THE PEOPLE ARE IN TROUBLE

Alex Lawther's writing and directing film debut is a fictional tale of love set in a time of climate collapse that is rooted in reality

RAYE: IN FULL CONTROL

Having shaken off the shackles of a seven-year contract without a debut record, Raye is savouring a number-one single and the freedom that comes with dropping her long-awaited first album, as she tells Rolling Stone UK

Lil Durk's Dizzying Ascent

The Chicago rapper faced unimaginable grief on his way to superstardom

Ice Spice: NYC Drill's New Queen of Pop

She took the world by storm with ‘Munch’ — a hit so catchy, it could be the genre’s future

Rites of passage

Indie folk singer Nell Mescal looks back on a landmark year that marked her first-ever tour as she takes her place as one of Ireland’s most unique voices

Maya Hawke

The Stranger Things star on her new album, wanting to die (onscreen), and which of her parents' movies she hasn't seen

Alex Turner

The Arctic Monkeys frontman on big rock guitars, evolving as a band, and revving up for their latest album, The Car

Artist of the year - Yungblud - How to win fans and influence people

Love him or hate him, Yungblud exemplifies what it means to be a Gen Z rock star. Dominic Harrison harnessed an influencer model to rise to fame but in 2022 proved he's well on the way to becoming a British pop culture icon. Rolling Stone UK goes on the road with our Artist of the Year to find out how he intends to use more than his highenergy persona to be taken seriously.

Breakthrough Award – Bree Runway – She's that girl

This was Bree Runway's year. She collaborated with Stormzy, added more A-listers to her growing fan base and is now regularly recognised in the streets of London, her hometown. Rolling Stone UK met Bree for her most intimate interview yet

The year that TikTok went weird

Trends, once created and T enforced by the culture press and celebrities, have grown into an ever-evolving, unpredictable beast with the rise of TikTok.

Groove Armada – The boys are back

The electronic duo quit touring in 2010, with Andy Cato moving into sustainable farming and Tom Findlay becoming a therapist. Now, 12 years later, they've nearly completed one final live tour, and have recorded new material for their 25-track greatest hits box set. Rolling Stone UK checked in to chat outdated technology, nipple tassels and playing Groove Armada to cows

Eliza Rose – "I'm a raver before anything else"

Eliza Rose is a DJ, singer, producer and avid record collector who just took a UK rave tune to number one

THE YEAR THAT WE WENT ON STRIKE

While the French strike at the drop of a chapeau and love to kick W aristocratic heads up and down the Champs-Élysées, the English drink cups of tea and get on with things, or so the stereotypes go.

THE YEAR THAT NOTHING IN THE UK WORKED

This year, I realised I needed to learn T how to drive. I'd been made redundant during the pandemic, and a few months later was forced to leave my rental accommodation when my landlord decided to sell the house.

FOOTBALL FINALLY CAME HOME

If you tuned into BBC One on the morning of 1 August, you'd have seen a team of young female footballers sporting all the signs of a heroic hangover for the ages.

THE YEAR THAT MISOGYNY WAS BACK IN FASHION

This time last year, very few people thought about Andrew Tate with any regularity if at all. Now, he's inescapable.

THE YEAR THAT MUSIC BOOKS GOT NOSTALGIC FOR THE 'GOOD OLD DAYS'

The 2010s felt like my lucky years. I read the now-defunct Rookie Magazine run by Tavi Gevinson, a website and annual that used a diverse roster of girls to cover music and pop culture.

TV HAD REMAKES ON REPEAT

In 2022, the era of revamping, and rebooting that has gradually wrapped its fingers around mainstream cinema's throat for the past five years - via sprawling superhero epics, origin stories, remakes and whatever is going on with the Halloween franchise - felt like it finally arrived in the world of TV.

CATHOLICISM MADE A MINI COMEBACK

Catholicism has always lent itself to transgression. Its flamboyant aesthetics and patriarchal power structure have inspired everything from Renaissance art to Nunsploitation films, and the Met Gala to the relationship between Fleabag and her Hot Priest.

THE YEAR THAT: SEX PARTIES WENT MAINSTREAM

As someone who talks endlessly and openly about sex for a living, I had long wanted to attend a sex party. And this year there was something in the air that made it feel like the perfect time to experience one.

TRANS WRITING BLOSSOMED ON THE BOOK SCENE

In many ways, 2022 felt like the year of the underdog in the book world. Although it lacked blockbusters, fringe fiction flourished and works in translation soared. But which trends will we look back on from our lofty armchairs and think, 'That was so 2022'?

THE YEAR OF 2022

Everyone who lived through it will remember the year 2020 for the rest of their lives, I should imagine.

TOP GIRL

Known predominantly for her Mercury Prize-winning and commercially successful music, Little Simz is a force of nature. In a world of content and noise, the semi-mysterious Simbiatu Ajikawo lets her talent speak for her. In this interview, our TV Award-winner talks about how she came to act in British cultural export Top Boy and her experience filming the show

Time to put our house in order

Housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa on why disrepair and poor living conditions in the UK's rental and social housing sectors is an issue that can no longer be ignored

The Podcast Hollywood's Queen of Golden Age

Chasing silver-screen ghosts and Los Angeles' forgotten secrets with Karina Longworth, the brilliant mind behind You Must Remember This BY ALEX MORRIS

Heavy Is the Hand That Holds the Mic

Doechii has a big spotlight on her as record label TDE's first female rapper. She couldn't be more ready

Ones to watch

As 2022 comes to an end, Rolling Stone UK looks at the acts likely to worm their way into your headphones next year.

The only way is up

Sam Ryder truly changed the record when he snatched second place for the UK in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Space Man’. With a new album on the way, his feet have barely touched the ground since, as he tells Rolling Stone UK.