Music

Sofia Liñares in a promotional photo for Black Sabbath: The Ballet, the Birmingham Royal Ballet's new show honoring the city's legendary heavy metal band

New Ballet Takes on Black Sabbath, the Genre-Defining Heavy Metal Band

“Black Sabbath: The Ballet” honors the legendary band that formed in Birmingham, England

Performers at the 1963 Renaissance Pleasure Faire. Ron Patterson, a co-founder of the event, appears in orange at the far right.

The Surprisingly Radical Roots of the Renaissance Fair

The first of these festivals debuted in the early 1960s, serving as a prime example of the United States' burgeoning counterculture

David Byrne, frontman of the Talking Heads, in the concert film Stop Making Sense, which returns to theaters this week

Why the Talking Heads' 40-Year-Old Concert Film Still Mesmerizes

"Stop Making Sense," known as one of the greatest movies of its kind, returns to the big screen

Chairs sit ready for the attendees of the ceremony recognizing 2020 and 2021 Pulitzer Prize winners.

Why the Pulitzer Prizes Are Expanding Eligibility to Non-U.S. Citizens

The prestigious awards will soon be open to permanent residents and those who call the U.S. their "longtime primary home"

As part of its ongoing support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion, the Metropolitan Opera has commissioned a work based on true stories of Ukrainian mothers rescuing their abducted children.

An Upcoming Opera Will Tell the Story of Ukraine's Kidnapped Children

Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera, the work will be based on the accounts of mothers who traveled 3,000 miles to get their loved ones back

Wall panels allow children to explore different patterns and varieties of wood.

The Met's Free Children’s Studio Is Finally Here

Called 81st Street Studio, the sprawling play space encourages interactive engagement with art and science

Installation photography of Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2023.

Video Artists Set the American Experience to Music

The Smithsonian American Art Museum brings its latest time-based media art to the widest possible audience, including the deaf and hearing impaired

Archibald J. Motley Jr.'s Black Belt (1934)

The Harlem Renaissance Is Coming to the Met

A new exhibition will be the first survey of the cultural movement in New York City since 1987

Wendy Red Star’s The Soil You See… is a seven-foot-tall glass red thumbprint featuring the names of chiefs who signed treaties with the American government, usually with a fingerprint.

Outdoor Exhibition on the National Mall Spotlights Untold American Stories

In "Beyond Granite: Pulling Together," six artists have created works for a month-long display

Taylor Swift performs during the Eras Tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on August 7. 

Swifties Can Now Study Literature (Taylor's Version)

At a Belgian university, Taylor Swift fans can expect intertextual analysis beyond their wildest dreams

Pink Floyd performs c. 1972 in London, England. Researchers used a computer model to try recreate one of their songs using the brain signals of people listening to it. 

Scientists Recreated a Pink Floyd Song From Listeners' Brain Waves

Electrodes collected brain signals while people listened to "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1," then computers produced a garbled but recognizable track

The Glimmer Twins, created by sculptor Amy Goodman

Statues of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards Unveiled in the Duo's Hometown

The Rolling Stones bandmates both grew up in Dartford, Kent, where they met as teenagers

Musicians Cindy Campbell and DJ Kool Herc take center stage in a 2013 celebration of the 40th anniversary of hip-hop. The brother and sister duo threw a "Back-to School Jam" in August, 1973 and launched a lasting music genre.

How Hip-Hop Was Born 50 Years Ago in a Block Party in the Bronx

Arising out of New York's close-knit Black communities, the genre revolutionized the music industry and gave rise to a new generation of sounds and stars

Tupac Shakur designed the gold, ruby and diamond crown ring, which recently sold at auction for a little over $1 million.

Drake Buys the Most Valuable Hip-Hop Artifact Ever Sold: Tupac Shakur's Ring

Shakur designed the piece himself and wore it during his last public appearance before his death in 1996

Taylor Swift performed at Lumen Field in Seattle on July 22 and 23.

Taylor Swift Concerts Are Generating Seismic Activity

The artist's two recent shows in Seattle shook the ground so much that they registered on a nearby seismometer

Paul Kaufmann inherited several of what are thought to be fragments of Ludwig van Beethoven's skull, which he has donated to the Medical University of Austria.

Skull Fragments Thought to Be Beethoven's Return to Vienna

The composer asked that, following his death, his physician study the illnesses that plagued him during his life

Tony Bennett painting in June 1971

Tony Bennett's Passion for Art Lives On in His Paintings

Smithsonian curators reflect on the beloved crooner's legacy as a musician and visual artist

L to R: Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen pose on a tour bus in 1978.

Why Did Van Halen Demand Concert Venues Remove Brown M&M's From the Menu?

An investigation of the rock band's unusual concert rider suggests the stipulation was a savvy marketing move

Desiree Perez, Roc Nation's CEO, walks through "The Book of HOV" with Jay-Z.

In the 'Heart of the City,' a Tribute to Jay-Z

The Brooklyn Public Library is celebrating the rapper’s life and career in a new exhibition, "The Book of HOV"

John Mayer, Sammy Hagar and Bob Weir perform with Dead & Company in San Francisco in 2016

Will the Dead Stay Dead After Sunday's Farewell Concert?

Once again, Deadheads said their goodbyes to the latest iteration of the era-defining jam band

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