Music

Country singer Loretta Lynn married at 13, had six children and created controversy by singing songs about divorce and the pill. Here, she talks about her decades in the music business, her relationship with her husband and a new tribute album, Coal Miner's Daughter.

Jerry Bock, the composer of the score for shows like Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello! and She Loves Me, died Nov. 3. He was 81. Fresh Air remembers the composer with highlights from a 2004 interview conducted with Bock and his writing partner, lyricist Sheldon Harnick.

Nearly 40 years ago, The Rolling Stones decided to film four performances in Ft. Worth and Houston for a theatrical release. The finished film, Ladies and Gentlemen ... The Rolling Stones, has just been released on DVD. Critic Milo Miles reviews the performance.

Taylor Swift turns 21 in December, and she'll still be one of the youngest country singer-songwriters to have achieved massive success. Her songs operate as both faux-confessionals and universal anthems. Her new album, Speak Now, is already a best-seller.

Howard's new record, Drum Lore, was inspired by a question a workshop student once asked him: Why are you teaching a composition class when you're a drummer? So Howard devotes the new album to tunes written by jazz percussionists.

The Beatles' Apple Records put out the Fab Four's own singles and albums, as well as music by other performers the individual Beatles liked. Critic Ed Ward takes a look behind the scenes at Apple Records, and at the full albums the label released.

The musical-theater titan tells the stories behind some of his most famous work, from West Side Story to Gypsy. And he offers some surprising criticisms of other theater greats, including his mentor Oscar Hammerstein.

Apple Records released 31 albums and 52 singles from younger acts it hoped would flourish. Ed Ward reviews Come And Get It: The Best of Apple Records, a collection of the label's remastered and re-released tracks.

The guitarist opens up about his music, his legendary journeys on the road with The Rolling Stones and his occasionally contentious relationship with lead singer Mick Jagger in a new memoir called Life.

Bruno Mars is a 25-year-old singer, songwriter and producer who's worked on hit singles for numerous hip-hop and soul artists. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Mars' new album, Doo-Wops and Hooligans, is "an impressive, varied and intense experience."

The Dwight Twilley Band scored its biggest hit, "I'm on Fire," in 1975, and then struggled for years to achieve stardom that never arrived. Now the band's lead singer, Twilley, is back. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews his new album Green Blimp, which also features vocals by Susan Cowsill.

A jazz pianist and bandleader, Iyer is one of the most critically acclaimed musicians of the past decade. He also has a masters in physics. Here, he explains why he decided to switch to a full-time career as a jazz musician, and describes what influenced his latest album, Solo.

In the Oct. 18 issue of The New Yorker, historian Sean Wilentz argues that the rhetoric expressed by both Glenn Beck and the Tea Party is nothing new -- and is rooted in an extremist ideology that has been around since the Cold War.

From the late 1950s up until her last stage appearance in 1990, Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland was one of the world's most admired and celebrated opera stars. She died Sunday at age 83. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz looks back at the life and work of the singer known as "La Stupenda."

Solomon Burke, the Grammy Award-winning singer who wrote the hit track "Everyone Needs Somebody to Love," died Sunday at 70. Fresh Air remembers the "King of Rock and Soul" with excerpts from a 1986 interview.

The Australian singer recently made her American debut with her third album, As Day Follows Night. It's a cycle of songs about a love triangle, and it's performed, as Blasko says, in the direct manner of early Carole King. Milo Miles explains how Blasko escapes irony and sentimentality to refresh a well-worn subject.

Justin Timberlake rocketed to stardom as a teen heartthrob in the band 'N Sync. He has gone on to be a successful solo artist — and expanded his career into both comedic and dramatic roles on-screen. He discusses his long career in showbiz, his SNL digital shorts and his transition to film.

In 1951, Williams was one of the biggest stars in country music. He was also a pitchman for Mother's Best flour and farm feed, a company that sponsored a daily 15-minute radio show. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Williams' performances on the show, which were just released on a 15-disc set called The Complete Mother's Best Recordings... Plus!

Joost Buis' tunes are clean and true, and still let weird details nibble at the edges on Zooming. That sort of despoiling playfulness typifies a lot of Hollands improvised music: Just because you're serious doesn't mean you have to be serious all the time.

The acclaimed music-video director transitioned to the big screen with One Hour Photo, a dark psychological drama starring Robin Williams. Now Romanek has tackled Never Let Me Go, the futuristic thriller based on Kazoo Ishiguro's novel.