On December 6, 1969, four months after Woodstock had offered the world a vision of what rock music could represent, the Rolling Stones played a free concert at the Altamont Speedway in California. By the end of the night, four people were dead, hundreds were injured, and the idea of the outdoor rock festival as … Read more
Not every Beatles song was abstract poetry. Some of them were about specific people — real names, real relationships, real moments — and Paul McCartney in particular had a habit of writing from life. Most of the time, the subjects either didn’t notice or didn’t mind. But one song in particular created a controversy that … Read more
Sometime in 1967, the members of Pink Floyd began to understand that something was happening to Syd Barrett that none of them knew how to stop. He was still their lead singer and primary songwriter. He was still, on his better days, one of the most original musical minds any of them had ever encountered. … Read more
Bob Dylan wrote “Blowin’ in the Wind” in approximately ten minutes, sitting in the back of a Greenwich Village café in 1962. He played it to a friend that same evening. Within a year, it would become the anthem of the American civil rights movement. Within a decade, it would be one of the most … Read more
On April 27, 1979, Bill Ward knocked on a door in Los Angeles and delivered news that nobody in rock had seen coming. Ozzy Osbourne — founding member, lead vocalist, the voice of Black Sabbath since 1968 — was being fired. Ward had been chosen to deliver the message because, as Osbourne later put it, … Read more
There is a moment Bruce Springsteen has described many times over the years, one that happened long before the stadium lights and the sold-out arenas. It happened in a small club, on a night when almost nobody showed up. And he played as hard as he ever had. Before Born to Run changed everything in … Read more
When people talk about The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, they usually think of two completely different styles of music. The Beatles are known for their catchy melodies and creative studio work, while Led Zeppelin became famous for their loud, powerful rock sound. But surprisingly, there is a hidden connection between these two legendary bands that … Read more
For a band as legendary as the Rolling Stones, missteps are rare—but not nonexistent. Among their vast catalog, one track has quietly carried the label of a “career mistake” in the eyes of guitarist Keith Richards: “Fool to Cry.” Released in 1976 as part of the album Black and Blue, “Fool to Cry” marked a … Read more
At 81, “Mick Jagger” has survived everything the music industry could throw at him — scandal, tragedy, reinvention, and decades of speculation about when, exactly, the Rolling Stones would finally stop. He has outlasted trends, critics, and bandmates. But there is one decision, buried deep in the band’s history, that Jagger has never been fully … Read more
Paul McCartney remains one of the most prolific songwriters of all time, with a catalog that spans well over a thousand compositions. Yet even the greatest artists aren’t immune to missteps. Whether it’s McCartney, Bob Dylan, or David Bowie, long careers built on experimentation inevitably include the occasional song that falls short. The real challenge … Read more
