Innholdsfortegnelse for October 28, 2017 i Billboard Magazine

AS ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL harassment mount against Harvey Weinstein, Hollywood is making the once-wild music industry look relatively well-behaved. While the scandal has prompted other claims — Amazon Studios head Roy Price resigned Oct. 17 after sexual harassment allegations — none have surfaced since against music business executives. On Oct. 17, the Oscar-winning producer left the board of The Weinstein Company. He had been ousted as co-chairman of the company he co-founded on Oct. 8, following a bombshell New York Times report, when over a dozen women came forward with allegations of sexual assault. The number has now climbed to about 40. Labels say they have strong policies meant to prevent workplace discrimination and handle it swiftly if it does occur. The key, says an attorney, is ensuring the policies…

IF RIVERS CUOMO HAD HIS WAY, THE NEW album from his beloved ’90s band, Weezer, might have taken an unexpected turn. “I had to ban myself from listening to Spotify’s Most Necessary playlist, the one with XXXTentacion and all the mumble rap,” says the singer-guitarist, 47, letting his latte go cold in an airy, upscale cafe near his Santa Monica, Calif., home. “It felt so creative and mind-boggling. I was listening to it all the time, and then I’d go to write a song and I’m doing mumble rap. And I’m like, ‘This is awesome!’ But I’d send it around to everybody and they’re like, ‘This is horrible!’ ” Next to Cuomo sits Weezer guitarist-keyboardist Brian Bell, 48, who grins and hangs his head, shaking it like an older brother…

Underneath hospitality legend Ian Schrager’s latest venture, the hip Public Hotel on New York’s Lower East Side, is his first nightclub since he opened Studio 54 in 1977 (with partner Steve Rubell, who died in 1989). Christened Public Arts, it’s a performance space/bar that Schrager launched in June with nightlife entrepreneurs Matt Kliegman and Carlos Quiarte. “They remind me of me and Steve,” says the 71-year-old, whose 1980 tax evasion conviction was pardoned in January by then-President Barack Obama. Recent and upcoming shows include Patti Smith, Grizzly Bear, Rostam and “anything else in the mind and imagination,” says Schrager. Why are you getting back into nightlife? People always wanted me to do a new nightclub, and I never wanted to because I didn’t have anything new to say. It’s a…

IT’S BECOMING A FAMILIAR setup: the biggest Grammy Award battle coming down to a face-off between a revered British pop star and R&B/hip-hop royalty. In 2016, those spots were filled by Adele and Beyoncé, ending with the former taking album of the year for 25 and giving a tearfully apologetic acceptance speech in which she said what plenty of Grammy watchers were thinking: that Queen Bey’s politically charged Lemonade, a “ monumental,” “soul-baring” and “ empowering” statement, deserved the win. This year, a similar showdown looks likely for album, record and song of the year. In one corner there’s Ed Sheeran, an established Grammy favorite who in 2017 became the first artist ever to have two singles simultaneously debut in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. In the…

“PACK DIE BADEHOSE EIN” With a title that translates as “pack the bathing suit,” this pop schlager song about swimming in Berlin’s Lake Swansee was a hit in Germany in 1951 for teen idol Die Kleine Cornelia. “SUMMER WIND” Best-known as a 1966 single by Frank Sinatra — which reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 — the song was initially written as “Sommerwind” by Hans Bradtke and Heinz Meier in 1965. “DIN DAA DAA” Written and recorded by Berlin’s George Kranz, this syllable- filled 1983 dance hit has been sampled frequently — most notably by Flo Rida (for “Turn Around (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)” and the Ying Yang Twins (for “Shake”). “FOREVER YOUNG” Andreas Budde co-produced this 1984 song for the synth-pop band Alphaville. It reached No.…

Dame D.O.L.L.A., aka NBA point guard Damian Lillard, debuts at No. 32 on the Emerging Artists chart, sparked by the Oct. 6 release of his sophomore studio album, Confirmed. The Portland Trail Blazer’s set arrives with 3,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music. His debut set, The Letter O, opened with 4,000 units in November 2016. Nearly all of Confirmed’s units were tallied through traditional album sales, helping it open at No. 72 on Top Album Sales. Meanwhile, Dua Lipa returns to No. 1 on Emerging Artists for a fourth total week on top as “New Rules” bullets at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song rises by 10 percent to 21 million in airplay audience, by 6 percent to 12,000 downloads sold and by 1 percent…

Thanks to a viral cypher during the BET Hip- Hop Awards (Oct. 10), Eminem (below) re-enters the Social 50 at No. 3, his highest rank since December 2013. The rapper earns substantial gains in all social metrics (from minuscule amounts the week before), following his President Donald Trumpblasting performance at the awards, including 3.3 million Instagram reactions and 1.2 million Twitter mentions in the week ending Oct. 12, according to Next Big Sound. In the cypher, Eminem pointedly criticized Trump and told off any of his fans who supported the president. Eminem was last in the top three on the Social 50 on Dec. 14, 2013, when he ranked for a fourth straight week at No. 2 (his peak on the list). The awards freestyle also started rumors of a…

Marilyn Manson (above) leads Alternative Albums for the first time with Heaven Upside Down, the band’s 10th studio album, moving 35,000 units (32,000 in traditional sales), according to Nielsen Music. The group previously peaked at No. 2 twice, with 2009’s The High End of Low and 2012’s Born Villain. Heaven also arrives atop Hard Rock Albums (where it’s the band’s fourth No. 1) and ties its best rank on Top Rock Albums (No. 2). It bows as Marilyn Manson’s ninth top 10 on the Billboard 200 (No. 8). The new set’s lead single, “Kill4Me,” jumps 22-17 on the Mainstream Rock airplay chart, becoming the act’s fifth top 20 hit during a twodecade chart span. Another ’90s rock luminary, Liam Gallagher, makes his first appearance on Alternative Albums and Top Rock…

Pennsylvania hard rock band August Burns Red debuts at No. 1 on Top Christian Albums with its eighth studio full-length as Phantom Anthem arrives with 19,000 equivalent album units (17,000 in traditional sales), according to Nielsen Music. The set marks the group’s fifth No. 1 on Top Christian Albums and fourth to arrive in the penthouse. Previous release Found in Far Away Places notched the band’s strongest sales week, opening at No. 1 with 29,000 sold on July 18, 2015. The act’s other chart-toppers: Leveler (2011), Constellations (2009) and debut entry The Messengers (2007). At No. 2 on Top Christian Albums is The Answer, the new set from singersongwriter Jeremy Camp, which enters with 13,000 units (12,000 in pure album sales). Camp’s 10th LP grants the 39-year-old Lafayette, Ind., native…

Bruno Mars scores with grosses reported from the first North American leg of the tour supporting 24K Magic, his third studio album released in November 2016. Ten concert engagements from the pop star’s worldwide trek, which is already booked into 2018, appear on the Oct. 28 chart. A sold-out three-show stint at Chicago’s United Center with 47,942 fans in attendance takes No. 4 with $6.3 million in sales, the pop star’s highestgrossing North American engagement this summer. It also ranks second among all the dates reported worldwide since the jaunt began in March. Only London’s O2 Arena logged a higher gross, 5.1 million pounds ($6.6 million), from four performances in April. The 2017 trek in the United States and Canada began July 15 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas…

There was a minute where I thought, ‘Is this over?’ ” recalls Darius Rucker of the mid- 2000s, when the success of his alt-rock band Hootie & The Blowfish was winding down. “Then I made the decision to come to Nashville.” That was more than nine years ago, and today, the 51-year-old is one of country’s biggest stars: This past June, Rucker snagged his seventh Country Airplay No. 1 with “If I Told You,” the first single off his album When Was the Last Time (Oct. 20, Capitol Nashville). Rucker’s genre-hopping second wind has helped him expand into acting (with a recent role on Hawaii Five-O) and sports (last November, he became a partner in the MGC Sports agency). But his new music still focuses on the more humble, down-home…

No. 18 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart She grew up loving classical music At age 5, Merton began training in classical piano and clarinet. “I loved a lot of the romantic composers,” she says, name-dropping Chopin and Rachmaninoff. After moving to Munich in her teens, she discovered a massive music library in the city and started listening to The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs and The Alan Parsons Project. Moving 12 times in 24 years inspired her breakthrough hit Merton has lived in Germany, Canada, England and America. While visiting her parents in England three years ago, she realized, “I didn’t have just one place where I could say, ‘That’s my home.’ ” Her nomadic lifestyle is the subject of the bass-driven poprock song “No Roots,” which hit overseas in December 2016.…

A thleisure — high-aesthetic activewear that goes from the gym to running errands to the club — is scaling new heights, growing into a stadium-sized industry populated by musical talent. In the last year, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Zayn Malik have all inked activewear design/collaboration deals with Puma, Fabletics and Versus Versace, respectively. Pharrell Williams, who has worked with Adidas on sneaker collaborations since 2014, this year extended his influence to a new line of tennis wear-inspired looks with shorts retailing for $75 and jackets for $110. This season’s Ivy Park line from Beyoncé, whose first collection sold out within days of its debut in 2016, again will be available through mass retailers (though a $35 baseball hat designed for curly hair has already sold out). Carrie Underwood’s Calia…

JACK ANTONOFF WHO Bleachers leader and fun. guitarist turned producer to the stars: Lorde, P!nk and Taylor Swift in the last year alone. CHALLENGE He has worked with big names, but Antonoff is still better known as a prestige player than as a Max Martin-level gold-spinner. UPSHOT Antonoff should be a producer of the year frontrunner, but longerestablished names (Steve Mac, Mike WiLL Made-It) lurk closely behind. IMAGINE DRAGONS WHO The rare rock group to adapt its stadium sound to the streaming age and stay popular (2017’s “Believer” spent 29 weeks atop the Hot Rock Songs chart). CHALLENGE The Grammys don’t often reward rockers mixing influences, preferring more traditional groups like Foo Fighters. UPSHOT They scored a record of the year nom for “Radioactive” in 2014. Their crossover…

1. U2, “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” Album All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000) Bono has said that the track is an imagined argument between him and his friend Hutchence about the foolishness of suicide. “The biggest respect I could pay to him was to not write some stupid, soppy song,” he said. 2. Duran Duran, “Michael You’ve Got a Lot to Answer For” Album Medazzaland (1997) Simon Le Bon told Q magazine that the song, released shortly before Hutchence’s death, was about “Michael being a naughty boy ... when he was living with Paula Yates. He did like his substances.” 3. Smashing Pumpkins, “Shame” Album Adore (1998) Pumpkins singersongwriter Billy Corgan pondered what he would have told Hutchence in the days…

AFTER PILING UP RECORD AFTER RECORD — musically and achievement-wise — on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 radio airplay chart, Rihanna reigns as the No. 1 artist during the first 25 years of the survey, which began with the list dated Oct. 3, 1992. Rihanna roared onto the ranking — which reflects the most-played songs each week on pop radio, according to Nielsen Music — in 2005 with debut hit “Pon De Replay,” her first of an unprecedented 30 top 10s. In 2006, she earned her first No. 1 of 11, “SOS,” a record she shares with Katy Perry, the chart’s No. 4 artist. (Notably, Rihanna has reached historic heights despite having arrived on the chart more than halfway through its existence.) As for the biggest Mainstream Top 40 songs of…

Rapper NF takes advantage of a slow week on the Billboard 200 as he scores his first No. 1 with his third full-length release, Perception. The set starts atop the list with 55,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 12, according to Nielsen Music — the smallest start, by units, for a No. 1-debuting album in 2017. NF (26-year-old Nate Feuerstein) is also just the second act in 2017 to reach No. 1 without ever charting a song on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, following alternative rock band Brand New. The latter’s Science Fiction launched atop the Billboard 200 on Sept. 9 with 58,000 units. It’s probably then not surprising that, given the limited mainstream exposure of both acts (as evidenced by their lack of Hot 100…

Halsey (above) slots her second unaccompanied track on Streaming Songs with “Bad at Love,” which bows at No. 47 with 11.8 million streams earned in the week ending Oct. 12, a 15 percent boost, according to Nielsen Music. The jump follows the singer’s release of a remixes EP for the song, with new takes on the single, which leaps 49-40 for a new peak on the Billboard Hot 100. Halsey’s previous single, “Now or Never,” hit No. 30 on Streaming Songs (June 24), but she led the chart for 12 weeks as the featured artist on The Chainsmokers’ “Closer” in 2016. Directly below Halsey, Kane Brown and Lauren Alaina make their first appearances on Streaming Songs with “What Ifs” at No. 48 (11 million streams). The song, which rises to…

Lil Pump (above) notches a banner week as his self-titled debut album roars in at No. 2 on both Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums with 46,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 12, according to Nielsen Music. Streaming played a key role, with 38,000 of those units deriving from on-demand audio streams, which translate into 56.8 million plays of the album’s songs. The influx boosts Lil Pump’s most successful track to date, “Gucci Gang,” to the top 10 of Hot Rap Songs for the first time with a 12-9 move. “Gang” collects 20.8 million streams and leaps 11-6 on R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs while seizing the chart’s Greatest Gainer award. Also on Hot Rap Songs, Goldlink’s “Crew,” which features Brent Faiyaz and Shy Glizzy, glides 11-10,…

P!nk (above) parades to the pinnacle of Dance Club Songs for the first time in five years, and for a third time total, with “What About Us” (2-1). Remixed by Cash Cash, Barry Harris and Madison Mars, among others, the track hails from P!nk’s new Beautiful Trauma, which is expected to launch atop the Nov. 4 Billboard 200. She scores her second top 10 of 2017 — marking her first set of multiple top 10s in a calendar year — as Stargate’s “Waterfall” (featuring P!nk and Sia) reached No. 7 in August. P!nk has placed 15 songs, including seven top 10s, on Dance Club Songs, dating to “There You Go,” which reached No. 8 in March 2000. She first hit No. 1 in January 2002, with “Get the Party Started,”…

FROM Los Angeles AGE 15 GO-GETTER Homeschooled by actor/musician parents, Eilish (pronounced “eye-lish”) was taking dance classes and singing in the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus by 8 years old. With help from her older brother Finneas, a budding producer, she wrote her own songs for choreography. “I was always singing. People had to shut me up,” she says. “I’m still like that.” BREAKTHROUGH She began to make moves at 13 with the moody “Ocean Eyes,” which she uploaded to SoundCloud to share with her dance teacher. The song went viral overnight and now has over 19 million Spotify plays. “Everything came to me at once,” says Eilish, who signed to Darkroom/ Interscope in November 2016. “I just beamed [with] joy.” RULE-BENDER “I hate the idea of genres,” says Eilish, whose…

BEFORE HE DIED ON DEC. 25, 2016, George Michael was unknowingly prepping what would become his final act: the 90-minute documentary George Michael: Freedom, which airs Oct. 21 on Showtime. “George was editing the film on the 23rd of December,” recalls David Austin, Michael’s manager and the project’s co-director. “We’d just had Nile [Rodgers] over in London at the house. And then that was it, really. Christmas arrived.” Michael, who succumbed to heart- and liver-related issues at 53, was one of the most renowned pop artists as both a member of Wham! and later as a solo artist, selling an estimated 13.3 million copies on his own, according to Nielsen Music. The film, which now serves as the British star’s last testimony, focuses on the period leading up to Michael’s…

“It really shows New York’s primacy as music capital of the world,” says Julie Menin of the Grammys’ move from Los Angeles’ Staples Center to Madison Square Garden for the first time since 2003. Menin, the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, worked with labor groups, local organizations and MSG for over a year to help clear the way for the big night’s production — all under the guidance of Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow, who approved the move. “I saw the 60th anniversary on the horizon,” says Portnow, “and I thought, ‘That’s a great occasion to be back in New York.’ ” He was adamant that the show return to MSG: “Barclays [Center in Brooklyn] is fantastic,” says Portnow, “but really for me, the Grammys had…

BECK, ONE OF ROCK’S BEST-PRESERVED 40-somethings, looks a little run-down today. The weather isn’t helping. “There was a heat wave for three months straight, and then today the temperature dropped and clouds came in,” he says, staring solemnly at the downtown Los Angeles skyline from a 12th floor studio in the Capitol Records Tower. “The sun isn’t shining quite as bright. I think it’s L.A.’s tribute to Tom Petty or something.” It’s the day after Petty, one of Beck’s idols, died following a heart attack — and two days after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas. “It has been a rough few days,” says Beck. “I didn’t sleep a lot. Yesterday was just so... intense. It stabs you…

51 GWEN ST E FANI You Make It Feel Like Christmas Gwen Stefani jingles onto the Billboard 200 with her first Christmas album, You Make It Feel Like Christmas, as the set bows at No. 51 and at No. 1 on Top Holiday Albums (10,000 equivalent units earned in the week ending Oct. 12, with 9,000 in traditional album sales). The weekly Top Holiday Albums chart is back for its annual seasonal run as part of Billboard’s chart menu, and will continue to be compiled and viewable on Billboard’s websites through early January 2018. —K.C. 29 SHANIA TWAIN Now After bowing at No. 1 on the Oct. 21 list — bolstered by a ticket/album sale redemption offer — the set falls to No. 29 in its second week. It…

An artist reigns simultaneously on all five main Billboard country charts for the first time as Kane Brown leads Top Country Albums, Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Digital Song Sales and Country Streaming Songs. Brown’s “What Ifs” (featuring Lauren Alaina) rules the multimetric Hot Country Songs for a second week and becomes his first No. 1 on Country Airplay, rising 2-1 in its 35th week, up 4 percent to 46 million audience impressions, according to Nielsen Music. (Alaina earns her second Country Airplay No. 1 following “Road Less Traveled” in April.) Brown, who built his following by posting songs on social media, says “What Ifs” was not originally intended to be a duet, but once it was, his childhood friend (and seventh grade choirmate) Alaina was the clear choice.…

Calibre 50 (above) earns its 10th No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay as “Corrido de Juanito” ascends 2-1. The track earned 10 million in audience (up 5 percent) in the week ending Oct. 15, according to Nielsen Music. With a 10th No. 1, the band is one of only six acts to score at least 10 charttoppers on the 23-year-old tally. Conjunto Primavera and Intocable are tied with the most No. 1s on the survey, with 16 each. “Corrido de Juanito” bumps Christian Nodal’s “Probablemente” (featuring David Bisbal) down to No. 2 after a four-week run at No. 1 (10 million in audience, down 5 percent). Calibre 50’s topical single, lifted from the group’s new release Guerra de Poder (due to enter Top Latin Albums on Nov. 4), concurrently holds…

LEGEND Bullets indicate titles with greatest weekly gains. Album Charts •Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 500,000 albums (Gold). ▴RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 1 million units (Platinum). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. ⋄RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 10 million units (Diamond). Numeral noted with Diamond symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. ◯Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 30,000 units (Oro). ▵Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 60,000 units (Platino). Numeral noted with Platino symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. Digital Songs Charts •RIAA certification for 500,000 paid downloads and ondemand streams where 100 streams equal 1 download (Gold). ▴RIAA certification for 1 million…