Music

Ed Sheeran, Elle King and Travis Scott have been announced as performers at this coming Sunday’s The 2022 Billboard Music Awards.

This will mark Travis’ first performance since the November tragedy at the Astroworld festival in Houston, where 10 people died when the crowd rushed the stage.  The rapper has been nominated for top dance/electronic song, thanks to his “Goosebumps” remix.

Ed’s performance will be beamed in from Belfast, Ireland, where he’ll be continuing on his Mathematics Tour.  The “Shivers” singer heads into the night with nine nominations, including for best male artist and top-selling song.

As for Elle, she’ll team with country star Miranda Lambert to perform their rowdy hit “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home),” which is up for top rock song.

Other artists planning to serenade the crowd on Sunday include the previously announced Silk Sonic, Mary J. Blige, Megan Thee Stallion and “Big Energy” rapper Latto.  The event will be hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The BBMAs kick off Sunday, May 15, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.  Visit Billboard to see the complete list of nominees.

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Cardi B is a mom of two, so she she knows a few things about being a parent.  So when TMZ asked the rapper to share what advice she has for soon-to-be first-time mom Rihanna, Cardi kept it simple: You got this.

“[Motherhood] comes so naturally. It really comes naturally,” the Grammy winner explained.  Cardi hinted she received a ton of advice when she was pregnant with her first child, Kulture, but she wound up doing things her own way

“So many people give you advice,'” the rapper noted. “Once [the baby is] in there, that mother instinct comes out.”

Rihanna surprised fans in January when she quietly revealed she was expecting her first child with her boyfriend of two years, A$AP Rocky.  Both have remained coy about the details, including the baby’s due date, gender and name. 

Rihanna previously told British Vogue in March 2020 that she sees herself having “three or four” kids within the next 10 years.

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The Chicks are headed out on the road this summer, and while the whole band’s excited about seeing their fans and traveling across the country, frontwoman Natalie Maines is also looking forward to pursuing one of her more unexpected hobbies.

“I’m planning on coordinating a rockhounding tour that correlates with our music tour, and I hopefully will be rockhounding every day,” the singer tells People.

That’s right: When she’s not working on music, Natalie is hunting down rocks and agates. “It’s as geeky probably as metal detecting, which I could get into. I polish rocks. I have a whole cabbing machine. I’m a little crazy for rocks,” she elaborates.  Cabbing, by the way, is turning stones into cabuchons — that is, of a size and shape that can be made into jewelry.

One other thing that fans might not know about Natalie? She’s not a huge fan of one of the Chicks’ earliest hits, and so they haven’t played it in two decades.

“One song that was our first number-one that we haven’t played in over 20 years because I don’t care for it is ‘There’s Your Trouble,’” she says. But on the upcoming tour, the Chicks will play a game, rolling a six-sided dice to randomly select one of six songs to play onstage.

“[It’s] in the six songs, so we will be playing ‘There’s Your Trouble’ for the first time in over 20 years,” she adds.

The Chicks’ tour starts on June 14.

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Miami’s favorite rap duo, City Girls, is gearing up to hit the road for a North American tour alongside Grammy-nominated rapper Jack Harlow. 

Fresh off the release of his highly anticipated album, Come Home the Kids Miss You, Harlow tapped Quality Control’s first ladies for the fall concert series, named after the rapper’s second album. 

Kicking off September 6 in Nashville, TN, the tour will make stops in Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Florida and more before heading to Georgia for its final show in Atlanta. Don’t see your city on the list? Have no worries — more dates will reportedly be announced. 

“It’s gone be a movie!” says the City Girls in their Instagram announcement on Monday, which also alerted fans of the ability to purchase pre-sale tickets starting this Wednesday, May 11. General-sale tickets go on sale starting Friday, May 13. 

To purchase tickets and sign up to receive tour information, including additional date announcements, visit the official websites of both the City Girls and Jack Harlow.

Here’s the Come Home the Kids Miss You tour itinerary: 

9/6 — Nashville, TN, Nashville Municipal Auditorium 
9/8 — Irving, TX, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory 
9/10 — Houston, TX, 713 Music Hall 
9/11 — Austin, TX, Moody Center 
9/13 — Phoenix, AZ, Arizona Federal Theatre 
9/17 — San Diego, CA, Viejas Arena 
9/23 — Seattle, WA, WAMU Theater 
9/24 — Vancouver, BC, Rogers Arena 
9/25 — Portland, OR, Veterans Memorial Coliseum 
9/27 — Salt Lake City, UT, Maverik Center 
9/28 — Denver, CO, 1STBANK Center 
9/30 — Minneapolis, MN, The Armory 
10/1 — Chicago, IL, Credit Union 1 Arena 
10/2 — Detroit, MI, Fox Theatre 
10/5 — Toronto, ON, Coca-Cola Coliseum 
10/8 — Philadelphia, PA, The Liacouras Center 
10/9 — Boston, MA, MGM Music Hall at Fenway
10/11 — Washington D.C., The Anthem 
10/14 — Miami, FL, PFL Solar Amphitheater at Bayfront Park 
10/15 — Tampa, FL, Yuengling Center 
10/16 — Atlanta, GA, State Farm Arena 

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Camila Cabello is the latest artist to join the fight against Florida’s recently approved “Don’t Say Gay” bill.  The singer unveiled her Protect Our Kids Fund, which aims to combat the new legislation while providing support to those targeted by it.

The “Bam Bam” singer announced the new initiative on Sunday, explaining in an Instagram post that it “supports litigation against the hateful Don’t Say Gay or Trans law in [Florida].”

Camila continues in the post, “What’s happening in my home state is unacceptable and is harming LGBTQ+ youth and families. Some of the most special people in my life are in this community and it breaks my heart to see their identities try to be erased. We have to demand equal rights and respect for all.”

Camila says donations have already exceeded $500,000. In addition to raising money, the fund has “set up a special hotline for students, teachers, and parents who’ve been harmed under the law so experts can provide critical support.” 

The “Havana” singer has teamed with Lambda Legal and Equality Florida to run the new initiative.

The legislation, titled the Parental Rights in Education law, bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. It also states that any instruction on those topics cannot occur “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

The bill is expected to go into effect on July 1.

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Harry Styles broke into the music industry when he was 16. Over a decade later, the “As It Was” singer says he no longer wants to compete with the success he had as part of One Direction.

In an expanded Better Homes & Gardens interview, the 28-year-old Grammy winner spoke of watching Billie Eilish at the 2021 Grammy Awards. 

“She was so much younger than I am, and, when I was in the band, we were always the young guys. When I did my first solo thing, I was still like the young guy,” said Harry.

“I’m not like an old man now, but she’s just a different generation,” the Don’t Worry Darling actor added. Instead of feeling threatened by Billie’s rising star status, he no longer tries being “the thing.”

Harry thinks it’s unhealthy and unsustainable to try to stay relevant and compete with younger artists, which he says has led to people breaking down and making poor career choices.

“You can’t win music. It’s not like Formula One,” he noted. “I was like, in my lifetime, there will be 10 more people who burst onto the scene in that way, and I’m only going to get further away from being the young thing.”

Harry now has a new “liberating” mindset, which is: “Get comfortable with finding something else that makes you happy.”

That mantra is what carried him through creating his new album, Harry’s House, which arrives May 20.

“Finally, it doesn’t feel like my life is over if this album isn’t a commercial success,” he exclaimed, while admitting that it’s the first time he’s ever felt that way. He’s no longer concerned with making “really big songs” or “playing it safe.” He just wants to make “stuff that is right, that is fun.”

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In addition to the many Mother’s Day tributes that flooded the internet on Sunday, FX unveiled the trailer for a new docuseries about late rapper Tupac Shakur and his activist mother, Afeni Shakur, called Dear Mama.

The short clip shows a few images of a younger Tupac, accompanied by a voice-over by Afeni, who tells a story about a lesson she once taught her son. 

“It was my responsibility to teach Tupac how to survive his reality,” she says in the clip. “So, Tupac do something wrong — take your little sorry self in that corner, get The New York Times and let’s have a debate about it. Not a discussion, a debate. Let me hear what your idea is, stand up, defend it.”

In a press release shared by Hot New Hip Hop, FX says the five-part docuseries is “told through the eyes of the people who knew them best,” adding, “[The series is] an intimate wide-angle portrait of the most inspiring and dangerous mother-son duo in American history, whose unified message of freedom, equality, persecution and justice are more relevant today than ever.”

Set to direct the series is Allen Hughes, who won a Best Music Film Grammy for the HBO docuseries The Defiant Ones, and who’s credits also include The Book of Eli and the classic ’90s film Menace II Society.

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Even though Jack Harlow‘s career is taking off, he’s keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground.

Speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Harlow admitted he’s enjoying the financial freedom that’s come with his newfound fame.  “I think my biggest concern right now is getting everyone I care about secure. And sadly, it’s just, it’s very financial. Taking the weight off people I care about shoulders feels really good in the most simplistic way,” he shared. 

The “Industry Baby” collaborator explained his financial support doesn’t necessarily mean fancy gifts, but by taking care of things like bills and rent. “You can just liberate people,” said Harlow. “The best part of having money is not thinking about money. It’s not about the cars. It’s not about the jewelry. It’s not about the flex. It’s about the security. It’s about being able to say, ‘Well, I don’t have to stress about that,’ because that is weighing so many people down.”

He says being able to share that feeling with those he cares about is one of the best things in life. That also helps him to stay grounded. 

Harlow notes that what goes up always comes down — even his career.  “The world’s going to turn on me soon,” he said. “I’m just saying, inevitably, that’s what happens.”

Harlow says he has a “good feeling” that he’ll make a comeback because he’s not taking anything for granted. “I’m starting to realize that humility is just more important than ever right now,” he said. “Just keeping a hold of that because it’s a long way down if you get with the hype.”

Harlow also announced his Come Home The Kids Miss You Tour, which kicks off September 6 in Nashville, Tennessee.  Tickets go on sale Friday, May 11, at 10 a.m. local time.

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