Rolling Stone’s Top 25 Stories of 2022

In an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone’s Tomás Mier, former viral child singer Greyson Chance opened up about feeling controlled and later abandoned by the benefactor who promised to make his music dreams come true: Ellen DeGeneres. DeGeneres had promised him the world, he said, then micromanaged his career, only to drop him from her label and stop taking his calls as his earnings slowed. After he shared his story, other former Ellen kid stars, including Charlie Puth, came forward with their own experiences on the show.

The president is the world’s most powerful person, but he’s also a public servant — and the work he does while holding the office is the public’s property, especially when that work pertains to classified material. Those concepts are lost on Donald Trump. After the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago estate and found confidential documents, Trump demanded that his legal team to get “my” documents back, sources tell Rolling Stone. It does make one wonder, however: What is in those documents that Trump seems hell-bent on keeping to himself?

Cary Fukunaga — a high-profile director thanks to a string of successes including the first season of True Detective — has been openly accused of inappropriate on-set behavior since 2021, when actress Raeden Greer claimed he fired her from that show for refusing to perform nude. With accounts from nearly a dozen Hollywood sources, Rolling Stone reporter Cheyenne Roundtree laid out a far larger pattern of his alleged abuses, which included grooming and harassing female cast and crew. Though he denied all the allegations, production colleagues recounted their discomfort, saying he singled out subordinates for intense talks and invitations to drinks; one woman he dated described it as a “claustrophobic and suffocating” relationship. Those who shared their stories alleged that Fukunaga follows a routine course of manipulation, and they hoped that coming forward might give others pause when considering collaboration with the No Time to Die director.

What did Adidas know, and when did they know it? That was the big question that investigative reporters Cheyenne Roundtree and Matthew Sullivan took on in this deep-dive into life at Yeezy. Speaking with former employees and collaborators, they uncovered explosive allegations that the man formerly known as Kanye West had been showing those around him porn, asking for them to make shoes he could “fuck,” and even sharing sexually explicit photographs of his then-wife Kim Kardashian. “There was no accountability,” said one source. “Difficult moments happened, with executives in the room — VP level or higher — and nothing would be done. You’d still show up to work the next day.”

From his earliest days in public life, Donald Trump has always been a big-league gossip, and it appears that running the world’s most powerful country did little to nothing to temper that habit. When the FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August, their list of documents included an intriguing entry: “info re: President of France.” Rolling Stone revealed that Trump had been obsessed with Emmanuel Macron’s personal life for years — and even told associates that he knew illicit details about the president’s love life. What exactly the Mar-a-lago folder contained remains unknown, but even the revelation of its existence triggered a trans-Atlantic freakout, sources told Rolling Stone.

At the beginning of 2022, a convoy of truckers gathered in Ottawa, Ontario to protest Covid-19 vaccine mandates, taking over the city. Senior writer EJ Dickson began to notice chatter among a group of counter-protesters about a song called “Ram Ranch.” With lyrics like “18 naked cowboys wanting to be fucked,” members of the #RamRanchResistance would take over far-right group voice-chat meetings with the porno-metal number. Dickson talked to the members of the resistance, who reported destruction of property and harassment, as well as to Grant MacDonald, the Canadian musician behind the viral song. 

As an undercover agent for the FBI, Scott B. risked his life — and saved countless more — investigating homegrown far-right extremist groups. Writer Paul Solotaroff takes us through Scott’s storied career, as the newly-retired agent details his exploits publicly for the first time: tossing back bourbon shots with white supremacists; buying coke from crooked cops; being ordered to strip naked at gunpoint by suspicious motorcycle gang while wearing a wire. There was even that time he participated in a pagan goat sacrifice. Penetrating cells across the country, Scott foiled plots to assassinate troopers, shoot up synagogues, and kill reporters. His work put dozens behind bars and earned him every accolade imaginable. But he didn’t come forward to rest on his laurels. As he explained over months of interviews, Scott was talking to sound the alarm: Domestic terrorism is lurking all around us — and isn’t going away.

Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa, and Rosé entered the K-pop machine as young trainees and came out on the other side as global superstars — and sisters with an inseparable bond. In our cover story, writer Haeryun Kang captured the quartet in their most ordinary state — trading stories about their families and the places they love to visit — before their blinding stars would come together again, making their grand return as BLACKPINK. They had only been away from the spotlight for a few years, but in the midst of a global pandemic, the unpredictable nature of the world around them moved the four-piece to take stock of where they’ve been; consider where their creative prospects may launch them next; and take comfort in knowing that if everything were to fall away, they would all be there to function as a safety net for one another.

Selena Gomez bared all to writer Alex Morris in a wide-ranging, heart-rending cover story that delved into not only into her battles with lupus and mental health, but also her willingness to reveal those hardships in a warts-and-all documentary. “This is probably the most you’ll hear about me for a while,” she says at the end of the conversation, which makes sense, since this exclusive interview is the arguably the deepest Gomez has ever gone of her life offscreen. There’s humor and light there, too, with Gomez eagerly awaiting a imminent move to New York City and sharing which comedian she named her kidney transplant after.

The homophobic rants made DaBaby internet infamous. But his most destructive act had gone largely unexamined — until Rolling Stone investigative reporter Cheyenne Roundtree came along. The rapper shot and killed a teenage fan in a Charlotte-area Walmart, but escaped prosecution by claiming he acted to protect his safety. Roundtree obtained the security camera footage, which cast doubt on his story. DaBaby appeared to be the initial aggressor, throwing the first punch that led to the fatal altercation. “In my eyes, I feel like he was murdered,” the victim’s father said. “And [DaBaby] got away with it.”

Harry Styles had Rolling Stone writer Brittany Spanos trotting the globe this year as the in-demand pop star hopped from stage to screen, not only touring the world but also starring in the blockbuster Don’t Worry Darling (and its various scandals) as well an intimate drama My Policeman. Our cover story spans everything from Styles’ foray into acting to his post-show shower ritual to his relationship with Don’t Worry Darling director Olivia Wilde, who also commented exclusively to Rolling Stone about dealing with the pressures of dating a man who practically has his own religion. The story also featured a spread of glorious photos by Amanda Fordyce that showed Styles’ eclectic, well, style.

You couldn’t be online the week of Sept. 20 without seeing screenshots of the Maroon 5 singer’s alleged DMs to Instagram models, and for good reason: They were even cornier than his lyrics. Rolling Stone readers marveled that a pop star and sex symbol (well, to some) had all the flirt game of a horned-up teenager pretending to be in his twenties on AOL Instant Messenger. Unlucky as Levine was just to have his near-infidelities exposed — he later denied any affair while admitting he had “crossed the line” — comments like “That body of yours is absurd” and “I may need to see the booty” also entered the pantheon of immortal memes. The only way he can save face now is by setting them to a catchy tune.   

When we received the terrible news that country legend Naomi Judd had died, we immediately reached out to Hunter Kelly, a devoted Judds historian and confidante who hosts the Neon Songbook Radio series on Apple Music Country. Kelly sent in a raw, impassioned story that skillfully wove together on-scene reporting, recollections of his childhood Judds fandom and grown-up friendship with the duo, as well as his thoughts on their role in his queer awakening, and the way the shattering tragedy of his brother’s death mirrored Naomi’s passing. The piece was an intimate exploration of what the Judds meant to so many people, beyond their awards and sales.

Tove Styrke understands the value of privacy in a relationship – those special moments and emotions meant to be kept between two people. But when she wrote “Show Me Love,” an audacious and sensual love letter to the best friend she fell madly in love with, it was so good, she wouldn’t dare deprive the public of her Swedish pop brilliance. Ultimately, it wasn’t just about announcing her love on a grand public pedestal, but also stripping the stigma away from women yearning for touch and connection, even if they have to give it to themselves — and nothing says self-pleasure like Rapunzel performing a roaring guitar solo as an ode to masturbation.

James Gordon Meek was a star producer for ABC News with a long resume of massive and important national security stories. Then, in April, Rolling Stone revealed he was the target of an FBI raid on his Virginia home, and today, he’s awaiting Justice Department charges. In the wake of his dramatic arrest, many asked whether it was connected to his work on national security. But sources tell Rolling Stone that the upcoming charges stem from issues unrelated to his work in journalism.

When news broke of the death of Foo Fighters’ drummer Taylor Hawkins, the entire world of rock & roll was grief stricken. Hawkins was one of the most colorful figures in music, an impassioned player and eclectic performer. In the month and a half after his death, Rolling Stone reporters Andy Greene and Kory Grow interviewed 20 people, including several of Hawkins’ best friends. They were told that in the months before his death, Hawkins had told Foos frontman Dave Grohl that he felt mentally and physically fatigued by the band’s grueling schedule, and that he “couldn’t fucking do it anymore.“ Greene and Grow put together a fearless in-depth portrayal of life inside one of the world’s biggest bands that was controversial in the tightly-knit alt-rock community.  

When Rolling Stone’s Brian Hiatt sat down with Taylor Hawkins in his de facto rock & roll clubhouse in 2021, he didn’t know that that would be RS’ last conversation with the drumming icon. Initially an interview for our September 2021 cover story, the rangey discussion touched on everything from his professional showdowns with (and deep affection for) Dave Grohl to his health post-pandemic. Hawkins seemed healthy and primed to hit the road again — if not nervous to go back after decades of constant touring — which makes his death in March of 2022 all the more tragic. Here, though, Hawkins sounds vital — alive.

People run for a president for a lot of reasons: Pride, idealism, conscience, duty, megalomania, or some combination of all of the above. One reason rarely cited, however, is: “because I’m worried about getting arrested.” Rare, that is, until 2022, when Donald Trump started telling associates that a major motivation for his then-impending presidential candidacy was a desire to be back in charge of overseeing the Justice Department — remarks that were subsequently revealed to readers by Rolling Stone. Trump’s goal is despicable, but it’s not illogical: The twice-impeached president attempted to overturn American Democracy on the way out the door the first time around, an act generally frowned upon in the eyes of the law. Whether the law will ever catch up with Trump is an open question, but it’s far less likely if he’s the one calling the shots.

It all started with a podcast episode. Joe Rogan, the most popular (and well paid) podcaster in the world, had been spreading falsities about Covid-19 for months, from discouraging young people to get vaccinated to promoting questionable treatments like ivermectin. But it was the episode where he interviewed Dr. Robert Malone, a virologist who’d been banned from Twitter for spreading Covid-19 misinformation. That’s when 270 doctors, physicians, and science educators wrote an open letter to Spotify demanding they take some action about the lies being spread on their platform, which they shared exclusively with Rolling Stone. The story sparked a firestorm, and a global conversation about where podcast platforms should draw the line.

On the heels of Tatiana Siegel’s reporting about Ezra Miller’s professional woes, reporter Cheyenne Roundtree uncovered further evidence of a personal life in chaos. Two sources told Roundtree that the actor was hosting a mother and her three young children at Miller’s Vermont home — strewn with weapons and ammunition, according to a video reviewed by Rolling Stone, and abutting the property’s cannabis farm. The sources claimed adults frequently smoked marijuana around the children, and that a one-year-old put a loose bullet in her mouth. Roundtree brought readers into the frightening scene, even speaking with the children’s father, who had contacted local authorities to request wellness checks: “I got a bad feeling in my stomach,” he told her. “I do want to go get my kids. They mean the fucking world to me.”

In January, 270 health experts and educators exclusively shared an open letter with Rolling Stone in which they demanded Spotify do a better job dealing with anti-Covid misinformation being spread on podcasts the service hosted, including the massively popular Joe Rogan Experience. Among the millions of people who read that letter was Neil Young, who responded by posting his own open letter to his label and manager demanding they remove his music from Spotify. Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene broke the news of Young’s letter, which the rock legend had posted on his website. Soon icons like Joni Mithcell and Young’s former bandmates in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had also removed their music, and in May, Spotify rolled out a new Covid-19 disclosure policy.

Donald Trump’s legal team had a plan to defend their client from Congress’ investigation into the attack on the Capitol. That plan, however, did not include the committee getting its hands on documentary footage from videographer Alex Holder, who’d filmed Trump and his inner circle throughout the 2020 campaign. “What the fuck is this?” a former top Trump 2020 official messaged Rolling Stone after the news broke. Rolling Stone’s report not only revealed the officials’ shock at the documentary, it uncovered a frightening lack of organization inside the campaign of a man asking for four more years in the world’s most powerful position. So scattershot was Trump’s organization that many of the people actually running there operation said they had zero clue that the documentary was even filmed.

Ezra Miller’ bizarre and disturbing behavior in recent years has prompted no shortage of questions, and among the biggest is: Will Warner Bros. have to pull their forthcoming superhero flick The Flash? In an exclusive report for Rolling Stone this past March, senior writer Tatiana Siegel took us inside an emergency meeting of WB and DC executives to discuss the star’s uncertain future. There, the top brass elected to freeze any work with Miller (who also features in the studios’ Fantastic Beast franchise) in light of a string of alleged assaults and violent threats. One insider said that Miller had “frequent meltdowns” during the production of The Flash, which Warner Bros. had already postponed until 2023. Months later, Miller sought mental health treatment and apologized to studio bosses to prevent the film from being scrapped — though shocking new details of their downward spiral continued to emerge.   

When Justin Bieber announced in June that he would have to postpone his tour due to health issues — namely, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome — senior culture writer EJ Dickson, who has been covering Covid-19 misinformation for Rolling Stone since the first days of the pandemic, began to notice something on social media: Many of the accounts she followed were claiming that the facial paralysis he was experiencing was a side-effect of the vaccine. With the help of some experts, she went about debunking it – pointing out that not only was there absolutely no evidence that this was related to the Covid-19 vaccine, but also that there was no evidence that Bieber had received the jab in the first place.

Rolling Stone upended the NBA in late October. When Kyrie Irving tweeted out a link to a movie, our reporters examined the flick, and the book it was based on. Turns out, they peddled antisemitic garbage, including the notion that “many famous high-ranking Jews” have “admitted” to “worship[ing] Satan.” In response, Irving at first trotted out non-apologies. Then his Brooklyn Nets tried canned statements and donations to anti-hate groups — funds that were returned when he failed to decry the film. Irving was suspended from the team, Nike pulled its lucrative contract with the all-star, and NBA luminaries from LeBron James to commissioner Adam Silver publicly tried to convince Irving to change his ways. It took weeks, but finally someone got through. Irving fulsomely apologized, returned to the court, and pledged to keep his focus on the game. The Nets quickly became the NBA’s hottest team. “When we came back as a group,” Irving’s coach said, “we kind of pledged to each other that it was going to be about basketball — and hopefully not let anything interfere.”