Sinéad O’Connor has announced that she will no longer perform “Nothing Compares 2 U,” her chart-topping hit from 1990. “After 25 years of singing it, nine months or so ago I finally ran out of anything I could use in order to bring some emotion to it,” the Irish singer wrote on Facebook. (Billboard) Though O’Connor didn’t…

Tom Paxton's career has spanned more than five decades, and he's just as creative as ever. Tom has a new album, 'Redemption Road', and he stopped by Radio Heartland to talk to Mike Pengra and to play some songs off the new record.

Checking in from the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, The Current's Program Director Jim McGuinn provides a first-day report, noting that female-fronted acts were the best he saw yesterday.

I woke up in a new Bugatti (and by “Bugatti,” I mean a hotel room in southeast Austin) without a plan. I headed downtown, and I hoped that I would cross paths with something interesting. Once downtown, a friend and I made our way to the Floodfest day party—I’m not sure why, because the show’s artists…

As a social media-based transport provider threatens to leave Minnesota over pending legislation, we're wondering what songs that mention "leave" or "leaving" you'd like to hear. Send us your requests.

MPR News Arts Reporter Marianne Combs joins Jill Riley and Sean McPherson (in for Steve Seel) to talk about three productions that deal, successively, from heavy, dark subject matter to purely light-hearted fare.

The film 'Blackboard Jungle' pushes rock 'n' roll into the mainstream; Jefferson Airplane took a new name; J. Geils band's memory had just been sold; and Bob Dylan's self-titled debut album was released, Today in Music History.

Alabama Shakes shoot up the Chart to #1; Rock the Garden act Courtney Barnett jumps six spots; Florence and the Machine are the highest new entry; Houndmouth celebrate their album release with a Chart debut at #20.

Few rock historians would call Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” the first rock and roll song. (Many would give that honor to Jackie Brenston’s 1951 “Rocket 88,” co-written by Ike Turner, produced by Sam Phillips, and later covered by Haley.) When asked to date the beginning of the rock and roll era in popular…

Roberto Carlos Lange, creator of Helado Negro, will be joined by a large group of international musicians for the world premiere of "Island Universe Story" at the Ordway Concert Hall this weekend.