2018… What a year
Memes, challenges, new music from our favourite artists, incredible live shows, and much more. It was a good one. Here’s a rundown of 2018’s greatest moments in music.
One taught me love, one taught me patience, one taught me pain
This Ariana Grande lyric from her massive hit “thank u, next” immediately turned into one of the most iconic memes of 2018.
Appropriate for any situation.
#InMyFeelingsChallenge #DoTheShiggy
Drake dropped “In My Feelings” this summer and after comedian Shiggy posted this video, the #InMyFeelingsChallenge was born.
Celebs everywhere got in on the action, including Will Smith with his epic video dancing on top of a bridge in Budapest.
Of course, fans followed suit. Here are some of the best…
Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin’s Whirlwind Romance
The second half of 2018 was dominated by speculation on whether Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin were married or not. The couple confirmed they had, in fact, gotten married with an Instagram post on November 15th which Biebs captioned “My wife is awesome” and Hailey changing her name to @haileybieber.
Greta Van Fleet’s Grammy Nominations
This past year has been one for the books for Greta Van Fleet. Their debut LP, Anthem of the Peaceful Army, dropped in October, which means it was too late to be eligible for the 2019 Grammy awards. That didn’t stop the formidable young rock band from nabbing FOUR Grammy noms anyways, for Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Album – for From The Fires, their 8-song EP released in November of last year.
Rarely does an artist nominated for Best New Artist also get nominated for nearly every other award in their category. For GVF it means being nominated for three of the four awards in the rock music category.
Check out “Highway Tune”, nominated for Best Rock Performance and “Black Smoke Rising” nominated for Best Rock Song.
Paul McCartney’s Carpool Karaoke
One of our favourite late-night TV hosts, James Corden, returns to his native UK for a week of left-hand driving on Carpool Karaoke. He picks up the legendary Paul McCartney and they drive around The Beatles’ native Liverpool. Need we say more?
Check out the video here and sing along to these classics.
Kendrick Lamar Wins Pulitzer Prize
A huge moment for hip-hop music, Kendrick Lamar’s win for DAMN marks the first time a non-classical or jazz artist has taken home a Pulitzer Prize since they included a music category in 1943.
Gaga’s Big Screen Debut
We’ve always known that Lady Gaga is supremely talented but we were definitely impressed by her acting chops. A Star Is Born was a smash hit at the box office and the soundtrack followed suit.
5SOS’s Epic Comeback
After waiting nearly 3 years for new music from Aussie pop punk band, 5 Seconds of Summer, we would have loved anything our favourite Aussies put out, but Youngblood is truly a masterpiece full of bops, jams, and tunes.
It’s been on repeat since June.
Kanye West and Lil Peep’s “I Love It” Video
350 million views on Youtube. Countless parodies. We love it.
What were your favourite moments of 2018? Let us know on Twitter @umusic if we included yours!