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Pop-punk is having a moment, and two of the most popular bands from the genre’s early 2000s peak teamed up for a celebration at Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ).Avril Lavigne headlined the gargantuan main stage on the historic Plains of Abraham in Quebec City on Friday night (July 4) for more than 80,000 fans, which also coincided with the final date of her Greatest Hits Tour with fellow Canadians Simple Plan.

The two acts recently released the collaborative track “Young and Dumb,” which reflects on their 2002 heights from the perspective of their current selves. They played the nostalgic tune for the crowd at FEQ, inviting a group of fans up on stage — ranging from young children to diehards who have been following them for over 20 years — and gave them all special signed Avril Lavigne skateboards.Since it was their final show together, though, Lavigne invited Simple Plan to stay up on stage a little longer. They decided to pay tribute to another of the biggest pop-punk bands of the era, which she said influenced both acts’ careers: blink-182. Together, they played a cover of one of their most enduring hits, “All The Small Things,” while the crowd all sang along.

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Lavigne has been teaming up for covers lately, reuniting with her ex-husband Deryck Whibley for a performance of Sum 41’s “In Too Deep” at a recent Warped Tour performance.While the mall-set teen angst and big emotions of the early ’00s pop-punk boom felt life-or-death dramatic to teens of the era, Lavigne has started to lean into the campy appeal of the music.Some fans (many now in their late 30s or early 40s, like Lavigne herself) came decked out in her signature “Complicated” era black eyeliner and necktie combo. Lavigne donned a sequined green guitar for performances of songs like “My Happy Ending.” She raised a toast to teenagers, adults and “adults that still act like teenagers” for “Here’s to Never Growing Up” and led the crowd in sing-alongs of songs like “Sk8er Boi.” She shouted out her hometown of Napanee, Ontario.She may not be as animated onstage as she once was, but her deep catalogue of hits easily kept the crowd engaged. Occasionally, during songs like “What the Hell,” she took a moment to flex her vocal chops, reminding us that beneath the zeitgeist-defining pop hits, she has always had an incredible voice.In their earlier set, Simple Plan brought the energy. The band hails from Montreal, and they used the rare opportunity playing for Quebecois fans to do the majority of their stage banter in French. They also invited up rising Quebec singer Claudia Bouvette for their bilingual version of “Jet Lag” (originally a duet with Marie-Mai).Lead singer Pierre Bouvier donned a shirt that said “I’m Just a Kid” with “Kid” crossed out and replaced with “Adult.” They leaned into the fun aspect of their hook-heavy tunes, even breaking out their What’s New Scooby-Doo? theme song while people in Scooby Doo costumes danced around them. They played some of their own crowd-pleasing covers too, putting their spin on Smash Mouth’s “All Star” and The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.” At one point, Bouvier switched places with drummer Chuck Comeau as he dove into the audience to crowd-surf.It felt like 2002 all over again.This article was originally published on Billboard Canada.

Kesha is a free artist at last — period. After years of working toward this moment, the singer-songwriter has dropped her first-ever independent LP, . (Period), featuring 11 fun-fueled pop tracks. Led by singles “Joyride,” “Yippee-Ki-Yay,” “Delusional,” “The One” and “Boy Crazy,” the project marks her first full-length release under her own Kesha Records.

Leading up to the album’s release on Friday (July 4), Kesha has been open about how emotional and empowering the process of assuming control over her own artistry has been. Prior to . (Period), she was under contract to Kemosabe Records, despite her yearslong legal battle with label owner Dr. Luke, whom she accused of drugging her and raping her at a 2005 party in 2014. The producer has always vehemently denied the allegations, and the two parties reached a settlement in 2023.In March 2024, Kesha was finally released from her deal with Kemosabe. With her first album since, the artist says she feels like she’s experiencing a “homecoming,” as she told Billboard in a recent interview. “I really do feel like it’s been a homecoming in a lot of ways — not only legally, to the rights of my voice, but to letting go of that internalized shame, of letting all that go and coming home to my own body, my joy, myself,” Kesha said. “And part of that has been healing my relationship with the records that I’ve put out that were difficult to make — that were perceived in a way that wasn’t the way I intended, that were tied to events that I don’t stand for.”. (Period) marks Kesha’s sixth studio album, and her first since 2023’s Gag Order. She’s scored four top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 over the course of her career, including No. 1 hits Animal (2010) and Rainbow (2017).Stream Kesha’s . (Period) below.

Drake addresses what happened amid, and in the aftermath of, his fallout with Kendrick Lamar on new song “What Did I Miss?” — a track the Toronto rapper dropped unexpectedly at midnight (July 5).

On the surprise single Drake calls out those who turned their backs on him: “You n—-s just better not ask for no favors,” he warns. “It’s love for my brothers and death to a traitor.”“I don’t give a f– if you love me/ I don’t give a f— if you like me/ Askin’ me ‘How did it feel?’/ Can’t say it didn’t surprise me/ Last time I looked to my right/ You n—-s was standing beside me/ How can some people I love/ Hang around pussies who try me?/ Let’s go,” says Drake, wrapping an introspective chorus with one question on repeat: “What did I miss?”Later, he references sightings at Kendrick’s 2024 Pop Out show, lamenting, “It feels like nobody’s there until you start givin’ out two-tones/ And nobody cares until they in front of your tombstone/ Y’all been on that type of timing for too long/ Iceman, Tiffany blue stones/ I done made plenty s— right out of two wrongs/ S—, let’s go.”On a third verse, he raps, “What did I miss?/ When I was looking at y’all and cooking with y’all/ And giving out verses and bookings to y’all/ Making sure wires were hit/ Man, what did I miss?/ When you was all in my crib lookin’ at hoes/ Word for word at all of the shows/ You always felt like this, man?/ What did I miss?”“What Did I Miss?” was penned by Drake, produced by London Cyr, O Lil Angel, DJ LEWIS, FNZ, Elyas, GYZ, Tay Keith, OZ and Patron, and released via OVO/Republic on streaming services.Ahead of the song’s premiere, fans caught an unannounced livestream on Friday that had Drake clocking in at an Iceman warehouse, where he went from sipping coffee on break to launching into a solo performance of the new track: first surrounded by rifles on the break room TV screen, and then among ice blocks in the warehouse freezer. The footage also had him driving an Iceman truck around the city and making small talk with fans approaching his vehicle: “Iceman, man, you already know,” Drake said at one point. “C’mon, bro, you already know.”Drake didn’t upload the event to his channels after streaming, but fans captured and shared the clip across social media, speculating “Iceman” is his new album era.Stream Drake’s new song “What Did I Miss?” below.