W elcome to Rolling Stone’s 2021 Musicians on Musicians package, the annual franchise where two great artists come together for a free, open conversation about life and music. Each story in this year’s series will appear in our November 2021 print issue, hitting stands on November 2nd — with four …
Read More »Eric Clapton Isn't Just Spouting Vaccine Nonsense–He's Bankrolling It
C ambel McLaughlin thought he was being punked. An unapologetic opponent of lockdowns and Covid-19 vaccine skeptic — he is, as he puts it, “pro-medical choice”— the 27-year-old Brit is founder of Jam for Freedom, a group of U.K. musicians that plays for free in public spaces, spreading the anti-lockdown …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Cody Currie and Eliza Rose, 'Another Love'
Berlin-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Cody Currie reconnects with Eliza Rose on “Another Love,” a pining, four-on-the-floor house cut about the search for the right romantic partner. Rose’s lyrics nod to the Gwen McCrae dancefloor classic “Keep the Fire Burning,” a relentlessly funky 1982 single that combines a drilling bass line …
Read More »Brandee Younger's 'Pretend' Is an Elegant Intergenre Chill-Out
One of the loveliest sounds heard on record in 2020 was the pluck and shimmer of Brandee Younger’s harp, tracing out the melodies of classic songs like the Stylistics’ “You Make Me Feel Brand New” and Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work” on Force Majeure, a collection of home-recorded duets with …
Read More »'Welcome 2 America': The Oral History of Prince's Lost Album
On and off since Prince’s death in 2016, archivist Michael Howe has spent ample time sifting through audio and video tapes, film footage, and other sonic flotsam in the late pop star’s vault. But last year, in the L.A.-area storage space that currently houses Prince’s archives, Howe came across three …
Read More »Neil Finn on Crowded House's Comeback LP and His Unexpected Stint in Fleetwood Mac
Right up until he joined Fleetwood Mac in 2018, Neil Finn felt it was very likely that Crowded House would never make another record. The band’s lineup had shifted several times over the years, founding drummer Paul Hester was dead, and an attempt to record a follow-up to 2010’s Intriguer …
Read More »Patti Smith on the Return of Live Music and the First Time She Met Bob Dylan
Patti Smith isn’t one to get cabin fever, but this past year has been the exception, as the pandemic left her grounded in her home city. “I haven’t left New York in over a year, which is the longest I’ve been rooted since my children have grown,” she tells Rolling …
Read More »'I Am Doomed to Produce Music': Inside One Iranian Artist's Fight for Creative Freedom
Mehdi Rajabian once had his own recording studio in Sari, Iran, boasting moody overhead lighting and blond wood walls. Now, he spends most of his time in the dark basement of his home, crouching on a pile of rugs in front of a computer and a keyboard. Despite being functionally …
Read More »How Shelley, Formerly Known as D.R.A.M., Found His True Voice
The year 2018 might as well have been a decade ago. Pandemic languishing notwithstanding, things move quickly these days. The musician formerly known as D.R.A.M., or Big Baby D.R.A.M. depending on who you asked, knows this better than anyone. Born Shelley Massenburg-Smith, he was at the forefront of a generation …
Read More »Farewell, Anita Lane: A Storm in the Form of a Girl
The music world has lost a true icon: Anita Lane, the Bad Seed who helped redefine the spirit of evil in rock & roll. “Once there came a storm in the form of a girl,” Nick Cave famously sang, and for many fans, Anita Lane was that storm. She was …
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