Music

A low cloud obscures the high ground in a remote part of the Isle of Skye.

Music & Culture

The Thistle & Shamrock: Ballads Of The Border

3:17pm August 16, 2018

Cattle raids, battles, betrayals and family loyalties are all commemorated in the ballads of the borderlands between Scotland and England, sometimes referred to as "the debatable lands".

Beyoncé performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing" during her set at the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April.

Music & Culture

Till Victory Is Won: The Staying Power Of 'Lift Every Voice And Sing'

3:00pm August 16, 2018

by Claudette Lindsay-Habermann

Beyoncé sang it at Coachella. Kim Weston sang it at Wattstax. The song often called the "black national anthem" is still with us — in part because the struggle it describes never went away.

Queue Listen Now

Death Cab For Cutie inside the World Cafe Performance Studio

Music & Culture

Death Cab For Cutie Is Thankful For 20 Years Of Memories

2:52pm August 16, 2018

by Talia Schlanger

"We're still considered by virtually everybody as an indie band," says Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard.

Aretha Franklin sings with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center for Performing Arts in 2010.

Music & Culture

Aretha Franklin: The Deep Cuts

1:40pm August 16, 2018

by Sidney Madden

Staff members of NPR remember the Queen of Soul beyond her No. 1 hits. These are Aretha Franklin's most essential deep cuts.

Aretha Franklin performs during the Mandela Day: A Celebration Concert July 2009 in New York City.

Music & Culture

Aretha Franklin: In Memoriam Playlist

1:15pm August 16, 2018

by Lauren Onkey

It's clear why Franklin was the undisputed Queen of Soul. Enjoy a playlist of the singer's biggest hits in a career that spanned decades and defied genre rules.

Aretha Franklin performs at the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C., in 2013. Franklin died on Thursday in Detroit.

Music & Culture

Aretha Franklin Was America's Truest Voice

12:59pm August 16, 2018

by Ann Powers

Her music has been sung at marches and political rallies, heard in churches and on chain restaurant jukeboxes. Everything popular music can be is there in the songs of Aretha Franklin.

Music & Culture

Curtis McMurtry On Mountain Stage

11:14am August 16, 2018

by Adam Harris

Hear McMurtry's take on the overall improvements in Top 40 music and how Beyonce's ground-breaking album Lemonade gave him partial inspiration to write a song on his latest album.

Music & Culture

Kurt Vile Parks For Free In 'Loading Zones'

10:00am August 16, 2018

by Lyndsey McKenna

In the video for his first solo song in three years, Kurt Vile avoids payment while running errands by hopping from loading zone to zone.

Music & Culture

First Listen: Lucie Silvas, 'E.G.O.'

5:00am August 16, 2018

by Jewly Hight

The British-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter depicts the collision of self-importance and insecurity from an earthier, more conversational angle.

Nothing's Dance on the Blacktop comes out Aug. 24.

Music & Culture

First Listen: Nothing, 'Dance On The Blacktop'

5:00am August 16, 2018

by Mike Katzif

Domenic Palermo channels a lifetime of tragedy into Nothing's blustery distortion, scorching riffs and stirring melodies.