Music

John Prine died on April 7 of COVID-19 complications. He was 73. Tributes have been pouring in from the music world in the days following his passing. Today, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd shared a cover of “Paradise” from Prine’s debut self-titled album. “Miss you, brother.” Watch it happen below. Following Prine’s death, countless genre-spanning

Bonnie Raitt has shared a new video paying tribute to the late John Prine, who passed away on April 8 from COVID-19 complications. In the video, Raitt performs “Home,” originally written by Karla Bonoff and covered by Raitt on her 1977 album Sweet Forgiveness. “For those who aren’t blessed to have a secure and safe

Sturgill Simspon has tested positive for COVID-19, as the singer revealed via a post to his Instagram account earlier today. Simpson said he first sought medical attention on March 13, when he began to experience “chest pains, fever, and pre-stroke blood pressure levels,” but was unable to be tested for coronavirus until April 6. He

Caroline Polachek has released the instrumentals for her most recent album Pang. You can purchase them over on her Bandcamp page. Check out the alternate cover artwork for the new instrumental album below. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Polachek was scheduled to perform shows in Austin and Dallas that have since been postponed. Waxahatchee recently

Travis Nelsen, longtime drummer in Austin indie rock group Okkervil River, has died. Okkervil River announced the news in a statement on their Instagram account on April 9. “Travis Nelsen, Okkervil River’s drummer from 2003-2010, passed away on Tuesday,” the band wrote. “He was a radiant, hilarious, charismatic, generous, passionate human being with a heart

Consequence of Sound has announced Angel from Maywood: A Livestream Tribute to John Prine. The homage to Prine, who died earlier this week, will feature performances by the Decemberists’ Colin Meloy, Kevin Morby, the Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle, Grace Potter, Norah Jones, the Head and the Heart, Lake Street Dive, and more. The tribute will

Swathed between two flutes and a mesmerizing piano, the new instrumental song “Liama” is a lovely reminder to slow things down and listen to the music. Ensconced in an imaginative song for the listener’s taking, the duo behind “Liama” are New Jersey’s Steve Markoff and Patricia Lazzara, with Allison Brewster Franzetti helming the piano. As

Iggy Pop has announced new 2xCD reissues of his classic albums The Idiot and Lust for Life. In addition to remastered versions of the original albums, the reissues feature bonus live discs: Live at The Rainbow Theatre, recorded at London’s Finsbury Park in 1977, and TV Eye Live, respectively. The Stooges founder is also releasing

Usher, Lil Jon, and Ludacris have released a new song. The latest track from the team behind “Yeah!” is called “SexBeat.” That’s it below. Usher’s song “Climax” recently came up in an interview with the Weeknd, which then led to social media challenges and subtweets. (Here’s a summary, if you’re interested.) Ludacris’ most recent album

The Weeknd was featured on the latest cover of Variety following the recent release of his new album, After Hours. In the interview with Variety’s Jem Aswad published yesterday (April 8), the singer talks about the new album at length. Amid all the relatively typical album-cycle conversation about influences and what individual songs are about,

Hayley Williams has unveiled another track from her solo debut PETALS FOR ARMOR. The latest song is titled “My Friend.” Watch its lyric video below. “My Friend” is the eighth offering from the Paramore frontwoman’s solo debut. In February, she shared PETALS FOR ARMOR I, which featured five songs from her album, including “Simmer” and

Philadelphia rapper Chynna Rogers died today at age 25. Following the news of her passing, tributes poured in from her peers and friends. “I don’t like doing this when my people go but I think everybody needs to know that you were special,” Vince Staples wrote. “Too special for words. Stay outta trouble lil cuh.”

Cindy Lee, the project of former Women frontperson Patrick Flegel, has released a new album called Cat O’ Nine Tails. Check out a preview collage of the record and a video for one song, “I Don’t Want to Fall in Love Again,” below. Cat O’ Nine Tails is available by digital order through a Geocities

Omar Apollo is back with a new single called “Imagine U.” Take a listen to the new song, co-produced by Kenny Beats, below. “I’m all about the feeling when it comes to music,” Apollo said in a statement. “The lyrics and melody came to me so naturally and I feel like free thinking is what’s

The music world is reacting to the death of John Prine, who died today (April 7) of COVID-19 complications at the age of 73. “A simple majority of who I am as a person, let alone a musician, is because of John Prine,” Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon tweeted. “He is my number 1.” Amber Coffman

Apple Music has launched a $50 million advance royalty fund to ensure that artists will get paid and label operations can continue during the coronavirus pandemic, Rolling Stone reports. The streaming giant confirmed the news in a letter to labels (obtained by Rolling Stone). Eligible labels must have a direct Apple Music distribution deal and

Courtney Garvin, best known as a member of the Courtneys, has a new band with multi-instrumentalist Connor Mayer called Gum Country. Today, they’ve announced their debut album. It’s titled Somewhere and it’s out June 19 (via Kingfisher Bluez/Burger/Dinosaur City/Waterslide). Check out the album’s title track in the video below. “I wrote ‘Somewhere’ a couple years

Over a decade after their 2009 debut album II, Desire—the project fronted by Megan Louise—have announced their second album. It’s called Escape, and it arrives this summer via Italians Do It Better. The album was produced by Johnny Jewel. Check out the tracklist in the Instagram post below. Check out the Johnny Jewel-directed video for

Late last year, it was announced that New York City’s CMJ Music Marathon would return for the first time in five years. The week-long multi-venue festival was initially launched in 1978, and ran through 2015. However following a change in ownership and a string of legal issues, the event’s future was uncertain. Now, the British

(Sandy) Alex G has shared a new song titled “rosebush.” The largely-instrumental track is accompanied by video that contains a short story about a woman named Joanna, three yowling grey cats, and the titular rosebush. The story also has the line, “Crawl back to your hole, rat!,” written many times. Check out the song and video

Lady Gaga recently postponed her new album Chromatica, which was originally scheduled to arrive on April 10. A new release date hasn’t been confirmed just yet, but today she’s shared the album’s artwork. Check it out below. https://twitter.com/ladygaga/status/1246905802952077312 Chromatica is the follow-up to Joanne and her A Star Is Born soundtrack. The record includes her

Laura Marling has announced she has moved up the release date of her new album, Songs for Our Daughter. Originally slated for a summer release, the record will now arrive April 10 via Partisan/Chrysalis. “In light of the change to all our circumstances, I saw no reason to hold back on something that, at the

Marianne Faithfull has been hospitalized in London due to coronavirus (COVID-19). She is “stable and responding to treatment,” according to her manager François Ravard. Faithfull’s longtime friend Penny Arcade told Rolling Stone that Faithfull had checked herself into a hospital on Monday (March 30) following a few days of symptoms. She told the outlet that

Justin Vernon performed a new Bon Iver song during Bernie Sanders’ virtual town hall about the COVID-19 pandemic Saturday night. It’s called “Things Behind Things Behind Things.” Vernon also performed “Towers,” and “Blood Bank,” and a cover of Bob Dylan’s “With God on Our Side” during the broadcast. Watch it all below—Soccer Mommy performs “Circle

Bad Bunny has surprise released a new song called “En Casita.” A one-off about life in self-isolation, the song features vocals from his girlfriend Gabriela Berlingeri. Listen to the track below. Bad Bunny released his second album YHLQMDLG at the end of February, and it became the highest-charting all-Spanish-language album of all time with its

Panamanian singer Sech has shared a brand new track called “Relación.” The single arrives with a colorful music video that centers on a woman leaving a toxic relationship. Watch the visual below. “Relación” was produced by Dímelo Flow and Slow Mike (Miguel Andrés Martínez Perea). It marks Sech’s first solo single of 2020, following his