In hoping to write entertainingly about Taylor Swift, sometimes it seems like the best option is just to quote her lyrics at length and then hope some of the filler in-between benefits from some reflected wit. But this has never been a problem that’s been faced by Rob Sheffield, who has long been not just […]

Nothing seems able to tip “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” from the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Shaboozey’s smash is now enjoying its 17th week at No. 1, and broke a couple of records by hitting that mark, with still another crucial one in sight of being toppled. One record that was newly set, according […]

Did you know that Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé lost the election for Kamala Harris? Or at least bear a large part of the responsibility for her party’s failure at the polls this year? It’s true, you know! — at least if you listen to some of the punditry coming from conservatives, and even from some […]

Long before Chappell Roan debuted her new country song, “The Giver,” on “SNL” and leaned into the camera to exert lesbian ownership of country-style expression, Fancy Hagood was committed to carving out space for queerness in country music. Earlier this year, he started covering Roan’s song “Casual,” joking that her unabashed lyrics had finally freed him up to […]

With the “Midwest Princess” still being on the rise, and no end to that ascent being anywhere in sight, the story behind Chappell Roan’s star-making debut album got a deeper dive in downtown L.A. Thursday night. For 66 minutes, in front of about 200 fans, celebrity moderator Brandi Carlile put questions to Roan and her […]

The 2024 CMA Awards telecast will be filled with performers who’ve had crossover success on different charts this year, including Post Malone, Shaboozey and Teddy Swims, as well as stalwarts of the genre like Lainey Wilson, Chris Stapleton and Luke Bryan, all announced Thursday as part of the first round of talent revealed for the […]

More than a hundred songwriters, composers, perfomers and films are represented in the nominees’ list for the 2024 Hollywood Music in Media Awards — from pop luminaries like Elton John & Brandi Carlile, Miley Cyrus, Lainey Wilson and Pharrell Williams to celebrated scorers like Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, Kris Bowers and Trent Reznor & Atticus […]

Lady Gaga fans who were wondering what song she would pull out for Kamala Harris’ final rally in Philadelphia Monday night got a song arguably even more glorious than “Edge of Glory” — Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” — to preface the candidate’s speech. But she didn’t let down those who wanted to hear her […]

“Save the Children,” an early ’70s concert film featuring many of that era’s biggest names in Black music, was in need of some saving itself. Although the documentary featured iconic stars like the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield and Bill Withers, the movie disappeared completely off the radar after being briefly released to theaters […]

Lady Gaga will visit what is widely considered the most electorally valuable swing state on the eve of the 2024 presidential election, making an appearance on behalf of the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz tickets. “It’s time to get ready to vote — I’ll see you guys in Pennsylvania,” the singer-actor said in a short video posted […]

Her kink is… country? Chappell Roan went from the “Pink Pony Club” to the country club on “Saturday Night Live,” surprising fans by going country in both look and sound for her second number of the show, the premiere of a brand new song, “The Giver,” that marries C&W with LGBTQ+. “I get the job […]

Among the great what-ifs for students of L.A. rock history is: What if Lone Justice had remained a somewhat obscure band…. and how many great records could they have put out if they had? It’s almost a ridiculous scenario to imagine, because lead singer Maria McKee’s vocal talent was such that quick discovery and absorption […]

If I told you 40 years ago, when the Cure was in the midst of its new-wave wonder moment, that the band would craft an inventively elegiac epic like “Songs for a Lost World” — a singular record worthy of face-soaking tears — you would have broken my teasing comb and melted down my Kohl […]

It appears to be a long time gone, but objects in the rear-view mirror may be closer than they appear. A new live album from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, “Live at the Fillmore East, 1969,” captures the supergroup near the point of instigation, soon after Neil Young joined the trio of David Crosby, Stephen […]

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile is making major moves in her camp, with the announcement Wednesday that she is signing with CAA as her agency for worldwide representation, as well as shifting her management to an in-house firm, Phantom Management. Phantom is led by Catherine Carlile, the artist’s wife, who for 13 years has led her […]

When Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts Tour opened in Palm Springs last February, Variety wrote, “It’s a rock ‘n’ roll show, by the way — maybe the best rock tour we’ll get all year, even if the season is young.” Now that a concert film is arriving to commemorate the recently wrapped tour, and the chance for […]

Steve Morse, one of the nation’s most established and well-respected music critics during his three-decade run at the Boston Globe, died Saturday at age 76. Morse died under care Care Dimensions Hospice in Lincoln, Mass. He had announced to friends on social media that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, 10 days […]

Music has played a role in political campaigns throughout history, but only recently did it result in headlines about cease-and-desists and “somnambulant bobbing.” Of course, America is in its third consecutive presidential election cycle in which there are nearly weekly stories about musicians objecting to Donald Trump’s unauthorized use of their songs at rallies. (“It’s […]

When Jeff Lynne wrote “Can’t Get It Out of My Head,” he probably didn’t mean to be setting up some meta prophetic proclamation. But a few days shy of the 50th anniversary of that song coming out as a single, there it stands as unshakable earworm, along with at least two or three dozen more […]