Category: Music

It was a “Golden” night at the 2026 Golden Globes for the KPop Demon Hunters crew, with the Netflix hit’s eight-week Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper winning for best original song and the film itself being named best motion picture – animated. Plus, Ludwig Göransson took home the prize for best original score for his work on the Ryan Coogler film Sinners.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking about what the music wins could mean for the 2026 Oscar race, with voting starting this week and nominations set to be announced on Jan. 22. Listen to the latest episode below:

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem is back at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for the first time in four months — and for a 13th total week — and how Olivia Dean climbs into the top three for the first time (and hits new peaks on two more key charts). Plus, how Djo (aka Joe Keery) rides the Stranger Things finale to big gains on the charts — including his first top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

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.

With Dolly Parton‘s 80th birthday almost here, celebrate the iconic career of the legendary country star by picking up Martha Ackmann’s new biography, Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton, which dropped on Dec. 30, 2025. The book is available for purchase at Amazon for $21 and $30 at Barnes & Noble. If you don’t have time to sit down and read, the book is also available on Audible for just $0.99, making the title easily accessible for those who prefer audio or who are visually impaired.

Reading this book, it’s easy to see how Parton became such a big hit. You’ve got anecdotes from Parton’s past ranging from juicy gossip to more humble moments. At just 13 years old, she first performed at the Grand Ole Opry, a famous weekly radio broadcast for country music. It’s safe to say that move takes major guts. As the story goes, Parton released “Jolene” in 1974 and the rest is Country history. In short, the track skyrocketed her career, making her a household name.

Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton

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A Dolly Parton biography.

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The book details Parton’s transition from being an impoverished child in the Smoky Mountains to her eventual rise to international stardom as a singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist. Parton’s music career is just as iconic as her big hair and even bigger personality, with Billboard charting hits like “9 To 5,” “Heartbreaker” and her famed track “I Will Always Love You,” covered by Whitney Houston in 1992 for The Bodyguard film’s soundtrack. The song also caught the eye of a certain “King of Rock & Roll.”

“Well, actually, Elvis (Presley) loved that song. That was when he and Priscilla (Presley) were having their problems.” Parton explained in an interview in 2025 with AXS TV. “She (Priscilla) told me that Elvis sang that to her on the day of their divorce,” Parton continued. The track peaked at 47 on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts and remained on the charts for a total of 10 weeks. The song was released in 1974 as a single, part of Parton’s wildly popular Jolene album as a farewell to her mentor Porter Wagoner.

“Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis’ manager) calls me the day before and says, ‘now you do know that Elvis is recording songs and you do know that Elvis doesn’t record anything that he doesn’t publish or at least get half the publishing. He would have rights to the publishing of the song. I said I can’t do that,” Parton explained in her recent AXS TV interview. “I was so disappointed. I was going to have to tell my friends Elvis didn’t record it.” Parton attributes her business-savvy thinking in situations like this one to her father, who was a hardworking farmer and construction worker.

All this, and more, can be found in Ackmann’s new book, available on Amazon, Audible and at Barnes & Noble now.

Music creation platform Splice has designated Afro house as its sound of the year following the genre’s 778% growth surge on the platform in 2025 — a number driven by 1.3 million searches for and 6.7 million downloads of the genre, the company revealed Tuesday (Jan. 13).

The surge helped lift the broader house genre itself up from the platform’s fifth most downloaded genre in 2023 to its second most downloaded genre in 2025, with Afro house driving 70% of that growth. Meanwhile, melodic house downloads on the platform grew by 75%, garnering 3.2 million downloads.

These stats come from Splice’s new report, Sounds of 2026: An In-depth Look At the Trends Driving Music Creation, which looks at significant trends on the platform. The report was prepared by data analysis firm MIDiA Research and covers data from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30 in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Download the full report for free here.

“This year, more than ever, we are seeing a world where the biggest trends are reaching a subset of people,” the report states. “In an industry now dominated by microtrends, it is nearly impossible for a single person to keep track of them all. With Splice’s data, however, we can zoom in on the trends and microtrends driven by the music industry’s biggest fans and most influential tastemakers: creators.” 

Other key takeaways include hip-hop remaining Splice’s most downloaded genre, while trap remains its top subgenre. The report notes that generally, “growth in hip-hop is being driven by subgenres such as rage, boom bap and pluggnb, highlighting a shift away from a single defining sound.”

Meanwhile, pop returns to the top three genres, with bedroom pop being pop’s top subgenre, owing to a 297% rise in downloads. Other key subgenres here under the pop umbrella include hyperpop and indie pop.

Beyond Splice’s top three genres — hip-hop, house and pop — Splice’s top 10 genres are RnB at No. 4, trap at No. 5, soul at No. 6, EDM at No. 7, cinematic at No. 8, techno at No. 9 and tech house at No. 10.

Notably, electronic music was also one of Splice’s fastest-growing genres, with speed garage climbing 625% year-over-year to more than three million downloads in 2025. Also among the fastest-growing genres on the platform were hardwave, phonk and hard dance.

“Music has entered an era where the biggest trends are personal,” Splice CEO Kakul Srivastava said in a statement. “Our data shows creators pulling inspiration from everywhere at once, blending global sounds and local scenes to create music that feels both deeply human and culturally expansive. Sounds of 2026 captures that shift in real time.”

“In a music economy increasingly shaped by micro-trends, sample usage offers one of the clearest signals of what’s coming next,” added Mark Mulligan, MIDiA Research’s managing director and music analyst. “The sounds creators choose today reflect not only genre evolution, but deeper cultural shifts towards global exchange and scene-driven growth.”

John Forté, the Grammy-nominated musician known for his work with the Fugees and the Refugee Camp All-Stars among others, has died at age 50. He was found dead Monday afternoon in his home in Chilmark, Massachusetts, according to police.

Chilmark Police Chief Sean Slavin said in a statement that there were no signs of foul play or “readily apparent cause of death.” The case is being investigated by the state medical examiner’s office, according to Slavin.

A native of New York City, Forté was a musical prodigy who broke through in his early 20s as a contributor to the Fugees’ Grammy-winning The Score and to Wyclef Jean’s Grammy-nominated The Carnival. A multi-instrumentalist and rapper, he also released such solo albums as Poly Sci and I John, with contributors including Carly Simon, whose son, Ben Taylor, was a close friend of Forté’s.

Forté scored one solo hit on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Ninety Nine [Flash The Message]” peaking at No. 59 in 1998. His Poly Sci album, released that same year, peaked on the Billboard 200 at No. 84.

During Billboard‘s final interview with Forté, he talked to Gail Mitchell about the Fugees reuniting for the 25th anniversary of The Score in 2021. “Talk about coming full-circle,” he said at the time. “I am humbled and thrilled to be connected to that album. We will see where the calendar for the tour dates coordinate as I have things going on myself with this new album. I wasn’t there for the pop-up show [Sept. 22]. But I was there in spirit. And while maybe not in the same room, I have stayed in touch with those guys over the years. Time heals.”

In 2000, he was arrested at Newark International Airport and charged with possession of liquid cocaine and drug trafficking. Forté was sentenced to 14 years in prison, but the sentence was commuted after seven years by President George W. Bush. Carly Simon was among many public figures who advocated for his release.

Survivors include his wife, the photographer Lara Fuller, and two children.

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 official, TWICE is going on tour this year, making multiple stops in the United States.

The JYP Entertainment girl group is a hit among K-Pop and non-K-Pop fans alike, bringing playful and toe-tapping tunes accompanied by polished dancing and powerful live vocals. Even on the Billboard charts, TWICE is constantly winning with tracks like “This Is For,” “The Feels” and “Moonlight Sunrise,” all English tracks that don’t even begin to scratch the surface of their many Japanese and Korean language hits. The girl group’s last major tour was the Ready To Be World Tour, which began all the way back in 2023, so needless to say, fans are hungry to see the members in person on their 2026 tour. The group’s first stop on the tour will be on Jan. 13 in Seattle at the Climate Pledge Arena.

If you are planning on attending, you’ve likely got a checklist of what you need to prep ahead of the concert. With your outfit all picked out and tickets booked (if you’re seeing them out of state) we’d assume that you might be missing the most important item you can have in your K-Pop concert-going arsenal: a lights tick. TWICE’s light stick to be exact, otherwise known as a Candybong, which retails for $89.66 on Amazon.

TWICE Official Candybong Light Stick

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An official TWICE light stick.

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The light-up accessory is, as the name suggests, shaped like a lollipop with a lengthy base and a round head featuring the girl group’s logo smack dab in the middle. With batteries inserted, the light stick lights up in shades of apricot and neon magenta, TWICE’s official group color. With your Candybong, you’ll also receive a wrist strap to keep it on while you chant and cheer with your fellow fans. You can also get the same Candybong at Walmart for $54.99 without the wrist strap and accessories. Wherever you buy it, both Candybongs come with an exclusive photo card of one of the members.

If you’re not familiar, light sticks are a popular accessory, not just amongst ONCE, or fans of TWICE. The concept was popularized years ago thanks to G-Dragon, a South Korean rapper best known for his work in the YG Entertainment boy group BIGBANG. In 2006, the rapper wanted to create something for fans that allowed them to interact at concerts, creating camaraderie and a greater connection with idols. Thus, the first-ever light stick, the Bang Bong, was born. These days, light sticks come in all shapes and sizes, meant to represent each group utilizing colors and specific imagery. Most light sticks have specific light settings, making them flash or sync up with the beat of music at concerts.

The light stick is an investment piece for sure, but it makes you feel closer to your fellow fans and idols. It also serves as a collector’s item that will look rather snazzy next to your other K-Pop paraphernalia. If you haven’t snagged tickets to TWICE’s 2026 tour, it’s not too late. You can shop for tickets and learn more about the tour in our article here. We’ve also included discount codes to sweeten the deal.