Wham! and Mariah Carey have entered the UK charts earlier than ever this year.Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ and ‘Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ entered the chart at number 37 and and 40 in the UK Top 40 this weekend, respectively.Last year, it wasn’t until the third week of November that a Christmas song, ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’, appeared on the charts.Both songs will likely now remain in the charts in the lead up to Christmas over the coming weeks. Currently there are no other Christmas songs in the Top 100.Back in 2020, Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ became a UK Number One for the first time ever, 26 years after it was first released.“Happy Christmas UK!! We finally made it!!!,” the singer said at the time.
Are They Not Memes?: Devo on How De-evolution Is More Meaningful Than Ever, as Band Celebrates 50 Years With a New Compilation and Tour
25.10.2023 - 00:37 / variety.com
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.
De-evolution, for better or worse, is timeless, and so, apparently, are the men who introduced it to the world. Beyond the just-released Rhino collection, the band is engaged in a round of touring that will take them up and down the west coast through the first three weeks of November, including a show at L.A.’s YouTube Theatre on Nov. 16 and a festival date in Orange County two days later.
(Scroll down for the full list of dates.) They admit they may not be timeless in every regard. Mothersbaugh tells Variety how it felt being on tour in Europe recently: “I really enjoyed doing the European shows. It reminded me enough of the old days that it was fun.
And I mean, we don’t look the same. But when I was a kid I loved to go see Hound Dog Taylor and different old blues players. And you’d look at their album covers and then you’d see them in person and you’d go, ‘Whoa, that’s pretty hardcore.’ Like, ‘Oh, wait a minute, that was 15 years ago or 20 years ago, when the album came out.’ And so now you see kids in the audience give you looks like that.
Four-hour pauses in Gaza conflict raise more questions than they answer, says Stephen Flynn
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has said that pauses to bombing in Gaza “provide more questions than they do answers”.
CMA Awards 2023: The Complete List of Winners, Including Luke Combs’ ‘Fast Car’ and More (Updating)
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The winners of the 2023 CMA Awards are being announced from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Luke Combs‘ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” won the first two on-air awards, for single of the year and song of the year.
Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs Tie as BMI’s Songwriters of the Year, Sing Each Other’s Songs at Ceremony; Matraca Berg Lands Icon Honor
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen tied for songwriter of the year of the BMI Country Music Awards, held Tuesday night at BMI’s building in Nashville. To commemorate the tie (which clearly had been communicated to the twin winners in advance), BMI cooked up another surprise: a climactic performance for the evening in which Wallen and Combs sat side by side and borrowed each other’s hits.
Prince Harry 'doesn't care' about not being invited to father's birthday, says expert
Prince Harry "doesn't care" about not receiving an invitation to his father King Charles' birthday celebrations, a royal commentator has claimed. The Duke of Sussex, 39, and his wife Meghan Markle, 42, have not made the guest list for His Majesty's upcoming 75th birthday gathering at Clarence House, despite other Royals such as the Prince and Princess of Wales being invited. A spokesperson confirmed the Sussexes had not been invited in a rare public statement, claiming there had been "no contact regarding an invitation".
Ashley Gorley Is ASCAP’s Country Songwriter of the Year for 10th Time; Morgan Wallen’s ‘You Proof’ Named Song of the Year
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Ashley Gorley is always the odds-on favorite to win the songwriter of the year award at the ASCAP Country Music Awards. With the wind of a healthy amount of fresh Morgan Wallen tracks at his back, he was again shooed in for the top honor as the winners were announced Monday night in Nashville.
Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Bows at No. 1 With 1.65 Million Units — Her Best Album Debut Ever
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift‘s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” has now gone down on the books as giving the singer her best first week tally for an album ever. The release tops the Billboard 200 with 1.653 million equivalent album units. That puts it ahead of her previous personal best, which was 1.578 million for “Midnights,” released just over a year ago.
Apple & Amazon “Very Pleased” With Theatrical Box Office Results, Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble Says; Streaming And Concert Films Could Soon Give Theaters “More Content Than Ever”
Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble said Apple and Amazon, two behemoths of the tech world but newcomers to the wide-release movie business, are so far “very pleased” with their results.
Giles Martin on Producing the Beatles’ ‘Now and Then,’ Remixing the Red and Blue Albums, and How Technology Is Enabling a Mass Emotional Experience
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Christmas has come early for Beatles fans… who fortunately have been granted a week between gifts, so they don’t have to choose which to unwrap first. There was Thursday’s release, of course, of the newsmaking “Now and Then” single, a track that features the late John Lennon and George Harrison that was recently completed by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, with Martin on board as McCartney’s co-producer.
For Boygenius’ Halloween Show at Hollywood Bowl, the Cloak of Rock Greatness Is No Costume: Concert Review
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic “Baby, it’s Halloween / And we can be anything,” Phoebe Bridgers once promised, in a song named after the high holy day of Oct. 31.
Allison Russell and Her Childhood Pal, ‘Eras Tour’ Creative Director Ethan Tobman, on Teaming Up for Epic ‘Demons’ Music Video (EXCLUSIVE)
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.
Jessi Colter, the Reluctant ‘Outlaw Queen,’ on Life After Waylon and Working With Margo Price on New Album
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.
Taylor Swift Beats Her Own Spotify Record for Most Single-Day Streams for an Artist With ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Release
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.
The Beatles’ ‘Last Song,’ ‘Now and Then,’ Is Set for Release, Along With Expanded, Remix-Filled ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ Hits Collections
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.
Gregg Sutton, Songwriter-Musician Who Played With Artists From Lone Justice and Bob Dylan to Andy Kaufman, Dies at 74
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.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ Hits No. 1 on Hot 100, Four Years After Release
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.
A Last Conversation With Robbie Robertson, About ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and Reconvening With Martin Scorsese: ‘It’s Just Been a Gift in Life’
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.
Brandi Carlile Brings Out Joni Mitchell, Annie Lennox for Bravura Turns at ‘Friends’ Show at Hollywood Bowl
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.
Morgan Wallen May Get Shut Out of Grammys Again — But the Reasons Are Complicated
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.
Grammy Predictions: Taylor Swift, SZA and Olivia Rodrigo Likely to Battle for Album of the Year
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.