Music

At such a young age, Billie Eilish has emerged as the most successful pop musician in the world with multiple chart-topping hits and prestigious awards to her name. And yet, the “Birds of a Feather” songbird still retains close relationships with her longtime fans. 

British hitmaker Adele has announced that she will not be seeing her fans “for an incredibly long time” after the conclusion of her Las Vegas residency in November. 

Appearing on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Katy Perry opened up for the first time about her 2017 split with actor Orlando Bloom and their subsequent reunion.

After ruling the airplay all summer with the double whammy of “Espresso” and “Please Please Please”, singer Sabrina Carpenter finally dropped her much-awaited full album, “Short n’ Sweet.” Along with the album drop on August 23, the 25-year-old also released a brand new music video for “Taste”, her third single from the album. 

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, two of the biggest pop artists in the world, have collaborated for the first time with a new song, “Die With a Smile.” Released on August 16, the song immediately shot to the top of digital charts worldwide. It eventually became Lady Gaga’s first #1 song on Apple Music. The soft rock ballad also reached #3 on the global Spotify chart and became the #1 new release on the platform last week. Critics praise the duet as “a soulful masterpiece.”

Following a two-year break to focus on his mental health, singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes is gearing up for a big comeback with new self-titled album Shawn. Ahead of the album’s release on October 18, the 26-year-old Canadian has released a folksy lead single, “Why Why Why” on August 10. The music video, a grainy, evocative film set in the woods, sees Mendes roaming carefree in nature as he strums and sings his way to emotional lyrics like “I stepped off the stage with nothing left” and “thought I was about to be a father”. The first is obviously a reference to his mental health struggle that led to the cancellation of Wonder: The World Tour back in 2022, while the latter predictably garners tons of speculations around his personal life among fans. 

Earlier this week, three men were arrested in suspicion of an ISIS-related terrorism plot targeting the Vienna stop of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Although authorities managed to prevent the attack, organizers eventually decided to cancel all three of the planned dates out of safety concerns. The concerts were set to take place at Ernst Happel Stadium on August 8-10. Now, the venue is nothing but a blank space. 

Singer Khalid has released his much anticipated third album, “Sincere”. The indie pop-flavored track “Heatstroke” is the first single out of the album, marking his first release since “Scenic Drive” EP back in 2021.

On August 2, rappers Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign surprise dropped their brand new album “Vultures 2”. The album features 16 songs, with “Slide” as its first single. The song was first streamed on Yeezy.com hours before the album dropped. 

On August 5, Taylor Swift announced that she’ll be bringing five opening acts for the London stops of her blockbuster Eras Tour.