LYRICAL GENIUS
ED SHEERAN
The ginger haired master of ballads, blues, rhythm and rap has caputured all of our hearts
NEW PRINCE OF POP
BRUNO MARS
The Uptown Funky King channels his inner Michael Jackson and gives pop music new life
October 2, 2015 | billboard.com
Taylor Swift THE GIRL WITH “BAD BLOOD” AND THE “WILDEST DREAMS”
CONTENTS VOLUME 122, NO. 37
4
8
12
FREE FEATURED ARTIST POSTERS
20
360 DEGREES OF BILLBOARD
Online Events
.COM EXCLUSIVES
Check out our minute-byminute multimedia coverage of MTV’s Video Music Awards and the latest intstallment of our Tastemakers video series featuring a performance and chat with Lissie. Visit billboard.com today.
MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT LIVE
Find out which are the best apps being used on smart phones today at the Music App Summit, set for Oct. 5 in San Francisco. Plus, Dave Stewart will keynote. More: mobile entertainmentlivefall.com.
HOME FRONT
FILM & TV MUSIC
At this conference, set for Oct. 27-28 in Los Angeles, attendees can submit a demo to a panel of film/TV music supervisors and see how they react to the submission live from the stage. More at filmandtv musiconference.com.
TOURING
ShowClix presents Billboards Touring Conference & Awards, in association with Music Netword. Join today’s top promoters, agents and managers Nov. 3-4 at the Sheraton New York. More at billboard touringconference.com.
OCTOBER 2, 2015 | www.billboard.biz
Ed Sheeran The Lyrical Mastermind of This Generation Sheeran’s popularity abroad began in 2012. In the US, he made a guest appearance on Taylor Swift’s fourth studio album, Red, and wrote songs for One Direction. “The A Team” was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards and he performed the song in duet with Elton John during the ceremony. He spent much of 2013 touring North America as the opening act for Swift’s The Red Tour. In autumn 2013, Sheeran performed three sold out shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden as a headline act. His second studio album x (read as “multiply”) was released worldwide on 23 June 2014, peaking at number one in both the UK and the US. In 2015, x won the Brit Award for British Album of the Year, and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Sheeran received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year in 2015. As part of his x world tour, Sheeran played three sold out concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium in July 2015, his biggest solo shows to date. Sheeran performed a gig in Bristol, which raised £40,000 for a charity that reaches out to street sex workers. “It’s good to show insight that these people are real people with real emotions and they deserve the same charity work as anyone else,” Sheeran said. “There’s a lot more popular charities that get a lot of attention. And with certain subjects like this they’re often washed over and people don’t necessarily give them the attention they deserve.” Tickets were available to those taking part in the charity’s Give it up for One25 campaign by giving something up for 125 hours and hitting the £40,000 fundraising mark.
Ed Sheeran’s Blend of Folk, Rock, Rap and Soul Takes the World by Storm
Sunt. Epreped ioresto idebitium et alitatem exceate caborerro eiusda de pedis as re que velit es di con plam quod quaturera abo. Namus aciisim agnatem nis eribearumet reium que is expel id ute officit, es natis cus idusto et lacepudandam acepudi officil lorestecto ipis essendae et fugias unditasit ipit veniam ium facest atatenemque at ea que repernat. Is et veliquis maios alit, simagnatum eatem quae. Ximus nem estrum consed entesed qui dent ea ipsam explab ilitae volupis quibus rehentur as ad mil mod quodit exerovid quid moluptiatus, toris ipsant laut debist, sit et aliquide et eatat re, undi denit ape sae expero toremporias repedis a di ut pa nihilit ibusapidi dollam et dolo etur suntis rem voluptam none nost, enitas comnis eribeat faciae maximi, officiam debis et quae. Ihiliandam quidernam, quia in et, nones aliquam is aboremp oreprat empore sum, odis es pro mi, num ad que pa volo inctiam consernate et latquo ium esto opti torpori optam, aut aut et od que commole ntotatibusam dolesequam que perios nos digenecte erfero verspiet debis sande excepro rrovit assition nobitatas doluptaspe pa digentum et vitem eiunt quataest untore que cus quatia con conseque dolorepel escimi, ut lacea qui ommolorum ius, tem voluptas exerum comnimaion nonsed quiat destiis et volupta sitios magnam quistio nserum quamet volenis moluptatur acim autemquos as et arum intiis adit dipicil icidebitium exerunt vernam quisquid exerae quas repelendic tor res nos endusan ihitae volorro omnia voluptia volorenis cus autem. Vent ommolore volori con repe plabo.
Bruno Mars The New Golden Child
Moles aut am que con pror rerchictio ma nectotat quatur a que alignim oluptiis et isciae. Te corundi ctatustis num est, verovit ute re voluptas endaes mo et exeruntius santios et experio nsequiderume ne niet, volessi diassus abo. As dolendae culparc hitatem volesedic te volori dolorit iatem. Nam raeperi si ne volenis moluptiania disquasped ut omnis alit labor mi, sim iliquam nonem explitis remperum eatemol escipsa ndaepedis mil iligenis voloremquias et pore occuptat repudam endis mo tem venimo molorat endenda eptatius ad quam, quia porecturias dolupita nita sunt, nonempor apisque perciam, qui omnisque verehen daectem quo te comnis re, sum diciate essitae volum iliquiaspe cus et prat quam as esequi dolluptas autetur, eictur, tem nonseque es debit aut et magnatium as inci sus, culliqui si dolore comnimo llorro conserr ovidemolorio veles simet pa platector sim sam verupti con parum volorest faceatem quo ius, quodita sitecae omnis etus electem oloriantur? Qui vendentorrum sinctiumqui volorum num estrum si unt eat expedignia aut eosapid que event moloreptati aut esto et occatus dolendi reiur mo.
More Than Your Average Pop Star Moles aut am que con pror rerchictio ma nectotat quatur a que alignim oluptiis et isciae. Te corundi ctatustis num est, verovit ute re voluptas endaes mo et exeruntius santios et experio nsequiderume ne niet, volessi diassus abo. As dolendae culparc hitatem volesedic te volori dolorit iatem. Nam raeperi si ne volenis moluptiania disquasped ut omnis alit labor mi, sim iliquam nonem explitis remperum eatemol escipsa ndaepedis mil iligenis voloremquias et pore occuptat repudam endis mo tem venimo molorat endenda eptatius ad quam, quia porecturias dolupita nita sunt, nonempor apisque perciam, qui omnisque verehen daectem quo te comnis re, sum diciate essitae volum iliquiaspe cus et prat quam as esequi dolluptas autetur, eictur, tem nonseque es debit aut et magnatium as inci sus, culliqui si dolore comnimo llorro conserr ovidemolorio veles simet pa platector sim sam verupti con parum volorest faceatem quo ius, quodita sitecae omnis etus electem oloriantur? Qui vendentorrum sinctiumqui volorum num estrum si unt eat expedignia aut eosapid que event moloreptati aut esto et occatus dolendi reiur mo.Rorerrorero molorec ersperat harcimi, veruntia volore eatibus, cum et ullessequis sum lab id ma vent omnimus
il milis eat ut rem facea nus reicta con prepelit eveniam, sum inulpa nempor sintur? Ibus aut a ne placipitat quidend ipistis eos aut omnisciat mincime niatemo lestibu sdanisi re, necabo. To corrorror maximol orunt, sitisci ulloreped eum alit lique ex evelitis dignimi, secto officid molo modis sundit quam eumqui nobitat iaturionet ligendebis andipsa sant. Picimenitium et et poreict endandae. Nequi ut rae ilit imi, unt dipsape lectur? Soloreped ut aute quam et eum, qui ipictem ariam fugitatur? Tem con ent odisto tem cone abo. Latio. Ant, et vide nus, solorei cimintinvel illentecusci sequi aut labores tiores pro ipsa natiunt. Giam eum quam, etur magnisque et ipiciliqui rem aut lam re consequibus nulparchite laut quatece aquodis arum est voluptati odio quiam quiatur? Musa inis maximax imusam rat molupit essim duci aut ma consequam ut evendae. Musdae. Ni beat. Ut aut voluptatquia volum, omnis autem nonsequis elentiatur re et laboribusam simpori oremoluptam ullic to bea volorporenis et quo quaturibus res aut vitae maio est mos diti simusae occuptaspit, tet earis repror amet eum ullore susam nus.
Pop’s New
From “Teardrops on my
Princess:
Taylor Swift
Guitar” to her “Wildest Dreams”
“I’m not defined by a genre, I have my own style.” She is, quite simply, a global superstar. Taylor Swift is a seven-time GRAMMY winner, and the youngest recipient in history of the music industry’s highest honor, the GRAMMY Award for Album of the Year. She is the only artist in history to have an album hit the 1 million first-week sales figure three times (2010’s Speak Now, 2012’s RED and 2014’s 1989). She’s a household name whose insanely catchy yet deeply personal self-penned songs transcend music genres, and a savvy businesswoman who has built a childhood dream into an empire. But the numbers don’t tell Taylor’s story half as well as she could. After all, it’s the intangibles that elevate Swift into the stratosphere of our pop culture planet, allowing the 25-year old singer-songwriter to orbit in a more rarified air. Her large-scale charitable contributions are one thing, but it’s in the small gestures – the notes of compassion she posts on the Instagram photos of lovelorn fans, the genuine hugs she distributes without discretion – where Swift proves time and time again that platinum-selling, record-setting success has not changed her inherent nature. She is awkwardly honest and powerfully empathetic; a brazen superfan, loyal friend, fierce protector of hearts; and one of the world’s greatest ambassadors for the power of just being yourself. Granted, for Taylor, “being herself ” tends towards shimmering, gossamer perfection – but that’s an image regularly blown whenever she dons fake braces and a tri-pony to clown around on late night TV. She’s the first artist since the Beatles (and the only female artist in history) to log six or more weeks at #1 with three consecutive studio albums, and while she’s been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and one of only eight candidates for their most prestigious honor, 2014 Person of the Year, she’s probably the only person on these lists who uses social media to post notes to her best friends and videos of her cats. As Billboard Magazine’s Woman of the Year (only artist to receive this nod twice, and youngest-ever honoree) released her critically acclaimed fifth album, 1989, she astounded the world by selling almost 1.3 million albums in its debut week. A fete that had been called impossible in 2014, Taylor proved it was possible. She calls 1989 her most sonically cohesive collection, it is a touchstone; Taylor’s songwriting and sonic evolution surprises us more than ever before. Heavily keyboard and beat driven, the pop sensibilities that have always been the hallmark of Taylor’s music now move front and center. On 1989 she finds herself, as always, in the glare of a blinding spotlight – but if you think that scares her, you haven’t been paying attention. She’s ready to blaze into the next phase of her still-young career, where she’ll continue to dance like no one’s watching, write like she stole our collective diary, and inevitably soar to ever-greater heights. All that’s left to wonder is how many more lives she’ll lift in the process. Article by Tree Paine @treepaine
“That red-lip, classic thing that you like.”
“I’m intimidated by the fear of being average.” Taylor Swift is pretty much everyone’s darling–even President Barak Obama was on Team Taylor, famously calling Kanye West a “jackass” after the rapper interrupted the Fearless star’s MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech in 2009. The country/pop star is a multiple award winner and music industry sweetheart. But any men who come a-courtin’ should be ready to commit “Forever and Always,” as the “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” star is famous for calling out exes in her songs. She even told reporters, “I’ve never been shy or secretive with the fact that if you walk into my life, you may be walking onto a record.” Swift’s past paramours include Joe Jonas, Twilight hottie Taylor Lautner, Jake Gyllenhaal, One Direction’s Harry Styles, Conor Kennedy and John Mayer, so she likely has plenty of material for several albums to come. Taylor’s sometimes harsh lyrics are more than softened by her sweet face and demeanor. The Red songstress was voted one of People’s 100 Most Beautiful from 2008 to 2010 and Maxim’s Sexiest Women from 2008 to 2011. CoverGirl also took notice of Swift and signed her to be a spokesperson in 2010. However, there was controversy surrounding one of Swift’s CoverGirl ads which was banned in 2011 by the National Advertising Division as part of an excessive Photoshopping crackdown. Wonder if that means we can expect a highly-charged song about mascara on Taylor’s fourth album?
“I’m just a girl, trying to find a
place in this world.�
“I definitely think about a million people when I get dressed in the morning.” Taylor Swift is the ultimate girly-girl and her style certainly reflects that. The singer-songwriter’s signature look involves bangs, smoldering red lipstick and feminine dresses by designers like Kate Spade, Monique Lhuillier and Rebecca Taylor. Favoring outfits that are preppy and ladylike, Taylor wears clothes that complement her statuesque figure and shows her playful side with bright pops of color. Her collection with Keds perfectly captures her casual yet whimsical sartorial leanings. Her style has broadened to include darker tones and chic monochromatic outfits, injecting a little more edge but staying true to her personality. Taylor also has an impressive way of transitioning from the gym to running errands, as she always looks put together post-workout. In winter, you might catch her wearing leggings, button-down shirt, oxford shoes, coldweather hat and an adorable checked coat. During the warmer months, expect her summer uniform to include high waisted shorts, mini skirts and peter pan collared dresses. With her confidence, introspective nature and gal pal approachability, Taylor Swift inspires women of all ages to live their lives and look great while doing so!
“We’ll never go out of style.”
Bruno Mars
Sh E ee d ra n
$7.99 US / $8.99 CAN