SZA, Billie Eilish, Boygenius, Olivia Rodrigo, Ryan Gosling and More Light Up Variety’s Hitmakers 2023 Celebration
variety.comCynthia Littleton Business Editor Boygenius made a connection with Joan Baez. Billie Eilish was giddy at the sight of Bernie Taupin.
Olivia Rodrigo and St. Vincent linked arms as kindred spirits, while SZA and her team made the road to global chart domination look easy.
And then Ryan Gosling slipped in with a tribute to “Barbie” soundtrack producer Mark Ronson that yielded an instant-classic monologue from the Oscar-nominated actor on the origin of “Kenergy.” “To Ken is to give more than is necessary or required to reflect so that others might shine,” Gosling told the crowd Saturday at Nya West in Hollywood during Variety’s annual Hitmakers brunch saluting the artists, executives, publishers and talent representatives behind the year’s top 25 most-consumed songs. “Up until six months ago, the entire world gave zero fucks about Ken,” Gosling continued. “He was just this 70-year-old crotchless doll with no house, no car, no job, and no voice and look at him now!
He has a Grammy-nominated power ballad and the voice of an angel. What happened? It’s simple. He met Mark Ronson, and his life changed forever.
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