Music

The answer is that no one can possibly play the Fab Four as well as they played themselves

The epitome of acceptance and joy, she was a protector for anyone ever felt unseen, unloved or unsafe

The disco group are said to be in talks to star at the party’s annual conference in September

The paper tracked down the new life of reclusive former White Stripes star Meg White. There was just one small problem

Each rock movie is packed with clichés about real events and songwriting. Now Sam Mendes has that problem fourfold

Most music biographies are lazy and rubbish. Here are 10 exceptions

A definitive new history settles decades of myths about the ultimate cult band – but are some mysteries better left unresolved?

The strange journey of a word that dates back at least eight centuries

The worst response to her story is voyeurism. The second worst is pretending there is nothing to see

Bands like Oasis are ducking interviews in favour of telling their own stories. Does that guarantee them an easy ride?

The bandleader was drifting on a long US tour until he met an activist who redefined his purpose

The bass legend believes music is becoming a middle-class hobby

The rapper turned politician gave young people a voice – so the military had to silence him

The Proms is a reminder that the stirring quality of organised sound defies all reason

Biographer Sathnam Sanghera on our unresolved problems with the late singer

The problem for the hip outsider is that, if you suddenly become the most powerful person in the country, your old ways don’t look the same any more

Patrick Freyne’s creations The Heathens star in a book that’s hilarious and heart-wrenching

The PM-in-waiting’s playlist choices are sound. But then so were Boris Johnson’s

The extremist thug, agitator and convicted fraudster has somehow managed to get his show on to Spotify. If his first episode is anything to go by, it’ll be a downpour of race-baiting poison

A dash from a scrapped concert to a Scotland match has piled on the disappointment for ticket-holders. What would Mark E Smith have made of it all?

As the singer-songwriter tours his early material, it's starting to sound like prophecy

The problem is that Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and the others all offer the same thing. The infinite jukebox is useful and fun, but a change could be on the horizon and it could come from the musicians themselves

Once derided as a ‘singing budgie’, the actor turned pop megastar has redefined what it means to be Australian, and made Britain happier too

Gary Stewart was brilliant, briefly revered and doomed by drug addiction. Now a new biography finally gives him his due

Angélique Kidjo takes back the African sounds borrowed by western artists – and makes better records from them

The Reform leader is furious he hasn’t been on Radio 4’s castaway show. But when asked in 2025 what music he likes, he replied: ‘None’

Relatable but unadventurous – and why has he snubbed artists from Liverpool?

New records by old musicians like Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones suddenly sound vital. Why?

How did the future M People founder make Manchester dance? He says it’s all about the attitude

The singer had been living in quiet retirement – then one night changed everything

A fearless, restless pioneer, the jazz legend was an imperfect man, but a musician of unique genius

Her blend of pop, opera, goth, techno and Catholicism, performed in over a dozen languages, requires a huge effort of will to hold it all together. She was more than up to the task