Summertime is officially here, which means the sweet riddims of dancehall are at the peak of their powers.

On Friday (July 3), Billboard can exclusively reveal that Nigerian banku pioneer Mr Eazi tapped dancehall superproducer Dre Skull to harness that energy for a new dancehall-inspired mixtape titled Yard & Yanga. Oh, and they’re bringing King of Dancehall Vybz Kartel along for the ride. The King of Dancehall appears on “Lambo,” the project’s lead single — also out today — which finds the pair reuniting after 2021’s “Sekkle and Bop” and 2025’s “Dance Pon Me.”

“Eazi and I have been working on music together for years and, along the way, we became good friends,” Dre Skull tells Billboard. “When we go to the studio, we inevitably end up making music that weaves together elements of Dancehall and Afrobeats, and those sessions became the starting point for this project. At a certain point, we just realized we were building a larger project, and we leaned into shaping it.”

Eazi credits Nigeria’s dancehall-inspired konto artists like Baba Fryo, Kimi Ranky and Marvellous Benji as his gateway into the Jamaican-born genre, and his appreciation for the style has grown into his own “Zaggadat” catchphrase, an homage to Beenie Man. “I love the raw energy that comes with the sound. It’s one of the most genuine expressions of music,” he says. “I think it captures my other side.”

Vybz Kartel, who’s coming off last month’s God & Time album (June 5), made for a natural collaborator on “Lambo.” The summer-ready bashment banger finds Eazi using his signature, slick wordplay to deliver an earworm hook that calls on both Jamaican patois colloquialisms and Nigerian pidgin. “Dre Skull: “‘Lambo’ has a hypnotic quality built on a heavy low end that taps into the raw energy of street dances,” says Dre Skull. “I knew Kartel would know exactly what to do, and he is the perfect counterbalance to Eazi here.”

Yard & Yanga marks the natural evolution of his years-long friendship with Skull, who helped define the sound of 2010s dancehall with his work on Kartel’s Kingston Story (2011), Popcaan’s Where We Come From (2014) and Forever (2018). Notably, U.K.-based illustrator Kione Grandison hand-drew the single’s cover art, taking inspiration from West African and Caribbean folk and street art.

The mixtape, which has been years in the making, is also the latest addition to Eazi’s mixtape catalog, joining About to Blow (2013), Life Is Eazi, Vol. 1 — Accra to Lagos (2017) and Life Is Eazi, Vol. 2 — Lagos to London (2018). “With this project, I had a very clear concept of what I wanted to explore, and we intentionally kept it creatively fun during the process,” notes Eazi. “It felt naturally related to the other mixtapes I’ve done.” Yard & Yang arrives later this year via Dre Skull’s Mixpak Records and Eazi’s emPawa Africa.

Listen to “Lambo” below.

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to New Music Friday’s most essential releases each week — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

Last week, we featured sombr, Phoebe Bridgers, Steve Lacy with SZA and more.

This week: Madonna drops her anticipated Confessions II; rising star Sienna Spiro releases her anticipated debut album, Visitor; and Riley Green shares his latest collaboration… plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Madonna, Confessions II

After months of hype and world building, Madonna’s Confessions II finally pulls up to the club this Friday. The icon’s 15th studio album since 1983 and her first since 2019’s Madame X, Confessions II returns her to the throbbing beats and writhing rooms of 2005’s Confessions on a Dancefloor. While that album leaned hard into disco via classics like “Hung Up” and “Sorry,” Confessions II is more upscale dance-pop and lush electronica, with songs like “Good for the Soul” and “One Step Away” pairing layered, cerebral productions by Stuart Price (who also produced the original album) with Madonna’s philosophical musings about how “the dancefloor is not just a place, it’s a threshold, a ritualistic space where movement replaces language.” 

But despite its heady tendencies, the album certainly possesses the dance world’s spirit of playfulness and fun, with “School” functioning as a slinky little ass-shaker and “Danceteria” running down a typical night at the song’s namesake club in New York City, where Madonna did her first performance in 1982. And as the original Confessions contained as much emotional nuance as it did kickdrum, so too does this new one live up to its title, via deeply personal songs about motherhood (via a collaboration with Lola Leon, Madonna’s daughter), the sting of betrayal and all flavors of romance. We’ll confess, we love it. — KATIE BAIN 

Sienna Spiro, Visitor

After breaking big on and off the charts with the emotive “Die on This Hill,” fast-rising soulful pop artist Sienna Spiro releases her debut album this Friday (July 3). Titled Visitor, the project includes that smash hit as well as previously-released singles “You Stole the Show” and the quasi-title track “The Visitor.” Spiro co-wrote the album alongside collaborators including Omer Fedi and Michael Pollack (both of whom also co-produced several tracks) among others. — LYNDSEY HAVENS

GAYLE, “junebug!”

Three years ago now, in 2023, pop singer GAYLE scored a Grammy nomination for song of the year with breakout single “abcdefu.” She went on to release two EPs and contribute a track to the Barbie soundtrack, in addition to opening on tours for Taylor Swift and Tate McRae. Now, after some time away, the rising artist is back with new music — and a big announcement. Her debut album Observing Choas, will arrive later this year; until then, lead single “junebug!” hints at the direction she’s heading in, complete with an uptempo rock-pop riff that perfectly captures the carefree chaos that kicks off summer. — L.H.

Billy Strings, “Burn the Other End”

While he’s earned a reputation for his lengthy, improv-heavy concerts, the Michigan bluegrass artist has also quietly become one of today’s sharpest recording artists, racking up three Grammy wins for best bluegrass album since 2021. Like Strings’ best studio work, “Burn the Other End” manages to condense the spooky, psychedelic bluegrass of his sprawling live sets into a more traditional song structure. But the single is also darker in spirit and style than much of Strings’ work; in announcing the forthcoming T-Bone Burnett-album it appears on, So Much For Goodbyes, Strings said he made the record to honor his mother, who died of a drug overdose last year. (Eagle-eyed observers will see another legendary Wolverine State guitar virtuoso in the credits: Jack White, who along with Burnett provides “gang vocals.”) — ERIC RENNER-BROWN

Riley Green feat. Hannah McFarland, “Go Again” 

Is there any male country artist who has cornered the co-ed duet market in recent years like Green between the two collabs with Ella Langley and his current tune with Carly Pearce?  Here, he and tourmate/fellow Alabama native McFarland attempt to keep the streak going with “Go Again” from his forthcoming album That’s Just Me. (They also duetted on the deluxe version of “Don’t Mind If I Do”). In the low-key, genial acoustic track solely written by Green, after a one-night stand the two lovers contemplate parting ways as planned or wonder if they should “go again,” both in and out of bed. More sweetly sexy than the full-on blow torch of Green’s “Worst Way,” but still steamy. — MELINDA NEWMAN

Stella Lefty, “Good at Leaving”

Lefty continues leaning into country music with this chugging track about her ability to “get gone without a warning,” because she’s far better at goodbyes than hellos. The “Boston” singer surrounds her lilting vocals with subtle pedal steel, mandolin and mainly acoustic guitar in the infectious tune that is going to stay in your brain much longer than she’s going to stick around. The official release comes after Lefty has been performing the song in concert and it has become a fan favorite. — M.N.

Rubén Blades, SUPERMAMBO

For his new album, Rubén Blades — Billboard’s 2026 Indie Icon — blends the magical worlds of music and comics. Across a mix of 17 tracks and interludes, SUPERMAMBO narrates the story of an afrolatino superhero from The Bronx, who’s elegant and knowledgeable, and whose superpower is to make people dance. Narrated by the Panamanian star, the set perfectly weaves storytelling and tropical rhythms with the intention of demonstrating the super powers of Latin culture. SUPERMAMBO — produced by Felipe Fournier and Jeremy Bosch — includes collabs with Oscar Hernández, Shae Fiol and Mariachi Flor de Toloache. — JESSICA ROIZ

Judeline, “Besito”

Judeline’s “Besito” — produced by Lil Chick, Sacha Rudy, Phil, Tuiste, and Gede da O — starts off with crashing ocean waves before transitioning into a futuristic pop song powered by experimental synths and ethereal vocal harmonies. Dubbing it as her official summer tune, the Spanish artist seductively sings about lust and desire: “I’m still thinking about yesterday’s kiss […] I want to kiss you again,” she chants. In the lyrics, she also encourages her crush to enjoy her while she’s in her 20s and living life intensely. A conceptual music video filmed by Lilian Hardouineau in France, demonstrates Judeline doing a dreamy-yet-sultry performance on the beach at night. — J.R.

Zeds Dead, “Return to the Return (of the Spectrum of Intergalactic Happiness)”

Zeds Dead’s Return to the Spectrum of Intergalactic Happiness was one of our favorite albums of 2025, and now the pair go back indeed via their new Return to the Return (of the Spectrum of Intergalactic Happiness). Chopping up the original into bits and pieces and transforming it into a journey of ambient, breakbeats, UKG, drum & bass, turntablism, and more, the new version is both a sequel and full reimagination of the original that captures the heady, experimental tendencies that have long been the duo’s signature. Zeds Dead headlined Red Rocks last night, and will do so again this evening. — K.B.

Ken Carson, xperience 

Just over a year after earning his first Billboard 200 No. 1 album with 2025’s More Chaos, Ken Carson has returned with xperience. The Atlanta rap star teased the album’s dizzying, and at times slightly industrial, rage-rap and trap soundscape at his 2026 Rolling Loud headlining set (May 10) — and later on his @xperimenting0_0 Instagram page — and the 22-track set delivers. Featuring appearances by Playboi Carti, Destroy Lonely, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug and 2hollis, xperiment solidifies the 26-year-old as a true niche superstar, particularly one who can converse with his fanbase in the creation of the music while still packing surprises at nearly every turn. — KYLE DENIS 

Destin Conrad, “Nervous“

Last year, Destin Conrad followed up his Love on Digital debut album, which Billboard named the No. 1 R&B Album of 2025, with an impressive alternative jazz EP called Whimsy. Ever the shapeshifter, the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter has delved into dancehall for “Nervous,” the first taste of his upcoming reggae album. His catalog has always had a subtle thread of Caribbean music, thanks to his Jamaican-born mother, and “Nervous” turns up the heat with a sizzling, Louie Lastic-produced riddim. The syncopated dancehall production pairs nicely with Destin’s seductive, layered background vocals, making for one heater of a summer anthem. — K.D. 

There is a longstanding question in K-pop about what actually holds a girl group together: a single breakout star, a concept strong enough to carry eight people, or something harder to manufacture. Hearts2Hearts, the SM Entertainment octet now 16 months into its career, is proof of the third option.

The group’s structure is built around what it refuses to do. Instead of one designated center, Hearts2Hearts spreads the weight, arranging vocal lines, choreography and camera time so that individual moments serve the whole. It’s a familiar pitch in K-pop marketing and a rare thing to actually pull off. What sets this group apart is that the balance holds up under scrutiny, onstage, in live vocal takes, in the self-produced content where group dynamics usually crack first.

Even the group’s most viral moment worked this way. Stella’s spoken English narration in “RUDE!” became the song’s signature and fueled a fan challenge, yet it never read as one member breaking away from the pack. It read as Hearts2Hearts. That house-leaning single, released this past February, climbed to a No. 57 peak on the Billboard Global 200, while rising to No. 5 on the Billboard Korea Hot 100. The demand followed offstage: in March, the group sold out showcases in both New York and Los Angeles. For an act barely a year past its debut, which reached No. 102 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart with “The Chase,” that is a group finding its ceiling and pushing past it.

“Lemon Tang,” the title track of the second mini album released June 22, carries that momentum into a bright, summer-coded dance-pop turn. Where “RUDE!” came from a team of Western topliners, the follow-up is a KENZIE record, penned by the SM in-house veteran whose credits run from Girls’ Generation’s “Into the New World” through two decades of the label’s girl-group canon. The chorus leans into a breezy, bossa-inflected sway, and the vocal arrangement follows the group’s usual logic: lines sung in pairs that build into all eight voices in unison. The lyric’s central image, a lemon that is sour alone and turns sweet in combination, is also a fair summary of how this group operates, name included.

That’s the thing about Hearts2Hearts. The appeal is cumulative rather than explosive: friendly without being lightweight, bright without being simple, and consistent in a genre that usually chases spectacle. In this interview with Billboard Korea, the eight members talk through the moment they first saw their name on the Billboard charts, the energy of their first sold-out U.S. stages, the roots each member brings to the team, and what they hope people understand about Hearts2Hearts by the end of this summer, in their own words.

From “The Chase” to “RUDE!,” sixteen months have already passed. How do you feel about where Hearts2Hearts stands now?

JIWOO: I think we’re still in the middle of growing and learning, but when I look at where we are now, I’m most proud that Hearts2Hearts is starting to have a distinctive color of its own. We’ve gained a lot of experience since debut, and I think we’re becoming more confident both as individuals and as a team. It makes me excited for how much more we can grow from here.

YE-ON: Like JIWOO unni said, I think we’re still growing as artists. But if I had to pick the biggest change, it would be how much more comfortable I’ve become on stage. At debut, I was focused on finding the cameras, but now I feel more confident connecting with our fans and enjoying the moment!

Hearts2Hearts arrived as SM’s first new girl group since aespa. Did that description ever feel heavy to you, or did it become a quiet source of strength?

YE-ON: Rather than feeling pressured, I think it motivated us to work even harder together so we could live up to people’s expectations. It felt more like positive encouragement that pushed us to keep practicing and improving!

When you first heard “Lemon Tang,” what made it feel like the right next chapter after “RUDE!”?

YUHA: The track carries the same confident energy as “RUDE!” while bringing a brighter and more refreshing feeling that fits the summer season. While “RUDE!” was about breaking away from expectations and doing things our own way, “Lemon Tang” shows a brighter side of us and celebrates how beautiful it feels when we’re together. That’s why it felt like the perfect next chapter.

“Baby Steps” carries the excitement of a new beginning, while “Secret Recipe” tells a story of building something together. Which track feels closest to the team’s heart right now?

JUUN: I think “Baby Steps” feels closest to where we are right now. As we begin this new chapter with “Lemon Tang,” I think the excitement and nervousness of trying something new really reflect how we feel as a team. That’s why I find myself relating to “Baby Steps” the most.

“RUDE!” reached No. 10 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart and entered the Billboard Global 200 as well. When you first saw Hearts2Hearts on an overseas chart, what went through your mind?

CARMEN: I’m so, so thankful to S2U and to everyone who has been listening to “RUDE!” I’m incredibly happy, and honestly, it still feels a little like a dream. Seeing our song on the Billboard chart was… just wow. It was such a huge moment for us! I’m truly grateful for all the love and support. Thank you so much!

STELLA: When I first saw “RUDE!” on the Billboard charts, I was really shocked and so grateful for all the fans who supported us. It really made me realize that there are so many global fans who love our music, and it inspired me to work harder for our next comeback.

Stella, your English narration became one of the signatures of “RUDE!” and even carried into the challenge. Did you expect that part to resonate with listeners in that way?

STELLA: When I first recorded the narration part in our song, I had hoped that our listeners would resonate with it. However, I didn’t expect the amount of love and attention that it would get at all. Watching our fans and listeners do the narration challenge was so much fun, and I feel incredibly grateful for all the support.

In March, you sold out showcases in both New York and Los Angeles. What felt different about the energy of the U.S. fans compared to the audiences you had met in Korea?

A-NA: All of our fans are incredibly passionate, but what stood out to me in the U.S. was how loudly everyone sang along and even danced with us. Seeing the crowd enjoy the music so freely and express themselves in that way was really new and memorable for me.

IAN: The showcase was a moment where I really got to feel the incredible energy of our fans in the U.S. Even the smallest things we did got such a big reaction. Hearing everyone sing along and seeing them jump and have fun with us really made me feel their passion.

Jiwoo, as the leader, what did the “RUDE!” season teach you about the members that you may not have fully realized before?

JIWOO: During our “RUDE!” promotions, I realized once again how strong and dependable our members are. I was really impressed by how everyone took responsibility for their own role and always gave their best. Even during difficult moments, the members were always looking out for each other first, and I was so grateful for that. It made me trust the team even more, and I felt just how reliable everyone is.

Carmen, as SM’s first Indonesian member, what kind of color do you feel your roots bring to Hearts2Hearts when the group connects with fans around the world?

CARMEN: As SM’s first Indonesian member, I’m really grateful to be able to share a part of my culture and experiences with Hearts2Hearts. Growing up with a different background has given me a broader perspective, and I think that helps our group connect naturally with fans from all around the world. I also feel happy that I can introduce Indonesia and represent many fans who dream of standing on a global stage. More than anything, I hope the warmth, sincerity, and positive energy I’ve grown up with can become one of the unique colors that make Hearts2Hearts even more special.

The name Hearts2Hearts carries the idea of connecting one heart to another. Since your debut, what has been the clearest moment when you truly felt that connection with your fans?

A-NA: One of the moments when I feel most connected to our fans is when I see them smiling and enjoying themselves while watching us perform on stage. Seeing that happiness on their faces makes me feel like our hearts are really connected.

The rookie season often passes faster than people expect. Is there something you feel Hearts2Hearts can only do now, precisely because you are still at the beginning?

IAN: I think it’s continuing to show how we’re growing. All of the members constantly give each other feedback and always want to improve, so I think people can really see that growth through our performances and activities.

By the end of the “Lemon Tang” promotions, what do you hope people will understand a little more clearly about Hearts2Hearts?

YUHA: Just like the feeling you get when you think of “Lemon Tang,” I hope thinking about Hearts2Hearts can make people smile and feel a little happier.

JUUN: Just like the lyrics of “Lemon Tang,” I hope people can feel that fresh, uplifting energy with us. I also hope our song becomes the soundtrack to everyone’s summer and helps make this season feel a little brighter and more fun.

Madonna has always been a master of reinvention, but this time around, she’s working in extension via the release of her new album Confessions II. Out Friday (July 3), the project is a follow-up to her 2005 masterpiece Confessions on a Dance Floor, which found the Queen of Pop — in partnership with the album’s producer Stuart Price — focused on disco, electronica, synth and dance pop.

Also produced by Price, the 16 tracks on Confessions II focus on much of the same, presenting lush, cerebral productions focused on the club as church and dancing as spiritual work. The project, Madonna’s 15th studio album since 1983, features the previously released singles “I Feel So Free,” “Love Sensation” and “Bring Your Love,” with the latter track being a collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter, who Madonna appeared with on stage during Carpenter’s headlining set at Coachella in April.

Beyond Carpenter, Confessions II includes collabs with Belgian star Stromae (“My Sins Are My Savior”), Dutch dance titan Martin Garrix (“Bizarre”), Colombian reggaeton star Feid (who sings on “Read My Lips” and who, with other collaborations on 2026 albums by Skrillex and John Summit, is having a big year in the dance world) and Madonna’s own daughter Lola Leon. The song featuring Madonna and Leon, “The Test,” explores their mother-daughter relationship via lyrics such as “Sometimes I think you’d wish I’d go away/but my shadow stays/and it’s OK to be yourself,” with the vulnerability of the subject matter matching the confessional nature of the 2005 original, which was released when Leon was nine years old.

Altogether, Confessions II is a stunner, playing as a modern take on club music that simultaneously evokes the genre’s previous eras without ever falling into pastiche. Stream it below.

As Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce celebrate their nuptials over Fourth of July weekend, the couple made sure that several different charities have cause to celebrate as well.

In light of the Thursday (July 2) news that the pop star and Kansas City Chiefs tight end had contributed $26 million to a slew of charities across the United States, many of those organizations have shared public messages of thanks. One of them, the Grammy Museum Foundation, posted a statement praising the soon-to-be-newlyweds for their “transformative gift” that will “help expand our mission of bringing music education to students across the country,” while New York Cares said it was “enchanted” by their generosity and added, “Thank you for making our mission a part of your love story.”

“We’d like to send a heartfelt thank you to @taylorswift and @killatrav for their very generous donation to our food bank just prior to their big wedding day,” wrote Harvesters in Kansas City. “The two of them have incredibly big hearts and have shown up to support not only us but many charities over the years. We feel so lucky that they make the conscious effort to invest in hunger relief and the beautiful community we call Kansas City!”

Those are just three of more than a dozen thank-you notes released by charities Swift and Kelce selected to benefit from their pre-wedding donation. The 14-time Grammy winner’s rep announced the act of goodwill earlier on Thursday, sending a list of the organizations who received parts of the sum. Notably, all of the cities featured have personal significance to the couple, from Reading, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland — where Swift and the football player are from, respectively — to Nashville and Kansas City, where they started their careers.

The pair also donated to a number of causes based in NYC, where they are set to celebrate their wedding on Friday at Madison Square Garden.

See some of the posts from charities thanking Swift and Kelce below.

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Michael Rubin hosted his fifth annual White Party at the Fanatics CEO’s estate in Southampton, N.Y., on Wednesday (July 1), and the bash was a star-studded affair with dignitaries from across Hollywood, music and sports connecting. 

The celebrity guest list included Jay-Z, Cardi B, Travis Scott, Tate McRae, Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Shaboozey, Ciara, Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Ice Spice, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, DJ Khaled, Lil Baby, Meek Mill, The Chainsmokers, French Montana and Fat Joe.

There were performances from Lil Wayne, who ghosted a concert in Maine on Tuesday (June 30) and later apologized; Snoop Dogg and Cardi B. It was a poetic close to the night, which ended with a fireworks celebration over the Atlantic Ocean while Alicia Keys performed “Empire State of Mind.”

Plenty of iconic athletes headed to the Hamptons as well, with Tom Brady, Mike Tyson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Davante Adams, Klay Thompson, Alex Rodriguez and Puka Nacua in attendance. 

The White Party is typically scheduled surrounding July 4 and celebrating America, but Rubin said the party’s date this year was considered in part to not have guests decide between his event and attending Taylor Swift’s wedding in NYC, which is slated for July 3 at Madison Square Garden.

“We were debating the dates. We were certainly aware of that date, but we didn’t change it because of that date,” Rubin, who shared photos of the event on his Instagram, told People. “But we were aware of that date and we didn’t want to have people have to choose. People come to the White Party no matter when we do it.”

Rubin’s White Party continues to bring star power to the Hamptons, and remains one of the premier July 4 parties when it comes to celebrity attendance. 

As for Jay-Z, he’s gearing up to return to the stage in NYC, where he’ll headline Yankee Stadium for a trifecta of shows on July 10 through July 12, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Reasonable Doubt as well as 25 years of The Blueprint.

Pretty Lights has announced his first new album in 13 years, the 45-song A Trip Thru Time Fantastic. The project is the artist’s fifth studio album and first since 2013’s A Color Map of the Sun.

The project’s 45 songs are divided into nine sections, called “constellations” by the producer born Derrick Vincent Smith. The first three constellations, encompassing 15 songs, are not on DSPs but are available to stream and download for free via the Pretty Lights website.

“I said i didn’t want to focus on albums after ACMOTS over 10 years ago & shifted my energy towards living creative systems & conscious cohesion via the soundship space system and the swirlbridge,” Smith wrote on social media on July 1 when announcing the album. ” So much music was made over those years with my bestest friends, for the purpose of swirling and experimenting with journeys into expressive flow state transmissions & reaching new depths of connection with our beloved cosmic caravan, the PLF [Pretty Lights Family].

“In the last 9 years of timeline weavery,” the statement continues. “I built a home with the love of my life, found a spiritual path, reunited with my eternal soul brother Michal Menert, formed an AV ensemble to power a traveling laboratory, and been blessed with the most beautiful experience of my life… meeting my son Ayahn. The time has come to release our musical swirl fodder in the form of the next PL album. A galaxy of 45 songs in 9 constellations before my 45th birthday.” 

The project comes in tandem with a seven city summer and fall tour that includes dates Ohio’s Secret Dreams Music Festival, Pretty Lights’ own Yahn Dawn festival, happening for the second time this September in Buena Vista, Colo. and Florida’s Hulaween in October.

While Donald Trump has his heart set on making Canada part of the United States, our neighbors to the North would rather join Euro(Vision). The Eurovision Song Contest announced on Wednesday (July 1) that, despite being an ocean away, Canada has officially been invited to join next year’s competition.

The announcement came on Canada Day, of course, with the beloved, predictably bonkers event revealing the news in an Instagram post that explained how, despite fully not being on the European continent, Canada has been welcomed into the fold for the first time.

“Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 Canada will make its Eurovision Song Contest debut in Bulgaria next year 🎤 Now that CBC/Radio-Canada has become a full EBU Member, Canada will be the first new country to join our lineup since Australia in 2015,” read an Instagram post. The joyous news comes after CBC/Radio-Canada became a full member of the European Broadcasting Union, which coordinates the contest, following a vote at the 96th general assembly in Prague on June 25.

“On top of the many benefits and opportunities this offers Canada’s national public broadcaster, which has been an Associate member of the EBU since 1950, full membership means that CBC/Radio-Canada is now eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest,” explained a statement on the Eurovision site.

Canada will compete in the semifinals of the contest when they join next year, with Canadians encouraged to follow their country’s journey to Bulgaria by joining Eurofan to track their progress. “We’re so excited to confirm that we’re bringing the world’s largest live music event to Canadians. Our participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, starting next year in Bulgaria, will allow Canadian talent to be showcased on one of the most storied music stages in the world,” said CBC/Radio-Canada president/CEO Marie-Philippe Bouchard in a statement. “It will also allow fans in Canada to continue watching and voting in the Song Contest, as they have done for years — with the added thrill of seeing their own country represented on the Eurovision stage.”

The annual song spectacle is known for its sometimes outrageous staging and costuming, soaring ballads, bonkers metal acts and Canadian icon Celine Dion, who, not for nothing, is the only Canadian to ever win Eurovision. A year before her global breakthrough in 1989, Quebec native Dion gave Switzerland its second Eurovision victory in Dublin with her unforgettable performance of “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.”

In addition to noting the long list of Canadian-bred artists who’ve taken the stage at Eurovision over the past 70 years while representing other countries — including Lara Fabian, Sherisse Laurence, Annie Cotton, Natasha St-Pier, La Zarra, Katerine Duska and Rykka — the announcement noted that at this year’s contest in Vienna Canada was in the top 3 nations choosing their favorites in the Rest of the World vote. The country was also reportedly among the top ticket-buyers outside of Europe this year, with a number of Canadians making the trek to Austria to take in the event.

“We are absolutely delighted to welcome CBC/Radio-Canada to the Eurovision Song Contest family – a further sign that, while born in Europe, the Contest continues to welcome the world,” said Eurovision director Martin Green. “Canada has a proud and memorable connection to the Contest, with Canadian artists, not least 1988 winner Céline Dion, having taken to our stage many times leaving a lasting mark on audiences around the world. With CBC/Radio-Canada now able to participate in the Contest as a full EBU Member, we look forward to seeing Canada bring its own voice, creativity, and energy to the Eurovision Song Contest stage in Bulgaria in 2027.”

The 71st Eurovision Song Contest will take place at an as-yet-unannounced venue in Bulgaria after native singer Dara won this year’s contest with her beat-bonkers disco anthem “Bangaranga.”

Tencent Music, Billboard China and Billboard Korea have officially announced the winners of the inaugural cross-market fan voting initiative recognizing standout K-pop artists across four categories.

Based on the combined results from both the China and Korea voting channels, the final winners are:

Boy Group: SEVENTEEN 《THUNDER》

Girl Group: i-dle 《나는 아픈 건 딱 질색이니까 (Fate)》

Male Solo: THE8 《Cold Love》

Female Solo: NINGNING 《Ketchup And Lemonade (NINGNING Solo)》

The project combines editorial curation with fan participation. Nominees were selected based on their performance on the Tencent Music Korean Chart alongside recommendations from Billboard Korea‘s editorial team, with final results determined through fan voting. The awards recognize artists who demonstrated both strong chart performance and broad fan support.

The campaign featured four categories — Boy Group, Girl Group, Male Solo and Female Solo — highlighting both group and solo artists across the K-pop landscape.

In the Tencent Music Chart and Billboard China voting channel, EXO topped the Boy Group category with “Crown,” while i-dle’s “Fate” led the Girl Group category. THE8 earned the top spot in Male Solo with “Cold Love,” and NINGNING topped the Female Solo category with “Ketchup And Lemonade (NINGNING Solo).”

The final winners were determined by combining results from the China and Korea voting channels. Voting in both markets produced the same winners in the Male Solo and Female Solo categories. In the Korea voting channel, BTS’ “Body to Body” topped the Boy Group category, while BLACKPINK’s “JUMP” led the Girl Group vote.

The combined results highlight both the strong alignment in audience tastes across markets and the subtle differences in fan preferences, offering an interesting snapshot of how music resonates with listeners in different regions.

The inaugural cross-market initiative marks a new collaboration between Billboard China, Billboard Korea and Tencent Music, bringing together chart performance, editorial curation and fan participation in a cross-market initiative. The project also reflects a broader effort to explore new ways of connecting music fans across different markets through Billboard’s global network.