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 […]

Will the last remaining true classic-rock guitar-god frontman turn out the lights? And then, naturally, put on a big light show? David Gilmour may not have sole rights to that title (Eric Clapton preceded him in passing through L.A. just two weeks ago), but there is not a lot of competition for the place he […]

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ 1982 “Long After Dark” album probably doesn’t count as one of the band’s “tentpole albums,” in terms of being one of their biggest blockbusters, or a seismic shift in direction — but it’s also a record that probably no real fan would want to do without. Tom Petty in so-called […]

There are a couple of months still left in the year, but it feels safe to say right now that, as an album that bites off every bit as much as it can chew, and maybe a little more, Halsey’s “The Great Impersonator” is 2024’s most unabashedly ambitious record by a major pop artist. It’s […]

Jack Jones, a singer who found fame and chart success on the easy-listening side of the street in the 1960s, and who later became etched in television-watching America’s psyche with the “Love Boat” theme, died Wednesday at 86. Jones died of leukemia at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif., his wife of 15 years, Eleanora […]

For the last 55 years or so, you’ve had a friend in Randy Newman, if you have a thing for songs that offer eviscerating, uncompromising, even devastating dissections of the human condition and the American experiment. Or, sure, kids’ tunes, or laugh-out-loud funny ones, or memorable film-score cues — yes, all of those things, too. […]

Even without the John Williams factor, the premiere event for the 38th annual AFI Fest would have been notable in one particular regard, Steven Spielberg said. “First of all, I thank the AFI board and everyone for doing something they’ve never done before, which is to open the AFI Festival with a documentary,” Spielberg said […]

Beyoncé will appear with presidential candidate Kamala Harris at a rally in Houston on Friday, according to multiple news reports attributing sources close to the campaign. The rally was already set to feature another Texas music icon, Willie Nelson (who, coincidentally, makes a cameo spoken-word appearance on Beyoncé’s latest album, “Cowboy Carter”). Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s […]

The Grateful Dead has been named as the 2025 Persons of the Year by MusiCares, with the band’s original members due to be feted at the organization’s annual gala concert and dinner on Jan. 31, two days prior to the Grammys. The honor will effectively kick off what may turn out to be a year-long […]

Laufey will hit the big screen in December, as a concert movie of her recent performance with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl is headed for a limited engagement in theaters. “Laufey’s A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl” will reach cinemas and Imax screens beginning on Dec. 6, it was announced Wednesday by […]

“Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony,” a multi-media concert experience designed to pair the country-pop superstar’s song catalog with local orchestras, has announced performances set to take place in 11 U.S. cities from March 2025 through May of 2026. The creation of this Parton-based “storytelling experience” — which will not have the singer involved […]

Singer-songwriter Matthew Sweet suffered a debilitating stroke while on tour in mid-October, it was revealed on Tuesday, when a representative for his management company posted a fundraising appeal on GoFundMe to support his recovery. Sweet had been out on tour opening for the group Hanson when he was stricken in Toronto Oct. 12, in advance […]

Celebrated singer. songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens announced Tuesday that she will be headlining and curating a festival of her own making, Biscuits & Banjos, celebrating Black culture with a particular emphasis on roots musicians. The first-ever festival will take place in Durham, North Carolina on April 25-27, 2025. Besides performing as a solo artist, […]

Backstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, Cher confirmed that she had once declared she “didn’t give a flying fuck if I got in.” But if the pop superstar (pictured above in an opening duet of “Believe” with Dua Lipa) found her way toward being completely glee about the Saturday night occasion, […]

At Joni Mitchell’s Hollywood Bowl show Saturday night, the revered singer-songwriter offered the rapt audience a first-ever live performance of… Wait, let’s just take a time-out right there and let those words sink in. At Joni Mitchell’s Hollywood Bowl show. What were the odds? Right?… Sorry, we now return to our regularly scheduled review. At […]

Here’s who wasn’t taking a load off: the house band at Thursday’s tribute to Robbie Robertson at the L.A. area’s Kia Forum. Starting a little after 7 and ending at midnight, the all-star show dubbed “Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson” clocked in at just a little under five hours, which […]