Music

COVID-19 brings opera singer home to the farm
The pandemic is forcing many people to change how and where they work. For one Minnesota-born opera singer, the COVID-19 threat meant a return to her roots and a surprising revitalization.
Can local music venues keep on rocking through the pandemic?
Across the country, music venues are closing, shuttered due to the financial pressures and social distancing requirements of the pandemic. So what’s next for Minnesota’s local music venues — including the iconic First Avenue? How have they pivoted to endure the pandemic? Guest host and MPR News reporter Brandt Williams talks with two guests with insight into the industry.
Rock the Garden 2021 canceled
Organizers say they determined they could not do the event in its current form in a way that would guarantee the safety of community members and artists.
The company that puts on the 25-year-old Country USA and the 9-year-old Rock USA, two of Wisconsin's biggest annual music festivals, said this week it plans to file for bankruptcy.
Meet the Idaho potato warehouse worker whose TikTok video sent Fleetwood Mac sales soaring
Nathan Apodaca recorded a laid-back video while riding a longboard downhill and drinking Cran-Raspberry juice. The Internet went wild — and catapulted a Fleetwood Mac song back onto the charts.
Rapper Tory Lanez charged with shooting Megan Thee Stallion
Los Angeles prosecutors on Thursday charged rapper Tory Lanez with shooting artist Megan Thee Stallion during an argument earlier this year.
Johnny Nash, singer of ‘I Can See Clearly Now,’ dies at 80
Johnny Nash, a singer-songwriter, actor and producer who rose from pop crooner to early reggae star to the creator and performer of the million-selling anthem “I Can See Clearly Now,” died Tuesday, his son said.
Linda Ronstadt, due to be honored as a Hispanic Heritage 'legend,' on staying connected
Ahead of a Hispanic Heritage Awards ceremony where she's set to receive her latest honor in a career full of them, singer Linda Ronstadt shares a few thoughts on identity with NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro.