For years, Mormons in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community say they've felt shunned from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A newly formed LGBT choir believes it's making strides in the right direction, despite troubles securing rehearsal spaces in LDS churches.
With Christmas looming, the pop legend — who has recorded three albums of Christmas music and just released a compilation of them called The Classic Christmas Album — spoke with Morning Edition about the season.
The world mourned the death this week of the Indian maestro whose name became synonymous with the sitar. Closer to Shankar's home, Indians mourned the man they affectionately call Pandit-ji, or Teacher. "He changed the whole approach to how an artist is perceived," says sitarist Shubhendra Rao.
An Orthodox Jew, the singer-songwriter ran into trouble trying to tour in support of a major-label release without performing on the sabbath or high holy days. That and slow sales nearly killed Clare's career, but it got a reboot from an unlikely benefactor: Microsoft.
Myrlie Evers-Williams is the widow of assassinated civil rights activist Medgar Evers. After her husband's death, she became a noted activist herself. But music has always been one of her loves, and she's about to fulfill a longtime dream on the Carnegie stage.
Known for such hits as "Real Emotional Girl", singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and pianist Randy Newman is on his way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Newman, a 40-year veteran of the music business, talked to Fresh Air in 1998 and 2004 about his life and work.
In a 1999 interview, Ravi Shankar, who died Tuesday, talked to Fresh Air about hippies, psychedelic drugs, "Norwegian Wood," George Harrison, his fond memories of the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967 and his less-fond memories of Woodstock.
A new documentary on PBS about the making of the Beatles' 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour features outtakes from the original and new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. TV critic David Bianculli calls the film "wonderfully thorough."