Entertainment
Bruno Mars Kicks off The Romantic Tour in Las Vegas & Receives Key to the Strip on ‘Bruno Mars Day’
Bruno Mars kicked off The Romantic Tour on Friday night (April 10) with a sold-out show in front of more than 60,000 fans packing Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The pop supernova lived up to his billing as the King of Las Vegas entertainment as he ran through his plethora of smash hits within a 25-track setlist, which included five songs with his Silk Sonic running mate, Anderson .Paak, who joined him midway through the show.
If there’s one thing Sin City knows how to do, it’s throw a party. Friday was an all-day celebration for Bruno Mars ahead of his Romantic Tour launch.
“Bruno Mars isn’t just a global superstar; he’s one of the most electrifying performers of our time, and over the past decade, he’s become an integral part of Las Vegas,” said Bill Hornbuckle, CEO and president of MGM Resorts International, in a statement. “From his early performances at Bellagio and MGM Grand to his record‑setting residency at Dolby Live, Bruno has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors and has created the kind of unforgettable, ‘only in Vegas’ moments that define this city. It’s only fitting that we help launch his world tour here today as we honor his extraordinary impact on Las Vegas and the energy he brings to our community.”
Bruno started the day in style with a ride down the Strip in a vintage convertible for a parade honoring his contributions to the Las Vegas entertainment scene, as April 10 was renamed to Bruno Mars Day in Sin City.
The Grammy-winning artist was given the key to the Las Vegas Strip, while Park Avenue outside Park MGM was renamed to Bruno Mars Drive. He joins a decorated group to receive the honor, which includes Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin.
As Las Vegas has been a lucrative endeavor for Bruno, he made sure to give back to the community. The singer-songwriter pledged a $1 million donation to the future Intermountain Health Nevada Children’s Hospital.
The Romantic Tour continues on Saturday night (April 11) when Bruno Mars returns to the Allegiant Stadium stage for another cinematic performance. It’s the 40-year-old’s first trek in nearly a decade and his first time taking over North American stadiums.
Bruno’s The Romantic album arrived in February and debuted atop the Billboard 200 — his second No. 1 — with 186,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending March 5, according to Luminate.
Entertainment
A Timeline of the Consequences Ye Has Faced for His ‘WLM’ Shirts & Antisemitic Hate Speech
Ye (formerly Kanye West) is facing very public reckoning. The “Hurricane” rapper made headlines at his Yeezy Paris Fashion Week show on Oct. 3, 2022, for wearing a shirt emblazoned with the phrase “White Lives Matter” on its back, and featuring Black models in the shirt. The phrase is one that was adopted by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, and the rapper has been facing backlash from both fans and celebrities online.
But the controversy did not stop for there for Ye, who has doubled down on his comments on Instagram and later took to Twitter (now X) to use antisemitic rhetoric in his posts, then continued to amplify his hate speech in interviews. The reaction from the public was swift, with several companies — including The Gap, Balenciaga and more — terminating their relationships and brand deals with the rapper.
Forbes reported that Ye has lost his billionaire status after Adidas announced Oct. 25, 2022, that it was dropping his deal, and that the brand does not tolerate hate speech. The move, according to the publication, put Ye’s net worth at $400 million and resulted in his removal from Forbes‘ billionaires list.
Since then, Adidas has opened an internal investigation after several former employees accused West of inappropriate workplace conduct during meetings with Adidas employees. People in his orbit, from former girlfriend Julia Fox to collaborator Pusha T, have also distanced themselves from him. Furthermore, Ye’s Nov. 22, 2022, dinner with Donald Trump and white nationalist Nick Fuentes was widely denounced, even by Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence.
From brands and scrapped documentaries, to airplay declines of his music catalogue, his later apologies and more, here are the consequences Kanye West has faced due to his “WLM” and antisemitic remarks and hate speech.
*Editor’s Note: After an Oct. 8, 2022, tweet in which he announced he was going “death con [sic] 3 on Jewish people,” Kanye West (Ye) has repeatedly doubled down on antisemitic hate speech, even going so far as to praise Hitler, a man responsible for the systematic murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust. This arrives at a troubling time when antisemitism is on the rise, with the Anti-Defamation League noting a 34% year-over-year increase in antisemitic incidents (assault, harassment and vandalism) in America in 2021. Many companies have cut business ties with the rapper/fashion designer, while numerous musicians, friends and politicians have condemned his comments.
They are fearless, they are powerful and they are back with new music. K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM announced via Weverse on Sunday (April 12) the release date for their second studio album, PUREFLOW pt. 1 and the lead single “CELEBRATION.” PUREFLOW pt. 1 will drop on May 22 with the single coming out April 24.
The girl group began teasing its comeback on April 7 with a cryptic Instagram post with the hashtag “#TimeToCelebrate.” Fans were quick to react in the posts’ comments asking, “What are we celebrating,” while others responded simply with “Finally.”
Alongside the news of the upcoming album and single, the K-pop girl group also shared a video for the PUREFLOW on its social media channels and record label HYBE’s YouTube channel. In the video, the phrase “For we are not fearless, and therefore powerful” materializes before “powerful” transforms into the word PUREFLOW. The same message appears in the caption.
PUREFLOW is the follow-up record to LE SSERAFIM’s 2023 debut studio album, UNFORGIVEN, and the first release since its 2025 single “SPAGHETTI” featuring j-hope of BTS. Since the group’s debut in 2022 with EP FEARLESS, LE SSERAFIM has taken the stage at both the MTV VMAs and EMAs, achieved major chart success on the Billboard 200 and performed at Coachella in 2024. LE SSERAFIM’s second EP, ANTIFRAGILE, debuted and peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, marking the band’s first time on the chart. UNFORGIVEN earned the group its first top 10 placement on the Billboard 200 when it rose to a peak of No. 6 in May 2023.
Young Thug was very communicative with the desert audience during his Coachella set on Sunday night (April 12). Among the VIPs in the crowd to pull up with a front-row view to his performance were North West and Teyana Taylor.
“What’s up, North? How you doing? Where your parents?” Thug said while asking about Kim Kardashian and Ye (formerly Kanye West).
He gave another shout-out to Ye and Kim’s eldest daughter later in the show. “I want y’all to make some noise for North,” Thugger continued. “She in this motherf—ker. You just casually having fun.”
Ahead of performing the top 15 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Hot” sans Gunna, Thugger instructed the crowd to open up some mosh pits, as captured in a fan video. “Give me a mosh pit over here. North, get out of the way. Teyana, get out the way. I don’t see one yet. What is this, not English? Where North at, man, protect North,” he said while looking out for the 12-year-old.
Thug also took a playful jab at Teyana Taylor in the audience, as he was looking to have the Harlem native style him for the performance. Thugger opted for colorful braids and a bedazzled black SP5DER football jersey to go with a pair of diamond-encrusted leather pants.
“Teyana Taylor in here, what’s up. I’ve been tryna get in touch with her for, like, the last month. I wanted her to style me, man. She just too big. [She] wasn’t calling back, talking about, ‘We promise she gonna call back later, we promise she’s rehearsing.’ I’m like, ‘What she rehearsing for?'”
Thugger’s set was a roller-coaster ride throughout all the eras of his unique career. He even brought a few special guests to the stage, as Camila Cabello, Ty Dolla $ign and NAV all joined him.
Watch a clip of Camila Cabello’s “Havana” performance with Thug below.
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