Maurice White, circa 1973
Urve Kuusik, Sony Music Archives
After exiting the group Salty Peppers, Maurice White moved to Los Angeles from Chicago and created a new band. A strong believer in mysticism, the Sagittarian sought inspiration from his astrological chart in divining the band-to-be’s name. Three elements caught his attention: earth, fire and air.
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“I changed air to wind,” late founder White says in a clip from the HBO Original documentary Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World). “And the rest is history,” he continues. “Earth, Wind & Fire is basically the true elements of the universe.”
And what a history it’s been as director-producer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson relays in the illuminating, two-hour documentary premiering Sunday night (June 7; 9 p.m. ET/PT). In the nearly 60 years since White’s vision took shape, the nine-time Grammy Award-winning and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band has achieved global acclaim and legendary status.
Via spirited fusions of jazz, R&B/soul, Afro-funk, pop and disco, the band mined a deep vein of classic gold and platinum hits and fan faves like “September,” “Shining Star,” “Let’s Groove,” “After the Love Is Gone” and “Beijo” (aka Brazilian Rhyme interlude). In fact, Questlove pegged another iconic EWF hit, “That’s the Way of the World,” in crafting the title for his latest Questlove Jawn.
“I love a good pun,” said the Academy Award-winning music historian during a Zoom interview with Billboard following the documentary’s June 3 premiere at the 25th Tribeca Film Festival. “All of my documentaries have a long title continuation that also explains what you have to consider [while watching]. Sly Stone was about the burden of Black genius. With Summer of Soul, the revolution was happening, but it couldn’t be televised. In this particular case, it’s about human beings. We’re all celestial; all light shiners. But oftentimes, we dim our light to blend in and be part of the ecosystem.”
“Maurice White is basically an orphan, given away by his mother to a neighbor,” Questlove continued, “yet he somehow gets a metaphysical belief at the age of seven in Memphis … a calling to say, ‘It’s my job to bring positivity and love into the world.’ But however well-intended the mission, you must learn not to hold within any pain. That’s what I want people to learn from this: Do not dismiss your dreams. But you also have to let things go. And Maurice never let that anger go of being given away. He was crumbling inside because he had a broken heart.”
Through strikingly candid conversations with group members, family, friends and high-profile fans — and access to a cache of treasures including the group’s recordings, outtakes and unreleased live shows plus Maurice’s diaries, affirmations and favorite books — Questlove delivers a riveting look at the hard work and joy behind the band’s ascension. But he leans into the creative tensions and personal issues that arose as well. Viewers will witness the magic tricks and psychedelic/space-age costumes that became hallmarks of EWF’s showmanship. They’ll also learn what EWF smash inspired one of Stevie Wonder’s own classic hits, among other insightful tidbits.
Above all, “Earth, Wind & Fire taught us how to dream,” says Questlove. “As we continue to search for answers in these very tense times, their music always s same conclusion: the answers are inside yourself. It’s the same metaphysical story as The Wizard of Oz. Listening to their songs during the pandemic was my eureka moment; I realized what they were doing: they tricked us into positivity. This is the story of a band that tricks you into eating your vegetables.”
Ahead of the film’s Tribeca premiere and their performance with The Roots that same evening, EWF original members Verdine White, Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson — the doc’s co-executive producers (Maurice’s son Kahbran “KB” White is a producer) — also sat down for a Zoom interview with Billboard, printed below. Later this summer, the indefatigable Earth, Wind & Fire will launch their “Sing a Song All Night Long” tour with fellow icon Lionel Richie on June 24.
What was your immediate reaction after viewing the documentary?
Bailey: Questlove is really a music historian. Talk to him for five or 10 minutes and you recognize he has an innate gift for knowing a lot of facts about music history. He’d bring stuff up about EWF, and I’ve been there all the time [with the group]. But I’d be like “How’d you know that?” So he was the perfect person to do this because he goes deep below the surface. It’s surreal.
White: He’s an historian and a musician. That combination particularly works well when it comes to the music and the message. He captured our essence and spirits, our manhood and humanity. I’m really proud of it.
Johnson: It’s a job well done.
The documentary also doesn’t shy away from the thorny issues the group — and Maurice — encountered along the way.
Bailey: That’s the way of the world, right? You can’t live life without experiencing the highs and lows, the good and bad, the pretty and ugly. It’s part of what makes us what who we are. And it’s really a testament to the fact that we’re still here, doing music on a very high level some 50+ years later.
Johnson: Philip covered it. The ups and downs all get back to the duality of the universe.
White: When you have a long career, it’s not linear. It moves around; grows as you grow. It has its own rhythm mechanism. [The documentary] shows that we were living our truth.
What is one lesson or affirmation learned from Maurice that you still follow?
Johnson: Three things: commitment, trust and humility. If you believe in something, then you’ve got to commit to it. And you must trust that in the end it’s going to be OK. Then if things get so great for you that your ego goes out of control, then you’ve got to turn on the humility and put yourself back in check.
White: Love for your brothers, particularly Ralph and Philip. The love, the connection, the trust, the bond: that’s what I’ve come away with.
Bailey: When we were first together, practicing and hoping to go out on the road, there were several times when on the way to the airport, we’d literally get a call that it [a gig] was canceled. I’m living with people and primarily eating oatmeal; I got a new baby. Yet every time things would happen, Maurice would always say, “There’s something better for us.” He never complained; never had a defeatist attitude or statement.
How would Maurice feel about the documentary?
Johnson: He’d feel the story has been told the right way.
Bailey: He’d be proud of it. It’s indicative of who we are.
White: Reese would be really proud that the three of us are still together — from almost teenagers to adults.
And what lasting impression do you hope fans will have after seeing the documentary?
Johnson: Vintage fans will be happy. They’ll think the story was told correctly. New fans will be very enlightened because they’ll find out some stuff about this group they just didn’t know.
Bailey: That the documentary makes the music real and gives people a deeper understanding of the music.
White: Vintage fans will remember that this journey was part of their lives too. And newer fans will learn something about being able to have a mission — as Maurice did — of rendering a service to humanity and actually bringing people together. When people mention our name, there’s a smile that comes to their faces.
Morgan Wallen is addressing criticism following the abrupt cancellation of his Pittsburgh tour stop.
On Saturday (June 6), the country star announced that his scheduled concert that evening at Acrisure Stadium would not go on due to severe weather concerns.
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“After talking with local officials and my team, there is no choice but to cancel tonight’s show due to severe weather conditions expected throughout the rest of the day and night,” Wallen wrote on Instagram. “Safety for my fans and crew is the highest priority.”
Hours later, the “Last Night” singer returned to his Instagram Stories with a video message responding to some of the backlash and speculation surrounding the decision. In the clip, Wallen explained that his team advised him that morning to cancel the show after local officials warned of potentially dangerous wind conditions in the area.
“So that’s what I did. That was the information I had in the moment, and I trusted my team,” he said. “I understand that the wind and whatever else hasn’t gotten to Pittsburgh yet. I know it has touched some of Pennsylvania, so my heart goes out to all those affected by it.”
Wallen added, “But the truth of the matter is, I have a large stage that, in those conditions, could become fatal to a lot of folks around it. So I did the best I could with the information I had in that moment.”
The singer went on to address the “nonsense” about him circulating online.
“I’ve been seeing a lot of nonsense about me that is simply not true,” Wallen said, adding that he wanted to “clear the air.” He concluded, “I think my true fans know that that’s not how I operate in general, but I had to say it. Y’all, take care.”
Saturday had been designated a KDKA First Alert Weather Day, with forecasters warning of potentially strong to severe storms. The weather system was expected to move through the Pittsburgh area during the evening hours, with the greatest threat between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., according to CBS News.
Following the cancellation, some skeptical fans voiced their frustrations on social media.
“Morgan wallen cancelling his show last night is just hilarious because i walked outside after my shift at 11pm and my car was completely dry,” one person wrote on X. “No rain in sight. that man was already on his way back to tennessee.”
KDKA Radio’s Marty Griffin claimed on X, “Acrisure stadium officials fuming. … Wallen left town on plane before they even had meeting and demanded they announce the cancellation after he was in the air.”
The cancellation came one night after Wallen’s first of two scheduled Pittsburgh performances. During Friday’s (June 5) concert at Acrisure Stadium, the country superstar was joined during his signature walkout by former WWE star and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle.
As any Ari fan knows too well, there was a lot to catch up on with the launch of the star’s Eternal Sunshine tour. Since Grande’s last trek — her mega 2019 Sweetener World Tour — she has released not one but two albums (Positions, Eternal Sunshine) with a third on its way (Petal, which arrives during tour on July 31). Plus, there was her 2025 Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead project that included six new songs — a handful of which made their way into the opening night setlist.
And while the show largely focused on Positions and Eternal Sunshine — rightfully so — the pop star included many of her biggest career-spanning hits as well; in fact, every album was represented except for Sweetener. But hey, that album had its time to shine. (Though, Thank U, Next hits including the title track and “7 Rings,” both of which were performed on the Sweetener World Tour, made their way into the Eternal Sunshine show as well).
The set was divided into five sections, with section three including a trio of pop bangers back-to-back-to-back (“One Last Time,” “Rain On Me” and “Break Free”) and section four following “Dangerous Woman” with early fan favorite “Honeymoon Avenue.” The last section featured a fake-out finale of “Into You,” before Grande live debuted Petal’s lead single, “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” which so far is the only preview of the new album (she didn’t opt to perform anything unreleased on night one, at least).
With so much anticipation for the Eternal Sunshine Tour, Billboard speculated what Ari’s show might look like back in May, crafting this dream set list. But now, we know for sure — and it’s a dream indeed.
See the set list for night one of Grande’s Eternal Sunshine Tour below.
Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Public Enemy, Little Steven Van Zandt, Sheryl Crow, Jackson Browne, David Sancious, and more performed across two nights of the Music America: The Songs That Shaped Us concerts at Monmouth University this week, with the second night on Friday (June 5) featuring a particularly notable return — Bon Jovi’s first public performance in New Jersey since 2018.
The two-night concert series serves as the cornerstone event for the opening of the new Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, which officially opens to the public June 13.
Springsteen opened Friday’s show with a roaring rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock,” followed by Presley’s “Burning Love,” backed by the Disciples of Soul under music director Marc Ribler. Bon Jovi then took the stage for Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” — his first public vocal performance in his home state since 2018, when he stepped back from touring due to vocal cord issues.
The performance came as Bon Jovi’s full band prepares for a nine-show residency at Madison Square Garden next month. Santelli framed the Berry selection with a pointed historical note from the stage, observing that while Berry is considered the true King of Rock ‘n’ Roll by many, “he could never get to the same point where Elvis was for the simple reason he was Black.”
The night continued through eras of American music: Jackson Browne represented the 1970s singer-songwriter era with his own “For America,” while 86-year-old Dion delivered “The Wanderer” alongside a stirring “Abraham, Martin and John.” Mavis Staples performed The Band’s “The Weight” to represent the activist sounds of the 1960s while Public Enemy closed out with “Fight the Power.”
The night closed with group performances of “Further On Down the Road,” “Raise Your Hand” and “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” before Springsteen ended with a solo rendition of “Land of Hope and Dreams.”
Thursday’s opening night, which traced American music up to World War II, featured Springsteen alongside Kenny Chesney, Rosanne Cash, Dropkick Murphys, Keb’ Mo’, Brian Fallon, Tony Trischka, Sister Sadie, Shemekia Copeland, Trombone Shorty and the New Breed Brass Band, Valerie June and more.
The 30,000-square-foot Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University opens June 13, featuring multiple exhibit spaces, state-of-the-art archives, a 250-seat Dolby soundstage and over a dozen interactive experiences spotlighting both Springsteen’s career and the broader history of American music. More information is available at springsteencenter.com.
“SURPRISE, BARCELONA!” Olivia Rodrigo proclaimed after the first song of her Primavera Sound 2026 set on Saturday night (June 6). Well… yes and no. Yes, Rodrigo’s performance was an unannounced part of the festival until just hours before her 10:20 p.m. local-time performance, with the pop-rock superstar revealing the news herself on her Instagram as the fest’s third full day was kicking into gear on Saturday evening.
But no, it wasn’t totally a surprise: Rodrigo had been hinting at a Primavera appearance on her socials earlier in the weekend, and eagle-eyed festival attendees noted a conspicuous gap in the Occident stage schedule for Saturday night where a surprise guest could have easily slotted in. And at a press conference earlier that day, the festival organizers even confirmed that a surprise set was in the offing for the fest’s final full day from a major artist, though they played coy about the exact who, where and when.
Beyond that, even, Rodrigo’s appearance made total sense for her in both short-term promotion and long-term legacy senses. Rodrigo has a new album to promote, of course, with third LP You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love arriving this Friday (June 12), and a surprise appearance at one of the globe’s buzziest and most-revered fests to debut a new song — one of the few moves she hasn’t already deployed on this promo cycle — is a great way for her to stay top-of-mind heading into her release week.
And Primavera is one of the few remaining festivals that a pop star like Rodrigo can claim to have “always wanted to play” and actually have it make sense that it’d be true. Aside from its unique location by the water in Barcelona, Primavera has remained intentional and discerning enough in its lineup curation over the years that an appearance there still connotes a certain level of cred. The fest maintains a continuity of cool across the generations, to the point where not only can a contemporary pop star like Addison Rae and a 50-year-old alt-rock band like The Cure appear back-to-back on the Estrella Damm main stage on Friday night and have it feel logical, but Rodrigo can make a surprise Saturday appearance that coincides with a competing set from ’90s shoegaze legends My Bloody Valentine, and it can result in a true conflict of interest for a considerable percentage of the attendees. (This writer may have been among them.)
But speaking of The Cure, there was of course another reason why Rodrigo’s appearance at Primavera Sound 2026 made particular sense, as was revealed 2/3 of the way through her set: She was about to reach the final level of her recent artistic infatuation with Robert Smith & Co. The dalliance began last summer, with Rodrigo bringing Smith out to perform signature Cure hit “Just Like Heaven” with him at Glastonbury, and has continued in various forms through the first two Pretty Sad singles, and now reaches its summation with “What’s Wrong With Me,” the quasi-surprise Rodrigo-Smith duet debuted by the duo during the former’s quasi-surprise performance. If anyone had remaining doubts about Rodrigo’s alt-rock bonafides, such an cosign from one of the genre’s godfathers at a modern indie institution like Primavera just might finally do the trick.
Of course, the Primavera set itself also likely helped there. With only 50 minutes on a relatively smaller stage to work with, Rodrigo and her band stripped away most of the pop star-level production and theatrics — as well as most of the ballads — of her usual show, for a leaner, meaner setlist and sound that focused on her ability to rock any stage she’s on with the high-kicking athleticism of Gwen Stefani, the emotional intensity of Hayley Williams and the overall magnetism of both. You couldn’t quite say this was her indie club set — even in such relatively tight quarters, her natural pop star luminescence always shines through a little too bright for anyone to confuse her with, say, Karly Hartzman of Wednesday. But it did feel special to such a big-scale arena-filler in a slightly scrappier state, and even the slow songs Rodrigo performed on Saturday punched with a little extra ferocity.
Whether or not her set came as a total surprise to fans in attendance, it won’t be one they forget any time soon, and may even go on to be one of the moments that ends up defining this album era of Rodrigo’s. Here were the five most memorable moments from Rodrigo’s Primavera sound performance, as well as the full setlist at the end.
Charlie Puth has canceled Saturday’s (June 6) show in Orlando, Florida, citing an illness that’s lasted a few days and a recommendation to rest in order to recover for the remainder of his Whatever’s Clever! World Tour.
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“I am so devastated to do this, but I have to cancel tonight’s show,” he wrote in an Instagram Story note Saturday afternoon. “I’ve been sick for the last few days and am now being instructed to rest or else risk canceling more dates on this tour.”
Puth’s statement continued, “Performing for you all each night means everything to me, and you all deserve the best. I’m heartbroken, but I physically am unable to perform. Without a voice, I can’t give you guys the show you all deserve.”
“I’m so sorry, this was not an easy decision to make but I hope to see you all soon when I am well again,” he wrote.
Orlando’s Addition Financial Arena shared Puth’s statement on social media and provided additional details for ticket holders: “Sorry for the delay as we here at the Arena were awaiting final decision. Charlie Puth’s Whatever’s Clever tour scheduled for tonight is canceled with no rescheduled date. Please refer to your original point of purchase for refunds.”
Puth’s schedule currently has him set to play Nashville on June 9 before heading over to Texas. The European leg of his tour is next up, once his U.S. dates wrap.
He recently graced the stage of Madison Square Garden in New York City, bringing several special guests up to the stage with him: Art Garfunkel, Jimmy Fallon, Busta Rhymes and Kirk Franklin.
Duffy is set to return to the stage for the first time in over 15 years.
The Welsh singer announced via Instagram on Friday (June 6) that she will perform a “secret intimate gig” in London on July 5, debuting new music as part of her tentative return to public life following years of withdrawal from the industry.
“I’m doing a secret intimate gig in London on the 5th July, next month, and I would love nothing more than for some of you to attend,” Duffy wrote on Instagram Stories. “It’s only small capacity so we can only select a few, but really looking forward to it. I will sing some new songs.” The show will be ballot-only, with fans invited to apply via her social channels.
The performance marks one of the most significant moments in Duffy’s gradual reemergence. Last month, the singer shared a black-and-white image from a recording studio with the caption: “If only I could find the right words to explain how much I’ve missed you all. Working on coming back to you.”
Earlier this year, Disney+ announced an upcoming Hulu Original documentary in which Duffy will tell her full story in her own words for the first time — covering her upbringing in Wales, her early 2000s breakthrough, her decade-long retreat and the harrowing assault that prompted it.
Born Aimée Anne Duffy in Bangor, Wales, the singer rose to global fame in 2008 with her debut album Rockferry, which became the UK’s best-selling album of that year and earned her three BRIT Awards, a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, and an Ivor Novello Award.
Lead single “Mercy” peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2008 and reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, where it spent five consecutive weeks at the top. Rockferry itself peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and remains certified five-times platinum in the UK. She released her second album Endlessly in 2010 before stepping out of the public eye, with only two new songs released since — the 2020 ballad “River in the Sky” and radio-only single “Something Beautiful.”
In 2020, Duffy broke her silence on the reason for her decade-long absence, revealing in an Instagram post and a longer personal essay that she had been drugged at a restaurant while celebrating her birthday, then transported to a foreign country where she was held captive and raped by an unnamed assailant.
She has said the ordeal left her suicidal and that “utterly no-one” knew what had happened until she chose to share her story. To date, no arrests have been made public in connection with the case.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit rainn.org.
Olivia Rodrigo previewed “What’s Wrong With Me,” a song with The Cure‘s Robert Smith from the second act of her highly anticipated new album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, live at Primavera Sound 2026. The unveil of their duet came just hours after Rodrigo made a surprise announcement she’d play live at the Barcelona, Spain, music festival Saturday night (June 6).
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At track 10, the song falls on the “you seem pretty sad” side of her upcoming LP’s story. It marks the first time Rodrigo’s featured another artist on an album track.
“II can’t believe this song exists with the person that it exists with. I’m just so f—ing over the moon,” Rodrigo said of song partner Smith when introducing “What’s Wrong With Me” to the crowd at Parc del Forum’s Occident Stage. By the end of Rodrigo and The Cure frontman’s duet — right after hugging her musical hero-turned-friend (and now, officially, collaborator) — the pop star admitted, “I feel like I’m gonna cry … I can’t believe that that’s a thing that happened in the real world and not just a figment of my imagination.”
The lyrics of “What’s Wrong With Me” have her “spiraling.” “I’m not feeling like myself, and nothing ever seems to help,” Rodrigo sings in the pre-chorus, leading up to “Went to the doctor and she said I was fine/ But every movie that I’ve seen makes me cry/ It’s like somebody put a weight on my chest/ I should talk to a friend, but I can’t get out of bed/ My head is spinning and my stomach is sick/ Say I’m in love, so it’s hard to admit/ I can’t eat, I can’t sleep/ I think you’re what’s wrong with me.”
Verse two brings in Smith, who echoes Rodrigo’s relationship rumination: “Head just keeps on pounding with the simple thought/ ‘What if this isn’t what I want?’”
They layer their vocals over the chorus from that point on, and through the song’s bridge and outro.
You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love is only a week away; the full album will be available Friday, June 12 via Geffen Records.
Rodrigo popped online with a quick Instagram Story earlier on Saturday to share the news of her previously unannounced Primavera set, which was slotted for 10:25 p.m. local time, though she remained mum on the Smith’s part until showtime. “Surprise!!!” she’d captioned a snapshot of herself giving a thumbs up on the festival’s grounds. “See you tonight primavera_sound … I’m excited.”
The pair previously played live together last year, at Glastonbury, where they delivered The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love” and “Just Like Heaven” together.
Rodrigo’s admiration of Smith keeps going: on “Drop Dead,” the lead track of You Seem Pretty Sad… (which launched as a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1), she playfully works the song title of “Just Like Heaven” into the opening verse.
Rodrigo and Smith’s unexpected live set Saturday night at Primavera Sound came months ahead of the singer-songwriter’s sold-out arena tour kickoff. Rodrigo launches her Unraveled Tour in September in Hartford, Conn., embarking across North America and Europe in support of her third studio album. The tour’s name references a lyric from her latest single, which happens to be called “The Cure,” and which arrived at No. 1 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart and No. 5 on the Hot 100 in its first week.
Beyond the premiere of “What’s Wrong With Me,” Rodrigo’s Primavera Sound set included performances of both of the musician’s most recent singles (“Drop Dead” and “The Cure”), plus hits from Sour and Guts.
Saturday marked day three of Primavera Sound, which saw severe weather conditions opening night that shut down many of of Thursday’s performances, including Doja Cat and Massive Attack’s headlining spots. The fest was back to business for day two, with The Cure, Skrillex, PinkPantheress and more taking the stage as expected on Friday.
“A video seems…cheap,” Madonna told Anderson Cooper and a sold-out Beacon Theatre on Friday (June 5) night, shortly after the world premiere of Confessions II, a 13-minute visual project centered around her upcoming album Confessions II. The pop icon was explaining why her short film occupied the space between a mere music video and a full-length visual album (“Guy [Oseary, her manager] is always yelling at me to save money”) to a throng of diehards at Tribeca Festival. “It was good when it was just MTV and me,” she recalled of the music video’s golden era. “Those days are over.”
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During a candid, freewheeling, no-phones chat with Cooper (who was subbing in for Jimmy Fallon, who dropped out of the event last-minute) and directors David Toro and Solomon Chase (TORSO) – whom Madonna described as “from another planet” – the Queen of Pop talked about everything from her early days in NYC to the previous evening’s Times Square pop-up performance to the many cameos in her Confessions II project.
The Confessions II film is centered around the first six tracks on Confessions II, her hotly anticipated July 3 album which reunites her with Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) producer Stuart Price. As astute fans will know, that means this visual project offered approximately 2,800 folks the opportunity to hear four unreleased Confessions II songs: “Good for the Soul,” “One Step Away,” “Danceteria” and “Read My Lips.”
A wild visual project that features paparazzi SWAT teams, forest people with green lasers shooting out of their lower orifices (“I wanted to try it but apparently it gets quite hot” Madonna drily quipped), a car crash, aerial flips over a dancefloor and loads (ahem) of hot hookups in a public restroom while Benedict Cumberbatch dances outside the stalls, the film demands multiple viewings – and sure enough, the evening was book ended with screenings of Confessions II.
Aside from Cumberbatch, the visual features, among others: Sabrina Carpenter, who crawls and writhes around the dancefloor with Madonna during their duet “Bring Your Love”; Colombian singer Feid, who joins Madonna on the collaborative “Read My Lips”; Debi Mazar, who swings by “Danceteria” – a nod to their shared past, as pre-fame Mazar and Madonna hung out at the iconic, now defunct NYC club Danceteria and made out together “to attract boys” and help get the DJ to play Madonna’s cassette; Arca, who is credited on “I Feel So Free” with additional production; Honey Dijon, who produced a Billboard Dance Club Songs-topping remix of Madonna’s “I Don’t Search I Find” from her 2019 album Madame X; genre-pushing British artist Shygirl; actress Julie Garner, who pops up looking very much like Madonna circa 1987; and Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes Leon, who gets the final line of the film: “Cut, b-tch.”
Madonna shared that the project took about a month to film, while the album itself was the product of a year-and-a-half of work with Price while she waited for that long-gestating Netflix miniseries about her life to come to pass.
Only two songs from the film – “I Feel So Free” and Carpenter collab “Bring Your Love” – are officially released, and it’s not yet known if the four unreleased songs in the Confessions II film will hit DSPs prior to its official July 3 release. The Confessions II project will, however, debut on YouTube on Monday (June 8). The sublime “Love Sensation,” which came out Thursday (June 4) shortly after the Queen of Pop’s surprise pop-up performance for 50,000 fans in Times Square, is not featured in the visual project. Of that performance, Madonna told Cooper it felt like a beautiful full-circle moment for her, as she famously showed up to NYC in 1978 and headed straight to Times Square with nothing but ambition in her gut and $35 in her pocket.
She admitted to having some nerves, however, particularly when she swung her leg over the Plexiglas barrier that separates pop-out venue The Square from the Times Square traffic several stories below. “When I went to put my leg over the barrier I was like hmmm,” she mused with a smirk. “I don’t know if I love my fans that much.” Fair enough, particularly given that Madonna’s next stop after the Beacon Theatre was the Hamptons to see her 95-year-old father to celebrate his birthday: if she can be with us that long, there’s no sense in risking the Queen’s time on earth on a piece of Plexiglas.
Confessions II drops on July 3; on July 19, Madonna, BTS and Shakira will headline the first-ever halftime show for the World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Morgan Wallen was forced to cancel a scheduled Pittsburgh tour stop due to severe weather threats.
On Saturday afternoon (June 6), the 33-year-old country star took to social media to announce that he would no longer be performing that evening at Acrisure Stadium as part of his Still the Problem Tour.
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“After talking with local officials and my team, there is no choice but to cancel tonight’s show due to severe weather conditions expected throughout the rest of the day and night,” Wallen wrote in a statement shared on Instagram. “Safety for my fans and crew is the highest priority.”
The “Last Night” singer concluded his message by informing fans that refunds would be available through their original point of purchase.
The cancellation came one day after Wallen’s first of two scheduled Pittsburgh shows. During Friday night’s (June 5) concert at Acrisure Stadium, the country superstar was joined for his signature walkout by former WWE star and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle.
Saturday was designated a KDKA First Alert Weather Day as forecasters warned of potentially strong to severe storms. The weather system was expected to move through the Pittsburgh area during the evening hours, with the greatest threat occurring between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., according to CBS News.
Wallen is currently on his headlining Still the Problem Tour, with upcoming stadium dates scheduled in Chicago (June 19-20), Clemson, S.C. (June 26-27), and Baltimore (July 17-18).
The tour supports his latest studio album, I’m the Problem, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 upon its release in May 2025. The album went on to spend 13 nonconsecutive weeks atop the chart.