Welcome to The Set List. Here you'll find the latest concert recaps for many of your favorite, or maybe not so favorite, artists. Our bloggers will do their best to provide you with every detail of the show, from which songs were on the set list to what the artist was wearing to which out-of-control fan made a scene. Hey, it'll be like you were there. And if you like what you read, we'll even let you know where you can catch the artist on tour. Feel free to drop us a comment and let us know your concert experience. Oh, and rock on.

By Nick Krewen
Toronto

You could feel the romance in the air — the light, confectionary kind — when New Kids On The Block, 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men took the stage June 7 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

It says something about the power of nostalgia when a trio of boy bands — all thought to have had a limited shelf life due to the seemingly throwaway nature of their music — manage to draw 14,000 screaming fans, 90 percent of them female, decades after their popularity first peaked.

Actually, Philadelphia's Boyz II Men aren't really considered a boy band per se, with a number of soulful hits that were popular in the '90s, including the GRAMMY-winning "End Of The Road."

They're down a member since those glory days, but the trio of Wanya Morris, Nathan Morris (no relation) and Shawn Stockman still manage to bring their magnificent harmonies to such hits as "I'll Make Love To You" and "On Bended Knee."

Dressed head-to-toe in white, the trio thrilled the crowd with a short six-song set that reminded fans why they are the R&B ballad kings, while handing out the first surefire prop designed to melt hearts: roses.

After performing their one up-tempo number of the night, "Motownphilly," Boyz II Men gave way to the Nick Lachey-led 98 Degrees, who offered light choreography and the second surefire heart-melting prop: the serenade, during which four women were selected from the audience and treated like princesses as each 98 Degrees member told her how they can't live without her, how she's the one and how they'd live happily ever after.

Recently releasing new music for the first time in 13 years, their well-performed set was split between selections from 2013's 2.0 and hits such as "Invisible Man" and "I Do (Cherish You)," the latter two written or co-written, funnily enough, by Canadians Sean Hosein, Dane DeViller and Dan Hill.

When Boston's New Kids On The Block took the stage, some of the education they garnered from their 2011 pairing with Backstreet Boys served them well.

The first lesson: go big. Lasers, confetti, streamers, and performing on a circular, hydraulic-equipped stage in the middle of the venue within easy grasp of their audience was a politically astute move, but none so much when they actually wandered into the crowd during "Tonight" to press the flesh with their faithful.

The second: continue to tease. NKOTB — Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood – endured five costume changes, and a few of them allowed the boys to flash enough beefcake to titillate the ladies in the audience. The pelvic dance thrusts didn't hurt either. And there were a few songs — namely, McIntyre during "Please Don't Go Girl" — where a pause inflicted the proper anticipation for high-octane screaming.

The third: invoke variety. NKOTB's choreography was not only classic, but also fresh and inventive, and gave the Kids a maturity that was missing during their younger years, probably when they didn't have as much artistic control over their performances and were still learning the ropes.

With a cavalcade of hits and a few well-chosen covers (including George Michael's "Faith" and Prince's "Kiss"), NKOTB delivered a dynamic two-hour show that was surprisingly better than one might have the right to expect, revealing that the band — 25 years old in 2013 — has more than a few years of vitality left, and plenty of fans willing to accommodate that journey.

Boyz II Men Set List:

"On Bended Knee"
"Water Runs Dry"
"I'll Make Love To You"
"It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday"
"End Of The Road"
"Motownphilly" 

98 Degrees Set List:

"Girls Night Out"
"Microphone"
"Invisible Man"
"The Hardest Thing"
"My Everything"
"Impossible Things"
"Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)"
"I Do (Cherish You)"
"Because Of You"

New Kids On The Block Set List:

"We Own Tonight"
"Block Party"
"Summertime"
"You Got It (The Right Stuff)"
"The Whisper"
"Survive You"
"Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)"/"Valentine Girl"/"If You Go Away"/"Please Don't Go Girl" (medley)
"Remix (I Like The)"
"Single"
"Baby, I Believe In You"/"I Remember When"/"Tender Love"/"Click Click Click" (acoustic medley)
"Faith" (George Michael cover)/"Kiss" (Prince cover)/"Hot In Herre" (Nelly cover) (medley)
"Dirty Dancing"
"Step By Step"
"Cover Girl"
"Games"
"Sweet Caroline" (Neil Diamond cover)
"Tonight"
"I'll Be Loving You (Forever)"
"Hangin' Tough"

To catch New Kids On The Block, 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men in a city near you, click here for tour dates.

(Nick Krewen is a Toronto-based journalist who has written for The Toronto Star, TV Guide, Billboard, Country Music and was a consultant for the National Film Board's music industry documentary Dream Machine.)

Before Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC ruled the pop roost in the '90s, New Kids On The Block were busy building the boy band template that everyone later followed for international chart success and incredibly ardent fan followings. And it's a legacy they're continuing to celebrate nearly four decades later.

On May 17, NKOTB dropped Still Kids, the group's first new album in 11 years and eighth overall. Standouts such as "Magic," "Runaway," and the album's lead single "Kids" are every bit as light, joyful and catchy as early hits like "Step By Step" and "Hangin' Tough." But they sound more mature than they did as teenagers; their harmonies are stronger and sweeter, while the beats and production sounds more sophisticated and contemporary. Fellow '80s/'90s stars DJ Jazzy Jeff and Taylor Dayne also guest star on the album to help them lean into the nostalgia while still staying current. (Jazzy Jeff will also join them on the Magic Summer Tour, which will make stops around North America from June 14 through Aug. 25 and further continue the throwbacks with Paula Abdul as the third tourmate.)

Of course, it's not a total surprise that New Kids would want their new work to celebrate the old. The group — brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood — has sold over 80 million albums, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and even an annual New Kids On The Block Day in Boston (for 35 years running!). Their fans, affectionately known as Blockheads, still come out in large numbers to see them perform; according to NKOTB's new label, BMG, they've sold over four million concert tickets since reuniting in 2007 after a 14-year hiatus.

But for McIntyre, the true career highlights aren't the major accolades — it's the moments that really saw NKOTB's talent, and love for one another, shine. In celebration of the release of Still Kids, McIntyre shared five of his most cherished memories from the group's meteoric pop career.

Hollywood Talent Nights At Lee School Before They Were Famous

Lee School is a public school in Dorchester — actually, very close to Jamaica Plain. We all grew up in different towns in Boston. The rest of the guys were from Dorchester and I was from Jamaica Plain, that was like our clubhouse. 

Through the grace of God, there was a lot going on for the people that wanted it. And these community people that just did it out of the goodness of their hearts and would set up a space for kids to come and number one, stay out of trouble, and number two, give it a shot and have a place to dance and sing and dream. 

We would have these Hollywood Talent Nights that [group creator] Maurice [Starr] would put on, and then there were other talent nights. I don't know how often they were, but even if there were three or four a year, maybe even less, it was something to work towards. And we would rehearse, if we weren't rehearsing at Jordan and John's [Knight's] house, in their basement, we would rehearse at the Lee School. 

In the basement of the Lee School, in the backstage, you would walk down the stairs and we'd perform in these little rooms. It was like dressing rooms. They had mirrors; it wasn't big mirrors, but they had mirrors for the waist up and that was a big deal. So we would perform there, and rehearse there, and it was exciting. We had a place to take chances and be inspired and have a ton of fun as well.

It started with the Lee School and then radio shows [on] WILD, the AM station, the only station that would think about playing us at the time — and it was like, How are we going to surprise them this time? There was a ferocity about it. 

Donnie [Wahlberg] is a born leader. Jordan would tell stories about how Donnie would get on the school bus and he'd run the show. He'd tell jokes, he'd rap, he'd make everyone feel good — it's just in his bones. I think we all had the fire, but there was definitely a ride or die vibe about every show we did. 

He worked at a sneaker store, so we'd save up and pool our money together for new outfits, and one time we came on with basketball warmups, those Patrick Ewing basketball warmups. We came on in sweatsuits. First of all, I was freakin' five feet tall, so I was swimming in everything that we had, but we'd come on and for our number we'd sing whatever, and at the perfect moment we'd rip off the sweatsuits and have red glitter suits on. We'd just try to win the crowd over every time.

I think we still have that spirit. We never want to rest on our laurels, we want to surprise people, otherwise it's just not worth it. We've been lucky enough to do what we love to do.

Performing At The Apollo Theater In 1988

We've been able to celebrate that a lot over the years. It really is, in so many ways, the pinnacle for the history of R&B and black music and soulful music, but also rock and roll. The world knew that if you could make it there and survive the Apollo, then you had what it takes to at least give it a shot in the music business.

And we were in that world. In Boston, we played for all-Black audiences. We loved R&B music. That's what we grew up on, so we weren't really necessarily fish out of water because, although we were very excited, and of course had lots of nerves, we'd been hustling as a bunch of young kids for a few years.

We got a chance to perform at the Apollo by literally pounding the pavement. And it was one of those days where Maurice was taking us around, and we were going to people's offices with a boombox, playing music and singing and dancing. And these people, even if they didn't like us, they were impressed. They couldn't argue with the guts that we had and the passion. 

The guy who ran the Apollo — I'm blanking on his last name, his first name was Al — he would host those nights, and we saw him on the street. Maurice was like, "Hey, Al! We want to come up!" So we came up and performed three songs in his office — it wasn't a very big office, either — and he said, "We'll have you down."

We weren't in the competition, we were a special guest, because I think it was on a Wednesday and they had a live night, and then they had a TV show [Showtime at the Apollo]. So we did the live night first, and then we did the TV show and they just went crazy for us. I was a little too young to be in tears, but the rest of the guys, we went up to the dressing room and everybody was in tears. 

We would hang out at the Apollo. The basement in the Apollo, man, you'd have Heavy D and Chuck D and Kool Moe Dee — you know, all the Ds! I just finished one of RuPaul's books… I met RuPaul in the stairwell of the Apollo Theater. He was going up and I was going down and we looked up at each other: "Hey, how you doin'?"

This was a long time ago but, you know, it was just a special place. Back then you had to connect in person. Now we have social media. It's wonderful, you can connect. You can DM people and suddenly connect with your heroes or collaborators and it's great, but back then, you had to be in the place. And that's what the Apollo represented for us. So we were just like kids in a candy store.

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Getting Their First Tour Bus

There's nothing like jumping on your first tour bus. Our first manager, Mary Alford, had a two-door Mustang, I would have to sit on somebody's lap in the front seat, and then three dudes would be stuck in the back, and she'd be driving. The big splurge was getting a bigger four-door car to drive down to New York for those trips. We'd still be mashed up. 

You know, just to know you are literally going on the road for the first time. I'm 15, the other guys are, like, 18, 19, and there's really nothing cooler. But we were very emotional for a lot of reasons. For having a chance to do our thing and saying goodbye to our family, our hometown, knowing this is part of making it. So it was pretty cool. 

Working With New Edition

Before I was even in the New Kids, the New Edition album with "Cool It Now" was my [favorite] album. The fact that they were from Boston was amazing, a massive bonus, and we were all, just, goo goo ga ga any time we could meet them or think we could meet them. 

So over the years we would touch base, and then we got to sing together on our album The Block in 2008. But then a couple years ago we did a big mashup performance on the AMAs and I cried like a baby, like, three times. I cried on the phone with Donnie just thinking about it as we started rehearsals. Then I cried afterwards. 

A couple days later was Thanksgiving. We went around the table and talked about what we were grateful for, and the tears just came to my eyes. I couldn't think of anything better to be more thankful for than to work with your heroes. They've just been so gracious, so gracious, over the years. And from where they came and how they really set the standard for us. They really did. 

You don't realize it until the more you live and the more you are in this business. To have people walk the walk and talk the talk, and then be kind and supportive at the same time, it's very cool. Just to be friends with those guys is a dream.

Making Still Kids

You want to give the people what they're looking for and also surprise them at the same time, and I think this album has a good combination. I feel great about the fact that I ended up co-writing half of the album. I've just been writing more, so that was important to me. And I've been lucky enough to write for the group over the years, but this felt a little different. I think it takes guts to stretch and grow with the group, within the dynamics of the group. It's not easy but we've always said, "Let's go, let's give it a shot."

So this was a good combo, this album. It's new, we're definitely harking back to the good old days, but it definitely reflects that we're not 18 anymore. But I think they're that spirit. 

As we get older, we're always reaching back. We want to have that fire and that curiosity we had as kids. We don't want to let the cynicism of life pull us down and at the same time, all that fuels the writing and the expression. So it's exciting to feel good about an album that has the right balance. 

25 Years Of Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way": 10 Covers By Ed Sheeran, Lil Uzi Vert & More

Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system. 

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

Looking for more GRAMMYs news? The 2024 GRAMMY nominations are here!

He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly.

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube. This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle. This is for Illmatic, this is for Nas. We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." 

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes. 

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It's unlikely you'll ever see New Kids On The Block's Hangin' Tough mentioned in the same influential breath as Pixies' Surfer Rosa, Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation of Millions and Tracy Chapman's self-titled debut. Yet like 1988's other game-changers, the Boston quintet's sophomore album was pivotal in shaping the musical landscape for the following decade and beyond.

Indeed, without its mix of gloopy ballads and slightly unconvincing attempts to establish street cred, the "Total Request Live" era would have looked and sounded very different. In fact, there maybe wouldn't have been a "TRL" era at all. And instead of having flowers thrown at him, Harry Styles may have ended up selling them.

Of course, New Kids On The Block — or NKOTB, as most of their adoring fans know them — weren't the first boy band.The Monkees for example, were specifically designed to replicate the teen-pop hysteriathe Beatles had whipped up organically. Family outfits the Osmonds andthe Jackson 5 might not have been manufactured, yet they relied just as much on their charming lead singer as their musical skills. And who can forgetMenudo, the Latin phenomenon who continually replaced members as soon as they hit 16 to retain their fresh-faced appeal?

But the New Kids were the first to set the template that would be applied to every group of all-singing, all-dancing guys who ever adorned the pages of Tiger Beat. There was the heartthrob (Jordan Knight), the cute one (Joey McIntyre, who was only 12 when he first joined), the older brother figure (Danny Wood), the bad boy (Donnie Wahlberg) and the sensitive one (Jonathan Knight). The tightly-choreographed routines, the air grabs, the willingness to pose without a shirt, the sharing of lead vocals (well, apart from poor Jonathan), the aversion to playing any instruments — pretty much every trope of the modern boy band stems from the Hangin' Tough era. Even so, the gang can't take all the credit.

NKOTB was the brainchild of Maurice Starr, a failed R&B singer who first realized the power of five in 1982 when he discovered another Boston outfit, New Edition. However, after producing and co-writing New Edition's self-titled debut, including U.K. No. 1 "Candy Girl," he was sacked, and not unreasonably, either. Returning home from a punishing tour, the youngsters learned their earnings amounted to little more than a measly $2 each. They subsequently, and successfully, sued their mentor for damages.

Undeterred, Starr simply set his sights on creating a rival group, and one that would dwarf his former's multi-platinum sales. This time around, though, he and business partner Mary Alford looked specifically for five Caucasian males: "I honestly believe that if they'd been white, [New Edition] would have been 20 times as big," Starr once toldEntertainment Weekly, perhaps explaining his new approach.

Initially, the American record-buying public appeared to be on Team New Edition. In the same year the R&B group's 1986 fourth album Under the Blue Moon and first taster "Earth Angel" both made the Top 50, New Kids' eponymous debut and its three singles failed to chart at all. In fact, NKOTB were on the verge of getting dropped by Columbia Records after "Please Don't Go Girl," the lead track from 1988 follow-up Hangin' Tough, was also met with a resounding shrug.

Luckily for the five-piece, a Florida pop station started championing the song in the nick of time — and thanks to a hastily reshot promo which better showed their poster appeal, other stations soon followed suit. Within a few weeks, New Kids had scored their first entry on the Hot 100 in October 1988, and Columbia — now sensing a new pop phenomenon on the horizon — started gearing up to release their second album.

Hangin' Tough entered theBillboard 200 at a lowly No. 157 in August later that year. But after  appearances on"Soul Train" and "Showtime at the Apollo," a support slot on Tiffany's U.S. tour (much to the "I Think We're Alone Now" singer's embarrassment, they were eventually bumped up to headliner) and growing word-of-mouth among the tween and teen crowd, it had climbed inside the Top 50 by the time its second single was sent to radio in November.

With its emphatic beats, chunky keyboards and woah-oh chants, "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" showcased a much harder edge than the bubblegum ballads NKOTB had initially tried to entice America's youth with. Its accompanying video — which combined footage of the band horsing around their hometown with belt-grabbing, leg-shuffling dance routines — further helped establish them as a crew rather than mere industry puppets, too.

As Donnie later told Variety, it was a change in direction informed by the group's school journeys to Roxbury from Dorchester: a court-mandated bussing system designed to desegregate Boston's black and white populations had helped expose them to new, cooler sounds. And second time around, they wanted to incorporate elements of funk, R&B and hip-hop into their own music.

Yet, Starr was still very much in the studio driving seat. Not only did he once again write and produce all 10 tracks, he'd repeatedly keep the youngsters on their toes by switching lead vocalists at the drop of a hat. "If a guy sounded 80 percent right for the part, then he was probably going to be replaced by someone who sounded 100 percent right," added Donnie, whose Calvin Kleins-wearing brother Mark was briefly part of the set-up. "Fortunately, we didn't take it personally."

However, the Svengali did at least allow his proteges a little more creative control. Danny enjoyed a crash course in engineering, mixing and programming, and, like Donnie and Jordan, was also given an associate producer title. This trio also helped pen one of the album's highlights, the lovestruck freestyle of "My Favorite Girl."

But it was with a retro love song that they scored their first chart-topper. Written with Motown legend Smokey Robinson in mind (hence Jordan's slightly pained falsetto),"I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" also practically invented the modern-day boy band ballad. Indeed, the gushy declaration of love, the close-knit harmonies, the overly sincere facial expressions, the sitting on bar stools. It's all here alongside the kind of piercing high note only dogs can hear. While most boy bands would replicate this formula at least once — usually around the Christmas period — the likes of All-4-One, 98 Degrees and Westlife would base their entire careers around it.

The New Kids' schoolboy influences are far more apparent, however, in "What'cha Gonna Do (About It)," an electro-funk number with shades of Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done for Me Lately," and the similarly punchy closer "Hold On." And then there's the title track, of course. Bridging the gaps between Run-D.M.C., the hair metal scene and the NBA anthem — it was actually intended to honor the group's basketball team of choice, the Boston Celtics — "Hangin' Tough" is essentially year 0 for boy bands going rebellious.

You can hear its echoes in everything from One Direction's Midnight Memories LP to the more blockbuster moments ofBackstreet Boys' oeuvre ("Larger Than Life," "Backstreet's Back"). "When the Lights Go Out" hitmakers Five, meanwhile, recorded three albums' worth of similarly bullish PG-13 pop. "Hangin' Tough" gave NKOTB their second U.S. No. 1 in the July of 1989, solidifying the band as a genuine pop sensation.

Its parent album, which eventually sold a colossal 14 million copies, was the year's second-best seller — ironically finishing behind Bobby Brown's Don't Be Cruel. Their same-named documentary, a mix of music promos and behind-the-scenes footage helmed by regular collaborator Doug Nichol, picked up a Best Music Video, Long Form nomination at the 1990 GRAMMYs (it lost to Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814).

Even their flop debut had gained a new lease of life, with a re-release of its Delfonics cover "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" giving them a sixth top 10 hit in the span of just 10 months. A seventh arrived soon after, too, thanks to "This One's for the Children," the only single from their hastily assembled holiday album, Merry, Merry Christmas.

The latter exemplified fans' determination to get their hands on anything NKOTB and the industry's determination to capitalize on this; the cynic would argue Hangin' Tough's most significant impact was the merchandise empire it spawned. You couldn't do your weekly shopping without seeing the boys' idolized faces staring back at you, whether on a magazine front cover, official doll or Coca-Cola ad campaign. The money-making potential certainly had industry leaders taking notes — particularly one future impresario.

It was while leasing a plane to the New Kids that the since-disgraced Lou Pearlman hit upon the brainwave of forming his own squeaky-clean, scream-worthy, all-male vocal group. The aviation entrepreneur had been flabbergasted to learn his young customers had raked in a billion dollars through record sales, merchandise and tours, and subsequently used their business model for his first proteges, even hiring their road manager Johnny Wright to look after day-to-day duties. By the turn of the millennium, Backstreet Boys and another Pearlman project, *NSYNC, had taken the boy band concept to new supernova heights.

Of course, not everyone was as enamored by NKOTB's success. Perhaps unimpressed with Hangin' Tough's synthetic production and the overuse of the word "girl," Rolling Stone readers crowned them Worst Band of 1989; while referring to their younger demographic, the Los Angeles Times remarked, "There's no law, written, natural or otherwise, that says kids can't have taste, too."

Over the past 30 years, though, the stuffy critical response appears to have softened. In 2016, the record even earned its own prestigious 33 ⅓ (the literary series celebrating seminal albums) by author Rebecca Wallwork, a longtime fan who argued people's kneejerk reactions to her idols clouded their judgement of the music. And a 30th anniversary reissue — which featured "80s Baby," a new, aptly titled collaboration with old touring buddy Tiffany and fellow '80s survivors Debbie Gibson, Naughty by Nature and Salt-N-Pepa — returned Hangin' Tough to the Top 20 of the Billboard 200.

While promoting the re-release with a special show at Harlem's Apollo Theater, Donnie told Rolling Stone that although New Kids On The Block believe they have since eclipsed Hangin' Tough, they're still immensely proud of how it changed pop music forever: "We don't get to decide how we're remembered. But if it's with that album, and those special times, then how lucky are we?"

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As Jagged Edge and Nelly asked in 2001, where the party at? On May 6, it's at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds thanks to Lovers & Friends.

The star-studded festival largely celebrates the R&B and hip-hop stars of the '90s and 2000s, with a lineup that boasts Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Usher, Christina Aguilera, Nelly, and 50 Cent, among countless other hitmakers. With a jam-packed roster, it's hard to believe the fest is only one day. But one thing is guaranteed: it's going to be a day full of bangers.

There's also a good chance that there will be some viral moments from the second annual Lovers & Friends fest. Several of the stars on the bill have delivered some smash hits together, and they may just take the stage together to perform them — whether it's Chris Brown and Busta Rhymes for "Look At Me Now," Frankie J and Baby Bash for "Suga Suga," or, yes, even Jagged Edge and Nelly for "Where The Party At."

Even if you didn't get a ticket to this year's sold-out fest, that certainly doesn't mean you can't get in on the nostalgia. GRAMMY.com has curated a 50-song playlist to highlight all 50 performers on the Lovers & Friends 2023 lineup (which also includes current stars like Summer Walker, Bryson Tiller and Partynextdoor), and it will undoubtedly get you pumped up.

Below, jam out to GRAMMY.com's Lovers & Friends 2023 playlist, or listen to it on Apple Music, Amazon Music or Pandora.