Rueben's Ramblings

In my world, I couldn’t live without music.

Every day I wake up to music rather than an alarm. Every night I go to bed with music playing. The first thing I do after I start my car is turn on the radio. Whenever I leave my house, my music is playing as I don’t like to have a quiet house – even when I’m not around.

Music may not be for everyone, but I can’t live without music.

Since music plays a crucial role in my life, I wanted to take the time to highlight just some of the songs, performers and video moments from this past year:

Queen of the Music World (Again) – Adele for her album “25” (and subsequent world tour)

Video for “When We Were Young”

Best Dance Tune of the Year – “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE

Here is the video:

Theme Song of the Year – Fitz and the Tantrums “HandClap”

Here is the video:

Best New Country Singer – Cam

Here is the video for “Burning House”

Best Musical Duo – twenty-one pilots with “Heathens”

Here is the video (from Suicide Squad: The Album):

Most Welcome Reunion – The Monkees “Good Times” (50th Anniversary album)

Video for “She Makes Me Laugh” (written by Rivers Cuomo from the band Weezer)

Best Imports – “7 Years” by Lukas Graham

Here is the video:

Best Rock Song – “Way Down We Go” by Kaleo and “Unsteady” by x Ambassadors

Here is the video for Kaleo:

Here is the video for x Ambassadors:

Best Song from a Soundtrack – “Alive” by Sia [from The 5th Wave movie]

Here is the video:

Best New Female Singer – “River” by Bishop Briggs

Here is the video:

Best New Male Singer: Jordan Smith

Here is the video for “Stand in the Light”:

NOTE: He won Season 9 of The Voice in 2015 and has been making strides all of 2016.

Most Moving Love Song – “Why I Love You” by MAJOR. (yes, his name is in all caps with a period at the end)

Here is the video:

Try Not to Get Up and Dance to this Song – “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake and “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon

Here is the video for Justin Timberlake:

Here is the video for Walk the Moon:

Best Singers on the Planet (Again): Pentatonix

Here is their video for “Hallelujah”:

In memory of the late Leonard Cohen, who passed away this year and was the composer of this moving song, here is the man himself singing the song back in 2009:

Which artists stood out for you over this past year? What was your favorite song? Which songs did you get sick of hearing on the radio? What song could you listen to over and over again? What was the top album in your opinion? Please share your thoughts on the music of 2016 below.

TOMORROW: Movies