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Track record

The year 2014 saw many reunions, comebacks, hit debuts, besides record-breaking openings and memorable moments in the world of music

Track record

One Direction’s new album, Four, enjoyed the No 1 slot on music charts



Saurabh & Gaurav

From musicians who scored their biggest hits ever to the ice bucket mania to the newcomers who dominated the music industry, the year brought week after week of chart records and notable milestones. What were the year’s biggest events that made a lasting impression for years to come? Read on, for some of the best music moments of the year. 

Pharrell Williams deserves a round of applause. His song “Happy” has been named the most popular song of 2014 by both Facebook and Billboard. The producer-songwriter dominated the BBC Music Awards held recently and was named best international artist and won song of the year for “Happy”.

Over the past 12 months, Taylor Swift wrapped up her Red Tour, cut her hair and prepped herself up for her 1989 pop era, which resulted in first-week sales of more than one million albums. This is the highest debut sales week for an artist since Eminem’s 2002 album The Eminem Show and the second highest debut for a female ever, behind Britney Spears’ album Oops!... I Did It Again (2000).

US President Barack Obama honoured Sting with the Kennedy Honors and presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Stevie Wonder. Obama called Wonder, a musical prodigy whose warmth and humanity can be heard in every note of his music.

Meanwhile, Sting joined the cast of his own musical The Last Ship that earned him a standing ovation in a packed house. Ringo Starr was also awarded the Humanitarian award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards.

The year was witness to many reunions in the music industry. John McVie, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac announced their reunion and performed for the first time in 16 years. After the departure of Jason Orange, “Take That” is a trio now, as Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen were back with the release of their new album III. 1980’s Pop stars Culture Club also announced their reunion. Interestingly, ABBA’s Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus performed on stage at the finale of the Olivier Awards ceremony, hinting at the possibility of ABBA’s comeback. 

Marking the 48th anniversary of The Beatles’ last ever official concert, on July 14 Paul McCartney played what was the final concert ever in Candlestick Park, San Francisco. Paul also revealed a previously unseen picture of The Beatles that was taken at the same venue in 1966 by Jim Marshall.

Michael Jackson’s second posthumous album of previously unreleased tracks, Xscape, was released, announcing Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s duet Love Never Felt So Good as the official lead single. Interestingly, Michael Jackson appeared on stage as a hologram to perform Slave to the Rhythm at the Billboard Awards 2014 leaving the audience spellbound.

Forbes magazine listed Dr Dre as the world’s highest-paid musician of 2014, beating out Beyonce by half a billion dollars. Remember when the Ice Bucket Challenge took over the world? The music industry, too, supported the cause and many notable stars took the challenge, including Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Drake, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Daler Mehndi, Afrojack, Liam Gallagher, Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez.

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga reached at No.1 on the Billboard 200 with their collaborative set Cheek to Cheek, the second No.1 for the iconic Bennett and the third for Gaga. The 88-year-old Bennett is the oldest living act to earn a No.1 album on the Billboard 200, beating a record he set himself back in 2011. Meanwhile, Lorde’s “Yellow Flicker Beat” logged the quickest vault to the Alternative Songs Top 10 by a woman since June 1996. No song by a solo female had made such a swift sprint to the top 10 since Alanis Morissette’s “You Learn” that also reached the region in three weeks.

2014 was a big year for One Direction. The English/Irish quintet (comprising Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson) made history, again, as their new album Four debuted at No.1 on most of the music charts around the globe. The boy band is the only group in the Billboard chart’s 58-year history to launch their first four studio albums at No.1 position. Overall, just six acts have attained that with their first four studio releases: Beyonce, DMX, the Kingston Trio, the Monkees, One Direction and Britney Spears. The band also managed to earn the top artist distinction since Destiny’s Child ruled in 2001. 

U2’s long-awaited 13th studio album got a grand rollout in September at an Apple product launch, where CEO Tim Cook announced that Songs of Innocence had been gifted to everyone on iTunes. Meanwhile, the debacle of the release didn’t seem to have dampened the spirits of the U2 fans as it was announced that the band’s 2015 tour dates were already sold out. Strikingly, they managed to sell out the entire iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour in the first day, and in New York, alone, 1,18,000 people queued online to buy tickets for the four shows in July.

Coldplay’s sixth studio album, Ghost Stories, managed to score the highest opening-week sales for a rock album of 2014 at 3,83,000 units. Meanwhile Sam Smith’s The Lonely Hour earned him an astonishing six Grammys nominations. His tear-stained agony of a love unrequited on “Stay With Me” captured the imagination of heartbroken Americans like it was the second coming of Adele’s “Someone Like You”.

Singer Nicole Scherzinger made her West End debut as Grizabella in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, watched by the theatre star, who created the role more than 30 years ago. Elaine Paige, who was in the original Cats cast in 1981, was also in the audience for the musical’s return at the London Palladium. The former Pussycat Doll Scherzinger received loud cheers when she performed “Memory”, the show’s most famous song.

On a sad note, many prominent music personalities left for heavenly abode. The departed souls included keyboardist Ian McLagan, Rolling Stones’ saxophonist Bobby Keys, legendary Motown balladeer Jimmy Ruffin, Wayne Static, Jack Bruce, American Idol contestant Joanne Borgella, Isaiah Ikey Owens, Paul Revere, Simone Battle, guitarist Dick Wagner, drummer Tommy Ramone, Legendary guitarist Johnny Winter, Bobby Womack, singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester, country artist Tim Wilson, Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia, Phil Everly of Everly Brothers and legendary American folk singer Pete Seeger. 

What better way to end our 2014 review than by looking forward to 2015?

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