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Every year at the end of November, Americans gather around tables short and long with family and friends to enjoy a meal with those for which they are most thankful. We take note of our blessings and privileges — and make more happy memories to be grateful for in the future.
Of course, that spirit of thankfulness shouldn’t come only once a year. We should always take stock of all we have to appreciate every morning and every night, and if you need some musical motivation to get you in the grateful mood, we have some suggestions.
There are so many people you can be thankful for. You can be grateful to a romantic partner who saw the best in you even when you didn’t believe in yourself; a long-time friend who’s always had your back; a family member who deserves a bit of praise and a reminder that they made you who you are; or even an ex-lover or enemy whose tough words helped you become all the stronger for having survived them.
Whoever you have in mind, there’s something on this list to dedicate to the people who shaped you that’s worth singing out loud in the shower, in the car and all over town.
From Ariana Grande to Alanis Morissette, Celine Dion to Ozuna, FKA Twigs, Backstreet Boys and DJ Khaled, these 20 songs will have you singing “thank you, thank you, thank you.” (And yes, that last bit is a hint about a certain song by Natalie Merchant.)
When the 2023 Grammy nominations were announced last week, the major categories included superstars racking up major (and in some cases, historic) nominations, as well as some notable snubs. Then there is the best new artist category, which is as wide-open as it’s ever been.
The nominees constitute a fresh new crop of rising stars who have been gaining traction in the ever-changing music industry through TikTok trends, viral moments and smash summer hits, among other avenues. In the past, superstars like Olivia Rodrigo, Megan Thee Stallion and Billie Eilish have snagged the highly coveted crown… but this year’s list of nominees is filled with artists trying to take their next big step. They include Latto, a new hit-maker who gave a dose of “Big Energy” to top 40 radio this year; Måneskin, who scored one of the most unlikely rock hits in recent memory with a raucous version of a half-century-old song; Molly Tuttle, a celebrated bluegrass performer who has the talent and songwriting panache to cross over; and Muni Long, who created several hits for other artists before finally scoring one of her own with the viral R&B smash “Hrs and Hrs.” But in this race, every nominee’s story is fascinating, and worthy of discovery.
The pressure is on to score a major moment during the Feb. 5, 2023 telecast. Until then, get to know the backstory, sound and personality of all 10 of the Grammy best new artist nominees. Here is a breakdown of who could rule the scene next.
A lot of times, artists like to leave the meaning of their creations up to interpretation, but on occasion, they opt to make it more obvious. And nothing says “This is who my song is about” like casting someone who looks just like that person to star alongside you in a music video.
That’s what pop stars such as The Weeknd, Halsey, Selena Gomez and many, many more have all attempted in past music videos. Whether it’s to seemingly shade an ex (see: Justin Timberlake‘s “Cry Me a River” Britney Spears stand-in) or send a message to the one who got away (looking at you, Joshua Bassett and your “Doppelgänger” Olivia Rodrigo carbon copy), artists have been quite creative when it comes to using lookalikes to spice up their visual projects.
Not all music video lookalikes, however, have anything to do with an artist’s past romances — and not all music video lookalikes go over well. Kanye West, for example, faced quite a bit of backlash after he featured nude artificial figures of several well-known celebrities in his “Famous” music video, while DaBaby took some heat for using a Megan Thee Stallion-esque actress in a video for his track “Boogeyman,” on which he brags about having allegedly slept with the “WAP” rapper.
But whether a video elicits a positive or negative reaction from viewers, those with celebrity lookalikes almost always have one thing in common: They get people talking. Keep reading to see which pop stars have included doppelgängers of famous friends or foes in their music videos below.
How is Taylor Swift going to pull this off?
Her new “Eras” tour, promising a journey “through all the musical eras of my career,” was announced Tuesday (Nov. 1) and will visit U.S. stadiums beginning in March 2023. But to consider what this tour’s setlist might resemble is like trying to understand the true size of our galaxy — there’s just so much … of everything.
There are synth-pop bangers, the acoustic slow burns, the twangy throwbacks, the fan-worshiped deep cuts — not to mention the fact that Swift has dropped six No. 1 albums totaling 86 new or previously unreleased songs since her last roadshow, the Reputation Tour, in 2018.
Where does one even begin to cobble together an ideal setlist that can represent her prolific catalog and celebrate her latest world-beater in Midnights? Right here, that’s where!
Below is our dream setlist, which visits all 10 of her studio albums, keeps past tour tendencies in mind, and still makes the spectacle somewhat manageable. By our count, she could blast through all these hits and medleys in about two-and-a-half hours — a reasonable show length, considering it’s her first trek in nearly five years.
This set would surely bring incredible highs and torrents of tears — what more could a Swiftie want? Until then, we’ll keep dreaming!
Halloweekend is in full swing and, as usual, celebrities are showing off their best costumes during the creepiest, crawliest time of the year.
From homages to classic movie characters and beloved musicians to going just plain spooky, celebrities really turned it up a notch this year when it came to their Halloween looks. From Ariana Grande’s Best in Show moment to MUNA reviving Pink Slip from Freaky Friday, Hollywood brought together the fun, the sexy, the cool and the creepy for the ultimate holiday weekend.
See below for a roundup of the best costumes that celebrities have donned so far this Halloween season. We’ll be updating the list all weekend, so be sure to check back to see more looks.
When Taylor Swift arrived to the 2022 VMAs red carpet in a crystal-draped Oscar De La Renta mini-dress, fans were quick to point out its striking resemblance to a scene from her “Look What You Made Me Do” music video. Sure, it could have just been a coincidence — but Swifties know that there’s usually more than meets the eye when it comes to the music industry’s queen of Easter eggs.
So what could be the story behind the look? Ahead of the awards, the Internet was abuzz that this was Swift’s subtle way of sharing that reputation (Taylor’s Version) would be the next album in her lineup of re-recordings. But an announcement of her third re-record was nowhere to be found that night. Instead, the pop star threw a *swift* curveball, revealing that her next project would actually be her 10th studio album, Midnights.
With the arrival of the 13-track set (or 20 tracks on the 3am Edition) on Oct. 21, fans will now agree that the dazzling drip was almost certainly a tribute to “Bejeweled,” her second song from the album to be given the music video treatment. Covered in gems and rhinestones — and including cameos from Laura Dern, the HAIM sisters and Dita Von Teese — the video does exactly what Swift declares: “I can make the whole world shimmer.”
In honor of her newest visual triumph, which she self-wrote and directed, Billboard went back through her catalog of music videos to find the moments where she shimmers brightest (including “Look What You Made Me Do,” of course). Check them out below.
Taylor Swift‘s Midnights arrived at last on Friday (Oct. 21), and fans know that the pop superstar is not afraid of some subtle, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shade in her music.
The 13 tracks of the singer’s 10th studio album tell “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life,” according to Swift, which immediately had fans analyzing the lyrics to figure out what (and who) keeps Taylor up at night.
And while some of the swoon-worthy love songs like “Lavender Haze” and “Sweet Nothing” are clearly about her boyfriend Joe Alwyn, who wrote the latter with her, many of the songs are less obvious. As a result, Swifties flooded Twitter with their thoughts.
See below for some of the most popular unconfirmed fan theories about which celebrities Swift is calling out on Midnights, from John Mayer to Kanye West.
Just like clockwork, Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated 10th studio album has arrived.
Swifties have been eagerly awaiting its release since the pop superstar broke the news during her video of the year acceptance speech at the 2022 VMAs. “I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand-new album comes out Oct. 21,” she coyly revealed. “And I will tell you more at midnight.”
And tell us more, she did. Aptly titled Midnights, she explained that the album would tell “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life” — inviting fans all along “a journey through terrors and sweet dreams.”
In the wee hours of the night, three hours after the album’s initial release at midnight ET sharp on Oct. 21, the 13-track project became a 20-track one. The singer-songwriter surprise dropped the “3 am Edition,” which contains seven additional new songs.
To celebrate her newest full-length set, Billboard dug through Swift’s hefty catalog to find every mention of “midnight” in a song. Night in general has been a recurring theme in her music for over a decade, yet we were surprised to find that that exact word only appears in 10 out of 200+ songs (and four being from Midnights alone). So we decided to take things a step further and also count the times she sings “middle of the night” as honorable mentions — because take away a few letters and it’s the same darn thing (and before you @ us, no, we are not listing her specific mid-night mentions of 1:58 a.m., 2 a.m., 2:30 a.m., 3 a.m. and so forth).
Without further ado, from Fearless to Evermore to Midnights, here are all of Swift’s “midnight” and “middle of the night” lyrics, listed chronologically (with “middle of the night” lyrics beginning at No. 11).
When a K-pop group hits the seven-year mark, it traditionally marks a decisive and sometimes challenging moment for an act to decide whether or not its members would like to renew their contracts and move forward together. Luckily for TWICE, their upcoming seventh anniversary on Oct. 20 can be a day of pure celebration for the group and their fans as all nine members of the K-pop super group renewed their contracts with longtime label JYP Entertainment in July.
“Ahead of the expiration of their exclusive contracts this fall, all members of TWICE completed renewing their contracts,” JYP Entertainment shared with the media. “TWICE, who played a crucial role in establishing JYP’s status, and JYP, which became a reliable source of support for TWICE growing to become a representative K-pop girl group, agreed based on this trust to renew the contracts with confidence in an even better future.”
TWICE followed up the good news with a new EP titled Between 1&2 that became their first album to earn 100,000 copies in its opening week and made them the first K-pop girl group to land three Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. While this week marks Between 1&2‘s seventh consecutive week on the Billboard 200, at No. 131, the EP marks something additionally momentous for the group as the album transitions from TWICE’s first and second chapters.
After Oct. 20, 2022, TWICE will enter a new phase as a group with an undeniable established presence in the world’s biggest markets and hue potential to keep growing. Since last October, the ninesome hit a slew of firsts including entering the Hot 100 and U.K. Singles charts, holding a stadium show in the U.S., performing a record-setting three days at the famous Toyko Dome, and snagging nominations at the MTV European Music Awards.
Before TWICE officially enters Chapter 2 and starts the anniversary celebrations, members Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu all reflected on the one TWICE single that’s most important so far.
In the long history of the Billboard Hot 100, it’s pretty rare for a specific word to appear across the title of multiple No. 1s. With the exception of “love” (because love songs have never and will never go out of style), the lack of commonalities make it impossible to say there’s a formula for crafting the title of a hit. But in digging through Billboard’s list of chart-toppers, we found another word that has surprisingly made quite the mark on the U.S. songs chart: “bad.”
The irony is obvious. While Merriam-Webster defines “bad” as “failing to reach an acceptable standard,” “morally objectionable” and “unpleasant,” musical acts across a handful of genres have defied tradition and hit No. 1 thanks to the word — and it’s happened numerous times over the decades. In 1961, Jimmy Dean’s “Big Bad John” became the first “bad” title to reach the chart’s peak. Bon Jovi did it twice in the ‘80s with “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Bad Medicine.” And, most recently, Steve Lacy earned his first-ever Hot 100 chart-topper with “Bad Habit” in October 2022.
We have to mention that “bad” has also evolved to encompass another meaning over the years. Confusingly, in many 21st-century cases, it’s slang for something more positive (like “good,” “sexy” or “badass”) — including its use in Migos’ 2017 No. 1 “Bad and Boujee,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert.
Whether an act is using the word’s dictionary definition or its slang meaning, check out all 15 No. 1s containing “bad” in their titles, listed from newest to oldest with their “baddest” lyrics below.