"Today is the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence, and we stand with them," the Irish band have stated. Today is Ukraine's Independence Day – but it also marks six months since the Russian invasion of the country began. U2 are among those sharing their thoughts and reflections today, with a post on social media that considers the role of creatives during times of war and conflict.
Read MoreEric McKinnie, who is known as Ricky, has been a member of the Blind Boys of Alabama since 1989. But the renowned gospel group launched 50 years before that. Clarence Fountain and his friends at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind formed the group in 1939. For more than eight decades, the Blind Boys have persevered and thrived in the music industry. They will perform at the Payomet Performing Arts Center in North Truro on Saturday, Aug. 20.
Read MoreThe musician and "songwright" who invites the listener in. “ALLRIGHT Y’ALL, what do we need from music tonight?” she asks. It’s 9:00 P.M. and the studio at Harvard’s ArtLab is lit only by lamps. There’s an oval of students on chairs and floor cushions in the center, and in the corner, a tapestry-covered altar with sage and a black votive candle. Clad in a denim jumpsuit and cross-legged next to a student with a keytar is professor of the practice of music and five-time Grammy-winning musician esperanza spalding.
Read MoreThe new music video, for the track THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES, is taken from the American political punk band’s upcoming album LIES THEY TELL OUR CHILDREN, which is scheduled to be released in January next year via Spinefarm Records. It features guest appearances from RISE AGAINST‘s Tim McIlrath and BAD RELIGION‘s Brian Baker. Speaking about the new song, the band comment, “To us, this song is a unique demonstration of the power of community.”
Read MoreThe winner of five Grammys with 14 albums to her name, Angélique Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today. Time Magazine has called her “Africa’s premier diva” and she has cross- pollinated the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America. She recently released Queen of Sheba – it’s on Spotify – with Ibrahim Maalouf from Lebanon. In an exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA from Paris, Kidjo says she is right now, in a moment where “things are blooming in her inspiration zone”. She talks life, work and the road ahead for her – and African music.
Read MoreCap sur la culture pop et rock cet été sur la radio publique. Jusqu’à la fin août, France Culture propose, en partenariat avec Rolling Stone, une série hebdomadaire déclinée en épisodes quotidiens. Cette semaine, Lucile Commeaux revient sur l’icône rock par excellence, Marianne Faithfull.
Read MoreAuthor Caryn Rose shares Patti Smith’s contribution to the arts in her book, 'Why Patti Smith Matters'. Patti Smith is a poet, writer, musician and visual artist. But, if you ask her, she will say she's a worker.
Read MoreThe Sani music festival in northern Greece is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month. In the balmy night air, big crowds turned out to hear Irish rock star Bob Geldof and his band the Bobkatz strum through some Boomtown Rats classic hits. Geldof is famous for his fundraising activities fighting famine, and he used his appearance to warn about the impact of the war in Ukraine on world food supplies.
Read MoreNow 40, the Chicago MC has just released his best album in a decade and a half. The Ringer spoke with him about the project, his upcoming MIT course, and subverting the listeners’ expectations.
Read MoreStep by step, note by note, and spell by spell, Esperanza Spalding seeks to break down the walls that keep music contained in clubs and concert halls. The bassist, composer and vocalist won her fifth Grammy Award in March for her Concord album “Songwrights Apothecary Lab,” a set of tunes, or as spalding and her lab-mates call them, “formwelas,” that evolved out of her ongoing research into “the study healing strategies drawn from a diverse range of music-based creative and therapeutic practices”.
Read MoreWBEZ and Vocalo Radio's Ayana Contreras joins contributors Christina Lee and Cyrena Touros, along with Radio Milwaukee's Tarik Moody and host Robin Hilton to share their picks for the best albums out on July 8.
Read MoreChristine and the Queens has announced their third studio album, Redcar les adorables étoiles, alongside details for an upcoming live show. The French singer-songwriter hasn’t released an album since 2018’s highly acclaimed Chris. With the announcement of the new album, Christine and the Queens (real name Héloïse Letissier), has already stirred up much anticipation and excitement.
Read More“Carey” cover was rumored to be cut from 2007 Mitchell tribute compilation. A Steely Dan cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Carey” has been unearthed, and it’s the kind of soft rock summer treat you’d expect.
Read MoreHarry Belafonte became the first Black person to win an Emmy at the 1960 awards ceremony, for his performance in “The Revlon Revue: Tonight With Belafonte.” Now 95 years old, he is an icon in the industry and has been honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Kennedy Center Honors, a National Medal of Arts and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Read MoreDonald Fagen led a crack band through Steely Dan's greatest hits Friday night at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Always keeping a low profile, never appearing in gossip columns, and definitely not wrecking any hotel rooms, Becker and Fagen minded their own business, cranking out songs that merged rock and pop with a heavy dose of jazz, coupled with lyrics that might be called subversive. They were, as Rolling Stone termed them, “the thinking fan’s top 40 band.”
Read MoreThe Anglo-French singer’s new album is her most personal to date. She talks about her complicated relationship with her mother – and the echoes in her bonds with her own children. On her recent album, Oh! Pardon tu dormais… it is at its finest. Collaborating with Étienne Daho and Jean-Louis Pierot, she found a way to write and sing some of the most personal songs of her career, filling them with wit and pain and beauty. “Funnily enough singing in English, one’s so at ease,” she says. “It’s so lovely when it’s your own words.”
Read MoreChecking in on the industry's aid efforts, with hands-on support from Bethenny Frankel, Hayden Panettiere, Liev Schreiber and José Andrés, four months after Russia’s invasion.
The Entertainment Industry Foundation has partnered with Dr. Irwin Redlener and Karen Redlener for the Ukraine Children’s Action Project to address the needs of more than 150,000 Ukrainian young people displaced in their own country. Michael Keaton and Joan Baez are among those on the UCAP’s advisory committee, as Irwin Redlener promises: “We will stick with this work for as long as it takes. Right now we need everyone’s support.”
Read MoreThe Ukraine Children’s Action Project will provide urgently needed mental-health and school support for children who have fled combat zones in Ukraine. UCAP was founded by Dr. Irwin Redlener and Karen Redlener, leading public health advocates for children. Its advisory committee includes well-known professionals in education, media, government and entertainment, including actor Michael Keaton and singer-songwriter and human-rights advocate Joan Baez.
Read MoreKris Kristofferson, a truly legendary singer-songwriter as well as actor, has officially retired. The news, announced January 27, 2021, was revealed in an “oh, by the way” manner in a press release from Morris Higham Management (MHM), which will represent Kristofferson’s estate.
Read MoreChristine and the Queens have released the spiritual sequel to their 2020-defining “People, I’ve Been Sad”: “Je Te Vois Enfin” whose title translates to “I Finally See You.” The track, which Chris sings entirely in French, is more upbeat than “People” with jittery synths soundtracking her layered vocals. Some of the lyrics translate to “My love rhymes with always” and “Oh, my love, here you are/I finally see you.”
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