Aretha Franklin Was America's Truest Voice
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 Features
iLe Uses Puerto Rican History To Focus On 'Odio'
A new single and accompanying video spotlights an independence movement massacre to make a plea for understanding.
Rihanna Is The 21st Century's Most Influential Musician
For much of this century's first two decades, there has been at least one Rihanna song on the pop charts. If she is not seen as taking musical risks, it's only because so many of them have paid off.
'The Battle Hymn Of The Republic': An Anthem For Every Cause
Julia Ward Howe wrote a rousing anthem for the Union in the Civil War. Since then, it's been caught in a cultural tug-of-war over who it's an anthem for.
A Songwriting Mystery Solved: Math Proves John Lennon Wrote 'In My Life'
John Lennon and Paul McCartney have differing memories of who wrote the music for "In My Life." A mathematics professor has spent 10 years working with statistics to decide once and for all.
'More A Conversation Than A Canon:' How Do We Decide Greatness In The Present Tense?
To celebrate our list of the 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+, a group of contributors gathered to talk about the artists who are defying labels, blazing trails and reclaiming history today.
After Nearly 30 Years In Exile, This Kashmiri Singer Has A Hit Song Of The Summer
A love song about wildflowers is the song of the summer on both sides of Kashmir's much-disputed border, after getting a push from a popular Pakistani television program funded by a soda company.
For A Wracked World, Cursive's 'Vitriola' Returns To A Reckless Sound
The world may be going to hell. But, while Cursive's forthcoming Vitriola wallops and revels in bleakness, Tim Kasher tells NPR that he's doing everything he can not to be swallowed up by the chaos.
Beyond Representation: In Music And Media, Gender Equality Will Take A Revolution
The revolution necessary to honor artists of all genders has to combat not only a history of bias, but sometimes even the institutions that seem to be supporting the fight.
'This Little Light Of Mine' Shines On, A Timeless Tool Of Resistance
Born as a children's song, transformed by the civil rights movement into an anthem, "This Little Light of Mine" works by letting the singer control their own story.