A "Sign" of an Artist's Return to Greatness

Rock Critic Ken Tucker surveys his picks for the year's 10 best releases.

The Foo Fighters frontman (and Nirvana drummer) talks about his journey from playing small punk clubs to giant stadiums in his memoir, The Storyteller. He reflects on how he taught himself drums, his friendship with Kurt Cobain, and reinventing himself after Cobain's death. "I was heartbroken," he says. "I didn't really know if I ever wanted to play music again, until I realized that music was the one thing that had healed me my entire life." Originally broadcast Nov. 24, 2021.

Paul McCartney has a new, two-volume set of books called The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. It's a collection of his lyrics and the stories behind them, starting with songs he wrote before The Beatles and ending with songs from his latest album, McCartney III, which was released in 2020.