Disney/Randy Holmes

A decade after breaking out with his debut single, “Take Me to Church,” Hozier notched another big hit in 2024 with “Too Sweet,” which went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Speaking with Billboard, the Irish artist shares how the success of “Too Sweet” compares to that of “Take Me to Church.”

“When it was ‘Take Me to Church,’ that was the first song that I ever put out,” Hozier says. “So I was learning everything about everything all at once, also while trying to keep pace with this train that was moving.”

He adds, “That was my whole life, was catching up with that song.”

Conversely, Hozier feels that “Too Sweet” “kind of just put wind in the sails of a ship that was already sort of moving.”

“It was just like this thing that happened,” he says. “It’s been like a cherry on the cake.”

As for whether we can expect a huge Hozier hit every 10 years, the 34-year-old says, “I mean, it’d be fun to be 44 and have a No. 1 hit!”

“It’d be fun to be 54, to be 64… Can you guarantee me the No. 1 when I’m in my 80s?” he says. “I’m going to be doing whatever I can to stay alive, man. I’m going to be hiring people to be doing all the weird blood transfusions, [to] hook me up to whatever machine.”

In the meantime, Hozier just released a deluxe version of his Unreal Unearth album and is performing on Saturday Night Live on Dec. 21.

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Courtesy Sabrina Carpenter

Since 2024 was the year of the pop girlie, it probably won’t surprise you to know that some of Entertainment Weekly‘s Entertainers of the Year are Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX.

Sabrina’s Girl Meets World co-star Danielle Fishel paid tribute to her for EW, writing, “Sabrina has prepared for this moment her entire life and nothing was going to stop her. People have tried, and I feel bad for them. She’s a 5-foot force of nature. A petite superstar with a massive voice. A little icon with the biggest heart. The real human being behind the facade of America’s sweetheart baddie is my most kind, genuine, hilarious, loving friend.”

Reneé Rapp wrote about Charli for EW, noting, “She is relentless and fierce and fiercely confident in who she is — and it makes you fall in love with her music. Anything she does is inherently artistic, down to what she wears … she’s also the sweetest thing ever and unrealistically beautiful — she’s so hot, it’s a little bit scary.”  Reneé adds, “I could write a novel about all the reasons I think she’s amazing and why she’s the face of pop culture and is tearing b****** apart.”

Sir Elton John praised Chappell for EW, writing, “It’s not every day that you encounter an artist who possesses the rare combination of raw talent, fearless creativity, and an unwavering dedication. … Her ability to blend vulnerability with empowerment in her songwriting is nothing short of extraordinary.” He concludes. “Chappell Roan is not just an artist for today, she is a voice for the future.”

Others on the list include Selena Gomez and Beyoncé.

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Camila Cabello & Shawn Mendes during their brief 2023 reunion; Gotham/GC Images

Ever since the release of Camila Cabello‘s album XOXO, C and Sabrina Carpenter‘s album Short n’ Sweet, fans have speculated that several songs on those projects were inspired by an alleged love triangle between the two singers and Shawn Mendes. In a new interview, Shawn seems to acknowledge this for the first time.

Appearing as a guest on his BFF John Mayer‘s Sirius XM interview show How’s Life, Shawn talks about “being with someone two days before seeing your ex and communicating two days before that that you’re going to go hang out with your ex.”

He then clarified, “So I’m with someone. I — two days before going to hang out with my ex — express, ‘I’m gonna go hang out with my ex because I have unresolved feelings.’ Maybe instead of two days, it could have been two weeks.” 

Sabrina and Camila seem to refer to this specific situation in their songs “Coincidence” and “June Gloom,” respectively.

At another point in the interview, John asks if Shawn would date another songwriter, noting that both of them have “heard songs that at least other people are saying are references to us.” John may have been referring to the fact that many fans believe Taylor Swift‘s song “Dear John” is about him.

Shawn responds that he’d definitely be willing to date another songwriter. As he explains, “The suffering from hearing a song maybe talking about you in a way you don’t want to be talked about is not even close to the beauty of falling in love with someone for the first time. It’s not even a question.”

He adds, “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is no one gets out of this life without getting hurt, and no one gets out of this life without hurting someone.”

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Kevin Winter/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Following each Eras Tour batch of shows, Taylor Swift usually posted a little essay to social media talking about how great the experience and the crowd were. But when it came time to sum up the entire tour, Taylor had few words — and many photos.

The Instagram carousel posted Wednesday included snaps of Taylor with her band and dancers, a shot of her performing with opening act Gracie Abrams, different photos of her onstage during different points in the show and even a picture of her in her famous “cleaning cart” in which she was transported to the stage every night.

She captioned the carousel with a quote from her song “All Too Well”: “It was rare. I was there. I remember it.”

The Eras Tour wrapped up Dec. 8 in Vancouver, Canada, after entertaining 10 million people and grossing more than $2 billion.

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Courtesy Tudum/Netflix

Well, this isn’t very festive: Mariah Carey was forced to cancel her concert in Pittsburgh on Dec. 11 just hours before showtime because she’s sick.

She wrote on social platform X, “Pittsburgh, I’m sorry to say I’ve come down with the flu. It breaks my heart that I unfortunately have to cancel tonight’s show. I love you all so much.” The arena also posted that fans will receive refunds for the show.

But there is some good news: Mariah’s also announced that she’ll be appearing on NFL Christmas Gameday live on Netflix. In the promo, she says, “This Christmas, we all get our wish. The NFL is live on Netflix. And I’ll be there too!”

The Chiefs will take on the Steelers and the Ravens take on the Texans during the Dec. 25 event, but it’ll be a diva matchup, too. Mariah will open the festivities with a pretaped performance of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” and Beyonce will perform live during the halftime show for the Ravens/Texans game.

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Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images

Selena Gomez was already having a pretty great week, but it just got even better: She’s engaged.

On Instagram, Selena showed off the marquise cut diamond ring from boyfriend Benny Blanco, along with a picture of them embracing, and captioned the pic, “forever begins now..”

One of Selena’s BFFs Taylor Swift commented, “yes I will be the flower girl,” while Benny wrote, “hey wait … that’s my wife.” The account for Hulu, which streams Selena’s show Only Murders in the Building, commented, “we’re crying.”

Selena and Benny, born Benjamin Levin, have known each other for years and have collaborated musically. They began dating in 2023, and in December, she confirmed their relationship on social media, calling the songwriter and producer “my absolute everything.” 

As previously reported, this week, Selena received two Golden Globe nominations: one for her role in Only Murders and another for her role in the Netflix film Emilia Pérez.

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