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.

Frankie Grande has shared a message of support for his sister Ariana Grande following her announcement that she will step back from public life after her current tour.

Writing on Instagram alongside a clip of Ariana performing “One Last Time” on her Eternal Sunshine tour, Frankie said he was “so proud” of his younger sister.

“Family forever. I will have your back until the end of time,” he wrote. “Last night was a beautiful celebration of your artistry and the magnificent eternal sunshine family you have built and created… You are my everything and I am so so happy I was there to see you shine on this tour one last time.” Frankie and Ariana are half-siblings who share their mother, Joan Grande.

Ariana’s team announced on Aug. 2 that she will step back from public visibility and appearances following the conclusion of the Eternal Sunshine tour.

Grande addressed her decision to step back from public life directly to fans during her Eternal Sunshine Tour stop in Chicago on Aug. 3, pushing back on the idea that outside criticism had driven the choice.

“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— opposite,” she said, adding: “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.” The tour’s final date is scheduled for Sept. 1 in London.

Grande is one of the most commercially successful pop artists of her era. Her new album Petal arrived July 31, led by “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” which 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.

It followed Eternal Sunshine (2024), which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — her sixth chart-topping album — with the largest opening week of any album that year, and produced the Hot 100 No. 1s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” and “Yes, And?.” She has also expanded into film, earning an Academy Award nomination for her role in Wicked.

Australia’s Laneway Festival will not visit Adelaide or Perth in 2027, organizers announced Monday (Aug. 10), scaling back the long-running touring festival’s footprint for its next edition.

In a message shared on social media, organizers told fans in South Australia and Western Australia that “in 2027, Laneway will be taking a break in your cities,” acknowledging the news as “disappointing” while framing it as a strategic decision rather than a permanent exit.

“For over two decades, we’ve had the pleasure of bringing Laneway to Australia and New Zealand, with stints in Singapore and Detroit too,” the statement read. “Running so many shows, so close together, across so much ground is a logistical feat we are proud of, but it also asks a lot of our lineup and crew.” The organizers added that a pause would allow them “to focus on making the festival the best it can be, while freeing up time for more artists to bring headline shows to cities beyond our festival stops,” before signing off: “Adelaide and Perth, we love you! This isn’t goodbye, just see you soon.”

There was better news for Queensland fans. After a one-off 2026 edition on the Gold Coast — held at Southport Sharks, the festival’s first time in the region — Laneway’s northern leg will return to the Brisbane Showgrounds in 2027.

“Thank you to Southport Sharks for welcoming us in 2026 and giving us the opportunity to share Laneway with the Gold Coast’s incredible music community,” organizers said. The Brisbane edition first launched in Fortitude Valley in 2007 and was a fixture there before relocating to the Showgrounds in 2013.

Laneway has grown from modest beginnings into one of the most significant touring festivals in the region. It began in 2005 as a Melbourne-exclusive event — an offshoot associated with The Avalanches — held in the city’s laneways, from which it takes its name. It expanded to Sydney in 2006, Brisbane in 2007, Adelaide in 2008 and Perth in 2009, before going international with an Auckland edition in 2010. A seven-year run in Singapore launched in 2011, and a one-off Detroit event in 2013 remains the festival’s only North American date.

In 2027, the festival will run across four cities: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, with venues, dates and lineup details promised soon.

The decision to trim two cities comes at a precarious moment for Australia’s festival sector, which has seen a wave of cancellations and collapses in recent years. Splendour in the Grass, one of the country’s largest festivals, cancelled its 2024 edition, while Falls Festival, Groovin the Moo and others have scrapped events amid rising costs, softening ticket sales and mounting logistical pressures. Against that backdrop, Laneway’s framing of the move as a deliberate “pause” rather than a retreat is notable — the festival remains one of the more resilient players in a strained market, having just come off a milestone edition.

That 2026 edition marked Laneway’s 21st year and was headlined by Chappell Roan, whose debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess became a global breakout, alongside a bill that included Wet Leg, Wolf Alice, PinkPantheress, Geese and Lucy Dacus.

The internet apparently doubted the real “U-S-H-E-R R-A-Y-M-O-N-D” was in the house this weekend at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, where the singer was on the bill for two nights with Chris Brown on their co-headlining Raymond & Brown Tour Aug. 7-8.

A rumor that Usher was replaced by a clone for his performance in East Ruthorford, N.J., Friday night was rampant enough to elicit a response from Usher himself (or was it?).

Several crying-laughing emojis were involved when Usher seemingly hit the comments section of footage from his own concert this weekend to address the conspiracy theory, which was being talked about on videos with hundreds of thousands of views across social media platforms.

“Ya’ll are funny…clone? They can’t clone this??” he wrote in one comment, saved and shared on @therandbtour on Instagram, a Raymond & Brown Tour update account that keeps fans in the know about what’s happening at each date on tour.

Another comment shows Usher quipping, “How ya’ll come up with this? AI ain’t that advanced.”

Meanwhile, folks on TikTok and X were side-eyeing clips from the show. “I’m confused. I see Usher but then I don’t,” one person remarked of the performer’s moves on a popular TikTok post, while others found themselves caught up with zooming in on cell phone video to track tattoo placement, or speculating that his cheekbones didn’t look like Usher’s. Others found it suspicious that the talent didn’t remove his sunglasses. Someone joked that it wasn’t Usher, it was “Unsure.”

Something just must’ve been in the air on Friday, which saw a delayed start due to thunderstorms but proceeded to deliver “a seamless performance,” Billboard‘s Carl Lamarre said in his factual recap of top moments from the show. “The three-hour bonanza was littered with dance numbers, acrobatic moves, special guests ranging from Lil Baby to 50 Cent and, of course, picture-perfect moments of Brown and Usher crossing paths onstage to deliver their classic collaborations.”

THIS & THAT, Stray Kids’ new eight-song collection (which features an anthemic new track of the same name), tops this week’s new music poll.

Listeners voted in a poll published Friday (Aug. 7) on Billboard, choosing the octet’s latest release as their favorite new music.

THIS & THAT ruled in a landslide win on this week’s poll, in a week that also saw new music releases from the likes of Karol G, Madonna feat. Kylie Minogue, FLO, Role Model, Alex Warren and more. At the poll’s closing time on Sunday, Stray Kids came out on top with 85% of the vote.

THIS & THAT kicks off with “RUN IT,” then goes into the self-assured title track (“This & That”), which also got the visual treatment with a music video (seen above) released on Friday; the video’s racked up more than 62 million views already on YouTube. The “this & that, this & that” refrain is one that’ll play in your head long after you’ve hit play on the song.

Tracks “After You,” “FARMING,” “I Do,” “Way Out,” “Back Then” and “This & That – (Festival Version)” round out the eight songs on the set, released via JYP Entertainment and the REPUBLIC Collective. Check out Billboard‘s thoughts on all eight songs here.

Though it’s too early to see where the just-released THIS & THAT lands on the charts, when it comes to official rankings, Stray Kids’ previous entries on the Billboard 200 have all debuted at No. 1 — from ODDINARY in 2022 up to DO IT in 2025.

Trailing behind THIS & THAT on the poll are Karol G’s No Me Arrepiento de Sentir Tanto, Madonna and Kylie Minogue’s “Love Sensation” remix and more.

See the final results of this week’s poll below.