1971 represented an inflection point in Stevie Wonder‘s career. The prodigious singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist had already put out more than a dozen albums and scored nearly as many Top 10 hits. But he had been part of the famously regimented Motown system for the entirety of his career. …
Read More »DMX: 16 Essential Songs
DMX was a larger-than-life force in rap music at the turn of the millennium. The Yonkers, New York, rapper, who died April 9th at age 50 after being hospitalized with a heart attack days earlier, burst onto the scene in the Nineties with one of the most distinctive voices on …
Read More »Joni Mitchell to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of 'Blue' With Remasters of First Four Albums
For the next installment of her newly launched Archives series, Joni Mitchell will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Blue with remasters of her first four albums. The Reprise Albums (1968-1971) will contain reissues of her 1968 debut Song to a Seagull, 1969’s Clouds (1969), 1970’s Ladies of the Canyon, and …
Read More »Flashback: Kurt Cobain Rips Through 'Dive' in Lingerie at 1993 Nirvana Show
Decades before Harry Styles angered conservatives by wearing a dress on the cover of Vogue, Kurt Cobain regularly dipped his toes in gender fluidity — donning dresses and makeup onstage, in photo shoots, or just hanging at friend’s houses. One memorable moment is when the late Nirvana frontman performed an …
Read More »Hear the Stories Behind Neil Young's Lost Masterpieces
Neil Young’s monumental Archives Volume II: 1972–1976 is packed with unheard treasures recorded in his artistic peak, from a Crazy Horse version of “Ride My Llama” to a legendary late-night jam with Joni Mitchell on “Raised on Robbery” to “LA Girls and Ocean Boys,” a song previously heard only in …
Read More »'Violation' Is Latest Rape-Revenge Thriller That Seeks to Subvert the Genre
Violation — written, directed, and produced by ongoing collaborators Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli — is a rape-revenge thriller that’s adamant to upset the norms of the genre. Among those ostensible norms: the linear path from inciting assault to bloody revenge. It isn’t so much that the rules of rape-revenge …
Read More »Carrie Underwood Announces 'My Savior' Easter Sunday Concert
Carrie Underwood will perform classic hymns from her new album My Savior in a livestreamed concert on Easter Sunday. My Savior: Live From the Ryman airs from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium at 11:00 am ET on April 4th, streaming for free on Underwood’s Facebook. My Savior will be released Friday, March …
Read More »Demi Lovato Discusses Overdose in Preview of 'CBS Sunday Morning' Interview
Demi Lovato discusses how close she came to death when she overdosed in 2018 in a preview of her upcoming interview on CBS Sunday Morning, which will air in full March 21st at 9 a.m. ET. “The doctors told me that I had five to 10 minutes,” Lovato says in …
Read More »Paul Stanley on Why He's Singing Soul Classics and How Motown Influenced Kiss
A few weeks ago, Paul Stanley texted Gene Simmons a link to a long-forgotten soul song called “The 81” after his obstinate Kiss bandmate questioned its existence. “He said, ‘There’s no song called that.’ I said, ‘Yeah, there is!’ I sent him the song and he said, ‘It sounds just …
Read More »'The First Time' With Nathalie Emmanuel
British actress Nathalie Emmanuel kicked off this latest episode of “The First Time” by sharing how she first got involved with her latest project, Audible‘s The Coldest Case. Her agency first reached out to her about the opportunity at the beginning of the first Covid-19 lockdown in London. “Everyone was …
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