Music News

Beth Garrabrant What did a year with no live gigs do to the fortunes of pop's biggest stars? Well, they definitely took a hit, but for a lucky few, the money kept rolling in thanks to streaming royalties and physical sales of their music. The queen of all that was Taylor Swift, who returned to the number-one spot on Billboard's ranking of the highest-paid musicians of 2020 in the U.S., even though her income in 2020 dropped to "only" $23.8 million. By comparison, the last time she was on the list, in 2018, her income was $99.6 million. Taylor topped the chart based almost solely on sales of her albums folklore and evermore -- physical and digital sales, plus streaming. Billboard notes that because Taylor owns her masters, she gets 46% of the money they generate, compared with the 33% a top artist usually earns. Post Malone is number two on the list, just behind Taylor with $23.2 million. Unlike her, he actually had some touring income in the early part of 2020 that boost..

BIGHIT MUSIC BTS is giving you the permission to dance. The Korean pop supergroup is calling on fans to show off their dance moves to their new song, "Permission to Dance," for the first global dance challenge hosted on YouTube Shorts. Throughout the video, the superstar group can be seen doing dance moves that incorporate the signs for “joy,” “dance” and “peace.” Fans will have three weeks to submit their own 15-second video recreating the dance moves from the upbeat video, using the hashtags #PermissiontoDance and #Shorts. BTS will then pick their favorite clips to be featured in a Shorts compilation video. The contest takes place from July 23 through August 14. Co-written by Ed Sheeran, "Permission to Dance" has amassed more than 170 million views on YouTube. The track follows BTS' current single, "Butter," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and set a Guinness World Record for becoming the most viewed YouTube music video in a 24-hour period. Copyright © 2021, ABC Au..

Rich Fury/Getty Images for dcp Nick Jonas is commemorating wife Priyanka Chopra Jonas' birthday with a sweet throwback photo. The actress celebrated her 39th birthday on Sunday, and the Jonas Brothers member honored the occasion by posting a photo of his wife on Instagram as she poses elegantly in a pink saree, rose gold shades and a pair of peach roses in her hair, alongside an adorable photo of Priyanka from childhood wearing another pastel pink saree with pigtails in her hair. "Happy birthday my love. You deserve all the happiness in the world. Today and every day. I love you," he writes in the adoring caption. The couple was apart for the special occasion, as Priyanka is currently in London. It appears she spent her special day by the water, posing poolside next to a life-size sign boasting her initials. Other snapsshow her staring in awe at a gorgeously decorated cake, a bottle of champagne to celebrate and soaking in a peaceful sunset. "This was a quiet birthday but t..

Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET Lil Nas X is pulling out all the stops for his new single, "Industry Baby." On Monday, the hitmaker unveiled a teaser for the new track that takes aim at his dispute with Nike over the controversial Satan Shoes he released in collaboration with design company MSCHF. The shoes, a tie-in to his video for "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)," were Nike Air Max 97s that were redesigned to feature a pentagram and contain a drop of human blood. After the shoes were released, Nike sued MSCHF for trademark infringement. The lawsuit was settled back in April. The trailer for "Industry Baby" stars Lil Nas X in a one-man show as he pokes fun at the situation. The clip is set inside a courtroom where the rapper plays the defendant, judge, a juror and both the prosecutor and defense lawyers. "This is about much more than shoes. Mr. Nas X, are you gay?" the prosecutor asks. "What does this have to do with the shoes?" Lil Nas X replies, the judge later sentencin..

BIGHIT MUSIC Which act is mighty enough to knock BTS out of the number-one spot after seven weeks? Why, themselves, obviously. The K-pop superstars' latest single, "Permission to Dance," has knocked the seven-week number one, "Butter," off the summit of the Billboard Hot 100. Debuting at the top, "Permission to Dance" becomes BTS' fifth number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. They're the first act to replace themselves at number one since 2018, when Drake's "In My Feelings" bumped off "Nice for What." As Billboard notes, BTS has amassed its five chart-toppers in just 10 months and two weeks. That's the fastest any artist has racked up five number-ones since Michael Jackson did it in nine months and two weeks -- from 1987 to 1988 -- with songs from his album Bad. In addition, "Permission to Dance" is BTS' fourth song to debut at number one. Only three other acts in Hot 100 history have had four or more number-one debuts: Ariana Grande, with five, and Just..

Jim Dyson/Redferns Billie Eilish is reflecting on the pitfalls of fame. In a Vogue Australia cover story, the conversation with the "Bad Guy" hitmaker turned to pop icon Britney Spears and the visceral treatment she received in the media as a young woman, in addition to the ongoing battle to free herself from a 13-year conservatorship under her father, Jamie Spears, that Britney has called "abusive." “It’s really, really horrible what a lot of young women have gone through—I mean, to this day,” Billie remarks. “I didn’t have a team that wanted to fu** me over, which is really kind of rare, which [itself] is pretty f**** up. All I have to be is just grateful that I happened to have a good group of people around me that didn’t want to just take advantage of me and do what people have done in the past.” Billie dropped the live performance video of "Your Power" on Monday, the first in a series of four live videos. "Your Power" is the third single off the superstar's sophomore a..

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/WireImage Halsey is officially a mom. The singer announced Monday that she gave birth to her first child with boyfriend Alev Aydin. She posted two black-and-white photos on social media: one of her cradling the newborn and looking lovingly at Alev, and another a close-up shot of the baby breastfeeding. “Gratitude. For the most ‘rare’ and euphoric birth,” Halsey captioned the photos. “Powered by love.” She then revealed the child’s name, Ender Ridley Aydin, and date of birth as July 14, 2021. She did not reveal the gender. Halsey, 26, first announced her pregnancy in January with a photo showing off her baby bump, and the caption, “surprise!” Her new album, If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, in which she explores “the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth,” is due out August 27. Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett are reuniting one last time. The dynamic duo is celebrating a decade of friendship and artistic collaboration with a pair of shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in August. One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga marks the singers' only public performance together this summer ahead of their joint album release later this year. The show will take place over two nights, the first on Tony's 95th birthday, August 3, followed by a second show on August 5. Earlier this year, Tony's family announced that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016. The shows at Radio City Music Hall will serve as his final career performances in NYC. All attendees, with the exception of children under 16, must be fully vaccinated. Tickets go on sale to the general public on July 22 at 10 a.m. local time. The New York natives first collaborated on Tony's 2011 album, Duets II, reimagining ..

Denise Truscello Usher debuted his new Las Vegas residency over the weekend with two sold-out shows on Friday and Saturday at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. It was the first new headlining residency show to open on the Las Vegas Strip in more than a year and a half, and brought some famous faces to the audience including Jermaine Dupri, L.A. Reid, Nick Cannon, Lil Jon and Akon. The show featured a set list spanning Usher’s 20-year career, with performances of "U Remind Me,” “Burn,” “You Make Me Wanna…,” “Don’t Waste My Time,” “Scream,” “Yeah!” and more, backed by a live band and over two dozen dancers. Usher also donned a series of designer costumes, many of which were designed by Balmain. Tickets for performances through January 2022 are on sale now. A limited number of VIP meet & greet packages are also available at Ticketmaster.com/ushervegas or in-person at The Colosseum box office. Usher, Live Nation Las Vegas and Caesars Entertainment are donating $1 of every ticket purchased..

ACMA2020/Getty Images for ACM Two weeks after her wedding to Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani is still living in bliss. On Sunday, the No Doubt frontwoman turned to Instagram to commemorate the two-week anniversary of their lavish wedding in Oklahoma, sharing a gorgeous black-and-white photo of her and Blake walking into a stone chapel, welcomed by officiant Carson Daly and a slew of wedding guests. "Happy 2 week anniversary," she captioeds the pic, adding a heart emoji. The couple married on July 3 at their ranch in Blake's native Oklahoma. Gwen wore a custom Vera Wang wedding gown, along with a veil embroidered with their names and those of her sons Kingston,Zuma and Apollo. Blake and Gwen wrote their own vows for one another, with Blake also turning his into an original song for his wife. Gwen also wore a Vera Wang party dress at the reception, where she and her new husband danced to a playlist that included music from fellow The Voice coaches Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine..