Innholdsfortegnelse for February 25 - March 3, 2017 i Billboard Magazine

LADY GAGA’S “MILLION Reasons” vaults back onto the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Feb. 25) at a new No. 4 peak — after reaching No. 52 last December — following her performance of the ballad as part of her Super Bowl LI halftime show on Feb. 5. The song stages a record revival similar to that of the New England Patriots, who overcame a 28-3 deficit in the Super Bowl to beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28, as it ties LL Cool J’s “Control Myself ” (featuring Jennifer Lopez) in 2006 and the Dixie Chicks’ “Not Ready to Make Nice” (2007) for the highest re-entry in the chart’s history. Gaga’s 14th Hot 100 top 10 returns to Digital Song Sales at No. 1, up 1,334 percent to 149,000 sold in the week…

From Mary J. Blige to Bell Biv DeVoe, Judy Collins to Neil Diamond — only Sony Music chief creative officer Clive Davis can assemble music’s biggest and brightest stars at his annual pre-Grammy gala. For the third year in a row, Billboard captured the evening’s performers before they hit the stage in an exclusive group photo and portraits THE RETURN OF SONGWRITING LEGEND AND Clive Davis party mainstay Joni Mitchell — who was absent from the 2016 fete after suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015 — capped off a night of emotional moments at this year’s 41st annual pre-Grammy gala. In a rare public appearance, the 73-year-old musician — who just two years prior spent the entire soiree on the terrace smoking with actress Penny Marshall — was escorted in…

“Jack’s really a renaissance person,” said Recording Academy president Neil Portnow on the red carpet outside Village Studios in West Los Angeles while awaiting the arrival of Jack White, the honoree at the 10th annual Producers & Engineers Wing’s gathering on Feb. 8. As if to prove it, White spent his brief speech invoking figures as seemingly unrelated as The Stooges, Michael Jackson and Bing Crosby. “[Jackson] said you’re an antenna and it’s all about letting God in the room,” he said. “It’s not an ego trip. You’re not in control.” Best New Artists And A Motown Icon Salute Spotify transformed DTLA’s Belasco Theater with its fete honoring the best new artist nominees that hosted magnetic performances by Maren Morris and The Chainsmokers on Feb. 9. In Hollywood, Solange Knowles…

Freddie Mercury’s homage to Elvis, which he wrote in minutes — in a bathtub — kicked off the group’s best year on the U.S. charts QUEEN CHANNELED ELVIS PRESLEY to earn its first No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” which crowned the chart on Feb. 23, 1980. The British quartet — Freddie Mercury, then 33; Brian May, 32; Roger Taylor, 30; and John Deacon, 28 — claimed hit albums in the 1970s with a blend of bold arena rock anthems, including 1978’s No. 4-peaking “We Will Rock You”/“We Are the Champions” and the positively baroque “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which hit No. 9. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” was a departure from the band’s trademark swagger, a rockabilly-style number in which Mercury crooned over an acoustic guitar.…

CRIES OF RACISM FOLLOW ADELE’S BIG-AWARD SWEEP OVER BEYONCÉ, WHILE THE ACADEMY’S NEIL PORTNOW CALLS ON CRITICS TO JOIN AND “BETHE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE” “WHAT THE F— DOES [BEYONCÉ] have to do to win album of the year?” Adele asked rhetorically in the press room after the 2017 Grammys, where she had just won the night’s biggest award for her 2015 release 25. “I voted for her,” she said, almost apologetically. After Beyoncé’s latest loss in the Grammys’ most prestigious category — she has gone 0-3 so far in her career — the answer is increasingly unclear. Since Beyoncé released her debut solo album in 2003, Taylor Swift and Adele (arguably, her only peers besides Rihanna) have both won album of the year — twice. The voters of…

IN WHAT HAS BECOME A GRAMMY WEEK TRADITION, THE Billboard Power 100 party served as an unofficial kickoff to the industry’s busiest week. Held at power eatery Cecconi’s on Feb. 9 and sponsored by American Airlines, Citi, Hilton and Nielsen, the soiree feted the year’s most influential executives, awarding the top spot to Spotify founder/CEO Daniel Ek. Immediately behind him: Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge (No. 2); Live Nation chief Michael Rapino (No. 3); Apple senior vp Internet and software services Eddy Cue, executive Jimmy Iovine and vp media apps and content Robert Kondrk (No. 4); and Columbia Records chairman and incoming Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer (No. 5). The intimate, invite-only event featured artists on hand to support those who’ve helped build scores of careers. Among them were…

Camila Cabello KICKED OFF HER SOLO CAREER AND HER BAND SISTERS IN FIFTH HARMONY UNEXPECTEDLY DENOUNCED HER FOR IT. NOW SHE’S GOT A TOP FIVE SINGLE, A MUCH-ANTICIPATED ALBUM COMING AND ZERO SECOND THOUGHTS: “YOU HAVE TO HONOR THAT INNER VOICE” CAMILA CABELLO IS LATE FOR BRUNCH. But not sullen, rock-star, hiding-behindshades late. More like 19-year-old, mixed-up-the-address late. She’s running through the dining room of Versailles, a Cuban restaurant deep in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, lush black hair streaming, apologies pouring forth, having just rushed from the other Versailles, in the city’s center. As soon as she sits on this mid-January Sunday morning, flashing that disarmingly broad smile, the singer — who was born in Cuba, resides in Miami and is staying in an Airbnb here in town —…

The veteran attorney on streaming royalties, revenue models and industry prospects under President Trump ON THE FRIDAY OF GRAMMY week, when Elliot Groffman received the Entertainment Law Initiative Service Award, he used his speech as an opportunity to reflect on just how much the music business has changed. “The economic model that I grew up with in the ’80s and ’90s has blown sky high,” says Groffman, a partner at Carroll, Guido & Groffman LLP who represents the Dave Matthews Band and Pearl Jam, among others. At the same time, Groffman’s advice for acts wouldn’t have sounded out of place 20 years ago: “If you have any leverage at all in a deal, keep [the term] as short as possible.” Transactional lawyers like Groffman now find themselves representing bands in…

FOR A NIGHT THAT WAS BILLED AS A COIN FLIP between two superstars — Beyoncé vs. Adele — it was the latter who came out on top, as the British singer took home five trophies including album of the year for 25 and song and record of the year for “Hello” at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 12. The now-28-year-old superstar repeated her feat from 2012, when 21 and its lead single “Rolling in the Deep” swept the top three honors. As for Queen Bey, who began the night as the most-nominated artist of 2017 with nine across four genres, she ultimately wound up with only two wins: best music video, for “Formation,” and best urban contemporary album, for Lemonade. Despite the losses, the pregnant star’s captivating performance of Lemonade…

A Swift-assisted smash precedes Little Big Town’s return with a more eclectic sound — and an inclusive political agenda Little Big Town had hoped to dial things back in 2017 after years of hard touring. Instead, as new album The Breaker (Feb. 24, Capitol Nashville) precedes a yearlong residency at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium as well as a slew of domestic and international dates, the reigning Country Music Association vocal group of the year is as busy as ever. The album — a more wideranging mix of pop-rock, slick country and blue-eyed soul — has already gotten a boost from its Taylor Swift-penned single, “Better Man,” which has topped Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. The group’s Jimi Westbrook breaks down the “Girl Crush” band’s big collaboration and place within country. How…

Born in the USA, catapulted to teen fame in Puerto Rico and practically washed up by his 20s, Nicky Jam went to Medellín, Colombia — a city haunted by its drug kingpin past — to find sobriety, love and greater-than-ever success. Billboard spends 48 hours with the reggaetón superstar in his adopted home as he prepares for his wedding — and, oh yeah, scores a No. 1 Latin album BEFORE HE CAME TO MEDELLÍN, Colombia — before Latin America’s most notorious city rescued his career and, quite possibly, his life — Nicky Jam believed the hype. The Massachusetts-born, Puerto Ricoraised reggaetón singer- songwriter knew Medellín mainly as a caricature: land of Pablo Escobar, onetime murder capital of the world, the kind of place for finding trouble, not escaping it. “I…

The concert business in North America generated more than $3.5 billion in gross ticket sales in 2016, according to Billboard Boxscore. Those dollars have the greatest economic impact in cities that boast the most successful music facilities, so investment in the development or refurbishment of facilities pays off. Here are 17 of the most notable new and renovated concert venues vying for the year’s top-selling tours. WASHINGTON, D.C. Concert capacity: 6,000 The most welcome news in 2017 from the nation’s capital comes from I.M.P. Productions, which owns the city’s famed 9:30 Club and operates D.C.’s Lincoln Theater and Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion. I.M.P. in October will open The Anthem, a venue with a flexible capacity of 2,500 to 6,000. It will be part of The Wharf, a $2 billion mixed-use…