Smokey Hormel -- whose great-grandfather founded the Austin, Minn., based meat company -- is a guitarist who has played on records by Tom Waits, Norah Jones and Beck, but at one point, he was sure he wanted to pursue a career in acting. Hear about Hormel's road to a career as a sought-after session player.

The British pop singer, who achieved fame as half of the duo Wham! before a breakout solo career, was 53.

Neil Diamond, who has released a new album, 'Acoustic Christmas,' says that for him and other Jewish artists, Christmas music is a way to catch up on what they missed as kids.

Ryan Paul Plewacki is an insanely talented guitar player in the bands Sleep Study and The Honeydogs. Because Ryan is a Pug parent to Ringo and Starkey, Mary Lucia think the time has come to introduce the world to two of the ill-est Pugs in the Twin Cities.

The gospel legend is now a Kennedy Center honoree. She discusses developing an iconic voice at a young age, her family's confrontations with racism and why she's a big fan of Chance The Rapper.

The Minneapolis singer and rapper spent her early life deep in the Pentecostal church -- and shut away from secular music. When she moved to Houston, Texas, everything changed.

The death this year of founding member Phife Dawg means that A Tribe Called Quest's long-delayed new album may really be its last. But as Q-Tip and Jarobi White put it, 'Musicians don't retire.'

A message posted on Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings' Facebook page announced Sharon Jones passed away Friday, Nov. 18, following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Jones was known for her powerful voice, her soulful songs and her indomitable spirit.

Guthbjorg Tomasdottir of the duo My Bubba recently took some time to tell us about her vintage, Danish-built guitar. 'I was bicycling in Copenhagen and I saw this guitar in the window, and it just spoke to me,' she says. It's the latest addition to The Current's Guitar Collection.

After a decade, the singer-songwriter has a new album. He talks with NPR's Michel Martin about U.S. elections, Brexit, the Bataclan, the migrant crisis -- and his own mortality.