who is on tour with sza

SZA Announces Her Historic First Arena Tour The S.O.S North American Tour

Featuring Special Guest Omar Apollo

New sophomore album ‘sos’ out globally now, tickets on sale starting friday, december 16 at 12pm local on szasos.com.

Off the heels of her long-awaited new sophomore album ‘SOS’, music trendsetter and icon SZA will embark on a highly anticipated arena tour this spring with support from Grammy-nominated best new artist Omar Apollo . Produced by Live Nation, the exclusive 17-city tour kicks off on February 21 at Schottenstein Center in Columbus, OH making stops across North America in Chicago, Toronto, New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Vancouver, and more before wrapping up in Los Angeles, CA, at the Kia Forum on March 22. This tour marks the first time the Grammy-award-winning artist is playing venues of this size and debuting her latest album live to fans.  

TICKETS:  Tickets go on sale starting Friday, December 16 at 12pm local time on szasos.com  

THE S.O.S NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES: 

Tue Feb 21 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center

Wed Feb 22 – Chicago, IL – United Center

Fri Feb 24 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena

Sat Feb 25 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena

Mon Feb 27 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena

Tue Feb 28 – Boston, MA – TD Garden

Thu Mar 02 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center*

Sat Mar 04 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden

Tue Mar 07 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena

Thu Mar 09 – Austin, TX – Moody Center

Fri Mar 10 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center

Mon Mar 13 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena

Tue Mar 14 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena

Thu Mar 16 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena

Sat Mar 18 – Portland, OR – Moda Center

Sun Mar 19 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena

Wed Mar 22 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum

Born in St. Louis and raised in Maplewood, NJ, genre-defying, and GRAMMY Award winning recording artist SZA released her major label debut album Ctrl (TDE/RCA) in 2017. Revered for its raw and honest lyrics, it landed at No. 1 on Billboard ’s R&B Albums chart, No. 2 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, according to Nielsen Music. The now RIAA-certified 3xPlatinum album received five Grammy nominations in 2018 and more than half the songs on Ctrl are currently certified multi-Platinum and Gold. Ctrl remains on the Billboard 200 chart since its release in 2017 and holds the record for the longest run for any Black female artist’s debut album. In 2022 alone it sold over 600,000 units and is the 10th best-selling female album this year in the country and 50th best-selling album in 2022 overall.

SZA has won various awards since the release of Ctrl including a 2022 GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Dou/Group Performance for “Kiss Me More” with Doja Cat, Billboard Music Awards’ Top R&B Female Artist, BET Awards’ Best New Artist, BET Soul Train Awards’ Best R&B/Soul Female Artist and Best New Artist, MTV Video Music Awards’ Best Visual Effects for the “All The Stars” with Kendrick Lamar, and NAACP Image Awards’ Outstanding New Artist. In 2019, she won NAACP Image Awards’ Outstanding Duo or Group for “All The Stars” with Kendrick Lamar and Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation for the Black Panther Soundtrack . SZA also received Billboard’s 2019 Women in Music Rule Breaker award.

To this day, SZA continues to set the standard on creativity and songwriting, while shattering records with over 7.2 billion streams worldwide across all platforms. To close out the trying year of 2020, SZA gifted fans on Christmas Day with the hopeful track “Good Days.” Grammy-nominated for Best R&B Song, the single quickly became SZA’s greatest gainer solo single release, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and marking her first time in the chart’s top ten as the main artist. December 2021, SZA scored her second lead artist top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart with the official release of “I Hate U,” which debuted at #7. The song also entered at #1 on both Spotify and Apple Music US charts and broke the record for the most streamed R&B song by a female artist on Apple Music in its first week.  “Shirt,” her most recent single has garnered over 60 million streams globally since its release in October. SZA’s long-awaited new album SOS includes features by Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers and Ol’ Dirty Bastard; with production by Ctrl hitmaking collaborators ThankGod4Cody and Carter Lang, alongside Jeff Bhasker, Rob Bisel, Benny Blanco, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Emile Haynie, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Jay Versace, and more.

About Omar Apollo

Omar Apollo is one of music’s most exciting shape-shifters. In just a few years time, the Indiana-raised Mexican-American singer-songwriter went from teenage strummer to one of the most hotly-tipped rising stars of his generation— most recently honored with a Grammy Nomination for Best New Artist. His debut, critically acclaimed album “Ivory” released in April 2022 featured the Billboard Hot 100 hit “Evergreen” and was supported by 2 sold out North American tours including stops at historic venues like The Greek Theatre, Kings Theatre, and Coachella.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com .

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SZA Announces 2023 North American Arena Tour

By Allison Hussey

SZA is embarking on her first arena tour next year in support of her new album, SOS . Omar Apollo will join her on the North American run, and tickets go on sale Friday, December 16 at noon Eastern. Find the dates below.

After performing “ Shirt ” and debuting “ Blind ” on Saturday Night Live at the beginning of December, SZA revealed that her record would be out less than a week later. SOS arrived more than five years after SZA’s 2017 debut, Ctrl . She shared a new video for “ Nobody Gets Me ” on the day of the album’s release.

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02-21 Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center 02-22 Chicago, IL - United Center 02-24 Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena 02-25 Toronto, Ontario - Scotiabank Arena 02-27 Washington, D.C. - Capital One Arena 02-28 Boston, MA - TD Garden 03-02 Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center 03-04 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden 03-07 Atlanta, GA - State Farm Arena 03-09 Austin, TX - Moody Center 03-10 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center 03-13 San Diego, CA - Viejas Arena 03-14 Oakland, CA - Oakland Arena 03-16 Seattle, WA - Climate Pledge Arena 03-18 Portland, OR - Moda Center 03-19 Vancouver, British Columbia - Rogers Arena 03-22 Inglewood, CA - Kia Forum

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SZA Announced Her First-Ever Arena Tour Set For Spring 2023

SOS to our wallets.

Say SOS to your wallets: SZA is going on tour.

On the heels of releasing her long-awaited sophomore album, SOS , SZA has finally announced her first run of live shows in years — and her first-ever North American arena headlining tour set to take place in spring 2023, the singer unveiled on Tuesday.

The upcoming “SOS” North American tour kicking off in February will take the singer to major cities throughout the U.S. and Canada, where she’ll headline iconic stadiums such as Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, New York’s Madison Square Garden, and Los Angeles’ Kia Forum for the first time. The 17-date run kicks off Feb. 21 in Columbus, OH, and wraps up a month later, on March 22, in L.A.

Besides it being her arena debut, the tour also marks the “Shirt” singer’s first-ever live performances of her sophomore album, SOS . Gen Z hero Omar Apollo has also been confirmed as the sole opener for the shows, which is sure to make each night’s performance extra special.

SZA’s last headlining tour was in 2018 in support of her acclaimed debut album, CTRL, so it’s certainly been a while since she and fans have been face-to-face.

Below, see everything we know about attending the “SOS” tour, including the full tour schedule and how to buy tickets.

Where is the SOS tour playing?

The 17-date run kicks off in February 2023, and will take SZA to cities throughout the U.S. and Canada where she’ll play renowned venues like Madison Square Garden, Scotiabank Arena, and the Kia Forum. See her official tour schedule below:

THE SOS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:

• Tue, Feb. 21 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
• Wed, Feb. 22 – Chicago, IL – United Center
• Fri, Feb. 24 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
• Sat, Feb. 25 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
• Mon, Feb. 27 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
• Tue, Feb. 28 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
• Thu, Mar. 02 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
• Sat, Mar. 04 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
• Tue, Mar. 07 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
• Thu, Mar. 09 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
• Fri, Mar. 10 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
• Mon, Mar. 13 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
• Tue, Mar. 14 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
• Thu, Mar. 16 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
• Sat, Mar. 18 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
• Sun, Mar. 19 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
• Wed, Mar. 22 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum

Who is opening on SZA’s SOS tour?

Omar Apollo is the confirmed opener for all dates of SZA’s SOS tour. The Indiana native released his critically acclaimed debut album , Ivory , in April 2022.

How can I buy tickets to SZA’s SOS tour?

Tickets for all dates on the tour go on sale Friday, Dec. 16 at 12 p.m. local time. Visit SZA’s website for more information.

This article was originally published on Dec. 13, 2022

SZA Lives Up to All the Anticipation as She Launches Her ‘SOS’ Tour

By Jaelani Turner-Williams

Jaelani Turner-Williams

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The Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, was flooded with millennials and Gen-Zers on Feb. 21, all buzzing in excitement for the first night of SZA ‘s SOS tour . Advertisements for a “Seek & Destroy” speciality cocktail — made with pink lemonade, Tito’s, and cotton candy — were posted throughout the arena. Fans flocked for tour merch, poring over psychedelic graphic tees, chrome-emblazoned caps, and a purple-and-tan tote bag made by Los Angeles fashion company Online Ceramics. Less than three months after the long-awaited release of SZA’s second album, her performance would differ from what the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has offered in the five years since Ctrl . In fact, the concert showed that her mainstream presence is larger than ever, and the first stop on her 17-date arena tour  — which will run through late March with shows in D.C., New York, Atlanta, Seattle, and L.A. — lived up to all its anticipation. 

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After a 20-minute intermission, where audience members raved over Ice Spice’s “In Ha Mood” and Lil Uzi Vert’s “I Just Wanna Rock,” a visual thunderstorm brewed on a three-sided box screen concealing the stage. Replicating the Princess Diana-inspired SOS album cover, SZA sat in isolation on the edge of a white diving board, wearing a jersey-like “S” sweatshirt reading “Yemaya” on the back, baggy jeans, and black combat boots. Opening with “PSA,” SZA then plunged into the sea, ascending to deliver “Seek & Destroy” with four background dancers.

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A nautical theme persisted throughout the night. For “Shirt,” a puddled blue orb traced SZA’s footsteps. When she ran offstage for an outfit change, an underwater submarine visual diverted to a tracker that seemingly tried to locate SZA. The video turned into a black-and-white behind-the-scenes look at SZA preparing for the stage, changing, getting a touch-up, grabbing a new microphone, and rapping “Smoking On My Ex Pack.” The screen lifted to show a wooden pier and life-sized sailboat, SZA’s dancers on deck while the singer stood atop the ship for her 2018 Kendrick Lamar collaboration “All the Stars.”

For a moment, the first night of the SOS tour nearly got the best of SZA, who briefly forgot the lyrics to “Garden (Say It Like Dat),” and held an index finger to her pursed lips to laugh it off. As dancers exited the ship, guitarist Ari O’Neal gave an electrifying solo while SZA knelt before her, soaking up the vigor. During “F2F,” the two tossed their hair in unison for an adrenalizing Black girl mosh. To decompress from the punk-rock SOS highlight, SZA laid in front of the boat, singing 2017’s “Warm Enough.”

Returning to a live-action backdrop showing that she weathered the storm, SZA rolled into “Gone Girl,” waving to fans while in flight, but making her descent to the stage. Switching to a motor jacket and red biker pants, SZA powered through “SOS,” her parts of Doja Cat collaboration “Kiss Me More,” and her guitar-led ballad “Love Language.” Despite the show’s metaphorical healing process, SZA reminded the audience of her savage ways, recreating her “Kill Bill” music video — and the actual 2003 Quentin Tarantino film — while swinging a spiked ball and chain. For “I Hate U,” the artist sang directly into an onstage video camera facing her, as if she was addressing someone outside the Schottenstein Center.

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“PSA” “Seek & Destroy” “Notice Me” “Conceited” “Love Galore” “Broken Clocks” “Forgiveless” “Used” “Bag Lady” (Erykah Badu cover) “Blind” “Shirt” “Too Late” “Smoking on My Ex Pack” “All the Stars” “Prom” “Garden (Say It Like Dat)” “F2F” “Drew Barrymore” “Doves in the Wind” “Low” “Open Arms” “Supermodel” “Special” “Nobody Gets Me” “Gone Girl” “SOS” “Kiss Me More” “Love Language” “Snooze” “Kill Bill” “I Hate U” “The Weekend” “Good Days”

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Who Is Opening SZA’s ‘SOS’ Tour?

Following SZA’s release of her sophomore album, SOS , and her Saturday Night Live performance, she also revealed today that she’ll be heading on tour in 2023 . The newly-announced North American dates include a number of arenas, signifying her growth — with NYC’s Madison Square Garden, LA’s Kia Forum, and Boston’s TD Garden being just a handful of shows.

“Time to take this sh*t on the road,” SZA shared.

Omar Apollo is set to open for her during the new tour. Earlier this year, he released his album, Ivory , which made an appearance on Uproxx’s Best Pop Albums of 2022 list.

going on a S.O.S north american tour with @sza in February!!! 🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂 tix on sale friday!!! 🆘 pic.twitter.com/A2mVtV5hYL — Omar Apollo (@omarapollo) December 13, 2022

SZA’s North American tour kicks off in February in Columbus, OH, and will run through the end of March. Tickets go on sale starting December 16. More information is available here .

Continue scrolling for a complete list of SZA’s SOS tour dates.

02/21/2023 — Columbus, OH @ The Jerome Schottenstein Center 02/22/2023 — Chicago, IL @ United Center 02/24/2023 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena 02/25/2023 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena 02/27/2023 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena 02/28/2023 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden 03/02/2023 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center 03/04/2023 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden 03/07/2023 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena 03/09/2023 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center 03/10/2023 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center 03/13/2023 — San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena 03/14/2023 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena 03/16/2023 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena 03/18/2023 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center 03/19/2023 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena 03/22/2023 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Kia Forum

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With Special Guest Omar Apollo

• Date Mar 7 , 2023
• Event Starts 8:00 PM
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Event Details

Sza announces her historic first arena tour the s.o.s north american tour, which will stop in atlanta at state farm arena on march 7, 2023.

Featuring Special Guest Omar Apollo

Tickets On Sale Starting Friday, December 16 at 12PM Local on szasos.com and Ticketmaster.com

Off the heels of her long-awaited new sophomore album ‘SOS’, music trendsetter and icon SZA will embark on a highly anticipated arena tour this spring with support from Grammy-nominated best new artist Omar Apollo . Produced by Live Nation, the exclusive 17-city tour kicks off on February 21 at Schottenstein Center in Columbus, OH making stops across North America in Chicago, Toronto, New York, Atlanta at the award-winning State Farm Arena on March 7, 2023 , Seattle, Vancouver, and more before wrapping up in Los Angeles, CA, at the Kia Forum on March 22. This tour marks the first time the Grammy-award-winning artist is playing venues of this size and debuting her latest album live to fans. 

TICKETS:  Tickets go on sale starting Friday, December 16 at 12pm local time on szasos.com and Ticketmaster.com

Born in St. Louis and raised in Maplewood, NJ, genre-defying, and GRAMMY Award winning recording artist SZA released her major label debut album Ctrl (TDE/RCA) in 2017. Revered for its raw and honest lyrics, it landed at No. 1 on Billboard ’s R&B Albums chart, No. 2 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, according to Nielsen Music. The now RIAA-certified 3xPlatinum album received five Grammy nominations in 2018 and more than half the songs on Ctrl are currently certified multi-Platinum and Gold. Ctrl remains on the Billboard 200 chart since its release in 2017 and holds the record for the longest run for any Black female artist’s debut album. In 2022 alone it sold over 600,000 units and is the 10th best-selling female album this year in the country and 50th best-selling album in 2022 overall.

SZA has won various awards since the release of Ctrl including a 2022 GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Dou/Group Performance for “Kiss Me More” with Doja Cat, Billboard Music Awards’ Top R&B Female Artist, BET Awards’ Best New Artist, BET Soul Train Awards’ Best R&B/Soul Female Artist and Best New Artist, MTV Video Music Awards’ Best Visual Effects for the “All The Stars” with Kendrick Lamar, and NAACP Image Awards’ Outstanding New Artist. In 2019, she won NAACP Image Awards’ Outstanding Duo or Group for “All The Stars” with Kendrick Lamar and Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation for the Black Panther Soundtrack . SZA also received Billboard’s 2019 Women in Music Rule Breaker award.

To this day, SZA continues to set the standard on creativity and songwriting, while shattering records with over 7.2 billion streams worldwide across all platforms. To close out the trying year of 2020, SZA gifted fans on Christmas Day with the hopeful track “Good Days.” Grammy-nominated for Best R&B Song, the single quickly became SZA’s greatest gainer solo single release, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and marking her first time in the chart’s top ten as the main artist. December 2021, SZA scored her second lead artist top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart with the official release of “I Hate U,” which debuted at #7. The song also entered at #1 on both Spotify and Apple Music US charts and broke the record for the most streamed R&B song by a female artist on Apple Music in its first week.  “Shirt,” her most recent single has garnered over 60 million streams globally since its release in October. SZA’s long-awaited new album SOS includes features by Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers and Ol’ Dirty Bastard; with production by Ctrl hitmaking collaborators ThankGod4Cody and Carter Lang, alongside Jeff Bhasker, Rob Bisel, Benny Blanco, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Emile Haynie, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Jay Versace, and more.

About Omar Apollo

Omar Apollo is one of music’s most exciting shape-shifters. In just a few years time, the Indiana-raised Mexican-American singer-songwriter went from teenage strummer to one of the most hotly-tipped rising stars of his generation— most recently honored with a Grammy Nomination for Best New Artist. His debut, critically acclaimed album "Ivory" released in April 2022 featured the Billboard Hot 100 hit "Evergreen" and was supported by 2 sold out North American tours including stops at historic venues like The Greek Theatre, Kings Theatre, and Coachella.

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Please note that bags larger than 14" x 14" x 6", including briefcases, purses, luggage, and diaper bags, are not allowed in the arena. Additionally, backpacks and hard-sided bags of any kind are prohibited. However, you are welcome to bring in single-compartment drawstring bags and fashion backpacks or purses that are smaller than 14" x 14" x 6".

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• May 25, 2024 Setlist

SZA Setlist at Waterfront Park, Louisville, KY, USA

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• Seek & Destroy Play Video
• Love Galore Play Video
• Broken Clocks Play Video
• Forgiveless Play Video
• Ghost in the Machine Play Video
• Blind Play Video
• Shirt Play Video
• All the Stars ( Kendrick Lamar & SZA  cover) Play Video
• Garden (Say It Like Dat) Play Video
• F2F Play Video
• Drew Barrymore Play Video
• Low Play Video
• Supermodel / Special Play Video
• Open Arms Play Video
• Nobody Gets Me Play Video
• Saturn Play Video
• Normal Girl Play Video
• Kiss Me More ( Doja Cat  cover) Play Video
• Snooze Play Video
• I Hate U Play Video
• Kill Bill Play Video
• The Weekend ( Funk Wav Remix Outro ) Play Video
• Rich Baby Daddy ( Drake  cover) Play Video
• Good Days Play Video

Edits and Comments

4 activities (last edit by OneFlyPenguin , 26 May 2024, 15:53 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Forgiveless
• Ghost in the Machine
• Nobody Gets Me
• Seek & Destroy
• Broken Clocks
• Drew Barrymore
• Garden (Say It Like Dat)
• Love Galore
• Normal Girl
• The Weekend
• All the Stars by Kendrick Lamar & SZA
• Kiss Me More by Doja Cat
• Rich Baby Daddy by Drake
• Supermodel / Special

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Sza gig timeline.

• Apr 30 2024 Rod Laver Arena Melbourne, Australia Start time: 9:20 PM 9:20 PM
• May 02 2024 Rod Laver Arena Melbourne, Australia Start time: 9:30 PM 9:30 PM
• May 25 2024 Gazebo Festival 2024 This Setlist Louisville, KY, USA Start time: 10:05 PM 10:05 PM
• Jun 01 2024 Primavera Sound Barcelona 2024 Barcelona, Spain Add time Add time
• Jun 02 2024 We Love Green 2024 Paris, France Scheduled: 9:50 PM 9:50 PM

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Nobody Gets SZA Like SZA

The SOS singer has reached meteoric levels of success, but shhh—don’t tell her that.

It was night one of two sold-out shows SZA would be performing to close out the first leg of her SOS Tour, and fans were lined up for miles in the streets surrounding Los Angeles’ Kia Forum.

Making my way into the venue that evening, I asked one of the hordes of teens standing in line what they were doing out there, since it was just past 8 P.M. and the doors had already opened. They told me they had been in line all day, some with chairs and blankets, in hopes of getting whatever cheaper tickets may be released at the box office or by resellers once the show began. I don’t know if I was more surprised that these California residents had the fortitude to withstand the rain earlier in the day, or by the fact that acquiring affordable seats online has become so hard that Gen Z is now forced to take part in the age-old Gen X ritual of camping out for concert tickets.

It was the Grammy-winner’s first arena tour run and the increase of her star power was evident everywhere. Outside the Forum, a huge digital billboard image of SZA starring in the latest Skims campaign sat high in the sky. Inside the arena, fans were screaming at Apple watch-alert decibels in anticipation of her hitting the stage. Among them were A-list celebrities like Adele, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Justin and Hailey Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, Pedro Pascal, and Avril Lavigne, who made the trek south to see the show. “You left the mansion to come to this, to slum it...” SZA says in disbelief while recalling the night. “Oh, Pedro Pascal, I was so excited about, because he’s on my favorite show, The Last of Us —and Narcos ,” she adds.

SZA (born Solána Imani Rowe) was probably the only person in the building that night surprised that her concert had become one of the hottest tickets in town. The fanfare makes sense when you consider the massive success that her album has garnered since its release. With 23 tracks (“I will never do that again,” SZA says, laughing), an ever-wider set of genre-bending sounds, and soul-bearing lyrical content, SOS takes the baton from its (five times Grammy-nominated) predecessor, Ctrl , runs with it, then smashes the sophomore curse to bits at the finish line. At the time of our interview, the double-platinum album had just finished a record-breaking run on the Billboard charts, spending 10 nonconsecutive weeks as the number one album in the country, making her the first solo female artist to have a streak like this since Adele’s album 25 was number one for 10 weeks back in 2015–2016. No other Black female artist has done that since the Whitney Houston–led Bodyguard soundtrack held the number one spot for 20 nonconsecutive weeks in 1992–1993.

One might think banking these sorts of rare achievements would have her celebrating. But during our time together, I realize that no one is harder on SZA than Solána. That 10-week run at number one? “I want to know what kind of criminal activity happened where I’m not at 11 or 12 weeks. Someone did criminal activity,” she half-jokes. “People are like, ‘Aren’t you happy?’ And I’m just like, ‘No, I have to put out a better body of work.’”

She seems more caught up in the heaviness of the crown than its shiny jewels. There’s also a sort of mistrust of fame inside her that’s causing her to be apprehensive about putting too much security in the concept that, in all fairness, is known to be fleeting. “It’s all really fickle....Had the first three shows of my tour gone poorly, would the rest of my dates have been sold out? Would those people be outside waiting in line by the time we got to L.A.? No. All it takes is, what, three poorly shot TikTok videos to basically decide that this tour is not worth coming to see,” she tells me matter-of-factly. “I know that people don’t love me because love is really unconditional, and I’m one scandal away from being canceled indefinitely like anyone else. I’m grateful that they like my art and that it speaks to them, and it connects and tethers all of us together in this weird way. It’s dope, but it’s also still a string that could be cut at any moment. Literally, sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason to it. Remember Susan Boyle? Like, what if I’m Susan Boyle?!”

SZA and I are seated at a table across from each other inside a suite at the Chamberlin West Hollywood hotel. It is the first Monday after the first leg of her tour wrapped, and she is already back on the grind. She has just come from a fitting with stylist Patti Wilson for the ELLE photo shoot, which is scheduled to take place the following morning, and is regretfully missing the iHeartRadio Music Awards to make time for our interview. “I couldn’t do both that and this. I need time to prepare myself to be perceived…like I need to mentally prepare,” she explains. And she doesn’t mean this in a Diva™ way. It’s more about her internal struggle. “Some people think that, like, me having anxiety or me being shy or struggling with self-esteem is an act,” SZA says. “I’m just, dead-ass, a person. Everybody else has feelings and fears. Why wouldn’t I be scared to be famous? Would you be scared to be famous? Because I’m famous, I’m not allowed to be scared? I wasn’t born famous. I had regular quiet-ass parents from a small town like everybody else. And I guess at some point I’m supposed to acclimate to all of this?”

It was a little after 8:30 P.M. when she showed up to the suite, and I could tell by the way she took off her shoes and kicked her feet up on a chair that she was thankful for a moment to sit back and chill. She arrived eating a Shake Shack burger that she’d been trying to finish for a while. The fitting had gone longer than expected. “I hate trying on clothes,” she admits. “I don’t shop anywhere. I just wear whatever is free in my mail. I’m like, ‘Is it an extra large? Great.’” (“If I can feel like I’m under a blanket when I’m outside, that’s ideal,” she adds.)

On the rare occasion SZA feels like dressing up to go out, she focuses on accentuating her favorite accessory: “I treat my butt like a purse,” she says with a slight smile. “It’s just there to enhance whatever else. And that’s why I paid for it, because it works all by itself.” The singer hinted that she’d had a Brazilian butt lift on the intro of her SOS album. “That ass so fat, it look natural / It’s not,” the 33-year-old raps. In our conversation, she makes sure to note that the decision to have the surgery was hers alone. “I always wanted a really fat ass with less gym time,” she says. “I didn’t succumb to industry pressure. I succumbed to my own eyes in the mirror and being like, No, I need some more ass .” I ask her about her decision to rap her way through that entire track—a first for her. She kind of shrugs before declaring, “That’s some Jersey shit. You know what I’m saying? When I feel like I have too much to say and I don’t want to say it cute.”

I do know what she means. SZA and I both grew up in New Jersey suburbs. She went to Columbia High School in Maplewood, about an hour north on the NJ Turnpike from my hometown. As a Jersey girl of the same age, I am deeply aware of our affinity for sarcasm and talking shit; it’s a love language, really. I also have an understanding of how the Garden State can fertilize a certain defensive pride. “I have a deep desire to shut everyone up,” SZA says. “And that probably comes from high school and all that type of shit. My mom always told me that I’ve always been the kind of person where people either really fuck with me or they just don’t like me at all.”

SZA’s mother, Audrey Rowe, was an executive at AT&T when she was growing up, and her father, Abdul-Alim Mubarak-Rowe, worked as a producer at CNN. She grew up in a conservative interfaith Christian-Muslim home, but was raised orthodox Muslim and even wore a hijab for a time.

Unlike a lot of artists who grew up always wanting to be a singer and/or famous, SZA’s path to music wasn’t linear. After graduating high school, she enrolled at a nearby HBCU, Delaware State University, to study marine biology. She says she earned straight A’s for two semesters, then lost interest. “I’m like, ‘I told you I was smart and I proved my point. I have to leave now,’” SZA says. She stopped going to class and “completely flunked out of school and stopped working at jobs that make any sense to other people,” she explains.

In retrospect, she regrets what she put her parents through. “I really disrespected my parents for a long time....Me telling my mom I would rather go run in the streets and bartend at the strip club so I can pay for studio time [than go to school]. It’s crazy,” she says, shaking her head.

She released her first mixtape on SoundCloud in 2012, and also dabbled in the fashion world, doing a summer semester at FIT in New York City, an internship with Pharrell William and Nigo’s clothing brand Billionaire Boys Club, and later a job working for Scott Sasso’s streetwear brand 10.Deep. One day, while SZA was making a delivery to Top Dawg Entertainment, president Terrence “Punch” Henderson Jr. overheard her voice on a track that one of SZA’s friends was playing and was impressed. They kept in touch, and two years later, he signed SZA to the indie label. Today he’s her manager.

.css-1aear8u:before{margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;width:34px;height:25px;content:'';display:block;background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-1aear8u:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/elle/static/images/quote.fddce92.svg);} .css-1bvxk2j{font-family:SaolDisplay,SaolDisplay-fallback,SaolDisplay-roboto,SaolDisplay-local,Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:1.625rem;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.2;margin:0rem;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.125rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.125rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.25rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.375rem;line-height:1.2;}}.css-1bvxk2j b,.css-1bvxk2j strong{font-family:inherit;font-weight:bold;}.css-1bvxk2j em,.css-1bvxk2j i{font-style:italic;font-family:inherit;}.css-1bvxk2j i,.css-1bvxk2j em{font-style:italic;} The only way that I don’t bore myself is to bare myself. It’s freeing and empowering AF.”

At the time SZA was signed, Kendrick Lamar was TDE’s flagship artist thanks to his 2012 mega hit album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City . SZA’s addition as the literal first lady of the male-dominated label that consisted mostly of rappers who—like Lamar, Henderson, and TDE co-founder Anthony “Top Dog” Tiffith—were from LA, felt like an odd choice. “I’ve been on a championship team and people know I’m not a bad player, but I don’t know if anybody thought I was giving, starting player or MVP,” SZA says. “I didn’t know that I was going to get my opportunity. Now that I have, I’m like, ‘Let me get my playing shoes on, and I need six Gatorades, and then we are going to get to it.’”

SZA’s scrappy nature managed to prevail over the inevitable bumps that come along with acclimating oneself to a new team. Brick by brick, hit by hit, SZA has shown and proved her way to becoming a top artist for both TDE and her parent label RCA. And with Lamar’s recent departure in 2021, there’s no question that she’s her primary label’s frontrunner.

Getting the respect she deserves for the points she has put on the board matters more to SZA than being liked or popular. “I try not to care too much because I really had some deep disappointments when I would just be so invested. But I can’t invest because none of it is real. Even if I win a bunch of Grammys, that shit doesn’t matter. It would be so cool. But also I would not be surprised at all if I didn’t win any [more]. Because that’s just how shit goes. But that’s why the tour matters to me. ‘Cause it’s like, No, we packed out these stadiums all over the country and that was real. That’s why I can’t let up, because at the end of the day it was like, yeah, [whatever haters say] is good and well, but just make sure you add, we have sold-out dates in all arenas. Make sure you tell them that we sold out the Forum twice and we could have done it four times. Make sure you tell them that I was in the air, and that my mic was on.”

There’s no denying that SZA has put her all into this tour. That night at the Forum, she opened singing from a diving board with a moving cube-like set of digital screens imitating ocean waves, à la her SOS album cover (a re-creation of an iconic 1997 photo of Princess Diana, taken shortly before her death). Fans were then taken on a theatrical-esque journey with big budget sets, including a ship that appears almost magically on stage at one point, and gorgeous arrangements of her catalog.

“This is probably one of the most ambitious shows that we’ve ever made,” says SOS Tour director Ian Valentine (whose company Human Person has designed shows for artists like the Weeknd and Billie Eilish). “These are powerful songs that really require an amazing performance out of her musically. She’s got to do that while she’s doing choreo, navigating set changes, and the physicality of the performance space, all while looking beautiful and like she’s having a great time. She navigates all of those challenges so well that the show just feels seamless. She’s a fighter who is serious about her performance. She’s also her toughest critic.” SZA confirms as much. “I’m never happy with anything because I’m just like, ‘This was not good enough.’ I don’t know why I’m like that. I feel like some of it is probably a mental issue, some disorder that needs to be treated,” she says.

Thankfully she has family and friends who remind her who she is when things get blurry. She lists fellow musicians like Lizzo, producer Benny Blanco, and the late rapper Mac Miller as people in the industry who have created space for her. As part of her mental-health journey, she tries to only surround herself with people she can really feel free around. “If I can’t take my wig off in this space, I don’t need to be there!” SZA says. “That’s why I hang out with Lizzo, because I can take my wig off at her house!” As she says this, she shifts the wig she has on back a few inches for emphasis, revealing her own dark hair underneath, which is slicked back into a low bun. We’ve been talking for over an hour, and I am honored to have made it to quarter-wig-removal comfort status.

Ironically, it’s SZA’s raw vulnerability about her insecurities that makes her songwriting so extraordinary. In Pieces singer Chlöe tells me, “I feel like all of our intrusive thoughts that we have, she somehow figures out a way to put them in her lyrics and make everyone feel seen because she says all of the things that we are actually scared to admit to ourselves and say out loud. Because of her, of who she is, she has made me more confident in being myself, and I just really appreciate her.”

SZA has managed to free herself from the need to be seen as “good,” to make herself or her music more digestible or marketable, and that signature bravado is on full display on SOS . Whether she’s singing about wanting to choose violence over therapy (“Kill Bill”); detailing past sexcapades at the MGM hotel (“Nobody Gets Me”); or the despair you feel when you realize you’ve given the best of yourself to a loser (“Special”)—her music lives in the uncomfortable admissions that must be made before you get to the healing. “The only way that I don’t bore myself is to bare myself,” SZA explains. “It’s freeing and empowering AF.”

She compares her method to the scene in 8 Mile when Eminem’s character gets on the mic during a rap battle and reclaims his power over everything that would otherwise be used as a diss against him. For him it was, “I am white and I do live in a trailer park with my mom.” SZA says her version of that is, “I did deserve less. I have did terrible things. I do miss my ex. I do got acne, I got eczema, like whatever the fuck.”

At times, it almost feels like SZA is incapable of not impulsively saying or doing whatever is on her mind, even when it would work more in her favor not to. Sometimes it’s taking to Twitter to vent about industry frustrations, and other times it’s pouring her feelings out to a packed arena in between song performances. “My ex’s father just texted me and was like, ‘My son is really hurt about what you said about him to the crowd in Portland,’” SZA says, adding that she told the crowd that her ex blocked her, but doesn’t see the problem with it since it is the truth. “You don’t get to block me on everything. Tell our mutual friends terrible things about me like I’m a monster, or whatever the case may be. And then I don’t get to speak my peace in my way. You go do your healing and I’ll do mine.”

This sort of rap-battle mentality tracks with SZA’s personality. She operates best when challenged. It’s the fuel that converts her insecurities into the necessary ego-driven energy it takes to be, as Beyoncé would say, that girl . “If it was time for me to go to war with a bitch based on my talents alone, I would come out victorious because there’s something inside of me that wants to devour someone’s soul,” she says, looking me dead in the eye for emphasis before switching back to the friendly demeanor we had for most of the interview. But at the end of the day, she knows the opponent she ultimately has to prove herself to is that voice inside her head. “I’m just waiting until I finish proving points to myself,” she says. “‘Cause that’s what all this is about, really. I do music to prove that I have value to myself. Because what else am I going to do, in terms of how I help people? Me being whoever I’m led to be on this journey must be part of the work ‘cause it’s really hard emotionally....My prayer is to see myself the way God sees me. Like, ‘Father, help me know my value and trust that I’m valuable, and that I am who You say I am.’”

Hair by Malcolm Marquez at OPUS Beauty; makeup by Deanna Paley; manicure by Chaun Legend for The Only Agency; set design by Daniel Horowitz at Jones MGMT; produced by Carina Mak at Ice Studios.

This article appears in the June/July 2023 issue of ELLE.

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SZA With Special Guest d4vd

Following her incredibly successful 17-city sold out run, Grammy-award-winning music trendsetter and icon SZA will continue her touring trek with ten new dates in Europe and twenty-one additional dates across North America due to incredible fan demand, including a return to the United Center on October 10 with support from d4vd.

The 2023 tour follows SZA’s hugely successful sophomore album, SOS, which was released in December and earned the superstar the record for the largest streaming week for an R&B album in the United States. The album also claimed ten non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart - the most among albums by women in seven years.

During the first run of the S.O.S. Tour earlier this year, SZA gave unforgettable performances night after night. The platinum recording artist performed  classics like “Love Galore” and “The Weekend” in addition to newer mega-hits such as “Kill Bill,” and “Shirt.” Fans also got to experience special performances from a number of surprise guests including Phoebe Bridgers, Cardi B, Summer Walker, Lizzo and more.

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Solana Rowe (born November 8th, 1990) a.k.a SZA, hails from St Louis, Missouri, US, with the American singer-songwriter delivering alternative neo-soul and ethereal R&B that has gained respect from her peers.

Rowe grew up listening to the jazz greats, finding a love for Billie Holiday, John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane, before later developing an interest in the music of Bjork. She also found a love for hip hop, with her name being inspired by Wu Tang Clan’s RZA. These influences can be heard in her music with her voice garnering comparisons with Ella Fitzgerald in its rasping tone.

SZA began making music in 2012, releasing her first two EPs as a free download, featuring production from the likes of brandUn DeShay, Felix Snow, Zodiac, Hassan Insane and APSuperProducer, . These two releases, “See.SZA.Run” and ’S” showcased SZA’s dreamy, atmospheric brand of soul with hip hop inspired beats.

Following the success of these releases, she drew the attention of Top Dawg Records, with whom she signed, joining Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul on their roster. SZA found further exposure through the video for her single, “Ice Moon,” as well as her appearance on the track, “His & Her Friend” for Schoolboy Q’s album, “Oxymoron” in 2014.

Shortly after, SZA released a ten-track digital download, “Z,” which featured a host of hip hop artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper and Isaiah Rashad. The album was a commercial success, reaching 197 in the UK charts and number 39 in the US.

Live reviews

Solana Rowe, aka. SZA is a singer/songwriter that I’ve been following since the release of her first track back in 2011. Although she’s not been creating music for too long, her original R&B fusion with neo soul is something that’s not covered extensively in the industry, and therefore puts her at a great advantage. From her beginnings studying marine biology at college, her change in career path was a risky one, but most definitely paid off for the best!

She opened the show with Babylon, one of her newer tracks, and had everyone singing along right away. Her incredible voice washed over the auditorium, and held everyone in silence, before she shouted out for us to join in. Her soulful voice of someone way beyond her years powered through everyone, and sent the energy of the room sky high.

She interacted really well with her band, and gave them the opportunity to play solos between her verse and choruses, which was a great touch. They were incredibly talented, and to hear such a high class musician perform with incredible musician rather than her usual DJ was wonderful.

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The most incredible, angelic, beautiful person to ever grace this earth. I've never been more stunned by a performance. SZA met and exceeded all of my expectations, I cannot put into words how amazing she is live. It's an experience you don't want to miss if you get the chance to see her. She was so happy and humble and was continuiously appoligizing for being sick and I honestly couldn't tell, that's how great she is. Also the experience brought me life not only because I got to see her preform but because everyone was singing every single word to every song with her. Truly incredible when you are surrounded in a room full of people singing your favorite songs at the top of their lungs. Needless to say I want a live version of ctrl after all of this so I can reminisce.

This is the second SZA show that I've been to and once again it was fantastic!!! Her energy onstage is electric and the performance was so amazing!! And as always her beautiful bubbly silly personality made the show that much more amazing. I am so in love!!!!!!!. Not to mention the fact that she held my hand at one point. I just about cried tears of joy! Definitely looking forward to going to her next concert!! Best night of my life.

This show was electrifying! Sza puts so much energy and emotion into her music; when she sings the entire crowd can feel it. She is an extremely beautiful and talented perfomer. She dances intensely when shes feeling and involves her fans. Loved it so much I got teary eyed. She is my favorite singer thus far. I definitely recommend if you want a concert you will never forget.

Truly amazing! Her performance was full of heaps of energy and soul. A beautiful mixture of singing, dancing and a quick preview of her of her acrobatic skills! One of the best musicians to see in concert. Would be darn near impossible to not sway and jump when she's on stage. I've waited so long to see her and she did not disappoint. Really hope to see SZA in London more!!!

Amazing show! Sza sounded amazing! She looked like she was having an awesome time while performing and the crowd loved her. The energy in the venue was hella dope! At one point she instructed security to find any cases of water around to pass out to the people on the floor, saying "get the cases from the tour bus." I thought that was super cool of her.

I saw her last night in San Antonio, TX, it was my daughter first concert, and she did not disappoint. She is amazing live! Well worth the money spent. From the settings to the chorography her team did a fantastic job. The concert kept us on our feet the entire time. I will defiantly go see her again when she returns.

SZA is an amazing performer.

I saw her December 2014 with the Enter the Void tour with Jhene Aiko and the Internet.

She was amazing and energetic then and now that she is headlining her show was so LIT!!

I was dancing and sang all the songs and got my entire LIFE. You will too!

SZA was absolutely amazing. I saw her a few years back, and she came back even better and energetic with contagious good vibes. I totally recommend going to see her any and every time she comes to your city. Well worthy your time and money. And it's definitely a good time.

This concert was simply awesome. Her vocals were wonderful even when she lost her voice. You can tell she is dedicated to her fans and her craft! Can't wait till she is back in Atlanta!!!

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Concert Review: SZA’s ‘SOS’ tour is spectacular, what her opening performance means for the rest of the tour

• February 22, 2023
• Phoebe Helms

SZA during arrivals at the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, Calif. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times via TNS

The expectations for the “SOS” tour were high, and SZA may have exceeded them.

SZA’s long-awaited sophomore studio album “SOS” was released December 2022, with her official announcement only days before its release, according to her Instagram. In the two and-a-half months since the album’s release, it has dominated the charts and social media platforms, like TikTok. Her most popular song off the album, “Kill Bill” has over half a billion streams alone, according to Spotify. 

“SOS” follows her 2017 major-label debut album “Ctrl,” landing in the number one spot of Billboard’s top R&B albums and certified platinum three times, according to Billboard . 

Less than a week after the release of “SOS,” SZA announced the “SOS” North American tour Dec. 13, 2022, on Instagram. Her first arena tour includes 17 American cities — such as New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles with opener Omar Apollo. SZA and her team decided to open the tour at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, the first ever arena performance for both Apollo and SZA. 

Although SZA performed at a variety of festivals, her hiatus of over five years from touring created anticipation for “SOS.” In Columbus, the Schott was filled with an excitement that most other tours are unable to replicate. 

Apollo arrived on stage shortly after 8 p.m. His performance was raw, and he was able to bring the passion, energy and emotion that was needed to set the evening’s tone. Notably, Apollo performed his newly released song “3 Boys” for the first time. Apollo was also visibly enjoying his time onstage and performed his viral hit “Evergreen,” which the crowd loved. Although his performance was highly enjoyable, it felt a bit short with it being around 30-40 minutes. The crew immediately began setting up the set when he left the stage, which after watching the show, the amount of time they needed to set up is understandable. 

As the crowd anxiously awaited for SZA to appear onstage, it was clear that this experience was one that many in the crowd had dreamed of. Their anticipation filled the atmosphere with the positive hum of excited chatter. 

From the moment that SZA arrived onstage, it was clear that her mission was to tell a story. The show opened with the onstage screens projecting images of water, similar to her album cover. One of the screens lifted and revealed her sitting elevated above stage on a diving board, singing the unreleased “PSA”. From there, the screen descended down to cover her again, but projected the visual of a woman, presumed to represent SZA, jumping into the water. The show began as if it were a movie with opening credits “presenting” SZA. 

The screen once again opened, and she began performing “Seek and Destroy.” SZA, alongside four dancers, began performing a rigorously choreographed dance, beginning the night with high energy. Her next song, “Notice Me,” continued this and SZA had a playful, fun tone. 

The set and the show took the audience on the journey of a shipwreck — hence the title “SOS.” SZA’s discography can be said to do the same thing, taking listeners through emotional experiences — such as heartbreak, joy and vulnerability. SZA had moments that allowed the audience to experience these emotions several times throughout the night. 

The show consisted of an extravagant set design, multiple costume changes and meticulous choreography. However, none of it outshined SZA’s outstanding vocal performance. All of these moving parts considered makes her ability to perform at such a high level even more impressive. 

SZA performed multiple songs off of “Ctrl,” such as “Love Galore,” “Broken Clocks” and “Prom,” but the fan favorite may have been “Drew Barrymore.” Whether it be the song’s relatable lyrics, or infectious tune, the Columbus crowd had a strong connection to it.

After one of SZA’s many wardrobe changes, one of the screens lifted to reveal a large boat that had been built onstage while she was performing and changing. From here she began performing “All the Stars,” and the screens were able to simulate the ship sailing through sea. 

Later in the show, this same ship began sailing through a storm — seemingly the climax — during SZA’s performance of “Low.” SZA and her dancers performed with intensity and after this song, the boat splits and sinks. Suddenly, a raft appeared on the side of the stage,  and SZA — who had yet again changed her outfit — got into the raft which was then suspended in the air and floated above the audience. This moment was truly ethereal, as SZA sang some of her more emotional songs — such as “Supermodel,” “Special” and “Nobody Gets Me” — while tossing flower petals off of her raft.

When SZA eventually floated back down to the stage, she continued with the shipwrecked theme, with the screens projecting underwater scenes. However, she switched things up for her performance of “Kill Bill” paying homage to the titular Quentin Tarantino series with red lighting and fight choreography. 

SZA ended her show and her story with a performance of “Good Days.” She sat and sang in a large billowing red dress on an elevated platform above the stage, the same one she initially started on. The visuals projected showed the sun rising over the ocean, the calm after the storm, which then transitioned into nightfall, overlooking the Earth and Moon. The end of the show served as a reminder to the audience that despite the call for SOS, there are always good days to look forward to. 

As the show ended, the screen closed over SZA like a curtain, projecting “The End” in cursive stars. The credits then rolled, to indicate the end of the “movie.” 

SZA’s opening show of “SOS” established her not only as a talented singer and songwriter, but as a true performer and storyteller. She managed to tell a cohesive story all while delivering a performance of the highest caliber. SZA left Columbus and the Schott with an exciting, memorable show that she hopefully continues to deliver for the duration of her “SOS” tour.

Rating: 5/5

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SZA is a Grammy-winning R&B artist known for the songs “Kill Bill,” “Good Days,” and “Snooze,” along with her critically acclaimed albums Ctrl and SOS .

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1990-present

SZA News: “Snooze” Singer Picks Up Three 2024 Grammys

The 33-year-old performed during Sunday’s ceremony, then collected her trophy for Best R&B Song for “Snooze” shortly after. Earlier in the day, SZA also won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Ghost In The Machine,” her collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers, and Best Progressive R&B Album for SOS prior to the televised portion of the Grammys.

The R&B artist, whose real name is Solána Rowe, was obviously overwhelmed during her acceptance speech. “I came really, really far, and I can’t believe this is happening, and it feels really fake and—hi, Taylor,” she said, cutting herself off when she spotted Taylor Swift . “I’m just really grateful.”

SZA was nominated for nine awards total, including Album of the Year for SOS . However, Swift would take home that honor for Midnights during the final presentation of the night.

Quick Facts

Music career, songs and albums, grammy awards, personal style: sza crocs, who is sza.

Grammy-winning R&B artist SZA, whose real name is Solána Rowe, is known for her hit songs “Kill Bill,” “Good Days,” and “Snooze.” Her independently released work caught the attention of Top Dawg Entertainment, and she became the label’s first female artist in 2013. Her first full-length album, 2017’s Ctrl , earned critical acclaim en route to platinum certification, but her 2022 album SOS was an even bigger smash, topping the Billboard 200 album chart, featuring her first No. 1 song “Kill Bill,” and receiving a 2024 Grammy win for Best Progressive R&B Album. The musician has collaborated with popular artists such as Rihanna , Drake , and Kendrick Lamar . Her duet with Doja Cat, “Kiss Me More,” earned the pair a Grammy in 2022.

REAL NAME: Solána Imani Rowe BORN: November 8, 1990 BIRTHPLACE: St. Louis, Missouri ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Scorpio HEIGHT: 5 ft. 4 in.

SZA was born Solána Imani Rowe on November 8, 1990, in St. Louis. Her stage name, pronounced “siz-za,” comes from a division of Islam’s supreme alphabet, which assigns meanings to letters of the Roman alphabet. S stands for sovereign or savior , Z is for zig-zag , and A is for Allah .

Rowe primarily grew up outside of New York City, in the suburb of Maplewood, New Jersey. Her parents shared similar career paths as media executives. Her father, Abdul Mubarak-Rowe, was employed by CNN and her mother, Audrey Rowe, by AT&T. However, they differed with their personal faith. Her father determined that their children would be raised Orthodox Muslim, and her Christian mother followed along, even attending a mosque for prayers.

Along with sending their daughter to a Muslim preparatory school, Abdul set rules for no television or radio, limiting Solána’s musical exposure to his collection of jazz greats like Miles Davis and Billie Holiday . But she got a taste of contemporary music when her older half-sister, Panya, came to live with the family, bringing her own collection that included Wu-Tang Clan and Lil Jon. Rowe’s interests were further piqued after gaining access to a gymnastics teammate’s iPod, which included more hip-hop from Common and Mos Def, as well as the unusual vocals of Björk .

As one of the few Muslims in Maplewood, Rowe was subjected to verbal abuse in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks . She subsequently abandoned her traditional religious clothing and attempted to blend in with her peers, becoming a cheerleader at Columbia High School.

Rowe briefly attended Delaware State University to study marine biology but spent much of her time working as a bartender and dancer at nearby clubs. She dropped out and attended the Fashion Institute of Technology for one summer before her musical career took off.

In 2011, SZA was working for the clothing label 10Deep, which assigned her to hand out merchandise at a Kendrick Lamar concert. A friend was playing some of SZA’s mixtapes, and her music captured the attention of Top Dawg Entertainment co-president Terrence “Punch” Henderson. The two stayed in touch.

After dropping out of college, SZA independently released a pair of EPs: See.SZA.Run in 2012 and S in 2013. The former drew praise for its atmospheric track “Country,” with The Guardian comparing her to R&B heavyweights Frank Ocean and The Weeknd . S featured the celestial “Ice Moon” and such unusual touches as samples from the horror flick Rosemary’s Baby , cemented SZA’s standing as an artist to watch. The buzz resulted in a record deal with TDE in 2013. She was the label’s first female artist.

SZA initially surfaced as a guest on tracks by TDE label mates like Isaiah Rashad as she worked on more new music. Before long, her vocal abilities were in high demand from other artists. She teamed with R&B singer Jill Scott for “Divinity” in 2014, before going on to co-write and perform on Rihanna ’s “Consideration” in 2016.

The next year, the budding artist entered a joint deal with TDE and RCA Records, released her long-awaited first album, and enhanced her mainstream recognition by collaborating with Maroon 5 for the song “What Lovers Do.” SZA has since worked with Lamar on the 2018 single “All the Stars” from the Blank Panther movie soundtrack, Justin Timberlake on “The Other Side” from the Trolls World Tour (2020) movie soundtrack, and Drake for the 2023 Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Slime You Out.”

Along with the piercing honesty of her lyrics, SZA has been lauded for her voice, which has been described in such ways as “ethereal” and “dripping with honey.” However, the demands of constant touring took its toll on her money-maker, as she announced she was pulling out of TDE’s The Championship Tour in May 2018 due to swollen vocal cords. She gave fans a scare when she tweeted that her vocal cords were permanently damaged, but that turned out not to be the case, as she returned to the stage for the Firefly Music Festival in Delaware that June.

SZA has headlined two of her own tours following the release of both her studio albums. She visited cities across Europe, the United States, and Canada in 2023 on the SOS Tour, her first concert series in arenas.

Among SZA’s hit songs are the No. 1 singles “Kill Bill” and “Slime You Out,” a collaboration with Drake . Other popular tracks include “Love Galore,” “Snooze,” and “Good Days.” To date, SZA has released one EP, Z (2014), and two studio albums, Ctrl (2017) and SOS (2022), with the backing of major labels.

On her first EP with a major label, SZA continued developing her trippy, genre-defying sound. Z (2014) included the tracks “Babylon,” with label mate Kendrick Lamar ; “Childs Play,” with Chance the Rapper ; the soul throwback “Sweet November;” and the ’80s-tinged “Julia.” Underscoring her growing mainstream recognition, Z cracked the Billboard 200’s top 40 upon its release.

Frustrated with the process of getting her first full-length album off the ground, SZA tweeted “I actually quit” in October 2016. Lucky for fans, this turned out not to be the case as the singer unveiled Ctrl in June 2017.

Debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 en route to platinum certification, Ctrl wowed critics with the depth of its creator’s storytelling. “Love Galore,” featuring Travis Scott, spotlighted a toxic romance; “ Drew Barrymore ” reflected on her feelings of not being good enough; and her sultry ruminations on sharing a lover were captured on “The Weekend.” Altogether, SZA showed she was unafraid to mine her raw emotions. Her stellar efforts on the No. 1 R&B album resulted in five Grammy nominations, though she left the 2018 ceremony empty-handed in a surprise to many.

SZA’s newest album, SOS debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in December 2022. It also broke a 54-year record Aretha Franklin previously held to become the longest-running No. 1 album by a female artist on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart; SOS spent 22 weeks in the top spot.

In April 2023, the album’s most popular song “Kill Bill” became SZA’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 100. The song additionally spent 30 weeks atop the Hot R&B Songs chart. SOS produced four more top-10 mainstream hits: “Snooze,” “Nobody Gets Me,” “I Hate U,” and “Good Days.”

The singer has described the tracks on the album as vignettes about “bizarre acts of self-embarrassment” and said she found inspiration from some of the more vulnerable elements of her life. “There’s mad aspects to my life. But people don’t really know that, because all I sing about are the hidden aspects that I think are more interesting,” she told Variety . “Honestly, I could write about jet-skiing with my friends, but I don’t want to make a song about that, and I don’t want to hear a song about it either.”

Listen to SOS on Amazon Music or Spotify

SZA has collected four Grammys out of 24 nominations.

Her first win was for her collaboration with Doja Cat on the 2021 hit song “Kiss Me More.” It earned the pair the trophy for Best Pop Duo Performance.

She entered the 2024 Grammy Awards ceremony as the year’s most nominated artist, competing for nine possible trophies. Her song “Kill Bill” was up for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best R&B Performance, plus SOS received nominations for Album of the Year and Best Progressive R&B Album.

SZA ultimately won for Best Progressive R&B Album, as well as Best R&B Song for “Snooze” and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Ghost In The Machine,” which features Phoebe Bridgers

SZA stands 5 feet, 4 inches, a measurement that would jump if taking into her account her famously voluminous head of hair. The artist says she began going for the look after shedding her hijab in middle school, enduring a stint with illness and a medication that caused her hair to fall out, before recovering to let it all flow free once again.

SZA is also known for her love of Crocs. In an interview with People , the singer revealed she wears the shoes “at all times and anywhere” because she can “be comfortable and be cute at the same time.” She has collaborated with the American footwear brand on two custom lines. The first shoes, from May 2022, had an earthy pattern with custom charms representing totems that keep the singer “grounded, calm, and collected.” That December, Crocs released the second collection that featured a distressed denim pattern and nostalgic charms like a flip phone and floppy disk.

SZA’s total value is estimated to be $6 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth .

• Follow your passion, ignore everyone.
• Loving yourself and practicing self-love is not just a task. Self-esteem is a slow process.
• People grapple with labeling me as hip-hop, R&B, or pop, and it’s interesting to me. I’m just making music.

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Primavera Sound 2024: the essential sets to see

From first-time headliners proving their mettle to reuniting legends, experimental artists making new moves in Europe to beloved faves at the top of their game

Since it launched in 2001, Primavera Sound has garnered a rock-solid reputation for putting together some of the finest line-ups of indie, alternative, electronic and hip-hop around. Although the festival has popped up in different cities and countries around the world, its Barcelona outpost is still the flagship event of the Primavera canon and the 2024 edition is stuffed with acts that make it another unmissable year. From first-time headliners proving their mettle to reuniting legends, experimental artists making new moves in Europe to beloved faves at the top of their game, here’s NME ’s pick of who to catch in Barcelona this year.

Who: Eclectic pop auteur levelling up to the top tier of festival bills What to expect: This is the start of SZA ’s big European festival headline run, with Glastonbury , BST Hyde Park and more to follow. Her bill-topping set at Primavera should bring the magnetic confidence and electric stage presence – plus those killer vocals that have become her calling card – she showed on her recent arena tour to Parc del Fòrum to prove her chops as one of the best in the game. When: 12am, June 1, Santander

• Bikini Kill

Who: Riot grrrl pioneers making their long-awaited return to Europe What to expect: Bikini Kill were due to rip up stages across the continent in 2022, but had to scrap the European leg of their tour due to COVID and “other circumstances”. Although the band have said they have no plans to make new music, their back catalogue (sadly) remains more than relevant today, offering the perfect chance to exorcise your frustrations with the world at their set. When: 11pm, June 1, Pull&Bear

Who: French electronic music wizards back with a world-beating new album What to expect: Justice have long been renowned for their ferocious, mind-blowing live sets and, as their Coachella 2024 appearance showed, their new live set-up only strengthens that reputation. Blinding, bright lights that strobe into the sky and over the crowd create an immersive experience that, somehow, makes the tunes sound even bigger and more powerful than before. When: 1:45am, May 30, Estrella Damm

Who: Iconic reunited hip-hop duo comprised of Pusha T and No Malice What to expect: Individually, Pusha T and No Malice pack a lot of bite, with both stars having carved out their own distinctive strongholds in hip-hop since Clipse dissolved in 2010. Put them back together – as they did when they reunited last year – and that becomes ever more potent, promising an unmissable Primavera moment. When: 12:40am, May 31, Amazon Music

Who: One of the most exciting rock bands in South Korea right now What to expect: Experimental rock with pop hooks that will keep whirling round your brain for days. At home in Korea, Silica Gel have been steadily rising through the ranks, bolstered by three unpredictable, exhilarating albums. Last year’s ‘Power Andre 99’ spans 18 tracks but keeps you on your toes the entire time, masterfully weaving through expansive instrumental adventures (the epic ‘MachineboyGong’), soft-focus indie (‘Andre99’) and rousing rockers (‘No Pain’). This is the band’s first performance outside of Asia, but if there’s any justice, it will be just the start of Silica Gel’s path to world domination. When: 6pm, May 31, Amazon Music

Who: Genre-hopping singer-songwriter with the Midas touch What to expect: Last year’s ‘Fountain Baby’ album – her second so far – reinforced Amaarae ’s standing as a boundaryless talent, effortlessly hopping from sound to sound, genre to genre and making them all sound inimitably her own in the process. As such, her set at Primavera should be an eclectic, enthralling experience that will transport the audience through a dazzling spectrum of music. When: 9:45pm, May 30, Amazon Music

• Troye Sivan

Who: Pop fave kicking off his ‘Something To Give Each Other’ tour What to expect: Big pop hits and a lot of cheeky fun. It’s been a while since Troye Sivan performed beyond bitesize promo appearances last year, but armed with his brilliant third album, ‘Something To Give Each Other’, the Australian star’s return is set to be glorious. If the Spanish sun doesn’t get you sweaty, Sivan will. When: 8:30pm, May 31, Santander

Who: Indie rockers who tiptoe between fuzzy thrills and soft and sweet melodies What to expect: The songs of Chicago’s Slow Pulp are like dreamy spells that make everything feel that little bit more bearable and brighter. Expect that magic to only grow in person, turning Parc del Forum into a radiant sphere of indie joy. When: 6pm, June 1, Plentitude

Who: The most in-demand DJ of the moment on the verge of (finally) releasing her debut album What to expect: Peggy Gou is scheduled to take the Amazon Music stage to the end of the night on her allotted day with a massive two-hour set. That means two hours of her perfectly curating one of Primavera’s biggest dance parties, from banging remixes and tracks that will get you moving, to expertly deployed moments to give you the brief breather you need before the next ramp up to dance heaven. When: 2:15am, May 30, Amazon Music

Who: Enigmatic figure slowly making his way back to music What to expect: Last year, Jai Paul made his first-ever live appearances, over a decade after first whipping up a frenzy with ‘BTSTU’. The reports from those shows were nothing short of glowing, with Paul using the sets to reclaim his leaked demos from ‘Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones)’ and share fun, surprise covers. Expect more of the same as he reignites his well-deserved comeback journey for 2024. When: 10:55pm, May 31, Cupra

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SZA is the festival headliner who will save our summers

Who is SZA?” a swathe of articles asked in the wake of the Glastonbury line-up announcement in March. “Why is she headlining one of the biggest festivals on earth ?” Google trends from around the time showed that enough people were searching those exact questions for it to be worth answering. But the people asking “huh?” just haven’t been paying attention. As the 34-year-old singer-songwriter gears up to headline Primavera Sound in Barcelona this week (and a host of other European and North American festivals across the summer), it’s time to make space in your live music schedule for her.

It’s not unusual to have to wade through spittle-flecked complaints in the wake of a festival announcement, commenters bemoaning from their armchairs the work done by a vast network of people who’ve pulled together acts that fit the vibe, the budget and the expectations of ticket-buyers. Festivals like Glastonbury and Primavera Sound have often taken a chance on an unexpected headline act – back in 2007, people were furious that Arctic Monkeys were headlining Glastonbury for the first time with just two albums under their belt. Look how that all turned out.

So, a history lesson. SZA is no flash in the pan . She’s been working her way up the ranks since her first self-released EPs in 2012 and 2013, made at home on a whim using beats she came across on the internet. Even these first records contain everything she has come to epitomise: skewed electronic pop, enigmatic lyricism and angelic harmonies as she meanders through her subconscious, lethargically detailing her plans for bloody revenge and putting Adderall in her green tea. Off the back of these EPs, she signed a record deal with Top Dawg Entertainment to become the first female label-mate of Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q.

Things really started to take off in 2017 when she released Ctrl , which was critically adored and became the second longest-charting R&B album by a female artist on the Billboard 200: it also scored four Grammy nominations with its air of insouciant lo-fi indie, always foregrounding SZA’s rawly honest vocal over charmingly scrappy tracks that mix everything from the campfire strum of acoustic guitar to fuck-boi trap beats. She is refreshingly honest in a way that the empowerment set aren’t – when she’s the other woman, she’s sorry about it (but not sorry enough to stop); when she’s dating someone who leaves her hanging, she acknowledges her own whims that have hurt people too.

She followed Ctrl with SOS , released at the tail-end of 2022 – a date that scuppered its chances of the clean “year-end-round-up” sweep she would probably have got otherwise. It brought with it the pristine “Kill Bill”, in which she fantasises about killing her ex – “not the best idea”, she sings – and his new girlfriend in such a romantic way that you find yourself ready to hand her the gun. It has over one billion streams on Spotify (approximately one million of them were me). SOS hit number two on the UK album chart and broke the record for largest streaming week for an R&B album in the US. Between her own releases, she also featured on Rihanna’s 2014 album ANTI and the Kendrick Lamar-curated soundtrack for Black Panther , and had viral hits on TikTok. If you haven’t heard of SZA at this point, that’s honestly on you.

In fairness, though, music is more fragmented than it has ever been: someone can be as wildly successful as SZA without being a household name like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé (SZA has also written for Beyoncé, by the way). You could make the argument that someone like the singer-songwriter Mitski could be hitting the Pyramid Stage on Sunday night – she might not be “chart-big” but comes with a combination of rabid teen fans and “real music” types who find her acceptable because she has a guitar and will take any opportunity to tell you about the time they saw her play The Victoria in Dalston to 25 people (hi).

SZA, meanwhile, reflects both the fracturing of modern pop fandom, as well as music that has never been more free of the constraints of genre. SZA herself has expressed discomfort with being referred to as an R&B artist, and it does feel too limiting for the music she puts out. A SZA album isn’t really a genre piece: it’s a bird floating on a heat column, it’s a writhing existential question mark, it’s the afterglow of a really good kiss – and it’s got hits, babes, such hits. These are all things I want from a festival headliner: especially the hits, many of which creep up on you until the moment you find yourself earnestly yelling them into the night. And if you don’t know them yet… again, I have to stress, that is on you.

What even makes a headliner in 2024? It comes with a whole host of logistics made ever more impossible to navigate by Brexit, by the industry’s struggle to recover from lockdowns and by a population that demands their precise, esoteric tastes be catered to. Glastonbury – and to a lesser extent festivals like Primavera – are in a position to say, “Hey, we know you like loads of different stuff: this thing you haven’t heard before is going to be great.” Maybe that makes more sense at a festival that leans alternative, but how cool is it that one of the big three slots at Glastonbury has gone to someone who has a huge fanbase but hasn’t necessarily got that universal reach yet? That headliner pipeline isn’t going to fill itself.

So grab yourself a warm beer, pull up your waterproof trews and head out into the sea of people who already know that SZA is going to deliver a festival set that is as soft and heavy as life itself, that will be full of moments of transient beauty and righteous fury and will leave you feeling like you just experienced something special, even if it’s not your first choice. The era of SZA is here: might as well get on board.

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5 Best Moments From Jack Harlow’s First-Ever Gazebo Festival

Despite the final day of Harlow's festival being canceled, Gazebo Fest shows potential in becoming a true staple for the city of Louisville.

By Carl Lamarre

Carl Lamarre

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On Saturday (May 25), Jack Harlow kicked off his inaugural Gazebo Festival in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Though the “Lovin’ on Me” MC didn’t enjoy the whole experience because the second day of Gazebo Fest was canceled due to inclement weather, he reveled in the event’s escapades during its opening day. 

Whether parked at Rich Homie Quan’s set, singing “Lifestyle” in animated fashion or crooning his heart out to Majid Jordan, Harlow immersed himself in the experience as one of the fans. “What he’s done for the city is amazing,” Faith, an Uber driver and long-time Louisville resident, told Billboard .

Slated to have 26 performers, Gazebo Festival was Harlow’s brainchild, which he first announced last February. Harlow’s musical adventure featured him and SZA as headliners while boasting a formidable crew of performers, including Vince Staples, Larry June, Veeze, Pink Panthress, Amaraee and more. 

Jack Harlow’s Gazebo Festival: Day 2 Canceled Due to Inclement Weather

Harlow’s vision to give back to the city that raised him seemed promising after an impressive first day that was diverse. Unfortunately, Gazebo Festival couldn’t make it to Day 2 due to unforeseen circumstances. A tornado watch was issued, which posed a significant risk to the safety of performers and attendees. This decision, though disappointing, was made in the best interest of everyone involved. 

“Well. We have to cancel day two of Gazebo,” Harlow wrote . “We are currently on a tornado watch. I know things cleared up a little bit, but the bad weather has damaged the site and there’s more storms and dangerous winds on the way. This means everyone on Day 2, including myself, won’t be performing anymore. I’m trying to focus on the positive because all I felt was happiness yesterday. I’m grateful for our flawless first day and for the way this city came together. Thank you so much. I’m sorry.” 

Despite the cancelation,  Billboard  was on-site to capture the five best moments from the first day of Harlow’s Gazebo Festival.

Ravyn Lenae & Jordan Ward Bring R&B Shine to Louisville

Though SZA remains a blockbuster draw because of her powerhouse vocals and commercial success, she wasn’t the only attraction on the R&B circuit during Day 1 on Saturday. 

Ravyn Lenae was electric as her sensuality and calm demeanor reverberated through the Gazebo Stage. “I’m so honored to be with all of you beautiful people. We’re gonna dance tonight,” vowed Lenae. True to her word, Lenae hopscotched through her catalog, giving fans sweet ear candy ranging from “Xtasy” and “Spice” to her stinging  Hypnos  record “Venom.”  

Jordan Ward, a St. Louis slugger with an impressive repertoire, was up next following Lenae’s performance at the Gazebo Stage. He kept the vibes intact during his scintillating set, aiming to delight festival-goers with a mix of original music and covers. Flexing his vocal abilities, the former dancer strutted his stuff during his energetic performance of “MUSTARD” and his soulful rendition of “FAMJAM4000.” And when Ward dimmed the mood, he skated to his silky rendition of Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain,” with the crowd swaying alongside him.

Larry June Creates a Smoker's Paradise

Though Larry June’s music offers a chill, laid-back vibe, the Bay Area star brought a wave of fun and excitement during his set. June planted his roots on The Garden Stage, where the sweet scent of marijuana smoke permeated the air, creating a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere. The stage area became a smoker’s paradise, with June’s music as the perfect soundtrack. Songs like “Smoothies in 1991,” “Corte Madera” and “30 Day Run” had fans enthralled with June’s coolness. Still, June wasn’t too cool to have fun: he danced, and he peppered his set with classic ad-libs such as “Good Job, Larry” and “Aye, Aye, Aye,” adding to the lively set. 

James Blake Gets Busy on the 1s and 2s

When Jack Harlow enlisted James Blake to be a part of his Gazebo Festival, the sought-after singer didn’t pack his vocals. Instead, Blake was on DJ duty, looking to keep the crowd entertained and engaged, which he did with seamless precision. 

Intertwining dance, R&B and hip-hop, Blake spoonfed music enthusiasts a hearty helping of hits. Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” received the remix treatment, as Blake gave the 2019 Hot 100 chart-topper a makeover with a dance instrumental. He also took the younger crowd back to 2000, where he played Outkast’s “Bombs Over Baghdad,” sparking loud roars from the older fans. 

Vince Staples Is Becoming a True Double-Threat

After the success of his Netflix limited comedy series The Vince Staples Show earlier this year, fans pondered if Staples would make a full pivot to TV and movies. Staples silenced those queries when he released his sixth studio album,  Dark Times,  on Friday (May 25). 

Despite a 15-minute delay due to flight issues, Vince Staples arrived at the Gazebo Stage sporting a Kentucky Wildcats jacket. He effortlessly commanded the crowd’s energy, performing signature records from his discography, including “Laws of Averages,” “Norf Norf” and “Magic.” From quizzing fans on his song lyrics to singing “Happy Birthday” to a nine-year-old, Staples showcased his sheer versatility as a rapper and entertainer. 

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SZA Gives Kentucky a Full Voyage Into SOS

SZA, the night’s headliner, was 30 minutes late, but that didn’t derail fans from watching her first-ever performance in Kentucky. Arriving at 10:15 p.m., SZA immediately kicked things off with “Seek & Destroy.” The Louisville crowd was fully invested as they embarked on the  SOS  experience alongside the Grammy award winner. 

Traditionally a small-market city, Louisville wasn’t fortunate enough to receive a tour stop during SZA’s SOS trek last year, but that only enabled the singer to deliver an indelible set. She didn’t short-change the fans, bringing in a similar stage design from her lauded tour and weaving in choreography mid-song. 

“It’s my first time in Kentucky. Thank you for welcoming me,” she said before singing “Blind.” While SZA aimed to entice and enchant, Harlow was spotted driving a golf cart, helping fans get a better view of her performance. 

CTRL  fans weren’t left out to dry either, as SZA raced back to her 2017 opus and sang “Supermodel,” “Broken Clocks,” “Love Galore” and “The Weekend.” And when SZA wasn’t in the mood for heartbreak, she performed the ebullient Doja Cat-led “Kiss Me More” before doing a twerk relay to Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy,” giving Louisville the ultimate experience. 

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Here are 5 things you missed at day one of Gazebo Festival at Waterfront Park

R ap superstar and Louisville native Jack Harlow is back at Waterfront Park this weekend. And this time, he's brought some friends with him.

Gazebo Festival, a new music festival featuring popular and under-the-radar hip-hop and R&B acts, was organized by Harlow, who told The Courier Journal he hand-picked the lineup to "express my personal taste." He's set to rock the stage Sunday night — and if it's anything like his performance at Forecastle Festival in 2022 , you're going to want to buckle up — but Saturday's lineup features several notable names and high-energy performers as well.

This is the first time the festival has taken place, and the first day of action set the tone. Here's a quick look at how it went down at Waterfront Park.

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It was hot, both in the crowd and on stage. Shade under the interstate overpasses was at a premium in the afternoon. But that didn't stop thousands of fans from packing the park for the first day of action.

As attendees filtered in, the busiest areas in the early afternoon were in the concession stand lines. Several local vendors are on site this weekend serving customers, including Pizza Lupo, Happy Belly Bistro, All Chai’d Up, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, RK on the Grass and Four Pegs Smokehouse. Food trucks such as Foko, Ramiro's Cantina and Please & Thank You were set up near an area marked by faux hedges and offering tables for chess matches and ping pong games, reminiscent of a park hang-out. Drinks from James Beam Distillery and West Sixth Brewing were among those for sale.

Paris Texas — a hip-hop duo from Los Angeles — jumped in the crowd to wrap up their set, as Ravyn Lenae waited for her time on the Gazebo Stage. And on the Garden Stage, acts like Larry June and Karri got the audience warmed up, with a long night ahead.

Saturday's headliner: SZA

Open Apple Music's playlist of the most popular songs in the U.S. and scroll down a bit, past the new Billie Eilish tracks and all of the back-and-forth between Drake and Kendrick Lamar . Somewhere in the 20s, you'll find " Snooze ," a 2023 single from Saturday headliner SZA that's still a huge hit a year later.

SZA (pronounced "sizza") exploded in popularity with her 2017 album "Ctrl" and had another smash chart-topper five years later with "SOS." The singer-songwriter born in St. Louis and raised in New Jersey hadn't performed in Louisville since 2017, according to Harlow, who told The Courier Journal before the weekend that she was his "dream headliner pick."

SZA is scheduled to perform at 9:45 p.m. Saturday, the biggest act of a busy day. Harlow, meanwhile, will take the same stage time Sunday.

A big weekend for Vince Staples

Vince Staples, set to take the Gazebo Stage before Harlow at 8 p.m., is bringing something new to Louisville — literally.

The West Coast rap star, who's churned out releases since his breakout in the early 2010s, performed Saturday for the first time since putting out new music this week. His latest album, "Dark Times," was made available Thursday, with a smooth sound that's drawn some good early reviews .

Fans in Louisville got lucky. Staples' show at Gazebo Festival is his last scheduled performance in the U.S. before he hits the road for a summer tour in Europe, which begins early next month in Germany with stops in France, Spain, and several other countries.

Other notable names

With four Grammy Awards to her name, SZA was at the top of the lineup for a reason. But she wasn't the only act music fans in attendance were there to see.

There's Rich Homie Quan, for instance. The Atlanta-based rapper had a huge hit in 2013 with "Type of Way" and is still on the circuit years later. And Larry June, who slow-burned his way to popularity with a string of bass-heavy mixtapes over several years, also put on a show, bringing his mellow act from his hometown of San Francisco to Louisville's waterfront. He brought energy to the stage Saturday afternoon as fans filtered in for the evening.

Popular British producer James Blake was set to entertain fans with a DJ set on the main stage. His unique sound has helped create hits for some of the biggest names in music, from Jay-Z (Blake had some credits on the rapper's "4:44" album in 2017) and Kendrick Lamar (Blake produced his 2017 hit "Element").

What to watch Sunday

Harlow is the obvious big name in Sunday's lineup, and expect a high-energy performance in his hometown. But don't sleep on some of the acts before him.

Slum Village could be one to watch. The Detroit-based group had a pair of near-classics in the late 1990s in its two "Fantastic" albums, with a sound built by legendary producer J-Dilla. Check them out on the Garden Stage at 4:45 p.m.

PinkPantheress, a British singer-songwriter, will be worth checking out as well. The 23-year-old's debut album "Heaven Knows" garnered critical acclaim upon its release last year, with a unique pop sound somewhere between hip-hop and R&B. She'll precede Harlow on the Gazebo Stage at 8 p.m.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at [email protected]. Reach Amanda Hancock at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Here are 5 things you missed at day one of Gazebo Festival at Waterfront Park

Billie Eilish’s ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ Opens at No. 2 as Taylor Swift Continues to Top Albums Chart

Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' was the top-selling album of the week.

By Thania Garcia

Thania Garcia

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The results are in: Billie Eilish came in second place in the race against Taylor Swift on this week’s albums chart. Eilish’s third studio effort, “ Hit Me Hard and Soft ,” debuts as her highest-performing album yet with 339,000 units earned and over 193 million streams.

“The Tortured Poets Department” meanwhile logs a fifth straight and total week at No. 1 with 378,000 equivalent album units in the United States, per data provide by Luminate. The album led with strong sales numbers following the release of six new digital album download variants and a new CD variant, along with the re-release of four deluxe CD editions and the signed CD edition of the album.

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The pop juggernauts are also similarly hitting the ground running with massive tours — Swift is set to start the European leg of her record-breaking “Eras Tour” while Eilish is embarking on a world tour starting in September in Quebec. Eilish will continue with a run of North American dates set through December before hitting Australia, followed by Europe, the U.K. and Ireland throughout the next year.

Outside of the top two, Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping “One Thing at a Time” (a March 2023 release) makes a return to No. 3 following a surge induced largely by the popularity of Wallen and Post Malone’s new single, “I Had Some Help.” Wallen also holds the No. 6 spot on the list with his 2021 release, “Dangerous: The Double Album.”

Gunna’s “One of Wun” moves to No. 4 after spending its debut week at No. 2, and Future and Metro Boomin’s pot-stirring “We Don’t Trust You” slips to No. 5. (48,000; down 10%). Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” is at No. 7 while Zach Bryan’s self-titled album is at No. 8 and SZA’s “SOS” moves to No. 9. Benson Boone’s “Fireworks & Rollerblades” rounds out the Top 10 at No. 10 with 33,000 units.

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