- Title: Showbiz in 2024: Taylor Swift tour, Liam Payne death among music headlines
- Date: 4th December 2024
- Summary: EDENBRIDGE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - OCTOBER 30, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EFFIGY OF TICKETMASTER WITH 'PUPPETS' LIAM AND NOEL GALLAGHER Madonna attracts 1.6 million to free concert at Brazil's Copacabana beach. RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (FILE - APRIL 16, 2024) (REUTERS) (PART MUTE) (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF STAGE BEING SET UP AT COPACABANA BEACH COPACABANA PALACE HOTEL (M
- Embargoed: 18th December 2024 03:37
- Keywords: BTS Beyonce Britney Spears Elton John Eras Tour Liam Payne Lizzo Madonna Mick Jagger Rolling Stones Taylor Swift Zayn Malik
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- Country: UK
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Music
- Reuters ID: LVA00Y560720092024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT IS PART OF A SERIES OF SHOWBIZ YEARENDERS RUNNING DEC. 2-5, 2024.
The cancellation of Taylor's Swift Vienna concerts after an attack plot was foiled, fans grieving singer Liam Payne after his death in Argentina and Oasis announcing a series of reunion concerts were some of the headlines from the world of music this year.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift enjoyed a hugely successful 2024 as she took her record-breaking Eras tour to fans around the world and picked up numerous trophies.
The 34-year-old set another record in February, winning the Grammy award for album of the year for an unprecedented fourth time as women dominated the music industry's top honours.
Swift surprised fans from the Grammys stage with a new album, "The Tortured Poets Department", which stormed charts upon its release in April.
She travelled the globe with Eras, the first tour to surpass $1 billion in revenue, scheduled to end on Dec. 8 in Vancouver.
During the European leg of the tour, Swift's three concerts in Vienna were cancelled in August after the government there confirmed a planned attack at the stadium and Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer said "a tragedy was prevented".
Police arrested a 19-year-old man who they said confessed to wanting to cause a "bloodbath" at the shows, which were due to be held at Ernst Happel Stadium.
The tour continued in London, drawing fans from near and far for the last opportunity to see the critically acclaimed show in Europe, before heading to North America for its final dates.
The death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne sparked an outpouring of grief from fans around the world. The British singer died on October 16 after falling from the third floor balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel. He was 31.
A 911 call from a hotel employee on the day that Payne died warned that he had been acting aggressively and could have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Argentine authorities have charged three people in connection with Payne's death after an autopsy revealed traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he died.
From Buenos Aires to his hometown of Wolverhampton, fans around the world mourned his death with makeshift memorials.
Oasis announced they would reunite after 15 years, with news that brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher were lining up a series of gigs in 2025 crashing the British band's website and sending hotel prices soaring.
When the tickets went on sale, thousands of fans waited long hours in virtual queues to get their hands on them only to find that prices had been hiked as part of a "dynamic pricing" scheme.
Many fans who waited for more than three hours thinking they would pay the initially advertised rate of 148.50 pounds ended up paying double at 355.20 pounds.
The UK's competition watchdog launched an investigation into Ticketmaster in September over the sale of the concert tickets and how dynamic pricing may have been used.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would scrutinise whether Ticketmaster breached consumer protection law and will also probe the conduct of other entities involved.
Britain's government said it would investigate how prices for concert tickets sold on official websites are hiked when demand surges.
An effigy of Ticketmaster went up in flames as part of bonfire night celebrations in the UK in November.
More than a million people thronged Brazil's Copacabana beach for a free Madonna concert in May, braving the heat to see the end of the music star's "Celebration" world tour.
The sand and oceanfront boulevard around Rio de Janeiro's famed beach were filled for several blocks by a crowd the city estimated at 1.6 million.
Many had been there for hours or even days to get a good spot, while richer fans anchored in dozens of boats near the beach and onlookers crowded beachfront apartments.
Madonna, 65, performed songs such as "Like a Prayer", "Vogue" and "Express Yourself" for over two hours as she wound up the greatest hits tour that started late last year.
An emotional Celine Dion screened her documentary "I Am: Celine Dion" in June, which provides a raw look at the singer's struggle with a life-altering illness.
The Quebecoise music star announced in 2022 that she had been diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called stiff-person syndrome that causes muscle spasms. At the time, the disorder forced her to postpone some European shows on her "Courage World Tour".
Dion made a stunning comeback to the live stage in July when she sang Edith Piaf's classic "L'Hymne A l'Amour" to close the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
U.S. music superstar Beyoncé in March released her highly anticipated country album, "Cowboy Carter", which she said was born out of an experience years ago where she "did not feel welcomed".
"The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me," the singer wrote on Instagram ahead of the album's release.
Many critics offered praise for "Cowboy Carter" with Page Six's Nicholas Hautman calling it "the revival that country music so desperately needed".
Last month, Beyonce topped the list of Grammy Award contenders, earning 11 nods including an album of the year nomination for the record.
Beyonce's nominations brought her career total to 99, more than any other artist.
Britney Spears announced in January she would “never return to the music industry”, as she took to social media to deny rumours that she was working on her 10th studio album.
“Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash! They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album, I will never return to the music industry,” Spears said on her official Instagram account.
Media outlets including the Sun U.S and Page Six had reported that Charlie XCX and Julia Michaels had been asked to write songs for the pop superstar.
“When I write, I write for fun or I write for other people” Spears said. “I’ve written over 20 songs for other people the past two years! I’m a ghost writer and I honestly enjoy it that way!”
The post is no longer on her Instagram page.
American rapper and singer Lizzo reassured fans that she is not quitting the music industry after a previous social media post in which she said: "I didn't sign up for this shit. I quit."
In a new video posted to her Instagram in April, Lizzo said that her “I quit” statement was pertaining to "negative energy", and did not refer to her music and performances.
"What I'm not going to quit is the joy of my life, which is making music, which is connecting the people," she told fans.
In a lawsuit filed last year, three former dancers for the Grammy-winning singer accused her of creating a hostile work environment, including weight shaming and sexually denigrating behaviour.
Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, denied the claims, calling the accusations "false" and "outrageous".
British singer Zayn Malik in May announced his first concert of his solo career in London. The 31-year-old singer posted the news on social media, announcing the gig called “Zayn Room Under The Stairs Live”.
Despite leaving the British boy band One Direction in 2015, the gig was Malik’s first solo concert. He cancelled a previous performance in 2016, citing anxiety.
In September, he announced a "Stairway to the Sky" tour, with five dates in the United States and six in the United Kingdom. He postponed the U.S. leg after the death of his former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne.
The U.S. dates - in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and New York - will be rescheduled for January, Malik said, from their previous dates in October and November.
The Rolling Stones kicked off their North America tour at a sold-out venue in Houston in April, with people travelling from various cities to watch one of the world's most enduring rock bands amid worries that this could be their last tour.
The rockers went on to perform across the U.S. and Canada through to July.
Asked how it felt to be back on tour singing, dancing and strutting across stadium concert stages at 80 years old, Jagger told Reuters in an interview in June: "Like being on stage at 78."
"It took a couple of shows to get into the groove, but now we're into it," Jagger said. "I'm feeling good."
U.S. singer Cyndi Lauper kicked off her farewell tour in October in Montreal.
The tour called "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" will see her perform across North America before heading to Europe in the new year.
The 71-year-old cemented her hand and footprints outside Hollywood's famous TCL Chinese Theatre in June.
British singer Charli XCX took over summer with her 'Brat' album.
The record was a cultural phenomenon upon its release in June, with fans filming videos of themselves dancing along to its tracks.
The album's lime green cover look was adopted by U.S. presidential hopeful Kamala Harris' campaign for her "Kamala HQ" social media account in July after the pop star referenced her in a post.
U.S. singer-songwriter and pianist Billy Joel released "Turn The Lights Back On" in February, his first new single in 17 years.
The ballad was the Grammy Award winner's first original song since 2007's "All My Life", which was followed that same year by "Christmas in Fallujah", featuring Cass Dillon.
Joel's 13th and last studio album, "Fantasies & Delusions", was released in 2001.
The "Piano Man" and "Uptown Girl" singer also ended his record-breaking monthly Madison Square Garden residency, which had begun in 2014.
British band The Cure released their first new music in 16 years in September, the single "Alone", and their long-awaited album came out on Nov. 1.
The melancholic song, almost seven minutes long, is the first track from "Songs of a Lost World", The Cure's 14th studio album. Their last, "4:13 Dream", was released in 2008.
The band had previewed songs from the new album during their "Shows Of A Lost World" tour, opening shows with "Alone".
The album went on to top UK music charts.
Seventeen's "FML" in February was named last year's biggest-selling album globally, with the K-pop band topping the chart run by industry body the IFPI for the first time.
Five of the chart's top 10 albums were by South Korean acts, representing the best ever Global Charts performance for K-pop, the IFPI, which represents the global recorded music industry, said.
In June, the boy band skipped, twisted and gyrated in a high-energy performance on Glastonbury's main Pyramid Stage, making history as the first K-Pop group to appear at the iconic music festival in southern England.
Jin, the oldest member of K-pop phenomenon BTS, was discharged from South Korea's army in June after 18 months of duty, the first member of the group to wrap up the mandatory national service that put their music careers on hold.
Fellow bandmember J-Hope was discharged in October, sparking enthusiasm among fans for a potential reunion of the band next year.
Musician Elton John was elevated to the rare status of EGOT in January when a livestream of a concert from his farewell tour won an Emmy award.
EGOT stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony - and only 21 people in history have won all four honours during their career.
John earned his Emmy for "Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium".
In December, John, 77, told a theatre audience that he had lost his sight.
The "Tiny Dancer" singer had previously said that an eye infection had left him unable to see out of his right eye and that his left was "not the greatest", meaning he could no longer read or watch anything, and putting his ability to record any new music in future at risk.
"As you know, I've lost my eyesight so it's hard for me to see it but I love to hear it," John said at the launch of "The Devil Wears Prada", a musical based on the best-selling novel for which he has written the score, referring to the show.
(Production: Sarah Mills, Marie-Louise Gumuchian)
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