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Paul McCartney I Saw You Standing There
Reflections on my 1964 trip to New York City—and what Beatlemania felt like to me and my bandmates
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Kevin Mazur / TAS23 / Getty Fans’ Expectations of Taylor Swift Are Chafing Against Reality
The singer’s collaboration with the rapper Ice Spice has launched a new debate about what she owes her ultra-devoted audience.
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Vera Tammen / Trunk Archive Tina Turner’s Cosmic Life
The late singer stretched human expression to its fraying limits—and then her story became a folktale.
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Courtesy BIG HIT Music Suga of BTS’s World Tour Is Pop Subversion at Its Finest
In the U.S., the first member of the group to stage solo concerts delivered a thrilling declaration of artistic individuality.
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Nada Hayek Surrender to Steely Dan
How the insufferably perfectionist duo captured the hearts of a new generation of listeners
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Yuki Iwamura / Bloomberg / Getty Ed Sheeran Is Older, Wiser, and Still Quite Bland
He may have beaten a plagiarism case, but his melancholy new album struggles to find original meaning.
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Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Michael Ochs Archives … The Song That Captures the Evolution of Willie Nelson
On the enduring relevance of “Funny How Time Slips Away” as the artist turns 90 years old
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Bob Henriques / Magnum How Harry Belafonte Transformed American Music
The late artist and activist showed how popular songs could be both the soundtrack to and a tool of the struggle for freedom.
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Magnolia Pictures Little Richard and the Truth About Rock and Roll’s Queer Origins
A new documentary celebrates a cultural revolution led by a man who was, at times, a traditionalist.
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Photo-illustration by Gabriela Pesqueira. Sources: Amy Sussman / … Taylor Swift and the Sad Dads
On the unlikeliest, most fruitful collaboration in contemporary music
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Nathan Bajar / NYT / Redux The Emotional Genius of Ryuichi Sakamoto
The late Japanese musician scored not only films but also the exquisite highs and distressing lows of life.
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Mikayla LoBasso ‘Rock and Roll Ain’t What It Used to Be’
And boygenius isn’t nostalgic about it.
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Kevin Mazur / Getty for TAS What Made Taylor Swift’s Concert Unbelievable
At her epic opening show, the pop star played 44 songs and conjured actual magic.
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Kevin Winter / Getty The Most Surprising Performance of the Oscars
Lady Gaga’s minimalist rendition of “Hold My Hand” stood out even in a night of unpredictable musical moments.
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Lauren Tamaki The Freakish Powers of Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey
The id of California—the id of America—is strong in both of them.
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Alima Lee Kelela Knows What Intimacy Sounds Like
The elusive R&B singer wants to help you feel your feelings: “If you came to the club to dissociate, I’m ’bout to make you cry.”
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Illustration by Gabriela Pesqueira / The Atlantic. Sources: … The Pulse of Pop Music Is Changing
Welcome to the age of lo-fi beats to take stimulants to.
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Bill Wagg / Redferns / Getty Jazz Just Lost One of Its All-Time Greats
Wayne Shorter was a giant of the genre as an improviser, bandleader, and thinker, but above all as a composer.
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Lacey Terrell / Prime Video Daisy Jones and the Trap of the Love Triangle
How could a show about a chart-topping band care so little about the making of their music?
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Matthew Baker/Getty When New-Age Music Gets Real
Caroline Polachek’s Pure Moods is pure magic.
