There’s something entirely contradictory about labelling Steely Dan’s music as ‘Yacht Rock’. The label embodies something carefree, devoid of the stresses and anxiety of dry land life that can only be soundtracked by jazz-infused melodies. There’s an ease to the entire genre that was non-existent in the career of Steely Dan.
U2 has always had something to say and has also always acted upon their wishes and desires for the world. It is no hidden secret that Bono and the rest of the band are deeply involved in philanthropic humanitarian efforts. Though before they became political, primarily through their actions, they did it mainly with their words.
The world still hasn’t recovered from the tragic loss of one of country and folk’s finest songwriters and musicians, Kris Kristofferson. He lived a full and incredible life, and his music will live on forever in our ears and hearts. Kris Kristofferson performed his final concert at Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday party at the Hollywood Bowl in April of 2023. And the whole thing was quite a star-studded affair.
Un retour tant attendu. Un peu plus de trois ans après avoir annoncé à ses fans être diagnostiqué d’un cancer du poumon, Florent Pagny prépare la sortie du 21e disque de sa carrière. Intitulé Grandeur nature et composé uniquement de chansons inédites, il sera dévoilé le 12 septembre prochain, précise le chanteur français.
On Oct. 23, 1984, Bob Geldof, the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, sat down at home in London to watch the evening news. It changed his life — and saved the lives of millions more. The BBC ran a report on what it called a “biblical famine” in Ethiopia caused by drought and exacerbated by civil war. Geldof was incensed and horrified. How could this be happening in the 20th century? And what could he, an angry pop star, do about it?
The final episode of The Long Way Home is now streaming on Apple TV+. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman spent the entire summer traveling across Europe on their bikes and they visited about 17 countries, from Scotland to Sweden, Austria, Finland and France. We often say that going on a trip with a friend can become a great friendship -and personality- test, especially when the trip in question might include perilous situations and weather hazards. McGregor and Boorman have been best friends since the 1990s, so I asked them if they had learned something new about each other and about themselves during this fourth trip together.
Musical icon Angélique Kidjo has become the first black African performer to be selected for a star on the prestigious Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kidjo, who comes from the West African country of Benin and has won five Grammy awards, was among the 35 names announced as part of the Walk of Fame's class of 2026 list.
Professional songwriters always have to grapple with the moment their songs are given to somebody else. Any composition can feel like someone’s creative child, so when it has to be given away, it’s like the artist in question takes a part of you with them when they sing those words. And for an artist as intrinsically linked to her music as Patti Smith is, she understood that some songs needed to fall by the wayside after a while.
The Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame is honoring a rock-and-roll legend with its newest display, This Wheel’s Still On Fire: The Legacy of Levon Helm. The exhibit, curated by Museum Collective, will feature never-before-displayed items, including personal photographs, instruments from members of The Band, tour memorabilia, awards, and interviews with friends and fellow musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Max Weinberg, and more. This Wheel’s Still On Fire will also allow guests to follow in Helm’s footsteps and play the drums, as Ramble Band guest drummer and multi-instrumentalist Charley Dayton provides a video tutorial.
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.