Starsplash Music News

During his concert in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday night (July 5), Ed Sheeran delighted fans by bringing out his childhood band along with Wheatus frontman Brendan B. Brown to perform the 2000 indie rock hit, "Teenage Dirtbag," a song he considers one of his all-time top 10 favorites. Sheeran, 34, explained that he reunited with his high school band earlier this year to perform at a friend’s wedding, and got the idea to play the song with them during his 2025 stadium tour. He then reached out to Brown to perform his band’s classic track on stage with them. Sheeran shared a video of the performance on social media, captioning his post: “Used to play Teenage Dirtbag with my high school band when I was 12. I cheekily asked Brendan from @wheatusofficial to come over and rock it with us, and being the ledge that he is, he did. One of my fav moments ever on stage. What a night.” Wheatus' Instagram page commented on the post, "BEST DAY EVER!!!! 💛🩵." (People)

Lauryn Hill took the stage at the Essence Festival in New Orleans in the early hours of July 5, starting her performance at 2:30 a.m. due to the festival lineup running behind schedule. With a sparse audience in the 83,000-seat Superdome, Hill still engaged with the small crowd, took requests, and performed alongside her sons – Zion Marley, 27, and Joshua “YG” Marley, 23 – before concluding her set at 3:37 a.m. Videos of the near-empty stadium circulated on social media, prompting fans to defend the singer while absolving her of responsibility for the late start. Hill was a late addition to an already overcrowded lineup – which also featured Maxwell, Babyface, the Isley Brothers, and GloRilla – with the evening running behind schedule from the start, with some acts finishing their set an hour after the next performers were scheduled to begin. The Essence Festival 2025 concluded on Sunday (July 6), featuring a lineup including Boyz II Men, Master P, NAS, and Doug E Fresh. (People)

During her second sold-out headlining show at BST Hyde Park in London on Sunday night (July 6), Sabrina Carpenter surprised the 65,000 fans by bringing out Duran Duran for a performance of their 1982 hit, "Hungry Like the Wolf." Before their collaboration, Carpenter had the audience howling at the moon and then introduced the legendary band to the stage. Carpenter sang harmonies while vocalist Simon Le Bon and bassist John Taylor led the way, before Sabrina took over the lead on the second verse. The Duran Duran members were clearly thrilled with the experience, sharing photos of the night on Instagram while captioning the post: “Thank you @sabrinacarpenter for having us at her epic headlining show in Hyde Park last night! “Hungry” has never sounded so good!” Carpenter is gearing up to headline Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 3, and will release her highly-anticipated new album, Man’s Best Friend, on August 29, which has already spawned the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit, “Manchild.” (Rolling Stone)

Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” tops the Billboard Hot 100 once again, as his first career leader on the chart scores a fifth total week at No. 1. Meanwhile, Morgan Wallen notches his fifth week in 2025 with at least three songs simultaneously charting in the Hot 100’s Top Five, as “What I Want,” featuring Tate McRae, remains at No. 2, “Just in Case” rises one spot to No. 3, and “I’m the Problem” holds at No. 5. Wallen ties Kendrick Lamar for the most weeks with three or more concurrent Top Five hits in a single year among solo artists, with Lamar also posting three such weeks this year. Among all acts, only the Beatles have more such frames with eight, achieved during their historic breakthrough year of 1964.

The rest of the Hot 100 Top 10 is rounded out by Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” jumping up three spots to No. 4, Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” holding at No. 6, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” drops four slots to No. 7, Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” moves up one place to No. 8. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” drops one spot to No. 9 – marking the longest-charting song in the Top 10 ever by a woman artist at 45 weeks, while also surpassing The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” for the longest such stretch for a collaboration. While Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” returns to the Top 10 by jumping up one spot to reach No. 10. (Billboard)

During a visit to Phoenix Children’s Hospital in May, Kelsea Ballerini continued her involvement with Musicians On Call, a music-based charity that brings live and recorded music to patients in healthcare environments. In a heartwarming TikTok video shared by the charity, Ballerini sang Justin Bieber’s 2010 hit, “Baby,” with a young girl in a hospital bed, playfully passing the “mic” back and forth between the two of them during their special duet. Musicians on Call captioned the clip, “Huge thanks to @kelseaballerini for bringing joy and brightness to patients by playing their favorite songs 🎶💛 Your talent brings smiles to many!” Ballerini has been a part of the organization for nearly ten years, after helping launch the program – which now has a roster of volunteers which includes Darius Rucker, Luke Bryan, Trisha Yearwood, and Dolly Parton – in Phoenix back in 2016. After her most recent visit, Ballerini said, “it’s a beautiful way to let music be what music is, which is powerful.” (Holler)

Kelly Clarkson postponed her Las Vegas residency hours before the opening night due to vocal damage she suffered from rehearsals. In an Instagram post on Friday (July 4), the three-time Grammy-winning singer wrote: “I am devastated to have to postpone tonight and tomorrow’s opening at Caesars. The prep and rehearsals have taken a toll on my voice. I want the shows to be perfect for y’all and I need to protect myself from doing serious damage so I am taking this weekend and next week to rest up so that we can deliver what you all deserve.” Clarkson is aiming to officially kick off her Studio Sessions residency with scheduled shows on July 11-12 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The performances are slated to run every Friday and Saturday through August 16, with encore dates scheduled for November. Rescheduled dates for the postponed shows have not yet been announced. (Rolling Stone)

LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan decided to cancel their appearances at a Fourth of July festival in Philadelphia in solidarity with nearly 10,000 striking city workers. LL posted a video on social media on Thursday (July 3) that he captioned, “Dear Philly,” where the rapper explained his decision. “There’s absolutely no way that I can perform, cross a picket line and pick up money when I know that people are out there fighting for a living wage,” he said. “I hope that the mayor and the city can make a deal. I hope it works out.” Sullivan, a Grammy-winning Philadelphia native, wrote in an Instagram Story on Friday that she would support the striking workers “until the city and the union find a way to bring fair living wages to our working class. I love my city and I believe in you. Hopefully we will get to celebrate when things are better.” (Billboard)

On Friday (July 4), Drake hosted a livestream event called, “Iceman Episode One,” where the 5-time Grammy winner shared a brand new song titled, “What Did I Miss?” The track delves into the theme of fake friends and fractured loyalties, possibly related to his ongoing feud with Kendrick Lamar. While not directly naming Lamar or any of his friends, the Toronto rapper references an incident at Kendrick's Juneteenth 2024 Pop Out concert in Los Angeles where the Compton rapper performed his Drake-dissing track, “Not Like Us,” five times, while questioning the company his supposed friends – like NBA stars LeBron James and DeMar DeRozan – choose to keep. This release and accompanying livestream – where Drake drove around Toronto in a van for an ice delivery company called The Iceman – have fueled speculation of a new album, potentially titled Iceman, on the way, although no official details have been confirmed. (Rolling Stone)

On Saturday (July 5), it was revealed that Ed Sheeran's Grammy-winning 2017 single, "Shape of You," has topped Apple Music's list of the 500 Most-Streamed Songs of the Decade. The British pop superstar’s smash hit – which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 12 weeks – surpassed The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" (which came in at No. 2 on Apple’s list) and Drake's "God's Plan" (No. 3). The Top 10 is rounded out by popular tracks by Post Malone (“Sunflower” and “Rockstar”), Drake (“One Chance”), Travis Scott (“Sicko Mode”), Sheeran (“Perfect”), Chris Brown (“No Guidance”), and Billie Eilish (“Bad Guy”), in that order. Drake has the most songs in the Top 500 with 27, followed by Taylor Swift with 14. Apple released their list to celebrate the streaming service’s 10-year anniversary. “No one can take away the song,” Sheeran reflected to Zane Lowe in an interview surrounding the announcement. “I’ll be able to play it forever … I’m just grateful that I have songs like that, that you could be anywhere in the world and someone gives you a guitar and you can make someone happy with it.” (Billboard)

Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem sits atop the Billboard 200 albums chart for a seventh consecutive week, since first debuting at No. 1 following its May 16 release. The record earned 173,000 units over the past week, marking the the largest total for an album in its seventh week on the chart since Adele’s 25 earned 194,000 in its seventh week back in January 2016. Three big releases debut in the Top 10 in this week’s Billboard 200 chart, as Lorde’s Virgin premieres at No. 2 – with the pop superstar also claiming her first career No. 1 on the U.K. chart – while KATSEYE’s BEAUTIFUL CHAOS launches at No. 4, and Russ’ W!LD starts at No. 10.

Other significant moves in this week’s Top 10 include the KPop Demon Hunters Soundtrack jumping up five places to reach a new peak of No. 3, while Playboi Carti’s former chart-topper MUSIC vaults up twenty spots to claim No. 8 after the record was finally released on vinyl. The rest of the Top 10 is rounded out by Karol G’s Tropicoqueta, which falls two spots to No. 5, Wallen’s One Thing at a Time drops a spot to No. 6, SZA’s SOS plummets three slots to No. 7, and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slides down three places to No. 9. (Billboard)

Foo Fighters are marking their 30th anniversary with the release of a new track, "Today’s Song," the first new music from the band since their 2023 album, But Here We Are. The song – which features cover art drawn by Dave Grohl’s 15-year-old daughter, Harper – was accompanied by an emotional essay from the band’s frontman that he shared on Instagram on Wednesday (July 2). “We have followed this road together, with each other, for each other, no matter what,” Grohl wrote to his band and his fans. “Because in life, you just can’t go it alone.” He also paid tribute to the group’s beloved late drummer, Taylor Hawkins: “Your name is spoken every day, sometimes with tears, sometimes with a smile, but you are still in everything we do, everywhere we go, forever.” In additional Grohl news, the musician and his wife, Jordyn Blum, were spotted together at Wimbledon on Wednesday, their first joint public appearance since Grohl revealed that he fathered a child outside of his marriage in September 2024. (Billboard)

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has had his Australian visa canceled due to the release of an antisemitic song titled "Heil Hitler" in May. “He’s made a lot of offensive comments that my officials looked at again once he released [that] song,” said Tony Burke, Australia’s Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. “We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry.” The decision comes more than two years after the musician wed Bianca Censori, who is from Australia. This follows a series of antisemitic remarks and offensive social media posts by Ye, leading to the termination of a series of major brand partnerships while generating backlash from the Jewish community. In May, Ye claims to have experienced a change of heart, writing on X: “I am done with antisemitism. I love all people. God forgive me for the pain I’ve caused.” (Billboard)

In Los Angeles on Monday (June 30), Mariah Carey took part in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden to celebrate 10 years of the streaming service. During the chat, the 5-time Grammy winner revealed that her upcoming sixteenth studio album is finished, while hinting that the project will include "some Mariah ballads." "What is next? The album coming out,” Carey said. “I don’t wanna tell too much about it because I just don’t want to reveal the whole thing," she teased, while adding, "It’s finished." Carey went on to share that the album will consist of either "11 songs, or 12,", including her recent single, "Type Dangerous," which debuted at No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100. Carey went on to disclose, "A second single is coming soon. I’m very excited about it," while describing the track as "very summer-y. I like the beat as well." Carey’s forthcoming new album will mark her first since 2018's Caution. (People)

Frustrated fans are experiencing playback issues with Lorde’s crystal clear Virgin CD, with many of them unable to play the disc on a variety of CD players. Discussions on Reddit and multiple TikTok posts feature annoyed fans experiencing compatibility problems with older models or in-car CD players, expressing their disappointment with the design choice and lack of alternative CD options. “Seems like older models with older sensors won’t play it,” a fan wrote. “Pretty disappointing, I know it was for an aesthetic but at least press it on normal CDs, too.” Lorde’s website shows only sold-out listings for the translucent CD, with no other CD pressing options currently available. A spokesperson for Lorde declined to comment on the issue, leaving frustrated fans hoping for a smoother listening experience with any potential future CD releases or deluxe editions. (Rolling Stone)

On Wednesday (June 2), Sean “Diddy” Combs was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, potentially facing up to 20 years in prison, while being found not guilty of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. The split verdict prompted a jubilant reaction from Combs, who pumped his fist and mouthed “thank you” to the jurors. Members of his family shed tears of relief following the verdict, and they were shown leaving the courthouse amidst chants of “Freedom!” Following the gruelling eight-week trial, the defense advocated for Combs to be released on a $1 million bond before his sentencing date on the prostitution charges, while prosecutors felt he should continue to be held due to the severity of the conviction. The judge later ruled that Combs will remain in jail until his sentencing (with the date yet to be determined), citing his history of domestic violence. (Variety)

In their first collective WeVerse stream in almost three years, BTS confirmed their reunion and shared plans for a new group album and world tour in 2026. “We’ll be releasing a new BTS album in the spring of next year. Starting in July, all seven of us will begin working closely together on new music,” BTS shared. “Since it will be a group album, it will reflect each member’s thoughts and ideas. We’re also planning a world tour alongside the new album. We’ll be visiting fans all around the world, so we hope you’re as excited as we are.” This announcement comes after a lengthy hiatus that allowed members to fulfill their mandatory military service in South Korea and pursue solo projects. In addition to the reunion news, BTS’ record label Big Hit announced on Monday (June 30) that the first-ever live album from the K-pop group is arriving on July 18. Permission to Dance On Stage — Live will feature live performances of their hits, including Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers “Dynamite” and “Butter,” recorded on BTS’ 2021-2022 Permission to Dance On Stage Tour. (Rolling Stone)

At the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Monday night (June 30), Katy Perry brought the 15-date Australian leg of her tour to an emotional close. The pop superstar finished the show in tears, following her recent split from Orlando Bloom. “Thank you for always being there for me, Australia. It means the world,” Perry said as her eyes welled up with tears and her voice cracked slightly, before adding, “Now let’s sing ‘Firework!'” Reports of Perry’s split from Bloom surfaced last week, and in the following days it was reported that the couple ended their engagement after nine years together. In August 2020, the couple welcomed their daughter, Daisy Dove. Despite these personal challenges, Perry remains committed to her ongoing Lifetimes Tour, with the North American leg kicking off on July 10 in Denver. The massive tour concludes in early December, after a total of 89 shows around the world. (Rolling Stone)

While attending the Glastonbury music festival on Saturday (June 28), Harry Styles was spotted kissing a mystery woman in the VIP section in video footage obtained by The Sun.  The woman has now been identified as producer Ella Kenny, with Styles spotted dancing and making out with her while in the middle of a crowd. This public display of affection with Kenny follows Styles' previous high-profile relationships with actressess Taylor Russell and Olivia Wilde in recent years. The Grammy-winning singer concluded his successful Love on Tour in 2023, though Styles continues to make headlines with a series of surprise public appearances as of late. He was seen in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on May 8 to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, as well as participating in the Tokyo marathon back in March, where the musician finished ahead of over 20,000 runners with his sub-3:30 race time. (People)

In an Instagram post on Monday (June 30), Lorde opened up about the challenges of creating her new album, Virgin, after the record had been out for three days. The Grammy-winning pop superstar singled out "Favourite Daughter" as the toughest to write, produce, and sing. The track, which Lorde admits “Kicked my ass,” delves into her complex relationship with her mother, the poet Sonja Yelich. Lorde shared a series of insights about various tracks on the album, revealing that the record-closing tune, “David,” was the “First song started (and second to last finished),” while “Clearblue” was the “Last song started,” and “Broken Glass” was the final song she finished for the album. She also disclosed that she removed a favorite song of hers from the tracklist last minute, but hinted at the possibility of releasing it as a B-side in the future, teasing the existence of a “Couple really good B sides knocking around actually.” Lorde will launch her Ultrasound World Tour on September 17 in Austin, Texas. (Billboard)

Sabrina Carpenter's charitable fund under the nonprofit PLUS1 has raised over $1 million in just 12 months, making it the organization's fastest-growing artist initiative. The Sabrina Carpenter Fund supports causes close to the pop superstar’s heart, including mental health advocacy, LGBTQ+ rights, and animal welfare support. Carpenter integrates fundraising into various aspects of her career, such as dedicating a portion of ticket sales to her causes, and collaborating on charity projects with brands like Erewhon and Catbird. PLUS1 founder Marika Anthony-Shaw, the former viola player in Arcade Fire, established the organization after seeing the impact from the band’s ticket sales donations towards Haiti relief following the devastating 2010 earthquake. “Sabrina’s approach to philanthropy shows what’s possible when an artist truly commits to embedding impact across their work,” Anthony-Shaw said in a statement. “Sabrina is setting a new standard, one where social impact becomes woven into an artist’s career to create meaningful, lasting change.” (Rolling Stone)