Musical History

Good luck getting this out of your head.

Before the 'Baby Shark' Song Made the Hot 100, 'Silly Symphonies' Were All the Rage

The “musical novelty” series of shorts achieved critical and popular success, too

These new songs will not be performed by a children's Christmas choir.

The Titles of These AI-Generated Christmas Carols Are Pure Cinnamon Hollybells

🎶 We wish you a Merry Jinglelog 🎶

View of the Silent Night Chapel

A Brief History of 'Silent Night'

The classic Christmas tune was first composed as a poem, and it was set to music for the first time in the winter of 1818

Record companies released stereo demonstration albums that showcased how sound could move from left to right, creating a sense of movement.

How Savvy Advertising Helped Make Stereo Technology Mainstream

Stereo demonstrations and colorful ads sold customers on the two-channel sound technology when it was introduced 60 years ago

The great James Chambers aka Jimmy Cliff performing in 2012.

Reggae Officially Declared Global Cultural Treasure

The music, which emerged from Jamaica in the 1960s, was added to Unesco's global Intangible Cultural Heritage list

Dear Evan Hansen comes to the Smithsonian

'Dear Evan Hansen' Recognized as Part of America's Cultural Heritage

Artifacts from the Broadway musical come to the collections of Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

The Telharmonium is considered to be the first electromechanical musical instrument.

The World's First Synthesizer Was a 200-Ton Behemoth

Thaddeus Cahill's Telharmonium may not have been a huge success, but it was an important achievement in music history

For Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Ángeles, their dual mission of being a respected musical group and advocating for social equality for the LGBTQ community has won the hearts and minds of many.

How the First LGBTQ Mariachi Became an Outlet for Advocacy

LA musicians Carlos Samaniego and Natalia Melendez do traditional Mexican music their way

Freddie Mercury performing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in August, 1980.

How Close Does 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Come to Showing the Real Freddie Mercury?

While the movie has been critiqued for flattening the legacy of Queen, see the band come to life in historic photos

This year marks the 333rd anniversary of J.S. Bach's birth

Are Classical Music Performances Speeding Up?

For Johann Sebastian Bach's 333rd birthday, a team looked at recordings of the composer's work over the last 50 years

Leonard Bernstein, Carnegie Hall, New York City by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1960 goes on view at the National Portrait Gallery on Bernstein's 100th birthday, August 25, 2018.

The Moment That Defines Famed American Composer Leonard Bernstein

The National Portrait Gallery showcases a celebrated conductor as portrayed by the master French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson

At the National Portrait Gallery's inaugural American Portrait Gala, Franklin was honored in 2015 with a Portrait of the Nation Prize.

Museum Curators Reflect on the Legacy of the Queen of Soul

Aretha Franklin dies at 76; her memory lives on at the Smithsonian in artwork, photographs and other ephemera

Alan Smith-Allison poses with his collection

A New Exhibition Is Here to Spice Up Your Life

Do you really, really, really wanna see it?

July 1983 illustration of David Bowie for TIME magazine

David Bowie’s First Studio Recording Discovered in a Bread Basket

The demo failed to impress recording executives in the early 1960s

Recordings are available via Soundcloud and the Google Arts & Culture platform

How to Hear the Met’s Historic Instruments' Singular Sounds

New audio recordings by the museum feature roughly 40 instruments, from Ming dynasty lute to the world’s oldest surviving piano

DropReg, President of the East Bay Chevs group, in his ride during a video shoot in downtown Oakland.

New Exhibition in Oakland Traces the History of Hip-Hop

“RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom” celebrates the 45th anniversary of hip-hop culture

The Temptations

Library of Congress Adds ‘The Sound of Music,’ ‘My Girl’ to National Recording Registry

Each year since 2002, 25 recordings that impacted American culture are chosen for inclusion in the growing database. Read about the class of 2017

Brown’s portable instrument, 40 inches high by 50 inches wide, had a signature flourish: silver trim.

The Electric Organ That Gave James Brown His Unstoppable Energy

What was it about the Hammond organ that made the 'Godfather of Soul' say please, please, please?

Flash mob in Chicago

Latest IMAX Film Studies History of American Music

Air and Space Museum makes way for the Flying Elvi

What the First Radio Commercial Jingle Sounded Like

Wheaties was one of the first companies to recognize the enormous potential of radio as an advertising tool

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