One year passes, and another awaits us. As 2024 draws to a close, it’s only normal that we look back on the events of the past year, and recall the moments that impacted us most. Some made for a good laugh, others had us in a retrospective mood and some, understandably, made us shed a tear or two. And they came from every crevice of the world.
In the world of music alone, there were a multitude of surprises and shocking announcements—some with the power to call upon entire fanbases once again. We’re talking mega-sized reunions from the likes of Oasis, BigBang and 2NE1. We also saw the reign of summer pop queens, from brat queen Charli XCX to Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. On the film front, the tail end of 2024 saw our moodboards infiltrated by one beloved pink-green combination that could only have heralded the beginning of the Wicked takeover. Earlier in the year, the spotlight no doubt fell onto Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s steamy tennis thriller which not only welcomed a stellar press tour from Zendaya, but also the rise of our obsession with ‘rodent’ internet boyfriends, namely Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist. Meanwhile, a beloved Tim Burton classic made a beeline for its highly-awaited sequel: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, beckoning fans of the campy flick to the theatres once again.
Of course, we can’t leave out the full-blown return of the international sporting affair, this year’s Olympics. Athletes from all over the globe came, saw and conquered Paris—and left us with a ton of moments to mull over. But for the most part? 2024 was the year the world obsessed over one animal in particular: Moodeng. The pink pygmy icon from Thailand which won the hearts of people from all over the world.
Below, the 24 most significant cultural moments that unfolded in 2024.
1 / 24
Brat summer
365, party girl. If there’s one term that ruled our consciousness this year, brat summer would be it. Describing that sometimes hedonistic life that we just want to throw ourselves into, Charli XCX’s brat album (and its accompanying remixes) took over everyone’s playlists this year and coined a lifestyle of chaos. “A pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra” was how she described it, but the aesthetic was definitely led by the now-iconic lime green and smashing vibes that forever thrones the party culture.
2 / 24
The 'Challengers' press tour
Luca Guadagnino knew what he was doing with Challengers. But beyond recreating the obsessions with one of fashion’s most loved sports and having Jonathan Anderson dream up the wardrobe for the steamy tennis thriller, much could be said about Zendaya’s press tour for the film too—one that surpassed even the epic costumes of her Dune tour. Where tenniscore came swinging in, as she rocked pristine tennis white, preppy sets and tennis-ball coded looks (think neon green).
3 / 24
A new queer queen is named: Chappell Roan
The ultimate queer queen of summer was doubtlessly Chappell Roan, who shot to fame with her viral track ‘Good Luck, Babe!’. With an aesthetic influenced by drag queens and the takeover of her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess—which included songs like ‘HOT TO GO!’ and ‘Pink Pony Club’—there was no doubt that she had stolen the hearts of the queer community and beyond. Clearly one that marches to the beat of her own drum, Roan was also at the centre of internet flak for the way she was dealing with her fame, after publicly voicing her wishes to be left alone in public.
4 / 24
Olympics 2024
We returned to the Olympics circuit with Paris 2024. From Imane Khelif’s highly-contested win to the fabulous fun of the Olympic Village and Simone Biles’ triumphant return to the podium, the tail end of summer was filled with its fair share of glorious moments from the international sporting affair. Eyes were also glazed over the sartorial nuances of it all, from LVMH being a premium partner to the buzz surrounding Mongolia’s stunning Olympic costumes.
5 / 24
Charli and Lorde work it out on the remix
For years, the seeming conflict between Lorde and Charli XCX had been left unsettled and severely misunderstood—much like the artists themselves. But with one text message (and some extremely vulnerable lyrics exchanged), the remix to ‘Girl, so confusing’ was made and the rest is history.
6 / 24
Drake vs. Kendrick
Over the past decade, the continued feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar had been seemingly innocuous. But in the first half of 2024, a fuse was lit with Lamar’s hidden verse in Future’s album, leading to a hard-hitting response from Drake himself. Then ensued more diss tracks and insults thrown at each other (some that may have gone a tad too far)—and the listeners analysing it all to determine who outdid who, although the warring rappers finally cooled off after a while.
7 / 24
Oasis reunites after 15 years
A 15-year feud comes to an end. The famously feuding brothers that are Liam and Noel Gallagher have ended the endless wait for the return of the ‘Wonderwall’ stars and are coming together for a whopping reunion tour which they announced over social media: “The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”
8 / 24
She's working late...she's Sabrina Carpenter
One song took over everyone’s summer playlist: ‘Espresso’ by Sabrina Carpenter. So a new pop princess was crowned, and in the months that followed, everything she touched seemed to turn to gold. A cinema-worthy capture of her then-relationship with Barry Keoghan via ‘Please Please Please’, smooches with an alien at the MTV VMA Awards 2024, and most recently, A (very) Nonsense Christmas.
9 / 24
Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter' album
She said it herself: it was an album five years in the making. And it showed. Cowboy Carter took the industry by its reins and shook it up for all to see with its whopping 27 tracks, all in the name of country. A piece of artistry dedicated to her people as a Black Texan, it also featured some of country’s bigwigs, like Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus, whilst paying glorious tribute to some of the most legendary riffs and tracks that have been borne out of the genre.
10 / 24
Very demure, very mindful
There was brat summer, and then there was the demure autumn. Led by TikToker Jools Lebron, who coined the catchphrase and described its usage in various situations, the term ‘very demure, very mindful’ soon took over everyone’s FYPs and even the consciousness of celebrities, with people showing how they stayed ‘respectful’ or ‘presentable’ in different situations like at work or when they were travelling, and was even used satirically as well.
11 / 24
The Ambani wedding
If there was a wedding of the decade, this would be it. Grand doesn’t even begin to describe the nuptial affairs of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. We’re talking glass palaces, custom Versace outfits, a multi-day Mediterranean cruise, an endless celebrity guestlist, a sangeet graced by a live performance from Justin Bieber and of course, Rihanna’s internet-breaking performance at the couple’s pre-wedding weekend.
12 / 24
2NE1 goes on a reunion tour
The year was 2016. 2NE1, one of K-pop’s largest acts at the time, had just been disbanded by its parent entertainment company, YG Entertainment, a move that came as a shock to even some of the members themselves. But in 2024? The quartet has returned and reunited for an epic concert tour that heralds their full-blown return to the industry—nearly eight years later.
13 / 24
Liam Payne's death
As far as celebrity deaths go, Liam Payne’s death left the Internet in shock, and understandably so. Tragically falling from a hotel balcony, many fans of One Direction expressed their collective grief over the sudden passing of the singer. Notably, the remaining four members of the group were also present at his funeral, and shared emotional messages over the loss of their fellow bandmate.
14 / 24
Bennifer parts ways (again)
What went wrong (again)? That is perhaps the question that lingered on everyone’s minds when the pair—who had been the slow, burning romance from two decades past—announced their decision to divorce in August earlier this year. Whilst no one can ever begin to understand the real situation between J.Lo and Ben Affleck, the former power couple has reportedly been spotted together and in the company of the latter’s ex-wife Jennifer Garner, all at a school play of Affleck and Garner’s children.
15 / 24
The Andrew Garfield renaissance
If there was a way to make us feel single this year, it would be Andrew Garfield and Amelia Dimoldenberg meeting on the latter’s iconic Chicken Shop Date. Where all that red carpet tension, making eyes and saccharine-sweet lines culminated in one very, very flirtatious episode of the dating talk show. And there we have it: everyone loves Andrew Garfield again.
16 / 24
'Beetlejuice' returns over 30 years later
36 years on, and a sequel? Like a celestial miracle, the stars aligned when the path to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was set into motion—and nearly its entire fleet of original characters returned to the Maitland home. Tim Burton’s iconic 1988 classic was brought out of the graveyard once again, and the reunion of Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara and Michael Keaton alone was enough of a promise for a good time. All to prove that Beetlejuice is still the ghost with the most.
17 / 24
The Diddy case
Whilst the initial fires had been put out after singer Cassie Ventura, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s ex, first sued him for sexual abuse in November 2023, videos of Combs abusing Ventura in a hotel hallway surfaced and five women went on to sue Combs for sexual assault earlier this year. The rapper has since been arrested on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution which include coercing women into sexual activities and the ‘freak offs’ which he would allegedly orchestrate at his house parties.
18 / 24
NewJeans strikes out on their own
It’s just NewJeans against the world. Throughout the year, the K-pop quintet had been battling their worth with their parent company Ador (a subsidiary under HYBE), and one can say they emerged victorious after the announcement of their departure earlier in November. The standards of idol treatment in the K-pop scene have long been a contested subject, but the girls accomplished a feat that would have been deemed nearly impossible a decade ago. In the past week, they’ve even struck out on their own to create a new Instagram account.
19 / 24
Wicked, everywhere you go
If 2023 had Barbie, 2024 welcomed a Wicked takeover. Towards the tail end of the year, much of our consciousness was awashed in shades of blush pink and emerald green—spearheaded by the cast of the highly-applauded musical adaptation, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo who play Glinda and Elphaba in the film. Oh and not to be forgotten? That ‘Dancing Through Life’ scene that’s definitely cemented the station of everyone’s latest internet boyfriend: Jonathan Bailey.
20 / 24
The rise of the rodent man
This was the year we compared our Internet boyfriends to rodents. Think sexy rat. We’re talking The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan, Challengers stars Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist…need we say more?
21 / 24
G-Dragon brings BigBang out on stage again
There had been hopes for it. A long-awaited comeback from the ones who left their throne empty for years at a go. But it seemed near impossible—until the group’s leader himself, G-Dragon, announced his own return to the scene that could finally set things into motion for BigBang to take the stage once again. And so they did. With two surprise stages this year, once at Taeyang’s concert in Japan and the other during that epic MAMA 2024 stage, it was like the legends of early K-pop are back to stake their claim on the industry once again.
22 / 24
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour
Name a more iconic concert tour, we’ll wait. Taylor Swift’s Eras tour drew in crowds from every corner of the world and there were always plenty of Easter eggs lying in wait. Between celebrity appearances and surprise mashups to fan favourite songs, the Eras tour was one to remember for a lifetime.
23 / 24
The celebrity lookalike competition (or when Timothée Chalamet showed at his own)
It was the year of the celebrity lookalike competition. And there’s no question that Timmy’s took the crown. After all, when you have the real Willy Wonka/Bob Dylan/Paul Atriedes come to town to play at his own game—and still not win the $50 cash prize—what gives?
24 / 24
When Moodeng won over the Internet
Once upon a time, one baby hippo shot to certain virality. Her name was Moodeng, she lived in a zoo in Thailand, and she was dramatically pink. With expressions that spoke volumes (and a social media manager that was definitely working double time), this pygmy swiftly became an internet sensation for good reason, spawning stickers, merchandise and even cryptocurrency in her name. She’s an icon, she’s a legend and she is the moment.
