Music Features

In his final performance in 2022, singer and One Direction member Liam Payne played a stripped-back set at a private venue in London. During the show, Payne — who died on Wednesday after falling from a third-floor balcony while in Buenos Aires — went through a few of his solo …

Kaseem “Ka” Ryan, who passed away on Oct. 12 at the age of 52, was a one-of-one hip-hop visionary who left a legacy as brilliantly idiosyncratic as any the genre has produced. He emerged as a fiercely evocative artist in a moment when a new wave of voices revitalized street …

A FTER HIS BROTHER DIED, Alex Van Halen fell apart. He can prove it. There’s photographic evidence right here on his phone, which also happens to be a repository of unheard, unfinished Van Halen songs. Spend the day with him, and he might play a few. But first, he’ll scroll …

E liza Thorn had a simple request. “Y’all gotta come dance with us, goddammit!” she implored the capacity crowd at New York’s Gottscheer Hall. Almost immediately, the hardwood dance floor in front of Thorn’s stage filled with two-steppers. Some were transplants from parts of the U.S. where country music is …

Dallas rapper BigXThaPlug has a presence that stands out on a crowded midtown Manhattan street. He and his team walk toward the Rolling Stone offices as a united front, cracking jokes while the fall sun flares off their gleaming 600 Entertainment chains. BigX greets me with Texas hospitality as we …

“It’s a bit of a hectic day,” Rufus Wainwright tells Rolling Stone. Work is part of the reason: The singer, songwriter, pianist, and pop cabaret icon is opening a multi-night stand at New York’s Carlyle Café tonight. But it’s also a busy moment thanks to an unusual event last night. …

Leading up tothe Grammy nominations on Nov. 8, Rolling Stone is breaking down 13 different categories. For each, we’re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night. Since its inception, the Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album has been a liminal space in …

Leading up tothe Grammy nominations on Nov. 8, Rolling Stone is breaking down 13 different categories. For each, we’re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night. The Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album has always been somewhat of a …

In November 2014, someone on Tumblr submitted an anonymous question to the popular blog Se7enteenblack. “Describe the color black without using the word,” the user wrote, presenting more of a test than a query. The question went to the person behind the blog: a 20-year-old Halsey. She had released her …

Kassi Ashton believes that when she was born and her baby feet were pinched to see if her vocal cords worked, a microphone was also held to her mouth and a spotlight shined in her face. “As soon as I was old enough to compute in my tiny brain that …