These young stars posed a further existential threat to pop, by challenging its emotional and stylistic traditions. Often, the music didn’t evoke the club but, rather, a lonely girl’s bedroom.

Whether we found it on the yellow brick road, or in videos from a Thailand zoo, or perhaps in unlikely Olympic heroes, we gravitated toward fantasy and feel-good pop culture moments this year.

‘Juliet & Romeo’ Review: The Classic Romance Is Reimagined as a Superfluous Pop Music Extravaganza Reviewed online, May 6, 2024. MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 121 MIN.

There's probably never been a time as ripe with "Romeo and Juliet" rip-offs as our contemporary era. Though it's been 29 years since Baz Luhrmann's modern, alternative-pop-scored "William ...

Pop music has always been cyclical; one could argue that 2025 is simply the ebb to 2024's flow. However, the dramatic political vibe shift has also played a role.