A-Z of 2017

It's time for my annual Review of the Year. I have to admit, 2017 was so much better than 2016 from the word go...there were less celebrity deaths for a start!

I had a good sit down and think about how to make this review of the year different to last year's and, in turn, make it more interesting. Then, I had a lightbulb moment...

So...I introduce to you...the A-Z of 2017!

A is for...Auditions

"Auditions? What do you mean auditions?" I hear you yell at me. Hear me out...

If there is one thing that the UK loves, it is reality TV. Among the many Reality shows that the UK has, we have two that aim to find the next big star...The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent.

Britain's Got Talent aims to find someone that would be good enough to perform at The Royal Variety Performance, a yearly occasion where the best of British come together to put on a show, which is attended by members of the Royal Family. In terms of auditions, there were many that didn't live up to the standard but, among others that would have been good enough, in stepped Tokio Meyers.

Tokio came on and blew the judges away with his performance of Debussy's Clair de Lune, mashed up with Ed Sheeran's Bloodstream. This earned him a place in the live semi-finals. He eventually made the final, where he performed a classical version of Human by Rag n Bone Man and won it. Since then, he's performed at The Royal Variety Performance, released his own album, Our Generation, reaching number 4 in the UK album charts and performed in and co-produced A Bridge Over Troubled Water, a cover of the Simon and Garfunkel classic, raising money for victims of the Grenfell Fire.



Meanwhile, on The X Factor, a four piece boyband, by the name of Rak-Su injected some much needed originality when they, among many others, auditioned with an original song, I'm Feeling You. They got yeses from all 4 judges, putting them through to bootcamp. After this, they managed to get through all the next rounds, including the dreaded six chair challenge and got through to the live shows, where they eventually won. They released their new single Dimelo, featuring Naught Boy and Wyclef Jean, and it reached number 2 in the UK singles Chart. Oh, and in case you're wondering, it was Ed Sheeran that beat them to the number one spot.


B is for BRITs.

Every year, the BRIT Awards is a chance for some of the best British and International talent come together and 2017 was no exception. The 2017 ceremony saw the first performance of the Stormzy version of Shape of You, when he joined Ed Sheeran to perform the track. It also saw a poignant tribute to George Michael, who sadly died on Christmas Day 2016. The tribute featured Chris Martin, from Coldplay, "duetting" with George Michael who was shown on a massive TV screen, on the beautiful track A Different Corner. This duet was later featured in the documentary about George's life, Freedom.

In terms of who won what, Little Mix had a reason to celebrate as they won their first Brit Award; Best British Single for Shout Out to My Ex, which was hilariously up against Zayn's Pillowtalk. Of course, fans will know that Zayn Malik just happens to be Perrie Edwards' ex! Elsewhere, David Bowie won the Best British Male and the Best British album award, for Blackstar posthumously.


C is for...Coachella

Ok...we have Glastonbury but let's touch upon the other massive moment in the festival calendar: Coachella.

Whilst Glastonbury is known for wellies and rain, Coachella is known for Boho festival chic, sun and the hottest celebs around attending, such as the Jenner sisters, the Hadid sisters and other high profile models, actors and actresses and singers.

Anyway...what about the singers on stage? Coachella 2017 had a strong start, with Radiohead, Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar. There was also additional performers in the form of Father John Misty, Lorde, Bon Ivor, The Avalanches and The XX.

However, it soon emerged that Beyonce was pregnant with twins so she had to drop out. There were lots of rumours swirling around about who would replace her. But who actually got the coveted headline slot? Step forward the brilliantly bonkers Lady Gaga! She had had a great 2017 so far: She headlined the Super Bowl, which has been viewed about 38 million times (one of those views was my own because of the UK and USA time difference) on YouTube so I think it was only right that she'd be chosen to headline Coachella.

Unfortunately, due to the time difference between the UK and the USA, I couldn't watch the show, and from what I read in many a music publication, I seriously missed out!

D is for...Dua Lipa

One of the rising stars of 2017 was Dua Lipa. She started the year with being nominated for a critics choice award at the BRITs. Despite being pipped to the post by Rag n Bone Man for this award, Dua still had success, with her single, New Rules being at number 1 in the UK singles chart for 2 weeks, in the early summer of 2017. Furthermore, her new self-titled debut album, Due Lipa hit the top 10 at number 5 on the UK chart. Dua rounded off a successful 2017 by becoming the most streamed female artist in the UK on Spotify and was named as a performer at the BRITs 2018!


E is for... Ed Sheeran

2017 was the year of Ed Sheeran. Having taken a year out from social media and from his career in general, he teased his return in late 2016/early 2017 when he posted a video on his social media that new music was coming. He then released his new album, Divide and we never heard from him again...

Erm...this is Ed Sheeran we're talking about! The album went straight to number 1 in the UK album charts and it was there for 19 non-consecutive weeks. giving Ed his 3rd number one album, meaning all his studio LPs reached number 1. Every single track of the album entered the UK top 20 and Shape of You became the most streamed track on Spotify, stayed at number 1 for a whopping 14(!) weeks on the UK singles chart. Furthermore, he bagged the coveted headline slot at Glastonbury, collaborated with Eminem on his most recent single River, and managed to gain cameos in Game Of Thrones and The Simpsons, with the latter being aired in early 2018. He is also due to go on a massive stadium world tour in 2018, which, unfortunately, is sold out.


F is for...Foo Fighters

Music fans who descended onto the Glastonbury Festival site in 2015 were very disappointed when they learned that Dave Grohl had broken his leg, causing the Foo Fighters to cancel their headline slot. Now...okay Florence and the Machine did a great job as a replacement but fans rejoiced when the Foos announced they would be headliners in 2017. They performed a fantastic set, including their latest song Run, and a cover of Queen's Under Pressure, which featured Grohl on the drums, proving that it was worth the wait.




G is for... Grammys

Due to how many categories the Grammys have, I don't do predictions or a full review. However, seeing as the Grammys are one of the biggest music events in America, it was only right that I included them in this A-Z.

Beyonce was the person with the most nominations (9!) but the biggest winner of the night? Adele of course. She won a total of five awards, including Record of the Year for Hello and Album of the Year for smash hit album 25.  Whilst being awarded for these prizes, Adele thanked Beyonce and said that Beyonce should have won a Grammy for her visual album, Lemonade.  She also performed Fastlove in tribute to George Michael. Meanwhile, David Bowie won 4 posthumous awards, including Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for Blackstar.

H is for...Humanz

2017 was the year of comebacks and none of the comebacks were as long awaited as the Gorillaz. The Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett cartoon band last released their album The Fall in 2010. As early as 2015, there were hints the band were back after cartoon storyboards based on the Gorillaz were posted on the band's Twitter page. unfortunately, fans had to wait until January 2017, where the first track off the album, Hallelujah Money, a collaboration with  Benjamin Clementine dropped on Uproxx's Youtube Channel.

The album was a success but it just missed the top spot thanks to a certain Mr. Ed Sheeran. However, they did get the number 2 spot, making Humanz their fourth top 10 hit. In addition, they had a sold out tour, so it wasn't too bad for Albarn and co.

I is for...It's time to announce the winner!

Every year, a group of judges from the music world, such as Clara Amfo (Radio 1 DJ), Jamie Cullum, Ella Eyre and Mista Jam (Radio 1 DJ) come together to determine which critically acclaimed albums should be nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Artists who received nominations include Blossoms, Ed Sheeran (it's 2017 so obviously!), The XX, The Big Moon and Stormzy. Ultimately, it Sampha who won with his album, Process. He won a winners trophy (all nominees win a nomination trophy) and £25,000. Now, Sampha fans are just waiting with bated breath for a new album. Let's hope it is as good as the debut.

You can read a more detailed review of the Mercury Music Prize here.

J is for...Just want to introduce you to the newbies!

Every year we see brand new artists emerging into the spotlight and 2017 was no different. We had the likes of Stefflon Don, who released her hit Hurtin', Mabel, who's song Finders Keepers got almost 20 million views on YouTube and Jorja Smith, who had featured on Drake's song More Life. These artists were all nominated for the Critic's Choice Award for the 2018 Brit Awards, with Jorja Smith being announced as the eventual winner. We expect that we'll hear big things from her in 2018.

Elsewhere, Cardi B stepped into the limelight with her smash hit (but explicit!) song Bodak Yellow. It entered at number 24 in the UK singles chart. Meanwhile, across the pond in her home country, Cardi B broke the record for being the first female rapper to top the Billboard chart since Lauryn Hill in 1996. Furthermore, she also had the longest run at being number one on the Billboard chart, with Bodak Yellow, which was 5 weeks. Taylor Swift also managed that milestone with Look What You Made Me Do.

K is for...The Killers

The Killers returned to welcome arms by fans when they released their album Wonderful Wonderful. Their last album was released back in 2012 so I think a new album was well overdue don't you? Anyway, Wonderful Wonderful entered the UK album charts at number 1 and their comeback single, The Man was a new entry at number 63. I would have liked to have seen it further up the chart because it's a good song.

Despite this, The Killers proved to be still popular when their Wonderful Wonderful UK tour sold out. Also, when they were announced as the secret act performing in the King Tut's tent at Glastonbury, it got so full that the organisers had to stop people from entering the tent!


 L is for...Lorde

Lorde is another musician who was a long awaited comeback. However, 2017 was the time for Lorde to do it. The last time Lorde had released an album was 2013, with Pure Heroine.

In early 2017, Lorde showcased a website called imwaitingforit.com, which coincidentally includes a lyric of Green Light ("I'm waiting for it, that Green Light I want it"). It was then that Green Light was released in early March 2017.  In the UK singles chart, it hit the number 20 spot.

When it came to the album, the tittle of the album, Melodrama was announced on the 2nd of March. Regarding the Charts, Melodrama became a top 10 hit in the UK, debuting at number 5. In the USA, the album hit number one on the Billboard top 100, whilst also being announced as nomination for album of the Year at the 2018 Grammys.


M is for...Manchester

Let's be honest...as soon as I got to M, I immediately thought of Manchester. On May 22nd,  everyone was shocked by the news that a bomb had gone off just after Ariana Grande had finished her concert at the Manchester Arena. 22 people died during this horrific event. In addition, there were many people with serious injuries.

Following the event, Ariana Grande announced that a benefit concert was to be organised and it occurred on 4th June, known as One Love Manchester. During the event, which Ariana put together, there was a list packed with well known and loved artists, such as Take That, Little Mix, Coldplay, Justin Bieber and lots more, including, of course, Ariana Grande herself.  There was even a special guest, in the form of Liam Gallagher. One of the highlights was Coldplay and Ariana Grande performing what has become Manchester's anthem since the disaster: Don't Look Back In Anger.

A massive 13 million viewers watched this live and I'm sure that number would be higher if we included the live views on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. In addition, £2.35 million was raised for the Manchester Benefit fund during the event, giving proof that music is a wonderful tool for bringing people together.



N is for...Nile Rogers

I know you're probably thinking that Nile Rogers hasn't really done much regarding music but I still think we should mention him. During the summer, Nile, along with the band Chic were one of the acts at Glastonbury that was seen as one of the highlights. Playing all of Chic's greatest hits, including Le Freak and Good Times. The band and Nile also performed songs that Nile had helped to write including Let's Dance, by David Bowie, Upside Down, by Diana Ross and the summer smash hit of 2013, Get Lucky by Daft Punk featuring Pharrel, which Rogers also played the guitar on. The set was so popular that the BBC asked them to return to headline the New Year's Eve celebrations before we entered 2018.

O is for...One Direction

Before you get excited, One Direction did not re-unite. However, 2017 was the year that the other 4 boys emerged with solo careers (Zayn had already done this in 2016). Harry Styles released Sign of the Times and his debut album called erm...Harry Styles, which was met with critical claim, with many critics noticing how much more mature his solo sound his compared to 1D. Both single and album reached number 1 in the UK charts.

Niall Horan was also another 1D member who did a jump from being a member of a boyband to being a solo star. He had already previously released a song called This Town in 2016 but in 2017, his career really set off. He released his second song, Slow Hands in May 2017 and his third, Too Much to Ask in September 2017 and these songs entered the UK singles charts at number 7 and number 24 respectively. He also released his album Flicker, which reached number 3 in the UK album charts.

Louis Tomlinson, like Niall and Zayn, had already had a song out in 2016, a collaboration with DJ Steve Aoki, called Just Hold On, which he bravely performed on The X Factor days after his mum passed away. Fast forward to August 2017, Louis released Back to You, a collaboration with Bebe Rhexa and Digital farm, which became Louis' second top 10 solo hit entering at number 8 in the UK singles chart. He also released two other songs that didn't do quite so well in the charts, Just Like You and Miss You (He likes the word 'You' in his song titles doesn't he?) and they entered at number 99 and number 39 in the UK singles charts respectively.

Liam Payne was the last of the 1D boys to release a solo single, purely because he had additional activity in his life...he welcomed a baby with Cheryl Cole (yes...I'm still calling her this as everyone knows her by this name and no...I did not see the romance or the baby coming).  Anyway,  he released Strip that Down in June and Bedroom Floor in November and seems that they were both popular, with Strip That Down entering at number 3 and Bedroom Floor at number 21 in the UK Singles charts.

In terms of albums, it could be possible that Louis and Liam release their albums in 2018 so I would keep your eyes peeled.

P is for...Pink

Pink last released a song in 2016, Just Like Fire, for the Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass film but she last released a complete album in 2012, The Truth About Love. Therefore, fans rejoiced when Pink announced her comeback.

What About Us was released in mid August and it seemed that Pink was as popular as ever as it enters the UK singles chart at number 3, giving Pink her 19th (!) top 10 hit. She also released the title track of her album Beautiful Trauma and Revenge, a collaboration with Eminem. In the meantime, her album, Beautiful Trauma entered the UK albums chart at number 1. It seems that Pink has had a welcome return!



Q is for...Queen Bey

Of course, Beyonce had to be in this purely because she decided to drop a surprise on us (or should I say surprises!) when she firstly announced that she would be headlining Coachella. However, shortly after announcing this, she revealed she had "been blessed two times over" (Translations: she's pregnant with twins.) so she had to cancel Coachella. She revealed in July that she had given birth to Sir and Rumi in June.

Despite having twins, she still had time to record some songs for release. She featured on Eminem''s comeback single, Walk on Water, which reached number 7 in the UK singles chart. She also released Die With You and DJ Khalid released Shining, which she featured on with her husband, Jay-Z and these reached number 62 and number 71 in the UK singles chart respectively.

R is for...Rag n Bone Man

One of the stand out stars from 2017 HAS to be Rag N Bone Man. He started the year winning the Critic'a Choice award at the BRITS, which had previously been won by Sam Smith, Adele, Ellie Goulding and Florence and the Machine, meaning he was destined for success from the word go.

At the actual 2017 BRIT awards ceremony (the winner of the Critic's Choice award is announced before the ceremony), he won the Best British Breakthrough award and later in the same week, he released his debut album Human. Human debuted at number one on the UK album chart, the same number his debut single of the same name entered on the UK singles chart in 2016. In addition, he had further success with the single Skin, which entered the UK singles chart at number 13 in 2017.

In addition to his chart success, he also had slots at Glastonbury and Radio 1's Big Weekend and his debut tour sold out pretty quickly. Oh...and he had a baby as well. I think we can all agree that 2017 was a great year for Rag n Bone Man!


S is for...Sam Smith

Sam Smith hadn't released an album since 2014, which the smash hit In the Lonely Hour and since then, the only sign that Sam was back in the studio was when he revealed that he was the singer that got the job every singer wanted to have...the owner of a James Bond song. However, there was still no sign of a new album...until June 2017 when he posted a picture on his social media of him in a recording studio. On the 8th September, Smith released Too Good at Goodbyes, followed by the album, The Thrill Of It All. Both album and single went to number one, and Too Good at Goodbyes also made it to number one in Australia, proving that despite taking a break, Sam is still as popular as ever. You can read more about the return of Sam here.


T is for...Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift had a not so great 2016, mainly because of all the problems she had with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian (Long story: essentially Kanye and Kim claimed that Taylor was lying when she said she didn't approve a Kanye lyric within his song Famous). Therefore, she decided that she would take a break from music. However, fast forward to the summer of 2017: Swift deleted her instagram photos and started posting clips of snakes, causing mass hysteria among Swifities. Finally, on 25th August, she announced that her new single, later revealed to be called Look What You Made Me Do, was to be released on the 26th August.  The video for this song courted controversy, purely because there were references to Kim Kardashian's robbery in Paris, Katy Perry, which she had a very public falling out with and her exes, Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston. The attention the video got helped the songstress to get her first number one in the UK. Her album, Reputation, also became her third number one album in the UK. You can read more about her comeback here.

U is for...Underdog

We had a lot of comebacks and one of the comebacks was the band that brought you the song Underdog...yep I'm talking about Kasabian. Speculation that the band were possibly releasing an album very soon was when the band posted an image on their social media showing a notebook with album tracks crossed out (presumably to keep the element of surprise for fans), along with the message "album's done, SP x" in February 2017. Sure enough,  the title was soon revealed as For Crying Out Loud along with the reveal of a new single, You're in Love With a Psycho. For Crying Out Loud was released in May and headed straight to number 1 in the UK albums chart. Meanwhile, the Leicester lads were announced to be headlining Reading and Leeds as well as the TRNSMT festival in Glasgow. Their song, King Ray II was also the theme song for Russell Howard's new show, The Russell Howard Hour. (Russell Howard is a British comedian).


V is for...Very annoying!

Every year, we seem to get that one song where the more you hear it, the more you want to never hear it again. A few examples: 2012 had Psy's Gangnam Style. 2016 had Drake's One Dance. 2017's annoying song? Despacito by Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber. The problem with all these songs is that they are seriously catchy so every time you hear it, despite it being annoying, you can't help but sing along to (well...try and sing along to if you can't speak Spanish like me!) Despite debuting at number 4 in the UK singles charts, it later became number 1 for 11 weeks! It also became the first video on YouTube to reach 4 billion views...to put it into perspective that is more than Gangnam Style! No wonder it got so annoying for me.


W is for...Wonderland

There was a big hint that Take That were returning when they announced an album would be released, along with tour dates, in late 2016. In February 2017, they gave us a snippet of what their new album will sound like, in the form of Giants, which got to number 13 on the UK singles chart. The album, Wonderland, was released  shortly after, in March 2017, just in time for their Wonderland tour, which I was lucky to go to (see review here). By the way, if you've never seen a Take That show, I highly recommend that you get a ticket when they next go on tour as they are probably one of the best live bands around. However, good luck getting a ticket as they are very popular.



  X is for... X Factor Alumni

2017 saw singles and albums by various X Factor alumni being released. Not only did we see the return of One Direction (Kind of...see O is for...One Direction above), we also saw releases from James Arthur, in the form of his collaboration with Rudimental on Sun Comes Up, which entered at number 6 on the UK singles chart, and Naked, which was released in December. Naked just missed the top 10, debuting at number 11 on the UK singles chart.

James Arthur and the 1D boys aren't the only ones who released songs in 2017...Olly Murs and Louisa Johnson both collaborated on a version of Olly's track, Unpredictable. Louisa even joined Olly on his summer tour as a support act. Olly himself went on a Spring tour, playing all the major cities in the UK. I was lucky enough to go and see him on this tour with my sister and two very good friends of mine. He was fantastic and you can read more about this show here.

Finally, Little Mix continued their domination in the Girl Band market. They released three singles in 2017: No More Sad Songs, Power, which had guest vocals from Stormzy and Reggaento Lento, which also had vocals from CNCO. The latter may have been influenced by Despacito, as it was of a similar style. No More Sad Songs entered the UK singles chart at number 15 whereas the other 2 singles entered the UK singles chart at number 6 and number 5 respectively.

Y is for...Young people aren't the only people going to Glastonbury!

When you think of UK festivals, what image springs to mind? For me, particularly when it comes to Glastonbury, I imagine lots of (mainly) young people descending upon the famed Somerset site to watch their favourite bands, spend time with their friends, to celebrate the end of exams and have a well deserved break before they start University, College or whatever they want to do after GCSEs or A Levels. This, along with celebrities, such as Alexa Chung, Nick Grimshaw and Caroline Flack attending is what image springs to mind when I think of Glastonbury.

This is why I was pleasantly surprised when my parents told me they were going to Glastonbury. Yep..my Mum and Dad, along with some of their friends attended the festival and they loved it. However, some of that may be to do with the fact they were glamping. I was quite jealous that they got to see Blossoms and Ed Sheeran live (in terms of Ed...they saw him very briefly!) but I still got to watch them both back home on the live stream. (Hey...let's be honest...it's is better to see musicians live properly though isn't it?) My Dad's highlight was seeing one of his favourite bands live, the Foo Fighters, and among my parents' other highlights were Rag n Bone Man, Chic and Barry Gibb. Oh and in case you're wondering...they would go back!

Z is for...Z list

Love Island was a UK summer hit reality TV show. Basically, if you don't know what it is, it is a show where single people live on an island, whilst also being encouraged to couple up and strike up a romance. However, one pair of contestants struck up a bromance...meet Chris and Kem.

They developed a such a strong bromance and huge popularity that when Stormzy got involved and even starred on the show to say hi to the contestants, he mentioned that he could see himself collaborating with Chris and Kem on a rap record. It was rumoured that after the show, Chris and Kem would have their own spin-off. Of course it happened and the point of this show? To see if they could get a record deal and release their own rap record.

Unfortunately, the song was not just a synopsis for the show...it actually got released in real life! Yep the song, titled Little Bit Leave It, taken from a popular phrase from Love Island, was released. However, whilst I still can't believe it actually got released, Little Bit Leave It was a little bit catchy! It also managed to get to number 15 on the UK singles charts. To be honest, I've heard worse songs...
Click the video if you want to hear how awful/catchy the song is!



So there you have it...the A-Z of 2017! I wonder what 2018 will bring?

Em x