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Metalocalypse and Homes Movies creator Brendon Small is launching his own Reverb shop to sell guitars and memorabilia associated with Metalocalypse‘s fictional band, Dethklok.

The plethora of sought-after guitars are definitely the highlight of the shop’s stock, which goes on sale Wednesday (July 30th) at 10 a.m. Ct. As Small explained, a studio robbery a couple years ago prompted him to downsize his collection.

“After my studio was robbed in 2022 I realized that I really didn’t need to be in charge of this many guitars,” he said via Reverb’s press release. “I’m paying for storage every month and though I play music every single day I cannot physically play this many guitars at once! Therefore I’m taking a healthy chunk and making them available for people who Will play them!”

Among the axes for sale is a ’90s Les Paul Premium Plus — Small’s...

Tom Lehrer, the influential song satirist whose darkly comic lyrics gained a cult following decades after he stopped making music, has died at the age of 97.

Lehrer died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his longtime friend David Herder told the Associated Press. No cause of death was provided.

The New York City-born, Harvard-educated Lehrer began making music while studying mathematics in college, applying his humor to song to tackle issues ranging from racism to militarism to religion to nuclear war in the Fifties and early Sixties.

Among Lehrer...

Rick Derringer was living the rock-and-roll dream in 1973, riding a top 40 hit with his “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” after charting in the 1960s with his group the McCoys and “Hang On, Sloopy.” He parlayed that success into guitar gigs on albums for Steely Dan, Alice Cooper and Todd Rundgren. He was also a producer, masterminding Edgar Winter hits “Frankenstein” and “Free Ride.”

But all that rock cred went out the window, he claimed, after he began working as a producer for “Weird Al” Yankovic. It’s not that the partnership didn’t pay off — Derringer took home his only Grammy Awards for producing Yankovic’s hits, “Eat It” and “Fat.” But that success came at a cost.

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Derringer, who passed away earlier this year at age 77, ditched Yankovic “after six albums, two Grammys and two stars on a Hollywood Walk of Fame. He’s done very well. But...

Fifty-three years since their first hit single, “Listen to the Music,” raced up the charts in 1972, the Doobie Brothers are back with their 16th studio album, Walk This Road, and a 20-date tour this summer with the Coral Reefer Band that kicks off on Aug. 4 in Detroit.

The popular rock band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 and on June 12, they’ll be recognized by the Songwriters Hall of Fame as well alongside George Clinton, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Ashley Gorley, Tony Macaulay and Mike Love.

Over the years, they’ve shifted stylistically from a crunchy country-rock band to a smooth R&b/pop outfit. Both incarnations yielded massive hits, from “China Grove” and “Black Water” in the early ’70s to “Takin’ It to the Streets” and “What a Fool Believes” later in the decade. Their multi-platinum 1978 album Minute by Minute, featuring “What a Fool Believes,” earned...

When it was announced that this year’s Tribeca Festival would open with the premiere of the HBO documentary “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” I assumed, as a fan of both Billy Joel and pop documentaries (which tend toward the light and hagiographic these days), that we were going to be in for a punchy, rousing, upbeat behind-the-music Tribeca appetizer. “And So It Goes” is surely an infectious celebration of Joel’s pop magicianship — his indelible qualities as a composer and singer and rock star. And the film worked all too well as an appetizer, since the festival only showed Part 1 of what is, in fact, a two-part HBO documentary.

But Part 1, which is two hours and 27 minutes long, takes you right up through 1980, when Joel has already released his seventh album, “Glass Houses.” So I feel confident in reviewing it as a stand-alone experience. And what took me...

King Princess is back. On Wednesday, Mikaela Straus returned with the announcement of a new album, Girl Violence, the night after debuting its lead single, “Rip Kp,” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She also detailed a run of 2025 tour dates in support of the new project.

Due on September 12th via section1, Girl Violence will be King Princess’ third studio album, following 2022’s Hold On Baby. Spanning 13 tracks, the record will see Straus grapple with a personal crossroads, marked by a step back from the major label system, a break up, and a move back to her hometown, New York.

In support of Girl Violence, King Princess’ 2025 tour dates will kick off with two Austin City Limits performances in October, followed by shows in Nashville, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and more cities before wrapping in Los Angeles on November 22nd. After that, she’ll hop the...

Spoiler Alert: This interview contains details of Season 1 of Government Cheese

In Apple TV+’s latest caper, Government Cheese, family is at the forefront. Co-created by Paul Hunter—who also serves as co-showrunner, executive producer, writer and director—the surrealist dramedy set in 1960s San Fernando Valley tells the story of the Chambers family, an eclectic bunch of individuals with their own awe-inspiring passions and desires. The striving family is soon plagued with drama and hijinks upon the return of Hampton (David Oyelowo), the husband of Astoria (Simone Missick) and father of their two children, Harrison (Jahi Di’Allo Watson) and Einstein (Evan Ellison), after he is released from prison.

Here, Deadline speaks with Hunter about inspirations, family ties and portraying the nuclear Black family.

Deadline: I read that your family inspired this series.

Paul Hunter: Yes. It’s about real expression. It’s about how I was feeling...

Musician and producer Rick Derringer has died at the age of 77. Derringer is remembered for his work across a variety of genres. With his band, The McCoys, he recorded the iconic 1960s rock track "Hang On Sloopy," and he would go on to work with 1980s icons Hulk Hogan and Weird Al Yankovic. The Associated Press reports that Derringer's death was announced by his caretaker, Tony Wilson; no cause of death was given.

Derringer was born Richard Zehringer on August 5, 1947, in Celina, Ohio. His parents had an extensive record collection and his uncle, Jim Thornburg, was a popular local guitarist, inspiring Derringer to pursue a career in music. As a teenager, his family moved to Union City, Indiana, where he formed The McCoys. When they were hired to open for The Strangeloves, they recognized Derringer's talent, and had him record the new song "Hang On Sloopy." Although some elements of the song remain obscure,...

Rick Derringer, the classic rock artist-songwriter best known for performing garage rock hit “Hang On Sloopy” and for writing “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Coo,” has died, a rep for Derringer confirmed. He was 77.

“With a career spanning six decades, the legendary Rick Derringer left an indelible mark on the music industry as a guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer,” Wilson said in a statement on Facebook. He didn’t disclose a cause of death but said Derringer died in Ormond Beach, Florida. “Derringer’s legacy extends beyond his music, entertaining fans with his signature energy and talent. His passing leaves a void in the music world, and he will be deeply missed by fans, colleagues, and loved ones.”

Wilson wrote that “out of respect for Rick Derringer’s family and loved ones, details regarding funeral arrangements and memorial services will be announced” at a later date.

Derringer was born in Celina, Ohio...

Rick Derringer, the guitarist and songwriter who scored hits with “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” and a cover of “Hang on Sloopy” while working with everyone from Steely Dan to “Weird Al” Yankovic, died today. He was 77.

Derringer’s death was confirmed by his friend, Tony Wilson, on Facebook. “Derringer’s legacy extends beyond his music, entertaining fans with his signature energy and talent,” Wilson wrote. “His passing leaves a void in the music world, and he will be deeply missed by fans, colleagues, and loved ones.”

No cause of death has been given,...

Legendary musician and producer Rick Derringer died at the age of 77 on Monday (May 26th). The singer-guitarist was frontman of the 1960s band The McCoys (“Hang on Sloopy”) and a prolific solo artist (“Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo”), while also collaborating with countless notable artists during his 60-year career.

Derringer’s passing was confirmed by his wife, Jenda Derringer, who disclosed to TMZ that the musician died peacefully at a Florida hospital after being taken off life support following a medical episode. His caretaker, Tony Wilson, further noted that Derringer had been doing well after undergoing triple bypass surgery a couple months ago, but went into “some sort of shock” on Monday night.

Born in Celina, Ohio, as Richard Zehringer, he formed Rick and the Raiders in the early ’60s, later renaming the band The McKoys, and scoring a massive hit with their version of “Hang on Sloopy” in 1965.

After...

Rick Derringer, who had a No. 1 hit with The McCoys in “Hang on Sloopy,” created a classic rock staple in “Rock and Roll, Hootchie Koo,” produced the Edgar Winter Group’s hit “Frankenstein” and songs for “Weird” Al Yankovic, died Monday. He was 77.

A family spokesman announced the news on social media, but did not provide a cause or other details. His wife and longtime bandmate, Jenda Derringer, noted in February that her husband had angioplasty for two blockages in his leg that was followed by surgery and complications. She also said he had Type 2 diabetes.

Born Richard Zehringer on August 5, 1947, in Celina, Ohio, Derringer was 17 when his band The McCoys opened for The Strangeloves, who picked the young group to record its song “My Girl Sloopy.” Derringer had the title and lyrics changed, and with its loping rhythm and singalong chorus “Hang on Sloopy” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early October.

Pop rock, adult contemporary and blue-eyed soul legend Daryl Hall will throw a fit if you ever call his music “yacht rock” — as if he could ever be that smooth.

In 2005, J.D. Ryznar, Hunter D. Stair and Lane Farnham debuted the first episode of their mockumentary video series Yacht Rock at Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab’s short-film festival Channel 101, unaware that they were about to recontextualize a decades-old movement in popular music forever. Yacht Rock told the comedically dramatized stories behind the biggest artists and smoothest hits of the “West Coast sound” era, as it was previously known, back when kings like Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald blended soft rock, R&b, soul, jazz and about a half-dozen other genres into a new form of relaxing music.

As the series title suggests, Ryznar, Stair, Farnham and their collaborators dubbed this sailor-friendly sound “Yacht Rock.”

Despite running for just 12 episodes...

Daryl Hall doesn’t know how he got involved in the yacht-rock conversation, but he wants out. In a recent interview on Broken Record, the podcast produced by Rick Rubin and hosted by Justin Richmond, the musician slammed the genre’s entire premise and distanced himself from any association with it.

“This is something I don’t understand,” Hall said. “First of all, yacht rock was a fucking joke by two jerk-offs in California, and suddenly it became a genre. I don’t even understand it. I never understood it.

For more than a decade, heritage rock artists have been juicing their live shows by recreating their vintage albums start to finish. That list includes Neil Young (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere), Bruce Springsteen (The River), U2 (The Joshua Tree), Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation), and Steely Dan (every one of their records). This fall, Patti Smith joints the list when she’ll be playing all of Horses to mark its 50th anniversary. An entire Canadian company, Classic Albums Live, is devoted to this trend, with a group of largely unknown musicians covering all of Rumours,...

Blondshell isn’t having it. We’re browsing the surprisingly large selection of records tucked into the small space of Rough Trade in Rockefeller Center and talking about the singer-songwriter’s second album, If You Asked for a Picture. It’s quite a blissful scenario for the artist born Sabrina Teitelbaum, except for the fact that a beanie-wearing tourist has just interrupted our conversation to ask if we listen to the Beatles.

“Who?” she retorts, deadpan.

The man keeps talking, blithely sharing a story about the time Dolly Parton supposedly...

It’s yacht rock season all year long at SiriusXM as we bring you your favorite smooth-sailing hits from the 1970s and ’80s. With channels like Yacht Rock 311, Yacht Rock Deep Cuts, and Yacht Soul, you’ll be instantly transported to turquoise seas and cool breezes.

Ahoy! Starting April 1, Yacht Rock Radio docks at channel 15 for the season. Yacht Rock Channels on SiriusXM Yacht Rock 311

Yacht Rock 311 plays artists like Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Steely Dan, and other titans of the genre. It’s the kind of rock that doesn’t rock the boat!

Yacht Rock 311’70s & ’80s smooth-sailing soft rockListen on the App

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Yacht Soul

An app-exclusive channel, Yacht Soul features nonstop soulful and funky R&b and soul from the late ’70s and early ’80s from artists like George Benson, Earth Wind & Fire, Lionel Richie, Bobby Caldwell, Quincy Jones, Kool & the Gang, Al Jarreau,...

Pictoria Vark is the spoonerism alias of the young singer-songwriter Victoria Park, who turned heads with her 2022 debut album The Parts I Dread. She aims even higher on her excellent Nothing Sticks — it’s the perfect springtime road-trip indie-rock album you didn’t realize you deserved, full of soft-spoken guitar haze and emotional travelogues. The album unfolds like the journal of a wandering young heart who rambles from town to town, from feeling to feeling, but without feeling connected anywhere. As she sings in the witty “San Diego,” “I’m wherever I go.

Plenty of shonen anime heroes like to act first and think later, with immature anime heroes like Goku and Luffy thinking with their fists, but not all anime leads are like that. For the sake of variety, and to give anime fans some clever surprises, certain anime heroes would rather treat a battle like a puzzle to solve. Those heroes need to think things through before they throw a punch, and some of them might even ask an ally to throw that punch instead.

Brainy anime heroes like these are sometimes famous for their resourceful and tactical thinking, or at least, it's a major part of how they operate. Often, those smart anime heroes have a role or occupation befitting their intelligence, since plain punches aren't enough to live up to those roles' expectations. Sometimes, these smart anime heroes serve as a much-needed foil for their himbo ally and round out the team nicely.

Jason Isbell has earned his reputation as one of America’s greatest living songwriters by writing detail-rich tales about family schisms, working-class struggle, and Southern identity, but it’s his gift for gut-punch love songs that has cemented his legacy. The Alabama singer swore off his demons under the nurturing care of a lover in “Cover Me Up,” masterfully juxtaposed professions of eternal love with inevitable death in “If We Were Vampires,” and created a tale of devotion so unshakeable, in “Flagship,” that Jimmy Carter’s grandson referenced it in his eulogy for the president.

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Filled with hits like “As It Was,” grooving bops like “Cinema,” and festival-worthy jams like “Late Night Talking,” Harry Styles’ third studio album, Harry’s House, became one of Rolling Stone‘s Best Albums of 2022, later earning the top prize at the Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.

“I don’t think any of us sit in the studio thinking, making decisions based...

Our long national nightmare is over: Beyoncé finally won Album of the Year. The Grammys desperately needed her to win this award, so the night felt like a true celebration. The entire 2025 Grammys ceremony was a “just give Beyoncé her damn Album of the Year already” countdown. It all goes back to the curse of Morning Phase in 2015, when she lost to an obscure Beck album, the biggest upset in Grammy history. Over the past decade, as she lost for Lemonade and Renaissance, there’s been a sense that Bey...

The Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown was recently nominated for eight Academy Awards. But just think of how many more nominations it would have gotten had the filmmakers included a scene in which Dylan shares a bed with the future star of Caddyshack.

As odd as it may sound, this scene wasn’t totally off the table, seeing as how Chase once claimed to have spent the night with the legendary musician.

During an episode of the short-lived Netflix talk show Norm Macdonald Has a Show, the late comedian, and Bob Dylan superfan, asked Chase if he had any good Dylan stories. His response was more than a little surprising: “I slept with him.”

Chase went on to explain that he was attending Bard College at the time, just across the river from his hometown of Woodstock, New York. “He comes over, and he’s trying to teach himself the piano,...

The term “yacht rock” came into being not in the sun-dappled harbors of the 80s, but two decades later through a satirical web series—a perfect origin for a genre that somehow sounds like it should have existed all along. Some see it as a response to the raw angst of the grunge-dominated early 2000s, an ironic celebration of smoothness. Others see it as a subtle message that the most intense cultural shifts need spaces for relaxation.

Garret Price’s “Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” takes a mellow look at this musical period. The film blends old footage with new interviews, acknowledging its history while sharing stories from musicians who shaped the era.

The name itself plays with both the ocean themes incorrectly linked to the music and Price’s examination beyond the comedic surface that shaped its resurrection. The term “dockumentary” moves easily between historical documentation and cultural observation—staying...

“If you can name the artist, you win five bucks.”

This is how Track Star, one of the most popular gameshows on TikTok, captures its audience now half a million followers: with a recognizable hook and an outstretched hand. For each episode, host Jack Coyne walks around New York City and offers strangers a chance to test their musical knowledge. Coyne picks a song. If the contestant can name the artist, they win cash, and the chance to keep going for bigger prizes.

The premise of the game is simple.

Ask any two music fans what qualifies as yacht rock, and an argument is sure to ensue.

Does Steely Dan count? (Absolutely.) What about Hall & Oates?

In the late 1970s and early ’80s, the term “yacht rock” was not yet a thing. But everyone knew the music of the Doobie Brothers, Toto and Christopher Cross — who swept the 1980 Grammys with his shimmering ballad “Sailing.”

Those acts topped the charts in an era when slick production, smooth melodies and expert chops ruled the radio waves alongside the country-tinged hits of the Eagles. That would all change when MTV crashed the scene. Suddenly the likes of “What a Fool Believes” and “Africa” were consigned to the uncool “soft rock” heap. After the rise of Madonna and Michael Jackson, some of the earlier wave of musicians moved on to soundtracks, like Kenny Loggins with the “Top Gun” hit “Danger Zone.”

Michael McDonald became...

On Friday November 29 2024, HBO broadcasts Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary!

Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” on HBO promises to take viewers on a nostalgic journey through the smooth sounds of the west coast music scene. This episode will focus on the rise of soft rock, highlighting the artists who defined the genre.

Famous musicians like Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, and Toto will be featured prominently. Their contributions to the music landscape in the 1970s and 1980s helped shape a unique pop culture that many still cherish today. The episode aims to explore how these artists created a laid-back sound that resonated with audiences, making them icons of their time.

Through interviews, archival footage, and insightful commentary, the episode will delve into the stories behind the music. It will examine the influences that shaped these artists and how their...

If you’ve ever plumbed the placid seas of yacht rock — that distinct style of jazz-influenced soft pop and rock that surfaced in Southern California in the late Seventies — you know it’s filled with fools.

“There are so many of these songs about expressing your feelings — the fool in love or the heartbreak of a fool,” Garret Price, director of the new film, Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, tells Rolling Stone. “Questlove [in the movie] brought up that yacht rock is emo. It’s emotional music in this hard rock landscape of the Seventies.

HBO’s Music Box is back, and this time it’s tackling the surprisingly complicated legacy of Yacht Rock. Friday, November 29th, at 9:00 Pm, Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary sets sail, exploring the smooth sounds and, let’s face it, occasionally cheesy stylings of artists like Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, and Steely Dan. Now, for those […]

Music Box “Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary”...

“Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” is set to air on HBO at 9:00 Pm on Friday, November 29, 2024. This documentary takes a deep dive into the smooth sounds and laid-back vibes of the yacht rock genre that emerged from the West Coast music scene. It highlights the artists who defined this unique style, including icons like Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, and Toto.

Viewers can expect to learn how yacht rock became a cultural phenomenon, blending soft rock with pop elements to create music that feels both nostalgic and fresh. The documentary will explore the stories behind some of the genre’s biggest hits and how these musicians shaped the sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s. With interviews, rare footage, and insights from music experts, it promises to be a captivating journey through a beloved era of music.

As the documentary unfolds, it will showcase...

On November 29th, HBO will release its documentary about the late 1970s to early 1980s soft rock wave that is now colloquially known as “yacht rock” as if the guys who invented the term didn’t already nail the untold story.

In Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, HBO will continue its Music Box Film series with an examination of an oft-mocked but still beloved era of music history, complete with profiles of yacht rock legends such as Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross and, of course, Steely Dan. Over the last few years, these artists have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity as a new generation of listeners continue to fall in love with the smooth, soulful, jazzy fusion of rock and roll and other predominantly Black genres played by white guys with flowing hair and bushy beards kissed by an ocean breeze.

With Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, HBO hopes to examine...

The yacht-rock era is finally getting the official documentary (“dockumentary”) treatment, with filmmaker Garret Price’s project featuring appearances from such smooth and soulful luminaries as Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, and Toto. But there was one seminal figure Price could not persuade to sit for an interview: Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen.

Per People, Fagen does briefly appear in Yacht Rock — or at least his voice does — in a scene where Price calls him up and pitches him an interview about “this genre.” When Fagen asks what genre that is,...

As music critic and writer Steve Huey once explained, “from 1976 to 1984, the radio airwaves were dominated by really smooth music.” Once known as soft rock, since the mid-2000s pretty much everyone has called it Yacht Rock.

We’re talking of course about the music of people like Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, Toto, Christopher Cross — pop songwriters at the intersection of soul, jazz and disco who were defiantly uncool for their day but are now recognized as the legends they are. And as an early Christmas president, HBO is giving people a crash course via “Yacht Rock: A Documentary,” which debuts Nov. 29.

Directed by Garret Price, the film features commentary from legends like McDonald, Loggins, Cross and more, plus some of the people they influenced — like Thundercat, Mac DeMarco and Questlove.

Watch the trailer below now:

And as you can see in the trailer, thankfully it also finally...

"It rocks! But it doesn't rock too hard." HBO has revealed the trailer for Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, premiering on Max later this month. Get ready for a voyage through soft rock history! It's the next creation in HBO's top notch Music Box series of docs about music history - there were 4 feature docs that debuted last year and this next one is part of the "season" coming up in 2024-2025. Yacht Rock chronicles the rise of the smooth West Coast sound pioneered by artists like Steely Dan, Toto, & Michael McDonald, exploring its widespread influence. The film includes soulful insight from many musical artists including Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald (Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers), Steve Porcaro (Toto), Steve Lukather (Toto), David Paich (Toto), Prince Paul (De La Soul), Brian Robert Jones (Vampire Weekend), Thundercat, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson (The Roots), Mac DeMarco and more; "Yacht Rock" web series...

The next installment of Bill Simmons’ Music Box series dives into the popular Yacht Rock genre populated by artists including Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, and Toto. HBO’s Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, directed by Garret Price (Daisy Jones & The Six), airs on Friday, November 29, 2024 at 9pm Et/Pt.

Loggins, Cross, McDonald, Prince Paul of De La Soul, Brian Robert Jones of Vampire Weekend, and Toto’s Steve Porcaro, Steve Lukather, and David Paich are featured in the documentary. Web series creator J.D. Ryznar, Questlove, Fred Armisen, also participate along with rock critics and journalists.

HBO offered this lengthy description of the latest Music Box doc: “Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary chronicles the emergence and popularity of the West Coast, soft rock pop culture epitomized by musical artists such as Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, and Toto. Retroactively dubbed ‘Yacht Rock...

The gentle rise, fall, and revival of Seventies soft rock rolls along like a boat amongst the waves in the new trailer Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, arriving Nov. 29 on HBO.

Directed by Garret Price, Yacht Rock looks at the history and legacy of this genre of music, which was spearheaded by a handful of supremely talented white musicians, drawing on Black music traditions, working in Southern California in the late Seventies. The new trailer opens with a trio of talking heads accurately describing the genre known alternately as soft rock,...

The subgenre, Yacht Rock, is a relatively new term given to easy-listening older tunes of the 70s, 80s and 90s. HBO has now released the trailer for a new documentary in their Music Box series.

Directed by acclaimed director Garret Price (Daisy Jones & The Six; Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage; Love, Antosha), Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary chronicles the emergence and popularity of the West Coast, soft rock pop culture epitomized by such prolific musical artists like Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, and Toto. It’s rare to see so many Yacht Rock artists in front of the camera telling their iconic stories, but finally viewers will get a rare glimpse into their worlds.

The HBO Original documentary Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary is executive produced by The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, debuts Friday, November 29 (9:00-10:35 p.m. Et/Pt). The...

Eminem, N.W.A, Janet Jackson, and Alanis Morissette are among the finalists for the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s class of 2025.

Other nominees include Mike Love of The Beach Boys, Sheryl Crow, George Clinton, Boy George, The Doobie Brothers, Steve Winwood, Bryan Adams, Tommy James, and Walter Afanasieff. The full list of nominees can be found below.

A total of six inductees will be chosen: three from the songwriters category, and three from the performing songwriters category. They’ll be honored during a ceremony held in New York City in June 2025.

Artists become eligible for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame 20 years after their first significant commercial release of a song.

Last year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees included R.E.M., Steely Dan, Timbaland, and Dean Pitchford. During the induction ceremony, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Peter Buck, and Bill Berry reunited for their first performance together in 15 years.

Slim Shady could be headed to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Eminem is one of several performing songwriters nominated for the prestigious honor, along with Janet Jackson, Alanis Morissette, N.W.A., Sheryl Crow, George Clinton, Bryan Adams, Mike Love, Boy George, Steve Winwood, Doobie Brothers, David Gates and Tommy James.

Non-performing songwriters who earned nominations include Walter Afanasieff, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Narada Michael Walden, Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan, Mike Chapman, Tony Macaulay, Sonny Curtis, Tom Douglas, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, Roger Nichols, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, Franne Golde and Ashley Gorley, who earned two nominations for best country song at the Grammys last week.

Eligible voting members will select their choices of up to three nominees in each of the songwriter and performing songwriter categories. The winners will be honored next year at the organization’s Induction & Awards Gala in New York City. A songwriter with a catalog...

Apart from walking through a gripping prison escape drama, Escape at Dannemora also features several scintillating background scores that add more heft to its storytelling. Directed by Ben Stiller, Escape at Dannemora follows the true story of the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape. Like most prison break and heist narratives, the show takes its time to fully immerse audiences in its central drama. However, the viewer's patience pays off in its final episodes when it finally reveals how the central escape plan unfolded after immense planning and plotting.

Escape at Dannemora's boasts a talented cast, including Benicio del Toro, Patricia Arquette, and Paul Dano, among others. Other than walking through the real-life events of Richard Matt & David Sweat's prison break and featuring great performances, the show also makes good use of its background scores. In its seven-episode runtime, it features many songs that effectively underscore the emotional heft and high stakes of its story.

Goodbye Hotel California, hello The Sphere! Iconic rock band The Eagles have announced a residency at the spherical Las Vegas venue as part of their farewell tour, “The Long Goodbye.” The classic rockers kicked off their stint on Friday, September 20th, and will play weekends until Saturday, March 15th, 2025.

Purchase your tickets here, and read on for more details, including how to get access to sold-out shows. Update: Due to overwhelming demand, Eagles have announced four new shows at the Sphere taking place in March 2025. Tickets go on sale Friday, October 25th. Find more details below.

Get The Eagles Tickets Here

What Is The Eagles’ Sphere Residency?

The Eagles’ residency at The Sphere follows in the footsteps of other legendary rock acts that have recently made a temporary home out of the $2.3 billion venue, like U2, Phish, and Dead & Company. For their part, The Eagles’ residency is set to last for 14 weekends,...

Libby Titus, the singer-songwriter best known for her song “Love Has No Pride” and creating the New York Rock and Soul Revue with future husband Donald Fagen, died Sunday night at the age of 77.

“My beautiful wife, Libby Titus Fagen, passed on October 13th surrounded by family,” Fagen wrote on Steely Dan’s site. “Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts, and for respecting our privacy at this time.” A cause of death was not immediately available.

Titus released two solo albums — both titled Libby Titus — in 1968 and 1977. In between the two albums,...

You and your parent’s favorite action-drama series has finally returned for a new season of reward-seeking, family secrets, and Justin Hartley beating some up. And it may (?) be better than ever.

Tracker Season 2 Episode 1 returns with a new case and sets us up for a potential seasons-long mystery from Colter’s past, and I don’t mean the Shaw Family drama!

They’re bringing out the big guns for this second season and are off to a terrific start.

(Sergei Bachlakov/CBS)

When we last saw Colter during Tracker Season 1 Episode 13, he was reeling after his case had him re-examining his family and reigniting the perpetual cloud of deceit and the questions that always arise when he starts to investigate them.

But where last season immediately dove into everything Shaw, they went a different way, choosing something else from Colter’s past that he’s never gotten over, even...

Billy Joel’s Madison Square Garden residency might be over, but Vampire Weekend ensured that the Piano Man’s music would remain in the arena with an elaborate rendition of “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” at their own Msg show Saturday.

Ezra Koenig and company’s faithful rendition of Joel’s multi-suite The Stranger classic included a couple onstage sitting at a table, drinking wine and enjoying an Italian dinner:

Vampire Weekend’s encores during their current tour has featured the band performing snippets of crowd request covers, which on...

There’s a moment in “Elton John: Never Too Late,” a robustly satisfying and emotional documentary about the life and career of Elton John, that captures him, in a most revealing way, in his ’70s heyday.

It’s a clip from a television interview, in which Elton is explaining how he writes a song. The clip must be from 1971, and Elton, still looking like a puppy child, with rectangle-framed glasses and plenty of shaggy hair, sits at an upright piano and brings out a sheaf of lyrics — pages all written in longhand by his collaborator, Bernie Taupin. Elton wants to show us his method, so he talks about a song he just wrote, called “Tiny Dancer,” and finds the lyrics to it. He explains how he scanned through them and realized, when he saw the word “ballerina,” that it would have to be a slow-tempo song. He demonstrates how he kind of improvised the chords.

Two days after Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign — before the smoke cleared from the the sitting U.S. president’s reelection bid and Democrats nationwide had wrapped their heads around the party’s new trajectory — the headlines surrounding the party’s fledgling candidate were less about policy and platform and more about Beyoncé, as the pop superstar had relaxed her strict clearance guidelines and granted Team Harris use of her song, “Freedom,” for her historic White House run.

Queen Bey’s blessing was granted so fast that Harris was able to walk into her Wilmington, Delaware campaign headquarters for the first time to the track, a rousing anthem featuring Kendrick Lamar from the back half of her 2016 Lemonade visual album which had a second life when it was used in demonstrations nationwide after the murder by police of George Floyd in 2020. The song is now the definitive track in...

St. Vincent has some strong feelings about John Mayer’s hit 2003 song “Daughters.”

When asked in a recent interview with Kerrang! what she felt the “worst song ever written” was, St. Vincent chose “Daughters,” deeming it to be archaic and misogynistic. “It’s just so hideously sexist but it pretends to be a love song, but it’s really, really retrograde and really sexist,” she said. “And I hate it… It’s so deeply misogynistic, which would be fine if you owned that, but it pretends like it’s sweet.”

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She’s definitely onto something here — Mayer essentially takes the whole song to warn fathers that if they’re bad to their daughters, then they will create more issues for the men the girls will eventually date. He uses his own failed relationship as evidence, lamenting in the first verse that his partner is “just...

August 1969 was a very Creedence month. But so were most months back then. Creedence Clearwater Revival, the most popular band in America, were riding the hot streak of all hot streaks, cranking out swamp-rock classics at a crazy pace. John Fogerty and his Northern California crew released their masterpiece Green River in the first week of August, a few months after their masterpiece Bayou Country and a couple of months before their October masterpiece Willy and the Poor Boys. Their Top 40 hits that year: “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Fortunate Son,...

Prince has been posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The induction took place on Saturday, July 27th at a 40th anniversary screening of Prince’s Purple Rain at the Target Center in his native Minneapolis. His induction marks the second time the Songwriters Hall of Fame has awarded an artist posthumously after inducting the late Cindy Walker in April.

Prince was inducted by Gilbert Davidson, a longtime colleague of the musician, who then bestowed the award to Prince’s sister, Sharon Nelson. “You will always remember his songs,” Nelson told the crowd. “This is the award he wanted more than any other in life — to be known as a great songwriter.”

Prince was originally supposed to be inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame a few different times — the organization’s policy requires that the songwriter must attend both the annual induction and the awards gala to be officially inducted,...

At the 2024 Republican National Convention, the cover band Sixwire set up shop covering rock classics, like Steely Dan’s “Reelin’ in the Years.” Now, Steely Dan themselves have responded to the performance, suggesting the band play Donald Fagen’s anti-Trump song, “Tin Foil Hat,” instead.

The response came in the form of a Comic Sans text image posted on Facebook, almost like the Steely Dan equivalent of a shitpost. It reads, “Hey! Sixwire: If you want to play our music, how about playing The Man in the Tin Foil Hat?”

The song in reference is actually not a Steely Dan song, but a Todd Rundgren song featuring Fagen, released on Rundgren’s 2017 album White Knight. With mentions of “coming down the escalator,” draining the swamp, alternative facts, tiny hands, and more, the lyrics are a circa-2017 condemnation of Trump, describing his taking office as feeling “like a coup d’état.