Jones Beach played host again this year to the Billboard Hot 100 Music Festival, where some of the biggest music stars in the world showed up & showed out. The millennial generation (the latter half, primarily) showed up in droves to make this a sold out event where the big wigs in the music industry came ready to play and give everyone a great time.
The event took place on four different stages throughout Jones Beach: Heatseekers Stage, Herbal Essences Beach Stage, Sun Stage and the Billboard Hot 100 Stage, the latter of which showed up with the biggest stars of them all. Doesn’t necessarily mean they were the best, though.
The highlights on day one for me personally happened at the Sun Stage with Phoebe Ryan, Tinasche and We The Kings ruling this particular part of Jones Beach. Phoebe did a killer job, performing her new song with BlackBear called “Forgetting All About You” and her hit with The Chainsmokers “All We Know”. Similar went for We The Kings, who performed their smash hit from a decade ago called “Check Yes, Juliet”, and Tinasche, who I was hoping would bring Britney out for “Slumber Party” but kept the same sex appeal going throughout her show.
I always forget how many songs Gucci Mane is in, not to mention his own fantastic solo work. He got the crowd pumping with his own efforts and two recent hits that he is featured on: “Black Beatles” and “Slippery”. Demi Lovato came out shortly after (both on the Hot 100 Stage that night), to do a short medley of her hits including my personal favorite “Sorry, Not Sorry”. Yas.
The one that I was impressed about most the next day was Camila Cabello, who I was honestly skeptical about since she went solo. This was really her first time showing her talents outside of Fifth Harmony, and I really have to give her credit as you can tell she is hungry for solo stardom and did a great job with songs like “OMG” and her recent hits “Crying in the Club” and “Bad Things” with the first hip-hop artist I ever interviewed six years ago- Machine Gun Kelly.
Overall, Billboard put on a fantastic show (as they always do) and I look forward to seeing next year’s lineup, but more importantly, whose star truly shines over the course of this year who will be moving from one stage to the next in 2018. For more information, click here.