Soraya Mathias Blog

It was announced Wednesday that Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will come at the hand of an unlikely presenter: Miley Cyrus.

Joan Jett: 'There Should Be More Women' in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The choice to have the pop star deliver such high honors to the "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" singer and her band at the April 18 event has resulted in some head-scratching and outcry from rock purists. But Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Greg Harris pointed out at a press conference that the two have history together, having performed some of Jett's songs on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2011.



"It was interesting to learn that they are mutual admirers," Harris said, via Cleveland.com. "They're great friends and admirers."

It was also announced that Dave Grohl and Tommy James of Tommy James and Shondells will perform as part of the group welcoming Jett and the Blackhearts into the Hall.

Ringo Starr on 'Thrill' of Upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction

Other inductees include the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Green Day, Lou Reed, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Bill Withers, Ringo Starr and the "5" Royales.

Harris also said Zac Brown and Tom Morello will play together in a band performing music by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

The ceremony will be filmed by HBO and aired May 30.

Ringo Starr is promising "speeches and music" when he's inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 18 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The former Beatle tells Billboard he'll definitely be performing during the ceremony, but as far as details, "I'm not telling you 'cause there goes the surprise. We have several guests who are coming along to play with me, and some of them will be very surprising." If you want to make some guesses, Paul McCartney will be making the induction speech, while Joe Walsh is Starr's brother-in-law. And Starr's son Zak Starkey has a night off from "The Who Hits 50!" tour of North America. (Meanwhile, opening act Joan Jett & the Blackhearts is being inducted as well.)

Ringo Starr's Top 10 Billboard Hits

"It's a thrill and a pleasure to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because it just is, you know what I mean? Thank you. It's from my peers, really," Starr adds. "They think, 'Let's put him in there.' " The drummer is already in as a Beatle, of course, but is, in fact, the last of the group to be inducted as a solo artist. "I wasn't thinking about it," Starr says. "It was just a fact I wasn't in, but it didn't keep me awake. Suddenly the phone rings and it's Paul McCartney saying, 'They want to induct you into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Will you accept? And I'm going to give the speech,' and I said, 'Well, sure, man. Yeah.' I was surprised."

50 Years Ago Today: The Beatles Boast Nos. 1-5 On Billboard Hot 100

As for receiving the Rock Hall's first and only award for musical excellence, Starr quips that, "I think it's the Dinosaur Award, actually...It's gonna be a T. Rex!"

The Rock Hall honor comes on the heels of the release of Starr's new album, Postcards From Paradise, his 18th solo album overall and a set he says he's "really proud of." "I do feel there is a buzz out there that, 'Wow, people are really liking this one,'" Starr acknowledges. He's hoping the momentum continues into the fall, when he takes his latest All-Starr Band -- which made key contributions to the album -- on the road again, starting Oct. 1 in San Francisco. He's already starting to think about what he'll be playing then, including material from the new album.

Exclusive: Ringo Starr Debuts 'Confirmation' From New Album

"I hope to put two tracks in," Starr says. "I hope to put the band(-written) track 'Island in the Sun' and 'Postcards From Paradise' in there. Some of the others...I don't know yet. I'm thinking of putting 'I'm the Greatest' back in. I just love that song. It's fun. So we'll see."
 

Fifteen-year-old Noah Cyrus is following in big sister Miley's provocative footsteps.

The younger Cyrus makes her debut in a new Ad for PETA that speaks out against animal dissection in classrooms. The gruesome pic shows the younger Cyrus cut open with her organs on display.

The caption on the ad reads, "I Am Not a Classroom Experiment. Neither Are Cats, Frogs, Rats, Pigs, or Other Animals Killed for Dissection. #DissectionKills."

"Because I love all animals so much, people should realize they don't have to cut into something to learn about it," Noah said in a statement to PETA, via E! News. "You should ask your teacher for other humane alternatives...You'll learn so much more off of the computer. If you have the other option, why not take it?"

The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters and Iggy Azalea will play during an 11-day festival in Quebec City, Canada.

Festival d'ete de Quebec will take place from July 9-19 and will include 300 shows across 10 venues. Other performers include Keith Urban, Nickelback, the Doobie Brothers, Deep Purple, and Jack U, the duo of popular DJs Diplo and Skrillex.

Rolling Stones Finally Announce North American Tour: 15-Date 'Zip Code' Trek Launches May 24

Performances will take place indoors and outdoors, and will range from pop and rock to jazz and electronica.

Tickets go on sale Thursday. The festival launched in 1968. Click here for the full lineup.

Niall Horan's dream day got a dose of reality when his quick stumble was caught on video.

The One Direction star tackled one of his dreams this week when he got to work as a golf caddy for Rory McIlroy at the Par 3 Masters. While McIlroy was being interviewed, Horan lost his balance. Sure, everyone trips over themselves at some point, but Horan is probably wishing his less-than-graceful moment wasn't 1) In front of his hero and 2) Caught on camera.

"@SkySportsWomen: To be fair to him...who wouldn't fall for Kirsty Gallacher?(Niall Horan falling on his arse) pic.twitter.com/XGVAMXy1bx"

-- John Molloy (@JohnMozMolloy) April 8, 2015

Naturally, he quickly recovered, and the day ended just fine.

What a moment ! Incredible to have met tiger woods! Thanks again @McIlroyRory @TheMasters pic.twitter.com/1XTEhTHkTu

-- Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) April 8, 2015

The German collection society GEMA is reporting solid growth as total worldwide revenues earned reached €893.6 million euros (about $950 million) in 2014, an increase of 4.8 percent over the previous year.

Three sectors made it all possible: music licenses, totaling €340.6 million (2013: €326.6), TV and radio synchs €287.3 million (2013: €292.2) and streaming, at €44.8 million (2013: €26.4). Costs were reduced 0.5 percent, to 15.4 percent (15.9 percent in 2014). GEMA was able to increase its streaming revenues due to new contracts with the various services. However, not everyone is happy with how the agency is splitting the payouts between rights owners, songwriters and publishers.

Digital Copyright 'Collection Agency' Rightscorp Lost $3.4 Million Last Year

Dr. Rolf Budde, president of the German Music Publishers Association (DMV) and member of the GEMA advisory board, told Billboard: "Publishers are decidedly uncomfortable with the fact that the holders of master rights are receiving more than fifteen times the amount that authors and music publishers are given. The massive imbalance between the payouts which Spotify and its peers issue to labels on the one hand, and to authors and publishers on the other, is horrific."

He added, "Considering that, following a slump in CD sales, the download market, which has so far been relatively stable, is now also sagging, it is even more important for this disparity to be addressed. To this end, we will be taking the necessary action."

Budde said Spotify will be discussed "in great detail" at the DMV's upcoming annual meeting, to be held April 21-22. He also said that Germany and the European Union must follow the U.S. Senate's lead and begin hearings on reforming copyright laws.

CISAC 2015 Global Collections Report: Royalties Remain Stable At $8.8 Billion

Despite a further decrease in the record business, the earnings were still relatively strong, at €109 million (2013: €110.4). As has been the case, Germany's physical business totaled 75 percent of the market, a decrease of just 1 percent compared to the previous year.

GEMA represents the copyrights of about 69,000 members (composers, lyricists and publishers) as well as about 2 million rights-owners all over the world.

Overall, Germany's economy grew 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 from the quarter before. So far this year, official figures show German industrial production rose 0.2 percent in February compared to January. The increase beat expectations among market analysts.

UPDATE: Photos surfaced later Thursday of Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea shooting a video for their collaboration -- including the one above.

Britney Spears, Noted Goofball, is many fans' favorite version of the singer.

So it was a delightful surprise when Spears tweeted the below grinning picture Thursday afternoon (April 9). Not only is Spears looking great and happy, but it's possible the emoji-filled message accompanying the photo may be lyrics to her upcoming collaboration with Iggy Azalea. "Girls roll up/ windows roll down/ eyes on us/ jaws on the ground." (The words don't match any previously-recorded Spears track.)

Girls roll , windows roll ️, on us, jaws on the ground pic.twitter.com/HaSvfJ4baJ

-- Britney Spears (@britneyspears) April 9, 2015

Britney Spears Reveals Why She Recorded with Iggy Azalea

The duo's song is expected to drop soon. Earlier this week, Spears shared a photo that was widely assumed to be of the video's back-up dancers. "Aren't these girls pretty?" Spears tweeted alongside the pic. "Pretty Girls" is the rumored title of the collaboration.

Aren't these girls pretty? pic.twitter.com/WFwS0IPXnZ

-- Britney Spears (@britneyspears) April 8, 2015

Fans of ousted American Idol finalist Qaasim Middleton hoping to see him on the Idol summer tour, don't lose hope just yet: There's a chance you might see him at least once.

The show -- which announced Wednesday that only the top five finalists will hit the road this summer -- is in negotiations for the remaining singers to open their hometown shows. Middleton hails from Brooklyn, and New York is one of the confirmed cities on the schedule.

'American Idol' Exclusive: Only Top Five to Tour This Summer

“Whatever happens, I’m down for some big things,” Middleton said Thursday (April 9) on a conference call with reporters. “I don’t know too much about the tour other than the fact it is supposed to be the top five make it through, but I know I am going to be doing some big stuff on my own as well.”

He is planning new original music that he described as funk, rock, hip-hop and soul mixed with alternative. His dream is to be a stadium artist (he name-checked Prince, Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars as examples), and he wants to create video games.

“The stuff that we are going to come up with is next-generation gaming,” he said. “We have so much to brainstorm about this. I’m a gamer. My uncle Carl is a professional gamer and gets paid to do this. He lives in Japan. My grandmother, she has beaten over 200 video games. No joke… She was one of the first people in the tri-state area to beat God of War III. I got into gaming really hard when I was younger. ... It’s a whole other market, and I can dish out some of my own now.”

'American Idol' Season 14: All Our Coverage

Which doesn’t mean the former star of Nickelodeon's Naked Brothers Band is abandoning acting opportunities. Show business is in his blood -- his father, Keith Middleton, performed in the New York cast of Stomp and his mom, Toni Seawright, was a fourth runner-up for Miss America -- and movies and dance videos are on his radar.

“I want to pack stadiums in a year or two,” he said. “You have not seen the last of me at all."

Middleton said he still gets recognized from his Nickelodeon days and was pleasantly surprised by a fan at Wednesday night's show.

“The first time I ever got a sign was yesterday. Someone came up and said they were a fan since NBB,” said the 20-year-old performer, adding that he was upfront about the 2007 series on camera. “I talked about it on the show a few times but it never got aired. I don’t know if it was a clearance thing.”

Middleton, who benefited from being this season’s judges’ save, said he was thankful to Jennifer Lopez for sticking up for his vocal abilities on Wednesday night’s show prior to the Twitter vote.

“I was getting a lot of flak from people that think I am not that great of a singer but I’m a great dancer,” said Middleton, who said he only started dancing in December. “If I wasn’t a good enough singer, I wouldn’t be on the show. I really appreciate her vouching for me and letting the public know that I am great singer. I do have some chops and I want to showcase those on originals that I have coming out for y’all soon."

Ariana Grande channeled one of her heroes when she covered Whitney Houston's hit "I Have Nothing" in concert Wednesday night at Los Angeles' Forum.

She first announced that she was bringing out "one of the most incredible songwriters of all time," David Foster, who wrote and produced Houston's 1992 hit from The Bodyguard soundtrack.

Watch Justin Bieber & Ariana Grande Perform Together in L.A.

"We're gonna do one of my favorite songs of all time that I actually grew up [singing]," Grande told the crowd, sitting atop a piano. "It was my go-to song to sing at the gay bar, karaoke bar, anywhere. This is such a surreal experience. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage the incredible David Foster."

A voice can then be overheard saying, "These kids don't even know who David Foster is" -- possibly true, but they scream as if he's Justin Bieber all the same.

The Furious 7 soundtrack is aiming for the No. 1 slot on next week’s Billboard 200 chart. The set could move more than 80,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 12, according to industry forecasters. (The album is currently No. 2 on the Billboard 200.)

The likely runner-up on the new chart will be All Time Low's latest effort, Future Hearts, which could earn 70,000 units. It was released April 7.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Billboard 200’s top 10 will be revealed on Wednesday, April 15.

Watch Wiz Khalifa's 'See You Again' Video From the 'Furious 7' Soundtrack

Furious 7 vaulted from No. 17 to No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200 chart, dated April 18 (reflecting data for the week ending April 5), in the wake of the film’s April 3 premiere in movie theaters. It shifted 74,000 units, up 202 percent. Of that sum, 45 percent was comprised of pure album sales, while 51 percent were TEA.

The Furious 7 soundtrack is powered in part by its hit single “See You Again,” by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth. The song zipped 84-10 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated April 18 and was the top-selling song of the week (168,000; up 488 percent, No. 1 on Digital Songs). It’s expected that the track’s sales will increase dramatically in the week ending April 12, especially in light of the release of its official music video on April 6. The clip serves as a tribute to the film’s co-star Paul Walker, who died during the filming of the movie.

Behind the Paul Walker 'Furious 7' Tribute Song: 'We Didn't Want People Leaving the Theater Sad'

If Furious 7 hits No. 1 on the Billboard 200, it will mark the fourth No. 1 soundtrack in the past year, following Frozen (which ruled for 13 nonconsecutive weeks from Jan. 18, 2014, through May 17), Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (Aug. 23-Aug. 30) and the Empire TV soundtrack (March 28, 2015).

Taylor Swift tallies a record-extending 21st week at No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 (dated April 18). Meanwhile, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth make big gains as their "See You Again," from the Furious 7 soundtrack, rockets into the Billboard Hot 100's top 10.

The Artist 100 is the first weekly survey dedicated to measuring artist activity across Billboard's most influential charts, including the Hot 100 songs chart, Top Album Sales and the Social 50. The Artist 100 blends data measuring album and track sales, radio airplay, streaming and social media fan interaction to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

With a 1 percent gain in activity, Swift notches her latest week as the top act in the U.S. Maroon 5 rises 3-2, followed in the top five by Ed Sheeran (4-3), Sam Smith (6-4) and Drake (5-5).



Among other notable Artist 100 action, rapper Khalifa and pop singer/songwriter Puth (featured on "Again") bound 62-23 and debut at No. 95, respectively, with digital song sales marking the majority of both acts' Artist 100 action. The track soars 84-10 on the Hot 100, fueled by massive interest in Furious 7 (and with the song's streaming totals set to surge more following the April 6 premiere of the Paul Walker-tribute "Again" video). The cut blasts 42-1 on Digital Songs, up by 488 percent to 168,000 downloads sold in the week ending April 5, according to Nielsen Music. With the coronation, Puth scores his first No. 1 on a Billboard chart.

'Uptown Funk' Ties for Second-Longest-Leading Hot 100 No. 1 of All Time

Earlier this year, Puth, 23, made inroads with his single "Marvin Gaye," which features Meghan Trainor. (The track reached No. 42 on Pop Digital Songs in February.) He recently told Billboard that upon playing the song for Trainor at a party, she liked it so much that she quickly offered to sing with him on it. They've since teamed further: He stars in the video for her new single "Dear Future Husband" (which reaches the Hot 100's top 40, climbing 55-39) and will open for her on her upcoming MTrain Tour.

'Furious 7' Soundtrack Heading for No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart

As for the success of "Again," "It's crazy," Puth says. "I didn't expect it to grow so quickly. I really love that people love it."

On their latest release, Dutch trio Noisia got a little help from their friends.

The notoriously talented production trio managed to lure Austrian artist Mefjus and Prague producer Hybris to their studios in the historic northern university city of Groningen to combine forces on Noisia's new four-track Incessant EP.

Exclusive EP Premiere and Q&A: Recondite Makes His Life and Death Debut With 'Think Twice'

Commencing with pitched stabs over a rollicking drum n bass beat, "Clusterfunk" progresses through complex polyrhythms and various unconventional tones that showcase the artists' penchant for advanced synthesis and sound design.

Listen to the full premiere of "Clusterfunk" exclusively on Billboard:

Billboard checked in with the Groningen natives to learn more about the collaboration's backstory and creative evolution.

How did this collaboration come together?
We threw a party where both Mefjus and Hybris played, and we got them to stick around in Groningen for a few days. We'd been meaning to do a collab for a little bit, and this was perfect timing.

What was your creative approach on the remix?
We went into two studios simultaneously. One studio produced "Clusterfunk," while from the other "Reptilians" emerged. It was a deliberately different approach, one very tight techy tune, and one loose, hairy and stompy tune.

You guys are known for your unconventional studio skills and next-level sound design. Any cool insights into how you made this track?
Nik had recently bought a Moog Sub 37. The lead sound in "Clusterfunk" is the result of messing around with the looping envelope functions on there. Also, for a long time it was actually unmixable, because somehow we managed to place one of the snares off grid without noticing.

What's next for Noisia?

We've just released the Ten Years of Vision compilation and completed the tour, so right now we're working on new Noisia material, new collabs, new events -- including our first open-air festival we're holding in Groningen, new releases on our labels, new merchandise and more.

Noisia's Incessant EP will be available through Vision Recordings on April 20 and can be pre-ordered here.

Hilary Duff returns to the Social 50 chart after the singer/actress announced her new single “Sparks” and forthcoming album on March 30. The pop star comes in at No. 25 on the chart dated April 18 -- a new peak.

The Social 50 ranks the most popular artists on YouTube, Vevo, Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, Wikipedia, MySpace and Instagram. The chart's methodology blends weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with artist page views, song plays and reactions as measured by music analytics company Next Big Sound.

Watch Hilary Duff's 'Younger' TV Show Preview With New Song 'Sparks'

Duff appeared on both ABC’s Good Morning America as well as The Ellen DeGeneres Show on March 30, speaking about her upcoming new music and TV Land show Younger. The appearances, which were promoted heavily across Duff’s social channels, led to a 33 percent gain in Facebook fans in the week ending April 5, according to Next Big Sound. She also earned a 164 percent increase in new Instagram followers and a 41 percent spike in views to her Wikipedia page.

“Sparks” debuted on iTunes and YouTube on April 6. Higher up the tally, Ludacris collects the chart’s biggest percentage gain, as he zooms 124 percent in points and rises 47-17 (his highest rank since Nov. 15, 2014, when he was also No. 17). The rally comes after a busy week of promotion around the April 3 release of his film Furious 7 and the March 31 bow of his album Ludaversal. His Twitter mentions grew by 36 percent for the week, and his Instagram likes jumped by 77 percent.

Finally, Selena debuts at No. 49 following publicity around the 20th anniversary of her death on March 31. The re-entry is due mostly to an increase in visits to her Wikipedia page, which was up 359 percent after more than 173,000 views.

Watch Kendrick Lamar's 'King Kunta' Video

Over on the weekly Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks chart, Kendrick Lamar is the top entry after the April 1 release of the music video for “King Kunta,” the third single from Lamar’s Billboard 200-topping album To Pimp a Butterfly. The resulting conversation causes the track to re-enter the chart at No. 2, which ties the peak of Lamar’s prior single, “The Blacker the Berry,” which arrived in the runner-up slot on the chart dated Feb 28. His set’s first single “I” topped the Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks chart dated Oct. 11.

As predicted, Zayn Malik makes his first solo appearance on a weekly chart with “I Don’t Mind” (No. 5 debut on Top Tracks), a demo of a song produced by Naughty Boy which he shared March 30 on Twitter. After Naughty Boy tweeted the song -- which succeeded in riling fans up -- a beef between the producer and One Direction's Louis Tomlinson escalated, helping the track gain further traction online.

Lastly, the debut of the official music video for “Big Girls Cry” grants Sia her sixth Top Tracks entry, as the song starts at No. 7. The video, which yet again features dancing youngster Maddie Ziegler, helps the camera-shy singer score her fifth top 10, with “Elastic Heart” her sole No. 1 to date (Jan. 24, 2015, chart).

As you probably gathered from listening to Mumford & Sons' "Believe" and "The Wolf" -- two tracks from their third album Wilder Mind, out May 4 -- the folk-rock band is becoming more of a rock band these days.

While talking to Billboard for our new cover story, out Friday, April 10, Mumford & Sons shared thoughts on everything from Kanye West to their folk-rock followers to their creative reinvention. And as befitting a true rock band, Mumford & Sons weren't afraid to get brutally honest while discussing matters.

From Friday's cover story, here's a sneak peek of five things you definitely didn't know about Mumford & Sons.

1. Kanye Is a Rock Star to Them. Rihanna... Maybe Not
While frontman Marcus Mumford and guitarist Winston Marshall both agree that this generation isn't defined by rock music like past ones ("It just makes me a bit sad," Mumford says), they have nothing against the hip-hop star ruling the music realm. Marshall says he expects his generation will be remembered for "Kanye West and Rihanna," both of whom he calls "sick." Mumford agrees with part of that assertion: "Rihanna? I think Kanye is sick. He's the only rock star left."

Mumford & Sons Unleash 'The Wolf' on New Song

2. They Believe Some of Today's Folk-Rock is 'F---ing Awful'
The band realizes they weren't the first to bring folk-rock into the 21st century (they nod to Fleet Foxes), but Mumford knows they are (or were) the biggest folk-rock band on the scene -- after all, everyone from One Direction to Imagine Dragons has aped their sound by now. Now, it’s the ubiquity of that sound that helped push them away from it. “Some of it was great, and some of it was f---ing awful. But naturally, we started our journey away from that stuff,” says Mumford.

3. A Mumford Member Is Also Trying to Be a Comedian
Guitarist Winston Marshall has been taking improv classes with the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York. In case you're unfamiliar, UCB is a venerated underground comedy institution that feeds talent into Saturday Night Live (Amy Poehler is a veteran). He's also tossing around an idea for a comedy web series.

4. Mumford Is Following in the Footsteps of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Like the cast of FX's hit series, Mumford keyboard player Ben Lovett opened a bar to have free alcohol at hand. “One of the dangers of touring is you get used to not paying for booze,” Lovett says of the watering hole he helped open in Brooklyn. “So this will help keep that dream going.”

Mumford & Sons Return With 'Wilder Mind' in May

5. Electric Rock Is Actually Their Default Setting
While some might see Mumford's move away from banjos and toward plugged-in instruments as a change in course, Mumford says it's actually a return to their norm: "We adopted acoustic instruments. These are the instruments we grew up with.”

Read Billboard's full Mumford & Sons cover story when it's out Friday, April 10. 

If the rest of the Internet is getting in the way of your Drake obsession, you are in luck. There is now a search engine just for you.

When Google's search results are too much, turn to "Let Me Drake That For You" -- a new search engine focused solely on the Canadian hip-hop mogul.

Drake Bringing OVO Pop-Up Shop to L.A.

The site allows you to search any term and does the hard work of searching for those words related to the rapper all for you. It also offers suggestions for you, just in case you want to learn more about Drake but don't know what to look for. All the while, Drake's tunes play in the background and there's a Drake soundboard of his grunts when you click around.

Watch Lykke Li Cover Drake's 'Hold On, We're Going Home'

Of course the search engine isn't flawless, as Drake is not the only "drake" out there.

For instance, searching "Oregon Ducks" will give you a piece on the rapper sporting a jersey repping the University of Oregon's Heisman-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota. But it will also give you a Youtube link on how to find the difference between a duck and a drake -- a male duck. Or searching "dinosaur" will turn up Buzzfeed article called "11 Times Drake Looked Like a Dinosaur" but also something about a manga character called X Drake who can turn into a dinosaur.

In case it wasn't clear already, the Internet's a wild place.

Mamma Mia!, one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history, will wrap its Broadway production on Sept. 5, 2015, at the Broadhurst Theatre, global producer Judy Craymer announced on Thursday (April 9).

One of five current musicals to have been on a Broadway stage for more than 10 years, the musical will drop the curtain on the production after 5,765 total performances.

Rewinding the Charts: 40 Years Ago, Mamma Mia! ABBA-Mania Began

The musical -- which features the music of ABBA -- opened on Oct. 18, 2001, at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre following the success of the 1999 London premiere and recently passed the runs of Broadway musicals Rent, Miss Saigon, 42nd Street, Grease and Fiddler on the Roof.

In 14 years on the stage, Mamma Mia! is said to have grossed more than $2 billion.

The musical was adapted into a feature film in 2008, which starred Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Amanda Seyfried, and became the most successful live movie musical to date, grossing $600 million worldwide.

ABBA songs performed in the musical include "Dancing Queen," "The Winner Takes It All," "Money, Money, Money" and "Take a Chance on Me."

Mamma Mia! was written by Catherine Johnson, with music and lyrics by ABBA's Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

As Rihanna prepares to unleash her new album, R8, at basically any moment now, she's been dropping new singles left and right to fans' excitement. But even though her most recent track "American Oxygen" may seem like it was released out of the blue, the song's co-writer Sam Harris says writing it took nearly an entire year -- the longest he's ever spent on something, either as a hired gun or with his own band X Ambassadors.

What started as an idea bouncing back and forth between him and producer Alex Da Kid (who signed X Ambassadors to his Interscope subsidiary KIDinaKORNER in 2013) was slowly sculpted into an anthemic ode to the American dream's potential and its disillusionment. "It's a lot of writing and rewriting and getting it right by saying as much as you can with as little as possible," says Harris.

Rihanna Debuts 'American Oxygen' Video on Tidal

The X Ambassadors singer describes the process of creating "American Oxygen" as a "very 2015" way of working: collaborating digitally back and forth. He never actually met Rihanna during the process, he says, and instead received her notes through Alex Da Kid.

"I didn't even really know what version of the verses she ended up recording until I heard it for the first time a couple days ago," he says.

But interestingly enough, this process is pretty similar to how he writes music for X Ambassadors, who also have a new single called "Renegades" out now and will be touring with Milky Chance this summer. "We're constantly writing and rewriting stuff," he says. "Alex is the producer on our records, so he's just a springboard for everything I do."





Billboard caught up with Harris to talk about his writing process, pulling inspiration from Bruce Springsteen and how "American Oxygen" developed into the epic song we hear today.

Where did "American Oxygen" begin?
We worked on that song for a year. When we started out on it, it was a track that Alex had. He sends me beats all the time, and I'm constantly writing to them -- for him and pitching for us, for the band and for other artists. This is one that really stuck with me, and I started this chorus with the first couple lines, and Alex immediately was like, "This is something cool, keep going." We worked on just that chorus for like three or four months, going back and forth, back and forth.... It goes to show you that sometimes these songs just appear out of nowhere and sometimes you just have to go at it like a block of marble and you're chipping away at it.

What's going on when you say you're "chipping away at it"? How do you keep that perspective that there's even anything there?
It's hard to keep that perspective. I had the title and I had the first couple lines: "Breath out, breath in, American oxygen." And it immediately had a vibe to it. Alex and I wanted the chorus to say so much with as little as possible. You've just got to add stuff, and sometimes I'd have a line that worked but it didn't have the right melody, so we'd have to change the melody and so on, and that process went on for a while until we got it.

And then he was pitching it to a couple people. First I heard one person wanted it, then I heard another person wanted it, then I heard that Rihanna really liked it, and from there we started writing verses together, and that's when she became involved in the process. With her help and with Alex's help, we all collectively created this story. And it took a lot of different variations. I think there are three different versions of the verses that were written. But I wrote one thing and then Alex and Rihanna had the idea to turn it into this song about an immigrant story, coming to this country as an outsider. ... That was her idea, really, hers and Alex's, to turn it into that kind of song.

When you start with a chorus and the song then is shaped around it, does a phrase like "breath out, breath in, American Oxygen" change its meaning while you build out these new verses and drafts?
The song means so much, and it's kind of hard to pinpoint one specific thing. A lot of the time it's just a subconscious thing that you're exposed to that comes out in the lyrics. There's a lot of turmoil going on in this country right now, and I don't think of myself as a political person or politically savvy, or someone who can speak as eloquently about social injustice as other people that I know can, who are very well-versed in it. But I think we all have something to say about it, and if you just kind of let it happen and work hard enough at it on a song, something will eventually come out.

Watch Rihanna Perform 'American Oxygen' At March Madness Music Fest

People living in this country, or who don't even live in this country, they all feel something different. ... I looked at songs like "Born in the U.S.A." and that record. I listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen when I was writing this, and he really gets it. He gets that there's pride to living here in this country. This country is great and has the potential to be something really, really incredible, but there are a lot of problems that we don't acknowledge and it's important to shed light on both those things. And if you can do that in a song, that's the best.

Once you find out Rihanna wants the song, does that change how you work on it? Do you start thinking about Rihanna's voice then?
No. Not at all. Some writers do. For some writers, it's much easier for them to write if they're trying to cater it for that artists. For me, I think of it like if I was looking for a song written by somebody else, what would I be looking for? I would be looking for something that's unique and different. I really was just trying to write something that I thought was cool and that I thought I could sing, even after I knew that it was going to her.

But it gets me thinking about when I first heard her version of it, because it's so cool because it's so her. She just really made magic with that song and she made it her own. She really did. And the fact that her and Alex both helped craft the song and turned it into something that's bigger than me, it just means way more. The perspective that they gave to it, having it be this immigrant story, is something so cool and unique that I probably wouldn't have thought of had it not been for them.

Is writing like this something that you had hoped to do earlier in your career, when you were in a rock band starting out in Ithaca, New York?
It just kind of comes with the territory. As a band we write so many songs, and not all of them are going to see the light of day and not all of them are going to be played by us. But some of the ones that aren't going to be played by us, maybe somebody else wants. And that thing gets to be out in the world rather than just sitting on a hard drive somewhere.

Could this have been an X Ambassadors song instead?
Sure, yeah. We have our own version of it. But I think it means so much more being sung by Rihanna -- specifically by a black female immigrant in the United States. That is so powerful for a young kid to see her singing that song, it gets me choked up just thinking about it. It really was made so much more powerful by what she contributed to the songwriting and the performance of the song. I idolize her, and to have been given the opportunity to work with her is amazing. ... I watched the video for it the other day, and it's just so powerful. I'd heard the song, I'd seen her do it live, but that video for me, it was like, "That's it." This is why I do this -- to see a finished product like this that means so much, it really is exactly what I wanted it initially to mean.

You've got to feel immensely proud.
I'm lucky. I'm so lucky to have been a conduit to whatever it was that hit me to help write this thing and to be associated to her is just incredible. I couldn't ask for anything more.