Pop

We listen back to a 2008 interview with singer Glen Campbell whose hits included Witchita Lineman, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, and Galveston. He died Tuesday Aug 8 at the age of 81.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Styles' self-titled solo album, as well as Waiting on a Song, by Auerbach of The Black Keys. Tucker says the new albums "meet in a middle-ground of forced humility."

It was a great year for old pros and newcomers, big pop stars and beloved cult stars, as well as a couple of not-yet-stars. As always, winnowing down a list that could have easily been double this length was tough — but it was also a pleasure, since it forced me to concentrate on what made this music the best of 2016. The following picks are arranged in alphabetical order.

Before he died earlier this month, Cohen released a new album with songs that wrestled with mortality, transcendence and the question of God — themes he touched on in this 2006 Fresh Air interview.

Froom produced albums by Elvis Costello, Los Lobos, Richard Thompson, and Suzanne Vega. He joins Fresh Air to talk about how he pushes artists to new musical territories.

Married couple Rennie and Brett Sparks have been making songs together as The Handsome Family for 21 years. In 2014, they gained much wider fame when their haunting song, "Far From Any Road," became the theme for the first season of HBO's True Detective.

As a guitarist in Wilco, Nels Cline is known for his sonic explorations with feedback, distortion and unfettered improvisation. His new album, Lovers, is a collection of lushly arranged versions of American popular songs, covers and originals.

Rock critic Ken Tucker offers up his top 10 lists of the best albums and singles of 2008.music. Here's his look at some of his own favorites.

The Late Late Show host talks about belting out songs with celebrities like Elton John, Steve Wonder and Adele. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross he doesn't know what he did to deserve this great gig.

Rock historian Ed Ward says that musicians in Düsseldorf, Germany, including Klaus Dinger of the band Neu!, helped start a new German pop movement in the 1970s and '80s.

Musician Laurel Sprengelmeyer — aka Little Scream — refers to prayer, devotion, heaven and Satan on her new album. Critic Ken Tucker calls Cult Following a "testament to desire and endurance."

American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson has released All I Ever Wanted, her fourth album. Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review.

Will Toledo, the singer-songwriter who performs under the name Car Seat Headrest, is ambitious and passionate on his new album. Critic Ken Tucker says the record will make you want to sing along.

The Irish director and screenwriter talks to Fresh Air's Ann Marie Baldonado about his new film, which tells the story of a young teenager in 1980s Dublin who discovers pop music and starts a band.

In an interview recorded onstage, Amir Questlove Thompson the cofounder and drummer of the Roots, the houseband for The Tonight Show talks with Terry Gross about music, his father doo wop singer Lee Andrews who died last month, and about Prince.

Rock critic Ken Tucker says Prince, the singer, songwriter and instrumentalist who died yesterday at his home in Minnesota, was "the most inventive and prolific pop musician of his generation."

The raucous singer turns thoughtful on his new album. Critic Ken Tucker calls Upland Stories a "marvelous mongrel mixture" of bluegrass banjo-picking, honky-tonk pedal steel and stark folk phrasings.

A new release by Legacy revisits the hits of Them, the band George Ivan Morrison played in before he became Van Morrison. Ed Ward remembers the band's brief existence.

The surging voices of two female lead singers create the signature sound of the five-piece band Lucius. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the band's new album, Good Grief, is often lovely and well-crafted.