TAYLOR SWIFT

Ye And Taylor Swift Received Album Of The Year Nominations At The 2022 Grammys Thanks To A Last-Minute Decision

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The 2022 Grammy Awards will see the total number of categories increase from 84 to 86, but that’s not the show’s only big change. The Recording Academy also expanded the number of nominees in three categories: Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist, all of which are going from eight to ten. And as a new report from TheNThe New York Times, that may have allowed some of this year’s big albums — and a number of songs — may not have made the cut otherwise.

As per the piece, both Ye’s Donda and Taylor Swift’s Evermore were absent from the initial list of nominees that circulated before last week’s official announcement. They weren’t the only ones. Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” and ABBA’s “I Still Have Faith in You” received nominations for Record Of The Year, but only after the expansion. The same goes for Song of the Year nominees like Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” and Brandi Carlile’s “Right On Time.” Meanwhile, Baby Keem and Arooj Aftab landed nominations in the Best New Artist category, but only after the nomination.

Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, told NYT the last-minute expansion was done “to make room for more music, more artists and more genres, and to embrace the spirit of inclusion.” He added that artists added to the categories were the ninth and tenth mos-tvoted-for by the Recording Academy’s members. “For us this is all positive movement,” Mason said. “This is us honoring more great artists, more great music, giving artists an opportunity to shine and showcase.”

You can revisit the full list of 2022 Grammy nominees here.

Rihanna Is The Only 2000s Artist In The ‘Billboard’ Greatest Of All Time Hot 100 Artists Chart Top 10

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Although it’s been a few years since since Rihanna dropped a new single, don’t forget that she’s one of the biggest artists ever in terms of chart performance. Billboard has actually confirmed that: On their new Greatest Of All-Time Hot 100 Artists chart, Rihanna finds herself in the top 10.

The list is as follows:

  1. The Beatles
  2. Madonna
  3. Elton John
  4. Elvis Presley
  5. Mariah Carey
  6. Stevie Wonder
  7. Janet Jackson
  8. Michael Jackson
  9. Whitney Houston
  10. Rihanna

Of those, Rihanna is the only artist whose first single — 2005’s “Pon De Replay” — was released in the 2000s. Billboard notes that Drake was really close to also making the top 10, as he ranks No. 11 (compared to No. 22 on the 2018 chart). Also making the top 100 list are Taylor Swift (No. 21), Maroon 5 (24), Bruno Mars (29), and Justin Bieber (38). Additionally, a handful of artists who made their Hot 100 debut in the 2010s are also appearing on the chart for the first time: The Weeknd (No. 43), Post Malone (77), Ariana Grande (78), and Ed Sheeran (87).

As for how this chart was put together, Billboard notes, “Billboard‘s Greatest Of All-Time Hot 100 Songs and Artists rankings are based on weekly performance on the Hot 100 (from its inception on Aug. 4, 1958, through Nov. 6, 2021). Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods. Artists are ranked based on a formula blending performance, as outlined above, of all their Hot 100 chart entries.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Anderson .Paak Jokes He ‘Linked Up With The Wrong Pop Star’ As Taylor Swift Out-Performs Silk Sonic

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This month is a big one when it comes to the release of new music from today’s top stars. The smash-hit duo of Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars, Silk Sonic, shared their debut album. On the same day, Taylor Swift graced fans with the rerecorded version of her classic LP Red. Though Silk Sonic had one of their singles previously top the charts, Swift’s new album seems to have wildly out-performed Silk Sonic’s when it came to first-week album sales, leaving .Paak with a few regrets.

A few days after the release of his collaborative LP An Evening With Silk Sonic, .Paak shared a screenshot of the projected numbers for this week’s Billboard 200 albums chart. It show Swift’s music at No. 1, having nearly five times the amount of streams as Silk Sonic at No. 2. As a result of the numbers, .Paak joked that he wishes he formed Silk Sonic with Swift rather than Mars.

“Looks like I linked up with the wrong pop star,” he wrote. “Hey @taylorswift13 is your number still the same!? Lmk if you need help with 1989, I’m available! #ShakeItOff”

Despite the joke at Mars’ expense, .Paak has said he really does admire working with the singer. .Paak recently commended Mars as “one of the greatest vocalists” he’s ever worked with, going on to say that Mars has been able to push him “to a different level.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

A Certain Oscar-Nominated Actor Is ‘Casually Cruel’ In Taylor Swift’s Stunning ‘All Too Well: The Short Film’

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“All Too Well,” Taylor Swift‘s most beloved (and best) song, is rumored to be about her relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal. “Rumored” as she never names the actor in the Track Five (because nothing rhymes with “Gyllenhaal”?), but come on. There’s a reason he’s public enemy No. 1 among Swifties on the day that Red (Taylor’s Version) came out — “All Too Well: The Short Film” probably isn’t going to win him any fans, either.

The 13-minute video of the 10-minute song premiered on Friday at New York City’s Lincoln Center 13, where Swift also performed the song live for the first time. Now, the short film can be enjoyed by everyone — except Jake and Maggie, presumably — as it’s available on YouTube. The emotional part-music video, part-domestic drama tracks the relationship between Stranger Things standout (and Swift mega-fan) Sadie Sink as Not-Taylor and Dylan O’Brien as Not-Jake; there’s also a surprise cameo at the end.

Swift, who directed the short, told Seth Meyers that if Sink had said no to the role, “I don’t think I would’ve made it. I don’t think I would’ve made the film. I think I would’ve just been like, this is a sign.” You can watch “All Too Well: The Short Film” above.

After Ye’s Infamous Taylor Swift VMAs Moment, He Did An ‘Exile’ To Japan Because ‘America Hated’ Him

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It goes without saying, but Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Taylor Swift have had a famously contentious relationship since the infamous stage-crashing incident at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Now, Ye has revealed that the situation really impacted him, so much so that during the aftermath, he fled to Japan.

The second part of Ye’s recent Drink Champs interview is out now, and in it, he revealed (as Pitchfork notes) that after the VMAs, he “did a personal exile” with Virgil Abloh in Japan because “all of America hated” him. He also said, “Everyone was like, ‘You wrong for this one, you won’t win this,’ by telling me, ‘You shouldn’t have ran on stage, you were rude,’ God forbid.”

He also addressed the VMAs in the previously released first part of the interview, saying, “I was actually talked in to going to the awards show. At that time, it was [my manager] Don C.’s job to talk me into stuff. They find new people whose job would be to talk me into doing something that I don’t want to do — influencers, people around you. So that night, I said, ‘Man, I’m not going to this awards show. I’m not sitting through this no more.’ And the very first award, they sit me in the front row. You got [Beyoncé’s] ‘Single Ladies’ video… this is one of the best videos in history. So it’s not that it’s just for her when the artist does something that’s that compelling and incredible. We got to respect it.”

Watch the new Drink Champs episode below.

Taylor Swift And Saweetie Are Set To Perform On ‘Saturday Night Live’ In November

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So far, it’s been a big day in Saturday Night Live musical guest news. This morning, Ed Sheeran revealed that he will be able to perform on the show as planned following his positive COVID test. Now, not only has SNL confirmed the news, but they’ve also revealed their next two musical guests after Sheeran: Taylor Swift and Saweetie.

Swift will guest on the November 13 episode hosted by Jonathan Majors, while Saweetie will perform on the Simu Liu-hosted episode on November 20.

This will be Saweetie’s first time on the program. As for Swift, she’s an SNL veteran. Her first stint as musical guest came in 2009, and her upcoming performance will be her fourth. In her second 2009 episode, Swift had the rare honor of serving most as host and musical guest.

Beyond SNL, both Swift and Saweetie have been thriving lately. Swift is fresh off her first performance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, where she was on hand to induct Carole King. As for Saweetie, she recently had her own McDonald’s meal and her Netflix special Sex: Unzipped premiered just a few days ago.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Rihanna, The Weeknd, And Cardi B Had Some Of Music’s Best Halloween Costumes For 2021

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Musicians are creative folks who have costume budgets that let them go beyond Spirit Halloween’s offerings, so they tend to really show up with killer looks during spooky season. This year was more of the same on that front, as a lot of the world’s favorite artists delivered some Halloween costume excellence in 2021.

The Weeknd is no stranger to prosthetic make-up, as he proved in his “Save Your Tears” video, and he was at it again this weekend with an impressive Don Corleone from The Godfather look.

Meanwhile, Rihanna absolutely nailed her Gunna outfit by emulating a classic fit.

The newly engaged Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian also came through with a couple of couples looks. Over the weekend, they paid tribute to the movie True Romance and a few days ago, they dressed up as Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.

Anderson .Paak went hard, too, sharing photos of himself as Silk Sonic cohort Bruno Mars, Prince, and Stevie Wonder.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift has puts Cats behind her and has moved on to being a squirrel.

Charli XCX and Cardi B were on the same page, as they both embodied Morticia Addams from The Addams Family.

Finally, this one doesn’t really count, but Phoebe Bridgers has been dressing as a skeleton for well over a year.

Check out some other costumes from across the music world below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Weeknd, Drake, Ariana Grande, And Others Lead The List Of 2021 AMAs Nominations

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The 2021 American Music Awards aren’t that far away, as the AMAs are set to go down on November 21 on ABC. The nominees weren’t known before today, but the full list was revealed this morning.

Artist Of The Year is a crowded field, as it features Ariana Grande, BTS, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd. Rodrigo is also up for New Artist Of The Year, alongside The Kid Laroi, 24kGoldn, Giveon, and Masked Wolf. There’s also a lot going on in the Favorite Male Pop Artist field, as nominated there are Drake, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Lil Nas X, and The Weeknd. Meanwhile, up for Favorite Female Pop Artist are Grande, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, Rodrigo, and Swift.

As for rap, up for Favorite Male Hip-Hop Artist are Drake, Lil Baby, Moneybagg Yo, Polo G, and Pop Smoke, while nominated in the female category are Cardi B, Coi Leray, Erica Banks, Megan Thee Stallion, and Saweetie. On a related note, Ye (formerly Kanye West) is up for Favorite Gospel Artist, competing against Kirk Franklin, Koryn Hawthorne, Maverick City Music, and Tasha Cobbs Leonard.

Voting for this year’s awards is set to open at 9:30 a.m. ET, and fans can vote today through November 16 by searching for “AMAs” on TikTok.

Check out the full list of nominees below.

Artist Of The Year
Taylor Swift
Ariana Grande
BTS
Drake
Olivia Rodrigo
The Weeknd

Favorite Trending Song
Erica Banks — “Buss It”
Måneskin — “Beggin”
Megan Thee Stallion — “Body”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Drivers License”
Popp Hunna — “Adderall (Corvette Corvette)”

New Artist Of The Year
24kGoldn
Giveon
Masked Wolf
Olivia Rodrigo
The Kid Laroi

Collaboration Of The Year
24kGoldn Feat. Iann Dior — “Mood”
Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez — “Dákiti”
Chris Brown and Young Thug — “Go Crazy”
Doja Cat Feat. SZA — “Kiss Me More”
Justin Bieber Feat. Daniel Caesar and Giveon — “Peaches”

Favorite Music Video
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak) — “Leave The Door Open”
Cardi B — “Up”
Lil Nas X — “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Drivers License”
The Weeknd — “Save Your Tears”

Favorite Male Pop Artist
Drake
Ed Sheeran
Justin Bieber
Lil Nas X
The Weeknd

Favorite Female Pop Artist
Ariana Grande
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift

Favorite Pop Duo or Group
AJR
BTS
Glass Animals
Maroon 5
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak)

Favorite Pop Album
Ariana Grande — Positions
Dua Lipa — Future Nostalgia
Olivia Rodrigo — Sour
Taylor Swift — Evermore
The Kid Laroi — F*ck Love

Favorite Pop Song
BTS — “Butter”
Doja Cat Feat. SZA — “Kiss Me More”
Dua Lipa — “Levitating”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Drivers License”
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande — “Save Your Tears (Remix)”

Favorite Male Country Artist
Chris Stapleton
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen

Favorite Female Country Artist
Carrie Underwood
Gabby Barrett
Kacey Musgraves
Maren Morris
Miranda Lambert

Favorite Country Duo or Group
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Lady A
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band

Favorite Country Album
Chris Stapleton — Starting Over
Gabby Barrett — Goldmine
Lee Brice — Hey World
Luke Bryan — Born Here Live Here Die Here
Morgan Wallen — Dangerous: The Double Album

Favorite Country Song
Chris Stapleton — “Starting Over”
Chris Young and Kane Brown — “Famous Friends”
Gabby Barrett — “The Good Ones”
Luke Combs — “Forever After All”
Walker Hayes — “Fancy Like”

Favorite Male Hip-Hop Artist
Drake
Lil Baby
Moneybagg Yo
Polo G
Pop Smoke

Favorite Female Hip-Hop Artist
Cardi B
Coi Leray
Erica Banks
Megan Thee Stallion
Saweetie

Favorite Hip-Hop Album
Drake — Certified Lover Boy
Juice WRLD — Legends Never Die
Megan Thee Stallion — Good News
Pop Smoke — Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon
Rod Wave — SoulFly

Favorite Hip-Hop Song
Cardi B — “Up”
Internet Money Feat. Gunna, Don Toliver, and Nav — “Lemonade”
Lil Tjay Feat. 6lack — “Calling My Phone”
Polo G — “Rapstar”
Pop Smoke — “What You Know Bout Love”

Favorite Male R&B Artist
Chris Brown
Giveon
Tank
The Weeknd
Usher

Favorite Female R&B Artist
Doja Cat
HER
Jazmine Sullivan
Jhené Aiko
SZA

Favorite R&B Album
Doja Cat — Planet Her
Giveon — When It’s All Said And Done… Take Time
HER — Back Of My Mind
Jazmine Sullivan — Heaux Tales
Queen Naija — Missunderstood

Favorite R&B Song
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak) — “Leave The Door Open”
Chris Brown and Young Thug — “Go Crazy”
Giveon — “Heartbreak Anniversary”
HER — “Damage”
Jazmine Sullivan — “Pick Up Your Feelings”

Favorite Male Latin Artist
Bad Bunny
J Balvin
Maluma
Ozuna
Rauw Alejandro

Favorite Female Latin Artist
Becky G
Kali Uchis
Karol G
Natti Natasha
Rosalía

Favorite Latin Duo or Group
Banda MS de Sergio Lizárraga
Calibre 50
Eslabon Armado
La Arrolladora Banda El Limón De Rene Camacho
Los Dos Carnales

Favorite Latin Album
Bad Bunny — El Último Tour Del Mundo
Kali Uchis — Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)
Karol G — KG0516
Maluma — Papi Juancho
Rauw Alejandro — Afrodisíaco

Favorite Latin Song
Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez — “Dákiti”
Bad Bunny and Rosalía — “La Noche De Anoche”
Farruko — “Pepas”
Kali Uchis — “Telepatía”
Maluma and The Weeknd — “Hawái (Remix)”

Favorite Rock Artist
AJR
All Time Low
Foo Fighters
Glass Animals
Machine Gun Kelly

Favorite Inspirational Artist
Cain
Carrie Underwood
Elevation Worship
Lauren Daigle
Zach Williams

Favorite Gospel Artist
Kanye West
Kirk Franklin
Koryn Hawthorne
Maverick City Music
Tasha Cobbs Leonard

Favorite Dance/Electronic Artist
David Guetta
Illenium
Marshmello
Regard
Tiësto

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Andrew Lloyd Webber Says There’s One Thing He Enjoyed About The ‘Cats’ Movie, Which He Really, Really Hates

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Few films are as loathed as Cats, the star-studded, bewilderingly misjudged movie take on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s deathless feline musical. But you know who hates it more than just about anyone? Andrew Lloyd Webber. The trauma of seeing one of his most successful shows turned into one of cinema’s biggest farts was so traumatic he even bought himself a therapy dog. But it wasn’t all bad for him. After all, he got to write a song with one of today’s biggest musicians.

As per Variety, the musical theater god recently confessed at an event that he quite liked working “Beautiful Ghosts,” a new song for the movie he composed with Taylor Swift, who played the mischievous Macavity.

“It was one of the few enjoyable experiences [on the film],” Lloyd Webber admitted. “It was probably the enjoyable experience.”

Lloyd Webber called Swift, one of many of the film’s stars who somehow escaped unscathed, a “real pro,” and praised her for digging into the source: T.S. Eliot’s poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.

“One of the things I was quite intrigued by, she got to the essence of what T.S. Eliot was about,” Lloyd Webber recalled. “It wasn’t just a lyric thrown together at all. I did enjoy working with her very, very, very much.”

So, good for him, because otherwise, it sounds like Lloyd Webber didn’t have a good time watching one of his shows massacred. He previously trashed the film to Variety. “Cats was off-the-scale all wrong,” he said back then. “There wasn’t really any understanding of why the music ticked at all. I saw it and I just thought, ‘Oh, God, no.’ It was the first time in my 70-odd years on this planet that I went out and bought a dog. So the one good thing to come out of it is my little Havanese puppy.”

In the meantime, Lloyd Webber can console himself with having been a wildly successful musical impresario for the last several decades, with one of them — The Phantom of the Opera — still playing on Broadway after 33 years. Speaking of bad movie musicals…

(Via Variety)

Soulja Boy Shows His Swiftie Side By Commanding Kanye West To Apologize To Taylor Swift

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At the moment, Soulja Boy is not pleased with Kanye West. Soulja apparently recorded a verse for West’s new album Donda, but was ultimately not included on the release. That left him pretty upset, and since then, his Twitter has been a regular feed of anti-West posts. As part of that feed, Soulja has found himself in Swiftie territory.

This afternoon, Soulja insisted that West apologize to Swift, presumably for their infamous microphone-snatching moment at the 2009 VMAs. He tweeted, “U P*ssy. U really wore that trump hat too. You did a-lot of corny sh*t in ur career and got a pass. B*tch ass n**** apologize to Taylor swift @kanyewest.” He quickly followed up by noting that had West tried to take a microphone from him, the outcome of that situation would have been violent: “If u would have ran on stage and snatched a mic from my hand I would have knocked yo ass out live on MTV @kanyewest.”

Meanwhile, it seems West has actually tried to mend fences with Swift, or at least brought up the possibility. Back in September 2020, West tweeted that he wanted to help Swift regain control over her masters, saying, “I’M GOING TO PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT TAYLOR SWIFT GETS HER MASTERS BACK. SCOOTER [Braun] IS A CLOSE FAMILY FRIEND.”