'HABIBTI' returns to the top following the release of its deluxe edition, giving Drake the all-time record.

Billy Eff is the Content Director for Rolling Stone Canada. An award-winning journalist and columnist, he has previously contributed to outlets including VICE and Urbania. A passionate advocate for underground music and a musician himself, he has conducted several hundred interviews with artists and industry professionals across a wide range of styles and genres over the past 15 years. He is based in Montréal, Québec.

Drake has become the artist with the most No. 1 albums in the history of Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, claiming the record outright with his 18th chart-topper.

The Toronto rapper reached the milestone as HABIBTI returned to the top following the October 2 release of HABIBTI (FOMO), a deluxe edition featuring four additional tracks. The album climbed from No. 35 to No. 1 on the chart dated October 17, according to Billboard, earning 71,000 equivalent album units in the United States during the October 2-8 tracking week. That represented a 506 per cent increase over the previous week.

The achievement breaks a three-way tie between Drake, Future and the Temptations, who had each accumulated 17 No. 1 albums on the chart. The Temptations first reached that total in 1966, making their long-standing record one of the chart’s most enduring milestones.

The new ranking puts Drake ahead of JAY-Z, who has 14 No. 1 albums, followed by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, with 13. R. Kelly has 12, while Eminem and Lil Wayne have 11 apiece.

HABIBTI originally debuted at No. 2 in May, behind Drake’s own ICEMAN. The deluxe edition’s four new songs are “Solar Eclipse,” featuring Don Toliver; “Quebec”; “Cold Shoulder,” featuring Don Toliver and Yebba; and “Classic Pt 2.”

Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart launched in January 1965. Its current methodology combines album sales, streaming activity and track sales to measure the most popular releases in the genre.

The Backstreet Boys are extending their Toronto takeover into March 2027, with the group adding a 12th date at Rogers Centre and declaring it the final show of their Canadian residency.

The new concert will take place March 7, following two additional dates announced over the weekend for March 5 and 6. The group’s Into the Millennium – Homecoming: Live in Canada residency was originally scheduled for four February shows before demand prompted a string of additions.

“Well, it truly is a Canadian Thanksgiving!” the group wrote on social media. “We never thought you guys would be this excited, but here we are rounding out four weekends of shows in Toronto in Feb and March!”

The residency now spans Feb. 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26 and 27, followed by the three March dates. The concerts will mark the Backstreet Boys’ first Canadian performances since 2022 and are reportedly their only North American shows on the schedule.

The group has already set a new Rogers Centre record with its original nine dates, surpassing the six-show stadium runs mounted by Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour and The Weeknd on his After Hours Til Dawn tour. The Toronto engagement also follows the Backstreet Boys’ successful five-show run at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The group is currently performing a 10-show stadium residency in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Tickets for the March 7 concert go on general sale Oct. 14 at 10 a.m. local time, following presales beginning Tuesday. Tickets for the other 11 dates are already on sale.

Last summer, Ozzy Osbourne played his final concert, a supersized stadium show to 44,000 fans in his hometown of Birmingham, England with a stacked lineup that rivaled only his own Ozzfest festivals. Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Mastodon, and supergroups arranged by Tom Morello that included Steven Tyler, Sammy Hagar, and estranged members of Osbourne’s solo bands performed his hits.

The 10-hour event, dubbed Back to the Beginning, ended with Osbourne singing a handful of his solo hits and a reunion of Osbourne with Black Sabbath’s founding members. It made for an emotional and stunning farewell for the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness, who had been suffering from multiple health setbacks and died 17 days later.

The event was livestreamed and proceeds from ticket sales to the concert and stream went to charity. Now footage from the concert is coming out as the two-and-a-half–hour Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning concert film featuring performances by every artist who performed that day. Osbourne’s family is hosting a “purple carpet” world premiere of the film at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre on Wednesday. (Half of the proceeds from ticket sales to the premiere will benefit homeless charities.) The film will then open in movie theaters around the world on Oct. 28.

Osbourne’s wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, has spent the last year grieving the loss of her best friend. “It’s been very, very tough,” she tells Rolling Stone. “But you know what? I had 46 years of marriage with an amazing guy, so I was blessed.”

She has yet to watch the two documentaries she and Ozzy participated in, in the months prior to his death: Paramount+’s Ozzy: No Escape from Now and the BBC’s Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home. “I can’t,” she says, “I’m just not ready mentally.” But she has watched Back to the Beginning, which filmmaker Ben Wainwright-Pearce (Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour) directed and mixed in 5.1 surround sound.

In a rare interview about Ozzy ahead of the film’s release, Sharon tells Rolling Stone how Ozzy saw the whole day as a great achievement. “It’s just something that will stand the test of time,” she says. “It was groundbreaking for what it was. Like everything with Ozzy, he’s the first.”

How have you been holding up in the past year?It’s been very, very tough. It’s something in life that everyone has to go through, grief, but I’ve had a lot of other things going on — not just grief — but things that have come out about bad advice being handled by people that were not what I thought. It’s amazing that when somebody passes, you see all the bad things that were going on around that person. I’m in a lot of litigation right now with a lot of businesspeople, and it’s just ugly. Ugly.

This film has been in the works for months. How has the process been for you?It was very hard to watch a lot of this film. I had to, but it was very, very hard.

It’s bittersweet. It’s amazing. Everything about the show was amazing and just a joyous occasion and one that will go down in music history. I’m proud of that and that it was for my husband, and I’m so thankful to everyone that took part in it, for their time, their effort, their giving.

The most precious thing we all have is time, and I keep telling my children this. For people to give up days of their lives for us for free, for charity is an amazing thing. Then to see where that money went and what it meant to so many different people, it’s all just overwhelming, but in a great, positive way.

What did it take to get Ozzy to that show?He was in hospital in America before he left. We moved back to England, and we had a whole new team of doctors. His new doctors didn’t want to take doctor’s notes from America. They wanted to make their own assessment on him. He was in hospital for a week in England.

After he came out of hospital, they asked for a meeting, and they came to our house. We had six different doctors and, like, a quarterback, because there were all of these specialists for the heart, for Parkinson’s, for his lungs, because of all the different things that were wrong with him.

They advised us not to do the show. They said it would kill him. We were all together and Ozzy said, “It’s not an option. It’s what I want.” He said, “I know I’m dying. If I miss a few months of my life, I want to go this way. This is what I want.” It was his wishes and we went through it. He said to me, “Another six months, what’s it going to do for me?”

For him to make that decision and perform must have been emotional.He was very, very emotional. But you know what? It was beautiful too. It was amazing. How lucky was he to go out that way? I say he went out like a Viking. It was the way he wanted.

Ozzy always used to say, “I’m one lucky motherfucker. Who else has had my life? I got everything I dreamed about.” He had no regrets about anything. He knew what his destiny was. He chose it.

He sounded good at the concert, too.We’re talking about a guy that had hardly any lungs left. He had emphysema. I don’t know how he did it. But he did it, and it’s what he wanted.

And in that way it’s glorious. It’s not sad. If we all have a chance to pick the way we go out … Do you know what I’m saying? It was a triumph to be surrounded by your friends, your family, your fans that adore you and what you are doing that day. It’s just amazing. It’s not sad. He was blessed to be able to choose the way you die.

What was Ozzy doing in the hours before his performance?He was in his dressing room the whole day watching everybody on the screens in his dressing room, and he just was like a fan. He was a fan of everybody that was there onstage. He was like, “Oh, my God. I can’t believe they’ve just done that number and this and that,” commenting the whole way. He saw everybody. He was just elated with it.

What struck you about the performances when you watched it all again?The love and the respect that was there. It was old friends seeing other friends. It was just amazing for everyone that was there, for all the guys, and everyone. It was just a great day.

Well, it was more than a great day; basically, it was Ozzy’s goodbye, and he knew it was his goodbye. My kids didn’t know. We didn’t tell the children. We didn’t tell anyone. But we knew what was going on. Sabbath didn’t know, nothing. But again, it’s not sad. Look at him, a Viking to the end.

What did it mean to him for that final performance to be with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward — the original Black Sabbath bandmates?It had to end with Black Sabbath. That’s where it had begun. He desperately, desperately wanted to play with Bill. No matter what had gone on with Bill, there was never a week that Ozzy didn’t speak to him.

I think Ozzy was the one that spoke to everyone, because I know Geezer doesn’t like talking on the phone too much, and Tony likes his privacy, and so Ozzy really was the one that spoke to everyone. I’m not saying this to sound bad, it’s just that they’re not the guys that check in weekly with each other. There’s a love, there’s always that invisible thread that holds them all together, but Ozzy was the chatty one.

There was a handful of guys that he would talk to regularly … Jonathan [Davis] from Korn and Slash and Zakk [Wylde], absolutely weekly, always. Tony, too. He would text Tony all the time. They would send each other silly things from online shit, and they’d giggle about it.

Watching Black Sabbath’s set that day, you could see the camaraderie between the four of them.They don’t need to say anything to each other. They just look at each other and know.

What did he say after he performed?He just kept saying, “I did it. I did it.” The next 17 days, he was so, so happy. He was just elated. He just couldn’t believe how everybody turned out for him. It was glorious to see how happy he was, because he’d been so depressed, so down. Last night, I read a letter from a fan who was at the show, and this fan said, “I saw a young man trapped in an old man’s body.” That’s so true.

How did you feel when you saw the final cut, in 5.1 surround sound?I was in awe of it all. In awe. Did it really happen? Am I going to fucking wake up in a minute? It was so immense, the whole thing. But as I keep saying, gloriously so.

I feel that I never, ever thank these guys enough for making it a reality: Every single person, every crew member, the caterers, the crew, the truck drivers, everybody was just fucking awesome. The musicians, come on, look who was there: Sammy Hagar, Steven Tyler, just the greatest guys that are good, good guys, everyone. It was great to see [former Ozzy band members] Jake E. Lee, Rudy [Sarzo]. It was just unbelievable.

How involved were you in which performances made the cut?Everybody that performed is seen on the film. Everybody. It’s so hard to say, “I’m not going to put them in and them in.” No, because every single person helped make money for charity that day and was there out of love for my husband and Sabbath. So no, I couldn’t do that. But of course, we couldn’t show the whole day [since] it’s 10 hours.

Which tribute performances impressed you?Oh my God, there so many great, great performances. It was just overwhelming. Even down to when the drummers were up there, Travis [Barker] and Chad [Smith] and Danny [Carey]. Everything was just great that day. Without Tom Morello, without [Live Nation promoter] Andy Copping, it would never have happened.

Tom Morello was an absolute saint and he is incredible. His sense of music and of what’s right and what’s not right, he’s just an incredible person. He needs a sainthood. He is the saint of metal. He’s so wise and knows what he’s talking about on so many different levels.

Andy Copping, who has been in our lives forever too, from Live Nation, he is just an incredible music man. There’s not one band on that show that wasn’t a friend of Andy’s. Even though he works for Live Nation, a huge corporation, everybody adores Andy Copping. He’s one of the most famous promoters in the world. He’s just the best.

They put together a great lineup. I was impressed with each new band added.We really, really wanted Megadeth. There was no time, we couldn’t fit everybody in on one day. There were so many bands that were due to play that we just couldn’t because there was not enough time.

The artists who did perform seem almost like a “This is your life” moment for Ozzy.Exactly, and it was for a great cause.

When you watched the film, did it feel like Ozzy was still with you?He ain’t left me for a minute. I go to sleep wearing his T-shirts. I wake up wearing his glasses. I’m surrounded by him always. That’s why there’s nothing to be sad. I was blessed to have him in my life, and nothing is forever. It’ll be my time soon, and it’s the circle. That’s what happens with everyone. It was just my time to lose the love of my life, but you go on.

But look at what I had, what I still have. Look at what he left everyone, a great body of work, that fucking smile of his. I always say you didn’t have to like Ozzy’s music to like Ozzy. You just liked him. Look at the amount of musicians that he has worked with; there’s three guys that never liked him, and that’s a fucking great record to have. When you think of everybody’s life who he touched as a musician, and only three of them didn’t like him, it’s like, fucking hell, when I go, there’s going to be fucking thousands. But three guys? I can fucking live with that.

What would Ozzy say if he saw this film?He would say, “How lucky am I?” He goes, “I’m one lucky son of a bitch.” And he knew it. He never took anything for granted, ever.

He’d say, “Look at me. Look at my life. Look at my family that I have, my friends that I have, my fans. I have nothing to complain about. Not one fucking thing.” Even when he was in agony with his health, his last six years, there was so much pain in his body. He suffered greatly. But he was still like, “Hey, I can’t fucking complain. This is it.”

I said to him, “If you could do it all again, if you could have not done the drugs and the drink, would you?” He goes, “Fuck it. I loved it.”

Michael Mosbach, the longtime security chief and motorcycle riding partner of late Rush drummer Neil Peart, has died of glioblastoma, the same form of brain cancer that killed Peart in 2020.

Known to Rush fans as “Praetorian,” Mosbach joined the band’s circle in the early 2000s and became a trusted friend to Peart, accompanying him on motorcycle trips between tour stops. His relationship with the drummer extended well beyond their professional bond, with the pair sharing years of travel and conversations on the road, some of which found their way into Peart's books and essays.

After Peart’s death, Mosbach helped carry on his friend’s legacy through the Bubba Bash, a benefit concert launched in 2023 to raise money for glioblastoma research at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. The event brings together musicians to perform in tribute to Peart, whose nickname inspired its name.

RUSH confirmed Mosbach’s death in a statement shared with fans.

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“As many Rush fans know, Michael Mosbach was Neil’s longtime security and riding partner on tour for decades. Through thick and thin, he was always there for Neil, and for that we are eternally grateful.

We are saddened to now share that he has passed after his own cancer battle.

Our sincere condolences to his family & friends, and our greater Rush family that worked with him over the years. RIP Michael”

The news also prompted tributes from members of the Rush community, including RushCon, which remembered Mosbach for his loyalty, generosity and continued work honouring Peart through the annual benefit.

Peart died on January 7, 2020, after a private battle with glioblastoma. He was 67.

Britney Spears during “Spankin New Music Week” on MTV’s “TRL,” Nov. 6, 2001

Two years ago, Britney Spears declared she would “never return to the music industry,” and so far she’s stuck to her guns. She even started her year selling off the rights to her music catalog to independent music publisher Primary Wave for an unspecified amount. But anyone hungry for new music from the pop icon can feast on the crumbs of “She’ll Never Be Me,” a newly released song originally written and recorded in 2001 with co-writer Justin Timberlake.

Spears originally recorded “She’ll Never Be Me” for her third studio album, Britney, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, but the track was left unfinished and ultimately scrapped from the record to prioritize other songs. The record, produced by Alex Greggs, or Riprock ‘n’ Alex G, is funky, erratic, and distinctly 2001 in the sense that it was clearly created in a post-“Oops! … I Did It Again” pop world.

In 2022, Greggs detailed the backstory of the song on The Original Doll podcast. “The song didn’t go on the album not because the label didn’t like it. There was just way better stuff to go with,” he said. Britney‘s big hit was “I’m a Slave 4 U,” though the album also featured classics like “Overprotected,” “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,” and “Lonely.” The deep cut “What It’s Like to Be Me” was also written (and co-produced) by Timberlake.

Timberlake performed background vocals for “She’ll Never Be Me,” which builds around their stacked vocals. “Sometimes people don’t hear Justin’s voice until I tell them. I said, ‘You don’t hear that Justin’s in the back?’” Greggs said. “They blend in there very well together. It’s kind of a shame that they never really got to do more. It would have been cool to have that kind of sweetheart duet.” At the time, ’NSync still had some gas in the tank. “It wasn’t the right time,” Greggs said. “But if they continued to be together, I’m sure it would have happened and it would have been a really cool thing.”

Spears detailed the dissolution of her relationship with Timberlake in her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me. She wrote that the breakup left her “devastated,” and said she thought about leaving her music career behind altogether. The couple were together from 1999 until 2002. The actual catalyst that led to Spears stepping away from the music industry had nothing to do with Timberlake, however.

In 2021, Spears was released from a 14-year conservatorship under which multiple sectors of her life — from her finances to her career — were out of her control. Following the end of the court-supervised arrangement, the pop star said, “Not doing my music anymore is my way of saying ‘Fuck You,’ in a sense when it only actually benefits my family by ignoring my real work.”

The 25th anniversary edition of Britney will be released on Nov. 6 with five additional songs including “She’ll Never Be Me.”

The 2027 Grammys’ Album of the Year category will once again be stacked with a handful of top contenders. But one artist in particular leads the pack: Olivia Rodrigo. The singer-songwriter could finally take home the biggest award of the night for her third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. Since her debut in 2021, Rodrigo’s acclaimed albums have both gotten nods in the category, but never won. This may just be her year.

Phoebe Bridgers, Lost WeekendOlivia Dean, The Art of LovingNoah Kahan, The Great DivideElla Langley, DandelionBruno Mars, The RomanticOlivia Rodrigo, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in LoveRosalía, LuxTaylor Swift, The Life of a Showgirl

Olivia Rodrigo, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in LoveOlivia Rodrigo stunned audiences and critics alike with the release of her highly-anticipated You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. The 23-year-old showed an impressive amount of maturity both in her songwriting and sound as she folded in New Wave inspirations. “She has this engagement where people are just listening front to back on repeat,” says John Stein, head of North America Editorial at Spotify. Since the album’s release in June, Rodrigo has been unstoppable, launching her own music festival, Daisy Chain Fields, and kicking off her Unraveled Tour in support of the LP. “She really puts in the work. She tours hard, she’s an incredible songwriter and really hones these tight, no fat albums,” Stein says. “I think that really works in her favor here.”

Olivia Rodrigo, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in LoveRodrigo isn’t new to the Academy. She won Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album for her debut in 2022. Both of her first two albums, Sour and Guts, have also been nominated for AOTY before, but ultimately lost out. “It’s surprising she actually hasn’t won yet because she has these really strong albums that really feel like a moment,” Stein says. “She builds a world around them. That really resonates with voters,” he adds. Now, four years after her first Grammy win at 19, Rodrigo has stepped further into her artistry.

While Rodrigo has a strong chance, she’s also going to have some big competition in the category. It may even turn into a tight race between another Olivia: British singer Olivia Dean. While The Art of Loving was released in September 2025, it has continued to churn out new hits. “It seems like there’s always a new song emerging from this album,” Stein says. “Even though she won Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys, it feels like the story is still building, which is really rare for an artist right now,” he adds. Part of Dean’s appeal is also the timelessness of her soul-inflected pop, which could resonate with the broad audience that makes up Grammy voters. “There may be some vote splitting there,” Stein adds.

With such a packed year, AOTY could be anyone’s prize. Stein doesn’t rule out Rosalía and her masterful Lux. “It’s completely in its own space. It’s this album that was really an unexpected sonic breakthrough where the audience really came along with this incredible artistic vision, combining all these different sounds and languages in a way that only Rosalía can do,” he says. The distinctive quality of Lux could be just the thing that helps it nab AOTY. “I could see that being maybe a surprise for some, that’d be really cool to see,” Stein says.