DJ AG took over Billboard’s THE STAGE at SXSW London on Wednesday (June 3) bringing his eclectic taste to the U.K. festival.

The London-based performer was accompanied by a number of musicians artists during his set which spanned genres across garage, hip-hop, r&b, pop and beyond.

AG (real name: Ashley Gordon) has found an ardent following in recent years for his guerilla DJ sets and big name guests. Over the years, Will Smith, Akon, AJ Tracey, Skepta, Ciara and more have appeared during his live sets which are regularly streamed live on AG’s growing social channels.

Hosted in Ely’s Yard in Shoreditch, east London, AG hosted a number of rising artists throughout the showcase. U.S. artist Cameron McCloud, who recently won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest as a member for Cure for Paranoia, pulled up for a cameo, alongside head-turning performances from Australian act Tikara and London-based Iyamah. 

U.S. group Infinity Song joined AG for a short spot ahead of their showcase event at the nearby Shoreditch Town Hall venue as part of the Mahogany Showcase. House Gospel Choir, who performed with Harry Styles at the 2026 BRIT Awards and his One Night Only show in Manchester, also made an appearance with an uplifting guest spot.

SXSW London is currently in the midst of its second edition, bringing together leading voices in music, film, culture, technology and business for a wide-ranging program of panels, performances and screenings.

THE STAGE is a fixture of SXSW in Austin, Texas, with 2026’s lineup including Billboard 200 chart-topper Don Toliver, Mau P and Junior H. At the inaugural 2025 SXSW London, Tems performed a sold-out show at London’s Troxy as part of THE STAGE.

Elsewhere performances at SXSW London 2026 include Rachel Chinouriri, Tiwa Savage, Shame, ODUMODUBLVCK and more. 

Violet Grohl really is a chip off the old block. The newcomer with the famous surname made her TV debut Wednesday night (June 3) when she stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with a full band.

Want rock? You’ve got it.

Looking cool, calm and dressed right for her late-night premiere in all-black, Grohl performed “Bug in the Cake,” lifted from the grungy rocker’s recently released debut studio album.

It’s been a bright couple months for Violet, who made her official Billboard chart arrival earlier this year as a teenager (aged 19), when “THUM” started at No. 38 on Adult Alternative Airplay. “THUM” marked her first appearance on a Billboard chart as a billed artist, though she did contribute backing vocals to Foo Fighters’ “Show Me How,” which hit No. 21 on Hot Hard Rock Songs in 2023.

Now aged 20, she’s just dropped the 11-track Be Sweet to Me, through Auroura Records/Republic Records, a record that also includes the previously-released “Applefish” and “595.”

Grohl is, of course, the oldest daughter of Dave Grohl, the singer, songwriter and force-of-nature rock star who has been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame both with Nirvana (2014) and with Foo Fighters (2021).

According to a release, Be Sweet to Me was recorded from late 2024 into early 2025 at producer Justin Raisen’s Los Angeles home studio with a group of musicians assembled “in the spirit of the Wrecking Crew session players in the ’60s and ’70s,” whose work can be heard on classic recordings by the likes of Sonny & Cher, the Mamas and the Papas, Frank Sinatra and Harry Nilsson, among many others.

“Everything was written in the studio,” Grohl says of her new collection. “I would come in with an inspiration playlist, we would hang and listen for a little while, and then start writing.”

She’s supporting the project with a trans-Atlantic tour, which continues tonight (June 4) with a sold-out performance at New York’s Baby’s All Right.

Watch Violet Grohl’s performance on NBC’s Fallon.

Weezer is in their golden era.

Ahead of a North American tour this fall, the band announced Wednesday (June 3) their latest Weezer album, aka The Gold Album. The project — the seventh in their color-coded series of self-titled albums — comes out Aug. 21, marking the 16th studio album since they dropped their debut Weezer (Blue Album) in 1994.

With a 10-song track list, the project includes the just-released song “We Might as Well Be Strangers” (featuring Wednesday) — a duet between Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo and Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman — as well as lead single “Shine Again,” which arrived in April. Produced by Klas Åhlund and Kenneth Blume, formerly known as Kenny Beats, the project is meant to be “the most violent Weezer album ever,” according to a press release. With songs written by three of the band’s four members, for the first time since their first album, original members Cuomo and drummer Pat Wilson co-wrote a song together.

Between their Blue Album debut in 1994 and August’s Gold Album, Weezer has released five other colorful self-titleds: The Green Album (2001), The Red Album (2008), The White Album (2016), The Teal Album (2018) and The Black Album (2019). The Gold Album will mark the band’s first full-length since 2021’s Van Weezer.

Earlier this year, the band announced Weezer: The Gathering tour kicking off in September with 32 stops across North America with support from The Shins and Silversun Pickups. Weezer also has one festival date in Halifax, Nova Scotia, later this month, on June 27.

See the track list for Weezer (The Gold Album) below:

Say Yes
Shine Again
Don’t Make It Weird
We Might as Well Be Strangers feat. Wednesday
C.E.O.
Hoops
Nowhere
The Show Must Go On
Up in the Clouds
The LA Sound

TMZ pulled up on NFL wide receiver and Cardi B‘s ex Stefon Diggs after a workout to ask about a video that recently surfaced of what appears to be the former couple arguing outside a Maryland coffee shop.

“That’s a beautiful…that’s a talented mother, I love her to death, you know what I’m saying?” Diggs said when asked about the video. When asked if they’re still together, he says: “You have to ask her.”

Diggs was then asked about the argument and he again played it cool, telling the outlet, “I don’t even think that was arguing. You didn’t see me, like, saying anything.” He added: “It’s OK, women get like that sometimes,” after it was suggested that he “seemed cool, while she didn’t.” However, when asked if they were good, he replied that they were “great.”

TMZ then moved on to ask Diggs about the apparent paternity test Offset filed that was denied by a judge, and again, the NFL free agent remained coy about the situation. “I mean, I don’t know. I didn’t see anything,” he answered. “I’m not online too much, sorry. I don’t spend too much time online, bro. I just be at the track or at the gym working out. Anything else?”

Well, of course, you know there was, so the convo moved onto if he was going to eventually play for his hometown Washington Commanders. “I don’t know, man. I’m open to everything,” the former New England Patriot said. “We’ll see. Any more questions?”

You bet there was. Stef was then asked if Cardi would be pulling up to his annual Diggs Day free youth football camp, and again he brushed the question off in a respectful manner. “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask her, big guy,” he answered with a smile. “A lot of things that are personal, I keep personal, but I understand where you’re coming from.”

Finally, he was asked if fans can expect him on the field this upcoming season. “That’s why I’m just working out. That’s why I’m getting off the track right now,” the All-Pro receiver replied. “Always gotta stay ready. You have a blessed day, all right?”

Shortly after the video went viral, Cardi took to X and blamed the exchange on simply needing something to eat. “Sometimes I forget I’m a celebrity … damn y’all ain’t never cuss your babydad out when you hungry?”

Billboard reached out to both Stefon and Cardi’s teams for comment.

Cardi B and Diggs were first rumored to be dating in late 2024 following her split from ex-husband Offset. They made their first public outing in May 2025 courtside at a Knicks game and revealed they were expecting a baby in September last year. Their baby boy was born in November, but Cardi seemingly confirmed that they were no longer together as of February this year. The co-parents appear to remain mostly cordial, with Diggs attending Cardi’s Little Miss Drama Tour back in April.

Jessica Simpson celebrated eight years of sobriety in November, and she took a moment to reflect on her journey of overcoming alcoholism during her Monday (June 1) concert in Highland, Calif.

“I didn’t understand all of the traumas that I was holding onto. And it was really painful once I started searching in myself to find what I could reveal,” the singer and fashion designer said. “I became somebody that I was afraid of, somebody I did not know and understand.”

The 45-year-old continued: “I was a mother and I felt I wasn’t being a good role model and it wasn’t until a year later that I realized that the drinking wasn’t numbing my pain, it was actually causing more. It was a crutch that was wasn’t working.”

Simpson provided context about her trials and tribulations to get to this point of sobriety before introducing a new song to perform titled “Give It All Away” during Monday’s concert.

“In all honesty, I’m a work in progress and I celebrate each and every day that I feel alive and in my body and I’m very proud of myself so it felt right to share this song with you,” she added. “I want all of you to know that you should have a little grace for yourself and everything is gonna be okay if you just give it all away.”

The “Take My Breath Away” singer, who’s a mother of three, celebrated crossing eight years of sobriety on Nov. 1. The powerful decision to get back in control came after a drunken Halloween in 2017 where Simpson realized she had to change her ways, which she detailed in her 2020 memoir Open Book.

“8 years ago today I made the choice to confront, to confess and to let go of the self-sabotaging parts of my life that I was choosing,” Simpson wrote to Instagram. “Making that decision allowed me to fully live in the pursuit of God’s purpose for my life. Alcohol silenced my intuition, blocked my dreams and chased my circulating fears of complacency.”

She went on: “Today I am clear. Today I am driven by faith. Both fear and faith are something that we feel and may not see, I’m so happy I chose faith over fear. It was not in the fight that I found my strength, it was in the surrender.”

Jessica Simpson returned to music in 2025 with a pair of EPs: Nashville Canyon, Pt. 1 and a Pt. 2 sequel. The former reality TV star is back on the road touring the U.S. with upcoming shows in Bethlehem, Pa., Waterloo, N.Y. and Kettering, Ohio, later this month.

It’s been 15 long years since R.E.M. called it a day. Michael Stipe isn’t looking back.

The Rock Hall-inducted singer stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday night (June 2) for a performance of “I Played the Fool,” the theme song for the new Steve Carrell HBO comedy Rooster.

For the late-night spot, Stipe, bathed in green static light and wearing a beard that would make Santa envious, was joined by a full band featuring Grammy Award-winning producer, songwriter, and musician Andrew Watt, who co-produced Paul McCartney’s new solo album The Boys of Dungeon Lane and composed and produced the original score for Rooster.

Since R.E.M. officially disbanded in 2011, Stipe has released several solo songs including “Your Capricious Soul” (2019), “Drive to the Ocean” (2020) and “No Time For Love Like Now” with Aaron Dessner’s Big Red Machine side project (2020).

There’s still no word on when his long-awaited debut solo album will be released into the world. Stipe did touch on it in April during an interview with Stephen Colbert on the late-night talk show’s now-defunct Late Show. “One of the songs is the sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time,” he said at the time, cryptically, explaining that a friend had recorded the sound of a tree in his backyard in Georgia and then played it back to said tree for a song he described as Daft Punk-like. He added that he would be including his version of the standard sea chanty “Drunken Sailor” on the unnamed LP.

R.E.M. did reunite, briefly, in 2024 when the Athens, GA natives — Stipe, Mike Mills, Bill Berry and Peter Buck — got the old band back together to sing “Losing My Religion” at the Songwriters Hall of Fame gala in New York, on the night of their induction. Prior to that, the band’s last full public concert was in November 2008 in Mexico City, although the foursome did play a private party in 2016.

Watch Stipe and Watt’s performance on ABC’s Kimmel below.

Taylor Swift might have her own new music arriving this week, but she took to her Instagram Story on Tuesday night (June 2) to hype up someone else’s brand-new project.

Late Tuesday, Swift shared an Instagram post from Paul McCartney promoting his just-released album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which arrived on Friday. Swift added her own message too (along with a bicep emoji): “Never not inspired by this eternally exceptional artist.”

This is hardly the first time the pop superstars have crossed paths. In addition to sharing the stage to perform “Shake It Off” at a legendary Saturday Night Live 40th-anniversary afterparty in 2015, they also interviewed each other about songwriting for Rolling Stone magazine back in 2020, in which McCartney revealed he had planned to ask Swift to join him onstage for his COVID-canceled Glastonbury set. “Were you going to invite me?” Swift asks. “I was hoping that you would,” he said. “I was going to ask you.” Not only was the Beatles legend going to extend his hand, he was planning to play “Shake It Off” with her again. “I know it, it’s in C!” McCartney quipped.

After that interview, Swift released her second 2020 album, the Folklore follow-up Evermore, on Dec. 11, 2020, and the Wings frontman dropped McCartney III the following week. Dungeon Lane is McCartney’s first solo album since then, while Swift has released four re-recorded albums and three originals in the years after.

McCartney also showed up as a VIP guest at one of Swift’s Eras Tour dates at London’s Wembley Stadium in 2024 and was captured in fan video dancing along to The Tortured Poets Department standout “But Daddy I Love Him.”

This week, on Friday, Swift is set to release the song “I Knew It, I Knew You” from the Toy Story 5 soundtrack.

Dexter Wansel, a forefather of alternative R&B and the gifted songwriter/producer of hits such as Patti LaBelle’s “If Only You Knew,” died Sunday in Philadelphia of undisclosed causes. He was 75.

A Philadelphia native born Aug. 22, 1950, keyboardist Wansel was an errand boy for the local Uptown Theater while growing up. Following a stint in the Army, he began working at the city’s famed Sigma Sound Studios, where he gained the attention of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, the Grammy-winning co-founders of pioneering soul label Philadelphia International Records. As a recording artist for the label — beginning with his influential 1976 debut album Life on Mars in addition to wearing multiple hats in-house as a writer, arranger, composer, conductor, producer and A&R director into the ‘80s — Wansel earned a reputation as one of the vital craftsmen in developing the inimitable “Sound of Philadelphia.”

In a joint statement sent to Billboard, Gamble & Huff commented, “Dexter Wansel brought a new age sound to our record label in the 1970s and ‘80s, arranging and producing hits for many of our artists such as The Jacksons, The Jones Girls, Jean Carne and MFSB Orchestra, and including hits for himself. Dexter’s synthesizer and symphonic keyboard sounds were iconic.”

Encompassing vibrant fusions of R&B, funk, jazz and futurist/electronic grooves coupled with lavish orchestrations, those sounds were the hallmark of Life on Mars and the three additional albums that Wansel released via Philadelphia International. The projects include 1977’s What the World Is Coming To, 1978’s Voyager and 1979’s Time Is Slipping Away.

Wansel stayed just as busy behind the scenes at the label during the late ‘70s and into the ‘80s. He teamed with in-house lyricist Cynthia Biggs for a fruitful run that reaped songs such as LaBelle’s No. 1 R&B single “If Only You Knew,” The Jones Girls’ “Nights Over Egypt,” The Stylistics’ “Hurry Up This Way Again,” Grover Washington Jr.’s “The Best Is Yet to Come” featuring Patti LaBelle and Phyllis Hyman’s “Living All Alone.”

Wansel was also a producer on Lou Rawls’ 1977 album Unmistakably Lou, for which the singer won a Grammy for best male R&B vocal performance. Wansel’s work has also been sampled by various hip-hop artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Kim, Drake and J. Cole. Over these later years, Wansel released other solo projects, among them: Captured (1986), Digital Groove World (2004) and The Story of the Flight Crew to Mars (2021).

Added Gamble & Huff, “Dexter’s prolific songwriting with his long-time writing partner Cynthia Biggs  – who worked with Teddy Pendergrass and others — made them one of the most sought-after writing teams in our publishing company.  Most importantly, Dexter was our dear friend, protegé and great contributor to the Sound of Philadelphia. We send our sincere condolences to his wife Judy and family.”

Wansel is survived by his Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer son Andrew “Pop” Wansel of Pop & Oak. The younger Wansel’s credits include projects by Usher, Kehlani and Alessia Cara.

A statement from the Wansel family states, “We wish to express our gratitude for the outpouring of condolences we are receiving for our loved one, Grammy winner and one of the architects of the Sound of Philadelphia, Dexter Wansel. He’s at peace now.”

Memorial details will be announced at a later date. 

Jennifer Lopez is setting the record straight on what she says is one of the most common rumors that gets recycled about her: that she’s dating anyone she’s ever seen with.

During an interview with the Today show, the star of the new rom-com Office Romance and her co-star Brett Goldstein got cornered into answering questions about their relationship off-camera.

Today‘s Savannah Guthrie, who interviewed the actors, had Lopez and Goldstein rewatch a clip where the “Get Right” singer confesses to Bravo host Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that the best kiss she’s ever had was with Goldstein during the filming of the movie. “I just did a movie with Brett Goldstein and I’d say he was the best kisser,” Lopez confessed to Cohen.

Rewatching the clip with her co-star beside her made Lopez blush and led Guthrie to ask the pressing question: “You know what everyone is saying,” Guthrie said.

“What are they saying?” Lopez asked, to which the presenter said, “That it might be real. That you might actually be dating in real life.”

Lopez brushed off the question. “There is never a time when I’m seen with somebody or working with somebody that they don’t try and put me with the person,” Lopez replied.

“I think if you stand near her, that’s what happens,” Goldstein added.

Guthrie pointed out that was still not an answer to the question, to which Lopez said, “It was an answer. ‘Cause all these people that they put me with … I think I was with Kevin Costner this year, there was a lot of people. It happens all the time.”

When Guthrie pushed once more — “So you’re not dating then?” — Lopez responded, “Not dating,” while Goldstein added, “Correct.”

Lopez recently had a resurgence on the Billboard charts when her dance-pop anthem “On the Floor” hit the Billboard Global 200 thanks to a scene from the Prime Video series Off Campus, in which a character re-creates Lopez’s iconic Versace dress while dancing to the song at a Halloween party.

Watch Lopez and Goldstein’s full Today interview below: