2024 in review: The best entertainment comebacks

The truth is that Anderson has done well for herself during the first half of the 2020s, with her Broadway starring in Chicago (2022) and the documentary Pamela, a Love Story (2023). However, in 2024, the former Baywatch siren earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her role as veteran showgirl Sally, who's looking to maintain a career, in Gia Coppola's The Last Showgirl. Anderson is riveting, and took her renewed fame to plug the healthy, often makeup-free lifestyle, she's living these days.

The venerable Bates has indeed not disappeared from the big screen over the years, but she returned to network television for the first time since 2005 with the CBS legal drama Matlock. Not only does Bates star as a retired lawyer who gets back in the game by earning a job at a law firm that she believes indirectly contributed to her daughter's death (with a unique tie into the original Matlock series), but Bates is executive producer for a series that has drawn strong reviews out of the gate this Fall. 

To those fans of network television from the early-to-mid 2000s, Brody will forever be the lovably funny and sweet Seth Cohen in The O.C., who somewhere is celebrating Chrismukkah. And, contrary to popular belief, Cohen has continued to work during the last 20 years. He appeared in 2020's Promising Young Woman, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and recent Hulu miniseries Fleishman Is in Trouble. But, in 2024, Cohen regained prominence and showed why he's easy to like on screen with the popular Netflix hit Nobody Wants This.  Cohen earned a Golden Globe nomination for his role as Noah Roklov, a modern and contemporary rabbi, who begins a relationship with an outspoken sex/dating podcaster, played by Kristen Bell.  

This popular mainstream power rock outfit has not put out an album since 2009's Full Circle, but Creed was quite busy in 2024 after reuniting. In April, Creed headlined the "Summer of '99" cruise, and followed that successful endeavor with "The Summer of '99 Tour." It was the first time the band, with lead singer Scott Stapp back in tow, seriously toured since 2012. As a response to Creed's resurgence, some of its classic tunes became quite popular on platforms such as Spotify. Of course, those Creed haters also resurfaced. 

Chuck Arnold of the New York Post called The Cure's Songs of a Lost World "the best rock album of 2024." While that's obviously debatable, the first studio album in 16 years from the beloved, Hall-of-Fame mood rockers is something special -- at the very least. In actuality, it could also pass for a Robert Smith solo album, since the legendary frontman, who sounds better than ever, at age 65, wrote the entire record. Released in November, Lost World Paced by the usual, yet perhaps more mature, dark vibe from The Cure, the album topped the charts in the United Kingdom.

Back in the day, Jackson found fame as slacker Pacey Witter from Dawson's Creek.  Now, more than 20 years later, Jackson, with much more gray hair and a noticeable dramatic flare for entertaining, is back in primetime as Dr. Bankman, the doctor in a luxury cruise ship that sets 2024's ABC drama (courtesy of Ryan Murphy)  Doctor Odyssey. Now, Jackson has kept busy, starring in Showtime's The Affair (2014–2018), the Paramount+ series Fatal Attraction, and the Peacock crime drama series Dr. Death (2021), but to those of a certain age, it's good to see Pacey alive and working. 

LaBeouf is back in the headlines -- for both the good and bad. He earned a starring role in Francis Ford Coppola's sci-fi drama Megalopolis. While it was notable and important for the resurgence of LaBeouf's Hollywood career, there were several issues surrounding the release of the picture, which was a bomb at the box office, grossing roughly $14 million. Meanwhile, LaBeouf continued to draw attention to a court case where he's been accused of assault, sexual battery, and infliction of emotional distress by ex-girlfriend and British singer FKA Twigs.

Following the 2017 death of talented frontman Chester Bennington, Linkin Park seemed likely to be done for good. Bennington seemed irreplaceable due to his unique presence and voice of the band. However, in late 2023, rumblings of a possible Linkin Park reunion surfaced, with a new singer who would likely be female. Then, in 2024, Emily Armstrong, co-founder of L.A. alt-rock outfit Dead Sara, was hired as its new singer. From there, the group embarked on a mini tour and released From Zero in November, its first studio album since 2017. The record received relatively positive reviews, and Linkin Park is slated for headline slots on several festival lineups in 2025. 

Back in the spotlight, focused and seemingly grounded, Lohan might be the biggest comeback story of 2024. She had parts in three movies released this year. She had a cameo in the musical film version of Mean Girls, and drew raves with a pair of Netflix rom-coms, the Irish Wish and Our Little Secret. Lohan hit the talk show circuit in full force, but is truly ready to resurge when Freakier Friday  is released in Summer 25, where she joins Jamie Lee Curtis in the sequel to their beloved 2003 hit Freaky Friday.

It's refreshing to talk about J.Lo., and put the focus on the music. While her personal saga with Ben Affleck will never go away, Lopez released This Is Me... Now, in February. It was her first studio album since 2014's A.K.A., and, reportedly, the album's themes of romance and self-inspection was, at least partially, inspired by her rekindled relationship with Affleck. Lopez performed the single "Can't Get Enough," alongside Latto and Redman, during the Feb. 3 episode of Saturday Night Live.

Former '80s fan favorite McCarthy certainly didn't retake the world by storm in 2024, but he did find relevancy during the year. In June, the McCarthy-directed Brats was released to plenty of fanfare and nostalgia. Streaming on Hulu, the documentary, narrated and guided by McCarthy, explore the current lives of himself and those other actors who made up the popular Brat Pack, during the 1980s' coming-of-age films like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire. The doc received positive reviews, though McCarthy came off as somewhat of a whiner for the fact he was not able to sustain his 80s' success.

Back in primetime on NBC, McEntire has more than handled her own -- more than 20 years after her hit sitcom Reba debuted. With 2024's Happy's Place, Reba is a sassy, yet practical bar owner, and teaming with good pal Melissa Peterman for some feel-good comedy without much expectation. Meanwhile, McEntire also continued to appear as a coach on The Voice, also airing on NBC.

Moore appeared in the aforementioned Andrew McCarthy documentary Brats this year and delivered a brutally honest moment of the entire era and aftermath. However, she was back in the spotlight for her role in the Golden Globe Award-nominated satirical picture The Substance. In keeping with the spirit of Brats, Moore was hailed for playing once-popular Hollywood actress Elisabeth Sparkle, who was shunned from a role due to her aging appearance and opted to do something drastic about it all. 

Let's get this out in the open: there is still no guarantee the brothers Gallagher will actually pull off the highly anticipated Oasis reunion that the masses have long been clamoring to happen but thought would never see the day. Well, in late August 2024, it was announced Noel and Liam would get together to tour. Arguably the hottest rock ticket for 2025, when the tour begins July 4 in Wales, then plays spots in the U.K. before heading to the States, Mexico, Asia, South America and Australia. Of course, tickets were gone in a heartbeat and steeped in controversy. And it's not even 2025 yet.

In September, Perry released 143, her seventh studio album and first since 2020's Smile. Inspired by motherhood, Perry delivered a self-confident record that peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. However, the consensus critical take was that the album was pretty poor, and Perry was chided for the overall composition of the project. Yet, she's been able to trade off the album and appeared slimmed-down and wearing a disco ball mini dress at the recent iHeartRadio Jingle Ball.

Ryder has never officially run away from acting. But, she returned to the mainstream spotlight with her appearance in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-anticipated sequel to the 1988 favorite Beetlejuice . Ryder reprises her role as Lydia Deetz, who is now the mother of a teenage daughter. Though Ryder's press appearances for the show proved a little distant at times, she seemed to fit right in with today's Hollywood. And, was more than happy to team with co-star and screen daughter Jenna Ortega to promote the film. 

In 2024, JT was back with Everything I Thought It Was. His first studio album since 2018's Man of the Woods. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. It led to the well-attended The Forget Tomorrow World Tour, which did not take a hit in attendance following Timberlake's arrest for driving while intoxicated in the Hamptons in June. Timberlake pleaded guilty, showed plenty of remorse and was essentially above to move on without much public damage.

While Usher never seemed to go away, the announcement that he would headline the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show was a bit curious, considering his most recent studio album, before 2024, was 2016's Hard II Love. Well, in a strategic fashion, Usher released 2024's Coming Home, his ninth studio record, to coincide with his Super Bowl performance. While the R&B/pop star might not span universal musical tastes, he was back in a big-time way this year.

These celebrated Alternative/punk pop rockers celebrated the 30th anniversary of their smash self-titled album -- aka the "Blue Album" in 2024. The band trekked across the U.S., playing the album in its entirety, along with other hits and favorites, while also selling out many of those arenas along the way. Weezer has always been a unique band. Popular, yet unassuming, and never taking itself too seriously. That's still the case, and likely plenty came out to catch its act in 2024. 

Kanye might be the most polarizing entertainer on the planet. He is consistently embroiled in controversy, and these days, far less because of his music. Speaking of music, West released his first studio albums this year, in this case, two, since 2021's Donda, when he and Ty Dolla Sign collaborated on Vultures 1 in February, then come August, Vultures 2, under the name ¥$. While West touched on his recent run of off-stage controversy in his lyrics, plus old reliable themes of sex and money, the reception was lukewarm to these projects. The point, however, was that he had enough time to actually make music in 2024.