Sheku Kanneh-Mason: Tiny Desk Concert
Watch the rising young cellist transform a Bob Marley classic, explore brand new preludes and unspool a weepy Welsh ballad.
Music & Culture
Roberta Flack announces she has ALS
The iconic singer of "Killing Me Softly" has the condition also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a representative has announced. For Roberta Flack, it is now "impossible to sing and not easy to speak."
Dolly Parton gets $100 million from Jeff Bezos to spend on charity
The singer and entrepreneur famously has used her success to help others, especially in areas of education. The gift matches two by Bezos last year to chef Jose Andrés and activist Van Jones.
Rats have rhythm and can keep the beat to Mozart, a new study shows
Scientists at the University of Tokyo found that rats possess the ability to keep the beat to musical pieces from Mozart.
Taylor Swift wins big in Germany at the MTV European Music Awards
Taylor Swift won big at Sunday's MTV European Music Awards. Swift, walking away with multiple wins, including for best artist, best video and best long-form video.
Meet Mama's Boy, a pandemic-born family band
The Stokes family in Waikato, New Zealand, created a garage band after Ryan Stokes taught his mother and father how to play instruments during the pandemic.
In Iran, political dissenters find expression through rap music
NPR's Scott Simon speak to Nahid Siamdoust, assistant professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, about the role of rap in protests and political dissent in Iran.
How Fred Again.. transforms the sounds of social media into rave-worthy beauty
The British electronic producer talks about sampling mundane sounds in his music and the pressures of manipulating the voices of others.
When the creek does rise, can music survive?
How does a scene survive when disaster strikes its venues, music schools, rare instruments and priceless archives all at once? The musicians of flood-ravaged eastern Kentucky have a few answers.
Live performances from the '80s rock underground resurface in KCRW archive
In the 1980s and early 1990s, a Los Angeles DJ named Deirdre O'Donoghue ran a late-night KCRW show that championed underground musicians, often in live performance. That archive will soon be released.