Tag Archives: 500-songs-podcast

When Donna Summer was recording her album I Remember Yesterday, she wanted each song to evoke a different decade. “I Feel Love” was meant to represent the future of music, and as time has gone on, that idea has become a prophecy. Co-produced by Giorgio Moroder and Peter Bellotte, “I …

It took two years for Nicki Minaj to take over the world. Following her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty, she caught the attention of Lil Wayne, who signed her. Minaj became ubiquitous, quickly taking over the charts and winning over rap heavyweights and pop divas with her next-level guest …

When OutKast dropped “Ms. Jackson” in the fall of 2000, the world was stunned. Nobody had ever heard a hip-hop song that sounded anything like this. But there’s never been anybody like OutKast before. The Atlanta duo, made up of Andre 3000 and Big Boi, brought their innovative hip-hop style …

One thing Cher’s career has never been is predictable. As a teenager in the Sixties, she cut her teeth with future husband Sonny Bono and producer Phil Spector. They would produce massive pop hits like “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On” that became staples in the Seventies. …

Only a few rare songs ever turn into pop classics. But this one turned into a classic twice. “Killing Me Softly with His Song” has one of the longest, weirdest stories in pop history. In the 1970s, it hit Number One as a lush soft-soul hit for the smoothed-out R&B …

In a new episode of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs, Carole King discussed her multiple entries on the list, both her solo hits and ones she co-penned with ex-husband and creative partner Gerry Goffin. Among them is the Shirelles‘ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” the 1960 girl group classic that …

There are all other songwriters, and then there is Carole King. Nobody’s ever had an epic career quite like the Brooklyn girl who spent the Sixties writing classic hits for other artists—then spent the Seventies writing her own. With her 1971 solo classic Tapestry, she set the standards that all …

Daddy Yankee’s original plan was to become a baseball player. When a stray bullet hit him, he pivoted to focusing on his other passion: music. The Puerto Rican star ended up becoming an integral part of the creation and explosion of reggaeton, a Spanish-language genre that fuses elements of dancehall …

Drake has always been a magnet for attention. His strange journey has taken him from teen fame on Degrassi to blockbuster rap stardom. In 2024, his beef with Kendrick Lamar has blown up into one of the all-time biggest hip-hop beefs. They went from zero to 100 real quick, sending …

When Jeff Buckley died in 1997, a young singer-songwriter’s promising career was cut much too short. He was just 30, and had been working on his second studio album at the time of his accidental drowning in a Tennessee river. Buckley’s place in music was still unclear in the Nineties. …