If you dream big enough, sometimes those dreams come true. Just ask Noah Kahan, who seems to be on an insanely hot streak this week. The New England native “Stick Season” singer-songwriter has a lot to celebrate after becoming the first-ever performer to sell out four nights at Fenway Park in Boston.

Not only did Watertown, Vt.-bred Kahan play for 150,000-plus fans during his run, but Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey helped put the icing on the gravy by declaring Saturday (July 11) Noah Kahan Day in Massachusetts, with a proclamation that read: “Whereas, Noah Kahan has emerged as one of New England’s defining artists, writing songs that capture the people, places, and experiences that shape life across the region; and Whereas, As a former resident of Watertown, he has maintained a deep connection to Massachusetts and the communities that have influenced his music.”

Kahan, 29, played Fenway on July 7, 8, 10 and 11 and perhaps the highest of highs for a New Englander, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye dropped by Tuesday’s opening night with a video message for fans. “Hello? Drake? I thought you got canceled or Kendrick beat you or something, right? Why are you calling me? Well, I appreciate you coming to the show, I guess,” Kahan said before picking up a ringing pay phone receiver on stage during his nightly phone call segment.

“Wrong Drake, brother,” Maye assured him in his pop-in message. “I just wanted to welcome you to Boston, say what’s up. I know Fenway is rocking right now. I’m here in the crowd. You’re the man. Go Pats.” He also got a call from Boston Red Sox legend David “Big Papi” Ortiz on the second night and former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski on night three.

Then, on Saturday, it was his mom, Lauri Berkenkamp, who got on the phone to announce that her son had been inducted into the Fenway Music Hall of Fame. “I can’t believe you’re the only artist to ever sell out four consecutive nights at Fenway Park, but I’m not surprised. I knew you could do it, I’ve known all along,” Berkenkamp said in the prerecorded message to the singer, according to People. “I also have some news to share. On behalf of Fenway Park and the Boston Red Sox, you are officially being inducted into the Fenway Music Hall of Fame!”

Kahan joins Billy Joel, Paul McCartney and the Zac Brown Band in the Fenway Music Hall of Fame.

As if things couldn’t get better, Kahan posted a video on Monday in which he said he got a hole-in-one playing golf at the Boston Golf Club. “This is the best day of my life,” Kahan wrote in the caption to the video in which he’s seen retrieving his ball on the 11th hole while holding a beer. “I can’t believe that just happened!” he says.

But wait, there’s more. He followed up with one more note summing up his epic week. “Sold out 4 fenways made a hole in one then stole 5k off the dealer at encore [casino]. What a week! Love you Boston,” he wrote.

Kahan released his fourth studio album, The Great Divide, in April, with the LP debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 389,000 equivalent album units, according to Luminate. It was Kahan’s first chart-topping album, as well as the largest first-week performance for any rock album since Billboard started tracking units in 2014.

The singer’s epic summer will roll on tonight (July 14) with the first of two shows at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Jay-Z spent the weekend blowing fans’ minds during his epic three-show run at New York’s Yankee Stadium. But after night one brought cameos from wife Beyoncé, daughter Blue Ivy, Nas and Alicia Keys and night two dialed up an even wilder lineup featuring Eminem, Slick Rick and Pharrell, Sunday’s (July 12) show hit a snag.

Following a three-hour delay in kicking off last night’s final gig, Jay addressed the delay after taking the stage, telling fans that the start of the show was pushed back due to security concerns caused by a large crowd gathered outside the venue.

“Let me explain the delay to you guys. It was like 10,000 people outside, and we closed all the doors, and somebody rushed the door,” Jay said after finally taking the stage after midnight ET on Monday morning (July 13), according to a video posted by XXL. “They closed the door for you guys’ safety and everyone’s safety outside. There’s 10,000 people outside; I don’t want to start the music and people get trampled. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, but I had to make sure everyone was OK. I appreciate your patience.”

Jigga then promised his faithful that he had plenty more surprises in store for the epic Extra Innings finale of his Yankee Stadium run, which started nearly three hours later than the previous editions on Friday and Saturday night and was not constrained by the album anniversary-focused nature of the first two night’s shows.

The faithful who stuck around until nearly three in the morning were treated to a rare live appearance from Rihanna, who joined in on “Run This Town” before taking a solo turn with her 2015 Billboard Hot 100 No. 15 trap anthem “Bitch Better Have My Money,” as well as another cameo from Beyoncé on “Drunk in Love” and a cameo from multi-hyphenate Teyana Taylor, who joined Jay to sing the Mary J. Blige hook on “Can’t Knock the Hustle.”

Usher also popped-in for “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)” and “Throwback,” while Pharrell came out again for a medley run that included “Love U (Give It 2 Me)” and “Frontin’,” and The-Dream subbed in for Frank Ocean on “No Church in the Wild” from Jay and Ye’s 2011 joint Watch the Throne album. Other guests included Jermaine Dupri, Fat Joe and Jadakiss, the Clipse, Jeezy and Swizz Beatz.

The weekend run was a celebration of, respectively, the 25th anniversary of Jay’s The Blueprint and the 30th anniversary of his seminal 1996 debut, Reasonable Doubt. Jay’s first significant run of shows since his 2017 4:44 tour will include a Sept. 4 show at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, a Sept. 10 gig at Stade de France in Paris and an Oct.23 date at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

The night before Confessions II officially became Madonna’s 10th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, the Queen of Pop transformed Queens’ Knockdown Center into the New York City edition of Club Confessions on Saturday (July 11) night to celebrate her latest album.

Despite being nowhere near a subway stop (or much else, unless you’re in the market for a chandelier), Knockdown Center plays host to some of the hottest dance music tickets in town, so it’s not a surprise to see big crowds outside the sizable venue. Even so, the lines for Madonna were beyond the norm, extending several blocks down the street. But for a free (yes, free) party boasting Madonna, Stuart Price (who co-produced Confessions II and 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor), Honey Dijon (a frequent Madge remixer who contributed to the Confessions II: Afterhours Edition release), Fcukers, Junior Sanchez and Sam-E, what the hell do you expect?

As on Club Confession’s previous London stop, entrance to the affair involved walking through a giant inflatable of a woman’s lower torso, legs spread, with speakers subbing in for the NSFW anatomy. After that, you strolled through a green laser-laden forest, evocative of the “Good for the Soul” portion of Madonna’s Confessions II short film (directed by TORSO), both of which served up TikTok/Instagram fodder for attendees.

A fantastic Fcukers set had the fashion-forward crowd (which, over the course of the night, included Kim Petras, Pabllo Vittar, Sky Ferreira, Christian Sirano, Julio Torres, Bob the Drag Queen and Plane Jane) moving, but when Stuart Price took the boards to usher in the entrance everyone was waiting for, the temperature in the room shifted. Madonna hit the stage at 1:10 a.m. (fairly early, considering the doors didn’t even open until 10 p.m.) with a declaration and a challenge: “New York, I love you so much – but are you ready?!”

Fans, many of whom stood in line for an hour, responded with a roar of love and a sea of cellphones. “It’s mother” intoned a deep voice over a thumping beat. Between Price’s deft ability to keep a crowd moving and Madonna’s larger-than-life aura, school was indeed in session at Club Confessions thanks to the seasoned dance club faculty on stage — including Honey Dijon, who took the decks toward the end of Madonna’s appearance.

Confessions II songs occupied most of the setlist, with “Get Together” from the O.G. Confessions and a few choice vintage cuts (“Thief of Hearts” from Erotica and “Physical Attraction” from her self-titled debut) making appearances. Highlights included hundreds of people singing (and feeling) the chorus of “I Feel So Free”; Madonna head-banging next to Honey Dijon during a “Love Sensation” remix; and the Queen of Pop gyrating her hips and mouthing along to the 1983 throwback “Physical Attraction.” But “Danceteria” was the standout cut. Even though the album has been out just over a week, it seemed like everyone at Club Confessions knew the lyrics to “Danceteria,” right down to the pointed pauses (“He’s the DJ / hide the cocaine”) and her laundry list of early ‘80s scenesters. Beyond that, the experience of listening to the autobiographical “Danceteria” while dancing in front of Madonna herself was a surreal treat.

After Madonna and Price left the stage, Dijon delivered a phenomenal set that led the room through ecstatic release – sure, Madonna was the main attraction, but when she left the building, so did just enough people that you could truly dance on the dance floor. (As opposed to body bumping — not that there’s anything wrong with a little body bumpin’.)

Less than 12 hours after Club Confessions New York City closed up, Billboard reported that Madonna’s Confessions II had debuted atop the Billboard 200, marking her 10th No. 1 on the chart and her biggest streaming week ever. That win also puts the Club Confessions host in an exclusive club of artists with 10 or more albums to their name – something only 11 acts, Madonna included, can boast.

Foreign Tongues, The Rolling Stones‘ new album — their 25th full-length studio release — tops this week’s new music poll.

Listeners voted in a poll published Friday (July 10) on Billboard, choosing the classic rock stars’ just-released set as their favorite new music.

Foreign Tongues rose above new releases from artists including YEONJUN, Beyoncé and Feid. At the poll’s closing time on Sunday, the new album from The Stones landed 42% of the vote.

Foreign Tongues is a landmark 25th studio album delivering 14 fresh tracks recorded by The Rolling Stones — 12 new originals, plus two covers (they take on Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good” and Chuck Berry’s “Beautiful Delilah”).

The rock ‘n’ roll vets recorded the project with Hackney Diamonds producer Andrew Watt at Metropolis Studios in West London, which welcomed quite an impressive crowd: Steve Winwood, Paul McCartney, The Cure’s Robert Smith and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers all contributed, as well as longtime collaborators Darryl Jones, Matt Clifford and Steve Jordan. Drums played by the late Charlie Watts, recorded during one of his final studio sessions before his 2021 death, are heard on “Hit Me in the Head.”

Singles “In the Stars” and “Jealous Lover” preceded the full album’s unveiling.

“It was a very intense few weeks recording Foreign Tongues,” Mick Jagger recounted upon the album’s release. “We had 14 great tracks and we went as fast as we could. I like the room there as it’s not too big so you can feel the passion from everyone.”

Ronnie Wood described the room’s vibe as “so creative,” with the full band “on top form throughout the whole process. Very often we nailed it on the first take.”

Trailing behind Foreign Tongues on the poll are YEONJUN’s No Labels: Part 02, with 36% of the vote; Beyoncé’s “Morning Dew (Donk),” with nearly 8% of the vote, and Feid’s A Xon De Que, with more than 7% of the vote.

See the final results of this week’s poll below.

Andy Bickers, the New Zealand-born saxophonist whose playing became a defining element of Cold Chisel’s live sound across more than three decades, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 56.

Cold Chisel confirmed his death on Friday morning in a statement posted to social media. “Our much-loved sax player of more than 30 years, Andy Bickers, passed away this morning after a hard-fought battle with cancer,” the Instagram post said.

“Andy was our brother: an incredible musician and a great person to be out on the road or out on the town with. His valuable contribution onstage to songs like ‘Rising Sun’, ‘Saturday Night’ and ‘My Baby’ will be sorely missed.’

“Our hearts break for his wife Lisa and his son Rudy,” the band added.

Frontman Jimmy Barnes — whose touring band gave Bickers his entry point into the upper tier of Australian rock — paid tribute separately. “Andy also toured many times with me, playing soul and rock shows,” Barnes wrote.

“We were friends not only because he was a great player, but he was funny, intelligent, and most importantly, he was a good man.

“Lots of love to Lisa and Rudy. You will be sadly missed, Andy,” he added.

ICEHOUSE’s Iva Davies also paid tribute to Bickers, reflecting on having recently performed with him.

“I am saddened and very sorry to hear the news about the loss of Andy Bickers,” Davies wrote in a message shared on ICEHOUSE’s social media. “We saw and performed with him only a few weeks ago.”

“Andy was a consummate musician as attested by the great array of people he performed and collaborated with along with the many he mentored and inspired,” Davies continued. “He will be truly missed by all of us within the ICEHOUSE team and by the Australian music community.”

“Our thoughts are with his family,” Davies added.

Born in Wellington, Bickers spent the 1980s working the local rock scene before relocating to Australia, first to Melbourne and then Sydney, where his tenor and baritone playing quickly established him as one of the country’s most reliable session and touring musicians. His breakthrough came via Barnes’ touring band, and by the early 2000s he had become a fixture in Cold Chisel’s live lineup.

His résumé extended well beyond Chisel. Bickers toured with Midnight Oil, Silverchair, the Eagles, Don Henley and Diesel, and recorded or performed with You Am I, the Presets, Hoodoo Gurus, Tony Hadley, and Vika and Linda.

Midnight Oil also paid tribute on social media, noting that one of his final performances was leading the brass section during a tribute to Rob Hirst at the 2026 APRA Awards.

Richard Clapton also remembered the musician, writing, “It is with heavy heart that I have to let you know that our beloved sax player Andy Bickers passed away yesterday. I have played The State Theatre 16 times and Andy was with us for virtually every one of those concerts, and made ‘Wintertime in Amsterdam’ such a special moment in the shows history. The song is not going to be quite the same this year.”

Formed in Adelaide in 1973, Cold Chisel remain one of the most commercially significant bands in Australian history, with a catalog that has produced multiple No. 1 albums on the ARIA Albums Chart. Bickers’ saxophone was central to the live renditions of some of the band’s most enduring songs, and his work across thousands of concerts and recording sessions made him one of the most quietly ubiquitous figures in Australian rock.

Hate it or love it, the underdog’s on top. 50 Cent celebrated receiving three Emmy nominations on Wednesday (July 8) for his work producing his Diddy documentary, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, for Netflix.

“Everybody had something to say when I announced it… now the Emmys got something to say too,” 50 boasted in a post on Instagram shortly after the nods were revealed. “3 Emmy nominations for Sean Combs: The Reckoning. You can’t argue with the work.”

The docuseries picked up nominations for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series, outstanding directing for a documentary/nonfiction program and outstanding picture editing for a nonfiction program.

The G-Unit boss received plenty of love in his comments from the likes of Busta Rhymes. “Congrats & Happy Belated Born Day King,” Busta wrote.

When 50 originally announced plans for a Diddy docuseries in 2024, many thought he was up to his typical trolling ways, but that was far from the case. The Reckoning arrived in December 2025 and immediately stirred conversation surrounding Diddy. The docuseries was broken down into four parts, detailing the rise and fall of the disgraced Bad Boy mogul, as well as a deep-dive into the history of Combs’ alleged sexual abuse tied to his federal sex trafficking case.

“I’ve been committed to real storytelling for years through G-Unit Film and Television,” 50 said in a statement when the docuseries was released. “I’m grateful to everyone who came forward and trusted us with their stories, and proud to have Alexandria Stapleton as the director on the project to bring this important story to the screen.”

Diddy was sentenced to 50 months behind bars in October 2025 for violating federal prostitution laws, but dodged much more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.

Next up for 50’s film and TV empire, he’s in promo mode for Fightland. The boxing crime drama is set to premiere on Starz on July 31, and the Queens legend is promising he’s got another Power on his hands.

Ariana Grande will not appear in the 13th season of American Horror Story after all, with her exit driven by a scheduling conflict with her ongoing Eternal Sunshine Tour, according to THR.

Grande was announced as part of the AHS Season 13 cast on Halloween 2025, marking her first appearance on the Ryan Murphy anthology series and a reunion with the producer following her role on his 2015 series Scream Queens. But a recently released teaser for the season, subtitled 13, did not feature her, with reports that a change to the show’s production schedule had created a direct conflict with her set tour dates. Grande did not shoot any scenes for the season.

The timing lines up with a run of scheduling turbulence for the singer’s live show. AHS Season 13 began production in April, and Grande’s Eternal Sunshine Tour launched June 6 in Oakland. In late June, she rescheduled three of her own tour dates — moving a July 12 Brooklyn show to July 14 and shifting two Boston concerts from July 22 and 24 to July 23 and 26 — citing production issues on her end. The tour continues through stops in New York, Canada and Chicago before wrapping overseas.

American Horror Story: 13 moves forward with a returning ensemble that includes Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd and Jessica Lange, alongside director John Waters. The season, which reunites several cast members reprising their Coven characters, is set to premiere Sept. 24 on FX before streaming on Hulu.

For Grande, the acting detour was always secondary to the tour driving it. Eternal Sunshine — her seventh studio album, released in 2024 — has powered her first headlining run since 2019’s Sweetener World Tour, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for her sixth career chart-topping album and spinning off two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles. Her eighth album, Petal, arrives July 31, led by “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” which recently gave her a 10th career Hot 100 No. 1 — tying her for 10th-most in the chart’s history.

Her film work isn’t disappearing, either: she’s set to appear next in the Meet the Parents sequel Focker-In-Law, due out this fall.

This week brought new releases from music superstars in the worlds of rock, pop, Latin, hip-hop, K-pop and beyond — but what was your favorite release of the week?

Kicking things off with pop royalty, Beyoncé surprise-released the R&B-tinged new single “Morning Dew (Donk)” last weekend. Switching gears to rock & roll, The Rolling Stones returned with their 25th studio album Foreign Tongues. In the rap space, Future delivered his new album The Real Me. And YEONJUN from K-pop quintet TOMORROW X TOGETHER is back with Part 02 from his No Labels series.

Other big drops: Suki Waterhouse’s third album Loveland, Teddy Swims’ new single “Break Up in Reverse,” The Linda Lindas and Hayley Williams’ team-up “Closer,” Chris Lake and Tiga’s “Party Time” featuring Aatig, Feid’s “A Xon De Que” and Coco Jones’ “Body So Tea.”

And that’s still not all! We also have Chris Avantgarde’s Hyperreal, Melanie Santiler’s “Gataza,” Jahmiel’s Against All Odds, Maddie Lenhart’s “Empty Room” and Wyatt Flores’ “Scared of Heights.”

All those choices, but which one is your favorite this week? Revisit our full New Music Friday Guide here, and make your selection below.