State Champ Radio Person of the Year
Taylor Swift is TIME‘s Person of the Year for 2023, gracing three unique covers of the magazine and giving a rare in-depth interview in honor of the occasion.
And in an Instagram post commemorating the title, the 33-year-old pop star hinted at the reason she’s more selective these days about which publications she speaks to, while also explaining why she made an exception for TIME. “I have tRuSt iSSueS when it comes to interviews,” she wrote Wednesday (Dec. 6) to caption a photo of one of her three covers.
“But I couldn’t be happier that I did this one with [Sam Lansky],” she continued, giving a special shoutout to the writer of her Person of the Year profile. “If you’ve ever been around him, you know he’s just the best type of person: Curious. Interested. Hilarious. Intriguing and intrigued.”
The “Anti-Hero” singer also said she was “blown away” to see that the magazine had spoken to Stevie Nicks, Greta Gerwig, Shonda Rhimes, Phoebe Bridgers and more stars, each of whom sang her praises in the piece. “I’m really reflecting on this year, and all the years that led up to it,” she added. “Can’t say thank you enough times.”
The pop superstar also shared how excited she was to receive the magazine’s honor. “The biggest, loudest, most aggressively over-excited thank you to @time for naming me Person of the Year,” she wrote in another Instagram post.
Named Person of the Year for her litany of year-end accomplishments, which are so numerous TIME wrote that “to recount them seems almost beside the point,” Swift was candid in her interview about everything from her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce to her Eras Tour preparations, Reputation (Taylor’s Version) plans and past feuds with Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta.
And of the three covers she posed for, it’s not difficult to guess which is probably Swift’s favorite: the one on which she stands with her pet cat Benjamin Button draped around her shoulders. The ragdoll kitty is the 12-time Grammy winner’s third and youngest feline, after Meredith Grey and Olivia Benson, joining the family in 2019 after meeting his famous mom on the set of “Me!”
Sharing the cover on Instagram, Swift joked — “Time Magazine: We’d like to name you Person of the Yea- Me: Can I bring my cat.”
See Swift’s Instagram posts about her TIME honor and covers below:
Laura Pausini assures that she will never forget the night she lived in Seville on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, when she became the first artist born outside of Latin America or Spain to be honored as the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year, and only the third woman to receive the recognition (after Gloria Estefan and Shakira.)
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The Italian superstar, who over three decades has made sure to release each of her albums simultaneously in Spanish, conquered the Spanish-speaking world early on with anthems like “La Soledad,” “Se Fue,” “Inolvidable” and “Amores Extraños,” creating an unbreakable bond not only with her fans, but with her colleagues in the Latin industry — many of whom consider her a close friend today.
On Wednesday, on the eve of the Latin Grammy Awards, about 30 of them took the stage to celebrate her by performing songs from her well-known repertoire: From Alejandro Sanz, India Martínez and Ana Mena, who opened the evening with a medley of “Nadie Ha Dicho” and “Volveré Junto A Ti,” to Beret, Danny Ocean and Ovy on the Drums (playing keyboard,) who closed the show with “Se Fue” before handing over the mic to Pausini herself.
Accompanied by an orchestra, stars such as Andrea Bocelli, Luis Fonsi, David Bisbal, Carlos Vives, Anitta and many more surprised the honoree at the traditional annual dinner and concert, considered one of the most important events of Latin Grammy Week. Words like “reference”, “pride” and “modesty” resonated among the participants, who highlighted Pausini not only as an exceptional singer, but as a generous, warm and simple human being.
“Our person of the year is a genuine, authentic artist with a deep sensitivity, who has turned her lyrics into songs of all time,” said Manuel Abud, CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, during the gala. “Winner of a Grammy and four Latin Grammys, Laura has always remained faithful to her romantic style and to a tireless search for musical excellence. And what you won’t find in any biography, but we all know, is that she is a great girl.”
Among the most notable performances of the night, Fonsi and David Bisbal sang “Inolvidable” with a vocal feat that earned them a standing ovation at the FIBES Seville Conference and Exhibition Centre. Mon Laferte and Christian Nodal offered a beautiful cover of “Como Si No Nos Hubiésemos Amado;” Andrea Bocelli sang an Italian version of Charles Aznavour’s “She”, “Uguale a Lei;” and Anitta and Tiago Iorc, along with trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, surprised everyone with a cover of the romantic ballad “En La Ausencia De Ti” in Portuguese.
Fonseca, Silvestre Dangond and Carlos Vives created one of the funniest moments with their version of “Quiero Decirte Que Te Amo” that started as a violins-led ballad and soon transformed into a vallenato, before culminating in a kind of fight between the three of them for the honoree’s love.
Pausini reacted to all this with laughter and tears, making hearts with her hands and even standing up to hug the singers on the edge of the stage. Evidently moved, she was accompanied by her parents, her sister, her husband Paolo Carta and her daughter Paola.
Also singing were Malú and Niña Pastori (“La Soledad”), Carin León and Vanesa Martín (“Amores Extraños”), Pablo López and Antonio Orozco (“Verdades A Medias”), Pablo Alborán and Elena Rose (“Yo Sí (Io sì )”), Reik and Bebe (“Entre Tú Y Mil Mares”), and Ángela Aguilar and Pepe Aguilar (“El Valor De Seguir Adelante”).
Fonsi, who called Pausini a “sister” and highlighted her spontaneity and great sense of humor, was the one to present her as the 2023 Person of the Year.
“Your passion, your ethics, your daily effort, your respect for the audience, for your colleagues, your respect for the stage, and your level of perfectionism — mi gente, when I say level of perfectionism it is a freaky, freaky, freaky level,” the Puerto Rican star said. “But that’s why you are what you are, that’s why you’re so great and you’ve come so far.”
Pausini, appealing to the sense of humor that her friend had just highlighted, sang “And I… I am the Person of the Year” to the melody of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” making everyone laugh.
“I will never forget this in my life. I will never live a night like this again,” she said upon receiving her trophy, thanking everyone involved in her career and in her life for accompanying through it all. She noted that, during the last 30 years, she has had a privileged life not only because she has “the great pleasure of being able to sing in Spanish,” but because from very early on she felt “adopted” by the Latin industry and community, “like a daughter, like a sister, like family.”
“You’ve raised me from a teenager until today, giving me the possibility of being the most Latin Italian in the world!” she exclaimed to cheers. “It seems to me that today is the day in which we confirm to the entire world that our adoption is legal, that our hands will not let go, and above all that our hearts will remain together. I promise this.”
With her husband and musical director on guitar, Pausini closed her big night on stage with a medley of “Durar”, “La Soledad”, “Víveme,” “En Cambio No”, and a cappella renditions of “Amores Extraños” and “Entre Tú Y Mil Mares.
In a few days, Laura Pausini will be honored as the Latin Recording Academy’s 2023 Person of the Year — becoming the first artist born outside of Latin America or Spain to receive the accolade, one of the biggest handed out each year as part of the Latin Grammy Awards celebrations. And although the news took her by surprise, she proudly says that she feels Latina.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“For 30 years I always say that I am the most Mexican, most Argentinian, most Spanish Italian… because I have grown up spending many days of my life with you,” says the Italian pop legend, who has recorded in Spanish since the beginning of her career. “Maybe not my blood, but my soul, my ideas, my ideals, I have made them grow with yours, and I feel Latin.”
On Wednesday, Nov. 15, on the eve of the 24th edition of the Latin Grammys — which for the first time leave the United States to take place in Seville, Spain — Pausini will be celebrated at a gala in which other stars will perform versions of her well-known repertoire. It’s something she has done for other Persons of the Year, from Juan Gabriel in 2009 to Marc Anthony in 2016 to Marco Antonio Solís last year. That means she knows the drill, and won’t know in advance who will sing for her that night, or which songs they will sing.
What she does know is that she will be accompanied by her entire family to cap off a year of great personal and professional achievements, including her March wedding to Paolo Carta after 18 years together; the recent release of Almas Paralelas, her first studio album in five years; her upcoming world tour, which starts in December; and of course, her award as Person of the Year.
“It is the true celebration of a life, of the lives of us Pausinis. I don’t see it only as my career,” says the star. “My family is obviously the one that knows the most about my love for Spanish, for Latin America, and my parents are very excited, my daughter, my husband, my sister will come.”
Born in Faenza, Italy, Pausini started her music career at age 19, rising to fame in 1993 after winning the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival. Her records have sold more than 70 million copies worldwide, she has done nine world tours, and landed three songs in the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart: “Las Cosas Que Vives,” “Víveme” and “Como Si No Nos Hubiéramos Amado” — all of them Spanish versions of songs she originally recorded in Italian.
A Latin Grammy and Grammy winner, Pausini also shares a Golden Globe Award with Diane Warren for best original song, for “Io sì (Seen)” from the movie The Life Ahead, which was also nominated to an Oscar. Beyond music, she has been honored with the Starlite Humanitarian Award, the Global Gift Humanitarian Award, and was named Person of the Year by the Diversity Media Awards for her support of the LGBTQ+ community, among other honors.
“Laura Pausini is one of the most talented and beloved artists of her generation whose commitment to advocacy and equal rights is exemplary,” said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy, when the award was announced in May. “Throughout her more than three-decade career her extraordinary voice continually breaks down barriers across languages and genres, creating a special bond with audiences around the world.”
You have had a year full of emotions. How do you feel now, just a few days before being honored as Person of the Year?
I feel blessed, I must say, because after 30 years [career] what is happening in my life is not obvious. I realize all that and I feel very grateful. I hope I deserve all that, and that’s why I work so much, especially for the people who are still there, who continue to believe in me, perhaps more than myself, and give me the strength to continue.
What did you think when they told you that you were the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year, being an Italian artist?
They told me that the president [Manuel Abud] wanted to talk to me. Since I had finished co-hosting Latin Grammys a few months earlier with Anitta, Thalia and Luis Fonsi, I thought that something was not good and that he wanted to tell me something about it. So we started this Zoom and he told me: “Laura, on behalf of the Academy, I want to tell you that you are the Person of the Year.”
I mean, very unexpected! Especially because of what you’ve said, I’m Italian, so I didn’t think that was possible for me. I asked him if I could video-call my father, since he was the one who instilled in me the love for music… Each of us was in another city, the three crying with joy. I really started sobbing like crazy, it was very emotional.
I didn’t expect it at all and I am very grateful that I am the first [honoree] who was not born in a Latin American country [or in Spain]. But, for 30 years I always say that I am the most Mexican Italian, the most Argentine, the most Spanish, the most everything, because I have grown up spending many days of my life with you. Maybe not my blood, but my soul, my ideas, my ideals, I have made them grow with yours, and I feel Latin.
Last year, you sang at the Marco Antonio Solís tribute as Person of the Year, and you have also done so at other galas in the past. How do you feel now that you will be the one honored and others will sing your songs for you?
(laughs) That makes me smile. Besides, I’m starting to imagine who will sing, whether it will be my friends I know or new singers. I have no idea because you can’t know, and I know how it works because, as you said, last year I sung for Marco Antonio, but I also sung for Marc Anthony and also for the great Juan Gabriel, so I already had the experience of being on stage as a guest while the Person of the Year did not know. So, this time it’s my turn and I receive it with great pride.
What do you expect from that night?
Well, my whole family will come, and it is the true celebration of a life, of the life of us Pausinis — I don’t see it only as my career. My family is obviously the one that knows the most about my love for Spanish, for Latin America, and my parents are very excited, my daughter, my husband, my sister will come. I don’t know if I can fully make people understand what it means for a person who has always been considered a “foreigner” to feel part of you. For us as a family it is to feel truly loved, as if we were born there. It’s something really very deep that touches a life within a person, more than a career.
You just released your first album in five years, Almas Paralelas. Why did it take so long?
Never before had so much time passed between the previous album and the new one, and I have to say that a lot of things have happened in my life in recent years, some incredible as you also already know, like the Golden Globe, an Oscar nomination, starring in a docu-film about my life… But there have also been moments of great insecurity, fear, doubt, especially thinking about the future as a woman, obviously as a mother, and logically as a singer.
I questioned how I could deserve, for example, the new awards that I won, because with every award that you win comes a new responsibility, and I was afraid of not being able to have new responsibilities. I wondered if I was really capable of accepting a daily challenge with what is happening today, every day, between the wars, imagine in Italy during COVID, but more importantly, with myself. So the truth is that I was blocked for a time. I needed help, and thanks to the people who are by my side, close to me, I regained some of my strength and then I began to challenge myself again, and worked, in a very long search, on new songs. I also worked hard to get to the point where I had the nerve to put my voice and face before everyone’s judgment.
Now I am very happy with what I am singing on my new album, Almas Paralelas. It is a truly conceptual album that covers 16 stories of real people that are different from each other. It is an album that celebrates diversity and the right to individuality, which in my opinion should be respected more as citizens of the same streets, but with different souls, different dreams, different desires. So on this album it’s like we live in a world with shared places, but not necessarily the same ideas. And in this world represented [on the album cover] by the street and its zebra crossing, I’d like there to always be respect and love between the individuals who inhabit it, and I would like for the listener to fall in love with the human beings who live like souls on a parallel path.
What have you learned about yourself in these 30 years of career?
I have learned that my stubbornness has saved me many times. My determination to be very honest with myself, and then with the audience, has allowed me to have no regrets — although it may have happened that some songs work better than others… Sometimes I’ve been suggested to change my style, or adapt more to what worked on the radio. At this point, I am happy to have been determined to listen to my skin in the selections of the songs, obviously trying to have new artists by my side, new producers who will help me maintain my melodic style, but with more contemporary, current sounds. I didn’t want to change.
In reality, I have not changed; I have grown in age and mentality, but I am not a different person. My ideals are the same, so I want my music to continue to be a reflection of my mind.
Jon Bon Jovi will be honored as the 2024 MusiCares Person of the Year at the annual benefit gala, to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024 — two nights before the 66th annual Grammy Awards at the adjoining Crypto.com Arena.
In addition to his musical achievements, Jon Bon Jovi is being recognized for his philanthropic work. In 2006, he established the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, which is dedicated to disrupting the cycle of hunger, poverty and homelessness.
“I’m truly humbled to be this year’s MusiCares honoree,” Jon Bon Jovi said in a statement. “MusiCares’ work with music professionals is vitally important in creating much-needed support and wellness programs that cultivate a healthier and more vibrant community for us all. Philanthropic work has been a cornerstone of my life and has always run in tandem to my music career and achievements. Nearly two decades ago when I formed the JBJ Soul Foundation and JBJ Soul Kitchens, I saw firsthand and continue to see today the impact of charitable community-based work. I know this for sure: helping one’s community is helping one’s self.”
Jon Bon Jovi is 61, which makes him the youngest solo honoree since Don Henley received the honor at age 59 in 2007. (MusiCares usually selects veteran artists because they have decades worth of connections in the industry, which means more tickets and tables sold for the charity event.)
Jon Bon Jovi is the second New Jersey native to receive the honor, following Bruce Springsteen in 2013.
This isn’t the first time a group leader or key member of an ongoing band has been honored individually. Tom Petty (2017), Springsteen (2013), Bono (2003) and Henley (2007) were also singled out. Two groups have received the honor: Aerosmith (2020) and Fleetwood Mac (2018).
The Person of the Year ceremony is one of the marquee events during Grammy Week. It includes a cocktail reception, followed by a dinner and concert featuring other artists paying tribute to the honoree.
Since 1991, money raised from this gala goes toward MusiCares health and human services programs that assist the music community with physical and mental health, addiction recovery, preventive clinics, unforeseen personal emergencies and disaster relief.
“MusiCares is thrilled to honor Jon Bon Jovi at the 2024 Person of the Year Gala,” Laura Segura, executive director of MusiCares, said in a statement. “His remarkable contributions to rock and roll have not only left an indelible mark on the music industry, but also in the hearts of countless fans around the world. Furthermore, his long-standing commitment to serving food-insecure and unhoused individuals inspires us all. We’re looking forward to celebrating him and the many ways he has made a difference in this world.”
Jon Bon Jovi joins an impressive list of recent MusiCares honorees including Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac and Dolly Parton.
The band Bon Jovi was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. It received its one and only Grammy to date in 2007 for “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” featuring Jennifer Nettles, which was voted best country collaboration with vocals.
The band has amassed six No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 – Slippery When Wet (1986-87), New Jersey (1988), Lost Highway (2007), The Circle (2009), What About Now (2013) and This House Is Not for Sale (2016).
The band has notched four No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – “You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Livin’ on a Prayer,” “Bad Medicine” and “I’ll Be There for You.” In addition, Jon Bon Jovi has had one solo No. 1 on the Hot 100, “Blaze of Glory” (from Young Guns II).
The band has also had one No. 1 hit on the Hot Country Songs chart – and how many rock bands can say that? – with the aforementioned “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” featuring Jennifer Nettles. The song led for two weeks in May 2006.
Since its inception in 2006, the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation has provided more than 700 units of affordable and supportive housing in 11 states and provided homes to 77 previously homeless veterans along with a stable of support onsite. Jon and his wife Dorothea opened the first JBJ Soul Kitchen in 2011, a nonprofit community restaurant with a pay-it-forward model and have since served more than 100,000 meals in multiple locations.
The Person of the Year event will again be produced by live event broadcast outfit Lewis & Clark, comprised of Joe Lewis and R.A. Clark. Rob Mathes will serve as musical director.
Tables and tickets are available for purchase here. For more information about the event or sponsorship opportunities, visit MusiCares.org or email personoftheyear@musicares.org.
Individual tickets for the event start at $2,500. Better-situated individual tickets are priced at $3,500, $5,000 and $6,000. Tables (seating 12) start at $25,000 and go up to $70,000. But a three-table package can be had for $200,000, a $10,000 discount over the per-table price.
Laura Pausini has been named the Latin Recording Academy’s 2023 Person of the Year.
The Italian pop legend, one of the most celebrated performers in Latin music for the last 30 years, “will be honored for her career as a multifaceted, multi-lingual performer as well as for her continued commitment to supporting social justice causes that are close to her heart, including equality for women and LGBTQ+ people and world hunger,” according to an official statement released Wednesday (May 31) morning.
“Laura Pausini is one of the most talented and beloved artists of her generation whose commitment to advocacy and equal rights is exemplary,” said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy. “Throughout her more than three-decade career her extraordinary voice continually breaks down barriers across languages and genres, creating a special bond with audiences around the world.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Born in Faenza, Italy, Pausini started her music career at age 19, rising to fame in 1993 after winning the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival. Her records have sold more than 70 million copies worldwide, she has done nine world tours and landed three songs in the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart: “Las Cosas Que Vives,” “Víveme” and “Como Si No Nos Hubiéramos Amado” — all of them Spanish versions of songs she originally recorded in Italian.
“I am extremely honored to receive this incredible recognition from The Latin Recording Academy. To be named Person of the Year at this moment, when I am celebrating 30 years of my career, is something that I still cannot describe,” Pausini said in a statement. “The Spanish language has opened doors for me from a young age, it has made me feel at home, it has inspired me to move forward and to explore and live music without barriers or limits. To say today that I will receive this important recognition fills me with great pride, joy, strength to continue taking strong steps and to inspire the new generation of artists who lift the music they carry in their hearts on high.”
A Latin Grammy and Grammy winner, Pausini also shares a Golden Globe Award with Diane Warren for best original song, for “Io sì (Seen)” from the movie The Life Ahead, which was also nominated to an Oscar. Beyond music, she has been honored with the Starlite Humanitarian Award, the Global Gift Humanitarian Award, and was named Person of the Year by the Diversity Media Awards for her support of the LGBTQ+ community, among other recognitions.
Pausini will be celebrated at a special star-studded gala and tribute concert, where an array of artist and friends will perform renditions of her renowned repertoire. Details of the event, to be celebrated in November during the 2023 Latin Grammy week in Sevilla, Spain, will be announced at a later date.
The Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honors musicians and their artistic achievements in the Latin music industry as well as their humanitarian efforts. Past honorees include Marco Antonio Solís (2022), Rubén Blades (2021), Juanes (2019), Maná (2018), Alejandro Sanz (2017), Marc Anthony (2016), Roberto Carlos (2015), Joan Manuel Serrat (2014), Miguel Bosé (2013), Caetano Veloso (2012), Shakira (2011), Plácido Domingo (2010), Juan Gabriel (2009), Gloria Estefan (2008), Juan Luis Guerra (2007), Ricky Martin (2006), José José (2005), Carlos Santana (2004), Gilberto Gil (2003), Vicente Fernández (2002), Julio Iglesias (2001) and Emilio Estefan (2000).
-
Pages
