Rap songs from Public Enemy and Ludacris have been heard at marches over the killing of George Floyd. But the history of Black American music as a form of protest dates back to the 19th century.
Little Richard’s rock ‘n’ roll brought the margins to the center.
Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images
Little Richard honed his craft as a teenage drag queen. In everything from his hairstyle to his lyrics, we see the influence of gay contemporaries like Esquerita and Billy Wright.
During their 1962 residency at Hamburg’s Star-Club, the Beatles had the opportunity of a lifetime: opening for Little Richard.
Horst Fascher/K & K Ulf Kruger OHG/Redferns via Getty Images
When a 14-year-old Paul McCartney watched Little Richard in the hit film ‘The Girl Can’t Help It,’ he couldn’t have imagined that the two would one day take the stage together.
Around the world, choirs have been linked to coronavirus super-spreader events. Online choirs can provide many of the same benefits, while protecting our health.
Grime artist Lady Leshurr has released a song called Quarantine Speech that urges listeners to wash their hands.
Christian Bertrand/Shutterstock
When we sing together, our social brains are activated to produce oxytocin, which makes us feel more connected.
People dance on their balcony in Barcelona, Spain, on April 25, 2020, as the lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus continues.
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
From balcony concerts to Zoom choirs, neuroscience shows why people are compelled to connect through music while the pandemic keeps them under stay-at-home orders.
Victor Olaiya’s Papingo Davalaya album was released in 1986.
Premier Records
Highlife champion Victor Olaiya will be missed for his affable personality and resplendent performance style.
Composer John Williams employed the relationship between music and emotions to great effect in film scores. In this file photo, Williams poses on the red carpet at the 2016 AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute to John Williams at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
(Invision/AP/Chris Pizzello)
The movie ‘Jaws’ opens with a truly iconic piece of music. Two notes have us on the edge of our seats in anticipation — how does music manipulate our emotions?
Unbridled ambition and bruised egos created an irreparable fissure.
People clap from a balcony during a collective scheduled clapping event in honor of workers of the sanitary and health sector in Orense, northwest Spain, 29 March 2020.
EPA/Brais Lorenzo
Clapping is the auditory equivalent of a group hug, according to neuroscience.
Using apps like Boomy and Voisey, aspiring pop artists can now use their phones to record and distribute their music — no talent required.
(Shutterstock)
Aspiring singers can now use apps to record professional-sounding songs from their phones. This has the potential to disrupt the recording and publishing industry.
An image of the popular Sandy Macpherson from circa 1958. Macpherson played soothing music for BBC listeners during Second World War.
(BBC Programming)
When prosecutors introduce lyrics, they’re asking juries to suspend the distinction between author and narrator, reality and fiction, and to read them as literal confessions of guilt.