Happy New Year!

The year is 2023, and with a new year comes a clean slate, filled with new and exciting possibilities. At the start of this fresh orbit around the sun, we spend time pondering with friends about what our earth bound stars will delight us with this year.

2022 was an exciting and record-breaking year for music. Taylor Swift smashed multiple records into oblivion (many of which she had created herself.) Rihanna came out with her first new song in years. Paramore came back, ready for their new era.

While it is bittersweet to see a year as melodiously magical as 2022 go, we have a lot to look forward to in 2023. Now is the time in which we get to mark our calendars and make predictions all on our own. There are some exciting things we know that we can look forward to. Others are mere speculation (but we are confidently putting them on our 2023 BINGO cards now!)

Here are seven things we are looking forward to in the music world of 2023!

1. Rihanna Performing at the Super Bowl Half-Time Show

This is one of the first set-in-stone, pinch-me-now, musical moments of 2023. After an extended hiatus from the music world, Rihanna will be performing at the Super Bowl Half-Time show. This headlining performance will mark the National Hero's return to the stage for the first time since 2018. That's right. It has been FIVE YEARS since we have seen a live Rihanna performance. Now she's making her comeback by HEADLINING the Super Bowl Half-Time Show? 2023 is already shaping up to be ICONIC!

2. PREDICTION: Speak Now: Taylor's Version  Will Drop

This is ONLY A PREDICTION! One more time for the Swifties in the back who immediately burst into tears in the half-second that they thought this was a real announcement: THIS IS A PREDICTION. SPECULATION ALONE. But like...we all think it's going to happen right? From the easter eggs in the "Bejeweled" music video to the basic probability of albums remaining, we feel it's a pretty safe bet to say that 2023 will home to the TV of Speak Now. WOW we hope we're right. 

3. Paramore Will Release Their New Album, This is Why

This is another February set date that we can mark our calendars for and collectively count down to. The heart-racing sound of Paramore has been the informative background music to the lives of millennials and zillenials alike. The band has been around for sometime, as we learned more of here. Now, the band is preparing to launch their newest era and release their new album on February 10th, 2023. The album will be titled This is Why. Quite frankly, THIS IS WHY we ALREADY think 2023 is going to be great! 

4. PREDICTION: Beyoncé Will Win Album of the Year

This year's slate of Grammy nominees is absolutely stacked. Every album that is nominated for album of the year has a great chance to win. Each packed a powerful punch that filled our days with thrilling sound. However, even among this list of the greats, we have a feeling that the 2023 Grammy Award for Album of the Year is going to find itself in the hands of the one and only Queen Bey. Beyoncé's album Renaissance came as one of the most wonderful surprises of 2022. We have a hunch that this chart topping album will see a major win at this year's awards. 

5. Avril Lavigne is Going on Tour 

That's right. The Princess of Punk herself, Avril Lavigne is setting out on a European tour in 2023. The star released her album Love Sux in 2022, and now the world is looking forward to reaping the rewards. Her tour will kick off on April 12th in Paris, France. From there, she will start making her way around the world. Hopefully we will see her in the US later on this year. (Is this hope strong enough, though, to make it one of our official 2023 predictions?) 

6. PREDICTION: Adele Will Win Best Pop Vocal Album 

Yes, this is another 2023 Grammy Awards prediction. We couldn't help ourselves, okay? We just don't see a world in which we sit through the entirety of this years awards and Adele's album 30 does not get the proper recognition for being the melodious masterpiece that it is. However, while we are standing firm in our Renaissance prediction, that means that 30 would have to be recognized in another category. We think that Best Pop Vocal Album will be it. 

7. PREDICTION: Midnights Will Be Nominated for 2024 Album of the Year 

As Grammy predictions come out in November of the year before, that means that the recognition of Midnights in the ranks is going to come in 2023. Of all of our predictions, we feel like this one is a pretty safe bet. (Honestly, we may even be ready to predict the 2024 Album of the Year, but we will save that for next January.) 

We can't wait to see what this year has in store! Happy New Year and happy listening!