By Wonderwall.com Editors
8:18am PST, Nov 25, 2019
John Legend named People's Sexiest Man Alive
And People magazine's 2019 Sexiest Man Alive is… John Legend! The music star, EGOT winner and "The Voice" coach shared the exciting news on Nov. 13, telling the weekly magazine, "I was excited, but I was a little scared at the same time because it's a lot of pressure. Everyone's going to be picking me apart to see if I'm sexy enough to hold this title. I'm [also] following Idris Elba, which is not fair and is not nice to me!"
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Grammy nominations announced
The 2020 Grammy nominations were announced on Nov. 20 and Lizzo, Lil Nas X and Billie Eilish lead the pack! With eight nods, Lizzo is the most nominated artist of the year. At 17, Billie is the youngest artist in history to be nominated in the top four categories. While many music stars reveled in their nominations, others had less to celebrate: Halsey and BTS were surprisingly shut out completely while Taylor Swift failed to earn an album of the year nod for "Lover." Bruce Springsteen was notably snubbed for his latest album, "Western Stars," and country darling Maren Morris was shut out of all the major categories despite the strength of her album "Girl." The Grammys will take place on Jan. 26.
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Taylor Swift's American Music Awards and masters drama
The Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta feud drama continues! Over the summer, Taylor publicly lamented Scooter's purchase of her old label, Big Machine, which is run by Scott, as it means the two men now control the masters of her early works. On Nov. 14, Taylor posted a lengthy message to fans alleging that the men were, at the time, blocking her from performing her own songs at the 2019 American Music Awards as well as preventing her from using her own music in an upcoming documentary project. Taylor also claimed they wanted her to drop plans to re-record her first six albums and stop speaking negatively about them. Big Machine denied her claims and later released a statement claiming they'd worked out a deal with AMAs producers regarding licensing of their artists' performances for post-show streaming and rebroadcasting. On Nov. 22, Scooter posted an open letter to Taylor explaining that he and his family had received death threats and urging her to meet with him in person to resolve their conflict. Scooter also insisted he was "open to ALL possibilities" to "rectify the situation." On the Nov. 24 AMAs broadcast — before accepting a special artist of the decade award — Taylor performed a medley of her hits that included songs from her back catalog. She started things off singing the feminist anthem "The Man" while wearing a white shirt covered in the names of all her old albums — with "Fearless" pointedly written on the back — then shed the garment, delivering a subtle but clear message.
RELATED: Taylor Swift's biggest career moments
2019 American Music Awards highlights
The 2019 American Music Awards brought out music's biggest names on Nov. 24. Among the night's big winners? Billie Eilish, who picked up two awards (new artist of the year and favorite alternative artist) and made her award show performance debut. Real-life couple Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes won collaboration of the year for their "Senorita" duet. Taylor Swift took home six trophies including a very special artist of the decade award and the artist of the year prize (for the fifth time), making her the most winning AMAs artist ever (with 29 trophies, she now has more than previous leader Michael Jackson). Halsey, Selena Gomez, Kesha, Lizzo and more stars led the red carpet hits and misses.
Kanye West delivers an opera
On the heels of his October album "Jesus is King," born-again rapper Kanye West announced another big new music project during an appearance at famed Christian pastor Joel Osteen's Lakewood megachurch in Texas on Nov. 17: his first opera, "Nebuchadnezzar," which is based on the Bible's Book of Daniel. The opera, which was directed by longtime Kanye collaborator Vanessa Beecroft, was performed on Nov. 24 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Kanye, however, didn't take the stage, TM reported: He stayed behind the scenes and only served as the opera's narrator. According to TMZ, Brad Pitt was among the attendees.
Pink will be taking a break in 2020
Family first! Pink announced on Nov. 14 that following a grueling touring schedule to promote her past two albums, she'll be taking a much deserved year off in 2020 in order to focus on the needs of her family. Speaking to "Entertainment Tonight," she said, "We did two and a half years of [music], and [my daughter] Willow's back in school now. [My son] Jameson's going to start pre-school soon. It's kind of the year of the family. And [my husband] Carey [Hart] has a lot going on as well. He's super-supportive, he follows me around the world and now it's his turn." The couple will celebrate 14 years of marriage in 2020.
Whitney Houston's best friend breaks her silence on their romance
The late Whitney Houston's best friend, Robyn Crawford, opened up about the duo's famously close relationship in a new memoir that came out on Nov. 12, "A Song For You: My Life with Whitney Houston." In the book, Robyn talks about the long-standing rumors of a romantic relationship. "I'd come to the point where I felt the need to stand up for our friendship. And I felt an urgency to stand up and share the woman behind the incredible talent," Robyn explained. The duo met while working at a summer camp in New Jersey in 1980 and immediately became close — and things soon turned physical, Robyn confirmed. Whitney ended that part of their relationship when she signed a deal with Clive Davis at Arista Records. According to Robyn, Whitney told her, "If people find out about us, they would use this against us," and said that "her mother said it wasn't natural for two women to be that close, but we were that close. We never talked about labels, like lesbian or gay. We just lived our lives and I hoped it could go on that way forever." As for why she decided to share so many intimate details now, Robyn explained, "I wanted to lift her legacy, give her respect and share the story of who she was before the fame, and in that, to embrace our friendship."
Donny and Marie Osmond wrap 11-year Las Vegas residency
Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond have ended their Las Vegas residency after a wildly successful 11-year run. The siblings performed their last show at the Flamingo Las Vegas on Nov. 16. "I don't know how I'm going to get through this," Donny said. Marie, fighting back tears, told the crowd, "I'm gonna miss you guys the most. He can say all he wants about the crew and everything else, but I'm going to miss you. I love you."
Alicia Keys to host the Grammys again
It was announced on Nov. 13 that Alicia Keys will return to host the 2020 Grammy Awards. The talented musician — who's won 15 Grammys herself over her career — emceed the show in 2019. Alicia is the third female in history to host the ceremony and the only woman to host more than once. The 2020 Grammys air on Jan. 26.
CMA Awards highlights
The 2019 Country Music Association Awards took place on Nov. 13 in Nashville and brought out the biggest stars in the genre. The 53rd annual event was hosted by Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton. Though the night was built around the theme "celebrating legendary women in country music," Garth Brooks took home the top honor, entertainer of the year; Maren Morris nabbed album of the year for "Girl." Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus brought the house down with their smash hit "Old Town Road." Stars like Kacey Musgraves and Kelsea Ballerini led a parade of fashion hits and misses along with megastars like Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman.
Kodak Black sentenced to prison
Rapper Kodak Black will be spending some time in club fed! On Nov. 13, the 22-year-old music star was sentenced to more than three years in prison after pleading guilty to weapons charges related to an arrest in May. Kodak admitted in early August that he had falsified information on federal forms in order to obtain four firearms in Miami. He also faces drug, weapons and sexual assault charges in other states.
2019 Latin Grammys highlights
On Nov. 14, Rosalia took home the coveted album of the year prize at the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, where Juanes was honored with the person of the year award. Ricky Martin co-hosted the show, and stars including Roselyn Sanchez, Sofia Carson and Bad Bunny led the fashion hits and misses on the red carpet.
Harry Connick Jr. recalls Frank Sinatra acting "completely inappropriate" with his wife
Harry Connick Jr. recently recalled the time he met music legend Frank Sinatra in the early '90s, and boy, was it awkward! The jazz musician and former talk show host opened up during a Nov. 19 appearance on Britain's "This Morning," explaining that when he first met Frank, he had to sing "Ol' Blue Eyes" in front of the Rat Pack member and he completely froze up: "I was really nervous and blanked out on stage." Once the performance was done, Harry went to apologize to Frank, who, it turns out, was only interested in Harry's former Victoria Secret model wife, Jill Goodacre. "He looked at [her] and kind of placed her face in his hands and said, 'You're beautiful,' and he kissed her right on the mouth, walked out of the elevator and that was the end of that." As many have pointed out, that kind of behavior would be unacceptable today. According to Harry, "It was probably unacceptable then. Obviously it's completely inappropriate."
