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Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” (via EMI) continues to beat-up the opposition in the U.K., where it enters its fifth week at No. 1.
“Anti-Hero,” the first track from Swift’s chart-topping tenth studio album, Midnights, dominates the latest Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Nov. 25, with a market-leading 5.2 million streams, the OCC reports.
It becomes the longest-reigning song by a solo female artist since Olivia Rodrigo spent five weeks at No. 1 in 2021 with “Good 4 U,” and it’s among the biggest No. 1 hits of 2022.
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Just three songs have enjoyed longest stints at the U.K. summit this year: Encanto’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (seven weeks), LF SYSTEM’s “Afraid To Feel” (eight weeks) and Harry Styles’ “As It Was” (10 weeks).
Meanwhile, Meghan Trainor continues to climb on the latest tally with “Made You Look” (Epic), which makes its peak position of No. 3, up one position.
The highest new entry this week belongs to London rapper Clavish with “Rocket Science” (Polydor) featuring D-Block Europe. “Rocket Science” lifts off for a No. 9 debut, Clavish’s first appearance on the U.K. top 40, and D-Block Europe’s 27th appearance (including two top 10s).
The Christmas tunes are coming. Just one week removed from its earliest-ever return to the top 40, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (Columbia) is getting a move on, up 36-18. Good enough for the OCC’s “biggest gainer” honors.
Close behind are two holiday-themed chart-toppers in Wham’s “Last Christmas” (RCA), up 42-23, and Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s “Merry Christmas” (Atlantic), which reennters at No. 40.
Christmas isn’t the only major event on British minds right now.
The World Cup of soccer is in full swing, with England and Wales both active in the early rounds. Following England’s first-up demolition job on Iran, 6-2, David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and the Lightning Seeds’ “Three Lions” reenters the chart, at No. 20. The unofficial England football anthem and former leader gets a boost from a new cut, “Three Lions (It’s Coming Home For Christmas).”
Finally, British singer and songwriter Raye lands her 10th top 40 single with “Escapism” (Human Re Sources), a collaboration with U.S. electronic artist 070 Shake, new at No. 31; while another collaboration, Meekz and Dave’s “Fresh Out The Bank” (Neighbourhood Recordings), cracks the top 40 on debut, at No. 35.
Former rivals Nas and Jay-Z find themselves on equal footing in one regard on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, as Nas’ King’s Disease III debuts at No. 10 on the chart dated Nov. 26. With the arrival, the Queens MC lands his 16th top 10, tying Jay-Z for the most among rappers in the chart’s history.
King’s Disease III opens with 29,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 17, according to Luminate; 20,000 units of the starting sum derive from streams, equaling 26.5 million official on-demand streams of the album’s songs. Of the remaining units, 8,500 are in traditional album sales, with the outstanding balance owed to track-equivalent album units. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)
As the new album enters the list, here’s an updated leaderboard for the rappers with the most top 10 albums on the Billboard 200:
16, Jay-Z16, Nas15, Drake15, Future12, Eminem12, Lil Wayne12, YoungBoy Never Broke Again11, Jeezy11, Kanye West11, Snoop Dogg
Elsewhere, King’s Disease III begins at No. 4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and at No. 3 on Top Rap Albums. On the former, it becomes Nas’ 18th top 10, the second-best sum among rappers there, behind Jay-Z’s 21.
King’s Disease III is the third installment of what has become an annual series from Nas. The first edition arrived in August 2020 and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. Its next iteration came 12 months later and improved on the original, starting at a No. 3 best on the Billboard 200. Between King’s Disease II and King’s Disease III, Nas released another album, Magic, which reached No. 27 this January.
Taylor Swift keeps her good times rolling on Australia’s charts, while Nickelback returns to national albums survey with Get Rollin’, the Canadian rockers’ first album in five years.
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Get Rollin’ starts at No. 3, for the Chad Kroeger-led band’s eighth top-five album, and the highest debut on the latest ARIA Chart, published Nov. 25.
Meanwhile, U.S. heavy metal band Disturbed returns to the national chart with Divisive, their new album. It’s new at No. 5.
There’s some good-natured jostling at the top of the albums survey, as Swift (Midnights) outplays bestie Ed Sheeran (equals) for the title.
Sheeran, who will return to Australia for a national stadium tour next February and March, enjoyed a boost from the release last Friday of Pokémon “Scarlet” and “Violet,” on which he features, and his Full Circle concert documentary, which premiered Thursday night (Nov. 24) on free-to-Channel 9, straight after the 2022 ARIA Awards.
The uptick in Sheeran’s streams and sales from the Full Circle premiere should be reflected on next week’s chart.
Michael Jackson’s 1982 juggernaut Thriller returns to the chart, following the release of a 40th anniversary edition. Thriller hit No. 1 following its original release, and returns to the chart this week at No. 18. The album has sold more than 1.1 million copies in Australia, and is certified 18-times platinum.
Also, Irish singer and songwriter Dermot Kennedy cracks the top 40 with Sonder, his new album. Sonder, the leader on the midweek U.K. chart, is new at No. 37 in Australia.
Swift grabs another chart double, as the U.S. pop superstar retains her ARIA Singles Chart crown with “Anti-Hero,” the first track lifted from Midnights. “Anti-Hero” completes a fifth consecutive week at No. 1. Indeed, the single has led the chart every week since its release.
Finally, Meghan Trainor’s return to doo-wop with “Made You Look” continues to gather steam on the ARIA Chart, lifting 7-4, for a new peak, while Sydney singer and songwriter Dean Lewis climbs 22-14 with “How Do I Say Goodbye,” a new peak position.
With five trophies, Baker Boy was the runaway leader Thursday night (Nov. 24) at the 36th annual ARIA Awards in Sydney, while Amyl and The Sniffers and the Wiggles were among the multiple winners.
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A proud Yolngu man, Baker Boy’s triumphant night included wins for album of the year (for his debut Gela), best hip-hop/rap release, and best solo artist.
Shortly after accepting album of the year with a prepared speech in his native Yolngu language, Baker Boy delivered a rendition “Meditjin” with his band and dancers, and a solo performance on Yidaki, the Aboriginal word for didgeridoo in eastern Arnhem Land.
The rapper, singer and dancer (real name Danzal Baker) has been in untouchable form at Australia’s awards ceremonies of late.
At the 2022 NIMAs in August, he took home artist of the year and album of the year (for Gela), which peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart. In 2021, the year Gela was released, Baker Boy received an Order Of Australia (OAM) medal for “service to the performing arts as a singer and musician,” to go with his young Australian of the year honor, from 2019.
Also at the 2022 ARIAs, Amyl and The Sniffers won a pair of pointy trophies, for best group and best rock album for Comfort to Me, their A2IM Libera Award-nominated sophomore set. The punk rockers and their power-packed singer Amy Taylor delivered one of the night’s fiercest moments with a performance of album track “Guided By Angels.” With their brace tonight, Amyl lifts their career ARIAs tally to three.
The Wiggles have been enjoying a year like no other, during which the legendary children’s entertainers scooped the triple j Hottest 100 poll for the first time with their cover of Tame Impala’s “Elephant,” and bagged a first No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart with ReWiggled.
At the ARIAs, held at the Hordern Pavilion, the famous foursome won for best children’s album and best Australian live act — a fan-voted category — for The OG Wiggles Reunion/Fruit Salad TV Big Show Tour.
Yolngu surf-rock band King Stingray won the Michael Gudinski breakthrough artist trophy, named after the late, legendary Mushroom Group founder and presented by Gudinski’s son, Matt, now CEO of the independent music powerhouse.
Earlier, the Stingers earned song of the year for “Milkumana” at the NIMAs.
British pop star Harry Styles snagged most popular international artist, one of four fan-voted categories, beating out the likes of Taylor Swift, Adele, Billie Eilish and Drake. The former One Direction star now has three ARIAs in his collection.
Other winners on the night included electronic trio Rüfüs Du Sol (producer – best produced album); The Kid LAROI (best pop release for “Thousand Miles”); Casey Barnes (best country album for Light It Up); pub rock trio The Chats (best hard rock/heavy metal album for Get F***ed), and DJ/producer Luude (best dance/electronic release for “Down Under”).
Wearing a black Adidas tracksuit, Tones And I was on hand to collect the publicly-voted song of the year honor for “Cloudy Day,” her fifth ARIA.
Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese, a passionate music fan, gave a shout out to all the artists — winners and the losers. “Music can tell Australian stories, it can make a difference to our lives, it can be uplifting,” he said in a video message.
Free-to-air network Channel 9 and its digital channel 9Now beamed out the ARIAs live, and YouTube streamed the show for international audiences.
The ARIA Hall of Fame was absent from this year’s show. Instead, organizers used the platform of the ARIAs to salute three Hall of Famers who died in recent months, Olivia Newton-John, Archie Roach and the Seekers’ Judith Durham, with tributes from the likes of Imbruglia, Budjerah, Thelma Plum, Jess Mauboy, Dami Im, and Tones And I, who served as music director for the special spot.
2022 ARIA Awards Winners List:
Album of the Year presented by Neumann
Amyl and The Sniffers – Comfort To Me (Virgin Music Australia)
Baker Boy – Gela (Island Records/Universal Music Australia) *WINNER
Gang Of Youths – Angel In Realtime. (Mosy Recordings/Sony Music)
King Stingray – King Stingray (Cooking Vinyl/The Orchard)
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Surrender (Rose Avenue Records/Warner Music)
Best Solo Artist
Baker Boy – Gela (Island Records/Universal Music Australia) *WINNER
Budjerah – Conversations (Warner Music Australia)
Courtney Barnett – Things Take Time, Take Time (Milk! Records/Remote Control Records)
Daniel Johns – FutureNever (BMG/ADA)
Flume – Palaces (Future Classic)
Julia Jacklin – PRE PLEASURE (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Ruel – Growing Up Is____ (RCA/Sony Music)
The Kid LAROI – Thousand Miles (Columbia/Sony Music)
Thelma Plum – Meanjin (Warner Music Australia)
Vance Joy – In Our Own Sweet Time (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Best Group
Amyl and The Sniffers – Comfort To Me (Virgin Music Australia) *WINNER
Gang Of Youths – Angel in Realtime. (Mosy Recordings/Sony Music)
King Stingray – King Stingray (Cooking Vinyl/The Orchard)
Midnight Oil – Resist (Sony Music)
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Surrender (Rose Avenue Records/Warner Music)
Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist
Beddy Rays – Beddy Rays (Independent/Ditto Music)
Bella Taylor Smith – Look Me In The Eyes (EMI Music Australia)
Harvey Sutherland – Boy (Clarity Recordings/Virgin Music Australia)
King Stingray – King Stingray (Cooking Vinyl/The Orchard) *WINNER
Luude – Down Under (ft. Colin Hay) (Sweat It Out/Warner Music)
Best Pop Release
Flume – Say Nothing (feat. MAY-A) (Future Classic)
RÜFÜS DU SOL – On My Knees (Rose Avenue Records/Warner Music)
The Kid LAROI – Thousand Miles (Columbia/Sony Music) *WINNER
Thelma Plum – Meanjin (Warner Music Australia)
Vance Joy – Clarity (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Best Dance/Electronic Release
Confidence Man – Tilt (I OH YOU/Mushroom)
Flume – Palaces (Future Classic)
Harvey Sutherland – Boy (Clarity Recordings/Virgin Music Australia)
Luude – Down Under (ft. Colin Hay) (Sweat It Out/Warner Music) *WINNER
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Surrender (Rose Avenue Records/Warner Music)
Best Hip Hop/Rap Release
Baker Boy – Gela (Island Records/Universal Music Australia) *WINNER
Barkaa – Blak Matriarchy (Bad Apples Music/Island Records Australia)
Chillinit – Family Ties (420 Family/Virgin Music Australia)
Day1 – MBAPPÉ (feat. KAHUKX) (db Music/Warner Music Australia)
The Kid LAROI & Fivio Foreign – Tokyo to Paris (Columbia/Sony Music)
Best Soul/R&B Release
Budjerah – Conversations (Warner Music Australia) *WINNER
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks – Under These Streets (Cooking Vinyl Australia/The Orchard)
KIAN – SHINE (EMI Music Australia)
Vanessa Amorosi – City Of Angels (Scream Louder/MGM)
Best Independent Release presented by PPCA
Archie Roach – One Song (Bloodlines/Mushroom Group) *WINNER
Ball Park Music – Weirder & Weirder (Prawn Records/Inertia Music)
Courtney Barnett – Things Take Time, Take Time (Milk! Records/Remote Control Records)
Genesis Owusu – GTFO (Ourness)
Julia Jacklin – PRE PLEASURE (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Best Rock Album
Amyl and The Sniffers – Comfort To Me (Virgin Music Australia) *WINNER
Ball Park Music – Weirder & Weirder (Prawn Records/Inertia Music)
Gang Of Youths – Angel in Realtime. (Mosy Recordings/Sony Music)
King Stingray – King Stingray (Cooking Vinyl/The Orchard)
Spacey Jane – Here Comes Everybody (AWAL Recordings)
Best Adult Contemporary Album
Alex the Astronaut – How To Grow A Sunflower Underwater (Warner Music Australia)
Julia Jacklin – PRE PLEASURE (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group) *WINNER
Missy Higgins – Total Control (Eleven: A Music Company/Universal Music Australia)
Vance Joy – In Our Own Sweet Time (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Vika & Linda – The Wait (Bloodlines/Mushroom Group)
Best Country Album
Adam Brand – All Or Nothing (ABC Music)
Amber Lawrence – Living for the Highlights (ABC Music)
Andy Golledge – Strength of a Queen (I OH YOU/Mushroom)
Casey Barnes – Light It Up (Casey Barnes Entertainment/Chugg Music) *WINNER
Georgia State Line – In Colour (Cheatin Heart Records/Virgin Music Australia)
Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album
Dune Rats – Real Rare Whale (BMG/ADA)
Northlane – Obsidian (Believe/Rocket)
Shihad – Old Gods (Warner Music NZ)
The Chats – Get Fucked (Bargain Bin Records/The Chats via Ingrooves) *WINNER
Thornhill – Heroine (UNFD/The Orchard)
Best Blues & Roots Album
Charlie Collins – Undone (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia)
The Bamboos – Hard Up (BMG/ADA)
The Teskey Brothers with Orchestra Victoria – Live At Hamer Hall (Ivy League Records/Mushroom Group)
Thornbird – Thornbird (Thornbird/MGM)
William Crighton – Water and Dust (ABC Music) *WINNER
Best Children’s Album
Benny Time – Benny and Friends (Independent)
Teeny Tiny Stevies – How To Be Creative (ABC Music)
The Beanies – Let’s Go! (ABC Music)
The Wiggles – ReWiggled (ABC Music) *WINNER
Van-Anh Nguyen – The Princess And The Piano (Universal Music Australia)
PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS
Best Video presented by YouTube
Apple Crumble – Lime Cordiale, Joe Neathway (Chugg Music)
Blak Matriarchy – Barkaa, Selina Miles (Bad Apples Music/Island Records Australia)
Down Under (ft. Colin Hay) – Luude, Peter Hume (Sweat It Out / Warner)
Every Side Of You – Vance Joy, William Bleakley (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group) *WINNER
GTFO – Genesis Owusu, Uncle Friendly (Rhett Wade-Ferrell) (Ourness)
Hertz – Amyl and The Sniffers, John Angus Stewart (Virgin Music Australia)
I Don’t Wanna Leave – RÜFÜS DU SOL, Katzki (Rose Avenue Records/Warner Music)
Lydia Wears A Cross – Julia Jacklin (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Say Nothing (feat. MAY-A) – Flume (Future Classic)
Wish You Well (feat. Bernard Fanning) – Baker Boy, Macario De Souza (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia)
Best Australian Live Act presented by Heaps Normal
Amy Shark – See U Somewhere Australia Tour 2022 (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Amyl and The Sniffers – Comfort To Me Tour 2022 (Virgin Music Australia)
Baker Boy – Gela Tour (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia)
Budjerah – The Conversations Australian Tour (Warner Music Australia)
Gang Of Youths – Angel in Realtime. (Mosy Recordings/Sony Music)
Genesis Owusu – Genesis Owusu & The Black Dog Band (Ourness)
Midnight Oil – RESIST. THE FINAL TOUR. 2022 (Sony Music)
The Kid LAROI – End Of The World Tour (Columbia/Sony Music)
The Wiggles – The OG Wiggles Reunion/Fruit Salad TV Big Show Tour (ABC Music) *WINNER
Thelma Plum – The Meanjin Tour (Warner Music Australia)
Song of the Year presented by YouTube
Clinton Kane – I Guess I’m In Love (Columbia/Sony Music)
Dean Lewis – Hurtless (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia)
Flume – Say Nothing (feat. MAY-A) (Future Classic)
Joji – Glimpse Of Us (88rising/Warner Records)
Jolyon Petch feat. Reigan – Dreams (TMRW)
Luude – Down Under (ft. Colin Hay) (Sweat It Out/Warner)
RÜFÜS DU SOL – On My Knees (Rose Avenue Records/Warner Music)
The Kid LAROI – Thousand Miles (Columbia/Sony Music)
Tones And I – Cloudy Day (Bad Batch Records/Sony Music) *WINNER
Vance Joy – Clarity (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Most Popular International Artist
ABBA – Voyage (Universal Music Group/Polar Music International)
Adele – 30 (Columbia/Sony Music)
Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever (Darkroom/Interscope Records/Universal Music Group)
Drake – Certified Lover Boy (OVO/Republic/Universal Music Group)
Ed Sheeran – = (Atlantic Records/Warner Music)
Harry Styles – Harry’s House (Columbia/Sony Music) *WINNER
Jack Harlow – Come Home The Kids Miss You (Atlantic Records/Warner Music)
Lil Nas X – Montero (Columbia/Sony Music)
Post Malone – Twelve Carat Toothache (Mercury/Republic/Universal Music Group)
Taylor Swift – Red (Taylor’s Version) (Republic/Universal Music Group)
Telstra ARIA Music Teacher Award
David Collins-White – Haberfield Public School, Haberfield, Eora Nation, NSW
Jane Nicholas – Willandra Primary School, Seville Grove, Noongar Land, WA
Kath Dunn – Wollondilly Public School, Goulburn, Gundungurra Land, NSW
Matt Orchard – Apollo Bay P-12 College, Apollo Bay, Gadubanud Territory, VIC *WINNER
ARTISAN AWARDS
Best Cover Art
Adnate for Baker Boy – Gela (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia) *WINNER
Giulia Giannini McGauran for Alex the Astronaut – How To Grow A Sunflower Underwater (Warner Music Australia)
Jonathan Zawada for Flume – Palaces (Future Classic)
Kayla Flett, Gabi Coulthurst & Dimathaya Burarrwanga for King Stingray – King Stingray (Cooking Vinyl Australia/The Orchard)
Seshanka Samarajiwa, Zain Ayub & Tasman Keith for Tasman Keith – A Colour Undone (AWAL Recordings Ltd)
Mix Engineer – Best Mixed Album
Cassian for RÜFÜS DU SOL – Surrender (Rose Avenue Records/Warner Music)
Dann Hume & Eric J Dubowsky for Budjerah – Conversations (Warner Music Australia)
Eric J Dubowsky for Flume – Palaces (Future Classic)
Paul McKercher for Ball Park Music – Weirder & Weirder (Prawn Records/Inertia Music)
Pip Norman, Andrei Eremin & Dave Hammer for Baker Boy – Gela (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia) *WINNER
Producer – Best Produced Album presented by Neumann
Amyl and the Sniffers & Dan Luscombe for Amyl and The Sniffers – Comfort To Me (Virgin Music Australia)
Courtney Barnett & Stella Mozgawa for Courtney Barnett – Things Take Time, Take Time (Milk! Records/Remote Control Records)
Flume – Palaces (Future Classic)
Pip Norman, Rob Amoruso, Morgan Jones, Carl Dimataga, Willie Tafa & Jerome Farah for Baker Boy – Gela (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia)
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Surrender (Rose Avenue Records/Warner Music) *WINNER
FINE ARTS AWARD
Best Classical Album
Amy Dickson, Colin Currie, Lothar Koenigs, Yvonne Kenny, David Zinman, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Markus Stenz & Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – Ross Edwards: Frog and Star Cycle / Symphonies 2 & 3 (ABC Classic)
Lachlan Skipworth – Chamber Works, Vol. 2 (Cygnus Arioso)
Luke Howard – All of Us (Mercury KX/Universal Music Australia)
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra & Sir Andrew Davis – The Enchanted Loom: Orchestral works By Carl Vine (ABC Classic) *WINNER
Tamara-Anna Cislowska & Guests – Duet (ABC Classic)
Best Jazz Album
Barney McAll – Precious Energy (Extra Celestial Arts)
Mike Nock, Hamish Stuart, Julien Wilson & Jonathan Zwartz – Another Dance (Lionsharecords/The Planet Company)
Mildlife – Live From South Channel Island ([PIAS] Australia/Inertia Music) *WINNER
Sam Anning – Oaatchapai (Earshift Music/The Planet Company)
Springtime – Springtime (Virgin Music Australia)
Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album
Australian Chamber Orchestra & Richard Tognetti – River (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (ABC Classic) *WINNER
Brett Aplin – No Mercy, No Remorse (Original Score) (Independent)
In Hearts Wake – Green Is The New Black (UNFD/The Orchard)
Maria Alfonsine with Itunu Pepper – Akoni (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (MADBS Composing Palace)
Matteo Zingales – A Fire Inside (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (ABC Music)
Best World Music Album
Australian Art Orchestra, Daniel Wilfred, Sunny Kim, Peter Knight & Aviva Endean – Hand to Earth (AAO Recordings/The Planet Company)
Joseph Tawadros with William Barton – History Has A Heartbeat (Independent/The Planet Company) *WINNER
Mista Savona – Havana Meets Kingston Part 2 (ABC Music)
Parvyn – Sa (Parvyn Music/Gaga Digi)
William Barton & Véronique Serret – Heartland (ABC Classic)
It was “Fright Night” on Fox’s The Masked Singer, and two icons gave its judges the fright of their lives.
Season 8, episode 9 featured another two reveals.
In a real shocker, the Scarecrow volunteered to unmask and let the other rivals progress.
Under the helmet was Linda Blair, the Oscar-nominated, head-turning, projectile-vomiting child star of The Exorcist. “My mind is blow right now,” commented judge Jenny McCarthy. “I’ve never been so shocked i this series as I am right now.”
Judging by the faces of the audience and her fellow panelists, she wasn’t the only one.
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Soon after, Sir Bugaboo was unmasked after a battle royale with Snowstorm, which saw both contestants take turns singing Rockwell’s “Somebody Watching Me.”
Beneath the mask was the original Ghostbuster, Ray Parker, Jr., whose theme song for the classic ‘80s comedy-horror logged three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award (for best pop instrumental performance).
“What an honor to have you on the show, man,” commented judge Robin Thicke.
“It’s good to be here. I’ve had too much fun,” was his response.
When asked if wanted to share a thought with the audience, Parker’s message was clear: if you need an extra celebrity on the show, who you gonna call?
Blair and Parker join the likes of George Foreman (Venus Flytrap), George Clinton (Gopher), Daymond John (Fortune Teller), the “Brady boys” Mike Lookinland, Barry Williams and Christopher Knight (Mummies), Montell Jordan (Panther), Jeff Dunham (Pi-Rat), Chris Kirkpatrick (Hummingbird), Eric Idle (Hedgehog) and William Shatner (Knight) as contestants revealed so far in the 2022 series.
TMS season 8 introduces several changes to its format.
For the first time, each episode features a completely new round of masked celebs with only one contestant moving forward by the end of the hour. Plus, the audience votes in-studio for their favorite performance of the night, and the singer with the lowest tally will then unmask in the middle of the show before taking his or her place in the new Masked Singer VIP section to watch the rest of the episode.
Geoff Wonfor, a Grammy-winning British filmmaker who directed the Beatles’ acclaimed “Anthology” documentary series and worked on the 1980s music program “The Tube” as well as several projects with Paul McCartney, has died at age 73.
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His death was confirmed Tuesday by daughter Sam Wonfor, who said he died in Newcastle, where he grew up. Additional details were not immediately available.
Released in the mid-1990s, “The Beatles Anthology” was an authorized, multimedia project that included an eight-part documentary, three double albums and a coffee table book. Wonfor spent 4 1/2 years on the film, which combined archival footage with new interviews with the then-three surviving Beatles (McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, who died in 2001). Wonfor’s challenges included weaving in commentary from John Lennon, who had been murdered in 1980.
“He was very vocal (in interviews),” Wonfor told the Los Angeles Times in 1995. “I hit on the idea of listening to his interviews that were done … getting all the pertinent questions and answers to any year we were doing (in the documentary) and then pose the exact same question to the other three Beatles, so it looked like the four of them were answering the same questions, which of course they were.”
The Anthology helped renew worldwide obsession in a band that had hardly been forgotten and brought Wonfor and co-director Bob Smeaton a Grammy in 1997 for best long form music video.
Wonfor also directed the McCartney videos “In the World Tonight” and “Young Boy” and a McCartney concert video from the Cavern Club, the Liverpool venue where the Beatles played many of their early shows. He was on hand, too, for a Beatles “reunion” from the 1990s — a video of “Real Love,” a song left unfinished by Lennon that the remaining Beatles completed and recorded.
His other credits included “Band Aid 20,” a documentary about the anniversary re-recording of the British charity song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and “Sunday for Sammy,” a tribute to the late British actor Sammy Johnson.
Wonfor had been prominent in British entertainment since the 1980s, when he directed a handful of episodes of “The Tube” and made a documentary about “Shanghai Surprise,” a feature film produced by Harrison and starring Madonna and Sean Penn. His work with Harrison would unexpectedly lead to the biggest undertaking of his career.
“I was at my dad’s and it was Paul McCartney who rang up and he says, ‘Hello there, you’re alright’? And I say, ‘Yeah, I’m fine,’” Wonfor explained during a 2018 appearance at the Newcastle Film Festival.
“He said, ‘I was talking to a mate of yours last night.’ I went, ‘Who the hell does he know that I know?’ He says, ‘A little guy called George Harrison.’ … And he says, ‘Anyway,’ and we talked long into the night and he says, ‘We want to do a history of the Beatles and you are that man.’”
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Bruce Springsteen reigns on Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts for an eighth time, as Only the Strong Survive debuts at No. 1 on the Nov. 26-dated rankings.
The set of soul covers begins with 40,000 equivalent album units earned in the Nov. 11-17 tracking week, according to Luminate, with 37,000 of that sum via album sales.
Springsteen first led both lists, which began in 2006, with 2007’s Magic. (His hefty history on Billboard‘s charts dates to 1975.)
With eight Top Rock & Alternative Albums rulers, Springsteen matches John Mayer for the most in the chart’s history.
Most No. 1s, Top Rock & Alternative Albums:8, John Mayer8, Bruce Springsteen6, The Beatles6, Coldplay6, Grateful Dead6, Dave Matthews (solo and with Dave Matthews Band)6, Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers)
Concurrently, Strong starts at No. 8 on the all-genre Billboard 200, marking Springsteen’s 22nd top 10, dating to the No. 3-peaking Born to Run in 1975. Thanks to the No. 2-peaking Letter to You in 2020, he joined the exclusive club of artists with newly charting top 10s in each decade since the ’70s.
Two songs from Strong appear on Rock Digital Song Sales. “Nightshift” bows at No. 8 (1,000 sold) and “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” enters at No. 16 (800). “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” previously made the list (Oct. 15) at No. 24.
“I had so much fun recording this music,” Springsteen mused of the new set. “I fell back in love with all these great songs and great writers and great singers, all of them still underrated in my opinion. And through the project I rediscovered the power of my own voice.”
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