By 1976, David Bowie was one of the most famous people on earth and one of the most endangered. The Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane personas had made him a global phenomenon. Diamond Dogs had produced a theatrical tour so massive it nearly bankrupted him. The Young Americans album had given him his first American … Read more
Paul McCartney is not a humble man by nature. That is not a criticism — it would be strange if he were. He co-wrote the most covered song in history (“Yesterday”), produced a body of work across six decades that has almost no parallel in popular music, and has been called a genius so many … Read more
Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is the best-selling album of confessional music ever made. It has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. It spent 31 weeks at number one in the United States. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year. And every person who appears on the record — every musician who played on those … Read more
Bob Dylan has released 39 studio albums. He has been making records since 1962. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 — the first musician ever to receive it, a decision so unexpected that the committee reportedly had difficulty reaching him because he didn’t immediately return the call. He has reinvented himself as … Read more
Most people spend their twenties figuring out what they want to do. Elvis Presley spent his rewriting what music was allowed to be — and he was done with the most important part of it before his 25th birthday. That is the fact that gets lost in the jumpsuits and Las Vegas mythology. The young … Read more
Keith Richards has heard everything. That is not a figure of speech. The man has been alive and paying close attention since the early 1950s, when American blues records began washing up on British shores like messages in bottles. He has shared stages with Chuck Berry, recorded with Gram Parsons, jammed with jazz legends, sat … Read more
There is a reason the debate never ends. Fifty-plus years after The Beatles broke up, people are still arguing about who the greatest Beatle really was. Paul gets the votes for melody. George gets the votes for spirituality and underappreciated genius. Ringo gets the votes from people who understand drumming better than most. But Lennon … Read more
In 2024, one of rock music’s most enduring mysteries finally came to an end when Paul McCartney was reunited with the bass guitar stolen from him more than five decades earlier. As the year wrapped up and McCartney brought his Got Back Tour to London’s O2 Arena, fans were already expecting a memorable night. What … Read more
Taylor Swift has spent years breaking records that once seemed impossible. But recent global music reports once again reminded the industry that her level of success now exists in a category almost entirely by itself. In early 2025 and 2026, discussions around Swift’s album sales exploded online after fans circulated massive numbers tied to her … Read more
Long before Taylor Swift became one of the biggest stars on the planet, she was simply a teenager trying to survive heartbreak, pressure, loneliness, and the overwhelming emotions that came with growing up in public. And according to people close to her, one person became her safe place through all of it: her mother, Andrea … Read more