CURIOSITIES
Artists with the saddest fans: a study reveals which ones are
Preply, an online platform dedicated to e-learning, conducted a study on the fan bases of bands and solo singers to find out the predominant emotion that characterises the audience, from sadness to anger to happiness and love.
To conduct this research, Preply analysed over 200,000 posts and comments on forums and social networks using a dataset called 'Emotion'. The latter identified emotion-related words and phrases in the communities and the results then showed how frequently these words are linked to certain emotions.
Here is Preply's list, which ranked the bands with the saddest fans.
Preply's interesting study
Preply, an online platform dedicated to e-learning, conducted a study on the fan bases of bands and solo singers to find out the predominant emotion that characterises the audience, from sadness to anger to happiness and love. To conduct this research, Preply analysed over 200,000 posts and comments on forums and social networks using a dataset called 'Emotion'. The latter identified emotion-related words and phrases in the communities and the results then showed how frequently these words are linked to certain emotions. Here is Preply's list, which ranked the bands with the saddest fans.
8. Avicii/John Mayer/My Chemical Romance
A trio opens the chart. Probably contributing to the feeling of sadness in Avicii's fans is the untimely suicide of the historic DJ, who throughout his career (even in some of his tracks), never hid his discomfort and difficulties. For My Chemical Romance, it is the artistic choices of the songs that count: although the band hates to be called 'emo', many feel that their songs are typical of this musical genre. The same applies to John Mayer, whose sound is often melancholic.
7. SZA/Lil Nas X
In seventh position we find two artists from the new R&B and Hip Hop scene. SZA wrote the lyrics of her songs with the aim of expressing her emotions, touching on personal and intimate themes related to sexuality, abandonment and nostalgia. Lil Nas X also often includes personal experiences in his songs, telling of his own homosexuality and using his songs to defend the rights of all minorities.
6. Madonna
There is also room for pop music in this ranking: despite the fact that she records often upbeat, rhythmic songs and has a unique drive, Madonna has a fanbase that online is not afraid to describe its emotional state even when the latter tends towards sadness.
5. Halsey
Halsey's voice is very intense and in many songs (of which she is a songwriter), her vocal timbre itself contributes to an atmosphere of melancholy: this can lead the singer's fans to feel sadness when listening to her songs.
4. Britney Spears
Britney Spears' personal and artistic life has been anything but easy between family lawsuits, addictions and problems with the law: although Britney's music is often lively, fans tend to associate her songs with the performer's difficult existence.
3. Nirvana/Metallica
On the lowest step of the podium we find two bands for whom it is easy to imagine why they are in the charts. Both Nirvana and Metallica have many songs in their repertoire that deal with difficult topics and include a variety of complex, autobiographical personal experiences. Added to this is the tragic death of two key members of both bands, Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) and Cliff Burton (Metallica).
2. Linkin Park
Like Nirvana and Metallica, Linkin Park also dealt with many complicated aspects of life in their songs, prompted by the difficult youth of frontman Chester Bennington, who committed suicide in 2017. Chester's death also certainly affected the feelings of the fanbase, which still cannot come to terms with the death of the band's lead singer.
1. Panic! At The Disco
Somewhat surprisingly, first place goes to Panic! At The Disco, a band that disbanded in January 2023 (although the only permanent member of the line-up was frontman Brendon Urie). As Preply explains, even though the band's sound is very upbeat, it is contrasted by lyrics that are often linked to sad moments that everyone can identify with: perhaps it is precisely this contrast between happy music and melancholic lyrics that contributes to a feeling of sadness in the fans.
Rankings
25/04/2024
The well-known US magazine Rolling Stone in 2021 has updated the list of the 500 most beautiful songs of all time.
The ranking was first published on December 11, 2003 and was compiled by a jury chosen by the editorial staff, composed of 172 musicians, music critics and experts in the recording industry. Subsequently, the ranking was changed twice: the first in 2010, the second in 2021, when 254 songs that were previously not present were added.
Obviously, there is nothing more subjective than music: these songs are considered the best according to the criteria defined by Rolling Stonemagazine, but each of us has his own personal ranking of the best songs ever. Here, however, is the Top 20 of Rolling Stone.
Rankings
23/04/2024
In 2008, 'Rolling Stone' compiled a list of the 100 best singers of all time.
This ranking was compiled 15 years ago by 180 people, including several musicians (e.g. Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Justin Timberlake, George Michael, Keith Richards), journalists and music experts.
On 1 January 2023, however, 'Rolling Stone' published an update of the ranking that revolutionised the list, especially with regard to the Top Ten. As the well-known US magazine was keen to point out, this ranking does not only take into account technical and vocal abilities (it is not a list of the best voices of all time), but also the originality of the vocal timbre, the record catalogue, the writing ability and the musical legacy of the singers in question. Here are the top 20 positions.