Music Features

At midnight on Tuesday, R&B singer Trey Songz released a new double album to celebrate his 34th birthday. There is a whole lot of music here: 10 slow and sweaty numbers with only Songz (titled 11), followed by 10 more slow and sweaty numbers with collaborators ranging from Swae Lee …

“I’M GONNA TELL YOU HOW IT’S GONNA BE!” Gary Busey is pacing the studio at Rolling Stone‘s office, sing-shouting the lyrics to Buddy Holly‘s “Not Fade Away.” He will do this often, without warning, in the middle of a conversation or just randomly as he sees fit, paying tribute to …

“When I first saw you guys, people didn’t expect what you were going to bring, these little white brothers from Boston!” It’s a humid Sunday afternoon in Harlem, and the Apollo Theater’s longtime historian — Billy Mitchell, a.k.a. Mr. Apollo — is reminiscing backstage with New Kids on the Block‘s …

Aretha Franklin, who died on August 16th at age 76, recorded more than 40 full-length albums in her six-decade career. It’s a deep catalog, crowded with indisputable classics and hidden gems. Rolling Stone’s music staff is paying its R.E.S.P.E.C.T.s to the Queen with tributes to our favorite Aretha LPs. Next …

Dave Grohl had a day off in Memphis yesterday, so he dropped by Graceland, which got him thinking about Elvis Presley as just another kid with a guitar trying to deal with “the effect that young stardom can have.” But unlike Presley and certain other tortured souls, Grohl seems built …

As if on cue, a Top Dawg Entertainment employee politely interrupts producer Mark “Sounwave” Spears, who was telling the story about how he linked with rap icon Kendrick Lamar more than a decade ago. “I think you’ll be pretty happy with this,” the TDE staffer slyly winks. “Is that what …

Chill-bass duo ODESZA are bringing their massive A Moment Apart tour back on the road starting with three sold-out shows in their home base of Seattle Thursday through Saturday. While their show is a spaceship-circus of geometrically pleasing lights, smoke, video and a six-member drumline, the group’s members – Harrison …

“The key to Led Zeppelin‘s longevity has always been change,” Jimmy Page proclaimed in 1975. This restless sprit enthralled some fans and infuriated others, specifically the type who preferred that the band remain on one sonic plane. Moving past the high-octane thunder of the gods found on their early albums, …

Happy birthday to Ray of Light, the masterwork that introduced the world to Cosmic Psychedelic Madonna, 20 years ago this week. Ray of Light was the queen’s first proper album in four years, dropping on March 3rd, 1998, a week after she unveiled her new sound with the single “Frozen.” …

The screaming begins just beyond baggage claim, when the first bob of purple-gray hair peeks up over the security wall separating the biggest Korean pop band in the world, in history, from its fans. Amid shrill hysteria, the seven soft-faced men of BTS stride through Los Angeles International Airport flanked …