Latest news with #Garbage
The Age
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Eight albums and two hip replacements: Shirley Manson shows no sign of slowing down
This story is part of the June 29 edition of Sunday Life. See all 13 stories. I am an outspoken person,' says Shirley Manson on a Zoom call from her home in Los Angeles. 'It comes naturally to me, and it's how I was brought up. I don't get easily frightened. As a result, I get it in the neck, but I don't allow it to shut me up.' It's fair to say the Scottish lead singer of rock band Garbage doesn't suffer fools gladly. You'll often find Manson on social media calling out humanitarian crises and weighing in on cancel-culture debates and world politics. She has firm views on Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and the Congo. 'According to the way I was parented, you need to say something when people can't stand up for themselves,' she explains. 'Sometimes I get frustrated when people don't speak out, but not everybody has a robust psyche like me.' Manson first caught our attention in 1995 when she burst onto the music scene with Garbage's hit single, Only Happy When It Rains, a song penned with founding member and drummer Butch Vig, who famously produced Nirvana's 1991 breakthrough album, Nevermind. The late Michael Gudinski toured Garbage in Australia and New Zealand while the band was still relatively unknown, following a hunch they'd make it big. And they did. Garbage's self-titled 1995 debut peaked at No.4 in the Australian charts and went on to sell four million copies worldwide. Since then, the band's seven albums have sold more than 17 million copies. Manson still gets teary when she talks about Gudinski. 'Michael saw me as a human being,' she says. 'He acknowledged my loyalty and witnessed me as the soft yielding mess that I actually am in real life. And when somebody sees you for how you really are, you are bound to them forever.' The mid-1990s was a pivotal period in music, the release of Garbage coinciding with Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, Björk's Post, Oasis's (W hat's the Story) Morning Glory? and No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom. Now 58, and with two hip replacements behind her, Manson returns with her band for their eighth studio album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light. The release feels like a chance for Garbage to finally embrace a sunnier disposition, trading emo anthems for hope in the face of fear. It's music fuelled by a defiance that comes with age, a perspective that's matured, and a self-confidence that's finally been acknowledged. 'I had to put positive thinking into practice and imagine something bigger and better than myself.' SHIRLEY MANSON Manson knows that in 2025, her band is competing with the likes of Chappell Roan, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams for attention. That hasn't deterred Garbage's ambitions to keep making music for their loyal followers, just tempered the band's expectations. 'You can't have the same cultural impact you had when you were young,' says Manson. 'That is the province of youth, and how it should be.' Manson wrote most of the songs for Let All That We Imagine Be The Light in 2023 and 2024 during two bouts of post-operation rehab in the LA home she shares with husband Billy Bush, Garbage's recording engineer. She had been told she would be walking three days after surgery, but each time took three months, while a diet of painkillers led to brain fog. But rather than feel sorry for herself, the situation inspired positive thinking. 'At first, I thought it was a tragedy that I was so crippled, but it turned out to be a gift,' she says. Loading She elaborates, 'I couldn't bear weight on my legs – it was frightening. I think I was clinically depressed, and I knew that if I didn't change my thinking about my health, about the dark events happening in the world at the same time, I would die of a broken heart. So, I had to put positive thinking into practice and imagine something bigger and better than myself. I employed a positive way of thinking for the first time in 58 years and was astounded by the results.' Sisyphus, the first song she wrote for the new album, points to the recovery process. 'It's about learning how to garner all my powers to recover and walk again,' she says. 'It was good to learn new things about myself, to reacquaint myself with the idea of patience and employ it for the first time in my life.' Earlier this year, a UK tabloid criticised Manson for looking 'unrecognisable' in a new promotional photo, a huge blow for someone who's spent her entire career fighting sexism. Asked about it now, Manson hits back: 'How can anyone expect to look the same as they did in their 20s? I don't even want to try.' Another new song, Chinese Fire Horse, is an ode to that inner feminist fire, calling out those who put women down. 'A few years ago, I had two journalists in different countries, one male and one female, ask me when I was going to retire. I was 54 at the time and completely thrown back on my heels. How did they have the audacity to ask me that question? Nobody would ever ask this question of the men in my band, who are considerably older than me – Butch [Vig] will be 70 this year. 'It was then I realised the experience of an ageing woman in our culture has never really been fully investigated in pop music. Bob Dylan has never written a song about what it's like to be an ageing woman.' She acknowledges that there's now a wave of female rock stars enjoying success in their 70s and even 80s. 'Women like Deborah Harry, Patti Smith, Stevie Nicks, Chaka Khan and Chrissie Hynde are the first wave who have ever done it,' she says. 'It's thrilling, and I can't think of anything more beautiful than pointing younger women to this messaging. 'When society tells you that you're dead at 25, they're lying to you. You have agency into your 80s thanks to these women. I am sick and tired of men being told how beautifully they age and how great they are. Well, how about we start talking about how great, gallus and courageous women are, because we haven't had any doors opened for us?' Away from the spotlight, Manson often turns to her inner circle – including fellow musicians Peaches, Santigold and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O – for support. She still travels back to Scotland to visit her 88-year-old father and laughs while observing that, where she grew up, nobody cares that she went to LA and became a rock star. Manson lost her mother to dementia in 2008. While sad, it was another experience that gave the singer a spur to re-evaluate her life. 'I kept waiting for someone to recognise that I was enough,' she says. 'It wasn't until my mother died that I realised, 'Wow, I'm on my own now. I have no Joan of Arc in front of me. It's me versus the world and I have to value myself.'' That, however, doesn't make the sting of public scrutiny any easier, and Manson continues to attract media attention based on what she wears, both on and off the stage. 'I always ask myself, 'How can I be as authentic as possible with the clothing choices I make?'' says the woman who caused a ruckus in the 90s by wearing a T-shirt with the slogan 'Don't touch my tits'. Loading 'I don't want to play dress-up and I'm uninterested in being fashionable,' she continues. 'I don't give a f--- about fashion because I don't want to look like everybody else, nor do I want my identity consumed by the mainstream. Yes, I love beautiful clothes, but I'm not consumed by them.' Keeping it simple is her approach now. 'I feel very concerned about the unbelievable waste the fashion industry is creating. I am trying to be more conscious. I am re-using pieces over and over again. 'Am I perfect? No. Do I make mistakes? Yes. But I will never wear fur. I am eating fewer animal products nowadays, and I'm sure that within a few years I'll be wearing rubber Crocs 100 per cent of the time, not 99.9 per cent.'
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Eight albums and two hip replacements: Shirley Manson shows no sign of slowing down
This story is part of the June 29 edition of Sunday Life. See all 13 stories. I am an outspoken person,' says Shirley Manson on a Zoom call from her home in Los Angeles. 'It comes naturally to me, and it's how I was brought up. I don't get easily frightened. As a result, I get it in the neck, but I don't allow it to shut me up.' It's fair to say the Scottish lead singer of rock band Garbage doesn't suffer fools gladly. You'll often find Manson on social media calling out humanitarian crises and weighing in on cancel-culture debates and world politics. She has firm views on Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and the Congo. 'According to the way I was parented, you need to say something when people can't stand up for themselves,' she explains. 'Sometimes I get frustrated when people don't speak out, but not everybody has a robust psyche like me.' Manson first caught our attention in 1995 when she burst onto the music scene with Garbage's hit single, Only Happy When It Rains, a song penned with founding member and drummer Butch Vig, who famously produced Nirvana's 1991 breakthrough album, Nevermind. The late Michael Gudinski toured Garbage in Australia and New Zealand while the band was still relatively unknown, following a hunch they'd make it big. And they did. Garbage's self-titled 1995 debut peaked at No.4 in the Australian charts and went on to sell four million copies worldwide. Since then, the band's seven albums have sold more than 17 million copies. Manson still gets teary when she talks about Gudinski. 'Michael saw me as a human being,' she says. 'He acknowledged my loyalty and witnessed me as the soft yielding mess that I actually am in real life. And when somebody sees you for how you really are, you are bound to them forever.' The mid-1990s was a pivotal period in music, the release of Garbage coinciding with Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, Björk's Post, Oasis's (W hat's the Story) Morning Glory? and No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom. Now 58, and with two hip replacements behind her, Manson returns with her band for their eighth studio album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light. The release feels like a chance for Garbage to finally embrace a sunnier disposition, trading emo anthems for hope in the face of fear. It's music fuelled by a defiance that comes with age, a perspective that's matured, and a self-confidence that's finally been acknowledged. 'I had to put positive thinking into practice and imagine something bigger and better than myself.' SHIRLEY MANSON Manson knows that in 2025, her band is competing with the likes of Chappell Roan, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams for attention. That hasn't deterred Garbage's ambitions to keep making music for their loyal followers, just tempered the band's expectations. 'You can't have the same cultural impact you had when you were young,' says Manson. 'That is the province of youth, and how it should be.' Manson wrote most of the songs for Let All That We Imagine Be The Light in 2023 and 2024 during two bouts of post-operation rehab in the LA home she shares with husband Billy Bush, Garbage's recording engineer. She had been told she would be walking three days after surgery, but each time took three months, while a diet of painkillers led to brain fog. But rather than feel sorry for herself, the situation inspired positive thinking. 'At first, I thought it was a tragedy that I was so crippled, but it turned out to be a gift,' she says. Loading She elaborates, 'I couldn't bear weight on my legs – it was frightening. I think I was clinically depressed, and I knew that if I didn't change my thinking about my health, about the dark events happening in the world at the same time, I would die of a broken heart. So, I had to put positive thinking into practice and imagine something bigger and better than myself. I employed a positive way of thinking for the first time in 58 years and was astounded by the results.' Sisyphus, the first song she wrote for the new album, points to the recovery process. 'It's about learning how to garner all my powers to recover and walk again,' she says. 'It was good to learn new things about myself, to reacquaint myself with the idea of patience and employ it for the first time in my life.' Earlier this year, a UK tabloid criticised Manson for looking 'unrecognisable' in a new promotional photo, a huge blow for someone who's spent her entire career fighting sexism. Asked about it now, Manson hits back: 'How can anyone expect to look the same as they did in their 20s? I don't even want to try.' Another new song, Chinese Fire Horse, is an ode to that inner feminist fire, calling out those who put women down. 'A few years ago, I had two journalists in different countries, one male and one female, ask me when I was going to retire. I was 54 at the time and completely thrown back on my heels. How did they have the audacity to ask me that question? Nobody would ever ask this question of the men in my band, who are considerably older than me – Butch [Vig] will be 70 this year. 'It was then I realised the experience of an ageing woman in our culture has never really been fully investigated in pop music. Bob Dylan has never written a song about what it's like to be an ageing woman.' She acknowledges that there's now a wave of female rock stars enjoying success in their 70s and even 80s. 'Women like Deborah Harry, Patti Smith, Stevie Nicks, Chaka Khan and Chrissie Hynde are the first wave who have ever done it,' she says. 'It's thrilling, and I can't think of anything more beautiful than pointing younger women to this messaging. 'When society tells you that you're dead at 25, they're lying to you. You have agency into your 80s thanks to these women. I am sick and tired of men being told how beautifully they age and how great they are. Well, how about we start talking about how great, gallus and courageous women are, because we haven't had any doors opened for us?' Away from the spotlight, Manson often turns to her inner circle – including fellow musicians Peaches, Santigold and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O – for support. She still travels back to Scotland to visit her 88-year-old father and laughs while observing that, where she grew up, nobody cares that she went to LA and became a rock star. Manson lost her mother to dementia in 2008. While sad, it was another experience that gave the singer a spur to re-evaluate her life. 'I kept waiting for someone to recognise that I was enough,' she says. 'It wasn't until my mother died that I realised, 'Wow, I'm on my own now. I have no Joan of Arc in front of me. It's me versus the world and I have to value myself.'' That, however, doesn't make the sting of public scrutiny any easier, and Manson continues to attract media attention based on what she wears, both on and off the stage. 'I always ask myself, 'How can I be as authentic as possible with the clothing choices I make?'' says the woman who caused a ruckus in the 90s by wearing a T-shirt with the slogan 'Don't touch my tits'. Loading 'I don't want to play dress-up and I'm uninterested in being fashionable,' she continues. 'I don't give a f--- about fashion because I don't want to look like everybody else, nor do I want my identity consumed by the mainstream. Yes, I love beautiful clothes, but I'm not consumed by them.' Keeping it simple is her approach now. 'I feel very concerned about the unbelievable waste the fashion industry is creating. I am trying to be more conscious. I am re-using pieces over and over again. 'Am I perfect? No. Do I make mistakes? Yes. But I will never wear fur. I am eating fewer animal products nowadays, and I'm sure that within a few years I'll be wearing rubber Crocs 100 per cent of the time, not 99.9 per cent.'
News.com.au
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Garbage singer Shirley Manson warns ‘expensive' Australia may miss out on more big tours
Shirley Manson confirms there are 'plans afoot' for '90s industrial pop pioneers Garbage to return to Australia later this year for their first tour in almost a decade. The rebel siren who has stalked the country's biggest stages over the past three decades says the delay in returning down under to play to one their biggest fanbases in the world, isn't for a lack of desire. It's a numbers' game. Manson reveals the band, which features famous producers and hitmakers Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Market, are offered the same fees to play in 2025 as they were paid in the late '90s. As Garbage get ready to head out on a massive US tour in support of their eighth studio album Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, the alt-rock goddess says the explosion in costs from flights and accommodation to staging and freight is putting younger rock bands out of business. 'There are plans afoot to come this year but it's getting increasingly difficult for bands to come to Australia,' she says. 'It's very expensive for us, flights, hotels, wages, everything, and the fees for a band like us, not always but sometimes, remain the same as what we were being paid in the '90s. 'I don't think people fully understand how difficult it is for bands to survive and that is why we are seeing less and less bands because the expense of touring for a band just becomes impossible to sustain. 'We have managed to survive an industry that's brutal by being really canny with the money; none of us live wildly, I drive a f---ing 10-year-old Prius.' Manson has been to hell and back over the past couple of years. She underwent hip replacement surgery to fix the damage wrought by a stage fall she suffered in 2016. Last year her other hip broke and she went through the same operation and recovery process all over again. Dealing with her human frailty, and the sociopolitical flux of her beloved America, where the Scottish singer has lived for decades, tested her spirit. Like all songwriters, when the brain fog of pain and medication lifted Manson set up a small recording studio in her bedroom and channelled her feelings into lyrics for the new record's songs. 'It's the first time I've sort of recorded my part of the bargain independently of the band; it's my era of independence!' she says with pride. 'I was recovering from two major surgeries over the course of two years so I was bed bound and my whole life got sort of turned upside down and all my habits got just disrupted, which was actually in the end, really great both for me and the band. 'It just changed the dynamic completely, which after 30 years is a real gift because of course if you're familiar with one another and familiar with your patterns of working, things can get very predictable.' 'Being in pain and having to learn to walk again was no picnic but I'm grateful for the upheaval in the end because it changed my thinking and it turned out there was a lot of silver linings to this misery.' The 58-year-old sounds different on the songs. Maybe it was the painkillers, perhaps it was the pain but her already expansive, emotive voice has found bolder new colours. Like on Sisyphus, where she channels her recovery – 'This little body of mine is going to make things right' into a soaring electronic club track that is ripe for a cover version from her labelmate Kylie Minogue. The pair were both mentored by the late great Australian music mogul Michael Gudinski. 'Oh my darling Kylie, she would kill that track actually,' Manson says. 'I have such a massive love for her. 'I really try to explore different parts of my voice, with every record that we make. And I really tried to push myself to not stick to what I know so if you hear any new colour in my voice after 30 years, that's the greatest compliment you could possibly pay me.' Manson has a lot of love for the new generation of female pop artists who share her passion for using their art and platform to speak out against injustice. The singer has never shied from using her songs and her social media to protest, and has been buoyed by other women raising their voices from Lady Gaga to Chappell Roan. 'We are screaming about the same bullshit as we did in the '90s. I'm very excited, however, by the new generations of young artists. They really fill me with a lot of joy,' she says. 'Whether they know it or not, they're coming from our school. 'And we've had a dearth of provocative and alternative voices for about 20 years with the advent of uber pop artists who are just ginormous and take up so much space and were well-behaved and sort of conservative. 'I'm not knocking pop, I love pop, so I love seeing these enormous pop stars now who are getting involved in trying to improve our communities and are being courageous, way more courageous than my generation.' Let All That We Imagine Be The Light is out now.
Scotsman
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Shirley Manson interview: Rock icon on Garbage and her ‘wild years' in Edinburgh band
Shirley Manson, Garbage's iconic frontwoman, speaks to the Evening News about her incredible career and the alt-rock veterans' eighth album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The band were formed in 1994, when Edinburgh-born Shirley met American bandmates Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker. They would go on to become one of the biggest musical acts of the '90s, selling over 15 million albums worldwide. Their best known songs include Stupid Girl, Only Happy When It Rains and the theme to the 1999 James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough. Before finding world stardom with Garbage, Stockbridge-raised Shirley sang with Edinburgh indie stalwarts Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. So how much of a debt, if any, does Shirley owe to her former band? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I have a huge debt to Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. Without them I wouldn't have been prepared for the insane rise of Garbage that I enjoyed. I have a lot of love in my heart for them, and it's wonderful to see them get the kind of praise they deserve. I follow them on Instagram and to see them getting rave reviews, five out of five stars, and entering the Scottish charts is really gratifying. They are insanely talented, and yeah, I'm really proud of them. It's glorious. They are lovely, special people. And they are great artists. You've said in the past it was a wild and decadent time that gave you a 'spectacular education in the world of rock and roll'. It was fantastic. EVERY. SINGLE. DEBAUCHED. GLORIOUS. MOMENT. It was a wild, wild ride. And I have zero regret. We were disobedient, untameable... and hey, that's what you're supposed to do when you're young, right? It was a riot. It was the first time I'd ever been outside of Scotland when Goodbye Mr Macknzie played on the continent and it was glorious. To see the world for the first time while in a rock and roll band - it doesn't get better than that! You famously took a call from Garbage and jumped on a plane to America to audition for the band. What would have happened if you hadn't taken that flight? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The great tragedy of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie is that we were severely mismanaged. It caused a lot of financial duress, and basically destroyed the band. And we had stopped functioning as Goodbye Mr Mackenzie by the time I got the phone call from the Garbage boys. I still think it's terrible... what I call the Swiss cheese effect... when certain things go wrong and you're involved with the wrong kind of people at the wrong time and the wrong place. And that basically hampered Goodbye Mr Mackenzie's momentum. We had run into the rocks basically. And I got this phone call... I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't. I probably would have had to go and get a job. I had no money, I was on the dole. I had no qualifications. And I didn't really know what I would do, so I got the call, and I jumped really cos I didn't have any other option. And I had no idea what I was jumping into. I literally just jumped into the void and it all paid off for me in the end. But I had no idea at the time that it would. I was like, 'ok, this is something to do. I'm gonna do it and I'll get to go to America'. And that's what happened. Did it surprise you how big Garbage became - and how many records you guys sold? Even if you'd talked to me after the success of the first three records, I would not have thought that we'd be enjoying a 30-year career. That's still astounding to me. Even today I'm still reeling from the fact I get to put new records out on a major label and be speaking to journalists like yourself.... that's still kinda wild to me. It just seems like the kinda thing that happens to others, so I don't take it for granted. And I certainly did not see it coming when I jumped on that after making the first record... I was proud of the record we'd made, but I didn't think it had any legs, at all. I was really caught off guard. And then when we released the second one, and we sold as many copies as the first album, that shocked me. So yeah, it's just bizarre. How much do you think the music industry has changed for female artists since your trailblazing early days with Garbage? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I think social media has encouraged the new generation of young women to speak out. I see that in the pop world. All these young women who are pop stars are now massively outspoken about things that they believe in - whether it's Olivia Rodrigo or Lady Gaga or Billie Eilish. They all have causes that they will speak out on - and in a forthright manner. They are way more switched on than my generation was. I was an anomaly really amongst female artists - and I'm not saying I'm the only one cos there were a lot of women in the 90s who were outspoken and talking about taboos. But as outspoken as our generation was, and as outspoken as my peers were, it's nothing compared to how women are now. And I'm so excited by it - it's thrilling to me. What are your proudest moments as an artist? Opening the Scottish Parliament. Absolutely. You have no idea what it feels like to be called up by your management and asked if you want to play at the opening of the first Scottish Parliament in 234 years - or however long it was. It was momentous. It was such a glorious evening and to sing in this spectacular setting underneath our ancient castle... it's etched in my memory and is something I am immensely grateful to have been a part of. How much has Edinburgh changed since you were a teenager? And have the changes been for better or worse? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It's changed. Of course it has. You would want it to change. Nothing stays the same. The city has its own evolution, just like a human being does. Sometimes you lose some beautiful things, and sometimes you gain a lot by change. So I do see that. I personally enjoy a lot of the changes I've seen in Edinburgh - and also I'm a little heartbroken at the death of that amazing moment in time when Edinburgh just had a burgeoning club scene. My favourite was the Hoochie Coochie club. All these kinda places where all the outsiders - the freaks and the geeks - would meet... that seems to have been eroded across the whole globe. There are different clubs that now exist, but I feel like the global communities are much more homogenised than they were when we were young. And I miss that. I miss everybody dressing differently and expressing themselves through their style in wilder, more provocative ways. I miss all the punks and rockabillies and the rockers, etc etc. They used to congregate outside Bruce's Records and places like that. And those record stores disappeared for a while. But old school record stores are coming back, and I think that's wonderful. It's exciting. The new album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, features a more optimistic tone compared to Garbage's previous work - would that be fair to say? Going into making this record, I was determined to find a more hopeful, uplifting world to immerse myself in. The title of the album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light is the perfect descriptor for this new record as a whole. When things feel dark it feels imperative to seek out forces that are light, positive and beautiful in the world. It almost feels like a matter of life and death. A strategy for survival. Our last album was extremely forthright. Born out of frustration and outrage – it had a kind of scorched earth, pissed off quality to it. With this new record however, I felt a compulsion to reach for a different kind of energy. A more constructive one. I had this vision of us coming up out of the underground with searchlights as we moved towards the future. Searching for life, searching for love, searching for all the good things in the world that seem so thin on the ground right now. That was the overriding idea during the making of this record for me - that when things feel dark, its best to try to seek out that which is light, that which feels loving and good. When I was young, I tended towards the destruction of things. Now that I'm older I believe it's vitally important to build and to create things instead. I still entertain very old romantic ideals about community, society and the world. I don't want to walk through the world creating havoc, damaging the land and people. I want to do good. I want to do no harm. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad You've said in other interviews that you were 'completely cut off' from Garbage during the writing process for this new album, following hip surgery you underwent in 2023. Tell us about that. I was in Los Angeles recovering from surgery and I had a lot of brain fog going on because I was on a lot of pain medication. And I was literally learning how to walk again. So I didn't have the fortitude to go into the studio with the band. I just didn't have it in me. So for the first time in 30 years, we were forced into a different way of working. Retrospectively it was actually a gift to be able to disrupt all these old habits of ours. It was actually amazing. It was magical. I wouldn't want to do it again, but I think it really worked for us at that moment. One of the standout tracks on the album is the final track, The Day That I Met God. Tell us about that - did you meet the big man? The idea came to me when I was recovering from major surgery and I felt so raw, vulnerable and scared. I was on the treadmill for the first time following an operation when I suddenly felt this powerful sensation of healing love around me - it was a moment that uplifted me. It took me out from what had felt like hell. The vocal you hear is the writing demo, the first take. Just me sitting on the edge of my bed, in recovery, singing into a handheld microphone. I was feeling so vulnerable and I think that's what lends the song added poignancy. It's really a song about mortality but it's also an expression of gratitude. Gratitude for getting older, gratitude for the longevity of our band, for good health, for the great mystery and for the ongoing, creative adventure of life'. Garbage's new album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, is out now.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
SEVENTEEN Achieves Seventh No. 1 on Top Album Sales Chart With ‘HAPPY BURSTDAY'
SEVENTEEN achieves its seventh No. 1 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart as the group's latest release, SEVENTEEN 5th Album 'HAPPY BURSTDAY' debuts atop the list dated June 14. The set sold 46,000 copies in the United States in the week ending June 5, according to Luminate. SEVENTEEN scored its first No. 1 on Top Album Sales in 2021. In turn, with seven No. 1s in the 2020s, the act ties TOMORROW X TOGETHER for the most No. 1s among groups, and the second-most among all acts in the 2020s. Only Taylor Swift, with nine No. 1s on Top Album Sales in the 2020s, has more this decade. More from Billboard Woman Arrested for Attempted Break-In at BTS Jung Kook's Residence on the Day of His Military Discharge Carín León Is Ready to Prove He's The 'Missing Link' Between Regional Mexican and Country Music The Grammys Add New Country Category for 2026 Also in the top 10, the region gets shaken up by albums from Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Sufjan Stevens, Garbage and Aesop Rock. Billboard's Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart's history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units. Miley Cyrus' Something Beautiful debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 27,000 copies sold, marking her 15th top 10 (inclusive of titles credited to her Disney Channel character Hannah Montana). Morgan Wallen's I'm the Problem falls to No. 3 (16,000; down 45%) after two weeks atop the list. Two Swift albums return to the top 10 after an outpouring of fan support following the news that Swift had acquired her Big Machine Records-era music catalog. Her 2017 album reputation reenters at No. 4 (15,000; up 1,183%) and her self-titled 2006 self-titled debut reenters at No. 6 (8,000; up 955%). Kendrick Lamar's chart-topping To Pimp a Butterfly reenters at No. 5 on Top Album Sales (11,000; up 639%) after a 10th anniversary reissue on multiple vinyl variants, as well as a cassette tape. Another 10th anniversary reissue, this time from Sufjan Stevens, also impacts the chart, as his Carrie & Lowell reenters at No. 7 (8,000; up 2,656%). (For both Lamar and Stevens, all versions of their respective albums, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes.) Garbage's Let All That We Imagine Be the Light debuts at No. 8 with just over 7,000 sold, securing the band its fourth top 10-charting set. Lamar's former No. 1 GNX falls 5-9 (a little more than 7,000; down 15%) and Aesop Rock nabs his first top 10-charting effort with his new release Black Hole Superette debuting at No. 10 (7,000). Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100
