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Spotify removes Neil Young's music after he objects to Joe Rogan's podcast

Neil Young, performing in Lake Hughes, Calif. in 2019. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Spotify removes Neil Young's music after he objects to Joe Rogan's podcast

January 26, 2022 • The move came two days after Neil Young requested that his work be removed from Spotify in protest over coronavirus misinformation on Joe Rogan's podcast.

Spotify removes Neil Young's music after he objects to Joe Rogan's podcast

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Elton John postpones Texas concerts after testing positive for COVID-19

Elton John performs during his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour on Jan. 19 in New Orleans. Despite being vaccinated and boosted, John has contracted COVID-19 and postponed two farewell concert dates in Dallas. John "is experiencing only mild symptoms," according to a statement. Derick Hingle/AP hide caption

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Derick Hingle/AP

Coronavirus Updates

Elton John postpones Texas concerts after testing positive for COVID-19

January 25, 2022 • John said that he's fully vaccinated and boosted, experiencing only mild symptoms, and expects to be able to perform at his scheduled show this weekend in Arkansas.

Courtesy of the artist's representative

Bobbe 'Beegie' Long Adair, a formative center of Nashville's jazz scene, dies at 84

January 25, 2022 • Adair was a superb soloist and tremendous accompanist, as well as the bedrock of Nashville's jazz scene after first relocating there in the early '60s.

Tom Smith, founding member of noise band To Live and Shave in L.A., has died at 65

Tom Smith performing on Dec. 13, 2013 in Jacksonville, Fla. Patrick Spurlock for NPR hide caption

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Patrick Spurlock for NPR

Obituaries

Tom Smith, founding member of noise band To Live and Shave in L.A., has died at 65

January 22, 2022 • The prolific artist was a mentor to generations of experimental musicians.

The cuatro players of C4 Trio are the future of Venezuela's national instrument

The members of C4 Trio, L-R: Rodner Padilla, Edward Ramírez, Héctor Molina and Jorge Glem José Blanco /Courtesy of GroundUP Music hide caption

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José Blanco /Courtesy of GroundUP Music

Music

The cuatro players of C4 Trio are the future of Venezuela's national instrument

January 22, 2022 • From their unlikely start as rival contestants in a music competition, the Venezuelan cuatro players of C4 Trio have become a big concert draw. They're releasing a series of EPs ahead of a new album.

The cuatro players of C4 Trio are the future of Venezuela's national instrument

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John Mellencamp reflects on a world estranged on new album 'Strictly a One-Eyed Jack'

John Mellencamp performs during the Farm Aid 2021 music festival at the Xfinity Theatre on Sept. 25, 2021 in Hartford, Conn. Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images

John Mellencamp reflects on a world estranged on new album 'Strictly a One-Eyed Jack'

January 21, 2022 • Rock & Roll Hall of Famer John Mellencamp returns with his first album of original songs in five years, Strictly a One-Eyed Jack.

John Mellencamp reflects on a world estranged on new album 'Strictly a One-Eyed Jack'

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Meat Loaf, Grammy-winning singer famous for 'I'd Do Anything For Love,' dies at 74

Singer Meat Loaf performs in support of Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at the football stadium at Defiance High School in Defiance, Ohio, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. Charles Dharapak/AP File Photo hide caption

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Charles Dharapak/AP File Photo

Obituaries

Meat Loaf, Grammy-winning singer famous for 'I'd Do Anything For Love,' dies at 74

January 21, 2022 • Meat Loaf, born Marvin Lee Aday, was best known for Bat Out Of Hell, one of the best selling albums of all time.

Adele postpones Vegas show in tearful post, saying half of her team is out with COVID

Adele posted a video on her Twitter on Thursday, apologizing for needing to postpone her Las Vegas show. Screenshot by NPR/Twitter hide caption

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Screenshot by NPR/Twitter

Adele postpones Vegas show in tearful post, saying half of her team is out with COVID

January 20, 2022 • Weekends with Adele was originally set to run from Jan. 21 to April 16. The singer announced that the Las Vegas residency was postponed due to COVID issues.

Brazilian samba singer Elza Soares dies at 91

Brazilian singer Elza Soares performs at the Rock in Rio music festival in Rio de Janeiro in 2019. Soares died on Thursday. Leo Correa/AP hide caption

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Leo Correa/AP

Obituaries

Brazilian samba singer Elza Soares dies at 91

January 20, 2022 • Soares "moved the world with her voice, her strength and her determination," her family's announcement said, "forever ... in our hearts and the thousands of fans around the world."

Tabla player Badal Roy, known for his cutting-edge jazz collaborations, dies at 82

Tabla player Badal Roy, who worked with both Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman, in 2011. Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images hide caption

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Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images

Obituaries

Tabla player Badal Roy, known for his cutting-edge jazz collaborations, dies at 82

January 20, 2022 • The tabla player worked with trailblazing collaborators including Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman.

Pedro the Lion's David Bazan in conversation with Hanif Abdurraqib

Pedro the Lion's David Bazan just released the second part of his Arizona trilogy, Havasu. Ryan Russell/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Ryan Russell/Courtesy of the artist

Editors' Picks

Pedro the Lion's David Bazan in conversation with Hanif Abdurraqib

January 20, 2022 • And just like that, Pedro the Lion's new album is out now. Listen to Havasu in its entirety with David Bazan and author Hanif Abdurraqib.

Bronx-raised Cardi B offers to pay fire victims' burial costs

Cardi B, shown here performing at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in 2019, offered to pay for burial expenses for victims of New York's deadliest fire in three decades. Amy Harris/Invision/AP file photo hide caption

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Amy Harris/Invision/AP file photo

National

Bronx-raised Cardi B offers to pay fire victims' burial costs

January 19, 2022 • "I hope that not having to worry about the costs associated with burying their loved ones will help as they move forward and heal," the Grammy-winning rapper said.

Molly Nilsson. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

#NowPlaying

Molly Nilsson, 'Pompeii'

January 18, 2022 • The Berlin-based goth-pop artist plumbs the tale of that ever-entwined couple buried in ash in Pompeii as a way into the concept of perpetual love.

Jenny Hval. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

#NowPlaying

Jenny Hval, 'Year of Love'

January 18, 2022 • The Norwegian pop experimentalist trains her encompassing talent for shibboleth deconstruction towards a new "normcore institution" — her own marriage.

'Wait Wait' for Jan. 15, 2022: With Not My Job guest Kacey Musgraves

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

'Wait Wait' for Jan. 15, 2022: With Not My Job guest Kacey Musgraves

January 15, 2022 • Kacey Musgraves got her start in Austin, then left to conquer the world. She's about to do it all again on her Star-Crossed tour, but not before she answers our three questions about national anthems.

'Wait Wait' for Jan. 15, 2022: With Not My Job guest Kacey Musgraves

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Amaarae (feat. Kali Uchis, Moliy), 'SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY (Vigro Deep Amapiano Remix)'

YouTube/Courtesy of the artist

#NowPlaying

Amaarae (feat. Kali Uchis, Moliy), 'SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY (Vigro Deep Amapiano Remix)'

January 14, 2022 • This latest remix of the 2020 track might be the Trojan Horse we need to introduce amapiano, a spacious form of deep house music, to America.

Cultural critic Terry Teachout is remembered as 'unafraid of being human in public'

Critic Terry Teachout in 2014 in New York. Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage/Getty Images hide caption

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Obituaries

Cultural critic Terry Teachout is remembered as 'unafraid of being human in public'

January 14, 2022 • Teachout has died at the age of 65. He wrote acclaimed biographies of such arts figures as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and George Balanchine.

The Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is going to pop star Lionel Richie

Lionel Richie, shown performing at a benefit concert in 2019, is the recipient of this year's Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive hide caption

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Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive

The Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is going to pop star Lionel Richie

January 13, 2022 • Richie, responsible for a seemingly endless catalog of hits, will be awarded the songwriting prize this spring by the Library of Congress.

A 2nd suspect is arrested, another is indicted in rapper Young Dolph's death

Young Dolph was gunned down on Nov. 17, 2021, in his hometown of Memphis. Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP hide caption

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Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP

A 2nd suspect is arrested, another is indicted in rapper Young Dolph's death

January 11, 2022 • A grand jury indicted Cornelius Smith, 32, on first-degree murder and other charges in the shooting that killed the rapper in November, officials say.

Opera singer Maria Ewing, known for her dramatic intensity, has died at age 71

Opera singer Maria Ewing photographed on stage at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1994 while she was singing the title role in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, by Dmitri Shostakovich. Jack Mitchell/Getty Images hide caption

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Jack Mitchell/Getty Images