Music News

Bob Dylan speaks onstage at the MusiCares 2015 Person Of The Year Gala in Los Angeles. Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in October, though he has not yet accepted it. The Swedish Academy has announced he plans to do so this weekend in Stock

Bob Dylan Agrees To Accept His Nobel Prize During A Tour Stop In Stockholm

11:04am March 29, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

Since the American musician won the Nobel Prize in literature last year, he has not yet picked up his award in person or delivered the customary lecture required for him to receive the prize money.

Tenor Scott Joiner and mezzo-soprano Viktoria Falcone try to find love via Tinder in a still from Connection Lost: The Tinder Opera.

Music & Culture

'The Tinder Opera' Creators Hope You Swipe Right On Online Opera

5:55pm March 28, 2017

by Naomi Lewin

"Connection Lost: The Tinder Opera" is an 11-minute video dramatizing a young man's quest for love via the popular dating app. It marks an effort to adapt a 400-year-old art form to modern media.

Music & Culture

Drake Beats Drake: How Rap's Sensitive Giant Smashed Records With 'More Life'

2:06pm March 28, 2017

by Andrew Flanagan

Drake set streaming records last week, an album chart record on Monday and singles chart records today. How'd he do it?

Adele performs at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, on March 18.

Music & Culture

Adele Doesn't Know If She 'Will Ever Tour Again' — But Let's Weigh The Options

1:45pm March 28, 2017

by Stephen Thompson

On stage in Australia and New Zealand, the singer has hinted at retirement in recent days. Naturally, it's time for a little idle speculation.

Come From Away, whose cast is pictured here, is one of many musicals competing for attention in Broadway's current surge of openings.

Music & Culture

Broadway Producers Reckon With A Crowded Season

6:27pm March 26, 2017

by Jeff Lunden

With 18 new shows — half of them musicals — opening this March and April, just before Tony nominations are announced, producers have to take risks to get their shows to stand out.

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Music & Culture

Music News: Chuck Berry, SoundCloud, Kendrick Lamar

4:32pm March 24, 2017

NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with NPR Music editors Jacob Ganz and Andrew Flanagan about the latest in music news — a new album by the late Chuck Berry, the streaming service SoundCloud survives bankruptcy, the curious case of a hoaxster and the latest from Kendrick Lamar.

Keyboard player and singer Mike Hicks tours with Keb' Mo', but when he's home in Nashville, he's a key figure in the city's R&B and soul scene.

Music & Culture

Just Off Music Row, Nashville's R&B Scene Thrives

1:07pm March 24, 2017

by Jewly Hight

Artists like Mike Hicks, Emoni Wilkins and Jason Eskridge are finding ways to straddle the city's music communities, making themselves indispensable to the industry as they band together outside it.

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Kendrick Lamar performs in Brooklyn in December 2016. On Thursday night, Lamar released a new song, "The Heart Part 4," that seems to preview a new album by Lamar, to be released on April 7.

Music & Culture

Kendrick Lamar Fires A Warning Shot With New Song 'The Heart Part 4'

12:01pm March 24, 2017

by Rodney Carmichael

The new song from the acclaimed rapper, which takes aim at phony rappers and President Trump alike, climaxes with the revelation of his next album's April 7 release date.

Billy Yeager, in a still from a video on YouTube offering "rare footage for sale."

Music & Culture

The Most Expensive Record Never Sold

1:49pm March 23, 2017

by Andrew Flanagan

The story of a mysterious Florida musician, fake identities and the record-breaking sale of a rare album that might not actually exist.

Kendrick Lamar in 2016, performing during the Benicassim Festival (FIB) in Benicassim, Spain.

Music & Culture

Kendrick Lamar Hints At His Forthcoming Testament

1:30pm March 23, 2017

by Rodney Carmichael

The bigger question is not when, but how Lamar's next LP will make a connection between God and gangsta rap.