Cyndi Lauper is headlining The Colosseum at Caesers Palace in Las Vegas over a five-night run — and her show will play out however she wants it to.

During the artist’s opening-night set Friday (April 24), showgoers report she was loudly interrupted ahead of singing “Sally’s Pigeons” from 1993’s Hat Full of Stars album. Lauper seemed to be having a storyteller moment — sharing a tidbit about the track with the audience — when someone in the crowd shouted out something unintelligible.

“I don’t know what the f— you’re saying, hun,” Lauper said, as heard in a video recording from the concert posted by TMZ on Saturday. “But please remember where you are, OK? Because if you’re trying to shade me, b—-, I’m gonna come for you. I’m from Brooklyn, and if I wanna f—ing talk, I will do a tap dance if I f—ing want.”

“Sorry, that of course is not part of my people skills,” she joked after that.

Lauper’s Live in Las Vegas show kicked off April 24, with further performances scheduled for April 25, April 29, May 1 and May 2. Though limited to five dates, it marks her career-first Vegas residency; it also gives fans another chance to see her perform live following her Farewell Tour, which wrapped last year.

In 2025, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

“It’s a community of people, rockers that have changed the world,” Lauper — who, besides being a Hall of Famer and Hot 100 chart topper (“Time After Time,” “True Colours”) is also a Grammy, Emmy and Tony winner — told Billboard of the honor last year. “Here’s the thing: I still believe that rock ‘n’ roll can save the world. I just want people to remember that we did make a difference. We can make a difference if we band together. We must come together as a community and make light and bring people together to make change, to do the good work.”

Stagecoach Festival was briefly evacuated Saturday night after high winds forced organizers to halt performances and clear the festival grounds, prompting significant changes to the evening’s lineup — including the removal of Journey from the bill.

Following the disruption, updated set times shared by the festival confirmed that Journey, who had been scheduled to perform on the Mustang Stage, would no longer appear Saturday night.

Headliner Lainey Wilson will instead take the Mane Stage an hour later than originally planned, now set for 10:30 p.m., while Riley Green has also been removed from the evening lineup.

Additional adjustments include Pitbull’s late-night Mustang Stage set shifting from an 11 p.m. start to midnight, running through 1 a.m., and Gavin Adcock — whose earlier set was cut short — now joining the Whiskey Jam All-Star Sing-Along in the Palomino Tent later in the evening.

The evacuation was triggered by high winds that intensified across the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, where the festival is held. An “emergency evacuation” message appeared on screens across the site, instructing attendees to “move quickly and calmly to the nearest exit,” while alerts sent via the festival’s official app directed festivalgoers to leave the area.

The disruption affected multiple stages, with the Mane Stage between sets at the time the evacuation notice was issued. Winds had been building throughout the day, with gusts increasing into the evening under a regional wind advisory.

Billboard’s Jessica Nicholson, who was on-site, described the situation unfolding at the Palomino Stage, where Adcock’s performance was halted.

“I was at the Palomino Stage when they stopped Gavin Adcock’s show,” Nicholson reported. “The screens on either side of the Palomino stage lit up red and had a message that said ‘Stage Area Closed, please keep away from this area,’ then it later said to evacuate the area.”

Video from attendees showed large crowds exiting the venue, though the atmosphere remained largely calm as festivalgoers moved toward exits.

Stagecoach later confirmed via social media that the festival would resume shortly, writing that it was “working to open doors and prep the site for your safety,” before reopening the gates later in the evening. Updated set times were subsequently posted across the festival’s social channels, reflecting the revised schedule.

Stagecoach, one of the largest country music festivals in the United States, is held annually at the same site as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and draws tens of thousands of attendees.

Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson have called it quits. The rapper confirmed their split Saturday (April 25), shortly after alleging Thompson cheated in a message posted earlier via Instagram Stories.

“I’ve made the decision to end my relationship with Klay,” Megan said in a statement obtained by Billboard. “Trust, fidelity and respect are non-negotiable for me in a relationship, and when those values are compromised, there’s no real path forward. I’m taking this time to prioritize myself and move ahead with peace and clarity.”

An Instagram Stories update, which is a temporary post, on Megan’s account first addressed her breakup with the NBA player on Saturday.

“Cheating, had me around your whole family playing house… got ‘cold feet,’” the block of text read. “Holding you down through all your HORRIBLE mood swings and treatment towards me during your basketball season now you don’t know if you can be ‘monogamous’????”

She closed the post with “b—- I need a REAL break after this one .. by yall.”

The music artist, who’s performing in Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! through mid-May, and the Dallas Mavericks shooting guard started dating in summer 2025 — with Meg once recalling their first time connecting as “a meet cute” and once describing her former beau as “the nicest person I’ve ever met in my life.” They had their red carpet debut in New York City that July.

By Thanksgiving, Thompson had named his boat after his girlfriend (“SS Stallion”), and the couple had spent a holiday together with Thompson’s family.

In February 2026, Meg quipped that she was “manifesting my engagement” (presumably to Klay) in a video clip filmed in Milan with Olympic athletes Brittany Bowe and Hilary Knight, who are engaged.

Ella Langley had a surprise in store for her Stagecoach debut.

While some fans may have expected Morgan Wallen, the 26-year-old country star instead brought out comedian and podcaster Theo Von during her Friday (April 24) set in Indio, California.

Following performances of “Bottom of Your Boots” and “Broken,” from her just-released album Dandelion, as well as “20-20” from the deluxe reissue Still Hungover, Langley welcomed Von to the stage for a duet of her Riley Green collaboration, “You Look Like You Love Me.”

After reaching the second verse — typically reserved for Green — Langley invited Von onstage. Dressed fittingly in a denim shirt, blue jeans and a cowboy hat, he jumped right in.

“And that’s when I realized that she was every cowboy’s dream come true,” a thrilled Von declared, pointing to Langley.

The pair then launched into the chorus as festivalgoers sang along, “You look like you love me/ You look like you want me to want you to come on home.”

Langley, who recently appeared on Von’s This Past Weekend podcast, joked as he exited the stage, “Bet you didn’t expect that… keep ’em guessin’!”

“You Look Like You Love Me” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in December 2024.

Langley closed her Stagecoach set with “Choosin’ Texas” — which recently logged a seventh nonconsecutive week atop the Billboard Hot 100 — and “Weren’t for the Wind.”

The singer-songwriter is currently dominating both the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200, with Dandelion debuting at No. 1. She also recently premiered her new duet, “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” with Wallen during his stadium show in Alabama on April 18.

Cody Johnson brought some slow jams to this year’s Stagecoach.

During his headlining set on Friday (April 24), the 38-year-old country star welcomed Boyz II Men to the stage for a performance of the legendary R&B vocal group’s 1994 hit “On Bended Knee.”

Johnson began singing a cover of the classic love song before being joined by Boyz II Men’s Nathan Morris, Wanyá Morris and Shawn Stockman, who helped carry the performance as festival-goers in Indio, California, swayed along in nostalgia.

“On Bended Knee,” from the group’s sophomore album, II, spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1994.

This isn’t Boyz II Men’s first crossover performance in recent memory. In March, the Philadelphia soul act made a surprise appearance at the Listening Room’s 20th anniversary at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, where they joined Brett Young for his song “In Case You Didn’t Know.”

Johnson’s Stagecoach performance comes after the announcement of his upcoming album, Banks of the Trinity, set for release June 26 through COJO Music/Warner Records Nashville.

The project follows Johnson’s 2023 album, Leather (and its deluxe edition), which featured hits including “Dirt Cheap” and “The Fall” and was named album of the year at the 2024 CMA Awards.

Elsewhere at Stagecoach on Friday, rising star Ella Langley surprised the crowd by bringing out comedian Theo Von for a duet of her Riley Green collaboration, “You Look Like You Love Me.”

Stagecoach 2026 continues with a headlining performance by Lainey Wilson on Saturday (April 25), followed by a closing set from Post Malone on Sunday.

Demi Lovato is exhausted, but — looking effortlessly glamorous in a white, furry jacket — you’d never be able to tell as she lists her current favorite women in pop music. “Zara Larsson, of course,” she tells Billboard. “Adela. I’ll always be a huge fan of Lady Gaga. Sabrina [Carpenter]’s great.”

“Oh God, I’m trying to think of who else,” the singer continues. But it’s nearly midnight, and the post-show brain fog is taking over. “Sorry, I just played a concert.”

We’re standing backstage at New York’s Madison Square Garden — which Lovato just headlined for the first time in their career on Friday (April 24) — as the star snaps photos with about a dozen fans during a quick meet-and-greet. All of them have noticeably clean-smelling breath as they exhale incredulously when she first enters the room, thanks to brand partner TheraBreath, which provided samples of Lovato’s favorite mouthwash at the gathering.

“I mean, all the pop girlies are great,” adds the equally fresh-breathed performer, who, just a few years ago, probably never would’ve thought that she’d be considered among those same proverbial Main Pop Girls.

After distinctly switching to rock music on 2022 album Holy Fvck and declaring their pop music dead — literally, Lovato held a funeral — the hitmaker switched right back in October 2025, releasing It’s Not That Deep, a Billboard 200 No. 9 LP of electronic dance-pop bangers. Earlier today, she unveiled the deluxe version, It’s Not That Deep (Unless You Want It to Be), featuring eight brand new songs, including “Low Rise Jeans,” which fans went crazy for when Lovato debuted the sultry track on the opening night of the It’s Not That Deep Tour.

Lovato tells Billboard that they think the new songs “add so much” to the already deeply (no pun intended) meaningful It’s Not That Deep era.

“They are great additions to the body of work that was already created,” the vocalist continues. “I knew I wanted to get back into the studio after I released the album. We started working on these songs — I think ‘Pretty Catatonic’ was the first one that came out of that writing process, and I fell in love with it. It just kind of unfolded from there.”

At MSG, Lovato kept the crowd energized with a mix of It’s Not That Deep standouts and older smashes, including Billboard Hot 100 hits “Heart Attack,” “Sorry Not Sorry” and “Cool For The Summer.” She also had two surprises in store for the New York City crowd, singing “Too Little Too Late” with special guest JoJo before performing live for the first time ever with husband Jutes. (They adorably belted “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls, which was the couple’s first-dance song at their wedding.)

At opening night in Orlando, Florida, Lovato treated the crowd to a performance with one of their first major duet partners: Joe Jonas. The duo belted out beloved Camp Rock classic “This Is Me” ahead of Camp Rock 3, which both are executive producing. It’s one of several throwback programs Disney Channel has been green-lighting from Lovato’s era; Selena Gomez, who attended that Orlando show and reunited with her childhood friend backstage, has been involved in an ongoing Wizards of Waverly Place reboot, while Miley Cyrus recently unveiled her Hannah Montana anniversary special.

“I think the age that we’re at is really loving nostalgia right now,” Lovato tells Billboard. “For all the people who are in their 30s and have lived through the Disney era with me, Selena, the Jonas Brothers and Miley, they’re craving it, and it’s fun to go back and relive those moments.”

Lovato says that the public’s hunger for that Disney Channel golden era has also allowed the stars to reconnect with each other and rekindle old friendships. “Oh, definitely,” she adds. “Yeah, I think that’s why it’s all coming together again in this day and age.”

Tributes from across Australia’s music and media sectors continue to emerge following the death of James Valentine, with artists including Jimmy Barnes and Iva Davies reflecting on his wide-ranging impact.

Valentine, a saxophonist best known for his work with Models before becoming a longtime broadcaster with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, died at age 64 using voluntary assisted dying at home two years after a cancer diagnosis, according to ABC.

Barnes shared a tribute on social media, writing, “James and I have known each other a long time. He loved music and I heard him play the saxophone many times with the Models. He was a funny and insightful interviewer, and I will miss hearing his gentle voice on ABC radio every afternoon. RIP James. You will be missed.”

Davies, frontman of Icehouse, also shared a detailed statement reflecting on their decades-long connection. “The ICEHOUSE team and I were very saddened to hear of the passing of James Valentine yesterday,” he wrote. “We’d known James since the early ‘80s when we met him on the road with Models. He was a great musician and I asked him to play saxophone on our Code Blue album, which he did with his renowned sense of skill and joy.”

He continued, “His move to be an innovative and much loved broadcaster at Australia’s ABC radio network meant we’d cross paths regularly – he was always engaged and fun to be around with a story or anecdote to share. James will be missed by many tens of thousands, by our ICEHOUSE team and by me. We send our heartfelt condolences to his family.”

Members of INXS also paid tribute, recalling their shared history on the Australian Made tour in the mid-1980s. “We are very much saddened to hear of the passing of our old mate James Valentine,” the band wrote. “James was an incredible musician and an amazing human. Always smiling, always positive, caring and involved.”

The statement continued, “Our lives crossed paths during the ’80s and we all became mates with James on the Australian Made tour in ’86-87 when he was a member of the Models. He of course then became a member of Absent Friends with Garry for an album and live performances.”

They added, “James later had an amazing career in TV and radio and as a writer — his wit and warmth was loved by everyone. Our sincere condolences to Joanne, Ruby and Roy. Travel safe mate — we miss you.”

The responses highlight the dual nature of Valentine’s career, which spanned both music and broadcasting. As previously reported, he performed on Models’ Out of Mind, Out of Sight, which peaked at No. 84 on the Billboard 200 and produced the single “Out of Mind, Out of Sight,” a Billboard Hot 100 entry in 1986. His work as a session and touring musician extended across multiple Australian acts throughout the decade.

In later years, Valentine became a defining voice on ABC radio, hosting programs for more than three decades, including a long-running tenure on 702 ABC Sydney’s Afternoons show. His conversational style and curiosity-driven interviews helped him build a broad national audience, expanding his influence well beyond the music industry.

Additional tributes from across the industry have emphasized that crossover impact. Valentine’s ability to move between performance and broadcasting roles positioned him as a rare figure within Australia’s creative landscape — equally at home onstage and behind the microphone.

His passing also comes amid renewed recognition of his contributions. Australia’s Governor-General Sam Mostyn recently confirmed that Valentine had been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), acknowledging his service to both music and media.

For industry figures, the response to his death reflects not only his legacy as a musician, but also the enduring reach of his broadcasting career, which brought his voice into the daily lives of listeners for decades.

Valentine is survived by his wife and two children.

The Otis Redding Foundation is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its Otis Redding Center for the Arts (ORCA) this month. The momentous occasion was formally recognized with an open house (April 11), attended by Redding’s widow Zelma Redding and R.E.M. bassist/composer Mike Mills, 2025’s recipient of the Otis Redding Spirit of Community Award. In tandem with the celebration, registration for upcoming summer sessions of Otis Music Camp (June 1-20) and Camp Dream (July 20-31) was announced.

Named after the soul icon behind classics such as “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and “Respect,” ORCA offers music and arts programs to students ages 5-18. In addition to the aforementioned camps, the multipurpose space provides private lessons and workshops. Its curriculum covers the creative and business sides of the music industry through content creation, performance, entertainment law, engineering, graphic design and touring. The 15,000 square-foot facility also houses the O3 Recording studio and the Zelma Redding Amphitheater.

In comments emailed to Billboard, Ms. Redding explained why it’s so vital to continue paying it forward to the next generation of industry creatives and executives:

There’s something different about walking into a space that carries your family’s name — your family’s work, your family’s spirit. At the Otis Redding Center for the Arts, that feeling is everywhere. It’s not just pride — it’s responsibility. The kind you feel in your chest.

Maintaining a center like this, especially as part of the Otis Redding Foundation, is deeply personal. This isn’t just about programs or schedules. It’s about legacy. It’s about honoring the life and vision of Otis Redding — not only the music the world knows, but the man who believed in giving back, in lifting others up, and in creating opportunity where it didn’t always exist.

For our family, the arts have never been just entertainment. They’ve been a pathway to confidence, expression and possibility. So when we talk about maintaining this space, we’re really talking about protecting that pathway. Making sure a young person can walk through these doors and feel like they belong here, whether they’ve grown up around music or are just discovering it for the first time. Students finding their voice. Families finding community. Artists pouring into the next generation. That’s what turns a building into something meaningful. That’s what makes it feel alive.

Legacy doesn’t take care of itself. It requires intention, care and a willingness to keep growing. What Otis started, and what the foundation continues to build, is bigger than any one moment. For me, this work is about making sure that legacy keeps reaching forward. That it stays open, accessible and real. Because if we’re doing it right, the Otis Redding Center for the Arts won’t just reflect where we’ve been … It will help shape where we’re going.

More information about the Otis Redding Center for the Arts and its programs is available here.