Doechii performs at Osheaga 2025 in Montreal.
Charlotte Rainville @jailli
After finishing the last of seven concerts at GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City March 30 as part of her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour, Shakira announced she would return to Mexico in August. Her encore will bring her total shows played in the country to 22, a record for a single tour. Shakira initially played 11 stadium shows in Mexico, selling them all out, and eventually announced additional shows for August and September, including one more stop at GNP Seguros Stadium. Her eight performances there will be a record.
It’s the latest success in a string of them for the Colombian star. Last week, Billboard reported that, for the month of February, Shakira topped the monthly Top Tours chart for the first time, earning $32.9 million from 282,000 tickets sold that month, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
Shakira follows Bad Bunny, Los Bukis and RBD among Latin artists who have topped the monthly ranking, making her the first solo Latin woman to hit No. 1. This also marks the first time Shakira ever tops the chart, which launched in 2019, after she finished her previous outing, 2018’s El Dorado World Tour.
All those tickets sold are particularly sweet success for Shakira, who not only hadn’t toured in six years, but hadn’t had this level of success with her recorded music, either. Since 2019, as is by now very well known, the global superstar split up with her longtime partner, Gerard Pique, moved from Barcelona to Miami, turned her heartbreak into chart-topping songs, and now, at 47 years old and as the mother of two children, is in the midst of what will be the biggest tour of her career.
At her side is manager Nadine Eliya, who after working with Shakira in different capacities for years, took over management in 2023 after the Colombian star moved to Miami and started releasing new music. While that was a project in and of itself, Shakira’s new tour, a massive endeavor that kicked off last month in Brazil, is the Colombia’s star most ambitious move yet. Originally slated to be an arena tour, Shakira scrapped those plans last fall, following reaction to her new album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Sony Music Latin), and announced she was doing stadiums instead. And while she had to cancel three South American dates —two for production issues and one due to illness — her Mexico run has more than made up for lost time.
Given the extraordinary resurgence of Shakira, spotlighted by her No. 1 spot on Top Tours for February, Eliya is Billboard’s Executive of the Week. Here, she speaks about crafting Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, and its impact on the touring market.
You’ve had many Shakira highlights in the past year, but these Mexico concerts feel particularly significant. Is that the case?
These Mexico concerts were so rewarding in so many ways. It’s nice to see a Latin American city leading on a global scale as a concert city market, and only reinforces the massive growth we’ve been seeing in the Latin market over the last 10 years. To be breaking such significant records 30-plus years into your career is a testament to Shakira’s longevity and the care we’ve taken to keep creating music that draws new fans while deepening the connection with the ones who have accompanied her all along the way.
Shakira went from having a much-publicized split with her longtime partner two years ago to now leading Billboard’s tour recap for the month. What was the biggest challenge in achieving this?
The biggest challenge, I think, was being able to channel the pain into productivity, into growth, into a tool for connection. I think her music last year has struck a chord with so many women who felt like she gave a voice to their same feelings and frustrations and made them feel seen.
I think people may think, it’s Shakira, she’s a global star, this is easy…
Ha! Every new leg of a stadium tour brings its own challenges, and every achievement only brings ideas for new goals we want to reach. It’s a misconception that when you get to the top, you relax. It only makes the stakes higher. And I’m bad at relaxing.
What has been the biggest challenge in putting together this stadium tour?
The biggest challenges were bringing a production of this size to Latin America, which had never been done before in many of the markets we visited. Also, thinking big picture about where we want to be at the end of it, the milestones we want to hit, and how we plan to get there.
What can you tell us about the concept of the tour?
It’s all about female archetypes, connection and empowerment. If you notice, many of the interludes, that are a CGI-animated Shakira — an industry-wide first — center around an archetype: the warrior, the mother, the primal she-wolf. The idea was to take the fans on this journey with her and to walk out feeling uplifted and empowered. And I think she delivered beyond anyone’s expectations, including her own.
What were your expectations when you started to plan, and what are they now?
I think we expected to surprise fans with a big show but we didn’t expect how emotional the reaction would be and what a movement it’s become, this experience of attending her concert.
A couple of weeks ago, Shakira also released the music video to “Ultima,” a very melancholy ballad that looks back at her relationship. Why now?
We filmed that video a while back, but we wanted to release it at a time that had meaning to it. It felt like a beautiful bookend to a year after the release of such a personal album and sharing it from a very different place than when the song was written, after the live [version] of the song has connected with so many on tour. It was a gift for the fans who offered so much support through a difficult time.
Osheaga has a knack for booking budding superstars right as they blow up. Last year, it was Chappell Roan. This year, it was Doechii.
The Grammy-winning, Florida-born rapper took the stage on the first night of the Montreal music festival on Friday (Aug. 1), and it felt like a star-making performance. The Killers headlined the mainstage, but unlike Chappell Roan, who played for 40,000 people at 3:30 in the afternoon last year, Doechii did have the honor of closing out the festival on the secondary Forest Stage.
Her set was pushed back slightly to start at 10:10 p.m., meaning she was the final performer of the night before the noise curfew at 11 p.m. And for those who wanted to catch both acts, The Killers made it easy by playing their belt-along favorite “Mr. Brightside” as their first song and packing the first hour of their two-hour, 9:10 p.m. set with hits.
Doechii’s stage set was decked out to fit her Swamp Princess persona, covered in greenery and a large, elevated swampy platform for her to stand on. The crowd was packed in, so the fans stuck at the back still had a visual feast. “I look good from the nosebleeds,” she rapped from her 2025 hit “Nosebleeds,” and this show proved it.
Doechii performs at Osheaga 2025 in Montreal.
Charlotte Rainville @jailli
For a full hour, Doechii kept the energy up. She rapped a mile a minute, all live with almost no reliance on a backing track. She showed off her full skill set, from pure hip-hop to sung R&B/pop hooks, and comedic banter to thought-out stagecraft. She brought unbridled charisma, taking time to dance and twerk and show off some vogue moves as well. She showed off a reverence for classic hip-hop, rapping over Wu-Tang’s “C.R.E.A.M.,” and later screaming over a distorted guitar sample — almost veering towards nu-metal. She showed she can do it all.
The audience stayed captivated, rapping along and matching her energy throughout. It was Doechii’s first time in Canada, and you could tell she was impressed by the reaction. “As an artist, you can get so much hate and negativity,” she said. “Then you go out in real life and see your real fans.”
She took some time to thank her gay fans, her female fans, and the fans who brought their boyfriends. “If your boyfriend hates female rappers, then leave him immediately,” she said.
Seeing all the phones out, she seized her moment. “Ya’ll can’t be scared to stand up for what you believe in, you can’t be scared to say what matters,” she said. “Free Palestine.”
Doechii performs at Osheaga 2025 in Montreal.
Charlotte Rainville @jailli
Doechii broke out her biggest hit, the Billboard Hot 100 top-10 charting “Anxiety,” and thanked all her fans for streaming it. The “Somebody That I Used To Know” sampling song is a bit of an outlier in her catalogue, but it’s a viral TikTok favourite, and she’s found a way to fit it perfectly into her set. After playing the song, she thanked Gotye for approving the sample.
The true highlight of the set was “Denial Is a River.” The song, which features Doechii rapping with her internal monologue, took on a whole new call-and-response dimension with fans chanting along to every word.
It felt like she was still just getting started when, midway through the next song, the beat cut out. “F— that, they cut me off!” she yelled. She put her thumbs down, inciting the crowd to boo, then threw her hands up. “Whatever,” she said, walking off the stage.
Unfortunately, Osheaga has a hard 11 p.m. noise curfew. It’s clear the next time she’s back, she’ll have to have a longer headliner-length set.
Doechii performs tonight (Aug. 2) at Lollapalooza in Chicago, where she’s teased a special guest. If Osheaga was anything to go by, her set will likely be all over social media soon.
This article originally appeared on Billboard Canada.
Olivia Rodrigo was joined by surprise guest Weezer during her headlining set at Lollapalooza 2025.
On Friday (Aug. 1), the 22-year-old pop superstar made her debut on the second day of the Chicago music festival at Grant Park. Toward the end of her evening set, she surprised the crowd by inviting Weezer to join her on stage.
In a fan-captured video on TikTok, Rodrigo shared with the crowd that Weezer was the first band she ever saw live.
“You always remember your first concert. It’s a very, very special moment,” the “Drivers License” singer said. “I remember my first concert. It was a very memorable night. I watched this incredible band and I am so over the moon, because that incredible band is actually here tonight to play a few songs. Will you please say hello to Weezer?”
Weezer then joined Rodrigo for performances of their classic hits “Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So,” both from the group’s 1994 self-titled album. She played guitar and harmonized alongside frontman Rivers Cuomo during the collaboration. Check out clips from the performances here and here on X.
This marked Weezer’s first Lollapalooza performance since they headlined alongside Widespread Panic in 2005.
This isn’t the first time Rodrigo has brought out surprise guests during her recent festival appearances. She recently invited David Byrne onstage at New York’s Governors Ball to perform Talking Heads’ 1983 hit “Burning Down the House,” and welcomed The Cure’s Robert Smith at this year’s Glastonbury Festival to perform “Friday I’m In Love” and “Just Like Heaven.”
During her Lolla set on Saturday, Rodrigo opened with “Obsessed” and “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl,” and also performed hits including “Driver’s License,” “Traitor,” “Bad Idea, Right?” and “Love Is Embarrassing.”
The Chicago festival continues Saturday (Aug. 2) with headliners Rüfüs Du Sol and TWICE, followed by closers Sabrina Carpenter and A$AP Rocky on Sunday.
Kelly Osbourne is paying tribute to her father, Ozzy Osbourne, just days after his funeral.
On Friday (Aug. 1), the 40-year-old TV personality shared an NSFW photo on her Instagram Story in memory of the rock legend, who passed away on July 22 at the age of 76.
The outdoor image featured a beautiful display of purple flowers arranged to spell out “Ozzy F—ing Osbourne,” set beside a serene pond surrounded by a rolling hill and trees.
In a second post, Kelly shared a heartfelt clip from The Osbournes, the MTV reality series that aired from 2002 to 2005. The snippet shows Ozzy lying in bed with his wife, Sharon Osbourne, offering words of wisdom.
“Listen, all you got to worry about is getting through today,” the Black Sabbath frontman says. “That’s all you got to worry about.”
Just days earlier, Kelly attended her father’s funeral procession in his hometown of Birmingham, England, where fans flooded the streets to pay their respects. Sharon, along with Ozzy’s other children — Aimeé and Jack — laid flowers at the Black Sabbath Bridge, which had been covered with tributes from mourners.
Shortly after Ozzy’s passing, Kelly posted another emotional tribute to her Instagram Story on July 24. “I feel unhappy I am so sad,” she wrote. “I lost the best friend I ever had,” the Fashion Police alum added, along with a heartbroken emoji. Her words echoed lyrics from Black Sabbath’s ballad “Changes,” which she and her father released as a duet in 2003.
Ozzy Osbourne died at age 76, just weeks after performing his final concert. His family confirmed the news in a joint statement. “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” they wrote. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
Just a month before his death, Kelly had honored her dad on Father’s Day with an Instagram post that included a slideshow of Ozzy spending time with her young son, Sidney, whom she shares with fiancé Sid Wilson.
“Happy Father’s Day daddy,” she wrote at the time. “I love you more than anyone or anything in the world! I am so proud to be your daughter and Beyond honored to watch you be the best #Papa in the world to my son!”
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