As this decade comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on how much pop culture has evolved since the start of 2010. When you look back on the last 10 years, it’s difficult to remember a time without streaming or Netflix originals, when your favorite celebs weren’t on Snapchat, and when each new photo or video wasn’t circulated as a meme on social media.
If going into the year 2020 doesn’t make you feel old yet, these seven iconic moments in pop culture from the last decade sure will. Here’s a 10 year rewind look at a few defining cultural footprints that have left their mark in more ways than one.
- The early 2010s were all about fangs and fur.
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Following the premiere of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight saga, came a surge of supernatural love stories surrounding vampires and other legendary creatures. Shows like HBO’s True Blood and the CW’s Vampire Diaries marked the beginning of a frenzy that can still be seen in 2019 with all the subsequent series spin offs. And we would hate to forget MTV’s contribution with Teen Wolf, where Tyler Posey played a teen heartthrob-turned-wolf.
Looking back, deciding whether you were “Team Jacob” or “Team Edward” seemed more important than the world ending in 2012—remember that?
- The 2011 royal wedding gave us fantasies about becoming a princess.
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The marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton just may have broken the hearts of every girl who crushed on the Prince since his teen years. However, their union was reflective of the British royal family’s gradual adaptation to changing social norms. Though upper middle class, Kate was a commoner after all, and their wedding didn’t follow all royal protocol. The couple included a Maid of Honor and Best Man, roles that generally don’t exist in royal weddings. This was in addition to the couple staying at Buckingham Palace instead of immediately leaving for their honeymoon as is expected of royals.
The highly anticipated wedding ceremony totaled a massive viewing of 72 million live-streams via YouTube. It’s hard to forget how excited everyone in America was for the event, with people even buying commemorative decorative plates and tea-cups in celebration of this moment in history.
- Game of Thrones dominated fantasy storytelling.
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Game of Thrones premiered in 2011 on HBO, and our Sunday nights just haven’t been the same since. Fans have sat through eight seasons of gory action scenes and beloved on-screen characters being killed off, and everyone realized it’s wise to never get too emotionally invested in a series. The Emmy Award-winning show came to an end this year, and as controversial as the final season was, Game of Thrones changed fantasy storytelling and television production quality forever what with the lack of hesitation in killing prominent characters as well as the amount of detail placed in everything from the plot to the characters’ costumes.
- Beyoncé continues to reign supreme with her performances.
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Was it a football game or a Beyoncé concert? It’s been six years since Beyoncé’s 2013 Super Bowl XLVII performance, and we still can’t decide. Beyoncé left us in awe at the halftime show after she performed some of her best throwbacks from the early 2000s. The lineup included her hits “Crazy in Love” and “Independent Woman Part one,” where she was reunited Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child. If the excitement from the Destiny’s Child tribute concert wasn’t enough, Beyoncé returned to the Superbowl stage in 2016 where she was accompanied by Coldplay and Bruno Mars.
While a decade can seem like a lengthy time for an artist to enter and remain in the spotlight, Bey has done this with ease. Coachella was rebranded as “BeyChella” in 2018, when she became Coachella’s first female headliner in a decade. While the Queen Bey could kill a performance with her vocal chords alone, her set included a slew of musicians and dancers while simultaneously honoring the musical roots of Houston, Washington D.C., New Orleans, Nigeria, Jamaica, and Atlanta. The performance went on to earn a Netflix documentary, Homecoming.
- Taylor Swift makes waves in the music industry.
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Taylor Swift is a female artist that has dominated the spotlight throughout the last decade amid multiple transitions of the sound of her music to the revamping of her image. Because of the 2009 Kanye incident, Taylor entered the decade with a rocky start. Her fans have offered opinions on every moment in Swift’s life from her not-so-private feuds to her public breakups.
The 2009 VMAs incident is one that would be revisited. Yeezy’s 2016 track “Famous” addressed the incident with Kanye claiming credit for Taylor’s boost in fame. Taylor retaliated with a song of her own, “Look What You Made Me Do.” Taylor may have gained recognition for penning songs about past lovers who’ve wronged her. However, throughout the years, her work has branched out to acknowledge her professional relationships. These efforts haven’t all been in the recording studio.
In terms of her work as an artist, Taylor’s music was removed from streaming services in 2014 including YouTube and Spotify, to ensure that fans would buy her tracks and albums instead. Taylor was advocating for the rights and revenue of smaller artists in an argument that music shouldn’t be free. However, three years later in 2017, the singer returned to streaming services making her albums available again on platforms Spotify, Pandora, Tidal and Amazon.
Most recently, in 2019, Taylor took to social media to claim that Scooter Braun had prevented her from performing her past tracks. This followed Scooter’s purchase of Big Machine Records and subsequently Taylor’s first six studio albums. In what quickly became a game of “he said, she said,” both parties have made public comments regarding their side of the story, additionally airing out the convoluted concept of master recording rights.
Taylor eventually did perform her signature hits at the 2019 American Music Awards and was honored with the Billboard Woman of the Decade Award soon after. Her headlines have been ones to remember, and there’s no telling what the next decade will bring for the star.
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle became engaged and married.
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Another royal went off the market with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2017 engagement. While Kate Middleton was also a commoner, she was a British one at that, and Meghan Markle’s entry into the Royal Family challenged the status quo in more ways than one. Meghan is American, biracial, and had a status as an actress. The ripple effects were similar to what Kate endured when news broke that she was dating Prince William.
Throughout Prince Harry and Meghan’s initial involvement, engagement, marriage, and the birth of their first child, Meghan has been subject to intrusive publications of private matters and a flurry of negative press attention by British tabloids. However, their televised wedding was definitely one to remember of the past decade. Paying homage to their differing nationalities, the pair fused both American and British traditions in their wedding, from the inclusion of an English gospel group to the performance choice of an American song, among many other details.
- The Jonas Brothers make their return.
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2019 was definitely the year for revivals, from the live-action remakes of The Lion King and Aladdin to the announcement of the reboot for beloved TV shows like Lizzie McGuire and Gossip Girl. But the return I’m most excited about? Obviously, the beloved Jonas Brothers making a comeback. Sure, they may all be married now, but the JoBros still hold a significant place in my heart.
I still remember “burning up” with them on Disney, and I’m lowkey still waiting for the year 3000 to roll around so I can take that trip underwater. While their new album Happiness Begins debuted in early 2019, the trio continues to play some of their biggest hits from the past decade as they tour across North America.
The 2010s have been forever in our memories because of cultural impact, fictional and nonfictional, digital and non-digital. 2019 can be characterized as the year of reunions, reboots, and revivals, which may be telling of what’s to come. History has a way of repeating itself, and it’s likely that we’ll be seeing remnants of the 2010s in the upcoming decade, whatever it may bring.