Jon O'Brien

Joined: Jul 28, 2020

Jon O'Brien is a freelance entertainment journalist with bylines in Esquire, Billboard, Vulture, New Scientist, Vinyl Me, Please, i-D, The Guardian and Paste. He spends most of his spare time going to gigs, but he's also a soccer enthusiast, garage drummer, Icelandophile, and carrot cake connoisseur. He lives in North West England with his partner and King Charles Spaniel.

How David Bowie Helped Pave the Way For the Download Age

How An Unsuccessful TV Pilot Spawned One of the Greatest Films of the 1990s

Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli.

10 Hit Songs That Weren’t What They Seemed

10 Great Olympics Movies

Lucinda Dickey and Adolfo Quinones in 'Breakin' 2' (1984).

40 Years Ago: When Breakdancing Crashed the Box Office of 1984

In 1984, a succession of breakdancing-themed movies did battle at the box office.

Clockwise from right: Peter Capaldi, Rebecca Front, Joanna Scanlan, Chris Addison, and James Smith star in 'The Thick of It.'

15 Surprising Facts About ‘The Thick of It’

Armando Iannucci’s iconic BBC comedy is one of television’s finest, and sweariest, sitcoms

Make “Believe“: How Cher Staged One of Pop Music’s All-Time Greatest Comebacks

In 1998, Cher reinvented herself yet again—and forever changed the way hit songs were made—with “Believe.“

Nicolas Cage stars as Nicolas Cage in 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' (2022).

15 Celebrities Who Played (Versions of) Themselves in Movies

From Nicolas Cage to Jean-Claude Van Damme, plenty of Hollywood stars have performed on screen as fictionalized versions of themselves.

10 Wonderfully Weird Muppet Duets

The Muppets have squared off against everyone from Johnny Cash to Celine Dion.

Tim Daly stars in 'In the Line of Duty: Ambush In Waco'

‘In the Line of Duty’: The Waco Movie Made Before The Siege Ended

In 1993, just 34 days after the Waco siege ended, NBC premiered 'In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco'—a TV movie greenlit, scripted, and largely shot while the tragedy was still unfolding.

Tom Hanks' 'That Thing You Do!' produced one of cinema's greatest earworms.

11 Fictional Bands Who Scored Very Real Hit Songs

The Monkees may not have been a "real" band, but their chart-topping legacy speaks for itself.

Macaulay Culkin in 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' (1992).

10 Fun Facts About ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’

Ana de Armas stars as Marilyn Monroe in 'Blonde' (2022).

10 Actors Who Have Played Marilyn Monroe

With Netflix's 'Blonde,' Ana de Armas is the latest in a long line of actors who have attempted to portray Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood’s ultimate It Girl.

Slow Burn: How Elton John's "Candle in the Wind '97"—the Best-Selling Single in Music History—Became a Royal Relic

In the weeks following the death of Princess Diana, "Candle in the Wind '97" provided a form of musical catharsis. Then it simply burned out.

George Michael performs at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert

How The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert Became the Biggest All-Star Gig of the '90s

On April 20, 1992, the world's biggest musicians took the stage at London's Wembley Stadium to honor the late, great Freddie Mercury. Some tributes fared better than others.

Rankin/Bass's version of a leprechaun, from The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (1981), is your new worst nightmare.

10 Totally Unconventional TV Christmas Specials

Not every seasonal offering brings maximum yuletide cheer. Here’s a look at 10 that suggest those responsible had indulged in a little too much eggnog.