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The iHeartRadio music awards ceremony took place on 22nd March 2022 at the Shrine Auditorium located in Los Angeles, marking the annual event’s ninth ceremony. Founded in. 2014, the event celebrates and awards artists who have gained recognition and success within iHeartRadio’s various digital music platforms. This year’s ceremony saw a return to an important venue, the event was last held at the famed Shrine Auditorium for its inaugural and second year. The 2022 ceremony also saw three artists walk away with multiple awards; Olivia Rodrigo, Foo Fighters and Silk Sonic were a trio of big winners at the event.

Rodrigo is amongst the three artists to score a hat trick of prizes; the singer was crowned Female Artist of the Year and Best New Pop Artist, the chart-topping artist also won TikTok Bob of the Year for her double-platinum single “good 4 u”.  The Grammy-nominated track also scored high within the Best Cover Song category; Camila Cabello clinched the win for her cover of “good 4 u”. Rodrigo also took to social media to announce her win, posting a photo of herself proudly showing her awards.

 

 

 

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American rockers Foo Fighters also secured a triple win at the ceremony. The band won Rock Artist of the Year, Rock Song of the year for their single “Waiting on a War” and Rock Album of the Year for their tenth studio album Medicine at Midnight. Whilst accepting the award for Rock Artist of the Year, lead singer Dave Grohl gave the following speech, “Thank you so much for voting us Best Rock Artist of the Year, iHeartRadio thank you very much. We’d like to thank all our friends and family that we work with. Most of all, the fans and audience that like our music.”

Supergroup Silk Sonic saw great success at the 2022 ceremony; the duo consisting of Bruno Mars and multi-talented artist Anderson. Paak also took home a triple win. The singer’s musical partnership first took shape in 2017 when Anderson. Paak opened for Bruno Mars during his 24k Magic World Tour. The pair’s first studio album An Evening With Silk was released in 2021. The debut album garnered multiple wins at the ceremony, securing the R&B Album of the year and the album’s lead single “Leave the Door Open” was awarded the R&B Song of the year. The celebrated duo clinched their third award for Best Duo/ Group of the Year, beating out American group Maroon 5 and the K-pop sensations BTS.

Superstar artist Lil Nas X also garnered acclaim within the ceremony, having been named this year’s Male Artist of the Year. The American rapper is no stranger to accolades; Lil Nas X has accumulated a long list of awards throughout his career including two Grammy Awards for Best Pop Duo/ Group Performance and Best Music Video for the 2020 single “One Town Road (Remix)”.  The 22-year-old artist gave a passionate and inspiring speech whilst accepting his award, “I wouldn’t be where I am right now, in my life and my career, if I weren’t delusional. Believing I could drop out of school and become an international success within a year. It’s delusional! Believing that I could come out of the closet in the height of my career … to think that I could do that would be delusional!”

The full list of this year’s winner can be found here.

Sir. Paul released the third installment in his self titled trilogy, ‘McCartney III’ towards the end of 2020. Paul had a more productive lockdown (or ‘rockdown’ as Paul aptly put it) than most, writing and recording the whole record from his home studio; the album was met with plaudits from fans and journos alike. Whilst Macca’s voice isn’t quite what it once was, you absolutely can’t fault his creative drive, Paul just keeps releasing tracks and albums that are very, very good. Take a look at McCartney’s 60’s rivals The Stones, who have been writing albums in the same style for fifty years and you’re blown away by Macca’s ability to write tracks that sound contemporary and fresh.

‘McCartney III Imagined’ takes the solid foundation of the original and runs with it. The dad-joke title of this record is easily forgiven, as the tracks more than make up for poor wordplay. The eclectic mix of guests and styles is testament to McCartney’s nouse for keeping it fresh. St Vincent’s remix on ‘Women And Wives’ gives the track a real lounge lizard feel, Damon Albarn adds a cheeky Gorillaz-esque charm to ‘Long Tailed Winter Bird’ and Josh Homme does exactly what you’d expect on ‘Lavatory Lil’, giving it a sexy, sleazy, leather jacket groove. There are contributions from Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and a real highlight from Anderson .Paak on ‘When Winter Comes’, he gives the Beach Boys style track an infectiously catchy r&b feel.

‘McCartney III Imagined’ is getting the full works when it comes to vinyl pressing, a number of beautiful pressings are available through a variety of exclusive retailers. Vinyl’s ability to impact the charts gives ‘III Imagined’ a real chance of making a dent in the album ranking, only a number of months since he bagged the top spot with the original tracks. ‘McCartney III Imagined’, then is a love letter to Paul’s legion of dedicated fans and a chance for McCartney to show of his roster of ultra talented mates (a WhatsApp group I’d love to be in).

Tickets for the tour go on sale at 9am on Friday September 7, and you can pick them up here. Those who pre-order Its About Time will be able to access pre-sale tickets.

I am delighted to announce our first ever @NileRodgers & @CHICorg ARENA tour of the UK w @MistaJam on the wheels of steel and more to be announced!

Pre-order ‘It’s About Time’ to get access to pre-sale tickets.

Click here to pre-order! https://t.co/fFwpc7YDK2 pic.twitter.com/uGL0S2IXho

— Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers) September 4, 2018

Chic also release the star-studded collaborative single ‘Till the World Falls,’ which featured Mura Masa, Cosha, and Vic Mensa, and was also co-written with Anderson .Paak, with Rodgers and Mura Masa handling production.

“I am delighted to announce our first ever ARENA tour of the UK. Christmas is indeed coming and we are putting together the party of the festive season!”, Rodgers said.

There was a party-like atmosphere surrounding the place, as for the first time in decades there was no significant rainfall during the whole festival, and fans duly celebrated as such, before the festival takes a year off in 2018, to allow the ground and plant life of the festival site to have a summer off from the damage of hundreds of thousands of attendees.

The event was a significant one in particular for many of Britain and London’s musicians, with many having their say on the recent general election, as well as the public outrage surrounding the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower Fire, and the Tory government’s neglect of housing standards, that cost the lives of so many.

And the winner of the best flag at #Glastonbury2017 goes to… pic.twitter.com/4rjKpvUb8Q

— easyodds.com (@easy_odds) June 23, 2017

Friday night saw Radiohead headline the Pyramid stage, as they brought their usual array of ethereal brilliance, with Johnny Greenwood twiddling his boxful of buttons, and Thom Yorke bringing out his perennially outstanding dance moves.

Despite a somewhat avant-garde setlist (15 step and Myoxomatosis, anyone?), fans were treated to a rare performance of the band’s first ever hit in ‘Creep’, which was a massive surprise for those in attendance, given Radiohead’s less-than-glittering relationship with their own breakthrough hit.

Not only are Radiohead playing 'Creep', but it actually looks like they practiced it beforehand #Glastobury

— Daniel Jeakins (@DanJTweets) June 23, 2017

Thom Yorke and co. pulled out the big guns towards the end of their set, and set the fans home very happy, with a spine-tingling rendition of ‘Karma Police’ rounding off the night.

Meanwhile, Grime veteran Dizzee Rascal was pleasing his own fans, with a hit-laden headline slot on the West Holts stage, set the benchmark for the rest of the weekend’s Grime acts to aspire to.

Prior to the triumphant return of Grime to Worthy Farm, Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals caught the eyes of thousands, with a blisteringly good set just before Dizzee, bringing funk, soul, and more glorious dance moves to a baying crowd, lit beautifully by the Friday night sunset. It was a star-making performance for the band, and you can watch their set in full here

Saturday was the day the politics came, as Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn- whose name had already been heavily chanted by fans on Friday night- received a heroes welcome on the Pyramid stage, as he gave a speech, before Run the Jewels’ set.

At #Glastonbury I spoke with thousands of people. Over 4 million have watched my speech online since. We're building a movement #ForTheMany. pic.twitter.com/s10U6yuTO8

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 27, 2017

Killer Mike and El-P then laid waste to the festival, in their typically incendiary fashion, with extra emotional value placed on the performance due to the passing of Mike’s mother just days before the festival.

❤️ https://t.co/FVvdrSPo0r

— el-p (@therealelp) June 22, 2017

Stormzy packed out the Other Stage for his evening set, and undid his tracksuit jacket part-way through his set to reveal a t-shirt paying tribute to the victims of the Grenfell fire. He then demanded answers and ownership of responsibility of both the government and authorities involved, before rapping a short verse lamenting his sadness over the tragedy.

Liam Gallagher also paid tribute earlier in the day, but to the victims of the Manchester terror attacks of last month, before a rousing rendition of Oasis’ classic ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, which was shared beautifully with a very emotional crowd.

For the victims of Manchester and London attacks, and #GrenfellTower
For the first time EVER, @LiamGallagher sings Don't Look Back in Anger pic.twitter.com/730OxB8C7u

— bbcglasto (@bbcglasto) June 24, 2017

Saturday night- a very nearly Sunday morning- was polished off in style by the Foo Fighters, who played nothing but hits, repaying the fans’ patience after pulling out of 2015’s festival, due to frontman Dave Grohl breaking his leg.

As is customary with a Foos set, there was fantastic rapport with the crowd from Grohl, and deafening crowd singalongs, particularly for the likes of ‘Best of You’ and ‘Monkey Wrench’, the breakdown of which was dragged out for so long, it would’ve been annoying if it had been anyone else doing it. Grohl and Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins also switched places for a great cover of Queen and David Bowie’s ‘Under Pressure’, with Hawkins surprising many, and doing very well with the not-so-enviable task of covering Freddie Mercury’s vocals.

Many congratulations to our friends the @foofighters on their @GlastoFest headlining show! #underpressure pic.twitter.com/waW0jx7iMb

— Queen (@QueenWillRock) June 24, 2017

After a surprise set from Elbow on Friday night, there was much speculation about the unannounced act on the John Peel Stage on Sunday afternoon. Festivalgoers were then sent into complete overdrive when The Killers made their triumphant return to a tent so packed out, the Festival Twitter page had to tell fans to turn back from trying to see the band, as it was already totally full.

Glastonbury! pic.twitter.com/W9iBKCKIyY

— The Killers (@thekillers) June 26, 2017

Boy Better Know continued Grime’s strong showing at the festival, with a raucous headline slot on the Other Stage, with Justice providing a similarly emphatic end to the weekend with a live set on the West Holts Stage, for the fans that hadn’t yet been burnt out by the weekends events.

It was left to ginger songsmith Ed Sheeran to close the Pyramid Stage, and he did so fantastically well. Whether you’re a huge fan of him or not, there’s something thrilling about watching him build and entire song up using only a loop station- even if some people didn’t understand that that’s what it was.

Never thought I'd have to explain it, but everything I do in my live show is live, it's a loop station, not a backing track. Please google x

— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) June 26, 2017

Sheeran also ‘did a Radiohead’ by finishing his set with the previously retired ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.’ Draped in a gay pride flag, Sheeran sat on the edge of the stage, surveying the enormous, female crowd, an infectious smile on his face, ending the festival in a way that can’t help but make you smile.

Thanks for coming, and for making #Glastonbury2017 such a special one. Roll on #Glastonbury2019! pic.twitter.com/SY5SgddSKK

— Glastonbury Festival (@GlastoFest) June 26, 2017