Music Interviews

"Though I know other things exist, you know, like beautiful things that have happened to us and beautiful things we've created," Common says of witnessing black death in the news. "I just looked at that and felt the pain of it."

Music & Culture

On His Latest Album, Common's Political Commentary Gets Personal

12:15pm November 04, 2016

by NPR Staff

"I want my life to be fulfilled in a way where people will say, 'This dude inspired people. He was a good father. He just was a nice person,'" the rapper says. Black America Again is out today.

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Music & Culture

Encore: Maren Morris Makes Transition From Country Songwriter To Artist

4:25pm November 03, 2016

NPR's Audie Cornish spoke to country artist Maren Morris at the annual South by Southwest music conference about her journey and success.

Aurora Aksanes is a 20 year old singer from Norway who is small but with a big heart.

Music & Culture

Guest DJ: AURORA On Her Love Of Heavy Metal And Leonard Cohen

3:16pm November 02, 2016

by Bob Boilen

Norwegian singer AURORA talks about her love of heavy metal, Leonard Cohen and how intuition guides her songwriting.

"Basically, my life's the same as everybody else's," Phil Collins says. "You're making it up every day and you're just hoping you're making the right decisions."

In Phil Collins' New Memoir, Candid Reflections On Family And Fame

6:23pm November 01, 2016

by NPR Staff

Collins, whose sound has become musical shorthand for the '80s, has a new book, Not Dead Yet. "Music has given me everything, but it's also taken everything from me," he says.

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Wynton Marsalis onstage in New York in April 2016. His new violin concerto made its East Coast debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center last week.

Music & Culture

The Transatlantic Collaboration Behind Wynton Marsalis' New Violin Concerto

11:48am November 01, 2016

by Nina Totenberg

The jazz trumpeter wrote his Concerto in D for, and with, the Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti. The two say the process was "fascinating" — but painstakingly slow.

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The Minimoog synthesizer was essential to Mark Mothersbaugh's music career. "If you dissected my brain, there's probably a whole section that's Minimoog," he says.

Music & Culture

Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh On The Synths That Changed Pop Forever

8:29am October 30, 2016

by NPR Staff

The revolutionary Minimoog Model D is being revived after decades out of production. To demonstrate what's made it so influential, Mothersbaugh brought one of his own Moogs into NPR's studios.

Music & Culture

Remembering Singer-Songwriter Bobby Vee, The Teen Idol Of The '60s

1:43pm October 28, 2016

Vee, who died Monday, had 38 hit singles including, "Take Good Care of My Baby." During a 1999 Fresh Air interview, Vee explained how the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly got him started in music.

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"[Putin] created what we call in Russia an atmosphere of hatred," Nadya Tolokonnikova says. "And that's what Donald Trump is doing here right now."

Music & Culture

Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova On Her New Anti-Trump Song

7:25am October 28, 2016

by NPR Staff

The song and video, "Make America Great Again," reflect Tolokonnikova's concern about the U.S. election's outcome. "It will influence everybody else's lives outside America," she says.

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Knxwledge (left) and Anderson .Paak collaborate as NxWorries. Their debut album is Yes Lawd!

Music & Culture

All Songs +1: A Conversation With Anderson .Paak And Knxwledge

2:51pm October 27, 2016

by Timmhotep Aku

On this week's +1 podcast, NPR Music contributor Timmhotep Aku talks with singer and rapper Anderson .Paak and producer Knxwledge about their new collaboration under the name NxWorries.

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Mozart died 225 years ago at age 35. A new, enormous box set contains all of his music.

Music & Culture

240 Hours, 22 Pounds: A Mammoth Mozart Box Set Aims At More Than 'Complete'

9:14am October 27, 2016

by Tom Huizenga

The new complete edition, commemorating the 225th anniversary of the Austrian composer's death, is an extravagant Mozart resource.