Music

Ward, who died this week, is remembered as one of the first people to write seriously about rock 'n' roll. He wrote for Rolling Stone and Creem and was Fresh Air's rock historian from 1987 until 2017.

Blanton describes many of the songs on her new album as "anti-fascist anthems." Critic Ken Tucker says Love & Rage doesn't sound like typical protest music — which makes it all the more effective.

Carlile traces her path to country stardom in the new memoir, Broken Horses. To date, she's won six Grammys, including back-to-back wins for best country song in 2020 and 2021.

King made some recordings in the 1970s, but then quit the music business to raise her children. Now in her late 70s, she's released her first full-length solo album: Living in the Last Days.

Baker supplies nearly all of the guitars, drums, synthesizers, banjo, and mandolin on her new album. It's a confessional and frequently beautiful record about mental distress and addiction.