Pop Shots – They’re Back

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Creed reliving the summer of ’99 at least one more time, to Mariah Carey’s return to #1, to Shakira adding more dates to her North American Tour, and since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Creed will be hitting the road again in 2025. After the success of this year’s Summer of ’99 tour, they’re getting everyone back together for another one, and by everyone I mean they’ll once again be joined by 3 Doors Down, Daughtry, Big Wreck, and Mammoth WVH. Based on the fan bases of some of those bands, this is a tour in desperate need of a deodorant sponsor.

* Speaking of tours, Taylor Swift grossed more than $2 billion from the 149 shows of The Eras Tour. In a related story, she can’t wait to make her fans pony up $45 for each of the seventeen different variants of her next album!

* Jay-Z was accused in a civil lawsuit of raping a 13-year-old girl with Sean “Diddy” Combs at a VMAs afterparty back in 2000. Those Best of Both Worlds albums Jay did with R. Kelly suddenly make a lot more sense now.

* Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” was the most-played song on TouchTunes jukeboxes in 2024, while the most played artist was Morgan Wallen. In other words, do everything you possibly can to avoid bars that have TouchTunes jukeboxes!

* Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, the name of which just rolls right off the tongue, has added Kesha, Alanis Morissette, Reneé Rapp, and Blake Shelton to its NYE lineup. Personally, I can’t wait to be asleep for all of it.

* Mariah Carey’s inescapable “All I Want For Christmas Is You” returned to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In a related story, San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish continues to think the song is about him.

* Usher opened a content studio at the Whitehead Boys & Girls Club in Atlanta. A content studio at a Boys & Girls Club? I bet Jay-Z can’t wait to subscribe to those OnlyFans accounts.

* Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox have broken up … again, this time just over a month after announcing they’re expecting a child together. Wait, you mean getting pregnant didn’t save the relationship? Color me shocked!

* Shakira added new stadium dates to her North American Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran Tour. Unfortunately, despite naming my living room “Adam’s World Stadium,” she still isn’t planning a performance there. So much for “Whenever, Wherever.”

That’s all for this edition of Pop Shots, but come back next Monday for more shots on all things pop.