Recent articles
July 14, 2026
Lily Allen Drops Most Arena Dates on U.S. Tour in Favor of Theater and Amphitheater Shows
Lily Allen’s “West End Girl” tour was one of the year’s most acclaimed pop outings when it played U.S. theaters earlier this year, but there was some question about whether the intimate and highly ...
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July 13, 2026
Allison Russell on Finding Joy ‘In the Hour of Chaos,’ a Duets-Filled Third Album That’s a Jubilee Unto Itself
She’s a rainbow… and with a slew of carefully chosen guest artists on her new album, she might also count as a rainbow farmer. The acclaimed singer-songwriter Allison Russell is back with her third...
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July 12, 2026
Madonna’s ‘Confessions II’ Debuts at No. 1 on Album Chart, as Ken Carson and Sienna Spiro Also Bow in Top 10
Madonna’s “Confessions II,” her first new album in seven years, found an appreciative audience awaiting her return. The album bowed with 134,000 equivalent album units, more than enough to push her...
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July 11, 2026
Jack White Keeps Rock ‘n’ Roll on the Front Burner in ‘Frozen Charlotte,’ His Heavy and Blazingly Worthy ‘No Name’ Followup: Album Review
The first question most Jack White fans are looking to have answered to when it comes to his new album, “Frozen Charlotte”: Is it effectively a “No Name 2.0”? Nearly everyone is hoping for a “yes,”...
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July 11, 2026
Jack White Offers Opening Slot to ‘Satanic’ Band Twin Temple — ‘Get in Front of Me, Satan!’ — as Charley Crockett Defends Decision to Dump Them
“Not today, Satan”… or “Hell yeah, Beelzebub”? A split is taking place in the polarizing realm of devil-rock, as practiced by self-styled “Satanic” duo Twin Temple. On Friday, country singer Charle...
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July 9, 2026
Sarah McLachlan and Allison Russell on Touring Together and Summer Nights Devoted to ‘Forgetting Madness and Being Part of Something Beautiful’
All mysteries aside, you could say that, this summer, together, Sarah McLachlan and Allison Russell are building a sister-y road show. McLachlan is touring behind her 2025 “Better Broken” album, as...
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July 8, 2026
Country Music Association Names Brittany Schaffer as New CEO to Succeed Sarah Trahern
The Country Music Association announced Wednesday that Brittany Schaffer will be its next CEO. Schaffer, presently a dean at Belmont University and formerly a top exec in Spotify’s country operatio...
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July 7, 2026
Dolly Parton’s ‘Dolly: A True Original Musical’ Sets Broadway Run, With Previews Beginning in December
Broadway will be saying “Hello, Dolly” before the end of the year, as the musical telling the life story of country-pop superstar Dolly Parton is set to begin previews at the St. James Theatre on D...
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July 7, 2026
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass Whip It Good at the Hollywood Bowl, Returning After 59 Years for a Great Sugar Rush of a Show: Concert Review
The Hollywood Bowl was by no means a lonely bowl Sunday night, as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass returned to pack the storied venue for the first time in 59 years. The Brass’s Cahuenga Pass co...
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July 6, 2026
Taylor Swift Prevails in Poet’s Plagiarism Lawsuit, as Florida Judge Dismisses Case With Prejudice
The wedding presents just keep on coming. Three days after Taylor Swift’s marriage to Travis Kelce, a federal judge dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit filed 14 months ago by a little-known Florida ...
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July 4, 2026
How Taylor Swift’s Wedding Puts a Cap on Her 20 Years of Writing About Marriage, From ‘Love Story’ to the Bitter ‘You’re Losing Me’ to the Triumphant ‘Eldest Daughter’
“I wouldn’t marry me, either,” Taylor Swift sang — bitterly, it’s fair to say — just a few years ago. Remember when the world’s biggest pop superstar was writing about how she had been deemed Not M...
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July 3, 2026
Sienna Spiro’s ‘The Visitor’ Introduces an Electrifying Voice That’s Here to Stay: Album Review
Only a very few performers put out their debut album having already established themselves as frontrunners for the Grammy for best new artist. Sienna Spiro is in that category, and let’s just say t...
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July 2, 2026
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Donated $26 Million to Charities Ahead of Wedding
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have donated $26 million to at least 20 charities this week, a representative announced, in advance of a wedding reported to be taking place this weekend in New York. ...
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July 2, 2026
Rosalía’s Brilliant ‘Lux’ Tour Brings Cross-Disciplinary Dazzlement to L.A.’s Kia Forum: Concert Review
Do you want to know how good Rosalía’s Monday night show at the Kia Forum was? Here is how good Rosalía’s Monday night show at the Forum was… Midway through the set, as is the custom on her “Lux” t...
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July 1, 2026
Jury Says Chris Brown Owes Housekeeper $13 Million for Disfigurement in Dog Mauling Attack
Chris Brown was found liable by a Los Angeles jury on Tuesday for $13 million in the gruesome case of a dog that mauled and disfigured his housekeeper at his home in 2020. At the end of a two-week ...
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June 29, 2026
The Best Albums of 2026 (So Far)
Dear 2026: You seem pretty rad, for a year so potentially in malaise. At least, that’s the way we feel every time we turn off the news and turn on the music that takes us away from all that. The be...
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June 27, 2026
Vanilla Ice’s Freedom 250 Concert in D.C. Canceled Due to ‘Inclement Weather’ That Doesn’t Materialize
There was no measurable rain in Washington, D.C. Friday night, but even a threat of scattered showers was enough to melt Vanilla Ice’s planned performance on the National Lawn as part of the Freedo...
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June 25, 2026
Phoebe Bridgers Goes Renaissance Faire Role-Playing in the Video for ‘Lost Boys,’ Her First Solo Single in Four Years
Phoebe Bridgers released her first new solo single in four years, “Lost Boys,” on Thursday, accompanied by a music video that sees the singer doing some serious Renaissance Faire-style role playing...
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June 25, 2026
Rhiannon Giddens Previews New Album, ‘Hope Is the Thing With Feathers’: ‘It’s a Punctuation Point’ to ’20 Years of Me Being a Roots and Americana Artist’
If roots music in America has a poster woman, it’s Rhiannon Giddens, who we can always picture with her banjo, even if she’s doing projects as far afield from that as an opera. She has just announc...
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June 25, 2026
ACM Honors Event Sets Kacey Musgraves, Ella Langley, Leslie Fram and Other Country Heavyweights for Special Awards
The lineup of country music heavyweights due to receive special awards from the Academy of Country Music this summer has been set, with Kacey Musgraves, Ella Langley and Eric Church among the stars...
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June 24, 2026
Leonard Cohen Estate Objects to Trump’s Promised Use of ‘Hallelujah’ at Freedom 250 Rally
The Leonard Cohen estate is objecting to President Donald J. Trump’s promised — or threatened — use of the song “Hallelujah” ahead of Wednesday night’s Freedom 250 rally on the National Mall in Was...
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June 24, 2026
Alexis Wilkins, Kash Patel’s Country-Singer Girlfriend, Gets Booked for Freedom 250 Event in D.C., Rebuts ‘Sham Accusations’: ‘I Was Invited to Sing This Anthem on My Own Accord’
Alexis Wilkins, the conservative country singer who is the longtime girlfriend of FBI director Kash Patel, is responding to critics after announcing that she has been booked to perform at a Freedom...
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June 21, 2026
Bob Dylan Erects a Watchtower in the Desert With Moody, Magisterial Show at Palm Springs’ Acrisure Arena: Concert Review
“I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You,” Bob Dylan sings every night on his recently begun “Long Hot Summer ’26” tour, keeping a song from his most recent album, 2020’s “Rough and Rowdy Ways,”...
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June 19, 2026
Here’s to the Chicks as the Band of the Sesquicentennial, as Group Performs First U.S. Show in Three Years at SoCal’s Yaamava’ Theater: Concert Review
In the words of Grand Funk: They’re an American band. Those of us who are prone to think and argue about rock ‘n’ roll superlatives often debate which act counts as the greatest American band of th...
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June 18, 2026
Taylor Swift Wrote and Recorded ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ in 8 Hours Right After Watching ‘Toy Story 5’: ‘One of the Most Fun Days of My Life’
Fortunately, it’s not just Taylor Swift’s cats that get the zoomies. On the day that “Toy Story 5” hit theaters, the pop superstar took to X to post a brief video clip of herself speaking to the ca...
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June 17, 2026
Why Taylor Swift’s Reunion With Country Music for ‘Toy Story 5’ Ought to Get Her a First Date With Oscar
On June 10, Taylor Swift marked another small career milestone when her “Toy Story 5” song “I Knew It, I Knew You” “closed the panel” at country radio, getting instantly added at all 157 stations t...
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June 17, 2026
Walter Parazaider, Chicago Co-Founder, Flutist and Sax Player, Dies at 81
Walter Parazaider, a co-founding member of Chicago who was with the band from its start in 1967 through his retirement in 2017, died Wednesday, family members announced. He had been suffering from ...
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June 16, 2026
How Did Rush Become the Hipster Band of 2026? A New Fan’s Appreciation of Their Triumphant Forum Comeback… Aided by a Substitute Drummer Who’s Giving a ‘Fifty Something’ Group a Fresh Spark
Step (or fly) aside, Geese. Circle back later, Turnstile. Take five and go flaccid, Viagra Boys. There can only be one rock band that is unquestionably and certifiably the cool kids’ choice in 2026...
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June 15, 2026
Taylor Swift’s ‘Toy Story 5’ Song ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ Bows at No. 1, Becoming Her 15th Hot 100 Topper
Taylor Swift’s run as a true action figure on the charts continues as her “Toy Story 5” song “I Knew It, I Knew You” was announced Monday as debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s only th...
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June 15, 2026
At ‘Songwriters Salute John Prine’ at Wolf Trap in Virginia, Emmylou Harris, Margo Price, Allison Russell and Others Make the Case for Prine as America’s Poet Laureate
When some look toward the U.S. semiquincentennial and consider what examplar might best represent American achievement or the nation’s character, only one thing inevitably comes to mind: wrestling....
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