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Chris Pizzello / AP Celine Dion Saved the Billboard Music Awards
Singing “My Heart Will Go On” for its 20th anniversary, Dion interrupted the show’s mediocrity and cemented her status as a symbol of perseverance.
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Lynne Sladky / AP ‘Despacito’ and the Revenge of Reggaeton
The first Spanish-language U.S. No. 1 hit since “Macarena” sees Justin Bieber jumping on a music style of fraught racial lineage in Latin America.
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Shinko Music / Getty How the Beatles Wrote ‘A Day in the Life’
Fifty years after its release, the sprawling closing track on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band remains a testament to the group’s ambitious songwriting.
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Dennis Van Tine / STAR MAX / AP Harry Styles Dons the Costume of Classic Rock
The One Direction singer’s solo debut is earning him new respect for a dutiful nostalgia trip.
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Ebru Yildiz / PolyVinyl Records The Depressingly Familiar Allegations Against PWR BTTM
The duo were building a career by subverting rock and roll tropes—and then were accused of fulfilling one of the darkest ones.
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Matt Sayles / AP What Protest Songs Sound Like in the Trump Era
The first 100 days of the new administration have seen a boom in political music—though not all of it has invoked the president's name.
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Marc Mueller / AP Nick Cave Is Still Looking for Redemption
The musician's new compilation album Lovely Creatures reveals a longstanding fascination with fables of doom and salvation.
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Columbia Records Haim Returns With Old Charms—and New Gloss
“Want You Back” sees the rock trio as complex and tuneful as before, but there’s a new, not entirely welcome, layer of production.
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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters 'A Mediator or an Arbitrator or a Facilitator': Trump's Role in the Mideast Peace Process
The president met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the White House.
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Mark Allan / AP Gorillaz's Drab Doomsday Dance Party
Damon Albarn’s many contributors seemed boxed in for Humanz, which dubiously imagines a dystopian blow-out.
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Frederic Meylan / Getty David Bowie’s 1987 Slump Held Its Own Weird Magic
His much-maligned album Never Let Me Down and the dazzling Glass Spider Tour it spawned were the work of a veteran artist in the throes of metamorphosis.
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Mary Rozzi / Universal Feist's Pleasure Reworks the Passage of Time
The Canadian singer’s challenging but beautiful fifth album considers nostalgia, the future, and loneliness.
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Kathy Willens / AP / Bettmann / Getty ... The United States of Billy Joel
The Piano Man hasn’t released a new pop album since 1993. How does he continue to sell out stadiums?
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Amy Harris / AP Kendrick Lamar and the Sin of Swagger
Damn sees the rapper reconcile the vices inherent to pop success with a higher spiritual purpose.
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SubPop Father John Misty's Pointlessness Blues
His album Pure Comedy often plays like a tedious brochure for nihilism, rescued only by a few flirtations with grace.
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Apple How Significant Is the Music Industry's Rebound?
Last year saw an upturn in profits thanks to gains in streaming—but many more users will have to sign up in order for growth to continue.
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Wikimedia Commons / National Archaeological Museum of Spain Hip-Hop Adds a Chapter to the Flute’s Epic History
The flutist and author Ardal Powell offers thoughts on the recent woodwind-laden beats of Drake, Future, and others.
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Tyler Golden / NBC The Voice’s Empty Promise of the American Dream
The NBC reality singing competition has been selling glittering visions of fame for 11 seasons, but has rarely delivered on them.
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Hilary Bronwyn Gayle / HBO The Soul of Big Little Lies Is in Its Music
The HBO miniseries takes a novel approach to its score: letting its characters’ listening habits dictate what the audience hears.
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Andrew Kelly / Reuters Kendrick Lamar Will Battle Until the Apocalypse
“The Heart Part 4” seems to announce a new album while taking aim at rivals, Donald Trump, and the state of the world.
