From CMAT and the Carpenters’ fresh starts to the Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun and Nina Simone’s Feeling Good, starting again is a rich theme in pop. Here are some of the best examples ...

By age 11, Pete Townshend wrote his first song, “Bubbles,” co-written with his friend Graham Beard. Soon after, Townshend’s grandmother, Emma, gifted him with his first guitar for Christmas, and he ...

Bands who hit the mark with their debut albums almost never dare take a truly huge stylistic swing on their sophomore LPs.

Melding music, play and Mother Goose tales, singer Natalie Merchant worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on “Cabinet of ...

The Harlem rapper includes a nod to Blink-182 on this pop-punk-inspired single, and Rocky is rapping. Gotta love a bold new ...

Strange folk, lost pop, disco oddities and, um, Dido – here are the forgotten tracks that became this year’s most replayed revelations ...

James Jamerson was the unsung hero of Motown, and his work on "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" is pure magic. While the ...

The Merri Bar is wasting no time getting 2026 rolling with a packed January program of free live music. Preston’s beloved ...

Stephen Wilson Jr. has lived many different lives. In case you didn't know, the "I'm A Song" singer hasn't been a singer-songwriter his entire life. At first, he was a boxer – as his father had ...

It helps to walk into the new romantic drama Song Sung Blue – which carries an ostensibly ridiculous premise in that it follows two lovers in a Milwaukee-based Neil Diamond cover band named Lightning ...

Deluxe Editions That Breathe New Life into Rock Legends Deluxe reissues give albums back their full story. Let me reiterate.

Happy new year, reader, and let’s hope that’s the last time we encounter that phrase until 2027 - although 2026 is already ...