Latest music features

<p>The two Gen Z queens of nonchalant pop, Tate McRae and Addison Rae</p>

In Focus

From Tate McRae to Addison Rae, why does Gen Z love vapid pop music?

Instead of innovating, new pop artists are leaning into a deliberately superficial sound that references the 00s. Where millennials were embarrassed to love The Pussycat Dolls and similarly ‘trashy’ artists, Gen Z are embracing and replicating this style to emptier effect. But, asks Gregory Robinson, is there anything wrong with vapid music?

<p>‘There’s probably gay people in positions of power that think, no, he’s an awful tw*t,’ says James Arthur</p>

Interview

James Arthur: ‘I’ve never had to kiss arse – I got here on merit’

<p>Billy Idol</p>

Interview

Billy Idol: ‘I’m the sexy sexagenarian!’

<p>New viral acts will arrive, but not many will surpass a behemoth like Ed</p>

State of the Arts

Ed Sheeran’s Persian pop experiment proves he’s too big to fail

Interviews

<p>Teddy Swims: ‘I’m just a blossoming flower’</p>

Interview

Teddy Swims: ‘Men should tell each other how pretty we are’

<p>Lone rider: Mike Scott has been the one constant throughout The Waterboys’ 40-year career</p>

Interview

The Waterboys on Dennis Hopper: ‘At crucial moments, he’s there’

<p>The Darkness’s Justin Hawkins (left): ‘Sometimes you gotta take matters into your own hands’</p>

interview

Justin Hawkins: ‘People saw our video and assumed I was back on drugs’

<p> Santana: ‘Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die’</p>

INTERVIEW

Carlos Santana: ‘Hostile forces tried to destroy Michael Jackson’

On Trend

Music Box

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Rising singer-songwriter Brooke Combe dazzles in new Music Box session

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Rapper Strandz stars in Music Box performance of ‘No Peace, No Time’

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Indie band Oracle Sisters star in gorgeous Music Box session

New Sensations

<p>Samia: ‘What I’m reaching for is self-certainty’</p>

New Sensations

Singer-songwriter Samia: ‘It’s easier to be an idea than a person’

<p>Chloe Moriondo makes music for mermaids</p>

new sensations

Chloe Moriondo: ‘I’ve been embarrassed by my online past selves’

<p>‘In a world that is very loud and everything is supposed to be faster and more efficient, for me, songwriting and folk music are the opposite of that’</p>

New Sensations

Clara Mann: ‘We’re alienated from each other – live music is a remedy’

Reviews

<p>'Thank you for believing in female musicians'</p>

Lorde returns for her pop crown with new single ‘What Was That’

<p>Mackenzie Scott and Julien Baker</p>

Julien Baker and Torres deliver on the wonderful Send a Prayer My Way

Live music

<p>Father John Misty’s latest album filled the setlist – proving he’s still in full swing</p>

Father John Misty’s songs about mortality come to life in London

<p>A group of pulsating performers surround FKA twigs at Magazine London, two-stepping to the glitchy techno beat of ‘Room of Fools’</p>

FKA twigs shows off her extraterrestrial star power at Eusexua rave

<p>Sabrina Carpenter performs at the Brit Awards in March 2025</p>

Sabrina Carpenter’s saucy O2 gig makes tweens shriek and parents blush

<p>Lamar on the hood of a classic GNX car at the start of his performance in New Orleans</p>

Review

Kendrick Lamar’s Drake-baiting at the Super Bowl was a smoke-screen

Retrospectives

<p>George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley at the Great Wall of China ahead of Wham!’s concert at Beijing's Workers’ Gymnasium in 1985</p>

In Focus

‘The police were scared’: When Wham! took Western pop to China

<p>Better Belieb it: Justin Bieber in concert in Germany in 2009</p>

playback

There’s a simple reason we owe Justin Bieber more respect

<p>‘A new breed of autonomous, self-defined and uninhibited female rock star’: Patti Smith pictured in 1976</p>

Horses at 50: How a reluctant musician made a punk-rock classic

<p>The documentarians were able to dig up once-lost footage, like a performance from 1969’s Bath International Music Festival</p>

In Focus

The inside story of Becoming Led Zeppelin

News