The film begins with a montage showcasing Madonna's various conflicts throughout the course of her career, as well as a quote from James Baldwin about artists being here to disturb the peace. The quaint outrage she sparked during the Like a Virgin era; the Like a Prayer video with its flaming crosses, stigmata, and snogging […]

Tina Turner has sold the rights to her six-decade-long song collection to BMG Music Publishing, which includes singles like What's Love Got to Do With It and Private Dancer. In the largest agreement negotiated with a single artist in BMG's history, the "queen of rock'n'roll" surrendered her artist and writer shares in her records, as […]

It's understandable to be overwhelmed by the current wave of Britney Spears content – the last week of September saw the premiere of three documentaries on the subject of her conservatorship (FX on Hulu's Controlling Britney Spears, Netflix's Britney vs Spears, and CNN's Toxic: Britney Spears' Battle for Freedom) on the subject of her conservatorship, […]

The "rock star" is essentially extinct. With the TV-out-the-window lifestyle that dominated pop culture between the 1970s and 2000s out of favor, the term – and all the recklessness and charisma it implies – is more likely to be ascribed to a chef or a tech-bro than a musician. However, some people still suit the […]

Yard Act leader James Smith snarls at his bass player, eking out a funk rhythm, "It's a never-ending cycle of abuse!" “I've got the blues and I can't seem to shake them!” Dark Days is the tune, a sinuous banger in which Smith, spittle-flecked, weaves a bungled arrest, several mink corpses, and the reinvention of […]

Joe Talbot, the lead singer of Idles, comes to a happy realization near the end of the band's impending fourth album, Crawler. “Life is beautiful,” the 37-year-old cries despite everything. It’s an apt ending for a band that have overcome personal tragedy and childhood trauma, and in just four years secured their status as the […]