Category: Music

Rolling Loud India took place this past weekend, and we’re taking you inside the inaugural event! Featuring interviews with Nav, Swae Lee, Wiz Khalifa, fans and more, keep watching to experience what the festival was like.

Swae Lee:

Shout out to India, man. 

Nav:

Everybody’s brown, everybody looks like me. 

Wiz Khalifa:

“Beware?” 

Tetris Kelly:

Yeah, it’s “Beware” remix with Jay-Z, I feel like as soon as that- we’re here.

Rich the Kid:

Hey, they knew every song. Knew every word. So it was exciting.

Guest 1:

Also, people love hip-hop in India.

Tarik Cherif:

If you want to experience hip-hop culture, come to Rolling Loud, and we’re coming to you worldwide.

Tetris Kelly:

Hanging out at Rolling Loud India with Wiz Khalifa, man, this is so crazy to me that we even here.

What is the song that you have you feel like that you know, everybody gonna sing the words that like they react differently than they would in the States?

Wiz Khalifa:

Definitely “We Dem Boyz,” that’s one that gets like the crowds in the foreign country. 

Tetris Kelly:

What was one of your favorite acts yesterday? 

Guest 2:

My favorite was Swae Lee. 

Swae Lee:

That crowd crazy, right? Feel like we back in Miami or something, like they, they screaming.  That’s my first time coming here. 

Tetris Kelly:

What you ate, like what’s the energy?

Rich the Kid:

I love it out here. It’s cool. All the people is cool, very down to earth, and the energy is great.

AR Paisley: 

I love it, can’t complain. Food’s been good. 

Wiz Khalifa:

I just had some regular chicken and rice type

Nav: 

We got to eat. The food is amazing. All the hotels, all of staff, everybody ever just treats us with the utmost respect.

Keep watching for more!

In early November, one cluttered corner of the NPR office in Washington, D.C., received a new type of memento. As global superstars SEVENTEEN became the first K-pop group to make their official Tiny Desk debut in the U.S., their light stick took its rightful place on the set’s iconic bookshelf alongside a hoard of trinkets left by previous musical guests, including Sabrina Carpenter’s bedazzled martini glass — and Billboard was once again on hand to witness it all, from rehearsal to goodbyes.

While a few offshoots of NPR’s concert series have welcomed K-pop acts in the past, SEVENTEEN members Joshua, Mingyu, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino were the first to perform behind the actual desk. And filming in the office base meant the most rigorous of standards were set in place: no floor monitors, no in-ears, no post-production magic or vocal touch-ups. Taken together, these are no small asks, even for veteran performers now a decade into their careers.

Then there’s the matter of size. “Any group with a large number of lead singers is hard to bring to the desk,” says Suraya Mohamed, executive producer for NPR Music, who adds that vocalist DK was originally supposed to attend the shoot before losing his voice. While a sprawling ensemble in its entirety may technically be able to squeeze into the space, she explains, that’s without accompanying band members and several instruments. Plus, only around five or six people comfortably fit in the front of the desk.

All these challenges combined, beyond creating the raw, authentic atmosphere that Tiny Desk has come to be known for, stretch artists to reach new highs, say its producers. And trust SEVENTEEN to rise to the occasion. All the world’s a stage for K-pop’s main theater kids, who recently wrapped the U.S. leg of their NEW_ world tour. Whether they’re playing to 18,000 cheering fans or an office of public media employees, it’s hard not to walk away from one of their shows inexplicably and irrevocably charmed.

In the video posted to NPR’s YouTube channel on Monday (Nov. 24), the group confesses to having experienced some nervousness before the shoot. But while working through a medley of nine songs spanning years of their catalog — from blistering hits “Hot” and “Clap” to beloved b-side “To You,” with a fair share of stellar high notes sprinkled in — those nerves were more than melted away by the warm reception in the room. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a response on Tiny Desk,” Vernon says, visibly blown away by the energy the crowd gives them throughout. “This is awesome. Thank you so much.” 

Given all that went on behind the camera, here’s a roundup of 3 things you didn’t see in SEVENTEEN’s Tiny Desk debut.

Wicked: For Good has grossed $226 million worldwide in its opening weekend at the boxoffice, which allows it to join Billboard’s list of the top-grossing films that are adapted from Broadway musicals. Our list is drawn from boxofficemojo.com’s running tally of the 1,000 top-grossing films of all time in terms of worldwide grosses.

Both Wicked: for Good and its predecessor, 2024’s Wicked, were adapted from the 2003 Broadway musical Wicked. The first Wicked film opened on Nov. 22, 2024. In just five weeks, it pulled ahead of Mamma Mia! to become the top-grossing film adapted from a Broadway musical. Wicked received 10 Oscar nominations on Jan. 23, 2025, including nods for both of its stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. It won two awards at the Oscars ceremony on March 2, 2025 — best costume design and best production design.

Both Wicked and Wicked: For Good were directed by Jon M. Chu, whose hit-studded résumé includes a previous film adaptation of a Broadway musical, the 2021 movie version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s breakout hit In the Heights.

Eight film adaptations of Broadway musicals appear on Box Office Mojo’s list of the top 1,000 films in terms of their lifetime worldwide grosses. One disclaimer about this list right at the top: The biggest blockbusters of earlier eras simply can’t match the grosses of today’s hits. (It’s not just your imagination that ticket prices are much higher than they used to be.) The Sound of Music has grossed $161.4 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo — not enough to make their list of 1,000 top-grossing films. But that 1965 adaptation of the 1959 Broadway musical is one of the biggest hits in film history. (Of course, back then a movie ticket cost less than a box of Raisinets does today.)

Our list does not include Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, the Cher-featuring sequel to Mamma Mia!, on the grounds that it was really just a sequel to a hit movie. (The sequel did astonishingly well, with a worldwide gross of $395.6 million.) By contrast, Wicked: For Good had the same source material as Wicked — the 2003 Broadway show.

Here are the eight top-grossing film adaptations of Broadway musicals in terms of lifetime worldwide grosses.