Alanis Morissette, Michael Bublé and others helped kick off the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada.

The star-studded opening ceremony took place Friday (June 12) at Toronto Stadium ahead of team Canada’s tournament opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Alessia Cara launched the festivities with a spirited performance of her 2016 song “Wild Things,” singing from inside a giant gold-outlined soccer ball. The opening number also featured numerous dancers waving flags and carrying artwork inspired by Canadian wildlife.

From there, singer Nora Fatehi, DJ Sanjoy and rapper Vegedream took the stage to perform “Siir,” a track from the official FIFA World Cup 2026 album. Elyanna and Jessie Reyez later teamed up for a performance of another song from the project, “Illuminate.”

Morissette then delivered a stirring rendition of the Canadian national anthem, “O Canada,” while violinist Aleksandar Gajić performed the national anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bublé closed out the ceremony alongside the Sole Power Choir with a rendition of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It on Home to Me.”

“The opening ceremony in Toronto will be a powerful reflection of Canada’s identity and the energy surrounding the FIFA World Cup 2026,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

“Through music, culture and unforgettable performances, we will welcome the world with a celebration that is uniquely Canadian while also connected to a larger story unfolding across Mexico and the United States. It will be a moment of pride, unity and anticipation as Canada takes its place on football’s biggest stage.”

Later on Friday, Katy Perry, LISA, Anitta, Tyla, Rema, Future, Dan + Shay and more headlined the 2026 FIFA World Cup USA Opening Ceremony in Los Angeles.

One day earlier, Shakira and Burna Boy performed their World Cup anthem “Dai Dai” at Estadio Ciudad de México. Maná, J Balvin, Belinda, Danny Ocean, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules and Tyla were also part of the spectacular show.

North West reached a new milestone in her budding music career, delivering her first solo set at a music festival.

On Friday (June 12), the 12-year-old daughter of Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Kim Kardashian took the stage at Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash 2026 in Chicago.

Dressed in a black Balenciaga ensemble, dark sunglasses, spiky jewelry and long blue pigtails, North performed her 2024 collaboration with Ye, “TALKING,” from his album Vultures 1.

The young rapper-producer’s proud parents both celebrated the moment on social media. Ye reposted a clip of the early evening performance on his Instagram Stories.

“The crowd was jumping for North West at Summer Smash when she played ‘TALKING,’” read a caption over a video showing North performing the track for an energized festival crowd.

Kardashian also gave an inside look at Summer Smash 2026, sharing a photo of backstage passes featuring North’s face on her Instagram Stories. The SKIMS founder posted another a clip of her daughter running onto the festival stage, writing over the video, “North West just arrived at her first ever festival performance.”

North’s debut solo music festival performance arrives on the heels of her debut EP, N0rth4evr, which dropped in early May.

She previously tested the waters in music and made waves appearing on Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures, as well as FKA twigs’ EUSEXUA album. North released her “Piercing on My Hand” single in February and also made an appearance at Ye’s SoFi Stadium shows in Los Angeles in April.

Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash 2026 features Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti and Baby Keem as headliners for the three-night event. The festival runs June 12–14 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Backstreet’s bark, alright! The Backstreet Boys just dropped an epic track for Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie, bottling up their boy band pop magic to soundtrack everyone’s favorite squad of canines as they take on their next mission.

Arriving Friday (June 12), the track is titled “Bottle Up” and was written by Ed Sheeran and Savan Kotecha. The Backstreet Boys also paired the release with a music video that shows the quintet singing and dancing along to the upbeat anthem while sharing the screen with characters Rex, Marshall, Skye, Chase, Rubble and Rocky, all suited up in their rescue gear as they roam an island crawling with dinosaurs.

“Take this moment/ And bottle up this feeling,” members Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson croon. “‘Cause when I watch you dancing, I’m undеr your command/ Just one touch, you got me right in the palm of your hand.”

“Bottle Up” comes about two months ahead of Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie‘s premiere in theaters on Aug. 14. The film’s diverse voice cast includes Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Jennifer Hudson, McKenna Grace and more.

The Backstreet Boys are currently gearing up to resume their Into the Millennium residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, having previously become the first pop act to headline the venue in July 2025. The 2026 dates are July 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25.

Check out the music video for The Backstreet Boys’ new song “Bottle Up” for Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie below.

Ariana Grande is spreading more sunshine with the launch of a new foundation supporting gay and trans rights, mental health services and more.

The pop star/actress broke the news on Friday (June 12) with a post on social media, writing in a statement, “I am beyond excited to finally announce the brighter days ahead foundation.”

“Our mission is to support, protect, and provide resources for our vulnerable friends in need,” she continued. “Through four different funds, we will be supporting handfuls of incredible organizations that provide the safe space and care that is desperately needed by so many right now.”

The first of the four causes that will benefit from the Brighter Days Foundation is represented by its Protect & Defend Fund, which “empowers grassroots groups that advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, civil rights, and reproductive justice, helping to create communities where people feel safe, supported, and have care and resources to turn to,” according to a release. The second, titled the Heal & Dream Fund, “expands access to mental health care and community support, helping people feel seen, understood, and able to heal.”

The Seen & Celebrated Fund will be dedicated to shine a spotlight on the LGBTQ+ community’s “voices and stories,” with grantees listed as the Gender Liberation Movement, Glisten Rainbow Library, SAGE USA, TransLash and Transanta. Finally, the Emergency Support Fund will operate situationally in response to urgent situations as they arise, its recent grantees spanning Humanity Crew, New York Cares, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Save the Children UK, This Is About Humanity and Troop 6000.

A full list of the organizations supported by the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation is available on its website.

“It has been my privilege to be able to support these causes on my own over the years,” Grande added in her statement. “I’m grateful to now be able to expand that reach and amplify the life-saving work that these organizations do through the brighter days ahead foundation.”

The Oscar-nominated Wicked actress has long been one of the most outspoken stars in the music industry in terms of her beliefs, particularly when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, which she’s been vocal about since day one. She’s also made a point of encouraging her fans to vote and speaking out against President Trump’s administration, most recently slamming the DHS for using her song “Bye” in a TikTok promoting ICE.

“Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense,” Grande commented online.

The Grammy winner’s new charitable endeavor comes just a few days after she kicked off her Eternal Sunshine Tour in support of 2024’s Eternal Sunshine, which spent three weeks total at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. She’s also gearing up to drop her new album, Petal, in July after unleashing Billboard Hot 100-topping lead single “Hate That I Made You Love Me” in late May.

See Grande’s announcement below.

The big guy upstairs has been looking down on Tori Kelly, who drops her sixth and latest album God Must Really Love Me.

The new collection arrived at the stroke of midnight via Epic Records, and is home to the previously-released singles “Control” and “Dive” (which she reportedly wrote while seven-months pregnant).  

The album explores love, identity and “the quiet work of protecting your peace amid the constant noise of the outside world,” and was announced some six months after the birth of Kelly’s first child with husband André Murillo. The press release shared that Kelly experienced a creative “urgency” like never before, as she locked into the songwriting process “with full-hearted conviction, frequently recording voice memos while nursing her son.”

The big guy upstairs.

“Before the baby was born I’d tried to work on as many songs as possible, because I thought maybe I wouldn’t want to write once I was in mom mode. But then everything just hit me at once and right away I knew what I needed to say and exactly how I wanted it to sound,” she remarks. “I really challenged myself to peel back the layers and go much deeper with my lyrics. In the past I’ve held back from getting too specific in my songs, but this time I just completely let go.”

In a change of tac, Kelly developed most of its songs in solitude before heading into the studio with such producers and co-writers as DIXSON (Kehlani, Vic Mensa), Nija Charles (Summer Walker, Kiana Ledé), Emily Warren (Dua Lipa, Noah Kahan), and Ammo (Beyoncé, Teddy Swims). Most of the album came to life in Los Angeles with her two main collaborators, Tommy King (HAIM, Donna Missal) and Dan Farber (Lizzo, Alessia Cara), although a string of songs emerged while touring Europe in summer 2025 with Ed Sheeran.

Kelly is supporting the new album with Forrest Frank for the 29-date The Jesus Generation Tour, which continues through to Aug. 1 at Globe Life Field.

God Must Really Love Me is the followup to Kelly’s 2024 self-titled album, Tori. Stream it in full below below.

Too much Olivia Rodrigo is never enough. That’s certainly the case for late-night owls who tuned into Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday night, June 11, as Rodrigo stuck around for her second performance in as many nights.

Rodrigo performed the world premiere of “stupid song,” which appears on her third and latest album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.

After her performance Wednesday of “the cure,” Rodrigo toned it all down for “stupid song.” Wearing a white t-shirt, a light pink skirt and high-cut black boots, Rodrigo took her seat at the piano for the fresh cut, with support from a full band and backing singers. Those high notes, you bet she hit them.

Rodrigo is on the promotion trail for you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, which dropped at the stroke of midnight and houses the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “drop dead.”

She’ll support the collection with a 65-date Unraveled Tour that will hit arenas for multiple night stands in North America, Europe and the U.K. this fall and winter, starting Sept. 25 show at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn.

During her interview Wednesday night, Rodrigo explained to Kimmel the wholesome way she decided which tracks to drop ahead of the full release. “It’s really hard,” she said. “Last Thanksgiving, I was with my family, and they live in Wisconsin. It was all of us, aunts and uncles and cousins.

“I turned the lights off really low, because I was really shy, and I was so nervous to see their faces while they heard the songs for the first time,” she continued. “I played them the whole thing, and then they did ballots, and everyone cast their vote on what they thought the single should be … Everyone liked ‘The Cure’ the most. That was the No. 1 that we got.”

Watch Rodrigo’s performance below of “stupid song.”

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 Taylor Swift, Niall Horan, Tinashe and more.

This week: Olivia Rodrigo releases her anticipated third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love; BTS drop a new song on streamers that had previously only been available on a vinyl edition of ARIRANG; and Jack White teases his just-announced new album, Frozen Charlotte, out next month…plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Olivia Rodrigo, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love

After topping the Hot 100 with lead single “Drop Dead” and entering the top five with second single “The Cure,” Olivia Rodrigo’s third full length is finally here. You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love delivers on what its two sections promise: songs about being a “girl so in love” (section one) and songs where that same narrator seems pretty down about it (“you seem pretty sad,” as section two is called). Standout track and third single, “Stupid Song,” seems to tug at the thread that unites those two sensations: feeling stupid. While it comes loaded with the declaration that “nobody’s wanted somebody more,” the humor is in the fact that, as the title suggests, such big feelings can seem rather silly in hindsight. For more, read Billboard‘s review and tracks ranked.

BTS, “Come Over”

In celebration of the 13th BTS Festa, an annual festival for ARMY, the global icons dropped “Come Over” on streamers. Previously, the thumping, hip-hop heavy track was only available as a bonus on the deluxe vinyl of the group’s March album, ARIRANG. The song was co-written by SUGA, RM and j-hope, among others, and co-produced by Grammy award winner Cirkut with SUGA and Ammo.

Jack White, “Dollar Bill”

Following the two-pack White released and performed as musical guest on Saturday Night Live in April (“G.O.D. And The Broken Ribs” and “Derecho Demonico”), the rocker returns with a new single from his freshly-announced new album out July 10. The bluesy “Dollar Bill” opens with a twangy western riff before exploding into classic White, who is most at home on any track when delivering lyrical riddles like: “You can’t control me/ Unless you owe me/ And you don’t own me/ Unless I owe you.”

Bebe Rexha, “One Day”

The newly independent pop singer, who partnered with Empire in January after a career with Warner, has dropped her first album since the move. Titled Dirty Blonde, the project mostly delivers high-energy dance-pop bangers, but “One Day” stands out from the rest not only for its mid-tempo production but mostly for its honest lyrics, which Rexha co-wrote. And while it’s likely about a former flame, it could just as easily be a message to Rexha’s fallen fans: “One day, you’ll realize just what you lost/ By then, you’ll be nothing more than an afterthought.” Who needs ’em, right?

Infinity Song, INFINITY SONG

Alt-rock sibling band Infinity Song has released its self-titled debut album today, and it delivers on the exact type harmonies and tightknit writing that can only come from that kind of bond. “We grew up studying music together, performing together and learning how to listen to one another,” the Boyd siblings shared in a statement. “This album gave us the space to lean into our individual strengths while pushing ourselves as musicians…we’re proud of how expansive the record became without losing the intimacy that’s always been at the heart of Infinity Song.” The album was recorded between the Boyd siblings home base of New York and Los Angeles.

Olivia Rodrigo has finally released her third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, proving once again that she’s the queen of moody love songs.

The pop star’s new LP arrived Friday (June 12), complete with 13 tracks exploring the spectrum of romantic love, from the first rush of the honeymoon phase to the creeping in of uncertainty and the emotional tidal wave that hits after it ends. It comes three years after she last released an album — having topped the Billboard 200 with 2023’s Guts — and even longer since she first established her proficiency for capturing the emotional turbulence of love on debut LP Sour.

“I realized all my favorite romantic love songs were beautiful because they had a tinge of fear or yearning in them,” she said early on of You Seem Pretty Sad in an interview with British Vogue. “I felt a similar way about falling in love, that the second I’m in a really great relationship, I’m gonna start feeling good about myself, and this stuff is going to fall into place. But it just doesn’t work like that.”

The first tastes of the LP fans got were lead single “Drop Dead,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by “The Cure.” She also previewed “Begged” on Saturday Night Live in May and debuted “What’s Wrong With Me” live with collaborator Robert Smith at Primavera Sound in Barcelona.

Rodrigo will now gear up to hit the road in support of the project, with plans to kick off her Unraveled Tour in September. The arena run will take her across North America and Europe through May of next year.

Stream Rodrigo’s new album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love below.