Music

By 1968, despite, or maybe because of, their huge popularity and success, the Beatles found themselves spiritually exhausted. “We’d been the Beatles, which was marvelous,” Paul McCartney later recalled in The Beatles Anthology. “We’d tried for it not to go to our heads and we were doing quite well – we weren’t getting too spaced out or big-headed – but I think generally there was a feeling of: ‘Yeah, well, it’s great to be famous, it’s great to be rich – but what it’s all for?'” The group tried to...

Luke Combs spent Valentine's Day 2021 in Daytona, Fla., entertaining fans prior to the Daytona 500. The country star honored one NASCAR legend and hung out with another during his time at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday (Feb. 14).Combs took the stage at Daytona in a Dale Earnhardt-themed letterman jacket: His right sleeve sported an American flag; the logo of the racing legend's longtime primary sponsor, GM Goodwrench; and a Winston Motorsports patch, while the left sleeve featured Earnhardt's car number. The back of the jacket included a photo of...

Nathaniel Rateliff performed a powerful rendition of his hit “Redemption” during his stint as musical guest on the latest episode of Saturday Night Live. The cathartic track features in the new Apple+ film Palmer, starring Justin Timberlake. “When I was first asked to write a song for Palmer I was told what the film was about and where the song was going to be used. The melody and the opening line came to me immediately,” Rateliff previously said of “Redemption” in a statement. “But it wasn’t until I had a conversation with...

Thirty-six years ago today (Feb. 14, 1985) was a Valentine's Day to remember for Randy Travis: It was on that date that the singer inked his record deal with Warner Bros. Records, only two weeks after recording what became his first single, "On the Other Hand."Travis had already been rejected by every label in town by the time he landed at Warner Bros. Working with his manager, Libby Hatcher -- who later became his wife -- he recorded an independent album, Live at the Nashville Palace. Hatcher managed the Nashville...

Lil Yachty continues to release new music videos at a torrid pace with the arrival of the Vince Staples-featuring “In My Stussy’s,” the latest visual off the rapper’s Lil Boat 3.5. In just the past two weeks, Yachty has already dropped videos for Lil Boat 3.5’s “Asshole” and “Royal Rumble,” a non-LP single that features six MCs from Michigan’s rap scene. Earlier this month, it was also announced that Lil Yachty would develop an action movie based on the classic card game Uno. “I played Uno as a kid and...

Fifty-four years ago today, on Feb. 13, 1967, Dolly Parton's debut album, appropriately titled, Hello, I'm Dolly, was released.The then-21-year-old Parton wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 12 songs on the record, including two of its singles: "I Wasted My Tears," which failed to chart, and "Something Fishy," which landed in the Top 20. Curly Putman wrote the other single from the project, "Dumb Blonde," which peaked at No. 24 on the charts. Hello, I'm Dolly itself landed at No. 11 on the country albums chart.Although they were not released as singles, Parton also...

Indie artists Waxahatchee and Kevin Morby performed four songs together for the latest installment of CBS This Morning’s Saturday Sessions. For the mini-set, Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield delivered her Saint Cloud cuts “Fire” and “Lilacs” — which she also recently played on Jimmy Kimmel Live — alongside Morby, who fronted the group for his “Campfire” and “Sundowner,” the title track from his 2020 LP. As revealed in a recent Rolling Stone Year in Music interview, Crutchfield and Morby are also partners, with the pair recently relocating to Morby’s native Kansas City....

Nineteen years ago today (Feb. 13, 2002) was a sad day in country music: It was on that date that Waylon Jennings died, from complications from diabetes. He was 64 years old.Jennings was born near Littlefield, Texas, and inherited his love of music from his mother. When he was eight years old, he began playing the guitar, and by the time he was 12, Jennings had his own weekly radio show on local station KVOW. At age 16, Jennings dropped out of school and took a series of odd jobs while focusing on his...

Clover Hope’s essential new book, The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop, doesn’t just tell the stories of the women who helped shape hip-hop, from the pioneering MC Sha-Rock to Cardi B. It also ends up telling the entire story of the genre through a brand-new lens. In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Hope joins host Brian Hiatt to discuss some of the best tales from the book, with an emphasis on pre-2000s rappers, from Mercedes Girls to Salt-N-Pepa, from MC Lyte to Foxy Brown and Lil...

Garth Brooks and his wife, Trisha Yearwood, have canceled everything on their calendar for two weeks and will quarantine after possibly being exposed to COVID-19.It's the second time the couple have had to quarantine; last summer, Brooks' daughter Allie had the virus. This time, someone within the couple's inner circle tested positive for the coronavirus as they were preparing to co-host Ellen.Per All Access, Brooks explains that everyone passed an initial pre-test, but someone got a positive on their final COVID-19 test. "So we decided just not to risk anything," he says.Brooks first shared the news of his...

In 1984, Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias teamed up for a duet that bridged country music with Latin balladry: “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before,” recorded for Iglesias’ album 1100 Bel Air Place became a hit on the country, Spanish, and all-genre charts, and a milestone in Nelson’s long list of collaborations. For the latest edition of his Quarantunes series, the Mavericks’ singer Raul Malo revisits “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” with Jamey Johnson, a frequent collaborator of Nelson’s, handling the Red Headed Stranger’s parts. The two...

Sixteen years ago today (Feb. 12, 2005), Rascal Flatts scored their third No. 1 hit with "Bless the Broken Road." The song, from their album Feels Like Today, also became the trio's first platinum-selling tune."Bless the Broken Road" was written by Marcus Hummon, Bobby Boyd and Jeff Hanna in 1994. The song was previously recorded by Hanna's Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Hummon and country artist Melodie Crittenden -- but it was the Flatts that made it one of the biggest hits in music.Lyric Street"Rascal Flatts toyed with recording it on their...

Taylor Swift has released the full version of her re-recording of “Love Story,” the first single from her updated recording of her 2008 album Fearless. The new version of the song was first teased in a commercial for Match. While the song tells the story of star-crossed lovers that culminates in a fairytale ending, the love story the lyric video depicts is the love between artists and fans. The charming and endearing clip features photo stills and video footage of Swift performing, backstage scenes, as well as her meeting and posing...

Is Chris Young the hero or the one in need of rescuing? In a new, unreleased song called "Rescue Me," he's a little bit of both.Young shared a snippet of "Rescue Me" on Facebook on Wednesday (Feb. 10), noting that the recording is "just a demo," but asking fans for feedback. Over a midtempo beat, Young professes that he "could be your Superman ... if you'd let me.""But tell me, who is gonna rescue me? / 'Cause it sure feels like I'm kryptonite / How you got me on one knee,...