likely have received the Kennedy Center Honors by now, but President Trump has said that he struck potential honorees who were, in his words, “too woke.”
Here’s a complete list of recipients of the Woody Guthrie Prize:
- 2026: Bette Midler
- 2025: U2
- 2024: Tom Morello
- 2023: Pussy Riot
- 2022: no award
- 2021: Bruce Springsteen
- 2020: Joan Baez
- 2019: Chuck D
- 2018: John Mellencamp
- 2017: Norman Lear
- 2016: Kris Kristofferson
- 2015: Mavis Staples
- 2014: Pete Seeger
