From left: One Direction's Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles photographed by Austin Hargrave on May 17 in Las Vegas.
Billboard

With ‘American Idol’ Ending & One Direction Taking a Bow, Is the Simon Cowell Era Ending?

Austin Hargrave From left: One Direction's Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles photographed by Austin Hargrave on May 17 in Las Vegas. With American Idol kicking off its final season in January, and One Direction bowing at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with what figures to be their swan-song studio album, we might be witness to the [...] Read more
Adele and ’N Sync. Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images, NBCUniversal/Getty Images.
SlateWhy Is This Song No. 1?

Why Is Adele’s 25 the Biggest-Opening Album of All Time? ’N Sync Might Give Us Some Clues.

Picture a young pop act selling a rare 10 million copies of an album: “diamond” status in America, a major career pinnacle. This is a remarkable feat, especially considering that the act originally launched in the shadow of another genre-defining artist. Our young act reached the diamond level the old-fashioned, solid-and-steady way: never selling a [...] Read more