ARIANA GRANDE AND JUSTIN BIEBER’S ‘STUCK WITH U’ DEBUTS AT NO. 1; 6IX9INE ACCUSES BILLBOARD OF CHEATING – (05/19/2020)

Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber’s new duet for COVID-19 relief, “Stuck With U,” has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

It marks both Ariana and Justin’s third No. 1 debut on the chart. They join Mariah Carey and Drake as the only artists with that many No. 1 debuts. Ariana has three chart leaders overall now, while Justin has six.

All net proceeds from the streams and sales of “Stuck with U” and its videos will be donated to First Responders Children’s Foundation to fund grants and scholarships for children of healthcare workers, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, police officers, firefighters and other front line workers.

Meanwhile, rapper 6ix9ine shared a video accusing Billboard of cheating after his song “Gooba” debuted at No. 3. He accuses Ariana and Justin’s team of buying plays and downloads for “Stuck With U.”

“Last Thursday, Ariana’s ‘Stuck with U’ submitted 60,000 units last second,” he claimed, saying that his team had done an “investigation” into the matter. “They purchased half of those things with six credit cards. When we asked where were those six credit cards linked to, Billboard said, ‘We can’t disclose that information’.”

Tekashi went on to also allege that Billboard “illegally disqualified 20 million streams” of his post-prison track so that “the people who bought the No. 1 – which was ‘Stuck with U’ – can go to No. 1.”

Grande responded to the allegations on her own Instagram, writing: “anyone who knows me or has followed me for a while knows that numbers aren’t the driving force in anything i do. i’m grateful to sing. grateful to have people who want to listen. grateful to even be here at all. i didn’t have a number one for the first five years of my career and it didn’t upset me at all because from the bottom of my heart, music is everything to me.”

Thanking her fans for their continual support, she continued, “so with this celebration today, i would like to address a few things which i don’t usually do (i don’t give my energy to drama or strange accusations normally but this has gone a little too far)…my fans bought the song. JUSTIN’S fans bought the song. OUR fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE).”

While she didn’t specifically name Tekashi, Grande noted “only the women for some reason” were singled out in the accusation and asked her accuser “to take a moment to humble yourself. be grateful you’re even here. that people want to listen to u at all. it’s a blessed position to be in.”

“i’ve had a lot of ‘almost number ones’ in my career and i never said a goddamn thing because I FEEL GRATEFUL TO EVEN BE HERE. TO WANT TO BE HEARD AT ALL …. and you should feel that way too,” she added. “congratulations to all my talented ass peers in the top ten this week. even number 3.”

Tekashi later defended himself in another Instagram post, writing, “All I’m saying is I worked super hard to make it out of Brooklyn NY. I speak for the millions of kids who aren’t as fortunate as you.”

Alongside a video of himself comparing his upbringing with Grande’s childhood acting career on Nickelodeon shows, he captioned, “LIFE is REAL when you’re on welfare LIFE is REAL when you grow up with out a father. You don’t know what that is like. You say for me to be humble …. I don’t think you know what humble is………. YOU ARE VERY TALENTED AND BEAUTIFUL GOD BLESS YOU. But you will NEVER UNDERSTAND MY PAIN 💯.”

However, Bieber, 26, broke down why Tekashi may have lost out on the top spot when he denied the cheating accusations on his Instagram Story, explaining that the number the rapper was referring to was his global streams and “this is a domestic chart so only domestic streams count.” The singer also argued that the 60,000 units Tekashi claimed had been submitted last minute “came because we don’t disclose our numbers until end of week. That’s called strategy.”

“He said 30k was bought with 6 credit cards but that is a lie. The rules are clear one credit card can buy max 4 copies. Anything over that the entire amount is thrown out,” he continued. “Nielsen company checks this and found all our sales were legit because our fans are amazing and bought them. Don’t discredit our fan base with false info.”

Bieber added that he’s “honored” to have worked with Grande, writing, “If you gonna say her name make sure you say mine because it’s our song.”

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Full Story: People

BTS BANDMEMBER JUNGKOOK TESTED FOR CORONAVIRUS: Jungkook from BTS has been tested for Coronavirus after going out to a restaurant with a group of friends. The results came back negative. The BTS member went out to a restaurant with other K-Pop stars NCT 127’s Jaehyun, SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu and Cha Eunwoo from ASTRO near the end of April. BTS management, Big Hit Entertainment, confirmed that Jungkook’s results came back negative, as did the other singers as well. “The artist himself is currently feeling deeply regretful for not having faithfully contributed to the entire society’s social distancing efforts,” they added.

KATY PERRY TO KICK OFF ‘GMA’ SUMMER CONCERT SERIES – (05/19/2020)

Katy Perry is kicking off this year’s GMA Summer Concert Series.

She will perform her new song “Daisies” live on Good Morning America on May 22nd. “That’s right, I’m going to start it off with my brand new song ‘Daisies,’” Perry said in a special video message for GMA viewers. “It’ll be a very exciting event. Please don’t miss it. I will see you there. Love you, GMA.”

“Daisies” is the lead single off Katy’s upcoming fifth studio album, due out August 14th.

A complete lineup of Good Morning America’s summer 2020 concert series is expected to be announced soon.

The virtual performance will take place just days after Perry debuted her latest single on the season finale of American Idol Sunday, where Just Sam was crowned the competition’s 18th champion.

On Friday, Perry released a special socially distant shot music video to accompany her new track. The video features the pregnant singer celebrating her resilient spirit while wandering through the outdoors. The colorful video, reminiscent of Polaroid photos with its grainy overlay, shows off Perry’s growing baby bump as she strips down to her bare body while standing in a flowing stream. The artist is expecting her first child, a daughter, with fiancé Orlando Bloom this summer.

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Full Story: Billboard

POP STARS GIVE ADVICE TO CLASS OF 2020 GRADUATES DURING ‘#GRADUATION2020’ LIVESTREAM – (05/19/2020)

Selena Gomez gave an uplifting speech to the Class of 2020 during the #Graduation2020: Facebook and Instagram Celebrate the Class of 2020 livestream, giving the graduates hope after their graduation ceremonies, proms and other significant events were cancelled.

“When people ask me what I would tell my younger self, I always said, ‘Go ahead and do it.’ You all have worked incredibly hard to get to this point and I know it’s not exactly how you imagined your graduation to look like,” Selena shared. “I want to say it’s okay not to know what to do with the rest of your life,” she added. “It’s a journey to find your direction or your passions, so don’t get frustrated by the mistakes and setbacks as they happen to all of us.”

Miley Cyrus sang her song “The Climb.” “Hello to all the graduates out there. I’m truly honored to celebrate each and every one of you high school and college seniors and all that you’ve accomplished,” Miley said before the performance. “As I was thinking about you, the class of 2020 and how you inspire me, I knew I wanted to share this song with you. It feels full of a new meaning. Keep the faith, keep on moving, keep climbing, here’s ‘The Climb.’” Miley performed the song back in 2018 at the March For Our Lives event, held in solidarity for victims of school shootings.

b also had a message for the Class of 2020. In addition to telling graduates to keep their careers in mind as they embark on the future, she also encouraged them to seize the moment of their graduation, despite the pandemic. “Don’t let no coronavirus or no nothing take this special moment from you!” she said.

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Full Story: USA Today

LEWIS CAPALDI, LAUV AND MORE TAKING PART IN ‘PROM FROM HOME’ LIVESTREAM – (05/19/2020)

Several artists are teaming up to give the Class of 2020 a fun virtual prom.

Prom from Home: Under the Living Room Lights, presented by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and YouTube personality Zach Sang, will live stream on YouTube and Twitter this Friday at 7 p.m. [ET].

The star-studded event will feature appearances by Lewis Capaldi, Lauv, FINNEAS, Noah Cyrus, Bazzi, MAX, Cheat Codes, Loud Luxury and more.

Sang has lined up more than 20 artists, including Restless Road and Kane Brown who will perform “Take Me Home” when they reunite for the first time since canceling their Worldwide Beautiful Tour due to social distancing. Loren Gray is also planning her debut performance.

Also joining the star-studded event throughout the night will be Monsta X, CNCO, Ashe, mxmtoon, AJR, Blanco Brown, Bazzi, Asher Angel, Stephanie Poetri, Serf Mesa, Olivia O’Brien and a special appearance by Darren Barnet of the Netflix show, Never Have I Ever. At 9 p.m. ET, the after-party will begin.

The livestream is free but participants are encouraged to donate St. Jude. The first 2,500 guests to raise $400 will earn access to the VIP Red Carpet Event at 6 p.m. [ET], which includes a surprise guest performance, interviews and virtual opportunities to interact with artists. Find out more at St. Jude’s website.

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Full Story: Press Release

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