Music

Billy Joel paid tribute to Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker, who died Feb. 19 at the age of 76, with a rendition of the band’s classic “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” a song that Joel has frequently praised (and covered) throughout his career. Taking the stage Saturday night at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, Joel delivered a moving rendition of “Shade of Pale” following a performance of his own “Only the Good Die Young”; earlier in the week, Joel paid tribute to Brooker on social media. Sorry to hear about the passing...

American Idol is back! The hit reality singing competition returned with its Season 20 premiere on Sunday night (Feb. 27), kicking off its first round of auditions with a slew of singers hoping to make it through to Hollywood.Celebrating its fifth consecutive season on ABC, Ep. 1 already had viewers on the edge of their seats, thanks to a brand new twist known as the Platinum Ticket. The new tool gives hopefuls a chance to bypass Hollywood Week. Only nine artists will receive a Platinum Ticket throughout the season, which...

Green Day have cancelled their upcoming show in Moscow following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the band announced Sunday on social media. The trio was scheduled to perform May 29 at Moscow prior to their European tour in June. However, the band wrote Sunday on their Instagram Stories, “With heavy hearts, in light of current events we feel it is necessary to cancel our upcoming show in Moscow at Spartak Stadium.”  “We are aware that this moment is not about stadium rock shows, it’s so much bigger than that,” Green Day...

Alan Jackson’s debut album, Here in the Real World, straddles the musical and chronological line between the Class of ’89 — a neo-traditionalist new wave marked by the debut albums of Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Lorrie Morgan and others — and the more commercial-driven rise of ‘90s country.Jackson became the first signee of Arista Nashville on June 26, 1989, and many of his early songs mirror Black’s honky-tonk affinity and Brooks’ storytelling bent. Yet fame stalled after his lone major-label single of the ‘80s, “Blue Blooded Woman,” failed to crack the Top...

For their second appearance as musical guests on Saturday Night Live, LCD Soundsystem decided to perform two deep cuts from their discography. The Brooklyn indie outfit spearheaded by James Murphy kicked off their set with the industrial-tinged “Thrills”  before returning to the stage for a funky synth performance of their hit “Yr City’s A Sucker”— both from their self-titled 2005 album. The group previously played on SNL in 2017, performing songs from their 2017 LP American Dream including the title track and “Call The Police.” Last year, the LCD was supposed...

Johnny Cash is not just a country music icon; he's a music icon, period. With the Man in Black's celebrity came many, many public moments, both good and bad -- but all unforgettable.From "Chicken in Black" (yes, that was really a thing) to his incredible "Hurt" music video, Cash's decades-long career is full of musical treasures and interesting tidbits of information. For example, did you know that Cash and Waylon Jennings were once roommates? After hearing the audio in the video above, you'll be wishing you were a fly on the wall in that apartment!Also...

Kanye West is now suggesting he might challenge his prenup with Kim Kardashian and that her claims he’s been causing her “emotional distress” with harassing social media posts are “double hearsay.” In a new court filing late Friday, the Donda rapper is doubling down on his opposition to Kardashian’s request for a speedier restoration of her single status ahead of a final settlement on financial and custody issues in the couple’s high-profile split. Kardashian said in a filing earlier this week that she believes West’s initial request for a delay...

Without question, Johnny Cash was a larger-than-life musical icon. Throughout his multi-decade long career, the Man in Black turned out hit song after hit song, including the classics "I Walk the Line," "Ring of Fire," "A Boy Named Sue" and "Folsom Prison Blues."But Cash's influence extends far, far beyond country, and far, far beyond music. His work with Bob Dylan and his late-in-life covers of, among others, Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt;" his genre-bending television variety show The Johnny Cash Show; and his commentary on a number of sociopolitical issues mean the artist's legacy is...

Dashboard Confessional delivered an on-brand emotive performance of “Everyone Else Is Just Noise,” the latest single from the long-running emo pioneer’s new album All the Truth That I Can Tell, on Jimmy Kimmel Live Friday. The single finds frontman Chris Carraba reflecting on the changes, both good and bad, that come with growing older — a stark change from the lovelorn, despondent indie rock ballads that defined Carraba’s early career. “I’m starting to live without doubting/I’m learning to like who I am,” he sings. “I’m trying to let go a...

Carrie Underwood's sons have seen her Reflection residency at Resorts World in Las Vegas, and they have strong feelings about the best part of the show.Three-year-old Jacob and (almost) 7-year-old Isaiah don't necessarily agree on the best part, however. Underwood's youngest son says the waterfall moment that ends the show is his favorite part.As for Isaiah?"Isaiah's favorite part is when I light a truck on fire during 'Before He Cheats,'" Underwood tells Good Morning America.This moment came mid-show during the December debut, which Taste of Country was on hand to...

Rauw Alejandro has been teasing Trap Cake Vol. 2 for months, promising to build on the sludgy, trap-soul sounds from his first iteration of the project, which he released back in 2019. The EP finally dropped last night and while it’s a quick, 33-minute ride, it refuses to be limited by brevity. Rauw does a lot with a little time, churning out music that’s more grim and provocative than his last full-length album, Vice Versa, but he’s great when he’s lurking in darkness. There’s a bleak disaffection in the guitar-drenched...

Texas country icon Pat Green and rising country artist Abby Anderson have teamed up for an uplifting new song, “All in This Together.”Co-written by Green with Sean Michael Giddings, the euphoric track offers listeners encouragement and lyrical pearls of wisdom to help them get through life’s challenges. While it acknowledges the inevitability of hardship, it also celebrates the gift of friendship and camaraderie.“We’re all in this together, we can make it through / Been down at the bottom too many times, now I’m holding onto you / We’re all in this together, through the...

Bonnie Raitt will release a new album, Just Like That…, April 22 via Redwing. The musician has unveiled the LP’s first single: a bluesy, self-produced song titled “Made Up Mind.” Raitt recorded Just Like That… in Sausalito, Calif. last summer. The musician produced it herself alongside mixing engineer Ryan Freeland. She tapped a collection of musicians for the songs: bassist James “Hutch” Hutchinson, drummer Ricky Fataar, keyboardist and backing vocalist Glenn Patscha, and guitarist Kenny Greenberg. In December, Raitt announced her Just Like That tour, which runs from March through the...

Although Bill Monroe deserves the "Father of Bluegrass" moniker for popularizing a new interpretation of very old folk sounds, one game-changing bandleader does not a genre make. Bluegrass doesn’t become its own thing apart from country music over time without other ground-setting pickers following Monroe’s lead. That first wave of Monroe devotees included his former bandmates Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers, a groundbreaking duo featuring future legend Dr. Ralph Stanley.Beginning in 1946, Stanley played alongside his brother Carter (Aug. 27, 1945-Dec. 1, 1966) as leaders of...