12Jun

Charles Barkley Hopes ESPN Fires Him Over Cardi B Joke: ‘I Would Love To Get Fired, I’m Not Gon’ Lie’

As usual, Charles Barkley doesn’t care what anybody thinks.

Barkley appeared on The Dan Patrick Show this week and while talking about this viral Cardi B joke he made during halftime of Game 3 of the NBA Finals earlier this week was asked if management ever tells him to chill out.

“I’m hoping they fire me,” Barkley quipped. “I got six or seven years left on my contract that they know I’ve got no chance of doing. I would love for them to fire me and have to pay me for the next six or seven years. I was talking to my agent. I was like, ‘What can I do to get fired, but they’d have to pay me for the whole six, seven years?’ I would love to get fired, I’m not gon’ lie.”

Adding, “There’s zero chance that I’mma be working the next six, seven years. Zero. So I know if they fired me, they’d have to pay me all of those years. And I heard through the grapevine that I make great money; so thank goodness for that.”

He then continued by saying that people that can’t take a joke can kiss him on the you know what. “C’mon, man. People can’t take a joke. They can kiss my a–,” he said defiantly. I appreciate and love all the support I’ve gotten all these years, but anybody [that] thinks everybody likes them, they a fool. So, if people don’t like me or don’t have a sense of humor, they can kiss my ass. My whole a–, not just one cheek, the whole a–.”

Earlier this week, on Monday (June 8), the broadcast showed a clip of Cardi’s halftime performance at Madison Square Garden during the NBA Finals, Chuck joked about the Bronx rapper’s cleavage saying, “I don’t know if those Bs. Those might be Cardi Ds. I’m pretty sure those aren’t Bs. She’s got the wrong initials,” which prompted laughter and his co-host Ernie Johnson to say “I don’t know who said that, but I know it wasn’t me.”

Fortunately for Chuck, Cardi is one of those people that could take a joke and retweeted a fan account that highlighted that the term “Cardi D” was trending on X.

You can check out the clip below.

12Jun

25 Songs That Inspired ‘The Vampire Lestat’ Soundtrack: Chappell Roan, David Bowie & More

In the new season of AMC’s cult horror series Interview With the Vampire (now rechristened The Vampire Lestat), the eponymous vamp is setting the record straight — or, at least, attempting to.

After his ex-lover Louis (Jacob Anderson) publishes a best-selling book exposing the ups and downs of their century-long romance, Lestat (Sam Reid) responds in kind by commandeering his neighborhood garage band and hitting the road with a catalog of all-new rock songs erratically chronicling his side of the story.

Composer Daniel Hart, who evocatively scored the first two seasons of the show, was tapped to write 20-plus original songs this go-around — a task that mined his experience touring alongside musicians like David Bowie, Radiohead and more. He also took on an active role in the writers’ room. In fall of 2024, to get everyone on the same page about the character’s musical reference points, Hart curated an inspiration playlist for Reid and showrunner Rolin Jones, a truncated version of which he is exclusively sharing with Billboard.

“The original playlist was longer than this one,” he recalls. “But going back through it now — on the other side of making The Vampire Lestat — provided some clarity as to which songs from the original playlist were most important to our creative process.”

The character himself a composer born in the 18th century, Lestat’s witnessed many eras of music come and go — so his influences prove just as motley. “There is a fair amount of genre-jumping at play here,” Hart says. “That was intentional. We needed Lestat’s music to evolve stylistically throughout the season, as he went on his odyssey.” Because while glam rock serves as an aesthetic bedrock for our preening immortal, as chaos begins to unfold, the reopened wounds of his storied life lead Lestat down a rawer and more introspective path.

EPs featuring the songs from new episodes will be rolling out weekly — so, until the complete soundtrack is available to stream, Hart is giving a taste of what’s to come below.

“It’s not necessarily a one-for-one playlist,” he adds. “If you put these songs and Lestat’s songs side by side, you won’t always hear direct correlations. But I tried to pick songs for Rolin and Sam — and now for you — that would show both the breadth of Lestat’s compositional abilities, and songs that were imbued with the kind of structure or showmanship I was chasing after in my own writing.”

In the list that follows, Hart unpacks a few of these inspirations in his own words. Listen to the full playlist here.

12Jun

The Weeknd’s 2026 Shows Add $440 Million and 3 Million Tickets to Record-Breaking World Tour – So Far

Who doesn’t love a long Weeknd? The international superstar’s After Hours Til Dawn Tour has become one of the biggest global treks ever, appearing in the top 10 of Billboard’s annual top tours chart for three of the last four years. But after reaching new heights last year, 2026 will be its biggest yet, generating another $440 million in ticket sales with more than 3 million fans in attendance.

Last year, The Weeknd set R&B records as the After Hours Til Dawn Tour became the highest-grossing and best-selling tour in the genre’s history, knocking Beyoncé and Bruno Mars off their long-held perches. But with this year’s brief stint in Latin America, more than 40 shows across Europe and a final run of 17 dates in Asia, it transcends genre altogether to become the highest-grossing tour in Boxscore history by a solo male artist.

According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, The Weeknd’s world tour has grossed $735.8 million and sold 5.8 million tickets since launching in 2022, current through his May 1 performance in São Paulo, Brazil. According to the tour’s promoter Live Nation and The Weeknd’s agency CAA, the remaining 59 shows push the trek’s total take well beyond $1 billion, joining tours by Coldplay and Taylor Swift in the exclusive 10-figure club.

The Weeknd kicked off the 2026 UK/Europe leg of the tour last night (June 11) at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium. He plays there again tonight before embarking on multi-night runs in Copenhagen, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Stockholm and more, including five shows at London’s Wembley Stadium in August. It’s the tour’s second trip to the continent, after 30 shows that collectively grossed $158.1 million and sold 1.6 million tickets in 2023. This summer’s run could approach double those earnings.

The tour’s final leg will mark The Weeknd’s first shows in Asia since a brief dedicated run in 2018. This time, he’ll play more than two times the number of shows, and, to match the tour’s other 159 dates around the world, elevate from arenas to stadiums.

As part of The Weeknd’s 2026 tour, he is partnering with Global Citizen and the United Nations World Food Programme, donating €1 from each ticket sold at all shows across Europe and £1 across shows in the United Kingdom to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund and XO Humanitarian Fund, respectively.

The After Hours Til Dawn Tour has evolved since its 2022 kick-off, then in support of After Hours and Dawn FM, the first two albums of a promised trilogy. In the immediate wake of record-breaking Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles like “Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears,” he placed two songs on the chart’s 2023 year-end roundup with “Creepin,” with Metro Boomin and 21 Savage, and “Die For You,” alongside Ariana Grande. He rounded out the trilogy with 2025’s Wake Up Tomorrow as his fifth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, expanding the tour’s setlist to the scope of his entire career.

12Jun

Tori Kelly Explores Peace and Parenthood on ‘God Must Really Love Me’: Stream It Now

The big guy upstairs has been looking down on Tori Kelly, who drops her sixth and latest album God Must Really Love Me.

The new collection arrived at the stroke of midnight via Epic Records, and is home to the previously-released singles “Control” and “Dive” (which she reportedly wrote while seven-months pregnant).  

The album explores love, identity and “the quiet work of protecting your peace amid the constant noise of the outside world,” and was announced some six months after the birth of Kelly’s first child with husband André Murillo. The press release shared that Kelly experienced a creative “urgency” like never before, as she locked into the songwriting process “with full-hearted conviction, frequently recording voice memos while nursing her son.”

The big guy upstairs.

“Before the baby was born I’d tried to work on as many songs as possible, because I thought maybe I wouldn’t want to write once I was in mom mode. But then everything just hit me at once and right away I knew what I needed to say and exactly how I wanted it to sound,” she remarks. “I really challenged myself to peel back the layers and go much deeper with my lyrics. In the past I’ve held back from getting too specific in my songs, but this time I just completely let go.”

In a change of tac, Kelly developed most of its songs in solitude before heading into the studio with such producers and co-writers as DIXSON (Kehlani, Vic Mensa), Nija Charles (Summer Walker, Kiana Ledé), Emily Warren (Dua Lipa, Noah Kahan), and Ammo (Beyoncé, Teddy Swims). Most of the album came to life in Los Angeles with her two main collaborators, Tommy King (HAIM, Donna Missal) and Dan Farber (Lizzo, Alessia Cara), although a string of songs emerged while touring Europe in summer 2025 with Ed Sheeran.

Kelly is supporting the new album with Forrest Frank for the 29-date The Jesus Generation Tour, which continues through to Aug. 1 at Globe Life Field.

God Must Really Love Me is the followup to Kelly’s 2024 self-titled album, Tori. Stream it in full below below.

12Jun

Olivia Rodrigo Visits ‘Kimmel’ For World TV Premiere of ‘Stupid Song’: Watch

Too much Olivia Rodrigo is never enough. That’s certainly the case for late-night owls who tuned into Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday night, June 11, as Rodrigo stuck around for her second performance in as many nights.

Rodrigo performed the world premiere of “stupid song,” which appears on her third and latest album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.

After her performance Wednesday of “the cure,” Rodrigo toned it all down for “stupid song.” Wearing a white t-shirt, a light pink skirt and high-cut black boots, Rodrigo took her seat at the piano for the fresh cut, with support from a full band and backing singers. Those high notes, you bet she hit them.

Rodrigo is on the promotion trail for you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, which dropped at the stroke of midnight and houses the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “drop dead.”

She’ll support the collection with a 65-date Unraveled Tour that will hit arenas for multiple night stands in North America, Europe and the U.K. this fall and winter, starting Sept. 25 show at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn.

During her interview Wednesday night, Rodrigo explained to Kimmel the wholesome way she decided which tracks to drop ahead of the full release. “It’s really hard,” she said. “Last Thanksgiving, I was with my family, and they live in Wisconsin. It was all of us, aunts and uncles and cousins.

“I turned the lights off really low, because I was really shy, and I was so nervous to see their faces while they heard the songs for the first time,” she continued. “I played them the whole thing, and then they did ballots, and everyone cast their vote on what they thought the single should be … Everyone liked ‘The Cure’ the most. That was the No. 1 that we got.”

Watch Rodrigo’s performance below of “stupid song.”

12Jun

Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ Debuts at No. 1 on ARIA Chart

Australia’s love story with Taylor Swift continues, as “I Knew It, I Knew You” (via Republic/Universal) opens at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart, an effort that places her in the frame with rock music royalty.

The single, which appears in the new Toy Story 5 film, is her 14th leader, a feat that sees her tie things up with the King, Elvis Presley, with the second most chart-toppers in Australia, ARIA reports. She has some way to go to challenge The Beatles, who top the list with 26, although all of the Fab Four and Elvis’ No. 1 hit singles came before the launch of the official ARIA Charts in 1983.

With that impressive start for “I Knew It, I Knew You,” Swift has now logged 35 weeks at No 1 on Australia’s singles chart.

There’s a Cinderella chart story for the late Mac Miller, as the decade-old “Cinderella” (Warner Music) featuring Ty Dolla $ign opens at No. 23, while Alyssa Grace bags a top 40 appearance with the independent release “Bloodstream,” new at No. 39.

Meanwhile, multiple ARIA Award winner G Flip grabs a new peak position with “Bed On Fire” (AWAL), up 33-28. It’s one of three homegrown titles on the chart, a list that includes Tame Impala’s “Dracula” (Columbia/Sony), which dips 7-8, and The Kid Laroi’s “Girls,” which reenters at No. 46.

Niall Horan’s Dinner Party (Capitol/Universal) turns into a feast on the ARIA Albums Chart, as the Irish pop singer’s third studio album opens at No. 1. That’s the second solo leader for Horan, after 2023’s The Show, while 2017’s Flicker and 2020’s Heartbreak Weather narrowly missed out, both peaking at No. 2. As a member of One Direction, Horan had four leaders: Up All Night (in 2011), Take Me Home (2012), Midnight Memories (2013) and Four (2014).

Australian audiences will get another chance to see Horan up close, when he visits the country for a four-date arena tour next February, produced by TEG and announced earlier in the week.

Also new to the ARIA Chart, published Friday, June 12, is Evanescence with Sanctuary (Columbia/Sony), their sixth studio album. It’s new at No. 2. The U.S. alternative rock outfit is on a healthy streak of top 10 appearances, with Fallen (No. 1 in 2003), The Open Door (No. 1 in 2006), Evanescence (No. 5 in 2011), Synthesis (No. 6 in 2017) and The Bitter Truth (No. 3 in 2021) all impacting the top tier.

Like Horan, Evanescence has just announced a tour of Australia in the early stages of 2027 (produced by Live Nation).

Completing an all-new top three is Malcolm Todd’s Do That Again (Columbia/Sony), arriving at No. 3, for his first ARIA Albums Chart entry. The U.S. singer and songwriter also appears at No. 10 on the national singles chart with 2024’s “Earrings,” unchanged at No. 10.

Fresh off their induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame on Thursday evening (June 11), Vika & Linda have the week’s best-selling homegrown release with Where Do You Come From? (Mushroom Music), the sister act’s ninth studio album. It’s new at No. 11, for their fifth top 10 appearance, a tally that includes a No. 1 with 2020’s career retrospective Akilotoa (Anthology 1994-2006).

“We thought this week couldn’t get any better. It’s ended with a bang,” the Bull sisters comment in a statement. “We’re blown away by the response to our new album ‘Where Do You Come From?’, thank you to everyone who got it to No. 1. We feel very lucky to have a wonderful team who have worked incredibly hard.”

Further down the list, Newcastle, New South Wales indie rock band Rum Jungle swings into the chart at No. 19 with the indepedently-released Marginalia, the followup to their top 10 release from 2025, Recency Bias.

Also, Freye Skye (Stardust at No. 21 via Hollywood Records/UMA), Pink Floyd (8-Tracks at No. 22 via Legacy/Sony), The Pretty Littles (Mulga Wire at No. 36 via CMI) and Vince Staples (Cry Baby at No. 37 via Universal) parachute into the top 40.