Musicians

“Love Symbol #2”

Prince Now Has His Own Shade of Purple

The Pantone Color Institute has debuted “Love Symbol #2,” a deep purple based on the late star's custom-made piano

Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, the first two commercially popular country music acts, got their national start at the Bristol Sessions.

How the Bristol Sessions Created Country Music

Ninety years ago, a yodeller named Jimmie Rodgers laid down two of the tracks he would be remembered for

Christylez Bacon at the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Christylez Bacon on Finding His Voice through Music

The Grammy-nominated artist takes inspiration from weaving together seemingly disparate musical forms

Les choses de Paul Poiret (Paul Poiret's Things), 1911

Esperanza Spalding: Jazz Musician, Grammy Award Winner and Now Museum Curator

The title of her latest album "D + Evolution" is also the theme of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt

Mount Aragats in Aragatsotn, Armenia.

Why This Composer Made Melodies Out of Mountainsides

This forgotten Armenian musicologist literally drew the landscapes into his folksong scores

The Flamingo's 'Champagne Tower' was one of the first big pieces of neon on the Strip, seen in films like 'Viva Las Vegas.' It was installed in 1953 and removed in 1967.

The Stylish Flamingo Hotel Shaped the Las Vegas Strip

The Flamingo, still operating today, is the oldest hotel on the Strip

iForest is an immersive sound experience located at The Wild Center in the Adirondacks.

This Forest Will Sing to You

iForest at The Wild Center combines an immersive sound experience with the lush beauty of the Adirondacks

Bob Dylan has finally delivered his Nobel Prize lecture.

Dylan Finally Delivers on Nobel Prize Lecture

The reclusive singer-songwriter muses on literature and music in characteristic style

In 1971, Folkways Recordings released the album Raimon: Catalonian Protest Songs, and in the liner notes, Pete Seeger wrote: “Censors, in every corner of this world, tend to be shallow, literal-minded people. Raimon is a poet. There is no need to say more.”

This Catalan Folk Singer Refused to Bow to Oppression

The director of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage recognizes the lifetime work of the singer activist Raimon

"Straight Outta Compton" just landed a spot in the National Recording Registry.

N.W.A., NPR Among This Year’s National Recording Registry Inductees

The latest class of 25 also includes Judy Garland and Vin Scully

Lou Reed graffiti in France is a reminder of the rock star's international infuence.

Lou Reed’s Papers Have Found a Home

The vicious Velvet Underground frontman will live on at the New York Public Library

“Music is a way of looking at someone in a different way,” says ethnomusicologist Ben Harbert. “You see them as a singer, not a prisoner.”

Finding Music Behind Prison Bars

At the Louisiana State Penitentiary and at a maximum-security prison in Malawi, the benefits of music are far-reaching

The Original Dixieland Jass Band included cornetist Nick LaRocca, trombonist Eddie Edwards, clarinetist Larry Shields, pianist Henry Ragas, and drummer Tony Sbarbaro.

The First Jazz Recording Was Made by a Group of White Guys?

A century ago, a recording of the startlingly novel "Livery Stable Blues" helped launch a new genre

Interior of Historic RCA Studio B today.

Play Paul Simon's Piano or Croon Into Elvis' Mic at These Seven Historic Recording Studios

Take a tour through Americana music history

Now on display in the museum’s “Musical Crossroads” exhibition, the boombox is a striking symbol of the early years of hip-hop.

The Ballad of the Boombox: What Public Enemy Tells Us About Hip-Hop, Race and Society

Thirty years after Public Enemy's debut album, the group's sonic innovation and powerful activism resonate powerfully today

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield

The Soprano Who Upended Americans' Racist Stereotypes About Who Could Sing Opera

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield was in many ways the nation's first black pop star

Album cover for the Live At Folsom Prison album.

This 1951 Prison B-Movie Inspired “Folsom Prison Blues”

Johnny Cash's live prison concert made him the voice for rehabilitation over punishment

Bruce Springsteen performs with drummer Max Weinberg in 2008.

Bruce Springsteen Is Getting His Own Archive

A new center will celebrate the glory days of Boss and other American musical icons

"No one on earth can be totally secure, because nothing can completely protect you from life’s tragedies and the relentless passage of time.”

Michael Jackson, Donald Trump and Other Famous Americans Who Escaped Brushes With Death

The roads not taken for these 13 lucky souls saved their lives

The word “jazz” was first used in print in California sportswriting around 1912.

This Is the "Jass" Record That Introduced Millions of Americans to a New Kind of Music

The record that introduced millions of Americans to a new kind of music

Page 11 of 16