Behind the Setlist was thrilled to get a brief interview with Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal from the band Babymetal after their triumphant show at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Nov. 1.

For the uninitiated, Babymetal is a Japanese heavy metal band fronted by Su-metal, Moametal, Momometal and and backed by a four stellar musicians. Babymetal's music is genre called kawaii metal, which means cute metal -- it makes sense when you consider the band is fronted by three females who sing and dance like a Japanese idol group. Heavy metal is typically a male-dominated genre, so the kawaii metal approach is something different for Western audiences. But Babymetal has won over fans, playing countless rock and metal festivals as well as their own headline shows across the U.S. and Europe. The group’s latest album, Metal Fourth, debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart and features guests Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Courtney LaPlante (Spiritbox), Electric Callboy and Bloodywood.

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Rejoince, fans of Bob Dylan. Here's a lengthy, fascinating conversation about Dylan's formative time in New York City in the early '60s. Billboard's Behind the Setlist is joined by Sean Wilentz, a Bob Dylan historian who wrote the 125-page liner notes in the 8-CD box set, Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series Volume 18: Through the Open Window, 1956-1963, out Oct. 31 through Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings. Wilentz is a professor of history at Princeton University who penned the 2010 book Dylan in America. His detailed liner notes give the historical background and content to the collection, which spans 139 tracks, including 48 never-before-released performances. The Bootleg Series Volume 18 captures Dylan as he transitioned from an imitator of other artists’ works to an interpreter who added his own character and imprint to others’ songs. 

Check out more Behind the Setlist episodes at your favorite podcast platform, or go to Billboard.com: https://www.billboard.com/t/behind-the-setlist/

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Our February 2023 conversation with Kim Thayil, the guitarist for rock band Soundgarden, was one of our favorites in over three years of doing the Behind the Setlist podcast. So here's an encore presentation of the interview that focuses on Soundgarden's final show at Detroit's Fox Theatre on May 17, 2017, but delves into the band's history and its approach to delving into its catalog and putting together a concert setlist.

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Peter Wolf is a man with a million stories to tell. Thankfully he put many of them in his memoir, Waiting on the Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses, released in March 2025 on Little, Brown and Company. In the hard-to-put-downWaiting on the Moon, Wolf is tells of his relationships and exploits with the likes of Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, the Rolling Stones, Sly Stone and Merle Haggard.

Wolf is best known as the frontman for the J. Geils Band. Their 1980 album Love Stinks reached No. 18 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and the title track went to No. 38 on the Hot 100. The big breakthrough came in 1981 with the album Freeze-Frame, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The title track hit No. 4 on the Hot 100, and the single “Centerfold” spent six weeks atop the Hot 100 in 1982. 

Wolf left the Geils band in 1983 over creative differences. The band released one more album in 1984, and Wolf released his first solo album, Lights Out, in 1984, which rose to No. 24 on the Billboard 200. That album featured such guests as Mick Jagger, Elliot Easton of the Cars, G.E. Smith and Ed Stadium. 

His latest and eighth solo album, A Cure for Loneliness, came out in 2016. 

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Behind the Setlist is rebroadcasting our interview with country songwriter Brett James that we recorded at his office in Nashville in May 2022. Initially signed as a recording artist, Brett went on to become a hugely successful songwriter, penning such song as "Jesus, Take the Wheel" (recorded by Carrie Underwood" and "Out Last Night" with Kenny Chesney (Brett shared the story about the song during the interview). Brett died tragically in a plane crash on Sept. 18 at the age of 57.

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Settle in for a great conversation with one of the biggest rock stars in the U.S. Shinedown's Brent Smith joined Billboard's Behind the Setlist podcast for a wide-ranging talk about the band's music and business. Smith explained the importance of radio for the band and how it has helped give Shinedown a career in a way that streaming alone couldn't replicate. He also explained the writing of one of the band's new songs, "Three Six Five," and talked about the band's upcoming album and tour plans.

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Japanese singer Ado might not be a household name in the United States and other Western countries, but the 22-year-old has enough fans to play arenas across Europe, the U.S. and Latin America. Billboard spoke with Ado (through an interpreter) to find out about her beginnings as fan of vocaloid music, how she developed her amazing voice and what she saw when performing inside a back-lit, cube-shaped cage on her recent Hibana world tour.

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Country singer Mickey Guyton joined Billboard's Behind the Setlist podcast from China where she was a contestant on the TV show "The Singer." She ended up coming in second place on finale on August. 8.  "I'm the first country artist that they've had on the show, and it's just been so much fun," she said. "It's really been a beautiful experience." Up next for Mickey: the release of new holiday music.

Mickey has been with Capital Records Nashville for over a decade and released two albums, Remember Her Name in 2021, which contained what’s perhaps her best known song, “Black Like Me,” and House of Fire in 2024. She has also been a familiar face on television, co-hosting the ACM Awards in 2021 and performing the national anthem for Super Bowl 56 in 2022.

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In this episode we talk to country artist Alexandra Kay. Alexandra will release her second album, titled Second Wind, on October 24 through BMG’s BBR Music Group. She has already released three tracks to her fans — including her 8.6 million large social media following. You may know Alexandra from her Coffee Covers videos on YouTube or from the track “Leave the Light On” by Jelly Roll from the Twisters soundtrack. You're probably going to know more about her soon enough. "I truly believe my song ‘Straight For the Heart’ will be my first number one at country radio," she told us. "And I have no problem saying that, and I say it on stage all the time.”

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Zac Brown sat down with Billboard's Behind the Setlist podcast to talk about two major projects that will debut on Dec. 5: a new album, Love & Fear, and a residency at the unparalleled, state-of-the-art Sphere venue in Las Vegas. "The last three or four years, I've been wanting to create a spectacle," said Brown, a three-time Grammy winner who broke into the mainstream in 2008 with the song "Chicken Fried" from the 5x platinum album The Foundation. When Brown took a tour of Sphere during its construction, he knew that was the place to create a production that could help put his band in the same category as such icons as The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones and The Eagles. Zac also talks about his collaboration with Dolly Parton and Snoop Dogg, what he learned from Jimmy Buffett and his reflections on the hard work and challenges that led him to a successful career.

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