It’s Friday! Welcome to The Banger Brief, your weekly roundup of what you need to know to stay in the loop on pop music. Today… Usher and Chris Brown cancel more shows as tensions grow between them, KATSEYE has the world worried, Duran Duran are now drummer-less, Robyn shines on NPR’s Tiny Desk, New Music Friday, and more. But first, let’s talk about the Latin GRAMMYs … aka Rosalia’s big night.
Rosalia Makes History at Latin GRAMMYs
The 27th annual Latin GRAMMYs took place last night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Rosalia made history, becoming the first woman to win the Album of the Year award three times. And it happens to be for three back-to-back albums.
As she accepted the coveted prize for her impeccable album Lux, she said, “This is the third time I’ve won this award and just as El Mal Querer felt like a dream or Motomami was a gamble, Lux has been, for me, a leap into the void. I believe it’s very important to speak your own truth and for others to be able to speak theirs; this album is my truth."
She also took home five other awards, including Song of the Year for “La Perla” which features Yahritza Y Su Esencia, whom she invited on stage to celebrate. The song also won Best Pop Song.
If that wasn’t enough, she also opened the show with a spectacular medley of songs from Lux.
Janet Jackson made a surprise appearance to present Daddy Yankee with the Person of the Year award (#JusticeForMadeForNow). The Puerto Rican legend was also honored the night before with a full ceremony that included tribute performances by J Balvin, Feid, Nathy Peluso, and others.
After retiring in 2022, Daddy Yankee returned to music in 2025 with a Christian album, saying that he wasn’t going to perform his old music anymore. Thankfully, that seems to be over, as he performed an incredible medley of his biggest hits, including “Gasolina,” “Lo Que Pasó, Pasó,” and “Ella Me Levantó,” with a star-studded lineup of guests, including Bizarrap, Bad Gyal, Feid, LL Cool J, and others.
» ICYMI: Daddy Yankee is performing at Coachella next year.
More awards…
Milo J, the Argentinian urban artist that has taken the world of Latin music by storm, was the second biggest winner of the night. One of his big wins was Record of the Year for his song “Niño.” His latest album, La Vida Era Mas Corta, also took home Best Folk Album.
It was also a big night for Colombian artists. Aria Vega won Best New Artist, Karol G and Feid picked up Best Reggaeton Performance for “Verano Rosa,” and Juanes won his 27th Latin GRAMMY (at the 27th Latin GRAMMYs) with Juanesteban for Best Pop/Rock Album.
One of the coolest moments of the night was seeing Bobby Pulido win Best Tejano Album. During his acceptance speech, he talked about how he is retiring from music as he was recently elected to Congress in Texas.
See the full list of winners of the Latin GRAMMYs here.
Usher and Chris Brown cancel more shows
On Wednesday’s edition of The Banger Brief, I shared TMZ’s report that Usher and Chris Brown had canceled an upcoming show at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles following a backstage argument in Atlanta last week.
Well, it got worse.
A second show, this one at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 6, has also been canceled without explanation.
A new exclusive from People alleges that they “can’t stand each other,” and that it is something that was a thing even before their co-headlining tour started.
Usher apparently doesn’t like Chris Brown at all.
So why did he agree to tour with him? 🙄
FWIW, I still think the cancellations are due to ticket sales and not their ongoing issues though.
Shawn Mendes puts out support for Palestine
Shawn Mendes put up a statement on his socials showing support for the people of Palestine.
“There is a genocide happening before our eyes,” he wrote. “The senseless killing in Gaza must stop. The children and families in Palestine have suffered for far too long, and they need our help.”
He even encouraged his fellow artists to speak up too while acknowledging that it was a “scary” thing to do.
This has been an ongoing topic with artists as of late. Macklemore famously got the boot from Ed Sheeran’s tour in September and is now struggling to book arenas in the U.S. for his Free Palestine benefit shows, Metallica’s frontman James Hetfield denounced artists for preaching politics on stage, and P!nk faced backlash from pro-Palestine groups following the announcement of her upcoming residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
This week, Israel struck a hospital in Gaza that left six people dead and many injured.
Beyoncé covers i-D, praises UK pop stars
Beyoncé is on the cover of i-D magazine. In the interview, she had nice things to say about UK’s rising stars Sienna Spiro, RAYE, and Olivia Dean. She even added that they give her “goosebumps” and she feels a lot of “pride” when it comes to them. Love it!
» Speaking of Sienna, she announced today that she will not perform at The ARIA Awards in Australia next week saying, “this tour has taken its toll on me and my voice.” Hope she gets well soon!
» Aaaand speaking of awards, The Hollywood Reporter is honoring Taylor Swift with the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award.
Everyone is concerned with KATSEYE
Bro, wtf is going on with KATSEYE?!
First, watch my TikTok on their recent performance in Austin where Megan was sitting on a chair the entire time with sunglasses as she continues to recover from her concussion. It’s funny, but kinda sad too.
These poor girls need a break ASAP.
The group started 2026 on top of the world as a six-piece until Manon announced she was taking a break from the group in February. Sophia would then announce her own hiatus in August for “personal health” issues.
It was already weird enough to see them as a quartet when their Wildworld Tour resumed in September, but seeing three of them performing on Tuesday with the fourth one sitting on a chair on stage was kinda insane.
Kesha gave her two cents writing: “This doesn’t feel right to me.”
From the web:
What’s Going On With KATSEYE? - Rolling Stone
One of Pop’s Hottest Groups Has Become a Dangerous Mess. Fans Need to Pull The Plug. - Slate Magazine
On The Road
A lot of people were happy yesterday when Phoebe Bridgers announced a second North American leg of The Lost Tour for 2027. See the dates here.
» This week, it was also announced that Bridgers will headline Hinterland Music Fest in Iowa next summer. Other artists include Slayyyter, Remi Wolf, Ashe, Malcolm Todd, and Caroline Polachek.
In other festival news, Blink-182, Evanescence, and 5 Seconds Of Summer are among the acts performing at Download Festival in the UK next year.
Tame Impala added dates in Oklahoma and Mexico for the Deadbeat Tour which lead up to the recently announced headlining set at Coachella.
‼️ The Queen of Pop, Madonna, who is also performing at Coachella next year, is rumored to have booked some arena shows for next year as part of a potential Confessions II tour, according to an editor from The Sun. Take it with a grain of salt.
Duran Duran’s Drummer (love alliteration) Retires
In some sad news, Duran Duran’s drummer Roger Taylor has been forced to retire after his tinnitus got worse.
“This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. Playing drums in this band has been the joy of my life, and I’ll never be able to properly thank the fans for the love they’ve shown us over the years,” he said in a statement. “But the truth is that my tinnitus has been getting steadily worse, and I’ve reached the point where I must now listen to my body and my doctors.”
Man, that sucks.
The Weeknd releases video for ‘Hong Kong’
The Weeknd finally put out the video for “Hong Kong” featuring Faye Wong. It first premiered during one of his shows in Hong Kong back in October, but it is now available for everyone else to watch.
The song is a major hit in China. Not a bad way to wrap up his record-breaking, $1.3 billion-grossing After Hours Til Dawn Tour.
New Music Friday
It is Friday and you know what that means: new music!
Dolly Parton’s last recorded song is out today. It is a collab with U2 called “Torn” featured on the band’s new album Carnaval De Luz (out today too).
Here are some of this week’s releases. As always, I’ve put a 🤩 next to the ones I’m most excited about (not necessarily my favorite ones because I may have not listened to them yet, ha!).
Albums + EPs
Carnaval De Luz - U2 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
Cruel World…So It Ends - Holly Humberstone 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
- THE VOID - Ari Abdul 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
Rebecca - Becky Hill (Apple Music) (Spotify)
The Pursuit Of Pleasure - Cherry Bomb 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
A Chlöe Christmas - Chlöe (Apple Music) (Spotify)
The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping - Various Artists (Apple Music) (Spotify)
I Swear I’m Almost Alright - Imani Graham (Apple Music) (Spotify)
Fly 1111 - Emma Ogier (Apple Music) (Spotify)
Devotion - David Kushner (Apple Music) (Spotify)
Say what you see - Say Now 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
(I Should Probably Let You Go) - salem ilese (Apple Music) (Spotify)
To Know My Name - Jeena (Apple Music) (Spotify)
Skeleton Of A Butterfly - Lara Buchanan (Apple Music) (Spotify)
East Houston Tapes - Mark Ambor (Apple Music) (Spotify)
Songs
“Torn” - U2 and Dolly Parton 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Middle Of The Night” - Jessie Ware 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Aces” - Fall Out Boy (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Take What You Need” - The Chainsmokers (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Leave You (Never)” - FLO 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Gone” - Paloma Faith 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Trophy” - Leon Thomas (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Blood In Your Eyes” - Tove Lo (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Wash” - Tori Kelly ft. Hillari (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Fairytale of New York” - Hozier and Jessie Buckley (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Dancing On The Wall (Romy In A Lesbian Trance Remix)” - MUNA 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Without My Strings” - Alec Benjamin (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Guts” - LAUV (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Telescope” - Delta Goodrem 🤩 (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“young & dumb” - GIRLSET (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Forever” - Quiet Light (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Hypocrite” - Mercer Henderson (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Tell Him” - Romy Mars (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“She Looks Like Chicago” - Henry Verus (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“How Did I Get It So Wrong” - Rockie Rode (Apple Music) (Spotify)
“Santa, Can I Borrow Your Sleigh?” - Arthur Hill (Apple Music) (Spotify)
Comment your favorite ones and also let me know of any I may have missed!
Bop of the Day
For today’s Bop of the Day, I give you another release from this week. John Summit did a remix of Karol G’s massive hit “BbY WOW.” I’m not a big fan of remixes, but it’s quite good.
If you want to share any songs for the Bop of the Day, send the my way to peter@bopsandbangers.com or leave them in the comments!
Must Watch
Robyn stopped by NPR’s Tiny Desk and it was fantastic. She is definitely one of pop’s most underrated artists.
She performed “Ever Again,” her 1997 gem “Show Me Love,” and “Light Up” and “Sucker For Love” from her latest album Sexistential.
P.S.
First, I want to thank everyone that has subscribed to Bops and Bangers this week. There was a decent increase in subscriptions this week after I brought back The Banger Brief. It honestly makes it all worth it. Thank you, seriously. I love putting this together even if I’m up until 2:30am (like I am rn as I’m typing thissss). In other words, forgive any typos and grammar errors hehe.
Also, it’s the weekend!
Like I mentioned on Wednesday’s newsletter, I’m going to see Daughtry tonight here in San Antonio. I can’t wait! I’m also going to check out Mexican pop star DANNA’s limited-run Bedroom Sessions Tour in Austin tomorrow. Nothing better than a weekend of live music, amirite?
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