Blake Bergere would much rather fill hearts and minds with his music than flip burgers. That’s what’s at stake for the singing hopeful, who along with his childhood friend Nick Lorenz is chasing the dream on NBC’s America’s Got Talent.

The musical duo from New Albany, Ohio are competing as Bird & Byron in this 21^st season of AGT. Bergere, a vocalist with soul in his chest, and Lorenz, with his effects-laden guitar work and programmed backing instruments, took the less easy route through the competition by way of the Judges’ Callbacks, a new second-chance round for acts that earned “Yes” votes during regular auditions. 

On Tuesday night’s episode (Aug. 11), and facing elimination, the pair performed an original number, “By My Side.” For Bergere, progress in AGT is nothing short of a dream opportunity. Back home, he works at a burger restaurant. “There’s a lot on the line here,” he remarks in a package.

So, nerves could be forgiven.

“I think you’re great,” judge Howie Mandel enthused after their performance. “And your music and your voice is so distinctive. But, you know, we’re talking about the showmanship.”

For this week two of Judges’ Callbacks, Mandel and Sofía Vergara received support from guest advisors Nikki Glaser, Lele Pons, and Sebastián Yatra.

Glaser chimed in, sharing with Bergere some advice on leading from the front. “I saw you close your eyes,” the comedian explained. “You didn’t open them again. And I was thinking, man, if he opened his eyes, he’d see we’re all just grooving so hard right now. And you’re scared of seeing something that wasn’t even happening.” She insisted, “be the front man.”

Mandel agreed. “You’re closing us off. Share the vibe. And share the vibe with America.”

The childhood friends would be the last act to learn of their future in the contest.

“Your singing is so good. Your playing is so haunting. It’s really original,” Mandel remarked in his sit-down with the lads. “I think that you guys, regardless of what happens here, are already a success. If it was up to me, I would let you go to the live show.”

After a pregnant pause for effect, and a reminder that, yes, Mandel does have that power. And he waved them through. They’re going to the Live shows, along with the likes of Nene Royal, Cris Sosa, Daniel Alvarez, Kameron Marshall, Brook Lynn and Olivia Befus. Those acts eliminated included Naimana and Daniele, Rynia Kando, Vahtang and Darrell Moten.

The Live Quarterfinals begin Tuesday, Aug. 18 on NBC, and stream the following day on Peacock.

Watch the performance and results videos below.

Olivia Rodrigo takes the pain out of the festival experience with Daisy Chain Fields — the inaugural edition has no overlapping sets.

The pop superstar will headline the all-women fest later this month, the schedule for which has been published (check it out below).

Rodrigo and her “special guests” will perform from 8:40pm-10pm on the Dandelion Stage, her start time giving fans a good 10 minutes to complete the walk from Not For Radio’s set at the Marigold Stage (7:50pm-8.30pm).

Performers on the day include Chappell Roan, Garbage, Doechii, The Breeders, Mitski, Bikini Kill, KATSEYE and others. Those “special guests” include Karen O, Sarah McLachlan and Stevie Nicks.

Daisy Chain Fields will be presented Saturday, Aug. 29 at Great Park in Irvine, Calif. Its founder previously confirmed that 100 percent of the net proceeds would go to charities dedicated to advancing and advocating for women and girls.

“The lineup is truly insane and full of my heroes and friends,” Rodrigo said with the festival announcement in June. “I firmly believe that joy, community, and music can be the drivers of meaningful change and I’m hopeful this festival will be just that.”

Beneficiaries include the organizations Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center for Reproductive Rights, FreeFrom, Jhpiego, Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women’s Law Center and Planned Parenthood. 

Four tiers of ticket prices were made available, from $255 (general admission) up to $1,255 (pit viewing). The waitlist is at daisychainfields.com.

The day-long fundraiser is the latest in Rodrigo’s tireless efforts to make the world a better place for women and girls. In 2024, she launched her Fund 4 Good to raise money for reproductive rights, education and actions against domestic violence, later announcing that she had donated more than $2 million to charities through proceeds raised on her Guts World Tour. In 2025, Planned Parenthood presented her with its Catalyst of Change award.

Rodrigo will hunker down for a long stint on the road with her Unraveled Tour, which will visit arenas for multiple night stands in North America, Europe and the United Kingdom this fall and winter beginning with a Sept. 25 show at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn, and wrapping up May 10, 2027 at The O2 in London, England.

Those dates come in support of her third studio album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, which opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in June, her third consecutive leader after GUTS (in 2023) and SOUR (2021). With Pretty Sad, Rodrigo enjoyed career-best opening weeks in the Unites States, the United Kingdom (where it debuted at No. 1, completing a perfect three-from-three), and elsewhere.

Sir Rod Stewart is giving fans a reassuring update after a pair of canceled shows. Unfortunately, though, he’ll need to stay off the road for the next four weeks as he recovers from a recent heart procedure.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has successfully undergone a routine coronary stent procedure and is “very much on the mend,” according to a statement provided to Billboard on Tuesday (Aug. 11).

“Following further medical evaluation, Sir Rod Stewart has successfully undergone a routine coronary stent procedure,” the statement reads. “Doctors are pleased with his recovery, and Rod is doing very well and has returned to his normal daily activities. On the advice of his doctors, he will take the next four weeks to recuperate and regain full fitness before returning to the stage. Unfortunately, this means he will be unable to continue his current tour dates.”

The statement also includes a quote from Stewart, who assured his fans: “I’m already feeling better. I want to thank doctors, nurses, and everyone who has taken such wonderful care of me. I’m deeply disappointed to miss these shows and sorry to let my fans down, but I look forward to getting back on stage and having a good time with you all again soon.”

The update comes after Stewart canceled consecutive performances in Cincinnati and Cleveland this week. His Aug. 9 concert at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati was postponed after the venue stated an “unforeseen but minor medical procedure” that needed attention. His scheduled Aug. 11 performance at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena was subsequently canceled after doctors advised him to rest for at least 48 hours.

Stewart is now confirming that he had a coronary stent inserted, which is a small mesh tube used to help keep a narrowed or blocked artery open and improve blood flow.

The health update puts Stewart’s upcoming performance schedule on hold as he focuses on recovery. His One Last Time Tour had been scheduled to continue with an Aug. 14 performance at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines and an Aug. 15 show at the Morton Amphitheater in Kansas City, before his Encore Shows residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas set to resume on Aug. 18.

Stewart was also set to resume his North American touring schedule on Sept. 1 at the Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, with additional performances planned throughout September, including dates at Illinois’ Ravinia Festival, shows in Mexico and two nights at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colo.

For now, Stewart is taking the doctors’ advice and stepping away from the stage with his sights set on returning once he has regained moderate health. Information regarding tour dates affected will be addressed soon by their corresponding promoters and venues.

Travis Barker has been talking a lot about one of the worst days of his life in the lead-up to Sunday’s (Aug. 16) premiere of his decade-in-the-making documentary Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear. In a new interview on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, Barker revealed that his then-toddler daughter Alabama Barker had a foreboding feeling about him leaving for a gig in South Carolina on Sept. 19, 2008.

Barker told Shetty that a week before the show near the University of South Carolina, he asked his manager if there was any way to pull out of the gig. “I don’t really need to do this. I was just so content with being home with the kiddos,” Barker said. “He was like, ‘bro, you can’t cancel this late.’”

So, he flew down for the show with his best friend, Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein, but before he left, he had a heartfelt moment with Alabama, now 20, that has stuck with him to this day. “I say bye to ‘Bama. She’s young at the time. She’s three or four years old,” said Barker. “She’s like, ‘Dad, don’t go!’ She’s bawling, and she doesn’t usually do that. She’s like, ‘The roof’s gonna come off,’ and I’m like, ‘What is she talking about?’”

They played the show, and even though they were supposed to leave the next morning, Barker recalled that the crew was in a hurry to get back to Los Angeles, so they booked a “super last-minute” private plane ride. Though there were a lot of hoops to book a private plane for Barker back then, even before the accident that day — including him knowing who the pilot was, the plane’s maintenance history, “I want to know everything” — the drummer said none of those precautions took place.

His crew got to the airport around midnight and he described a foggy night and him seeing one plane in the distance that was “really small,” and when they pulled up, he thought, “‘this can’t be our plane. There’s no way.’”

But it was their plane and Barker said he called his dad, Randy, and showed him the plane and said, “‘Pa, I have an awful feeling … like, I just don’t know. This plane’s small, I feel weird.’” He said his dad assured him it would be fine and asked him to call when he got home. “I knew something feels off and I even told my dad, ‘If something happens to me, please make sure the kids are taken care of,’” Barker said.

A short time later, during takeoff, the plane crashed and Barker and Goldstein were the only survivors of the accident that took the lives of two of Barker’s closest friends, assistant Chris “Lil Chris” Baker and bodyguard Charles “Che” Still, as well as pilot Sarah Lemmon and co-pilot James Bland.

Both Barker and Goldstein were seriously injured in the crash, with Barker sustaining burns on 65% of his body, requiring 27 surgeries in the subsequent years. Goldstein, who had struggled with substance use before the accident, was found dead a year later in his New York apartment from a drug overdose.

Barker, who did not fly again for 13 years — he took his first plane ride since the crash in 2021 on a trip to Mexico with then-girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian — said if the same situation came up today he’d handle it much differently. “All the signs were there. Now older me would just say, ‘I think I’m not gonna get on the plane.’”

The film follows Barker’s career with Blink and includes appearances from the Roots drummer Questlove, late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, Rancid singer/guitarist Tim Armstrong, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and longtime Blink-182 bandmates bassist/singer Mark Hoppus and guitarist/singer Tom DeLonge.

Watch Barker talk about Alabama’s fear of him flying below.

Laufey has revealed that after years of performing to arenas around the world, one part of the job still unnerves her: looking an audience member directly in the eye.

Speaking to The Hit Network’s Hot Hits with Nic & Loren, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter traced the anxiety back to her classical training.

“I grew up playing cello and I used to pick a person in the audience and accidentally stare into their eyes,” she said, recalling that a teacher once told her after a recital, “You can’t look at people directly when you’re playing, it’s creepy.” The note stuck. “So now I’m so scared of freaking people out! I’m always thinking about it,” she said.

There is one exception. Laufey said she deliberately searches the crowd for young fans during “Letter to My 13 Year Old Self,” her set closer. “It’s a letter to my younger self so I like finding the young girls in the audience and catching their eye,” she said. “But sometimes they’re crying and that makes me cry. So that’s another reason that I can’t look too closely.”

Laufey said arena shows, counterintuitively, feel more intimate to her than smaller theaters. “In an arena, I’m surrounded and feel closer to the fans. I get to do a barricade walk and feel up-close,” she said, describing the contrast between the scale of the room and the quietness of her songs as heightening the intimacy.

She also spoke about an unexpected marker of her crossover fame — being recognized for her Fortnite character. “I was at a restaurant yesterday and the waitress was like, ‘Are you the one on Fortnite?’” she said, laughing. “Sometimes I’ll come across another me and we’re just shooting at each other.”

The comments follow a landmark year for the Icelandic-Chinese artist. Her third studio album, A Matter of Time, debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 in September 2025 — her first top 10 entry on the chart and the highest-charting jazz album since 2018 — while simultaneously topping Billboard’s Jazz Albums, Traditional Jazz Albums, Independent Albums and Vinyl Albums charts.

The album went on to win Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 2026 Grammy Awards, her second consecutive win in the category after 2023’s Bewitched, which peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200. Laufey, who has two top 10 albums in Australia, recently wrapped an eight-show Australian tour behind the record.

When Landon Barker was offered a spot on The Voice, his dad, Travis Barker, didn’t think it was time to jump at the opportunity.

Instead, the Blink-182 drummer asked his 22-year-old son to consider what kind of artist he wants to be and whether the opportunity actually fits into that vision.

“My son called me the other day and he’s like, ‘Hey, they offered me to go on The Voice,’” Travis said during an Aug. 8 appearance on The New York Times’ Popcast. “And I was like, ‘Dude, you’re way too cool for that.’”

For Travis, the decision came down to authenticity. He encouraged Landon to look toward the musicians who have influenced him and consider whether they would have pursued the same route.

“You got to think about your idols,” he said. “If your idol is Kurt Cobain, would he ever do The Voice? No.”

This advice comes as Landon is pursuing his own musical career, aiming to establish himself as a singer and songwriter in his own right. Instead of just rushing into trying to capitalize on every available platform, Travis said his son should give himself time to develop the music he actually wants to make.

“I’m in the studio, I hear the songs that he’s creating,” Travis said. “There’s no rush, you know?”

That doesn’t mean Travis is against televised music opportunities across the board. The drummer has appeared on American Idol several times himself, a distinction he pointed out while acknowledging that his advice to Landon could sound contradictory.

“I’m different,” Travis said. “I’m doing fun sh– that’s just fun for me ’cause I’m a drummer and I’m not in the forefront. It’d be different if I was singing with all these people.”

In other words, Travis sees a difference between making a guest appearance as a member of a band and putting yourself into a competition designed to introduce a singer to a mass audience. For Landon, he wants the focus to remain on developing his own sound and identity. “Stay on your own trajectory,” Travis advised his son.

Landon has already had some notable moments in his young career, including joining The Fray on tour. Now, according to his father, there’s no reason to let the pressure to move quickly dictate what comes next.

Travis also reflected on how his own relationship with fame has changed over the years. He recalled once having a much more confrontational attitude toward paparazzi, admitting that he “used to almost get in fights with paparazzi” and “used to have a temper.”

“Nowadays, I’ve realized it’s just all noise,” he said.

His approach now is considerably simpler: “Be happy. Try not to harm anybody and just be a good person.”

Travis has spent decades navigating the music industry himself, from Blink-182’s late-1990s, early 2000s Billboard 200 dominance to the band’s return to No. 1 with California in 2016.

Watch Barker’s full Popcast interview below:

Fontaines D.C. debuted a pair of new songs at their first live performance of the year over the weekend, teeing up a fresh era for the Irish group. The band performed a pair of shows in Cadiz, Spain on Friday and Saturday (Aug. 7, 8) as part of their summer slate, which culminates in headline performances at Reading & Leeds Festival (Aug. 28, 29) and Ireland’s Electric Picnic (Aug. 30). 

During their 19-song set, the group performed two new songs titled “Marianne” and “Six Shot Morning” according to setlists collected by fans at the event. Both songs feature darker, more electronic elements, building on moments from the band’s past two albums Skinty Fia (2022) and Romance (2024).

Earlier this year the five-piece confirmed to NME that they were working on new material, with guitarist Carlos O’Connell saying that they’d “been writing, it’s been fun.” The run of shows will continue with performances in France, Switzerland and Austria; in September, they’ll play a trio of shows at Atlanta’s Shaky Knees Festival (Sep. 18), Sea.Hear.Now in Asbury Park, New Jersey (Sep. 20) and Ohana Festival in Dana Point, California (Sep. 27).

The group’s fourth LP, Romance, was nominated for two prizes at the 67th Grammy Awards, landing in the best rock album and best alternative music performance (“Starburster”) categories.

In June, the band’s longtime manager Trevor Dietz, who they called their “sixth member” died at the age of 47. “Trevor was beside us from the beginning of our journey as a band, we have never known Fontaines D.C. without him, the sixth member of the band,” the band wrote in a tribute. “He cared passionately for us and for what was fair and right in the wider world. He was fearless in his beliefs. We will miss him always.”

Like a professional boxer who just can’t quit the ring, Abel Tesfaye can’t cut The Weeknd short. The singer revealed over the weekend that he’s reconsidered plans he announced last year to retire his stage persona. “It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he continues. “You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.”

Tesfaye has been releasing music as The Weeknd since 2011, but last year when asked by Variety magazine to explain social media teasers for his then-upcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow album that read: “The Weeknd/ The End is Near/ 8 beautiful chapters in this story,” he said he was considering retiring the name after he wrapped up his already-on-the-books commitments.

“It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he explained at the time. “You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.”

But, over the weekend, during the kick-off of his run of three shows in Stockholm, the singer told. the crowd that he’s had a change of heart. “I’ll never disappear. I love this too much to ever disappear. I tested retirement a little bit, and I don’t like the way it feels. I said, Imma be here forever with you, I’ll never disappear,” he said according to fan video, crooning the last two lines like a song.

To be fair, in the 2025 Variety interview, Tesfaye didn’t say he was retiring from music entirely, just that he was considering mothballing his long-held stage name/persona. The singer who has branched out into acting and producing (The Idol, Uncut Gems), said at the time he didn’t think he could quit music entirely, but that he needed a change.

“I don’t think I can stop doing that,” he said of making music. “But everything needs to feel like a challenge. And for me right now, The Weeknd, whatever that is, it’s been mastered. No one’s gonna do the Weeknd better than me, and I’m not gonna do it better than what it is right now. I think I’ve overcome every challenge as this persona, and that’s why I’m really excited about this film, because I love this challenge. But I just want to know what comes after. I want to know what tomorrow looks like.”

The idea to possibly wind down the enigmatic stage persona came after a rough performance at L.A.’s SoFi Stadium in 2022 where he lost his voice four songs in, which ended the show early. A doctor visit showed nothing out of the ordinary, with the Weeknd suggesting that the issue was mental rather than physical.

“Part of me actually was thinking, ‘You lost your voice because it’s done; you said what you had to say. Don’t overstay at the party — you can end it now and live a happy life’,” he said at the time of the canceled 2022 show. “Put the bow on it: Hurry Up Tomorrow? Now we’re here. When is the right time to leave, if not at your peak? Once you understand who I am too much, then it’s time to pivot.”

The Weeknd’s After Hours Til Dawn tour will continue on Monday night (Aug. 10) in Stockholm with the final show at Strawberry Arena before moving on to a five-night run at Wembley Stadium in London.

Fans were left dismayed after The Fugees’ set at the Diaspora Calling! Festival was cut short with major songs still left to perform on Friday night (Aug. 7).

The festival took place at Milton Keynes National Bowl in England, marking ghe first time the Lauryn Hill-curated event had taken place in the U.K. The lineup featured Erykah Badu, Giggs, Fireboy DML and was hosted by comedian Dave Chappelle. But following the event, fans shared their disappointment when the headliners’ set finished at 11 p.m., just one hour after they began their performance. 

Both Hill and Wyclef Jean’s microphones were turned off due to legal restrictions on sound beyond curfew. A sign on stage read, “THANK YOU EVERYONE. We’re sorry for the abrupt finish. As part of our licence we are legally required to finish the show at 11pm and cannot continue beyond this time. Thank you for being part of an incredible day, we hope you had an amazing time. Please take care, look after one another and have a safe journey home. See you next time!”

The 14-song set included a number of Fugees classics “The Score” and “Vocab” as well as songs from Hill’s solo catalogue such as “Doo Wop (That Thing)” with Erykah Badu, and a cover of “Three Little Birds” with her son Zion Marley, grandson of reggae legend Bob Marley. 

Hill and Jean were midway through a performance of “Ready or Not” when the curfew kicked in, with “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and “Fu-Gee-La” among the classic songs left unplayed. Hill then led the crowd in an a capella rendition of “Ready or Not” as the show concluded.

Speaking to The Sun, Jean said, “We’re really sad how it ended. “We was just getting started, so we’re hoping to continue next year.”

He added: “We had so much surprises on the line up and everybody showed up and we really felt the crowd, that love and that energy, it’s something that they need, something they feel, it just reminds you of unity.” Billboard U.K. has approached the festival organizers for further comment. 

One fan wrote on X, “Lauryn Hill knows her power can withstand any criticism because Diaspora Calling was the WORST festival I’ve been to in a while but seeing a Fugees reunion is a blessing.” On Reddit, another wrote, “The ending was ridiculous and spoiled the whole experience for me. It was meant to be 30th anniversary of the album and all we got is DJ set and like 2 tracks from the score. I don’t think I will ever pay for her [Hill] gig again.”

Prior the performance, the pair teased a potential return to the studios for the Fugees.