78 Fun Facts About 2023 Music

Which Miley Cyrus single spent eight weeks at US No. 1 and was 2023's best-selling global single?

Flowers came out on January 13, 2023, the birthday of Miley Cyrus's ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, and fans read its lyrics about buying her own flowers as a reply to him.

Which country singer's "Last Night" spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2023?

Morgan Wallen's Last Night was knocked off No. 1 five times in 2023 and climbed back after four of them; its 16 weeks were then the most for a song by one act with no guest.

Which BTS member's "Seven" (featuring Latto) debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in July 2023?

Jung Kook spends the Seven video trying to win back an unimpressed girlfriend, played by Korean actress Han So-hee, one day of the week at a time, as the lyrics count them off.

SZA's "Kill Bill" broke which song's record for longest No. 1 run on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart?

Old Town Road held that record after Billboard pulled it from the country chart in 2019 for not fitting the genre; Kill Bill passed it in 2023 with 21 weeks at No. 1.

Doja Cat's "Paint the Town Red" is built on a sample of which 1964 Dionne Warwick song?

Walk on By, Dionne Warwick's 1964 hit, loops under lyrics hitting back at fans Doja Cat had argued with online; Paint the Town Red then ended a year in which no rap song had topped the Hot 100.

Which 2019 Taylor Swift album track went viral on the Eras Tour and hit No. 1 as a single in 2023?

Cruel Summer was meant to be a single in 2020 until the pandemic scrapped the plan, Swift told a Pittsburgh crowd in June 2023; three days later her label finally released it.

Which 2023 song made its singer the first act to debut at Hot 100 No. 1 with no chart history?

Rich Men North of Richmond was just Oliver Anthony's voice and a guitar, posted that August on a YouTube channel for unsigned country acts; within two weeks it was No. 1.

Which country singer's 'Try That in a Small Town' hit No. 1 in 2023 after CMT pulled its video?

Jason Aldean's song surged to No. 1 on the publicity after CMT dropped its video, filmed at a Tennessee courthouse where a man was lynched in 1927, then fell to No. 21 a week later.

In which US city did Taylor Swift's Eras Tour open on March 17, 2023?

The Eras Tour opened at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17, 2023; the city temporarily renamed itself 'Swift City' for the opening weekend.

In December 2023 the Eras Tour became the highest-grossing tour ever, overtaking whose farewell tour?

Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road needed five years and 330 shows to gross $939 million; Swift's tour passed it within nine months and became the first to top $1 billion.

Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour opened on May 10, 2023, in which city?

Stockholm filled with so many visiting fans for the two opening nights that Danske Bank economists blamed the jump in hotel prices for the country's higher-than-expected inflation that May.

"Now and Then", the 2023 "last Beatles song", grew out of which Beatle's home demo from around 1977?

John Lennon taped it at home in New York; the other Beatles tried to finish it in 1995 and gave up, until software built for Peter Jackson's Get Back film lifted his voice cleanly off the tape.

Billie Eilish's Grammy- and Oscar-winning 'What Was I Made For?' was written for which 2023 film?

Barbie was still a rough cut when Greta Gerwig screened it for Billie Eilish and Finneas; the ballad they wrote afterwards was their first song after a long spell of writer's block.

Which 2023 album sent all 12 of its songs into the Hot 100's top 40 in its first week?

Guts put all 12 of its tracks in the top 40 the week it came out, and the album's arrival pushed its lead single back to No. 1.

Speak Now (Taylor's Version) gave Swift her 12th Billboard 200 No. 1, breaking whose record for most chart-topping albums by a woman?

Barbra Streisand lost the record to a remake: Swift re-recorded her 2010 album Speak Now so she would own the masters, after the originals were sold in 2019.

Which 1989 (Taylor's Version) vault track debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2023?

Is It Over Now? was written for her 2014 album 1989 and left off it; nine years on it led an all-vault top three, ahead of Now That We Don't Talk and "Slut!".

Which film did Travis Scott release the day before his 2023 album Utopia?

Circus Maximus reached cinemas the day before Utopia; when the album's launch show at the pyramids of Giza was cancelled, Scott staged it at Rome's real Circus Maximus instead.

Songs from the 36-track country album One Thing at a Time were re-recorded live in December 2023 at which famous studio?

Abbey Road Studios lent its Studio Two for the seven-song session, taped while the singer was in London for his first show there and released to mark the album's first anniversary.

Which SZA song was the only track to stay on the Billboard Hot 100 for the entire year of 2023?

Snooze was a slow burner: it charted for months as an album track from SOS before it was sent to radio as a single, which kept it on the Hot 100 for every week of 2023.

Lana Del Rey's 2023 album title begins "Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under..." — under what?

The full title is Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, after a sealed pedestrian tunnel in Long Beach, California; the album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in March 2023.

Boygenius is Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and which singer?

Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus had only booked a joint tour in 2018 and meant to record one song to play together; the sessions went so well they came out as a band.

"Ella Baila Sola", the first regional Mexican song in the Hot 100's top 10, paired Peso Pluma with which group?

Eslabon Armado, a band formed in Patterson, California, wrote the song and released it on their own album with Peso Pluma as the guest; it peaked at No. 4 in 2023.

Whose Mañana Será Bonito was the first all-Spanish album by a woman to top the Billboard 200?

Karol G named the album for a phrase she kept repeating to herself when nothing felt great, that tomorrow will be beautiful; it went on to win her first Grammy.

PinkPantheress's "Boy's a Liar Pt. 2" hit No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 2023 with which Bronx rapper?

Ice Spice was added to a song PinkPantheress had already released on her own in late 2022; the remix arrived in February 2023 and gave both of them their first Hot 100 top 10.

Who headlined the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in February 2023?

Rihanna had earlier turned the show down in support of Colin Kaepernick; in 2023 she played it visibly pregnant, her first live performance in five years, and her team confirmed a second child afterwards.

Which country did Loreen represent when she won Eurovision 2023 with 'Tattoo'?

Sweden's Loreen won on the juries' votes while the public preferred Finland's Käärijä; it was her second victory, after Euphoria in 2012, and her country's seventh.

Liverpool staged Eurovision 2023 on behalf of which country, the 2022 winner?

Ukraine won in 2022 with Kalush Orchestra's Stefania, but organisers ruled it could not guarantee security during the Russian invasion, so the United Kingdom, the runner-up, hosted instead.

Which group was the first Asian act to headline Coachella, in 2023?

Blackpink first played Coachella in 2019, the first K-pop girl group on its bill; four years later they came back as headliners, and that July they topped London's BST Hyde Park too.

Who played the Sunday "Legends" slot at Glastonbury 2023?

Yusuf / Cat Stevens auctioned his guitars in 1979 and left pop after converting to Islam, returning to secular music only in 2006; the Pyramid Stage teatime slot came 17 years later.

Hackney Diamonds (2023) was the Rolling Stones' first album of original material since which 2005 record?

A Bigger Bang was 18 years old by then; Hackney Diamonds was also the Stones' first album since drummer Charlie Watts died in 2021, yet he plays on two of its songs, recorded earlier.

Which Nigerian singer's "Calm Down", remixed with Selena Gomez, was IFPI's second best-selling single of 2023?

Rema first released Calm Down on his own in February 2022; the Selena Gomez remix followed that August, and the song was still climbing a year later, reaching No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 2023.

Tyla's Grammy-winning South African hit 'Water' is rooted in which genre?

Amapiano, a South African house style, drives Water, which spread through a TikTok challenge built on South Africa's Bacardi dance style; it won the first Grammy for Best African Music Performance.

Which K-pop girl group's "Cupid" made them the first K-pop girl group to reach the UK top 10?

Fifty Fifty's Cupid peaked at No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in 2023 after a sped-up edit of its English 'Twin' version went viral on TikTok.

Which company had the viral AI track 'Heart on My Sleeve', mimicking Drake and the Weeknd, pulled?

Universal Music Group, whose labels release both stars, had the song pulled in April 2023; an anonymous creator known as Ghostwriter977 had posted it, and it drew millions of plays on TikTok and other platforms first.

A February 2023 Ariana Grande remix finally sent which 2016 Weeknd track to No. 1?

Die for You stalled at No. 43 when it was first a single in 2017; a TikTok revival years later sent it back up the chart, and the Grande remix finally carried it to No. 1.

Jimin's 'Like Crazy', the first Hot 100 No. 1 debut by a Korean soloist, came from which album?

Face was Jimin's first solo album; its single Like Crazy opened at No. 1, then dropped to No. 45 a week later, at the time the steepest fall from the top the Hot 100 had seen.

Which rapper's December 2023 album made her the first female rapper with three US No. 1 albums?

Nicki Minaj pushed Pink Friday 2 back twice, from October to November and then to December 8, her 41st birthday; it arrived 13 years after the original Pink Friday.

Which Beatles song did Dolly Parton record with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr on 2023's Rockstar?

Let It Be brought two Beatles onto her record; Parton made a rock album only after first turning down her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination because she did not think of herself as a rock artist.

U2 opened which $2.3 billion Las Vegas venue with a residency on September 29, 2023?

Sphere opened with U2 one man short: drummer Larry Mullen Jr. was recovering from surgery, so the band played without him for the first time since 1978, with Dutch drummer Bram van den Berg filling in.

Which producer oversaw the 2023 soundtrack with "Dance the Night" and "What Was I Made For?"?

Mark Ronson and his collaborator Andrew Wyatt had two weeks to supply a beat for the film's big dance number; the cast rehearsed to it before Dance the Night had any lyrics.

Who received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2023 MTV VMAs?

Shakira was handed the award by Wyclef Jean, her partner on Hips Don't Lie, on a night when she also performed a medley of her hits.

Who became the first female rapper inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023?

Missy Elliott became the Hall's first female rapper in November 2023, and Queen Latifah, a pioneer of the generation before her, gave the speech inducting her.

Which 'Queen of Rock 'n' Roll' died at her Swiss home in May 2023, aged 83?

Tina Turner died at her home in Küsnacht, near Zurich, on May 24, 2023; she had taken Swiss citizenship in 2013 and relinquished her US citizenship the same year.

Which "Margaritaville" singer died at his Sag Harbor home in September 2023, aged 76?

Jimmy Buffett died on September 1, 2023, at his home in Sag Harbor, New York, after a battle with Merkel cell skin cancer; Margaritaville, his 1977 hit, grew into a restaurant and resort brand.

Which Sinéad O'Connor album won RTÉ's first Classic Irish Album prize?

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, the 1990 album with Nothing Compares 2 U, won a Grammy that she refused to accept; RTÉ's new prize followed in March 2023, four months before her death.

In May 2023 a New York jury cleared Ed Sheeran of copying which Marvin Gaye song in "Thinking Out Loud"?

Let's Get It On shares a chord progression with Sheeran's ballad, but the jury accepted his defence that such chords are common building blocks of pop that no songwriter owns.

Who played drums on Foo Fighters' 2023 album But Here We Are, their first after Taylor Hawkins died?

Dave Grohl played every drum part himself, as he had on the 1995 debut he recorded alone; Josh Freese was named the band's new drummer only for the tour that followed.

Which band's 2023 album 72 Seasons ends with the eleven-minute "Inamorata"?

Metallica named the album for the 72 seasons of a person's first 18 years, which James Hetfield says form our true or false selves.

blink-182's One More Time... (2023) was their first album in 12 years with which founding member back?

Tom DeLonge and his old bandmates met again at Mark Hoppus's home after Hoppus was diagnosed with cancer in 2021; the reunion album draws on the illness and on the band's own history.

Kiss played the final show of their End of the Road tour on December 2, 2023, at which venue?

Madison Square Garden, in the city where the band formed, hosted the last show; as it ended, Kiss unveiled digital avatars built to go on performing in their place.

Which Atlanta rapper won three 2024 Grammys with his first solo album since 2012?

Killer Mike had spent the years since his last solo record as half of Run the Jewels; on the night Michael and one of its songs won him three Grammys, he was arrested over an altercation with a security guard.

Who won Best New Artist at the 66th Grammy Awards after her album Jaguar II?

Victoria Monét was hardly new: she had co-written songs on every Ariana Grande album from 2013 to 2020 before Jaguar II brought her three Grammys of her own.

Which album won Taylor Swift a record fourth Album of the Year Grammy in February 2024?

Midnights made her the first artist with four wins in the category; earlier that night she had used another acceptance speech to announce her next album, The Tortured Poets Department.

Which band's win for This Is Why made them the first female-fronted rock band to win Best Rock Album?

Paramore made This Is Why with the same three members as their previous album, the first time their line-up had held from one record to the next; it was also their last album for Atlantic.

Zach Bryan's "I Remember Everything" debuted at No. 1 in September 2023 featuring which country singer?

Kacey Musgraves and Zach Bryan each got a first Hot 100 No. 1 from the duet; Bryan nearly renamed it because John Prine had a ballad with the same title, then decided a change didn't sit right.

Drake's "First Person Shooter" gave which featured rapper his first Hot 100 No. 1 in October 2023?

J. Cole earned his first Hot 100 No. 1 with First Person Shooter on the chart dated October 21, 2023; his 'big three' line on the track drew Kendrick Lamar's response Like That.

Which 1958 Brenda Lee recording first reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 in December 2023?

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree was recorded when Brenda Lee was 13; in November 2023 she released a music video for it, and weeks later, at 78, she was the oldest artist ever to top the Hot 100.

Whose Un Verano Sin Ti was the first Spanish-language album nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy?

Bad Bunny's album, sung entirely in Spanish, was the best-performing album in the US in 2022 with 13 weeks at No. 1; he performed two of its songs at the 2023 ceremony.

Which album won Album of the Year at the 65th Grammy Awards in February 2023?

Harry's House beat Beyoncé's Renaissance to the top prize on the very night she became the most-awarded artist in Grammy history, with her 32nd win.

Kim Petras, whose "Unholy" with Sam Smith won a Grammy in February 2023, was born in which country?

Germany is where Kim Petras grew up; accepting the Grammy for Unholy as the first openly transgender woman to win that award, she thanked the transgender artists before her who 'kicked these doors open', above all her late friend Sophie.

Which artist turned four nominations into four wins at the Brit Awards 2023?

Harry Styles won Artist of the Year from a shortlist with no women on it, and used the speech to dedicate the award to female artists who had been left off.

Which Olivia Rodrigo single debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in July 2023?

Vampire's video opens in what looks like a moonlit field until a falling stage light reveals she is at an awards show; the clip went on to win an MTV award for its editing.

The music video for Olivia Rodrigo's "Get Him Back!" was shot entirely on what?

An iPhone 15 Pro Max shot the whole video, which came out on September 12, 2023, the day Apple unveiled the phone; in it, clones of Rodrigo wreck an ex's house.

Which theater chain's distribution arm released Taylor Swift's Eras Tour film in October 2023?

AMC struck the deal with Swift directly, cutting out the Hollywood studios; the film's opening weekend of about $93 million was the biggest a concert film had ever had.

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (December 2023) features which Motown legend in a musical performance?

Diana Ross appears singing Happy Birthday to Beyoncé at the September 4, 2023, Los Angeles show, one of the concert moments included in Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.

Luke Combs scored a 2023 country No. 1 with his cover of which 1988 Tracy Chapman song?

Fast Car made Tracy Chapman the first Black woman to top Country Airplay as a sole writer and won her the CMA's Song of the Year; she then sang it with Combs at the 2024 Grammys.

Which Kylie Minogue single became a viral hit in 2023, her first UK top 10 in 12 years?

Padam Padam, named for the sound of a heartbeat, spread as a meme and a Pride anthem; BBC Radio 1 added it to its playlist only after fans protested, and it went on to win a Grammy.

Whose BBC Radio 1 cover helped Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" go viral in 2023?

Olivia Rodrigo's cover in BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge gave Noah Kahan's 2022 single a viral boost in Britain, where Stick Season climbed to become the first No. 1 of 2024 and stayed for seven weeks.

Which American rapper features on Raye's breakout single "Escapism.", her first UK number one?

070 Shake, a New Jersey rapper, features on Escapism., which Raye released as a newly independent artist after parting with her label; a TikTok trend then carried it to UK No. 1 in January 2023.

Which rapper joined Dave on 'Sprinter', the first UK rap single to spend 10 weeks at number one?

Central Cee had never topped the UK chart before Sprinter; days after the single, he and Dave released a surprise joint EP, Split Decision, to mark their 25th birthdays, which fall a day apart.

Which Mitski single became her first Hot 100 entry in 2023 after taking off on TikTok?

My Love Mine All Mine asks the Moon to hold on to her love after she dies; audio from it soundtracked more than 300,000 TikTok clips, which carried Mitski onto the Hot 100 for the first time.

Which rapper's 'Lovin on Me' hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in December 2023?

Jack Harlow built Lovin on Me around a chopped vocal sample from Whatever, a 1995 R&B track by Cadillac Dale, and a snippet went viral on TikTok before the single was even out.

Which band frontman co-wrote and co-produced Tate McRae's 2023 hit 'Greedy'?

Ryan Tedder, OneRepublic's frontman, co-wrote and co-produced Greedy, which McRae says is about feeling utter confidence; she filmed its video in an empty hockey rink, driving the ice resurfacer herself.

Whose 2023 single 'Lose Control' took 32 weeks to climb to No. 1 on the Hot 100?

Teddy Swims has said Lose Control is about love that works like an addiction, always chasing the highs after the lows and believing the only way out is that same person.

Guitar great Jeff Beck, who died in January 2023, had replaced whom in the Yardbirds in 1965?

Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds in March 1965, unhappy with the pop direction of For Your Love, and Jeff Beck replaced him on Jimmy Page's recommendation; Page joined the band himself in 1966.

Shane MacGowan, who died on 30 November 2023, fronted which Celtic punk band?

The Pogues formed in London in 1982 with Shane MacGowan out front; at his funeral in December 2023, Fairytale of New York was sung in the church and drew cheers from the mourners.

Harry Belafonte, who died in April 2023, made which 1956 album, the first million-selling LP by one artist?

Calypso was meant as one stop in a series on the world's music, but Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) made it such a hit that, as Belafonte put it, the world stopped there.

NewJeans' second EP Get Up, which topped the US Billboard 200 in 2023, was led by which single?

Super Shy came with a video of NewJeans leading flash mobs through the streets of Lisbon; two weeks later Get Up sold 1.65 million copies in its first week in South Korea.