Lara Downes (left) and Salamishah Tillet met at the childhood home of Nina Simone, in Tryon, N.C. Morgan Forde hide caption
Music Features In-depth storytelling from the NPR Music team.
Music Features
Lizzo (left) and Imani Imani each released major albums the week of June 1. Lizzo by Jason Renaud / Imani Imani courtesy of pgLang hide caption
A new triple album from sisters Katia (left) and Marielle Labèque celebrates more than five decades of recording together. Umberto Nicoletti hide caption
Bill Withers Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images hide caption
In the recovered audio, taped just months before his death in 1964, Arthur "Harpo" Marx plays the harp and narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, with a nod to the politics of the time. Robert Bader/Marxbrothers.net hide caption
Recently recovered recording features voice of Harpo Marx, the 'silent' Marx brother
Drake's "Janice STFU" leads Billboard's inaugural "Songs of the Summer" chart. Simone Joyner/Getty Images/Getty Images Europe hide caption
As Drake rules the charts, the ‘song of the summer’ race heats up
As Michael Jackson: The Verdict, a docuseries on the late artist's 2005 abuse trial, arrives on Netflix this week, his music continues to climb the charts following renewed interest from his biopic. Carlo Allegri/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption
Nearly 20 years ago, a Boards of Canada mystery led a group of international fans deep into the Scottish countryside. Trevor Satterfield hide caption
The mysterious hunt by the band Boards of Canada's fans for the "Red Moon Party"
Myspace Music, an early staple for Millennial music lovers. Anna Webber/Getty Images hide caption
Miles Davis (seen here during a concert in New York's Central Park in 1969) might have been more compelled to self-reinvention than any other artist in the 20th century. Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images hide caption
Drake performs at Wireless Festival in London in July 2025. His newest release after an unusual fallow period is a set of three albums: Iceman, Maid of Honour and Habibti. Simone Joyner/Getty Images for ABA hide caption
Doja Cat was the musical guest on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live's 51st season, an episode hosted by Bad Bunny. Will Heath/NBC hide caption
Aretha Franklin named her live gospel album, recorded in 1972 at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, after "Amazing Grace." Eric Piper/Mirrorpix/Getty Images hide caption
Isabel Leonard as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and Carlos Álvarez as her husband and fellow artist Diego Rivera perform in a scene from Gabriela Lena Frank's El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Marty Sohl/Met Opera hide caption
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera dream together again at Met Opera
Julieta Venegas tells NPR that her new album Norteña was a project that "started out of missing my family and Mexico." Yvonne Venegas hide caption
On her new album ‘Norteña,’ Julieta Venegas journeys home to the Mexican border
M.I.A. performs at the Germania Insurance Amphitheater in Austin, Texas, on May 1. A day later, in Dallas, she gave a performance that got her fired from her tour with Kid Cudi. Rick Kern/Getty Images North America hide caption
Composer Gabriela Lena Frank's Pulitzer-winning piece is inspired by the ancient cosmologies of her Peruvian heritage. Mariah Tauger hide caption
Tiffany Day confronts an overwhelming run at stardom on her second album, Halo. Ally Wei hide caption
"It feels so liberating because my whole career, I have been this sweet, funny, sexy girl that just shakes ass and talks about sexuality," Tokischa tells NPR. Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images/Billboard hide caption
