When the Beatles arrived in the States for a second time, they stopped off for a couple of nights on their tour in Colorado towards the end of their scheduled run, and on the second night, they were blessed to have folk royalty in their midst in the form of Joan Baez.
As one of the most prominent female musicians of the 1960s British Invasion, Marianne Faithfull rubbed elbows with countless rockstars. Big egos, larger-than-life personalities, and a propensity for debauchery were all part of the music industry deal. But surprisingly, Faithfull had some of the highest praise for a rocker typically associated with the epitome of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.
As the star teams up with director Michael Grandage for his first West End part in 17 years, the pair discuss the thrill of putting on a new play, how it updates Ibsen for our times – and a Trainspotting-esque toilet encounter in Russia
As much as Jackson is responsible for the highest-selling album of all time on vinyl, trailblazers came before him that made his achievements possible. Regardless of the era, selling one million copies of an album is an incredible accomplishment, and Harry Belafonte was the first to make chart history in this regard. Belafonte’s feat came in 1956, a decade before copies of Pet Sounds or Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band rested on the shelves of houses across the land.
When Simon was working on her second album Anticipation during the summer of ’71, Kristofferson offered her a song, “I’ve Got to Have,” which she recorded as the closing track. The song, which was released as a single in Australia, reached the Top 10, while her title track went to No. 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S.
The duo invented their own chord, which they could use to give their songs a jazz feel without being overly jazzy. It was called the Mu Major, and it was similar to a suspended second chord; however, it contained a major or minor third, which you don’t tend to see when dealing with suspended chords. This meant that they could play standard minor and major chords, but give them more texture without making the track sound too jazzy.
The Irish musician and activist Bob Geldof is perhaps best known as one of the organizers of Live Aid, the massive two-venue benefit concert that raised millions for famine relief in Ethiopia in 1985.Some of the biggest artists and bands of all time came together for that concert, including Paul McCartney, Queen, Madonna, Elton John and David Bowie. But how exactly did Geldof convince them all to give up their time for free on the same day ?
Tourists have flocked to Woodstock, New York since the late 1960s, when word got out that rock stars and other musicians had moved there, and the town lent its name to the biggest event in rock music history, 1969’s Woodstock Music & Art Fair. Musician Amy Helm was born a year later in Woodstock and has seen the town’s popularity grow. Today, she only has warmth for visitors and reveals to them her favorite things locally and in the Hudson River Valley.
American singer-songwriter, poet, painter, author and human-rights advocate Patti Smith first found herself in New York during the hippie takeover of 1967, a politically charged summer of free love, activism and riots. She worked in two Manhattan bookstores, Scribner’s and The Strand, and wrote verse, which led to her forming the Patti Smith Group in which she fused her Rimbaud- and Blake-inspired poetry with the emerging punk rock scene.
Kidjo is known as a legendary singer, a five-time Grammy winner and one of the most lauded African artists of our time, but her path in music was almost cut short. Looking back, her life and work has really been defined by one thing : freedom.
Baez was already writing “Diamonds and Rust” when she received a phone call from Dylan. He called from a phone booth in the Midwest and read the lyrics to his song “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts.” Her song wasn’t about him initially. But she was writing about him now.
Four new songs recorded by Marianne Faithfull in the year prior to her death are to be released for Record Store Day on 12 April. Burning Moonlight was due for announcement in February, but postponed following Faithfull’s death on 30 January at the age of 78.
Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson were hard to tame. Both artists were passionate, convicted, admirably idealistic, and would seemingly not bend or break for anyone or anything. That’s simply who they were and why their music was so great. Hence, when Cash debuted Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Comedown” in 1970 at the Ryman Auditorium, Cash subverted some executive’s wishes for his good friend.
"On March 6, 2025, Angélique Kidjo joined nine-time GRAMMY winning bassist and composer Christian McBride for the Ralph Pucci 9th Annual Jazz Set, The Lowdown: Conversations with Christian®. The evening benefited Jazz House Kids, a nationally-acclaimed nonprofit that uses the power and legacy of jazz to give young people an artistic edge, providing access to world-class arts education and live performances, no matter what their financial constraints. Angélique brought her dynamic presence to an intimate evening at Ralph Pucci International in New York City, set against the iconic backdrop of Frank Stewart's masterful jazz photography."
"CORRESPONDENCES, the long-term audio-visual project by Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith, documents the sonic footprints of poets, filmmakers, revolutionaries, and climate change across numerous global locations. Following last year’s release of Correspondences Vol I, they have today announced the release of Correspondences Vol II. Accompanying the announcement of the new 2-track EP, out March 21 via Bella Union, is the first fifteen minute track, titled “Children Of Chernobyl”. (...) It’s here, where the natural meets the unthinkable, that the story of Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith’s CORRESPONDENCES continues. More ghostly still are the same words sung in Ukrainian at the song’s end by the Chernobyl Children’s Choir: “There are roses underfoot that one cannot smell / There is fruit on the vine that one cannot eat / And they went to bed hungry / And hungry they’ll sleep / For a thousand years.”"
June is set to be a big month for Aussie rock legend Jimmy Barnes” he’ll release his 21st album and celebrate with a six-date tour around the country. Barnes’ new record DEFIANT will be released on Friday, June 6th through Mushroom Music. The next night, he’ll kick off the tour of the same name in his old hometown of Adelaide at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. From there, he’ll play dates in theatres in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney before finishing up in Canberra at the end of the month.
More than six decades after Richards co-wrote Faithfull’s breakout single, "As Tears Go By," he recognizes the late singer's “pure and simple” voice, her impact on the Rolling Stones, and her 1979 masterpiece, Broken English.
Before his passing in 2024, Kris Kristofferson headlined thousands of shows, appeared in a plethora of feature films, and stunned the masses with his rough and gruff grisly charisma. That being so, it seems the man was always destined to be the center of many’s attention thanks to his music. However, the boxer and English literary scholar didn’t care if any of that transpired. Instead, he thought his artist presence would reside merely between himself and the isolation of being a writer.
To be clear, I don’t think that director James Mangold has some kind of vendetta against Baez. I think a more accurate statement would be that every character in “A Complete Unknown” is confined by the limits of the biopic genre, and Mangold does relatively little to rescue the film from its worst impulses. I like to call it “biopic syndrome”: in place of a cohesive narrative, a dizzying number of scenes are stitched together in a montage of events that decorate Dylan’s rise to fame. This style of filmmaking is endemic to the genre, and it’s the source of many viewer complaints over the years who regard biopics as messy, disconnected and worthy of ridicule. And because “A Complete Unknown” places most of its attention on Dylan’s personal relationships rather than his art, the climax of the film is rendered completely ineffective, more akin to a love triangle than a portrait of a complicated artist.
AER LINGUS will fly the Riverdance troupe across the globe this year as they embark on their 30th anniversary tour. (...) Originally a seven-minute Eurovision interval act which impressed television audiences in 1994, Riverdance debuted in 1995 as a full-length musical and theatrical performance. Composed by Bill Whelan, produced by Moya Doherty, and directed by John McColgan, the original troupe was led by Michael Flatley and Jean Butler.Thirty years later, the show continues to captivate new audiences, with the Riverdance - The New Generation tour set to stop in 45 locations in the US and Canada alone this year.
Since her death on January 30, Marianne Faithfull’s music has been growing in popularity. (...) Last week, Faithfull scored a hit album and saw one of her most successful singles become a smash again on two charts in the United Kingdom. (...) Faithfulls’s simply-titled "The Collection" debuts on the Official Album Download chart this week at No. 70. It is her third project to reach the list of the most-downloaded sets throughout the U.K.
Patti Smith will perform her debut album Horses in full on tour to celebrate the LP’s 50 anniversary. The tour will feature feature guitarist Lenny Kaye and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, both of whom played on the original 1975 recording. (...) A press release notes, “Please join us to help celebrate the final ride of our irreverent thoroughbred.” The anniversary trek will kick off on Oct. 6 at Dublin’s 3Arena, with dates in Madrid, Bergamo, Brussels, Oslo, London, and Paris. Smith will head to the U.S. the following month, with shows beginning Nov. 10 at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre. The U.S. segment will also stop in Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. (...) The upcoming tour marks 20 years since Smith performed Horses live in its entirety for the first time. She initially revisited the album in 2005 for its 30th anniversary during Meltdown Festival in London, which she was invited to curate that year.
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund celebrated the legacy of legendary folk singer Joan Baez on Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco. (...) Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides services and financial assistance for career musicians and music industry professionals. Grants are earmarked for medical and vital living expenses, including insurance premiums, prescriptions, medical treatment and operative procedures, housing costs, food costs, utilities, and other basic necessities. The event raised more than $600,000. 100% of all donations to Sweet Relief for California fire relief are being distributed to victims.
Grammy winner and UNICEF ambassador, Angélique Kidjo, shares insights on blending cultures, empowering women and youth, and her ongoing mission to bring Africa’s voice to the world. A conversation with Angélique Kidjo on the power of music, Africa’s future, and breaking boundaries.