Not many non-performing contemporary songwriters are quite interesting enough to sustain a 90-minute documentary, but then, not many are Diane Warren, one of the great characters of modern Hollywood. Despite having a self-owned song catalog whose worth is estimated at up to a half-billion dollars, and despite famously having 15 Oscar nominations and a lifetime […]

Carrie Underwood will sing “America the Beautiful” at the inauguration ceremony for president-elect Donald J. Trump, a Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee spokesperson confirmed to news outlets Monday. Axios was first to report the news that the country superstar will take part in the inaugural festivities, which take place in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, a date […]

For most of the film and TV industry, the devastating L.A.-area fires of the last week have at least avoided scorching the studios where the work largely occurs. But there’s no such consolation for many of those who work on the music side, as the professional-grade home studios of untold numbers of producers, engineers and […]

Sam Moore, who had classic hits with the soul duo Sam and Dave in the 1960s, died Friday morning  in Coral Gables, Florida. He was 89. The cause of death was post-surgery complications, according to the singer’s rep. Moore took the tenor part on perennials that are familiar even to generations not yet born during […]

Anita Bryant, a former beauty queen and pop singer of the 1960s whose career led her to become a spokesperson for Florida oranges in the early ’70s and an evangelical crusader against gay rights later in that decade, died Dec. 16 at age 84, her family announced Thursday. The family’s obituary for Anita Bryant Day, […]

Taylor Swift might be spending another week at No. 1 on the album chart soon. But if so, it won’t be with her blockbuster studio album from last year, “The Tortured Poets Department.” Rather, it would be “Lover (Live From Paris),” a new vinyl version of which the singer put up for sale in her […]

Although most of Greg Wells’ professional life has involved producing or writing for big pop artists (including Adele, Katy Perry, OneRepublic & Timbaland, Twenty One Pilots and John Legend), he’s dedicated more of his time in recent years to working on films. Two and a half years, specifically (so far), as the music producer on […]

“Edward Norton is Pete Seeger.” How likely was it that much of the moviegoing world would be thinking or saying those words at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025? Or that Norton’s portrayal in the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” would even be leading younger generations to find out more about who […]

It’s become an annual ritual: Every Jan. 1, more classic works of art or characters enter the public domain, and exploitation filmmakers with a tiny budget and a big taste for grisliness are scouring the list, looking for suddenly free intellectual property to turn into horror fare. Hence the slasher films that have already been […]

“Happy New Year. For me, this is a dream come true,” said Frances Ford Coppola, surveying the audience that had come to see his passion project, “Megalopolis,” at an American Cinematheque conversation-and-screening event to kick off 2025. The dream part of it, for him, was the chance to spend 100 minutes talking not very much […]

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 […]