Month: January 2023

A superstar A-team of iconic singers have teamed up for the upcoming single “Gonna Be You.” The Diane Warren-written song featuring Dolly Parton, Go-Gos singer Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan and Blondie’s Debbie Harry will be released on Jan 20 in advance of the upcoming Paramount Pictures road trip comedy 80 For Brady.

“When I wrote ‘Gonna Be You’ for 80 FOR BRADY, I wanted to write a song that celebrated these women’s deep friendship,” said Warren in a statement. “Since 80 was in the title I got a crazy idea, why not get some of the most iconic singers from the 80s, who are still amazing and always will be, to all sing it?!!!! Everyone I approached said yes and was just as excited as me!! I’m honored to have Dolly Parton, Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan and Debbie Harry on this song!! ‘Gonna Be You’ is that song you want to sing along to with all your good friends!!!”

The anthem will accompany the film starring an equally star-studded cast of Oscar winners and nominees led by Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field that was inspired by the true story of four best friends who take a trip to the 2017 Super Bowl to see their hero QB Tom Brady play in the big game; the movie will hit screens on Feb. 3. Check out the movie trailer here.

The track is just one of the all-star collabs country icon Parton has on tap for this year. Dionne Warwick revealed earlier this week that she and Parton recently recorded a gospel song called “Peace Like a River” written by Dolly that Warwick promised will be “very special.”

Rapper Theophilus London has been found safe after disappearing for months, a relative announced Wednesday night.

“We have found Theo. He is safe and well,” the rapper’s cousin, Mikhail Noel, posted on Instagram. “At this time the family would love prayers and privacy. Thank you all!!!”

The post didn’t provide details of where London had been found, where he had been or why he hadn’t contacted his family, which filed a missing persons report with Los Angeles police last week and asked for the public’s help in finding him.

London’s family and friends had said they believed someone last spoke to the musician in July in Los Angeles.

London, 35, posted prolifically on Instagram, but his last posts also came in July.

An LAPD news release on Dec. 28 said London was last seen in the Skid Row area in October and his family had completely lost contact with him.

The rapper was born in Trinidad and Tobago and later raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York. He was nominated for a 2016 Grammy for best rap performance for a featured spot alongside Paul McCartney on Kanye West’s “All Day.”

London has frequently collaborated with the artist now known as Ye, who produced and guested on 2014′s “Vibes.” London would often post updates on Ye’s “Donda” and “Donda 2” on Instagram, even saying he was “promoted to tackle media duties” on Ye’s behalf for the month of February.

London has released three studio albums: 2011′s “Timez Are Weird These Days,” “Vibes” and 2020′s “Bebey.” He recently was a featured artist on Young Franco’s “Get Your Money,” released in September, the month before he was last seen.

This article originally appeared in AP.

Harry Styles really did own the keys to 2022. The British pop singer’s third studio album Harry’s House was the biggest LP of the year in the U.K., according to new data published by the Official Charts Company.

The ex-One Direction singer leads the year-end albums survey with Harry’s House, which shifted north of 460,000 U.K. chart units over the year, including 160,000 sales (150,000 physical and 10,000 downloads), the OCC reports.

Harry’s House logged six non-consecutive weeks atop the Official U.K. Albums Chart in 2022, more than any other album, and the lead single from it, “As It Was,” tops the U.K.’s year-end singles survey.

Compatriot Ed Sheeran comes in at No. 2 on the year-end albums list with = (Equals), which snaffled upwards of 433,000 U.K. chart units during the calendar year. Sheeran has made a career habit of racking up big numbers. In November, the OCC announced all four of his solo studio albums — (Plus), x (Multiply), ÷ (Divide) and = (Equals) — had spent a total of at least a year inside the Official Albums Chart top 10.

Completing the 2022 podium is Taylor Swift’s Midnights, which, in less than three months, captured more than 417,000 U.K. chart sales, including 217,000 sales (206,000 physical copies and11,000 downloads). Midnights got away to a particularly explosive start. First-week U.K. chart sales exceeded 204,000, more than double her previous best, 2014’s 1989 (90,300 chart units).

It’s hard to keep a good thing down. That’s certainly the case with ABBA and Queen’s barnstorming career retrospective albums. ABBA Gold became the first album in U.K. chart history to log 1,000 weeks on the chart, a feat it achieved in July 2021. It’s still going strong. Powered by the ABBA Voyage virtual residency in London, the LP appears at No. 10 on the year-end U.K. chart. Indeed, Gold improves 20-13 on the latest Official U.K. Albums Chart, doing so in its 1,078 week.

Queen’s 1981 release Greatest Hits reached the 1,000-week milestone on the U.K. chart in 2022, and it finished the year in 11th place on the year-end tally. Greatest Hits is the best-selling album in U.K. recorded music history, shifting more than seven million combined units.

Music streaming reached new heights in 2022, the BPI reports. Across digital and physical formats, the equivalent of 166 million albums were streamed or purchased during the year, up 4.3% on 2021.

Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2022

In the year that saw King Charles ascend the throne, it was Harry Styles who was crowned on the U.K. charts.

The pop superstar rules 2022’s year-end singles and albums charts, with “As It Was” and its parent, Harry’s House, respectively, according to new data published by the Official Charts Company.

Released in April 2022, “As It Was” reigned over the Official U.K. Singles Chart for 10 weeks, and went on to shift 1.57 million combined units, the OCC reports.

“As It Was” also finished the year as the most-streamed song in the U.K., with more than 180.9 million audio and video streams, and it was the best-seller across combined physical and digital formats, raking-in 65,000 units.

The former One Direction singer leads an all-British sweep of the top 10 tracks of 2022 in the U.K. — a first in the 50-plus year history of the year-end singles chart.

Coming in at No. 2 on the Official Top 40 Biggest Singles of 2022 is Ed Sheeran “Bad Habits,” with 1.18 million chart units. “Bad Habits” was the No. 1 song in the U.K. in 2021.

Afrobeats star Fireboy DML lands at No. 3 with “Peru” (featuring Sheeran), BRITs Rising Star nominee Cat Burns is at No. 4 with “Go,” and Sheeran completes the top 5 with “Shivers.”

2022 was a remarkable year for Kate Bush and her 1985 song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” which roared off the back of Netflix’ Stranger Things, in which is was synced to several pivotal moments. The song was embraced a new generation as it finally reached No. 1, some 37 years after its release. As it completed the path to the top, Bush broke a trio of records, including the longest journey a single to reach No. 1 in the U.K.

Also, notes the OCC, LadBaby bagged the fastest-selling single in its first week based on pure sales, “Food Aid,” which pulled-in more than 59,000 first-week sales. The charity fund-raising single was the most-downloaded song of the year, and a record-breaker, as it delivered the husband-and-wife Hoyle duo a fifth consecutive Christmas No. 1.

The OCC’s year-end reports are published as the BPI announces 159 billion music tracks were streamed in the U.K. last year, a new record which represents a 8.2% gain on 2021, and more than double the volume from five years ago.

Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022