Last week, Jon Bauman paused in the middle of a Zoom call with Rolling Stone, put on his glasses and glanced up at a TV screen in his home. “You and I are right now in the middle of the vote on the Big Ugly Bill,” he said as the …
Read More »All the Drummers Who Played in Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron stunned fans this morning by announcing his immediate departure from the band following nearly three decades of service. “After 27 fantastic years, I have taken my final steps down the drum riser for the mighty Pearl Jam,” he wrote. “Much love and respect to Jeff, …
Read More »Mike Gordon's Quest to Understand the Science Behind the 'Flow State'
I n the middle of a sprawling recording room at Bob Weir’s TRI Studios in San Rafael, California, one Sunday afternoon in April 2023, Weir and Phish bassist Mike Gordon were up to something strange. At a glance it looked like a couple of chill music legends doing chill music …
Read More »I'm With Her Try to Explain Their Otherworldly Harmonies. It's Not Easy
I have approximately the time it takes for I’m With Her to pile into a sprinter van backstage at Colorado’s Telluride Bluegrass Festival and drive to their late-night show at the nearby Sheridan Opera House to conduct a fast-paced interview. But, in truth, three and a half minutes of listening …
Read More »AI 'Band' the Velvet Sundown Officially Confirm They're AI — and a 'Provocation'
The AI band The Velvet Sundown, who currently have over 900,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, have officially admitted —in a new revision to their Spotify bio — what was obvious to experts and non-experts alike: their music is, in fact, AI-generated. “The Velvet Sundown is a synthetic music project guided …
Read More »Kelsey Waldon Learns to Live With Old Ghosts on a Confessional New Album
In a moment of clarity, Kelsey Waldon brushed aside the chaos of New York on a Friday evening. She was in the city on June 20 to release her latest record, Every Ghost, in the basement-level concert hall at Hill Country Barbecue. The show was branded as a Honky Tonkin’ …
Read More »'Spokesperson' for AI 'Band' Velvet Sundown Now Says He's a Hoaxer
The pseudonymous Andrew Frelon, who spoke to Rolling Stone on Wednesday as a spokesperson for the viral AI band The Velvet Sundown, and runs a Twitter account that purports to represent the band, was running an elaborate hoax aimed at the media, he now says in a Medium post. The …
Read More »How the Sean Combs Verdict May Have 'Chilling Effect' on Cases for Abuse Victims
Follow all of our Sean Combs trial coverage When a jury of eight men and four women cleared Sean Combs of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges on Wednesday – the most severe charges leveled against him by federal prosecutors – reaction was decidedly mixed. Combs’ supporters cheered the news …
Read More »Beating RICO Charges Doesn't Make Diddy a Hero
Follow all of our Sean Combs trial coverage Sean “Diddy” Combs was found guilty of two prostitution-related counts in federal court on Wednesday, but not guilty of the far more severe racketeering and two sex-trafficking charges. His lead attorney, Marc Agnifilo, told Judge Arun Subramanian that “Combs has been given …
Read More »The Wild Nights and Free-Love Crusade of Labelle
This story was originally published in the July 3, 1975 issue of Rolling Stone. First there is the voice from out of the darkness. A melodic hum, a brush of drums and “Nightbird fly by the light of the moon / Makes no difference if it’s only a game.” Then, …
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