From old school to new school, there’s no denying that hip-hop made its way to the top of the charts this year. Here are the top five albums of 2021, based on first-week sales.
5. Lil Baby and Lil Durk, The Voice of the Heroes, released June 4 — 150,000 in sales
4. Tyler, the Creator, Call Me if You Get Lost, released June 25 — 169,000 in sales
3. J. Cole, The Off-Season, released May 14 — 282,000 in sales
2. Kanye West, Donda, released August 29 — 309,000 in sales
1. Drake, Certified Lover Boy, released September 3 — 613,000 in sales
Kelsea Ballerini finishes the year with a top-ten duet with Kenny Chesney that could very well go on to become the stars’ next number one.
Along the way, she also picked up her very first CMA trophies, with “Half of My Hometown” winning for both Music Video and Musical Event of the Year.
“It’s my favorite song I’ve put out, you know,” she tells ABC Audio, “so just to have that song kinda get some love on it by my peers is a big deal. It’s also with my hometown hero. Like, there’s a lot of levels to it that make me feel really proud.”
Kelsea goes on: “When we got nominated, I FaceTimed Kenny, and we just kind of had that moment of like, ‘People like our song. Like, What a joy!’ You know, you make it because you like it, and we made it because we liked it. But to see people really kind of relating to it and catching on is exciting.”
Instead of focusing on career momentum, the East Tennessee native seems to view her success through the eyes of the Knoxville girl who dreamed these dreams.
“I still haven’t had the ‘I’ve made it’ moment, I hope I never do,” she confesses. “But yeah, there are certain moments that kinda make you look up and go, ‘Man, 12-year-old me would be losing her mind!'”
“And having a song with [Kenny] is certainly one of those,” she adds.
In addition to touring the country with pop superstars the Jonas Brothers this year, Kelsea also released her first book of poetry, Feel Your Way Through, in November.
Australian rapper Masked Wolf, born Harry Michael Avramidis, will be performing December 31 on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest on ABC. But while the show is now in its 50th year, the rapper admits that, as an Aussie, he’d never heard of it before.
“I mean, our New Year’s Eve is, like, the Harbor Bridge in Sydney and, the fireworks there,” he tells ABC Audio. “They do a massive fireworks show, which is like $7 million or something, it’s huge. But the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve? No idea.”
But now that he’s familiar, Wolf says it’s definitely an honor to be included.
“I feel like if you’re an Australian and you’re included in anything American internationally, it’s something you should be privileged to be in,” he notes. “I’ve spoken with Ryan [Seacrest] before in an interview and that was just a privilege alone in itself. So for me…I’m taking everything as it comes, but I hope they like the Aussie sound and how natural I am and what I speak about.”
It’s what he speaks about that led to his global hit “Astronaut in the Ocean,” Wolf says.
“I think once people found out what it was truly about — the message of feeling out of place, especially during the time when it was released, it was, y’know, the pandemic at its core — it really resonated with a lot of listeners,” notes Wolf. “Like, ‘Hey, that’s how I feel and he was was actually willing to speak out about it.'”
“And it’s not just with music,” he adds. “It could be anything: your job, losing your job, stuff like that. So I just think it connected because it was real.”
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest kicks off Friday night at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Christine Hahn/Resorts World Las Vegas/Concerts West/AEG Presents
2021 was the year that a host of big-name superstars either announced or kicked off Las Vegas residencies — including perhaps the biggest name of all: Adele.
Shortly after telling Rolling Stone that she wouldn’t do a regular tour due to COVID-19 fears — and claiming that she wasn’t doing a Las Vegas residency because there were no available venues — Adele turned around and announced Weekends with Adele. The residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace kicks off January 21, 2022 and will feature the star performing two shows each weekend through April 16.
Adele’s announcement came in the wake of Katy Perry, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan all announcing residencies at the brand-new Resorts World Las Vegas, which opened in June.
–Celine’s new show was supposed to officially launch the Resorts World Theater on November 5, but the shows were abruptly canceled for medical reasons. Specifically, Celine was said to be suffering from what was described as “severe and persistent muscle spasms,” which left her unable to perform. That left it to Carrie Underwood to open the Resorts World Theater on December 1.
–Another Las Vegas residency that didn’t happen in 2021 was a series of Christmas shows at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood by Backstreet Boys, who’d planned to release their first-ever Christmas album this year. But when the group decided to push the album to 2022, the shows — announced in July and scheduled for November and December — were canceled.
–Katy Perry is set to start her residency, PLAY, tonight, December 29, at Resorts World. She described it as “a set-in-the-’60s, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movie on mushrooms,” which will feature wild costumes, NFTs and, she toldVariety, “a level of humor to it that is probably the weirdest I’ve ever done.” Her fellow American Idol judge Luke Bryan starts his residency in February.
–Meanwhile, Sting officially launched his residency, My Songs, at the Colosseum in October. He’d originally announced it in 2019, but it was delayed by COVID-19. Adam Lambert did a mini-residency in October at the Venetian Resort, while Bryan Adams did one at the Wynn Las Vegas in November.
—Michael Buble announced a six-date residency at Resorts World, which will run between April 27, 2022 and May 7, while John Legend will bring his 24-show residency, Love in Las Vegas, to Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino beginning in April of 2022. Fellow Voice coach Gwen Stefani officially wrapped up her residency at that same venue in November.
–Finally, Rod Stewart extended his long-running show at the Colosseum into 2022, marking his 11th year performing there, while both Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga resumed their residencies at Park MGM Theater.
–And as for a residency that isn’t in Las Vegas, Josh Groban announced the dates for the return of his show at New York’s Radio City Music Hall; he’d only played one date before COVID-19 shut it down.
Is Dirty Honey heading into 2022 on a “Crazy Train”?
The “When I’m Gone” rockers have shared a cryptic social media post featuring a 15-second clip of the Ozzy Osbourne solo classic, along with a video featuring a purple-colored letter C floating against a black background.
One might guess that the C stands for “cover,” and that we might be getting a Dirty Honey version of “Crazy Train.” However, nothing’s been officially announced. Perhaps Dirty Honey just felt like sharing a clip of a song that reflects the insanity that was 2021. Or, maybe the C stands for “crypto,” and Dirty Honey is really excited about Ozzy’s just announced CryptoBatz NFT series.
While you wait for Dirty Honey’s potential “Crazy Train” cover to arrive at the station, you can rock out to their self-titled debut album, which was released earlier this year. The group will kick off 2022 on the Young Guns tour with Mammoth WVH beginning January 18 in Philadelphia.
The Flaming Lips have postponed their upcoming New Year’s concerts at The Caverns venue in Tennessee due to surging COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant.
The shows, which were originally scheduled for December 30 and 31, will now take place over President’s Day Weekend 2022 on February 19 and 20.
“It will still be a New Year’s celebration of epic proportions!” reads an Instagram post from The Caverns. “[Frontman] Wayne [Coyne] and the band feel strongly about ringing in the New Year with you!”
Previously purchased tickets will be honored for the rescheduled dates.
The Lips are the latest band with New Year’s plans affected by Omicron. Artists including The Strokes, Phish and My Morning Jacket have also postponed their scheduled NYE concerts.
Diddy is famous for his spectacular New Year’s Eve parties, however he’s reportedly being forced to cancel his December 31 Miami bash for the second year in a row.
TMZ reports that the Bad Boy Entertainment founder made the decision because Omicron cases are increasing in Florida and around the country. Diddy also canceled his 2020 NYE celebration due to COVID-19. Instead of a formal party on New Year’s Eve, the two-time Grammy winner handed out $50 bills in the Overtown section of Miami
His last NYE party, in 2019 at Miami’s Story Nightclub, was attended by 500 people, including Fat Joe, Meek Mill, DJ Khalid, and DaBaby.
Charlie Puth was one of the most-viewed artists on TikTok in 2021 so it’s no surprise the “See You Again” singer has been tapped to perform on the social media platform’s New Year’s celebration.
The TikTok New Year’s Eve Concert will stream live December 31 at 6 p.m. PT to 7:15 p.m. PT and will also feature Kali Uchis, whose hit “telepatía” was TikTok’s Top Latin Song of 2021. Rapper Rico Nasty is also on the bill.
During the celebration, each artist will perform a set on a different floor of an apartment-themed production space. Popular TikTok creators will also appear on the LIVE.
Another Travis Scott endorsement has been put on hold in the wake of the Astroworld Festival tragedy.
Dior announced Tuesday that it has indefinitely postponed its capsule collection collaboration between its men’s artistic director Kim Jones and Scott’s Cactus Jack line, which was slated to launch in January.
“Out of respect for everyone affected by the tragic events at Astroworld, Dior has decided to postpone indefinitely the launch of products from the Cactus Jack collaboration originally intended to be included in its summer 2022 collection,” the luxury fashion house said in a statement to Women’s Wear Daily.
Scott’s team told WWD that he and Dior mutually decided to postpone the collection’s launch. It would have marked the first time Dior partnered with a musician on a collection.
Dior is the latest brand to press pause on a collaboration with the “Franchise’ rapper.
Nike announced on November 16 that it was postponing the launch of Scott’s Baroque Brown and Saturn Gold Air Max 1 X Cactus Jack sneakers. On December 11, Anheuser-Busch revealed that it will no longer distribute Scott’s Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer.
Ten people died at Astroworld from compression asphyxia after crowds rushed the stage at the NPG Park in Houston on November 5. Scott organized the event and was the headliner.
Because the new Billboard chart is technically dated January 1, 2022, that means the song is the first ever to be number one in four distinct years: 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. It had just recently set the record for being the first song ever to top the chart in three different years.
Plus, the additional week on top has allowed Mariah to extend a bunch of records she already held. For example, she’s the artist who’s spent the most weeks at number one overall in her career: now a total of 86. In second place is Rihanna, who’s racked up 60.
Mariah also holds the record for most weeks at number one for a holiday hit — now a total of seven — and the record for being the artist who’s reached number one in the most distinct years: now a total of 18. Those years were 1990-2000, 2005-2006, 2008, and 2019-2022, if you’re keeping track.
Meanwhile, this week’s top 10 also includes, for the very first time, The Ronettes‘ “Sleigh Ride,” which was originally released in 1963. It’s the legendary girl group’s second top 10, and its first in 58 years and two months, setting a new record for the longest gap between top-10 hits.
The Ronettes’ first top 10, “Be My Baby,” hit number two in October of 1963.
