Mariah Carey Launching 20-City “Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time” Tour This Fall

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is celebrating Christmas in November.

The 55-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and self-proclaimed Queen of Christmas will celebrate the 30th anniversary of her Merry Christmas album — and the classic single that came wrapped up inside it, All I Want for Christmas Is You — with a 20-city Christmas tour this fall, under the banner of Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time.

The Live Nation-produced tour will kick off in early November with three shows in southern California and wrap up with a trio of concerts in the New York/New Jersey area in mid-December.

In the Los Angeles region and environs, she’ll be doing a tour premiere November 6 at Highland’s Yaamava Theater, an intimate teaser for a much bigger show she’ll be doing November 8 at the Hollywood Bowl, to be followed by a November 13 gig at the Acrisure Arena in the Palm Springs area.

Bringing the tour to a close, closer to home for Carey, will be concerts on December 13 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, December 15 at the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY, and finally, December 17 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

In-between, she’ll be visiting Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Nashville, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Boston and other cities.

Tickets for Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time will be made available via the usual staggered presale dates, beginning with a Verizon presale that starts on August 6, and other early offerings that lead up to a general on-sale August 9 at 10:00 am local time at LiveNation.com. Information on VIP packages can be found at Vipnation.com.

Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time follows the success of a shorter, 13-city holiday tour Carey did in 2023, Merry Christmas One and All!, and will follow a similar template of mixing Christmas fare with the singer’s non-seasonal hits.

On last year’s tour, the bulk of the setlist consisted of holiday songs but had a run of other material that included “Hero,” “We Belong Together” and a massive hits medley in the last stretch of the show.

Although it’s now been three decades since the release of her first and biggest Christmas album, Carey did not begin commemorating that material with special live concerts until 2014, when she did a themed residency at the Beacon Theater in New York. That turned into a series of short tours in subsequent years, including a four-date mini-tour in 2019 that was filmed for a CBS special, Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All!

The focus on Christmas tours has coincided with the gradual, belated rise of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” as a perennial No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 each December.

The song did not make it to the top position on that chart until 2019, 20 years after its release, but it has peaked at No. 1 every year thereafter.

For anyone who wants to see Carey but not deal quite so much with Christmas, there have been and will be plenty of opportunities this year, as the singer has been doing an intermittent Celebration of Mimi residency in Las Vegas, at Dolby Live at Park MGM.

That run of shows began April 12 and has five further gigs booked in the first half of August before taking a pause and returning in January and February 2025.

Ice Spice Named Best New Artist at MTV Video Music Awards

Posted on September 13, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Ice Spice is celebrating another award…

The MTV Video Music Awards have been handed out, with the 23-year-old half-Dominican American rap sensation taking home one of the top prizes.

Ice Spice beat out the likes of Peso Pluma, Renee Rapp, GloRilla, Kaliii and PinkPantheress for the Best New Artist award.

It’s the first MTV VMAs award of her young career. She joins previous Latinx Best New Artist winners Cardi B (2018) and Fifth Harmony with Latina members Camila Cabello, Lauren Jauregui and Ashley Brooke (2014).

Shakira, who was awarded the Video Vanguard Award, and Karol G picked up the award for Best Collaboration for the music video for their hit single “TQG.” It’s Shakira’s second win in the category following her win alongside Beyonce in 2007 for “Beautiful Liar.”

Anitta won the Best Latin award for her “Funk Rave” music video. It’s her second consecutive win in the category after winning last year for “Envolver.”

Selena Gomez and Rema took home the Best Afrobeats prize for the hit single “Calm Down.”

The awards show was broadcast live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday, September 12, for the milestone 40th annual awards show.

Here’s the full list of 2023 MTV VMAs winners:

Video Vanguard Award
Shakira

Global Icon Award
Diddy

Video of the Year
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

Song of the Year
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

Artist of the Year
Taylor Swift

Best New Artist
Ice Spice

Push Performance of the Year
Tomorrow X Together – “Sugar Rush Ride”

Best Collaboration
Karol G and Shakira – “TQG”

Best Pop
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

Best Hip-Hop
Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”

Best R&B
SZA – “Shirt”

Best K-Pop
Stray Kids – “S-Class”

Best Latin
Anitta – “Funk Rave”

Best Rock
Måneskin – “The Loneliest”

Best Alternative
Lana Del Rey (featuring Jon Batiste) – “Candy Necklace”

Best Afrobeats
Rema and Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”

Video for Good
Dove Cameron – “Breakfast”

Show of the Summer
Taylor Swift

Group of the Year
Blackpink

Album of the Year
Taylor Swift – Midnights

Song of Summer
Jungkook (featuring Latto) – “Seven”

Best Direction
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” (Director: Taylor Swift)

Cardi B to Perform New Megan Thee Stallion-Collaboration “Bongos” at MTV Video Music Awards

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Cardi B is headed to the MTV Video Music Awards…

The 30-year-old half-Dominican American Grammy-winning rap superstar and Megan Thee Stallion have joined the performer lineup for the upcoming awards show.

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion will reunite for a debut performance of their just-released single “Bongos” during the ceremony, which will air live from New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Tuesday, September 12th at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

In 2021, the duo were five-time VMA nominees for their hit single “WAP” including Song of the Summer, Video of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Collaboration and Best Hip Hop.

The song made history as the first female rap collaboration to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, then spending four weeks at the top spot as well as being certified platinum 8x in the U.S.

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion join a performer lineup that includes Fall Out Boy, Metro Boomin with Future, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Swae Lee & NAV, Peso Pluma, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Wayne, Anitta, Doja Cat, Kelsea Ballerini, Tomorrow X Together, Demi Lovato, Karol G, Måneskin and Stray Kids.

Minaj will reprise her dual role at the MTV VMAs as show emcee and performer for the live event. She’s expected to present the world premiere performance of her newest single, “Last Time I Saw You.”

Taylor Swift leads the pack in nominations with eight, including Video of the Year, Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for “Anti-Hero.”

Peso Pluma to Make Debut Performance at MTV Video Music Awards

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Peso Pluma is preparing to make a grand debut appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The 24-year-old Mexican singer-songwriter has been added to the list of performers for the upcoming MTV VMAs.

Peso Pluma, who is nominated for Best New Artist, Best Latin and Song of the Summer, is part of a roster of new performer additions that includes Fall Out Boy, Metro Boomin with Future, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie and Swae Lee & NAV.

They join previously announced Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Wayne, Anitta, Doja Cat, Kelsea Ballerini, Tomorrow X Together, Demi Lovato, Karol G, Måneskin and Stray Kids.

Minaj will reprise her dual role at the VMAs as show emcee and performer for the 2023 live event from New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Tuesday, September 12.

Taylor Swift leads the pack in nominations with eight. Other multi-nominated artists include SZA with six noms, Doja Cat, Kim Petras, Miley Cyrus, Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo and Sam Smith with five each, and Blackpink, Diddy and Shakira with four each.

Anitta Teaming Up with TOMORROW X TOGETHER for New Single “Back for More”

Posted on September 5, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

There’s always Tomorrow for Anitta.

The 30-year-old Brazilian singer, songwriter, dancer, occasional television host and actress is joining voices with TOMORROW X TOGETHER for the new single “Back for More,” which combines K-pop and Latin pop elements.

Anitta and TOMORROW X TOGETHER will debut the track with a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, days ahead of its September 15 release.

“Back for More” is slated to be TXT’s pre-release track, and will arrive ahead of the group’s third studio album, The Name Chapter: FREEFALL. The album — which follows previous release in the Name series, The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION — will be released on October 13.

The track will have several versions released throughout the month. A performance version of the song arrives the same day as its official drop, while “Back for More (TXT Ver.),” a house remix and Afrobeats remix will be released on September 18.

The press release describes “Back for More” as “a disco track with a groovy baseline and playful whistling sounds, adorned with the colorful hues of trendy Latin pop.”

Thematically, the lyrics explore how “enchanting miracles can be woven into the ordinary moments of our lives.”

TXT is nominated for VMAs in four different categories: song of summer, group of the year, push performance of the year and best K-pop (both for “Sugar Rush Ride”). Anitta scored one nomination for best Latin (“Funk Rave”).

The 2023 MTV VMAs will take place at the Prudential Center in New Jersey, and will air on MTV at 8:00 pm ET on September 12.

Anitta to Perform at This Year’s MTV Video Music Awards

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Anitta will be making a special appearance at this year’s MTV VMAs…

The 30-year-old Brazilian superstar has been added to the list of performers for the MTV Video Music Awards.

Anitta is joined by Lil Wayne, Doja Cat, Kelsea Ballerini and K-pop band Tomorrow X Together as the latest round of performers.

They join previously announced Demi Lovato, Karol G, Måneskin and Stray Kids.

Additional performers to be announced soon.

The awards show will air live from New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Tuesday, September 12 at 8:00 pm on MTV and stream on Paramount+.

Taylor Swift leads the pack in nominations with eight, including Video of the Year, Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for “Anti-Hero”.

Other multi-nominated artists include SZA with 6 noms, Doja Cat, Kim Petras, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo and Sam Smith with 5 each, and Blackpink, Diddy and Shakira with 4 each.

There also are a record number of first-ever VMAs nominees (35 total) this year, with multiple nominations for first-timers Kim Petras (5), Metro Boomin and Rema (3 each), Ayra Starr, GloRilla, Ice Spice, Peso Pluma, Reneé Rapp and Yung Miami (2 each).

Other artists receiving first-time nods include Aespa, boygenius, Burna Boy, Davido, Eslabon Armado, Fletcher, Fifty Fifty, JVKE, Lauren Spencer Smith, Musa Keys, PinkPantheress, Saucy Santana, Stephen Sanchez and Toosii, among others.

Fans can vote for their favorites across 15 gender-neutral categories, including “Video of the Year,” at vote.mtv.com through Friday, September 1st; voting for “Best New Artist” will remain active into the show on Tuesday, September 12th. Nominations for social categories including “Group of the Year” and “Song of Summer” will be announced at a later date.

Bad Bunny to Perform on the MTV Video Music Awards from Yankee Stadium

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny will be pulling double duty this weekend…

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican superstar will perform on the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards live from his tour stop at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, August 28.

The tour stop is part of Bad Bunny: World’s Hottest Tour.

The 2022 VMAs are set to air from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

This will mark Bad Bunny’s second VMAs appearance. His first, three years ago, was a joint performance with J Balvin of “Que Pretendes.”

The VMAs have a long history of remote performances, dating back to the very first show in 1984 when David Bowie performed his hit “Blue Jean” live from London.

There have even been performances from stadiums before, such as Guns N’ Roses performing their hit cover of Wings’ “Live and Let Die” live from Wembley Stadium in London on the 1991 VMAs and Michael Jackson performing “Black or White” from his “Dangerous World Tour” stop at Wembley on the 1992 VMAs.

Bad Bunny is nominated for four VMAs this year, including artist of the year and album of the year. He would be the first non-English-language artist to win in either of those marquee categories.

His other nominations this year are for best Latin (“Tití Me Preguntó”) and song of the summer (“Me Porto Bonito,” his collaboration with Chencho Corleone).

Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti has topped the Billboard 200 for eight non-consecutive weeks. This year’s other nominees for album of the year are Adele’s 30, Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, Drake’s Certified Lover Boy and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House.

Last week, Bad Bunny received 23 nominations for the 2022 Billboard Latin Music Awards. That put him with a tie with Ozuna for the most nods in the show’s history. Ozuna hit that mark three years ago.

Other artists set to perform on the show are Lizzo, BLACKPINK, Måneskin, Anitta, J Balvin, Marshmello x Khalid, Panic! At The Disco and Kane Brown.

Anitta to Make Main Stage Performance Debut at This Year’s MTV Video Music Awards

Posted on August 5, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Anitta is ready for a special first…

MTV has revealed the first batch of performers for this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, with the 29-year-old Brazilian singer/ songwriter among those set to take the stage.

It will be Anitta’s VMAs main stage debut, And she will perform her latest hit single, “Envolver,” for the first-time on television.

“Envolver” recently earned the Brazilian superstar a Guinness Book of World Records certification as the first solo Latin artist to hit No. 1 at Spotify.

Anitta also is up for her first VMA in the Best Latin category, making her the first Brazilian artist to be nominated for a Moon Person.

But Anitta isn’t the only Latinx artist set to perform.

J Balvin will take the stage

The 37-year-old Colombian superstar will return to the show for the television/world premiere of “Nivel de Perreo” with Ryan Castro, back for the first time since his epic on-stage collaboration with Bad Bunny for “Que Pretendes” in 2019.

The 13-time nominee with five wins also is looking to take his sixth Moon Person for Best Latin (“In Da Getto” with Skrillex), which would crown him as the most awarded Latin artist in VMAs history.

Other performers include Marshmello x Khalid and Panic! at the Disco.

The MTV VMAs will take place on August 28, live from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

Kendrick Lamar, Jack Harlow & Lil Nas X are coming into the show tied for the nominations lead with seven apiece. Next up are Doja Cat and Harry Styles with six each and Billie Eilish, Drake, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd with five.

The 2022 VMAs will air at 8:00 pm ET/PT on Sunday, August 28, across MTV’s global linear and digital platforms in more than 170 countries. For the third straight year, the VMAs will simulcast on the CW, in addition to BET, BET Her, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop, TVLand and VH1.

Here are MTV’s mini-bios of the performers set so far:

Anitta
The charismatic global pop sensation is slated to make her VMAs main stage debut with a first-time TV performance of her newest hit single, “Envolver,” which recently earned the Brazilian superstar Guinness Book of World Records certification as the first solo Latin artist to hit No. 1 at Spotify. Anitta also is up for her first VMA in the Best Latin category, making her the first Brazilian artist to be nominated for a Moon Person.

J Balvin
Colombian global star J Balvin returns with a TV/world premiere of “Nivel de Perreo” with Ryan Castro, back for the first time since his epic on-stage collaboration with Bad Bunny for “Que Pretendes” in 2019. The 13-time nominee with five wins also is looking to take his sixth Moon Person for Best Latin (“In Da Getto” with Skrillex), which would crown him as the most awarded Latin artist in VMAs history.

Marshmello x Khalid
Together, Marshmello and Khalid are set to take over the MTV stage for a world premiere TV performance of new chart climbing collaboration “Numb.” Marshmello — a five-time VMAs nominee — will make his main stage debut this year. Khalid returns to the VMAs stage for the first time since his 2017 debut with Logic and Alessia Cara for “1-800-273-8255,” where he also took home Best New Artist.

Panic! at the Disco
Panic! At The Disco returns to the VMAs stage for the first time since 2018 to world premiere new single “Middle of a Breakup,” from the forthcoming album Viva Las Vengeance. The nine-time nominee, who first won in 2006 for Video of the Year, also looks to take home a win for Alternative Video, its first nomination in this category.

Bad Bunny’s El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo Tops Billboard’s Monthly Top Tours Chart

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny is officially a tour de force…

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican rapper/singer’s El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo repeats at No. 1 on Billboard’s monthly Top Tours chart.

Bad Bunny rules in March with El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo earning $64.8 million from 337,000 tickets across 20 shows, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.

That makes him the first artist to ever reign over back-to-back months. And one month after claiming the second-highest monthly gross for an arena tour ($39.8 million in February), his March figures rewrite the record entirely, blasting pass Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s $47 million run in December 2019.

Overall, it’s the second-highest monthly total since the charts launched in March 2019. Only The Rolling Stones stand in Bad Bunny’s way with their $95 million stadium sum in August 2019. Still, Bad Bunny’s March arena earnings stand above chart-topping stadiums runs by Ed Sheeran (April ’19), BTS (May ’19), Spice Girls (June ’19) and P!nk (July ’19).

The gargantuan $65 million haul is more than double the gross of his next closest competitors this month.

As previously reported, Bad Bunny’s February dates in Inglewood, Calif., and Dallas, among others, set local records for per-night gross and overall earnings.

In March, he continued to set regional high marks, including the three-night run at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. (20 miles outside of Chicago), which grossed $11.2 million and sold 51,400 tickets from March 10 to 12. More records were set in San Jose ($7.9 million on March 3-4), Phoenix ($3.2 million on March 6), and Orlando ($5.6 million on March 30-31).

While it didn’t quite reach the top, Bad Bunny’s double-header at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center earned $7.2 million immediately after his $3.8 million take the night before at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. That adds up to $11.1 million over three nights in the New York area.

These and other shows from the tour flood the Top Boxscores ranking, where Bad Bunny takes up seven spots. The Rosemont, San Jose and Brooklyn shows hit the top 10 at Nos. 2, 8 and 10, respectively.

El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo wrapped after two months on April 3 with $116.8 million. Its final triple-header in Miami will likely be the run’s last appearance on next month’s Boxscore report before yielding to Bad Bunny’s own next tour — World’s Hottest Tour. His follow-up level-up to stadiums in North and Latin America launches later this year.

In March, Bad Bunny narrowly took the No. 1 spot on Top Boxscores over a Latin American festival, keeping Mexico City’s Electric Daisy Carnival at No. 2. One month later, despite the record-setting overall haul, he is dethroned by Sao Paulo’s Lollapalooza Brasil. The three-day event grossed $23.2 million with a weekend attendance of 267,000 over March 25-27.

London’s O2 Arena is the month’s top-grossing venue with earnings of $26.8 million. It’s the first venue outside the U.S. to take the top spot on the 15,001+ capacity chart since Mexico City’s Foro Sol ruled over March 2020. Before that, you have to go back to May 2019, when the O2 itself topped the list with a slightly less massive $22 million.

Martin to Perform at This Year’s Mega Bash Concert

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Ricky Martin is ready for a Mega December…

The 44-year-old Puerto Rican singer is among the Latin superstars confirmed to perform at this year’s Mega Bash concert in New Jersey.

Martin joins a lineup that includes Juanes, Enrique Iglesias, Wisin, Jencarlos Canela, Silvestre Dangond and Ozuna.

The show, produced by the Felix Cabrera Concert Series and SBS — home to New York’s top-rated Spanish language station Mega 97.9 and bilingual streaming app La Música — is set to take place on December 2, at the Prudential Center in Newark.

“Our goal has always been to produce events without precedents, and on December 2 we will be reuniting these big figures for the first time ever at the Prudential Center,” said Felix Cabrera in a statement.

“It’s our pleasure to bring the Mega Bash production to New Jersey with the best music and technology for concerts. That way, our loyal Mega 97.9 listeners can enjoy a good quality concert,” added Eric Garcia, SBS’ Radio Revenue Chief & New York General Manager.

Pre-sale tickets will be available for purchase as of today.

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