For a music journalist in the Nineties, there could have been no better phone call. Not long after Michael Azerrad hung out with Kurt Cobain for Nirvana’s first Rolling Stone cover story, Courtney Love reached out to ask him if he wanted to write a book about Nirvana. He agreed, …
Read More »Inside the Top-Secret Military Concert Series You've Never Heard Of
I t’s a Tuesday night, and I pull up to Tampa’s Amalie Arena. There’s no fanfare —no crowds lining up outside; no bright, flashing signage; nothing. My Uber driver asks if there’s an event in the area. But in just three hours, three-time Grammy-winning country superstar Brad Paisley will share …
Read More »R.E.M.'s Mike Mills Looks Back on 'Up': 'There Were Some Very Dark Times'
There were few bands on the planet bigger than R.E.M. in the mid-Nineties. Their popularity grew every year in the Eighties before they went supernova the following decade thanks to hits like “Losing My Religion,” “Man on the Moon,” “Everybody Hurts,” and “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” Warner Bros. was so …
Read More »Girl Power Will Dominate the Grammy Nominations for Best Pop Solo Performance
Leading up to the Grammy nominations on Nov. 10, Rolling Stone is breaking down 16 different categories. For each, we’re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night. If it is truly “the year of the girl” as many have claimed in light …
Read More »Cidny Bullens Sang on 'Grease' and With Elton John. Transitioning Helped Him Find His Voice
In his home office in Nashville, Cidny Bullens glances at a photo perched behind him: a young, pouty-faced 28-year-old in a Superman T-shirt, cradling an electric guitar. “I look at me as a different person,” says Bullens, who now sports short hair and a wisp of a mustache. “I don’t …
Read More »The Best Pop Vocal Grammy Category Will Be Packed With Superstars
Leading up to the Grammy nominations on Nov. 10, Rolling Stone is breaking down 16 different categories. For each, we’re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night. You might think that Taylor Swift would dominate in this category, but she has just …
Read More »Is a Tracy Chapman Cover the Favorite for the Best Country Solo Performance Grammy?
Leading up to the Grammy nominations on Nov. 10, Rolling Stone is breaking down 16 different categories. For each, we’re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night. The category is about the vocal performance, not the lyrics — which is what makes …
Read More »Listen to a Playlist of Songs by Musicians on Musicians Artists
We’ve compiled the eclectic mix of hip-hop, Latin pop, R&B, Afrobeats, and K-pop music of the artists featured in the fifth installment of our Musicians on Musicians series into a mega playlist on iHeart. From the song that changed Omar Apollo’s life to Latto’s own track that Snoop Dogg requested …
Read More »Jean Dawson Embraced the Chaos. SZA Was Listening
The musician and visual artist Jean Dawson is consistently viral — clips of his wide-ranging and somewhat existential interviews have a way of multiplying on social feeds — and yet remains a genuine enigma. Growing up, the 26-year-old artist split his time between Tijuana and San Diego near the border. …
Read More »Will Country Music's Biggest Song Be Nominated for a Best Country Song Grammy?
Leading up to the Grammy nominations on Nov. 10, Rolling Stone is breaking down 16 different categories. For each, we’re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night. This is a moment overflowing with worthy country songs, so even though this category makes …
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