Mac Miller’s fan-favorite Faces mixtape debuts across multiple Billboard album charts (dated Oct. 30), including at No. 3 on Top Album Sales and at No. 1 on Vinyl Albums, following its commercial release on Oct. 15. The mixtape was initially released for free in 2014 but wasn’t commercially issued or distributed to streaming services until Oct. 15, 2021.

The album sold 34,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 21, according to MRC Data, enabling its bow at No. 1 on Top Album Sales. Of that sum, 2,000 were sold as digital album downloads, while 32,000 were sold on vinyl LP. The latter marks the largest sales week on vinyl for an R&B/hip-hop effort, or rap album, since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991.

Previously, the largest sales week for an R&B/hip-hop set on vinyl, since 1991, was the debut frame of Prince’s recent Welcome 2 America album (22,000; chart dated Aug. 14, 2021). Further, Faces snags the largest sales week for a rap album on vinyl – again, since 1991 – beating the previous high, held by the vinyl arrival of Miller’s own Circles on wax (16,000; chart dated June 13, 2020).

Faces is the eighth top 10 on Top Album Sales for the late artist, who died in 2018. On the Vinyl Albums chart, Faces is Miller’s fourth No. 1, following K.I.D.S. (Kickin Incredibly Dope Shit) and Circles in 2020 and Swimming in 2018. Faces also arrives at No. 3 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Top Rap Albums and the all-genre Billboard 200, as well as at No. 2 on Tastemaker Albums. (The latter ranks the top-selling albums of the week at independent and small-chain record stores.)

Billboard isn’t quite old enough to have reviewed the angels heard on high or the mountains in reply, but it had a front-of-the-fireplace seat for the birth of Christmas music as we know it. Like the holiday itself, seasonal songs gradually grew into commercial silver and gold, as well as sentimental favorites, and by 2018, streaming had made the business worth a Billboard-estimated $177 million in the United States alone. The most popular holiday recordings are hits every year — gifts that keep on giving.

Irving Berlin, a Jewish-Russian immigrant who became a beloved American songwriter, did Bing Crosby a mitzvah when he wrote “White Christmas” for the 1942 movie musical Holiday Inn. Billboard was quick to notice the song’s “peaceful, gracious” charm, and the Aug. 8, 1942, issue predicted that “this tune will become more and more important.” That was an understatement: Crosby’s 1942 recording, released on Decca, is said to have sold 50 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest physical single ever.

As rock n’ roll took over radio, Crosby faced competition. A column in the Dec. 8, 1958, issue mused that “Christmas disks are stemming from more and more outré types of sources and places, such as, for example, Chuck Berry.” Other staffers were more enthusiastic: Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” got the Billboard review panel “jumping and shouting and stomping around in their record room like few recent records have done.”

The following week, Billboard declared “Yuletide Keys Happy Boom For Pop Singles Market” as songwriter-producer Ross Bagdasarian’s Christmas-themed “The Chipmunk Song” became “the fastest moving disk of the year, and possibly, in the history of the record business.” Amid their fur-flying faceoff against Rudolph, chipmunks Alvin, Simon and Theodore became so popular that when a New York DJ joked on-air that Alvin was thinking about going solo, Billboard reported that “he received calls from credulous listeners asking him to tell Alvin not to do it.”

“Catalog Sales Dominate Christmas Action” declared a Dec. 22, 1979, headline, but the season delivered a seminal first in the form of Kurtis Blow’s hip-hop holiday hit, “Christmas Rappin,’ ” co-written by former Billboard staffer Robert Ford Jr. According to the same issue, “This novelty rapping record has found immediate acceptance on New York radio, something that has eluded the majority of rapping dee-jay records.”

Mariah Carey’s 1994 album, led by “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” came with all the sleigh bells and whistles. “Columbia Records isn’t treating Merry Christmas as just another holiday album,” reported the Oct. 8, 1994, Billboard. Even Carey didn’t realize the gift she had. “It was a priority for me to write at least a few new songs,” the singer said, but “people really want to hear the standards at Christmas, no matter how good a new song is.” In this case, being wrong was a positive: The new standard topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019, then again in 2020 and early 2021.

This story originally appeared in the Oct. 23, 2021, issue of Billboard.

From 2006 through 2015, Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald made an astonishing $77.8 million in publishing income from co-writing such hits as Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend,” Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” and Kesha’s “Tik Tok.” Then came a devastating rape allegation from Kesha Rose Sebert. Suddenly, artists stopped working with him, and the income dried up. When a defamation trial finally gets underway in the seven-year-long legal battle, Dr. Luke wants to present an expert to testify that the smear cost him $46 million in lost business opportunities.

Those numbers come from court records unsealed on Monday. A New York judge will soon decide whether certain evidence is inadmissible, and both sides have requests. Among other things, Kesha wants to stop Dr. Luke from having a psychiatrist testify that her allegations are more consistent with a false report of rape than a true one. She wants to stop witnesses from telling a jury that he’s incapable of rape. And she demands that personal matters such as the uncertainty of her biological father be deemed out of bounds. Meanwhile, Dr. Luke wants the judge to strike any testimony about his enormous wealth, any evidence that he was a “drug dealer,” any mention of unrelated copyright claims against him, any false talk of a Lady Gaga rape and any larger discussion of the #MeToo movement.

Along with arguments on these subjects and others comes a slew of depositions, emails, expert reports and exhibits, including ones that Sony Music prefer nobody hear about. Perhaps the document that will get the most attention — at least inside the entertainment industry — is the damages model from Dr. Luke’s financial expert, Arthur Erk, an accountant and business manager at Citrin Cooperman & Company.

His report (read here) includes a spreadsheet of annual publishing income from songs recorded by the likes of Jessie J, Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Pitbull, Adam Lambert and on and on. Basically a “who’s who” of 21st century pop. Using this information, Erk creates a model to estimate lost business opportunities, with particular emphasis on how the rape accusation cost Dr. Luke income from producing Katy Perry’s most recent albums. There, Erk notes that Dr. Luke earned $26.7 million from working on Perry’s first three albums and says it is reasonable that he would have earned $11.65 million more on her next three. His overall calculation is $46,253,672 in damages, and that includes a projection of lost revenue through 2024. (He breaks it down by year and type.)

Meanwhile, Kesha has hired her own expert, Louis Dudney, to offer rebuttal testimony. Dudney, a managing director at AlixPartners, criticizes Erk for failing to look more deeply into the issue of causation. While Erk measures how Dr. Luke’s career has been stymied in general, Dudney says there may have been damage from accusations that were swirling before Kesha accused him publicly. He deems the economic damages analysis from Erk to be “speculative and unreliable.” (Read here.)

In defending Erk’s work, Dr. Luke’s attorneys say there’s no authoritative standard preventing an expert from assuming causation and that Dudney should be precluded from providing this critique at trial. They also attack Dudney’s failure to do his own economic model and his lack of experience in the music industry. And they attack some of the opinions he offered at deposition, including that another producer, Max Martin, was largely successful for Dr. Luke’s success.

On Thursday, New York Justice Jennifer Schecter will oversee a hearing where both sides will make their respective arguments about evidence and testimony at the forthcoming trial. A firm date for the main showdown still hasn’t been set.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

Blxst tells Billboard that the day he wrote his first Hot 100 hit, “Chosen” featuring Ty Dolla $ign & Tyga, was just “a normal day.” There were no crazy studio sessions or out-of-the-ordinary experiences that gave way to his melodic hit inside his one-bedroom apartment in Inglewood. 

“I was just working,” he remembers. “It felt fun creating it. Something about it felt different. It gave a different energy as I was recording it. [Then] Ty Dolla $ign laid his verse, and it was all up from there.”

Before the song’s rise to No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100, the West Coast polymath had no idea it would morph into an instant party-starter when piecing together his No Love Lost (Deluxe) project earlier this year. 

“I definitely didn’t look at ‘Chosen’ like the single to lead with, for sure, but the fans just naturally gravitated to that one,” says Blxst. “It was a no-brainer.”

With last year’s No Love Lost, Blxst quickly emerged as a promising contender in the R&B sphere by melding sticky hooks and sleek metaphors. While West Coast rappers YG and Mozzy have previously tagged Blxst for features, new fans took notice when an East Coast legend tapped him for his services: Nas added Blxst to his balmy weekend anthem, “Brunch on Sundays,” which included NBA superstars LeBron James and Russell Westbrook in the song’s video. 

“That was a big moment,” Blxst reflects. “I didn’t even know none of the people were going to be there. Of course, Nas and Hit-Boy, but when I pulled up, I seen LeBron [James], Russell Westbrook, [and] Swizz Beatz. I was like, ‘Damn. I’m really surrounded by legends.’ … LeBron actually walked up to me and said, ‘I respect what you’re doing. I see what you’re doing.’ I didn’t even know he knew who I was. That was a dope moment, for real.”

Billboard caught up with Blxst to discuss the praise he has received from Snoop Dogg and Killer Mike, his responsibility to Nipsey Hussle, his deal with Red Bull Records and more. 

You once said you used to watch old videos of Ryan Leslie on YouTube when you first got started producing. What do you remember most about his creativity that you fed off?

He just opened the door. Besides being an artist, he showed me that you could be a producer, songwriter and do everything from scratch on your own. That was kind of the blueprint I took early on as an artist. Like, I wanted to be multifaceted in every aspect of creating. I still instill that today. I’m trying to make sure I’m hands-on with everything that I do.

How do you manage to stay involved on the production side, knowing that your plate is getting heavier by the day as an artist?

I just try not to oversaturate myself. Whenever I feel inspired, I jump on it. I don’t sit and wait. If I feel inspired, I got the resources at home just to jump up and make a beat or record a song. I just try to keep that momentum and that fire lit. And while I got the eyes on  me, I’m going to keep the eyes on me.

Snoop Dogg recently said that you have the keys to the city. Do you feel you have that extra weight on your shoulders now when it comes to carrying the west coast?

Yeah, that’s heavy, especially being this fresh in the game. The only two people I’ve seen get passed the keys were The Game and Kendrick Lamar. To be listed amongst those people lets me know I’m on the right trajectory, and I don’t take the craft for granted. I want to do it the right way and carry the torch in a respectable way and to represent my city in the right way.

Killer Mike also gave you your flowers on your tour stop in Atlanta. What do these co-signs from legendary rappers mean for your confidence? 

Man, I think it’s dope to connect with the OGs. It’s like we’re bridging the gap at the same time, from when I do my shows with the young kids all the way to the grandmas who appreciate my art. Just to have the ability [to do that] is so dope. I can connect with so many people across the world and I don’t take that for granted. 

Who do you prefer most: Blxst the singer, Blxst the rapper, or Blxst the producer?

That’s a good question. First and foremost, I love melodies, so I’d go with Blxst the singer first. Then, Blxst the rapper second, because I like to talk my s–t sometimes.

One of my favorite records from you is “Forever Humble.” How have you managed to stay humble throughout this all-star year you’re having?

My mom is actually a mental health counselor, so having her as a resource has been very helpful so far. I just try to stay in communication with her and be as transparent as possible just so I can get certain things off my chest. She always gives me good advice, so I’m pretty good. 

I spoke to Mozzy at his album release party a couple of weeks ago and I said that you and him need to do a project together. What are the chances of that happening? 

Me and Mozzy definitely haven’t missed. We got a couple in the cut. Right now, I feel like I’m still fresh in people’s minds. I wanna be able to establish myself as an individual artist and then it’ll make that project that much more worthy of listening to because Mozzy got like over 100 projects in the game. His workflow is crazy, so I gotta at least put out 60 projects. Nah, I’m just playing (laughs).

You said in an interview with XXL that you want to maintain the legacy that Nipsey Hussle instilled. What is that legacy to you, and how do you plan to maintain it?

Aside from music, I would just say building within the community. I think that’s the most important thing: not forgetting where you come from, and making home that much better for other people. I think it’s cool what Mustard is doing. He just wants to make life easier for people, and I think about that too: how can I make other people’s lives easier? Whether that be buying property or giving people jobs, I feel like that was the blueprint from Nipsey. 

You recently re-signed with Red Bull Records. Why did you decide to stay there and continuing building with them as opposed to signing to a major label?

Red Bull [Records] understood the vision from the jump. It’s like a family situation. It’s a small team, but they go hard. Me being signed to myself through my Evgle team, it’s the perfect match. I couldn’t see me doing it any other way.

A version of this story originally appeared in the Oct. 23, 2021, issue of Billboard.

The San Antonio Spurs will look to bounce back from two losses in two nights to a pair of the best teams in the NBA when they square off against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday in the Alamo City. The Spurs (1-2) suffered setbacks at Denver and then at home to defending league champion […]

The post Lakers, Spurs still rounding into form ahead of matchup appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

Wilco have shared two covers by The Beatles as part of a celebration of the band’s final album ‘Let It Be’.

READ MORE: ‘Let It Be’ at 50: why The Beatles’ swansong is a lesson in never looking back

The band have covered ‘Dig A Pony’ from the record and ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ which featured as a B-side to the ‘Get Back’ single, for Amazon Music’s [RE]DISCOVER campaign, which is focusing on The Beatles final era this month. You can listen to Wilco’s take on the tracks below.

It comes after a new deluxe version of ‘Let It Be’ was released earlier this month.

The physical and digital “super deluxe” ‘Let It Be’ collections featured 27 previously unreleased session recordings, a four-track ‘Let It Be’ EP and the never-before-released 14-track ‘Get Back’ stereo LP mix, which was compiled by engineer Glyn Johns in May 1969.

Meanwhile, Katy Perry has also shared The Beatles classic ‘All You Need Is Love’ for a new Gap advert.

In a new Instagram post announcing the partnership with Gap, Perry revealed that she used to work in one of the company’s shops in Santa Barbara, California.

She wrote: “From folding sweatshirts at the Santa Barbara Gap to 20 years later, starring in a @markromanek-directed holiday campaign dreams do come true!”

As part of the campaign, Gap is donating $1 (73p) per stream of the new cover on Spotify to Baby2Baby, whose mission is “to provide basic essentials to children living in poverty across the country”.​

In other Beatles news, Peter Jackson’s forthcoming documentary series The Beatles: Get Back will premiere on Disney+ from November 25-27.

The Beatles: Get Back will tell “the story of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as they plan their first live show in over two years, capturing the writing and rehearsing of 14 new songs, originally intended for release on an accompanying live album.”

Wilco singer-guitarist Jeff Tweedy meanwhile, recently appeared on the latest soundtrack for Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, performing a stripped-back version of the show’s theme.

The post Wilco share covers of The Beatles’ ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ and ‘Dig A Pony’ appeared first on NME.

Kelly Clarkson has covered The Weeknd‘s ‘Call Out My Name’ for her TV show.

Her powerful take on the track, from Abel Tesfaye’s 2018 EP ‘My Dear Melancholy’, is just one of a number of covers she has performed on The Kelly Clarkson Show recently. You can view her take on the song below.

Last month, Clarkson delivered a live cover of Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy The Silence’ on the show’s ‘Kellyoke’ segment with her band Y’all.

This year alone, she’s performed Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers License’, Charli XCX’s ‘Boom Clap’, Tears For Fears’ ‘Mad World’ and Foo Fighters’ ‘Times Like These’, among others.

Elsewhere, The Weeknd was recently hit with a plagiarism lawsuit over ‘Call Out My Name’ by producers Suniel Fox and Henry Strange.

Fox and Strange claim that ‘Call Out My Name’, which has over 700million views on YouTube, lifted elements from their 2015 track ‘Vibeking’, writing in their filing that the songs “contain quantitatively and qualitatively similar material in their respective lead guitar and vocal hooks, including melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements distinctive to ‘Vibeking.’”

Clarkson meanwhile, earlier this month, teamed up with Ariana Grande on a new Christmas song, ‘Santa, Can’t You Hear Me‘, which featured her new holiday album, ‘When Christmas Comes Around’.

In the wake of Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show going off air after almost two decades, NBC also revealed earlier this year that Clarkson’s TV programme would be taking the daytime slot.

“By 2022, The Kelly Clarkson Show will be the star of our daytime entertainment schedules and an asset to our early afternoon newscasts,” Valari Staab, president of NBCUniversal Local, said back in May.

The post Watch Kelly Clarkson sing a powerful cover of The Weeknd’s ‘Call Out My Name’ appeared first on NME.

 Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood’s “If I Didn’t Love You” rises to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Oct. 30). In the tracking week ending Oct. 24, the song gained by 9% to 30.3 million audience impressions, according to MRC Data.

Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood’s “If I Didn’t Love You” rises to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Oct. 30). In the tracking week ending Oct. 24, the song gained by 9% to 30.3 million audience impressions, according to MRC Data.

“Love,” on Macon/Capitol Nashville/Broken Bow, was penned by Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy, John Morgan and Lydia Vaughan. It’s the lead single from Aldean’s upcoming 30-song double album, Macon, Georgia. The full set is due April 22, 2022, with the first 14 songs arriving on Nov. 12 (nine new tracks, plus five more which were recorded live).

Aldean notches his 24th Country Airplay leader and Underwood adds her 16th.

“I am so proud of this song,” Aldean tells Billboard. “I felt like we had something really special with this one from the start, but to have Carrie get on board too, she just took it to a different level.”

Aldean earns third consecutive Country Airplay No. 1 and second this year, after “Blame It on You” dominated the July 24-dated list. “Got What I Got” ruled for a week last October. He first led with his second entry, “Why,” in May 2006. His debut title, 2005’s “Hicktown,” hit No. 10, becoming his first of 34 top 10s.

Underwood achieves her first Country Airplay No. 1 since “Church Bells” in July 2016. She also scores her first leader since signing with Capitol Nashville in March 2017 (following a 12-year partnership with Sony Music Nashville’s Arista Records).

The 2005 winner of American Idol has posted four top 10s since 2017, upping her career count to 29: “Dirty Laundry” (No. 2, January 2017); “The Fighter,” with Keith Urban (No. 2, August 2017); “Cry Pretty” (No. 9, September 2018); and “Southbound” (No. 3, October 2019). Her most recent solo single, “Drinking Alone,” peaked at No. 11 in May 2020.

Aldean boasts the seventh-most No. 1s since Country Airplay began in January 1990. Kenny Chesney leads with 31, followed by Tim McGraw (29), Blake Shelton (28), Alan Jackson, George Strait (26 each) and Luke Bryan (25).

Underwood’s 16 No. 1s mark the most among women. Reba McEntire is next with 11, followed by Faith Hill (nine).

‘COMEBACK’ SONGS Zac Brown Band’s The Comeback flies onto Top Country Albums at No. 3. In its first week, ending Oct. 21 (following its Oct. 15 release), the 14-song LP earned 19,000 equivalent album units, including 12,000 in album sales.

The set marks the group’s 10th top 10, a total that includes five No. 1s (with all five launching at the summit). The Owl became the band’s fifth leader when it opened atop the list in October 2019.

Meanwhile, the new album’s lead single “Same Boat” sails 7-3 on Country Airplay, up 14% to 22.4 million in audience. On the airplay-, sales- and streaming-based Hot Country Songs survey, it bumps 16-12. It drew 3.7 million U.S. streams (up 21%) and sold 1,400 downloads (up 11%) in the tracking week.

‘COLD’ GETS HOTTER Luke Combs earns his 14th Hot Country Songs top 10, as “Cold as You” pushes 11-9. The song drew 6 million streams and sold 1,700 downloads in the tracking week. On Country Airplay, it climbs 8-5 for a new high, up 9% to 21.5 million in reach.

The track follows another hot-and-“cold” hit for Combs: Jameson Rodgers’ “Cold Beer Calling My Name,” featuring Combs, reached No. 3 on the Oct. 2 Hot Country Songs chart. The collaboration also led the Oct. 9 Country Airplay tally, becoming Combs’ 12th consecutive No. 1 single from the start of his career.

Combs claims his first Hot Country Songs top 10 as a lead artist since “Forever After All,” which ruled for 10 nonconsecutive weeks, starting with its launch at No. 1 in November 2020, when it opened as his fourth leader. It dominated Country Airplay for six weeks beginning this June.

Three members of the Quality Control team have been promoted to senior executive posts. Simone Mitchell is the newly appointed president of Quality Control Music, joined by executive vp Tamika Howard and vp artist relations Amber Mitchell.

Commenting exclusively to Billboard, Quality Control CEO Pierre “P” Thomas and COO Kevin “Coach K” Lee addressed the trio’s contributions to the ongoing success of the Atlanta-based company, home to Lil Baby, Migos, Lil Yachty and City Girls.

“These women are the backbone of this QC family,” notes Lee, “and have had their hand in building some of the best musical careers in rap. Their promotions and elevated positions have been well-earned.”

Adds Thomas, “These powerful Black women are the executives that run much of the show with us. Watching them grow through the ranks and impact our artists the way they have is something I’m so thankful and proud to witness.”

Simone Mitchell started out part-time during Quality Control’s early stages in 2014, handling administrative duties while working with the label’s breakthrough act Migos. Since contributing to the career advancement of additional roster members including City Girls and Layton Greene over the ensuing years, Simone has also begun co-managing recent signing Lakeyah under the QC banner, alongside the rapper-songwriter’s manager Chad Russell.

Thanking Lee, Thomas and Motown chairman/CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam for their mentorship, Simone tells Billboard, “I’m looking forward to the new challenges that come with this promotion as Quality Control builds out its film and sports divisions as well as other ventures. I’m so glad to be given this opportunity.”

In her new role as executive vp, Howard will supervise the business operations for all of Quality Control’s multiple endeavors. She will also double as construction liaison for a large new development that the company will announce in 2022. Howard first joined Quality Control in 2013, working alongside Lee and Thomas in building the careers of Lil Baby, Migos and Lil Yachty.

Since joining Quality Control in 2017, Amber Mitchell has assisted in launching projects by the City Girl and Layton Greene, among others. Amber’s purview as vp artist relations will include overseeing tours, press/promo junkets, awards shows and other career aspects for the label’s roster. In addition, she will take on the dual role of executive assistant to Lee.

“These promotions not only give us the space to learn more and grow but will hopefully open more doors to advancement for women working in the male-dominated music industry,” says Simone. “We’re looking forward to being leaders and mentoring other young women working in music.”

JoJo Siwa toasted Halloween this week by dressing up as iconic horror character Pennywise for her latest performance on Dancing With The Stars.

READ MORE: Hyperactive influencer/dancer/pop star JoJo Siwa will terrify you – unless you’re born after about 2005

The influencer and pop star is currently a contestant on the long-running TV series, a US counterpart to the BBC‘s Strictly Come Dancing.

On yesterday’s (October 25) edition of the show, Dancing With The Stars held Horror Night, Siwa and her partner Jenna Johnson performed a jazz dance to the track ‘Anything Goes’ by District 78.

“That was scary,” DWTS and former Strictly judge Len Goodman said. “If ever a dance captured the flavour of a book, that was it.”

Check out Siwa’s “evil clown” costume, channelling It star Pennywise, below:

Earlier this year, DaBaby denied that he was taking a shot at dancer and YouTube personality Siwa on a recent track.

Back in February, the North Carolina rapper released a new freestyle called ‘Beatbox’, featuring the lyrics: “Turn me up, n****s gon’ see why/ N***a, you a bitch, JoJo Siwa (Bitch).”

Following the track’s release, fans took to social media to discuss the lyrics, with many believing he was comparing his opposition to 17-year-old Siwa.

DaBaby has now clarified that the lyric was not a diss, stating that his daughter is a big fan of the dancer and has all the products she’s released.

“@itsjojosiwa my 3 year old princess is your number 1 fan. I bought her every product you have out,” he tweeted. “She think she you. Don’t let em trick you into thinking id ever have a problem with you. My word play just went over their heads. All love on my end shawty, Keep shinning!”

The post Watch JoJo Siwa dress up as Pennywise on ‘Dancing With The Stars’ appeared first on NME.

Lizzo is ready for scary season. The “Rumors” rapper teamed up with actress Sarah Paulson for a pair of TikTok videos in which they hilariously recreate one of the most horrifying scenes from Paulson’s series American Horror Story. In the videos posted on Monday Lizzo and Paulson lip synch to a fan-favorite scene from the second season of the scary FX anthology series, Asylum.

“Help! He’s escaping!” The killer is escaping!” they fake scream together in a remake of the line Paulson’s Lana Winters wails in the 2012-13 season of the Ryan Murphy series set in 1964 at the fictional Briarcliff Manor mental hospital. Not even trying to make their lips move in time, the pair calmly recite the lines while crammed into frame together, with Paulson wearing a plaid jacket and Lizzo rocking a flowery top with matching flower scunchie.

In a second version, though, they get hilariously unhinged, screaming the line in tandem while barely containing their laughter. To date the two videos have racked up nearly 30 million views.

As The Insider reported, the line began going viral in July on TikTok, with more than 370,000 videos so far, including one from Billie Eilish.

Like a lot of TikTokers, Billie took a different tack, flaring her nostrils to the strains of Paulson’s wailing instead of mouthing the words with the caption “hate that you guys made this sound huge on here. most infuriating scene in all of asylum.”

Watch Lizzo and Eilish’s TikTok videos below.

 

Robert “Bob” Rudolph, a jazz trombonist who played with bandleaders including Woody Herman and Sam Kenton, and went on to work for Monument Records, died of pneumonia on Oct. 8, 2021 in Hendersonville, Tenn. He was 82.

Rudolph had a multi-tiered life in the music industry, according to his son John Rudolph, CEO of 1.618 Industries — formerly Music Analytics — which often serves as an advisor in music publishing acquisitions. In addition to being a staunch musician union advocate and member, Bob Rudolph was a journeyman musician who backed the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Vic Damone, Ella Fitzgerald, and Edie Gorme until the late 1960’s; and also worked for Monument Records, handling marketing and promotions in the Chicago area, working music for the likes of Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Roy Orbison and others.

In 1970, the Rudolph family moved to Hendersonville, as he continued to play hundreds of gigs while also beginning a promotions/advertising career with the Nashville radio station WKDF; and was eventually a member of the Nashville Jazz Orchestra.

Rudolph, who was born July 15, 1939, wrestled with a substance abuse issue beginning in 1980’s which lasted until after the turn of the century. When he became sober, he was a substance abuse counselor in Nashville, working with many music artists and music industry professional and others, including stints at Cumberland Heights and the Nashville Metro Drug Court and Jail system, according to his son John, who reports he was awarded the Middle Tennessee Counselor of the Year and the State of Tennessee Counselor of the Year.

By the time John Rudolph was 13, his father had already taken him to see over 100 artist shows, the son reports. “He was an encyclopedia of jazz knowledge, was fascinated by space and planes, loved art, Dali and his granddaughter, ” his son told Billboard. He also reported that his father had one last moment of notoriety when he was charged with simple possession of marijuana for a joint he had smuggled into his nursing home to help him deal with chronic back pain. The charges were subsequently dismissed.

Rudolph is survived by his two sons, John and Robert Rudolph of Washington DC; and his good friends to the end Chicago trombone player Frank Tesinsky, who founded the brass program at the Chicago Public Schools; and Russ Bach (Brumbach), former president of EMI Distribution. The family requests if any readers have notes about Bob for the family or would like to attend a virtual memorial service, please send an email to IMissBobJazz@gmail.com.