Innholdsfortegnelse for Sep-05-15 i Billboard Magazine

WHEN HURRICANE KATRINA slammed into the Gulf Coast 10 years ago, it devastated the region’s touring economy. While a handful of New Orleans music venues affected by the storm, like the State Palace Theatre and the Municipal Auditorium, never reopened, a decade later, the area and its live music scene are thriving. “It bounced back very strongly,” says veteran promoter Don Fox of Beaver Productions, whose offices on West Harrison Street were flooded in 2005. His was one of many music businesses deluged by Katrina, but none are more symbolic than the Mercedes-Benz (aka Louisiana) Superdome, which was home to some 30,000 displaced citizens following the hurricane. After the building was evacuated, projections estimated it would take $200 million to rehabilitate it and the adjacent New Orleans Arena — a…

THE PULSE OF MUSIC RIGHT NOW FOR HER FIRST-EVER TV PERFORmance in July, on The Tonight Show no less, Alessia Cara opted not to wear a designer — or even slightly showy — look. The stage lights rose to reveal the singer, 19, in the casual, woke-up-like-this uniform favored by teens everywhere: ripped jeans, Chuck Taylors and an ironic T-shirt (it read “Life of the Party”). The only semblance of flare was winged eyeliner, done up a la her idol Amy Winehouse. But when she sang, she became as transfixing as a mirrored ball, swaggering into The Roots’ pocket like a pro. “I was overwhelmed with joy,” she says. “I was so flustered, I didn’t know what to do with my body.” Until Jimmy Fallon put his arm around Cara…

FIRSTALBUM I BOUGHT Bob Seger, Night Moves (1976) “I started making my own money by working on my dad’s golf course, with the maintenance crew. I’d ride around and listen to this while I was cutting grass.” ONE OF DAD’S FAVES Bob Seger, Against the Wind (1980) “I remember being a kid and hearing that a million times on fishing trips. Even though I couldn’t relate to one damn bit of it, it always felt powerful.” MY GRUNGE PHASE Pearl Jam, Ten (1991) “I got really into Pearl Jam as a kid, too. I’ve always been drawn to the singers that had desperation in their voices. You could feel it in those records, laid out for you, every ounce of pain.” SHOW THAT BLEW MY MIND Bruce Springsteen’sMagic Tour (2007)…

MTV has had a tough 2015, enduring dropping ratings, layoffs of more than 200 staffers and the exits of several prominent executives (among them: Van Toffler, formerly president of MTV Networks Music and Logo Group, and Dave Sirulnik, executive vp news, documentaries and specials). Now, multiple sources tell Billboard that MTV Iggy, a division of MTV World, will be closing its doors in early September. Launched in 2012 as an online hub for global music and trends, the site was headed by Nusrat Durrani, senior vp/GM of MTV World, who said that Iggy would serve as an “entry point for emerging [international] brands.” It employed a handful of MTV staffers and about 15 freelance contributors. But onlookers contend that the content lacked cohesiveness and a vision. Says one executive working…

Nashville and country have been synonymous for decades. But in recent years, Music City recording studios like Blackbird and RCA Studio A have become unlikely homes to a different sound: contemporary soul. R&B stars Leela James, Kelly Price, Anthony Hamilton and Jill Scott — whose fifth LP, Woman, debuted at No. 1 on the Aug. 15 Billboard 200 — all made albums in the Tennessee capital. “I only wanted to record in Nashville — there’s live music everywhere,” says Scott. Adds Phil Thornton, vice president/GM of urban inspirational for eOne Music (Lalah Hathaway, Mary Mary’s Erica Campbell): 108K Sales of Jill Scott’s new album, Woman, through Aug. 20. “Nashville is more than country, cows and farms. R&B and gospel have strong roots here.” In some ways, the musical shift is…

When The Late Show With Stephen Colbert debuts Sept. 8 on CBS, it will usher in not only the post-David Letterman era but also the post-Paul Shaffer era. Jon Batiste, a Juilliard-trained keyboardist known for his New Orleans jazz sound, will serve as the show’s musical director, heading up a band comprising his longtime drummer Joe Saylor, saxophonist Eddie Barbash and a rotating all-star guest list. The 28-year-old dishes on joining Colbert’s late-night party. How did you land the bandleader gig? I performed on The Colbert Report last year, and the first time we spoke was on camera. There was a chemistry there, and that was the beginning of it. He has a lot of the same beliefs I do about the arts bringing people together. He’s a comedian and…

Felix Jaehn’s metallic gold shirt reads “Everything Under Control,” but inside, the 20-year-old Hamburg native is bursting with excitement. It has been scarcely a month since the dimpled German learned, in a Billboard tweet, that his remix of Jamaican singer OMI’s “Cheerleader” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. “I was home with my manager; it was 2 a.m.,” he says, sitting in Billboard’s New York offices on a steamy August day. “I couldn’t believe it. We were cheering and toasting.” Jaehn’s unlikely journey to chart king began with the violin, starting at age 5. “My parents wanted me to play drums or guitar, but I insisted.” After years of lessons and stints in a youth orchestra, he applied his classical ear to electronic music while studying in London,…

SHELTER FROM THE SUN Though music and fashion experts alike have questioned the authenticity of Dylan’s ’60s-era Wayfarers, Ray-Ban insists he was wearing its shades (which debuted in 1957). Update the look with these classic-inspired versions MUSICIANS WHO DO DYLAN “Contemporary artists dig the simplicity and timeless spirit of Dylan,” says designer John Varvatos, whose fall collection was inspired by photographer Richard Avedon’s 1965 photo of the artist in New York’s Central Park. “It has an edge that transcends generations” Harry Styles The One Directioner leans on Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent for Beat-inspired slim silhouettes and printed silk shirts. Nick Jonas The star wore a contrastseam Prada version of Dylan’s suede jacket to the Academy of Country Music Awards in April. Gary Clark Jr. The guitarist (pictured onstage at the…

Taking the stage at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater for Billboard’s inaugural Hot 100 Music Festival on Aug. 23, Justin Bieber asked the capacity crowd a million-dollar question: “You guys miss me?” The deafening response at the Long Island venue in Wantagh, N.Y., provided a welcome answer, not just for the 21-year-old singer, but also manager Scooter Braun, 34, and the brass at Def Jam. After all, Bieber’s last studio album, Believe, was released in 2012 — an eternity in teen years. “We knew that the only way this would work was if we made it about the music again,” says Braun. “No more sensationalism.” After becoming the youngest act to notch five No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, Bieber suffered through some very public growing pains, generating…

Nicky Jams Colombian Style Nicky Jam is expanding his brand to other genres. The Puerto Rican reggaeton star has just recorded a duet with Colombian singer Silvestre Dangond that is set to be released in September. The song, “Materialista,” features Jam, 34, singing in the vallenato folk style of Colombia’s Caribbean region. Meanwhile, Jam’s current single, “El Perdon,” which features Enrique Iglesias, is poised to complete 26 weeks at the top of Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, at which point it will overtake Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” to become the second-longest-running song at No. 1. Shannyn: Blinded By Science Sinister 2 star and former Warpaint drummer Shannyn Sossamon, 36, is weary of questions about her first son’s name, Audio Science Clayton. When Billboard asked the actress, whose movie is…

“It’s difficult for people to separate us. The Internet wants to freeze this moment in time and constantly repeat it.” —SELENA GOMEZ The pop singer, discussing ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber with The Sunday Times. “You may be the ‘6 God,’ but I am the God. I’m sorry, but J. Cole ain’t got bars like this.” —JAY ELECTRONICA The Roc Nation rapper, who has yet to release an album, boasting that he’s better than Drake and J. Cole during a show in London. “I apologize to the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.” —DR. DRE The rap mogul, in a statement to The New York Times about his history of violence against women. “Aside from the pure horror…

01 THE WEEKND OVERTHROWS POP AT 11 O’CLOCK ON A HUMID NIGHT under an elevated subway track in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighborhood, one stop short of Coney Island, Abel Tesfaye is dancing out of a cloud of artificial fog over and over again. He takes small but forceful steps, his distinctive dreadlocked rooster’s comb dipping, finger-snapping as he mouths a few lines from his new album as The Weeknd, The Beauty Behind the Madness. This song, “In the Night,” is not slated as a single yet. But ever since the 25-yearold Torontonian’s “Can’t Feel My Face” ran away with the summer — going to No. 1 in August after nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 — Tesfaye’s calendar has been jamming up, and his label, Republic Records, is getting…

NUMBERS: CARRIE UNDERWOOD’ S BIG ‘ BREAK’ The country star lights up the charts with new single “Smoke Break,” which starts at No. 36 on Hot Country Songs and No. 24 on Country Airplay. It’s the lead cut from her Storyteller album, due Oct. 23. 15.8M Smoke Break,” released Aug. 20, starts with 15.8 million in audience in the week ending Aug. 23, according to Nielsen Music. The bulk of its airplay came from country radio, aiding its launch on Country Airplay — her 34th hit on the list. 321% Underwood’s Twitter mentions jumped 321 percent for the week, according to Next Big Sound. On the Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks chart, “Smoke” scores a No. 27 debut thanks to the buzz generated by its release. 50K Industry forecasters suggest…