A Grammy category is created for album covers just as Sabrina Carpenter’s takes the spotlight
The Recording Academy has tweaked some of its rules for the 2026 Grammy Awards, including carving out a stand-alone category for best album cover — a day after Sabrina Carpenter sparked considerable discourse unveiling what is believed to be the cover for her next album. The academy on Thursday announced...
Here are 5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: June 13-15
Even if you’re tired of the U.S. Open and avoiding the area as best you can, there are still fun events to check out this weekend throughout the Pittsburgh area. Here are a few ideas. Babesburgh Bash Women of Western Pennsylvania, it’s time to celebrate with the second annual Babesburgh...
Atlanta rapper Silentó gets 30 years after pleading guilty to killing his cousin
Silentó, the Atlanta rapper known for his hit song “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” pleaded guilty but mentally ill Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter and other charges in the 2021 shooting death of his 34-year-old cousin. The 27-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, was sentenced to 30 years in...
Brian Wilson, Beach Boys visionary leader and summer’s poet laureate, dies at 82
Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys’ visionary and fragile leader whose genius for melody, arrangements and wide-eyed self-expression inspired “Good Vibrations,” “California Girls” and other summertime anthems and made him one of the world’s most influential recording artists, has died at 82. Wilson’s family posted news of his death to his...
Allegheny RiverTrail Park summer concert series returns
Good music, tasty food, and a beautiful view can make any summer night perfect. This year, Allegheny RiverTrail Park will once again offer all three with its free summer concert series. On the second Friday of June, July, August and September, music lovers will gather at the park to watch...
David Byrne announces Pittsburgh showVideo
David Byrne, the innovative musician and founding singer of the Talking Heads, announced a new album and world tour Tuesday — with a stop in Pittsburgh. His new album, “Who Is The Sky?”, will be released Sept. 5, and Byrne will perform at the Benedum Center on Sept. 16. It...
John Lennon’s onetime companion May Pang brings photo exhibit to Sharpsburg
Musician John Lennon has reached mythical status over the years, first as a member of the industry-changing group The Beatles and then as an enigmatic artist and figure in his own right before his assassination in 1980. Now, with a new exhibition by onetime companion May Pang, fans are getting...
Sly Stone, leader of funk revolutionaries Sly and the Family Stone, dies at 82
NEW YORK — Sly Stone, the revolutionary musician and dynamic showman whose Sly and the Family Stone transformed popular music in the 1960s and ’70s and beyond with such hits as “Everyday People,” “Stand!” and “Family Affair,” has died. He was 82 Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, had been in poor...
Lisa Loeb, Suzanne Vega rock Three Rivers Arts Festival despite the weather
The longstanding Three Rivers Arts Festival always attracts top-tier musical talent, and another year is in the books after this weekend. That being said, next year’s festival organizers might consider some kind of prayer circle or ritual to appease whatever weather god cursed this event long ago. As is tradition,...
Pittsburgh local music spotlight: New KinkVideo
New Kink, a Pittsburgh indie band formed in the past few years, released their debut album, “Canon,” earlier this month. “We’ve put a lot of work into this album and we’re really proud of it,” singer Victoria Susan said. “We set out to create a sound that is something that...
Tony Awards laud android rom-com ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ and history-making ‘Purpose’
NEW YORK — “Maybe Happy Ending,” a rom-com about androids that crackles with humanity, had a definite happy ending at Sunday’s Tony Awards. It won best new musical on a night when Kara Young made history as the first Black person to win two Tonys consecutively for “Purpose,” which also...
SummerSounds opens season with The Seven Wonders
The Seven Wonders, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, opened the SummerSounds concert series in Greensburg’s St. Clair Park. The concert series amassed a combined attendance of 28,500 people and drew more than $1 million in economic impact to Greensburg last season, co-founder Gene James said. SummerSounds has focused on best...
Talking Heads video stars Saoirse Ronan, illustrates surreal daily existence
Saoirse Ronan embodies the je ne sais quoi that is 50 years of Talking Heads music in a video for the venerable art rockers’ “Psycho Killer” that dropped this week. Ronan captures the ennui of everyday existence and how masses of humanity lead lives of quiet exasperation. The video also...
Fishbone guitarist Tracey Singleton talks about his surprise return after 22 yearsVideo
Tracey Singleton’s return to punk-ska-funk pioneers Fishbone in 2024, after a 22-year absence, came about unexpectedly. Singleton, also known as Spacey T, had watched some videos online and sent a message to guitarist Mark Phillips, saying that the lineup sounded great and needed to make a record. (Fishbone’s most recent...
Here are 5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: June 6-8
If you’re in search of a more lowkey day out and want to avoid the Arts Festival crowds, there’s still plenty to do around town this weekend. Here are five events to check out instead. ‘The Shark is Broken’ at barebones productions “Jaws” was the original blockbuster film in the...
2 Western Pa. recovery nonprofits seek donations to continue sober space at Stage AE
Janice Olson considers herself living proof that it’s possible to have fun at a concert while sober. But for people in substance-use-disorder recovery, the heavy presence of drugs and alcohol can take the focus away from enjoying performances by a favorite musician. Olson, director of operations at Hempfield-based recovery nonprofit...
Pittsburgh local music spotlight: Nowhere WolvesVideo
Two bandmates in Pittsburgh’s Nowhere Wolves are organizing the second annual Loud & Proud Music Festival, a grassroots LGBTQ+ music event. The festival, set to run from noon to 8 p.m. June 8 at Allegheny City Brewing, will benefit the Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation, which helps to improve the health...
George Strait and Chris Stapleton put on a Texas-sized show at Acrisure Stadium
First and foremost, I have a bone to pick with Mother Nature. As one very talented man asked onstage at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday night, “Why you gotta be so cold?” This often being the time of year when the region’s country fans flock to the North Shore for a...
Q&A: New Stanton musician sounds taps at great-great-grandfather’s grave
Josiah Inghram joined the 130th Pennsylvania Regiment in the fall of 1862, at the age of 17. He trained in Harrisburg under Col. Henry Zinn and was quickly ordered to Antietam, where his regiment saw its first combat during the Civil War. More than 160 years later, his great-great-grandson Jay...
Peter Hook & the Light shine brightly with Joy Division, New Order songs in Pittsburgh showVideo
Forgive New Order fans if they took the lyric “I used to think that the day would never come” from 1987’s “True Faith” and applied it to the chances of the band ever playing Pittsburgh again. It has been almost 38 years and counting since the seminal post-punk/dance rock band...
Taylor Swift has regained control of her music, buys back first 6 albums
NEW YORK — Taylor Swift has regained control over her entire body of work. In a lengthy note posted to her official website on Friday, Swift announced: “All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me.” “I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this...
Pat McAfee praises ‘phenomenal’ Jelly Roll, Post Malone show in Pittsburgh
Pat McAfee had a blast in the ’Burgh last night. The Plum native and wildly popular ESPN talk show host introduced Jelly Roll Thursday during the Big Ass Stadium Tour at PNC Park. McAfee then stuck around to watch Post Malone perform. “It was an honor of a lifetime,” McAfee...
Post Malone and Jelly Roll fire up PNC Park
In the past few years, the Billboard charts have seen a new — or maybe old — phenomenon that’s changed things up. Where hip-hop and electropop once hung around the top 10, country has begun a steady campaign of domination. Acts like Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan and Shaboozey have broken...
Dark pop singer Ellise on ‘Pretty Evil’ album, Pittsburgh connectionsVideo
Dark pop singer Ellise is going out on her first headlining tour this summer, and she couldn’t have been happier when she learned where it would be starting. Her Pretty Evil tour kicks off in Pittsburgh — July 31 at Thunderbird Music Hall in Lawrenceville, to be precise — bringing...
Halsey, Billy Corgan, Phish highlight June’s top concerts in Pittsburgh
Concert season is in full swing in Pittsburgh, with pop stars, alternative rockers and jam bands alike playing big shows this month, in addition to free concerts (Three Rivers Arts Festival, the WYEP Summer Music Festival and the Allegheny County concert series) and more. Here’s a look at the top...