Don McLean received an unexpected surprise from Taylor Swift in the mail this week, after the younger singer-songwriter broke his decades-long record on the Billboard Hot 100.

On Wednesday (Dec. 1), the “American Pie” singer shared a photo of Swift’s gift of flowers and a sweet note. “What a classy artist!” McLean tweeted, sharing Swift’s handwritten inscription that reads, “Don, I will never forget that I’m standing on the shoulders of giants. Your music has been so important to me. Sending love one writer of LONG SONGS to another. Your fan, Taylor.”

The gracious gesture comes on the heels of “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” — including Swift’s long-rumored 10-minute take on the Red fan favorite — unseating “American Pie” as the longest No. 1 Hot 100 hit in Billboard history. (At 10 minutes and 13 seconds, “All Too Well” outpaces the former titleholder’s run time of 8:36 by just under two minutes.)

“There is something to be said for a great song that has staying power,” McLean told Billboard after Swift bested his record. “‘American Pie’ remained on top for 50 years and now Taylor Swift has unseated such a historic piece of artistry. Let’s face it, nobody ever wants to lose that #1 spot, but if I had to lose it to somebody, I sure am glad it was another great singer/songwriter such as Taylor.”

After debuting at No. 1, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” dropped to the No. 4 spot this week, with Adele’s “Easy on Me” reigns atop the chart for a fifth non-consecutive week.

Check out McLean’s tweet to Swift below.

What a classy artist! Thank you @taylorswift13 for the flowers & note! pic.twitter.com/A0WRxaVEgE

— Don McLean (@donmclean) December 1, 2021

Japanese movie star and singer Masaki Suda shared the new music video accompanying his latest single called “Last Scene.” The CD for the track written by Huwie Ishizaki, Suda’s collaborator on such hits as “Sayonara Elegy” and “Niji,” was released on Wednesday (Nov. 24).

“Last Scene” is the theme song for the ongoing TBS drama series Japan Sinks: People of Hope, based on the classic 1973 disaster novel by Japanese author Sakyo Komatsu. The track is about finding hope in the midst of an unseen crisis and continuing to believe without giving up.

The video was directed by Kyotaro Hayashi, the visual artist responsible for distinctive music videos by numerous J-pop acts including Suda’s “Machigaisagashi,” Gen Hoshino’s “Fushigi,” and Mr.Children’s “here comes my love.”

The single-toned visuals for “Last Scene” captures Suda performing the track outdoors in what the artist and director both admit were terrible weather conditions, depicting the theme of the song in a pensive deep blue color.

“The song ‘Last Scene’ is about hope and the ideal leader,” shares Suda. “The video is like a photograph, like a painting, like the future, like the past, dreamy, raw, and mysterious.”

Hayashi says that he was inspired by old-fashioned blueprints for the clip. “Masaki said he wanted it to be a beautiful blue fantasy,” the director recalls. “The blueprint is one of the oldest forms of copying and has been used in a variety of situations. I thought that the beautiful texture of the indigo color and the duplicated Masaki Suda looking at us and facing forward would be enough to convey the fantasy he described and the emotion behind the lyrics.”

Billie Eilish was almost certainly feeling deja vu as she sat for her yearly video interview with Vanity Fair on Oct. 18. While the questions remain the same in the video, which was released Tuesday (Nov. 30), the superstar’s answers (and hair color!) showed her growth over the last half-decade.

The annual tradition started when the teenage pop sensation was just a 15-year-old newcomer, back in the simpler days when she only had a mere 257,000 Instagram followers. (Four years later, she now boasts upward of 94.1 million — including Kylie Jenner, the third most-followed person on the platform.)

Reflecting on her pandemic-era answers from 2020, Eilish couldn’t help but laugh at herself. “Gosh, that girl was going through an identity crisis. Oh my gosh!” she said. “You can see it in my eyes. I mean, really. The low bun? Please. What’s going on?”

Looking back at how her confidence had grown from 2017 to 2019, the singer claimed that “nothing will ever top that 2019 ego.” But, she was quick to explain, there’s a reason. “I was feelin’ myself, that is for sure,” she said. “It’s because I had been so miserable for so long, that I finally wasn’t and I just never shut up about it. But I’ve been…I’ve been good. I mean, I’m starting to have, like, an adulthood. Which is new for me and very exciting, and I have had new experiences and new people and lots of love.”

Eilish also said this year that her perspective on meeting the world’s expectations have changed as she’s entered into adulthood. “I feel a lot of pressure, but I would also say, like, back then…I was pretty overall  loved, I would say. To be honest. So I was, like, scared ’cause I really wanted to keep that love. And now, like, tons of people hate me,” she said with a laugh. “So I’m not worried anymore. I’m like, ‘Oh, OK well, if you like me, you like me; if you don’t, you don’t. So…”

For more, including Eilish’s biggest regret, advice she would give herself for the next year and more, watch the full interview below.