Awards
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Bono is among 19 individuals who will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, President Joe Biden announced on Saturday (Jan. 4).
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In addition to the U2 frontman, other recipients include Hillary Clinton, NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, soccer icon Lionel Messi, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, George Soros, designer Ralph Lauren, chef José Andrés and conservationist Jane Goodall.
“President Biden believes great leaders keep the faith, give everyone a fair shot, and put decency above all else,” the White House wrote in a statement. “These nineteen individuals are great leaders who have made America and the world a better place. They are great leaders because they are good people who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world.”
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The statement also noted that the Presidential Medal of Freedom is “presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”
In honoring Bono, the White House highlighted the legendary Irish rocker as a “pioneering activist against AIDS and poverty,” noting his role in uniting politicians from opposing parties to create the U.S. PEPFAR AIDS program. Bono is also the co-founder of advocacy organizations ONE and (RED).
The Presidential Medal of Freedom will be presented at the White House on Saturday.
The announcement comes just weeks after U2 released How to Re-assemble an Atomic Bomb, a special edition celebrating the 20th anniversary of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb with previously unreleased tracks from the 2004 album’s recording sessions. In September, U2 premiered V-U2: An Immersive Concert Film at Sphere Las Vegas, showcasing their historic residency at The Sphere in Sin City.
U2’s most recent album, Songs of Surrender, was released in March 2023 and reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is destined to always evolve, says chairman John Sykes, but while new categories could arrive in the future, a new name for the establishment is out of the question.
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Sykes’ comments were published in a new interview with Vulture, which arrived on Tuesday (Dec. 31), just one day before the 2024 Rock Hall induction ceremony hit streaming services. In the piece, Sykes opens up about the current state of the foundation, and touches on previous calls for a name change, especially given how more pop and hip-hop artists have found themselves inducted in recent years.
“I think it’s because some people don’t understand the meaning of rock and roll,” Sykes explains. “If you go back to the original sound in the ’50s, it was everything. As Missy Elliott calls it, it was a gumbo. It just became known as rock and roll. So when I hear people say, ‘You should just change it to the Music Hall of Fame,’ rock and roll has pretty much covered all of that territory. Rather than throwing the name out, it’s doing a better job of communicating to people where rock and roll came from and what it’s truly about. Once they hear it that way, they understand.
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“The best story to convey this was when a great friend of mine, Jay-Z, got inducted a few years ago,” he continued. “I was so excited. But he told me, ‘Rock is dead. It should be called the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.’ And I said, ‘Well, hip-hop is rock and roll.’ He goes, ‘No, it isn’t.’ And I said, ‘We’ve got to do a better job explaining it. Little Richard, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry — these artists were the cornerstones of rock and roll. If you look at the sounds over the years, those artists ended up influencing hip-hop.’ Jay-Z hemmed and hawed, but he showed up to the ceremony. That made me feel like we had done our job to communicate that rock and roll is open to all.”
These comments echo Sykes’ previous recollection of the discussion, as printed in Jay-Z’s Book of HOV just last month.
“My last words, as I pleaded for Jay to come to Cleveland to accept his award, were that rock n’ roll is not any one sound, rather a gumbo,” he wrote. “To paraphrase the great Berry Gordy, rock n’ roll created the sound of young America. It’s a spirit, and the spirit of hip-hop and rap connected rock n’ roll with an entirely new generation.”
Elsewhere in his new discussion, Sykes also looked towards the future of the Rock Hall and the potential for further new categories. While the annual induction ceremony has always featured Performers, Musical Influences (previously called ‘Early Influences’ before 2023), and the Ahmet Ertegun Award (previously called ‘Non-Performers’ before 2008) as categories, it has expanded further in the past.
In 2000, the Rock Hall introduced the Sidemen category to honor those who are often overlooked in the grand scheme of things, with the category being renamed the Award for Musical Excellence in 2010. Likewise, between 2018 and 2020, roughly half-a-dozen songs were chosen each year as the singles that shaped rock history. As Sykes explains, there’s the potential to dig even deeper into the music industry to honor those who keep the industry turning.
“We’ve discussed ways we could recognize not only artists but those around them who’ve had an impact on the sound of rock and roll. Fans often don’t even know who helped break these artists,” he added. “It could be record-company presidents, it could be lawyers, it could be agents. We also want to look at specific songs that change culture. That could be another category.”
Concluding his interview, Sykes also discussed a number of artists who have been overlooked in previous years, including The B-52s, “Weird Al” Yankovic, the Pixies, and Phil Collins‘ solo career.
Labelling Yankovic a “genius” who is yet to make it “close” to the ballot, Sykes expressed confidence that the others may make it in some day.
“There’s been a group of nominees who’ve been passionate about the Pixies,” he said. “The same thing with Warren Zevon, who actually did get on the ballot one year. I’m passionate about Warren, and he’ll get in, too. But the Pixies have had a lot of support.”
Elton John and Brandi Carlile, who are among the co-writers of the Oscar-shortlisted song “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late, are among the presenters for the 2025 Golden Globes, which is set to air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.
“Never Too Late” wasn’t nominated for a Globe, but being booked as presenters on the Globes could help the song’s chances in the Oscar balloting. Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 17.
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The Golden Globes have a long and colorful history, and a reputation as “Hollywood’s Party of the Year,” but an undeniable part of its appeal is its place on the awards calendar. This year’s Globes will air less than three days before nominations-round voting begins for the Oscars (on Wednesday Jan. 8 at 9 am PT). Nominations-round voting for this year’s Oscars ends on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 5 p.m. PT.
Ariana DeBose, who has hosted the last three Tony Awards telecasts, is also set to present on the Globes, as are Viola Davis, who is set to receive the Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award; actress Kate Hudson, who last year released her first album, Glorious; Auliʻi Cravalho, who voiced the title character in the Disney animated film Moana and its 2024 sequel; and actress Margaret Qualley, a Globe nominee for best supporting actress – motion picture for The Substance (and wife of top producer Jack Antonoff).
The show will be hosted by Nikki Glaser, who is the first woman to solo host the Globes. It will be held in its usual home, the Grand Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
Glaser is nominated for a Globe for best performance in stand-up comedy on television for her HBO/Max special Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die. Glaser was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) for her work on that special and is a current Grammy nominee for best comedy album, also for that special.
The Golden Globes is the world’s largest awards show to celebrate both film and television. Emmy Award-winning producing duo Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment will return as executive producing showrunners for the show. Dick Clark Productions will plan, host and produce the 82nd Annual Golden Globes.
Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service, as well as on demand. Paramount+ Essential subscribers will not have the option to stream live but will have access to on-demand the day after the special airs.
Unlike the Oscars, the Globes doesn’t book musical performances, but it has a star-studded line-up of presenters. Here’s a complete list of presenters, as of presstime:
Andrew Garfield
Anthony Mackie
Anthony Ramos
Anya Taylor-Joy
Ariana DeBose
Aubrey Plaza
Auliʻi Cravalho
Awkwafina
Brandi Carlile
Catherine O’Hara
Colin Farrell
Colman Domingo
Demi Moore
Dwayne Johnson
Édgar Ramírez
Elton John
Gal Gadot
Glenn Close
Jeff Goldblum
Jennifer Coolidge
Kaley Cuoco
Kate Hudson
Kathy Bates
Ke Huy Quan
Kerry Washington
Margaret Qualley
Melissa McCarthy
Michael Keaton
Michelle Yeoh
Miles Teller
Mindy Kaling
Morris Chestnut
Nate Bargatze
Nicolas Cage
Rachel Brosnahan
Rob McElhenney
Salma Hayek Pinault
Sarah Paulson
Seth Rogen
Sharon Stone
Vin Diesel
Viola Davis
Zoë Kravitz
The Golden Globes are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Corporation. PMC is also the parent company of Billboard.
The Recording Academy made Beatlemaniacs happy on Nov. 8, when The Fab Four’s “Now and Then” was nominated for two awards – record of the year and best rock performance. But only the two living Beatles — Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr — are nominated for those awards. John Lennon, who died in 1980, and George Harrison, who died in 2001, are not.
Because Lennon and Harrison have each been dead for more than five years, they cannot meet the Grammy test for “new recordings” – “material that has been recorded within five years of the release date.” There is precedent for this. Nat “King” Cole was not nominated when daughter Natalie Cole won record of the year and best traditional pop performance in 1992 for their studio-created duet “Unforgettable.” He had died in 1965.
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Lennon’s last Grammy nomination was at the 1985 ceremony – best spoken word or non-musical recording for Heart Play (Unfinished Dialogue), a collab with Yoko Ono. The album, which reached No. 94 on the Billboard 200, consisted of excerpts from a Playboy magazine interview done shortly before Lennon’s death.
Harrison’s last Grammy nominations were at the 2004 ceremony, where Brainwashed, his posthumously released 12th and final studio album, was nominated for best pop vocal album. Two tracks from the album were also honored. “Marwa Blues” won best pop instrumental performance, while “Any Road” was nominated for best male pop vocal performance.
McCartney co-produced “Now and Then” with Giles Martin, the son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin, who produced the band’s four previous record of the year nominees, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Yesterday,” “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be.” Martin also produced McCartney’s one post-Beatles record of the year nominee, “Ebony and Ivory,” a 1982 collab with Stevie Wonder.
Both McCartney and Giles Martin are nominated for record of the year as producers of the single, as are eight engineer/mixers and a mastering engineer – but not John and George.
Bonus factoid: If “Now and Then” wins record of the year, McCartney will complete his sweep of the Big Four awards, though it will have taken him longer to do so than any other act in Grammy history. He won best new artist in 1965 (with The Beatles), song of the year in 1967 for “Michelle” (in tandem with Lennon) and album of the year in 1968 for The Beatles’ landmark Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Even before his death on Sunday (Dec. 29) at age 100, Jimmy Carter already seemed a shoo-in to win his fourth Grammy at the 67th Grammy Awards on Feb. 2. But with his death, his victory seems even more certain. Final-round Grammy voting continues through Friday (Jan. 3).
But one thing has changed with the former president’s death. Carter had seemed likely to set a new record as the oldest Grammy winner in history. Now, if he wins, the award will be posthumous. Technically, the oldest recipient will continue to be blues pianist Pinetop Perkins, who was 97 years and 221 days old on Feb. 13, 2011 when he won best traditional blues album for Joined at the Hip, a collab with Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, a blues harmonica player. (Perkins died about six weeks later, on March 21, 2011.)
Carter is nominated for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording for Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration. The other nominees in the category are All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words (Guy Oldfield, producer), George Clinton’s …And Your Ass Will Follow, Dolly Parton’s Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones and Barbra Streisand’s My Name Is Barbra. (Oldfield, 55, is the only nominee in this category who’s under 75. Parton is 78, Streisand is 82 and Clinton is 83.)
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This will likely be Carter’s fourth win in this category, which will enable him to break out of a tie with poet Maya Angelou for the most wins in the category. Carter won in 2007 for Our Endangered Values, in 2016 for A Full Life: Reflections at 90 and in 2019 for Faith: A Journey for All. Angelou won in 1994 for On the Pulse of Morning, in 1996 for Phenomenal Woman and in 2003 for A Song Flung Up to Heaven.
Carter will also likely extend his record as the U.S. president with the most Grammy wins. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have each won two Grammys.
Carter was a late-comer to Grammy glory. He was 82 when he won his first Grammy. He had lost on his first three tries.
If you’re curious, the second-oldest person ever to win a Grammy is Tony Bennett, who was 95 years and 243 days old in 2022 when he won for best traditional pop vocal album for Love for Sale, a collab with Lady Gaga. (He died in 2023.) Third-oldest is comedian George Burns, who was 95 years and 31 days old in 1991 when he won best spoken word or non-musical recording album for Gracie: A Love Story, a salute to his wife and comedy partner Grace Allen. (He died in 1996.) Fourth-oldest is Carter, who was 94 and 132 days old in 2019 when he won best spoken word album for Faith: A Journey for All.
12/27/2024
Perry produced some of the biggest and best hits on the Hot 100 in the ’70s and ’80s.
12/27/2024
Kendrick Lamar was rap’s undoubted MVP of 2024 and Billboard‘s Greatest Pop Star of the Year, and Eminem thinks his epic run is going to continue into 2025. While Em and Lamar will be facing off in the best rap performance category at the 2025 Grammy Awards, Eminem believes that K. Dot is going to […]
Robbie Williams’ song “Forbidden Road” was removed from the 2025 Oscar shortlist for best original song on the grounds that song incorporates material from an existing song that was not written for the film in which it appears, Better Man (Paramount Pictures). Williams co-wrote the song with Freddy Wexler and Sacha Skarbek.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will not replace the song on the shortlist. Members of the music branch will choose the five nominees from a shortlist of 14 songs, rather than the customary 15.
The song is nominated for a Golden Globe for best original song. It is still listed on the Globes site as a nominee, though it has already been removed from the list of shortlisted songs that appears on the Oscars site.
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Here’s the text of a letter sent to Academy’s music branch members from the branch’s executive committee, explaining the decision:
“Dear Music Branch members,
The shortlisted Original Song achievement, “Forbidden Road,” from the film BETTER MAN, incorporates material from an existing song that was not written for this film.
The Music Branch Executive Committee has met and reviewed materials. It was determined the achievement does not meet the 97th Awards Rules criteria for eligibility in the Original Song category: An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the motion picture. [Rule Eighteen, Section 1-B].
Therefore, the song has been deemed ineligible for award consideration for the 97th Oscars and will be removed from the Academy’s shortlist in the Original Song category.
This is a decision that both honors our rules and protects the special nature of the Original Song and Score categories.
Sincerely,
The Music Branch Executive Committee”
The Oscars run a very tight ship. Eleven years ago, a nominated songwriter, Bruce Broughton, was overzealous in promoting his song, running afoul of Academy regulations. The Academy rescinded the nomination. The explanation of what happened still appears on the Oscar site all these years later: “After the nominations were announced on January 16, 2014, it was determined that Mr. Broughton had taken actions in promoting the song that were inconsistent with the Academy’s campaign regulations. The Board of Governors voted to rescind the nomination on January 29, and only four songs were included on the final ballot.”
Better Man will have a limited release opening on Christmas Day. It will go wide on Jan. 10. Williams is portrayed by a computer-generated monkey in this film about his life which was co-written, produced and directed by Michael Gracey.
Charli XCX and Post Malone each received an additional nomination for the 2025 Grammys as art directors of their albums Brat and F-1 Trillion, respectively, on Friday (Dec. 20). The albums were included in the best recording package category when the nominations were announced on Nov. 8, but the artists weren’t credited as art directors. […]
12/20/2024
As the old saying goes, “it’s not where you start. It’s where you finish.”
12/20/2024