Kanye West
Highs: After a tumultuous 2009, Kanye West spent much of the first half of 2010 out of the public eye. Despite winning two Grammy awards for rap collaborations, the performer was a no-show at the January 31 event. In July, West joined Twitter, where he has amassed nearly two million followers and maintains a stream of provocative, often puzzling tweets on everything from fashion to, well, horses. On November 22, West released his fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which debuted at the top spot on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was widely praised by critics and audiences alike — some dubbed it West's "masterpiece" — and earned him a 2010 Grammy nomination in the Best Rap Solo Performance category for "Power."
Lows: Five years after making his infamous "George Bush doesn't care about black people" remark on national television in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the controversy resurfaced with the November publication of the former President's memoir, Decision Points. In the tome, Bush called the moment the "all-time low" of his presidency. While promoting the book on the Today show, Bush talked at length about the "disgusting" attack. When Matt Lauer played the exchange for West (who appeared on the program days later to promote his new album), the rapper became irritated with the host and later blasted Lauer on Twitter for trying to "force" his answers during the "very brutal" interview.
—Feifei Sun