Music & Culture

Barbra Streisand in 1963, one year after the recording of her performance at The Bon Soir.

Barbra Streisand remembers the first time she 'felt the warmth of a spotlight'

1:20pm November 18, 2022

Recorded in 1962, the newly remastered Live at the Bon Soir was meant to be Streisand's debut album, despite the singer's aversion to public performance.

Queue Listen Now

Composer Ned Rorem in 1953 in Paris, where he lived for nearly a decade and wrote his infamous Paris Diary.

Ned Rorem, major American composer and diarist, has died at age 99

11:10am November 18, 2022

by Dean Olsher

The Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and diarist died Friday at age 99. Although he won the Pulitzer for an orchestral work, he was most celebrated for his huge body of art songs — over 500 in all.

News brief: Twitter resignations, who will replace Pelosi?, Ticketmaster criticism

6:58am November 18, 2022

There are mass resignations at Twitter after Musk's ultimatum. Pelosi's historic leadership will end — who's lining up to succeed her? Congress is involved in the Ticketmaster-Taylor Swift fiasco.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Congress has gotten involved in the Ticketmaster-Taylor Swift fiasco

6:58am November 18, 2022

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Anne Steele of The Wall Street Journal about Ticketmaster bungling the ticket release for Swift's new tour. Questions are raised about the company's grip on the industry.

Queue Listen Now

Horace Andy performs a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

Horace Andy: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

6:21am November 18, 2022

by Bob Boilen

Horace Andy performs in his signature raspy, gruff tenor from the living room of producer Adrian Sherwood.

Music & Culture

Federal trademark board rules Mariah Carey is legally not the Queen of Christmas

5:51am November 18, 2022

Carey's 1994 hit "All I Want For Christmas is You" may be one of the most ubiquitous holiday tunes. Carey had asked to trademark the term "Queen of Christmas" for lotions, clothes and other products.

Queue Listen Now

Kevin Abstract reflects on BROCKHAMPTON on new song "The Ending."

Music & Culture

Heat Check Roundup: BROCKHAMPTON, $ilkmoney, LOLA and more

4:59pm November 17, 2022

In this week's Heat Check selects, Kevin Abstract says goodbye to BROCKHAMPTON (kind of?), $ilkmoney shrugs off virality, a singer synthesizes the sounds of the UK's contemporary R&B scene and more.

Taylor Swift, pictured at the 2022 MTV VMAs in August, will embark on her first tour in five years this coming March. Over two million people bought tickets to The Eras Tour on the first day of pre-sale, despite major technical issues.

The Taylor Swift ticket fiasco is refocusing a spotlight on Ticketmaster's dominance

3:57pm November 17, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

Ticketmaster says unprecedented demand caused tech issues, frustrating fans. Some Democrats say the problem is actually with the company's market power.

Music & Culture

Liv.e, 'Wild Animals'

3:51pm November 17, 2022

by Teresa Xie

The shape-shifting R&B artist places time in the palms of her hands, squeezing and stretching it as she sees fit.

BADBADNOTGOOD perform live at Brooklyn Steel.

Music & Culture

BADBADNOTGOOD steps into the psychedelic void

1:35pm November 17, 2022

More than a decade after BADBADNOTGOOD's viral debut upsetting the "jazz police" and carving their own niche playing rap covers, they take the stage in Brooklyn with a wildly psychedelic set.

Queue Listen Now