Meg White performs in Australia in 2003. Photo Illustration: Bob King/Redferns and Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption
Music Features In-depth storytelling from the NPR Music team.
Singer Alberto Carrión performs Amanecer Borincano, his song about sunrise over Puerto Rico, at the point where Hurricane Maria made landfall one year ago. Adrian Florido/NPR hide caption
Where Hurricane Maria First Made Landfall, Songs Memorialize The Tragedy
The 2nd South Carolina String Band in July, onstage in the main tent of the annual reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg. Bilal Qureshi for NPR hide caption
Hayley Williams of Paramore performs onstage in Chicago, Ill. in 2013. Photo Illustration: Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images for Clear Channel and Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption
Lyn Collins, pictured here in 1970, inspired the chorus to Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's pioneering hip-hop hit "It Takes Two." Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption
Joanna Newsom performs on Late Night with Seth Meyers on March 16, 2016. Photo Illustration: Lloyd Bishop/NBC via Getty Images and Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption
An illustration of Mac Miller, drawn during his Tiny Desk Concert performance in Aug. 2018. Deborah Lee/NPR hide caption
Lee Greenwood performs in Illinois in 1984. Released that spring to a modest chart showing, "God Bless the U.S.A." found staying power as political campaigns began to adopt it. Paul Natkin/Getty Images hide caption
'God Bless The U.S.A.,' A Country Anthem With Enduring Political Power
Eminem performs during the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards at The Forum in Inglewood. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia hide caption
At Florida's Tampa Stadium in 1991, Whitney Houston delivered an iconic performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" to kick off Super Bowl XXV. George Rose/Getty Images hide caption
Mitski performs at SXSW in Austin, Texas in 2016. Photo Illustration: Lorne Thomson/Redferns/Getty Images and Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption
Karin Dreijer performs on stage at Motel Mozaique Festival in the Netherlands in 2009. Photo Illustration: Rob Verhorst/Redferns/Getty Images and Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption
After hours of waiting, a festival attendee cuts loose in a mosh pit at the Afropunk Joburg festival in Johannesburg in December 2017. Melissa Bunni Elian hide caption
Lorde performs at the Governors Ball Music Festival on June 2, 2017 in New York City. Photo Illustration: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images and Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption
IDLES Ebru Yildiz/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Kelly Clarkson performs during the KISS 108 FM Jingle Ball in Lowell, Mass. in 2004 — the year her second album, Breakaway, cemented her status as a pop superstar. Marc Andrew Deley/FilmMagic/Getty Images hide caption
Wisin y Yandel wave the flag of Puerto Rico during a performance in Central Park on August 13, 2011. Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images/Getty Images hide caption
An impromptu memorial for Aretha Franklin outside New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit — the same church where Franklin's father Rev. C.L. Franklin was a minister and where she began her singing career. Taken Aug. 19, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images hide caption
Esperanza Spalding performs at the 2011 Montreux Jazz festival in Switzerland. Photo Illustration: A163/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images and Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption
Dee Snider (center) with the rest of Twisted Sister in 1984. Mark Weiss/Getty Images hide caption
Don't Get It Twisted: 'We're Not Gonna Take It' Can Be Anyone's Protest Song
Christian McBride performs with The Time Jumpers. Colin Marshall/NPR hide caption