Don’t expect new music music from veteran electronic producer Fatboy Slim (aka Norman Cook) any time soon, with the artist revealing that live shows have taken over as his main focus in recent years.

Cook, who began his professional musical career as a member of indie rock outfit The Housemartins in the ’80s, has been an electronic producer since his work with Beats International at the advent of the ’90s, ultimately going solo as Fatboy Slim in 1996.

Though massively popular in his native U.K., Cook’s success also extended globally, with his breakthrough record – 1998’s You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby – reaching No. 34 on the Billboard 200, and third single “Praise You” hitting No. 36 on the Hot 100. However, he’s been largely absent from the charts for most of the past two decades, with his 2004 album Palookaville arriving as his last studio album to date.

Instead, Cook has largely turned his focus towards his live show, though new music does arrive sporadically. In 2024 alone, Cook released the singles “Role Model” and “Bus Stop Please”, which were his first new tracks since 2022’s “Speed Trials on Acid” with Carl Cox.

Speaking to British publication The Sun’s Bizarre column recently, Cook explained that his output has slowed dramatically due a lack of passion for creating new material.

“My last two singles just came out of a live show,” he explained. “They were both things that I made just to play on the side. I had tunes that nobody else had in my set. And that kind of caught on with people when we worked out that we could clear the samples and release them.

“The thing is, you can’t make music unless you’re absolutely passionate about it and it drives you from the moment you wake up in the morning,” he added. “I just don’t seem to feel like that any more. I feel like that about DJing and about putting on things like this, but I’ve kind of lost my passion for making music.”

In 2010, Cook collaborated with Talking Heads frontman David Byrne for Here Lies Love, a joint concept and soundtrack album about Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines. To date, this is the closest thing he’s come to making a new full-length record, though he admits to struggling with a sense of obligation alongside his live sets.

“For five years, I tried to beat myself up about it and go, ‘You should be doing this’, but then I thought, ‘Well, everybody likes my DJing and I enjoy that more, so I’ll do that’,” he continued. “I’m hoping that one day the passion will come back.”

The Doobie Brothers are readying their 16th studio album, with the group revealing that Michael McDonald will return to perform vocals on the newly announced Walk This Road.

News of the band’s forthcoming record was shared during a year-end wrap-up post shared to Facebook on Monday (Dec. 30). “It’s hard to believe another year just shot by like a rocket!” the band wrote. “We’re currently celebrating almost 56 years together as a band. 55 years since we released our very first self titled album The Doobie Brothers.

“It’s been a long winding road since those early days but we’re still working together, doing our best to remain creative, and looking forward to bringing our music to you folks out there again next year.”

Reflecting on their activities across 2024 (which included close to 60 live shows and featured U.K. opening for the Eagles), the Doobie Brothers closed by looking ahead to the coming year and their plans for new music.

“Here’s the goal we’ve set for 2025,” the post continued. “This train keeps rollin’ down the track and we’re almost ready to release our new album Walk This Road sometime after the first of the year. We have 10 new songs sung by Tom [Johnston], Michael [McDonald], and Pat [Simmons]. The three of us wrote songs and collaborated together. We had a lot of fun recording it and we feel very proud of the results.

“John McFee added his incredible musical talents as well. Once more we turned to the amazing John Shanks who produced, wrote, and played on the tracks with us. Fortunately we’re back working with our friends at Warner Brothers/Rhino Records on this release. We’ll probably debut a song soon after the first of the year and the full album will follow sometime in the Spring/Summer.”

The most notable takeaway from the band’s update is the return of McDonald on an album of original music. Joining the band in 1975 ahead of their Takin’ It to the Streets album the following year, McDonald remained lead vocalist of the band until their 1982, overseeing some of their most popular releases, including 1978’s Minute by Minute – their only album to top the Billboard 200.

Though the Doobie Brothers would reunite in 1987, McDonald’s time with the band was somewhat sporadic, with stints within the group in 1992, 1995, and again in 2014 as a studio member. His last studio album of original material recorded with the Doobie Brothers was 1980’s One Step Closer, though he would feature on one song from 2010’s World Gone Crazy, and feature on the band’s 2014 covers/collaboration album Southbound.

While McDonald rejoined the band as a full-time member in 2019, he was ultimately absent from their 2021 album, Liberté.

Rapper and songwriter BigXthaPlug previously appeared on “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” hitmaker Shaboozey‘s song “Drink Don’t Need No Mix” (from Shaboozey’s album Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going)–but he says he has plenty more country collaborations ahead.

In an interview with Complex, BigXthaPlug noted that he has an upcoming country music EP in the works and it’s packed with country music luminaries.

“I got a country EP loaded up, you got Shaboozey, you got Morgan Wallen, you got Post Malone, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll…” BigXthaPlug said. The rapper also noted he has a second project in the works, though he hasn’t decided which to release first.

“I also got another project I’m putting together, kind of like a ‘South Mix’ of me, Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla, NLE Choppa…” he said.

Of course, prior to Jelly Roll’s transition into country music, he spent years releasing rap projects, and still incorporates a medley of rap classics into his headlining shows, alongside his hits such as “Son of a Sinner” and “Halfway to Hell.” Meanwhile, Wallen previously teamed with Moneybagg Yo for the song “Whiskey Whiskey,” and with Lil Durk for the songs “Broadway Girls” (which topped Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart in 2022) and “Stand By Me.”

Texas native BigXthaPlug previously hinted about his Wallen and Post Malone collaborations in January during an interview for Los Angeles radio station Real 92.3, when he recalled that Wallen came to one of his shows in Arkansas and they hung out. At one point during the interview, BigXthaPlug called Wallen “the Drake of country,” and teased the collaboration, saying, “We actually cooking something up…I got something coming with Morgan Wallen. I got something coming with Post Malone.”

In 2022, BigXthaPlug released the song “Texas,” which cracked the top 40 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. And last year, he mentioned the possibility of a country collaboration, telling Complex, “I also really want to do an actual country version because a lot of country playlists and whatnot have been reaching out to me because of the song. I figured, “Why not do a song with a popping country artist and just expand it on some Lil Nas X-type deal?'”

2024 has been a big year for genre-traversing artists with collaborative projects, including Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter project and Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion, both of which topped the all-genre Billboard 200. Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter featured collaborations with artists including Shaboozey, Linda Martell, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, while Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion featured collabs with artists including Wallen, Tim McGraw, Lainey Wilson, Parton, Luke Combs and Sierra Ferrell. Meanwhile, Kane Brown’s collaboration with Marshmello has spent 33 weeks entrenched atop the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

Depending on when BigXthaPlug releases the EP he’s teasing, it seems those cross-collaborative country hits could keeping coming in 2025.

Shakira continues to light up Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart as her latest single, “Soltera,” rises a spot for its first week atop the tally (dated Jan. 4, 2025).

Shakira swells her total to 24 Latin Airplay champs, extending her record for the most among women, dating to the chart’s 1994 inception. The closest female contender, Karol G, has amassed 18 No. 1s. Among all acts, Shakira ties Maluma for the sixth-most rulers.

“Soltera” scales the Latin Airplay summit as it concurrently runs up a 12-week domination on the Latin Pop Airplay chart. The song drew 11 million in all-format radio airplay audience in the U.S. during the Dec. 20-26 tracking week, according to Luminate.

As “Soltera” becomes the week’s new leader, it eclipses Karol G’s “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” after the latter’s 23 weeks in charge, the second-longest No. 1 run on Latin Airplay. Overall, Shakira’s own “La Tortura,” featuring Alejandro Sanz, retains the record with 25 weeks at No. 1 in 2005. The former experienced a record consecutive 23-week domination; the No. 1 stay of “La Tortura” was interrupted twice.

Here’s the recap of the artists with the most Latin Airplay No. 1s:

36, J Balvin
34, Ozuna
32, Enrique Iglesias
28, Daddy Yankee
25, Bad Bunny
24, Maluma
24, Shakira

Further, as “Soltera” leads Latin Airplay, it becomes Shakira’s first No. 1 without a billed collaborator since “Loba,” her eighth No. 1, in 2009. Among her 24 career No. 1s, she has logged six solo, including her first four in 1998-2003, beginning with “Ciega, Sordomuda.”

“Soltera” reached No. 9 in October on the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Latin Songs chart. It became her 37th top 10, the most among women since the survey started in 1986.

All charts (dated Jan. 4, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 31). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Even before his death on Sunday (Dec. 29) at age 100, Jimmy Carter already seemed a shoo-in to win his fourth Grammy at the 67th Grammy Awards on Feb. 2. But with his death, his victory seems even more certain. Final-round Grammy voting continues through Friday (Jan. 3).

But one thing has changed with the former president’s death. Carter had seemed likely to set a new record as the oldest Grammy winner in history. Now, if he wins, the award will be posthumous. Technically, the oldest recipient will continue to be blues pianist Pinetop Perkins, who was 97 years and 221 days old on Feb. 13, 2011 when he won best traditional blues album for Joined at the Hip, a collab with Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, a blues harmonica player. (Perkins died about six weeks later, on March 21, 2011.)

Carter is nominated for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording for Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration. The other nominees in the category are All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words (Guy Oldfield, producer), George Clinton’s …And Your Ass Will Follow, Dolly Parton’s Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones and Barbra Streisand’s My Name Is Barbra. (Oldfield, 55, is the only nominee in this category who’s under 75. Parton is 78, Streisand is 82 and Clinton is 83.)

This will likely be Carter’s fourth win in this category, which will enable him to break out of a tie with poet Maya Angelou for the most wins in the category. Carter won in 2007 for Our Endangered Values, in 2016 for A Full Life: Reflections at 90 and in 2019 for Faith: A Journey for All. Angelou won in 1994 for On the Pulse of Morning, in 1996 for Phenomenal Woman and in 2003 for A Song Flung Up to Heaven.

Carter will also likely extend his record as the U.S. president with the most Grammy wins. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have each won two Grammys.

Carter was a late-comer to Grammy glory. He was 82 when he won his first Grammy. He had lost on his first three tries.

If you’re curious, the second-oldest person ever to win a Grammy is Tony Bennett, who was 95 years and 243 days old in 2022 when he won for best traditional pop vocal album for Love for Sale, a collab with Lady Gaga. (He died in 2023.) Third-oldest is comedian George Burns, who was 95 years and 31 days old in 1991 when he won best spoken word or non-musical recording album for Gracie: A Love Story, a salute to his wife and comedy partner Grace Allen. (He died in 1996.) Fourth-oldest is Carter, who was 94 and 132 days old in 2019 when he won best spoken word album for Faith: A Journey for All.

Shortly after Ashley Avignone helped celebrate Taylor Swift‘s birthday, the pop star returned the favor. In photos shared by the stylist on Instagram Sunday (Dec. 30), she and her longtime bestie celebrated another trip around the sun at what appears to be a cozy restaurant gathering, sharing drinks and a colorful cake.

One photo finds Swift — sporting a sleek black top, cherry red lipstick and sharp white-and-black eyeliner — wrapping Avignone in a big hug while seated at their table. Another snap shows off the sprinkle-covered cake the pair shared, featuring pink and purple frosting reading, “Ash is 25 (again).”

“Happy birthday to me, emphasis on the *happy,*” Avignone captioned the post.

The post comes exactly 10 days after the interior designer shared pictures from Swift’s own birthday bash, which Travis Kelce, Patrick and Brittany Mahomes, the HAIM sisters and more friends also attended earlier this month. The party appeared to be themed around the 14-time Grammy winner’s global Eras Tour, which closed Dec. 8 in Vancouver.

“When she thought she was going to a small, quiet dinner but it was actually a giant surprise party with her friends and family, props included,” Avignone wrote at the time.

Avignone and Swift have been besties for well over a decade, with the latter including the former’s first name in the secret liner-note message for Red single “22” back in 2012. The influencer has also attended a few Kansas City Chiefs games with the “Karma” artist, including the 2024 Super Bowl in February.

Swift seems to be closing out her 2024 by enjoying quality time with family and friends following a blockbuster 2024, which, for her, included spending 17 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with The Tortured Poets Department, winning two new Grammys — including album of the year for Midnights — at the February ceremony and setting a new record for most Billboard Music Awards wins in December, in addition to raking in more than $2 billion at the close of her Eras trek. Over the weekend, she and Kelce stepped out in New York City with Jack Antonoff and Margaret Qualley, one day after Swift and the tight end went out again on a date night at the private supper club Chez Margaux, per reports.

As holiday hits decorate the Billboard Hot 100’s entire top 10, and top 16, spots for the first time, another seasonal song, among others, makes a notable jolly jaunt: Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s “Merry Christmas” jingles four places to No. 38, marking its first week in the chart’s top 40 – and John’s milestone 60th top 40 hit and Sheeran’s likewise landmark 25th.

The team-up, which Sheeran and John co-wrote, was released in 2021 and first peaked at No. 42 a year later.

In the Dec. 20-26 tracking week, the song drew 20.2 million official streams (up 38%) and 2.8 million in radio airplay audience (up 25%) and sold 2,000 (up 59%) in the United States, according to data tracker Luminate.

Notably, John ties Beyoncé for the ninth-most top 40 Hot 100 hits, dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, start.

Most Top 40 Billboard Hot 100 Hits:

John first reached the Hot 100’s top 40 on the chart dated Dec. 19, 1970, when “Your Song” jumped 49-38. He appeared in the top 40 every year consecutively through 1999 – linking a record 30-year streak in the tier – and returned with his 58th and 59th entries in 2021 and 2022, respectively: “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” with Dua Lipa (No. 7 peak), and “Hold Me Closer,” with Britney Spears (No. 6).

(From 1972 through 1986, John charted 36 consecutive Hot 100 hits in the top 40. The run included 20 top 10s, of 29 in his career, and seven No. 1s, of his nine total.)

Plus, John extends the longest span of top 40 Hot 100 appearances for a soloist excluding holiday fare to 54 years and two weeks. Among all acts and backing out seasonal songs, The Beatles boast the longest span: 59 years, nine months and three weeks, from “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in 1964 through “Now and Then” in 2023.

Sheeran first placed in the Hot 100’s top 40 with “The A Team” on the chart dated Nov. 10, 2012, and had most recently ranked in the region with “Eyes Closed” in July 2023.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Jan. 4, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 31). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Jack Harlow has heard the critics, but he’s not going anywhere. The Louisville rapper capped off his 2024 with a final message to the fans as well as the opposition with the introspective “Tranquility,” which arrived on Sunday (Dec. 29).

Harlow also released a gloomy visual finding him walking around the city on a chilly, overcast day while bundled up in a pea coat and black scarf.

The 26-year-old seemingly addressed the criticism from his November cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love” and relayed that he’s not seeking any validation from hip-hop.

“Y’all boys lame s–t killing me/ Need to be reintroduced to humility/ I ain’t lookin for no hip-hop credibility/ Give a f–k who feelin me, I’m feelin me/ I’m really him, I’m really that remedy/ Himothée Chalamet, pretty girls salivate/ On the low, off the grid, in the cut, out the way/ My prime’s in full swing like a Callaway,” he raps while referencing the A Complete Unknown star. He also shouts out Julie Greenwald, who left her position as CEO of Atlantic Music Group on Sept. 30, 2024: “Julie Greenwald asking if I’m on schedule / Label ready for the next record, I’ll let you know” (Harlow is signed to Generation Now, an imprint of Atlantic).

Despite the final day of Harlow’s inaugural Gazebo Festival being canceled due to inclement weather in May, which caused the rapper to allegedly lose a few million dollars, Missionary Jack plans to continue putting the fest on for his hometown of Louisville.

“People that betrayed me don’t even f—ing know that I know/ It’s something that I just file away/ Lost a few m’s on the festival/ Okay, and I can’t wait to do the second one,” Jack proclaimed.

Jack Harlow returned from hiatus to kick off the rollout of his next project with “Hello Miss Johnson” in November. The bossa nova-tinged single peaked at No. 85 on the Billboard Hot 100 and fans can expect plenty more from Harlow in 2025.

Watch the “Tranquility” video below.

Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” dashes back to No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. The carol, released in 1994, leads the Global 200 for a record-extending 19th week and Global Excl. U.S. for a record-breaking 14th frame.

The Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” tops the Global 200 (2-1) with 197.9 million streams (up 176% week-over-week) and 13,000 sold (up 5%) worldwide Dec. 20-26. The song has run up its record 19 weeks at No. 1 dating to the chart’s start via one frame this holiday season, five each over the 2023 and 2022 holidays and four in both the 2021 and 2020 seasons. (Harry Styles’ “As It Was” follows with 15 weeks at No. 1 in 2022.)

Wham’s “Last Christmas” pushes 4-2 on the Global 200, returning to its best rank, with 192.5 million streams (up 78%) and 13,000 sold (up 12%) worldwide.

With their latest totals, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and “Last Christmas” claim the seventh- and eighth-biggest worldwide streaming weeks since the Global 200 began:

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” drew its previous best worldwide streaming sum a year ago this week (159.1 million), and its previous second-best total two years ago this week (124.9 million). “Last Christmas” previously peaked with 142.6 million a year ago this week.

Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” rises 5-3 on the Global 200, after reaching No. 2; Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” trots 6-4, returning to its peak; and ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” falls to No. 5 after spending its first nine weeks on the chart at No. 1.

Plus, two holiday hits reenter the Global 200’s top 10: Michael Bublé’s “It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas” (11-8) and Dean Martin’s “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (12-9). Both songs have hit No. 6 highs.

Additionally, Lady Gaga and Mars’ “Die With a Smile” drops 4-10 on the Global 200, following eight weeks at No. 1 beginning in September. It drew 126.4 million streams (up 1%) worldwide in the latest tracking frame and has tallied over 100 million streams globally in each of the last 17 weeks, the longest such streak since the chart began.

Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” crowns the Global Excl. U.S. chart (3-1) with 132.6 million streams (up 90%) and 5,000 sold (up 27%) outside the U.S. Dec. 20-26. As it adds its record-breaking 14th week at No. 1, it surpasses the 13-week reigns of Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” in 2023 and Styles’ “As It Was” in 2022. The carol led for five weeks last holiday season, following annual No. 1 runs of four weeks (over the 2022 holidays), three weeks (2021) and one week (2020).

Wham’s “Last Christmas” rebounds to its No. 2 Global Excl. U.S. high, from No. 4; ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” slips to No. 3 after logging its first nine weeks on the survey at No. 1; Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” lifts 7-4, after hitting No. 3; and Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” jumps 8-5, revisiting its best rank.

Elsewhere in the Global Excl. U.S. top 10, Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” climbs 12-9, returning to its peak, and Bublé’s “It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas” sleigh-rides 13-10, after reaching No. 4.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Jan. 4, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Dec. 31. For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

All of Chrissy Teigen loves all of John Legend, who rang in his 46th birthday on Saturday (Dec. 28). In a sweet Instagram post on the day of his big celebration, the cookbook author praised her EGOT-winning husband with a tribute on Instagram dedicated “to our everything.”

“The soul of our home (I’m the heart) we love you so much,” Teigen wrote, captioning a photo of Legend sitting on a swing tethered to a ceiling decorated with blue balloons. “Happy 46th birthday. You spent it taking the kids to the bubble experience in London at 8am, and now we are heading to the Devil Wears Prada musical because you’re up for any kind of date night you can get, ever.”

“I love you so much, we love you so much,” added the model. “Happy birthday.”

Teigen and the “Love Me Now” singer have been married since 2013 and share four kids — Luna, Miles, Esti and Wren. Three days prior to Legend’s birthday, Teigen shared photos on Instagram of her family sitting around their Christmas tree, the kids wearing matching festive pajamas.

“Christmas morning in London! Merry Christmas, guys,” she wrote at the time. “We love you so much.”

In August, Legend dropped an album of children’s lullabies titled My Favorite Dream, featuring guest vocals from his wife and their two oldest children on lead single “L-O-V-E.” The Voice coach and his eldest daughter recently stopped by Billboard to chat about the LP in a sweet interview conducted by Luna.

“I think it’s the most pure love you can have, the love you have for your family,” Legend said during the father-daughter conversation. “It’s so pure. When me and Mommy look at you, and look at your brothers and sister, we see ourselves and we want to pour all this knowledge and these lessons we’ve learned in life into you and help you become the best adults you can be.”