Music Features

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 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 …

J.S. Ondara can trace his entire career back to a bad bet. As a teenager in Nairobi, Kenya, Ondara once swore to a friend that “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” was written by his favorite band, Guns N’ Roses, and not by someone named Bob Dylan. “What are you talking about?” …

Lil Peep enjoyed a devoted following on SoundCloud and YouTube during his lifetime, but he was not the type of artist whose music was beamed out to millions over the radio. That all changed with “Falling Down,” a posthumously released collaboration with XXXTentacion. This single was not just a radio …

To start the new year right: classic English punk and a shot of what’s next; the definitive account of the greatest British white-R&B band of the Sixties that you still don’t know; and experimental vigor from Norway, vintage and immediate. The Buzzcocks,Another Music in a Different Kitchen; Love Bites (Domino) …