Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were spectators at the men’s final of the U.S. Open tennis championships on Sunday (Sept. 8) in New York City, where the two were photographed attending several social events together over the weekend.

Swift and Kelce were spotted going on a pizza date in Brooklyn on Friday, and celebrating Karen Elson and Lee Foster’s wedding at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan on Saturday, before making it to the tennis match at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens on Sunday. If this is some kind of whirlwind tour around the city, only two boroughs remain in their welcome to New York this week: the Bronx and Staten Island.

The U.S. Open account on Instagram shared various videos of the pop star and football player on site Sunday afternoon, with Swift seen in a classic red gingham sundress (Reformation, $248) and Kelce in a white shorts-polo-cardigan ensemble topped with a bucket hat (all Gucci).

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The couple watched the match in a suite with Kelce’s teammate Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany.

At one point, Swift and Kelce were filmed in the middle of an animated sing-along to “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness playing over the stadium’s loudspeaker.

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The Instagram account also jogged memories with a post referencing Swift’s earliest known appearance at the U.S. Open: 2002, around this time of year.

The then-aspiring singer — at just 12 years old (soon to be 13, with her birthday being in December) — got the opportunity to sing “America the Beautiful” at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the complex where the U.S. Open is held.

Wearing a black, sleeveless dress and her long hair blow-dried straight, a young Swift — found in a clip that’s somewhat buried in a fan compilation video uploaded to YouTube over a decade ago — seemed aware of the art of commanding a crowd at what must have been one of her earliest stadium gigs. Even in her middle-school years, she didn’t shy away from taking a look around, or making eye contact with people watching from the stands.

At 12, with the slightest twang in her tone, Swift leaned on her early country influence for “America the Beautiful.” Her vocals have matured into something that’s all her own in her 30s, but that almost-teen’s performance is still unmistakably Swift.

“America, America, God shed his grace on thee,” she’s heard singing in the pre-fame clip.

Little did she know how many stadiums her name would headline, sell out and generate total ticket hysteria for within the next couple decades.

For September, and until Oct. 18, Swift’s on break from The Eras Tour, which will see a December finale. For now there’s no new Eras concert clips to pore over or ever-changing acoustic sets to anticipate.

Over the past several days the mind behind The Tortured Poets Department has been quite publicly out and about, which means fans have gotten a glimpse into her social calendar. Thursday night she showed up to support Kelce and the Chiefs at their Thursday game at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium before the couple headed to New York to hang out for the weekend.

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Their public appearances this week come after an alleged media plan leak from Kelce’s team earlier in the week — an outline of a supposed strategy in the event of the tight end’s breakup with Swift, whom he’s been linked to for the past year. Kelce’s public relations team, Full Scope, whose logo was put on the papers circulating online, stated the document was “entirely false and fabricated.” A spokesperson for the company said it was “not created, issued, or authorized by this agency” and Full Scope has “engaged our legal team to initiate proceedings against the individuals or entities responsible for the unlawful and injurious forgery of documents.” Swift’s reps did not issue a comment.

BLACKPINK member Jennie has signed to Columbia Records as a solo artist in partnership with her record label and entertainment company ODDATELIER, it was announced Sunday (Sept. 8). The singer is slated to release a new solo single in October.

The news follows last December’s revelation that all BLACKPINK members had split with their label, YG Entertainment, for their solo output, while extending their contract with the label for group activities.

Last June, Jennie released “One of the Girls” alongside The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp, her co-stars on HBO’s The Idol. The track has since been streamed more than 1 billion times on Spotify alone and has been certified platinum by the RIAA; it also peaked at No. 18 on Billboard‘s Pop Airplay chart. She followed that up in October with “You & Me,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, making her the second member of BLACKPINK to hit No. 1 on the survey after Rosé’s “On the Ground.”

Earlier this year, Jennie dropped a pair of collaborative singles: “SPOT!” with ZICO and “Slow Motion” with Matt Champion. Her first solo single, the aptly-titled “SOLO,” was released in 2018 and went on to top Billboard‘s World Digital Song Sales chart.

Jennie was first introduced in 2016 as one-fourth of the K-pop girl group BLACKPINK, which in 2023 became the first Korean act ever to headline Coachella. The group has charted a total of nine songs on the Billboard Hot 100, with their highest-charting, “Ice Cream” with Selena Gomez, peaking at No. 13. With the release of the group’s second studio album, 2022’s Born Pink, BLACKPINK became only the third South Korean act ever to top the Billboard 200 after BTS‘ Proof and Stray Kids‘ Stray Kids Mini Album: Oddinary.

JC Chasez is ready to delve into the world of musical theater. The *NSYNC superstar revealed exclusively via Billboard on Sunday (Sept. 8) that he’s teaming up with Golden Globe-winning songwriter and composer Jimmy Harry for a musical theater concept album called Playing With Fire. The 16-track project is inspired by Mary Shelly’s seminal 1818 novel, Frankenstein, and blends electronic pop with classical music from the romantic era to create a fresh twist on a centuries-old story.

The reimagining of the classic story came together when Harry showed Chavez a theatrical adaptation of the story by his late mother, playwright Barbara Field. Chasez was immediately captivated by the story, and the duo worked together to create an album that represents a conversation between a dying Frankenstein and his creation, The Creature, at the grave of Frankenstein’s wife, Elizabeth. Through musical conversation and flashbacks, “the two grow to understand each other and the reasons for their actions that brutally affected each other’s lives. They eventually find sympathy, love, and forgiveness for each other,” per a press release.

In addition to writing the project, Chasez also lends his vocals to a number of tracks on Playing With Fire, alongside singers Cardamon Rozzi and Lily Elise. The album marks his first major musical project since his 2004 solo album, Schizophrenic.

“There are similarities [between writing a pop hit and musical theater songs] and there are some some very big differences,” the star previously told Billboard of his interest in musical theater. “When you’re writing a single for something, you’re just looking to write about what you’re feeling in the moment. When you’re working on a musical, there’s always a bigger picture and the story is always the driving force.”

He added, “It’s kind of like the last thing that I haven’t really dabbled in. I started in television, then I moved into music and I made a couple of films. Now, it feels like this is the last untapped thing. It’s nice to experience all sides of it.”

Playing With Fire is out via Center Stage Records on Oct. 25. See the full track list below.

Megan Thee Stallion and RM‘s “Neva Play” has topped this week’s new music poll that features artists in various genres of music.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (Sept. 6) on Billboard, choosing the Houston rapper and BTS star’s team-up as their favorite new music release of the past week.

“Neva Play” brought in nearly 90% of the vote on the poll, securing a notable edge ahead of new releases from Halsey (“Ego”), Camila Cabello (C,XOXO – Magic City Edition), Linkin Park (“The Emptiness Machine”) and A$AP Rocky featuring J. Cole (“Ruby Rosary”), among others.

Released just a week after the pair started teasing that they’d be joining forces on social media, “Neva Play” finds the Houston Hottie and K-pop phenomenon taking turns showing off their rap skills.

“This is one of my favorite RM verses I’ve heard!” Meg wrote of the collaboration days before it dropped, sharing the track’s comic-book-esque artwork. “I’ve never heard him rap in this style before,” she added at the time.

The new track marks the second time Meg has stepped into BTS’ world, having previously teamed up with the boy band on a remix to the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping “Butter.” She first started teasing “Neva Play” with a simple emojis tweet after which BTS all but confirmed it was involved in the project by retweeting with its own string of emojis.

“Neva Play” comes at a busy time for Megan Thee Stallion, whose album Megan debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in July. Meanwhile, BTS’ full-band activities have been on pause as the members fulfill their mandatory military obligations in South Korea, although some of the boys have dropped solo projects in the meantime.

Trailing behind Meg and RM on this week’s poll is Halsey’s vulnerable track “Ego,” which brought in almost 3% of the vote. The single is part of the rollout for her upcoming album, The Great Impersonator.

See the final results of this week’s poll below. Check out Billboard‘s Friday Music Guide to catch up with more must-hear releases from this week.

Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet stays steady atop the Billboard 200 (dated Sept. 14) for a second week, after opening at No. 1 a week ago. In its second frame, the album earned 159,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 5 (down 56%), according to Luminate.

That 159,000-unit sum is substantial for an album’s second week in recent times. In the last 12 months, only three other albums have logged a second week as big as Short n’ Sweet’s. Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department tallied 439,000 units in its second week (chart dated May 11; down from its 2.61 million-unit debut), Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) earned 245,000 in its second week (Nov. 18, 2023; down from 1.653 million), and Drake’s For All the Dogs earned 164,000 in its second week (Oct. 28, 2023; down from 402,000).

Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, LE SSERAFIM captures it third top 10-charting effort with the No. 7 arrival of CRAZY, while Destroy Lonely achieves his first top 10 as Love Lasts Forever enters at No. 10.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Sept. 14, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Sept. 10). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of Short n’ Sweet’s 159,000 equivalent album units earned in its second week, SEA units comprise 126,000 (down 28%, equaling 168.45 million on-demand official streams of the album’s 12 songs; it holds at No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart, as well), album sales comprise 32,000 (down 83%) and TEA units comprise 1,000 (down 38%).

Post Malone’s former leader F-1 Trillion rises one rung to No. 2 with 86,000 equivalent album units earned (down 23%), Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is up a spot to No. 3 with 64,000 (down 10%), Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time steps 5-4 with 55,000 (down 5%) and Swift’s former No. 1 The Tortured Poets Department climbs 6-5 with 54,000 (down 6%).

Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft rises one rung to No. 6 on the latest Billboard 200, earning 49,000 equivalent album units (down 7%).

LE SSERAFIM’s CRAZY debuts at No. 7 with 47,000 equivalent album units earned, landing the Korean pop ensemble its third top 10-charting effort — and largest week by units earned. Of its starting sum, album sales comprise 38,000 (it’s No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart), SEA units comprise 9,000 (equaling 12.08 million on-demand official streams of the set’s five songs; with over half of that sum driven by the title track) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. CRAZY’s first-week was bolstered by its availability across more than 20 CD variants, all containing collectible branded paper ephemera such as photocards, postcards, stickers, and posters.

Noah Kahan’s Stick Season rises 10-8 on the latest Billboard 200, with 40,000 equivalent album units earned (up 7%) in the week ending Sept. 5. The set’s gain is concurrent with the Aug. 30 arrival of Kahan’s new album, Live From Fenway Park.

Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene is a non-mover at No. 9 on the new Billboard 200 with 39,000 equivalent album units earned (down 6%).

Rapper Destroy Lonely lands his first top 10-charting set on the Billboard 200 as his second studio album, Love Lasts Forever, bows at No. 10 with 37,500 equivalent album units earned — his best week by units. Of its starting sum, album sales comprise 19,000, SEA units comprise 18,500 (equaling 25.19 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The album’s first week was bolstered by its availability in a signed CD edition and two digital download album variants — all exclusive to the artist’s webstore. The latter two were each sold for $5 and each included five additional bonus songs (five different songs per variant).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

Bass guitarist Herbie Flowers, who played with David Bowie, Elton John, Lou Reed and other music legends in a decades-long career, has died at 86.

The musician’s family confirmed his death on Facebook Saturday (Sept. 7).

“While we knew and loved him as Uncle Herbie, his musical contributions have likely touched your lives as well,” the husband of Flowers’ niece wrote. “He played bass on many of the songs from the golden age of rock,” the post reads.

A cause of death was not provided.

Flowers was a founding member of the pop group Blue Mink, who later joined the rock band T Rex. He won acclaim for his work with many of the biggest names in U.K. music in the 1970s, giving Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side,” from the 1972 Transformer album, its recognizable twinned bassline.

He also played bass for Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” Bryan Ferry’s “The Bride Stripped Bare,” and Paul McCartney’s “Give My Regards to Broad Street,” and featured in two of John’s early ’70s albums, among many others.

In a tribute, Bowie’s estate wrote on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), “his work with Bowie and associates over the years is too long to list here.”

“Aside from his incredible musicianship over many decades, he was a beautiful soul and a very funny man. He will be sorely missed,” it said. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

Tim Burgess, lead singer for The Charlatans singer, wrote X that Flowers “made the greats sound greater.”

Flowers also founded the instrumental rock band Sky in the late 1970s, releasing seven albums.