See 30 photos that capture how entertainment shifted in new and creative ways during a year with no real script. What will you remember?
Billie Eilish poses in the press room with the awards for best album and best pop vocal album for "We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?", best song and record for "Bad Guy" and best new artist at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Ariana Grande arrives at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
The year started out like any other, with a parade of awards shows that culminated with Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” making history by being crowned best picture at the Academy Awards.
It was one of the last normal nights in Hollywood, and well, everywhere.
Multiplexes and movie palaces shut down, Broadway stages went dark, red carpets remained rolled up and stars stayed home as the coronavirus pandemic ground life to a halt.
Joaquin Phoenix, left, and Rooney Mara arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Bong Joon Ho, right, reacts as he is presented with the award for best picture for "Parasite" from presenter Jane Fonda at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Looking on from left are Song Kang-Ho and Kwak Sin Ae. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Ballet student Anthony Mmesoma Madu, center, dances in the street as fellow dancers look on in Lagos, Nigeria on Aug. 18, 2020. Cellphone video showing the 11-year-old dancing barefoot in the rain went viral on social media. Madu's practice dance session was so impressive that it earned him a ballet scholarship with the American Ballet Theater in the U.S. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Masked crew members style host Kelly Clarkson during a commercial break at the Billboard Music Awards, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Host Taraji P. Henson speaks from an empty at the Microsoft Theater at the American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
A makeshift memorial for the late actress Naya Rivera is pictured at Lake Piru, Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, in Los Padres National Forest, Calif. The 33-year-old Rivera, who played on the television series "Glee," was found dead in Lake Piru on July 13, five days after her son, Josey, was found alone there on a boat the two had rented. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Pedestrians look up at a mural by artist Shane Grammer of the late actor Chadwick Boseman's character T'Challa from the 2018 film "Black Panther," Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, in Los Angeles. Boseman died August 28 at age 43 after a four-year battle with colon cancer. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
J Balvin performs for the 21st Latin Grammy Awards, airing on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, at American Airlines Arena in Miami. (AP Photo/Taimy Alvarez)
Lizzo, left, and Sheila E air kiss onstage at the Billboard Music Awards on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Lin-Manuel Miranda poses for a portrait to promote the film "Siempre, Luis" at the Music Lodge during the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)
A model checks herself in a mirror backstage prior to the Franck Sorbier Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 fashion collection presented Tuesday Jan. 21, 2020 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Model Kaia Gerber wears a creation from the Givenchy fashion collection during Women's fashion week Fall/Winter 2020/21 presented in Paris, Sunday, March 1, 2020. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Musician Ringo Starr poses in front of his "Peace and Love" public sculpture on his 80th birthday, Tuesday, July 7, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Lizzo laughs as she arrives at Brit Awards 2020 in London, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Mickey Guyton is photographed during a remote portrait session with the photographer in New York and subject in Los Angeles on Aug. 3, 2020. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)
Jeff Baena, third from left, writer/director of "The Little Hours," and his girlfriend, cast member Aubrey Plaza, pose with cast members, from left, Alison Brie and her husband, Dave Franco; Fred Armisen; and Kate Micucci before a screening of the film presented by ArcLight Cinemas at the Vineland Drive-In theater, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, in Industry, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Singer/songwriter Teyana Taylor poses for a portrait to promote her new release "The Album," Wednesday, June 17, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
In this June 8, 2020 photo, singer-songwriter Norah Jones poses for a portrait in upstate New York to promote her latest album "Pick Me Up Off the Floor." (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)
In this June 13, 2020 photo, singer-songwriter John Legend appears during a photo session at The Bel Air Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote his latest album "Bigger Love." (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
Country music fans dance as Tracy Lawrence performs at Concerts In Your Car at the Ventura County Fairgrounds on Friday, Aug. 21, 2020, in Ventura, Calif. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
The Christian Siriano collection is modeled at Siriano's home as part of New York Fashion Week, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Westport, Conn. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Guests wear face masks and sit at a safe distance as they follow the opening ceremony of the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido, Italy, Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Actors/comedians Lil Rel Howery, left, and Tiffany Haddish pose together at the Stand-Up for Social Justice rally outside the Laugh Factory Hollywood comedy club, Friday, June 12, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Scarlett Johansson arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Paris Jackson poses for a portrait, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Tilda Swinton poses for photographers with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Finneas O'Connell poses for a portrait on Friday, Dec. 4 2020, in Los Angeles. O'Connell was named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2020. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
Tracee Ellis Ross gets a coronavirus test as she arrives for the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards at Staples Center, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
These entertainers managed to create buzz and art against a year like no other. They brightened a 2020 that badly needed light.
Music halls closed. Comedy clubs empty. Yet despite gathering being nearly impossible in 2020, many performers found ways to connect nevertheless.
2020 in review: Your complete guide to the year in entertainment and pop culture.
