To celebrate Christmas, Fresh Air listens back to a concert given by the late singer and actress on Feb. 11, 1997. Clooney spoke then with Terry Gross about her childhood, being on the road as a young performer with her sister, and working with Bing Crosby and Billy Strayhorn.
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.
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.
In his new book, the guitarist, singer and songwriter shares stories from life growing up in a musical household and talks about collaborating and sharing the stage with the likes of Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra and Paul McCartney.
Somali-born rap musician K'naan is known for telling gritty stories about his childhood in war-torn Mogadishu through hip-hop music. On Country, God, Or the Girl, the edginess of past songs has been replaced with a polished pop sound.
"Good music is good music," violinist Angèle Dubeau says. The Canadian musician interprets theme music from Halo, Angry Birds and other video games on her latest album.
The English singer and songwriter, formerly of the dance-pop duoEverything but the Girl, confronts the mixed blessings of the holiday season on her new album Tinsel and Lights.
The jazz master died on Wednesday at age 91. In a 1999 interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross he talked about his decades in the music industry and his first love: rodeo roping.