Music

Who has the top song of 2021?  According to Billboard‘s staff, the honor goes to Silk Sonic and their hit single “Leave The Door Open.”

The outlet released its list of the best 100 songs to come out of 2021 and, sitting above an impressive roundup is the Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak-fronted group.  Billboard’s staff call their song “an instant slam dunk” because it blends “the lush sounds of ’70s soul” and a “modern finesse.”

Olivia Rodrigo claims second place with her angry breakup anthem “good 4 u,” which helped the young singer make history by going to number one on the Hot 100.  The song’s number one bow was preceded by “drivers license” and, therefore, made Olivia the only artist in history to have a debut album, Sour, send two of its songs to the number one spot.  

In third is “Levitating” by Dua Lipa, with Billboard saluting the hit for being a “fun repeat listen” even though it never topped the Hot 100, but was a constant in the top 10.  Although the song was released in October 2020, it made the cut because it peaked this year: In fact, it was Billboard‘s number-one Hot 100 chart song of 2021.

Lil Nas X and his groundbreaking “Industry Baby” collab with Jack Harlow ends 2021 in fourth place while Taylor Swift rounds out the top five with her 10-minute re-recording of “All Too Well.”

Visit Billboard‘s website to read the complete list of the best 100 songs of 2021.

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Adele continues to make history with her long-awaited album 30, which is now the first album in over a year to sell over a million copies in the United States.  The last artist who enjoyed such a feat was Taylor Swift following her July 2020 release of folklore. 

Billboard adds 30 surpassed the million-sales milestone in less than a month.  The album was released on November 19 and the outlet reports that 692,000 copies flew off the shelves in its first week alone.  Fans snatched up an additional 225,000 copies the following week.

Sales encompass all CD, vinyl LP, cassette and digital album download purchases.

It should also be noted that, while Adele sold over a million copies in just a few weeks, it took Taylor’s folklore almost three months to sell that many copies. 

Billboard notes that it’s become even harder for artists to sell that many albums thanks to the rise of streaming.  They say only three other albums have achieved powerhouse sales since 2019: the soundtrack to Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper‘s A Star Is Born, Harry Styles‘ Fine Line, and Billie Eilish‘s debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

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A charity fundraiser turned into a veritable Lollpalooza in Malibu, California, over the weekend.

Rockers including Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool‘s Danny Carey, and Queens of the Stone Age‘s Josh Homme and Troy Van Leeuwen all jammed together during the event, which raised money for the Malibu Elementary School arts program.

The all-star band also included Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, and Ozzy Osbourne producer Andrew Watt on guitar. You can check out footage from the concert via an attendee’s Instagram.

While you probably didn’t get the attend the show, you can still listen to Hawkins and Chaney play together in the group NHC with the bassist’s Jane’s band mate, Dave Navarro. Chaney is also part of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder‘s solo band The Earthlings, alongside Smith and Watt.

 

 

 

 

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Lil Wayne is reportedly under police investigation for allegedly pulling an assault rifle on one of his bodyguards at his home.

A member of Weezy’s security team claims that the iconic rapper brandished an AR-15-style rifle during an argument at his home in Hidden Hills, California, TMZ reports.

The guard says Wayne accused him of leaking photos to the media. He reported the altercation to police, who found that Wayne had left the house by the time they arrived. The security member also claimed the incident became physical, however police noted he had not sustained any injuries.

No charges have been filed. A source close to the Young Money Entertainment founder denies the incident and claims that Wayne does not own a gun. 

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Garth Brooks may have more Stadium Tour dates up his sleeve. 

As Garth continues to roll out shows for 2022, he shared on Inside Studio G Monday night that fans can expect to see additional dates on the Stadium Tour schedule before the end of the year. And while many of the shows have been in the South and Midwest, the superstar suggests his territory may be expanding.

“There’s going to be at least a couple more, including maybe a third one that’s huge for us,” he hints, adding with a laugh, “I can’t imagine the West Coast and the East Coast both getting Christmas presents, but who knows!” 

Garth continues to break records with his Stadium Tour, selling more than 70,000 tickets last week to his show at University of Arkansas’ Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on April 23. He’s also set to play Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on April 30. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday. 

The “Callin’ Baton Rouge” singer will conclude the Stadium Tour with five sold-out shows at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland in September.

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The late Virgil Abloh was remembered by numerous celebrities during a memorial service Monday in Chicago.

Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Lauryn Hill, Frank Ocean and more attended the event Monday at the Museum of Contemporary Art in the Windy City, according to USA Today.

“All these different people — colors, ages, backgrounds, religions — all came for one man,” Tyler, the Creator said at the memorial. “That’s what he did: He brought, like, the illest people together.” Abloh’s sister, Edwina, also spoke, and Hill performed.

“Virgil was here,” read a pin Drake showed off in a video posted on Instagram. “love you g,” he captioned the post.

On Novmeber 30 in Miami, Kanye, Kim, Pharrell Williams, Erykah Badu, Kid Cudi and many more attended the first-ever Louis Vuitton United States fashion show, which became a somber tribute to the late Louis Vitton artistic director.

As previously reported, Abloh passed away November 28 after a private two-year battle with cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare, aggressive form of cancer. He was 41. Virgil was the founder of fashion brand Off-White and the first African American to serve as artistic director for Louis Vuitton.

 

 

 

 

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Jimmie Allen says country music is in the midst of a “movement” when it comes to diversity.

Chatting with The Nick Cannon Show, Jimmie cites Charley Pride as a major source of inspiration for his career and paving the way for other Black country artists. 

“I remember I was growing up listening to country music and my dad was like, ‘you should sing country music’ and I was like, ‘it’s cool, but I don’t know if there’s anybody that looks like us.’ And then he showed me what Charley Pride looked like,'” Jimmie recalls. 

He also points to his contemporaries including Darius Rucker, Mickey Guyton, Kane Brown, Blanco Brown, Breland, Brittney Spencer, Willie Jones and Tiera as important voices in the genre. 

“It’s a whole movement coming up. It’s beautiful to see where country is starting to get like every other genre where it’s not about the color of your skin, it’s about the music,” Jimmie observes. “It’s good to see that.”

The “Make Me Want To” singer is set to headline his first tour, the Down Home Tour, in 2022. His current single, “Freedom Was a Highway,” featuring Brad Paisley, is currently in the top 10 on country radio.

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With 2021 coming to a close, it’s time to review the words that gave Americans the most agony over the past year.  While many struggled over how to pronounce the newest COVID-19 variant, omicron (OH-mee-kraan, per ABC News standards), others butchered Billie Eilish‘s name.

The U.S. Captioning Company, which is the nation’s leading television captioning service, keeps track of the words that gave television personalities and newscasters the most trouble and released its annual list of the biggest offenders.  

Surprisingly, Eilish was on this year’s roundup.  Considering that the alt-pop superstar burst into the limelight more than two years ago following her breakout hit “bad guy,” it begs to question why her last name is only wreaking havoc now.

For those who still have doubts, U.S. Captioning Company says the correct way to pronounce Eilish is “EYE-lish.”

Two other individuals made the list this year, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce — whose last name is pronounced “KELSS” with a hard S, not “KELL-see” — and Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas, whose name is pronounced “STEH-fuh-nohs TSEE-tsee-pas.” 

Gen-Z slang, such as the millennial-bashing term Cheugy, pronounced CHOO-gee; and Yassify, pronounced YEAH-sih-fai, where multiple beauty filters are applied for comedic effect, also made this year’s roundup.

Other terms that made the cut include the restaurant chain Chipotle [chih-POHT-lay], the Scottish city Glasgow [GLAHZ-go], and the cryptocurrencies Dogecoin [DOJH-coin] and Ethereum [ih-THEE-ree-um], as well as the Ever Given [EV-er GIV-en], the ship that famously blocked the Suez Canal.

The report was commissioned by Babbel, a platform that teaches users how to speak other languages.

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