Music

The Eagles have some of the highest songwriting standards of any mainstream musical group of the popular era, and they have collaborated with a slate of the top songwriters in the world. Their co-writers include Bob Seger, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Jack Tempchin ... and, somewhat incredibly, Patti Davis, Ronald and Nancy Reagan's daughter.Davis was romantically involved with Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon from 1974 until 1975, according to Eagles Online Central. The couple were living together, and Leadon heard Davis tinkering with the song one day, He helped her finish it,...

CJ Camerieri of yMusic and Sufjan Stevens have teamed up for new single, “Song of Trouble.” The track appears on upcoming LP CARM, Camerieri’s solo debut album that’s named after the moniker he records under. Cowritten and arranged by CARM and Stevens, the single is ushered in with French horns and trumpets, which buoy Stevens’ lyrics that grapple with trouble and implore for an end to it  — a sentiment made for these times. “Struggle, focus on the evidence/Struggle, so everything was made for this,” Stevens sings. “Struggle, rise above...

Garth Brooks is among the slate of artists who have been chosen to receive the Kennedy Center Honors in 2021.The Kennedy Center announced Brooks as one of the recipients of the 43rd Kennedy Center Honors on Wednesday (Jan. 13). He'll be honored in a ceremony that's been delayed until May alongside a slate of fellow honorees from across the spectrum of the arts, including artist, choreographer and actress Debbie Allen, singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez, violinist Midori and actor Dick Van Dyke.“The Kennedy Center Honors serves as a moment to...

Diane Warren is such a prolific — and relentless  —  songwriter that she was right in the middle of working on a new composition when she paused to join us for the latest episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast. Warren, who has her first solo album, Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions Vol. 1, due later this year (with lead vocals from Darius Rucker, Celine Dion, John Legend, Mary J. Blige, and more), joined host Brian Hiatt to tell wild stories from more than three decades of hit-making. She...

Loretta Lynn remembered her late husband, Oliver Lynn Jr. (also known as "Doolittle"), on social media recently, in honor of what would have been the couple's 73rd anniversary.She also included a video clip of herself performing her song "I Can't Hear the Music," which is featured on her 2000 studio album Still Country."Today would be our 73rd anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long," Lynn writes in the caption of her post. "We fought hard and we loved hard. He was my biggest fan and the real force behind my career. He's the...

YFN Lucci is wanted by Atlanta police on a murder charge in connection with a shooting in the city on December 10th, which resulted in the death of James Adams and left another injured, as Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The Atlanta rapper, whose real name is Rayshawn Bennett, is wanted on murder, aggravated assault, participating in criminal street gang activity and weapons charges, Atlanta police announced on Tuesday. Two other men, Ra’von Boyd and Leroy Pitts, were arrested in Miami on similar charges for their alleged roles in the shooting. Adams...

Lil Nas X's 2019 smash, "Old Town Road" — specifically, the remix version featuring Billy Ray Cyrus — has become the most platinum-certified song in the history of the Recording Industry Association of America.The country-rap crossover hit marked the milestone on Jan. 9, as reported by Billboard. It was then that Lil Nas' and Billy Ray's "Old Town Road" reached 14 times platinum status in the U.S. for moving 14 million equivalent song units. Impressively, it's the most ever for a single in all of RIAA history.Both artists celebrated the achievement...

Yusuf/Cat Stevens has announced the children’s book Peace Train, out May 11th via HarperCollins. The book is in celebration of the song’s 50th anniversary; the track appeared on 1971’s Teaser and the Firecat. Yusuf has teamed up with Peter H. Reynolds for the book’s illustration. “I wrote these lyrics more than 50 years ago, and I know the words still boom as true and loud today as they did in the Seventies,” Yusuf said in a statement. “It’s incredible to see how Peter Reynolds has made the words jump into...

Morgan Wallen's duet with Chris Stapleton, "Only Thing That's Gone," is one of the more traditionally-inclined tracks on his newly released double album, Dangerous. However, the way the two artists' collaboration came together couldn't be more on-brand for the quarantine era."I got an email," Stapleton explained during a recent conversation with Taste of Country Nights, adding that to this day, he hasn't spent much time with Wallen in person. "I've only met him in passing, at some awards shows and things, but we've never really stood in a room together."It...

In retrospect, OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder‘s sideline as a successful Top 40 songwriter seems fated. His father was a gospel songwriter in the Seventies with an encyclopedic knowledge of the hits. “He could tell you the top records on the chart at any given point in time for basically all the Eighties and all the Nineties,” Tedder told Wonderland Magazine. Tedder started playing piano at age three, picked up the guitar as a teenager, and penned his first song when he was 15. “Melody is the single most important thing...

Tyler Hubbard couldn't help but be affected by the many heartbreaks of 2020. The worst of it inspired him to write "Undivided," a song that both he and collaborator Tim McGraw say is a mirror.The peppy, pop-friendly country bop simply asks us to treat our neighbors with decency and kindness. That's hardly a rare message, but it's personalized by two men who heard the words as an accountability check.Hubbard — who wrote the song in quarantine while battling COVID-19 in November — says it was definitely inspired a turbulent year in America....

Justin Bieber’s “Anyone” debuted at Number One on the first Rolling Stone Top 100 Songs chart of 2021. Bieber wrote the track with help from Andrew Watt and Jon Bellion, among others, before releasing it on New Year’s day. “Anyone” amassed more than 13 million streams in the first week of 2021.  SZA’s “Good Days,” which originally debuted at Number Eight on the previous week’s chart, jumped to Number Two with 14 million streams. CJ’s fast-moving “Whoopty” also leapt from Number 15 to Number Five (11.4 million streams) on the...

Many a country song has served up a much-needed reminder that a new and better day is coming. From Kacey Musgraves' “Rainbow” to Maren Morris' “Girl” to Thomas Rhett’s “Be a Light,” songs have a way of boosting their listeners emotionally, just when we need it the most. And now, country legend Johnny Lee has given fans another song to add to this worthy mix.“Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” could easily be seen as 2021's first lullaby for a hurting nation. As the United States continues to deal with a time of...