Music News

Flutist Elizabeth Rowe, performing as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2016.

Music & Culture

Top Flutist Settles Gender Pay-Gap Suit With Boston Symphony Orchestra

1:02pm February 21, 2019

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Elizabeth Rowe, the symphony's principal flutist, filed suit against the orchestra last July. It was among the first lawsuits regarding gender pay gaps filed under a new Massachusetts law.

Ester Dean arrives for the premiere of Pitch Perfect 3 in Hollywood, Calif. in 2017. Dean's songs give you a three-minute escape from the daily grind.

Music & Culture

The Women Behind The Songs: Ester Dean

4:53pm February 20, 2019

by Meredith Ochs

Fun, fearless and freethinking, Ester Dean's vivacious personality comes across in her work. The songwriter has written hits for Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry.

Stephen Stills (left) performs with Buffalo Springfield on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967.

Music & Culture

A Thousand People In The Street: 'For What It's Worth' Captured Youth In Revolt

4:48pm February 20, 2019

by Danny Hajek

Though often associated with the Vietnam War, Buffalo Springfield's signature song was inspired by a confrontation back home, which erupted on a few famous blocks in Los Angeles.

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Music & Culture

Only Ariana Grande And The Beatles Have Accomplished This Musical Feat

9:31am February 20, 2019

Pop singer Ariana Grande made music history this week. She is the first act to nab the top-three spots on the Billboard Hot 100 since The Beatles in 1964.

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Wim Janssen, one of the musicians involved in the recording project, plays a viola made by master luthier Girolamo Amati in 1615.

An Italian Town Fell Silent So The Sounds Of A Stradivarius Could Be Preserved

12:51am February 18, 2019

by Christopher Livesay

The mayor of Cremona, Italy, blocked traffic during five weeks of recording and asked residents to please keep quiet so master musicians could play four instruments — note by note — for posterity.

Singer, songwriter, producer and label executive Ryan Adams, photographed on Sept. 1, 2011, in London.

Music & Culture

Ryan Adams Accused Of Psychological Manipulation, Professional Retaliation By 7 Women

8:30pm February 14, 2019

by Andrew Flanagan

In a piece published Wednesday evening by the New York Times, several women shared similar stories of being approached by Adams with offers of professional help before he began pursuing them sexually.

Singer-Songwriter Ryan Adams Faces Allegations Of Emotional Abuse And Harassment

4:53pm February 14, 2019

A New York Times report alleges singer-songwriter Ryan Adams emotionally abused women and offered career advances in exchange for sex. NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with reporter Melena Ryzik.

"There was no way I was letting anybody know I wanted to do music, but I just kept getting pushed in musical directions," TeaMarrr says.

Music & Culture

On Her New Single, Singer-Songwriter TeaMarrr Captures The Hot Mess Of Love

11:40am February 14, 2019

by Sidney Madden

The songwriting of this Boston-born artist is sly, mellifluous and bitingly honest. Her latest, "Whorey Heart," illustrates the emotive see-saw of trying to cut someone off.

Music & Culture

Michelle Obama Didn't Give Her Mom A Heads Up About Her TV Appearance

6:57am February 14, 2019

Former first lady Michelle Obama was on the Grammy Awards over the weekend. Marian Robinson texted her daughter: "I saw it, because (someone else) called me."

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Dutch superstar DJ Tiesto (seen here performing in Miami in February 2019) released a massively popular electronic reworking of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings in 2005.

Music & Culture

From Funerals To Festivals, The Curious Journey Of The 'Adagio For Strings'

5:26pm February 13, 2019

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

How did Samuel Barber's stirring, lush work for strings — music that has become America's semi-official music of mourning — morph into a beloved and endlessly remixed dance floor anthem?