Music Features

As the morning rush gained momentum at a Gregorys Coffee outlet in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, a small group of activists and organizers gathered to prepare for the day’s work. They discussed strategy, stacked flyers and assembled cardboard boxes. On each box, they taped a sign that read, “RCA Records: …

It only takes the first two seconds of the first song on their first record for Led Zeppelin to make crystal clear exactly what they intend to do — and exactly what they intend to do to you. In the opening to “Good Times Bad Times,” the band drops a …

When Eric Clapton first heard the Band, he knew he was done with Cream. “I’m in the wrong place with the wrong people doing the wrong thing,” the guitarist later recalled thinking, and he wasn’t the only one left stunned by the group’s laid-back revolution. Synthesizing R&B, country, blues and …

A few years ago, Jessica Pratt attended a screening of Opening Night, the 1977 cult classic film from director John Cassavetes. A gut-wrenching portrayal of the psychological nightmares that can go into sharing art with the world, the movie went on to become a source of inspiration as she wrote …

More than fifty years after the Beach Boys sang “Little Saint Nick,” they’ve got separate Christmas tours. Brian Wilson and Mike Love have both announced they’re doing holiday concerts, yet another strange chapter in rock’s longest-running dysfunctional family saga. Back in April, Wilson announced a month-long Yuletide tour, where he’s …

Johnny Marr covered a lot of ground when he stopped by our podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, for an in-depth interview, from the break-up of the Smiths to his excellent new solo album Call the Comet. To hear the entire interview, press play below or download and subscribe oniTunesorSpotify. More …

Mac Miller and Ariana Grande‘s relationship fell unusually under the tabloid radar for the majority of their two-year run. It was their breakup in May that finally captured public attention, especially since it was followed eight days later by Miller crashing his car while intoxicated and, just weeks after that, …

Mac Miller is walking through Manhattan when two twenty-something fans stop him on the sidewalk. “Easy Mac with the cheesy raps!” one says to him with a goofy smile, reciting an early catchphrase that the rapper can no longer stand. “I hate that I ever said that,” he says, shaking …

When Lizzo left her hometown of Houston in 2010 after the breakup of her rock band, she was close to giving up on music. Then she got to Minneapolis. “Within a year, I was playing First Avenue,” says Lizzo, 30, mentioning the city’s most famous venue. “Within two, Prince had …

Early in 2018, as he neared the completion of a new album, the Chicago rapper Saba took a moment to review his work-in-progress. “I was listening with one of the producers and he actually pointed it out: ‘Damn dude, all of these songs are about Walt,’” Saba, 24, remembers. “I …