Ladies bring the 'Bass' to Jingle Ball tour
Once again this Jingle Ball, girls will rule the yule.
Female artists have commanded the charts this year, so it's no wonder the all-star lineup of iHeartRadio's annual holiday event reflects that. Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea are among the headliners of the coast-to-coast trek, whose revolving roster of top-40 staples varies among its 13 stops.
"When we first started doing Jingle Ball in New York (in 1996), we dubbed it, 'Girls Rule the Yule,' because there were so many women in pop music," says Tom Poleman, president of national programming platforms at iHeartMedia. "I feel that's now kind of come full circle with so many females on one lineup."
Among them is breakout singer Meghan Trainor, whose doo-woppy All About That Bass topped Billboard's Hot 100 for two months straight this fall. The singer played the first Jingle Ball show of the season in Dallas on Sunday, with stops in Boston, Washington, D.C., and Chicago on the horizon, before wrapping in Tampa on her birthday, Dec. 22.
"Christmas is my favorite time because I get a double-whammy," Trainor says. "I get to be with my brother at the last Jingle Ball, and it's my 21st birthday, so we're going to go out, have a good time, and then fly home and see my whole family for a couple days, which is going to be amazing."
The delightful up-and-comer could sure use the downtime, as she gears right back up after the holidays to release new album Title on Jan. 13 and embark on a nearly sold-out headlining tour in February. Although new single Lips Are Movin' (No. 18 on Paste BN's top-40 airplay chart) also boasts a throwback sound, Trainor says fans will hear a "poppier version of me" on the record, along with more rap verses and a duet with John Legend.
Jingle Ball's next stop is Los Angeles on Friday, and touches down in New York a week later with its biggest lineup ever: 16 artists, including Maroon 5, Sam Smith and 5 Seconds of Summer. That Dec. 12 show will stream live on Yahoo Live and broadcast on iHeartMedia Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) stations nationwide (8 p.m. ET/PT). The star-studded affair will also air as a two-hour special on the CW on Dec. 18 (8 p.m. ET/PT).
Although she's gotten to kick back with Jason Derulo, Fall Out Boy and pal Jake Miller so far, Trainor is crossing her fingers for some face-to-face time with Azalea in the weeks to come.
"I'm dying to meet her, because I've seen her around everything, but I haven't been able to say 'hi' yet," Trainor says. "I just worship her, so it'd be cool to tell her that."
One person who will be seeing plenty of the Fancy rapper this tour is Rita Ora, who's embarking on her first Jingle Ball and will take the stage with Azalea to sing their revenge-fantasy hit Black Widow.
"I always have so much fun when I take the stage with Iggy," Ora says, adding, "Every time we perform Black Widow it feels different. Iggy and I have grown to be such good friends and when we perform it never feels like work."