Our favorite shows from the year included the North American wrap-up of the Eras Tour, Bruce Springsteen's postponed concerts, Dead & Company's Sphere run, a Charli XCX/Troye Sivan teaming, Joni Mitchell's first official headlining shows in 20 years, Missy Elliott's first headlining tour ever, and more.
Stephen Schwartz will see you now. The worthier wizard of “Wicked” is the one who wrote one of Broadway’s all-time top song scores and now, a little over two decades later, has overseen the transition of that music into a film that is almost certainly on the fast track for Best Picture contention. He is […]
If you’re like a lot of us, this past year might be one you’re not unhappy to see go. (Maybe you’d even like to see the swinging door slap 2024’s ass on the way out.) But then, also like some of us, perhaps you look back on the wealth of phenomenal songs the year gave […]
A young Jimmy Carter was no stranger to gospel music growing up in the small rural town of Plains, Georgia during the ’20s and early ’30’. He heard it sung by Black tenant farmers working on his father’s land. He heard it too during 24-hour gospel sings that occurred every fifth Sunday, where quartets, local […]
Something is happening here and, given the hoopla over “A Complete Unknown,” probably even Mr. Jones has an idea what it is: Bob Dylan mania. Thanks to James Mangold’s new film, America is currently experiencing a spike of collective fascination with Dylan that probably hasn’t peaked quite this high since 1965, when the events of […]
We’re officially coming up on Grammy season — but right before that, in this week between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s Grammy commemoration season, thanks to a couple of two-hour throwback specials premiering on CBS. First, on Friday night, comes “Grammy Greats: The Stories Behind the Songs,” dedicated to the winners in the Song of […]
“How does it feel?” is one way by which to measure a movie. But if you’ve seen “A Complete Unknown,” the Bob Dylan biopic that opened on Christmas Day, you may have left the theater singing to yourself (to the tune of “Like a Rolling Stone”): How much is reeeaaallll? The short response is: A […]
Singer-songwriter Elizabeth Chan set yet another benchmark in the annals of holiday music by issuing her 14th straight annual Christmas release, “Shatterproof,” this month. No one is likely to come close to shattering that record for the highest number of consecutive seasonal albums or EPs, but Chan — who is known for having a claim […]
Is Christmas really the saddest day of the year? There’s a whole history of holiday music that explores what it’s like to be down-and-out during the season. Are you mourning absent family members? Resenting the ex who ghosted you for Xmas? Or just wondering why, in 2024, everybody else is celebrating the holly instead of […]
Otis Williams’ nickname is “Oak,.” Given that the 83-year-old singer is still a member of the Temptations, 64 years after the group’s founding, it’s not to figure where that came from. He’s been the sole original member in the group since the early ’90s, in fact, and is still on the road and in the […]
This should be about the time we all start taking Billie Eilish for granted, by the usual standards of fickleness and habituation. So let’s all give ourselves a pat on the back for not becoming so accustomed to her face that we lose sight of what a special gift she is to the pop landscape. […]
Ariana Grande in “Wicked,” Timothée Chalamet in “A Complete Unknown” and Angelina Jolie in “Maria”: What these performances have in common – besides a strong shot at Oscar nominations – is the man who coached each of their voices to their highest highs: esteemed Los Angeles vocal coach Eric Vetro. Vetro has been down this […]
Bob “Slim” Dunlap, a guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for his tenure in the alternative band the Replacements during the final years of their original ’80s/’90s run, died Wednesday at age 73. The cause of death, according to a statement from his family, was “complications from his stroke,” which befell him in early 2012, causing […]
Even the best worst year ever – choose the epoch closest to your offended political affiliation – has a Christmas. And every Christmas, crumbling culture or not, comes with scads of new holiday music. So, before the drones kill us with molten metal spray and death rays, here are 25 new Christmas moments to thrill […]
Leading contenders for the Society of Composers & Lyricists’ 2025 SCL Awards include “Emilia Pérez” composers Clément Ducol and Camille, who picked up three nominations, for their score and for two original songs from the musical drama. Matching that number as an individual was Atticus Ross, whose three nominations are split between his scoring work […]
Little Big Town likes to do things in fours, as the ensemble’s vocal-quartet configuration would indicate. So the country-pop group wasn’t about to let its 25th anniversary pass with just one commemoration when four would do: a national tour with their longtime friends in Sugarland; a greatest hits album; a Christmas record; and the quartet’s […]
All they want for Christmas is to ride shotgun. Superstar pop divas Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa and Chappell Roan go a-SUV-caroling in “A Very Carpool Karaoke Christmas,” a holiday special that was unwrapped as a surprise release Sunday night on Apple TV+ and Apple Music. The hour-long installment of the Emmy-winning “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” […]
Please please please … may we have another year-in-music in 2025 as strong as this one? In coming up with 10 best album lists, each of Variety‘s staff music writers felt 2024 brought an embarrassment of riches from which to choose. You could already see that in how the upcoming 2025 Grammys are easily the […]
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