MAJOR MAESTRO: 5 Seconds of Summer

Showing posts with label 5 Seconds of Summer. Show all posts

Xposition - August, 2018

Attention!!!

So many accolades were given this summer. The always anticipated MTV Video Music Awards were held with Cardi B leading the nominations with 12 nods out of which she won 3 including Best New Artist. Childish Gambino also won 3 awards Video with a Message, Best Choreography and Best Direction all for This is America. However, it was Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug who took home the coveted Video of the Year for Havana. The night included star studded performances including Nicki Minaj with a medley of her newest singles Majesty, Barbie Dreams, Ganja Burns and Fefe, Shawn Mendes with In My Blood, Ariana Grande with God is a Woman and Post Malone, 21 Savage and Aerosmith with a medley of Rockstar, Dream On and Toys in the Attic. However, the best performance of the night was from Jennifer Lopez, the recipient of the Video Vanguard Award, who performed a medley of her hits including Waiting for Tonight, On the Floor, Love Don’t Cost a Thing, All I Have and Dinero. Other significant wins of the night included:

· Artist of the Year: Camila Cabello

· Song of the Year: Post Malone ft. 21 Savage – Rockstar

· Best Collaboration: Jennifer Lopez ft. Cardi B & DJ Khaled – Dinero

· Best Pop: Ariana Grande – No tears left to cry

· Best Dance: Avicii ft. Rita Ora – Lonely together

· Song of the Summer: Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin – I like it

Next up we have the 2018 Teen Choice Awards where 5 Seconds of Summer was the clear leader with 3 wins including Choice Music Group, Choice Summer Group and Choice Song: Group for YoungBlood. In terms of performances Meghan Trainor performed a medley of her hits No Excuses and Let You Be Right, Lauv performed I Like Me Better and Bebe Rexha performed I’m a Mess. Other big winners include:

· Choice Male Artist: Louis Tomlinson

· Choice Female Artist: Camila Cabello

· Choice Breakout Artist: Khalid

· Choice International Artist: BTS

· Choice Song: Male Artist: Ed Sheeran – Perfect

· Choice Song: Female Artist: Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug – Havana

· Choice Collaboration: Zac Efron & Zendaya – Rewrite the stars

· Choice Summer Song: Selena Gomez – Back to you

Finally we have the 2018 iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards where Shawn Mendes swept 4 awards out of whopping 8 nominations including Best Pop Artist or Group, Artist of the Year, Fan Fav Artist and Fan Fav Video for In My Blood. Mendes opened and closed the night as well with performances of Lost in Japan and In My Blood. Other noteworthy performances were Halsey with a medley of Sorry and Bad at Love, 5 Seconds of Summer with YoungBlood and Marshmello & Anne Marie with a medley of 2002 and Friends. Some of the other major victors were:

· Video of the Year: Logic ft. Khalid & Alessia Cara – 1-800-273-8255

· Best EDM/Dance Artist or Group: Marshmello

· Best Director: Drake – God’s plan

· Best Collaboration: Bebe Rexha ft. Florida Georgia Line – Meant to be

· Song of the Summer: Loud Luxury ft. Brando – Body

· Fan Fav Single: Selena Gomez & Marshmello – Wolves

The music industry suffered a massive blow in August as cancer took its latest victim, this time the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin. Franklin passed away in her home in Detroit at the age of 76 after battling pancreatic cancer for a while. She is one of the best-selling artists of all time and is the recipient of 18 Grammy Awards. She held the record for the highest chart entries in the US till the 2010s and remains an icon and a legend for those succeeding her legacy. Her contribution to music and the industry as a whole is unmatched, and her achievements shall remain historic compared to the discrimination suffered by her gender and ethnicity during her heyday.

In other news Sir Cliff Richard has announced a new album called Rise Up to be released in November. This will be Richard’s first new material in 14 years. Speaking of new material Culture Club has been re-branded as Boy George & Culture Club and they released a new song in nearly two decades called Let Somebody Love You. It appears you may have to wait a little bit longer for Ed Sheeran’s Minus (-) which will complete the set, as the pop star has expressed that the next record will not be a pop record but something experimental. Nevertheless, the fans may not have to wait as long as a big pop record as Sheeran has stated the new material may be out as early as next year.

Boyzone began their 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour and their first gig was in Sri Lanka where they paid tribute to their former band mate Stephen Gately as well as going on to perform their newest single Because live for the first time (catch a glimpse of the live debut on the Major Maestro FB page). Meanwhile, Alan Walker was announced to play live in Sri Lanka during the Asian Leg of his global tour.

In chart news first and foremost congratulations to the Billboard Hot 100 which celebrated their 60th anniversary since its launch on 04th August 1958 with Ricky Nelson’s Poor Little Fool as the first ever No.1. At present Drake’s reign in the US continued with In My Feelings throughout the month with no competition to its position whatsoever boosted by the Kiki Challenge going viral on social media. During the month 6ix9ine featuring Nicki Minaj & Murda Beatz’s Fefe, Tyga featuring Offset’s Taste, DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper & Quavo’s No Brainer and Travis Scott’s Sicko Mode all entered the top 10.

In the UK too, Drake continued atop the charts with In My Feelings which was ended by George Ezra’s Shotgun in the fourth week of the month and continued its reign in the final week as well. During the month DJ Khaled’s No Brainer, Loud Luxury featuring Brando’s Body, Calvin Harris & Sam Smith’s Promises and Benny Blanco, Halsey & Khalid’s Eastside all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1. Jess Glynne – All I am

2. Marshmello & Bastille – Happier

3. The Chainsmokers ft. Emily Warren – Side effects

4. Martin Garrix ft. Bonn – High on life

5. Meghan Trainor – All the ways

6. Bazzi ft. Camila Cabello – Beautiful

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Most Successful Artists/Bands of 2014

Attention!!!

We have all heard what the yesteryear brought and some of us did not like it. Apart from the music industry straying back to mainstream traditional pop, we all saw how the genres of R&B and Rock were put to aside to lead the way to Indie and EDM. I have already done the most influential artists/bands of 2014, but what is the difference between influential and successful - $$$. Artists like Miley Cyrus, Eminem and Lady Gaga can be influential even without releasing a single hit during a year, as they have a cult following. However, the crossover princess of country, Taylor Swift is once again numero uno on this list, as she earned her big bucks during 2014. At a close second is Pharrell Williams whose smash hit broke records worldwide, but his followup singles failed to gain the same recognition. So let's see who gobbled a piece of that cash pie last year:

Taylor Swift

I doubt she ever believed that crossing over to mainstream pop was the best choice she ever made in her career. While her breakups have inspired most of her songs her fifth album 1989 released last year takes a look at her own downfalls. The album sold more copies in its opening weekend than any album in the preceding decade and became the best selling album of 2014. Her singles Shake It Off and Blank Space both reached the top at the Billboard Hot 100 and the top 10 in most countries while her third single Style reached No.6.

Pharrell Williams

Following his success in 2013 being featured on Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines, Pharrell went on to release an album titled G I R L in 2014 which peaked at No.2 on the Billboard 200 and No.1 in UK, Australia, France, Denmark etc. His song Happy from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack served as the lead single of the album and peaked in almost all the countries it charted and was the year-end number 1 in the US, UK, Australia etc. and is one of the best selling singles of all time.

Sam Smith

He first came into prominence after being featured on Disclosure’s breakthrough single Latch and subsequently being featured on Naughty Boy’s global hit La La LA. Thereafter, he won 2014 BRIT Critics’ Choice Award and BBC’s Sound of 2014. His debut album In the Lonely Hour peaked in the top 10 worldwide and No.1 and No.2 in the UK and US. His second single Money on My Mind reached No.1 in the UK whilst his third single Stay With Me became his most successful hit to date reaching the top 10 in most countries and reaching No.1 in UK and No.2 in the US. His follow-up singles I’m Not The Only One and Like I Can were also global hits.

Ed Sheeran

While by 2014 he was not new to the music scene, as his debut album + was already a success, his second album x proved to be a bigger success charting at No.1 in 12 countries including the UK and the US. The first three singles Sing, Don’t and Thinking Out Loud were global hits with the first and third single reaching No.1 in the UK and Don’t becoming his first song to reach the top 10 in the US.

Ariana Grande

She became a teen idol after being featured on the Nickelodeon series Victorious and its spin-off Sam & Cat. While her debut album was also a hit in 2013, her second album My Everything surpassed it in 2014. The album reached the top in the US and the top 10 in most countries. The lead single Problem ft. Iggy Azalea was a global hit which was followed by two others in 2014, Break Free ft. Zedd and Love Me Harder ft. The Weeknd. She was also a part of the global hit collaboration Bang Bang with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj.

Iggy Azalea

Being plagued with label issues did not prevent Iggy from releasing a successful album. Her debuted studio album The New Classic took some time to be released, but when it did, it reached No.3 in the US and No.5 in the UK. Her fourth hit from the album Fancy ft. Charli XCX became No.1 in the US, New Zealand and Canada and reached No.5 in the UK. Her follow-up single Black Widow ft. Rita Ora was also a global hit. She was also featured in Ariana Grande’s chart topper Problem and also T.I.’s No Mediocre and Jennifer Lopez’s Booty.

Pitbull

He is the most sought after artist to be featured with. You can guarantee a hit with one of his verses. At the end of 2013 his extended play Meltdown was released which spawned the global dance hit Timber ft. Kesha. Timber was a hit in a few countries in 2013 but was a worldwide smash hit in 2014 reaching No.1 in the US, Canada, Germany etc. His eighth studio album Globalization spawned the hit singles Wild Wild Love ft. G.R.L., Fireball ft. John Ryan, Time of Our Lives with Ne-Yo and the official 2014 FIFA World Cup song We are One (Ole Ola) ft. Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte.

Meghan Trainor

She found success in her revival of the doo-wop style of music and her debut single All About That Bass was one of the best selling singles of 2014. It spent eight consecutive weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100 and 4 weeks atop the UK chart. It was also a global success reaching the top 10 in almost all countries. She thereafter released her debut EP Title which spawned her next hit Lips Are Movin’. It too followed in the footsteps of Bass and peaked within the top 10 internationally.

5 Seconds of Summer

Gaining a small following in 2012 with cover versions of popular songs on YouTube, the band went big in 2014 with their debut single She Looks So Perfect. The song topped the charts in the UK, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. Their follow-up singles Don’t Stop, Amnesia and Good Girls were also global hits with Amnesia reaching the top 20 in the US. Their self-titled debut studio album was a chart topper in the US, Spain, Italy, Australia etc. and peaking at No.2 in the UK.

Maroon 5

While the band is definitely not new to commercial success 2014 also proved yet another year to make money. While the band announced their upcoming fifth studio album V, it was preceded by the hit single Maps. The song reached the top 10 in almost all countries. V debuted at No.1 on the US Billboard 200 and spawned the hit single Animals thereafter which peaked at No.3 in the US and No.2 in Canada.

Honourable Mentions

Katy Perry
Nicki Minaj
Calvin Harris
Ella Henderson
David Guetta
Cheryl Cole
Robin Schulz
Beyonce
George Ezra
One Direction

Till the next chord…

At Ease!!!

(All images used in the posts unless otherwise mentioned are drawn from https://images.google.com/ and the author does not hold copyright over the photos used.)

Best Boy Bands of All Time

Attention!!!

What is a boy band? Traditionally a boy band would compose of boys in their teens or early twenties selected carefully by a eager music producer and their squeaky clean images carefully pruned by a controlling manager. They normally don't play instruments, especially those bands that popped up in the nineties like mushrooms on a rotting log, so we wonder why they are actually called boy bands and not performers. Their target fan base is of course prepubescent girls and teens who of course believe that the boy bands are the reason for living. However, particular individuals in boy bands have also shaped the trends for boys in their late teens from clothes and shoes to hair styles.

Some boy bands have also paved the way for worldwide superstars such as the King of Pop himself Michael Jackson from the Jackson 5, Justin Timberlake from NSYNC and Ricky Martin from Menudo. With the recent trend in the increasing sprouting of boy bands once more like in the late nineties with One Direction, Rixton, The Vamps and 5 Seconds of Summer all gaining monumental success in the mainstream music scene I thought of compiling this list. The Backstreet Boys snatch the crown for taking the concept of boy bands to another level. With their advent it was exceedingly difficult for any other boy band to follow up their act, with probably the exception of One Direction who are also immensely popular at the moment. So here are the Best 50 Boy Bands of All Time.