Music

Last Christmas, Kanye West gifted fans with the gospel-inspired Jesus Is Born, his ninth album and first with the Sunday Service Choir. On Friday evening, the rapper-producer turned the holiday into a new tradition, releasing a five-song EP titled Emmanuel “inspired by ancient and Latin music.” Billed in a statement accompanying the surprise release as a “celebration of the miracle of the birth of Jesus Christ,” the 12-minute EP, executive produced and composed by West, include the Christian prayer “Requiem Aeternam” (“Eternal Rest”) and the choral work “O Magnum Mysterium.” The Sunday Service...

Twenty-one years ago today (Dec. 25, 1999) was a Christmas to remember for Faith Hill: It was on that date that the singer landed at the top of the country charts with her hit single, "Breathe;" the song stayed in the No. 1 spot for an astonishing six weeks."Breathe," written by Stephanie Bentley and Holly Lamar, was the lead-off single from and title track of Hill's fourth studio album. With sexy lines such as, "I can feel you breathe / It's washing over me / Suddenly I'm melting into you / There's...

So, How Was Your 2020? is a series in which our favorite entertainers answer our questionnaire about the music, culture and memorable moments that shaped their year. We’ll be rolling these pieces out throughout December. Brent Cobb spent the year making what he calls “country music for grown folks,” which is to say, country songs that are more about full hearts and open minds than empty beer cans and truck beds. In October, he released the album Keep ‘Em on They Toes, recorded with producer Brad Cook in Durham, North Carolina,...

Dan + Shay truly believe that Christmas is a season for giving. The country duo helped find and furnish three homes for families in need this year. Their reactions will warm your heart.Working with Safe Haven Family Shelter, a Nashville-based shelter-to-housing program, Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney surprised the three families with houses to call their own, adding stability at a pivotal time in their lives. Each family shown has children and now each child has a bedroom to cal his or her own."I've actually accomplished the hardest thing I...

The latest episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast is a definitive deep dive into Taylor Swift’s second surprise album of the year, Evermore. The discussion breaks down every track on the album, digging into fan theories, musical influences, and much more. Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield join host Brian Hiatt for the freewheeling episode, wherein our enthused panel manages to compare moments on the album to the works of Genesis, Mogwai, Natalie Maines, Sally Rooney, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, Carole King, Adam Duritz, and countless others. To hear...

Garth Brooks says he usually only sings a small portion of the emotional "Belleau Wood" when it's requested, but he pledged to get through it during his recent television special. He almost didn't make it."Belleau Wood" is an original song about a Christmas ceasefire during World War I. The lyrics tell of an American man who hears a German soldier singing "Silent Night" from across the battle field. He stands up from his bunker to join him, knowing that if his trust is misguided he'd be killed. It's a sweet moment, one that shows...

Leslie West, the towering guitarist who created the hard-rock milestone “Mississippi Queen” with his band Mountain, died Wednesday morning. West’s brother, Larry West Weinstein, confirmed the musician’s death to Rolling Stone. He was 75. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. On Monday, West was rushed to a hospital after suffering cardiac arrest at his home near Daytona, Florida, where he never regained consciousness. Released in 1970 on Mountain’s debut album, Climbing!, “Mississippi Queen” was two and a half minutes of boisterous bliss built around West’s burly yowl and guitar...

Chris Janson says that there's one important Christmas tradition he grew up with that he's hoping to pass on to his kids."I have to attribute a lot to my dad for always making Christmas about someone else," the singer explained backstage at CMA Country Christmas in 2019, before hitting the stage for his performance. "He would always pick a family who needed something, or families who needed something, and he always kinda prodded me that way."As an adult -- and especially as a parent himself -- Janson knows that getting gifts is far from the most important...

John “Ecstasy” Fletcher, rapper and founding member of the pioneering hip-hop group Whodini, has died at the age of 56. The group’s Grand Master Dee confirmed Fletcher’s death to Variety. No cause of death was provided. News of Fletcher’s death was first revealed by the Roots’ Questlove, with many others in the rap community also mourning the death of the Whodini rapper. “One Love to Ecstasy of the Legendary #Whodini,” Questlove wrote on social media. “This man was legendary and a pivotal member of one of the most legendary groups in...

As country music entered a new millennium, multiple stars of the 1990s added to their legacies. Indeed, some of 2000's better songs come to mind whenever anyone brings up Sara Evans, Jo Dee Messina, John Michael Montgomery, Travis Tritt and Lee Ann Womack.Beyond defining moments for established names, the year introduced potential new stars ranging from a pre-teen Billy Gilman to Australian songwriter Jamie O'Neal. On the folksier side of the spectrum, Americana got arguably its biggest boost to date with an Emmylou Harris masterpiece and the most important country-related soundtrack...

For Dayna Frank, owner of First Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the feeling was completely indescribable. For Kerri Park, general manager at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, there was a palpable shift towards positivity. For Christine Karayan, owner of the Troubadour in Los Angeles, there was still some understandable hesitancy. It was Monday evening and Congressional leaders had only agreed on a Covid-19 relief package that included much-needed funding for independent music venues around the country, but no votes had actually been cast. “What these nine, ten months have taught me,”...

Nineties band Eve 6 has just one question for the various celebrities of Twitter: “Do you like the heart in a blender song?” Frontman Max Collins is referring, of course, to the band’s 1998 hit, “Inside Out,” which he also admits he was a virgin at the time of writing — despite the saucy “TIE ME TO THE BEDPOST” lyric. Like Mandy Patinkin and Dionne Warwick before him, Collins has made a virtual comeback over the past few weeks on Twitter via a potent combo of nostalgia and humor —...

At the midway point of the 1990s, new artists stepped up to join the Class of '89 (Garth Brooks, Lorrie Morgan, Alan Jackson, Clint Black and Travis Tritt) and established legends (the Highwaymen, George Strait) in the mainstream as country music veered toward the pop-friendly approach still heard on commercial radio.Within this musical landscape, newcomers (for example, Ty England, Ty Herndon and David Lee Murphy) found early career success while the next wave of stars (such as Faith Hill, Lonestar, Tim McGraw, Shania Twain and John Michael Montgomery) set the tone for the last half of one...

The White Stripes dropped a 90-minute Yule log video on Tuesday set to songs from the band’s recently released Greatest Hits compilation album — along with acoustic tracks, B-sides, and the band’s Christmas tune “Candy Cane Children.” The video, directed by Noah Sterling, features several looping animations ranging from a more innocuous image of a family sitting by the fire watching TV with pets (and raccoons and a docile cougar), to creepier shots of demons emerging from the walls and a slender man-like figure readying dinner in its Christmas-themed cave....