Music The best music moments of 2022 (so far) From Elvis' "Hound Dog" mash-up with Doja Cat to the Harry and Shania duet that shook Coachella. By Ashley Boucher, Ashley Boucher Ashley Boucher is the digital TV editor at Entertainment Weekly, where she also produces EW's What to Watch podcast. A former PEOPLE staffer, Ashley has also written for TheWrap and The Guardian, and has appeared on Cheddar TV. She holds a bachelor's in creative writing from Seattle Pacific University and a master's in journalism from the University of Southern California. You can follow the Oregonian-turned-L.A. transplant on Twitter at @ashleybreports. EW's editorial guidelines Clarissa Cruz, Clarissa Cruz Clarissa Cruz is an Executive Editor at Entertainment Weekly and co-host of The Awardist podcast. She has also appeared as an entertainment expert on the Today show, The CBS Early Show, Good Morning America, E! and Access Hollywood. EW's editorial guidelines Leah Greenblatt, Leah Greenblatt Leah Greenblatt is the former critic at large for movies, books, music, and theater at Entertainment Weekly. She left EW in 2023. EW's editorial guidelines Samantha Highfill, Samantha Highfill Samantha is a writer based in Los Angeles. Television is her one true love, and she tweets about it. A lot. EW's editorial guidelines Jason Lamphier, Jason Lamphier Jason Lamphier is a senior editor at Entertainment Weekly who covers news and music. Before joining EW, he was an editor at The New York Observer, Out, and Interview. EW's editorial guidelines and Maureen Lee Lenker Maureen Lee Lenker Maureen Lee Lenker is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies, Ms. Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books. The author of EW's quarterly romance review column, "Hot Stuff," Maureen holds Master's degrees from both the University of Southern California and the University of Oxford. Her debut novel, It Happened One Fight, is now available. Follow her for all things related to classic Hollywood, musicals, the romance genre, and Bruce Springsteen. EW's editorial guidelines Published on June 29, 2022 06:54PM EDT Sometimes the biggest, most memorable music of the year isn't about what we hear on the radio or from a streaming service — it can be that surprise festival guest or needle drop in a TV show or movie. This year has delivered on all of that and so much more, which is why we've rounded up the moments that have had everyone talking in 2022...so far. 01 of 10 Elvis' glorious fusion of old and new Austin Butler in 'Elvis'; Doja Cat. Warner Bros.; Scott Dudelson/Getty "This ain't no nostalgia show," quips Elvis (Austin Butler) in Baz Luhrmann's dizzying take on the iconic rocker's rise to superstardom. And Luhrmann does indeed lean heavily into the modern (would we expect anything less?), pairing contemporary artists with Presley's distinctive sound to hammer home his radical status as a pop singer with strong ties to Black culture. Nowhere is that more evident than in a scene that blends Doja Cat's latest single, "Vegas," with samples of Shonka Dukureh as Big Mama Thornton performing Presley's "Hound Dog." It plays as Elvis walks down Beale Street and we see the forces that crafted his artistry — and realize just how provocative his approach to music was. —Maureen Lee Lenker 02 of 10 2022's song of the summer is…from 1985 Kate Bush. RB/Redferns One strange week in June, an eccentric 63-year-old British art-pop diva found herself rubbing elbows with Lizzo, Future, Jack Harlow, and Harry Styles in the Billboard Top 5 — and scoring her biggest hit to date. After the Duffer brothers featured Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" in a dark, poignant sequence in the fourth season of Stranger Things, the 1985 single (which originally peaked at No. 30) soared back onto the charts and into the hearts of an entirely new generation of fans. The eerily gorgeous track leapt to No. 4 in the U.S., sprinted to No. 1 and shattered three records in the U.K., and suddenly became the only thing anyone on TikTok wanted to talk about. We're still talking about it, all while Bush tinkers in her garden in the remote South Devon countryside, racking up millions of streams — and, reportedly, millions of dollars — and marveling at how, as she told the BBC this month, "the whole world's gone mad" for a song released when Reagan was still in office. —Jason Lamphier 03 of 10 The house-ification of pop Drake; Beyoncé; Charli XCX. Vivien Killilea/Getty; Mason Poole/A.M.P.A.S./Getty; Kate Green/Getty It crept in on Gaga's Chromatica and Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia in a moment where crowded dance floors still felt like a pre-pandemic fever dream — the surging, strobe-lit bass and feathery synths of music created for the club, not the Hot 100. Maybe other forms of contemporary pop had played themselves out, or maybe people just needed to move in their living rooms. Soon enough, the idea was spreading like another kind of flu: There's Drake, sounding like he just got dipped in a raver bubble bath on Honestly, Never Mind, and Beyoncé sampling Robin S.'s 1993 house anthem "Show Me Love" (though Charli XCX got there first) on the looped, pulsating "Break My Soul," the lead single from her upcoming Renaissance. There were many knowing references online to oontz-oontz and Ibiza; others, dismissively, said "Zara dressing room." But it might all be as simple as Bey's repeated directive on "Soul": Release the wiggle, and set yourself free. —Leah Greenblatt 04 of 10 Harrychella with surprise guest Shania Twain Shania Twain and Harry Styles perform at Coachella 2022. Kevin Mazur/Getty The most exciting part of the lead-up to Harry Styles' third solo album was no doubt his Friday night sets at Coachella. Styles — who was a bit of a surprise headliner himself after the long-postponed 2020 line-up changed — kicked off both weekends with no shortage of delightful shockers. In addition to performing single "As It Was" live for the first time, he blessed the massive crowd of Harries with two then-yet-unheard tracks from Harry's House, "Late Night Talking" and "Boyfriends" (the latter's intro included this iconic line: "To boyfriends everywhere, f— you."). But new songs weren't all the fruit-loving pop star had in his basket: Weekend 1, he brought out Shania Twain (Harries know how much of a superfan Styles has always been) and Weekend 2, he brought out pal Lizzo — whose surprise appearance on the catwalk led to screams so loud I couldn't even hear the opening thrums of "I Will Survive," which they belted in matching Gucci coats. If you weren't a Harry fan from the One Direction days or didn't get drawn in by his Grammys performance, the double dose of Harrychella surely did the trick. —Ashley Boucher 05 of 10 'Imagine' this celeb-filled spoof 'The Boys' parodies Gal Gadot's 'Imagine' moment. Amazon Studios Even superheroes can deliver a great musical moment … or a not-so-great one. In its third season, The Boys decided to put together its own version of the infamous Gal Gadot "Imagine" video. (For the lucky ones who missed it, Gadot gathered people including Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Natalie Portman, and others to sing John Lennon's "Imagine" at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The video quickly became internet fodder.) So, when Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) demolishes nearly a full city block, The Deep (Chace Crawford) decides to use social media to calm everyone. He then gathers Patton Oswalt, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, Elizabeth Banks, Kumail Nanjiani, and more to — you guessed it! — sing "Imagine." It's a perfect example of The Boys doing what it does best: Making fun of stupid stuff. —Samantha Highfill 06 of 10 A legends-only Super Bowl halftime show Mary J. Blige performs at the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show. Kevin C. Cox/Getty This year, producers of the Super Bowl halftime show placed hip-hop front and center for the first time in history, tapping Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige. Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar — plus surprise guest 50 Cent — to regale audiences with three decades' worth of classics. By inviting Dre, whose former group N.W.A. famously gave us the protest anthem "F--- Tha Police," and Lamar, whose 2015 single "Alright" is now a byword for the Black Lives Matter movement, the NFL could have opened the door for awkward off-script detours and unwanted controversy. But Eminem was the only artist to take a knee (a move the league later said it knew was coming), and Lamar's line "po-po wanna kill us dead in the street" was either nixed or rendered inaudible. What stood out instead was the spectacle's endless barrage of hits — from "The Next Episode" and "In da Club" to "Lose Yourself" and "No More Drama." Its setlist was a Gen Xer's dream come true, and a rousing reminder that these six heavyweights forever changed the game. —JL 07 of 10 Hollywood's dad-rock renaissance Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in 'Ambulance'. Andrew Cooper/Universal Pull out those New Balance sneakers and pleated Dockers: Dad Rock — loosely defined by us here at EW at "rock that dads just happen to really like" — has been all over movies this year, and you don't have to be a dad to get the appeal. It began, fittingly, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul Mateen II's rendition of Christopher Cross' 1979 classic "Sailing," the song they turn to for a reprieve while driving the titular Ambulance in Michael Bay's frenetic film. The trend continues in Top Gun: Maverick, with Kenny Loggins' re-recorded "Danger Zone" scuttled because Tom Cruise wanted to retain "the original feeling" of the 1986 version. Finally, Joseph Kosinski (who also directed Maverick) went all in for the Spiderhead soundtrack, which culminates in star Chris Hemsworth dancing with himself to Roxy Music's "More Than This." Why now? In these trying times, the combo of nostalgia and soothing melodies is most welcome. After all, who wouldn't want to feel as free as the wind? —Clarissa Cruz 08 of 10 Jessie Ware finally performing What's Your Pleasure live — with a whip Jessie Ware. Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns After postponing her April 2021 concerts to December 2021, only to cancel most of those dates when her crew contracted COVID, Jessie Ware properly unleashed her What's Your Pleasure? tour in May. Warewolves have waited two long years to see her 2020 album's sparkling disco bangers live, and for their patience they've been rewarded with a swishy, tightly sequenced romp that offers the nonstop thrill of a greatest-hits show. The British siren's set at June's Primavera Sound in Barcelona was easily a highlight of the seaside festival, her backup dancers snapping silk fans and flaunting mini mirror balls to Pleasure favorites like "Read My Lips" and "Ooh La La." The pièce de résistance? Ware singing the record's fetishistic title cut while brandishing a mic that doubled as a whip. Proof that she can serve lust and camp with equal aplomb. —JL 09 of 10 Silk Sonic at the Grammys Silk Sonic perform at the 2022 Grammys. Kevin Mazur/Getty Death, taxes, the velvety steal-your-girl bops of Silk Sonic: These are the things we still know to be true in 2022. The duo's Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, who within a few hours would be taking home their Song of the Year prize for the buttery bedroom invitation "Leave the Door Open," opened the April broadcast with a roof-off rendition of the horny, horn-y "777" — maybe a little on the nose for the show's Vegas location, lyrics-wise, with its bouncy klieg-lit couplets about blackjack, baccarat, and blowing dice. But in a joy-challenged year, Sonic's solid-gold throwbacks did exactly what they came to do: Please the full swath of TikTok kids, Boomer dads, and pelvis-forward aunties in one Silk-y, swiveling swoop. —LG 10 of 10 Phoebe Bridgers on the road Phoebe Bridgers. Taylor Hill/Getty Phoebe Bridgers may write spectral, interior anthems about love and pain and emerging selfhood, but she sees no perks in being a wallflower. In May, she tweeted her abortion story without apology, and pledged to give a dollar from every tour stop to the Mariposa Fund; on stage, she rarely fails to remind the crowd that health care is a human right. But even the fans who adore her outspoken stance on social issues don't come to rock shows strictly to have their consciousness raised, and Bridgers knows how to put on a full production: Her two-night stop this month at Brooklyn's Prospect Park — like her electric set 10 days later at Glastonbury — combined moments of hushed folkloric beauty, thrashing guitar-god freakouts, and truth-to-power messaging dipped in cutting wit and fury. If you're not angry too, she seemed to say with every gesture, then you're not listening. —LG Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. 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