While in lockdown, Elton John found himself with ample time on his hands. Rather than picking up crocheting as a hobby or buying a Peloton bike like so many others did at the time, John decided to get to know some of today’s chart-topping musicians the best way he could — by collaborating over Zoom. Thus, his album The Lockdown Sessions was born, a 16-track genre-spanning project featuring today’s top artists.
To ring in the holidays and celebrate the success of The Lockdown Sessions, which landed at No. 1 in the UK, John once again opened up Zoom and gathered all his collaborators in once place for the “Ultimate Zoom” call. John began the call and soon after, artists like Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X, Rina Sawayama, Eddie Vedder, SG Lewis, Charlie Puth, Brandie Carlile, Damon Albarn, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks, and Young Thug all joined.
The 4-minute video was both a celebration of the album and a reminder of all the little frustrations of virtual calls like WiFi issues or distracting noises in the background. According to press materials, the video is meant as a “celebration of the way that Zoom has enabled people to continue to work, interact and create music in the most challenging of circumstances.”
Watch Elton John, Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, Miley Cyrus, and more on the “Ultimate Zoom” call above.
The Lockdown Sessions is out now via EMI Records. Get it here.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
A few days ago, Lil Nas X was forced to pull out of iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball Tour after members of his team tested positive for COVID. Now the rapper says that he himself has COVID and he’s dealing with it how he deals with most things: by joking.
Nas tweeted today, “now that i’m sure i won’t die from covid i will now begin making mildly funny jokes about having it.” He then fired off his first gag by referencing the Omicron/Omarion jokes that were making the rounds recently, writing, “i’m not sure whether i’ve had the omarion or alicia keys variant of covid but this has not been a fun journey.”
He continued, “i only talk to people who have covid now. u non-covid b*tches need to stfu. us coviders run this sh*t!” He then shared one of the symptoms he has experienced so far, tweeting, “covid really sucks. last night i was tryna watch porn then i sneezed snot all over penis lmao.”
All of the aforementioned tweets, aside from the sneezing one, have since been deleted.
covid really sucks. last night i was tryna watch porn then i sneezed snot all over penis lmao
— MONTERO
(@LilNasX) December 17, 2021
Aside from COVID and the snot mishap, things have been good for Lil Nas X lately: He was named TikTok’s top artist of 2021 and Barack Obama included “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” on his list of favorite songs of the year.
Barack Obama is in the midst of unveiling his year-end lists of favorite stuff, and so far he’s shared his round-ups of movies, books, and today, songs. As is usually the case, the former POTUS’ playlist features some diverse picks.
Indie favorites are well-represented on the list, which includes Courtney Barnett’s “Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To,” The War On Drugs and Lucius’ “I Don’t Live Here Anymore,” and Mitski’s “The Only Heartbreaker.” Hip-hop is also included via songs like Lizzo and Cardi B’s “Rumors,” Isiah Rashad’s “Headshots (4r Da Locals),” and Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Beyond that, there are picks from all across the musical spectrum, including tracks from Mdou Moctar, Jon Batiste, and Bad Bunny.
I’ve always enjoyed listening to a wide variety of music, so it’s no surprise that I listened to a little bit of everything this year. I hope you find a new artist or song to add to your own playlist. pic.twitter.com/g6kBzAbrZG
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 17, 2021
The list has a lot of Grammy firepower, including Obama himself, as his audiobook A Promised Land is up for Best Spoken World Album at the 2022 ceremony. Aside from him, artists on the list who are also Grammy-nominated in 2022 are Esperanza Spalding, Brandi Carlile, Spice, Sean Paul, Shaggy, Jon Batiste, Nas, Allison Russell, Lil Nas X, Bad Bunny, Yebba, Morray, and Cardi B.
If you like what you see, there’s an official Spotify playlist that features all of Obama’s picks, so check that out below.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball Tour already suffered a huge loss last week with the announcement that Doja Cat had to pull out of the remaining performances due to a positive COVID test, but over the weekend, the tour’s organizers received even more bad news as members of Lil Nas X’s show crew also tested positive, forcing him to also pull out of the rest of the tour. Over the weekend, surviving acts Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber played extended sets, but with Doja, Lil Nas X, and Coldplay all dropping out, the holiday tour is decidedly a lot less jolly.
Some #CapitalJBB news for you
https://t.co/MJgYyqXgju pic.twitter.com/m11XOHxK03
— Capital (@CapitalOfficial) December 11, 2021
As yet, Lil Nas X has not commented on the cancellations on his own social media, and we don’t know whether he was among those who returned a positive result on the COVID test that forced him out. Before leaving the tour, though, he appeared to be having the time of his life, even as he laughed off an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction that caused him to fall onstage as he tried to keep himself covered up. Oddly enough, it was his second of the year after splitting his pants on SNL, which prompted him to switch to skirts in an effort to avoid a repeat — an effort that was apparently unsuccessful.
Who was the top musical artist of 2021 on TikTok? Well, it depends how you look at it.
Today, the platform shared a bunch of year-end data, which reveals that Megan Thee Stallion was the top artist in the US by “catalogue creations,” meaning in terms of how many times users included her songs in their videos. This is Meg’s second year in a row securing that title. Following her in the top 10 are, in order, Doja Cat, PoppHunna, Olivia Rodrigo, Cardi B, YungManny, Soulja Boy, Drake, Kevin Gates, and Coi Leray.
When it comes to artists actually using TikTok themselves, though, Lil Nas X had the most-viewed music account in the US. After him on the list are Lizzo, iHeartMemphis, Jason Derulo, Oliver Tree, Leray, Selena Gomez, Charlie Puth, Billie Eilish, and Benny Blanco.
The post also includes a list of the year’s top emerging artists and it includes up-and-comer favorites like Baby Tate, Coi Leray, Magdalena Bay, PinkPantheress, and Shygirl. TikTok also compiled a list of the top “comeback tracks” in the US, meaning “trending songs released between 5 and 25 years ago.” Leading that list is Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills,” and also included are Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘n’ Nite,” Britney Spears’ “Gimme More,” and Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” featuring Timbaland.
TikTok shared a lot more year-end data than was covered here, so check out their post here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
When it comes to conversations about music, much of the discourse goes down on Twitter. That’s why it’s no surprise that the most talked-about artists on the platform were those who released an album this year or those that were surrounded by controversy (and if you’re Ye — both).
Twitter collected all their data from this year and shared who the most-tweeted-about musicians were. Drake came in at No. 1, Ye followed shortly after him, and Lil Nas X sat at No. 3. It comes as no surprise that BTS was the fourth most-tweeted-about musician thanks to their massive global fanbase. After BTS, who were the most-tweeted-about group in 2020, was Taylor Swift at No. 5, whose rerecorded Red (Taylor’s Version) gave the singer a fair amount of buzz on the platform. Nicki Minaj came in at No. 6, Beyonce was No. 7, Megan Thee Stallion was No. 8, DaBaby was No. 9, and Cardi B made it in at No. 10.
Though BTS fell down a few placements this year compared to last year, they were still big when it came to the most-liked tweets of the year. Joe Biden celebrating his inauguration in 2021 was the single most-liked tweet, but a selfie by BTS member Jungkook was the second-most-liked tweet of the year with 3.2 million likes.
— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) January 25, 2021
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
At the end of every year, Google shares lists of the top trending searches in various categories, which they note “are based on search terms that had the highest spike this year as compared to the previous year.” Now they’ve dropped their 2021 rankings and a lot of music figures have found their way on the lists.
Globally, DMX was the tenth top-trending search overall, due largely to his death earlier this year. On the top songs list, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” leads the rank and is followed by a pair of Lil Nas X songs: “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and the Jack Harlow collaboration “Industry Baby.”
When you narrow down to the top trends of just the United States, DMX is the second biggest trend overall. Meanwhile, Travis Scott and Morgan Wallen are both in the top ten top-trending people. Musicians also have a firm hold over the “celebrities search together” category: “Kim and Kanye” are No. 1, followed by “Kanye and Jeffree Star” (No. 4), “Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal” (No. 5), “JLo and A-Rod” (No. 6), “Ben Affleck and JLo” (No. 9), and “Selena Gomez and Chris Evans” (No. 10).
As far as the music-specific lists for the US, Scott leads under “musicians and bands,” while “Drivers License” is the top trend under songs.
There are more music-related searches sprinkled throughout the lists, so find the global trends here and the US trends here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
