Five years after he first headlined New York City’s Governor’s Ball, A$AP Rocky returned in his full glory for a rousing finale on Sunday night (June 7). And though he spent part of his weekend cheering the Knicks onto their second consecutive 2026 NBA Finals victory, Rocky put down the jersey, picked up the microphone, and locked back into superstar rapper mode for his career-spanning set.
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After Saturday night’s flash thunderstorm cut the night short — STRAY KIDS’ set was bumped two hours earlier; Blood Orange eventually rescheduled for Sunday, and Kali Uchis and Amyl and the Sniffers had sets canceled — Rocky’s finale had to make up for circumstances he had no control over.
“I came to get disrespectful,” proclaimed the Grammy-nominated rap star as he lorded over the packed festival crowd from an elevated onstage platform. Armed with a bullhorn-microphone and sporting an off-white AWGE tee, white-and-black balaclava and light wash blue jeans (which he later pulled down to reveal a “Harlem” waistband), Rocky came ready to start a riot. What exactly he was rioting against (or for?) was still unclear by the close of his set, but at least the multihyphenate reminded audiences why he has one of the strongest aesthetic eyes in his entire genre.
Originally set for an 8:45 p.m. ET start time, Rocky didn’t take the stage until a little after 9:00 p.m., closing out a festival that was notably light on hip-hop acts (just six played across the fest’s three days) and homegrown headliners. He exacerbated that delay with increasingly clunky transitions that left the crowd literally in the dark without so much as an instrumental track playing in the background — but when things clicked, Rocky harnessed some truly irresistible energy.
Serving as the de facto NYC stop for his ongoing Don’t Be Dumb Tour — which kicked off on May 27 at Chicago’s United Center — Rocky anchored his headlining performance with his latest LP, drawing on its frenetic, expansive and still-polished energy. Don’t Be Dumb, his first studio album in nearly eight years, debuted atop the Billboard 200 in January, spawning Billboard Hot 100 hits like “Stay Here 4 Life” (No. 23, with Brent Faiyaz), “Helicopter” (No. 24), “Stole Ya Flow” (No. 33) and “Punk Rocky” (No. 56).
It would take Rocky nearly nine songs to finally play something outside of the Don’t Be Dumb era, but the raucous energy of that album’s songs made for a lively first half of his set. He kicked things off with the scathing “Stole Ya Flow,” before transitioning into “Helicopter” and “Trunks” to maintain that, well, riotous energy. Clipse may have given a live rapping masterclass during the set just an hour prior, but Rocky was more concerned with using his master of ceremonies status to call for both mosh pits and for people to take off their shirts and wave them in the air “like a helicopter.”
Comprised of American flags — with his face superimposed on them, no less — and a massive Don’t Be Dumb-branded helicopter, in addition to warring “riotters” (dressed in all white) and SWAT “personnel” (dressed in all back), Rocky’s Gov Ball stage explicitly drew from U.S. military aesthetics. And Rocky’s bullhorn-microphone only emphasized those visual notes, with the Harlem MC moving more like a commanding officer than a rap superstar at the beginning of his set. That militant energy couldn’t save him from production cutting his mic as he approached the 10:00 p.m. ET curfew with seemingly no haste.
While the transitions certainly dragged, Rocky made up for it during moments like “A$AP Forever,” when the SWAT team followed him down the runway, nailing each image the choreography demanded. Other times, like during “Punk Rocky,” the staging felt a bit nonsensical. How do you play a song called “Punk Rocky” and not have your band front and center for its duration? Like any good festival headliner, however, Rocky knew that one surprise guest or song could remedy those inconsistencies. While he didn’t tap Rihanna, though she enjoyed the show in the crowd alongside JENNIE, Rocky did call up Dominican rapper Tokischa for the live performance debut of “Flackito Jodye,” their saucy, dembow-infused Don’t Be Dumb collaboration. As she ripped through her verse and popped her butt for good measure as Rocky’s sole guest (and surprise) of the night, Corona Park turned into Uptown for a split second.
After spending the bulk of his set playing Don’t Be Dumb, Rocky transitioned into “Praise the Lord,” seemingly kicking off a retrospective section that would span his generation-defining career. While he did find time to fit in “Peso,” “Fashion Killa,” “Wassup” and “Purple Swag,” Rocky’s set was ultimately cut short, with his mic’s audio getting pulled as he was gearing up to follow “Jukebox Joints.” Once it was clear that he wouldn’t be able to charm or pressure festival producers to extend his set, Rocky tossed his gloves and wave cap into the office, right before he attempted to unscrew the microphone from the bullhorn. Once that proved unfeasible, Rocky lobbed the entire contraption into the audience and walked off stage without another word.
Given the day had already been slightly delayed due to weather (Slayyyter’s set was notably postponed earlier that afternoon), Rocky should have at least gotten ten minutes extra to tear through signature hits like “1 Train,” “No Limit” and “F—kin’ Problems,” none of which he got the chance to perform. Between that debacle and the eyebrow-raising lack of hip-hop on the lineup, this year’s Gov Ball finale didn’t quite live up to the downright euphoric mood established by the Knicks’ two consecutive NBA Finals victories. Nonetheless, Rocky turned up for his city, and they beamed that energy right back to him.
Fans who weren’t able to make Rocky’s Gov Ball set can still catch him on his Don’t Be Dumb Tour. After hitting Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena for the next stop (June 8), Rocky’s latest trek will take him to major cities across the U.S. and Canada, before concluding on July 11 at Newark’s Prudential Center. The tour’s European leg will commence on Aug. 25 at Brussels’ ING Arena, and visit iconic metropolises like Milan, Copenhagen and Paris, before coming to a close on Oct. 11 at Athens’ Telekom Center.
See A$AP Rocky’s setlist at the 2026 Governor’s Ball below.
Niall Horan has hinted that Australian fans won’t have to wait much longer for a return visit, revealing that tour dates are expected to be announced soon following the release of his latest album, Dinner Party.
“I’ll be down early next year for sure,” Horan told the publication. “We haven’t got to the announcement part of it yet, but there’s no doubt I’ll be down, [and] I can’t wait.”
“I just love being there, I love playing the shows down there,” he added.
While Horan stopped short of confirming dates, venues or ticket details, the comments are his clearest indication yet that an Australian tour announcement is on the horizon. The singer last visited the region in 2024 on The Show Live on Tour.
The tour tease arrives as Horan releases Dinner Party, his first studio album since 2023’s The Show. The new set continues a solo career that has made him one of the most successful members of One Direction following the group’s hiatus.
Horan’s debut solo album, Flicker, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2017, making him the first One Direction member to top the chart with a solo release. Follow-up albums Heartbreak Weather and The Show also reached the Billboard 200’s upper tier, while singles including “Slow Hands,” “This Town,” “Nice to Meet Ya,” “Heaven” and “Meltdown” helped establish him as a global solo star.
In a separate interview with Pedestrian, Horan discussed the personal inspiration behind several songs on Dinner Party. The album’s title track recounts how he met longtime partner Amelia Woolley.
“We literally met at a dinner party, and we’re still together,” Horan said. “It’s kind of like one of those — to me — once-in-a-lifetime things that you never expected to come in, and it hits you. You don’t realise, you’re not looking for it at the time.”
Elsewhere, Horan revealed that the song “Flowers” was inspired by a fan tweet he came across while writing the album.
“Just seeing a tweet online while we were writing the song, ‘Your eyes could grow flowers,’ I thought was a great concept,” he said. “I just love the idea of someone being so powerful that they could do something so unrealistic.”
No official Australian dates have been announced, but Horan’s comments suggest fans can expect news sooner rather than later.
Morgan Wallen‘s Still the Problem Tour added another headline-making moment to its run on Friday night (June 5), when the country superstar grabbed a cellphone out of a security guard’s hand mid-performance and flung it across the stage at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium.
Video of the incident, posted to TikTok by user jcroo419 and rapidly circulated on social media, shows the guard holding up a phone while recording Wallen perform — reportedly at the request of a fan who had passed the device forward in the hopes the guard would hand it to the singer.
Instead, Wallen gestured toward the phone, walked away, then returned, removed it from the guard’s hand and dramatically launched it across the stage. “I get it… security should be doing security things, but…,” the user captioned the clip. Billboard has reached out to representatives for Wallen for comment.
Well that just happened… Amy gave her phone to the lady to hand to Morgan Wallen and he launched it. I get it… security should be doing security things, but….
The phone-throwing came at the end of a turbulent week on the road for the I’m the Problem tour. Just days earlier, Wallen experienced an onstage meltdown during his Denver show, when his piano appeared to malfunction during a performance of “Sand in My Boots,” forcing him to finish the song a cappella. He then walked back to the piano, shoved it about a foot, and flipped it over — breaking it on the stage.
The next day, Wallen posted a TikTok video addressing the moment, showing himself at a new piano. “Hey, I just want you to know that right now this piano is working,” he said. “That’s what they told me last night, too.”
Wallen also abruptly canceled his Saturday show in Pittsburgh, citing high winds and stage safety concerns rather than the swirling “nonsense” speculation about his behavior.
“My team walked on the bus and told me they had been consulting with local officials and that I should cancel my show in Pittsburgh tonight,” he explained in a video posted to his Instagram Stories. “They said that there was going to be strong winds in the area… I’ve been seeing a lot of nonsense about me that is simply not true, and I just wanted to clear the air.”
The Pittsburgh phone moment is the latest in a string of headline-grabbing incidents tied to Wallen’s chart-dominating 2026. His current album I’m the Problem, released in May 2025, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with the largest streaming week ever for a country album, and produced the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “I’m the Problem.”
He had previously topped the Hot 100 in 2024 with “I Had Some Help” featuring Post Malone, which spent six weeks at the summit. One Thing at a Time (2023) spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, one of the longest-running chart-toppers of the streaming era.
The Still the Problem Tour continues across the U.S. throughout the summer.
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.
The 24th edition of the Primavera Sound festival — coming a full quarter-century after a much more modest version of the festival initially debuted in 2001 — went down this week in Barcelona. While a handful of acts (including buzzy indie-rockers Wet Leg) officially kicked off the fest on Wednesday (June 3), and a few more (ending with legendary house DJ Carl Cox) will see it out on Sunday (June 7), the crux of the festival transpired over June 4-6, with three days of genre-and-globe-spanning artists adding up to one of the richest festival experiences currently available anywhere on the map.
Unfortunately, the first of those three main days got largely washed out, as the rains came in early evening and lasted till early morning. The weather resulted in messy conditions and great confusion, with poor communication between organizers, staffers and attendees, as nearly all the stages were at least temporarily suspended, and the night’s main-stage acts saw their sets suspended and ultimately canceled — including the trio of Wednesday headliners, U.K. trip-hop greats Massive Attack, U.S. pop-rap star Doja Cat and Spain rhythmic hitmaker Bad Gyal. (Several of the side stages ultimately reopened, with plenty of strong options remaining for those who stuck around.)
However, the festival rebounded with a drier and significantly less dramatic Friday and Saturday, as the second and third full days went on essentially without a hitch, bringing the stunning variety and consistently high quality of artists for which the festival has become renowned. Addison Rae, The Cure and Skirllex headlined the Estrealla Damm and Revolut main stages on Friday, while My Bloody Valentine, The xx and Gorillaz closed them out on Saturday. And the final full day also included a special treat on the Occident stage courtesy of pop superstar Olivia Rodrigo, who helped erase whatever memories still lingered of Friday’s disappointment with an exhilarating 11-song surprise set, including a returning guest from the previous night’s spate of headliners.
Below, see 10 of our favorite moments from the three (well, two and two-thirds) full days of Primavera Sound Barcelona 2026.
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.
