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Music & Culture

Olympic Gold Medalist Usain Bolt Is Going For Gold In The Music Industry

5:58am September 16, 2021

Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt has released his first album: Country Yutes. It is a mixture of reggae, afrobeats and dancehall music. Plus some ballads. Is there a gold record in his future?

In this courtroom artist's sketch made from a video screen monitor, R. Kelly (left) and lawyer Thomas Farinella listen during the opening day of his trial on Aug. 18, 2021 in Brooklyn, New York.

Notebook: A Month Into R. Kelly's Trial, Here's What It's Been Like In The Courtroom

12:10pm September 15, 2021

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Four weeks into testimony in the R&B superstar's New York federal trial, it's often been hard to hear testimony from the women and men he allegedly abused.

George Wein, backstage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in May 2012.

Music & Culture

George Wein, Music Festival Pioneer, Dies At 95

8:30pm September 13, 2021

by Walter Ray Watson

A founder of the Newport Folk Festival, the Newport Jazz Festival and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — and perhaps the most important jazz impresario of all time — died Monday.

Lil Nas X accepts best direction for "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" onstage during the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday in New York City.

The Best Moments From The MTV VMAs

10:52am September 13, 2021

by Rachel Treisman

It was a big night for Olivia Rodrigo, Justin Bieber and Lil Nas X, among others, as MTV's Video Music Awards returned to the stage.

Lorde performs at Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series in Central Park on Aug. 20 in New York City. She worked with a team of language experts to re-record five of her new songs in the indigenous Māori language.

Music & Culture

Lorde Dropped A Surprise Mini-Album Of 'Solar Power' Tracks In The Māori Language

2:18pm September 09, 2021

by Rachel Treisman

The New Zealand singer worked with a team of language experts to re-record five of her new songs in the indigenous Māori language, released just in time for Māori Language Week.

A crowd rallying for John Lennon, in a scene from the film Imagine: John Lennon.

Music & Culture

John Lennon Released 'Imagine' The Same Year NPR Debuted Original Programming

2:11pm September 09, 2021

We're celebrating NPR's 50th anniversary by revisiting cultural milestones from 1971. On this day, 51 years ago, John Lennon's album Imagine — along with its utopian title track — was released.

Music & Culture

Singer And LGBT Icon, Archbishop Carl Bean, Dies At 77

8:11am September 09, 2021

Archbishop Carl Bean, an AIDS activist and pioneer in the LGBTQ religious movement, has died. The openly gay pastor was also a Motown singer. His version of "I Was Born This Way" inspired Lady Gaga.

Music & Culture

The Prosecution Continues To Lay Out Its Case Against Singer R. Kelly

8:11am September 09, 2021

The federal trial in New York against R&B star R. Kelly heads into its fourth week. There's been a long line of alleged victims, former employees and others who have already testified against him.

Phil Schaap attends the Jazz at Lincoln Center's Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 4, 2013 in New York.

Phil Schaap, Iconic Jazz DJ And NEA Jazz Master, Dies At 70

6:45pm September 08, 2021

by Martin Johnson

Schaap was one of the leading jazz scholars in America and the genre's foremost evangelist. He died at 70, after a long battle with cancer.

Music & Culture

The Father Of Britney Spears Files A Petition To End Her Conservatorship

7:19am September 08, 2021

Britney Spears' father, Jamie Spears, petitioned a court to end his controversial conservatorship. Under that legal arrangement, he had controlled all aspects of her life for the past 13 years.