It was a big week for Lady Gaga’s little monsters and K-pop fans! Gaga returned with her first single in nearly three years, BTS took over two late-night shows and NCT-127 announced a North American tour.
Swifties also rejoiced this week, as Taylor Swift unveiled her epic video for “The Man”; and Eminem’s fans had fun trying to spit his fiery “Godzilla” verse in the #GodzillaChallenge. But Beliebers were the first to celebrate their star this week, as Justin Bieber’s Changes debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 on Sunday (Feb. 23).
Take a look at all of the big-time music happenings this week below.
Justin Bieber made history with Changes debut
The Biebs scored his seventh No. 1 album this week, as Changes debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 231,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. Though the album’s numbers marked only the third-largest week of 2020 (behind Eminem’s Music to Be Murdered By and Halsey’s Manic), Bieber’s No. 1 still put him in special company: At 25, the “Yummy” singer is now the youngest artist to land seven No. 1 albums, beating out Elvis’ previous record of 26 years and 11 months.
Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera and more delivered heartfelt tributes to Kobe and Gianna Bryant
Stars and fans gathered at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday (Feb. 24) to celebrate the life of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who both passed away in a tragic helicopter accident last month. The two-and-a-half hour memorial included tearful speeches from Michael Jordan and Bryant’s wife Vanessa, as well as moving performances from Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera and Beyonce — the latter of whom sang “XO,” noting it was “one of Kobe’s favorite songs.”
Nick Jonas made his Voice debut
Though Nick Jonas is the newest coach on The Voice, the first two episodes of Season 18 showed he’s ready to win: Not only did he block Kelly Clarkson on night two (and subsequently landed Arei Moon for his team), but he trash talked John Legend and Blake Shelton, and won over another singer by duetting with him. In between the first two episodes, Jonas stopped by the Today show to talk about the new experience — oh, and reveal that the Jonas Brothers have another album on the way this year.
Eminem started the #GodzillaChallenge
The end of Eminem’s Juice WRLD collab “Godzilla” features one of his most impressive raps to date, and on Tuesday (Feb. 25), Em wanted to see how many fans could keep up. The rapper called on his followers to partake in the #GodzillaChallenge, and boy did fans show up. Case in point:
NCT-127 announced a major U.S. tour
U.S. NCTzen will get to see NCT-127 on their biggest stages yet this summer, as the K-pop stars announced the Neo City - The Awards Tour. The group will play six North American show in June, starting at New York City’s iconic Madison Square Garden before hitting Atlanta, Chicago, San Jose, Los Angeles and Seattle.
BTS took over late-night TV
On the heels of their big Map of the Soul: 7 release on Feb. 21, BTS took over both The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Late Late Show With James Corden this week. First, the K-pop phenoms joined Fallon for a tour of New York City that included Subway Olympics, serving pastrami at the famous Katz’s Deli, and a performance of “On” at Grand Central Station. Then, BTS jetted to Los Angeles, where they drove around with James Corden for a hit-filled Carpool Karaoke — which was Bruno Mars-approved.
Charlotte Awbery performed “Shallow” on Ellen
Charlotte Awbery is the latest viral sensation thanks to an impromptu cover of Lady Gaga’s “Shallow” while she was commuting on the London tube earlier this month. The video earned the U.K. singer an invite to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she delivered a soaring full rendition of “Shallow” on Wednesday (Feb. 26), and chatted with DeGeneres about her crazy past couple of weeks — including Ariana Grande following her on Instagram.
Kelly Clarkson and Garth Brooks were named host and icon, respectively, for 2020 Billboard Music Awards
The Billboard Music Awards aren’t for another couple of months, but it’s already set to be star-studded thanks to a pair of announcements dick clark productions and NBC made Wednesday: Kelly Clarkson will resume her duties as emcee for the third year in a row, and Garth Brooks will be honored as this year’s Icon. Brooks — a 19-time BBMA winner — will also deliver a hit-filled performance during the show, which will air live from Las Vegas on April 29 on NBC.
Taylor Swift does drag for the official video for ‘The Man’
Taylor Swift has an undeniably genius catalog of music videos, and she added “The Man” to that list on Thursday (Feb. 27). The video follows a belligerent corporate titan as he manspreads on a subway train, pounds shots with bros, and loses his temper on a tennis court. Making her solo directorial debut with “The Man,” Swift also starred in the vid — but Swifties may not have realized it until the very end, when it was revealed that she was, indeed, the man.
J Balvin revealed his plan to become a billionaire
J Balvin is Billboard’s newest cover star, chatting with Billboard’s Leila Cobo about his plan to take over the music industry like he has the Latin world. “One of my great dreams is to be a billionaire,” he said. “Not because of the money — it’s not like you can fly two private jets at the same time if you have a billion dollars instead of 100 million. It’s about making a statement: Yes, we can. Carlos Slim is a billionaire in Mexico. Great. But we’re talking billionaires in the entertainment world — like JAY-Z, who has been an inspiration for me. Why isn’t there a Latino there?” Read the full cover story here.
Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett lead the 2020 ACM nominations
The ACM nominations arrived Thursday morning, with Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, Old Dominion and star producer Dann Huff leading the pack with five nominations each. Blake Shelton, Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber follow close behind with four noms each, both earning nods for song of the year (Shelton for “God’s Country,” Dan + Shay and Bieber for their hit collab “10,000 Hours”). Keith Urban — the reigning ACM entertainer of the year winner — was also announced as the host for this year’s show, which will air live from Las Vegas on April 5 on CBS.
Lady Gaga returned with an otherworldly new video
In a moment the little monsters have been waiting on for nearly three years, Lady Gaga is back. She returned on Friday (Feb. 28) with a new single titled “Stupid Love,” the first taste of her forthcoming sixth album (currently unnamed but dubbed LG6 by Gaga herself). Lady Gaga also unveiled the intergalactic video for “Stupid Love,” in which the singer portrays a pink-haired extraterrestrial beauty seeking love. Of course, fans were ecstatic about Gaga’s epic return, with one little monster declaring “Lady Gaga is on her way to save pop music.”
SZA and Justin Timberlake, Swae Lee and more released new tunes
While Lady Gaga was arguably the most anticipated release of the week, several new songs arrived from stars of all genres. SZA and Justin Timberlake delivered their Trolls team-up “The Other Side,” Swae Lee dropped a club-ready banger, and Keith Urban released a wedding-ready ballad. Lil Baby released his new album My Turn that is sure to please new-school rap fans, and Soccer Mommy’s new album Color Theory will have fans studying its masterful lyrics. Check out Billboard’s rundown of this week’s new releases here!