In our new series, we look at eight cities where live music has exploded — from legendary hubs like Chicago and Nashville, to rising hot spots like Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Portland, Maine. We also look at some far-flung destinations where the music the music is worth the journey. One of …
Read More »Flashback: My Chemical Romance Recruit Liza Minnelli for 'Mama'
My Chemical Romance‘s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004),their second full-length and first on a major label, was a tentpole record in the burgeoning emo-punk scene. The black-and-red wearing, eyeliner-donning New Jersey boys took a massive risk when they returned in 2006 with the decidedly un-emo but very theatrical LPThe …
Read More »David Bowie's 'Hunky Dory': How America Inspired 1971 Masterpiece
When David Bowie began writing songs for Hunky Dory, in 1970, he had little to show for the six years he spent trying to make it as a singer. His first three albums had tanked, and he didn’t have a record deal. Then, in January 1971, Bowie arrived in the …
Read More »'He's the Voice of These High School Kids': Remembering Juice WRLD's 'Meteoric Rise'
Young artists who blow up thanks to a sudden surge in viral interest often hit a wall when trying to repeat a breakout single. This was not a problem for Juice WRLD last year. After the heartbroken “All Girls Are the Same” announced him as a commercial force, Juice WRLD …
Read More »Spotify is Profitable. How Did That Happen?
Spotify, whose losses are an evergreen music-biz talking point, just turned a quarterly profit. This news not only came as a surprise to the music industry at large, but to Spotify itself. The streaming company previously forecast to its investors that its operating performance in the three months to end …
Read More »Musicians on Musicians: Jenny Lewis & Justin Vernon
I ’m sitting here trying not to choke up,” Justin Vernon says, “listening to Jenny Lewis say such nice things about me.” It’s a laid-back Friday afternoon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, which has been Bon Iver’s home base since Vernon founded the avant-pop band back in 2006. He has been …
Read More »Kesha Explains Her Return to Pop
Kesha‘s follow-up to 2017’s emotionally weighty, rock-leaning Rainbow started off as what she describes as a “psychedelic country record.” But a phone call from her brother sent her in another direction. “He was like, ‘Why don’t you write some pop songs?’ ” she says. “ ‘You’re good at it, you like it.’ ” …
Read More »Musicians on Musicians: Elton John & Lana Del Rey
L ana Del Rey is sitting across from Elton John in the kitchen of his Beverly Hills home, where she’s about to talk with her musical hero. But there’s a problem. “Wait a minute, my notes!” she says. “I have 13 pages! Where is my purse?” Elton calls for his …
Read More »Ozzy Osbourne on His Road Back From Hell: 'I Was Absolutely in Agony'
When Ozzy Osbourne took a fall in January, he thought he broke his neck. “I came down really, really hard,” he tells Rolling Stonefrom his Los Angeles home. “I went slam — on my face.” He had gotten up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom …
Read More »Bushwick Bill Was Impossible to Forget
On June 19th, 1991, Bushwick Bill was pronounced dead. He shot himself in the eye that day, after suicidal ideations and a prolonged argument with his girlfriend. The rapper, born Richard Stephen Shaw, was only 24 at the time, but he had already lived multiple lives. Less than three hours …
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