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Jake Michaels Hollywood’s New Crown Prince of Musicals
Jon M. Chu, the director of In the Heights and Wicked, is finding a new edge in an old genre.
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Parlophone / Capitol The 2001 Album That Captured Modern Dread
Two decades later, Radiohead’s experimental Amnesiac might be the band’s best record.
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Adam Maida / The Atlantic / Tim Roney … The Aughts Seem Both Cooler and Sadder in Retrospect
A wave of young musicians is reclaiming the pop culture of the 2000s—and reckoning with the era’s dark side.
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Geffen Records Pop’s Buzziest New Songwriter Knows Exactly What to Say
Olivia Rodrigo’s sharp debut album, Sour, confirms that metaphor and ambiguity are so last generation.
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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty The 1970s Fashion Designer Who Was Outlandishly Ahead of His Time
Twenty years ago, fashion lost the visionary designer—and prophet—behind P-Funk and Kiss.
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Zackery Michael St. Vincent and the Limits of Rock-and-Roll Mystique
The artist’s new record—and the accidental controversy it caused—shows how mysteriousness can be a kind of defensiveness.
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History Colorado / The Atlantic The Song That Sold America to a Generation of Asian Immigrants
John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” had an unlikely resonance across Asia 50 years ago. Today his ode to West Virginia conjures a different type of longing.
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Republic Records / Big Machine Records / The … Taylor Swift Knew Everything When She Was Young
The singer’s rerecording of her second album makes a statement about her past—and delivers a blow to her rivals.
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Noam Galai / Getty The Fierce Vulnerability of DMX
The rapper, who has died at age 50, used his gruff voice to project strength—even as he spoke honestly about human weakness.
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Rhonda Graam / HBO The Final Word on Tina Turner
The HBO documentary Tina gives the singer the last say on a life that was, for long periods, out of her own hands.
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OBB Media Stars Now Understand That Their Destruction Is Our Entertainment
The latest in a line of revealing pop documentaries, Dancing With the Devil shares the brutal details of Demi Lovato’s drug overdose—even though sharing brings its own risks.
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Kevin Winter / Getty The Odd Pattern That Keeps Happening at the Grammys
The show has a tradition of white artists dedicating their awards to their Black peers who lost.
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Jason Kempin / Getty The Biggest Country Musician in America Is a Disgrace
After saying a racial slur and being exiled from radio, Morgan Wallen has become only more popular. What’s going on?
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Lauren Tamaki Can Classical Music Make a Comeback?
Caroline Shaw is often cited as proof that the genre has an exciting future.
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Emma McIntyre / AMA2019 / Getty / The … Taylor Swift Misses the Old Taylor Swift, Too
The artist’s first release from her re-recording project is much more than a nostalgia play. It’s a love letter.
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Getty / The Atlantic The Lady Gaga Anthem That Previewed a Decade of Culture Wars
Released 10 years ago, “Born This Way” made unity sound defiant.
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Mike Ehrmann / Getty The First Super Bowl Halftime Show About the Depravity of Halftime Shows
Ladies and gentlemen, The Weeknd.
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Frazer Harrison / Getty Pop Just Lost One of Its Most Exciting Architects
The Scottish producer Sophie, who died at age 34, created addictive sounds that seemed to live inside the listener’s head.
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Jack Robinson / Hulton Archive / Getty The Explosive Song That Liberated Tina Turner
Fifty years ago, the Queen of Rock seized her crown—and sparked her rebirth—with her fiery rendition of “Proud Mary.”
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Geffen Records / YouTube The Breakout Pop Song of the Year Is a Cinematic Universe
Olivia Rodrigo’s smash hit, “Drivers License,” implies a world of characters—and inspires listeners to role-play as them.
