Category: Music

Little over a year since his farewell concerts in the U.K. in June 2024, Barry Manilow has performed a u-turn and announced a new run of Last Last run of concerts for 2026.

The “Copacabana” singer will return to U.K. for a six-night tour that takes in arenas in Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Cardiff, Birmingham and London (June 9-17, 2026). Tickets go on sale on Sep. 5 at 10 a.m. local time. See the full run of dates below.

Manilow played 15 sold-out concerts at the London Palladium in May and June 2024, and has performed a number of “final” concerts in U.S. cities throughout 2025 including Boston, Philadelphia, Oakland and Sacramento. He hosts a regular residency in Las Vegas, which continues through 2026.

Speaking on the news of his return to the U.K., Manilow shared a statement outlining his decision to return to the U.K.

He wrote, “I swear, I SWEAR I really meant it when I said goodbye to everyone in the UK on the last night of our fantastic run at the great London Palladium. The audiences there were fantastic as usual and that last night was very moving, knowing that I wouldn’t be seeing my U.K. friends anymore.”

The 82-year-old continued, “It was odd flying home because I wasn’t tired, my voice had held up for the entire run and each show was more exciting than the last. I wasn’t even out of breath at the end of each show. But I guess ‘leave ‘em wanting more’ was a good rule to follow. After all, I’m 100-years-old and any day now I’m probably going to lose my hair, gain a big pot belly and need a cane to dance around to ‘Copacabana.’”

“But, as of now I can still run around the stage, I can still hit the high F Natural at the end of ‘Even Now’ and I still look fabulous! But I said goodbye and I meant it. Sort of. There was just one thing. I don’t wanna say goodbye! So we’re coming back. We’re going to have a great, big Barry Manilow concert! Hope you all come. We’ll have a ball! Love, Barry”

During his extensive career, Manilow has earned 13 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, including “I Write the Songs,” “Looks Like We Made It” and “Mandy.” All three of those songs also topped the Hot 100. He released his most recent studio album Night Songs II in February 2020.

Barry Manilow U.K. 2026 tour dates

Baylee Lynn’s debut single “Cautiously Optimistic” tops this week’s new music poll.

In a poll published Friday (Aug. 29) on Billboard, music fans voted the 17-year-old singer-songwriter’s first-ever release as their favorite new track of the week.

“Cautiously Optimistic” earned 64% of the vote, beating out fresh releases from artists like Sabrina Carpenter (Man’s Best Friend), Hayley Williams (Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party), Zach Top (Ain’t In It For My Health), and Blood Orange (Essex Honey).

The Tennessee native’s debut, produced by AJ Pruis, is a country-pop anthem inspired by artists like Dolly Parton and Faith Hill that captures the emotional journey of navigating love after heartbreak.

“When we wrote ‘Cautiously Optimistic,’ I envisioned this song being one that most teenage girls can relate to,” Lynn said in a statement. “I know what it’s like to be the girl who’s scared of letting her guard down because she fears being hurt again — but also what it’s like to be the girl who’s so good at ignoring all the red flags. I am beyond thrilled for this song to finally be out in the world!”

The track was co-written by Lynn, Pruis, Kyle Sturrock and Brett Tyler.

Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend took second place in the poll, pulling in 26% of the vote. The pop star’s seventh studio album, produced by Jack Antonoff, arrives just over a year after her Grammy-winning Short n’ Sweet, which topped the Billboard 200 for four weeks.

Williams’ Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, a collection of previously released singles with a brand new song titled “Parachute,” came in third with nearly 4% of the vote.

Check out the full results of this week’s poll below and visit Billboard’s Friday Music Guide for more must-hear releases.

The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” continues to make history.

On Sunday (Aug. 31), Spotify announced on Instagram that the 2020 megahit has officially become the first song in the streaming platform’s history to hit five billion streams. Shortly after, The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) took to his Instagram Story to share the news with his 78 million followers.

The new Spotify record follows another recent honor for the track. Just days earlier, “Blinding Lights” landed No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs of the 21st Century chart, which measures performance on the weekly Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart from the start of 2000 through the end of 2024.

Originally released in November 2019 as the second single from The Weeknd’s fourth studio album, After Hours, “Blinding Lights” dominated the Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks and became the first song to remain in the top 10 for an entire year. In November 2021, it made history once again by surpassing Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” to top Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Hot 100 chart.

In January 2024, “Blinding Lights” became the first to reach four billion streams on Spotify.

“I’ll never stop being humbled by anything I create making its way to millions of people let alone billions!” The Weeknd said in an exclusive statement at the time. “I’m so thankful this song makes people feel a way that they keep going back to listen.”

“Blinding Lights” is one of 28 songs by The Weeknd in Spotify’s Billions Club, more than any other artist. He also performed during Spotify’s first-ever Billions Club: Live concert in December.

Check out Spotify’s “Blinding Lights” announcement on Instagram below.

Is a Fifth Harmony reunion on the horizon?

On Sunday (Aug. 31), the girl group sent fans into a frenzy after posting on X for the first time in seven years. Fifth Harmony — now consisting of Ally Brooke, Normani, Lauren Jauregui and Dinah Jane following Camila Cabello’s 2016 departure — surprised their 4.2 million followers with a cryptic message.

“#FifthHarmonyFollowSpree,” they wrote, marking their first post since wishing Brooke a happy birthday in July 2018.

Naturally, the mysterious update reignited excitement among the group’s devoted Harmonizers. “Are they hacked again or is this fr?” one fan wondered. Another wrote, “I don’t understand what’s happening… but I think I like it.” A third asked excitedly, “WAITTTT ARE Y’ALL REUNITING LIKE FR? IT WASNT JUST A RUMOR?”

The speculation comes nearly a year after Brooke and Jane teased a possible reunion while walking the red carpet at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music event.

“We’ll see… we’re not sure,” Brooke said when asked about getting the group back together. Jane added, “I love that our fans can reminisce on such good times and I love that we’re getting the credit again. Our music was very impactful at the time and I feel like it was kind of overlooked, to be honest. So now that it’s reviving again on its own it just shows our music speaks for itself.”

Fifth Harmony first formed on the second season of the U.S. version of The X Factor in 2012. They rose to fame with their debut album, Reflection, in January 2015, which featured “Worth It,” their first top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The quintet reached even greater success with “Work From Home” featuring Ty Dolla $ign — the lead single from their sophomore album, 7/27 — which peaked at No. 4 on the Hot 100 in June 2016.

In December 2016, the group announced Cabello’s exit through social media. “After 4 and a half years of being together, we have been informed via her representatives that Camila has decided to leave Fifth Harmony,” the other four members wrote. “We wish her well.”

Cabello went on to launch a successful solo career, most recently releasing C,XOXO in 2024 — her first album under Geffen and Interscope after parting ways with Epic Records, which originally signed Fifth Harmony through a partnership with Simon Cowell’s Syco Music. C,XOXO debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200.

Fifth Harmony officially disbanded in 2018, with the remaining members pursuing solo endeavors. In a November 2023 interview with Billboard, Brooke shared that a reunion isn’t off the table.

“We’re women now and we have grown so much and we have done our own thing, gone our own ways and gone our own path. And now we’re together in a different light,” the singer said. “I’m trying to reunite with them, so I think some sort of reunion may happen.”

Check out Fifth Harmony’s teaser post on X below.

Stray Kids earn their seventh No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as KARMA debuts atop the list dated Sept. 6. The set earned 313,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending Aug. 28, according to Luminate. Of that sum, traditional album sales comprise 296,000. Both figures mark career highs for the act.

KARMA also lands the third-biggest week, by units, of 2025 among all albums, as well as the year’s second-largest sales week.

All seven of the group’s Billboard 200 chart entries have debuted at No. 1, beginning with ODDINARY in 2022. Last year, when HOP debuted atop the list, Stray Kids became the first act to debut at No. 1 with their first six entries in the 69-year history of the chart. With KARMA’s arrival, they extend that record. The Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.

In addition, with a seventh No. 1, Stray Kids surpass BTS, Linkin Park and Dave Matthews Band for the most No. 1s among groups on the Billboard 200 this century (since 2000).

Also in the top 10 on the latest Billboard 200 chart, Laufey scores her first top 10 with the No. 4 arrival of A Matter of Time; Deftones land their seventh top 10 with the No. 5 bow of private music; Tyler, The Creator’s Cherry Bomb re-enters the chart at No. 6 following a 10th anniversary reissue; and BigXthaPlug notches his highest-charting effort yet with the No. 7 debut of I Hope You’re Happy.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Sept. 6, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Sept. 3, one day later than usual, owed to the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 1 in the U.S. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of KARMA’s 313,000 first-week equivalent album units, album sales comprise 296,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart), SEA units comprise 16,000 (equaling 23.12 million on-demand official streams of the sets songs; it debuts at No. 34 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise 1,000.

In 2025, the three largest weeks for albums, by units, are the opening frames of Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem (493,000), The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow (490,000)and KARMA (313,000). In traditional album sales, the two biggest weeks of 2025 belong to Hurry Up Tomorrow (359,000) and KARMA (296,000).

KARMA’s album sales were aided by its availability across 11 CD variants and three vinyl variants (all containing collectible items such as photocards, with some items randomized), including signed editions.

As KARMA is mostly in the Korean language, it is the 29th mostly non-English-language album to hit No. 1, and the second of 2025 (following Bad Bunny’s Spanish-language DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS). Four mostly non-English titles topped the list in 2024, and all were mostly Korean-language efforts. Of the 29 mostly non-English-language albums to reach No. 1, 19 are mostly Korean, six mostly (or all) Spanish, one mostly Italian, one entirely French and two mostly a blend of Spanish, Italian and French.

The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is a non-mover at No. 2, its peak, on the Billboard 200 with its best week yet: 125,000 equivalent album units earned (up 16%). The gain was boosted by the film’s sing-along release in movie theaters and on Netflix and the set’s arrival on CD. The CD was sold mostly via online retailers after only being available to purchase as a digital download previously. Album sales (across all configurations) totaled 18,000 for the week (up 236%). A wider release for the CD is due on Sept. 5.

Further, KPop Demon Hunters has spent six nonconsecutive weeks at No. 2. It’s the first soundtrack in the modern era (since May 1991, when the chart began utilizing Luminate’s electronically monitored tracking information) to spend at least six weeks at No. 2 without reaching No. 1.

Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem falls 1-3 after a dozen nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, earning 116,000 equivalent album units in the latest tracking frame (down 4%).

Laufey achieves her first top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as A Matter of Time debuts at No. 4 with 99,000 equivalent album units earned — her biggest week ever. Of that sum, album sales comprise 71,000 (her best sales week; it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 28,000 (equaling 38.57 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it debuts at No. 11 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The set’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across eight vinyl and three CD variants (each with one signed edition) and a cassette.

A Matter of Time is Laufey’s third studio album. The singer-songwriter’s second effort, 2023’s Bewitched, reached No. 18 in 2024, won a Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album and has earned over 950,000 equivalent album units in the U.S.

A Matter of Time marks the highest-debuting jazz album on the Billboard 200 since the Dec. 1, 2018-dated chart, with Michael Bublé’s Love debuted and peaked at No. 2. (Jazz albums are defined as those that are eligible for, or have charted on, Billboard’s Top Jazz Albums chart.)

Deftones score their seventh top 10 effort on the Billboard 200 as private music premieres at No. 5 with 87,000 equivalent album units earned — the band’s best week by units. Of that starting sum, album sales comprise 66,000 (the group’s largest sales week since 2016’s Gore bowed with 69,000; private music starts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 20,500 (equaling 26.72 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs, it debuts at No. 20 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise the remaining sum. (First-week sales were helped by the set’s availability across seven vinyl variants, three CDs, a cassette and a boxed set with a branded piece of clothing and a vinyl LP inside.)

The new album — the band’s 10th full-length studio effort — was preceded by its track “My Mind Is a Mountain,” which became the band’s first No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart (dated Sept. 6).

Tyler, The Creator’s Cherry Bomb, first released in 2015, returns to the Billboard 200 following a 10th anniversary reissue. The set reenters the chart at No. 6 with 52,000 equivalent album units earned (up from a negligible sum in the previous week). For its 10th anniversary, the set was reissued on three vinyl variants, CD and in three deluxe boxed sets (each containing a piece of branded clothing and a copy of the CD). Album sales largely drive the set’s reentry, comprising nearly 51,000 of the set’s units for the week. Cherry Bomb debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the May 2, 2015-dated chart.

BigXthaPlug lands his highest-charting album, and second top 10, on the Billboard 200 with the No. 7 bow of I Hope You’re Happy. The set earned 47,000 equivalent album units in its first week, with SEA units comprising 41,000 (equaling 54.59 million on-demand official streams of its tracks; it debuts at No. 3 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 5,000 (it debuts at No. 22 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 1,000.

I Hope You’re Happy was preceded by a trio of charted songs on the Billboard Hot 100: “All the Way” (featuring Bailey Zimmerman; No. 4 peak in April), “Home” (featuring Shaboozey; No. 77 in July) and “Hell at Night” (with Ella Langley; No. 49 in August).

Rounding out the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200: Alex Warren’s You’ll Be Alright, Kid drops 5-8 (just over 38,000 equivalent album units earned, down 4%), Gunna’s The Last Wun falls 4-9 (38,000, down 20%) and Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time dips 7-10 (nearly 38,000, up less than 1%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.