NPR Music

Dolly Parton Will Read Bedtime Stories To Kids Online Every Week

By • Mar 31, 2020

Musician and philanthropist Dolly Parton is launching a weekly series in which she reads a children's book to an online audience at bedtime, drawing books from her popular Imagination Library project. The goal, the nonprofit says, is to give kids and families "a welcome distraction during a time of unrest and also inspire a love of reading and books."

The Best-Sounding Tiny Desk Concerts, Vol. 2

By • Mar 31, 2020

Day in and day out, my ears are filled with the most wonderful sounds. I've recorded and mixed over 600 artists at the Tiny Desk. But when it comes to sound quality, everyone's got an opinion. That's why the second volume of the best-sounding Tiny Desk concerts features selections from some of my favorite YouTube shoutouts.

'I Hate You, Man': Questlove On Just Blaze's Maddening Genius

By Questlove • Mar 31, 2020

Don't see this video? Click here.

In our new series on the art of sampling, hip-hop producers demonstrate how they find inspiration in classics, hidden gems, found sounds and other raw musical materials to create new hits. For each of the five videos in the series, NPR Music has asked a writer we love to do something similar. Their only instruction was to watch one of the videos, pick an element that inspired them, and spin it off in a new direction — to sample it.

NPR Music's Top 10 (OK, 11) Albums Of March

By editor • Mar 31, 2020

Music affords an escape, takes us back in time to reflect on the present, mirrors our aches and joys and offers serenity. As relentless news about the coronavirus continues, these albums were gifts during difficult times.

NPR Music's Top 20 Songs Of March

By editor • Mar 31, 2020

Stream this playlist via Spotify or Apple Music.

Music affords an escape, takes us back in time to reflect on the present, mirrors our aches and joys and offers serenity. As relentless news about the coronavirus continues, these songs were gifts during difficult times.

Just Blaze Unpacks His Samples for Beyoncé And Jay-Z

By editor • Mar 31, 2020

Don't see this video? Click here.

In the first installment of our new video series The Formula, producer Just Blaze unpacks the drum-centric samples he created for Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Whether he's tapping out sampled drums or incorporating live drummers in the studio, his ability to harness energy is what makes his sound so dynamic.

Our Daily Breather: Hanif Abdurraqib On Finding Comfort In Baking

By Hanif Abdurraqib • Mar 31, 2020

Our Daily Breather is a series where we ask writers and artists to recommend one thing that's helping them get through the days of isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.

Who: Hanif Abdurraqib

Where: Columbus, Ohio

Recommendation: Baking

Lukas Nelson On Staying Home And Focusing On The Music

By & • Mar 31, 2020

"Entirely Different Stars," from Lukas Nelson's newest album, Naked Garden, is a song many people might relate to right about now. It's a fantasy about grabbing that special someone and blasting off to a less troubled planet.

Joe Diffie, Wry Country Traditionalist, Dead At 61 Following COVID-19 Diagnosis

By • Mar 30, 2020

The arrival of the coronavirus to Nashville came early in March, but Joe Diffie's passing yesterday, at the age of 61 — just two days after releasing a statement about his diagnosis through his publicist — marked the first reported loss of a country star to coronavirus-related complications.

Famed Opera Singer Plácido Domingo Hospitalized Due To COVID-19 Complications

By • Mar 30, 2020

Plácido Domingo has been hospitalized because of COVID-19-related complications, according to multiple reports.

He is in stable condition in an Acapulco, Mexico, hospital and will receive medical attention for "as long as the doctors find it necessary until a hoped-for full recovery," a spokesperson for Domingo told Opera News over the weekend.

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