The 1975, Lewis Capaldi, Niall Horan and Rita Ora were among the hundreds of U.K. artists, songwriters and producers to sign their name to an open letter decrying racism. “We, representatives from the music industry, write to demonstrate and express our determination, that love, unity and friendship, not division and …

The Recording Academy announced Friday it has aligned with the Help Independent Tracks Succeed (HITS) Act, a bipartisan bill that allows independent music makers to expense the cost of new studio recordings on their taxes — up to $150,000. The act was introduced Friday by Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.) …

When PJ Harvey started releasing records in the early Nineties, her raw lyrical depictions of sex and violence made people uncomfortable; it wasn’t often you heard a young, female artist (or a male one for that matter) sing something like “I’ll make it better/I’ll rub ’til it bleeds.” But Harvey …

Last weekend, the Chainsmokers headlined an outdoor charity concert in the Hamptons that was touted as a drive-in show where guests would be allowed to sit outside their cars in designated areas that were at least six feet apart. Still, photos and videos from the event showing packed crowds with …

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., the only African American top-tier driver in all of NASCAR, recently hit a wall, literally, crashing during the qualifier for the Cup Series All-Star Race in Bristol, Tennessee. But by the end of June — after spearheading a successful campaign to ban the Confederate flag from …

Lucinda Williams was six weeks away from the release of Good Souls Better Angels when the World Health Organization sounded the alarm on COVID-19, officially deeming the outbreak a pandemic. Since then, the songwriter has barely left her new home in East Nashville. Even so, Good Souls Better Angels feels …

In a 2017 interview on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, Metallica’s James Hetfield discussed what compels him to channel his darker emotions into songs. “What it is, is, if I can get it out of my head, it makes it better,” he said. “Better out than in.” That often goes for …

Justin Bieber has announced a rescheduled 2021 World Tour after his original Changes Tour shows this summer were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new stadium and arena tour will kick off June 2nd, 2021, at San Diego’s Pechanga Arena, and run through August 15th, with a final show …

In the spring of 2012, I spent a few entertaining days hanging out with the five young members of a British boy band who were just breaking big in the United States. The guys from One Direction were unjaded, unguarded, totally charming, and a puppy pile of optimism and energy. …

In the late Seventies, when punk and disco were still new and subversive, Gang of Four smartly fused the two for a hard-hitting yet danceable sound, which the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Interpol gleefully mined for gold records in the Aughts. But Gang of Four’s members never stopped experimenting and …