The 13 Best Things That Happened in Music This Week (October 23)
#Music
Two major awards shows took place on the same day this week — the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards and the 2020 CMT Music Awards — and we’ve got all the highlights from each.
Plus, Justin Bieber gave a soothing performance on Saturday Night Live, while Adele prepped for her upcoming hosting gig, and much more!
Take a look at all of the week’s can’t-miss music moments below.
Justin Bieber gave a moving SNL performance
The Biebs returned to Saturday Night Live for the second time this year (he was also the musical guest in February) and gave fans two emotional performances of his songs “Holy” and “Lonely” on Saturday (Oct. 17). Bieber also received assists from his collaborators Chance the Rapper and Benny Blanco, making for a star-studded evening.
Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon returned to No. 1 on the Billboard 200
After three months, Pop Smoke’s posthumous album returned to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a second week. The set rose 3-1 and earned 67,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 15 (down 1 percent), according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. And as Billboard’s Keith Caulfield points out, Shoot for the Stars is the second album in 2020 to have such a lengthy wait between weeks at No. 1, following Lil Baby’s My Turn (also around three months).
See the full Billboard 200 rundown for the week ending Oct. 15 here.
24kGoldn and Iann Dior’s “Mood” topped the Billboard Hot 100
Rappers 24kGoldn and Iann Dior are both in a great “mood” this week! Both landed their first No. 1 this week, as their feel-good collaboration rose from No. 4. “Mood” drew 20.3 million U.S. streams (down 2%) and sold 7,000 downloads (down 2%) in the week ending Oct. 15, and tallied 62.9 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 16%) in the week ending Oct. 18. Learn more about the new No. 1 here.
Billboard caught up with K-pop group Seventeen
In celebration of their new project Semicolon, Billboard asked the South Korean boy band Seventeen 20 burning questions. The group talked about everything from releasing music during a pandemic to K-pop’s huge year, as well as what their Carats should take away from their new music. Check out the feature here.
Nicki Minaj shared the first photo of her baby boy
The rapper celebrated her first marriage anniversary with Kenneth Petty by sharing a pic of their baby boy on Wednesday (Oct. 21)! “Happy Anniversary, my love,” she captioned the pic, which shows her baby’s tiny foot. All together now: Aww.
The 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards were a night to remember
The 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards took place in Sunrise, Fla. on Wednesday (Oct. 21), with Daddy Yankee and Bad Bunny going home as the biggest winners of the night. Ozuna, Maluma, Reik and Jessie Reyez, Banda MS and more also performed! Check out the full winners’ list here, see a roundup of the show’s highlights here, and view recaps of the night’s best performances here.
…As were the 2020 CMT Music Awards
Meanwhile up in Nashville, one of the biggest nights in country music was also taking place! Wednesday’s CMT Music Awards featured performances from Dan + Shay, Gabby Barrett, Jimmie Allen and Noah Cyrus, Kane Brown, Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey, Little Big Town and many more. Check out the full winners’ list here and a recap of the event here.
A-list stars will come together for the Every Vote Counts: a Celebration of Democracy event
The Every Vote Counts: a Celebration of Democracy special will air on CBS on Oct. 29, and the lineup is pretty stellar. Alicia Keys, Kerry Washington and America Ferrera are set to host the event, with Keys also scheduled to perform. Additional performers include Shawn Mendes, Dan + Shay and Offset, while Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, Cobie Smulders, Coldplay, Condoleezza Rice, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Lopez, John Kasich, Kelly Clarkson, Leonardo DiCaprio and more will make appearances. Learn more about the event here.
Billboard’s 2020 Latin Music Week was in full swing
This year, Billboard’s virtual Latin Music Week took place from Oct. 20-23. Anuel AA, Jamie Foxx, Nicky Jam, Camilo, Jennifer Lopez, Maluma, Ozuna, Anitta, Ryan Tedder, Rosalia, Pharrell Williams and tons more appeared for panels, Q&A and showcases throughout.
Taylor Swift’s Speak Now celebrated its 10-year anniversary
With the 10th anniversary of Speak Now coming up this weekend (Oct. 25), Billboard staffers took turns writing about their favorite tracks on Swift’s special set. From “Mine” to “Long Live,” head over to the loving remembrance here.
Ariana Grande returned with new music
Arianators, get in your “positions,” because the queen is back! Grande unleashed her latest single and accompanying presidential music video on Friday (Oct. 23), and we can’t get enough.
Watch the epic visual for “Positions” here.
There were tons of other new music goodies
Aside from Ari’s big comeback, this week featured fresh cuts from Ty Dolla Sign, Bruce Springsteen, Karol G and Major Lazer. There were also can’t-miss releases from H.E.R. and Finneas this week — if it all seems overwhelming, get the TL;DR on everything you need to know about the best new music here!
Adele teased her SNL hosting gig
What will likely be the biggest moment of this week actually hasn’t happened yet! As you may have heard, Adele is hosting Saturday Night Live on Saturday (Oct. 24), and you need to watch the promo for her episode (with musical guest H.E.R.) immediately. Worth staying up late for — you won’t want to miss this one.
via https://www.DMT.NEWS/
Gab Ginsberg, Khareem Sudlow, DMTDaily
