All the Songs in ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ Movie — and Which Songs Were Cut

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The second round of performances announced for the 2023 CMA Awards includes two collaborations scheduled for the genre’s reigning superstar, Morgan Wallen — one a medley of country classics with Post Malone and Hardy, and the other with a guest duet partner being held back as a surprise. Also planned for the Nov.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The act of exorcism was never more delightful than it is in Allison Russell’s elaborate new music video for her song “Demons,” being released just in time to really turn Halloween into a party. The celebrated singer-songwriter has never employed such epic visuals or choreography before.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic There are quite a few things Jessi Colter, of “I’m Not Lisa” fame, is not — besides Lisa. The country music veteran laughs at the idea that she is an “outlaw queen,” even though one of her claims to fame is being one of the four participants included on the trending-setting 1976 album “Wanted! The Outlaws,” along with her husband Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Tompall Glaser.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic On the day of the release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” Taylor Swift set a Spotify record in becoming the artist with the most streams in a single day in the streaming service’s history, according to a statement from Spotify on Saturday on X. The company added that, on top of that, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” had set a 2023 record as Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day so far this year. Spotify did not release overall numbers for the album or Swift’s total as an artist, as is its custom when announcing records being broken.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic It was a very good year, 1989 was. And by 1989, of course we mean 2014.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift‘s big year is being further commemorated with a leading 20 nominations for the 2023 Billboard Music Awards, followed by SZA and Morgan Wallen, who each have 17 nominations in a total of 16 categories. Other stars with a big look in the BBMAs nominations include the Weeknd, a finalist for 16 awards with 17 entries; Drake, who’s up for 14 awards; and first-time finalist Zach Bryan, who’s contending with 14 nominations in 13 categories. The winners in the data-driven awards will be revealed Nov.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic What has been described as the Beatles‘ “last song,” a recently completed version of “Now and Then” that includes contributions from all four members, is about to enter the realm of the now. The long-teased track will finally reach the public’s ears in one week, on Thursday, Nov. 2.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic U2 found what they were looking for in a duet partner Wednesday night at Sphere in Las Vegas, as Lady Gaga joined the group for duets on one of her songs, “Shallow,” and two of theirs, “All I Want Is You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Bono introduced his fellow leather-jacketed guest as “the most audacious, vivacious woman in any room she’s ever in. Would you welcome to our turntable, the divine — the divinyl! — Lady Gaga.” He wasn’t done praising her divinity.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Devo was, and is, the ultimate future-proof band. When they first entered the public consciousness in the late ‘70s, Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale and company seemed impossibly ahead of their time — in a primitive-futurist kind of way — and they still do. There’s very little that you could consider dated about the 50 cuts on their new career retrospective, “50 Years of De-Evolution 1973-2023,” since their worldview always kind of seemed to be trained on offering up dystopianism with a smile and a jacked-up synth-rock beat.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Gregg Sutton, a songwriter and musician who recorded as a solo artist, was a member of Lone Justice, toured with Bob Dylan and was the musical director for comedian Andy Kaufman, died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 74. No cause of death was immediately given.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift fans don’t always love delayed gratification, but they have embraced it in the case of “Cruel Summer,” a 2019 song they have finally driven to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, four years and two months after it made its first appearance on the chart. The track from the “Lover” album — or era — first reached the top 10 in early July, and had hovered there since, becoming a consensus pick among many for 2023’s “song of the summer,” even though it came out four autumns ago.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic When I spoke with Robbie Robertson over the phone in the last week of July, it was at what everyone might have expected would be the beginning of a great victory lap for the musician. His work with the Band in the late ‘60s through mid-‘70s had been properly commemorated, through a memoir and documentary that covered those crucial years. But the film work that had consumed so much of his attention in the decades since, almost all of it as a close collaborator with, and close friend, to Martin Scorsese? There hadn’t really been a proper nexus point to fully celebrate and explore that.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Lainey Wilson, the breakout country star who leads the pack in this year’s CMA Awards nominations, has announced a headlining tour that will take her across the U.S. in May through November of 2024. The singer and “Yellowstone” actor will celebrate her string of No.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic There aren’t a lot of precedents in pop music for the pairing of Billie Eilish and Finneas, when it comes to brother-and-sister performing or songwriting duos. But in the world of music for films, it might not be too soon to start considering a comparison with a very famous married duo: Alan and Marilyn Bergman, the long-reigning king and queen of movie theme songs.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic For anyone in southern California who had experienced FOMJ (fear of missing Joni) when Brandi Carlile led “Joni jams” with Joni Mitchell last year at the Newport Folk Festival or earlier this year at the Gorge, there was finally an antidote for that. Mitchell was — as hoped — one of the guests at the “Brandi Carlile and Friends” show Saturday night at the Hollywood Bowl, singing her classics “Circle Game, “Ladies of the Canyon” and “Shine” along with the full cast of participants gathered around her.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Darren Aronofsky‘s Sphere film, “Postcard From Earth,” is responsible for establishing all kinds of historic cinematic firsts — like the fact that it is the only movie ever to be released in 18K resolution on a screen that spans 160,000 square feet. But movie buffs will particularly enjoy one first that doesn’t fully reveal itself until the very last 90 seconds or so of the 50-minute running time, in the massive Las Vegas dome where the film just premiered.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic “Song of the Summer” is not an official Grammy category, of course, but the soundtrack to America’s collective life during those halcyon warm-weather months is definitely a harbinger. And although that distinction has never previously gone to a country song, most independent observers agreed that 2023’s title belonged to Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night.” After becoming the first country song by a solo male to top the Hot 100 in 42 years, it became the second longest-running single of any genre to top that Billboard chart, with an astonishing 16 non-consecutive weeks at No.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Who will be the anti-hero of the 2024 Grammys? Well, if that question sounds a little bit rigged, it’s not far from the truth: Taylor Swift enjoys a level of cultural dominance that few other performers have approached (including monopolizing National Football League coverage in recent weeks). Her fall 2022 album “Midnights” isn’t full of obvious swing-for-the-fences smashes like “1989” or seen as more of an art project like “Folklore” (her last two album of the year winners), but it’s got huge hits and a unique, late-night, bringing-the-club-home feel that will appeal to voters who like artists who don’t make the same album twice.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic “When will Taylor Swift’s film career take off?” has been a question lurking in the back of a lot of people’s minds ever since she started getting her feet wet with bit parts in “The Giver” and “Valentine’s Day”… and then further limited herself to keeping her toes damp with “Cats” and “Amsterdam” cameos. But do we finally have an answer to that question now, or what? Nobody should suppose that “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” doesn’t count as establishing her as a movie star, just because it’s a straightforward rendering of an ongoing concert tour that’s soon to become the most successful in history.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic In an intimate performance and conversation in Los Angeles Monday night, Olivia Rodrigo admitted that there were tears shed during the making of her new album, “Guts.” But she and producer/co-writer Dan Nigro clarified that it wasn’t just about the emotion in the lyrics. Some of those were tears of frustration as they obsessed over songs and struggled to get her all-important sophomore release just right over its 10-month creation. “We cried just because we were frustrated.