Music & Culture

Stromae performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend listening.

5:00pm December 16, 2022

Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Making Shazam playlists, Chris Klimek's annual mixtape, NPR Best Music of 2022 and more.

Music & Culture

Encore: The 'Free to Be... You and Me' legacy 50 years later

4:41pm December 16, 2022

by Deena Prichep

The album "Free to Be... You and Me" was released in 1972, featuring children's music which celebrated tolerance and acceptance. 50 years later, what's the album's legacy?

SZA performs at the 2022 Global Citizen Festival in Ghana.

Music & Culture

SZA, 'Gone Girl'

4:19pm December 16, 2022

by Sidney Madden

Serving as both an inner monologue and a PSA for anyone thinking they're about to get the 2017 version of Solana, "Gone Girl" fully faces the realization that SZA isn't that person anymore.

Bad Bunny, pictured performing on stage in Philadelphia in September, finished his international tour in Mexico City last weekend — but many fans were denied entry after being told their tickets were illegitimate.

After a Ticketmaster snafu, Mexico's president asks Bad Bunny to hold a free concert

11:11am December 16, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

After hundreds of ticket holders were denied entry to Bad Bunny's shows in Mexico City last weekend, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is asking the star to put on another concert for free.

Manuel Göttsching, an influential German musician best known for his work on modular synths, died Dec. 4.

Music & Culture

Remembering musical astronaut Manuel Göttsching

10:59am December 16, 2022

by Ruth Saxelby

After founding the quietly influential band Ash Ra Tempel at 17 years old, Göttsching would go on to have an enormous influence on the trajectory of electronic and dance music.

Charles Mingus, photographed at a party in New York on Aug. 4, 1976. For poet and critic Harmony Holiday, the complexities that underpin legacies like Mingus' were a constant puzzle this year.

Music & Culture

The importance of remembering everything but the music

9:43am December 16, 2022

by Harmony Holiday

Poet and critic Harmony Holiday spent her year interviewing descendants and torchbearers, finding that the soul of jazz needs preserving offstage and outside of the booth.

Singing with James Brown was a great opportunity but the traveling takes a toll

8:22am December 16, 2022

by Eleanor Vassili

In this week's StoryCorps, two women — Sandra Bears and Martha Harvin — talk about their careers in music — which included singing with James Brown.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

You'll find Alicia Keys' new record, 'Santa Baby,' winking under the mistletoe

5:08am December 16, 2022

The famed singer, songwriter and pianist covers some holiday classics as well as two originals that she hopes will extend the shelf-life of the holiday spirit.

Music & Culture

The Thistle & Shamrock: Gifts

5:01pm December 15, 2022

Hear the perfect, gift-wrapped package of fine music with artists Loreena McKennitt, Touchstone, Janis Ian, and The Chieftains.

Music & Culture

The 100 Best Songs Of 2022 (20-1)

4:28pm December 15, 2022

We ranked a list of 100 songs that reflects the sprawling, energetic messiness of 2022. Start listening.