Chris Willman
Variety
Los Angeles, CA, United States
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Past articles by Chris:
Pink‘s New Flight Path: Pop’s Bionic Woman on Her Death-Defying Stadium Tour and ‘Trustfall’ Album
Pink talks about new kind of flying she's learning for her summer stadium tour, and how her 'Trustfall' album deals with emotional highs and lows. → Read More
Beyoncé Ties Record for Most Grammy Wins of All Time
Beyoncé has tied the record for the most Grammy wins of all time, with 31. → Read More
Final Grammy Awards Predictions 2023: Bad Bunny, Beyoncé and Possible EGOTs
2023 Grammy Awards predictions include best new artist, song of the year, album of the year and record of the year. → Read More
Doja Cat’s ‘Balls to the Wall’ New Era: The Grammy Winner on Rapping More, Her Viral Fashion Looks and Being a ‘Messy Bitch’
In a Variety cover story, Doja Cat talks about her viral fashion, her wild TikToks and how R&B, rap and punk may all figure more into her next album. → Read More
The 50 Best Concerts of 2022
Variety's list of great '22 shows includes Elton John, Dua Lipa, Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar, Haim, Bad Bunny, Lizzo, Bono, the 1975 and Nick Cave. → Read More
The 50 Best Concerts of 2022
Variety's list of great '22 shows includes Elton John, Dua Lipa, Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar, Haim, Bad Bunny, Lizzo, Bono, the 1975 and Nick Cave. → Read More
Variety's Best Albums of 2022
There’s really hardly such a thing as a hive mind in music anymore. Accordingly, there are no direct repeats among the two Variety music critics’ top 10 lists … at least not until you factor in our respective honorable mentions, at which point it turns out that, when you get down to it, everybody does […] → Read More
Taylor Swift Says Ticketmaster Fiasco ‘Pisses Me Off’: ‘It’s Excruciating for Me to Just Watch Mistakes Happen’
Taylor Swift has released a statement saying she was assured by Ticketmaster the company could handle the demand for her tour. → Read More
Grammy Snubs and Surprises: ABBA and Mary J. Blige Get Love; Zach Bryan, Morgan Wallen and ‘Encanto,’ Not So Much
Popular on Variety The biggest surprise about the 2023 Grammy nominations, which were announced early Tuesday, is that it was shorter on surprises than in most years. That’s a good thing, if you’re remembering the furor over the Weeknd getting zero nominations two years ago at a time when he was expected to be a […] → Read More
Jack White on His New Twin Albums, Spurring the Modern Vinyl Revolution and That Onstage Wedding
Jack White has always been a bifurcated kind of guy. That was evident right from the name of his very famous first band: Announcing you’re a stripe may be one strong indicator of a two-tone sensibility. His yin and yang are there not just in a serious design ethos — which could be red, yellow […] → Read More
The 20 Best Albums of 2022 (So Far)
It’s almost easier to define the first half of 2022, musically, by what we haven’t had yet as by what we have. There’s been no big-diva-energy comeback, like an Adele, and no breakout by a new star that brings the world together in rapt pop fascination, like Olivia Rodrigo, who’d captivated us by this point […] → Read More
The 20 Best Albums of 2022 (So Far)
It’s almost easier to define the first half of 2022, musically, by what we haven’t had yet as by what we have. There’s been no big-diva-energy comeback, like an Adele, and no breakout by a new star that brings the world together in rapt pop fascination, like Olivia Rodrigo, who’d captivated us by this point […] → Read More
The 25 Most Quintessential 1980s Pop Soundtracks, From ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Footloose’ to ‘Do the Right Thing’ and ‘Repo Man’
When news of a “Top Gun” sequel was announced, questions like “Will Tom Cruise do his own stunts?” and “Will Val Kilmer be in it?” were a little bit down the list of burning ones. Nos. 1 and 2, for certain: “Will ‘Take My Breath Away’ be in it? Will ‘Danger Zone’?” That is the […] → Read More
Where Could the Grammy Awards Land, If Crypto.com Arena Is Booked Up?
Even as the old year turned into the new, and as positive COVID tests in Los Angeles reached their highest counts since the beginning of the pandemic, Recording Academy officials were still hoping to find a way to keep the Grammys on the show’s long-scheduled Jan. 31 date — and it’s not hard to see […] → Read More
2021's Best Albums: Olivia Rodrigo, Adele, Tyler, the Creator and More
With strict quarantine conditions largely over for most people, the time might have seemed right to get out of the house and go dancing in the streets. So why were so many music fans so inclined to leave the door closed — sorry, Silk Sonic — and stay in with our headphones on? Blame it […] → Read More
5 Takeaways From Variety's Hitmakers Award Show
Here are some fo the biggest highlights from the 2021 Variety Hitmakers awards celebration. → Read More
Variety’s 2021 Hitmakers and Hitbreakers Revealed
What contrasts in mood the two most dominating songs of 2021 offered us: hovering and over him. With “Levitating,” Dua Lipa floated a record that really did feel lighter than air, while in “Drivers License,” Olivia Rodrigo was crying in a car, seeming anything but liberated by her new vehicular freedom. That the year should […] → Read More
Grammy Awards Nominations 2022: The Complete List (Live Updates)
A complete list of final nominations for the 64th annual Grammy Awards, as they're being announced in an hour-long webcast Tuesday morning. → Read More
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Get Another Rise Out of Their Long-Interrupted Collaboration With ‘Raise the Roof’
It was supposed to be a lark, the joint album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and certainly not a cash-in or an awards play. So the first big surprise about “Raising Sand” — the 2007 collaborative effort by the erstwhile Led Zeppelin frontman and the bluegrass-turned-pop singer and violinist — was that it got […] → Read More
Billie Eilish’s Agent, Normani’s Manager, Moment House CEO Among Music’s New Leaders
Every year Variety seeks to identify the next generation of leaders in the entertainment business who represent the creative community of film, TV, music and the digital space. The 2021 music industry group has among its ranks hip-hop label Empire’s COO, online event innovator Moment House’s CEO, the manager for Normani and Anitta, a marketing VP […] → Read More