Doja Cat cracked the top 10 of Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart and hit No. 3 on the Radio Songs chart with “Vegas,” her contribution to the Elvis soundtrack, but the song unfortunately will not earn her an Oscar, according to Variety.
“The lead single from the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Presley biopic, it was written by Doja Cat and producers Roget Chahayed and Yeti Beats, but its interpolation of the Presley classic “Hound Dog” (by Mike Stoller and the late Jerry Lieber) apparently doomed it for consideration,” the publication reported. “Oscar rules demand that both words and music must be ‘original, and written specifically for the motion picture’ and must be the result of ‘creative interaction between the filmmakers and the songwriters who have been engaged to work directly on the motion picture.’”
The same report published today (December 12) relayed that the Társcore has also been disqualified from Oscar contention: “While some sources claimed that the dramatic score exceeded the minimum 35% of total music in the film, as called for by Academy rules, it may have run afoul of another rule that states ‘a score shall not be eligible if it has been diluted by the use of pre-existing music.’”
The full nomination field for the 95th Academy Awards will be unveiled January 24, and the ceremony is slated for March 12. See the full 2023 Oscars timeline here.
The Best Original Song, Motion Picture category is stacked: “Carolina” by Taylor Swift for Where The Crawdads Sing; “Ciao Papa” by Roeben Katz and Guillermo del Toro for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga and BloodPop for Top Gun: Maverick; “Lift Me Up” by Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, and Tems for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; and “Naatu Naatu” by Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj for RRR.
Elsewhere in the nomination field, Selena Gomez is up for Best Actress In A TV Series, Musical Or Comedy for her role in Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building, co-starring alongside Martin Short and Steve Martin for two seasons with a third on the way. The category is rounded out by Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary), Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant), Jenna Ortega (Wednesday), and Jean Smart (Hacks).
The films that make up the Best Original Score category are Babylon, The Banshees Of Inisherin, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, The Fabelmans, and Women Talking.
Other loosely music-related nominations of note are Donald Glover’s (sometimes known as Childish Gambino) for Best Actor In A Television Series, Musical Or Comedy; Austin Butler for Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture, Drama for his portrayal in Elvis; and four nods for Pam & Tommy, Hulu’s limited series revisiting everything surrounding the 1995 sex tape made by Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee.
The 2023 Golden Globes are scheduled for January 10, 2023 and will broadcast live on NBC with Jerrod Carmichael hosting.
Yesterday, a video started making the rounds on Twitter, of a person grinding hard on a man at a nightclub, rubbing their backside on his crotch and straddling him with their leg. One tweet about the video in particular generated some attention, as it has racked up over 80,000 likes and says, “Adele is really for the people.”
Indeed, the person does look like Adele. That said, it is not. It has plenty of people fooled, though, apparently including the Twitter user who shared that tweet, as they later wrote, “Oh my God let me get my glasses.” Somebody else commented, “Lmao I stared at this video hard and long and it didn’t hit me until the very last minute that this in fact was not Adele.” Another user replied, “the way you really gaslighted my brain into seeing adele is crazy.”
So, who is it really? The answer is Kehlani, dancing with their makeup artist, Troye Antonio. The two actually have a habit of doing this, too: A couple months ago, a different video made the rounds, that time with Antonio as the one doing the grinding on Kehlani. Kehlani is also apparently just big on grinding, as they were recently spotted doing it with Letitia Wright.
Miley Cyrus is planning to end 2022 and kick off 2023 with a bang. Last month, it was announced that Cyrus would return to NBC and Peacock for Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, which she hosted last year with Pete Davidson. Although this year, Davidson won’t be returning as Cyrus’ cohost. Instead, she will ring in the new year with none other than America’s treasure — her own Godmother, Dolly Parton.
While plenty will be tuned into already to see Cyrus and Parton, the “Midnight Sky” hitmaker announced that she will be bringing in even more exciting guests to her annual New Year’s party. Yesterday (December 9) on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Cyrus revealed Latto, Sia, and Rae Sremmurd would be performing throughout the night.
Cyrus also noted that these aren’t the only performers who will be taking the stage at her New Year’s Eve celebration.
“As we get closer to the show, I want to start revealing who else we have,” she said. “But the lineup is very me. It is curated in a way that makes no sense, but makes total sense.”
Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party will air live on Saturday, December 31 on NBC from 10:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET. The special will also stream live on Peacock.
There aren’t many drawbacks when it comes to vinyl, but here’s one that’s a perpetual elephant in the room: it sure can get expensive. So, if you have a vinyl collector in your life who could use a fancy new record and you want to save them the stress of selling a kidney to pay for it, why not get them a slick new LP for their library this holiday season?
In terms of where to start your hunt, we’ve done some legwork for you. A lot of fantastic new vinyl releases dropped this year (which we keep up with in our monthly Best Vinyl Releases round-up, by the way) and we’ve collected a few of our favorites here. These picks span genres, price points, and formats, so no matter who it is you’re shopping for, the following list should at least point you in the right direction.
Taylor Swift — Midnights
Republic
Price: $29.99
Midnights is perhaps the biggest album of the year, and as always, Taylor Swift came through with the merch. Her webstore has four differently colored versions of the album on vinyl, too. If you want to dig deep into your pockets and buy all of them, the four editions can be placed together and form a clock face on their back sides.
If your vinyl library doesn’t have any Blondie in it, this box set is probably the best possible place to start your collection off right. It has the band’s first six albums — Blondie, Plastic Letters, Parallel Lines, Eat To The Beat, Autoamerican, and The Hunter — as well as four additional LPs that feature outakes, B-sides, and other exclusive rarities that add up to 124 total studio tracks.
One of the year’s most colorful albums has gotten a decidedly less vibrant vinyl release. It’s a beauty, though, as this edition of Special is pressed on silver vinyl, and if it piques your interest, you ought to act fast: It’s exclusive to Lizzo’s web store and only 7,000 copies are set to be sold.
It could be argued that Harry Styles had a bigger year than anybody else in music, with “As It Was” spending 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, making it one of the longest-running chart-toppers ever. With that in mind, Harry’s House is a definite vinyl buy, especially if you opt for one of the exclusive colors (orange and seaglass green) available in his webstore.
A Beatles vinyl reissue isn’t exactly a hard sell, especially when it comes to this new release of Revolver. This version features newly mixed audio available in mono, stereo, and Dolby Atmos iterations, and the Super Deluxe edition even comes with a 100-page hardbound book. It’s a must-own for any Beatles fan, and probably any music fan, too.
Uproxx’s Ian Cohen previously declared that God Save The Animals, the new Alex G album, is the artist’s best. He wrote in part, “Folky Alex G, abstract Alex G, slowcore Alex G, rawk Alex G, it’s all here, but God Save The Animals manages to circle back to his origins placing the vocals higher than they’d ever been since Race or Rules.”
The War On Drugs — I Don’t Live Here Anymore (Limited-Edition Deluxe Box Set)
Price: $69.98
It’s been over a year since The War On Drugs dropped their latest album, 2021’s I Don’t Live Here Anymore. To mark the occasion, they have a limited-edition deluxe box set available now, which includes unreleased tunes “Oceans Of Darkness” and “Slow Ghost” on a 7-inch. They’ve even gone through the trouble of making an unboxing video for the release, so check that out above for more details about what’s included in the expansive set.
Steve Lacy was perhaps the year’s biggest breakout star thanks to his No. 1 hit “Bad Habit,” and furthermore, Gemini Rights was one of 2022’s best-received albums. The soulful, psychedelic R&B sounds of the LP are begging to be played via turntable, so you can’t go wrong adding this one to the collection.
Super young Paul McCartney fans might know the Beatles leader best by his latest solo album, 2020’s McCartney III (or perhaps the next year’s McCartney III Imagined project featuring contemporary artists). Well, as the title suggests, it’s part of a trilogy of albums, which have now been collected in a new box set. The vinyl edition includes special photo prints as well as notes about each album from McCartney himself.
The Weeknd had one of the year’s biggest albums with Dawn FM, and now fans can secure their own uncommon piece of it: The album has gotten an exclusive vinyl edition that’s only available at Target and features alternative artwork and silver translucent vinyl.
ABBA (who somehow only just picked up their first-ever Grammy nomination, by the way) have a storied discography and now you can own it all thanks to a new box set. It features each of the band’s nine albums — including their latest, last year’s comeback LP Voyage — along with ABBA Tracks, which includes non-album singles and B-sides.
Yusuf/Cat Stevens — Harold And Maude (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
A&M/Cat-O-Log/UMe
Price: $35.98
Harold And Maude has become one of the defining films of its era, and Yusuf/Cat Stevens played a part in that with his soundtrack. That first came out 50 years ago, and now this vinyl reissue of it combines Stevens’ songs with dialogue from the film for the first time.
Big Thief — Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
4AD
Price: $30
Not only is the latest Big Thief album a killer listen, but this particular vinyl edition of it is sustainably produced. The jacket is printed on 100-percent recycled board, while the two LPs are produced from recycled materials (which means any given individual record won’t look exactly like the one in the photo above, so it’s a responsible way to give a truly unique gift).
For months now, PJ Harvey’s entire discography has been getting the vinyl reissue treatment, so there are options here. A particularly compelling one is the 6-LP B-Sides, Demos & Rarities set, with features 59 tracks, most of which are unavailable on other formats and 14 of which were previously unreleased.
Roxy Music have been riding the same wave as PJ Harvey this year, as they too have given all eight of their albums fresh vinyl pressings. This is the best these classic LPs ever sounded, too, as they were all remastered at half speed and are packaged with revised artwork with a glossy laminated finish.
It’s Beyoncé. On vinyl. This one isn’t really a tough sell. Renaissance was one of the year’s most anticipated albums, “Break My Soul” was a hit, and some (like Questlove) are already calling the release a classic. So, if it’s not already in the collection, it ought to be.
Speaking of anticipated albums, Blue Rev was the Canadian group’s first album since 2017 and it’s perhaps the most critically acclaimed release of their career. Aside from the bold blue pressing shown above, there’s also a slick translucent edition that’s limited to just 4,000 copies that’s another appealing option.
Time and time again, Vinyl Me, Please comes through when it comes to exclusive, appealing vinyl pressings. Pictured above is a gorgeous reissue of Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights (grab it here if that’s what you want), but their entire inventory is worth perusing to find the right album for your giftee. They also offer different options for gift memberships, so sending a loved one on that journey could be the way to go and the gift that keeps on giving.
Grammy-winning singer Alicia Keys is keeping her holiday spirit going. After performing at the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in November, Keys released her first Christmas album, Santa Baby. The songwriter stopped by The Late Show with host Stephen Colbert to share the news of the project with a live performance of the title track.
Sporting a posh white floor-length faux fur and statuesque gold sequined body suit, Keys took the stage to belt out the classic tune. Playing into her signature R&B vocal delivery, Keys still managed to sprinkle in the cabaret stylings of the song’s originator, Eartha Kitt. Keys, a trained pianist, opted out of playing to focus on her vocal performance while house musicians handled the instrumentation.
She also delivered a bonus performance of “Please Come Home For Christmas.”
Before her performance, the musician sat down with Colbert to discuss why she dedicated to the record the album, to which she replied, “It was time.”
The pair also discussed her past collaboration with singer Brandi Carlile. Carlisle recently covered folk icon Joni Mitchell’s Blue album as a tribute to the singer. When asked if there’s an artist’s album she would love to cover, Keys answered, “I feel like if I were to pick one, it would probably have to be Songs In The Key Of Life.”
Keys has, on numerous occasions, expressed her admiration for revered musician Stevie Wonder. Keys continued, “I tell you what, it wouldn’t be easy though. It would not be easy. That would be hard because there’s nobody who can play like Stevie Wonder. Period. End of story. You can try as hard as you can, but you’re not going to get that cord exactly right. But that would be amazing.”
Watch Keys’ performances above and her interview below.
Santa Baby is out now via Alicia Keys Records. Get it here.
Beloved series Carpool Karaoke has returned for its second season, which is set to debut on Friday (December 9). Ahead of the series’ upcoming release, Apple has unveiled its lineup of guests, which includes everyone from Duran Duran and Nikki Glasser to Sandra Oh and Hilary Clinton.
Legendary Chicago band Wilco, Ciara and Russell Wilson, and Method Man will also appear in the Apple original series.
The series started as a segment on James Corden’s Late Late Show. The bit would later be developed by Apple TV+ into its own series in 2017. Here are the official descriptions for each episode:
Sandra Oh & Duran Duran: It’s a dream come true for lifelong superfan Sandra when she meets her idols for the first time—and even performs with them.
For All Mankind Cast (Jodi Balfour, Edi Gathegi, Joel Kinnaman, Krys Marshall, Coral Peña, Shantel VanSanten, Cynthy Wu): In space, no one can hear you scream—but can they hear you sing “Spice Up Your Life”? The cast of the Apple Original is determined to find out.
Nikki Glaser & Wilco: The iconic Chicago band goes on an adventure with megafan Nikki, featuring a cameo by the great Mavis Staples and a Ferris Bueller homage.
Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton & Amber Ruffin: Hillary and Chelsea turn to their gutsy pal Amber for support as they sing along to empowering anthems—with an assist from Vanessa Williams.
The Bacon Brothers: This duo celebrates their longtime band by covering songs from other sibling acts—plus, Michael teases Kevin for his years of fashion fails.
Method Man & Chris Redd: From Stevie Wonder to DMX—and even Nickelback—the rapper/actor and comic riff through their playlist and a round of Black Facts.
Ciara & Russell Wilson: The power couple combines their passions as they sing along to Ciara’s bangers and hit the football field for a climactic pass.
Check out the trailer for Season 2 of Carpool Karaoke below.
Well, we’re in the home stretch: the winter holidays are now a matter of weeks away. Hopefully, you’ve done some exemplary planning and all your gift-buying has been done for months now. If that’s not the case, no need to worry: We got you covered.
If there are any music fans in your life whose names haven’t yet been crossed off your shopping list, our rundown of gift ideas is a strong place to start. Whether they could use some new headphones, if they’re more of a reader, or if something offbeat would perk their ears up, there’s bound to be at least one winning option here.
So, let’s get into it.
Grateful Dead Dancing Care Bears Little Playmate 7 Qt Cooler
Igloo
In terms of animals, this season is all about reindeer, but now’s a great time to give bears a look, because two of the most iconic ones ever have come together for a collaboration: the Care Bears and the Grateful Dead bears. They’ve united under the Igloo banner for a cooler that’s good for holding 7 quarts (or up to nine cans) and comes in a lovely pink color.
There are almost too many options when it comes to headphones, but this offering from Adidas is particularly compelling, especially for eco-conscious consumers. In addition to sounding great and being sweat- and splash-proof, the RPT-02 SOL headphones are actually powered by light and built in part from 87 percent recycled plastics.
Metallica had one of 2022’s biggest musical moments thanks to a memorable placement in Stranger Things, and now fans who want to spend a bit more time in Hawkins can. The band and Netflix teamed up for some exclusive merch based on the show and the band, including a version of the now-iconic Hellfire Club shirt that’s been given a taste of Metallica.
Skullcandy has become an industry leader in headphones and they sure have packed a lot of features into their new earbuds. Aside from the sound and build quality customers have come to expect, the Skull-iQ Smart Feature Technology inside offers hands-free voice control, making these a supreme pick for the more active among us. If you tend to misplace things, Skullcandy thought of that, too, as they have Tile technology built in.
Cameo has changed the game when it comes to giving everyday folks access to famous people. There is a rich roster of musicians on the platform, too, so if somebody in your life would appreciate a personalized video message from a musical favorite, options include Wayne Coyne of Flaming Lips, Kenny G, Bootsy Collins, Royce Da 5’9″, Gata, Alice Cooper, Dave Mustaine, Lupe Fiasco, and almost countless others.
Soon, there will be no doubt about what luggage on the airport carousel is yours. That is, if you get an item or two from the new Rolling Stones anniversary collection, which has their iconic mouth logo on everything from rolling luggage to duffel bags to backpacks, all of which will bring a distinct aesthetic to travel adventures.
If the constant flow of stories about musicians losing their hearing hasn’t made this clear: It’s important to protect your ears at concerts (and other loud environments). Ear plugs are a concert/festival must-have and Loop earplugs offer a volume reduction of 18 decibels while keeping the sound natural. So, if you or a loved one don’t already have a hearing protection solution, this is your sign to get one (specifically, this one).
There are almost as many earbud/headphone manufacturers out there as there are songs to listen to through their products. When it comes to high-end choices, though, Ultimate Ears has an offering worth considering. The UE Drops are about as bespoke as you can get, too: The buying process includes taking a custom impression of your ear, meaning the earbuds you end up with should fit better than any pair you’ve ever worn before.
The esteemed 33 1/3 series has been pumping out high-quality and super-focused books about classic albums for years now. This year, author Sequoia Maner took on Kendrick Lamar’s iconic album To Pimp A Butterfly, making this the perfect opportunity to get granular and learn about one of this era’s defining releases. And if that one doesn’t pique your interest, maybe one of the other books from this series will, which range from Cat Power to Duran Duran.
Beats is both one of the trendiest and most respected brand in headphones, and this year, they teamed up with Kim Kardashian for a line of flesh-colored earbuds that look wonderfully understated. Celebrity partnership aside, these have three listening modes (Active Noise Cancelling, Transparency Mode, and Adaptive EQ) and the Apple H1 chip, which allows for “automatic switching, audio sharing (with another pair of Beats headphones or Apple AirPods), and ‘Hey Siri.’”
If you haven’t gotten on board yet, here’s some news: VR is here. Furthermore, Beat Saber is one of the most engaging music experiences on the platform and the game introduces new content all the time: In just the past few months, song packs from The Weeknd and Lizzo were added, bringing some of today’s biggest bops to the saber-swinging realm.
It’s hard to believe this wasn’t already a thing, but in November, Snoop Dogg finally introduced a line of dog products, Snoop Doggie Doggs. The focus here is dog clothes, including jerseys, hoodies, shirts, bandanas, collars, harnesses, leashes, and tricked-out water/food bowls. There’s even a boom box chew toy that plays Snoop’s signature “bow wow wow, yippie yo, yippie yay” line from his 1993 classic “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?.”
A Creative’s Guide To Living An Artistic Life: Words + Music In 6 Seconds Deck
Dan Wilson
As a creative person, ruts happen. Grammy-winning artist/songwriter/producer Dan Wilson (of Semisonic) has something to help with those trying times, though: a 75-card deck of cards that feature advice about creativity, collaborating, and more. If an artist finds themselves stuck, they can pick a random card or flip through the deck, letting the wisdom contained within start them on the path to their next hit.
It could be argued that Harry Styles had a bigger year than anybody else in music, with “As It Was” spending 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, making it one of the longest-running chart-toppers ever. With that in mind, Harry’s House is a definite vinyl buy, especially if you opt for one of the exclusive colors (orange and seaglass green) available on his webstore.
The Birdsong Project is massive — For The Birds: The Birdsong Project is a five-volume benefit compilation consisting of 242 tracks by everybody from Jeff Tweedy to Damon Albarn to Tilda Swinton. This literally is for the birds, by the way, as the project benefits the National Audubon Society.
If your vinyl library doesn’t have any Blondie in it, this box set is probably the best possible place to start your collection off right. It has the band’s first six albums — Blondie, Plastic Letters, Parallel Lines, Eat To The Beat, Autoamerican, and The Hunter — as well as four additional LPs that feature outakes, B-sides, and other exclusive rarities that add up to 124 total studio tracks.
Billie Eilish has been in the perfume game for a bit now, and her releases stand out due to the eye-catching bust container they come in. As for her latest fragrance, it’s described, “An alluring aroma which opens with the freshness of Italian bergamot and apple blossom. It flows into a woody, earthy spiciness of papyrus and black pepper with a contrast of wild wet poppy flowers. A base of woody palo santo and ebony are expertly wrapped in a metallic, nuanced veil of skin musk.”
Time and time again, Vinyl Me, Please comes through when it comes to exclusive, appealing vinyl pressings. Pictured above is a gorgeous reissue of Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights (grab it here if that’s what you want), but their entire inventory is worth perusing to find the right album for your giftee. They also offer different options for gift memberships, so sending a loved one on that journey could be the way to go and the gift that keeps on giving.
Questlove is an established author at this point, and while The Roots drummer’s Music Is History book actually came out in 2021, it received some attention recently when the audiobook version earned a 2023 Grammy nomination in the Best Audio Book, Narration, And Storytelling Recording category. As for what the book’s about, it serves as a fascinating look at both Questlove’s encyclopedic mind and music history more broadly, via an exploration of one track per year from 1971 to 2021.
If that weren’t enough, Billboard put Bad Bunny atop its year-end Top Tours chart with a total gross of $373.5 million across his El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo 2022 and World’s Hottest Tour headlining treks. Additionally, he’s the first artist in history to claim two tours with over $100 million earnings within a calendar year.
This morning (December 8), Bad Bunny was yet again alone in the spotlight on the cover of Billboard. The accompanying story contrasted Bad Bunny’s simplistic tour sets — mostly, just him, a beach chair, and a microphone — with the multidimensional team effort behind him since Noah Assad, his manager, signed him in 2016 when Bad Bunny was bagging groceries in his native Puerto Rico.
Bad Bunny can command audiences of thousands by himself, but he values working with others more.
“I’m at a point where, no matter what happens, I’m not looking for anything to happen. For example, I wasn’t looking for a collab with Drake,” Bunny said. “It was very spontaneous. Now it’s different. Now everybody — the biggest artist you can think of — wants to collaborate with me.” When Cobo offered that Bad Bunny is the biggest artist she can think of, he used an interesting analogy to describe how seriously he takes his access to any collaborator he wants.
“And I collaborate with myself,” he continued. “I see collabs in a very different way, as something very special. For me, a collaboration is almost like, I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but it’s almost like having sex with someone. Making a song is a serious matter. You’re saying things, and you’re with someone, and it’s not going to go away. It’s there forever; it’s not like pressing ‘delete’ if you change your mind. At the end of the day, collaborating with Drake, or whoever, is as special as a collab with Buscabulla, or Chencho, or Rauw [Alejandro], or Jhayco. Each has a specific moment and a specific feeling.”
Offstage & personal with @sanbenito, the biggest artist of 2022
Bunny also shared that he plans to take a break in 2023 “for my physical health, my emotional health to breathe, enjoy my achievements.” We can all agree he’s earned it.
See outtakes from Bad Bunny’s Billboard cover below.
“At the beginning, I didn’t even know how to behave, what to do. It’s like, ‘Wait a minute, cabrón. I’m famous, I have to act this way, I have to hide, I have to pretend.’ But no. I’m me, and that’s that.” —@sanbenito
“I never dreamed I wanted to be the biggest one or No. 1. I simply wanted to make it […] If I had to live my life singing for 100 people every weekend, I would have been perfectly happy with that.” —@sanbenito
The most famous music festival in the world will return to the California desert next year after an eventful and historical 2022. The dates for Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival have been set for April 14-16, as well as April 21-23. Fans looking to get a jump on the tickets for the coveted festival before the lineup is announced can do so on Friday, June 17.
Next year’s festival already looks like another momentous one, as co-founder Paul Tollett said Frank Ocean would make his long-awaited return to the Coachella stage. While the remaining headliners and other performers have yet to be announced, judging from the most recent example in 2022 and the pre-pandemic show in 2019, there’ll be a massive variety in artists taking the stage, with some of music’s biggest stars closing it out.
Unfortunately, Coachella fans who purchased the festival’s NFTs to secure a lifetime ticket may be out of luck unless the organizers can sort out the mess left behind by the FTX crash. They’re working on that now; for the rest of us, it might just be safer to buy tickets the old-fashioned way for the time being.
(@BornAKang) 
