8 Major Pop-Culture Moments That Will Shape 2021 – British Vogue

There were few positives we could muster from the past 12 months in culture. A live music industry left in tatters; anticipated albums pulled or indefinitely delayed; big-screen movie experiences a thing of the past. Many creatives, however, have persevered throughout, lucky enough to be in situations that meant they could ride out the pandemic, waiting to release their art at a time when we could all enjoy it at its fullest. Enter 2021, a new beginning: a year of double-stacked albums, movies, tours, and TV shows.

Its bound to be a busy year all of those pop stars who were set to make their comebacks in 2020 have likely waited until now and so weve filtered through the noise to pinpoint exactly what the world will be shouting about. From music documentaries to heartthrobs marking their return to the silver screen, these are the biggest pop-culture moments to have on your radar.

Read more: 5 Exceptional Netflix Originals To Watch In 2021

Billie Eilish: The Worlds A Little Blurry, premiers globally on 26 February.

By the time Billie Eilishs feature-length documentary, The Worlds a Little Blurry, arrives on Apple TV+ on 26 February, almost two years will have passed since the 19-year-old superstar dropped her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?. The film captures the process of making the record right up until her Grammy Awards sweep in early 2020. Its Emmy-winning director, R.J. Cutler (who made 2009s The September Issue), has been given unfiltered access into Eilishs life, both at home and backstage on tour, in what promises to be the most insightful look at the pop juggernaut to date.

When Ella Yelich-OConnor the artist known better as Lorde isnt releasing albums, she lives between New Zealand and Los Angeles, avoiding social media (she hasnt tweeted since 2017) and staying off the celebrity grid. Such long spells of silence only increase anticipation for whatever she may come back with.

After her 2017 sophomore record Melodrama wound up on a number of critics end-of-decade lists, fans have been waiting more than three years to hear from their hugely talented gen-Z leader. And in a rare newsletter sent to fans at the end of 2020, in which she discussed her trip to Antarctica, she confirmed what we had all been waiting to hear: a new record will arrive in 2021. Could it be another generation-defining masterpiece? It seems we wont have much longer to find out.

In a year that forced most pop stars to cower in fear, overthinking every element of their career and, in many cases, holding back on releasing records, there was one woman who decided to do it all: Dua Lipa. Her ascent to the top tier of pop godliness was affirmed in 2020 with a critically acclaimed album, international notoriety, hit singles, collaborations with major luxury brands and a record-breaking live-stream performance that attracted more than five million viewers in one night. There is just one thing left to do: bring that show to arenas around the world. It might be a little late, but expect Lipas Future Nostalgia tour, due to kick off in the UK in September, to be the glitter-doused cherry on a delicious disco era.

Read more: Dua Lipa Covers The February 2021 Issue Of British Vogue

There were enough blockbusters slated for release in 2020 to please everyone. Fans of musical theatre were hotly anticipating Steven Spielbergs take on West Side Story; the sci-fi lovers had their eye on Timothe Chalamet in Dune. Meanwhile, Marvel Cinematic Universe enthusiasts were finally getting their first movie about Avengers heroine Black Widow, starring Oscar nominees Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh. But as cinema was one of the industries hit the hardest, most of those crowd-pullers were postponed at the last minute. Any movie that needed packed theatres to earn back their big budgets are going to arrive throughout 2021 instead. Double the number of movies? Just when you thought youd had your solid fix of screen time, these aforementioned flicks, plus hundreds more, will remind you of the magic of the communal cinema experience.

Timothe Chalamet in Dune.

Chia Bella James. 2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

When it first hit our screens in 2009, RuPauls Drag Race was a niche show for queer people, in which drag stars competed against each other to become the USs greatest queen. It was a hotbed of glamour, comedy, and pin-sharp bitchiness; the ultimate form of rivalrous reality TV. Today, not much has changed beyond the shows global, far-reaching appeal. Last year saw the birth of Canadas Drag Race; in late 2019, a UK version of the hit show launched. Now, we have two new seasons hitting screens in January: season 13 of the US version launched via Netflix on New Years Day and a second series from the UK is due on 14 January.

Ready for a hotbed of glamour, comedy, and pin-sharp bitchiness? Us too.

Two summers ago, teenagers and their parents across the world fell hard for Euphoria. The compulsive HBO series, which followed a drug-addicted high-school girl and the cast of tortured characters who lived in the same suburban town, won its lead star Zendaya an Emmy last year. Now, following a couple of standalone dives into the Euphoria universe, solely capturing the characters Rue, played by Zendaya, and Jules, played by model-actor Hunter Schafer, a new season is set to arrive later in 2021. Prepare for more controversial teen hedonism and beauty inspiration, as the shows make-up artist Doniella Davy returns to the make-up chair.

A new season of Euphoria is set to arrive later in 2021.

The K-pop industrys big-budget escapades were a tonic during lockdown. As Korea bounced back from the pandemic, the countrys biggest stars got to work making art the way they were used to: on the grandest scale possible. Case in point, the worlds biggest girl band Blackpink, who managed to squeeze in a debut studio album, multiple music videos and collaborations with Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez into their year. Next up? A live-streamed concert called The Show, so Blinks across the globe can see the group perform the bangers from their new record on stage. Streamed via YouTube Music from Seoul, expect jaw-dropping visuals and unrivalled choreography when it kicks off globally on 31 January.

Blackpinks The Show airs on 31 January.

Courtesy of YG/Netflix

Four years after making his cinematic debut in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, pop favourite Harry Styles is currently shooting his next project, touted to be gunning for Oscar glory. Dont Worry Darling, the latest film directed by filmmaker and actor Olivia Wilde, is a domestic thriller in which an all-American housewife (played by Florence Pugh) envisions her mundane life falling apart during a psychological episode. Harry Styles plays her husband, and photos from the set suggest hes going to be captured in similar outfits to the 70s ones hes been donning during his Fine Line album era. Wildes last movie Booksmart was a big critical success could this sneak in a late 2021 release to secure some nods for next years Oscars? Here's hoping that means four years of non-stop Styles red-carpet looks.

Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard and Fionn Whitehead in Dunkirk, 2017.

Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock

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8 Major Pop-Culture Moments That Will Shape 2021 - British Vogue