It seems amazing to think that next year marks the end of a decade. For many of us, that time represents the move from primary school to secondary, to sixth form and well into university – but it isn’t just us that have changed. The world is a completely different place than it was ten years ago, and our writers have been looking into the big stories in entertainment news that have defined the decade.
2015
Zayn Leaves One Direction – Morgan McMillan
On 25th March 2015, Zayn Malik decided to go in another direction. Fans were screaming, hearts were broken, and the world was falling apart because the beloved five-some became a foursome – ironically after they’d just released an album entitled Four. Zayn’s departure came as a shock to many fans across the globe as One Direction was in preparation for their fifth studio album. However, Zayn cited that he “felt it was the right time” to leave the group as he wanted to live a “normal life”. His departure served him well, as he released two hit solo records since and has done duets with Taylor Swift and Sia, showing he chose the right direction.
The rest of the band only lasted one more album before calling it a day themselves and going on hiatus, and since then each of them has joined Zayn in becoming successful soloists in their own right.
2016
Celebrity deaths- Becky Davies
This year will, unfortunately, go down in history for the seemingly relentless tide of heartbreaking celebrity deaths. The year started with the news that the legendary David Bowie had passed away (sparking that ‘David is dead!’ incident on Celebrity Big Brother with Angie, his ex-wife, and Tiffany Pollard), followed closely by the wonderful Alan Rickman, and then iconic broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan. The following month, To Kill A Mockingbird author Harper Lee passed away. Comedians Ronnie Corbett and Victoria Wood and boxer Mohammed Ali were next, and then we heard the devastating news that Prince had joined them. Caroline Aherne and Gene Wilder were next, and the year came to an end with the news that George Michael and Carrie Fisher had also passed away. There are not enough words to do each of these incredible people justice, but fans were united in a cloud of grief for the stars who they had idolised from childhood to adulthood. They – and many others – will be sorely missed.
2017
Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi Ad – Morgan McMillan
World peace can be done simply by promoting peace and love down the street and getting a supermodel to hand a can of Pepsi to a police officer. Crazy idea? We know, but that didn’t stop the Kendall Jenner Pepsi Ad from doing so. The two-and-a-half-minute advert features Kendall being photographed in a fashion shoot. As she sees a multicultural protest outside, she becomes inspired, taking off her wig and dramatically wiping her lipstick off to join the crowd. The ‘short film’ was criticised for appropriating the Black Lives Matter movement as the imagery was similar to photos of Ieshia Evans, a protester who was arrested by law enforcement while protesting the death of Alton Sterling at the hands of police.
2018
Kylie Jenner, Baby! – Morgan McMillan
Out of the blue, Kylie Jenner announced the birth of her baby girl (Stormi Webster) with Travis Scott after keeping the pregnancy a secret for its entire duration. On 4th February 2018, she released a video titled ‘To Our Daughter’ which features a series of home videos from throughout Kylie’s pregnancy. The video is heart-warming and shows all the private intimate moments we were not able to see (which for the Kardashian/Jenner family is a rarity). For example, her former best friend, Jordyn Woods said “When you’re 20 years old, you are just figuring out your life, you don’t know what you want, you’re an indecisive teenager and you’re just becoming a young adult. And there is one thing your mom knew for sure, and that was you”. This one line formed tears for many fans (including myself), and since this, Stormi and Kylie have gone on to create the amazing ‘rise and shine’ meme.
Banksy’s Shredder Stunt – Elizabeth Sorrell
This decade, one of our most beloved contemporary artists, Banksy, made arguably his boldest artistic statement yet.
In October 2018, one of his most famous pieces ‘Girl with Balloon’ took on the new title ‘Love is in the Bin’, after being partially shredded, having just been sold at an auction for just over £1 million.
Sotheby’s auction house in London, along with art aficionados worldwide, were completely baffled, and the shredded painting has now become its unique piece.
Even now it still raises the same questions: Was it all just a cheap publicity stunt? Or, was it the decade’s greatest prank that happened to further increase the value of the work? Or, better yet, perhaps it was a dig at the art market, where his painting’s value increased as it was destroyed? This was the prank that finally cemented his status as an artistic icon as this decade came to a close.
2019
This year seems to have been a blur, really – as has the whole decade! Some highlights were: Stormzy becoming the first grime artist to headline Glastonbury; RuPaul’s Drag Race making its way to the UK; Game of Thrones breaking records for its final season (including Guinness World Records for global demand, the most nominated show ever at the Emmys, and streaming records); and, the best of all, the long-awaited return of Gavin & Stacey.
2020
YouTube Reunions – Rosie Spurrier
The year 2020 was quite a biggun, but you know what? We were all there, do we really need to relive that?
Although this was the year we all came to a standstill, there were YouTube reunions aplenty! It appeared that everyone was looking back and with that came wonderful 40-minute vids of our old-school favourites looking only slightly older. I was pleased to find that all of the noughties and tens casts were coming back together (Social Distanced obvs). The Parent Traps, Mean Girls, Sonny With a Chance, Victorious, Legally Blonde and so many more.
Watch the Mean Girls reunion here, via YouTube:
2021
The Year of Olivia Rodrigo – Rosie Spurrier
Already known by the Disney-loving kids of 2020, Olivia Rodrigo made her mainstream debut into music with the release of her first single ‘Drivers License’, in the January of 2021. With that, she rocketed to number one and brought with her a love triangle that had previously been unbeknownst. Oh, the drama. Olivia later released her first studio album ‘Sour’ and hence, feminine rage music was back for good.
2022
Oh the Drama – Rosie Spurrier
2022, where do I begin? Perhaps with the ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ on set drams- which to be honest, I still don’t understand. Hopefully, in ten years, all will be uncovered but for now, we can only guess…and watch clips of Harry Styles “Spitting” on Chris Pine. This doesn’t seem very Harry does it?
Chris Rock gets slapped, Elon takes over Twitter, Kim K and Pete D, “Bennifer” is back, Rhianna’s pregnant, Heard vs Depp. That’s a lot to take in, I know.
2023
Love on Tour – Rosie Spurrier
It will most likely always be a regret of mine that I didn’t get to experience the infamous Harry Styles Love On Tour tour, which came to a close in July 2023. For a while there, tour updates were flooding social media and I for one was not complaining! It felt as if I was experiencing the show. Joy and community were spread across the internet!
2024
The Year of Sabrina Carpenter…and Wicked – Rosie Spurrier
Reflecting on the past year so much has happened that it would be a challenge to encapsulate all 12 months in one short post. However, when I think back to the memories, a lot of them seem to have occurred to the soundtrack of Sabrina Carpenter, and most recently Wicked. If Spotify Wrapped came out one week later, it would have been a battle between these two for the top spot. What a year for my personal soundtrack! It’s gone from nostalgic repeats to new, new, new. That’s not to say that these albums aren’t becoming so new as I listen to them repeatedly every day!
Here at The Edge, we wish you all a Happy New Year – and a wonderful decade! Who knows what will happen next?
