Music Features

Ric Ocasek, the oddball-pop wizard who died on September 15th at age 75, knew how to get the best out of a rock band in the studio. That was true when he was making one timeless radio gem after another with the Cars, and it was true when he gear-shifted …

Everybody kept saying it was gonna be huge, but I don’t think anybody really believed that. To the Grateful Dead, it sounded a bit like pressure. You know, “You gotta play well ’cause your career is gonna be made or broken by it.” We also expected a gigantic party, which …

I thought, “Oh, God, they’re going to kill me. I’m not going out there first. What, are you crazy?” It was about 2:30 or 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon, and the concert was already almost three hours late. I was supposed to be fifth on the bill, but the other …

When you’re recovering from a break-up by writing a pop song, the ultimate kiss off needs to be wisely executed. Lulu Simon, daughter of Paul, found the formula for a deliciously pissed off break-up bop with her single “Wasted.” Hailing from the school of Carly Rae Jepsen’sKiss, “Wasted” is candy-coated …

Mrs. Smith was getting her nails done when she found out Kirk Hammett was game for a wah-off. In a January web interview, Smith, the Upper East Side socialite turned unlikely viral guitar hero, had thrown down a gauntlet before the famously wah-wah-pedal–happy Metallica member. “I’m the number-one wah-wah abuser,” …

After she wrapped her tour for 2015’s Froot, Marina Diamandis — the Welsh pop star who once performed as Marina and the Diamonds — believed she was ready to quit music altogether. “I felt like Marina and the Diamonds had just become this shell and I was trying to break …

Next week marks the 25th anniversary of Kurt Cobain‘s death, but Danny Goldberg says he’s only recently come to terms with the tragedy. “There was a long period of time where just thinking about it and getting into it this deeply would have been too painful for me,” the Nirvana …

A band you thought you knew; an American rock & roll city with a past that may surprise you: These two reissues come from different lands and eras —Britain just ahead of glitter; a Texas where punk was just getting started — with the same fire and attitude. Mott the …

A new episode of our podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, spotlights the story of “Walk This Way,” from Aerosmith‘s original 1975 recording to their Rick Rubin-produced collaboration with Run-DMC in 1986. The original song’s producer, Jack Douglas, gives a blow-by-blow of its genesis on the episode, while Washington Post reporter …

Savan Kotecha has built an exceptional career as a songwriter. But despite a résumé containing hits for Justin Bieber and Maroon 5, Kotecha was feeling glum when he first sat down with Ariana Grande to discuss songs that would later appear on 2014’s My Everything. Kotecha had played a key …