Karina photographed in Seoul by Peter Ash Lee on July 25, 2026
Peter Ash Lee
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
It’s late afternoon in Seoul and the air is thick with humidity as throngs of sun-soaked fans push toward the main stage at Waterbomb, the K-pop music festival that merges stripped-down artist performances with over-the-top hydrotechnics and water gun battles.
Backstage, Karina is surrounded by a team of handlers fussing about, each tasked with making sure the aespa star is ready for her solo headlining performance on stage. A hairstylist adjusts the singer’s middle part to make sure it is sitting just right, while another woman adjusts her outfit, which on this day consists of a mesh football jersey layered over a lime green bodysuit and leopard-print shorts. Representatives from Sprite, which sponsors Waterbomb and employs Karina as a brand ambassador, mill about, eager to get a product plug in during the “Up” singer’s set.
The Sprite team has hired an interpreter for Karina’s backstage interviews and she stands to the side waiting to be called into action, but the singer politely declines and insists on speaking for herself.
“I’m so excited,” the singer tells Billboard about her performance. “The energy of Waterbomb is amazing because so many people will be watching me perform, and I always feel the crowd’s love and support for me.”
Still, there’s one thing she’s nervous about: “I’m excited, but I’m afraid of getting water on my face,” Karina admits, blushing. “I have to be careful of the makeup.”
The singer’s answer seems to sum up the duality of Karina perfectly: at once carefree and cautious, eager to let loose onstage and perform for her fans, but always in total control of her vocals, choreography and — on this day — her job as a global model for Sprite.
Indeed, the singer’s Waterbomb set is peppered with Sprite shout-outs, from Karina taking a big sip of the brand’s new Sprite Zero With Tea release, to performing her songs against a giant green background. After her set, she’ll head to the Sprite side stage (in a branded green tank top) where she’ll dutifully answer pre-approved questions about her favorite drink flavor (the Sprite Zero With Tea, of course) and pose for photos under a giant blow-up can of the lemon-lime soda. The Sprite reps can take a breather. This girl always delivers.
It’s been six years since Karina burst onto the scene as the leader of aespa, the K-pop group known for their hyperpop sound and futuristic style. Since then, she’s been consistently in the limelight, fronting countless magazine covers and campaigns, while landing award nominations for everything from her singing and rapping, to brand cache. In 2024, Karina released her first solo endeavor, with the hip-hop track “Up,” taken from aespa’s digital single album, SYNK: Parallel Line. The song debuted at number 27 on the Billboard Global 200 chart in its first week — no small feat considering other artists on the chart that week included Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter. “Up” has since accumulated almost 200 million streams on Spotify to date.
Waterbomb was only the singer’s “second solo stage,” as she explains, and Karina says she’s eager to showcase more of what she can do on her own, though she knows it will take time to find her individual sound apart from the group (for what it’s worth, the medley of aespa songs that she performed on stage at Waterbomb drew some of the loudest cheers of her set, and she would reunite with her group mates days later at Lollapalooza 2026).
She’s also been busy on aespa’s SYNK : COMPLæXITY trek, the group’s fourth world tour, while fulfilling her brand partnership obligations with everyone from Sprite and Prada, to Converse and Chanel. As the face of the the former’s “It’s That Fresh” campaign, Karina joins Spanish singer Omar Montes to promote Sprite’s commitment to championing music and community, while celebrating “fresh takes, street culture and authentic self-expression,” per a release. Go anywhere in Seoul and you’re bound to see billboards of the singer with a can of Sprite in hand (though she sheepishly admits that coffee is her go-to drink these days: “I can’t eat a lot before a performance, but honestly, I drink a lot of iced coffee,” she says).
Despite her busy schedule, the artist says she’s been enjoying some downtime too, catching up on books (“I’m reading ‘The Alchemist’ in Korean,” she shares), relaxing with a face mask, and keeping a notepad-style journal to record her thoughts. What kinds of things does she write down? “I write down favorite lines from my books and memories from my travels,” she says. “And I’m always writing lyrics.”
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
The Alchemist – Gift Edition: A Fable About Following Your Dream
Pick up the Korean-language edition of the book here.
While Karina can’t share too much about what she’s working on, she says she’s always excited to travel and tour to “see the fans.” It’s a sentiment shared by Sprite, who tapped Karina as a brand ambassador back in 2025, and calls her one of the “most culturally resonant voices in the world.”
Karina photographed in Seoul by Peter Ash Lee on July 25, 2026
Peter Ash Lee
“Sprite’s role in music has always been to serve as a platform for the freshest voices and freshest experiences,” offers Oana Vlad, VP Sprite Global Brand. “You see it through the partnerships that we have now with artists like Karina, who we’ve been partnering with for several years. I think she’s much more well-known than when we started our partnership.”
“Music has always been a core part of Sprite’s cultural DNA and one of the ways we connect with culture around the world,” Vlad adds. “We’re championing the people and communities shaping what’s next, from festival experiences to original music collaborations.”
BUY ONLINE
Sprite Zero Sugar + Tea
12-Pack
More than 2,000 people have purchased this in the last month, per Amazon.
As Vlad explains, “If I could summarize the Sprite brand for you in one sentence, we refer to it as ‘ultimate refreshment with cultural edge.’”
Why sponsor Waterbomb? “We always say that for Sprite live experiences, refreshment has to be tasted, seen, felt and heard,” she says.
Karina photographed in Seoul by Peter Ash Lee on July 25, 2026
Peter Ash Lee
Back at the festival, Karina is approaching the end of her set when she finally steps behind the massive yellow water canons on stage, which performers ranging from Kiss of Life to Shownu and Hyungwon from Monsta X have been using to soak the crowd throughout the three-day outdoor event. “Thank you Waterbomb!” Karina shouts from the stage, as she aims the super soakers towards fans who have been lapping up every second of her set.
The cameras zoom in on the K-pop superstar as she smiles and waves goodbye. Her hair is now a little wetter, yet still perfectly in place, and her outfit has held up to her energetic stage performance, which saw her dancing, jumping and even running into the crowd at one point. As Karina’s face is beamed onto the big screen, you can’t help but feel caught up in the same excitement she had gushed about just before she stepped foot on that stage.
Karina photographed in Seoul by Peter Ash Lee on July 25, 2026
Peter Ash Lee
And there’s one more thing you notice.
With the sun beginning to set, sweaty fans raucously chanting her name, and droplets of water still hanging in the air, the singer is literally glowing. And her makeup is perfectly in place.
Hayden Panettiere, the actress and singer best known for her roles in Heroes, Scream and Nashville, died Sunday at age 36. While Panettiere sculpted an enduring acting career beginning as a child, her work in music was an equally memorable part of her legacy — particularly through her role as country star Juliette Barnes on Nashville.
As Juliette, Panettiere performed dozens of songs throughout the ABC musical drama’s six-season run, many of which were released commercially through the show’s soundtrack albums. Her performances weren’t simply incidental to the series. Panettiere’s recordings made their way onto Billboard‘s country charts, giving the actress a legitimate chart history of her own. Her rendition of “Telescope,” for example, became one of the best-known songs associated with her Nashville character, while recordings including “Undermine,” “Wrong Song” and “Don’t Put Dirt on My Grave Just Yet” also charted.
Panettiere’s relationship with music began long before she stepped into Juliette Barnes’ boots. As a child, she contributed vocals to several film and television projects and recorded songs for movies including Ice Princess and Bridge to Terabithia. In 2008, she released “Wake Up Call,” her first single not tied to an acting role, demonstrating that a career in music was something she could pursue separate from her work onscreen.
Remarkably, Panettiere had already reached one of the music industry’s biggest stages before she was even a teenager. Her voice work on the A Bug’s Life Read-Along earned her a nomination for best spoken word album for children at the 42nd annual Grammy Awards in 2000, making her one of the youngest Grammy nominees in history. The Recording Academy lists Panettiere as a one-time Grammy nominee, with the nomination coming when she was just 10 years old.
From a childhood Grammy nod to country songs appearing on Billboard‘s charts, Panettiere’s music career stretched far beyond what her résumé as an actress might suggest. Here are five things to know about Panettiere’s music career.
The Jonas Brothers really are taking it all over again.
After selling out their headlining shows at Madison Square Garden, Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas announced Monday (Aug. 17) that their Burning Up Tour All Over Again will officially expand into a 45-city North American tour this fall. What started as a special revival of one of the band’s most iconic eras is now becoming a full-fledged arena run.
Related
The Jonas Brothers’ Comeback Continues With ‘Camp Rock 3’ Release: Here’s Where to Watch Online Free
Jonas Brothers to Headline NFL Halftime Show at Melbourne Game Between 49ers & Rams: ‘We Can’t Wait to Be Part of This Historic Moment’
The tour will kick off Sept. 25 at Boston’s TD Garden and make stops in cities including Toronto; Washington, D.C.; Miami; Los Angeles; Seattle; and Denver before wrapping Dec. 21 with home state show at Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center.
For Jonas Brothers fans, the name is more than just a clever throwback. The original Burning Up Tour launched in 2008 and became a defining moment in the group’s Disney-era rise to superstardom. The new trek promises to revisit that era and bring the experience to fans who couldn’t make it to the band’s New York shows.
“Our last tour reminded us just how much this music means to us and to the fans who’ve been with us from the start,” the brothers said in a statement shared with Billboard. “The response was so overwhelming announcing the MSG shows that we knew we couldn’t stop at New York.”
Seemingly, the Jonas Brothers aren’t the only ones getting in on the nostaglia.
Magnus Ferrell, Franklin Jonas (yes, the fourth Jonas brother, lovingly nicknamed Bonus Jonas) and All Time Low will join the band as special guests on select dates, adding some new blood to a tour built around revisiting the past.
The announcement comes during a busy stretch for the brothers, as they were just announced as halftime performers for the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Australia this past week. Then came the Aug. 13 premiere of Camp Rock 3, which brought Kevin, Joe and Nick back to Disney Channel nearly two decades after the original movie helped skyrocket their careers. The sequel began streaming on Disney+ the following day.
On Sunday, the trio took another trip down memory lane when they were inducted as Disney Legends during the D23 fan event. In other words, if 2026 has felt like one giant Jonas Brothers reunion so far, they’re not done yet.
The band is even giving fans something to snack on while they wait for tickets. The Jonas Brothers have teamed up with PopUp Bagels for a limited-edition “Burnin’ Up Schmear,” a Hot Pepper Parmesan Cheese available nationwide through Aug. 26. The collaboration started after Joe Jonas slid into the PopUp Bagels account with a simple message: “Burnin’ up collab?”
As for tickets, the first opportunity comes Tuesday (Aug. 18), when eligible Spotify Premium Top Fans can access the Reserved by Spotify presale beginning at 8:28 a.m. local time. Additional presales will run throughout the week, with tickets going on sale to the general public Friday (Aug. 21) at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster. VIP packages will also be available, with options including premium tickets, access to a pre-show Burnin’ Up VIP Lounge, exclusive merchandise and pre-show merch shopping.
See the full list of tour dates below.
After exchanging diss tracks in the past, all seemed to be calm on the BIA and Cardi B front for much of 2026.
That all changed last Thursday (Aug. 13) when BIA doubled down on her claims made on “SUE MEEE?,” which led to Cardi unleashing on the “Whole Lotta Money” rapper hours later.
The feud stretches back to 2023, when BIA aligned herself with Cardi’s rival, Nicki Minaj, as they teamed up on “Whole Lotta Money” in 2020, and fans noticed BIA allegedly scrubbed her X account of Cardi-praising posts she had made in the past. However, BIA said they had no problems.
Still, in 2024, Cardi and BIA threw their names into the rap beef ring. BIA shaded the Grammy-winning artist over alleged similarities between BIA’s Really Her EP and Cardi’s “Enough (Miami).” She also appeared to take issue with Cardi interpolating Missy Elliott’s 1999 hit “She’s a Bitch” on “Like What (Freestyle),” which BIA sampled a year before on “I’m That Bitch.”
BIA brought the feud into the studio and released her “SUE MEEE?” diss track, in which she blasted Cardi over claims of infidelity and allegedly using ghostwriters.
Cardi eventually fired back in 2025 on Am I the Drama?‘s “Pretty & Petty,” where she mocked BIA’s lack of commercial success and referred to the rapper as Diarrhea BIA.
The clash was resurrected last week, and this doesn’t appear to be the final chapter of the Cardi B and BIA war. Here’s a timeline of their feud below.
Ellie Goulding claims in a new lawsuit that her former managers, Ben Mawson and Ed Millet of TaP Management, never told her about Live Nation’s controlling stake in their firm.
The “Lights” singer initiated legal claims for breach of fiduciary duty in the U.K. on July 24, according to court records reviewed by Billboard. She’s suing both Mawson and Millet, who co-founded TaP in 2010, as well as the management firm’s parent company, HNOE Limited.
Related
Goulding signed to TaP in 2018 and remained there through 2025. According to Variety and Rolling Stone, which both obtained copies of the singer’s lawsuit, Goulding is alleging that Mawson and Millet pushed her during this period to do business with Live Nation for touring, merch and a documentary film.
The problem, Goulding reportedly alleges, is that nobody ever disclosed to her that Live Nation had purchased a controlling stake in HNOE in 2015 — or that Live Nation then bought out the rest of the company in 2019. Unbeknownst to Goulding at the time, the ownership arrangement allegedly subjected Mawson and Millet to contractual obligations that barred them from steering artists under their management away from doing deals with Live Nation.
According to Goulding, this meant that Mawson and Millet did not prioritize finding the best deals for her as a client.
“The defendants had a personal interest or duty in dealings between Ms. Goulding and companies in the Live Nation group, which was in actual or potential conflict with the interests of Ms. Goulding in securing the best commercial terms with whichever promoter, merchandiser or other counterparty it was most advantageous for her to deal with,” reads the lawsuit, per Variety.
Goulding is seeking unspecified financial damages in the lawsuit. Reps for Goulding and TaP did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday (Aug. 17).
Live Nation, which is neither named as a defendant nor accused of any wrongdoing, declined to comment on the case.
La cantante colombiana Shakira llegó este lunes a Quibdó, capital del departamento del Chocó, acompañada por el filántropo Howard Buffett, para recorrer barrios afectados por el terremoto que sacudió Colombia el pasado lunes y conocer de primera mano la situación de las comunidades damnificadas.
]]>
La actriz estadounidense Kerry Washington, conocida por su papel de Olivia Pope en la serie Scandal, disfrutó de unas vacaciones en Casa de Campo, donde además se animó a aprender a preparar locrio de pollo, plato tradicional de la gastronomía dominicana.
]]>
El mundo del entretenimiento se despidió de una figura que creció frente a las cámaras: la actriz estadounidense Hayden Panettiere, quien falleció a los 36 años y dejó un legado de más de tres décadas en el cine y la televisión.
]]>
El actor Johnny Depp podría volver a tomar el timón como el Capitán Jack Sparrow en una sexta película de Piratas del Caribe.
]]>
El exponente del merengue de calle Sujeto Oro 24 se alista para protagonizar el concierto titulado “Rompiendo el Jarro”, el cual tendrá como escenario el Hard Rock Café Santo Domingo el sábado 22 de agosto del año en curso.
]]>