From the rise of Billie Eilish to the Taylor Swift label war, we count down music moments of 2019
Losing Roxette, the phenomenon of Tones and I, Kanye as a preacher man, Miley Cyrus’ hook up with Cody Simpson and The Veronicas plane war — this is how music changed our world.
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There was more drama off-stage than on-stage for the world’s pop stars in 2019.
A social media beef that erupted between Taylor Swift and two men who had sold and bought her priceless back catalogue of early albums captured global attention, while Kanye West’s move into the Christian music market as a self-styled preacher had everyone scratching their heads.
Controversy was just a viral Instagram post away for Flume, while rising star Tones and I was inescapable in Australia and then the world with her break-out pop phenomenon Dance Monkey.
Here’s 19 moments which captured our attention in 2019.
Taylor Swift versus the SBs
Swift was not having any of her own You Need To Calm Down advice when Big Machine Records boss Scott Borchetta sold the label to Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun. Her new label overlord, with control of her first six studio records, would be a man who the pop star had accused of being complicit in bullying her during the ongoing Kanye West beef. Swift has kept the social media blowtorch on the pair as she turns her personal feud into a campaign for artist rights.
TikTok Hits
Viral video app TikTok spearheaded the crossover success of several artists this year, most notably Lil Nas X and his countrified pop hit Old Town Road, and Lizzo, whose Truth Hurts single scored another life courtesy of the #DNATest challenge inspired by the lyrics “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100% that bitch.”
Tones and I owns 2019
In under a year, busker Toni Watson went from drawing hundreds to her gigs on the streets of Byron Bay and living in her van to breaking chart records in Australia and the UK with her break-out single Dance Monkey. Tones and I exemplified the wave of young chartslayers smashing the pop star mould by doing themselves rather than conforming to industry expectations of female artists.
War on festivals
Authorities declared war on festivals in NSW in the wake of a series of drug-related deaths at events last summer. The government and police at first refused to work with the festival industry or harm minimisation experts and ruled out considering the coroner’s recommendation to introduce pill testing. By year’s end, the government had agreed to a round table with the industry.
K-Pop Kaput
The Korean pop factory was rocked by an annus horribilis, with a clutch of popular singers and actors taking their lives after online harassment and male stars jailed for their involvement in a drug and sex videos scandal called Burning Sun gate.
Rock docs
The music-inspired movie and documentary continue to thrive both at the cinema and on streaming services, from the influential investigation films Surviving R. Kelly and Leaving Neverland through to Mystify, Richard Lowenstein’s portrait of Michael Hutchence and the musical fantasy film Rocketman.
Cancelled!
The music industry had its #MeToo reckoning when actor Mandy Moore and several other women called out indie star Ryan Adams for questionable behaviour while opera legend Placido Domingo faces allegations of sexual harassment made by multiple women.
Jailhouse Rap
A$AP Rocky found himself in a Swedish jail for a month in July on assault charges after the rapper and his entourage tussled with two victims while on a walkabout in Stockholm. President Trump tried to secure the musician’s release via Twitter.
Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM. We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem! #FreeRocky
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2019
While he was found guilty, the rapper showed there were no hard feelings, returning to the country to perform an arena concert in December.
Too Soon
We lost some legends and rising stars from the shock death of rappers Nipsey Hussle and JUICE WRLD to artists felled by illness including Roxette’s Marie Fredriksson, Mental as Anything’s Greedy Smith and Noiseworks’ Stuart Fraser. Other artists to join the Great Band in the Sky included The Prodigy’s Keith Flint, The Car’s Ric Ocasek and revered Australian musician Chris Wilson.
Preacher Man
Kanye West styled himself as a musical prophet with his Sunday Service gatherings and Jesus Is King record. After his gospel foray, he ventured into opera and turned up painted in silver for the debut of his production called Mary in Miami. Meme generators just loved silver Kanye.
The Veronicas V Qantas
Jessica and Lisa Origliasso were escorted from a Qantas flight by AFP officers after airline staff took exception to the pop stars requesting their names in the middle of a confusing discussion about shifting bags in the overhead bin. That tussle reignited when Black Eyed Peas rapper Will. I.Am was met by several officers after a Qantas flight because of allegedly not complying with staff instructions to put away his laptop.
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Gender Identity
Sam Smith made a brave statement about being non-binary in their announcement they would now use gender neutral pronouns. The Grammy winning chart star said “I’m scared every day … just being my feminine self in this world that we’re in. The music industry … can be a bit homophobic, it’s a bit sexist at times.”
Heard It Before
The lawyers were getting jiggy with it this year, with the industry reeling after a $4 million verdict by a Federal Jury against Katy Perry, her label, associated songwriters, and other collaborators for infringing upon the work of little-known Christian rapper Flame (aka Marcus Gray) with her song Dark Horse. She is appealing the verdict as Lizzo also fights plagiarism accusations about her hit Truth Hurts.
She Did It Again
Britney Spears announced she was taking time out from her music career in early 2019 to look after her mental health in the wake of her father being seriously ill. The pop star also kept up her fight against trolls online.
That escalated quickly
Buddies Miley Cyrus and Cody Simpson took their friendship to the next level with a very public outing of their blooming romance via their Instas. The relationship played out as Simpson rocked out as the Robot on the first season of The Masked Singer in Australia.
It was a joke (sorry mum) 👠pic.twitter.com/wy4KSWm4UU
— Flume (@flumemusic) September 5, 2019
Sorry, Mum!
Australian electronic music superstar Flume found himself trending for all of the weird reasons after a video of him performing an explicit sex act during his set at the anything goes Burning Man festival. He later addressed the incident with an Instagram post of him eating a peach with the caption “It was a joke (sorry mum)”.
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Spotify Warped
Something went horribly wrong with Spotify’s annual Wrapped data crunch of listener habits. Artists you’d never pressed play on were suddenly your most streamed; I got John Paul Young and while I love his work, it wasn’t getting high rotation on my playlists.
Fairy popmother
Claiming to be a lottery winner called Cece, Sia left her wig at home and went to a Walmart in Palm Springs, California on Thanksgiving to pay for several surprised shoppers’ groceries. Her generosity was rewarded with multiple hugs.
Doing It Her Way
Billie Eilish was the Teen of the Year, her debut record album When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? topping Triple J listeners’ poll for album of the year. The 17-year-old was also named Woman of the Year by Billboard for her pop gamechanging sound and style.
Originally published as From the rise of Billie Eilish to the Taylor Swift label war, we count down music moments of 2019