Music

International pop star Demis Roussos hams it up for the camera at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1975. Roussos died in Athens Sunday at age 68.

Music & Culture

From Prog-Rock Pioneer To Kitsch King: Remembering Demis Roussos

1:09pm January 26, 2015

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Greek songman Demis Roussos lived an enormously colorful life, from his start as a prog-rock pioneer to being held captive by Hezbollah terrorists. He died Sunday at age 68 in Athens.

Not My Job: We Quiz Funk Legend George Clinton On The British Parliament

1:42am January 25, 2015

Clinton, the founding father of funk, is the creator of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic. We'll ask him three questions about another kind of parliament — namely, the British Parliament.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Producer Cosimo Matassa Always Believed In New Orleans

1:25pm January 23, 2015

by Ed Ward

In the '60s, musicians left New Orleans, major labels lost interest, and Motown and Memphis took over the black music charts. But one producer didn't give up.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Tom Varner's Got 'Nine Surprises' And A Big Band Is All Of Them

1:20pm January 22, 2015

by Kevin Whitehead

In 2005, jazz composer and french horn player Tom Varner left New York for Seattle, where he put together a nine-piece band of local players.

Queue Listen Now

"[Death metal] is a very passionate music. It's also really dark and gory--and I like that stuff." - John Darnielle, of the Mountain Goats.

John Darnielle: Master Of Reality

12:06pm January 22, 2015

"Death metal really does come from the heart," says The Mountain Goats frontman and author of Wolf In White Van. In Durham, he plays "The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton."

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

NPR Music's 302 Favorite Songs Of 2014

10:39am January 22, 2015

by Jacob Ganz

Traditionally, the folks at NPR Music make a list of their 100 favorite songs of the year. But this time, they expanded the list to 302 songs and made a really long mix tape.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Sleater-Kinney Comes Roaring Back With 'No Cities To Love'

1:27pm January 21, 2015

by Ken Tucker

Few bands re-form with their power as intact as Sleater-Kinney have; fewer still brag about their power, and make the claim something more than a brag.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Kim Fowley, Producer And Rock Svengali, Dies

12:57pm January 18, 2015

by Neda Ulaby

Checkered barely begins to describe Fowley's long, crazy career in music. He was the infamous first manager and producer of the all-girl band The Runaways.

Queue Listen Now

Longtime Church Organist Keeps Traditional Hymns Alive

12:57pm January 18, 2015

by Susan Sharon

Churches are retiring their hymnals and organs, hoping to attract younger crowds, but at West Auburn Congregational in Maine, Charles Marshall has been playing for 70 years with no plans to retire.

Queue Listen Now

Deborah Voigt regularly hosts and performs in the Metropolitan Opera's The Met: Live in HD series.

A 'Down-To-Earth Diva' Confronts Her Flaws And Good Fortune

11:57am January 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

In a frank new memoir, soprano Deborah Voigt reveals her troubles with obesity, alcohol and bad relationships, along with her many triumphs in opera houses the world over.

Queue Listen Now