With No. 1s on both sides of the Atlantic, Il Divo has experienced the peaks of a music career like few others. And in 2021, the crushing lows that come with the loss of a bandmate.
As the pandemic raged around the globe, Carlos Marín, the Spanish baritone and a beloved member of the classic crossover act, died unexpectedly at the age of 53.
The group’s surviving artists Urs Bühler (the Swiss tenor), Sébastien Izambard (the French pop artist) and David Miller (the American tenor) grieved, lifted. And with the discovery of Steven LaBrie, the Mexican-American baritone, a gift that would enable Il Divo to fulfil its second act.
“It was super difficult, to be honest,” recounts Izambard of the tragedy. “A part of us thought, we need to keep representing the legacy of our band. If Carlos had still been in this world, he would probably have told us to keep going.”
When the group considered pushing on, Miller pitched LaBrie, an artist he had worked with who possessed “an incredible voice,” Izambard says in a Zoom with Billboard. A recording of LaBrie’s talents came down the phone. “I was blown away, personally,” he explains. “I was like, there are some similarities in this voice. We talked the four of us, with Steven, to say how hard it’s gonna be, how big a role it to take on for Steven to be part of our band.”
Marín’s passing, he continues, “was a good lesson for me, especially. I want to enjoy life, as much as I can. That was a great message for all of us.”
Fast forward to 2026, and the chaps are enjoying life and music. A new album is in the works, the followup to 2024’s XX, a 20th anniversary collection of new material, including an original song.
“The plan is to do new music,” Bühler confirms, “then go back out and share that with the world. With some collaborations as well.” Watch this space.
Il Divo are giants in their lane. Initially assembled and mentored by Simon Cowell in 2003, the vocal group has sold more than 30 million albums, bagged two No. 1s on the Official U.K. Albums Chart and became the first classical crossover act to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, doing so 20 years ago, in 2006, with Ancora.
Along the way, they’ve collaborated with the likes of Celine Dion, Toni Braxton and Michael Ball, and entertained a who’s who of important figures, from former U.S. presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Australian audiences will be among the first to catch this new era of Il Divo. The group will return to Australia for a special all-star concert, Dec. 5, led by Jose Carreras, and featuring performances by Robbie Williams, the Corrs, Ronan Keating, Natalie Imbruglia, Darren Hayes, Katherine Jenkins and more.
Echo Pacific Entertainment is promoting the Carreras & Friends show at the Gabba Stadium in Brisbane — host city for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It’ll mark Il Divo’s first live performance in these parts since a four-city run in 2023, produced by TEG Dainty, and serve as an early Christmas present for the act.
Carreras and his groundbreaking work with Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo was an early inspiration for Il Divo. “It could well be said that Il Divo wouldn’t exist without the Three Tenors,” Miller enthuses. “Yet another reason to thank Maestro Carreras.”
On Tuesday (Aug. 4), Glen Hansard was gracefully remembered through the music he spent a lifetime creating at his Dublin funeral.
Family, friends and fellow musicians gathered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral to celebrate the life of the beloved Irish singer-songwriter, who died July 29 at age 56 following a motorcycle accident. Among those paying tribute were U2‘s Bono and The Edge, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, Hozier, Imelda May, Jake Clemons of the E Street Band and Liam Ó Maonlaí of Hothouse Flowers, all of whom joined mourners in honoring Hansard’s enduring legacy.
Bono shared a heartfelt statement during the ceremony, mulling over Hansard’s remarkable ability to make everyone feel like a close friend.
“People on the green outside, best friends. People tuning in, best friends. Even people who haven’t met him, best friends,” Bono said. “Everyone who met him, they just remember the day they met him.”
The U2 frontman shared a voicemail from Patti Smith that included a lullaby she recorded for Hansard’s loved ones. He also delivered a spoken tribute inspired by U2’s song “Beautiful Day,” accompanied by The Edge, reworking portions of the lyrics in honor of Hansard.
Vedder later took the stage to perform Hansard’s “The Song of Good Hope,” a fitting tribute from a longtime friend and collaborator. The Pearl Jam frontman was joined by Hansard’s Once collaborator Markéta Irglová during the performance, one of several musical moments that showcased the songwriter’s deep and sentimental influence across generations of artists.
Hansard’s brother, Richie Hansard, also delivered an emotional eulogy recalling the musician’s outlook on grief.
“Glen said once that when you lose someone, you don’t really lose them,” he told attendees. “If you have the strength and the will, you will gain them back and you inherit the best parts of them. And we have. We have inherited all the magical, colorful words, hugs, talks, madness, sadness, insightful, manic beauty that a brother, an uncle, a husband and a father could ever give. Thank you, Glen. Thank you, brother.”
The service concluded with a rendition of Bob Dylan‘s “Forever Young,” featuring Bono, Vedder, The Edge, Liam Ó Maonlaí and a choir of musicians assembled around the altar in a final farewell.
Hansard first rose to prominence as frontman of The Frames before earning worldwide acclaim alongside Irglová in The Swell Season. The pair won the Academy Award for best original song in 2008 for “Falling Slowly” from the film Once, which later inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. Over the course of his career, Hansard also released five solo studio albums and became known for his annual Christmas Eve busking performances in Dublin benefiting people experiencing homelessness.
Watch the moving musical tribute below.
The Backstreet Boys knew exactly what a momentous occasion it was when Kevin Richardson and Snoop Dogg crossed paths at Sunday’s Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie red-carpet premiere.
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On Tuesday (Aug. 4), the BSB social accounts shared two photos of the encounter — one of the pair embracing and the other of them shaking hands — with the caption “It finally happened… iykyk.”
The inside-joke caption is in reference to viral memes dating back to 2024 suggesting that Richardson — a founding member of the boy band — “looks like a white Snoop Dogg,” with three side-by-side sets of photos as evidence. Some fans said the comparisons go back even further, recalling that BSB’s Nick Carter and Brian Littrell told Richardson he resembled Snoop when the similarly lanky boy bander sported cornrow braids during the group’s Black & Blue Tour in 2001. (You can read all about Kevin’s full hair-volution here.)
The comments section under the new photos of Kevin and Calvin (Snoop’s real name is Calvin Broadus) didn’t disappoint, with *NSYNC’s Lance Bass sharing four clapping emojis on Instagram and Muni Long commenting on Threads, “So ya’ll was separated at birth or what?”
It took Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie — the upcoming sequel to 2023’s Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie — to bring these two look-alike music stars together. Snoop voices the character of Dave in the Aug. 16 movie, while the Backstreet Boys recorded the new song “Bottle Up” for the film.
Richardson and the Backstreet Boys are still in the midst of their residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, with dates set through Aug. 29, while Snoop is currently getting the biopic treatment, with a Universal Pictures film about his life set to hit U.S. theaters next year, on Aug. 6, 2027.
Rihanna has made a habit of returning home to Barbados during carnival season for the annual Crop Over festival. This year’s event took place from July 4-Aug. 3, culminating with the Grand Kadooment Day Parade on Monday (Aug. 3).
That’s where you would have found Rihanna, who once again stunned in a wildly colorful, elaborate costume covered in jewels, sparkles and peacock-colored feathers. The singer, 38, walked, and danced, in the parade, blowing kisses to fans along the way and then swapped out her towering headpiece for a more manageable one before boarding a float to enjoy the festivities at a remove while she waved to fans.
According to Glamour, the costume was by celebrated Barbadian designer Lauren Astin and featured “crystal embellishments, bold jewel tones, dramatic feather detailing and a statement headpiece worthy of a carnival queen.” The outfit also had a number of bold cut-outs on the bodice — mostly cut-outs, honestly, as the eye-popping piece strategically covered bits of RihRih’s body with jewels, leaving not much to the imagination.
Crop Over is Barbados’ biggest and most vibrant carnival celebration, with roots in the 1700s as a party marking the end of the island’s sugar cane harvest. The contemporary version features weeks of music-driven parties and cultural events leading up to Monday’s Grand Kadooment Day, the massive carnival parade where thousands of citizens don their finest masks and sparkling costumes to dance through the streets of Barbados.
Though fans are still holding out for the singer’s ninth studio album, the long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s ANTI, Rih gave them a tease recently when she was a surprise guest at the final gig in Jay-Z’s run of Yankee Stadium shows, popping out at the Extra Innings Concert on July 12. She popped out to perform “Run This Town” and B–ch Better Have My Money” at the gig, her first public performance since Super Bowl LVII three years ago.
Vicki Wickham, the pioneering British television producer, music executive and artist manager who worked on the television series Ready, Steady, Go!, died Aug. 1 in New York City following an extended illness. She was 87.
Wickham played a defining role in promoting the acts behind the British beat explosion. As talent booker and later producer of ITV’s Ready, Steady, Go!, a live pop performance show, from 1963 to 1966, she helped introduce a generation of artists – including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Yardbirds and Cilla Black – to millions of viewers at home.
The Beatles appeared on Ready, Steady, Go! three times in 1963 and 1964 as Beatlemania spread around the globe, while Wickham was pivotal in showcasing Motown to British audiences. Wickham booked The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and The Temptations, among others, for the programme.
Wickham also produced an hour-long live television special devoted to James Brown. She later brought in performers such as Ike & Tina Turner, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Patti LaBelle and Berry Gordy for subsequent specials.
Quoted in Andy Neill’s 2020 book, Ready, Steady, Go!: The Weekend Starts Here, Gordy recalled: “The wonderful Vicki Wickham had convinced her boss to do a one-hour TV special. The Sound of Motown was a big moment for us because it brought our music and our artists to the U.K.’s national television audience for the first time. We will always remember and appreciate the love and the loyalty of the British people and the part Ready, Steady, Go! played in our success around the world.”
Born in Newbury, Berkshire, England, Wickham began her career at London publisher Cassell & Co. before joining BBC Radio’s Light Entertainment Department, where she worked on audio documentaries. A chance introduction to producer Elkan Allan led to her involvement with Ready, Steady, Go! just as the first wave of British pop music was starting to take off.
She went on to manage Labelle and Dusty Springfield, guiding the latter’s career through the late 1980s and bringing Springfield together with Pet Shop Boys for the 1987 hit “What Have I Done to Deserve This?”. Wickham later co-authored Springfield’s biography, Dancing With Demons, with Penny Valentine.
Wickham received the Music Industry Woman of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999, and in 2013 was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to music, receiving the honour from then-Prince Charles.
Wickham is survived by her wife, singer-songwriter Nona Hendryx. The couple first met in the 1960s when Hendryx performed with Labelle and married in 2011. Private family gatherings will be held in New York City and London, with a larger public celebration of Wickham’s life to be announced at a later date.
Ariana Grande kicked off her Eternal Sunshine Tour nearly two months ago — and boy, a lot has changed since.
She’s famously tweaked a key lyric in “Thank U, Next” (changing: “wrote some songs about Ricky/ now I listen and laugh” to: “wrote some songs about Ricky/ we always find our way back”) to reflect their alleged rekindled relationship; she released her eighth studio album, petal, adding songs from the project into her setlist; and, most recently, a rep announced Grande’s upcoming break from the public, including recasting her role in the West End revival of Sunday in the Park with George.
As a result of so much change, The Eternal Sunshine Tour has become this ever-evolving, real-time commentary on Grande’s life straight from the source. And at a time when so many have so much to say about her — with social media aflame over everything from her actions to her appearance — Grande did something refreshing. She commented on that, too.
On Sunday (Aug. 3), a representative for Grande shared with People: “Ariana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour. She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny. This tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”
Grande confirmed the last bit herself, beginning Act II of her set with a near five-minute speech. “Is it okay if I talk to you guys for a little bit?” she asked instead of diving right into “eternal sunshine” as per usual. “First of all, I just want to say I love you so much and I’m so happy to be here with you. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Then, in a rare move for anyone let alone a pop star at her level, she shared thoughts she had typed down in direct response to the comments and headlines about her that had reached a boiling point over the last 24 hours. And yes, of course, some will surely find fault with what she shared — or didn’t. But the placement of this speech within the set was entirely intentional. Once she was down with what she had to say, she immediately created an echo chamber via pedal loop of her own voice repeating in harmony: “I don’t care what people say is true.”
And during her first Chicago show, that sentiment stayed top of mind; Grande very well may care what people say, but when it comes to the truth, she is the only one who can discern that for herself.
From her speech to the live debut of petal songs added to the setlist, read below for all that changed in Grande’s first show since the album — and the headlines — dropped last weekend.
Ariana Grande addressed her decision to step back from public life directly to fans during her Eternal Sunshine Tour stop in Chicago on Monday night (Aug. 3), pushing back on the idea that outside criticism had driven the choice.
The speech followed a statement issued by a representative for Grande on Sunday (Aug. 2), first reported by People, confirming she will take a break from public-facing work once the tour wraps Sept. 1 — and that she has withdrawn from a planned West End revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park With George, in which she was set to star opposite her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey.
Onstage, Grande told the crowd she wanted to speak for herself. “Sometimes when a story comes out that’s not directly from me, things can get a little blown out of proportion,” she said. “So I just wanted to speak to my fans directly tonight because I love you so much.”
She was explicit that the decision predated the recent commentary. “The announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing,” she said. “It is something that I had decided. It’s a plan that I had quietly made a long time ago, and it’s a decision that was made from a thoughtful and empowered place.”
Grande also directly countered the suggestion that negativity had soured her experience. “I heard that my fans were worried that negativity was ruining things for me, but I just have to say that could not be more the f–k opposite,” she said. “Nothing has been ruined. Multiple things can be true at the same time. Boundaries can need to be set. Human beings can need a break sometimes. And also, this can be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional and creative life.”
She closed by framing the tour and her new album as the parts she intends to keep. “The rest of that s–t is not mine to carry, so I don’t carry it,” she said, calling the run “the most healing, beautiful, corrective, magnificent, special experience of my life, and so has putting out Petal.”
The remarks land days after Petal arrived July 31. The album’s lead single, “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — her 10th career leader, tying her for the 10th-most No. 1s in the chart’s history. Its title track followed as the second single, arriving with a short-film music video in which Grande takes a chainsaw to critics echoing real-world commentary about her appearance.
Grande has three more Chicago dates before a 10-show London run closes the tour between Aug. 15 and Sept. 1. She next appears on screen in Focker-in-Law, opening Nov. 25.
Joe Jackson‘s life is set to be spotlit in a new documentary series from BLK Prime, with son Marlon Jackson helping narrate and develop the program.
Per a post made by The Jacksons on Instagram, the series will be titled The Manager, The Mythology, The Legend, and it’s anticipated to be an inside look into the man who guided the Jackson family’s rise from Gary, Indiana, to global superstardom. The season is set to be eight episodes.
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In a statement shared with Page Six, Marlon said the series aims to present a more personal portrait of his father.
“Our father’s life is replete with triumphs and challenges, and we firmly believe that this series will offer a distinctive and accurate portrayal of the man behind our family,” he said. “We are thrilled to share my father’s indelible legacy with fans worldwide, granting them an intimate glimpse into the remarkable individual we knew and loved.”
The docuseries is expected to explore Joe Jackson’s early life, his ambition, personal struggles and the role he played in building one of music’s most successful family dynasties. Promotional information also indicates that the series will revisit the Jackson 5’s relationship with Motown, the pressures surrounding the family’s atomic rise and the bonds that molded their journey.
Joe Jackson managed the careers of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael Jackson as the Jackson 5 emerged as one of Motown’s biggest acts, later helping launch daughter Janet Jackson‘s early entertainment career as well.
The announcement comes as revived attention has been placed on Joe Jackson’s complicated legacy following the release of the Michael Jackson biopic Michael. While widely recognized for helping shape the careers of his children, Joe also faced longstanding allegations of physical and emotional abuse from several members of the family. He acknowledged using strict discipline while denying many of the accusations made against him.
BLK Prime says the new series will offer viewers a closer look at Joe Jackson’s life from the perspective of those who knew him personally. No premiere date has been announced, though the streaming platform says more details about production and casting will be revealed in the coming months.
Hopefully ARMY likes surprises, because BTS is bringing new ones to its fan base every night.
It’s been four years since BTS’ last performances as a group, and fans have been left hungry. Now that the band has hit the road with their ARIRANG World Tour, supporting their Billboard 200 No. 1 album ARIRANG, they’re making sure that fans are fed.
Since kicking off the tour April 9 at Goyang Stadium in Goyang-si, South Korea, BTS has performed surprise songs during every show’s encore. The band’s already-packed setlist features 16 songs during the main performance and seven encore tracks, two of which change nightly. The surprise songs run the gamut of BTS’ career, ranging from Billboard Hot 100 hits like “Take Two” to 10-year-old singles like “I NEED U.” The band has even performed a few tracks it has not played in almost a decade, including “Crystal Snow,” on the ARIRANG World Tour.
Fans are of course ecstatic about the possibility of hearing a BTS track performed live for the first time. Some online have even begun keeping track of every surprise song the band has played and which they have yet to.
Below, Billboard, with the help of setlist.fm, has compiled a list of all the surprise songs BTS has brought to the ARIRANG World Tour thus far. As BTS continue on their 85-date, 34-city world tour, Billboard will continue to update this list with each new surprise track the band plays.
After introducing fans to the world of Valley Girl Problems, Kylie Cantrall is inviting them to experience it live.
The singer and actress announced Monday (Aug. 3) that she’ll set out on her first-ever headlining tour this fall, bringing the Valley Girl Problems Tour to 15 cities across North America. The trek begins Sept. 25 in Minneapolis before making stops in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco and more, wrapping Oct. 22 with a hometown show in Los Angeles.
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“I’ve been waiting to bring this project to life onstage and create an epic show where my fans can experience the entire world of Valley Girl Problems with me,” Cantrall said in a statement. “This music is so personal, and I can’t wait to sing these songs together every night.”
The tour follows the release of Cantrall’s latest EP, Valley Girl Problems, which earned 2.5 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. in its first week of release, according to Luminate. The nine-track project was produced by Tricky Stewart, whose credits include Rihanna and Tyla, with songwriting contributions from Tayla Parx, who has written for musicians like Ariana Grande and Khalid. Alongside the EP, Cantrall also released an official music video for “Closet” as well as a series of visualizers inspired by the project’s aesthetic.
Though the Valley Girl Problems Tour is her first headlining tour, Cantrall is no stranger to performing for live audiences. The multihyphenate starred as Red, the daughter of the Queen of Hearts, in Disney’s Descendants: The Rise of Red before joining the Descendants/Zombies: Worlds Collide Tour last year, which played more than 40 sold-out arena shows across North America. She also starred in last month’s Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, whose soundtrack debuted at No. 1 on the Kid Albums chart and No. 2 on the Soundtracks chart.
Tickets and additional tour information are available through Cantrall’s official website.