FHSTheFlash The Flash Volume 46, Issue 3 January 2006 | Page 4

4

Entertainment

January 2006

2 0 0 5 MUSIC WRAP-UP
By Robb Druzynski ‘06

Flash Staff Reporter
The year 2005 was significant for many people in many ways, and the one thing that will always remain memorable in that unforgettable year is music. Events such
as the Tsunami/Hurricane Katrina Relief Concerts and Live 8 helped propel the music industry in a new direction, and gave light to a more powerful side of the
business. Album sales stayed up and prospered despite strong competition with illegal Internet piracy. MP3 players blew-up in popularity and made the concept of
portable music more practical for listeners all around the world. And with all of this came prominent artists that cab easily sum up the world of music in 2005. They’re
all important and successful for different reasons, but unforgettable nonetheless. When people look back on 2005 in the future they’ll remember the following artists
and their accomplishments in this year full of music.

Gwen Stefani

U2

Kelly Clarkson

50 Cent

Mariah Carey

No Doubt’s leading lady
made a gutsy move in 2004 to
take a break from her band after over 14 years together, but
she proved to the world that it
was a good one when she went
on to set groundbreaking
records in 2005. Her unforgettable, upbeat, catchy anthem
“Hollaback Girl” was the love/
hate song of the year, but undeniably made a remarkable
impact on the music industry. It
placed number two on
Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and
was officially certified two times
platinum by the RIAA. The
single’s biggest accomplishment, however, was becoming
the first ever digital track to sell
over one million downloads. It
may be overlooked, but this
milestone helped set the pioneering of online sales to become a valued one. Stefani also
was able to release her fifth consecutive single to hit the top ten
off of her multi-platinum album,
“Love.Angel.Music.Baby.”
She’s currently working on a
follow-up.

This age-old group was reborn in 2005 with new achievements that have set them in the
history books forever. To start
off the year, U2 performed at
the Grammys in January and
won three awards, one of which
was Best Rock Song. Next, the
band found themselves being
inducted into the Rock & Roll
Hall Of Fame in March. Soon
after, they kicked off their “Vertigo” world tour, and out of the
90 shows that their group
played, all 90 of them were sold
out. Grossing well over $26
million in only ten months, U2
easily took the top spot for the
best tour of the year. In July,
lead singer Bono became a central spokesman for Live 8, and
took the fight against African
poverty under his watch. Because of his actions and astounding success, Time Magazine listed Bono as one of their
persons of the year. Finally, in
December, it was announced
that the legendary band was
nominated for five more
Grammy awards.

The American Idol pop princess “broke away” from her
reality TV past in 2005 and solidified herself as a respectful
artist for music fans everywhere. In April, her single
“Since U Been Gone” simultaneously topped the Billboard
Top 100 Airplay and Hot Dance
Radio Airplay charts, and was
eventually certified four times
platinum`. It also ranked number four overall on the year-end
Top 100, while “Behind These
Hazel Eyes” placed number ten,
making her the only artist to
appear twice on the same list.
Her
sophomore
effort
“Breakaway,” despite being
released a year prior, became
the fifth best-selling album of
2005, and ended up doubling her
first record’s sales. Also,
throughout the entire year,
Clarkson gave fans not one, but
two U.S. tours which played
over 80 shows altogether.
Overall, Clarkson made it clear
that she was here to stay and
we have much more of her to
look out for in the future.

The infamous rapper came
back in 2005 to make a return
that was bigger than has arrival,
and he did. In April, 50’s single
with The Game, “Hate It Or
Love It,” topped three Billboard
charts at once and sold over
100,000 copies. In addition to
his single success, his second
album “The Massacre” sold
over four million copies, making it the second best-selling
record of the year. But his biggest high point of 2005 was the
release of his autobiographical
film “Get Rich Or Die Trying”
and accompanying album in
November. The LP was announced platinum in December
and peaked number two on the
charts. On the other hand, the
movie didn’t open up to box office gold, but it established him
as not only a rapper, but an esteemed actor as well. Lastly,
to complete his superstar status, 50 Cent b