Baez is more of a folk pioneer than anybody else. You can imagine folk as something that bleeds into the souls of all of us, like a voice we all share, experiences that come and go like an easy catch-up in a pub. We can imagine folk as stories, characters, and narratives, the kind that don’t matter if they’re entirely made up, so long as they make us feel something. Suppose that’s precisely what Baez does, but with something that goes even further than that, becoming everything around while also showing us the way.
In the documentary ‘Bono: Stories of Surrender,’ the U2 frontman talks about his late mother and the distant relationship with his father as well as his experience of stardom and activism. Bono insists that U2 never had a leader, that the four of them were equal, but the truth is he was perceived as the leader, not only because he is the frontman, but because of his involvement in multiple humanitarian causes, from hunger to AIDS to the war in Bosnia and the debt of the Global South. He was seen meeting with George W. Bush and Tony Blair, giving speeches at the Davos Forum, in the U.S. Congress and in the European People’s Party. For many, his do-gooder activism became burdensome, too intense. It seemed he always had a sermon to deliver, but he has something to say about that.
After a three-year battle with cancer, Florent Pagny returns with a moving song written by Vianney. “T'aimer encore” marks both a new musical chapter and a personal victory. He hadn't performed since announcing his illness in January 2022. This Friday, May 2, 2025, Florent Pagny surprised his fans by unveiling "T'aimer encore," a new song written by his partner Vianney. A piece that is both poignant and luminous, a true declaration of love to his wife Azucena, but also a message of hope for all those who, like him, are fighting the disease.
There will again be significant domestic interest at the upcoming Cannes film festival. Bono is expected to be in the city for the premiere of Bono: Stories of Surrender, a documentary for Apple TV+, based on the singer’s memoir, from Australian director Andrew Dominik. Paul Mescal, whose Aftersun, for which he received his first Oscar nomination, premiered here in 2022, will be walking the red carpet for Oliver Hermanus’s period drama The History of Sound.
To ignore the ghosts until they go away. But what happens when these memories are held up to the light and examined? What happens when we grit our teeth and sit with feelings that have so long been ignored? Often, art is born when pain is allowed to radiate through us until it crystallizes into beauty. Joan Baez’s beautiful, haunting song “Diamonds and Rust” is just that — a gemstone forged by love lost and pain reignited. Before we dive into what makes this song special, let’s take a closer look at the impressive woman behind it.
The Irish bandleader and political activist who organized Live Aid and Live 8 in Philly is being honored by the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame this week. On Wednesday, Geldof will be feted for his efforts by the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame at a gala at Vie on North Broad Street that will also honor Schoolly D, David Dye, Janis Ian, Stephen Sondheim, David Serkin Ludwig, the Settlement Music School, and the Orlons, plus singing Eagle Jordan Mailata, and three Philly jazz clubs.
Patti Smith has written a memoir that her publishers are describing as her “most intimate and visionary work” yet, which is due out this autumn. Bread of Angels will cover everything from Smith’s childhood in working-class Philadelphia and South Jersey to her rise as a punk rock star and her subsequent retreat from public life.
When the Beatles arrived in the States for a second time, they stopped off for a couple of nights on their tour in Colorado towards the end of their scheduled run, and on the second night, they were blessed to have folk royalty in their midst in the form of Joan Baez.
As one of the most prominent female musicians of the 1960s British Invasion, Marianne Faithfull rubbed elbows with countless rockstars. Big egos, larger-than-life personalities, and a propensity for debauchery were all part of the music industry deal. But surprisingly, Faithfull had some of the highest praise for a rocker typically associated with the epitome of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.
As the star teams up with director Michael Grandage for his first West End part in 17 years, the pair discuss the thrill of putting on a new play, how it updates Ibsen for our times – and a Trainspotting-esque toilet encounter in Russia
As much as Jackson is responsible for the highest-selling album of all time on vinyl, trailblazers came before him that made his achievements possible. Regardless of the era, selling one million copies of an album is an incredible accomplishment, and Harry Belafonte was the first to make chart history in this regard. Belafonte’s feat came in 1956, a decade before copies of Pet Sounds or Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band rested on the shelves of houses across the land.
When Simon was working on her second album Anticipation during the summer of ’71, Kristofferson offered her a song, “I’ve Got to Have,” which she recorded as the closing track. The song, which was released as a single in Australia, reached the Top 10, while her title track went to No. 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S.
The duo invented their own chord, which they could use to give their songs a jazz feel without being overly jazzy. It was called the Mu Major, and it was similar to a suspended second chord; however, it contained a major or minor third, which you don’t tend to see when dealing with suspended chords. This meant that they could play standard minor and major chords, but give them more texture without making the track sound too jazzy.
The Irish musician and activist Bob Geldof is perhaps best known as one of the organizers of Live Aid, the massive two-venue benefit concert that raised millions for famine relief in Ethiopia in 1985.Some of the biggest artists and bands of all time came together for that concert, including Paul McCartney, Queen, Madonna, Elton John and David Bowie. But how exactly did Geldof convince them all to give up their time for free on the same day ?
Tourists have flocked to Woodstock, New York since the late 1960s, when word got out that rock stars and other musicians had moved there, and the town lent its name to the biggest event in rock music history, 1969’s Woodstock Music & Art Fair. Musician Amy Helm was born a year later in Woodstock and has seen the town’s popularity grow. Today, she only has warmth for visitors and reveals to them her favorite things locally and in the Hudson River Valley.
American singer-songwriter, poet, painter, author and human-rights advocate Patti Smith first found herself in New York during the hippie takeover of 1967, a politically charged summer of free love, activism and riots. She worked in two Manhattan bookstores, Scribner’s and The Strand, and wrote verse, which led to her forming the Patti Smith Group in which she fused her Rimbaud- and Blake-inspired poetry with the emerging punk rock scene.
Kidjo is known as a legendary singer, a five-time Grammy winner and one of the most lauded African artists of our time, but her path in music was almost cut short. Looking back, her life and work has really been defined by one thing : freedom.
Baez was already writing “Diamonds and Rust” when she received a phone call from Dylan. He called from a phone booth in the Midwest and read the lyrics to his song “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts.” Her song wasn’t about him initially. But she was writing about him now.
Four new songs recorded by Marianne Faithfull in the year prior to her death are to be released for Record Store Day on 12 April. Burning Moonlight was due for announcement in February, but postponed following Faithfull’s death on 30 January at the age of 78.
Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson were hard to tame. Both artists were passionate, convicted, admirably idealistic, and would seemingly not bend or break for anyone or anything. That’s simply who they were and why their music was so great. Hence, when Cash debuted Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Comedown” in 1970 at the Ryman Auditorium, Cash subverted some executive’s wishes for his good friend.
"On March 6, 2025, Angélique Kidjo joined nine-time GRAMMY winning bassist and composer Christian McBride for the Ralph Pucci 9th Annual Jazz Set, The Lowdown: Conversations with Christian®. The evening benefited Jazz House Kids, a nationally-acclaimed nonprofit that uses the power and legacy of jazz to give young people an artistic edge, providing access to world-class arts education and live performances, no matter what their financial constraints. Angélique brought her dynamic presence to an intimate evening at Ralph Pucci International in New York City, set against the iconic backdrop of Frank Stewart's masterful jazz photography."
"CORRESPONDENCES, the long-term audio-visual project by Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith, documents the sonic footprints of poets, filmmakers, revolutionaries, and climate change across numerous global locations. Following last year’s release of Correspondences Vol I, they have today announced the release of Correspondences Vol II. Accompanying the announcement of the new 2-track EP, out March 21 via Bella Union, is the first fifteen minute track, titled “Children Of Chernobyl”. (...) It’s here, where the natural meets the unthinkable, that the story of Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith’s CORRESPONDENCES continues. More ghostly still are the same words sung in Ukrainian at the song’s end by the Chernobyl Children’s Choir: “There are roses underfoot that one cannot smell / There is fruit on the vine that one cannot eat / And they went to bed hungry / And hungry they’ll sleep / For a thousand years.”"
June is set to be a big month for Aussie rock legend Jimmy Barnes” he’ll release his 21st album and celebrate with a six-date tour around the country. Barnes’ new record DEFIANT will be released on Friday, June 6th through Mushroom Music. The next night, he’ll kick off the tour of the same name in his old hometown of Adelaide at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. From there, he’ll play dates in theatres in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney before finishing up in Canberra at the end of the month.
More than six decades after Richards co-wrote Faithfull’s breakout single, "As Tears Go By," he recognizes the late singer's “pure and simple” voice, her impact on the Rolling Stones, and her 1979 masterpiece, Broken English.