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For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard is counting down our staff picks for the top 10 pop stars of 2022 all this week. At No. 7, we remember the year in Doja Cat — who dominated pop radio and the charts all year without even releasing a new album.
Since breaking out with her viral hit “Mooo!” Doja Cat has made it evident that she’s not your average pop star. Armed with a penchant for defying genre confines – in addition to being a jane-of-all-trades vocalist, rapper and performer – the 27-year-old supernova continues to prove she’s in a lane all her own.
Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars of 2022:Introduction & Honorable Mentions | Rookie of the Year: Steve Lacy | Comeback of the Year: Sam Smith | No. 10: Nicki Minaj | No. 9: Future | No. 8: Jack Harlow
The Cali native began the year by continuing to ride the wave of her successful third studio album, the double-platinum Planet Her. Months after the LP’s June 2021 release, songs like “Need to Know” and “You Right” still resonated with listeners, hanging around the Hot 100 well into the new year. The spritely pop-rap bop “Kiss Me More,” the project’s most successful single, nabbed Doja and featured artist SZA their first Grammy Award wins for best pop duo/group performance at the 2022 ceremony – a tear-jerking moment that conveyed the vulnerable side of the quirky figure.
But even before she grabbed her Grammy, it was exceedingly clear that Doja Cat was the name on everybody’s lips. From being the titular figure in songs by $NOT and A$AP Rocky and Central Cee, to Wale dubbing her “one of the best rappers out” after her stand-out Coachella performance, she received flowers from virtually all corners in 2022.
In February, Courtney Love tweeted that the experimental artist should “add rock goddess to [her] resume” after covering Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” for a Taco Bell Super Bowl commercial. Later on, Post Malone praised Doja for her “epic” feature on his Twelve Carat Toothache ditty, “I Like You (A Happier Song)” — which continued her commercial winning streak, hitting No. 3 on the Hot 100 and scoring a 2023 Grammy nod in the best pop duo/group performance category.
Betwixt her spirited cover and standout guest verse, Doja also released the solo single “Vegas” for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis soundtrack. Interest in the Big Mama Thornton/Shonka Dukureh-interpolating song was slow to start, but in a similar fashion to her first Hot 100-topping single “Say So,” it found its crowd through TikTok virality and radio airplay. It eventually made the top 10 in October in its 19th week on the chart, and garnered a 2023 Grammy nom for best rap performance. (Additionally, the Planet Her singles “Woman” and “Get Into It (Yuh)” continued rising on the Hot 100 this year thanks to TikTok, with the Grammy-nominated “Woman” eventually peaking at No. 7 in May.)
Despite life and career accomplishments, burnout and fatigue are potential worries for any high-achieving, forward-facing individual. Amidst her accolades and growing acclaim, Doja Cat rocked the music world and fans alike by announcing via Twitter in March that she was “quitting music.” This came after being on the receiving end of online vitriol following a canceled headlining festival performance, and a few months after tweeting and deleting that she was overworking herself. However, a few months later, she admitted she wanted to focus on creating new music instead of “doing a bunch of other things.” While Doja didn’t retire from the music scene, she did become less visible, beginning with exiting her opening stint on The Weeknd’s After Hours tour due to tonsil surgery.
During her break from the spotlight, she began sporting a new bald ‘do and experimented with various eye-catching makeup looks, prompting many to speculate that her new style corresponded with new music. Concrete details surrounding her forthcoming era haven’t been pinned down; however, she’s offered various teases of the material, which she says toys with unchartered sounds and shifting trends. She notes that the project will be “mostly rap,” with one of her key inspirations being The Beastie Boys, though she also includes Death Grips and ‘90s German rave as additional sonic influences. (That said, there’s still the considerable chance that many of the hints about the next phase of Doja’s career are said with a wink, as it’s often difficult to discern her serious plans from her often-trolling behavior.)
“I don’t know if what I’m doing is going to be pop, but I want to keep that in mind for when I go into the studio,” she told Dazed in November. “The album will come and it’ll be its own moment on Earth.”
While some celebrity’s URL antics have yielded catastrophic effects on their careers IRL, Doja Cat’s commitment to embracing chaos and reveling in unpredictability has been crucial to her success thus far. The controversy she faced in mid-2020 regarding her past appearances in incel internet chat rooms threatened to derail her budding success, however, it proved to be just a bump in the road. As her mainstream popularity continued to build momentum, she’s ultimately proven that a star doesn’t have to be uber-polished to shine bright.
It also doesn’t hurt that Doja’s music has lasting power, thanks to her ability to keep fans and pop lovers on their toes. She ends 2022 with seven appearances on the Hot 100 this year, the most of any artist (tied with Bad Bunny), showcasing a variety of styles and sounds indicative of her versatility. She’s open about enjoying the ride she’s on as an artist and the learning process that comes with growing as a human. Doja Cat doesn’t have it all figured out, but pop music is much more exciting because of her place in it.
In an increasingly diffuse, streaming-dominated pop landscape, it’s harder than ever to cut through with a smash single that captures everyone’s attention. But one method proved a fairly effective shortcut to success in 2022: lifting an instantly recognizable chorus, hook or beat — and sometimes all three — from a proven older hit. “Familiarity always is a bonus,” WBBM-FM Chicago music director/assistant program director Erik Bradley told Billboard in August of the glut of second-hand hits. Here are five songs that went big with their samples and interpolations this year and were rewarded with big results.
Harlow scored his first-ever solo No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — and the year’s biggest first-week streaming total, until Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” passed it a half-year later — with his extensively TikTok-teased “First Class.” The celebratory jam’s title comes from its sampled hook, a repurposing of Fergie’s pop-rap smash “Glamorous,” also a Hot 100 chart-topper back in 2007. The former Black Eyed Pea gave Harlow’s update her seal of approval in August at the MTV Video Music Awards, making a surprise appearance during his performance to belt out her original chorus.
Though Rick Astley’s signature song originally topped the Hot 100 back in 1988 — eight years before viral MC Yung Gravy was even born — the song still packs a sentimental punch for listeners of Gravy’s generation due to its mid-’00s “memeification.” The rising rapper took advantage of that with “Betty (Get Money),” whose beat is built around the sweeping synth strings of Astley’s ’80s classic and whose hook swipes its infectious chorus melody. Despite being a virtual soundalike, though, it wasn’t a direct sample: “We basically remade the whole song [with] a different singer and instruments,” Yung Gravy told Billboard in August, “because it makes it easier [to clear] legally.”
DJ Khaled made no secret of the disco-era inspiration for his star-studded “Staying Alive” single; not only does Drake sing a modified version of the refrain from the Bee Gees’ 1977 classic, but Khaled appears in a Saturday Night Fever-ready white jacket on the single cover. That’s where the similarities between the versions mostly end, though, as Khaled’s version eschews the Bee Gees’ dancefloor strut for a darker, grittier trap beat. Regardless, the interpolation helped the revived “Alive” nearly match the original’s Hot 100-topping success, debuting and peaking at No. 5 on the chart.
It’s a formula that has worked before for Nicki Minaj, with her No. 2-peaking 2014 Hot 100 smash “Anaconda”: Take the widely recognizable hook from a still-beloved pop classic praising a particularly eye-popping female (in that case, Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”) and reframe it to own the narrative. This time, it worked even better: “Super Freaky Girl” prominently sampled the beat and post-chorus of Rick James’ 1981 funk standard “Super Freak” and soared past that song’s No. 16 chart peak to become Minaj’s first Hot 100 No. 1 as an unaccompanied lead artist.
The timing of this smash must have confused the two veteran hitmakers as much as anyone: After being recorded (and spun by Guetta during live sets) in the mid-2010s, Guetta and Rexha’s EDM banger, borrowing the synth and chorus melody to Eiffel 65’s turn-of-the-century surprise hit, had gone unreleased for a half-decade. But after the collaboration was teased on TikTok to fan-tantalizing effect, it was finally released in August, later becoming both artists’ first top 40 hit of the 2020s, climbing into the top 10 on the Hot 100.
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022, issue of Billboard.
Selena Gomez is officially a Golden Globe nominee, and there’s one person who’s definitely very proud of her right now: Her younger self. To celebrate the news that she’s been nominated for best actress in a TV series, musical or comedy at next year’s awards, the 30-year-old star posted an old video in which she confesses in an interview that her big dream has always been to do exactly that.
Gomez shared the throwback to TikTok Tuesday (Dec. 13), one day after it was announced that her performance in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building had received a Golden Globe nod. In the video, a much younger Selena sits for a TV interview and talks about her experience attending that year’s Grammy awards.
When an interviewer asks her if she aspires to receive a Grammy nomination of her own someday — which for the record, did end up happening in 2021, when her record Revelación was in the running for best latin pop album — she says her sights are set more on acting-based awards.
“I think it would be an honor, of course, but I’m more of a Golden Globe or Oscar girl,” young Selena says.
Modern day Selena captioned the TikTok: “Dreams do come true!! GUYS IM NOMINATED FOR A GOLDEN GLOBE. brb gonna scream.”
Fans in the comments were quick to congratulate the “Rare” singer on the milestone. “Look at how far you’ve come selena we’re so proud of you,” wrote one. “Emmy, grammy and golden globe nominations all in one year,” replied another, referencing Only Murders‘ Emmy recognition in this year’s outstanding comedy series category. “We call her slaylena for a reason.”
Fans have a little less than a month until the awards ceremony on Jan. 10 next year to see if Gomez will go from Golden Globe nominee to Golden Globe winner. Also nominated in the best TV actress category are Abbott Elementary‘s Quinta Brunson, The Flight Attendant‘s Kaley Cuoco, Wednesday‘s Jenna Ortega and Hacks’ Jean Smart.
See Selena Gomez’s TikTok below.
Harry Styles and Nick Kroll have got to be one of the best bromances to come out of 2022. After bonding this year as costars on set of Don’t Worry Darling and forming a friendship off screen, Kroll has now helped Entertainment Weekly celebrate the pop star — named one of the publication’s entertainers of the year — by writing a sweet personal essay about his admiration for Styles.
“If Harry Styles were just to put out an album or just go on tour or just put out one movie, that would be an accomplishment,” Kroll wrote in the piece, published Monday (Dec. 12). “The fact that he is able to do all of these things in the same year — and then, still be a human being who you can drop in and have a real conversation with — is incredible.”
Kroll then briefly touched on the public’s fixation with Styles’ personal life — likely referring to the “As It Was” singer’s relationship with Darling director Olivia Wilde, though the two have reportedly split — which he called “the elephant in the room.” “To navigate all of that, stay above the fray and to continue to try to make his art, it’s a tightrope to walk,” the comedian wrote. “He is able to navigate it with a ton of class and grace.”
According to Kroll, the Grammy winner’s kindness was always evident on the set of Darling, to which Styles apparently showed up every day with coffee, doughnuts or extra vitamin C packets for the cast and crew. “He was always providing for people in a very nice way,” the Big Mouth creator wrote. “One of the things that I enjoyed about him as an artist — but also now as someone who I know — is that he really doesn’t take himself, or any of it, too seriously. When you’re someone in his position, that’s hard.”
“He’s so f—ing charming — you feel like you’re watching someone who is in the room with you at that moment,” he added.
Kroll closed out the tribute to his costar-turned-friend by recalling their famous kiss at the Venice Film Festival (at which Styles also made headlines for appearing to spit on Chris Pine’s lap — though the Star Trek actor denies it).
“He made me much cooler with my nieces and nephews (and many, many people) by very publicly kissing me at the Venice Film Festival,” he wrote. “It was one of the most surreal moments in my life. That was not planned. No matter what I accomplish in my life, it will probably go somewhere in my obituary: ‘father, comedian, creator, and also someone kissed by Harry Styles.’”
“I gotta say, I ain’t mad at it,” Kroll concluded. “That’s his power.”
For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard is counting down our staff picks for the top 10 pop stars of 2022 all this week. At No. 8, we remember the year in Jack Harlow — who built on the momentum of his previous couple years and made the leap to full-on pop stardom.
Jack Harlow possesses a disarming self-awareness of his charm, his moment, and his detractors. In his 2020 single “Rendezvous,” the Kentucky rapper unloads on the idea that he hadn’t earned his status: “Kills me when they act like this was overnight/ Like we didn’t do a tour in a tiny van.” The couplet documented life in the short time after the release of “What’s Poppin,” his breakout single that helped propel him into the mainstream consciousness. It basks in stark contrast to an epiphany buried in his “First Class” line, “They say, ‘You a superstar now,’ damn, I guess I am.” Two years after the release of his debut album, That’s What They All Say, Harlow is an undisputed commercial hip-hop force, dictating when and where lightning struck in 2022.
Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars of 2022:Introduction & Honorable Mentions | Rookie of the Year: Steve Lacy | Comeback of the Year: Sam Smith | No. 10: Nicki Minaj | No. 9: Future
In January, Harlow captioned an Instagram post, “More inspired than I’ve ever been…never had a better pen…never felt truly understood until now….I knew I was a star but I finally got the evidence.” As this year unfolded, it became increasingly clear that the crux of Harlow’s star power isn’t how brightly he beams but his inclination to remain part of a constellation. He clocked his first career No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in October 2021 alongside Lil Nas X for “Industry Baby,” simultaneously nominated for a Grammy and targeted by homophobes. Harlow promptly shot down any notion that he shouldn’t have aligned with an LGBTQ+ artist: Black members of the hip-hop community warmly welcomed him, a white rapper whose fan base is shouldered by Black women, so it was unsurprising to see him wear a Lil Nas X graphic tee to June’s BET Awards to protest his friend’s snub.
February netted Harlow a deal with New Balance, a start in the NBA Celebrity All-Star Game, and the release of “Nail Tech,” his first solo drop since That’s What They All Say. The ostentatious single earned praise from Kanye West, a childhood idol of Harlow’s, and found Harlow again venting about his inbetween position in the first verse, “I love music and stress ‘bout it,” and second, “I’m not on top of this s–t yet, but I’m that guy, though.” The single wasn’t as sticky as the quotable lyrics and TikTok tease promised, however. “Nail Tech” spent one week on the Hot 100 at No. 18, and it was something of a distant memory by the end of March.
Harlow was cast in the remake of White Men Can’t Jump, ambitiously tackling Woody Harrelson’s iconic 1992 role as his film-acting debut – but “First Class” will be remembered as his leading man turn. The TikTok snippet racked up 69.2 million views, the first rock in an avalanche that ended with “First Class” debuting at No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart dated April 23 with the biggest streaming week of the year (54.6 million total). The lavish earworm’s backbone is the sampling of Fergie’s 2007 No. 1 smash “Glamorous” featuring Ludacris. Harlow, as he told Jimmy Fallon while co-hosting The Tonight Show in October, went from wanting to perform “Fergalicious” for his fifth-grade talent show to performing “First Class” with Fergie to open August’s 2022 MTV VMAs, which he also co-hosted with LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj.
Suddenly, it felt as if Harlow had been around forever, but there were endearing reminders that the spotlight was new to him. To start May, he ended a red carpet interview with Emma Chamberlain at May’s Met Gala by awkwardly saying, “Love ya!” Come Home The Kids Miss You was given a lukewarm reception by critics struggling to put a finger on Harlow’s identity. Arguably, the 15-track sophomore offering serves as a transparent portrait of Harlow as he works through that very question.
Come Home made up for that by yielding three 2023 Grammys nominations: best melodic rap performance (“First Class”), best rap song (“Churchill Downs” featuring Drake) and best rap album. This album’s (or any album’s) quantifiable success is not Harlow’s end game, though: As he expressed in his Rolling Stone April cover story, which announced Come Home The Kids Miss You’s impending May 6 arrival, he’s in it to become the best. He even quit drinking to ensure unobstructed clarity as he traded his real estate on the fringes of the mainstream for inescapable fame. Hits didn’t come beyond “First Class” this album cycle, but Harlow bolstered his foundation for the long game.
The rapper also earned co-signs from his formative heroes, such as Justin Timberlake, Lil Wayne, and Pharrell and Drake, via guest appearances on the Come Home tracklist. In particular, Harlow has proved himself Drake’s heir apparent as rap’s resident flirt – an idea illustrated by adoring fans swarming him and Aubrey at the Kentucky Derby, where the “Churchill Downs” video was filmed. Harlow had his whole team in his Churchill Downs box, including his childhood best friend-turned-photographer Urban Wyatt, comedian Druski and sports journalist Taylor Rooks. The aura around “Churchill Downs” solidified him as a main character who doesn’t suffer from main character syndrome. All Harlow ever wanted was to be loved by Louisville and put Kentucky on the map, and it was never more reciprocal than on that May afternoon.
Harlow looked right at home on every stage he commanded through the back half of the year, tangibly executing his much-quoted “Industry Baby” bar, “I didn’t peak in high school, I’m still out here gettin’ cuter.” He didn’t miss a beat during a surprise performance of “First Class” at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, and then his Generation Now boss DJ Drama welcomed him to the BET Awards stage to deliver “First Class” with Brandy (as well as Come Home deep cut “Poison” with Lil Wayne) in June. His headlining Come Home The Kids Miss You World Tour kicked off in July, upgrading to arenas from the more intimate 2021 Creme De La Creme Tour. Still, he wasn’t too busy to be there for his Louisville day-one EST Gee’s September single “Backstage Passes” and its Lyrical Lemonade video directed by Cole Bennett, who directed Harlow’s seminal 2020 “Whats Poppin” video.
Harlow’s mainstream glow-up hit its apex when he pulled double duty as host and musical guest on the Oct. 29 episode of Saturday Night Live. His magnetism radiated during a monologue aimed to again reclaim criticisms lobbed his way — comparing his signature curly hair and scraggly beard to Narnia’s Mr. Tumnus and joking about people who “have even gone as far as to accuse me of being white.” The vast exposure afforded him more opportunities to be transparent, and people couldn’t help falling in love with Harlow’s authenticity.
Harlow’s dad, Brian, “built houses with his hands,” and Harlow didn’t skip any steps in building his empire. En route to mastering his craft, he also mastered the art of manifestation: In January 2018, he played to an audience of seven in Madison, Wisconsin; next week, he’ll check off a bucket list item by playing Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center on Dec. 18. He named a Come Home track after Dua Lipa, telling The Breakfast Club he “admired her” then got her permission to release it over FaceTime. Seven months later, the Atlantic labelmates are reportedly romantically linked. Maybe Harlow doesn’t dictate how he captures the zeitgeist anymore – the final step of pop stardom initiation is to find your alleged love life in the tabloids, after all – but he’s never subscribed to outside noise.
The people rooting for the lovable underdog are complemented by the inevitable crowd watching for Harlow’s downfall. The relentless pursuit of power that Harlow detailed to Zane Lowe in May doesn’t figure to be his fatal flaw, because he thrives in sharing the wealth with his people — the day-ones, predecessors and peers. Harlow has always understood his place in hip-hop’s sprawling story, and if 2022 taught us anything, he won’t waste his turn with the pen.
South Korean rapper and BTS member RM and rock singer Youjeen each score their first solo entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Dec. 17), thanks to their new collaboration, “Wild Flower.”
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The song debuts at No. 83 with 4.1 million official streams and 29,000 downloads sold in the U.S. in its first tracking week (Dec. 2-8), according to Luminate. It opens as the top-selling song of the week, at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart.
BTS has logged 26 entries on the Hot 100 with RM (real name Kim Nam-joon) as a member, including six No. 1s among 10 top 10s.
“Wild Flower” is from RM’s debut solo studio album Indigo, which launches at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 with 31,000 equivalent album units earned in its opening week. Prior to Indigo, RM released two mixtapes: RM in 2015 and Mono in 2018; the latter reached No. 2 on the World Albums chart and No. 26 on the Billboard 200.
Before this week, RM charted 13 solo tracks on World Digital Song Sales, including three No. 1s: “Winter Flower” (by Younha featuring RM, in 2020), “Don’t” (Eaeon featuring RM; 2021) and “Sexy Nukim” (Balming Tiger, Omega Sapien, BJ WNJN and Mudd the Student featuring RM; 2022). This week, he ups his career total to 21 entries, as eight songs from Indigo blanket the entire top eight positions on the chart.
RM Songs on the Dec. 17-dated World Digital Song Sales chart:
No. 1, “Wild Flower,” feat. Youjeen
No. 2, “Still Life,” with Anderson .Paak
No. 3, “Yun,” with Erykah Badu
No. 4, “Lonely”
No. 5, “All Day,” with TABLO
No. 6, “Hectic,” with Colde
No. 7, “No.2,” with Park Ji Yoon
No. 8, “Forg_tful,” with Kim Sawol
No. 13, “Bicycle” (down from its No. 3 peak)
The only other acts to command the entire top eight positions of the World Digital Song Sales chart are BTS (on five occasions) and members J-Hope (this July 30) and Agust D, aka, Suga (June 6, 2020).
BTS made its first Billboard chart appearance in 2013, when “No More Dreams” debuted at No. 14 on World Digital Song Sales (before climbing to No. 2 seven years later). Since then, the group has broken numerous records, including the most Hot 100 No. 1 debuts among groups (five) and the most top 10 debuts among groups (nine). BTS notched its six Hot 100 leaders to-date over just a year and a month in 2020-21, the quickest accumulation of six since The Beatles earned six over a year and two weeks in 1964-66.
Meanwhile, RM is the sixth member of BTS to score a solo entry on the Hot 100. J-Hope first earned the honor in October 2019 with “Chicken Noodle Soup,” featuring Becky G (No. 81 peak). Suga followed with “Daechwita” (billed as Agust D; No. 76 peak, June 2020) and “Girl of My Dreams,” with Juice WRLD (No. 29, December 2021). V was next with “Christmas Tree” (No. 79, this January). Jung Kook followed with “Stay Alive” (No. 95, February) and as featured on Charlie Puth’s “Left and Right” (No. 22, July). Jin then debuted with “The Astronaut” in November (No. 51 peak).
As for Youjeen, “Wild Flower” is her first song to appear on a Billboard chart. Similar to RM, much of her career has been as a member of a group: She’s served as the lead singer of South Korean alternative rock band Cherry Filter since its formation in 1997, save for a brief departure in 2001 to begin her solo career.
Youjeen has released two solo albums outside of Cherry Filter: 2001’s The Doll and 2002’s Bewitch.
Is this the start of something new? Vanessa Hudgens just stunned Instagram followers with the ultimate Transformation Tuesday selfie, in which she looks just like Mother Monster herself, Lady Gaga.
The 33-year-old actress snapped the photo of herself outside wearing a shiny black pleather jacket, stacked, chunky gold choker necklaces and muted red lipstick. With teased platinum hair, light brows, and makeup accentuating her cheekbones, Hudgens bares more than just a passing resemblance to Miss Stefani Germanotta.
“Who even is she,” the High School Musical star captioned the photo — not that it was even a question for the fans in her comments.
“She’s giving Lady Gaga for sure!” wrote one.
“Haus of Hudgens,” commented another.
Hudgens didn’t indicate whether the Gaga glam was a purposeful tribute to the pop star or just a coincidence, nor did she say if she was all dressed up for a specific project. It’s not the first time this year the Princess Switch actress has teased followers on Instagram. In June, she posted a photo from the grounds of Salt Lake High School East — aka the instantly recognizable filming site of the High School Musical movies — without giving away any details as to why she was there.
Gaga, on the other hand, also recently tried out a new persona. Following the TikTok-generated resurgence of her 2011 Born This Way track “Bloody Mary,” which creators have been using to make videos inspired by Netflix’s hit new show Wednesday, the “Rain On Me” singer posted a video of herself getting dressed up like the show’s titular character (played by Jenna Ortega) and recreating some of the kooky character’s dance moves.
See Vanessa Hudgens’ Lady Gaga transformation selfie below:
What better way to celebrate being No. 1 by setting an enormous table for one? Mariah Carey had a lot to be excited about this week thanks to her perennial holiday classic, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” climbing back to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The song logged its ninth total week atop the Hot 100, becoming the first song to lead in four distinct runs on the tally.
“YAYYYYYYY!!!!,” the singer wrote followed by 12 party hat emoji in a post in which she sat at the end of a very long dining room table with her hands in the air in triumph. “Such an amazing surprise and an early Christmas gift!!!,” she added along with a string of more celebratory emoji (heart, Christmas tree, snowflake, present, purple heart, and, of course, butterfly). “Thank you so much!!!”
Carey said she could not wait to see her Lambily for the first of two shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night (Dec. 13).
“All I Want” was first released on Carey’s 1994 Merry Christmas album and as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017 and the top five for the first time in the 2018 holiday season. It went on to rule the holiday charts in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two) and 2021 (three).
The song is not just a single chart smash, it’s all over the top spots. It also hit No. 1 on the official U.K. Singles Chart this week, and it is ruling both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Exlu. U.S. charts.
See Carey’s tweet below.
YAYYYYYYY!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 Such an amazing surprise and an early Christmas gift!!! ❤️🎄❄️🎁💜🦋 Thank you so much!!!🥹🥹 Can’t wait to see you tomorrow (today) at MSG and celebrate together!!!! ❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/PaTPWsjpiB pic.twitter.com/87BvSqA8T8— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) December 13, 2022
Jin shared a private moment with fans ahead of his mandatory military enlistment on Tuesday.
The superstar uploaded a selfie to BTS’ fan-community WeVerse site showing his new buzzed haircut. Gone are his long signature locks that were on full display in his recent “Astronaut” music video and instead, the 30-year-old is rocking a super-short style, commonly known as the “induction cut,” as the hairstyle used by many country’s armed forces including the United States. Jin captioned the photo laughing, saying that he found the new cut “cuter than I thought.”
Unlike a buzzcut from the barber, the military haircut doesn’t keep regard for length or facial features but is cut equally all around one’s head. All recruits in South Korea must have their hair cut short before weeks of basic-training programs at the start of their service. Per national law, all able-bodied South Korean men must serve in the armed forces for at least 18 months with varying lengths of service time. While the draft begins once they turn 18, men may postpone it until age 28. In December 2020, the Korean National Assembly passed a motion (nicknamed the “BTS law”) to allow top K-pop stars to postpone service until age 30 with a recommendation from the culture minister.
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BTS’ management label BIGHIT MUSIC recently shared a notice to fans that there will be no “official event” to mark the star’s enlistment.
“Jin will fulfill his required time with the military by enlisting in the army,” read a note from BIGHIT on BTS’ Weverse. “Please note that we will not be holding any kind of official event on the day of his recruitment. The entrance ceremony is a time to be observed by military personnel and their families only. In order to prevent any issues that might occur from crowding, we ask fans to please refrain from visiting the site. Instead, we ask you to keep your heartwarming words of support and farewell in your hearts.”
Jin is the first of the seven BTS members to fulfill his mandatory obligations.
Click here to see Jin’s new photo.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Jewel to take the reins at The Kelly Clarkson Show. With Kelly Clarkson home sick, the pop star stepped in to deliver a “Kellyoke” cover of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” on Monday (Dec. 12).
“As always, we’re gonna dive straight in with music,” the host announced via satellite from her home, “except this is a little different — I’m very excited. Instead of a standard ‘Kellyoke,’ I have a good friend and super talented singer, she’s right there to lift you up with a signature song of the season.”
From there, Jewel launched into a wistful, jazz-tinged rendition of the holiday standard, singing, “Have yourself a merry little Christmas/ Let your heart be light/ From now on, our troubles will be out of sight/ Through the years, we all will be together/ If the fates allow/ So hang a shining/ Hang a shining star upon the highest bow/ And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.”
(Billboard can confirm that Jewel’s episode was taped on Dec. 2 and a fully recovered Clarkson is now back on set.)
Right after Jewel’s performance, Clarkson interviewed her fellow singer remotely about holiday traditions, music, Dolly Parton and more. “We grew up without television, without radio,” The Masked Singer champ said. “And so singing was, like, our main tradition. So tons of Christmas songs and folk songs and Swiss-German songs, all kinds for the holidays.”
Watch Jewel soar through “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” below.
