Taylor Swift Beats Her Own Spotify Record for Most Single-Day Streams for an Artist With ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Release

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Tish Melton, the 17-year-old singer who recently made a splash with her official debut single, “Michelle,” can’t wait to graduate high school next year and devote herself fully to her nascent music career. But in the meantime she’s got a hell of an early graduation present: a forthcoming debut EP helmed by one of the music world’s most notable artist-producers, Brandi Carlile.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Sean Combs has been sued in federal court by Casandra Ventura, who once recorded for his Bad Boy label as Cassie, with the singer alleging that the music mogul raped and beat her over a period of a decade. In response, Combs’ team is characterizing the suit as the result of an unsuccessful shakedown attempt by a former girlfriend. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Eras Tour to the city — and he’s strongly considering it. “Dear @taylorswift13 fans, I’m going to ask dear Father Omar to see if we can get this honor,” Paes recently addressed fans on X after the Taylor Swift Brasil fan account’s rendered proposal went viral.“He’s the guy who runs the projections at @cristoredentor! In the meantime: his Instagram is @padreomaroficial,” he added, translated from Portuguese.

Britney Spears is a Swiftie, and she’s been a fan for a lot longer than most of the world!

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Southern California comedy aficionados have experienced some FOMO when it comes to on-and-off L.A. resident Alex Edelman having become the toast of the town in New York theater circles with his one-man show, “Just for Us.” One of the most celebrated younger stars of comedy, Edelman performed parts of what would turn into the theater piece while doing stand-up in L.A., premiered it overseas in 2018, and then had “Just for Us” turn into a hot off-Broadway ticket in 2022 before doing a limited Broadway run this past summer.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Ashley Gorley is always the odds-on favorite to win the songwriter of the year award at the ASCAP Country Music Awards. With the wind of a healthy amount of fresh Morgan Wallen tracks at his back, he was again shooed in for the top honor as the winners were announced Monday night in Nashville.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift‘s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” has now gone down on the books as giving the singer her best first week tally for an album ever. The release tops the Billboard 200 with 1.653 million equivalent album units. That puts it ahead of her previous personal best, which was 1.578 million for “Midnights,” released just over a year ago.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Celine Dion, who has been out of sight dealing with a serious illness, is suddenly coming out in public in Las Vegas again — including an appearance as an audience member Saturday on the final night of Katy Perry‘s residency at the Resorts World Theatre, where Dion had to call off her own engagement two years ago. The sight of Dion in the crowd for Perry’s swan song managed to get even more attention than the attendance of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic “Baby, it’s Halloween / And we can be anything,” Phoebe Bridgers once promised, in a song named after the high holy day of Oct. 31.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The second round of performances announced for the 2023 CMA Awards includes two collaborations scheduled for the genre’s reigning superstar, Morgan Wallen — one a medley of country classics with Post Malone and Hardy, and the other with a guest duet partner being held back as a surprise. Also planned for the Nov.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The act of exorcism was never more delightful than it is in Allison Russell’s elaborate new music video for her song “Demons,” being released just in time to really turn Halloween into a party. The celebrated singer-songwriter has never employed such epic visuals or choreography before.

Taylor Swift continues to prove that she is in a class of her own!

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic It was a very good year, 1989 was. And by 1989, of course we mean 2014.

revenue at Universal Music Group in the third quarter, the world’s largest record label said Wednesday.Total revenue was 2.75 billion euros ($2.9 billion) in the quarter, up 3.3%. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at 581 million euros ($612 million), up 5.1%, the company reported.When adjusting for constant currency, revenue was up nearly 10% in the quarter and adjusted EBITDA rose 11.3%.EBITDA for the quarter fell 11.3% to 478 million euros, reflecting the impact of non-cash share-based compensation expenses of 103 million euros during the quarter.Recorded music sales totaled 2 billion euros, down 1.1% from a year ago.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift‘s big year is being further commemorated with a leading 20 nominations for the 2023 Billboard Music Awards, followed by SZA and Morgan Wallen, who each have 17 nominations in a total of 16 categories. Other stars with a big look in the BBMAs nominations include the Weeknd, a finalist for 16 awards with 17 entries; Drake, who’s up for 14 awards; and first-time finalist Zach Bryan, who’s contending with 14 nominations in 13 categories. The winners in the data-driven awards will be revealed Nov.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic What has been described as the Beatles‘ “last song,” a recently completed version of “Now and Then” that includes contributions from all four members, is about to enter the realm of the now. The long-teased track will finally reach the public’s ears in one week, on Thursday, Nov. 2.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic U2 found what they were looking for in a duet partner Wednesday night at Sphere in Las Vegas, as Lady Gaga joined the group for duets on one of her songs, “Shallow,” and two of theirs, “All I Want Is You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Bono introduced his fellow leather-jacketed guest as “the most audacious, vivacious woman in any room she’s ever in. Would you welcome to our turntable, the divine — the divinyl! — Lady Gaga.” He wasn’t done praising her divinity.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Devo was, and is, the ultimate future-proof band. When they first entered the public consciousness in the late ‘70s, Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale and company seemed impossibly ahead of their time — in a primitive-futurist kind of way — and they still do. There’s very little that you could consider dated about the 50 cuts on their new career retrospective, “50 Years of De-Evolution 1973-2023,” since their worldview always kind of seemed to be trained on offering up dystopianism with a smile and a jacked-up synth-rock beat.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Gregg Sutton, a songwriter and musician who recorded as a solo artist, was a member of Lone Justice, toured with Bob Dylan and was the musical director for comedian Andy Kaufman, died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 74. No cause of death was immediately given.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift fans don’t always love delayed gratification, but they have embraced it in the case of “Cruel Summer,” a 2019 song they have finally driven to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, four years and two months after it made its first appearance on the chart. The track from the “Lover” album — or era — first reached the top 10 in early July, and had hovered there since, becoming a consensus pick among many for 2023’s “song of the summer,” even though it came out four autumns ago.