A John Lennon-owned copy of the Beatles‘ infamous “butcher cover” version of Yesterday and Today, autographed by three members of the Fab Four, sold for $234,000 at a Beatles-themed auction this week. The vinyl copy – autographed by Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and featuring a back cover sketch …
Read More »Mavis Staples Shows Off Range, Relevance at 80th Birthday Apollo Show
Halfway through her star-studded 80th-birthday concert at New York’s Apollo Theater, Mavis Staples paused her half-century-plus–spanning set to take in her adoring crowd. “I’m too excited to talk!” she cried out from the Apollo stage, 63 years after first appearing at the theater as a teenager with her family band, …
Read More »Skip Marley, Damian Marley Explore Miami's Little Haiti in 'That's Not True' Video
Skip Marley, grandson of Bob Marley, cruises through Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood in the reggae artist’s low-key video for “That’s Not True,” his collaborative track with his uncle Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley. Director Andrew Sandler follows Skip as he views friends and locals: barbers cutting hair, people playing dice and …
Read More »Outlaw Country Songwriter Chris Gantry Releases New Track 'Life Well Lived'
Chris Gantry casts an eye back on a hardscrabble utopia in his reverent new ballad “Life Well Lived,” the first track to be debuted from his newly announced LP Nashlantis. The veteran songwriter, who penned the Glen Campbell hit “Dreams of the Everyday Housewife,” returns with Nashlantis on July 26th, …
Read More »See Madonna Deliver Emotional Speech on AIDS Activism at GLAAD Awards
Madonna received the GLAAD Media Awards‘ Advocate for Change award Saturday night at Manhattan’s Hilton Midtown, where the singer delivered an emotional speech that was among the ceremony’s highlights. “The first gay man I ever met was named Christopher Flynn,” the 60-year-old entertainer and longtime advocate for gay rights said. …
Read More »Watch Khalid Float Through 'Talk,' 'Better' at Billboard Music Awards
Khalid delivered a double shot of songs from his new album, Free Spirit, performing “Talk” and “Better” at the Billboard Music Awards Wednesday. Khalid opened with “Talk,” floating through the track with impeccable ease, and even tossing in a few new vocal runs while a troupe of back-up dancers moved …
Read More »Watch BTS Perform 'Boy With Luv' in 'SNL' Debut
K-pop sensations BTS made their Saturday Night Live debut with a performance of “Boy With Luv,” a track off their just-released new mini-album Map of the Soul: Persona, and their 2017 hit “Mic Drop.” Despite the presence of frequent SNL guest Halsey on “Boy With Luv,” the singer didn’t join …
Read More »Ellie Goulding Toasts Her Teenage Fans on New Song 'Sixteen'
On Friday Ellie Goulding released a new single, “Sixteen,” with a celebratory lyric video paying homage to her teen years and to her adolescent fans. “I’m so excited to share ‘Sixteen’ with everyone,” Goulding said in a statement. “That age was such a pivotal year for me in many ways …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Weyes Blood, 'Everyday'
“True love is making a comeback,” Weyes Blood, a.k.a. Natalie Mering, announces over jovial piano chords. In “Everyday,” the second single off her new album, Titanic Rising, Mering seesaws between inescapable loneliness and the hazards of falling in love. “Got a lot of things to clear away/Got a lot of …
Read More »Priests Are Not a Punk Band
Backstage at a club in Sheffield, England, Priests singer Katie Alice Greer and guitarist G.L. Jaguar were arguing at the top of their lungs about the future of their band. It was the fall of 2017, and they had just started a European tour that was rapidly unraveling. “Gideon and …
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