John and Sachi Patitucci Jazz Night in America hide caption
Music Features In-depth storytelling from the NPR Music team.
Music Features
In 2021, Lil Nas X, whose single "Old Town Road" holds the record for the most weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, delivered his debut album Montero and cemented his ability to bend media platforms to his will. Photo Illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR/Getty Images hide caption
The Beatles on Mount Doom (or a still from Peter Jackson's Get Back, a documentary constructed from footage shot during the making of the band's last studio albums and final performance). Linda McCartney/Apple Corps Ltd. hide caption
Common and keyboardist Robert Glasper Noam Galai/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Fe hide caption
Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones is the first presentation of a work by a Black composer in the Met Opera's 138-year history. Ken Howard/Met Opera hide caption
Pianist and producer Jamael Dean. Samantha Lee/Stones Throw hide caption
The Complete Live at the Lighthouse collects all 12 sets from Lee Morgan's 1970 residency on Hermosa Beach. Joel Franklin/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Drummer Nasheet Waits stretches out in real time on The Jazz Gallery stage. Hank O'Neal/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Pharoah Sanders, photographed working with Sam Shepherd on Promises. Eric Welles-Nyström/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Ashli St. Armant, a.k.a. Jazzy Ash Courtesy of Mayers Consulting hide caption
Children's artist Jazzy Ash wraps up a busy year with new Christmas songs
With her humor and wit, Julz Sale (center) helped Delta 5 craft a high-voltage sound that, to this day, still rings true. Courtesy of Kill Rock Stars hide caption
Mickey Guyton, Adia Victoria and Chapel Hart's Devynn Hart have made the industry a more welcoming place for others who look like them. Photo Illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR; Getty Images hide caption
Will Liverman, an up-and-coming baritone, feared the COVID-era shutdown of live music would end his career. Instead, he's one of a number of opera singers for whom pandemic stress transformed into creative freedom. Jaclyn Simpson/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Nesmith with his bandmates Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork, photographed in Los Angeles in 1967 Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption
Projects released by Young Thug, Tyler, the Creator and Little Simz are included in NPR Music's best hip-hop albums of 2021. Photo Illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR; Getty Images hide caption
Iphigenia, played by esperanza spalding, prepares for her sacrifice. From Wayne Shorter and spalding's opera, ...(Iphigenia). Jon Fine/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Projects released by Summer Walker, Shelley FKA DRAM and Jazmine Sullivan are included in NPR Music's best R&B; albums of 2021. Photo Illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR; Getty Images hide caption
Radiohead circa 2000. Singer Thom Yorke (second from right) says that as much as the albums Kid A and Amnesiac channel the dread that loomed over their moment, they are also full of hope that another world is possible. Tom Sheehan/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Thom Yorke, the singer of the British band Radiohead performs on the stage of the "Rock en Seine" music festival in 2006. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Meric Long of the Bay Area band The Dodos found his voice in a distinctive guitar style. While writing the new album Grizzly Peak, he watched that ability begin to slip away. Shane Tolentino for NPR hide caption