Natalie Cole: Underappreciated But Never Forgotten She who ended Aretha's eight-year Grammy-winning streak deserves more credit than she's usually afforded: she was influential and flexible and a phenomenal singer.

The former White Stripes singer founded his band and his label, Third Man, in Detroit, but in recent years has made a home base in Nashville. Now the label has opened an outpost in his hometown.

Along with Classical MPR's Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, The Current's Production Manager Derrick Stevens lent his skills and stories to a rehearsal of the vocal-music students at the FAIR School in Minneapolis. The students will soon be performing 'Glory,' the Oscar-winning song by John Legend and Common.

Jake Rudh has previously celebrated the genius of John Hughes at First Avenue, but would people show up for a few hours of sci-fi action? It turns out they did. Jake provides a recap of a 'Star Wars' party at First Avenue that drew nearly 1,200 people and raised money for a good cause.

Newer acts like The Smiths and Nine Inch Nails were overlooked. The prog rock band Yes got a no. And for Chic, the record of futility continues.

Ahead of their tenth studio album's release, Noah Lennox aka Panda Bear of Animal Collective sat down for a chat with The Current's David Safar about Painting With, the logistics of cross-country collaborating and their Baltimore airport stunt.

Following yesterday's Grammy nominations, The Current's Mac Wilson provides in-depth analysis and predictions in this year's major Grammy races. 'With the Grammys, what seems obvious is often obvious,' Mac writes, 'except for when they leave you reeling with a curveball.'

On the 50th anniversary of the U.S. release of the Beatles' 'Rubber Soul' album, lifelong Beatles fan Padraic Gilligan explains how he and his friends have been creatively celebrating the 50th anniversary of each Beatles' studio album. 'For many of us, a Beatles song also recalls a particular moment or time in our lives or a moment in history,' he says.

The Current's Program Director, Jim McGuinn, shares his thoughts about the late Stone Temple Pilots frontman, who died in Bloomington, Minn., on Dec. 3, 2015. 'STP were one of the great bands of the '90s,' McGuinn writes. 'The songs and Weiland's vocal performances totally hold up. ... Through recordings, we are always able to return to the artist at the moment of their greatness.'

Prince's '80s-era classic has gotten a modern update -- in Niger. Directed by Christopher Kirkley, starring the nomadic Tuareg people, this 'Purple Rain' remake, which screened at the Sound Unseen Festival in the Twin Cities, drops the kissing but keeps the attitude.