Pop Shots – Ready For Battle


Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Kelly Clarkson toughing it out, to a potential fight for Ariana Grande, to Marshmello being taken to court, and since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Kelly Clarkson had surgery to remove her appendix after hosting the 2019 Billboard Music Awards – a hosting gig she did while dealing with a serious amount of pain. Wait, so that’s what happened to Miss Independent?!?!

* Pink’s latest album, Hurts 2B Human, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 115,000 equivalent album units earned, 95,000 of which were album sales. Personally, I had no idea there were 95,000 dental office waiting rooms that needed a new soundtrack.

* Ariana Grande took to Instagram to let fans know she’s adding a new fragrance to her line – a line that already includes Ari, Cloud, Moonlight, Frankie, and Sweet Like Candy – writing, “So I've been working on a ‘thank u, next’ fragrance. I can't wait for u to see/smell her...she's like ‘ari’ if she went to the beach one time.” I hope Ariana has a good lawyer, because Kramer will see her in court!


* Blink-182 and Lil Wayne announced a joint headlining tour for 2019 with support from Neck Deep. The 37-date tour will kick off on June 28th in Columbus, OH, and run through September. The level of success this tour sees will go a long way in deciding if other tours will be booked by picking random artists names out of a hat.

* DJ/producer Arty is taking Marshmello to court, claiming the square headed EDM star’s “Happier,” featuring Bastille, is an infringement of a remix Arty did of One Republic’s “I Lived.” I honestly don’t care too much about the specifics of this, I just love the idea that a judge may have to repeatedly say “In the case of Arty v. Marshmello” in an incredibly serious tone. As an aside, Arty V Marshmello sounds like it should be the name of a Muppet who’s a highfalutin art critic.

* The cast of Reality Bites reunited at the Tribeca Film Festival for a 25th anniversary screening of the film, after which Lisa Loeb made a surprise appearance to perform her iconic song from the film’s soundtrack. I’m pretty sure that’s something we’d all “Stay” for.


* As with all award shows where music is performed, the artists who were featured on the Billboard Music Awards saw significant sales gains the day of, and day after, the show. There was a collective 102% sales gain for the songs performed on the BBMAs when comparing their combined sales on May 1st and 2nd versus April 29th and 30th (this does not include the songs from the 13-song medley performed by Kelly Clarkson). Lauren Daigle was the biggest winner, as her song, “You Say,” saw a 260% jump in sales, going from from 3,000 sold on April 29-30 to 10,000 on May 1-2. The most surprising part of all of this is that 10,000 people watched the Billboard Music Awards.

* Madonna announced 25 Madame X tour dates that will involve multiple-night runs at smaller venues across the country, with each ticket including a physical copy of the album (a classic way of artificially inflating album sales numbers). The tour kicks off off on September 12th, with the first of 12 nights at New York’s 2,100-capacity BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Personally, the only way I could get interested in this is if Madame X turns out to be Madonna covering the greatest hits of DMX.

* Canadian pop artist Lo Lo (who you may remember from our interview back in March) released her Sweater Collection EP earlier this month, the latest single off of which is the undeniably great “Champagne 4every1.” This is a song that belongs on Top 40 radio, and Lo Lo is an artist I hope to hear everywhere soon. After she hits it big, just remember where you heard her first (as long as this site is where you heard her first).


And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.

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