Rob Base died on Friday (May 22) just days after turning 59 years old. The “It Takes Two” rapper’s family announced on his Instagram account that the Harlem native, who made up one-half of the duo Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, died following a private battle with cancer.
“Today, we share the heartbreaking news that hip hop legend Rob Base passed away peacefully on May 22, 2026, surrounded by family after a private battle with cancer,” the statement began.
The rapper’s family continued: “Rob’s music, energy, and legacy helped shape a generation and brought joy to millions around the world. Beyond the stage, he was a loving father, family man, friend, and creative force whose impact will never be forgotten. Thank you for the music, the memories, and the moments that became the soundtrack to our lives. Rest in Paradise, Rob Base. May 18, 1967 – May 22, 2026.”
Childhood friends Rob Base (born Robert Ginyard) and DJ E-Z Rock rose to prominence in the late 1980s, and the duo’s breakout came in 1988 with “It Takes Two” via Profile Records, which hit the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 36 and spending 16 weeks on the chart. The crossover hit is certified platinum by the RIAA.
The Black Eyed Peas sampled “It Takes Two” for their top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Rock That Body,” and the single was also played in plenty of movies like Love & Basketball,The Proposal, Iron Man 2, The Disaster Artist, Hey Arnold! The Movie and was part of a radio station in 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
“It Takes Two” was followed up by The Jacksons-sampling “Get on the Dance Floor,” which topped Billboard‘s Dance Club Songs chart. Rob and E-Z Rock returned to the Hot 100 for a second and final time with “Joy and Pain,” which peaked at No. 58 in July 1989.
The Harlem duo released a pair of albums together with 1988’s It Takes Two (No. 31 Billboard 200 peak, No. 4 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums peak), and Break of Dawn in 1994. Base dropped one solo album in his career, which came in 1989 with The Incredible Base (No. 50 Billboard 200 peak, No. 20 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums peak).
DJ E-Z Rock (born Rodney Bryce) died in 2014 due to complications related to diabetes, while Base continued their musical legacy in the years since, as he performed as part of the I Love the 90’s Tour with Vanilla Ice and other acts.
Base even extended his reach into Hollywood, where he executive produced the horror movie Urban Flesh Eaters in 2025.
Rob Base’s final public statement came earlier this week when celebrating his 59th birthday with a post to Instagram on May 18. “Happy 59th Birthday to me. God thank you for allowing me to see another year,” he wrote.
Lewis Capaldi arrives, shoulders loose, hair tousled; his eyes are bright, steady and settled. A deep exhale follows. “This feels quite weird,” he says, right leg gently bouncing as he perches on the edge of a primrose-yellow accent chair. “I haven’t done something like this for a while.”
We meet in a downtown Chicago hotel bar, where there’s an understated sense of occasion: This is the Scottish singer-songwriter’s first in-person profile interview in almost four years. The low metallic rumble of the L train passes the window next to us at regular intervals. Capaldi, a preternaturally warm person, is telling Billboard U.K. how it feels to be back in the hot seat.
His nerves may feel palpable, but this is an artist gradually re-emerging into his element, back on tour and stepping onto the biggest stages of his career with a fresh purpose. Later this evening, he will head to the 23,500-capacity United Center as part of a sold-out North American headline tour, which has also featured shows at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl — as well as a double-header at Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater — in support of his recent Survive EP (via Polydor), after the title track hit No. 1 in the U.K. last summer.
Lane Dorsey
Capaldi is taking the current run in his stride. He’s committed to a new gym routine and has refreshed his wardrobe, donning an Adidas track jacket with an easy cool. Indie star Sam Fender, one of his closest friends, took him on a night out to New York City’s notorious Newcastle United supporters’ bar; Capaldi marked the release of new single “Stay Love” via a surprise fan event at Penn Station, with roses passed through the crowd.
“Genuinely, this is the most fun I have ever had on tour. I feel like I have properly loosened up. And I have… locked in,” Capaldi begins. “Is that even the right phrase?!”
Well, quite. He describes how he’s reduced a near-daily therapy schedule to one session a fortnight, while he “didn’t give a f–k” that his voice sounded “really croaky” at the Madison Square Garden show, as he felt so enamored by the gratitude of simply being present on stage. A few days after our conversation, he’ll go on to play a full acoustic show at Red Rocks despite technical difficulties, and remain relaxed and buoyant throughout. “I used to feel horrible when things started to go wrong,” he adds. “It was like I was existing inside my head.”
All of this perspective carries a deeper, almost full-circle significance as Capaldi returns to the Windy City. It’s nearly three years to the day since the 29-year-old last played here, at the 5000-capacity Aragon Ballroom. That night, before stepping out for the encore, Capaldi was overcome by a panic attack, “convulsing” as the episode escalated to the point where he felt completely detached from his own body. He returned to finish the set with support from fans, but the show marked not an immediate turning point so much as a stark realisation of where his health stood.
“Last time I was here in Chicago, I was undoubtedly at my lowest,” Capaldi recalls, tugging at the sleeves of his black crew jumper. “I was mentally f–ked and physically struggling with my back, too. It was killing me. Honestly, I look back now and I think, ‘Why didn’t you just stop?’”
In the thick of promoting his U.K. chart-topping 2022 LP Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, while facing the reality of a recent Tourette’s Syndrome diagnosis, Capaldi was burnt out and fired up. As fatigue started to set in, the involuntary, jagged movements that define his condition (called “tics”) became more pronounced, as did the persistent nausea he was experiencing. Yet this health revelation only intensified public interest as Capaldi shared the news in an Instagram Live session; his fame continued to soar not in spite of the struggle, but alongside it.
After the incident at Aragon Ballroom, Capaldi pushed himself to finish a further 12 North American shows, plus a subsequent U.K. run of promotional underplay gigs, as planned. It would take until he reached Glastonbury Festival in June 2023 for things to unravel — and for this in-demand star to realize that he’d “been in f–king denial, and living a life of pain.”
Lane Dorsey
During a prime sunset slot on the Pyramid Stage, broadcast live to millions of viewers at home, Capaldi had what he describes today as “a very public breakdown.” The performance saw him repeatedly chastise himself for losing his voice, while visibly battling intense vocal and physical tics. Throughout closer “Someone You Loved,” the audience belted the words out for him, as Capaldi accepted defeat, staring out into a middle distance. “Glastonbury, thank you so much,” he said as the performance concluded. “If I never get to do this again, this has been amazing.”
Three years later, the footage – which frequently cuts away from the stage, leaving the full extent of what was happening largely unseen – remains a difficult watch, but also stands as a powerful example of collective compassion. For Capaldi, it spurred a self-administered intervention. “Looking back, anyone could see that I felt f–king dejected, disappointed, sad and just worthless that day,” he says. “But as soon as I got off stage, I was like, ‘I’m taking a break now.’ It felt like a weight had been lifted. People saw how f–king detrimental things can get.”
Capaldi walked backstage to find his parents crying, while his band was also visibly upset. He instead had a very calm, almost detached reaction, leaving the site immediately to head to Glasgow to see some childhood friends at a pub. Though much of that trip home now “feels like a blur,” he remembers looking at his phone and seeing that he’d made national headlines, while his Instagram DMs became flooded with fans expressing concern.
In hindsight, for Capaldi, the fallout from months of physical strain had become a question of pride. Already a homegrown star by this point, it was the international success of Broken by Desire…, which debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, that caused demand to outstrip the initial rollout plans. “When I got my Tourette’s diagnosis, I thought to myself, ‘Oh well, just carry on. This is life now,’” he says. “I wanted to finish the tour, almost as a badge of honor, and then get to Glastonbury – but I probably should have never been up there in the first place.”
Mid-sentence, Capaldi knocks the table for emphasis, unknowingly spilling his glass of water. “You could drive yourself crazy thinking about it all,” he says. “But things happened exactly the way they were supposed to happen.”
Thomas Falcone
There was a point at the turn of the decade when Capaldi’s grip on British pop culture felt inescapable. He’d been inclined to agree. “I feel like in the U.K., you walk out your front door and there’s a chance I might be there,” he says. “It’s almost like I’m part of the furniture!”
Having been lifted from relative obscurity – playing pubs around West Lothian before his manager stumbled upon his SoundCloud page – Capaldi’s rise was meteoric. His 2018 breakout single “Someone You Loved,” an Adele-sized gut-punch of a pop megaballad, topped the Billboard Hot 100 and spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. It is now the nation’s most-streamed song ever, and stands at No. 6 on the global all-time Spotify rankings, higher than any track by streaming-era heavyweights like Taylor Swift and Drake.
This fairytale-like story continued. When Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent arrived a month later, it became the U.K.’s biggest-selling album of the year, a feat it would repeat in 2020. Its author was showered with accolades, ranging from a Grammy nomination (song of the year) to two BRIT Award wins. He became an ever-present fixture at red carpet events, with a self-deprecating personality that felt refreshing among other rising stars who were arguably more hesitant to say, or even be, much of anything at all.
Anchoring it all was that voice — raw, bruised, heartfelt and unflinching, digging up long-buried feelings and reshaping them with grace. No amount of studio polish can account for how Capaldi can break your heart with a whisper or lift it with anthems of emotional tenacity, all steered by that thick, unmistakable Scottish accent.
Critics were largely unanimous in their response to the record, pointing to its run of slow-burning tracks as somewhat repetitive, with one outlet stating it had “no subtlety, originality or range.” Capaldi had his right to reply on social media, where he became an early adopter of TikTok. In the majority of his clips, he poked fun at the sentimentality of his own music — dimples deepening as he laughed — by embracing its excesses.
Few acts could rival Capaldi for his irreverence and marketing nous, but the level of exposure soon came at a cost. “People wouldn’t always engage with the music. They’d come up to me in the street and say, ‘You’re my favourite TikToker!’,” he recalls. That tension only intensified in the run-up to Broken By Desire… for which promotion was amplified by high-profile commercial tie-ins (Deliveroo, Tinder) and a Capaldi-branded pizza range sold in British supermarkets. But there was a creeping sense that the deliberately absurd spectacle risked overshadowing the songs themselves, a trade-off that became harder to ignore.
“I was doing so much content, and that very quickly became commodified. A lot of the second album roll-out was based around doing a funny video to go viral,” Capaldi says. “I became so exhausted from putting on the whole, ‘Oh, I’m so f–king silly’ thing. I felt like I was playing up to other peoples’ ideas of me.”
There was a moral conundrum, too, tied to his own everyman appeal and how it was being shaped and used. “It sometimes felt a bit like, ‘How can we get money out of this? How can we f–king sell, sell, sell?’”
Out of “not wanting to upset others”, Capaldi won’t be drawn on specific campaigns or product releases, but he is forthright in explaining how he believes he has “not treated the fanbase in the way that I probably should have.” He continues: “There was maybe an element of trying to extract too much from people. I have very confused feelings towards that time.”
This came to a head with the 2023 Netflix special How I’m Feeling Now, he says, reflecting: “I look back at things, and I think there’s a lot of s–t I wish I hadn’t done.” He adds that while he doesn’t necessarily “regret” it, the documentary became deeply tied to his private life. Over 96 minutes, it shows Capaldi battling exhaustion, imposter syndrome and creative frustration, alongside intimate scenes at his childhood home with his parents.
Thomas Falcone
Capaldi says the only time he has watched How I’m Feeling Now back is when he had to sign off on the edit; seeing himself reckon with his Tourette’s diagnosis onscreen was upsetting enough to not want to revisit it. He recalls reshooting the final scene – set to look forward to his future as an artist – because the first version was “really depressing,” reflecting the wider mental state the film captures. Over time, what began as a more straightforward tour documentary evolved into an unfiltered portrait of an artist under pressure.
“Maybe if I’d known that, I probably wouldn’t have done it,” he says of the change in the film’s direction. “Also seeing my parents featured in it in such a big way… I don’t love that. Looking back on it, I think up until that point, I’d been quite protected. People didn’t know much about my day-to-day life; I wasn’t putting personal stuff on social media.”
Capaldi’s vulnerability throughout the documentary created an access point for people who might not have been previous fans of his music. The response continues to be “overwhelming”; he speaks of the frustration of not being able to individually help all those who have reached out to him via message, while also acknowledging that he activated a conversation around neurodivergence and grief while at the beginning of his own recovery.
As we broach this subject, he leans forward across the table, and starts talking 10 to the dozen about his reluctance to be seen as a “mental health poster boy.” He adds that a second Netflix documentary centered around the journey to Glastonbury 2023 was scrapped, following some “difficult discussions” about its proposed content and the eventual outcome of Capaldi’s performance at the festival.
As such, during his break, he began to ask himself bigger questions. What did he want out of his career? Why was it so important to succeed? Capaldi thinks he found the answer in starting to live for himself. “‘Authenticity’ has become a buzz word and I feel like not everything has to be out there,” he says. “I just don’t care to deal at that altar anymore, you know what I mean?”
In many ways, the past few years for Capaldi have been centered around finding the fun and mystery in music again; to remember what songwriting is to him beyond trying to top his previous milestones. He credits this mindshift change in part to a tight-knit circle of artist friends, naming them one by one while holding up a finger for each as he goes: Sam Fender, Grian Chatten [Fontaines D.C.], Niall Horan, Bradley Simpson [The Vamps], Ed Sheeran.
Capaldi owns a house in north London, where he lives in close proximity to Fender and Chatten. The trio, who jokingly dub themselves “The Syndicate,” have been spotted holidaying in County Mayo on the west coast of Ireland and supporting each other at their respective headline shows. They regularly send each other new music, Capaldi says, with recent favourites including ascendant Dublin rockers Bleech 9:3, singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, also from the Irish capital, and Scottish folk act Jacob Alon.
In October 2025, Capaldi headed to Newcastle to support Fender and Chatten at the Mercury Prize ceremony, for which they were both nominated, with the former ultimately winning for his opus People Watching. Seeing two of the most important people in his life recognised for their artistic ambition had a motivating effect on Capaldi, reinforcing the value of creative risk-taking.
“[Sam and Grian] talk about music as art – and I know this sounds f-king mental coming from someone who is also a musician – but they really f–king care about everything they’re putting out,” Capaldi says. “It is so inspiring. What they have instilled in me is to really take time [in the studio], and start properly giving a f–k about what I’m saying and what the songs sound like.”
Capaldi says he is “happy and secure” enough to admit he’s “unsure” what his future looks like. Survive was released to “clear the decks” of previously recorded material, allowing him to move forward without a fixed plan. He has yet to begin work on a new album, but he wants to work with new collaborators, be involved in “every single aspect of the production,” and “not compromise” on the recording process. “I feel the most confused and lost I’ve ever been in my career. But it’s a really good thing; I feel like I have absolutely no idea what the f–k I’m doing.”
He continues: “Around the second album, I became so hyper-focused on chasing a hit record that I was just doing s–t on the fly and handing off songs to producers. I don’t want to phone in anything ever again. The people who listen to my music deserve better; I deserve better.”
A triumphant comeback campaign started with a surprise appearance at Glastonbury last summer, where Capaldi returned to the Pyramid Stage to deliver a full set and finish where he’d left off two years earlier. “I cannot overstate the importance of that day and what it’ll mean to me for the rest of my life. If that hadn’t gone well, I don’t know what situation I’d be in; but it did, and I showed up for myself,” he says.
In the following months, he went to see Oasis, Radiohead and McFly perform live – describing all three gigs as “the best night of my life” – while also making a cameo in Taylor Swift’s “Opalite” video, and embarking on a U.K. and Ireland arena tour, during which he began to shift his focus away from monitoring his tics on stage. The latter marked a significant step for Capaldi, who had previously cancelled dates amid severe health anxiety, including at times to undergo medical checks.
As he has settled back into touring, there have been musical legends who have remained firmly in his corner. Among them is Elton John, who has offered his support in private, as well as seminal songwriter David Gray, who wrote Capaldi a personal letter of encouragement. Those kind gestures have formed a steady foundation as he continues to navigate his next steps, and he’s keen to “pay it forward” and support other artists battling adversity, having reached out to Lola Young amidst the intense scrutiny the singer faced last year as her profile rapidly rose.
“Lola is amazing, she’s incredible,” Capaldi says. “I sent her a big message where I was like, ‘Look, you don’t need to reply to this, but I know how you’re feeling.’ When I went away, there were a lot of people reaching out to me; I didn’t get back to everybody, but it meant a lot. Everyone talks about the ‘duty of care’ that is required from labels, but I think we also have a responsibility as artists to share that support.”
The United Center show later in the evening will reveal an artist who seems looser and more liberated as he bathes in the glow of the crowd. On a yearning “Something in the Heavens,” Capaldi’s falsetto can be an almost unbearably intimate instrument to listen to, leaping from gentle to piercing in a single note, while a reworked version of “Pointless” is both desperately sad and beautiful at once, like a bloom pushing through concrete. Soft, exquisite lighting illuminates the tenderness with which this music is being relayed on stage.
As his live pull continues to surge, an extensive summer run lies ahead, including a two-night takeover of London’s 65,000-capacity BST Hyde Park, but in Chicago the focus is firmly on immediacy. “I’m very excited to be back in this city and playing the gig you all deserve. It’s all uphill from here,” Capaldi says, his words landing like a promise he knows he can keep.
Portraits by Lane Dorsey for Billboard U.K. Live photography by Thomas Falcone
As a rock ‘n’ roll frontman, Paul Di’Anno left no stone unturned. However, after his passing in 2024, at the age of 66, the original Iron Maiden singer is surely one of the great “what ifs” in the heavier end of music.
Di’Anno’s life, career and brutal health battles are the subject of a new feature-length documentary, Di’Anno – Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer, the work of filmmaker Wes Orshoski (Lemmy, The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead).
The film screens in North American cinemas from June 9, through Cleopatra Entertainment, and features appearances by James Hetfield (Metallica), Gene Simmons (Kiss) Maiden’s Steve Harris and members of Exodus, Slayer, Megadeth, Overkill and Sepultura.
In it, Orshoski unearths footage of Di’Anno in his pomp, a pioneer who bent metal into punk and led from the front on the first two Maiden album. Poor lifestyle choices led to poor health, and Di’Anno’s final years, as we observe in the film, are anything but a heavy metal miracle. By the mid-2010s, Di’Anno was wheelchair-bound due to crippling knee injuries, a grim situation that contributed to anxiety and depression, all of which the late rocker discusses in the film.
Still, his voice remained mighty when his body failed him, and Di’Anno was always planning, hoping to hit the road again. In one touching moment, caught on film, Di’Anno learned that his old Maiden bandmates would step in to cover his extensive medical bills.
“My film largely centers on their efforts to help Paul get back on his feet, professionally, emotionally and literally,” explains Orshoski. Through the extensive process, the setbacks, and the hope, “I grew a lot from working with Paul,” he admits.
Di’Anno was the frontman with Maiden from 1978 to 1981, leading from the front for the British band’s self-titled album from 1980 and its followup from 1981, Killers. He split with the group before their 1982 commercial breakthrough with The Number of the Beast, which introduced new vocalist Bruce Dickinson, the band’s frontman to this day.
“Those first two albums are so special to me,” says Metallica’s Hetfield at the top of the doc. “Paul had kinda like the ultimate metal voice for me.”
In his post-Maiden career, Di’Anno worked recorded and toured as a solo artist and as a member of such groups as Gogmagog, Di’Anno’s Battlezone, Killers, Rockfellas, and Warhorse.
Billboard caught up with Orshoski to discuss the film, almost 10 years in the making. And, of course, its tragic subject.
Billboard:It feels like the planets aligned this year for Iron Maiden, with Rock Hall induction, the band doing some of their biggest shows, and two documentaries. How did your film come about?
Wes Orshoski: I’m thrilled to see Maiden voted in this year. I grew up in the Cleveland area and the Rock Hall means a lot to me. There are a lot of acts that have been criminally ignored, like INXS, the Smiths and Joy Division, but Maiden to me is the biggest wrong that needed to be righted with this year’s vote.
My film has been a long time coming. I started work on it in 2017, not long after Matt Green at Cleopatra Records and his longtime friend and former Di’Anno bandmate Cliff Evans reached out to me and pitched me on it. I was intrigued and said “yes” immediately. I grew up a fan of Bruce Dickinson (Di’Anno’s replacement) and never really knew that much about Paul, but I knew that his legend still loomed large.
So, I knew there was going to be an incredible story to tell. But I can’t believe how things really came together for in the end.
Documentaries are a labor of love. Can you give me a sense of the challenges you were faced with in the making this film?
Well, before I ever even met Paul, he misled me on the phone about his physical condition. He made it seem like he would be on his feet in a month or so, after a minor medical procedure and a month after that I would be filming him on tour in Brazil. The first time I ever met him was at the front entrance to his local hospital in Salisbury, England. He was going for a doctor’s appointment before that “minor procedure” and I was there to film it.
Immediately, I realized he wouldn’t be walking any time soon. The doctor there explained that he was in need of two complete knee replacements, one extremely involved. Paul nearly flipped at one point when the doctor explained to him that there was a chance he could both lose one of his legs and potentially even die during the operation. I originally signed on to make the film over a 12-month period, and it became obvious that that was not going to happen.
After that, Paul began missing appointments, which I’ve learned is a major no-no within the British national healthcare system. He was waiting longer and longer for care, while his health was getting worse and worse. So there were tons of delays because of his health, and then Covid happened. And it was in the middle of Covid that two fans stepped in, launched a crowdfunding campaign and convinced him to seek treatment in Croatia.
They were both Paul’s guardian angels, and they gave me a film!!!
My film largely centers on their efforts to help Paul get back on his feet, professionally, emotionally and literally.
You spent time in close quarters with Paul. What can you tell us about him, and that personal time you shared?
I filmed with him on and off from 2017 to 2023. Paul could be an absolute sweetheart, a lovely man, and he could be an absolute demon. I tried to show both sides in the film. I enjoyed being around the easy-joking funny guy quite a lot. When he was in a great mood, he could be super fun and a blast. Zero ego. But when the Mr. Hyde side of him reared its head, it could be ugly for everyone within earshot. And he was sort of unapologetic about that nastiness. That said, several times I would see him blow up and then I would notice that he would almost immediately feel awful about it.
You have to understand, I was filming him during some of the worst times in his life. I mean, imagine where your mental health would be if stuck in a wheelchair going on almost a decade, and desperately trying to put your life back together and you have a camera on you. I know I for one could not endure that. So I try to keep that in mind when thinking back on the darker moments.
To be honest with you, I grew a lot from working with Paul. After the film had dragged on for a few years, I remember filming him in his care center in Croatia, and on this particular day we really got into it with the camera rolling, just yelling at each other. I watched it a few years later with a different sort of perspective and realized he was absolutely right about everything he was barking at me about. I called him up to apologize.
He was in Mexico at the time, and he couldn’t have cared less. He was more interested in what sort of tacos he was going to order for lunch. So as much as he was rightly known as The Beast, there was a certain amount of grace there, too.
Did Paul get to see an edit of the film before he passed?
He did not, no. The film was finished when he passed, but, no, he never had a chance to see it.
Were you in touch with the Iron Maiden camp during the process?
The very first thing I did after signing a contract with Cleopatra was call Iron Maiden management. Maiden manager Rod Smallwood was very kind, but immediately told me that neither he or any of the current band members would be participating.
Obviously, it was a massive bummer, but not unexpected. In the end, though, I’m very happy to say that Steve Harris and the rest of the guys do appear in the film.
Who should go see this film?
This is the first film I made for a specific audience — Maiden fans and metal fans in general. The outside world has no idea who Paul Di’Anno, nor do they care. So I didn’t really make a film that’s trying to straddle the line between appeasing metalheads and everybody else. That said, I’ve gotten some wonderful feedback from folks who’ve seen it who had no knowledge of Paul or Maiden before the film started. Ya know, girlfriends of guys with Eddie on their chest (laughs).
A special Q&A session with Orshoski will immediately follow the North American theatrical premiere on June 9 at Lumiere Music Hall Theater in Beverly Hills, CA. The film will release that day on both the digital VOD and Home Entertainment DVD/Blu-ray formats.
Jack White has raised a toast to Stephen Colbert, the satirist, talk-show master and Trump agitator whose 11-year reign at The Late Show came to an end Thursday evening, May 21.
Colbert gathered an all-star cast, and welcomed Beatles great Paul McCartney, for the emotional farewell. Many, however, including White, political commentator Robert Reich, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Wednesday night’s guest, Bruce Springsteen, insist that The Late Show should still be on the airwaves, but was canceled under a cloud of political censorship.
With Thursday night’s episode done, the show is over.
“America needs to give a standing ovation for this man tonight,” White writes on his socials. “God Bless Stephen, it is absolutely ridiculous that we live in a country where a President’s ego can vindictively censor network television…..and nobody stops him.”
The White Stripes frontman, himself a vocal critic of Donald Trump, continued: “Carry on down your new paths with your head held high sir. You’ve told the truth and given us so much to laugh at, and we’re expecting even more in the future. Thank you.”
Colbert’s stinging rebukes of Trump, his administration and the MAGA movement apparently hit a raw nerve with the president. In a Truth Social rant in late 2025, the president called on CBS to “put him to sleep,” and he’d go on to label Colbert a “pathetic trainwreck” and a “dead man walking.”
CBS did cancel the show in 2025, citing financial losses. Many progressives, however, point to the timing. The axe swung soon after Colbert’s criticism of CBS’s parent company, Paramount, over its $16 million legal settlement with Trump, coming at a moment when Paramount was on the brink of a merger deal that U.S. authorities could block.
Springsteen lauded Colbert on Wednesday night’s second-from-last episode. “I am here tonight to support Stephen, because you’re the first guy in America who lost his show because we’ve got a president who can’t take a joke,” he remarked. Read Jack White’s post below.
The secret is out: BTS has revealed the venue and on-sale specifics for the Asia and Australia legs of their BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’.
Produced by Live Nation, the Asia swing gets underway on Thursday, Nov. 19 at Kaohsiung National Stadium and includes stops in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Jakarta in the last quarter. Then Australia dates start Friday, Feb 12, 2026 with back-to-back nights at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium before heading to Sydney’s Accor Stadium for performances on Feb. 20 and 21, followed by shows in Hong Kong and Manila next March.
Tickets are available from Tuesday, June 2 via ARMY membership presale, with the general onsale beginning Thursday, June 4 at btsworldtourofficial.com.
According to a statement, the production for those shows features an immersive 360-degree, in-the-round stage design, which places fans at the center of the experience while expanding overall stadium capacity, all of it in support of BTS’ fifth studio album ARIRANG.
The K-pop superstars’ tour got going in April in their homeland, South Korea, followed by dates in the United States and Mexico. Next up, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV this Saturday, May 23.
Demand for tickets has been “unprecedented,” reps say. Following the initial onsale, BTS sold out all 41 stadium dates across North America, Europe, and the U.K., shifting nearly 2.4 million tickets.
To cope with “overwhelming fan demand during presales,” further dates were added and promptly sold out in Tampa, FL. Stanford, CA, and Las Vegas, NV, and in Latin America.
Billboard’sFriday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to New Music Friday’s most essential releases each week — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
Last week, we featured Gracie Abrams, Drake and Maluma.
This week: Olivia Rodrigo shares the second single from her forthcoming You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, Lola Young returns with the hearty “From Down Here” and Charli xcx continues to tease her new album with “SS26” … plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Olivia Rodrigo, “The Cure”
From the first strummed chord of “The Cure” one thing becomes clear: indie-rocker Liv has entered the chat. Across the near five-minute song, Rodrigo flexes her singer-songwriter muscles as the initial riff continues on, resulting in a song that would sound just as good at a stripped down, acoustic open mic session (though she’s already been there, done that already for this cycle) as it would blaring through a stadium sound system. And once that bridge hits — introducing a swiftly sped up tempo for the song’s final minute — her upcoming Unraveled Tour name makes a whole lot more sense.
Lola Young, “From Down Here”
Following a Grammy win for best pop solo performance (“Messy”) and ahead of a celebrated return to headline All Things Go, Lola Young is sharing the soulful and soaring “From Down Here.” Co-written and co-produced by James Blake, his fingerprints are all over the track’s enticing layers. Together, each one helps create a plush sonic playground for Young’s vocals to jump around on — and in fact, it takes a voice like hers to not get lost in the sound but rather act as its guide no matter the vantage point.
Charli xcx, “SS26”
The second single from Charli’s upcoming album, once again, takes a turn down a new path (or, as she sings, down a “runway that goes straight to hell”). The surprisingly mid-tempo track puts Charli’s vocals at the forefront and feels far removed from the divisive lead single “Rock Music” — save for a subtle, unrelenting riff that at times leans heavy on fuzzy feedback. But really, it’s the writing that provokes a second play as Charli sings of the inevitable end of the world through the lens of a new spring/summer collection, concluding: “Nothing’s gonna save us, not music, fashion, or film.”
Bleachers, everyone for ten minutes
Focus track “we should talk,” from Bleachers’ fifth album that arrives on Friday (May 22), wastes no time setting the agenda for what exactly should be talked about. “We had a band, we had a life, we had dreams/ In a van we wrote our own Bible supreme/ Then you got a house, a lawn, a wife and a kid/ And those dreams turned to memories and that’s where it ends.” The flittering pop-rock track paints a picture a familiar crossroads between the life you’ve already lived and the one that feels fast approaching — and what you want to do about it.
Blondshell, Heart Has To Work So Hard
Indie rocker Blondshell is preparing for a big season ahead, announcing her biggest headlining shows for the fall and now launching her next cycle with the aching and angry “Heart Has To Work So Hard.” And while her distinct dismal tone stamps the song as only her own, the unrelenting production and musicianship create a new point of intriguing tension that could — and should — be explored more on a future project. As Blondshell shared in a statement: “This song is really about friendship and betrayal, getting stuck in a dynamic and letting things fester…but it’s also about a love so enduring that you find compassion no matter what.”
