Music

The 'Queen' Of Saharan Song, Khaira Arby, Has Died

3:05pm August 20, 2018

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The singer and songwriter from Mali died Sunday at age 59. She was revered across west Africa and beyond for her raw, rootsy sound and her embrace of the many cultures in her beloved city, Timbuktu.

A clip from Cardi B's "Ring" video featuring Kehlani.

Music & Culture

Cardi B And Kehlani Get Caught In A Glass Case Of Emotion In 'Ring'

1:44pm August 20, 2018

by Sidney Madden

The rapper and R&B singer are through with deciphering mixed messages in a platinum-plated new video.

Aretha Franklin, onstage at The Metropolitan Opera House on September 18, 2011.

Music & Culture

Aretha Franklin: Just Her And A Piano

12:39pm August 20, 2018

by Marc Silver

A small, sterling selection of the best stripped-down performances the Queen of Soul delivered in her later years.

St. Vincent performs in Park City, Utah in 2017.

Music & Culture

St. Vincent Is The 21st Century's Guitar Vanguard

12:00pm August 20, 2018

by Sasha Geffen

For Annie Clark, the guitar is not an appendage, not an extension of the body. It is its own body with its own voice. She doesn't use it to embellish her songs; she uses it to build worlds.

On gospel recordings such as 1987's One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, Aretha Franklin captured something sacred in the sound of black life.

Music & Culture

The Sound Made Flesh

8:02am August 19, 2018

by Ashon Crawley

Franklin's gospel recordings presented black life itself as a sacred practice. On albums like Amazing Grace, she is less individual genius than willing instrument of the world that created her.

Music & Culture

Aretha Franklin's Gospel Music Connection

7:57am August 19, 2018

Aretha Franklin's album Amazing Grace was recorded in 1972 at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in south-central Los Angeles after riots devastated the area.

Aretha Franklin performs at the Fillmore West in San Francisco on March 5, 1971.

Music & Culture

Aretha's Bridge

3:29pm August 18, 2018

by Daphne A. Brooks

Amidst an instantly historic performance in 1971 that led to one of her best-known albums, Aretha Franklin's rendition of a single song carries inside it the weight of pop, soul and gospel history.

Music & Culture

Aretha Franklin Knew How To Make Us Laugh, Too

12:05pm August 18, 2018

by Jason King

The Queen of Soul had quite the sense of humor.

Music & Culture

Musician (And Landscaper) Ryan Culwell On Making Ends Meet

8:27am August 18, 2018

NPR's Jennifer Ludden talks to Ryan Culwell about his latest album. The Last American is about the struggles of ordinary Americans.

Yo-Yo Ma plays selections from Bach's Cello Suites at NPR Music's Tiny Desk.

Music & Culture

Yo-Yo Ma, A Life Led With Bach

8:20pm August 17, 2018

If the celebrated cellist could soundtrack his life, the music would be J.S. Bach's six Cello Suites. Yo-Yo Ma explains why they mean the world to him while he played the music at the NPR offices.

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