If you have been following along with my posts over the past year, you will know that I have dedicated each Thursday toward showcasing those songs that sat on the top of the charts this past year, as well as new offerings that are sure to cause a ripple in the weeks and months to come. Today’s post takes a look back at the past year and offers up a few tasty nuggets for you to enjoy. Let’s begin.
1- Today/Tomorrow’s Top 40 Checklist:
In this checklist you will find the complete list of every topic covered this past year. There are links to all posts for you to enjoy at your leisure. The link to the 2022 Today/Tomorrow’s Top 40 checklist for the year can be found here.
2- Today/Tomorrow’s Top 40 Spotify Playlist:
Each song covered throughout the course of 2022 was also compiled onto a Spotify playlist. You can access the best music of 2002 by clicking on the link here.
3- Artist of the Year:
The Artist of the Year for 2022 is none other than Bad Bunny. For the third consecutive year, Bad Bunny has dominated the numbers when it comes to downloads and streams. In the past three years, Bad Bunny’s songs have been streamed over 35 billion times on Spotify!!! That dwarfs the totals achieved by other heavyweight artists such as Drake, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Justin Bieber. Bad Bunny is the worldwide runaway leader in popularity when it comes to his fanbase so it was no surprise that as festival season begins anew for 2023 that Bad Bunny was chosen as the headlining act for the Coachella Music Festival. On a related note, Bad Bunny’s co-headlining act at Coachella is BlackPink, the all-female K-pop phenoms from South Korea. With social media and music sharing platforms being what they are today, there has never been a better time to be a musician. Anyone with talent from any part of the world can now make it to the top of the music world. There are no greater examples of this than Bad Bunny and BlackPink. This past year I profiled both artists in posts that you can read here and here.
4- Song of the Year:
One of the reasons I made the mid-year switch from following the songs on the top of the charts to introducing you to brand new releases was that the top of the charts ended up being dominated by a small handful of artists such as Lizzo, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles. While a few songs by other artists came and went, tunes such as “As It Was” by Harry Styles remained in the Top Ten for most of the year. As a writer, there is only so much one can say about a performer such as Harry Styles. He had one of the most successful years in recent memory, with two #1 hits, over five million is album sales of his hit record, Harry’s House and a concert tour that, among other things saw him perform an almost month-long series of sold out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He is a gender-defying, genre-spanning, kindness-selling superstar and, if not for Bad Bunny’s ridiculous numbers, I am sure that Harry Styles would have been Artist of the Year, as well as having the Song of the Year for “As It Was”. I did wrote about Mr. Styles twice. You can read both posts here and here.
5- Musical Moment of the Year:
Choosing one moment as being the most memorable musical moment of the year is a highly subjective one, for sure. However, having said that, I can’t imagine there being much debate over the emotional impact of seeing sixteen year old Shane Hawkins sit in place of his father and play “My Hero” with his musical family, The Foo Fighters during the first of two Taylor Hawkins Tribute concerts organized by Taylor friend and bandmate, Dave Grohl. 2022 saw the untimely passing of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins while on tour wth the band in South America. For Grohl, having lost Kurt Cobain while in Nirvana and now losing Hawkins, it was a blow that could have ended his career. But Dave Grohl decided the best way to handle the situation and to honour his friend was to throw a musical celebration of life in the form of two tribute concerts; one in London, England and the other in Los Angeles. Both shows were a marvellous example of showcasing the bonds that exist between bands, between drummers and between generations. But while many musical celebrities lent their support such as Rush, P!nk, Liam Gallagher, Wolfgang Van Halen, Def Leppard, Miley Cyrus and many, many more, the person who stole the show and took a real star turn was none other than Taylor Hawkins’ teenage son, Shane Hawkins. Leading the Foo Fighters in “My Hero”, Shane Hawkins delivered one of the most amazing performances on any stage in recent memory. Channeling every ounce of emotion and skill, Shane Hawkins gave one of the most memorable grace-under-pressure performances ever, as the rest of the Foo Fighters kept taking turns watching over him should he have faltered in any way at all. It was terrific rock n’ roll but it was an even better example of the love that exists between families and how music makes its expression possible. I wrote about this performance in a post that you can read here.
6- Musical Trend of the Year:
The success of international acts such as Bad Bunny and BlackPink aside, at the beginning of 2022 no one could have predicted that we would witness a return to the top of the charts for 80s icon Kate Bush and her hit song, “Running Up That Hill”. While Kate Bush may be my favourite female artist and while I may know her song catalogue inside and out, an entirely new generation of music lovers became aware of her greatness by way of the inclusion of her song in a television show called Stranger Things. The use of “Running Up That Hill” in a pivotal scene from the series captured the attention of throngs of young viewers who then used their power as social media influencers to pore through Kate Bush’s greatest hits, causing the sixty year old Bush to become one of the most talked about and viewed celebrities of the year. Producers of other television shows took note of the success that Stranger Things had using iconic 80s music to soundtrack their show. The most noteworthy example of this comes from the series Wednesday starring Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family franchise. Ortega is on track to win an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Wednesday Addams and has created several viral social media moments already by using music to augment her acting as seen in her playing of Vivaldi’s “Winter” on the cello while fire erupts all around her and most recently, her iconic dance scene in which she dances in her own unique style to “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps. You can watch Jenna Ortega’s scenes here and here. I wrote about the renaissance of Kate Bush in a post that you can access here.
What were some of your musical highlights from 2022? Did you get to attend any memorable concerts? Did you discover a new act or re-discover an old favourite? How did music play a part in your life as the pandemic restrictions eased and we slowly, carefully got back out there in the real world some more? I would love to hear what you have to say about the topics listed above or about anything on your mind related to the world of music and those who sing it and play it. Please feel free to leave your comments in the comment box below. That’s a wrap on the year 2022 from the world of music. Please join me every Thursday for the rest of the year for all that is new and exciting in the world of music for 2023. Until then, take care and bye for now.
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Quite remarkable how you can keep up with the contemporary scene. You seem to have some great insight on past songs, which is barely something I can manage. Perhaps writing about cover songs keeps me stuck on the older stuff, I applaud your enthusiasm!
I have teenage daughters, Randy. That’s what keeps me current. To be honest, I don’t care for much of what plays as hits these days but saying that out loud just makes me seem like an old fuddy-duddy. So, I work harder on the Today’s/Tomorrow’s Top 40 posts than I do on anything else that I write about. What I do find interesting about it all is how technology is being used so differently by today’s artists. How someone like Bad Bunny can have 35 Billion streams is almost beyond comprehension. The sheer mathematics of it all is incredible! And yet, these folks have figured out how to connect with their fans in such a way that makes radio stations almost obsolete. I imagine the emergence of solely A. I. bands will soon be a thing, too. Such are the times. I wonder what 2023 will bring? Well, whatever it is, I will try to touch upon it as best I can. Take care, Randy.
That was a wonderful recap . However I was feeling my age until you again talked about Kate Bush ( I’d never even heard of Bad Bunny til you showcased him!)
My only real experience with music during the pandemic was through you .
As I’ve said before you try gave me something to look toward to every day and I’m forever grateful for that and my awesome special present , that I’ll cherish forever ❤️
We lost a lot of great musicians this past year, but the death of Taylor Hawkins was a hard one to process. That guy sure seemed to enjoy life! I watched the Alanis Morissette documentary and loved seeing him in the early years…. And seeing his son play drums at the London concert was pretty emotional!
I must say, Harry’s song “As it Was” really hit a chord for me. Since the pandemic, nothing seems the same as it was! The world feels a little different to me somehow.
I agree with you about Taylor Hawkins and Alanis Morissette. I thought that he was a great asset to her during those early days and she to him as well. As for the pandemic, you are correct there, too. I am not sure if we will ever feel as carefree and easy going as we once did. Harry Styles did nail that vibe, for sure. I thought the Song of the Year nod was well-earned. Thanks for such a great comment. I appreciate it. 😀