Innholdsfortegnelse for February 10, 2024 i Billboard Magazine

Xavi’s second hit, “La Diabla,” races 17-1 on Latin Airplay, giving the Mexican American singer-songwriter his first Billboard chart-topper on a radio ranking. The romantic corrido earned 9.6 million audience impressions, up 89%, in the United States during the week ending Feb. 1, according to Luminate. It’s the first No. 1 by a regional Mexican artist on Interscope. The label last ruled with another song in the genre when Karol G’s “Mi Ex Tenía Razón” reigned for two nonconsecutive weeks last October and November. “La Diabla” also replaces a regional Mexican hit at the top: Fuerza Regida and Marshmello’s “Harley Quinn,” which falls to No. 3 after a week in charge (8.2 million, down 9%). Xavi’s radio success accompanies the song’s reign on Hot Latin Songs and Latin Streaming…

THERE’S A NEW FRONT in the long legal war among the family members of late Ramones co-founders Joey and Johnny Ramone. In a lawsuit filed in January, Johnny’s widow, Linda Ramone, claims that Joey’s brother, Mickey Leigh, “covertly” authorized a planned Netflix movie starring Pete Davidson centered on the pioneering punk band. I Slept With Joey Ramone will be based on Leigh’s 2009 memoir about growing up with his brother (their actual surname was Hyman), and Netflix has billed it as a Joey biopic. But Linda’s lawsuit claims that a movie focused on the Ramones requires her say-so. “To permit defendants alone to tell the authoritative story of the Ramones would be an injustice to the band and its legacy,” her lawyers wrote in the complaint. Joey and Johnny,…

SONGS Two tracks from Barbie are competing for best original song at the 2024 Academy Awards. The Greta Gerwig blockbuster is the first film to have two best song nominees since La La Land seven years ago. Plus: Oscar perennial Diane Warren was nominated for best original song for the 15th time — a benchmark that only five other songwriters have reached. “I’m Just Ken” ▸ Barbie WARNER BROS. Music and lyrics by Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt Five years after winning for “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, Ronson and Wyatt are back with this comic highlight from the year’s top box-office hit. What direction did you get from Barbie director Greta Gerwig and co-writer Noah Baumbach? MARK RONSON They’re like, “If we’re going to have something for Barbie,…

FOR KANSAS CITY CHIEFS and Philadelphia Eagles fans — and any football lover, really — last year’s Super Bowl LVII was a thrilling, down-to-the-wire classic. But as the game, airing on FOX Sports and tied at 35, cut to commercial break at the two-minute warning, tense viewers might’ve felt an unexpected wave of calm. The buttery-smooth lick from “Hungersite,” one of the most popular tracks by the exploding jam band Goose, played as the stressed visages of head coaches Andy Reid and Nick Sirianni gave way to ads. “It was so surreal to hear our song during the Super Bowl,” Goose singer-guitarist Rick Mitarotonda tells Billboard. “We are very thankful to FOX Sports for supporting what we do and exposing so many bands in the genre to the masses.”…

WHEN NBC SENT HER a brief seeking an upbeat anthem to kick off its 2023 college football season, BMG director of creative synch Laura Ogawa combed the publisher’s archives. She came up with “Here Comes Saturday Night,” a 2010 obscurity by Italian rock band Giuda, and NBC hired Fall Out Boy to cover it for the network’s B1G Saturday Night show as well as for NBC and Peacock fall broadcasts. “One time, they were playing it five times an hour,” Ogawa says. “The song worked to a T.” “Here Comes Saturday Night” wasn’t the most lucrative synch in TV sports history — Fall Out Boy hasn’t released the full track, and even after the massive promotion ended, Giuda’s original had only 124,000 Spotify plays. But the prominence of such…

USING OUR editorial expertise and Boxscore metrics, Billboard has selected 26 venues that artists clamor to play and fans gather at to enjoy. These selections are divided by region and venue type, as well as fan-favorite categories honoring the elements that add magic and energy to local music scenes. TOP WEST COAST STADIUM SoFi Stadium Inglewood, Calif. The Los Angeles NFL venue is the highest-grossing stadium for concerts in the world, according to Billboard’s 2023 year-end Boxscore chart, reporting 19 concerts that grossed $175 million in ticket sales to Billboard Boxscore. SoFi Stadium also nabbed the top-grossing Boxscore of the year with Beyoncé’s three-night run in September, which brought in $45.5 million. Unlike other football palaces, SoFi Stadium was built with concerts in mind, and it already has an…

Timberlake notches his highest Billboard Hot 100 debut in six years as his single “Selfish” debuts at No. 19. Released Jan. 25, the song tallied 22.4 million in all-format radio airplay audience, 11.5 million official streams and 10,000 downloads sold in the United States Jan. 26-Feb. 1, according to Luminate. GO TO BILLBOARD.COM FOR COMPLETE CHART DATA…

The Grateful Dead’s latest archival live release, Dave’s Picks, Volume 49: Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford U., Palo Alto, CA (4/27/85 & 4/28/85), scores the band not only its first No. 1 on Top Album Sales but also a record-breaking 59th top 40-charting album on the Billboard 200. The group surpasses Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra for the most such entries in the nearly 68-year history of the chart. Volume 49, which captures the Dead at a pair of California shows at Stanford University’s Frost Amphitheatre in April 1985, earned 21,000 equivalent album units in the United States during the week ending Feb. 1 — all from traditional album sales, according to Luminate. As is tradition with the Dave’s Picks series (named for the band’s archivist, David Lemieux), the set was…

Nicole scores her second No. 1 on Blues Albums with The Love You Bleed. The set is the Kansas City, Mo., native’s follow-up to Cry No More, which led for one week in March 2018. Nicole has also hit the top 10 with Wolf Den (No. 2, October 2015) and a self-titled EP (No. 6, March 2015). Bernard Allison’s Luther’s Blues begins at No. 2 on Blues Albums, likewise marking his fourth top 10. The set reimagines 20 compositions by his late father, Luther Allison, who was prominent in the Chicago blues scene and beyond. Plus, Mitch Ryder’s first title on a Billboard chart since 1983 debuts as The Roof Is on Fire ignites at No. 3 on Blues Albums. Ryder, 78, broke through with three Billboard Hot 100…

IF THERE’S ONE WORD THAT USHER personifies, it’s “cool.” The word applies to his still-captivating vocals, deep catalog of multigenerational R&B/pop hits, fluid footwork, keen fashion sense — all of which I witnessed firsthand while watching Usher and his team rehearse for the launch of his first Las Vegas residency almost three years ago. Despite the pressure-cooker atmosphere inherent in that gamble — including lingering pandemic-related challenges — the eight-time Grammy Award winner remained chill and in control. So it makes sense that Usher would be just as unflappable on the eve of performing before the largest audience of his career: at the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show. “It’s more about anticipation than jitters,” Usher says matter-of-factly in early January, having already logged a month of rehearsals…

SPORTS AND MUSIC GO TOGETHER like Travis and Taylor — and more A-listers than ever from both worlds are rushing onto the field for a piece of the action. Music-world titans are opening new sports agencies, star artists are investing in major teams, and catalog owners are scouring the sporting world for new opportunities to turn their songs into tomorrow’s game-day anthems. Teams, meanwhile, are launching record labels, while leagues draft more musical talent to juice their ratings. Billboard surveyed and selected some of the most powerful people dominating this red-hot space — and proving it’s a winning combination. BRONSON ARROYO FORMER ALL-STAR AND WORLD SERIES CHAMPION PITCHER The former Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds star’s punnily titled 2005 debut, Covering the Bases, included a cover of The…

IT WAS MAY 1977, AND Queen had just finished its encore at Bingley Hall in the English town of Stafford when the crowd, rather than dispersing and heading home, began to sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Originally featured in the 1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel, Gerry & The Pacemakers had popularized the tune with their 1963 version, and shortly after, it became an anthem of the British soccer club Liverpool FC. The spontaneous incident at Bingley Hall would forever change the cultural landscape: It inspired singer Freddie Mercury and guitarist Brian May to write two of Queen’s most iconic songs. “The story we’ve been told is that Brian and Freddie said, ‘Why don’t we write our own anthems?’ ” says Dominic Griffin, vp of licensing at Disney Music…

Smith’s “World on Fire” rules the Country Airplay chart for an eighth week, with 32.1 million audience impressions earned Jan. 26-Feb. 1. It ties three songs for the second-longest command since the chart launched in January 1990: Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” (beginning in May 2023), Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” (August 2003) and Lonestar’s “Amazed” (July 1999). Wallen’s “You Proof” reigned for a record 10 weeks, starting in October 2022. “The crazy thing about this song is that it wasn’t even supposed to come out,” Smith says. “It was starting to gain a lot of traction on social media, and the demand was high.” Tom Oakes, program director at Summit Media’s KTTS Springfield, Mo., says the track continues to research “at a power level. My…

AN ADVANTAGE OF being an aspiring artist in 2023, rather than 1983 or even 2003, is having near-instant access to millions of pre-made instrumentals — a club-wrecking drill track or soothing South African amapiano beat is just a few clicks away. For many acts today, the first step in the songwriting process is scouring sites like BeatStars, Soundee or YouTube for the right piece of music. “I just go on YouTube and look up ‘indie-pop-type beat’ or ‘R&B Daniel Caesar-type beat,’ ” Island Records artist Diego Gonzalez told Billboardlast year. “I scroll through those until I find one I really like. Then I download it and start humming melodies.” This approach has led to breakout singles and major-label deals for Muni Long, ThxSoMch, dv4d, Tai Verdes, Wisp and more.…

WHEN IT comes to songwriters’ income, streaming services are regarded as both heroes and villains: They saved the music industry from unbridled piracy, but, some say, pay a pittance to most creators. In his first interview as the new president/CEO of the Digital Media Association (DiMA), Graham Davies says he’s focused on convincing the industry they’re the good guys. Davies assumed the top role at the U.S. organization — which represents the interests of Amazon, Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and feed. fm — in January, succeeding the organization’s longtime leader, Garrett Levin. Before taking the job, he worked on the other side of the negotiating table as head of the Ivors Academy, the United Kingdom’s foremost songwriter advocacy organization. It’s a career change equivalent to a district attorney…

IF A PRECISE INTERSECTIONAL point among music, sports and business exists, it isn’t hovering far from Michael Rubin, the billionaire founder and CEO of Fanatics. Selling licensed apparel from just about every major professional sports team is Rubin’s business, but his most trusted friends, partners and advisers include Jay-Z, Meek Mill and Lil Baby, and his parties — particularly his famed summer “white party” in the Hamptons — unite superstar athletes like Tom Brady and James Harden with A-list performers such as Travis Scott and Beyoncé. For that reason, attending a Rubin party isn’t just fun; it can be a prudent business decision. Jay-Z and Latin music star J Balvin have both attended Rubin’s events; three months after crossing paths at one in February 2023, Balvin signed with Jay’s…

CASEY WASSERMAN HAS an app that reminds him how many days are left until the opening ceremony of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Sitting in the Wasserman offices in a black hoodie, with framed artwork of the U.S. flag behind him, the 49-year-old sports and music executive checks his phone: just under 1,650 days until the LA28 campaign he is leading comes to fruition. “I’m not sure I knew I was signing up for a 14-year volunteer job,” he says, “but lo and behold, here we are.” Almost a decade ago, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti called Wasserman asking for suggestions of who could spearhead the bid to bring the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic games to the Southern California metropolis. A few weeks later, Garcetti called him…