The Offspring’s “Come Out and Play” (you know, the “gotta keep ’em separated” song) was all over MTV in 1994 — with a video that cost all of $5,000. The Nineties were full of unlikely breakthrough acts, but the Offspring were one of the few bands of the era who made it to the mainstream without even leaving their indie label, Epitaph.
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Offspring frontman Dexter Holland looks back on his band’s hit-packed 1994 album Smash, which turns 30 this year. Go here for the podcast provider of your choice,...
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Offspring frontman Dexter Holland looks back on his band’s hit-packed 1994 album Smash, which turns 30 this year. Go here for the podcast provider of your choice,...
- 5/28/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Kendrick Lamar’s battle with Drake may or may not be over for good, but it’s clear that it was easily one of the greatest hip-hop beefs of all time, producing no fewer than nine separate songs — including Lamar’s current Drake-savaging Number One hit, “Not Like Us.”
In the new episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, we look back at the rapid-fire exchange of songs between the two artists, with Andre Gee joining host Brian Hiatt for the discussion. Go here to find the episode on...
In the new episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, we look back at the rapid-fire exchange of songs between the two artists, with Andre Gee joining host Brian Hiatt for the discussion. Go here to find the episode on...
- 5/17/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
From “Fortnight” to “The Manuscript,” the latest episodes of Rolling Stone Music Now dive into every single track of Taylor Swift’s longest album ever, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. Along the way, we debate larger issues, including whether Swift intends all 31 tracks to be seen as the album proper, or if the latter half — added by surprise on the night of release — is actually more of a collection of bonus songs.
Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield join host Brian Hiatt for the discussions, which also place every song...
Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield join host Brian Hiatt for the discussions, which also place every song...
- 5/5/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
At the very moment Taylormania was hitting preposterous heights, threatening to turn the artist at its center into an untouchable icon, it turns out that the real Taylor Swift was spending her time between glittery three-hour concerts making some of her most fearless art. The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is stuffed with the rawest, angriest, and most unguarded songs of Swift’s career – quite the opposite of the ingratiating, focus-grouped inoffensiveness that a skeptic might expect from an artist at her current level of visibility.
On the new episode...
On the new episode...
- 4/25/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Noah Weiland, the son of late Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, has unveiled a new song called “Time Will Tell” featuring his father’s previously unreleased vocals. The younger Weiland claims he decided to release the track after someone else threatened to release it in an extortion attempt.
In an Instagram post, Noah explained that he intended to hold onto the song until later in his singing career but was forced to release it after the apparent blackmail threat. He wrote:
“Can’t believe i’m saying this right now but basically i been getting blackmailed by a random number that somehow has a very old version of a song i have with my father. and because of that i am basically forced to release a song i had no intentions of releasing until way further into my career cause this coward rly thinks i’m about to send...
In an Instagram post, Noah explained that he intended to hold onto the song until later in his singing career but was forced to release it after the apparent blackmail threat. He wrote:
“Can’t believe i’m saying this right now but basically i been getting blackmailed by a random number that somehow has a very old version of a song i have with my father. and because of that i am basically forced to release a song i had no intentions of releasing until way further into my career cause this coward rly thinks i’m about to send...
- 4/23/2024
- by Spencer Kaufman
- Consequence - Music
Scott Weiland’s son, Noah Weiland, has released a new song, “Time Will Tell,” featuring previously-unreleased vocals from his late father. It’s an unexpected and newsworthy drop in and of itself, made even crazier by the alleged extortion attempt behind it.
Noah shared the song Monday, April 22, alongside a note on Instagram detailing the scheme: Someone had texted him an older version of the song, demanding $2,000 or else they’d leak it. While Noah said he was hoping to hold onto “Time Will Tell” and release it “way further into my career,...
Noah shared the song Monday, April 22, alongside a note on Instagram detailing the scheme: Someone had texted him an older version of the song, demanding $2,000 or else they’d leak it. While Noah said he was hoping to hold onto “Time Will Tell” and release it “way further into my career,...
- 4/22/2024
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
With a few lines in a guest verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s chart-topping hit “Like That,” Kendrick Lamar ignited his long-simmering cold war with Drake into what’s become the widest-reaching rap beef in years. Since then, it’s all gotten incredibly messy, starting with J. Cole recording an entire diss track about his erstwhile friend Lamar and then deciding to retract it and apologize — a fairly unprecedented move in hip-hop. We trace the whole saga on the latest episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast — go...
- 4/19/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
On Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé mixes R&b, country, and some hard-hitting guitars, among many other elements, and as the artist herself is well aware, there used to be a name for that kind of American melange: rock & roll. She slyly acknowledges that fact with two Chuck Berry moments on the album, including a segment of “Maybellene,” his first hit, in which a Black genius helped invent rock & roll via revved-up country.
So, there’s an argument that Cowboy Carter — which the artist has made clear is a “Beyoncé album” rather...
So, there’s an argument that Cowboy Carter — which the artist has made clear is a “Beyoncé album” rather...
- 4/7/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock has been known to take as long as eight years between albums, but nearly three decades into his band’s career, he’s ready to pick up the pace. Three years after the release of the well-received The Golden Casket, he’s already recorded enough songs for a new Modest Mouse album with producers including Jacknife Lee and Dave Sardy, and intends to put one out by next spring. “In my early days of putting out records, I wrote music every fucking day,” he tells...
- 4/6/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
In summer 2012, singer Jeff Gutt walked onto The X Factor audition stage and stunned judges Britney Spears, Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato, and L.A. Reid with a remarkable rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that brought the entire audience to their feet. And in a scene straight out of a movie, a loud thunderclap from a nearby storm echoed throughout the theater as he soaked in the adulation. “I’ve heard that song a lot,” said Cowell. “I’ve sat in this chair a long time. It was one of the...
- 4/3/2024
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Swifties have known since early February that Taylor Swift has a new album, Tortured Poets Department, due April 19, with some notably provocative song titles (“So Long London,” “But Daddy I Love Him”) and big-name guest stars (Post Malone, Florence Welsh). But since then, information on the album has been scarce, so fans have more than filled the void, passing around possibly fake leaked snippets of songs while pranking each other with both ChatGPT-generated lyrics and a ridiculous viral parody where an AI-generated Taylor sings lines like, “I’m so happy...
- 3/29/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Just last summer, experts on the intersection of AI and music told Rolling Stone that it would be years before a tool emerged that could conjure up fully produced songs from a simple text description, given the endless complexities of the finished product. But Suno, a two-year-old start-up based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has already pulled it off, vocals included — and their latest model, v3, which is available to the general public as of today, is capable of some truly startling results.
In Rolling Stone‘s feature on Suno, part of...
In Rolling Stone‘s feature on Suno, part of...
- 3/22/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Stone Temple Pilots, Live, Soul Asylum, and Our Lady Peace are going to party like it’s 1994 on the Jubilee Tour this summer. Stp will celebrate the anniversary of their 1994 LP Purple, and Live will spotlight their 1994 album Throwing Copper. “Fans of the iconic bands can expect a night of hit songs from those albums,” reads a press release, “and much more, with a full set of music by each group spanning generations.”
The co-headlining tour kicks off Aug. 16 in Concord, California, and wraps up Sept. 15 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Stp...
The co-headlining tour kicks off Aug. 16 in Concord, California, and wraps up Sept. 15 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Stp...
- 3/18/2024
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
One of the biggest influences on Ariana Grande’s new album, Eternal Sunshine, turns out be the Beatles’ Rubber Soul. That inspiration isn’t exactly instantly evident within the album’s sleek production and Max Martin-assisted songwriting, but Grande said in an advance listening session for journalists that she had John, Paul, George, and Ringo in mind as she stuffed it full of unexpected melodic twists and half-buried ear candy.
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, we discuss Grande’s newfound Beatlemania and much more, going...
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, we discuss Grande’s newfound Beatlemania and much more, going...
- 3/13/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Welcome to the Beatles Cinematic Universe. Continuing the current wave of music biopics — which just saw its most recent box-office triumph with Bob Marley: One Love — director Sam Mendes (Skyfall) has signed on to helm not one, but four separate Beatles biopics, all due in 2027. The movies, set to begin production next year, will each focus a single Beatle’s perspective, so John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and even Ringo Starr each get a turn in the spotlight.
It might seem like overkill, but as we discuss on the...
It might seem like overkill, but as we discuss on the...
- 3/4/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
From J Noa’s speed-rapping to Gale’s polished pop-rock songwriting to Ralph Choo’s electronic experiments, 2023 was packed with incredible Spanish-language music from artists who aren’t superstars — at least not yet. In the last of our four Rolling Stone Music Now podcast episodes on under-the-radar albums from last year, we dig through multiple nations and genres to find the best lesser-known gems.
Rolling Stone‘s Julyssa Lopez joins host Brian Hiatt for the discussion, picking her favorites from our recent comprehensive list of the year’s top Spanish-language albums,...
Rolling Stone‘s Julyssa Lopez joins host Brian Hiatt for the discussion, picking her favorites from our recent comprehensive list of the year’s top Spanish-language albums,...
- 2/28/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Anyone complaining about the state of hip-hop needs only to look beyond the top of the charts, as the latest episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast makes clear. In the episode, Andre Gee breaks down some of his under-the-radar 2023 hip-hop picks, from Zelooperz’ experimental Microphone Fiend to B. Cool Aid’s ultra-vibey Leather Blvd to Nappy Nina’s introspective Mourning Due. To hear the full episode, go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play below.
Also in the episode,...
Also in the episode,...
- 2/13/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Looking to jam with some legends? The Spring 2024 edition of Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp has been announced, with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, The Offspring guitarist Noodles, and 311 frontman Nick Hexum leading the lineup.
The four-day camp runs April 18th to 21st in Los Angeles. Aspiring singers and instrumentalists will be placed into bands with other campers and receive mentoring from one of Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy Camp’s rockstar counselors, including Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent), Bruce Kulick (Kiss), Todd Morse (The Offspring), Vinny Appice, Gary Hoey, Tommy Black (Scott Weiland), and camp musical director Britt Lightning (Vixen), among others.
The camp will culminate with a pair of gigs at Whisky a Go Go and The Viper Room, where campers will get to perform alongside Smith, Noodles, and Hexum.
“I am looking forward to jamming with the campers this April,” said Smith in a press release.
The four-day camp runs April 18th to 21st in Los Angeles. Aspiring singers and instrumentalists will be placed into bands with other campers and receive mentoring from one of Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy Camp’s rockstar counselors, including Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent), Bruce Kulick (Kiss), Todd Morse (The Offspring), Vinny Appice, Gary Hoey, Tommy Black (Scott Weiland), and camp musical director Britt Lightning (Vixen), among others.
The camp will culminate with a pair of gigs at Whisky a Go Go and The Viper Room, where campers will get to perform alongside Smith, Noodles, and Hexum.
“I am looking forward to jamming with the campers this April,” said Smith in a press release.
- 2/8/2024
- by Spencer Kaufman
- Consequence - Music
Joni Mitchell will have a lot of company when she takes the stage on Sunday for her first-ever Grammy Awards performance. Her friend and collaborator Brandi Carlile will be performing alongside her, as will Jacob Collier, Allison Russell, SistaStrings, Lucius, and Blake Mills, according to executive producer Raj Kapoor. As for what they’ll be performing? “It will be a song that I think everybody knows,” Kapoor tells our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, “and if you are a Joni Mitchell fan, it’s the song that you want to hear.
- 2/4/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
U2 is making Grammy history again. The Irish rockers will perform at the 2024 Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 4, delivering the first-ever broadcast performance from the Las Vegas Sphere, where the band is currently in residence.
The performance from the new immersive entertainment arena is another major Grammy moment for U2, who are among the most-awarded acts in the awards’ history. Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. took home the band’s first trophy in 1988. They’ve since won 22 awards from 46 nominations and have performed live at the ceremony numerous times. Let’s look back at some of U2’s Grammy moments through the years.
U2’s Bono accepts the award for Album of the Year at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards | CBS via Getty Images
Thanks to albums such as War and The Unforgettable Fire, U2 was already a major force in rock music when they earned...
The performance from the new immersive entertainment arena is another major Grammy moment for U2, who are among the most-awarded acts in the awards’ history. Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. took home the band’s first trophy in 1988. They’ve since won 22 awards from 46 nominations and have performed live at the ceremony numerous times. Let’s look back at some of U2’s Grammy moments through the years.
U2’s Bono accepts the award for Album of the Year at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards | CBS via Getty Images
Thanks to albums such as War and The Unforgettable Fire, U2 was already a major force in rock music when they earned...
- 2/4/2024
- by Megan Elliott
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Burna Boy will be the first Afrobeats performer ever to play the Grammys at Sunday night’s ceremony — and he’ll be joined onstage by Brandy and 21 Savage, executive producer Raj Kapoor tells Rolling Stone Music Now. The collaboration will also mark 21 Savage’s Grammy performance debut, while Brandy hasn’t sung on the show since the Nineties. “It’s gonna be huge,” says Kapoor. “It’s gonna get everybody on their feet.”
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Kapoor breaks down what to expect from...
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Kapoor breaks down what to expect from...
- 2/2/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
The sessions started at Hollywood, California’s A&m Studios the night of Jan. 28, 1985, and didn’t end until well after sunrise the morning of Jan. 29. By that point, it was clear that nothing quite like “We Are the World” could ever happen again. The Greatest Night in Pop, a new documentary on Netflix, brings it all back to vivid life: co-writers Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie joined by Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and an improbably long list of other superstars, all crammed in...
- 1/29/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
One of last year’s most unexpected musical twists was the ascent of Zach Bryan, the rootsy singer-songwriter who sounds not unlike Bruce Springsteen or Jason Isbell — and went all the way to Number One on the Hot 100 with the ballad “I Remember Everything,” assisted by Kacey Musgraves. His self-titled fourth album was one of the best country/Americana releases of the year, but it’s only one of the unmissable 2023 releases in that category, from Jason Isbell’s own Weathervanes to Megan Maroney’s Lucky.
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now,...
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Music publishing company Primary Wave has acquired a partnership in Scott Weiland’s catalog, including the late singer’s work in Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, and his solo material.
The deal is being termed a partnership with Weiland’s estate, as opposed to a full acquisition. According to a press release, “Terms of the deal will see the publishing giant partner with Weiland’s estate on the iconic singer and songwriter’s legendary catalog.”
Brian Harris Frank of Shelter Music Group and Dana Dufine of Dbd Squared Entertainment, who jointly manage Weiland’s estate, stated: “We believe that Primary Wave are the perfect partners to secure Scott’s legacy as one of the great frontmen in rock history. We look forward to working with Larry, Natalia, Adam, and their teams and believe that their ability to connect artists with culture will ensure that Scott’s impact will be felt for generations.
The deal is being termed a partnership with Weiland’s estate, as opposed to a full acquisition. According to a press release, “Terms of the deal will see the publishing giant partner with Weiland’s estate on the iconic singer and songwriter’s legendary catalog.”
Brian Harris Frank of Shelter Music Group and Dana Dufine of Dbd Squared Entertainment, who jointly manage Weiland’s estate, stated: “We believe that Primary Wave are the perfect partners to secure Scott’s legacy as one of the great frontmen in rock history. We look forward to working with Larry, Natalia, Adam, and their teams and believe that their ability to connect artists with culture will ensure that Scott’s impact will be felt for generations.
- 1/24/2024
- by Spencer Kaufman
- Consequence - Music
Boygenius-mania was only the most visible sign of the fantastic year indie rock had in 2023, with strong albums from newcomers (Blondshell, Kara Jackson), established stars (Mitski) and veterans (Wilco, the National). In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, we go through some highlights of the year in indie albums.
Jon Dolan, Angie Martoccio, and Simon Vozick-Levinson join host Brian Hiatt for the discussion. Among many other topics, we touch on Mitski’s surprise hit “My Love Mine All Mine,” which our panelists agree isn’t even the...
Jon Dolan, Angie Martoccio, and Simon Vozick-Levinson join host Brian Hiatt for the discussion. Among many other topics, we touch on Mitski’s surprise hit “My Love Mine All Mine,” which our panelists agree isn’t even the...
- 1/22/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Kali Uchis’ genre-jumping career has so far been evenly divided between Spanish- and English-language albums, which feels about right for an artist who was born in Virginia but spent chunks of her childhood in her father’s native Colombia. “When you aren’t just one thing and you are as multidimensional of an artist as I am,” she says, “I think it’s a lot harder for people to figure out how to sell me as a product. But I think they don’t realize that being multidimensional is a...
- 1/15/2024
- by Brian Hiatt and Julyssa Lopez
- Rollingstone.com
On New Year’s Eve, we learned the improbable fact that a trio of middle-aged, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted punks in notably well-tailored suits can somehow still shock and offend the masses. For Green Day, all it took was changing the “American Idiot” lyric “I’m not part of a redneck agenda” to “I’m not part of the Maga agenda” during their performance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking Eve with Ryan Seacrest — a lyric tweak they’ve been using for years.
The ensuing freakout...
The ensuing freakout...
- 1/4/2024
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Noah Weiland, the son of the late Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland, opened up about his current living situation in a new interview, insisting that he isn’t a rich kid riding the coattails of his legendary father.
The aspiring singer cleared up a common misconception: “I’m not a trust fund baby or anything like that.”
“I always get annoyed when people say that type of stuff,” he told Rolling Stone. “My dad was millions in debt when he died. My mom has always worked a normal job. And truthfully, even if my dad’s estate ever does get out of debt, I don’t even want that money. I want to make a career out of myself as much as possible.”
Heavy Consequence has covered Noah’s solo music, a pop/hip-hop hybrid that’s self-described as a “gritty alternative” take on Justin Bieber, as heard on his recent single “Yesterday.
The aspiring singer cleared up a common misconception: “I’m not a trust fund baby or anything like that.”
“I always get annoyed when people say that type of stuff,” he told Rolling Stone. “My dad was millions in debt when he died. My mom has always worked a normal job. And truthfully, even if my dad’s estate ever does get out of debt, I don’t even want that money. I want to make a career out of myself as much as possible.”
Heavy Consequence has covered Noah’s solo music, a pop/hip-hop hybrid that’s self-described as a “gritty alternative” take on Justin Bieber, as heard on his recent single “Yesterday.
- 1/2/2024
- by Jon Hadusek
- Consequence - Music
“I found a piece of my peace right here in Georgia,” says Chaka Khan, who just started a new life in the big rural property she purchased in that state. She recently sat in her bedroom there, gazing at the trees outside, and looked back at her life and career for our new interview with her, which you can hear on the latest episode of Rolling Stone Music Now. Some highlights follow; to hear the full interview, go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify,...
- 12/31/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
“One of my secrets,” Snoop Dogg tells Latto in their recent Musicians on Musicians conversation, “is that I remain the biggest kid in the room at all times.” The new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now includes highlights of that interview (moderated by Rolling Stone staff writer Andre Gee) along with the two interviews from our first-ever live Musicians on Musicians event: Lil Yachty’s conversation with Tierra Whack (moderated by Rolling Stone’s supervising producer of news video, Delisa Shannon), and a meeting of the minds between Jon Batiste and Gucci Mane.
- 12/30/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
If you look at Noah Weiland’s life from a certain vantage point, he’s the definition of a nepo baby. The 23-year-old is the son of Scott Weiland — the tragic former lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver — and spent his childhood years traveling the world on Velvet Revolver tours, flying on private jets, and staying in luxury hotels. He’s an unsigned artist that just started making his own music a few years ago, but he’s already generated worldwide press and tens of thousands of views for his YouTube videos,...
- 12/29/2023
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
“We didn’t know what we were doing,” says Josh Schwartz, creator of The O.C. For the show’s first few episodes, the music choices were simply plucked from his own iPod. But once the now-legendary music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas came aboard, the show turned into a weekly showcase for some of the best music of the ’00s — and a key force behind the mainstream rise of a certain brand of indie-leaning rock in that decade, from Death Cab for Cutie to the Killers. It didn’t hurt that...
- 12/25/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Noah Weiland, the 23-year-old son of late Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, has released a new solo single called “Yesterday.”
It was three years ago when Weiland emerged with Suspect208, a young rock band also featuring London Hudson (son of Guns N’ Roses’ Slash) and Tye Trujillo (son of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo). Despite a couple of promising singles, Noah was kicked out of Suspect208 due to alleged drug use, and replaced with a new singer before the band eventually broke up entirely.
Noah then formed a group called Blu Weekend with Tye, but that appeared to be short-lived. Last year, Noah returned with a solo EP that leaned more pop than the music he released with Suspect208. And at the beginning of this year, he released the single “Good Riddance & Goodbye.”
Now, he’s back with the alt-pop song “Yesterday,” along with an accompanying music video in which...
It was three years ago when Weiland emerged with Suspect208, a young rock band also featuring London Hudson (son of Guns N’ Roses’ Slash) and Tye Trujillo (son of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo). Despite a couple of promising singles, Noah was kicked out of Suspect208 due to alleged drug use, and replaced with a new singer before the band eventually broke up entirely.
Noah then formed a group called Blu Weekend with Tye, but that appeared to be short-lived. Last year, Noah returned with a solo EP that leaned more pop than the music he released with Suspect208. And at the beginning of this year, he released the single “Good Riddance & Goodbye.”
Now, he’s back with the alt-pop song “Yesterday,” along with an accompanying music video in which...
- 12/4/2023
- by Spencer Kaufman
- Consequence - Music
The further we get from the Nineties, the more it looks like a series of musical golden ages all stacked atop one another, a kaleidoscopic moment when grimy hip-hop and future-shock R&b hit artistic and commercial peaks at the same time as a procession of fuzz-pedal-toting rock bands found themselves at the center of pop culture.
It was the best-ever era for one-hit wonders, even as major labels — suddenly uncertain in era when Nirvana or Wu-Tang Clan could beat out manicured product — also threw money at career artists from Fiona Apple to Outkast.
It was the best-ever era for one-hit wonders, even as major labels — suddenly uncertain in era when Nirvana or Wu-Tang Clan could beat out manicured product — also threw money at career artists from Fiona Apple to Outkast.
- 11/29/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
In the Peter Jackson-directed video for the just-released “Now and Then” — touted as the “final Beatles song” — present-day Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are pleasantly haunted by the ghosts of John Lennon and George Harrison, and even their own younger selves. It’s hard not to think that life inside McCartney and Starr’s heads is a little bit like that on a daily basis, burdened as they are by the weight of history. And they may not be alone: “I walk the city at midnight/With the past strapped to my back,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Wu-Tang Clan’s debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), was more than an album — it was a universe unto itself. The album, which dropped Nov. 9, 1993, introduced the world to nine wildly talented rappers at once, along with the crackly genius of RZA’s soul-and-kung-fu-movie-inflected production and an entire cosmology of lyrical references. 30 years later, there’s still plenty to unpack, which we attempt to do on the latest episode of Rolling Stone Music Now.
Andre Gee joins host Brian Hiatt for a discussion of the album’s greatness and influence, and...
Andre Gee joins host Brian Hiatt for a discussion of the album’s greatness and influence, and...
- 11/10/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Britney Spears’ wrenching new memoir, The Woman in Me, is a classic celebrity tell-all — but she doesn’t quite tell all. There’s not a word in there about the recording her classic second album, Oops!… I Did It Again. Later, she mentions one of her greatest songs, “Toxic,” but again, there’s nothing about the process behind the track.
In the section about Spears’ lip-locked 2003 VMAs appearance with Madonna, Christina Aguilera — who, lest we forget, was also there — is written out of the performance altogether. And Spears never says...
In the section about Spears’ lip-locked 2003 VMAs appearance with Madonna, Christina Aguilera — who, lest we forget, was also there — is written out of the performance altogether. And Spears never says...
- 10/31/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is so dominant in theaters across the country that screenings of the Killers of the Flower Moon have had “Love Story” leaking in from next door during quiet moments. But the nearly three-hour-long Swift concert documentary is an intense theatrical experience in its own right, complete with singalongs, applause, and in some cases, young Swifties leaving their seats to stand, or dance, directly in front of the screen.
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, we share many thoughts on the tour and...
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, we share many thoughts on the tour and...
- 10/22/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
What kind of music should the world expect from a 36-year-old Drake? “I want to hear adult Drake rapping for adult people,” rapper-turned-podcaster Joe Budden said after hearing his new album, For All the Dogs. In lieu of any newfound maturity, the album is instead full of very Drake moments, including lyrics about a ruined Bahamas trip, the difficulties of dating 25-year-olds, Esperanza Spalding’s 2011 Grammy wins, and people thinking he’s still hung up on Rihanna. Meanwhile, critics noticed what they described as a growing misogyny in Drake’s work,...
- 10/17/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
For Teezo Touchdown, his sound started with his look. When the Beaumont, Texas singer/rapper went into the studio in 2019 to record what became the Panic at the Disco-sampling track “100 Drums,” he surprised himself by leaning hard towards rock influences — an approach that would become the template for his recent debut, How Do You Sleep at Night? “I already had made the change aesthetically of going to rock before I even did it sonically,” he says in the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now. “I was already painting my [face], I had the hair.
- 10/8/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Thirty years after the release of Nirvana’s final studio album, In Utero, there are somehow still new things to learn about the band, as original biographer Michael Azerrad proves in his upcoming expanded edition of his classic 1993 book, Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. The new book, The Amplified Come As You Are (due Oct. 24) more than doubles the length of the original version, with new information from Azerrad’s original interviews, corrections (no, Kurt Cobain never actually lived under a bridge), and reflections on the initial text.
- 9/25/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Olivia Rodrigo paved her own way for her excellent, guitar-drenched second album, Guts. It’s impossible to imagine a major pop artist pushing this hard into rock if she hadn’t already opened the door with the hardest-hitting moments of her 2021 debut, Sour. (That said, she doesn’t see herself as a pop star, anyway.)
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Angie Martoccio, who wrote our revealing new cover story on Rodrigo, joins host Brian Hiatt to break down every track of Guts, from the biting sarcasm of the opening track,...
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Angie Martoccio, who wrote our revealing new cover story on Rodrigo, joins host Brian Hiatt to break down every track of Guts, from the biting sarcasm of the opening track,...
- 9/15/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Just two weeks ago, almost no one had ever heard of Oliver Anthony. Then, the Virginia-based country singer-songwriter, whose real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford, went wildly viral with the instant Number One hit “Rich Men North of Richmond,” a raw, solo-acoustic, undeniably catchy track that combined righteous populist complaints about inflation and taxes with nasty swipes at welfare recipients. (He later clarified that he didn’t intend to attack the poor.)
As Rolling Stone pointed out early on, his initial rise was buoyed by heavy, curiously simultaneous support from conservative politicians and media figures.
As Rolling Stone pointed out early on, his initial rise was buoyed by heavy, curiously simultaneous support from conservative politicians and media figures.
- 8/25/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Travis Scott’s Utopia has only been out for two and a half weeks, but it’s already spawned numerous strands of discourse, from the apparent debt its production owes to various scrapped Kanye West songs to the debate over whether its lyrics should have more extensively addressed Scott’s reaction to the fatal crowd crush at his 2021 Astroworld Festival.
But the overwhelming reaction from critics, including Rolling Stone‘s own Andre Gee, was that the album’s biggest weakness is Scott himself, who continues to seem like he’s...
But the overwhelming reaction from critics, including Rolling Stone‘s own Andre Gee, was that the album’s biggest weakness is Scott himself, who continues to seem like he’s...
- 8/16/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
If you really want to understand where Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” comes from, you have to go all the way back to Richard Nixon — and before that, George Wallace. Wallace, a former Alabama governor and segregationist independent candidate for president in 1968, got significant support from the country world, even holding fundraisers at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. After defeating Wallace that fall, Nixon saw the right-wing potential of country music, and invited Johnny Cash to the White House a couple of years later for a concert,...
- 8/7/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
The late Sinéad O’Connor was “one of the most incredible women of modern times,” Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson says in the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, praising her as a “monster musician” who was a major influence on her own work — and on the entire Nineties. “Up until that point, aside from Madonna, there were no really outspoken women in music, because you couldn’t afford to be outspoken,” adds Manson. “You would get squashed. And Sinéad kind of heralded in this amazing decade of rebellion.”
In the episode,...
In the episode,...
- 7/31/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
“At the end of the day, we all do what we’ve learned,” hit-making DJ/producer David Guetta says on the new episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast. “The difference is that AI is gonna be able to learn everything. So of course AI is gonna win at the end because you’ll be able to say to say, ‘I wanna make, a soul record. And AI will have all the soul chord progressions in history, with the exact percentage of the ones that have been the most successful,...
- 7/21/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Producer/engineer Glyn Johns recorded the whole of the Let It Be sessions for the Beatles in 1969, and mixed a raw version of the album that wouldn’t be released for another 52 years — so he’s far from a fan of the Phil Spector-embellished album that came out in 1970. “He did a terrible job,” Johns says on the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now. “Don’t misunderstand me — I respect Phil Spector for his early work tremendously. But somebody like Phil Spector shouldn’t ever be allowed near a band like the Beatles,...
- 7/11/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
When a “fan” threw a phone at Bebe Rexha onstage last month, it was just one of many bizarre and unsettling recent instances of misbehavior at shows. Concertgoers have pelted GloRilla with bottles, invaded Ava Max’s stage, and forced Pink to become part of a stranger’s grieving process by apparently tossing the ashes of a dead relative onstage. But those incidents are just the most visible signs of a depressing trend: Particularly since the pandemic, people seem to have completely forgotten how to behave at shows.
In the...
In the...
- 7/2/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
There’s been so much good music in the first half of this year so far that Rolling Stone included no fewer than 85 albums in our recent best-of list. In the latest episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, we spotlight some of the most notable albums, from Paramore to Davido to Amanda Shires.
Mankaprr Conteh and Maura Johnston join host Brian Hiatt for the discussion. To hear the whole episode, go here to find the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play below.
Mankaprr Conteh and Maura Johnston join host Brian Hiatt for the discussion. To hear the whole episode, go here to find the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play below.
- 6/30/2023
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
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