• Director Sam Taylor-Johnson Officially Leaves 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Franchise Over Conflicts With Author E.L. James

    'Fifty Shades of Grey' may have grossed more than half a billion dollars at the box office, but there is one key player who has no intention of returning. There have been rumors swirling for weeks now that director Sam Taylor-Johnson would leave the franchise rather than return to film the sequel, 'Fifty Shades Darker.' But yesterday, March 25, that rumor was confirmed. She was also rumored to have had conflitcs with series author E.L. James.

  • Sleeping With Sirens, Mark Knopfler and Awolnation Crack Albums Chart Top 10 with New Releases; Kendrick Lamar Still on Top

    The good news about the albums chart is that it gives performers who didn't crack the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 to make their stand without worrying about streams and singles, but that will still have to wait until after Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp A Butterfly.' The rapper's third album, and first to top the albums chart, sold 319,000 copies, nearly quadrupling the next highest total on the list.

  • Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp A Butterfly' Dominates Billboard 200—'Empire,' Modest Mouse and 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Contend for No. 2

    Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly has become his first release to top the Billboard 200 despite dropping a tad earlier than expected. The album went on to sell 363,000 equivalent copies, including single downloads and streams-breaking Spotify records in the process- on its way to the top. That was also the second largest debut of the year—behind Drake—giving hip-hop the two biggest albums of the year so far.

  • Will 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Dakota Johnson's Sobriety Be Destroyed by Instant Fame?

    Thanks to the half-billion-dollar success of 'Fifty Shades of Grey,' Dakota Johnson's name is pretty much known by just about everyone. Even people who have not seen the film know she is the one who plays with Christian Grey. Fame is something Johnson is quite accustomed to after being raised by celebrity parents Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, but she is not used to being the actual reason for all the buzz. That kind of notoriety is unnerving, especially for a young woman who completed her first rehab stint at age 17. Johnson seems to have done a good job of maintaining her sobriety since 2007, but she has seen firsthand what instant fame and being a household name can do to a person.

  • Madonna and 'Rebel Heart' Trump 'Empire' Soundtrack on Albums Chart, Luke Bryan Debuts New 'Spring Break' Chapter

    Yesterday we reported that the Empire Season One Soundtrack had topped Madonna's Rebel Heart on the Billboard 200, thanks to the number of additional downloads and streams that it got, allowing it to take advantage of Billboard's new metrics and top the iconic chart. However pure album sales tell a different story. While Empire edged Rebel Heart by around 9,000 copies on the 200, the opposite was true on the Albums Chart, where Rebel Heart placed no. 1 with 116,500 copies sold and Empire took no. 2 with 107,000 copies moved.

  • 'Empire' Edges Madonna for Billboard 200 Top Spot, but Did New Metrics Steal a Landmark Accomplishment from Pop Star?

    This week's Billboard 200 was topped by the Empire Soundtrack: Season 1, but it touches off an interesting battle between it and Madonna's Rebel Heart, which finished no. 2. The current Billboard metrics place Empire at no. 1 with 130,000 "equivalent" albums sold—a count that includes total single downloads and album streams as well. Madge's album only sold 121,000 "equivalent" albums but unofficial tracking of pure album sales—or what the Billboard 200 used to be based on—suggest that Rebel Heart actually sold more albums than Empire did as a whole.

  • Kelly Clarkson Gets Cushion for 'Piece By Piece' on Albums Chart, Brandi Carlile Cracks Top 5 with 'Firewatcher's Daughter'

    Kelly Clarkson found a bit more breathing room on the Official Albums Chart this week, as her new album 'Piece By Piece' gets a nicer cushion over the 'Fifty Shades of Grey Soundtrack' on the Billboard 200. Thanks to the removal of individual streams and downloads for Beyoncé and Ellie Goulding's singles from the latter, Clarkson won the pure albums race with 80,500 copies sold, compared to 57,000 copies of 'Fifty Shades.'

  • Detroit Giants Big Sean and Kid Rock Come within A Thousand in Sales on Album Chart; Chris Brown and Tyga Debut

    Big Sean and Kid Rock, two proud Detroit natives, were separated by about 30,000 equivalent records on the Billboard 200 this week with 'Dark Sky Paradise' and 'First Kiss,' respectively, but things were a lot tighter when only album sales were taken into consideration. The pair was almost exactly 1,000 apart from each other, with Sean passing Rock in the last day of sales tracking. 'Dark Sky' ended up selling 135,500 copies while 'First Kiss' debuted with 134,500.

  • Streaming Numbers Give Big Sean's 'Dark Sky Paradise' over Kid Rock's 'First Kiss' on Billboard 200

    New releases from Big Sean and Kid Rock demonstrated how big of a role the new metrics for the Billboard 200 could play in determining the placement of an album. Big Sean and Dark Sky Paradise took the crown this week, moving 173,000 equivalent units while Rock and First Kiss came in at no. 2 with 146,000 equivalent units. That 27,000 album difference doesn't seem like a close fight, but actual album sales indicate that physical copies and downloads of the full records had the pair within 1,000 of each other. The other 26,000 can all be attributed to more single downloads and streams for Sean. It's a brave new music sales world...you may have heard.

  • Shailene Woodley Loves Nudity But Refused to Even Consider Doing 'Fifty Shades'

    A few years ago Shailene Woodley's name was one of the many being mentioned as a possible candidate to play Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Grey. She quickly shot down the idea, not because she has an issue with nudity, but because she had just landed the Divergent series and the schedules would have collided. Woodley is now covering the April 2015 issue of Glamour UK and had no problem posing topless for a photo that accompanies her interview.

  • Imagine Dragon Outsells Drake on Albums Chart; Grammy Winners Slide Down and Aaron Watson Debuts

    Imagine Dragons narrowly edged out Drake on this week's Billboard 200 charts, as streaming and single downloads allowed the emcee and 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late' to almost catch the rock band's 'Smoke + Mirrors.' On the pure albums chart however, the Las Vegas band had a more significant cushion: Its second album sold 169,500 copies, marking the highest sales week of its career. Drake's surprise album sold 129,000 copies in its second week.

  • Imagine Dragons Dominates Neutral Billboard 200 with 'Smoke + Mirrors'; Drake and Fifty Shades Soundtrack Stay Strong

    Imagine Dragons started out strong on the Billboard 200 with its second album Smoke + Mirrors, debuting at no. 1 with the band's highest sales week ever. Although its last album Night Visions has sold more than 2.5 million copies, those sales came from its staying-power, whereas its highest selling week was "just" 83,000 copies. Dragons' new set debuted with 195,000 equivalent album sales after its first week.
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