With a new track, a bub, and a high-profile spot at one of the world’s top electronic music festivals, VASSY’s hands are ridiculously full right now. She wouldn’t have it any other way.
The Darwin-raised, U.S.-based singer and songwriter today (July 24) shares “DAY N NIGHT,” a dancefloor belter with throwback house energy, produced with fellow Australian artist BUST-R. Then, on Sunday (July 26), she’ll debut the track at the sold-out Tomorrowland Belgium, the site of her fierce collaboration with Tiësto 10 years ago to the day.
“Tomorrowland has always held a special place in my heart because it’s where I shared one of the most memorable moments of my career, performing ‘Secrets’ with Tiësto in front of one of the largest crowds in the world,” VASSY tells Billboard. “Now, years later, I’m returning as a new mom to premiere the first single of an entirely new chapter — a moment that feels incredibly special both personally and professionally.”
From Momland to Tomorrowland. No worries.
VASSY is a trailblazer in the EDM world, a hitmaker with upwards of 3 billion career streams, six No. 1s on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart, an APRA Billions Award, and a slice of history by becoming the first female and first Australian to receive the EDMA Icon Award in 2023.
“To share the stage with a fellow Aussie artist I’ve built such a creative bond with makes this even more meaningful,” she says of her Tomorrowland slot. Beyond the music, Bust-R and VASSY have created a community that champions Australian dance artists through their radio show. They’ll bring that spirit to Continental Europe with the world premiere of “DAY N NIGHT,” a moment, she explains, that “feels like a full-circle moment in the best possible way.”
“DAY N NIGHT” is the latest in string of drops for VASSY in 2026, including “On Me” with Aussie producer Mind Electric (and Bust-R on the official mix), a track that crashed the top 40 of Billboard’s Dance Airplay Chart and the top 10 on the ARIA Club Chart; along with “Pretty Lady,” “Quiet Storms,” “Star,” and “Night & Day.”
And what should fans expect with her live performance in Boom? “Energy, emotion, and a celebration of this new chapter,” VASSY predicts. “After everything that’s changed, it feels incredibly special to return to where so much began and share this moment with the fans.”
Bon Jovi’s New York fans were left wanting more when frontman Jon Bon Jovi ended the show early on Thursday, July 23, due to illness.
The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band cut short their set at Madison Square Garden, the eighth in a nine-show stand, as the singer struggled with the effects of a sinus infection.
“Jon Bon Jovi spoke from stage and told fans he has been battling a sinus infection which led to the show’s early ending,” a rep for Bon Jovi tells People. “As part of the Bon Jovi residency at Madison Square Garden, Jon has said numerous times that it has been a joy to return to live shows for the band. Updated information will be available shortly.”
According to reports, Bon Jovi completed 90 minutes of a set that featured a guest performance by Train’s Pat Monahan, who joined-in for a version of the Slippery When Wet hit from 1986, “Livin’ On a Prayer.”
The dates are part of the band’s Forever Tour, presented by Live Nation, which represents a return to the road after Jon Bon Jovi underwent reconstructive surgery on his vocal cords and then a years-long rehabilitative process.
“Don’t throw away your ticket stubs I’m going to figure something out okay, don’t [fear],” Bon Jovi told the Garden, People reports. “Just hang onto it, I’m going to figure out how to reschedule.”
“I’m gonna have to cool it for a night,” he added, prior to exiting the stage. “I feel great, I’ll see you again soon, bye bye.”
Bon Jovi’s MSG run is scheduled to wrap this Sunday, July 26, after which time the band crosses the Atlantic for five stadium shows in Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and England, the final of which is booked for Sept. 9 at London’s Wembley Stadium, the last of three concerts at the venue.
Jon Bovi has been candid about his recovery, saying the band assembled every month to rehearse to gauge his progress, but that until he felt he could confidently sing through a two-and-a-half-hour show, they weren’t hitting the road.“Day to day, I’m working hard on it,” he told Entertainment Tonightin 2024. “Nothing else matters until I work on getting better. It’s up to God at this point. I’ve done everything I can do. I won’t fake it … the legacy matters too much.”
Haters, look away now. The Black Eyed Peas “My Humps” is officially a stone-cold hit.
The 2005 track this week enters YouTube’s Billion Views Club as it passes one billion streams.
Lifted from the hip-hop act’s fourth studio album Monkey Business, “My Humps” is their third music video to reach the milestone after “Where Is the Love?” and “RITMO,” their collaboration with J Balvin for the Bad Boys for Life soundtrack.
The track was written by the act’s will.i.am and samples lines from Sexual Harassment’s 1983 single, “I Need a Freak,” penned by Lynn Tolliver (real name: David Payton).
Its intended target was initially meant to be the Pussycat Dolls, but the Black Eyed Peas made it their own, with Fergie and will.i.am as the main vocalists.
“My Humps” was the group’s second single to reach the top three on the Billboard Hot 100, after “Don’t Phunk with My Heart” (both peaked at No. 3), and nabbed a Grammy Award for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals.
Although a massive commercial success, “My Humps” was as polarizing as it was popular. Its lyrics, which include the repeated line, “my lovely lady lumps,” was the subject of countless column inches, many of them harsh. In one analysis published by Slate under the title “Notes on ‘Humps’. A song so awful it hurts the mind,” Hua Hsu writes, “This is what makes ‘My Humps’ such an inscrutable pop moment. It’s not Awesomely Bad; it’s Horrifically Bad.” Other journalist were less kind.
Whatever, “My Humps” was a winner.
Its music video, directed by Fatima Robinson and Malik Hassan Sayeed, and featuring Fergie dancing with backup dancers amongst the luxury items apparently gifted by her many suitors, went on to scoop best hip-hop video at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.
In May of this year, the Black Eyed Peas reunited publicly onstage for the first time since Fergie split in 2018, for a surprise appearance at the American Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena while accepting the best throwback song award for “Rock That Body.”
Watch the music video for The Black Eyed Peas “My Humps” below.
With a new album out on Friday (July 24), it’s like that most wonderful time of year for Shania Twain.
Little Miss Twain (via Republic Nashville) is the Canadian country-pop superstar’s seventh studio album, and the followup to 2023’s Queen of Me, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
“The anticipation is really high and I’m feeling a little bit like Christmas morning is coming up,” she told Jimmy Fallon during a visit to NBC’s The Tonight Show, which aired Wednesday (July 22). “It’s such a long, big effort. I write, you know, my own music and everything. So by the time it is ready… it’s a gift to be able to know what people think about it. That’s the gift and the reward for me.”
That present is wrapped with vulnerable, intimate details of Twain’s early years, some of which she shared for her late-night spot. An eight-year-old Shania, then Eilleen Regina Twain, cut her teeth as a performer in “smoky small bars,” filled with “mostly men, mostly intoxicated,” she explains. “I was definitely the only child performing.” It was in those dingy venues where she earned her nickname, and gave her the title for this album; in those days, she would be introduced with, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, Little Miss Twain.”
The title track is primarily about her mom and the roles she played in Shania’s early career, from manager, to agent, driver, and everything else. Her parents weren’t able to witness Shania’s global success story, her transformation from Little Miss Twain to the best-selling female country artist of them all. They died in a car accident when she was 22.
The Canadian singer and songwriter also confirmed the rumors of a musical and biopic. “It’s all real, it’s all happening. A lot of these things have been in the works for a while,” she admits. There’s no shortage of tales to tell, including the run of three straight albums that were certified diamond by the RIAA, beginning with 1995’s The Woman In Me; the five Grammy Awards’ the 100 million-plus album sales; her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; and the downs, including that fatal crash; her battle with Lyme disease; and multiple surgeries, including “very intensive” open-throat operations which took its toll on her vocals and her mental health.
It’s now all rosy, and busy, for Twain. She opened for Harry Styles during his 12-show Wembley Stadium run in London earlier this summer, having made a surprise guest appearance during his headlining set at Coachella 2022. With that record-setting residency, Twain missed the wedding of the year, the nuptials of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Shania will give TayTay a big hug when they next meet. Before that happens, Twain showered the pop superstar with praise for her songwriting. “She’s a fabulous performer. I think if you wrote a song for her it would be a hit, no matter what,” she enthused. “But she does write her own songs. She sits down at home, plays the piano, plays the guitar. So, I admire her musicianship and her commitment to telling her stories. So I love her. I love everything about her.”
Watch the Tonight Show interview below.
Twain also played a round of “Box of Lies” with Fallon, and performed album cut “Dirty Rosie,” a song whose lyrics reach deep into her youth. She learned to drive at age 10, out of necessity in a family that lived and worked in the woods. “We never could afford new vehicles when I was a kid,” she recounts, “and now if I had a choice of having a faded old red work truck,” like the one she used to ride, “her name would be Dirty Rosie.”
Watch below and read Billboard’s interview with Twain here.
Budjerah is a fair dinkum Australian triple-threat: a young man with the voice of an angel, the patience of a saint, and the style of a gentleman.
Hailing from Fingal Head, a popular surf spot in northern New South Wales, Budjerah (full name: Budjerah Julum Slabb) is one of the most promising artists of his generation, boasting a trophy cabinet stacked with ARIA and APRA Awards, and bragging rights. Among them, a collaboration with Ed Sheeran on “2step,” and a spot on the Englishman’s 2023 stadium tour of these parts.
What he doesn’t have in his resume is a full-length album. That all changes on Friday, July 24 with the release of Gentleman. Led by the singles “Even At Worst”, “Could I Be”, “Want You Back” and the title track, the 11-track collection is his debut full-length LP through a deal with Warner Music Australia, partnering with Warner Records in the United States.
Almost five years have passed since he collected best newcomer honors at the 2021 ARIA Awards, becoming the first winner of an award renamed after the late impresario Michael Gudinski, presented during a lockdown edition of the industry ceremony. At the time, he was already part of the WMA stable.
“Yeah, it did take a long time. There were definitely moments where I was like, ‘oh, oh, come on,’” Budjerah says of the lost-gestating project. “I think it all turned out how it was supposed to.”
Budjerah is the gentleman of the project. The 24-year-old artist is softly spoken, and dapper in a grey suit, for his interview with Billboard at Warner Music Australia’s offices in Sydney. “I like to dress up, so I thought it would be fun,” he says of the album’s title and artwork. Ahead of the release, his team secured another essential piece for his wardrobe by striking an alliance with Akubra, the iconic Australian hat-maker which this year celebrates its 150th anniversary (Budjerah wears a Slim Dusty design, a nod to the late, great country artist, for a new campaign.)
The proud Coodjinburra man was raised singing gospel music in the church band. He counts Michael Jackson, Usher, Beyonce and, more recently, Puerto Rican artist Rauw Alejandro among his sources of inspiration, but points to Stevie Wonder and gospel music as “the foundation of my technique and my musical understanding.”
Gentleman is the work of a perfectionist, getting at it with studio-sharpened pros. Produced by Om’Mas Keith (Frank Ocean, Jay-Z), the collection also features the songwriting talents of Diane Warren on album closer “Even At My Worst,” and songwriters Autumn Rowe (Alexis Jordan, Kylie Minogue), Kizzo Keaz (Jon Batiste, Ne-Yo), and Philip Lawrence (Bruno Mars).
The result, a collection of up-tempo, performance-ready works with a nostalgic flavor.
“I learned a lot,” Budjerah says of his time with Keith, and the late-night sessions that sort the real talent from the rest. “I really enjoy having a producer or collaborators that are way better than me so I can learn.” The Australian more-than kept up. Keith “held me to a standard of, like, a lot of older singers,” he admits.
Much has happened since the Gentleman project began simmering almost four years ago. Budjerah kept his growing fanbase connected and ready with a string of singles and EPs, and tours. Ands he recently got married to his high school sweetheart, Sophie. Australian Vogue shared the official photos.
He’s all grown up. A Gentleman.
The album is “inspired by who I wanted to be when I was growing up,” he explains in a statement. “Between my life at home and life on the road, I experienced so much change and growth. Chasing my dreams I faced new challenges which helped me understand who I wanted to be. Every song on this album holds a piece of me. I hope little Budjerah is proud.”
He’ll support the record in his homeland with a five-date national tour this October and November, a new-look production with high-energy dancers and a slick, full band featuring several members of his extended family. Before that, three acoustic performances and album signings in the final days of July.
In time, Budjerah hopes to bring his new music to audiences in North America. “I guess time will tell,” he says. Patience, as we know, is part of his skillset.
Almost 40 years after its release, Roxette’s “It Must Have Been Love” has finally been granted entry to YouTube’s Billion Views Club.
The official music video crosses the threshold this week, and is the Swedish pop duo’s first to do so. Originally issued in 1987, “It Must Have Been Love” features clips from the romcom Pretty Woman, after a version of the song appeared on its official soundtrack and was heard in a pivotal emotional moment near the end of the movie.
When Pretty Woman opened in cinemas in 1990, movie-goers fans fell hard for Roxette’s power ballad, and for late singer Marie Fredriksson’s powerhouse vocals. It’s a transcendent performance from Fredriksson, one that that strikes the perfect balance of melodrama and restraint.
In the United States, the single logged two weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1990, and logged 25 weeks on the chart. It’s one of four Roxette leaders in the United States, and the only cut to land multiple weeks at No. 1. Across the Atlantic, the single peaked at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, and stayed in the frame for 14 weeks.
During her lifetime, Fredriksson enjoyed 12 appearances on the Hot 100 with Roxette, and three titles on the Billboard 200. Fredriksson was diagnosed with a severe brain tumor in 2002, and received aggressive treatment that took its toll, reportedly leaving her nearly blind in one eye and with limited hearing. She returned to the stage for a Roxette comeback tour in 2009, but called time on live performances in 2016, on doctors’ advice. The talented artist died in 2019 following a 17-year long battle with cancer.
Roxette is currently touring Europe for the Live – Back Again! 2026tour, celebrating the 40th anniversary of their debut album, with a lineup featuring founder and main songwriter Per Gessle and Swedish star Lena Philipsson taking on female lead vocals.
Watch the official music video for “It Must Have Been Love” below.
