Innholdsfortegnelse for 3/12/2016 i Billboard Magazine

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

CONGRATULATIONS TO JEFF BHASKER

A long time coming my brother RIHANNA RULES THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 FOR a second week with “Work,” featuring Drake. Solidifying the song’s standing: an 80 percent blast to 46.5 million U.S. streams in the week ending Feb. 25, according to Nielsen Music, following the arrival of its music video on Feb. 22. The track, which crowns the Streaming Songs chart for a second week, drew 13.9 million Vevo on YouTube clicks, up from 575,000 during the prior frame. Only two songs have scored higher weekly streaming numbers than “Work”: Baauer’s viral single “Harlem Shake” peaked with 103 million domestic streams on the March 2, 2013, Streaming Songs chart, and Adele’s “Hello” hit a high of 61.6 million on the Nov. 14, 2015, tally. But streams aren’t the only factor…

3 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

Jeff Buckley Captured ‘At The Precise Start Of His Career’

ON FEB. 3, 1993, A SOFT-SPOKEN Jeff Buckley walked into Shelter Island Sound studios in New York’s Flatiron district. Recently signed to Columbia Records, the singersongwriter and son of folk musician Tim Buckley was woodshopping material for his forthcoming debut album. Studio owner and engineer Steve Addabbo knew of Buckley from his weekly residency at Sin-é in the East Village, but it wasn’t until the then-26-yearold began to sing that he fully comprehended the man’s gift. “His voice was an incredible instrument,” recalls Addabbo. “He would go from a whisper to a howl so effortlessly and completely under control.” During three days in the studio, Buckley — who drowned in 1997 at the age of 30 — recorded recontextualized covers, chilling originals and sketched out what would become his celebrated…

2 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

NEW GRAMMY MUSEUM LAYS DOWN ROOTS IN MISSISSIPPI

Cleveland, Ohio, has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now Cleveland, Miss. — two hours from Memphis and Jackson — has the Grammy Museum Mississippi. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Music Foundation and curated by Los Angeles’ 7-year-old Grammy Museum, the 28,000-square-foot space opens March 5 with a traveling exhibit, Ladies & Gentlemen... The Beatles!, and 10 permanent collections. Housed on the Delta State University campus, the museum will serve as an educational attraction, as well as a tourist destination, drawing patrons to the area, which is known for such native sons and daughters as Howlin’ Wolf, Elvis Presley, Faith Hill and Ike Turner. With the Delta Blues Museum, the B.B. King Museum and other bluesdevoted attractions nearby, Grammy Museum executive director Robert Santelli emphasizes that “Mississippi is…

3 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

‘I’M NOT THE STEREOTYPICAL BARBIE DOLL’

BABY, IF YOU WANT THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, then go next door,” Brandy Clark twangs on her new single “Girl Next Door,” seemingly sticking it to a demanding lover. But it would also be perfectly reasonable to interpret the song as an expression of the 39-year-old’s take-me-as-I-am attitude toward her fast-rising country-music career. “Even though the song is about a relationship, in my heart it’s about a much bigger thing,” admits the singer-songwriter, tucked into a corner booth of a rustic-chic restaurant in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood. “I’m not perfect. I’m not the stereotypical Barbie doll. I can’t be it; I won’t be it.” As one of Nashville’s top songwriters, digging in her heels is working for her. “I like to think that there is a change that is happening in…

6 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

SANTIGOLD’S CHEAP TRICKS

The cover of Santigold’s new album (out Feb. 26 on Atlantic) shows the Brooklynbased electro-pop singer wrapped in plastic, surrounded by cheap trinkets and emblazoned with a yellow-star 99¢ sale tag. But sorry, coupon-cutters, that isn’t the price — it’s the album title. ”As an artist, you spend so much time marketing yourself — more than you spend on the art,” she says. “So I put myself in shrink-wrap and slapped on a cheap price tag.” Not that the singer, 39, doesn’t love a bargain. In fact, she’s a self-proclaimed dollar-store expert. DOLLAR-STORE STAPLE ”You can buy expensive nail polish, but in general they all come off really fast. I have an under-2-year-old son, so it’s going to be chipped within 24 hours regardless. I don’t mind having a cheap,…

2 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

HEAR SAY

“Meet me at the clock anytime, bruv.” —ADELE The singer wishing Leonardo DiCaprio good luck at the Feb. 28 Academy Awards on Twitter with a Titanic reference. “That was honestly the worst moment of my life. Singing was horrible — I hated every moment of it.” —SAM SMITH The singer on BBC Radio, describing his Oscars performance of the Academy Award-winning Spectre theme “Writing’s on the Wall.” “They’re violating my constitutional rights, my civil rights, everything.” —BOBBY SHMURDA The New York rapper speaking to Revolt TV from Rikers Island in New York, where he has been incarcerated since 2014 while awaiting trial for conspiracy, reckless endangerment and weapons and drug charges. “She was a little too skinny; she needed meat on her bones. I asked the director to give her…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

‘I Can’t Stop Dreaming About Cuba’

To my shame, I knew very little about Cuba before this trip. I’m not a political person, but it took me being invited to finally feel galvanized. We played three nights at [La Fábrica], and I was afraid the audience would leave when they discovered [my] show was just a guy with a guitar. But those who came out to see me wandered up with rapt attention. They see anyone who throws themselves into making art as equally beautiful; they’re hungry for expression. That’s why, technically, musicianship is insanely good over there. Wi-Fi connections are few and far between, and there’s no Netflix yet, so there is so much time for musicians to hone their skills. I didn’t love every piece of Cuban music I heard, but there’s something essential…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

Madonna’s Missing Polaroids

RICHARD CORMAN IS REPRESENTED BY WEISS KATZ GALLERY (WEISSKATZ.COM)…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

‘Loud — And In The Face Of Artists’ Fervent fans give the hottest Canadian venues a reputation for sellouts

WHEN MUSIC SUPERSTARS PLOT THEIR global concert tours, they’re certain to do a full North American swing — not just dates in the United States. Ticket revenue explains why. Concert venues in Canada accounted for about 8 percent of the $2.6 billion in North American ticket sales reported to Billboard Boxscore for the 12 months ending Jan. 11, 2016 (a share that has remained steady during the previous 12-month period). At a time when such Canadian stars as Drake, The Weeknd and Justin Bieber dominate the charts, the venue business in Canada is robust too. That’s thanks to a solid flow of tours but also another mainstay of Canadian culture: hockey. The following 10 venues, which are ranked by ticket sales reported to Boxscore during the past year, feature five…

8 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

Adele’s 25 joins an elite club after spending 10 weeks at No. 1.

NUMBERS : CLARKSON’S IDOL RETURN Kelly Clarkson’s “Piece by Piece” is set for a splashy debut on the March 19 Billboard Hot 100 after her tearful performance of the song on the Feb. 25 episode of American Idol. 140 k Industry forecasters suggest “Piece by Piece” could sell more than 140,000 downloads in the week ending March 3 (Clarkson’s biggest sales week since 2012), helping to secure a possible top 20 Hot 100 entry. 1,308% Clarkson also acted as a guest judge on the episode, and the double dose of the diva set Twitter ablaze: She scored a 1,308 percent rise in mentions on the platform (week ending Feb. 28), according to Next Big Sound. 32 “Piece by Piece” already peaked at No. 32 on the Adult Top 40 airplay…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

‘Hello’ Again: Adele’s 25 Earns 10th Week At No. 1

ADELE’S RECORD-SETTING BLOCKBUSTER rolls on, as 25 rules the Billboard 200 for a 10th nonconsecutive week. The set earned another 100,000 equivalent-album units in the week ending Feb. 25, according to Nielsen Music, down 34 percent compared with the previous week. In terms of pure album sales, it sold 81,000 (down 35 percent). Remarkably, 25 is just the fifth album released since 2000 to achieve 10 weeks at No. 1. It follows Taylor Swift’s 1989 (released in 2014, 11 weeks at No. 1), the Frozen soundtrack (2013, 13 weeks), Adele’s 21 (2011, 24 weeks) and Swift’s Fearless (2008, 11 weeks). Adele and Swift are two of only five acts with two or more albums to top the Billboard 200 for at least 10 weeks each since the chart combined its…

3 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

11 Years Ago THE GRAMMYS HAILED RAY CHARLES’ ‘GENIUS’

IN OCTOBER 1962, RAY CHARLES’ Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music spent a 14th and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Although the musical innovator, who blended R&B, pop, gospel and country — and blazed trails for African-American artists — would land dozens more albums on the charts, his next No. 1 wouldn’t arrive until almost nine months after his death on June 10, 2004, at the age of 73. The posthumously released Genius Loves Company vaulted from No. 15 to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated March 5, 2005, after the project won eight Grammy Awards on Feb. 13, including album of the year. Genius, which featured duets with a cast of artists that included Elton John, Norah Jones and Gladys Knight, became the…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

COUNTRY’S SUMMER BUMMER

AS THE HONORARY PACE-CAR driver for NASCAR’s Talladega 500 in Alabama on Oct. 24, 2015, Eric Church brought swagger and star power to the lineup announcement of the inaugural Dega Jam, an ambitious three-day country music festival set for July 2016 at Talladega’s 80,000- capacity Superspeedway complex. During the past 10 years, country events have been the biggest growth area in the North American festival sector: For example, Stagecoach in Indio, Calif., which will present its 10th edition in April, put up its best numbers in 2015, with headliners Tim McGraw, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton helping to bring in a $21.8 million gross from 70,000 tickets sold, according to Billboard Boxscore. Today, approximately 30 large country festivals exist in the United States; on average, a sold-out festival brings in…

4 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

KESHA VS. DR. LUKE: HOW TO BROKER A PEACE

Even industry veterans are baffled that the legal battle between pop star Kesha, 29, and producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, 42, didn’t end in a settlement long ago. The singer, who alleges her onetime mentor was emotionally and sexually abusive during their decade-long business relationship, is suing to get out of her deal with Luke’s Kasz Money, which signed her to Sony Music’s RCA Records. A Feb. 19 judgment denied an injunction that would allow Kesha to record outside of her contract. How might the showdown resolve itself? Present a “safe, protected environment”: Attorney James Sammataro says Kesha and Sony Music should find a way to honor the existing agreement so the singer can create the albums remaining on her contract in a recording setting in which she feels comfortable.…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

The Oscars

FROM ACADEMY AWARDS HOST Chris Rock’s #OscarsSoWhite-focused opening monologue to such activismcentered films as Spotlight (which took home the best picture prize), the 2016 Oscars proved to be more charged than in years past, and musicians only fueled that emotion. During the three-anda-half-hour-long ABC telecast, there was Dave Grohl’s moving acoustic rendition of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and Lady Gaga’s powerful performance of “Til It Happens to You,” which was introduced by Vice President Joe Biden and included support from sexual-assault victims who had messages tattooed on their arms. Though the crowd roared in support, Gaga and collaborator Diane Warren unexpectedly lost to Sam Smith for his widely derided theme song from Spectre, “Writing’s on the Wall.” Smith then sent people scurrying to Google when he misquoted Ian McKellen, claiming no…

2 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

OVERHEARD

Lana Del Rey & Gaga’s Oscar Talk The Weinstein Company’s annual pre-Oscars party at the Montage Beverly Hills hotel on Feb. 27 was as much about music as it was about movies. Singer-actors Zendaya and Derek Hough each performed at the Fiji Water-sponsored soiree. Diane Warren sang the Oscar-nominated “Til It Happens to You,” and around 11:30 her co-writer on the song, Lady Gaga, arrived with fiance Taylor Kinney. She got a warm hug from Lana Del Rey, and the two, who also had kibitzed at Billboard’s Women in Music event on Dec. 11, spent several minutes engrossed in conversation until Gaga noticed Kinney had wandered away beckoned him over to meet Del Rey. Kelly Rowland In La La Land Former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland had a glamorous Oscars…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

30 ROCK STAR STAGES COMEBACK

The last time that Jane Krakowski was on Broadway, for the musical Nine, she dangled upside down from the ceiling, frisky with Antonio Banderas and won a best featured actress Tony Award in 2003. And that’s after making her Broadway debut as a roller-skating railcar in Starlight Express in 1987. Now, after seven seasons of 30 Rock (and one on Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), the 47-yearold is co-starring with Zachary Levi and Laura Benanti in the 1963 musical She Loves Me, opening March 17 at Studio 54, as the gullible-in-love Ilona — a role that looks to be acrobatics-free. Your Broadway résumé includes hanging from rafters and rolling on skates. What do you have in store this time? I’ve been teased all through rehearsal! Somebody has a number where they…

2 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

SIMPLE PLAN’S SIMPLE NEEDS

Montreal’s Simple Plan first hit the charts with teen angst-filled pop-punk. But after five LPs (its latest, Taking One for the Team, arrived Feb. 19 on Atlantic), the quintet’s tastes have matured. Ahead of a 22-date European trek this spring, singer Pierre Bouvier and drummer Chuck Comeau, both 36, share very practical, totally age-appropriate travel tips. ROAD READS Bouvier I watch a lot of TV, but it gets exhausting; it messes with your head. A book is always good. Right now I’m reading Many Lives, Many Masters. It’s about reincarnation. You’re not going to disappear into a ball of dust! HIGHWAY HI-FI Comeau I got this little Bang & Olufsen speaker for Christmas. It’s so crazy how you spend all this time making a record sound amazing and then…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

Pop’s Pool Sharks Go Big

MOVING AWAY FROM the usual hip-hop boasts about money, cars and women, Drake focuses on a more specific point of pride in his January-released song “Summer Sixteen”: his pool. With its extensive stone grottos, deluxe wet bar and illuminated waterfalls, the rapper’s backyard lagoon — which is part of the $7.7 million Hidden Hills estate that he purchased in 2012 — is spotlighted in the verse “Now I got a bigger pool than Ye.” Drake and Kanye West, who has since ripped up his pool and is reportedly in the process of replacing it with a massive, lake-style oasis, are hardly alone in their obsession. “I’m seeing more people wanting to create incredible-looking pools,” says interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard, who has worked on the homes of Elton John, Cher…

3 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

“I WAS SILENT OUT OF FEAR”

MACKLEMORE, THE 32-YEAR-OLD BORN Ben Haggerty, is like a black comedian’s caricature of a white rapper: He looks like a real-life Bart Simpson. He graduated from Evergreen State College. And — here’s the punchline — he’s insecure about his white privilege. Sitting in his room at New York’s Hudson Hotel one Wednesday morning, he wears pristine caramel-brown suede boots, fashionably ripped jeans and a green corduroy shirt over a tee depicting the new-age artist Yanni. In January, with his producer and musical partner Ryan Lewis, 27, Macklemore previewed the new album This Unruly Mess I’ve Made by dropping a nine-minute song called “White Privilege II.” Macklemore is, at first blush, the wrong guy to tackle white privilege, because he benefits so much from it. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were just…

13 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

‘Artists Have A Very Important Role In A Democracy’

UNIVISION’S JORGE RAMOS MAY BE best-known to many for his run-in with Donald Trump. But the Mexican-born TV personality, who has long held court as Univision’s nighttime news anchor (and has his own Sunday interview show, Al Punto), is the most important Latin journalist in the United States — it wouldn’t be inaccurate to consider him a Latin Anderson Cooper. In the wake of Super Tuesday and the release of his new book, Sin Miedo (“Fearless”), which recounts his interviews with global influencers, Ramos offers his take on why artists should be even more political. Now is the time to confront the candidates. I take Donald Trump very seriously, and with danger ahead — in the form of a presidential candidate who promotes hatred and intolerance against Latinos, Muslims and…

2 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

Jon Salter

WHEN JON SALTER SAID HE would be arriving from Washington, D.C., shortly before his meeting with Billboard at ATO’s New York offices, he didn’t mention the reason for his trip there. It turns out he had an engagement at the White House: the final PBS In Performance event of the Obama presidency, in which Brittany Howard, lead singer of Grammy-winning ATO act Alabama Shakes, and others honored the late Ray Charles before the leader of the free world — an avowed Shakes fan — and many others. “It was Brittany’s thing, but they were kind enough to invite me,” says Salter. “The president was very personable and Michelle [Obama] was great, but it was still a surreal, out-of-body experience.” February was that kind of month for the 44-year-old married Brooklyn…

6 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS

POWER 100 FEB. 12 | BOUCHON | LOS ANGELES Billboard celebrated the incredible achievements of the industry’s top executives across all key segments of the business at its annual Power 100 event. Thank you to American Airlines, Citi and HBO’s new hit series Vinyl for making it a memorable evening for the all honorees and their guests.…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

Sex, Drugs And Memoirs

Suck and Blow: And Other Stories I’m Not Supposed to Tell by John Popper and Dean Budnick The Blues Traveler frontman reflects on his New Jersey childhood, the late-’80s New York music scene that birthed the band, his love of guns and his struggles with obesity. (Da Capo Press, March 29, $27) Toni Tennille: A Memoir by Toni Tennille and Caroline Tenille St. Clair Half of the ’70s pop duo and hit TV show tells her story. The part drawing buzz is what she’ll say about Daryl “The Captain” Dragon, whom she divorced in 2015. Early hints suggest it will be uncut — and unflattering to Dragon. (Taylor Trade, April 1, $22) Delta Lady: A Memoir by Rita Coolidge and Michael Walker A Billboard contributor teams with the ’70s star…

2 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

Windy City Wisdom

The rising R&B singer born Bryan J. Sledge is based in Los Angeles nowadays, but he wears his hometown roots — or rather, his stage name: BJ the Chicago Kid — on his sleeve. “Chicago taught me how to survive — when to shut up, when to keep talking, when to leave, when to stay,” says the Southside native, 31, who built buzz by collaborating with stars like Dr. Dre and Kanye West. BJ breaks down the Windy City landmarks that inspired his stellar Motown debut, In My Mind, released Feb. 19.…

2 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

Havana Fever

ON MARCH 6, DIPLO’S MAJOR LAZER WILL play a free show for thousands of fans at Tribuna José Martí Anti-Imperialist Platform in front of the U.S. Embassy in Havana. Though the past year has seen Katy Perry and Rihanna soak in the art and music scene, the electronic trio will make history as one of the first major U.S. acts to perform in Cuba since diplomatic relations were restored in June following the 1962 embargo. The show comes ahead of Musicabana (May 5-8), the first international festival produced by American and Cuban partners in 30 years — as well as a free Rolling Stones concert (March 25) and Chanel’s Resort show (May 3). Wi-Fi service is limited to Internet cafes and hotels, so don’t expect to Instagram anything until you’re…

3 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS

MASTERCARD & BILLBOARD PRESENT 2016 GRAMMY® WEEK EVENTS Billboard partnered with MasterCard to host a three-night concert series in Los Angeles during GRAMMY® Week in support of national charities Children’s Village and Stand Up 2 Cancer. Held exclusively for MasterCard cardholders, select fans received Priceless Surprises each night, which included artist meet-and-greets with photos and VIP ticket upgrades. To help amplify the program, Christina Milian was named MasterCard’s official ambassador, curating content from Grammy events and sharing them socially with Billboard and her social media followers. “Billboard was thrilled to partner with MasterCard in the production of a stellar concert series during GRAMMY® Week. The program not only provided a great experience for cardholders and music fans alike, but benefited two genuinely great causes.” - John Amato, president, Billboard and…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

Frampton? Still Alive!

FORTY YEARS AGO, A&M Records released Frampton Comes Alive!, the fifth album by Peter Frampton, a doe-eyed 25-year-old English rock guitarist. Hopes for the live, two-record set — recorded in 1975 — were cautiously optimistic. Previously, Frampton had made considerable headway in America, first as the lead guitarist for Humble Pie and then as a well-received but commercially insolvent solo act. Through relentless touring, he had established devout fan bases in New York, Detroit, Chicago and San Francisco and become a staple of FM radio’s emerging album- oriented rock format. A&M co-founder Jerry Moss had signed Frampton to the label when he was 19, because, Moss says today, “He had a cool face, he didn’t mind working, and he had a great attitude.” He adds, “I thought he was a…

9 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

McCARTNEY’S BAGPIPES, DIAMOND’S CHAT AND BON JOVI’S SCRAMBLE

“We had Paul McCartney here [on Oct. 17, 2015], and whenever you have a Beatle in the building, it’s always a special night,” says Wayne Zronik at the Air Canada Centre. “He brings in the Paris Port Dover [Ontario] Pipe Band when he plays ‘Mull of Kintyre’ in the encore. He does that here and in Scotland.” “The Juno Awards were huge for us in March,” says Scott Warren at the FirstOntario Center. “Being so close to Toronto, a lot of artists came to the event [on March 15, 2015]. Alanis Morissette was honored, Hedley’s Jacob Hoggard was the host, and with [Vine star] Shawn Mendes performing, it was a really special event.” “We had an opportunity to chat with Neil Diamond and his wife, Katie McNeil, prior to his…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

TOMORROW’S HITS

SHEIS BACK Once half of pop duo He Is We, which scored the Adult Pop Songs hit “Happily Ever After” in 2011, singer Rachel Taylor returns fronting a new iteration of the band called She Is We. The single “Boomerang” ushers in She Is We’s Concord debut, WAR, due March 18. The group will tour with We the Kings from March 16 through April 9, wrapping at famed West Hollywood venue The Troubadour. ‘BR AZIL’ INVADES U. S . British singer-songwriter Declan McKenna, 17, is making inroads in America with his breakout single “Brazil.” The song climbs 32-26 on Alternative, led by support at SiriusXM’s Alt Nation, where it was the most-played title (47 spins) in the week ending Feb. 28, according to Nielsen Music. McKenna signed with Columbia in…

1 min

Billboard Magazine|3/12/2016

Charts

DNCE Party DNCE (above) dances to a new high on the Billboard Artist 100, climbing 40-31 with a 6 percent gain in overall activity, including an 11 percent boost in radio airplay for the act’s debut single, “Cake by the Ocean.” The song also has lifted DNCE frontman Joe Jonas into elite territory in terms of Billboard Hot 100 history: With “Cake” claiming a top 10 rank (rising 10-9), Jonas now has earned Hot 100 top 10s as a soloist and with two groups. Before DNCE, he tallied two top 10s in 2008 as part of Jonas Brothers (“Burnin’ Up” and “Tonight”), while, the same year, he was listed individually (apart from the sibling group, although with Demi Lovato) on the Camp Rock soundtrack single “This Is Me,” which reached…

14 min