Entertainment
Beyoncé is Billboard's greatest pop star of the 21st century. Mom Tina isn't surprised
The end of the 21st century is still decades away, but Billboard has already declared its greatest pop star: Beyoncé.
The music magazine on Tuesday revealed that the “Crazy in Love” and “Formation” diva had secured the top spot among 25 generational pop talents, including Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Drake and Lady Gaga. Billboard’s editorial staff selected Queen Bey for her “full 25 years of influence, evolution and impact,” the outlet announced.
“She’s been Beyoncé for 25 years now, and as she continues to challenge herself (and by extension, the rest of the pop world) to find new and different ways to be define [sic] greatness,” wrote Billboard deputy editor Andrew Unterberger, “it doesn’t seem like she’s going to stop being Beyoncé anytime soon.”
As part of its Beyoncé celebration, Billboard published an essay that chronicled the “Single Ladies” singer’s career from her Destiny’s Child days in the late 1990s to her most recent album, “Cowboy Carter.” The career retrospective praised the Houston native’s consistency, her ubiquity across music and other facets of pop culture — including film and fashion — and her “commitment to innovation.”
While the music outlet dedicated thousands of words to Beyoncé’s life and career, the singer’s mom, Tina Knowles, offered a handful in response to her daughter’s latest honor.
“That’s nice. That’s very nice,” Knowles told TMZ during a brief exchange Tuesday evening on the Sunset Strip.
When the reporter asked whether her family gets “used to those titles” and accolades, Knowles simply responded, “Yeah.”
The “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ’Em” singer has not yet publicly addressed her latest honor.
Knowles, Destiny’s Child’s former costume designer and mother to “Cranes in the Sky” artist Solange, isn’t shy about celebrating her superstar kin. On her Instagram, Knowles hypes her daughters’ magazine covers, album sales and even their nonmusic ventures, such as Beyoncé’s Cécred haircare line and her SirDavis whiskey brand.
On Tuesday, Knowles also touted Beyoncé’s upcoming NFL halftime show. The Grammy winner’s performance will stream Christmas Day on Netflix when the Houston Texans host the Baltimore Ravens at NRG Stadium. Knowles told TMZ that “excellence” is what viewers can expect from the holiday gig.
Taylor Swift, who soon will wrap her blockbuster Eras tour after nearly two years, secured the No. 2 spot on Billboard’s list. The historic Grammy winner (she is the only artist to win album of the year four times) “is the most famous woman in the world,” according to Billboard. However, the well-meaning praise inadvertently sparked a twofold backlash last week when her ranking was announced. Before Beyoncé landed the top spot, some of Swift’s legion of fans, known as Swifties, called out Billboard about her second-place ranking and made the case for the “Lavender Haze” singer to be No. 1.
“I like Beyoncé but she’s nowhere near Taylor’s level when it comes to impact and numbers,” a fan tweeted last week. Another Swift devotee on X (formerly Twitter) also cited the “Love Story” pop star’s “commercial success” and “record-breaking sales” as reasons for her to claim the top spot.
Adding salt to the wound, Billboard included a controversial snippet of Kanye West’s “Famous” music video in its montage meant to celebrate Swift. The Billboard clip reportedly featured the music video’s infamous wax figure modeled after a naked Swift, prompting Billboard to issue an apology for including the clip “that falsely depicted her.”
“We have removed the clip from our video and sincerely regret the harm we caused with this error,” the outlet tweeted.
In Tuesday’s Beyoncé reveal, Billboard acknowledged Swift’s accomplishments, lauding her as the “lone artist who really challenged Beyoncé for the top spot” and celebrating her dominance in album sales, streaming and touring. However, she “simply hasn’t been around for long enough to be able to match the expansiveness of [Beyoncé’s] quarter-century of dominance,” the magazine said.
Still, Swift found success with Spotify, which announced Wednesday that the “Shake It Off” diva was its most-streamed artist of the year. Swift also earned the title last year.
“In her Global Top Artist era,” Spotify tweeted Wednesday. “Congratulations Taylor Swift on the over 26+ billion streams in 2024.”
Joining Swift as the audio platform’s top 10 global artists are fellow Billboard 21st century greatest pop star honorees Drake, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Bad Bunny and Kanye West.
“You guys are unbelievable. What an amazing thing to find out going into our last weekend of eras shows,” Swift wrote to fans Wednesday in an Instagram story. “THANK YOU!”
For Beyoncé and Swift, their respective Billboard and Spotify wins can be a boon as they prepare for the 2025 Grammy Awards. In November, Beyoncé earned 11 nominations, the most of the latest crop of Grammy hopefuls. Top nominees also include Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Swift.
Who will win the top Grammy prizes? It’s best to stick around, ‘round, ‘round for when the ceremony is broadcast on CBS and streams live from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 2
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Movie Reviews
Andrew Bell’s ‘BLEEDING’ (2024) – Movie Review – PopHorror
I’ve seen good films and I’ve seen bad films. This is, indeed, not a good film by any stretch of the imagination.
Evidently, a new drug that is adjacent to vampire blood is being bought and sold on the black market for profit and pleasure, which already sounds like something from a Bram Stoker rip-off novel. Sean is a young drug dealer who gets his cousin Eric “into some deep shit,” as the characters would put it. Sean’s dad destroys the drugs in a fit of rage and owes money to the people who loaned it to him.
Let’s just get this out of the way. This movie is bad and for all the reasons that you might think. For starters, the dialogue is horrendous and sounds like something from a Grand Theft Auto game, where every other word is profanity. It seems like the writer was writing the script for a film project while in college and forgot to add character development (or characters that we cared about).
Moreover, the plot has already been played so many times. How many times do we have to see a virus ravage the people of a town (or the entire world) and watch it slowly destroy the people in the film little by little? I’m no stranger to a virus movie and I’m certainly on board with a good one. I’ve even made a few virus-related films. It would have been nice to see the filmmakers do something différent with the material.
Finally, the acting is laughably terrible. There is way too much overacting, with screaming and shouting in every other scene. It’s like watching an episode of a Vikings series, with all of the characters are yelling at each other.
All in all, this movie was something that had no purpose and was bereft of character development, which makes me wonder how the film managed to get made.
Entertainment
Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain retires after final touring gig in his 42-year run
Nicko McBrain bid farewell over the weekend to the last crowd of metalheads he will ever perform for as a touring member of Iron Maiden.
McBrain, 72, who has served as the British heavy metal band’s drummer for more than 40 years, announced his retirement from touring hours before the band’s Saturday show in Sao Paulo, Brazil — the closer of the Future Past Tour.
“After much consideration, it is with both sorrow and joy, I announce my decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle,” the London-born musician wrote in a statement on the band’s website, adding that Saturday’s show would be his “final gig” with the band.
While he will “remain firmly part of the Iron Maiden family,” McBrain said he will now dedicate himself to “different personal projects” and “existing business and ventures” — including the British Drum Co., for which he serves as its international ambassador, his percussion shop Nicko McBrain’s Drum One, his Iron Maiden cover band Titanium Tart and his Florida BBQ joint Rock-N-Roll Ribs.
“I look into the future with much excitement and great hope!” he said.
Iron Maiden’s co-manager Rod Smallwood followed McBrain’s announcement with a statement on behalf of the band and its other co-manager, Andy Taylor.
“Thank you for being an irrepressible force behind the drum kit for Maiden for 42 years and my friend for even longer,” Smallwood said, adding that he and the band’s remaining members will miss McBrain “immensely!”
“Such a bond is forever,” Smallwood said.
Iron Maiden’s Friday and Saturday performances in Sao Paulo, where Smallwood said the band would play to 90,000 fans, were a “poetic” coda for McBrain, the manager said, as the band has always had a “special relationship” with Brazil. In 1985, Iron Maiden played a seminal set at the biennial Rock in Rio festival.
At Saturday night’s show, lead singer Bruce Dickinson celebrated McBrain’s contributions to the band, which was formed in East London in 1975. (McBrain joined in 1982, replacing Clive Burr, and has been credited on every album since 1983’s “Piece of Mind,” Billboard reported.) “He was a drummer before I was a singer. He was a pilot before I was a pilot. And now, he’s done,” Dickinson said in footage posted on YouTube. “Not leaving the band, but he’s just not playing live with us anymore.”
As attendees began chanting his name, McBrain rose from his drum set to take a bow.
“I want the rest of the night to be a celebration of Nick,” Dickinson then said. “A celebration of the joy that he’s brought to everybody around the world, not just here in Brazil.”
McBrain’s touring retirement comes a year after he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. After 10 weeks of rigorous physical therapy, he rejoined rehearsals, eventually returning to the stage for the Future Past Tour.
The band returns this spring for its 50th anniversary Run for Your Lives World Tour, kicking off in May in Budapest. Simon Dawson, who collaborated with Maiden bassist Steve Harris on his solo projects “British Lion” (2012) and “The Burning” (2020), will be the new touring drummer, the band announced Sunday.
Movie Reviews
Movie Review: ‘Gladiator II’ | Recent News
“Gladiator II” has some awfully big sandals to fill, both commercially and creatively. Its predecessor, 2000’s “Gladiator,” made $187 million at the domestic box office. The new film has thus far made an estimated $132 million after three weekends of release. With a lot of money up for grabs in the upcoming holiday season, another $55 million isn’t out of the question. Maybe I could even stretch to see it making the $68 million it needs to hit the $200 million mark. Yes, inflation means that it’s less impressive to make these numbers now than it did nearly a quarter-century ago, but these are attainable goals.
What I do not see as attainable is the sequel ever becoming as well-regarded as the original. That film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, so already the new one has to live up to an impossibly high (dare I say “gold”?) standard. But even with realistic standards, this movie is still a disappointment.
The second film takes place a few decades after the first, with the once-great Roman Empire ready to collapse under the blissfully-ignorant rule of twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). They’re still greedy enough to want to expand the empire, so they send out top general Acacius (Pedro Pascal) to conquer a kingdom in Africa. Acacius doesn’t believe in the imperialist cause, but he’s sworn allegiance to his home, so he sacks the kingdom, which includes killing the wife of top soldier Hanno (Paul Mescal), who swears revenge.
Hanno is taken prisoner and sold into slavery, where he’s served up as a potential gladiator without much consideration. But he impresses in his tryout against a troop of baboons, and is purchased by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a former slave who sees managing gladiators as a way to curry favor with the emperors, feeding into political ambitions and possibly even a power grab. He makes a deal with Hanno that if his “personal instrument of destruction” can become a superstar in the Colosseum, he’ll eventually give him a chance at revenge against Acacius.
Hanno is conflicted between wanting revenge and not wanting to be used as a political pawn for a slimeball like Macrinus. He’s not conflicted about wanting to stay alive, however, so he plays along in putting together a string of victories. Also, Acacius’s wife Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the daughter of former emperor Aurelius, notices that Hanno bears a striking resemblance to her long-lost son Luscious. And Luscious’s father… is not Acacius.
The story and action aren’t very engaging in “Gladiator II,” with choppy editing and plodding pacing. But the real weakness of the movie is the acting. Pascal and Nielsen are fine, and the emperors get to do some fun scenery-chewing, but whoever thought that bland pretty-boy Paul Mescal could be an inspirational protagonist on par with the iconic Russell Crowe made a severe miscalculation. Also, and I’m not saying that the rest of the cast is exactly making me feel immersed in Roman culture, but there’s something so unmistakably American about Denzel Washington. Maybe it’s his voice, maybe it’s his mannerisms, maybe it that he shares a last name with the nation’s capital, but he belongs at Caesar’s Palace much more than he belongs at… these Caesars’… palace. He’s too Vegas-y is what I’m saying.
“Gladiator II” has my permission to be a modest financial hit as long as it stays in the shadow of superior recent releases “Moana 2” and “Wicked,” the latter of which has much scarier CGI primates. But it hasn’t won me over as a movie worth recommending, and I definitely don’t consider it an awards contender. Am I not entertained? Taking into account the wording of that question, I can say that yes, I am not entertained.
Grade: C-
“Gladiator II” is rated R for strong bloody violence. Its running time is 148 minutes.
Robert R. Garver is a graduate of the Cinema Studies program at New York University. His weekly movie reviews have been published since 2006.
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