Entertainment
‘Bottle Rockets’ Send Scotty McCreery and Hootie & the Blowfish to Top of Country Airplay Chart
Scotty McCreery and Hootie & the Blowfish climb two spots to the top of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Oct. 4) with “Bottle Rockets,” marking unique feats for McCreery and the band’s frontman, Darius Rucker, as well as McCreery’s label, Triple Tigers.
How Hootie & the Blowfish’s Classic ‘Hold My Hand’ Came to Be on Scotty McCreery’s ‘Bottle Rockets’: ‘It Fit Like a Glove’
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The single, which features newly recorded vocals from Hootie & the Blowfish built around its classic song “Hold My Hand,” credits 11 writers, including McCreery, Rucker and producer Frank Rogers. It increased by 14% to 30.5 million audience impressions in the Sept. 19-25 tracking week, according to Luminate. “Hold My Hand” became Hootie’s first major hit, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995.
The ascent of “Bottle Rockets” to No. 1 puts Rucker in exclusive company with Tyler Hubbard. They are now the only artists who have ruled Country Airplay both as solo acts and with a duo or group, dating to the chart’s start in January 1990. Hubbard scored 16 leaders as half of Florida Georgia Line before earning the first of three solo No. 1s with 2022’s “5 Foot 9.” Rucker has collected nine No. 1s as a solo artist, beginning with “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” in 2008.
Triple Tigers, launched in 2016 as a joint venture between Thirty Tigers, Sony Music Entertainment-owned distributor The Orchard and Triple 8 Management, also notches a milestone. Directly following Russell Dickerson’s two-week reign with “Happen to Me,” “Bottle Rockets” gives the label its first successive Country Airplay No. 1s. To date, the imprint has powered 11 singles to the top, six by McCreery and five by Dickerson.
Meanwhile, “Bottle Rockets” joins such Country Airplay No. 1s that interpolate prior hits as Cole Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” his 2022 leader that reimagines Jo Dee Messina’s 1996 breakthrough single, “Heads Carolina, Tails California.”
For the 31-year-old McCreery, “Bottle Rockets” is his first Country Airplay leader since “Damn Strait,” which spent three weeks at No. 1 in 2022. He wraps his quickest trip to the top spot: 20 weeks, nearly halving his previous fastest coronation (37 weeks for “This Is It” in 2018-19).
Entertainment
Ledisi, Durand Bernarr, Big Freedia & More to Perform at 2026 Blue Note Jazz Festival New York
Grammy-winning artists Ledisi, Durand Bernarr and Big Freedia are among the performers slated for the 2026 Blue Note Jazz Festival New York. Being staged at multiple venues across the Big Apple, the 15th annual festival begins June 1.
On that date, two-time Grammy-winning hip-hop group Arrested Development will kick off the proceedings at Sony Hall. Running through July 1, Blue Note Jazz Festival New York’s additional lineup includes UMI, Destin Conrad and Cymande. Among the additional venues presenting performances are the Blue Note Jazz Club and SummerStage.
The festival — which concludes July 1 — will also feature the Official Blue Note Jazz Fest Midnight Jam presented by Chris Rob on June 26, in addition to its popular jazz brunches. Blue Note Jazz Festival New York will run concurrently with the Blue Note Jazz Festival Hollywood Bowl. Presented in collaboration with the LA Phil, the latter fest — whose lineup includes Patti LaBelle, Gregory Porter, Wyclef Jean and Samara Joy — takes place June 13-14.
“We started the Blue Note Jazz Festival New York 15 years ago with a focus on unique curation and programming an eclectic range of artistry, said Blue Note talent buyer Alex Kurland in a statement. “The festival has always focused on presenting artists who are singular and one of a kind, who push the sound and state of the music forward. Artists who are completely individual.
“This year is particularly special for us with a lineup that continues to read like a playlist of taste, focused on artists that we love,” added Kurland. “Artists who are your favorite artists’ favorite artists. Stylistically diverse, singular and soulful. This year’s lineup spans from Big Freedia to Brian Blade, to Ledisi and Durand Bernarr; from Dirty Dozen Brass Band to Kokoroko and MonoNeon. Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah to Destin Conrad and BLK ODYSSY. Incomparable voices that creatively propel the sound and music culture forward.”
Find more information about Blue Note Festival New York and tickets on the event’s website.
Entertainment
‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Most Historic Moments, From Chart Accolades to Billboard’s Women of the Year
Since it premiered on Netflix in June 2025, KPop Demon Hunters has just kept going up, up, up.
Following fictional girl group HUNTR/X as its members Rumi, Mira and Zoey fought to protect the world from evil demons with the power of music, the film is one that’s become a rare animated children’s feature to become truly unescapable in pop culture. If you haven’t seen the movie, you’ve most likely at least heard standout soundtrack hit “Golden” blasting over the radio or through someone’s headphones in public, noticed the film’s title popping up again and again on award show nominations lists, or heard a friend or family member with small children lovingly bemoan the amount of times it’s been played in their home.
Through its ubiquity, KPop Demon Hunters has introduced a wider audience to Korean music, art and traditions — which, according to directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, was the goal all along. “That was the dream from the beginning with this movie, was just, ‘How do we take all of [K-culture] and encompass it in a film?’” Kang told Billboard in a January interview after the movie was nominated for best animated feature at the Oscars. “Now Koreans can look at it and be like, ‘This is something that encapsulates our culture,’ and they can celebrate it.”
“It’s beautiful to see kids from all different races in America, all over the country, dressed up as Korean women for Halloween,” EJAE, “Golden” cowriter and the singing voice of Rumi, added of young fans emulating HUNTR/X. “They’re not princesses, they’re these bada– women, you know? Seeing that Korean braid that inspired the braid of Rumi everywhere in the streets of New York, and people singing Korean lyrics all over the world, is just such a beautiful dream.”
But while the feat of pushing the culture forward is arguably the most meaningful accolade for the team behind the film, KPop Demon Hunters has also racked up a number of numeric records and quantifiable “firsts” as well — and Billboard, who recently announced the trio of EJAE, AUDREY NUNA and REI AMI as our 2026 Women of the Year, is keeping track. As the franchise continues solidifying itself as a generational staple — with Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation confirming in March 2026 that a sequel is definitely in the works — keep reading to see all of the ways it’s etched its name into the history books below.
Live entertainment company Venu Holding Corporation (VENU) raised $86.25 million from institutional investors through an oversubscribed stock offering this week, the company announced on Thursday (March 12).
Colorado-based VENU, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, said on Tuesday (March 10) it had completed an underwritten public offering for 18.75 million shares sold for $4 each. Executives said the stock offering beat the $75 million in gross proceeds they initially expected, despite widespread market volatility sparked by the conflict in Iran.
“The market is hungry, and this raise proves it,” J.W. Roth, VENU’s founder, chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “We’ve created a model to scale premium entertainment destinations across the country, and investors are recognizing the opportunity.”
Founded in 2017, VENU owns, operates and is developing live music venues in cities like Oklahoma City and Tulsa in Oklahoma, and El Paso and Dallas-Fort Worth in Texas. VENU says its luxury music venues put a family and group-friendly spin on typical VIP offerings with fire pit suites, which individuals can buy shares in.
The company, which boasts shareholders including Niall Horan and Dierks Bentley, said the capital raised through this week’s offering will go toward accelerating development of projects currently underway in Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma.
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VENU’s flagship facility, the Ford Ampitheater in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was named the Top West Coast Amphitheater on Billboard‘s Top Venues of 2026. The 8,000-seat, open-air venue, which opened in August 2024, has held concerts by Cage the Elephant, OneRepublic, Miranda Lambert, Dwight Yoakam, The Black Keys and Godsmack, in partnership with promoter AEG Presents.
The company said it expects to open three more amphitheaters in 2026 and aims to operate 25 amphitheaters and 15 indoor entertainment complexes by 2030.
“We might be $4 or $5 today, but we’re going to $50. This capital is what accelerates us to get there,” Roth said in a video posted to YouTube.
VENU’s stock was trading at $3.56 around 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, near its 52-week low of $3.49. The S&P 500 index was down 1.26% on Thursday.
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