As should be expected, Stewart Copeland is spending a fair amount of time talking and answering questions about the Police during his current spoken word tour of North America. And he’s pleased to report that he, Sting and Andy Summers “get along just fine” these days, even in the midst of a lawsuit over royalties.

“We’re not (in court). The bean counters are, somewhere over in London,” the group’s drummer tells Billboard. “For me it’s, ‘Lemme know how it works out…’”

Copeland and Summers sued Sting in England last year, claiming that under band songwriting agreements dating back to the Police’s formation in 1977 they are owed $2 million in unpaid royalties. Summers, in fact, has been particularly outspoken in feeling he should have received a songwriting credit for the Grammy Award-winning 1983 smash “Every Breath You Take.” The case has made its way to the U.K.’s High Court; records indicate Sting has paid his former bandmates $870,000, but Copeland and Summers are still seeking the rest of the claim.

Copeland, however, says he still talks to Sting, about “kids, Instagram memes, bullshit… I’m happy that we get along just fine, and we know way. It’s not because of satanic impulses or any of the human infirmities of jealousy, greed, pride, whatever. It’s because we had a spell where our music universes overlapped and we created some incredible stuff. We really achieved everything we needed to achieve. Really, as I’ve been saying a lot recently, ol’ Sting-O and I, we make music for different reasons, and it has a different place in our lives. So we get along great as long as we’re not trying to make music together.”

The Police was together between 1977-1984, releasing five studio albums capped by 1983’s eight-times platinum Synchronicity, which has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. The trio reunited for three concerts on Amnesty International’s A Conspiracy of Hope tour in 1986 and a 2003 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, then for a global reunion tour during 2007-2008, assisted by band therapy according to Copeland. “We had professionals come along and straighten us out; I guess their day job was probably, like marriage counseling,” he recalls. “It worked so well after our session the business suits said, ‘Hey guys, let’s put another six months on the tour!’ ‘Sure!’

“It was actually a lot of fun — a lot of misery and a lot of fun at the same time. But after two years of it, we were all read to get back to our central mission.”

That’s been busy multi-media careers for all three of the Police men — in Copeland’s case forays into opera and classical composition, film and video game scoring, filmmaking and writing. He’s the subject of a new documentary, Copeland, which premieres June 19 at the Raindance Film Festival in London, and is writing another opera that’s “kind of under wraps until it will be revealed to the world.” He’s also expanding his touring Police Deranged for Orchestra repertoire to include other songs from his career. “Instead of just the Police it will be the entire world f***ed up,” Copeland says.

Despite what sounds like a full docket, however, Copeland considers himself “fully retired” from music — at least in a commercial sense. “I’ve had a career in music; it worked out well. Now I just do it for kicks and put (music) up on YouTube for folks to enjoy, without any agenda. I’m not chasing the charts; if I make a record, it’s probably gonna cost me money. You can’t make a living writing opera, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Copeland has also written another book — publication details still TBA — that he describes as “a guide to living the life with people chasing you for autographs, with interviews asking you pointed questions, with all the stuff that goes with rock ‘n’ roll celebrity, all the weirdness. ‘Cause it’s a very weird place. It’s not normal; people don’t treat musicians the same way they treat dentists, even though dentists are far more important for their health. Inhabiting that weird world on that precarious pedestal is a strange thing.” He’s interviewed therapists and other musicians for the book, including Kiss’ Gene Simmons and Carly Simon.

The latter, in fact, gave Copeland “one little weirdness” of a story, from the making of her second album, Anticipation, in London during the summer of 1971. “I get into band dynamics (in the book), and I was talking to her about the phenomenon about romance in a band, like Fleetwood Mac, like ‘How does that work?’ And she says, ‘When I was recording (Anticipation) in London and feeling all the mojo and all the excitement… with these incredible musicians, staying at this beautiful house near Hyde Park and recording by day, and at night with all the musicians, I f***ed them all.’ I said, ‘Can I put that in the book?’ ‘Sure’ — she didn’t use the F-bomb, but, I mean, it’s pretty amazing.

“And the dynamic was clear. By day they’re making music, which is very emotionally engaging, very tense, and the natural result of all that manifested itself by night, and then the next day they would make the music of love, and it was even bigger than her first album.”

Clearly, then, Copeland has plenty of fodder for his Have I Said Too Much? The Police, Hollywood and Other Adventures shows. He launched the multi-media presentation last year in the United Kingdom and began an extensive North American run earlier this month, with dates booked into early August and another leg during October and November. “I’m telling these wild stories I have, instead of to just one person or a dinner table, to a room full of people,” Copeland says. “And getting laughs is kind of fun. I never imagined that would be in my career path, but I’m having a great time doing it.”

In addition to his prepared remarks he also answers written audience questions, submitted to a bucket in the venue lobbies.

“My favorite one, which got the biggest laugh of the evening, was, ‘What hotel are you staying in tonight?’” he recalls. “That got a bigger laugh than any of my gags, goddammit.’ And then when the laughter died down, the rest of the question says, ‘Because I need to know where to pick up my mom in the morning.’” Copeland’s answer? The Four Seasons, Milwaukee — even though he was in Dublin, Ireland at the time.

“My life is an open book,” Copeland notes. “There’s no uncomfortable subjects, really — in fact, the more discomfort, the more you can milk it for laughs. I’m really enjoying this.”

Upcoming dates on Copeland’s Have I Said Too Much? The Police, Hollywood and Other Adventures tour:

June 18 — Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA
June 20 — Presidio Theatre, San Francisco, CA
June 25 — Hollywood Theatre, Vancouver, BC
June 27 — Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR
June 28 — Neptune Theatre, Seattle, WA
July 6-7 — The Kate (Second show), Old Saybrook, CT
July 9 — City Winery, Boston, MA
July 10 — The Waldo Theatre, Waldoboro, ME
July 11 — BNH Stage, Concord, NH
July 12 — Greenwich Odeum, East Greenwich, RI
July 14 — The Paramount, Huntington, NY
July 16 — South Orange Performing Arts Center, South Orange, NJ
July 17 — Daryl’s House Club, Pawling, NY
July 18 — The Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville, PA
July 19 — The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA
July 21 — Rams Head On Stage, Annapolis, MD
July 22 — Palace Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
July 24 — The Kent Stage, Kent, OH
July 25 — Ludlow Garage, Cincinnati, OH
July 28 — The Parkway Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
July 30 — Vivarium, Milwaukee, WI
July 31 — North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Skokie, IL
Aug. 1 — Wealthy Theatre, Grand Rapids, MI
Aug. 2 — Tarkington, Carmel, IN
Aug. 4 — City Winery, Nashville, TN
Aug. 6 — Harvester Performance Center, Rocky Mount, VA
Aug. 7 — The Beacon Theatre, Hopewell, VA
Oct. 28 — Scherr Forum, Thousand Oaks, CA
Oct. 30 — Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ
Nov. 1 — Rose Wagner Theater, Salt Lake City, UT
Nov. 3 — Boulder Theatre, Boulder, CO
Nov. 4 — Holiday Theatre, Denver, CO
Nov. 6 — The Admiral, Omaha, NE
Nov. 7 — Granada Theater, Lawrence, KS
Nov. 8 — Wildey Theatre, Edwardsville, IL
Nov. 10 — Magic Bag, Detroit MI
Nov. 12 — Center for the Arts of Homer, Homer, NY
Nov. 13 — Bethel Woods Event Gallery, Bethal, NY
Nov. 15 — Spruce Peak Performing Arts, Stowe, VT
Nov. 17 — Sellersville Theatre, Sellersville, PA
Nov. 18 — Elkton Music Hall, Elkton, MD
Nov. 20 — Appell Center for Performing Arts, York, PA
Nov. 22 — Carolina Theatre, Charlotte, NC

SYDNEY, Australia — Rising Australian alt-pop artist Alexandria is the latest addition to the Warner Music roster, Billboard can exclusively reveal.

Alexandria signs a recording deal with Warner Music Australia and Warner Records, an alliance that expands on her unlikely leap from teaching math to high school students in Perth, Western Australia, to unleashing her dark-toned fantasy pop on the world.

To celebrate her major label partnership, Alexandria drops the new track “Justice,” a cinematic pop story told with strings and snares. The single is representative of her work to date, immersive pieces influenced by literature, anime, and her other passions.

Those releases include 2025 debut “Always An Angel;” her featured contribution on Marino’s “Lust;” and most recently, “The Fool.” She joins the Warner Music fold with more than 1.74 million followers on Spotify, and 213,000-plus followers on TikTok.

“Signing with Warner Music feels like the beginning of an exciting new chapter,” she says in a statement to Billboard. “I’ve spent years writing songs and building this project piece by piece, and it means so much to have a team that believes in the vision as deeply as I do. I’m incredibly grateful for the support so far, and I can’t wait to share what’s coming next.”

Alexandria paints worlds with lyrics and sonics. “I’ve always been drawn to the fictional world and stories,” she explains. “My music allows me to bring those stories to life. Writing ‘The Fool’ and ‘Justice’ felt like writing two mini novels, with each song having its own world and story surrounding it. I cannot wait for everyone to hear the stories that are yet to come.”

With the new arrangement, Alexandria has a global team behind her and a steady stream of new music is in the pipeline for 2026, reps say.

“I am thrilled to welcome Alexandria to the Warner Music family,” comments Dan Rosen, president of Warner Music Australasia and Southeast Asia. “Partnering with Warner Records on Alexandria reflects our ongoing commitment to make our local artists global, with global teams to provide the powerhouse backing to build successful international careers. Alexandria has a truly unique creative vision, and we are super excited to support her in the next stage of her career.”

Aaron Bay-Schuck, co-chairman & CEO, Warner Records Group and Tom Corson, co-chairman & COO, Warner Records Group add: “Alexandria doesn’t just make music — she builds worlds. Her singular creative vision and undeniable global appeal made this partnership between Warner Records and Warner Music Australia an easy call. We are thrilled to welcome her and cannot wait for the world to hear what’s coming.”

At WMA, Alexandria joins a domestic stable of artists that includes Boy Soda, Blusher, Budjerah, Brad Cox, Carla Wehbe, and others.

A judge says Russell Simmons can be sued for rape in New York by a former Def Jam executive, even though he now lives in Indonesia.

A Tuesday (June 16) order in New York state court, first obtained and reported by Billboard, rejects Simmons’ latest attempt to dismiss the civil lawsuit alleging he raped an anonymous executive in Def Jam’s music video department in the 1990s. Simmons, who has been accused of sexual assault by numerous women over the last decade, has denied all wrongdoing.

The former Def Jam employee, suing under the pseudonym Jane Doe, originally brought her claims against Simmons in federal court in 2024. She suffered a setback last year when a federal judge said Simmons, who has lived in Indonesia since 2018, was outside the court’s jurisdiction. She persisted and re-filed the lawsuit in state court — and on Tuesday, Judge Adam Silvera said New York law allows the claims to move forward despite Simmons’ expat status.

“The complaint alleges the defendant committed the tort of rape in New York state,” wrote the judge. “[In New York], a court may exercise personal jurisdiction over any non-domiciliary who commits a tortious act within the state, except as to a cause of action for defamation. Therefore, the complaint survives the motion to dismiss stage.”

In addition to their arguments about Indonesia, Simmons’ lawyers also argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because Jane Doe released all possible claims against the Def Jam founder as part of a severance agreement with the label in 1997.

However, Doe’s attorneys say that purported release is a “sham” and that her signature was forged. Judge Silvera determined on Tuesday that there’s a “genuine dispute as to its authenticity,” meaning he’ll need to see evidence before deciding whether the document is enforceable.

Simmons and Doe will now begin discovery, where they will exchange evidence and depose each other’s witnesses. The judge set a court conference for August to hammer out a calendar for this often-lengthy process.

Doe’s lawyers at the firm Boies Schiller & Flexner declined to comment on the ruling on Wednesday (June 17). Simmons’ rep did not immediately return a request for comment.

Simmons, who founded Def Jam Recordings in 1984 and built a formidable hip-hop empire, first faced sexual abuse allegations in a New York Times investigation from 2017. More women came forward in the 2020 HBO documentary On The Record, and legal claims followed.

Doe’s lawsuit was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for rape claims. She alleged that Simmons pinned her to a bed and raped her while she was at his apartment to get approval for a music video.

Simmons has settled with at least seven other women who’ve accused him of sexual misconduct in recent years. Many of these accusers have since filed court petitions claiming he’s millions of dollars short on promised settlement payments.

Simmons has maintained that the abuse claims are all false. In a motion to dismiss the Doe lawsuit, his attorneys wrote, “Defendant hopes to vindicate himself to the many who have judged him unfairly, for many years, on the untrue and unproven allegations of others.”

Last June, Simmons went on the offensive and sued HBO for defamation over On The Record. He claimed the sexual assault accusations in the documentary were false, and that its producers ignored exculpatory information that would have cleared his name. That case is still pending.

YEONJUN of TOMORROW X TOGETHER is continuing to shed labels through his music, with the K-pop star announcing his second solo album on Tuesday (June 16).

Arriving on July 10, NO LABELS: PART 02 will follow up YEONJUN’s first LP as a soloist, NO LABELS: PART 01, which dropped in November last year. The news comes along with a cinematic video titled “CHOI YEONJUN,” which previews the vibes of the sophomore project through a series of simple but eye-catching shots of the performer doing ordinary things such as brushing his teeth and eating breakfast in a hotel room.

“Throughout the video, YEONJUN roams around the room in his most authentic form,” reads a description. “Through these unfiltered, everyday moments, the video offers a glimpse into a more personal side of YEONJUN and sets the tone for the upcoming album.”

A release also promised that more details about NO LABELS: PART 02‘s concept and tracklist will roll out in the coming weeks.

Featuring songs such as “Let Me Tell You” featuring Daniela of KATSEYE, NO LABELS: PART 01 debuted at No. 1 on Top Album Sales — a chart TXT topped for the ninth time this past April with the six-track project 7TH YEAR: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns, which also peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. As a soloist, YEONJUN had previously collaborated with KATSEYE on a remix of the girl group’s “Touch” and released his debut single, “GGUM,” in 2024.

Check out “CHOI YEONJUN” to get a sense of NO LABELS: PART 02 above.

It’s taken 19 years, but Cuisillos secure its second No. 1 on a national, United States-based Billboard chart, as the group returns to the top of Regional Mexican Airplay with “Aunque Me Duela.” The song surges three spots to lead the June 20-dated list.

The group from Cuisillos, Jalisco, Mexico, previously hit No. 1 on the chart with “Mil Heridas” for two weeks in June 2007.

“Aunque Me Duela,” released April 24 on Apach/Cuisillos, reaches the Regional Mexican Airplay summit with Greatest Gainer honors, awarded weekly to the song with the largest increase in audience at the format. The song earned 6.2 million impressions, up 30% week over week, in the June 5-11 tracking week, according to Luminate.

In between Cuisillos’ two chart-toppers, the group reached a No. 3 Regional Mexican Airplay peak with “Vive y Déjame Vivir” in 2008. Formed in 1987 and known for Native American-inspired stage outfits honoring the group members’ heritage, Cuisillos has logged four top 10s among 26 career entries on the chart. “Cartas Marcadas” became its first top 10, rising to No. 9 in December 2001. The band first drew Billboard chart ink when “No Se Lo Digas a Ella” entered Regional Mexican Airplay in March 2000.

“Aunque Me Duela” also climbs 11-4 on the Latin Airplay chart, which reflects airplay on more than 150 Latin-formatted radio stations across the U.S. It’s the group’s second top 10 on the survey.

Fueled by that radio momentum, Cuisillos also earns its first appearance on the streaming, airplay and sales-based Hot Regional Mexican Songs chart, where “Aunque Me Duela” debuts at No. 22.

Vince Staples has cleared the air over the album cover of his latest set, Cry Baby, which features a drawing of a blonde-haired white baby crying while wearing an American flag diaper.

The Long Beach rapper and actor recently told Apple Music the meaning behind the cover and stressed that the baby depicted isn’t meant to represent President Donald Trump. “I see a lot of conversation about the cover,” he said during his Radio Takeover. “That is not a baby version of Donald Trump. That is you, the listener, that is you as a baby. That is all of us.”

Staples added, “That’s the socio-political systems in which we adopt and complain about at the same time. And as we complain and as we operate within these things without wanting to break apart from them, you are feeding the baby, the beast, so to say. And this album is about the different ways in which you can do that.”

Released on June 5, Cry Baby has sparked a lot of conversation around not only the artwork but the politically charged subject matter, with fans split on the album’s genre-bending sound.

Staples spoke on the album’s alternative leanings and his frustrations with the country and the music industry in general during a performance at the El Rey Theatre in L.A. “We didn’t do much press and stuff like that,” he told the crowd. “We just wanted to come and play the music ’cause I’m sick of f—kin’ talkin’. You do the press run, you tell jokes and s—t but like, ain’t nothin’ f—king funny. You know? Not to me at least, maybe to you.”

The rapper continued by revealing that he’s been frustrated with the music industry since he flirted with different genres on his Hell Can Wait EP and his sophomore album Big Fish Theory, telling the crowd, “You know, they told me, ‘You can’t make this, you gotta do straight hip-hop, it’s gonna translate better with your audience.’ Whatever the f—k that means.”

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Ahead of Prime Day starting on Tuesday (June 23), Amazon is dropping new deep discounts before the four-day shopping event.

Right now, you can get Apple TV as an add-on channel for Prime Video for only $5.99 per month for two months of service. The streamer is normally $12.99 per month, so this is a 54% savings. But act fast and sign up now, this Prime Day deal expires on Friday (June 26).

Since this deal is only valid as an add-on channel, you have to be a subscriber to Amazon Prime or Prime Video.

Not a subscriber? Sign up for a 30-day free trial to take advantage of all that Amazon Prime has to offer, including access to Prime Video, Prime Gaming and Amazon Photos; fast free shipping in less than two days with Prime Delivery; in-store discounts at Whole Foods Market; access to exclusive shopping events — such as Prime Day in June and Black Friday in November — and other perks.

PRIME DAY DEAL

Apple TV

Prime Video add-on channel

$5.99/month $12.99/month 54% off

Get Apple TV on Prime Video

Expires on Friday, June 26

---

Afterward, Prime Video (as a standalone service) starts at $8.99 per month with an ad-supported plan, while Amazon Prime starts at $14.99 per month, or $139 per year. Learn more about Amazon Prime and its benefits here.

What’s Streaming on Apple TV?

Apple TV has a great selection of original movies and TV shows, including Widow’s Bay, Pluribus, Severance, Yo Gabba Gabbaland!, Your Friends and Neighbors, The Morning Show, Ted Lasso, The Studio, Long Way Up and Long Way Home, Killers of the Flower Moon, CODA, Fly Me to the Moon, Tetris and others.

In addition, the streaming service has music programming and concert series, like Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson, Soundbreaking, Behind the Music, 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything, Jennifer Lopez’s Apple Music Live Concert, The Beatles: A Complete Anthology, Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You and many others.

It has live sports too, with streaming access to all F1 Grand Prix races and MLS matches, as well as MLB Friday Night Baseball.

For Prime Day, you can get Apple TV as an add-on channel for Prime Video on sale for $5.99 per month (regularly $12.99 per month) for your first two months of service — a 54% savings.

Want more? For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.

Olivia Rodrigo may have crossed paths with the ghosts of people who dropped dead centuries ago during her music video shoot at the Palace of Versailles in France.

In a recent appearance on The Capital Evening Show with Jimmy Hill, the pop star revealed that while shooting the visual for her Billboard Hot 100-topping single “Drop Dead” overnight at the iconic museum, she “definitely” sensed a paranormal presence or two. “It was a little [scary] and a little creepy,” Rodrigo said. “I kind of believe in ghosts, and I feel like if I was a ghost, I’d probably want to haunt the halls of Versailles.”

The Grammy winner added, “I definitely felt some spirits there.”

The “Drop Dead” music video premiered in April, featuring Rodrigo frolicking through the ornate halls of the palace while rocking out to the song on guitar and in her headphones. The choice of location likely stems from one of the lyrics in the song’s chorus, on which the star sings, “I always had a vision of us standing like this/ All pressed up in the bathroom line, you looking like an angel on the walls of Versailles.”

“I can’t believe that they let me film there, it was really wild,” Rodrigo added. “It started as kind of a pipe dream of, ‘Oh, that could be cool one day if I could go and visit Versailles.’”

“Drop Dead” marked the first taste of You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, Rodrigo’s third album that dropped June 12. The former Disney star has since followed up the first track with two more music videos for songs on the album: “The Cure” and “Stupid Song.”

Check out the “Drop Dead” music video filmed inside the Palace of Versailles below.

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip. 
 
This week: The New York Knicks’ first championship victory in 53 years (and the first World Cup kickoff in four years) sends sports fans to stream their favorite related anthems, while streaming audiences celebrate the late Oliver Tree and an *NSYNC classic gets a viral choreography boost.

Go New York Go: Knicks Championship Sends Streams Skyrocketing for Local Classics

The New York Knicks’ first NBA championship in 53 years sparked citywide celebrations that turned into big gains for multiple New York-related songs over the weekend.

Leading the way in volume: Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” accumulated 1.4 million on-demand chart-eligible streams in the United States on June 13 (the day of the game-five win) and 14 (the day after, also including any late-night streaming as the game ended shortly before midnight), a 30% boost from 1.1 million the prior two days (June 11-12), according to preliminary reports from Luminate.

Other major leaps included gains for Frank Sinatra’s “Theme From New York, New York” (672,000 June 13-14, up 62% from 415,000 June 11-12), Ja Rule’s “New York” featuring Fat Joe and Jadakiss (515,000, up 68% from 308,000), Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” (190,000, up 71% from 111,000), Cam’ron’s Jay-Z- and Juelz Santana-featuring “Welcome to New York City” (98,000 up 62% from 60,000) and Jesse Itzler’s “Go Ny Go” (56,000, up 70% from 33,000).

Worth noting as well: comparing each song’s June 14 streams to its listens on April 18, the day the 2026 NBA playoffs began. “Empire State of Mind” pulled 374,000 streams that day, giving the song a 128% to its 852,000 on June 14 alone. The other five tracks experienced similar gains during that span, as low as 126% and as high as a five-digit-percentage-point increase of 18,465%. – KEVIN RUTHERFORD

Oliver Tree’s Catalog Skyrockets in Streams After Singer-Songwriter’s Death

The shocking news came out over the weekend (June 14) that alt-pop hitmaker Oliver Tree was one of six dead in a mid-air crash between two helicopters above the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. The singer-songwriter-producer, born Oliver Tree Nickell, had been traveling through South America as part of his World’s First World Tour — which had kicked off on May 30 in Mexico and was supposed to take Tree through 70 total performances spanning all seven continents. 

The music world was stunned by Tree’s tragic passing, with many artists expressing their grief over social media — including ex-girlfriend and fellow alt-pop star Melanie Martinez, who called him “a true artist in every way.” Tree’s fans were also understandably overtaken by the loss, taking to streaming services to mourn the 32-year-old’s passing. 

The day of his June 14 death, Tree amassed 5.5 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate — a number which jumped another 135%, to 12.8 million streams, the following day. Between the two days, he accumulated nearly 18.3 million streams, a staggering 1,744% spike from the equivalent two-day period a week before (June 7-8). The leading tracks were his pair of Billboard Hot 100 hits, 2021’s “Life Goes On” (up 1,919% to 3.2 million streams) and 2022’s “Miss You” with Robin Schulz (up 1,756% to 2.3 million), as well as his 2018 breakout single “Alien Boy” (up 1,963% to 1.7 million). – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

World Cup Anthems Soar Following Tournament Kickoff

Unless you’re in New York or Carolina still basking in the Knicks’ or Hurricanes’ respective NBA and NHL championship victories, you’re probably somewhere currently experiencing some degree of World Cup fever. The global FIFA tournament kicked off on Thursday (June 11), with games taking place across Canada, Mexico and the United States for both the past week and the next month-plus to come. 

Before that, though, a number of artists performed as part of the tournament’s official countdown concerts, taking place across World Cup sites on Wednesday (June 10). Many of the artists involved played World Cup-affiliated songs, with the songs experiencing major gains as a result. 

Shakira & Burna Boy’s “Dai Dai,” the official song of the tournament, saw some of the biggest hikes after the duo closed the Mexico opening ceremonies with the anthem, racking up over 3.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams over the three days following the concert (June 11-13) — a 74% spike from the equivalent period the week before (June 4-6), according to Luminate. Lisa, Anitta and Rema also saw a 43% gain (to 365,000 streams) for their song “Goals” over the same period, following their joint performance at the U.S. opening ceremonies. 

Meanwhile, a handful of older World Cup songs were not performed at the event, but are still earning streaming spikes due to being undying tournament anthems. A pair of 2010 classics, Shakira’s “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” and K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag,” both experienced big jumps, with the former up 101% to 2.2 million streams and the latter up 124% to 630,000 over the same timespan. And Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez just can’t stop trending up this past month, with their 2014 collab “We Are One (Ola Ola)” rising 251% to 1.1 million streams.

And despite not being an official World Cup song — or really having anything to do with futból at all — Katy Perry’s 143 deep cut “Wonder” saw some of the greatest gains of the weekend. After Perry performed alongside 10-year-old Norwegian singer Tius Luka to close the U.S. opening ceremonies, the song climbed a whopping 4,009% over the same period, from just 4,000 streams to over 169,000 streams. – AU

The Brotherhood Dance Crew Revives *NSYNC’s “I Want You Back” With Viral Choreography 

The Brotherhood dance crew strikes again! 

Led by choreographer Scott Forsyth and hailing from Canada, the frequently viral dance team score another TikTok dance trend with moves lifted from its first-place-winning performance at the International Dance League’s 2026 Vancouver Series (May 23). 

The crew delivered a pitch-perfect, boy band-inspired set built around *NSYNC’s “I Want You Back,” and the infectious choreography has spurred users to revisit the 1997 hit song on streaming. According to Luminate, “I Want You Back” earned 379,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of The Brotherhood’s IDL victory (May 22-28). Once clips from their set began to make the rounds on TikTok the following week (May 29-June 4), that figure jumped 44% to over 546,000 official streams. A week later (June 5-11), “Want” leapt a further 25%, collecting over 687,000 official streams, good for a two-week increase of 81%. 

While The Brotherhood’s official TikTok account houses a clip of the winning performance with just under one million views, Forsyth (@/scott4syth) boasts two rehearsal “Want You Back” clips with over 1.2 million views each. The official “I Want You Back” TikTok sound now plays in nearly 50,000 clips, with a large portion of them finding everyday users attempting the choreography.  Notably, The Brotherhood helped Lecrae & 1K Phew’s “Move” land in this column thanks to their 2025 IDL Vancouver performance. 

With the official *NSYNC TikTok account proclaiming, “You guys win” in the comment section of The Brotherhoood’s post, expect the “I Want You Back” momentum to continue building across socials. — KYLE DENIS 

In the middle of her first-ever appearance at the Country Music Association’s CMA Fest, Melissa Etheridge mused that the experience was “like speed dating.”

Her 30-minute June 5 set, she added a few days later, was just enough to give the audience a taste: “Do you like me? You want to see me again? Okay. Bye.”

Pop and rock artists have played the country-centered festival for years. Acts who’ve graced its stages include Joan Jett, Lenny Kravitz, Don McLean, The Beach Boys, Steven Tyler, Richie Sambora, Jason Mraz, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Backstreet Boys and Pharell Williams, and most of them found their way to the big stage at Nissan Stadium.

During the latest edition, June 4-7, yacht-rock prince Michael McDonald and rapper Fetty Wap landed on the main stage. Etheridge and rap’s Waka Flocka Flame played the Dr. Amp Stage on successive days, and they made additional stops on the CMA Closeup Stage. Etheridge had a public conversation with Gretchen Wilson, while Waka Flocka joined The Nappy Roots for “Country & Rap: The Black Southern Roots of American Music.” Additionally, Bon Jovi’s Nashville bar, JBJs, presented more than two dozen rock and alternative acts, topped by Cage the Elephant, in the heart of the festival’s footprint.

Etheridge was there to work, using the occasion to promote her new album — Rise, featuring a Chris Stapleton duet and production by Shooter Jennings (Tanya Tucker, Charley Crockett) — and the 27-date Raised on Radio Tour, featuring co-headliner Wynonna Judd.

“When you’re a legacy artist, it’s not so easy to release a new album,” she told Wilson on the Closeup Stage.

The 2026 country audience, Etheridge reasoned, includes some of her fan base, and her music is compatible enough with the genre that she would likely attract some new followers. She already has her own history with country — her first two bands, as a teenager in Kansas, were country groups; she teamed with Dolly Parton in a 2003 episode of CMT Crossroads; she penned a Trisha Yearwood single, “You Can Sleep While I Drive”; and she became friends with Tammy Wynette back in the day.

“My lifestyle and stuff was always sort of outside of the country music realm, but in the last decade or so, it’s opened up,” Etheridge says. “The country music world is a place now where people are still buying albums, they want to go on the whole journey, they want to go see the artist live. That excitement for music is still there, and the kind of rock ‘n’ roll that I play, it’s country now.”

Country is extraordinarily wide in its current stylistic range,  as demonstrated at CMA Fest. It still boasts artists with strong traditional roots — Riley Green’s “Worst Way” and “Change My Mind” brought old-school vibes to the stadium, while newcomer Braxton Keith injected agile and authentic western swing into his June 5 appearance at Billboard Country Live.

There are plenty of other sonics, too. HARDY packed thundering hard-rock chords into “God’s Country” and Nirvana guitar tones into “Truck Bed” at Nissan; Stephen Wilson Jr. used a buzzing guitar texture and from-the-gut intensity on “Gary” the same night; Atlus evinced 1980s and ‘90s power pop in his June 5 performance at the Good Molecules Reverb Stage; Kameron Marlowe utilized a meaty, soulful vocal resonance that’s mindful of Paul Carrack or Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers; and Graham Barham infused hip-hop influence into several songs in his June 4 set at the Chevy Vibes Stage.

While it might fold in those other influences, country has a reputation for a more tangible bond between artist and fan, and that’s evident from some of the other activities at CMA Fest. Carly Pearce brought her annual Carly’s Closet auction to the festival to raise money for the CMA Foundation; Ty Myers, Tyler Braden, Randy Travis and Walker Hayes were among the acts who signed autographs and posed for fan photos; and numerous performers met their most ardent followers at fan club events.

Hunter Hayes, as an example, hosted four intimate performances at the Vinyl Vault, inside Mel’s Diner, for about 50-70 people per show. He took requests, answered off-the-cuff questions and even had one fan — experiencing her 385th Hayes performance in 15 years — duet with him.

“CMA Fest is phenomenal,” he told one group of fans on June 6. “You could see anything and everything at any time, and I wanted a moment where I could just kind of be human with you.”

That kind of personal interaction, even if it is somewhat orchestrated, unites artists and fans, and while country has plenty of egos, it’s an experience that reminds the industry as a whole how much it depends on the interest of millions of ordinary people to keep it humming.

“It’s not normal to be famous,” Clint Black told the audience on June 5 in a Country Closeup Q&A with Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase. “You guys are watching as Ella [Langley] or Riley Green are skyrocketing, and they’re there in a storm swirling around them, and they’re learning, and I think they’re handling it really well. But if you watch people rise to stardom and all of that stuff, pray for them, pray for them to be able to handle the weirdness.”

Changes are afoot for the festival, which is scheduled to take place again June 10-13, 2027. The nightly shows will likely be moving into a new stadium, and CMA will have a new CEO, as current leader Sarah Trahern preps for retirement. Luke Bryan closed out the final Nissan night, wrapping with his party number “Country Girl (Shake It for Me)” and sending a shoutout to Trahern from the stage.

The festival will be back, Trahern has indicated she will still attend as a fan, and Etheridge demonstrated why pop, rock and R&B acts would want to keep dipping their toes in the festival water.

She was impressed by the professionalism she witnessed as CMA handled the on-and-off logistics of staging hundreds of acts, and felt like she was playing to an audience that suits her music.

Etheridge was enthusiastic about returning “if,” she said, “they’ll have me. I think it’s a great experience.”

10 Years Ago

When Dierks Bentley’s ‘Black’ Eyed The Summit On Top Country Albums

The project took its title from a song conceived after his 10th wedding anniversary

In the wake of Dierks Bentley’s diamond anniversary in 2015, he wrote a song inspired by his wife, Cassidy, branding it “Black” in recognition of her maiden name.

That song emerged as the title track of his eighth Capitol Nashville album, and on June 18, 2016, Black topped Billboard’s Top Country Albums in its first chart week, becoming the sixth of Bentley’s seven trips to the list’s summit.

Produced by Ross Copperman (Darius Rucker, Gabby Barrett), the project was shaped around the topics of love and sex, exploring some of the dark feelings and inner fears that are, at times, tested by relationships. The first single, “Somewhere on a Beach,” burned its way to No. 1 on Hot Country Songs for three weeks beginning on the April 30, 2016, list, ahead of the album’s May 27 release. “Different for Girls,” a collaboration with Elle King, rose to No. 3, while “Black” painted the list at No. 4.

King wasn’t alone among the album’s familiar contributors. Also on the Black list were Maren Morris, who showed up on “I’ll be the Moon”; and New Orleans’ Trombone Shorty, who appeared on “Mardi Gras.” Black earned a Gold album from the RIAA on Feb. 22, 2017, and was elevated to Platinum status on Oct. 28, 2022.

Bentley’s inaugural run to No. 1 on Top Country Albums came with Modern Day Drifter, which led the chart dated May 28, 2005. His most recent return to the summit came with The Mountain, which peaked on the list dated June 23, 2018.