BLACKPINK set for first UK Number 1 album with BORN PINK as Rina Sawayama, Suede and more eye Top 5 entires

Rina Sawayama has today (October 7) announced that she has partnered with charity The Trussell Trust for her upcoming UK and Ireland tour.In a statement posted to her Twitter account, Sawayama said that she would be teaming up with the charity – who support a nationwide network of food banks and provide emergency food and support to people in need – for her latest tour.Sawayama wrote: “I’m sure you’re all aware but the cost of living is increasing so much at the moment, and people are struggling to pay for essential things like heating and food.

Lea Michele is giving fans a sneak peek at her performance in the Broadway musical Funny Girl!

A family unit. Prior to filing divorce from husband Cory Hardrict in October 2022, Tia Mowry frequently shared snaps of her family of four.

Steve Lacy has secured his first Number One single on the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Bad Habit’.The Internet guitarist released the hit single, which features on his second solo album ‘Gemini Rights’,  at the end of June and it debuted in the top 100 in July.‘Bad Habits’ spent four weeks at Number Two behind Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was’ before knocking it off the top spot yesterday (October 3).Celebrating the achievement on Instagram, Lacy wrote: “damn i ain’t even have to change fr. we #1 babyyyyy.

Ellise Shafer Foo Fighters fans flocked to the Kia Forum on Tuesday night for the Los Angeles edition of the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts, the first of which took place in London earlier this month. Photos of the late drummer — who died suddenly in March at the age of 50 while Foo Fighters were on tour — adorned the walls of the arena, and his signature hawk logo was omnipresent as thousands of admirers came to pay their respects, many of them already sporting the limited edition merch made for the event. “It’s a revolving door of rock heroes tonight,” Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl said during one of the many times he addressed the crowd during the six-hour concert, and he couldn’t have been more accurate. The impressive lineup was practically a lesson in rock ‘n’ roll history, including the likes of Joan Jett, Travis Barker, Josh Homme, Wolfgang Van Halen, Alanis Morrissette, Pink, Miley Cyrus, Stewart Copeland and Chad Smith as well as members of Queen, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Soundgarden, Rush, Metallica and Black Sabbath. There was also comedic relief in the form of Jack Black and Dave Chappelle. But perhaps the most special guest was Shane Hawkins, the 16-year-old son of Taylor, who joined Foo Fighters on drums at the end of the show for an emotional performance of “My Hero” and “I’ll Stick Around.”

Rina Sawayama has covered Billie Eilish‘s song ‘Happier Than Ever’ – check out the video below.The singer-songwriter played a live set on BBC Radio 1 today (September 27) as part of the station’s Live Lounge Month series. First up, she treated listeners to an airing of ‘Hold The Girl’ from her second studio album of the same name.Sawayama then delivered a haunting rendition of the title track from Eilish’s 2021 record ‘Happier Than Ever’.

APPOINTMENTSSentric Music has hired four new A&R types in the US: Academy Fight Songs co-founder Matt DuFour, HITMUSIC 21 Productions co-founder Carlos Escalona Cruz, former Tommy Boy A&R Kebu Commissiong and ReverbNation co-founder Lou Plaia. “This exceptional first cohort of A&R entrepreneurs supports our wider mission of enabling innovation around our clients’ artistry, and goes to our on-going commitment to deliver best in class publishing services in North America”, says Sentric North America President Simon Perry.Mother Artists has hired Lucy Graubart as Finance Director and Maria Torres as Artist Manager and assistant to Director Mark Bent.

BLACKPINK have become the first female K-pop act to debut at Number One on the Billboard 200 chart.On September 25, Billboard revealed that the quartet’s sophomore studio album ‘Born Pink’ had debuted at the top of its weekly Billboard 200 albums chart for the week ending September 22. This makes BLACKPINK the first female K-pop act ever, as well as the first all-female group since 2008, to do so.The record reportedly earned 102,000 equivalent album units in its release week, of which 75,500 comprised album sales, while streaming and track equivalent units totalled 25,000 and 1,500 each.It is BLACKPINK’s second Top 10 entry on the music chart, after their first studio album ‘THE ALBUM’ debuted at Number 2 upon its release in 2020.‘Born Pink’ is the third album by a South Korean act to top the weekly albums chart in 2022, following BTS’ ‘Proof’ and Stray Kids’ ‘Oddinary’.

Blackpink has made history following the launch of their second album Born Pink. The South Korean girl group made up of four members, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa, topped the album charts with their latest release.

BLACKPINK have become the first-ever K-pop girl group to achieve a Number One album in the UK.The South Korean band hit the top spot today (September 23) with their second full length record, ‘Born Pink’, which was released last Friday (September 16).BLACKPINK previously peaked at Number Two in the United Kingdom with their debut album, 2020’s ‘The Album’ (via the Official Charts Company).Martin Talbot, Chief Executive at the Official Charts Company, said: “Congratulations to BLACKPINK.“Being any kind of chart first is a record which can never be taken away, so for their new album ‘Born Pink’ to become the first UK Official Number One by a K-pop girl group is a fantastic achievement – and puts them in the record books forever!”Back in 2019, BTS became the first Korean act to hit Number One in the UK albums chart with ‘Map of The Soul: Persona’.

BLACKPINK today become the first-ever K-pop girl group to achieve a Number 1 on the UK’s Official Albums Chart with BORN PINK.

With BLACKPINK hoping to secure their first-ever UK Number 1 album this week with BORN PINK, in what's proving a closely-fought battle against Rina Sawayama and Suede, we've been delving into the group's back catalogue of late.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The lineup of five honorees for CMT’s Artists of the Year special has been set, with Walker Hayes, Carly Pearce and Cody Johnson being celebrated on the annual show for the first time, joining previous honorees Luke Combs and Kane Brown. Filmed, as always, at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, the 90-minute “CMT Artists of the Year” will air on CMT Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. ET/PT after being taped in the week. The non-competitive show is a more intimate complement to the larger-scale, fan-voted CMT Awards, with honorees being selected by the network from among the artists deemed to have made the most collective impact during the preceding year.

Taylor Swift is teasing her next album in a new way.

Rina Sawayama has shared a brand new video for her latest single ‘Hurricanes’ – check it out below.The British-Japanese artist released her second album ‘Hold The Girl’ on Friday (September 16) via Dirty Hit, and shared the new video on the same day.Following visuals for the new album’s title track and ‘This Hell’, the ‘Hurricanes’ video sees Sawayama giving a stormy, energetic performance of the track inside a barn.In the track, Sawayama sings: “April showers finally making way for warmer weather / But yet I still feel the same / Doing yoga just to feel untethered / But my mind keeps running away.”Watch her ‘Hurricanes’ video below.In a five-star album review, NME called ‘Hold The Girl’ “the best British pop album of the year,” writing: “Genres may come and go, but Sawayama’s second album is defined by her ability to fashion each of these sounds into big, brilliant pop songs.”On Friday, the day of the album’s release, Sawayama appeared on the cover of NME for a new Big Read feature about ‘Hold The Girl’, her role in John Wick: Chapter 4 and more.During the interview, the singer revealed that Elton John has offered her some “great advice” regarding some as-yet-unreleased music.Rina collaborated with the legendary musician on a reworking of her song ‘Chosen Family’ last year, which came after the pair struck up a friendship, with John having praised Sawayama’s debut studio record on his Rocket Hour radio show in 2020.

BLACKPINK’s latest album.In a recent story by Variety, several songwriters whose work featured on BLACKPINK’s sophomore studio album ‘Born Pink’ discussed the stories behind their contributions to the record.Among them are singer-songwriter and longtime collaborator Bekuh Boom — known for co-writing the act’s debut singles ‘Boombayah’ and ‘Whistle’ — who penned the track ‘Typa Girl’ from the new record.“It’s a song to empower women,” said Boom of the B-side, adding: “When I hear it, I feel like the shit — and I want other women to hear it and feel that way too.” The songwriter went on to reveal that she had written the demo for ‘Typa Girl’ in 2021, and that she had originally “thought Lisa might use it for her next solo single.”“But I’m super happy that it’s […] on the album,” she said. “It’s a blessing to always get asked back.

Exciting news for Blackpink fans – they have new music out!

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Rina Sawayama is one of a handful of artists who released an album just as the pandemic was beginning and watched, astonished, as their stars rose during lockdown. The Japanese-British singer’s debut, “Sawayama,” was a wild fusion of Lady Gaga with nu-metal guitars, but also showed a penchant for sentimental ballads amid the power chords and intensity. The album won a co-sign from none other than Elton John, and its videos got her cast in the fourth installment of Keanu Reeves’ “John Wick” series, due in March. In fact, Elton was one of many people who spoke out against Sawayama’s exclusion from eligibility for England’s BRIT and Mercury awards because she isn’t a U.K. citizen, even though she’s lived in England since the age of 5. After #SawayamaIsBritish became a trending topic on Twitter, the British Phonographic Industry changed the eligibility rules to include anyone who lived in the country for at least five years, including her.

EXCLUSIVE: Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale), Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer) and Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy) have been tapped to star in a Lionsgate remake of the 2008 horror pic The Strangers, which has entered production in Slovakia. Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger) is directing the film, which will be the first in a trilogy, having locked in a deal to helm the subsequent pair.