Tina Turner

Why I Fell for Tina Turner

Empowerment, individual strength, and the many facets of love.
Bessie Smith poses for a portrait circa 1924.

The Flood Behind Bessie Smith’s “Back-Water Blues”

The Mississippi River flood that Smith allegedly memorialized happened weeks after she'd written and released her song. Where was the real “Back Water”?
Loretta Lynn performs on stage at the Country Music Festival held at Wembley Arena, London in April 1977.

Loretta Lynn: More than a Great Songwriter

A spokeswoman for white, rural, working-class women, Loretta Lynn used music to articulate the fears, dreams, and anger of women living in a patriarchal society.
Fred Astaire

Albums: What a Concept!

Long-playing records ushered in the era of the soundtrack, but they also made room for something else—the concept album.
The Rolling Stones perform on the set of the pop music television show Thank Your Lucky Stars in Birmingham, England on January 30th, 1965.

Creating the Musical Canon

When you look at the canon of popular music, who's on the list looks very much like those who made the list.
Olivia Rodrigo performs onstage during the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center on September 12, 2021

Thank You, Tweens, for Your Pop Music Icons

Olivia Rodrigo is only the latest star to emerge from the wonderful world of Disney.
Eileen Southern

The Work of Pioneering Musicologist Eileen Southern

The scholarship of Black music was transformed by Southern's work, and is now being honored by a new initiative.
Nat "King" Cole performs a song on piano on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on April 13, 1958 in New York City

Way before MTV, Music Ruled the Living Room

I want my Ed Sullivan, Arthur Godfrey, and Lawrence Welk! To say nothing of Soul Train!
Photograph: A choir at the  Billy Graham evangelist crusade at London's Earls Court sing to 20,000 crowd under the  slogan ' I am the way'.  

Source: Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images

The Conservative Christian War on Rock and Roll

Tracing an early front in the culture wars to a trio of evangelical opponents of rock music in the 1950s and '60s.
Johnny Cash poses for a portrait for a publicity shot for his movie debut in "Door-to-Door Maniac" aka "Five Minutes To Live" on Auust 3, 1960 in Los Angeles, California.

The Complications of “Outlaw Country”

Johnny Cash grappled with the many facets of the outlaw archetype in his feature acting debut, Five Minutes to Live.