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Dying mom creates one last song for her son and it tops the charts

All Cat Janice wanted was to leave something behind for her son through her music. Mission accomplished.

@cat.janice/TikTok, used with permission

A dance bop with so much meaning

News of the Grammys might be circulating all over the web right now, but that’s not where you’ll hear about this truly inspiring music story.

Thirty-one year old musician and mom Cat Janice had one wish after being diagnosed with cancer: to leave behind a song for her 7-year-old son Loren, so that he could collect the proceeds.

The D.C.-based singer songwriter first noticed a lump in her neck in November of 2021, as she explained on TikTok. Over the next year the lump grew larger, prompting her to visit a doctor who confirmed it was sarcoma.
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Barlow and Bear's reaction to their Grammy nomination

It all started with a simple question: What if "Bridgerton" was a musical?

For musicians—and now, bonafide TikTok stars—Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, it would mean not only creating the world's first-ever fully conceptualized TikTok musical, but also a Grammy nomination in the process. Take a listen to just one of their epic tunes and you'll see why.

ICYMI, "Bridgerton" took Netflix by storm when it debuted last year. Shonda Rhimes' period romance full of dramatic family dynamics quickly became the platform's most watched show in history.

Barlow and Bear—as they're known professionally—in turn took TikTok by storm as well. Their first ballad, "Ocean's Away," featuring Emily playing piano and Abigail on vocals, racked up 880 million views, catapulting the concept. Now "The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical" can be played on iTunes, Spotify and YouTube, among many other channels.

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Following the 60th Grammy Awards, Recording Academy President Neil Portnow really put his foot in his mouth.

At this year's awards, women made up just 9% of the nearly 900 nominees, despite critically acclaimed releases from musicians and creatives from all genres. In an interview discussing the issue of a seemingly sexist slate and award show, Portnow said the following statement, emphasis added.

“It has to begin with… women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls, who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, producers, and want to be part of the industry on the executive level… [They need] to step up because I think they would be welcome. I don’t have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face but I think it’s upon us — us as an industry — to make the welcome mat very obvious, breeding opportunities for all people who want to be creative and paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists.”

The Recording Academy and MusiCares President/CEO Neil Portnow speaks onstage during the 60th Grammy Awards. Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Naras.

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At this year's Grammys, it wasn't just the awards and performances that people were tuning in to see.

One of viewers' biggest questions had less to do with who'd take home the trophies and more to do with what role the #MeToo and Time's Up movements would play throughout the night.

Themes from the red carpet quickly became clear, with a smattering of artists and guests decked out in all-black (similar to the Golden Globes), while some wore a white rose or a Time's Up pin to stand in solidarity with the workplace anti-harassment campaign. The biggest question: What, if anything, would presenters and performers say from the stage?

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