Things we forgot happened in 2020: 'Parasite' made history at the Oscars, 'Tiger King' ruled and more
Is it finally over? ??
Collectively, we can all agree 2020 has felt like living through an entire century. Like watching grass grow. Or paint dry. But longer.
In 2020, we've experienced a pandemic, a historic election, and a nationwide rational reckoning. And that barely scratches the surface.
Though the end of the year doesn't guarantee that things will be better come Jan. 1, 2021, we can all celebrate the end of an infamous year.
And in case your memory is foggy (because ours sure is), we've compiled a list of all the things that happened this year that you may have forgotten about.
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan broke up with the royal family
We were just eight days into 2020, when Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan decided to call it quits on their senior royal roles.
"We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen," the couple said in an announcement issued by Buckingham Palace. "We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honor our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages."
So far, it seems like they couple is faring well. Prince Harry and Meghan made a home in a 19,000-square foot Mediterranean-style villa in California, they founded a non-profit organization Archewell and have signed deals with Netflix and Spotify.
Anyone remember the Oscars?
We had quite the eventful awards season, though it managed to elude our memories with everything that happened in the weeks following.
The Grammys, which are held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, honored legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant who died that same morning in a helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
A couple of weeks later, the Oscars had a "first" when Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" won four awards, and became the first non-English language film to win best picture.
JLo and Shakira's Super Bowl halftime performance
Once upon a time, concerts used to take place at sporting events in front of live audiences of thousands.
On Feb. 2, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira took the stage during Pepsi's Super Bowl LIV halftime show in Miami Gardens, Florida delivering a set complete with pole dancing, a children's choir and a meme-able tongue moment.
The performance even sparked debate online: Was it empowering to watch two women of color over 40 performing in a provocative way? Or objectifying?
Club Quarantine
Many people were left sitting around their living rooms with nowhere to go amid the pandemic – that is until Club Quarantine became a thing.
DJ D-Nice began livestreaming his music sets in March in what he called #ClubQuarantine. The event drew thousands of viewers and we even saw celebrities partying virtually like Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Rihanna, Diddy, Usher and more.
Oprah tweeted that it was the “best party of 1 and 100K I’ve ever been to.”
March also saw the creation of Verzuz, a webcast where musicians go head to head, founded by producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. The series quickly took off with battles between music icons like Ne-Yo and Johntà Austin and Monica and Brandy.
Everyone was invested in Netflix's 'Tiger King'
If there was one thing that brought everyone together during the first weeks of the pandemic, it was Netflix's docuseries "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness."
The seven-episode true-crime series explored the life of Joe Exotic (born Joseph Schreibvogel), a man with an affinity for big cats, blonde mullets, guns and explosives. The show was a cult favorite and became the gift that kept on giving.
Joe Exotic and rival Carole Baskin continued to entertain us well into 2020, and Baskin snagged a role on "Dancing with the Stars."
It was a good moment for Netflix's reality TV offerings as "Love Is Blind," "Cheer," and "Too Hot to Handle" took off.
Virtual concerts
Artists big and small were forced to come up with new and creative ways to connect with fans.
In lieu of concerts and interviews, Dua Lipa celebrated the release of album "Future Nostalgia" March 27 by doing a virtual performance of her hit "Don't Stop Now," with her band and backup dancers all videoconferencing in on Zoom. John Legend livestreamed an hour-long concert from his home, playing his smooth, soulful hits, including "All of Me," "Everybody Knows" and "Conversations in the Dark," in a bathrobe.
Beyoncé's 'Black is King'
Beyoncé briefly distracted us in July by releasing the visual companion piece to "The Lion King: The Gift” soundtrack.
For an hour and 25 minutes Beyoncé's "Black is King" made us forget we were 2020-ing and explored the beauty of blackness, giving us Black excellence and Black joy.
Harvey Weinstein was sentenced
After being accused of sexual harassment by over 80 women in 2017, Harvey Weinstein was both convicted and sentenced in 2020.
Weinstein's landmark trial opened Jan. 6 and almost two months later, the ex-movie mogul-turned-convicted sex offender was sentenced to 23 years in prison for third-degree rape and forcible sexual assault of two women. His sexual misconduct allegations jump started the #MeToo movement, which caused many other sexual assault survivors to come forward as well.
Jada Pinkett Smith's entanglement with August
It was July when Jada Pinkett Smith brought herself to the Red Table to address questions about her relationship with R&B artist August Alsina. In place of her usual co-hosts, mother Adrienne Banfield Norris and daughter Willow Smith, was husband Will Smith.
She revealed she started a friendship with Alsina when the Smiths were going through a tough time in their marriage. The couple said they separated for an indefinite amount of time so they could figure out how to make themselves happy.
"I got into an entanglement with August," Jada said before confirming she was in a relationship with the singer during that time.
The word entanglement became the number two most searched word in 2020 for people looking for a definition.
'Hamilton' found a home at Disney+
Lin-Manuel Miranda's game-changing Broadway musical became everyone's Fourth of July entertainment in a locked-down world. It also introduced the show to a huge population that never had the pleasure of seeing it, including USA TODAY's Brian Truitt, who wrote about his first time watching here.
Prior to its new home on Disney+, “Hamilton” was a Tony-conquering phenomenon and the hottest ticket in New York. Tickets for the show were hard to come by regardless of what city "Hamilton" was playing in.
Contributing: Patrick Ryan, Maria Puente, Brian Truitt
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry quit; Tiger King ruled, more 2020 moments